Disclaimer: I do not own King of Fighters or anything related to it. If I did, then XII would have had a story. And a boss. And more than 5 stages. (Among other things…)
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KOF: New Blood - Act 1
Chapter 13: Silver Linings and Lost Causes…
---
"I had expected to see some chaos here, but this is something else."
Kyo Kusanagi surveyed the scene before him. For the past year or so, he had been going around trying to solve the mystery of what happened to him.. He was prepared for a long, strenuous battle with him; what he got was Benimaru, Shingo, a bunch of guys he never seen before in his life, and the object of his anger lying under a pile of rubble. "What the hell happened here?"
"Kusanagi-sannnnn!" Shingo nearly broke his neck trying to reach his 'teacher'. Kyo quickly dodged out of the way of the impending bear hug, and Shingo ended of falling flat on his face.
"Hahaha…It's good to see you too, Shingo." Kyo helped him up. "And Benimaru…Well, I'd bet anything you're just happy that you got a chance to hog the spotlight to yourself now that me and Daimon aren't here."
"I'm not hogging anything. It's just natural that someone as hot as me will grab people's attention." Benimaru did a dramatic pose. "The fact that you weren't there to distract them was just a happy bonus."
"Sure it was…" Kyo words dripped with sarcasm.
"Anyway, what are you doing here? We haven't seen you in two years!"
"It's a long, long story, I'll tell you later…."
Kyo knew that Benimaru would be too proud to admit that he missed his friend. Kyo turned his attention to the others that were in the room. More specifically, the SSC, who with Maxima's help, had gotten most of the debris off of Krizalid. Upon seeing his face, Kyo growled as he approached the man, who still lay there on the ground.
"Looks like I'm a little late." He said. "I was hoping I would get to fight you personally, but someone seems to have beat me to it."
"Kyo…Kusanagi…." Krizalid coughed up a little blood, "I….I'm surprised you…made it…here. Did you happen to meet your…cl-clones on the way?"
"I have seen more than enough clones of myself to last a lifetime." Kyo responded, "But thankfully, someone seems to have taken them out already. You kinda overdid it with the flames, don't you think?"
"The clones were already destroyed?" Krizalid would have sat right up if it wasn't for his severe internal injuries. "Who..who could have…done that?"
The SSC raised their hands with nervous smiles on their faces.
"But to be fair," Krysten added, "Technically, they destroyed themselves."
At that point, Krizalid didn't care anymore. "I should have known..that would happen…eventually."
"Yes, I know all about how flawed they are." The Kusanagi heir smirked, "Here's a little tip: If they overstrain their bodies too hard when they try to make flames, sometimes they'll even explode."
"Yuck! Don't remind me…" The memory of the first few batches of clones made Irena cringe. "There's no point in hurting him anymore, Kyo. He's defenseless now."
"You're right. It's not as fun to bop them when they can't hit back. And judging by this scene, you couldn't even destroy your own base correctly. Now that's just sad. Rugal could've taught you a thing or two…."
"Shut up!" With everything that had happened today, Irena's nerves were too frazzled to deal with Kyo's smarminess at the moment, "That wasn't his fault!"
"Well then…." It was at that time that Kyo first laid his eyes on K' for the first time since he got there. "Who's that guy over there?"
"That 'guy' you're referring to is your clone, Kyo." The mysterious voice spoke once again.
"Wait, who are you?"
"You'll find out soon enough. Anyway, the person who is standing before you he's someone who has been infused with your DNA. He might not look like it, but he is one of the most successful clones we have made."
"So that's what you've been doing with my DNA? Implanting it into people against their will?" Kyo said angrily.
"That's a very crude way of putting it, but that is a fact…"
Amazingly enough, K' was silent the entire time. He just stood there and looked at the man who's powers he now possessed. His right arm was feeling weird right now, as if this man's presence was making his flames harder to control.
"Of course, but as you can tell, it's hasn't been perfected yet. There's still lots more work done on him, right K'?"
"Not a chance in hell. I'm not going to be a part of this sham of a cartel!" K' declared, rather loudly at that. "I'm going to make my own way from now on. Anyone who doesn't like it can go to hell for all I care."
"Well, I guess some of Kyo's stubbornness was grafted into you along with those flames. Oh well. There's no time anymore to be concerned about that, there's a bigger issue coming our way."
---
Back outside, as it was starting to get dark, Leona was gathering some flares and other sources of light from the truck. It had been hours since she had sent Whip down underground and she had yet to hear from either her or Ralf and Clark. Though she wouldn't show it, she was definitely concerned…
"Hey there, Leona." Ralf's familiar voice called out to her. "Did you miss us?"
"What…how long have you been up here?" Leona stood as Ralf and Clark approached her.
"We managed to get out of there a few minutes ago. Man, it was like a maze down there; We couldn't find anything down there." Clark said.
"Nothing? You didn't even run into Whip?"
"You sent her into that maze too?!" Ralf panicked, "Why?"
"It seems like those kids that beat us a few days ago decided to sneak into the thing for some reason," Leona said in her usual matter-of-fact tone, "Whip volunteered herself to go in there to try and stop them, but she hasn't been seen since."
"Well, she better contact us soon. I just talked to the commander, and a squadron of soldiers are on their way here to try and gather up anyone that we can involved with this whole incident that's going on right now. He will be following them shortly."
Leona started to ask when the troops were scheduled to arrive, but the sounds of helicopters in the distance answered that question for her. "That was quicker than usual…"
"Considering the shady characters involving the tournament, it was best that we were prepared this time." Clark mentioned.
"Hopefully they can help get Whip out of there before she get's hurt." Ralf said, "We're going to go meet up with the troops and give them the details of what to expect."
"I will meet you down there later, I need to gather up some sources of light before the sun goes down, just incase there's no lamps in this area."
With a salute from both parties, Ralf and Clark left. Leona returned to her task, but in her mind she couldn't help but echo Ralf's hope for the safe return of their newest teammate.
---
"It looks like we're about to get some more guests." The voice said, "Of course, I can't allow them to get any information about what we've been doing, so I have no choice but to initialize the self-destruct sequence."
"I should have known that this was going to happen." Kyo muttered.
"I don't remember anyone saying anything about this place having a self-destruct mechanism…" Irena said.
"You may not have, but I certainly did know about it. It's actually convenient for me, since I can take care of the pest that are filing into this area as we speak, and I can also deal with all of you. Two birds, one stone."
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Maxima, we're getting out of here." K' couldn't take this anymore, and Kyo's presence was making him even more uneasy for some reason.
"Even if you can get out in time, you still have to deal with the armed men that Heidern sent who are running throughout the place. That goes for all of you. K', Maxima, Kyo, and the others in this room, rest assured we will meet again, if you manage to survive, that is. We are the NEST Cartel. Remember that."
It was after the voice finally went silent that the room started to shake. K' and Maxima immediately made a break for it, while the others stood there confused.
"Come on, I think I know the way out of here!" Kyo shouted, "We need to get moving or we'll be crushed!"
Benimaru and Shingo followed him out of there, leaving the SSC, Irena and Krizalid. The lone girl in the group helped her boss get to his feet. "This structure is weakened too much for us to be here anymore. Let's o, we'll take the elevator up."
"Here, let me help you with that," Zyon assisted her with the task of assisting Krizalid.
"Thanks Zyon."
"Why are…you helping me…after what I did?" Krizalid was getting weaker by the moment.
"I owe it to her. And like I said, I had worse things done to me." Zyon smiled, "It was fun fighting you. At the least, I don't feel like a failure for losing against you."
The SSC went to the elevator, where Irena tried to get it to start moving
"Isn't it too dangerous to be using that when the place is crumbling?" Raven suddenly realized, "What if it shuts down on the way up? We'll be done for!"
Irena thought about it for a second. "You're right," She sighed, "It's too risky to go up that way. Thankfully I know about every secret exit that's built in this place. We should be able to get out without being shot at, but we have to be quick about it."
Forced to turn around, they started to hurry down the long corridor to find an exit.
"Irena…I think you should let me go." Krizalid coughed. He knew his time was running out.
Irena wasn't going to hear a word of it. "Stop talking nonsense. Come on, we're going to get out of here and get you some help."
"No. I…don't think I'll be able to make it. The injury is too severe….you should just leave me here." Krizalid forcibly removed himself from the grips of Zyon and Irena and slid down the wall.
"Sir, don't do this to yourself! I need you to get up…" Irena knelt down next to him.
"Don't argue with me, Irena." Krizalid looked at her intently, "Just do as I tell you. I'm not going drag you down this road with me."
"But…"
"Please, do this as a favor…for me. If you're safe, at least I would have done one thing right today."
Irena was on the brink of bursting into tears at that point. "Sir…I don't know what I can do…"
Krizalid placed a hand on her cheek. "This is for the best. For the sake of the cartel, I need you to stay alive."
Realization slowly crept in. Krizalid was right; the fact that he had survived for this long with his injuries was a miracle on his own. Now she needed to focus on herself and her team getting out of here in one piece.
"Okay, sir." Irena wiped her eyes, "I won't forget this." She quickly hugged him before standing back up. "Okay guys, let's keep going."
The SSC, not wanting to get involved, moved along without her. Before Irena had a chance to follow them, she had the feeling that someone else was there.
"What are you doing here?" Irena said in a low voice.
"You know why I'm here." Whip came out of a corner. "What happened to Krizalid?"
"He's injured. Badly. Seeing you is the last thing he wants…"
"Just let me talk to him. He's already dying, right? There's no reason for me to do anything to him anymore."
Irena relented. The look Krizalid gave her indicated that he wanted to hear what Whip has to say, and all she could do is obey his wishes.
"Fine. Do as you wish." Irena turned around, "Just go easy on him; he's been through enough now."
She started to run and catch up with her friends. As soon as Whip was sure that she was gone, she walked towards Krizalid.
"….I didn't…..think we'd meet….like this." Krizalid hoped that he could last long enough to hear her.
"Me neither, Krizalid." She knelt down, "Anyway, I know what you want to ask me, so go ahead and say it while you can."
"The only thing I wanted to know is why did you leave, sister? Why did you quit the cartel so unexpectedly?"
Whip let out a long sigh. "I'm not your sister."
The frown on his face certainly told her that he didn't believe it. "What? Quit talking nonsense."
"I'm dead serious. I am NOT your sister…"
"But how could that be?"
"Our relationship was nothing but memories that got implanted in you. It was all fabricated."
"But…"
"Think about it…you don't have any real memories about your parents? Our parents? Do you?"
"I….I guess you're right." Krizalid coughed a bit of blood. "But our memories of us…who could have done this?"
"It's K'."
"K'? But….He's my….clone…"
"No….you have it twisted, as usual." Whip gave his head a light smack, "Think about it a little harder, idiot."
"…The only way that could be true is if…" The realization struck him. "That can't be…Then that would mean...."
"Bingo. You're are K's clone, not the other way around."
"….."
"Don't act that way. After all, I was fooled by this too; that was what prompted me to leave. Among other things, of course."
"K'…I guess he was the superior one after all." Krizalid vision started to blur a bit. "All of these memories…everything I've done for you….it was meaningless…."
"It wasn't meaningless, Krizalid. It was something I had to do for myself." Whip placed a hand over his heart, "Part of me hates you, yes. But everything that has happened between us...it still meant a lot to me. And for that, I thank you."
Krizalid gave her a weak smile. "I'm glad….at the very least, are you happy with your new surroundings?"
"Yes, I am happy…"
"Then I am at peace…" His words got lower, "One more thing before….I go…"
"What is it?"
"Tell the team she…we made….that I want them…to protect…her…."
"I will."
Krizalid eyes slowly closed. Whip felt his heartbeat disappear under her hand. She sighed, "Rest in peace, my imaginary brother. I wont forget you…."
"What a heartwarming scene."
Whip instantly stood up and pointed her gun at the source of the noise. For what seemed like déjà vu, she was aiming right at Zyon.
"You know, one of these days I'm going to end up shooting you." She sighed, putting the gun away, "What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to check up on you, sweetheart." Zyon smiled, "Though to be fair, I should be asking you that."
"We were investigating this place before it started crumbling." Whip said, "I followed you to try and get you and your friends out of here."
"And let me guess, you got lost?"
"Shut up."
Zyon just laughed, "So, You used to work for him?"
"Yes, but I don't want to talk about it. It's in the past now." It was about that time that she noticed Zyon's current condition. "What the hell happened to you?"
"I was scorched by your 'imaginary brother'." He rubbed his arm, "It's nothing to be worried about."
"It is! You need medical attention, and I don't have a first aid kit."
"Let's not worry about that right now. We need to get out of here." Zyon turned around and started running, "Follow me, I think I remember the way we Irena told us to go."
"You 'think', huh?" Whip had no choice but to follow him. "Listen, Zyon. I'm sorry about what happened during our fight."
"Sorry? Why?"
"I guess I got a little bit incensed by your arrogant attitude during the fight, and I went a little overboard…"
"That's okay." Zyon assured her. "It's just a fight. People get a little too into it sometimes, I know I do."
"But I did learn one thing, though."
"What's that?"
Whip gave him a small smile. "Being electrocuted really, really hurts."
Zyon laughed again.
They were making good time as they continued their journey, though Zyon couldn't run at full speed due to his injury. But soon there was a giant booming noise behind them. Looking back, they saw that part of the ceiling had collapsed behind them.
"Uh-oh…" Zyon was a little nervous. "I guess this building is starting to crumble from all the stress it suffered."
"We will never get out of there in time at this rate…" Zyon stretched a bit, "But…"
"But what? Do you have a plan?" Zyon unexpectedly scooped Whip up into his arms. "What the hell?"
"Don't worry, this is for your own benefit." He said. "I'm going to show you something that I rarely ever do…"
Zyon's hair once again changed color, turning a stark white. But there wasn't any flames or electricity to go along with it. What did happen was he got a respite from the pain that came from his injuries, albeit temporary.
"Okay, hold on tight…"
Whip was confused and embarrassed to be in such a position. "I look like a helpless little girl…" She though, but she wrapped her arms around his neck anyway.
With a sudden burst of speed, Zyon started to run way faster then he had in a long time..
---
"Where in the hell did Zyon run off to?"
The rest of the SSC were dashing through the tunnels quickly. So far they hadn't encountered any soldiers, but there was always still the possibility. Despite that, they were close to getting out.
"I'm sure that he went back for her for some reason…" Irena sighed. "But still, I know that he'll meet up with us eventually."
"Maybe I should go back for him…" Xion said
Irena was about to assert her disagreement when she saw two men armed with guns heading towards them.
"Stop right there!" one person said, "Who are you?"
"Wait! We were told that there was civilians present in these tunnels. Don't make any rash decisions. They don't look like they're a threat." Another one said. They both proceeded to put their guns away.
"Okay, just come with us peacefully and we'll lead you out of here."
Irena assessed the risks of coming along with soldiers. If they found out that she was a part of this plan, she would be arrested on the spot. If that happens, then there was a chance that the SSC would be taken in along with her. There was no way she would have that happen.
"Don't do anything rash…." Irena said quietly. "Let me handle this one. I owe you."
Taking advantage of the two men's relaxed state, she jumped up and kicked on of them right in the face, snapping his head back. The other man watched in shock as his teammate fell like a rock.
"Forgive me for this…" Irena grabbed the other man by the wrist and twisted it around so that his arm was behind him, before giving him a sharp elbow to the shoulder, dislocating it. Finally, he knelt him over and jammed her knee right into his sternum.
The rest of the SSC looked on in amazement as she disposed of the two soldiers.
"Uh…okay…" Raven scratched his head, "So you have some fighting ability?"
"Of course. One can't really survive in this organization for as long as I have if you don't know how to fight." Irena gave them a quick smile, "I told you I had some secrets."
The sounds of rapid footsteps gave everyone a reason to turn around. Expecting some more soldiers, instead they got Zyon carrying a girl, running at full speed towards them.
Upon seeing their faces, the teen slid to a stop. After putting Whip back to her feet, he struggled to catch his breath.
"Zyon, did you run the whole way here?" Xion asked.
"Not….all the….way..." His friend said between pants. "Just….three…fourths…"
"That's not much better, idiot."
"Glad to see you back, Zyon, but we need to get out of here before these guys call for backup."
Whip looked down on the fallen men, "Are those people from our unit?" She said incredulously, "Irena, did you do this?"
"We don't have time for questions right now, we need to keep going."
Nobody needed her to say that twice. Everyone continued their journey with no real further interruption. With Irena's help, they made it outside.
"Awfully anticlimactic, don't you think?" Krysten said as they came out of the tunnel, which took them out of the side of the building."Isn't the routine usually that you make it out of a crumbling building 3 seconds before everything collapses?"
"You watch too many action movies, my friend." Zyon sat on the ground, exhausted. "Though I'll admit, it seemed pretty strange. Where are we at?"
"On the other side of the underground base, I suppose." Irena replied. "But it's still a bit dangerous. There's a path over there that'll take us up to higher ground."
They all walked down the path which climbed up a hill and led them to what seemed to be an edge of a cliff. When they finally reached safe ground, everyone sighed in relief.
"It's finally over."
"Not yet. I wonder how this building is going to collapse." Irena stared down to the building, which from the outside, still looked perfectly fine. "Odd, I guess only the tunnels was destroyed then."
"I guess I'll call Leona to let her know I'm alright." Whip grabbed her personal radio. "Come in…Leona, are you there?"
"Whip, is that you?" Leona's voice came through the speaker. "Have you gotten yourself out?"
"Yes ma'am. I have apprehended the guys and made it out safely. We're right on top of an cliff that overlooks the surrounding area. What has been happening during the time I went down there?"
"Ralf and Clark made it back out, thankfully." Leona continued, "We had sent a team of men to search the underground area for anything relating to the sponsor of this tournament, but all we got so far is two suspicious men that supposedly was working for it. They did a number on them and disappeared. My guess is that they got out and disappeared somewhere in a forested region."
"I guess I'll have to wait a while longer to talk to him." She thought.
"We also have acquired one Benimaru Nikaido and Shingo Yabuki." Leona continued, "Ralf managed to lead them to safety just a few moments ago. Surprisingly, Kyo Kusanagi is with them as well."
"What?!"
"He apparently wanted to know what was going on as well. In fact, he seems to know more about this organization than we do. For now, we will gather our forces and meet you up there. Is there anyone that needs medical attention?"
Whip looked at Zyon, who was on his back, seemingly too tired and injured to even move. "At least one person…"
"We'll bring some first aid as well. Be there shortly. Over and out."
Whip shook her head as she put the radio back in it's compartment. She opted not to mention Irena and what went on for the moment. The girl needed her chance to be happy, and she certainly wouldn't get it being thrown in jail.
"LOOK!" Irena suddenly shouted, "Everything is starting to collapse!"
Everyone else instantly jumped up and went towards the edge of the cliff to watch the spectacle. The tunnels were the only form of support that the building had, so when it got destroyed, the weight of the buildings surrounding it was too much, and it started to buckle under its own weight. It was quite the sight to see, especially when the small explosions and flames started to appear. It was almost as if it was the big finale to signal the end of the journey that was KOF.
Irena stared at the now burning ruins; to her, all they were was a representation for how badly today ended up turning out. That's when she started to cry.
----
The rest of the Ikaris arrived about ten minutes later. As Whip requested, they immediately had medical teams work on fixing up Zyon and Raven. While the latter's injury wasn't as severe as first thought, Zyon still needed some treatment, mostly just burn treatment (though the burns weren't that severe, and Zyon kept stating that they'll be gone in a few days).
During that time the SSC didn't really do much: Xion wandered around the area aimlessly as he waited for his friend to get done so they could start the three hour drive back to the city, Krysten was listening to Ralf and Clark argue about their past battles, and Irena was sitting near the edge of the cliff, staring at the now-smoking wreck that was point 70599. Everyone else had decided that she needed to be left alone for a while.
Zyon sat inside one of the trucks, just about done with his treatment. Even though he didn't show it, he was still in a little bit of pain, but not as much as he was after the battle. He was ready to leave and tell the others that he was ready to go, that was until Whip walked into the truck.
"So, how are you doing?" She inquired, taking note of Zyon's taped up arms.
"I'm probably going to be taking painkillers for a day or so, but other than that, I'm doing okay." Zyon was too tired to antagonize her.
"You know, you really helped me out back there, even if it was a little scary." Whip sat next to him, "What was that all about? Is that some other new form you haven't told me about?"
"It's not really a 'form' like the others. What you saw was the product of a mistake I made a long time ago. At this point, that's all I'll say about it."
"I suppose that mistakes can benefit us sometimes. Are you sure that was such a bad thing?"
"Not bad, but it brings up a lot of harsh memories for me, so I try not to dwell on it."
"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine." Whip looked at him with pleading eyes "Zyon…Do you think you can keep what happened between me and Krizalid a secret?".
"I don't see any reason that I shouldn't. All you did is just talk to him, right?"
"It's not as simple as that. I have stuff that I don't want to reveal to the squad at this moment." She said, "My past isn't all that pleasant, unfortunately."
"You're preaching to the choir, sweetheart." Zyon stood up, "Even if you have a lousy background, you're still a nice girl, you know that? You must have a lot of friends, right?"
"Not really…" Whip eyes were downcast, "Other than Leona, Ralf and Clark, I don't really have much in the way of friends."
"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore, because now you have me!"
"Wait, what? You'll be my friend just like that?"
"Yep. If that is what you want, of course."
Whip tried her best not to blush. This was the first time that anyone had ever wanted her friendship. She wasn't exactly the most social person around, and still had a hard time expressing herself.
"No…don't take it the wrong way, I would like to be your friend too…" She said shyly, "It's just that I'm not used to something like this happening to me. Making friends is still somewhat of a foreign thing in my mind."
"I know it's sudden, but I wouldn't be doing this if I thought it wouldn't work out. Besides, wouldn't you want someone you can talk to who's normal?"
A short laugh escaped from the brown-haired girl's mouth. "You're right. Thank you for thinking highly of me."
"No problem, Muchiko…"
"What did you call me?"
"Muchiko. It's Japanese for Whip-girl, you know?" Zyon smirked. Whip just smacked her forehead.
"It's bad enough that Ralf is calling me 'Whippy', but you're calling me that now?" She playfully punched him in the arm, "Some friend you are."
"I just thought it sounded cute, and I know that you're tired of me calling you 'sweetheart' all of the time…"
"Well, that IS true…"
"Anyway, I think I'll let the others know I'm done so we can get going already. It's a long drive back to the city." Zyon stood up to leave when he felt the familiar tug of her weapon on his arm. Whip gently tugged him back towards her.
"Before he died, Krizalid told me that he wanted you and your team to protect Irena. For her sake and mine, could you do that for her?"
"Don't worry, we'll always support her no matter what. She's one of us, after all."
"One more thing…"
Expecting for her to say something else, Zyon was surprised when instead got a faint kiss on the cheek. Even though he was usually adept to being kissed, he still couldn't help but turn a bit red.
"I owe you that much." Whip let him go and gave him a friendly push out of the truck.
Zyon smiled to himself. "This is going to be a interesting relationship…"
---
"Hey Irena!" Raven shouted as he approached her, "Zyon's out of the medical truck, so we should get going before they start asking questions…."
Irena was still sitting there, staring off into the distance. She had been acting funny since they got out of the base; she was off by herself, and he assumed that she wanted to be left alone for the moment. Now, he thought that the best thing he could do was talk to her.
"You've been staring at that thing for about an hour…" Raven stood next to her, "Are you going to be alright?"
"I'll be fine." Irena wiped her eyes. "I'm just a little upset…"
"Listen, Irena. I guess we kinda screwed your plans up when we jumped in out of nowhere but…"
"No, it's not your fault. I suppose that our plan was doomed to failure from the start. This is KOF, after all." She shrugged, "The only thing I can do is honor my boss' words. I have to return to the cartel and work things out from there."
"Are you sure? Weren't they trying to kill you?"
"You know, I thought about that. While you were getting your wounds taped up, I called the HQ, and they said that there wasn't any self-destruct mechanism installed in the base. I knew something was fishy about that mysterious voice." She glowered, "Anyway, they said that the most likely scenario is that someone put it in without our knowledge. So either some other syndicate is trying to undo ours or we might have a traitor on our hands. So you don't have to worry about me for now."
"That's good to know. You're our friend, so obviously we want you to be safe."
"So, you still want to be friends even though I basically told you that we were trying to take over the world?"
"Heh, of course. You really think you being a part of a shady criminal organization is going to change anything?"
"You mean it shouldn't?"
"No. You're a part of this group too. Without you, there would be no SSC." Raven helped her up. "You'll always be one of us no matter what happens."
"Thank you, Raven." She gave him the sweetest smile she possibly could, "I'll appreciate this more than you'll ever know. Now then, we should get ready to leave, but what about Benimaru and the others?"
"I overheard those Ikari guys say that they'll provide them with a way back home." Raven answered, "They offered us the same thing, but we already have plane tickets for us to leave tomorrow."
"In that case, let's get going. It's already getting dark out and I don't want to be driving too late."
And so, the SSC got together and got ready to leave. Thankfully, the car that they had used to get here was still intact (since they parked far away from the building) so they would have no problem with transportation. Before they left, however, the Ikaris had one last thing to tell them.
"You know, we kinda doubted you for a bit…" Ralf said, "But you certainly proved yourself. You have earned our respect."
"It should be stated though, the next time we meet, the situation will most assuredly be different." Leona added, though it was directed towards Raven more than anyone. "Despite that, we wish you well on your trip back home."
"Okay…Thanks, I guess." Raven said nervously. Leona straightforwardness scared him a little sometimes.
"I guess this is goodbye. Again." Irena gave her a smile, "But of course, don't think that this will change anything."
"Still?" Whip shook her head. "Can't you put it behind you for now?"
"Maybe…" She said in a quiet tone. "Loyalty to the cartel comes first, you know that."
"Yeah, I know." "He said he wanted you to be happy…"
"I know. He told me that many times. And for his sake, I promise that I will." Irena reached for her face and pinched her on the cheek.
"See you soon, Seira." She walked away to join the others. They all started to walk away, Zyon giving a quick wave to Whip before they went down the hill.
"Maybe someday you'll understand…" Whip rubbed the side of her face. "But I until then all I can do is hope that you will be okay."
---
Once they finally reached their car, the SSC was greeted by one last person. Kyo Kusanagi.
"So you are the Shin Sekai Chitsujo? You certainly are very impressive from what I have seen."
"You've seen us fight?"
"I was over there when you fought Terry and the others." Kyo bragged, "Of course, the things was going on meant I had to keep a low profile, but I watched every minute of that fight. You almost had Terry Bogard beat."
"Yeah, I kinda blew it at the end, though."
"But you came close, that what matters. I don't think anyone will ever doubt your potential ever again." Kyo smiled.
"Thanks Kyo, that's just what we wanted to prove." Raven felt happy after hearing those words. He was right; The SSC had made a mark of sorts that they certainly wouldn't be labeled a 'flash in the pan' team any time soon.
"So what about you? Are you going back home?" Krysten asked.
Kyo face fell. "No, unfortunately. As much as I wish I could, as long as those scumbags from NESTS are still around, I can't risk being seen in public. So I will do all I can to bring them down."
"Just what we need, more people fighting against us." Irena rolled her eyes, "I wouldn't peruse this any further. Your role in our plan has been over for a long time."
"Be that as it may, I will get my revenge. You have my word." Kyo started to leave. "Tell your higher-ups that sooner or later, they will be burned." Kyo disappeared into the night.
"If he knew that you worked for the people who cloned him, why hasn't he questioned you?" Krysten said as they all got in the car.
"I don't know. I guess he figured that I wouldn't provide him with any real answers." Irena sat in the driver's seat. "Where's the keys?"
"Well, here's the thing," Zyon used his electricity to start the car. "We sort of hotwired this car that we found abandoned somewhere in town to get here."
"Wow…You were pretty desperate to get here, weren't you?" Irena chuckled.
As the car sped down the road, the SSC decided to make the most of their time left with Irena. It was a wild ride, but as much as they enjoyed it, part of them couldn't help but be delighted that things would be back to normal by tomorrow…
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Shikkoku: One. Last. Chapter.
One more chapter and I'll be done with this story that took me 2 years and 2 months to write. Go me. Surprisingly, this was quite longer than I had anticipated, and pretty easy to write compared to the horrific journey that was Chapter 12. Still, I can't help but think that I might have missed something…oh well, I usually go back and edit old chapters anyway. Thank you Flaming Arsenal for reviewing once again, by the way.
Notes:
I really wanted to give Krizalid a better death scene than 'he gets crushed by a rock', so I made him die from the injuries he suffered, but had him last a bit longer. The whole conversation with Whip had been planned at the beginning, but I made her less harsh than she was in the original game.
If your wondering what Zyon did, all I can say is that he has one more unique thing about him. What you saw was Zyon reluctantly using a bit of a mysterious 'power' to get him and Whip out of harms way. I can't really describe it to you without spoiling anything, but Act 2 will definitely give you a better idea of it. Don't worry, it's nothing too powerful, I swear.
I hope you enjoyed this. The last chapter will be out within a week. I promise. Review if you can.
Next Chapter: The tournament is over. After a unforgettable experience, the Shin Sekai Chitsujo say their goodbyes to their new friend and make their way back to Japan, not knowing how much their presence in the tournament has shaped things yet to come….
Until next time, Sayonara.