Anise Ansat T3 08.23.19

Key: Fortidogi2
Character: Anise
SAGA: Ansatsuken
How well do you know the source material?(obviously not relevant if it's a transformation): I've played Street Fighter since I was about 10 years old, competitively for seven years now, and its a defining part of my life-- will be forever.

Reasoning: "Gousen is dead."

Those words, relayed to him and Rokusen by Torian Endor, the wayward, stranded Dragon Island native who had somehow made his way to the mainland and into High Hops City, shook him to his core. He had looked to Gousen as the looming shadow over Ansatsuken, both his greatest fear, as well as his greatest motivation for pursuing the path laid out in the Chikara Scrolls. Now, out of the blue, he had been slain? All the way across the Eastern Sea? The two of them were equally shocked, perhaps for different reasons, but on the same conclusion-- it was impossible for Gousen to have died before one of them did the deed themselves.

But as more and more details flowed his way, it all began to connect for him. VVitch, the sadistic horned knight Lorelei summoned on a whim, who had instantly assaulted them with unrelenting force; the giant who slew the Million Man Slayer, working with the very same man; the mystic orbs, artifacts he had only tangentially pieced together the existence of by gleaning confessions from Ren and his group, which they had undoubtably been pursued and brutalized by Zero's army for; the Ashen King they served, and the Queen of Blades, terror of the Xenomorph plague that had been vanquished by a legendary hero in the far past, whom they planned to ressurect. Everything was coming together, and when assembled, the facts led to a terrifying conspiracy, a danger far beyond what Zero's incursion presented to his hometown. He couldn't let this pass by unanswered. Anise and Rokusen resolve to cross the sea, to reach Kori-Ja themselves, and hopefully, if the stars aligned, to prevent the return of a world-ending threat.

What Is The Moment: "I'll see you off, Anise, but lets have a fight first. A real match-- your Ansatsuken against my Juuken."

Xiang Yeqin lead him to the Arena on these words, and there he was, as expected, crumpled onto the floor after a humiliating defeat. He knew what she wanted to say. If he went to Dragon Island as he was, it'd be more than just a loss-- he'd surely die there, at the hands of VVitch and his cohorts, those who toppled even the great demon that killed Master Kazoo. He knew, but...

The words he heard were much different than those he expected. "Before you go, I'll have to beat you into someone who can win against them."

He looked up, confused, dazed not only by his wounds, but also the statement he'd heard.

"What are you so shocked by? I'm not the type of friend to clip your wings, am I?"

Thus began a grueling marathon of training, which Yeqin herself had no doubt subjected herself to. They fought over, and over, and over again, over the course of days and nights. Each time Anise fell, he heard a word-- "Pearl"-- and felt a surge of healing energy brute-force his body back into fighting shape, to be followed with another crushing elbow to the stomach, or a series of pressure points that made him feel like his skin was melting off of his bones. It was a hell without end. It was, by legal definitions, torture. It was precisely what he needed.

Between the few mere moments his friend allowed him rest, she poked and prodded at his heart and mind, berating him for falling so far behind. It was true-- he couldnt even make her break a sweat yet, much less force her to use her full repertoire of spells and techniques, her true power. The Xiang Yeqin that had sheepishly asked to take him up on his offer for martial arts training was gone, and even that girl could flatten him, if he remembered correctly. Standing before him was the fully matured chief of High Hops' police forces, and the leader of the defense against Zero. If he wanted to overcome VVitch and his men, he'd have to overcome her, first.

The brutal training with Yeqin, once a student of Master Mahzarin, who had built Juuken from the ground up to fit and enforce her own ideals of justice, would do more than just hone Anise's body and mind. It sharpened his Ansatsuken like a blade of fine steel. At first, it was just an imitation, merely cobbled together from the diagrams, exercises, and reflections found within the Chikara Scroll, all without real understanding or the guidance of a master. More than anything, using it forced him to abandon much of the hard-won experience and techniques he had relied on for years, especially in magic and enchantment. With so many gaps in this fledgling art, it was no wonder Yeqin had picked him apart so easily. But how could he fill them? How could he bridge that distance? In searching for this answer, Star Anise does something he had been afraid to do before; he improvises. Where he is unable to progress with the Ansatsuken taught by Kazoo, he creates an Ansatsuken taught by himself, to himself, for himself! Grabs, holds, parries and outright dirty tricks, techniques he learned on the cold streets, began to mesh themselves with the formal, perfected karate of the dojo ring. Thus, the killing art Gousen practiced begins to resemble something almost individual, an art uniquely his.

The training continues. Will he reach Xiang Yeqin-- overtake her? Will he be ready when he leaves for Dragon Island? Only time will tell!