Even more of Kimdom Come! Lots of dialogue! Little else!
by Gavok
The next day, Kim traveled to South Town. He walked through Geese Tower, whistling out loud.
"Man alive," he said to himself, "I sure am racking up some frequent flyer miles."
He came to a door, guarded by Ripper and Hopper.
"Kim Kaphwan," Ripper started.
"The boss will see you now," Hopper finished.
They opened the door for him and allowed Kim to enter the office. Once inside, Kim saw a man standing near the window, looking downward at the streets below. He stared at the city he owned.
"It's been a while," Kim said, watching the sinister, hakama-clad figure. "I'm sure you probably know why I'm here. I need your help. I need your help in keeping this world under control."
"Why should I care about that?" the other man said.
"Because we've been through so much together. And despite everything that's happened, I know that your heart believe in the ideals of justice."
Rock Howard turned around, the splitting image of his father, except for his red eyes, "How can I help bring order to the world when I can't even bring order to this city?"
"Huh. You look just like him, Rock. Down to the slicked back blond hair."
"Everyone tells me that."
Kim sat down in one of the stray chairs in the room. "They told me that you killed your father, only to become him. I didn't believe it, but now..."
"To be honest, that's not completely true. What happened was Terry Bogard knocked my father off the roof of this tower and into the streets below. He fell through the concrete and into the subway under it. Then he got hit by a train. The train dragged him around for several miles. Then he got up and staggered around until he randomly stepped onto a landmine and blasted upward, out into the street. Then the Thanksgiving parade came by. With elephants."
Kim scratched his head. "That doesn't sound like you killed him."
"I pulled the plug at the hospital."
"Oh."
Rock turned back to the window, watching the rat race outside. "So in what way can I help you, Kim?"
"I need to create a stronghold to keep reformees in. There will be too many for me to just keep in the mansion. I figured you were the man to ask."
Rock thought to himself while slightly nodding. "Hm... I will help you. But it cannot be in South Town. It's dangerous enough as it is these days. Rather, I'll have your prison built in Seoul, in the middle of what used to be civilization."
Kim stood up and gave him the thumbs up. "Great! Thanks! So how is the place going to get built?"
Rock snapped his fingers. "These men will do it."
Kim turned around to see Ripper and Hopper happily holding hammers and saws. At first, Kim got into position to fight them, but Rock calmed him down.
"No, it's all right. They're not here to fight you. It turns out that Ripper and Hopper are godly carpenters."
Kim lifted an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah," Hopper said. "I mean, you ain't never seen us toss a punch, right? We have to be talented at something."
Ripper shrugged. "Honestly, I never knew why Geese kept us around."
Rock continued. "With their skills, they can have the structure finished in only days. We just need to wait on Kain Heinlein, who will be making up the bluepr--"
Kain walked in with a pencil behind his ear and a big sheet of paper in his hands. "Done!"
Kim blinked. "That was pretty quick."
"Don't worry about it," Kain said. "This thing is going to be impregnable from the inside. Nobody's going to be able to get out unless you let them."
"All right!" Kim flashed smile #19 (the "Oh, superb!" smile).
[---]
Upon entering the room for his latest villain meeting, Adon showed the other members of the EBEOTGH his "Everything is going according to plan!" sneer (#4, of course).
"What's with the grin?" Ayane asked. "You haven't really explained your plan. And I still don't get where Iori Yagami factors into all of this."
"If I may," Goenitz said, putting his pinky to his lip. "I suggest that we scrap whatever plan Adon is going with and go with my new scheme. You see, we track down the martial artist demon named 'Akuma'," Goenitz paused in order to make quotes with his fingers. "After we kidnap this 'Akuma', we transform him into a cybernetic slave that..."
Hyo shoved Goenitz off his chair. "Anyway, your plan, Adon?"
"I can't go into specifics yet, but it involves the reformatory that Kim Kaphwan is building. Basically, my plan is..."
Iori walked up and whispered into Adon's ear. "He's here, sir."
"Great! Let him in!" As Iori walked away, Adon addressed his associates. "I'd like to introduce somebody who will be helping us destroy Kim and Jhun once and for all. But then again, this man needs no introduction, does he?"
Smart Chang Koehan entered the room with Heavy D! and Lucky Glauber behind him for protection. "Hello, everybody."
"Chang Koehan?!" Sie Kensou screamed in shock. Then he went back to feeling up Athena.
Hwoarang looked to Adon, a little on the nervous side. "What's this about, Adon?"
"This is an alliance," Adon flatly told him. "Isn't that right, Smart Chang?"
Smart Chang ceased sizing up Iori for a moment and nodded. "I'm afraid so. Normally I wouldn't do this, but Kim Kaphwan has gone mad with power. To be honest, I've been waiting years to take him down a few notches. I'm sure you all agree with me on that. Especially if you're smart. But I had to be realistic. Neither of our factions can do it alone. Besides, if Adon and Kim were to fight, it could mean the erasing of reality."
Hyo raised his hand. "Wait, what?"
"Long story. Anyway, together, we can bury Kim Kaphwan and his tae kwon do justice forever."
Adon reached his hand out. "To the future!"
Smart Chang shook that hand. "To the future!"
Watching this in the corner, Dong Hwan gulped.
Whether surprised or not, Heavy D! exclaimed, "INCONCEIVABLE!"
[---]
A week had passed and the prison, Kimcatraz, was not only built to perfection, but it was filled up with criminals and self-proclaimed heroes, who were forced into Kim Kaphwan's reformation program. In the false civilization, everyone was perturbed about being forced into this life. All but one.
In his cell, Freeman, the one willing captive, remained alone. He sat on his bed, cradling his head in his hands. He took a second to look out the window, only to see hatred from his peers. Not for him, but for a giant hologram of Kim Kaphwan.
"Repeat after me: justice is good!"
Ralf Jones flipped the giant Kaphwan off. "Shut the hell up, bitch!"
"Good! Now repeat after me: good is justice!"
"BEHOLD! Shut up!" Shadow Cyclops blasted his optic lasers at the image, but they just flew through Kim's happy smile.
Ralf stood before the hologram and drowned it out with his own speech. Without saying anything, Clark stood next to him. "Yo, man, screw this noise! All they do is play that same tired recording again and again like we's watching Nick at Night! Who does he think we are, the bad guys?! Hell no! Ain't that right, Silent Clark?"
Clark nodded.
"Yeah! Who was it that took down Shishio for good? We did, yo! Who fried Krauser like it ain't no thang? We did! We're the ones who took out the Tokyo Ladies Club for good, and this is the thanks we get? We save lives, man! Kaphwan can kiss my ass!"
In the crowd of on-lookers, Honki Ni Natta Funk Master Sub-Zero stepped forward. Over the years he had changed his look to a metal helmet with a fur collar and the same blue and black color scheme. "Excuse me, Ralf, but aren't you supposed to be a giant moth?"
"And ain't you that Shredder bitch from Ninja Turtles?"
Honki Ni Natta Funk Master Sub-Zero took a step back. "No further questions."
[---]
Calypso had brought Jae Hoon and Dong Hwan to a realm of complete darkness.
"What's so special about this place?" Dong asked.
"Yeah," Jae said. "And what's going on with Smart Chang and Adon? And what's the deal with Iori?"
"I'll answer these questions momentarily. But first, I must use the bathroom. So if you'll excuse me..." Calypso walked away.
"What do you think of all this?" Jae asked his brother.
"I'm thinking I probably should've followed him. I have to pee too."
"Hey, guys!"
A startled Jae and Dong jumped and turned around. Behind them, strangely enough, was Khushnood Butt.
"Marco!" Jae exclaimed.
"Butt!" Dong exclaimed.
"Just passing through. Fancy seeing you guys."
Jae scratched his head, trying to make sense of this. "What are you even doing here?"
Khushnood giggled to himself. "Well, it's a funny story. You see, my existence was based on the very fact that I kept coming from the future to deliver important news."
"Yeah," Dong concurred. "You sucked at it."
"Maybe. But that's who I was. But now that it's the future, I've ceased to exist. Now I just wander aimlessly through various realities. It's pretty cool."
"That's weird," Jae said.
"Sure is. But enough about me. What are you guys up to?"
"It's a long story," Dong told him. "Basically, we have to follow this Calypso guy around. Or he's following us around. Then we have to make some kind of decision about who's guilty or something. It's hard to explain. Anyway, the guy's a creep."
"Sounds like him. But Calypso's not that bad of a guy."
Jae and Dong glared at him.
"Well, okay. He is now. But he wasn't always so bad. Years ago he used to be a regular Joe, just like you guys. Had a beautiful daughter and a pretty sweet life. Then he got in a car accident that killed his daughter and horribly mutilated his face. That's about the time he turned to evil and stole all these mystical powers from Hell's most powerful demon. Kind of tragic, if you ask me. Who knows? Maybe Old Crust Face will grow on you."
"Ahem."
Khushnood turned around and saw Calypso looking at him, not amused.
"Yes. Well, anyway, it's nice talking to you guys." Khushnood Butt ran off. "Good luck with the thing!"
"Weird guy," Dong said.
Calypso rolled his eyes. "Let's just get on with this."
[---]
Kim and May Lee sat on the roof of the mansion, overlooking Tokyo.
"So then," Kim said, "I looked down at M. Bison and told him, 'Evil cannot be forgiven.'"
May Lee laughed. "What did he say to that?"
"Nothing. He was unconscious."
"You never told me that one, Kim. Ah, days were so much better back then."
"It was a simpler time."
May Lee sighed. "I'm just not sure if what we're doing is right."
"What do you mean? You think we're being too harsh?"
"No, it's not that. I think we're being too lenient. Kim, if your Kimcatraz idea fails, then you're going to have a huge fire on your hands. One that we can't stop unless we... dare I say it... kill."
"But that won't happen, May."
"But it might! And do you think another kick on the wrist is going to stop them and set them on the right path? They're our prisoners. Some of them will never stop being evil."
"That's a lie. Everybody has good within them. It's our job to drive it out of them."
"Kim, we're warriors. We exist only to do combat. You can't spell 'warrior' without 'war' and you can't have a war without death."
"Murder is not only about evil, May, but it's also about being weak." Kim stood up and stormed away. "I know that I'm strong enough to keep the world safe, but now I'm starting to wonder about you."
[---]
Well, we're a little after the halfway point. Man, Kingdom Come does make the perfect fodder for a RECBT parody, considering the story itself is about how reforming evil can be tricky.
In the next installment of Kimdom Come: Adon and Iori spend some quality time together, Jotaro Kujo gets all jittery and the beginning of some seriously bad shit is about to go down.
Gavok
Posted on Mar 11, 2004, 3:58 AM from IP address 66.66.42.236