Borne from Discord Chaos


It was a cool silent morning in Florida. At only five AM, commuters had yet to fill the streets. The cool mist of evening still lingered over the streets and SouthTown's 'legendary hungry wolf' slept peacefully on his favorite sofa, in front of his old TV set. Every night the low murmur of television lulled Terry Bogard to sleep. Every morning he would wake at seven O'Clock sharp to his adopted son clanging around in the kitchen, cooking breakfast.

But not today.

Today, a scream of abject horror shook the Bogard residence. Terry was started awake by the noise and nearly jumped out of his skin. Fatigue was overwhelmed with adrenaline and paternal instinct, and Terry stumbled out of his favorite couch, to his feet. He felt panic rise in his chest.

"What the- Rock?! Rock what happened! Hey! Rock!"

The cry had originated from his son's room, and Terry charged at Rock's bedroom door, nearly tripping over the coffee table in his haste. What could have happened? Was he injured? He had looked and behaved normally yesterday. He finished school for the day, went to band practice afterwards, ate dinner with his friends, then came home. It had been fairly typical.

Terry gritted his teeth as he elbowed the door open. Inside, Rock's room was messy. There was sheet music strewn across the floor, one of his pillows had been… cut open? The window was open all the way.

Did he… ?! No way! Why would he?! It thirty feet! He could actually… no!

His vision was tunneling a little bit, and he tried to keep himself from panicking. He rushed over to the open window and looked out, hoping that Rock hadn-...

There's nobody there. Where is he?! Did he get kidnapped?! Where-

"Shit! What the fuck! What the fuck is going on?!"

Terry blinked and turned towards the closed bathroom door. He didn't even hesitate as he grabbed the handle and wrenched the door open. He mentally prepared himself for the worst. He didn't know what had happened to his son, but he was going to be there to help him any way he could… And if someone had the audacity to lay a hand on his son, they would pay dearly.

"Rock I'm coming in!"

*SLAM*

The door smashed into the white tile of the bathroom wall as Terry burst into the small bathroom. Rock was standing there, looking quite whole, and staring at himself in the mirror as if he'd grown a third eye.

Of course, he hadn't grown a third eye. He looked fine. Perhaps a little disheveled and shirtless, but otherwise completely normal. Terry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding… hell, he was worried his son had been kidnapped or worse.

He spoke gently as he reached out to pat Rock's shoulder.

"Rock… Rocky, hey buddy…are you okay?"

The moment he touched the boy, Rock whirled around with an uncanny furiousity. He grabbed Terry's fingers in his fist. He wore a beastiel expression… an expression Terry had yet to see him wear. It was startling and Terry froze.

What happened? Did he have a bad dream?

He was interrupted by Rock, who addressed him with an uncharacteristic coldness.

"Bogard. Who the hell do I look like."

"... What? Rock, what are you saying? Calm down alright?... Hey… "

Rock just stared at him, then he gritted his teeth, flung Terry's hand away, and whipped back towards the mirror to begin looking for something along his hairline. Terry just stared at his son, confused.

He called me… Bogard?! He's never called me that… it's either 'Terry' or 'Dad' never 'Bogard'... Is he mad at me?

"Rock, tell me what's wrong. Let me help you."

"This isn't funny, Bogard. I'm taking this off."

Terry sighed and walked over to the sink. He wasn't sure what had gotten into his son. Maybe he was hanging around crazy people too much. The music industry was supposed to be full of kooks. First and foremost among those kooks was SouthTown's resident lunatic, and Rock's band leader.

"... Rocky, hey come on, what's-"

Terry took one look at what Rock was doing and panicked. He quickly snatched the teenager's wrist from his face and spun him around to look him in the eye. Rock matched his concerned look with cold resolve and a hint of contempt. Somehow he had cut a clean gash above his ear with just his fingernails. Blood seeped from the wound and ran down the side of his head.

"What the hell are you doing! Rock, tell me what happened right now!"

"I'm not playing your game!"

"What?!"

"I have shit to do, Bogard. I don't have time for your stupid pranks."

He tried to turn back to the mirror, but Terry grabbed him by the shoulders.

'What?!... Rock, please. Look at me! Tell me what's happening! You're making me worried."

Rock narrowed his eyes and considered him for a moment. Terry was sure that something had gone wrong. This definitely was not how Rock normally behaved. Something extreme had happened. Maybe something supernatural.

Bodysnatchers?!

"Bogard. Tell me plainly. Is this a joke? Some sort of fucked up hidden camera bullshit?"

Rock spoke aggressively and authoritatively. His expression was guarded and distrusting. He was also cursing. It was very unlike him. Terry noted these things silently.

"No, it's not."

"Do you know who I am."

Terry composed himself and squared up. He stood a full six inches taller than Rock and steadied his voice to reply. At the very least, the body snatcher had been just as panicked as he was. He had tried to peel off it's own face for god's sake.

"... You look and sound very much like my son."

"Yeah…" The body snatcher turned to look at his reflection. "I'm in fucking Rock Howard's body…"

He hesitated.

"You're sure this isn't a joke!? I will blow your house up."

Terry frowned.

Maybe… wait, who talks just like this?… I swear I've heard this threat before…

Terry responded coldly.

"I'm not playing any pranks… if You're not Rock, then… then who are you?"

The person who looked very much like his son sighed and seemed to let down his guard, just a bit. He turned and walked into Rock's bedroom. He spoke as he rummaged about, looking for a cellphone.

"Last night I was Iori Yagami."

"... What?! How can that be!"

Roc-Iori, had found Rock's cellphone and used the fingerprint scanner to unlock it. He dialed in a number and sat on the edge of the bed with the phone pressed to his ear.

"That's what I'm gonna find out."

"..."

This is impossible. Maybe Rock is the one playing a joke… I mean, I didn't really take him as any sort of actor, but that's much more believable than this. Do they really want me to believe they just switched bodies overnight? Ridic-

"神楽、それは私です。奇妙なことが起こった"

Terry almost choked as his son began speaking Japanese.


Death by discord Chaos

Also, join discord

See my Bio for link