Shikkoku: I don't own The King of Fighters. I do own any original characters that appear in this and the plot of this story.

Nothing else to say but enjoy the story!

Kurai Tenshi: Keppaku

By Shikkoku Kiyoshi

The mall. Usually a place for people to hang out, eat, spend ridiculous amounts of money on shit they don't need, and all around have fun.

Malin, on the other hand, was bored to tears.

All of the people she usually hangs out with were on their stupid vacations. So she was walking around the mall alone, wishing something would happen. A riot, a fire, a robbery, a bomb threat, some excuse for her to take out her weapons and kick someone's ass. She never had much in the way of close friends. She made many in the two King of Fighter tournaments she participated in, but besides Kasumi Todoh and Hinako Shijou (who she considered her best friends), no one was very close to her. So she trudged across the mall's floor alone, seemingly looking for something to excite her.

Then she saw him.

A gray haired man, wearing a long jacket, and dark pants. But what caught her eyes was, the small spots of red that decorated he man's otherwise white shirt, and there were some holes that appeared in a few spots. He had a slight thing about the way he walked that made him look like he had been injured.

She thought back to the news report yesterday. They said that the victim was shot several times, but survived. Could he be who they were talking about?

Nah.

Why would he be at a place like the mall and not in the hospital like a normal human being would go after being shot.? Maybe he's one of those people that can get shot point blank and still live, like in the comics TV.

Her instinct told her to follow the man, hoping this would give her something fun to do, or at the very least, give her somebody to fight.

Epsilon had decided to take a pretty big risk and go to the mall.

Of course, saying it was a 'pretty big' risk was a 'pretty big' understatement.

He had a bounty on his head. He was injured. There was too many possible collaterals' to risk having a massive battle there. Not to mention, he stuck out like a sore thumb wearing the exact same clothes he wore yesterday.

But the brand new light-shooter was out, and he had to go to the arcade and play it.

For about 90 minutes.

To him, it was something he needed to do to get his mind off of his situation.

"I must not care that much about being captured." he thought, "For all I know, I'm probably being followed right at this very moment." He turned around to see that no one was acting suspicious. "I don't think I should stay here. My wounds are still open, and I can't fight without re-injuring myself."

Epsilon walked casually to the exit in order not to make a scene, and walked through the lot, but he sensed someone behind him. He slowly turned his head around to look. She looked no younger than him, with long blond hair running past shoulders, brown eyes, wearing a reddish brown shirt, and a short white skirt. He tensed up, preparing to run like hell at the slightest sign of trouble.

"And how may I help you?" Epsilon said with a small smile, trying to be nice.

"May I ask you why your shirt looks so messed up?" The girl asked.

A slight relief came over Epsilon, since she wasn't a bounty hunter, but he couldn't afford more innocent victims, or more people wanting to cash him in. So he did what any smart man would do.

Lie.

"It's a design. It's a part of the shirt." He said, struggling to keep a straight face. "It's brand new, right out of the store."

The girl didn't buy it. "But they're on your jacket too."

"It's part of the set." Epsilon thought it might work.

"Your shirt has blood on it." The girl grinned. "Or is that part of the set too?"

Epsilon facefaulted. He wasn't very good at bullshitting his way out of situations anyway.

"So," the girl tapped the toe of her shoe on the ground. "Are you going to tell me the truth?"

The young boy frowned. "And what if I don't?"

The girl took out a large mallet. "I'll have to smash it out of you." She tied her hair with a bandana.

Epsilon sighed. He really didn't need a fight right now. But part of him was screaming for massive bloodshed. Girl or not, by the way she acted, she was another bounty hunter. And in his state, she was basically asking him to kill her.

"Okay, if you want to..."

He never got tofinish his sentence.

Malin was confused.

One minute, this guy she was talking to was standing there, seemingly ready to fight, but after skillfully tying her bandana on her head, she was watching him get his face smashed into a windshield, by one guy and one girl. Obviously, she wasn't the only one interested in this boy, but this was getting confusing

"Would somebody tell me what the hell is going on?" She shouted.

The guy stopped punching him and walked up to Malin, look of concern on his face.

"Are you okay?" He said

"Huh?"

"My name is Alek," he said, Aand this is my partner is Tanna." Pointing to the girl currently slamming the door on Epsilon's ribs.

"Okay, Could you tell me what is going on?" Malin said, concerned with the young man that was on currently coughing.

Tanna walked up next to Alek. "This man is a murderer." she said, "He snatches small girls like you away and kills them."

Malin nodded, though she didn't really believe that 'story.' The boy didn't seem to be much interested in her until right before he was attacked.

"Uh...that's right! He kills people for fun." Alek stated, "He shot up that alley and robbed a store."

Epsilon tried to get up, but Tanna punched him again.

"If he's already down, why do you continue to hurt him?" The girl asked.

"Uh...he's a very resistant person. Won't stay down unless he's out cold."

"And how can he be the one who shot the man yesterday? The news said that there where six men that night?"

Tanna, who couldn't think of anything else punched Malin in the face. Alek, who didn't plan this, was upset.

"What the fuck!? Why the hell did you do that?"

"I had no choice. She was going to mess up our plan!" Tanna replied simply.

Alek just sighed. "Whatever. Now let's get the loser before he wakes up. With the money, we'll be long gone before she finds out."

But before they could even touch the guy, Malin had swung her giant mallet, and sent them flying across the street. Tanna managed to land somewhat on her feet while Alek landed on top of a car.

"That girl..." Alek coughed as he got up, drops of crimson blood leaked out of his mouth.

"No Alek," Tanna stated, carrying Alek on her shoulder. "You need medical attention. We'll stop now, and figure something out from there."

"Okay, thanks." Alek said, and he looked at Epsilon, "We'll be back! Bank on it!" And then they left.

Malin turned her attention to the man on the car. She shook him a couple of times, but he didn't respond.

"Are you okay?" she asked, half hoping he would say something. "Please, respond."

Epsilon slowly regained consciousness, and looked at the girl. "Well, I guess she's not one of 'them' after all." he thought.

"I'm about as okay as I can get." He said, getting off the car. "I'll assume you took care of those guys."

Malin nodded, wondering how he figured that out.

"Well, I would thank you," he heard police sirens, "But I have to go. Bye!" And he took off running. Epsilon took five steps and he collapsed on the side of the road.

Malin ran forward and helped him up. "Heh, thanks." The man said. "Being helped by such a pretty girl. I wish we had met under better terms."

He disappeared in the street. Malin blushed a bright red, but came back to reality in time to leave before the cops came.

Epsilon fell through the door of his temporary residence. After wrapping his ribs with gauze, and changing the bandages on his old wounds, he threw his jacket on a nearby chair and a card fell out of the pocket. He picked it up and read it.

There seems to be a lot more to you than what you are willing to say. If you ever get the balls to admit that you were the person that got assaulted yesterday, feel free to call me.

Malin.

Epsilon sighed again. She knew about the incident, and she probably knew about the people trying to capture him. He could ask her for her help, but she would probably wind up dead. He threw it in the trash.

"There's no need for innocent blood on my hands." Epsilon reasoned, before going into the kitchen for something to eat.

The first thing that Malin did when she got home was look up data about the young boy she met today, but there was nothing relating to him anywhere, and Malin had lots of sources.

What she did find out, however, was that the number of criminal types who have been spotted in the area have risen considerably over the past two months.

If what happened earlier said anything, the boy is being hunted for some reason. It could be that someone is offering tons of money for his capture or death. But what Malin wanted to know was what did they want with a boy that didn't look like he was even out of high school yet?

She knew that there was more to this story than what mere reports could tell her, but the only person who knew was the boy himself. Malin was sure he got her note, but now, she wanted to see him more than ever. Was there a possibility of being caught up in a situation that was too much for even her? She didn't really know or care. The only thing she was concerned about was the grey-haired boy that she couldn't get out of her mind.

She didn't know if she could help him. She just wanted to see him again.

Shikkoku: It's late, but here's the second chapter. It's short, and it looks kinda iffy, but it's longer than the last chapter. Next chapter is when the story really starts. Nothing else much to say.

Next Chapter: Epsilon and Malin meet again. Malin finally gets her questions answered. Of course, in the words of a certain someone, "Don't ask questions if you're not prepared for the answers."

Until next time.