The Colour Purple Chapter 46: c'est une autre histoire, a king of fighters fanfic

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

pointblankassassin . com

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

"Which Character are you?"

Note to self: Legacy chapter numbering (32- - -), does not match. [Original chapter written 2013]

"Only this time, let's do it together," the 6-year-old Robert said, tenderly, to that short haired blonde baby girl, the front of her hair cropped erratically, in a butchered way, ugly and scorned – but despite that, his hand outstretched lovingly. When we were that age, our profession of LOVE was sincere, never to be muddled by adult consequences.

…because, at that time – our hearts were tempered only with our limited experiences. That is why, children, can leap higher, glow brighter, take risks without fear, are ignorant to the concept of apprehension, and forgive eagerly without a second thought.

…

"Your wife who passed away, Kaori Kusanagi… was she beautiful?" the young girl, who walked faithfully with those two men asked, her hands were tucked into the pockets of her puffy down jacket. Her face lay hidden under the brim of her weathered, abused cap.

"Yes... Yes, she was." The 31-year-old Eiji replied in a downcast sigh, never turning back as he continued to walk tirelessly in that dismal street. "She was the most beautiful woman in the world." He never ceased to tire of answering that question to anyone who took the time to ask.

"I wish," she uttered out loud, envying Kaori – even at the clutches of death, "I wonder if [he] thinks I'm beautiful too?" This, of 3 people who were once lost, and now were found, would be and was [another story], lost in such a colourful purple world.

…and if I one day died, would [he] walk endlessly, to avenge me, with such unbridled [passion]?

In this cold and lonely country, New Hong Kong, and in this year, of 1984.

Another story it was said, and words were exchanged and committed to memory – between two old men and a girl, who were lost, and were simply, waiting to be found.

…

Chapter 46: c'est une autre histoire

un monde uniquement destiné à deux – and the end of a story-

-when one story ends, another will follow, in simple fashion-

It's YOUR TURN!

Now, it was YOUR turn to be trapped here, finally. A loud boom thundered in the prince's ears as four walls fell down one after the other from the sky, booming as they drove themselves into the ground and trapped him in a lonely box. He too, the prince, found himself in that small place, with a small piece of HEAVEN [that] existed there too.

The scared baby's crying didn't stop. Its frantic wailing continued as if it was being gutted alive. SCREECHING, FLAILING, BEGGING.

He cried, until his lungs became hoarse and dry. Then at that one distinct moment…

I am not [wrong]! My reason for fighting is [RIGHT]!

THEN, the room suddenly stopped spinning. All the sound was sucked into a dark star at its center into a swirling pinpoint, and then disappeared.

Silence… I just wanted to be [found].

"Hey…" another soft voice invited from the corner of King's eyes. "Why don't you just shut up for a minute," a small boy, likely only a year younger than King, with long dark hair in a ponytail, and a fine gold necklace adorned over his collarbones stood calmly. He smiled and put his open hand up invitingly to his friend. With the other hand, he turned the doorknob and opened the door… "Hey… the door's open, let's get out of here." He smiled warmly.

"But…" Robert interjected. "If you want to come with me, he said sincerely, innocently, "You have to leave [HIM] behind." He said while pointing behind King.

The baby girl, King, looked over her shoulder before she took Robert's hand in her own. Standing behind her was yet another small boy. He looked very similar to her, with short dirty blonde hair, once draped over his eyes, a dark shadow concealed his face, but when he tilted his head up, those eyes, small, slit, evil eyes gazed in sinister manner at the pair. The evil prince's dimples sank into his cheeks when his mouth, a sly pierrot sneer that monstrously extended from ear to ear bared serrated, razor like teeth. A horrendous, monstrous, inhuman smile illuminated that white room even more.

The evil prince who stood nonchalantly at the back of that room behind Robert and King smiled and made no motion to movement… His fervously bladed, sharp teeth clattered when he began to speak as each pointed peak interlocked into each waiting valley within his menacing, inhuman face, "Don't worry, Robbie," he snarled, unmoving.

Don't worry, "I actually like it [here], in THIS [room]." I guess, he let his gaze wander, "I guess [she] no longer needs me with you at her side." But it's okay, he spat out. "I belong here, Robbie! But.." I don't think I will be sad IF you leave me [here].

But…

"ONE DAY, Robbie." The prince, the evil monster said, "Don't worry – one day – when you need me – I'll come to you," the monster said with a draped shadow over his face now, that, but, couldn't completely conceal the white glow of his slit eyes and shining, fanged shark tooth grin. "One day, when you need me the most… I will return to you - When you are at your WEAKEST, I will COME for you – destroy this door – when you are left broken – and take away – THAT which you most treasure."

…and at that, the door shut leaving that prince in his kingdom that he alone commanded.

Mayhaps with a wistful mind, the small girl turned her gaze within the darkness as she walked away; While keeping her hand faithfully gripped tight on Robert's, she let herself face back at the door she left behind – a nostalgia warmed her body as she walked free.

{Goodbye}, she thought, {my friend…} and thank you… evil prince – all these years.

When I was alone, and ever so lonely. "Mata aou ka na?" – maybe we will meet again she uttered without thinking, in Japanese.

When the sorrow emptied my gutted body, you somehow filled my heart; When fear crippled me, you helped me take a stand; When the darkness left me all so alone, your gleam of evil kept me in warm company; When a savage beast came to take me, you stood your ground and protected me… cruelly, yet tenderly.

and when I was at my wits end, when I was ready to end it all – you were there for me…

…my dear friend. Mata aou. "Let's meet again," the baby girl said.

"…mon CHER ami…"

…

This was a HORRIBLE story, told in a wretched town. But, it was MY town, and it was the first time – the first time, that I saw her face, and that [look], that touched me, and I deluded myself that it was impossible that I wouldn't've touched her's too. The first time, that I saw her face, and that [look], that would always trap us in time.

9 years ago... in 1984.

The sign outside the quiet and deserted bar read 'L'Amor'.

It stood for "The Love" in Spanish – or so one would surmise.

…

That girl, released a long lethargic exhale out her mouth as she turned completely around and made her way to the other end of the room. With a slight tap she placed her small coffee cup on a make shift coaster that was at one time an elite 'compact disc', that served equally functional for adorning her one dollar cup of coffee as it did playing her seven hundred US dollar machine. (Equivalent to US $2000 in 2014) She grabbed a piece of scrap paper with one hand and with her other, she took up a pen and began to scribble some notes on it. Before Robert could figure out what was going on, she was in front of him again and grabbed ahold of his wrist. She turned his palm up and with her right hand firmly placed that piece of paper on his.

Robert looked down onto his hand, somewhat confused. On that piece of paper were random letters and numbers, and scribbled hastily were a bunch of boxes and a zigzagging arrow that turned left and right like a rudimentary map.

"Mr. Big is holding your friend in that warehouse." She said. "The building is by the back, the worst part of the dock storehouses. It's out of the way, and far from the piers, but at the same time, it's hardly travelled. A perfect place to hide."

"Prince…" Robert's voice trembled softly. The far ends of his brows tilted down like a pitiful, lost dog that had finally found peace.

"Stop calling me that." She corrected. "My name is King, Robert Garcia."

"King." Robert replied on command.

"…and in exchange for your arm." King said as she grabbed one side of her open shirt, draped it across her body, and then finally crossed her arms over her belly. She titled her hips to one side again and slouched lazily. "Let me tell you this – if you go pay Big a visit Wednesday night, he should be playing poker with his goons, and by midnight they should all be plastered drunk."

In exchange for your sacrifice. King unconsciously rubbed her cheek with the tips of her fingers; the faint red mark reminded her of that familiar sensation – a phantom itch that indeed left a mark on her mind, and the promise that she had made to this boy.

"You may need to bring your friend." She instructed. "But if you go there late enough, you may be able to rescue your friend's sister without lifting a fist."

Robert looked down at his hand once again. That piece of paper, to him, was brilliant, golden and priceless. He committed those random letters and numbers to mind. Finally, at long last, after a night of pain and suffering. No, it was something beyond that – it was a night that carved a scar deep in the dark pits of his body that he would not easily forget. It was a dark, cruel pit – a place where only wild beasts slumber, and when they awoke, worlds would split apart at the seams and make it crumble into many little pieces – but, there was none of that to be found here.

Robert clenched his fist so tight it trembled uncontrollably, he crumpled that piece of paper and drove it deep into himself; he wanted to consume it - make it one with the flesh of his palm. This was a world we lived in. This was a world, a world where there was no room for losers. This was a world that was merciless, and even if he was just a loser, a beaten and broken man, he had somehow, in exchange for his humiliation, crossed paths with someone, a GREAT king, who showed him a bit of mercy.

One drop then two, drops that appeared from the trembling orbs on his twisted, contorted face dripped down the side of his cheeks and peppered the ground between Robert's feet. So he put his clenched fist over his eyes. Robert bit down HARD. Even if he tried so vehemently to once again to salvage a bit of his pride, it was futile as the streams of tears flowed freely, more furiously now and littered the ground underfoot in a myriad of stars made of horrible teardrops. Those tears, instead of being salty, bitter and filled with despair, instead they were the sweet, refreshingly tasting tears of gratitude.

"Th.. th…thank y..you." Robert's voice broke when he tried to speak, despite his clenched teeth holding back his stammering hiccups. His one hand trembled when it tried to wipe away the streams that drenched his face. "Thank you so much, my King."

To all onlookers, strangers who may have gathered from lands beyond – had they seen this sight they may have thought, oh, oh what a splendid display of pity from a liege to her servant. While Robert may have not lived long enough to know, while we knew he wasn't the most intelligent man, he knew enough that where great strength tread, fair, swift and merciless cruelty was quick to follow. From strangers, from his enemies, from his family – everyone tormented each other, and even when they were kind it was laced in hypocrisy, indifference and a twist for manipulation. How ironic, as he stared back at her, that this bit of mercy, this bit of kindness came from a woman who knew nothing but SUFFERING for all her waking life. Robert defied it, he refused to walk away, he didn't want to release this feeling from his grasp for as long as he was alive.

Perhaps one day the feelings we share between only us two, may one day fade and lose its luster, but right now, there was only one thing I could do, and there was only one thing that mattered to me. "King." Robert said. "My life belongs to you now!"

"Didn't you hear me?" King breathed out without criticism nor care. "I told you, I don't need you. I don't want you." She turned around and proceeded to pick through her drawers for a proper change of clothes to start yet another day. "I want you out of here before I open the club."

"NO!" Robert shouted forcefully now. "NO! I don't care if you turn me away. I don't care if I have to wait forever." Just like you waited all this time, I will wait outside your door, for every day of my life without fail. "You WILL NOT turn me away!" He proclaimed.

…

It had been probably 6 days now. For the past 5 days, the king mused; she would perform her closing duties and shut the door, leaving Robert outside to his own pitiful musings. When daybreak came, she would brush the curtains aside to look outside her window and found the young boy outside, asleep on the sidewalk bench.

…

"Before you walk past that [door], first, make peace with your demons," Chin said to the somewhat 30 or so year old Eiji.

"For if you do not – as my master told me – unless your conscience is CLEAN, then it will h(a)unt you, consume you, if you make the wrong choice."

IF you make the wrong choice – will you pull your mask up, and cover your face?

…

King tilted her head down and grit her teeth with a frustrated gnash. She threw the clothes she had collected back into her dresser drawer and marched back to the boy who sat obediently on her couch.

"Listen." She huffed once again, stabbing her index finger painfully into Robert's bandaged chest. "I said…" she poked condescendingly. "…I don't need," she stabbed yet again. "I don't want," she, "YOU!"

Before King could drive her index finger one last third time into Robert's chest, the boy's left hand was the quicker. He caught King's wrist and kept it in front of him. His forehead was drenched in sweat, from the pain and his racing chest. He tried his best to keep his heart in check and that girl with him for just a little while longer.

King leaned back and relaxed her shoulders. She nonchalantly kept her hand trapped in Robert's grip and merely looked at him snobbishly. Without a care she let loose a stare down at the boy, and waited for what he could possibly do next. Her cruel look pierced trough Robert, and in due time she thought, he would weakly retreat again.

Robert examined that hand carefully now. Despite belonging to a beautiful and fair woman, that wounded hand was dry, cut, calloused and caked with scabs of dried blood. Her fingernails were dirty and unkept. It was truly a sorry sight to see.

For such a beautiful woman, gifted with heavenly powers, with a hardened, Spartan body that could so easily surpass tireless legions. Even if tens upon thousands of rough and ready men tried their best to achieve greatness – only to fail. In front of this boy was a genius who soared at great heights, yet, yet she wanted none of it. Her greatness was a curse. "If soaring at those heights, if looking down at the world, at those who pitifully failed disgusts you, if it is so horrible to you, my King…" Robert found himself serenading absentmindedly. "It's such a waste for a girl like you to live with hands like these." Calloused, bloody and wounded hands…

King exchanged glares with Robert, she was now perplexed and had a visage laced with a bit of confusion. She tried to pull her hand back but Robert held it there a bit more.

"For as long as I live, if you HATE fighting so much, then let me be your sword – and let yourself BE, my master." Robert said. "Maybe one day I'll see these hands shine once again." He took hers in his own.

King's eyes glared open in shock.

Robert's mind and body moved on their own. Without any premeditated, ulterior motive, he found his face draw itself closer to that dirty, bloody hand – a hand that had seen so much pain, seen so much greatness and was littered with scars from a hundred years of war. But, for as long as he was alive, he was certain, he was sure, that if it was her one and only wish, she would never have to fight again until [he] was ready.

Robert pulled the back of King's knuckles close without a second thought and laid his lips on it. He didn't even know what he was doing anymore and nothing mattered anymore. My life has no meaning to me anymore – because, it now belongs ONLY TO YOU, forever.

…

Her mind didn't quite understand at first, but when her lips accidentally kissed the back of her hand, her eyes began to well into soft warm pools. {Eh?} King asked herself. {Eh..?} King's mouth trembled as she kissed her own hand. A tear slowly, yet peacefully streamed down her face, her thin eyebrows drooped weakly as she felt herself being transported to place far away. Even if her mind couldn't remember, her body did.

…

A crimson wave slowly and steadily rose from King's neck, rising up onto the bottom of her chin before turning her entire face a blushing red. The ringing in her ears was now a shrill whistle like a kettle that was about to erupt.

Maybe one day she would remember this moment – perhaps… perhaps a decade in the unknown future that walked many steps in front of her, but now…

…

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" a woman's shrill scream penetrated the world and shook the windows from that second story window, stopping in their tracks once again, the people down in the streets below.

"Uncle!" that familiar girl's voice blurted out once again, now in a more feverish panic. "What's going on?!" She said looking up at that second story window.

"Ehhh…" The haggard old man scratched his slowly greying beard. He knew the sound all too well. "That sounds like the sound of a boy falling out a window." Chin took a stoic philosopher's pose, one hand cupping his elbow and his other hand, index and thumb framed his sage like face by its chin in a picture.

"WHAT!?" Eiji held his tracks, his eyelids forcefully peeled themselves from his bloodshot eyeballs, leaving them raw, and twisted, his head thrust back so suddenly it was about to come off his neck.

…

The young girl from two stories below stared intently at that window above them; her curiosity wouldn't allow her to let go. To break the suspense, a hand stretched out and slid the partially cracked glass completely open now.

There were a few footsteps, then nothing. The girl down below tilted her head to the side and after a few slow minutes, simply dismissed her thoughts and proceeded to walk away towards her ninja companion that slowly walked farther from their group.

Then, without warning a body flew out that open window blocking the gleaming, penetrating sunlight above.

Robert recalled he was in a couch, a soft plush couch – then at a very instant, he saw the world turning round and round like he experienced before. His gaze was once again fixated on that spackled off white ceiling. Then, it was immediately replaced by the blue sky and calm clouds above.

A cool wind caressed his cheeks, then at long last he saw the sky fall backwards from his vision.

"WAAAAAAAAAGGHHHH!" Robert screamed all the way down up until his body landed in soft slush, with tremendous pain into a pile of garbage bags that thankfully softened the impact down in the streets below with an embarrassing roar.

…

Robert shifted his weight side to side in that disgusting pile of garbage. Despite the pitiful sight, at least he was still alive, but no matter of shifting lessened the searing pain in his body and his shattered ego.

"Are you okay, nii-chan?" Chin bent down and made way to steady Robert.

"No... it's okay, I'm okay." Robert stammered when he held both palms out to prevent the old man from jarring him any more needlessly. "Don't mind me, I'm just..." Robert was interrupted as his orange shirt and black vest from high above hit his face and pulled it forcefully back as he lay in that pile of nonsense.

"I said get out!" King shouted from the second story and slammed the windows shut.

"Oh…" Chin grinned. "You going to be okay, brother?"

"Wow…" the girl looked up to the second story window that, as quickly as the drama erupted was now silent. So that's what it sounds like when a boy falls out a window.

"Thanks, dude." Robert smiled, clumping his clothes into a neat ball to the side and lifted himself slowly up from the soft putrid, bagged, grime with his one good hand to salvage the least bit of his dignity. "I'm okay, sir."

"Okay then." Chin grinned with plain slit eyelids, when he patted the young boy's shoulders in a friendly manner. "You take care of yourself now. Good luck to you. Maybe.. Maybe…"

Maybe one day… we will see each other again.

…

AND END – AND EPILOGUE – AND A START TO [ANOTHER] STORY.

…

"Eiji." Chin leapt forward and caught the younger man's arm by the elbow. While the ninja was probably considered by many others as old and tired too, Chin granted himself the luxury of being so haggard, older, and more tired than the 30 some year old Eiji could ever be. "EIJI… listen to me," he warned. "If you choose to walk through that door… despite our long tiresome journey… despite our desire to pull you away…"

Was this the end of their journey? If this final step was the FINAL chapter in their ANOTHER story, then Chin couldn't stay silent any more. Just as when he himself couldn't end it with his own son, he didn't want his younger friend to [see it] unprepared too. "Eiji-kun," Chin repeated, reminding the ninja that he hadn't seen what the older crone had witnessed eons ago in his stead, he had walked these shoes once before, "before you walk past that [door], first, make peace with your demons," Chin said.

"For if you do not – as my master told me – unless your conscience is CLEAN, then it will consume you if you make the wrong choice."

Before you come FACE TO FACE – with the man who killed the only woman you loved.

…