The King of Fighters

The dust arose about his scantily clad body as he hit the ground with a sudden "Oomph" sound. Electric Sparks shot about his body as he tried with all his strength to push his body up from the desert Ground below him. Strands of blonde stood in a tall mass upon his head. Pushing himself up to one knee he hunched over and draped his left arm across his abdomen, coughing up a few dry lurches of thick red blood. He looked up slowly to the man who had caused him so much pain. He pulled off the black T-shirt, which ended midriff and tossed it to the ground in front of him. Formerly white jeans were now stained a yellow-Grey color. Brushing off his pants quickly he looked up to the red haired opponent standing before him. Iori Yagami.

"Well Benimaru…you proved to be somewhat entertaining for a little while. But I've grown tired of your arrogant attitude so I bid you a fine farewell".

With those words Iori Raised one of those deadly hands to his side, the purple Magatama flame grew in his palm as he charged his strength for the incoming attack. Iori thrust the flame forward. The flame slid across the floor, making pillar after pillar of purple flame to grow and shoot about from the ground. Benimaru waited for a few moments for the pillar to get close then rolled through the first pillar. Then the second one neared and Benimaru went into another roll through the pillar, leaving him unharmed as he straightened up right in front of Iori. Benimaru only thrust his fist forward, landing a perfect punch on Iori's face. It was only a moment later that a large ball of electricity exploded from his fist and engulfed Iori. Causing the insane fighter to be sent spiraling into the air. Only to fall to the ground with a loud crash. A bleeding Iori only lay on the ground. Beaten by Benimaru Nikaido.

" Thank You!"

Chapter 2

Back in the tiny café, owned by another Muay Thai kickboxer, King. Benimaru sat on the stool at the very edge of the bar. His arms draped across the bartop as he stared into a glass or Red Wine that was sitting on the bartop in front of him. Noticing King making her way towards him from behind the bar, cleaning off a glass in her hands. She smiled a bit to him and nodded a hello.

"Benimaru? It has been some time, am I correct monsieur? What brings you around these parts my Narcisistic friend?"

Benimaru looked up to her and smiled a bit as he brushed a few long blonde strands from his eyes and took a sip of the red wine he had in front of him. "Well I just got out of bed for the first time in a week. I got hurt pretty badly in a fight with Iori and I had some internal bleeding. So this is the first time I've been here in a while…nice place ya got here".

"Why thank you Benimaru. It has been a tough time to get Illusion up and running fully. But the toughest part was finding a good waitress. Luckily a friend of mine owed me a favor."

King winked an eye at Benimaru and then motioned over her shoulder to a young lady taking orders behind her. It was none other then Yuri Sakazaki. Yuri was dressed in a normal waitress's cocktail uniform and was handing a pair of drinks to an elderly couple. She turned around after handing them out and smiled to King, noticing Benimaru in the stool behind King, Yuri gave an embarrassed look. Yuri looked as though she was just about to run into the backroom when King waved her over to them. As Yuri neared, King whispered something in her ear. Afterwards King walked behind Yuri and began wiping down a few wineglasses. Yuri stepped forward to Benimaru and gave a little sigh and a strange look as she spoke.

"Hello sir. Welcome to illusion…run by the…aww King do I gotta' say it?"

"Yes you do Yuri"

"Alright alright…run by the Muay Thai Beauty King…There ya happy?!"

King only nodded in response and continued to clean the glasses.

"Would you like a drink Mr.Nikaido? Perhaps the house wine, found by our beautiful owner"

Yuri spoke pretty quietly and looked down embarrassed at the floor. She didn't really like the job she had and was embarrassed that someone with a boyfriend like Robert Garcia who was as rich as he was would need a job for pocket change. But recently Robert, along with a group of other fighters had gone missing and disappeared suddenly after matched that they had won.

"No thanks Yuri. But you do look kinda cute in that there dress…How about you and me go and have something to eat. Italian perhaps?"

"Beni…you're cute but not anything like my Robert. But I'm sure there's someone around that's perfect for ya."

Benimaru nodded a bit and took another sip of his wine, finishing the glass of the red liquid. Placing about ten American dollars over the price of the drink he waved a goodbye to Yuri and King and left the bar. Walking down the street, his head lowered a bit as he worked at lighting a cigarette, which rested between his lips. Slipping the cigarette between his fingers he took a right turn into an alleyway. His arms lowered to his sides as he walked. Looking about slowly he noticed a light flicker coming from behind a large pile of trash. Benimaru stopped walking for a moment and tossed the cigarette away. Lowering himself into the Muay That stance he fought with and awaited something to happen. After a minute or so he straightened up and began to walk again. Just before he reached the pile of garbage a red flame shot out of the side directly at Benimaru. Kyo Kusungai leapt from his hiding spot and sent a swift kick as Benimaru's face; Benimaru blocked the first kick but then caught a kick to his chest and was knocked to the ground at Kyo's feet. Kyo laughed a bit as he held out a hand for Benimaru to help him up. Benimaru stood and brushed himself off and the two of them headed off for Benimaru's apartment. Although Benimaru couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. Benimaru turned about after a moment to see what was giving him that feeling. The sudden breeze he caught caused him to be alert for a moment. Narrowing his eyes he strained to see what might have gave him that feeling. Seeing nothing he turned about to Kyo and the two walked out of the alleyway together. Benimaru never saw the gleam of the knife in the darkness as a cloth passed over the blade.

Chapter 3

Back in the Pao Pao Café Billy Kane and Yamazaki stood in front of the desk of a man shadowed by the darkness of the room. The room was eloquently furnished with rare furniture, vivid carpets, and beautiful paintings. The man leaned forward a bit; his face no longer shadowed. The man's hands were placed under his chin, holding his head up. The man had short blonde hair, darkly tanned skin, and a handsomely pointed nose. The man was well known around the town he was in. South Town. The man was Geese Howard, the crime lord of South Town. Known for his ruthlessness Geese was a powerful fighter and a cold-blooded killer.

"Billy…I hope you bring me good news about Kusunagi or Bogard…I grow tired of waiting for your report on them."

Billy leaned upon the cane that he carried with him at all times. "Well boss…Bogard and Higashi are somewhere in Thailand…Kusunagi is in South Town with Benimaru Nikaido. But there's been a sudden disappearance a bunch of fighters around the world. It's really strange. Yamazaki has a list of people who have disappeared"

The tall and heavily muscled man sat in a chair a few feet behind Billy, cleaning off the blade of his knife on a cloth his hand. He had black hair on the sides of his head, but the entire top of his hair was dyed a bright blonde.

"Geese…The fighters that disappeared are Robert Garcia, Kasumi Todo, Mai Shiranui, Ryo Sakazaki, and Jhun Hoon. Those are the fighters that disappeared so far. It seems that the person who abducted these fighters is of great strength. Ryo, Robert and Mai were all taken in the same night. All of them were in different spots so the abductor must have been very fast…or working with two others."

Geese only nodded a bit and waved his hand a bit. Turning his chair about so his back was now to the two men.

"Find that man who is abducting those fighters…and kill him. I wont allow anyone to endanger my empire of corruption that I've tried so hard to create."

They both gave a nod and Billy braced his cane over his shoulders and Yamazaki stood, slipping the knife into his pocket, along with his right hand. The two left moments later.