KOFtober 3rd: Beast
A/N: So while I might be sporadic on this, there was a KOFtober prompt I saw on Twitter from the user called Helsic, and day 3 was 'Beast.' Being the first one I had some inspiration for, given I could easily spin it with one of my favorite characters who we all know and love, I decided to go for it. Nothing too deep here folks, just a little Riot Iori. More notes at the end because this is based off of other stories I have right now.
I will probably do some out of order, heh. I just happened to have something for this now, so decided to do it.
Staring at his large hand, he turned it over and back again, flexing it. Hands that had torn apart countless enemies in rage...but also to protect.
Especially now.
Scarred from attacks-desperate enemies trying to slice at him to try to pull his inexorable, iron grip apart...only for their attempts to be futile as he delivered the horrible deathblow; he had held steady a god, what chance did mere mortals have?
A fire scar or two from tangling with his rival. The palms and fingertips were rough from swiping flesh, stone, and bone during his countless battles; ones that he wished he did not have to participate in, but ones that he was destined to. Underneath, there were callouses from his music; one of the things that kept him tied to his other world, the normal world in which he could just live in permanently, but he knew that he was destined not to.
He would enjoy his reprieves in it when he could.
Looking up, he knew they were messing with the seal again. Why did so many people covet this power? Well, that was a stupid question, he told himself. Of course they would want the power of the will of the planet.
They had no idea what they were getting into. It would tear them apart...they could not hold such things, but messing with the seal meant many more may suffer.
It made him suffer, but that was something he was used to. He could take the wracking pain, the burning...spitting up blood before he lost himself to his own rage.
But he couldn't bear to see it turned on people that didn't deserve it. He had to get control.
Standing, he went toward where he felt the power emanating from. It took awhile to reach it, and he could feel his heart beating faster...and faster as he got there. He knew the seal had been weakening-the patch job he and his two partners did was more of an emergency, to put it one way-and he knew what that meant for everyone if it did.
But he did not want to put his partners in the way of this one. Not even Kyo. If he was going to defeat him, it wasn't going to be because he turned himself over to his own bestial side.
His steely eyes fixed on his destination and his long jacket blowing in the wind, he knew around where it was. An old building, was it? Who was there? How many? Not that it mattered...they had no chance.
There was someone else he wanted to make sure stayed protected, too, now, from it.
His heart was pounding faster and faster...he knew what it meant. His blood was running hot...hot enough that the cool breeze almost gave him goosebumps to counteract it; it was the slightest bit of relief at the pain now running through his body. He knew once the blood began to rush into his ears, first mildly, then getting to roaring as he reached the epicenter on where the nefarious group of foolish, power-hungry dabblers were attempting their careless attempts on the seal-there was no going back until his targets were in pieces.
He knew what was next, as he felt his muscles begin to tighten, the blood rushing into them, causing them to almost visibly expand...though just a little, and it would take someone who knew him to know what was happening.
They would yell at him, he knew. His partners would. The rock he had been leaning on would have asked why he went alone, why didn't he let the others handle this one.
Iori knew they wouldn't understand. He had to learn to control this, else he would lose himself permanently, eventually. He would not allow that. He could not allow that.
Not now. He had at least some of his life approaching normalcy. Even some was a relief.
The whites of his eyes growing bloodshot, as he approached what he knew was the epicenter, he felt the hot blood hurling up his throat and onto the ground, coughing it onto the street and into his hand, red splatter touching the concrete and the basement doors where he knew the bastards were hiding out in. This was the worst part; the most painful, as he felt his eyes glaze over, first blurring, and then turning the world to hues of red, black, and gray as the rage took hold of him.
Ripping the doors from their hinges, he could hear voices; startled, wondering what was going on.
Leaping down the stairs, the last thing anyone heard was a bestial, bloodthirsty and murderous scream that froze the blood of anyone who happened to hear it in terror.
A/N: As mentioned above, this is based off a story I did with Iori some time back(on an old pseud), where he was dealing with some offshoots of Those from the Past trying to mess with the seal on Orochi(long story short, I've always treated them as sort of a cult that have mooks and such around, and aren't just like the handful you see in Ash Saga; those I see as the higher ranking ones.) In the original story, Iori and Athena had a rapport, which turned into a relationship. This, I would think, perhaps happened after that fic went down(very soon after), in the post-XIV timeline. He had struggled greatly with his Riot in that story, trying to force more control on it, especially now.
The weakening seal had affected his mental state greatly...but he was in the process of trying to control it, at least to turn it toward those who deserved it rather than others who may get hurt in the fallout. I wanted this one to have a 'dark, but hopeful' feel.