To the Darkest of Nights We Go
~Dystopian AU ~
Chapter 84
Written By: RinoaDestiny
King of Fighters, Chizuru Kagura, Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Mai Shiranui, Blue Mary, Rock Howard, and Joe Higashi all belong to SNK
Rock stared at the spot where Kyo Kusanagi disappeared, stunned. Kyo had shone golden – the brightness in his dream, glorious and awesome – and had spoken in a voice not quite his own. Kyo Kusanagi had been otherworldly, had pursued Orochi, and then, banishing the other, faded from sight. The man was gone, as if he'd never been, leaving behind a battlefield burning with crimson and orange flames.
He turned, trying to comprehend what'd happened and noticed the silence. That deadly silence that had filled him with dread was no more. A quick sweep of the terrain behind him confirmed a few things: Goenitz was also gone and the two soldiers had fled. Fled, or…
He recalled Kyo's booming voice. What he said when banishing Orochi. "We banish you, all your heads and those who follow you. We dispel your influence from the Earth and anywhere you wish to take root." If the soldiers hadn't fled, then were they also removed from existence? Had Kyo's final act completely dismantled the military might of O.R.O.C.H.I.?
It staggered him to think of it. How absolute it was.
Rock stood, knees shaky, and met Mary's tearstained gaze. "Dad," he said, for despite Kyo's unforeseen miracle, Terry had died prior to it and he hadn't been able to do anything. Dad had died trying to protect him and…
"Let's go find him, Rock."
They found Terry lying on the ground not far away, crumpled and still. Mary emitted a sob beside him and reached out, cradling Terry to her. Now that he was here, Rock found himself observing details with a strange remoteness. Tear tracks drying on his cheeks, he noticed how Terry's fingers lay open, limp. How the blood and dirt smeared on his face stood out. How his hair fell on his shoulders. How small he seemed now, held in Mary's embrace while Mary wept.
Terry Bogard was the Legendary Wolf, but he was also Dad.
Southtown, unknowingly, lost a hero.
For Rock, it was like watching his mom die all over again. There was blood on Terry's shirt, staining it in a huge swath and he remembered the gunshot. Like Kyo, Terry had been shot and it hadn't killed him immediately. Rips and tears in the shirt – his focus was eerily microscopic – because Goenitz had hit him with the cyclone next. He still wasn't sure what Orochi did, what that crushing sound meant, but that had finally killed his dad. The soldiers, Goenitz, and Orochi – they all had a part to play in his dad's death and he had watched, helpless, grief-stricken, and angry.
Would've tried to do something – would've died – if Mary hadn't restrained him. They would've died later anyway, if not for Kyo rising to his feet looking at them through golden eyes, shining like a flame before its end.
Kyo Kusanagi was gone, a casualty in the battle.
But others, too, were lost. Never coming back.
Rock rose to his feet. Cast his sight behind him far into the distance. Others, too, had died. Needed to be found. "I'm going to find Mai and Joe," he said, providing no further explanation. Perhaps none was needed, since they weren't here with them. Would be, if they were still alive.
Mary glanced up at him and nodded, wetness on her cheeks.
Heading towards where he believed he last saw Mai, Rock tried to mentally prepare himself. He wasn't sure how Mai or Joe died and Goenitz had been hellbent on destroying them. He hoped their deaths were quick, but O.R.O.C.H.I. wasn't merciful and Goenitz had embodied that. So, he wasn't certain what he'd see once he came upon them.
Orange flames burned here and there. There weren't any violet flames left.
When he discovered Mai, her head was tilted at an odd angle with eyes open and glassy. His heart sank and he knelt beside her, laying two fingers on her throat where her pulse would be. Nothing. Her neck was broken – a small mercy, that – and he tried closing her eyes, but it wasn't anything like in the movies. Unable to do so, Rock gathered her hair and gently laid some over her face. Stood and went to find Joe.
Joe, further off in the distance, had earned most of Goenitz's ire. Rock had to turn aside and empty the contents of his stomach, for the gore was horrific. He remembered the wind cutting his skin. Wasn't sure if Goenitz had channeled the wind against Joe like that, but what remained couldn't be identified as human. He only knew it was Joe because he'd been here when Goenitz issued those chilling statements. Joe shouting afterwards – no screams, for the wind had obscured whatever happened next.
Rock left, queasy, and returned to Mary and Terry.
Mary was smoothing back Terry's hair, revealing a face shuttered off in death. It was an enormous contrast to Mai's staring dead gaze and what remained of Joe, for Terry appeared almost dignified. Rock spoke, careful of his phrasing and tone towards Mary. "I found Mai and Joe. We should be able to bury them, but…it might be better to cremate them."
Mary raised her head to look at him. "What happened to them, Rock?"
"Goenitz broke Mai's neck. Joe…it's better if you don't see, Mary." Even though Mary had probably seen stuff back home in Southtown, this one was bound to bring nightmares. Rock wished he could remove the image from his mind – shredded flesh amidst all the blood. Not even Freeman had been this gruesome and that man was a serial killer.
Mary's hand stilled. "That bad?"
He nodded.
Across from him, Mary sighed. Her body sagged against Terry's, whom she held with gentleness, as if never letting go. "We can't bring them back home."
"Would Mai and Joe have family here?"
"Even if they did, we wouldn't know where to look."
"Kyo's gone."
"I know." A small silence from Mary. "Rock, see if you can find the container Mai stored Andy's ashes in. She must've hidden it somewhere."
The terrain – smokescreen no longer – was vast and torn apart, altering his sense of direction. Rock turned, relying on landmarks such as the city blocks they left behind. If he put his bag aside before the fight started at the invisible boundary between the two, then Mai probably did the same with the container. If it wasn't uprooted or crushed by the many toppled steel drums lying on their sides scattered all over.
Rock rolled his shoulders back. Set off to find the container.
It was still nighttime – the battle hadn't been very long – but to Rock, time had stretched. The fighting was over and Orochi was defeated, but they still had several hours until dawn and…
They had dead to bury or cremate. If they could get home, they had obligations to them. Dad, Mai, and Joe. Andy wasn't the only death now – wasn't the only one to bring back home as ashes.
Tears fell, wet on his cheeks. Rock wiped them off, sniffled, and continued overturning asphalt and dirt, looking for one sealed container. He'd no idea where Mai would've placed it, but if it took until morning, he was going to find it. They had a promise to fulfill that Terry no longer could, so he wasn't leaving without it. Maybe, if he could discover his bag, he'd be on the right track.
Mai had been close by early on, he recalled.
Flames crackled, throwing normal light and he lifted steel drums, medium-sized chunks of asphalt, and dug away dirt. His fingernails were messy and he was sweaty, the adrenaline crash weighing him down with exhaustion. With Orochi vanquished – the military apparatus dismantled, hopefully – perhaps martial law would be lifted. If he and Mary could find a way out afterwards…
Southtown. Home. Some place familiar, even if war-torn like this.
The open graves in his dream. Andy's sash and Kyo and Iori's flames in the world of the dead.
They had won, had saved the world but many needed to die to do so.
Those graves were filled. He and Mary survived. Needed to carry on beyond this final battleground, beyond the dead here. To remember them, so no one forgot the cost paid in Ikuno. So that there weren't unsung battles or heroes, lost in what would become history.
He finally found the sealed and slightly dented container a few feet away from his discarded bag. Picked both up and placed the container gently into the bag – foodstuffs crushed – and made his way back to Mary. Sadness, the hammer fall of grief not yet striking in full.
"I found it," he said quietly, watching how Mary continued to hold Terry. His heart ached, twisting.
"Should we cremate them, Rock?"
Mary asking him directly. It hurt, hearing the pain in her voice.
"We don't have anything to bury them with."
A moment of silence with Mary lowering her head. "I'm…you're right. This way…we can bring them home."
Flames burning in the distance and around them. Kusanagi flames.
Brightness overcoming darkness.
"I'll get started on Joe." Better him than Mary. He didn't want to disturb her right now, and especially not with that sight. "If you want, you can help me with Mai." His turn to pause. Rock swallowed, trying to force the sudden lump in his throat down. "Dad, too."
His anguish must've shown, for Mary gazed up at him, gently released Terry, and stood. Walked over to him and wrapped both arms around him. "I'm so sorry, Rock. I…of course."
He leaned down, returning the embrace.
There – together – they wept.
