|
King of Fighters XI
Back when the Earth itself was named Gaia, there existed a being which represented its will, named Orochi, a creature which suffused the far east, particularly Japan.
But the earth's will was not represented by only one emissary... Rumors abound as to how many actually exist, ranging from ten to as many as one hundred. Moreover, it is said that each of these representatives was characterized by a particular attribute.
While Orochi was considered to be a force of nature, having originated in Japan, others were not... most specifically, the emissary from Western Europe. It had a group of loyal servants, much in the same fashion as Orochi had the Hakkesshuu. These servants lacked a formal title, and were simply referred to by a plural pronoun... "They" or "Them."
They hated all of humanity, with a fury like that which some humans held for wolves. From the outset, They actively sought to harm humans, and nothing could assuage Their hostility. Various Western religions over the centuries have attempted to explain what They were, and some tales persist to this day. They are most frequently thought of as "devils" or "demons," and they were feared and offered sacrifices, to appease them and keep them from rising up in force against humanity. Or indeed, against God himself...
However, as human society has grown and advanced, the balance of power has been tipped. The people of Ancient Europe were able to gradually find and kill Them, eliminating them as they would criminals... or more accurately, as they would animals.
Standing in stark contrast to the attitudes of Asia, which tended to prize living in harmony with nature, Westerners quickly began to lean more toward the attitude of conquering nature and using it for their benefit... for after all, were they not superior to all of nature? After several hundred years, the gruesome details of the horrors that They had inflicted upon humanity had faded, and people came to believe that the "demons" had been completely exterminated.
During this time, They waited, overpowered. From pre-historic times until the 7th century, They slowly diminished, fading away as a stream to a dry gully. As time passed, evidence of their actions or existence could no longer be seen.
Such was how one of the Earth's emissaries was rendered utterly powerless.
***
And here, the story moves forward to modern times. Because the events told here are fairly recent, it is unlikely that many still remember it. In the year 1999 AD, the planets of the Solar system moved into what is known as the "Grand Cross" formation... and the next year, into a Planetary Alignment.
The results of this are already known. One cult made many proclamations about the significance of these astronomical events, but they both passed without incident. Before and after each of them, there were reports of all manner of strange phenomena, but these were almost uniformly debunked as hoaxes and/or unrelated coincidences.
Here, we seek to verify the authenticity of the photograph included in this document. A Federal department kept records of this information in 2000, and continues to maintain them. In the middle of the photograph, there are seven or eight humanoid figures, and the testimony from local witnesses claims that they were people from space. (These claims were considered baseless for several years, and were thus never investigated.)
Look carefully at the people in the photograph. These people (assuming of course, that they are actually humans) were involved behind the scenes of 2003's King of Fighters global fighting tournament. Their leader in particular, a man who called himself Mukai, sought to break the seal that had been placed upon Orochi.
In addition, the woman on the left appears to be the very woman who somehow mind-controlled the head of the Yata clan, which has always stood in opposition to Orochi. This has been verified by the appropriate investigators.
In light of the details of said matter, it is my firm conviction that these people managed to make use of those rare astronomical occurrences to leap forward in time. Given that we have evidence of their appearance at various points in history, I do not doubt that these are the same individuals.
Now, to conclude. They refer to themselves as being from the ancient "His Distant Land," or rather, "His Ancient Land," to be more precisely accurate about it. I hope you won't think my theory to be preposterous. It would most certainly provide us with a key to unlocking the connection between these two seemingly-unrelated events....
***
"...You're a reckless fool," said a man, his body covered in strange tattoos, which shed an undulating blue light. With his huge eyes and abnormally long limbs, he gave off the impression more of some kind of insect or reptile than a human.
With his left hand, he held a crushing grip on the throat of another man. The documents that he'd held in his right hand fell to the ground, rustling and scattering like leaves.
There was a cruel snapping sound, like that of stepping on a dry twig, as the hapless man's neck was broken. Another man, with a slender body like that of a woman, stood beside the alien-looking figure, sank to his knees and began skimming over the documents scattered around.
"...That was close," said the effeminate man. "He didn't say if the report was legit, but we may not have long to finish getting ready. If it really is official government stuff, that leaves us with about a year. Either way, we can't keep much of a low profile anymore."
"Mukai said he had eliminated all humans who saw them... damn careless idiot," came the reply, in a voice as thin and reedy as the arms of the man who spoke them.
"Well, what are we supposed to do, Magaki? Just by us being here at all, time is against us, and someone will put the pieces together."
"By that, I assume that you intend to stand by Mukai, regardless of the consequences...?" said Magaki, as his appearance rapidly shifted to that of a normal human. Shion simply shrugged his delicate, womanly shoulders.
"You realize," Magaki continued, "what will happen to anyone who opposes me... even you or Mukai." Even now that he looked like a perfectly normal human being, he was still possessed of a fearsome presence.
With a sound like that of ripping paper, a thin hole tore itself open in midair. Inside it was empty space, featureless beyond being a somehow-indescribable shade of pale violet. Without even a sliver of discontent showing on his face, Magaki set one foot inside the tear.
Shion sniffed. "I ain't opposing you. I'm satisfied as long as I get to fight someone that'll get my blood boiling. But you tell me this, Mister Magaki, don't you think you oughta take humans a little more seriously?"
"You disappoint me, Shion," Magaki replied, sneering. "Parroting Mukai now, are you? You should consider thinking for yourself."
The hole in space began slowly to close. What lay beyond it, none but Magaki could say.
"'Full of potential,' he claims. Ridiculous," thought Magaki, and his arm bent at an angle impossible for any human to replicate.
"No matter," he said aloud to no one in particular. "If any of them survive to face me, we shall see just how much 'potential' they truly have." And with that, he was gone.
|