Shikkoku: (Bursts into room) Mai! Come quick!
Mai: Wha-? What's going on?
Shikkoku: Andy is dead!
Mai: (Devastated) WHAT?!? Andy's DEAD?
Shikkoku: That's Right! Dead serious about me not owning the King of Fighters or it's characters.
Mai: (Smacks Shikkoku with her fan.) THAT'S NOT FUNNY!
Shikkoku: OW…(Rubs head.) However, the original characters in this work of fiction do belong to me. I'll be back at the end of the story. (Ducks Fan.) But for now…(Runs away.)
Mai: Get back here! You can't run from me! (Runs after him.)
The King of Fighters: New Blood
Act 1: Arrival
By Shikkoku Kiyoshi
As inexperienced and aloof as the Shin Sekai Chitsujo were about KOF, the burden of this tournament was still on their shoulders. The short preparation time proved to be a slight problem, some of them weren't keen on any forms of strenuous training, and Raven was convinced that the team wouldn't get past the second round, but it was still The King of Fighters. There was the chance that they would return from it completely different than when they left, if they came back at all. But all of those were only risks. Leaving to fight was an entirely different matter.
Xion shoved the last of his fighting clothes in his suitcase, and shoved it closed. He let out a breath and flopped on his bed.
The plane to their first fight was leaving tomorrow.
His entire apartment was dark, except for a light by the bed he was currently lying on. The excitement he was feeling was slowly giving way to a slight anxiety. It was a weird feeling for him, he hasn't been anxious about anything for awhile now. It was going to be a rough fight.
For all he knows, he won't come back. It worried him that he was risking the life he worked so hard to have.
On the other hand, there's that part of him that wants him to return to the violence he had left behind, if at least for only a brief moment.
He removed his gloves, and a rush of power flowed through his body. His handsome face twisted into a slightly evil smile.
Why Zyon continued to come here, he did not know.
It was a fine day out, why was he at a dreary graveyard?
"Because…" He answered his own question. "I miss her."
The blond boy went through the various tombstones, a bouquet of various flowers resting on his shoulder. He paid no mind to the other graves, as he was focused on one person in particular.
He placed the flowers in front of said person's tombstone.
"Hey." He spoke gently. "I'm going to the tournament tomorrow, so I might be gone for awhile."
There was a brief silence.
"Yeah. Me, Raven, Krysten and Xio-kun are going to the King of Fighters."
Zyon closed his eyes. "What's that? You want me to stay safe, huh?"
He opened them, eyes a duller, flatter and color than usual, laughing softly.
"I'll be fine."
"Raven?"
"Yeah?" The blonde haired boy answered from his bed.
"Do you believe in me enough for me to be on your team?" Krysten asked, while he was playing his Game Boy.
"You're questioning your worth?" His brother let out a little laugh. "It was our idea after all."
"This was your idea. I agreed to this because I knew you would eventually drag me along on this weird idea of yours."
"I'm your brother. If you wasn't worthy enough, I still would let you be a part of this." Raven turned to his brother. "I will not let anything happen to you, I promise."
"I know that." Krysten turned off the device. "I'm just very anxious. I haven't fought someone with any form of actual talent in about a year."
"Me neither, that's partly why I came up with this idea."
"You're not worried about getting your ass kicked?"
"It's to be expected, but don't count us out before we fight, little brother." The older boy turned to face the window overlooking the city streets. "We could win this thing."
Krysten didn't respond, deciding to go to sleep and ease his mind somewhat. Tomorrow was going to be something, all right.
An loud, electronic sound startled both brothers awake early the next day. It was the phone, which Raven picked up.
"Hello?" He answered with a slight drowsy tone.
"Hello, Raven!"
"Huh? Is that you, Irena?"
"Bingo!" She said happily. "Today's the big day, so get ready! Your limo should be here in a hour to take you to the airport! I'll be there when you arrive, okay?"
"Alright." Raven was fully awake now. "We'll see you there."
"Okay. Tell Krysten I said hi. Bye you two."
"Later." Raven hung up the phone and got out of bed. Krysten however decided to go back to sleep. "It's time to get up, little brother."
"Give me five more minutes." The younger Kirishima replied. Raven sighed and got himself ready to leave. Krysten finally gathered enough energy to call Xion and tell him to call Zyon and be at their house in an hour.
Zyon got the call from Xion, quickly dressed, and got ready to leave. But before he left, Tera wanted to say goodbye.
"Zyonii, be careful." She clutched to him tightly. "You know there are a lot of loonies participating in this tournament."
"Don't worry. We'll be eliminated long before we face anyone good." Zyon hugged her. "I love you."
"I love you too." Tera watched as her brother walked out the door. A minute later Zyon came back in. "I forgot my cigarettes."
"Nii-san! You shouldn't be smoking at a time like this!" Tera said exasperated. Zyon just smiled and went out the door again, were Xion was waiting.
"I'm glad that your made an effort to make it on time for once." He yawned, and the two started on the long walk to the Kirishima's house.
"I just hope they got breakfast for me at the house."
"We can get breakfast at the airport. I'm more worried about something else."
"What is it, Xio-kun?" Zyon asked.
"Do you think that anybody will take us seriously? I mean, we don't look like the some of the toughest fighters of the world; the others will probably think we're a bunch of teens who entered this tournament on some kind of sick bet."
"We can be just as tough as those other guys. Imagine what would happen if we won. We would be famous! Girls will be fighting for a piece of us."
"I'd bet you'd like that." Xion rolled his eyes. "I hope you never fight Mai Shiranui. That would not end well."
"That would be my dream match." Zyon eyes were sparkling. "I would love to have a bout with her, and maybe if I win, she might reward me with..."
"I don't want to hear your erotic fantasies this early in the morning, Zyon." The obsidian haired boy tapped his friend lightly in the head. Zyon just frowned and kept walking. Forty-five minutes later, they arrived at the Kirishima's house, where Raven was currently packed and ready to leave. Zyon noticed that Krysten was not there.
"Raven, where's your brother at?" He asked.
"He's in his room, playing that damn RPG of his before we leave." The older Kirishima answered with a sigh. As if on cue, his younger brother came out of the door. For some reason, he had cut his long brown hair to his shoulders and dyed the tips of it a dark red.
"What's with the hair, Krysten?" Zyon said, slightly amused with the semi makeover. Krysten rubbed the back of his neck.
"My hair could get in the way when fighting, so I cut it off, and dyed it somewhat, so I'd stand out more."
"Why not put your hair in a ponytail while your at it? Or how about a mullet? I never seen a fighter with a mullet before!" The blond boy mocked.
"Shut up, Zyon. At least I don't have to comb my hair every day like a girl." Krysten retorted. Zyon frowned and crossed his arms, opting to drop the thing before a huge fight started before they even left.
Two limos pulled up minutes later, and everybody instantly threw their belongings in the trunk and got in the cars.
The flight leading to the Shin Sekai Chitsujo's first fight of the tournament was still a few hours away, and since none of them had time to cook any form of breakfast, they had decided to waste some time eating breakfast. Krysten and Zyon had great big stacks of pancakes, while Raven had an omelet and Xion had French toast."Hey Xion…" Raven asked as he watched his brother and Zyon racing to see who could finish their pancakes first.. "Are you going to be okay with fighting again, after so long?"
"I'll be fine. I can't say I'm not excited to be able to fight again." The black haired boy, who was currently into his food.
"I'll have your back, Xio-kun." Zyon smiled. "Just remember that it's just a game."
"Game?" Krysten stated. "I'm pretty sure half of these people in this tournament wouldn't hesitate killing us."
"I promise you they won't. I have met some of them before, and they're a okay bunch."
"Either way, don't get too worked up about it." Raven added. "We should have fun with this."
The announcement for the Shin Sekai Chitsujo's plane rang out, and the team paid for their meal and ran to the plane.
The entire flight was relaxing and went without trouble (though Zyon was a little jumpy since this was a no smoking flight), and they landed in another airport somewhere in a country they never heard of. The minute Zyon got out, he instantly lit up a cigarette and started to smoke. Raven, on the other hand, was looking for Irena.
And there she was, looking at various magazines at the stand. Her hair was a dark brown this time, and with her red shirt and cargo pants, she looked very cute. As soon as she noticed the team, a smile formed on her face.
"HI GUYS!" she shouted before running to where the SSC were standing. "I'm happy to see you all again."
"Same here." Raven gave a confident grin. "Did you get everything ready for us?"
"Of course. Your first match is tomorrow, I'll give you the details as soon as we get to our hotel."
"When you say 'hotel'," Zyon asked, "do you mean a actual hotel or some run down roadside shack in the middle of nowhere, owned by some gap-toothed creepy guy, and when you're in the shower or sleeping a freak with a mask comes in your room stabs you to death, then throws the body into some gorge or off a cliff a few miles away so the police won't find them."
The rest of the team gave Zyon a weird look. Irena just giggled.
"You're too much…" She stated cheerfully. "It's a hotel. I wouldn't send my favorite team to some crappy Motel 6, would I?"
"The last time I went to a motel, I ended up getting strep throat." Xion added. "So I would rather sleep outside than go to another place like that."
"Yeah, Yeah, you can make your hotel recommendations later, let's just leave so we can find out our first opponents in this tournament." Raven said before leaving for the exit.
Outside the airport, they found that Irena had rented them a car. Since Xion was the only one who drove with a valid license, he was in charge of driving them to the hotel. An hour later, they arrived at the building. Raven and Krysten literally fell out of the car, the former because he wasn't very used to sitting next to a girl for a long period of time and was ready to get out, and the latter because he was bearing most of the weight from the other two.
They got out and looked at the hotel with amazement. It was one of those five-star hotels you see on those shows that tell you how rich people live better than you do. The inside was even better looking, with gold, diamonds and all sorts of shiny stuff.
Of course, since the SSC are not rich, the other people in the building either gave them funny looks, or thought that they were the new cleaners for their room.
Irena had some issues with the people at the register. Apparently, she had trouble convincing them that they were the team that was supposed to stay there for the next few days. She managed to get the keys and asked the SSC to go to their rooms while she took of a few things. They got into the elevator, which closed just before the scream came from the cashier's table.
"This room is bigger than my entire apartment."
Xion and Zyon had walked into their room and was instantly surprised. It was huge. They took the opportunity to explore the place, though Zyon was more interested in if there was anything he could take from the place.
"I'm so stealing these towels when we leave here." Zyon said, hugging the soft items in his arm. "Do you see anything you want to swipe, Xio-kun?"
"I'm not planning on stealing anything from this place." Xion answered from the bedroom.
"Well, it's your loss." Zyon stated, throwing a 'no smoking' sign out the window, "Where's our teammates at?"
"On the other side that door behind you. It connects our rooms together."
Zyon opened the door, to reveal another door with no knob. Sighing, he decided to knock on the door, instead of kicking down as usual. Raven answered after a few minutes and let him in. Krysten was sprawled out on one of the beds, and they didn't seem to excited compared to him.
"What is wrong with you two?" He asked.
"I'm just anxious about our first match." Krysten droned. "But I'm mostly tired from that long plane ride."
"How come you aren't exhausted?"
"I slept on the plane, and unlike you, I didn't stay up until who knows when trying to get my character leveled up one more time before I left."
Krysten was about to drag his body out of bed and see how far Zyon's head would go into a wall, when their representative came in, mumbling something about trashing the hotel before they leave.
"Sorry about that." She said. "I'm going to have to lay low while we stay here."
"What happened down there?" Raven said.
"The cashier was making some smartass remarks about you, so I had to…uh…tell him off, so to speak." She smiled. Raven looked out the window and saw several ambulances carrying people out of the room.
"The security gets a little too grabby as well, but that's not important." She got out her laptop.
"What's important is introducing you to how the tournament works. Now it's simple. The tournament is a sixteen team elimination style setup. The general KOF rules are still present: Three fighters choose an order to be active and goes against another team. You fight till your opponent is unconscious or gives up. Once one person loses, the next designated person on the team comes forward. The fights will continue till all three members of a team lose, which the other team will win the match. On the rare event that a draw occurs, both team members instantly are out. If one member is their team's last fighter, and fights to a draw, than that team loses. If both teams are on their last fighter and a draw occurs, then it will be up to me and my associates to determine a winner of the bout, as I also will be acting as an official for your fights. I am obligated by my sponsor to make sure things go fairly, so I am unable to throw matches or constantly make up rules just so you will win."
The SSC listened intently, surprisingly enough, though Xion looked like he was using all of his strength not to get up and leave from boredom, and Raven was still taking glances out the window; apparently the cops were still there.
"Anyway, this year we are introducing a new 'Striker' system. You may have noticed that teams are 4 members now, instead of the usual three. Your forth member is your Striker. During the match, if you give a signal, your Striker will come out. Now, he has only a brief period of time to help you beat down your opponent before he has to go back to the sidelines. It's a new feature that could help you out of a tough spot and get the control of the match in your favor. But just so you know, if you stay too long out, I'll ban strikers for the rest of the round, and if you just blatantly ignore me, I'll ban them for the rest of the entire match, so go easy on it, okay?"
The entire team nodded.
"Now, as for your first match," Irena typed a few things in and instantly, a graphic came up featuring the first sixteen matches. The SSC listing was somewhere in the middle. "the computer has randomly selected today's matches, and you will fight tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the local dinosaur museum, 'Dinosaur World'."
"DINOSAUR WORLD?!?" the whole team exclaimed.
"We're having our first match in a fucking museum?!" Zyon wasn't very pleased.
"Aren't famous tournaments usually taken place in an arena?" Xion said with his usual unconcerned voice.
Irena sighed. "I know that it's not that common a setting for a brutal, bloody, fight to the finish, but you just have to trust me." She pleaded. The team just made sounds that seemed to signify agreement. "Good. Now as I stated, your match has been randomly selected. Your first match will be…" She pressed a button, and the match screen came up.
"The Shin Sekai Chitsujo team versus The Ladies Team."
Raven and Krysten looked horrified.
"They must not think very much of us if their pitting us against a bunch of girls." The younger Kirishima said.
"Damn it." Raven cursed.
Xion yawned.
Zyon was very pleased with the match. "All right! I get to fight some cute girls! Who's on the team?"
Irena punched in a few more keys. "The women's team consists of King, Mary Ryan, Kasumi Todoh, and Li Xiangfei." She showed their pictures to the team. Raven and Krysten moaned in frustration, while Zyon just grinned wider.
"King and Blue Mary? I know those two." He stated.
"Do you mean as friends, or you used some pick-up line to try to get them into bed." Xion snorted.
"Friends. I'm not stupid enough to hit on them, they already got men who want to have their way with them. I just know that they're very nice as long as we don't act like jerks."
"I doubt that it will do very good." Krysten said. "We're going to lose in the first round, to girls, and our reputation will be ruined."
"Don't act that way." The representative said. "I'm sure you'll be able to win. I believe in you."
Raven let out a breath. "Alright. Do you think that we should stay here and think up a strategy for this fight, or do you want to go get lunch?"
"Lunch." The rest of the team said.
"Okay. Let's use the back so security won't notice Irena." They all filed out of the room.
At 6:30 p.m., the SSC left their rooms and rode to the museum. The car ride was quiet as the anxiety was setting in again. Xion was the only calm one (since he was driving). Zyon was constantly running his hands through his hair, Krysten was whispering to himself, and Raven was fiddling with the bandana that was hanging from his neck. The fact that clouds were gathering above them wasn't helping. They got out of the car quickly and rushed in before it started raining.
Irena led them to the center of the museum, where the fight would take place. It was right in front of a T-Rex skeleton eating a triceratops skeleton. The bones of the ancient creatures were in display all around, models were shown in a display case on the other side of the room, posters with facts was on the walls, the ceiling was made of glass, with steel support across, and the windows surrounded a side of the room overlooking the city and the dark clouds that was moving through.
"So as soon as the other team shows up, I'll let the sponsor know that you are all here, then I'll officially start the match, okay?" Irena smiled. The other team members grunted a positive response.
Raven was with Krysten, trying to ease the poor boy's anxiety, while Xion crossed his arms, pulled his hood up and went to sleep.
Twenty minutes later, the Ladies team arrived at the building. But since the building was mostly closed, they had a hard time finding their opponents. After five minutes, they arrived at the center of the museum. Or at least one of them.
"Finally…" King sighed. "You know they could of though of a better place to have an official match."
Irena, who had dozed off a bit, was startled. "Oh, It's you. You've arrived." She said yawning. "I would have appreciated it if you didn't get here so damn late, but you're right on time."
"I'm sorry." Mary, who had arrived seconds later apologized. "We had trouble finding this place since we didn't quite speak the language."
"Anyway, where's the team at?" King asked.
"Three of them are off somewhere, one of them is sleeping over there." She pointed at the sleeping Xion, who didn't seem disturbed by all the noise.
Mary giggled. "He's kinda cute, sleeping like that."
At that time Kasumi Todoh and Li Xiangfei finally made there entrance, and boy did they look frustrated.
"It's like going through a cornfield maze." Kasumi sighed. "I apologize for getting lost."
"It's alright." Mary replied before the three remaining opponents arrived. "Hey, Zyon!"
The blond boy smiled and accepted Mary's enthusiastic hug. "Hey Mary."
"Hello, you pesky little brat." King said, putting him in a headlock.
"Wow, you do know them well." Irena said, before getting out her cell phone. "Now go determine your fighting orders while I call our sponsor.
The teams both gathered and discussed order. The SSC decided that since Xion was asleep, he should go first.
"Xio-Xio, wake up." Zyon called.
"Hmm? What did I tell you about calling me that?" Xion said weakly, getting up and stretching. "Is our match starting?"
"Yes, and you're first." Raven answered.
"Alright." The obsidian haired boy walked forward, where Kasumi, who had volunteered to go first, was already waiting.
"Okay...Yes, they are both ready…Alright…Bye." Irena hung up. "Now, let's get things started. My name is Irena Toryu, and welcome to The King of Fighters 1999. I will be officiating this match up. The rules have been explained to you, so I will not bother explaining them again. To the left, we have Shin Sekai Chitsujo, to the right, The Ladies team. I want a good fight, and preferably a clean one, but I doubt that will happen. Okay, Xion, Kasumi, get ready."
Xion removed his hood, and brushed his hair back while extending his hand. "Come."
Kasumi brought her arms to her sides. "Onegai Shimasu!"
"Round 1: Xion Shinlon vs. Kasumi Todoh. Fight!"
Xion pulled his hood back up on his head, and stood there for a second before moving his arm sharply. Kasumi instantly pulled her guard up, and Xion went for the attack. Using his right arm, he let out a light punch, enough to get an early advantage. Kasumi was quick, catching his fist with one hand, and pushing him off with her foot, sending him back a few steps.
Xion decided to try again, and the same thing happened, only Kasumi slid between his legs and kicked him in the back, sending him to the ground. Xion got back up, starting to get a little upset. He charged forward, looking as if he was getting ready to throw another punch, but instead sent his foot straight towards her head.
Once again, however, Kasumi was quick enough to grab his foot, twist it around her leg, and send his knee crashing into the marble floor.
"Shit!" Xion rolled to a stand, hopping on one leg while waiting on the pain to subside. Too bad he had her back to Kasumi.
"YAHH!" She performed a Kasane Ate right on his spine, and Xion was on the ground again.
Lifting his hood so he could see what was going on, the obsidian haired teen saw Kasumi easing his way over to his position, giving Xion a chance to finally get some offense in.
After rolling to close the last bit of distance, he shot straight up with a kick, landing right on Kasumi's face, lifting her up, and sending her crashing into the ground. Xion landed on his feet, but, stumbled a bit.
"Senryutai." He said softly. When he looked up, Kasumi had already recovered, and had her hands in the air. Logic told the teen that it wasn't a good sign, so rather than stand there and try to see what happens, he ran like hell.
"Cho…Kasane Ate!"
Xion doubted he could run fast enough, as he could already feel the heat from the attack on his back. What's more, he was about to run into a wall. Telling his teammates to get out of the way, he dashed out of the path, just in time for the wave to hit the wall, leaving a large, smoking, potentially expensive scar on it.
Kasumi had to shield her eyes from the blast, and when she recovered, Xion was nowhere to be found.
"Uh…did I win?" She asked, looking at her teammates. They just shrugged.
"Don't underestimate me…" Xion's voice was heard. Kasumi looked behind her, and Xion attacked.
"Koryuga!" A dragon head shaped projectile came right at her, ramming into her before she could block. She fell to her knees and let out a few pained breaths before regaining her senses and standing back up. She spun around, and threw her leg at his head, but he caught it, tripped her other leg, and sent her crashing to the ground before flipping himself over and landing his heel into her stomach.
Xion got up and removed his hood to brush the hair out of his eyes. "Come on…"
Poor Kasumi was noticeably weakened by now, but she wasn't about to give up yet. But when she threw another punch, Xion caught her by the wrist, kicked her in the stomach, and slammed a palm in her back.
He knew it was time to end it.
Bringing his hand back a bit, and waited…
Just as he predicted, Kasumi started to move her arms up to block, and her left forearm met Xion's fist.
SNAP!!
Lighting lit the room for that final moment. Xion dropped his hands and watched as Kasumi's eyes widened, then slammed shut as she clutched her arm and seethed. She barely managed, to call Irena to her, and whisper something in her ear.
"Kasumi is unable to continue, on account of the fact that her arm seems to be broken." Irena announced. "So, the winner of this match is Xion."
Xion placed his fist in his palm and bowed. "Forgive me."
Both teams helped Kasumi up and placed her against the wall to rest, then returned to start the next round.
Round 2: Xion vs. Mary.
"Are you ready?" Mary stated. Xion just pulled his hood back on.
FIGHT!
Before Xion had time to even move, Mary was behind him in an instant, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"Goodnight!" Xion's head crashed into the hard floor.
Staying down for a few seconds, he attempted a Senryutai, but Mary caught his leg, and trapped it in a clutch lock for a few moments; Afterwards, she grabbed his other leg, stood up, and seesawed him straight into the wall. Since Mary still had his legs wrapped around, he fell back right into her bent knees.
The rest of the SSC cringed, while the Ladies Team cheered for their friend.
Xion struggled to get up, and when he did, he was exhausted. The last fight must have zapped his energy real fast, now he had only enough energy for one last attack. Gathering energy, he started running towards Mary in a maddening pace.
Mary noticed it and barely managed to get into a blocking stance before…
"Houshin Renha!"
It was larger than the Koryuga, and even harder to block. Mary felt like her arms were being sliced by knives, and once the attack passed, it looked even worse. But it wasn't bad enough to knock her out.
Xion, on the other hand, was too tired to even see correctly, much less continue, so when he found himself with Mary's arms around his head, spinning him around, he was already semi-unconscious.
"Dynamite Swing!" Mary slowed down enough that Xion didn't fly very far or fast into a wall or anything, and the teen landed with a thud.
"Xion is knocked out, so Mary winds the round." Irena stated, somewhat worriedly.
"Bakyun!" Mary did her famous taunt.
Xion regained enough awareness that he didn't need to go to the hospital, so he went back to his side of the room.
"Zyon…It's your turn." He stated weakly. His friend just nodded and went to his place in the ring.
"Round 3: Zyon Kasanari vs. Mary!"
Zyon elegantly bowed to Mary, before getting into his stance.
"FIGHT!"
Mary instantly ran at her opponent. Zyon just stuck her leg out, and she fell flat on the floor. Raven and Krysten started to laugh hysterically.
"Very funny." Mary muttered while getting up, but Zyon was gone. "Where did you go?"
A gust of wind blew in her face, and she felt someone run past, but there was no one there. Mary felt a pressure on her head.
"Up here!"
Zyon was doing a handstand on top of her head. He swung down and jammed a knee into her back. Then grabbing her arm, he started to kick her everywhere. Mary felt like she was being assaulted with a machine gun.
Zyon stopped at about thirty, and teleported a few steps away. He took a pair of black gloves out of his pockets, and put them on. He clasped his hands in front of him for a moment.
"I hope this works." He exclaimed. His blue eyes turned green, and he held out his hand. He took out a small lighter and started to flick it above his hands a few times. Eventually, a small light formed in his palms, and it slowly started to turn into a light blue flame. Zyon winced a little bit. "It still hurts a bit, but I can't really complain." He said as he transferred his flame to the other hand.
Irena, Raven, Krysten and the rest of the Ladies team were stunned. Xion was too busy dosing off to notice. Mary stood her ground, but couldn't help feeling a little scared at this new technique that Zyon seemingly pulled from nowhere.
Zyon walked forward a bit, and Mary noticed that his speed seemed to decrease dramatically compared to a few minutes ago, so she took the chance and try to perform a M. Spider on him.
"AHH!"
She neglected to note that Zyon's hands were hotter than hell.
"I'm sorry." Zyon said with sincerity. "But I have to finish this. My hands are starting to bleed." Then he started running towards Mary. She jumped up, but Zyon followed her up, grabbed her, landed on the ground, and started to sprint to the farthest wall facing them.
Mary couldn't see anything but blurs and flames as Zyon slammed her to the wall. It wasn't very hard, but this, along with the injury to her arms from blocking the Houshin Renha and touching the flames, seemed to sap a lot of energy from her, but she still had enough to turn the match towards her favor.
Leaping towards her feet, Mary pounced on the blond headed teen and used M. Typhoon to slam him on the ground.
Zyon nearly lost his flames getting up from the attack, and there was a trail of blood running down the side of his head, but he still looked like he had plenty of fight left in him, unlike Mary, who was starting to run out of gas.
Zyon brought his hands back a bit. "Suitai shi nasai…" he whispered. Mary stumbled forward, and he slammed his extremely hot fist directly on her chin, sending her high in the air. He jumped after her, threw her to the ground, and slammed his other hand on the floor, releasing a small pillar of flame half his size, sending Mary up again before finally falling to the ground for the last time.
Irena doubted that Mary was unconscious before she hit the floor the first time. "Mary is out, so Zyon wins the round."
Zyon produced a cigarette out of nowhere, and lit it with the last remaining flame in his hand. He took a deep breath, and blew the smoke out in the air as King stepped hesitantly into the fighting area.
"Mary will be okay." Zyon said without even looking at her. "She'll just be sore for a while. It was never my intention to really hurt her."
"Okay." King replied softly.
"Besides, I can't use the flames anymore anyway." Zyon's hands still had faint wisps of smoke coming from them.
"Round 4: Zyon vs. King!"
King ran a hand through her hair. "I'll be your opponent."
"FIGHT!"
Zyon hands were injured from the heat, so until they had a chance to heal, he couldn't use his other technique at the moment. He was severely handicapped, but he felt like he had his normal speed back, so he decided to fight it out till the end.
Zyon disappeared and reappeared in front of King, punching her in the stomach, and while she held it, dropped the front of his foot on the back of her neck.
King recovered quickly, and sent a Double Strike towards Zyon, who wasn't able to dodge in time, and took them both in the chest, causing him to fall on a knee and cough. King took that opportunity to deliver a hard kick into his face, sending him crumbling to the floor. It was just enough to cause Zyon's body to stop responding.
"Zyon is knocked out, so King wins the round." Irena was getting extremely worried. Her team was on the verge of getting beat on the third round.
King threw him a rose, while Zyon looked up at her. A weak smile formed on his lips. "I guess I used more energy than I though." He said, pushing himself up. "How embarrassing."
Zyon walked to his teammates, somewhat frustrated. Krysten was the last fighter for the SSC, so whatever nerves he had was pushed aside quickly. Giving one last glance at his brother, he walked to the center of the fighting area, staring at the sky through the glass ceiling.
"Final Round: Krysten vs. King!"
Krysten took a deep breath. "Here I come."
"FIGHT!"
Krysten didn't bother strategizing, instead opting to make a quick side step and drive an elbow to King's stomach. He didn't expect do to more damage to himself than his opponent.
"Sorry kid, but stomach blows don't really hurt people who practice Muay Thai boxing." King said, laughing at Krysten holding his elbow in pain.
Krysten frowned, and replied with a knee to that same stomach. That worked way better. Krysten gave King five more solid knees to the stomach, and kicked her away, quickly closing ground to make sure she didn't have time to breathe.
King blocked Krysten's foot from stomping her arm, and tripped him before getting back on her feet.
"Trap Shot!"
Thirteen kicks later, Krysten was on the defensive. Even when he was blocking them, King's kicks were painful. He pushed her away and called for his brother, who was striker. King called for Xiangfei, who made silly faces at Krysten, causing him to drop his guard and get a foot in the side of his face.
King was about to kick him again, when she noticed Raven pointing what seemed to be a small, round, purple ball at her. Small, that is, for awhile, before getting really big.
"Kiren'eki…"
Before she knew it, she was hit with a massive amount of force by Krysten, sending her to the air, where the projectile hit dead center at her stomach. It hurt like hell. From what little she saw, she could have sworn that it when through her, it sure did feel like it.
"King?!" Xiangfei asked. She was so caught up at King's problem, she didn't notice that Raven had fired another (albeit smaller) Kiren'eki at her, and it smacked her square on her face.
King landed in a crouch, and shot off a Double Strike, which Krysten evaded. He got close to her and launched a powerful spinning kick, his foot slamming King up in the air for the second time. Reaching into his sleeve, he pulled out a steel link chain and with a flick of a wrist, dragged the kick-boxer back down to the ground, very painfully. He walked over to her and loosened the chain's grip from her neck, ensuring she would breathe normally.
He waited a while for King to get up, and when she finally did, she was rewarded with his chain slapping her in the thigh.
"OW! You know, that's really cheap." King seethed, and she got rewarded with another chain lashing at the hand that was soothing her thigh.
"Hush." Krysten said gently. "You don't want me to hit your pretty head, do you?"
King growled and jumped at him. Krysten focused all his energy into his chain covered right hand. A dark red sphere of energy formed around the brown haired teen. King ran right into it, and waves of pain shot through her. By time the energy faded away, King was already out cold, and wasn't getting up anytime this evening.
Irena had to restrain herself from leaping for joy. "King is out, so Krysten wins the round. The Shin Sekai Chitsujo have won the match, and will go to the next round."
Krysten smiled, proud that he had come through for his team, before Irena ran and gave him a big hug.
"You did it!" She cheered. Raven gave his brother a big grin, Xion gave a weak smile and Zyon raised his hands in victory.
The SSC had proved that they were, at the least, worthy of being in this tournament.
"Wow…" Clark stated. " I know I shouldn't be surprised, with this being KOF and all, but I am."
Heidern had scoped out the location of the fight, and installed cameras all over the museum in order to get a look at this new team. They were obviously astounded at their performance.
"These clever little kids actually won?" Ralf replied. "I wouldn't have believed it either, but there you go."
"So Leona, what do we do?"
The blue haired soldier sighed. "I'll have to think about it. But I don't think they will pose too much of a problem."
Whip just stood there and wondered if the SSC knew what they were getting themselves into.
She, of all people, knows what's waiting at the other side of the curtain.
Shikkoku: (Pants) I hope you like this, because this took about a week to complete. I'll probably have to revise this anyway, because I think the fight scenes are not quite up to par. Maybe I should get a beta, but I doubt that will happen. I'm still working on some of the special moves for the SSC, so it might seem a little half done. Please give me feedback, so I know how you feel about the story.
Notes:
That's right. Zyon has flames. If you read the story all the way, you'll see that like I said, he's not very good at using them yet. Zyon will give a long explanation for the fire next chapter, and believe me, it's more complex than you would think. It'll also explain why his fight with King lasted all of three seconds. Zyon has three styles, normal, fire, and another style that will remained unnamed until the next fight.
No fight next chapter, after the long, troublesome path of trying to write a fight scene, I'm going to practice a bit before going on ahead with the second round of the tournament.
Starting next chapter, I'll post profiles of the SSC team, each chapter will have a member's profile, and a sort biography, going in this order: Raven, Krysten, Zyon, Xion.
Kurai Tenshi will probably get updated tomorrow, and I mean it this time. I already have the chapter completed, and it's quite short, but it's only the second chapter. As for this story, the next chapter should be a short one, but my birthday is coming up, so don't be surprised if you have to wait another week…
Next chapter: The SSC celebrate their first victory, and Zyon runs into a certain brown-haired, weapon wielding girl.
Until next time…