Hey everybody it's your favorite neighborhood lieutenant and i am very sorry for my long hiatus. School and personal stuff i haven't been able to write at all but now that summer is coming close i'll definitely have more time to write and more content to give you. To those who have been waiting and reading my other story thank you for spending your time. This story is a new one i've been brainstorming about and now it's come into fruition so i hope you enjoy. Oh! I want to say don't worry about The art of Zootopia that's going to updated as well with a couple new chapters so hang tight. Now without further delay i present my new story The art of a Hero's journey.g
Ah the city that never sleeps. It has it's up and downs, but there's always that charm. Especially the people who live here can either make or break your day. Sure, there are nice people but some people can't be nice to save their life. Here's a story, ok so me and a guitar player named josh are playing for a couple of businessmen. It was going good and they were really enjoying themselves by the looks on their faces. However, for some reason they criticized us for stupid reasons. They said that my voice was too pitched, josh's guitar was out of tuned, and other generic insults. I just hate those type of people who just complain or just hate on anything. Ugh! I swear I wanted to punch them but it wasn't worth it. After all I am in New York.
Let me rewind a bit. Hi! I'm Kazuma but everybody just calls me Kazma or jet, I'm a 16 year old who is now trying to make money off of the good citizens of New York. Yeah, not the best choice but hey when you got nowhere to go, you have talents, and you want to entertain people might as well use them and enjoy what I have and keep moving. I was currently sitting near a building across the famous Avengers tower, singing any song I wanted with another street performer who played guitar at lunch rush hour.
I'm a singer/ overall street performer who helps other performers earn some money. From old to new I help those who are in the same situation as me. It's a fun time seeing first timers come along and try to reach out. I'm pretty decent myself but suck compared to some of the more experienced performers. So here I am starting up Despacito with another guitar player named Mike. There was a couple of parents sitting on a bench with their baby next to a group of elderly people. Oh this was going to get fun real quick. I started with a nice smooth pattern, just warming up my voice so that I could really blow them away later.
A 5 dollar bill floated in Mike's guitar case with some coins as we stated to pick up the pace. The faster Mike was playing the more I got into the song to a point where I lost myself in it. I felt incredible while people stated gathering around and started singing with me.
After, a few minutes of me singing my heart out once again I sang the final note. When everything was over a loud round of applause was made from the group of people we attracted.
"Thank you!, Thank you! He'll be here all week, same place, same time! Have a good one, and goodnight!'' I shouted through the crowd. A couple of extra bills were put into his case. I started to count the money while mike put his guitar down on his side. Not bad at all. Grand total ended up being $60 for today.
"Lets see if we split it I'll take 25 and you 35 deal?" I said enthusiastically to Mike's confusion.
" Wait! Jet why do you always give yourself less of the profit and never claim credit the people around here love your voice, so why?" Mike asked with a worried look on his face. It's the same thing I've heard from all the other performers I help out.
"Look Mike I just like to help out and get some money, you have goals in mind. You want to go to college and another drummer I've met wants to get enough money to buy his lunch. All I can say is you really need the money so just stick around and good luck." I finished and walked off without giving Mike any time to respond.
I accepted a few more compliments from people nearby, put on my headphones, and straightened out my clothes. It was just after lunch rush, so there were a few cars speeding yellow lights in order to get to their jobs. I started walking down a couple of blocks from the park, where the oh so infamous Deli and Grocery store lies. I started dancing to lips are movin and you can imagine the few odd looks I got, but I don't care about that, I was a regular here and all I need now is some food. Opening the doors to the Deli I heard the nostalgic ring of a bell. I walked up to the counter and slammed 12 bucks on it.
"The usual jet." Emma the cashier of this fine establishment said casually with a smile.
"Bingo! we have a winner." I shot right back at her, returning the smile. A few minutes later, she came back with a brown bag of ingredients and handed me my change.
"I added a couple of extra slices too. For my favorite idiotic customer." She giggled at my feigned reaction of being hurt.
"I'll have you know I'm not idiotic just the opposite actually." I said confidently as I straighten my back, scrunched my face, and crossed my arms in a ridiculous pose. That got her to start laughing and I joined along with her for a good 3 minutes. After all of that I found myself a chair and relaxed for a bit.
Emma's a good friend of mine I've known for a while ever since I came to New York.I have a crush on this idiot and I wanted to ask her out today but I just couldn't say anything after that laugh as usual. Well I'll ask her out next time and see what happens, I wonder what she likes? A movie or a walk in the park? As I was contemplating my options she got me out of my trance by snapping her fingers.
"Hey earth to jet can you hear me in there? She asked playfully.
"Huh yeah I can hear you sorry just thinking about stuff I guess." I said sheepishly with a small blush on my face but I quickly brushed it off.
"You! Thinking jet, what's next meteorites are going to start falling." She pretended to be shocked and I just shooed her off with a small giggle coming from her.
"You don't need to worry about that Emma, what I'm worried about is what am I going to do for entertainment today." I started pacing around the room pretending to be stuck when in reality I know I can just sing anything and be fine.
"Well how about you sing like you always do? Oh! Can you please sing Try Everything for me I wanted to listen to that but today has been busy?" She begged me, her blue eyes wide. I sighed and smiled while I waited for to pull out her phone for the instrumental. Emma tapped on the counter enthusiastically as it stated to play.
I started to begin the intro and I was about to really get into it. At the moment it was just Emma and me, no one else could have the privilege to hear me. All of a sudden my phone alarm went off as it started playing Broken wings sik world remix. I stopped what I was doing and checked my phone for any other notifications. Emma started booing, so I shushed her and gave her a playful flick on her forehead.
"I gotta head out Emma. Besides, I just finished my routine at the park so next stop is the gym. My feet are killing me." I said apologetically as I headed out the door. The ingredients smelled so fresh, I really couldn't wait to eat them.
"Hey jet remember! You have to come back here to make up for the mess you caused yesterday-" She called out.
I waved her off. "Yeah I know. Tell your dad not to yell at me this time." I gave her one last goodbye and walked out of the store. After a while i made to my home which was a gym near the avengers tower. Ah the gym it always gives me goosebumps this is where the weak and the strong would meet up to train, compete, or just hang out under one roof. I would do all 3 and it would always be fun no matter how I do it. I walked up to the front door and took a deep breathe in and out. I always get so hyped It's a routine to breathe before I even set foot in here. I walked in the gym and I was immediately bombarded by the usual greeters and members regularly in the gym. I live here so I've gotten to know the people who come here.
"Hey! Glad you could finally make it we've been waiting forever for you kid." The owner himself wearing a black tank top walked up to me and greeted me with a smile. His name is John Williams basically my dad and guardian ever since my real parents passed away. He's my dad's cousin so he's been taking care of me ever since I was alone in this world and has given me treatment like I was his own son and to this day I'm grateful. I got smacked right back into reality when he struck right at my back.
"What's up kid you're never this quiet did something happen." His playful mood vanished and was replaced with a worried expression. I hate letting people seeing me like this. I instantly recovered and straightened myself out.
"Don't worry about me dad I'm fine I just want to sit down and crash for a while, but not after beating some people." His mood came back like nothing happened as he let out a hearty laugh that basically got everyone's attention when he did it.
"That's my boy now go and enjoy yourself the rest of the guys are waiting for you to kick off the fighting tournament and a crowd's forming up in the ring. I'll get dinner started." He said excitedly as I walked over to the far end of the gym. The gym was a boxing gym with some other perks to my influence. There was the usual equipment with a boxing ring for the boxers and another room on the side was a special mat floor for martial artist to compete and teach. There was also a big leather couch in the back with a flat screen TV with multiple consoles for fighting games. They ranged from street fighter to darkstalkers. I've made quite the collection. Almost every week I host a fighting game tournament here for players all around our area in New York. It gets pretty hype while people are training and that's what I love about it. A small group of players gathered around the TV waiting for me to kick off the tournament since I had the say in the rules and everything.
"Alright guys what's the game this time around huh?" They all yelled smash bros at the same time, so I booted up the Wii u and put in smash bros on the Wii u. There was a white board next to the TV so that I can keep track of score, players, and matchups. Everyone got out their controllers and sat patiently as I busted out mine out. I took the first seat and the whole gym started to erupt with noise and talking. I had to cover my ears when the first yell came out cause I'm not used to sudden loud noises. I have no idea why either but I just ignore it as I started playing against the first opponent with my main character being Ganondorf.
After the fighting tournament I turned out to be second. I lost to a diddy Kong player, and let me tell you I struggled. I paid the winnings of all the bets to him and packed everything up. There were still players who wanted to casually play so I left the console on and walked over to the ring. When I got there I was immediately greeted by dad and a new face I haven't seen before.
"Hey kid this guy's new here mind showing him around and maybe even do a couple of practice rounds on him." He did his infamous laugh at the end which would always get me to start laughing every time he did it. The guy was well built I can definitely see the muscle but not one punch man crazy.
"Yeah I don't mind what's your name man?" I asked softly because he probably had enough of my dad's loudness.
"My name's Ethan nice to meet you." He looked relieved so I'm guessing that was the answer. We shook hands and I showed him around the gym. From the ring to the consoles he looked excited every time I took him somewhere new.
"Last but not least we have the main table where we vote on different things from what fighting game were playing to any suggestions or advice about the place." Ethan nodded at everything i said and continued to look around. When the tour was done i gave him a pair of boxing gloves expecting him to be ready to fight but he just gave me a confused expression.
"Oh you don't box or do you even know how to man?" I asked casually as he gave me back the gloves.
"Yeah I don't actually I just fight with my own style and I heard this was a good place to test my skill." The moment he said that I couldn't smile any wider. A new style huh, oh I can't wait to see what he has to offer. I motioned him over to the back room so that we could fight on the special mat.
"Hey if we're going to do this you might want to mentally prepare yourself and uh wait here a bit I gotta change for this.'' He nodded and I ran up to my room to get my clothes. It was your basic Ryu cosplay with everything except a wig cause i don't want to wear a Ryu wig in a fight. I came back down and I started to bust out laughing on Ethan's reaction to my clothes.
"Do you have a problem with my attire good sir? I'll have you know I'm serious when I'm wearing this so get ready." I started stretching and warming up and all Ethan did was just stand there with his guard up. When I was ready I made sure we were both warmed up and with one step I sprinted towards my opponent. He tensed up on his guard so it immediately l knew he doesn't try to counter often. I reeled back a punch and threw it right at him trying to see how he'll react. My mind set when it comes to fighting is simple. Throw out a bunch of varying moves and get to know your opponent. If they just block then I know I can play mind games all day. If they try to straight up fight back then I can just easily take my time and form a plan. Although this time was different usually people would just go with the options I've stated but he was different he immediately felt that I eased up and went on the offensive, but at a steady pace as my attacks were getting blocked so he mostly had an offensive and defensive balance that means he's trained. I felt myself getting more excited every second because there's nothing better in the world then a strong and worthy opponent.
After a good five minutes of me repeating the process to no avail I decided to really test him out. I hopped back to give myself a breath and sure enough he rushed towards me trying to close the distance. Not a bad move but extremely predictable. The moment I saw his feet rest I went in for a punch trying to distract him. His eyes followed my hand and following my little plan I propelled my legs towards his for an easy knock down. Everything was going smooth until he instantly reacted to my plan and took a small step back making my leg miss. Without hesitation he swung his elbow into my face barely grazing my cheek as I avoid it.
I recomposed myself and went for a kick but he countered by grabbing my leg and pulling it towards him making me lose a bit of my balance. Taking advantage of his counter he pushed his arms into my chest making me fall right onto my butt. Thank you floor mat for softening that fall. I looked up and I could see determination in his eyes as he went for a final punch. I wasn't going down that easily, so I stopped his fist with my hand before it hit my face. He was surprised but kept going as he tried his other hand but I just did the same thing. I immediately turned around and pulled his arm towards me.Using the momentum I turned around and arched my back on his stomach while i channeled my strength into my body to judo throw him to where I fell. He flipped from my back and slammed to where i just was with a loud thump. The moment he landed I cringed caused that sounded like it hurt. I collapsed on the floor exhausted from the fight and looked at him and realized he wasn't moving.
"Holy crap Ethan sorry I didn't mean to slam you are you ok!?" I asked frantically. Fortunately, he just started breathing in and out heavily. I was concerned for a second but that vanished right when I looked at his face. He was smiling and laughing with grunts of pain in the mix.
"I'm ok, I don't feel like anything's broken." He got up and extended his hands towards me. Just like instinct I reached out my hand and we shook.
"That was really fun we gotta fight again sometime." He gave me a dumbfounded look as he just stood there motionless.
"What do you mean can' we fight right now we have plenty of time." If it was any other day yes I would be but I gotta head back to the deli.
"Sorry gotta get some errands done so same time tomorrow ok?" I didn't even give him time to answer as I rushed out of the room and Into the main room.
"Hey kid don't be to late I just got dinner started." I waved him goodbye as I busted out the door and started jogging towards the Deli. I really hope I don't have to clean too much.
Well there you have it chapter 1 of The art of a Hero's journey leave your thoughts on what you think. As always have a great day.