Asahina Munashi adjusted the obi around his new kimono tiredly. The night was stretching into the late hours as he came into the center of the Fantastic Gardens, and the old man let out a small sigh. Just recently, he had come into several positions of power. As the CEO of Dojicorp, he was practically the daimyo of the Crane. The Phoenix had called upon him to serve as their Master of Air, and with his little speech at the coronation of Yoritomo VII, he had earned the trust of an Emperor again.

But as the doors of the Gardens split open slowly, Munashi's good eye narrowed slightly at the one man beside the Emperor he still was not superior to in standing. Heichi Tetsugi walked evenly toward the old Asahina man, his ever-present green goggles attached to his face, a gray kimono, highlighted with the mon of the Boar, the symbol of the Emperor, and the swords of the Emerald Champion. Only two people in the Empire knew some small truth to Munashi's plans, and did not serve him. One was the Stormbreaker. The other was this man, the advisor to the Emperor, and the final word of his justice. So long as Heichi Tetsugi was alive, Munashi's careful plans were in danger.

"Good evening, Munashi-san," Tetsugi's deep voice was quiet as he bowed to the shugenja.

Munashi returned the gesture fluidly, betraying none of his thoughts. "I trust you are well, Tetsugi-sama," he said motioning for the Champion to follow him to a small seated area in the Garden. "I do not suppose this is a mere social call, to bring me up here in the middle of the night."

One of Tetsugi's eyebrows arched as he looked to the seats, then fixed his gaze back upon Munashi. "No, I'm afraid it is not. I have come to speak of a most dire matter, shugenja."

"Old friends haunting you, Boar?" Munashi's voice became somewhat menacing as he sat, and folded his hands on his lap.

"In a way. I called Meda-san friend, for what it was worth."

The old Crane's plastic smiled faded slowly. Munashi did not expect the newly-appointed Emerald Champion to insult him in such a direct manner. "Many called him such, Tetsugi-sama. Even the Emperor, it seems. It's odd, don't you think?" Munashi leaned back and smiled again as he spoke, "It seems the line of Yoritomo chooses to trust the most unusual people to guard them."

"Indeed," Tetsugi muttered, looking around the trees and flowers of the dimly lit Garden. He could see part of a window, overlooking the city of Otosan Uchi from where he stood.

Munashi stood, uncomfortable not knowing what Tetsugi could see with the device on his eyes, nor being able to tell exactly what the man was looking at. "Is there a point to your visit, Emerald Champion-sama? I do not wish to be rude, but I do have a personal life I would like to attend to." he finally said. Inwardly, the tsukai began to wonder how long the great Heichi Tetsugi would last with a certain other mask on his face.

"Only a warning," the Champion said after a pause, still looking about the area. Munashi looked surprised at the man's words. A warning? Surely Tetsugi knew better than to openly threaten him. "It seems Doji Meda was betrayed by someone close to him," Tetsugi picked his words carefully, knowing the Crane could have this place bugged, wishing any evidence of his own guilt thrown away quickly. "I intend to find who drove him to his madness, and bring them to justice. You would do well to keep yourself aware such a traitor exists."

He couldn't be serious. Munashi was nearly stunned speechless by the Boar's clear message, "I will be sure to do so, Tetsugi-sama. I will use every resource at my disposal to make sure this traitor is rooted out and exterminated," he said evenly.

Tetsugi nodded, but not to Munashi. It was as if he had... found something. Munashi turned his gaze to follow the Emerald Champion's, and realized they were both looking in the direction of where Asako Sano was being held captive. The man had not come to threaten or bully Munashi, after all. Tetsugi had just been buying time.

Munashi stood quickly and started to the main doors of the Garden. "If that is all, Tetsugi-sama, I'm afraid I really must insist you leave. The Gardens must be closed so the maintenance crews may work undisturbed."

"I understand," Tetsugi said, following Munashi without hesitation. "You are, after all, a busy man. I would not want to disturb you further." They stood by and the Boar bowed. "Good night, Munashi-san."

The priest's one good eye narrowed in anger as he closed the door behind Tetsugi. With a calming sigh, he turned to walk back into the heart of the Gardens. "A shame we could not control him," he spoke quietly to himself, brushing his hands along the flora like a loving father. Many of the plants moved at his touch, responding like pets. "But it will not matter by tomorrow night," Munashi walked into a small, hidden clearing, "will it, Sano?"

Before him, the immortal henshin hung limply in bonds of blacked vines, his robes seeming to wither around his body. Sano's head lifted a little, and Munashi smiled broadly at what he saw. The Phoenix's eyes had yellowed, and one had been completely covered in a milky glaze. His hands and exposed chest were riddled with sores and off-colored skin. Sano looked every inch like a Shadowlands madman from the stories.

"Kill... you...," Sano's voice was weak and raspy, as if he had not had water in days.

Munashi laughed, "Oh, I think not, Phoenix," he stepped up and poked on Sano's chest, where only the face of the goblin statue remained outside of his corrupted flesh. "You had a visitor, by the way." he turned and left, leaving Sano to hang in miserable silence, the last part of Munashi's sentence unspoken.

Sano's mind spun. Was it Calin? Selena? Or even Bayushi Dairyu? Had his old friend come to rescue Sano as Sano had done for him ten years ago? The questions spun in his addled mind, adding to the confusion and screaming voices that tormented him already.

A night later, far away from the lights and wonder of Otosan Uchi, near the Wall that had protected Rokugan from the Shadowlands for nearly two millennia, another fought for her life against the growing darkness in Rokugan.

Bayushi Shiriko hit the ground again with a dull thud. Her nose pressed against small pools of half dried blood on the floor, and she wondered if it was hers. "You better stop," she breathed, her voice a hoarse whisper, "You're really turning me on, here."

Ishak just snorted and placed his hand back in his coat. Behind his calm facade, however, the betrayer was losing patience rapidly. He didn't have time for diversions like this anymore, he was expected in Otosan Uchi by now. "Get up," he grumbled.

"So you can knock me on the floor again, Uncle? I don't think so." Shiriko's eyes rolled a little before they focused on Ishak's form. "Wait until I tell father about this. He'll make sure Oroki gets punished."

She was delirious. Useless to him now. Ishak sighed, and walked towards the prone Scorpion Champion. "I suppose your father's secrets will die with you, then," he said, reaching into his coat, and withdrawing his knife. After all the power he had attained, there was something comforting to Ishak about his knife. It was the one he had used to spill his blood the first time in the service of Fu Leng. He could crush Shiriko with his bare hands, summon his power of maho to make her die, choking on her own blood, or even simply unmake her. But the knife was so simple.

Shiriko looked up through her swollen eyes at the monster leering over her. He was about to raise his knife and finish her, when a whispered voice disturbed the silence of the stone chamber.

A small swirling patch of darkness opened up behind Ishak, and he turned to it. Something on the other end spoke with the Betrayer, and Shiriko shuddered inwardly in relief for a moment. She had to get out. The chains that bound her to the floor were rusted pretty badly. It occurred to her that she had never gotten a chance to try and break them, really. She had played up being helpless and weak to Ishak, which had probably made him forget about the fact the chains were so rusty. Shiriko looked to the doorway, the only thing in the way was Ishak, who was still busy speaking with whatever was talking from that small vortex. The Scorpion Champion finally closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment, just as the black circle began to disappear.

"Well, my dear," Ishak flipped the knife in his hands, his back still to her. "It seems Uncle Ishak has some busin-"

In half a second, Ishak heard the sound of rusty chains breaking, felt something connect with his knee, and he landed on his back on the blood and dirt. "I don't think so, Betrayer," Shiriko said quickly, and bolted for the door. She moved much faster than she expected she would, but the Bayushi knew her wounds were too great.

Ishak was on her a moment later. He knocked her to the ground from behind, but kept a firm grip on her right arm, "Brave, little girl." he said, and shattered her elbow, inverting it. Shiriko bit her lip to keep from crying out. "But stupid, as always."

"Put her down," a voice commanded from the darkness in the archway. Ishak turned his head to see a whole unit of armed Bayushi House Guards in the doorway, all with assorted weapons trained on him. Two red laser sights came to rest on his forehead. "Now, tsukai!"

"Of course," Ishak said, and threw Shiriko into the stone wall as if she were made of rice paper. The Scorpion samurai opened fire on Ishak, tearing holes in his flesh and clothes, but the Betrayer walked forward. He pointed to the group and closed his fist, "End."

A blackness swirled around them, invading their eyes, noses, and ears like some sort of angry mist. The Scorpion dropped their weapons and began to drop to the floor or grip their temples in pain. One cried out and fell to the ground, choking himself. Within seconds, the blackness began to infect their skin, and then in a violent burst the entire contingent of Bayushi guards disappeared into nothing. After the echoes of the dying screams faded, Ishak turned to Shiriko, unconscious on the floor. "You seem to command some sort of loyalty from the Scorpion, despite your obvious flaws. You're probably more useful to me half dead than either alive or dead."

Ishak slung the limp form of Bayushi Shiriko over his shoulder, and walked into an unseen portal. The only signs of any recent visitors to the stone chamber were the drying pools of blood on the floor and the scattering black ashes in the doorway.

"You weren't kidding," Bayushi Shiro said, standing on the edge of the roof, surveying the growing chaos of Otosan Uchi in the streets. Just over a half hour past the EMP detonations, and the Pearl of the Empire was being overrun by growing hordes of rioting citizens, and filled with the sounds of gunfire. Shiro hoped his Shinjo peers were the ones with the firearms, but he knew better.

Beside him the gaijin Calin nodded grimly. "It will only get worse, Shiro-san. But it must," he turned his gaze to the towering building diagonally across the street from them. "The time of testing approaches. We must do our parts to hold back the darkness as best we can."

Footsteps sounded behind them, and Shiro turned, readying his rifle. Calin did not flinch as he spoke, "Good evening, Heichi Tetsugi-sama."

Shiro was stunned a moment, then bowed swiftly to the Emerald Champion. Tetsugi simply nodded to the Scorpion, and walked to stand beside Calin. "It is time, gaijin." his low voice was tinged with fatigue. He had not slept since his visit with Munashi the night before. Few in the Empire knew what would happen this night, and fewer still had the resources to prepare for it as Tetsugi had.

"Time to repay an old debt, sama?" Calin looked passively across the street to the thick windows of the Garden. "It won't be an easy task to get in."

Tetsugi looked down at the belt on his obi and smiled briefly. "Do not worry. I believe I can get us in."

The Dojicorp building's main lobby was pretty dull, compared to the outside. It was a huge room, with six different elevator shafts scattered along the walls, four fountains with small gardens planted near each corner, and a huge crystal-railed staircase came down from the main elevator to the Gardens to either side of the silver and blue reception desk. Komachi had been entranced with the place when she first came to work, but now it seemed a little commonplace.

The guard on duty, Shinai, was a bit dull, too. She smiled weakly as he made another crude joke, and leered at her when he thought she wasn't looking. It occurred to her that she lived in the lap of luxury, and it was perhaps wrong of her to think she was getting above it all. But still, she was bored. It was just another night, like the one before, and most likely just like the ones she'd deal with until her agent landed her another commercial.

The thick glass doors opened quickly, and someone strode in from across the long room. Kyoko sat up straight and put on her professional smile, adjusting some pencils to make herself look busy. As the man approached, her smile fell a little.

"Oh, crap." Shinai muttered, and stood somewhat shakily to greet the visitor.

The Emerald Champion, Heichi Tetsugi, didn't even acknowledge their presence, and kept walking past the desk, to the stairs.

"Uh," the guard fumbled on his feet from behind the desk, and shuffled after Tetsugi. Munashi had left earlier, with explicit instructions that the Garden was to be left alone. No one was to be admitted, save himself. He told the Dojicorp security guard that he had laid a powerful blessing on the Garden to ensure its growth for the next year, which required the room to remain sealed for two days. To disturb it would bring dire consequences to whoever was responsible.

"Excuse me," Shinai caught up to the Boar and stepped in front of him.

Tetsugi stopped, and raised a single eyebrow over his ever-present goggles.

"Ah... uh," the guard stammered, and then blushed. He bowed low to the man in front of him, and rose. "Heichi-sama, I'm afraid..." he almost couldn't say the words. He wondered if a night security guard had ever had to deny the Emerald Champion anything. "You can't go into the Gardens."

A long silence passed between them, and Tetsugi regarded the man critically. From the desk, Kyoko looked up at the scene and quickly got on the intercom. Shinai was going to need a little help, if he were to keep his job. If Munashi didn't fire him for not turning Tetsugi away, it was possible the Emerald Champion would see to it anyway.

"And why is this?" Tetsugi sighed finally.

"Munashi's orders," the guard began.

"Munashi is a very important person, I understand," Tetsugi cut the stammering man off with a quick wave of his hand. "However, does it occur to you that perhaps my business may be equally important?" He leaned forward and furrowed his brow, "Do you suppose the Emerald Champion just decided to come down here this evening for a stroll through the Fantastic Gardens?"

Shinai looked up meekly at Tetsugi, his cowering reflection showing in the man's goggles.

"Hmm?"

Shinai lowered his eyes, cursing himself inwardly.

"I see," the Boar said finally. "Now, if you'll excuse me," he pushed past the man almost as if he were not there. This was almost too easy. He had assumed that Munashi would place an order with the staff to keep him out of the Gardens since his last visit. It seemed, however he had failed to leave the right men on watch. As he reached the elevator, Tetsugi glanced at his watch. Three minutes faster than he thought it would take. Now all he had to do was find a way to discreetly tamper with the security systems to get Sano and Shiro in. They could have walked in with him, but a gaijin and a Scorpion sniper in full battle gear would have brought unneeded attention.

"Sir!" came a voice from far behind the Emerald Champion. Tetsugi turned to see four guards jogging to catch up to him before he entered the elevator. "I'm afraid you're going to have to wait, sir." the lead guard, Kimaro by his badge, bowed quickly to him and flashed a smile. "Sama, we understand that you come on urgent business, but would it not be best to inform Munashi-sama of this visit, so he may deal with his preparations?"

There goes those three minutes, Tetsugi thought to himself. "What preparations, Kimaro?"

"Munashi-sama has placed a fertility blessing on the Gardens, and ordered it not be tampered with, if you would but wait for us to inform him of your visit, I am sure he would be most happy to allow you in himself. In a manner that would not disturb the spirits, you understand."

Tetsugi sighed again, this time is was more irritable than tired. This one wasn't as much of a moron. Damn him. "How long did it take for Munashi to place this blessing?" he asked.

"Well," Kimaro cocked his head to the side. He didn't recall that in the memo, and hadn't really paid attention to Munashi's actions for the day, except one thing. "He left pretty early, actually. Given that he took care of the daily business as normal, it couldn't have..." his voice trailed off as the young man realized he had fallen into the Champion's trap.

"Couldn't have taken more than an hour or so, could it?" Tetsugi nodded thoughtfully. "So, if we were to disturb him now, it would take about half an hour for him to get here, some time for him to alert the kami to our visit, and then perhaps another half hour to return to his home. So it would just be wasting his time if he could replace it tomorrow in an hour, hai?"

Kimaro nodded dumbly.

"Thank you, young man. You have been most helpful." The Boat turned to enter the elevator, smiling to himself in amusement.

"What was that?" said one of the guards, his voice concerned.

"What did you see?" Kimaro asked, clearly annoyed after his dealings with Tetsugi.

The Emerald Champion turned, a small sense of dread settling over him. He almost knew what the guard had seen.

"It was a flash of light, almost as big as some sort of explosion, but there wasn't any noise." the first guard squinted, as if trying to see it again. "It came from a block down."

Tetsugi quickly stepped away from the elevator, just as the entire building seemed to groan with pain, and the lights went out. He shook his head and laughed softly to himself. After all of that, it seemed the Locust were going to do his job for him.

"Is there any other way up to the Gardens, young man?" Tetsugi asked, looking up at the black ceiling. Even the emergency lights were out.

"The emergency stairs," the guard replied, distracted. "I wouldn't worry about it, though. That's quite a few floors," he turned to finish speaking, but found Tetsugi was gone.

"I hate stairs," Calin muttered as they rounded the stairwell to the twentieth floor. A baseball-sized globe of light spun around him, lighting their way through the darkness. He and Shiro had managed to sneak past the outside security of the Dojicorp tower when the power started going out all across the city. The Crane building was hardly defenseless, though. They had found themselves ducking security guard patrols every five minutes as the paranoid guards began worrying for the safety of what was arguably the most beautiful building in Otosan Uchi. Next to the Diamond Palace, of course.

The gaijin kept walking, and realized Shiro was whispering something behind him. "What is it?" he asked.

The whispering continued for a second, and Calin turned to see Shiro counting his steps quietly to himself. The Scorpion stopped suddenly and looked up. "Don't you find it odd that the number of stairs between floors alternates from fifteen to sixteen?"

Calin blinked.

"Nevermind," Shiro said, and walked past the gaijin, who still had a perplexed look on his face. The two continued their trek up the stairs in silence. The plan was to meet Tetsugi in the Garden. He would simply walk through the front, as he could use his position to force his way in should the need arise. The other two men, however, would have to find alternate means of entry, which Tetsugi promised to provide.

After a long while, Calin leaned up against a door, breathing heavily, and said, "Forty. Forty floors between the ground and this damned greenhouse gone wrong."

Shiro simply shrugged and reached for the door, "We made it, didn't we?" he opened the door, which led to an odd room full of pipes, wires, a few tables, and a lot of gardening tools. The whole room smelled like an old cave. Shiro began looking around the room, poking through the tools and checking out the pipes.

"Over here," Calin said, finding a door on the other side of the room, obscured by lack of light. Shiro put down a spade he had been looking at with odd stains. Blood.

"Do you hear anything on the other side?"

Calin pressed his ear to the door. Complete silence, save for one odd noise.

"He's in there," the gaijin said finally, pushing the door open without further hesitation. The globe whizzed to keep up with him, and Shiro bolted for the door.

The Fantastic Garden was unnerving without sound. Not even the quiet bubble of the small engineered streams could be heard. No birds. Nothing. Then both men almost jumped as a low moan seemed to come from all directions. It was almost human, but sounded more like a feral growl.

"I think it's coming from this way," Shiro pointed back further into the Garden. Calin nodded, and the two men pressed on to the thicker vegetation.

Behind them, a vine reached out a moment too slow to catch Calin by the neck.

The moaning could be heard again, louder this time. "We're getting closer," Calin whispered, the strange ball dancing around him, mirroring his excitement. They walked on a little quicker, and then Calin stopped.

Shiro turned. "What's wrong?" he asked quickly.

The glowing sphere would not come to Calin. It hovered about ten feet behind him, shaking as if it were afraid. "I think something's wrong," the gaijin said darkly, his tone betraying the understatement of his fear.

Shaking his head, Shiro turned back and kept walking, "Be rational. This is a garden. A closed off garden, at that. Nothing in here but plants, trees, your master, and us."

Calin opened his mouth to say something sarcastic, but was suddenly gagged by something like a rope. It was a vine. The gaijin yelped, his voice muffled by the whip-vine around this throat and face.

Without hesitation, Shiro turned, his rifle already in his hands. Calin's eyes grew wide as the Scorpion trained the weapon at him. Half a second later, shots rang out through the silent garden, and Calin dropped to his knees, gasping for air. The severed vine fell to the ground, thrashing about some before it withered up unnaturally.

"Let's keep going," Calin said, panting. "After all, it's just a silly garden." He stood and walked past the Scorpion, who was still gawking at what he had just seen.

"Shiro!" Calin suddenly hissed, already well into the bushes behind Shiro and out of sight. The sniper turned and dashed into the foliage, his rifle raised again. As he broke through the bushes to stand beside the other man. What he saw made him gasp out loud, and turn his head.

Sano hung limply, bound and corrupted before them. His eyes seemed to glow against the darkness that surrounded him, and Calin had a difficult time believing that man before them was his master.

"Sano," the gaijin whispered, his eyes full of sorrow.

The henshin raised his head at the noises, and let out a low, deep wail. The plants around him seemed to twitch in fear from the sound. His face stretched into a sad smile as he saw the two men standing before him.

"Be still, master," Calin walked forward, his hand glowing. "I will cut you down."

Behind him, he head Shiro cocking his gun again. "Calin, I think that's going to have to wait."

The gaijin turned, his face annoyed, "What do you..." he stopped in mid-speech as he saw two small children before him. "What are they doing here?" Their faces were pale, as if made-up in some kabuki play. One giggled and pointed at Shiro's gun.

The other smiled widely at Shiro, revealing a two long rows of sharpened teeth. Behind them, the bushes they had broken and walked through reformed, twice as thick as before.

"I don't suppose they're looking for their mothers," Calin cracked, raising his hands over his head, ready to smite the things with his power. Before he could begin, however, one of the trees came to life, its branch swinging out quickly, knocking Calin across the back of the skull. The gaijin fell to the ground, dazed.

Shiro opened fire on the two children, who just giggled. "I... don't think they're human," he said, backing away.

"Sano," Calin muttered, just as the two children attacked.

One leapt at Shiro, who shot reflexively at the thing in mid-air. Once again, the oni laughed the attack off, and landed on the Scorpion's chest. The creature wrapped its legs around Shiro's waist with unnatural strength, and began pounding on his face with hammer-like blows.

Calin flew back as the other ran up and kicked him square on the forehead while he was still on his hands and knees. The child jumped up at Calin's prone form, trying to land feet-first on his face. "I don't think so, kid," the gaijin muttered, and raised his hands into the air, catching it. Calin rolled backward and used his momentum to drive the demon into the ground.

"Shiro!" Calin shouted, quickly stumbling away from the oni child, which seemed more annoyed than hurt. "The vines!" he managed to say before being tackle-strangled from behind by the oni.

Fending off the blows with his off-hand, Shiro braced the rifle against his shoulder and fired twice at Sano. Just as the shots rang out again, both oni looked up at Sano's form, dangling by one vine twisted around his right arm, and looked at each other. Like children caught in trouble, the two became wide-eyed with shock, and then ran off into the bushes of the Garden.

"They're afraid of him," Shiro said, dazed, but still standing.

"They should be," Heichi Tetsugi's voice came from the bushes behind Sano, as he emerged. "I suppose now would be the wrong time to mention charging blindly into enemy territory is bad practice, Shiro?"

The Scorpion lowered his head, rubbing his face.

The Sword of the Emerald Champion swung free through the air, and Sano's limp body fell, caught in Tetsugi's arms.

"Why did they run?" Calin asked, concern clear on his face.

"The two oni guarding him were to make sure he would not escape his bonds, or he would be able to destroy all of them."

Shiro shouldered his gun and said, "You're saying a man unable to rip a few vines off of himself would be able to destroy creatures even bullets could not stop?"

Tetsugi nodded, "The vines were most likely sapping his strength. Even now, he lingers close to being comatose." he looked down at the thing in Sano's chest. "Munashi has infected him with the Taint of the Shadowlands. Sano may never again be connected as he once was to the world."

Shiro noticed that Sano was standing a little straighter now, as if his strength was returning to him by the second.

"However, coupled with his natural ability, the Taint would twist his power in horrible and destructive ways. Those foul little children most likely would have been as insects to him." Tetsugi let go of the henshin, who stood on his own two feet.

"Now what do we do?" Calin asked.

"We," Tetsugi motioned to Sano, "have business to attend to." The Emerald Champion reached into his obi and produced a small jade sphere. "You two are now my agents. You will be needed on the streets."

"But, my master," the gaijin's eyes were filled with concern.

"I... told you, boy," Sano spoke, his voice dry and cracked. "Don't call me... master. In Rokugan, when you are given... an order by the Emerald... Champion... you do as you are told."

Calin bowed stiffly to Tetsugi, and said, "Yes m... Sano."

Shiro looked around. "We will find our own way out. The dangers of this garden are far less lethal for those who are wary."

"It is fortunate Munashi is gone. Our rescue operation would have been futile if the master of this foul place was here." Tetsugi said, his voice somewhat angry. "Go, now. Every second we wait here is another second the Empire spends crumbling."

The two younger men bowed, and left quickly, leaving the Emerald Champion to stand in silence with the corrupted Phoenix. "And what are we... to do..." asked Sano, turning to Tetsugi. "What happens to the old men... when the children have taken... over saving the Empire?" a small hint of amusement was in his tortured voice.

"We undertake quests far less important," the Boar replied, "We will risk our lives to save one woman, and destroy one man."

Sano laughed slightly, "I... think he is more than... one man, sama. But I believe... I have something to even... the odds." he pointed to a neatly arranged pile of rocks near where he had been bound. Tetsugi walked over to them in interest, and moved a few off the top. A warm golden glow spilled from where the rocks had been moved, and Sano winced and turned away from it.

The Golden Obi of the Sun Goddess was lifted from the rocks by Tetsugi's careful hand, and he nodded to himself. "Perhaps it will," he said quietly, adjusting it over his own belt. Though Sano could not bear to gaze upon the sight in his corrupt state, he imagined Tetsugi was quite an impressive figure, wearing the kimono and sword of the Emerald Champion, and the holy relic across his waist.

"Find my daughter, Sano. We cannot wait here." he said sternly.

Sano nodded, and reached out with his darkened chi into the elements around him. In this place the natural order of things had been corrupted, twisted. Kansen were all around, but Sano was not afraid. Instead, he reached out to them, and sensing his corrupt nature, they obeyed. A glow like the moon came around Sano's hands, and moments later, a shimmering portal hovered in the air before the two men.

"You will not be harmed by... the foul magic, Tetsugi." Sano said, stepping into the portal, vanishing.

The Emerald Champion took a step toward the portal, then stopped, as if weighing a decision. He lowered his head, pulled the goggles off his eyes, and worked his hands beneath the flesh on his neck. With a swift motion, the mask fell off his face, and was tucked into his obi. The Emerald Champion placed his goggles back over his scarred face, and stepped into the portal.

Bayushi Taigo waited patiently. Hours had passed since the Locust had come streaming from the place they called the Heart of the Machine. It had been easy enough to infiltrate the loosely assembled terrorists, fanaticism and loyalty to the man they called Inago seemed all that was required to make it past the barriers into their lair. The ninja silently watched as one of Inago's men had arrived with, given several of the reports from the Scorpions near the Great Seal, what could only be an ogre. If one wasn't aware of the activity of the seemingly defunct Shadowlands, the ogre could have passed for a man of sorts.

As Inago fell, Taigo looked on from the shadows as the two other Locusts, Sekkou and Kaibutsu, tried to leave. Even from his place in the Heart, Taigo smelled the stench of death, and heard the hissing of the shambling corpses emerging into the chamber. The Scorpion drew his pistols slowly, not knowing what to expect now. He had come into the stronghold of the Locust Clan in order to destroy them from within, but found he did not have to raise a finger to do so. Now, other agents of the Stormbreaker assaulted the two other Locust in their own home. Taigo concluded that Sekkou and the larger Locust had turned traitor to their masters, and moved to aid the two from the shadows.

The sound of Kaibutsu's battle cry seemed to shake the chamber as he tore into the walking dead with his hands. Sekkou fired again and again into the attackers, and the ringing echoes became more of a din than distinct shots within seconds.

"Help..."

Taigo spun, hearing the voice of the fallen Locust Champion calling out, in a strained whisper. Years of training had allowed him to hear the plea over the growing sounds of combat, and he approached the man on the ground, still unnoticed by either side of the conflict. Inago's hand moved, hindered by the tetsukami and more mundane cybernetics that seemed intertwined with his blackened flesh. The man looked like some sort of plastic doll left in a microwave.

"A Scorpion," Inago coughed and laughed to himself. "It was only a matter of time before you came to haunt me, father."

The entire scene around Taigo seemed surreal suddenly. He felt removed from himself as he gazed into eyes he had long thought dead, and the moaning of the zombies seemed dulled and far away.

"Furimae." Taigo said, pulling his mask from his face and kneeling down beside Inago. "What have you become, brother?"

Inago's good eye grew wide with shock, "Taigo..." he gasped, "You look so much like father." he leaned up his head and gazed upon himself, "I... I look not much like anything human anymore."

"I was told you were dead," Taigo whispered, almost unable to believe what he was seeing.

"I am." Inago responded, letting his head fall back to the cold floor. "I was with mother and father when they were killed by the Crane. I was so angry at the world. I was angry that a civilization so advanced would allow noble and wise men and women to march to their deaths... and let those deaths go unavenged."

Taigo's attention was brought back to reality as he saw some of the walking corpses come near them, "It seems we have been noticed, brother."

"My skull," Inago said, coughing a little. "The Stormbreaker... I never meant to destroy the Empire."

"You're implanted," Taigo nodded with understanding, and drew his wakizashi. "Hold still, brother."

"Father would have been proud of you," Inago coughed, his body shaking involuntarily.

Taigo nodded silently, and brought the wakizashi down, ending his lost brother's suffering. In that moment, he imagined Inago's face... Furimae's face looked like how he remembered his father. The Locust Champion's body twitched some, and his hand hit the ground, releasing something. Taigo turned his head to see the small metal figure roll a few inches from Inago's hands. Another of his brother's creations. The Scorpion picked the figure up and placed it in a small pouch in his obi.

"How touching," came an inhuman voice from behind Taigo. The ninja stood, swinging out the wakizashi in his hands in warning. The blade was caught in a large hand, and Taigo found himself standing face to face with a large man in the decaying armor and uniform of an age long past.

"I don't know what you intend to do with that," the man said mockingly, and took a step to Taigo.

The blade twisted menacingly in the ninja's hands, and Taigo's eyes narrowed as he placed the smooth black mask back upon his face. "I," he said slowly, taking a step sideways, "intend to run." His form vanished, like smoke blown into the wind, into the hallway, past the fight.

Taigo stepped to his side, as well, walking through the wall as if he were a ghost. The Scorpion, loose in the Machine, could find Sachiko. Even if he did, neither of them would escape alive. The Machine was rigged to collapse upon itself soon after Inago's death, and the buildings above them would crush the chambers and everything within.