The Final Struggle (For King of Fighters)

~Chapter Seventeen: Relapse~

At an unknown location...

"Master Kusanagi... I'm so sorry."

"For what reason?"

"It's because... I have contacted you so late." the spy quietly said, trembling as her superior walked towards her.

"You should've done that anyway."

"But... you know that we did have the chance to kill that Tsuki girl."

"No, we didn't, since that friend of hers was there, and you know that she would ruin everything."

"But... Master Kusanagi--"

"Silence!" Kusanagi growled, his fists were glowing with flames and they were aimed right at her.

"Yes, sir." the spy quickly responded as her superior smirked.

"You should be thankful that I didn't burn you now... but if you ever try to question me again, you will not be so lucky! Now leave my sight!" the clone screamed as he extinguished his flames.

"Yes, Master Kusanagi." the young girl said as she obeyed her superior's command without any hesitation. After she had left, the twisted clone simply smirked to himself.

'It's time for you to suffer once again, my favorite little wench...'

Later that night...

"Okay, Miyuki's channel surfing at the moment, and the takeout should be here in a few minutes." Kyo called to Emi from the bathroom. Afterwards, the young heir quietly sighed to himself as he removed his shirt and slipped on a tank top in place. As he looked at his reflection in the mirror, he began to sense something...

"It's you..."

"It seems that you're not surprised to encounter me again, Kyo."

"That is pretty obvious, fucker." the Kusanagi heir quickly spat.

"Heh... I guess my little minions have already told you about keeping your guard up."

"Yes, they did. Now just leave me alone, and I won't have to burn you later."

"Oh no... I'm planning to give you the time of your life tonight... but for now, I guess I might as well leave you to some of your personal issues."

"That's fair enough." Kyo muttered as he left the bathroom, then the doorbell rang.

"Emi! Are you going to get the door this time?"

"Yes, Master Kyo!" the young heiress called in response.

"Okay, but please don't eat everything before it reaches the table, alright?"

"Alright!" Emi replied as Miyuki came out of the guest room and took her seat next to Kyo in the kitchen.

"Kumebara-chan... you're still holding Emi's invitation?" the Kusanagi heir asked as Emi placed his order in front of him.

"Yeah. Man, I'm so excited to take part in this year's KOF! I mean, we get to battle in many places and stay in luxury hotels around the world! Aren't you guys excited?" Miyuki cried out as Kyo simply opened his box of food and sighed.

"Miyuki... I only take part in these tournaments because I know that hell's going to break loose one way or another in there. I can't blame you for having a different point of view, though."

"Yes, I know. But it wouldn't hurt to have a bit of fun, eh?"

"Yeah... I guess. So, Emi... did you tell your hell-spawned sister about the tournament yet?"

"I planned to do that after we ate, Master Kyo." the Tsuki heiress replied.

"You might as well do that now, since you're already done, chibi buta. (little pig.)" Miyuki playfully said, causing her best friend to stick her tongue out in response.

"I swear, you two will wreak havoc soon enough." Kyo said as Emi left the kitchen, giggling at her master's response as she did so.

"Hey, now that she's gonna call Keiko, do you think that she'll talk about how she's going to kill you?"

"That's very obvious, Miyuki." the Kusanagi heir muttered as he continued to talk and eat with the sporty girl. As they did so, Emi was in the master bedroom dialing the number to her former home. After a few rings, she heard that familiar voice.

"Hello?"

"Keiko, it's Emi."

"Ah, it's been a while. Is something up?"

"Um... Master Kyo and I have received invitations to the next King of Fighters tournament."

"Oh, so you want me to be your teammate then?"

"That's right."

"That's so kind of you, sister. I'll just seize the chance to slash that Kusanagi baka in half at the tournament." Keiko said as Emi sweatdropped.

"No, Keiko... this is very serious. I mean, Master Kyo predicted that Kusanagi is behind all of this, and now his servants want your head for killing that clone a while ago."

"Then they might as well suffer the same fate if they intend to extract revenge on me."

"Heh, that's my angry little sister. Oh, and by the way, can you meet us here before the tournament begins?"

"I might as well come tomorrow and train with you guys."

"Sounds fair. And just make sure that any murder attempts on Master Kyo will ultimately fail." Emi said and laughed.

"Yeah, whatever. Listen, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. Good night, sister."

"Same to you." the samurai heiress said before she hung up, and Emi did the same, smiling in the process.

"So, did I interrupt your little reunion?" Kyo said as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"No, I just finished speaking to her."

"Oh, okay. And by the way, Miyuki's back in the guest room." the young heir said, then he placed a hand on his forehead once again.

"Um, Master Kyo... are you okay? You have been acting pretty strange tonight..." the Tsuki heiress whispered as she walked up to him and began to place a hand on his shoulder, but it was grabbed in a split second.

"What the--"

"It's time to suffer once again, little wench..." is what the now controlled Kyo said in a menacing tone as he pinned the frightened Emi to the bed and gave her a sadistic smile during the entire process.

"You coward... you hope to attain victory by using my master's body?"

"That's not what I had in mind at all. My decision was to simply humiliate you while I am in this current state."

"No... you won't!"

"Just watch me, little girl..." the twisted clone said and smirked as he used the young heir's body to rip a shred of her clothing off. Afterwards, the young heiress began to struggle against his tight hold.

"I guess I won't be able to stick around for your sick enjoyment, Kusanagi..." Emi quietly whispered as she lightly smiled and performed an overhead throw. Then she jumped over the bed and quickly left the room, calling for her best friend as she ran through the hallway. As soon as she turned around, she came face to face with that familiar gaze of blood red eyes locking onto her own.

"Are you going somewhere, little wench?"

"No... but you will." the Tsuki heiress said and smirked as she saw Miyuki pin the controlled Kyo to the floor.

"Hah... didn't know that I could pin the Kusanagi heir so easily, eh?"

"Maybe... and Miyuki... you're about to break my freaking arm in two!"

"Kyo?! I'm so sorry!" the sporty girl cried out as she let go of the young heir's arm, then she helped him rise to his feet.

"Shit... I never knew that he could actually control me..."

"Maybe he's just giving us his own personal invitation." Miyuki quietly muttered.

"So... he really wants us to participate in this tournament. But for now, we can just rest and straighten out this mess later." Kyo said as he began to head back to his room, the girls were hot on his heels.

"Alright. I'll see you in the morning, Miyuki." Emi said as she hugged her best friend.

"Same to you, Emi." the sporty girl said and smiled as she returned the friendly affection before retiring to their rooms for the night...

And Kusanagi simply smirked as he gave one last glimpse at his enemies before he vanished into the night...

'I'm ready to give you the surprise of your life, Miss Emi...'

~end of chapter seventeen~