Part I
by Devon Masterson
"I have to get Terry," Andy thought as he
silently watched his brother practicing a kata from a nearby tree. Andy could
see Terry's slow movements as he concentrated on using every muscle in his body
to it's full extent. "Yes, he must pay and pay dearly he will."
Andy raised his hands and prepared to attack the
last of his family. "Good-bye, brother, you were a worthy adversary," he
thought as gave his last mental respects. He released the attack from his hand
and watched as it flew towards his unsuspecting sibling.
SPLASH!
Terry felt the
gruella attack hit in the back, then a sticky wetness. "What the hell?" he asked
as touched the spot with his hand and looked at it. It was honey and with the
heat outside the honey became very sticky and not so pleasant. Terry looked
angrily to the direction that the balloon filled honey hit him from when he saw
Joe step from behind the tree walked towards him. "Joe!"
"Hey, Terry, you want...what's wrong with you?"
Joe asked as he came closer.
Terry looked at him and
growled. "I'll tell you what's wrong," he growled as he jumped on Joe.
Andy watched the two fighting from the trees and started
laughing, not too loud. He didn't want them to hear him. "I am too
good," he chuckled to himself as he watched the scene unfold. He stayed up in
the tree watching until the fight escalated. "I better get out of here."
He jumped out of the tree and quickly went toward the house.
"What's going on?" Mai asked as she stepped out of
the house.
Andy put on his usual serious face. "Just
Terry and Joe horsing around. I was practicing on the other side of the house
when I heard them. I'd thought I go check it out," Andy answered. "You... want
to do something?"
Mai's eyes lit up. "Let's go!" she
exclaimed as she grabbed Andy's arm.
As she pulled him
along, Andy smiled. "I am good."
About 15 years later...
"John-Michael, come over here," Andy said softly as
he looked around.
A twelve year old boy with long white
hair pulled into a rubber band and baseball cap that he wore on backwards walked
over to his uncle. "Yes, Uncle Andy."
"You and I are
going to have some fun," he began. "I saw what you did to your sisters. I have
to admit nice work for an amateur."
JM smiled as he
thought about his seven year old twin sisters running from their playhouse
yelling for their father. He remembered creeping in softly and removing the
worms he had place there and putting them in a hole. Then when they came back
with their father trying to get him to kill the "snakes" they had seen there was
nothing there. He remember how Terry looked at them for scaring that way. He
promptly sent them to the corner for a time-out. JM started laughing out loud
again at the sight. "What do you have in mind, Uncle Andy?"
Andy looked over his shoulder and Joe coming. "Walk with
me," he commented as he led him away.
A couple of days
later, the Bogard-Higashi family arrived in Osaka for the first part of their
vacation. It was two weeks in Japan and two weeks in Thailand.
"I want you to meet my nephew, Robin Usaki," Joe said as
he stepped to the side.
A young boy about twelve years
old looked up and greeted everyone shyly.
"Scape
goat," John-Michael thought as he looked at his cousin. "Hmmm... I think
Uncle Andy's plan might just work." He looked casually toward Andy and
saw that his uncle shared his thoughts. Their plan was ready for action.
Almost everyone was out in the backyard doing various
things playing, talking or sparring when all of sudden a wave of balloon
assaults hit the unsuspecting members of the wolf pack in the backyard.
All
kinds of balloons hit them as they dodged and ducked the. After the attack was
finished, everyone in the backyard was pretty angry and looking for the culprit.
The balloons were not ordinary balloons. Some were filled honey, some paint,
others had water, then their was the whipped cream balloons. It was a mess if
hit by different kinds.
"This is disgusting," Andy said
as he looked down at himself. "Who did this?"
JM looked
over to his uncle who was hit a honey balloon and a whipped cream one. "I don't
know, but I am ready to give a serious pounding," he replied as he touched
his head where he got hit.
"It has to be Joe," Terry
accused as he tried to get the chocolate off of his daughters who were hit in
the face and chest. Mina and Teri were contributing to his efforts licking the
chocolate off. "He pulled something like this before."
"Dad, why would Uncle Joe attack us like this?" JM asked.
"Because he has a sick sense of humor," Terry answered as
he picked Mina up.
Shara picked up Teri. "Come on ,
Sweetie," she soothed as she carried her daughter inside.
"I don't think Joe had anything to do with this," Roxy said to his defense as
she tried to get some of the paint of of Charly and Jo. They had been standing
next to each other when they were hit. She took them each by the hand to
take them inside when Joe and Robin came out, completely clean, with some very
questionable items.
"What happened?" Joe asked as he
looked at everyone. He was holding a can of whip cream.
Roxy narrowed her eyes at Joe and Robin, then drew her conclusions. "Get them,"
she said as everybody started running after Robin and Joe.
The two broke out in all out run for your life as their
entire family ran after them with intentions pain.
"This is the second time this has happened to me. I only know one person who
would pull a joke like this and pin it on me...Andy! And now one suspects him
that's why he's doing this. Well I'll get him and I know he had help. But
who?" he wondered as he and Robin flew through the woods with everyone close
at their heels. "Had to be John-Michael. He's the only one who's just
as sick as Andy. I always knew the kid had it in for me, but I have to hand it
to him he played his hand well. I'll just have to get him back. Four can play
this game, if we survive."
******
John-Michael walked into the room he and Matt
shared when he heard and the later felt a splash.
Then he was covered in
chocolate and something hard. "What the hell?" he asked as he looked down.
Shara rushed into the room and gasped. "Watch your mouth,
young man," she said sternly. "Are you okay?" she asked in a softer tone.
"Yes, just sticky," he answered as he tried to figure out
what was mixed with the chocolate. "NO!" he yelled as he figured it out.
"NOT MY CEREAL!!!! SOMEONE WILL PAY" he exclaimed as his eyes glowed a familiar
red.
"Hold on, mister," Shara commented. "Before you
prepare for ultimate destruction, take a shower and then I'll take you to
the store to get some of your coveted Fruity Pebbles."
JM's tone softened. "Thanks, Mom," he said as he moved to hug her.
Shara stopped him. "After the shower."
JM smiled and went to the bathroom. "This has to be
Uncle Joe and Robin paying us back. They kept giving us dirty looks all night. I
knew they knew. Well we'll just have to get them back," he thought as he
took his clothes off.
Downstairs Andy and Terry were
coming back from sparring when a bucket of honey and flour dumped all over Terry
and a little on Andy. Terry growled as Joe peeped around the corner and
then took off. "What's with all this damn honey, I keep getting hit with?" he
asked as he headed for the shower.
Andy looked toward Joe
headed. "I guess we were found out. This could get out of hand."
Terry stalked angrily up the stairs, to the room he and
Shara were staying in.
"What happened to you?" Shara
asked as she walked into the room.
"I was dumped with a
bucket of honey and flour, that's what happened to me," he answered as he went
to the bathroom, he started to strip off his clothes.
"Who did that?"
"I don't know, but I am tired of all
these attacks. I'm going to play there game." Terry turned on the shower and got
in. "I can't believe this," he muttered.
"Would it, make
you feel better to know that John-Michael shares your pain? He got hit with
chocolate and his Fruity Pebbles."
"I know he was
pissed," Terry commented as he got inside the shower stall. "But no it doesn't
make me feel any better."
"How about I join you then?"
Terry turned his head and looked at his wife pitifully.
"Maybe..."
******
Everyone was standing outside faced off as they
prepared to do their worst. Over the past couple of days, all kinds of practical
jokes had been pulled and all missing their intended target causing a large all
out prank war. The entire family split into teams to take out another team and
it was starting to get out of hand.
As everyone poised to
do their worst, Andy raised his hands. "Stop," he commanded. "This whole things
has gotten out of hand. We are being childish."
Everyone
looked around sheepishly except the children, since they didn't know better.
"But, Uncle Andy..." JM began.
"No, John-Michael it's over," Andy interrupted before JM could reveal his
involvement.
"You're right, Andy," Terry said as he
lowered his prank weapon of distruction. "Let's all just go in and get cleaned
up, then will go out."
The kids cheered and ran off and
the adults followed after them.
"You got me pretty good,
Robin," JM complimented as they ran to the house.
"Thanks. You got me too!"
"Truce?"
"Truce," Robin replied as they went to their room.
"Oh
and Robin," JM began, "Touch my Fruity Pebbles again, cousin or no cousin, I'll
kick your butt."
Robin smiled devilishly. "Who me?" he
asked.
JM narrowed his eyes. "I see I am going to have
to stash my cereal from now on."
*******
The elder wolves were sitting around talking,
while the kids were asleep.
Shara leaned her head on
Terry then lifted it curiously. "Andy, is your name Andy or Andrew?"
"It's Andrew," he answered.
"What's your middle name?" Shara asked.
Andy looked
uncomfortable. "That is my middle name. I have never been to found of my first
name," he said as he casually looked at Terry.
Everyone
noticed his look towards Terry and began to get curious.
"What?" he asked.
"Terry's not your real name is it?" Joe
asked.
"Is your's Joe?" Terry asked suddenly defenseful.
"Yeah," he answered. "What is your real name?"
"Terrence," Andy answered without thinking then he looked
instantly sorry as he looked at Terry's face.
"Thank
you," Terry commented, "Francis."
Andy cringed at hearing
his given first name. He hated it just as much as Terry hated his first name.
They had both made a vow never mention it, but neither aniticipated having a
family either.
Joe began to laugh hystrically as the
others looked at each other in utter shock. "Francis?" he laughed as he pointed
at Andy.
"What's your middle name, Joe?" Andy asked
trying to throw the attention off himself.
"Kyoto," he
answered as he continued to laugh.
Andy was quickly
becoming agitated by Joe's laughter. The vein in his forehead began to pulse.
"Joe," he said calmly for the sake of their friendship and Roxy. "You really
don't want to mess with me when it come to my name."
Joe
took the hint and snickered a bit before he became quiet.
"Well we can definetly say this vacation's been a learning experience," Roxy
commented as she snuggled up next to a calmer Joe.
"I'll
say," Mai added as she latched on to Andy and kissed him on the cheek to help
assuage his hurt feelings about his exposed secret.
"I
just wonder how that whole prank war got started," Terry commented as he put his
arm around Shara.
"Let's just leave it in the past,"
Shara commented as she leaned her head on his shoulder lovingly.
Mai sneaked a secret look at Andy that no one saw. She
owed many dates to his practical joking nature and she was not going to screw
that up even now after they were married. She would let him have his fun and she
would have hers too.
"I am too good," Andy thought
as he looked around the room. No one would ever think it was him, the savior of
sanity amongst the chaos of the past two weeks. Never would they think that he
had cause the war of the wolves. "Yeah I am too good and stopping the war was
a nice touch too."
© Devon Masterson
I think we know who belongs to who in here, but
in case of any doubt, all characters mentioned and or appear in the Fatal Fury
Series belong to Viz entertainment, everybody else is mine baby!!
