(Legend of the Savior of the Century's End)



In the past, men fought and left temporary peace on Earth. But they all fell to heaven and earth. The history of those men was eventually buried in the sand, and only their legend was left behind.



The Past has Gone.
The Dawn of a New Age!!

In a town, a carriage is pulled forward by several men. Inside the carriage is a woman, holding a baby. As the carriage is pulled, it splashes mud over some villagers.

The father says that their own child's tears are stained with mud, but the baby in that carriage doesn't suffer. He asks why is has to be like this -all humans should be the same. As the carriage continues to be pulled through the village, this peaceful era has created a gap between the rich and the poor, leading the world to another era of chaos. One villager says that the world has been enveloped in darkness once more, and there is one man who could rid them of the darkness -but that man, their savior, will never come again.

That night, a truck containing several prisoners drives towards its destination. The driver tells the prisoners that they're lucky, as they get to avoid the death penalty, and get hard labor instead. He tells them to make sure they work hard. In the distance, something shines brightly. The prisoners thinks it's a star, but as they get closer, they realize it's a massive fortress.

It is the fortress of the celestial emperor, which shines brightly.

The prisoners can't believe that the lights are powered by electricity. The driver tells them that this is the imperial capital, where the celestial emperor lives. He then tells them that they'll find out how the electricity works once they get inside. They enter the capital, and the prisoners are led deep down into the fortress. Some large doors open up...

...revealing a massive turbine, which is man-powered. The slaves are told to work as hard as they can for the celestial emperor, and the guards there whip anyone who is slacking off. The guard explains to the new slaves that they will be worked to death for the imperial capital, and for the celestial emperor's light. The prisoners say they don't want to die here, and one of them asks the guard for help. The guard beats him, and tells him to be grateful for being able to work for the celestial emperor.

Elsewhere, viceroy Jako arrives. Some soldiers report on the status of areas under their control, which include the execution of rebels. But one soldier reports that in one area, a prisoner truck was attacked by the North Star army. Jako says this world now belongs to the celestial emperor, and their army already has most areas under their control. He calls the North Star a lost art.

Just then, a fuse blows, causing the room to lose power. Jako goes into a craze, shouting that it's dark in here -much too dark! One of the soldiers gets the fuse fixed.

This restores power to the room, and the lights come back on. Jako calms down, and says to gather more light for the imperial capital. All the light in the world shall be inside the capital, and with this light, they'll illuminate the universe. The celestial emperor vested him with absolute control, and his orders are the orders of the celestial emperor!

The celestial emperor governs heaven itself. It's the sovereign star that rules both the North Star and the South Star.



The celestial emperor has begun to take the earth in his hands...

The next morning, three men walk through a desert. They are led by Joe, who leads them to a grave he found. The grave has the Big Dipper on it, and they believe it could be the grave of that man.

This makes them go into despair, as they can't believe that man is dead. The legend they'd hoped for has disappeared. They then hear a ringing sound, and wonder what it is. They can't see anyone else around, but then someone bursts out from under the ground.

The man, Zorba, is armed with a scythe. He kills one of Joe's group. Another man, Zarji, also suddenly appears, and kills Joe's other friend by splitting him in half.

Zorba and Zarji introduce themselves, and say the man Joe is looking for is dead because he angered the celestial emperor. They're here to kill people who seek that man, as any who believe in the North Star are to be executed. Joe backs off, but falls off a cliff.

He is injured, but survives the fall. Zorba and Zarji tells him to return to his village, and let everyone know that the North Star divine fist has perished -Kenshiro is dead!

Joe returns to his village, and soon all of the villagers are in despair over the fact that the rumors are true: the North Star is gone, and they will keep suffering. Joe tells everyone not to give up, as even if Kenshiro is gone, if they back down now, the celestial emperor has won. The crowd listening to him are enthusiastic, and he tells them the time has come for them to take a stand.

However, as he continues to speak, the crowd suddenly walk off. A captain of the celestial emperor appears, and tells Joe he should know the laws of this town -you can't just gather up people and talk in secret. He starts to crush Joe, who claims that that "law" is something that they've just made up. The captain says of course they did -they are the law. And if everyone abides by it, they'll all be happy. Joe says nobody will accept their laws, and tells the captain to let him go.

Joe asks another solider if the relocation camp is already full. The soldier says it is, so the captain tells Joe he'll execute him here for contempt instead. He crushes Joe and then throws his body into a wall. As Joe slides down the wall, his body bleeds over two wanted posters.

Later on, the captain and several guards move out. They are taking some prisoners away, but nearby, a group of people are ready to liberate the prisoners.

The group star their attack, and run down the cliff. They quickly catch up with the convoy.

BAT



LIN

The convoy has to stop, as the group surround it. The captain asks who the hell they are, so Bat asks if they can't see the flag -they're the North Star army! The captain knows of them, as the North Star army has been attacking their convoys to free prisoners. Bat says that there was once a man who kept fighting on alone, and Lin says they've inherited that man's love and courage into their hearts.

Bat says they'll be taking the prisoners back, as he and the rest of the North Star army attack. The captain sees that his forces are outnumbered, so he gets one of his underlings to make a move.

The guy pours gasoline all over the truck, which splashes over the prisoners inside it. The captain lights a match, just as the North Star army see what is going on. They start to run towards the truck...

...but the captain throws the match, causing the truck to catch fire. As he rides off, he tells the North Star army that if they want the prisoners so badly, they can have their roasted corpses. Bat says that Mamu's father is in there, and Lin runs towards the truck, but Bat stops her.

He says it's too late, as the truck is completely on fire, and it's clear nobody inside it is still alive. Lin wishes that they were stronger... just a little stronger.

The North Star army return to their base, where Rihaku finds out what happened. Bat says that once the truck was on fire, there was nothing they could do. Rihaku says it was unfortunate. Mamu then walks in, asking Lin where her father is.

Lin hugs Mamu, and says she's sorry. One guy wishes for that man to be here, and another asks if he really died.

Bat says not to say that -they shouldn't talk about it. Rihaku wonders if Kenshiro is watching -the two who fight and bear the flag of the North Star... even with their wounds, they are waiting for him. He hopes Kenshiro can hear the hearts of these young ones, and come back. They need him and the light of the North Star, that will settle the tempest.

Elsewhere, in another town, a man stumbles through the streets. A woman asks him if he has anything to eat, but he ignores her. A thief runs into him, and the man collapses. Some looters immediately search him for anything they can get their hands on, only to find he's not carrying anything.

A boy sees him and asks if he's alright, and then offers him some water. But the man is so weak he can't even accept it, and he passes out.

NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW

The wasteland of the century's end has been taken over by the celestial emperor's army. The people's tears and sufferings have turned to prayers and echo through the heavens, reviving the man of the North Star. Next time, on Fist of the North Star 2: "When will he Awaken...!?"