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The King of Fighters XVI: Where the Heart Is
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"The time … has come. I promised I would. I have to… I can… I will… I will save us all…"
Ikari soldiers protecting Rose Stadium were suddenly called into action but were steadily being dispatched. The impromptu stronghold was abruptly under siege by a small invading unit led by one very powerful individual. He struck with a speed that betrayed the vision of those who saw, attacking before it registered that he had moved. He disappeared and reappeared before his targets with incredible force. He sliced clean through their weapons and armored gear with his bare hands. He summoned bolts from above to blast the ones farther away. Eventually, one soldier managed to get close but was simply hurled away for his efforts, only gaining a glimpse at their attacker.
Devastating the troops was none other than the elevated and empowered Hebi Kokuo, with Shion, Benjamin, Croix, Rimelo, and Botan with Rose in tow following close behind as the aged vessel cleared the way. As they neared the entrance, several soldiers coordinated an attack and heavily fired upon the group. Hebi, in response, projected a round shield of energy around them, the shells exploding against the transparent shell in violent pops similar to fireworks. However, Hebi began to struggle under the intense artillery….
Hebi determinedly compelled himself, "No… You won't stop me. The hero doesn't fail… You are just the enemy. I will not fall…"
Hebi gathered his power, internally rearing back, and emphatically fired it out, blasting the soldiers away as the shield shattered like glass under the influence. Their path now clear, Those From The Past simply continued on their way. Only Shion hesitated, looking at the damage done and hoping someone else was aware of what was occurring…
Aboard Sky Noah, there was only panic. Everyone was thrown askew by the sudden alarm, and scrambled simply to make sense of the situation and gather what to do next. Chizuru, hurriedly making her way to the main deck, soon ran into Iori and instantly saw what state he was in: his eyes bloodshot, his breathing labored, his shoulders slightly hunched…
Chizuru cautiously asked in concern, "Iori… Are you alright?"
Iori ominously replied with misplaced ease, "Hm… Where's Kyo?"
Leona could feel the power growing in the distance with the slightest sense that of it reaching out for her, and continued to embrace Hiroshi, half out of the sheer tension building in her body. Meanwhile, Hiroshi was struck by an unconscious reaction: a throbbing burn bubbling up in his chest and a buzzing sting spreading in his mouth as a brand new kind of fear rested in his stomach…
Leona expressed, frightened, "I… I can feel it. It's … getting stronger."
Hiroshi attempted to reassure her as he tried to drive his own fear down, "It's okay, Leona-chan. It's going to be okay… You can fight it."
Leona appealed, holding him tightly, "Don't… Please don't leave me…"
Holding her just as tightly by this time, Hiroshi assured her, his fear shifting to concern, "Don't worry; I'm not going anywhere. I'm here with you."
Hiroshi brought some his fire's heat to the surface and covered them in it with his embrace… Adel raced onto the main deck where Aya and Hermione were working feverishly…
Adel asked in command, "What's the situation? What's happening at the stadium?"
Aya quickly responded, piecing footage together, "All the radio chatter from those on the ground is scattered and frantic, but it's clear that they're under attack. Surveillance shows that it's a group breaching the area, but it's only one guy laying waste to everyone."
Adel quickly responded, "Just one? This is worse than I thought. Take us to full speed and give me an ETA."
Hermione answered as she typed away at the ship systems, "I've already got us at top flight speed, sir, but we're still only over the Atlantic, half a world away. It could be 25 to 35 minutes."
Vice eerily said, as she and Mature blankly stared out of the window, "If that is our chances, we might as well drive into the ocean now… 25 minutes is hilariously too long."
A bit shaken from her assessment, Adel commanded, "Put everything we have into the rockets and engine. Divert power from other areas if you have to. We need to make it!"
Sky Noah's engines and rockets were quickly sent into overdrive with the power from all the backup generators pumped into them, and the air carrier sped through the air…
The seal had remained untouched since they had left, the red orb disturbed with the room still raised by its roots. Without delay, Hebi went to the orb and began drawing on the power, with Benjamin and Croix staying with him while the others went to guard all the entrances. Absorbing more of the essence, Hebi's already altered form began to morph even further: his muscles stretched and tightened, his veins engorging against his skin; his hair color lightened to grey; the symbol of an inverted sun began to appear on his face!
The room quaked incredibly. The red light of the orb shone through the magma-like cracks in the roots and grew brighter with each pulse. The roots grew and retracted like a heartbeat and throbbed harder as Hebi drew more power out. Everything grew to a palpable apogee until … it froze. Every reaction reached its highest point and progressed no further. No more spirit would flow into Hebi either as the room settled into the fever pitch it had reached.
After several moments of inactivity, Benjamin reacted, "What… This isn't. Wha-What is happening?"
Hebi confirmed, with subdued incredulousness, "That's … all there is. There's nothing else there…"
"No, that's impossible!" Benjamin reacted in shock, "Nothing has happened yet!"
Croix let out an irritated chuckle and ranted, "I knew it. After all that, I knew this kid would still find a way to fail! Still just a waste of space… Now, after that big scene out front, we have to race back out of here sp we don't get our asses kicked?! It's a damn shame we lost Juno and Genevieve for a complete joke like you; it should've been you. I should just… Grrk!"
Clutching Croix's face in his hand now, Hebi thought aloud, "There is more there but it's still locked away… The seal requires more sacrifice."
With his power coursing through his hands, the pressure from his fingers caused Croix's face to begin splitting and fracturing, followed by Croix's muffled howls and creams of pain. CRRRACK! One downturn of Hebi's wrist and Croix's head was twisted to a grotesque angle, splintering his spine in many areas; Croix was dead.
As he let Croix's body crumble to ground, Hebi said with a prominent scowl, "You're just a waste of space, a bag of hot air holding back our salvation."
In complete astonishment, Benjamin hastily attacked Hebi with rapid punches so fast that they could barely be seen… Hebi simply caught his fist a moment later with minimal effort. SNAP! With one more turn of the wrist, he viciously snapped Benjamin's forearm, the bones splitting his skin from the power. The chamber quickly filled by Benjamin's screams of horror and agony…
Hebi offhandedly responded, "You too, Benjamin? Opposing me, opposing us…"
Benjamin expressed, utterly distraught, "This power… This is what we sacrificed for…? What have we wrought…?"
Hebi replied with unsettling calm, "Don't worry. I swore I would save us, no matter the cost. Our hearts will be whole again; we will make it home. I'll make sure there are no more delays, and you'll help me with that."
With that, two telekinetic slashes rend open Benjamin's chest and neck, covering the orb and surrounding area in even more violent red. Hebi went immediately back to the seal after securing his insurance. Croix and Benjamin's bodies quickly disintegrated into many red spheres of energy and flowed into seal, opening it further from acceptance of the sacrifice. As more essence rushed forth, Hebi was suddenly transported to another place in his mind…
"Who are you?" An unknown presence inquired, "Who is it that has chased away my slumber?"
Hebi proudly proclaimed, "My name is Hebi Kokuo, and I'm a hero fighting for his friends."
"Interesting… You feel familiar…You shall be mine."
The presence taking hold of him, Hebi responded, "No. Your power will belong to me; I need it. So, dragon, you will be snared."
As Hebi grabbed back control, the presence said, "Valiant a knight as you are, you are simply a pawn to me."
The presence held him again and started to overwhelm, him, but Hebi resolutely declared, "No… I can't lose. It's … the reason I've survived so long. I will win… I have to; that's the only way this will end.
"Impressive, you'll do quite well…" The presence remarked as Hebi wrested back control with great struggle, but simply responded, "Oh, the arrogance of the warm-blooded. Young one, I am not sure where you got the idea, but you are grossly mistaken about your importance. You are not a champion or herald. You are not even a harbinger. You are simply a vessel, a mere suit I must wear to walk in your plain. Now, as my vehicle … know your place."
The presence then unleashed an amount of power Hebi was incapable of combating. He was quickly drowned in the flood as his soul was torn from his body! He had just enough cognizance to feel himself unraveling … until there was nothing. The spirit of Hebi was gone…
Sky Noah finally came within view of the stadium, with everyone on the deck looking out… BA-BOOOOOM! A titanic column of blood red light rockets up from the middle of the stadium into the air! The force shook the entire ship, and everyone could feel its energy. Dark clouds formed in the sky around it while violent lightning and rattling thunder filled the atmosphere! The waves of energy emanating from it chilled the blood and quaked the souls of those close…
"Dear Goddess…" Hiroshi incredulously reacted, as Leona could not even bare to look, "What in Heaven's name…"
As Kyo and Iori exchanged a look, Kyo remarked somberly, "Here we go again."
Chizuru expressed in equal parts distress and despair, "I-I can't believe it… It's … back; it's come back."
Adel spoke in the shock of seeing this disaster firsthand, "This … terrifying power is what my father wanted?! This … is what it's made of?"
Lost to the specifics but still seeing it was a calamity, Cassandra wondered aloud, "So, what do we do now? What does this mean?"
Vice stammered, as she and Mature were just as much shock as everyone else, "It… I-It means…"
Mature drove the situation home in clear summation, "We're all doomed."
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Breaking the Chrysalis,
The Anger of Earth, the Darkest Spirit,
Yamata no Orochi … is awake.