Klyde had been in a packed city before, but nothing could prepare him for Osaka during a weekday. Besides all the tremendous skyscrapers, there wasn't a square inch of pavement that wasn't completely taken up by man or vehicle. Klyde felt all of his confidence in his fighting instincts fade away as he continually failed to dodge people who pushed past him on their way to work.

While he was used to the feeling of being an outcast, he couldn't help but feel out of place as he walked around (or rather, was pushed along) in his blue gi. I thought Japan is where all of the fighting went on! All I see is suits! Where are all the ninjas? Klyde couldn't help but feel disappointed. Even the great east has been claimed by modernization... Man, so many samurais must be crying in their graves...

He continued following the flow, until something caught the corner of his eye. While he couldn't be sure, it definitely looked like the figure had a samurai mask on. Now that's more like it! Deciding that the endless wave of faceless businessmen was boring, Klyde began to make his way towards the alley where the large man with the samurai mask had disappeared into.

Sodom hurried back towards the secret entrance of the Neo Mad Gears base. The entrance was little more than a basement door towards the back end of an alley that was cluttered with garbage and old, unused doors. He had been sent out to scout the area. While Haggar wouldn't be able to get away from Metro City, there was always the chance that Cody or Guy would have stumbled onto them. Some people might call that paranoia, but some people had never been on the wrong end of the anger of Cody. Rolento constantly sent out scouts to scour the city to ensure that the Metro City heroes wouldn't get the jump on them. They had only started rebuilding the Mad Gears, and as such, they hadn't been able to gather enough random thugs to be able to take them on yet. This was a precarious time for the Mad Gears...

"Hey! Mr. Samurai dude! Wait up!"

Sodom nearly jumped out of his skin. In his longwinded inner monologue, he had forgotten to double check his back before he opened the secret entrance! Rolento is gonna kill me! Oh man!... what if it's Guy?... Or what if it's Cody! Oh crapohcrapohcrap... Sodom tried to turn around as nonchalantly as he could manage. "Listen, man, this...this isn't what it looks like. I'm just..."

Sodom stopped as he saw who had called him. Klyde stood there with a big grin, waving wildly.

"Just what? Is that like your secret samurai base or sumthin?"

"Uh... I... ummm..."

Klyde's eyes lit up. "It is, isn't it! Oh, awesome! Can I come in? Can I can I can I?"

Sodom managed to pull himself together and stood at his full frightening height.

"You have no idea what you're getting into, little kid. You should head on home."

Klyde hung his head. "Oh, come on, man. Why can't I go in?"

"This is the secret base of the Mad Gears, kid. You REALLY should go home."

Klyde's head shot up. "Mad Gear!"

Sodom took a step back. "Oh shit."

Klyde's eyes widened. "You... oh man! You're Sodom, aren't you? You're like one of the head Mad Gears! Awesome!"

Now Sodom wasn't sure where this conversation was going. "Ummm. yes?"

Klyde dropped into his fighting stance. "Perfect."

Sodom reached for his katana, and realized that he had left it at the base. Damn law. Who would have thought you couldn't carry a katana in Osaka? Blasphemy...

Sodom shrugged. "Oh well. Why should I be scared of a little kid?"

Sodom ran at Klyde, sliding forward with his fist. The punch caught Klyde in his jaw, sending him flying to the floor. Klyde rolled to his feet in one fluid motion. Before he could react, Sodom ran forward and grabbed Klyde by the shoulders. He flipped Klyde upside down and put his head to the ground. "What are you ...?"

Sodom broke into a run, dragging Klyde's head along the ground. The friction set Klyde's hat on fire just as Sodom slammed him into a wall. Sodom laughed as Klyde jumped up and tried to put out his hat. "Ha! How do you like my Dakiyo Burning?"

Klyde gave a puzzled look. "Dakiyo... burning?"

"I have combined my native culture of America with the superior touch of Japanese!"

Klyde held back a laugh. "You're American? And you wear that Samurai armor?"

Sodom straightened up and while he was wearing a mask, he still managed to look embarrassed. "I... I am attempting to emulate the honorable culture of the Japanese."

Klyde grinned. "It looks like you're just a wannabe."

"W...what?"

Klyde pointed and laughed. "Maybe you should just go to an anime convention or something. You'd fit in great!"

Sodom glowered. "Don't mock me!

Klyde cracked his neck and smiled. "Well, you may be a loser, but you sure do pack a punch. That Dakiyo Burning attack was pretty strong!"

Sodom pulled out a fan and waved it. A small plume of water spurted from behind it and he let out a small chortle.

"Well, I hope you are in the mood to try it again!"

Klyde smirked. "Don't think so, buddy."

"Huh?"

"That same attack won't work on me twice!"

Sodom ran forward, once again snatching Klyde. He went to spin Klyde around to bring his head close to the floor, but Klyde used the momentum to bring his heel into Sodom's face, cracking his face mask. Sodom dropped Klyde, clutching at his exposed face.

"You won't get away with this, you little punk! Rolento will show you a thing or two!"

Klyde rubbed the back of his neck. "Who the hell is Rolento?"

Sodom laughed. "He's the new leader of Mad Gear! No one can beat him! You'll see!" Sodom turned and ran into the hideout, slamming the door behind him. Klyde gave the world in general a puzzled look.

"What a strange dude..."

Rolento finished looking over the supply cases. While Mad Gear was still on it's first legs, supply and capital hadn't been too hard to accumulate. There were many cases of ammunition and rations stacked up, almost reaching to the ceiling. Everything seemed to be in order. Still... it never hurts to double check... especially where Sodom is concerned... that fool nearly doubles my workload with his stupidity. I swear.. I don't know why I keep him around sometimes...

Sodom came running up to Rolento, his breathing irregular and heavy, and his mask shattered. Rolento shook his head. This ought to be good. I can't wait to hear what the problem is this time. Out loud, he asked, "What's wrong, Sodom? Did the scouting mission yield something distressing?"

Sodom bent over double, trying to catch his breath. "Th..there's trouble... someone.. is..."

A loud banging cut through Sodom's report. Rolento raised an eyebrow as he heard a loud "Hey! Secret evil gang!... Let me in!...C'mon!..."

Rolento turned to Sodom with an exasperated look. "What the hell did you do?"

Sodom shrugged. Rolento shook his head in anger. "Send the new recruit to handle this."

Sodom bowed and headed off. Rolento sat in his chair, prepared to watch how the new recruit handled the situation. Because the Gears had to lay low for the time being, there had been little opportunity to test the new recruits that had been flowing in. While Sodom certainly didn't think of it like this, this will be the perfect trial for that new guy. I suppose the moron has his uses after all...

Sodom returned with the new recruit, a tall, dark skinned man with a large grin. Rolento motioned towards the door.

"DeeJay. We have a visitor, as I'm sure you can hear. I want you to deal with him."

DeeJay cracked his neck. "Alright, mon. As long as you keep me up with that money, ya got no problems from me."

Deejay walked up to the door and quickly swung it open. Klyde stood on the other side of the door, his fist both stopped midway to the door. DeeJay reached out, grabbed Klyde by his collar, and threw him into the base. Klyde slammed onto the cement floor as the door closed behind him, leaving him to get used to the lack of light. He looked up, and found himself surrounded by DeeJay and Sodom. Rolento laughed from his seat further back.

"So, what can we do for you, little man?"

Klyde jumped up and grinned. "Uh, this isn't Burger King, is it?"

Rolento shook his head. "I'm afraid not."

Sodom pointed a finger at the young fighter. "He's here to fight us! He knows about Mad Gear!"

Rolento nodded. "As I assumed." He snapped his fingers. "Sodom, DeeJay, I'm sorry to say that we cannot allow this flea to leave here alive."

Sodom and DeeJay both began to advance on Klyde, who dropped into his fighting stance and gulped, not sure of who to worry about more.

AN- Sorry to leave you guys on such a cliffhanger, but I didn't want this chaptr going on forever. At least now you guys know that the next chapter will be action packed and such. See you next time!