Right now, he needs to remain as stationary as possible.
Yes, Doctor.
For the moment, we have to medicate him through the IV.
Also, please change his bandages regularly.
Right.
We're not intruding, I hope?
No, no. If it's a prognosis that you want,
well, he'll have a lot of scar tissue.
Plus his spinal column suffered serious damage.
But he shouldn't have any neurological issues.
He was in good shape to begin with, of course.
And what about this?
You mean the fact that he was unconscious at the time?
Exactly. Jack was out cold when he did it.
Hmm.
Professor Payne, I'm sure you're familiar with these things.
With what things?
When some people lose consciousness, indeed,
even when they might be technically dead,
they're still capable of performing certain actions.
There's an old story about an incident that took place long ago, during the war.
It's a true story.
The soldiers of a certain domain captured the soldiers of the enemy's domain.
This being wartime, the captives were sentenced to death.
But as they were awaiting execution,
the commanding officer of the captured troops
made an astonishing proposal.
"Once I am beheaded," he said,
"I will pick up my head and start running."
"I will run down the line of my captured comrades."
"I want you to release every one of them
that I'm able to run past before falling to the ground."
Laughing in scorn, his captors agreed to this ridiculous proposal,
and a moment later, he was put to death.
Then they watched in astonishment as he ran past every one of his men,
carrying his own head.
Huh?!
A true story.
If anyone could do something like that, it would be Jack Hammer.
He has spent his whole life, waking and sleeping,
in the pursuit of strength.
It would be so like him to have come up with a plan
that would allow him to keep on fighting even after he had been defeated.
And once he made that plan,
he would have engraved it onto every corner
of every cell in his body.
I have no doubt that's what he did.
Huh?
Jack Hammer, Doctor, he's gone!
You can't be serious!
'Course he is.
Forgive me.
I shouldn't have left in the middle of our fight.
Let's finish this!
Pickle had taken five direct kicks to the head
from Jack's powerful legs.
How much damage had he suffered?
In truth, not very much.
Many times, he had fought and defeated beasts
that were hundreds of times his weight.
This man, though his legs were powerful, and his fists were powerful,
he weighed no more than Pickle did.
Perhaps less.
Why, then, was Pickle running from him?
It wasn't a question of weight or strength.
It was that he'd never seen anything like this man before.
An opponent that won't stop when it's killed,
that won't die when it's dead.
That one, that one, and that one,
when they died, it was over.
Even that one hadn't tried to attack him after he'd killed it.
That was the rule, wasn't it?
Jack Hammer was an uncommon fighter.
He consciously pushed his body beyond its limits,
doped himself with no thought of the consequences,
mangled and tortured his limbs with bone-lengthening surgery.
Caring nothing about the future, he lived only for the present.
Jack had chosen to undergo experiences unknown in Pickle's natural world.
Humans have always had a fear of ghosts
and other phenomena that cannot be explained.
So Pickle feared whatever it was that had made Jack like this.
However, there are some emotions even stronger than fear.
In Pickle's case, it was pride.
His pride at never having lost a fight.
He was not going to lose this one.
This was the defeat Jack had sought.
A defeat he himself had to acknowledge.
From the depths of his coma,
he acknowledged that, for the second time in his life,
he had lost twice in one day.
Oh! Thank goodness.
You really are indestructible, aren't you?
If it looks like the hospital you were in this morning, it's because it is.
Don't you dare.
You've done enough already.
Pickle is an irreplaceable anthropological treasure,
and you damaged him in two fights, both of which you lost,
and there is not going to be a third.
It's time to call it a day, Jack, my boy.
So, now where do you think you're going?
Trust me.
I know how bad it hurts, Jack. I feel you.
Not just because we're brothers,
but because you and I are both born warriors.
That's how I know it's over.
Jack, give it up!
You know it as well as I do.
As a fighter, you are all washed up!
If you never acknowledge a defeat,
you'll never be a loser.
This was more than just an idea to Jack. It was his personal creed.
But perhaps there are things even more shameful than defeat,
as Jack found out later
when he was told what Pickle had done,
what he'd done with Jack
after knocking him unconscious a second time.
As a warrior, Jack had never felt such shame.
Pickle had carried Jack from the field of battle.
He'd carried him very carefully.
He had handled Jack's body gently,
taking great care not to drop it or cause it further damage.
Why had Pickle done this?
It soon became clear.
It wasn't out respect or admiration,
but because he wanted to keep Jack somewhere safe,
to be eaten later.
Do you get it now, Jack?
You met as enemies, and he annihilated you.
At that point, you were no longer his rival.
You were just a meal.
He says it wouldn't be fair now, so he'll wait.
He'll wait for however long it takes until the time is right.
And do you know where he's waiting?
Right there in front of him!
The two of them are just sitting there on the ground,
staring at each other in an empty arena.
He says he's willing to wait there for days without eating, if he has to.
Hmm.
Do you really think that Baki can win?
The great fighter, Sea King Retsu, was defeated.
The reborn, Katsumi Orochi, was crushed.
Even the beast, Jack Hammer, was beaten.
Just think of it.
These aren't your common, everyday opponents that Pickle's defeated.
They're arguably the most powerful fighters on the Earth.
And to be perfectly frank, Yujiro,
I could see any one of those three being able to defeat Baki.
You're eating mefun from Hokkaido.
Shiokara made of salmon innards.
Yes. You are quite the gourmet.
My favorite.
Huh?
Really?
Well, anyway.
If those three couldn't beat him, then I'm not sure how Baki will--
Listen, old man!
Huh?!
There's one thing Baki's got that the other three haven't got.
As everyone knows, my blood runs through his veins.
He descends from the Hanma line.
So does Jack, doesn't he?
The blood runs thin in him.
What does that mean?
Well, after all, he failed, didn't he?
So it must run thin in him.
Huh?
I see, so if only Jack had had more of your blood in him,
he would have won?
Good grief, your ego is amazing.
By the way, Ogre.
Why don't you fight Pickle?
Aah.
Stop your wheedling, old man!
Don't worry about Baki! He was born for this!
The two of them were destined to fight!
When it's over,
I'll eat whoever's left standing.
If what I've read is true,
animals in the wild can often go for long periods without eating.
Even so, Pickle must have just about reached his limit.
It shouldn't be long now.
I've gotta be next.
I'm not gonna let anyone else fight Pickle before I do.
It's gotta be me.
I'm sure as hell not gonna let someone sneak in here ahead of me again,
like Jack did last time.
So I'm gonna stay right here as long as it takes.
Just you and me, Pickle.
We'll sit here until the time is right.
We'll just stay right here, breathing the same air,
sleeping when we're tired,
eating when we're hungr— Oh shit! That's it!
That's when it will happen!
When Pickle gets hungry enough to wanna eat me!
No, I believe I've solved that problem.
And don't forget, we have quite a bit of food on hand that he's already killed.
Huh?
You mean that T. rex that was discovered alongside him in the salt mine?
Its meat has been perfectly preserved.
And there's tons of it.
But that's a unique cultural specimen.
- Not some side of beef or-- - It doesn't belong to us.
We're not the ones who fought that T. rex and killed it.
It belongs to Pickle.
It's a priceless and irreplaceable scientific specimen,
I'm aware of that.
However, it's of far less importance than Pickle.
He's alive.
What is it? Huh?
How much would this be worth?
Ninety pounds of real Tyrannosaurus Rex meat!
This is probably far enough.
We're 100 meters from the arena.
Let's get out of here.
I don't wanna end up as an appetizer.
What, seriously?
You are really chowing down on that stuff, aren't ya?
Huh?
Oh, uh, thanks, but I think I'll pass.
Well, okay, if you insist.
Hmm.
Mmm. Hmm.
Hmm.
Y'know, it's actually not that bad.
Thanks for sharing, man.
Mm, it's really good!
What-- What kind of meat is this?
Yeah, I feel pretty stuffed too.
Huh?
Wait a minute.
If Pickle isn't hungry, then...
then he won't fight!
He won't need to fight ever again.
I have a team working on it.
So far, the results are very promising...
What results?
Using samples of the T. rex meat that we have on hand,
we're working on reproducing it with biotechnology.
Is that kind of thing even possible?
We have two years.
That's how long it will take him
to consume the current supply of T. rex meat.
By then, I think we'll be able to reproduce it in massive quantities,
which means that Pickle will always be well fed.
And if he's well fed, then...
He won't be forced to fight ever again.
He can relax and enjoy a nice, leisurely meal,
just like a normal person.
Cheers.
Aaah!
Hmm.
Anyway, that's Professor Payne's theory.
Payne is a scientist and a scholar.
Guys like him can't help but think that way.
All right, never mind him, then.
What does a yakuza think?
What does a Fighting Master like yourself think?
I did make contact with him once, but it was only for a moment.
What?? Are you saying you actually fought him?
- Where? When? - It was just a shoving match.
Damn! I wish I could've seen that!
A shoving match between Hanayama and Pickle--
Who won, by the way?
Don't worry about that, Noble Elder.
Pickle thinks the way we do.
He does?
He lives to fight.
He loves a test of strength.
The finest men and the finest women will always find each other
when they're in the same room.
They can't remain strangers for long.
They gaze at each other,
and eventually, they're drawn toward each other.
They're in a fighting arena, and something's gonna happen.
It was just an idea that Baki had had.
He couldn't have known how effective it would prove to be.
Even though Pickle's hunger had been satisfied,
even though he felt completely at peace,
even though he couldn't understand the language,
he knew that this man was trying to provoke him.
It wasn't a violent approach. In fact, it was gentle.
But it was this very gentleness that provoked Pickle's rage.
It wounded him more deeply than he'd ever been wounded before.
Something similar had occurred at the third UFK tournament
in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Lorion Grassy had easily won the tournament the time before,
and he was the top candidate to win it this time.
His opponent in the first match was an unknown fighter named Timo.
Lorion was the heavy favorite,
but the fight proved to be shockingly difficult.
Lorion won in the end,
but he was so exhausted that he lost his eyesight,
and he had to forfeit the second match.
Afterwards, Timo was asked what his secret was
that had driven him to fight so savagely and so well...
It was that little pat on the cheek he gave me.
The jerk! No one insults me like that!
All right. Good for you, Pickle.
You took my slaps as an insult,
and it got you mad enough to want to fight.
And that means you've evolved, Pickle.
For the first time since you were born,
you weren't fighting out of hunger.
You were fighting out of pride!
Huh?
Yes, the battle has begun.
Baki Hanma versus the champion of the age of dinosaurs.
Good lord, Baki has knocked him down!
Yes, with a vicious high roundhouse kick.
Beautifully done. Brutally effective.
That was a very typical opening move for him.
Pickle's appetite has been satiated,
so this isn't about feeding.
I think Baki is trying to teach him
that fighting is more than just a means for hunting and eating.
That fighting is a culture unto itself.
He's teaching Pickle that there are times, like now,
when you have to fight to defend your pride,
to protect your dignity.
And to teach this lesson,
he knows he must put it in terms that Pickle can understand.
Kill or be killed?
No. It's not about that.
Huh?
Maybe eat or be eaten, huh?
No. It's not about that either, Pickle.
He's gonna kill him.
No, Baki, don't!
We're just fighting, Pickle,
not trying to kill each other.
See, not every fight has to be a fight to the death.
It doesn't always have to go that far.
He's gonna kill Pickle. He's gonna do it!
Hold on.
No, he isn't.
Huh?
Good for you.
They're gonna crash into the ceiling!
That's the idea, Pickle. Now your starting to get the picture.
That's just the kind of thing you gotta do in a test of strength.
They're too high!
That's fall of nearly 70--
No! Of nearly 100 feet!
Oh shit.
They'll never survive a fall from that height.
Whoo!
We are really high up!
Oh, look who's here! Man, this is crazy!
Uh-oh, here comes the ground!
They're on their feet!
Impossible!
Pickle maybe,
but for Baki to still be on his feet after a fall from that height!
That's insane.
Is Baki Hanma really that tough of a warrior?
He's making a move! What's he gonna do?