Brothers of Southtown

Disclaimer: I do not own Fatal Fury or any of its characters, all of them are the property of SNK Playmore. No copyright infringement intended. I do however, own Baek Yong-Hwa, Baek Jang-Ha and Gum and may not be used without my permission. Note: Italics means they're speaking in Korean.

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Round 1: The Young Kickboxer

Southtown Sports Arena

"Ooorrraaaa!" Joe shouted as his elbow slammed down on his opponent's head, sending the other Muay Thai fighter down to the mat. The referee examined the fallen fighter and then signaled the knock out, raising Joe's hand as the crowd exploded into howling cheers. Joe jumped to the turnbuckle and raised his gloved fists in the air to salute the crowd. The cheers grew even louder to the point of being deafening; Joe Higashi was truly loved by all in the crowd. Except...

In one of the numerous exits, a black hooded teen looked towards the ring with an annoyed look, "All of these cheers for defeating a mediocre adversary... tch!" The boy spat and turned to leave, his hands in the pockets of his black jacket and his footsteps leaving a negative hum. As the door neared, the hooded figure extended his arm and outstretched three fingers against the push handle, easily opening the door and walked out.

Outside the arena

Outside of the stadium, the pavement was wet and riddled with small puddles, signs that it had rained recently. The sounds of the crowd were audible even outside; the teen smoothly pulled out an iPod that had 'Baek Yong-Hwa' labeled on it, placed the ear plugs in his ears hidden by the black hood, and began to bop his head to the rifts of the music.

But as Yong-Hwa walked, he got the attention of some lowly thugs. As the teen walked by an alleyway, he was cut off by apparently the leader of the group, a leather wearing thug that had a switchblade in hand. Baek didn't even bother to turn off the music to hear the threats the man was hissing at him. This clearly irritated the thug, and the second his brain commanded his body to attack, he was knocked unconscious by a lightning fast kick to the neck.

Smirking, Yong-Hwa flung his head back, making the hood fall from his skull. The teenage boy was Korean judging by his features and name, handsome, seemed to be about 19 years of age, and had long black hair tied into a ponytail. The young Yong-Hwa assumed a fighting stance that resembled Muay Thai and glared into the several thugs.

Two of the thugs were more than a little unnerved by the fall of their comrade, but regardless they charged at him. Instead of retreating, Yong-Hwa advanced on the two thugs. One of the thugs threw a hard right towards the Korean's head, which he blocked with his elbow. This broke the thug's hand, making him holler in pain; the kickboxer then flung his foot into the man's abdomen repeatedly, making him hunch over. Yong-Hwa then ended the assault with a downward elbow strike to the thug's skull, making him crumble to the cold pavement.

The young kickboxer then saw that one of the thugs was about to connect with a left hook. At the last moment, Yong ducked under the punch and quickly spun around, bringing his foot up and slamming it against the mugger's jaw, knocking him out cold. Fear swept over the other thugs, making them scatter, Yong-Hwa merely sighed, put up his iPod, and put his hoody back on. He was about to head for home until he heard...

"Hey you!" A loud voice rang in his ears. The Korean kickboxer turned around with an annoyed movement.

"You're good enough to trash a few thugs, but can you hold your own against a real fighter?" The man challenged the younger fighter. Yong-Hwa then recognized the man; it was the Muay Thai champ, Joe Higashi. Joe was wearing a T-shirt and jeans that he probably threw on after the fight was over.

Yong-Hwa would have declined, but the opportunity to dethrone the champion was too good to pass up. The Korean kickboxer was disappointed with Joe's performance tonight; to Yong, he was way overrated since all he did was fight lesser opponents.

The Korean merely clenched his fists and eased into his stance, Joe did the same. The two eyed each other, though Yong-Hwa's hood made it difficult to notice. Higashi had an arrogant grin etched on his face, while Baek remained serious with his lips formed in a straight line. Both fighters stood where they were, searching for an opening in their opponent's posture. Neither of them could fine one, and Joe's impulsive attitude then got the better of him.

The two fighters then charged at each other and jumped at each other trying to connect with a knee strike. Both knees collided with the chests of their opponents and the fight had begun. Both of them were unharmed by the knee blows and kept fighting like it never happened.

Baek sent several low kicks to Joe's legs with the intent on damaging them out of use; but this was a far more difficult task than he had anticipated, Joe's feet were as solid as stone. Joe threw several punches at his younger adversary, but he easily evaded them all and countered with a quick kick to the abdomen, pushing Joe back a little. This didn't discourage Joe at all; in fact it only motivated him further.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Baek felt a strong kick slam into his exposed cheek. The force of the blow knocked the Korean down on the cold pavement under him. Joe had just performed one of his trademark moves, the Slash Kick. Higashi's arrogance was clear on his face, "Tatte!" He demanded as he dabbed a finger at the downed Yong-Hwa.

As Baek rose to his feet, his hood fell from his skull. It was dark out, which made it difficult to see his features regardless. But one thing was clear, he was mad. "Punk." He insulted and advanced on Joe in the blink of an eye. Before Joe knew it, he was on the ground and his chin was aching. He looked and saw that Yong-Hwa's foot was extended straight up in the air. Joe wasn't the brightest of them all, but even he could surmise what just happened.

"Mole kick," Yong-Hwa said, telling his opponent the name of the move that took him down. But Yong-Hwa knew that Joe was holding back, and he had a feeling that Joe knew that he was also. Baek's expression changed to one of shock, wondering what time it was. Quickly, he pulled out his cell phone and glanced at the clock on the lower right corner, "Crap! I'm late!" He shouted in Korean and darted off, jumping over an irate Joe in the process. The fight was just getting interesting and then he just left it unfinished. What was worse was that Higashi didn't even get a good look at the guy or his name.

"Who the hell was that guy?" Joe wondered and ran in the direction of his former opponent only to see his fleeing figure. "Damn..." he mumbled.

Baek's apartment room

The apartment Yong-Hwa dwelled in was owned by a friend of their parents. Thanks to this relationship, Yong-Hwa's rent was decreased considerably due to sympathy for his misfortunes. His room was a rather nice one, decent sized living room and kitchen, three bedrooms, and he was lucky that they allowed pets.

Inside the room, a young boy with dreads was watching TV with a Jindo dog resting beside him. These two were Yong-Hwa's little brother and canine companion, Baek Jang-Ha and Gum. Jang-Ha was watching the hip hop music station, listening to the beats. Unlike his big brother, Jang-Ha was obsessed with the B-boy culture that was raging on in his old home. Yong-Hwa nearly laughed his head off when Jang-Ha was trying to convince their mother to let him grow dreads, but amazingly she OK'd it.

Jang-Ha looked at the clock, wondering what was taking his older brother so long to get home. He was hoping nothing happened to him, he had already lost enough family members since he had been here. Gum seemed to take notice of his concern and nuzzled his furry head against Jang-Ha's side in an attempt to reassure him all was well.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door followed by a rhythm of knocks. Jang-Ha and Gum came running towards the door and opened it, the little boy had a huge smile on his face and the dog's tail was wagging to and fro. Yong-Hwa barely had time to make it through the door before being practically attacked with hugs and licks.

"What took you so long?" Jang-Ha asked, still wrapped around Yong-Hwa. Ever since the incident, Jang-Ha's never been the same and neither has Yong-Hwa.

The older brother merely returned the hug, "Just a few sidetracks, nothing serious. But still, I'm sorry I'm late; you know I don't like to worry you." He replied, ruffling his little sibling's many dreads. A smirk then crept on the older Baek's face, "So..." Yong-Hwa began, "Ready for a little spar before bed?" He challenged, which Jang-Ha accepted with a firm nod.

Apartment Rec room

Since the Baek's apartment was in Southtown, it was fitting for it to have a small gym. Yong-Hwa was working on the punching bag, his fast kicks smashing against it constantly. Yong-Hwa was wearing blue sweatpants with white stripes down the side and black fingerless gloves. Yong was shirtless, which revealed the tattoo across his chest; the word 'Courage' was spelled in big Hangul. Yong-Hwa was extremely well built, making it obvious that he could hold his own against other fighters.

Jang-Ha on the other hand, was performing unorthodox kicks and stretching in a contortionist fashion. Jang-Ha was the brother that was blessed with flexibility. The younger Baek was wearing a tank top, red sweatpants with white stripes down the side and had his hands bandaged. Jang-Ha wasn't lacking in fitness himself, thank the breakdancing for that. After the brief warm up was over, they turned and faced each other. The brothers walked towards one another until they were a foot or so away and touched fists in a show of respect.

Quickly, the two backed away and assumed their fighting stances, both looking for a brief opening. Yong-Hwa took a brief step forward and Jang-Ha reacted with a fast kick aimed towards his big brother's side. Yong-Hwa raised his knee to intercept the blow, giving his little brother a 'not bad' face. Suddenly, Yong-Hwa threw a kick towards his little brother's chest, with the intent on ending the fight quickly. What happened next no one would have predicted...

Jang-Ha leaned down and placed his arms on the ground, swinging both his legs out and sweeping his older brother's feet from under him. Jang-Ha had performed what was known as a flare in breakdancing. The younger Baek had been taking lessons from Duck King, which had a great impact on his style of fighting. Jang-Ha would switch between his brother's KyukTooKi (Korean kickboxing) and b-boy inspired techniques, making him unpredictable.

Jang-Ha then stood up, looking over his fallen brother with a smug look, thinking the fight was over. Suddenly, Jang-Ha backed up when he saw Yong-Hwa's face; he looked beyond angry, apoplectic even. Truthfully, Yong-Hwa wasn't angry; he just used that face to frighten his opponents, a clever tactic. Yong-Hwa kipped up and grinned at his brother, "Gotcha." He taunted, about to fight seriously. Jang-Ha paced himself knowing this wasn't gonna be easy.

A few minutes later...

Jang-Ha was on the ground, out of breath. Yong-Hwa was panting and sweating, but he was the victor. Yong-Hwa had to hand it to his brother; he could hold his own in a fight, which was necessary when living in a place like Southtown. The victorious brother walked towards his fallen sibling and offered him his hand, which Jang-Ha accepted. Both were proud of each other, one for besting him and the other for putting up such a good fight.

The two then made their way out of the gym and back to their rooms for a well earned nap.

Yong-Hwa's bedroom

1:00 AM

Yong-Hwa lay under his smooth covers, his long hair untied and his face peaceful. The older Baek was sleeping easily until he heard a knock on the door. Slightly annoyed, he rose his body upwards and looked towards his door, "Come on in." He said in Korean certain of who it was. A little timidly, the door opened revealing his little brother was... sad.

"What's wrong brother?" He asked his distressed sibling.

"I had a nightmare... about... you know who..." He was barely able to answer, still feeling the heartache. Jang-Ha was doing his best not to cry, but holding something as tragic as what happened in would do even more damage.

"Hop in." Yong-Hwa commanded, gazing at his brother thoughtfully. Jang-Ha made his way over to Yong-Hwa and got under the covers, unable to hold it in he silently wept on his big brother's strong chest. Yong-Hwa held him close, doing all he could to sooth his little brother's pain. Yong-Hwa was hurting himself, but he had to be strong for his little brother. Even Gum, who made his way inside, felt Jang-Ha's sorrow and crept in the bed with them nuzzling his younger companion.

Eventually Jang-Ha calmed down, muttering the words 'thank you' before falling asleep on Yong's shoulder. Yong-Hwa nodded and slowly fell into slumber as did the Jindo dog. 'What a day...' was Yong-Hwa's last thought before he fell asleep again.

To be cont.

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Next chapter preview: Baek Yong-Hwa has to go to work at the Pao Pao Café, but as his luck provides, trouble starts brewing as his actions gain him unwanted attention.

Next Round: Pao Pao Café