"From the ashes of destruction, the seeds of life grow anew; this is the genesis of all things."
France
*All Dialogue Translated From French
It was a beautiful day.
The sun shone brightly overhead, casting golden
rays of light upon everything it could touch. Men, women, and children
ran about happily, on the sidewalks and the stonewashed streets, doing
whatever they pleased. A few horses pulling carts leisurely made
their way up and down the roads, carrying either people or produce.
It was such a nice day, that shopkeepers stood outside of their stores,
greeting each and every passer-by. There were a few vendors that
had outdoor shops, with large wooden tables and cases displaying their
goods. A handful of bluebirds skipped about on the street, following
the people and the horses in their hopeful pursuit of their next meal.
On a day such as this, it would be impossible not to feel content.
Yet, there was one person who wasn't.
He glided down the street, seemingly absorbed in his own world. He
was tall and slender, and walked with a quick stride. He had dark
brown hair, which was pulled back and tied behind his head. He had
a hard face, and soft, blue eyes. He was wearing a green cotton shirt,
with a zipper neck, a black turtleneck underneath, and black slacks with
black boots. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets, and while his
eyes were transfixed on the sidewalk in front of him, he seemed to barely
notice that it was actually there.
Moments after this man passed by one of the
streets shops, a woman quickly emerged. She was short and round,
with long eyelashes and red cheeks. She had dark eyes, and equally
dark hair, which flowed freely behind her. Her clothing consisted
of red and gold shawls, which were loosely wrapped around her.
She stood on the sidewalk, looking down at
first, then up. She quickly scanned each person, seemingly looking
for something. Suddenly, her eyes caught exactly what she was looking
for.
"Sir! Sir!" She called out.
Her voice had a Mediterranean accent to it. "Sir, please stop!"
A few gentlemen turned around, but not the
one she sought.
"Sir! Please sir!"
Finally, the man in the green shirt turned
around. The woman ran up to him, and grabbed him by the arm.
"Sir, I felt it, I felt it when you walked by! I felt it stronger
than ever!"
"Excuse me madam, but what are you talking
about?"
"Please sir, I need your help. I need
to do a reading on you. It's very important!"
"Look madam, I don't really have the time…"
"Please sir! I'll pay you if that's
what it takes. Please, it's very important!"
The man shrugged. "Aw, okay. This
won't take too long, right?"
"No, no, no time at all! Oh, thank you,
thank you!" Still holding onto his arm, she began to drag him down
the street, and into her shop.
The shop was radically different from the
scene outside. The blinds had been pulled over the windows, blocking
out most of the sunlight from outside. It was very dark, with only
an odd colored red light hanging overhead. The walls were cluttered
with posters, from end to end and on top of each other. They were
of many various different things; one was for a traveling circus, another
was a travel poster for Rome. There was a bench type seat attached
to the left wall, and a round, wooden table in the center of the room.
Near the back, there was a doorway that led to a darkened room. At
the entrance, strings of colored beads hung down.
"Please, have a seat." The woman directed
him to the bench chair. "I'll just be a moment."
The man did as told, while the woman disappeared
behind the beaded doorway. It was pretty easy to figure out that
the woman was some sort of fortuneteller. He didn't believe in such
things. Fate was something that was determined day to day, and couldn't
be foreseen. Each man was the master of his own destiny; there was
no one else pulling the strings. Perhaps there was a higher power,
a God, somewhere in the universe, but he didn't put creatures on this planet
just to follow a scripted plan.
After a few more moments, a young couple exited
from the beaded door. The fortuneteller was behind them.
"Thank you, thank you for everything!"
The young man said.
"Of course." The fortuneteller smiled.
"Your baby boy will be strong and healthy."
The man didn't think the young woman looked
particularly pregnant.
The fortuneteller watched the couple leave,
then gestured to the man. "Thank you for waiting, please, come this
way."
The man stood and followed her through the
beaded doorway. He entered a small, dark room. There was another
round table in the center, with two chairs at opposite ends, and a dim
red light hanging above from the ceiling. In the center of the table,
there was a lighted candle within a red-tinted, balloon shaped cover.
Anything else in the room was indistinguishable, as it was too dark to
see clearly.
The man quickly stepped in front of the fortuneteller,
and pulled out her chair for her. She thanked him and sat down, then
he took his seat. The fortuneteller took a moment to straighten herself
and her clothes, then folded her arms in front of her on the table, and
smiled.
"Before we begin, let us introduce ourselves,
no? My name is Rosarita."
The man nodded. "My friends call me
Shadow. It's a pleasure."
Rosarita smiled again. "Well, I know
this is an inconvenience to you, so I'll get to the point and make this
short. As you have probably figured out by now, I am a fortuneteller.
Ever since I was a young girl, I have been able to see into people futures.
However, for the past few weeks, I have been receiving visions without
focusing on one person. These visions concern the whole world, and
they're very, very dark. But, they're more like passing dreams, a
blur of consciousness, come and gone in an instant."
Shadow raised an eye. "Okay…so, what
does any of this have to do with me?"
"When you passed in front of my door…I felt
it. I saw my visions clearer than I ever have, and I felt something
dark, something…horrible. I think that, whatever it is that's coming,
you may be in some way connected."
At this point, Shadow figured that Rosarita
wasn't in good mental health. But, he did promise he would cooperate,
so at the very least he would play along.
"I want to look into your future." Rosarita
said. "Maybe I'll get some insight into these premonitions I've been
getting."
Shadow shrugged. "Fair enough.
What do you want me to do?"
Rosarita extended her right hand. "Give
me your hand, and just relax, and open your mind."
Shadow gave her his hand. He also took
a deep breath, and closed his eyes.
"Shadow, I just want to thank you for doing
this for me. I know you don't believe in this fate stuff."
Rosarita said. "Now, clear your thoughts, and open your mind."
She took a deep breath, and began to use the
gift that had been given to her as a young girl. Within her own mind,
as if it were a memory of her own, or part of her own imagination, she
began to see images of Shadow's future. It began not unlike most
other readings she's done. She saw a plane, and a trip to another
country. She saw a beautiful, dark haired woman. She saw Shadow
fighting someone, but that wasn't too unusual, as she could tell he was
some sort of warrior.
From here, things twisted.
There was a building made entirely out of
metal. It had an overwhelming dark presence. There was a man,
who didn't have any eyes. There was another man, consumed by fire.
Yet another, consumed by ice. And finally, there was a man, who looked
like he was wearing some sort of metal suit. He had sharp, triangular
red eyes, which glowed fiercely. There was a blue aura around him.
Suddenly, the visions just stopped. They cut off abruptly, as if
someone had pulled a plug inside of her head. Only a few times had
she ever encountered that. It usually was bad news for the person
she was reading. Rosarita trembled, and pulled away.
"Ma'am, are you all right?" Shadow asked.
Rosarita buried her face in her hands.
"I…yes. I'm just a little overwhelmed. Give me a moment, please."
"Those visions…" She thought.
"It's unlike anything I've ever seen before. I know this man is connected
to those dark premonitions. But I'm afraid…his future doesn't go
far enough. Perhaps…perhaps I can jump fates. In the past,
I have gotten faint readings on acquaintances…maybe I can do it again?
That dark haired woman…perhaps her…"
Rosarita took a deep breath, and ran her hands
through her hair. "Okay, I'm ready now." She held out her hand
again, and Shadow took it. Rosarita repeated the process of looking
into his future. As was always the case with second readings, she
received a few more images than before. Another man…or was it a wolf?
A dinosaur of some kind…was it symbolic? There was another image
of the dark haired woman. Rosarita stopped there, and focused on
this woman. And then the darkness intensified, one hundred times
stronger than before.
Shadow watched nervously as Rosarita squirmed
and contorted uncomfortably. Shadow still didn't believe in this
stuff, but whatever was happening to her, it sure wasn't good.
"No! No!" Rosarita whispered.
The discomfort intensified for the fortuneteller.
Shadow wanted to pull away from her, and stop whatever was happening, but
he couldn't. She gripped his hand tightly, almost causing him pain.
With each passing second, it only got worse.
"No!" Rosarita screamed, pulling away.
"What? What is it?" Shadow asked.
Rosarita clutched her chest, her eyes large
and full of terror. She breathed heavily, in accented breaths.
"It…I…by God…it's the end. I can't believe it. It really is
the end."
"What? What's the end? The end
of what?"
Rosarita closed her eyes blankly, rubbing
them with her fingertips as if she could erase whatever it was she saw.
She shook her head, trying to collect herself. "Well…thank you, Mr.
Shadow. You…you were of great assistance." She reached to her
right, and picked up a black purse. "I said I'd pay you, so I'll
live up to that."
Shadow stood up, and shook his head.
"No no Madam, don't worry about it. But please, tell me, what did
you see?"
Rosarita hung her head. "Remember…you
don't believe in this stuff, right? Each man makes his own destiny?
Well, you'll have plenty of destiny to make in the next few days."
Shadow gave her a funny look. What did
she mean by that?
"Thank you for your help, again." Rosarita
said.
"Uh…sure…no problem." Shadow gave Rosarita
another final look, then turned and left.
Rosarita watched him leave, then slumped over
heavily, her head collapsing on her arms on the table. She began
to sob softly into her forearms.
"Oh God, oh God no…that day has finally arrived.
That day we have feared since our creation. Can this really be it?"
Shadow sat at one of the tables at a nice,
outdoor café. The tables were white, with green umbrellas
over them, and the chairs were made of wicker. Shadow had a lot of
things on his mind, only one of which was what the fortuneteller said.
He still didn't believe in such things, but somehow, whatever happened
in there still spooked him.
But, there were more important concerns at
hand. Shadow lived a lifestyle that worked for a very specific purpose,
but now that purpose had passed. Now, things were less than ideal.
He wanted, needed, a change. But he didn't think that he could do
it alone.
At one of the other tables, a man sat, dressed
completely in black. He was working with a sketchpad, and seemed
to be drawing a picture of the street in front of him. He also had
a radio, from which a sad violin and piano concerto played. The volume
had been turned up so that everyone in the café and on the street
could hear it. However, it was such a beautiful piece, that no one
minded hearing it. Shadow was actually enjoying it.
Suddenly, the music was cut off. This
got everyone's attention, as they all stopped whatever it was that they
were doing, and looked over at the artist. The artist examined the
radio for a moment, and then shrugged as if to say, "I didn't do it."
Next, a deep voice could be heard over the radio, speaking in French.
"Standby for an important announcement from
the Ultratech Corporation." The voice said.
"Ultratech?" Shadow thought.
"Hello peoples of the world. You probably
already know me as Robert Sheridan, the president of Ultratech Corporation,
the leader of cutting edge technology." The radio voice said.
"Aside from our great technological advances we contribute to the entire
world, you may also know us as the sponsors of the popular Killer Instinct
tournament. And it is Killer Instinct that I wish to talk about now,
and why I have broken in on your TV's, radios, phones, etc."
"That's awfully inconsiderate of him." Shadow
thought. "I was enjoying that song. But, I have heard of Killer
Instinct. That's supposed to be that great martial arts tournament,
no?"
"As you know, Killer Instinct gathers 10 of the
greatest martial artists in the world and pits them against each other
in the ultimate battle of fame and glory. The winner is crowned champion
for one year, and gets one wish, any wish, he or she wants fulfilled."
"What?" Shadow said, his attention perking.
"Any one wish? Can they really do that?" He gasped to himself.
"If they could really fulfill any one wish…then maybe, just maybe…they
could fulfill mine. It seems like an impossibility, but still…it's
maybe it's worth a try…"
"I am making a call, to all warriors of the world,
if you believe that you are the best fighter this planet has to offer,
come to the Ultratech Corporation in New York, America, and sign up for
KI8. We will hold preliminaries out of all the new blood to show
up, to determine who gets the 3 or more spots. Come sign up, after
all, what have you to lose? I am looking forward to another great exhibition
or martial arts skills, and I hope the rest of you are too. Thank
you all, and good night."
Shadow stood up. "Killer Instinct, eh?
Why not? After all, I've got nothing to lose, like he said.
Looks like I'll be going to America."