Bat and Lin enter Southern Cross...or what is left of the once great city, anyway. After all of the fighting the city has been mostly reduced to rubble, and the place is deserted. Bat heard that most of Shin's men have already left to find other gangs to join in different cities, whilst the only ones left here are Shin's personal bodyguards. They then have to take cover as a trio of bikers go past, but the bikers talk to one another about how they don't want to work for Shin anymore, and they head away. Bat says that they had better get moving, but Lin is still thinking about Ken and doesn't believe that he is dead. Bat starts to say the opposite when...



He's back!



The kids are happy to see Ken, but he doesn't have much to say other than telling Bat to look after Lin. Bat knows that Ken is going to fight Shin and he keeps Lin with him. As Ken walks off, Bat tells her that she must stay out of this one as it is Ken's fight.



In Shin's fortress -the only building in the city which hasn't been ruined -Shin tells Yuria that they can start again and he will have a new city built which will be even greater than Southern Cross. As long as she is with him, he can do it. But she doesn't answer him at all. He wonders why she won't speak and why she still won't open her heart to him.



Meanwhile, Ken arrives outside the fortress and goes in. He encounters a couple of guys, one of which tries to use a spear against him, but he blocks his strike and then tosses the weapon at a wall, surprising another guy hiding behind it. These two punks are too scared to try and fight Ken, so he just leaves them and continues walking.



When Shin's bodyguards find out than Kenshiro has entered the fortress, an alert goes out and they all group together to meet him. Shin hears their shouting and starts to laugh as he finds out that his old enemy is still alive after all. Kenshiro arrives in a hallway and sees a large group of men waiting.



They charge forwards, but Ken also advances and hits each man just once. Their bodies rip apart seconds later, as Kenshiro continues to make his way through the fortress, eventually arriving in a room with a large set of steps in it.



And at the top of these steps is Shin! Kenshiro tells him that he crawled out of hell to take his revenge, but he calms down when he sees Yuria sitting in a chair. Shin says that Yuria has forgotten all about him now. She did it in exchange for Ken's life, at the time when he got his seven scars.



Remember when Shin defeated Ken, gave him seven scars, whilst Ken asked Yuria to keep herself alive before Shin took her away? Yes. I should hope you do, since this feels like the fourth millionth time they've showed this.



Back in the present, Ken says that it doesn't matter if Yuria has forgotten about him, as long as she is still alive. Shin then says that it would be interesting to slice Ken to ribbons in front of the woman he loves, and he goes into a stance.


NANTO SENSHU RYU GEKI

(South Star Thousand Dragon Head Attack)



This attack is a rapid series of hits, but it doesn't work as Ken grabs Shin's wrist and stops the move. Ken tells Shin that thanks to him, he has taught him the meaning of the word "obsession". His obsession to save Yuria had made him far too strong for Shin now. Shin manages to free himself from Ken's grasp and then moves back.



He then lunges forward with a strike as Ken leaps out of the way, but it seems he wasn't quick enough -he has taken a hit across his chest. Shin says that Ken's obsession is nothing to him. However, Ken does not seem fazed from being hit at all and tells Shin that he can follow every move he makes -he cannot win.



Shin doesn't like being mocked and uses the Nanto Senshu Ryu Geki again. His strikes are quick, but Kenshiro moves so fast that his attack doesn't hit and Shin gets hit in the face. Shin flips over and then jumps up into the air, as Kenshiro does the same. The two clash with their jump kick moves -Shin's Nanto Gokusatsu Ken against Kenshiro's Hokuto Hiei Ken.



Shin thinks he has won, given what happened last time he used that attack, but he is surprised to see that one of his shoulder pads cracks and then shatters, whilst Kenshiro still stands. Another man tries to cut Ken in half with an axe, but Ken avoids it and hits pressure points on the guy's face. Ken says that he is an assassin -even if the guy had not made a single sound, nobody could sneak up on him undetected.



The guy staggers back, but then his head explodes. Shin has backed off to where Yuria is and tells Kenshiro that he has shown him just how powerful his obsession is -but what if he were to kill the object of his obsession?



Before Kenshiro can do anything, Shin strikes Yuria in her chest and kills her! Shin gleefully exclaims that even if Kenshiro wins now, Yuria is still dead and he has destroyed his obsession. Shin starts to laugh, but then stops when he sees that Kenshiro has entered a rage as his jackets rips itself apart.



"Shin...you are a dead man..."



"Die!"



Ken just raises his hand and allows Shin to stab through his palm. However, he does not say anything or even react, other than somehow managing to grab onto Shin's fist.







With one solid hit in, Ken continues to land several more punches into Shin's chest.


HOKUTO JUJI ZAN


(North Star Cross Kill)



Kenshiro's rage has triumphed, as Shin has been defeated. Ken says that Shin has just three minutes left to live. He then rushes over to Yuria, and touches her face...but then he realises that this isn't Yuria at all! It is a life-like doll of her.



He demands to know where the real Yuria is, but he sees that Shin has started to cry. He tells Kenshiro that Yuria is dead.



When Southern Cross was destroyed, Shin and Yuria stood at the top of the fortress and watched the city burn. But Shin said that whilst everything here has been ruined despite it all being for her, he will have a brand new city built, bigger and better than this one. But Yuria could not believe his words as it just meant he would do the same thing again: destroy everything in his way just to get what he wants. And she believed that if her feelings for him did not change, he will just keep doing this -meaning even more innocent people would die.



She told him that she could no longer take this any more and before Shin could stop her, she jumped off the fortress and plummeted down towards the burning city below. As she fell she said sorry for not being able to keep her promise to Ken of keeping herself alive.



"Yuria!"



Back in the present, Shin explains that when Yuria leapt to her death, he cried for the first time in his life. He gets up and says that now that she has gone, his life is pointless. In this city, fame and fortune meant nothing to him. The one thing he desired was Yuria.



Shin stands on the ledge as his body begins to rupture due to the effects of Kenshiro's technique. Shin realises that it is now his turn to die, but he refuses to die by Hokuto Shinken and tells Kenshiro this.



"Kenshiro..."



"Farewell!"



There is nothing Kenshiro could have done to stop Shin from jumping. Later on, Ken finds Shin's body and carries it through the ruins of Southern Cross. Bat and Lin see him and are happy he has won, but Ken says nothing and ignores them. A little later, Ken has prepared a grave for Shin, but Bat wants to know what Ken would go to such trouble for a guy like that. Ken says it is because Shin loved the same woman that he did and that he was also his former friend. Kenshiro says goodbye to Shin, as it is finally over.



(Conclusion of Chapter One)


NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW

Yuria is dead, and Kenshiro is of course sad. But he cannot find peace as he is still the master of Hokuto Shinken and must use it in these still troubled times. The next chapter of the story stars with "Chapter 2 Begins: The Tumultuous Dragon and Tiger! Are Battles All That Await Me!!"

Return to episode overview
Previous Episode
Episode Select
Next Episode