"Well of course," the brown-haired boy grinned widely. The girls surrounded his chair and listened eagerly to his story. "When I used my mad skillz, those evil guys couldn't withhold a chance!"
Okay, so his English needed a little practice. But it was the emotion expressed behind the words that mattered! They were burning with the spirit, even if the mode of expression was a bit brocken. And the girls were all around him and, being far away in America, his girlfreind couldn't catch him in this little act. Just a little meaningless flirting never hurt anyone. It was the perfect crime, not even a crime even!
"Oh really? That's so nice!" They giggled.
"Of course, they were no match for the team, common criminals always fear when we're around to stop their evil ways!"
They all laughed. They were so impressed by his stories, naturally, and couldn't resist it. It was great. All four of them were blonde, and tanned as if they had come back from a beach (he had to ask them where it was, it's been too long since he had a swim) They said, "oh come on, we're not stupid. We know that that's Kyo who did that."
His grin widened further, and now involved teeth. "Well...yeah. But myself was Master Kusanagi's faithful sidekick all the way!"
All five of them left. Ah well, that was probably his punishment for trying to indulge in these things. He almost imagined his girlfriend's invisible finger waving at him for his attempts. How great it had been avoided just in time! Let it never be said that Shingo Yabuki was unfaithful in any way. He leaned back on his chair and looked outside. The small cafe was on the prettiest side of the street. So pretty that it seemed to be in a completely different town. High class, upper caste, kind of thing.
So this was America, then. He had seen it only breifly in the tournament, but never had enough time to enjoy it. And a vacation just might be well for his burning spirit. The flames needed fanning to make sure they were in top condition for the fight. And relaxtion was the best fan for the job.
But yet, the flames can never really be quelled. It burned inside of him, and that was all that mattered. Except....it would make it even better if the fires inside could be brought outside too. All this time training under Kyo, all the tournaments fought, all the opponents that met the hot sting of his fighting skills, and yet nothing ever really happened.
Just one of those things, eh! He knew if he could train harder, and become more obedient to Kyo, things could get better. Even if it would take almost another decade to get stronger. Ever vigilant to the words of the master, thinking of nothing but to please the master, hoping that a spark of the master's wisdom is the only thing occuping his dreams, that is the way of the student!
Why SouthTown 2? Oh...eh, that's right. It was to be closer to that fateful fight those years ago. The one where he finally managed to go solo and that was the deciding moment when he was finally accepted in Team Kusanagi. That was where the furnance inside of him was burning at it's maximum heat. A solar flare of power occupied him during that time, and it was the crowning glory of his fighting life. He had to find that fire once more, and retracting it to this spot was the best idea.
He could do it. For Shingo Yabuki, possibilities were limitless!
The kid from last night entered the changing room. It didn't take long for Rock to navigate around the place and find him. His footsteps were silenced by the knocking of the lockers and his stealth managed to get him to behind. He yelled in surprise when he found Rock behind him and placed his back to the locker. "Hey...what's up?"
Rock didn't say anything, instead, he grabbed the kid by the collar and pushed him back. He yelped again, this time more in annoyance then surprise, and his eyes shot up in surprise. He had been lifted off the ground by a few centimeters. "Yo yo....chill. This isn't cool!"
"Nope," Rock said, and formed his free hand into a fist. "In fact, I guarantee it'll be quite hot."
A phantom blue flame enguled the hand, the beginning of the burning knuckle. The other broke into a sweat, laughing nervously. "Oh man...what's up? I mean, I'll do anything just..."
"Where'd you find the drug dealer last night?"
"I don't know no...!"
Rock's hand glowed again.
"Okay, okay. I'll talk. Just...stop doing that."
"Where was it?" He let the buyer down, but put his fist to the locker just in case the kid had the wrong idea of trying to run away.
"Near the edge, where all the junk was."
How fitting, Rock thought. The debris of the first SouthTown no one bothered to build over. Now if only he could get the dealers to come again. "Call them," Rock said.
"W...what?!"
"They already know you, right?" He said. "Call them, and tell them to meet you there tonight, Okay?"
"That's crazy!"
"You're persistent," Rock punched the locker, not enough to cause a dent, but a loud enough sound near the kid's ear to inspire fright.
"I'll do it," he said finally, shaking in his voice and his knees.
Rock grinned. Excellent.
Terry yawned and stretched. Nothing like waking up in the morning.....er, afternoon.
A little break did some major good for him. Except now he'd have to do his daily chores faster to catch up. Which didn't matter since they were light on that day. "Must be that heavy food," he said jokingly, "put me right to sleep."
He turned to his side and saw Rock had gone. Got impatient of waiting for this old man to wake up from his heavy slumber and decided to go off on his own, eh? A teen's supposed to do that kind of stuff, good to see him not waiting up like a worried housewife anymore.
A little pang told him something wasn't completely right, though.
It was probably not a good idea to stay here too long. The kid had too much past baggage attached to this place. Staying a bit too long in graveyards and you just might start to see ghosts. And ghosts are never pleasant to experience.
Maybe.....it was about time they started exploring other place again. It had been quite a while since Terry wandered around, and all this staying down just wasn't his style.
He was there, at the scene of the fight. The ghosts of his past battles sprang up on him like the cleansing fires. Aaaaah, he melted in the nostaglia of ages past. The greatest, most glorious battle of his life was there in front of him. How magnificent, how wonderful. Who knew that broken glass and destroyed concrete could have so much emotional value.
"Thirty bucks," a voice said.
What was that? Someone else was there next to him. What would people be doing in such a run down old place. He glanced around, looking for the origins of that voice. When he saw the two people in there, they were exchanging the evil substance known as drugs!
How vile. How dare they disturb a place with such sacred feeling to him, a shrine of bocken glass and destroyed concrete, by engaging in such unlawful activites. His eyes targetted the man in business suit, he was the criminal luring the young boy into a life of crime and unlawful activities.
Silence, a step on glass and the man, with a bruise on his cheek, turned around to hear the war cry of "SHINGO KIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!" before getting a sting of Shingo's attack against illegal perpetrators.
"Shit, that is -it-," the man cried, getting up from the attack. "I'm quitting this business, it ain't worth it."
As he ran away, the truimphant Shingo looked at the trembling boy. "You should know better than to trust those people. You don't need those substances, for the fire is and always will be inside of you!"
"Where -do- these superpowered kung fu types come from?" The boy said, and ran off, yelling. "And why the fuck do they keep chasing *me*!"
Shingo scratched his head, "what was his concerns?" He grinned. "Oh well."
"Nice going," yet another person came and said.
"What?"
"I was just about to catch that creep and you let him go," another boy come out of the shadows and angry. He was wearing a red jacket and had blond messy hair. His eyes were a fiery red, something you don't see everyday.
"Once you're caught in the heat of the moment!" Shingo raised his hands. He lowered them as he said, "hey...you seem familiar."
The boy said, "hmph. I don't know who you are, but kindly don't get in my way again."
"That cap!" Shingo cried, ignoring the threats. "It's Terry's cap, isn't it? It's Terry's cap!"
"How do you know...?"
"He fought in the tournament. The announcer pronounced his name for the match as 'T-ay-ree Bow-gard' and we got into the match and fought. In the tournament!"
Rock blinked, "what tournament?"
"Mooooh, you're joking, right?" He raised his hands again, like an announcer. "The world famous: King of Fighters! Is there any another?!"
"There were a lot of years," Rock shrugged. "You could've been in the disqualifying league of any of them."
"What what whaaaat did you just say? That's incorrent," the blazing man cried out. "The burning spirit, the fiery passion for battle, the burning sense of rightness, do you not know who I am?!"
"No."
He sighed, exasperated. "This is a joke, right? Doesn't anyone know of Shingo Yabuki, Master Kusanagi's best disciple!"
"Well, whatever," he started walking away.
"Wait wait wait!" The blond boy sighed when Shingo tried to stop him. "Are you a student of Mr. Bogards?"
"You could...say that," he shrugged.
"GREAT!" Shingo jumped in cheer. "This is wonderful, two students of great fighters are united to stand against the evils of the world! Which manifests itself was....which form now, exactly?"
"Listen," he said. "I really don't want to throw threats around or anything. So please, stay away. This is really none of your concerns."
"Nonsense," he replied. "Where there is evil, it is always my concern. It's the fire inside of my that refuses to stand for that villainy!"
The blond sighed, "and there is no way to talk you out of this."
"Never!"
"Fine," he spat out. "Just...don't do anything loud."
"YES!" He said, breaking the compromise in just a matter of seconds. "We shall prove the masters have taught us well by breaking this wave of crime. There shall be no way of standing between Shingo Yabuki and....!" He scratched his head. "ano...ummm....what iis/i your name again? Heheheh."
"Rock," he said. His concentration was not there, instead staring at the sky.
"Shingo Yabuki and Rock, let's GO!"
"Hold on a sec, Shingo *and*....?"
You meet the strangest characters in these places. It seemed like even the other countries were shipping their eccentrics here.
Shingo Yabuki, hmm? That was the one Terry talked about last time, the annoyingly enthusiastic one who hung around the winner of the King of Fighers, Kusanagi, was it? Rock wondered if that guy was around here too. Was there a tournament going on, or just a vacation? Well, whatever. As long as he didn't have to meet up with them again.
When he got back to the campsite Terry had already packed up everything and inside his sleeping bag. There were paperbags with the words "Arby's" on the front. "Hope you don't mind me eating," Terry said, sensing Rock's arrival.
"Nah, it's alright," Rock said. "Sorry I didn't give you a head's up about my leaving all day."
"It's alright, I kinda knew that'd happen."
"Oh?" Rock said, a bit concerned.
"Is it a girl?" Even though he couldn't see Terry's face, he knew it was filled with a malicious grin right now.
"Cut it out," Rock laughed nervously with a slight blush. "I was just hanging around town."
"That's good," Terry said. "Better stay there while it lasts."
"What?"
"Yeah," a slight grumble and turning of sides. "We're gonna be leaving for a bit tommorrow morning, 'kay?"
This....wasn't good.
Okay, so his English needed a little practice. But it was the emotion expressed behind the words that mattered! They were burning with the spirit, even if the mode of expression was a bit brocken. And the girls were all around him and, being far away in America, his girlfreind couldn't catch him in this little act. Just a little meaningless flirting never hurt anyone. It was the perfect crime, not even a crime even!
"Oh really? That's so nice!" They giggled.
"Of course, they were no match for the team, common criminals always fear when we're around to stop their evil ways!"
They all laughed. They were so impressed by his stories, naturally, and couldn't resist it. It was great. All four of them were blonde, and tanned as if they had come back from a beach (he had to ask them where it was, it's been too long since he had a swim) They said, "oh come on, we're not stupid. We know that that's Kyo who did that."
His grin widened further, and now involved teeth. "Well...yeah. But myself was Master Kusanagi's faithful sidekick all the way!"
All five of them left. Ah well, that was probably his punishment for trying to indulge in these things. He almost imagined his girlfriend's invisible finger waving at him for his attempts. How great it had been avoided just in time! Let it never be said that Shingo Yabuki was unfaithful in any way. He leaned back on his chair and looked outside. The small cafe was on the prettiest side of the street. So pretty that it seemed to be in a completely different town. High class, upper caste, kind of thing.
So this was America, then. He had seen it only breifly in the tournament, but never had enough time to enjoy it. And a vacation just might be well for his burning spirit. The flames needed fanning to make sure they were in top condition for the fight. And relaxtion was the best fan for the job.
But yet, the flames can never really be quelled. It burned inside of him, and that was all that mattered. Except....it would make it even better if the fires inside could be brought outside too. All this time training under Kyo, all the tournaments fought, all the opponents that met the hot sting of his fighting skills, and yet nothing ever really happened.
Just one of those things, eh! He knew if he could train harder, and become more obedient to Kyo, things could get better. Even if it would take almost another decade to get stronger. Ever vigilant to the words of the master, thinking of nothing but to please the master, hoping that a spark of the master's wisdom is the only thing occuping his dreams, that is the way of the student!
Why SouthTown 2? Oh...eh, that's right. It was to be closer to that fateful fight those years ago. The one where he finally managed to go solo and that was the deciding moment when he was finally accepted in Team Kusanagi. That was where the furnance inside of him was burning at it's maximum heat. A solar flare of power occupied him during that time, and it was the crowning glory of his fighting life. He had to find that fire once more, and retracting it to this spot was the best idea.
He could do it. For Shingo Yabuki, possibilities were limitless!
The kid from last night entered the changing room. It didn't take long for Rock to navigate around the place and find him. His footsteps were silenced by the knocking of the lockers and his stealth managed to get him to behind. He yelled in surprise when he found Rock behind him and placed his back to the locker. "Hey...what's up?"
Rock didn't say anything, instead, he grabbed the kid by the collar and pushed him back. He yelped again, this time more in annoyance then surprise, and his eyes shot up in surprise. He had been lifted off the ground by a few centimeters. "Yo yo....chill. This isn't cool!"
"Nope," Rock said, and formed his free hand into a fist. "In fact, I guarantee it'll be quite hot."
A phantom blue flame enguled the hand, the beginning of the burning knuckle. The other broke into a sweat, laughing nervously. "Oh man...what's up? I mean, I'll do anything just..."
"Where'd you find the drug dealer last night?"
"I don't know no...!"
Rock's hand glowed again.
"Okay, okay. I'll talk. Just...stop doing that."
"Where was it?" He let the buyer down, but put his fist to the locker just in case the kid had the wrong idea of trying to run away.
"Near the edge, where all the junk was."
How fitting, Rock thought. The debris of the first SouthTown no one bothered to build over. Now if only he could get the dealers to come again. "Call them," Rock said.
"W...what?!"
"They already know you, right?" He said. "Call them, and tell them to meet you there tonight, Okay?"
"That's crazy!"
"You're persistent," Rock punched the locker, not enough to cause a dent, but a loud enough sound near the kid's ear to inspire fright.
"I'll do it," he said finally, shaking in his voice and his knees.
Rock grinned. Excellent.
Terry yawned and stretched. Nothing like waking up in the morning.....er, afternoon.
A little break did some major good for him. Except now he'd have to do his daily chores faster to catch up. Which didn't matter since they were light on that day. "Must be that heavy food," he said jokingly, "put me right to sleep."
He turned to his side and saw Rock had gone. Got impatient of waiting for this old man to wake up from his heavy slumber and decided to go off on his own, eh? A teen's supposed to do that kind of stuff, good to see him not waiting up like a worried housewife anymore.
A little pang told him something wasn't completely right, though.
It was probably not a good idea to stay here too long. The kid had too much past baggage attached to this place. Staying a bit too long in graveyards and you just might start to see ghosts. And ghosts are never pleasant to experience.
Maybe.....it was about time they started exploring other place again. It had been quite a while since Terry wandered around, and all this staying down just wasn't his style.
He was there, at the scene of the fight. The ghosts of his past battles sprang up on him like the cleansing fires. Aaaaah, he melted in the nostaglia of ages past. The greatest, most glorious battle of his life was there in front of him. How magnificent, how wonderful. Who knew that broken glass and destroyed concrete could have so much emotional value.
"Thirty bucks," a voice said.
What was that? Someone else was there next to him. What would people be doing in such a run down old place. He glanced around, looking for the origins of that voice. When he saw the two people in there, they were exchanging the evil substance known as drugs!
How vile. How dare they disturb a place with such sacred feeling to him, a shrine of bocken glass and destroyed concrete, by engaging in such unlawful activites. His eyes targetted the man in business suit, he was the criminal luring the young boy into a life of crime and unlawful activities.
Silence, a step on glass and the man, with a bruise on his cheek, turned around to hear the war cry of "SHINGO KIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!" before getting a sting of Shingo's attack against illegal perpetrators.
"Shit, that is -it-," the man cried, getting up from the attack. "I'm quitting this business, it ain't worth it."
As he ran away, the truimphant Shingo looked at the trembling boy. "You should know better than to trust those people. You don't need those substances, for the fire is and always will be inside of you!"
"Where -do- these superpowered kung fu types come from?" The boy said, and ran off, yelling. "And why the fuck do they keep chasing *me*!"
Shingo scratched his head, "what was his concerns?" He grinned. "Oh well."
"Nice going," yet another person came and said.
"What?"
"I was just about to catch that creep and you let him go," another boy come out of the shadows and angry. He was wearing a red jacket and had blond messy hair. His eyes were a fiery red, something you don't see everyday.
"Once you're caught in the heat of the moment!" Shingo raised his hands. He lowered them as he said, "hey...you seem familiar."
The boy said, "hmph. I don't know who you are, but kindly don't get in my way again."
"That cap!" Shingo cried, ignoring the threats. "It's Terry's cap, isn't it? It's Terry's cap!"
"How do you know...?"
"He fought in the tournament. The announcer pronounced his name for the match as 'T-ay-ree Bow-gard' and we got into the match and fought. In the tournament!"
Rock blinked, "what tournament?"
"Mooooh, you're joking, right?" He raised his hands again, like an announcer. "The world famous: King of Fighters! Is there any another?!"
"There were a lot of years," Rock shrugged. "You could've been in the disqualifying league of any of them."
"What what whaaaat did you just say? That's incorrent," the blazing man cried out. "The burning spirit, the fiery passion for battle, the burning sense of rightness, do you not know who I am?!"
"No."
He sighed, exasperated. "This is a joke, right? Doesn't anyone know of Shingo Yabuki, Master Kusanagi's best disciple!"
"Well, whatever," he started walking away.
"Wait wait wait!" The blond boy sighed when Shingo tried to stop him. "Are you a student of Mr. Bogards?"
"You could...say that," he shrugged.
"GREAT!" Shingo jumped in cheer. "This is wonderful, two students of great fighters are united to stand against the evils of the world! Which manifests itself was....which form now, exactly?"
"Listen," he said. "I really don't want to throw threats around or anything. So please, stay away. This is really none of your concerns."
"Nonsense," he replied. "Where there is evil, it is always my concern. It's the fire inside of my that refuses to stand for that villainy!"
The blond sighed, "and there is no way to talk you out of this."
"Never!"
"Fine," he spat out. "Just...don't do anything loud."
"YES!" He said, breaking the compromise in just a matter of seconds. "We shall prove the masters have taught us well by breaking this wave of crime. There shall be no way of standing between Shingo Yabuki and....!" He scratched his head. "ano...ummm....what iis/i your name again? Heheheh."
"Rock," he said. His concentration was not there, instead staring at the sky.
"Shingo Yabuki and Rock, let's GO!"
"Hold on a sec, Shingo *and*....?"
You meet the strangest characters in these places. It seemed like even the other countries were shipping their eccentrics here.
Shingo Yabuki, hmm? That was the one Terry talked about last time, the annoyingly enthusiastic one who hung around the winner of the King of Fighers, Kusanagi, was it? Rock wondered if that guy was around here too. Was there a tournament going on, or just a vacation? Well, whatever. As long as he didn't have to meet up with them again.
When he got back to the campsite Terry had already packed up everything and inside his sleeping bag. There were paperbags with the words "Arby's" on the front. "Hope you don't mind me eating," Terry said, sensing Rock's arrival.
"Nah, it's alright," Rock said. "Sorry I didn't give you a head's up about my leaving all day."
"It's alright, I kinda knew that'd happen."
"Oh?" Rock said, a bit concerned.
"Is it a girl?" Even though he couldn't see Terry's face, he knew it was filled with a malicious grin right now.
"Cut it out," Rock laughed nervously with a slight blush. "I was just hanging around town."
"That's good," Terry said. "Better stay there while it lasts."
"What?"
"Yeah," a slight grumble and turning of sides. "We're gonna be leaving for a bit tommorrow morning, 'kay?"
This....wasn't good.