Setting your Priorities Straight

Darkness loomed over the bedroom with clothes strewn on the floor. Sweatpants, T-shirts, briefs, panties, and a bra, they were all scattered on the floor adjacent to a king-sized bed with any glare beaming through the window from street lights shining in the midst of the night sky. Under the covers, Jessica lied there and caressed Cody with so much embrace as she leaned her head against his shoulder and rubbed her left hand against Cody's bare pectorals with Jessica's bare bust pressing against his body as well.

With the two naked under the covers, it was no secret what happened here.

"What happened to you tonight?" Jessica said as she looked directly at Cody while she still caressed him.

Cody lied there in silence for a few seconds. He knew his girlfriend would ask him this. What was he going to say? He got jumped by some bikers and fought back against them, only for him to get arrested without question? He knew he had to tell Jessica the whole thing.

After a few minutes, Jessica's eyes shift away with a flabbergasted expression before she let out "wow," like she had no idea to how to respond to that.

"You see what I mean?" Cody said.

Jessica still had trouble responding to this. "But I don't understand, why did the cops arrest you?"

Cody's eyes shifted towards the ceiling. Was there a better way to explain it? What he went through, he had already explained it, but there were so many questions on their minds as to why they happened.

"I still don't know," Cody said. "They just hauled me off without asking me. I just defended myself, but they said it was assault."

"Assault? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Cody turned to look at Jessica because of what she said. He was not used to hearing her swear like this. Maybe the occasional "shit" and stuff, but the F-bomb was something else. This sounded like she was upset over what had happened. When Cody got home, Jessica gave him a big hug. One thing led another and this was where they ended up.

"I wish I knew what was up," Cody said.

"I hope my dad fixes this city soon. We can't keep living like this."

"Not while evil stalks the streets."

After that encounter with the Disciples of Apocalypse Motorcycle Club, this was accurate about Metro City. It was no coincidence that those bikers found Cody. They had to have known somehow where he worked if they went to attack him.

But a thought had hit Cody in that moment. He could have run away and found a place to hide. He didn't need to engage in a fight with them. He was outnumbered by six of them and barely managed to make it out of there. Why didn't he just walk away? Cody thought hard.

On top of that, he was bailed out by someone he realized was an old school acquaintance. Poison tried to seduce him, but that didn't mean he didn't feel any arousal. Cody lied there and wondered if the sex with Jessica had stemmed from that moment with Poison.

On the other hand, he still wondered about any fights in the future to see if he could make any more money to possibly move elsewhere, like in a nicer area in the city.

In the other room, in the midst of posters of Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim, Megadeth, and Faith No More, Kyle lied in his bed with his eyes open. Despite hearing his brother and his girlfriend having some "quality time" in the other room, that was not why he was awake. No, the real reason was because he reflected on that conversation he had with Jessica earlier that evening. He knew she was right. He knew he had to control his violent tendencies. It was also clear that that guy Vito tried to get under his skin about Vanessa.

Now that he thought about it, the concern he had for her was too much for him. He still thought it was his fault about the other night. Then again, could those thugs have attacked them regardless? It left Kyle wondering that maybe even if he was attacked first, he would have still protected her, but with those other guys holding the girls, who knows what they would have done to them?

I will make it up to you, Vanessa. Kyle thought.

It was not long until he fell asleep after that.

Inside the Mad Gear lair, Damnd turned around and noticed six bikers quickly marching towards him, with bruises and cuts on their faces. One of the bikers' faces was wet as he likely had put some on ice on his face. All Damnd could think when he saw them was that they didn't get the job done.

Axl and Slash led their squad. Slash reached for his pocket and threw the money at Damnd.

"Here's your fucking money!" Slash yelled.

The dollar bills flew and scattered all over the place. Many other Mad Gear members looked on like they wanted to swoop in and pick them up, likely for themselves. Damnd didn't budge. All he did was look at the money flying towards him and through his blue-framed sunglasses, his eyes glared towards Axl and Slash.

"What happened?" Damnd said so calmly.

Axl rushed towards Damnd. "That fucker got lucky!"

Slash signaled Axl to calm down. "That guy, he beat all of us." Surprisingly, he was calmer than before when he threw the money at Damnd.

"What are you talking about? There were six of you," Damnd said.

"This guy, he was something else," Slash said.

"What? Like those ninjas Philippe talked about?" Damnd chuckled with such derision in his expression.

"We're not joking with you!" Axl shouted. "He fucked all of us up!"

There was no more explanation needed for Damnd. The way the bikers put it, Damnd just knew that Cody was not just some guy. This guy was different. All he could do was nod at their comments. There had to be a way to take him down. He looked around and saw two women from a distance. The hot pink hair and the fiery orange hair on both of them, he just knew who they were.

"Hey, Poison, Roxy," Damnd said as he approached the two ladies. "I got a question for you. Do Hugo and Gunter got any fights soon? What about Abigail, or even Bratken?"

Poison and Roxy looked up and saw Damnd stand before them after he addressed them.

Roxy replied, "Nah, they don't have any fights. Who do you have in mind?"

"Oh, I was thinking about the new guys. What do you think?" Damnd smiled devilishly after saying that.

The ladies looked at each other with a little confusion and mild concern.

"Oh, I don't think so," Poison said.

"Oh, come on," Damnd said. "I think those big guys are ready for something new than some punks you girls have been feeding them. What do you think?"

Poison stood there silently. "Well…"

Roxy cut in, "Let us think about it, okay?"

"Get back to me soon, okay?" Damnd said as he saw the two ladies walking away.

Poison looked back towards Damnd. The comments the man made about the Andore brothers, along with a couple of other men, and the "new guys" made her wonder what the man's motive was.

"Did you hear that?" Poison said. "He actually thinks Hugo and Gunter should fight those new guys."

Roxy went to a stop. "I was right. You are sweet on Cody."

Poison was not about to deny that. "So? What's your point?"

"You don't think Cody should fight Hugo? I mean, if he took down Axl and Slash, why should that be any different?"

"You're saying I'm sweet on that guy, but I saw you looking at his friend the other night."

"Right, but I know you've wanted Cody ever since high school. So don't give me any shit about that guy Carlos."

Both ladies knew about the Andore family, especially when one of them easily beat that one man that night. However, Damnd had mentioned other men, both of whom had some reputations as well. Poison knew that Damnd wanted to hurt Cody in some way. At least Poison knew that Roxy, her closest friend, was all about business in the fighting world, but in the case of her fellow Mad Gear members, someone had an axe to grind with someone.

"You're right, what was I thinking?" Poison said. "Come on, let's talk about this somewhere else."

As Haggar sat in the living room of his house, he looked at pictures of himself with his late wife Nancy, along with family photos which had Jessica as a little girl, and also pictures of the Travers brothers with Jessica. Kyle was about 9 or 10, while Cody and Jessica were teens. He looked away, deep in thought.

First, it was the criminal element, now it was corrupt in the Metro City Police Department. Did Mad Gear have that much power and influence over Metro City? It had not been too long since he was elected mayor but even he remembered that the crime element was present with the previous mayor, who didn't do a damn thing while he was in office. Haggar was determined, but what would he do? The real question was where he would start. Another question would be why he didn't leave Metro City.

Metro City was his home. It was where he was born, where he grew up, and was now running. It was not always like this for him. There was a time when it was more peaceful. It was safer to walk the streets of the West Side of Metro City, even the Slums were, while run down, safe enough to walk through. It was peaceful at times when he would go on international tours when he was a wrestler and left Jessica with some family or friends. When Nancy was alive, Jessica sometimes came along when a show would take place at the Metro City Arena. She was too young to go along on the tours.

One night, when Haggar took time off from his wrestling schedule, he took Nancy and Jessica out for some entertainment. As the night went on, Nancy went into a store while Haggar and Jessica stayed in the car. While Haggar and Jessica talked in the car, gunshots were heard from inside. The two looked up. Jessica thought "Mom?!" Haggar quickly got out of the car and told his daughter to stay put. He went inside and smashed one masked man's head against a counter. As a wrestler, he grabbed the other masked and slammed him to the ground, but went full stop when he what was in front of him after he heard a weak-sounding female voice say "Mike?" He turned around and noticed his wife with a gunshot wound on her stomach. Mike's eyes widened and quickly tended to her. It wasn't long until paramedics took her. He went and drove himself and Jessica to the hospital. Unfortunately, by the time they got there, it was too late. Nancy had lost a lot of blood and died before she got to the hospital. Both Mike and Jessica were devastated that Mike took months off from his schedule while he mourned his wife.

There was a reason he was iffy about Jessica dating Cody, and later on, moving in together. He knew Cody since he was a kid. He knew Kyle since he was a kid, too, and saw that he was a lot like his older brother. The Travers brothers didn't have the best upbringing. They went through foster care. Sometimes Mike offered to let them stay with him at times and then saw that Cody and Jessica got closer and closer. While he did teach Cody some things, he knew that Cody would get himself into trouble, some of which he bailed him out.

But if there was one thing Haggar admired about Cody, it was that he would never try to put Jessica in danger. He also would never lie to him. Cody may be rough around the edges but he was not a bad guy. He knew the young man cared about his daughter. While he hadn't talked to Cody about his arrest yet, Haggar trusted his daughter about what had happened. It became clear to him that the police force was corrupt, and it wouldn't be a surprise to him if Mad Gear had them in their pocket. The question, however, was who was funding them.

Haggar got up and walked towards his bedroom. A light glared through an open door as he slowed down a bit and went to a stop. He saw Carlos stretching and doing some sit-ups.

"You know you do all of that, you will not be able to sleep."

Carlos looked up. "Oh, hello, Mr. Haggar."

"Please, you can call me Mike."

"Right, Mike." Despite living with the mayor, Carlos was not used to addressing him by his first name.

"Like I was saying, you don't want to do that too much before bed, you'll be awake for hours," Haggar said.

"I'm just doing a little training. Besides, I don't work tomorrow."

Haggar nodded. "Anyway, I'm going to bed. Don't stay up too late training now. I'll see you in the morning."

As soon as Haggar went to his room, Carlos glanced ahead and made sure he was out of sight. Since he had a day off tomorrow, he reached for his katana and slowly walked out of his bedroom in a stealthy motion. Training was not going to be enough for him. If the city was in peril, he was about to help clean it up as well.

At the Genryusai residence, Guy sat on a couch with Rena and talked with her.

"That was a really nice dinner we went to," Rena said.

"Yes, but it would be better if I took you out by myself, not because I was invited by a friend," Guy said.

"Don't say that, it was still nice. You know that any time we are together, it's always a good time."

Guy nodded. Despite the straight face and emotionless expression in his eyes, it didn't mean he didn't like spending time with Rena.

Suddenly, an older man walked into the living room area. Guy looked up and quickly got to his feet and then bowed before him.

["Genryusai-San, pleasure to see you,"] Guy said in Japanese.

Hideo Genryusai, father of Rena and Maki, and also once a master for Guy and his daughter, bowed before his once-pupil. While he was a master of the Bushin style himself, as he got older, he passed the mentorship down to a man named Zeku. However, he had taught Guy and Maki some tricks of their own, some that Zeku couldn't teach them.

["Guy, the pleasure is always mine, you're practically part of this family,"] Genryusai said. ["I appreciate what you've done for my family, as well as Rena. Just know that even though I'm old, if you ever think about hurting my Rena, I'll still beat you."]

["Father!"] Rena yelled in Japanese.

Hideo smiled at that remark and patted Guy on his shoulder. ["You've always been like a son to me."]

["Thank you, Genryusai-san,"] Guy said.

["Well, I should go get some sleep,"] Hideo said.

Rena got up and was about to go to bed, too. However, as Guy stood there, he saw Maki, who signaled to him towards the door and towards the window. Guy nodded his head. What did their signal mean? Guy then hugged and kissed Rena goodnight and then exited their apartment and went into his.

Guy quickly changed into a red and white karate gi. It was not long until Maki left her apartment and wore a red and white outfit but it didn't have a skirt like she would often wear. She had her tonfa holstered.

"Are you ready?" Maki said.

Guy nodded. "Ready as I will ever be."

The two were then on their way out into the city. They felt there was some work to be done.

Author's note: I'm back. I would have gotten back sooner but personal things happened and I wasn't in the mood. Plus, I started another story, so I was a little more focused on that.

I mentioned that Andore has a brother. Because it's established that Hugo is one of them, Gunter is supposed to be one of the other palette-swaps in the original game. Because you had just Andore and then you had Andore Jr. As for the others, I shall see what I will do with them. Oh, and I initially thought about naming the brother Jacques. Andore was clearly based on Andre the Giant and I thought about naming him after Andre's real-life brother but it's said that Hugo is supposed to be German, not French (which Andre the Giant was, by the way), I went with a German name.

I also felt it was time to introduce Rena and Maki's father into the story. I can't believe I didn't do it already.