The Colour Purple Chapter 124: the Compensation, a king of fighters fanfic

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

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 2016]

Youkoso… Yami no sekai e…

Welcome. This place… is the outer darkness.

SOMETIMES, I THINK TO MYSELF - DID I LEAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT BEHIND… BACK THEN?

The problem - with unorganized thoughts, is that you tend to repeat yourself. If you do not take the time to think about past mistakes and plan for the future… one tends to revisit the well… and now you find yourself retelling the same old story, except this time, when you gaze into the water, you now, have become an old man.

…

Linear algebra. Two equations with three unknowns.

What's happening? Where am I? And, why am I still alive?

Yuri scratched the top of her skull with both her hands while hunching down. Absolutely bored of out of her mind, she had been relegated to the sidelines for the entire afternoon with her master, to stay and watch her brother. She crossed her arms over her chest and puffed her cheeks like a blowfish – finding slight amusement in staring at the grass beneath her and slowly twisting her lips to see how many different ways she could mimic the sound of a fart as silently as possible.

Takuma Sakazaki tilted his head to the side nonchalantly then looked up in defeat. He fixed his gaze back at his son, Ryosuke.

In an awkward, simply clichéd stance, Ryosuke locked both arms, chicken winged as far back as they would go – fists tight, curled fingers up in a standard wide horse stance. This was just another day – just like any other.

Though I wonder, why I am thinking of it right now? As I cling desperately to sanity?

"Mas…teeeerrrr…" Yuri hemmed and hawed, looking up at...

Yuri's lethargic train of thought immediately screeched, thrown off its iron rails when Ryosuke boomed, "ICHIGEKI!"

Her brother's voice, even now in the future, sounded clear as day. Yuri felt [it] at the base of the back of her neck. A clawing pang, and dry hunger that dug its talons deep into the back of her skull somewhat like the sensation that lingered from scratching on a dry blackboard. It was something she never felt before…

Just like I feel it NOW…

Though, even confused and uncertain as to what was happening, deep down inside – simply like the instinctive attraction between a man and a woman that need not be taught - she possessed a carnal 'understanding' of what [this] feeling truly was.

Like a chemical reaction become violent, the building rancor gave birth to a visual miasma that seethed out of Ryosuke's gnashing teeth. The boy swerved his body - corkscrewing as far as it would go, cocking his left arm under his right arrmpit and winding his right arm back and low like the most dramatic of baseball pitches.

"A." Yuri unconsciously let that syllable escape her lips.

"KURAYAA!" Ryosuke's voice became hoarse and strained, feeling the back of his throat bleed from the sensation of a million invisible knives cutting his flesh all at once.

But as a reward it came suddenly, in an instant, and presented a vision to behold.

…for you and me.

The winding 1,000 pound coiled mainspring unleashed at a single instant – the hammer of that revolver fell down hard – and when the four, diamond hard knuckles of Ryosuke Sakazaki's right fist made contact on the trunk of the tree on front of him Yuri felt the shockwave crush her lungs with her mouth agape and her eyes wide open in shock. Just as the world faded into a light pastel kaleidoscope of soft colours. In a sensation of calm and peace… To SATISFY a hunger.

DEEP, DOWN, INSIDE.

Ryosuke's right punch shattered the tree bark and the vacuum sucked in the bits and chunks of wood that had splayed out a second or so before – then, the pressure, finally reaching equilibrium, with nowhere to go, a six inch diameter hole appeared directly on the opposite side.

Like a bullet.

As Ryosuke withdrew his hand, the front of the tree had a small, well defined one inch hole at the point of impact, however at the rear was a shattered crater well above six inches in diameter. Yuri did not have to see it to realize the destructive power that had laid waste to that thing when the wooden shards floated down like confetti.

Yuri's mouth hung wide open and immediately she was at attention, hunched forward unbelieving as to what had happened. Her stupefied face stared outwards, and eventually pendulumed towards her father.

Before she could say anything, Takuma was already scratching his head and sucked in air from the sides of his lips in frustration. "Tenchi Haou Ken."

"MASTER!" Yuri shouted. "What. Was. That?!"

"Tenc…" Takuma rolled a groan from the back of his throat and caught himself just as he realized that he was about to repeat himself needlessly to his other very stupid child who never learned to listen the first time around.

Will I; Can I… Can I do that too? Will it set me free? One day…

Ryosuke went from 100 miles an hour to 10 miles an hour, heaving forward with his hands on his knees, gasping pitifully with labored breaths.

All thoughts, all pangs of boredom and lackluster drab was completely washed clean from Yuri's face. The girl tucked both fists under her chin giddishly and she could not help put jump slightly with both feet up and down – just slightly, so her father would not notice. "Mm… Master… what was…" She repeated.

"Dame da." Takuma cut her down instantly. 'No.'

"Master…" Yuri's hands floated down and not just her face but her shoulders slumped down in defeat. "But Master…"

"You can not do Tenchi Haou Ken." Takuma Sakazaki scolded his one and only daughter. "I will not allow you."

Before she could stop herself from a cascading sequences of regret – just at those words, Yuri… "PAPA!" She screamed!

Takuma's eyes darted wide open, but with his entire strength, he did not let it show, and commanded himself to remain still and remain poised with his vision on Ryosuke's back. Only after only two and three and five handfuls of seconds he swiveled his head to look down to Yuri. His glaring pupils pierced her – she felt the prickly sensation of nails jabbing her at the back of her neck, and she could not resist the instinct of her shoulders rolling up into the back of her skull. "M… Master…." She whimpered in fear.

Takuma relaxed his shoulders, closed his eyes to calm himself and tilted his head upwards. "You must never attempt Tenchi Haou Ken." This time his voice was calmer when he eased himself back into a colder place.

Ryosuke went from 100 miles an hour to 10 miles an hour, heaving forward with his hands on his knees, heaving labored breaths. Just as Yuri was staring longingly in admiration, she put her lips together when she noticed slight streams of red blood seep from the edges of her brother's dry lips. Ryo coughed, but immediately suppressed any and all traces of weakness by wiping his lips with the back of his right hand.

Eventhough it was hard to hear, Yuri focused her entire attention to her brother who now feverishly gasped at breaths – like a fish on a rough concrete floor, simply unable to breathe as with invisible thread, its throat slowly sewed shut and its lungs began to collapse on itself.

This POWER – to avert DESTINY. Be wary, for certainly, the DEVIL will tempt you with it.

"Hissatsu, saikyou ougi." The Kyokugen's very ultimate technique. "Our lives…" Our great power. "…is governed by strict rules."

"I know I know…" Yuri was quick to cut in. She heard this modular, well packaged speech over and over again like a broken record. "To exchange… that… haaagghh..." She groaned and sighed… "One thing - for another…"

{But what if… I exchange it all. ALL of it?}

Takuma bit his lip, slowly coming to the realization that keeping silent would be futile.

"I know." Yuri smiled. "I just have to convert a HUNDRED percent of my mass to my fist!" She sneered rebelliously in glee.

"I know…" Takuma hemmed and hawed at such an obvious conclusion. "Ofcourse. I know… I know…" He repeated, this time though, his voice was laced in sarcasm. I'm an old man now, and if I could somehow collect a small tithing each time I heard that – I would be a wealthy man now.

She knew him well enough, well enough that, in due time, with fractions of an instant - to CUT her down - he did not even need to tell her, that what he was about to say – was a mathematical problem, that had THREE unknowns. And, as most people could recall if they thought hard enough, searched long enough, and dug deep in their high school mind – three unknowns held variables that were impossible to solve with only two equations. A challenge even Archimedes would be hard pressed to approach without fear and a momentary apprehension.

"Master…?" She asked again. And again. And again.

AND, IF I TRIED VERY HARD, COULD I, TAKE IT BACK? AND, IF I DID…

AN ATTACK. That separated itself from all other. A WONDERFUL, MYSTICAL, BEWILDERING, DEVASTATING FORCE… That could confront and maybe even perhaps, overcome 'The Rule'. A destructive FORCE of nature. Rendering 'the mass balance' irrelevant…

Cerulean – a deep blue in colour – like the clear sky, that enticed yet mocked us as we stayed chained to the Earth. This was the sensation that erupted in Yuri's mind.

"Kyokugen hissatsu saikyou ougi. Tenchi Haou Ken. Even, even with enough determination and mental fortitude, little girl – even if you are able to put 100% of your mass behind your punch, your main body, your flesh, bones and your tendons, will be unable to withstand the equal and opposite reaction and would result in irreparable damage." As you wallow in the folly of your ways, your mind and body will disintegrate, instantly.

You foolish man. You stupid, stupid thing. Did you think THAT? THAT THING? That thing that imprisoned me, here? Did you not think I could not do it too?

PLEASE. Please tell me. WHY won't you TELL ME? MASTER! "Then how is Ryosuke-Oniisan able to…?" She pleaded. "What is he OFFERING in EXCHAN…?"

To defy the RULES. Yuri, caught in mid speech stared out blankly, when the fall of man gave Adam wisdom from the tree of knowledge, as so too, this little girl stopped and gazed on her father's face. Takuma replied wordlessly. With words that could not be spoken.

[Tell me. What will you offer in compensation. To that evil, yet just God, that always answers in measured response?]

The END of La Bizarre Love Pentagon – part 38.

T He - E v il w ill t e st - y o u .

…

You've seen what [it] can do to that tree… A clean body blow will render a fully-grown man unable to control his facilities, a time altering shock to the central nervous system. Using the KYOKUGEN HISSATSU SAIKYOU OUGI directly to the head of your enemy may cause permanent brain damage... Tell me. Do you HATE someone that much to attempt that?

…

YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE, WHO FOUGHT ME AS AN EQUAL!

Newton's law will always exist. Here. My Friend.

Clark covered his right temple with his right palm and instinctively lowered his left elbow down to cover his left ribcage to block in barely enough time when Yuri's right low body hook crashed headstrong like an oncoming truck without any reservation.

{UGGHKKH!} Clark groaned, the man immediately felt the bones of his upper arm buckle and flex, and when it could simply take no more, small fissures appeared in an x-ray view before they began to crack.

HOW WOULD IT CHANGE, TODAY?

Yes, I hate you that, very, very much.

Time began to flow at a normal pace once again. High and low, a flurry of sledgehammer attacks impacted Clark's head and body, and eventhogh he was barely able to keep pace and block Yuri's punches, his bones crunched at the strain and Clark still felt the aftershock plow through his skull and internal organs.

UGHKKGH!

Again, again and again. Clark's quick blocks were rendered useless before the wailing barrage of the rules of Kyokugen Karate. BUT.

{But… as I…} as I… back then. I was able to DEFEAT [her] over a decade ago… with… THIS.

As he did, as, what seemed like a century ago, Clark's left hand floated downwards when he LUNGED forward without defense. The man stepped forward and met Yuri's right hook head on – four knuckles drove itself into his brain momentarily rendering him to…

The world flashed and even the dark ground was so bright – leaving him unable to see. LIGHT SQUARES.

{A.} Clark thought. {This place again.} He smiled nostalgically. "Agh… I am so tired of…" Oh… wait… one then three slightly hearty chuckles. "A. I thought out loud again."

Yuri's punch surely had enough force to, like a bullet – or like a wrecking ball, crush Clark's skull, but instead Clark took one more step forward eventhough he took the full brunt of the force without defense.

"This is the one way I can kill you." Just as your fighting art cherishes equivalent exchange - One for one, equal cross counter. Clark, all eight cylinders wide open exploded in sequence with large fireballs, LAUNCHED forward – just as he did 12 years ago on Christmas day. A day he would never forget till the day he died – and when he did, he would be able to replay those sweet thoughts with distinct accuracy and clarity - in his mind once again.

The attack, was simple and plain – thought it was not as devastatingly grandiose as that asshole Ralf's GALACTICA PHANTOM, right now, it would serve just as lethal enough.

Yuri's punch came into contact bone to bone, instantly rendering Clark's mind a stark white blank slate, but even then, it would be meaningless for he was already in motion in a dance he had rehearsed again… again… and again…. A soiree reserved for a sweet 16 year old girl who waited for the one time where she could fall in love. Again, again and again in his subconscious, until it came as natural as breathing.

For this moment, he replaced in his sweet memory, was the most wonderful thing…

Taking the full brunt of the attack, spending no time to even bother to defend, Clark slipped forward, unfazed by Yuri's full power punch to his left temple and in reply the blonde haired man swerved his upper torso clockwise before twisting oppositely uncoiled, hurtling a solid right fist once again with enough force to kill a grown man, into Yuri's midsection.

A sword momentarily lent to him by God, Clark would cleave Yuri in half.

As an aftershock to Yuri's last punch, Clark's navy blue hat flew up in the air, stopping at its apex – feeling the cool breeze and the slight pitter pat of rain sound out in titter tattering sounds. As it floated up in the dark early morning sky. Finally, freed from the slavery of the past times long forgotten.

'Better be quarreling, than lonesome.'

-an Irish Proverb.

Chapter 124: the Compensation

"A." Clark's knuckles moved forward half an inch into Yuri's stomach, but, then stopped.

'Both your friend and your enemy think you will never die.'

-an Irish Proverb.

Tell me. Do you HATE someone that much to attempt [that]?

{How is this possible?}

Yuri, once again - the ebb and flow of time slowed by a heavy static and friction – she looked down on her stomach that for sure was crushed and destroyed, yet it remained unmoving.

She exhaled, the mist became visible in this cold, dark morning. Floating in mid air just as it recovered from its previous attack, her entire body was frozen in place and did not move even at Clark's sure and certain counterattack. Yuri cocked her right fist back once again, with Clark staring back in disbelief, because this was not supposed to happen.

Freed now, relinquishing herself from the three unknowns. From the chains of fate.

"Master, what did Ryosuke-Oniisan sacrifice in exchange?"