Fetzen
Frettzo
teenangstlife
Lord Zee
Neziul
Ariamis
rush99999
Simply Not Real
ShadowheartSeekers of Fight
Esaka, The Pools
Word Count: 6241 (+7)
Level 6 Captain Falcon: 56/60
Level 10 Terry Bogard: 9/100
Level 8 Amaterasu: 25/90
Amaterasu was a little late to the place they’d be fighting, which was located by a large statue of a kind of figure that looked considerably more well built than the few members of the same species who had gathered around to see the action.
When inquiring about the place they’d be fighting, the answer turned out to be a stone platform much like the one at the front of their meeting spot, a sandy island and a set of columns all of which sat just a bit of a way out from it in the water. When asked how they’d get there, the citizen in question had answered “I’m a chuckster!” and then asked “are you ready to go?”
They were not, because they still needed to talk shop about their opponents who were still yet to arrive.
“Chill out… The tournament ain’t startin’ yet. We’ll be ready when they are, okay?”
“Chill out… The tournament ain’t startin’ yet. We’ll be ready when they are, okay?”
Of course, Terry was referring to his team’s opponents when he answered the citizen’s question. He gave said ‘chuckster’ a thumbs up and a wink, his smile leaving his pearly teeth bare. K-64 was the exact arena Team Seekers was assigned to when it came to their first match. Compared to other arenas, it did seem significantly larger than the rest, considering that KOF was hosting a team-based competition in contrast to the traditional one-on-one format that most major tournaments adopted. In addition, there was a significant change in regards to the rule according to the update posted on the billboard, allowing every dueling fighter to compete simultaneously within their respective lanes, instead of taking turns. Thankfully, barely anybody was around to hear the trio conversing (save for some friendly, puffy fellows from beyond the stage), so while Team MUGEN was nowhere to be seen, Terry initiated the discussion.
“You guys saw the bracket?” the erstwhile KOF champion asked the obvious. “I know, it’s crazy, right? Like, everybody gets to face jobbers, while we get, what? Two kung fu experts and a friggin’ killin’ machine?” He sighed, then covered his face theatrically with one hand, shaking his head. He was unsure whether the sponsor was so desperate to see them lose or that they underestimated the Seekers’ combined capabilities. His gloved hand eventually left his face, shaking dismissively. “But whatever… The thing is ’least we have a literal goddess in our team. I just need to let y’all know that MUGEN the dojo’s notoriously known for creating ridiculously cheap fighters like the not-Akuma we’re about to face soon. I mean, seriously, we’re talking about the guy who can do just about anything, including creating clones of himself and summoning, like, a bunch of peeps balled together into one.”
And it showed. Terry wasn’t exaggerating his claim just one bit. Because when it came to the match itself…
“Gou Haa… DOUDOUDOUDOUKEN!!”
Amaterasu was immediately bombarded by a series of verdant, skull-shaped projectiles fired in her direction, her spiky-haired opponent exclaiming his battle cry in a somewhat glitchy voice. As if it wasn’t enough, Rare Akuma subconsciously deployed an army of mini clones upon the furred deity while he continued to fire the projectiles out of his palms, intending to overwhelm his opponent. The mini clones gathered around her, hurling flails and kicks which were about as impactful as their deployer’s were. They vanished into thin air, only to be replaced by another wave of exasperating, miniscule duplicates.
Only the sheer luck of having gotten the island arena gave Ammy the space she needed. Had it been the 2d plaza, or heavens forbid, the 3 pillars, she would have been ruined. As it was she was fighting for her absolute life here, which was to say, dashing to and fro on the sand to avoid the shots. Her disk came up to parry mini hims, her celestial beads blasted out to cut them down, but it was all defence. All she could do was hold, and her singed fur vs his pristine skin meant that was just delaying the inevitable.
She gritted her teeth as she recalled how she’d ended up with this insurmountable task.
“And that’s why, good boys and girls, I suggest Ammy should be the one tackling the madman,” Terry opined with a raised finger, as if knowing the kind of insanity that was about to ensue beforehand. “Because I’m pretty damn sure she can handle the guy just fine. I mean, she’s a goddess, right?”
She could only linger in that frustration for a moment however, as Rare Akuma brought his hand overhead, his open palm facing the bright blue sky. A verdant, almost blinding spark flared out of his palm briefly before a comically gigantic katamari of random fighters was summoned, triggering a massive quake as it dropped flat across the stage. He seized control over the ball of dozens, then pushed it towards Amaterasu with ease, his jogging strides only inches behind the reeling object.
The wolf’s jaw hung open for a heartbeat, and then she just turned and started running, leaving the Humanoid Amatarasu back on the shore shaking her head at the ridiculous scene of the pair running rings around the little island’s beach, and surf splashing everywhere as they went. She’d come along to cheer on her same named sister, but simply could not see how the wolf could win in the face of all the nonsense moves her opponent was throwing out.
Somehow, this wasn’t even the worst of it.
“Oh, and also, if you think of knocking him out, you just actually can’t because he’ll just bring himself back to life over and over,” Terry added, “which means, the only way any of us can do is to find the right opening to shove him outta the stage. Now about the Kung Fu fellas…”
Kung Fu Man—while not as laughably unbalanced as his partners were—wasn’t somebody to mess with, either. While Terry maintained his defensive stance, he continued to thrust his iconic ‘Kung Fu Palm’ technique against the blonde’s protective forearms, followed by a Kung Fu Blow and a devastating Kung Fu Upper. Each strike he delivered gradually cornered the erstwhile KOF champion to the stage’s precipice.
“C’mon, Terrance Bongo, you can do better than that, can’t you?” Kung Fu Man questioned, his slanted eyes narrowing. “Why do you keep blocking my techniques like that?”
“Buddy, I told you, it’s ‘Terry Bogard,’ not ‘Terrance Bongo,’” Terry reminded, then huffed, his exasperation partly veiled beneath the parrying forearms. “How many times do I have to tell you and your pals about my actual name now?”
“Not that I care,” the headbanded man reciprocated, continuing to pressure his opponent with stiff, punishing attacks. “Not until you taste this!”
With a flare of yellowish aura surging around him, Kung Fu Man lunged towards the Legendary Wolf with a leaping, riding knee, then followed by a high swinging kick, managing to break through the equally seasoned fighter’s defense. Terry was pushed several feet to the back, his glued forearms parting and an energy spark erupting upon collision.
WHAM!
“Gwahhh—!!”
Once the kick connected, Kung Fu Man landed on his feet, readjusting the black belt worn around his hips. He strode forth, watching as his heavier opponent picked himself off the sandy ground.
“Told you, if you cannot overcome the Kung Fu Palm, you cannot win!”
“Actually, though, I think I can go ahead with the Kung Fu dude,” Terry told his partners in the midst of the prior talk shop. “We’re kinda equal in a way. We’re fast, but not so fast, and it ain’t to mention that we can hit as hard as a boulder. And it just so happens that he tended to fight first in tourneys like this. Yeah, I know, the formation could change over time, but still. Not like it’s gonna be turn-based, anyway.” He shrugged, then glanced over the helmet-clad bounty. “And that leads us to you, Cap. The Kung Fu gal’s the second to fight most times. She’s quite fast and unpredictable, mind you. Think you’re up for the task?”
Given the Robert spirit in Cap’s possession, there was no doubt that he might’ve just been the right guy to withstand Kung Fu Man’s energetic sister. During their match, Kung Fu Girl attempted to lash her opponent, her stretching arm swinging in a blur. Once connected, she’d propel herself forth, her elbow ramming and her long crimson hair dancing along the whiffling gust.
“Well, that’s cute, Falcon-san,” Kung Fu Girl teased, her expression ever so cheerful. “I guess you’re a wee bit faster than Bongo-san is, but still not fast enough to keep up with me!”
But Kung Fu Girl was in for a surprise. Not only was Cap able to mostly keep up with her, but he even managed to outspeed her at points. That opening lash with her arm connected, but her follow up elbow strike hit nothing but air as the F-Zero Pilot pivoted aside to dodge it. Then his own leg lunged forward as he fired off ”Gen’ei Kyaku!” and landed three or four rapid kicks before his opponent could block the remainder.
”Not to worry,” Falcon assured Terry during the conversation, ”Speed is my speciality.”
As it was any other bouts hosted within the Pools, there were plenty of curious onlookers watching by the sidelines, catching up with the tournament’s equivalent of appetizers. Since they were still too early into the competition, it was palpable that not many spectators had come to attend the bouts, given that Top 16 and beyond were the true headlines of these major tournaments. The onlookers consisted mostly of fellow contestants brimming the outside of the makeshift stage, patiently awaiting for their turns to perform.
While the older heads took a moment to warm themselves up, the other, younger contestants chanted at the competing fighters out of boredom. As far as their perception of Team Seekers was concerned, however, it seemed to be fairly mixed, especially when it came to the Legendary Wolf’s side of the arena. It appeared that Terry’s past vocal remarks, coupled with the scuffle that he nearly had with KOF’s reigning champion two days ago, were to be blamed for the current sentiment surrounding him. While about less than a dozen shouted ‘let’s go Terry,’ the rest exclaimed ‘Terry sucks!’ and made sure to drown his die-hard admirers with their loud, exasperating noises.
“Same old trash! Same old trash!”
“Screw you, Terry!”
“You can’t fight!”
Regardless of what the other contestants had to say about him, though, Terry continued to give his best shot, locking the loud insults away from his ears. As he stood out of his kneeling position, the brawny blonde readjusted the cap around his head, his stance assumed. He managed a confident smile, despite the irritating mockery.
“Yo, Kung Fu dude! Ya hear what they’re sayin’?” Terry quipped with a wry snort, eliciting louder boos from the nearby onlookers. “Those peeps? Yeah, they’re countin’ on me, alright. You might wanna bring your A-game now if you wanna win big.”
“Terrance, are you serious?” Kung Fu Man asked, his dark eyebrow arching beneath the blue headband. “I thought those people were mocking you.”
“Well, duh… And I take ’em as a compliment,” he chimed in and rolled his eyes, his voice joyous yet sarcastic. “And don’tcha ask me if I’m serious, bud. I always get serious!”
It seemed that his tactics worked according to plan. Kung Fu Man was distracted—not only by the sudden boos aired around the island, but also by his opponent’s cheesy quips. With this in mind, Terry tightened his fists, layers of blue flames bursting around the gloved, balled hands. He drew himself forth, closing the distance with a roundhouse flail, then twirled around to ambush his opponent with a flaming, driving fist. His fiery knuckles hammered Kung Fu Man by his oriental features, launching him towards a different lane that set him colliding with the reeling katamari nearby. The collision bounced him back to his own lane of fight, his lean figure subsequently laying flat on his midriff.
“Ha! How about that, kung fu boy?”
Meanwhile, Rare Akuma continued to roll the vibrant ball further, closing the gap between the scurrying Amaterasu and himself. There could be heard hisses and groans coming from the katamari of random characters fighters with most begging for the blonde Akuma to stop tormenting and gluing them together. Not that he seemed to mind their demands, anyway. His sole focus was to mash the furred deity alive, adding her to the collection of fighters he’d beaten senselessly prior to today.
“Mm… Candy, candy, candy… Must find more candy!” the pale-skinned demon yapped, oblivious to every word that came out of his mouth. “Quit messing around, Amaterasu-chan! You cannot—for your life—outrun your tribal chief. Why’d you play games with me??”
As the glaringly one-sided bout heated, so had the battle-seeking onlookers entered the observer mode. The once senseless cheers and jeers shifted into a mock-up discussion forum, as the awaiting fighters opined and shared what they learned from the ongoing bout in case they needed inspiration for theirs.
“Ouch… Poor little wolfie! I think she’s so close to getting kicked out of the stage,” said a Mii brawler sporting a Rabbid hat and a white, tight-fitting battle suit.
“Gee… You’re right! I’m worried about that Falcon guy, too. Those whips look like they can hurt a ton!” said a regular sword-wielding Mii.
*that hungry wolf. I still can't forgive him for stealing my spot at the last tourney,* said a skull-masked Mii Gunner in an accusatory tone. *it should've been me, not him. He's going to have a terry-ble beat down if we ever meet.*
“Objectively speaking, this match is everything wrong about Esaka’s major tournament outlets. How’s that Akuma clone even allowed to compete? I thought he was banned,” said the obnoxious fighting game developer from when the Seekers visited the Teahouse, his glasses still fractured following the disastrous tag battle. “This is so unfunny! You see, people? Once again, I was right. This entire city needs to be re-balanced. And don’t get me started with that sloppy, hat-wearing garbage over there. He still hasn’t learned much from his last match. This is the King of Fighters tournament, for goodness sake, and yet, he moves and fights like a freaking snail! This is low-tier quality at best!”
“Oi, shut it, geek! Don’t you dare mock Terry like that! He’s my brother,” an eccentric man with a blonde pompadour warned, his appearance a comical fusion of Iori and the man he claimed to be his ‘brother.’
Over in the match against Kung Fu Girl, Team Seeker’s captain was still evenly trading quick shots with the energetic girl in question. “Oooh, you’re faster than you look!” Kung Fu Girl quipped with a somewhat flirty smile, “Am I gonna have to start taking this more seriously, Falcon-san?”
”You’d better.” Cap warned, paying no heed to any of the heckling going on in the audience. He’d had more than his share of hecklers throughout his racing career. This wouldn’t really feel any different to him. Besides, it just meant there were that many more people for him to eventually win over. So either way, it was all good fun to him. ”Unless of course you’d rather risk getting knocked out because you underestimated me.”
“Nuh-uh! No way!” Kung Fu Girl verbally fired back before channeling energy into one of her chibi avatar strikes. The cute little version of herself flew right toward Captain Falcon like a Hadoken with a mind of its own, zigging and zagging about as if deliberately trying to be as unpredictable as possible while zeroing in on the intended target. And when Cap managed to dodge it, Kung Fu Girl simply fired off a handful more thinking he couldn’t possibly avoid them all.
And, well, he couldn’t. Sure, Falcon avoided the first one but the other two still caught him. He managed to block them out by the end, but not before taking some unflattering chip damage in the process. ”I’ll right, let’s play this out then…” the Bounty Hunter said as he charged up chi in his arms and legs, ”...Ryuugeki Sen!” He launched his own fiery projectiles, hurling fire disks at Kung Fu Girl as she scrambled to dodge them.
“Still too slow!” She taunted, having managed to avoid damage more effectively than Cap previously did against her chibis. Then she lashed at her opponent with an elongated arm strike. But Falcon had a plan this time. He let the strike connect, but didn’t dodge out of the way of the follow up lunge he was now anticipating. Instead the F-Zero pilot launched himself forward and met Kung Fu Girl head on with an electrified knee strike.
”Knee of Justice!” The Captain called out as his knee connected with Kung Fu Girl and sent her staggering back as he relaxed into a readied fighting stance.
“Y-You let me hit you so you could lure me into a trap?” Kung Fu Girl demanded with an indignant huff. Cap didn’t answer but for a shrug of his shoulders. However, the grin on his face told Kung Fu Girl all she needed to know: guilty as charged.
Meanwhile, Kung Fu Man still attempted to pick himself up. He wasn’t expecting Terry to hit him in the face as hard as he did. The collision with the prior katamari couldn’t help, either, as it worsened the impact further. As he tried to maintain a steady, upright posture, the leader of Team MUGEN shook his head, his face still red and warm. He rubbed his eyes, clearing the blur hampering his vision, only to see that Terry had stood right across from him tauntingly. The former Team Fatal Fury’s chief whistled, then waved his hand beckoningly, gloved palm facing up.
“Hey, c’mon, kung fu boy!” he urged playfully. “Can’t hear what I’m saying? Stand up!”
Kung Fu Man hardly grinned. He didn’t really say anything. After both men assumed their respective stances again, they circled and gauged each other up, ignoring all the deafening noises coming from both the other competing fighters and the roar of the onlookers. Eventually, Terry closed the distance, hurling himself forth with a spinning back kick. A series of attacks played out, consisting of a backhanded fist and a subsequent…
“CRACK SHOOT!”
Which was met by the onlookers’…
“Same old trash! Same old trash!”
The brawny blonde performed an acrobatic leap as he executed said move, bringing his boot over his head then aiming to drop his calf flat across the kung fu practitioner’s shoulder. Not even the display of agility mesmerized the other fellow contestants. While the first two attacks connected, the Crack Shot, unfortunately, did not. Kung Fu Man dashed back, slightly distancing himself from the leaping Terry before catching the latter off guard with an amped-up Kung Fu Upper, the prior yellowish aura blinking and exuding out of his lean figure. His bare knuckles grazed against the erstwhile KOF champion’s torso, sending him flying towards the shore.
“Arghhh–!!”
“Boooo…!!”
As Terry landed, he reeled back rather harshly, halting only after he pressed his knee against the ground’s sandy surface. A splash of bright, blue water welcomed him from behind, as if to remind him of just how close he was to getting yeeted out of the island. While he stood out of his kneeling position, he shifted his attention towards the onlookers watching from the outside of the makeshift arena, their cheers and jeers echoing louder than before. Among the predominantly mocking bunch were the same puffy residents dancing and voicing their support for Team Seekers, alongside a carambas playing cactus-like figure sporting a sombrero and, of course, Terry’s best buddy Ukee. The little monkey hopped and flailed the air enthusiastically, making screeching noises that Terry could only decipher as the signs of support.
“Alright, alright… Thanks a lot, you guys! I appreciate that, but um…”
Dazed, Terry still struggled to keep himself steady, his eyes narrowing and his hand running around the back of his neck. Perhaps, Kung Fu Man had flailed him a little harder than what the brawny blonde did to him prior. When Terry peered over Ukee one last time, the monkey seemed to be pointing a little finger forth, as if telling his human bestie to focus on the sight in front of him. Already picking up what his best buddy was telling him, the brawny blonde looked away, focusing back on his lane. Much to his surprise…
“HYAHH—!!”
In a blur of white and blue, Kung Fu Man charged his shoulder forth, the same yellowish aura still radiating around his lunging form. Terry’s eyes instantly went wide at the sight, his lips parting in a gasp. In a blink of an eye, the three-time KOF champion sidestepped out of harm’s way, just inches before the shoulder tackle connected.
Kung Fu Man halted, both feet braking, disbelief evidenced on his face. This was a perfect opportunity to retaliate, Terry thought. So, from a different angle, he closed in and welcomed his opponent with a sliding kick, rendering the latter unsteady with a…
WHAM!
“You still suck!”
“You still can’t fight!”
Then, a mockery applause echoed, rhyming effortlessly with the chants. As the bout reached its climax, so had the mock-up audience broken out of their observing, almost speechless state completely. Terry heard it loud and clear: they demanded something different from his fighting methods. If that was what they wanted, he might as well add a little twist to what he was about to do next.
One gauge stock was obtained. About time he spiced things up. As he stood out of his sliding form, Terry drew his fist back, then pummeled Kung Fu Man with a body blow, subconsciously activating the only gauge stock in his possession.
“Okay!”
If a devastating blow to the gut wasn’t enough, the three-time KOF champion swung an uppercut, his knuckles firmly hammering his opponent’s mandible. The impact was more than enough to launch Kung Fu Man skywards, drops of red forcing out of his mouth and nostrils. Before his opponent could even recover, Terry had smacked the sandy ground with a charged fist, a quake erupting as an energy torrent surged out of the surface to catch Kung Fu Man in mid-air.
KA–BOOM!
“POWER… DUNK!!!”
The Heat-Up Geyser was executed, its impact greatly depleting his opponent’s half-full health. Odd, indeed, that he shouted ‘Power Dunk,’ but it seemed likely that he’d forgotten the desperation move’s name, considering he hadn’t used it in a long while. On the other side, though…
The Leader of Team Seekers was still going at it with Kung Fu Man’s excitable sister. She came at the F-Zero Pilot in a blur white and red, arms and even legs elongated for high speed whiplashes. Falcon, for his part, had to plant his feet and stay blocking for most of it. In fact he was half expecting to get shield-broken by her relentless assault. But Falcon was surprised when that shield break never came. In fact, his shield bubble never seemed to deplete - not from the incoming strikes nor over time.
He did, however, notice that it was no longer omnidirectional and instead was focused directly in front of him. That meant he had to pivot between high and low and even left and right. It nearly caught him off guard at first, resulting in a stinging slap from one Kung Fu Girl’s elongated limbs catching him on his left cheek. But he adapted and quickly figured out an optimal defense for this assault was to simply crouch down so high strikes were always missing and low strikes would only worry about the front and sides. It wouldn’t be long before her attack ran out of gas.
And that was exactly what happened. Kung Fu Girl’s lashing limbs eventually slowed to a stop as she inhaled ragged breaths to fight off the biting edges of fatigue, “Not… bad, Falcon-san…” she rasped out, refusing to show weakness.
”My turn now!” The Captain snapped back and launched himself forward across the ground at the winded Kung Fu Girl, his leg and body becoming wreathed in scorching flames. ”Falcon Kick!” The fiery slide collided with the girl’s legs as she was still catching her breath and didn’t dodge in time to avoid it. The kick itself wasn’t super powerful, but it did let Cap close the gap between himself and his opponent. And it also put him in a position to follow up by bringing up a fiery fist, ”Raptor Boost!” Which produced a flaming uppercut that managed to launch Kung Fu Girl straight up a few feet.
And while the red-haired fighter was still processing it all, Falcon proceeded to follow up again by spending the Power Gauge Stock he’d built up throughout their fight and jumped up in pursuit of his launched opponent. He then juggled her in the air, ”Kuzuryusen!” by performing three backward somersault kicks in a row. And while Falcon landed safely back on his feet, Kung Fu Girl hit the wooden platform hard and had to stagger back to her feet from having the wind knocked right out of her.
“Nngh…” Kung Fu Girl grunted, “...Now you’re in for it!” She charged for a Kung Fu Palm, lunging forward at the same time. Captain Falcon responded by charging his own fiery fist and winding up for a punch to meet her head on.
”Falcon-!”
“Kung Fu Palm!”
”PUUUUNCH!”
The strikes collided head on. The explosive nature of Falcon’s iconic signature technique created a falcon-shaped blast of fire from his fist that kicked up a cloud of smoke and dust that obscured the results of the clash for a handful of suspenseful seconds. But when that smoke cleared, it was indeed the F-Zero Pilot who was still standing, sparks and smoke emanating from his gloved fist.
As for Kung Fu Girl, her technique wasn’t able to overpower the raw explosive power of the Falcon Punch, and she was now sprawled on the wooden floor of the platform in a smokey heap, alive thanks to the Heavenly Principles, but certainly defeated. Golden letters appeared above their heads as a loud voice announced the end of their bout to the onlookers.
“K.O.!!!”
Although, just moments before the team got to that point…
“Just keep rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, rollin’... What!? Keep rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, rollin’... C’mon!”
‘Akuma’ still continued to roll the katamari around the island, the ball of defeated fighters becoming scarily close to Amaterasu. He wasn’t alone, though, as he deployed another wave of mini clones to hinder her movement with spams of Zankuu Hadouken, the skull-shaped projectiles bombarding the furred deity from every corner. Even worse now that the projectiles didn’t easily dissipate, proceeding to fly around the island with the majority of them nudging the coconut tree nearby. Eventually, should the mini clones manage to swarm around Amaterasu…
“Haha! Behold my mighty feet and despair!”
BAM!
…‘Akuma’ would kick the ball forth with a spinning Tatsumaki Zankuu Kyaku like it was a game of soccer, laughing and screeching like a maniac. He then struck his arms out and stomped the ground with one foot, another, smaller quake resurfacing as he assumed his charging pose. He easily filled all three power meters in his possession, only to utilize all three of them to execute the greatest and, perhaps, the cheapest super move in the history of Esaka’s major tournaments.
“Prepare yourself! Die one morbillion deaths!”
With a knee raised and an exaggerated pose struck, ‘Akuma’ dashed towards the besieged Amaterasu. Tightly, he grasped the unfortunate deity with both of his enormous hands, ready to bombard her with a few more blows. At the same time, he’d hear the onlookers chanting ‘this is madness!’ at the monstrosity that was about to come. Clearly, it didn’t sit too well with him.
“Madness? This is Messatsu!!”
Silence emerged and the darkness quickly swarmed around the lunatic and the deity, shrouding them entirely. ‘Akuma’ was so close to pummel and maul Amaterasu with his renowned Disco Trip Satsu until…
DING!
DING!
The bell rang, signifying that the bout had come to a halt. The blinding gleams in his eyes faded, and so had the cold, frightening darkness surrounding the two. Once the bright, vibrant island became apparent again, ‘Akuma’ took a moment to inspect his partners, noticing that they’d been laying flat on the sandy ground unconscious. As per the new rules, given that two participants from Team MUGEN had been defeated, the Heavenly Principles had decided that the winners of the bout were Team Seekers.
“Yo, what the fuck!? This is certified uncool! I told you, you must train harder to surpass your damage scaling!” ‘Akuma’ loudly reprimanded his battered teammates from afar, his grip on Amaterasu loosening. But then, he snorted wryly, trying to compose himself. “Very well… Know that you both have sacrificed yourselves for my sins.” With a rather eerie look, he glanced back over the furred deity, finally releasing her. “I was just kidding back there. I’m not unbalanced. It is you who are underpowered, Amaterasu-chan. If it wasn’t for the download queue, I would’ve beaten you already.”
As he assumed an upright stance, ‘Akuma’ glanced up and raised his hand, a bright, verdant light materializing atop his pale palm. He began to ascend, leaving every contestant (including his own team) alone.
“Until next time,” he bid his farewell, looking down at every puzzled participant with fiery, gleaming eyes. “Much love, your tribal chief. Acknowledge me!”
Amaterasu just watched him go, and then after a long, long moment, let out the breath she’d been holding in, incredibly grateful that being ‘defeated’ by the bell had gotten past Galeem’s rules about fights having to end once they were started.
Overall, however, despite the harrowing experience on her end, it looked like everything had gone just as planned. Now there was just the slight issue of getting back given that the way they’d gotten here had been somewhat one way in nature.
“So, we’re set now,” Terry had concluded the planning discussion before adding: “And one more thing. When the match starts, there’s gonna be a bunch of curious onlookers watching us by the sidelines. They can get a bit too extreme at times, so whatever you do, just ignore them, alright? Don’t let them discourage you from fighting. I know our opponents are gonna be tough, but y’all better give your best shot, okay? Win or lose, ’least we try.”
Despite what he said, Terry did half-expect his team to win their first match. It wasn’t just about pressing toward the mark for the prize anymore (even though he did need it to afford his prior bill without bothering Pit nor Nadia). There were people to be freed and tyrants to be overcome. They couldn’t just lose so easily, could they? Not when the whole world was counting on them.
It didn’t take long until Team MUGEN arrived with both Kung Fu siblings casually entering the island. Following them was the ever-so-eccentric Rare Akuma descending from above the sky, a broom in his hand and an apron worn over his gi-clad upper frame. Landing on both feet, ‘Akuma’ tossed the broom into the water, then ditched the apron he’d been wearing as part of his entrance gear, warming up for the bout. Not long after, a few battle-seeking onlookers crowded the area, consisting of Amingo, ‘Sans,’ S-Kill, and ‘Iori.’
“Alright! Looks like our guys are here,” Terry told his partners, then bumped his knuckles and palm together, subsequently allowing Ukee to climb out of his shoulder to join the awaiting crowd. “You two ready? ’Cause I know I am.”
Surely, they couldn’t just compete right away. As per tradition, the Four Kings emerged from their respective towers, making a brief announcement before the tournaments could officially begin. Contrary to the other kings, Rugal didn’t say anything much. Mostly, he just watched and sipped the glass of wine in his gloved grip, his eyes seemingly wandering the KOF side of the Pools.
While the vicious cartel leader wasn’t paying attention, Terry had been glaring at him the whole time from beneath the skyscrapers, his teeth gnashing and his fists hardening. Once again, he was reminded of why this year’s edition of KOF felt personal to him. Rugal was that reason, and he’d made it clear to himself over time that he wasn’t here to compete as a clueless, regular fighter he tended to resemble. Perhaps, he truly needed that victory. More than ever. Not because he needed to add a fourth championship in his possession, but because he needed to find out what was hiding beneath the top floor of that tower—that he needed to rescue the ones he held the dearest to his heart if they turned out to be held captive alongside Rugal’s collection of bronze statues. Of course, it wouldn’t be possible if his team didn’t—at the very least—make it to the finals where they were offered a chance to challenge the sponsor for the title.
Then, as the Four Kings headed back into their respective towers, two Combots approached the makeshift arena, each deployed towards each competing team. The machines offered both teams a tablet each, their respective names and numbers displayed by the screens.
“Select your order.”
Here came the bit that should have been a guessing game, but which Amtarasu got around with a little sneaky perspective detachment trick, pausing the world when Rare moved to press a button, wheeling her view around, and taking a look at what his order was. First, unsurprisingly. She then unpaused time and poked her own section to set herself to one as well.
As they filled these out, six of the local Piantas approached, each one moving to meet one of the contestants. Upon the order getting set out, they helpfully, once again, informed the fighters “I’m a chuckster!” before grappling them and hurling them out over the water to the stages.
Stages that, now that the fight was over, the fighters now found themselves a bit stuck on. Well except for Rare of course, who had just ascended into the sky somehow.
Several more moments passed, and, with no ship approaching or anything of the sort, it looked like the expected return method was pretty clear: they were going to have to swim.
”Well… I guess I could use a cooldown after that fiery finish.” Falcon said with a shrug before he dived in and started swimming. It wasn’t exactly hard for him, as he was already basically an athlete anyway so this may as well have been a recreational swim. And he unsurprisingly reached the shore first, because of course he did.
Terry was just behind him, while Amatertsu arrived on shore last, mainly because she’d had to sail over on a lilypad one gust of wind at a time, but at least she was dry as a result of this unlike everyone else. Said boon wasn’t the main reason she’d done this however. The main reason was because she couldn’t swim, a fact she very much intended to not come up while they were still down in the pools.
She now glanced from one wet human to the next, scrunched her nose a little at the smell, and then tilted her head as if to enquire ‘so what next?’
