My Unlucky Valentine
By: The Arsenal 3.0

Rock Howard found the past several months hectic. He found himself both training for the next tournament and juggling his on then off again girlfriend. Said girlfriend happened to be Ninon Beart who was soft spoken and flirtatious some days while murderous and hell-bent on others. Rock found that the slightest negative thing could set her off such as neglecting to get her gifts and he often made notes of when to get her something on any upcoming holiday, most of the time.

Valentine's Day was fast approaching and Rock had taken the past several weeks easy, so easy in fact that he tended to forget things when he slept late. Rock was out like a light one particular Saturday that he failed to respond to his levelheaded mentor.

"Hey, wake up champ! It's 10:30!" Terry called from the kitchen.

"Yeah...yeah..." Rock mumbled. He turned to his right and saw a familiar figure standing in the room, which was enough to make him suddenly want to wake up.

"Morning."

"N...NINON!" Rock quickly sat up. "What the hell are you...er...I mean it's nice to see you here...now...in my room." Without knocking, his mind added.

Ninon responded with a kiss that did more than enough to wake up Rock completely. "I see Rock Jr. has awakened," she said with a smirk.

"Uh...s-so what's the occasion?!" Rock asked as he covered his lap with a pillow.

"I realize it's still morning but I just couldn't wait any longer. So what did you get me?" Ninon asked.

"Get...what now?"

"For Valentine's Day."

Rock felt his heart sink in his chest. "Let's see...it's...like...a...surprise. Yeah that's it, a s-surprise!" Rock somehow managed.

"But I want it now..." Ninon said, pouting.

"Well, you'll have to wait."

"If you already have it then it should be no problem if I get it a little early."

"Yeah but..."

"Give it...to me...NOW."

At a loss for words, Rock quickly jumped out of bed, complete in his light blue baseball shirt and dark Superman boxers, and made his way to the living room which happened to be right across from the kitchen.

"There's pancakes!" Terry said with a mouthful.

"Not now!"

"Fine then, more for me!" Terry shoved a small stack in his mouth and found himself choking for his effort. "R...Rock...!" he gasped.

"Just give me a sec!"

While he ignored Terry's cries for help, Rock found some printer paper and a flower from a pot and started scribbling something down off the top of his head. Within minutes, he hurried back to his room where Ninon sat patiently.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Rock greeted.

"For me?"

Ninon took the folded up paper and opened it up to reveal a red flower taped to one side and a handwritten message on the other. The gothic lolita paused for a moment to raise an eyebrow before reading:

"Dear Ninon,

I couldn't think of better words to describe you than the following:

Roses are red, Violets are blue,

Heart day is tacky and so are you.

Sincerely Yours (Apparently 5-ever),
Rock"

"Those words came from the heart," Rock said smiling.

"You think I'm in bad taste? And what the hell is 5-EVER?!" Ninon asked turning red.

"That was...supposed to be 4-ever," Rock pointed out. "And tacky? Uh...I think my dictionary is bad, so could I try again?" he asked fearfully.

"I came here...expecting something...to show how much you appreciated me...and what did I get? NOTHING!"

An eerie glow came from Ninon's eyes prompting Rock to take cover under his bed as a storm literally unfolded in his room. Items flew from the bookshelf, lamps smashed against the wall, basically scary shit one sees in a horror flick. The foot of Rock's bed leaned up vertically towards the wall leaving Rock completely vulnerable as Ninon pointed a black-nailed finger at him.

"You have until exactly noon to get me a wonderful gift or else you DIE!" she screamed.

"Hey Rock!" Terry opened the door just as Ninon and the "storm" disappeared. "What's going on in here?"

"I was...partying..." Rock said weakly.

"Oh, well clean this place up!"

"Y-you're not angry?"

"Why? I don't see any difference here and the way your room usually looks."

Rock stared at his mentor awkwardly for a few seconds until he departed...and the bed fell back on top of him.

"OWWW, SON OF A BITCH!"

"Hey! Watch your fucking mouth!"

What else I happening around South Town?

Continue on to the next chapter!