Part 90: Destruction of the GaroLiner! Birth of Emperor Form!

When evolution selects its agents, it does so at a cost. It makes demands in exchange for singularity, and you may be asked to do something against your very nature. Suddenly, the change in your life that should have been wonderful comes as a betrayal. It may seem cruel, but the goal is nothing short of self-preservation... survival.

Shiori, the gynoid waitress/maid of the GaroLiner, was currently walking along the sidewalk with a bag of groceries in hand. She was smiling cheerfully while humming a tune, unaware of the danger that would soon befall her.

In one of the store windows was Copycat and she was stalking Shiori. The Mirror World was the perfect way to spy on ones targets and the Evil Cat Knight was using it for such a purpose.

Shiori blinked as she saw something shining on the ground. She stepped over and squatted down, picking up a shiny quarter, "Wow! Lucky day!" she grinned.

Suddenly, she was grabbed by the shoulders and pulled straight into a window. The surface of the glass rippled like water as Shiori struggled, kicking her legs in a panic. In the process, she'd dropped her new quarter and groceries.

Shiori had been shutdown and strapped down to an operating table. Prof. Chang, a villainous scientist, was looking over the gynoid with a perverted grin. He ran his hand over her body. "Such a magnificent specimen," he grinned lecherously, "I wonder what makes her tick." He was about to pull down the zipper when Copycat smacked his hand away. He recoiled from the pain and looked up at the Cat Knight whose eyes were glowing menacingly.

"Professor Chang," she spoke in a dangerous tone, "I want you to reprogram her, not satisfy any fantasies you have."

Prof. Chang nodded hastily, "R-right away!" He started to do as ordered. Copycat observed as he did his work. Wires were hooked up to Shiori's body and there was a headband around her head with wires attached to it. Prof. Chang then uploaded the new commands into Shiori's CPU and wiped the sweat off his brow. The process had taken hours and had been difficult.

Copycat placed a hand on Prof. Chang's shoulder. "So, was it successful?" she asked.

"She's been reprogrammed as you ordered," he said nervously.

Copycat grinned, "Good…maybe when this is over you can keep the girl." Copycat inwardly laughed at the look on Chang's face. This man, if he was desperate enough to want a love doll, was sure pathetic and lonely. Maybe he got picked on a lot in his childhood. Copycat cared none for that. Shiori's eyes opened as she was turned back on. The wires were removed and so was the headband. Copycat leaned in to the gynoid's ear and whispered, "Who am I?"

"You are my mistress," Shiori answered without hesitation. Copycat smirked.

"Hey, Shiori!" Buraki greeted as Shiori entered the GaroLiner. "Welcome home!" He made a motion to hug her but was stopped by Byakko. "Hey!"

"Stop being lecherous!" Byakko scolded.

"I was just trying to give her a hug!" Buraki complained.

"Urusai, baka!" Kumiko yelled, bopping them on the head. She greeted Shiori, "Okaeri, Shiori-chan." Shiori looked towards Kumiko blankly. "So, where are the groceries?" Shiori didn't respond and went towards the exit. Kumiko scratched her head. "That was weird."

"Something is wrong with Shiori's vibes," spoke Raion.

Shiori entered the cockpit and began to plant the explosives. The one she'd planted had enough force to destroy the entire GaroLiner in one single blast. After attaching it to the bike, she reported back, "Mistress, I have planted the bomb."

"Good," Copycat returned. "Now just stay there and wait for the fireworks." There was a sadistic tone to her voice as she said this.

"I understand, mistress." Shiori then closed her eyes and shut herself down.

Kenzaki and Okami walked into the common room. He had shown up earlier that morning with the solidified Wolf Imagin to train. Okami was the only one of Kenzaki's Imagin partners who was solid. This was because Okami belonged to the First Garoh. Okami had granted the first Garoh's wish, to watch over Kenzaki.

Kenzaki, though they had a rough start, was now an official Titan. He had also formed a friendship with Neko, which had struck all the teen heroes as odd, considering when they first met he had tried to kill her. Kenzaki sat down at the table next to Neko. He was enjoying a meal of toast and eggs. All the Titans stared at him, still seeing it as odd that the bounty hunter was now among their ranks.

Rose too was a member of the team and had taken the codename 'Ravager'. Her choice of uniform unnerved them, especially Robin, since it bore colors similar to Slade's. She had on a tight black bodysuit made of Soul Fiber making it extremely durable and bulletproof, knee high orange boots and elbow length gloves, metal shoulder pads and kneepads, a utility belt for her gear that had a holster for her machete, and to top it all off a half black and half orange cowl to hide her identity.

Neko, after weeks of wearing her brother's Smart Brain uniform, finally wore something completely different, courtesy of her mother. She wore a tight blue T-shirt with a golden dragon on it, a white vest with a golden dragon on her back, a short denim skirt with black leggings, white boots and white hand gloves. She still wore Gekiryuken around her neck and her hair had been pulled into a braid with the bow at the end and a pair of bangs sticking out in order to differentiate herself from her evil half. The goggles were worn on her head.

Cathy was staying in the Tower too, but only as a precaution. Despite her training and experience she needed to stay indoors in the Tower for her own protection and could not go out without an escort of at least two Titans. Copycat might just try to use her against them. Despite being the designated user of the ALPHA Gear, she couldn't access it anymore since Shadow had locked it away. It had been stolen property until a few weeks ago. She was dressed in civvies and her tail was wagging back and forth.

The ALPHA Gear had DNA recognition software in it. Thus, since Cathy was the first person to use it, she's the only person who will be able to use it until it is reset and becomes blank. So far, Shadow was thinking if he would reset it or even send it back to New York. Currently, it was in a safe in his room.

A few weeks ago, Rose, Jinx, Cathy, Neko and Ryuki had gone to visit the twins' mother. She welcomed them all with a smile and open arms. That was when Neko had confessed everything to her mother alone and cried, and cried, sorry for all the pain she'd caused, despite it all being because of her evil half. However, Neko still felt that all that'd happened was her fault and she felt nothing but grief and pain. Emiko held her daughter tightly and soothingly, telling her everything would be alright.

The visit became happier when Emiko finally met with Cathy. She instantly fell in love with her adopted granddaughter and started smothering her with tight hugs. As much as Cathy loved the attention, she loved breathing more. When told of how Cathy had been rescued from a dumpster after being abandoned, it melted Emiko's heart to see that her daughter still had such kindness within her. Emiko had even designed a new uniform for Neko before she needed to head back to Titans Tower.

What nagged at Neko was her first meeting with her newly adopted brother Kyuusuke Marcus Hasuma. Emiko had told them that she'd found the boy and rescued the amnesiac from the ocean before adopting him.

Something about Kyuusuke just seemed vaguely familiar to Neko and Ryuki. Her brother had remarked that the boy reminded him a bit of Mortuary. That was just plain weird and freaky to be honest.

At the moment, everybody was having their breakfast. It was a relatively peaceful meal…until the large screen in the common room turned on. "Ryuki!" screamed the person on the screen. Everyone looked at the screen and saw none other than Antonitis Fenton McCrown.

"Ant-san? What's wrong?" asked Ryuki.

"It's the GaroLiner!" shouted Ant. Everyone turned and looked at Kenzaki. "It's been destroyed!" Kenzaki's eyes widened in shock. His hands gripped tightly into fists, so tightly, that he was starting to bleed. "We have reason to believe that Copycat was responsible since we found evidence there that pointed to her or at least someone working for her. She somehow managed to sneak explosives onto the Liner. All we found was rubble…"

Kenzaki was stunned by the news.

"Ken-kun…" Neko said worriedly.

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!" roared Kenzaki as he slammed his fist into the table, causing it to dent in the middle. The Titans all backed away from him. "I'll kill her!" He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Ken-kun…" Neko said, trying to calm her friend down. "Are you-?"

"Get away from me, Neko," growled Kenzaki, shrugging off her hand harshly. "Don't talk to me, don't even look at me." He was afraid that if he did, he would want to kill her.

Ryuki grabbed Kenzaki roughly and made him face the Dragon Knight. "Don't you dare talk to my sister like that!" said Ryuki.

"Yeah, don't talk to Neko like that!" Rose snapped, "She was just showing her concern for you!"

"Shut up! That bitch just stole my entire family from me! AGAIN! And now I can't even look at Neko without seeing Copycat!" He stood up and stomped away. "I'm out of here! Okami, hayaku!" Okami followed shortly after Kenzaki.

"Ken-kun," Neko whispered sadly.

"Mama, are you alright?" Cathy asked.

Neko remained silent, unsure of what to say.

Copycat was in the city, looking for an ideal host for one of her Horrors. She watched as a strange creature resembling a heavily armored skeleton was jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Copycat recognized it to be a creature known as an Imagin. She smirked, "So, one of those wish granters is in this dimension. Maybe he will be useful." She created a dark portal and stepped backwards into it.

Kenzaki was in the Sands of Time. As soon as he had left the Tower, Ant had arrived and picked him up, bringing him to the wreckage. He was on his knees, in front of the ruins that had once been the GaroLiner. "Again…" he said. "I failed them again!" he roared, pounding his fists into the sand.

"Shonen…" said Okami. Though he didn't want to admit it, the other members of the GaroLiner had become like a family to him. Kenzaki stood up and began inspecting the wreckage. He eventually found what had once been the dining car. He could tell because of the charred remains of a couple booths. Kenzaki looked around until he found something and dug it out of the sand.

"A cell phone?" he said. He collapsed to his knees. "I always thought…I always thought I could keep you all safe. That I'd never let what happen to my family happen to you…I guess I really am worthless."

Kenzaki, who was only twelve, was lying in the Sands of Time. His clothes were ragged, and his eyes were dull and empty. He looked up when he heard something come by him. "Is that…a train…?" he asked no one.

The train stopped right in front of him. One of the doors opened up and a man jumped out in front of Kenzaki. He had short, messy black hair and brown eyes, with three vertical scars going across his face. The man looked at Kenzaki. "Oi! Shiori! Get some meds ready!" This was all Kenzaki heard before he lost consciousness.

Kenzaki awoke with a start, having relived a nightmare. He looked around and noticed he was in something similar to a room that was found on a train, only larger. "Ohayo!" shouted a very happy voice. This caused Kenzaki to jump, as he didn't know what to expect. He looked over and saw a woman. She was a very pretty girl with short black hair and blue eyes, wearing a tight white stewardess outfit. "I'm Shiori. What's your name?"

Kenzaki was about to open his mouth when two more people enter the room, the man from before and a strange wolf-like creature. "Shonen's awake," said the creature.

"Ohayo," greeted the man. "My name is Gou Tsukuba and this is the GaroLiner," said the man, Gou. "This here is Okami, an Imagin," he said, pointing at the creature. Okami let out a low growl in response.

Kenzaki said the only thing he could, the only word he thought that could describe him. "I'm…I'm Kenzaki…and I'm…worthless…"

Kenzaki remembered that day clearly, the day his new life started. He remembered a few days later even clearer, when he would meet his soon to be adopted sister.

A few days after picking up Kenzaki, the GaroLiner stopped again. Kenzaki didn't care. Over the days, he hadn't left the room. Shiori brought him meals, and Gou kept him company, but he hadn't uttered a single word since he first spoke to them, calling himself worthless. It was stopped for a few minutes before it started again.

A few minutes later, the door leading to Kenzaki's room opened. Gou walked in, but he brought someone new with him. It was a young girl, only about 10 years old. She had slightly long green hair and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a tattered dress and was clutching a teddy bear closely to her chest.

"This is Kumiko," said Gou, introducing Kenzaki to the girl.

She looked very shyly at Kenzaki. "N--nice to meet you…" she said softly.

Okami walked behind Gou. "Oi, Gou. You starting an orphanage or something? First Shonen and now Chibi?" asked the Imagin. Kumiko's eyes lost their shy look and narrowed in anger. She turned around and kicked Okami in the shin, hard.

"My name is Kumiko! NOT Chibi!" she shouted. She then kicked Okami in the other shin, causing the Imagin to fall to the ground before Kumiko ran off.

Kenzaki smiled at that, and began laughing.

Kenzaki loved that memory, mainly because Kumiko, in less than a minute, had made Okami look like a complete fool. Okami never called Kumiko 'Chibi' ever again after that. Kenzaki opened up more after that. Unfortunately, shortly after Kenzaki turned 19, Gou was killed hunting a very dangerous bounty. As such, Kenzaki inherited the Garoh Belt, as well as the GaroLiner. Soon after becoming Garoh, Kenzaki met his second Imagin partner.

Kenzaki, now 19, stood in the crowded street. He was searching the streets hunting a bounty. He spotted his target, but unfortunately, said target had spotted him as well and began to run. Kenzaki chased him down, but he was fast. Kenzaki swung the Garoh Belt around his waist. He pressed the black button on his belt and swiped the Rider Pass over it. "Henshin!"

"HUNTER FORM!"

Kenzaki transformed into Garoh, and easily chased down the target. "Now, let's put an end to this…" spoke Garoh as he lifted up the target. However, this changed however when a white orb entered Garoh's body. The target took this as his chance and ran off. Garoh looked at him. "Halt, foul human!" shouted Garoh as he chased after the bounty.

'Who the hell are you?!' shouted Kenzaki.

"I am Byakko, Garoh-sama, do you not remember me?"

'How could I?! I've only been Garoh for a couple of weeks!'

Garoh stopped, "Are you not Gou?"

'No! I'm Kenzaki. And don't stop running; you're letting my bounty get away!'

"I owe Gou my life, but if you are now Garoh, I am honor bound to follow you, Kenzaki-sama!"

'Fine! Just catch that creep!'

He had always wanted to ask Byakko why he owed Gou his life, but didn't think it was right to ask. Now he'd never know. About a year later, he met his next partner, at a rock concert no less.

Kumiko, after countless amount of begging, was finally able to convince Kenzaki to go to a rock concert with her. To be honest, Kenzaki, now 20, did not care for any sort of music but he was more inclined towards Heavy Metal, though Okami enjoyed making fun of him because of it.

There were too many people and Kenzaki absolutely hated crowds. Kumiko didn't seem too bothered by it and just wanted to enjoy itself. The band began to play and she shouted out like a banshee as she jumped up and down like the rest of the audience. Kenzaki didn't feel like jumping.

"Is this supposed to be music?" he muttered.

Suddenly, the music stopped as an Octopus Imagin appeared on stage and began attacking the band members. It let its tentacles loose and throwing the instruments and band members off the stage into the crowd below.

Kenzaki narrowed his eyes and fastened his Garoh belt around his waist before taking out his pass. He was about to press the black button for Hunter Form when all of a sudden a golden orb flew into his body.

'Sweet! You got rockin' vibes, man!' the voice in his head voice.

Kenzaki rolled his eyes. Great, another groupie. "What do you want, Imagin?"

'Oh, I just wanna rock and rock out loud!'

"Can we do this some other time? I'm kinda busy," Kenzaki returned.

'Hey, don't worry! I can help!' Suddenly, a golden streak appeared in Kenzaki's hair and his eyes flashed golden. "LET'S ROCK!" the now possessed Kenzaki shouted as he pressed a gold button before swiping the Pass over the belt.

"RAMPAGE FORM!"

Kenzaki had liked Raion, since the very beginning. Raion was like a younger brother to Kenzaki, and had always been able to cheer him up. He was also the only one that managed to get along with Kumiko, which was something, considering even Byakko couldn't get along with her. Buraki on the other hand…he was a different matter.

A crimson orb was flying through the crowd, invisible to the naked eye, as it maneuvered itself like it was looking for something. This was an Imagin who hadn't created its body and needed a host tot make a contract with in order to create his own physical form.

The orb was dissatisfied. No one seemed to be compatible with its taste. This Imagin orb, truth be told, had its own tastes when it came to a proper host.

It soon found itself at the beach and it floated in midair. If it had eyes, they'd be focused on the bikini-clad girls on the beach.

"Wow, pretty girls!" The orb flew around, checking them out, trying to find the perfect person to make a contract with.

The orb soon found a pretty looking Asian girl sunbathing and it bopped up and down in appreciation as if it was checking her out. "Perfect!" It then flew straight for her.

However, it didn't get to her. Instead, a man, Kenzaki, got in his way and he was absorbed into that body. "NO!!" the Imagin orb wailed as sand flew off his new host. "I got a man instead! So unfair!" He whined like a kid that had been denied his candy.

"Oi, Shonen-kun," said Okami, getting Kenzaki's attention. He'd been so lost in memories that he didn't notice Okami calling him several times. "I'm sensing an Imagin…but there's something wrong with it. It seems darker."

Kenzaki stood up, putting the phone in his pocket. "Right, let's go."

Neko was standing on the roof, thinking, depressingly. Neither Cathy nor Rose were with her since she wanted to be alone with only Gekiryuken as company. Kenzaki's words had hurt him but they were nothing less than the truth. Her face and Copycat's were the same, but that was to be expected since they were two sides of the same coin. While Neko was good, Copycat was pure evil and her previous actions had just affirmed that belief.

Copycat had not only stolen Kenzaki's family once, but twice, and it broke Neko's heart. She remembered when the darkness had controlled her and she was jumping dimensions. She had been injured and hungry but killed Kenzaki's family who'd been nothing but kind to her. No wonder Kenzaki hated Copycat. The bounty was nothing compared to the satisfaction of attaining his vengeance against the one who'd ruined his life.

"Ojou-sama, you're worried about the boy, aren't you?" Gekiryuken asked from his place where he was hanging from Neko's neck.

"Is it that obvious?" Neko said as she pulled Gekiryuken up to face her. "I mean, it's my fault that all this is happening."

Gekiryuken sighed, "Copycat was the one who did this."

"She's part of me!" Neko countered. "What she does still reflects me and reminds me of what I had done when she and I used to be whole!"

"But, you are not evil," Gekiryuken stated. "If you were, I wouldn't have chosen you."

"The sins of the past cannot be erased by noble deeds in the present," Neko quoted. "No matter what I do, the blood on my hands can never wash away."

Gekiryuken fell silent but then his eyes flashed. "Ojou-sama, maybe we should go someplace else to clear your head."

Neko nodded in agreement and teleported away.

At the park, the Skeleton Imagin was causing a panic. The creature looked up when it heard a strange tune. A portal opened and out from the portal came the ChronoLiner, dropping off Kenzaki.

"Okami…ikuzo," said Kenzaki.

'Hai. Just like the old days, just you and me…'

A black streak appeared in Kenzaki's hair. He swung the Garo Belt around, connecting it. He pressed the black button on the belt. "Henshin!" growled Kenzaki. He then swiped his Rider Pass over the belt.

"HUNTER FORM!"

Garoh's Plat Form armor appeared on him first, before the attachments for Hunter Form appeared and combined with him. Garoh combined the Gasher into its Scimitar form. Garoh haphazardly swung the blade around, sending out arcs of energy. He then spun the blade around and rested it on his shoulder. He reared his head back and howled into the air. He then crouched down on one knee, with his right arm pointed down. He then scratched his claws across the ground "Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf?"

The Skeleton Imagin growled at Garoh. "Who's afraid? Who would be afraid of you!?" The Imagin charged at Garoh, brandishing its bone sword.

"I'm going to crush you!" The two swung their blades, colliding with each other. The Skeleton Imagin jumped backward. Garoh kept swinging his blade, but the Imagin was able to dodge every strike. "Damn it! Stay still and fight!" He charged again and swung, only to be sidestepped. Garoh continued his assault, but was dodged each time. He swung again, but was dodged. The Imagin swung around and slashed Garoh in the back with his blade. Garoh tried to recover, but was slashed multiple times by the blade. Garoh rolled away to try and regain some footing in the battle. He stood back up, only to be relentlessly attacked by the Imagin.

The Skeleton Imagin laughed as Garoh tried to get back up. The Imagin raised his hand and bullets made of bone slammed into Garoh, knocking him backwards. "What's wrong? I heard Garoh was stronger than this," taunted the Imagin.

Garoh scrambled to his feet and went behind a tree. "Damn it. I just can't land a hit," growled Garoh.

'But we have to do this,' said Kenzaki, from inside his own head. Garoh watched as the Skeleton Imagin got closer.

"You're right. Can't call in replacements for this one," agreed Garoh.

'That's not true…' said Kenzaki. Garoh reached behind him and pulled out something from a pouch on the belt. It was the cell phone that Kenzaki had found amongst the ruble. 'Don't you find it strange that we found this there? Maybe they were leaving us a message? I think that those bakas are still with us.' Images of the Imagin partners, Shiori, and Kumiko flashed in Garoh's mind.

"Kuso…Did they really disappear?" The Skeleton Imagin was now upon them and preparing to attack. "Did they really!?" roared Garoh as he slashed the Imagin, slicing the tree in half as he did so.

Neko was taking a walk in the park when all of a sudden several people ran past her in a panic. She wondered what was going on until Gekiryuken alerted her, "Ojou-sama, I sense something! It feels like a Horror!"

Neko narrowed her eyes in determination, "Ikuyo!" She ran the opposite direction as the panicking people and could hear the sound of a battle.

Neko had originally gone to the park to get some alone time and think but plans had changed quickly. Upon arrival she witnessed as Garoh was fighting with this Skeleton Imagin but saw that something was wrong with him and his fighting style. The death of his family and the destruction of the GaroLiner had greatly affected him. As much as she wanted to help him, she knew he wouldn't accept it considering she had the face of the person he hated the most. She gripped Gekiryuken tightly. As much as she wanted to help him, she knew he had to do this alone. It was his mission after all. It was his responsibility. It was his honor.

"Bakas! Shiori! Kumiko-Kowai!" shouted Garoh. "Don't just disappear! You assholes!" Garoh charged at the Skeleton and began slashing the Imagin rapidly, causing it to stagger backwards. As he was slashing, the phone began to ring. "Nani?" He stopped slashing. The Skeleton Imagin charged at him, only to be slashed and kick backwards. Garoh flipped open the phone. "Moshi moshi?"

"Violent as always, Okami-kun," said a familiar voice on the other end.

"Baka-Imoogi!?" shouted Garoh. "Why are you…"

"Forget that! Try using the cell phone!" said Buraki.

"You! Where are you calling from?!"

"Just do it! Hayaku!"

The skeleton Imagin charged at Garoh, only to get slashed twice and kicked backwards again. "You're in the way, bakayarou!" growled Garoh.

'Okami, I don't know what's going on, but try it!' shouted Kenzaki.

"Fine…" He dialed 3-6-9-# and ENTER.

"OKA-BYA-RAI-BURA!" said the phone. "EMPEROR FORM!"

As soon as the phone announced that, an energy beam fired out from the phone. It wrapped around his waist before the phone flew out and connected with the belt buckle.

A multicolored portal formed above in and three objects flew out of it. They were the chestplates of his Predator (Byakko), Rampage (Raion) and Savage (Buraki) Forms. The chestplate for Savage Form resembled the head of a red Korean dragon. The chestplates flew straight towards Garoh who screamed and dropped his sword.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Garoh shouted as the chestplates flew around. The Predator and Rampage chests attached to his left and right shoulders, respectively. "Oh, this is so sick and wrong!" Garoh shouted as they snapped on. The Savage chest connected with his back, sending him stumbling forwards. A pair of red dragon wings spread out before hanging down his back like a cape. His Hunter Form mask detached and then from the portal the masks for his additional forms also flew out. The Rampage and Predator Masks attached to the right and left knees, respectively, as the Hunter and Savage Masks (the Savage Mask is red and draconic with fins on the side) attached themselves to his right and left forearms, respectively. A new mask slid over his faceplate and snapped on. The new mask possessed features of all his other masks, put together. It was basically the Hunter Mask with dragon horns, a blade horn in the centre, 3 horizontal slits on it, and jagged edges.

Neko's eyes went wide with surprise as she let go of Gekiryuken. "Masaka…Kenzaki?"

"Wow, that was surprising," Gekiryuken spoke up.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" Okami shouted from his place on Garoh's chest as he looked himself over and all of a sudden a portal formed and the GaroLiner, all good as new, flew out of it and raced past right behind him with a colorful aura. "GAROLINER!?"

"But how?" Garoh, now speaking with Kenzaki's voice, spoke. "The GaroLiner?"

Shiori and Kumiko were inside the GaroLiner, watching everything through the window. "Kenzaki, we'll explain everything, just kick that Imagin's butt!"

"Kenzaki! Gambatte!" Shiro cheered, now back to her old self, "Okami, Byakko, Buraki, Raion, gambatte!"

The Skeleton Imagin stared at his changed enemy as Garoh approached him.

"Guys, you're back?" Garoh asked.

"Did you miss us, kid?" Buraki's voice came out from the back. "Come on, you know you do!"

"This so rocks in the weirdest way!" Raion's voice came out from the Rampage Mask. "TOTALLY GNARLY!"

"Now we are one. Let us stand together and be united!" Byakko's voice came out from the Predator Mask.

"OK, this is so weirding me out!" Okami yelled from the chest. "But…I feel…FREAKIN' POWERFUL!"

"You're a freak!" the Skeleton Imagin shouted, "DIE!!" he charged straight at Garoh Emperor Form.

Garoh swung his fist that had the Hunter Mask on it as Okami proclaimed, "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?"

He punched him again with his other fist, which became enflamed, as Buraki announced, "Let's light the fire!"

Garoh then kicked the Imagin in the stomach with his left foot, as Byakko announced, "Remember the basics!"

The right foot met the Imagin's face and sent it tumbling backwards, as Raion announced, "Let's turn up the volume!"

"Guys, HISSATSU WAZA!" Garoh commanded.

"OKAY!" the four Imagin inside him agreed. Garoh pressed the ENTER button again before passing his Pass over the belt.

"CHARGE AND UP!" the belt announced.

Garoh, Buraki, Byakko, Okami and Raion all roared together as they dashed at the Imagin, his entire armor glowing with a multicolor aura as lightning arched all around him. His wings spread out and took him into the air and then went into a flying sidekick. He rocketed straight towards his target. "IMPERIAL SMASH!" roared Garoh and all the Imagin as they, literally, smashed into the Imagin and destroyed it in an instant.

Garoh stood up in a circle of flames, looking over his handiwork, smiling, not only because of the victory but to have his family back.

Neko shouted happily, "Ken-kun!" She ran towards him as his armor disengaged. "Sugoi! You were amazing!"

"Took the words right out of my mouth, if I had one!" laughed Gekiryuken joyously. "That was an amazing display!"

Kenzaki looked towards Neko but the looked away shamefully. He'd said such horrible things to her earlier. Now, he had to be a man and do the right thing. "Neko, I'm…I'm sorry about what I said to you."

Neko fell silent and smiled widely, "Hey, it's no big deal! You were pissed off and I wasn't helping matters."

"That still doesn't make it right," the bounty hunter responded. He looked towards the GaroLiner and then invited Neko, "Neko, you wanna come in? I think I hear a party."

"Hai!" Neko smiled as she followed Kenzaki towards the GaroLiner to party. Maybe she could ask Kenzaki if he could let the Titans in on the party. They were all friends now, after all.

Copycat had seen the Skeleton Imagin's defeat but that was of no consequence for her. A dark orb flew towards her and she spoke, eyes narrowed, "So, you were defeated."

The voice coming out of the orb was that of the Skeleton Imagin's, "Yes, I do apologize." Despite the destruction of his body, he'd managed to survive. "I'll get him next time."

Copycat bit her lower lip. Her plan to destroy the GaroLiner had been a waste of time and effort. She then said, "Good, now follow me."

The orb bobbed up and down as if it was nodding before following after its new mistress.

Neko was watching the sunset with Rose and Cathy. The holder of Gekiryuken had her arms around the two girls flanking her.

"It's really beautiful," Neko admired.

"Yes, mama," Cathy nodded in agreement.

Rose leaned against Neko, enjoying the warmth. The three girls heard footsteps and turned to see Kenzaki. Rose scowled and glared at Kenzaki angrily.

"What the hell are you doing up here?" Rose demanded, her hand tightly gripped on the handle of her machete. Earlier, Kenzaki had yelled at Neko and that was unforgivable in Rose's eyes.

"It's okay," Neko assured Rose. She said to Cathy and Rose, "You both head inside. I'll catch up."

Rose reluctantly agreed to the request and walked towards the door which led into the Tower but not before casting Kenzaki a glare. Cathy had a neutral gaze focused on Kenzaki before following after Rose.

"So, what's up?" Neko asked.

"Say, Neko?" Kenzaki began. "Can we talk?" He eyed Gekiryuken. "Alone?"

"Oh, okay," Neko said as she removed Gekiryuken and stuffed him inside her pocket where he wouldn't be able to hear them. "There, how's that?"

"That's cool," Kenzaki nodded before continuing, rather awkwardly, "I'm really sorry about yelling at you."

Neko rolled her eyes, "Are we still going on about that? It's ancient history as far as I'm concern."

Kenzaki wasn't sure why or how but Neko brought out certain feelings inside of him. "Say, Neko…we're good friends, right?"

"Sure." Neko and Kenzaki had become friends since they worked together in rescuing Cathy and Rose.

"And we can tell each other everything, right?" Kenzaki questioned.

Neko laughed, "Ken-kun, what's wrong? You're acting funny." She eyed him suspiciously, "You're not going to suddenly pledge your undying love for me or something like that, are ya?" She actually meant it as a joke.

"WHAT!?" Kenzaki yelled in shock with a blush on his cheeks.

"Hey, I'm kidding!" she laughed.

Kenzaki, after hearing those words, gawked at her for a second before he swiftly recomposed himself, "No, of course, not. Nothing like that. It's just that I really wanted to say thanks for being my friend, even if I was a jerk to you." Kenzaki, of course, was thinking, 'If only you knew about how much I deeply care about you.'

"Hey, let bygones be bygones," Neko responded. For some reason, when Kenzaki had said that he wasn't going to confess his love to her, it kinda hurt. It felt strange to her. The urge to read his mind built up for a second but she stomped on it quickly. "I mean, it's all behind us, right?"

"Yeah," Kenzaki nodded. "All behind us." He was just happy that everything had turned out alright.

Previously, Kenzaki, after a tearful reunion with his family, had finally gotten the full story from them on how the GaroLiner and the crew had survived their supposed destruction.

Earlier that day right after Shiori had returned to the GaroLiner and temporarily shut herself down Kumiko had snuck inside the cockpit to check up on her. She realized that Shiori had been acting weird upon her return. Kumiko thought she could find some reasons for it by talking with the gynoid. Instead, she found a powerful explosive attached to the bike which controlled the GarohLiner. From the timer on the explosive, Kumiko could tell that she was running out of time. Kumiko had to work fast. After quickly examining the bike, she'd discovered that the bomb hadn't been attached to it through any sort of wires. She'd quickly removed the bomb from the bike and went to the teleporter in the back, carrying the bomb with her. She had no time to disarm it or throw it out of the train so instead Kumiko teleported straight towards the end of the GaroLiner which had several empty train cars. She'd placed the bomb there before teleporting back into the cockpit and then detaching the train cars before the bomb exploded. Later, they had gone to the King's Terminal to get some replacement cars and to get Shiori repaired. It was revealed that Shiori had been reprogrammed and the obvious suspect was Copycat.

When Kenzaki had asked why he had not been able to communicate with Byakko, Buraki and Raion, they'd explained that it would be safer for them to lay low until it was time. The phone, in fact, had been left for Kenzaki by the original Garoh to be used only for emergencies.

The bounty hunter wiped some sweat off his brow. "Well, we better get inside. I think they are still partying down there. I don't think they should have fun without us."

"Well, your friends and family whom you thought were dead just came back," Neko elaborated, "I'll say that's a reason to party!"

"Well, what are we waiting for? Come on!"

This force, evolution, is not sentimental. Like the Earth itself, it knows only the hard facts of life's struggle with death. All you can do is hope and trust that when you've served its needs faithfully... there may still remain some glimmer... of the life you once knew.

To Be Continued...

I am going to take a nice long break now...ENJOY!