Disclaimer: I own none of the properties involved with the making of this singular work of fiction. KOF belongs to SNK, and Shadow Man belongs to Valiant Comics.
Author's Note: Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen!!! It is my sincerest honor and privilege to bring you all back for more horror filled delight as we enter chapter 2 of this Halloween KOF tale! In this chapter, we will proceed to be introduced to the remainder of the participating teams within said competition. Once more, the teams selected were merely the ones I found to be most enjoyable to write around. Nothing more, nothing less. I apologize if your own preferred teams were left out, but please understand it's nothing personal one way or the other.
With that, strap yourselves in, and embrace the horrors to come!! :)
Team Fatal Fury Invitation
Terry and his brother Andy carefully read their own letters quietly at their home in Southtown, USA. Joe Higashi, self proclaimed fighting genius and glory hound, was just outside enjoying some of the crisp, fresh air of the early evening. He too was reading his letter as they were their own naturally, but decided to give them some space before they all huddled together for a group strategy meeting.
The brothers both took immediate notice of the strange details involving this particular KOF invitational letter. While neither were exactly frightened at the somewhat cliche instructions the letter had provided, given they both had been fans of Halloween when they were children, they rather enjoyed the festivities of this traditionally American holiday. Their mutual friend on the other hand, self proclaimed "fighting genius" Joe Higashi, wasn't particularly excited at the coming fright-fest which followed every October. He was something of a fraidy cat when in regards to horror related stuff, but thankfully his friends never knew of the truth surrounding his opinion of Halloween.
Deciding on their plan of action, the 2 Bogard brothers called in their mutual ally to join them on what they were about to do.
"Yo Joe, come on in here! We just found something weird in one of our letters!"
Curious, Joe immediately gathered himself and entered into the Bogard residence and took a seat where Terry and Andy were currently positioned. He noticed both of them had their invitations out, but wasn't sure what Terry was getting at when the latter mentioned something "weird" being found. He knew it couldn't be his own since made sure to double check it earlier, but he assumed they'd fill him in on what they meant once he came their way.
Taking his seat on their living room couch to the far right, he noticed both brothers were currently staring at a slightly crumpled up, piece of paper, placed dead center on the coffee table. They seemed to be in deep analysis of what said paper had been entailing, but neither of them made any word known to Joe regarding just what was so weird or special about the damned thing.
Terry then spoke up regarding their fascination with the paper.
"It fell out of my invitation while you were outside Joe. The letter mentioned something about the 3 of us needing to trickle a bit of our own blood onto this poem. So who wants to go first?!"
Joe gulped almost out loud at what he'd just heard! Of all the KOF tournaments they'd ever signed up for, not a one of them ever mentioned anything about any kind of blood offering. He knew it was October and all, but what did any of this have to do with fighting to prove whom is the King of all fighters?
"Gulp!... I-I mean uhh, what a ridiculous requirement to join a fighting tournament! They're only pushing these silly demands on us just because it so happens to be October! Well, as a fighting genius, I should allow only my skills in the ring to speak for me, no matter what time of year it happens to be!"
Terry and Andy simply looked at their friend as if though he were making a mountain out of a mole hill. While neither of them had the time for holiday celebration much anymore between constant training, competing in KOF tournaments, and so forth, they could still fondly remember the holiday season when they were children. Going from house to house to collect candy whilst garbed in their favorite horror movie villain or monster, or whatever it is they decided to go as that year. A gradual exhilaration began to flood their minds as they happily reminisced on the good old days together.
"Ahh man, this takes me back! Remember that year we both decided to go as a cop and a robber? I was the bank robber, naturally."
Andy rolled his eyes, before snorting and letting out an earnest chuckle at the positive memory Terry had brought up.
"Yeah... I also remember me chasing you into the night, when I thought you'd stole some candy because of what you decided to go as!"
Terry laughed out loud at the positive recollection between 2 brothers, before changing the topic at hand to the point he called Joe in for.
"Anyways... Which of us wants to go first?"
Not wanting the others to pick up on his fear, Joe opted to go first simply to get it over with. He pulled out a small switch-blade from his trunks pocket and cut himself slightly at his forearm, which Terry quickly pointed him to where he thought the blood was meant to go. Joe trickled some of it onto a small patch of stuffing he saw taped to the top of the poem, right before grabbing a band-aid and gently placing it on his fresh wound soon after cleaning it.
"Well that's that!! Who's next?"
Terry and Andy both looked at each other with a confident grin, right before letting out a competitive soundingn"RACE YA TO THE KITCHEN" between 2 brothers. Joe simply sighed in relief as he assumed they'd be too caught up in their childish sibling rivalry to notice he was in fact, quaking, in his own trunks right now. He hated being this afraid, but something about horror or the occult never sat right with him. Additionally, the details surrounding the tournament only served to build upon his anxiety even further. He had no rational clue as to what he and his friends were getting into, but it's not like he could just back out now, no matter how much he wanted to!
The 2 Bogard brothers quickly returned from the kitchen with 2 small knives, with Terry somewhat groaning at the fact Andy beat him to it first by just a few precious seconds. Though slightly immature given both of their respective ages, they wasted no further time and re-joined their kickboxing friend Joe at the couch. They then made slight cuts on their index fingers (left for Terry, and right for Andy) before letting the blood wet the stuffing on the poem.
They soon waited around, with the idea that something was to naturally follow after having done what their letters had instructed. Joe in the mean time was beside himself with panic! Though doing what he could to keep it under wraps, he was intensely frightened at the prospects of what was to happen. What little rational morale he could muster left was attempting to keep his mind from going any further off the deep end, but he knew it wouldn't last for much longer! Though perhaps if fortune would have it, it wouldn't need to with the lack of any real happenings as of yet.
Terry looked confused and perhaps just a little bit bummed out. He wasn't exactly expecting much here to be fair, but seriously? All that build up... for this?!?
"Well that sucked... anybody got any bright ideas on what to do ne-"
"Forget about that Terry! Something's going on with Joe!"
Terry soon dropped his prior complaint and looked straight at where his friend had been sitting, only to see him shaking uncontrollably for no apparent reason! They both got up from the couch and immediately did what they could to stop their friend's shaking, but to no avail. Terry looked at Joe's expression to see if the latter might be experiencing a seizure. He had no former experience to draw from in how to correct such a problem, and he obviously was no doctor, but he just couldn't think of any other reason why his friend could be doing this.
Joe continued to shake violently, but he wasn't seen foaming at the mouth, nor were his eyes rolling in back of his head. So that theory was out... but if not that, then what?
Suddenly, Joe cried out to his friends about what he felt was happening to him.
"G-guys help m-me!! I-I don't k-know what's h-happening, but I-I can't c-control it!!!"
Both Terry and Andy were beginning to panic themselves, which caused them both to look at each other before silently agreeing to dial 911. Terry grabbed his cell phone and was trying to punch in the numbers as quickly as he could... but then he saw Andy begin to shake as well.
"BRO!! ARE YOU OKAY?!?"
Andy had no explanation for what he was experiencing so suddenly, but it felt like some odd etheral, almost Ki-like energy began to flood and overwhelm his senses all at once! There was no time to react to it. Hell, there was barely enough time to even fathom what had been going on! All he knew was something had begun flooding his body, overwhelming each and every one of his senses completely, and just like Joe no doubt, he wanted it TO STOP!!!
Somehow retaining his sanity amidst the chaos currently unfolding, Terry had managed to dial the numbers 911 on his phone, but by then the violent convulsions that had consumed his 2 closest allies on the planet began to overwhelm him too!! He'd dropped the phone on the floor just as the operator began to answer his call. The resulting energy surge had begun to surround the 3 Fatal Fury comrades all at once, before manifesting itself into the shape of a portal, which created a very similar scenario not unlike the one Team Japan had experienced only recently.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
The 3 friends were soon swallowed up by the portal that had spawned seemingly from within. The only evidence that remained of any living presence that had been in that living room came in the form of Terry's cell phone, and the 911 operator on the other end.
"Hello 911! What is your emergency? Hello?... Hello?"
Team Psycho Soldiers Invitation
The ever bubbly and high spirited pop-star, Athena Asamiya, was in the midst of sparring with her close friend and KOF tournament ally, Sie Kensou. The 2 were locked in a fast paced and competitive bout, exchanging equal amounts of punches, kicks, and some bursts of their psychic powers and abilities. Athena, having more experience at controlling her innate psychic abilities, was capable of using them in ways to bait the less devoted, more slothful Kensou into exposing himself to her attacks.
While the 2 exuberant youths trained amongst themselves, drunken kung fu master, Chin Gentsai, looked on in satisfied content. His 2 pupils had known each other for so long, and had adapted to their new environment in the mountains so well, secure from any potential threats or evils which might seek to harm them, or weaponize their gifts for nefarious purposes.
Be that as it may however; there was a new invitation that showed up for the 3 earlier today. The wisened, albeit inebriated veteran read on about the details of the new tournament grimly. While he could not say for sure what they were meant to foretell, an omnious feeling of dread and uncertainty had begun to fester within the deeper recesses of his mind. The mandatory requirement of a poem, and the price of blood sounded akin to an archaic and evil ritual to the old man. The fact that the invitation came with no official location to travel to further darkened his already grimacing expression.
Nonetheless, he knew Athena and Kensou would not turn down a KOF challenge regardless of the details, or some new, unorthodox, twist that they wouldn't be used to. Regardless, Chin was glad his adoptive son, Bao, had decided to sit out this time around. He had a feeling the young man would be far too inexperienced to handle, what he could feel would be too much the young psychic orphan to handle.
"That's enough! Come you two, we have details to discuss regarding the next KOF tournament."
Confused, Athena and Kensou immediately ceased their lengthy and heated sparring session, and went right over to where Chin was standing in order to hear out what he said to say regarding the new tournament. While normally the both of them couldn't be more excited for a new KOF venture, Athena's active career as a pop star had seen her book a Halloween performance in celebration of October, and she knew her fans couldn't wait to see what kind of holiday inspired fun she'd managed to cook up.
On the other hand, her close friend Kensou's own lack of motivation and frequent laziness had also seen him skip out on his fair share of tournaments as well. Nevertheless, with how well their training had been coming along, and the results they'd been earning in prior KOF tournaments from the past, the martial arts master decided to allow them the chance to compete, or to decline in order to focus on their other endeavors.
"What is it Master Chin? Is there something dire we should know about?" Athena asked out of genuine curiosity.
Their master scratched his bearded chin (pun surprisingly unintended), before replying cautiously. He couldn't afford to misconstrue any of the specifics regarding this new KOF competition for the safety and welfare of all involved. At the same time, he wasn't about to push them into entering a tournament they didn't want any part of to begin with. He merely wanted to ensure the 2 promising youths knew exactly what it was they were getting into.
"Ahem... the details surrounding this tournament are rather different compared to what we are all accustomed to by now. I will not mince words with you my students! What we might be entering this time around, might in fact be more sinister than anything we've encountered before previously. I will respect your wishes if you choose not to participate, but know that if you do, let it be known that I might not be able to guarantee your safety."
Athena and Kensou merely looked at each other, before looking back at their esteemed and trusted master. They both had no reason to suspect exaggeration on his part as it wasn't like him to blow things out of proportion or lie, but they'd grown used to KOF tournaments having something more sinister or nefarious behind the scenes. Something like this did little to deter their desire to compete, though they both seemed mildly concerned at the grave warning their master had imparted them.
"We humbly accept the challenge presented to us master! Please let us in on the details so we know what to expect."
"Yeah, and if Athena is going, there's no way I could let her get into any danger without being there to help her! What kind of friend would that make me?"
Their master proceeded to fold his arms and nod his head in understanding, now having heard both of their responses as well as their points of view. Although still somewhat worried about what lied ahead for them all, just as he promised them, he began to relay the details of the competition to his 2 students.
"I've just got done reading the additional requirements for this tournament. Each participating team must have 2 things in order for their invitation to be eligible. The first is a poem hand written by what the invitation describes as a serial killer. The other is the 3 members of each team must willingly offer up a small amount of blood, and place it on the stuffing taped to this poem."
The 2 eager prodigies were surprised at what they'd just heard, but they already knew it was the month of Halloween. While Athena was known for being something of a cry baby at times, and Kensou a slacker with an obsession with meat dumplings who never really took fighting or training too seriously, they weren't quite gullible enough to believe they were in any real danger simply because it was October and Halloween was right around the proverbial corner.
"Those conditions don't seem all that bad to me! I just can't afford to get any blood on my outfit. I have a concert coming up soon after all!"
Athena spoke this with a shrug that Kensou would easily call cute, but he held back on blushing to focus on making a good impression whilst around his friend Athena.
"I agree! It takes more than a few Halloween parlor tricks to scare me off. Count me in Master Chin!"
Kensou said this with more confidence in his voice than he normally would, but he wanted to make an effort to look cool in front of Athena. Sadly for him, she merely laughed at his display as it came off more comical than cool, but it was all meant in good fun of course.
Chin firmly nodded his head before proceeding to pull out the poem, as well as a blade he had stashed in his right pants pocket. Just so the kids understood that this was not a joke, or a foolish old man's paltry attempt to prank his young disciples as a sort of Halloween tradition, he read aloud the poem's contents, and surpressed a shiver of his own as the grisly details managed to creep out even a man of his experience.
"And lo, if war should have a face,
This one of Five would show the bleeding mask,
Ears pricked to savor every scream,
Teeth bared to strip the carcass wet,
And tongues to lap the vessels dry.
FOR WE ARE MANY."
Athena looked shocked at what she just heard, while Kensou just gulped. They both weren't expecting such morbid, yet oddly elegant descriptions of what sounded like a sadist monologuing about how much they loved war. All the same, they attempted to maintain their resolve in front of their master, although whether it was because they wanted to prove they were mature enough to take on a challenge of this magnitude without cowering in fear, or because they were genuinely eager to compete was up in the air for debate.
Chin cleared his throat, before once again folding his arms behind his back and granting his students one last chance to back out of this before it was too late.
"... I hope you 2 now realize how serious this is. I would not bring something of this nature to your attentions frivolously, as that would serve to benefit no one. Though I will do everything in my power to ensure your safety, I must have complete confidence that the both of you will watch over one another in the event I should fail in my responsibility. So once more, I give you the option... will you fight, or will you decline?"
The young fighters looked at each other far more seriously than they had before. They understood now just what could be at stake, and that if they were to accept, their master might not have the strength to defend them this time around. Before either of them could come to a conscious decision, logical or otherwise, Kensou suddenly smiled at Athena with confidence in mind. He then extended his hand to her, offering what she believed to be a handshake of some kind. Not wanting to be rude, she extended her own as a show of good faith.
"Don't worry Athena. I can't promise what to expect when we're out there, but I want you to know... that no matter what happens, I've got your back!"
This simple, yet well meaning gesture warmed the young J-Popstar's heart considerably! She returned his smile back with her confidence renewed as she knew she could depend on Kensou to look out for her, as she would do the same for any of her friends naturally. However, there was still one thing she was curious about regarding the poem. She turned to face her master and the 2 psycho soldiers broke their contact for the moment.
"What does "for we are many" mean master Chin? Is it some kind of puzzle or riddle we have to solve together?"
Their master regarded the young pop idol's question with careful thought, but the truth was either of those ideas could be true or false depending on the challenge at hand. He did as best as he could to answer her whilst also reminding them of the 2nd condition they all must fulfill in order to be eligible to join the tournament.
"I cannot answer this question with certainty Athena. The phrase "For we are Many" is apparently taken from the Bible, though I am unfamiliar with many of its texts as I myself am no Christian. It could very well be the case there is some manner of puzzle or riddle we are to solve, but we will not know for sure until we have done as instructed by the invitation. Now... I will ask you both just one final time, do you accept this challenge, and the risks I have warned you of?"
Athena and Kensou looked at each other, sharing a look of mutual confidence and trust. A sign of true comaradery amongst youth that can be rare to find on occasion. They then looked back at their concerned master before replying in unison.
"We accept!"
Chin, with a worried look on his face, reluctantly accepted their answer as sincere and proceeded to make a small cut on his right forearm, allowing the blood to wet the stuffing taped to the poem. His students soon followed his example and made small cuts of their own on their fingers before allowing the blood to wet the stuffing taped to the top of the poem itself.
For the moment, all had been quiet and tranquil, almost eerily so as Chin expected some new hint as to what they were meant to do from here. The 3 Psycho Soldiers wondered to themselves what they were meant to do now that they had fulfilled the conditions of the invitation. Suddenly, Chin got an idea in his head that perhaps they were meant to hold hands as a means to show their unity in accepting this challenge ahead of them.
"Forgive an old man's odd request, but perhaps we are meant to hold hands for this next part."
Athena and Kensou simply shrugged at this. It wasn't like they had any better ideas in mind anyway regarding what to do next, so why not? They each offered each other their hand, as well as their master Chin whom accepted quickly. From there, the 2 Psycho Soldiers and their drunken master tilted their heads upward and closed their eyes, waiting for something to happen in the event Chin was correct in his assumption.
Just as before, a good 5 minutes or so went by with nothing happening in particular. When suddenly, Athena began to rumble and vibrate. Confused at this, Kensou was about to ask her if she was okay, before the same odd phenomena began to overcome him as well! Chin attempted to regain control of the situation, whilst careful not to break his grasp on his students hands as he assumed what was happening was intended to happen. Whether they'd tapped into some manner of ritual was anyone's guess, but suddenly Chin too found himself overcome with an odd sensation of pure, raw, chi like energy surging throughout him, nearly threatening to explode from within him!! To say it was a frightening experience would have been an understatement, but with what little sense of reason he had left, he called out to his students to ensure they would not lose their nerve.
"S-Stand your g-ground my s-s-students!! No m-matter what s-should happen, do n-not let go o-of your g-grip!!!"
As this was easier said than done, the 3 members of Team Psycho Soldiers (excluding Bao in this case) were soon engulfed in the collective energies that pooled from out of them. Just like what had befallen the other teams so far, the combined energies of the 3 manifested itself into a portal, which then closed in on around them, leaving them with no exit to speak of. In a manner of seconds, where once stood a competitive fighting team, was now a deserted training field within an isolated home within the mountains.
There wasn't even a scrap of evidence to be had regarding their presence here, besides the brief outcries of panic from Athena and Kensou, with their master, Chin, doing as he could to maintain their previous morale as a team.
Now of course, the only sound left remaining, was the same that permeated the area not but a few minutes ago: dead silence...
Women's Team Invitation
"Hee Hee! Looks like we've got another KOF tournament in the works. Did you get your invitation yet King?"
Mai sat on one of the few bar stools in Illusion as her close friend and self-taught kickboxer, King, tended to some of the wine glasses from her own personal collection. She knew all too well of the coming tournament given she received her own invitation only about a day ago. Strangely, upon reading the fine print, she discovered there was more to it than what she'd come to expect.
The letter had mentioned each team requiring a specific, hand written, poem, and a small offering of blood from each willing participant looking to join. She rolled her eyes at such a request naturally. While she was used to such "spooky" hijinks around this time of year, she was a mature and level headed woman. One that was used to dealing with problems physically (usually by quite literally kicking them into submission), rather than cowering in fright. She'd fought for criminal scum before reforming as a bouncer, and running Illusion took a combination of guts, brains, AND most important of all: brawn.
Suffice it to say, a little ridiculous holiday nonsense was nowhere near enough to deter her strong willed and somewhat skeptical nature.
"You can read me like a book Mai. I got my invitation only a day ago. It came with some weird stuff though, but I suspect its just silly Halloween fun. As long as the competition is worth the effort, you know I'm game!" The french bartender said with a wink and a smile, right before cracking her knuckles to show her enthusiasm for a good fight.
Mai returned her friend's pleasantries with a smile of her own, although she was once more embittered at the fact Andy had refused to allow her to team up with him yet again! That wasn't to say she was disappointed in having to fight alongside one of her best friends like she'd done so for years (far from it), but the constant pushing away from Andy was beginning to wear down on her mind. She'd done all in her power to secure him for marriage, and time and time again he distanced himself from her outright. Nevertheless, she remained determined to save all her energy and growing frustration toward winning the upcoming tournament, and finally proving to her "dearly beloved" that she could equal, if not outright surpass him in terms of combat skill!
Mai looked down at the iced water she'd been knocking back for a bit (she didn't want to risk getting too tipsy while preparing for another KOF tournament). She'd suddenly remembered that Yuri was off with her family on some private "training mission" that she couldn't reveal any further details about. The rivalry between the Sakazakis and Todohs had intensified so much in recent times, she hardly even got to see her other best friend anymore! Although Yuri promised to keep in touch as the days went on, even the letters she'd been writing to Mai and King were becoming fewer and fewer over time.
"I'm a bit concerned at what we're gonna do for a 3rd member this year King. With Yuri busy with her family's training, we're down by 1 member at least! If we don't find someone else and soon, our invitations will be rendered invalid!"
King laughed at her friend's concerns, before letting her in on a little secret she'd been preparing to share with her for a time just like this.
"You really think I didn't plan ahead when Yuri said she couldn't make it? You should know me better than that by now Mai! Our honorary 3rd member in place of Yuri will be arriving at any moment. When she gets here, we all need to discuss the details for this tournament as they're a bit... different than usual."
Mai looked confused, before questioning her friend in regards to whom she could possibly be talking about.
"You already had a replacement in mind? You should have said something earlier! I was so nervous we were gonna have to decline with no 3rd member to fight with. I can't wait to see who it is..."
Not too long after Mai said this, the door to Illusion could be heard opening and jingling as it did whenever the bar received a new potential customer.
King smirked once again, before turning her attention to one of her many personal wine glasses and gestured to the front door, upon which Mai immediately turned her attention to whomever just entered the bar. When she saw exactly whom it was however, her jaw nearly dropped to the floor as she couldn't believe whom King had picked out!
"Hello King-san and Mai!"
Kasumi waved over to where Mai was sitting and swiftly rushed her way over to where the 2 women's fighters had been conversing this whole time. Before Mai could question the french woman's logic in offering a Todoh a spot on the Women's Team, she knew that King had no interest in getting involved in something that didn't concern her to begin with. She already had her own bar and business to attend to, and things were known to get especially rowdy during the holiday season. All the same, she knew the Sakazakis would likely throw a fit if they knew a Todoh was in league with an associate of theirs outside of the family.
Now deeply regretting what could have the potential to be a train wreck of a situation, Mai was just about ready to make her concerns known to her friend, but that was before Kasumi surprisingly placed her left hand upon Mai's right hand, and spoke first before Mai could interject.
"I know what you're thinking miss Shiranui, and please don't get the wrong idea! I snuck away against my father's personal wishes because this feud just won't stop!! I've been training endlessly for what feels like years now, and no matter how much I progress, father still insists there is more I could have done! I'm joining this tournament so I can finally get a break from this family feud stupidity before I go stir crazy! I promise you both on the honor of the Todoh, that this secret will remain between us no matter what happens! Nobody has to know, I promise you that!"
Mai still seemed slightly nervous about what this meant going forward, but soon looked at where King had been standing this whole time. Still keeping that joyous smile, beaming with confidence, she asked her friend but one question.
"... Need I say more? As long as we keep this between friends, I don't think we have anything to worry about here."
Mai took in this last answer before finally nodding her head in agreement. King soon brought the details of the upcoming tournament to both of the younger women's attention.
"Alright! Now that we've got that out of the way, I think its time we all focus on the tournament's new requirements. According to my letter, all teams need one hand written poem and a small offering of their own blood before their invitation can be considered valid and eligible. Ridiculous I know, but its not like I make the rules here. I've got the poem right here!"
King stopped what she was doing before hand and pulled out her invitation from her coat pocket. She then quickly pulled out the hand written poem she was talking about, and displayed it to both her team mates so they could see for themselves. They briefly noticed a small bit of what looked to be stuffing from a toy taped to the top of the poem itself. Seeing as she hadn't bothered to read it herself since it didn't seem worth doing so at the time, she decided to read it out loud for the fun of things.
"The knife shall carve its bloody ritual,
A sanginuary return to a darker place,
Flesh running cold with the shedding of tears,
To shred, to cut, to slice, to know,
The weeping wound and its glowing soul,
FOR WE ARE MANY."
Had this been any other situation, Mai would have in all likelyhood turned green and ran straight to the nearest lavatory facility, but given she was among her friends, she wanted to put on a brave facade and show her friends she was no coward, nor squeamish in the slightest. Kasumi on the other hand, was more open about her inner fears and looked visibly disturbed at what she'd just heard King reiterate. King however, brushed off the cryptic words and gruesome insinuations as 3rd rate, gothic poetry. With how much she'd already been through, she couldn't even remember the last time she'd felt genuinely afraid. With that said, she was somewhat intrigued by the use of that last phrase. She could remember something similar being spoken of in the Bible.
Not wanting to waste any further time (and being unnerved enough as it is if she were being fully truthful), Mai wanted to get on with the other requirement as quickly as possible.
"Well... does anyone else wanna take this outside? We shouldn't let any of these drunk bozos know what we're doing here."
King crossed her arms and nodded her head. She put the poem back in her envelope and quickly walked over to where her 2 assistants, Sally and Elizabeth respectably, were tending to the needs of various bar patrons scattered throughout Illusion. She wasted no time in getting their attention to notify them she was to be stepping out for a bit.
"Sally, Elizabeth! I'm going to be out for a little while and I expect this bar to be in perfect condition by the time I get back! Got it?"
They both swiftly nodded their heads at their boss's request. Without another word in edge wise, they immediately returned to their duties ahead of time, prepared to make good on King's expectations placed upon them.
With that, she then gestured for Mai and Kasumi to follow her outside, to which they immediately did so after Mai finished her ice water.
Once they'd exited Illusion, Mai managed to find a secluded back alley for them to proceed with the next step. Once there, she somewhat nervously lowered her hand to pull out a kunai knife. With it, she made a light prick in her finger to draw blood, but luckily not too deep as she politely asked for King to take out the poem again. King responded in kind, and showed her the stuffing the poem had taped to the top of the paper. Mai let the blood drop onto the stuffing, and soon after King took her turn. Instead of taking the kunai her friend just used, she bit into her own thunb to draw blood and used it to wetten the stuffing taped to the poem quickly. Lastly, that just left Kasumi to do the same, and she bit into her own thumb as well, and allowed some of the blood from the fresh wound to wetten the stuffing as all her friends did before her.
As the 3 female fighters stood around waiting for something to happen, King silently swore in her native tongue of french at the fact she didn't ask for a lighter before coming out! While she couldn't say for sure what they were meant to do next, a little guess work could go a long way at times.
"I knew I should have brought a lighter with me before we went out! One second ladies!"
However, just before she could run back to Illusion, Kasumi slowly began to shake and vibrate, with it becoming progressively more intense and violent by the second!
"Kasumi? Kasumi! What's wrong?!?"
The young girl could say nothing, but merely continued to shake viciously as if though she were experiencing some manner of a nervous breakdown or seizure. King and Mai immediately rushed to her aid, but both had no idea as to what the poor girl might be experiencing. Mai was doing everything in her power to hold the younger teen down, but Kasumi's shaking continued to progress, growing worse and worse with every second!
King managed to stay in control of her emotions and all but tore her phone out from one of her own pockets! Rapidly, she punched in the numbers of 911 before turning her attention back to where she last left Mai and Kasumi, only to find Mai had begun violently shaking and vibrating as well!
While the french woman was extremely concerned for both of her friends, she knew all too well that panicking wasn't going to solve anything. She waited for the operator to ask her what the emergency was, and was swiftly met with a business like voice on the other end.
"Hello 911! What is your emergency?"
"Oh Dieu Merci... Yes, my friends have fallen violently ill!! They won't stop shaking and nothing I do seems to be able to help them stop!! Please send an ambulance immediate-ly!"
King had to force the last bit of her own words out before she too began to shake and vibrate violently! She still clutched the phone to her ear, but her shakes and vibrations were beginning to overwhelm her as well! It felt like some kind of Chi-like energy was being pooled out of her all at once, and as she turned her attention to face her allies once more, she begun to notice the aforementioned energy was pooling from them too! With the last of her remaining rationality, she remembered she hadn't given the operator a location yet.
"I-I'm next t-to Illus-s!"
Sadly, before she could finish, she and her friends were swallowed whole by the coalesence of energy they'd experienced being practically dragged out of them by the second. All that remained of their presence in that back alley, was King's phone with the 911 operator now asking for a location with which to send the ambulance to.
Sadly, with no one left to give one, the operator soon hung up, having dismissed the occurence as a typical Halloween prank.
Team Korea's Invitation
To the fullest extent of their mutual chagrin, both Choi and Chang were currently being worked to the point of near death by none other, than their totally just and noble Taekwondo master, Kim Kapwhan. The latter of course thought nothing of the harshness of his treatment of them, given what they'd both been guilty of before he'd even met either of them. Choi Bounge, former meat butcher and nightly killer, could be seen running on a tread mill as if though his very life depended on it! Whereas his polar opposite partner in crime and best friend, Chang Koehan, was currently doing pushups with some of the heaviest weights imaginable strapped to his back, with his own master Kim standing on top of him to add to the weight, and throw in some added humilitation to go along with it.
Before he could give Chang a kick for good measure, he announced he'd be leaving the room to check up on something.
"You both better be sweating bullets and pumping iron by the time I get back! Got it?!?"
The bumbling criminal duo couldn't help but gulp at Kim's request, knowing just how rough he can get when sufficiently angered. To make his point more thorough, he kicked a hole in one of the walls of his own training room, using it as an example to both his unfortunate captives of what had the potential to happen should they fail.
As Kim left the training room, the 2 comedic ex-cons waited a few moments for Kim to truly be gone as he sometimes came back in to check on them quickly once more. After about 5 minutes of playing things safe, Choi immediately ran to where Chang was to assist him in anyway he could, clearly concerned about his massive friend's well being.
"Are ya alright? Can ya still move? Just hang in there, buddy boy! We'll find a way out of Kim's grasp yet!"
Chang groaned in audible aggravation at yet another "exit strategy" his diminutive, pipsqueak of a best friend was suggesting to him. As if the last 20 or so failures this year alone weren't enough, he now had to suffer even further humiliation at the steel sharp hands of Choi. Grunting to himself before finding the strength to somehow heave all the weight he was suffering with off the ground, he regarded Choi with an annoyed expression as his smart mouthed, fast talking friend could be a real pain in the ass at the best of times.
"Can we not start with that already?! Every time you think up something, we end up getting rag dolled by mr. morals over there! Face it Choi; we're stuck here until Kim's had his fill of us. Nothing short of a miracle, or some kind of horrible accident will earn us our freedom from him! I don't even know why you keep bringing this up to begin with! We're trapped and that's that, just deal with it already!!"
Choi had taken in what his enormous bestie had been trying to convey to him, to which he responded to in the following way.
Smack!!
"Snap out of it, ya big ape! Kim's superhero, justice mumbo jumbo is breaking you down day by day! What ever happened to the daring, unstoppable, juggernaut that convinced me to live a life of wild adventure and danger? I know there's gotta be at least a part of you still in there. Don't give up on me now, buddy boy!"
Chang facepalmed as Choi had a habit of not letting old wounds heal when he got too worked up. While still the best of friends and there wasn't a damn thing the pair wouldn't do for each other, even Chang could have his fill of Choi's feisty, hyperactive nature at the best of times. All the same, it wasn't as though he didn't want to be freed! What with being worked half to death, forced to compete in fighting tournaments all to satiate his master's obsession with "justice", and then on top of all that, being brutally punished every time one of their escape plans miserably bombed in their faces!
Suffice it to say, Chang wasn't optimistic the other several dozens of times they'd failed to escape, and he didn't particularly see the point of shooting for some kind of imaginary "world record" for how many times one could fail at bailing. The environment Kim had placed them in was as close to prison as he could visibly imagine, but the difference was they could either break out of real jail, or hold their own against virtually any prisoner. In fact, most were absolutely terrified of them both once they learned of their reputation as hardened criminals, but Kim unlike them, was sadly no pushover. He'd defeated them many times, and even though they'd grown leaps and bounds since they first met, Kim taught them everything they know today! It would be a meaningless effort whichever way one chose to look at it.
"All I'm saying is Choi, is we're in deep enough shit as it is! You might want to push the odds to see how much worse things can get, but I for one, have had enough! If you still wanna push your luck, then be my guest, but I've got all the bruises I can stand for a life time now. So count me out of it!"
With a huff and major groan of pain on behalf of his aching muscles, Chang forced himself back to a vertical base to continue his own workout regimen, leaving Choi to just sit and stand there at his gargantuan friend in stunned silence. Was this really the end of their adventures together? Did his closest friend Chang have his spirit broken somewhere along the line by Kim, of which he was too blinded by his own desire of escaping to notice until just now?
Whatever the case might have been, Choi simply walked off to the treadmill he was all too grateful to escape not but a moment or so ago. He refused to allow the only real companion he had left in this world to see the pain in his eyes, but just before he returned to running at God knows whatever speed he by some miracle managed to maintain, he called out to Chang to announce his continued defiance of Kim's authoritarian approach to justice. He made no effort to hide the anger and frustration in his voice as he did so either.
"If that's really how you feel, then that's fine with me, buddy boy!! I'll find my own way to escape the clutches of Kim if it kills me, WITHOUT YOU!!!"
Choi's hurt and anger boiled over in just those 2 sentences alone, with the last of it being the epitome of all he was feeling at that moment in time. As he resumed his previous torture (which Kim would boisterously refer to as a "task of justice"), he couldn't somewhat regret his choice of words as he would never intentionally harm his friend in any way, shape, or form. The 2 were closer than brothers since the day they met, and as already stated, they both were the only true friends they really ever had or known. It didn't really make any sense for them to argue amongst themselves in hindsight, but what Chang said didn't just rub Choi off the wrong way for feeling as though he'd lost his only friend. It also served as a most painful reminder of an idea he'd forced himself to ignore for years now: the idea of them being trapped with Kim forever.
Before he could ponder further, suddenly their master returned to the room with a typical invitation in mind, which they both could only assume concerned what else, but KOF.
"Stand firm, you two!! We've just received another invitation for an upcoming KOF tournament. However, this one has some... unique requirements that the previous ones did not."
The goofy, if occasionally endearing criminal duo then raised an eyebrow at what their shared master was suggesting. Surely this couldn't be too different from the standard KOF fare of something "darker" happening behind the scenes, now could it? Because they'd seen plenty of that with time and experience, but regardless the 2 came to the understanding that Kim would elaborate further regarding what he meant.
"For starters, the invitation has come with a poem of some kind and one of the requirements for eligible teams is a small offering of blood from each of the 3 willing participants. I'll read out the poem for you both so you can get a glimpse of what we're getting into here!"
Just like that, Kim had neatly taken the poem out of the envelope as he stated he would, and straightened it out as he prepared to read its contents out for his 2 pet projects to hear.
"From the east the idiot monster cometh,
With nails to announce its blasphemous intent,
In still dark chambers it awaits the Shadow,
Ebon body scar the power,
Dark Messiah with a hideous strength.
FOR WE ARE MANY."
Choi and Chang looked at each other for a second, before staring back at their master with disturbed looks on their faces. Kim's own expression was a mixture of sternness and worry as he knew this tournament would likely be the most bizarre one they'd have entered yet. All the same, he seemed to have faith in his students ability to persevere and triump as he'd always had.
"Well there's no time to lose boys. Choi! Get out your talons, we'll use one of them to make a small cut for each of us."
Not wanting to run the risk of upsetting his master, Choi ran over to where he was standing and extended his left claw to make a small cut on Kim's right forearm, which he extended for him to reach. Once his blood was placed on the stuffing taped to the top of the poem, Choi was handed the poem so that both he, and the man whom he'd just went on with could do the same. Chang's expression was one of hurt and sadness, but he briefly put those thoughts aside and begrudgingly allowed Choi one of his forearms as well to continue the process. Choi made a small cut and Chang let the blood from it trickle onto the stuffing. Then finally Choi joined the rest of them in the familiar blood pact made by each team thusly.
The 3 Taekwondo users simply waited in silence for something of interest to happen, only to find that they were sitting in place with nothing to do. Before Kim could make a suggestion on what to do next, Choi began to shake and vibrate rapidly, completely without control as he soon fell to the floor being unable to maintain his own balance. Kim and Chang instantly rushed to his side, with Chang looking especially distraught at the state his best friend was in!
Despite their best efforts, they both were unable to stop his shaking from transpiring, with Chang beginning to panic and a tear or 2 threatening to escape from his eyes. Kim did what he could to take control of the situation, but soon began to lose Chang to the shaking and vibrating as well, whose immense weight and bulk caused the entire training room to shake and tremble as well. Now on the verge of losing himself to madness, Kim tried to rush for his home phone to call 911, but immediately stopped in the door way before he could progress further, his own shaking and vibration fit taking him over as well.
With what little strength he could muster, he crawled his way over to be with his students, and while he did manage to reach them in time, it did nothing to stop the ongoing process from taking full effect. The odd energy which led to the shaking began to pool out from all 3 members of Team Korea. It then manifested itself into a portal, upon which it seemingly swallowed them all whole at once, leaving naught behind left in its wake, but the various training equipment scattered throughout the gym.
With the 5 teams having accepted the terms of the competition, and now being whisked away to God knows where, it was obvious to say there were dark forces at work here. What the 5 teams did not know however, is just how worse the horrors that awaited them were to become.
No matter the ultimate outcome, if but one thing could be promised, it was that the word horror... was about to discover a new refining.
Author's Note: No excuse of mine could justify how awful the wait has been no doubt, but all I can say is I am the worst procrastinator on the face of this earth. Sadly, I have also been going through some personal complications involving manic depression and a "chemical imbalance"... runs in my family. :(
Luckily, things can finally start to heat up in the coming chapter. I thank you all for your patience with me, and hope this chapter AND subsequent message finds you all in good health. At least relative to my own of course hoh hoh!!
Till we meet again friends!!!