Dragon Ball Z Uncensored

[Vinny]

Violence 11: Intruder!
Violence 12: The Gang of Four
Violence 13: The Blight, Izanagi Doku
Violence 14: Kaibara Haruo
Violence 15: Stage One

*For the purposes of counting promos, the three promos intended for Volume 2 that I was too lazy to write in time are listed here.

[Vinny]

The sun begins to set on Akihabara, a neighborhood in the Chiyoda ward of that is a shopping Mecca for technology and anime shit. Portly Japanese press their fingers on greasy display windows that contain models of pink-haired 10 year old girls being brutally violated by nondescript demons. But something far more interesting is happening in a nearby arcade …

Pah pah pah. Electronic beats follow a techno rendition of the Lupin III theme in a cramped arcade. Dozens of high school students gather around a Dance Dance Revolution machine. Two figures face off, rhythmically stomping the arrowed pads in tune to the music. The boy on the left is drenched in sweat, panting as he furiously attempts to keep up the game’s frenetic pace. The one on the right, a tall, handsome high school student wearing a red school uniform is unfazed. He runs his fingers through the spiky poof of orange hair that fades into a pale yellow as it grows upward. The girls swoon over the student as flawlessly executes the song with only one leg, his body unmoving as his leg darts from pad to pad.

“So cooool! Go Hiba-kuuun!” one girl shouts as she hops up and down.

“A-Amazing. He’s defeating the hardest song on the hardest difficulty with just his right leg!” some nerd stammers out, “He can even strike the left arrow effortlessly with that speed of his!”

Thick gobs of steam rise up from the challenger’s flaring nostrils as he struggles to keep up. Each bullet ricochet sound effect in the song makes the student feel as if he were shot.

This bastard … I can’t believe this! I’m the Dance Dance Revolution champion in Akiba! the student thinks, his thick glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose as he struggles, And this … this … PRETTY BOY is humiliating me!

The student briefly turns to his handsome opponent. He smiles confidently as he text messages during the middle of the game.

D-Damnit … daaamnit … , the opponent seethes. Then suddenly, an intense SPASM shoots through his left leg from the extreme dancing conditions he was under. Toppling backwards, he dips over the guard rail but stops right before his head cracks against the sticky arcade floor.

“W-What … ?” the opponent utters. The handsome DDR player had leapt onto the bars and stopped his opponent’s fall with his left leg while still completing the song with his right.

“You okay?” the man smiles revealing his sparkling teeth.

CHIYODA HIGH’S BANCHO: IGA HIBASHIRA

VIOLENCE 11: Intruder!

The red-clad Hibashira strolls out of the arcade lazily with a hand fishing through a pocket. He pulls out a ringing cell phone, flips it open, and brings it to his ear.

“Yeah?” says Hibashira.

“I have your target, Hibashira,” a shadowy man in an even more shadowy setting says on the other end. “I’m sending you his picture now.”

Hibashira lowers the phone and an image slowly loads onto the screen. It is of Arakaki Bunzo with his tongue sticking out and giving the photographer the middle finger.

“Tch, this is supposed to be the boss of Junction Star High?” Hibashira sneers. “He doesn’t look like much. Are you sure he’s strong?”

“Apparently he defeated Hisoka so he shouldn’t be underestimated,” the mystery man speaks in a super low voice. “You may even have to kill him, #3 …”

“Yeah yeah, I got it,” Hibashira snaps the phone shut. “Maybe this Bunzo guy can give me challenge.”

As Hibashira saunters down a neon light-bathed sidewalk in Akihabara, a pair of eyes PEER from a nearby trashcan.

I was … the best … before him … that bastard … the best … I’ll kill him! thinks the former DDR champion Hibashira destroyed. Screaming “ASHAAAAAA!” the frail looking student leaps from the garbage with a replica of Haohmaru’s katana clutched in his hand. Falling straight down on top of Hibashira, the student aims the katana for the top of his head.

PURST! Hibashira’s right leg is parallel to his torso, pressed against his chest, the tip of his shoe pierced by the blade. Hibashira stands there on one leg, unfazed, with the katana entering one side of his foot and jutting out the other. The student is stuck in mid-air as he still clings to the katana.

“D-D-DIEEE YOUUU BASTAAARD!” the student shoots foam from his mouth as he speaks.

“You little shit, do you know how much these shoes cost?” Hibashira frowns. An x-ray image of the shoe reveals that the sword is not piercing his foot but the blade is merely wedged between his big and second toe! In fact, the reason the student is still in the air is because the incredible amount of pressure placed on the blade by his toes.

With one quick whip of his leg, the student is FLUNG over Hibashira’s shoulder and onto the ground. The student crashes violently and rolls into the base of a street light. Hibashira stands perched on his one leg, holding the sword in front of him by his toes.

“Hah! You thought you really could kill me with this?” Hibashira snaps the blade in two with his toes. “Who the hell are you? Who sent you?”

The student, humiliated even further because the man who bested in DDR 10 minutes ago doesn’t recognize him, grabs the shattered blade and rushes forward.

“I AM … THE BEST!!” the student cries, his eyes bulging out of his skull as thick gobs of saliva and snot fly everywhere. Hibashira drops a foot on the tip of the shattered katana still resting on the ground, propelling it into the air. As the student closes him, Hibashira with his other leg onto the blade, clutching with his toes, and using the tip to block the student’s strike.

Hibashira smiles and whips his BIG TOE FORWARD on the tip of the blade, LAUNCHING IT FORWARD like an arrow. The blade JAMS ITSELF in the bridge of his nose, severing the student’s glasses in two and sending the remnants crashing onto the ground. Hibashira lowers his foot and puts his hands in his pockets as blood begins masking the student’s face. The student stumbles forward, crashing through trash cans and pushing past pedestrians.

“The best … the best …” the DDR player mutters. “I was … the … best ….”

“If you were just a few seconds faster, I may have found defeat …” Hibashira sighs as he walks off into the sunset.

-----

The next morning at Junction Star High, the sound of Big Ben signals the start of a new day. Kanzaki Kenjiro steps through the double doors yawning loudly and scratching the back of his head. After rifling through his own locker, he heads to Bunzo’s. Reaching past the large golden K adorned on his white uniform, he pulls a small shred of paper from one of his inside pockets. It is the combination to Bunzo’s locker.

“Tseh, I can’t believe he’s making me do this,” Kenjiro says to himself.

Kenjiro flashes back to yesterday when he visited Bunzo in the hospital.

“Oy, Kenjiro, can you do me a favor?” says the bandage-clad Bunzo from his hospital bed. “A little reading material could sure pass the time. I got some books in my locker …”

As soon as Kenjiro pushes the latch up on the locker, it BURSTS OPEN and SHOWERS him in PORNOGRAPHY.

“Kyaah, don’t look at me that way,” a recorded voice emits from speakers set in his locker. Kenjiro slowly backs away from the shrine of perversion.

“This kind of guy …” Kenjiro says as a sweat drop runs down his forehead. However, the faint sounds of a goon ruckus catch his attention.

“Ehhhh … it looks like we got a new student!” sneers Yoneji, Bunzo’s bald-headed lackey.

“Oh, you’re a ways away from Chiyoda, kid!” says Katsuji, the red afro’d lackey mutters.

“Geh heh … look at that pretty face of his, it would be a shame if something happened to it,” Shigeuji, the blonde pompadour’d, smirks.

Kenjiro steps into the doorway and sees the Jijiji Trio standing around the red-clad Hibashira. Hibashira is unamused, his long legs propped up on the desk as Bunzo’s gang attempts to threaten him.

“I’m not going to ask again,” Hibashira says, “Where’s Arakaki Bunzo? This is his class, isn’t it?”

”If ya wanna talk tah Bunzo, ya asshole, ya gotta go through us … ORAAAA!!” YONEJI SCREAMS as the whole gang REARS back their FISTS. With lightning quickness, Hibashira shoves his feet under the belts of Shigeuji and Katsuji. Using his immense leg strength, he grips onto the back of his seat and flings them by their belts THROUGH THE AIR. The two goons crash into the wall into the rear of the classroom and collapse in a heap.

CRACK! Yoneji’s burly fist crashes into the desk that Hibashira WAS in. With a grin plastered across his face, he gracefully skids backwards on the tops of the desks. Pulling Katsuji and Shigeuji’s belts off the tips of his shoes, he quickly ties them together to form a LASSO. As Yoneji rushes forward once again, Hibashira hurls the lasso and WRAPS it around the goon’s neck. With extreme grace, Hibashira leaps into the air and OVER the hanging light fixtures in the classroom. The belt, now acting as a pulley over the top of the fixture, is stretched and Yoneji is HANGED!

“GRK! GRK!” Yoneji kicks wildly as Hibashira, kneeling on the ground showing a devilish smile, slowly chokes the life out of him.

FWIP! The giant golden “K” on Kenjiro’s uniform is hurled like a shuriken, cutting the belt in twain. Yoneji crashes to the floor as Hibashira turns to Kenjiro.

“And who the fuck are you?” Hibashira asks.

“I don’t give my name to smart-mouthed pieces of shit like you,” Kenjiro replies.

NEXT ISSUE: That familiar face!! The same man who will help Saketumi Rakkyu and battle Hoity von Toity’s Trillionaire’s Club is here to face Kenjiro! And the result … ?!

[Vinny]

“I don’t give my name to smart-mouthed pieces of shit like you,” Kenjiro says with his hands in his pockets like a badass. Hibashira kicks Yoneji out of the way easily and marches towards Kenjiro. The two come face to face, Hibashira with his flame-colored spiky hair and Kenjiro with his heroic pompadour. The Chiyoda High Bancho raises his head and sneers.

“Where’s Arakaki Bunzo?” Hibashira mutters. Kenjiro doesn’t say a word, doesn’t flinch. The staredown breaks when Hibashira cracks a smile before running a hand through his hair. “So this is how it’s gotta be, huh?”

FWOOOOM! Hibashira’s LEG SNAKES OUT and STRIKES the WALL BEHIND KENJIRO. With PLASTER FLYING, Kenjiro goes for a SWEEP KICK that Hibashira easily dodges. He lands on top of a nearby desk that is quickly turned to SPLINTERS by a swift kick from Kenjiro. Hibashira hops from desk to desk as Kenjiro tears through one after the other to get to his opponent.

“You’re not bad!” Hibashira laughs as he stomps on the edge of a desk, sending it FLIPPING through the air. Using his heel, he LAUNCHES the DESK AT KENJIRO but Kenjiro merely EXPLODES IT with a well-timed STRAIGHT.

“These guys … are demons …” Shigeuji mutters from his prone position.

VIOLENCE 12: The Gang of Four

Hibashira back flips from Kenjiro’s attacks up beside a random student. He snatches the student’s satchel with his leg, opens the latch with his foot, and hurls the contents towards Kenjiro. But unfortunately for Kenjiro, the contents are a bunch of SUPER SHARP PENCILS. SPRT! Kenjiro CHARGES forward, ignoring the pencils as they jam into his face. Using the wall as a springboard, HIBASHIRA BOLTS off and nails a SPINNING DRILL KICK into KENJIRO’S CHEST.

“GUH!” Kenjiro groans as blood trails from his mouth. He crashes through the student’s desks and onto the teacher’s desk. Hibashira, hopping from foot to foot cockily, rubs his finger across his nose like Bruce Lee.

“Don’t tell me it’s already over!” Hibashira says. Kenjiro kips to his feet and BOOTS a desk towards HIBASHIRA. Hibashira catches it as THE BURNING HEART SLIDES FORWARD on ONE HEEL, prepping the ETERNAL LOOP!

“ATATATATATATA!” KENJIRO SHRIEKS as his MACH KICKS STRIKE the DESK HIBASHIRA is HOLDING. Hibashira is pushed back further and further before KENJIRO’S FOOT breaks the DESK and DRIVES ITSELF into HIBA’S STERNUM.

“GUOOOH!” Hibashira spews. He is FLUNG backwards through the classroom window and sent careening five stories down.

“YEAH!” the Jijiji Trio shout while lying on the ground. Kenjiro slowly steps towards the window and looks down. He sees no one on the ground below, no body. Slowly, Kenjiro begins to sweat as a OMINOUS PRESSURE slowly pushes down on him. TMP TMP TMP Kenjiro looks UP to see Hibashira sitting on the ledge above, smoking a cigarette.

“!!” Kenjiro emotes! Hibashira drops HEELS FIRST on KENJIRO’S HEAD, sending him TOPPELING out of the WINDOW and causing both men to FREE FALL. Kenjiro hurls a KICK UPWARDS but Hiba easily BLOCKS it with a KNEE. In a desperate final attempt, Kenjiro hurls both LEGS forward which are stopped by HIBASHIRA’S HANDS. With his arms free, he DRIVES BOTH OF HIS FISTS into HIBASHIRA’S FACE and DRIVES HIM into the second story window.

Grip! Kenjiro pulls himself up slowly with one arm and peers into the classroom. Students stand around, confused at the red-clad man that just burst through the window. Hibashira rubs his head and slowly climbs to his feet.

“That was some move …” Hibashira cracks his neck, his body littered with shards of glass. Kenjiro hops into the classroom, his eyes shadowed over. However, his murderous intent is disrupted when he hears a familiar voice.

“Kenjiro?” Asuhara Reiko says as she looks over to Kenjiro. While Kenjiro is stunned, Hibashira gracefully appears before her. Taking her hand, he brings it to his lips and kisses it gently.

“No one ever told me Junction Star High contained such a beauty,” Hibashira says as blood streams down his face. Reiko just stands there stunned as Kenjiro plods forward. “I guess it would be unsightly to show barbarism in front of such a delicate flower as you.” Hibashira relinquishes Reiko’s hand and turns to Kenjiro.

“Now that I know your name, we’ll finish this fight some other time,” Hibashira smiles. “I’m sure the Gang of Four will be interested in you, Kenjiro.” Mulekicking the classroom door, Hibashira quickly retreats.

Kenjiro falls to a knee and holds his broken ribs. “That bastard …” Kenjiro mutters to himself.

-----

The towering Andy walks through the halls of Tezuka Memorial Hospital, lumbering over the diminutive nurses that scurry from room to room. He is wearing his traditional attire: a bucket hat, a Hawaiian shirt, khaki shorts, and a pair of sandals. However, his ribs are covered in thick bandages, protecting the wounds he received in his fight against the Edogawa Bancho, Maeda Akira.

Andy ducks under the doorframe into Arakaki Bunzo’s room. Bunzo has his feet propped up on the metal railing of his bed, a tropical drink in his hand.

”This really is serious, eh?” Bunzo says, slurping his drink.

“The guy that attacked Kenjiro … he’s from the Gang of Four,” Andy mutters with SHADOWS over his eyes.

”The Gang … of Four?”

“Yes. You’re a Bancho, right? You should have heard of them,” Andy replies.

T-This guy …, Bunzo thinks to himself, chomping on the straw to his drink in frustration.

Suddenly, the room grows dark and a spotlight hits Andy, bathing him in shadows as he begins to discuss some serious shit.

“The Gang of Four. A group composed of the Banchos of Tokyo’s four strongest schools,” Andy mutters as he imagines four silhouettes above him. The one on the right is shaped like Maeda Akira while the one on the left is shaped like Iga Hibashira. The two in the center lack a defined shape as if the author hasn’t decided what they look like yet.

“The Gang of Four is the only authority in this land. In an effort to stop the constant warring between schools, the Gang of Four formed. It’s a shaky alliance at best, but the fact that they’ve reunited once again to come after us …”

Entering the room is a slender nurse with dark brown hair pushing a trolley. She goes about her business, checking Bunzo’s charts and monitoring medical stuff, as Bunzo and Andy continue their conversation.

“I see … so it was one of those guys that attacked Kenjiro?” Bunzo asks.

“That was probably Iga Hibashira, Bancho of Chiyoda High,” Andy replies.

Bunzo looks down at his hand, and slowly clenches it.

“Is there any chance we could defeat them? I mean, you did defeat Maeda Akira, after all!”

“Even so, Maeda Akira … was most likely the weakest in the group.”

DO~ONG! Bunzo slumps down in his bed, staring out the window as he shakes in fear. Although he never actually met Maeda, he heard he was one bad dude.

“But we have no choice. They are making their move, and we have to prepare to make ours …” Andy says as he puts on his sunglasses. The nurse grabs her dolly and exits her room. Once in the hallway, she reaches into her shirt and yanks out a cell phone. Quickly flipping it open, she presses send and holds it to her ear.

“We have a problem. Andy is here with Bunzo, boss,” the nurse speaks into the receiver. However, her voice is distinctly masculine …

And what’s the problem, Tsuneo? a very mysterious, very confident, very distorted voice emits from the phone.

“B-Bunzo we can take care of … but Andy, too?!” the nurse becomes disheveled. She begins clawing at her uniform. Her press-on nails snap off and her wig begins to slide off the top off her scalp, revealing short, jet-black hair underneath.

It’s being taken care of, Tsuneo. Don’t I always know what’s best?

The nurse slinks off into the restroom. Furiously, the nurse rips off her uniform, pulling out balled up tissues from her bra. The intense sweating causes his make up to smear, black streaks of mascara coursing down her cheeks. Tsuneo stares at himself, admiring his figure with splotches of lipstick around his cheeks, his wig clenched in one hand and the cell phone in the other. Slowly, he raises it back to his head.

“I’ll kill them both. Anything for you, boss,” Tsuneo mutters.

THE BOSS’S ASSISTANT: HAYASHI TSUNEO

That won’t be necessary. I’ve sent #2 to handle the job, the mysterious voice says.

“N-Number t-two?! But you can’t trust that Sumida High bastard! He’s not efficient … his b-bloodlust …!”

Don’t question me, Tsuneo. He’ll handle this situation.

“Y-Yes sir,” Tsuneo says, dejectedly.

-----

Just outside the restroom, Andy is standing in front of the doorway as he adjusts the bucket hat resting on his mop of blonde hair.

“I’m going to see Kenjiro now. One of us will probably call you later,” Andy tells Bunzo as he exits the door. Suddenly, a LARGE, LOOMING FIGURE appears before him. Before Andy realizes what’s happening, the man’s palm strikes Andy firmly in the chest, knocking him backwards.

“Guh!” Andy utters as blood SPILLS from his mouth. His sunglasses fall from his face and he crashes against the window. As Bunzo watches on, terrified, Andy brings his fingers against his lips and gazes on at his own blood.

In the doorway is a man wrapped in a black trench coat, fastened together with numerous silver buckles. His face is almost completely shrouded in the billowing collar of his coat, a pair of black goggles obscuring his eyes. His skin is littered with scars and veins and a nest of thick, black hair hangs down onto his shoulders.

FWOOSH! Andy fires off a titanic right … and it misses! The statue-like intruder remains unflinching as Andy shoots a blinding jab but that too misses. After a flurry of jabs and straights aimed for the opponent’s skull not so much grazing him, Andy’s fists drop. Bunzo’s mouth hangs agape.

“Is he … that fast, Andy?” Bunzo mutters.

“No, that’s not it …” Andy pants as sweat pours down his chin. Drops patter against the tiled floor.

“You’re right, your punches are dead on … but they aren’t pointed at my head,” the cloaked opponent mutters is an absurdly low, creepy voice. “Your vision is getting blurry now the poison has made its way through your blood stream. Hand-eye coordination has been severely reduced.”

Poison?! Bunzo thinks. He then watches as the intruder raises a finger. His fingernails are jet-black and sharpened into points, a bead of clear liquid hanging from the tip.

“BUNZO! Get out of here!” Andy shouts, “Warn Kenjiro! You have to-“ BOOOM! The intruder buries a fist into ANDY’S CHEST. Andy lifelessly slumps down onto the intruder, his arms gripping his coat weakly.

“Can you even see?” the intruder asks. Andy falls face first, his head cracking against the floor as the giant drops.

Click The intruder shuts the door slowly as he turns to Bunzo. Quickly, Bunzo reaches for the button to alert the nurse but the intruder throws a small dagger and severs the line.

“So then,” the intruder raises his arms and cracks all the joints from the tips of his fingers all the way to his shoulders, “Let’s get started.”

SUMIDA HIGH’S BANCHO: IZANAGI DOKU

NEXT ISSUE: The Gang of Four’s #2 vs. Junction Star’s #1 Loser! And the result … ?!

[Vinny]

“What the hell did you do to Andy?” Bunzo says as he stands perched in his hospital bed, wearing only his gown and bandages.

Izanagi Doku, the #2 of the Gang of Four and Sumida High’s Bancho, is hunched over in the corner of the cramped hospital room. Doku looks more like some sort of scarecrow than an actual person. Clad in his black tattered trench coat with various trinkets and chains scattered all around, Doku cocks his head to the left and peers through his goggles towards Bunzo. He takes a few steps and kneels down beside the unconscious Andy.

“It was a poison derived from the Tetraodontidae family … pufferfish,” Doku mutters, his mouth covered by the oversized collar on his coat, while lifting Andy’s head with his pale, almost ivory-white hand. “Tetrodotoxin … his nervous system is being assaulted as we speak.”

“Is he … going to die?” Bunzo asks, his lips quivering.

“No. It was … a very small dose, less than a milligram. I did not come here intending to kill him as I was not ordered to.”

Bunzo slowly slides his feet across his bed, preparing himself to leap towards the door.

“Then why did you come?” Bunzo asks, his knees shaking.

“To kill you … Arakaki Bunzo.”

VIOLENCE 13: The Blight, Izanagi Doku

“K-Kill … me?!” Bunzo jumps back in surprise. “What the hell did I ever do to you?!”

“We in the Gang of the Four decided that you have become … a hurdle to be overcome in our operations,” Doku says as he stands back up. “I did not kill Andy as I was not told to kill him. I’ve only come for you … Arakaki Bunzo.”

The Gang of Four … I’ve should’ve known, Arakaki Bunzo thinks to himself, Looks like things are getting really dangerous.

“Go to Hell, you ASSHOLE!” Arakaki Bunzo grabs his pillow and HURLS his PILLOW towards Doku. Doku raises a black-clad arm to block the pillow spinning towards him.

KABOOOOM! THE PILLOW EXPLODES on DOKU’S ARM, RELEASING a HURRICANE of SCALPELS INTO THE ROOM. As the dust clears, Bunzo is pressed against the wall, his mattress in front of him acting as a shield.

“Tch, you guys severely underestimated me! Like I wouldn’t be prepared for an ambush while I was in the hospital. They don’t call me Bunzo the Genius for no reason, you know!” Bunzo says, slapping his ass and flipping the bird and all that jazz. The smoke surrounding Doku clears to reveal his arm filled with scalpels but the rest of his body unharmed.

“D-Damnit …” Bunzo shouts. While Doku is stunned, Arakaki Bunzo grabs Andy and leaps onto the ledge of his now shattered window. “Why do you have to be so fucking heavy?” As Doku reaches his arm out towards Bunzo, Bunzo and Andy topple over the edge and begin FREE FALLING. They both crash into the awning below and bounce onto the lawn outside the hospital with minor injuries.

“Hey, what the fuck happened in here?” some muscular male nurse in pink scrubs shouts at Doku. Doku nonchalantly brushes by him and begins slowly walking through the hallway.

”Oy, I’m talking to you, prick!” the nurse grabs Doku by his arm. As he pulls, NEEDLES suddenly burst through the flesh on his hand. The nurse falls back, stunned, and soon begins to convulse from the poison hidden within the needles.

-----

“Help this man. He’s been poisoned with Tetrodotoxin!” Bunzo shouts, dragging Andy in through the front door of the hospital. Orderlies rush Bunzo and grab the white behemoth and carefully lifting him onto a gurney.

Arakaki Bunzo, his head bleeding from the fall from his room, limps over to the receptionist’s desk.

“We got to get the police here,” Bunzo screams at the receptionist, “There’s this bastard dressed all in black and he’s going to kill me! He’s got poison and-“

KA-TINK Bunzo peers over his shoulder to see two, metallic canisters roll in through the front door and slow to a stop at Bunzo’s feet. KASHSHHH! The canisters begin spraying a thick, yellow fog.

Poison gas?! Bunzo thinks as the cloud of yellow washes over him. Through the entrance steps Izanagi Doku, plodding steadily through the thick clouds. He peers at the hospital staff collapsing all around them, the poisonous gas rendering them unconsciousness. Looking around, Arakaki Bunzo has seemingly vanished.

BRRRING! The fire alarm sounds. Doku looks up and notices the ceiling tiles bulging, as if someone were climbing on top of it.

”I see …” Doku says, before walking in the direction of the bulging tiles.

-----

S-Shit … the police sure are taking their time! Bunzo thinks as he hides in an empty hospital room. Most of the patients and staff evacuated upon hearing the fire alarm that Arakaki Bunzo heard. Bunzo tears a strip off a hospital bed sheet and uses it to bandage his head.

Clop. Clop. Clop. Bunzo peers through the hospital room window to see the unnatural looking Doku slowly plod through the hallway. He stops in his tracks, raises his head, and begins sniffing the air.

“What were you doused with earlier … Arakaki Bunzo … was KOLOKOL-1,” Doku mutters as he continues pacing slowly, sniffing the air in short intervals. “It is an … incapacitating agent developed by the Soviets at Leningrad in the 1970’s. It’s impressive that you could manage to take a direct blast without succumbing to its effects.”

Panting heavily, Bunzo looks around for a weapon to defend himself. Attempting to crawl, he places his hand down on the floor and attempts to kneel forward. His arm buckles and he falls forward. Bunzo looks forward at his hand and attempts to make a fist, but nothing happens.

“But I imagine that although you retained consciousness, the agent had some impact on you … Arakaki Bunzo,” Doku says.

Damnit, I’ve lost feeling in my hands and feet … Bunzo thinks to himself, I’ve breathed in too much of the anesthetic. I can’t wait around any longer!

“Nevertheless, I can clearly smell the fentanyl on you. Hiding is useless … Arakaki Bunzo,” Doku says in his cold, calculating tone as he approaches a hospital room. With the sound of MECHANICAL CLICKING, he raises his left arm in attack position as his right grabs the DOOR HANDLE.

”Die!!” Doku shouts as HE SLIDES OPEN THE DOOR, ONLY TO FIND BUNZO’S DISCARDED HOSPITAL GOWN. IZANAGI DOKU’S EYES WIDEN UNDERNEATH HIS BLACK GOGGLES.

“EAT THIS, SHITHEAAAD!!” BUNZO COMES RIDING IN ON THE HOSPITAL BED from the OPPOSITE ROM, wielding the PADDLES of a PORTABLE DEFRIBBILATOR while his DICK FLAPS IN THE WIND. Doku spins around and attempts to BLOCK THE ATTACK but can’t GUARD HIMSELF IN TIME.

KACHOONG! THE DEFIBRILLATORS LAND PERFECTLY ON DOKU’S CHEST and UNLEASHES 1000 VOLTS INTO HIS BODY. INSTANTLY, DOKU IS HURLED BACKWARDS FROM THE CHARGE and SENT CRASHING THROUGH THE HOSPITAL ROOM WINDOW.

The cowardly hero slumps down against the wall and pulls a cigarette out from nowhere. Lighting it, he places it in his mouth.

“Shit … what a day,” Bunzo sighs as he takes a drag.

BEEP! Bunzo’s head bolts up from the noise. BEEP! Bunzo slowly raises his head and peers through the window Doku flew through. BEEP! Doku is SPRAWLED ACROSS the HOSPITAL BED, the EKG MACHINE beeping beside him despite Doku not being connected to it or anything.

“So that’s … what it’s liked to be electrocuted?” Doku says as he sits up. “Thank you for the experience … Arakaki Bunzo.”

F-FUCK!, Bunzo thinks. With a CLICK, DOKU raises his ARM and a SPRAYS FORTH A YELLOWISH-BROWN GAS in a SHORT BURST. BUNZO RAISES HIS ARM to PROTECT HIMSELF and the GAS IMMEDIATELY BURNS HIS ARM, FORMING LARGE BLISTERS ON HIS SKIN.

“GAAAARGH!” BUNZO SCREAMS as he CLENCHES HIS LEFT ARM. Izanagi Doku leaps through the window and GRABS Bunzo by his THROAT, AIMING the HAND that SPRAYED the GAS at Bunzo’s skull.

“Well then, Arakaki Bunzo … I have a proposition for you,” Doku says as Bunzo squirms in agony. “As you continued to flee from me, it became quite apparent that you aren’t quite the threat that the Gang of Four perceived you to be.”

”What the fuck are you talking about?” Bunzo says through gritted teeth.

“Killing you is pointless. Instead, I’ve decided to trade your life for one of your comrades. With Andy in my reach … Arakaki Bunzo … I want to use you as bait … to lure Kanzaki Kenjiro to this hospital.”

“K-Kenjiro …? N-Never, you bastard!”

Doku shoots another small burst of the gas on Bunzo’s thigh, instantly causing the flesh bubble and boil into thick, water-filled blisters. Bunzo continues to SCREAM to punctuate his MISERY.

“This is L E V I N S T E I NM U S T A R D, a type of sulfur mustard composed of dry ethylene and sulfur monochloride,” Doku says, running his black fingernails along Bunzo’s thigh. “What I applied was just a small sample … Arakaki Bunzo … and with enough I can turn you into a writhing, bulging mass of endless agony. But all of that can be avoided if you make a phone call.”

Doku brings a phone to Bunzo’s ear, but he slaps it away. Doku takes his fingernails and DIGS INTO THE BLISTERING FLESH, CAUSING BUNZO TO SHRIEK.

“Call him!” DOKU SHOUTS, pressing the PHONE AGAINST BUNZO’S FACE. Arakaki Bunzo hangs his head, and single tear rolls down his cheek.

“That Kenjiro … before he arrived at Junction Star High, I was the king of that school. But then he defeated and humiliated me,” Bunzo whimpers, “and now I have to follow him around, as his … LACKEY.”

“Do it … Arakaki Bunzo …”

“Ever since then, everything has gone bad for me, and now I’m being hunted down by … high school assassins! It is all his fault …” Bunzo says, his voice growing serious.

“Yes.”

“And yet … I refuse!!” BUNZO SAYS DRAMATICALLY.

“W-WHAT?!” DOKU SHOUTS, STUNNED.

“Despite all the trouble he caused me, he HAS DEFENDED ME! When I was just a good-for-nothing, worthless piece of shit … HE SAW IN ME A FRIEND! And that’s why I’ll DO ANYTHING TO PROTECT HIM!!” BUNZO DECLARES DEFIANTLY. Doku trembles in anger.

“ARAKAKI BUNZOOOOO … you’ve made a FATAL MISTAKE!” DOKU SAYS, LIFTING HIS ARM.

BANG! A jet of blood courses through the air from Doku’s shoulder. Turning around, Doku sees a group of police officers aiming their guns at him.

“Drop the hostage!” a police officer shouts. DOKU RAISES HIS ARM AND FIRES A STEADY STREAM OF THE MUSTARD GAS DIRECTLY AT THE COPS. BUNZO KICKS FREE AND BEGINS LIMPING AWAY AS THE POLICE COLLAPSE IN HEAPS, SCREAMING AS THEIR SKIN BOILS.

Doku rises to his feet as he watches the nude Bunzo limp off towards the morgue. Doku yanks an empty canister from within his sleeve and loads his arm with a fresh batch of gas.

-----

Kicking open the door to the morgue, Izanagi Doku carefully paces through the room, aiming his mustard gas-expelling hand in front of him. He passes body after body, laid out on a cold, metal operating table, covered in a thin white sheet. Reaching the center of the morgue, he lifts his head and begins sniffing the air.

“The pungent aroma of the sulfur mustard is unmistakable. This game of Hide & Seek ends here … Arakaki Bunzo,” Doku says.

On one of the tables, a body’s fingers twitch ever so slightly. TMP TMP TMP. Doku pauses, catching the movement out of the corner of his eyes. SUDDENLY, THE BODY SPRINGS FORWARD AND LEAPS STRAIGHT TOWARDS IZANAGI DOKU.

“Predictable, Arakaki Bunzo!” DOKU SAYS, SPRAYING BUNZO WITH THE MUSTARD GAS. HIS SKIN BEGINS BUBBLING AS HE SOARS THROUGH THE AIR. THE SHEET DROPS FROM HIS BODY REVEALING … THAT IT’S NOT BUNZO AT ALL. Doku is shocked!

Light GLINTS off the STRINGS attached to the BODY’S LIMBS. THE STRINGS MOVE UP AND ACROSS THE ROOM TOWARDS ONE OF THE DRAWER’S CONTAINING BODIES IN THE MORGUE. AS DOKU STANDS THERE CONFUSED, BUNZO BURST FROM THE DRAWER WITH A CIRCULAR SAW CLUTCHED IN HIS HAND. FWOOOOOOOOOM!

“ORAAAAAAAA!!” BUNZO SCREAMS, DROPPING THE CIRCULAR SAW INTO DOKU’S FACE! THE BLADE TEARS THROUGH DOKU’S GOGGLES, KNOCKING THEM OFF HIS FACE AND REVEALING HIS BLOODSHOT, BULGING EYES. THE BLADE SINKS INTO THE BRIDGE OF DOKU’S NOSE, SPRAYING BLOOD INTO THE AIR. WITH ONE ARM BLOCKED BY BUNZO’S LEGS AND THE OTHER POINTING AT THE BODY ACROSS FROM THEM, DOKU IS HELPLESS!

UNTIL A *THIRD* ARM BURSTS FROM HIS COAT, GRABBING BUNZO BY THE THROAT!

“You always need a trump card … Arakaki Bunzo …” Doku smiles, opening his cloak to reveal that his LEFT ARM was a mechanical appendage strapped to his shoulder, his real left arm tucked away inside.

“You’re right,” Bunzo begins to smirk. Doku looks down to see a clear LIQUID dripping from Bunzo’s circular saw!

“I’m a doctor’s son, you know. It would be an embarrassment if I couldn’t whip up a poison of my own,” Bunzo laughs. Doku drops him to the FLOOR and STUMBLES BACK. DOKU’S VISION BECOMES BLURRY, HIS HEART BEGINS RACING.

“W-What did you inject me with?!” Doku stumbles back, crashing through the MORGUE DOORS. He reaches into COAT and begins GRABBING handfuls of SYRINGES that contain ANTIDOTES to POISONS, but he drops them and they burst against the floor.

“Is it lethal? I even don’t know the answer. My brain isn’t so good, you see,” Bunzo chuckles.

“Y-YOU BASTARD, HELP MEEEE!” DOKU FRANTICALLY SCREAMS as HE STAGGERS BACKWARDS. He CRASHES through a WINDOW and FALLS OFF THE SECOND STORY. DOKU LANDS AND CRASHES ONTO THE ROOF OF A COP CAR.

Arakaki Bunzo limps up the front window and looks out at the possibly dead Doku. He runs a bloody hand through his hair and exhales.

“It sure is tough being a hero …” Bunzo smirks as a stiff wind flies back and causes his dick and balls to flap around.

NEXT ISSUE: Only two Gang of Four left! And Kenjiro begins training … ?!

[Vinny]

One day after the incident at Tezuka Memorial Hospital, at Junction Star High. It is time for gym class for Kenjiro and life is starting to return to normal.

Examining the scars on his fist from his battle with Iga Hibashira, #3 of the Gang of Four, Kenjiro remembers a time with his hands were softer, unaccustomed to combat. Like everything else, fighting came naturally to Kanzaki Kenjiro. It took minimal effort on his part to destroy. His limbs seemed to move on their own, exploding faces without a second thought. But now, Kenjiro has faced his first stumbling block. A man he cannot defeat.

“OYYYYY!” a deep, gravelly male voice shouts. Kenjiro whips his head around to see a BASEBALL HURDLING TOWARDS IT. Kenjiro’s hand darts up and he catches the ball with his bare hand, the ball spinning for a few seconds in his hand until it comes to a complete stop.

“Uwohhh, that was amazing! That was Itagaki’s signature homerun swing!” one voice calls out.

“You’re supposed to use the glove, Kenjiro!” another shouts.

As Kenjiro weakly tosses the ball to the pitcher, apologizing for his ignorance, a rugged man in a red tracksuit watches attentively. His brown hair is disheveled, his eyebrows are powerful and manly, and a cigarette hangs from his lip despite there’s no smoking in school. He bounces his wooden katana on his shoulder playfully before he spits onto the grass.

“He’s an interesting one,” Kaibara Haruo, Junction Star High’s gym teacher says with a smirk.

VIOLENCE 14: Kaibara Haruo

Once the game ends, the students leave the field and begin heading back to the school. Kenjiro looks up at the sky as he walks, lost in another world. Suddenly, a hand drops onto his shoulder, snapping him back to reality.

“Ooh, just as expected. Your body is really hot,” Kaibara Haruo utters.

“W-What?” Kenjiro stammers, pulling away from the gym teacher.

“There’s a lot of heat pouring out of you,” Haruo replies, “Your body temperature must be a degree higher than normal.”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“So, you’re the kid that caused so much trouble yesterday, eh?” Haruo says, shooting two jets of smoke out from his nostrils. Kenjiro turns away from the gym teacher and continues heading back to class.

“I’ve already talked to the principal and the police and all that,” Kenjiro replies, his hands in his pockets. “He attacked me. That’s it.” Kaibara Haruo’s wooden katana drops softly onto Kenjiro’s shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

“Hey hey, that’s not what I’m interested in, kid,” Haruo says. “I don’t care who’s fault it was or whatever. I’m interested in what happened. You messed up the school real good …”

“And?”

“But you didn’t defeat Iga Hibashira,” Kaibara Haruo smiles. “You’re not strong enough.”

Lifting his arm, Kenjiro grips the wooden sword resting on his shoulder tightly with his left hand. Kaibara Haruo can feel a pressure slowly emanate from Kenjiro’s frame, and he sneers in response.

“I don’t care if you’re a teacher,” Kenjiro utters through clenched teeth, “but if you keep this up … I’ll fucking kill you.”

“Go ahead, kid!” Haruo’s grin gets super wide, his gritted teeth almost chopping his cigarette in half. Dust SPINS ON THE GROUND like a TORNADO after Kenjiro’s FEET as he TWISTS on his HEEL. Kanzaki hurls his fist OVER HIS SHOULDER, his ENTIRE WEIGHT BEHIND THE PUNCH. The fist closes in on HARUO’S SMIRKING FACE as he remains FIRMLY IN POSITION.

CRAAAACKK! KENJIRO’S FIST IS FIRMLY PRESSED AGAINST HARUO’S FACE … but HARUO IS UNAFFECTED. Kenjiro’s hand drops weakly from Haruo’s still grinning VISAGE as his knees buckle. The pompadoured hero looks up at Kaibara, his hand firmly clenching his wrist, as the sun shines behind Kaibara Haruo.

“My fist … it feels like it’s broken …” Kenjiro groans.

“Now you know the difference between you and Iga Hibashira, kid,” Kaibara Haruo says, not a single scratch on his face.

-----

Minutes later, in the empty Junction Star High gym, Kanzaki Kenjiro sits on the bleachers wrapping his busted left hand in bandages while gym teacher Kaibara Haruo drags his wooden katana against the ground. Taking a few steps away from Kenjiro’s position, he raises his sword and strikes the gym floor. The katana, despite being made of wood, etches a clear cut on the floor. Haruo raises his weapon and points it at Kenjiro.

“So kid, you wanna beat that Hibashira prick? Here’s lesson one,” Haruo says. “Get down here.”

Kenjiro scratches the back of his head and lazily leaps to the floor.

“What am I supposed to do?” Kenjiro asks.

“Simple. See that line 5 inches behind me?” Haruo points with his sword. “Push me past it using any method you can think of. It’ll be like sumo.”

“Any method?” Kenjiro raises his head and smiles. Kaibara Haruo nods and KENJIRO BOLTS FORWARD. Immediately KENJIRO CONNECTS with a ROUNDHOUSE on HARUO’S NECK that, despite its power, DOES NOTHING. However, Kenjiro doesn’t hesitate in his attacking and DROPS TO THE FLOOR. Spinning quickly along the ground, Kenjiro nails a VIOLENT KICK to the back of HARUO’S KNEE. But just as before, HARUO doesn’t budge!

Damnit, he’s tough, Kenjiro thinks, I don’t have any choice …

KANZAKI SHIPPUKEN: ETERNAL LOOP

“ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!” KENJIRO HOWLS as a THOUSAND FISTS RAIN DOWN ON KAIBARA HARUO. BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM! Kaibara Haruo’s ENTIRE BODY VIBRATES from the EXTREME SPEED of the punches, but he STILL DOESN’T BUDGE A SINGLE INCH!

How the fuck is this even possible? Kenjiro thinks as his fists begin to bleed. Even the top of Haruo’s tracksuit begins to tear apart from the volley of fists, but the chiseled musculature underneath is completely unaffected!

“And now that I’ve shown you defense, how about OFFENSE!” Kaibara shouts. In the MIDST of the FIST STORM, Haruo slides his SWORD forward while dragging the tip along the ground. Quickly, he JAMS the handle of the WEAPON into KENJIRO’S JAW.

As quickly as Kenjiro’s brain was rocked, he finds himself AIRBORNE. He ASCENDS FIFTEEN FEET in the air from that SMALL BLOW before FALLING BACK DOWN. Kenjiro’s EYES SNAP OPEN to see KAIBARA holding his SWORD like a BASEBALL BAT.

”H O M ER U N ! !”

CRACK! The SWORD drives into KENJIRO’S RIBS, sending him HURDLING across the gym. He somersaults backwards repeatedly before he can finally stop himself. Kenjiro raises his head, his pompadour drenched in sweat, panting heavily while Kaibara Haruo smirks like a smug asshole.

“If I wanted to, that last blow would have torn you in half, kid,” Haruo says. “That’s the power of ki.”

“Ki?” Kenjiro repeats.

-----

So, Izanagi Doku has been defeated? These men seem to be stronger than we originally anticipated … a mysterious-sounding voice emanates from a cell phone. Clutching the cell phone is the Gang of Four’s #1’s assistant, Hayashi Tsuneo. Characteristic of him, he’s hunched over, breathing intensely as he speaks in a phone. He’s ducking behind a trash can in an alleyway, observing Junction Star High from afar. He’s been waiting here since class began, and now it’s almost night time.

“Kanzaki Kenjiro still hasn’t l-left the school, b-boss,” Tsuneo stutters, “Andy and Bunzo haven’t been seen since the failed attack at Tezuka Memorial Hospital …”

I see. So that leaves just Hibashira, you, and I against Andy, Bunzo, and this Kenjiro.

“I can k-kill Kenjiro for you, boss. Anything for you, boss,” Tsuneo sweats.

That won’t be necessary. I have a feeling that he and Hibashira will be going after him very shortly …

“And if fails?”

Then I suppose I’ll have to get involved. I have business to attend to now, Hayashi.

Click. The diminutive Hayashi snaps his phone shut and slides down against the wall, exhaling heavily. He pulls down the bill of his cap and shoves his hands into his pockets as he begins to leave the alley, but SUDDENLY a FOOT CRASHES DOWN ON THE BACK OF HIS NECK.

“Grk!” Hayashi grunts as his face meets the pavement. Standing above him, with his hands COCKILY in his pockets is Chiyoda High’s Bancho, Iga Hibashira. Hibashira runs a hand through his flame-colored hair and spits on the back of Hayashi’s head.

“There’s no reason for you to be here, Hayashi,” Hibashira says, “Kenjiro is mine.”

“I-I understand,” Hayashi says as he writhes under Hibashira’s foot, “I was j-just leaving.” Hibashira lifts his foot and Hayashi pulls himself up. Just as Hayashi is about to round the corner, Hibashira grabs him by the shoulder.

“So you were speaking to him again, weren’t you?” Hibashira asks.

“Y-Yes. If you excuse me I have somewhere I m-must be.”

“Hey, wait a second, Hayashi. I was just thinking the other day, while me and Izanagi and Maeda were running around, that guy has been hiding in the shadows, directing us around,” Hibashira says as he leans in to the retardedly nervous Hayashi. “You know, it certainly isn’t fair that we’re his partners and we don’t even know his name.”

“The b-boss cherishes his privacy above all else, senpai, and-“

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU SNIVELING SHIT!” Hibashira yanks Hayashi up by his collar, “I will never call that man ‘boss’! There’s only two of us left in the Gang of Four now, Hayashi, so things have changed. I’m not risking my ass any longer if he’s not going to make his presence known! Give me a fucking name!”

“I c-can’t do that … the b-boss … he’ll-“ BAM! Hibashira SOCKS Hayashi with a RIGHT HOOK. A cell phone slides out of Hibashira’s pants pocket and clacks against the ground. Tossing Hayashi aside, Hibashira reaches down and grabs the phone. Opening it up, he looks for the last received call.

“It won’t do y-you any good, senpai … the boss only contacts me from pay phones,” Hayashi mutters. Hibashira tosses Hayashi’s cell phone and strikes him in the face.

“This isn’t over. I will find out who he is,” Hibashira says as he strolls off into the sunset.

-----

“I don’t get it. I only thought ki existed in like anime, right?” Kenjiro says puzzled as he scratches the back of his head. Pulling another crumpled cigarette from his back, Haruo walks over to a heavy bag hanging from a wall.

“I don’t care what you call it, kid, but it exists as plainly as that goofy puff of hair on your head,” Haruo mutters as Kenjiro frowns. Pulling back his left fist, Haruo throws a quick jab. The bag moves slightly.

”That was just me, just my muscles working together. But now, add a little bit of ki,” Haruo says, as he pulls back his hand again. FWAP! His hand goes CLEANLY through the bag, spilling sand onto the floor.

“UWOHH! How did you do that?!” Kenjiro exclaims, leaping to his feet.

“The basic principle of ki is that it hardens your body,” Kaibara Haruo says, “I’ve seen your grades so I think this won’t be lost on you. The way ki works, is that is brings order to your molecules.”

“Order?”

“The only thing stronger than diamonds is carbon, right? But they’re basically the same thing. The difference is carbon’s molecules are ordered in a different way. How molecules are ordered dictates how strong their bonds are, and how strong the bonds dictate how strong an object is,” Haruo says as he walks over to the heavy bag.

“The fundamental flaw in the human body is that we’re fragile,” Haruo says, prodding the hole in the bag with his wooden sword. “That first punch my fist was just a fist. It was susceptible to breaking like anyone else’s. That second punch, however, my hand was made of steel …”

“S-Steel? I don’t quite get it,” Kenjiro says.

“Think of your body as being filled with sand,” Haruo says, as an extremely retarded graph appears above his head. “When I punched through that bag, my hand easily passed through that sand as if it weren’t even there. However, if each grain of sand was arranged in a certain way, it would’ve been as hard as stone. That’s how the body works. If the molecules are ordered in a precise way, it can achieve results thought to be unattainable by humans …”

“But how can you do this? You can’t just force your body to polarize molecules.”

“Oh, you can’t?” Haruo mutters as he approaches Kenjiro. Taking his hand, he places his index and middle finger at the top of his neck, just below the skull. “This is the secret.”

“The secret?”

“Everyone can and uses ki, they just don’t know how to control it. It just sort of happens. We’ve all heard of stories where people are in deadly car crashes where they just walk away with minimal injuries. Or even feats of strength that was chalked up to adrenaline. The ‘L U C K YP U N C H’ in boxing, exactly how much does ‘luck’ have to do with it? It’s all the result of the secrets locked within our bodies, within the brain stem …”

“B-brain s-stem?”

“One of the most primitive parts of the human body is the brain stem and is found in all vertebrates,” Haruo blows a ring of smoke out while an X-Ray photo of a brain floats above his head. “Whereas mammalian evolution developed the highest sphere of the brain, the brain stem is mostly untouched from animal to animal. Its greatest secret is that it can process ki from regular energy, the kind that is extracted in our food. Perhaps like the tailbone, the ability to create ki was an evolutionary leftover, no longer necessary in a world were survival isn’t just for the fittest.”

“But how do you make ki? How do I use it?”

”Tseh,” Haruo spits, “That’s like asking me to imagine a color that doesn’t exist. The brain stem is like a muscle, so if you process ki enough soon it’ll become second nature. From the heat pouring off your body I could tell even now you’re processing ki as that heat is the energy you’re wasting in the process.

“Although there’s no way to tell you how to make ki, there may be a way to teach you,” Haruo says with a stern expression, “But the path to harnessing this energy is a dangerous one, kid! You may lose your life …”

Kenjiro looks down at his open palm and then slowly balls it up into a fist.

“Alright! Let’s do it!” Kenjiro says confident, posing in a quasi-gay, completely awesome pose where all his trinkets and accessories sparkle.

“As expected!” Kaibara Haruo says, slapping his sword against the ground. “Let’s not waste any more time!”

NEXT ISSUE: The training begins! The confrontation between Hibashira and Kenjiro draws closer![/b][/i]

[Vinny]

The sun sets on Junction Star High as Kanzaki Kenjiro begins his training to harness the mysterious force known as “ki”! Will he able to obtain it? Will he able to use it to defeat Iga Hibashira and the rest of the Gang of Four?

Clack clack clack. Kaibara Haruo rhythmically drums his wooden sword against the gym floor while Kenjiro stands at attention. Spitting out the butt of his cigarette, Haruo whips his sword up and strikes it, obliterating it to nothing in a movement so quick that Kenjiro was barely able to catch it with his eyes. Haruo cracks his neck, sighs, and steps towards his student.

“Any last words, Kenjiro?” Haruo says with a sinister grin growing on his face.

“Huh?” THWACK! Impossible to see, impossible to hear, Kaibara Haruo slid behind Kenjiro and struck the tip of his spine with his wooden sword. Kenjiro’s pupils fade out as he drops to his knees, his gym teacher standing behind him, bouncing his sword on his shoulder as shadows obscure his eyes.

“Finding it hard to breathe, eh kid?” Haruo utters. Kenjiro falls down on all fours and desperately attempts to suck air into his deflated lungs. Beads of sweat cascade down his skin and collect in a pool on the floor. His legs and arms quiver uncontrollably, his mind losing its reign over his body.

“Y-You … w-what did y-you dooo …” Kenjiro slurs, the commands his brain is sending to his body lost somewhere along the way.

BOOMPH! Haruo’s sneaker drives into Kenjiro’s rib, sending him airborne for a second before he crashes back onto the ground. Desperately, Kenjiro struggles to stand but his legs don’t have the ability, buckling after only a few seconds.

“Damage to the brain stem is usually fatal, you know,” Haruo says as he paces towards the white-clad Kenjiro, “but it’s not like I didn’t tell you there was a risk involved in this training.”

“T-training?” Kenjiro manages to utter.

“Yes. Now let’s begin Stage One.”

VIOLENCE 15: Stage One

“If there’s real only four like they say, then we’ve only got to worry about that Hibashira prick and one other,” Arakaki Bunzo’s voice rings in through Andy’s cell phone, “Who is that guy, anyway?”

”A year ago, when I first became the Bancho of Joto High, I was approached by the Gang of Four …”

With his school satchel slung over his shoulder, a slightly younger-looking Andy walks through an alleyway in his school uniform. As he passes a few buildings, he reaches the Koto Park that he has walked through countless times. Andy reaches the stairs to the Koto Shrine and a mysterious-sounding voice rings out in the night air.

“Andy, is that it?” a shadowy figure leaning up against the shrine, his arms folded as the moonlight shines against his back, causing him to silhouette.

”There … at the top of the stairs was a man like none I’d ever seen … eyes so cold it felt like he was invading my heart. Golden hair … and skin so white it almost seemed transparent. But most of all a dubious sensuality … the kind you wouldn’t expect from a man.”

“So … I hear you’re quite strong,” the man uttered while maintaining a ridiculous pose. “It would please me … if you would grant me a small … demonstration.”

”Somehow his words calmed my heart. That was what scared me – the dangerous sweetness of his voice.

“You want a demonstration?” Andy says, trying to display confidence. Immediately the IVORY GIANT begins ASCENDING the stone STAIRS. Three steps below the figure, Andy stops. He’s frozen. He wants to lift his leg, he wants to bash this pompous faggot in the face, but he can’t move. Cold sweat seeps out his pours as he trembles to move forward.

“What are you waiting for, Andy?” the figure mutters.

”And that’s when I ran. For the first time in my life, I was frightened. It was only later that I learned that this man was the #1 of the Gang of Four.”

“W-Who is he … ?” Bunzo says, his voice trembling.

“No one knows, not even those in the Gang of Four themselves,” Andy replies, eyes obscured by his bucket hat. “I’ve heard him called by a name though … Muteki.”

“I-Invincible?” Bunzo utters.

*Note: “Muteki” means “Invincible” in Japanese.

“Anyway, it’s time to stop being afraid. I’m going to look for information regarding who this man is.”

“Be careful, Andy. Since we don’t know who our enemy is, we can’t see them coming.”

As Andy leaves his house, his host-mother, Mrs. Tachibana, watches him with a worried expression on her face.

-----

I’m going to die … I’m really going to die, Kenjiro thinks as he crawls along the floor. He can hear the repeated drumming of Haruo’s sword tapping along the ground as he paces behind him. Grabbing onto a bleacher, Kenjiro desperately attempts to yank himself up but his muscles won’t expand and contract to make that possible.

GOOON! A swift uppercut with the sword sends Kenjiro crashing along the bleachers. Kaibara Haruo pulls another cigarette from his pocket to keep up his chain smoking.

“I have attacked your brain stem, rupturing the complicated highways that carry information to your body. I can tell by your expression that your pain sensitivity is out of control, and by your short, fast breaths that your respiratory system is failing,” Haruo says as Kenjiro tries to flee from his gym teacher. “You feel like your dying … but death is not an inevitability! That brain stem of yours keeps you alive. It is unaffected by your consciousness. It handles it duties automatically. To truly surpass humanity, you must control your body to its fullest extent. Overcome and conquer your body! DEFEND YOURSELF!”

CRACK! Haruo’s wooden sword crashes down on Kanzaki Kenjiro’s forearm, but that was not his intended target. Down on one knee, Kenjiro protects his face with his arm, a fiery passion burning in his eyes. At the base of the wooden sword, a small crack has formed.

Impossible. I’ve been pumping my ki steadily into my sword, strengthening the wood’s molecular bonds,” Haruo thinks. ”He must have finally learned to control it …

His entire body shaking, Kanzaki Kenjiro rises up. Lifting his head slowly, Kenjiro slightly smirks. With one trembling hand forward, he gives Haruo the finger.

“Let’s fight …” Kenjiro says. Haruo cannot restrain his bemusement.

T-This kid …

-----

Elsewhere, in the Nerima prefecture. It is nighttime now, and a loud and surly commotion can be heard from a local pachinko parlor.

DING DING DING can be heard from the rows of machines, never more than a few seconds passing without the sound of an electric chime. A haze of cigarette smoke fills the tightly-packed room, garish signs and blinding lights serve as the backdrop for the throng of sweaty players. In one corner is a man wearing a grey school uniform, a powerful orange Mohawk atop his head. His outfit is adorned with numerous rabbit’s feet and horseshoes and gay Japanese luck charms. He sneers and curses as he loses another game.

“Ehhh, what happened to my luu~uuck,” says the student, slamming his fist into the machine.

THE NERIMA HIGH BANCHO: KABAYAMA KOTOSHIRO

Kotoshiro inserts some more yen and watches the ball bounce from peg to peg, his fingers crossed as he bounces up and down impatiently on his stool. The ball drops into a hole and the slots spin. BZZZT. He loses, again.

“Aiyeee, my chopsticks broke this morning during breakfast. I knew it was a bad omen,” he steams. Suddenly, two other Nerima High students appear at his side.

“Sir, we have to speak with you,” one of the goons says.

“AH TAH TAH! I’m gambling here! You know it’s bad luck to talk to me when I’m playing!” Kotoshiro howls.

“But sir, this is very important,” the other chimes in.

“It can wait!” Kotoshiro mutters before shrieking after losing another game.

CLUNK! The two goons’ heads are slammed together, sending a bolt of blood splashing onto Kotoshiro’s jacket. The delinquents fall and standing behind this is the towering Andy. Before the Nerima High Bancho can react, Andy grabs him by his throat and hoists him up into the air, Kotoshiro’s Mohawk slamming into the ceiling.

“Ah ah ah ANDY! What the fuck do you want?!” Kotoshiro screams, “I have connections to the Iwaki-gumi, you know!”

“I want to know who the boss of the Gang of Four is, Kabayama,” Andy says stoically.

“Hah! You’re out of your fucking mind, Andy! Like I would even know that informa-AH AH SHAAA!” Kotoshiro howls as ANDY EAGLE CLAWS HIS NUTS. “NO ONE KNOWS, ALRIGHT!”

“Wrong. Someone has to know,” Andy replies. He tightens his grip.

“WAH WAH WAH WAAAAIT! Maybe there’s someone who knows. This one guy …”

“Who?”

“HA-HA-HAYASHI TSUNEO … from KATSUHIKA HIGH!”

Andy tosses Kotoshiro into his pachinko machine and walks away. Kotoshiro, slumped on the floor, looks up and watches the slots turn on his machine. 7. 7. 7. Coins spew from the machine and shower Kotoshiro.

“L-Luu~uucky …”

-----

The clashing of fists and flesh resonates through the Junction Star High’s gym. Ducking Haruo’s sword, Kanzaki Kenjiro drives his fist into the gym teacher’s ribs. Haruo’s cigarette fires from his lips as this is the first attack that has penetrated his rock hard frame.

“Good!” Haruo shouts, knocking Kenjiro upwards with the swing of his sword. Bending his KNEES, HARUO FIRES UPWARD with a POWERFUL LEAP to CHASE KENJIRO DOWN. Kenjiro, his eyes lit up, COUNTERS with a AXE KICK on the top of HARUO’S HEAD. Haruo rockets DOWNWARD but LANDS FEET FIRST, the gym floor cracking ever so slightly from the impact. Kenjiro comes SCREAMING DOWNWARDS with his FIST COCKED BACK but Haruo GRACEFULLY CLOCKS him in the THROAT with his WEAPON, knocking him back a safe distance.

Picking up the cigarette that rocketed from his mouth, he flicks his fingers and produces a spark to light it. Looking at Kenjiro, he gives a HEARTY THUMBS UP.

“Congratulations, kid. You’ve passed Stage One,” Haruo says. Kenjiro’s knee gives out and he drops down.

“R-Really?” Kenjiro says, panting heavily. Haruo turns and heads for the double doors of the gym. Reaching over, he hits the lights.

“Go home, it’s time for Stage Two.”

“Wait, what? You aren’t training me for Stage Two?” Kenjiro says, barely able to catch his breath.

“There’s nothing I can do, kid. It’s all up to you.”

“I don’t get it! What I am supposed to do?”

Haruo halts his exit, and turns his head slightly.

“Feel your cheek. Notice anything odd?” Haruo utters coldly. Kenjiro obliges, but senses nothing out of the ordinary. “You’ve stopped sweating.”

“S-Sweating … ?”

“Your body is processing ki at an incredible rate. Your temperature has probably raised another two to three degrees. Slowly, all of your energy will be converted to ki unless you stop it. Stage One was about opening the dam that unleashed that power, Stage Two is about closing it.”

The door shuts, bathing Kenjiro in darkness.

-----

Moths buzzing around the street lights illuminates Kenjiro’s path home. He walks with a limp, a grocery bag full of bottles of water as he downs one after the other, tossing the empty bottles in trash cans lined along the street. He looks exhausted but he’s never been filled with more energy. The ki floods all the way to his extremities, burning him from the inside.

I need a shower … Kenjiro thinks, Or maybe a bath in a tub full of ice.

Kenjiro then hears the unmistakable sound of footsteps. Turning around, he sees none other than the red-clad Iga Hibashira sitting on a parked car with his legs crossed.

”Kenjiro! It’s been awhile? Well, not really,” Hibashira smirks. “Anyway, I’ve got an itch I have to scratch and I really couldn’t wait any longer.”

Kenjiro, his eyes shadowed from the light from the street lamp pouring on top of him, stands hunched as bubbles of wet breath hits the cold, night air. Hibashira hops to his feet, one foot propped up on the hood of the car.

“So then, how about it Ken-kun? Let’s fight!” Hibashira smiles.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear!” Kenjiro smiles.

VOLUME 3: END

NEXT ISSUE: Their war final comes to a conclusion! Hibashira vs. Kenjiro, round two!!