"Like Minds, Chapter 2" By Bloodshade Shadowclaw ======================== Red and Benimaru stood outside the entrance to a Shinto Temple. "Hey, Benimaru." "Yeah, Red?" "Why are we here again?" "Well, we're here because another friend of Kyo's wanted to see you." "Me?" "Yep. Her name's Chizuru Kagura, and she's been fighting this evil force with Kyo for years...You can probably guess the rest." "Excuse me..." A female voice said. Red turned. A middle-aged woman with brown hair, dressed in a white shirt with poofy sleeves, wearing black pants stood just inside the temple entrance. "Lady Chizuru will see you now....." =ALDEN= The Extinctioners and Kyo were on their way to getting briefed on their latest mission, but first Kyo had to get to know this world better... Cee Cee sat with Walice on a couch as she did a quick pencil sketch of Kyo, as she had never seen a real human before and thought this would be a good, albeit rather improper time to churn out a quick piece...Pandora leaned against a wall, as did most of the others, who were either scattered around the room or gathered around a large table. "Obviously you just got here, and as such, I don't expect you to know much about our world, Kyo..." Phenix said with a anger-laced, somewhat casual tone in her voice as she continued, "But, I do expect you to educate yourself at least a little before you go around fighting your new teammates... Catrina has invisibilty powers, and had I not stopped her, she very well could have killed you....." Kyo looked rather nonchalant as he listened to the Phoenocian. "Look.....I know I kinda provoked her, and I'm sorry for that. But she had no right to call me a 'skintard' either." "Kyo, you have to understand. We don't exactly have a positive attitude towards humans. We'll save the 'why' for later...We have a mission." Phenix opened a drawer at a nearby file cabinet in the corner and removed a folder, placing its contents on the table... Kyo quickly scanned the papers, hoping to find something familiar, at least to him... =EARTH= "You can come in... and Benimaru, you're welcome to stay..." Chizuru said as the door closed behind the two. "Got it. I'll hang around for a bit..." Beni piped. "So, Red, you have no idea how you got here?" Red thought hard for a second, then said, "Nope, I'm shot on that." Chizuru smiled as she remarked, "We may be a while. Please, sit. You won't be going anywhere, I assume." Red kneeled on the tatami. "I see Benimaru has taught you at least some things about our culture.He may have forgotten some things, though." Chizuru said as Beni glared from against the wall. "Now to business...It seems Kyo has disappeared and that you have taken his place. I believe you may be worthy to be his replacement in the upcoming King of Fighters tournament." "Yeah, Beni was kinda talking about it to me earlier." Chizuru smirked and stood up, putting one hand in front of her as she said, "You may find me, as well as your hopeful adversaries, to be a much harder opponent than Benimaru...I hope you've prepared yourself." *Maker, what's with all the people wanting to fight me here!?* Red thought as he went into a defensive stance... =ALDEN= "Dammit!" Kyo slammed his fist into the wall, trying desperately not to ignite his fire out of anger. He hated being treated like a newbie. The rest of the team was out on their mission, and Kyo was left to stew with Slyvester "Sly" Greytail and his girlfriend Erica "Foxy" Starfox, looking after him like he was some little kid... "Mister Kusanagi, Calm down. You just need more training with the others, and Phenix said you can go with them when you're ready." Erica quipped in an effort to console him. "Ready!? I've been fighting in tournaments and battling the Orochi my entire fucking life! Don't tell me I'm not ready!" Kyo tried to keep his voice down, but he was still a little pissed over the ordeal. Sly spoke up, "I don't know what this 'Orochi' is, but trust me, it's probably nothing compared to what we've dealt with sometimes..." He threw a knowing glance at Foxy, then went back to cleaning his gun. Kyo glared at Sly, then leaned against the wall, playing around with his flame, and waiting. Foxy was starting to stare at his fire, watching it dance along Kyo's fingers. She tried to break the uncomfortable mood by striking up a conversation... "Hey, Kyo. Can you do that with other fire? Like, not just your own?" "I dunno, I never tried." Erica began digging around in a small bag on a nearby desk, and brought over an ancient, beat-up-looking Zippo. "Do you want to?" =EARTH, JAPAN= Red slammed into the floor from Chizuru's latest Yata Mirror assault, rolling onto his side as he spat blood from his muzzle, his hoodie torn in some places. *Damn, that woman is fast...I can't keep up. Fuck.*He thought. His bushy tail was swishing in frustration as Chizuru walked up to him and offered a hand. "You've got stamina, I'll give you that, Red. I'd best get your wounds tended to. Judging by that last couple of hits, you might have a fractured rib..." Red slapped her hand away, wincing as he helped himself up. Chizuru ignored the hostile gesture and continued on with her rather one-sided conversation. "The King of Fighters Tournament is no joke, Redford. Every opponent will be this hard, make no mistake, and frankly, if you can't cut it, well...you're fucked. I am willing to help you prepare for the KOF, but you must be willing to meet me halfway." The vulpin wiped a smear of blood from his lip as he asked, "Yeah? Halfway how?" Chizuru smiled and said, " The tournament consists of teams of three. Right now, you and Benimaru make two." "And you want to go with us?" "I must. The Orochi may be up to their tricks again..." Chizuru's face grew more serious at the mention of "Orochi". Red saw the look on her face and nodded. "I understand..." "Good. Now, let's get you to the hospital...I don't know if they'll be any good at treating someone like yourself, but there's no harm in trying...Come on, now." =EARTH, OROCHI'S LAIR= A middle-aged man sat in a small chair, his long black hair cascading over his shoulders as he stared into the candellight chandelier hanging from the ceiling, illuminating a small, beak-like nose between bright violet eyes. His mouth smirked slightly as a few guests made themselves known to the door a little harshly. "Enter." The door burst open as Vice and Mature walked in, looking somewhat harried. Vice was first to speak. "Xenif, What the fuck is taking you so goddamn long? I swear, if Goenitz didn't like you, I'd--" "Miss Vice, please. I'm ready. I was just waiting for you two. My, you look beautiful when you're angry." Vice's scowl almost softened at the flirt wrapped in the comment."Let's go then, Goenitz is waiting for you...and he doesn't like to be kept that way." Goenitz was waiting for them at the end of the hall. "Vice, Mature, I'll take it from here." He said as he left the two of them, and guided the somehow-now-human Xenif to a shrine. Goenitz tended to the shrine offerings as he remarked, "Your Orochi powers are becoming stronger...I may have to promote you soon, Xenif-san..." Xenif nodded in acknowledgement, but he knew it wasn't the Orochi fueling his powers, it was the Phoenix part of him, which had somehow stayed with him when Phenix threw him into this world...He had become human, like these people, and had lost his avian appearance, save for a few human facial features to help keep himself recognizable. This "Orochi" deity had, however, given his own powers a bit of a boost. Xenif would admit at least that much. He joined into servitude a few weeks ago, because he believed they could help him find who he was looking for, despite her apparent hatred of him... But they seemed to be more concerned with the resurrection of their "god" than helping him. Goenitz had finished tending to the shrine, and was reading Xenif's thoughts. He spoke up to snap him out of his deep thinking. "Xenif, I realize you miss your friend. We're working on it, but we have much more important matters at hand than finding her. I hope you understand this.....Try not to dwell on it too much. In the meantime, learn to embrace Orochi. He will make you stronger... He has done so for all who serve in His name. You'd best get going. Vice wishes to talk to you in private about a personal matter....." Xenif departed, almost sure of what she wanted to discuss... Vice was at the door to his quarters when he got there. Her expression wasn't an angry one for once. She shut the door behind him and pulled Xenif into a tight embrace, smiling as she did so. "How was last night, birdie?" The former phoenix smiled as he remarked, "Wonderful, milady. But you still have a ways to go before you can replace her, I'm afraid." He ran his fingers through her brown hair. So soft, touchable...He couldn't imagine it being any other way. "You've been using my shampoo again.....How is Mature taking this?" "She still doesn't know. We may fight as a team, but even I have some secrets of my own...Maybe it's best that way." "Vice, we can't keep this charade up forever...I hate to say it, but it's true. Someone's going to find us out eventually..." "Well, no harm trying, right?" She smirked evilly. Xenif broke the cuddle as he sighed and said, "You truly are a tough one, Vice. And you have duties other than me, you know. Now go on.......Chop-chop." He smiled as she walked away.