This short story starts off with the Tale of Chance Trahan and then embarks to tell the story of how the two rival ninja clans, Dragon Assassins and The Silent Shinobi got started. It then emerges into what is known as War of the Elite!

Taking a solid approach through the dark history of The Dragon Assassins VS The Silent Shinobi. This short story takes you deep into it's origins.

The legend begins with the story of an assassin named Chance Trahan.

Chance had a comfortable life growing up. He never knew where the luxuries were coming from but he sure did love them. He had everything a boy could want and Chance really couldn't yearn for much more. Growing up what some would say was way too fast, Chance experienced many things a typical boy would not. He learned Mixed Martial Arts from his father, Brad Trahan, who was a very mysterious man with a great temper.

Brad taught Chance all he could, with zero tolerance for mistakes and absolutely no patience . Although he taught Chance martial arts, he did not allow him to mess with weapons. One time Chance found a black duffle bag in his father's office. The bag was stuffed full of ninja gear and weapons and Chance was caught messing with it from them on upon many occasions.

The scenario was always the same, "Chance! What are you doing in there? Get out! This is MY room! I told you not to be in here! This stuff is not for you to play with!" Chance was fascinated with the things he found inside it. But, Brad seemed to constantly be in fear of Chance's safety.

One time Chance hurt himself while messing with the duffel bag and Brad's wife had found him bleeding. She demanded, "Stop with the weapons, Brad!" But then he would reassure her, "Baby, you know it's for our own protection." And after a while of his smooth talking, she would agree to his pleading claims and say, "You're right, I'm sorry." Then like magic, she would feel safe again under his spell and fall asleep fast in his arms. That's when Brad would slip out into the night, only to return many hours later.

To Chance, this was all routine. He noticed it, but never really questioned it. As the years went on, he would play with the ninja weapons all the time despite what his parents had said or did to punish him for misbehaving. It only sparked the boy's interest that much more. Brad would still continue to sneak out into the night mysteriously while Chance watched. But this time in particular was different, when Chance was finally old enough, he would investigate the bag for clues as to what his father was really doing. this time he found the weapons covered in dried blood. Scared his dad would find out and give him a very large list of tedious chores to do, Chance put the weapons back and returned the bag where he had found it in a hurry.

Yes, Chance was now a teenager. He noticed his father leaving home late that night with the duffel bag in hand like usual. Chance raced to stop him before he got too far. But when he questioned his father about where he was going and why he was carrying the bag with him, his father told him, "It's none of your business, now get to bed! And if you don't want any extra chores, you'll say nothing about this to your mother." Chance was displeased with this familiar song and dance and the look on his face was showed it. "But dad I.." Brad cut him off short and said, "GO TO BED!" and then left the house in a hurry.

This is the night Chance decided to follow Brad. He couldn't let it go, the questions that accumulated over the years circled in his head and he needed answers. "Why were the weapons covered in blood?" he said to himself. Chance hurried and disguised himself in a homemade ninja uniform and tailed his father very closely. Brad had almost lead him to the Dragon Assassins' Headquarters until he realized someone was following him. His dad tried losing him but like usual Chance only grew smarter with every move his dad made and became one with his surroundings. After all the old man had already taught him all of his tricks over and over again. Who did Brad think he was fooling? Obviously not Chance.

When He had found his way to the camp, Chance was astonished at the Dragon Assassin ninjas all over the place and dressed in all black and black ninja uniforms. Chance was able to slip past most of the guards unspotted, but not one in particular. He came face to face with danger while the ninja he alerted attacked Chance. The ninja tried to sneak up on him, but Chance was too smart for him. When he snuck up on Chance, Chance swiftly dodged many attacks thrown his way. He countered with a block and swift lightning like punches to the attacker's chest, neck and cranium area. The ninja gathered himself together again and threw another attempted strike at Chance. the punch thrown by the enemy was caught by Chance, then followed through with the attacking ninja's momentum to flip him over using his hip for leverage. Chance stood over his attacker and dropped a solid blow to his face and knocked him unconscious.

After successfully thwarting his would be attacker, Chance quickly switched his outfit with him, covered his tracks and disappeared into the shadows. He came to an open area with the foundation made of of concrete surrounded by columns. There were many Dragon Assassin ninjas all over the place. The center of the cement slab was stained with the blood of many previous executions.

Chance quickly hid behind one of the columns and peered to see his father talking to a decorated man in a very elegant ninja uniform. This man was the founding leader of The Dragon Assassins and was named Mikael. Mikael told Brad.. "Our men have finally captured your father's murderer." Brad paused for a while and then asked, "And the scroll containing the location of the Silent Shinobi?" "Of course Inferno, your father's quest did not happen in vain." Chance whispered to himself, "Inferno?" He had never heard his father called by his alias.

Inferno muttered, "Thank you, Mikael." and opened his bag to pull out his katana blade. Suddenly, to his surprise, Chance had been grabbed by the guard he gave the slip to.. and with a knife to his throat he was immediately brought before the clan's leader. "GrandMaster Mikael, we have an intruder." said the guard while he escorted Chance in a very brute manner. "Well then, execute him." commanded Mikael.

"No! Father!" Exclaimed Chance. His father recognized his voice and quickly shouted "Unhand him!" The frightened guard quickly withdrew his blade and stepped back. The murderer took advantage of this situation and slipped away from the two ninjas grasp who held him down for his would be execution.

Chance reacted fast and quickly whipped out a small ninja star tied to a rope and threw it toward his grandfather's murderer. Whooshing through the air, the ninja star wrapped around the throat of the escapee. It sank firmly into the side of his neck after wrapping around it a few times. "Get over here!" Chance shouted just before he ripped his hand back, and the head of his grandfather's murderer was ripped clean off. Blood spurted from his neck while the body dropped and the head rolled across the ground before Mikael's feet. Mikael let out an impressed chuckle with his hands confidently poised behind his own back. Brad walked up to Chance and ripped off his mask, and to his disappointment, it was Chance. It was then that Brad's greatest fears were starting to come true. Everything he had worked to protect Chance from had been good up until that point, or so he thought.

Mikael was impressed, yet taken back with Chance Trahan's cunning ability, feline reflexes and undeniable strength. Cooking up a plan in his head, the clan's leader, uttered "Your son had the audacity to Infiltrate our camp and now has knowledge of our operations.. You are left with a bold choice to make, noble one." Brad was afraid of what was to come next. Mikael Continued, "Either your son dies at the hands of your own will or he can immediately start intense training to join the clan." An eerie feeling fell over Brad while Mikael spoke. "No one lives to reveal our secret location that is not a full fledged member.. And given his obvious knack for innovative tactics and brutal force, it would be a shame to miss out on the luxury of having such a worthy apprentice."

Brad spoke sharply, "Chance will never betray our secret... And he will never become A Dragon Assassin either!" Mikael was not happy with his reply, but Brad was not stopping now. Mikael had upset Brad with this demand and in spite of this Brad humbly pleaded. "He will protect our bond like he does our own family. Please don't do this Mikael, I have vowed to protect him from this kind of life. I have taught him well." The clan leader sneers, "I can see that." Mikael looks Chance over briefly, squints and firms his brow to say, "Yes Chance, your father has trained you well indeed and with that said, I'm willing to offer you riches beyond your wildest dreams.." Chance perked up but Brad quickly brought it to a halt by strongly saying, "ENOUGH Mikael! My son will not become one of us! He is enlightened and I vowed to protect his reputation!"

Mikael cocked his brow and said, "Fine Brad, have it your way. But one day he will come to me for our protection, I am sure of it. Once the Shinobi promises delivery of their slain warrior's vengeance, they will not rest until it has been satisfied. After all, It was at the hands of Chance that their warrior met his demise." Chance knew what was coming next, he had seen the face his dad was making before scolding him. Brad declared, "I will protect my family and no Shinobi clansmen stands a chance and god forbid you to get in my way Mikael, there will be hell to pay."

Mikael was convinced with his own confidence of Chance's return to take him up on his offer, so the humble leader had agreed to excuse Chance and his father of this mishap, "Under one condition will I allow this to be let go, Inferno, if Chance ever reveals our location or any secrets to anybody, you will be forced to personally kill whoever he tells, and then bring me the head of your son, Chance." Mikael then takes a deep breath while taking brief second to carefully put his thoughts into words... "And once you've reported to me of your victory in slaying those who knew too much, you will then turn the blade upon yourself. That is the code of honor." Brad nods disappointedly and mutters, "Yes, that is the code." Mikael motions them to shoo with his pristine hand and says, "You two are now dismissed."

On their way back home, Chance had many questions that seemed to annoy his father. "Dad, why did that man kill grandpa?" Brad replied shortly, "Chance, I cannot tell you these things." "Why didn't you tell me you were an assassin?" Brad snapped back, "Because, it's none of your business!!! Now, please Chance. Stop asking me so many questions." But the questions carried on. Chance was a curious one and being his father, Brad could only adore it.

"Is this what you've been training me for... to become an assassin like you?" Chance's father let out an exhausted sigh, rolled his eyes and said, "Chance, I trained you to protect mother and also yourself if our home was ever in danger, not so you can become an assassin. Believe me, I've thought about it plenty of times and I don't want that for you!" "But why not, Father? I want to become an assassin... I want to be just like you." Chance's father became enraged and backed him up against the wall by his shirt and yelled, "Never! Never become like me!" Gripping to his shirt even harder and raising him higher, he exclaims, "Ever! Do you hear me? You don't understand what it's like! You don't want to have to do what I do and see what I see! You don't want to be like me, Chance!"

Starting to let go of his grip, his father says softly, "Promise me you won't ever go back there again. Chance... you must never tell a soul. You hear me, Chance? No one." Chance remains quiet for a second and his father regains his grip and lifts him off his feet. and screams "Swear to me!" Chance promises, "I swear, I will never go back there. Now let me go!" Chance had wriggled free by this point and straightened himself out. Brad started walking while he said, "It's just that I worked so hard to keep you away from this sort of life." Chance questions, "What for, were you scared I would get hurt?"

"No Chance. Heh, it's not that at all, I understand that you are smart and very strong. It's just because, well... I don't want you to have to live with blood on your hands." "But why Can't I do something else besides kill people? You saw what I did, I can protect myself." His father laughs to himself and explains, "I understand, Chance, but you're not listening to me. I can't bear the thought of you getting hurt because of something I did. I want you to be successful in life, raise a family and be happy."

Brad didn't convince Chance though, "God, Can't I just be a spy for the clan or anything? Mikael said..." Brad's eyes widen, "No! You must never return to the hideout! Don't make the same mistake I did. Chance, aren't you hearing me? I want the best for you and your family and I want you to live a free and happy life. And to never have to worry about getting murdered on a mission like my father did, because your soul will never rest in peace. Revenge will never be enough," Brad swallows and then carries on to say, "And the thirst for even more vengeance and hatred... Chance, you don't want that."

Chance asks Brad, "Father, can I tell you something?" "What is it, my son?" Chance admits, "I've been having nightmares..." "What kind of nightmares?" "Well, I've been having these nightmares where I'm all alone, it's very dark, and all I can see is a light. Sometimes it feels like I'm free falling, you know? I feel this constant stinging pain and uncontrollable rage, but it seems to only empower me. and when I feel scared, it only fuels the fire." Silence fell over the two for a moment and Chance started again, "Then, there's this whispering voice coaxing me every which way, except I'm in this god awful place trying everything I can to escape. I feel like I don't know where to go so I just keep running towards the voice. But, no matter how close I get it echoes out again and I start to feel lost by this point."

"What do you mean, Chance?" "Well, It's a very scary place with fire everywhere I look and this distorted voice just keeps calling to me. But they aren't calling me Chance, They're calling me by this name. It sounds so familiar to me, an... and I... I can't remember the name. But it's just so hot there and I feel like I can't breathe. It's a very intense feeling, like I'm on fire..." Brad can only bring a frighteningly puzzled expression to his face. "Father? Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?" Brad snaps out of it and says, "I'm fine Chance. It's nothing. Let's get home. It's getting late" Chance, gripping his home made ninja mask walks off with his father into the rising sun

After returning home, things were never the same between Brad and Chance. Chance's father Brad would be around the house less, even more so than usual. His father was taking on even more and more missions trying to correct what went wrong. Things changed indeed, but so did Chance. He started rebelling and coming home even less himself. See, Chance made friends in his new private school and started sparring with them after school for extra money. If Brad wasn't going to let Chance join the Dragon Assassins' ninja clan, Chance was going to do things on his own.

Everyone he fought against seemed no match for him. No one could beat Chance. His Martial Arts mastery was too strong. He favored Hapkido and used it to his advantage in beating anyone who stood before him. It earned him fame among the jocks and even scored him a beautiful girlfriend. One of his peers in particular decided to side with him, but only because he considered him a threat to his own credibility. This was especially the case, because his sudden rise to fame had already begun to noticeably demote others, including this mysterious peer.

He was more of an associate than a friend to Chance. He kept his distance without ever revealing too much about himself to Chance... or to anyone for that matter. Everything about this jealous adolescent was kept in secret no matter how hard anyone tried to dig for his past. Who he was, where he had come from... There was nothing anyone could find out about him. Chance wanted to know and dug deepest of all but could never understand anything. He spoke to no one unless spoken to and remained very vague about what he said. Chance only knew that he went around calling himself Snow and everyone only knew him by that name.

Although he harbored reclusiveness, it didn't stop him from trading weapons with Chance. Like Chance, his weapon collection was very creative and versatile and his art form was very strong. But Snow was very different indeed. He seemed so out of this world that it scared everyone... everyone except for Chance. Chance wanted to know why Snow only wanted to talk to him. Although, Chance didn't worry about it too much... He had bigger things on his blooming adolescent mind.

The girl of his dreams in particular. It wasn't long after their school days before she and Chance settled down and had a newborn baby on the way. Yes, Chance had the best girl ever, but other areas of his life weren't syncing up his desires. In college, his bad social habits and tardiness had gotten him expelled with no chance of ever returning. He was the bad boy breaking all the rules and this put a strain on his relationship with his father. Brad did not raise Chance to live so poor and he was sure to make it abundantly clear to him.

It wasn't too much longer until the dreaded assassination attempts on Chance for slaying Silent Shinobi's finest assassin had started. Somehow it had leaked from one clan to another that Chance had been the one responsible for the beheading of The Silent Shinobi clansman. After having to defend himself from danger one last time, he soon decided it would be in his best interest to join the Dragon Assassins for protection. It would go against everything he had sworn to his father, but it seemed his father couldn't provide for his needs anymore. It seemed his father was displeased with Chance's conduct and it was affecting their relationship. Chance wanted the luxury and protection once more for his growing family... Unfortunately, that was the only way he knew how to obtain it.

Before he knew it, he had returned to Mikael and taken him up on his offer he made many years ago. Mikael swiftly took this godsend under his wing and started him in their intensive combat training. He needed an assassin to protect him from the Shinobi, The best the world had to offer. The Shinobi that were seeking Mikael for his betrayal of their brotherhood seemed so small and futile now. This seemed it was the answer to all of Mikael's prayers, and he and Chance felt they could be no happier.

The only way out of the Silent Shinobi was an honorable death, and by abandoning his role in the Silent Shinobi, Mikael was indeed a target. After escaping the clutch of the Shinobi and returning to his home in Japan, he fought many different Shinobi. The Silent Shinobi had started hearing of him speaking out about their clan's evil ways and this did not sit well the Silent Shinobi's leader, Deus. It was embarrassing to have his martial arts be on spectacle in the streets in such a redundant way. Mikael spread the Silent Shinobi secrets all across Japan, and soon America. Deus vowed to stop at nothing in order to put a halt to this mockery and exhausted many attempts and clansmen during his fit of rage.

Chance led the Dragon Assassin clan in secrecy. He didn't want his father to find out and neither did Mikael. Though, it wasn't long before his friends in the clan heard of the story of his first kill. It circulated quickly among his fellow clansmen who swore to keep his membership in the clan a secret. they couldn't resist grazing the new recruit. One of his former school mates, Bryan overheard the story. As Chance walked by he said, "Hey nice way to pop your cherry, Talon." and this was loud enough for everyone around them to hear. All the guys around started laughing very loud. "Yeah, thanks a lot man." Chance replied. But, the nickname stuck and he became known only as Talon. After all, it did help hide his identity in the clan.

There were times where his father had suspected him of being in the clan and had removed the mask of one of his fellow ninjas just to be sure, and to Chance's luck he never found out thus far. For many years he served as a loyal assassin for Mikael and side by side they fought against the best the Silent Shinobi had to offer. The stories kept circulating about Mikael's new prize assassin. It seemed everywhere Chance went he couldn't dodge his newfound fame.

One day while visiting his parent's house, his father, Brad suspiciously stared at him while helping his mother put away groceries. Going back and forth with the issue in his head, Brad decided that he couldn't take anymore anticipation and spoke aloud, "Hahum!, Ladies would you please excuse us? I'd like to talk with my son privately for a second." Chance's mom said, "Yes, of course, I'll take Amanda and we'll go finish putting away the groceries, won't we dear?." "Yeah, sure." Chance's beautiful wife replied.

After the ladies left the room, Brad slams his fist down on the table and whisperingly erupts, "How could you join the Dragon Assassins despite me!?" Chance tried to explain his side of the story, "Father, I only..." But Brad wasn't about to let him speak, "After everything that happened that night you still joined!" Chance hurried to explain himself, "I needed help, dad. Things aren't the same anymore, you can't always be there to protect me. So... I did what I had to do to protect myself." "I have protected you for many years, Chance! I've done all I can to keep you from ever needing outside protection."

"Yes, father, but you could have..." But Chance was rudely interrupted by his father's booming voice, "Do NOT tell me what I could and couldn't do, I did my best for you and you disrespected my honor. You disrespected our sacred bond!" Chance pleads, "But father, I didn't mean to... I'm sorry."

Brad takes a breath and calmly replies, "Well, we all feel you are in danger and this has become too much. I made plans for you and Amanda to take the baby back to America." "What!?" Chance exclaimed. Brad said, "You can finally go home now. You can start all over, Chance." "I don't want to go to America, this is my home." "But, Chance, it's all you used to talk about. And besides, I already talked it over with Amanda and you leave in the morning." "Amanda?" "Yes, who do you think told me you were a Dragon Assassin? Certainly not Mikael himself!" "I swear on my life, Father, I can take care of..." Chance begs but his father only shouts for him to leave, "Go!" "No, Father please!?" "Get out, Chance! Go! You disrespect me, you disrespect my home. Leave!"

"AUGH!" while screaming in a fit of rage that only a parent could spark, Chance stormed out of the room and said. "Amanda, grab our things. We've got to get out of here." "Where are we going? What happened?" But by then Chance had already left the house. She repeated herself while chasing after him. He said to her, "Nothing.. just, never mind!" "What, what is it, honey?"

Chance seemed frustrated, "You told my father? I made a secret bond to never join the Dragon Assassins and you told him?" "I was only looking out for what's best for us and Little Flame." says Amanda while looking up sweetly at him with their newborn in his arms. Shocked at her response, Chance says, "You think that by telling my father, you're doing what's best for us?" His wife patiently asked, "How many times have I begged you to leave the clan? You said you would discuss leaving with your father for our protection." "It's not that easy Amanda. I can't just leave. Mikael will try to hunt me down if I run and I don't want that. I don't want to have to live like Mikael. I'm killing people everyday because he chose to run from his responsibilities in the Silent Shinobi clan."

Amanda pauses quietly, then says, "I know, but I just want to go home to America, where it's safe again. After all that's where we met and spent the best times of our life. Don't you think?" Chance shouts, "That's besides the point... Look, can we not argue about this right now and just go home? It's been an exhausting day." "sure, Chance."

Just to spite Talon's latest success in the Dragon Assassins, Snow had found a ninja clan of his own and planned to become their leader.

One evening he decided to gather the clan's masters to show off a wild display of his talents within the confinements of the Silent Shinobi's camp. Snow's cut-throat spectacle was about to begin.

The clan's leader announced for silence to overcome the arena. "Behold, our latest recruit, Snow. He has come to the clan in request of becoming our Grand Master." In this demonstration of skill, he will defend himself at all costs. Bring on the contestants!" Many highly decorated surrounded this fresh face. The clan's leader quickly announced, "Ready... Fight!" Snow kicked three of the contestants in the face with blazing fast speed and agility, starting with the one in the middle of his alignment, then left, then finally kicking to the right to lay his third enemy out. Another ninja rushed in to ambush Snow from behind, grabbing his arms back to restrain him. His first attacker got up from being kicked to the ground to take advantage of the situation but received a kick to the chest. Snow used that same force to head butt the ninja holding him then twisted around to punch him in the face.

The crowd up roared and this definitely pleased the clan's masters. They looked to each other with a raised brow to each other, showing approval. But Snow was not done, he had one more ace up his sleeve. The clan's most frightening member had stepped forward and was determined to put a stop to the clatter. He quickly tossed three ninja stars while Snow dodged them and blocked the third with his forearm guard. And while the blood dripped from the piercing point to the floor, it turned to ice and shattered upon impact.

Snow charged up a frosting chi ball between his hands and shot ice towards the floor freezing his enemy to the ground. He then pulled the ninja star from his arm guard and held it up showing his opponent. The shuriken turned to ice and Snow's eyes squinted grimly. He threw the frozen star he had accumulated at the ninja. The shuriken cut through the side of his abdomen and shattered as it hit the wall behind him. Before he could even look up, Snow was lunge kicking at him sending the top half of his torso to the ground splitting the ninja in half.

Silence once again fell over the crowd at disbelief of what they saw. And with that the clan's leader announced, "Excellent! One of our clan's masters has given you a new name... Arc!" The crowd roared once again.

Arc went on to complete the task of seeking the Black Stone. The Black Stone had secret powers that enhanced his element manipulation. He was now able to throw ice in many different forms but was most proud of his ability to make it rain ice. Arc was given many missions meant to craft his abilities. However, his journey into a Shaolin temple to steal a map of elements proved to be a difficult one.

Arc faced Shaolin Monks who's only purpose in life was to protect the temple's treasure's, for there were many. While taking out several of the temple's Monks, Arc mysteriously found more and more unconscious ones that were knocked out or slain before he had gotten there. Before he knew it he was confronted by Talon. Talon furiously attacked him and almost took out Arc, but was no match for the potential of Arc's Black Stone. Talon commanded "Stop!" He wanted him to listen to a proposition, but Arc continued with what he thought was a finishing move. He stole the map and then returned to the Silent Shinobi camp.

Approached by the leader upon his return, "Come with me Arc." he says to the ninja. Arc follows the Silent Shinobi's leader into the nest and is told, "You have been chosen for a very important assignment. You are to infiltrate the home of Chance Trahan's family and massacre them all. I want you to eliminate all of our threats, Including his father, Brad Trahan." The assassin replied, "With pleasure, The Dragon Assassins cannot survive." The leader further explained, "Brad poses a threat to our clan and with the help of the one they call the Talon, Mikael has survived many of our ambushes. We cannot progress with the Dragon Assassins in our way."

Arc remained quiet to listen while the leader ranted, "Mikael exposed our secrets to Japan... He mocked our clan with the creation of the Dragon Assassins. That is treason and is punishable by death! With the development of our new robotic ninja technology, we cannot risk our secrets being spread any further." They walked past unconscious ninjas laying on operating tables and copies of already transformed ninjas awaiting activation. Arc agreed to defending their secrets and walked away as if he'd like to change the subject. The leader laughingly sneered and followed Arc and assured, "Upon your return from this mission, you will be known as Grand Master Arc and will surely be rewarded." With that said, the assassin was on his way to prepare for the hunt.

Brad fought and fought to protect his home but the ninjas were too many. There was no Chance to hear his families cries. "What have I done?" Brad muttered. He asked himself, Where Chance was... and even further, where was Amanda!? Why hadn't his son come to protect him this time? He also pondered to himself whether his son confirmed his fears by meeting his demise or the latter. Whatever the case Brad was forced to run from his home now set ablaze by the Silent Shinobi assassins. His wife had been murdered and Chance was no where to be seen.

Arc hurried after him with his ninjas trailing behind and off into the night they went. Brad dodged icy projectiles meant to rip him up and barley escaped with his life. Once Arc and his minions couldn't find him anymore they decided to keep after the scent of his trail, and to pursue it even harder. There were no two ways about this, Arc would not fail. The sake of his leadership in the Silent Shinobi depended on this mission.

Arc believed that if he could take out Mikael's last surviving protector, the Silent Shinobi would be unstoppable and Mikael would be forced to surrender. This would be true if he could just find Brad, end his life and return to the camp to collect his reward. But the trail only grew colder. Brad was no fool, he was an expert compared to Arc. He was trained to disappear in any environment and plan a surprise attack on unsuspecting victims. Arc was not the only one who could manipulate elements for his benefit. This is the element of surprise we're talking about, and Brad knew it well.

One of the clan's men picked up a dagger with a double H carved into the vintage handle and showed Arc. "What do you think it's here for?" The ninja inquired. "I don't know, the old man must be using it as some sort of trickery to lead us in the wrong direction." Arc replied. "So, what should we do?" Arc pointed, "You two go that way and I'll head this way to see if I can find anything out and we'll meet up back in this spot." "Yes sir." The team split up leaving Arc alone, but Brad was determined to take out the lesser thugs first. Brad Jumped up and excitedly darted off after them from his spot of obscurity. This would have worked had Arc not heard him scurrying off. Arc wasn't falling for this trick, but it did give Brad a head start.

Before the unsuspecting ninjas knew it they were dealt their justice at the hands of Brad, but not before he got the answer he was looking for. Arc had arrived just in time to face off with him. "And just where did you think you were going, Inferno?" He mocked Brad with this statement, but Brad snapped back in rage and said, "You killed my son and I will avenge his death, but not before you know what it feels to suffer." Astonished at the nerve of Brad to make such a exclamation, Arc scoffs, "Old man, you only found this out by shear luck. But it doesn't matter though because, you will die with that secret, you fool."

When those words rang out, Brad decided he had enough of Arc's tyrannical fury and immediately attacked. The fight started with Arc at the mercy of Brad's brute hands but ended abruptly with the decapitation of Brad. Arc had ripped his head right off with a crushing frozen grip right into Brad's neck. Brad's steaming spine still dangled from his head while Arc hovered it to overlook Brad's own body. Arc sighed in satisfaction knowing the brain was still relaying optical messages till the nerves died. Yes... these were grim facts, but that's just the type of curiosities Snow liked learning about in his field of studies. He was a grim soul indeed.

All along Brad was right. The thirst for blood could never be quenched. His words marked the soul of Chance and repeated throughout his passage to the plain of the undead. Echoing on into Limbo, the soul of Talon had reached the plain. This outlandish plain was just like little Chance's nightmares. Exactly how it was described to his father... A very uncomfortable never ending nightmare that nothing could cure. A million dead bodies and lost spirits were crawling around and covering everything the eye could see. Bones and scarred flesh were scattered through out the area like stucco that made up this zone.

Talon had materialized into the vapors of his soul during his journey through Limbo and then appeared in the flesh among this plain. He had risen and realized his materialized entity included his ninja attire he last wore on earth. There in this undead plain, he met a billion voices that greeted him with an eerie pitch. They formed the words that were spoken to him. "Talon, we have been expecting you." They hissed.

Talon was blown back by their intense pressure and influence over his will. He only had questions and the questions shifted his materialized image into vapors of his childish form. "Where am I?" he asked. The voices all scurried, "The Underworld, this is the Underworld, this is Hades, this is Hell." Talon didn't understand right away, "Well then why the HELL am I here?" The voices whispered his answer to him, "You've reached your plain." His intelligent side pondered and shifted him to his school days image, "My destination?" The voices spoke, "Yes."

"Can I travel back home?" the infant queried "Any time you wish, but you don't have long." they replied. "How?" Chance's many images wanted to know simultaneously. The voices swiftly replied "You must regain balance." "That's easy." Chance chuckled. The voices, pleased with his childishness asked politely, "You think so?" "I did it before, didn't I?" Talon's full grown image said slyly and smirked. The voices answered "Yes, but you have lost it again, you must find it."

The childish image thought for a second, "Like hide and seek?" The voices hummed, "Yes, except it is not hiding." "Who are you? Why are you helping me!?" Chance started, but Talon demanded. The voices faded and beckon Talon to follow.

"Come here, Talon.. over here. Over here, Talon, Get over here." Forced to use his senses, he follows the trail of the voices and the voices keep getting louder and more solid. "Come here, Talon, Get over here." Mixed feelings surge through his soul and visions of his wife and baby flash through his head.

"Come here!" The voice led him to Seeing scenes of the massacre of his family and his father's house in flames. Enraged, Talon's fury echoed through the plain. He slumped over tightening his body and while quivering, everything fell silent. In the quietness that had overcome this nightmarish plain, he over heard voices. These voices sounded like people conversing. He quickly jumped up to start running toward them. This could be his only ticket out of this hell.

Talon crept up on the voices he over heard and noticed a set of people he had never seen before. These people were quite unique in their own ways. One was a giant beastly creature that an elderly Asian man was giving commands to, and the other was a thug that sported a metal plate over half his face with a lazer red eye. The thug with the lazer eye was shooting at something Talon could not see. There was shrieking and chaos going on, Talon could not believe his eyes. Talon rubbed them to try and regain focus, but things were getting hazy for him. He ran to the blurring figures and then right into a black hole after them that was ripped into thin air.

Talon came to and could only see darkness. He didn't know where he was and was still a bit disoriented. There were only faint voices carrying away in the distance and they only grew dimmer. The only thing he could hear in his immediate area was slight whispering and what sounded like rats scurrying around.

He felt very different from before, his senses were coming back to him one by one. He could sense a feeling of intense power flowing within himself, but didn't know how to control it yet. His sense of smell was shocked by a horrific odor, the one of an animal's filthy kennel. His sense of touch had told him there was smoothened concrete blocks all around him... And his sense of taste told him he needed something to drink. It seemed as if Talon had found his way back to life.

Talon rose to his feet leaning against a wall and fumbled around to find his way. He could now hear things more clearly after a moment and started to follow the sounds being made. The closer he got, the more apparent it had become that this was a very nasty thing he was approaching. The sounds he was hearing had gotten more and more repugnant the closer he came and the light became brighter. He had made it to a well lit area provided by posted torches along the wall. He slowly made his way up to a large columned doorway and peeked around the corner to see what was making this disgusting noise.

What he found to his surprise was the giant he had seen before, only now he was hounding away on a smaller creature's body. The giant was enjoying the little creatures juices from the body parts he separated from the core. he snapped them off one by one to enjoy the succulent flavors. Talon did not know what to think of this and could only watch as he devoured this poor animal. He had to sneak past it somehow. Even though he felt a surging power within his body, he did not want to fight this thing. He managed to sneak past the arcade doorway but the giant heard him and had turned around to see what was the matter.

After catching a glimpse of Talon sneaking past, the giant grunted, stood up and stormed off to find this intruder. Talon heard the beast grunt and searched desperately to find an exit. When he couldn't find one, he hid. He thought he was hiding well, but the creature sniffed him out and approached him laughing. The beast picked him up by the back of his shirt. Just then, Talon pulled sand off the ground and threw it in the giant's face. The giant was angry at this and turned his face away while dropping Talon to his feet to wipe his eyes.

Talon kicked the giant in the chest twice and punched him in the same area four times with lightening speed. The giant bellowed a frightening growl and punched him back. This sent Talon flying back onto the ground. Talon then stood up and shook it off. He was suddenly reminded this was the reason why he didn't want to fight him in the first place. The beast advanced toward Talon and made an unsuccessful grab at him.

After Talon dodged the grab, he threw his Shoge, but the massive beast swatted it away and groaned angrily as if he was being taunted by Talon's effort to challenge him. Realizing he had to give it his all, he made a dash toward the giant beast and lunge kicked him. This proved to be successful. The giant, stunned, had stumbled back but not fallen.

Talon felt a glimmer of hope, as if he was gaining control of the power surging through him. He advanced toward the beast and leaped to delivered a crushing knee to the giant's face. The beast caught his adversary in mid flight. Pleased with this, the giant delivered an evil laugh under his breath and lifted Talon up to admire his prize. He gripped Talon with his overgrown hands so hard that Talon thought he was about to get ripped apart.

"Tiny, put him down!" A voice thundered. The prince of Landover relaxed his grip on Talon and firmed his brow. "Tiny... now." Tiny let Talon go and his fainted body fell to the floor. Tiny then walked over to Jordan and grunted. Jordan stroked his thin white braided beard and said, "Good. Here Tiny, I have something for you." Asia dragged one of his clan's traitors in and he coaxed in an Italian accent, "Here ya go, Tiny." Tiny huffed, quickly grabbed his muffled victim and began separating and devouring him.

Jordan stood next to Asia inside of Tiny's dark dank lair underneath Jordan's palace. A ninja in a dark brown outfit somewhat similar to Talon's appeared. Asia, picking at his nails with his gigantic knife and cocking his upper lip, said.. "He must've slipped through the rift. What should we do wit' em?" Jordan replied, "Gather your clan's men and bring him to my chambers." "Right away, mate. Recluse, take him upstairs. And if this Sheila gives you any trouble, give him a swift one, will you?" The ninja dressed in dark brown said, "Will do."

Recluse grabs Talon and carries him over his shoulder. Talon starts to snap out of his daze and looks around but doesn't recognize his surroundings, "Where am I?" He asks himself. The ninja warrior surprised him when answered his question, "Jordan's Palace." Still confused he said, "Who?" Recluse explained, "You are in the Palace of Jordan. Now keep quiet... or I will silence you." Talon, not pleased with his reply, tried to wriggle free. He managed to stand upright but his balance was still a little off. He threw a punch but it was stopped short from Recluse blocking and returning with a swift elbow strike to Talon's head. After Talon was knocked back out Recluse picked him up again and continued on his way to the commanded destination.

When Talon awoke, he was surrounded by a group of Shadow Warrior Ninjas. Immediately he stood up in a defense pose and nearly fell over. They stayed gathered around him pushing him back and forth between their circle while Jordan sat on his throne . Asia stood by Jordan's throne with his arms crossed and a demeaning look on his face. Jordan cleared his throat, which brought the ninjas pushing and shoving to an end. "What do they call you undead one?" he asked. He answered in a dizzied tone, "Talon." he shook his daze off and then bowed his head with fist in hand.

Jordan said, "Ahh, fitting... Tell me, Talon, what are you after?" Talon simply said, "Revenge." Jordan and Asia were both perking of interest with his reply. Asia asked, "On who?" Talon replied, "Snow." "You mean leader of the Silent Shinobi?" Asia queried in a husk tone. Talon had a puzzled look on his face, he hadn't remembered him being the leader of anything. "You must be Chance Trahan." Jordan added.

"How did you know that?" Talon asked. Asia said, "Snow was here just moment's ago, ranting and raving about his clan's recent victory against the Dragon Assassins. He said it was how he became their leader. They call him Arc now." "You must tell me where he is! Where did he go?" Talon insisted. "now there little Talon, you still have many questions, I'm sure. But if vengeance is what you want, then you may have it in the tournament."

He wanted to know immediately, "Tournament? What tournament?" Jordan held no shame in talking about War of The Elite, "The Tournament of War of The Elite decides the fate of the Earth Realm. We have the best of the best signing up from all over the world." Asia added, "But unfortunately for them, they will all be defeated by the reigning champion."

Jordan sneered, "Yes, Tiny is quite the fighter isn't he?" Asia quickly darted disapproval, "You see.. With Tiny as the reigning champion 9 times over, He'll secure another victory for sure. And you've only seen a sliver of this phenomenon." Talon, not convinced firms his brow. Asia shouts, "Show him the secret weapon." Jordan beckons "Show Yourself." A ninja in dark green rises up from vaporous venoms on the other side of Jordan's throne.

"Talon, meet Death Crawl." Asia said. "I serve to protect Jordan" Death Crawl hissed. Talon did a brief double take, he had heard this type of hissing before within the Underworld. He then cut the spectacle short by replying, "The only way I'm entering your tournament is to secure the chance to beat Arc." "Indeed." Jordan said, "Death Crawl, Show him to his quarters. Asia and I have private matters to discuss." Death Crawl hissed and disappeared and left Talon with facts that only lead to more questions. Death Crawl quietly whispered in Talon's ear with a hiss, "Right this way."

A chirp goes off and someone starts talking. "We got him, he's on the move." the discreet voice whispers over the line. The scene pans to show Asia getting into a car with his red eye glowing in the night. "Roger that. We've got a visual." A lieutenant from the unit answers. Peering through a scope, a blonde female geared up from head to toe says under her breath, "If only I could just take the shot." "Wouldn't that be nice, then we could just go home and let the FBI deal with the aftermath." her officer replies. "Yeah, tell me about it." She looks over to her driver and says, "Don't follow too close." "Ma'am, yes, ma'am, Cap'n Webb." He jokes. Blade answers, "I'm not captain... yet."

Both cars sequentially drive away. Unknowingly, the driver of Sarafina's car gives away that they're being followed and Asia's car takes off full speed. "Shit. I told you NOT to follow too close." Sarafina says. Her driver apologizes, "Damn. I'm sorry." "Don't lose him." she pleads. He replies "I'm on it." The driver punches the gas even harder to tail their fleeing company. A thug leans out of Asia's car and starts shooting, but the Lieutenant fired back. One shot had hit the frame of Sarafina's car. The sound of the bullet hitting the frame scared the driver, causing them to swerve and side swipe a car that was driving next to them. The Lieutenant had enough already, so he shot out Asia's rear windshield and tried to throw a grenade through it. Asia's lazer eye lit up and detonated the grenade in mid air before it even reached their vehicle. The impact of the explosion caused massive damage to both cars sending them in different directions.

Sarafina's team starts climbing out of the vehicle... but Asia was already slipping away popping shots off at them with the gun he stripped from his dead associate. The unit ducks to avoid the shots and continues helping each other climb out of the wreck to start advancing after him. "Is everybody okay?" Sarafina checks. Her team replies, "Yeah, let's get this son of a bitch." They chase after Asia but suddenly Webb's unit seems to have fallen behind. The driver groans in pain and doubles over, "Ah!" "What's wrong?" Sarafina asks. "We're going to need to see a chiropractor after this." he says. "You're unbelievable" Sarafina says.

The team dead end at a pier where they witness Asia boarding a ship. "We've got to get on that ship." Sarafina Demands. "Maybe not." The driver exclaims while discovering a boat with keys in it. The Lieutenant says, "I knew there was a reason I liked you." The team hops in their commandeerd boat and sets sail after Asia's ship.

Sarafina Webb's team trailed the boat Asia boarded. "Where do you think he's going?" The Lieutenant says. "I'm not sure but I get the feeling it's big." Sarafina replies. They cruise along and all you can hear are the waves splashing against the boat. Back at the mysterious boat Asia got onto, Asia says, "Shh, can you hear that? We've got followers. Get rid of them!"

In the distance of Sarafina's view, Shadow Warrior Ninjas jump off Asia's boat and into the water. They sink under and wait till Sarafina's boat is passing over them and then shoot a harpoon into the boat. "What was that?" The driver says. "Sarafina, keep your eyes peeled, something doesn't feel right." The Lieutenant says. "Do you see that? In the water, It looks like oil."

The engine makes a loud grinding sound and they come to a complete halt and the water splashing slowly becomes still. "What the fuck is going on?" Sarafina panics. "GET DOWN!" The Lieutenant yells. The engine combusts and sets the oil floating on the top of the water on fire along with it. The team is overwhelmed by the heat and stays in their cover from the flames. Sarafina and her team peers through their cover to see a boat larger than theirs riding through the flames. The fire dies down and ninjas jump down on to their cruiser and capture Sarafina's team with laser sights pointed at all of them.

The team is brought aboard the large boat and thrown brutally into a prison under the deck. The boat sails fast enough to catch up to the main boat so they can continue on to Jordan's Island. Once they arrive, they are brought before Jordan. "Oh, this is quite a find. Asia told me all about you, Miss Webb. He said you had guts but I have underestimated you to make it this far." Jordan jokingly says.

"Guts she has indeed mate." Asia walks in and says. Sarafina wriggles to get free and makes her way over to Asia. Asia restrains her and grabs her by the back of the hair and says, "Ello there. Feisty today aren't we? I knew I'd get my hands on you." "Fuck you." she says then spits in his face. Asia throws her back to one of his ninjas that bounds her. "Kill her and her team." Asia says before leaving the room and wiping his face off.

A ninja starts in on executing her team, Sarafina first. "NO!" The driver screams at the ninja raising his sword to lob off Sarafina's head. Jordan says to the executioner, "Ahh, ahh. I wouldn't do that if I were you." The ninjas back away from Sarafina and Jordan walks up to her. "You want to live and spare your team? Enter The War of The Elite." Jordan offers. "What's the catch?" She wanted to know. "No catch, just enter and I will spare the lives of you all. However, if you refuse... you all die right now." Left with no other choice, Sarafina agrees to join the battle.

The Shaolin Monk stands tall and proud in his distant region. The temple behind him gives off the energy stored from years of millions of monks training their whole life. The monk harnesses his energy and begins flowing it throughout his concentrated chi movements. His hands begin to move faster and more force is built within his momentum.

His bodily movements begin to become more wild and vivid while he starts to involve his feet in this moving force. He begins flipping around with such grace that it almost seems as if he's some kind of spinning gyro that's able to strike at any angle. His flips involve twists that would boggle the mind of the average human being.

This amazing acrobat comes to a complete stop and emits the force back into the earth with a peaceful tap to the ground. The aura around him returns to normal and the monk is breathing heavily. "Pryor!" A young Asian boy runs up to the prestigious monk. Amazed at Pryor's impressive moves the boy demands his attention.

"You've got to teach me that sometime, Pryor!" He says to the boy, "Of course!" A bell suddenly starts tolling out across the horizon. "Pryor, the time has come!" A member of the Temple Of Light rushes toward him. "It is time to kick Jordan's ass! Now! You must go! The boat leaves for USA in only a couple of hours!"

"Jordan?" the boy says, astonished with the name. "Pryor, there is a tournament! The time has come, you must go!" he shouts. Excitedly he returns home to gather his things and celebrates the news with himself, "Finally, I can compete! Yes!" Pryor hurried to grabbed his things and headed out the door to say his goodbyes and spread the good news before heading off.

Ryan Welch is talking to two of his fans who are flirting and laughing with him. "will you sign my autograph?" One girl asks. "Yeah, mine too!" asks the other. "Well I could sign you an autograph and then maybe..." "Look, it's Ryan Welch!" "Oh boy, there goes my opp." Ryan Welch smirks. "This is gonna be good." One guy says to the other while the third walks up to him. "100 bucks right now says he drops him in one hit." one guy says to his friend. "Bet." He says back to his friend without looking away from what's about to happen and they shake on it.

"I've always wanted to do this." the third guy approaching says before throwing a punch at Ryan's prize face. The punch goes out in vain and Ryan counters with a couple of knee thrust to the ribs and an elbow to the face. "Ooh, worst mistake of your life buddy. Who's next? Any takers? Didn't think so." He turns around to the girls and says, "Now where was I?" The other two are just standing there while they're friend lays crashed on the ground. "Pay up." he says to his friend. "That was amazing Ryan!" "That was great!" the two girls compete. "Yeah! About those autographs." Ryan says.

Ryan gets both phone numbers without hesitation along with some winks and an ass grab. "Look ladies, I've got to get back to the gym and do some more reps for my next big film. It's not easy being a star." Feeling like a million bucks he hops on his Super Bike and mashes out. On his way to the gym he looks over and sees a poster advertising some kind of Mixed Martial Arts Tournament.

"Did you see this?" Ryan says on the way into his private gym. Ryan's manager picks up the poster he threw on the desk on his way in. "No, but a tournament would be great for your portfolio." his manager says. Ryan replies, "Yeah, I figured you'd say something like that so I went ahead and asked around for some info." "Oh yeah? what'd they say?" his manager asked. Ryan volunteered his knowledge, "They said it's on some weird island and that you can only get there by boat." "Well, you gotta do what you gotta do." his manager laughed out loud while speaking. "Yeah, I knew you were gonna say that one too. So predictable." "Ryan, don't start with me." Ryan's phone starts ringing. "Pfft, whatever." He flips open his phone, walks away and yells "Yo, Chuck! Talk to me. How's the wife and kids?"

A voice whispered to Talon while he walked the halls of Jordan's palace. "Over here! Come here! Get over here!" He sped up a little to catch up with the trailing voice and broke his pace to listen for the voice. "Get over here!" the voice boomed.

Sweat poured from his facial skin and the heated air was visible to the naked eye. Talon threw his face in his hands and yelled while pulling off his melting face like it was a sleeved mask. With his face and ninja mask gripped in his hand, his flaming skull is now exposed and the flames rise even higher. He shouts from the raging pain and the flames shoot out of his fiery mouth.

A voice whispers to Talon, "Yes, you have found your balance... Now let's test out your new skills." A trailing green venomous vapor reveals Death Crawl and he is jump kicking at Talon. Talon quickly reacts by grabbing Death Crawl in mid air and throws him to the ground. Talon climbs on top of him and starts beating his face mercilessly for a ground and pound. Death Crawl roars and spits venom in Talon's fiery face, but the Venom is only turned into a mass of rising steam.

Talon returns with screaming fire into Death Crawl's face. Death Crawl shakes it off left and right trying to avoid the flames. He hisses and then crosses his arms over his face repeating the motion. Death Crawl exposes his lizard like face but pushes a way out from under Talon.

Death Crawl fleeing Talon turns around and throws a harpoon at the fiery demon. Talon catches the spear and his bare hands ignite into flames. Grabbing with his other hand he starts taking up the slack that's slowly burning away with every advancing grasp. Death Crawl, on the other end of the tug of war opens up his reptilian mouth and spits acid on his end of the rope. Talon is sent back by this snap of the rope forcing him to fall down.

Death Crawl runs to Talon and slide kicks him back down to the ground before he can stand up. He conquers him by throwing green goo at his arms that bind them to the ground. Talon tries to unbind himself but is stuck, he can hardly move his torso at all with his shoulders pinned. Death Crawl tries to get close to him but Talon's cranial flames are too immense.

Death Crawl approaches and hisses from the heat of Talon's flames and Talon clenches his jaw and lowers the flames. Death Crawl then creeps his way up to Talon and gets close to him. Examining Talon's flaming skull, Death Crawl's head ticks quickly in each direction he intends to look. Dripping venom from his drooling mouth, each acidic drop fizzles and turns into rising steam when dripped onto the flames. Talon increases the flames and Death Crawl roars loud like a T-Rex.

Talon kicks Death Crawl in the back of the head and starts to violently shake trying to free himself from the goo. Death Crawl gets up and goes to attack Talon but Talon burst into flames sending Death Crawl flying back from the pressure. Death Crawl jumped up and ran across the wall. Talon now free, stands up and watches Death Crawl crawling across the wall like a lizard.

Talon drops his flaming rope from his shoulder to his hand and whips out his shoge at his fleeing victim. Shouting, "Get over here!" he rips Death Crawl right back to him after the shoge sinks into Death Crawl's armor. Death Crawl is pulled back and forced to face Talon's fists, but is suddenly saved by the bell. A loud bell continuously rings out into the air and the boats coming in from the distance are shown.

Talon shakes his head from the immense sound as if he's awakened from blacking out. His flames slowly die down. Talon releases Death Crawl and says "What's that mean?" Death Crawl remains silent and is slammed against a podium for it. After all, Talon was still Brad's son. "That is the dawn of the tournament." Death Crawl hisses. "It has begun. The contestants are here. Ha ha ha ha ha!" The view pans out to show outside the palace once again... but this time to reveal the darkening of the horizon just over the mountains.

The dark horizon hosts the arrival of Earth's watch dog sent to oversee the events of the tournament. The arrival of the Energy God is accompanied by a lightening show. The lightening spiders out across the sky and the thunder cracks throughout the region. Riding down on a thunderous flurry of lightening, Shakkan's surrounded by shocking energy emitting from his entire body. Shakkan thuds to the top of the mountain feet first. the matter around his impact is electrified and pushed back like a rushing hurricane. The view pans away from Shakkan a top the mountain to show the palace, the boats, and then the whole island where the War of The Elite is held.

Upon the Pryor's arrival, Jordan says, "Ahh, the enlightened one has arrived." "What shall we do?" Asia asked Jordan. "Nothing." Jordan says, "He will find his way to me." From their view, the Shaolin Monk's boat docks and he grabs his things and jumps off the boat. His feet hit the sand and he runs across the beach excited to compete. The Energy God is also watching this from the mountain and decides it's time to act.

Shakkan travels to Pryor by disappearing into an electrical current and reappearing suddenly. Pryor is statically drawn away from his intentional path. He started stumbling into another direction involuntarily and yelled, "Whoa! What's the heck!?" The further he is pushed, the more he becomes manipulated until he is under the complete control of a forcing current.

Pryor is brought to a secluded spot and the Energy God appears. "Whoa, what the hell!?" Ryan Welch came stumbling toward them. "Make this ride stop!" "As you wish." Shakkan replied. Ryan is halted and released from his static custody. They are then joined with the likes of Sarafina Webb who is gracefully, yet involuntarily running to them.

"Sarafina Webb, Special Ops." she stops and introduces herself. "Who are you!?" Ryan asks Shakkan who that is standing there in his hoodie. I'm Shakkan, the Energy God and Protector. I was sent to oversee the tournament's events by the Elder Gods." Shakkan proudly announced. "Jordan has many traps that are set to make you fail, the tournament is going to take all you've got." Pryor is quick to reply, "That's nothing. He doesn't stand a chance. He's going to need more than a few tricks up his sleeve if he wants to beat me!"

Shakkan, taken by Pryor's gung-ho attitude reassures, "Yes and while that may be true, you are going to need to work together toward the ultimate goal... conquering Jordan's Champion, Tiny." Pryor bowed and told Shakkan "It will be an honor to work along side you Shakkan." Ryan butted in, "And who is Tiny?"

Pryor cheerfully says, "Ah, Tiny. He's a prince." Shakkan says, "He's remained undefeated throughout 9 Tournaments and if he wins again, Earth will be destroyed." "Destroyed?" Sarafina panics. "Chaos will reign and the earth's finest will become slaves if Jordan has his way. He is an Ancient Sorcerer, one of the worst kind."

"A Sorcerer?" Sarafina panics again. "Jordan depends on the slain warrior's spirits in each match to regain his youth. He needs to consume their spirits to gain their strength and the essence of their youth. it is very vile and grim to witness." Ryan says, "I believe it." Shakkan continues, "Jordan is also using Asia to control the Shadow Warrior clan and Arc to control the Silent Shinobi clan as well. Although they are not known to side with each other, they are working together on this special occasion."

Sarafina starts, "We believe Asia is after a rumored stash of gold. My team and I have been tracking his every step of the way up until he was able to give us the slip. He somehow covered his tracks every time. However, he couldn't get away from us this time, but Shadow Warriors captured us and has my team trapped." "Well, I'd be a fool to not offer my help to such a hottie." Ryan chuckled. But Sarafina warned him fiercely, "Back off, Douchebag."

Talon grabs his shoge and quickly storms off to find his target. Death Crawl yelled, "Wait! You cannot leave yet. I have important matters to discuss with you." Talon shrugged off Death Crawl's comment "So what.." and continued to walk of. "It's about your father." Talon came to a dead halt and remained quiet. "What about him?" He growled. "He's dead." Death Crawl was afraid of the response... and with good reasoning.

Talon surprised Death Crawl when he fell to his knees unable to believe what he had heard. Talon, unable to bear the news, had lost his balance again and everything went black. Death Crawl then dragged him off.

Death Crawl had a mysterious swagger to him. He seemed very out of place for someone protecting the sadistic Jordan. There were very indistinct traits about him that others did not understand. No one even knew where he was from, no one knew him other than Death Crawl. They found him slipping through a rift... just like Talon. Death Crawl was his pet name and they treated him like one. Talon had wanted to ask Death Crawl who he was and why he serves Jordan, but he couldn't get his vigilant revenge on Arc off his agenda.

Polaroid images started slowly falling and they were moving to show scenes from Chance's recent past. Images of Amanda ran through his head, his baby laughing, then crying and then eventually the scenes of his father's house and their last argument together and then the house burning down in the night. His every thought lead to rage and hatred and it slowly fueled him back to consciousness. All of these images were burned away by the flames spawned from the feelings of his frustrations. Behind the fire and turning to ash, the images shifted into a silhouette. The silhouette's image becomes clearer to reveal his murderer.

This enraged Talon even more. Talon's screams echoed out inside his head until his eyes sprung open to reveal a different scene. The crowd's chanting and commotion startled him. It all started becoming obvious, he was in the ring. His murderer made his way through the crowd to face someone whom he thought he'd slain. Talon almost couldn't wait, he was anxious to pounce already and bouncing like a pitbull. The Shadow Warrior ninjas surrounding Arc were reassuring him to show their support. It helped him remain disturbingly calm while casting his insurgent a cold dead look.

Talon still posed an even harder demeanor despite the questions racing through his head. Was this a joke? Was it just some ploy meant to scar his ego? The answer was simple to him. Kill him. Even if it isn't him, he would still kill him. Arc felt that no one was a match to him, especially now that he possessed the Black Stone. The Arctic Ninja was prepared to fight.

Jordan stood up from the throne placed outside the ring and announced "Let the War of The Elite Begin!" The two fighters approached each other and bowed. Talon was delivered a knee to the face before he knew it. He stumbled back from the blow, was tripped by a sweep kick and delivered an uppercut that sent him flying back. A mysterious voice seemed to come out of nowhere, "Toasty!"

Talon was finally rising to his feet all the way and was ready to fight again. But by then Arc was already retaliating a flurry of ice-block like punches. Things didn't seem so bright for Chance. But then, haunted by the visions of his past, Talon started blocking and dodging these wild swings. He found Arc's pattern opening and struck out with a solid punch that knocked Arc flat on his ass. Talon's fiery eyes lit up and he said, "Guess who's back mother fucker." "What!" Arc couldn't fathom it, he was floored by one punch and by his most noteworthy victim. Talon picked him up by the gi and said "See you in hell."

Talon lit up like the gates of hell and he removed his rubbery skin mask. He breathed fire in all directions and It looked like Arc had met his match. Was this the end for the frosty ninja? Hell no. He shot ice onto Talon's blazing skull, quickly cooling him off. The ice froze Talon's entire body giving him an inescapable ice cold grip on Arc And there was Arc, suspended in midair. He started kicking and hitting at Talon trying to break the ice. But the leverage of Talon's grip prevented this from happening.

The ice covering Talon started to sweat and crackle. Arc fought harder to get free and kept icing over his captor. Just then a shattering combustion sent shards of ice in every direction. The whole crowd exclaimed and protected their surprised looking faces... But, the heat had melted the ice before it got to them. Talon kept his grip and continued his show of breathing fire. Asia shouted to Talon. "Give them a fight!" As the flames died down Talon smirked while dropping his prize. He was intrigued at the thought of toying with Arc and his ego was his driving force.

Arc stood there and wildly attacked and ice-blasted the demon with no effective results. He tried so hard but Talon was starting to burn his frosty punches. He threw another ice ball that Talon successfully dodged. Talon countered with a sinking harpoon and yelled, "Come here!" Arc was flung over to Talon who greeted him with a roundhouse to the head.

Arc was in a daze and would not return from this to fight back any longer. When Talon could see he had done his damage, he laughed an evil laugh and began to approach him. He then charred Arc down with fire like a blowtorch until the flesh singed off his body completely. Then his muscles were burned away while his eyes exploded from the heat expulsion. Nothing was left but collapsing blackened bones and the whole crowd fell silent. Jordan stood up and broke the silence by saying, "Talon wins! Fatality!" and the crowd roared.

Shakkan shouted, "Enough!" There he stood with his body charging electrons. The whole forecast had become dark so that the only thing well lit besides the dim torches surrounding Jordan was Shakkan. Glowing with a radiant aura Jordan said slyly, "I've been expecting you, Energy God." And with a hand motion Jordan sent Shadow Warrior ninjas his way. Without hesitation Shakkan began electrocuting and tossing stunning thunderbolts to all those who opposed him.

Standing there and cracking his fist from clenching it, Shakkan exhaled and said "Do not make me do this." "But why not? I could use the spirits." Jordan said and then laughed an evil laugh. It wasn't long before Pryor stood up to the Energy God's defense. He let out an cluck that was followed by a kicking aerial and then ending with the Bruce Lee bounce. Jordan raised his silver eyebrows and said "Impressive. We have the next contestant."

Shadow Warriors attacked Pryor but failed to conquer him. He took out many of them with decapitating kicks to the head and the momentum perpetuated until every guard had been executed. Jordan could only be pleased with this gory outcome. Slowly absorbing spirits, the once weakened old man began to grow powerful. He stood up to run away with his new found spirits trailing him. Each soul catching up to him helped him gain speed and better posture until he was running at an even faster pace.

Ryan Welch yelled to Pryor who was chasing after Jordan, "Hey monk, wait up for me!" Asia jumped out and grabbed Sarafina among all the commotion and took her hostage with his butterfly knife to her throat. "Where you think you're goin, Prima donna?" This caught Ryan Welch's attention and stopped him. Just then, Pryor had been held up by Tiny who was now facing him on the bridge leading to the secret rift.

Tiny growled and chuckled with his four muscular arms raised and ready for battle. Sarafina was rescued by Shakkan stunning Asia with an electrical jolt thrown his way. Sarafina apprehended Asia with zip ties and Ryan Welch helped her escort him and they headed toward the bridge. Shakkan flew after Jordan leaving all the other members behind.

Pryor fought back against Tiny and managed to slip past him. Ryan Welch was now the one facing the massive giant. Sarafina was trying to help but was repeatedly knocked back. When Asia started to snap out of his daze, he sat up and said, "Let me go, I know how we can defeat him." Sarafina replied with, "Not a chance." Ryan Welch said, "Now's not the time to be picky."

Sarafina cut the zip ties and gave Asia back his knife unwillingly and she and Asia dashed to battle the giant. Tiny had Ryan dangling by the arm over the pit and Ryan saw something at the bottom that was hissing at him. "Oh my god!" Ryan said. Asia was dueling with Tiny and Tiny's other arm reached down and brushed Sarafina to the bottom of the pit. Almost landing on razor edged spikes, Sarafina gasped.

A dark figure came crawling towards Sarafina and was eventually standing on it's hind legs. Hissing and panting Death Crawl became apparent and started battling with Sarafina. Sarafina dodged some of Death Crawls attacks but was harpooned to him to be served up with a back-fist. Sarafina got up and grabbed him with her legs and flipped him over and grazed him with a spike that cut half his hand off. His hand spewed green and red acidic blood and Death Crawl screamed and hissed. He backed off and let Sarafina climb her way back up to the top of the bridge.

Asia and Ryan had knocked out Tiny with the use of each other's special moves. Sarafina reached the top to join her two adversaries and they continued chasing after Pryor, who was after Shakkan and Jordan.

Sarafina kept her eyes on Asia, she didn't want to let him out of her site. Ryan was trailing behind and Pryor was catching up to Asia. Pryor was striving to get there the fastest. When they came to the rift, Jordan stood there with all the collected spirits circling him.

While channeling green glowing spectres, he threw projectiles at Pryor. Jordan soon made his escape into the rift. The young Monk warrior tried his best efforts to dodge them all but was clipped by one. Sarafina and Ryan yelled in unison, "Nooo!!" Sarafina ran to Pryor, "Pryor!"

Asia used this opportunity to dash to the rift. Ryan caught up to him and shadow kicked him into the wall Asia's face plate scraped the wall to the ground.

Ryan heard Sarafina screaming and he turned around to see her holding Pryor. Just then Asia got up grabbed a knife from his leg strap and swung it at Ryan. Ryan ducked from the swooshing blade and put his hand up for protection. The edge had sliced part of his palm open, sending blood spurting.

Ryan Elbowed Asia twice, punched him in the chest three times and then shadow-punched him in the face. The traces flowed coming off of Ryan's speedy and vibrant motion that caused a sound barrier ripple effect to occur. Asia fell to the floor with a loud thud and Ryan peeked over at Pryor and Sarafina and yelled "Sarafina!" and when he looked back Asia had tripped him. When Ryan sprang back up Asia tripped him back down again.

Ryan was floored and Asia, both eyes radiating, started to pick him up. Asia chuckled as he leaned forward but was stopped short by a toss from Ryan. Sarafina was almost there. Asia got up and sprang forward at Ryan and barrel rolled him to the floor. Asia climbed on top of Ryan for a brutal ground and pound. Just then Sarafina had ran up in time to same Ryan from being killed. She gun butted Asia upside the head and immediately put his hands in cuffs.

When she was done putting cuffs on Asia, she checked on Ryan. Ryan was pretty beat up but he was alive. She said, "Hey champ." He exhaustedly replied, "Hello beautiful." She responded with a laugh. When Sarafina looked over, Asia was being dragged into the now closing rift.

Shakkan flung electrical bolts while flying from the horizon towards the rift trying to stun whatever was trying to escape with Asia's unconscious body. His efforts were too late though. The rift had closed and they had all gotten away.

To be continued...