Disclaimer: See initial chapter

Chap. 46

The silvery Porsche skidded to a silent halt in front of the large warehouse building. Ken exited the vehicle and looked up at it for a moment before taking in the surrounding area. It was in a desolate run-down area, about a block away from the sea. Nothing else was around aside from a few crates and boxes. 'No surprise there' he thought as he reached into the back and grabbed his sword. In such an isolated area, there would be no witnesses to the fight.

Strapping the blade to his side, Ken moved up to the door which, not surprisingly again, was left unlocked. Still, the blond-haired immortal remained cautious as he entered inside. It was obviously a trap, but it was one he couldn't avoid. Eliza was in here somewhere and he had to do whatever it took to save her.

Moving up a flight of stairs, he soon came to another door. Entering in, he was greeted with an open area, with high windows giving in light. The metal floor tapped mildly as he ventured in, looking around. He had taken no more than three steps when he sensed the presence of an immortal nearby. His hand gripped the sheath of the sword immediately and his eyes wandered about in search. Just then, there was a loud clicking sound that came from behind him. He didn't need to turn to discover that the door had been locked. And there seemed to be no other exits around either.

"Okay. You've got me. Now come out."

Two more clicks resounded and from both sides of him, two large capsules lowered down from the ceiling. The first was a clear, glassy capsule, but it seemed foggy and thus he could tell what was in it until it came closer to the ground. The capsule soon hissed open and a figure dropped out of it.

"Eliza!"

Dashing over to his fallen wife, Ken quickly scooped her up in his arms. Quickly checking her, he found that she was unconscious, but alive. He was relieved for the first minute and then angry the next. Just then, the second capsule touched the metal ground. Unlike the one Eliza was in, this one was solid metal, with a single little glass window on it. Growling noises soon emanated from within and the capsule began to open. Quickly, Ken placed Eliza down on the ground and moved in front of her. His hand gripped his sword and pulled it out of the sheath; ready to face whoever it was that had just emerged.

But even still, he hadn't expected to see this...

What came out was a creature, a human-beast of some kind. Its skin was tanned in olive green and it was clothed only in a pair of torn pants. Long orange hair mane the creature's head and its hand and feet held pointed claws. The beast roared again, revealing a set of long fangs in its mouth and primal fury was all that could be seen in its eyes. Despite these details, there was one thing that was truly surprising Ken.

He was sensing the beast as an immortal...

"Rwwwooaarrrhhh!"

Japan

'Home sweet home.'

Sakura relaxed on the couch in her apartment building. It has been a week since she and Ryu returned to their home country and two days since they parted ways, at least for the moment. Sakura had told him that she wanted to spend some time in the area she lived, which was vastly more urban than the woods (she joked to him about that). She offered for Ryu to stay, but he decided to head back to his dojo dwelling.

Sakura smiled at the memory. She had to make Ryu promise her that he wouldn't go off traveling until she got there first. It was silly, but she didn't mind. One of the things she learned about after being on her own was that it was okay to act silly once in awhile; to behave like the young girl-woman that she appeared and not the 0000 plus immortal that she actually was.

It was then that she sensed the presence of an immortal nearby. Blinking, she rose up from her couch and moved toward the side of the room where her sword stood in wait. She didn't believe that anyone was after her (no reason that she could see anyway), but it never hurt to be a little cautious. Her doorbell soon rang and she moved to answer. Her first thought was that it was Ryu, but the ki she was sensing wasn't his.

"Hello?" she called through the door.

A feminine voice called back. "Kusugano Sakura?"

"Yes."

"The rooftop. Alone. Two minutes."

"Rwwwooaarrrhhh!"

With a roar, the beast sprang quickly at Ken, dashing on both its hands and feet. Ken fought the instinct to dodge, as Eliza was behind him. Instead, he rushed at the creature and made a vertical slash at its chest. But the beast quickly hopped up over the slash and shot both its feet downward, smashing into Ken's shoulder.

"Ghh!"

Ken backed away with a grunt, but remained on his feet. The beast touched down into a half-crouch and immediately launched a heavy fist forward. Ken was caught right in the face and he fell back, loosing his sword in the process. Fortunately, he managed to avoid falling on Eliza and fell off to the side of her. Shaking his head, he looked at the beast that was coming at him again. He had to lead to creature away from Eliza. He already figured that whoever set him up wanted him to be distracted by putting his wife in the thick of the fight.

"Rwoarr!"

The beast came at him again, leaping high into the air with its claws stretched out. Bringing his arms in close, Ken waited for the creature's descent and blocked the twin claws that slashed at him. His arms were cut, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. And he was about to make up for it.

'Gotcha!'

His arms suddenly flew out, grabbing hold of the beast's arms as Ken pulled himself backward into a fall. Mid-way however, his foot shot out into the beast's gut and the creature fell with him. But what seemed like a haphazard fall swiftly turned into a roll, as Ken and the beast spiraled across the metal floor repeatedly until Ken released his opponent into the air, throwing him up far and away. Flipping to his feet, the blond immortal took up his fighting stance as the beast began to recover. He couldn't afford to go after his sword right now so he would have to settle for good old-fashioned hand-to-hand combat.

Meanwhile, the beast had risen up, shaking its head as it did. With a low growl, it glared over at Ken and began to bend down low. Ken braced himself for another crazed attack when the beast dashed at him with greater speed than before. Ken remained unfazed, but that changed when the beast kicked off the ground and tucked its knees and arms to its chest. This resulted in a rolling flying mass of green and orange that smashed right into Ken's face.

"Gkk!"

As the spinning creature continued to spin around in the air, Ken wobbled on his feet. Though it had the appearance of a beast, the creature was actually displaying some fighting skill within that animal fury. In any case, Ken had had enough of getting pounded. So as soon as the beast landed gently behind him, Ken whirled around with a sharp roundhouse kick, cracking it into the beast's face.

"Grah!"

The groan of pain was a satisfying thing to hear, but Ken didn't ease off. Concentrating his ki into his lower body, he whirled again into another kick, leaving the ground this time and spinning around like a top, repeatedly landing blows on the beast with the Tatsumaki-Senpuu Kyaku technique. Landing he made ready to press on with a punch when the creature ducked down low. It wasn't enough for the attack to miss, but then something shocking happened.

Literally...

The beast's skin suddenly lit up and a second before Ken's fist could connect, the blond immortal found himself struck with electricity. Ken cried as the energy surged through his entire body like a flood, causing him to stagger back to one knee.

'What...is this...thing...?'

"Ken...?"

His senses were a little frazzled, but he could tell the distinct female voice coming from behind. He shook his head and turned partly to see Eliza beginning to revive, muttering his name painfully as she began to come to.

"Rrhh...! Rhh...!"

The beast heard the voice as well, for its attention soon shifted over to her. It began to growl lowly and slowly advance toward her. It was by sheer force of will that Ken made his way back to his feet, shaking off the effects of the creature's unusual attack. The beast quickly returned its attention back to him, but not before Ken could swiftly send a fierce punch to its jaw. His body still felt weak from the electrocution, but the punch was strong enough to send the beast staggering back.

"Grraahh!"

Now furious, the beast lunged at Ken once again and swiped at him with a flying claw. Ken sidestepped the attack and backed away, allowing the beast to attack him again with another flying claw. Again Ken evaded the attack and made a short retreat, keeping his stance. It wasn't normally his style to fight defensively, but he knew this creature was more than what it seemed, having combat abilities of its own. So he would have to gauge him and find an opening. But he couldn't drag this out. When Eliza awakens fully, she may get the beast's attention once again and Ken may not be able to stop it.

'Only one shot at this...'

Seemingly annoyed by Ken's evasive tactics, the beast hopped forward to get in close. Ken took a step back, but the beast was close enough as it reared its arms back and struck forward with both claws. Reacting on reflex, Ken shot both his hands out, catching the claws and holding them away from him. The two struggled for a bit as the beast tried to force its claws onto Ken while Ken held them away. Then in an unexpected move, the beast shot its head forward and Ken saw too late the glistening fangs of the creature as it sank right into his left shoulder.

"Ahhhhh!"

Pain soon lead to sudden rage and Ken snapped his head off to the side, smashing it into the beast face and causing it to release him. Stepping back, Ken shook his shoulder, fighting the urge to grab hold of the painful wound. He would heal from it soon enough anyway. Dropping his defensive tactic, Ken stepped in and gave the stunned creature a straight punch to the jaw. The beast's head snapped back and Ken pressed with short kick to the stomach. The beast however, recovered enough to evade the attack and return with a low kick of its own. The blond immortal fell down to the metal, but rolled backward as the beast lunged at him. Ken saw the berserker fury in its eyes as its claws came back again.

'Good. Then it won't see this coming.'

Skkkkkkk!

"Rwwaahhhhh!"

The beast gave a roar of pain upon what Ken had done. Before this moment, Ken had fought defensively in order to move back around where they had started fighting. And the backward roll had been the key, allowing him to retrieve his sword and send the blade right into the heart of the beast. As it backed away, Ken saw the wound beginning to close up. 'Oh course. It's an immortal.' He didn't know what this creature was or who it was or how it came to be this way. All he knew was that this thing was a threat and there was only one way to deal with it. Rearing his sword back and generating his ki into it, he muttered the old adage.

"There can be only one..."

The blade lit up with the fiery energy as Ken shot toward the beast and upward. The sword left a trail of fire as Ken soared up, bringing the burning weapon to the creature's throat and soon enough through it in a flash. As Ken continued to ascend, the beast's eyes became lifeless and it felt to the metal floor, its head separating and rolling away in a mass of green and orange. Ken soon landed away from the now-dead beast and saw the mist of the Quickening leave it body and come to him.

'This is going to be weird.'

The Quickening soon entered his body and with it, the great surge of power it brought. Ken gasped as the power flooding his very being and as it continued to grow, so did Ken's cries. Lightning sparked all around him as he staggered toward and soon enough down the stairs he had come through in an effort not go get Eliza caught in it. But as he hit the bottom, the energy surge within his soon exploded, blasting open the door and part of the wall as he cried aloud. Soon the Quickening died down to completion and Ken slumped down on the wrecked floor.

"Ken...?"

Looking up, he saw Eliza at the top of the stairs. Groggily, he rose up and began walking up the stairs as she came down them. Without a word, the two clasped into each other arms, holding each tight, with Eliza in tears and Ken doing his best to stay upright in order to comfort her.

Unaware that they were being watched...

Sakura cautiously made her way up to the rooftop of her apartment building, sword in hand, and entered up into the open area. It was late afternoon and the sun was just beginning to set over the city. Stepping out, she was met with her challenger. It was a young woman (at least in appearance) with short hair and dressed in a white gi with a band tied around her neck. She wore no shoes, as they were at her left side while on her right lay a sheathed katana. Currently, the woman was kneeling down in a meditative stance and her eyes were closed.

"Who are you?"

"Makoto. Heir of the Rindoukan art." The woman slowly opened her eyes and took hold of the katana, rising up smoothly as she did. "Now that we have been introduced..."

Sakura frowned. "I don't want to fight you."

"You don't have a choice." the woman returned.

"I won't fight you."

Sakura began to turn away. She didn't know this woman and as far as she could tell, she had never met her before. Revenge was usually the motivation for a fight and if this woman wasn't seeking it, then Sakura saw no need for a fight. However, the woman didn't allow her that option.

"I have been tracking you down for some time, Kusugano. I was honorable enough to give you a fighting chance now. Turn away from me now and I promise you that you won't get that again next time."

This caused Sakura to stop and turn back. She had been tracking her? Just for this? And now she was threatening her as well?

"Why? Why me?"

"To prove whether we are worthy of our art. Now..." The blade slowly exited the sheath and she held it parallel to her face.

"There can be only one!"

Sakura saw only a blur as Makoto lunged at her. On reflex alone, Sakura quickly hopped off to the side as the blade soared on and struck part of the rooftop exit and partially blew it up. Quickly drawing her own sword, Sakura took her stance, all the while inwardly shocked at the force of power this woman unleashed, all from a single lunge.

'What the heck...!'

Makoto turned toward her opponent and calmly strode toward her, katana at her side. "I'm impressed. Few are able to dodge my Tosshin Seisen Tsuki."

With that, Makoto attacks again, this time with a high slash. Sakura meets the blade in a resounding clash with her own sword. Quickly, Makoto pressed on with several more attacks, each meeting with Sakura's sword and driving the woman back. Seeing that she wouldn't be able to meet her head-on, Sakura dodged the next strike and returned to slash down. Makoto brought her sword back in defense and quickly pushed Sakura off with a shoulder before renewing her attacks again.

'Not good...'

Sakura had gauged Makoto enough to realize that her opponent was definitely an offensive fighter. Not only that, but she had a lot of force behind her strikes. Not to mention that Makoto was very well grounded to the floor, making it difficult to push her back. It was unusual for Sakura to face someone of Makoto's build and size who had that kind of strength. It was quite misleading.

But not impossible...

As Makoto came in for a stab, Sakura sidestepped and struck down at the sword. Makoto brought it up and as the swords clashed again, Makoto made ready to force Sakura back again. However, Sakura moved first and disengaged from her before lashing out with a kick. The blow caught Makoto who rolled over the ground in recovery. Sakura pursued her, making a half-leap as she did. But Makoto had rolled to her feet completely and her sword was ready.

"Ha!"

In an instant, her blade stabbed upward and Sakura was able to rotate her waist in order to dodge, but was unable to do anything to stop the blade from piercing into the side of her thigh. And with the attack using same force as before, Sakura found herself tumbling over near the edge of the roof. As Sakura roused herself, she winced in pain. The gash in her leg was worse than she thought. It would take a long while to heal, during which time she would be vulnerable.

Meanwhile, Makoto began to advance on her. She saw the wound in her opponent's leg and knew she was in a bad state. But Makoto couldn't afford to underestimate her now. Already, Sakura had managed to dodge her Tosshin Seisen Tsuki and just get through her Jikiage Seisen Tsuki with only a leg wound.

'This is just the opponent I needed.'

Sakura tried to brace herself and came up only halfway. Makoto was still advancing on her and if she didn't do anything, then her life would be over. Putting the sword to her side, Sakura readied her legs. She knew this would hurt, but if it worked, she would have gained some breathing time. Makoto soon attacked with a mid-slash and that was when Sakura's ki flew.

"Sho-O-Sen!"

In a flash, Sakura dashed across the ground toward Makoto, ducking under Makoto's attack. Her blade sliced the ground and she soared upward. In shock, Makoto bent her slash into a block, but Sakura's blade went on and slashed her against the shoulder. In the aftermath of the attack, the two women immortals fell to the ground, their back to each other. As she thought, the pain from pushing her leg into the attack was great and Sakura hand to breathe through it. As for Makoto, she gasped at the shoulder wound and held it. She didn't expect for Sakura to use her already injured leg in such an attack.

And that made her smile a little...

Makoto turned to face Sakura, only to find the woman immortal already coming at her with her blade up high. Makoto quickly blocked and Sakura pressed on, fighting both Makoto and the furious pain in her leg. Makoto was forced to the defensive and managed to roll away as Sakura struck out again. Coming out of the roll, Makoto felt Sakura coming at her again and slashed out with as much force as she could. But she didn't see the faint blue aura that was around Sakura's sword.

"Hadoken!"

The energized blade met with Makoto's and clashed loudly. Makoto felt the violent power though her own sword and was shocked to see her blade crack and the point of it breaking off completely. The two continue on past each other and Sakura turned around. She knew she had to press on and put Makoto on the defensive if she was to have a chance at beating her. And now, upon seeing the fragmented sword in her opponent's hand, she had won the match.

"This fight is over."

"Not yet."

Sakura looked in surprise as Makoto suddenly shot at her with the broken sword, using her Tosshin technique. Even though damaged, a broken sword with that force behind it will hurt her seriously. Sakura didn't even think about this though as she twisted hard to the side, her sword bearing down. Makoto's attack stabbed into Sakura's shoulder, but that proved to be a moot point.

...since Sakura's sword came at her neck from behind...

Makoto flew by and in that moment, she knew she had lost. But she didn't mind. She had faced an opponent that was a worthy match of her skill and fought in a duel that pleased her. As the second ticked by, Makoto only had one final thought.

'Father... I hope I made you proud...'

Sakura wheeled as her sword decapitated Makoto and she stumbled onto the ground. Makoto's sword was jammed into Sakura's shoulder while the woman's body fell to the ground, with her head rolling away. As Sakura rose and pried the sword from her shoulder, she saw the white mist of the Quickening come to her and the power of Makoto filled her. Power struck her violently and Sakura let out a loud cry.

The energy flashed and struck random areas of the rooftop, all surge to and from Sakura as the Quickening continued. Sakura felt the power, but she also saw the memories of her fallen opponent. A little girl...her sick father...a dojo...pride...worth... The Quickening finally ended and Sakura slumped to the ground. Her injuries were beginning to heal, but she was greatly exhausted from both the fight and the Quickening.

Willing herself back to her feet, Sakura looked over at the body of Makoto; the woman that had came out of nowhere and challenged her to this fight. Sakura had told her that the fight was unnecessary, but upon seeing her memories, perhaps it was. Straightening herself Sakura bowed to her fallen opponent and whispered.

"You fought well. Your father would be proud."

Unknown

In the middle of a large and dark chamber room, two figures walked in to pick up the body of a third, which was crumpled up on the ground below a high and shadowy throne. Seated on that throne, a pair of eyes glowed in malicious violet as the body was carried away. Ken had survived the encounter with the emerald beast, even with the distraction of his wife's presence. The experiment was a failure and failure wasn't something he tolerated.

Thus the body being carried away...

But there was a silver lining to it. His doll had managed to obtain some battle data from Masters and that would be useful for the future. In fact, Masters was shown to be an immortal of great ability and power. Thus h is Quickening would be just as great. But he didn't need it now. Ken was still below his desired power so killing him now would be a waste. No, he would wait; wait until he was strong enough to be worthy of killing.

And then, they will meet...