Interlude: News Reports
Author's note: Something I forgot mention. Regarding the bit involving Hunter and his men from the previous chapter, some of that was inspired by the bit with the Baseball Furies in The Warriors.
Also, this is just an interlude chapter. I will get to the climax and epilogue soon.
SOMEWHERE IN JAPAN…
It was afternoon in a little village somewhere in Japan, probably Okinawa, a woman and her elderly father were watching television. On the walls featured pictures of that woman and a familiar face. The familiar face was Guy and the woman he was with was Rena Genryusai, Guy's fiancé. They were set to marry sometime soon. Outside, a car had pulled up right next to a motorcycle and another car.
On the TV, there was global news program. The anchorman stated the report in Japanese.
["News reports had stated of a terrorist attack somewhere in Metro City, New York. A riot had occurred because of it. Authorities have stated that it was the work of a gang. But with the fall of the Mad Gear Gang, who also happened to have other chapters in Europe and Asia, the gang seems to be using some sort of means to make their name known."]
The TV had some interviews with some Metro City citizens. Being that they were recorded earlier in the day and submitted to various stations across the board, the reports on the Japanese news show were subtitled.
"I just happened to be going on about my day and then a blast occurred," a man said.
"All hell just broke loose of a sudden," a woman said. "I won't be leaving my house when I get home."
Suddenly, a man and a woman walked in through the door carrying bags of groceries. One man had bronze skin and long brown hair and was wearing a blue button-down shirt and blue pants. The woman had blonde hair and had a ponytail set up close to the top of her hair. She was wearing a red outfit with a black leather jacket. The man turned out to be Carlos Miyamoto and the woman was Maki Genryusai, Rena's sister, both of whom took part in the fight against the Mad Gear Gang a couple of years prior in Eurasia.
Sometime after their battle, Carlos and Maki had started dating. Carlos had moved to Japan to be closer to Maki. Being that he is half-Brazilian and half-Japanese, he was able to talk in Japanese and learned more of the language overtime, even though he and Maki can speak English.
["Hey, what are you watching?"] Maki said.
Carlos then saw the TV and then noticed the coverage of the riots and attacks. He knew where that took place. Maki then saw the footage.
["Wait a minute, Metro City is in trouble, again?"] Maki said. She was well-aware of the problems that the city had gone through with the Mad Gear Gang, but this seems a bit heavier. Mad Gear wouldn't pull any terrorist attacks, not like this. Plus, she became friends with Haggar after he had gone with Guy to Japan and met his fiancé, as well as the rest of her family. She had only met Cody at some point when she wanted to battle Guy herself. She didn't really know the man but had only heard about him.
Rena added, ["I just remembered something. Guy is in Metro City as well. He went there to visit the mayor. I hope he's okay."] She then started to put her head down.
Maki went to comfort her sister.
The old man, who was their father, had said to his two daughters. ["Don't worry. Guy knows what he is doing. I taught him well. Zeku taught him well. We shouldn't worry about him."]
Carlos then added in Japanese, ["Guy and Mike will be fine. I just hope they have some extra help."]
When Carlos said that, he came to a realization about something, as did Maki. She then looked up at Carlos and signaled to him to get out by the door, as she implied that she wanted to have a word with him.
["I'll be back, you two wait,"] Maki said and then got up and headed for the door.
"What's wrong?" Carlos said in English as Maki stepped outside.
"I'm just a little worried," Maki said.
"Why? You know Guy is a tough guy, he can handle stuff on his own," Carlos said.
"I'm not worried about Guy, but I am worried for Rena," Maki said. "She knows that Guy has dealt with a lot of people in his own quest for the perfect fight, but terrorists? A terrorist gang, for that matter? This seems even bigger than what we had to deal with."
A pause occurred after she had said that.
"Listen, I am aware that Guy is capable of stuff, but sometimes my sister can be worrisome," Maki said. "I love my sister and I want to comfort her, but my main problem is we could have helped them out."
"Maki, there is just no way we could go back to America in time," Carlos said. "I know that if I was there, I would have helped Mike and Guy, but I think they probably have it all under control. Also, why are we talking in English out here? Your sister can speak it."
"Yes, she can, but I needed to make her not think we were talking about her," Maki said. "Her English is mostly just okay, not great."
"I see," Carlos said. "We should get back inside."
"You're right," Maki said.
They went back inside. They didn't want to stress over this entire issue.
SOMEWHERE IN PARIS, FRANCE…
It was now morning. Early morning, to be exact. A young blonde woman in her mid-20s sat on the couch in an apartment.
"Hey, Jessica, why did you turn down that guy last night?" a woman said in another room. "You know he wanted to talk to you. Why did you blow him off?'
The blonde woman was none other than Jessica Haggar. She was watching some coverage on the news as well. The news show was in French, but after studying abroad in France, she had picked up on some French.
"Jessica, are you listening to me? What are you doing?" the other woman walked in, who was a brunette and also American.
"Shut up, Rachel, I'm trying to watch this," Jessica said.
Rachel had her toothbrush in hand and was in a bathrobe and had a towel on her head. She then saw Jessica was watching the news. She saw that the report was talking about the attacks on Metro City.
"Wait, Metro City," Rachel said and then turned towards her roommate and friend. "Isn't that where you're from?"
Jessica nodded her head. "My dad is still the mayor over there. I just hope he's okay."
Rachel saw a lot of the footage. Riots were going on. Wrecked police cars. Burning buildings. Stuff that you would expect from terrorist attacks and riots.
"My god, this is some heavy shit," Rachel said.
"I know, and I thought that what I dealt with was bad," Jessica said.
Jessica filled her friend in about the problem with Mad Gear. She even saw some images of the Skull Cross Gang, who seemed even more vicious than Mad Gear.
Oh Dad, I hope you're okay out there. Jessica thought.
SOMEWHERE IN THE UNITED STATES, OUTSIDE OF METRO CITY…
In a bar somewhere in the Midwest of the US, it was nighttime and a blonde man sat at the bar with a beer in his hand. The man's knuckles looked like they barely healed, like it hadn't been long since he had punched someone.
The blonde man turned out to be Cody Travers, who was traveling in other parts of the country looking for fights and other opportunities. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt with blue jeans and white sneakers.
He then saw the bartender turn on the TV.
"Hey," Cody said. "Can you put it on the news?"
He put it on a local news channel, where the report about the attacks on Metro City was being shown. For it to be shown in other parts of the globe, it was definitely more than a national story. It became global.
A young woman approached Cody, "Hey, big boy, you looking for a good time?"
"Not now, I'm watching this," Cody said with his eyes on the TV.
The news then started showing footage from an anchorwoman on the scene in Uptown Metro City.
"Thank you. From what I see, this looks to be the attack of a major threat. After the fall of the Mad Gear Gang, Metro City had been more peaceful, but this, this looks like the work of the Skull Cross Gang, whose leader had been broken out of prison."
The TV then displayed a mugshot of Black, as he had an eyepatch and muscular build.
"Marshal Black, a Vietnam veteran who somehow became turncoat, had been broken free. Nobody knows what else the plan of the Skull Cross Gang is. But at the moment, we were told about a shipment of illegal arms in a cargo hold."
"Who needs TV when I can give you the time of your life, sugar?" the woman said.
"I'm not in the mood right now, but I've seen you here before, so maybe next time?" Cody said.
"Whatever, man," the woman said. "I can find someone who is more man than you."
Cody continued to watch TV. He wondered if Mayor Mike Haggar was handling it this time. Who could be on his side? Last time he checked, Guy thought about paying him a visit. But who else could help?
Looks like I should pay Mayor Haggar a visit soon. Cody thought. I hope they take care of this problem.
Another note: That's it for the interlude. I wanted to have some old faces make cameos.
Regarding Carlos and Maki, I kind of ship these two. Final Fight 3 took place at least a couple of years after Final Fight 2, so I could imagine those two getting together at some point. Because I am considering doing Final Fight 2, I might imply some attraction, but like for this one with Dean and Lucia, I am not doing a forced romantic subplot.
Also, with Maki wearing a leather jacket and having a motorcycle, it had been stated in an instruction manual for the Japanese version of FF2 that she was in a biker gang. Then it was just established that she likes motorcycles and stuff.
I also wanted to put in Jessica and Cody at some point. Regarding Jessica being in France, according to the lore, sometime after she and Cody broke up, she went to study abroad in Europe. Ergo, why she was in France.
I had to do some research about time-zones, which explains why it was Japan where Carlos and Maki were, morning where Jessica was, and evening where Cody was. I could only imagine that Cody was only a few states away and it wasn't that far behind in time.
I will get to the next one soon.