Another day, another town -and our heroic trio are already in it. Bat is giving people a show with his harmonica skills and he gets quite a crowd watching him, but then soon all go the moment he stops to tell them that this free performance is over and the real one will begin if they can spare him any food. This plan doesn't work though and with everyone gone Bat is frustrated. At least Ken and Lin see the funny side.



But there is one young customer still around, who tosses him an apple. Bat says that even if he only has one fan he'd better put on a show. He resumes his harmonic playing and dancing when three bad guys arrive on the scene, saying that he is doing business on their territory. The other kid knows who these punks are: part of the Snake gang. Bat runs off and hides behind the kid, but he seems to have the situation under control.



He just gives each punk an apple as he seems to know them and vice-versa. His name is Sela and he tells the punks that if he finds any more fruit he will give it to them. That is enough to send them on their way and Bat then asks why he helped him. Sela tells him that he wanted to hear his harmonica playing, and he also wanted to meet that cute girl he was with. Later on they all go to his house: a tiny little hut in part of the desert.



There isn't much inside the hut, but Sela says the great view makes up for it. He gives Bat a telescope and as he looks outside with it, he sees the wreckage of bikes and several dead bodies in the town. Sela tells them about the gang problem in this town: there are two groups, the Snakes and the Scorpions. They both hate each other and keep getting more members to make themselves bigger and bigger so they can destroy each other, but as of yet both gangs still survive.



Lin then uses a telescope and comes across part of the Snake gang's territory, which contains the only well. People have to trade crops for a cup of water if they want any, and she sees one guy with nothing. He begs to be given a drink, but he is beaten down. Sela says what a miserable time it is they live in.



Meanwhile the two gangs meet in part of the desert. Their leaders, Baron (the Scorpion gang leader) and Junk (the Snake gang leader) step aside and talk to each other. But after finding out they have nothing more to say to each other than they will destroy each other, they realise that they did not call each other out here. And at that point, a playing card with a joker on it appears between them.



Joker says that the man with seven scars has arrived in this area, and the two gangs will join forces to defeat him. As many others have tried and failed to kill this man, having the two gangs work together is the only way. At first, Baron and Junk don't want to work together, but after Joker tells them that Shin has commanded them to, they dare not disobey him and a shaky alliance starts. It does not start well as both gangs go out to look for Ken, and it becomes a competition between the two on who can find him first.



Some of the Snakes are the first to find him, as three of them are up at Sela's hut. One man uses a mace to start damaging one of the walls. Ken walks outside and promptly makes a big mess of two of them, and then starts to walk to the last guy, but he throws his stick weapon at Lin.



Sela leaps in the way and takes one for the team. Bat and Lin rush to his aid and find out that he is OK other than a blow to his noggin. The third Snake punk has used this distraction to get away, but then another voice calls out saying that the Snake gang are nasty guys. It's Baron, and he asks Kenshiro is he would like to join his gang. If he helps defeat the Snakes they will have a much bigger area under their control, and he would like Ken to help him run it.



Worryingly, Ken accepts his offer and without and word to any of the kids he gets inside Baron's car and they head off! Baron tells Ken he is a wise guy and then tells the rest of his gang that with the man with seven scars on their side, they have nothing to fear. Junk finds out about this and says that he isn't scared. He gets his gang together so they can go and attack Baron's gang. He draws first blood by shooting a Scorpion punk on his bike with an arrow.



The Snakes then appear and a huge brawl starts between the two gangs, with there being a large amount of fatalities on both sides. Baron asks if they should go and join in, but Ken tells him to wait for a little bit longer as more of them will kill each other that way. Baron realises that Ken never intended to help him in the first place, but Ken's response is that once he had served his purpose he would have had him killed anyway, which was a 100% accurate guess of Baron's long-term plan.



What is left of Baron's gang gets together and attacks Kenshiro, but after getting pummeled only Baron himself is left. He brings out a large two way axe weapon...



...and starts twirling it above his head, using a technique known as Nanto Fusha Zan (South Star Windmill Slash). He tries to hit Kenshiro with this move but just ends up destroying his own vehicle before Ken breaks his weapon, and follows it up with an elbow to the face.



Junk congratulates Kenshiro, saying that his performance was very impressive, only to be told that "he is next". Junk sends what is left of his gang to go and attack Ken, but they are no match for him. As more of the Snakes try and attack, Ken gets more and more powerful. After ripping his shirt he uses a move which causes a lot of body exploding havoc:


HONSHA BAKURETSU KEN

(Spinning Explosive Fist)



Now Junk is the only one left, and he attacks with a whip. He is very skilled with this whip, as he can make it look as if he is attacking with many of them at once -something that cuts up Ken quite badly. But when he tries to attack for a second time, he gets kicked in the head.



Ken worked out that there was only one real whip, and his way of using a whip was about as powerful as using a child's jump rope when compared to Hokuto Shinken. Junk starts to make Ken bizarre offers to control his side of the city, but then Baron appears behind him and tries to cut him in half. Ken hits him first...



and then hits Junk, hitting hidden pressure points that make them...hug each other? Ken says that they make a good couple and the way their arms are placed they will crush each others spines before exploding. As Ken walks off, this is exactly what happens.



When Shin finds out about how Joker's latest plan has failed, he gets angry and tells him that his work is not good enough. He then tells him to gather the Bloody Cross army together and get it ready to attack Kenshiro. He does not want him to even enter Southern Cross. As Yuria plays her harp, he says to himself that he will have her heart in the end -and the way he plans on going about doing this is to kill Kenshiro.



Later on, Sela has recovered, but Ken needs to be moving on. Sela doesn't want Lin to go already and asks if she could stay behind, but when Bat hears this he gets jealous and starts using his car's horn. He tells Lin to hurry up, as they are leaving. They say their goodbyes and are once again off, as Sela waves.


NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW

Shin gathers together his army. That is about all really because the next episode is practically just a clip-show in disguise, as it has some new footage. Some of said new footage involves Shin doing a flying kick so powerful it goes straight through a man and leaves a hole in him, so you still may want to check it out just for that. Anyway the next episode is "A Man Lives to Fight! The Door to the Showdown Finally Opens!"