Ken roared up into the parking lot and carried Sakura into his room. He laid her on the bed and put his hand on her forehead, and then proceeded to check her pulse. She was breathing, but was pale, as if all the life sustaining energy in her body had been stolen. Ken looked down on her and wiped a tear from his eye...a tear more of anger than sorrow. It was too early in the morning for this, and the fact he had a whole day ahead of him made it that much worse.

Ken walked into the living room and laid down on the couch, covering his face with his hands. He didnt know what he would do. He was afraid to take her to the hospital, because he knew they would question him, and most likely put the blame on him. A desperate situation this was quickly turning into. He thought of trying to get ahold of Ryu, but figured he had enough trouble to deal with. Finally he decided to take her down to the hospital and hope for the best.

He walked back into her room wear she lie still, almost in a peaceful yet aweful dream. Ken could only shake his head in sadness. He lifted her off the bed and took her back to the car. The whole drive there he was battleing with fear and confusion, but worst of all...worry. He had never been that close with Sakura, but the loss of her just seemed so devastating to him. He shook it off and sped to the hospital.

Sakura's body now lay in the infirmary under close observation. Surprising to Ken, there had been 4 other cases since the incident at the tournament. Ken was vevy curious as to who they were.

"So..she isnt the only one?" He asked half releaved, but still concerned.

"Not by any means," the nurse replied with a smile, "however, only one of the other 4 are recovering.

"May I see him..or her?" He said very curiously.

"Normally I wouldnt allow this, but...yes..." The nurse led him to a room where a familiar face was lying on a bed...until he saw Ken.

"Ken Masters....you joke of a tournament fighter" he said with a sly grin.

"You've gotta be kidding me..how'd you end up here?" Ken said puzzled.

"Well, after the tournament, I was walking out to car, when this thing just reached out of the shadows and started sucking the life out of me."

"And how did you get out away...or get here" He said more confused than ever.

"With the famous Kusangi flame of course" Kyo said smiling while burning a flame on his finger. " I managed to escape and stumble to the hospital"

"Hmmm, what did it look like?"

"Well, when I lit my fist I saw a deep black pit, it was pretty odd, but It was easy to get out of my head once I smacked against the wall" He said grinning and burning the flame bigger.

"Hmmm...thanks.." Ken said walking out of the room.

Kyo smiled and fired a flame at Ken, who spun around and launched a fireball right at the flame. The two smiled and Ken walked out of the room.

Ken was now faced with another perplexing mystery...who would be strong enough to take down Kyo, even though momentarily, but completely overpower Sakura the next morning. Yes, Kyo was much stronger than Sakura, but Sakura had enough strength in her to take on the beast if a beaten Kyo could. All the way home he could only think about what Kyo said..something about a deep black pit. What did that mean...what was going on. Something else came to his mind as he pulled back up to his apartment complex. The letter he got was addressed him...did this mean that he was a target for the soul devourer