Legend Of The Strongest Delinquent 26

Hey everyone, and welcome to this chapter. This chapter won't be that long because it's going to deviate from the canon, and so a fair amount of content was cut; however, it will set up another important fight. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody. History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi is owned by Funimation and Syun Matsuena. Please support the official release.

"Shirou" Regular speech.

"Shirou" Thoughts.

SEIKUKEN Attack names.

(Shirou) Words said previously.

[Shirou] Words said in unison.

The Immortal Siegfried

—…

After watching the full footage of the battle at the Matsue Lark, Loki rewound the video a few times to fully review it and focus on the important details. It seemed like he was paying special attention to Nijima.

"Ah, yes, the great Shinzaki Alliance." Loki grinned while working on his wire puzzle. "They may seem impressive, but one only has to observe them for a while to find their weakness."

He paused the video on an image of Nijima and already concocted a plan to bring down the Shinzaki Alliance in one fell swoop.

-O-

The sun was setting over the orange sky as the denizens of Ryozanpaku were all present in the training hall, overlooking the training of their Disciples. Right now, Kenichi and Miu were training together as they swung their arms back and forth, while Shirou was by himself, punching with one arm at a time in a rhythm-like pattern, trying to get the right angle.

While they were training, Kenichi informed Miu of what had happened earlier that day at the restaurant, and she was amused by the whole thing. "Nijima was your secret admirer? Well, that explains a lot, too bad he's not your type."

Kenichi just lowered his head in dismay. "Yeah, yeah, just get it out of your system, and when you do, I don't ever want to talk about it again."

"Yeah, that's right, you stupid cow, quit teasing my brother!" Honoka reprimanded her as she sat nearby while playing Othello with Apachai.

"Honoka, I don't mean any harm, really." Miu replied with a friendly expression.

"Besides, you're not really in a position to be joking around, considering you were all freaked out about that love letter yourself." Haruto commented toward Miu while he also sat nearby, reading a book.

"Wah, I wasn't freaking out!" Miu frantically argued with a bashful expression.

"Yeah, you were." Shirou corrected while still punching. "I saw you, you looked like you're brain blew a fuse before you ran off. That letter totally blew your mind."

"Mou, it did not…" Miu pouted, now looking as dismayed as Kenichi did earlier.

"Why are you talking?" Kensei stepped in to interrupt them. "The purpose of hand pushes is to develop the ability to anticipate your opponent."

[Yes, sir.] Kenichi and Miu responded before they continued.

"Even I knew that." Honoka muttered before she got back to her game.

In a single turn, she kept flipping over many of Apachai's pieces, and the more pieces she took, the more nervous the tanned giant looked as she showed no signs of stopping. By the time she was done, Apachai realized that he had now lost the game and became distraught. "APAAAA!"

"Lost again, huh, big guy?" Haruto noted as he looked over the game board.

"Well, it was still pretty fun." Honoka admitted as she started putting the pieces away.

"Why do you always play Othello?" Haruto asked curiously. "Why not chess, checkers, shogi, or any other board game?"

"This one is Apachai's favorite." Honoka explained before adding. "Plus, the only one he knows the rules to."

"Big news, guys! Big news!" Nijima called out before the door opened, and he entered the training hall. "My inside source just gave me the inside scoop on Ragnarok!" He proclaimed, though most of them were staring at him in surprise. "It's about one of the eight fists interested?"

"…Comfortable?" Kenichi cringed while he asked, as the reason everyone was staring at him was because Nijima was standing there with a chain wrapped around his body, while Shigure, as usual, was holding a blade to his throat. "You must be getting used to this by now."

After Shigure released him, Nijima sat down in the middle of the room while everyone sat around him to see. Nijima brought out his PDA and opened on screen an image of a dark-silver-haired young man with hair that reached to his back and a hat that shadowed out his eyes.

"The Fifth Fist AKA Siegfried." Nijima introduced. "Not a very nice guy."

"Uh, what's a Siegfried?" Apachai asked curiously.

"I think it's that scary circus guy who got mauled by a tiger a while ago?" Honoka ventured a guess.

"Wait, who is she talking about?" Shirou asked, not getting the reference.

"Siegfried and Roy: Masters of the Impossible." Haruto explained. "They were German performers in Vegas who specialized in magic and animal taming while using white lions and white tigers for the act. After performing together for more than 5750 acts and making hundreds of millions of dollars, their careers ended when, during one of their acts, a tiger went out of control and almost mauled one of them to death."

"Wow, what an ironic end for an animal tamer." Shirou commented.

"Just for the record, the one who got mauled was Roy, and that's not the Siegfried I'm talking about." Nijima got them back on subject as he started typing on his PDA. "Now, I've gathered together some statements for people he's fought in the past, starting with the leader of the Dead Society."

The screen showed a recording of a Delinquent whose face looked beaten up, and his eyes were covered with a censor bar to hide his identity, even though above his head were the subtitles Leader of the Dead Society.

{Sure, I remember the zombie; he went down the first punch like he was dead on his feet. Before I knew what was happening, he was rising from the dead, and I was the one eating asphalt.}

Everyone sounded curious at that statement, while Kenichi looked unsettled. "Oh great."

"Next up, Toramachi from Johnny Knife's crew." Nijima showed the next recording, and just like the first one, a beaten-up Delinquent with a censor bar over his eyes appeared on screen.

{He's a freaking night of a living dead zombie bastard! You don't even know, man, I kept punching and he'd go down, but he just wouldn't die! You hear me!? He will eat your brains for dinner!}

Now, everyone looked invested as Kenichi and Honoka became spooked and clung to Miu and Apachai, respectively, while Hayato, Sakaki, and Akisame joined in to watch as well.

"I know I have more here somewhere?" Nijima continued.

"No, that's enough!" Kenichi snapped at him. "Haven't I been telling you over and over that I want nothing to do with your stupid Shinzaki Alliance, now or ever!? And yet, you keep bringing this half-assed Ragnarok information!"

That last part struck a nerve as Nijima started trembling in irritation. "Did you say half-assed? You think the intricate network of spies and informants I worked so hard on is half-assed?"

Kenichi was also irritated as his eyes were twitching. "Yeah, that's right, I think all your spreadsheets and diagrams and interviews only prove one thing…" He then pointed accusingly at him and yelled. "That you don't know what you're dealing with, and you are in way over your head! Admit it."

His accusations pierced Nijima like arrows, and he fell to the floor dramatically. He then let out a little laugh and gazed at him. "Well, you might feel that way, but thankfully, this information isn't for you." He turned toward Shirou. "Shirou, unlike that sniveling coward, you see the value in my information, right?"

"Hey, who are you calling a sniveling coward!?" Kenichi snapped, but was ignored.

"That depends, do you have any more?" Shirou asked, more interested than Kenichi.

"What, you're buying into this, are you?" Kenichi hoped to dissuade him.

"Right now, all I know about Siegfried is that he's supposedly immortal. If I'm facing someone like that, I'll need all the info I can get." Shirou reasoned rationally. "If it's a special technique or there's something unique about Siegfried personally, it's better to find out before facing him."

"But why face him at all?" Kenichi was unmoved. "You don't need to fight him just because Nijima wants you to."

"How many times do we have to go over this?" Now, Shirou was getting annoyed with Kenichi. "Just like you keep telling Nijima you aren't involved with the Shinzaki Alliance, I keep telling you that I am. I'm the leader, that means I want to fight the Fist of Ragnarok."

"I…." Kenichi looked down. He knew he was right, but he didn't like it.

"Haha! You hear that, you might not appreciate it, but Shirou sees the worth of my information!" Nijima got in Kenichi's face with a cheeky demeanor. "So what's it going to be, are you ready to take back what you said before?!"

"No way!" Kenichi stubbornly refused. "Remember, you just tricked us today with those crappy letters! How do we know you aren't just trying to trick us again?! You're information is as untrustworthy as you!"

"That doesn't really make much sense." Haruto pointed out. "If the overall goal is just beating Siegfried, why trick him when they both want the same thing?"

"Yes, it is a pretty weak argument." Kensei agreed with him.

"Fine!" Nijima proclaimed, tired of being insulted. "If you choose to believe that the information I put together for you so lovingly till now was nothing more than a foolish hobby I'm indulging, then so be it." He yelled in Kenichi's face. "I'll just have to prove you wrong! I'll bring a report on Siegfried so juicy you can drink it with your breakfast."

"Wait, what are you planning?" Shirou suddenly had a bad feeling as Nijima ran toward the door.

Nijima stopped at the door and gave them a last look as he pointed upward and posed. "I'll be back."

With that, he closed the door and took off.

"Well, that's just great." Shirou groaned. "Now, not only do I not know anything else about Siegfried, but now I have that mess to worry about. Thanks a lot, Kenichi."

"Wait, how is any of this my fault?" Kenichi asked, perplexed.

"What do you mean, how? You were clearly the cause." Haruto informed him. "If you didn't want to be involved, you could have just kept quiet. Instead, you just kept egging him on because you didn't want to admit you were in the wrong."

"That's not what…" Kenichi trailed off as he wasn't sure if that was true or not.

"Hahaha!" Hayato laughed cheerfully while stroking his beard. "Well, your buddy there is certainly ambitious, isn't he, Shirou?"

"That might be the problem." Shirou wasn't cheerful. "I hate to think how far he's willing to go to win an argument."

"At least this opponent he has lined up for you sounds interesting." Sakaki joined the conversation with an interested smile. "An enemy that gets back up no matter how many times you knock him down to the ground, huh? I've never fought a zombie before, it could be just a challenge I need." He joked.

"I have." Hayato added, getting everyone's attention.

"What, when?" Haruto asked curiously.

"Quite a while ago, while I was training in Europe." Hayato answered, feeling nostalgic. "It was a time I'll never forget."

"Okay, I feel like there's more to that story." Shirou clearly wanted to hear the rest.

"So, who is this tiger wrestling guy he was talking about?" Sakaki continued.

"The name he used was Siegfried, a name to respect." Akisame answered before explaining the lore. In Norse mythology, Siegfried was a warrior who was raised by a King. After slaying the vicious Dragon Fafnir, he accidentally tasted the beast's blood and therefore became an immortal. I know, but then again, kids these days love fanciful names; there might be no connection. Oh, and Sakaki Roy was mauled."

"Whatever I know!" Sakaki retorted, angry at being corrected.

"The gist of it was right, but there was a lot you missed in that story." Haruto told Akisame. "The tale of Siegfried is both a complex and detailed one; it can't be summarized in just two sentences. Some versions say he didn't drink the blood by accident but by choice, and others say he actually ate the Dragon's heart."

"That's scary." Honoka muttered when she heard that.

"Well, some of the other Fist of Ragnarok had names that weren't related to their nature, like Valkyrie and Hermit, but Loki was a trickster who was skilled in deception like his namesake, and based on what the people who fought him said, Siegfried is a strong fighter and always gets back up so his name might also be for real." Shirou deduced with a frown. "The only question is how?"

"That man is… Bad news… His path is dark… He will suffer greatly…" Shigure suddenly spoke out with an ominous premonition. "The smell of death is… Around him… It poisons his future… Haunts him…"

When she was done, everyone was now staring at her as Kenichi nervously asked. "What? How do you know that, Shigure?"

She didn't answer and merely responded with a huff while facing forward with her hands on her hips.

"Ignore her, she only sounds like she knows what's going on." Akisame reassured him to put him at ease. "It's because of that low voice on the flat delivery she uses."

"I don't know, sometimes she's kind of right." Sakaki added, sounding spooked.

"She says it so spooky it almost makes me believe it." Kenichi muttered, also sounding spooked.

"It's like Dad told us growing up when we saw those fortune tellers: When someone tells you your future, ignore the good fortunes but take the bad ones seriously." Haruto recited the advice. "Those are the ones that are more likely to come true."

"Why would you tell that to a kid?" Kenichi asked with a cringe.

"Because he was right, in a lot of cases." Shirou answered while looking vexed. "If Nijima's serious about going out lurking for Siegfried, he's dead meat."

"Come on, there's reason to worry about that guy." Kenichi awkwardly tried to ignore his concern. "He's not even our friend."

"A bad friend is still a friend, young man, and you should always be concerned about the well-being of someone you care about." Hayato advised him, unconvinced.

"I don't care, he'll be fine. Nijima would never do anything to put his own life in jeopardy; he's a pansy, right?" Kenichi wanted to believe it, but didn't sound certain.

"Not entirely, Nijima may be a coward, but in the worst possible way, he's like you." Haruto pointed out. "You're both as stubborn as a mule. That means there's a chance he'd even put himself in a dangerous situation if that's what it takes to get what he wants."

"That doesn't sound good." Miu sounded worried.

Shirou stepped forth and made his way toward the door. Kenichi called out. "Hey, where are you going?"

Hayato smiled and watched him go, as he could guess what was on his mind. "Good luck, young one."

-O-

It was the middle of the night at Koryuu's abandoned warehouse district by the ocean harbor. In one of those empty warehouses, Siegfried was sitting in the dark with many candles lit around him as he was behind a desk, writing something down on a parchment. Siegfried is a tall young man with very long silver hair down to his waist, with locks in the front down to his shoulders. He has a dark red coat with a hat with a feather on top to match it, and dark boots and pants. During his time in Ragnarök, he wore dark gloves with a golden insignia shaped like the Roman numeral V for "5".

While he was working, Loki entered the room and approached him.

"May I help you with something, Loki?" Siegfried asked without turning to face him.

"Sorry to bother you, just wondering how your latest symphony of whatever is coming." Loki asked as he stopped behind him.

"My recent battles have been uninspiring. I don't know when I'll be able to finish this particular piece, unfortunately." Siegfried spoke with a melancholy tone as he was writing musical notes on his parchment. "I need swinging arms to give a tempo, I need cries of pain to give it a voice, and I need a face discovering true terror to show me the journey of my melody. Without any of that, I'm lost. Raw combat is my only muse, Lalalala~!" How sang a bit at the end. "Too bad the Great Sage Fist forbids it." He got up from his seat. "I would like to have a rousing battle now, Loki, would you?" He asked sarcastically before changing the subject. "Tell me, how goes your search for the ever elusive weakness of the great Shinzaki Alliance? Though I fail to see a need for such cautiousness myself?"

"I like coming up with the right plan for each enemy and watching it put into action, that's what the fun is, isn't it?" Loki reasoned before he brought up the prying eyes that were watching them from a nearby window. "By the way, have you noticed anything suspicious lately, maestro? Any prying eyes?"

"I have been curiously popular the last few days." Siegfried revealed he was aware of the prowler the whole time. "I suppose I shouldn't be flattered?"

"Your call, his name is Haruo Nijima." Loki revealed his identity. "He's with the Shinzaki. Actually, he's the one who holds them together. In other words, if somebody got rid of him, they'd take care of the whole problem." He held up his phone and showed a picture of Nijima's current position on his screen. "This Peeping Tom is the Shinzaki Alliance's greatest weakness. What do you think, Sieg? Ready to hear the music?"

Meanwhile, outside the warehouse, Nijima was still crouching in front of a window, watching them. "Weird, my neck feels tingly."

Suddenly, #20, Loki's subordinate, appeared behind Nijima and wrapped a scarf around his neck in order to strangle him into submission. "Looky, it's a worm! I've got myself a big juicy one, Loki's gonna be happy!"

"Is that a woman?" Niijima realized based on her voice. He grinned as he came up with an escape plan. He reached out and hastily groped her chest. "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!"

"Aaahhhhh!" #20 cried out in dismay as she instinctively let go of the scarf and allowed Nijima to run away. She then picked up her phone and cried. "Pervert! The guy's a pervert! He touched me!"

-O-

As Nijima ran away and made his escape, he stopped by an open fence near the exit of the warehouse district and caught his breath.

"So that didn't go so bad, got a little careless but my special boob and trapping manoeuvre work like a charm." He said to himself until he heard a sound that made him flinch.

"Lalalala~!" It was the singing voice of Siegfried who was speeding after him. "Lalalalalalala~!"

"Agh! He's after me!" Tear gas!" Nijima quickly responded by bringing out a bottle of tear gas, which he used to spray Siegfried in the face, leaving him temporarily stunned. "The enforcer!"

He followed up by pulling out a metal baton, which he used to strike Siegfried across the face while he was still stunned. The resulting blow knocked the Fifth Fist onto the ground.

"And that was the Niijima combo." Nijima taunted him before he ran away while his enemy lay lifelessly on the ground. "Don't see why everyone's so afraid of this immortal composer guy, that was a piece of cake."

After running for a while, he turned around a corner and stopped with his back against a wall, having successfully escaped the warehouse district. He laughed and took out his PDA.

"So the Fifth Fist is nothing but a musically inclined dude. Let's see how interested you are in this, Kenichi." He started typing before he suddenly heard a voice.

"I find you intriguing. You have strength of will, though you are weak."

Nijima was trembling in fear from the sound of that voice, as he didn't want to believe it, even though it was right in front of his eyes. There he stood, like a man risen from the dead, Siegfried stood in front of him completely unharmed.

"No, that's impossible! I saw you go down!" Nijima cried out in disbelief.

"I like you, Nijima." Siegfried admitted with his eyes locked on his prey.

Sensing the danger he was in, Nijima fled and ran off into the open city streets as Siegfried chased him down, continuously singing opera music.

"I took him down, I know I did!" Nijima insisted as he desperately ran. "Ah, well, no time to think about that now, just concentrate on running, there's no way he'll catch me!" He turned around and saw that Siegfried was hot on his trail. "How is he not even hurt?!"

"La~ La~! I'll chase you forever! If you run to France, we should battle at the Bastille!" Siegfried exclaimed through his singing

"We'll, what?!" Nijima exclaimed in confusion as he kept running. "Nijima U-turn!"

"Such a beautiful rhythm!" Siegfried stayed on his tail.

"Aah! Nijima Trash-can toss!" Nijima desperately tried to slow him down by knocking over some trash cans in his path.

"Yes, Nijima! What a perfect melody you're creating!" Siegfried easily dodged the trash cans and kept up with him.

"This guy has some serious issues!" Nijima commented on Siegfried's strange behavior.

"I'm sorry, my beautiful instrument! I wanted to ring so many more notes from my worthy encounter, but I'm afraid our time is up! The music is calling! Can you hear it? There, the grand finale!" Siegfried shouted passionately as he sang Beethoven's 5th Symphony.

"What is he talking about?!" Nijima was completely lost as he looked ahead and saw the same waterway he used in the past to escape from Hermit. "Finally, I can see my path to victory!" He shouted victoriously. "Within that sewer lies my oasis! Onward to freedom—Nijima excrement defense!"

Nijima leaped over the edge of the railing and prepared to dive into the water, but to his horror, Siegfried jumped after him and appeared right behind him in midair.

"Dadadada~!" Siegfried continued singing as he grabbed hold of Nijima. "The fates want us to take this plunge together!"

"What?!" Nijima cried out as they began plummeting toward the water canal. "No, let me gooooo!"

Da~! Da~! Your solo ends here, and we begin our duet—"

WHAM!

Before they hit the water, a figure leaped through the air and landed a heavy punch on Siegfried's face, causing him to lose his grip on Nijima. While still in midair, he grabbed Nijima and kicked out to use Siegfried as a springboard to leap backward. This knocked Siegfried backward as he landed back on the ground near the edge of the water canal, while he and Nijima landed on the outside of the waterway.

"I figured you'd try something stupid like this. The only thing bigger than your ego is your ears."

Nijima recognized that gruff and irritated voice as he looked up in relief.

"Shirou, you came to save me?" Nijima got up from the ground.

"Actually, I'm here to make sure you don't get captured by Ragnarok." Shirou clarified. "It would have been a pain to have had to deal with that mess just because you and Kenichi had to get into a pissing contest."

"First of all, it wasn't a pissing contest, second, if it was I would definitely win." Nijima argued, somewhat missing the point. "But I did get some important information."

"You there!" Siegfried called out from the other side of the waterway. "Who are you? Identify yourself?"

"Hmph, am I speaking Siegfried, the Fifth Fist?" Shirou asked rhetorically, already knowing what he looked like. "I'm Shirou Tsukiharu."

"Ah, you're the leader of the fabled Shinzaki Alliance that has Loki so interested." Siegfried acknowledged before pointing at Nijima. "Why have you interrupted me? I was making good progress with my newest instrument."

"Your… What?" Shirou lost him and looked at Nijima.

Nijima shrugged in response. "Don't look at me, I don't have a clue what this nut is about."

"I was enjoying myself in creating a new rando when you appeared. Tell me, you knew who I am, but how did you find me?" Siegfried asked with interest. "I try not to make it a habit of letting my enemies know my location, yet your timing was on point."

"You're asking how?" Shirou thought he couldn't be serious. "Two guys screaming and singing while running around town in the middle of the night, how could anyone NOT have found you? Anybody who opened their windows could hear you guys. If there were cops in this town, you'd have been arrested for making a public disturbance."

"Fair enough, I suppose I did get carried away. I simply couldn't help myself after it seemed like I had finally escaped my creative slump." Siegfried confessed before he turned his attention to Shirou. "Incidentally, you have also piqued my interest."

"What?" Shirou raised a brow.

"I was captivated by Nijima's rhythm, but that punch you hit me with was unique, different from any other I've felt up until now." Siegfried admitted as he stared at them with sharp eyes. "Lalalala~ I feel like I want to explore it further and see the depths of the rhythm you possess. To do that, I'd like to fight you."

Shirou and Nijima put their guards up at those words.

"You mean right here and now?" Shirou responded, prepared if so.

"Unfortunately not." Siegfried answered as if to calm their nerves. "While the idea is tempting, this encounter has allowed the inspiration for my latest symphony to flow through my mind, and so I must put it to pen while the thoughts are still fresh in my mind. Thus, I bid you adieu."

"Wait, that's it?" Nijima snapped in disbelief. "You're just leaving?"

"If you truly desire to challenge me, then you may. Feel free to return the following night." Siegfried offered them a challenge. "Nijima, you already know where I reside. I will remain there awaiting your arrival."

With those parting words, Siegfried turned away and walked off, heading back in the direction he came before vanishing into the night. Once he was gone, Nijima hunched over and let out a huge sigh of relief now that the tense situation was over.

"Wow, I really thought I was a goner back there." Nijima admitted anxiously before pulling himself together. "If you hadn't been here to save my neck, I don't know what would have happened to me."

Shirou ignored him and focused on his fist. "I didn't hold back. I hit him at full force, but he got up like it was nothing." He clenched his fist. "I guess the immortal stuff was for real after all."

"That's what I wanted to tell." Nijima frantically chimed in. "Somehow, he's just like all the rumors said, I hit him with my signature tear gas and metal baton combo, and he went down, but seconds later, he got up without a scratch, like he never got hit in the first place, he really is like some undead zombie."

"Well, I only have a day to figure out how to beat that zombie." Shirou summarized before he turned to walk away. "Better make the most of it."

"Hey, wait up!" Nijima followed after him.

-O-

The next morning, at the high school, Shirou and Nijima were in the club room that the Shinzaki Alliance used as their base, as Kenichi, Miu, Haruto, Takeda, and Ukita were also present.

"Just… hold on…" Kenichi's eyes twitched before he snapped in irritation. "Why are we all here in Nijima's stupid club room?"

Nijima just as angrily slammed his palms on the table. "It's because we have important information to share! So stop throwing a hissy fit already and listen up!"

"You're one to talk about hissy fits you damn freak!" Kenichi yelled back before he turned to the others. "Why are you guys here?"

"Shirou told us he had something big he wanted to talk to us about." Takeda explained.

"Since we weren't doing anything, we had no reason to say no." Ukita added.

"What about you?" He asked Miu.

"I thought I should come too since everyone else was here." Miu reasoned.

"And I already know what this is about since I was told last night." Haruto joined in.

"Kenichi, sit down already." Shirou instructed him, losing his patience. "Trust me, this is important."

Kenichi reluctantly gave in and took his seat. Thus, the meeting began.

"Here's the situation: last night, we confronted the Fifth Fist of Ragnarok, Siegfried." Shirou informed them.

Those who didn't already know were surprised as Miu spoke out. "The one Nijima told us about yesterday, you actually went to face him."

"I had to, Nijima was almost captured by him after getting too close." Shirou explained.

"Are you kidding me?" Kenichi narrowed his eyes at Nijima. "We're in another mess because you were screwing around."

"Huh, I was there getting a perfectly good report on Siegfried." Nijima argued, restarting their argument. "If you had appreciated my intel instead of crapping on it, this wouldn't have happened!"

"Oh please, this wouldn't have happened if you would just mind your own business!" Kenichi counterargued.

"Enough!" Shirou cut them off, sick of their petty argument. "Let's get this straight, this happened because you're both idiots, so you're both at fault! All in favor say I!"

[I!] The rest of them all raised their hands.

"Then it's settled." Shirou decided. "Moving on."

"Jerks…" Kenichi mumbled while he and Nijima looked down like two children who had just been scolded.

"After confronting Siegfried, he challenged me to a fight, one-on-one, and it's tonight." Shirou informed all of them.

"So you're facing another one of the fists, that might be tough." Ukita summarized. "From what I heard, Siegfried's a real mystery; the only thing anybody knows about him is that he's never lost a fight."

"Don't worry about it, big guy, neither has Shirou." Takeda pointed out unconcerned. "So you gonna face him tonight or do you think this is some kind of trap?"

"The issue isn't Siegfried himself but the rest of Ragnarok." Shirou continued before turning to Nijima. "You're positive, right?"

"I am." Nijima assured him with a nod. "Last night, while I was spying on Siegfried, I saw Loki was with him."

[Loki?!] Kenichi, Takeda, and Ukita all reacted to that news.

"If he's involved, then it's gotta be a trap." Ukita realized while he clenched his fist.

"No doubt, there's no way he'd ever have a fair fight." Takeda agreed with a frown. "That guy's dirty even by Ragnarok standards."

"Shirou, you can't go tonight." Kenichi petitioned with rationality. "If you know it's a trap, there's no point in walking into it."

"But there's a risk in not going." Shirou pointed out. "Loki used that trick at the restaurant to lure us into a trap, but this time, he might think he's already got us figured out, so there's a chance the real Loki will be there; this might be our chance to take out two of the Eight Deadly Fists."

"What? Wait, be reasonable, you can't be thinking of taking on two of them by yourself." Kenichi hoped to dissuade him.

"No, that's where you guys come in." Shirou informed them. "While I take on Siegfried, I want you to handle Loki and his grunts."

"Us?" Kenichi was surprised.

"The four of you can beat dozens of guys together, including anything Loki can dish out." Shirou reasoned, having no doubt that they could win. "If we don't take this chance, there's no telling when we'll get the chance to face the real Loki again."

"He's right, that fake Loki said he has a lot more where that came from." Haruto reminded them. "Instead of constantly fighting fakes, I'd rather just take out Loki now and be done with it."

"I'm in, too; I still want a chance to take on the real Loki." Takeda said with excitement as he nodded at Shirou. "I got your back, King."

"Ah hell, I'm in." Ukita joined in as well. "I can't chicken out of all you guys are gonna be there."

"Perfect, with a line as powerful as this, Ragnarok doesn't stand a chance!" Nijima celebrated as if it were his own triumph.

"Miu." Shirou addressed her. "You should come too, in case we need the backup."

"Sure, I was hoping you'd let me come as well. I didn't want to have to sit out another fight." Miu responded with a smile.

"Then it's decided, we'll all meet tonight at the warehouse district by the harbor." Shirou announced with the authority of a leader. "I'll send you the address through text. This time, we'll take the fight to Ragnarok."

[Yeah!] They all responded with enthusiasm as they were ready for a fight.

All except Kenichi, who let out a groan. "I hate that this is becoming a trend."

-O-

Night fell once again as Loki and his subordinates stood outside the warehouse where Siegfried resided, while the Fifth Fist was inside and working on his latest music. Loki was working on another one of his wire puzzles when two of his grunts approached him.

"It's time, sir." One of them informed him as they both saluted. "Tsukiharu was seen arriving at the gate; he should be here soon."

"Perfect, I knew he would take the bait." Loki was pleased as he unhooked the wire puzzle pieces.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of a piano playing and looked toward the window of the warehouse, where they saw Siegfried sitting in front of his piano and passionately playing a new song that sounded fit for an opera.

"Nice, I might actually like this new song." Loki admitted, pleasantly surprised. "Let's help our friend Sieg come up with a good ending, huh, boys?"

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Loki and the others looked to see Shirou appear a few feet in front of them.

"When I heard you were here last night, I figured you'd show up again, Loki." Shirou narrowed his eyes at the trickster of Ragnarok. "I guess you couldn't resist."

"You're one to talk about resistance." Loki grinned mockingly at him. "You knew this would be a trap, yet you came anyway. I'm sure Sieg is flattered that you're so eager to face him, but sadly, you won't get the chance."

"Are you sure about that?" Shirou smirked back at him, surprising Loki. "You're not the only one who knows how to set a trap."

Upon those words, the others appeared from around the corner. Kenichi, Miu, Haruto, Takeda, and Ukita all appeared from the shadows and looked ready for a fight; creeping behind them was Nijima.

"What?" Loki was taken aback before he glared at his grunts. "Why didn't you idiots see them coming?"

"They didn't come through the gate." One of them fearfully defended.

"Hahaha! I'm glad I get to pay you back for the ambush at the restaurant, Loki!" Nijima pointed at him with a mocking laugh. "This time, you've fallen victim to my ambush! Since I've been here before, it was easy to find another route to this same warehouse, and with Shirou as the decoy hiding through the front, you never suspected a thing!"

"You bastards." Loki was visibly angry.

"Just give up, Loki, you can't win." Kenichi warned him.

"You think it's the real Loki this time?" Ukita wondered.

"If it is, I wanna be the one to face him." Takeda requested with excitement.

"What's going on out here!" Siegfried yelled out as he slammed the door open and rushed outside. "All this shouting out here made me lose my beautiful melody! And someone is going to pay."

"Then let me foot that bill." Shirou stepped forward and confronted him. "You're the one who summoned me here, well, here I am. So, let's not waste any more time."

"Indeed, I'm glad you accepted my challenge." Siegfried stepped forward as well. "Now, I'll have the chance to make an even more beautiful melody. Your blood will be my inspiration."

"So this is Siegfried, this guy is intense." Kenichi thought, seeing Siegfried for the first time.

"Wait, before you begin, I have to know." Haruto spoke out and pointed at the Loki standing nearby. "That guy, is he truly the real Loki or just another one of his shadows?"

"Heh, get real, kid." Loki scoffed at him. "Do you think anyone would actually—"

"He is the real Loki!" Siegfried answered immediately.

.

.

.

Everyone froze at that. No one actually expected he would answer him like that, and without any subtlety or reserve. The fact that he just gave away an advantageous secret to an enemy didn't seem to concern him in any way.

"…Seriously?" Haruto had to ask, trying to ignore his surprise.

"Yes, without a doubt." Siegfried confirmed, as blunt as before.

"All right, Sieg, that's enough." Loki tried to get him to stop talking before he glared at the others. "Fine, it's true, the real Loki stands before you."

"It really is the actual Loki this time." Ukita realized as he looked at Haruto. "Looks like we were right, he really did show up."

"I guess even someone as cautious as him couldn't resist." Haruto noted with a smile. "We're lucky he's so full of himself."

"And now, we have the rare opportunity of taking down two of the Eight Deadly Fists." Nijima declared triumphantly. "Shinzaki Alliance, move in for battle!"

"Would you give it a rest already!" Kenichi snapped in frustration.

"Heh, get over yourselves." Loki warned them. "You think you have the advantage here? You're still outmatched, or do you honestly think you chumps can handle two of the Eight Fists at once?" He said confidently, but inwardly he was scheming. "But still, these numbers are a problem even for Siegfried. I've got to get rid of the rest of them so Sieg can take out Tsukiharu."

"Are you just gonna make threats, or are you gonna face us, Loki?" Takeda held up his fists.

"Fine, have it your way." Loki grinned and cooked up a plan. "#25 and #30, take them down!"

[Sir!] Both of them responded and ran toward the group of enemies.

"I'll handle them!" Miu proclaimed as she sprang into action.

WHAM!

With an acrobatic leap, Miu cut through the air and appeared in front of Loki's incoming grunts before she kicked out a swinging kick that sent both of them flying and knocked them unconscious when they hit the ground.

"Nice work, Miu!" Kenichi praised her.

"Gah! Look!" Nijima frantically pointed, getting everyone's attention. "He's getting away!"

Just as he said, Loki and his remaining two grunts were running and were already a fair distance away. Loki had used those two as a distraction while he could slip away, and it had worked.

"We gotta go after him!" Takeda voiced urgently.

"Brother, we'll go after Loki, you handle Siegfried." Haruto suggested to Shirou. "It's basically what we planned."

Shirou nodded in agreement. "Just don't let him escape."

"Come on, let's go!" Nijima impatiently urged them as they ran off after Loki.

"Get back here and fight you chicken!" Ukita yelled as they gave chase.

Once they were all gone, things became quiet as it was now just the two of them. Throughout that whole encounter, neither Shirou nor Siegfried ever took their eyes off each other, as they didn't want to give the other a chance to strike while they were distracted.

"Now that the supporting cast has cleared the stage, we can finally raise the curtain." Siegfried entered his fighting stance. "I do hope you make this an interesting performance."

"I could say the same to you; I want to see what Ragnarok's immortal man is really capable of." Shirou entered his own fighting stance. "Since I know you can take a thrashing, I can fight you differently than the others. There are actually a few techniques I've been hoping to try out, and you're the perfect opponent to use them on."

"Is that so? How interesting." Siegfried narrowed his eyes. "In that case, show it to me, show me your rhythm."

—…

And that's the chapter.

First of all, I changed things from the canon so Nijima didn't get captured by Siegfried. Originally, Kenichi had the foresight to know Nijima would do something reckless, but stubbornly did nothing because he didn't want to get involved. Shirou didn't have that problem, so he acted and saved Nijima before things became a bigger issue.

I also decided to have the rest of the gang show up to the fight because their short-term goal is taking down Loki, and if they know the real Loki will be there, they'll naturally take the opportunity to face him. Plus, Nijima's petty enough that he wouldn't miss the chance to outsmart Loki after Loki previously outsmarted him.

Now, it's Shirou versus Siegfried; this one, like all the others, will be completely different than how it was when Kenichi fought him, as Shirou will find his own solution to overcoming Siegfried's immortality.

Anyways, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. If you want more, leave a review. If you liked the story, click the follow/favorite, and as always, have an awesome day.