The Colour Purple Chapter 28: Unrequited son, 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 28: Unrequited son

"I used to think the day would never come, that my life would end with the morning sun."

-New Order

The result of love can only be determined from the initial encounter...

.(is it time to die?)

...

"Yes, you called... Boss?" He said bowing low, with his lower arm parallel to his waist. He uttered nothing else and stood in silence, waiting for his superior to address his presence. The young fair skinned man stood calm, without a crease in his black suit. For good measure he coolly tipped his 'blues brothers' hat so the shadow of the brim would shade his eyes. Ironic, having sunglasses in an already, almost pitch black room.

Cigar smoke fogged the room almost completely, making the small amount of light seeping through the blinds look like specters. He didn't move.

"He's taking too many risks." Geese uttered to his subordinate. "There's been a change of plan. I am sure you know of it already?"

"Yes, I do."

"That's what I like about you... You're so sharp.. quick.. uh.. the word... Vigilant?"

"Shrewd probably, sir." He replied to Geese.

Geese smirked and spit out what seemed like a laugh of approval. The man didn't think any of it funny at all.

"Anyway..." Geese continued.

"I will take care of Billy."

"Yes, why don't you do that... People like that are so imbecilic and vestigial without proper guidance."

"Of course. I know EXACTLY what you mean… Geese... vestigial..."

"What would I do without people like you..." Geese said.

"Yes..." He said under his breath.

...

Billy tried as hard as he could to stay conscious.. How long had the fight between Eiji and Iori had lasted? Ten minutes? Thirty? An hour? Billy couldn't remember anymore… He was more concerned with his own well-being. It was late in the evening but the tireless combatants were still at it. Inside Billy he cursed both Iori and Eiji because no one would even help him, but Billy couldn't blame either of them. They were too busy fighting their own useless battles. There is no one to help you. Everyone else is always on their own glorious crusade. It always boils down to selfish desires in this town.

Billy was able to prop himself up on THAT tree, and just sat there, trying to keep his eyelids open despite the throbbing pain tempted him to give in. Billy looked to his right hand. He held his stick firmly, it was his security blanket, no one could harm him, he was always safe with it. Billy grinned; he didn't care about anybody else anymore. His weapon was more trustworthy than any other scum on earth. He didn't have to share it, it was his, and his alone, and it wouldn't betray him, it wouldn't let him down.

Billy was in a haze and didn't even realize that the damp feeling he thought was sweat was actually blood. Billy's face was red and caked.

There was no way in hell Billy could've dodged that blow. So swift and sure... There was no hint of restraint at all. Iori didn't hold back that mauling barrage. Billy laughed and remembered the time he had ORDERED Iori not to hold back in their initial meeting, yet Iori held back. Billy's view of Iori changed then, he couldn't understand what went on inside that madman's head. Well, Billy guessed that he finally got his wish. He was probably near death. What a way to die, the thought of your insignificance beating into your cranium... is tis it? Is it time to die?

...

The result of love can only be determined from the initial encounter... ...and...

...

{Why Iori? What the fuck is wrong with you?!} Billy thought to himself. Billy didn't understand a single word Eiji had said, didn't know what the hell was going on with Iori. Billy only assumed that this was the true Iori and Billy had become insignificant. Yagami was only getting rid of a nuisance.

How many ribs had he broken because of that attack? Billy clawed the side of his torso gingerly, trying not to further antagonize the pain. Who knows? The pain was over Billy's threshold so it didn't matter if Iori would come back and stomp on him to break some more. How many times had he saved Iori? How many times had he staked his life for his sake? Too many times, but Iori probably dismissed it as 'Billy's ignorance'. This pained Billy more, probably more than the bruises and cuts on his battered body.

THAT tree felt comfortable, even though it was studded with bumps and splinters. It felt nice. Pain is such a nice feeling that helps you focus on things that are really important to you. When you're high on joy, your mind is completely oblivious to matters of consequence.

The dazzling spectacle in front of Billy was slowly becoming hazy as he succumbed to the pain. Then Billy could only see a figure coming towards him...

"Daddy... Have you come to take me home?" Billy wheezed before he fainted.

...

Lucky's eyes almost popped out from their sockets. Billy collared him with both hands and threw Lucky over his shoulders, towards Eiji's seat. As expected, Eiji was already in the next seat, avoiding the throw, anticipating it before Billy even lay hands on Lucky's collar. Eiji sat cross-legged and stuck one of those thin Chinese pipes into one of the holes of his hockey mask. Occasionally, puffs of smoke exited through the other holes. Eiji stared disappointedly at Billy; Billy, not wanting to lose any more sanity, walked off.

"Idiot..." Eiji puffed.

"At least I don't settle my problems by running away."

Yes, Billy remembered the scene... It was at that football game. Barbaric sport. He had spent some time in the stadium to try and forget about Iori, but he was surrounded by fools wherever he went. Billy hated fools. Hates them with a passion. Sometimes maybe it is because of his own complex. He can't bear to accept how people mock him because of his fiery disposition; how he would rise up to any challenge no matter how high the odds were stacked up against him. Is it bravery, ambition, desire, or just plain stupidity? Billy hates stupidity. Billy hates stupid people.

It was a clear sunny day. Was it? The dismissal bell would ring in a few hours, so he thought of dredging back to the kindergarten, he had nothing else better to do. Maybe his students would overwhelm Iori and he could witness the sight. Billy flashed a grin. He felt for the apple in his huge overall pockets and increased his pace back, forgetting about those moronic sportsmen and that blasted Eiji.

"Billy." Came a voice from the side.

Billy turned around slowly, recognizing the voice all too well. There stood a man leaning on his side next to a tree, covered by the shade. The figure was dressed in a black suit, and sported a tilted 'blues brothers' hat that hid his spectacled eyes. The man snickered for no apparent reason. Billy looked at his feet and he was standing in the sun. Billy was dressed in ragged overalls, sweaty and was baking in the sun, while his counterpart was relaxed, calm and collected in the shade, with his spiffy outfit. Billy knew he was overreacting, paranoid at most, but he still couldn't dismiss the thought.

"What do you want Hopper?" Billy snapped back smugly.

"I have a message for you from Geese." Hopper replied, now standing up straight.

"What does the boss want?"

"Oh.. the old fart just told me to tell you to watch your step." Hopper said slyly.

"You call the man who puts those goddamn clothes on you fucking ass 'old fart'?" Billy replied instinctively.

"I believe the topic of the conversation here was you, Billy." Hopper was quick to reply with a thin smile.

"Keh! Well, spit it out!"

"You're too immersed in your job, Billy..." Hopper began. "You've been taking too many risks for Yagami's sake."

"That is none of your business you stupid pencil pusher. I'm just doing my job."

"Sigh..." Hopper said as he faked a hurt look. "Must all our meeting start like this, Billy-dear...?"

Billy calmed down, he was being played for a fool again. How easily people like him are toyed with. Both with words and by force. Billy closed his eyes and began again.

"I'm sticking to the job." Billy reassured Hopper.

"Which is?"

"I'm protecting Iori. I have to use him to mole into Rugal's Blacknoah, get the firing keys and the blueprints." Billy said. "What is this KOF 101?"

"No this isn't a pop quiz, Billy. You would need one though." Hopper easily threw back the remark. "There's been a change of plans. Geese doesn't desire the power of Blacknoah anymore."

"Eh?" Billy said sincerely confused. "You mean Geese found something more lethal than nuclear warheads?" Goddamn it, there's going to be more deaths?

"All you need concern yourself with now… No, let me start again, I don't want you to plague me with your dumb questions later." Hopper said not even taking the effort to look Billy in the eye. Billy tried his best to hold it in. "Continue on as planned, accompany Iori to Rugal, but forget about the firing keys. MAKE SURE Iori defeats Rugal, then, KILL Iori."

Billy looked shocked all of a sudden.

"What the hell are you talking about!? Geese told me I had to protect Iori, not butcher him." Billy knew he was being toyed with now, and he couldn't stop his fists from involuntarily clenching. Billy held it in again, and decided to make it onto a joke. Yeah, a joke, all problems, all tight moments can be solved with jokes. Billy always thought this. "Heh.. Haha! How does Geese expect me to even scratch Yagami? I am SURE Geese has a lot of faith in me, but the boss can't be that stupid." Billy said sarcastically, all the while chuckling.

Hopper dug into his side pocket and exposed a jet-black metal case, and pulled out some black Sampoerna Clove cigarettes. Billy followed the smooth movement of Hopper's left hand, and the instant his lips touched the gold trimmed filter, Hopper flicked his right hand. A glint of light flashed from his sleeves and before Billy could realize that it was a lighter, the cigarette was belching light blue smoke. Hopper took a few puffs, which gave a sweet smell. Hopper ignored Billy for a few minutes.

After a while Hopper's hand crept into his coat and pulled out a plastic gun. A Glock 29. It was a small, but powerful firearm. The piece looked and felt like a toy gun, but the 10mm shells would make any corpse think twice... If it had the chance in the afterlife.

"Here." Hopper grunted as if he were talking to a noisy brat. "You've got 7 shots. Getting this gun from the black market was tough. The bullets cost a fortune." Hopper laughed again out of the blue. "I guess Iori's life is worth more than dime bullets eh?" Hopper straightened up again. "I don't think the geezer is that senile yet. Seven bullets, 2 for Iori, 2 for Eiji MAYBE 2 for Rugal, and the last one for yourself.. IF needed ofcourse... They wouldn't be expecting anyone to carry a gun. They ARE fighters.. BUT still human."

"The hell..." Billy's laughter abruptly ceased. "You're SERIOUS..."

"Of course I am." Hopper answered as he slapped the plastic onto Billy's dumbfounded hands. "I'm ALWAYS serious." Hopper smiled.

"Why..." Billy asked in a concerned tone. "Why... What does Iori have that Geese might want?"

"I don't think you need concern your petty mind to comprehend something as grand as this... Billy-dear." Hopper mocked. "The old shit..."

"STOP CALLING GEESE NAMES, DAMN IT!" Billy roared and threw his fists towards Hopper.

Hopper smiled, and tipped his body to the side. Billy's punch dug into the tree, and made his knuckles swell, but it didn't matter much, Billy was on again. Like a rabid animal, Billy swung his fists again and again, without any control he just threw his knuckles, trying to destroy that grin on Hopper's face. Hopper was having a grand time. He swayed to the side like a drunken ballerina, tipping his head, his body to the side smoothly, making as little movement as possible to dodge the blows. Billy's fury increased, he kept on missing Hopper by only a fraction of n inch. Hopper was playing Billy like a fiddle again, wearing Billy out. All the while, Hopper made no move to retaliate.

"Oooooo, come on Billy, just a little more..." Hopper jeered.

"You cheeky little bastard!" Billy shouted, like clockwork, Billy slipped his hand to his back, and unclipped the snap on his holster. The candy cane red shaft was in his hands once again. Billy let the Bo (staff) free but it just missed Hopper's toes as he continued to dance his way around Billy.

(insert Bo thrashing ground while Hopper skipping back) speed lines.

"FIGHT LIKE A MAN YOU FAGGOT!" Billy called. He followed Hopper's slow staggering pace and threw his stick right in Hopper's most probable path. The Bo (staff) snapped in three in mid-flight. The red embedded itself into a tree trunk, but Hopper stood there scrutinizing it, his nose just millimeters from the glossy red. Hopper let his shades fall down the bridge of his nose and looked at Billy. Hopper's eyelashes drooped and his beautiful sharp eyes made a pathetic puppy dog look. Hopper brushed his blonde bangs from his field of view and just stared at Billy, his eyes mocking 'What the hell were you aiming for?'

Hopper smirked.

Billy angrily made his way to Hopper, collared him, and hoisted his frail looking body up an inch or two off the ground. Billy eyes tensed and his fist trembled. Yet he couldn't wipe that smirk off Hopper's face. Before Hopper could laugh again, Billy slammed his fist into Hopper's cheek. Hopper shifted just a little bit, despite the thundering blow, and slowly looked back at Billy.

"You lose again, STICK BOY!" Hopper said grimly.

"Keh!" Billy spat out and dropped Hopper onto his feet.

Hopper merely went for his handkerchief and wiped his mouth smugly.

"You pixie." was the most Billy could muster to insult the pretty boy. "TELL ME GODDAMN IT!"

Hopper was definitely beginning to get irritated by this brat so he finally gave in with a tired sigh. "Fine..." Hopper began. "Geese doesn't want Blacknoah anymore..."

"I KNOW THAT YOU..."

"SILENCE!" Hopper boomed, deathly serious. "Let me speak, (let me FINISH – DON'T INTERRUPT ME) I need not tell you any of this, you worm!" Billy, stunned, did as he was told.

"Rugal has the power Geese seeks. It is more awesome than anything you can ever imagine. True, Rugal is a freeman, he worked for anyone in his day, but the power corrupted him, poisoned his mind with ambition, now he's gone insane."

"Iori..." Hopper continued. "The only way to retrieve that power is to kill him, but if any normal peon kills him, the power will be lost for another century. Only IORI can regain the power upon Rugal's death.

"But if I kill Iori, then the power will be gone too." Billy questioned.

"Don't concern yourself with the details. Do as you are told. Let's just say that it is easier to retrieve the power from Iori's corpse rather than it is from Rugal's."

Hopper began to digress a bit, but it was in vain, Billy's train of thought was already lost. Billy didn't understand anything else Hopper said, except KILL IORI.

When you run out of things to say you usually make a joke. Any joke, any joke at all. You spit out the most incoherent, inconceivable, uncomprehendable string of words you could think of... But instinctively, it is the only way you can say how you feel.

"You're really a spoiled brat you know that Hopper!" Billy smiled.

Hopper put his hands in his pockets. "I don't know what you're talking about. The adjective is - just outspoken." Hopper replied with no malice intended. "The old geezer gives me the attention so I do my job well."

Billy looked to the side.

"The old man always did like you best." Billy said trying to force a smile.

"Well, whatever, Billy. If Geese thinks he sees something in me, I don't care about him, just as long as I can do my job."

Billy would never call Geese old geezer. Not because he was afraid to die... He might have been a simple minded hotheaded guy, but he had something Hopper didn't have, in a sense this quality Billy had was righteous, but then again, sometimes Billy wished he didn't have it...

"Tell your old man, Geese, that I'll be more careful." Billy said. With that he folded his Bo (staff) slowly and tucked it back into its holster.

Hopper smiled. He dusted his coat, straightened his hat and lit another Cigarette in his own enigmatic fashion.

"Mata atode... Aniki..." Hopper said as farewell. ("See you again... Big brother...")

...

Epilogue:

From the very beginning I was dealt a bad hand. My mother was a whore, and Hopper's mother was an aristocrat. I always wondered why Geese, why fath... no he wouldn't want me to call him that.. I always wondered why Geese took me in, was he afraid of the capabilities of a vengeful bastard child? If I had one question, I would go up to him and asked if he loved my mother, but I don't want to make Geese feel uneasy, at the same time I am afraid he might laugh at my face. Phony or not he would laugh in my face and I would crumble to dust.

I hate stupid people.

I don't fancy spoiled brats either. It's terribly ironic how children who're showered too much love and too much attention take it all for granted, and the initial outcome the parents desired was all in vain. Yet there are those denied so much, they become rebellious, warm blooded, but all they wanted was some attention, in that dark world, some sign of acknowledgment, for their acts of respect. Unlike people like Hopper who care nothing for his loving father Geese. WE just wanted to be loved.

But... He is my brother. I am not a weasel like he is. I am a simple man who does as he's told, never had to think about much except Geese's well being.

I am not a saint, I want to be acknowledged for my deeds. I am a joker, make myself a joke so I can hide my shortcomings, and most of the time, feel uninhibited to say what I feel.

Billy gripped the plastic firearm hard in his hand. He dreaded the day he would be forced to use it. Trapped between his loyalty for Geese and admiration for Iori.

When that time comes, no jokes will save him.

...