The Face: Tournament of Death, Chapter Twenty-One

Sam Lee Kim arrived at his cousin's house as quickly as his feet could take him. But what he arrived to witness horrified his eyes and sank his already wounded heart.

His cousins and uncle, along with their family, had been slain upon the ground purposefully for him to see. "Th...they got to them first..." He whispered, lowering his head. It was a warning for him not to meddle in anything that wasn't his business to begin with.

Weakened, weary, and wide-eyed at the events, he stepped out of the blood-stained house and sat upon the porch, with hands together and head down. "I can't...believe this..." He quietly spoke. He thrust his fist against the floor in furious anger, which made the wood upon the floor vibrate into an earthquake tremor.

"They will pay...every single one of them!" He cried, leaping to his feet, and rushing to the temple.

Taoyu and her wounded friend rode upon Panda, stealthily trying to escape the temple grounds and find a safe place for Kristy to recuperate. Her color was fading into a white paleness that compared to a phantom's ghostly whiteness.

"This isn't good, Panda!" She said, motioning her bodyguard to quicken the pace, but still steadily.

Once past the gate, and onto the sandy beach, the three headed for the tropical jungle trail which led to the inner city of the Hanoi Islands. But trampling feet had startled Taoyu and Panda, who began to slowly retreat backwards. "We can't let anyone of those guards get to her!" She cried, as they turned back.

What came running out of the jungle that was now behind them, was not a guard, but the eager, vengeful Sam Lee Kim, who had fled as fast as he could in order to reach the temple. Taoyu looked behind, and ordered Panda to stop. Carefully, she stepped off the bear and steadily walked toward Sam, who had slowed his own pace as well.

"Are you working for Shran?" Taoyu questioned warily. Sam Kim stood silently, and then shook his head. A slight wind breezed by, tickling the strands of hair on their heads, as Sam Lee Kim's skin began to emit salty moisture, indicating his developing rage and determined resolve.

"I will...kill Shran for what he's done..." Sam whispered, with tense, tremoring fist raised in the air. "Wait! If you're not with him, you have to help me! My friend here...she is sick, and very wounded. I don't know how long she'll last, Shran did this to her!" Taoyu poured out and pleaded.

Sam Kim quickly treaded to the ailing young countenance of Kristy Collumbo. He looked at her weary self, and he began to ponder. Taoyu slowly crept behind him as to not disturb his deep thought.
"There is an inn on the island in the city. A doctor can be found there, but unfortunately there are no hospitals. You must get there quickly," He explained solemnly, darkly.

"My Panda should be fast enough! She's very quick!" Taoyu suggested. Sam, wearing his traditional black kung fu pants, and without shirt, put a hand to his chin. "No, that will not do. I would'nt be confident in her body's ability to stand the stress. I will take her. I know the way, and I can get there fastest using an alternate route," He offered.

Taoyu nodded her head in agreement and let Sam pick Kristy up, and run off into the palm-ridden forest of lush-green trees that enveloped them both. Taoyu sighed, turned back, and sat next to Panda. She stroked the fur behind her loyal pet's ears and spoke, "Well, I guess we'll have to wait. I think our friend's in good enough hands right now..." she told her.

A resonating peace had filled her heart as Taoyu watched the soft-tumbling waves sway back and forth from the ocean. The sun shone brightly upon them like a ray of light, and the prolific, serene breeze gently rubbed against her heated skin.

But what interrupted that silent serenity was the rumble of voices that came from the temple gate. Taoyu and Panda swiftly looked at the disturbance to find a large-muscled, pacific island man, along with two scrawny guards with him, chattering viciously.

"You idiots could not kill Sam Lee Kim?!" He angrily inquired. The two guards tried to plead their side and calm the furious giant down.
After some exuberant scolding, the larger man led the two guards down the same path that Taoyu and Panda trodded, eventually leading to their meeting.

"You, little girl! Tell me, have you seen the contestant named Sam Lee Kim!?" He forcefully asked. Taoyu and Panda stood their ground. "No, I haven't. And if I did, I still wouldn't tell you!" She blasted.

The larger man narrowed his eyes. "Stupid girl, then step aside! I must kill him." Taoyu and Panda would not move. The young girl put her hands upon her hips and stoutly said, "I can't let you do that."

The large guard's eyes widened at her defiance. "You're stupid, you know that?" He mocked. "Guards, take care of this rut in the road. No one defies my orders, besides Master Shran." The two guards obeyed, and attacked the girl.

But to their surprise, the giant Panda was there to lend a hand too, and clawed her power-possessing paw at one of the guards, sending him backwards. Taoyu, meanwhile, quickly evaded the other guard, and grabbed hold of his arm, overturning him in a swirling motion upon the ground, and finishing with an elbow to the back.

The larger guard was shocked at the display of easiness to which they defeated his men. He scoffed, and stood resolutely, brandishing his biceps in front of them. "They're just peons compared to my strength," he said. "I was looking for a better fight than the ones I've had before. Let I, Buchio, show you how it's done!" He bellowed a roaring cry, then proceeded with his attack.

Back atop a high precipice above the rocky, ocean depths, fought savagely both Barduk and his newfound enemy, the Jaguar, who both had suffered greatly from the scourging intensity of battle.

"You know how this will end!" Jaguar cried out to the heavily breathing Barduk. "One of us shall be thrown off this cliff...to his doom! And this I am sure, will not be me!" He continued, leaping against his opponent once again.

Barduk made ready for impact, and their hands interlocked once more. A tug-of-war battle ensued testing the strength of the two murder-driven rivals. Clearly, Barduk was the stronger, but Rajan was not going to let that stop himself from overtaking the bigger fiend.

With swift maneuverability, Jaguar overtook his bulkier opponent by picking his feet up while he lay upon the ground, and pushing off the fiend with all his might into the direction of the end of the cliff.

Apalled by this twist, Barduk's eyes enlarged as he felt himself sailing to the end of the precipice, and then begin to fall. Fortunately for himself, he latched his hand upon a the point of a rock for his dear life.

Seeing that the end of his mission was not done, Rajan picked himself up and slowly walked to the helpless murderer. As he stared down upon his defeated foe, he folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at the enemy he had so come to hate.

Rajan peered into the indefensible eyes of the once raging Barduk, and shook his head slowly. "You killed my mentor... you are a murderer, for this, you shouldn't have lived. Your low-level sentence was not enough for your punishment, and my mission was to amend that sentence in the right way, and avenge my...no, my brother."

"But I now realize, that to do this would be a dishonor to the Steel Jaguar. And I could not live with myself if I knew I had done wrong. Seeing your helpless eyes hanging from this cliff...I know that you too, are a wandering soul, trying to find his place in life. Though I shall put you back in jail, so that you may once again have a chance to reform, and have a normal life."

Jaguar turned around, and lowered his head in reverence. "I now know, that I was wrong..." He turned back his head, to lend a hand to the defenseless murderer, but to his utter and complete surprise, he was gone. "Wha...what is this? Had I been too long in my utterance of regret?" He searched around for the fallen convict, but to no avail.

He lowered his head to honor the fallen, and he went on his way.