traci (tracichan) wrote in kof, @ 2008-01-21 23:06:00 |
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Current mood: | busy |
Current music: | Chris Cagle - Laredo |
Entry tags: | fanfic |
Fanfiction: Honest Competition Chapter 1
In an effort to kickstart stuff until we get some actual news or some more posts, here's some new fanfic for you.
Title:: Honest Competition; Chapter 1.
Fandom(s):: KoF.
Characters/Pairings:: While it's not the focus: Iori/Kyo; Joe/Shingo; Robert/Yuri; Ryo/King; Terry/Mary; Andy/Mai; K'/Maxima; + Alba, Soiree, Ash, Billy, Kim, Richard, Beni, Daimon, Elisabeth, Athena, Mignon, Ninon, Seth, Chae Lim, Vanessa, Rock, and Whip. And Noel, Gallagher, and Jude (Alba and Soiree's friends).
Rating:: PG-13 for now.
Genre(s):: Drama/Angst.
Word Count:: This chapter: 1,627; total: 1,627.
Summary:: It's been two years since KoF 2006 and Soiree's disappearance. Alba decides to hold another KoF--an honest match for once, or so he thinks. Will it bring Soiree back? Mostly Maximum Impact canon, but also has elements of KOF XI. Spoilers for Maximum Impact 2.
Disclaimer:: Hey, it's fandom. If you recognize it, it doesn't belong to me. Characters are all owned by SNK Playmore and/or NeoGeo and/or various gods who aren't me.
Also crossposted to fanfiction.net and my fandom lj.
Chapter One
Southtown, New York
“I still think he's nuts,” Jude said bluntly as he tossed yet another envelope onto the pile. “This whole idea is insane.”
Nobody answered.
Jude frowned. “What, guys? You agreed with me twenty minutes ago.”
“Maybe I am insane,” Alba answered mildly, coming around to sit at the table with his friends. He smirked a little when Jude blushed. “But it's my decision, and I want to do this.”
“He's right, though,” Gallagher agreed. “You're wasting a lot of effort and money, Alba. What's the point, anyway? Do you think this'll bring Soiree back?”
“If it did, then it'd all be worth it, wouldn't it?” Alba replied. “I have a few different reasons, actually. Everybody knows Soiree's gone-” how could they not, when it was all over the news lately? “-and I think it'd boost morale if we had something fun to focus on.”
“A bunch of guys beating up on each other is fun?” Jude muttered.
Alba ignored him. “Besides that, nobody's ever hosted a KOF without some sort of hidden motive. It's about time there was an honest tournament.”
“If you say so,” Noel agreed with a shrug. “How many invitations do we have here, anyway?”
“Sixty. Of course, most of them probably won't show up since this is actually legitimate.”
“You could always pretend to rig it.”
“That'd defeat the purpose.” Alba shook his head, reaching for a stack of sealed envelopes to address.
His friends stopped trying to convince him and worked in silence. Still, they couldn't help but think that Alba wouldn't be doing this if Soiree were around to stop him.
Osaka, Japan
Iori wrote the final line to his song and laid his guitar down on top of the pages so they wouldn't blow away. He stretched out beneath the tree, admiring the blossoms for a second or so before closing his eyes.
It was a nice day outside, Iori thought as he laid there with his eyes closed. The wind was blowing and the sun was shining.
A shadow fell over his face for a few seconds, but he didn't open his eyes. It wasn't like he'd really caught Iori off guard, anyway, he thought. His guest laid his head on Iori's stomach, sideways.
“Yuki broke up with me,” Kyo said, without saying hello.
“Because of me,” Iori clarified. He did not open his eyes.
“Because of us,” Kyo corrected. “I guess I can't blame her. I called her 'Iori' on the phone.”
Iori laughed a little. “I could see where that would piss her off. So what's your plan now?”
“I don't know.” Kyo sounded a little glum. “I hoped she'd think it was just an accident or something, but... she says she's serious about not wanting to see me again. Is it that easy to just give up on a relationship, even after several years?”
“You tell me. Besides, you were always off traveling, anyway, weren't you? So maybe she just... saw it coming.”
“Hm.”
They were silent for a while, listening to the wind blow. “I checked your mail for you on my way through,” Kyo said eventually. He reached for the envelope beside him, holding it over Iori's face.
Iori cracked an eye open and snatched the envelope from Kyo's hand. “ 'Welcome, Participant,'” he read out loud, “ 'You are cordially invited to participate'... seriously? I figured they wouldn't hold these any more.” He folded the invitation up, shoving it back into the envelope. “Wasn't Meira's brother kidnapped, or something? You'd think he wouldn't want anything to do with this.”
“Maybe he thinks his brother will show up for the fight,” Kyo replied. “You talked to him at the 2006 tournament; do you think he has a hidden motive?”
“We chatted between fights, Kyo. You make it sound like we forged an everlasting friendship.” Iori laughed a little, then sobered. “No, I don't think he would. It's probably a completely legitimate, noble competition.”
Kyo thought for a few seconds, then sat up. “Do you want to go?”
“What for?”
Kyo shrugged. “It says teams of three. I bet Shingo got an invitation too; we could form a team and go. If it's just for fun, then what's the harm?”
Iori started to say no, then stopped himself and opened his eye again to gaze at Kyo. “I bet you'd enjoy getting out of Japan and away from Yuki for a while, wouldn't you?” he asked, then sighed. “Fine. I'll go—but only if it's Yabuki. I don't know how many of your friends I can stand.”
Southtown, New York
“The kid was actually serious,” Richard said with a chuckle. He stared down at the invitation, remembering when Alba had come in with his plans to host yet another King of Fighters tournament.
“So what you're saying is that Terry and I are old enough to remember all of them,” Richard teased.
“Not at all. I'm only suggesting that you have the information I need and that I'm willing to ask.”
Terry laughed, and Richard chuckled. “Good response. I suppose we can tell you, if you're serious about inviting a couple of relics like us.”
“So are we going to join or not?” Rock asked, staring down at his own invitation. It was only the second one he'd ever received. “Alba probably isn't planning any mass murders or anything like that.”
Terry laughed. “No,” he agreed, “probably not. Sure, I'll join. And I called Andy in Japan; he said he'd join, too.”
“Well, why don't you, Andy, and Rock make a team and Kim, Joe, and I will make a team?” Richard suggested. “Unless your sons are planning on joining, Kim?”
“No,” Kim said. “I don't think they're ready for a tournament like this yet. Dong Hwan doesn't have the discipline and Jae Hoon won't join without his brother. They're going to watch, I think.”
“Well then, it's settled,” Richard stood up, and everyone else followed suit. “Mary, Mai, and King could all be a team again, couldn't they?” He directed this question at Terry, who shrugged.
“It's an off month,” Rock said vaguely. Everybody knew what he was talking about.
Liège, Belgium
“He sent the invitation. One of us should be polite enough to actually respond and crash his party.”
“Duke would make him regret it. We could send him,” Lien suggested. They stared at her, not really expecting her to say anything.
“Maybe,” Jivatma agreed. “But sending Judeim would break him.”
They collectively looked over at Judeim, who looked maliciously pleased at the prospect.
“How about it? Do you want to pretend to be Soiree Meira again?”
“I'd love it,” Judeim replied, leaning forward in his chair. “But what would I say? And who would I be on a team with?”
“If we told you what to say, he'd know something was wrong. You'll have to use your own judgment. And you can't be on a team with us, because then he'd know what was going on. Thankfully, that problem may have an easy solution.”
“What's that?” Judeim asked, and his friends all turned to watch the door to the room open. He chuckled. “Ash Crimson. What are you doing here?”
“Bon soir, Judeim,” Ash replied pleasantly. “Or should I say... Soiree Meira? I think we have some common interests in this tournament. And I know where we can find a third team member, if you're interested.”
Los Angeles, California
Athena couldn't help but want to join the new King of Fighters tournament. She loved those, and it'd be a nice break from touring. Unfortunately, Master Chin and Kensou had no desire to join again. “It's a joke,” they'd both said. “We don't know this guy, and we don't have any reason to get involved. You shouldn't either.”
But she loved the tournaments, and she'd met Alba Meira at the last one, two years ago.
Luck was on her side, apparently; after one of her concerts, she happened to spot Mignon Beart outside and followed her home, convincing her that joining a team was the best thing to do. “We'll surprise them,” Athena insisted. “Why don't you get your sister to join, too?”
“That's... not such a good idea,” Mignon argued. She didn't want to join Athena's team in the first place.
“Oh, come on! If I can get Ninon to agree, then will you?”
Confident that her sister would never join a team with her and Athena, Mignon agreed.
Southtown, New York
“Ten teams is a little less than what we thought,” Noel said. They'd passed the entry deadline for the tournament and were going through the entry forms, seeing who'd actually taken Alba seriously. He'd probably be around later, to make a tournament bracket.
“It'd be thirty people if Alba hadn't decided to go back to using teams. What was the point in that, anyway?”
Gallagher shrugged. “To make people work together, I think. To make it seem a little more like they're friends instead of rivals.”
“Oh, God,” Jude murmured from behind them. Noel and Gallagher turned to see what was the matter. Wordlessly, Jude held out a card—one of the same ones they'd been looking at all afternoon. “Look at who's coming.”
The friends all stared at the signatures. Soiree Meira, the card read. Did that mean that Soiree knew who he was and had just chosen not to come home?
“What do we do?” Noel asked at last. “He's going to find out eventually. We can't really keep it from him.”
“I guess we just let him find it,” Gallagher said. “Maybe he won't think anything of it.”
But they all knew that was a lie.