AN- Well, due to ... well, just because, actually. I was waiting to release this chapter, but after some thought decided now might be a good time. Keep in mind, this chapter does not have a corresponding one in Breaking Chains. Which brings me to another point. Every one has been reviewing my story, for which I am eternally grateful, but no one has been reviewing Breaking Chains. Either you are simply only reading my story, which is not a good plan, because you need to read both for it to make sense. Or you are just not reviewing it, which isn't nice. Either way, please take the courtesy to review his work.. Thank you.
Also, some warnings before we begin. So far this story has been very happy-go- lucky. This chapter is very not like that. Be aware of violence, drug use, and extreme racism. Sorry, but it can't be helped. Also, Klyde's age in the story is 16 at this point. (7 in the flashback).
"The suckers lose themselves in the games they love to play,
The children love to sing, but then their voices slowly fade away.
The village church yard is filled with bones weeping in the grave,
The silver lining of clouds shines on people Jesus couldn't save." (Third eye Blind)
Klyde sat back in the reclinable airline seat and sighed. Most of his body parts were still sore from being held in torpor. He rubbed his shoulder and craned his neck back and forth, taking in his surroundings. The seat next to him was empty, as was most of the plane. Most noticeable was a man dressed like he had come out of a nineteen fifties bar, and behind him, an older woman who had an incredibly loud infant with her. Klyde hung his head. Man, no hot chicks... I guess no one wants to go to Brazil... He threw his legs up to rest on the headboard of the seat in front of him. A small, crumpled up piece of paper fell out of his pocket. Curiosity got the better of him, and he reached down and picked it up. He unfolded it, and looked at the worn, washed writing on it. Oh my god... I had completely forgotten about this!
The Fool by Klyde KadellThe bravest of warriors,
The most cowardly of men,
The one in the pink gi.
Homeless and broken,
Yet his face lights up the room.
He will fight any opponent,
Yet from sadness his hides.
Now he has no one,
Not even himself.
None can hear his masked soul cry.
Abandoned and alone,
The fool helps not himself,
But fills everyone around him with joy.
I remember this..! I wrote this, how many years ago...?
Flashback time!
Nine years ago...
"What do you mean, you don't want to go to school today?"
Klyde let out a quiet cough. "I feel sick. I wanna go back to bed."
A fist came out of nowhere, slamming Klyde right below the eye and knocking him to the ground.
"Now get the fuck up and make the coffee. And you'd better be on the fucking bus."
Klyde let out a sigh and went into the kitchen. The tiles were irregularly placed, leaving bare spots on the floor. The walls were at one time white, but now, there were darker stains all over. He had heard his parents say that it was from "resin", whatever that was. To add to the homey affect, pots and pans were scattered everywhere. Klyde expertly stepped over everything and turned on the coffee brewer. Well, it was worth a try... He gingerly put his hand to his cheek. It's gonna bruise..., he thought with surprisingly little emotion for a seven year old. Oh well, I'm sure it won't matter by the time I get to the bus stop.
After the coffee was made, Klyde threw on his backpack and left for the bus stop. The front lawn of his house was well kept, hiding the mess that lurked within. This was because Klyde's stepfather had him spend several hours a day taking care of it after school. Klyde held back a laugh. After all, it's appearances that count. As long as it looks like a nice house, a happy family, then who cares what really goes on, right?
Klyde approached the bus stop and groaned. Three larger, dark skinned boys were sitting on tree stumps, throwing rocks at a car. Oh man... I was hoping they would cut school again today... One of the kids noticed Klyde's approach and alerted the others.
"Yo, yo the little white bitch is here!"
The three boys jumped off of their seats and surrounded Klyde, each one easily looming an extra foot over him. They all wore heavy sweatshirts and big grins.
"Hey, Klyde. I heard you got another hundred on the test yesterday."
Crud..."Uh... yeah, Lionel."
The boy named Lionel pushed Klyde, knocking him into a tree.
"What'd we tell you about that?"
"...That it makes you guys look bad."
"And you did it anyway?"
Klyde looked down, suddenly very interested in a particular patch of grass.
"Well?"
"...I guess I slipped."
Lionel's eyes went wide.
"You slipped?! You slipped?! Well, now you're gonna look like you slipped!"
Lionel swung his fist at Klyde, hitting him in the jaw and knocking his head back, rebounding off the tree. The other two boys each grabbed one of Klyde's arms and wrapped them around the tree, pinning him where he stood. Lionel then threw several quick punches into his stomach and chest, but besides a quicker intake of air, Klyde wouldn't let his pain show. This only further angered Lionel, you picked up a rock.
"Oh?! You think you're hard? Eat this, pussy!"
Lionel threw the rock, and it found it's target in Klyde's left eye, which began bleeding around the sides. The boys laughed as the bus pulled up, and they jumped in.
"Man Lionel, one of these days you're gonna kill that little white boy."
"Good. That'll make one less of 'em. My grandpa says it'd do the world good, killin' all then white mutha fuckas."
Klyde shakily picked up his backpack and staggered to the bus. The bus driver looked at him, bloody and bruised, and shook his head.
"I can't let you on like that, boy. Go on home 'n clean yourself up."
"But...but wait!" Klyde screamed to the closing doors. The bus drove off, it's windows filled with laughing kids and middle fingers.
Klyde hung his head and slowly trudged back to his house. He quietly went inside, so as to not let his presence be known. He put his ear to his parent's door. The sound of sniffing could be heard from the other side. Great, that means he's gonna be in a terrible mood today...Klyde had learned to gauge his parent's moods by whatever he observed from the doorway. If the air near it smelt funny and made him want to choke, then they would most likely ignore him all day. If he heard sniffing sounds, then his stepfather would go out of his way to make Klyde's day horrible. But that was nothing compared to what happened if there was nothing going on at the door. Then his stepfather would have a rage in his eyes, and it would all be fixed on Klyde.
Klyde made a bold decision and decided not to stick around for the festivities. He would take the beating for missing school later. Besides, I need to let this cut on my eye heal. If he finds out I got beat up again, he'll hurt me even more. I hope he doesn't find another two by four....
Klyde sat down at his thinking spot, a fallen tree at the top of a hill. The hill was adjacent to a highway, and there was always a breeze. Somehow, the wind always seemed to soothe him. He called it his thinking spot, but he always seemed to spend his time there crying. This time was no exception, and several hours passed by in a heartbeat.
Suddenly an urge came over him. He walked to the edge of the steep side of the hill and stared down. The wizz of the cars on the highway seemed to hypnotize him, and it looked like he wasn't even seeing the cars, almost as if he was looking past them with his reddened, tear stained eyes.
I wonder what it'll feel like... he thought before he realized it. The sudden idea shocked him. What shocked him even more was that he found himself strangely comfortable with the idea. It's not like I don't get hurt everyday anyway... Maybe it'll be fun... He could imagine himself tumbling down the hill. Would I hit a windshield?... Maybe I'd reach the asphalt, and then a car would run me over...
He went to close his eyes, and then changed his mind, deciding he'd rather leave them open. He slowly leaned his weight over the edge, and then felt gravity take it's effect. The rush of blood made him feel happy for the first time in years. Then, just before the great fall began, a hand shot out and grabbed him, pulling him back onto the hill and into reality.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, you dumb white shit?"
Why couldn't I have just fallen?
"You know, the teacher gave us detention for failing that test! You thought you could get away with getting me detention?!"
Klyde felt something strange come over him, and answered "No, I was just hoping maybe I could at least die in peace." Before he knew what he was doing.
Lionel's eyes lit up, and he grabbed Klyde's shirt, lifting him off the ground. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" He threw out a punch that landed squarely on Klyde's nose, and there was a sickening crunch. Blood started pouring out, but Klyde merely shook his head.
"No, that wasn't hard enough."
Lionel pulled back his fist to throw a harder punch, but right before he swung, another hand reached out and grabbed it. "Hey now, don't you think you've done enough damage?"
Both Klyde and Lionel turned in surprise to see a boy much older than them, probably about twelve or thirteen, holding Lionel's fist.
"I may not know the whole situation, but from what I've seen, I really don't like you, kid." He threw Lionel's own fist into his face, sending him stumbling backwards. The strange hero flashed a cheesy grin and gave him a thumbs down.
"You better beat it, or I'll start hitting you with my own hands."
Lionel didn't respond, but merely growled and ran away. Klyde's unknown savior turned to him and frowned.
"Why didn't you fight back, little man?"
Klyde shrugged, blood still dripping down his face. "Why bother?"
"Why bother? That way you don't get your nose broken, that's why!"
Klyde once again feigned nonchalance. "If he didn't do it, I'm sure someone else would have. Dad's been pissed off lately."
The older boy raised an eyebrow. "Dad? You mean your dad does this too?"
Klyde nodded. "Yeah, usually worse. The black eye is him."
"What about the bloody one?"
"That one was Lionel."
"And the finger marks on your neck?"
Klyde felt his neck in surprise. "Those are still there? That was Dad last week. He was in a pretty bad mood."
The boy gave Klyde a pained look. "The more I hear about your situation, the less I like it."
"Yeah, but I don't have much of a choice. Say, you didn't give me your name."
The boy gave a huge grin and threw out a peace sign. "Me? Why, I'm the great Dan! I'm surprised you haven't heard of me!"
"Ummm, no. Why, should I have?"
Dan gave an embarrassed shrug. "Well, I guess it makes sense. I haven't built up a big enough name for myself yet. But you just wait! I'll be the greatest street fighter ever!"
"Street fighter?..."
"Yeah! You think this gi is for show?"
Klyde looked down and noticed Dan's wardrobe, a faded pink gi. "Pink?..."
Dan nodded. "Well, there were lots of different colors to choose from, but I liked pink."
"Why?"
"Are you gonna take me seriously?"
"Wearing that? If you hadn't just saved me, probably not."
"Exactly. That means I have the advantage of surprise. Besides, I look awesome in pink, don't I?"
"ummm...."
"Anyway, I've made up my mind! I'm going to stay here and teach you how to fight!"
"But, where are you going to stay?"
"Right here seems like a nice spot. When can you come up here to train?"
"Well, it's not easy to get out of my house.... I'm not allowed to leave my yard."
"Then how did you get out here today?"
"I snuck out. I can start coming out at midnight every night."
"Agreed! I'll see you then!" And with that, Dan laid himself out across the fallen tree and fell asleep.
Several weeks went by, with Klyde sneaking out and taking lessons from the aspiring street fighter, Dan. Every time he came, it would be with a new marking somewhere on his person, and it would take everything he had to convince Dan not to go and have "a talk" with his stepfather.
Through the training, Klyde became more and more self confident. He would refuse to use it to protect himself though. It simply made the beatings easier to take. His personality also became more developed, and him and Dan quickly became great friends.
"You know, Dan, you're like the first friend I've ever had."
Dan shrugged. "To be honest with you, I've never really had any friends either."
"But what about the people where you came from?"
Dan snorted. "Ha! Them? They didn't care about me."
"What happened?"
"I'd rather not get into it."
"Oh, come on! Tell me! I wanna know!" Klyde pleaded.
Dan sagged his shoulders. "Fine, but this stays between you and me."
Klyde nodded. "C'mon, who would I tell?"
Dan looked around. "Fair enough... Well, my story takes place in Thailand....."
(A flashback in a flashback? Awesome!)
Thailand. Go Hibiki had worked hard, defeating many opponents to reach his goal. And there it was, standing before him. Defeat this man, and the prize was his. The sun was setting, which made the air a beautiful pinkish hue, and which made the gigantic statue of a woman behind them shine. A light breeze was blowing through the air, and the few trees surrounding them swayed with nature's beat. The battle had been going on for sometime, and it's effect was being felt by the fighters, one moreso than the other.
Go Hibiki sagged a little, his vitality finally giving in. But his will was much stronger than that, and he stood back up. His opponent gave him a smile of admiration, and then seriousness returned to his features.
"You must be joking! You are in no condition to finish this battle. Your skill is well developed, but the fight is mine!"
Go shook his head. "We'll see about that!" Go dashed forward with blinding speed, ducking under his opponent's reach. The tall man staggered back, surprised that Go still had this much left in him. Go dropped down in a crouch, focusing all of his energy into his special attack. "Koryuken!" Go shouted out the name of his uppercut, flashing pure white with ki, and striking up into his opponent's face. The attack found it's mark in the fighter's eye, a spray of blood coming forth from the newly created wound.
The man let out a cry of rage, and his remaining good eye flashed white. With a strange look of twisted anger, he caught Go as he descended from his attack , neatly by the head in one hand. He gave a sick demonic look of pleasure as he brought Go's head and his knee together violently. The air itself shook in horror as he repeated the process several times, the sound of breaking bone and broken fighter echoing out into the night. A small boy came running out from behind the huge statue, horrified at what he saw.
"Daddy!!!!!!!!"
The single eyed man dropped a beaten and broken Go onto the floor without a word. The little boy ran up to him, not being able to control the sobs that shook his small frame. "Daddy!!!!"
Go opened up his eyes weakly, looking up at his son. "Dan... I'm sorry. The goal hid my eyes from what was important.... Don't let the goal consume you...."
Go's eyes closed for the last time.
"Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The newly christened murder lost the shine in his eye. Everything had calmed down, and he looked at his surroundings as if for the first time.
"Wha....what has happened?"
Dan stood up, nothing but revenge in his mind. "I'll kill you!!!!! Sagat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed as he rushed forward.
With nowhere else to go, Dan made his way to his father's age old friend, Gouken. Gouken took him in as a student, and began to teach him in the ways of Ansatsuken. Dan had been progressing nicely, until a new boy showed up...
"Hey kid... who are you?"
"..."
"You don't talk much, do you?"
"...Where can I find master Gouken?"
"Ummm, you have to follow the path up that hill. That will take you to his temple."
The boy wordlessly set off on the path. Dan shook his head. This kid is gonna be trouble, just wait and see....
The boy quickly progressed in the arts, and soon was able to beat Dan with ease. One day Dan decided to stop being so nice though.
"Hadoken!"
Dan had predicted the fireball coming. (Who hadn't?). He jumped swiftly into the air, dodging the burst of ki. Instead of attempting an attack, he simply threw his weight to the side and dodged the uppercut that came at him when he came close to his opponent. He waited until the boy came down from his punch, and threw him.
Ryu sat up. "Hey! That was cheap!"
Dan stuck his tongue out at him. So's your stupid fireball/uppercut trap. You're just mad someone figured it out."
They continued to argue back and forth, eventually resulting in a cartoonsih brawl cloud, in which various appendages stuck out at random points, and sound effects such as 'Boink' were used, until Gouken yelled out, "Enough!"
Both warriors stopped immediately, Dan holding Ryu's face with an arm cocked back, and Ryu holding both hands in a hadoken postiton.
"See? That's all you know how to do!" Dan taunted.
"This is ridiculous! Dan, I would expect this from the new child, but not from you!"
"What? He's only a year younger than me!"
"Silence! Go sweep the front of the temple!"
"But... what are you gonna make him do?!"
"I'm going to teach him how to use the Shin Shoryuken."
"But I've been bugging you for a year!"
"Dan! Your anger holds you back, not I! Now go! And when you have finished, I want you to clean the gutters while I take Ryu out to a ball game!"
"But!... But you've never taken me to a ball game!"
"That's because of your temper too... because, ummm... because I am the master, and Ryu doesn't wear pink!"
Ryu nodded and did a little brushing motion, signaling Dan to leave. Dan fumed. "It's not fair! All I want is to get stronger, so I can beat Sagat! And this little upstart comes and ruins everything! What's next?! Are you gonna beat Sagat, too?!"
Ryu shrugged. "Yea, sure, where is he?"
Gouken nodded at Ryu. "He's in Thailand. We'll go see him after the game. I'll hold him down so you can win."
"...!!!" Dan couldn't even come up with anything to say, he was so angry. He felt his ki building without him trying. He turned to Ryu, and let all of his energy out in one huge blast. The wave went flying at Ryu, when a blur jumped in between the boy and his certain death. When the smoke had cleared, Gouken stood, his arm broken, and his breathing irregular. He fell down, and grabbed Ryu. "Ryu.... I have... a brother named... Gouki..... I want you to tell everyone... that .... He killed me.... I don't want to.... To be remember as having been killed.... By a man in pink...." Gouken's eyes slowly shut, and Ryu began weeping. Suddenly Gouken's eyes shot back open. "I... I almost forgot.... Here are the tickets..... to the baseball game....."
Ryu looked up in tears. "Are you happy now?! You killed the master!"
Dan looked at Ryu guiltily. "No I didn't! Gouki did! Didn't you hear him!"
Ryu chased Dan out of the temple, and then went and solemnly prayed by his master's grave for three days. Then he went to the baseball game.
Dan pulled out of the flashback. Klyde gave him a look of shock. "Wow! All of that happened?"
Dan gave a shrug. "Well, yea, most of it. I'm definitely sure about the baseball game though. That Ryu kid got everything. But, that's also why I don't use a traditional fireball."
Dan had shown Klyde the "Gadoken", an attack which used ki, but only traveled several inches. "Ever since that attack, I've always mentally held myself back when using that move."
Several more weeks passed, and Klyde realized that there was much more to the strange fighter in pink then met the eye. Dan used humor and distraction to hide his the pain he felt from being alone.
Suddenly, a shrill cry flew through the air. Klyde jumped up, having fallen asleep in the airline seat. Whoa. I must have passed out. Boy, was that a long flashback.... He looked behind him, and the woman with the baby gave a pained smile. "So sorry, whenever he sits around in one spot too long, he gets cranky."
Klyde sat back in his seat, thinking back to his lingering thoughts. After a few months of training, I wrote this poem.... Kind of funny how you can lose track of things as the years go on.... Hmmm.. this poem sounds like someone else I know... Klyde's eyes shot open as he realized whom he meant. My god! I've become just like him!... I always used to wonder if it hurt, hiding yourself away like that.... But I guess it's just that... you hide yourself away. Even from yourself.....
Klyde closed his eyes, thinking clearly for the first time in many a year, as the plane drew near it's destination of Brazil.
AN- Well, that was a bit different, wouldn't you say? Sorry it's so long, but I wanted to fit everything in. There will be more flashbacks to Dan as Klyde goes on. Bet you thought you were gonna get the real story about Dan and Ryu, huh? Well, after so much seriousness, I couldn't help myself. That part kinda wrote itself. Eventually, Dan will fess up and tell the real side. I hope everyone liked learning about Klyde's past.... And I hope everyone understands how bad racism is, even today. Sorry, I know, there shouldn't be morals in fanfictions, but this is something important. Also, for those who can read between the lines.... This was a very VERY difficult chapter to write, and I feel like it came out kinda bad. The transition from memory to paper is kind of hard, and it was hard to think back that far into my childhood, especially since I've been repressing it for years. People, understand that this stuff still happens today. We will be inheriting the world soon, and it is our job to fight these problems. Drug abuse, child abuse, and violent racism. Hopefully, as we ourselves have children, we can do all we can to combat these real evils in our society. If anyone has the urge to email me, I love getting em, so get my address off of my profile. Hope to hear from some of you!
Klyde