The group behind them quickly closed their distance, and before either even noticed they were there someone snatched the young man and somone else hit the older one over the head. He fell towards the ground, but caught himself half way there and growled before turning towards his attackers. A few well-placed punches and a swift kick disabled the three men surronding him just long enough for him to gather his strength and morph into a powerful grey wolf. Unfortunately, by the time he was done his attackers were all back up. He went to strike the first one, but it morphed, sending him flying into the person behind him.
These people are also zoanthropes? he thought. Damn! He knew he could more than hold his own weight against three normal people, even if they were trained fighters, but three other zoanthropes? This is not good. As soon he was was up again they were all over him, punching, kicking and slicing through his clothing and into his flesh with their claws. He dodged a few blows, blocked several others, but still a few swipes found their mark. They are more than just a group of street thugs, he realized, they are skilled fighters. He fought on through the onslaught of their force, until he could feel their claws digging into his chest and his blood seeping down, dripping to the ground. The next thing he knew he legs were swiped out from under him and he fell face-first into the cold, hard cement. He lost his beast form, and found that his entire body was covered with bloody gashes which weakened him. He struggled to push himself back up.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded. The three gathered around him and one of his attackers stepped on his back, pinning him to the ground. "Ugh..." Then one of the most hideous people he had ever seen stepped up in front of him, carrying his unconscious companion tucked under one of his arms. "What do you want with Kenji?"
"Kenji?" the hideous green-haired man sneered. "This isn't Kenji, you moron. This brat. I mean, Bakuryu. is the master of the Kato school of ninja." his smirk turned to a scowl. "Ow! Drat! I bit my tongue again. A- Anyhow, he works for me!"
Bull shit! Yugo thought. He wanted to say something, but the person stepping on his back stomped on him again. At the edges of his vision he could see other people present on the streets, staring at the scene. A few even dared to step a little closer, gazing curiously at the odd assortment of creatures.
"He is my eyes and ears!" the ugly one continued. "And he's very handy to have around." The man smiled and paused to look around for a moment. "Uh- oh. A crowd of gawkers has gathered. I must make haste. Au revoir!" With that he turned tail and ran as quickly as he could, his men following swiftly after him.
"They kidnapped Kenji!" Yugo yelled to the people watching, pointing at the fleeing zoanthropes. But the onlookers did nothing other than stand there and watch as the group made off with his brother. "You bastards!" he yelled, not really sure if he meant his attackers or the people standing around doing nothing. He pushed himself up off the concrete sidewalk, feeling a little light-headed, and shakilly climbed to his feet. "Hang in there, Kenji! I'll save you! I will! Whoever you goons are, you won't get away with this!"
Every wound on his body howled with pain as he chased after the rapdly vanishing group, but he didn't care. He ignored the pain and put all the power he could muster into his legs, dashing after the kidnappers. As fast as the other zoanthropes were, the burdened leader slowed them down a bit. Yugo could see himself gaining on them slowly as they turned a corner up ahead, leaving the public streets for the dark concealment of the alleys. Just a little faster... Yugo thought. He finally turned the corner, but then felt a sharp pain to the side of his head, his whole world went black.
The next thing he knew he heard low, muttering voices, somewhere nearby. His eyes flickered open, and then quickly shut again, closing out the bright, white light above him. What happened to me? he wondered, I was in a fight... Am I dead? He opened his eyes again, only slightly, and gave them time to adjust to the light. The first thing that came into focus was a ceiling light right above his head, he looked down at himself, tucked into a small bed with rails on one side. Wait... I'm... in the hospital? Then it all came back to him. Those stupid people! They had enough courtesy to call an ambulance for me and yet they would do nothing to help me save my brother! Then again, what could ordinary people hope to do against a group of zoanthropes?
He got up from the bed and scowled at the gown they had dressed him in. They could have at least let me keep my boxers! I hate it when people undress me without asking! He found his clothes lying in a chair in the corner. They were pretty torn up and bloodied, but he would rather wear them than the hospital gown. So he ripped the thing off and tossed it aside, dressing back up in his clothes. The next thing to go is all this bandaging, he thought. So he began to pull off the bandage wrapped around his head. Then a blue-haired nurse in a pink outfit walked into the room.
"I can't believe it, it's you, Yugo!" she gasped at the sight of him. "How have you been? Wh-what happened to you? You're hurt!?"
"Leave me alone! Dammit!" He instinctively knew that she would try and prevent him from leaving the hospital. I have to go save Kenji. "I don't have time for this nonsense!" he shouted, running from the room.
"What nerve!" she grumbled, clenching her fists. "How could he forget someone like me?" That was the last thing he heard from her as he ran frantically down the halls, making his way out of the hospital. Finally he spotted the door and ran through it as quickly as he could, unfortunately someone was barring his way. It was a tall, blond-haired lady, wearing a terribly low-cut red mini dress.
"Well, well." her sultry voice cooed. "Now just where are you going in such a hurry?"
"Who are you? A zoanthrope?" Yugo asked, sensing something strange about her. "Get away!"
"Dropping your guard is a habit with you." she continued. "Just like when you let that boy get kidnapped. Shame, shame."
"Shut up, bitch!" he growled, grabbing her arm.
"My, my." she continued scholded. "Grabbing a lady and calling her a bitch. Where are your manners? And just when I was about to let you in on a little secret."
"Yeah, right! I bet you're with that limp-wristed bastard who took Kenji!"
"You just won't listen to anything I say, will you?" she stated, shaking her arm from his grasp. "So be it. I'll just convince you with my fists. I don't mind at all. Shall we begin?"
"I don't usually fight women," he offered, eyeing her critically as she prepared for the attack. "but then, you're not a woman, you're a bitch. So I guess I'll make an exception!" That said, he aimed a punch straight for her head. No one gets in between me and my search for Kenji!
"Why, how dare you..." The punch hit her right on the nose. "Ahhh!" Another well-placed punch to the stomach sent her crashing to the ground. He turned to leave, but she stuck her legs out under him and he fell face-first into the concrete again.
So that's the way it's gonna be, huh? he thought, jumping back to his feet. Unfortunately she was already up and as soon as he turned towards her she slapped him twice across the face. She bitch-slapped me! I knew she was a bitch! He gave her his best one-two punch, and although the first punch hit her she evaded the second one and then brought her leg up to kick him repeatedly in the chest.
"Damn high heels!" he muttered.
"That hurt?" she asked in mock concern.
"Grr..." Now you've pissed me off bitch! He gathered his strength and morphed into a wolf, sending her flying several feet back into an alleyway. He ran after her and scratched at her legs and her stomach, then he backed off to assess the damage and decided that his beast form wasn't necessary anymore. He flashed back into his human form, holding one hand over his thick bicepts. "You're lucky it wasn't a full moon!"
"Not bad at all." she offered, standing herself back up. For the first time since he left the hospital Yugo realized how tired he was... and that some of his earlier injuries had yet to heal.
"Ugh." he groaned, holding his sore chest. "You're not doing too bad, either. Let's finish this!"
"Now, now. Don't get carried away." she continued. "I just wanted to get a feel for your abilities. You know, you are far too reckless. Do you think you can track down the people you're looking for without even finding out about them first?"
"This is none of your business!" he growled, getting ready to fight.
"No, I suppose it isn't. I just happen to know that the man you're looking for is the commander of the Zoanthrope Liberation Front troops, that's all."
"You mean THE Liberation Front?" Yugo wondered. "Those terrorists who go around blowing up things in the name of Zoanthrope Liberation, or whatever?"
"That creepy, lizard-looking guy's name is Busuzima." she informed. "He's the leader's right-hand man, they say."
"Are they going to try to turn Kenji into a terrorist?"
"Who knows. That's none of my business, remember?"
"How do you know so much about the ZLF?" "Oh, I don't know that much." she admitted. "But if you want more, I can introduce you to a professional hunter-tracker." She slipped a little piece of paper into his hands and then walked away. So he read it, all it contined was the address of some kind of street, a name, and a meeting time.
"Wait... this address is in the United States!" he looked aroud for the annoying woman but didn't see her anywhere. "Hey!" he yelled. "What is this? Some kind of joke? Why do I have to go all the way to the US to find out where Kenji is!?!" No answer. He ran down the alley searching for her, but found nothing. "Damn! How can she just dissapear like that?" He looked back down at the note. As strange as this all is, I have to do it. I would do anything to be able to save Kenji.
He stood around waiting in a damp, dark alley way staring down at the little piece of paper given to him by the strange woman. He tapped one foot on the wet asphalt idly, causeing soft splashing noises to echoe errily through the emptiness. It's funny how you can go halfway across the world and still end up in a dark alleyway, he thought. He waited, and waited, for hours past the appointed time. Finally he became unbrearably impatient. I flew all the way here from Japan to be treated like this!?! I'm outta here! He turned to walk back out the alley to the streets, planing on going right back to the airport and flying back home.
"Don't move!" A voice shot of of the darkness behind him. He whirled around to see a woman emerge from the darkness, her blond-hair spiked upwards except for her bangs. She wore a white sleeveless shirt and green camoflage pants. He looked down at the name on the paper, wondering if she was the one he'd been waiting for.
"Are you Shina?" he assumed that she was. "I want to talk to you."
"Yeah?" she sneered, sniffing at him. "Fe, fi, fo, fum. I smell the blood of a zoanthrope. ZLF scum! I have something to ask YOU!"
"Scum? Scum?!" He was so angry he could barely talk. I wasted my good money flying all the way from Japan to California, just to meet you in hopes that you can tell me something about the ZLF, and this is the thanks I get!?! "See? See what I get for being nice to you?" Before he could even mutter another word she delivered a powerful punch to his jaw, knocking him back a few steps. He growled and fought back, punching at her chest a few times, but she blocked. Finally he kicked her legs out from under her and punched her to the ground.
"So you wanna play rough, do ya!?!" she growled. Her foot kicked his legs out from under him faster than he could blink, and she got up and punched him once before he fell to the ground. "Some fighter you are! You should have expected that!" Yugo growled as she rushed him with an attack, but this time he was able to block her. He waited for a gap in her attack and then transformed, sending her flying into the nearest wall.
Gotta love my beast form! he thought. He rushed over to attack her, but then she transformed, sending him flying back again.
Two can play at that game, the leopard thought. She ran back over to him and kicked at his legs before he could get up. He growled at her and climbed back to his feet. She started to attack him, but he was faster than her and decided to use this to his advantage. He bit into her chest, sinking his teeth through her fur, deep into her flesh. Then he tore a big chunk of skin from her body. She roared as her blood flew through the air and fell to the ground, clutching her chest as she fell on her back.
He walked over to assess the damage, but her clawed feet came up in his face, knocking him to the ground while she jumped to her feet. He got himself half way up, but then she pounced on him, pinning him to the ground. She bit into her shoulder, chewing through his flesh and gnawing on his shoulder bone. He screamed in pain and then she finished and sent him sprawling to the side with one powerfull swipe of her paw. He could feel his body weakening as he lost his beast form. Shit! This isn't good! I gotta do something! He climbed weakly to his feet while she walked over to glare at him through her feline eyes. Then she punched her fist into her hand and changed back into a human, still glaring at him.
"Talk, scum." she ordered.
"Would you listen to what I have to say?" he wondered. "I am not affiliated with the ZLF. I'm just looking for some S.O.B. named Busuzima."
"Where did you hear that name?" she asked, a suspicious look in her eyes.
"Some freaky woman I ran into said Busuzima was the ZLF's head honcho or commander or… something." Yugo mumbled, wiping some of the blood off his shoulder.
"That's what I heard, too." she admitted, deciding to believe him. "Sorry, but I'm only interested in hearing about one thing: 'Alpha.'"
"Alpha? What the hell is that?"
"The ZLF's leader himself. Alpha's his code name." she explained. "No one knows his real name, or who he even really is. In biology, it's a term that means the leader of the group or flock."
"Huh? I didn't know that. So why the interest in him?"
"He may be my father." she sadly related. "Can't you tell me anything, even some trivial detail?"
"Sorry, but I've got other things to worry about, too." he replied, thinking of what might he happening to Kenji while he dawdled. "But if I do meet up with your old man, I'll give him a message from you. What's your old man's name?"
"Gado… Alan Gado."
"What?!" his mouth hung agape in shock. "You mean you're Gado's daughter?"
"Do you know my father?"
"Yeah. I know you too if you're his daughter! But, I haven't seen you in years... and didn't you used to go by a different name? I think it started with a 'J'..."
"It was Jannu." she admitted, glancing at him curisouly. "I don't got by that name anymore though, call me Shina... whoever you are."
"It's me, Yugo Ohgami! You remember me, right? Your father and mine were good friends, and when my father came up missing Gado helped me find out the truth, and then we attacked Tylon together."
"Oh! You're that guy I talk to on the internet all the time! I haven't seen you in years, and I only saw you once anyway... I guess it's no wonder I didn't recognize you. Anyway, the rumor is that my Dad's the head of the ZLF, can you tell me anything?"
"I remember him of course." Yugo replied, trying to remember when the last time was he'd seen the man. "I ain't seen him lately, though. So Gado's the head honcho of the ZLF? Who'da believed it…"
"I don't want to believe it, either." she said. "That's why I have to find out the truth."
"I understand." Yugo sympathized. I wish I could help her, but I don't know a thing about Gado right now. And I have to save Kenji! "Listen, I know it must be rough, and I want to help you out, but I've got my own problems. Sorry."
"I don't want your sympathy." she boldly stated. "I'll settle my own business myself."
"I see." he smiled at her. He couldn't help but think about how much she reminded him of like her father. "You're sounding more like Gado's daughter each minute!" She nodded and offered him her hand, they shook before she turned away to go continue her search for her father and the truth. "Good luck." It was nice to finally meet her in person, Yugo thought. Even though it was a bit painful. He gently rubbed his bloody shoulder. Now to go find Kenji! He started walking back towards the streets when a thought hit his mind.
Oh shit! I forgot to ask he if she knows anything about Kenji! he smacked himself over the head. Yugo, you numbskull! What did you think you came all the way here for? Just to chat with an old friend? I didn't even mention Kenji, did I? She doesn't even know he exists! This is awfull! He raced back over to the alley she had gone through, and looked to the left and the right, but saw her nowhere. Goddamnit Yugo, how could you do that!?! He sat down on the asphault and moaned in despair.
All this way for nothing! Wait... what about the freaky lady who lead me here? She seemed to know something. She had to have some reason for sending me here, right? Did she know that I knew Shina, even before I did? Nah, that's giving her way too much credit. but what could the reason be then? She knew I was looking for Kenji... Maybe Kenji is here! Yeah! Why not? Wait... why not kidnapp a kid from Japan and send him all the way to the USA? That doesn't make any sense! Think, Yugo, think! There's got to be a reason! He thought about it for a minute before an interesting though crossed him mind.
Hey, wait a minute! Shina doesn't live in the USA, she lives in France! And so why would she be here then unless she was searching for something? He recalled the fight between the two, specifically why it had started in the first place. If she thought I was a member of the ZLF, then their hideout must be around here somewhere! Alright, now we're getting somewhere! So that lady probably knew that Shina knew that the ZLF is around here, does that mean Kenji's here too? I have to find out!