Go for Broke

(A/N: We interrupted this fanfiction to bring you a this important message: PANCAKES CAN CLEANSE YOUR SOUL! That said I don't own King of Fighters and any characters related…except my own as they're from my comic. I would plug it, but the world in a bad enough economy though you're welcome to click my name for the link. But enough social banter, on to the story.)

Bzzzt!

Kzzz…Com…ztttt.. in. Come in…bzzzt….Do you…zzzzt…me? Zzzzzt….I said do you read me?

"Yeah, but your in a bad area. Am mostly picking up static, move to someplace else."

ZZZZZZZZ..."Can you heard me now?"

"Ugh."

"I'll take that as a yes. Are you in position?"

"Standing a few feet from her caricature tent. She's finishing up the last of her customers, once she closes shop. I'll begin following."

"Remember stay out of sight. In which I mean watch from a distance, not walking almost besides her holding a magazine to your nose. We don't want another auto accident and have to haul you sorry butt back to the hospital."

"Yeah, yeah. Will you stop bringing that up. Am still paying you for the bills, aren't I?" 

"Heh heh, just reminding ya."

"Ha ha, I have laughed. Oh she on the move, get ready."

"Gotcha, over and out."

The shadow figured clasped down on the antenna on his walkie talkie, and peaked outward from his hiding place as his intended target folded up her tent, put away her pencils and colors, grabbed her drawing pad, and started down the block. The figure waited a bit letting her get some distance before going in the same direction. Making sure to keep out of sight by ducking in shop buildings or hiding behind corners when his target made a turn.

At on point, the girl came upon a street, the same one in fact where he had his first accident in fact. Upon seeing it the boy gulped but continued to stay out of sight as his target crossed the street. "Alright c'mon you can do this. No topless women centerfold to distract you this time. Just wait for the light and run across." The boy pounded his chest for reassurance then check back on his pursee who had just clear the street and was further down the sidewalk. The light was still red so the figure decided to take a chance and spirited across the painted lines. Leaping to the next side when he was within distance even though the light had yet to change color. "Huff huff made it." He sighed happily however he noticed he was a tad lighter then before. "Funny feels like something fell…the walkie-talkie!" He spotted it in the middle of the crosswalk only to see it crushed into pieces as the cars were given the signal to go.

"…"

*****

The park in the afternoon

Kids playing, people resting or exercising, senior citizens feeding the birds

And an operation being hatched.

Amongst the people was a girl wearing all suspenders with a light red shirt underneath, red sneakers with a yellow stripe down the middle and a backward worn cap dotting her head, guess what color?

In her arms she carried a drawing pad and a purple folded up tent, her hand grasping some art supplies. She seemed like a casual person who enjoyed art, nothing special to look at among everyone else. Though to one person watching her from a piece of playground equipment, it was another story.

"Here we go."

The girl was passing by the play area, already swarming with little kids exerting their energy. Out of the blue, a ball came sailing from a group of kids and bounced toward the path the girl was on. Seeing it coming her way, she lifted her right foot and lightly brought it down stopping the ball in its tracks. Pretty soon a kid came looking for it.

"This belong to you?" The girl asked smiling, the kid just nodded smiling in return and picked up the ball. However she took a fancy to box of art supplies the girl was carrying. But after a glance she turned and walked back to the group she was playing with.

"Your welcome" the girl muttered after seeing her go, then shrugged and continue onward.

"OOF! What th-! Hey my pencils!" the girl called after the kid who just swiped then ran off with her art supplies. Without a second thought the girl was on the kid's trail, dropping her other two supplies. Weaving in and out of other children who were still playing and having to duck under some of the equipment. "Come back here, you little rugrat!" the girl yelled as she started to close the distance between them  "You can run, but I can run faster!" 

With that she made a flying leap (wow, two in one story : P-ed) and caught the kid as she slid along the ground. "I swear if you weren't out of my age range, you'd be sorry for grabbing my stuff." The girl scowled as she yanked the supplies from the kid's hand "Though if you do that to me again, don't think there won't be percussions. Am very creative, so I can think of something humane, disciplie-eqse and humiliating. Now get!" She let the child go and got up.

Then hit the ground again as something flew over her.

She dusted herself off as she got to her feet turning toward the figure "Aren't you a little old for the playground, Demo?" The person in question chuckled as she got to her feet. This too was a girl; only blonde haired with pigtails and wearing a black loose long sleeve shirt with a white twisted smiley face design in the middle, blue jeans and white shoes completed the ensemble.

"Shoot, almost had you that time, what the matter? A week off starting to rust your skills, Eh Shorty?"

*****

High School can have a strange effect on a person. Be it to go through the grades and reach a career choice or get insulted once too often, grab a gun and…well. But one thing that will always be inevitable about H.S is the encounter of a fight. Sometimes one little skirmish can you set you on the road to becoming a warrior, for one girl the road is still opening up to her. But the path she walks has lead to some exciting encounters and the future is looking better for her with each fight. Being a tomboy doesn't hurt either.

Shorty Caka.

Age 16, Fight Style: Self-taught Martial Arts

*****

Shorty sighed as she put down her supplies "God, you think I would've gotten used to these lures by now. It just frustrates the living hell out of me when I keep falling for them." She grinned as she looked toward Demo "And yet am always curious of the surprise afterward. Shall we have at it?"

"And the girl says the magic words." Demo quip as she got into a stance but her opponent hadn't even raised her hands. "Um you are going to fight me right? I mean you threw down the glove, remember?" she asked sarcastically

"I know, am just waiting for…" there was a yell behind her and something charged out from a slide. Shorty who had yet to move pulled up an arm then quickly brought it back behind her in an elbow. Connecting with the stomach of a rather large black haired person wearing a purple t-shit with a black vest, jeans and black sneakers. "Glad you could make it, Iggy." She then turned to Demo "NOW we fight." She quickly got behind the unfortunate boy and jump kicked him, sending him flying forward. Demo knocked him to side and rushed toward her, fists aimed for the Shorty's head. The girl leaned back then ducked as the attack came back at her now in a chop. She then grabbed Demo's arm and punched the stomach a few times, following it with a sweep kick.

However Demo didn't fall, but landed on her hands turning it into a flip. Once on her feet she let out a roundhouse kick that connected but was met afterwards with a knee to the gut. Demo quickly regained her herself then charged back in with a shoulder tackle. Her opponent tried to stop it but she was moving too fast and got knocked backward, sliding a few feet when she hit the ground. Shorty got her bearings back just in time to see a foot from the air, coming down at her like a missile. The auto-drive known as instinct took over and she rolled as dirt and rock exploded from the spot she was just in.

As Shorty got to her feet she sense something behind her and started to turn only to get grabbed in a bear hug. Iggy had recovered and was holding on tight. He lifted his head toward Demo, motioning her to attack (he's mute you see-ed). To which she was all too happy to oblige as she reared up a strong punch.

 She only got a centimeter before two feet bounced off her face, knocking her to the ground. Demo clutched at her face as pain throbbed from the area where it hit. "Ow, you…bi…jerk!" she yelled remembering kids were still on the playground, some now watching the fight with curiosity.

Shorty however was occupied with her second opponent to respond, fighting him fist for fist after getting free of the bear hug. Growling, Demo pulled out a walkie-talkie from her pants. "Axel! Where the heck are you?! We were supposed to attack all at once! Were getting creamed out here!" The only answer she got was static "Axel? Axel!" She silently swore a she put away the device then got blindsided as Iggy was thrown into her and the two tumbled to the ground "Augh! Get off me you beanbag!"               

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is that anyway to talk to your partner, Demo? I mean you need all the help you can get when you're planning a team attack. Especially when your having trouble just attacking one person."

"Oh sure, except the fact that your no ordinary person and I happen to have teammates with the I.Q .of a peanut." Demo groaned as the she tried to pry the form of Iggy off her.

"Teammates? As in plural? Oh yeah there suppose to be three of you weren't there? Where your bud, Ax-?"

Something flew at the Shorty from the side, barely taking off her head had she not cocked it to the side. "I am getting so sick of surprise attacks! C'mon out Axel!" There was no response but the sound of kids playing. Without taking her sights off of his two partners, the girl bent down and picked up the thrown object, which turned out to be a screwdriver then waited it out. Almost daring for Axel to attack.

After about 5 minutes, a flash from a nearby tree caught her eye "TOO OBVIOUS!" Shorty cried out as she jumped into the air. Throwing the screwdriver at the tree just as another sliver object, a wrench this time, rocketed from the leaves. The two objects collided, knocking both out of the air. "You gotta get more creative then that Ax." She then grasp when she realized that it wasn't a person who threw the wrench, but a makeshift miniature catapult. "Oh no."

Something slammed into her just as she was about to touch down. Both she and her attacker rolled on the ground from the impact. Someone got thrown after a few turns and crashed into the seesaw. The person groaned from the hard hit but got to his feet grinning wickedly "How's that for creativity?" the person wearing a black bandana, tattered white shirt and gray pants called to the girl who was currently coughing and trying to recover herself.

"Your late Axel!"  Demo said as she and Iggy got to their feet. "We were suppose to attack at 3 o'clock on the dot and why didn't you answer my call!"

"I pity the person who has to become your boyfriend someday. By the way, and fine." He shot back " Anyway, you know full well 3 is rush hour around here, almost impossible to get across the streets. I damn near got run over again. Oh by the way I own for a walkie talkie."

Demo started to say something but relaxed a bit after hearing the last sentence " Heh, with you Axel, my financial future is secure. Now…" She pointed Iggy over to a spot and he nodded, taking his place. "…for the other little problem."

Shorty finally managed to suck in a few breaths before slowing climbing to her feet "That…was…a nice strategy Ax. Cheap, but a good one none the less."

She noticed that he was now grinning more so then ever, as if a kid in a candy store. "Eh?" She moved her head a bit and notice that Iggy was but a few feet away from her out of the corner of her eye. She faced back at Axel, not even needing to turn to know that Demo was on the other side. "Hmm, a triangle pattern. This is a new one."

Axel pop his knuckles as he readied himself  "Oh yeah its something we've been working on for a while now, A lot of hours of preparation. We thought today would be as good as any to try it out.

Demo hand her hands out in front of her, fingers already hooked into claws "And trust us, your going to feel every bit of it. Cause I think you say it yourself.

"Every fight has to pay up sooner or later" both she and Axel said in unison.

 The three begin to circle Shorty like buzzard over a nearly departed prey. Sometime one of them moving forward as if to rush her and to their credit, they managed to twitch her a couple of time as she tried to keep her eye on all three.

Finally, Iggy grunted something and really stepped forward, going into a full run. Shorty prepared herself, but then just as suddenly as he started he stopped, giving off a knowing smile. Shorty turned quickly to find Demo who now was in a full out rush, a yell to the side told that Axel was also charging her and she was pretty sure Iggy would be coming in as well.

"Well…" thought Shorty "can't say this isn't going to painful."

****

"Ooooh, that could've went better."

"Speak for yourself. I didn't even get a chance to reach her thanks to your billboard head! Ow!"

"Hey it's not my fault, thank the Mack Truck over here for plowing right into me."

Iggy just let out a low groan area, rubbing the spot where Demo crashed into with her claws.

Shorty just looked at them all, shaking her head. "Eh, better luck next time guys. At least the law of averages is on your side. Hopefully, before the local tournament kicks off a week from now. Which reminds me, I gotta check up on my own partners."

She grabbed her art supplies and started back toward her other stuff toward the sidewalk "Good luck, guys. When you get the feeling back in ya, you know where to find me."

The sound of kids playing filled the air again as the three laid in the grass, the pain still trying to work its way out of their system. A few kids who saw the fight came over and begin poking them with sticks.

"So…spare practice after this?"

"Sure why not. Just one thing, hey kid can you jab that boy with the bandana in the stomach?"

"Wha…? AUGGH!"

"Thank you."