An older looking red skinned demon humanoid, wearing a blue robe, stands at the door to Gregory’s martial arts master’s place. “You’re not Master Senno. Where is he?”, asks Gregory. “I’m afraid he passed away from old age.”, says the old demon. “That.. can’t be true, but.. he was an old man, but I can’t believe it.”, says Gregory. “How do we know for sure he passed away?”, asks Mai. “What do you mean?”, says the old demon. “Like you didn’t kill him yourself.”, says Mai. “I- no. You see, my name is, “Master Shik’wa”. I was a student under Master Senno, before his passing.”, says the old demon.

  “I can’t confirm I didn’t kill him, but.. I can demonstrate my fighting prowess.”, says Master Shik’wa. “No, come on gang, let’s head out of here.”, says Gregory. “Hold up, we came all this way to learn how to fight better.”, says Saige. “Yeah, so let’s see what he can teach us.”, says Kelsey. Gregory pauses and then sighs.

  In the next moment, the crew are inside the shack and see there’s pictures of Master Shik’wa and Master Senno shaking hands and standing next to eachother. “So you weren’t lying about knowing him.”, says Gregory. ‘Of course not. Me and him were great friends.”, says Master Shik’wa.

  “How did you get to know him, if I may ask?”, asks Gregory. Master Shik’wa explains, “Well, it was a few years back, when demons first got let into the Kingdom. I was an immigrant, and they had to find a home for me to stay in, but the committee of the Kingdom found it hard to find one, until Master Senno volunteered to house me.”.

  “I see.”, says Gregory.

  Master Shik’wa contines, “Yes. Although I was a demon, he allowed me into his home with a smile. I then ended up doing chores for him, mostly, but in exchange he gave me shelter and taught me Senn-Ro-Ku.”. “What’s Senn-Ro-Ku?”, asks Saige. “A type of way to fight. A martial arts style.”, says Master Shik’wa. “Yup, that’s what he taught me too.”, says Gregory. “Within a couple of years time I picked up his skills fast and became a Senn-Ro-Ku master.”, says Master Shik’wa.

  Gregory takes time to walk around Master Shik’wa then speaks, “If you’re such a master then...”. Gregory then sends a punch to the back of Master Shik’wa’s head, causing him to block it with his hand, turn, then twist Gregory’s arm and kick him back.

  “Oh sorry, bad reaction.”, says Master Shik’wa. Kelsey, Mai and Saige get in ready stances. “Oh I don’t want to give the wrong impression.”, says Master Shik’wa. “Actually, this may be a good point to test you.”, says Gregory. “Really. If that’s so, I wouldn’t mind a test.”, says Master Shik’wa. “Wait wait, we were just getting ready to fight, cause he hurt you. Right guys?”, says Mai. “Right.”, says Kelsey. “I kinda just wanna fight now, to be honest.”, says Saige.

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  “That’s the spirit. Alright then everyone fight with empty hands, only use your raw strength and see if you can hit him.”, says Gregory. “...Alright.”, says Mai. Mai jumps in and goes to punch his face, Master Shik’wa ducks, grabs her arm and throws her over his back. “Whoa!”, says Mai as she hits the ground.

  “Anyone else?”, asks Master Shik’wa.

  Kelsey and Saige go in at the same time to assault him. Kelsey and Saige punch, but Master Shik’wa takes their fists and redirects them to punch eachother, then he flips Kelsey over his back, into Mai, who’s just getting up. He then knees Saige in the gut, then spin kicks Saige away. “WHAT!?”, says Saige as he flies away. “Owww.”, says Mai. “Bet we can get him this next time.”, says Kelsey.

  Kelsey gets up, goes to sweep kick Master Shik’wa, but he jumps it, then Kelsey goes to punch him in mid-air and he catches the punch and kicks her back. “My turn next!”, shouts Saige. Saige gets up, gets close to him, and sends a flurry of punches, but Master Shik’wa blocks them all, then open palm hits Saige in the chest and sends him flying backward and down on the ground. Saige sits up with horns grown. “That’s it, I’m really kicking his ass now.”, says Saige. “I see. I know what you are. Tell me, before you attack me.”, says Master Shik’wa. Saige is about to attack, but stops part-way.

  “Huh?”, says Saige. “What is your alignment to Azrael? Who is he to you?”, asks Master Shik’wa. “Uhh... What?”, asks Saige. “He’s our enemy.”, says Gregory, speaking for Saige. “I wasn’t asking you. I was asking Saige. What is Azrael to you?”, asks Master Shik’wa, again. “That’s easy, like Greg said, he’s the enemy whose ass I gotta kick.”, says Saige. “I see. Well then.”, says Master Shik’wa. “Who’s he to you?”, asks Saige. “To me? Well he’s my old king, but my king no longer.”, says Master Shik’wa.

  Master Shik’wa then goes on to further explain, “You see... all demons in this Kingdom use to serve under Azrael. Myself included. We were pushed into believing that humans were bad and all they wanted to do was claim land and lay waste to anything that disturbed their rule.”. “Bull! Demons cause chaos to innocent individuals each day.”, says Saige. Master Shik’wa goes on, “That may be true, but have you ever questioned why we do so. Maybe it’s an old habit of the wars we fought. They say Demon Generals, for example, only do what they do, because they still believe the war for land isn’t over. Ontop of it, we didn’t choose to come here.”

  Saige points at him and says, “More bull!”. “So you say.”, says Master Shik’wa. “Never thought about it that way.”, says Gregory. “Say, I’m pooped, why don’t I offer you all tea and biscuits while here. And then consider training you.”, says Master Shik’wa. “I don’t wanna train under you anymore.”, says Saige. “Saige, stop being mean. Sure, we’ll take your offer.”, says Gregory.

  In the next moment, the group is eating tea and biscuits around a table. “Hey Master Shik’wa, could I talk to you somewhere in private?”, asks Gregory. “Sure.”, says Master Shik’wa. They go off to another part of the house, with Gregory following behind Master Shik’wa. “I wonder what they’re going off to talk about.”, says Mai. Saige shrugs and eats more biscuits. Gregory and Master Shik’wa go off into the backyard, which is just an empty field of grass, and they close the door behind them. “I see the place is kept the same way.”, says Gregory. “That it is. So, what did you want to talk about?”, asks Master Shik’wa. “I wanted to know if you suspect who Saige’s father is.”, says Gregory. “That it might be Azrael?”, says Master Shik’wa?