Chapter 2: Who are the Ikari Warriors, Again?
Waiting was the hardest part.
In the small ready room, the Singapore Team paced back and forth, waiting for their turn.
The fight was supposed to begin immediately, but due to some timing error, the team was early for the scheduled fight.
Of course, that meant that they had to sit here, and wait for someone to call them out.
Andro was busy sharpening his arm-blades, honing them to a razor edge. He did not hum a tune.
Somehow, that was extremely disturbing.
Ryan was busy performing several warming-up katas, going through the smooth, flowing motions at an idle pace.
Bryan flipped a coin again and again, without even using his hands.
Chan paced back and forth, adjusting his glasses repeatedly.
This went on for quite some time, as the seconds dragged into minutes, and the minutes into hours. Far overhead, the sun set, sinking down towards the west.
Worse, it began to rain.
Not a light drizzle, but a driving, chilling downpour that felt like it was flaying the skin of your bones.
The KOF officials, anxious not to lose any cash, hastily erected a temporary shelter for the spectators.
So, you can imagine how Ryan, the first fighter, felt when he was led out into the downpour, to face off against someone he didn't even know.
To put it simply, it sucked.
With the rain drenching him, Ryan performed several moving katas, to ready himself for the fight to come.
From the other side of the shelter emerged his opponent, an ominous robed figure.
It walked to a distance of several feet from him, then promptly flung of the cloak.
Ryan's eyes widened.
It was a blue-haired girl, and a rather pretty one at that. For all his cockiness, Ryan simply couldn't see any WAY of her defeating him, despite the military-style outfit she wore.
Still, what the hell. It was a fight, and one he had to win.
Ryan slammed a fist into his palm.
"Let's get it on!"
The girl blinked at him, and said something like "Ninmu suikou shimasu", before giving him a brief bow.
Somewhere in the background, the loudspeaker squawked to life.
"ROUND ONE: RYAN VERSUS LEONA HEIDERN! FIGHT!"
And to the thunderous cheers of the audience, the battle commenced.
*************************
It was not going well.
The rest of the DHS Team could see that clearly from the stands. Ryan was having the living crap beaten out of him, under a volley of green-glowing bladed orbs, earring bombs, and the occasional blue slash. The fact that this was being recorded on camera didn't make it any better.
If only the damn speaker would shut up.
"The new fighter is being mercilessly pummeled! Is this the end for the DHS Team? A poor showing so…"
Andro slumped.
"Chan, you should have let me be the first fighter, you know."
"Hey, how was I to know? Ryan seemed so damned…"
All winced as a massive spinning kick from Leona creamed Ryan, knocking him to the ground.
"He's down! The newcomer Ryan has been struck down by the might of the Ikari Warriors!"
"…Confident."
Andro stood up. "I can't take this!"
He leapt out into the pouring rain, arm-blades unsheathing as he did.
Chan started, as if to stop him, then slapped his head with his hand.
"Wait! One of his teammates has leapt from the stands! Do they intend a Striker Action?"
"That idiot!"
He was really beginning to regret this.
Turning, he glared at Ogion, who had been watching the entire exchange.
"What?"
The psychic turned to face the Stand-wielder, who sighed and sat back down.
"Nothing."
**************************
This was not Ryan's day.
The girl was beating him to a bloody pulp.
Worse, she was LAUGHING! He could deal with the pain, but no one, NO ONE laughed at him.
The humiliation made his cheeks burn, even as he raised his hands to block for what seemed like the hundredth time.
He never even saw the spinning kick.
Ryan went down in a heap, a constellation exploding in his head.
"MOTHERFUCK*R!!!!!"
Just then, Andro leapt from the stands, blades flashing.
He got in a good, solid hit, slashing open a wound in Leona's arm, moments before she picked him up, and bodily flung him back.
That was all the time Ryan needed. Drenched in the pouring rain, he climbed to his feet, hands by his sides.
The loudspeaker boomed out a message. "...And he's standing! The good usage of a Striker has given the fighter a chance to get back to his feet!"
Ryan didn't hear it.
The young fighter drew a fist back, vision blurring, heart pounding in his ears. Dimly, he heard Leona laughing, saying "Run away," again and again and again.
Leona knew she was going to win. So did Ryan.
But when she came in to deal the final, deadly blows, Ryan struck back at the laughing girl with all his might.
His fist and feet moved in a blur of motion, striking again and again, even as Leona pummeled him with her own attacks.
Ryan struck so hard that he shattered her nose, and ripped one of her earrings off. He struck at her until she didn't laugh any more.
Leona's answer was a vulgarity, and a Strike Arch that smashed Ryan to the ground yet again.
The young man, driven past all reason, got back up, not even slowing in his assault. All the audience could see was ghostly after-images, as the two combatants smashed each other into oblivion. Very soon, blood began to spurt, mixing with the pounding rain.
The audience was completely silent, for once, at least. Money was quickly changing hands, as whispered bets were made on the outcome.
The rest of the Ikari Warriors suddenly didn't look so confident.
Finally, Leona made a mistake. She flipped towards Ryan, grabbing at his hair. With a roar, Ryan spun, and performed a final, massive kick.
Leona was blasted back, and slammed away from her opponent.
Ryan, breathing heavily, staggered like a drunken man, clothes tattered and torn, and just barely on his feet.
Leona cupped her hands to her mouth, and shouted, "Do you surrender?"
The schoolboy looked up. "Go **** yourself."
The girl simply shrugged. "Your loss." She pointed at Ryan. Ralf leapt from the stands, lunging forward in a massive punch….
"ANDRO!!!"
Andro likewise leapt from his seat, and tackled Ralf, sending both tumbling away from the combat. Now it was just Leona and Ryan.
Chan started yelling at Ryan from his seat.
"The hell are you waiting for, dumbasss? Use your damn projectile!!!"
Clark, hearing the exchange, scratched his head. "The kid has a projectile?"
"WATER SLASH!!"
Ryan slashed out a blade of water in the air, too far away from Leona to reach her.
"That's your projectile? You suck…"
"WAVE CANNON!!"
Ryan booted the blade towards Leona, in a way that caused K', watching this live, to shout "Ripoff!!!" at the television.
Leona recovered from her surprise, and promptly blocked.
The blast was followed by another. And another. And yet another.
Meanwhile….
"As you can see, Leona seems to have been pinned under a volley of cheap projectiles from Ryan. However, she's currently at full power, and injured enough to perform a SDM."
Indeed, that was exactly what she went for.
Leona leapt into the air, and came down, slashing away, leaving a red trail of light as she went.
"V SLASHER!!!"
"However, Ryan is likewise at maximum power. This could get interesting."
It did.
Ryan likewise leapt, giving out the sudden flash of an incoming super.
"Storm of Venegance!!!"
The sky clouded over, and a freak hurricane began to blow.
Ralf, who had long since disengaged from Andro, watched the coming storm with interest.
"That's strange. I thought only Geese/Rock Howard knew weather-control techniques. Then how…"
A single bolt of lightning cracked down, so bright that it eclipsed the sun.
When the light faded, there was an ominous cloud of smoke.
"Who has triumphed? Ryan, do you still live? Leona, the world wants to know!"
Silence. The breathless crowd watched, as the smoke began to clear.
"I think I see movement!"
Indeed, a figure was walking out from the fog.
It was Ryan. His clothes were scorched, his gloves and glasses had been burnt off, but it was definitely him. Leona lay on the floor behind him, small arcs of electricity still crackling around her body. Obviously, she had taken the brunt of the blast.
With a roar, a massive cheer came up from the crowd. Grudgingly, even the Ikari Warriors joined in.
Ryan looked up, at his cheering classmates, and then at the joyful crowd.
"What a spectacular upset!"
"Bugger it," Ryan mumbled, then crashed to the floor, unconscious. No one else seemed to notice, or care.
**************************
"Right. As Ryan is unconscious, I'm the next fighter up."
Chan tightened his gloves, and his spectacle band.
"Chan, I'm supposed to fight next."
"Sorry, Andro. Charging in to help Ryan like that has listed you as our 'Striker'. That means, you basically only can jump in to help, NOT engage in combat yourself."
"That's screwed up."
"I know. Have you seen who I'm up against?" He shuddered.
"Yeah. That guy looks like Arh-nuld, and probably is about as strong. I say that you'd better stay away."
"Gotcha."
**************************
Clark watched his opponent from the other end of the ring, curious.
The boy, Chan, was definitely one of the oldest of his teammates. However, he didn't seem to have the faintest idea how to fight.
Instead of warming up, he just stood there, hands at his sides, muttering something…Prayers?
Well, it didn't matter, thought the mercenary. He would go easy on the kid, let him walk away from the fight with his legs intact.
He wouldn't miss his arms much. Probably.
Clark tensed, ready to charge the moment the start bell rang…
There was a sudden, massive impact to his face, and he went down.
What had…
The boy, Chan, now had a faint, vaguely humanoid outline behind him. THAT had hit him.
"Okay," Clark thought. "He's gonna suffer for that."
With a speed almost impossible for such a big man, Clark lunged.
********************
"Crap. I think he's really pissed."
Chan had nailed Clark with a punch from World-eater, but it had been like stinging a MBT.
Right now, Clark was charging him, fists swinging.
Chan did the only thing he could. He turned, and ran away.
********************
The kid was running away, and that surprised Clark.
He hadn't tried to block or anything, he just flat-out ran. Judging from the number of boos from the audience, they didn't like that either.
At last, the boy turned, and aimed a finger in Clark's direction.
Now what?
"WORLD-EATER: BITE!!!" Caught him by surprise, as well as the massive spectral maw that snapped at him.
So this boy had a companion of some kind. Well, things were getting more interesting.
********************
Right now, Chan was beginning to panic.
He had hit Clark with EVERYTHING: The Cannon, World-Eater bites, the purple energy ray that made him look like tinky-winky, even the Stand's damn sword.
And still he kept on coming. True, he hadn't even laid a finger on Chan yet, but Chan had a nasty suspicion that Clark would take him apart like a creampuff.
So, the nasty game of hide and seek went on. Chan would run like hell, then occasionally stop, and nail Clark with a projectile, or a long-range World-Eater attack. Clark, in turn, would dodge, block, or most disconcertingly of all, take the hit and keep on coming.
At last, Chan could run no more. Panting, he slowed, took a fighting stance, and prepared for the on coming assault.
It was worse than he could imagine.
Clark tackled Chan, almost breaking both his arms in the process. Even worse, he grabbed Chan in a rolling cradle, sending both tumbling the floor in a flurry of blows.
Somehow, Chan managed to get off a single, solid blow, smashing Clark's sunglasses into his face.
Momentarily blinded, Clark staggered back, shaking off the splinters off broken glass.
Wincing, Chan clumsily rolled away. If not for a Stand-user's resistance to injury, he probably would have been crippled. Or worse.
But, all things considered, it hadn't been so bad. Though yes, it still hurt.
Chan realized his Stand Gauge was running low. Pretty soon, he would have to take on Clark all by himself. Well, if he was going to go down, might as well go down with a…
"BIG BANG!!!"
Both World-Eater and Chan lunged forward, scoring a massive twin punch on Clark. Then, the entire world seemed to freeze up, like a glitchy Playstation effect.
"TANDEM ATTACK!!!"
Suddenly, time resumed its normal course, and Chan's Stand rushed forward, in a flurry of slashing, biting, bashing attacks. Clark blocked most of them, but the occasional hit did get through, tearing his clothes and the skin of his arms.
At the same time, Chan drew his only weapon, a small, rune-engraved pistol.
"MAGE CANNON!"
He blasted away with six shots, and then paused to reload.
His mistake.
Ralf leapt from the bench, and promptly nailed him with a Galactica Phantom,
sending him sprawling.
If this was what the Striker attack felt like, he didn't want to know the real thing.
Meanwhile, Clark had shaken off the last effects of the Stand Crash. He was injured, but would NOT let this kid have the satisfaction of watching it. Even know, the boy was struggling to reload the small handgun he held, hands shaking from the strain. Grinning at the thought of yet another victory, Clark stepped forward…
…To be confronted by a slashing, hacking whirlwind of blades, cutting lines across his face and body.
With a growl, he flung Andro away, sending him crashing into the wall. Then, he took yet another step, and prepared to deal a Stomping, which would definitely break the little bastard's back…
The aforementioned little bastard looked up at Clark, and smiled. Clark barely had time to wonder what was so funny, when Chan shot him. Six times.
*****************
The aftermath…
"Okay, Chan. You're next up against that girl with the whip."
The boy shuddered. "Disturbing."
Indeed, it was.
The moment the battle began, Whip promptly lashed Chan across the face, leaving a throbbing red cut.
With a disconcerting smile, she wiped off the blood, and drew a Desert Eagle.
Chan began to feel very, very afraid.
*****************
Whip kept up her slow, steady advance, occasionally lashing at the young man with her weapon. He was badly injured, and near defeat, she could tell.
Occasionally, Chan would fire back with that overly powerful handgun of his, with neat, tidy bursts of energy.
Even worse, sometimes the irritating outline above him would swing it's sword, keeping her at bay.
But this couldn't go on much longer. Something had to give.
Against all reasonable chances, Chan won.
Just barely.
Whip got overconfident, and swung up into the air once more, pulling herself up. Alas, World-Eater grabbed hold of her.
A twin bite-and-handgun combo knocked the lights out.
*****************
"We WON? I can't believe this!"
"Yeah, neither can I."
"Who's next up?"
"No one. We get to advance to the battle next week, 'gainst the so-called "Psycho Soldiers'. They're all psychics, or so I heard."
"Hmm…They sound as unstable as Ogion."
"Well, that's a problem for next week. For now…"
"We party."
*****************
Somewhere else, a man sat in darkness, staring ahead into space.
On a massive screen ahead of him, he watched, as the Ikari Warriors staggered away from the tournament, beaten and battered.
He sighed.
Another tournament lost.
For the sixth year.
In a row.
When he turned the camera, to see who had beaten them, he blurted out an incredulous profanity.
Kids. KIDS had won against his mercenaries? He couldn't believe this.
Commander Heidern's hand curled, in preparation for dealing his soul-stealer move. This had to be NESTS fault somewhere.
They would pay.
By god, they would pay.
But first…
The supreme commander of the Ikari Warriors, the fearless soldiers of fortune, took out a small, egg-shaped device from his pocket. Mysterious beeping noises came from it.
Then, a horrible roar of rage and pain resounded through the air.
"AAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! MY TAMAGOTCHI DIED!!!!!!!!!"
It soon degenerated in pitiful, psychopathic sobbing.
(Whew! Chapter 2, the longest one so far finished! Once again, please R&R. No one flame me 'bout the final battle with Whip, as I was getting more than slightly tired.)