I can't believe Captain America was killed off...what the hell is Marvel thinking, killing off one of the most successful comic book characters in history? Next they'll want to off Spidey...again...

After this is the Epilogue!

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8:30 AM

Twenty-seven days had past since Astaroth had first attacked Tokyo, and the war that the golem had started had finally ended between the Tekkenshu Sentai Shinkenger and Astaroth's "master" Kazuya Mishima. The Shinkengers were tempted to bring Kazuya to the proper authorities, but Heihachi and Jun convinced the sestet to hold back their wrath: Kazuya had been utterly defeated, and he wouldn't try any more dark resurrections after one of them betrayed him and forced him to side with the Sentai team.

And now that it's all over, Heihachi mused as he read the newspaper while he sipped his tea, everything is going to slip back to the way it was. The younger Shinkengers were scattered about the many rooms of the Mishima mansion, still sleeping off the after-effects of the excruciating battle with Ryoku Kazama the day before. I suppose that it is for the better that Ryoku has returned to the land of the dead: he was but a ghost that no longer had a place in this world. I wonder…is that my soul's fate when my time comes?

"Heihachi-sempai."

Heihachi turned to the doorway to see his young ward Xiaoyu, wearing yellow pajamas with her long black hair let down from their normal pigtails and flowing freely as she walked to the kitchen table. Look at how much she's grown, Heihachi stroked his chin in contemplation as he watched the young woman take a seat. Things may slip back into the mainstream, but the players will always remember these events. "Good morning, Xiaoyu," Heihachi nodded before going back to his newspaper. "I trust you had a decent slumber: how are your wounds?"

"They're healing fine, thank you," Xiaoyu bowed her head before reaching over to a pastry that was sitting on the table. "How are the repairs on the house coming?"

"I managed to get all of the holes covered until proper repairs can be made," Heihachi replied, once again lowering his newspaper to look at Xiaoyu, "but I am curious as to why your friends have not joined us for breakfast. Did they leave before I came back from my morning kata?"

"Everyone has a lot of stuff to do today," Xiaoyu nodded her head as she poured herself a glass of milk from the carton sitting on the table. "Steve has a boxing match, Jin is taking his morning jog, and the others I'm not sure about. They all left just before I woke up, though." Xiaoyu looked up to see Heihachi looking back at her. "Heihachi-sempai, is something wrong?"

"I am just thinking about how much you've grown from that wide-eyed runt that you were when you first came here," Heihachi answered with a smirk as he stood up from his seat and walked over to the sink to wash his face. After drying his face, Heihachi continued. "When we first met, you threatened to go crazy unless I gave you the funds to build your own amusement park."

"I still want to build one, but I know that I can't put something as selfish as that in front of my friends," Xiaoyu looked up at the ceiling as she reminisced to that fateful day she snuck on Heihachi's private yacht. "I guess it changed after I saw how much hatred was brewing between you and Jin…"

"I am no fool, Xiaoyu: I am well aware that you have taken a romantic interest into my grandson," Heihachi's voice remained full of dominance and poise as he began to slowly pace the room dramatically. "You are not a child anymore, Xiaoyu: your graduation from my high school is but a couple of months away. You must make your stand on where you want your life to go, and whose company you want to keep on the path to your destiny."

Xiaoyu was silent for a long time as she slowly digested the King of the Iron Fist's words. Usually Heihachi would ask her about how her training was progressing, or if her grades were still high enough to meet his lofty expectations of her. This was the first time she had heard him talk about more personal matters, and she truthfully had not thought about those matters herself. "Heihachi-sempai, is something bothering you?" she finally said while she noticed Heihachi's serious expression.

"You already know about the dark history of my family, as well as all of the vile things I have done to them," Heihachi sat back down and made eye contact with his youthful ward. "Since my defeat at the hands of your grandfather Jinrei, I have made it my mission to end the Mishima feud in an attempt to regain my honor. I have done many a sin to my grandson, and now I wish to remedy that by helping him find peace in life, just as you are helping him. If you want to lead him to a better life, then hold nothing back: bare your soul for him to see!"

After listening to his impressive speech, Xiaoyu smiled cheerfully and nodded her head in approval. "Thank you very much, Heihachi!" The lithe young lady stood up and bowed her head once again as she prepared to leave the kitched. "I'll get dressed and tell him as soon as he gets back!"

"Hold it right there, Xiaoyu," Heihachi's voice suddenly became stern as Xiaoyu stopped dead in her tracks. "You still allowed strangers to come here and live in the rooms without paying rent. Therefore, you will have to pay for them with this simple task." Heihachi smirked as he pointed a finger at Xiaoyu and boomed, "Xiaoyu…make me a sandwich!"

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10:00 AM

It was a beautiful day for a fight in the Jindai Shokubutsu Park. Earlier in the week, Steve agreed to do a charity match during the sunny Saturday afternoon. He still had three hours before his fight, but Steve had always believed that to be early is to be on time. The traffic in this city is as bad as it is in London, maybe even worse: there's curfew back home that helps prevent non-stop traffic!

Steve wasn't bitter towards the city of Tokyo, however. This city had given him his fair share of troubles, but it had also given him something that couldn't be taken away: friendship, experience, and a newfound faith in his fellow man. Steve had met many different people during his tenure as ShinkenBlue, and they had helped him grow into a better person just as he helped them.

Parking his vehicle in a nearby parking lot, Steve stepped out of the car and began walking towards the park entrance as he reminisced to when he first came to Tokyo. Before he left for London, his friend Lei Wulong had given him a strange device and told him "he'd need it if he was heading for Tokyo." As soon as he got there, he witnessed a priceless artifact from the British Museum being hijacked by Astaroth. Needless to say, he was rather surprised to what the device did once he battled the golem and his magnetic comrade Polevolt.

I was turned into a superhero, and then I met up with four others with powers just like mine, Steve arrived at the park entrance and walked through the gate to see the boxing ring that was still being set up. I suppose it's fortunate that they all happened to be acquaintances of mine, but now they're people I can gladly depend on, even someone like Feng Wei.

As he looked at his morpher while he remembered meeting Feng and receiving an icy palm to his chest, he heard a familiar voice shout his name. Turning around to see where the voice had come from, he spotted his good friend Hwoarang running alongside a woman who was wearing a white tanktop, a blue jean-skirt, and zebra-striped boots. "'ello there, mate," Steve nodded before turning to the woman. "Who's your friend?"

"You make me sad, pal," the woman said as she rolled her eyes and turned away. "You don't remember the King of Iron Fist veteran Michelle Chang? Kids these days have no respect for their history."

"And that's exactly what you are, Chang," Hwoarang said with his voice full of its usual arrogance while he turned to Steve. "You're lucky that I was nice enough to give a ride to the park. I bet your legs would have given out before you could make it to the Shinjuku district."

"For your information, sonny, my thighs are world-renowned!" Chang answered in a huff before smiling at letting out a long laugh. "Now, I'm going to let you kids have your fun while I go get some ice cream. You guys want me to bring you anything?" After seeing the both of them shake their heads, Michelle waved goodbye and walked off.

"Giving a ride to strangers?" Steve raised an eyebrow as he watched Hwoarang step into the boxing ring and do a quick kick kata. "That's not like you unless you want something in return…you do realize she's nearly twice your age, right?"

"I'm not into older women, simple as that," Hwoarang replied before flipping over the top rope of the ring and landing gracefully on his feet. "I was just returning a favor she did for me back when I was still hunting Astaroth." The Korean let out a deep sigh as he lifted his right hand and looked at his own morpher. "It's weird…I don't think I would've felt obliged to do anything before I met up with you guys."

"You've certainly changed a lot since we first met a little over a year ago," Steve commented while he finally put down the duffle bag he was carryng. "I'd like to think it was for the better…so did you ever have the chance to have you big bout with Jin?"

"We're holding it off until he gets the answers he needs from his asshole dad," Hwoarang looked up into the sky before sitting down on the ground with his hand cradling his chin. "I'm not going to fight him until he's ready to put everything he's got into it. It's no fun giving someone an ass-beating if they're not entirely into the battle: it makes both combatants look bad."

"A philosophical Hwoarang: I never thought I would see the day," Steve chuckled before pulling out a pair of boxing gloves. "So I'm going to assume that after that, it's back to South Korea. Are you here to watch my charity match with King?"

A mischievous smirk came across Hwoarang's face as he unexpectedly attacked Steve as soon as he strapped on his gloves. Steve bent over backwards just in time to avoid the foot to his face. After looking at the surprised look in his British friend's face, Hwoarang gave an explanation to his attack. "How about you warm up a little bit with a real first-class fighter like yours truly?" His morphed started to hum to life as Hwoarang continued. "Let's do it hardcore-style…whattya say?"

Steve cracked a smile of his own before his own morpher glowed with power. After an instant, the same glow began to spread across his body while Hwoarang's glow did the same. Once their suits had completely formed across their bodies, Steve entered his fighting stance while Hwoarang did the same. "OK then, Hwoarang," Steve's smile did not fade, even beneath his helmet, as he spoke, "let's go crazy!"

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11:30 AM

"I've finally found you."

Feng looked up from his table to see where the voice had come from. He still had much work to do in Japan as long as G-Corporation had their hands on the sacred Shinken scrolls, and he agreed to meet a Tekken Force officer at a local diner so that he could gather more information about them. Even though Feng had been in their employ briefly, he was left in the dark involving their schemes.

When he received the name of his contact, he was more than a little surprised. Gazing upon the said contact, Feng stroked his chin in thought. Interesting…I can definitely see a resemblance between him and that woman: they have the same aura of determination.

"My name is Colonel Stan Janairo of the Tekken Fighter Peace Corps. My daughter Lucy told me all about you," the Hawaii native said with a salute before sitting down at the table Feng was sitting at. "I would like to thank you for saving her that day: I am in your debt."

"I did not do much," Feng grumbled as the waitress came over to their table and handed him a cup of tea. "It was Dragoon who saved her life, not me: I foolishly chose to watch her from afar while he came to her rescue. I am not a hero, so please do not treat me as such."

"I am sorry about your friend: it has been very hard on Lucy, to have someone she fell in love with die before her eyes less than fifteen minutes after meeting him," Stan took out a cigarette from his pocket and pulled out a lighter from his other one. "I suppose it's for the better: it might not have worked out, being he wasn't even human…"

Feng's hand slammed down on the table with such force that he created a fissure in the hardwood and caused Stan to jump up out of his seat in surprise. "Colonel, I would appreciate it if you did not refer to Dragoon as some inhuman beast," Feng growled quietly with rage before regaining his composure and reclining in his seat again. "He was more human than you'll ever know, and quite possibly more than I'll ever know as well."

"Forgive me, I suppose I spoke out of turn," Stan bowed his head in shame slightly before putting the suitcase he brought with him into the diner onto the table and opening it. Inside the suitcase were numerous compact discs and folders. "Inside this suitcase is everything you requested: all of the information we have gathered on G-Corporation and its subsidiaries are within the discs and in the folders."

Feng reached for one of the brown folders and removed it from the suitcase before opening it and quickly skimming its contents before putting it down and shaking the man's hand. "Thank you very much for your cooperation, Colonel. I will use to this to continue making sure that G-Corporation's fiendish ambitions never come into full fruition."

The road to redemption will be a long one, Feng mused while he closed the suitcase and put it down next to him as Stan opened his menu sitting in front of him. However, I must stay the course: as a warrior, it is my duty to regain my honor and to bring justice to those who have been wronged.

"I must go now," Feng bowed his head politely to Stan before standing up and taking his suitcase with him. "Thank you very much for all of the information you have given me. Tell Lucy that I avenged Dragoon's death, and ask if she could light a candle for me in his honor."

As Feng stepped out of the diner with his suitcase, he spotted a familiar woman wearing a golden silk bustier, a red silk skirt with slit on the side to allow her legs more freedom, and brown sandals. There were numerous types of jewelry across her body, and her ebony hair was arranged in a peculiar way that Feng could only describe as a distant relative of pigtails. "You are Miss Zafina, I presume," Feng said while he confronted the woman. "I have been waiting for you."

"I can see it in your eyes, you wish to challenge me," the woman stretched her arms out slowly, almost in a seductive way, before continuing. "You called me all the way here just to fight? Be warned, I am not an easy target…"

"That is exactly why I summoned you to this city," Feng assumed a fighting stance after putting down his suitcase. "In order to complete my holy mission, I must train against the most powerful of foes, and your reputation has me believe that you qualify. Now come!"

With a smirk, Zafina cracked her knuckles and assumed her own fighting stance. "…don't say I didn't warn you."

The road to redemption will be long, Feng told himself once again as he prepared for the woman's oncoming assault, so until I reach my destination, I will continue to strive to become the best in the world!

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2:00 PM

The arcades in Tokyo were some of the busiest places in the city. People of all ages came to this electronic carnival to unwind from the daily stresses of life and enjoy a wide variety of video games that ranged from classics like skee-ball and whack-a-mole to highly advanced motion-sensing games that simulated things like dancing and boxing.

Kenichi came here not to amuse himself, but to meet his teacher Yoshimitsu after weeks of not hearing from him. He had received a message earlier that morning to talk with him at the local arcade. I could think of better places to meet him, but I won't argue with him, Kenichi thought to himself as he scanned the arcade for his sensei. It's too bad I didn't take Asuka with me: she'd love being taken to a place like this…

The youthful martial artist wouldn't have to look far: he spotted his sensei clad in dark blue armor with numerous dark red wires covering any openings in the armor and a golden horn coming out of the forehead of his helmet. His face was covered with a hannya mask and further veiled with a lavender visor. He must have been busy if he hasn't had time to modify his suit, Kenichi noticed while he walked over to the machine that Yoshimitsu was occupied with: a motion-sensing sword-fighting simulator called "Mark of the Blade."

"Greetings, Masamune-san," Yoshimitsu didn't even have to turn away from his game to know that his apprentice was standing next to him as he spoke with his deep voice. "I apologize for leaving on such short notice, but there was something that needed my attention. Who won the battle?"

"We did, sensei," Kenichi bowed his head in respect as he watched Yoshimitsu progress through his video game with relative ease, watching the plastic hilt in his sensei's hand move around with the grace of a master. "Thank you very much for allowing me to help my friends, and to see Asuka again."

"I understand that she will have to be leaving to go home soon," Yoshimitsu commented, surprising Kenichi with his sudden interest in her while his gaze continued to remain fixated on the game. "You should go to her, and tell her just how deeply you love her. I know it's probably not a secret that you do, but saying something might help with the heartache."

Kenichi was silent for a few seconds as he pondered his master's words, although Yoshimitsu himself continued to hack his way through the machine's AI. After a moment, Kenichi replied, "I'm afraid that if I do tell her, it'll make leaving that much more painful. Nothing would make me happier than to hold her in my arms, and spend the rest of my life with her at my side." Kenichi clenched his fist as he tried to maintain composure. "How can I dare leave her after I tell her that, sensei? I swore by the scar on my back that I would cleanse the bloodline that allowed Sorel to violate her mind and body, but at the same time being away from her makes me lose my focus!"

Kenichi turned around, as if he were afraid to face his sensei (even though he was well aware that Yoshimitsu didn't mind as he was pre-occupied with his game), but saw a familiar sight once he did: the very same woman he was talking about, his beloved Asuka Kazama. There was a slightly shocked expression on her face, which told Kenichi that she had heard enough of his words. "Asuka," Kenichi whispered as he walked over to her, "what are you doing here?"

"I came to do some gaming, but instead I found you," she said before wrapping her arms around Kenichi and bringing him into an embrace. "I suppose it's just as well: that was really sweet what you said, and it's even sweeter that you held it in because you thought it would make leaving less painful…"

"…I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, Asuka," Kenichi whispered in her ear, unaware that small crowd was gathering to watch the scene unfold. "It's just that when you go back to Osaka tomorrow, watching you go with knowing how much I care about you will make it harder for me to let go."

"Well, it's just dandy that I won't be leaving," Asuka said with her normal cocky attitude, causing Kenichi to let go of her and raise an eyebrow in bewilderment. Cracking a smile, Asuka explained further. "Dad called up and had me transferred to Mishima High School for the rest of the year! Now I can be as close to you as I damn well please, and trust me: that's pretty close."

"W-what do you mean by that?" Kenichi's cheeks reddened as his heart rate picked up speed. He had spent the last couple of days worrying about her leaving to go back home, and now he had just learned that all of his worrying was for naught. It was proving to be such a spectacle that Yoshimitsu turned his head to watch the couple while he was battling the final boss of his game.

"It's my turn to tell you how deeply I have the hots for you," Asuka quickly took off her sleeveless jacket and tossed it to a nearby skeeball machine as she once again wrapped her arms around Kenichi. "I want to hold you in my arms and do things to you that are anything but family-friendly. I'm no fan of being a housewife, but starting a family with you is pretty high on my list, too, once we graduate from school and everything…" Asuka lifted her head to look into Kenichi's Prussian blue eyes, while Kenichi felt himself getting lost in her auburn pearl-like eyes. She could feel his heart pounding, and Kenichi could feel her heart beginning to beat louder. As her face gradually became closer to his, Asuka whispered, "…so how about it, dreamboat?"

"A happy ending after all of the chaos," he whispered back before gently touching her lips with his own, "it is like a godsend…thank you for helping me see it."

"Well, do not just stand there gawking," Yoshimitsu suddenly piped up after finishing off the final boss and turning to the crowd watching the couple share a tender kiss. "Get out your cameras and take mementos of how this young couple found happiness!"

The murmurs and flashing of cameras did nothing to take away from Asuka and Kenichi's moment…

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5:00 PM

Jin parked his car in the driveway of the Mishima Mansion and left the vehicle only to open it once again and take out the groceries he had purchased minutes before. He had had an eventful day: after his morning jog, Xiaoyu confronted him and, to his surprise, confessed her love to him. It would seem that the time has come to make some commitments, Jin had thought while he closed the door and began walking towards the door. Xiaoyu has always been by my side, so the least I can do is stay by her side.

As he thought about that, Jin suddenly felt a presence sneak up behind him. Upon turning his head, he noticed that no one was there. When he turned his head back forward, however, he spotted the presence: a stunningly beautiful ninja wearing a purple bodysuit that was open in the center to let her cleavage be revealed, with her face covered in a white kitsune mask. Jumping from the lamppost she was standing on and landing gracefully on Jin's car with her long red hair flowing elegantly in the wind and white sandals gently thumping against the roof of the vehicle, the woman spoke, "Hello, Kazama…I do not believe we've been introduced…"

"Don't bother: I know who you are, Kunimitsu," Jin growled as he pointed an accusing finger at the woman. "You're a renowned thief who was banished from the Manjitou a couple of decades ago, and then you fell into the employ of my father before disappearing for twenty years and reappearing in my tournament." Jin walked over to his car and tried to grab Kunimitsu's ankle. "What are you doing here: have you come to rob me in front of my eyes?"

All Jin received, however, was a quick kick to the face that caused him to reel back in pain while Kunimitsu remained standing on the car. "Don't flatter yourself, Kazama: if I was going to steal from you, you wouldn't even see me." Jin prepared to attack Kunimitsu, but when he noticed that she did not assume her own stance, Jin lowered his fists. Seeing that she had gotten the young man's attention, Kunimitsu continued. "My current employers have some vital information regarding your 'cousin.'"

"I already know she has a Devil Gene, and I'm going to be getting the answers I need tomorrow," Jin spat back, apparently sickened to even be speaking to someone he had deemed a thug. "Get off of my car, or I'll call the police."

"Idiot, for all you know I am the police now," Kunimitsu's hand suddenly lashed out, tossing something at Jin with such speed that the young man barely had time to catch it in his hand. Opening his hand, Jin looked at the projectile and saw that it was a simple Flash Drive. "Even if your father explains everything, just use this to make sure he's telling the truth, or you can use it as a spoiler…"

"Why are you helping me, Kunimitsu?" Jin questioned the woman as she prepared to leave. "You never struck me as an altruist…"

"That's for me to know, and you not to find out," she replied with a hint of arrogance as Jin looked at the Flash Drive with curiosity. When Jin looked back up to face the woman, she had already disappeared as quickly and mysteriously as she had come.

Putting the Flash Drive in his pocket, Jin picked up his groceries and prepared to enter the Mansion. I wonder what that was all about, he pondered while he put his groceries down again so he could open the door. I guess I shouldn't worry about it: for all I know this Flash Drive could be viral and wipe out the Zaibatsu's mainframe…

Well, regardless of whether Asuka is my cousin, or something more, it makes little difference in the long run, Jin concluded with a smile as he looked at the guest room to see his comrades being sociable with each other. Steve and Feng were playing a game of chess, Hwoarang and Asuka were at the television set watching a television program that seemed to have them laughing, while Xiaoyu and Kenichi were sitting on the hardwood floor talking about who-knows-what with a cup of tea sitting next to either of them.

"It's about time you got here," Hwoarang looked away from the television and pressed the pause button on his controller as he walked over to rummage through the grocery bags. "Where's the booze?"

"Don't attack him, you idiot," Asuka shouted after Hwoarang as she took one of the bags and carried it to the kitchen. "There's plenty enough to go around!"

It doesn't make a different because in the end she's still my friend, just like everyone else here is my friend, Jin smiled as he took the rest of the groceries into the kitchen while his friends walked in after him. Regardless of whether we're together or separate: we'll always be friends…as we'll always be Shinkengers!