Chapter 2: Memories
"Bye!" Peter yelled as Armor King pulled out of the driveway, the kids were screaming inside the car with happiness. So the car drove off, eventually leaving Peter's sight down the block as they left. As soon as he could no longer see the car, Peter sighed. He really did want to go, but at the same time he didn't want to leave King all by himself.
'It was a sacrifice indeed' he thought as he turned to walk back into the house. Before he opened the door, he could hear King sneeze loudly again. It was funny to Peter because every time King sneezed, it faded into a jaguar roar. 'He must be really frustrated.' Peter thought to himself as he slowly cracked the door open.
As he walked to the room, Peter shuddered. He was nervous because he had never really taken care of someone before, especially someone older than himself. 'Funny. I can go up against gangs and professional fighters, but I can't find the courage to take on a nursing job.' That last thought made Peter laugh, it was indeed pretty ironic.
"So, what exactly do you feel right now King?" Peter asked as he walked into the room. King was still sitting up with his shirtless back against the pillow. His index finger scratched the top of his head as he said "Well, I've got a sore throat, my head hurts, and I can't stop coughing." His last statement was once again proven as he let loose a cough. "Other than that, I'm alllllll good." he said sarcastically.
Peter couldn't help but feel sorry for his friend, after all, it was never fun to be home sick with the flu. And what was he going to do? King had his wrestling tournament in less than a few days. Would he be better by then? Only time would tell.
"Well, I'll go see if there's any kind of medicine that I could give you. Be right back!" Peter said in a victorious manner. King nodded as he sank back under the blanket, the ears on the top of his head sagging down a bit. Peter hummed as he rummaged through the medicine cabinet. There was some medicines that were used for the younger kids, medicines like Adderall that would help them to be calm.
'Finally!' Peter thought as he reached in the back to retrieve the Tylenol Flu medication. "This is just what he needs, now I can just go and give this to him and then maybe I can see if we have any soup or something that I can give him." Peter was cheery, for now he felt as if he was doing a good job, and he always took his jobs seriously.
After he had gotten some water for King to use with the medication, Peter walked back into the room, being careful not to get too close so that he wouldn't get sick as well. "Here you go King, it's just what the doctor ordered." Both King and Peter laughed at how corny that sounded, but hey at least Peter was trying to be positive.
King carefully grabbed the pills from Peter and took the glass of water. "I hope this'll work." he said as he looked up to Peter. Swallowing the pills, King realized that his throat really bothered him. It hurt so bad to swallow just those two measly pills. King closed his eyes in pain as Peter looked on.
"Does it really hurt that bad?" he asked. King nodded as he opened one eye to look at Peter. That's when Peter remembered his idea from before. "Hey, you know what I think will make you feel better? Soup. So I'm going to go see if we have any of that." King smiled slightly as he watched Peter go.
It touched his heart to see Peter being so kind and caring, especially after what happened just a little while ago when Ogre killed his entire family. 'Maybe the whole thing didn't set into his mind yet?' King thought as he pondered over Peter's attitude. He knew he was wrong though. Every night since it happened, he could hear Peter crying in his room early in the dark hours of the morning. Peter missed them, and no doubt he dreamed about them.
To top that off, Jun was dead as well. Peter hadn't taken to well to that when that happened either. Amazingly enough however, Peter managed to still give to others and keep his friends first in line. This is something that he admired, for when he was younger, he used to look out for his friends as well.
King had a tough childhood. His parents abandoned him when he was a little boy, and he often became angry at them for what they had done. He lived off the streets, doing whatever was necessary to survive. That all changed one day, when the first King had found him and taken him in. Never before did he feel such loving kindness, and he knew that his new step-father was the real thing. A genuine, kind-hearted man.
He remembered how Armor King would come and help out as well, but back then, Armor King himself was still young, in his twenties to be exact. He was still learning and he looked up to King the 1st. Although the two always battled each other, they were good friends and they genuinely cared for one another.
King remembered how he would watch the two of them compete in the King of Iron Fist Tournament. It was always really exciting to see his two role models doing what they did best. What he didn't really understand back then was that the two older Kings fought to keep the orphanage going. Often times, he would see the first King crying in his room, praying before a cross. He hated violence, but that was all he knew, and it was the only gift and trade he could use to support his children.
He remembered the time when his step-father would go out and never come back until late hours on the night. When his father would come home, he smelled so bad and he always carried glass bottles in his hands. He would collapse on the couch and the baby-sitting assistant would always try to wake him up. But it was no use. King the 1st was always tired and it didn't ever look like it was going to change.
That was until one day, Armor King had enough. He confronted his friend and told him that if he didn't change his ways, he would be forced to take matters into his own hands. The King of Iron Fist Tournament 2 was arriving and Armor King planned to see his friend there. He would help him fight for what he believed in and he would help him win his soul back again.
King remembered those lonely days when his father was out fighting in the tournament. He remembered how most of the kids around him all got adopted and given a chance at life. It hurt him that he would always be seen as unfit, unworthy even to be given a chance himself. Then it was over. His father returned and he experienced the best times of his life. King the 1st treated him as if he was his own blood son. All was well, and he didn't care if didn't get adopted anymore.
Then came the day. One day his father left with Armor King for another challenge. Only Armor King returned. Running away from the orphanage, King began his life off the streets again. He became a criminal and did things that were unspeakable. Years went by with this behavior taking control over him. He was a teenager who knew nothing but pain and suffering, crime and injustice.
He felt like he had been wronged throughout his life. He felt like the world owed him something back. Doing his best to stay on low radar, one day King bumped into Armor King again. "What are you doing!" he said. "What have you let yourself become!" he said. Things were different from then on. Armor King trained him hard, and changed him from a boy living life in hopelessness, to a man living life in faithfulness. King changed his evil ways and he even did his best to repay what he had done.
While he still missed his father, he eventually took up his mask and became the next King. Soon, he was an accomplished fighter and he made Armor King proud.
Now here he was, sick in bed. It was funny to King though, that after all his trials and hardships, that things like this still happened to him. 'Only human.' he thought to himself. Then he remembered how he met Peter. The two crossed paths when Peter angrily threw King out of a phone booth to use the phone. Ever since then, the two became good friends, or as close as two months would let them become. Peter was a fighter, relatively new to the whole professional fighter fame and fortune.
Even though the two were friends, King knew that bad things had happened to Peter. King watched as Peter conquered his fears and took on one of the darkest demons from his past. A success story in the making, King thought. Then, Ogre killed Peter's family for reasons unknown. Now Peter was his responsibility and he planned to live up to his expectations.
"How ironic," he thought "that I'm the one being taken care of right now." He laughed. It was pretty funny. Even though he felt so bad, he still felt as if he had conquered the world.
Author's note: so what do you guys think? I haven't gotten any reviews yet but I really like this story. It will be short but I think it's a nice piece about King and what he teaches to others. Review please, it'd make my dayJ!