Well hello again! Mads and I have brought you all a totally unexpected, we're-probably-posting-this-way-too-soon update, but whatever. We've been very excited about getting it out there for you - yes, YOU! - to read! With that being said...

Onward~!


The crowd in the arena was, in a word, massive. KOF always drew an impressive audience, but for some reason it seemed larger and more enthused than usual. King chalked the extra energy up to the draw of a famous pop star stepping into the ring; the kid had a lot of fans all over the world - surely they wanted to swoon over how multifaceted their idol was: she was an impossibly adorable singer, and a dancer, and a fighter… with supernatural powers.

However, none of that was going to do her a damn bit of good.

As King stood in the shadows of the battlegrounds she couldn't help but feel agitated; she was almost overwhelmed by a sudden and intense need to prove herself. She had to show everyone that she was really okay - that she was really herself again (...mostly). And if that meant dislocating poor Asamiya's shoulder or breaking her cute little nose, then so be it.

Besides... she could heal that shit anyway.

King pressed her lips together, crossed her arms, and shifted her focus back to her surroundings: The announcer - a scantily clad woman with way too much pep - was excitedly addressing the audience while sports photographers and television crews ate up every second of it.

"All right, boys and girls - we've got three exciting matches for you today," the woman chirped. "Coming up soon, the perennial Kyokugen Team takes on the returning Team Mexico! Who'll come out on top in this battle of strength and wits? Then in the main event, it's a rivals' match between Team Korea and the scary Villain's Team! Xanadu's promised something special for his teammates' old boss, so you won't want to miss this!

"But first," she went on, and the audience got a bit louder as they realized it was almost showtime. "Our beginning matchup is a clash of King of Fighters veterans! Each of these teams has only missed one team-based K.O.F.! They've never won gold, though - "

(King narrowed her eyes a bit at that.)

" - so who'll be the ones to take that first step this year!? We're about to find out, folks! Entering first, we have three of the loveliest ladies who've ever kicked somebody's teeth in!"

(Now her eyes rolled.)

"Hailing from France, Japan, and the U.S. of A., please welcome King, Mai Shiranui and 'Blue' Mary Ryan - Team Women Fighters!"

That was their cue, and Mai immediately took it: she stepped out of the shadows slowly, playing the part of the elegant beauty in her pristine kimono. It only lasted about five seconds, though, before she turned around and started to disrobe. Some first-time viewers actually gasped at that one - but before she could make things M-rated, she twirled around and somehow ended up in her ninja garb, posing with her fans as the audience roared.

"Nippon ichi!" she happily exclaimed, ignoring the fact that neither of her teammates were from Japan.

King and Mary made their entrances then, coming up from behind Mai on either side of her. Mary showed off a bit too, falling behind as she tossed her jacket to a waiting Anton. Meanwhile, King was all business, not even looking at the fans as she marched out in front of her partners; she just stared straight ahead at the tunnel across from her, unconsciously adjusting her gloves.

Once the three reached the platform, the annoying voice returned.

"And our next team! Featuring two genuine psychics, their sensei, and our resident idol! Hailing from China and Japan, please welcome the Psycho Soldiers - Chin Gentsai, Sie Kensou, and Athena Asamiya!"

In this case, two people entered first. Athena and Sie emerged from the tunnel together, both of them smiling, holding hands… and wearing the same colors.

"...oh, for fuck's sake," King groaned.
"Laying it on a little thick, aren't they?" Mary snickered.
"Awww, I think it's adorable," Mai gushed.

Of course you would, King thought with a sigh.

The couple soaked up the audience's cheers and catcalls, waving to all of them with big, sappy grins on their faces. Behind them trailed their Master, Chin, who looked about as happy about the situation as King did. He must think their heads might not be in the game, she mused. Could be good news for us...

Then there was no more time for musing, as their opponents made it to the platform. As the perky lady spouted off about the slight change in format, the six stared across from each other at their opponents. Chin and Mary both looked cool and calm; Mai and Sie looked eager and confident; King looked like she was about to hit someone with a truck - and Athena looked like the deer in the headlights.

Once the perk finished, the first two contestants stepped up. They stopped a fair distance from each other, made short non-verbal greetings… and then got into their stances, just waiting for the announcer to say the word...

"GO!"

The first match was Blue Mary against Master Chin, and Mary figured she had it in the bag. "Kung-fu grandpa" or not, he had to be about a thousand years old; one good armbar would surely be enough to take him out. Unfortunately for Mary, actually barring that arm proved to be a problem. Chin moved as slow and seemingly drunk as ever, but when it came to dodging attacks he was a waterfall. All of her grab attempts were thwarted, and only a few strikes made it through. Meanwhile, he landed nearly all of his strikes, which were a bit light but surprisingly painful. Chin didn't even break a sweat until his finishing move: sake-fueled flames that roared from his throat, leaving Mary floored, singed, and out of the fight.

The next match, however, featured much the same problem. Where Chin moved like lightning up close, Mai did it all the time, leaving poor Kensou dazed and confused where he stood. Limbs and flames seemed to strike him from out of nowhere; fans seemed to be hitting him every few seconds. Meanwhile his energy bullets all sailed a mile wide, and he couldn't aim his telekinesis well enough to catch her. Finally, he tried the monk approach: he stood still, eyes closed, waited to sense Mai - and struck… at which point she curled over Kensou's arm, vaulted on top of his head, and hit his whole body with an explosion of flames underneath her. The whole audience laughed at that one - but Kensou was much less amused, as he went back to the sidelines both burned and defeated. (Luckily he had Athena to take the edge off the pain… though her fits of giggles kind of put it back again.)

With the score tied, the team leaders would decide the match, which of course left the audience thrilled. The hardcore fighting fans were looking forward to a clinique in kicking from King; the rest were just looking forward to Asamiya-sama. But neither of them felt too thrilled at the moment, with King trying to ignore the self-doubt in the back of her head while Athena tried to ignore the fear in hers.

Once they'd taken their places, King offered a non-non-verbal greeting.

"I will not lose, Asamiya. Brace yourself."
"Aw, c'mon, Miss King," Athena chuckled nervously. "Gimme a break here, huh...?"
"...If I have to," King replied, glaring intently as her opponent's eyes went wide.

Then the bell rang, and there was no more time for words… from her, at least. Athena called out her Psycho Balls as always, partly for show and partly to settle her nerves. King, of course, was having none of it, weaving through her keep-out bullshit with ferocious speed. She didn't take so much as a scratch before she got up close - right where she wanted to be.

But then a funny thing happened. King's crushing side kick could've fractured her enemy's ribs - but Athena dodged it, seeing it coming a mile away. She saw through the next few strikes too, surprised her foe was telegraphing them so much. Scowling, King actually tried a Superman punch, which Athena slapped back with a palm strike to draw first blood (so to speak).

The hit seemed to restore Athena's confidence - but it restored King's sanity, too. The next few exchanges were much more technical, with King testing Athena's range as she darted in and out of it. Slowly, King took back her momentum, scoring a solid blow to the thigh and a quick pop to the nose. A moment later she landed a shoulder kick - and while Athena swerved around her followup, King managed to duck her counterattack, standing up and punching her chest as hard as she could.

But just as King started to find her groove, Athena found hers… and hers involved superpowers. Her psychic techniques had improved since the last tournament, and King's own techniques couldn't seem to keep up. A Venom Strike was Reflected back at her; a Trap Shot whiffed and got countered with a Phoenix Arrow. Even the Surprise Rose was stuffed by a clutch Psycho Sword, sending her sailing through the air and down to the platform hard.

King got up with a growl that turned into a hiss. That one hurt pretty bad; she wondered if she'd fractured something. She had a splitting headache, too, and her limbs felt heavy as lead. Meanwhile Athena looked almost fresh, merely holding her chest and breathing hard. Their eyes met as they gauged each other… and Athena couldn't help but smile, sensing victory at hand.

Okay, that pissed King off. She growled again, for real this time; she'd had enough of this. Immediately she ran in - her head spinning as she did it - but she kept enough sense to stay tactical, sliding in with a low kick. Startled, Athena stumbled backward… at which point King leapt into her notoriously brutal Illusion Dance, hoping to catch her with the opening hit.

Unfortunately, Athena knew what her opponent could do.

The second she saw the low kick, she knew what might come after it. So, almost before King even started the maneuver, Athena went into a Teleport, phasing forward with afterimages trailing behind her. She passed straight through King on her way, briefly occupying the same space as her foe...

...and then a whole host of images flashed through her mind:

A badly beaten King on a gurney, writhing in agony, with Mai squeezing her hand and a nurse looking on with pity.

King's old boss, the infamous crime lord Mr. Big, backhanding her across the face in her bar.

A disheveled King on a sofa, her eyes closing as Vanessa leaned in for a kiss.

An older couple berating King from across a table, the rage and sorrow on her face almost palpable.

King on a bed, bruised and bloody, tearfully yelling something in French… and a man laying on top of her, one hand on her neck - and the other -

- and then Athena was past her, and she snapped back into reality. Immediately her Teleport stopped, leaving her just yards away from King. She should've run at her to counter, should've at least turned around - but instead she stood stock still, staring at nothing in absolute horror. Wha...what… What the HELL did I just see...!?

Meanwhile, King had just landed from her slipped Illusion Dance. Cringing, she whipped around as fast as possible - only to find Athena just standing there, her back turned and her head hunched over a bit. King didn't know why… and she didn't care why, either. All she knew was that this was her chance.

She ran back at Athena at top speed, lining up her shot on the way. Once she got within range, she hit her foe dead-on with a hook to the abdomen, sinking her fist into her liver. Athena let out a sharp gasp, her eyes widening to saucers… but King wasn't done. She quickly followed up with a Silent Flash, pelting repeated backflip kicks into her opponent's spine. The last shot popped Athena into the air - where King finished her off with a Venom Shot, unleashing a chi burst to rival the Sakazakis' with a single sweep of her leg.

The Shot hit Athena with full force, exploding on her back and blasting her into the platform. When the light show faded she was down - and clearly not getting up any time soon. The surge had even blown her vest apart, King noted with sardonic glee. A small part of her felt guilty that the girl hadn't moved at all… but the cheers of the crowd and the shouts of her teammates quickly drove it from her mind.

"The winners!" Perk cried. "And in decisive fashion! Team Women Fighters!"

By now Mai had reached King and pulled her into a laughing hug. Sadly, King's reaction was a massive groan; she was going to pay for those flashy moves later, she knew. Startled, Mai pulled away - but King pulled her back in, telling her it was worth it. Then Mary reached them, and the three held their hands in the air to a roaring crowd, sealing King's triumphant return.

Of course, on the other side, things were different. Kensou howled and ran up to his lady love, more afraid for her now than ever. Chin approached quickly too, but didn't look nearly as worried; he knew his girl would survive. Instead he looked downright mystified, wondering what, exactly, had cost her the match.

Only when Kensou reached Athena could he be sure she was alive. It took him that long to see her faint trembling, to hear her quiet sobs.

"Athena! Thank god... What's wrong with you?! What hurts?!"

A lot of things hurt. A few things were even broken. But they weren't the problem right now. The problem was the memories she'd seen, the feelings she'd felt. The anger, the heartbreak, the helplessness… Athena knew them well. She knew them all too well, in fact.

"It isn't that, Sie," she moaned (once she'd spat out enough blood to talk).

"Then what is it, child?" Chin pressed.

Athena looked up at her Master with tears in her eyes.

"I think something's happened to Miss King…!"


Well! That was one hell of a skirmish, huh? Here's some stuff and thangs:

* As mentioned before, we adopted King of Fighters: A New Beginning's tournament format with three one-on-one matches.
* If you've been going here awhile ("here" being my fics centering on King) you probably recognized where Athena's flashes were coming from. But, in case you need a refresher course or you're new, here we go:

* Flash 1 - the hospital gurney: This was an "off-screen" event during Much Like Suffocating between chapters six and seven. King had several cracked ribs, a black eye, a cut on her head, multiple bruises and contusions.
* Flash 2 - Mr. Big: This happened in Oxygen to Breathe's thirteenth chapter, King Rat. King has a confrontation with Big at Illusion.
* Flash 3 - From chapter two of Red. Self-explanatory
* Flash 4 - The couple is King's family - her aunt Maddy and uncle Gary (non-canon). Both are seen in Thanks For Nothing - across the table and telling her some fucked up shit (Maddy especially)
*Flash 5 - We don't need to explain this. MLS is just a few clicks that way.

* Can we talk about how violent some of King's moves actually are? Because, like... Ow. Also, let's talk about liver shots. A shot to the liver is going to fuck somebody up - period. That's why you see grown-ass men losing boxing matches because of well-timed liver shots. You don't just get up from them; they literally STUN you. The more you know. *cue shooting star*

Okay, I think that covers all of it. Mads sends his apologies for having the big confrontation happen so soon, but, like... we're not done or whatever, so take from that what you will. Cheers~