This is Part III of the 'Childhood Video' arc. Like I said in the last one, this oneshot's about our ninja-boy, Chipp Zanuff!
I don't own Guilty Gear. You should know that by now.
The American Childstyle
"Man, there are a lot of tapes..." Axl stated
"No duh, Sherlock." Baiken said
The Japanese duo and the British timetraveler were up in the attic of Anji, Baiken and Chipp's current residence. After watching Baiken and Anji's video tapes about their childhood days, they thought that it was good ol' Chipp's turn.
"How do we even know that a video tape of his childhood is here?" Anji asked, "He was born in America."
"How do you even know it exists, Low?" Baiken questioned, "If you didn't know, Zanuff was an orphan!"
"Just keep lookin'." he said, "I'm sure we'll find something!"
The two sighed as they continued to look through the pile of tapes. About an hour later, Axl shouted,
"Eurika!"
"Hm?"
"I found it!" he shouted, showing the Japanese the tape
"Oh my god, you were actually right for once!" Baiken commented
"Shut up Baiken." he said
"C'mon, let's go downstairs and watch it before he gets home." Anji suggested
"Finally! Now we have something on Zanuff..."
So the three of them went downstairs. Axl popped the tape in and waited for something to happen. Just then, the American ninja opened the front door.
"Hey guys."
"Chipp!" they exclaimed as Axl was rewinding it
"Hey, man, c'mere and watch this with us!" the bandana-wearing blonde yelled
"Sure!" Chipp, totally oblivious to what was going on and the content that the tape held, sat down on the couch between the two A's (Anji and Axl). Axl saw that the tape was fully rewound and pressed 'play'.
-------
The scene was a room with many children playing. The races and cultures were vast. So were the ages of the children there: babies, toddlers, mid-kids, pre-teens, teens and a few college looking kids helped out with the adults running the facility. Despite the many children in the room, there was one child that caught the eyes of our five duelists.
The child had spikey silver hair and red eyes. He wore a black shirt, grey slacks and sneakers that looked worn down. He was far away, all by his lonesome. The holder of the camera came closer to the boy as he looked straight into the lens.
"What's that Luke?" the young boy asked
"This is a video camera, Chipp."
"...What's a video camera?"
"It's a toy that teenagers and adults use to record stuff."
"I thought we weren't supposed to use those in here."
"Mrs. Thompson said that it's alright, at least for me. This is for a project in school."
"Luke, how come you get to go to school?"
"Because before my mom and dad...passed away, I was already in school. They had saved enough money to pay tuition costs, although I'm not sure that they saved enought for me to go to college."
"What'll happen when you get out of high school?" the albino chibi asked
"Well, when I get outta high school, I'll work here."
"Will you still live here?"
"Of course, Chipp! I wouldn't wanna leave my best buddy!"
"Yay!"
-------
"Dear God..." Chipp moaned as he slapped himself on the forehead
"Hey Chipp, where was that?" Axl asked
"...Orphanage."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"I've been meaning to ask." Baiken brought up, "How'd you lose your parents?"
"Car accident."
"Oh..."
-------
"Luke! Luke!" a little girl cried as she went up to him
"Huh? What's wrong Jeanne?"
"Chipp fell down the well out in the back!"
"He what?"
"C'mon!" she said, pulling him out by his wrist
-------
"Oh, wow, you fell down the well!"
"I knew you were stupid enough to do that!" Baiken said
"Shut up! At least I didn't run into a wall!" she smacked him upside the head, "Ow!"
"Scene cut." Axl and
-------
"He's down there!" Jeanne said, pointing at the well
"Hold this for a second, okay?" she nodded. He gave her the camera and said, "Don't touch anything and be careful not to drop it."
Luke leaned over the opening of the well and called out, "Chipp! How'd'ja get down there?"
"I fell in!"
"I know that, but how?"
"Mikey and Jean pushed him down there when he leaned in to look at the water inside." Jeanne said
"Luke! There's this red stuff coming out of my forehead! And it hurts!" shouted the soon-to-be ninja
"Oh geez! Don't worry Chipp! I'm gonna come and get you!" Luke climbed in and went down the well. After a few minutes, he came back up with Chipp in tow. The silver-haired boy had blood seeping through a piece of cloth that Luke had torn from his shirt.
"Jeanne, can you take Chipp to the infirmary?"
"Okay." she replied. She held up the camera to him, "Here's your toy, Luke."
"Hold on to it for a little while longer. Where's your twin and Mikey?"
"They're over by the see-saw." she replied
"Okay. Thanks again Jeanne." Luke walked away in the direction of the see-saw where to boys were. Jeanne turned to Chipp and grabbed him by the wrist
"C'mon Chipp, let's go."
"Okay..."
-------
"How did your head get bloody?" asked Anji
"When I fell in, I hit my head on a jagged rock."
"Ouch..."
"Yeah, I know."
"Why did that girl say that she and that other kid pushed him in?"
"Oh no. She didn't push me in. She has a twin brother whose name is spelled J-E-A-N. Her name is spelled J-E-A-N-N-E."
"Oh..."
-------
"Ms. Madeline, Chipp hit his head and now he's bleeding." Jeanne told the nurse's teenage assistant
"Aw, geez...Come on. We'll get that fixed right away." Ms. Madeline's eyes looked at the camera, "Is that Luke's camera?"
"He asked me to hold it for him." she stated
"Alright. C'mere, Chipp. Sit on the stool so we can bandage your head properly."
"Yes, Ms. Madeline." Chipp sat on the stool as Ms. Madeline took off the torn cloth. She went to a cabinet and got out a small towel and some alcohol. She walked back down to where the small boy was.
"Now this might sting a bit." she said, wetting the towel with the alcohol. She then cleaned out Chipp's wound with it. The red-eyed boy winced a bit but other than that, showed no sign of pain, "Jeanne, can you go get the bandages?"
"Okay." Jeanne put the camera down gently and ran over to a small white box with a red plus sign. She quickly got out the bandages and ran back to where Ms. Madeline and Chipp were, "Here, Ms. Madeline."
"Thank you Jeanne." she took the white cloth from the girl and started to cover the silver-headed boy's injury. A few minutes later, Chipp was good to go.
"There you go Chipp."
"Thank you Ms. Madeline."
"You're welcome Chipp."
Just then, Luke came in the room.
"Hiya Madeline." he greeted
"Hi Luke."
"Hey Chipp, how're you feeling?"
"Pumped up and ready to burn!" he replied, instantly standing up with his fist in front of him
"That's the spirit!" Luke said
"Your cam-era is over there, Luke." Jeanne stated
"Oh, I almost forgot about that." he said, picking it up, "Thank you Jeanne."
"You're welcome."
"So Chipp, how's about we go get you some medicine to recover?"
"Medicine? Ick!" he said, sticking his tongue out in disgust
"Well, they say that laughter is the best medicine. But since it might hurt you even more by just laughing so hard, we'll go for the next best thing."
"Which is?"
"How about some ice cream? Fudge, caramel and whip cream included."
"Really?" at Luke's nod, he shouted, "Yes!"
-------
"Pumped up and ready to burn!" the three copied, also putting their fists in front of them. Chipp actually laughed.
"Y'know, that Luke guy seems pretty nice." Anji commented
"Yeah...he was like an older brother to me. Jeanne was like a little sister."
"He still around?"
"Now that you mention it, yeah... Y'know, maybe I should pay him a visit back in NYC."
"Maybe we can go there this summer." Axl suggested
"Good idea!"
-------
"Luke! Luke!" Jeanne and a boy who looked just like her (in a masculine way) came rushing in.
"Jeanne? Jean? What's wrong?"
"It's Chipp! Mikey's hurting him!" Jeanne shouted
"Yeah! He has this sharp, shiny thing!" the boy--now known as Jean-- shouted
"Sharp, shiny...Oh god, not a knife!"
"C'mon!" the two shouted as they practically dragged him. They got outside and saw a ring of children in the blacktop. They quickly rushed themselves over and saw Chipp and another boy, who was holding a knife in the center.
The boy was slashing away while Chipp, who had small and sort of shallow cuts on his arm and cheeks, dodged every lunge gracefully.
"You can't just keep on dodging Zanuff!"
"But I dun wanna fight, Mikey!" he shouted, "Fighting...corrupts--yeah, that's the word!--your mind and makes you a bloodthirsty...person!"
"You're just a wimp." he said, still slashing. Chipp did a backflip and charged for Mikey. Mikey smirked and slashed, but Chipp jumped over him. Once the silver-haired boy landed, he tripped Mikey by rotating with his leg sticking out. Mikey fell and the knife was let go. Before Mikey had the chance to get the weapon back in his hands, Chipp kicked it away. It had slid to Luke's feet. That was when the boys noticed him.
"Luke!" Chipp shouted
"Heya, buddy." he greeted. He then turned to Mikey, "Mikey, what were you thinking?"
"I...I..."
"Chipp, can you hold this for me?" he asked, handing him the camera. Chipp took it, "C'mon, Mikey, I think it's time that Mrs. Mendel learned of your actions today."
He took Mikey's wrist and left with him, heading for the direction of Mrs. Mendel's office. The ring of kids slowly started to disappear back into what they were previously doing.
"That was great Chipp!" Jeanne exclaimed
"Yeah! Way to go man!"
"Hey, did Luke get that on tape?"
"Think so."
"Seriously?" Chipp turned the camera so that the lens were pointed at him, "Did you people who're watching this actually see that?"
"I think they did!" Jeanne and Jean said simultaneously
"Awesome!" he turned back to the lens, "Teacher and fellow classmates, I hope that you enjoyed watching this tape. By what Luke tells me, this project's due tomorrow. Anyway, hope he gets an A!"
"Hey Chipp!"
"Huh? Oh hey Luke!"
"What'cha doing Chipp?"
"Just giving an afterword to your student body and school faculty!"
"Chipp, you say big words for a seven year old."
"I read a dictionary." Luke gave him a puzzling look, "I was bored and desperate."
Luke gingerly took the camera, "That, my fellow peers and Ms. Lanier, was one of my best buds, Chipp Zanuff."
"Yeah! The guy who's living an American childstyle!"
"Childstyle? You know that's not a word, right?"
"I know! I got it from the word lifestyle. But since I'm only a child, I'll call it childstyle!"
"Whatever you say, ninja boy."
Chipp flashed a grin and did the 'V for peace' sign. Then, the words 'End' appeared.
-------
"That was a good ending!" Axl exclaimed
"Y'know, I almost forgot about that fight." Chipp said, "That thing brought back good memories."
"Say, did you know what Luke got as a grade?" Anji asked
"A+"
"Well, he deserved it!" Baiken said, "Not to mention I get to make fun of you with the well incident!"
Chipp stuck his tongue out playfully at the redhead swordswoman. The next day, Chipp had the tape copied by Axl. He was in his room and had a brown envelope next to him. He was writing a letter. A very brief one.
Dear Luke,
Hey, man. It's Chipp Zanuff. I'm livin' somewhere unnamed with my two friends. Remember that project for Ms. Lanier you had where you had to videotape something? Well, thanks to another friend of mine, Axl Low, I got the tape copied. I thought you might've wanted it, y'know for memories. Hope you're doin' well, wherever the hell you are. Oh, me and my friends might be coming to NYC for a visit during summer, so expect to see me again. See you soon!
-Chipp Zanuff
He took the letter and the tape and put it in the envelope. A while later, he went out and mailed it. Many memories of his childhood with one of his best friends. If Luke forgot, this would help him remember.
After all, the albino had changed. Back then, Chipp was just a kid who was living the American childstyle.
Owari
Hope you guys liked it. Review for this crappy fic! Next up...Axl Low!