Here In My Hungry Heart
Disclaimer: I don't own The King of Fighters. Only the respective company, SNK Playmore does. Terry Bogard x Blue Mary pairing. There will be a lot of OOC's. Read & Review and please, no flames! Also, Happy Valentine's Day!
At the Pao Pao Cafe, Terry Bogard is sitting on the stool next to the bar and waiting for the arrival of his date, Blue Mary. He looked at the clock. It was almost near evening time. As he looks over his shoulder, he sees numerous visitors attending in this very building. Sitting next to him is his brother, Andy and his escort, Mai Shiranui. And finally, sitting close to them is Joe Higashi.
The first ones they saw are the American Sports Team consisting of Lucky Glauber, Brain Battler and Lucky 'D' sitting down on the table playing poker. They all felt quite surprised to see them here, even though they always get their invitations stolen from various teams by getting beaten up and haven't been seen in the latest King of Fighters tournament since 1998.
"It's interesting to see them playing poker" informed Joe.
"Indeed. Maybe, someday they'll get invited back. If they can get properly trained" replied Andy, while sipping his drink.
Next, they also see Axel Hawk and his trainer, Michael Max chatting together with another fellow boxer, Mickey Rogers and his trainer, Pops.
"Hey, Andy. Look! Isn't that Axel?" told Mai.
"Yes, it is. He used to be one of Krauser's henchmen until Terry defeated them. Right after that, he continued his boxing career with that man they're speaking with and he deeply cares about his mother."
"Well, ain't that cute" says Joe with a smile.
And lastly, a coffee talk between the two private investigators, Lenny Craston and Rody Birts and much like all of them, they too are out on their date.
As Joe peered at the two detectives chatting happily together, he pouted. "Almost everyone is out on their dates, except me. When will I ever date Lilly?" he pumps his fists.
Terry countered. "Until you defeat her brother, Billy that is."
Joe smacks himself on the forehead. "I know but he's easily hot-tempered and is also Geese's right-hand man. Truth be told, she's totally unaware of his criminal activities and working for him."
"We already know that, Joe." After their chit-chat, Terry kept on waiting for Mary to show up.
Richard Meyer, one of the owners, spoke to him. "Hey, Terry, how long have you been waiting?"
Terry sighed. "It's nearly half an hour. I wonder, what's keeping her?"
Bob Wilson piqued up. "You mean Mary? She's quite the woman. Perhaps, she had some extra work to take care of."
The legendary hungry wolf shook his head in denial. "No way. It's not like her to work at this late." He starts drinking his beer.
Andy and Mai stared at Joe for a brief moment and the Muay Thai champion answered by shrugging his shoulders.
Just then, the front door swung open and it lets out the doorbell as both Richard and Bob greet the visitor that walked in.
"Welcome."
But much to their surprise, it wasn't actually Mary, it was Alice, Terry's obessessed super fan. "Hello!"
When he heard a very familiar voice, he spat out his beer onto the bar stand and coughed up. By taking a couple of breaths and wiping the foam from his mouth, he turned around and felt very bewildered. "A-Alice? Wh-What brings you in here?"
"I was looking for someplace to drink and what great timing to see you again" she said with a bright smile.
Joe and Andy leaned over at Terry and asked him about his connection towards her.
"Hey, what's your beef with her?"
"And why does she have the same logo on your cap? She looks so cute."
Mai answered. "She's a huge fan of Terry, ever since she was young and not only did she mimic his moves, but also Joe's and my Andy with her own." She concludes her sentence by nestling her head onto Andy's shirt. Much to his chagrin.
"Astonishing" says Richard polishing one of the beer mugs.
"I agree." That's when Bob noticed something on the calendar and by making a small gasp, he turns back to them. "Hey, Terry, do you realize what today is?"
"It's the fourteenth day of February. Why do you ask?" he said, while shrugging his shoulders.
Bob countered. "Well, it's actually Valentine's Day."
Alice scratched her head in confusion. "What is that?"
"Oh, I almost forgot." Terry explained to her. "From what I can tell, it's where two special people come together on a date and go out somewhere such as a movie, restaurant or even a park for a nice romantic moment."
"Really?" As Alice wraps her arm around Terry's, she smiled sweetly at him. "Then, maybe we should spend more time together, you and I."
Terry felt embarrassed upon feeling Alice's arm. "A-Alice, please let go of my arm."
"I don't like where this is going" says Andy to Mai.
"You think so? Even Hokutomaru isn't old enough for a date."
He responded back. "Listen, just because it's Valentine's Day, it still doesn't mean that I'm your finance."
Suddenly, the front door was opened again with the doorbell chiming and after Bob and Richard greeted the next visitor, their smiles quickly faded and began shivering.
Alice noticed the two bartenders feeling very shaken. "Huh? What's wrong?"
Rather than replying back, they pointed at the individual standing in-front of them.
As Terry turned around slowly, he also gasped in shock to see Blue Mary with her fists clenched and an angry expression on her beautiful face. "M-Mary?"
"Terry! Who is that girl with you?!" says Mary angrily.
"Her? Sh-She's a fan of mine" told Terry.
That's when Alice did the unthinkable: she wrapped her arms around Terry's neck and replied back. "I'm more than that! I'm his valentine!"
"Say, what?" cried the legendary hungry wolf.
Both Bob and Richard smacked themselves in the face, while Joe, Andy and Mai shook their heads.
"Is that so?! I finally took some time off and this is how you repay me?!" Believing that Terry is highly interested in Alice than herself, her alter ego from within herself began to ascend. A crimson red aura wrapped her entire body and her friendly tone changed into a vile manner. "I'm going to tear you apart!"
"T-Terry, what's the matter with her?" wondered Alice in fright.
The hero of South Town's eyes grew in shock and recognized that aura from way back. "Oh, no! It can't be!"
"Joe, any ideas?" asked Andy.
He replied back. "I know what that is. It's her dark half."
"Her what?!" cried Mai.
While everyone in the entire cafe look on in total disbelief and shock, Mary delved deeper into her dark form. Fuelled by anger, rage and jealously over Terry's liking towards Alice, her alter ego has began to take over her feminine side. First, her small sleeveless red crop top was changed into a single black brassiere with red jacket. Second, her brown gloves were turned into black. Third, her loose blue jeans with the sign of a star were now black. Fourth, her white shoes had changed into brown boots with yellow laces. And finally, her pure blue eyes were now light green. "I'll beat you all senseless!"
Upon seeing Mary's sudden change of appearance and personality, everyone at Pao-Pao Cafe ran away scared and hurried off to the back door. Leaving only Joe, Andy, Mai, Terry, Bob, Richard and the newly transformed EX-Blue Mary.
Alice gulped her throat down and by raising her hand up, she asked while feeling scared. "C-Can I make a suggestion?"
"Yeah, what?" says EX-Blue Mary.
"How about we...take this outside rather than here?" informed Alice.
Normally, EX-Blue Mary wouldn't take any requests. But since it's a sacred holiday, she pouted. "Humph! That's fine by me. But once I'm done with you, I'm going to make Terry my pet."
"Oh, come on! Not this again!" cried Terry.
Before she could submit some damage to him and his colleagues, Alice stands up to her and shouts back. "Hey, now! Terry is no one's pet! He's a man and he inspired me to be a fighter just like him!"
"Alice..."
EX-Blue Mary responded. "Ha! To put it kindly, you're nothing but a pathetic weenie!" She then points at Mai. "And I still really hate women like you!"
"I beg your pardon?!" Mai was about to unleash her fury until both Andy and Joe restrained her.
"Take it easy. This isn't like her."
"That's right. Calm down, Mai."
"Let's just go already." Terry and his brother, Andy give Bob and Richard the money to pay for their drinks. "I'll see you both later." He then leads Alice, Andy, Mai, Joe and EX-Blue Mary outside of Pao-Pao Cafe without damaging the place as they all exited through the front door.
The two owners made a huge sigh of relief.
"I'm really glad that they're taking this outside, instead of here."
"You and me both, pal."
Elsewhere, at a local park, Terry, Alice, Andy, Mai and Joe try to reason with Mary after she transformed into her alter-ego, EX-Blue Mary.
"Please, Mary. You don't have to do this. It's a huge misunderstanding between myself and Alice."
"Yeah, like what he said. We're just friends, nothing else." Much to her dismay, she unintentionally placed her hand onto Terry's chest and that made EX-Blue Mary even more mad. "Oops!"
"Now, you're really pissing me off and I'm going to break all of your bones!" yelled EX-Blue Mary.
Although feeling frightened, Mai spoke to Terry.
"Terry, is she really your finance?"
A small hint of redness was shown on his cheeks and again felt embarrassed. "What?! No, she's not. We are deeply fond of each other. But because of what had transpired between myself and Alice, this caused her to release her dark personality from within herself."
"Good grief. I'm glad that it's not me" thought Mai.
"Enough talk!" EX-Blue Mary cracks knuckles and taunts all of them. "You're all going to be smears on the pavement, once I'm done with you!"
"Not while I'm still standing!" shouted Terry. "We'll do whatever it takes to bring you back the way you were before."
"Yeah!" Alice paused and glanced at him in bewilderment. "Wait a minute, are you serious?"
"This is our chance to make things right. Especially on Valentine's Day." He adjusts his red and white 'FATAL FURY' baseball cap.
After taking a deep breath, Alice calmly regains her composure and locked in her fighting stance. So does Andy, Joe and Mai as they prepare themselves against Terry's love interest turned bitter enemy. "You're right. Let's do this!"
Despite the numbers disadvantage, EX-Blue Mary isn't intimidated. "Ha! You can't outrun my true power, because I want to see you all suffer!" She charges straight at them.
Even though they're all feeling very shaken of seeing Mary letting out her dark self, they're still determined to find a way to snap some sense into her as the battle for freeing Mary from her other personality begins.
As Terry and company tries to gang up on EX-Blue Mary, the blonde-haired sadist manages outmaneuver them, while landing some kicks, punches and utilizing her Ignore Weight throwing move. Then, she sees Joe getting right back up and making a beeline for her.
Luckily, she avoids Joe's Muay Thai kicks and knees as she counterattacks with a kick of her own and by landing a knee to his chin that sent him flying into the air, grabs him by his hair while slamming him down, grabs him by his legs and starts spinning him around until she threw him back first onto the tree as Joe was out like a light.
"Joe!" yelled Andy. "That does it!" Terry's brother goes full steam on EX-Blue Mary and tries to land a punch or kick onto her. But regardless of his improved training, he was unable to connect any of his moves until EX-Blue Mary grabs him by the head with her legs, somersaults him high into the air and flattens him face first onto the ground.
Furious to see her beloved man trampled by Terry's girlfriend, Mai unleashed her Super Ninja Bees attack by enshrouding herself with red-hot flames and charging at EX-Blue Mary. But much to her disappointment, EX-Blue Mary grinned by repeating the same move she did with Joe but instead, she spins her around by the neck, performed two back suplexes and tosses her down hard. Then, as Mai tries to recuperate, she breaks one of her legs with a loud snap.
"OW! My leg!" cried Mai as she whimpered on her leg injury.
However, EX-Blue Mary wasn't done yet and does the unthinkable by kicking Mai right in the face. Thus, she was knocked out completely, just like Joe from earlier.
Around the same time that Andy recuperated, he gasped in complete shock to see Mai unconscious and not moving an inch. "Mai, no! Why, you little..." But before he could give her another piece of his mind, Terry placed his hand on his brother's shoulder and shook his head. "T-Terry?"
"Leave this to me and Alice, while you take Mai to safety."
"Are you really sure about this?" he wondered, while carrying Mai in his arms bridal style. Then, he immediately gasped and saw some flames within Terry's fierce eyes. "I understand. Be very careful." With that said and done, Andy departed with the injured Mai and searches for the nearest hospital.
Back onto the action, Terry and Alice are now left standing while Joe remains out-cold.
"Do you still have some fire left in the tank?"
After she catches her breath, she retorted. "I think so. Terry, this is all my fault."
Terry shook his head. "No, it isn't. In fact, I've got a plan and it just might work." As he whispers into Alice's ear, EX-Blue Mary raised her eyebrow in question as she folds her arms.
"What the hell are those two fools up to now?!"
It didn't take long for Terry's discussion through Alice's ear to finish and resume their bout. Yet, it was Terry's turn to taunt back at her. "Hey, come on! Come on!"
"You dare?!" Infuriated, she pounces right onto Terry's path.
Upon seeing this, Alice turns the other way and allow Terry to turn the tide into their favour.
As EX-Blue Mary grabs Terry by the arm and proceeds to break it just like what she did to Mai's leg, he reversed it by shoulder tackling her and a knee to her gut.
Now that EX-Blue Mary is out in the open, Terry pounds on the ground three times with his flaming fists by saying, "Power...Geyser!" and the red-hot flames nearly burn EX-Blue Mary to a crisp. Yet, to his surprise, she lands on her feet and survived the ordeal.
"Was that your strategy? How pathetic."
"Not exactly." He calls out to his teammate. "Now, Alice!"
The dark Mary almost didn't anticipate his accomplice from behind and turned around too soon.
Alice perform her Special Wolf Combination by landing her knee repeatedly that sent her flying and finishes it with her own version of Terry's Raising Tackle by spinning upward, whilst upside down with one leg tucked into her middle and one arm stuck out as she lands her other leg numerous times onto EX-Blue Mary.
Upon seeing her falling down, he lifts his foot up and puts his fist upward while aiming at EX-Blue Mary. He utilizes one of his signature attacks by saying, "Are you okay!" He then charges at her and strikes with his Burning Knuckle by placing his left hand on his right hand and connects at EX-Blue Mary after he shouts: "Buster Wolf!" As a result, red-hot flames erupted at EX-Blue Mary with a blink of an eye as she gets trampled like a folding board.
Nevertheless, he wasn't done, when he notices EX-Blue Mary standing up again but only up to one knee and so, he unleashes one more signature attack at her. Before long, he had this to say, "Forgive me, Mary." After he clenched his fist, he turns his red and white baseball cap backwards by performing his Slam Dunk Volcano. He lands a hard knee to her stomach which sent her flying and as a scorching flame ignited into his fist, it lands right onto EX-Blue Mary's body in a fiery flame as she screamed in agony and landed back first. Therefore, EX-Blue Mary was finally defeated.
Alice walked on over to him with her bright smile after they've managed to beat her. "You did it, Terry." Yet, it right away faded when she sees him feeling forlorn. "What's wrong, now?"
Rather than replying back, Terry walks over to the fallen EX-Blue Mary after he readjusts his cap. Regardless of his hard-fought victory, he felt upset that he had no alternative but to defeat his girlfriend with his last ounce of his strength. While Terry nestled his head onto Mary's, Joe manages to recover from his beatdown that befell on him and witnesses Terry consoling Mary.
Alice felt worried and turns to Joe upon hearing his footsteps. "You don't really think that she's..."
He interjected her. "Don't say it. Terry's been through that road before."
Not wanting to lose another woman in his life on this special occasion, he removes his cap and plants a kiss onto her soft lips.
Both Joe and Alice felt awfully perplexed seeing Terry making a move on Mary, in order to keep her dark personality hidden away. In a surprise turn of events, Mary's entire body began to glow chalk white and as it shined brightly on them, they covered their eyes.
Once the light had subsided, they gasped in astonishment to see Mary back to normal as Terry released the kiss from her.
Then, Terry could hear Mary murmur for a moment and opened her blue eyes.
Much to her bafflement, she felt Terry holding her hand and staring at her in the eye while smiling. She blushed very red. "T-Terry." That's when she felt her lips from earlier and asked him. "C-Could you try that again, please?"
Feeling relieved and happy of seeing Mary while requesting another kiss, he tosses his signature cap into the air before it landed onto the green grass and shouted: "OKAY!" Later on, he takes her by the hand and lands another kiss on her but more blissful. Mary threw her arms around Terry's neck, while he threw his around her lower waist. As they released the kiss, Terry makes his startling confession to her. "Happy Valentine's Day, Mary and I love you."
Mary's blue eyes were widened in shock and as it fills up with tears of joy, she smiled brightly and responded back. "Oh, Terry. I love you too and Happy Valentine's Day." They conclude their moment by feeling their warmth in a big hug.
Alice wipes a tear from her eye after she helped Terry free his best friend. "That's so beautiful."
Joe nods his head in agreement. "I totally agree."
Once they broke up the hug, Terry turns to Joe and Alice. "Let's head back."
Now immediately back at Pao-Pao Cafe, Terry celebrates with his rekindled valentine, Mary and his cohorts with another dosage of beer, along with a wide assortment of buffet food. After munching down and sharing some laughs together while having some conversations, they all went to the dance floor when Richard and Bob turned on the dance lights.
Andy and Mai were the first ones to start after she recovered from her leg injury. Terry and Mary soon followed; leaving Joe all by himself at the dinner table.
Seeing one of Terry's colleagues feeling upset, Alice advised Terry.
"Terry?"
"Yes, what is it, Alice?"
She replied. "I apologize for what happened between us and Mary. I didn't mean to do that, because I overdid it. So, can I make up for it by asking Joe to dance with me?"
Both Terry and Mary gasped in surprise upon her odd request, when they stared at each other for a brief moment. Then, they responded.
"Well, since it is Valentine's Day and unable to date Lilly, you can go right ahead."
"That's right and it was actually my fault for misunderstanding you. Still, you need more training in order to master the basics before you can enter the competition." Mary extends her hand to Alice. "But in-spite of that, no hard feelings?"
Alice smiled back and shook Mary's hand. "None taken." Afterwards, she approached to Joe. "Hey, Joe. Would you like to dance with me, please?"
The Muay Thai champion's eyes were widened in awe. "Huh? Why and what for?"
"For not only the miscommunication between myself and Mary, but you not being with Lilly and so I thought that I could take your place."
By glancing at her eyes and body language, along with unsuccessfully asking Billy's sister out, he answered back. "Sure. I don't mind."
As she leads him to the dance floor, everyone else also joined in on the fun with some dazzling music and colourful lights.
The two people that enjoyed the most then just Andy and Mai were Terry and Mary as they peered into each other's eyes.
"I could never replace a fine woman such as yourself. Especially on this night." told Terry to Mary.
"I'm really glad and I still love you."
Just like what he did before back at the park, he removes his red and white baseball cap while shouting his famous catchphrase: "OKAY!" before pressing his lips onto hers.
It was a night to remember for the legendary hungry wolf after finally submitting his feelings towards the young detective woman. From this day forward, they remain inseparable.