Match 13

Match 13 "The Archangel" Raphael Empio vs Talon Hiragi

The End Is Near

Narrator: "Talon Hiragi age 24, is a skillful practitioner of the martial art called Hiragi. This was an art past down to him from the legendary master Raiden. The art was to be used for war, it had no place in any common MMA circles. However, after the death of the master, Talon the adopted son of the man was now the sole practitioner.

Talon was doing dynamic warm up stretches in his wine colored fighting pants. He was making sure every single inch of his body was ready for the battle that was soon to be commencing. His focus was slightly diverted as he heard a knock on the door of his room. He got up and checked through the tiny peephole. There he was Musashi Watanabe, a recently acquired boss that he was now employed to.

He let the older gentleman inside his room and continued with his warm ups. He focused on the mirror doing some shadow boxing.

"You know Talon, you remind me so much of your old man." The older gentlemen pulled a cigar out of his coat pocket. "I remembered when he and I were about your age...We were the best of teams. During those old Kengan days I was his manager while he was my fighter. We had a good thing going." The older man lit his cigar in his mouth as he observed the boy preparing himself.

"Yeah I also remember Master Raiden telling me how his buddy would never learn to stop smoking." Talon spoke. He was slightly annoyed by his boss smoking, even more so inside his room.

Jab jab, front kick, hook. Bob and weave. Talon was seriously focused on this battle. "Sorry my boy, you know I only smoke when I'm nervous." responded back Watanabe. He quickly tried putting out the smoke.

"There is nothing to be worried about Mr. Watanabe. I'll beat him like all the other men I've faced" The young fighter spoke as he threw a right straight.

"Son, I heard rumors that this guy you are fighting isn't some man. Some don't even think he is human, he acts more like a devil than anything." There was a bit of a worried tone at the end of that last sentence. "Call it a gut feeling, but do not let your eyes off him. Not even for a second Talon!" The boss's cigar dropped out of his hand and landed onto the carpet.

As Watanabe reached over to try and pick it up, he was surprised to see his fighter pick it up instead. "Listen I won't get hurt out there Mr. Watanabe. I know you care for my well being, but promise me you'll let those feelings subside." Talon holding the cigar with his fingers handed it back to his boss. Suddenly a beep rang on his watch. "Guess I'll be heading out now, see ya later."

The young fighter walked out of the room and was heading out to the hallway just when his boss wanted to say a few last things. "Kid, your master, he was like a brother to me. Please I'm begging you to be careful…"

With a reassuring smile Talon said "Don't worry old man, and hey you really gotta stop smoking. How else am I going to have someone worry behind my back?" Mr. Watanabe responded back with a smile of his own. "Knock em dead kid." He saw Talon running to the tunnels, the next thing he did was throw away the cigar in a nearby trash can.

Infirmary Room

Jerry "The Milk Man" Switz is resting after his loss against Akayama Yuuta. The man had lost a lot of blood, it was a miracle he had survived the fight. However, unknownst to him; his life was still hanging by a thread. A dark angel was there to take away a life.

The door slowly creaked open. Standing in the door opening was "The Archangel" Raphael Empio. He was emitting a dark aura into the room, it was like he worked for death itself. With a smirk he spoke, "A fool like you have no chance succeeding in life." his hands caressed the side of the milkman's cheek.

"I know of your daughter Jerry, such a sad little story. Makes me want to cry." his tone wasn't at all sympathetic. This crazed man enjoyed the suffering of others. "But don't worry, you'll see her soon enough." The dark angel lifted his hand up, he was going to end this man's life like he did so many others.

Just when the unexpected happened. The giant's body flew backward at least a few feet away from Jerry's bed. The Italian checked to see his chest, there was a foot mark imprint left in his bare chest.

"I don't know who the hell you are, but to get to him you'll have to go through me first!" shouted the Kengan fighter Liska Drabek. He was tensed up and ready for a fight if need be. But truth be told, a cold sweat was running down the side of his neck. Liska threw a powerful kick, but it didn't seem to do much effect on this imposing individual.

"Oh Liska Drabek, it's so nice to meet you. I had a feeling we would meet, but I didn't think it would be this soon." Raphael took a step forward, but before he could make another. The angry fighter threw a metal hospital tray from a nearby stand. The tray was supposed to make contact with the man's angel-like face; however, Raphael caught the tray with ease. But this wasn't Liska's true intention, it was a diversion in order to land a powerful right hook.

"I do like playing these games" playfully said the Italian as he caught the punch. He began to apply pressure to the fist causing Liska to drop to a knee.

"Ahhh hell!" groaned out Liska in pain. The man's grip was almost inhuman, what in the world was this thing?

"Oh yes such a lovely place to be right now." The angelic man said smiling. He lowered a bit of his stance so he could be at a good eye to Liska. "So tell me Mr. Drabek why are you here?" he asked cheerfully.

"Shouldn't I be asking you, why are you here?! You freaking monster!" retorted back the brave fighter. This little act may have rubbed Raphael the wrong way. This was because his voice pitch started to lower down. "It's rude to ask a question within a question Mr. Drabek."

The fighter shifted his eyes towards Jerry. "I've been down and out before. You feel like the world is pressing down on you, and that you'll never have the strength to push up and move on. I've been there, and I know how lonely that can be." Liska took in a breath, "I want to make sure no one else feels like that." Liska then tries forcing his body back up. "That's why I'm here! So every fighter knows everything will turn out alright at the end!"

Liska couldn't believe he just admitted that to this monster. "Such an interesting response." mockingly said Raphael. "But I already knew the answer to that, the question was more directed to you." The 7 foot giant stood up fully erected, more of his dark energy made its way into the room.

"Now to answer your question, I'm here to kill." he let go of Liska's hand. Whether it was by fate or pure coincidence, the mechanical speaker within the room made an announcement.

"ATTENTION FIGHTERS FOR MATCH 13, PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE ARENA"

"Awe too bad...I guess we will play our little game some other time than. I'll be sure to come back for your life." The dark angel started to cackle evilish before he finally left through the door.

Arena

"Sorry for the slight delay, people" spoke the ring announcer Sayaka Katahara. "But let's get the show on the road!" fireworks erupted both it and the beautiful young lady's words sparked an enthusiasm within the crowd.

"Starting off in this corner!" She points to one of the entrances. "HE IS NO STRANGER TO THE KENGAN FIGHTS, STANDING AT A HEIGHT OF 185CM AND WITH A WEIGHT OF 86 KG. THIS BEAST OF A FIGHTER IS REPRESENTING THE COMPANY HACHIDORI CINE. GET READY FOR TALON HIRAGI!"

Talon casually starts jogging himself into the arena. Waving back at all the fans and supporters.

"Next!" Sayaka shifted her hand to the different side of the arena. "THIS MAN IS LIKE AN ANGEL DESCENDING FROM ABOVE. STANDING AT A HEIGHT OF 213CM AND WEIGHING 124 KG! REPRESENTING SPORTS CAR MANUFACTURER FELLAI. IT'S 'THE ARCHANGEL' RAPHAEL EMPIO!"

As the man's name was called, a dark aura started to come out from the entrance. This feeling was like in the past Yajū fight...no this was different. This feeling was darker and colder. Those closest within the audience could already feel the magnitude of whirling emotions. The man that walked out from the tunnel was none other than Raphael Empio. Besides bringing this dark energy to ring, he was also wearing a smug grin.

Upon sensing danger, the cute ring announcer quickly hurried away back to her seat next to Agatsuma Takeo. "Why does Raphael give me similar vibes from that Yajū guy?" Sayaka said, slightly distressed. The old fighter turned to her and calmly explained. "This is actually a completely different feeling from Yajū, Miss Katahara." Takeo's eyes never once removed visual contact from the dark angel. "Yajū's presence brought forth anger and hatred. There's a feeling of pure vengeance inside that man. In comparison, Raphael's is mostly pure chaos. I can sense nothing but despair and destruction in his wake."

Both Talon and Raphael stared each other down. The chubby referee in between them, Yamamoto Koishi could already feel the thick tension between the fighters. The tension was so thick one could cut it with a knife.

"I'm surprised you aren't fearing for your life right about now." Raphael spoke out, removing the moment of silence. The 24 year old fighter smiled back at the comment. "My oldman used to say 'It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.'" Talon got up a lot closer to the angel's face. "Your little scare tricks won't work on me, I'll show you what I'm truly capable of." With that, the referee broke them apart.

"Fighters ready?!" The referee looked to see both fighters nod in unison. "FIGHT!" he commences the battle officially.

Talon is the first one to make the first move. He charges at the Italian giant full speed. Raphael just standing there doesn't even try to put his guard up or anything. When Talon got within range he decided to go for a single leg takedown. His plan was to simply beat him by putting him in submission. As Talon successfully grabbed Raphael's leg, he was met with some resistance.

"OH WOW!" announced the surprised Sayaka as she and the rest of the audience were being bewildered by the scene in front of them. One of the fighters closest to the fight, Maxwell Beckett "The Massacre Ape", shook his head in amazement. "That's one way to defend yourself against a single leg takedown." he thought to himself.

The scene played out like this. As Talon successfully grabbed hold of Raphael's leg, he tried going for a takedown. However, the young fighter didn't calculate the older man's strength. Raphael dug his fingers onto Talon's sides, the scene was painful but there was more to come. As he was able to grab hold of the other fighter's sides, he began to lift him off the ground. Talon still holding onto the right leg was surprised not only by Raphael's upper body strength, but also his extreme flexibility. This dark angel was able to fully extend his right leg, straight up in the air.

"How's the heavenly view Talon?" Raphael said as he carried that same sadistic smirk. Both fighters eyes locked again, but this time in a vertical perspective.

"This is bad, Talon needs to get out now!" Maxwell thought as he tightened the bar handles. The way Talon was positioned looks like Raphael might be attempting to go for a reverse piledriver. If the impact is powerful enough he could crack open Talon's skull.

"Down to hell you go!" shouted Raphael as he laughed evilly. But surprisingly he couldn't perform his attack. This was because the young fighter let go of the leg and more shockingly tore through his own sides. The fingers that tied his body, he forced through it with his own body.

A lot of the people within the crowd were in shock and in disgust, Talon was able to get away in the nick of the time. But the sacrifice was him losing part of his flesh. The young man was bleeding and was surprised as well. He didn't feel much pain, perhaps it was the endorphins flowing through his body that was numbing the pain.

Raphael looked at his bloodied fingers. "You knew what was going to happen. You knew that decision you made would prolong the fight." The Italian began to taste the bit of the blood in his fingers. "Don't get me wrong you made the right choice, however such a shame to ruin such beauty."

Talon was repulsed by Raphael's actions. "This guy is a sicko, I can't beat him with pure grappling. I guess I'll have to try striking." The young fighter shifted his body to more of a striker stance. In response "The Archangel" changed to a fighting stance as well, deciding to get more serious.

"IT LOOKS LIKE THIS FIGHT WILL TURN INTO A STRIKEFEST!" explained Sayaka over the mic. "Mr. Takeo who do you think will throw the first punch?" Takeo, still being observant, thought for a second then was ready to comment. "If I had pieces of flesh torn out of me I'd be mad. Talon can't beat the shit out of him without getting any closer."

As soon as the comment was delivered Talon yet again charged into battle. He jumped up, in order to deliver a right hook on the man's skull. However, Raphael easily blocked the attack with his arm. But this didn't stop the young fighter as he then used his left knee to strike his jawline. This move surprisingly brought the man to one knee.

"I'm not done with you!" shouted Talon as he went again for another assault on "The Archangel". This time he went for a spinning roundhouse kick to the right side of the skull. The older fighter was still able to block the attack again, but was momentarily moved to the side due to the force of the kick. "Here's a knuckle sandwich!" Talon threw a punch hitting its mark on the left side of Raphael's cheek. This attack again was able to push back the giant. Talon then exploded in a rush of strikes.

"AMAZING TALON IS LIKE A MACHINE!" shouted the surprised Sayaka as she stood up from her desk. Talon wouldn't stop dishing out the strikes, he was giving it all he had.

"Please Talon, please come out of this in one piece." said Talon's boss Mr. Watanabe. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry oldman your kid's punches are looking mighty fierce. I wouldn't want any of those hands." Maxwell said, he tried to cheer up the worried boss.

"You like my face don't you?" spoke Raphael as he kept on blocking. "Yeah I do" responded Talon between punches. He then was able to manage to land a devastating uppercut. "I like your face, it's a very punchable face!"

"The Archangel" was thrown backward from the attack. His body landed onto the ground, he appeared motionless.

"CLEAN HIT! AND KNOCKDOWN!" shouted Sayaka. The fans were cheering, all the attention seemed to go over to Talon.

The referee then checked to see how Raphael was doing. As he got closer to observe the body, he was greeted with a smiling face. Raphael jumped back up from his feet. He wiped away some of the dirt off his body and continued to smile. There was a small trace of blood leaking down his lip. He licked it away.

"I must congratulate Talon, it's been a while since I had to use 80 percent of my strength to beat an opponent." The dark angel's voice was raspy, what was his game? Suddenly he placed his fist forward. "No more games…"

Hearing those words, Takeo's facial expression changed. It was like he understood what was going to happen next.

"What is this freak trying to do? Is he trying to scare me?" thought Talon. "No, it won't work! I will win!" he continued to think as he went to challenge "The Archangel". When he got to Raphael's fist's range that's when Raphael started to lash out. Fortunately, Talon was able to move away from the attack and get behind the giant.

"You're going to lose that arm, you asshole!" Talon jumped on top of the other man's back and tried dislocating the arm. A popping sound could be heard. Hearing that Talon backflipped off Raphael's back and the Italian dropped to both knees.

"How do you like the feeling of losing one of your arms?!" Talon shouted, he felt an overwhelming confidence boost inside him. As he continued to watch the older fighter, he soon saw him get himself back up.

"How do I like your little gift?" said Raphael as he turned around to face him. "I loved it." He then twisted his arm and was able to place his arm back in its place. His voice became deep. "I have a gift for you as well Talon. Trust me I've been dying to give it to you." Raphael then began to walk towards Talon. Then he started to sprint over to him.

Talon, ready on guard, was prepared for an assault. The dark angel threw a front kick that pushed Talon backward. The young fighter still on guard felt the pain though, the kick felt like a sledgehammer. The dark angel then threw another kick with his other leg, hitting Talon on the side. "F#ck this hurts!" thought Talon in pain. Raphael just hurted the young fighter's weak spot.

The Italian was smiling in pleasure for witnessing the pain he was causing the young fighter. His powerful kicks were more than enough to overpower his opponent. As he went to deliver another front kick, Talon was able to move out of the way. Not only that, but he caught the man's kick.

"You shouldn't have done that." Raphael said as he went in to punch the young fighter's unprotected face. The punch was able to knock the young man to the ground. Raphael got on top of him and placed his fingers on Talon's throat. He whispered in the Talon's ear. "This fight could have ended sooner, but you just had to drag it on." Suddenly Talon felt Raphael did something to him. "I just damaged your voice box, you won't be able to talk for a bit."

"OH MY WHAT HE IS DOING?!" Sayaka shouted as Raphael pushed Talon against the cement wall. One hand was holding him in place, while the free hand was dishing out attacks. The crowd watched as Raphael mercilessly assusult Talon.

"Come on kid. Please give me the signal you want to call off the fight! Please surrender!" thought the referee Yamamoto Koishi. But to no avail, he saw no signal. He couldn't do anything at this point.

The announcer girl was extremely troubled by the situation. This fighter could die and nothing is being done about it. Takeo looked over to her, he put a hand on her shoulder. "Sayaka, you're a good girl. It was nice working with you…" Confused by Takeo's words she became more confused as she saw him drop down into the arena. Everyone in the crowd was confused at this point.

"Hey boy!" shouted the dark master Takeo. The Italian giant turned his head to listen to the commotion. "You're uglier than sin, the darkness you carry inside you is nothing more than a child's repression! All who carry the darkness are merely frighten children who can't accept reality!"

"The Archangel" let go of Talon, his body collapsed to the floor like a sack of potatoes. "YOU DARE INSULT ME?!" Takeo's words were sharper than any dagger. The words just kept repeating over and over inside his head. "You were on my list of people I wanted to kill Takeo, I guess it's a more perfect time than any!"

Raphael sprinted towards the older fighter, he wanted to rip the old man limb from limb. As he got into fighting reach, he leaped forward and tried performing an axe kick. Takeo narrowly misses, and tries counter attacking. He lowers his center of masses and thrusts a palm strike to the chin. The Archangel only smiled from that pitiful attack. Raphael then went for a straight right punch which grazed Takeo's cheek. "You're so weak!' he shouted as he performed a side kick to the ribs causing Takeo to experience pain.

Not wanting to stop, Raphael went in for a rush attack. At this point the oldman could only dodge some of the attacks, the few that landed he just had to deal with. As Takeo was able to gather enough space, he backflipped a couple feet away from the crazed fighter.

"What's wrong great master Takeo? I remember years ago your strength and speed were phenomenal. What happened?" The Italian asked playfully. He noticed the old man was already breathing hard. "Oh that's right...you abandoned the darkness from inside your heart." "Maybe you shouldn't have done that, if you still had it in you, you might have a better chance of fighting me." He begins to walk towards him, wanting to attack the old man again.

"There are people with pitch black darkness who can still pay for their sins. But you, you're irredeemable" Takeo said with a serious tone. The Italian jokingly pointed his finger to his chest. "Don't underestimate the allure of darkness. Even the purest hearts are drawn to it."

Before Raphael can go in for another attack, he is unexpectedly stopped.

"You crazy son of bitch!" shouted Maxwell Beckett as he tackled the larger 7 foot Italian maniac. Maxwell was on top of the dark angel trying his best to subdue him. Raphael struck a couple of blows to the other man's face. "Don't let me bite off your nose, you deranged psychopath." Maxwell went in for a headbutt hoping to knock out "The Archangel". He was able to cut the other man's forehead making it bleed. Some of the blood got into Raphael's eyes, but the crazed fighter was still conscious, he used his long legs to kick the man off him. However, this move accidentally pushed Maxwell onto the referee. This action led to the referee to become unconscious.

As Raphael tried to get himself up, he heard an announcement being made. "STAND DOWN!" as Raphael desperately tried rubbing the blood off from his eyes he noticed the figure who made the announcement. There standing on top of the cement walls, was Liska Drabek. "Everyone, that's him!" as he dropped down, many of the other fighters followed. The cavalry has arrived, the commander in charge was Liska himself.

"Talon, buddy!" Liska said, trying to wake up his friend. He was trying to hold back the tears, his friend wasn't breathing. "Please move." said Cassius White. He was a shaman, but the closest to being a medicine man. Removing a small pouch from his belt, he poured a liquid concoction into the young man's mouth. Afterwards he checked Talon's heart.

As that was happening the other fighters started to form a mob against Raphael.

"Mr. Drabek told us what you were trying to do with the milkman." Akayama Yuuta explained. "I fought against the man, he was a great man you have no right to take anyone's life!" Raphael triggered an angry side of Yuuta, he will make sure Raphael pays for this.

Next to Yuuta was the king of Asura, David King. The man was breathing heavily, he was struggling his eyes. The eyes were turning gold, then brown then back to gold. "I've overused my ability but...I made my decision! "A King never reverses his decision!" the young king's eyes shined bright gold. David just couldn't sit back on the sidelines and do nothing.

"It's over Raphael stop with the fighting." Viktor "The Russian Experiment" Miller explained. "You have 0 chance in winning this battle. All the fighters here will stop you if necessary." Viktor began flexing his muscles, he didn't care if there was a battle or not. But if there was a battle, he would be ready.

Raphael Empio looked at the crowd of fighters. Everything they were saying was true, almost all the fighters were visible. The drunken master Qi Ling, the rookie Alexander Flesas, the ex special forces soldier Sigfried "Blood" River, the 52 hand blocks master Terry Jackson and even the out of place renegade Yajū. Everyone seems to be accounted for except…

"Listen to your friend Raphael, surrender peacefully or things will get very ugly" spoke the turkish oil wrestler Oguzan "The Inescapable" Maharret. He had "The Archangel" in a bear hug from behind. With his inescapable grip, there was no way he could escape.

Raphael still with his smile spoke. "There won't be anymore fighting for me today." Takeo within hearing distance, blew a sigh of relief. He didn't want any more unnecessary violence. The rest of the fighters took the crazed fighter away in order to be judged.

"This should stabilize the man's breathing, but he needs to get to a doctor now!" Cassius White explained. The speedster William Brando put Talon on his back. "Don't worry, with my speed I'll get him there in no time!" he then hurried to the infirmary room.

Elsewhere from above the arena, Mr. Watanabe, the boss of Talon had tears in his eyes. His boy was almost taken from him. It was thanks to everyone that his story can continue. These Kengan fights become more brutal and more unpredictable as the years go by. He wanted so badly to smoke, just to stop the stress. But he knew it wouldn't be what Talon would have wanted.

Narrator: "Raphael Empio, also known as the dark angel has been judged. A panel of kengan officials decided that Mr. Empio didn't necessarily breach any of the rules. In fact Agatsuma Takeo was the one who broke the rule as he interfered in a fight that was still ongoing. However, considering Raphael has known to kill 12 kengan fighters in the past and was planning to eliminate Jerry Switz. The decision was made, Raphael will continue to advance in the tournament. But any more mischievous tricks will disqualify him."