Prologue:  ER.

     The woman in the emergency room was dying.  Her broken body had
been patched up as well as possible, but her liver and spleen were
shattered, and no replacements were available.  So she lay there as the
heart monitors beeped away the last moments of her life and clutched the
hand of the young man who knelt beside her.

     "Hidoshi," she whispered.  Hidoshi leaned closer.  He was about
seventeen years of age, and powerfully built.

     "Mother," he said.  "Tell me, Mother.  Who was my father?  I must
know."
 A hand fluttered up and touched his cheek.  "My son," she said.  "So
strong.  So like a pig.  I see him in you every day."

     "Mother, please."

     "He was so sad.  So lonely.  I gave him the best comfort I could,
but I knew he had to go back to her.  It was his honor.  He was a very
honorable man, your father."

     "Mother, tell me."

     "As honorable as a pig."  Hidoshi rolled his eyes.  Mom and her
pigs.  "I couldn't tell him I was pregnant.  It would have destroyed
him."

     Her voice wavered, and Hidoshi leaned closer, alarmed.  "His name,
mother.  I need his name."

     "His name...."

     "Yes?"

    "Hibiki.  Ryoga Hibiki."

     Hidoshi leaned back, inhaling.  His mother's hand fluttered again,
like a butterfly.  "My son... you must promise me..." she coughed
weakly.  "Promise..."

     The monitors shrieked as she slumped back.  Nurses rushed in and
began working dutifully, with no real hope.  Hidoshi stood back, tears
filling his eyes.

     His father.  The man who had ploughed his mother and abandoned her
to raise his seed in poverty and shame.  Ryoga Hibiki had destroyed his
mother's life, just as the drunken driver had destroyed her body.  And
while the law would punish the driver, it was up to Hidoshi to punish
his father.

     "Mother," he whispered.  "Mother, I swear..."  He raised a fist to
the ceiling and roared.  "I WILL PUNISH YOU, RYOGA HIBIKI!"

     Doctors, nurses, and patients alike turned to glare at him as he
strode purposefully into a supply closet.