'Ello, and welcome back to the next chapter of "Operation: Terry Bogard Must Die"! I'm just gonna kick it into the story, so hope you enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Rock Howard, Ash Crimson, Terry Bogard or any other SNK Playmore character or place. I only own Samantha Walker and her family.
Chapter 9: Nothing To Lose
"What on Earth are you talking about, Ma Cherie-"?
"Don't call me that! God dammit!" I was still shaking, clentching my fist tightly, knuckles whitening. "I had faith in you... I did... but here it is... The fucking truth!"?
"What do you mean?" Ash blinked quizzically before turning his head and facing the burning building. "You think I'm responsible for this?" His azuline eyes remained fixed on my scarlet ones, my eyebrows furrowed, looking at the young man with animosity. "Seriously? C'est absurde~" Ash let out a soft sigh as he shrugged his arms, seeming honestly perplexed.
I staggered for a moment, even more enraged at his faux innocence. "ABSURD? Hah! Absurd you say! It's okay… It's okay that I believed you and it's okay that I'm suffering this for my ignorance." Rock gave a look between us two before I tugged on his jacket to continue walking. He put his arm around my shoulder and helped lead me towards the building.
Ash's mouth opened slightly. "Are you seriously going in there? You could get hurt, you know…"
"What the hell do you think, and what the fuck do you care? You want me to die, right? I can make your damned wish come true right now. Why would you even worry, Bastard?"
"Hold on…" Rock interjected, finally catching to our conversation. "He… You are… if you're attacking Sam, you… You're the one that must have attacked that woman!"
"I have no clue what you two are going on about." Ash shrugged as he started taking steps towards me. "Are you saying I would attack a friend?"
"You're not my friend! You used me, you asshole!" I hid behind Rock, shaking in anger. "I swear, you will regret this once I recover!"
"Are you really blaming me for these things? They are much effort so I most definitely would not bother…" Ash looked at his nails, then back at me. "So these accusations must be false, right?"
"And you act like this is a joke? Screw you, Ash. I thought better of you." I began limping away, Rock throwing Ash a scowl before continuing to assist me.
…
"Your target is on the move… I repeat, your target is on the move…"
Maxima quickly shot up in surprise and K' choked on a slice of beef jerky, the man beginning to bang on his bare chest in order to breathe while Kula peered over the sofa, chestnut brown hair swaying. "Where is she headed?" Maxima demanded as K' gripped the radio communicator.
"Target is headed to the Walker Estate…. The Walker Estate is currently ablaze… I repeat, the Walker Estate is currently ablaze."
"Shit… That stupid woman…" K' stood to his feet, grabbing onto his leather jacket and making his way to the door. "I got this."
Maxima seemed a bit shocked. "Are you sure? We're probably not going to get a bonus from this, so for you to volunteer instead…"
"It's alright." K' shrugged his jacket on, zipping it up and covering his sculpted abdomen. "Better than losing the job, right?"
…
My eyes widened when I saw the condition of the Estate. With a gust of wind, I rushed towards the window, breaking in. I looked back to see Rock, getting stopped by surrounding cops. "Stay there! I promise I'll be okay!"
Rock seemed a little frustrated, clenching his fist. "You better be!"
With that, I started rushing the best I could, racing toward the dojo area. Our house was not too badly engulfed, but the dojo was in terrible condition. While rushing, I spotted my dad under some rubble. "Father! Are you okay?"
My dad looked up at me and smiled. "I never thought my daughter would be willing to run to my rescue… It might be a little too late though. This rubble is pretty hot."
"Don't say things like that! I'll get you free!" I attempted touching the debris, but it really was burning hot. "Dammit!"
A familiar gloved hand pushed the pieces of ceiling. "If you're not hurt, you can run, sir. We'll check if anyone is left over."
I looked at Ash with a face of extreme distaste, but my dad bowed greatfully. "I'll come back if you two take too long!" With that, he made haste.
"I'm aware you're in no condition to stay here… but I believe you should listen." Ash twirled strands silver hair between his fingers as he looked at me.
"I'd prefer not. If you're done here, I'll be on my way. Thanks for helping my dad." I tried walking away, but Ash blocked my way.
"Listen. It's all I'm asking." Ash placed a hand on his hip, an impatient expression on his face. "It's important."
"Why would I want to? You took advantage of my friendship. You just used me for a plot. Attempted murder, at that."
I maneuvered to leave once more, but this time Ash grabbed my wrist. "You talk about me as if you're sure I did it. And even if I did… aren't you the same?"
"No! NO!" I pulled my hand away and gripped onto one of my arms with a hand. "I'm not the same… I'm not the same as you!"
"Are you two okay?" I could hear footsteps. My father was approaching us. "I was worried, so I came back. Are you alright, Samantha?"
"We're okay, Mr. Walker. Just deciding where to search." Ash made up an excuse on the spot. "Don't worry, Sir, we're…"
"ORA!" Glass shattered and I could see a man aim a kick at Ash, Ash just barely able to dodge it. "You have some balls, acting like you're helping."
"Oh, the Kyo Clone." Ash shrugged at the man. "What brings you here?"
"Say that again and I won't hesitate to kick the teeth out of your 'pretty' little face." The man crossed his arms, fabric squeaking as he did. From the cold voice and messy hair style, I could tell it was K'. "And I specifically told this girl to stay away from you. I'm sure you set this place up in order to kill her parents, didn't you? To butter her up as a sacrifice, right?"
My father stepped back while my jaw went slack. Ash crossed his arms and huffed. "You seem to think I'm that slick, eh?"
"K-K'… is that true?" I asked, not wanting to hear the answer in reality.
"Of course. Why else would he want to associate with you? This punk seeks those who he can benefit from." K' answered as he shifted on a foot. "But this girl can't be sacrificed, so forget it about it!" K' prepared to lunge at Ash, but thick clouds of black appeared. K' jumped back while my father covered me. He let out a yell and the heat caused things to blur for a moment.
When I was able to focus, I looked at the man carrying me. My father. I cried when I saw his disfigured face, seriously charred. His fingers on my my arms felt rough. I couldn't bare to keep looking. "It's okay, Samantha… It's okay, you're fine."
"But you! You need to conserve your strength!" I continued to look away.
"He won't last long." I could hear K' in the background. "He's just doing what he can."
"I'm sorry I wasn't a good father… do you think… you can forgive me, Sam?" I could hear his voice cracking. His steps were rough. I could tell he was straining himself.
"Of course I can, dad! Of course I forgive you!" I yelled nervously. "It's not like I was a great daughter myself! I was selfish and brash! So please… you don't have to do this anymore…" I could see the light from outside already.
"Thank you… Thank you…" He began falling to his knees. "Please, tell your mother I'm sorry…" He then fell to the ground, causing me to slide from his hold, and he stopped moving. There was a momentary silence.
"Dad…Dad?"I started to shake him. "Finally, for once we talked without arguing… and now you… You! Dad!"
"He's gone." K' pulled me up by my arm. "So let's go."
"But-!"
"We have no time for this. There's obviously someone other than Ash that's out to get you. The fire teams can get him out." K' spoke no further and simply continued pulling me at his quick rate. When outside, I spotted Rock chatting with a familiar woman, the blond pulling back on his hair. I ran up towards him, clamping onto his arm.
"Sam! You're okay!" Rock heaved a sigh of relief. "I was worried… She was too, says she's your cousin." He then pointed to the woman, her identity now becoming clear.
"I came here as fast as I could when I heard this place was up in smoke!" My slightly younger cousin Ruby said while patting on her chest, as if she almost had a heart attack. Her neatly styled sable pigtails bouncing slightly with her movement. "Is everyone okay?"
My eyes widened and I ducked my face into Rock's chest, gripping onto his shirt tightly.
"S-Sam? Is everything alright?" Rock questioned, one of his hands on my head, the other cautiously on an arm.
"Someone lost their life." K' responded coolly while approaching the group. "Be careful with her, she's in danger."
"Why hello there, sir!" I could hear excitement in Ruby's voice. I could tell she was dead seriously going to hit on him right there, even in this grave situation. "Are you a special ops agent or something? Your uniform is quite peculiar, but it fits! You have such a nice build!"
"…Did you just hear that someone lost their life? You know, if you're related to her, that means that it was a family member of yours?" K' responded, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh no! Who did?" I could hear a faint touch of sadness in her voice, but I think her mission to bag K' was more important.
"Can we… move away from here?" I questioned Rock as I pulled away. He didn't voice a response, just simply obliged. After escaping some of the chaos, we approached a stretcher. I could tell right away it was my mother. "Mom! Is she okay?" I cried as paramedics pushed me away. "Please, tell me!"
"She's just unconscious." A student answered. "The smoke just got to her head."
"Oh…" The heavy feeling in my chest was lifted, just a little.
"I'm sure if she were around here, this wouldn't have happened." A male student cut in. "Sensei would have noticed something like this if here head wasn't in the clouds, worrying about her delinquent daughter, who's just flirting around-"
An arm reached out and grabbed onto the student's gi, pulling them close. "Watch what you say, asshole…" Rock was pulling the student higher. "Your pain over your sensei is nothing in comparison to the pain over her mother!"
"It's okay…" I laid a hand over one of Rock's. "Let's just… go home. Please…"
"…Okay." Rock grabbed onto one of my hands and began leading me back.
… 3 Days Later…
3rd Person POV
"Sam should be back from the funeral any time now. I should be back in a few minutes myself. Her mother is still unconscious, and the cause is still unknown. We have no idea when she'll be waking up. I'll keep an eye on her, so don't worry and focus on finding some new work." BEEP! Rock shoved his cell phone into his back pocket, then dug in a paper bag, taking an apple out. He rubbed it against his shirt, then took a bite out of it. He made into the apartment complex, scaled the stairs and walked into the apartment. "Sam?" He looked towards the room both teens shared, noticing the door was a jar. He then took note of the window, the wind causing the curtains billow. He began taking quick strides over to it. His eyes bulged open when he saw Samantha standing a top the fire escape, the girl holding her arms out. She slowly moved forward before going over the edge. The blond moved quickly and jumped, grabbing onto the girl.
"Rock?" Samantha began slowing down with her aero kinesis. "What the hell were you thinking? You could have died!"
"And what the hell were you aiming for? If I hadn't jumped, you'd have been pancakes!"
"I deserve nothing less…" Samantha looked away from the man in front of her, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "Because of some stupid ass legend, I'm responsible for the injury of two friends, causing another one to be hurt in the process… Then there's my mother, who's still unconscious and my father… who died to protect me! All because someone is after me! To make matters even worse, one of my so called friends probably plotted it all… And to top it off, I'm just like them!"
"So because someone wants to bring you harm, you're the damned bad guy? You just deserve to die?" Rock was livid.
"Yes! I do! I have nothing to lose if I kill myself, and people would be gaining!"
Rock's fist collided against the wall behind Samantha. He couldn't take her pessimisms any longer. "Didn't I tell you? Terry and I! What the hell are we to you?"
"Kind people who shouldn't house someone like me." Samantha was now gripping the sides of her head, afraid of what would happen next, now that she decided it was time. "I'm just like them. I… I wanted to kill Terry… for something stupid… His voice… His voice annoyed me, so I… I committed assassinations attempts… you know, you nearly died a number of times, almost falling into boobie traps laid out for Terry. You could have died. Him too…"
Rock remained quiet for a moment. He finally moved his fist away from the wall and held his hand out. "It's not good to continue discussing this out here… let's go upstairs."
…Sam's POV…
"You know," Rock began. I sat on the bed, looking out the doorway as Rock sat opposite, facing the still open window. My father was that man… Geese Howard. Well, if you hadn't figured that out already."
"I had a hunch." I mumbled, fumbling with my fingers.
"Well, you know, he's the reason my mother died. He refused to see me and answer my plea for help… Incidentally, Terry fought with him, and ended up killing him. I wanted to hurt Terry when I learned about him being the one to kill Geese… but Terry proved to me that he was a good person, and he took me. Several years later, I met Andy, who, along with Terry's father, was murdered by Geese. They both treated me kindly. Blue Mary… Her husband lost his life to Geese. She still treats me as nicely as everyone else."
"But you had nothing to do with the situation…" I pointed out.
"Correction. I wanted to hurt Terry, initially. I wanted my own father to get hurt too. I was just the same at a point. And I'm even still haunted by my father's shadow. If I were to feel differently about you, that would make me a hypocrite." Rock let out a huff. "Besides, neither of us were actually hurt. I don't think Terry will think much of the situation either."
"S-so… No way! You're still okay with me?" I asked, turning around quickly. I stared at Rock's back.
He nodded. "Yep."
"Which means you're still going to treat me the same?" I was still in disbelief.
"Mhm."
My surprised expression melted into a sorrowful one. "I still feel responsible for all this. Nothing will be able to change that…"
Rock then turned around, a smile on his face. "Then kick some ass to get there! Fighting got you here, fighting can get you out!"
"I-I guess… but Ash- the opponent is really strong!" I looked down, gripping onto the blanket.
"Don't worry. Terry and I will find a way to get you trained." Rock then placed a hand on my head and softly pushed it down, laying it on one of his thighs. "But for now, rest. We can talk to Terry later, okay? Try to ease your mind."
"Okay…" I nodded. I imagined that he may have had a blush on his face and smiled slightly.
"Good."
And from there, I drifted into a tranquil nap.
-End Chapter 9: Nothing To Lose-
So yeah… The terror is over and it's going back to being somewhat light-hearted! I hope I didn't over do it! Thank you for reading!
