[center] [img][/img] [img]https://imgur.com/ykNX8MZ.png[/img] [h3]Pao Pao Café 7, Esaka’s Low Tier[/h3] [b]Word Count:[/b] 5517 [b]Level 5 Captain Falcon:[/b] 72/50 [b]Level 9 Terry Bogard:[/b] 42/90 [b]Level 8 Amaterasu:[/b] 62/80 [/center] [center] [hider=Prologue: A Funny Little Trip to Pao Pao Café] [img][/img] [img]https://www.fightersgeneration.com/nz3/game/kof94-stage-mexico.gif[/img] ▶︎• ၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌၊|• 3:31 [sub][url=https://youtu.be/FyUESvLzm8k?si=-MIy-wpI5fSCJWO8]Ryuuko no Ken (Arranged) – KOF ’94[/url] [color=lightgray]Pao Pao Café, South Town, USA | 2:49 PM[/color] [/sub] [img][/img] [color=1E90FF]“Ah, finally… Home sweet home.”[/color] There was something so oddly intense about the music performed in the background, but Terry paid no mind. All he knew was that he’d arrived back in South Town with his team after an exhausting trip back home from Venice. It just so happened that KOF ’94 was around the corner, and perhaps that explained the suspenseful melodies being played upon his arrival. Maybe it was to fire up the excitement of the local fighters visiting the café, but who knows? All he cared about was finding something to eat alongside Andy and Joe. [color=1E90FF]“So, Andy, Joe, got anything to eat?”[/color] Terry asked, then caressed his growling midriff. [color=1E90FF]“Gosh, I think I’ve been starving for a while.”[/color] Joe snickered. “Yeah, me too! I’ve been picturing fried crocs on our way back to South Town. Heard Richard’s good at making them, isn’t he?” he responded. Andy nodded. “Sure is. He’s a decent cook, after all. And you have to wonder how Pao Pao Café became a big thing in such a short time,” he chimed, then added: “That said, I’m going to eat spaghetti for a hundredth time this week. Though, this one better has a spoonful of nattō as a topping.” [color=1E90FF]“Wait, wait, wait! Hold on a minute, lil’ bro. Did you just say nattō on a friggin’ spaghetti?”[/color] Terry asked, then narrowed his eyes, his face obliviously puzzled. [color=1E90FF]“Seriously asking here, but does that even taste okay?”[/color] “Terry, have you never eaten nattō before?” Andy asked back, then rolled his eyes, seemingly unimpressed. “I mean, can’t blame. You spend most of your time in the US, after all. Mai and I eat that a lot of time. Surprised me that she can cook some of the finest Italian cuisine like she’s Italian.” [b][i]BONK![/i][/b] “Oww…!!” And speaking of the devil, Andy could sense an arduous object knocking the back of his head with a stifled force. He thought it felt like a fan hitting his cranium when its flat, wooden surface grazed against the strands of his golden hair. He lowered his head and flinched, then quickly shifted towards his back to find that a familiar busty kunoichi had been tailing his every step, angrily gesturing at him with a folded fan. “Of course, I can!” she protested with a frown. “Since when is yours truly not good at cooking?” “M– Mai??” Andy asked, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. “W– Why did you hit me like that? Was I wrong?” “No, you weren’t!” Mai answered, her teeth partially gritting. “You said nothing wrong. What was wrong is that you, my darling, had dumped me and decided to join your brother and that annoying friend of yours, instead of [b]me[/b]. If I didn’t meet King and Yuri yesterday, I swear to God, I wouldn’t have had a team ready for the next KOF. I’ve been worrying about you all week, thinking you’d been gone forever, and this is what you did? Going on a sweet vacation trip to Italy without me!?” Andy was quick to hold Mai’s wrists when she was about to swat him again with her mighty fan, avoiding its solid surface from touching his forehead. He could feel his future girlfriend slightly squirming under his touch, grumbling endlessly about how he preferred Terry and Joe over his self-proclaimed lover. He tried as best as he could to calm her down, reasoning with her. “Hey, calm down, Mai. Terry’s my brother, okay? And besides, you didn’t even tell me you got the invitation.” “And you didn’t tell me, either. You’re so mean, Andy. Why did you have to do this to me!? Do you even love me??” Mai asked, her voice raising as she feigned sobbing. “Oi, stop it, Mai!” Joe exclaimed, trying to separate the two when all eyes were drawn at the silly sight. “Stop embarrassing yourself like that, will ya!?” [color=1E90FF]“Alright, alright, just relax, okay? All of you,”[/color] Terry calmly chimed, despite his visibly annoyed visage. [color=1E90FF]“I admit, it was my idea teaming up with Andy and Joe. We’re sorry, okay, Mai? We didn’t know you struggled to find a teammate for the next KOF. If I knew this, I would’ve told Andy to join your side, instead of ours.”[/color] Even though Team Fatal Fury was formed due to the trio’s collective agreement. Mai pouted, peering over the older Bogard with a furrow. “No, Terry, I don’t need to hear you apologizing,” she rejected before shifting her attention back to the younger, shorter Bogard. “I want to hear that from [b]you[/b], Andy boy. Apologize now!” “Okay, okay, I, uh… Gwahh–!!?” And before Andy could apologize, something had struck him straight in the face from out of nowhere—a lunging hip to be precise. He was immediately toppled, his grip leaving her wrists much to Mai’s dismay, harshly laying flat across the tiled floor around the same time [url=https://pin.it/1hjHuO8fd]the attacker[/url] landed on both feet. “Yay! That should do,” the attacker obliviously remarked, striking an exaggerated pose and giving the other equally oblivious visitors a thumbs up. The attacker, in question, was a lady of the same age with braided brown hair, sporting a white gi with rolled sleeves and a crimson headband around her forehead. She quickly closed in on the kunoichi, checking her condition. “Hey, Mai, are you okay?” she asked, placing a hand over her shoulder. “What did he do to you?” Mai scrunched her face, her annoyance becoming more evident now that the headbanded girl entered the scene with a devastating hip splash to her boyfriend. She frowned, crossing her arms under her torso. “Yuri, seriously??” she asked with a stern voice, narrowing her eyes at her teammate. “Did you even know who that guy is?” Hearing her displeasure, Yuri widened her eyes, both puzzled and surprised. “Oh, erm… ehehe… Nope?” she answered nonchalantly, sheepishly snickering as she fidgeted with her fingers, her eyes glancing back and forth between the reclining Andy and the exasperated Mai. “I mean, he looked like he was about to harm you, don’t you think?” Mai grunted, then sighed before yelling: “That’s my boyfriend, baka!” And she comically swatted Yuri with her folded fan, the impact much harsher around her cheek than it was when she did the same behind Andy. “And now you hurt him! My Gosh, Yuri, what’s wrong with you!?” Flabbergasted, Yuri gently rubbed her cheek, her face a mixture of irritation and confusion. Thankfully, the swatting fan wasn’t exactly that firm, as it left the youngest Sakazaki with nothing but a miniscule reddening spot. “But you didn’t tell me that was your boyfriend, Mai!” she argued, her voice loud and annoyed. “How was I supposed to know?” “I did tell you about it. You just didn’t pay attention!” Mai yelled back, furiously pointing a finger at Yuri. “I swear to God, you do that one last time, and I’ll do the same to your Robbie-boy!” And the bubbly girls continued to argue, while Terry and Joe gave each other a knowing glance. It was all crystal clear until Yuri showed up, and now they were just as clueless as the other visitors surrounding them were. “Erm… Terry? Do you know who that girl is?” Joe asked quietly, pointing a thumb at the yelling Yuri. [color=1E90FF]“Oh, you didn’t know?”[/color] Terry whispered to his ear, his toned arms crossing and his eyes peering over the childish sight. [color=1E90FF]“That’s Yuri Sakazaki, Ryo’s sister. Y’know, the Invincible Dragon, the future Mr. [i]Karatenate[/i], and ‘the way of Kyokugen [i]katera[/i]’? The girl’s a prodigy like her brother, I heard, but also airheaded. And a tad bit annoying, too.”[/color] “Aww, man…” Joe reacted with a pair of rolling eyes. “My bad, I thought she was a cutie. Send me back to Thailand.” Then, from behind both men, an exasperated sigh and a series of careful strides approached. A voice muttered, sonorous yet ladylike. “I knew it was a right call to be a leader,” the said voice spoke. “I can’t trust either of them. Such an embarrassment…” The argument halted, and all eyes fell upon the newly arriving fighter at the scene. She was another one of Mai’s teammates: a tomboyish blonde lady sporting a bartender fit, a fancy tuxedo and a pair of white gloves complementing her looks. Joe seemed to recognize the lady. “Wait, aren’t you—” “Correct,” King interrupted, her sharp eyes glancing between Terry and Joe. “The name’s King, and I’m the leader of Team England. And you must be Joe Higashi, aren’t you? The youngest Muay Thai champion in history? I believe we’ve met at one point.” Joe nodded, then flushed, sheepishly smiling when King seemed to acknowledge his achievement. “Ha ha… Ain’t that right? I do remember you, King,” he exclaimed, feigning pride. “But the matter of fact, you know you can never compete on my level, miss. No, no, no, you can’t because y’know why? Because Higashi Joe is the king of Muay Thai, and his legend’s just getting started!” King, a fellow Muay Thai practitioner, raised an eyebrow, unfazed by the exaggerated claim. “You’re so unbelievable, Joe,” she remarked, shaking her head. “We’ll see if it still holds true in the next tournament. My ‘Venom Strikes’ aren’t to be underestimated.” Before Terry could talk to King, pointing out her relationship with Ryo, she’d already shifted against his bunch to face and approach the other ladies across from her position. A hint of authority was shown, as she readjusted her gloves, then placed both of her hands on her hips, her glaring eyes pacing from Mai to Yuri. The way she looked at the two made it seem like she was ready to knock some sense out of them—both verbally and physically. “Now, now… what’s going on here?” she asked the girls with a stern voice. Yuri stuttered, hesitantly pointing at Mai. “S– She slapped me.” Mai chimed aloud, pointing back at Yuri. “But she hurt my darling! Am I not supposed to do something about it?” King took a deep, deep breath, trying her best to keep herself composed. She placed a gloved hand over her forehead, shaking her head. “You know, Mai, Yuri, all I ask is for you to not act up and start causing a commotion before the tournament,” she reminded, gesturing at both girls with an extended hand. “You see, we can’t make it to the semi-finals with this mentality, let alone winning the tournament. So, please, is it too much for me to ask each of us to just… get along with one another and be a proper team?” Hearing what King said, Mai and Yuri glanced at each other before looking back at their leader with a clear hint of embarrassment. It couldn’t help when the entirety of the café had been placing their attention at the silly display, seemingly disturbed by their childish demeanor. The youngest Sakazaki rubbed the back of her head, hesitantly nodding. “I guess you’re right, King,” she agreed, her voice dropping. “We’re not supposed to fight each other.” “Yeah…” Mai joined in, biting her lower lip. “I guess we’ve been acting silly this whole time. Sorry, Yuri, I didn’t mean to sound like a jerk, alright?” Yuri nodded again, now running her gloved hand behind her neck. “It’s okay. No hard feelings. You were probably surprised that I attacked your boyfriend,” she said. “I’m sorry about that, too. I just thought he was gonna hurt you, is all.” [color=1E90FF]“Oh, wow…”[/color] Terry reacted, seemingly impressed. [color=1E90FF]“Gotta say, you handle the whole situation quite well, King. No wonder they chose you as a leader. Learned that from Ryo?”[/color] There were slight shades of pink formed across King’s cheeks when Terry finally brought up her love interest. She couldn’t deny that she’d always found Ryo’s stoic nature attractive. “You can say I did fight him a couple of times, but, um…” Her eyes sheepishly darted away, her gloved finger absently tucking a short golden strand behind her ear. “Ah, forget it. That’s nothing so important. Let’s just get something to drink, should we? Are you boys coming with us?” [color=1E90FF]“That’d be a pleasure,”[/color] Terry accepted, drew his cap out of his head, then graciously bowed, pressing the cap against his torso. He wore the gaudy red cap back on. [color=1E90FF]“I can be the one paying for all six of us if you wanna.”[/color] “Oh, c’mon, Terry, you can’t be the [i]hero[/i] all the time,” Joe objected, his elbow playfully nudging his teammate’s arm. “Leave that to me. I’m the [b]real[/b] champ around here.” He boastfully pointed a thumb at himself, emphasizing his willingness to treat everybody to a meal. “N– No, you guys. T– That’d be me,” Andy finally spoke, wrapping his arm around his back as he carefully stood out of his laying position. He groaned, gritting his teeth. “It was my fault that Mai almost didn’t have a team. Just let me make it up to her.” [color=1E90FF]“Yo, lil’ bro! I was worrying about you,”[/color] Terry responded, then closed in on Andy to check on him. [color=1E90FF]“You alright, man? Did she hit you so hard?”[/color] “I’m fine, Terry, but…” When Andy rubbed his nose, he noticed something. There were small droplets of blood covering the tips of his fingers. “Weird... Why’s my nose bleeding?” “Looks like somebody just enjoyed being attacked a little too much.” As Joe joked so, the café was filled with the laughter of Terry and the three ladies. Andy, too, laughed along, albeit sheepishly. Soon, the six went on to get something to eat and drink, all while chattering about the upcoming KOF ’94 tournament with one another. [img][/img] [/hider] [/center] With the registration now completed, the Seekers of Fight had made their way back to Pao Pao Café 7. The trio re-entered the bustling interior around the same time a mysterious hooded man who claimed himself to be a member of the once heinous Organization XIII drew his strides away from the crew. While strolling, Terry got to stumble across Xilgrev, though not a word was exchanged by either man. He narrowed his eyes, thinking he’d seen the mysterious cloaked man somewhere in the past. Could this be [url=https://snk.fandom.com/wiki/Kukri]the same man who trapped the former KOF champion inside a pocket dimension and turned him into one of his dateable waifus[/url]? He was unsure, but judging by the looks of the man, he seemed to be bringing an aura of wild, approaching storm and isolated black clouds around him. Why did he feel so motivated about fighting Xilgrev all a sudden? It’s not like he even knew what Organization XIII was, anyway, since he was quite a newbie. “Terry, your double decked cheeseburger is ready.” Quickly, his eyes darted away from the departing Xilgrev, as Richard caught his attention with the reminder. He wasn’t too sure just how long his order had perched there atop of the counter, emitting a trail of delicate fog in the midst of a long wait. One thing for sure, though, his stomach had been growling aloud, so he needed something to calm it down. The hat-wearing bruiser closed in on the counter, his biker gloved hand extending in the burger’s direction. [color=1E90FF]“Thank you,”[/color] Terry said with a smile, picking the plate bearing the tremendous weight of the multi-layered burger filled with slices of bacon and melting cheese. Its delicate scent entered his nostrils, and he could’ve sworn it almost left his mouth watering. [color=1E90FF]“Mm… this is sooo good. Really screams the best part of the States, won’t y’all agree?”[/color] The hat-wearing bruiser chuckled, sat down at the same rounded table the rest of the Seekers were sitting at, then dropped his duffle bag next to his chair, settling the plate of towering cheeseburger across the table’s flat surface. [color=1E90FF]“Sup, guys? What do we wanna talk about?”[/color] he asked, grabbed his double decked cheeseburger between his palms, then squeezed it into a smaller delicacy with ease, the comical [i]attraction[/i] slightly spewing the burger’s content all over his own plate. [b][i]SPLASH![/i][/b] Terry gnashed his teeth, close to shutting his eyes almost reflexively. Small droplets of mustard managed its way across his shirt. [color=1E90FF]“Oops… Sorry,”[/color] he apologized sheepishly before taking the first bite of his meal, his teeth drawing and munching the tip of one of the bacon slices between the buns. [color=1E90FF]“Hope you guys enjoy the lunch, though. I knew you did, Zenkichi and Roland. Ammy, Cap, if you need anything to eat, just go ahead and place the orders, alright? I’m the one paying for today.”[/color] He could tell that the crew did enjoy their stay at the once legendary hangout spot in South Town, especially Zenkichi and Harry. Even Harry went on to order one of the biggest, goofiest looking beverages that Richard had to offer, and it really put a wide, amused grin on Terry’s face. [color=1E90FF]“He he… I saw what you got there, Harry. You really didn’t hesitate, did you?”[/color] he joked with a gesturing finger, stifling a laugh. [color=1E90FF]“Man… I always love times like this. Really brings back the good ol’ memories.”[/color] Suddenly, his mind went out to all those times he spent with his prior team and closed ones in the original Pao Pao Café after every tournament. He wished he could’ve had Andy, Joe, Rock, and Mary around, knowing they would’ve loved interacting with his newfound allies. Well, at least, Mai did, and he was more than grateful that she’d returned in one piece. [color=1E90FF][i]Yeah, right, it really doesn’t hit the same without you guys,[/i][/color] Terry mused, drawing a deep, deep breath before taking a bigger bite of his cheeseburger. [color=1E90FF][i]But we’ll meet again, I’m sure of it. Whenever and wherever that is. Just hang in there, alright? Mai and I are gonna find you.[/i][/color] Then, as Terry absently chewed his cheeseburger, a realization came across his mind. No, it wasn’t about his close acquaintances this time, but rather, the topic of the tournament he wanted to discuss with his new team following the registration. Although he was no longer a team leader, he wouldn’t want to leave his oblivious partners hanging, would he? And so, he swallowed the piece of meal under his mouth before glancing at Cap and Amaterasu alternately. [color=1E90FF]“Oh, right. So, uh, we’re supposed to talk about the tournament, ain’t we?”[/color] Terry asked, raising his toned shoulders slightly. [color=1E90FF]“As you might’ve already known, unlike other tournaments, KOF’s a three-on-three competition where every competing participant fights in orders, instead of tagging each other mid-match. Well, at least, it used to be a singles tournament when Geese was the one running the whole thing, instead of Rugal. We called the format the ‘Team Battle System,’ by the way, and in order to win, we gotta defeat all three fighters of the opposing team. But if it’s vice versa, then, welp, it’s a game over for us, for sure. Usually, both competing teams will be asked by a combot to register the order in which their respective fighters enter the ring ahead of the match. Whoever gets to fight first in our team has to get into the ring with whoever the opposing team chooses to be their first fighter. When a fighter is knocked out or yeeted outta the ring, another one will replace them and so on and so forth till we get to the last fighter. Any questions?”[/color] Amaterasu paused in her self imposed task of arranging cutlery to point at several brazilian menu items (a bowl of Galinhada (chicken and rice cooked in the same pot, a helping of Pamonhas (ground corn wrapped in in corn husks), a side of Farofa (fried manioc flour with butter, garlic, and onions) and some Pão de Queijo(cheese bread)). The wolf hungered, (she’d been living off raw wild fare for about a week before she’d met up with the seekers yesterday) and also had zero shame about taking advantage of both his hospitality and the rare opportunity to actually use a restaurant. With that arranged, she presented two napkins she’d written on. One said “My Order” and was placed next to her cutlery arrangement, and the other said “Our Order?” which she put to both Terry and Captain Falcon. It seemed that the first question was directed more towards the food, instead of the upcoming tournament. Terry couldn’t blame. Both Cap and Amaterasu seemed to be as hungry as he was. He grabbed the first napkin, inwardly reading down every menu item written down by the furred deity. [color=1E90FF]“Hmm… Whaddaya know? Looks like somebody knows their Brazilian cuisine,”[/color] Terry remarked, his bright, blue eyes scanning every cursive word decking the once empty napkin. He went on to grab the second one questioning both his and Cap’s orders, already finding the answer. [color=1E90FF]“Good choices, Ammy, but I’ve ordered something, y’see?”[/color] He gestured at the squeezed cheeseburger in his hand, happily wiggling it. [color=1E90FF]“So I’m already enough with having a cheeseburger for lunch.”[/color] The second napkin was settled, then slid towards Cap’s side on the table. [color=1E90FF]“Your turn, Cap!”[/color] [color=1f66b2]”The beef tripe.”[/color] Falcon said without even having to think about it. [color=1f66b2]”All the way. It’s always been my favorite dish and it feels like it’s been forever since I last had a chance to eat some.”[/color] As for the other part of the discussion, Cap offered his two cents as well. [color=1f66b2]”So the [i]REAL[/i] strategy comes in when we decide our fighting order. One person has to be the opener, which all but guarantees they’ll get KO’d eventually against a strong enough opposing team. And someone else will have to be the closer, which means they might not even get to fight at all depending how well the first two fighters do in a given round. Interesting!”[/color] Amaterasu’s visible annoyance at being misunderstood dropped as, fortunately, the Captain had the same question, or at least topic of conversation. Who went when was incredibly important, and she wanted to know about what the conventional wisdom/general strategy was on that before she started speculating/planning. [color=1E90FF]“Nice choice, Cap! I can guarantee you’ll love what Richard’s cooking, though.”[/color] Terry then took a moment to give ear to Cap reiterating his explanation with his own words, then looked back to both of the napkins given to him earlier. It appeared that he was focusing a lot on his food that he misinterpreted what Amaterasu really meant when she wrote ‘My Order’ and ‘Our Orders.’ He let out a long [color=1E90FF]“ohhh…!!”[/color] in realization, snickering in embarrassment. [color=1E90FF]“Ah, my bad. Sorry about that, Ammy. I thought you were talking about the food,”[/color] Terry apologized, the furred deity’s exasperation noticed. [color=1E90FF]“I gotta agree with Cap here. That’s usually my strategy when it comes to determining the order. Though, I need to remind you guys that we can always change the order from one match to another as long as we get to advance to the next ones. I’d say, it also depends on whose team we’re facing here. The [i]lesser[/i] teams are normally easier to defeat, so about one or two of us should be enough to sweep them all. Now if we face guys like [url=https://snk.fandom.com/wiki/Team_Japan]Team Japan[/url], [url=https://snk.fandom.com/wiki/Team_Ikari_Warriors]Team Ikari[/url], or [url=https://snk.fandom.com/wiki/Team_Outlaw#Team_South_Town]Team South Town[/url], that’s a different story because—from my experience—they’re some of the toughest teams I’ve dealt with. So, yeah, that said, I can be the one to open our first match to show you guys the ropes. Then, after that, we can change the formation depending on who we’re facing. Whaddaya say?”[/color] Usually, Terry would’ve acted as the closer since he was the powerhouse of Team Fatal Fury, but for the Seekers’ first match, he figured he wanted to give them some kind of a demonstration to help them understand the tournament’s system directly. After all, some things were better demonstrated than they were verbally told, so he volunteered. [color=1E90FF]“And you, Ammy, I’d like to believe you’re the strongest in our team. I mean, you’re a goddess, after all. You could do stuff that we, otherwise, couldn’t do, being [i]mere[/i] mortals and all. So, how about this… How about you act as our closer for the first match-up, hm? I think you’d do well,”[/color] Terry answered Amaterasu’s initial question, peering over her before glancing at Cap. [color=1E90FF]“And now it’s up to you, Cap. You’re our chief. Just my two cents, but I think the order could be me, you, then Ammy for starters, but I dunno… Maybe you have better ideas in mind?”[/color] The wolf gave a bark, on board with this plan, entirely because it flattered her pride. Plus, she was sure it’d really throw whoever had been fighting humans before to suddenly face down the likes of her. Once in a while, Terry would shift his attention towards the other Seekers, all while helping his team place their orders when a Mii waitress approached. He reciprocated Sakura and Nadia when they talked in a conspiratorial tone, shooting back a playful smile at the former. As a fellow resident of Esaka, he knew where this was going. The locals were as rowdy as they could get, ‘gleaming’ or not ‘gleaming.’ [color=1E90FF]“Ohoho… Now, we’re talkin’, aren’t we?”[/color] Terry asked with a hint of mischief, then leaned himself forth simultaneously, his back leaving the comfortable backrest. He chewed his cheeseburger slowly, as though building a theatrical tension. [color=1E90FF]“About time, because I just came across one. Kinda. Guess now y’all know why I came here looking like a mess.”[/color] Considering the slight torn across the front of his shirt and his disheveled ponytail, all thanks to some space weirdos forcing him to combat them in a fight pit. [color=1E90FF]“Well, I’d say there are still many ways where you can make quick bucks in the city. Mind you, I often took odd jobs here and there, like working as a trucker, a delivery guy, or a construction worker for instance. Why am I still doing that, you asked? Because I do need an additional income while I’m not competing for a KOF tournament,”[/color] Terry added, then tossed the final piece of his cheeseburger wholly, chewing it with gusto. [color=1E90FF]“And then, we have what we called ‘Bonus Games’ where you can test your might and whatnot. Usually, it’s both the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat dojo holding all that stuff where you’re challenged to break a pile of bricks or destroy a car with bare hands. And then, they’ll reward you with prize money when you get to complete the challenges with flying colors. Otherwise, you’ll only get half the money if it’s partly successful.”[/color] [color=1f66b2]”Sounds like easy money, to me.”[/color] Falcon said with an eager glint behind his visor. [color=1f66b2]”Bet I can destroy a car in just one Falcon Punch!”[/color] He said, flexing the muscles of his right arm for emphasis. [color=1f66b2]”But I definitely hear you on needing extra income sometimes. Winning Grand Prix trophies is great but sometimes that alone isn’t enough to pay the bills. That was one of the reasons why I took up bounty hunting on the side.”[/color] That certainly sounded handy to Amaterasu. She didn’t regret her charity one bit, but it was a bit inconvenient to be utterly destitute, and so a bit of spare yen wouldn’t hurt. Or whatever the local currency might be. That said, there was one thing she thought might be more important to do before they fought in the tournament tomorrow, and that was to get Terry properly up to speed. Something they couldn’t do with that red in his eyes. The ‘Galeeming’ state, as it had been described, With that in mind, she wrote up a single word napkin note. With 1 rod every 8 seconds, it paid to be conservative. Said note said, quite simply, “Spar?” A simple way of going about getting him hurt, she thought. Terry chuckled by the time Cap flexed his biceps, not knowing if he should feel impressed or jealous by the masculine display. Nevertheless, his own ‘pythons’ were still noticeably large, and he never shied away from showcasing them for the eyes to see. [color=1E90FF]“Ha ha… Showing off much? Sounds like you got the gist, Cap. The bills ain’t gonna pay for themselves. Never mind, I used to have a kid to raise back home. His pops neglected him, so I took him under my care. But now he goes missing alongside most of the peeps I care for. Yeah, right, what a life, ain’t it? If losing a father and two ex-girlfriends ain’t enough, already…”[/color] he told Cap, his eased voice somewhat carrying a hint of protest. It was as if he could’ve never caught a break since the moment he lost his surrogate father—even worse now that his closest acquaintances were taken away from him. When Amaterasu handed him another napkin, Terry accepted and read the only word written across its flimsy surface. It said ‘spar’ with a question mark, and by the looks of it, the three-time KOF champion seemed to understand what the deity intended to offer him, even though he obviously didn’t know the true intention behind the sparring match. [color=1E90FF]“‘Spar?’ Why not?”[/color] he instantly approved, casually shrugging. [color=1E90FF]“Love me some good ol’ fashioned beat down with a new friend. But where should we do it, anyway? Right here at Pao Pao or…? Oh, wait, I think I have a better idea.”[/color] A confident smirk was played by the lower half of his face, as he pitched a notion to both of his teammates. [color=1E90FF]“How about a handicap match between the three of us? Captain Falcon and Amaterasu against your friendly neighborhood ‘Mr. Fatal Fury’? ’Cause I need to see how my new teammates fight firsthand.”[/color] Amaterasu cocked her head to the side, amazed by his self confidence given his earlier praise of her (presumed) prowess. Had that been a bluff? Was this one? Did he just really want to fight them two vs one for the challenge of it? Actually that fit, she thought. Along with his actual reason of course. It’d make her ulterior motive more or less sure thing however, that was for sure, so she had no issue with this setup. [color=1f66b2]”Sure, it makes sense to me.”[/color] Cap said in agreement to the plan for a sparring match. [color=1f66b2]”Plus as Captain, I need to make sure I’m also appraised of what we can all do. So a quick match between us sounds like the perfect way to figure all that out.”[/color] While waiting for his team’s approval, Terry didn’t forget to reciprocate the latter words that Zenkichi said to both himself and Sakura. He nodded in vague understanding, glancing at Zenkichi, Band, and Roland. [color=1E90FF]“Yeah, it’s fine. I getcha. My girlfriend’s a private detective too, y’know. If only she was here, she would’ve been more than happy to help y’all with the investigation,”[/color] he told the detectives, a hint of longing present in his voice. [color=1E90FF]“And that said, I’m game if you guys still need a bit of touring around Esaka. Now, now… what should I do first? Touring with you guys, training with my team, or… both?”[/color]