Chapter 4: The Fatal Fury
It was not turning out to be Jiazheng's day.
At the crack of dawn, he had been roughly shaken out from his warm bed by his friends, and bundled downstairs, into a waiting car.
A single hurried car ride later, he found himself standing in the King Of Fighters stadium, in the painfully bright light, about to face one of the most deadly people in the world.
All around, the place was filled with people. A massive, cheering, shouting horde of people, who were putting out enough noise to wake the dead. Everywhere Jiazheng looked, the only thing he could see was people.
This was his second time in the stadium. Sure, there'd been a few kendo/bushido contests back home, but nothing this large. Butterflies the size of wolfhounds began to chew their way out of his stomach, as Jiazheng wondered how the others ever managed to put up with this…
"JIAZHENG!!! EYE ON THE BALL!!!"
Oh, right. Enough of the internal monologue. It was time for the fight.
Andy Bogard stood about five feet away, testing his footing on the solid concrete surface. He had yet to shed his calm expression, while Jiazheng wore a not-untypical look of irritation.
It had yet to occur to Jiazheng that he was in over his head.
"Very well," Andy said. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah, more or less--" Jiazheng put his hands up, ready to draw his weapon the moment the order was given. In response, Andy inclined his head to one side, and his neck cracked.
"Then let us begin."
The referee said some sorta nonsense, which was something close to "ahasd;uoihcfuilawfhliu ROUND ONE, FIGHT."
And thus commenced round one.
And it nearly ended right there.
It occurred to Jiazheng that he wasn't under the effect of any of his usual powers; he hadn't had time to prepare them. Unfortunately, that realization coincided with Andy's elbow taking him in the solar plexus. His breath left him in a rush.
Andy took a step back as Jiazheng folded, and drove an fist into the back of his neck. Jiazheng crumpled to the ground, still gasping for air, and rolled backward to his feet.
"Are you still awake?" Andy asked politely.
Jiazheng buried a single, well-aimed fist into the ninja's face. It was a full body swing, starting somewhere near the deserts of Aveh, travelling through space and time, shutting off the lights of a pipe-wielding drunkard in the seamy Tokyo underworld. Powered by Jiazheng's internal strength, it was a powerful indeed, with a much higher magnitude even when compared to the Requiem Punch. The entire earth seemed to shake from the colossus impact.
Alas, the lights merely flickered, and power remained up. Andy wasn't a wuss. He hit right back, basically making graffiti out of Jiazheng's torso in a solid body blow that stretched it in a way that might have popped a lesser man's spine out through his back, and onto the ring surface.
But Jiazheng didn't seem to feel it, and he seemed to revert back to normal disturbingly quick. He smiled.
Andy also smiled.
And ate another fist.
From here, it was pretty fucking brutal. And this was round one.
The ring, being a replica of the Roman Coliseum, had plenty of space for the two fighters to go at it. They took full advantage, running 'round the arena like it was going out of style, appearing now and then as they bestowed fierce blows at an indiscriminate pace.
Both their Strikers and the cameras couldn't keep up with the rapid-fire strafing volley, heads turning back and forth in vain to keep up with the action. All they could see were ghost-images, left behind in the wake, perfect freeze-frames of the violence that was continuing.
Andy and Jiazheng traded hits at a rabid pace, neither one landing anything solid after the earthshaking opening seconds. Suddenly both fighters landed punches on the other's face at the EXACT SAME TIME and Chan nearly believed it was over, what with the blank look they both had. But they suddenly fired off a kick to the other's head, and they went spiraling out of control towards the ring surface, recovering into a fighting stance.
********************
Seated in the stands, Ryan winced in sympathetic pain.
"Ouch…That really must've hurt. Looks like Jiazheng's doing quite well."
"Weird…But he hasn't even bothered to draw his weapon yet. Doesn't make sense, does it?"
Indeed, Jiazheng was fighting bare-handed, his face a mask of fury and blood. His strikes landed more often on air than Andy, as he flailed blindly at his moving opponent. Like some grim titan of war, sheer willpower kept him on his feet, but only just.
"That dumbass is losing, you know. Andy is kicking his ass. Can we do anything about it?"
"Nope. All four of us are fighting, so as to give us the best chance of beating the Fatal Fury guys. So nope, no Strikers."
Andro shook his head, leaning back against his seat.
"I still say that he's going to lose, guys."
"Wanna make a bet?"
"Five dollars?"
"Twenty."
"You're on."
********************
Andy and Jiazheng fought on, neither able to gain a clear advantage over the other.
Andy a trained ninja, far, far better at hand-to-hand than Jiazheng would ever be. However, every time he thought he had the swordsman dead to rights, the strike hit air, or struck Jiazheng's block with a heavy impact. He knew Jiazheng was an amateur, with only a fair amount of talent, but his sheer speed and focus countered everything Andy tried.
Admittedly, Jiazheng had his hands full defending against Andy, but his complete inability to score any kind of hit was starting to frustrate the hell out of him, especially against an opponent he knew was a lesser fighter than he was.
After a while, Andy abruptly changed tactics... and stopped attacking. He simply shifted to a ready stance, dropped his guard, and stood there, with his eyes fixed on Jiazheng.
The boy was instantly wary, but after ten seconds or so of eerie stillness on Andy's part, he mentally shrugged and dashed toward him. Jiazheng feinted right, rolled left, and let loose with a kick that nearly broke the sound barrier.
Andy knocked aside his foot, as casually as if he was swatting a fly. Same for the next one. And the one after that.
Jiazheng hopped back and shook his head, trying to draw on the inner calm that stayed just out of his reach. He reached back, and drew his scabbard, slipping it into his right hand. The thing seemed to burst into green flame, forming a long, blazing cudgel of emerald force.
"EMERALD WAVE!!!"
He slammed the weapon onto the ground, flinging a wall of fire forward, in his Emerald Splash-ripoff. Andy saw it coming a mile away, and took appropriate steps to counter it.
"HISHOKEN!!"
Andy expected to neutralize the wave, condemning both projectiles to oblivion. He was disconcerted, not to mention disorientated, when it exploded in his face. Cursing, he rolled away, intending to avoid the attack that was obviously coming…
Nothing.
He spun around, wondering where his opponent had gone. Still, there was nothing. Jiazheng seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth.
"BLAZING STRIKEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The ground exploded, mere feet away from Andy's face. Swearing at the top of his voice, Jiazheng crashed to the ground, just in front of Andy. His finishing attack had whiffed, destroying his last chances of defeating Andy. What with the pathetic recovery time and all, Jiazheng knew it was over. It was just a matter of who got to beat the living hell out of him.
So, when Blue Mary grabbed him in the M. Spider, and Joe Higashi followed up with the Strongest Low Kick In History, he didn't even bother to struggle, resigned to his fate.
"CHOU REPPA DAN!!!"
Jiazheng was unconscious before he hit the ground.
********************
"I won. Now pay up."
Grumbling, Chan dug into his wallet, peeling off two twenty-dollar bills. He glared at Andro accusingly, as if it was his fault in some way or the other.
"How 'bout a new bet? On myself this time?"
"No."
"Aww…C'mon, man!"
"No."
"Chan, it's your turn now. Move it."
"We'll continue this later."
********************
Chan stepped into the arena, his Mage Cannon out and ready. His plan for the battle was to send Requiem out, hide behind it, and blast away at a distance with his superior weapon. Sure, it was cheap, but who cared? He was taking absolutely no chances with Andy Bogard, one of the most famous fighters in the world.
It was a passably good strategy, one that had served him many, many times in the past. Even as Chan assumed his casting position, he had complete confidence in himself.
There was only one problem.
Andy was too fast to contain.
The moment the match began, Andy performed the same dashing elbow he'd used on Jiazheng, sending Chan down to the mat. The boy coughed, and rolled to his feet…
"CHORETSUHADAN!"
No sooner had Chan got up than he was knocked down again.
"SHORYUDAN!"
Chan stood up and was once again knocked down.
Frustrated, he fired a Mage Cannon round into Andy's leg, knocking the man away from him.
"REQUIEM…PUNCH!!!"
The massive fist slammed Andy into the far wall, pinning him there for several seconds, allowing Chan to FINALLY get up. He leveled the Mage Cannon at Andy, something eerily like hatred burning in his eyes. For his own part, the ninja didn't seem to care at all, his face retaining a confident smirk.
Andy snarled, and charged, intending to close in and end the battle fast.
Requiem was all too happy to oblige, meeting the assault with all the speed and ferocity of a horde of rabid flying squirrels. Chan ran close behind, blasting away. Bullets whistled right past Requiem, almost striking Andy, even as he ducked and wove to evade them. One…Two…Three…Four…OW!
The last bullet punched a neat hole in Andy's shoulder, spinning him back the way he came.
Chan advanced, reloading even as he did.
"It's time to finish this. OMEGA…"
Realizing what was coming, Andy went with his instincts, and prepared to roll out of the way. If he'd been looking carefully, he would've noticed Requiem's hands fixed firmly around his legs, effectively immobilizing him. However, as he wasn't he didn't even realize the problem, till a ray of blue force slammed into him, pinning him to the wall.
The next thing Andy knew, he was on the floor, feeling like he'd been kicked by an elephant. He twitched once, struggling to get up…Then was still, as Chan fired a warning shot right next to his head.
"WINNER IS…CHAN!!!!"
Ignoring the roars of "CHEAPASS!!!!" from the crowd, Chan simply bowed, grinned, and began to laugh.
********************
Terry Bogard vaulted from the stands, carefully sizing up his opponent as he did. It was not that he was afraid: There was utterly no reason for him to be afraid. He just wanted to take a measure of his opponent.
Chan looked like just another teenager to Terry Bogard, albeit one armed with a rather large handgun, and dressed in a unique-looking coat. Still, the seriously far-out monster behind him was an obvious testament to his potential deadliness.
Both combatants bowed to one another, in the time-honored tradition of utter worthlessness. Somewhere in the background, "See You Space Cowboy" blared at maximum volume, with no other effect than to make five thousand screaming fans shut the hell up and listen. Good song.
"FIGHT!!!"
The moment the command sounded, both contestants stopped listening to the music, and began to hit the other really, really hard.
"BURN KNUCKLE!!!"
"REQUIEM PUNCH!!!!"
Terry's fist connected with Chan's, in an incredible explosion of force. The student fell back, tumbling head-over-heels to skid into the much-abused wall. He got up, shaking his hand.
That had HURT! Dimly, he wondered whether his hand was broken. Requiem's hand had cracked from the sheer impact, the armor on the limb crushed beyond repair. Clumsily, Chan fired off a poorly-aimed round with the Mage Cannon, forcing Terry back.
Disconcertingly, the man seemed to be completely unaffected, merely taking several steps closer.
"Nice move, rookie! It's time for me to get serious."
Terry continued stalking Chan, completely at ease and in his element. He was calm and controlled, with every move taking him closer and closer.
"POWER WAVE!"
A wave of flame burst from the floor, and roared towards the Stand-wielder. Requiem shifted into the way in time, taking the hit. It lumbered forward, preparing to close…
"CRACK SHOT!!"
…Unfortunately, Requiem couldn't be in two places at once. Terry's hopping kick took him dangerously close to Chan, missing him by a narrow margin. Cursing, Chan aimed a kick at Terry's head, which was easily parried.
"POWERoof!"
Chan managed to follow up with a quick, short-ranged jab, gaining him some time to evade. Grimly, he called Requiem back, and prepared for a long battle of attrition.
********************
"Hey! Chan's holding Terry off!"
Ryan couldn't believe it. By a combination of cheapness, skill, and dumb luck, Chan was barely holding his own against Terry Bogard.
The match had been going on for almost two minutes, with very little ground being gained either way. Chan seemed content to play the waiting game while occasionally applying pressure to Terry, by Mage Cannon fire and the occasional Stand attack. Terry, for his part, was able to effectively nullify the bullets, but due to the younger man's proficiency with them, he was so far unable to effectively retaliate with his own power wave.
All-in-all, things were going well.
Andro was watching the battle intently, taking in each and every move Terry made. He could see that the Lone Wolf was indeed living up to his reputation, in a spectacular display of skill that would have been the bane of any man. However…He had only one problem.
Terry couldn't get in close.
Every time he tried, Chan would punish him with a point-blank round, retreating behind Requiem to reload. Overhead attacks were met by the Flintlock Dragon, a Dragon Punch ripoff. Low strikes were easily teleported away from, and projectiles were annihilated the moment they left the fighter's hand. To be fair, Chan wasn't doing much damage, but he was more comfortable with these kind of slow, controlled bouts.
Andro shook his head in disappointment. He had expected more of his friend, anticipating some dramatic display of force, or another attempt at stopping time. Instead, Chan seemed at his worse today, relying too much on his Stand for defense. Still, he would watch how this played out.
The ever-patient assassin settled back into his seat, and continued to observe.
********************
"So you beat Andy," Terry noted during a lull in the fighting.
"He's a pretty tough dude. You must've been pretty good to overcome him."
Chan fired off another Mage Cannon round, which was once again neutralized by the Power Wave. He followed up with the World-Eater Bite, which Terry easily hopped over.
"Thank my friend for that. I'm just the cleanup hitter."
"Ah."
Terry suddenly dashed in Chan's direction, rolling around Requiem, and coming straight up in an attack.
"CRACK-"
"FLINTLOCK DRAGON!!!"
Chan took off in a vertical Dragon Punch, intending to knock his opponent out of the axe kick that would soon follow. Relying on his intuition, he guessed that Terry would go for the famous overhead leaping kick.
He guessed wrong.
Yes, Terry did yell 'Crack Shot', but he only faked the leap, simply hopping forward a foot or two, even as Chan rose into the air. The boy realized just how screwed he was, even before Terry's fist hit the ground.
"Oh, shit."
"POW-AH GEYSER!!!"
A massive gout of flame billowed from the earth, clawing Chan from the sky. He landed hard, but he managed to regain his feet. It didn't matter much, because Terry hadn't wasted any time gloating over the successful high-angle geyser. Instead, he'd raced to where Chan stood, and proceeded to pummel him in the face.
Chan, while capable of winning a strategic duel of finesse, simply wasn't cut out for a brawl, which Terry felt most comfortable in.
"And a generous helping of…BOOT TO DA HEAD!!"
A few hard strikes later, Chan ended up on the ground, unconscious.
********************
Ryan was next up, leaping in soon after his friend was carted out. He assumed his fighting stance with classic flair, warming up with a few leg stretches and a series of shadow punches.
"Let's rumble, dude!"
Terry nodded, advancing slowly but surely, hands in constant motion right in front of him. Ryan hopped from one foot to another, never completely still. He began to back away slightly, intent on putting as much distance between himself and the dangerous fighter as possible.
"WAVE CANNON!"
Ryan fired off a blast of water, intending to test out his opponent's defense.
Terry neatly sidestepped, and returned to his original position. His expression never changed.
Something told Ryan that he was in serious trouble.
Looking behind him, he saw the wall begin to get closer and closer. With nowhere else to run, Ryan began to cautiously advance, calling upon the forces of water to aid him. As far as the audience was concerned, Ryan simply acquired a swirly aura of water around his fists, with a faint shimmering in the air as he strode forward into combat.
They exchanged dozens of blows in the first few seconds, hammering away with fists and feet. From the start, it was evident that Ryan had an advantage. His first few punches were easily deflected, but the ones that followed began to impact on Terry, one after another
Terry normally would've won, but his battle with Chan had worn him out, and his minor injuries were beginning to catch up with him. Add that to Ryan's superior speed, and rapid-fire blitz assault, and that meant that the battle was far more even than Terry would've liked.
Ryan, harassing Terry with rapid spinning kicks, didn't let up for a moment. The Lone Wolf was falling back under the volley, blocking slower and slower with each strike. Ryan actually had a moment to think that he was about to win-
-When a buff individual wearing a headband leapt in, yelled, and kicked him in the shins. Hard.
The boy toppled, suddenly tripping over his own feet. With a quick nod to Joe Higashi, Terry leapt in, preparing a Power Dunk that would Ryan in a crater on the ground.
He was met by an off-the-floor Electronic Revolution uppercut, that neatly sent him back to the ground none-too-softly, as well as a version of Andro's Spike Slam that slammed him into the concrete. Ryan backflipped three times, striking a flashy stance as he landed.
"It'll take more than cheap shots to keep me down! ELECTRONIC REVOLUTION!!!"
For the life of him, Terry couldn't see the use in it. The Electronic Revolution was an uppercut, right? And uppercuts only worked when someone was close in, didn't they?
Thus, he was completely surprised when Ryan shot forward in…A Dragon Punch? A VERTICAL Dragon Punch? Did every kid have one or something? That train of thought was rudely interrupted, as Terry received five electric punches to the stomach, followed by a slamming kick for the knockdown.
Just barely conscious, Terry rolled away once more, going for his ultimate move…
"TRIPLE POW-AH GEYSER!!"
Ryan went flying, slamming into the far wall with a bone-jarring impact. He got to one knee and opened fire, cutting loose with orbs of water, crackling bolts of lightning, and the occasional wave of electricity. The barrage ended up doing more damage to the surroundings than anything else, blowing large, gaping holes in the floor and wall.
"DAMN YOU! JUST DIE!!!"
Unfortunately for Ryan, dying wasn't on Terry Bogard's schedule today. He took Ryan out with a quick shoulder-charge and a High-Angle Geyser, emerging from the scuffle bloodied but unbowed. Ryan ended up like his friends: Namely, face-first on the hard floor.
********************
Andro chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. ALL of his teammates had gotten themselves knocked out.
Who would believe it?
"Well, looks like it's up to me."
He strode down into the arena without any of the posing the others had done, intent on finishing the battle as soon as he could. Far below, Terry Bogard rubbed his many bruises, summoning up enough energy for what would be his last fight for the day. The man managed to point defiantly in Andro's direction, evoking brief cheers from the audience.
Andro ignored it all. His blades glittered in the sunlight, razor-sharp and mirror-bright. He didn't bother to poison them, figuring that he wouldn't be needing it.
The two fighters faced off, prepared for the final clash. Terry was bruised and battered, barely remaining on his feet. Andro was completely unharmed, and ready for the fight.
From the moment the fight command sounded, the outcome was never in doubt.
They closed at first, in the standard opening flurry of swipes and kicks. Here, Terry ended up at a serious disadvantage, as every strike, whether blocked or not, drew blood. He managed to hit Andro too, getting in several good blows. However, the assassin simply bulled through them, eating several kicks and a surprise Burn Knuckle, but punishing Terry with repeated slashes.
Trading blows like this would only have one outcome, and Bogard knew what his foe was looking for. He had to switch up, and try to get some distance. Feinting a kick, Terry went for the Power Dunk, intending to follow-up by jumping back and shooting his foe down with Power Waves.
Andro dodged, and grabbed the exhausted Terry. After a brief spin, he finished the match with a Spike Slam. Still gripping the man's body, he prepared to slam him into the floor again, if he so much as twitched…
But Terry didn't. He was out for the count.
The audience began to cheer their new hero on, flinging coins, flowers, flags into the ring. Despite his earlier cynicism, Andro raised his arms, soaking in the adulation.
It was one of the few things he had left.
********************
Somewhere else…
A figure sat in the gloom, mad eyes fixed on the softly glowing monitor screen right in front of it. It spoke, barely controlled rage in its voice.
"The fatal fury team. They defeated the FATAL FURY TEAM!!"
White light flared in the chamber, highlighting the only two people inside. The other person was crouched at the foot of the throne, head bowed in obeisance.
"Calm yourself, exalted leader. This is just a minor setback. They have no way of getting far enough to harm us."
"Zero thought the same thing too."
There was complete and utter silence, as both men considered the fate of that particular agent.
"Zero was a fool. I do not intend to become like him."
"Yes, great leader."
"Kill them."
"We cannot."
Bolts of force flickered and strobed in the room, filling the air with the smell of burnt flesh. There was a brief scream of agony, quickly forced down and controlled.
The first voice returned. If anything, it was even more furious than before.
"I said to kill them. I will NOT tolerate disobedience."
There was no answer, as the other man twitched once and was still.
The leader of NESTS looked away from the corpse, quickly losing interest. The living were so much more useful than the dead. He pressed a button next to his chair, opening a direct line to the laboratory.
"Dispatch the clones to Tokyo, Japan, where the DHS team is currently staying. You know which ones."
For a brief moment, there was only the hiss of static on the other side of the line.
"Yes, exalted one. But I would like to mention that they are merely at three-quarters combat strength. Might I suggest…"
"Just do it."
He cut the line.
Normally, a simple extermination squad would have done the trick, but most of the Cartel's military strength was currently tied up in hunting down the Hero, Esaka and Yagami teams, respectively. Only his personal bodyguard was at the base, rendering him far too vulnerable for his liking…
His arm came down hard on the armrest, smashing it to smithereens.
This would soon be remedied.
Calming himself, Ignis took a deep breath, sinking back into his chair once more. Patience. All his pawns were still on the board, and it was only a matter of time before they brought him what they wanted.
The destruction of the DHS team would simply be a footnote, a microscopic detail in the greater scheme of things. It would be perfectly executed, a miracle of planning and genius.
As it should be. There would be nothing else that Ignis would expect.
(Whew. The Fatal Fury Team's battle is done. The strange thing is, I wrote this chapter in two days, after I lost the first version when my computer crashed. I know it's a bit rough, and sorry for the long wait. The next chapter will be up as fast as I can write it. My parents won't give me internet access….Sigh…)
Author's Note: By the way, PAUOLO or whatever your gayfaggotty name is, don't do that again, you sorry asshole. I don't mind constructive criticism, but that was a little too much. If I see you here again, I'll hunt you down, and flame you till you're the shitty pile of ash you deserve to be. Same goes for anything you may write or anything you've written. Understand me? Now get out of my sight.