I.

Drops of sweat trickled down Sho Kusanagi's forehead and arms as he stared intently at his opponent. He kept his attention focused but his body relaxed, ready to make a move at any given moment. His shoulders and chest barely moved as he took in short breaths and adjusted his stance slightly, lowering his center of gravity.

Sho knew that his older brother, Kyo Kusanagi, would make a move in the next few seconds. Kyo stood opposite of him, practically doing the same thing as Sho—waiting and watching for the perfect moment to launch an attack. But while Sho's mind was racing through all the different attacks Kyo could do, Kyo was completely at ease. He completely cleared his mind and concentrated only on focusing his energy.

When Sho moved, Kyo stared at him, quickly analyzing how Sho's weight shifted, how his breathing intensified, which muscles tensed, and where Sho's eyes went. Kyo instantly knew that Sho was going to try a more advanced move.

"Flaming Whirlwind Kick!" Sho yelled as he launched in the air and gracefully transitioned into an impossible spinning kick, both legs enveloped in the trademark red flames wielded only by blood members of the Kusanagi clan. Sho whipped his legs around as the searing heat and flame shot toward Kyo.

It was a formidable attack and would have been particularly damaging if Kyo didn't possess a natural resistance to any mystical flame attack, courtesy of honing his own ability to control flames.

Kyo blocked each kick, reinforcing his arms with burning energy. He felt his footing slide backwards against the force of Sho's attack, but the attack didn't break through. The six-hit maneuver ended, and at that moment was the only moment that Sho was vulnerable.

Kyo already had his energy channeled in his arms. He breathed deeply, spreading the rest of it throughout his body, the fiery energy completely enveloping his body. Without hesitation, Kyo raised his hand in the air as flames danced around his entire body.

"Serpent Wave!" Kyo yelled as he pitched forward and released his energy into a focused wave of flaming force.

Sho had forgotten about the opening in his attack when he first launched it. Kyo moved too quickly for Sho to react, taking advantage of the opening. Sho hit the ground only to be bombarded by Kyo's flames. Though Sho shared the resistance to mystical flame attacks, the sheer force behind the attack blew him into the air and across the ring. He flailed for only a moment before hitting the ground. Hard.

Kyo's flames dissipated as he walked toward his fallen brother, who stirred and sat up. "The match is over, Sho."

Sho felt himself burn with anger. He hit his fist against the ground. "Dammit!"

"Hey, it was a good match. You've gotten a lot better," Kyo said as he offered his hand to help Sho to his feet. Sho slapped his hand away and stood quickly, his face contorted in anger.

Kyo recoiled from the slap, but wasn't surprised at his brother's reaction. Sho always grew angry at the end of their sparring matches, but his ire usually lasted a few days then he would finally start talking to Kyo. During those few days, Sho would usually seclude himself in the gym, breaking from practice only to use the bathroom and eat.

"Are you going to get mad again?" Kyo sincerely asked.

Sho clenched his fists by his sides as tears of anger blurred his vision. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing would come out. His anger had choked any kind of rational words from being spoken.

He gave Kyo one last look, spun on his heel, and stormed to the edge of the ring.

"Hey, it was a good match," Shingo Yabuki said as Sho neared the edge of the ring.

If Sho could have spoken, he would have harshly insulted Shingo. Instead, he avoided making any kind of eye contact, leaped over the top rope, landed softly, and left the gym without giving Shingo or Kyo a second glance.

Shingo watched Sho storm through the door then turned to Kyo. "He's mad again, huh?"

Kyo gratefully took the towel Shingo handed him and patted it across his forehead and arms. "He always gets mad. He's got to learn the weaknesses of his moves if he wants to get better. He just doesn't take losing well."

"And neither does his brother," Yuki smiled as she entered the gym, carrying a tray with three glasses of lemonade. "Why don't you take a break?"

Kyo leaped over the top rope and gracefully landed next to Yuki and grabbed a glass from the tray. The icy lemonade refreshed Kyo as he gulped it down. Shingo leaped down and grabbed a glass as well.

"Thanks, Yuki," Shingo said.

Yuki set the tray on a table near the ring, grabbed the last glass for herself, and took a seat. "Do you think you're being too hard on him?"

Kyo grabbed a chair, flipped it around, and sat with the back of the chair against his chest. He wiped his head again with the towel now draped around his shoulders. "Sho wants to be a fighter. I can't go easy on him. His opponents aren't going to go easy on him."

"But you're not his opponent, Kyo. You're his brother."

The words hung in the air. Kyo shook his head and knew that Yuki didn't understand. Being a fighter wasn't easy and he couldn't bear to see his brother get severely hurt or worse because he wasn't ready. So if Sho hated Kyo for being hard on him and making him stronger, Kyo was willing to take that chance.

Shingo noticed the lingering silence and immediately felt uncomfortable. "Sho's really getting better though," Shingo broke the silence. "Maybe we can enter the next King of fighters Tournament as a team."

Kyo shook his head. "He's not ready," he replied, leaving no room for discussion.

"I wouldn't admit this to his face, but Sho's better than I am and he can use the flames. He's definitely ready."

Kyo didn't reply. He was well aware that Sho was better than Shingo. Sho not only had natural ability, but he had been practicing with Kyo for years. There wasn't any reason for Sho to be anything but an awesome fighter. But that wasn't Kyo's intention.

He was well aware that the Orochi force was still lurking and that another confrontation was brewing. Since Ash Crimson had stolen the holy mirror from Chizuru Kagura after the last tournament, Kyo knew that something sinister was brewing. Not only did Ash wield a variant mystical flame, but many of the newcomers to the tournament were dangerous and had ulterior motives for entering. It was only a matter of time before another tournament was announced and whatever Ash was planning came to fruition.

Until then, Kyo practiced. And he pushed Sho even harder. There was no telling what would happen with the next tournament. Besides, he knew that Sho wanted to enter the King of Fighters Tournament. If he entered, there was a chance that he would have to face Orochi, and Kyo couldn't bear to let him go unprepared. If anything, Sho was a formidable force that could represent the Kusanagi clan against the Orochi.

"I know that. But I don't know if he does," Kyo quietly replied.

Yuki set her lemonade on the table. "Then it's your job as his older brother to let him know that. Kyo, I know how important fighting is to you and the important role you have as heir to the Kusanagi mantle, but Sho shares that responsibility with you. All you're doing now is pushing him away. When you need him the most, he's not going to be there."

Kyo locked eyes with Yuki. Just looking into her azure eyes was enough to clear the thoughts from his mind. He had been hard on Sho and thought it was for his own good. But Kyo knew that Yuki was right. For his age, Sho was truly a gifted fighter, and there was no one else Kyo would want to help defend the Kusanagi mantle.

"I'll go talk to him," Kyo finally said. He put his half-empty glass on the table and rose from the chair. "Shingo, it's your turn when I come back."

Shingo's smile broadened. "I've been studying and I'm ready, coach!"

Kyo caressed Yuki's face with the back of his hand then exited the gym. He made a few turns down the hallway and came to Sho's door. Kyo took a deep breath, ready for Sho's verbal assault, and rapped lightly on the door.

"Sho, are you in there?"

Kyo waited for a moment then opened the door and stopped. He saw that Sho had changed clothes, his sweatpants and t-shirt discarded in the corner of his room. Kyo knew that Sho had gone out to clear his head, a habit he had picked up from Kyo.

He just hoped that Sho didn't get into any trouble while he was out. Kyo hit his hand against the doorframe and frowned. Instead of going out to search for Sho, he settled on having a talk with Sho when he returned, and hoped that Sho would be clearheaded enough to listen.

II.

Damn Kyo!

The brisk evening breeze did nothing to cool Sho's fiery anger. He was angry at many different things. He was mad because Kyo always knew where all his weaknesses were and how to expose them. He was mad because he couldn't be the fighter that Kyo was. He was mad because he didn't feel that he could possibly live up to the responsibility of being a member of the Kusanagi clan. Most of all, he was mad that he was beaten once again.

Sho stuck his hands in his jean pockets and lowered his head into the strengthening breeze. Leaves whipped around and small trees swayed against the wind.

The thing that Sho was most afraid of was being stuck in his brother's shadow. Kyo Kusanagi was well-known for his fighting prowess displayed in the King of Fighters Tournament year after year. He and his partners, Benimaru Nikaido and Goro Daimon were the poster kids for King of Fighters. How could Sho ever surpass or even live up to that kind of status?

Besides that, any compliment that Kyo gave was nothing but a hollow attempt to be nice. Sho was positive Kyo thought that he was a terrible fighter, which is why he treated Sho the way he did. That's why Sho never acknowledged any compliment Kyo offered. It wasn't real.

About thirty minutes had passed since Sho had sneaked out of the house and into the night for some fresh air. The dusk sky quickly turned to night and Sho found himself much farther in the city than he meant to be.

Deciding to head back, Sho turned around to head back home. He was thankful for the usually quiet night so he didn't have to make idle conversation with anyone that recognized him. Sho was content sulking and didn't want to talk to anyone. Right now though, he wanted to get back to take a hot shower and climb into bed. Sho figured he would deal with Kyo tomorrow.

Sho retraced his steps to his neighborhood when he felt a strange shift in the air. It was an abnormal change in the atmosphere, probably nothing, but Sho felt compelled to investigate. He peered down a dark alley, and immediately felt something powerful lurking somewhere in the darkness. It wasn't something but someone.

Now, this of course was one of those defining moments in horror movies, where some hapless soul wandered down the wrong alley and was torn to shreds by whatever monster had crawled from the sewer depths or clambered out of a spaceship. Sho chuckled to himself as he realized he watched way too many horror movies.

Sho stepped hesitantly down the alleyway, keenly aware of how empty the streets suddenly seemed and how alone he felt. Sho wasn't scared by any means, but he knew that whatever was in the alleyway was extremely dangerous.

The foreboding shadows teemed with life as Sho passed by them. He attributed to his imagination until the shadows flowed toward a central location in front of Sho. The shadows, converging in the middle of the alleyway, created a large black, vertical pool of thick darkness. Sho took a step back in disbelief, but kept his eyes glued to the scene before him. It was unreal, yet he knew from a feeling deep in his soul that it was real. And whatever was happening, it was meant just for him.

The still pool was disturbed, and slowly, a figure emerged from the black pool. A man—broad shoulders, Olympian build, at least a foot taller than Sho, expensive charcoal suit, sunglasses—loomed in front of Sho and gave him a nefarious smile.

"Sho Kusanagi, I've been waiting for you," the man said. His deep voice demanded attention and respect, and his posture conveyed arrogance and dominance over anything he saw. Sho immediately disliked him.

"Who the hell are you?"

The hulking man simply smiled as he reached in his coat and pulled out a sealed envelope. He tossed it at Sho's feet. Sho glanced down at the envelope, but when he returned his gaze to the man, he was gone. The unnatural energy that had sparked was gone as well. Sho was left alone in the alley with the envelope that the stranger had left behind.

He immediately began to doubt what he had seen. It didn't make sense. A strange man in a suit has stepped from an inky pool to invite him to a fighting tournament. Sho scoffed at the story even as he went over it in his mind. It couldn't have been, yet there was something about this whole situation that reeked of wrongness.

Sho grabbed the envelope from the ground and tore it open then pulled out a tri-folded sheet of paper.

Mr. Sho Kusanagi,

You are cordially invited to participate in the first-ever Regal Tournament, a preliminary tournament for the 11th King of Fighters Tournament. We greatly appreciate your acceptance to attend this grand event set to begin in three days.

The rules will be the same as the King of Fighters Tournament. You will enter as a three-man team, participating in the single elimination tournament to ultimately face the sponsor of the tournament. Your team is eliminated from the tournament when all three of your team members are defeated in a single match.

The winner of this tournament will earn a guaranteed spot in the upcoming King of Fighters Tournament as well as a $10,000 grand prize.

Again, we look forward to your team's participation in this tournament.

Sincerely,

Mr. Shinjo Takabayashi

Sho finished the letter and immediately looked around. He was waiting for Kyo or Shingo to run out of hiding, laughing at him for actually thinking he had been invited to participate in a tournament. They would admit that the suited man was some elaborate trick they had set up, and they would all laugh about how startled Sho was.

He stood there for a few moments, but no stifled giggling erupted from some hiding spot. Kyo and Shingo didn't jump out with fake monster noises, laughing uncontrollably. Sho was alone in the alleyway with an invitation in his hand. Everything that had happened was real, which scared Sho even more.

But why him? He reread the letter and realized that the tournament was actually some kind of talent search for King of Fighters. Someone had gotten a promotion in marketing for creating the idea of garnering new blood for the King of Fighters. People loved the familiar faces like Terry Bogard, Ryo Sakazaki, Athena Asamiya and Kyo Kusanagi, but the fans absolutely adored fresh blood.

He folded the letter carefully and began to place it back into the envelope when he saw two other pieces of paper in the envelope. Sho pulled them out and found information printed on the both of them.

Kaori Shiranui

142 Rosa Ave.

Mikado Asahara

151 Fallen Oak Dr.

Sho instantly recognized the name Shiranui. An ancient clan of ninjas, the Shiranuis were now represented by its latest descendants, Mai and Hokutomaru. Mai was extremely popular as a consistent participant in the King of Fighters Tournament. And he had heard of Hokutomaru honing his fighting skills a while ago. But Sho couldn't remember hearing about someone named Kaori Shiranui.

Then there was Mikado Asahara. He definitely hadn't heard of anyone with that name.

Sho quickly conclude that these two individuals must be his partners for the tournament. Though Sho was more than a little disgruntled that he apparently couldn't choose his own partners, he was also relieved that he didn't. Surely Shingo would have wanted to enter with him, and Sho really didn't want anything to do with him when it came to a tournament. This was his chance to show Kyo that he was an awesome fighter—much better than Kyo gave him credit for.

He shoved the papers back into the envelope and started a light jog back home. The strange man was still on his mind, but the anticipation of a fighting tournament won out. Tomorrow, he would seek out Kaori and Mikado, and hopefully, create the team that would win the tournament. Finding out exactly who that man was would have to wait until after the tournament.

However, Sho didn't realize that the man and the tournament were intertwined, and Sho had just become involved in something much stranger and dangerous than he could have imagined.

III.

"What?" Shingo exclaimed. He sat on the edge of Sho's full-sized bed, still rumpled from Sho's tossing and turning, unable to sleep because of the sheer excitement pulsating through his body.

Sho had gotten up early, avoiding Kyo at all costs, showered, grabbed some breakfast courtesy of Yuki, and prepared to explore the neighborhood his two new partners lived in. Because he was so excited, he couldn't help telling someone. And that someone was Shingo.

"I'm going to find Kaori and Mikado today. We're going to have to spend the next few days getting to know each other before the tournament starts," Sho explained. He ran his fingers through his short brown hair and straightened his t-shirt. His baggy jeans, brown shoes, leather wrist band completely the trendy look Sho had adopted.

"You can always substitute me in for one of those guys," Shingo suggested.

Sho detected a hint of jealousy in his voice, which only broadened his smile. "Well, doesn't Kyo need a punching bag while I'm involved with this? You'd be perfect."

"Whatever. I'm going with you, or I'm telling Kyo."

Sho abruptly froze. "What? You're going to be a big baby because you didn't get invited to the tournament and blackmail your way into being involved?"

Shingo narrowed his eyes. "I'm not blackmailing you at all. It's simple. Take me along and your secret is safe. Leave me here, and I tell Kyo. He definitely won't let you enter the tournament."

Sho felt anger rising in the pit of his stomach. Shingo was just as bad as Kyo—maybe worse! Instead of being glad for him, Shingo could only think about himself and becoming Kyo's best student. What a loser.

"Whatever. If you're going to act like that then I guess I don't have a choice. You're not fighting on my team. It's already been decided."

Shingo stood and smiled, thrusting his fist in the air. "I will be the best teammate ever!"

Sho swore he felt a drop of sweat trickle down the side of his face. "Shingo, didn't you hear what I said? You're not on my team. You can be our water boy or something."

"Oh, the villains we shall face...it makes my blood run hot with anticipation."

Sho scratched his head. "I swear you watch too many drama shows. Who really talks like that?"

Shingo snapped his head toward Sho, his eyes burning with excitement. "When you're in a tournament, you have to cater to the fans. They love to hear that kind of talk."

"I just want to fight, not win a Daytime Emmy."

Shingo sauntered over and threw his arm around Sho. "I see that you have a lot to learn about being a charismatic fighter, and I'm just the person to teach you. You and your mysterious teammates."

Sho realized what a mistake it was taking Shingo along. But in the end, it was better than having Kyo find out too soon that he was entering a fighting tournament. Maybe, just maybe, Shingo would come in handy.

Notes:

King of Fighters and all characters belong to SNK.