Chapter 6.

"How do you feel?" The coach asked Rocky, after he rinsed the blood from his mouth and got cleaned up. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"I'm really sorry Sam," Brandon said. "It's okay, I'm sorry for tripping over you on the way, haha." Rocky said, Emily remained quiet in the background and listened to what they were saying until she could find the time to ask Rocky about this little trip to Maria's house.

"Well, next time I'll put you two on the same side for practice you're too aggressive alone." The coach said patting the boys on the back. "But I don't think I'm really in the mood to practice much anymore, so you boys go on home." He said to the team and they went into the locker room to get changed. Rocky just grabbed his bag and walked to the door with Emily close behind.

"I know what you're gonna say, so you might as well just spit it out, so you can follow it up with one of your, 'You never listen to me.' lectures." He huffed out then held out a hand shaking his head. "It'd just be pointless though, because I don't know why I went over there. I think I was just upset about what happened earlier and she seemed lonely so I went." She was quiet as she walked behind him and it was starting to get on his nerves. "Well? Aren't you gonna say anything?"

"Oh no Rocky, you're doing a fine job of imitating someone you think you know....I mean, I'm not so shallow as to think something were wrong with you disobeying me when I asked you to stay away from her, or the fact that you probably made a date with her like you've done every time someone's asked you out and you don't wanna be rude." She went on, "oh no, because you're Rocky, 'ladies man' Douglas. And you would never keep a good girl down."

"What?" He asked and she grumbled and walked ahead of him. "Nothing happened, in fact I left that place faster then I went in!" He called after her but she just stomped off with her arms crossed. Rocky slumped his shoulders and kept an even pace a few feet behind her.

'Why does she always have to blow things out of perspective, she always gets like this and sometimes it's understandable, but times like now it's just unnecessary and annoying.' He thought to himself and then he felt a strong heart beat in his ears, he looked around expecting to find Maria somewhere watching but no one was there so he continued his walk home in the slightly hushed wine of Emily in front of him.

'That loser can't even appreciate him the way I could, he would never walk home like that with me......I have to-' She paused in her train of thought and looked across the street. 'Brandon Micah, the star player.' She thought angrily. 'Probably wants to make fun of

Rocky more or hurt him again like he did this afternoon.....I'll show him.'

She stepped out from her hiding place behind a thick trunked tree across the street and whistled to him.

Brandon turned his head and looked at her with an eye brow raised until he recognized her clothes and hair then he smiled and waved at her.

"Hi." She waved back and smiled sweetly blowing him a kiss then motioning him over. He looked a little hesitant until she lifted her skirt a little not showing anything but hinting enough that she really wanted him to come to her.

He licked his lips and swallowed hard. 'Just for a minute.' He thought to himself walking across the street. She kept his gaze on her as she tossed her hair turning herself away from him and walking into some under brush. He smiled to that idea and quickened his pace, but it wasn't quick enough as a car horn started blaring into the air and- SCREEEEECH!!!!!

She hummed and walked up the path to her house, then broke into a loud laugh and ran.

* * *

"There is nothing on." Tum tum complained as he flipped through the channels on the TV. "Hand me the remote then, the WMAC masters is coming on in a minute, and I don't wanna miss a single episode." Rocky said extending his hand to him and he gave his brother the remote sitting himself in the chair. He figured he might as well watch it too since there was nothing else to do.

"What's this about anyway?" asked Tum placing his feet up on the coffee table and opening and closing them like a pair of scissors. "Well, it's like a video game come to life you go into a metal arena and then you fight with someone and so on and then you become world champion....you get it?" Tum tum shook his head not even really wanting to have heard the explanation in the first place and watched the TV. wordlessly.

They heard guitar strings being plucked seconds after the show started so Rocky turned it up to go over the noise a little. Their mother walked in with a frown on her face placing her brief case down and went into the kitchen with Rocky following her.

He sat at the counter table on a stool and watched her pour herself a drink when she turned around she nearly dropped the cup from a startled jump. "Rocky I told you not to use that ninja sneaking thing on us." She smiled and he smiled back but then it faded into concern. "Mom?"

"Yes, sweetie?" She replied trying not to call attention to the tone in her voice. "What's the matter? You look really sad, did something happen at work today?" She looked at his face and knew that of all people she could hide something from Rocky wasn't on of them, but she shook her head and put a hand on his cheek.

"No, honey nothing you need to worry about...fix yourself a snack and watch your brothers fr me I have to go and talk to your father," she walked around the counter to the sink and placed her cup inside then she patted Rocky on the back and walked out of the kitchen.

Rocky let out a sigh and went to the fridge to get him and Tum something to eat then he returned to the living room. "I take it you like the show?" He laughed out. His brother was at the edge of his seat staring at the screen, it wasn't until the cheese cake was placed in his face that he snapped out of it.

"It's not the show it's that guy," he pointed with his fork to the screen, Rocky looked and saw a man in red and shrugged. "What about him?"

"Look at him, really look." He looked at him and didn't know what he was supposed to see so he shook his head and shrugged his free hand. "It's scorpion-...from Mortal Kombat?"

"How can you tell?" He looked at him closer. "Because they have the same body shape and style I know his fighting style anywhere." Rocky laughed to himself because sadly enough he was the same way when he liked someone alot and the guy that played reptile was by far his favorite of the movie and Colt of course liked sub-zero it's as if their whole life was around their ninja colors- yellow, green, and blue as if fate really did put them in these lives and-....

The phone rang breaking his concentration, he reached over and took the receiver of it's base. "Hello?" A woman's voice quickly followed his own asking him something so quickly he hadn't heard it. "I'm sorry could you say that again? I didn't quite hear you."

"I'm sorry but have you seen Brandon?" it was Brandon's mom, Mrs. Micah. "Not since after practice, he was walking about a yard from Emily and me, why he didn't get home yet?" his voice was beginning to break up in his throat how could this boy have not made it home he was walking right behind him his house was about a block away there's no way he wouldn't have made it.

"I called everyone of the other boys on the team and so far no one's seen him since practice I'm so worried, he's never come home late a day in his life." The woman was in tears and Rockys heart went out to her. "I'll go out and look for him if you want and even if you don't I'm going- I have to....if I can't find him then you call the police okay Mrs. Micah?" He heard her say a faint, 'yes.' on the other end. "Okay, I'm going right now, good bye ma'am." He hung up the phone and stood to get his sneakers from beside the door.

"Where are you going?" Tum asked. "More like where are we going, Colt get out here!" He shouted up the stairs to him. There was one final cord and then the door opened. "What is it?" He stepped into the hall way and looked over the balcony down at them.

"We have to go look for someone, you remember Brandon Micah?" Colt nodded and started down the stairs, "Why, what's the matter?"

"He's missing, his mom said he didn't come home after practice and he was right behind me and Emily." He responded putting his sneakers on. Colt raised an eye brow crossing his arms with a sly smile. "The day you mess up your ever popular correction to the world, I know this kid must be in trouble."

Rocky looked at Colt for a minute as though he didn't know he said anything at all. "What?" Tum laughed to himself from their exchange in conversation. "Come on."

They opened the front door and walked outside squinting a second in the sun light until their eyes adjusted. "You two search that way and I'll go this way. If you see him tell him to just-....go home. Okay?" His brothers gave him a thumbs up as a 'Got it.' then they separated.

* * *

"Well, this is the last place we were-...." he heard talking and noticed a crowd right away. He trotted up to them and parted his way through the crowd. "O-ouch, my legs....Sam?" The boy said when he saw Rocky come through the crowd, his mouth dropped open when he saw that Brandon's legs were black and blue and he was on a stretcher. "What happened to you?!"

"I was going across the street to uh....talk to that one girl what was her name....short brown hair she was at the field today?" "Maria?!" Rocky said as more of a shock then response and the boy nodded letting out a little cry of pain.