A/N: My profile has a brief rundown of the little series-that's-not-quite-a-series(because the stories can, mostly, stand on their own too), for those who wish to see what angle I come from with some of these. (My profile explains how I age the characters in the ficverse, and so on.)
Rated fairly highly for the other two chapters. Still taking place a bit later in the XI-timeline. This is more of a side, personal story, btw; it deals very little with the actual King of Fighters tournament itself and is yet another character-exploration piece between the two of them.
"So what is this trip about?" Whip asked, sitting in the airport with Adelheid. Both of them had large shoulder bags packed with their things, enough for the planned week-long trip. They would be flying overseas to the US, heading to New York, since apparently where Adelheid had to contact a few people was around that area. It was ostensibly a business trip, but Whip noticed he was being particularly secretive. She didn't press him on it, however.
"I just need to do a little bit of information gathering there. I suppose I could have done it from there with email, but in person it's more secure. Besides...I like traveling in the winter and we have been sort of stuck in that one area for a long time. Rose hasn't wanted to move since a bunch of her contacts are around there, now." He frowned a moment, but then cheered back up some. "And I thought you might want to come."
"Anything to get away from the recent stuff they dumped on me." Lately she had been assigned the painstaking and boring task of tracking certain messages that Heidern had intercepted. Her eyes wanted to bleed by the end of the day. He agreed to her trip, though, since she had gotten a lot of good information for him and sped the painfully-slow mission up just a bit. She was rather good at intelligence operations and they knew this.
Adelheid could have also sworn Heidern smiled faintly at him, but you could never be sure with the guarded commander. The truth was, the rest of her team hadn't seen her so content in, well, forever, so they were happy that she had found something with Adelheid.
Ralf and Clark liked occasionally taking him out to get drunk, too-as well as pressuring him to join up with a team in the tournament at some point.
Even K' of all people was-in his own way-apparently happy for her. She rarely spoke to him-once in awhile, and briefly, as he did not particularly like talking-but the last time she did, she decided to tell him about things, at least in a general sense. After some grumping, some vague threats toward the 'spoiled bastard' if he did anything stupid(he had never met him more than in passing), and a few grunts, he had later confided in Kula-who passed what he said along to Whip, of course-that he was glad that his big sister found 'some hot, rich fighter to shack up with.'
Coming from K', this was high praise.
"Yeah, it'll be nice for both of us." Adelheid certainly needed a break from all of the stuff he was dealing with between that weird cult-which is what it felt like Those from the Past were-and his family. They only even had one name to go on from them; Mukai. They didn't even know who the rest of them were, but he suspected that was one of Rose's contacts, and that was probably why she was acting the way she was...but he tried not to let it cloud his mind too much.
Checking the flight schedule on the wall, she fiddled with her jacket. "I've flown business class most of the time, since that's what we get with the military, but you got us the luxury class, didn't you?"
Adelheid grinned. "Of course."
"Don't you have a private jet or something?"
"Sure," he said. "But I sort of wanted to just…"
"Fly normally for once?" As normal as the luxury class area is, anyway.
"I think so," he said, smirking at her as he lounged in the seat; he had even opted to sit around in the normal area instead of the private lounge. He had the sleeves of his long-sleeve pullover hoodie rolled up over his large forearms. She didn't often see him in something like that; he looked quite nice, as always, though she knew one of his favored muscle shirts were on underneath. He had packed his long jacket instead since it was unwieldy on a plane. He had also opted for his more ordinary, tall steel-toe combat boots instead of his usual iron-ringed, weighted monstrosities. She had opted for jeans, sneakers, and her brown jacket over a t-shirt; it felt nice to get out of her usual military outfit after having had to be in uniform for the past week.
Hearing the call for the luxury-class travelers, they stood, along with a handful other rich-looking people. Despite Adelheid having access to a staggering level of resources, he and Whip probably looked the most dressed down in that group.
Sighing and stretching upon reaching their seats, Adelheid stretched out his incredibly ample legs. "Legroom," he grinned. He hated the small seats.
Chuckling and shaking her head, she moved to sit next to him; he had given her the window seat. There was no one in front of them for about three feet, and their seats were more like small booths.
"Informing the commander that we ought to try to get these more often," Whip said before settling back, leaning on him as she liked to do. "I hope my bags are okay."
"Yeah, you have your... stuff in them, don't you?" He was, of course, talking about her weapons, including her Desert Eagle. She was, of course, fully licensed, and it was going through checked luggage unloaded like they did, though he had chuckled to himself when he imagined what the inspectors must have thought when they found the whip in her possessions.
She nodded. "Gotta come prepared." Whip never left on long trips without her personal weaponry, a field first aid kit, and other odds and ends that could come in handy for an emergency.
He blinked for a moment. "Your…" he pointed at her earrings and motioned. " Those aren't in there, are they?" His eyes widened a bit.
Whip giggled. "They're stable. Don't worry."
Now they widened more. "Are you serious ?" he whispered. He was an easy flier-he lived on an airship, after all- but there was something about the thought of her exploding earrings in the checked baggage that unsettled him.
She stuck her tongue out at him and burst out laughing. "No, silly. I wouldn't go that far."
Having been teased, Adelheid snorted before he leaned forward to bite her shoulder playfully. She laughed at this as she started playing with his hair.
The few other people in the luxury class who happened to look over wondered what they were getting into.
Having managed to plow through customs-Whip having all of her military identification and the like to facilitate that a bit faster, as well as the fact they were traveling in the luxury class-and collected their luggage, they had gotten a rental car from the airport to drive to the hotel. Adelheid could have afforded a limo, of course; but while he liked to fly in luxury class, Whip knew that he liked to sometimes get away from that. He mostly liked to drive to the hotel that Whip stayed at in Germany himself when they would meet there instead of the Sky Noah.
They had checked into their suite and were now lounging about the hotel room-well, the suite, to be sure-rather jetlagged from the six hour time difference. Adelheid was sprawled on the bed staring at the ceiling; Whip walked over there as well to sit across his waist, one knee on either side of him. His eyes found hers and he smiled.
"I think I just want to eat and sleep," he said. "I haven't gotten the message from the guy I'm supposed to meet here yet, so for now I just want to relax." The coffee they had gotten on the way kept them going for awhile, but it was starting to wear off.
"I'd be okay with that," she smirked. She looked outside a moment, checking out some of the buildings across the way. "How many times have you been here?" she asked him.
"To the USA? Quite a few. We traveled everywhere in the world. I grew up on traveling vessels between the Black Noah and the Sky Noah," he said. "I remember most of my life being somewhere new every month. Not that we really met many other people besides our direct circles."
She nodded. "I only started traveling a bit later. After I escaped everything. But…" she trailed off. He immediately took both of her hands, interlocking fingers with her. He always knew how to make her feel better; she had always felt safe talking to him about her troubling thoughts of her past.
"I know. But...it seems like you travel more with your group now."
"Of course."
"But yes...I remember we would go to Southtown sometimes. It's an... interesting place," he chuckled. "I used to fight all the time there as a kid...Rose would always either start shit and then send me after them, or they'd want to test me thinking I was spoiled." He smirked, rolling his eyes a bit. "I got used to it. It happened about everywhere we went."
Whip laughed softly while holding his hands. She knew that, through it all, he still cared about his little sister and wanted to protect her, and that it was forever a source of frustration that currently he wasn't sure what was wrong, but he seemed to be taking things as well as he could. Glancing again out the window, she yawned. "It's dark early now, thanks to the winter."
"Yeah. I got us on the earliest flight we could, but still. Seven hours, and then by the time we got here…" he yawned himself, pulling Whip down suddenly so she was laying on top of him on the bed as he slid his arms around her.
As they began to settle, nuzzling over to begin kissing, Adelheid's phone buzzed. "Hm?" he said, scowling a bit as he hesitatingly broke off what they started. He checked it. "Huh. Email. From the guy I was supposed to be meeting with, apparently?" He rubbed his eyes. "I recognize the name." He flipped it open to check it. Scanning the mail with his free hand still wrapped around Whip-stroking her hair gently, almost causing the young woman to want to drift off. "Last name of Reynolds. The guy I've been in touch with after I did a little research. Can you give me a minute on this?" he asked.
"Of course," she said, kissing his neck once as she settled back down.
With one hand, he began writing back, allowing Whip to continue enjoying the comfort of his other hand stroking her. Her presence, gentle breathing and scent was making him sleepy too, but he wanted to take care of this while he could.
Slowly finishing the email-it was a bit difficult one-handed, but he managed-he confirmed the plans the man suggested to meet with him tomorrow night at a sort of upscale place in the outskirts of the city, making sure that he would be able to take Whip.
"We're meeting at a place called the Raven Club, apparently" he said, looking down.
Whip was there, sleeping peacefully on him, her head still tucked up near his neck. She was completely out, not having heard him.
Smiling softly, he kissed her, sliding his other arm around her again so they could nap off some of the jet lag in the very position the lay.
There was a smell of snow in the air, though the cloud cover was not too heavy yet. A day had now passed since their arrival.
"Here's the place," Adelheid said, checking the GPS on his phone. "Raven Club." He stretched. A nap, a big dinner and then a long night's sleep had helped adjust them; that morning they had attacked the hotel's giant buffet breakfast before wandering about awhile. They had gone back to the hotel for another nap and dinner before walking out to their destination, as the meeting was scheduled rather late at night. They figured the type of establishment it was, generally meant it wasn't open during the day.
"Looks pretty nice," she said. It was, indeed, a very 'gentleman's club' looking place, though it was a little more upscale. Getting buzzed in-Adelheid had been given a code-they walked past the entrance gate into a granite-floored yard, with some varied statues around and the like. Two bouncers stood at the door, though neither of them looked even half as built as Adelheid, Whip mused. They nodded, allowing them through and inside.
"I have no idea why he wanted to meet here, but I suppose this is the best place for it if he insists." He scratched his head, looking strange at the moment. There was a long, dim hallway that led to the club proper; they seemed to be descending into it.
"Anything wrong?" she asked.
"I...suddenly have a weird feeling about this. I didn't before, but now, I do."
"Hm." Adelheid's instinct was quite keen, she knew. "You want to leave?"
"Nah. Let's just get this done." He started walking, until he found the booth near the back, where a man sat. He was of medium height and seemingly decently built; perhaps in his mid-forties, though he looked a bit younger due to taking care of himself. His medium-cut brown hair was combed back. He was fairly handsome, though nondescript.
"Mr. Bernstein," he said, offering his hand out. Adelheid shook it firmly. "And...the lady?"
Whip bowed. "Seirah," she said.
He nodded. "Matthew Reynolds," he said, nodding to both of them and sitting down. He looked over at a young woman in a dress, waving her over. "Veronica," he said, before looking back at Adelheid and Whip. "Would you like some drinks?"
"No, thank you," Adelheid replied. He wanted to stay sober tonight, he found. Both he and Whip caught an ever so slight look of disappointment on Matthew's face at this, causing both of their personal alarms to click up one more notch. While Matthew turned back toward Veronica, the two of them exchanged a quick glance and a nod; Whip stood after this.
"I'm going to see the place a bit. It looks quite nice."
"Please, make yourself at home," Matthew said, his voice cordial.
She stood, planning on moving about here to see if she could see if anything was off. There were other patrons around, seemingly unaffiliated; she didn't think some of the couples that were milling about had anything to do with the man at the table with Adelheid. Deciding to step back some so she could better scan the area, she stood close to the bar to look around the place.
Over at one end was the stage; complete with poles, though there was no show going on at the moment. There was the smell of scented candles in the air; around the bar they were burning some. Vanilla , she thought. Smells rather nice. Checking out more of the areas, she noticed a few more men in suits milling about, one going over to chat with Matthew for a second before walking back. Another man stood nearby him, broad shouldered and perhaps five years younger.
Something isn't right, she thought. The way some of these men were walking was a bit suspicious; she decided to start milling around to try something. Moving closer, she accidentally bumped into one, she stumbled back, reaching out clumsily to catch her fall, brushing against his suit.
She felt something hard underneath of it, and was suddenly thankful she had gone there armed today herself. "Oh! Apologies," she said. "I was distracted."
"No problem," he said, eyeing her for a few moments before glancing over at the woman apparently called Veronica; catching this, Whip made her way over to that general area where she was. There were some stairs near the back that she started to head up; Whip, walking behind one of the patrons, glanced up at her as she walked, noticing something.
Her stomach sank. She decided to go off to the restroom near the table where Adelheid and Matthew were still talking to check a few things on her to make sure everything was ready to go.
She noticed the man looking at her as she walked in.
Adelheid glanced back and forth, wondering what was going on.
"Is anything wrong?" Matthew asked.
"No, sir;" he answered politely. He had really gained nothing of info here at all; in fact, it seemed that this man had no idea what Adelheid was looking for. "I unfortunately think there was a bit of a misunderstanding; I was looking for someone else," he said.
Noticing a few people walking outside, Adelheid ended up with a slight gnawing in his stomach. He knew this feeling-his instinct was kicking in big time now, instinct he had picked up from years of dealing with unscrupulous types. There was something about the way they moved-and how they eyed him before they walked out-that didn't sit well with him. And the fact his discussion with Matthew had really not gone anywhere useful in the end; it felt too far like a setup now.
As he heard the door open off to the side, he saw Whip coming out, a concerned look on her face. She sat next to him again at the booth, leaning toward his ear.
"The woman who went upstairs had a brace of throwing knives," she whispered. It didn't seem like anyone heard her but Adelheid.
He nodded. The look he gave her told her all she needed to know. A few more of the men walked outside at this point. He quickly looked toward the door, and back at her, before raising his eyebrows. They could tell some of the people here were seemingly unaffiliated.
Whip nodded herself, standing to walk over to the coatroom to grab their jackets. As she did this, he looked toward the man across from him, who had gotten done speaking with the other man to his left.
"I think I have all I need, sir," Adelheid said, not letting anything on. He held his hand out, and the other man shook it firmly once. "Thank you for your time. I suppose this was a misunderstanding."
"Very well, then. I wished that we could have been some more help," he replied, smiling a bit too broadly.
Oh, there's definitely going to be problems tonight, he thought.
Standing to put his long jacket on and helping Whip with hers, he bowed slightly as he walked out into the rather fancy looking smoking yard. He looked at Whip as he saw a bunch of the men that had left milling around outside.
"I guess we caught on too late," he said quietly to Whip.
"Seems so...enemies?"
"They aren't our friends, that's for sure. They found out about me coming here somehow. He set up the meaning pretending he was someone I actually wanted to meet with."
"How?" she asked, as some of the men started over as others came out of the club behind them, some of them unsheathing a variety of sharp weapons.
"That's something we'll have to find out later...I just don't know." The two turned around, seeing the rest of them standing there. The head honcho he had been speaking to in the bar had a long, jagged blade on him, and his right-hand man held twin katanas.
The two bouncers went inside, locking the doors and disappearing into the darkness of the hallway.
"You think you can still be a part of this world, kid?" the man sneered.
"Just trying to look after my family." I knew it.
"You could have made so much more, though. How is cutting all those ties looking after your family?"
"Cutting ties?"
"At least a year ago. Said you didn't want to work with the Four Rings again."
He shook his head, pushing back some of his hair. "Wait... you guys." His eyes narrowed.
"Yes, it's us. We worked often with your father. Why did you cut things off? It was...lucrative for the both of us."
"I don't want to be involved with the filth you are." Adelheid may have still dealt with some shady things, but he had cleaned up the family business quite a bit and tried to limit it to more... reasonable shady things. These guys were more of his father's types; into nasty things that Adelheid wanted no part of.
"You killed my partner, I know that much. We sent him to the Sky Noah to talk some months ago, and you killed him. You're more like your old man than you think." The man smiled. "They told me what happened to him. Head caved in like someone hit it with a sledge. Real noble ."
Adelheid snarled at the mention of his father. "Shut up." Trafficking scum. He deserved it. But how the fuck did they know about that night?
"Did in his bodyguard, even. Took 'em how long to clean the blood n' the rest of the bits out of the carpets? You're savage when you want to be, kid. I heard all about it." He grinned evilly. "I still think we could have something. You act nice most of the time, but you have that side to you. It's in there. You just keep it buried."
Whip could hear him almost growl. She gently took his hand for a moment to stroke it. His heavy breathing settled down.
"You try to act noble, but you're a killer at heart."
"Only in self-defense," he said coldly, glaring at the bared steel, as if to add and you are giving me a damn good reason to do it right now. He opened his jacket at this moment to give himself greater movement. It was cold, and he was wearing a sleeveless shirt again, but it's not like it mattered.
Whip pulled out Voodoo in one hand, and grabbed her loaded and ready Desert Eagle in another as they stood next to each other. Adelheid took his usual fighting stance.
"Adelheid," she said. "You usually enter tournaments solo." She was clearly trying to get him to focus.
He smirked a bit at that. "I'd say we're ready to team up finally, maybe?" He swung his leg around, bringing his heel down onto the granite underneath of him. The ground crushed easily beneath the blow as he glared at the men in front of him. "Besides, this isn't a tournament."
Whip snorted laughter at the crater he just made. "You always have to show off like that?"
"Yes."
"Posturing?"
"Granite is harder than bone." He smirked evilly. If that doesn't make them back off...
Whip looked at the ground, and then back at them. They brought his nasty side out now. She knew-probably more than anyone at this point-that he was a good-hearted, noble and honorable man deep down, and that he didn't like killing, but his mean side would come out when it came to dispatching certain types, especially ones like this, who were just as evil as his father...and who taunted him the worst way they could in the process.
She spun her Desert Eagle once. "I better not see you get killed."
"You neither," he said, his red eyes fixed on the man in front of him-one of the henchmen-who, for some reason, between the click of Whip's gun, Adelheid's casual showing off of his absurd strength and their near nonchalant banter showing that neither of them were in no way afraid of this lot, suddenly decided he would have liked to have been anywhere but there.
He sort of wished he hadn't picked this syndicate to try to join.
A/N: So doing some research, bone was rated on a scale of 5 on the Moh's Hardness scale; granite is made up of quartz and feldspar, which is a hardness rating of 7 and 6 respectively. Adelheid, while not a scholar, is pretty well educated and he'd probably particularly know how to break things. He probably spends his time trying to pulverize harder and harder things with his legs for training.
Again a little headcanoning here. Especially with the way I sort of mix the manhua and game Adelheid together with what I know, while Adelheid is absolutely the 'good one' of the family, both noble and a good sport, I never imagined him as a boy scout(when he's not in a music-induced berserk rage, when he's in that watch out), and he *does* enjoy fighting in the canon, challenging people. He does not believe in 'survival of the fittest' like his father did. But he's got some attitude(some of his win phrases-the ones even said by him, not his sister-have a definite streak of attitude to them, for example), and I like to imagine one of his flaws is violently fighting against his past...by doing things like dispatching his family's old just-as-evil partners and/or rivals, and this is where I picture that shred of Orochi power given to his father and passed on comes out in him. One of his quotes to Kim was 'Justice is just a cloak in which violence hides.' That family can't live peacefully, having had Rugal as a patriarch forever. I imagine he has to do his fair share of fighting for his life in the canon.
He also really hates being compared to his old man(as was shown in the comic where Iori-who was being *beaten* by Adelheid-compared the brutality of his fighting to his old man, and that made him angry and made him make mistakes), so that doesn't help his temper very much, I am sure.