Chapter 18: Full Metal Samurai

Devin and his mentor looked at each other for a while, the boy crossing his arms over his chest in aggravation as he glared at the Samurai in front of him.

"Settle this peacefully? I'm investigating the accident that killed my father that could have possibly been a murder meant to look like an accident. There's nothing 'peaceful' about any of that." The boy told the Silver Samurai.

"There are many possibilities and, my apologies for these words, you're father's death being a staged murder is not one of them." Harada replied, getting a look of anger from the metal mutant.

"Things don't add up, Harada-sensei. None of the evidence I managed to sift through matches the criteria of the causes that were proposed!" Devin snapped. "I know that my grandparents and the five families knew of my mother's connection to the FBI in America and hated her for it, and it's one of the reasons why they kept trying to make me hate her. Do you honestly expect me to believe that one of them couldn't have ordered a hit to kill on her that might have gone awry?"

Harada gave the boy a discerning look. "You're opening up an old wound, pupil. Why are you so enthralled with this endeavor now, of all times? You've never cared about this until now. What caused you to change?"

"Nothing changed, I just finally decided to do something rather than watch my mother's honor be slandered any longer." Devin said as he suddenly turned his left hand into a giant morning star mace and let it drop to the ground. "Now, you can back away and allow me to do this, or I can force you, sensei. Your choice."

The Samurai sighed in defeat at that. "I see, so there really is no reasoning with you." He then drew his sword from its scabbard and then pointed it at the boy. "I'm sorry that it has come to this, my student."

"I sincerely doubt that." The boy stated coldly as he leapt into the air and swung his mace arm down and clashed it with Harada's sword.

(Flashback)

-Shirakumo residence, ten years ago-

Devin was standing in front of his grandparents in their living room, his seven year old eyes searing with anger and aggravation towards the two as his fists were clenched and shook violently.

"I want to see my mom and brother! Why won't you let me be with them?!" He yelled at the two angrily.

"Because it's for your own good! Nothing positive will come from associating with them!" Devin's grandmother exclaimed.

"Shut up! You're lying! I know you are!" The boy screamed in rage. As if that triggered something in his mind, his body rippled a metallic silver and then his body soon became covered in metal spikes that extended five inches in length, ripping through the little boy's clothes.

The elderly Yakuza couple backed up in shock at the unexpected display. The boy shook violently and kept glaring at them angrily.

"I will never believe you! I will find out the truth, no matter how long it takes!" The boy yelled at them as they stared at him in shock and fear.

(Flashback End)

Devin's mace collided with Harada's sword, and sparks flew as the two metals clashed and grazed. "You won't be able to slice through my metal skin so easily now, Harada. For now with my new enhancements, I'm able to make my metal into any alloy I want, and the one I'm using? An organic alloy of Adamantium and Vibranium." He said, his metal now coating his entire body.

"So you boast. Let us see if your words are true." The Silver Samurai replied. The man then struck the boy with his sword, only for him to turn his arms into a shield and block it. Harada kept swinging but his blade wasn't making so much as a scratch, and unbeknownst to him, the metal of his katana was slowly starting to crack with every strike.

The exchange of blows continued for a while with Harada's blade continuing to crack. After a few more minutes, the fighters locked blades again as they glared at each other.

"You foolish boy, I've taught you everything you know! You hold no surprises for me!" Harada growled.

Devin smirked as he turned his shield back into his hands and gripped the Samurai's sword, tightening his grip. "Not everything." He said as he clamped down on the sword and caused it to shatter into a million pieces. This caused the man to fall forward due to gravity, and allowed Devin to turn his arms into metal tendrils and wrap them around him before pulling him down and driving his knee hard into his mentor's midsection while making a spike on his knee in the process.

Harada spasmed as he coughed up blood from the impact, hunching over in pain as his stomach bled. "Where… Did you learn that?" He growled.

"I had a lot of things to learn in America." Devin shrugged. He then shoved the man away as the Samurai clutched his now bleeding stomach. Devin slowly walked up to his mentor and sighed deeply. "I'm sorry sensei, but I've waited for this opportunity too long to be stopped now." He then turned his hand into a hammer and then raised it over Harada's head, before bringing it down on him.

The blow knocked the wounded warrior out cold. Devin made his hammer into his normal hand again and sighed. 'I really wish I didn't have to do this to you, sensei…' He thought with a bit of sadness. 'But unfortunately for you, my love for my mother and desire to find closure to my father's death is stronger than my loyalty to you.'

(Elsewhere)

In a traditional styled Japanese mansion in Tokyo, a man sat in a parlor of sorts as he drank some sort of Japanese alcohol, most likely a brand of Japanese whiskey. Swords, weapons and old armor hung from racks on the walls around him.

This man was Shingin Yashida, master of the Silver Samurai, leader of the Yashida crime syndicate, and sole benefactor to the Shirakumo family.

As the man drank his beverage, one of his informants suddenly burst into the door, rather shaken.

"Sir, it's Harada! He's been seriously injured!" He exclaimed in alarm as he tried to catch his breath.

"What?!" Shingin yelled as he stopped his drinking. "How? Who was able to wound our Silver Samurai?"

"His former student, Devin Shirakumo." The informant replied, finally having his breathing under control.

"... Why?" The man hissed, venom clear in his voice, he asked this as if he had suspected who, but for some reason still needed a why.

"From what I managed to gather, he's investigating his father's demise. He believes it was a murder rather than an accident." The informant explained. "And… Harada was standing in his way of doing so." He added.

"And you were able to gain this from Harada?" Shingin asked.

"Yes sir." The informant nodded.

The man sighed in aggravation as he gripped the glass in his hand tightly. "... Very well, if he wishes to stir up trouble, then we shall give him trouble." He then looked at the man in front of him. "I will make a call to our dear friend Seiji Shirakumo, and in the meantime…" He then got up from his seat. "Get me Lady Deathstrike."

(Elsewhere)

Devin was now visiting one of the Yamahara family's many chop shops in Shibuya, and was currently requesting the making of a car he intended to enter into a street race to draw out his desired target.

"You sure this is what ya want, kid? This is some pretty high end stuff, especially for a kid like you." The man he spoke to said as he read over the boy's list. "And what's a kid like you doing entering a street race anyway?"

"Personal reasons." Devin replied curtly.

"Alright, if you're sure." The man shrugged, before leading him to a room full of different kinds of cars. "Go ahead and take your pick." The man told him as the boy looked at all the vehicles around him.

"I intend to." The boy said as he took a step forward. 'Tenya Obiwara, I'm coming for you…' he thought to himself as his skin rippled in its metallic sheen again as he gritted his teeth.

It was off to the races now, winner take all, and he intended to win, by any means necessary...