Match of the Millennium

Description: After the conclusion of their match at the George Eddow Ford Dealership, Kenzo and Buck meet the dealership's overly-exuberant owner in search of further promotional pursuits. Just when they think they're safe, the dealer's even-more-excitable progeny appears. It looks like the NFG has at least one genki fangirl. (Guest appearance by Brian Storm and Big Buford!)

[KENZO]
It isn't much time after the match at the George Eddow Ford Dealership. The tech ninja has medical staff surrounding him. One is handling the burns from the dragon breath, another is checking his vitals, and there's someone close at hand to provide a sports drink to provide electrolytes considering how hard he pushed himself fighting Buck.

As medics run to and fro around the dealership, Kenzo alternates between sipping on the sports drink and hissing in pain when breathes the wrong way due to the elbow to the midsection. Eventually the medics clear out while most of the audience is slowly either making their way out of the dealership or purchasing a new car while they are here. Two birds, one stone, yadda yadda. Camera crews are cleaning up and there's even production assistants that are eating food on the side whenever they can get away with stopping the clean up effort.

[RAIZA]
"Excellent! Excellent!" the dealership's owner is saying to a customer as he seals a deal on a trade-in for a new Mustang, shaking hands with the car's new owner. "My associate here will help sort out the rest of the paperwork. I just need to catch this gentleman before they take him away. Mister Kenzo!"

The Japanese-American auto merchant, dressed in a pale grey suit and white shirt with a red tie, hustles over to where Kenzo is being seen to - or just finished being seen to. He offers a hand to the younger man. "George Eddow, Junior. I'm the owner of the dealership. Could say it's my name on it, but really, that's my Pop's!" he says with a laugh. "You know, I'd love it if we could get a shot of you and the other guy you were fighting shaking hands in front of the dealership. What do you say? In fact, I'm willing to offer you both a free rental on any of our new models for the rest of your stay here in Sunshine City! Consider it a bit of sponsorship and goodwill! You've got a driver's license and insurance, right?"

He looks over his shoulder. "Actually, my daughter's been dying to meet you. She can't stop talking about this whole 'New Fighting Generation' thing. In fact, it was her idea to host the fights here. Liza! Why don't you come say hello to Mister Kenzo?"

Liza - a Japanese-American teenager in a white sports bra and baggy black track bottoms - pops up from behind an F-150 she was hiding behind and waves sheepishly before bounding over.

"Liza, this is the guy you can't stop gushing about, right?" George says with a smile.

"Oh... well, uhh, he's a ninja! And, you know, ninja are, like, amazing!" Liza half-stammers, half-enthuses, folding her arms behind her back and rocking from one foot to the other. "That was such an epic fight! I thought you had it for sure!"

At closer look, there appear to be a couple of signs of injury on the girl's body - a bandage taped over a small section of her bare midriff, and a brown mark on her upper forehead that looks like it was a nasty bruise or worse at one point.

[BUCK]
Buck hasn't departed quite yet, since the medics were also keen to get a look at him, though he was able to avoid being tended to for a bit while Kenzo was being administered to. Instead, he sat on the tailgate of one of the trucks that had made up the ring, chugging from water bottle number three.

When the medics do finally get to him, there's minimal fussing and he's able to extricate himself from their clutches with only a few bandages, and he seems to want to protest even those. Instead he busies himself with getting his boots and jacket back on, much to the irritation of one medic just trying to do her job. "I'm fine. Really. Had worse fallin' off the barn. Less zappin' from the barn though." He jokes as he hops off the truck and breaks free of the unwanted medical attention.

Finally, they let him go, and he's sauntering his way across the lot once more to check on his opponent now that he isn't mostly unconscious. His one eyebrow perks a bit at those already crowding around Kenzo, his smile easy and amused, especially once he's close enough to hear what sounds like someone having a bit of a fan moment.

[KENZO]
Kenzo turns to look at the one calling for him carefully. Too quickly and he might aggravate the midsection injury. He doesn't even get a chance to respond before the salesman is there and shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Mr Edd..."

He doesn't get a chance to finish that sentence before he's finding out that he and Buck ae receiving a free rental of vehicles while they're in Sunshine City.

"Yes, I've got a lic..."

He doesn't get to finish that sentence either. It doesn't take long before he being introduced to Liza. With the combat specs on he can see spots.

"Nice to meet you, Liza."

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Buck close by. And so he waves him over, after all Buck should probably hear the offer being made as well."

[RAIZA]
George is still shaking Kenzo's hand when he spots Buck out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, there he is! Buck!"

The Ford salesman beckons for the American animal channeller to approach with one hand, releasing Kenzo's from his grip.

"Hey, there! Come over here! You won't wanna miss out on this deal I've got for you!"

It's difficult for Liza to get a word in as her dad goes into marketeer mode, so the girl takes a shy step back, keeping her hands behind her back.

"So, I'm thinking a separate caption for each of you. Under Kenzo, a quote saying 'Eddow-san slices prices like I slice my opponents! These deals are shocking!' Then, for Buck, a quote saying 'These new models are hotter than a dragon's breath! The best bang for your Buck in Sunshine City!" George says, mapping out the banner in the air with his hands. "And underneath, 'Everybody's a Winner at George Eddow Ford!'"

He turns his head down from the sky where his eyes were writing the advertisement to look at Kenzo and Buck in turn. "How about it? A five minute shoot, a couple of signatures, and you two can treat yourselves to a free rental for the rest of your time here in Sunshine. And if you like the car, I can even offer a highly competitive price on a lease-to-own afterward. Or you can buy it outright with your winnings! What do you say?"

Technically, it's not a free rental, really; it's a business deal. But that's capitalism for you.

"Best of both worlds; the techie ninja shows how forward thinking we are, and the all-American fighter shows our all-American values! You'd be doing me a huge favour," George finishes by saying. "Don't you think that'd be great, Liza?"

Meanwhile, Liza has turned into a near-total wallflower in the commanding presence of her parent, and looks a lot like a deer trapped in headlights as George turns the attention back to her - especially when a newly purchased Mustang's headlights actually light her up before the car drives away.

"Oh, yeah! It's really cool, Dad. It's nice to meet you too, Kenzo! So, um, which ninjutsu school do you belong to?" Liza asks, swaying her shoulders subconsciously.

"Ha! Schools for ninjas? Don't tell her they exist, she'll never finish regular old high school!" George says with a laugh.

"Oh, no! Real school is important. I love going to Taiyo," Liza is quick to insist. "Even if it's just part of the exchange program."

[BUCK]
"Mr. Eddow." Buck says in his easy drawl, extending his hand to shake that of the salesman. "Thank you for hosting our brawl." He says, as if the man isn't getting heaps of free publicity out of it, but Buck's country politeness just can't be dampened.

He listens to the spiel and the potential advertisements politely, though there's a bit of a sideways glance to Kenzo as he tries to gauge the other yougn man's thoughts on all of this. Eventually he settles for the most diplomatic answer he can muster. "As long as the NFG folks are okay with it, and I don't see why they wouldn't be, I'd be happy to help out." That might be more of his innate politeness and inability to say no, but he's agreed and that's probably all that's needed.

Then his attention shifts almost completely to Kenzo, though there's a nod to Liza with a chipper, "Hey there, I'll be outta your hair in a mo'," then fixing him with a wide and bright grin. "Hey, hope I didn't bust anything important. That was a good match." And then he's extending his hand for a proper post-match shake since they haven't managed to have one yet. One that isn't just for publicity's sake.

[KENZO]
"Kuroiwa-Ryuu passed via family members." He then turns to Liza's father and then adds to reassure him when he says, "I still had to bring back good grades in Justice in order to be allowed to train though."

Bringing Buck over was good for him in a way. It allowed him to not only hear the pitch again, with Buck there as well, it enabled George Jr. to be more detailed in the description of their duties. Which was helpful. As Buck gauges his reaction, Kenzo is doing the same in turn. Kenzo having been exposed to the business world slightly influencing his own reaction to it.

"If everything looks good in the contract, I don't see why it should be a problem."

As Buck speaks up once again, he turns back to Buck letting out a slight hiss due to not turning as carefully as he should.

"Mostly a bruised rib and burns. I gave you just enough opportunities to capitalize off of. Good job."

He extends his hand to shake Buck's hand.

[RAIZA]
"Excellent, excellent!" George says with a nodding head to Buck as he gives his diplomatic answer, taking it as a clear 'yes' waiting to happen, and again as Kenzo agrees to the idea in terms of setting up a contract. "I'll have my wife draw up a contract for us and clear it with your sponsors. Team Metal and Team Thunder, isn't it? We can even work that into the marketing. Maybe get a shot of Buck next to one of the Thunderbirds in the showroom. It'll only take ten minutes or so, I'm sure. Some day this week! The sooner the better; after all, you'll be wanting some wheels, won't you? I heard some of you have been having to take the bus!"

"I think that was a deal with the city. You know, promoting eco-friendliness," Liza pipes up.

"Well, we've got eco-friendly vehicles, like the All-Electric Explorer!" George says with a flash of white teeth. "Anything you could want in a Ford, we've got it, and at affordable prices! Now, excuse me, gentlemen. I've got some clients waiting on me!"

The car salesman wanders off after a couple that are checking out a red Focus nearby.

"You guys are so cool," Liza says lamely, scuffing her feet against the asphalt as she's left on her own with the two fighters. "I'm Liza - I, uhh, I really love ninja stuff, but shapeshifting is really cool, too! Do you guys mind if I get a picture of you two myself? I kind of want to draw you guys when I get the time. If that's okay!"

She pulls a smartphone out of the pocket of her track pants and holds it in a loose, questioning manner, a hopefully expression on her face.

[BUCK]
"You didn't make it easy. I had to take some hits to get those openings. I doubt you'll let me do that again if we come up against each other another time." Buck says as he gives Kenzo's hand a firm shake. But not too firm, he doesn't need the medics giving him the stink eye.

At least he seems mostly amused by George, just nodding along. "Um, I think they have someone that takes care of that, yeah." He says in response to the contracts, not really being able to see most of Thunder's mentors having any interest in contracts. Other than Lyraelle. He offers a half wace as the man heads off to make a sale then laughs softly. "I'd like to see him get in a sales pitch match with my tractor guy back home."

He shakes his head and then brings his attention back to Liza and Kenzo, holding up his hands, "Hey, no need to convince me. I think ninja stuff is pretty awesome too. Heck, some of my ideas I stole from old ninja movies. The ink thing? Totally my bad attempt at smoke bombs."

As the smartphone comes out he nods his own agreement, looking over to see if Kenzo is alright with it, with one brow lifted questioningly.

[KENZO]
"Now I feel better about the ink cloud partially getting me."

Though the eyes are obscured by his combat specs, he wears an expression filled with mirth and a dash of playfulness. He then glances at the shoulder stained by the ink.

Liza's phone comes out and the photo opportunity is requested. It's now time to decide how the fans will view him. He is not about to let himself be viewed as an jerk famous guy if he can help it.

"I'm okay with it as well. Do you want us in some type pose? And you are aware we're going to have to take one with you as well, right?"

[RAIZA]
"I actually used an ink attack on some bullies at school once," Liza says casually as she starts arranging the shot with her smartphone camera, tilting it carefully to try and get an even horizontal plane. Then, seeming to realise what she's just said, she quickly adds, "It was actually soy sauce, though! I didn't squirt ink at them out of my body! Or, uh, out of a pen or something which I guess would be more normal." She thinks about Kenzo's offer for a long moment. The power to arrange the subjects of her photograph - of her fandom - however she chooses? She's never felt this omnipotent before!

"Okay! Why don't you both pretend you're about to start a fight? I'll take a picture of it, like you've got an intense rivalry going on! Of course you'll need to stand a little closer together so I can get the shot real close-up and personal-looking. And then, umm..."

Her face flushes slightly as she looks between Kenzo and Buck. "After that, maybe you could stand on either side of me for a selfie! Or a groupie, technically, I guess!"

Apparently Liza is too much of a zoomer to be aware of the more official connotations of the word 'groupie.' She squats down slightly and angles the smartphone upward to get a dramatic, looming shot.

"Okay, ready? Don't forget to glower like you mean it!"

[BUCK]
"Well, it's weird when you put it that way." Buck jokes, trying to joke a bit about the ink attack. "It's really not as hard as you'd think to do, but it makes me really thirsty for some reason."

Nodding as he looks at the camera, "Sure." Buck takes a moment to run his hands through his hair, trying to get it to behave just a little bit as he still has that slightly electrocuted look. It takes a few seconds but he eventually manages to tame it back down enough that he doesn't look completely frazzled.

He takes up position, assuming the same brawling stance he did at the beginning of the match, though his effort to look serious backfires and he ends up looking confused for a moment, then laughing. "Sorry. Sorry."

"Not used to posing." He clears his throat and tries again, managing at least a passable grumpy 'ready for a fight' face. Though his lips are pressed a bit tighter together in his effort not to just grin at the whole thing. Buck has some trouble being serious.

[KENZO]
With Liza giving the two their marching orders in terms of their poses, Kenzo gets ready to get into his own pose. Where Buck gets into his brawling stance, Kenzo opts to exaggerate the wind-up for his kusari-gama strike for the purposes of making it look like he's charging at Buck. Furthermore, he's running electricity through the chain to magnetically manipulate the chain to make it look like the weight is trailing behind him as he charges forward.

"Should I use the tessen or stick with the kusari-gama for the pic?"

After asking the question, he grits his teeth and stares down Buck, trying hard to swallow back any laughter he's feeling bubble up to the surface.

[RAIZA]
"No, you're doing great!" Liza encourages as Buck tries against his own nature to strike a dramatic pose for her. "Oh, the kusari-gama will work! It's my favourite ninja weapon anyway! It's cool how yours has that weight on the end. Mine has two sickles. I'm not sure which one's traditional." Though she realizes that she's just revealed the fact that she's in possession of a ninja weapon, she decides to stick to the task of getting the perfect shot rather than trying to come up with a half-butted explanation for the comment. At least George and Liza's mom aren't standing close enough to have heard.

*CLICK*

*CLICK*

*CLICK*

*CLICK*

The standard sound of a clicking camera lets everyone know that Liza's smartphone has begun taking shots. She shifts a little to either side, getting the same poses from different angles that emphasize one or the other of the two fighters.

"Okay! I think I got some good ones here, actually!" Liza chirps as she steps up between Kenzo and Buck and turns around, holding up her phone's screen so that either of the two fighters can see her handiwork if they step up beside her. The pictures have taken decently well; the camera's not a bad one for a phone. "I'll run it through my editing app later to make it extra dramatic."

She lifts her shoulders slightly, trying to look more confident and casual than she feels as she turns her eyes to either of the other two.

"So, you guys wanna scooch in, I guess, so I can make sure and get all three of us in the shot?" she asks, glancing again at Buck and Kenzo out of the corners of her eyes. Her face is still a little pink. "Oh, you don't mind if it goes on my InstaSlam or FightBook, do you?"

[BUCK]
"I never thought of using a weapon myself, even before the whole..." Buck makes claws with his fingers. Not actual claws, just the gesture of doing so. "I'd probably tangle my feet up in the chain and end up face first on the ground."

"No! Not at all." Buck is quick to agree to her request to put the pictures up online, letting his arms drop as the picture taking concludes, or at least the growly fighting part. "I find that easier than being an advertisement." He admits with another of his deep laughs.

He moves in to Liza's side, making sure he's close enough to be in frame without completely destroying her personal space bubble.

[KENZO]
Kenzo catches the mention of her having a ninja weapon and if wasn't for the combat spec his raised eyebrow would be visible. However if Liza isn't going to elaborate he's not going to bring it up either. Besides it could be one of those replicas.

"Feel free to share it online!"

Kenzo honors Liza's request sliding in close with a pose holding the chain so the weight is dangling right next to Liza and his hand has a thumb up. This one has a big smile and one can tell that Kenzo is really enjoying himself.

[RAIZA]
"Yeah, it's easy to do," Liza comments on Buck's remark about tangling his feet up in the chain and ending up face first on the ground. She could say that she's done that more times than she can count, but she would be lying. She knows it's thirty-two and she's still counting. "Sorry about all the... you know, capitalism. I promise my Dad's not setting out to rip you guys off or anything! He's just really focused on the dealership's image after this auto group opened a place on the other side of downtown. The guy who runs it is a karate champion or something. Okay, squeeze in!"

Liza pushes herself up on her toes to make herself a little closer to the height of the taller men flanking her for the sake of the shot as she holds her smartphone out at arm's length. She checks the shot in the screen and pales slightly as she notices that her face has been replaced by a Pikachu. "Oh, sorry! My cousin must have left a filter on or something." The filter is quickly switched off, and the Pokemon's face is replaced by a brightly-smiling Liza. "Okay! Say cheese!"

She tilts her head slightly as she takes the picture.

[BUCK]
"No worries, my Pa can be the same way at a cattle sale. Gotta protect the family business." Buck offers with a slight shrug, truly not looking bothered at all. "I'm just surprised how fast he can talk." His own drawl is practically lazy in comparrison.

"'Sides, a rental could be useful if we want to explore outside of town at all. I appreciate the offer." With the phone out he can better judge where he needs to be to be in the picture, snickering a little at the Pikachu face on the screen, which gives him an idea.

Right before the picture is snapped, he gives himself dog ears and a dog nose without the help of a filter, still grinning though it's definitely a goofy look, and he has to keep himself from laughing too hard at his own prank.

"Sorry, I can do a normal one." But he's still grinning like an amused four-year-old as he makes the offer.

[KENZO]
A smirk appears on his face when he sees the Pikachu filter on Liza's face. The slight embarrassment does amuse him a bit and it's otherwise no big deal.

When Raiza tells them to say cheese, Kenzo puts on a smile that suddenly becomes laughter upon seeing Buck morph dog ears and nose into being. Kenzo absolutely loses it.

After a few deep breaths, he readies himself to smile once more if Raiza wants a more serious picture.

[RAIZA]
Liza only catches the change in Buck's appearance just as she's pressing the button on her camera. The result is a picture of Buck on one side with his canine nose and ears while Liza is somewhere between wide-eyed shock and a smile and Kenzo is breaking out into laughter.

In short:

*CLICK*

:3 :O XD

"Oh my God! That's hilarious!" Liza says, breaking into giggle fits as she sees the picture on the screen. "No take backs on putting it on my Insta, by the way! Okay, let's take another one! Cheese!"

She takes another shot once the other two are ready for a 'normal' one, but at the last minute, she sticks her tongue out.

*CLICK*

:D :P :D

"Okay, okay, sorry - for real this time!"

*CLICK*

:D :D :D

She might take a few more for fun depending on how accommodating the two fighters are feeling, but sooner or later she finishes and puts the phone away.

"Thanks so much! I hardly ever get a chance to meet another - I mean, meet a ninja in real life! It's cool how you guys both ended up in this NFG thing. Did Justice High have a recruitment drive or something? I know Ichika is from there, too."

She doesn't use the proper honorifics to reference Ichika, seeing as she's in America and speaking English, although she immediately wonders if she should have, and it shows on her face. Of course, it probably just looks like she has wind.

"By the way, did you guys know you both picked Keanu Reeves as your favourite celebrity? That's such a cool coincidence!" she says quickly, drowning out her self-doubt with a smile.

[BUCK]
Buck is willing to tolerate as many group selfies as is needed for Liza to get one she likes, and he just winks as she says the dog-faced one is going up. "I don't mind. There's far less flattering ones of me online already anyway." Some of the mid-change stills online of him border on horror fuel, to be honest.

"Did we?" Buck asks, seeming to genuinely have missed that. "I didn't read many of the interviews, I was too busy catching up on the match footage from the rounds I missed to more than skim them." He rubs the back of his neck, looking a bit abashed by the admission. "But I mean, he's awesome, so what's not to love? It's what I want to be, just, you know.." He trails off, crossing his arms over his chest. "Just a genuine, nice person."

He shrugs. "I just found out about it online, sent in a tape of me doing my thing, and they called me in. They were even okay with me finishing my semester at college before coming out." Which explains his tardy entry.

[KENZO]
Kenzo takes the pictures with good nature. After all, he's not trying to go down as being a jerk to his fans. Just before picture fatigue sets in for the male ninja, Liza puts away her phone.

Liza starts talking about how she hardly gets a chance to meet ninja. Kenzo did catch the 'another' part. With that, plus the mention of her kusari-gama, it's not a big stretch to put together the fact that she's getting training of her own and that is supposed to be kept secret. 'Supposed to be' being the operative words.

No pulling the wool over the eyes of this Justice High graduate. Speaking of, the school and connection to Ichika get mentioned.

"If there was, I wouldn't have known. I had already graduated. It's a crazy coincidence."

[RAIZA]
"Really? The ones I've seen have been pretty cool!" Liza comments about Buck's photographs. Of course, she's talking about the same pictures. She just has a strange non-aversion to body horror, probably from watching too much Akira. "That's cool, though! I'd much rather be genuine and nice than be famous. Most of the celebrities I've met have seemed genuine and nice."

Those celebrities would include Buck, Kenzo, Raiden, and... Lucky Chloe. Well, she did say 'most' celebrities.

"That's neat how you both happened to go to that school, but I guess it's not too surprising, since it's the one for the Super Elites. Nobody from Taiyo is in the NFG, but I guess that goes for pretty much every other high school! Maybe I can get in next year or something, to represent Taiyo or Sunshine High. If I learn how to fight, that is. My friend's actually an intern with Team Frost! Do all the teams have interns?" Apparently, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree when it comes to the Eddow talent for talking fast, though Liza seems to have more of a 'genki fangirl' vibe compared to her father's capitalistic exuberance.

"Not that I'm rooting for Team Frost - I think all of the teams are cool."

Of course, the sidelong glance at Kenzo as she says so is yet another of the hints dropping like they've worn holes in the girl's pockets to indicate which individual fighter is her favourite. It's hard to compete with an electric shinobi for living out Liza's vicarious NFG experience.

[BUCK]
Buck definitely has caught on that he's not fangirl target numero uno, and it only serves to amuse him. Sly smiles passing across his features when Liza focuses her attention on Kenzo. Though he's not pushing it or making it obvious, no need to embarass everyone involved.

He nods his agreement with Liza's words. "I don't understand people that feel like they can be rude just because they're famous or rich. A little kindness and empathy doesn't cost you anything and it makes things better, so why not be that way?" He shakes his head and looks upward at the sky, snorting softly. Then he spreads his arms and shrugs. "Mystery of the world, I guess."

His hands find their way into his pockets and he returns his gaze back to Kenzo and Liza. "Oh, I think you might have been out of it." He says with a look to Kenzo in particular, not need to elaborate there, "But I know this burger joint near the hotel and I'm always starving after matches. I was gonna hit it up if you wanna come along, my treat." Then he looks to Liza, considering. "You can tag along, too. More the merrier."

[KENZO]
Holy crap, Raiza talks fast. Kenzo has no choice but to remain quiet until there's just enough of a gap between words to fit his own words in.

"But Taiyo did receive representation in the sponsor for Blaze."

He couldn't help but agree with Buck on the rudeness topic. It's part of why he can't stand a certain wannabe samurai. Part of Kenzo wonders if Buford's delusions prevent him from seeing how the world perceive him and part of him wonders if he's just a jerk to be a jerk.

Food? Food would be nice right now.

"I'm fine with checking it out. Liza can come along too if her father gives the okay."

[RAIZA]
Oddly, Liza eventually decides to stick up for the rich rude when Buck speaks out. "I'm guessing it's because being rich and famous is super stressful nowadays. Like how you get so many people expecting so much of you, and you have to keep working to stay famous because that's where your meal ticket comes from. Or some of them get famous because they have really high standards of themselves that they put on other people around them." Where she gets all this insight into the lifestyles of the rich and the famous is a mystery. A mystery with blonde pigtails and kitty cat headphones.

"Oh yeah, you're right - I've never had a chance to meet Yuri or seen her in any of the broadcasts, so I forgot she was on Team Blaze."

There's just a bit of a pang of jealousy in Liza's chest as she realizes how close she could have been to participating directly in the New Fighting Generation somehow if she hadn't been laid up in the healing hut of a hidden mountain village for the last few months, but it's easily overwhelmed by the excitement of getting to help host things here in her hometown. Especially when she's invited to tag along for food.

"For a burger joint? Ooh! Which one is it? I know most of the ones around here! My Dad's big on burgers. You know, I bet he'd be willing to host a barbecue if I asked him. I'll ask him if it's okay - do you guys have a way there? If you don't, I can drive. Or we can get the bus, I guess! I might see if my friend wants to come too. Daaad! Can I go get a burger with Kenzo and Buck?!"

She's already halfway across the lot at this point, bouncing excitedly as she relays her request to her male parental unit. The conflict between his principles of 'anything for my princess!!' and 'except running off with strange men??' are visibly warring on George's face as he listens to Liza, but eventually 'unless they're heavily-scrutinized celebrities who are going to give me publicity' tips the scales, and Buck and Kenzo can see Liza literally leap into the air with excitement and pump both fists as her Dad gives a wave - along with a warning smile - and a thumbs-up.

[BUCK]
Now Buck is on the receiving end of that rapidfire pace of questioning, and it seems to stun him like a kusari-gama between the eyes. He tries to keeps up, but each answer just sort of bleeds into the next one as he tries to address them all.

"I forget the nam.."

"I love barb.."

"I thought we'd take the bu.."

"Sure, or bus, ye.."

"Give 'em a.."

"Call." And then she's running off to talk to her dad and he's trying to pick his thoughts back up from where they went spilling out of his brain. He scracthes his head and looks over at KEnzo, then sort of gives a small laugh. Buck puts on the vountry charm though as he meet's George's warning smile, adding a quick hand over his heart and a tip of his head. Even without words he knows the right way to put a parent at ease, usually. It was a requirement for picking up your friend to ride around in the back of a pickup and find the biggest amount of trouble to get into.

[KENZO]
If Kenzo had to be completely honest with himself, he was expecting the father to put a stop to Liza going for burgers. Or at the very least send a chaperone.

Even from a distance, he can see fatherly instincts at war with each other before Liza shows the result of the father's internal struggle. The leap was entirely too high for her not to be a fighter or at the very least to have potential to be one.

He exchanges a look with Buck and shrugs. He however doesn't have the level of charm that Buck has so he lets him take the reins on that front.

"I guess that's settled. Let's go."

[RAIZA]
"Okay! We might as well take the bus, since it stops at a quarter past," Liza says as she comes bouncing back over, already finished checking the time on her phone's screen. She starts heading up toward the Harwell Road bus stop along the dealership's parking lot, weaving deftly through the cars without touching any of the shiny surfaces - well aware that to do so would draw her father's ire. Just as she's ascended the concrete steps to the surrounding sidewalk, the latest bus pulls up in front of her, its dented chassis nearly dragging along the ground, a blood-streaked blond-haired bodybuilder standing atop the carriage, electricity sending his golden hair in every direction.

"YYYESSS! It's the THUNDERHEAD!! THUNDERHEAD!!!" comes a scream from inside the transport.

Meanwhile, a monster truck is keeping pace with the city bus in the next two lanes, the familiar gigantic figure of Abigail flattened against the roof of his vehicle as the driver zig-zags wildly to keep up.

As the man atop the vehicle jumps into the gaping hole, the bus screeches to a stop, and the driver lets the door open as a loud *THUMP* resounds from inside.

"Uhh, actually, nevermind," Liza says, waving away the caramel-flavoured cloud of vape fumes that billows out to greet her with an apologetic laugh before turning back to the others. "Who wants shotgun?" she asks, pressing a button on her key fob and causing the lights on a nearby Focus to flash before Polaris by Blue Encount starts blaring from the vehicle's sound system.

Log created on 11:49:13 06/20/2023 by Raiza, and last modified on 17:50:09 06/22/2023.