Before we proceed with this PIVOTAL chapter of the story, a few things to address. First of all... god, I love you all. I just got my 400th review, and I just can NOT thank you guys enough for all the support you've given me. I feel like I should go on a pilgrimage, and devote a good 10 or 20 years of my life to expressing gratitude for all the people who helped Kumite achieve such success. Thank you all. Seriously. You guys are my lifeblood.
This is to go on record: whatever Robertcop and Writerperson have written based on Kumite, I gave the green light to. They're my Inner Circle. I gave them permission to expand some of the plots, like Kasumi's personal quest, and what the fighters are up to at the Castle during the big square war. Writerperson recently shed light on what happened between Athena and Iori in the hotel during Night 1. I declare it to be canon. So go read "Tales From the Twilight Tournament After Dark: Stress Relief". Read it and enjoy it!
Finally, I just want to say we have arrived at the Final Act of this story. The events of this chapter will directly kick off the remainder of this fic's conflicts. Things are about to go south VERY...VERY... fast. Brace yourselves.
Enjoy the penultimate fight of the story.
Drowning out the cheers of the audience outside, Yashiro and Shermie's twisted ceremony continued to draw nearer. Their work had been diligent: the entirety of the room, from the four walls, to the floor, even the ceiling, were engraved with the "holy" transcriptions that would signify the arrival of their God once again. It was a delicate, dynamic situation; they had to read every moment, every fluctuation in the cosmic balance, like stocks rising and falling. At the moment where darkness and despair reached its apex, and the overwhelming might of the most powerful fighters of the tournament clashed... their moment would come.
"You feel that?" Yashiro called out to Shermie, ceasing his work to rise up and reach out, feeling the air. "A good wind."
Shermie resumed her work, but still responded. "I feel it too. Chizuru must have been defeated. Good riddance~"
"That just leaves the two chosen ones... the dark stars that will set this in motion."
Shermie smiled. "How delicious... Yagami and Bernstein. Two bastards, bred from filthy seeds. They try so hard to change the narrative, so fool themselves into thinking they can contribute to a greater good... how tragic that in the end, they'll be the final pieces that bring about the destruction of mankind and our Utopia."
Yashiro's hand gripped harder... almost violently against his tool. "I want to be there... I want to see his face when it happens. Iori Yagami... he'll pay for everything. He'll pay for that day he tarnished our reputation, humiliated us in public-"
"...What are you talking about?"
The two stopped. Yashiro looked at Shermie, in slight disbelief... but a moment later, his eyes wandered into the distance, and looked at nothing.
"I... what did I just say...?" he questioned.
A giggle. "Yashiro honey, you must be fatigued. Come, we need to finish this already. Our time's almost here."
His far-out expression turned back to that of focus. Gripping his chiseling tool in hand, he resumed his work on the carvings. "Yes. Let's end this, once and for all."
SEMIFINALS FIGHT #2: ADELHEID BERNSTEIN VS IORI YAGAMI
"ADEL-HEID! ADEL-HEID! ADEL-HEID! ADEL-HEID!"
It was clear what the people wanted. Not another second of being denied their golden boy, their champion, on the battlefield, fighting for the chance to proceed to the finals of King of Fighters... to bring home the championship. The bias was overwhelming; a clear home-field advantage for the native warrior. There would be a famine of supporters for Iori Yagami... but the mental aspect of the fight was only part of the equation. It would take a tremendous feat of physicality to take down a man that only Kyo Kusanagi could stand toe-to-toe with.
"Wonder who they're rooting for." Iori scoffed, still standing on the sidelines with Chizuru and crew. He'd never gone back to the locker rooms to prepare. Didn't think it'd make a difference. He was going to win or lose here, right now... and he didn't care which way it went.
"Just go out there. Have fun." Chizuru smiled. "You're nearly at the finals! Wouldn't it be awesome if you won it all?"
Iori gave a smug smile. "Well... I GUESS it'd be fun to have a trophy of my own to show off to Kyo. That cocky asshole loves showing off his five... or was it six? F***ing whatever."
Chizuru snickered, before leaning in and giving him one last encouraging peck, on the corner of his mouth. "Good luck, Iori. I'm rooting for you."
"I am too!" Shingo boomed. He extended his fist. "Bump it. Cmooon! Bump it!"
Iori rolled his eyes; extending his fist, he returned the gesture. Leaving the awestruck boy behind, he walked onwards... past Benimaru, who kept his arms folded and his eyes diverted. Still, he spoke:
"Of all the decent people who could be here right now... it has to be you. Don't waste it."
Iori gave an evil grin, slapping Beni's shoulder. "Stay jealous. You too, pops."
Saisyu, who was also at the sidelines, aggressively sneered. "Just be glad we never got to fight, Yagami whelp!"
Iori wandered past them, and made his way to the ring. He stopped to look at the rest of the fighter stands: Athena gave him a cheery wave (Kensou was not thrilled), Leona gave a strong nod. Others pumped their fist in encouragement. It was the strangest of ratios: the fighters themselves, who knew Iori on a more personal and intimate level than they did Adel, were rooting for him. To the other 75,000 in the seats, and the entire country of Germany... Iori was the bad guy, and Adelheid Bernstein was their hero, about to fulfill his destiny.
"I'm rooting for Adelheid. End of story." Mary defied, her arms folded.
Terry chuckled nervously. "Oh cmon, Mare... still holding a grudge over what he did to me? It was a fight, things get a little tense at times."
"It's not THAT." Mary countered. "You form a close bond with someone when you fight alongside them, and I've fought alongside Adel three times now. I'm honor-bound."
Terry patted her shoulder. "Alright, alright. I love you anyway."
"Where the hell are Ryo and Yuri?!" King questioned, concerned. "They already missed one fight, and now the other one's about to start!"
"Sh-should I go look for them?" Kasumi asked, her voice slightly meek given their... history this week.
"Don't worry about it." King's tone of voice was a little more snide than Kasumi desired.
Iori made himself at home in the ring, patiently awaiting what would be the penultimate fight of this tournament. Drowning out the sounds around him, his mind wandered, and he found himself reflecting on how he got here. He remembered Day 1; Chizuru practically forced the entry card into his pocket. Said he needed to "expand his horizons"... that meant not obsessing over Kyo.
Where had that gotten him? He was struggling with Riot, finding comfort in Mature and Vice's embrace, putting himself at odds with Chizuru...
...And he was also in the semifinals of King of Fighters. He'd never won one before, much less a singles format. It was a weird measuring contest in his brain, whether this was worth it or not. Was he having a good time? Did this give him self-respect? A sense of fulfillment? Independence? When Kyo was around, he never had to ask himself these questions. It was always much simpler: always heed Chizuru, and channel his emotions on Kyo. It's what kept them together. It was the foundation that guided them on their lifelong campaign against evil. Chizuru liked to think of herself as the glue that kept them together, but truthfully... it was him.
"You've been a good servant, Yagami."
The words so forcefully embedded in his eardrums, he felt his blood bubble. His hands went upwards to his ears, as if to shut it out... but he couldn't silence a voice that was roaring deep inside him.
"I'm... urrrgh... nobody's... servant." he tried to come back, to fight through the horrific throbbing in his brain... but the pain was so great, he could barely speak a smooth sentence.
The voice spoke again, his ears RINGING so hard, he grunted in audible pain. "Hahahaha... you've been serving me this whole time, whether you convinced yourself otherwise or not. Everything you've done to this point has been according to fate's design. You had every chance to quit, and you're still here. Still fulfilling your duty."
"I'm...guhh... urrrghhkk..." Iori struggled to maintain a public display of lucidity. "I'm here... because I want to be. Plain and simple. I do what I want. I felt like winning this damn tournament."
"Oh, because your 'peers' told you you can? Hah. The only reason you've made it this far, is because deep down, you recognize your duty. Opponent after opponent, you've struck down, leading you to this moment... to the final reckoning."
"Yeeah... I did beat em all... like that little brown-noser Chris." Iori defiantly smirked.
"Means to an end. He served his purpose. You're still here because you serve a greater purpose... it's time for you to hold nothing back. The Bernstein boy... he must die here. Strike down their false idol. Let the world see his blood. This final offering will be the salvation the world has awaited... the cleansing of this poxy species. The return of the natural world."
"Not.. urrghkkk! Happening."
"Hahahahaha! How are you going to defeat a man of such unparalleled strength and skill? The only move you have left to make is to give in to me... let me in the driver's seat, and recognize your true potential!"
"I'm not giving into you, and I'm NOT going to lose." Iori fought back. "I'm tired of every f***ing move I make being about "fate" and "duty" and having some impact on the grand scheme. I'm just a guy, about to win a fighting tournament. That's it." The more he spoke, the more his posture returned to confidence... and the pain became more bearable.
"We shall see."
The voice grew quiet; Iori let out a long, relieved sigh. He rubbed his temple. The pain subsided so quickly. Riot truly was like a tumor: some malfested, disgusting THING that tried to drill into his head at any given moment. He shook it away. Surely it was time for Adelheid's walkout...
...A Bernstein finally DID emerge, though it was not the one about to fight. It was the hostess herself. She walked out onto the field, not near the combat zone, but out in the distance... where a grand mahogany piano had been set up. She sat down at the seat in front of it, scooted herself a bit for a comfortable position. She opened the protective cover, revealing the well-kept keyboard, white as pearls.
The audience grew silent, as Rose closed her eyes, took a breath, opened them... and applied her fingers. She began to play.
The daughter of Rugal rarely got to display her extracurricular talents: only her political ones. For the first time, since 2003, the world was gifted with her extraordinary pianism, as her fingers began a rapid and rhythmic application of the keys. The intro started off fairly tame, with several starts and stops, though she still spread out with an impressive repertoire of notes, with several instances of carrying the same notes with a repetitive rapping of successive keys.
It wasn't until a minute in, that the song really kicked off, and Rose demonstrated just how comfortable she was in her musical crafting, as she carried the piece with precision and flawlessness, in every key she hit.
The audience didn't dare make noise, and disturb this delicate moment, a moment that their hostess took a great personal indulgence in, both for herself, and for personally playing out her soon-to-be-champion... just as she did that day, in 2003.
"Ahh, Beethoven. What a surprise." King demonstrated some surprising musical knowledge.
"How do you know?" Joe asked her.
"Those auto song playlists on Youtube have weird stuff in them sometimes." King responded. "Hey Athena! You know this one?"
Athena blushed. "I-it's Piano Concerto no. 5. "Emperor". Ehehehe..."
"Emperor Concerto..." Andy spoke with a chin. "How appropriate Rose would play this for her precious brother."
Adelheid found himself stuck in the tunnel, just listening... god, how he forgot. Things got so cloudy, so confusing, so ugly... this took him back to a simpler, innocent time. He loved her music. So many stressful days and nights, she'd soothe his unyielding turmoil with an orchestra of harmonious tones. Beethoven, Bach, Mendelssohn, Kempf... he remembered the song she played for him in the finals of '03, how it gave him the strength to nearly run through the entirety of the Ikari Warriors singlehandedly.
...Was that what this was about? He wouldn't be surprised. The goings-on this week, the lows she had stooped to, had jaded his heart to a pessimistic gravel. This angelic sound... it was a requiem of violence. A dirge of blood, of conquering, of selfishness and vanity. And it was beautiful... enough to make him want to shed tears, not for its beauty, but for how tarnished it was, here, in this moment.
"Rose..." he closed his eyes, and spoke her name, as he at last walked out.
Even as their hero walked out of the tunnel and proceeded to the field, nobody dared interrupt this moment with noise. Rose had maintained perfection through five minutes, even including a particularly straining moment where her fingers rattled intensely on the same keys with an inhuman speed, before evening back out to a normal execution across the keyboard. She didn't miss a beat, able to slow and speed the tempo as the song demanded. She was masterful.
"Jesus, how do her fingers do that? She have Parkinson's?" Joe blurted. He was immediately slapped in the back of the head by King, whose younger brother had physical ailments.
As Adel reached the ring, the song had gone from its jovial beginnings into a more perilous tune, an appropriate signal of the danger soon to commence in the ring. Even now, with both of them here, neither had the initiative to interrupt her playing... they allowed things to progress on her time, when she saw fit to cease.
...And finally... at exactly 8 minutes into the song, when a successive trail of keys hit their peak... she slammed on the keys and held one, terminal note... allowing it to fade out, into silence.
...That was the cue for the audience to finally cry out in support of their German fighter. Applause rocked the walls, chants of "ADEL-HEID!" filled their ears. Iori was sick of hearing it.
"So here we are, Yagami." Adelheid called out, addressing the last man who stood between him and the finals.
"Yeah." Iori briefly responded.
"You understand that I have to win this." Adelheid justified. "Germany's counting on me. Rose is counting on me. And... I've come too far to go back now. After everything that's..."
"The more you talk about it, the more I wanna be a dick and spoil everything." Iori, with a hint of smugness picking up, managed a grin. "I've had it just about up to here with you and your sister's high-nosed antics, strutting around here like you're king and queen, and we're just disposable pieces on your game board."
"...You think that of me?"
Iori didn't know how to respond to the question. What he saw in Adelheid's eyes, however, wasn't the narrative he'd so surely convinced himself of... the man had different eyes. Tired eyes.
Adelheid's fists clenched. "I want what you want, Iori... I want to go home. But you and I both know neither of us are going to be satisfied unless we've left everything here on the battlefield. I'm going to fight you with all my strength... and my father's."
Iori's smile grew slightly demented. "Not a good note for us to start on, bud. Your father was a f***ing nutcase."
Adel rolled his eyes. "So people say. But what he left for me... is something extraordinary. I'm about to show you."
FIGHT!
The feeling out process lasted only a few seconds. Iori and Adelheid, each in fighting stance, traded a slight glance-over, before Iori lunged forward without restraint, his left hand curling into a fist, with a slight spew of purple embers...
"HRRRAGH!"
The first body blow sent Adelheid skidding yards backwards, despite the man blocking it... after one strike, Iori's power was already established.
Iori pressed onward, and let his hands go. He fired again to the body, twice, before his next left went towards the head... Adel brought his arms up, but the force of Iori's punches were so powerful, they sent his arms teetering like window shutters in a gust. He was just barely blocking these, forced to roll with them and keep his footing intact...
Iori's next punch took himself airborne, and he went FLYING at Adel with a superman punch; Adel had to evade this one completely, as he knew just blocking would still put him on his ass. The strike was so explosive and sloppy, it left Iori in a terrible position, and Adel took advantage, kicking the back of his knee out, buckling him to one leg. But Yagami proved he was even more dangerous wounded, as he spun around with a wild forearm sweep, nearly taking Adel off his feet, as the Bernstein backpedaled quickly, and Iori was back on the advance.
"Iori's all forward motion." Terry observed. "If Adel has any shot, he's got to slow him down..."
Adelheid decided it was time to command the range. He did what he did best; a stomping kick to the body flew so fast and true, Iori took it and was pushed back. Iori tried to rebound, but Adelheid went low and blasted his knee out with a leg kick; it connected so hard, Iori's body went 90 degrees in mid-air before he hit the ground.
"Damn, that boy's got gams!" Joe complimented, albeit with slight insecurity.
Iori scrambled on all fours, but by the time he was upright, Adelheid was already on him. A crushing left drilled into Iori's ribs, and before he could process the pain, a right followed, to the other side. Iori wobbled... one more kick would bring him down!
...Despite the danger, Iori knew only to go forward. He tried to rush Adel AGAIN; the Bernstein countered perfectly with a leg kick, toppling Iori...
...Or so he thought. Somehow, as he was going down, Iori reached and latched his forearm into Adel's neck to keep himself up, sending the two of them backwards into a wild stumble... the end result was a sloppy takedown, as Iori planted Adel on the ground with raw arm strength and ended up in top mount before anyone could process the reversal.
Adel, who thought himself in control, was suddenly taking hard elbows to the face, from a grunting madman who looked like he was trying to chop someone to death with a machete. He HAD to get up; luckily, Iori didn't maintain top position very well, and Adel was able to throw him off before taking more than three hits.
They both got up, and the damage was already apparent: Adelheid was bleeding under his eye, and his nose was darkening.
Time to deal some back.
Adel cracked him across the temple with a left roundhouse, immediately opening up blood, and Adel spun around with a follow-up back kick to the stomach. Iori hunched over, and a third, an axe kick, faceplanted Iori in the dirt.
"That's it brother! That's it!" Rose screeched on the sideline. "This fight is yours!"
Iori punched the ground in anger, furiously rising. Blood and dirt created a gross mud-like mess on the side of his head. He howled with fury and charged, attempting a right to the body, before bringing that same arm back with a curved elbow high. Adel's defense held up, as he blocked the body shot and dodged the head shot. As Iori's elbow missed, he slingshot his arm the other way, with a wild backfist, and Adel swayed hard to avoid it.
Iori was swinging wild, and Adel was dodging him at will. He bobbed and weaved the next four swings, Iori committed to headhunting, and leaving himself in horrible positions. It made it too easy for Adelheid to counter him every step of the way. He kicked Iori in the vertebrae, stiffening him, and he went HARD into the body with a right. Iori nearly went inside out, but the pain to the body was nothing compared to the third kick, which flew fast and true, and struck him dead in the face. Iori was sent backwards... and now HIS nose looked worse for wear.
Finally, a fourth kick pulled the rug out from under him, as Adel put his whole body into a low kick that knocked Iori on his butt, and the Yagami subsequently collapsed on his back.
"YESS ADELHEID! MY BROTHER CANNOT BE DEFEATED!" Rose bounced and cheered, not the least bit mindful of her dress and what it exposed.
"He's slowing Iori down...!" King gasped.
"No..." Andy shook his head. "This is Iori we're talking about. He never gets weaker: only madder."
Iori crawled on all fours, Adelheid lingering over him with his proud fighting stance, easily in control of this fight. In control of destiny. Making fate go the way it was intended.
Iori loved fucking things up. He feigned his stunned state, and turned it into a powerful sweep kick, as he torqued with his hip and drilled into Adelheid's leg powerful enough to put the Bernstein on HIS ass.
Now level with each other, Iori cocked back with his best haymaker, and clobbered Adelheid with what would have been a knockout blow, if they were on their feet.
"Holy SHIT!" Shingo blurted.
The force of Iori's punch made him collapse on top of Adelheid, and the two scrambled sloppily, Iori ending up on his feet first. Adelheid got another taste of Iori's uncanny strength, as the redhead snatched him up by his shirt and stood him up until Adelheid was dragging his knees in the dirt. Two fierce punches to the stomach left Adelheid begging to be let go, so he could at least collapse... and Iori granted him mercy as he stood him up the rest of the way, and slung him by his shirt, making Adelheid stumble for a good 10 yards before taking a hard crash back to the ground.
Adelheid was in the process of coughing his insides up... but he looked up and saw Iori just walking towards him. Arms down. Like a demented zombie. It was one of the few sights Adel could say was... scary. He got up fast, just in time to get his defenses up...
No regard for form or discipline, Iori threw a left hook; Adel blocked it just barely, and Iori followed up with a right. Adel had to catch it with both hands just to stop its terrifying might. This put the two in another stalemate, a body-to-body struggle on the feet, as they jockeyed for position. Iori rammed two short-range punches into the ribs with his free hand, and Adel just couldn't hold on. He was in too much pain, and Iori was too strong.
The next thing he knew, Iori had his arm free, and he pressed it to Adelheid's throat... and bent him over, like a recliner seat. He raised an elbow... and RAINED it down into Adelheid's stomach from 12 o' clock.
"OOOOOF... that would make me puke up the best crabs I've ever eaten. " Shen Woo winced.
Adelheid had to prevent getting mounted, or Iori would have pounded his face to pulp. Before the man could get atop him, Adelheid threw up a leg triangle, and flung Iori to the ground. With all the strength he could muster on the ground, Adelheid horse-kicked him in the face, just to buy himself some precious time.
"GET UP BROTHER, GET UP! GET UP GET UP GET UP GET UP!" Rose wailed like a broken record. "FIGHT! NOW!"
The first respite of the fight allowed them both a chance to crawl back to their feet. They turned to face each other, and both were wearing their own versions of hurt: Adelheid was holding his arms close to his chest, indicating body pain, and Iori's face was nearly completely red, from the bleeding on his temple, nose, and mouth.
...To complete the menacing picture, was a maniacal smile from the redhead. There were few things more unsettling to look at.
"Are... we sure Iori's in control?" Kensou questioned, clear reservation in his tone.
"We're never sure." Terry grinned. "That's what makes Iori so damn scary... and so damn fascinating."
The two closed back in... and resumed war.
Iori lunged with his best left, Adelheid with his best roundhouse... the two connected, Adelheid on Iori's shoulder, Iori on Adel's thigh, and the two stumbled back, cancelled out by each others' strikes.
Iori led the dance again, swinging hard with a left uppercut and a right hook. Adel dodged both, and Iori capped it off with a fierce right kick to the body. Adelheid blocked it easily enough. They circled... Iori threw a combination 1-2, and Adel blocked it, before sapping him with a counter knee to the body. This one got Iori backing up, but not enough to escape Adel's range.
Adelheid threw out kicks as fast as shooting a pistol. He nailed Iori's body with two right kicks in a ROW, before mixing it up with a left, and going back right, to the leg, knocking Iori back on his butt... and to cap it off, the coup de grace... a ramming knee into his face, that sent Iori backwards and laid him out. The audience could SEE the stream of blood fly from Iori's mouth on that last strike, even without an instant replay.
"YES!" Rose pumped her fists.
"God damn." Beni spoke, wowed. "There's very few people who'd get up from that."
"But we know Iori... persistent whelp." Saisyu reminded.
...Sure enough, his namesake held up. The Yagami heir rose upwards, barely having to use his arms to do so... he spat hard, and a fine mist of blood sprayed from his lips.
"What will it take to keep you down?!" Adelheid cursed.
"An act of god." Iori smirked.
Iori rushed in; Adelheid still had the range, and he cracked the oncoming Iori with a left roundhouse. Iori wobbled slightly... Adel decided a second one would put him back down.
...But Iori once again had that strange way of reversing fortunes. As Adel's second kick came towards him, Iori APPEARED to collapse... but he was actually diving at Adel's feet, and he swung his forearm and clipped the Bernstein's leg out from under him, bringing him hard to the ground.
They scrambled in the dirt, and Iori tried to come down on him with an elbow drop, but Adelheid rolled to safety, and it became a race for who'd get up first. They got up at relatively the same time, but Iori wasn't even on proper footing before he came scuffing through the dirt, stumbling forward with a wild left hook. Adel saw it coming from miles away, and he easily sidestepped it, shoving Iori into the distance. With the redhead's back fully turned, Adel seized the advantage; his body glowed silver as he kicked the dirt and sent a powerful stream of chi sailing at his compromised opponent...
Unfortunately, Iori saw it coming in time, and he spun around and met it with a flick of purple. The flames and Adel's projectile sailed into each other, snuffing each other out. This gave them both the time they needed to close back in though. With Iori's feet more solid, he lunged with a mean right... but Adel's kicks commanded the range, as always, and he kicked Iori's arm off-track before his fist could even sail. Stunned, Iori was wide open for the next kick... the most damaging kick of the fight, as Adelheid glowed silver, spun around with his full body, gathering a huge momentum... and a spinning hook kick, so powerful it kicked up dust all around him, SLAMMED into Iori Yagami's jaw and sent a spray of blood flying, along with the rest of the man!
"HOLY...!" Mary exclaimed.
"He just broke his jaw." King stated. "There's no way he didn't just break Iori's jaw. That thing must be SHATTERED."
Adelheid was less concerned with whether he broke Iori's jaw, and more concerned with whether he was knocked out or not. It was hard to admit but... Iori was wearing him down. He was unlike any opponent Adel had ever faced. His raw talents alone were enough to deal with most threats, and fell any villain, but... Iori just kept coming. He got madder. He got stronger. He was a sponge, absorbing damage, and dealing it back. He truly was a demon, bred for violence.
"Stay down. Stay down... just stay down..." Rose muttered repeatedly, begging for her victory to be nigh.
...But that prayer fell deaf, as Iori, once again, rose up. He opened his mouth, rotating his jaw a few times: not broken. His determined eyes fell back on his slowly-demoralizing opponent...
"Jeez, what the hell is Iori made of?!" Bonne Jenet questioned the absurd.
"Calcium and asshole." was Malin's nonsensical answer.
The next stanza started with a bang, as the supercharged opponents rushed each other and met in the middle. Adel leaped forward, rocketing with a flying kick; Iori rolled under it, and their bodies crossed. Adel recovered faster and came around with a back kick, nailing Iori behind the shoulder; it wasn't enough to stop Yagami from coming around, as he tried to rush in with a left, but Adelheid lunged into a brutal side kick, drilling into his body and sending Iori on his back foot. Adel leaped in with another kick, soaring low to his calf, buckling Iori to a knee, and finally, the coup de grace: his patented axe kick, hard enough to break skulls.
Iori was wise to roll out of the way of that last one, judging by the huge CRASH! he heard when it impacted. But the whiffed axe kick left Adel in a terrible position... and Iori seized it, getting behind Adel in a flash, and locking arms around his neck in a sleeper hold.
Adelheid was quickly reminded of the terrible strength Iori contained; it seemed like only seconds passed before he felt his brain go numb, as the warmth of unconsciousness started to wash over him...
"This could be it." Athena gasped. "That's tight!"
"GET OUT OF IT, PRETTY BOY!" Kensou urged.
Beads of sweat trickled down his hairline, his forehead... the bridge of his nose... before resting on his nose, and falling one droplet at a time. His face remained static; it took all his composure and concentration not to freak out and fall asleep quicker. He carefully brought his arms up, putting them behind Iori's head, and began to apply pressure to make it uncomfortable, pulling down on it. But Yagami was persistent... he continued to choke the consciousness from him, with each passing second.
"This is it. Adel is DONE." Benimaru predicted.
Adel's eyes closed. The audience gasped. The entire viewing world were probably on their feet!
"Brother... get out of it... get out... GET OUUUUUUUUUUUT!" Rose squealed.
...Suddenly, Adel's leg began to lift. Higher... higher... beyond the boundaries of most human beings...
"What in the...?!" King blurted.
The audience screeched with excitement at what they were seeing: Adelheid's own leg was so high up, his foot could reach behind his head. He had pulled Iori's head down just enough, that he could bend his calf, and hook it around Iori's neck...!
"I have never seen... a human being... DO THIS!" Joe spoke, flabbergasted.
Adelheid dived into a forward roll, taking Iori's body with him... and in one smooth motion, the two broke apart.
"Son of a bitch..." Iori grunted as he tumbled in the dirt alongside his now-free opponent.
The audience nearly tore the roof off with their screeching cheers. Every perilous moment, every impossible feat... the more times Adelheid pulled through for them, the more it gave them hope and confidence. HE was their champion.
"Welp, I just learned something new today." Mai exclaimed. "The Bernsteins are circus people!"
"Well, Rose probably belongs in a freakshow." Andy chuckled.
"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Adelheid was fired up, fueled by the cheers of the audience! He poured it on Iori; leaping into his body with a side kick, going low to his knee with the second, going back to the body with pure shinbone, before a fourth one crashed across Iori's temple...
...And finally, with a silver glow, and a scream of chi-expelling proportions...
SLASHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
The rafters shook, as Adelheid took to the skies, his leg at a 90 degree angle, as a contrail of silver chi cut through Iori's torso, splitting his shirt wide open, expelling blood from a fresh, vertical gash, that extended from chest to waist...
Genocide Cutter, Grand Cross, Grand Cutter, Genocide Cross... whatever one wanted to call it. It was his signature move; his trademark, left behind by his father. The weapon that won him more fights than any other.
Iori was down. Adelheid was standing tall, triumphant, the Stadium deaf from the volume-breaking cheers. Adelheid was the winner. Their hero. Their champion. Germany's native son, bringing home the g-
TH-THUMP.
TH-THUMP.
TH-THUMP.
Movement.
Adel looked down, and he could barely believe it. Yagami's limbs were in motion, feet shifting to get under him, hands digging into dirt, to try and hoist himself up... but HOW?!
TH-THUMP. TH-THUMP. TH-THUMP.
"I-Impossible!" Rose cried aloud, her fingers clenching so hard against her dress, they nearly tore through. "He should be done!"
If the man had had any doubts before... they were silenced now. The truth was, no force on Heaven or Earth could keep Iori Yagami down. He was pure, unyielding, unrelenting rage. Whatever motivations fueled his mind, no matter how miniscule or grandiose... when he wanted to fight, he'd fight to his last breath.
Iori kept a hand on his chest, clearly in pain, judging from his hard wincing. His shirt was split down the middle, both halves fluttering. On his bare torso, a clear gash: Adel had tried to hit him not fatally, but with enough stopping power to end the fight. Clearly, Iori was made of unnatural stuff.
Iori returned to stance... but a hard cough told that he was worse than he led on. He coughed into his hand... Adel saw the red pool in his palm.
"Are you okay?!" Adel called out in concern.
He spit. Turned to face Adelheid... his fists were no longer closed. His fingers were bared, brandished like the weapons they were.
"Never better." Iori smirked, blood drizzling down his mouth with each word. "But you cut me pretty bad. I gotta repay the favor."
Benimaru fell on his butt, a bewildered expression on his face. "There's just no stopping Iori Yagami. There's just no way. He's the f***ing Juggernaut."
Saisyu clutched his beard so tight, he nearly ripped out the hairs. "That man should be destroyed... he's too dangerous to live!"
Chizuru was all smiles. In spite of all this, the darkness hadn't spiked even a little. He was in control. He looked, almost at times, like he was going to Riot... but somehow, he seemed more himself than ever. Almost like he had found perfect harmony.
Iori rushed Adel with a new arsenal, throwing wide, openhanded, slashing strikes. Adel just barely avoided the fingertips, as each swing brought them closer and closer to contact with his skin. Iori was trying to cleave flesh...!
Adel backed him up with a hard stomping kick to the body, and he caught him on the way back with another kick to that impossible head of his... but Iori's body just swayed with the hits, and he slingshotted back forward with another brutal swing. Adel was forced to catch his arm just to survive, and the two were locked in a stalemate... it felt like he was struggling with a knife wielding maniac!
Finally, Adel found the strength to fling his arm aside, but his success was short-lived, as Iori swung a nasty right behind it. The exchange ended rather weird, with Adel trying to counter with a jab, but Iori's hand crossed under his armpit, and gave him an inadvertent underhook.
The two spun around and around, arms locked in a struggle... finally, they stumbled backwards, feet gathering momentum... and Iori demonstrated just how outmatched Adel was in strength, as he flung the guy with the whizzer, sending Adelheid COMPLETELY over his head and slammed to the ground.
"Jeeeesus...!" Terry winced. "This is getting brutal. I commend Adelheid for holding out this long but..."
"It's not over yet!" Mary urged.
The two scrambled to their feet... and Adelheid cried out in pain, as he finally felt what Iori had sought the most.
SLASH!
Their bodies were too close for Adel to break away clean... he felt the fingers rake across his torso, the hot blood began to pool, and drizzle over... he was cut open, and bleeding. Blood for blood. Iori's promise.
Rose gasped loudly when she saw her brother's blood... her eyes quivered. She felt her irises began to part... until they were facing opposite directions, the pupils bouncing madly in their colorful radii. Her hands shook uncontrollably. No. No...
He just kept coming. Slash after slash. "HRAAH HRAAH! HRAAH!"
Each one, Adel could see the contrails behind them. It took careful maneuvering to avoid each one. Finally, Iori extended himself too far and swung deep past Adel, allowing the Bernstein to kick him in the back knee, raise his leg high, and bring it down atop Iori's dome with a powerful axe kick. Iori went down on his back, eyes facing upwards...
...He looked to the sky, and saw Adel spinning through the air, before presenting his shinbone in his downward descent.
CRASSHH! Adel had led with his knee and shinbone, attempting to come down on Iori with a vicious bombardment from the sky, but Iori rolled at the last second, and Adel's attempt failed.
"HRAAGH! HRRAGH HRAAAAAHHH!"
Slash. Slash. Adel weaved his head out of the way of two, but the third one flew faster, more powerful than he anticipated...!
He only had one chance.
SLASHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Iori's murderous claws met the slashing, silver chi of Adelheid... as G Cross and claws exchanged like blades. It cost him a huge output of chi, but it was Adel's only chance at staying in this!
Iori was pouring on the pressure, not stopping. He tried to cleave Adel with another huge claw... he hit nothing but a silver blur, as Adel folded his arms and phase-shifted through the Yagami, emerging from behind, and delivering a powerful, launching back kick to his spine.
Iori was sent stumbling several yards... what Adelheid didn't expect was for him to turn around, glowing purple, and launch a fireball at his chest.
"Damn! Tricky b...!"
Adelheid did the only thing he could: activate his Dark Barrier and hope for the best.
FWOOOOOSHHHH!
Purple impacted against silver. Adelheid felt the flames... so hot... even through his shield, like heat conducting in a metal pot... his shield could deflect most any projectile, but these flames were different. They didn't... behave...!
"Hrrrrrghh... HRRGH!"
Finally, the flames EXPLODED, bathing Adel in a coat of smoke and embers. Only a small, partial bit of the flames were deflected back at Iori... and Iori rushed forward, without even stopping, and caught the flames in his hand, balling his fingers into a closed fist.
He leaped into Adel's chest, fist cocked back. "HYAAAAAH!"
A supercharged, explosive, flaming punch, square into Adelheid's sternum. It felt like a grenade going off against him. Adelheid was knocked several yards, impossible to stay on his feet from such a blow.
"Yyyyikes! How the tables have turned." Shen Woo teased.
"And I thought Saisyu-sama gave him a hard time..." Kasumi admired. "Yagami-san truly is the beast of beasts!"
"There's just no denying." Terry too gushed. "Master of flames. When he lost his flames, he perfected his claws. Now he's the best of both worlds. Iori truly is... a complete fighter."
Adelheid rose up, clutching his chest, panting... he wasn't sure he could go on. He understood now, more than ever, what an engine Iori Yagami was... the only way to put down such a mad beast was to beat him at his own game: to hit him with blistering, overwhelming power.
He closed his eyes, and uttered one simple request. "Father... Rose... give me strength."
A low yell from his lungs started soft, then increased in volume, like a fire gaining fuel... he allowed the tension in his body to gather, to manifest his chi into an overwhelming aura...!
"Haaaaaaaa...haaaaAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The power burst from his body, bathing him head to toe in a silver pillar, reaching yards beyond him. His eyes opened... they no longer bore their natural redness. Only pure silver, obstructing his irises, his pupils, leaving one singular color. He shone so brightly, the fighters had to turn their eyes away. The only one unaffected was Ai, who was used to staring at bright screens.
...Rose never looked away. She could feel his warmth, his radiance, all the way from there. He shone so brilliantly... before she knew it, Rose found her eyes pooling with wetness, and gentle tears softly trickled over. He was... so beautiful. So perfect.
"Damn. Adelheid's final form." Shen Woo pointed. "When he's like that, not even Saisyu can beat him."
"It's getting to the end now..." Benimaru predicted. "Somebody's about to go down. I just don't know who."
Iori felt a mixed brew of compulsions bubbling inside him, enough to physically affect him. One was pure instinct screaming at him; the other was Riot, trying to worm its way in, and take over. It was a constant battle, trying to keep himself in control, with zero slip-ups, so he wouldn't lose himself... it was hard to say whether that stifled his combat ability, or if it just pissed him off and made him stronger.
He was feeling kind of pissed, though.
"Huff...huff...huff... hrrrgh..." Iori's loud, gutteral, labored pants had a more animalistic air to them than fatigued. The way his eyes widened, his fingers twitched, spoke of a man not on the verge of falling... but of tapping into an even higher evolution of aggression.
His tension, too, began to gather... but not in the form of massive glowing chi.
"HrrrrrraaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
All the strength in his body could be seen, through his quivering, the twitching of his limbs... the way his feet dug harder into the dirt, enough to form ruts. His fingers flexed constantly, as if going through withdrawal from striking flesh.
He presented those fingers, curved to rend, as he took his fighting stance and stared down the glowing pillar of justice and hope, standing in front of him. He knew what this moment meant; the two of them would clash, with their most powerful attacks, and only one would emerge. He supposed they'd all be happy if it was their "hero"... they'd no doubt curse his name if it was he himself who stood triumphant. It might have been for the best of the world if he were the one to go down.
Would that stop him? Hell no.
WHOOSH! Adelheid's body was a silver blur, as he raced towards Iori with top speed, his eyes twinkling with destructive intent...!
Iori howled madly as his feet too shot forward... he felt instinct completely consume his coherence, and he saw nothing but red... Adelheid naught but a dark silhouette, coming at him. He had lost even the basic comprehension of colors around him... like a shark, smelling blood. He put everything, at the cost of his senses, into this final moment!
The audience held their breath. The fighters were close to breaking their tailbones with how they leaned forward.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"HRAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
SLASHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
The biggest, brightest, most potent G Cross cut a marvelous silver swath through the air. At the exact same time, Iori put his entire body into forward motion, his fingers flying upwards at an angle, and he unleashed his Yatagarasu, leaving huge, menacing claw marks in the air, from what could only be described as a killing swing.
The exchange ended as fast as dueling pistols, and the two found themselves on opposite sides, standing idle, their attacks faded. Only the sharp breathing of their shared, spent bodies, could be heard, as the audience all hit their mute button at once, to see the outcome...
A single cry of pain rang out, and shot their nerves directly into their spines.
"Aghhh!"
The entire Stadium cried out at once, as blood gushed from Adelheid's leg, and he clutched it in pain... the Bernstein successor did not go down, but it was clear that he had been the loser of that grand exchange.
"OH SHIT." Shen Woo gasped.
"Daaaaaaamn." Joe seconded.
"So that's it then..." King commented.
Iori turned around, breathing heavily, assured he had won the fight... to his surprise, Adelheid continued to stand before him, his leg seeping red, where fresh lacerations added to the ones that had accumulated over the week. To be standing at this point... truly a testament to Adelheid's legendary leg strength.
...But it was clear the wounds had caught up to him. Adelheid looked like a man weathered, and it took all of his bravado just to maintain a strong showing in front of the audience, as he attempted to conceal his limp and stand up straight in his fighting stance. Even now, his thoughts were of them... to make it this far, and disappoint the people who had built him up to this point would be a tremendous waste. He HAD to win.
"How... the f***... huff... huff... are you still... standing?!" Iori puffed out hard breaths.
Playing through the pain, clearly trying to hide winces, Adelheid spoke. "Huff... huff... you said earlier, it would take an act of god to put you down. Well... right back at you."
Iori grunted. He had fought some stubborn bastards in his life... none more than one Kyo Kusanagi. But this guy... Adelheid Bernstein... he gave even Kyo a run for his money. Was the circumstances? The home field advantage, the natives, his sister, that compelled him to an almost IMPOSSIBLE extent to keep going? Was it his father's genes? Whatever it was... it was enough to humble the Yagami heir. It was beginning to feel different than Kyo, someone he needed no justifiable rhyme or reason to want to beat down. He wanted to smash that face just by looking at it. But Adelheid... he was becoming annoyingly undesirable.
"...You deserve to win this thing, Bernstein." Iori spoke with a humility that opened his opponent's eyes. "You really do."
Unprepared to take such a baffling compliment, Adelheid maintained his tenacity. "You seem to understand that I can't, and won't quit."
"Oh, I understand." Iori responded. "Sucks that it comes at your bitch sister's expense."
"Rose's victory is still my victory, and Germany's victory." Adelheid countered. "Despite everything, I still believe in my sister's original vision for this week. Now that I'm here... I'll be damned if I let it go up in smoke."
Having said his piece, the Bernstein man's eyes flickered with silver, and he prepared to rush in again. "Enough talk, Yagami! Face me!"
With that challenge, Adelheid sprinted forward, putting full weight on that wounded leg. Iori looked down; could see the blood seeping, his leg not fully comfortable running at such speed. His eyes went back up, and saw the same determination in Adel's eyes that said he wouldn't quit.
He wouldn't either.
Cocking his fist back, Iori gave a battle cry as he ran out to meet Adelheid. They slowly began to close distance...
Adelheid's eyes focused on his.
Iori's eyes focused on his.
The audience held their breath, as they awaited what had to be the final clash...!
"Haaaaaaa!"
"Haaaaaaaaah!"
Adelheid prepared to load up, to unleash a devastating kick...!
Iori's fist cocked back, preparing to swing...!
FWOOOOOOOSH!
Adelheid was so focused on the cocked fist, he didn't see Iori's other hand light up with purple, until it was too late; a stream of fire went down the middle and then split into two, curving around his feet...
Adel was distracted by the theatrics, but his feet were moving too fast to stop himself... he ran headlong into a surprise charging knee, blasting his insides so hard, he felt like puking up his stomach.
"Urrghhhkk...!"
Their body collision allowed Iori to hook a forearm around his neck and push him forward... with a yell, he shoved hard, flinging Adelheid into a harsh backwards stumble that led to Adelheid's feet leaving him, and the Bernstein fell...
...Directly onto the sphere of flame, that had rejoined, and was sitting idle.
BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
It was a trap; while they ran at each other with the intent of a head-on clash, Iori had laid a landmine at his feet, and waited for the the opportunity to throw him on the latent flame... as soon as his body touched down, Iori's eyes glowed purple and he slammed his hands on the ground, detonating it, and rocking the Stadium with an explosion like two tons of C4 going off.
"NO freaking way!" Shingo yelped.
"He packed that much power into that tiny ball of fire?!" Mai gasped.
Where Adelheid's body once lay, there now only resided a towering column of purple, as smoke and embers spewed, debris still falling all around them like rain.
...It took several fleeting seconds for the smoke to clear, and that was the cue for Adelheid's body to hit the ground with a THUD. He only had enough strength to clench his fists... his one and only attempt to rise was met with failure.
WINNER: IORI YAGAMI
Regardless of who people thought was going to win, it was a powerful, stunning moment.
Allianz Arena had never gone so dead, as 75,000 people had to go through the stages of grief, a crash course in understanding and processing the reality of the situation...
Adelheid Bernstein had lost.
"He actually did it..."
"He beat Adelheid..."
"I can't believe this..."
"Adelheid lost..."
The fighters were less on the traumatically shocked side, as most of them had come to the foregone conclusion that their boy, love him or hate him, had what it took to bring down the proud Bernstein heir. They were all cheers, and the fighter stands had become the liveliest party in this soccer stadium at the moment.
"HOT DAMN IORI!" Jenet spoke, amazed. "The hateful bastard got the job done!"
"Adelheid was looking pretty invincible this week..." King noted. "It's almost hard to process that he just lost. Even if it IS Iori that did him."
"I still can't believe it." Kasumi shared. "It's just... wow. This whole thing was about him, like it was almost pre-determined. And now... I can't believe it."
"Me too. This is a crazy moment. Where the hell are Ryo and Yuri?!"
"And here I thought this damn thing was rigged from the start." Shen Woo added to the pessimism. "I'm pleasantly surprised now!"
"All this bravado and grandeur admittedly clouded my head for a minute there..." Andy confessed. "It's like, I forgot for a minute, what Iori Yagami was capable of. I thought there was no stopping Adelheid. Wow. What a wrench that just got thrown into Rose's plans."
"Yaaaay Iori~!" Athena cheered.
"...Yay." Kensou flatly eeked out. At least Mary also joined him in not expressing any cheer.
All of Iori's supporters ran out onto the field, to welcome him in victory. The redhead saw them coming, and he braced himself for a super glomp... sure enough, it was coming, courtesy of Chizuru, who flew into the guy's arms and nearly knocked him over. Iori was able to receive her body crashing into him, but he had to spin her around a few times to lessen her momentum, just to keep his footing. Eventually, he was able to slow them down and hold her properly.
"AHHHH! IORI!" Chizuru cried happily. "I knew you could do it! I knew you could get over yourself and have some fun! You're in the Final Two!"
The two finally settled, with Iori easily holding her up, their faces level with each other. He spoke.
"I know... I know. You never gave up on me, Chiz." Iori spoke with that same gruffness... but a sense of humility could be felt.
"How are you feeling?" Chizuru asked. "Are you... okay?"
He knew what she meant. "I'm a little riled up inside, but it might just be the moment. God... thank god Rose is giving us a break. I need a drink, a smoke... something."
"We can go out for a little while, if you'd like." she smiled.
Iori managed a small smile back. "I would like that."
He set her down. He turned to face the rest of them: Saisyu had a slightly spiteful smile, Benimaru didn't bother trying to manage a smile... and Shingo was grinning like an idiot.
"So you made it this far, Yagami whelp." Saisyu backhanded complimented. "Congratulations. This is more a testament to my son's ability than your strength. You're more than a match for anyone here, obviously."
Iori rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks. You don't sound the least bit jealous."
"I'm happy for you, Iori!" Shingo boomed, to which Benimaru rolled his eyes.
"Glad someone is." Iori gave a scoff. "Hold that thought."
In all the hubbub, Iori never had a chance to check on his opponent's well-being. He turned, to where Adel'd body wound up; thankfully, the man was already back on his feet, having gotten help from Heidern, who was acting as his crutch. Leona was there also, supporting him (she chose not to attract attention to herself by going near Iori).
Iori approached him slowly, cautiously, his hands down, to indicate there was no animosity between them. He settled a few yards away, where he could at least have close eye contact with his fallen opponent.
"...I messed everything up, didn't I?"
Adelheid nodded. "You did... but I'd be petty to have any resentment towards you. I knew the risk, coming into this... I knew that, in the end, there was no guarantee of this going the way my sister intended. I resent that so much suffering and pain has happened to lead us to this moment... and my failure means it was all for naught. It'll weigh heavily on me."
"That's HER fault." Iori pointed to the distance. "Not yours."
Adel looked to the distance, where his finger had rested... Rose was there. She was...unresponsive.
"...Rose?"
People were finally starting to notice something amiss with the hostess. She was on the ground, resting on her knees, her head too low for anyone to see. Her fingers, bent at the knuckles, were digging into the dirt... her body clearly trembling.
"Ha!" King taunted. "I like the way she looks there. It suits her."
"King-san, please..." Kasumi put a hand on her shoulder. "...Her brother's right there."
Adel gently detached himself from Heidern and Leona, and started to limp towards her position. He called out to her. "Rose... ROSE!"
No response.
"Rose, answer me!"
TH-thump...th-thump...th-thump...th-thump...th-thump...th-thump...th-thump...th-thump...
"Rose! Rose, answer me!"
Th-thump...th-thump...th-thump...th-thump...th-thump...th-thump...th-thump...th-thump...
"Ha! I like the way she looks there. It suits her."
Th-thump...th-thump...th-thump...th-thump...th-thump...th-thump...
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.
TH-THUMP...TH-THUMP...TH-THUMP...TH-THUMP...TH-THUMP...TH-THUMP...
Rose tore the ground around her, leaping to her feet... her face, pale, blackened with streaks of mascara down to her bleeding lips, where her teeth had bitten through the skin. Her eyeballs were nearly blood red, as the vessels inside had burst within the retina.
She shrieked, with an unholy voice, as she reached down and clutched the bottom of her gold "champion" dress... with one fierce rip, she tore the bottom half of the dress, until it was dangling in her hand.
She reached for her bare thigh, clutched the hilt strapped to her stocking... with one draw, she presented a rapier, about 15 inches in length.
"I'LL KILL YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
Adelheid was barreled past easily, as Rose rushed Iori with eyes that were GLOWING with an unnatural, demonic red.
Iori's instincts kicked in; his life was in danger, and this alarm gave him the speed to evade her first thrust. But she was persistent, as she spun around and swiped wide with the thrusting blade.
"Guh-get away from me, you crazy bitch!" Iori yelped as he continued to backpedal, dodging her thrusts. Rose just kept coming, stabbing like a woman who had lost all sense of realty around her.
The audience was starting to get shaky. Murmurs and confused cries were ringing out. The situation was boiling over quickly.
"What is she doing?"
"The hostess has gone mad!"
"Somebody stop her!"
Adelheid crawled back to his feet. "ROSE WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP-ahhh...!"
He tried to run after her, but the pain in his leg was catching up fast... he fell down, before he could intervene.
All of the other fighters present wanted to jump in, but the heat of the moment, the CONFUSION, as they were witnessing something their brains couldn't quite process, shocked all of them into inactivity.
"You're going to die, Iori... stop her! NOW!"
Rose kept screaming, nearly throwing her voice out. She lunged hard into another thrust; Iori just barely got his hand up to parry the blade, and Rose stumbled past him, but she swung around with another swipe, and nicked Iori's bicep deep, enough to send a gush of blood out. The exhaustion and pain of the fight made Iori take it worse than normal.
"Urrrgh... you f...!" he grunted as he collapsed to a knee.
...That's when Chizuru felt it. Something big. Something BAD. A rush of life-threatening energy, tainting the air... something was about to happen. Right here. Right now.
"IORIIIIIIII!" she cried out his name as she ran after him, desperate to jump in and stop this...
...But it was too late. Rose charging him, full speed, not about to stop. Her blade, now stained with his blood, was aimed directly at his heart...
"NOOOOOO!"
TH-THUMP TH-THUMP TH-THUMP TH-THUMP
"KILL HER NOW...!"
It happened in a flash. Iori found some kind of... hysterical strength... and he lunged forward. His hand flew, and their bodies crossed. Everything went red... RED... EVERYTHING RED...!
"RAGHHHHhhhhhh...?!"
...So quickly the color came back, and Iori found himself on his hands and knees, panting, wondering what had just happened. He felt his hand, against the dirt, warm and moist... he was scared to lift it up and look at it.
...Finally he did, and saw the fresh blood, staining his hand.
"Oh my... god..."
He was scared to turn around. All he could hear was the screams of the audience, and Adelheid's screaming.
He heard one thud, like a metallic object hitting the dirt.
He heard another thud... this one much heavier. A body.
He turned around... and saw the body of Rose Bernstein, laying there, blood pooling from her side. The screams of the audience became more coherent.
"OH MY GOD!"
"HE JUST KILLED ROSE BERNSTEIN!"
"THE HOSTESS IS DEAD!"
The audience went ballistic, as the big screen, and probably all the tv screens in the world, were now displaying the body of their hostess, laying there, expelling red from her gold dress, the contrasting colors making it even more visible.
Iori looked down at his trembling hands... saw the blood flowing, dripping. He too, was starting to become unhinged, as the horrors of what he feared and hated most about himself, had just come to life. It was enough to choke his breath out. His brain spiraled around and around, trying desperately to grasp and justify...
"I... I didn't mean to...!"
"ROSE! ROOOOOOOOOOOOOSE!" Adelheid scrambled through the dirt, scuffing his hands and knees. He was on her in seconds, scooped her up and held her desperately. Whatever unholiness was in her eyes was gone, as they began to fade fast, becoming a struggle to stay open.
"Rose! Rose! Oh my god, Rose no... please keep your eyes open.. Rose, please... please don't die, Rose... please...!" Adelheid pressed himself against her, and the tears came. The desperate pleading continued, and became mixed in with hysterical sobs, until his words became incoherent puffs of air.
"Oh my god, do you feel that?!"
In their personal locker room, Shermie fell backwards from an air so thick, so overwhelming, vitalization had pumped into her like a feeding tube.
Yashiro was forced to stop too. He lifted a hand, as if to physically grasp the air in front of him. "Something BIG just happened..."
Shermie was straight up giggling, tracing her hands down her body. "This feeling! SO powerful! Ahhh! It's warm! Oh mon dieu j'ai la chair de poule!"
Yashiro looked down at his arms, he could see his veins turning golden, as streams of gaia power flooded through him. His eyes glowed yellow. "This is it... this is what we've been waiting for. The scales have officially tipped! DARKNESS AND DESPAIR IS RUNNING RAMPANT, AND IT FEEDS US! THIS IS OUR MOMENT!"
So... things just went bad. Very fast. Now that Rose is... uhhh... down for the count... and the entire viewing world is no doubt flipping out, how will our heroes deal with the backlash? Will the Hakkeshu finally complete their ceremony? Will Mr. Big get his money, and will there even be a world left to enjoy it? FIND OUT NEXT TIME!