After his battle with Craig, and his discovery that his old master and sensei Shadowhunter was responsible for his involvement with the new and improved Yakuza, Kamikaze returned to the Alpha Complex to plan his next move. Honestly, he had no idea what to do.

He had talked to Mr. Gentry and Guardian about the situation. They suggested that he make a new course of action. Above all else, they and the rest of Alpha Flight would be there to support him.

He sat on the patted mat in his quarters and began to meditate. His mind reached into an apotheosis, an eternal state of being that was non-being. He began to hum, to bring himself into this state of non-being.

His cell phone rang.

His state of non-being switched to a state of being and awareness. He reached over to pick up the phone and put it close to his ear so that he could hear who was on the other end. He recognized the voice immediately. It was a voice he would never forget. The last time he was face-to-face with this dreaded man his aged father was in danger of being killed by his sword.

“What do you want?’ Kamikaze answered, without even a hint of preamble.

“I have your Nicole. Miss Robbins is in my possession. You have twenty four hours to meet me in Japan. Our old stomping grounds. No cops. Any tricks and she gets terminated. Do you understand?”

“Hai,” Kamikaze responded in his native tongue, Japanese.

The phone clicked. Shadowhunter had hung up.

With a burst of unbridled anger, Kamikaze threw the phone against the wall. It shattered into a million pieces. When this rescue mission was over, he would have to invest in a new one.

He masked himself and walked out the door to his quarters. On the other end of the door was Shang-chi, the Master of Kung Fu.

“I heard the whole thing, Harada,” Shang-chi said firmly. He put an understanding hand upon the other’s shoulder for comfort and support. “I know that you will want to handle this yourself. Asking for other people’s help may be hard in this time but it is necessary. I will like to help you rescue your dear friend.”

Kamikaze smiled underneath his masked features. “Hai, I know. Domo arigato. I already discussed this with Gentry. I will use Alpha Flight as a last resort. But you could be useful. Shang-chi, have you ever been to Tokyo?”

There was a common bond, an understanding of the minds as well as the bodies. Shang-chi had just joined the team and he was already on his first mission.

Later on in the day, Kamikaze and Shang-chi visited the Jeffries apartment across town. Kamikaze could now really appreciate Diamond lil, now that she was a full fledged mother of one to baby Boxie. Fatherhood seemed to suit Madison, the former second Box. Shang-chi had read their files in his time at the Alphanex keyboard and knew, from reading, that kamikaze had a certain crush on Lillian Crawley. The Master of Kung Fu also knew that Madison and harada were not the best of friends. Jeffries had tried to convince Gentry and Guardian and even Lil herself to throw Kamikaze off the team once or twice for good this time. But, to put it lightly, Madison had mellowed out since then. And the team was better for it.

Since the birth of their baby boy, Diamond Lil and Madison Jeffries had decided to leave the team (a complete turnaround since those days when Madison wanted just Kamikaze off the team permanently) to devote time to their child. They returned time and again for various missions that required their strengths and abilities.

This was not one of those times. Kamikaze came here to say good-bye. Perhaps forever.

Kamikaze removed his mask and attached it to a rung on his belt buckle.

Shang-chi placed a reassuring hand on Kamikaze’s shoulder. “We should be going now. The Yakuza will not wait long for us.”

“This will only take a moment,” he whispered into the Kung Fu Master’s ear. “I don’t know what will happen when this battle is through.”

Lillian stepped forward, holding the baby Boxie in her strong, proud arms. She placed two fingers on his lips. “You don’t have to explain any further. We’ve been friends for a while. Almost seven years. And we will still be friends. You have to start thinking of me as a team-mate and a partner, not a lover. You can’t be wracking your brain over this, whether or not you will ever see me again. Believe me, I am flattered.”

Kamikaze turned his back to Lil and then masked himself. He couldn’t believe it. She was dumping him. As if they were ever an item. He knew he had to face it. But that didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Tell Gentry I will be at the next meeting to give my report,” he said flatly. “Sorry I bothered you. Come one, Shang-chi. Let’s go to Japan.”

“Kamikaze wait, I didn’t mean—“, Diamond Lil said in protest, but it was too late. In a puff of smoke with one of his gas pellets, Kamikaze and Shang-chi vanished.

Lillian turned to her husband. “Did I do the right thing?”

“You did the only thing you had to do,” Madison said.

“I just hope I didn’t tear him away.”

“C’mon, let’s put the baby to bed.”

On the rooftop of their apartment, Shang-chi said, “Are you going to be all right?”

“I’ll be fine. It has been a long time since I had a woman. I thought this was the one. Maybe I should start looking for another one.”

Kamikaze took out a remote control device, pressed a circular button, and the Alpha Flight Omnijet landed by the precipice. They both entered the landing hatch. And before another word could be uttered, their destination was Tokyo, Japan.

Tokyo, Japan was a familiar sight to Kamikaze, even though it had been many years since he was last at the city of his birth. They knew that he and Shang-chi had to be incognito, in disguise, so they changed into their civvies to traverse the city blocks to the Yakuza mansion several miles away.

It wasn’t too long before they both realized that they were being followed by men in suits. These Japanese men had guns holstered on their belts. Dangerous men, assassins employed by the Yakuza.

Using his peripheral vision, Kamikaze eyed both Shang-chi and the men behind them. ”Shang-chi, you know what to do.”

“Yes, I do.” Shang-chi pounced in the air and gave one of the suited men a kick to the jaw. His chin and nose started to bleed profusely. He reached for his .44 magnum, but he wasn’t fast enough to waste both men.

Kamikaze hurled Throwing Stars that embedded in the hands of the man reaching for his gun. He dropped the magnum, becoming weaponless. His sword was attached to his back underneath his suit jacket but before he could unsheathe it, they were both surrounded by a crowd of Yakuza men with guns and rifles.

Shang-chi turned to Kamikaze for advice. ”I believe we let them take us to Yakuza Headquarters and we may find ShadowHunter there. We must be patient.”

Kamikaze nodded.

To keep away from on-looking bystanders, who now were becoming aware of their activities, the Yakuza gangsters led the two Alphans to a limousine, whose backdoor was now open.

“Get in,” one of the gruff men said in Japanese.

Kamikaze started to get in but stopped and turned to the man who addressed him before. “Where’s Shadowhunter?”

“Don’t worry, Harada. Your old sensei is waiting for you. He has plans for you. Deadly plans.”

“So do I.” Then, Kamikaze and Shang-chi entered the vehicle. 

The man closed the door behind them and got into the front seat. The driver drove the limo away.

Kamikaze knew that the final showdown between him and his sensei was a’coming and only one of them would be the victor. One would come out of this unscathed and he hoped that it would be him. He hoped that he wouldn’t need the rest of Alpha Flight for this battle but it looked like, with an entire army of Japanese mobsters after him, he may have to confide in his Canadian friends.

Right now, all he had to do was enjoy the ride. Shang-chi was quite through the whole drive, like him, probably meditating, channeling his chi into his state of unbeing. He knew that once he arrived at the mansion, it would be one long battle.

This was not the kind of homecoming he wanted when he returned to the city of his birth. He thought of his father, the original Kamikaze. But he couldn’t count of his father to rescue him from this encounter with Shadowhunter, as he did last time.

Since he was last here, many years ago before he became an assassin for hire for the likes of AIM and other terror organizations, Tokyo had became a futuristic mecca. America and Canada were more homely than Japan. But then Japan was always more advanced than the Americas.

He thought of old Craig. He wondered if he would be in this position if he hadn’t encounter him and then killed him for information.

The drive was over. They were in an underground parking garage of the mansion. The Yakuza men tapped their guns on the window of the passenger seats. They gestured for the two men to exit the vehicle.

One Yakuza gangster drew a gun on Shang-chi’s back but the Kung Fu Master was fast to react. He gripped the man’s wrist, and twisted it. The gangster dropped his gun and Shang-chi punched him in the face and then kicked him in the stomach. The man dropped to the floor, writhing in pain.

Adrenalin up, Shang-chi launched into an attack with the other men. With several roundhouse kicks to their hands, Shang-chi made them drop their weapons. He punched them in their faces, having their mouths and noses bleed.

Kamikaze joined the fray. He was given the chance to take out his ninja sword and use it to slaughter the remaining opponents. They dropped to the ground, dead, with gaping, bloody holes in their chests.

“Come, let us take the battle to Shadowhunter,” Kamikaze said, firmly. “I believe he is waiting for us in his loft.”

“There they are, the gang” Kamikaze muses to himself. “But where is their leader, Shadowhunter? He is never far behind them. I must find him. Because if he is lost, then all hell will break loose. But first I have a job to do.’

Suddenly, the passenger door opens and he slips out. Kamikaze does not have the ability to fly so he lets a parachute land him safely in the park. The Gang is already busy shooting up the innocent bystanders with bullets from their pistols and machine guns.

“No more violence, no more blood,” Kamikaze says, as he takes out a tether rope and ropes up the first members of the gang.

“You can’t get us, Kamikaze. I hope you get our point.” One of the gang members says as he takes out his pistol and shoots him point blank in the heart.

Kamikaze falls down, almost dead and everyone, even the rest of the spectators, thinks he is dead.

“That took the fight out of him,” the one gang member that shot him says.

With their backs turned, Kamikaze wakes up, swings in the air, and uses his boots and leather padded legs to kick the first couple of Gang members to the floor, unto unconsciousness.

Before Kamikaze can attack the remaining Gang members, a figure falls from the skies and lands in the center of the fighting arena. It is a fighting male and he is dressed all in black leather, like Kamikaze himself.

“Thanks for the help, Shang-chi” Kamikaze says her.

He simply says, “And it looks like we should end this casual conversation and fight like true warriors. You get Shadowhunter and I’ll handle these redundant rejects.”

Kamikaze frowned and disappeared in the forest foliage.

“There is no place to run from me, Shadowhunter! There is nowhere to escape!”

Those words were spoken by Kamikaze and he was running across the park’s grounds to catch up with Shadowhunter. Shadowhunter may have been a killer but he was also a coward, by rights.

“No, Kamikaze, I am just getting started. Here some gas in yer eye.” Shadowhunter took out a gas grenade and threw the projectile at Kamikaze. The hero stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the grenade being thrown and ducked into a bush. The grenade landed mere feet from Kamikaze and released the gas contained within.

Holding his breath, Kamikaze braved through the odds of the gas, and pushed forward, trying his best to avoid the whiff of gas that threatened to choke him to death.

“Here’s bullets in yer eye, Kamikaze!” Shadowhunter took a machine gun and fired it at the unsuspecting Kamikaze. “Hahahahaha!!!! Why wear a leather suit when ya could have bullets through your chest to hide your identity?!”

Again, that had not stopped Kamikaze. He was swift enough to dodge the bullets from killing him instantly. He was slowly losing his patience with Shadowhunter and wanted to end this quickly.

Then, Kamikaze removed a Chinese throwing star from a hidden compartment on his belt buckle and tossed it in the general direction of Shadowhunter. His adversary was so slap happy and laughing uproariously loud that he didn’t see the star before it was too late.

Kamikaze was not a killer like Shadowhunter. Sure, he wanted to see justice served but he wouldn’t kill to see it done. The star just ripped Shadowhunter’s ninja uniform.

“Game’s over, Shadowhunter. Game, set, and match.”

Launching into an attack, Kamikaze knocked Shadowhunter’s lights out.