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Radiant Falcon Fan Works #12

Neo Geo Chronicles Pro

When we last left off, we started this off with K' and his pals, though whether or not you can call Maxima and Kula pals, I'm not sure. Don't worry, K' fans, you'll be seeing more of your favorite white-haired beast of prey soon. For now, let's talk Shanghai. Shanghai Team, to be exact. Yes, we are involving Shen Woo in this.


While the majority of King of Fighters tournaments start and end in the west coast city of South Town, the actual tournament takes place in cities all over the world. Teams don't even have to pay for transportation to these various locales, as that's covered by the sponsor(s) of the year. The last time a KOF tournament occurred, it was sponsored by the Rugal Bernstein's surviving daughter Rose (though Those from the Distant Land had something to do with it too. Not that anyone would know about that, though.) Adelheid Bernstein, Rose's older brother, participated in a tournament or two, but was preoccupied in the last one. This time, though, Rose and Adelheid are taking a much deserved break from sponsorship and letting some other billionaire handle it. Teams do have to actually make it to each location to compete, though, and that has never been covered by the sponsor(s), ever since the tournament's inception in 1994.

The point is, while KOF is primarily a South Town event, the tournament is also a world tour. The last time Shanghai native and self-proclaimed "God of War" Shen Woo entered a tournament was fairly recently, in KOF #13. He and his Flying Brigand friend Duo Lon, who've been in three tournaments together (#10, #11, and #13. the #12 tournament was technically a test of the current format, and as a result had a smaller roster) were touring with a mutual French friend of theirs by the name of Ash Crimson. Shen and Duo Lon knew each other for the longest time, and around the time of #13, Ash had completely vanished. But Ash didn't just vanish, he had caused his ancestor Saiki to die, which led into him being completely erased from existence. But since Saiki didn't exist, Ash wouldn't have existed either, which ultimately contradicted history and thus Ash himself was erased. Not that anyone would know about that, though. No one, not even Ash's best friends, knew his true intentions were to kill Saiki or even who he truly was. Basically, he was a time traveler with power-stealing abilities.

As a result of this time traveling adventure that literally no-one knows about (save Commander Heidern of the Ikari Warriors, but he's not telling anyone), Shen and Duo Lon parted ways. The last anyone had heard from them, Shen was back in Shanghai and Duo Lon headed back up to Nepal to train. They still talked to each other, but they just lived in two different countries. I say lived, because Shen Woo's home was the streets of Shanghai and Duo Lon's, the mountains of Nepal. This changed when Shen received a call from his former teammate Elizabeth Blanctorche, another friend of Ash Crimson and a noblewoman (well, as noble as France's democratic government would allow, anyway.)

-=2 STAGE: Shanghai Team=-

-=Shen/Duo Lon/Nakoruru=-

Shen Woo and that American fighter by the name of Terry Bogard shared a lot of similarities, but while Terry never could hold on to a job, Shen actually managed to just now land one in a local nightclub as a bouncer. It was hard work, but Shen did get to punch a dude when they acted out of line, so he didn't mind. At the rate he was going, he'd be able to afford a car. He owned a phone, but he hardly used it outside of calling Duo Lon or trying to call this unlisted number in his phone. He should probably delete it from his history, but something told him he should hold onto it. After all, it might be someone cool, like a noblewoman from France or something.

As the phone rung, Shen quickly answered it. The voice on the other line said "Hello, Shen?"

son of a bitch, it was Elizabeth. Talk about speaking of the devil. "Liz! Long time no see!"

"I told you before not to call me that."

"Sorry, you know how casual I am."

"I'd rather go with crude and unprofessional." the noblewoman stated matter-of-factly. "Duo Lon in fact requested that he rendezvous with you in Japan. I've not a clue why."

"That's because me an' him go way back. Maybe he wants to meet up again?" Shen then asked "what's ol' DL doing all the way in Japan?"

"He did not explain himself. He sent a letter requesting, 'Get Shen Woo in Japan by the -ahem- Witching Hour' and to be honest, I'm not sure how to interpret such a thing."

Shen had no clue what a Witching Hour was, but he understood what Duo Lon meant. "I have already arranged for your transportation. All you need to do is reach the airport."

"Anything else you'd like me to know, Lizzy?"

Elizabeth had already hung up.

-2003-

Duo Lon, the world's first true shadow warrior. His clan, the Flying Brigands, dated back to perhaps the early 400s BCE, possibly earlier. They had considerable influence in the underworld, and yet he himself walked the straight and narrow. Duo Lon was mysterious and often times calculating, but he was never antisocial. That was best left to one of his fellow students of the shadow arts, Lin, whom he had personally dealt with already. Though sometimes classified as goth (the guy often used gothic terminology, hence the 'by the witching hour' comment earlier, so such a connotation was inevitable), Duo Lon was a very nice guy, and was rarely defeated by his enemies. Opponents in KOF got him a few times, but never his clan's enemies.

Despite this, the airport he was supposed to meet his old friend Shen Woo at was defeating him. Duo Lon had a fair sense of direction and could read the layout well. He didn't need so much a map. But the airport was testing that. As Douglas Adams once said, "Airports are ugly. Some are very ugly. Some attain a degree of ugliness that can only be the result of a special effort." As he thought himself a decent survival expert, he knew he should ask for a map or at the very least directions to Arrival Gate 4K, but the shadows told him all he needed to know. Yet the shadows were thinning, and if he didn't find the gate before nightfall, there would hardly be a shadow to read. Then he heard a young, cocky voice belonging to a man in a pink shirt with a dragon on it."Yo! Duo Lon!"

There he was. "Ah, Shen Woo, you made it!" Duo Lon greeted his longtime friend. "How are things in Shanghai?"

"Could ask for worse. What's up, man? You felt like bein' a tourist all of a sudden?"

Duo Lon laughed. "It's good to see you too. Let us leave, I am beginning to despise airports."

as the two men strode to the baggage claim, a young lady with very extravagant hair and a conspicuous lolita-style dress pulled out her phone. "boss, it's me. I found them." after hanging up, she decided to trail the men.

-2003-

"So what are we doing here in Japan?" Shen wondered, having reached the baggage claim. "I mean, I know that Lizzy B sent me here for something, but what?"

Duo Lon explained "I am glad you made it, Shen. I've found something very fascinating regarding historical texts."

"Whoa whoa whoa," the other gentleman complained. "no one said anythin' about reading."

"Do not be so hasty. I will give you the condensed version. You know that Japan has a very rich history and background."

"I live in Shanghai, DL"

Duo Lon was undeterred. "You should also know that among Japan's history was a samurai by the name of Haohmaru, yes?"

"Nope. Never heard of him."

"He was one of the greatest samurai that ever lived, and some say his spirit walks among us now."

Shen Woo tried to put two and two together. All he came up with was "This Haohmaru is here in Japan, huh?" Duo Lon responded with, "I have been searching through recorded history, and I have yet to discover a phantom samurai such as he. No."

"Why bring the guy up. then?"

"Because my fellow Flying Brigands in Japan found a young woman resembling a woman Haohmaru was historically infatuated with, by the name of Nakoruru. I'm not so sure if she's truly the same one, however."

Shen Woo, brought up to understand that you shouldn't mess with another's girl, asked the first question that was on his mind. "She's taken, isn't she?"

"Haohmaru is long dead, Shen, so presumably not."

"Cool, dibs."

Duo Lon lightly clutched his forehead with his left hand. "You can be insufferable at times, Shen." he said, to which the young blonde said "You're welcome."

-2003-

That night, on the streets of Japan, a young woman wearing a white cloak was strolling. Though no one could figure out if she was a cosplayer or an actress trying to get into character or something along those lines, if she told you what she really was, you probably wouldn't believe her. Her name was Nakoruru, and she had come from an era of great conflict and chaos... last year, about three days after the events of KOF #13. One minute she was in Kyoto, Japan, circa late fifteenth century. The next, 21st century Osaka. At first, she thought 'this is a premonition of the future'. Then she was hit by a car after she wandered into the road. One way trips through time and space suck, however, and she woke up about thirty minutes later in a modern day house belonging to Shingo Yabuki, former KOF competitor of Japan Team, and current university scholar. Come a month later, she realized 'Well, this is my life now. Better make the most of it.' and found herself training a hawk, much like she used to do in her original time. It should be noted that in her time, she is a nature priestess with ties to legendary swordsman Haohmaru. In fact, she still has her ties to nature, having a habit of growing her own food and -whenever she went out- making sure to buy fresh.

Nakoruru removed her cloak's hood after she reached the end of the street she was strolling down. Admittedly, Osaka was a great city in her original time, and now it got greater, but it mostly got much brighter. That was something she never truly got used to. Anonymity in this day and age was a great thing, and she was glad no one recognized her, despite her being the only one with a cloak on. Her black hair helped, there were a ton of cosplayers in the area with black hair, and most people assumed she was one of them.

That is, except for those who were looking for her. Duo Lon and Shen Woo were also strolling down that street, albeit in the opposite direction. Shen was looking at a picture on his phone regarding a girl in a white shirt with leather gloves, white japanese pants going past her knees, and white leather boots, all of which with a red trim. She was carrying a Japanese dagger and was followed by a red hawk. "This is Nakoruru?" he asked. "She's shorter than I imagined." Little did he know Nakoruru was listening. "May I help you?" she asked. "Well, at least you didn't run into her, Shen." Duo Lon remarked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Sorry, my dear. My vagabond companion here has a habit of running into attractive young women. We're looking for someone named Nakoruru; no last name, just Nakoruru. I suppose you are she?"

If nothing else, Nakoruru was honest. She admitted that she was Nakoruru. Shen said "I hate to even say it, especially to a living legend like yourself, but you're going to need to come with us."

"You don't look very trustworthy."

Shen was afraid of that. Before he could make a move, the priestess said "Your friend here, on the other hand, seems honorable. I will join you." Both Duo Lon and Shen Woo breathed a sigh of relief. "Provided you fulfill one prerequisite." she continued. "Name it." Duo Lon responded.

Nakoruru had requested to be tied up and led to her home that she shared with a young fighter. Shen Woo remarked, "I didn't know she was into this kind of stuff, D.L. I guess you pick up on a few things living in the past as long as she had." Duo Lon responded, "If I'm not mistaken, Shen, this is a test of character. You would do well to treat her delicately; you would cause loss of circulation tugging like that."

"What I want to know is who does Nakoruru live with. It's one thing for her to want to go home, but it's a whole other ballgame asking us to 'escort' her like this."

"Well, no use complaining about it now. We'll have to stay the night at her place, then take her with us to South Town."

"And we're going to South Town, why?"

-=second stage completion=-

TEAM SPOTLIGHT: Shanghai Team

Shen Woo is a young fighter from Shanghai, China, without special powers or advanced chi. His whole life and fighting prowess was developed on the streets; though he has picked up a fair amount of chi deflecting projectiles with his bare hands.

Duo Lon is a member of the Flying Brigands of Nepal, and a long time friend of Shen Woo. Though his leg appears broken during battles, that is merely a ploy developed to fake out those that would underestimate him. He controls the power of Shadows.

Nakoruru is a nature priestess, and a huntress from Japan, circa the late fifteenth century CE. Her trip through time to today is one way, and a lot of her friends are long dead. Despite this, she keeps a level head and a red hawk named Mamahata