Description: Tomorrow, the Mountain Lions will fight the Wrestlefriends. Renting out a small resort space in Zambia near the place they fight, the lot of them work out a number of little anxieties and loose ends when faced with the strong chance that they may not make it out of the very first round intact. The crowds will get to see fighters and performers at their best, these little momentary touches of drama, generally, escaping the notice of the public at large. (Except for you, the reader.)
It's fairly late at night in a small resort lounge in Zambia - it turns out both the Mountain Lions and the Wrestlefriends will be fighting just a ways south of Kenya to begin with. It's going to be exciting, they say, and tomorrow... well, tomorrow's going to be a very, very big day.
Howard Rust has not been able to stay still the last couple of days. He's been making a lot of calls here and there, a part of him wanting to keep tabs on friends to make sure that his stolen address book isn't putting any of them in danger... along with any and every little problem that involves his school calling him up for simple things like how to work the boiler.
There hasn't been much in the way of pep talks from Mr. Rust. He just wanted to make sure everyone stays close to one another and not stray too far while sightseeing or training or what have you. Pacing about in front of some seats near a warm open fire, the shop teacher thinks to himself... there's really one last call he needs to make.
Zach is a short ways away from the fire, snapping out a variety of jabs and straights, each accented by a short pop of soul power at the end of them. He weaves his head around, as if attempting to avoid an unseen strike. He looks over at Rust, the tempo of his punches and bursts slowing only a little, to ensure that the energy is not inadvertently aimed in the group's direction.
"You really ought to sit down, Rust," Zach says philosophically. "At least /try/ to relax a bit tonight, you know?"
Yuri, meanwhile, is finding that she's still got a few sore spots from her recent sparring with Zach. So the girl has set up a makeshift mat for her to practice on. Right now, she sits barefoot on her mat, stretching her legs out in a straddle position while counting out loud.
"That's, that's not gonna be easy for me, Zach." Howard shakes his head, frowning. One of his knees make a little pop - he's been pretty stiff and sore since he's had to literally try and pull a carriage out for some folks. "Y'know... tomorrow's the big day."
He looks over to Yuri briefly, then over to Zach. He nods his head once, and looks back over to Yuri. "Hey, Yuri, I... I gotta level with you about something."
"One... two... three.. wha?" Yuri sits up and spins around to face Rust. "What is it? Is it about the trouble we're going to get into with my father?" She hmmphs. "Because I don't want to hear about it anymore!
"Ahhh, close to it, but... but honestly, Yuri, it's, it's already gonna be bad enough." Very, very bad, the shop teacher reckons as he tries to recall the number from memory to the Sakazaki household. "I think your family needs to know where you are, because... because it's one thing for you to have run off with us for KoF, but... but it's gonna be another thing if I, if I kept it from them."
Zach... actually stops his shadow boxing to look at Rust. "Keeping a certain level of tension's good, but being too tense will hold you back," Zach says from a bit of experience. He shoots Yuri a glare when she comments at her dad. He gives Rust a quick glance, letting Rust do the talking.
As relieving as letting pent-up soul power can be at times, he's in little mood for a tantrum.
"Tell them about it?" Yuri sits cross-legged for a moment and thinks to herself as she wonders about what to do. On one hand, it might be nice to tell her father and her brother where she is, but on the other hand, what's not to stop her father from barging into the tournament and attempting to take her out. "Well..." She looks like she's deep in thought, but then looks up and nods, a serious look on her face. "He's going to find out sooner or later, so I guess we should tell them."
Zach "1 Bao" Glen then says, "They've probably seen the team rosters at this point."
"Y-Yeah, no doubt," Rust concurs with what Zach says as he starts poking away at the numbers on his cellphone. It's pretty humorous to watch. His fingers are a little too big for those buttons and he has to key them in slowly and deliberately.
Once he's done keying in the number, he holds up a finger to Zach. Based on time zones... it's going to be sometime during the day over there in the Sakazaki Dojo. He can only hope someone's going to be there to pick up the phone! Someone... other than Takuma.
Still sitting cross-legged, Yuri watches as Rust calls the Kyokugen Dojo. If her father picks up, there's going to be big hell. Most likely her father will scream untill his lungs burst at Rust... and then possibly chase them down. But if it's her brother, it's likely going to be another story. "Please pick up, Ryo... not dad!" She whispers.
Zach watches, putting his weight on his heels. There's... not a hell of a lot he can do at this point other than wait and listen. He glances at Yuri occassionally as the phone call progresses.
The older man's other hand is on the side of his head, but his face reads loud and clear. Please, someone pick up. Please, someone pick up. /Please/ someone pick up... and then comes the pre-recorded message.
"Answering machine," he mumbles while waiting for the beep. "H-Hey, this is Howard Rust, I'm calling from, from Zambia. Yuri... your daughter, or sister, whoever's listenin', she... she snuck herself onto the team roster somehow. She's been with us, I'd have, I'd have called back sooner, but, we've been moved around a bunch the last few days... a-anyway, tomorrow we'll be at Victoria Falls. Uh, if you could call back really soon, I'd, I'd like that, thanks."
And the call ends. The man's face is grim.
"So they're gonna find out," Yuri says with a serious look on her face. "I'm dreading if dad calls you back. You'd better not hold the phone too close to your ear or you might go deaf." She's not smiling when she says that.
"I, I used to work construction, Yuri," the man shakes his head as he folds back up the cellphone and pockets it, "work's already done a, a real number on my ears." It's true, he couldn't hear the slight noise of a pin drop on that rooftop of Rolento's hideout over a year ago. Working construction is not great for your ears! Everything's so... loud.
"Better that than actually showing up, I'd think," Zach finally says as he gets the news from Rust. "The die's been cast, as they say." He looks at Yuri before looking back at Rust. "So what now?"
"I dunno about you, but I think I'm gonna keep doing my workout," Yuri replies with a smirk, before resuming her straddle stretches. "One, two, three, four, five!" She says as she does each repetition.
"Well... I, I dunno what to say for what now," the man seems really at a loss of things as he finally takes himself a seat near the fire, a loud exhaling sigh. "It's just... y'know, I can't believe it still, Zach. I just... I just can't believe it."
Zach lets out a short laugh, "Yeah, big-night jitters are a /bitch/," he finally says with a bit of sympathy. "I remember that thing on the boat. That was crazy. I..." Zach trails off before shaking the thought off. "There was a lot more than just the match in that first fight. Low card Saturday Night Fights and Neo Leagues are one thing, but large scale tournaments are something else entirely."
"'n forty years in, Zach... this is my first one," the teacher says as he stares up blankly at nothing in particular, "might... might even be my only one, at this rate, given how, how infrequent these things are."
Meanwhile, Yuri seems more interested in her exercises instead of conversing with the others. She comes up and pulls her heels towards her body in a butterfly stretch, moving her knees up and down while she counts cheerfully. "One, and two, and three, and four!"
"We all start somewhere," Zach says sagely, full of the fortune-cookie wisdom tonight. "You'll be fine." Another glance is sent Yuri's way before Zach gives his attention back to Rust. "Any thought on fight order yet, or do you want to wait till tomorrow for that?"
We all start somewhere, yeah... but let's just say Mr. Rust has had, thanks to life circumstances, a pretty late start. It weighs as heavily on his head as just about anything and everything else - this team's going up against people with some serious star power.
"Y-Yeah, about that," he holds a finger up to Zach. "Yuri," he looks out from the chair, "can I have your undivided attention for, for a sec?"
Spinning around, Yuri looks to Rust and says, "Yes? What is it?" She remains seated the same way but still shows a look of attention towards him.
"I know, I know for a fact your family's not gonna be here in time for the match," he says. Assuming Ryo and/or Takuma heard the message and bolted for an airplane, the ride's not going to make it all the way down here until after the match - assuming everything is to schedule, of course.
"I'll be, I'll be all right with lettin' you fight tomorrow, okay? I, I understand what this all means to you, I, I respect that, all right? But... assuming we advance, if your brother or father say you're going home, I need you to know that I'm not gonna go against them."
Biting her lip and narrowing her eyes. "I... I don't know... NO!" Yuri stands up and stomps her bare foot. "I can't do it! I've come this far, they can't make me leave!" She clenches her fists and tears start to form in her eyes. Then something occurs to her. "Well... all right, if they come to take me away... I'll try to work something out if I can... Or I'll just go." She folds her arms. "All right?"
Zach just rolls his eyes at this, wisely biting his tongue for the moment. He's still looking at Rust.
"Look," he stands up from his chair, grunting at a sore spot on his shoulder, god damn why did he have to pull that thing earlier, there's people around they could've paid to help pull that thing along, but no, he had to do it.
"That's, that's just the way things are gonna have to be, Yuri. If I was your dad right now, I'd be... I'd be worried god damned sick if they were half way around the world without tellin' anyone. But this way, at least you likely get one fight out of it."
He catches Zach's rolling eyes. This is a pretty difficult speedbump they've got going here. "And... and more importantly, Yuri, have ya done any of your homework? I spent a lotta time a few days back gettin' all the notes from your teachers."
"Notes from my teachers?" Yuri slips her socks and sneakers on, apparently done with her stretching. "Why would you want to do something like that?" For a moment, she seems shocked, but then she turns into a serious tone again. "I admit I've slacked off a little, but I've been doing my homework as best as I can, I swear it's the truth!" She looks up at Rust with tears in her eyes. "Please, believe me! I might have some black marks on my record, but it's not as bad as it looks!"
"You gotta take your education seriously, Yuri, 'sides, I'm a teacher." He grunts at the thought of all the frustrating little calls here and there from the substitute and other Pacific faculty members. "I mean... it's a big deal for me, too, I can't just... I can't just run off 'round the world willy nilly. I made sure my sub's got all the notes they need," which they promptly ignored, "you wanna make sure you do well in class! You can't just, you can't just fight all your life, Yuri. If you don't get good grades over there, ya can't go to college." Yuri has almost undoubtedly heard this time and time again from her teachers and her family.
"Look... I know I'm not the best student..." Yuri folds her arms. "I'm trying the best I can... but it's not easy, OK?"
"There are days," Zach says almost wistfully, "That I would like to go /back/ to college. Started, but..." Zach opens a hand, and spins up a small sphere of soul power, casting a purple tint across the campsite. "Could probably get in at some place, but... things get in the way."
She then starts to pace around. "I know I need to study more and work on getting better grades... but I also wanna show that I know about Kyokugen!"
"It, it isn't easy, I know that first hand," the older man lifts his hands and shakes his head, "I... I wasn't tops in high school either." The older man would probably have been eaten ALIVE by the Japanese school system at Yuri's age. Alive, smothered with wasabi, and saved as leftovers for the next meal.
"Anyway, Yuri... I, I dunno what our schedule's going to be like after tomorrow if we win or lose, or when your family'll arrive by then... but, but if we got time, I'm okay with helpin' you with some of it." He clears his throat, knowing full well what this might be interpreted as. "Doesn't mean I'll, I'll /do/ your homework for you, I'll just try 'n give you a hand. Okay?"
"That's fair enough," Yuri says, rolling her neck around. "I suppose I should try to do a little work on that in my free time. There'll be time to practice afterwards!" Yuri says grinning
"Yeah, that there will be, so... so, y'know." He's almost to say 'take it easy,' but then again... he himself is clearly /not/ taking it easy, as he turns over to Zach with that still tired look on his face, one of his shoulders making another one of his trademark joint crackling sounds. "What was your major, Zach? I, uh, I forget if you told me?"
"Education," Zach replies. "With a minor in either American History or chemistry," he shrugs. "Didn't get much chance to figure it out. Had a fairly large issue that needed immediate sorting, y'know?"
"Huh, you were gonna go into teaching too, Zach?" Mr. Rust looks up. "Well... well, that's a surprise." He cracks a smile. "If ya, if ya go back into that, Zach, lemme know, I could probably put good word in for you somewhere." But... probably not Pacific High, holy damn he's lucky he got in there considering his educational credentials are not quite as high as they usually require.
"We'll see," Zach says. Rust may get the impression that Zach is enjoying the fighting circuits for the time being, despite all the set-backs. "So," he says to shift the topic. "Fight order?"
"All right, Mr. Rust," Yuri says with a tone of resignation, "I promise I'll work on my homework whenever I can." She cracks her knuckles a little. "As long as I'm allocated time to practice as well."
It's kind of interesting how the two mirror one another, in some ways, as the older man nods his head at Zach's mention about a fight order.
"Y-Yeah, that... I think, I think I'm gonna be leading off," he says to the lot of them, "followed by... followed by you," he points to Zach, "then... then we'll close off with Yuri." That's what he's thinking for the moment, anyway.
"You, you've been doin' a lot of practicing, Yuri, I mean... nothin' wrong with that, I oughtta stretch more too, but... ah, y'know what I mean," he says as he rolls his shoulder.
Zach looks Rust over critically. "I think some sleep might do you better," Zach says frankly. "Even if you can't sleep, just some time with your eyes shut will help you out some."
He shakes his hands loose, considering. He's let enough juice out for the night, and should be in prime shape to get things done tomorrow.
Eventually sounds of rustled grass come from the wildernesss. They're slow and come in twos. Footstep after footstep can be heard until the form of Quon can be made out in the distance.
As he gets closer to the fire a grin can made out on his face. The smile of someone who doesn't have to deal with the fall out of Cammy's job. This trip to Africa has done the Chongquan fighter some good as it also has given him time to think things through. Things unrelated to Shadaloo, thankfully.
He looks at each member of the group and feigns injured feelings to the point where it's obvious that he's joking. "I go out for a walk and you go and have a little party." A fake sniff and a motion of tear wiping complete the act of silliness.
"Y-Yeah, it will," Howard concedes as he sits back down on the chair. "It's just... yeah, y'know, I'm... I'm pretty excited. I mean, not in a million years," or rather, /ten/, "did I think I was gonna, at last, be in the King of Fighters."
He turns his head at Quon's arrival, at first wondering if it was someone else... maybe someone who doesn't even belong here!!
But no, it's Quon. That's good, he's back. "Ahh, I, I wouldn't know 'bout a party, Quon," the older man says. "Guess that walk did ya good, huh... where's Antoine at?"
The Chongquan Prodigy shrugs. "I didn't see him before I went for my walk so my guess is he's either in bed now or out there training." He tilts his head out towards the wild.
He looks at the other members of the team, "How's everything going, guys?"
Zach gives Quon a faint grin and a nod. He's... hesistant to mention that he met Cammy not two weeks ago in Egypt. It'd only add to the troubles. Instead, Zach decides to needle someone else.
"Did ya hear? We got us a new teammate," and off-hand gesture towards Yuri, "And now we can call ourselves an equal opportunity group," he says with a touch of mirth in his voice.
Hopefully he's in bed, he doesn't want people to be running out too far on their own... especially /this/ late. Especially because tomorrow is going to be the first big fight. It could be their only big fight, who knows. The older man sure is worrying about a lot of what ifs and what have you, and has been since the lot of them have gone to Africa.
"Yeah, she... she kinda snuck onto the team," he grumbles, "she... she just, up and went to the KoF people and said she was on my team and... and they never called me or nothin'. That's why I got charged for five tickets."
It is as though a great mystery has at last been solved entirely.
"I called her folks at home, so... chances are, they'll be here after the match, and, uh... if Takuma's there, I'd... I'd really advise not to be in his way." Very, very much advise it.
"Wait... Is that... It is!" A look of disbelief appears on his face which then vanishes upon Rust confirming it that is indeed. "Man... And to think that it wasn't too long ago that I had met Takuma at a demonstration at the Y.F.C.C."
Quon then subsequently extends a hand out towards Yuri. "Nice to meet you." Quite possibly, Quon has spent a bit too much time around a variety of Americans between Antoine, and the students of Southtown U.
Yuri nods a little, then goes to do a little shadow-sparring on her own to practice while she still has time to do so. There will be time for academics, and there will be time for fighting...
"She's... she's pretty wound up over this and her family, Quon," the older man says as he reaches a hand out to Quon. "How're you holdin' up?"
Quon nods as Yuri moves off to do some training before looking over at the remaining members of his team. "I'm feeling alright. I can't wait to get a chance to get in there and show the world what I can do. I want to hear the cheers of the crowd."
His heart begins racing just thinking about fighting before a crowd. When it comes down to it, he still is a performer no matter how serious his mindset has gotten recently.
The older man nods at Quon's enthusiasm... though there is a pretty big catch - they can only field three people, and... the more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that he can't make everyone happy. He himself wants a big shot at it all after so long... Zach is a guy who just enjoys the fighting life... Yuri wants to be able to prove her family's martial art... Antoine wants to do his old sifu proud, and now, Quon, who wants to perform for a crowd.
"I'll, I'll be straight, Quon - I got word on who the other team will be fielding, and... and, let me say it's not gonna look pretty." They are going to be going up against some serious competition - probably one of the worst first round draws they could have made.
"For the moment, it's, it's gonna be me, Zach, and Yuri - I wanted to give you and Antoine a shot, but... unless any one of us gets sick overnight, it... it might have to wait until next round."
The teacher sighs. "If, if we pass this one, that is."
For all the concern the team leader shows about not being able to make everyone happy, Quon is relatively laid back about it all. After all, if it wasn't meant to be it wasn't meant to be. He'd get a chance to show the world what he is capable of elsewhere if he can't do so in this tournament.
His lips curl in a grin that's meant to be reassuring. Whether or not it succeeds will be known shortly. "Well that means you guys are gonna have to make sure we get our chance next round."
"Y-Yeah... y'know it." The old man's tone of voice is tired, but he does try to be reassuring that, maybe - after so long - the lot of them can prevail and get somewhere. "IT's, it's gonna be an uphill battle, not gonna lie, but... it's King of Fighters, I guess... we wouldn't be expecting an easy fight."
Unless they themselves are to be seen as the easy fight.
"Considering they opened with their heavy hitters, I think they're trying to make a statement." He pauses to think about things for a moment before adding, "Unless their entire team is a bunch of heavy hitters."
Quon shrugs and looks at the captain. He could think of a worse first round draw than what they have now. After taking a look a list of some of the teams he has cringed at a familiar name thanks to what he had from the lips of a woman who shall remain nameless.
"But why worry about that? Let's take care of the obstacles in front of us now." Quon moves towards the closest tree and leans against it.
"Wrestlers do... have a pretty storied name in general, yeah," Howard remarks just thinking about it. His personal hero, Haggar, probably one of the very best who ever lived. To say nothing of the likes of the famed Zangief, the eccentric but accomplished El Fuerte, and the stalwart Tizoc. There is no weakness in that lineup in the least to speak of!
"Yeah... yeah, one supposes," the teacher nods as he withdraws something that, inexplicably, managed to avoid plain sight for now. Quon should immediately recognize it - that rusted length of pipe that Mr. Rust supposedly left behind when he took up Kyokugen training.
He gives it a good look-over. A few little swings. "It's gonna be time to see if, after all these years, we can get somewhere, huh."
Log created on 17:59:46 02/09/2011 by Rust, and last modified on 21:24:55 02/09/2011.