Chapter 14: A Fight for Love with a Side of Death
Things have just gotten bleaker for everyone at this point. The good side of it all is that Ibuki and Ikubi's love towards one another is still intact and that will never, ever change… no matter how hard Pandora strives. The bad news now is that Tekken is targeted and that alone has officially turned Raven, Julia, Alisa, Jin, and Kunimitsu into its last hopes for survival until the evil alien is defeated. As far as the Street Fighters' fate goes, a good majority of them have been brutally cut down by those Pandora Blades of Souls. Only a very few remain: Alex, Ingrid, Ken, Sean, Urien, Karin, and Sakura. Along with Ibuki, Elena, Ryu, and Dudley, they were already the Street Fighters' last hope for survival… especially Ibuki with the IBYX-X9 organism lodged deep within her being.
The warriors were now on their way to the Tekken Headquarters to begin Operation: Lifeline and it was actually a silent flight. Halfway through the trip, however, Ingrid finally started a conversation with Ibuki, who was sitting up against a wall next to the sleeping Kunimitsu leaning up against her left shoulder and her precious tanuki, Don, wide awake in her lap accepting gentle pats of love between his rounded ears.
"Ibuki, I've been observing that alien organism within you." The innocent girl started, gaining the revived kunoichi's attention. "I don't sense any evil on it. It looks like it wants to make peace with us."
"That's because I want to." Ibuki spoke with her voice sounding more like the alien for a moment. "I know Ibuki's love is very special to all who see it and it probably wouldn't put a dent in Pandora's heart, but it's a risk I'm willing to take for their sake."
"I understand. Ibuki, how do you feel since your resurrection?"
"Like a brand new woman." Ibuki replied, having her voice and the organism's equally balanced again. "I'll bet you're wondering what exactly happened to me after that bright flash." Hearing that last statement made everyone look at her with full attention, including Kunimitsu slowly waking up, rubbing the sleepiness out of her anomalous eyes and Raven putting the hovercraft on auto-pilot. Ibuki was taken aback by the sudden attention. "…whoa. You were all worried about me, huh?"
"More than anything." Jin replied with honesty. "We've all been wondering what happened after that bright flash… even if it's just a little. Please continue."
"Well, you all knew that I pretty much died by the time Pandora took over my soul and I was completely blackened with his soul inside me. After that, I started to see a bright light by the time the final orgasm was drawing near us…"
(Flashback)
"HARDER! FUCK ME HARDER! AAAAAHHH!" Ibuki's voice screamed out with a hint of an alien within her as Pandora has pretty much taken over her entire body, but not her consciousness. Ikubi was indeed giving her all he's got as he allowed her to hold him closer between her legs as he was fucking her harder and faster than ever, even after she's been through another fifteen orgasms since they started. Neither one of them thought about slowing down as they fulfilled their promises of giving each other all the passion they could hold. Ten more slow minutes later, Ibuki slowly felt her consciousness disappearing as her pitch black body was completely engulfing her soul. Her brown eyes were now a pair of purple glowing orbs of light and her hair was as bright white as Ikubi's tattoos. She also had the same identical markings all over her arms, legs, and upper back… but she still held her Pandorix lover closer between her legs as his dick was still ramming inside of her at breakneck speed, creating demonic screams mixed with her innocent voice.
When I died after that, that same bright light I mentioned earlier turned out to be the entrance to Pandora's Box. I looked down at myself and I was still naked, but I was a glowing white spirit with blank, black eyes. I still felt like myself, though. I didn't show one sign of fear as I made my way towards it, even with a voice that could scare innocent children away.
"Ibuki!" The booming male voice started all over the void. "You now belong to me, young one. Your exceptional skills and speed of a ninja will help me take over this pathetic planet you call Earth."
"Those powers won't get you nowhere." Ibuki admitted in an echoing version of her signature cute voice. "You may have my soul, but you can't have my heart."
"Humph! Such brave words for such a low-life warrior. And what makes you think your heart can't be mine as well?"
"My love for Ikubi. We may be of different species, but I don't care. I love him for who he is… and I thought all this time he was like a brother to me."
"Oh! He loves you, huh? Well, this is new. It won't matter, though. Love will never prevail over me."
"You can bet your box that it will win. That sex wasn't just for your enjoyment."
"We'll see, won't we?"
After that conversation, I finally approached the light and saw Pandora himself. He was a glowing blue serpent-like dragon at a killer length of 75 feet long and ten feet wide and six massive legs that could probably tear an entire town apart, if given the chance, that is. When I was about three feet in front of him, I was forced to bow down on one knee before him, but I could still control my head somehow as I looked up at him.
"You say love will prosper over me, eh?" Pandora continued. Ibuki nodded with determination in her black eyes. "Well, let's make that a test. As of right now, your physical body is right here." He paused as he pulled out Ibuki's real body from inside the box. She saw herself naked, a pale gray on her skin, and probably very cold to the touch. "I'll be more than happy to send it back down to the safest place on this planet, but it shall have a piece of myself inside your very soul to alter it somehow, see if your love as well as your own soul will still exist, but you must allow Ikubi to continue his reign of terror upon your friends. Is that acceptable?"
"Yes." Ibuki replied without any hesitation. "You do know that this test is passable, right?"
"I'll let IBYX-X9 be the judge of that."
When that was done, he actually swallowed my physical body and, at the same time, I turned into hundreds of spirit particles as I was being sucked into the box, officially becoming fused with this organism while I'm still technically dead to him.
(End flashback)
"And all that happened within fifteen seconds?!" Alisa asked with surprise. Ibuki nodded.
"That's how much time went by for you guys, but for me, it was about seven minutes." Ibuki concluded. "So much can happen in a short amount of time, ya know."
"That's true."
"But, you seem pretty much alive right now, though." Alex pointed out.
"That's IBYX at work." Ibuki admitted. "Since it's taken over my dead soul by 80 percent, my life is spared at this point."
"So, in other words, without IBYX-X9, you're a soulless puppet under Pandora's control."
"Yes, which meant that I would probably help Ikubi by now, but no. IBYX actually wants Pandora dead as well, so it's allowing me to live."
"There's just so much to take in, man." Sean complained. "But, eh… it's good news, so I'll take it."
"But, now that we know what exactly happened, we need to focus on Operation: Lifeline." Raven announced, receiving his attention immediately after that last word. "Just like with the Street Fighters, we have to work on saving as much of our fellow warriors as possible…"
"…except Yoshimitsu." Kunimitsu added with no remorse. Hearing this made Jin and Raven raise an eyebrow with astonishment.
"Really? You want Yoshimitsu to die without the Pandora Blades of Souls?"
"I despise him. Of course, I want him dead! I'm sure this one true death will satisfy Pandora and give us a better chance at winning."
"Let's hope so." Jin came in. "In the meantime, we'll focus on saving as much of the others as possible. Ibuki, I think helping Ikubi with killing Yoshimitsu will better your chances of restoring your own soul as well as give him the partial satisfaction he'll feel."
"I guess so." Ibuki agreed. "Kunimitsu, are you sure about this?"
"Positive." Kunimitsu replied quickly. "Do whatever you want with him, as long as he dies at the hands of Pandora somehow."
"Gotcha. As for the rest of you, I want you to save mostly the animals and humans. We'll let True Ogre, Ogre, Unknown, and all of the Jack robots fight for themselves. Agreed?"
"AGREED!" Everyone else replied as a union with loads of determination.
As for the other Tekken warriors at the headquarters, Jun was the only one informed by Raven about Ikubi's upcoming arrival and was told to brace themselves for one hell of a massacre. With that last statement in mind, she warned True Ogre, Ogre, Angel, Gun Jack, Jack-6, Jack-2, Roger, Alex, Kuma, Panda, and Gon to keep on highest alert while she gathered all the human and near-human fighters.
"We gotta fight for ourselves, huh?" Gon muttered with annoyance in a comedic semi-growling male voice. "I guess it makes sense, especially for us animals. I could care less about True Ogre, Ogre, and all of the Jack robots."
"Ikubi will be powerful enough to take us all, but with us guarding them as best we can, we can only hope for the very best." Angel reassured in her harmonic, echoing voice of the typical angel. "He might actually kill us all with those Pandora Blades of Souls, for Pandora's sake."
"Eh, I'm willin' to take that risk, but there's just one thing I'm wondering: How come Yoshimitsu can't fight for himself? He's opted out of this."
"We'll just have to wait and see." After that was said, all of the power went out and that immediately signaled this small group to step out into their own roomy backyard, with True Ogre, Angel, and Gon leading the way, right on time to see Ikubi hovering before them with no mercy in his glowing purple eyes. True Ogre wasted no time flying towards him first and, as soon as he blew out his fire breath, Ikubi dodged out of the way and it was an all-out aerial battle.
Five violent minutes later, the hovercraft finally made a landing right before the entrance to the Tekken HQ and, with the surviving Street Fighters remaining inside, the rest of the warriors made a hasty dash for the backyard, having Ibuki, with Don on her back between her glowing white feathered wings, leading the way. As she was flying back there, many tears of sorrow were dropping behind her, completely missing the others. She really didn't want to fight her Pandorix twin lover, but since she already carved that promise in stone, it couldn't be broken. Hopefully, she would be able to control this newfound power since her resurrection.
As for Ikubi, his aerial battle with Angel and True Ogre was beginning to damage the rest of the backyard and, after three more minutes, Ikubi made a dash down towards the rest of the land-dwelling warriors, having all of the animals the most prepared, before he made contact, however…
…Ibuki swooped in just in the nick of time to block his Pandora Blades of Souls with a pair of glowing white blades of her own, still with tears in her eyes. Ikubi noticed this and frowned with his purple eyes fuming with fury.
"Ibuki, you must fight back your tears, if you wish to fight me." He said to her with just as much fury. During the struggle, Don managed to hop off of her and start to save as many warriors as possible with the others, but Kunimitsu was the only one who stayed behind the two with her famous kunai at the ready. Her serious stare of conviction made her look extremely regal with her odd eye colors, but that never intimidated the Pandorix as he saw her and backed away after the minute-long struggle. "Come on, Ibuki. Fight me. Save these warriors. Do not say a word to me. Just fight me." Ibuki had so much to say, but she just couldn't speak, due to the strict nature of Ikubi's voice. With that in mind, she looked behind her and saw that Kunimitsu was ready to help in any way she can, giving her a nod of permission before she flew off towards her lover and the fierce battle between the two was on.
It started out with Ibuki trying for a fierce slash towards the Pandorix's chest, but he was able to block it with his bare paws before he used one of them to summon up a small Pandora blade and tried a counterattack at her left forearm, but she quickly flew out of the way in a beautiful backward loop before she kicked in the afterburners from her feet and made a successful, devastating dive towards the grass in the distance. It created a loud explosion, but the battle was far from over. While Ikubi was pinned down on the ground, he summoned another long purple blade and decent slash across her back, making her scream at the extreme pain of her wings and back being cut simultaneously. Miraculously, she regained her senses in less than a five seconds after the bloody blow and flew back up into the air, preparing her wings and hands for some lethal firepower. Ikubi did the same as they both floated at an equal height, staring into each other's eyes, even though they were six feet apart.
During that time, Ibuki took a quick peek down to the progress of her friends and saw that Yoshimitsu and Kunimitsu had the hardest time with each other for some reason. Since she was so far up, she couldn't make out what they were arguing about. She still couldn't let out her voice to speak, due to the fact she actually did mute herself before the battle started, but she still managed to mouth out this phrase:
Let's make Yoshimitsu's death feel like we accidently killed him together.
Ikubi read her lips perfectly and nodded silently before he started firing his Pandoric lasers at Ibuki, who gracefully evaded the shots while she shot back every few seconds, having both of their shots making small nips and cuts at them at every sixth and seventh shot, but nothing too severe. It was still a harsh battle for the both of them and, despite the pain they were giving to each other, they were both secretly happy that they were to never, ever kill each other in the process.
As for the others on the ground, there were only five casualties: Bryan Fury, True Ogre, Unknown, Heihachi, and, miraculously, Panda. Xiaoyu couldn't mourn her death for long as she was briefly being escorted out of the building by Alisa. Gon was literally the very last to make his escape, aside from Yoshimitsu, who was still refusing Kunimitsu's help. The small yellow rex stopped before the two with Don-Chan by his left side and Don was the one to speak up first.
"Kunimitsu, remember what you promised?" The tanuki started in a tone of sorrow in his voice. The kunoichi looked down at the beloved little brother of Ibuki and nodded by the time Yoshimitsu finally had his back turned and tried to go for the Pandorix by his insect-like wings. "Yeah, you better let him go. Why were you still trying to save him?"
"Just thought I'd give it a try, but I knew he would refuse." Kunimitsu replied with no remorse before she looked up at the fierce aerial battle. Gon made a leap for her left shoulder during that time and she never flinched at all as he spoke.
"So, they're in love with each other, eh?" The yellow dinosaur started. Kunimitsu nodded in response. "But, they're still fightin'. How come?"
"They need to satisfy Pandora as much as possible, so by having them actually fight is one best way to do it."
"What's the other way?"
"You're about to see it shortly. Just watch."
Back in the aerial battle between Ikubi and Ibuki…
Yoshimitsu just came up beside the Pandoric kunoichi and floated there with her while they were both staring at Ikubi with every single ounce of anger. It was deathly silent between the three for the next five minutes before Ibuki humbly floated before the Manji Leader in a protective stance, ready for anything, while Ikubi summoned out a different pair of blades. They were glowing a luminescent blue this time, but neither ninja before him cowered, especially since Yoshimitsu had his sword ready.
"You're fortunate that your friends managed to save only a meager 95 percent of all of the Tekken Warriors." Ikubi pointed out as he crossed his blades in the shape of an X, making himself look totally badass. "I know you never wanted to hurt me, Ibuki… but right now, I can feel Pandora's satisfaction from here. Surely, you can, too. Am I right?" Ibuki nodded in response to that question. She was still muted. "Good. Now, let's make him feel even more satisfied." After that was said, the Pandorix made a lightning fast dash towards the kunoichi and, at a millimeter away from his blades making contact, it was all in slow-motion as she made one last graceful backward loop over Yoshimitsu and he was sliced in half, rendering him dead WITHOUT the Pandora Blades of Souls. As soon as his lifeless half-sliced corpse landed on the bloody grass, Ikubi made those same baby blue blades disappear at the exact same time Ibuki started screaming in pain as she feeling an extremely strong force burning her skin from the inside. Ikubi watched this with no sign of worry, fear, or sympathy. It was just… blank… and the ear-splitting screeches she emitted wasn't bothering him at all. What Ikubi was doing… was giving her another 10 percent of her original soul, making the IBYX-X9's soul at 70 percent and the actual soul at 30. The purple beams shooting into her back between her wings was the visual proof of this factor towards Kunimitsu, Gon, and Don, who watched her sister suffering with tearful brown eyes. Kunimitsu felt his pain as well as Ibuki's and started tearing up as well in her regal eyes before she found the strength to pick up the praying tanuki and just hold him in her strong, slender arms with his front paws dangling over her folded arms.
Ten excruciatingly slow and painful minutes later, the transfer was complete and Ikubi's blank stare reverted to a soulful smile as Ibuki just stopped screaming, realizing that her muted voice had come back. She turned towards him with shock and figured out what just happened to her. Before she could speak, however…
"Pandora just commanded me to give you a little more of your soul in exchange for his freedom after Yoshimitsu's death." Ikubi replied. "Our loving bond is still intact, though."
"You gave me more of my real self?" Ibuki asked with a little more of her voice added to it, but still had the IBYX-X9's alien tone tied in perfect harmony with it. Ikubi nodded in response as he crossed his arms. "And what does that mean for Pandora's freedom?"
"He's physically chained to the box back in the South Pole. Each real death unlocks the chain a little further… and gives you more of your actual soul. When you get to an even 50-50, that's when Pandora will be released onto the world with your skills… and I have to fight alongside him. Stop us, if you dare, but there aren't any guarantees that you'll survive with only half of the Pandoric power."
"Is that the whole idea with these real deaths? I gain more of myself, but he gains more power FROM me?!"
"You've added it all up very well, baby."
"FUCK! What happens if I kill someone instead of you?"
"The exact opposite."
"SHHHHHHIT!" Ibuki admitted that she was in a lose-lose situation at this point and it seemed like her efforts to retain her love for Ikubi are starting to become futile. "And you still love me, despite all this?"
"More than I love myself. I promise you, still… that we will be together when it's all over. It'll be just like when you first met me… with the cuter voice that made you smile at every word I said." Having those memories made her smile in return. "Just try to let me go, but you still have to fight me. Understand?"
"Completely. So, what can I do now?"
"Give me four more sacrifices you don't mind sharing and I'll be more than happy to gratify you." Ikubi floated closer to the melancholy Ibuki and gave her a loving embrace upon his arrival, having her plant a secret kiss on his left cheek before she whispered:
"Do commoners count?"
"Yes." Ikubi whispered in her ear as well. "Anyone of them you know that you don't mind me taking out?"
"I have about ten exes that live all over the world. Three in North America, four from Italy, two from Brazil, and one from Scotland. You kill each and every last one of them one by one for me, okay?"
"It's a deal. I can still transfer your soul to you from my mind during the dangerous trek."
"No need to. I'm flying with ya this time."
"What about your brother?" That made Ibuki pause as she broke away from the hug and looked down at the small group that remained. She made a huge sigh of relief, seeing how comfortable Don was looking in Kunimitsu's arms… but kept a serious look of regret on her face.
"…Kunimitsu's his big sister now."
"Go down there and tell him."
"…I can't. I just… can't." Ibuki's blank white eyes started forming tears as she continued. "With just 30 percent of my actual heart remaining, I can't tell him."
"Ibuki, you can tell him… and you MUST tell him."
"…I really can't."
"Yes, you can." Ikubi paused as he placed a reassuring hand on her right shoulder with a smile. "Having some heart is better than having none at all. Just say what you can and I'm sure he'll understand."
"He hasn't seen me in so long before my resurrection. Don't want him to feel neglected again."
"He won't… as long as Kunimitsu takes good care of him."
"(Sigh)…okay. I'll try." Ibuki gathered the courage as she flew down towards the elder kunoichi, Don, and Gon, who all looked as though they were prepared for the worst. When Ibuki gently grabbed Don by his sides, Kunimitsu immediately and slowly released him, allowing this moment between the siblings to continue. "Don-Chan, I love you so much and I know it's only been a couple days since I was brought back to life, but Pandora's freedom is at stake and we have to free him in order to defeat him. So… according to Ikubi, he needs to kill another five people before Pandora can be free from the box, but I'm telling him to kill five more to add more of me to my soul."
"That makes sense to me." Don reassured in his happy-go-lucky attitude with a smile that showed just as much joy. "So, let him go. As long as he loves you, he'll be fine."
"No, Don. I can't let him go."
"Huh?"
"I… I have to…" Ibuki's sobs were becoming uncontrollable as she tried to speak through the tears. "…I… have to go… with him… and you can't come with me." Hearing this… pissed… him… off.
"WHAT?! Why not?! I'm not leaving you again!"
"I'm sorry, Don. I have to do this without you. I'm not gonna help him make those kills, but still. All you can do… is stay with Kunimitsu. She's the best I can give you for another sister to cling on to."
"…but it won't be the same."
"She cares about you as much as I do. Look at her." The tanuki did so without breaking his neck and saw how hopeful the formerly rebellious kunoichi was, especially with her interesting pair of eyes creating that gleam of prayer, even with the scars. "Does she look like the perfect big sister to you?"
"Well, she's quieter than you, but yeah. She makes an awesome bigger sister." Kunimitsu chuckled at that first statement, admitting that to be the truth as the conversation continued. "Okay, Ibuki. I understand why you have to go with Ikubi. But, there's just one more question before you go…"
"What is it?"
"…when you finally come back after freeing and defeating Pandora, will you be completely back to your old self again?"
"…that's for Pandora to know and for us to find out. Ikubi said there are no guarantees, but still… taking chances is my specialty."
"And you do it so damn well." Don gave her one final heartwarming hug and she returned it with tears streaming down her face and onto his waterproof fur. He volunteered to lick off the tears after the embrace before Ibuki handed him back to Kunimitsu and laid a reassuring hand on her left shoulder. "Goodbye, Ibuki… and good luck. I love you."
"I love you, too, buddy. And Kuni, please do take good care of him for me. Be the best big sister you can be."
"I promise." Kunimitsu replied with a nod and a pleasant smile of hope. "Be careful out here. We'll be rooting for you."
"Thanks. All of you fighters will be safe now. Only the public will be attacked."
"Good. So, what do we do?"
"Take care of the ones you saved and keep them in the safest location possible. Once Pandora's been free, he'll probably start attacking anything that gets in his way."
"Affirmative. Give Ikubi some love along the way as well."
"Now, you know I will." Ibuki's cheerful self came back after the first word in that statement before she winked and flew off right when the Pandorix flew off towards North America first. When they were gone, Gon just had one thing to add to all this as the three were heading back to the hovercraft:
"I was gonna say that this was bullshit, but it actually isn't."
To be continued…