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[h3]Esaka, The Pools[/h3]

[b]Word Count:[/b] 6152 (+7)
[b]Level 6 Captain Falcon:[/b] 63/60
[b]Level 10 Terry Bogard:[/b] 16/100
[b]Level 8 Amaterasu:[/b] 32/90

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While meandering around post pool victory, Team Seekers of Fight found themselves with a somewhat run down parking lot sporting six vehicles all sitting there entirely innocent looking to the eyes at first. But just to the eyes. To Ammy’s nose, they smelled of blight and decay of a kind far more foul than that of regular oil powered vehicles (things she had encountered very rarely, but had context of from her time in the dead zone.

Two yokai sat outside the lot certainly weren't fooled either, the skeleton driven [url=https://i.imgur.com/vYVyAbu.png]Oboroguruma[/url] and the cute little [url=https://i.imgur.com/GfLZcPn.png]Oh Wheel[/url] both heckling the machines as “posers!” and “hacks” for being “no good style stealers!”  

Still, despite this, to the eye the cop car, swat van, four by four, taxi cab, hot rod and dinky one seater all looked normal. Until they laid their eyes on the seekers. Because eyes they had, be they in the headlights or more fleshy in nature, and when they saw fresh meat, engines were gunned, lights flared, and the [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoTV0pY1I4A]motorcar massacre[/url] was on.

Right out the gate, the little one seater revealed a biting bumper and four staring eyes which all locked onto Terry as it came rushing at him. It was joined by the snarling form of the [url=https://i.imgur.com/6LbcvPq.jpeg]hotrod[/url] who’s front grill opened wide, forming into venom dripping fangs, which rushed Captain Falcon. Finally, the four by four upped the ante in grotesquery as it reared up and tried to slam down its fleshy [url=https://i.imgur.com/js60LKq.png]underbelly[/url] on top of Amataretsu.

Finally, the wolf paused time, drew two lines, and then returned time at a slowed pace that gave her enough to unload a hail of divine beads into the underbelly of the four by four before she lurched out of the way and avoided being crushed beneath it.

The cars roared on, and behind them came more machines from hell. The taxi revealed [url=https://i.imgur.com/j4xSOM2.png]human teeth[/url] from which it vomited up a bouncing oil barrel. The copcar’s former passengers [url=https://i.imgur.com/A8t9wmx.png]oozed out of it[/url] dogs barking hand hauling the machine towards the seekers while the cop fired a fuselage of pistol, shotgun and taser rounds at the seekers. Finally the SWAT van reversed towards them, back opening up to reveal a massive suffering [url=https://i.imgur.com/5s4IBNN.png]face[/url], which in turn opened it’s maw to reveal three formerly human [url=https://i.imgur.com/SEVadYi.png]tongues[/url] that attacked with trungeon, shotgun and teeth.

[color=1f66b2]”Whoa!”[/color] Cap yelped as he instinctively put his arms up to block the rushing hotrod. The beat up vehicle slammed him but he managed to at least hold his footing. And thankfully he took no damage because of his Mint Condition boon kicking in. With that boon in mind, the bounty hunter figured it would be a good idea to make the most of it.

[color=1f66b2]”Falcon PUNCH!”[/color] He barked out, using his brief seconds of invincibility to wind up the technique so he could unleash the explosive punch on the hotrod when it made its next pass at him.

[color=1E90FF]“Yo, what the fuck!?”[/color]

Just when he thought he could take a break from the crowd of fighters chanting [i]‘this is ass’[/i] following their rather cluttered first match, Terry and his partners had to deal with what appeared to be an army of possessed cars that’d been abandoned there for obvious reasons. Rumors had it that these were supposed to be the cars used for the Bonus Game routinely held by the Street Fighter Dojo if one was looking forward to testing their strength and earning some fresh money in the process.

However, little did their buyer realize, these cars were no ordinary vehicles, as they’d been infused with the spirits of the deceased by whoever was manufacturing them. Initially, nobody from the Street Fighter Dojo noticed it until the cars began to show signs of manifestation, and in the process, injured tens of fighters taking on the challenge. As to who produced the cars and the exact location they were imported from remained a mystery. Worse now that nobody had ever told Terry where all these cars were dumped until he and his team came across a rather secluded corner of the Pools, just a few feet across from the prior makeshift stage.

[color=1E90FF][i]God, I wish I knew there were monsters hiding here. We’re so cooked![/i][/color]

There was no time to muse, he also thought. As the little one seater with a mouth-like bumper and two frightening pairs of eyes lunged in, Terry narrowly sidestepped out of harm’s way, slamming the duffle bag in his grip away. His pet monkey, Ukee, was still perching and holding onto the crown of his head, his miniscule fingers squeezing the red fabric of his dampened cap.

[color=1E90FF]“Just hold tight, Ukee!”[/color]

[b][i]BONK![/i][/b]

[color=1E90FF]“Ouch!”[/color]

Then, a rather sizable oil drum knocked Terry by the temple, close to stunning him on sight. He wobbled, his upright form faltering as he placed a hand over his hammered temple. If it wasn’t for Ukee smacking his tail against Terry’s face repeatedly, it might’ve taken a while until he completely regathered himself. Once his dizziness was cleared, he shook his head, then glanced over the source of the flinging oil barrel, noticing that it came from an uncanny taxi cab with sharp, eerie teeth. 

[color=1E90FF]“Shit…”[/color]

The sight surprised Terry for a moment, his lips reflexively parting, though before he could truly retaliate, the taxi cab had—once again—spilled rounds after rounds of oil barrels in his direction, which he managed to block with his guarding forearms. Ukee, too, aided Terry in his effort, as he caught one of the barrels in mid-air and hurled the barrel back to its sender. The barrel managed to connect with a small [b][i]thud[/i][/b], hitting the roof sign perching atop her pale yellow head. The impact knocked the cab back, infuriating her in the process.

[color=1E90FF]“Uh–oh!”[/color]

Gently, Terry moved his forearms away, trying to get a better picture of his furious opponent. Grunting and crackling, the taxi cab had slightly stood out of the ground, her pair of back wheels propping her entire weight. With one of her dangling front wheels, she summoned and hurled a smaller, spiky wheel in the brawny blonde’s direction, prompting him to—thankfully—leap to his side in reflexive anticipation. The taxi cab didn’t drop herself just yet. As she continued to stand, she fired a pair of lightning beams out of her eyes, aiming them at Terry. Fortunately, in a blur of red, yellow, and blue, the three-time KOF champion had already charged himself towards the monstrous cab, not only avoiding the firing beams, but also retaliating with a ki-fueled [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/3c499d85de06.jpg]shoulder tackle[/url].

[color=1E90FF][b]“POWER CHARGE!!”[/b][/color]

[b][i]THUMP![/i][/b]

The collision between hardening flesh and metallic underside shook the cab’s entire frame, shoving her dozens of feet to the back. Terry continued to charge forth, using the cab’s upper side as a shield to foil and deflect the bullets fired by an armed, perhaps zombified human puppeteered by the reversed SWAT van. Eventually, he managed to corner the van to the store’s wall behind, leaving a broad fracture across its solid surface.

[color=1f66b2]”Gen’ei Kyaku!”[/color] Came Falcon’s voice nearby as his barrage of kicks battered the hotrod. With the car already beaten up at the start of the fight it was pretty hard to discern just how much damage Cap’s punches and kicks were doing to it. The only measuring stick he really had was his other boon from Hephaestus that had rarely come up until now - his Molten Touch.

As Captain Falcon struck at the battered hotrod, the heat from his fists burned into its metallic chassis, inevitably causing armor damage to it. So that let the bounty hunter know that as long as he kept going at it, his Molten Touch would eventually break the car’s body down and hopefully to the point of immobility.

But not quite yet as the hotrod managed to reverse itself away from Falcon’s flurry of strikes and rev up for another charging pass. When it gunned the engine and surged forward, Cap crouched low and then launched upward for a leap to avoid the incoming ram. Then, while midair… [color=1f66b2]”Falcon Kick!”[/color] This dropped the Captain back down onto the hotrod like a flaming meteor. The kick itself wasn’t super strong, but it landed Cap on the roof of the hotrod, and allowed him to beat down on it from above.

At this point the hotrod was thrashing like some kind of bull at a rodeo. It erratically hit the gas and the breaks, attempting to swerve about and throw its attacker off the roof. But it was to little avail as Captain Falcon’s Molten Touch allowed his fists to break down the car’s body further and further until the hotrod was halfway to being a smoldering heap.

[b][i]THWACK![/i][/b]

[b][i]CRACK![/i][/b]

The van was sandwiched between the cab and the wall, the vehicles’ sturdy frames squashed and wrecked. When Terry distanced himself, he found that the cab’s eyes had shown a comical pair of cross symbols, as if signifying that the trapped, tormented spirit had left the once inanimate vehicle.

[color=1E90FF]“Whew… That should do… I guess?”[/color] Terry told himself, then shrugged and raised a pair of doubtful hands, worried that he might’ve just claimed the [i]lives[/i] of two vehicles.

[color=1f66b2]”Okay… demon-possessed cars were certainly not on my bingo card for today.”[/color] Falcon said, brushing himself off after it became clear that the hotrod he was fighting was no longer going to move.

[color=1E90FF]“I know right?”[/color] Terry glanced sidelong over Cap, noticing his seemingly puzzled reaction. He could only guess that the bounty hunter was more confused as to what just happened than the fact that he, too, had freed a caged spirit out of their weather-beaten vessel.

The three crushed cars shuddered and groaned, and then one by one burst to ash, leaving the spirits behind. That left three more still standing.

[b][i]SHUNK![/i][/b]

Or rather it left two, as Amaterasu's invisible blade cleaved through the two seater, bisecting the little machine and briefly revealing a spill of guts before it too turned to ash.

The four by four wasn’t looking too good either, large gashes in its frame denoting where the divine wolf’s blade had bit into it. The cop car meanwhile was missing a few bites of its own, as several of the mutant dogs fused to it had been put to rest, bodies sundered, heads split from necks.

Still those that had survived tried to harry the wolf, who darted too and fro even as she backed away, endeavoring to evade both them and the aim of the cop’s quartet of the weapons. 

She’d been regularly pausing the world just to keep track of the other cars, and doing so saved her hide now as she had time to assess the incoming four by four, and the likely aim of the cop before making a decision. She broke away, charging towards the four by four. She slowed her weaving, making herself a nice juicy target, and then at just the right moment hurled herself to the side, leaving gunfire to hammer into the four by four. It wasn’t that which she was after, but the taser round left hanging in the air when she paused the world, lighting tingling at its tips.

Lighting which the goddess stole.

Two lines were drawn, arching from that low voltage shot, replicating its power and driving it to strike into the pair of vehicles, briefly paralyzing them and preventing them from diverting course.

A moment later the two machines smashed into each other in a ghastly collision of steel and viscera, flesh and metal becoming intertwined in a heaping mess. Still, they didn’t fall to that, but did fall as the wolf rushed in and skewered the torso of the cop with her blade, before backfliping, drawing the sword from its ashing corpse, and then slamming it right through the front of the hood into where she knew the hidden head of the four by four lingered.

She finished just a few moments after the two brawlers finished their own machines, landing gracefully amid the ashes of the fallen.

[color=1E90FF]“Ouch…”[/color]

When Terry was about to help, it appeared that Amaterasu, too, had eliminated the last two vehicles in her path. He jerked his shoulders up at the sight and scrunched his face, disgusted at the sight of flesh meeting steel, as well as the zombified cop skewered like a blood-soaked shish kebab. Once again, he was reminded of the reason why he’d never bothered himself to sign up for the Mortal Kombat tournament. If anything, grotesque sights similar to this were that reason, as he couldn’t stand having to see others getting tormented and executed live, let alone having to be the one performing the execution. Ironic because… didn’t he just do the same stuff to the prior cab and SWAT van? In a cosmic sort of thing, indeed.

As he took a deep, suppressed breath, Terry unfurled his curled hands, easing the tension in his muscles. He readjusted the cap worn over his golden head, noticing that Ukee was still clawing and holding onto its gaudy red crown when he glanced up, his miniscule fingers slightly loosening. Carefully, the little monkey hopped out of the cap’s crown to perch on his human bestie’s shoulder, only to leap forth when Terry offered him his hand. He now let Ukee perch atop the back of his hand.

[color=1E90FF]“Ukee! Are you okay?”[/color] Terry asked with a smile, his voice gentle. The monkey only screeched happily, as he caressed him by the crown of his head, his gloved palm running through the brown fur. The brawny blonde then looked ahead of him, his sky-blue eyes bouncing between both of his partners. [color=1E90FF]“Alright, you guys, that was a great fight, but… what now?”[/color]

Deep down, Terry was grateful to see his partners still in one piece, having defeated the monstrosity that was the living, breathing cars from Hell. There were only six of them when they first came around, and they’d eliminated all six of them. While he didn’t know the exact amount of cars being dumped by the Street Fighter Dojo, there couldn’t be more than just six, could it? No. He was bloody wrong! From behind him, a hand-like wheel seemed to be nudging his shoulder, as if inviting him to look behind. He did, eventually, do so and even turned around, only to find [url=https://www.fightersgeneration.com/nx2/game/fightersmegamix/hornet-fightersmegamix-sprite.gif]a blue-and-red racing car[/url] standing right in front of him, assuming a rather unorthodox fighting stance.

[color=1E90FF]“What the—!?”[/color]

Alongside the [url=https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/Hornet_(Fighters_Megamix)]Hornet[/url] car was another one of its kind sporting [url=https://www.fightersgeneration.com/nx2/game/fightersmegamix/hornet-fightersmegamix-sprite2.gif]a mostly red-and-yellow paint job[/url], followed by [url=https://i.imgur.com/3wRlCAy.png]a frightening devil-shaped car[/url] decked with a licensed plate that oddly displayed the word ‘Hell’ in all caps, instead of the traditional combination of letters and numbers. One could only guess that they might’ve just traveled somewhere outside of the parking lot before returning to find their fellows turning into nothing more than mere ashes. Furious at the sight, the blue-and-red Hornet roared its engine, still standing on its pair of rear wheels. Gradually, it [url=https://www.fightersgeneration.com/nf7/char/hornet-fightersmegamix-sega.gif]dropped its entire weight[/url] onto its human opponent, intending to trap him beneath its steely underside.

[b][i]THUD![/i][/b]

Gusts were blown around the wheels, as they were slammed against the paved ground. Much to its chagrin, however…

[color=1E90FF]“Missed!”[/color]

…Terry had successfully evaded, rolling away almost automatically. As he curled his entire frame, he kept Ukee close to his torso, securely wrapping him around his muscular arms. Halting on his knee, the three-time KOF champion settled his monkey friend down, patting his head.

[color=1E90FF]“It’s okay, buddy. You’re safe now,”[/color] he told Ukee, eliciting a grateful snicker from the latter. When he darted his gaze back ahead, the roaring Hornet had stood on its rear wheels once again, craning its front wheels as if clenching a pair of imaginary fists. The brawny blonde stood out of his kneeling position, his ready stance also assumed.

[color=1E90FF]“Ukee, promise me you’ll do me one favour, okay?”[/color] he questioned, in which Ukee nodded in reciprocation. [color=1E90FF]“Just step back and save yourself. I’ll take care of this wheeled freak.”[/color]

As much as he wanted to help, Ukee did as his human bestie told him, taking a couple of steps back to give Terry some space. Both the man and the car circled and gauged each other up, trying to get into each other’s head (if the Hornet had any). While the Hornets were nowhere near as horrifying as any of the cars they’d faced prior, he thought they were still every bit as dangerous as any of the living vehicles were, considering they seemed to know a thing or two about hand-to-hand combat like any other Esakans did. As the blue-and-red racing car hurled its side forth, Terry spread his arms out for a few seconds before closing the distance with [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/0eebf6102945.gif]a swift dash[/url], his flaring knuckles striking forth.

[color=1E90FF][b]“BURN KNUCKLE!!”[/b][/color]

While Terry was occupied, both the red-and-yellow Hornet and Hellride drove themselves towards Cap and Amaterasu at full speed, ready to engage themselves in a scuffle.

As the Hellride got closer, it became quite clear what these machines had been doing rampaging around, namely gathering up people and [url=i.imgur.com/PqpWFtG.png]stuffing them inside the hellride[/url]. The mass of hostages/victims naturally gave Amatarasu pause. The sight of a familiar [url=https://i.imgur.com/V6zGbcU.jpeg]burly snowman[/url] and a  [url=https://i.imgur.com/25byiOk.png]traditional dress college student[/url] trying to do battle with the vehicles [url=https://i.imgur.com/QTGZ6PW.png]interior[/url] gave her a sense of both dread and hope.

The hellride had picked some stubborn meals, that was for sure, but the regular joes were very much getting in the way of the fighters’ attempts to get them all out of this jam. They’d need outside help.

Unfortunately, the hellride wanted them inside alongside them, which is why it flared its headlights as it approached attempting to blind them, before opening its maw wide and trying to swallow them whole.

The divine wolf lost her mundane sight to the machine, but quickly used her ability to paint with her celestial brush to overcome this. Every heartbeat she’d pause time and view the world from a disembodied view, and step by stuttering step she timed a grand leap to launch into the air, and then brought her sun disk down to parry the machine’s blighted fangs as it tried to snap her out of the air.

She landed on the roof of the hellride with a stumbling step, only for the red-and-yellow car to leap up onto its hind wheels and punch her clean off the roof with one of its tires. That, she had not at all seen coming.

Red-and-yellow went after the wolf, while the hellride drifted to the side, rubber literally burning, and then roared towards the Captain to try and devour him whole instead.

Falcon was waiting and ready for it. The bounty hunter didn’t dodge, not this time. Instead the man planted his boots and wound up his electrified fist yet again. [color=1f66b2]”Falcon…!”[/color] With a lunging step forward, the F-Zero Pilot launched his explosive fist into the oncoming Hellride’s hood.

[color=1f66b2]”PUUUUUNCH!”[/color]

Of course, Cap wasn’t conceited enough to think he could take out the machine in just one blow, even one as strong as his iconic Falcon Punch. And he was right, too. His Falcon Punch had stopped the Hellride from devouring him, but the machine looked like it was still burning for a fight. In fact it looked like it mostly shrugged off the flames of the Falcon Punch, suffering only from the raw impact of the punch instead. That was enough of a hint for the Captain that this would be a bit tougher than the Hotrod earlier had been.

He charged and began pummeling the seemingly demonic car with his fists and legs. Thankfully Falcon was more agile at maneuvering himself and could avoid being devoured. On the other hand, the Hellride could just fire up its engines and take swipes at Falcon by drifting laps around him. But the more Cap’s made contact with Hellride, the more he started to notice something peculiar. The machine’s body appeared to be suffering more degradation from being struck by Falcon’s Molten Touch than Hotrod before it. Was this hellish car weak against armor damage? He also noticed that the car was a lot more vulnerable to lightning.

That was what gave Captain Falcon his strategy. He shifted gears, focusing on infusing his punches with lightning rather than the usual fire. This unfortunately prevented him from being able to rely on very many of Robert’s techniques as most of them were fire elemental. Instead Cap had to keep this more strictly as a combo beatdown. During one of the Hellride’s passes he managed to jump onto its roof and beat down relentlessly on its roof. By this point the degradation to its armor from Molten Touch was beginning to slow the vehicle down.

This prompted Cap to hop back to the ground and barrage the car with a [color=1f66b2]”Gen’ei Kyaku!”[/color] The flurry of kicks then led into Cap flashing blue as he consumed a Power Gauge stock and unleashed [color=1f66b2]”Ryuuko Ranbu!”[/color] After the flash of blue he lunged for the Hellride and let loose a powered up beatdown of lighting infused fists that he ended with a powerful uppercut that sent Cap flying upward. That, at least, appeared to be enough to finally put down Hellride.

Though more than a little rattled, the unwilling passengers were freed by this beatdown, spilling out onto the ground in an ungainly pile of bodies. It was something of a miracle that Galeem’s influence hadn't forced them into fighting each other or the captain from all the jossling, but given the confusion of being crammed in there, it seemed none had been able to tell who was to blame for their various non-hellcar inflicted injuries.

They were still going to need help however.

Amaterasu would have been happy to give it, just as soon as she finished with the car she herself was fighting. The wolf had stolen both fire and lightning from the captain while he was beating down the hell car, and her own vehicular foe was in an utter state as a result. All that was needed was one last combo to finish the job.

Dodging out of the way of a swung tire, the wolf emptied a volley of divine beads into the chassis of the upright standing car to stagger it, before leaping up and using her sun disk to smash it down onto four wheels where it belonged. She then kept hammering it with the sun disk, smashing the bludgeon down over and over as it tried to rise once more. Once sufficiently beat down, she grabbed her sword in her jaw, rose up on her hind legs, and delivered an overhead cleave into the machine, cleaving the oversized blade into the hood and windscreen of the car. She then ripped the blade free, before pausing the world, drawing a slash through her existing blade wound, and with it finished the cut, bisecting the machine.

That just left Terry to finish the job.

[b][i]THWACK![/i][/b]

A burst of hit spark erupted as Terry’s Burning Knuckle collided with the Hornet’s charging [i]shoulder[/i], quickly separating them from one another. From then on, the two closed the distance and exchanged physical attacks, limbs meeting wheels. At one point, Terry even managed to deliver [url=https://www.fightersgeneration.com/characters4/terry-ff3-combo4.gif]a series of smooth, consecutive body blows[/url] onto the blue-and-red’s steely underside, followed by [url=https://www.fightersgeneration.com/characters4/terry-ff3-combo.gif]a swifter sequence of attacks[/url] consisted of alternating fists and a subsequent, flying backhanded flail.

[b][i]KA–POW![/i][/b]

[color=1E90FF][b]“Hyahh–!!”[/b][/color] Terry bellowed, as each of his flails seamlessly connected. [color=1E90FF]“Eat this! You like that!?”[/color]

The Hornet was pushed a couple of feet back, its blue roof stumbling across the verdant garbage container behind.

[b][i]THUD![/i][/b]

The racing car bounced forth, the collision forming craters across the garbage container and the car’s blue roof respectively. It finally settled down on both pairs of wheels like a normal car would, its blue hood nearly yanking itself out of its position. As he landed on both feet, Terry wasted no chance and dashed forth, extending a leg for [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/76d4a0a0ee50.gif]a charging Big Boot[/url].

[color=1E90FF][b]“Hah!”[/b][/color]

[b][i]WHAM![/i][/b]

The Big Boot connected… didn’t it? Oh, you thought it did. When the boot was only inches away from its front, the Hornet immediately sprung up, catching the poor Terry off guard with [url=https://www.fightersgeneration.com/news2022/char3/hornet-vs-bark-fighters-megamix2.gif]a stiff right hook[/url]. Wheel meeting flesh, the right hook ran across the brawny blonde’s cheek, launching him backwards and leaving a tire-shaped bruise across his cheek.

[color=1E90FF]“Gwahhh–!!”[/color]

[b][i]THUMP![/i][/b]

[color=1E90FF][b]“Agh!!”[/b][/color]

Terry’s back collided with the wall behind, a concoction of blood and saliva jolting out of his gasping mouth. The collision was so strong it broadened the fracture that was caused upon its frame by the prior sandwiched vehicles, echoing audible noises. The former KOF champion landed on his front, his baseball cap flying out of his head. He carefully drew himself up on all fours, his breath a bit heavier than usual.

Unfortunately, before he could truly stand out of his lowered form, the approaching Hornet had caught and lifted his gallant frame out of the ground, both of its front wheels tight around both sides of his neck. The blue-and-red racing car settled the trapped Terry down on both of his boots, then began [url=https://www.fightersgeneration.com/news2022/char2/hornet-fighting-vipers-sega-gif.gif]reeling its front wheels[/url] around his shoulders, attempting to mill every fiber of his muscles. Fortunately, before the Hornet could proceed to flatten Terry further…

[b][i]SWOOSH![/i][/b]

[b][i]KNOCK![/i][/b]

[b]“HADOUKEN!!”[/b]

[url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/962e1a14549e.jpg]Something[/url] had poked its roof from behind—a sort of blueish fireball resembling a pair of glued clawing hands shoving out. Distracted, the Hornet released its tight, reeling grip on Terry’s neck and shoulders, turning against his opponent to find that its ambusher was none other than… 

[color=1E90FF][b]“Ken??”[/b][/color]

Clad in sleeveless red gi and a pair of padded, sparring gloves, [url=https://www.fightersgeneration.com/nf7/char/ken-masters-smash-ultimate-artwork.png]the fellow blue-eyed blonde[/url] smirked at both the gassed Terry and the distracted Hornet, fists clenched and [url=https://www.fightersgeneration.com/np5/char/ssf2hd/ken-hdstance.gif]fighting stance[/url] assumed.

“Talk about old times, Terry,” Ken told the younger blonde, then stopped hopping in place, only to taunt the Hornet with a waving, beckoning finger. “C’mon! Let’s turn up the heat!”

Forming an imaginary frowning face at the taunt, the blue-roofed Hornet revved and hurled itself in Ken’s direction, answering his challenge with a slamming front wheel to the face. Thankfully, before the flailing tire could flatten his visage, Ken had already tackled it, his entire frame flickering blue as [url=https://www.fightersgeneration.com/characters2/ken-parry.gif]his parrying wrist[/url] met its running wheel. The owner of Street Fighter Dojo went on to bombard the rowdy car with swift flails and kicks, quickly filling up his [b][color=lightblue]power gauge[/color][/b]. Once activated…

“[i]Ikuze[/i]!”

…a flickering blue light emerged around his leading fist, allowing him to execute his Super Art. Lunging in, Ken performed [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/cc8487ac3442.webp]a series of flying uppercuts[/url] onto the Hornet, concluding the string of devastating attacks with a fiery Shoryuken that was sure to set his opponent on fire. 

[b]“SHORYUREPPA!!!”[/b]

The Shoryureppa didn’t only shroud the Hornet in flames, but also sent it hurling towards the recovering younger blonde.

[b]“Terry!”[/b]

Terry, with a smirk on his face, hardened his fist and activated the newly obtained [b][color=lightgreen]gauge stock[/color][/b] in his possession, closing the distance between himself and the descending Hornet with a dash. 

[color=1E90FF]“Beat up!”[/color]

Executing the [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/9adb5ddd0567.gif]Rising Beat[/url], the three-time KOF champion began by bombarding his opponent with a series of physical attacks consisting of an elbow thrust, an uppercut, and kicks of varying degrees of severity before drawing himself back to fire an energy explosion through his extending knuckles, his free hand supporting the leading arm.

[b][i]KA–BOOM![/i][/b]

[color=1E90FF][b]“MAX POWER!!!”[/b][/color]

Just like that, Terry devastated the Hornet with his desperation move, causing both its blue roof and hood to fling out of their respective positions. The Hornet landed harshly, but as soon as it touched the ground…

[b][i]POP![/i][/b]

…it dissipated and reduced into ashes, the spirit caged within ascending towards the spirit realm to join their fellows. Ken, showing little remorse to the now destroyed inanimate vehicle, struck a V-sign forth with two of his fingers, grinning from ear to ear.

[b]“Yay!”[/b]

As for Terry, he only shouted [color=1E90FF]“good luck!”[/color] and flexed his muscular arm a bit, hesitantly smiling and winking. Around the same time, Ukee began climbing his back like a wall, eventually perching on his shoulder. The monkey placed his bestie’s cap back around his golden head, then in a celebratory fashion, performed a couple of backflips, much to Terry’s amusement. While Terry caressed Ukee’s head, Ken approached, his bare strides drawing closely. 

“Ah… Sorry about the inconvenience,” Ken apologized, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “I’d always wanted to clean up the mess, but—”

[color=1E90FF]“Hey, it’s cool! Glad to help,”[/color] Terry disrupted, smiling and placing a reassuring hand atop the older blonde’s shoulder. He took a moment to look behind him, slightly flinching at the sight of ashes scattering around the abandoned parking lot. [color=1E90FF]“But, jeez… This doesn’t look too nice. What’s the deal with all those possessed cars, anyway? You bought the wrong ones?”[/color]

“Well, you can say that again,” Ken confirmed, his expression turning wry at the sight. “Most importantly, I’d been scammed to buy those cars for our little, daily Bonus Game back at the dojo. That [url=https://deltarune.fandom.com/wiki/Spamton]Spamton[/url] scum… I swear, the next time we meet again…” He stifled his mouth, curling and clenching his hand into a fist.

[color=1E90FF]“Hey, man, take it easy, alright? It happens,”[/color] Terry reassured, knowing damn well that this wasn’t the first time his friend had been scammed by a questionable businessman. [color=1E90FF]“What matters now is that we’ve cleaned up the mess. And, I guess, setting those trapped ghosts free…”[/color]

“I think so…” Then, about the same time Cap and Amaterasu finished their fights, Ken glanced over them past Terry’s shoulder, pointing a finger at the two. “Are those your new teammates?”

[color=1E90FF]“Hmm? Oh!”[/color] With his eyes, Terry followed where Ken was pointing at, confirming his assumption with a nod. [color=1E90FF]“Those two? Yeah, that’s my brand new team, alright. They’re Captain Falcon and Ammy. We just had our first match a while back.”[/color]

“Ah…” Ken simply answered, arching his eyebrows and slightly drawing his head back. Then, he was reminded of what happened to Terry’s previous team prior to this year’s tournament, his softened expression a hint of sympathy. “I’m… sorry about your previous team. Wish Chun and I could’ve helped better.”

[color=1E90FF]“Yeah, it’s fine,”[/color] Terry reassured with a nod, then clenched his lips, his heart aching at the mention of his prior team despite the smile on his face. [color=1E90FF]“You’ve done your best. I’ll probably find them one way or another. Besides, my new team ain’t that shabby, either. If you saw our match, dude, I tell ya what, these peeps are radical! They look like they’ve been fighting their whole lives.”[/color]

“Yeah, I can tell,” Ken agreed with a grin, nodding his head. “Oh, and by the way…” He revealed a sizable pouch from beneath his gi, handing it to Terry. “Here, for all three of you. I know you’re gonna need this the most. There are 45,000 zennies inside that pouch. Just consider this my way of repaying you for helping me through those tough times.”

[color=1E90FF]“Hey, don’t bother yourself like that, Kenny boy,”[/color] Terry told Ken with a hearty snicker, hesitating for a moment before eventually taking the pouch in the latter’s grip. [color=1E90FF]“You’re my close bud, y’know. A wise man once told me that a friend’s gotta look after a friend, won’t you agree?”[/color]

“I can’t agree more,” Ken reciprocated with a smirk, close to snickering. “Well, then, until next time. Wish you and your team the best of luck!” He then held out his knuckles towards Terry, in which the latter reciprocated by nudging them with his own. A knocking noise was heard. 

[color=1E90FF]“Thanks, Ken! Can say the same about you,”[/color] Terry said. [color=1E90FF]“Just let the Street Fighter guys know that I said ‘hi,’ will ya? It was fun competin’ for the World Warrior tournament back then.”[/color]

“Oh, you bet!” Ken reassured, his smile widening. “I’ll see you around, Terry. Whenever that is…”

As Ken parted ways, Terry gave him a big waving hand before turning to face his partners, his hand still holding the pouch given to him. Perhaps, the older blonde was right, after all. For some reason, he seemed to know that Terry had just run out of money.

[color=1E90FF]“Nice work, team! A friend of mine just gave us a ton of money for cleaning up the mess,”[/color] Terry told both Cap and Amaterasu, gesturing at the pouch in his hand. [color=1E90FF]“It’s 45,000 zennies total, so, um… should we just split the prize now or are we gonna use some of it for lunch?”[/color]

Having just finished help sort out the pile of the hell ride’s unwilling passengers (who were, fortunately, tough enough that they could either walk it off or taken to a healer by those who could) visibly wagged her tail at the thought of lunch before stilling that impulse. Her vote was clear, and there was little reason for anyone else to go against it. It wasn’t like she’d have an easy time paying her own tab after all.

First things first, however, the wolf did a quick run around to gather up all the vehicular spirits. They weren't going to be her first foray into fusion, that was for sure, but they could still find some use for them.