Description: After Rock's brutal loss of the SNF Champion title, Kain comes to visit his nephew in the hospital. Kain discovers Rock's secret plan for dealing with his father and encourages it... and Rock agrees to secretly train with Kain to control the power inside himself.
Rock Howard got pretty severely maimed. It was borderline gruesome what Yamazaki and Raiden did to him in the center square of Howard Arena. If Geese Howard didn't permit such insanity in his mixed martial arts league, Yamazaki might be in prison now. He slashed Rock with a bladed weapon a half a dozen times and then stabbed him severely in the chest. All this before biting his throat and throwing him with his mouth like some sort of demented lion.
Rock woke up an hour or so later in a hospital bed. He had stitches in his chest, bandages wrapping across it severely, and a pounding headache. He didn't sleep anymore that night and continually annoyed his nurse with questions about being released. He wants to get back in there. He wants to hit the pavement, find Yamazaki, and get revenge. Rock Howard is a very revenge oriented person.
It's finally the next morning. Howard's doctor has agreed to let him go provided he can pass a physical therapy test. He's up in the PT area, the gym part, having just finished a routine of stretches and dexterity tests -- things like walking on balancing beams and the like. He's passed them but his trainer is still leery. Rock lost a lot of blood and he'd rather not think about where it got replaced from. "Come on," he says to the therapist. "I'm fine. Honest."
Kain is somewhat familiar with Southtown's hospital, even if he hasn't spent much time in it himself. It's not that he never gets injured... but he can take care of most minor injuries himself, and he can afford private care for more serious ones. Pretty much everything short of major surgery.
He still knows how to get around, however. Walking up to the main desk, Kain inquires about the whereabouts of Rock Howard. He's informed then told that, unfortunately, although it is still visiting hours, visitors aren't allowed to just walk in to the physical therapy area. This is not going to stop him.
A few quick turns down a hall and Kain is out of sight of anyone who might have seen him enter. From that point it's just a matter of looking like he has every right to be exactly where he is. He makes it all the way to the doors leading into the gym before anybody even thinks of asking him to stop.
Kain spies Rock right away after entering the gym, and begins striding over to his nephew. The trainer turns to him and begins to speak. "Excuse me, sir-" Kain shoots him a cool glance, nodding toward Rock with his head. "I'm his uncle. It's okay." Of course, it technically speaking is /not/ okay... But the trainer suddenly gets the impression that arguing with Kain would not be a good idea. That taken care of, Kain turns to Rock. "Seems you didn't manage to hang onto that title for long, Rock."
Rock spies Kain's arrival from the hallway. He's not sure how to react, but he immediately feels his body tensing. He doesn't know enough about his mysterious Uncle to know how he'll take the news of his embarassing beating and subsequent losing of the title to one of Geese's henchmen. It's just an all around boned situation.
He watches Kain approach, eyes focused squarely on the man. Maybe he'll get him out of the hospital sooner? Or maybe he'll punch him through the glass windows behind him so he falls ten stories to his death below. Either way, Rock frowns when Kain speaks. He waits a few seconds, exhales, and then answers softly. "Yeah... I'm sorry I lost your title to him."
Kain makes a dismissive gesture with one hand one Rock apologizes. "You don't have to apologize to /me/ about it. The title is meaningless, as far as I'm concerned. But it certainly seemed to have some importance to you, so it's yourself you should be apologizing to." Although Rock probably has been thinking something along similar lines, though perhaps not in the same words.
"Expecting Geese's men to play by the 'rules' is only asking for trouble. And sometimes there's nothing you can do... except get stronger and beat them at their own game." Kain smiles then, with at least a hint of actual warmth. "I know you want to get stronger, Rock. And I want to help you. It will take time, but you can turn that power inside you into a finely honed weapon, rather than a crudge bludgeon." Crude bludgeons can still be quite effective, of course... but the people who know what they're doing generally fare better.
Kain glances around the gym for a moment, then shakes his head. "To start, we should see about getting you out of here. You're healed; no need to waste time letting them poke and prod at you until they're satisfied."
Rock's frown deepens as he thinks about the title and his fight the previous night. It's weighed heavily on his mind since the moment he woke up. He wouldn't be a professional fighter if it didn't. You need to feel every loss as hard as the first or you'll never have the blind drive to improve enough until you're the best. Nobody woke up and was Ryu.
Word of getting him out of the embarassing and sterile hospital flatten Rock's frown. He looks, optimistically, over at Kain. "They haven't cleared me yet. The doctor is worried I'll go do something stupid, like get into a Neo League fight with Kirishima." He looks over at the trainer, who has shrunk back towards the wall and is looking anxious. "Plus, I need Dan to sign off that I'm medically cleared."
Kain glances over in the direction of the trainer, then takes a step back from Rock. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't hinder the man from doing his job. Isn't that right, Dan?" The look Kain gives the trainer doesn't have anything overtly menacing about it, but it's still enough to send a chill down the man's spine.
It probably wouldn't be too hard for Kain to just take Rock out of here and then clean things up afterwards with money, but simply hurrying the normal process along will probably be less bothersome overall. "I'm sure once he takes care of that then the rest of the process won't actually require your presence. We can just get you a few forms to sign and you can be on your way."
Dan looks from Kain to Rock dubiously, before nodding. "No problem. He passed most of the tests anyway. I'll go tell them you're ready for discharge," he says, marching out of the Therapy Gym. It leaves Rock and Kain alone in the facilities, the early sunrise starting to melt into day behind Howard. It contrasts the dismal feeling in his stomach and the pain of his bandaged chest.
"I wish it wasn't like this," he says, abruptly, turning to face Kain. "I just want to fight. I want to be a the best fighter in the world. But I don't want to... I don't want to deal with all /this/. The knife fights, the claws, the crime and the evil. Why can't we just fight, by the rules, and see who's the best? What's so wrong with that?"
Somewhere, Terry Bogard probably smiles.
Kain turns away from Rock for a moment, looking out the window to watch the sun finish rising. "It depends on your perspective, I suppose. Saturday Night Fights aren't really about how good a fighter anyone is... They're about ratings and money from Geese. I take what I can from them, because one can meet and compete against a wide variety of fighters. And Geese often likes to stack the deck against me, giving me all the more chances to test my skills." Kain smiles thinly for a moment before he continues.
"If you just want to be the best fighter in the world, period... How do you define best? The best fighter who can win without the use of weapons? And what if you achieve that, but can still be soundly beaten down by someone using a sword, what then?" Heinlein shakes his head. "In terms of simply being the last one standing... The ones who are willing to fight dirty are more likely to come out on top. If you want to beat them... You have to be familiar with the kinds of tricks they'll use."
"I don't know," Rock admits about defining the best. It's such an impossible and nebulous dream that it has never really occurred to him to quantify and catalogue it. He figured he'd know when he got there, or when he beat Terry in a straight up street battle. "I guess it doesn't matter... All that really does is getting to that pinnacle so I've got the power to finally make my father pay for what he did to her."
Kain will know the her Rock is referring to. "After that, I don't care. But," Rock bobs his head, agreeably. "You're right. I need to be better prepared for these kinds of people. They're everywhere. There's no avoiding them. If I'm ever going to take Geese down /properly/," he doesn't consider his recent storming of Geese Tower as proper, apparently, "I need to be able to take them down too."
Kain turns then to look back at Rock. "In real combat, when you're fighting for something that is truly important, there's no such thing as fighting 'dirty'. You would do will to remember that. To train that is difficult, though. It's a matter of wits, and being able to tell exactly how best to use everything in your immediate environment."
And then Kain reaches out and actually puts a hand on Rock's shoulder. "And while that might save you in a tight corner... You've got a much more important strength inside of you. However much you may hate your father, don't hesitate to use what he has given you. It will take time, but I can teach you to draw on the full extent of your power without succumbing to it. And when those who support the rules have enough power... Others are more likely to follow them." True, certainly. Kain's not really all that interested in that, himself, but anything that will help keep Rock open to the idea of doing what is needed to increase his own strength is a good thing.
Rock looks close to breaking. He's had a rough week. Together with Roy, they almost took Geese down from his ivory tower. Literally. It was hell, a battle for the ages, but in the end... Rock came up short once again. For all his success, he still wasn't there. He didn't have that x-factor, that extra gear, to finally do what he needed to do.
His eyes lock onto Kain. They waver, as he thinks about the road ahead. "I," he says, brow knitting in concentration. "I was thinking of going back to him, Kain. Getting close to him. Learning everything I could from him so that I could finally /destroy/ him. He wouldn't even know that I wasn't genuine. It'd crush him when I was ready to reveal my true intention."
A thoughtful look crosses over Kain's face. "Not necessarily a bad plan... But are you sure you're up for it? I know you're aware that your father is a very dangerous man... and also that he's not stupid. He may well believe that you honestly want to come back to him... but that doesn't mean he's going to teach you everything. He might train you to succeed him, but I doubt that he will train you to surpass him."
Of course, Rock can always do other training on his own... But if Geese finds that his son /is/ starting to get stronger than him, who knows what he might do? "As long as you can keep your wits about you, though, you should be able to learn something. Just be ready to abandon your plan the moment anything seems to go wrong. Even if he's suspicious, Geese might train you out of amusement... But the moment it looks like you would actually succeed..." Heinlein trails off. It's probably not necessary to go into detail on what Geese would do to his competition if he has them at his mercy. He might not /kill/ his own son... But there are plenty of other things he can do.
"He knows he's going to die," Rock says, fully believing it. "Be it from age, a fight against someone like Terry Bogard, one of the Syndicate like Yamazaki, or any number of the forbidden techniques he trains with... Something is going to kill Geese Howard." Rock moves away from Kain then, because he doesn't want to man to see his expression when he talks about his father actually dying. It's a constant battle. Rock still, to this day, isn't sure if he'd rather see the man alive or dead.
Moving to the stretching rail, he collects his coat. He's got on just a pair of warm-up pants that the hospital gave him to do his tests. The bandages don't show any continued bleeding, but they cover much of his upper-body in their wrappings. It's going to be some time before Rock can safely remove them to not risk opening the wounds. He continues, "And that's why he wants me to be his heir. He wants to trust me. It's his weakness. Me. I'm his flaw. He needs me and wants me because he doesn't want all this work -- this toil and anguish -- he's put into creating his persona and the Syndicate to go to waste. And his actions have left him isolated; there's nobody he can trust. It'll work."
Rock looks back over. "Unless you have a /better/ plan?"
Kain gives Rock a brief shake of his head. "No, the basic idea of your plan is sound." And Kain wouldn't mind seeing someone attempt to take down Geese's empire from the inside, that's for certain. "However, you may be underestimating Geese. He may trust you, as you say, but that doesn't mean he won't attempt to mold you into what he considers the most suitable heir possible. I know you'll say that you won't succumb to whatever tricks he might use, so I won't waste much breath trying to convince you of the possibility."
Rock is a teenager, with strong will and determination, and what he sees as a noble goal ahead of him. A good combination for overconfidence, even if much of it is justified. "I'll just say this. There is much that Geese can teach you... But when it comes to the power of your bloodline, the only way he can or will teach you to control it is to become like him."
Rock slams a fist down onto the wooden railing. It creaks from the impact, some of the screws supporting it popping loose. Seems he's not as wounded as his bandages might indicate. Or maybe he's just that rage-imbued. "I'm /nothing/ like him and never will be!" he yells, staring at the mirror over the stretching railing, seeing his nostrils flaring and his eyes burning.
He exhales, dropping his hand, and recomposes himself. He stares at his reflection for a few seconds, closes his eyes, and then turns back around to Kain. "If I do this," he says. "I'll need to know what you can teach me, Kain. You've never done anything to prove to me that you don't have the best intentions for me in mind. You're my Uncle, you're the closest thing I've got to my mother and my family. Can you teach me what you know? Is it too dangerous to do this and gain his trust at the same time?"
"I can't just sit here. I've peaked with what I can teach myself. I know that. That night on Geese Tower made it really damn clear."
Despite Rock's sudden outburst, Kain betrays no signs of shock. He simply watches calmly as Rock brings his rage back under control. "I can teach you to draw upon the full force of your power without letting your mind be clouded with anger. I can teach you to wield chi as easily as breathing. It's just a matter of how far you will be able to go, and how long it will take. One doesn't gain power overnight."
Kain rests his own hand on the railing, looking firmly into Rock's eyes now. "As for danger... What do you consider 'too dangerous'? You're already taking your life into your own hands with this plan, although your chances of survival are greater than they would be for anyone else. I can still teach you while you are gaining Geese's trust... In fact, it will likely make it easier to gain his trust if I do not begin overtly teaching you beforehand. It will be slower... but it will take time for you to learn everything Geese has to offer as well. Your father has a great deal of money, and many men, but even he can't see everything. There are ways to evade his notice, but the details can wait until we see just how much effort he puts into keeping an eye on you on your own time."
Rock falls silent for a few seconds, his mind running over the slowly forming plan. He'll infiltrate Geese's organization. He'll come back to the man, like he's wanted for so long, and appear to genuinely be remorseful for his impudence. He'll put his vendetta on the back burner, do his best to appear like he is embracing the old man and his way's again. He'll become a fitting heir. He'll rise to the top of the Syndicate, the world will probably scorn his name...
And then he'll destroy Geese and take away everything he's ever loved.
Rock nods his head. "Then it's settled," he says, craning a red eye at Kain. "I know this is going to be a rough and dangerous road. Nobody can know our true plan or I'm fucked. You're the only person I'll tell." He hopes Kain will echo the same promise.
Kain is good at keeping secrets. Even Grant doesn't know everything that Kain knows of, but his old friend is also well aware of that. He has a few secrets of his own, at that. And even though there's no way Grant would ever divulge any of this information... "Not another soul shall hear of this, Rock." And if Kain makes a promise to someone for whom he has any respect, he'll generally keep that promise. Rock getting killed by Geese wouldn't serve his plans very well, for one thing.
That having been said... "I think, perhaps, that it would be best if we don't contact one another in public, then. I'll keep an eye on you, and figure out what sort of security measures Geese puts into place, and then I'll contact you again, in some manner. For now, though, I think it would be best if we're seen to go our separate ways from here on bad terms." And with that, Kain swings a fist out in an attempt to punch Rock in the jaw. He doesn't intend to do any more than the one hit... He just wants it to seem like they had a violent argument. And if Rock /knows/ the punch is coming, the damage won't be as convincing.
"On bad term--?!" Rock is repeating Kain's words back to him, confused by the implication. He never gets them out. Kain's knuckles slam into his jaw, blasting him back from the railing and onto his back. He hits the hardwood floor roughly, skidding a little bit thanks to it's smooth surface. On his back, he sits there -- long enough for Kain to walk out of the room -- and looks up at the flourscent lamps. It's a few seconds before he understands why Kain did that.
Log created on 13:57:29 06/03/2007 by Kain, and last modified on 10:12:12 06/04/2007.