The Colour Purple Chapter 27: The Welcome Return of Friends, a king of fighters fanfic

The Colour Purple... The King of Fighters '95

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This (chapter) fanfiction was originally written circa: [XX.96] (Thank you)

"Which Character are you?"

Chapter 27: The Welcome Return of Friends

Who are you that slips into my robot body, and whispers to my ghost.

-Ghost in the Shell

...

YOU CAN NEVER DIE. (the ultimate high)

...

Kyo ran with his left elbow leading, his scream grew louder the closer he got to Iori, for a moment he wasn't scared anymore. He fueled his pride and confidence with his anger, and that was the least he could do. He VOWED that he would never allow the fear to overcome him again, eversince [that] time. and, So he became vain, he became proud, and in this way he could mask all his fear, and noone need know about his insecurity.

Eiji. Billy. Kyo. Iori.

The park.

"Kuresento Surashyu!" Kyo called...

KOI! KOII YO!

"KOI! (come!)" Iori answered in a voice evil, echoing, hollow and otherworldly... He moved his palm towards himself, inviting Kyo's attack, prodding him on with maniacal laughter.

Kyo put all his weight into the elbow smash, aiming dead center into Iori's chest, hoping to catch him off guard. A futile hope. Iori's left palm was already there waiting, and he caught Kyo's elbow as if it were a slow baseball. Iori threw the elbow up, Kyo barely caught himself and followed up with a burning right claw right up to Iori's chin. Kyo felt skin, a reassuring sensation he thought, he got ahold of Yagami's throat. With all the stregth he could muster, Kyo tried to hoist Iori up and finish him of with a sudden explosion of his Crescent Slash.

The moment was stolen from Kyo when Iori reacted at the same speed as him. A fearless counter - Iori's left palm slithered over Kyo's arm, and gripped onto Kyo's face like a parasite. Ever so hungry, the fingers bore deeper and deeper into Kyo's skull, making Kyo wince at the increasing pressure. Caught in a state of uncertainty, Kyo couldn't execute his move and blew flames to nothing... His confidence had failed him that time. Iori sneered, and in a smooth motion, he grabbed Kyo's strangling wrist, wrapped around the wrist, his own thumbs contorted downwards, with Iori's thumb facing Kyo. Kyo's fingers snapped free from the throttle and Iori heaved in Kyo's head as if he was going to yank it off. Kyo stepped in to decrease any damage. Iori smiled evilly, he twirled around, making his back face Kyo, and with a heave of his right hand, he pulled Kyo's wrist in, pressing Kyo's chest onto his back, a manner it was not meant to bend. With a roar, Iori threw Kyo over his shoulder. Kyo instinctively lifted himself up, to go with the flow of the throw, he flew over Iori and landed head first into the ground.

A cold feeling followed as the blood quickly rushed into Kyo's head. A nice, cool feeling which was followed by a painful sting and a bludgeoning pain. Before Kyo could realize he had his back pitifully on the ground, Iori was on him again. Kyo felt the fingers dig into his skull once again. Again, Kyo was picked up like a rag doll.

"Keh! JA MADA! (HEH! OUT OF MY WAY!)" Iori mocked.

Iori picked Kyo up and threw him to the side as if he were some roadblock, some old doll noone cared for anymore. Kyo flew and fly he did callously, to the back of his head thundering to a merciless tree behind him. The world became red as his blood streamed down his face.

What followed was a steady stream of laughter, a laughter only a madman would call, it was condenscending, evil... Undescribable. Iori's spasms continued as if he were feeling an immense rush, clogging him from any other thought other than death and destruction.

"I'll KILL YOU!" Iori sneered. "SHINE KOZO! (Die, you BRAT!)" and with that he lunged for a finishing pass, his fingers ready to sink in.

From the crimson haze, the world suddenly came back to Kyo. He was really in a fight for his life. Kyo tumbled to the side, successfully dodging the attack, Iori's fingers tore into the tree intead. Kyo marvelled at the deep, long slashes left on that tree trunk, this lunatic wasn't playing around.

"DON'T CALL ME A KID, DAMN IT!" Kyo screamed. Noone would dare look down on me again.

Iori's reaction was equally fast, he slithered like a serpent towards Kyo. Kyo received a hit in the belly, which forced him to instinctively throw himself out of Iori's way, and luckily for him, those hungry fingers missed him once more. This was his chance. Kyo reached for iori's collar. Iori answered, he in turn grabbed Kyo's shoulders. Each took turns trying to break each others' grip, slapping away at each others' wrists, finding new openings to grapple and replying in kind by slithering under each other's arms, knowing that if someone were to get the upper hand the loser would easily go down. THIS to me, was a conversation only privately held – within a silent time – between two lovers.

"Idiot! What can a fresh peon like you do to even harm me?" Iori spoke.

"Bastard! You killed my father, you're not going to make a fool out of me again." Kyo came back.

"Who the hell are you talking about, I can't begin to count how many people I've killed. I just want to kill EVERYBODY."

"You goddamn..." Kyo's anger increased a hundredfold. "URAAAAAAAA!"

"HAHAHA! You stupid humans, you're all so selfish, all thinking of your own personal agendas..."

"SHUT UP WITH YOUR GODDAMN RUBBISH!"

RUBBISH – KEEP your WEAPONS UP. MONSTERS!

Kyo finally got a hold of Iori's jacket once again, he anticipated that Iori would let go and release from their grappling dance and attack for his collar which was open, and at the last moment, Kyo stepped to the side and heaved with all his might. Iori's claws missed their… There was a valiant yell and Iori was in the air.

"JUST SHUT UP!" Kyo said again as Iori sailed in the air. "DON'T LAUGH AT ME!"

Kyo felt as if the veins on the side his neck were about to explode at the pressure as he threw that evil above and over his shoulder, but he sure, HE WAS SURE as hell wanted to fucking PILEDRIVE Iori's face into the ground. Remove that incessant, bitter smirk from his enemy's face… Fuck you. JUST… just FUCK. FUCK. YOU.

Eiji was whizzing through the foliage and stopped in his tracks to witness the spectacle unfolding in front of him. {IoRi!?} Eiji thought with one eye bigger than the other. {Masaka... (impossible)} Eiji couldn't believe that he was seeing such an insignificant as this brat heave Iori over his shoulder.

Moreover, Iori, who was under the influence of Hakai - the ultimate will of destruction.

Iori's hands reached out and found their way to Kyo's head. The sudden rush of confidence became dread and doubt all of a sudden. Kyo tilted his head to the side, keeping his eyeballs away from those menacing fingertips. Iori was able to grab onto Kyo's headband instead. At that instant of doubt, Iori was able to flip over and land feet first, never the less, the momentum was so strong that Iori skidded 5 meters away from Kyo.

"Kusooo BAKEMONO KA!? (Damn it, you're a monster!?)" Kyo screamed.

He was answered once again by inceassant laughter. "I HATE people. I HATE THEM ALL. All with their pathetic bickering and their selfish attitudes. HATE THEM! But most of all I HATE your kind.. So bold and riteous, using 'justice', so empty and..."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?"

Kyo didn't want to wait for an answer. He leapt into the air, breaking his ties to the earth. He wasn't insignificant he wasn't a loser, he won't lose, and such conviction is what makes man able to do the impossible. Kyo arched his back to the limits of the human body, and came down with a double handed hammer, each hand in the other. Kyo's fists came down hard slamming into the bridge of Iori's nose. Iori couldn't help let out a very faint whelp, Kyo followed with a fast punch to the chest before he was even certain that his feet had touched the ground. He swung his torso to the side as he made the jab, giving him more leverage and cock for his following upper with the opposite hand. Kyo's left upper first felt Iori's firm throat, then proceeded to send Iori's chin up. Iori didn't step back, Kyo hopped up into the air once again and led with his right kick, sending Iori up a few inches off the ground, the Kyo followed with the other foot, refusing to let Iori down. Kyo ended with another upper into Iori's lungs which made Iori hit the tree behind him. Iori stood in a slump, using the tree as a ballast.

"You're not dead yet?!" Kyo shouted. "KURAYE! (Eat this!)"

Kyo's hands burst into flame, glowed brighter and brighter, then he let it go all at once. The hungry fire demon made its way scampering, rushing, ravaging on the ground hungry for Yagami blood. It tore through the soil, sending rock, sand, dried leaves and debris up towards Kyo. Eiji focused on the boy, and his vision came up from Kyo's stare onto his bare forehead. There was a tatoo of some sort there... from a distance it looked like a flower or a sun. Eiji was too familiar with it.

"Kusanagi..." Eiji growled as if he had uttered a curse.

Iori stood unmoving. He just leaned onto the tree as if he were a plank of wood. Leaning there, helpless, waiting, smiling slit eyes closed - SMILING as if nothing will EVER change. Kyo's mind shouted out.. {DIE DIE DIE.. Just a little more}. Then Iori's eyes opened, and Kyo stood back. A feeling of dread akin to an experience one would gain upon witnessing a cadavre open his eyes again.

"AHO! (fool)"

AHO!

Iori bellowed, his feet started to glow purple and the flames, shaped like a serpent materialized from the dancing fire, circling around his feet, his legs, protecting Iori like a barrier. The purple and yellow flames cancelled each other out.

Kyo couldn't believe. His feet were FIRMLY ON THE EARTH and he couldn't believe.

Before his mind could comprehend the turn of the tables, Iori was walking towards him at a calm demeanor. Such a wicked smile. The crimson ran down the side of his smile, and he licked it up slowly. Iori stopped when he was right in front of the stunned, unmoving Kyo. He reached out and held Kyo's head in his hands and made Kyo's eyes face his. Warmly Iori's palms caressed Kyo's cheeks in a familiar way, prodding his enemy's chin upwards so that their eyes would meet in their own world. Within seconds Iori's fingertips had found the hollow points on Kyo's head.

"Well... are you scared now? You've used up so much energy..." Iori cooed.

Iori firmly had his fingers in place and pushed Kyo's head to wood. Kyo didn't move and stared blankly. Iori put his face right in front of Kyo mockingly. Like a sneering butcher would have on his dumbfounded lamb.

Small trickles of blood slowly oozed down from Iori's fingertips, the dreaded bludgeong slash – WILD FEVERISH cuts made by soft, rounded fingertips roaring for life. Iori put his face closer and licked the blood up from Kyo's cheeks.

"It's been a long time since I have tasted the blood of your kind Kusanagi..." Iori said. "It's time to finish you, their champion, and have my revenge for my defeat..."

"todomeda (it's the end)... Kyo-kun." Iori whispered like a viper.

Iori's thumbs trraced the edge of Kyo's lips and found their way millimeters from the bottom of his eye sockets and slowly pushed in. Kyo was in a trance, his eyes experiencing REM, rapid eye movement, his brain told him this was all a bad dream, and his speech was only mumbles and faint gurgles. Slowly the pressure increased, and Kyo started to convulse slowly.

...

"YAROU! (Bastard!) Matte! (WAIT!)" Eiji screamed.

Eiji was cut off by a familiar screech. The British Boy!

RUBBISH.

"Captain Bannanna, and a Kangaroo sidekick, ULTIMATE MEGATON SUPERTOP DROP KICK!" Billy screached in his irritating voice.

Billy appeared from a branch high above and came descending to Kyo and Iori. Billy felt such a rush in his drop, the colours of the background him swirled and the environment warped into monochrome speed lines. Billy's hands snapped out in an eagle spread out, he threw his right palm out and in the same instant folded his left arm behind his back. In a flash, his multi piece Bo (staff) was in his hand. Billy flicked his wrist and swang the Bo over his shoulders, it spun around his back, his waist and finally caught it in his right hand. It was spinning now, the Bo, like a helicopter's propeller. Billy's foot was leading the way, down to his victim.

Eiji's eyes widened.

"Get this, IORI!" Billy shouted.

...

Billy's foot came crashing down, making the earth within a 5 meter radius tremble. Billy stood up and looked around... {eh} he wondered...

Iori was still in place, mashing Kyo like a rotten tomato, and Billy just stood in stance a meter away from them. He missed. The SD, comedy relief crows flew by one by one in slow motion, cawing their insulting calls. Billy turned superdeformed and a sweatdrop rolled down his temple. {Well...} Billy thought spaticically.

...

"Iori..." Eiji spoke firm and hard, once he had recovered from his super deformed state. "You'll kill him damn it. IS that what you want?"

Iori stopped instantly and froze, he swung his head to the side to gaze upon Eiji who was right behind him. Iori's head swiveled like a robot, and his eyeballs rushed to the side. He let out a condenscending grin.

"Who are you? PEON!?" Iori snarled and snikkered.

An intimidating purple flame radiated from Iori, Eiji was on his guard again, but more because of the faint yellow glow he could see.

"Omee wa Yagami jya nai! (You're not Yagami)" Eiji spat out.

"What are you talking about..." Iori replied. "I am Iori, I am Kyo, I am an angel, I am the devil, I am you, I am me, I am a god, I am anyone I please! Do you want to fight too?! I will give you your own time once I have done off with this Kusanagi shit."

"Kusanagi..." Eiji whispered again. {Kaori Kusanagi...} Eiji remembered the name, he couldn't forget. {Don't think lowly of me if I don't save him.}

Eiji stood his ground and showed no signs of retaliation.

Iori laughed again, and continued to say Kusanagi Kusanagi Kusanagi, first full of hate then gradually shifting his tone into a mocking one, as if he were insulting Eiji. The top of Kyo's shirt, the part by his shoulders was drenched more of blood than with sweat now. Only Eiji could see the yellow flames glowing brighter, slowly shifting form from flame to demon.

"KAORI!" Eiji screamed.

{EIJI} Eiji heard a familiar woman's voice.

"IORI!" Eiji screamed again.

"Eh..." Iori spat out all of a sudden.

Eiji dashed and was upon him. The swift ninja wedged his left hand in between the lovers to death, Kyo x Iori and placed it firmly at the side of Iori's wrist, Eiji cocked in his fingers and snapped using the middle of his fingers into a nerve in Iori's wrist. The shock made Iori's left hand flinch and ease his grip on Kyo. Eiji proceeded and grappled Iori's right hand by sliding his fingers in between Iori's fingertips and Kyo's face. Eiji had most of his hand covered by cloth but the exposed flesh tore and blood spewed. Eiji forced himself between Kyo and Iori, he elbow smashed Kyo back as far as he would go until realizing that the tree was behind him, he might've broken a few ribs there indeed. Eiji changed his motion and used the same elbow to dig into Iori's abdomen, and when Iori flinched a bit, it gave Eiji enough room to fold his legs and deliver a turning kick into Iori that made Yagami stumble back a few steps.

"You bastard! You're not Yagami! Iori wouldn't kill for no reason." Eiji said. A peaceful wind violated the stillness of the air around them…

"Fool! You know nothing of me!" Iori retaliated. "Very well, you leave me no choice, but I'll have to deal with you first."

"Jesus, hold it you goddamn morons!" Billy stepped in. "You've all gone bannannas!"

Billy swiped his staff to the side repeatedly, trying valiantly to hit that same poor tree blindly to emphasize his point, but he couldn't hit any, he looked to the side, found none, and hit the ground instead. "What in the name of Jesus Mary and Jos..."

Noone was paying attention to him. Eiji and Iori were still in deep stares.

"ARGH! SOMEONE LISTEN TO MEEEE!"

"Very well, -FEEL- THIS BODY'S POWER!" Iori bellowed.

The purple flames mixed with the yellow glow. Eiji tucked his fists in, he had no more choices.

"OROKAMONO (stupid idiot)!" Eiji said suddenly for making him go to these heights. Heights noone but [we], and just us here, where we - dared to soar.

.Instantly. our gazes went skywards – above the clouds, the sky, the moon and atmosphere – just, just as we propelled our eyes to the Earth waiting for us THERE.

Eiji tucked some of his fingers, folded others in and stretched out the rest in some weird fashion, shot them out, cocked them in before crossing his arms, and growled inwards, summoning up strength. Eiji began a low groan.

"S K H S!" He chanted random words almost in question.

Billy watched in awe as Eiji's eyes rolled back, or did they fade into a milky white. Neither Iori nor Billy could see the yellow aura seep out from the earth and surround Eiji in a soft birght golden hue. The wind began to get chilly and the sky began to get cloudy, and IT began. Eiji spasmed, he felt the familiar aura seep into his body, swrling chaosY in a TV static then peacefully, souls mixing in with his.

HAKAI (DESTRUCTION amongst deapair)

Hakai once again.

Eiji trembled in a cold sweat. It had been a while since he had done this, and neither was it a pleasant feeling. It felt cold inside, and empty. A death's chill. But in a perverse way, there was a primal urge in him that enjoyed it. A long denied climax, where he could let go of any warmth, any of the ties that bound him to this world. No more PAIN, no more problems, no more lost love... Everytime he did this, and he learned not to do it often, he felt colder and colder, less human. He feared that one day, he couldn't revive from his Death, the ultimate high. Or worse, lose the will to continue living.

...

"We live a dangerous life don't we, Eiji-kun..." Eiji remembered Kaori Kusanagi say when she was still living.

The pair had eloped, definitely against the will of her father, Yoshiki Kusanagi. It was much a hard life but they were living a dream, and no dream is sweeter fulfilled than that so hard to win, that one had to fight for...

"Do you love me? Eiji?" Kaori asked as she continued her chores, sweeping the leaves around their simple hut in the forests.

"I love you, more than anything..." Eiji replied.

"Darling, I know that my father is a vengeful man... a man of justice and order. Such is the way of the Kusanagi, it has become like a reign, warping, restraing the minds of all the Kusanagi males and leaders for centuries. I know that he wouldn't hesitate to kill his own daughter in the name of justice... If that day comes... When that day comes..."

"Don't talk garbage... I will protect you with my life!" Eiji stood up from his squat and embraced his wife.

"He will get me, he always gets his way."

"THEN I WILL AVENGE YOU!" Eiji shouted forcefully.

"No..." Kaori said softly. "I don't want anymore bloodshed, it was my fault. I am the daughter at fault. Parents are always right, they are never wrong. They do the things they do out of love of order, fairness... I was always at fault... Do not avenge me. When they get me, let the bloodshed stop. Run away."

Eiji held her tighter, and didn't want to think of the day he might see himself digging her grave.

"I know you love me.. As a man, a husband and a shinobi, you have to avenge me to prove your love for me.. but please, I don't want any more..." Kaori whispered again. "I will NEVER think less of you if you run away because a woman told you to do so."

To stop the endless chain once again...

"Eiji..." Kaori said. "Promise me you will not take your life. Promise me this, and I will know that I have left no hate in this world in my time."

"I.. Promise..."

...

This pact was the only thin lifeline that could bring him back to the light...

"I promise..."

Being DEAD is a different kind of feeling, where your only purpose was the last thing you thought of when you were alive. It was to fight once again.. that was Eiji's goal now, to save both Iori and Kusanagi, despite his legs feeling weak, knees buckling from the strain. Everytime he did Hakai, he found his soul farther and farther away from the light that guided him from the living world, and he feared that one day he might not find his way back. Was it such a bad thought? To leave the world behind? This time he did it on purpose, without a strong enough conviction, no death no sorrow, no feeling of revenge, would he succumb to it like Iori had? He had no choice now, it was the only sure way he could get Iori back from his strange world.

…and as suddenly – and as VIOLENTLY as it began, smooth two worlds. Those spiked hairs on Eiji's head danced. A YELLOW glow inviting all challengers to defy something beyond the CHAINS of this earth. It is just for the both of us. RIGHT here right now. Blood tipped fingers for all of us outstretched from his body welcoming all enemies – all monsters. From his slump, Eiji's face slowly and purposely tilted upwards in a result we all came to understand. Eiji looked up from that slumped darkness. He looked up snobbishly, as if the WORLD around him was nothing more than a piece of SHIT. A PIECE of SHIT that would one day find its way to the Earth.

He welcomed it.

"It's cold isn't it.." Eiji mumbled... "Welcome back my friends..." Eiji's voice broke into a hollow echoing multiresonating tone.

...

そんな寒い世界なのだ。おかえり、トモヨ。