Corruption

Chapter 9: How To Make Things Worse: Part 1

A/N: In response to the numerous requests to speed up the updates, I bring forth this offering. I will try my hardest to do an update every 4 or 5 days, but it'll be hard with school, work, and my novel. Happy?

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"First my sister and now my girlfriend? That's the last straw Kai." Rick stood between the shore and Kai and Karen. His voice cracked slightly, which didn't lessen the strength of his threatening posture. He looked like a madman obsessed, his eyes glaring directly through Kai's skull. There even appeared to be a jet of steam shooting out of his nose, only appearing when a new firework exploded behind them.

Kai calmly rose to his feet, gesturing for Rick to simmer down, "Look man, I didn't know that you two were still an issue."

"We aren't." Karen added as she found herself clinging close by to Kai, using him as a meat shield before Rick.

"See?" Kai pointed out, before taking a cautious step towards Rick. The tanned sailor extended a friendly hand towards Rick. "Let's just pretend that you didn't make a fool out of yourself just now and you head back to shore?"

Rick looked down at Kai's outstretched arm with a strange twitching movement. The awkward flick quickly told Karen that they were dealing with a seriously disturbed individual. Rick deftly swept away Kai's hand and pushed past the bandana wearing youth. He was quickly in Karen's face, breathing hard down her neck, "Karen, this isn't like you; sinking to associating with scum like this urchin. Come with me and we'll go somewhere much nicer." Rick roughly tugged on Karen's elbow, but she stood firmly rooted to the wood planks. A surprised, yet angry look crossed Rick's face as he pulled at the girl a second time. When she refused to move once more, he raised his hand threateningly before her face.

"Ok buddy, its one thing to insult me. I can live with that. But touching a lady against her will is something that I won't put up with." Kai had stepped up beside Rick and grabbed hold of the arm that he was waving in front of Karen. Rick fell silent as he looked at Kai's hand wrapped around his wrist. A low, threatening snarl rumbled deep in Rick's throat. In the blink of an eye, Rick snapped, punching Kai squarely across the jaw.

The blow had been a solid one, causing the man of the sea to only fall to a knee, but he stayed conscious. Kai reached up, wiping away the trickle of blood that had formed from the cut on his bottom lip. He was actually laughing, almost as if he had been wanting Rick to hit him. Kai coiled suddenly sprung forward, tackling Rick with a vicious spear which sent both young men tumbling into the ocean.

Karen couldn't help herself; she let out a high pitched scream. Rick and Kai were still flailing at each other in the water, trying to hold the other under the water. "It's Kai and Rick! They're fighting!" A voice called out from the shore. Everyone on the beach crowded along the dock to watch over the fight while a few unidentifiable men dove into the water, making their way towards the combatants.

The group of men reached Kai and Rick, quickly separating the two. Even with a pair of men holding each of them back, they still tried to force their way towards the other. Kai was being hauled up onto the dock while Rick was being pulled towards shore. "We'll meet Kai, I promise! Next time, you won't have any friends to save your life!" Rick shouted out as he broke away from his escorts, running frantically towards town.

"Hey, four-eyes!" Kai's yell made Rick look back over his shoulder. Kai calmly pushed himself to his knees, staring Rick down with an unwavering glare accompanied by a one-finger salute. Rick returned the crude gesture before vanishing behind the bushes lining the town square.

Kai was rising to his full height, but couldn't hide the painful cringe he muffled as he straightened his torso. Karen was quickly at his side, clearly worried for the tanned ruffian. "Are you alright?" Karen asked, placing a tender hand across Kai's chest.

"Leave me be, I just want to be left alone."

The cold response made Karen withdraw her hand in surprise. What did I do? I was just trying to be nice! Kai solemnly made his way past the crowd of spectators, ignoring the confused looks that he was getting. Once Kai had disappeared into his seaside retreat, all eyes shifted to Karen, expectantly waiting for an explanation.

Luckily for Karen, Mayor Thomas raised his voice above the thunderous fireworks still going strong, "Alright everyone! Just sit back and enjoy the evening. We've waited too long for a festival to have it ruined because of one small incident. Carry on." Karen nodded politely to Thomas as the crowd began to disperse back to their seats.

"Nobody asked if you were alright." A calm voice stated from nearby.

Karen turned to face the owner of the familiar voice. Standing at the end of the dock was a completely drenched Jack. "I'm fine Jack," Karen whispered, suddenly becoming shy in the presence of the farmer.

"That water's really cold." Jack commented as he tossed his soaked hat down onto the dock. He gave his head a firm shake, much like a wet dog, causing his chestnut brown hair to form a wild mess atop his head. Karen couldn't help but chuckle at Jack's shaggy appearance, but inside of her, she felt her heart twinge strangely. It was almost as if she felt a special connection with the farmer… No.

Jack smiled childishly as he squirmed uncomfortable in his drenched outfit. He hadn't been lying about the water being cold. He felt his shirt clinging against his skin, sending a shiver down his spine. Without a second thought, Jack pried his shirt over his head and tossed it next to his hat.

Karen wasn't smiling anymore. She forced the butterflies in her stomach to calm themselves, even with the sight of a handsome man without a shirt on standing directly before her. "I can't believe you Jack." Karen's voice was filled with disgust as she lashed out at the young farmer, "Learn how to take no as an answer!" Karen deftly reached over to Jack, slapping the confused farmer before turning on her heel and storming down the dock.

"What did I do to deserve that?" Jack asked incredulously, watching Karen make her way across the sandy beach. In his mind he hadn't done anything wrong. He wasn't even trying to impress her! Maybe a little… Jack coolly collected the articles of clothing that he had removed before heading back down the dock. Popuri was waiting for him on the shore and she didn't look any happier than Karen had before she had stormed away. "Oh, hi Popuri. What was it that you wanted to tell me?"

Popuri responded with a slap of her own before storming off in the fashion similar to those who had gone before her that night. Jack shook his head in disbelief before looking up towards the heavens. "What now?" The farmer demanded as he started running over the sand. He quickly caught up to Popuri, who refused to recognize his presence. "What is your problem?"

"You want to know what my problem is?" Popuri suddenly turned to face Jack, forcing Jack to stop unless he wanted to knock the pink haired girl over and make things even worse. Her eyes were full of tears as she yelled, "I'll tell you what my problem is! My mother is dying and the only way I can help her is by… No, do you know what, I don't want to talk about it, ok?" Once again, Popuri turned her back towards Jack and continued on her way back towards her house. This time though, Jack let her go.

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A/N: People in Mineral Town need to learn how to calm down and quit taking everything so seriously. I'm a jerk for not revealing more of the grand picture. At least I'll have another update sometime before next Monday.