|
|
|
Soul Edge
|
|
Soul Calibur V
Maxi drew power from the fragment of the cursed sword Soul Edge still lodged in his body, but it came with a price. Even after defeating Astaroth and avenging his crewmates, he remained consumed with an insatiable lust for revenge.
Not wanting to drag his friends down with him, Maxi left Kilik and Xianghua to walk a dark and lonely path. Living in the shadows, his humanity gradually slipped away - until he found salvation at the hands of Edge Master, Kilik's former teacher. The old man taught Maaxi how to live with the shard of the cursed sword he carried within him, and in time, Maxi managed to suppress its foul influence.
Over the course of the next eight years, Maxi's jovial temperament returned. He even started to joke about the unusually slow rate at which his body was aging, and how easy it was to pass as a young man.
Perhaps sensing the time had come, Edge Master base Maxi to listen well. Kilik's life was in danger, he said, and there was only one way to save him: Kilik must bequeath his weapon, the Kali-Yuga, to a boy named Xiba. But alas, Xiba wjas still so young and innocent...
Realizing what his teacher was asking, Maxi volunteered to mentor Xiba, and led his young disciple west, on a quest to save a dear friend...
|
|
|
|
Soul Calibur
Maxi was carefree pirate from the Ryukyu Kingdom who travelled to wherever the winds would take him. One day, while anchored at an Indian port, his ship came under attack during his absence by a horde of monsters led by Astaroth.
By coincidence, Kilik was there as well, and so they both joined in the battle against the horde. After a fierce battle, they repelled the monsters, but not before one of them snatched the Dvapara-Yuga away from Kilik. Kilik lost his sense of reason and attacked Maxi.
Maxi barely succeded in supressing Kilik, but by then the monsters that massacred his sworn brother Kyam and many of his crew were nowhere to be seen...
Having lost all that he held dear, Maxi chose to travel with Kilik and swore an oath of revenge against Astaroth.
|
|
|
|
Soul Calibur 2
We lose the certain things, while we seek the uncertain ones.
-Latin proverb
Maxi, the pirate from Ryukyu (present-day Okinawa, Japan), led a crew of trustworthy men and lived carefree on the high seas. Having traveled throughout the seas of Asia, Maxi looked to the west for new lands to explore and sailed a southerly route towards Europe. While docked at a harbor in India, he encountered Kilik, a young man searching for Soul Edge.
Unfortunately, this proved to be a star-crossed encounter.
The hidden evil resident within Kilik attracted unwanted attention from a horde of monsters. The ensuing battle took the lives of Maxi's crew, who were helpless against these nightmarish foes. Kilik and Maxi were the only survivors of the bloody carnage.
After the massacre, Maxi traveled with Kilik and swore to seek revenge for his fallen comrades. Maxi was certain that Astaroth, the leader of the monsters, would appear before Kilik once again.
Xianghua later joined their journey, and the three of them headed towards Europe. The travels through unfamiliar lands strengthened the friendships between Maxi and his new companions.
Eventually, the group made their way into Nightmare's stronghold. Nightmare, who possessed Soul Edge, commanded his horde to attack the intruders. Maxi recognized them as the same monsters that murdered his crew; he knew that his sworn enemy was nearby. Almost as if to acknowledge Maxi's presence, a hulking silhouette emerged from the shadows.
Maxi forced his companions to go on while he stayed behind to confront Astaroth. He used every ounce of his strength and avenged his fallen crew by destroying the golem, but at a price- Maxi suffered grave injuries during the battle.
Immediately after Astaroth's defeat, the outraged god of war commanded the earth to swallow up the weakened pirate. Unconscious, Maxi fell into a river that flowed deep underground and was carried away quietly by its icy currents.
Above ground, the only trace of Maxi left behind was his nunchaku.
When Maxi awoke, he found himself resting on a riverbank. His mind was lucid, but he could not feel his extremities. He soon realized that he had suffered debilitating injuries that prevented him from moving freely.
Fortunately, a person from a nearby village rescued Maxi, and took him to the village. With his vast knowledge, strong sense of duty, and likeable personality, it did not take long for Maxi to be accepted by the villagers. After some time, his strength began to return, but his arms and legs would not heal- it seemed unlikely that he would be able to return to his carefree, nomadic lifestyle.
Nevertheless, Maxi was satisfied with his new life. He had exacted his revenge against the one responsible for his crew's death. Although he was curious about Kilik and Xianghua's fortunes, as long as the peace continued, he believed that they had vanquished the root of the evil. "I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life here in this village," thought Maxi.
Four years passed, then a rumor reached the village. "When the enormous man with a gigantic axe comes through... Nothing remains in his wake!"
Maxi had a horrible feeling that it was him. The more information he gathered, the more convinced he became that it was indeed Astaroth. "That freak is still alive. How can I be here, living peacefully, when I haven't avenged my crew?" Unfortunately, his limbs still refused to move.
As if he were reading Maxi's mind, an elderly village medicine man paid him a visit. "If you wish to gain something of value, then you must part with something of equal value," counseled the elder.
Maxi implored the elder and convinced him to treat his injuries with his secret arts. The elder had found a peculiar rare metal fragment recently and used that precious item for the mysterious treatment.
Several days later, Maxi left the village with the promise to return one day.
In exchange for the restoration of his limbs to seek revenge, Maxi lost something just as precious as the slain comrades he swore to avenge- the memories of Kilik and Xianghua.
|
|
|
|
Soul Calibur 3
Strides a stranger, the heart within him
A wilder thing than wind or billows.
-"Die Nacht am Strande," Heinrich Heine
In order to avenge his comrades, Maxi continued his journey in pursuit of Astaroth.
"I'm coming for you, you freak!" He followed the rumors of a giant with a huge ax to a ruin half-buried in the desert sands. From a distance, it had appeared to be an ancient ruin, but it seemed it was actually some sort of temple that had been destroyed only recently.
In various places throughout the rubble were signs that an enormous power had rampaged through here. It was almost certainly the work of the one he sought. Though he had reaffirmed the danger of Astaroth's power, he could not allow himself to falter.
Continuing his search for clues, he found a lone man in tattered clothes sitting, clutching his knees in the remnants of the temple. He gripped something in his hand and mumbled incoherently. Maxi cursed at the pitiful sight of the man and looked around the area once more.
It was quiet. The sky stretched to the ends of the desert. There was not a cloud in sight. It seemed that his sworn enemy had already left this place. Any clue might help his search. Not expecting much, he asked the apparent survivor of the catastrophe if he knew where the monster had gone. Up until then, the man had completely ignored Maxi, but he jumped when asked about Astaroth. From his mouth came a stream of curses.
"A cursed failure. Useless piece of junk. Damned clay puppet..."
A cold shock ran through Maxi's mind. "A failure?" As he looked upon this disheveled man, Maxi felt an irrepressible urge to kill rising within him.
"You made...that thing?" Maxi felt a cold, calm emotion, far beyond anger. The man did not answer. When Maxi drew his weapon, the object the man held began to change. It was a small metal fragment that glowed with a faint red light. Noticing the light, the man looked at Maxi for the first time. Madness showed in his eyes.
"You have Soul Edge inside your body? Marvelous! What a marvelous specimen. My--"
Two dry thuds echoed in place of the end of his sentence.
The fragment of the cursed sword fell from the dead man's body and landed noisily on the stone floor. Maxi looked at the red light given off by the fragment and murmured to himself.
"I have Soul Edge inside my body?" It was true that he felt some sort of impulse, almost like a resonance from within his body. It was then that he felt an uneasy throbbing inside his heart. It was a dark, evil emotion, born when he felt the desire to kill the man that had given birth to Astaroth. A terrifying sensation filled him, as if trying to steep his entire self in darkness.
Feeling an unidentifiable sense of dread, he kicked away the fragment that lay on the floor. The fragment slipped through a crack in the rubble and disappeared deep into the earth. A regretful echo sounded out across the empty sky.
Cold sweat poured from his entire body, and he began shuddering in fear. He felt like he was about to let go of his own will. A certain figure flashed through his mind. There was someone who had lost himself, and then turned to darkness after he lost everything. Maxi remembered the suffering figure of the man after the man had returned to his senses. But now Maxi couldn't remember who it was.
It wasn't someone from his family, but it was definitely someone important to him...
Only that memory was missing. It was a frustrating feeling. No matter how hard he thought, it was just beyond reach. Had he forgotten something very important? He felt a tinge of uneasiness, but he soon raised his head. Right now, he knew what he needed to do.
Setting out once again in search of Astaroth, he put the silent ruin behind him and soon disappeared over the horizon.
|
|
|
|
Soul Calibur IV
Maxi had come to a trading port in India to pay his respects to his friends who had been murdered by grotesque creatures, and renew his vow to avenge them. There he reunited with Kilik and Xianghua, and long-forgotten memories came flooding back. But while Maxi's body was a host to a fragment of the cursed sword and Kilik held a piece of the Dvapara-Yuga, they could not journey together. Thus, Maxi had to make a painful decision to turn his back on his friends and their entreaties, and leave them behind.
Maxi went to the woods to take shelter from a squall, and as he brooded there in the darkness, he was visited by a disciple of the cursed sword. A girl who had fallen into darkness. "I know about him, you know," she whispered eerily. "That mud puppet you're chasing." The enemy against whom he had sword revenge was growing stronger, she continued. Maxi's current strength was no match for that monster; there was only one way, Soul Edge. Only with the power of the cursed sword could he win.
Maxi continued to stare her down in silent malice, but she had him now. In parting, she told him of Ostrheinsburg, the cursed land. That was where he could find both Soul Edge and his revenge.
The rain had stopped, but the menacing dark clouds lingered in the sky, blocking the rays of the sun.
(It's so dark.)
Maxi noticed now that the path leading deeper into the forest was covered by folded curtains of shadows. It was darker than anything he had ever seen, but he would brave the darkness. Each step Maxi tok was heavy and slow, and his legs seemed to creak with pain, but he did not stop.
|