First round! Team Korea

We played a couple more songs before bowing and officially starting the KoF, we went backstage and there I had the chance to catch up with Shermie

-So what have you been up to over these past years?

-…Eric

-Yes?

-I am a member of the Hakkeshu

Ah you are not even gonna try to hide it huh? Perfect, I really did make an impact on her!

-…What?

-I am a member of the Orochi Hakkeshu

-Holy…ok, what is your problem with the world?

-Eric…

-Whatever it is, I will fix it

-What if I said it's people?

-I'd call bullshit

-What?

-Be real! If you hated people, we wouldn't be friends! You wouldn't have friends neither! Tell me what the issue is and I will fix it!

-…Did you know that Goenitz has you as a high priority target? Now that you are known to be alive, he will spare no effort in killing you…

-He is not strong enough! None of them are! Even Orochi himself will die like a bitch before me!

-Eric it's not so simple!

-Shermie! If you are telling me this, it clearly means you don't want us to fight! Besides! I promised Leona I would kill Orochi!

-…You really are the one they spoke of

-Shermie, be real with me, please! What is this all about?

-…I have come of age, and will soon inherit the blood of Orochi, I will gain it's power and destroy all enemies of the Hakkeshu…

-And just like with Leona, I will calm that down with the song of healing!

-You don't understand! This is far beyond even you! I know you are strong but…Orochi is the will of the world…how can we say that the world itself is wrong?

-Like this! FUCK YOU UNIVERSE! I DECIDE MY OWN FATE! NOT YOU!

-!!

-Shermie, I don't care how scared you might be, I need you to trust me! I won't fail!

-…

-With my power, I know I can defeat Orochi!

-…I have given you my message, for you to be safe, just leave, don't get in the way of the Hakkeshu anymore

-I refuse

-Then you will die again

-And all last time did was piss me off

-…

She bit her lip and even drew blood, I stopped her from leaving and healed her

-Don't hurt yourself dummy, I'll be fine

-…Eric…

-I promise you, it'll be fine

She hugged me, she is terrified of Orochi it seems, she also doesn't want the world to end, so it's my duty to kill her fear

After finally calming her down, I separated from her and went to meet with Chun-Li and Cammy, both greeted me happily and claimed

-Hell of a comeback song Eric

-Glad to know, I didn't expect the people to be fucking climbing the walls

-What did you expect? You are too damn talented

-Right, right, so who is our opponent?

-A team called…Rehabilitation? Dunno why, but it's composed of 3 men, one Taekwondo fighter, 1 big man with a god damn wrecking ball and one short man with claws

-Are weapons allowed?

-I think they are, either way, to be honest Eric, the only one who concerns me is the Taekwondo user, the other 2 seem to be…

-Weaklings?

-Not experienced

-You are too nice Chun-Li, so when is our fight?

-In 1 hour, do be ready ok?

-Obviously

So, team Korea is first huh? Chang, Choi and Kim, Chang and Choi at this point in time are nothing more than petty criminals…wait, Choi is a serial killer…welp, guess I won't feel bad breaking his arms then…then again, how many has he killed? Did we ever get a body count in that dude? Cause he always looked way too goofy for me to take seriously…

Whatever, Chang on the other hand should be a simpleminded thug/brute, he becomes a wholesome boy once Kim's program takes effect, so as it is now, I guess I am just going to kick his ass and knock him down a peg or two

Kim is the only serious threat as an actual martial artist, though unfortunately for him, he will be dragged down by his team…plus with my training, I am certain I can defeat him, if not, Chun-Li and Cammy should be able to, all I gotta do is bring him down a bit

Ah, of course, [Monica?]

-Choi Bunge has no confirmed kills, he has attacked people slicing their flesh but…that's about it, he was too useless to finish the job properly, no need for pity master, not against him

[Cool]

The battle style will be just like it was in KoF94, that means once you enter, you ain't out until you give up or are knocked out, so if you are too strong, you just kick everyone's ass and your teammates don't do squat

Well, it means little since we can rotate as we fight

We are going to fight all teams at least once, a…round robin format I think it was called? Regardless, as long as we win all fights, we'll be fine

Finally, after strategizing, we agreed that Chun-Li would go first, me next and finally Cammy for this first round, once set, we got ready and got on stage

-And so we begin! On the left, we have team "Street Fighters"!

An announcer suddenly introduced us and a bunch of people began cheering for us and more in particular, for me

-On the right, we have team "Rehabilitation!"

A lot less people cheered, the bias is obvious…still, I could see Kim's family cheering for him, speaking of, I looked around and I noticed both devil twins arriving in their demon form and landing amid the crowd, both greeted me as they went back to their human selves, I waved at them with a smile

Can't see anyone else, shame, but I will see them later, as I was thinking, Chun-Li jumped in and Choi Bounge entered as well, guess he is up first, Chun-Li will kick his ass, why do I know?

"Choi Bounge"

"Rank: B-"

"Age: 35"

"Strength: C+"

"Agility: A-"

"Magic: F-"

"Endurance: B-"

"Charisma: C+"

"Luck: D-"

"Perception: B"

"Chun-Li"

"Rank: A-"

"Age: 21"

"Strength: A-"

"Agility: A-"

"Magic: D"

"Endurance: A"

"Charisma: SSS+"

"Luck: B-"

"Perception: S"

Yeah…a serial killer vs a badass martial artist, he don't stand a chance, not yet at least, once he mellows out due to Kim then maybe, but as of now?

He seemed very confident with his Freddy Krueger claws but…

-First round! Chun-Li vs Choi Bounge! Begin!

Choi immediately took to the skies spinning like a missile before dropping like a torpedo, but…well

-Oooh! That's gotta hurt! Will he get back up?!

Yeah, Chun-Li received that dive with a kick to the chin, I really don't know if he can get back up…for the rest of the week…

-…Is he…dead?

-No, he isn't but…I really don't think he is getting up

The announcer realized it and announced

-K.O.! Chun Li wins the first round!

Chang entered the ring and took Choi back to Kim then he stood before Chun-Li, looking wary despite the massive fucking iron ball he is carrying on his back…

-Round 2! Begin!

Chang Koehan instead of attacking, made his iron ball spin around his head as he began inching closer, Chun-Li calmly waited for her chance and as Chang got too close, she launched a Kikosho, delivering brutal damage to Chang, he got sent flying and was out in an instant, Cammy sighed

-Is this all? What kind of tournament is this?!

-Cammy, those 2 aren't anything special, there is a reason that team is called "Rehabilitation" there is a good chance those 2 are random ass criminals who the actual threat took off the streets, Kim Kaphwam, that guy is a problem

-Still, he is alone, guess I won't get the chance to fight

-Yeah, even if Chun-Li fails, I will defeat him, next fight you go up first all right?

-Sounds good

-K.O.! Chun-Li wins!

Kim gave a noticeable sigh and he took Chang to the side before entering the fight himself

"Kim Kaphwam"

"Rank: A-"

"Age: 29"

"Strength: A"

"Agility: A-"

"Magic: F"

"Endurance: A-"

"Charisma: S-"

"Luck: A-"

"Perception: S"

There we go! First real threat of the day! Let's see what he can do!

-Fight!

Kim jumped up into the air and gave a dive kick to start off, Chun-Li sidestepped it and returned a kick of her own but in a flash, Kim landed, ducked underneath and gave a somersault kick that connected, sending Chun-Li back

-Holy!

-Told ya, he is the problem

She recovered but Kim was on the offensive, like a damn flying squirrel dude was constantly jumping up and delivering rains of kicks, Chun-Li could match him but their styles were very different, as long as he kept to the air, he would have the advantage

What followed was a series of kicks, somersaults, splits and a few projectiles, but overall, both were surprisingly even, but Chun-Li had the advantage when she delivered her kick barrage, however, Kim understood that and always backed off

After a prolonged exchanged, they actually stopped to talk

-You are fantastic lady, your training truly shines through!

-I could say the same for you…your team however…

-I know, it only shows that they lack training, but this is nothing more than the start, these 2 criminals shall be rehabilitated through the power of Taekwondo!

He genuinely believes that

-I see…well, as things stand, I don't think I can bring an end to this fight anymore, so I am giving up

-I see…it's a shame, but so be it, I won't lose this fight!

-I would hope so, your next opponent is not one to be taken lightly

Chun-Li casually gave up and headed our way

-I leave the rest to you Eric

-Gotcha

This should be interesting

I jumped in the arena and greeted Kim

-Yo!

-So you are my opponent…I truly thought you were just a singer

-I am a man of many talents, unfortunately I lack the talent to redeem scum like you can

He seemed happy at my praise

-I am glad to see someone acknowledge my effort, but I still won't give up

-Nor would I let you, let me see just how strong your will is

He smiled and got in his stance

-Come forth!

-As you wish

-Round 4! Fight!

I purposefully stalled this time, I want to end this in one move, but I don't want to disrespect Kim, so I fought in the most conservative way I could, actually making it look like a very close fight, answering his kicks with my fists, his air time with my speed, but I knew I could win easily

He was drained after fighting with Chun-Li, and as I kept on blocking and countering his attacks, he finally slipped up and gave me a window with a sloppy somersault kick

-Gotcha

-! Oh no!

Suddenly, 4 blue fires appeared around him, fires I previously had left

-What?!

-Shiranui-Ryuu: Kyuubi no Kitsune

I snapped my fingers

A blue fire pillar emerged and consumed him, he was sent flying to his side completely out, of course the fire is way weaker than an actual flame, after all, I wanna knock him out, not grill him

The referee went to check on him but upon seeing he was ok, he shouted

-K.O.! Team Street fighters win!

I breathed a sigh of relief and went to Kim, he woke up nearly instantly

-You ok?

-Yes…seems like I lost

-It ain't the end of the world, you still got many more rounds ahead

-True…still, that was fantastic

I offered my hand and he took it

-Goes both ways, you are something else sir, if the opportunity arises, let's do this again

He laughed at my enthusiasm

-It'll be my pleasure Eric

We shook hands to show there were no hard feelings and the people cheered for us, we separated and I went to my team

-It was quite the easy first round

Cammy commented

-Indeed, but that was merely luck, Mister Kim should be considered as the basic level of all fighters here, those 2 thugs merely got lucky they had someone to carry them

-Chun-Li…I don't think those 2 are here because they want to be…

I looked at both criminals in pity as Kim spoke to them and their faces got paler and paler…he is as spartan as ever it seems