Protoge Chapter 7
After weeks of wandering around in desert wastelands and empty roads, this place was a treat. Rock stretched on the ground, letting the soft grass tickle his back, and yawned. Terry went to park their ride someplace safe, and then returned and joined the kid in lazy cloud watching.
Things couldn't get much better than this. Nothing to do, nowhere to be. All he had to do was see a place that looked interesting, and there they were. Days like these you wish would go on forever.
"Yo Terry." he said.
"Hmm?"
"We should come to these places more often." Rock said with a wide grin. Everything was just so fresh, like things had just been born a few seconds earlier, just waiting for them.
Laugh. "You're in such a rush to be somewhere you already are."
"Hahaha, I guess that was kinda silly put it that way."
But at thirteen, it made perfect sense that you'd want to be someplace, even if you were already there. It was the longing that made things more magical. Without wanting something, that thing could be as normal and valueless like a soil or rock. But by attaching some longing, or sweet memories, even a rock could be something great.
At twelve, it wasn't that easy to put in thoughts. Rock shifted, getting so restless he almost bumped into his companion. "Wow..I'm already bored.."
"Man, you'd think after a whole day of wandering you'd go right to sleep," Terry said. He was almost in despair.
"It can't be helped," he said up. "I have way too much energy and I don't know what to do with it. I want to be someplace, but I don't know where. I want to do something, but I have no idea what that thing is. It's like something inside of me just wants to jump outside of me and just run away."
All he said was "Breathe."
"Uhh..."
Terry smiled. "Try it, just close your eyes and breath."
"Well..all right, but I don't know what that has to do with anything.."
He closed his eyes and then giggled when he realized that he was already breathing. That was a silly request, asking to do something he was already doing! Rock wondered exactly what was Terry trying to pull over him. In turn, more absurd thoughts came to him, like what if Terry was planning to run away right there when he had his eyes closed.
That did it though, after such ideas came to mind, he finally noticed something. He heard himself breath. He felt the cool air enter his nostrils. Soon he felt the subtle breeze sway him in ways he didn't notice before, and even the blood rushing inside of him.
"Awesome!" He yelled out loud.
Terry was sitting serenly, gazing out into apparent nothingness. "I was almost twice your age when I learned to do that. Had I known that technique sooner things would've been so much easier. " He smiled. "Ah! Things are so strange now that I'm riding with two people. I think it's about time 'The lone wolf' now has a cub."
Rock tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
The sun was setting. Things were painted in golden hues and the lights were so soft boundries between things were almost impossible to distinguish. Terry took off his cap and placed it on Rock's head. "There's a reason you're so restless. Fighting is part of you and probably always will be. I guess it's time I taught you to channel that energy well."
The kid couldn't believe his ears. Whatever "it" was he wanted to find, he felt that "it" was closer in reach than ever before. They retired for the night, and Rock used the same technique as earlier.
He breathed.
Breathe.
Breathe.
And he continued breathing as his face was knocked straight to the ground.
"Come back to reality, will ya?" Billy Cane taunted. The fight had begun without much time to asses anything. Geese Howard's former assistant used his trademark stick to trip the unsuspecting Rock to the ground, and then pointed the weapon to his neck. "I'm not here to fight."
"Geez, you certainly don't give that impression!" He grunted.
"I just needed to catch your attention, see?" As a gesture of good faith he removed the weapon away from Rock's neck, but still kept it in a defensive position. "You ain't like your father at all. Mr. Howard would've countered that a mile away."
"I'm not my father," Rock spat.
"But you could be," he cracked a mischevious grin.
Rock Howard got up and gritted, bearing the pain of hitting broken and heat-intensified asphault. That was a clever method, Rock thought, a small attack to make sure he couldn't strike quick. "In your dreams pal."
"You're quite right." He said. "It is my dream, and has been my ambition for a while. You don't think the Howard Empire would let it's heir off that easily, did you?"
"What are you saying?" Rock asked.
Billy Cane shook his head. "Unbeleivable. Any good Empire doesn't die just because the Emperor did. The Howard Empire is no exception. We still exist, those loyal to your father, and were waiting for his son to be fit enough to lead us."
He continued. "The fact that you should pick up on the drug trafficing was no accident. It was all planned, to see if you're mentally and physically capable. I knocked you down so easily, maybe you aren't after all."
"Moron," Rock spat. "I won't...refuse to see something like that happen. Who the hell are you, coming and asking such a fucking request from me? I won't do it!"
A blunt pain came over Rock's abdomen. Billy's face was closer than before, giving a preadatory smile as his knee was burried deeper in Rock's stomach.
Billy Cane stood over the fallen Rock.
"Who said anything about a request?"
So that's how it was gonna be. Rock stood up, still feeling the pain. He never remembered a fight being this painful, especially after the first hit. He studied his opponent, who was in a ready position with his stick.
Rock came in with a flying kick. Cane knicked him out midair with his stick. Rock rolled away and retorted with a burning knuckle. He gave a swift knee kick and swung in for a punch. Billy countered the last move with a punch of his own, knocking both opponents down.
With more experience Billy Cane stood first, using his stick for leverage, he came in for a kick that knocked the kid off the ground just as he had come up. Noticing the half torn down wall behind the kid, Billy Cane grinned again and knocked Rock with a clean roundhouse.
After being thrown to the wall by the force of the hit, Rock had realized something. This was the first time Rock had gone over an opponent of serious force.
This was it, the real stuff. No more brawls with tough guys whose mouths were stronger than their fists. Up till now, Rock had never really felt what a fight was. The blows, the opponents who posed a worthy challenge, an actual battle that was more than just scare tactics and a few fancy moves.
And it hurt.
While blocking blow after crushing blow, he finally understood. He could see the scene perfectly, with even more clarity than when he was actually there.
It was in 2001, and the annual King of Fighters tournament was in motion. Terry was amazing in his performance, clearly outshining his two teammates in Rock's eyes. He swiftly beat a couple of teams, and Rock even came in to join during the victories.
But then came the final fight in which they lost. A grey haired guy in leather went up against Terry, and though the blonde fought hard, he ended up falling to the flames of his opponent.
But Terry wasn't phased at all. Rock never understood how calm and casual he was after losing the match, congradulating his teammates and joking with the other opponents. He even went to the person who defeated him and shook his hand.
Rock asked, "how can you be so cool, you lost?"
"But I fought hard." He said calmly.
"But you lost!"
He ruffled the little kid's hair. Terry said, "listen, kid. Trophies and victory parties mean squat when it comes down to it. Just formalities, I never cared for those. He won, that was it. I just gotta get tougher next time, and I'm just gonna go with the wind to my next battle untill then.
"The truth lies in combat, kid. Not in tournament rank or practices. When I can look back, and see that every single inch of me was in the battle, then I won, that's all there is to it."
This philosophizing was too much for the little Rock. Terry gave a thumbs up, "in other words, 'just do it'."
Rock closed his eyes. Just do it. He'd stop with the strategies, fancy footwork or whatever and just concentrate on one thing. And in this case, it was to beat the living shit out of his opponent.
Billy's stick came in for a blow. Rock grabbed it between his hands and landed a blow to Billy's jaw. Another attempt by Billy to whack the kid. Rock jump kicked towards the attack. Billy couldn't believe it.
The stick was kicked straight out of his hand.
The two exchanged blows furiously. Rough granite was up to Rock's back, but he didn't care. He was just gonna do it. The punches and kicks came through him like a dream, with the pain being distant and remote from him. Putting all his strenght in one punch his knocked his opponent away. He was just gonna do it.
The ruins behind him crumbled even more furiously. The ground beneath him trembled. Billy Cane's eyes swelled with tears from the energy, before being knocked away with a force only one other person could have possesed.
Rock was just gonna do it.
And he did.
Oh shit.
Rock breathed heavily. He shook his head furiously. His finernails dug into his palm as he stared into his fallen opponent, blue flames still flickering over his body. Shit, Rock's mind could only panic. Shit shit shit shitshiiiiiit.
He could only sit and stare at the rubble.
Later, Billy Cane had come to him and said in an unemotional voice, "that was the rising storm, Mr. Howard's move. Truly your father's son, you are. He'd be proud. No matter how much you try, the Howard lineage is still in your blood, in your spirit. What you just did in battle is a reminder of that. It'll be with you always."
Then he left.
An entire summary of his being in a few sentences. That was pretty much it, wasn't it? It was as if all those years he had left meant nothing, at the heart of the battle, he saw the truth. It hurt; a lot.
The debris around him, Southtown. This could've been all his. Being the son of the most powerful crime boss to have lived would've given him unlimited access to anything he wanted. But that just wasn't how things worked out. The building, the blood, the man who would soon be his mentor, his parent, his best friend. That was how it ended, with a bang from a 20 storey building. And the only thing left to the Howard name was that damned rising storm which consumed him at his innermost self.
He turned around to leave. Terry was there, being right where he needed to be as always. Rock had so many words to say. He wanted to mention the full details of the battle, the ugly face he saw deep inside, the wounds that would just never go away, and his greatest fears and anxieties about everything.
Nah, just wasn't their style. He smiled. Terry placed a hand over Rock's shoulder, "let's go."
And they did.
"Wait! Waait! WAAAAAAAIT!" Well, almost.
"Shingo..." Rock hadn't seen his partner in crime since their arrest. He was catching his breath.
"I saw your battle!" He chimed in.
"I'd rather not talk about it."
"What? No good!" He frowned. "You were amazing. You weild the flames. The flames you weilded while not the true flames that I seek are part of my aspirations. I am so glad to have met you!"
Rock said, "yeah..I'm glad to have met you too."
Shingo stood in a serious pose, his fists by his hips in a traditional fighting stance. "What I am wanting to say is...ah...."
He blurted out. "Would you Rock, sir, honor me in a match against our skills??!?!?"
Terry gave him the thumbs up sign. Rock took a deep breath, looked at the sky, and then charged towards the friendly opponent.
"OK!"
Notes: I usually don't write fanfics. But there's just something about the SNK world that's so damn accessable to ficcing. The characters are so cool and the storyline so filled with potential it's just a great deal of fun to write about them. So thanks always to SNK, Playmore, SNK-Playmore, and whatever future name they'll have (SNK-Bob?) for providing these great characters.
Thanks for the reviewers also. Really, I would've probably forgotten all about this fic if not for the occasional e-mail poppoing up with kind words of encouragment. Thanks guys =D
I really need to work on writing fight scenes, but you prolly all saw that already ^^;;;
After weeks of wandering around in desert wastelands and empty roads, this place was a treat. Rock stretched on the ground, letting the soft grass tickle his back, and yawned. Terry went to park their ride someplace safe, and then returned and joined the kid in lazy cloud watching.
Things couldn't get much better than this. Nothing to do, nowhere to be. All he had to do was see a place that looked interesting, and there they were. Days like these you wish would go on forever.
"Yo Terry." he said.
"Hmm?"
"We should come to these places more often." Rock said with a wide grin. Everything was just so fresh, like things had just been born a few seconds earlier, just waiting for them.
Laugh. "You're in such a rush to be somewhere you already are."
"Hahaha, I guess that was kinda silly put it that way."
But at thirteen, it made perfect sense that you'd want to be someplace, even if you were already there. It was the longing that made things more magical. Without wanting something, that thing could be as normal and valueless like a soil or rock. But by attaching some longing, or sweet memories, even a rock could be something great.
At twelve, it wasn't that easy to put in thoughts. Rock shifted, getting so restless he almost bumped into his companion. "Wow..I'm already bored.."
"Man, you'd think after a whole day of wandering you'd go right to sleep," Terry said. He was almost in despair.
"It can't be helped," he said up. "I have way too much energy and I don't know what to do with it. I want to be someplace, but I don't know where. I want to do something, but I have no idea what that thing is. It's like something inside of me just wants to jump outside of me and just run away."
All he said was "Breathe."
"Uhh..."
Terry smiled. "Try it, just close your eyes and breath."
"Well..all right, but I don't know what that has to do with anything.."
He closed his eyes and then giggled when he realized that he was already breathing. That was a silly request, asking to do something he was already doing! Rock wondered exactly what was Terry trying to pull over him. In turn, more absurd thoughts came to him, like what if Terry was planning to run away right there when he had his eyes closed.
That did it though, after such ideas came to mind, he finally noticed something. He heard himself breath. He felt the cool air enter his nostrils. Soon he felt the subtle breeze sway him in ways he didn't notice before, and even the blood rushing inside of him.
"Awesome!" He yelled out loud.
Terry was sitting serenly, gazing out into apparent nothingness. "I was almost twice your age when I learned to do that. Had I known that technique sooner things would've been so much easier. " He smiled. "Ah! Things are so strange now that I'm riding with two people. I think it's about time 'The lone wolf' now has a cub."
Rock tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
The sun was setting. Things were painted in golden hues and the lights were so soft boundries between things were almost impossible to distinguish. Terry took off his cap and placed it on Rock's head. "There's a reason you're so restless. Fighting is part of you and probably always will be. I guess it's time I taught you to channel that energy well."
The kid couldn't believe his ears. Whatever "it" was he wanted to find, he felt that "it" was closer in reach than ever before. They retired for the night, and Rock used the same technique as earlier.
He breathed.
Breathe.
Breathe.
And he continued breathing as his face was knocked straight to the ground.
"Come back to reality, will ya?" Billy Cane taunted. The fight had begun without much time to asses anything. Geese Howard's former assistant used his trademark stick to trip the unsuspecting Rock to the ground, and then pointed the weapon to his neck. "I'm not here to fight."
"Geez, you certainly don't give that impression!" He grunted.
"I just needed to catch your attention, see?" As a gesture of good faith he removed the weapon away from Rock's neck, but still kept it in a defensive position. "You ain't like your father at all. Mr. Howard would've countered that a mile away."
"I'm not my father," Rock spat.
"But you could be," he cracked a mischevious grin.
Rock Howard got up and gritted, bearing the pain of hitting broken and heat-intensified asphault. That was a clever method, Rock thought, a small attack to make sure he couldn't strike quick. "In your dreams pal."
"You're quite right." He said. "It is my dream, and has been my ambition for a while. You don't think the Howard Empire would let it's heir off that easily, did you?"
"What are you saying?" Rock asked.
Billy Cane shook his head. "Unbeleivable. Any good Empire doesn't die just because the Emperor did. The Howard Empire is no exception. We still exist, those loyal to your father, and were waiting for his son to be fit enough to lead us."
He continued. "The fact that you should pick up on the drug trafficing was no accident. It was all planned, to see if you're mentally and physically capable. I knocked you down so easily, maybe you aren't after all."
"Moron," Rock spat. "I won't...refuse to see something like that happen. Who the hell are you, coming and asking such a fucking request from me? I won't do it!"
A blunt pain came over Rock's abdomen. Billy's face was closer than before, giving a preadatory smile as his knee was burried deeper in Rock's stomach.
Billy Cane stood over the fallen Rock.
"Who said anything about a request?"
So that's how it was gonna be. Rock stood up, still feeling the pain. He never remembered a fight being this painful, especially after the first hit. He studied his opponent, who was in a ready position with his stick.
Rock came in with a flying kick. Cane knicked him out midair with his stick. Rock rolled away and retorted with a burning knuckle. He gave a swift knee kick and swung in for a punch. Billy countered the last move with a punch of his own, knocking both opponents down.
With more experience Billy Cane stood first, using his stick for leverage, he came in for a kick that knocked the kid off the ground just as he had come up. Noticing the half torn down wall behind the kid, Billy Cane grinned again and knocked Rock with a clean roundhouse.
After being thrown to the wall by the force of the hit, Rock had realized something. This was the first time Rock had gone over an opponent of serious force.
This was it, the real stuff. No more brawls with tough guys whose mouths were stronger than their fists. Up till now, Rock had never really felt what a fight was. The blows, the opponents who posed a worthy challenge, an actual battle that was more than just scare tactics and a few fancy moves.
And it hurt.
While blocking blow after crushing blow, he finally understood. He could see the scene perfectly, with even more clarity than when he was actually there.
It was in 2001, and the annual King of Fighters tournament was in motion. Terry was amazing in his performance, clearly outshining his two teammates in Rock's eyes. He swiftly beat a couple of teams, and Rock even came in to join during the victories.
But then came the final fight in which they lost. A grey haired guy in leather went up against Terry, and though the blonde fought hard, he ended up falling to the flames of his opponent.
But Terry wasn't phased at all. Rock never understood how calm and casual he was after losing the match, congradulating his teammates and joking with the other opponents. He even went to the person who defeated him and shook his hand.
Rock asked, "how can you be so cool, you lost?"
"But I fought hard." He said calmly.
"But you lost!"
He ruffled the little kid's hair. Terry said, "listen, kid. Trophies and victory parties mean squat when it comes down to it. Just formalities, I never cared for those. He won, that was it. I just gotta get tougher next time, and I'm just gonna go with the wind to my next battle untill then.
"The truth lies in combat, kid. Not in tournament rank or practices. When I can look back, and see that every single inch of me was in the battle, then I won, that's all there is to it."
This philosophizing was too much for the little Rock. Terry gave a thumbs up, "in other words, 'just do it'."
Rock closed his eyes. Just do it. He'd stop with the strategies, fancy footwork or whatever and just concentrate on one thing. And in this case, it was to beat the living shit out of his opponent.
Billy's stick came in for a blow. Rock grabbed it between his hands and landed a blow to Billy's jaw. Another attempt by Billy to whack the kid. Rock jump kicked towards the attack. Billy couldn't believe it.
The stick was kicked straight out of his hand.
The two exchanged blows furiously. Rough granite was up to Rock's back, but he didn't care. He was just gonna do it. The punches and kicks came through him like a dream, with the pain being distant and remote from him. Putting all his strenght in one punch his knocked his opponent away. He was just gonna do it.
The ruins behind him crumbled even more furiously. The ground beneath him trembled. Billy Cane's eyes swelled with tears from the energy, before being knocked away with a force only one other person could have possesed.
Rock was just gonna do it.
And he did.
Oh shit.
Rock breathed heavily. He shook his head furiously. His finernails dug into his palm as he stared into his fallen opponent, blue flames still flickering over his body. Shit, Rock's mind could only panic. Shit shit shit shitshiiiiiit.
He could only sit and stare at the rubble.
Later, Billy Cane had come to him and said in an unemotional voice, "that was the rising storm, Mr. Howard's move. Truly your father's son, you are. He'd be proud. No matter how much you try, the Howard lineage is still in your blood, in your spirit. What you just did in battle is a reminder of that. It'll be with you always."
Then he left.
An entire summary of his being in a few sentences. That was pretty much it, wasn't it? It was as if all those years he had left meant nothing, at the heart of the battle, he saw the truth. It hurt; a lot.
The debris around him, Southtown. This could've been all his. Being the son of the most powerful crime boss to have lived would've given him unlimited access to anything he wanted. But that just wasn't how things worked out. The building, the blood, the man who would soon be his mentor, his parent, his best friend. That was how it ended, with a bang from a 20 storey building. And the only thing left to the Howard name was that damned rising storm which consumed him at his innermost self.
He turned around to leave. Terry was there, being right where he needed to be as always. Rock had so many words to say. He wanted to mention the full details of the battle, the ugly face he saw deep inside, the wounds that would just never go away, and his greatest fears and anxieties about everything.
Nah, just wasn't their style. He smiled. Terry placed a hand over Rock's shoulder, "let's go."
And they did.
"Wait! Waait! WAAAAAAAIT!" Well, almost.
"Shingo..." Rock hadn't seen his partner in crime since their arrest. He was catching his breath.
"I saw your battle!" He chimed in.
"I'd rather not talk about it."
"What? No good!" He frowned. "You were amazing. You weild the flames. The flames you weilded while not the true flames that I seek are part of my aspirations. I am so glad to have met you!"
Rock said, "yeah..I'm glad to have met you too."
Shingo stood in a serious pose, his fists by his hips in a traditional fighting stance. "What I am wanting to say is...ah...."
He blurted out. "Would you Rock, sir, honor me in a match against our skills??!?!?"
Terry gave him the thumbs up sign. Rock took a deep breath, looked at the sky, and then charged towards the friendly opponent.
"OK!"
Notes: I usually don't write fanfics. But there's just something about the SNK world that's so damn accessable to ficcing. The characters are so cool and the storyline so filled with potential it's just a great deal of fun to write about them. So thanks always to SNK, Playmore, SNK-Playmore, and whatever future name they'll have (SNK-Bob?) for providing these great characters.
Thanks for the reviewers also. Really, I would've probably forgotten all about this fic if not for the occasional e-mail poppoing up with kind words of encouragment. Thanks guys =D
I really need to work on writing fight scenes, but you prolly all saw that already ^^;;;