Villains!
Shall We Have a Countdown to Death

At God Army's fortress, Colonel tells his troops to hear him: they, of God's Army, are the army of God, who will together with him build God's Land. But now, a single rat has invaded their sacred land. He has them look at a poster of Kenshiro, who Mad then stabs through and tears apart. Mad tells them it's the man with seven scars on his chest. If they find him, they are to kill him without mercy. Colonel tells them to show Kenshiro the terror of the Red Berets. Mad says that as of today, he is in command.

A unit heads to the town, and the villagers flee. The Captain leads his unit straight to Johnny's bar, crashing through it. Johnny wants to know what they're doing, but the Captain grabs him and wants to know where the man with seven scars is. Johnny swears he doesn't know anything, other than him coming here once. The Captain says that God has told them to kill anyone who's helped that man even once.

Johnny tells the Captain he's got some great booze here, and pulls out a bottle. He gives it to the Captain and says he kept it just for him. The Captain throws Johnny back...

...and then drinks the entire bottle. He tells Johnny that if the man with seven scars shows up again, tell them. He tosses the bottle at Johnny and then he and his men leave. Under the Bar, Bat starts laughing, then thanks Johnny.

Johnny says he wants no thanks, he just wants Bat to tell Ken to get out of town as soon as he can. Bat says he understands, and heads out. Johnny tells him that God's Army goons are still wandering around here, so be careful. Bat thanks him and tells him he's not totally greedy after all -he does have a few good points. Johnny says he'll never pull a favor like this again.

Later on, God's Army regroup in the middle of town. Two men tell the Captain that they can't find the man they're looking for, and have checked all the places he'd likely be. The Captain says they'll have to lure him out, and decides to use a family as bait.

The man and woman are caught, and tied to posts, whilst their daughter, Rima, is held back by the other villagers. The Captain says you need bait to catch a rat, and then calls out, telling the man with seven scars to come out right now. If he doesn't, he'll have these people executed, and he'll keep executing people until he does show up. Bat sees what's going on, and rushes off to tell Ken. On the outskirts of town, Kenshiro suddenly wakes up, having had a nightmare about the time where Shin defeated him.

Lin asks him what's wrong, but he assures her it's nothing. They the see Bat driving towards them, yelling that they've got trouble. Back in the town, the man with seven scars still hasn't shown up yet.

The Captain decides to start the executions. He says it's a waste, since they're such fine bait. The man says he doesn't care what happens to him, but asks for his wife to be spared. The Captain tells him if that's what he wishes, fine. He cuts his throat, killing him instantly. Rima screams out for her father.

The Captain asks if the man with seven scars saw that, and then says the woman's next. However his saber is then cut to pieces instantly, as Kenshiro arrives. Kenshiro asks the Captain to let the woman go.

The Captain uses a knife to cut her ropes loose, but as she checks on her husband, he stabs her in the back, killing her. He says they don't need the bait now that the rat has come. He tells his men to get Kenshiro, and they surround him.

They all attack, but Kenshiro is all over them. He hits pressure points on each of them, sending them flying back:

HOKUTO KYAPUU ZAN

(North Star Hundred Way Slash)

The Captain sees his men are all dead, and becomes terrified. Kenshiro asks him what's wrong, isn't he going to try and attack him? The Captain gathers enough courage to make a dash towards Kenshiro, but gets kicked in the face before he can do anything.

The Captain falls down and asks to be spared, stating that he was only following orders. Kenshiro says nothing, so the Captain believes he is being spared. As he runs off to his Jeep, Bat tells Ken he's getting away. Ken says he couldn't forgive a man who killed innocent bystanders like they were worms... that guy is already dead. As the Captain drives off, he laughs and calls Kenshiro an idiot.

But his head swells up and then explodes, causing his Jeep to crash and explode. Kenshiro's group then hear screaming, and turn to see Rima distraught. Kenshiro then looks at Lin...

...and then walks over to Rima, and hits a pressure points on her head. This causes Rima to fall unconscious, but Ken says it's alright. He explains to Kei, the woman holding Rima, that he pressed her teishin pressure point, but she will be fine. Lin sees to her and says that now she's just like her. When she wakes up, she'll have nowhere to go.

Word reaches God's Army that the man with seven scars has appeared. Mad says that if he's finally appeared, then it's time for him to appear. They move out, and soon appear in the town. When the villagers realize it's Mad, they run away. Johnny appears and says that Mad's men are the toughest guys in God's Army. He says he's not getting dragged into this one.

Ken stops him and asks him for a favor. He wants them to take care of the kids for a while. Johnny reluctantly agrees, but tells Kenshiro he'll have to pay him back ten times for this. As they head off, Kenshiro confronts Mad's unit. Mad tells him he doesn't look too bad, but today he'll have to say goodbye to that handsome face of his. They throw some grenades at him...

...forcing Kenshiro to jump back. Mad says he handles himself well, but that's not how you do guerilla warfare. A wrecking ball suddenly hits Kenshiro in the back, and he gets knocked down to the ground.

Mad tells him the essence of guerrilla warfare is attacking from behind. He then stomps on Kenshiro, and then has one of his men place shackles on his ankles. God's Army then drive off back to their fortress, dragging Kenshiro along with them.

Mad says he's captured the man with seven scars. Inside Johnny's bar, Bat tells Lin to look at Johnny. Johnny seems to be getting along with Pel. Bat thinks Johnny may not look like it, but he does have a good heart. Johnny tells him to say whatever he wants.

Someone then appears and tells them the bad news: Ken was captured by the Red Berets, and was taken away by Sergeant Mad. Johnny says Mad supposedly killed 500 men by himself, and is meant to be the most notorious killer in the Red Berets. Bat and Lin are about to rush off, but Johnny tells them to wait. He tells them what good will they do if they go after him? They'll only get in Ken's way, so he tells them to believe in Kenshiro, and wait for now.

At the fortress, Mad tells everyone that Kenshiro will make a good target for them. Kenshiro has been chained up, and Mad tells everyone to beat him to death. The soldiers start taking turns in hitting him.

Kenshiro asks them if that's all. He kicks the next guy who tries to attack him, and then uses his chains to swing himself upwards.

He then breaks his chains apart like they were nothing, and then rips his jacket and shirt off. He tells them that their attacks have no effect on him, and he let himself be captured so that he could kill their boss. The soldiers think he's crazy, how does he expect to fight this many men? Kenshiro sees that they won't understand unless he kills them.

Mad tells his men to get him, and they charge. But Kenshiro hits them before they can attack, and uses one of their own weapons against them.

HOKUTO RENKAN KUMITE

(North Star Linked Ring Grapple)

Mad thinks Kenshiro is almost superhuman, but Kenshiro says what he just saw were merely the basic techniques of the North Star divine fist. A wrecking ball is dropped towards Kenshiro, but he destroys it with a single kick.

The remaining soldiers back away, so Mad asks them what's wrong -aren't they going to attack? Since they don't move, he tells them they aren't worthy of being in God's Army, and stabs them in the back. As they fall down dead, Mad tells Kenshiro that these blades have been coated with the venom of deadly desert scorpions. Just one scratch from these will paralyze his nerves.

He throws two of the knives, but Kenshiro dodges them. Mad asks him if he can do that again, and throws his two remaining knives. This time, Ken dodges the one going for his head, but the other one cuts his leg.

Mad says know he'll show him the techniques he's used to kill thousands of guerrilla soldiers. He starts rapidly stabbing at Kenshiro, but can't hit him. Mad tells him he won't be able to escape just by dodging like that. He can stab ten times a second, and once that poison has spread through his body, he won't be able to move!

However Kenshiro is still able to move around. He quickly gets behind Mad, and says the essence of guerrilla warfare is attacking from behind -isn't that what he told him earlier? Mad turns around and stabs at him, but Kenshiro is again able to dodge. He gets behind Mad, and then hits pressure points on his head. He tells him that the North Star divine fist lets him tap into 100% of his body's potential. It lets him resist poison much more effectively that he can. Against him, the Red Berets are as helpless as infants.

Mad suddenly finds he can no longer control his body, and starts walking backwards. He ends up pressing himself against a water tank, and leans over backwards into it. Kenshiro pushes his head down into the water, and then pulls him back up. He tells him that if he doesn't want to drown, he'll tell him where his boss is. Kenshiro pushes his head down again.

After Kenshiro brings his head back up, Mad points to a tower behind them, and says Colonel is in there. But he warns him that he won't be able to defeat Colonel, as he has superhuman powers. Kenshiro says that was all he needed to know, and starts to walk away.

Mad gets up, and asks Kenshiro if he really through he could walk out of here without killing him. Kenshiro tells him that he doesn't seem to realize that he's already dead. Mad thinks that's ridiculous, but as he charges, his chest blows apart, followed by his head.

Kenshiro asks if he really thought he'd let a man like him live. Ken opens the doors, and then heads towards the tower. Inside, Colonel says that an unlucky star approaches. He swears to his God that he will defeat Kenshiro.

At Johnny's bar, Rima wakes up. Bat goes outside to tell Lin the good news, but he finds Lin looking up at the sky. She says Ken's name.

NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW

Kenshiro finally catches up with the leader of God's Army. The wicked Colonel's boomerang clashes with the North Star Divine fist! Next time, on Fist of the North Star: Strike the Hidden Power Point! No Requiem for the Wicked.

Kenshiro: You are already dead.