Bahahahaha Y'alls forgot about this one huh?!
Nah. have more crazy firebois.
It was nearly evening by the time Kyo found his rival. He could only tell the passing of time by the dim sunlight that filtered through the dirty, fogged window panes. His shoulders and elbows hurt in their awkward positions and the red hot metal was pressed warmly against his wrists. The cuffs, however, remained stubbornly rigid under the blast of heat and failed to soften even slightly. Attached to his cuffs was the long chain which trailed behind him, scraping against the ground and leaving burn marks on the concrete. It clinked loudly as it followed him like a terrible, devilish tail.
But Kyo couldn't hear the noise it made. He couldn't hear anything at all. His flames roared and the rapid changes in pressure caused his ears to pop continually. The air around him crackled and warped with heat as he stalked down the long prison hallways. He breathed heavily through tightly clenched teeth. His gums ached from the pressure, but he was too angry to care. He smelled nothing but smoke. He saw nothing but red and the corners of his vision had long become blurred. He following his boiling blood like it was a treasure map. It led him through the winding hallways, closer and closer to his rival. For the first time in his life, he was hunting down Iori Yagami.
Pretty funny, huh? Hehe… everything is upside down… I'm gonna fucking kill someone.
His meandering walk down those dark, sterile corridors, did nothing to assuage his anger. His mind was blank. He was a Kyo-shaped shell of rage. His breath was hot and whistled through his teeth. He kicked the floor with every step. He wanted to let loose. To just scream and let go…
Trauma affects people differently. Some are overcome by it. It eats them alive and reduces them to shivering wrecks. Some ignore it. They lock themselves up and become stone-cold while their feelings brew potently beneath their masks.
Some hate.
The trauma ignites and draws out a hateful personality. The hate had always been there. It was just cold and dormant, hidden beneath many layers of societal constraints. The love of his family. The loyalty of his friends. His pride. His strength...
But when trauma stripped everything away, oh… by hell did he hate. He hated violently.
NESTS? IKARI? The US Military? He didn't give a shit. He'd tear them all to the ground. He didn't even care if this was a misunderstanding! He didn't care about anything at all. He was mad. Mad! Pissed! Crazy, even! Angry enough to spit-roast the first person he came across! He'd gotten bitten by a shitty zombie mosquito and was now living on a countdown. There was nothing he could even do about it, there was nothing to fight. He was gonna die. But before he expired, he had a hell of a lot of baggage to unload. Woe to first poor bastard he got ahold of.
If I'm gonna die, I'm taking all these fuckers with me.
Kyo Kusanagi was going out with a bang. Sure it was selfish, but why did he care? Who cares about legacy? Who cares what their obituary says? NESTS had ruined him. Nobody could understand him after that! Did they think he could just walk out of there the same person who went in? 6 months of torture? 6 months of helplessness? 6 months of lonely, humiliating isolation?
No.
Nobody could understand. Nobody even tried to! When he arrived back in Japan, his family met him with hugs and tears. They went on and on about how happy they were to see them. How much they thought about him. How hard they prayed for him. But what the hell did you do?! While I was locked up getting acid pumped into my veins you were eating and drinking and… fuck!
They had no right to cry over him. They didn't do anything. They only associated themselves with him for the novelty. It was amusing to have the 'Kusanagi Flame' as an ally. They wouldn't bleed for him. They wouldn't lift a finger! They just wanted to take and take and take and take… and when he had nothing left to give, when he required something of them, then they were nowhere to be found.
Only Yuki was true. She was the only one Kyo was glad to see. The only reason she wasn't down in Brazil, sneaking through the jungle looking for him was for pure lack of ability. She was a college student! She could lift maybe 40 pounds. She could run a ten minute mile… She couldn't help him, but according to Iori, she begged to come. She was the only one Kyo regarded as family anymore.
And Chizuru! How could he forget! That cold, seemingly heartless woman was not as cold as she seemed. She had pulled every stop for his sake. She was integral to the search, she was integral to Iori's successes, and she wasn't even Kyo's friend! A veritable stranger had done more for him than his closest family had! For two months, the might of Kagura Pharmaceuticals stood behind him. All of Chizuru's vast resources were at his disposal. He had KP's generously paid research team fretting over for so long he started worrying about how much he cost.
She didn't seem to mind though… I… guess KP's doing fine.
Everyone else had abandoned him. His own flesh and blood had cast him off like an old garment. The veritable army of Kusanagi flame wielders had sat about twiddling their thumbs while Yuki begged them for rescue. They ignored her, content to merely say a few sad words at his phoney funeral then wash their hands of him.
What was I to them?! I was their 'pride and joy', huh!? Haa?! Hahaha...
Yeah, his father's 'Pride and Joy'. The jewel of the Kusanagi. The Invincible Scion of the Flame. So what happens when he gets caught and beaten down and crushed? What happens when the flame is extinguished and the jewel is tarnished? … naturally, the moment he dared bring shame upon his clan, they'd have nothing more to do with him.
Heh… Maybe… I should … no, they're still my family… hm.
When Iori showed up at the Kusanagi estate and attempted to bring a hunting party to Brazil, they laughed and dismissed him. They had no use for an extinguished flame.
So Iori went alone.
He went through hell. He'd broken everything. He'd gotten shot at. He'd been sliced to ribbons. He'd been electrocuted. He'd slept nights in the mud. He had spent three months living in the most disgraceful and arduous conditions. His reward? To bloody his head with the lives of thousands. To soak his hands in innocent blood. He had ripped his way across a continent, torn his concious to bits, went insane, then he died.
But he succeeded.
Because of him, Kyo was alive. He finally walked free from his long imprisonment. As he carried his rival from the exploding base, he didn't even know what to think. He didn't know how to react... And apparently neither did Iori.
Because halfway through hacking his lungs out into Kyo's shoulder, Iori claimed that none of this would affect their rivalry whatsoever. He professed they were still going to fight, and that Iori still hated him with every fibre of his being. It was probably the most blatant display of 'being in denial' Kyo had ever seen in his life. At first he was just shocked, but eventually it became amusing. Just to egg him on, Kyo offered to fight him to the death.
The saddest, most unenthusiastic 'prepare to die, Kusanagi' that ever escaped Iori's lips sent Kyo into such a severe bout of laughter, he nearly dropped his rival.
Idiot still showed up to the assigned place ten days later… heh, what a nutjob. I'm glad I asked Kagura to helicopter him away before he insisted I break the rest of his ribs…
That night on the Brazilian cliffside, Kyo looked to the stars for the first time in six months. He saw the beauty of the trees, he took fresh air into his lungs, he listened to the angry screaming from retreating helicopter, and he knew who his real friends were.
And IKARI…
Not only did they want to pick him apart for the "greater good". No, that wasn't good enough for them. They weren't content with just him. They also wanted to do the same to one of the few friends Kyo had left. The only person he could depend on to fight beside him when the world was collapsing.
These bitches are fucked. The moment I get these chains off, I'm gonna go full on rampage… It's gonna be a night to remember.
Kyo stopped walking abruptly, then swiveled on his heel to the left. He was close, really close. Iori was just on the other side of this wall, probably chained up and bleeding everywhere too. The very thought riled him up all over again. He stomped down to the end of the hall and threw himself against the cold iron to peek through the bars.
There he was, Iori Yagami, chained up and sleeping like a baby. There was an IV sticking from his arm. His wrist was handcuffed to the cot's frame so the needle wasn't wrenched out. There were bandages wrapped all around his midsection and his left arm was still curled into a painful claw. Will he be able to use that hand anymore after the nerve gas? Why does his face look so weird? Why is he laughing… whatever, I just need you cut me loose man. You can laugh all you want after...
"Ass. Hole. Wake. Up."
"Hahaha…. Hehee…. "
He stirred but didn't wake. There must've been something in that IV keeping him down. Kyo observed his rival carefully before he decided to break into the cell. Iori didn't look like he was rioting, if he was, the chains wouldn't be able to hold him. It didn't look like he was exhibiting signs of infection either. A zombie - even chained up - would've woken by now to lunge at him.
Did he have some sort of immunity? He did say he never got sick because of the Orochi blood. Something along the lines of: 'It's like hot sauce. Nothing can live in it. Even insects don't go after me. Enjoy the mosquitos sucker! Hahaha etc...'
Kyo grimaced. He really didn't enjoy the fucking mosquitos…
Anyways, Iori's curse didn't matter. He had gone about splashing in infected blood, and that meant was just a matter of time before Iori succumbed to the virus and went on rampage. For the first time ever, Kyo was ready to riot right beside him.
Iori's life had always been on countdown, and this incident had caused his expiration date to be accelerated. The fact of his imminent death probably wouldn't affect him so badly, or at least not as badly as it had effected Kyo. Surely Iori always thought about dying. He was probably mentally prepared for it.
Kyo wasn't, and it was driving him nuts.
It's not that he wanted a word of comfort, or he thought Iori had a solution, but the fact that someone… anyone was in the same boat he was. Well, just that was enough.
Its better that way. We can burn this place down together…
Kyo backpedaled until he was standing against the opposing wall. He took a deep breath, intensified his flames and charged at the red-hot iron bars. They bent beneath his shoulder and let him through. He crashed clumsily into the cell, pieces of metal bar struck the concrete around him, throwing up orange sparks. He extinguished the flame, then, with a grunt, crawled to his feet. He approached the cot and planted a foot against the its frame. He gave it a good shake.
"Hell-o! Good morning! Wake the fuck up!"
Iori was still giggling to himself. He was strapped down limb by limb. IKARI had changed his clothes and… brushed his hair? What the fuck. As he laughed, the wound on his stomach began to weep blood into the bandage. Kyo grimaced at the growing red stain and shook the cot harder.
"Holy shit man, stop laughing and wake up! It's creepy as hell and you're gonna bleed out. Come on."
The laughing suddenly stopped. Iori snapped his eyes open and stared straight up at him. His face clearly said 'What the hell'. He stayed like that for a few moments and Kyo watched the gears turn in his head. He coughed, then opened his mouth to speak.
"Liking the neckbeard, bitch."
Kyo kicked the cot over.
As air heats up, the volume will increase. That's why the pressure keeps changing and Kyo's ears keep popping. That's also why I always say the flames crackle and explode, because of the pressure change. Theoretically, because Yag's fire is much hotter than Kyo's Yag's flames Always explode. Kyo can make his be smoother cuz the temp is lower.
The guys haven't shaved in a while. :0
Get ready for crazy firebois tearing shit up lol.