[1] Prologue

[Friend or Foe]

His name was Kai Demolic. He was a human with an average power level that even teenage wanna-be thugs would scoff at. However, what he did boast was an IQ that ranked in the top 10% of the universe. There was no puzzle he couldn't solve. No game that he hadn't been able to master. Through all of his faults, shortcomings and disadvantages, Kai had been a survivor thanks to the brain power he possessed.

Now, he was on top. He was a multi-millionaire and had thousands of employees under his command. He had a private military, a secret base of operations, and was one of the top tier leaders in the largest crime syndicate in the world. But there was a still a problem for Kai Demolic.

Kai Demolic was bored. He was bored and lonely. He had a beautiful girlfriend, who was also one of his Four Demons, the fighting foursome that led his private branch of organized crime. He also had a huge house and a giant private base on a small isolated landmass to the south of West City's continent. Even still...he was bored. There was no more puzzles to solve...no more games to master.

So he would have to make his own puzzle. His own game.

Everything changed when he watched the now-defunct Friend or Foe. The first season had been a success, but the second was cut off. The official reason was due to an attack by raiders on the asteroid it was being filmed on. The real reason, Kai learned, was because of a curse on the asteroid, which was actually a fragment of a destroyed planet. It was never to return again, as the entire film and production team had been destroyed.

That was Kai's answer to his current state of depression. The landmass his base was on was almost entirely empty with the exception of one or two villages, which was pretty easy to buy out and send the residents to the mainland with plenty of zeni. With that, Mr. Demolic set out to recreate his favorite reality show ever.

It was Friend or Foe 3. Brand new fighters were brought in, either forced or because they were recruited, and would all play until only one remained. It wasn't kill or be killed, like that wanna-be, second-rate Dante's Abyss. It was work together, or die.

He had new obstacles for his players to overcome, and a grand prize for whoever made it out alive. Of course, only about half of them knew it was a game, and even those few who had signed up assumed it was just a fighting contest. They were wrong...dead wrong.

It was Friend or Foe...where your friends only get in your way, and your foes might be the only people who can help you.

[Friend or Foe]

"The Four Demons," Kai said to the employees sitting at the round table before him. He was setting files down in front of him as he, too, took a seat to join in the discussion. "That's what you're being billed as on the FoF Fan Websites. As soon as you profiles went out, you became the Four Demons."

The scene was fairly casual. In the main room of the mansion sat five people all around the circular table. Kai, of course, and then his wife Trisha next to him. Next to her was a tall, lanky man with glasses. Across from them was three more people: a short black man, a buff, muscular bald male, and a redhead female with a matching scarf.

"Four Demons, huh?" The redhead known as Rosemary asked, smirking. "How original."

"When exactly do we become a part of the show?" The bald man asked.

Kai wasn't actually looking up at the four in front of him. He was, instead, reading the files as he spoke, too wrapped up in his work to actually pay complete attention. "Well, Jackson, you'll all be sent out eventually to spice things up," he said. "Obviously we can't just make a show with 17 main characters. We need antagonists. Villains. That's you four."

"I don't care if people hate me," the lanky man known as Sebastian said, "As long as I get paid."

"I heard that!" Balrog, the dark-skinned man said through laughter. "People can hate a rich man all they want."

"So, wait a minute," Rosemary piped up. "Before we go and talk about being villains. You're 100% positive we can take these guys?"

Kai finally looked up. "What's the matter, Rose? Afraid of a few mediocre fighters?"

This time, the blonde woman who served as Kai's life partner spoke up next him. "I think what she's trying to say, is," Trisha noted, "We're not the ones at risk here. They are."

Kai nodded. "You are all professionals at what you do. Everybody on this island, in this game...are just actors, as far as I'm concerned. You don't have to worry. Not one person in this game is a threat to you four."

Rose nodded, satisfied. Trish smirked. Balrog and Sebastian exchanged grins. It was the big bad Jackson who didn't make any obvious reactions. He was pondering something in his head. He was, by far, the strongest and smartest warrior in the room, so he knew when to start worrying.

Never, ever underestimate the power of a group of scared weaklings.