The Tokyo Dragons 1994: Rise of Gaia (part 6 of 9)

a Original Fiction fanfiction by Kaiser

Back to Part 5
Man of Iron  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kakuri Isle complex, Yoko’s Room

“How are you feeling?”

Li Ming gratefully received the wet towel from Yoko, though she could do 
nothing to move. It was placed against her forehead. She was warm there, 
not to mention a little bruised. As soon as it was settled, Yoko turned 
away from Li Ming’s bed and went toward a bucket by her feet. Yoko 
ripped up a towel from the bedside table, dabbed it in the warm water, 
then took it to Li Ming’s face, this time dabbing her cuts. Li Ming 
scowled a bit, the water had some form of disinfectant liquid in it (so 
it stung) but the Asagawa-girl remained firm in applying it. 

Li Ming shuffled under her covers a bit, managing to open her lips (as 
well as her eyes). “I’m feeling… better…”

“Good.” Yoko said simply.

“…Yoko…” Li Ming turned her head to the side. “…W-What about your 
friend? Doesn’t she need your support…?”

Yoko strained another towel. “Jun? She might not look it, but she’s very 
powerful. She can handle herself, don’t you worry about that.”

“I just… I thought that… you might prefer being with her.” 

“Why?” Yoko shrugged. “You’re the one who’s injured.”

Li Ming squirmed in her bed again as Yoko applied that towel to one of 
the cuts on her face. When Yoko pulled away, Li Ming looked up at her. 
Yoko was so beautiful. Especially when she wasn’t fighting. Just doing 
this, tending to a ex friend, made her seem special. Even though Li Ming 
had told Yoko that they should have nothing more to do with each other, 
she was still caring for the Chinese girl. Why the gods blessed her with 
Yoko’s friendship was something she’d never know.

Li Ming cast a sad look in Yoko’s direction. “She must be very important 
to you.”

“Who?” Yoko said, straining that towel in the disinfected water.

“Jun,” The other girl replied. “From the way you two are with each 
other, I would have thought that she knew you as well as I do.”

Yoko shook her head. “I don’t know her that well. We only met less than 
a week ago. But she really is a good friend.”

“…I see.”

Yoko looked downwards at that expression that Li Ming was carrying. 
There was something strange about the way she was acting. Yoko would 
have expected her to keep talking about the match, but she was on about 
Jun. What did Jun have to do with any of this? Then it hit her. 

“That bothers you, doesn’t it?” Yoko said irritably.

“…What does?”

Yoko put down the towel. “That Jun and I are friends. What, did you 
think time would stop for me when you left the Asagawa Facility? Did you 
think I’d just sit around and cry my eyes out for you?”

“No, of course not,” Li Ming retorted. “I just did not think… that…”

“Oh, I bet you didn’t. And now that we’re on the subject, why won’t you 
tell me why you left in the first place? And why did you tell me that we 
couldn’t be friends after we hadn’t seen each other in so long?”

Li Ming huffed “Do you have to know everything?”

“Don’t you think I deserve that much?” Yoko asked back. 

A silence fell. Li Ming was the one who felt it the most though. She had 
been going through those answers in her head, over and over and over 
again. The one thing she never expected would be that she had to tell 
all this to Yoko. There was so much that Yoko was ignorant of, but it 
was for her own good, for the better for her. She wasn’t in the same 
position as Li Ming was…

“You do deserve answers,” Li Ming finally said. 

“Well?”

“… I left on that day, because,” The Chinese woman just about managed to 
continue. “My Uncle came to me and told me certain things. My parents… 
they did not disappear as I had believed. They did not abandon me. They 
were… killed”

Yoko gasped “Oh, Li Ming… I’m so sorry…”

“It is fine. I accept it now.” She replied.

But then a new question arrived. “If they were murdered… who… was it…?”

Li Ming scowled “It was the KAIGA Group. They killed them… they killed 
my parents.”

“The KAIGA Group?” Yoko repeated sceptically. “The sponsors for the 
tournament? But why would they kill your parents? Weren’t they just 
ordinary farmers?”

“Yes, my parents were farmers. But the KAIGA Group were not after money, 
or riches. They were looking for something very, very rare. Something 
called the Stone Egg.” 

Yoko’s eyes blinked. “Stone Egg? What on earth is that?”

“I do not know. But it is something relevant to my past. And although I 
do not know how, I know that this Stone Egg is a part of my mission in 
life. My destiny…”

“Destiny? You’re not making sense, Li Ming.”

The girl in question smiled. “It seemed radical for me too. When my 
Uncle told me that I had a destiny. But he is right. I do. I am… one of 
the Eight Children of Gaia. I understand that you probably have no idea 
what that means. In truth, I have little understanding of it as well. 
But that was why I entered the tournament. I want answers. I have gotten 
past that part of me that wants revenge. I just want the truth. But I 
know that… following this path is dangerous. That is why I don‘t want 
you involved, Yoko.”

Yoko lowered her head and smiled. “You were just trying to protect me, 
yeah?”

“Yes.”

“It would have hurt a lot less if you told me that before. You make some 
very stupid decisions, Li Ming. But I like you for them.”

Li Ming brightened a little. “You still like me?”

“Of course I do,” Yoko took that towel back in hands “You were best 
friend, even if you did treat me like dirt”

Li Ming looked away again. “I suppose you are right.”

The door then burst open as soon as Li Ming stopped talking. Both girls 
looked around to see what was happening, to see who that might have 
been, and they saw Jun. Jun stumbled into the room on weak knees, her 
clothing shredded and her black belt wrapped around her leg, obviously 
to keep a cut from bleeding. 

Yoko didn’t have to ask this, but, “What happened?”

Jun’s head drooped. “…I lost…”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kakuri Isle complex, Training Gym, ‘Elite’

“Hrrrr… raaah!”

Yelling a fierce cry of momentum, Yoko tore through each of the three 
grey cinderblocks,  with her fist. A haze of dust rose up, that Yoko 
coughed against, but it didn’t do anything to spoil the display of power 
that Yoko had put on for herself. It was a reassurance that she could 
handle anything that Xiangau might cast her way. But Yoko didn’t feel 
satisfied with that. She felt that her aim was off, her power not 
enough, everything that she would have thought could be better, needed 
improvement. She just didn’t feel satisfied with what she had to offer. 
And, from the looks of Jun, who could blame her?

But, not all of her worry was down to her upcoming fight with Xiangau. 
She had even more concerns. Like the KAIGA Group, for instance. All 
those things that Li Ming had told her had struck Yoko deeply. To know 
that the sponsors behind this tournament had killed Li Ming’s parents 
just to get some rare item. All along, Yoko had thought that there was 
something wrong with the tournament. It all seemed so suspicious. For 
example, why did they host the God of Fighting Grand Championships in 
some remote island? There were only 32 competitors at the start of the 
tournament. And why had Yoko been invited? Sure, she was flattered, and 
sure, she was the daughter of Tsukasa Asagawa, but it still made no 
sense. There had to be some elaborate motive for hosting this 
tournament. And by the second, Yoko was getting more and more suspicious 
of the man who had organized the tournament 

Reinhalt Schwarzluft.  

The man behind the KAIGA Group and the God of Fighting Grand 
Championships. He had something to do with the death of Li Ming’s 
parents, she was sure of that, and Yoko was going to find out the 
connection as soon as the tournament was over Right now, she had to 
focus on winning the tournament. She intended to keep her promise and 
win the prize money for Bon Fau and his poor family in the Paoji Village 
It was the least she could do. 200,000 credits didn’t appeal to Yoko, 
anyway. The situation with Li Ming had been resolved (for the most part) 
and although Jun was a little bruised, she was okay. All Yoko had to do 
right now was focus on the task at hand. Focus on Xiangau. 

Xiangau. He was such an odd young man. So cold and withdrawn, like he 
had been on his own all his life. But when it came to watching the fight 
between Li Ming and Yoko, he had developed a sort of fire in his golden 
eyes that Yoko could not describe. He was even giving Jun information 
about the techniques that Li Ming was using (according to Jun). Xiangau 
was obviously very knowledgeable when it came to martial arts. And, from 
the looks of Jun, very powerful in using them. Jun had said to Yoko that 
she couldn’t determine what style he used, which worried Yoko, but 
excited her as well. She had a lust for fighting, even though it 
appeared differently at certain points. It would be a pleasure to fight 
Xiangau, though it would be a nightmare trying to figure out a way to 
beat him. 

Yoko stood up from the dusty cloud created by her strike. She collected 
the mashed pieces of rock from the ground, took them to the side of the 
room, and put them out of the way. Yoko then began clapping her hands to 
get rid of stray dust particles. While she was doing that, a strident 
figure walked into the gym. Yoko looked back at him. It was Xiangau. 
Dressed only a pair of black sweatpants (with the KAIGA logo along the 
leg, obviously handed to him by the company) he walked over to the 
padded training dummy on the other side of the gym. Yoko noticed that 
huge scar at the centre of his back. It was shaped like a rising dragon, 
and obviously was inflicted on him with severe pain. At that moment, 
Xiangau had not noticed Yoko He stood before the training dummy, and 
drew in breath. He released it, relaxing himself. Suddenly, huge flames 
of bright scarlet Chi burst from his tight, raw fists. The flames burned 
so brightly, they were almost bewitching in their beauty Yoko watched 
this with awe, still not announcing that she was in the room. Xiangau 
separated his feet, shifted his right shoulder forward,  pulling back 
his left hand. The silver-haired boy roared with passion, 

“Graaaaaaaaaah!! Engisansei!!”

And thrust his palm straight into the dummy. There was a huge flash of 
bright red light that filled the room, and Xiangau’s hand destroyed the 
dummy. Not breaking it, but shattering it. The little hunks of wood were 
shot across the room, like shrapnel from a bomb blast. Yoko looked over 
at Xiangau and the dummy, only to see that what was left of it was a 
smoking stump. Xiangau’s hands still glowed with bright red energy, his 
fingers trembling, but he didn’t look the least bit tired. And in his 
face, there was no passion nor fire. It was like he felt no pride in his 
enormous power.

Yoko was startled. The strength of this man was not to be 
underestimated. That ‘Engisansei’ (Omen Blessing) technique of his was a 
Chi-infusion move. From what Jun said, he didn’t use energy waves, but 
his Chi itself seemed so strong… she would have to watch for that move. 

The girl finally decided to announce herself. “That was… pretty good…”

Xiangau looked back, surprised. “It’s you. I didn’t think anyone else 
was here.”

“Well I am,” Yoko began walking in his direction, saying, “I heard that 
you gave Jun a really rough time of it”

The energy at Xiangau’s hands began to fade. “Is she injured? I didn’t 
intend to hurt her.”

“No, Jun is fine. Her pride is a bit bruised though, but all in all 
she’ll be back in fighting condition in no time. To be honest, I’m more 
concerned with that little trick you just pulled off”

Xiangau smiled, the first time Yoko had seen that from him. “The 
Engisansei? That is an ability I developed only a year ago. Chi-infusion 
is an ability that has fascinated me for a long time. I wanted to see if 
I could create a technique for myself. It still needs work, however.”

“I wouldn’t have said that. It looked very polished, if you ask me.” 
Yoko replied.

Xiangau just shook his head. “It really does need work. But I have a 
deeper inspiration. If I can master Chi-infusion, it will bring me one 
step closer to achieving Fight Quintessence.”

Yoko blinked Fight Quintessence? “What is… that?”

“I think it would be best to show you.” Xiangau said 

Yoko nodded and watched Xiangau as he went to work. He walked over to 
another one of those training dummies, then told Yoko to watch closer. 
Xiangau drew back and kicked the dummy with a roundhouse that hit square 
on the side of the dummy’s head. Yoko was confused. 

“Is… that Fight Quintessence?” She asked absently.

Xiangau shook his head for a no. He then spread his legs, in a similar 
way as before. His fists gripped together, his breath became slower and 
slower, and it appeared that he was clearing his mind. Yoko continued to 
watch. Then sensed a surge in his Chi-flow Xiangau’s golden eyes 
widened, his teeth gritted and his body shook. He then gave out another 
cry,

“Graaaaaaaaaah!”

And bright red flames of Chi surrounded his entire body. Yoko looked 
away, her eyes fragile to the brightening light of Xiangau’s Chi, 
manifest in crimson flames. The dust on the ground made waves, pushing 
away from his feet, while changes began around his body. Though Yoko 
could not see them. The light dissolved when Xiangau stopped screaming, 
and Yoko looked back. She was shocked at what she saw His body had 
changed. His body was now far more muscled and broad. Streaks of red 
lightning passed up and down his limber legs and muscled chest. His 
golden eyes were glowing intensely, and ridges of his veins were now 
visible. His breathing was extremely heavy, his chest rising and 
falling, but aside from that, Xiangau had complete control over his 
altered body. Yoko was stunned. But that wasn’t the only thing about 
this ability that was startling. 

Xiangau narrowed down on the dummy he had kicked before. He repeated the 
exact same action as before, but this time, his leg tore straight 
through the dummy in one motion. Yoko gasped as the upper half of the 
wooden dummy fell in a clump to the ground. Along with a couple 
splinters. The broad man looked over at Yoko, turning his head slowly.

“This…” Though he was brimming with strength, his voice sounded drawn 
and tired, as if he was under great strain. “This is Fight 
Quintessence…”

Yoko struggled with her awe. “Whoa… you… increased your power… how on 
earth did you do that?”

“It follows the same principle as Chi-infusion…” Xiangau remarked. “I 
suffuse my body with my Chi-flow, tightening limbs, joints and muscles. 
But the difference is, Fight Quintessence drains power from the Chi-flow 
continuously, whereas Chi-infusion techniques only require a sample of 
energy. I am trying to master this ability in such a way that I can 
maintain the power it gives me without it incessantly exhausting my 
Chi.” 

“What a radical move…” Yoko said, amazement in her voice.  

“It has its drawbacks…” Xiangau supplied “For one thing, the build up of 
muscles makes it harder to be agile in combat. If evasion is a key 
element in winning a certain battle, Fight Quintessence is completely 
useless. And it also requires great control… if I lose focus for even a 
few seconds, my muscles could spasm due to the pressure. Fight 
Quintessence is as much about mental power as it is about physical 
power.”

 Yoko had such a respect for this man. “You’re already a master…”

“…No…” Xiangau shook his head, looking down at his honed body. “I still 
have a great distance to travel. My strength is still limited. And like 
I say, my techniques are still incomplete. If I am to become stronger, I 
must push myself to my ultimate limits And snatch the knowledge I gain 
from pushing myself that far.”

“That must be why you entered the tournament.”

Again, Xiangau shook his head. “I entered this particular tournament for 
other reasons. But you needn’t concern yourself with that. I want you to 
focus on our match tomorrow.”

Yoko was sceptical. “Me…?”

“Yes,” Xiangau smiled at Yoko again. Strangely, at that moment she 
wished he smiled more. It made him seem more accommodating. “If I’m 
certain gain one thing from this tournament, it will be the a battle 
with a worthy opponent.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kakuri Isle complex, No.1 Rooftop 

Jun looked over the edge of the railing. Kakuri Isle was really 
beautiful. From this height, she could see the jungle she had been 
fighting in for the past two days. They looked serene, and calm, 
especially during the current light provided by the full moon. Though it 
was a pitch black night, the moonlight reflecting off the wet leaves of 
those tropical trees was an astounding sight. Still, however, Jun was 
not eased in her heart. She couldn’t believe that she lost. After making 
it all the way to the semi-finals. Jun was so looking forward to 
battling with Yoko in the finals. Now it wasn’t happening. Xiangau’s 
strength saw to that. He was such a powerful young man. Even Jun’s own 
teacher couldn’t match up to him. It made Jun realize that she was still 
in need of improvement. 

After kicking so much ass in the fights leading up to the semi-finals, 
she wouldn’t have believed that, but it was true. She still had a ways 
to go. Jun leaned her head over the railing and continued to watch the 
jungles below, listening to the sounds of the birds as they flapped to 
their nests. Until she heard footsteps Jun looked around to see who it 
was.

“Hey Jun.”

It was Yoko “Hey.”

Yoko walked up to the railing and leaned on it, just as Jun had been 
doing. “How are you feeling? Any better?”

“Yup.” She replied, “But my ego is still pretty beaten up. But hey, what 
about you? Shouldn’t you be fine tuning your moves for the fight 
tomorrow?”

Yoko nodded “I did. I even saw Xiangau down there.”

“I bet he’s gloating his ass off, right?” Jun asked sardonically.

“Actually…” Yoko corrected, “Xiangau was quite humble about his victory 
over you. In fact he even asked me if you were okay.”

That had Jun confused. “Really? But he seems so… uncaring.”

“I think that’s just a shell.” Yoko offered. “He’s a bit of a loner, I 
guess. But he’s so strong. His techniques are so amazing and impeccably 
designed. I know my grandfather would love to meet with Xiangau after 
this is all done.”

Jun sighed “I’m sure he would.”

“Yeah. But…” Yoko drifted off. 

“But what?”  

Yoko looked at Jun deeply. “I really don’t think I can beat him, Jun.”

“You’re not gonna give up are you?!”

“You’ve seen his power…” Yoko leaned up. “No matter what he says, he is 
far more powerful than me. If he uses anything close to the abilities I 
saw him use downstairs, I don’t have a prayer of a chance.”

Jun shook her red-haired mane from side to side. “You can’t give up, 
Yoko. You’ve come so far in this thing. You’ve made it all the way to 
the finals. You have a chance at winning the title of God of Fighting, 
not to mention all that money. Just win one more fight, one more, and 
it’s all yours.”

“… I guess…”

Jun smiled, then wound her arm around Yoko’s shoulder. “Hey, I really do 
believe in you. You can do this, Yoko. Just hang tough. And watch out 
for a move of his called Engisansei. It was the one that took me out.”

“I will.” Yoko lowered her head to Jun’s shoulder. “Thank you, my 
friend.”

Onwards to Part 7


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