Chapter 12: Finale?
Disclaimer (does Final Disclaimer Dance(TM) ): I, Grey Rayne, do not own anything, whether it be items, characters, place names or anything within The King of Fighter's universe. I do own a few miscellaneous characters within this story, but they may be used freely by all.
King of Fighters is a trademark of SNK Playmore.
King poked her head around the phone booth, the ominous mist had lifted and a helicopter was hovering above the place where the battle was occurring. Vice was still unconscious, but mainly because she was tired rather than because of injury. King wondered how everyone was fairing...
A strange cry echoed through the street, over the whopwhopwhop of the helicopter above.
"Banzai!" It roared. Everyone dragged themselves away from the battle between the Heavenly King and the zombie-thing, apart from Krizalid, who had received a heavy blow to the back of his head. Whip realised he was still lying still, as everyone else made for cover. She ran to his side and reached down, trying to pick him up, although he was very heavy to her. He staggered slowly to his feet and looked at her through glassy eyes. A strange noise filled the air, like a long whistle.
Krizalid's eyes became clear as he heard the noise. He pushed a startled Whip on the ground and threw himself over her protectively...
Goenitz didn't hear the warning or the low whistling, but he was still fighting desperately to get away. If he teleported he would take the creature with him. His mouth turned into an o of confusion as a shadow loomed over him. He looked up.
What he saw he would not forget. For about 2 seconds he saw a cartoon smiley face and the word; LEONA.
Everything went black.
The explosion was bigger than even the Ikari warriors had expected. Ralf ran to the cockpit and slammed his hand onto the back of the pilots chair.
"Charlie, get us out of here!" He roared. The nervous pilot automatically obeyed.
Bits of debris rained down around Rugal, Adelheid and Rose as they ducked behind a bench. They peered out and across as the explosion subsided, although glass from the nearby buildings tinkled around them. Across the street, a long way off, they could make out the heads of Kyo and K', peering out from behind a car. They couldn't see Whip or Krizalid.
King picked herself up and winced. Her ears rang and her head felt slightly fuzzy. Vice's gentle sleep had definitely been interrupted and she peered towards the parking lot with extreme worry on her face.
"Oh my god..." She whispered. "Adel. Rose. Rugal..." She ran off towards the parking lot before King could stop her. King fell back against the phone booth.
"Long day..." She muttered.
Krizalid rolled over and off Whip, who sat up painfully. Although Krizalid had tried his best to shield her, she didn't have his kind of protective armour. She looked over at him as he dragged himself a few feet from her, and reached behind his back with a grunt. He wrenched something out of his lower back with a sharp gasp and looked at it critically. It was quite a long piece of metal, probably from a park bench caught in the blast. He slumped forward.
Whip crawled over to him and turned him over, his breathing was coming in sharp gasps. She looked in horror as a small puddle of blood trickled out from underneath him.
"Krizalid, hold on!" She shouted at him. He opened his eyes a fraction and smiled at her wanly. He opened and closed his mouth but no words came out, just a gurgle.
"Don't try and speak!" She searched him for other visible wounds, finding several less serious lacerations, one slightly deeper on the back of his head and a deep stab wound in his back, just below the ribcage. "Someone help me!" She cried out, as she ripped a large portion off her sleeve and tied it about his head. She pressed her hand firmly over the worst wound.
A dark figure rushed out of the gloom, Whip sighed in relief when it turned out to be K'. He leaned down beside them. Krizalid, slowly and unsteadily, reached up and took hold of K's shoulder, then pulled him closer. K' would usually protest, or worse, but this was different.
"K'...Look after...your sister." Krizalid said, his voice was low enough to be a whisper. K' nodded, examining the wounds on Krizalid with a solemn expression.
"Don't say things like that, Krizalid!" Whip said, as old tears, tears she thought she had long ago shed, welled up in her eyes. Krizalid turned to her and smiled.
"I suppose..." He said hoarsely. "...that... I'm about to become... the angel... I... was meant to...be..." His arm fell.
"Krizalid? Krizalid!"
Goenitz stood up and stared at the man standing beside Orochi. He looked very much like the creature that had attacked him, except his skin wasn't as pale and his eyes were more human. The thing that worried Goenitz the most was the uniform he was wearing.
"Welcome back, Goenitz." Said Orochi, grinning widely. "Back early, I might add."
Goenitz looked about himself in woe. He was back in the Orochi realm, which meant that his physical body had been destroyed.
"LEONA!" He roared, throwing his arms out and flailing them about.
It occurred to Orochi, and not for the first time, that Goenitz, over the years, had come unglued.
"Who's this?" Goenitz said after a long pause. He pointed at the figure beside Orochi.
"This, my dear Goenitz, is Konrad." Orochi's grin this time was so large and glossy that it threatened to make the top of his head fall off. "Your replacement."
Goenitz's face slowly contorted as this information sunk in.
His bestial wail of pain, anger, hate, depression, annoyance and vulgarity could be heard even by Shermie, as she swung her hips and danced seductively at Brad's 25th Birthday Bash.
She grinned.
The world slowly swam into focus. A familiar figure was sitting in a chair by the window, leaning back with her legs crossed. She held a book in one hand. He tried to speak, but found that his voice didn't work. She turned, noticing a movement in the corner of her eye, and smiled brightly as she saw him.
"You're awake!" She cried, jumping to his bedside. He nodded and looked at her thoughtfully; she looked as though she hadn't slept for days, her eyes were bloodshot and she had bags under them.
He gestured with his hands, as if writing on an invisible piece of paper with an invisible pen or pencil.
"Ah, I get it. I'll be right back!" She leapt away and out of the room, her excitement completely evident.
He grins at her boisterous attitude and then looks down at himself. For the first time he noticed that he wasn't wearing his usual gear. He lifted up the bedcovers gingerly and looked down at himself. He was wearing a white nightgown, he cringed as he looked at it, and then it hit him that he must be in a hospital. He shuddered. As he dropped the bedcovers again he looked across the room and jumped slightly in surprise. A young woman had appeared in the room, she was staring at him with weird purple eyes. Her blonde hair fell across her shoulders and he realised that her purple outfit looked sort of like K's...
In her hand she held a stick, it had candy floss on it. She grinned at him with a slight tinge of nervousness, the kind most people get when meeting new people. She held up a gloved hand in greeting.
"Hey, there." She said, her voice was soft. "You're Krizalid, right?" She said, tilting her head to one side. Krizalid nodded lightly. She suddenly beamed at him and walked towards the bed. She plunked herself down on it, just avoiding sitting on one of his legs.
"Wow, K's told me stuff about you!" She chirped. "I'm Kula by the way." She added after a thoughtful pause. "Kula Diamond, pleased to meet you!" She extended a thin arm.
'Ah...' he thought. 'the Anti-K?' He placed his hand in hers gingerly and Kula gave it a hearty shake.
He tried to gesture with his hands, after she had let go. He held his fingers up and tried to make a K with them.
"Yup, he's cool!" She said. She watched his hands carefully. He pointed at her and then at the K. She looked slightly affronted. "No, me and him are just friends..." She said slowly. Krizalid shook his head rigorously and held out his hands. He tried to spell out a word with his fingers.
"A...M, no. N? T, that one was easy! I. Anti?" She looked blank for a second and then grinned brightly. "Oh, Anti-K! Yup, that's me. Pretty famous, aren't I?" She stood up and struck a pose. He couldn't help but grin.
'She could be the poster-girl for cuteness.' He found himself thinking.
The door opened and they both turned. Whip came in first, holding a pen and paper in her hands tightly. Behind her was K', he gave Krizalid a nod, which was a hearty greeting in his book. After him came a large man, whom Krizalid remembered as Maxima. He gave Krizalid the kind of worried grin that he had become used to, there were still a lot of people who didn't fully trust him in the world. After him, to Krizalid's mild surprise, was Kyo Kusanagi. He had an expression of almost terminal annoyance on his face, because trailing after him was a red-headed man wearing red trousers, a black top and a long white shirt underneath, which hung out at places. Krizalid's eyebrows knitted as Iori Yagami glanced at him without interest. Someone else tripped in through the doorway and picked himself up with a slight grumble.
Krizalid wished his voice would work, so he could tell at least half of them to blow off. But that was his evil half talking, and he decided against writing that down on the notepad that Whip handed him gently.
He wasn't wondering why Shingo was here, because Kyo was here. But he wondered why Iori was here, because Kyo was here...
He jotted it down and handed the notepad to Whip. She didn't even need to read it out, though, because Kyo saw Krizalid's eyes move between them.
"Why's Iori here?" Kyo said, more loudly than was necessary. Iori grunted in annoyance. "Let me explain. We happened to bump into each other and we started fighting, but the cops arrested us and now that we're out he's following me around until I give him a rematch." Iori nudged him in the ribs sharply.
"Yeah, and no chickening out or setting your wanna-be here onto me." He said, motioning towards Shingo. Shingo grunted indignantly and held up his arm threateningly.
"I'm not a Kyo wanna-be, ya big jamoke!" He hissed. Iori turned and laughed at him, but K' interfered before things got out of hand.
"I'd like to remind you that this is a hospital." He said darkly. They muttered between themselves.
Krizalid, meanwhile, had written something else.
"Krizalid thinks it's a bit too crowded in here..." Whip said. She grinned at them apologetically.
"I'd agree." muttered Maxima, who was squished between the wall, Kyo and K'. The room was, after all, very small.
"This is my cue to get out of this crap hole." Said Iori. He looked around thoughtfully for a second, grinned, and then grabbed Kyo by the back of his collar.
"Hey, what the-!" He shouted, as he was dragged out.
"You're not getting away from me, Kusanagi!" Iori's voice was heard. Shingo ran after them.
Maxima breathed out.
Whip looked at the paper again. She grinned.
"You've been out cold for a week." She said, in answer to his question. "And I've been watching over you all the time. You gave us a scare a few time's, we thought you weren't going to make it."
He tried to sit up but a shooting pain from his lower back stopped him. He grimaced.
"Don't try to move for a few days. You've had a nasty stab wound and the stitches are still in." Whip said quickly. He took the notepad and wrote furiously. She took it. After reading it she gave him a haunted smile.
"You're voice doesn't work because they had to... put a tube..." She trailed off.
"They had to put a tube down your neck to assist your breathing. In the process it scratched your vocal cord." K' supplied without the mushy feelings of his sister. Krizalid's look of horror made him soften a little. "But it isn't permanent, you'll be able to talk again in a few days." Krizalid sagged in relief, looking at the notepad.
He felt kind of weak, and the words on the sheet of paper in front of him were going in and out of focus. He quickly jotted something down and held it up to Whip.
"He's tired. We should let him rest now." She announced.
One after another they were shooed out into the corridor, in a combined effort by Kula and Whip. Kula gave Krizalid a final wave and a bright smile before she disappeared around the doorframe.
Whip stood by Krizalid's bedside for a while longer. Then she turned and silently snuck out as his eyes shut. She looked back in and stood there for quite some time, before finally closing the door fully.
When she turned she almost walked into K', who was leaning against the wall.
"What happens next...?" he asked, staring at his feet.
"I don't know..." She leaned against the wall beside him and they just stood there for a while in silence, both their minds looking at a strange future. Whip broke the silence with a heavy sigh, and looked down at her own feet. She pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You're exhausted." K' said, turning his head to her. She grinned weakly. "You should get some rest."
"Someone has to watch over..."
"I'll stay." K' interrupted. "I think Kula wants to, also. She seems interested in meeting someone else who can use flames." He said, scratching his chin. He patted Whip on the shoulder. "So you take Maxima back to our place and tell Diana that Kula won't be too long. I'm sure she'll be relieved." He mumbled. Whip gave him a bright grin.
"Ok, then. Take good care of him. And yourself!" She began walking away down the corridor towards the guest area. "And Kula!" She added. K' sighed heavily. It was to much like hard work...
On the SkyNoah.
Rugal sat up and yawned hugely, stretching his arm and cyborg-arm-thingy above his head. Then he frowned at the room around him; it was in complete disarray, with furniture strewn about and clothing strewn about on top of that. The pictures on the walls were crooked and several of them had fallen off and smashed. The very bedcovers around him were ripped.
Vice sat up beside him, and leaned towards him.
"Ready to go another round?" She purred.
Rugal beamed.
Somewhere else on the SkyNoah.
Adel frowned. The 'noises' had started up again. He stared at the chess board in front of him with an air of concentration, trying to ignore the sounds.
"Maybe having her on board was a bad idea." He muttered.
Rose pulled her earmuffs off.
"What?" She said.
Leona stood up, sweat beads forming on her brow. She wiped them away quickly and stood to attention. Ralf jogged by, his wheezes and muffled complaints trailing away as he stormed around the huge courtyard in the grounds of the Ikari Warriors HQ. Clark sat up for the last time and dragged himself to his feet with an effort. He stood flawlessly to attention, although his stomach rang out in pain.
Heidern slapped a stick across the palm of his hand meaningfully.
"Hurry it up, Ralf!" He roared at the distant figure. A groan could distantly be heard. He turned slowly to Leona and Clark, and stared at them. He tapped his foot. He looked at an illusionary watch on his wrist meaningfully.
Ralf finished his final lap and landed heavily on the cobbles beside Clark. He dragged himself to his feet and stood to a shaky attention. Heidern drew himself to his full height and stared down his nose at them.
"So, what have you learned from this little exercise?" He said in the tone of voice used to talk to children. The three exchanged glances, then Leona saluted smartly.
"Don't drop bombs on our enemies, sir?" She said without sarcasm. Heidern gave her a blank look.
"No. Dropping bombs on our enemies is what we do!" He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a paper tube. He unrolled it and then threw it onto the ground in front of them. It was the Southtown Time's. The front page had a picture of a large crater in the middle of an urban zone. The headlines; Southtown, the site of terrorist bombing?.
"There was a civilian injured in the blast!" Heidern roared. "There have been two breaches of etiquette here. 1. disobeying orders. Perpetrated by Leona! 2. A superior officer failing to control his troops in the event of the absence of an even more superior officer. Perpetrated by Ralf!"
"Sir, you weren't absent..." Clark said, but sizzled under Heiderns gaze.
"I was busy at the time, planning our next move!" He hissed. Ralf stared down at the newspaper.
"At least we made the front page, sir." He hazarded.
"You're all restricted to the base and its surrounding grounds for the time being!" Heidern roared. Leona, Ralf and Clark looked so dejected that he softened a little.
"Don't let it happen again." He muttered. "Dismissed." They saluted smartly.
Somewhere on a mountain range close-by...
A silent figure stared down at the camp as the day slowly drained away and the moon began its long journey across the dark sky.
It shone on a pale face, mostly covered by a hood. The suggestion of white hair could be made out, before it was tucked away again in the deep shadows.
This is where it would all begin. This is where he could make a new life. This is where he could make his own destiny.
Le End...?
SEQUEL ALERT!
