A New Beginning,
The return to Motorball Course.


Cautiously, Alita stepped out of the hole in the wall. She looked around at the 
alley they were in. " Where is this again?" she asked turning to Koyomi. " This is 
Ketheres Elyion, also known as ' The Tree of Life'. It used to be the headquaters 
of Ladder, remember?" Alita nodded slowly. Her memories were sketchy, but 
she could recall what had happened. She pulled the cloak she had on her closer as 
she shivered slightly. Figure's voice came from behind them, " I'd like to get out 
now, if you don't mind." " Sorry." Alita said as she moved out of his way. 
Suddenly distant cheering caught their attention. Koyomi went toward the 
sound and saw a small crowd gathered around a bar.
	" What's going on?" she asked the person next to her. The person 
answered in an annoied voice, " There's a match in the Scrapyard being played 
and this bar's the only one with a decent set to watch it from." " A match?" Alita 
asked when she reached them. " What kind?"
" Motorball, what else?" He turned back just as a cheer ran through most of the 
people in the crowd. " Now see what I missed?" he whined. " The new kid just 
got a hold on the ball." Alita looked at Figure. " Motorball is still in play?" He 
nodded his head. " It's as popular as ever."
" Who's the champ now?"
" Right now there isn't one, but at the pace some of the players are going there 
may be one soon." Koyomi grabbed Alita's arm and pulled her through the 
crowd. " You got to see this new kid! She's absolutely increadible!" When they 
got to the set Alita looked up at it. Memories from her days on the circut rushed 
back to her. Memories of Ed, Umba, Shumira, and Jashugan.
	She turned her attention back on the game. The one with the ball was 
indeed a girl. Her suit resembled Alita's old one but this one was navy blue with 
green and purple lightening bolts painted down the arms and legs. Her face was 
covered by a silver glass shield on her helmet. She was being pursued by two 
large players. The announcer's voice shouted, " It looks like No.39 and No.81 are 
gonna' try their luck against ball carrier No.13. They're just about to enter the 
obstacle part of the course...Wait a minute! No.13  has slowed down and is now 
between the pursuers! She seems to be trapped!" The two both struck. One with 
a long chain, similar to Armblessed's Alita thought, and the other with his fist, 
both in a blur. The impact caused a cloud a dust to shield No.13. When the dust 
cleared everyone at the bar gasped. No one was there! Just the chain and fist. " It 
appears," the annoucer continued, " That the ball and it's carrier are g-" Suddenly 
the two attackers fell to the ground, peice by peice. " What the h-!" Between the 
two dismantled, but still alive, bodies No.13 reappeared, ball still in hand. She 
looked at the piles of the players then continued the race. A roar from the crowd 
and bar nearly overcame the annoucer's voice. " Again! No.13 has ripped 
through more players folks! This is amazing! Let's see if we can replay that in 
slow mode to see what happened." The screen replayed the scence. At the 
bottom of it there was a timer. The weapons had come about one inch from her 
when she grabbed the chain. She whirled it around as she jumped up, slicing 
them from head to foot yet not hitting anything vital. After she let go of the 
chain she had jumped straight up and disappeared. The clock at the bottom 
read:0.009.
	" Incredible! In less than a second she wiped them out!! We are wittnessing 
a fantastic Motorball star in the making here folks!!" " Whoa!" Koyomi exclaimed. 
" That rocked! Don't ya agree, Alita?" Alita didn't answer.  She just stared at the 
screen showing the girl running into a set of bins.  Something in her mind 
flashed. A memory. It was fuzzy; she could only make out a girl surronded by 
people. One tried to hit her with a pipe but..." Hey! Alita!!" She snapped back to 
reality. " Are you okay? You just spaced out?" She nodded her head and turned 
back to the game. The girl was being chased by more racers. The largest of them 
was the closest. He reached out to grab the ball from her. She tapped her finger 
on his forehead. At a very fast speed he flew backwards into the stands causing 
them to rip apart. A sudden silence ran through the bar. The girl continued, 
never slowing. The others closed in behind her but she outran them. Soon she 
crossed the finish line. A cheer in the crowd, what was left of it, broke the silence 
and the bar echoed it. The winner of the race threw the ball in the air. " That's the 
ninth win in a row for No.13-" She took the helmet off and raised it above her 
head. " - Ken Tendou!!" Her short brown hair shone in the lights and surronded 
her delicate face. Her deep blue eyes seemed to glow. Alita stared at the girl, 
unable to move. The camera had zoomed to a closeup on the girl. Her eyes 
appeared to look straight through her. Figure had noticed Alita's sudden change 
of behavior. " Are you all right?" he asked her. " I think so." Her voice sounded 
distant. The crowd slowly decreased. " Alita?" Koyomi said. " What's with you? 
You're acting weird." She shoke her head. " I'm okay, really. It's just that..." her 
voice lowered, like she wasn't sure if what she was saying was true, "...I think I 
know that girl."

	Alita sqinted her eyes against the sun. It had been a week since she had 
seen the Motorball match but she still couldn't get the girl, Ken Tendou, out of 
her head. At night she couldn't sleep because her brain was working over time 
trying to come up with a reason for her reaction to seeing the Motorballer. She 
had asked around and found out that the girl had entered about three weeks ago 
and was already in the top of the second leuge. She used weird moves evertime 
someone attacked her but never to anyone that didn't. Alita convinced Figure 
and Koyomi to come with her to the Scrapyard to look for her. She had to at 
least talk to her or something or else she might go crazy. She jumped to the 
ground, glad to be on soild ground again. She scanned the place as Koyomi and 
Figure came down. There wasn't as much pollution in the air, as far as she could 
tell, the place that was Tirphares was know like a large tree and conected by a 
large pillar to the ground, the factories were long since abandaned. " Much has 
changed in five years," she thought. Figure jumped down. He pulled a crinkled 
piece of paper out of his pocket. " Her address is STR.6 BL.19 house 7. She should 
be there now." " What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Alita picked up her bag and 
started walking. Koyomi giggled, " Man, she really wants to find this girl doesn't 
she?" He nodded his head, half listening to her. Alita turned back to face them. " 
Come on, guys!" she laughed. Figure smiled. The past few years had been lonely 
without her around and he was happy she was back. He followed her as she 
reached the outside of the city. 
	They looked around for about thirty minutes before they found it. Alita 
nervously nocked on the door. She still wasn't sure what to do when she saw 
her. The door opened adn there stood a woman, probably a friend or 
something. " Can I help you?" she asked in a polite voice. 
" Um, is Ken Tendou here?"
" Yes. Are you fans?" 
Koyomi interrupted, " Oh yeah! We're big fans of her! Who couldn't be!"
" Acctually," Alita said, " I just want to ask her a few questions." The woman 
nodded her head and pulled the door open more so they could come inside. It 
was like anyother home would be: the living room had furniture and a telivision 
set, there was a kicthen and everything. But they didn't see Ken. As if reading 
their thoughts, the woman opened another door and motioned them to come 
through it. When they were inside the woman closed the door quickly and 
locked it. Figure tried to open it but it wouldn't buge. Suddenly the room 
became pitch black. Alita couldn't see what was happening but she could sense 
someone moving around at a fast pace around them. The person stopped in 
front of her. She felt them raise something toward her; they were going to 
strike! She blocked and held it with her hand. The lights turned back on. In front 
of Alita was Ken, her foot in the air held by Alita. She withdrew it and said, " 
You're good, even though you're only part human."
Alita stared at her, as did Koyomi and Figure. " ' Only part human'?"
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To be contiued in...
The Truth of Alita's Regenration
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