The final ingredient

Garin was dismayed. He'd gotten everything on the list, even the shady things. He'd searched some pretty nasty markets teeming with outlaws who would probably cut his throat if they knew what he was. His final ingredient however, a Spirit Vial, was missing! He didn't know where he was supposed to find it and he knew better then to go around asking all kinds of questions in the Rukongai.

He continued to walk and worry until he ran smack dab into a sign! This was unusual to say the least. He was always so careful about where he was walking. It would seem, however, that things were finally going his way, for the sign read, "Win a Spirit Vial!" and had a picture of two fighters going at it. So, some sort of competition for the vial, eh? This shouldn't be hard. He looked around and located the sign in counter and headed that direction.

As he approached the counter, he noticed that most of those in the line to sign up were rather small. He was surprised to see so many weak looking fighters amongst his potential opponents. He walked up to the sign in area and the girl behind the counter smirked. "You want to sign up for the competition?" she asked incredulously and Garin's eyes narrowed. So far this didn't really make sense. He nodded and the girl giggled as she handed him a sign in sheet. "Ok. Just don't blame us when you're bleeding out there. This isn't a bodybuilding contest, it's a fight to the death." Garin raised his eyebrows. So she thought his muscles were just for show? He only hoped all of the enemies he fought assumed that. It would be a fatal error.

He signed the paper and headed through the door into the fighter waiting room for his first fight to be announced. On the wall was a classic tournament sheet and there were just over a hundred names on it. It would seem that he was going to have quite a few fights before he could earn the special vial. He sat in the room for a almost an entire hour before his name was called, and he headed out to hear the roaring of the crowd! He was surprised. He knew that these places existed, but normally there weren't more then a hundred or so onlookers surrounding a handful of fighters.

Standing before him was a man who looked like a newspaper ad for starving children in Africa. He looked at the man uncertainly. Was it really right to go all out against such an obviously sick man? The man bent over and looked tiredly up at Garin. He wondered what was going on here.

Up on the stage, a whistle was blown and Garin looked up. By the time he looked back, the little skinny man was on him, and hit him so hard he went flying several feet back skidding along the ground. That HURT! The little guy was fast and obviously much stronger then he appeared. Getting serious, Garin leaped over the man as he charged again, and landed behind him gracefully in a defensive stance. He needed to get to know this guys strengths and weaknesses if he was going to survive this tournament.

Garin gazed at the scrawny black man standing half naked before him. He had assumed he was weak and that was wrong. It would appear that this man was fast and strong and at least moderately skilled in hand to hand combat. Garin would have to be careful if he was to win... if he was to survive for that matter. The man charged again and this time Garin watched closely as he deflected each punch and kick. Interestingly enough, while the man was ridiculously fast, he was not as skilled as Garin assumed. His moves were fast, but predictable and Garin soon had the rhythm down. He had to move fast, but his mind continued to search.

Finally, he found his opening and he moved with all of his speed into a counter attack. He knew the man was fast, so he would have to misdirect him if he was going to take advantage of his lapse. He started with a kick towards the man's legs and he brought a knee up to block. Garin then quickly ducked down into a boxing stance and jabbed 3 fast jabs at his face with his left hand and then threw one strong right handed haymaker. As expected, the man caught each punch with a block, but as he turned to stop the haymaker, Garin suddenly drew his fist back and slammed his foot into the man's exposed body with a front kick, sending him flying backwards, tumbling along the ground!

Garin wasted no time, charging towards the skinny fighter. He was struggling to stand as Garin reached him and leaped into the air. The jump kick caught the man completely off guard and slammed into his chin. Garin could hear the crunch of bones in his jaw breaking. As the man fell to the ground, half shrieking half moaning, Garin walked up to him. He steeled himself, reminding himself that this man was an outlaw most likely and would only end up on a shinigami blade soon enough anyway. Dropping down and allowing a punch to come down with him, Garin slammed his fist down like a meteor, snapping the struggling man's neck with the power of his right fist.

Garin stood up, thinking about the fight. The man had been fast... If it wasn't for his evident lack of skill, Garin might not have won this fight, and he knew it. He could only hope that he didn't have to face anyone else that fast in the rounds to come, but he figured he couldn't hope for that.

The time came for Garin's next fight. The man who faced him was very skinny, but didn't look starved like the other man. Instead, Garin was put in mind of a lean fighter who moved with grace and speed. He also could see that this man was a highly skilled fighter, unlike his last opponent. He was going to have to bring out his best skills to fight this and win. Working himself into a warm up dance on the balls of his feet, Garin began to move his hands back and forth and wait for the whistle.

He knew that if this man was as fast as his last opponent, he would need to watch carefully. He also knew that while he had grown skilled at using his legs, he was still a boxer at heart and he knew that his punches would be his strong suit. He would concentrate on using his fists and hopefully he'd land a blow that would tip this fight in his favor.

The whistle blew, and the man began to edge forward slowly, watching for Garin's moves. Garin moved in quickly, throwing a quick jab and watching it easily deflected and returned. He tested the man's reflexes a bit more and saw that the man was testing him as much as he himself was being tested. Garin continued to throw jabs and wait for the man to make a move. When he did, it was almost to much for Garin to handle.

The man moved with lightning quick speed, throwing a kick at Garin's face and he only just barely got his hand up in time to catch the kick. He tried to kick back, but the man caught his foot and yanked it up, sending Garin flipping through the air and falling awkwardly on the ground as he rolled backwards just in time to see a fist coming at him. He knocked the punch to the side and stepped into the man's guard, throwing a punch!

His eyes went wide as the punch was caught in the other man's palm. He squeezed and Garin found that he couldn't get his hand back. The man twisted his arm behind his back and Garin cried out! He lashed out with his other hand as the man twisted his arm further back. He was going to break it! At the last second, Garin played the only card he had left. With a grunt of effort, he stomped on the man's foot. It was just enough to break his concentration and the next place his foot went was backwards, in between the man's legs. His grip loosened immediately and Garin spun around, clocking the man with a haymaker before he could recover from the painful kick to the groin. Garin jumped on top of him then and began to punch him repeatedly in the face. He beat the man severely until the referee pulled him off of him. There, in the middle of the ring and a pool of blood, his opponent lay dead. Yet another step towards the prize he was fighting for.

The next fight was apparently the exception to the rule. Standing before him was one of the largest men he'd ever seen. He seemed like some mythic hero carved from stone. Garin knew he was gonna have to be quick and wear this Goliath down. The man looked at him and smirked. "Look! It has muscle. Maybe he not break from first hit" The man said with a Russian accent and then let loose a bellowing laugh. Garin sighed and got in an offensive stance. He was going to need to make this fast and hard.

The whistle blew, and Garin charged. The man made no move to block, and Garin's first jabs found their mark easily. He realized that the man thought he could take a full blow from him and laughed! He drew back and fired a powerful hit that slammed into the man's chest. With a slight "oof" the Russian took the blow and shook his head. That blow would have knocked most men out easily!

The man smirked and backhanded Garin before he could truly recover from the shock that the man was still standing. He flew back a full 8 feet before skidding to a stop on his back with stars dancing before his eyes. "Your punch was impressive. It still not enough though. You are like tiny ant. Your bite annoys, but I squash you easy." With this, the man began the inevitable approach and Garin had to get up fast. He danced around the man, just out of reach, trying to figure out how he was going to hurt this man.

It finally occurred to him. He'd been meaning to test out a special tactic he'd thought of for quite some time. He charged once again. He knew his punch was deadly in it's power alone. On an ordinary man, his hardest punch broke bones at the very least. What if he could increase the power of that punch with a kido? Once again, as expected, the Russian didn't even try to block him, and was actually smiling as Garin pulled back and threw his strongest, most deadly punch towards his chest.

Mentally, he prepared, visualizing the outcome of his spell as his fist raced forward! He whispered as it flew, "Hado Ichi..." His fist impacted the man's chest and he could see a look of surprise come over his face. Garin guessed that he'd already broken a rib and he shouted "SHO!" from his fist blasted a powerful concentrated blast of air and the man's chest compressed as he went flying backwards from the blow. Garin could hear the man's ribcage shatter and saw him struggling to get up and coughing up blood.

The battle wasn't over, however, and Garin wasn't going to take a chance. He ran forward and kneed the now kneeling man in the face, slamming his head back and then bringing his fist down to bash in his temple. The Russian fell to the ground, struggling to breath. Garin stepped on his throat and made it harder. After a little over a minute, what little struggle there was left in the Russian ceased and Garin once again thanked his lucky stars he'd survived. Four more fights to go and he'd be able to get the prize.

Garin looked on in wonder at his next opponent. The man wasn't a bad fighter, but neither was he on the level of most of the other fighters. He was about as fast as Garin, but weaker and less able as a fighter. However, it would seem that he was extremely lucky! Every fight he'd taken he'd started out losing and he was bruised all over to show it. But every enemy made some stupid mistake. It was like his fights had been fixed and he got the worst fighters in the tournament as his opponents.

Well, Garin thought, his lucky streak ended now. Garin waited for the whistle and then moved forward cautiously, jabbing and testing the man's defense. He blocked a few, but some of those testing jabs hit. Garin's eyes went wide! How did this guy make it this far!? Taking a small chance, he threw a kick to the man's chest and watched as the powerful blow sent him flying backwards.

Not one to let an advantage get past him, Garin ran forward and simply punted his chin like a football. The man's neck broke easily and he fell to the ground, dead. In comparison to all of the other men he'd fought, it was a miracle that this man made it this far. Garin was simply amazed at the sheer amount of luck one would have to have to be so unskilled and weak and yet still make it this far...

As Garin looked over his next opponent he was a little surprised. He seemed to be a boxer, but not a heavyweight like Garin. Garin nodded. If he was lucky, he'd be able to take this fight based on his power. He got in a kickboxing stance rather then a traditional boxing stance and waited for the whistle.

The piercing sound initiated an intense start. Both of them rushed to meet in the center of the ring and they traded testing punches and from Garin, also kicks. The man was a little faster, but definitely skilled and was actually pretty strong considering his size. Garin could see that he couldn't afford to underestimate this man. There was a reason he'd made it so far. Garin decided to make the first move. He began with a right handed jab, then another and then a left, followed by a more powerful right handed punch, all of which were blocked, and then he stepped forward and kneed the man in the gut! That landed and Garin didn't waste time, drawing back his fist and punching the man with a vicious uppercut and then kicking him with a front kick that sent him sprawling to the ground before he rolled backward onto his feet and backed away.

The respect was clear in his eyes and Garin knew that this battle was far from over. He attacked again, but this time, instead of blocking the fourth punch, the man twisted around and brought up an uppercut of his own, knocking Garin off guard for a moment. He began a fast combo, and Garin found that while his punches weren't devastating, there were a lot of them! Finally, the man ended with three shots to his stomach and then a powerful uppercut that sent him sprawling to the ground.

Garin stayed down. He wanted the man to think he had him on the ropes. Sure enough, he fell for it, climbing onto Garin's chest for a ground and pound. Garin suddenly lifted his legs and rapped them around the other boxer's neck, locking his feet together and squeezing! He yanked them down and grabbed the boxer's feet to keep him prone as he clawed at Garin's legs, trying to get them off of him. Garin squeezed harder and harder and waited for the man to stop struggling. He waited a full two minutes after the struggling stopped to release the pressure his legs were maintaining. He released the man and the referee came forward to test his pulse. He looked up and nodded. The man was dead, not just unconscious. It was on to the semi finals for Garin.

He was truly worried. From this point forward, the fighters were going to be much more skilled...

Yet another lean fighter stood before Garin, but by this point he'd learned that these warriors couldn't be judged by appearance. He knew that this fighter wasn't a fluke, and that he'd be stronger, faster, and more skilled than any fighter he'd faced as yet. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to come up with a strategy for this fighter.

Considering how small the enemy was, he figured that he could hurt him a lot more easily then he could hurt him, which was a blessing. The problem would be hitting him. The man took his position, raising his palms into the air with his fingers curled as though he were surrendering. Garin had seen this before, and it was anything but. His opponent was apparently skilled at Mui Thai. Garin got into a classic Tai Chi stance, and waited for the whistle to blow.

When it did, the Indian, who the announcer called "Jhinn," attacked immediately. It was all Garin could do to block or avoid the swift kicks and punches that he threw! He ducked under one seemingly wild punch and found an uppercut slamming into him from below and lifting him off the ground. Before he could fall, Jhinn kicked him with incredible power and he went flying through the air almost 10 feet.

He rolled onto his feet and watched the man approach, realizing that he wasn't slowing. He decided to go on the offensive. He adopted a basic boxers guard and moved rapidly forward. He threw his first left hand punch and it was caught in the Indian's hand, where he squeezed and twisted up. Garin cried out as his left wrist was twisted.

All in all, however, this proved to be a blessing. Jhinn thought he had won. He continued to twist Garin's arm and Garin let him believe he was being taken down. He went down to his knees and prepared. The pain was intense, but he'd get his hit in. With a scream of pain and rage, he allowed his left arm to go out of socket in order to twist into a vicious right handed punch into the middle of the man's chest with a scream of "Hado Ichi! SHO!!!!" Garin saw the man's chest cave in as he flew backwards. When the referee came up to check him, he shook his head. Jhinn was still alive, though definitely hurt.

Garin stood, forcing his shoulder back into place with a scream. He turned to see Jhinn trying to get back up. He was having trouble breathing, and Garin didn't blame him. From the looks of things he'd broken several ribs and every breath was probably torture. Garin began to walk steadily towards his foe, moving his arm about and trying to get the feeling back in it. He began a brutal attack and it was clear that even though Jhinn was blocking most of the attacks, he was slower and weaker from his injury. Garin thanked his lucky stars that his opponents so far had been so fragile, even though taking a direct right hand punch reinforced with Kido was enough to terribly hurt anyone.

After less than a minute, Garin managed to score a single body shot and his opponent cried out and coughed blood. His guard was down now and Garin was merciless, pounding his lungs and stomach with brutal uppercuts and finally grabbing him by the head and launching his knee into the man's chest while pulling him down into it. Jhinn fell to the ground, his mouth opening and closing as if he were trying to scream, but failing because he couldn't breath. Garin watched as his struggling and gasping ceased. The referee approached yet again and this time nodded. Jhinn was dead.

Garin turned and raised his arms to the roar of the crowd. Just one more fight like this and the item would be his...

Garin stepped into the ring with grim determination. He knew that the only reason he won the last fight was that he had cheated with his Kido. These fighters were strong but didn't have the type of training that he had as a Shinigami and it was his only advantage.

The next fighter was amazing. A tall black man with dreadlocks, he was a master of the Afro-Brazilian martial art, Capoeira. Garin had watched the man take down his opponents with perfectly fluid kicks and well timed headbutts. He could punch, but it would seem that he preferred to use his legs. Garin would need to try something new if he was going to beat him.

He got into his fighting form and contemplated his next step. His only advantage here as well was his Kido. Actually, this man was almost as muscular as he was. It seemed as though his muscles were put together for the purpose of helping him be more agile. Bob began to dance on the balls of his feet before the whistle was blown and Garin looked out worriedly.

The whistle blew and his opponent began to circle him, spinning kicks towards him that only barely came short. Garin knew not to get to close. He'd seen that while the dance looked playful, those kicks were like hammer blows and were anything but playful. He watched and waited and occasionally offered a kick of his own to test the waters. Of course, he never hit the Capoeira master.

He could only see one way to work this. preparing himself, he waited until a moment when his opponent was on his hands and struck! Shouting, "Reel," he yanked at the man's hand with his Rietsu and his balance shifted. It was just enough of a surprise that Garin was able to jump forward and kick him hard in the chest, sending him sliding and rolling across the ground. He got up quickly, even though Garin knew that the kick must have hurt. It wasn't nearly enough to end the fight, but it was a start. The man began to move again now and Garin could see he was being more careful.

This time, Garin charged forward as he was on his feet, and as he prepared to come forward, Garin whispered "Hado Ichi," and charged himself. At the last possible moment before contact he shouted, "Sho" and thrust forward, once again knocking his opponent off balance at a critical moment. This time it wasn't just one blow. He punched him hard in the gut with his right and then followed up with a haymaker to the jaw. As his opponent was still reeling from the last punch, he did what any truly dirty fighter would do. He punted the man's balls with all his might.

He couldn't afford to let the man recover. He was on the ground and Garin was ready. He focused his Rietsu into one final Kido. "Hado Ichi" he said and leaped into the air. As he came down on the man he shouted "SHO!" and slammed his fist into the man's head. The result wasn't pretty and he was slightly sad. This fighter was amazing and in a straight fight would have massacred Garin, but instead, his brains were strewn across an arena floor. Garin stood, the victor at last. He would get his prize and return to his master with it.