Prologue. The Four Noble Temperaments (edited)
Location: Kure Village, 1 year before the events of Kengan Omega
The Kure Clan was formed 1300 years ago, when the original Wu Clan divided into three. While those who remained in the Chinese mainland, as well as those who migrated to the occident kept the name Wu, the ones that migrated to Japan founded the family today known as the Kure Clan.
Ever since the Asuka period, the Kure Clan has undergone a 1300 year process of selective breeding, adoption of special techniques and outside combat arts; as a result, with each generation, the Kure have become a race that specializes in battle. Through this selective breeding process the Kure have also attained peak physical performance, including strength, speed and durability. As such, the Kure have an extremely high pain and damage tolerance; in their blood, they possess over twenty kinds of endorphins and, combined with their abnormal physical resilience, it enables them to easily endure heavy damage and deep wounds, whether it be from slashing attacks or being smashed to the ground. Because of their special abilities and their darkened near-black sclera and whitened irises, it is said that demons dwell within the Kure.
Around a particular city, 500 kilometres away from Tokyo, the Kure Clan is the most influential clan within that city's region, with the vast majority of the Kure living in Kure Village, it's a provincial city within that region.
The Kure Clan Style or Kure Ichizoku-den is the assassination arts designed by the Kure to both give and take life away, it's a perfected mix between medical, self defense and many forms of lethal martial arts that they've adopted and made their own.
This includes of course the Kure Clan's Secret Technique: Removal, the most notable result of their selective breeding process. Also known as Guihun by their Wu Clan counterparts, it is the ability to consciously remove the brain's limits on an indivdual's muscular strength output. As such, while regular humans are naturally unable to access more than 30% of their body's muscular strength (except in times of extreme duress), the Kure bred to access a greater amount of their latent muscular strength. That being said, the percent they have access to varies from each individual, and while those outside of the clan 'could' use this technique, only those of Kure and Wu possess the physical constitution needed to handle unrestrained exertion of the muscle's strength. The technique makes the user's skin turn dark shade of red-violet with their blood vessels bulging on the surface. The Kure are also able to use the Removal in localized areas of their body.
According to the clan's current patriarch, there is no move the Kure cannot combat.
However, there are some types of attacks that not even the most influential assassins can combat.
All activity in Kure Village stopped at once as that horrible sound came along with a bright light and an earthquake that shook the entire populace. Every single member of the clan turned towards the light, man, woman, child and adult alike looked in the same direction as if it was a bad omen. Because they knew exactly what was located were that light had struck down.
Away from the plaza and within the family home of the village patriarch, was a gathering of Kure watching a match between an outsider and their devil. But all activity and focus was lost the moment they felt and heard the explosion.
"What the hell was that?!" a man of above-average height, with an extremely athletic build and mop of messy, dark brown hair, that has been compared to seaweed in the past, asked in suprise.
"I DON'T KNOW BUT IT WAS LOUD AS FUCK!!!" a muscular man of above-average height, with short, spiked light blond hair shouted while covering his ears in irritaion rather than pain.
These two are; Tokita Ohma (The Asura); supposed fiancé of Kure Karura (The Succubus), and Kure Raian (The Devil); the wickedest member of the Kure Clan. These two were having one of their regular sparing matches like they always do, because they were indoors in the dojo alongside other members of the clan, they did not see the light and only heard the sound and felt the quake.
"It kinda sounded like lightning striking down." a serious sounding member of the clan asked.
"What sort of lightning strike can cause an earthquake like that?!" a more panicked member shouted in response.
"Are we being bomb?" a childish sounding member asked.
"Who would be dumb enough to bomb us?" a stuck up member asked back.
"EVERYONE!" an attractive young woman with a cute face, a bob of black hair with a large bang that floats in between her eyes, a moderately sized bust and the dark sclera and white irises like all members of the Kure Clan yelled as she ran into the dojo. This was Kure Fusui (The Wicked Sniper), Kure Raian's younger sister.
"There was some sort of wierd light along with that huge explosion that went KRAKOOM and SCREECH just at the edge of the-!" she kept babbling in slight panic.
"SILENCE!"
All that were in the dojo became quiet as they turned to see an elderly man with slicked-back silver hair and a wrinkled face befitting his age and wearing traditional Japanese attire. This old man was Kure Erioh (The Mighty Demon), former Fang of Metsudo and the current patriarch of the Kure Clan.
"Now," Erioh began with a sigh, "where did you say that the explosion came from?"
Location: The Edge of Kure Village
"This doesn't make any sense." a bulky man with straight black hair left to hang in a bobcut style, strong facial features and a generally stern expression, said in confusion. His name is Kure Hollis (The Wailing Demon).
"Have to agree with you on that one." a young avarage looking man with a white headband around his head answered. His name is Kure Henzo the most normal member of the Clan (no, that is not his title, his epithet is unknown).
"If this was the work of some type of weapon, then we are getting into some real Sci-Fi shit here."
In front of them was a crater with a 200 meter radius, the crater was bizarrely a perfectly circular shape, with no signs of debris or any other indication of an explosion. Rather, it looked like whatever was here before was just perfectly cut out from the ground, like someone had scooped it up like a giant ball of ice cream.
"What the hell!" they heard a voice from behind them as more members of the clan are starting to gather around the scene. Both young and old stare in confusion over what is in front of them, and many are starting to gain expressions of realisasion and horror as they realised what was here before the light struck down.
"This is unbelievable, it's as if an entire part of the land was just removed like some sort of world edit mechanic in video game." Henzo mumbled out loud enough for other nearby members to hear.
"It happened again..."
Everyone turned in confusion to look at the direction of their Elder and patriarch. Kure Erioh had a face that only a few had seen before, a face of worry. What did he mean by "It happened again" was the question that went through everyone mind.
"Excuse me for being the outsider here," Ohma said out loud enough for everyones focus to switch to the only one around that wasn't an official member of the clan yet, "but what exactly was located here. It seemed important judging by everyones faces right now."
"... ... ... What used to be here was the home of The Four Noble Temperaments." Erioh said after a long silence, his voice containing a slight hint of sorrow.
"The four noble temperaments?" Ohma responded with a head tilt.
"They were four brothers that were, at one point, considered among the strongest of the Kure Clan, but because of numerous circumstances, they are considered Black Sheep among the Kure and isolated themselves by building a home that they all shared right here."
"Why are they considered black sheep?" Ohma asked confused, "More importantly, how strong were they?"
"That is a story that should be told anywhere else but here." Erioh said sternly.
"Well," Henzo began nearvously, "what are we supposed to do about this?" He said while stretching out an arm to the crater.
"... ... ..." Erioh was silent, thinking hard on what to answer, "... I... will sleep on it." he eventuelly said while turning around and began walking away.
Everyone at the scene were left confused, simply staring as their elder just turned around and walked away, leaving them all with more questions than ever. One of them being "What did he mean by 'it happened again'?"
Back with Erioh, his mind went far back into the past, a past that only he, his dear friend Katahara Metsudo and the patriarch of the Wu Clan would know about. It was a mystery that no one had figured out yet, because just like today someone that carried the blood of The First Demon was swallowed by that light.
"It happened again... it's been nearly 50 years."
The Four Noble Temperaments
In buddhism, there is a teaching known as the four noble truths. They are the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. More simply put, suffering exists; it has a cause; it has an end; and it has a cause to bring about its end. In the teaching of buddhism it follows: In life there is suffering; The cause of suffering is desire; To end suffering is to end desire; To end desire, follow the Eight-Fold Path: right view, right intentions, right speech, right action, right livelyhood, right effort, right concentration and right mindfulness.
Similar, but not really, there is a theory known as The four temperament theory. It is a proto-psychological theory which suggests that there are four fundamental personality types: sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic. Most formulations include the possibility of mixtures among the types where an individual's personality types overlap and they share two or more temperaments. The Greek physician Hippocrates (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) described the four temperaments as part of the ancient medical concept of humourism, that four bodily fluids affect human personality traits and behaviours. Modern medical science does not define a fixed relationship between internal secretions and personality, although some psychological personality type systems use categories similar to the Greek temperaments.
It is this teaching and this theory that gave birth to the brothers namesake as the Four Noble Temperaments, together they all live a life that follows the teaching of the Noble Truths while each of them represent a temperament. They will go through thick and thin, and they will make sure that non of them are left alone.
Kure Murphy (The Flowing Water Devil)
Temperament: Melancholic
The oldest of the brothers, Kure Murphy, is in many regards a pure genius and master prodegy. He was born with an uncanny ability to perfectly control his muscles to such a point that he can cause specific areas of his body to bulge with little to no movement. At the early age of 17, he had already mastered the majority of the techniques belonging to the Kure Style and gained near perfect control over his Removal. However, Murphy saw the Kure Style as to barbaric and sought out to instead of mastering it, he would seek and create his own style by adopting martial arts that more fit in with his personality.
Standing at a height of 190cm or 6 feet and 2 inches and weighing at about 74kg or 163lbs, Murphy has a rather thin but muscular build with long muscular legs and arms. He has long dark brown hair that turns blond as it becomes longer, his hair goes down his back and past his shoulder blades all the way down his lower back. He's quite feminine looking despite his muscles and gives off an aura that make it rather hard to approach him.
At the beginning of his search, he was traveling all around Asia looking for martial arts that could help with perfecting his kicks, such as Taekwondo, Muay Thai and Capoeira just to name a few. However, his goal changed at the age 22, when he was spending an afternoon watching Bruce Lee movies and decided to learn Jeet Kune Do.
Be like water became Murphy's new goal in order to perfect his style and once he had master it, it became time for him to evolve it and make it his own.
First, he needed to perfect his kicks and movements. He did this by spending his time learning Ballet Dancing to help the muscles within his legs and manage to create a style with fluent but fast movements and jumps by spinning his entire body and building momentum, resulting in kicks that moved at the speed of a bullet and struck with the explosive force of a grenade.
Second, he needed a way to turn his arms into deadly weapons. He couldn't do it the same way he did with his kicks. So with the help of some contact from the village, he found a Russian Martial Artist that tought him how to transform his arms into whips.
Known as the Systema Ballistic Strike or simply the Whip Strike, it is an attack that strikes quickly without telegraphing, staying relaxed until the very end so that the muscles involved in the punch are not engaged until the very end, tightening the fist right before impact. By simply swinging with his shoulder, it transform his arms into whips made of flesh and bones, and with the help of his Kure blood, he strikes with the same effect as an actuel whip, with enough force to both tear apart flesh and shatter concrete.
After many years of dedication and isolation, Murphy returned to Kure Village at the age of 30, and has been making a name for himself as the Flowing Water Devil both in the assassination business and Underground fighting. Because of his perfect muscle control, he can relax his entire body to the point were it might as well just be water, and strikes at near mach speed. Now at the age of 35 years old, Murphy reunited with his brothers as they had been on adventures of their own and become weapons just like him.
Kure Callan (The Charging Demon)
Temperament: Phlegmatic
The second oldest of the brothers, Kure Callan is a giant compare to his brothers and holds the title as the first official Yokozuna of the Kure Clan. As a Sumo Wrestler, he stands at a height of 205cm or 6 feet and 9 inches and weighs 210kg or 463lbs. He is a highly bulky and muscular man, and he has jet black hair which is slicked back into a short ponytail. His body is well rounded for giving the best stance and power possible as a sumo wrestler. For a very large and imposing man, he has very gentle facial features, making him seem like a gentle giant despite his dark sclera from his Kure blood.
Now I know what you're all probably thinking, "How can a sumo wrestler be an assassin?" Well the thing is, unlike the majority of Kure, Callan was one of the few that didn't want to become an assassin and stay in the shadows. He realised at a young age that he would be more fitting into jobs as a body guard with his massive build, since he figured that he would only get bigger as the years past. He was fine with this at first, taking on jobs as a body guard for those that were willing to hire him. Like his older brother, he began early at the age of 18 and took on jobs as a body guard, but not even a year after he began working, his life would change forever. Everything changed when he became the body guard for a Yokozuna.
When the younger Callan watch his employer in the ring, he fell in love with sumo and couldn't get enough of it. Throwing away his pride, he begged his employer to take him in as his student. Luckily for Callan, the Yokozuna saw potential in the young Kure and took him in with a smile.
Not even half a year later, Callan immediately proved to be a prodegy in sumo, and charged through the ranks in profesional grand sumo. From Maegashira too Komusubi too Sekiwake too Ozeki and finally he reached the pinnacle of Yokozuna. At the young age of 22, he became the second youngest Yokozuna in the history of mankind after storming through 15 wins continuously for a year. He was happy, his clan was happy and his master was happy, everything seemed great.
But like all good things, it came to an end, when at the age of 29 and just a month away from his birthday, tragedy struck in the ring. Because he had been neglecting his clans blood for so long, the secret technique of the Kure Clan was activated at the start of match by accident and Callan ended up killing his opponent with a single powerful tackle. Now many would assume that this event would have broken Callan to the core, but what instead happened to him, was a realisation.
During his time as a Yokozuna, Callan hadn't realised how much he actuelly rejected his clans pride. But when he really thought about it, this would without a doubt have happened eventuelly. The Kure are bred for battle, they are natural born killers, of course he would only be able to keep the demon in check for so long. Because of his irresponsible view on his own family, he had made a mistake and he would make sure that it didn't happen again.
He retired from the ring and would never return to it again, deciding that it was time to spend some time with his brothers and the rest of his clan in order to fix whatever bonds he might have broken. Now at the age of 32, he has taken the title as the Charging Demon and has perfected the deadly bone breaking art of Ancient Sumo and combined it with the spiritual art of Qigong.
Kure Osmond (The Swift Tree Spirit)
Temperament: Sanguine
The second youngest of the brothers, Kure Osmond is what one would call a Child Soldier. Spending the majority of his teenage life in warzones, he was deployed at the extremely early age of 13, but very quickly proved to be a born weapon.
When Osmond was in his mothers stomach, he showed signs that he wasn't going to make it, but that was proven wrong on the day he was born. Through a natural and unbreakable strong will to live, the moment he left his mothers womb, he activated his Removal which in most cases should have killed him by overexertion. But instead it resultet in the reactivation of his heart and ended up saving his life.
Osmond stands at about 178cm or 5.8 feet and 10 inches, and weighs 81kg or 179lbs, he's very muscular, with tan skin that he's gained because of his time in warmer countries and short spiked hair that has gained a permanent camou-green colour because of his repeated use of herbs and other forms of camouflage. On his left shoulder is a tatoo of a chinese dragon and his face and body is covered in scars that he recived from his time in the military. He's extremely good at hiding his emotion but is in reality a very sociable and easygoing individual, who's always excited by the idéa of meeting new people, which is extremely odd considering his background.
Osmond hold the record of being the youngest Kure to master the Removal and is capable of holding it far longer than any other member of the clan. This alone turned him from an effective assassin to a near unstoppable killing machine on the battlefield, as he's able to run through warzone and easily dodge bullet and explosives with ease, all while taking out his enemies in close combat by immediately going for their weakspots and ending them quickly.
Throughout his time traveling from battlefield to battlefield, he has mastered two other forms of combat outside the Kure Style. Krav Maga; which is derived from a combination of techniques sourced from Boxing, Wrestling, Judo, Aikido and Karate. And Pencak Silat; a full-body fighting form incorporating strikes, grappling and throwing in addition to weaponry, were every part of the body is used and subject to attack. But his bread and butter is without a doubt what is known as Environmental Combat, the art of using anything in the environment as a weapon.
Using whatever is around, Osmond is capable of turning practicly anything into a weapon. Rocks, sticks, sand, glass, grass, hair, bones, teeth and even finger nails can be used as a way to kill by Osmond. But as time has past, he has gain some favorites. His number one happens to be a small container of Garrote wire, which he carries at all times. It's used to strangle ones opponent or cut into the neck, slicing through the carotid arteries. Because it is easily concealable, silent, and deadly, it is often used for assassinations in situations when a gun is not a suitable option. Osmond is practicly a god with it as he is capable of not only strangling his foes with it, but completely decapitating people with it.
Despite having been through numerous warzones in countries such as Afghanistan, Yemen, Turkey and Somalia, Osmond doesn't show any signs of mental trauma. But considering that he's a Kure, that shouldn't come as a surprise. His time on the battlefield was how he gained the title as the Swift Tree Spirit. Thanks to his use of camouflage and the fast takedowns of his enemies, many has said that when fighting with or against Kure Osmond, it feels like watching people being snatched away by an evil spirit.
Now at the age of 28, he's taking long deserved break from the warzones and returned to the village to spend some time with his caring big brothers and sweet little brother.
Kure Asterix (The King of Terror)
Temperament: Choleric
Lastly is the youngest of the brothers, Kure Asterix or Rex for short. He is... an odd one. Rex proved that, just like his brothers, he had a natural gift when it came to martial art, but that wasn't why people considered him an odd one. It was because... Is he even human?
The Kure aren't strangers when it comes to monster-like children, but Rex at the moment he was born proved to be just that. A monster. When he was born and let out his first cry, the doctors were horrified when they saw the inside of his mouth. For in his mouth, his canines had already grown out.
It only became worse as he grew older, because during his early teens he experience a bizarre growth spurt that resulted in extreme pain all over his body and nearly two days of constant screaming. When it was over, he had grown a foot taller.
Standing at about 185cm or 6 feet and weighing at about 80kg or 176lbs, Rex has a muscular build with wide shoulders and bizarre long arms. He has long dark brown wild hair that seems very unkept and has rather sharp looking teeth for a human, with his canines almost looking like fangs. The nails on both his fingers and toes are sharp, looking more like claws. He has an extremely energetic and optimistic personality that can quickly change to aggressive if one isn't careful.
Like mentioned before, young Rex proved extremely talented in martial arts, but unlike his brothers, he straight up refused to master the Kure Style and said he wanted to do "his own thing". Unlike his brothers however, that had searched far and wide for an answer, Rex already knew what he wanted and quickly sought out to master the art of Kung Fu.
He began his training at the age of 14 and proved to not only be an extremely energetic student, but also proved to be way too much for his poor sensei's. Mimicking the movements of animals seemed almost natural for the young Kure, as he quickly mastered and put his own spins on almost all of the different animal styles. Tiger, Snake, Leopard, Crane, Mantis, Monkey, Turtle and Dragon style proved to be a walk in the park for the one named Kure Asterix. But despite all that he couldn't help but feel rather underwhelmed by how easy it was. He still enjoyed it, but he felt like something was missing, that something wasn't right. The Kung Fu he imagined just wasn't the same as what he'd learned. When he had heard of a martial art that focus on mimicing animals, he was excited. But this just wasn't wild enough for him.
But it was during his training of the Dragon Style that Rex asked himself: "Why a Dragon? Dragons don't even exist, so why is there a style that is suppose to mimic the movement of a dragon?"
That's when it hit him, that's when he realised that dragons do in fact exist. Back home at the village, one of the things Rex loved, despite what many would like to believe, was to read. Mostly books that had pictures but hey, it made him sit still so better than nothing. Thinking back, he now knew exactly what he was gonna do. He would create his own style that was based on the reason behind his nickname, he would create the Terror Lizard Style or Dinosaur Style.
And so with that, Kure Asterix began traveling the world in order to develope his own form of Kung Fu. Since dinosaurs were extinct, he would have to rely on what was available in their descendants.
He would hunt, study and fight against numerous different animals that held the blood of the ancient terror lizards in their veins. Salt Water Crocodile, Komodo Dragons, Green Anacondas, Ostriches and Cassowaries are some of the beasts that he has had the honor to both study and battle against. But it was at this moment were he encountered a roadblock. The decendants of the ancient giants just aren't like their ancestors, so he broadened his horizen and search among other animals that were like the dinosaurs.
Black Rhinos, Spanish Fighting Bulls, Giraffes, African Lions, Siberian Tigers, Perian Leopard, Tiger Sharks, Leopard Seals, California Sea Lions and Brown Bears are only the bare minimum of creatures that the wildest member of the Kure has fought against. The most ridiculous of all his fights, was the time he tried to fight against an Orca.
I never said that he always won.
After years of... What was basically years of animal abuse when you think about it. He finally perfected and created over seven different techniques based on Dinosaurs and officially created the Terror Lizard Style at the age of 21. Returning home, he gained the title as the King of Terror, not because of his style or because his nickname is Rex. No, the reason why is because... How is he still alive? He's been stung and bitten by some of the most venomous animals on the planet, he's been mauled by packs of the most ferocious predators, gotten crushed by stampedes of the heaviest of beasts and been in between the jaws of the oceans greatest terrors. The fact that the one called Kure Asterix is still alive to this day, scares the people of Kure Village just as much as it prides them that he is their relative. He is the King of Terror because he has conquered all other terrors the planet has to offer.
He is now 25 years old and has been spending his time reuniting with his older brothers. Rex could not be happier.
Location: Ponyville
The quiet evening in the town of Ponyville was loudly interupted by a bright light accompanied with massive explosion that could be both heard and seen all the way to Canterlot.
In town, the ponies were either quietly sleeping or spending some good times with their dear friends, either at a bar, restaurant or in their own homes. A particular group of friends were having a sleepover party at the Golden Oak Library, but that was suddenly interrupted and somehow knocked the drunkness that any of them felt from the cider they had that evening. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity Belle, Fluttershy and Pinkamena Diane Pie (or simply Pinkie Pie) were their names, all dressed in their pyjamas or sleepwear. They were all now wide awake, alongside any other denizen of Ponyville, as the sound literally made Rainbow Dash shoot through the roof of Twilights libraby.
"What in Tarnations was that!?" the orange earth pony wearing a blue one piece with white appleshaped marks on them, yelled in suprise.
"IDON'TKNOWBUTITWASLOUDASBUCK!!!" the pink earth pony wearing a blue night dress with light blue and yellow balloons markings, yelled back.
"Pinkie language!" the white unicorn wearing a purple nightdress with a blue ribbon and blue gem patterns on it, scolded in shock.
"Everypony!" the alicorn named Twilight Sparkle shouted before things could spiral out off control. She was wearing a yellow pyjamas with pink hearts on it.
"Now let us all calm down and investigate what made that noise. Where's Rainbow Dash?"
Through a window, instead of the door or the hole in the roof she made, the pegasus named Rainbow Dash returned panting. She was wearing blue short and a white T-shirt with her cutiemark on the chest.
"Hey! There's some new wierd looking house just outside of ponyville!" Rainbow Dash shouted in what was not at all panic.
"What! Where?" Twilight replied in shock.
"Down the road leading to Sweet Apple Acres. Come on!"
Without giving it a second thought, the mane six rush out of the library and made their way towards the road that lead to Applejack's family farm. Only to stop as they realised that their easily frightened butter yellow pegasus friend was frozen in shock from the loud noise, she was wear lime green pyjamas with pink yellow winged butterflies on it. Applejack went back to calm her down and they went back to run down towards Sweet Apple Acres. Many ponies that had woken up from the noise shot glances to them as they were running down the road. Very soon a small early teen dragon along with three fillies that were suppose to be asleep, but were woken up by the noise, started running with them.
"Twilight, what's going on?!" the dragon named Spike asked the question on everypony's mind.
"I don't know. Rainbow said that a new weird looking house had just appeared on the road to Sweet Apple Acres."
"A new house?" the three fillies named Applebloom, Scootalo and Sweetie Belle replied in confusion.
When they finally made it to the road, they could indeed see a new house that was perfectly placed at the side of the road. Though house would be a bit off, as what they were seeing was three buildings that seemed to serve different purposes for those living in it. The houses were large and looked to be homes for multiple individuals, with a wide wooden bridge going over a L-shaped pond.
"It kinda looks japonese." Twilight said with a head tilt.
