Description: This is not a drill. Repeat. This is not a drill. Yuri has supposedly kidnapped herself in the eyes of her loving father, and now it is imperative everyone understand just how much danger they're all in.
Twenty four hours ago.
""YURI KIDNAPPED HERSELF, SHE'S ZAMBIZAR, TAKE OVER lessons tonight, don't let the fat kids get awa-"
Takuma's voice BOOMS through the dojo, but is soon a retreating sound, disappearing away into nothingness. Ryo, who had been enjoying a spare few moments to himself to touch up his beloved bike, sighs heavily. "God... /damn/ it Dad."
A sign has been hung over the dojo entrance: Lessons Canceled due to Momentary Insanity.
When lessons roll around, the students gather. Most stick around to chat and shoot the breeze with the others. Some even look relieved that tonight's training will be canceled. Especially the... chunkier kids. Until some bright spark has the idea to turn the notice over, revealing.
'Everyone pick a fat kid and spar three times'.
Two hours ago: Zambia: Ryo has maxed out his credit card just /getting/ to Africa so quickly, and now the Kyokugen Master is running around the streets frantically, photo in hand. "Have you seen this man? Have you seen this man? Have you seen this man?"
He presses it up into the camera, forcing the viewers at home to bask in Rust and all his terrible haircut-ted glory. "HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?!"
Amazingly, this tactic had actually worked. And now it is the present. An exhausted Ryo smashes his foot through the door to Rust's hotel room. Drenched in sweat, three other doors have been treated similarly further down the hall, and now pissed-off holiday makers are looking to see what all the commotion is about. Please, please let /THIS/ be the correct hotel room!
Mr. Rust should still be in the hospital tending to a broken rib or two, but then he realized that everyone left their belongings unattended in that small resort house they rented out for their purposes. So, there he is, grumbling along and moving as slowly as he usually does in making sure everyone's stuff is about packed up and ready to go.
This sense of diligence belies his particular sadness and depression. They lost... that's it. They lost. Right out of the gates, they lost. It's a sting to his pride that hurts worse than any wound inflicted by Zangief - that after forty years and finally getting a chance in the famed King of Fighters tournament, they lost.
He paid for a couple more days for this place than they ever needed, which stings... but there's really no turning back the clock there. Might as well go back to Southtown soon, save a few of his dwindling paid leave days, and just accept that maybe he's simply not cut out for--
All of a sudden, he hears the door to this place get kicked down. If it's god damned Cammy, he swears, he is going to /bury/ her here. He winces in pain as he brings his right hand atop the makeshift hilt of Ol' Rusty, bending his body in the way it hurts and that he shouldn't be placing stress on, wheezing as he draws the battered, rusted pipe out and peeks out the bedroom door.
"I swear to God if you're, if you're thinkin' of breakin' in--" His jaw drops as he sees who it is standing in the doorway. "...Ryo? Uh... why did you... kick the front door down?" He grouses. "'m gonna have to pay for that..."
Ryo forces himself to get up. This is not as easy as it would normally be. The young man is quite clearly exhausted, but he's not about to let a little thing like heatstroke, hunger, and a day of consciousness slow him down. "Howard! Thank God, he's not got here yet. We don't have much time! We have to get out of here!"
Then, he realizes that Rust is complaining about the door. Is he completely insane? If they don't act quickly, there probably won't /be/ a house for there to be a door attached to! If Ryo could find Rust, he's damned sure that Takuma isn't going to be far behind him. Although, maybe, he might be slowed down briefly at customs. Maybe. If they had a tank or three.
He looks back to Rust as though he has taken complete leave of his senses. Which, given the situation, might be the most ironic thing ever. "Get your things, get the others, we have to keep moving until we can think of a way to deal with this, alright?"
Okay, so, he hasn't exactly thought this through. Now isn't a time for thinking, there'll be plenty of time to think when he's sure that Takuma isn't going to do anything crazy like actually /kill/ Yuri to save Yuri from Yuri. He knows his father is prone to these ... episodes, sometimes, but with Yuri flipping out at the same time, and Rust and the others caught in the middle, things could get very ugly, very quickly!
"I'm, I'm workin' on that," the older of the two grumbles as if to wave his left hand in dismissal. Christ, we lost, I'm wasting away some days of rent I already paid for, and now they're gonna charge me for the door - all of these mundane issues that pale in the face of the greatest threat that almost everyone involved will ever personally know.
"Dealin' with what?" He calls from back inside his bedroom as he closes up his suitcase and starts to drag it out. "The rest... Zach's still restin' in the hospital, getting stitches... both Yuri 'n I were in too, ah, I swung by to get our stuff... think I asked, uh, I asked Quon or Antoine to watch Yuri."
His voice is still completely and utterly calm in the face of complete destruction, as if other things were weighing far more heavily in his mind. "The hell are we dealin' with, Ryo? I told Yuri if, if any of you came up and told her to go home, that's, that's it." Not that there's much of a choice - they lost, they're all going home. "Wouldn't get in the way, or, or nothin', I don't, I don't see the problem."
Ryo stares at Rust as though he's just sprouted an extra head. Quon and Antoine? The kid hunted by one of the most deadly assassins on the planet, and ... some other guy who Ryo doesn't know!? This is bad! This is very very bad!
"No, look, you don't get it." Ryo says, as he starts to breathe again. Breathing is good, kids. Remember that. "Dad, totally lost it. He's convinced that Yuri kidnapped ... herself, somehow. I /knew/ I should have deleted that message. But, no. You don't understand. When it comes to Yuri getting kidnapped, we have a /system/. It is /not/ a nice system for the person who kidnapped her."
He shakes his head slowly, "We have to hope he's coming for /you/. If he's gone to the hospital..."
Deadly seriousness now, as he recovers his composure. His features stoic.
"Rust. Your team could already be dead."
"What's there not to friggin' get?!" The man shouts back as Ryo remembers how to breathe in again. The shop teacher's still dragging his suitcase along, a wince on his face with almost every couple of inches as he bends his torso the way that makes it hurt. He slows down and stretches himself out, a couple of those trademark joint pops as Ryo goes to explain.
His dad's lost it? Well, if he was a dad too he'd be upset, yeah... but as Ryo continues to explain things, he stops what he's doing. He turns his head slowly as Ryo puts down the hope that he's coming for /him/, not to the hospital. The look on his face can only be described in one word as Ryo mentions the possible fate of his team:
'What.'
"Help me drag these things to the van."
Ryo nods, and, with some effort, picks up the suitcase. Though, he has a much easier time of it than Rust. Mostly because he is not horrendously injured, and he's a young man in the prime of his life. Although he was quite tired, it's still probably just easier that he does it than Rust.
"I was hoping that he'd be too focused on his own matches to really care that Yuri is off doing stupid things." He explains, "But, I don't know. I think she's really gone too far, this time. Yuri likes to push Dad's buttons, but she's never ... well, kidnapped herself."
The unspoken thing here, is that at least Takuma has blamed her for this. It would have been entirely too easy for him to blame Rust, and, Ryo hopes, despite his worst fears, it will be a lot harder for Takuma to raise his hand to his daughter than it would be to Rust.
This may be the single most naive hope of Ryo's life.
There's more where that came from. He's made sure to pack up everyone else's stuff best he could, given the situation on hand. If it weren't for Ryo and this sudden emergency, it would've been so simple. Just calling Quon or Antoine telling them he's packed everything up, made sure everyone's passports are guarded and in possession, and started to arrange leaving the country for home after giving the Kyokugen guys a call that they'd all be headed back to Southtown.
So much for having at least a peaceful return to mundane life in shame and depression in the face of /this/.
"I, I understand how much this whole thing meant to her, Ryo," he starts, "but... but I should've stopped her at the airport." He lowers his head in something approaching an apology. "God damn, though, it was... it was like right at the last minute. I swear, it's... well, shit."
He grouses. "Thanks for, for takin' care of the luggage. God damn, shouldn't have to be, to be movin' around like this."
Just another one of his many little stresses creeping up on him.
Ryo, finally, seems to acknowledge that, maybe, there's more to the immediate situation than the promise of a sudden, violent Takuma-ing. It's impossible not to recognize the pain that Rust is in. The depression. The upset. Yes, Ryo had seen the fight. He'd been sure to watch it live. But, just because he had lost... that doesn't mean it is the end. There were positives, too, and it is painfully clear to him right now that Rust, needs to feel proud, rather than depressed.
"No. I won't hear it."
Suddenly, Ryo is spinning, his hand on Rust's shoulder, clamping down, hard. Despite the immediacy of the threat, there is a keen glint in Ryo's eye, now.
"Taking Yuri to the King of Fighters was the best thing you could have done." He says. In spite of all the available evidence. Okay, maybe, now, he's squeezing Rust's shoulder a little harder than is... /strictly/ necessary.
"You did Kyokugenryu proud, Howard. You might not believe it, but I saw you out there. There's no shame in losing, there's only shame in giving up, and you /never/ gave up. Not for one second. This? This is something that was always going to happen. If it hadn't been you, she would have found someone else. She was going to do this. At least this way, I know I've got /you/ here. And you, aren't going to let my Dad make a mistake this big. You are going to do... the /right/ thing."
There's not even a question there, boundless confidence just rolls off Ryo like a physical force. If there's one thing Ryo respects above everything else, it is hard work, and if there's one thing Rust has never failed to impressive him with... it's the capacity to just keep going, and going, and going. He's not going to let his student crack under the pressure now, not if he can help it.
The depression, the upset, his ribs... and with Ryo's clamping down on his shoulder, the reminder of just how hard Zangief's grip was on him. He's been manhandled by plenty others in his life, but he doesn't think he's ever had the... er, honor of being in a vice grip like Zangief's. A couple times it felt like he was about ready to crush those bones just by holding him.
He winces, a little, at this mental reminder where Ryo clamps down where it remains a bit tender.
It is kind of a strange thing, Ryo says - he thought bringing his old friend for the ride, that rusted length of pipe, would've been seen as an offense against Kyokugen's principles as stated by Takuma himself.
At which point he raises his arm to try and get Ryo's hand off his shoulder. "Can we, can we save that kinda talk for later, uh, I'd like to, I'd like to be able to... y'know, make sure your dad doesn't make this trip even worse for any of us, all right?" He coughs once before patting his chest. "'scuse me. I, I appreciate what you're saying, Ryo, it's... it's just gonna be a hard thing for me to, to swallow for a while."
He's already walking out to the door to at least get the van's back door open so they can get all the luggage inside. "I'm, I'm still hurt but I think I can, I can manage drivin' up to the hospital if you got the, if you got the luggage."
"It could always be worse. Mr. Karate could be here."
Ryo actually cracks a joke! And he smiles, nodding his head. "But I get your point. I've got the luggage, you get the car."
And he does just that. And yes, maybe, he was a little disappointed to see Rust using the pipe. But Ryo's style is different to his father's style, which is different to his sister's style, which is different to Marco's style, and don't even get him started on Robert's. Only the most unimaginative students didn't put their own spin on things. Ryo couldn't begin to guess at the emotional weight that the pipe represented. But that Rust had advanced to the point where he no longer felt like he had to clear everything with the others? The fact that Rust strode into his match his own man? Ryo could not be prouder.
Soon, he's tossing bags of luggage into the back of the van, and taking a deep breath. "Right. Now." He says. "Lets go and see my sister." A moment's hesitation, and he adds. "... This Antoine guy, has /he/ got any crazy people looking to beat him down?"
The fact that the pipe has such emotional weight means that Howard here probably should be seeing a competent psychologist about it.
"I, I don't think it's gonna be gettin' any worse," the older man chances fate about as hard as a man can ever dare to. Far as he cares, the fact that he lost the first round is about as bad as it gets - that the Sakazaki family drama has escalated to the extent it has is just yet another thing going wrong, but hopefully with Ryo's help they can head this trouble off at the pass. Maybe.
Hopefully.
...Doubtful.
"If, if he does, I... I wouldn't know, Ryo," the older man shrugs, "if he did, I'm sure he'd let us know... I mean, already got, already got my hands full with Quon and that, and that Cammy." He grumbles at saying that name. When's she going to take a hint? He's on to her, he doesn't want her help finding who stole it, he wants her to GIVE IT BACK despite the fact that nobody in Shadaloo actually has it.
"'s, 's not a long drive, traffic's pretty light," he tells Ryo. "I'm just, I'm just gonna hope your dad's gonna listen to, listen to reason."
Ryo nods his head slowly, "Yeah, that's Dad, the very picture of reason."
This is said as he gets into the van, and looks out the window. Memories come filtering back. His ninth birthday. He had skipped early morning training to play with his new present; a shiny bicycle. Young Ryo is so excited as he starts off down the block.
Then the bike explodes in a shower of metal and fireball. "I SAID SIX AM SHARP!!!" Echoing in his ears when he finally returns to consciousness.
Reasonable.
In the present, Ryo's own variety of issues are dealt with by slamming the van door shut. Exhaling deeply, he shakes his head. "We'll beat the crap out of Cammy later." He decides, because violence makes everything better. "First. Lets beat down some... /family issues/."
Log created on 15:46:26 02/13/2011 by Rust, and last modified on 17:30:08 02/13/2011.