LEGACY OF KMAS CHAPTER 16
A REUNION OF OLD FRIENDS
"OK this has got to stop!" I yelled as the fearful and untrusting gazes were still upon me.
"All I did was save your sorry asses from death! I didn't see you guys coming up with anything!"
"Well we're sorry we don't have 'powers from hell' like you do DevilKaz!" said KD
"Yeah, seeing souls torn from bodies really weren't on our list of things to do today" spoke Kuni.
"No wonder why he doesn't have many friends" spoke Ifritstar.
"Nonsense, I have many friends, over 500,000 friends. See?" I brandished the Reaver and revealed the images of some of the captive souls within the blade. This really didn't help the current situation much, but it sure was entertaining for me.
"How did I not hear of such a vile weapon! If I did I would've destroyed or sealed it years ago!" Dave righteously proclaimed.
I saw Mo hold back his laughter throughout this entire scene. I knew he had forgiven me for my recent arrogance. He had forgotten, briefly, the terrible power bestowed upon my sword.
"Whatever, let's just go" I said trying to end this crap.
"We're this close so let's not sour our friendship now!" I said somewhat sarcastically.
We came to the natural area of the suburbs. This would be a humungous overstatement considering that there was nothing but lifeless trees charred and singed, with branches hanging by a literal thread. Nests of crows were seen in almost every decayed branch and I saw them menacingly glare with Death's eyes! I loved making new friends…
It was still in the dead of night and the suburbs certainly weren't becoming anymore glamorous. I still continued to ponder the terrible events of our last encounter. How could Heihachi have created such soldiers? They certainly weren't robots because they had souls and no cyborg could ever shed that much blood. But how could they have felt none of the pain which I and my comrades had inflicted upon them? All of our attacks were direct and fatal. How? While remembering these events I turned my attention to the injured Knight.
"Dave, how are you holding up?"
"I'm sorry…I am hurt…"
"You fought well and that is enough" spoke Kuni
"It's no use crying over it" Mo started "Knowing our luck, there are probably more Tekken Force soldiers out there. You'd best recover any way you can".
"DevilKaz, don't you have anything that can heal him?" said Ifritstar.
"I'm a necromancer not a saint!" I said, laughing to myself at the thought.
"It's alright…I'm sure I'll manage. I've had worse injuries. Mo is right, let's move on".
After that brief moment of uncharacteristic compassion, we continued our journey. As we passed through the cryptic scene I noticed a small light in the distance. There was obviously something of interest, because there was not a light to be found in these suburbs until now. As we approached the mysterious beacon I sensed a familiar scent of mortality, more than one at that. There were quite a few questions buzzing around my head at this time. I wondered if the beings I sensed were former occupants of these lands or spies for the Tekken Force. I actually hoped it was a friendly force, but considering all the bullshit that has happened to me, it seemed rather unlikely. We would soon find out as we made our way to the small illumination. We had found ourselves in a small clearing and realized that the area was the site of a previously used camp. That light had been a campfire. But what puzzled me was where were the humans which I had sensed. I could of sworn I sensed something earlier. There were none to be found. My guess is they heard us and fled or saw the soul demonstration I had performed and fled in terror…not much of a difference in results but it was the most likely.
"I wonder what was here?" asked KD
"Well who ever it was, they certainly didn't stick around for us to find out" Dave said as he pointed to the trampled ground. "It seemed that whoever was here was in quite a hurry to leave" .
"It wasn't the Tekken Force, that's for sure" Kuni said.
"What makes you think that?" Ifritstar asked
"Well think about it! I'm pretty sure they didn't need a fire to keep warm. They have enough padding in their armor for insulation. That's T-Force technology" Kuni stated.
"She's got that right. With all that armor I woulda been sweating even if you through me in Arctic waters. Wait. You know of the technology the Tekken Force uses?" Mo stated.
"Well I do study it a little"
"Then could you tell us what those creatures were that attacked us?"
"Honestly…I have no idea" she said truthfully.
"Listen, I think we should find out who was here so they don't surprise or follow us to the City" I said.
"Good thinking" KD agreed.
The group split up and searched the area. Looking for any traces of who recently occupied the site. I stood my ground and looked from left to right to survey the area in total. Suddenly I felt the same beings again from earlier. They were moving in circles around us. I counted about three. But as quickly as I sensed them, one of them disappeared. I unsheathed the Sparda sword and rose it slightly to the right of my neck. Not to assume a battle stance but to prevent a giant spear from piercing my said vital part. The force behind the weapon was indeed strong even though I parried with one hand and considering that the possessor was mortal. My team turned quickly to witness what made the giant CLANK sound. They saw me in my current predicament and in a matter of seconds two more beings leapt from nowhere. One attacked Mo with a flying kick. But as expected, Mo slightly stepped to the side and saw him fly past. As the assaulter landed he turned around quickly to attack again but instead saw Mo with his sword pointed at his neck. The third being brandished a stiletto knife and was now using it to try and disembowel KD-Mitsu. The female fighter attacked very violently and gave KD a very rough time, but within moments KD quickly unsheathed her staff and swept the fighter of her feet and pointed her staff down to prevent her from getting up. This whole scene happened in roughly 25 seconds. These three had obviously tried to trap us and leave the open campsite as bait to lure us in. But now it was they who were the prey. And now it was my turn to punish my assailant. I turned to look at the strong, foolish and possibly soon to be dead warrior and continued to parry the spear.
This man, who was the supposed leader of this trio, was clothed in pilot's attire. A blue, denim pilot's jacket, burgundy shirt a tan scarf and pale green pants. He wore long work gloves, brown work boots, and goggles upon his forehead. The man himself was rather scruffy looking, stubble chinned and had blond hair and blue eyes. I finally deflected spear and stuck the Sparda sword to his throat. But he immediately blocked with his spear. This man was certainly no amateur at combat.
"Try again! Little boy" He said in a gruff drill sergeant-like voice.
We ended up in a weapons duel soon after. We each took our turns parrying and deflecting attacks. It was good to actually find a worthy mortal challenger after so long. This continued until we both ended up with our weapons pointed at each others throats. The man leapt back and then leapt into the air. He began to plummet with his spear downward. So the fool wanted to impale me huh? But this attack would not be easy to block. He came down with such force that would rival an anvil dropped from the top of a building. I manage to block his attack with Sparda, but it most definitely required more then one hand.
"Heh, you ain't so bad yougin!" he again spoke
I suddenly sensed some familiarity within this human. I didn't know why until it struck me as hard as a brick. There was but one person I knew who dared to call me kiddie names like youngster and kid! And I could not believe he actually stood before me. He was the oldest member of KMAS and someone who stood by me even during the darkest of times…
"Cid Highwind" I said as I lowered my sword.
"Yeah and who the hell are you?" he asked sternly as he lowered his weapon.
"You know me very well. I am DevilKaz"
He stood there still looking at me hatefully and I stood with a confident half-smile on my face. He glared at me…and then extended his hand and I did the same.
EVENT: OVERDUE REUNION
TRACK: CID'S THEME (FFVII)
"What are the odds in hell that I'd find you here of all these god forsaken landscapes. Then again knowing you, you probably bought this damn place already". Cid began as he perched his spear upon his shoulder. The shaft of the spear was of a violet-blue color and it's blade was a golden yellow. There was a giant red attachment connecting the staff and blade. The end of the shaft had an aqua green end. It looked kinda like a half halberd design since there were two axe-like blades below the primary spear head
"Very funny. Actually I already own a graveyard south of the Citadel, south from here"
"Heh still always the death freak eh?"
"Still always the loud mouth?"
"Heh Got me there! HAHAHA"
We began to laugh as the others looked on.
"OK Why is he laughing with the enemy?" Ifritstar asked
Upon hearing him I turned around to give my group the clear signal.
"It's alright guys they're KMAS!" I said
My comrades had let up the fallen fighters and now I looked upon them. The male fighter had fiery hair, wore a ripped purple sleeveless shirt, and green pants. He too had goggles upon his head and a pair of black sneakers. The female fighter with the knife, wore tatty jeans, with a pair huge of cowboy boots and a black studded belt. She had a black leather jacket and a pendant around her neck with a blazing red stone in it. Her hair was waist length and dark brown with a violet streak in it.
"Please excuse the violent intro" spoke the male fighter
"We didn't know what to expect when you came here! We already hid from the Tekken Force soldiers and didn't want to get spotted" spoke the female.
"All is forgiven Ron" I said to the male warrior.
"Wait! How did you know?"
"Come now! After all your mishaps with Cid I knew you two were traveling together. However who are you?" I asked the unnamed assailent.
"Well you should know me too! I'm Vicci!"
"Well we can see Kazuya was right in choosing you. You're quite the vicious one!" said Ifritstar.
"Watch it! Or I'll stick this knife where the sun don't shine!"
"Please let's not fight!" Dave said "We're fortunate enough that we stumbled upon a friendly group now let's not ruin it now!"
Dave. Ever the peace maker. Then again we needed one badly! With this many short fused people traveling together who knew when we would all go off.
"Why don't you guys get to know each other a little before we head off?" I said.
"What are you going to do? You're up to something!" Mo accused
"Why do you think that?" I said innocently
"You're acting to nice!" Mo said
"Give me a break will ya!" I said
"That's Cid isn't it?"
"Yes!"
"Oh, well that explains everything!" Mo said as he turned and headed back. I went to finish my conversation with Cid.
"Yer friends just as crazy as you?" Cid boasted
"Yes and I can see your no different when it comes to selecting them, especially Ron"
"Why the hell do you say that?"
"He must be out of his mind to come on this journey!"
"Ah, don't feel bad for the kid. Yeah he's an idiot but he's got a good heart. Rare thing in this shit-hole of a world! But you can feel sorry for his stupidity. The dummy blew our cover twice when we were dodging the Tekken force, got us lost in FireWood Forest and more recently came up with this brilliant ambush. So feel bad all you want for that".
"So your journey has been rough on your patience too I see".
"Why what the hell happened to you?"
"Well let's just say that I met a few other members before them and those encounters weren't exactly as friendly as this!"
"You look pretty damn alright to me. What happened did you scratch your pinkie?"
What could I have told him? I stole the souls of twenty five soldiers and regenerated myself? Eh…Why not?
"You're a sick little kid you know that?"
Yep. Right on schedule….
"You just swing that sword around and you get their souls? Well I'll be sure to stay 100 miles from you when that happens, I really can't trust yer aim yet"
"Gee thanks!"
"I'm just messing around!"
"Ha, ha, ha. Speaking of combat what was with that jumping move?"
"Oh that was just yer basic Boost Jump!"
"Basic?"
"Yep there's plenty more where that came from. The Venus Gospel here" he said pointing to his weapon "Can let me focus as little or as much energy as I need to finish off any scum I want".
"That's pretty cool. So why are you joining us?"
"Well Kaz came and asked me and Ron, we met Vicci on the way to FireWood and that's pretty much it!"
"I see. I must ask, did Kazuya offer you anything in exchange for this escapade?"
I had to ask. This question has burned in my mind since I met Mo. I knew by traveling with him that simple loyalty was not enough. I had my own agenda for joining as you know and didn't need anything other then that. And Dave simply wanted to end Heihachi's foul terrors, but someone like Mo would have needed something more.
"Yes there was one thing." He said a tad more calmly.
"What?"
"The promise to see the world. I've lived in this shit infested rat hole for long enough I want to see what's out there! Past these stupid forests and old ruins. To take to the skies and look down on all of Earth's creations"
"And in your case, spit on them"
"Hey watch it kid! Alright we've bullshitted log enough. We better go back and see if our buddies hae killed themselves yet".
"Good idea"
We went back to find our group looking a little more calm. It appeared as though they got priorities straightened and all that shit done. So now Cid and his group would be joining us bringing the count to…Ugh…nine. I hate traveling in groups…
(End Event)
A REUNION OF OLD FRIENDS
"OK this has got to stop!" I yelled as the fearful and untrusting gazes were still upon me.
"All I did was save your sorry asses from death! I didn't see you guys coming up with anything!"
"Well we're sorry we don't have 'powers from hell' like you do DevilKaz!" said KD
"Yeah, seeing souls torn from bodies really weren't on our list of things to do today" spoke Kuni.
"No wonder why he doesn't have many friends" spoke Ifritstar.
"Nonsense, I have many friends, over 500,000 friends. See?" I brandished the Reaver and revealed the images of some of the captive souls within the blade. This really didn't help the current situation much, but it sure was entertaining for me.
"How did I not hear of such a vile weapon! If I did I would've destroyed or sealed it years ago!" Dave righteously proclaimed.
I saw Mo hold back his laughter throughout this entire scene. I knew he had forgiven me for my recent arrogance. He had forgotten, briefly, the terrible power bestowed upon my sword.
"Whatever, let's just go" I said trying to end this crap.
"We're this close so let's not sour our friendship now!" I said somewhat sarcastically.
We came to the natural area of the suburbs. This would be a humungous overstatement considering that there was nothing but lifeless trees charred and singed, with branches hanging by a literal thread. Nests of crows were seen in almost every decayed branch and I saw them menacingly glare with Death's eyes! I loved making new friends…
It was still in the dead of night and the suburbs certainly weren't becoming anymore glamorous. I still continued to ponder the terrible events of our last encounter. How could Heihachi have created such soldiers? They certainly weren't robots because they had souls and no cyborg could ever shed that much blood. But how could they have felt none of the pain which I and my comrades had inflicted upon them? All of our attacks were direct and fatal. How? While remembering these events I turned my attention to the injured Knight.
"Dave, how are you holding up?"
"I'm sorry…I am hurt…"
"You fought well and that is enough" spoke Kuni
"It's no use crying over it" Mo started "Knowing our luck, there are probably more Tekken Force soldiers out there. You'd best recover any way you can".
"DevilKaz, don't you have anything that can heal him?" said Ifritstar.
"I'm a necromancer not a saint!" I said, laughing to myself at the thought.
"It's alright…I'm sure I'll manage. I've had worse injuries. Mo is right, let's move on".
After that brief moment of uncharacteristic compassion, we continued our journey. As we passed through the cryptic scene I noticed a small light in the distance. There was obviously something of interest, because there was not a light to be found in these suburbs until now. As we approached the mysterious beacon I sensed a familiar scent of mortality, more than one at that. There were quite a few questions buzzing around my head at this time. I wondered if the beings I sensed were former occupants of these lands or spies for the Tekken Force. I actually hoped it was a friendly force, but considering all the bullshit that has happened to me, it seemed rather unlikely. We would soon find out as we made our way to the small illumination. We had found ourselves in a small clearing and realized that the area was the site of a previously used camp. That light had been a campfire. But what puzzled me was where were the humans which I had sensed. I could of sworn I sensed something earlier. There were none to be found. My guess is they heard us and fled or saw the soul demonstration I had performed and fled in terror…not much of a difference in results but it was the most likely.
"I wonder what was here?" asked KD
"Well who ever it was, they certainly didn't stick around for us to find out" Dave said as he pointed to the trampled ground. "It seemed that whoever was here was in quite a hurry to leave" .
"It wasn't the Tekken Force, that's for sure" Kuni said.
"What makes you think that?" Ifritstar asked
"Well think about it! I'm pretty sure they didn't need a fire to keep warm. They have enough padding in their armor for insulation. That's T-Force technology" Kuni stated.
"She's got that right. With all that armor I woulda been sweating even if you through me in Arctic waters. Wait. You know of the technology the Tekken Force uses?" Mo stated.
"Well I do study it a little"
"Then could you tell us what those creatures were that attacked us?"
"Honestly…I have no idea" she said truthfully.
"Listen, I think we should find out who was here so they don't surprise or follow us to the City" I said.
"Good thinking" KD agreed.
The group split up and searched the area. Looking for any traces of who recently occupied the site. I stood my ground and looked from left to right to survey the area in total. Suddenly I felt the same beings again from earlier. They were moving in circles around us. I counted about three. But as quickly as I sensed them, one of them disappeared. I unsheathed the Sparda sword and rose it slightly to the right of my neck. Not to assume a battle stance but to prevent a giant spear from piercing my said vital part. The force behind the weapon was indeed strong even though I parried with one hand and considering that the possessor was mortal. My team turned quickly to witness what made the giant CLANK sound. They saw me in my current predicament and in a matter of seconds two more beings leapt from nowhere. One attacked Mo with a flying kick. But as expected, Mo slightly stepped to the side and saw him fly past. As the assaulter landed he turned around quickly to attack again but instead saw Mo with his sword pointed at his neck. The third being brandished a stiletto knife and was now using it to try and disembowel KD-Mitsu. The female fighter attacked very violently and gave KD a very rough time, but within moments KD quickly unsheathed her staff and swept the fighter of her feet and pointed her staff down to prevent her from getting up. This whole scene happened in roughly 25 seconds. These three had obviously tried to trap us and leave the open campsite as bait to lure us in. But now it was they who were the prey. And now it was my turn to punish my assailant. I turned to look at the strong, foolish and possibly soon to be dead warrior and continued to parry the spear.
This man, who was the supposed leader of this trio, was clothed in pilot's attire. A blue, denim pilot's jacket, burgundy shirt a tan scarf and pale green pants. He wore long work gloves, brown work boots, and goggles upon his forehead. The man himself was rather scruffy looking, stubble chinned and had blond hair and blue eyes. I finally deflected spear and stuck the Sparda sword to his throat. But he immediately blocked with his spear. This man was certainly no amateur at combat.
"Try again! Little boy" He said in a gruff drill sergeant-like voice.
We ended up in a weapons duel soon after. We each took our turns parrying and deflecting attacks. It was good to actually find a worthy mortal challenger after so long. This continued until we both ended up with our weapons pointed at each others throats. The man leapt back and then leapt into the air. He began to plummet with his spear downward. So the fool wanted to impale me huh? But this attack would not be easy to block. He came down with such force that would rival an anvil dropped from the top of a building. I manage to block his attack with Sparda, but it most definitely required more then one hand.
"Heh, you ain't so bad yougin!" he again spoke
I suddenly sensed some familiarity within this human. I didn't know why until it struck me as hard as a brick. There was but one person I knew who dared to call me kiddie names like youngster and kid! And I could not believe he actually stood before me. He was the oldest member of KMAS and someone who stood by me even during the darkest of times…
"Cid Highwind" I said as I lowered my sword.
"Yeah and who the hell are you?" he asked sternly as he lowered his weapon.
"You know me very well. I am DevilKaz"
He stood there still looking at me hatefully and I stood with a confident half-smile on my face. He glared at me…and then extended his hand and I did the same.
EVENT: OVERDUE REUNION
TRACK: CID'S THEME (FFVII)
"What are the odds in hell that I'd find you here of all these god forsaken landscapes. Then again knowing you, you probably bought this damn place already". Cid began as he perched his spear upon his shoulder. The shaft of the spear was of a violet-blue color and it's blade was a golden yellow. There was a giant red attachment connecting the staff and blade. The end of the shaft had an aqua green end. It looked kinda like a half halberd design since there were two axe-like blades below the primary spear head
"Very funny. Actually I already own a graveyard south of the Citadel, south from here"
"Heh still always the death freak eh?"
"Still always the loud mouth?"
"Heh Got me there! HAHAHA"
We began to laugh as the others looked on.
"OK Why is he laughing with the enemy?" Ifritstar asked
Upon hearing him I turned around to give my group the clear signal.
"It's alright guys they're KMAS!" I said
My comrades had let up the fallen fighters and now I looked upon them. The male fighter had fiery hair, wore a ripped purple sleeveless shirt, and green pants. He too had goggles upon his head and a pair of black sneakers. The female fighter with the knife, wore tatty jeans, with a pair huge of cowboy boots and a black studded belt. She had a black leather jacket and a pendant around her neck with a blazing red stone in it. Her hair was waist length and dark brown with a violet streak in it.
"Please excuse the violent intro" spoke the male fighter
"We didn't know what to expect when you came here! We already hid from the Tekken Force soldiers and didn't want to get spotted" spoke the female.
"All is forgiven Ron" I said to the male warrior.
"Wait! How did you know?"
"Come now! After all your mishaps with Cid I knew you two were traveling together. However who are you?" I asked the unnamed assailent.
"Well you should know me too! I'm Vicci!"
"Well we can see Kazuya was right in choosing you. You're quite the vicious one!" said Ifritstar.
"Watch it! Or I'll stick this knife where the sun don't shine!"
"Please let's not fight!" Dave said "We're fortunate enough that we stumbled upon a friendly group now let's not ruin it now!"
Dave. Ever the peace maker. Then again we needed one badly! With this many short fused people traveling together who knew when we would all go off.
"Why don't you guys get to know each other a little before we head off?" I said.
"What are you going to do? You're up to something!" Mo accused
"Why do you think that?" I said innocently
"You're acting to nice!" Mo said
"Give me a break will ya!" I said
"That's Cid isn't it?"
"Yes!"
"Oh, well that explains everything!" Mo said as he turned and headed back. I went to finish my conversation with Cid.
"Yer friends just as crazy as you?" Cid boasted
"Yes and I can see your no different when it comes to selecting them, especially Ron"
"Why the hell do you say that?"
"He must be out of his mind to come on this journey!"
"Ah, don't feel bad for the kid. Yeah he's an idiot but he's got a good heart. Rare thing in this shit-hole of a world! But you can feel sorry for his stupidity. The dummy blew our cover twice when we were dodging the Tekken force, got us lost in FireWood Forest and more recently came up with this brilliant ambush. So feel bad all you want for that".
"So your journey has been rough on your patience too I see".
"Why what the hell happened to you?"
"Well let's just say that I met a few other members before them and those encounters weren't exactly as friendly as this!"
"You look pretty damn alright to me. What happened did you scratch your pinkie?"
What could I have told him? I stole the souls of twenty five soldiers and regenerated myself? Eh…Why not?
"You're a sick little kid you know that?"
Yep. Right on schedule….
"You just swing that sword around and you get their souls? Well I'll be sure to stay 100 miles from you when that happens, I really can't trust yer aim yet"
"Gee thanks!"
"I'm just messing around!"
"Ha, ha, ha. Speaking of combat what was with that jumping move?"
"Oh that was just yer basic Boost Jump!"
"Basic?"
"Yep there's plenty more where that came from. The Venus Gospel here" he said pointing to his weapon "Can let me focus as little or as much energy as I need to finish off any scum I want".
"That's pretty cool. So why are you joining us?"
"Well Kaz came and asked me and Ron, we met Vicci on the way to FireWood and that's pretty much it!"
"I see. I must ask, did Kazuya offer you anything in exchange for this escapade?"
I had to ask. This question has burned in my mind since I met Mo. I knew by traveling with him that simple loyalty was not enough. I had my own agenda for joining as you know and didn't need anything other then that. And Dave simply wanted to end Heihachi's foul terrors, but someone like Mo would have needed something more.
"Yes there was one thing." He said a tad more calmly.
"What?"
"The promise to see the world. I've lived in this shit infested rat hole for long enough I want to see what's out there! Past these stupid forests and old ruins. To take to the skies and look down on all of Earth's creations"
"And in your case, spit on them"
"Hey watch it kid! Alright we've bullshitted log enough. We better go back and see if our buddies hae killed themselves yet".
"Good idea"
We went back to find our group looking a little more calm. It appeared as though they got priorities straightened and all that shit done. So now Cid and his group would be joining us bringing the count to…Ugh…nine. I hate traveling in groups…
(End Event)