An Angel's Story: The KOF Tournament
Chapter 12
Legend of the Dark Prince
Rock was taken to the hospital after the match. After Rock finished his 'hospital food' he stared off into the distance thinking of his mother. He pulled out a picture of her from a pocket on the inside of his jacket and just stared at it and saw how much he resembled her. "I finally got my wings." He said like he was talking to the picture. "Though they didn't last very long. You're cheering for us right, either though you're in heaven?"
Suddenly Rock felt a hand on his bandaged forehead. "You fought well." Rock looked up to see his mother standing in front of him. She had light brown hair, red eyes, a smile that seemed so gentle, and beautiful angel wings that matched Rock's but the wing span was larger.
"But I lost."
Marie could only smile at her son's depression, which caused his to smile. "One day you'll become stronger than your father ever was and could only hope of becoming, in life and in death."
"Is that how I killed you?" stuttered Rock.
"You didn't kill me. I knew I was going to die the first time I found out I was pregnant with you."
Rock started to cry. "Mother…"
"I have no regrets. After all I gave birth to the most beautiful child my eyes could ever lay upon. Before I died, I held you once. Though you were only a baby, I knew that you were going to be something else. I also knew that Geese was going to die soon as well, I told Geese that I didn't want his life style for you, and I asked him to let Terry raise you in his place. But now I want you to accept Terry as your father because now he wants to refer to you as his son."
"Our meeting was destiny after all."
"Just remember I'll be watching you from above, and one thing is for certain that will always be true." She sat at Rock's bedside, while he sat up. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "My son…I love you with all my heart and soul."
"Mother…I love you too, with all my heart and soul as well." She disappeared leaving Rock by himself. He sighed. "Mother…" Rock woke up from his dream. He sat up in bed and held his head, for it was still throbbing in pain. There was a knock at the door. "Come in." called Rock. Terry, Joe, Andy, and Cali came barging in.
"Hey Rocky how are you feeling?" asked Joe.
"Now I have a bigger headache no thanks to you." Responded Rock out of sarcasm.
"Well you and K' made the front page." Said Andy handing a newspaper to Rock.
Rock read it piece by piece. "Teenage phenomenon fighters K' Dash and Rock Howard make big impact in the first round of the KOF tournament. Neither side backed down and both didn't stop until they're final assault. K' came out on top but Rock still fought hard as well. Dash's victory brought the whole Heroes Team to victory, because of the one fighter, three strikers style match. Now in round two Heroes Team will fight Team Japan, while Team Fatal Fury will have a chance against the Ikari Warriors."
The next day Rock was still injured and was still not in top condition. By rules of the tournament he automatically declared the striker for Team Fatal Fury in their next match. The Round one results stood:
Match 1: Heroes Team vs. Team Fatal Fury
(K' strikers: Maxima, Lin, Venessa) vs. (Rock strikers: Terry, Andy, Joe)
Winner: Heroes Team
Match 2: Psycho Soldiers vs. Ikari Warriors
(Chin, Bao, Athena striker: Kensou) vs. (Leona, Whip, Ralf striker: Clark)
Winner: Ikari Warriors
Match 3: Team Female Fighters vs. Team Korea
(Katsumi, Mai, Mary striker: Hinkao) vs. (Jhae Hoon, Chang, Choi striker: Kim)
Winner: Female Fighters
Match 4: Team Japan vs. Team Art of Fighting
(Shingo, Kyo, Seth striker: Bennimaru) vs. (Robert, Ryo, Yuri striker: King)
Winner: Team Art of Fighting
Because of these results the Round two matches stood:
Match 1: Psycho Soldiers vs. Female Fighters
(Chin, Athena, Kensou, Bao) vs. (Mai, Mary, Katsumi, Hinkao)
Match 2: Korea vs. Art of Fighting
(Kim, Jhae Hoon, Choi, Chang) vs. (Ryo, Robert, Yuri, King)
Match 3: Japan vs. Heroes
(Kyo, Shingo, Bennimaru, Seth) vs. (K', Maxima, Lin, Venessa)
Match 4: Fatal Fury vs. Ikari Warriors
(Terry, Andy, Joe, Rock) vs. (Ralf, Clark, Leona, Whip)
Being healed up the next day, Terry was able to take Rock back to the hotel. "Well our match is later this evening."
"And for showing them a great match, the officials gave us the last match of the day just to give you extra rest time, either though you're only the striker." Explained Andy.
"Yeah about that…sorry for taking all the glory of the match. I didn't even give you guys a time to strike."
"Don't worry about it Rocky. You've got to admit that was really cool." said Joe adding his two cents.
"It was cool. I especially loved your wings." Said Cali.
Rock walked up to her. "Did you?"
"We're going to go." Said Joe. "Give the two of you some 'alone time'." With that Terry, Andy, Joe left the room leaving Rock and Cali alone.
"I really did."
"I'm glad you did." He slowly kissed her.
That afternoon everybody was doing they're own separate things. Terry was out spending time with Mary, Andy was training and avoiding Mai, Joe was at a near by bar hanging out with some of the other fighters, and Rock was out with his girlfriend walking down the streets of Osaka.
They were walking down the streets until they ran into Iori. He was carrying the same tune, as he was when Rock had met him two months ago. "You again." He said. His voice had the same demonic mixed in with his, just like when the same demon possessed Rock.
"That's impossible!" shouted Rock. "How are you still alive?" Rock suddenly had a flashback.
Rock's flashback…
He was sitting on the floor of the jail cell, after he had gotten arrested for illegal street racing. Before he was released he had a few question for Mary. "You know when I came out of that alley, someone died…by accident."
"What makes you say that?" Mary was confused. "There was no blood stains and no evidence that someone was killed. There wasn't even a body. We saw someone there, but it was after we put you in the car."
"You fool you never killed me in the first place." Said Iori interrupting his trip down memory lane.
"Rock what's going on here?" asked Cali, who was hiding behind Rock out of fear.
"Just stay back."
"You're not even worth it." said Iori. "You're too hurt to fight."
Rock took off his jacket and handed it to Cali. "Don't lose that." He told her and he turned to Iori once more. "Would you like me to prove that you're wrong?" he said while spreading his wings once more.
"Save your energy child. I'm not the one you want."
Rock got in fighting stance. "Then who is?"
"The demon child. He's just like you but demonic instead of angelic. Killing the weak is his hobby, seeing others suffer is his favorite pastime, his favorite thing in the world is blood, hunting angels like you is what he does best. He's in Osaka, and his name is Raven. With every human there's a counter part, with every yin there's a yang, with every angel there's a demon. This child is the one you are destined to fight." He took a split second to look at Cali. "You better keep her close, or he will get her and when he does…he'll be licking her blood off his hand, and he's not even a vampire. Raven is much stronger than that. He has his wings as well, so watch out."
Rock and Cali watched as Iori walked away. He turned to her and hugged her tightly while his wings wrapped around her as well. "Who ever this guy is…he won't get to you or Terry, because I love the two of you too much."
"Brother…" she said under her breath.
Now we know who Rock is destined to fight and he's got his wings too. Who ever Raven is he's getting closer to Rock and his loved ones and is perhaps getting ready to kill them. But also read as round two of the competition begins. LP Alchemist