A Touch of Red
By evolution-500
Genres: Horror/Friendship/Romance
Feedback: Always welcome
WARNING: This story contains violence, coarse language, mature themes and disturbing imagery. Reader discretion is advised.
Disclaimer: KILLER INSTINCT is a property belonging to Rare and Microsoft while RESIDENT EVIL is a property belonging to Capcom. I do not own any of these characters.
*Music: 1) Killer Instinct Character select theme: www . y outube watch?v=e w
2) Cinder theme ("Inferno"):** : / / w w w . youtube ? v = cRmwFBK0cyk
3) Sabrewulf theme ("Lycanthropy")***: : / / w w w . youtube ?v=3Whpo3lYRmA
Chapter One: Fire and Ice
The arena was still as a voice spoke over the speaker.
"We are controlling transmission," it said, causing people to cheer, Claire herself doing so as well.
And then, with a sudden jolt, the music kicked into the gear, delivering a loud, rhythmic thumping beat that mixed with a ringing clang.*
"GLACIUS!" Chris Sutherland called out, following it up with, "CINDER!"
Upon hearing the latter, Claire shot up from her seat, jumping up and down with joy, catching Leon by surprise.
"WHOOOOOOO! YEAH CINDER!" She fist-pumped into the air.
Holographic displays of the fighters hovered over the arena, flashing on overhead screens.
"FIGHT ON!"
Sitting back down, Claire waited with anticipation for the fighters to appear, her heart thudding heavily and loudly, her hands clammy with excitement. A loud, throbbing humming echoed overhead, drawing everyone's attention as they looked up.
Leon's eyes widened in shock.
"What is that?!" He pointed.
A hard-hitting rock track played as one of the opponents levitated down with its freakishly long arms outstretched in a T-pose from the left side of the arena.**
Claire gasped as she took in the sight of Glacius, staring at it in wonder along with everyone else.
It was tall, about six-four, possibly even larger, with a heavily muscled body. It had a humanoid frame, but it didn't look at all human.
The entity's torso and head were composed entirely of fresh snow that sparkled and glinted in the light, the arms and legs a mixture of rock and ice.
White in color, the hands were huge and had a strange rubbery quality about them, with three digits and an opposable thumb on both, while the feet, though very humanoid in shape and structure, had only three toes on each foot.
Devoid of either a mouth or nose, a pair of striking emerald eyes stared out from a featureless, jagged, cliff-face-like mound, while a collection of stalactite-like icicles formed a sort of beard at the bottom of its chin.
"Look at it!" Rebecca gasped.
"It looks so...real!" Claire said in amazement.
In a way, it looked elegant. Beautiful even, in a strangely otherworldly way, as if its entire being were carved from a jewel.
As it levitated down, the creature then plunged straight into the ground, turning into a puddle before suddenly and gracefully reverting back to normal, its outstretched arms forming balls of white icy shards in its huge rubbery hands.
From the opposite end, his opponent arrived, albeit in a less than graceful manner.
A fireball came crashing down, sending sparks everywhere.
The sparks and smoke cleared, but the fire remained.
A humanoid form was kneeling down on one knee in a superhero pose.
Claire stared, her mouth dry, her eyes as wide as saucers, looking like a child seeing Santa Clause in person.
"Oh...my...GOD!" She gushed.
Standing at six-two, a yellow and orange effigy of perpetually burning plasma with a red aureole surrounding him rose from the floor, his body completely covered from head to toe in flame, his head and face an orange, featureless mass with a pair of dark red orbs for eyes that glowed like hot coals.
The floor hissed as his featureless feet burned into the ground, his breathing a harsh heaving that sounded like a furnace, while embers shimmered and flaked off from his perpetually burning body, crackling and popping noisily, the air shimmering as it produced watery mirage effects.
Rolling his shoulders, the fire being popped his knuckles.
"I would not want to be you today!" Cinder taunted as he got into his stance, his voice a simmering volcanic hiss that warbled as if it were underwater.
Claire shivered.
God, both characters looked so cool! They looked and sounded so...real!
Seeing them on the TV screen or on a laptop was one thing, but seeing and hearing them in person...it was unbelievable! From the whistling, growling purrs and rumbling squeaks of Glacius to the sounds of Cinder's fire and breath, combined with their visuals...they looked absolutely incredible!
Claire clapped loudly, jumping up and down in excitement.
"WHOOOO! I LOVE YOU, CINDER!" She hollered at the top of her lungs.
In a very unexpected move, Cinder turned his head and looked directly at her, catching her off-guard. What had really caught her by surprise, though, were his eyes - they were full of pain and sadness. He stared at her for a long while, then made a slight scoff and chortling noise that was distorted by the heat.
"Flattered, babe," he replied in a low voice, and although the fiery mass of a face made it impossible to discern his expression, his eyes seemed to light up with amusement.
As Cinder looked back to his opponent, his eyes narrowed in concentration. "Let's do this."
"READY!" The announcer called over the speakers.
With that single utterance, the battle started, the two elementals leaping forward without uttering a single word, all accompanied by a long sharp whine of a pick scrape running along guitar strings.
Claire ignored the commentators as they talked over the fight - her focus remained on the spectacle.
Glacius dodged to the side as Cinder flew toward him as a fireball.
Twisting around in the air, the fire elemental flew back, this time hitting Glacius in the chest before quickly following it up with a series of combinations.
A kick to the gut followed by an uppercut, a backhand, a low, medium and high kick before finally finishing with a pair of double somersault kicks, the blows catching the ice man across the chin, lifting him up into the air.
Jumping up into the air after him, Cinder looped one arm around the icy creature's neck, grabbing him into a headlock before torpedoing down to the floor like a missile, creating a series of thunderously loud explosions followed by one really large blast that had audiences rearing back, sending Glacius spinning up into the air with a whistling cry.
"WHOA!" Claire yelled, startled by both the sheer speed and aggression on display.
It was fast and hard-hitting. Every punch and kick sounded as if it had impact.
What was even more striking about the battle, however, was how the music itself seemed to be in sync with their movements, making every strike and action, no matter how fast, aggressive or slow, feel as if the fighters were dancing and/or conducting the music themselves.
Crashing down with a grunt amidst the cacophonous cheering from the audiences, Glacius bounced back to his feet and slammed his icy fist into the ground, causing a blue ice ball of energy to bounce along the ground toward his opponent. Cinder sped forward, curling aside just as Glacius ducked down into the floor as a puddle.
Just as Cinder was within striking distance, Glacius reformed, throwing an uppercut that caught his opponent, knocking him out of the air with a yell.
"CINDER!" Claire cried.
Leaping back onto his feet from the floor, the fiery figure balled up his hands, his eyes narrowing into mere slits that glowed with hellfire.
"INFERNO!" He shouted, unleashing a long column of fire like a flamethrower from his hands, the sound a deafening wave as Glacius turned back into a puddle and slipped away, his opponent in hot pursuit.
Claire watched in amazement as the battle escalated.
Cinder twirled and danced through the air as pillars of ice rose from every possible angle and surface, from the ceilings, from the walls, even from the floors as crystal shards and projectiles fired and pelted his body from every direction! Dodging swiftly to one side, he narrowly avoided being skewered by a massive ice spike from the ground, allowing himself to fall and roll freely down toward Glacius before colliding with him in an explosive crash that caused the ice to shatter all around them into millions pieces.
"HOLY...CRAP!" Claire gasped.
"This is incredible!" Leon said breathlessly.
Rebecca stared open-mouthed in shock, giving a dumb nod, her green eyes wide as she remained focused on the fight itself. From the icy pieces, dozens of hands rose, reaching for the sky.
"What is going on?" Rebecca said in wonder.
The icy shards started to form into dozens upon dozens of full-sized Glacius clones, completely surrounding Cinder all throughout the arena on all sides.
Cracking his knuckles, Cinder cockily waved them on. "Bring it on, bitches!"
The clones charged from all directions, the group encircling their opponent, each section divided up into three or four rows, with one group running full speed from one end while another ran in the opposite, a relentless tidal wave of bodies that came crashing from all sides with the fire effigy caught in the middle as he struggled to fight them all off by himself.
Claire watched in awe as Cinder blocked, countered, punched, kicked, elbow-struck, backhanded and tripped any and every clone that came within striking distance.
Some of the clones got one or two blows in between, even at times catching Cinder by surprise by suddenly fusing together or running through another's body as if it were gelatin.
At one point, three of the clones had fused together into a singular, towering, ten foot tall, multilimbed, multiheaded monstrosity that swatted and flailed at its target.
Rolling out of the way of one blow and ducking down to avoid being hit by another, Cinder then slid between its many legs, the fire effigy attaching an orange ball of swirling energy to one joint.
Rolling away to avoid being stomped on, he then attached another, and another, and another.
Leaping onto the creature's back, Cinder proceeded to run all the way up its strange spine before leaping up into the air, twisting around.
"HEADS UP!" He yelled as he tossed a very large orb, the ball attaching it to the icy titan's primary face and head, the giant stumbling back, swatting at nothing but air.
As he landed, Cinder laughed and snapped his fingers, causing a series of detonations that resulted in it crumbling and shattering into pieces.
The explosions were so loud that Claire felt her own ears pop.
Still, she cheered regardless.
As one clone shoulder-checked him, the fire being suddenly ducked low and erupted in a flash of light so bright that everyone had to raise up their hands to cover their eyes and ears.
Once it died down, Claire removed her hand and looked back to the arena, watching as both opponents lay still on their backs, the various pools of liquid gathering back to Glacius' icy body.
"Come on, Cinder," she urged. "Get up!"
Claired watched as both fighters stirred. As they pushed themselves off the ground, the two elementals stared each other down.
Scolding hot red eyes fixed a narrow glare while emerald eyes coolly stared passively back with a disarming look of innocence, each opponent watching each other.
Then, just as Cinder took a step toward his opponent, a voice interrupted the battle, causing him to halt midstep.
"TIME OUT!"
Overhead, a screen declared Glacius the winner.
Giving his opponent a dark look, Cinder turned away, his back facing the ice creature as he folded his arms angrily over his fiery chest.
"And the winner of this match is Glacius!" One of the commentators cried out over the microphone, eliciting a loud cheer from the audience.
Glacius just merely blinked and purred, tilting its head uncomprehendingly like a bird.
"Awww, he's so cute!" Rebecca gushed.
"Yeah!" Claire agreed, holding her hands together, her eyes shining.
Turning her head, she watched as Cinder stormed back to the fighter alley from which he came.
"YOU DID GOOD, CINDER!" The girl called as she clapped and smiled.
The fire effigy raised up his hand as he passed by her, giving her the middle finger.
"Blow me," he bitterly muttered without even looking, causing people to burst into laughter as Claire stood gaping in shock, her smile gone.
"Wow, what an asshole," Leon commented.
"Well, to be fair, he did lose," Rebecca pointed out as she patted Claire on the shoulder. "It's okay, Claire. Maybe next time he'll be in a better mood."
Looking back down the fighter alley that Cinder came from, the latter watched as men dressed in fireproof outfits and masks with filters came out with extinguishers and put out small pockets of flame here and there in different parts of the arena. Overhead fans and filtration systems whirled noisily, clearing out smoke and haze.
"You okay, Claire?"
Looking back to her friends, Claire shrugged, her smile returning.
"Yeah," she nodded. The girl then started to laugh. "Wait until Chris hears about this! I can't believe the guy just flipped me off!"
The trio chuckled amongst themselves in amusement.
"Please enjoy the ten minute interval before the next show."
Audience members got up from their seats and stretched as they got out and walked around, moving out to get drinks, snacks or use the washroom.
"Anyone need to use the washroom?" Claire asked.
Leon nodded. "I do."
Rebecca nodded as well. "Yeah, same here."
"Okay." Pushing herself out of her chair, she looked at her friends curiously. "So how are you three liking the show so far?"
Leon smiled, nodding approvingly. "It's really good so far!"
"Yeah!" Rebecca agreed. "I knew that the KI tournament was awesome, but it looks so amazing!"
"I know, right?"
Looking back to stage, Claire paused as she saw Glacius looking at her, the ice creature blinking as he purred.
For a brief moment, she found herself mesmerized by the sheer amount of detail that it had.
She couldn't believe how lifelike it was.
Whoever did the special effects really had outdone themselves. She felt tempted to approach it and run her hand across its snowy head and feel its icicle bearded chin.
"Really good actors, aren't they?" Rebecca said as she nudged her friend, stirring her back to reality. "They really know how to stay in character."
Looking back to Glacius, Claire stared at him for a moment longer, then nodded. "Yeah."
Pulling the corners of her mouth into a pleasant smile, Claire gave a little wave to the creature. Glacius blinked curiously, then looked down at its huge hand, as if puzzled by the gesture. Looking back up at her again, Claire watched as it timidly gave a small wave of its own, causing her smile to grow.
"Come on, come on, Claire!" Rebecca urged. "I really need to go."
"Okay, okay!" Claire raised up her hands placatingly as she followed Leon and Rebecca up the stairs.
As the trio continued up the steps, Claire gave one last look to Glacius, watching as he stood by himself in the arena.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, for the next match."
Claire and her friends had just made it into their seats when she heard wind play over the speakers, a bell clanging in the background. That was when she heard the sound.
Howling.
Wolf howling.
"AHHHHHH! OH MY GOD IT'S SABREWULF!" She shrieked, bouncing up from her seat excitedly as a cello started to play ominously. "IT'S SABREWULF! IT'S SABREWULF!"***
Rebecca shrieked as the two girls grabbed hold of each others' hands in their excitement.
Leon just stared at them in confusion. "Come on, girls, it's just a guy in a-"
A loud thump in the arena abruptly cut Leon off, drawing the trios' attention to the source.
Claire's blue eyes widened as she gazed upon her favorite KI fighter for the first time.
Wearing nothing but black torn pants, to her surprise, Sabrewulf wasn't particularly tall; compared to Claire, who only stood at five-six, he only seemed to be at least five inches taller.
However, whatever the werewolf lacked in height was made up in sheer width; covered entirely in blue fur with bits of gray, a wolf's head with glowing, yellowish green eyes, a thick mane and barely any sort of neck sat atop a strong, robust barrel-like furry chest, its upper body itself positioned on an abnormally small and slim waist. Thickly muscled arms ended in long hands with sharp clawed-tipped fingers, the hips supported by a pair of triple-jointed dog-like legs with paws for feet.
Standing on his hindlegs, Claire watched as the werewolf rose up in all of its magnificent glory, making threatening slashing gestures before rearing back with a loud roar that had everyone cheering, her especially.
"WHOOOOOOOO!" Claire clapped excitedly. "I LOVE YOU, SABREWULF!"
She watched as the creature's ears twitched in her direction.
"AWWWW, HE'S SO ADORABLE!" Rebecca gushed.
Sabrewulf rolled his eyes. Looking to his opponent, he started making hand gestures and signs, none of which Claire understood. Glacius, however, seemed to, acknowledging back to him with his huge rubbery hands and fingers.
"READY!"
Once the announcer called out, the opponents charged one another.
Sabrewulf pounced forward. Glacius merely stood there, then, once his opponent was within range, threw his arm up, forming a long icy lance that knocked the werewolf out of the air with a howl.
Crashing down with a dog-like whine, Sabrewulf hopped back onto his feet and swung his claws around like a top, snarling as his clawed fingers swiped across the icy hide as he backhanded his opponent, following it up with a cartwheel, his feet striking across the snowy head before finally finishing with a backflip kick that lifted Glacius up into the air and sent him crashing to the floor.
Claire watched in excitement as the two creatures brawled, grabbing hold of one another before the icy entity suddenly picked Sabrewulf off the ground and started to toss his opponent around across the floor as if he were a sack of potatoes, each slam and blow loud and impactful, even at times making audience members wince before tossing him aside.
Leaping back onto his feet, Sabrewulf charged and leapt forward...only to end up with his top half stuck in Glacius' stomach, his legs protruding out.
Claire watched as the werewolf helplessly swung his arms and limbs wildly, trying to get out.
Blinking down in surprise at his opponent as it struggled to get out, the ice creature shut its eyes and concentrated. The next thing Claire knew, Sabrewulf suddenly spurted out from Glacius' translucent back with a pop, sending him sprawling and rolling along the floor.
"What the fuck just happened?!" Someone behind Claire asked.
"I don't know, I think Glacius just shoved him up his ass and shat him out again!" Someone else replied, causing people to burst out into fits of laughter in full-blown hilarity.
Claire and Rebecca exchanged looks and made disgusted faces, then rolled their eyes, looking back to the arena as Sabrewulf picked himself up again.
Both creatures eyed each other as they stood there like two gunfighters on the battlefield.
"...Do you guys feel a draft?" Leon asked.
Startled, Claire looked over to Leon in confusion, breaking away from the arena. "Huh?"
"It's like the air has gotten colder," he said.
Rebecca shivered. "Yeah, I know what you mean."
It was then that Claire noticed what he was talking about - there was a cool waft of air, but where-
Looking around, she suddenly paused as she stared out to the arena, her eyes widening.
"Oh my God."
A little girl dressed in a white and blue school uniform, probably no older than twelve years old, with short blonde hair and a red headband, had somehow got inside the arena. Stepping tentatively forward, the girl was slowly approaching the two fighters, neither of whom hadn't even seem to notice her presence. Even more bizarrely, nobody else seemed to have, either.
Getting up from her seat, Claire started to pound at the window.
"HEY! STOP THE FIGHT!" She shouted.
A man in a security uniform approached her. "Ma'am, please stop doing that!"
"You don't understand, there's a kid in there!" Claire pointed. "LOOK!"
The security guard looked to where she indicated, then jerked back with a start. "How the hell did she get in there?!"
As he radioed in for support, Claire continued pounding on the window. Leon and Rebecca joined in with her.
"STOP THE FIGHT!" They screamed.
A murmur rose from the audience, the song halting.
Sabrewulf and Glacius looked around in confusion, then turned around, pausing at the sight of the approaching child.
Looking to the latter, the former started to signal something to him. As the girl came closer, both creatures lowered their hands down to their sides.
Claire watched as the girl said something to them.
Glacius blinked and tilted its head from side to side, letting out a purr and a whistle.
Taking a tentative step forward, the girl reached up and touched the ice entity's arm, her whole face lighting up with joy.
The werewolf took a step towards her, causing her to take a fearful step back.
Claire watched as Sabrewulf hesitated, then kneeled down onto one knee.
To her surprise, the wolf's mouth started to move, looking as if it were talking to her, his expression gentle.
The girl seemed to relax, saying something back to him, and for a moment, it seemed like the two were engaging in conversation.
Claire couldn't tell what was being said, but little by little, the girl seemed to be relaxing more and more in Sabrewulf's presence, little by little becoming more comfortable with him.
At one point, he said something that made the child laugh, the creature giving a small but gentle smile. Or whatever passed for one.
Then, to everyone's surprise, he slowly held out his clawed hand in offering.
The girl looked at the offered limb, then back to the wolf man, smiling as she took his hand.
As he rose back to his full height, the child suddenly caught Sabrewulf off-guard by wrapping her arms around his mid section, hugging him.
"AWWWW!" The audiences said collectively.
As the child hugged the werewolf, Claire saw something flash in its eyes.
He was clearly uncomfortable with the gesture, squirming slightly under the girl's grip, much to Claire's amusement, but there was something about his expression that really stood out to her.
From the way his eyes and ears were drooping, combined with the sight of the sag in his muscular shoulders and the lowering of his head, the creature had such a profound look of complete and utter sadness.
"SHERRY? SHERRY!"
Looking abruptly away from the arena, Claire suddenly found herself joined by a beautiful woman in a blue sweater and black skirt with long, curly and wavy blonde hair.
"SHERRY GET OVER HERE THIS INSTANT!" The woman yelled.
Claire looked back to the arena, watching as the werewolf and child looked to the woman calling, then to each other.
The two gave each other a nod, then proceeded to walk hand-in-hand in Claire's direction towards the girl's guardian or mother.
To Claire's surprise, a section of the wall separating the arena from the audience seats started to open.
People rose up and murmured excitedly as the two approached while security guards kept rabid fans at bay.
"EVERYONE, PLEASE STAY BACK! I SAY AGAIN, PLEASE STAY BACK!" One guard called.
Claire watched and waited alongside Leon and Rebecca as Sabrewulf approached with the child in hand. As he came closer, she suddenly became aware of a smell, a distinctive musty odor that she associated with some of the doggy kennels where Rebecca's mom worked, though with some hint of shampoo.
When the strange duo finally arrived, the mother quickly went to her daughter.
"Thank you! Thank you so much for your help! I'm so sorry for interrupting the program!" The woman said apologetically to Sabrewulf before turning to her daughter. "Sherry come on!"
Sherry turned back to the werewolf and gave him one last hug, which he, reluctantly, returned one handed.
Letting go, the girl then went back to her mother, giving him one last wave. "Thank you, Sabrewulf!"
Claire felt her heart melt at the sight of the happy girl.
As mother and daughter disappeared up the steps, she looked back to Sabrewulf, who remained where he stood, watching them leave, a look of longing and loneliness etched on his wolfen features.
As if sensing that he was being watched, he turned to face her, scrutinizing her.
Claire stood in awe at the sight before her, her whole form frozen as she stared into his eyes and studied his every feature.
Up-close, she could see every scar, every scruff and clump of fur, every muscle, the way his chest rapidly expanded and sunk as he panted, the wetness of his black nose.
What really caught Claire by surprise, though, was how sad and tired his eyes seemed, as if somehow he were carrying the entire world on his shoulders.
Even more surprising, though, were his expressions.
He seemed...guarded. Uncertain.
A little frightened and vulnerable, although he was making clear efforts to maintain a somewhat more confident front.
She blinked as she moved closer.
The smell...could it be...?
Taking another step forward, Claire reached tentatively out with her hand, causing Sabrewulf to stiffen, his eyes widening with alarm.
Before her hand could make contact, however, a guard suddenly caught her.
"Ah! Sorry, miss - touching is prohibited," he said.
Pulling her hand away, Claire massaged her wrist.
"Sorry," she said quietly, clearing her throat in embarrassment.
Looking back to Sabrewulf, she watched as he leaned into a guard, uttering something. Nodding, the guard then pulled away.
"Okay, everyone, may I have your attention please! I'm sorry to say, but tonight's show is over." The guard announced.
Audiences groaned.
"I know, I know," the guard nodded, raising his hands placatingly, "but no worries - everyone here will be getting free tickets for the next show along with some coupons for whatever meal you like at the exit. Also, next Friday we will be having a twenty percent discount sale at the box office and a thirty percent discount sale at the gift shop, so be sure to mark those down on your calendars and come visit! If you have any questions, be sure to check out our website or telephone us. Take care, everybody!"
And with that, the show was over. Claire watched as droves of people got from their seats and wandered up the stairs.
Looking back to Sabrewulf, she watched as the wolf man turned away from the audience, then paused as he passed by her. Turning around to face her along with Leon and Rebecca, he gave them a curious look, then a polite nod before turning away, proceeding back onto the arena.
Claire watched as he hand-signed to Glacius, then pointed to one of the fighter entrances.
Nodding in affirmation, Glacius proceeded down as instructed, moving away until he disappeared from view.
Looking back to Sabrewulf, Claire continued to watch the werewolf until he too was gone, the arena now completely barren.
"Claire?"
Startled by Rebecca's voice, Claire turned to her friends.
"Sorry, guys." She then gave a small, sad smile. "I guess that's it."
They nodded.
"It's a shame, too," Rebecca commented, "just because I was really getting into it! I had been hoping to see my girl Riptor. Or at least Hisako."
Claire patted her friend's shoulder.
"It's okay," she said. "Perhaps some other time."
As the trio headed back up the stairs, Claire gave them curious looks. "So, how did you find the show?"
Leon nodded. "It was great! I'm really surprised by how realistic everything is!"
"Yeah, I know, right? They even captured the smell!" Rebecca commented. "I swear, Sabrewulf smells just like a real dog!"
Claire paused, then looked back to the arena.
There was no way it could have...could it?
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Claire blinked, then let out a laugh.
"Claire?"
She waved them off, smiling. "It's nothing. Really. Just a silly thought. Let's go home. I can't wait to tell Chris the good news!"
