6 06- Kops & Combatants IV: The Reckoning.

The floor had suddenly risen up, going up to what I believed to be forty feet high, though I could be wrong in that estimate.

At least the sound of cheering and jeering became quieter along the way up. I honestly don't even know how they managed this, there had to be something in the building's blueprints that would have revealed this…

Yet, from the investigators reports, this contraption had never existed, it wasn't anywhere on the blueprints. This meant that this must have either been something new, or the investigators reports weren't covering everything.

"Alright everybody! Time to change things up!" A voice made itself known, seemingly coming from various speakers.

The lights suddenly turned on, their illumination washing out the colors of the platform and also nearly blinding me.

"With us here are two duos battling against each other! The One-Man Wrecking Crew Rekyrts and The Cunning Kira versus The Masked Labak and King Kobra!" The speakers announced, welcoming the distant voices from below.

As we bathed in the illumination, I looked to my partner for a moment before nodding towards her.

Kira had several small blades on her while I had this kickass katana, 'Labak' and Kobra on the other hand only had their fists.

Sure, I knew that having a weapon didn't actually give all that much of an advantage, especially against someone like Kabal, but it made me feel a bit more confident in my chances of success.

As if to play a joke on me, the platform decided to start fucking spinning, nearly causing me to lose my footing before I regained my balance.

On the other side of the platform, I idly noticed that Kobra had actually fallen on his ass, getting back up after that with an annoyed grimace.

"That's right, boys and girls! We've added a rotation system in order to mess with the fighters' balance and spice things up! Now, it's time to start the fight!" The voice over the speakers shouted out excitedly.

With that said, the sound of the bell rang out, the noises dying down as the audiences focused on the match.

Dasing toward me with incredible speed, Kabal threw a swift kick which I hurriedly blocked with the flat of my blade.

Kira on the other hand, promptly started attacking Kobra with her knives, causing him to focus on her and keeping him distracted while I fought my opponent.

The muscles in my arms ached slightly with pain as I endured the sheer power of Kabal's next kick with my sword while he slightly leaned towards me, dodging a wayward knife.

"Listen, Kurt. I'm going to get in contact with the others, so I need to job here. Do your best to win, alright?" Kabal whispered to me, as I nodded before pushing him away with my sword, sending him flying backwards.

I then quickly ran over to him, and started wailing on him, as he 'futilely' attempted to stop me with kicks and punches that didn't appear to do anything to me.

It was very much obvious to me that Kabal was holding back quite a bit for this fight of ours.

It would seem to anyone watching the fight between myself and 'Labak' that the rotating floor and blinding lights were disorienting to him, and screwing up his movements.

He looked at me for a moment, before nodding ever so slightly as he raised his chin up to me, literally inviting me to knock him out.

"Goodbye, Labak!" I shouted dramatically, as I knocked him out with a swift uppercut, causing him to fly backwards onto the floor.

He made an 'attempt' to stand up, before ultimately crumpling onto the floor unconscious.

I then looked over to the fight between Kira and Kobra, and honestly? Kobra was doing surprisingly decently for a hotheaded brute.

For every cut along his body, he made sure to strike back against Kira as ferociously.

But it seemed that he noticed his partner's loss, as he gained an enraged look on his face before charging at Kira, who had backed away from him and was barraging him with her blades.

"I'm not going to lose here! Not to a fucking bitch like you!" Kobra shouted, as he conjured a… ball of energy within his hands, which looked suspiciously like a Hadouken from Street Fighter.

He then fired a ball of fire towards Kira, who quickly moved out of the way of the blazing ball, responding by throwing another one of her knives at him.

"Argh!" Kobra grunted in pain as the knife sunk into his shoulder, "You fucking skank! I'll make the rest of your life a living hell! The little amount of time you have left!"

Kobra then pulled the knife out of his shoulder, rushed towards Kira, blade in hand, intent on gutting her with her own knife.

That was, at least before I intercepted him, shoulder checking the man into the floor of the platform.

He quickly got up and tried to sweep my leg from below, but was stopped by Kira who in a shocking show of teamwork, threw another knife into his leg.

'King Kobra' himself screamed as he clutched his now bleeding leg, before I knocked him out with a kick to the head.

"The One-Man Wrecking Crew Rekyrts, and The Cunning Kira have won the Semi-Finals! And thus, after an hour to rest and recuperate, they shall duke it out in the Finals in order to gain a chance to win the Grand Prize!" The voice over the speakers announced cheerfully, as the platform stopped spinning and slowly began to descend back onto the floor.

As the platform fully lowered itself to the floor, the two of us were led away, while the other two combatants were taken away by what I assumed to be paramedics to help with their wounds.

Entering our destination, we were met with the sight of a large table filled with various types of food and drinks. Strangely enough, there wasn't anyone else in the room and there seemed to be no noticeable cameras around.

The men who led us into the room left and the doors closed behind us, causing me to look around the room a second time, after all, who's to say that they didn't discover my identity and that this was a way to kill me before I made my report?

"This is honestly quite surprising." I muttered to myself, as I looked at the sheer luxury that was in front of me. After all, the arena was a rather cheap and shoddy looking affair, and yet this room looked like it'd belong in some sort of castle.

"Yes, yes it is rather surprising" Kira agreed with me, before sitting down in a velvet chair and grabbing some food for herself, "But I do believe that we should have some food to gain as much energy as possible for our bout"

With that, the two of us just started eating our… I want to say dinners? But I honestly had no idea what time it was, due to there being no clocks or windows to the outside.

I had a rather nice steak seasoned quite well, along with some mashed potatoes and vegetables. It was a simple 'dinner', but that's all I really needed.

After a few minutes of eating, Kira finished with her lobster and salmon before looking up to me.

"So Stryker, how are you enjoying your steak?" Kira asked, setting her cutlery to the side.

"Oh it's great- wait" I said instinctively, not registering the name she'd called me until I'd already started talking… well fuck.

___

Kira POV:

"How did you know?" He asked, hand on his knife, presumably in an attempt to threaten me into silence.

"It's rather obvious, no?" I asked, as I gestured to himself, it was a rather simple disguise and honestly? I don't believe anyone fell for it, except for that buffoon, Kobra, "You can't just put an obviously fake mustache on and pretend you're an entirely different person, and it was rather obvious. I mean, Rekyrts? Really?"

It didn't help that he'd been the news quite a few times, Kurtis Stryker was basically a celebrity in New York City.

"Fuck" Kurtis Stryker muttered to himself, "Should've never gone with that name"

"Yeah, I mean… Rekyrts? It's like you were literally asking to be found out" I said teasingly, "Almost like that Labak fellow. It was rather obviously Kabal of the Black Dragon Clan, honestly it's downright insulting. Just using your name backwards? What, do you think we're idiots?"

He tensed up upon hearing that, it seemed that I had struck a nerve with that. Now, how could I use this to my advantage?

"You know, if I didn't know any better. I'd say that you were after Kabal… looking to get a 'big break' when it comes to the Black Dragons? And take out an illegal arena at the same time in one fell swoop? Very ambitious of you, officer. It'll probably get you quite a few awards and even a promotion." I said as I leaned over to him, noticing as he clenched the knife in anger.

"What do you want, Kira?" He asked through gritted teeth, as the knife in his hand bent due to his frustration.

"Oh, nothing much Officer Stryker. I just want your assistance in taking out ol' Hornbuckle. You see, he took something of mine that I desperately want back" I said, idly twirling one of the knives in my hand.

"That's all?" He asked, causing me to smile at his response.

"Well, if you want me to ask more of you, then be my guest and give me some ideas" I said, my smile growing wider. It was always nice to be the one in power in these situations.

"What is it that you want back?" He asked instead, causing my smile to drop.

I remembered the large form of Hornbuckle entering my home when I was a little girl… ruthlessly murdering my father with a simple bullet to the head, before forcing himself upon my mother, all because of a small loan that they had only been a few hundred dollars from paying off.

I remembered the so-called 'police officers' actively hiding the evidence due to Hornbuckle and his gang paying them off… and my father's death and mothers despoilment being ruled as an accident.

I remembered staying up every night listening to my mother sobbing inconsolably for nights on end, until one night the sobs suddenly stopped and I no longer had a mother.

I remembered going through the foster system, going from home to home, never finding a home of my own.

…I remembered living in the streets with just a knife to my name, training like my life depended on it, because it did.

And I remembered finding a man advertising "Hornbuckle's Arena", and gaining the chance at my revenge.

"My dignity. That's what he took. Hornbuckle took everything that I have, and he probably doesn't even remember it" I said, venom lacing my tone as I stabbed the knife into the table, "So. I would like your assistance in ending his life. What do you say, partner?"

"You want me to drop out of the fight, don't you?" Stryker asked, causing me to shake my head.

"No. Of course not… when we go onto that stage. I want the both of us to call upon Hornbuckle himself… a two on one fight. It's a thing around here, called the Horned Buckle, dumb name I know. But it allows the two finalists to instead face the founder in combat" I said, a slight smile making its way to my face as I imagined eviscerating the man who had destroyed my life.

It was the only thing that I ever dreamed of at night… I had fantasies at night, filled with thoughts of his death, ripping the man in half with my bare hands or gutting him with my blades…

"Hmm… Alright then, I'm in. As long as you don't tell anyone that I'm after Kabal. Can't let that shit get out" Stryker said, as he extended his hand and I shook it.

As long as he helped me with this? I was fully willing to keep my silence.

"Of course, Mr. Stryker. I truly do think this will be a beautiful and fruitful partnership" I said as I seductively licked my lips, causing him to gulp slightly.

His reactions were honestly quite cute… but I can't think about flights of fancy like romance until Hornbuckle's twenty feet under.

With our discussion done, we had five minutes to prepare for our final fight in Hornbuckle's Arena, and I felt an actual sense of hope… and righteous fury towards the man who probably didn't even think about what he did to me and my family.

____

And that's the chapter, hope you all enjoyed it. Decided to come up with an original backstory for Kira, purely because… I wanted to.

I've got a couple of plans for Kobra in the future, so I didn't want to kill him off here… but it was damn close.