Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

METRO CITY, 1989

A news briefing came on live from the Metro City Honors Ball news briefing came on live from the Metro City Honors Ball.

"We now bring you back to our live coverage from the gala. Mike Haggar has taken to the stage as we awaited his first formal address as mayor in city hall."

Inside a room where news reporters, cameras, other journalists, among other people stood before the mayor himself, Mike Haggar, a former professional wrestler who had retired from the sport just a few years prior. This man was of tremendously muscular build and stood there in a suit at a podium. He wasn't alone, though, as two muscular men with blond hair stood up there with him, as well as a dark-skinned man with long hair.

The two blond men were Lucky Colt and Aleksey Zalazof, also known as "Gunloc" and "Biff Slamkovich," respectively as they were wrestlers who were trained by Haggar. The other man was Carlos Miyamoto, a martial artist whom Haggar also knew and worked as another bodyguard. Although Haggar was known to handle himself in a fight, he figured it didn't hurt to have these three men as his personal security.

Haggar stood at the podium quietly. Many reporters, as well as other gala attendees wondered why he hadn't said anything since coming up to the stage as they all sat at their tables waiting for their mayor to break the silence.

Haggar took a deep breath and looked towards all of the guests. "I apologize for not being in a celebratory mood tonight, and I appreciate the invitation to this fancy event. It's just something has been on mind as of late. Recently, I thought it's time for you all to think about something different. Why struggle when tomorrow brings nothing to live for, a bleak statement that I have heard from a few of our own fellow citizens. Maybe some of you are unaware of the suffering in Metro City, my city."

Haggar pointed towards himself when he enunciated Metro City as his.

"When did prosperity, contentment, and the right to not be murdered in cold blood become such a far-fetched dream? I turned my back on my home once. I no-showed when it was at its weakest, crying out for help. Hell, no one showed. And our apathy gave way for Mad Gear to rise. The Mad Gear Gang is not a threat. They are opportunists, preying on our undeniable weaknesses, turning us against each other, and pillaging us of our individual values, only because…we…let…them. There's a sleeping beast within this city, and once we wake, we return to ourselves, once we care again – the question will not be 'can we stop Mad Gear?' but how long will it be before they beg for mercy. It's time to wake up, not for me, but for our home."

A male journalist stood up. "Excuse me, Mr. Haggar, mayor elect. I got a question. Metaphors about 'sleeping beasts' aside, what have you done for us as mayor elect? The way you're romanticizing our crime problem has me, and I'm sure many of our suffering citizens concerned. How hard is it, and with the full force of the Metro City Police Department standing behind you to round up a couple of punk kids?"

"Are you blind?" Haggar said. "They take control because you think you understand the problem."

"Care to elaborate?" the journalist said.

Haggar sighed. "You don't fight a virus by draining all the blood from your veins. Those 'punk kids' you speak of – they're our kids! They're not the ones running the show. Mad Gear has proved to have caused a lot of shit in our city. Many of our citizens have been suffering and with Mad Gear running shit, it's time we all fix the problem together. Many of the communities need our help."

A female journalist stood and raised her hand. "Excuse me, Mr. Mayor, but I have a comment that I'd like to share. Sources have told me that there have been other sources to help give back to our community to help fix our criminal element, as well as the economy. One example was another mayoral candidate, Horace Belger, who had been providing for our schools in poor neighborhoods, as well as helping out with homeless people. In fact, some people believe that Mr. Belger was cheated out of the election. Mr. Belger had shown to be quite the philanthropist in our city and would have possibly taken the city in the right direction."

"What Horace Belger said or any supporters of his said, for that matter, that's none of my concern," Haggar said. "My main focus is to help clear the problem. Mad Gear had grown stronger as they run all of Metro City. Hell, our previous mayor didn't do a damn thing. I don't doubt that whoever is running Mad Gear had him in their pocket."

With Haggar uttering a minor expletive in his speech, clearly the journalists were trying to make him look bad in some way. He was still mayor elect, but deep down, Haggar knew that there had to be a way to take the problem with Mad Gear.

Meanwhile, out in the streets of Metro City, a young Caucasian man with blond hair in his early-20s was seen jogging in the night. He was wearing a plain white T-shirt, blue sweatpants, and had white tape around his hands. One could wonder what the tape was for as this young man just appeared to be jogging for exercise. This man was Cody Travers.

Cody went to a stop alongside a wall with graffiti. What drew his attention was a long strip of police tape and some blood on the sidewalk. He looked around and it didn't take long for him to see that someone likely got assaulted and badly beaten right here, or worse, killed. Just another night in the hard streets of Metro City.

Nonetheless, Cody continued to jog down a few blocks and then crossed into an alleyway. As he jogged, a young pretty blonde girl walked towards him while he was still focused on his workout.

"Hey, you feel like taking a break?" the girl said. Cody saw this girl as she approached him. She did not look older than 19, but she was dressed in a miniskirt and had a denim jacket on with a crop top. If that wasn't bad enough, the makeup on her face appeared to be hiding some bruises she had received not too long before. He knew what kind of girl she was. Cody wasn't about to have any of it and tried to move along past this girl.

"We all could use an escape sometime, right?" the girl said and touched his body with a smile on her face. "Especially here."

The only thing Cody did in response was touch her shoulder and pushed her out of the way so that he could continue his jog. The smile on the girl's face quickly turned to a look of stress and took a deep breath.

"Wait," she said as Cody walked away and grabbed his arm. "Please, I'm getting behind tonight, and I can't let it…" The girl's voice cracked a bit when she said that and then forced a smile on her face. "I'll be worth your time."

"Hey, man." A male voice caught Cody's attention as he looked up. The girl's expression said "oh shit." Cody saw a man who was a tad bigger than him coming out from around the corner of a wall and wore a red jacket and had a rather mean look about him. Cody knew what this guy was about.

"Going somewhere or what?" the pimp said. The poor girl had that lost and stressed look on her face, like her eyes were getting watery and her eye shadow was going to start smearing at any second.

"I'm just passing through," Cody said.

"Well, in that case, you need to get the fuck on," the pimp said. "Ain't got no time for no broke-ass punks trying to eyeball my bitches for free."

Cody turned right to the prostitute and looked right at the pimp. He felt the poor girl's pain in her eyes. He saw that she was desperate for money and then looked right at the man.

The pimp looked right at the hooker and got in her face. "That guy ain't shit. Let him do his own shit. We're getting the fuck on."

The pimp grabbed her and they started walking away. However, the poor girl turned to look at Cody one more time. Cody saw that the girl wanted to cry, but if she was so much as caught doing so, the pimp would get in her face once more and get it much worse than before. He saw that she had been hit. Who knew she would make it through the night alive if she was behind on her money?

Fuck this shit. Cody thought and ran towards the pimp and jumped to deliver hard dropkick to the man's back. The girl looked behind and saw that Cody attacked her pimp and picked him up deliver a couple of hard punches to his gut and then to his face and then delivered a hard knee to his face, causing blood to fly from his nose and his jaw.

The hooker looked shocked which then switched to relieved. After the pimp was down, Cody walked off.

The girl started to follow him. "Wait, sir, what…?"

Cody turned around and said, "Please don't follow me. I have a girl and go home. Your parents might be worried, and try to stay as far away from this asshole as possible."

The hooker breathed and then nodded and quickly ran on out of there. However, Cody continued his jog, but had started to sprint from all of the adrenaline he had gotten from beating up that pimp. He knew that the girl was going to suffer much worse that time, so he had to free her somehow. If only that pimp wouldn't try to find her.

He sprinted down a couple of blocks so fast that he hit his limit by coming to a stop. He was winded, he need to walk off to catch his breath. He walked down the block and that heard sounds of men yelling from another alleyway, as well as sounds of a person being hit, like this person was being assaulted. He walked towards the opening and found four men standing over a person lying on the ground. It looked like an older lady, and one man held a purse in hand. This man looked African-American, bald headed, had on orange overalls, and wore sunglasses even at this time of night. The man was known as Dug.

The other men there consisted of a man named Simons, who was also African-American and wore sunglasses but had a flat-top haircut and wore a green vest and a pair of green pants. Another was Jake, a Caucasian man with a beard, a blue denim vest and jeans, and finally Bred, another Caucasian man with gray overalls. The four men looked like they were enjoying beating this poor, helpless woman and taking stuff from her purse.

As Cody walked into the alleyway, the first thing he saw was a knife come towards his neck.

"Easy now, don't be a hero." Out from the shadows was a big man of Caribbean descent with a yellow vest and blond dreadlocks. This man appeared to be Dominican and wore sunglasses as well. It was none other than Damnd.

"They do what they need to do and we move on," Damnd said and looked towards his four goons continue to jump the poor woman. "She may have a bruise or two tomorrow, but she goes home, alive. Try something, and you both meet your end."

Cody looked towards the woman and wanted to help her. But Damnd had other ideas.

"I'm saying this for the old lady's sake," Damnd said. "I don't give a fuck about you." Damnd looked at the four men messing up the woman. "Lucky for her she isn't younger, cuter, we may have wanted to take our time." And Damnd laughed. If Cody didn't have a knife to his neck, he would have wanted to punch the guy. He knew he was screwed if he stayed around after messing up that pimp, but this guy would cut him open right then and there.

Simons threw the purse right back at the woman as he, along with Jake, Bred, and Dug walked away while Cody and Damnd watched.

"There, all done," Damnd said. "Now go home tonight proud, son. You're a lifesaver, a real hero." Damnd pointed the blade right towards Cody's chest and tapped it bit before he walked away to go regroup with his men.

After they walked away, Cody walked towards the beaten woman as she slowly ascended to her feet. The woman had bruises on her face.

"Don't, I can endure this," the woman said. "And if I was supposed to be saved, somebody could have done it a long time ago. Will you be here tomorrow? Or the next day? Well, will you? Will you be here everyday that I'm forced to face them?"

The woman shook her head. "If you can't promise me that, then please, don't help me."

Silence was the only thing that came out of Cody in that moment. That woman had a point. It seemed to him that wasn't the first time that this had happened to her. He knew the city had gotten bad, but to what extent was the question.

However, he wasn't about to let them get away with assaulting and robbing this poor old woman. Cody walked towards the other exit from that alleyway. Damnd, along with his entourage weren't too far away from that alley. All Cody did was yell out, "hey assholes!"

Damnd turned around, as did the other four men.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you!" Cody said as he approached the five men. He was outnumbered. He knew that one of them had a knife, but that woman didn't deserve what happened to her. If he beat up that pimp not long before, he could take down Damnd.

Cody was face to face with Damnd. The two men didn't say anything, except Damnd did one thing that Cody didn't expect: he put his right thumb and index finger in his mouth and let out a whistle. Bred, Jake, Dug, and Simons all approached Cody. If that wasn't enough, four other thugs approached him as well. Street lights brought out the colors on their attire, as a blond man with a green hat and shirt approached him. That man was Jack. The other man had a black Mohawk haircut and yellow shirt, who was Schot. Two other men who were mainly bare-chested except had suspenders that were criss-crossed. One was light-skinned with a beard, who was named Bull, and the other was dark-skinned with red pants, who was named Elijah.

Cody was outnumbered by nine men, including Damnd. They were all ready to jump him, maybe kill him as well. Cody wasn't about to go down without a fight. But then out of the blue, a siren wailed, as well as red and blue lights glared along the street.

"Shit, one time! Break!" Damnd yelled. All of nine of the thugs scattered on out of there, with Cody left there alone and turned around. He would have run off himself, but he didn't. All he did was stand there, arms raised in the air as two cops stepped out of the squad car.

"Holy shit, Cody, is that you?" A female voice was heard but the glare from the police car's lights made it hard for Cody to make out who that policewoman was. Another cop stepped out, who was an African-American man. The two were unformed cops.

As the female cop slowly approached Cody, he took a closer look and said, "Lucia?"

Lucia Morgan was young policewoman working her beat right then. She was also an old friend of Cody's as they go way back.

"Do you know this man?" the male cop said. The man was named Sean Sims, who was Lucia's partner.

"Sean, this man is an old friend of mine," Lucia said and looked towards Cody. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm just out getting my jog," Cody said.

"In these streets, are you serious?" Lucia said. "Come on, I'll take you home."

Lucia and Sean entered the car while Cody went into the backseat. They proceeded to take Cody to where he lived.

After some time, Lucia and Sean dropped off Cody at an apartment building. It wasn't too far from where they were previously. After all, Codydid go out for a jog.

"Thanks for the ride, Lucia," Cody said.

"Don't mention it," Lucia said. "Good thing I was there or else those guys would have fucked you up. I'm sure Jessica would like that, wouldn't she?"

Cody didn't answer the question. He was ready to fight regardless. Besides, if those guys beat up a helpless old woman, then they likely didn't know how to fight properly. Then again, he wondered if he would have been able to singlehandedly take down nine men.

"You're right, and thanks again for stepping when you did," Cody said. Sean got out and opened the door for Cody to get out of there.

As soon as he approached the front door to the building, Sean looked on and got into the car.

"There's something familiar about that guy," Sean said. "Does he have a brother or something?"

"Yeah, he does, why?" Lucia said.

"My sister Vanessa's been hanging out with this guy lately, I think his name is Kyle," Sean said. "The two look alike."

"Vanessa has been hanging out with his brother?" Lucia said.

"Yeah, I don't trust that kid, though," Sean said. "Seems like trouble."

"Well, we'll talk about this later, let's go," Lucia said and then started up the car.

Meanwhile, Cody walked into the apartment and saw his girlfriend Jessica, a real head-turner with blonde hair sitting on the couch watching TV. It wasn't just anything. She was watching the mayor's speech at the gala. In fact, Jessica was the daughter of the city's mayor, Mike Haggar.

Right on the walls had pictures of the two together, as well as a framed picture from her father's final match with him holding her on his shoulder in the ring. Another picture was of her father and her late mother, Nancy Haggar, as well as her when she was a little girl. There was also a photo of Cody and his brother Kyle when they were younger.

"Hey, baby, you're back early," Jessica said.

"Yeah, I needed to cut it short," Cody said.

Right then, Jessica's attention on her dad's speech dwindled as the tone of her boyfriend's voice caught her off-guard.

"Is something wrong, baby?" Jessica said.

"No, just almost got into it with some assholes out there," Cody said. "No big deal."

"Are you kidding me?" Jessica said.

"It's nothing I can't handle me, trust me," Cody said.

"Right, and then I would have gotten a call from the hospital or worse, a cop coming to our door saying that you didn't make it," Jessica said as she approached Cody. "I know you're a tough guy, but shit's getting worse out there. I just hope my dad really fixes this hellhole."

"I would've been fine," Cody said. "Maybe I just need to rest."

"Well, I am getting worried about you lately," Jessica said. "Come over here with me."

The two went and sat on the couch as they watched Haggar continue to give his address.

Meanwhile, back out on the streets, Damnd and his crew regrouped again and met with some other guys. It appeared that Damnd ran this crew. They appeared to be a part of Mad Gear. Some wondered if he was the leader, but he only seemed like the leader of this portion. The true boss was not known to the public.

In the shadows, a man of Japanese descent peered out from a corner as he wore an orange outfit, like a karate gi. What was this man's deal? Why was he watching these men engage in their meeting?

Chapter Text

In the weeks that had passed since Haggar's speech at the gala, there had been some controversy surrounding the things he said, whether it was the expletives he uttered, or the fact that Mad Gear had become a problem for the city.

Some news outlets, however, had stated that some of Metro City's citizens had sided with Haggar on his views of the city and how there needed to be a change in regards to the crime problem.

It was still early in Mike Haggar's mayoral run. Several citizens were confident that there will be a change to the city, unlike the previous mayor.

Early one morning, Cody woke up. It was a few minutes before 6 AM. He was wide awake, like once he woke up, there was no way to get back to sleep. Sleeping beside him was Jessica.

"Jessica, wake up, it's morning," Cody said.

Jessica turned around. "Huh?" She barely sounded coherent. She didn't look up and turned back around.

"Come on, baby, it's time to get up," Cody said.

"My class is not until later today," Jessica said. "Go back to sleep, Cody."

"I can't, I got to go into work today," Cody said. "I have a client coming in at around 8. I got to be at the gym before then."

"Okay, just let me sleep for a little longer," Jessica said.

Cody worked as a trainer at Tom's Training Facility, which was not only a health club for people trying to improve themselves, but also for people to learn self-defense, as well as learning disciplines.

Cody then looked in the room next to where he and Jessica slept. In there lied a teenage boy with blond hair. Cody knocked on the wall. The teen tossed and turned a bit.

"Time to get up, Kyle, you got school, remember?" Cody said.

"Fuck off, Cody," Kyle said.

"Hey, don't talk to me like that," Cody said. "I don't want you to be late again, okay? Now get up!"

"Okay, damn!" Without question, Kyle threw his pillow across the room and got up.

Cody watched as his brother begrudgingly got up from bed to go take a shower. For years, Cody had his brother Kyle in his care. Their father had abandoned them when they were younger. During Cody's teen years, when Kyle was much younger, their mother had some run-ins with the law, whether it was committing some crimes or her drug problems, or a mixture of both. She had been in and out of jail and rehab. These current times were no different.

After a few minutes, Jessica had gotten up and approached Cody.

"What's wrong, Cody?" Jessica said.

"It's just another one of these days with Kyle," Cody said.

"Kyle is just a teenager, he'll come around," Jessica said.

"I know, but I hear he has been getting into trouble," Cody said. "Lucia told me that her partner's sister and Kyle had been caught ditching school at times. I just don't know what to do with him."

"Do you want my dad to come and talk to him?" Jessica said.

"Nah, he's too busy with his own shit," Cody said. "Besides, like you said, he might come around. I know I shouldn't be the one to talk because you and I got into some shit when we were in high school, remember?"

"Don't remind me," Jessica said. "And I know my dad was tough with you at times."

"Now don't remind me of that," Cody said, as a smile rose and let out a chuckle. Cody and Jessica grew up together, as did Kyle. With their father being out of the picture, Haggar stepped in and became something of a father-figure to the Travers brothers. Haggar was a tough guy, with his muscular build and strength to match, and not just physically tough, but also knew when to lay down the law, one of the reasons he had become mayor in the first place. But at the end of the day, Haggar was a loving father to Jessica, and was a good role model to Cody and Kyle.

"I don't understand why we have to live like this," Jessica said. "Dad could pay for a place for us to live closer to him."

"No, I don't want to live with your dad right now, especially if he has that bodyguard staying with him," Cody said.

"I didn't say for us to move back in with him, even though he has a lot of room," Jessica said. "I just said closer. He could try to help us with a more stable living arrangement."

"Baby, let's talk about this later," Cody said. "Besides, even if we moved into a nicer place, this whole city is a fucking shithole that it doesn't matter where you go, Mad Gear has influence everywhere. Besides, he is helping us out right now while I work and you go to school."

"I know," Jessica said. "As for what you said about Dad's bodyguard, Carlos isn't that bad. I wouldn't worry about him."

"Yeah, but I still don't trust him," Cody said with a mild glare in his eye. Cody had met one of Haggar's bodyguards, Carlos, a half-Brazilian and half-Japanese martial artist who got a job as one of Haggar's personal security and on the side trained his craft in various martial arts, as well as moved in with Haggar. One time Carlos tried to flirt with Jessica, which didn't sit well with Cody.

After some time, Kyle had finished getting ready. Anytime he walked, he didn't look at his brother, who had just finished getting ready for the day as well. All Jessica did was look on with confusion. The only thing that was on the minds of Cody and Jessica was that Kyle was going through a rebellious phase.

Kyle walked carrying his backpack, dressed in a dark denim jacket and black shirt and jeans. Cody wore a plain white T-shirt and blue pants. However, the T-shirt looked like a regular shirt with a full-on cotton texture rather than an undershirt.

"Okay, Kyle, let's get going," Cody said and then turned to Jessica. "Bye, baby."

"See you later, honey," Jessica said and then leaned in to kiss Cody on the lips. It was just a simple peck on the lips. The two brothers were off.

Hours had passed that morning. Cody was at work at Tom's Training Facility. After the session with his client had ended, Cody went to a speed-bag and started punching away at it with quick speeds and then quickly moved to a bigger punching bag. Cody had let out multiple punches, which then led to some kicks. Some people had looked on. The way Cody punched, which went from quick jabs to hard hooks and crosses, it looked less like he was training to keep fresh with his martial arts and more that he was blowing off some steam. It caught the attention of a couple who had been working out close by, with the woman being a stunner with white hair and wore a white training bra with green tight pants and a green headband, while the man had an orange tank-top and black gym shorts and had slicked black hair.

"Don't let any anger get the better of you, my friend. Rage only decreases your discipline." That sound of a voice made Cody stop what he was doing and looked up and saw a man of Japanese descent standing nearby wearing an orange karate gi with Japanese kanji symbols on the left side of his gi. To top it off, he also wore some orange and white Nike shoes.

"Oh, hey, Guy," Cody said and slapped dap with him. "You're early."

"Never too early to start," Guy said. "Even then, I am always training when I can."

"Well, let me take a breather before we get started," Cody said. "Besides, I'm looking forward to seeing some more of your crazy moves."

"First, let me practice my moves before we spar," Guy said.

"Go ahead, I got time before my next client comes later," Cody said.

For some time, Guy and Cody had practiced their moves on the punching bags, much to the awe of the couple that was going about their workouts. The two continued to look on, as if they were impressed by their fighting ability.

As Cody continued to practice his punches on the bag, he looked up towards the door to the gym and noticed something was wrong. It looked like four men hassling the young man at the front desk, which then led an older man in the 30s range come out to talk to these four men. The older man was Tom, the owner of the gym.

These men had a distinct look about them. All four were Caucasian, but the main one had green sunglasses and a red Mohawk haircut and had on an orange vest-like coat, which looked like a jacket but had no sleeves and had a dragon symbol on the back, along with a green hooded sweatshirt with no sleeves. That man was known as Two P. One of his partners had a similar style, except his coat was yellow and had the nuclear symbol on the back and had a blue sweatsuit with blond spiky hair, who was known as J. The other two men were Mic and Mark, whom had similar styles with wearing pants and suspenders, but Mic was bald and had sunglasses and blue pants, while Mark had a red pompadour and yellow pants.

"Where's our fucking money, Tom?" Two P said to Tom.

"Look, I paid you guys last week, please leave," Tom said.

"No," J said. "We keep you in business, you have to pay us to keep yourself in business."

"Come on, this is too much," Tom said.

"Too much?" Mark said and laughed. "You don't pay us, you don't want to know what we will do to your precious gym."

"Yeah, so pay up," Mic said.

"Hey." Tom turned around and the four criminals looked up. Cody and Guy approached them.

"Hey, Tom, are these men giving you trouble?" Cody said.

"Relax, Cody, I'll handle this," Tom said.

Two P added, "Come on, let these fine people exercise and handle this outside."

Guy looked at these men, as did Cody. It was clear to both men that they were not messing around. The threats they made implied that if they took Tom outside, then Tom wouldn't make his way back into the gym.

"No," Cody said. "How about we take this outside?"

"Oh, look, some guys trying to be heroes," Two P said. "Okay, guys, let's do this."

The four thugs went outside, while Cody and Guy followed them. Cody and Guy knew they were outnumbered, but better them than Tom. Through the glass door, Tom, along with the front desk guy, and some of the other patrons, including that couple from before went and saw what was about to go down.

Mic and Mark were ready to fight Guy, while Two P and J were ready to fight Cody. The criminals swung, while both Cody and Guy dodged their attacks. Guy spun around delivered a sweep attack and jumped up to do a hurricane kick to both of them. While Cody delivered some hard punches to Two P and turned around to attack J and continued to give Two P a beating until he went down. Cody wasn't done, however, as he delivered a couple of punches to J and then moved on to deliver a hard roundhouse kick to J, sending him to the ground.

All of the people in the gym froze at what just happened. Some were impressed by their fighting ability, others wondered if the thugs will come back and try to do something worse.

"Don't ever let us catch you here again, assholes!" Cody yelled as the four thugs got up and ran off while struggling to walk away from the pain that they had suffered.

Cody and Guy walked back into the gym and were ready to train once again.

"Hey, Cody," Tom said as Cody looked to the owner. "Thank you."

"It was nothing," Cody said.

"No, it was not nothing, I owe you big time for this," Tom said. "Things have gotten worse since Mad Gear had become more powerful and they've been demanding a lot more money."

"Don't worry, after Guy and I kicked their asses, I doubt they'll come back," Cody said.

"I don't know about that," Tom said.

"Hey, me and Guy, we'll keep an eye out for you," Cody said.

"Thanks, I owe you two big time," Tom said.

The couple from before had walked up to Cody and Guy.

"Hey," the man said. "My name is Leon and this is my girlfriend Mary. I saw what you two did out there. That's some impressive shit."

"It's no big deal, we just needed to teach those guys a lesson," Cody said.

"Right, right, but listen," Leon said. "Mary and I think you two should check out some of the fighting circuits here in the city."

"What are you talking about?" Guy said.

Mary added, "There are some fight clubs out there in the city, but the Surf Bar hosts fights every week. If you guys are interested…"

"Um, I don't know," Cody said.

"The money is good, mark my words," Leon said. "Think about it. There's also another big fight club, but it's underground and…" Leon paused for a bit and looked away.

"What?" Guy said.

"The champion is undefeated," Leon said. "No one has beaten him yet."

Guy put his hand against his chin. This sounded like it could be quite a challenge for him.

"If you guys are looking to make money, check out the Surf Bar soon," Mary said.

Cody sighed. "We'll think about it."

Meanwhile, Kyle went out to the industrial area of Metro City with his friends Paco, Lou, Celeste, and Vanessa. It was the five of them and it appeared that Paco and Celeste were a thing, while it was clear that Kyle and Vanessa liked each other and bordered on going out, but nothing was made official. Lou was the fifth wheel, but none of them minded his company. They were out skipping school and decided to go check out the area, which wasn't too far from Chinatown in the Westside district.

They all walked around. Vanessa walked and talked with Celeste, while the three guys walked behind them and goofed around.

"So will Kyle ever ask you out?" Celeste said. "I see that you two like each other a lot, but why hasn't he asked you out yet?"

Vanessa said, "I know he likes me, and I like him, too, but something tells me that he's afraid of Sean."

"Your brother?" Celeste said.

"Yeah, because my brother's a cop," Vanessa said and sighed. "And he doesn't like me hanging out with Kyle."

Meanwhile, Kyle and his two friends goofed off and chatted.

"Just ask her out, man," Lou said to Kyle.

"Lou is right," Paco said. "Celeste and I are going out and things are fine. What are you afraid of?"

Kyle replied, "Come on, you know Vanessa's brother is a cop, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Lou said. "And your brother is with the mayor's daughter, isn't he? Man, if Cody wasn't with Jessica, I'd totally go for that! Your brother is one lucky bastard if he gets to have that every night."

"Hey, man, shut up," Kyle said. "Cody has been with Jessica for a while. Besides, Cody's also been on my ass for skipping school lately and sneaking out of the house. I swear he thinks he's my dad than my brother."

"What Officer Sims won't know won't hurt him, right? What do you got to lose?" Lou said.

Out of the blue, the quintet went to a halt as they saw a man running out into the street, but fell and slowly crawled as he struggled to get to his feet to keep moving. This man looked like he was bruised on his face and had some blood coming out of his mouth. The man looked up and saw the teens standing there.

The man took a deep breath. "What the hell are you kids doing out here? Get the fuck out of here!"

From a distance where the hurt man ran from, an Indigenous-looking man and a Caucasian man whom had a similar fashion sense with skull caps, long-sleeved shirts and long pants but the Indigenous man had a greenish color on his outfit, whereas the Caucasian man's outfit was orange. Both men had knife holsters and looked like they were going to draw some knives, whether to stab, slice, or throw, the kids knew that something terrible was about to happen. So they ran away towards an alley that was nearby.

The Indigenous man got out a knife and threw it towards the man's leg.

"AAAAHHHH!" The injured man screamed in pain from the attack. The man in orange walked up and got out a knife himself and quickly stabbed him in the shoulder.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" The man continued to scream.

The Indigenous man said to his partner, "Hey, Holly Wood, want to take care of him right here right now?"

"No, Gado, we have to wait," Holly Wood said. "They should be here soon."

"What's going on?" The man said. As this was happening, Kyle and his friends hid in the alleyway, while Kyle peered out from a corner. A green 1989 AM General M998 Humvee pulled up.

"Come on, Teddy, you know what you did," El Gado said.

"Look, just don't tell Rolento," Teddy said.

Two men in military fatigues walked up. One was in green camouflage pants and vest and was rather muscular, but small enough that it was believable that he had served. But the real standout was the man in yellow fatigues with an ascot and a red beret.

"Tell Rolento what?" the man in the red beret said. "That you stole money from me?"

"Nothing, man, I didn't steal from you," Teddy said and pulled out a stack of money. "Your money, it's right here."

"The only I hate worse than a thief is a liar, Teddy," Rolento said and pulled out a long bo staff.

Kyle watched as everything started to unfold.

"What's going on, Kyle?" Vanessa said.

"You don't want to know," Kyle said.

"Yes, I do," Vanessa said.

"No, don't!" Kyle said, but Vanessa stubbornly persisted and peered from the corner as well. The two watched as Rolento beat Teddy up with the staff.

Rolento looked at his El Gado and Holly Wood, and his right-hand in this part of the organization, Freddie. They all asked who should get the final blow on Teddy, who lied there and coughed. Blood came out of his mouth. The man could barely move. Teddy knew that he was done right then and there.

"How about if I take care of him?" El Gado said.

"No, both Gado and I cut him up," Holly Wood said.

"Better yet, I didn't get a chance to fuck him up," Freddie said.

"No," Rolento said. "He stole from me, he needs to see what it's like fucking with me, as well as Mad Gear in general."

Rolento had grenades holstered on his chest, as well as a knife and a gun. While the gun would speed things up, he picked up the knife, as he wanted to make this man feel it after what he had done.

El Gado, Holly Wood, and Freddie all went to Teddy and got him to his feet. Rolento had the knife in his hand. He held the knife with the blade going up.

"Please, you made your point," Teddy said.

"Sorry, but you should have thought of that before crossing me, and crossing the big boss," Rolento said and slid the knife from one end to the other as he slit the man's throat from ear to ear. All four men watched as blood came out from the man's neck and watched as he struggled to breathe.

Kyle's eyes widened, as did Vanessa's eyes. Their jaws dropped. They trembled at the sight of the execution. They could have all gotten out of there, but just stayed there and watched.

The four criminals stood there over Teddy's body, however, El Gado looked up and suspected something from a distance.

Kyle and Vanessa quickly went behind the alley.

"We need to get the fuck out of here, NOW!" Kyle said.

All five teenagers ran in the opposite direction and as fast as they could. They didn't stop for anything or anyone, as long as they ran to make sure those thugs wouldn't catch them.

Once they got to a train yard, they stopped to catch their breaths.

"I can't believe what I saw," Vanessa said.

"Me neither, but it's going to be okay," Kyle said.

"Shouldn't we call the police?" Celeste said.

"I don't know," Kyle said. "But I don't think they saw us."

At least I hope they didn't. Kyle thought.

Kyle and Vanessa were clearly shaken over what they had witnessed. Although Lou, Paco, and Celeste didn't see what happened, they heard the poor man's screams and figured it was a gang execution and shook when everything went down. If only they continued moving and let the gang members do their job, but they were witnesses. One would only hope that they weren't caught witnessing the heinous act.

Chapter Text

Three days later, Kyle went to school. He kept himself distant from his brother and his brother's girlfriend. He didn't talk to his friends throughout the weekend, despite Vanessa trying to reach him, as well as his friends Lou and Paco trying to call him. Cody and Jessica expressed some concern, but Kyle didn't want to talk about it, especially after what he had witnessed.

When lunchtime came, Kyle went to go sit at a table. He didn't look at anybody. However, Vanessa walked in with Celeste, Paco, and Lou. They saw Kyle sitting all by his lonesome with his head down. All Kyle could think about was that gang execution that he had witnessed.

"Kyle?" The moment he heard his name said by a girl, he looked up and saw an African-American girl with light-colored eyes standing before him. It was Vanessa, who had the rest of their clique with her.

"What do you guys want?" Kyle said with an annoyed tone.

"Kyle, what do you have to be like this?" Vanessa said. "I tried to reach you for the past few days. Cody told me that you didn't come out of your room all weekend. What's been going on? We've all been worried about you."

"You know what's been going on," Kyle said, as he sounded so straightforward in his voice.

Paco cut in, "Kyle, I don't think you should worry too much about what happened."

The rest of his friends sat down around him.

Lou said, "We all watched the news about what had happened. It turned out that the guy who was killed was some criminal himself. His name was Teodoro Torres and it was said that he was a Mad Gear member."

"What's your point?" Kyle said.

"I'm just saying that he wasn't some innocent guy we could have or should have helped," Lou said.

"So you think he deserved to die like that?" Kyle said.

"That's not what he's saying," Vanessa said. "What he's saying is that what happened, he might have caused problems within the gang and we don't think those guys saw us. Nobody said anything about potential witnesses."

Celeste cut in, "Come on, Kyle, we're your friends. Vanessa cares about you. I don't you should worry too much about this."

Despite having witnessed an execution, Kyle realized that their friends had a point. While he and Vanessa saw it first-hand, and it was a rather traumatizing experience, with a lot of the chaos that had been happening in Metro City, it was a bit of a relief to know that the murder victim wasn't completely innocent in this case.

Vanessa went and sat next to Kyle and put her arm around him. "It's going to be okay. Remember, my brother is a cop and he is doing his best to keep the streets safe."

"You're right," Kyle said. At that point, he had calmed down with some relief.

By the time evening rolled around, Cody had finished his shift at the gym. He told Jessica that he was going to meet with Guy at a dojo that he trained at, as well as worked.

Cody took off to the dojo. It was nighttime, and it would seem that it was closing time for the dojo, but he looked through the door and the layout of the place had Japanese kanji symbols on the walls with red coloring, along with weapons and padded mats. He saw Guy, wearing a red and white karate gi, sparring with a dark-skinned man with long brown hair and wore a blue outfit. Cody looked at this guy with an expression of "what is he doing here?" The man was Carlos, who delivered a punch but Guy blocked and then dodged when Carlos delivered a high kick. As Cody approached the two men, Guy and Carlos bowed to one another.

["Excellent, Carlos, you have progressed a lot,"] Guy said to Carlos in Japanese.

["I try, but I know that I'm not on your level yet,"] Carlos said. ["Your Bushin style is something else."]

["Patience, my friend, there is more to learning than to just get good,"] Guy said. ["I know you have been training hard. I feel like I'm still learning every day."]

["Next time we will use katanas, part of my personal expertise,"] Carlos said.

["We'll see about that, my friend,"] Guy said and they shook hands.

A clap was heard. The two martial artists turned to face Cody who had just walked in.

"Cody, you have arrived," Guy said. "I was just training with my friend, this here is…"

"Carlos, yes, we've met before," Cody said and turned to Carlos while not looking him in the eye. "Hello, Carlos." He said in a somewhat annoyed tone.

"Hey, Cody," Carlos said in a different tone. "Come on, why are you being like this?"

"You know why," Cody said.

"Is it because you saw me talking to Jessica a few times? You're still mad about that?" Carlos said.

"Is there a problem here?" Guy said.

"No, it's not a big deal, it's just Cody thought I was trying to take his girl one time," Carlos said to Guy, and then shifted his attention to Cody. "Look, I already know that Jessica is your woman, and out of respect for you, and the mayor, I wouldn't try to hit on Jessica, okay?"

"Are you sure about that?" Cody said.

"Come on, the mayor is Jessica's father, the man will snap me in half," Carlos said. "I'm surprised he hasn't done that to you."

Cody chuckled at that remark. He knew that Carlos lived with Haggar and also was his bodyguard. Although Carlos tried to flirt with Jessica one time, it probably wasn't a big deal. Carlos figured that he should be more afraid of Jessica's father than Jessica's boyfriend.

"Okay, I'll take your word for it," Cody said and stuck his hand out as Carlos grabbed it and shook it.

Cody looked towards Guy. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, let's go check it out," Guy said.

"Wait, what's going on?" Carlos said.

"Guy and I are going to check out the Surf Bar," Cody said. "But not to go get drinks, but to see about stuff, like fights."

"Wait, did you say fights?" Carlos said.

"Yes, I hear that they have fights take place there a lot," Cody said. "I want to see about getting in."

"Whoa, wait, Cody," Guy said. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I want to see what is out there, I'm always looking for a challenge, just like you are," Cody said.

"Yes, but…," Guy said.

"Well, there may be some money involved, too," Cody said.

Carlos added, "Hey, I might want in on this. I'm always down to kick some ass. I could also use some extra money."

Cody looked towards Guy. "Come on, Guy, what do you say? Besides, if there is money involved, you could use to help support Rena and her family."

Then it hit Guy like a ton of bricks. Rena was Guy's girlfriend who lived in Metro City with her sister and her father. Guy was an apprentice of Rena's father, who was a master of the style that Guy practices, Bushinryu Ninjutsu, but had since retired and passed the mentorship onto Guy's current master, a man named Zeku.

"You may have a point, Cody," Guy said. "Come on, let's go."

Guy went and locked up the dojo as Cody and Carlos waited for their friend. After the dojo had closed, the three men went and walked a few blocks to the Surf Bar. It wasn't too far from there. They were in Chinatown and though it was the start of the week, the nightlife was still active. It also seemed that Cody and Carlos started to get along better after Carlos had told him that he respected Cody's relationship with Jessica, as well as respected Haggar.

It took about 15 to 20 minutes to get to the Surf Bar. The sign had the name in red lettering and a picture of a brunette woman in a bikini. Right by the front door, there was a neon light sign that said "bar" with different-colored lights for each letter of the word. For a Monday night, this place was still rather busy. Maybe not as busy as it would be on a Friday night or a Saturday night, but there were still people there. They walked in and patrons were seen hanging out, talking, and drinking. Some men tried to pick up on some women.

The three men looked around. Over at the bar, there stood a tall, muscular, and bald man with a mustache behind the bar. He was seen cleaning a glass, but he had an intimidating look to him. He was known as Callman.

Cody led Guy and Carlos towards the bar. Unbeknownst to them, some guys looked at the trio with suspicion. It was Two P and J, along with Mic and Mark, who stood there with Damnd, who wasn't there with his usual posse consisting of Bred, Dug, Jake, Simons, and the others. There were also two women who were head-turners and wore some rather revealing tops and short shorts, as well as a biker cap. One had pink hair, who went by Poison. The other had orange hair, who went by Roxy.

"Oh, shit, it's them," Two P said.

"Who?" Damnd said.

"Those guys," J said with his British accent and pointed towards Cody and Guy. "A few days ago, those guys kicked our bloody arses."

"Those fuckers got lucky, that's what I think," Two P said.

Poison and Roxy looked on. A smirk arose on Poison's face when she saw Cody. Roxy did the same, but she was mainly checking out Carlos, whose long hair was quite a drawing factor to her, but Poison's expression was a tad different from just attraction.

"Which guys beat you up?" Roxy said. "Was it that guy with the long hair?"

"No," Two P said. "It was that guy with the blond hair and the Asian guy with the short hair."

"Really?" Poison said. "Well, looks like we found some contenders."

Damnd looked towards Cody. He slid his sunglasses down, almost as if he recognized the man.

Meanwhile, Cody approached the bar. Callman looked right to the three men.

"Hello, chaps," Callman said, surprising the three men with his British accent. "What could I get for you?"

Cody went to do the honors to talk. While Guy and Carlos stood with him, the two had a sense that something was amiss. Carlos turned around and noticed some men mean-mugging them. Guy figured the same thing, but only suspected it through his peripherals.

"I don't want to drink, I had heard that fights take place here," Cody said.

"Are you a bloody fucking cop, mate?" Callman said.

"Do I look like a cop?" Cody said. "I'm just asking how we could get in. My friends also want to fight."

Callman chuckled. "You think it's that easy to get in, mate? This isn't like trying out for a bloody sport."

A tap occurred on Cody's shoulder. Guy whispered to Cody's ear, "We have trouble."

Cody turned around and saw Damnd leading four familiar men and two women.

"Oh, shit."

"Let's get out of here, now," Carlos said.

"You fuckers aren't going anywhere," Damnd said. "I know you. You tried to fight me and my boys that one night. You didn't learn shit, did you?"

"I learned that you had to rely on eight guys to take me down," Cody said. "You're fucking lucky that the cops came when they did, or else I would have taken you all down."

Damnd laughed, as did Two P, J, Mic, and Mark. Poison and Roxy smiled but didn't laugh.

"You really think you would have taken us all down?" Damnd said.

"Well, my friend and I took down those losers over there," Cody said, referring to Two P, J, Mic, and Mark. "Maybe you did need eight other guys, especially if you had to resort to beating up an old lady."

"Oh, you're trying to get smart now, huh?" Damnd said. "Let's see how well you do fighting on your own."

Cody signaled to Carlos and Guy to back away, while the two looked at each other with confusion.

Guy leaned in towards Cody and whispered, "You don't have to do this. We can just leave."

"No, I got this," Cody said and put up a fighting stance.

Both Guy and Carlos signaled to each other to step in if more men get involved. Cody looked Damnd dead in the eye. Damnd initiated the attack by throwing the first punch, but Cody ducked and delivered a hard right hand to the man's stomach and a hard uppercut to the man's face. Damnd's shades fell off. Two P quickly picked up his comrade's shades.

Damnd had some inches on Cody, as well as was more muscular than him. He quickly rushed to tackle Cody and grabbed him by the legs and slammed him right to the floor. Many patrons looked on and saw what was going on. A bar fight had broken out. Damnd held Cody down and slapped him in the face and started to choke him, but Cody held his breath and delivered a double-slap to both sides of Damnd's head and then shoved Damnd right off of him.

The two were on their feet. Many of the bar's patrons watched as this fight unfolded, as did the other Mad Gear members, and Callman, the bartender. Damnd looked at Cody and rushed to jump and deliver a dropkick towards him, but Cody quickly dodged and grabbed him and ran him towards the bar and bashed Damnd's head right to the counter. Damnd was all bruised and bloodied from the punches he received from Cody, as well as having his head bashed into the bar counter.

Two P, J, Mic, and Mark all glared at Cody for what just happened and went to tend to their friend and fellow comrade. As Cody approached Guy and Carlos, a female voice had said, "Damn, big boy, where did you learn to fight like that?"

Cody turned around and saw Poison and Roxy.

"That was some serious skill, handsome," Poison said in a rather flirty tone.

"You ever think about fighting for money?" Roxy said.

"What's it to you?" Cody said. He looked at her and he moved his face forward to take a closer look at her.

"Well, we have fights here every Friday night," Poison said. "There is always good money involved, if you got the guts and skills to step up to the plate."

"Okay, how do I get in?" Cody said. "Or how do we get in?"

"Well, after seeing some of your skills, you're already in, big boy," Poison said. "But your friends, I think we could squeeze them in this coming Friday."

"But we have a full card already," Roxy said.

"Hmmmm, I'll see about coming in this Friday," Cody said. "But trust me, my friends are good fighters as well. We'll be here this Friday, and maybe next Friday."

"Oh, we'll hold you to that, handsome," Poison said. "By the way, I am Poison, and this is Roxy." She said introducing Roxy to the trio. Roxy shook their hands and gave Carlos a rather flirty look to him, as he smiled back at her.

"I'm Cody. These guys are Guy and Carlos, and we shall see, we may come back this Friday," Cody said. "Come on, guys, let's go home."

As soon as they exited the bar, Carlos said to Cody, "Man, that was some impressive shit back there. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Growing up in the streets, as well as learning how to box in the gyms, sometimes you need the skills to survive," Cody said.

"Shit, man, that was crazy," Carlos said.

Guy stood with his friends in silence as he looked around as the night sky had darkened some parts of the area. Despite there being street lights, it was dim enough that not a lot of people could see what was happening around them. However, Guy noticed a young woman walking all by her lonesome, and a good 10 feet behind her were two men, following this woman.

"Cody, Carlos, we have a problem here," Guy said. Both Cody and Carlos looked up and saw that the two men were closing on the woman, who started running as she knew that the men were following her. The two men didn't say anything. They knew that the men would harm her in different ways.

The trio started to run towards the men and the woman. At that point, a man had peered out of an alley and grabbed the woman. A shriek was heard, as well as the sound of a motorcycle engine, which at that point had stopped. What did that mean?

But the thugs were still a bit of a distance away. Only a couple of other shrieks from the woman were heard, but were quickly replaced by the sounds of men yelling in pain and the sounds of people being hit, like the sound of someone receiving punches and kicks, and finally, the sound of a yell when someone hits a move.

By that point, they caught up to the alleyway. The same woman from before quickly stood up, with a look of confusion mixed with awe, as another woman stood before the three men, who lied on the floor in pain and had bloody noses and jaws. At the center was a blonde stunner who picked up her leather jacket and held a tonfa in her hand. Carlos looked at the woman, who appeared to be the one who did all of this to these men.

"Maki?" Guy said.

The blonde woman looked up. Despite her blonde hair, she appeared to be of Japanese descent. All she could say was, "Guy? What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you the same thing," Guy said.

"This woman saved my life," the woman said and looked to Maki. "I can't thank you enough."

"I heard the screaming from the other side, I couldn't let them hurt anybody," Maki said, and then pulled out a few dollars.

"I can't take this," the woman said.

"No, you need to get home safely," Maki said. "It's okay."

The woman nodded her head and pulled out a few dollars.

"You did well, Maki," Guy said. "Have you progressed?"

"I train as much as you do," Maki said and looked towards Cody and Carlos. "Oh, hey, Cody."

"Hi, Maki," Cody said.

Maki then looked at Carlos. "And who are you?"

"I am Carlos, I am an old friend of Guy's," Carlos said with a smile.

"I'm Maki, Guy and I go way back," she said and looked at Guy. "Listen, I'm about to go home. Rena should be home and I have to check if my father is okay."

"I'll be home soon," Guy said. "Don't worry about me."

"Okay, I'll see you then," Maki said.

Guy lived close to Rena and Maki. In fact, he lived next door to them. Although he was close to the Genryusai family, he didn't live with them, mostly out of respect to the patriarch of the family, who happened to have taught Guy for a bit, as well Maki.

Maki walked towards the other end of the alleyway and approached her motorcycle, kicked up the kickstand and started up her bike and took off. Carlos was impressed by this woman's fighting ability that he wondered if she should take part in those fights as well.

Guy looked towards Cody. "What got into you back there?"

"What are you talking about?" Cody said.

"You were quick to endure in battle without a second thought," Guy said. "You couldn't just walk away."

"I don't know, I just felt the urge to fight, especially when I saw him one night and he and some other thugs harmed a defenseless old woman," Cody said. "I couldn't let them get away with that."

"Well, those men are evil, so in some ways they deserved it," Guy said. "But there is a time and a place for battle. I don't think that was it."

"I guess you're right," Cody said. "Anyway, I should get home. Jessica's probably worried about me. Speaking of which, I was wondering maybe we could a double-date soon. You could bring Rena along."

"Oh, I'm not sure," Guy said.

"Oh, come on, it would be fun, it could give Jessica and Rena time to get to know each other," Cody said and then looked towards Carlos. "Or maybe a triple date."

"What?" Carlos said.

"I saw the way you were looking at Maki," Cody said.

"Not the case at all," Carlos said.

Guy said, "I saw it, too, Carlos."

"Okay, I was a bit impressed by her ability," Carlos said.

"Riiiiiight," Cody said. "Anyway, I'll catch you guys later."

Suddenly, a police car pulled up. The lights weren't on, nor were the sirens. The window on the driver's side rolled down. "Cody?"

The sound of a woman's voice caught his attention and looked towards the cop car. A short-haired blonde woman called for his attention.

"Lucia, what a surprise," Cody said.

"Is everything okay?" Lucia said.

"Yeah, things are fine," Cody said.

"Listen, my partner and I are off duty right now, would you like a ride home?" Lucia said.

"Sure, I could get a ride," Cody said.

"Maybe we could give your friends a ride, too," Lucia said. "I'm Lucia, by the way."

Guy and Carlos introduced themselves as well. Guy told her that he was fine as he didn't live too far from there. Carlos lived with the mayor and accepted the ride as Lucia was fine with it. The two got into the backseat of the police car and they were on their way.

Chapter Text

The following day at the police station, Lucia went to her desk to get ready for the day. It felt like déjà vu for her as after some time, she happened to find her friend Cody out in the city, but something was a bit off about that moment. Unlike that night weeks prior, she didn't catch him at a moment where he would likely get assaulted, but rather that something had happened. As her partner started to drive off, she had noticed the three criminals barely getting up, struggling from the pain they had suffered at the hands of a skilled martial artist.

However, it wasn't Cody, Guy, or Carlos who did it, but someone else. What made her question the situation was why nothing was reported about an assault that would take place. She was glad that the assault had been averted, whether she was on or off duty, she still would have done her job as a cop in the city.

"Hey, Lucia." The moment her named was mentioned, Lucia looked up and saw her partner Sean.

"Good morning, Sean," Lucia said and looked down and away, deep in thought.

"Something wrong?" Sean said.

"I want to ask you something," Lucia said. "When Cody and Carlos filled us on what happened last night, we happened to be rolling by when that happened, don't you think that someone could have called that in?"

"Come on, partner, usually someone has to catch it at the moment when something like that happens," Sean said.

"Yeah, but things have been slow for us lately," Lucia said. "It took a bit for someone to report that guy getting murdered in the industrial area. There had to be some people who witnessed that."

Just then, it hit Sean. "You know, my sister came to me this past weekend with the same thing."

"What did Vanessa say?" Lucia said.

"She asked me if I had ever been scared when seeing bad shit happens on the job."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told Vanessa that fear is a natural thing. I may put my ass on the line every day in the shit that I do and be man enough to do this sort of thing, but that doesn't mean that I don't ever get scared."

"It all goes with the territory with being a cop," Lucia said.

"Yeah, but you don't have a younger sister and a mom to take care of," Sean said. "I do. Which is why I sometimes wonder about that friend of yours and Vanessa's…friend."

The way Sean paused when he said that, it was almost as if there was a reason why he didn't like Vanessa hanging out with Kyle, and why he was skeptical about Cody.

"Maybe it's just me, but I think Vanessa might onto something here," Sean said.

"Like what?" Lucia said.

"Morgan, in my office now!" Just then, a voice had caught Lucia and Sean's attentions. A male cop in a suit stood at the door of his office with the door open. The door had the standard window with "Lt. Mark Abrams" imprinted on it. Much to Lucia's confusion, Sean wasn't called into his office.

Lucia walked into her lieutenant's office. "You want to see me, lieutenant?"

"Yes, I want to ask you something," Abrams said. "Where were you and Sims last night?"

"We worked our usual beat in Chinatown," Lucia said. "Why?"

"Last night, it had been brought to my attention that someone had assaulted three men near the Surf Bar, as well as a fight broke out at that bar."

"What?" Lucia recalled that she had rolled by that particular bar the night before after she and Sean had found Cody and his friends.

"Someone had told me that you and Sims were in the vicinity, and aided and abetted an assailant of the assault that occurred at that bar," Abrams said. "As for the other assault, three men told some of our men that they were attacked by a blonde woman. You sure you didn't abuse your power and use excessive force?"

The mention of a blonde woman was news to Lucia, which made her wonder about something. The two traits matched Lucia as she had blonde hair and was a fighter herself, but she didn't have any knowledge about this "blonde woman" that her lieutenant spoke of. Something told her that she needed to ask Cody something should she see him soon.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lucia said. "With all due respect, sir, but fights go down at that bar all of the time, whether it's between patrons, or organized fights. I don't know why you haven't tried to crack down on that place."

"There is no evidence of any illegal fights taking place there," Abrams said. "But the question was why didn't you go investigate it?"

"It wasn't reported, at least I don't remember it being reported," Lucia said. "Even if dispatch didn't contact Sims and I about it, you would think that any civilians out there would have said something."

"Okay, so tell me about any assailants that you helped out," Abrams said.

"What assailant? I don't know what you're talking about," Lucia said. "I only gave a friend of mine a ride home. I don't know anything about any assaults that someone had caused."

"Are you sure about that?" Abrams said. "Because Evans and Walker had told me about how you and Sims aided a criminal out there."

When she heard the name Evans and Walker, it brought to mind only two people – Edward Evans, who liked to be called "Edi-E," and David Walker, who often went by Dave.

"People talk, but I was only helping a friend out," Lucia said. "Regarding any potential assaults that occurred, again, with all due respect, sir, but you're talking about a bar fight that could have happened anywhere. Do you realize that out on Metro City's streets that we have innocent people assaulted and/or killed often?"

Lucia's superior officer looked at her like she could have had a point. Whether the bar fight was an issue or not, Abrams felt that he needed to see that Metro City had a bigger problem. He had remembered what Mayor Haggar talked about in his speech weeks prior at that gala.

"Okay, I may have to take your word on this, but if I hear anything else about you helping criminals, I may have to take your badge from you, do I make myself clear?"

Lucia nodded in response while maintaining a mild look of resentment. Something told her that none of this added up. When she exited Abrams's office, Sean approached her.

"Yo, Lucia, what happened?"

Lucia stood there in silence for a few seconds. "Nothing too big, he just gave me shit about how we supposedly helped out a criminal and assailant to something that went down at the Surf Bar last night."

"Are you for real?" Sean said. "How the hell were we supposed to know about that?"

"I don't know, but something doesn't seem right about this," Lucia said. Just then, she looked up and saw two cops who looked bigger than some of the others, as well as were bearded. One was heavyset, but not too big. The other looked muscular than heavyset. They were Edi-E and Dave, respectively.

Dave saw Lucia and approached her. "Well, good morning to you, Lucia."

Dave said it a little more than a friendly fashion, causing Lucia to scoff and turn away in response.

"Hello, Walker," Lucia said, with an annoyed tone. "And it's Morgan to you."

"You know something, Morgan, we have worked together for a long time, why not call me Dave?"

"Because we are not that close, Walker," Lucia said with a somewhat snarky tone.

"That doesn't mean we can't be, I mean I had helped you out a bit while you were in the academy," Dave said.

"And I appreciate that, but I'm a little busy right now," Lucia said. "I have too much going on."

"Well, you know where I'll be if you need help," Dave said and walked away. However, Sean and Edi-E looked on with a bit of confusion.

As Lucia walked over to her desk, Sean caught up to her.

"What was that about?"

"Let's just say Dave feels like he is entitled to some respect from me, if you catch my drift," Lucia said, and the way she enunciated Dave's name was in somewhat condescending tone.

"Looks like that guy's been wanting a little more than just respect," Sean said. "It seems like he has it bad for you."

Lucia scoffed. "Exactly, but he knows that I'm not interested."

From a distance, Sean noticed that Edi-E was talking to his partner about something. After a few seconds, Edi-E had approached Lucia and Sean.

"Morgan," Edi-E said. "I must apologize for my partner's actions. He doesn't seem to know when to take no for an answer."

"Don't worry about it, I can handle myself," Lucia said.

"Still, I don't condone his behavior," Edi-E said.

"Thanks, Evans," Lucia said. Edi-E nodded and just as he was about to walk off, something caught Lucia's attention about Edi-E as she saw his left wrist. Edi-E wore a gold watch. It didn't look cheap, but rather expensive. Something was amiss about this, as a wristwatch like that was rather out of the budget of a cop's salary.

"What's wrong?" Sean said.

"Did you see Evans's watch?" Lucia said.

"No, why?" Sean said.

"I'll tell you later," Lucia said. "Come on, we got shit to do on the streets. Anyway, you were saying something about your sister being onto something."

"I'll explain later," Sean said.

At city hall, Haggar sat at his desk. Haggar's office had photos on the wall from his time as a professional wrestler when he wrestled for the Continental Wrestling Association (the CWA), as well as the tour he went on with the BWA, the Blood Wrestling Assocation, called the "Crash Carnival," which was to decide the new leader of the CWA through a wrestling tournament. Some of the pictures had Mike with his former tag team partner, Alexander the Grater, another one with two of his apprentices, Gunloc and Biff Slamkovich, as well as a photo with Haggar in the ring with large and muscular wrestler with long blond hair named Victor Ortega, and finally, the picture from his final match that had him posing with Jessica on his shoulder. He looked at some papers, and then a woman walked in.

"Mr. Haggar?"

Haggar looked up. "Hello, Janet, how may I help you?" Janet was Haggar's assistant.

"Yes, you may, there's someone here who wants to see you," Janet said.

"Who is it?" Haggar said.

"It's your daughter and her boyfriend," Janet said.

Haggar remembered that today he was going to have lunch with Jessica and Cody. "Send them in."

They could have called to tell me they were coming. Haggar thought. But he didn't forget that he was going to have lunch with Jessica, as well as Cody.

Cody and Jessica walked down the hallway accompanied by one of Haggar's bodyguards. At the door stood Carlos, with his hair done in a ponytail and wore a suit.

"Oh, hey, Carlos," Jessica said.

"Hi, Jessica, hey, Cody," Carlos said.

"Hey, Carlos," Cody said in a friendly manner, while Jessica looked at the two minor confusion.

"Mr. Haggar is expecting you," Carlos said.

As the two walked in, Jessica leaned in towards Cody and whispered, "You seem to be getting along better with Carlos."

Cody whispered to Jessica, "We've reached an understanding."

They entered the mayor's office as Haggar sat before them, taking one last look at some of the reports he planned to work on later.

"Come on in," Haggar said. "You know, you should have called to let me know you were coming."

"Dad, we had set this up a couple of days ago," Jessica said. "I thought you remembered."

"Relax, I'm not upset, it's just that this work is putting through some stress that I have a hard time remembering things," Haggar said. "I just need to put some stuff away and we can get going."

Jessica noticed some of the other bodyguards around. "By the way, where are Lucky and Biff? Don't they also work as your bodyguards?"

Jessica referred to Gunloc, whose name was Lucky Colt. Colt was his last name, but often liked to be called Lucky. Biff, whose real name was Aleksey Zalazof, liked being called Biff, which was part of his ring name.

"Only sometimes," Haggar said. "They are training for a tour at the moment. They still wrestle for the CWA, you know."

"Oh, okay," Jessica said. "I know they still wrestled, but I thought they worked for you all the time."

Haggar looked at Cody as well. "And I'm sure that Lucky doesn't really want to deal with you at the moment."

"Mike, that was a while ago," Cody said. "I'm sure he's gotten over it."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Haggar said. "I know you, Cody."

Haggar referred to a time when Cody and Jessica were backstage at a CWA event and Gunloc tried to hit on Jessica, who didn't go along with it. It didn't stop Cody from engaging in a brawl with the wrestler, however.

"Just letting you know, we have that gala this weekend and I want you two to be there," Haggar said.

"Oh, we'll be there, Dad, don't worry," Jessica said. Although Cody stood there in silence because he remembered the fights at the Surf Bar, although the fights were on Friday, as the gala will take place on Saturday.

The three, also accompanied by Carlos, left in a limousine to take a ride to Chinatown. The three went to go eat at a restaurant called Wong Brothers' Dragon Castle.

The restaurant had quite a setup as it had stairs to walk up from the Chinatown streets. The door had Chinese wordings on the signs above the doorway and on the door, along with the eatery's name written in English at the top and on the door. As the three walked in, there stood a rather large man, likely obese but also looked to pack some muscle, and wore a large hanfu that fit this large man, and had a large braid in a queue hairstyle and a fu man chu mustache. The man's nametag read "Hu Wong," but for some reason the name was crossed off and replaced by "Wong Who," which was handwritten.

"Hello, right this way, please," Wong Who said in a begrudging tone.

The restaurant had tables set up with white table cloths, with reddish brown pillars and carpeting, along with bronze plates on the walls with dragon symbols. It had the Chinese feel down to a T.

Some patrons looked up and saw who walked by them. Some of the patrons took a closer look and talked amongst themselves, saying things to the effect of "Oh my god, he's here!" and "It's the mayor!" Others saw it as no big deal. Also, with Haggar, Jessica, and Cody having bodyguards with them, they figured it was best not to go up to the mayor, along with his daughter and his daughter's boyfriend.

As soon as they were seated, they were asked if they wanted beverages. They all accepted as Haggar wanted water and a tea. Jessica said that she would have tea, as did Cody. After a few minutes, a young attractive Japanese woman came up with a notepad.

"Hello, I'll be your server," the waitress said.

"Wait, Rena, is that you?" Jessica said.

The waitress looked up and saw who she was serving. "Oh, Jessica? Cody?" Rena then looked at Haggar. "Are you the mayor?"

"Yes, I am," Haggar said. "Mayor Mike Haggar, at your service. I see you know Cody and Jessica."

"Yes, I'm new here," Rena said. "I'm so glad to see all of you. I'm still in training, so just tell me what you want."

The three placed their orders for their meals. Haggar ordered Roasted Peking Duck. Jessica ordered Chow Mein. Cody order Sweet and Sour Pork. Rena wrote the orders down and then walked away.

Haggar looked towards the couple. "Who is the waitress? I see that you know her."

"Oh, Rena?" Cody said. "She is Guy's girlfriend."

Haggar knew Guy as well, but this revelation threw him as he knew Guy to be rather quiet and stoic. Although Haggar and Guy got along, Haggar was surprised that Guy would meet a nice woman, considering how quiet Guy was. Like Carlos, Haggar knew that Guy took his martial arts training seriously, enough that he probably didn't find the time to meet women.

Jessica said, "So, Dad, how have you been? I am sorry I hadn't called much lately."

"Jess, don't worry about it," Haggar said. "I've been too wrapped up in my shit lately. So much corruption and crime has been all over the place that I don't know what to do with this city."

"Have the police done anything at all?" Jessica said. "I used to be able to go to class on my own, until one day some guys watched me in a subway train. I can't go outside alone without having to look over my shoulder."

Cody looked to Jessica, "Listen, baby, I can go with you to drop you off at school when taking the subway. Shit, if I have to drive you, I will."

"No, you have work every day," Jessica said. "I can't let you be late."

"Tom knows our situation," Cody said. "He knows that I have to drop off Kyle sometimes."

"Listen, Cody, that is what I wanted to talk to you about," Haggar said. "What if I had one of my bodyguards escort Jessica to the college, whether it's Carlos or any of my personal security, and I could accommodate another bodyguard for your brother?"

"I could understand for Jessica," Cody said. "But good luck with Kyle. It won't do shit. The kid is stubborn sometimes."

"I know," Haggar said.

Jessica said, "I have to go to the bathroom right now. I'll be right back." She got up and took off to the bathroom. Haggar signaled to Carlos to follow her. Cody was okay with this, as when the two discussed Carlos's respect and loyalty, it made him see that Carlos wasn't so bad after all, and Cody probably jumped to conclusions when Carlos talked to Jessica those times.

"Cody, I know you have a lot going on," Haggar said. "Whether it's working at Tom's Gym or taking care of your brother, I think you need to take a break. Your brother reminds me of how you were when you were younger. Shit, you have your moments of getting into some shit even now."

"I can handle everything, don't worry," Cody said.

Haggar took a deep breath and looked him dead in the eye. "Cody, I've known you since you were a kid. I remember hearing about the trouble you went through, which was why I didn't like Jessica hanging out with you at first. It wasn't easy having to take care of Jessica, especially after Nancy died. I even had to take care of you and Kyle when your mom was in and out of jail. I know that I had some people look after you guys when I want on my tours, even when you and Jess were teens."

Cody looked away in silence. He looked to his side and then down towards the table. He knew that Haggar had a point to what he was saying. When Haggar mentioned Nancy, he talked about his late wife, who died when Jessica was 12. It showed why Haggar cared about his daughter a lot.

"I know you think I'm a hardass sometimes, and on some days you might be right, but I just want what's best for Jessica, Kyle, and most of all, for you," Haggar said.

"You're not saying we should move back in with you, are you?" Cody said.

"I don't mind having you stay with me, but I'm just trying to help you out," Haggar said.

"Well, I guess I should appreciate it, especially with Mad Gear out there," Cody said.

At this point, Rena came back with the plates. At the same time, Jessica made her way back to the table where her father and her boyfriend were sitting.

"Okay, here you all go," Rena said.

Haggar addressed Rena. "Hey, so I hear that you are dating Guy."

"You know Guy?" Rena said.

"Yes, I do, he's a good guy, but very quiet," Haggar said.

"Well, we have been together for quite some time," Rena said. "Speaking of Guy, I'm going to meet with him later."

At that point, Jessica made her way back to the table. "Oh, the food's here. It's nice to see that I come back and the food is ready."

Haggar continued to speak with Rena. "Listen, I was wondering, we are attending a gala this weekend. I was thinking you and Guy should come."

Rena's eyes widened and jaw dropped, with a surprised expression. "Mr. Haggar, I can't."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm inviting you," Haggar said.

"No, I'm helping with the serving and catering at that event," Rena said.

"Oh, okay," Haggar said.

"But I could talk to Guy and my sister Maki about going, if they want to," Rena said. "I'll be there, of course."

"Okay, that would be good," Haggar said. "It was nice meeting you."

The three then start to eat their food.

Meanwhile, in the restaurant, Wong Who went towards the kitchen area, almost like he owned the place. It wasn't like he was just a lowly server or host going to the wrong area, he knew where he was going.

Inside the kitchen area, there were cooks and servers around, but the two main cooks, if they weren't chefs, were tall and muscular, but much thinner than Wong Who. They both had long braids, but one had a Fu Man Chu mustache, whose name was Won Wong. The other had a braid, but no mustache, but he also wore dark glasses for some reason, whose name was Liu Wong. It seemed that Hu, or as he liked to be called "Wong Who," was one of the Wong brothers who owned this restaurant.

"Hey, guys," Wong Who said to his brothers. "Do you still need me right now?"

Won and Liu looked at his brother. Although the two were busy in cooking meals, they didn't think their brother was a distraction as they maintained their focus to address him.

"Why, what's going on?" Won said.

"Graham and Bill told me to meet with them and some others later," Wong Who said. "Something about problems within our organization that I'd rather not talk about here."

Won and Liu turned to each other and nodded, like they knew what was going on.

"Don't worry, brother," Won said. "One of our other hosts has come in already. You're fine. Me and Liu will meet with you and the others later."

Wong Who nodded his head and walked out of the kitchen. As he walked along the restaurant, he saw Haggar, Jessica, and Cody. Most of his focus was on Cody, as he had heard of this man's reputation, at least as of late.

Later on, after the lunch date, Haggar went back to city hall. As he approached his office, his assistant Janet approached him.

"Mr. Haggar, I had received some calls earlier," Janet said. "One was from Metro City Police Lieutenant Mark Abrams."

"If he calls again, tell him I'll get back to him," Haggar said, barely making eye contact with his assistant as he approached the door to his office.

"But sir, that's not all," Janet said. "You also got a call from a Mr. Horace Belger. He said that he wants to meet and speak with you soon."

Just then, Haggar turned around to face his assistant with a look of confusion on his face. Haggar knew of Horace Belger, as he was a well-known and respected philanthropist in Metro City, as he had the means to help give back to some of the communities. Belger also ran against Haggar for mayor and lost.

What does this guy want? Haggar thought. "I'll try to contact him soon, thank you," he said to Janet.

Chapter Text

The next day, Cody was at the gym working whether it was being a personal trainer for a client or showing any patrons how to work certain machines. After talking with Haggar about reducing his stress with having some bodyguards accompany Jessica when necessary, as well as Kyle, it appeared that it helped him more. It had only been a day, but it appeared that his stress eased a bit.

It was late in the afternoon. It was almost quitting time, but one thing caught his attention. Near the punching bags was a fit woman with short blonde hair and wore a blue sports bra and short denim shorts, punching and kicking the bag as hard as she could. It was as if she did this to ease stress.

"Lucia?" Cody said.

Lucia looked up and went to a stop. "Oh, hey, Cody." She then took a deep breath.

"What are you doing here?" Cody said. "You look like you're been here for a while, but I just barely saw you."

"Oh, sorry if I didn't say hello, I just wanted to get my workout in," Lucia said, as she picked up a towel to wipe off some of her sweat.

"It looked like more than just a workout, is something bothering you?" Cody said.

"It's a long story," Lucia said.

"Well, I'm about to head out and go meet with my friend Guy at his dojo," Cody said.

"Was he one of those guys you were with that night?" Lucia said.

"Yeah, he was there," Cody said.

"Well, I'm off work as well, maybe I can walk with you and we can talk about what's going on," Lucia said.

"Okay, sounds good," Cody said. "Let's go."

Lucia picked up a small brown vest and put it on. She buttoned it up, but the vest still looked small as Lucia's midriff was still exposed. However, Cody knew this woman, though, as she was an accomplished martial artist. She knew how to take care of herself.

The two walked down the street. Guy's dojo was only a few blocks away. Jessica checked in with Cody while he was at work and told him that she would meet him over at the dojo with Carlos accompanying her. Ever since Cody and Carlos reached an understanding, he was more than willing to trust Carlos with Jessica, mostly out of respect for Mayor Haggar.

"So what's been bothering you, Lucia?" Cody said. "You were hitting that bag pretty damn hard."

Lucia sighed as she looked down at the pavement but then her eyes shifted in front of her. Despite being off duty, she had to keep her eyes open and she still had her badge on her.

"Some bullshit happened at work recently," Lucia said. "My captain told me that my partner and I didn't go check on an incident at the Surf Bar, and he also accused me of beating up criminals, as if I started the attack."

"The fuck?" Cody said.

"I know, it sounds shitty," Lucia said. "Also, I think a couple of cops on the force are on the take."

"What makes you say that?" Cody said.

"This one cop I know, I saw that he had an expensive watch," Lucia said. "He can't afford something like that with the money we all make. It's making me think a lot."

"Can't you report this to your superiors?" Cody said.

"It's not that easy, I have no evidence," Lucia said. "Besides, my partner and I have been suspicious about what's been going down in the department. Only a few officers checked on an incident that happened at the Industrial Area recently, but some said it was just some gang attack, like it was no big deal."

Cody looked away from his friend as his eyes widened at what he had heard. "Shit."

"I know," Lucia said.

It wasn't long until they reached the dojo. It appeared that any classes with students had ended, as the only people who were seen were Guy, Maki, Carlos, and Jessica, who looked up and went right up to Cody to give him a hug and a peck on the lips. Rena also happened to be there as Maki gave her a ride from work at the restaurant.

Jessica looked up. "Oh, hi, Lucia, I haven't seen you in a while."

"Been busy trying to keep Metro City clean, but it's been a hassle," Lucia said.

"I know, my dad has been seeing a lot of problems with the city lately," Jessica said.

Lucia looked around and saw Guy sparring with Maki. Guy wore his standard orange gi, while Maki wore karate pants and a red sports bra. What drew her attention was that Guy and Maki appeared to study similar fighting styles, with Guy dodging Maki's moves, and vice versa. Also, with Maki having blonde hair, it made her wonder if maybe she could have been the woman who beat up those thugs a few nights prior.

"You're getting better, Maki," Guy said. "Your father taught you well, but Zeku has been a great master to both of us."

"Yes, but only one of us will be the 39th Grandmaster of Bushinryu, and it's going to be me," Maki said with so much confidence in his voice.

"We shall see about that," Guy said.

Carlos applauded as he smiled at what he saw. Jessica and Cody looked on and saw how Carlos looked at Maki. It appeared to be more than just being impressed with her fighting ability.

"Hey, Maki, I'm impressed," Carlos said. "What do you say if we spar one day?"

"Can you keep up?" Maki said.

"If I can keep up with this guy," Carlos said as he leaned in, as well as his eyes shifted to Guy. "I'm sure I can keep up with you."

"We'll see," Maki said with a cocky smile. She then looked up and saw Lucia, as did the others.

"Cody, you came," Guy said. "And you brought along a friend."

"Yeah, you remember Lucia from the other night, right?" Cody said.

"Oh yeah, the cop," Carlos said.

"Yes, I do remember," Guy said. "Pleased to make your acquaintance." He then shook her hand.

Lucia then shook the hands of the others like Carlos, Rena, and finally Maki, who noticed a look on Lucia's face.

"Is something wrong?" Maki said.

"No, I'm just curious about something," Lucia said. "Can you come with me for a bit?"

"Oh, come on, Lucia, can you stop being a cop for one minute?" Jessica said.

"I need to know something," Lucia said and called for Maki's attention to walk with her away from the group.

Now that they were separated, Lucia said, "I was wondering, do you know anything about an attack on three men from the other night?"

Maki shot her a look of confusion.

"You're not in trouble, I'm just wondering because I had heard about something like this," Lucia said. "I was told that the attacker was a woman with blonde hair. Just between me and you, my captain thinks it's me who did it, and also thinks I started the attack."

Maki looked away towards the group and nodded her head. "Yes, it was me, but it's not what you would think. I saw a woman trying to run from some guys. I quickly went around to the other side of an alley where I saw the men try to attack her, and that's when I stepped in."

Just then, Lucia's mouth opened with an expression of "Oh, I see now."

"So you saved that woman's life?" Lucia said.

Maki nodded in response.

"Okay, I understand," Lucia said. "Anyway, I saw your moves back there. Very impressive."

"Do you practice martial arts?" Maki said.

"Yes, I do," Lucia said.

"What do you say you show me what you got?" Maki said.

"Oh, no, I can't," Lucia said.

"Oh, come on, that was just a warm-up back there," Maki said.

Lucia recalled a lot of the tension she had when she was at Tom's Gym. If Maki suspected she was being accused of assault, then maybe Lucia could return the favor.

"Okay, let's do it," Lucia said.

The two women walked back towards the training mat, while Cody, Jessica, Carlos, Guy, and Rena looked on with suspicion, like they didn't know what was going on in front of them. Lucia took off her brown leather vest and set it aside, and then put on some padded gloves.

"What is going on?" Jessica said.

"I don't know," Cody said.

Guy said to Rena in Japanese, ["Your sister, she is confident, perhaps too confident."]

["She thinks she has a lot to prove,"] Rena said.

Carlos said to the couple, ["Maybe she doesn't want to lose her edge."]

Guy looked at Carlos and shook his head a bit. ["Don't underestimate her, my friend."]

Maki and Lucia bowed to each other and got into their stances. Maki threw the first attack, which was a punch, and then a kick. Lucia quickly dodged each time, as well as blocked a lot of Maki's attacks. This woman didn't seem to hold back on all of her attempts, but it didn't stop Lucia from trying to make any defensive attacks. In fact, Lucia showed that with her being physically fit, as well as had muscle definition on her legs, she was light on her feet as she threw some quick kicks and then jumped up to deliver a quick spin kick.

Maki did a quick back-flip, and then another where she landed with her right hand to the mat as she did handstand but then spun her body in 360-degree motion, showing a trick she had learned, or at least innovated herself. It was called a Reppukyaku, which was a spinning handstand kick. It knocked Lucia back a bit.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Maki said and then got up to her feet and then approached Lucia as she let out her hand to help her get up.

"You're good, but you probably got lucky," Lucia said with a smile as she shook Maki's hand as a sign of respect. "Next time, we'll see who the better woman is."

"We'll see about that," Maki said with a smile as well.

Carlos then approached Maki. "Wow, that was some crazy shit. You really know what you're doing out there."

"Thanks," Maki said. "I hear you are a good fighter, too."

"I try," Carlos said as he smirked a bit.

"Well, maybe next time we could see about that," Maki said. "I would do it now, but the clothes you're wearing, they're not the best for training."

Carlos knew what she was getting at as he wore a suit. Carlos brought Jessica over to the dojo as he had escorted her from the campus, as he was still under Mike's employ to be a bodyguard to Jessica. There were other days when he would be the bodyguard for Mike as well.

Jessica looked towards Lucia. "Hey, do you have any nights off soon?"

"Why?" Lucia said.

"Was wondering if we could hang out," Jessica said. "I mean I hadn't seen you in so long."

"I don't know, I got too much going on right now," Lucia said.

Cody cut in, "Lucia, maybe you might need to ease up the stress a bit. Jessica just wants to go out. It's not easy for her being the mayor's daughter."

Lucia sighed. "I'll see. Maybe I'll call you soon, okay?" Lucia said to Jessica.

Rena walked past Lucia. "You're a good fighter, too."

"Thank you," Lucia said. "Are you Maki's sister?"

"Yes, I am," Rena said.

"Really?" Lucia said, but then she saw that there was a facial resemblance to one another, despite Rena having black hair, while Maki had blonde hair, though Maki's hair appeared to be dyed as such. "Well, it was nice meeting you." Lucia said to Maki, "and you, too."

The group then left the dojo and they went off. Who knew what the evening had in store for the rest of them?

Inside a room somewhere in the slums of Metro City, where there was a mini-bar, as well as murals that had Mad Gear symbols, as well as red lighting on the banners with couches and pool tables in the area. Also, there were banners with Chinese symbols and old bookshelves in the back. This place was probably an old storage facility at one time.

But inside a room, there were two guys standing off to the side, while another guy was at the center with Won standing by with a meat cleaver in hand. The two men trembled a bit, but tried to stay quiet, but the other man, who was front and center, trembled a lot more. In fact, these were the same men who were accosted a couple of nights before.

A door had opened, with two bikers named Axl and Slash standing by with Axl holding a chain, while Slash held a lead pipe as if he held a guitar. Through the door walked a large man in a samurai outfit with a red shirt that had a Japanese symbol and had a blue samurai helmet with a mask. This man was known as Sodom. But from behind was another man in Japanese garb with long red hair. No one was certain if it was a wig or natural, but he had on a kabuki mask and a black outfit. This man was known as Retu.

"Oh, fuck me," the man in the center said.

Sodom looked to Retu and said in what sounded like Japanese but sounded like an attempt at an accent while speaking.

["Should we kill him?"] Sodom said.

["No, we must know what happened first,"] Retu said, with his Japanese sounding more genuine.

Sodom approached the man at the center. He pulled out a sai. With Won holding his meat cleaver, and Sodom holding his sai, nothing good could happen from this.

"We were told that you, along with those two," Sodom said pointing at the other two men. "Got your ass kicked by a girl. Is that true?"

"Yes, but…," the man said.

"BUT WHAT?!" Sodom yelled.

The man said, "We were just minding our fucking business, and this girl, she just popped up out of nowhere and just kicked our fucking asses."

"So?" Sodom said as he grabbed the man by his jaw-line and started to raise his sai.

"This wasn't some ordinary girl," the man said. "She fought like a fucking ninja. She did these crazy moves on us."

"Yeah, she did…" one of the other men said.

"Silence!" Sodom yelled.

"No," Retu said, breaking his silence. "Let the man speak."

"Thank you, said the second man. "That girl, she did these crazy moves. She knocked us out with this crazy kick, like she did a fucking handstand and then spins around, knocking us all down. She had a stick, too."

"Wait," Retu said. "What did she look like?"

"This girl," the third man said. "She had blonde hair. She was very quick. I didn't get a good look at her, but she had blonde hair, like she had it up in a ponytail and it was up."

Retu didn't say a word and with him wearing a mask, no one could see his expression, until he said, "I see. Well, you weren't the only one who experienced defeat. Damnd told me that some hoodlum assaulted him at the bar recently. We might be experiencing a problem of our own."

Won and Sodom then looked at Retu.

"What do you want us to do?" Won said. "Should we cut them up?"

"No, because they told us what happened, it seems we have a problem on our hands," Retu said. "That girl Mark spoke of, I think I might know who that is."

Meanwhile, out in the hangout area of the hideout, Damnd sat around with the others like Bred, Simons, Jake, Dug, as well as Elijah, Schot, Jack, and Bull. Poison and Roxy hung around as well.

"I don't hear any screaming back there," Poison said.

"Looks like something isn't their fault this time," Roxy said.

"Just like getting my ass kicked the other night," Damnd said. "That guy was just quick to start shit."

"I don't know, that guy could fight," Poison said. "I hope he shows up on Friday."

"Yeah, I saw the way you were looking at him," Roxy said.

"That fucker only got lucky, mon," Damnd said with his Jamaican terminology, even though he was Dominican, but they were still part of the Caribbean. "I hope we find someone who will fuck him up for good."

By that point, the sounds of yells of pain were heard, but not like they were being cut up, but rather as if they were being hit by something. After a few minutes, Axl and Slash walked out. Poison and Roxy walked up.

"What's going on?" Poison said.

"You know Retu, even if something wasn't too serious, he still needs to make an example of someone," Axl said.

The two men carried their friend Mark out, who was badly bruised and bloodied from some torture. He may not have been stabbed and/or sliced, but he still took a beating, and it looked worse than the beating he took a few nights prior.

"Oh shit," Roxy said as she had look of shock. This should not be much of a surprise as whenever someone went against the gang, there was a price to pay for it. When Rolento, as well as El Gado and Holly Wood caught up to that one man, it was because he dealt with another gang. This was a different case, as someone chose to take a stand against Mad Gear, but one wondered if there was any motive to it.

Damnd saw the battered man, along with his two friends, while Jake and the others saw it.

Damnd leaned over towards Bred and said, "He's just lucky Retu is a little more honorable than the big boss."

Bred nodded his head with his eyes bulging from what he had heard.

The next day, Haggar was in his office talking on the phone as he had some paperwork on his desk.

"Listen, Abrams, I don't know where to stand on all of this," Haggar said. "People are getting mugged out there. Some have also been killed. And you're going to tell me that one of your officers assaulted some innocent men? If you just do your fucking job, we wouldn't be in this shit!"

Haggar swore as if he meant what he had to say. It had been said that the Metro City Police Department had some corruption on the force, but if someone was accusing other cops for any corrupt activities, Haggar needed to get to the bottom of this.

"So what do you want me to do?" Haggar said. "So you're going to have me talk to your two officers, Morgan and Sims? Why can't you have the chief talk to them about it? Well, I see what I could do. I'm already knee deep in the mess of this city. Okay, I'll talk to you soon. Bye."

Through a speaker, Janet spoke into it. "Excuse me, Mr. Haggar, you got another caller coming in. It's from Mr. Horace Belger."

Haggar then looked up. "Put him on." He then answered the call. "This is Mayor Haggar speaking."

"Hello, Mr. Haggar." The voice spoke with a tone of determination. "I was wondering if we could meet sometime soon. I have wanted to speak to you about something."

"Well, we'll have to figure out a good time, I've been busy," Haggar said.

"Oh, I'm aware of that, sir," Belger said. "I'm a busy man myself, too. Listen, there is that gala this coming weekend. I know you're invited, as am I. Maybe this could be the perfect time for us to talk."

Haggar paused for a few seconds. "I'll be there and I look forward to it."

"Good, see you soon," Belger said.

What does this man want? Haggar thought to himself. Belger lost in the mayoral election, but there was something off about why he wanted to speak to the current mayor. Whatever the subject was, Haggar was about to find out soon.

Meanwhile, at Cody's apartment, Cody and Jessica sat at the kitchen table. It was evening and Kyle wasn't home yet.

"I don't know where he is," Cody said. "Shouldn't he be home now?"

"Relax, he's probably out with Vanessa and their friends," Jessica said.

"Vanessa seems nice, better than some of the other girls Kyle tried to go for, who were trouble," Cody said.

"Maybe it's because her brother is a cop," Jessica said.

"That might be the case," Cody said.

"Anyway, did you see how Carlos was looking at Maki yesterday?" Jessica said.

"Yeah, Guy and I fuck with him about it, but he acts like it's nothing," Cody said.

"Well, maybe we should go on a triple date sometime, me, you, Guy, Rena, and maybe Carlos and Maki," Jessica said.

"I thought the same thing, but Carlos is in denial," Cody said. "It's so fucking obvious."

"I know," Jessica said.

The door opened. Kyle walked in through the door. Cody and Jessica got up.

"Hey, where the hell were you?" Cody said.

"Out with Vanessa, and Lou, Celeste, and Paco," Kyle said. "What gives?"

"Listen, you need to start coming home earlier from now on," Cody said.

"Why? So the mayor's bodyguards could watch me and Vanessa do our thing?" Kyle said with sarcasm.

"I'm not joking, brother, shit is getting bad out there," Cody said.

Jessica cut in. "Kyle, listen to your brother, my dad wants what's best for all of us. He has some of his bodyguards watch me, too."

"Yeah, and they get too into my shit, especially when I'm hanging out with my friends," Kyle said, which was odd because he was aware that Vanessa's brother was a cop. "I don't know why they're always on us. Fuck this, I'm going to my room."

Kyle stormed out of their way to go into his bedroom while Cody and Jessica stood there confused at what just happened.

"I can't believe this," Cody said.

"You know he's just a kid," Jessica said.

"Yeah, but it's weird how he bitches about your dad's bodyguards when he should know that if he tries anything funny with Vanessa, her brother will fuck him up if I don't do it first," Cody said.

"You don't think they're…you know?" Jessica said. The pause implied whether she wondered if Kyle and Vanessa were having sex or doing anything else like drugs.

"If they are doing any of that shit, they better know what they're doing," Cody said. "I'm getting out for a bit. I'll be back."

Jessica hugged Cody. "Be careful out there. I'll check on your brother in a little while."

"Thanks, baby," Cody said.

Cody took off for a walk. He went down a few streets. The end of the week was upon them. In fact, Friday was the next day. He remembered earlier that same week that he wanted to try his hand in taking part in some fights at the Surf Bar. He found a phone booth in front of a liquor store and walked up to it and slid a quarter into the slot.

"Hello, this is the Surf Bar."

"Yes, I heard about some fights taking place tomorrow night," Cody said. "How do I sign up?"

Chapter Text

It was Friday night. Cody had prepared himself for a night of bloodshed. He was determined to go out to the Surf Bar to get into some of the fights there, because it was said that organized fights take place at that place.

Jessica had taken off with some friends of hers to go explore the nightlife. Kyle had gotten into it with Cody about staying in, but Cody had told his brother that he was only concerned because of many things that had occurred on the streets that same week. Jessica left with her friends before Cody did. Jessica had some bodyguards nearby, but they had told Cody that they wouldn't interfere with the ladies' fun.

"Okay, what if I called up Vanessa and went over to her house?" Kyle said.

"It would be fine if someone was there," Cody said. "Like her brother or her mom."

Kyle sighed in response.

"Kyle, you're my brother and I don't want you to get hurt," Cody said. "I'm going to be gone for a few hours."

"Where are you going?" Kyle said.

Cody froze for a quick second when he was asked. "I'm meeting up with Guy and Carlos. We're having a guys' night."

Kyle nodded in response, but something was off with how Cody responded. After Cody had left, Kyle reached for the phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Hey, Vanessa, what are you doing? I was wondering if you wanted to hang out. Sure, I could call Paco, see if maybe he and Celeste are up to it. Okay, I'll see you in a bit."

This had not been a good few days for Kyle, especially after Cody had been on him and also the recent development in having bodyguards accompany him to places.

Out in Uptown Metro City, Club Metro was booming as the venue had a lot of people on the dance floor with "Express Yourself" by Madonna blared over the speakers, all the while others got drinks at the bar. Jessica had gotten to the club wearing a red cocktail dress. It was enough to draw the attentions of some of the male patrons at the club. Jessica was accompanied by her friends Rachel, Cindy, and Melissa.

The ladies didn't come by themselves, though, as they were accompanied by bodyguards accommodated by Jessica's father. They went by Bishop and Forge. Bishop was an African-American man, while Forge was Native American.

"Man, what a place," Rachel said.

"Yeah, what a place," Jessica said.

"Oh, lighten up, Jess," Cindy said. "This is the first you have gone out in a while. Don't you want to have fun?"

"Of course," Jessica said.

Before the ladies could walk away, Jessica turned to Forge and Bishop, and told them to keep a distance but if things get bad, then they could do their job.

"Come on, Jess!" Melissa said.

Jessica walked through the crowded club as she was catching up to her friends. The four ladies went to a table near the bar area. It was a little quieter in that area. They all sat down.

"Does it get annoying having those guys around?" Cindy said.

"It just started this week," Jessica said. "My dad just wants to keep me safe."

"Why?" Cindy said.

"Cody has been dealing with a lot lately," Jessica said. "My dad doesn't want Cody to stress out. The bodyguards aren't too bad."

"I know what you mean," Melissa said as she looked at them in admiration. "Where's that hot bodyguard you had at school? You know, the one with the long hair."

"Carlos?" Jessica said. "He has the night off. Besides, he's staying with my dad and he also helps him out."

At that point, the DJ had started playing "Back to Life" by Soul II Soul.

"Well, we're here, let's get some drinks," Rachel said.

"You're right," Jessica said.

The four got up and went to the bar. As soon as they got to the bar, the bartender took a look at the quartet, but who stood out the most was Jessica.

"Hey, I've seen you before," the bartender said. "Aren't you the mayor's daughter?"

"Yes, I am," Jessica said.

"I was also a huge fan of your dad's when he wrestled," the bartender said. "Hey, drinks are on me."

"Thank you!" Jessica yelled.

The bartender served the four ladies their drinks as they all took sips. They were ready to have fun.

Cody had arrived in Chinatown where the Surf Bar was located. He took the subway. He walked towards the front entrance where a rather large man named Bill Bull stood at the door. This man looked to be rather obese but likely could have packed some muscle as well. He had a beard, too.

A nice sedan pulled up, blaring "Knick Knack Patty Wack" by EPMD, and parked in front of the bar and parked. While these were busy streets and likely had parking for patrons in other areas, the way this was done seemed as if these people owned the establishment. It wasn't far from the case as the people who got out of the car were Bred, Dug, Jake, and Simons. The big man let the quartet with no problem.

As Cody walked towards the entrance, he had someone say his name. He turned around and saw a familiar man with long hair and a blue outfit with jeans and a vest.

"Carlos? What are you doing here?" Cody said.

"I'm here to fight, remember?" Carlos said. Cody noticed that he had packed his katana sword with him.

"You know, I don't think you need that sword," Cody said.

"I only carry this with me just in case," Carlos said. "Let's go see what this place has got for us."

As the two walked up, Bill Bull looked up. "Whoa, whoa, are you on the list?"

"We're here to fight," Cody said.

"What's your name?" Bill Bull said.

"I'm Cody," he said.

"Not on the list," Bill Bull said.

Out of the blue, the front door opened as Poison walked out with Roxy right behind her.

"Bill, they're here to fight," Poison said. "Just let them in."

The big man looked at the two with suspicion for a few seconds before he signaled them to walk in. Cody and Carlos walked in. The place was booming as well, a little more than it was earlier that week as there was live music playing with an attractive blonde woman named Elissa singing the vocals. She wore an outfit that consisted of a red headband, a red bra top, as well as purple short shorts and purple knee-high boots. On guitar was a guy named Robert, who had on the same colors as Elissa, as well as a headband, except he had a purple vest that showed his bare chest.

The two ladies led the way for Cody and Carlos. Out of the blue, they were approached by a couple of familiar faces, at least to Cody.

"Hey, you're here," a woman said, who turned out to be Mary, the same woman from the gym, except she wore an outfit similar to what the singer on stage wore. The only difference was that her bra top was white, while the rest was green.

"Where's your friend from the other day?" Leon said, who an orange and black vest, as well as orange pants. "Who is this?"

"Oh, Guy is busy, this is Carlos," Cody said. Carlos shook the hands of the couple.

"Well, the fights are outside," Leon said.

"Come on, boys," Poison said.

From a distance, Damnd stood at the bar with Bred, Dug, Jake, and Simons, with looks of disdain towards Cody and Carlos. Jack and Schot walked up and noticed the two as well. Jack leaned towards Damnd's ear and whispered something. A smile rose on Damnd's face.

They all went towards a door that said "PATIO" on it. Once the door opened, it was revealed that this area had a large cage at the center with many people surrounding it as two men stood there ready to fight.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our next bout will be one for the books," an announcer said into a microphone. "In the red corner, fighting out of Missouri, Joe 'The Ghost' Scott!"

There stood a Caucasian man in red pants and no shirt. He posed for the crowd as they all applauded. His opponent was an African-American man in a red shirt and blue jeans.

"In the blue corner, fighting out of Oklahoma, Mike 'the Mauler' Maxwell!"

Mike did the same as what Joe did before. It wasn't long until the bell rang as the two men inside the cage started fighting. All Cody and Carlos did was just watch as the two men displayed their prowess. From what it appeared, Joe, or The Ghost as he liked to be called, displayed some skills in kickboxing, while Mike, aka The Mauler, was more of a boxer. Both men quickly started going at it, with Joe showing some swiftness with his kickboxing skills, but Mike had a size advantage over Joe. It also appeared that Mike was a professional boxer at one point, as he knew when to block, dodge, and deliver a hit when the opportunity arose.

Joe, on the other hand, landed a few kicks of his own. Joe was no slouch in the ring as he had the skills, but if Mike was a professional, there had to be some skill he had to make it to that level. Once Joe delivered a roundhouse kick, Mike quickly ducked and delivered a hard blow to Joe's gut and knocked him out with an uppercut.

"Here is your winner, Mike 'the Mauler' Maxwell!" the announcer said.

"Impressive skill, huh?" Carlos said as he watched Mike help Joe get to his feet.

"I could take him," Cody said.

As soon as the cage had emptied, the announcer talked about the next fight on the card. A Caucasian man with a beard, a green tank-top and green camo pants was in the cage. Cody and Carlos looked nearby as massive man of great height and build walked into the cage. This man had a bushy afro, wore magenta pants and a magenta leopard-print muscle shirt. He played to the crowd as he flexed his muscles.

"Oh my god," Cody said as his jaw dropped at the sight of this huge man. "That is one big motherfucker."

"I think I've seen this guy, or maybe it was his brother," Carlos said.

"Excuse me?" Cody said.

"I've seen him and his brother, they are big dudes," Carlos said. "You can't miss guys like that."

The announcer made the announcement, as one of the fighters was named "Mad Miles." The other guy, however, was named Hugo Andore. Before the fight started, Cody and Carlos saw how much Hugo towered over Mad Miles. It was not just in height, but also in width. Hugo packed on some serious muscle. As soon as the fight started, Hugo delivered a hard clothesline. It was hard enough for the opponent to drop. Hugo then got Mad Miles to his feet and pressed him against one wall of the cage and delivered a hard chop to his chest and grabbed him and slammed him hard to the mat. Mad Miles was out like a light. The fight was over quickly.

It wasn't long until the next fight started, with one man in the cage named Dean taking part in the next one. This guy had blond hair as well, but wore a black headband and a white muscle shirt. His opponent got in the cage, who was a rotund man, about as round as Bill Bull, but had an Amish beard. His name was Graham Oriber. Cody noticed that these fights were supposedly set up in advance. He and Carlos saw Poison and Roxy.

"Hey, are we fighting tonight?" Cody said to Poison.

"Yeah, a couple of other guys couldn't make it," Poison said.

"So you two are filling in for them," Roxy said.

"Who are we fighting?" Carlos said.

"You'll see," Roxy said with a smile and winked at him.

After that fight, Dean managed to win despite the man being much bigger than him. He got out of the cage.

"Good job," Cody said.

"Yeah, you really kicked that guy's ass," Carlos said.

Dean shook the two men's hands. "Thanks." And then he just walked away. The two men saw that he seemed quiet, but it seemed that he was a regular in this fighting circuit as many people cheered for him.

"Okay, boys," Poison said. "You guy are up next."

"Who's going first?" Cody said.

"Carlos will go first," Roxy said. "Come on, handsome, let's see what you got."

Carlos handed his katana, still sheathed, to Cody and then climbed the steps into the cage.

"Okay, we have a new fighter making his debut tonight, this is Carlos Miyamoto!" the announcer said.

Climbing into the cage was Carlos's opponent. He was a muscular man with a buzz-cut and a mustache, and wore tight blue pants and yellow boots.

"His opponent, the one and only Atlas!" the announcer said.

Carlos unbuttoned his vest, bearing his ripped pectorals and abdominals. Roxy smiled at the sight of that. Carlos laid out his hand to shake Atlas's hand, but Atlas wanted no part of it as he quickly punched Carlos in the face.

"Oh, you want to play that way, huh?" Carlos said.

Atlas threw punches but each time Carlos evaded them. Given that he was a karate and Kenpo practitioner, Carlos's quickness was enough to put the muscular fighter in a bind as most of his prowess was used for self-defense, as well as in a scrap like this.

However, Atlas blocked and countered some moves that Carlos laid into him. The man was clearly a grappler as he had grabbed Carlos and took him down.

"Come on, Carlos!" Cody said.

Atlas was pressed Carlos's head against the mat, ready to lay it into him, but quickly kneed Atlas in the groin. Carlos rolled and jumped right to his feet and delivered a hard crescent kick to Atlas's face, knocking him out.

DING! DING! DING!

"Here is your winner, Carlos!" the announcer said.

Damnd had walked into the fight area with his entourage. He saw that Carlos was the victor. Shocked as he was, he probably thought Carlos got lucky, even though Atlas was considered a good fighter, but not good enough to take down Carlos.

Poison leaned in towards Cody. "Your turn, big boy." She said it with a smile.

Carlos exited the cage as Cody walked into it as Poison checked him out.

"Good job," Cody said.

"Thanks, good luck in there," Carlos said after Cody handed him the katana sword.

The announcer said, "We have another fighter making his debut tonight, put your hands together for Cody Travers!"

Everyone applauded, while Damnd looked at Cody with disgust, especially after he got his ass handed to by Cody just nights before.

The next fighter walked right in had a similar style to Atlas, except he was completely bald and had a full grown beard. He also wore dark orange pants.

"His opponent, the one and only Jony!" the announcer said.

Cody had his hands taped for this, wearing his usual plain white T-shirt and jeans. Jony walked up and gave him a cocky smile with an expression of "This guy? Really?" With Atlas throwing the first punch in the previous fight, Cody was the one who threw the first punch as he delivered a jab to Jony.

Jony looked at Cody with such anger that he rushed right towards him and grabbed him and pushed him towards the wall of the cage. Before Jony threw a punch, Cody headbutted him and delivered three punches to the gut and face. Jony blocked Cody's uppercut and then delivered a hard palm strike to Cody's face and then hit him with a hard left hook. It left a bruise on Cody's face.

Jony grabbed Cody by the legs and delivered a spinebuster and then mounted him to deliver a hard punch, leaving his nose a little bloody, but Cody kneed Jony in the nuts and put him on his back. Cody quickly laid waste onto Jony's face, delivering multiple punches from both of his hands as blood squirted all over the mat, as well as onto the tape wrapped around his hands.

"STOP!" Jony yelled.

DING! DING! DING!

"Here is your winner, Cody!" the announcer said.

Damnd looked upset that Cody had won this fight.

"Next time, he won't be so lucky," Damnd said.

"Who do you want him to fight?" Bred said.

"Oh, he'll see," Damnd said.

Cody got up and left the cage and then approached Carlos.

"That was some impressive shit," Carlos said.

"Damn, playboy, you know how to fight," Poison said.

"Just did my thing," Cody said.

"You did more than that," Poison said. "You and your friend made some money tonight."

Poison handed him a sum of money. Both men won $5,000 each.

"Holy shit!" Cody said.

"Roxy and I bet on both of you," Poison said. "Maybe next time, you might get more people to bet on you."

"When's the next fight?" Cody said.

"We do this every Friday," Roxy said.

Leon and Mary walked up as well and congratulated both men.

"Tell your other friend about fighting next time," Leon said. "I remember he kicked those guys' asses at the gym the other day."

"We'll see," Carlos said.

"But I'll have to give you a number on where to reach me," Cody said.

"And me, too," Carlos said.

Cody and Carlos wrote numbers to specific payphones where they could reach them. Cody didn't want Jessica to know about this. Carlos didn't want to tell Haggar about this, either. It seemed like they had a plan to take part in fights from time to time.

MEANWHILE, ELSEWHERE…

Kyle and Vanessa met up with Paco and Celeste near the subway. Lou didn't join them this time, but it wasn't so bad as the two pairs could have a double date, even if it was just to walk around.

"So where do you want to go?" Paco said.

"Vanessa and I want to check out the Bay Area," Kyle said. "I don't know what it's like out there at night."

"Yeah, I hear that some shady shit goes on down there," Paco said.

"Isn't it like that everywhere?" Celeste said. "Maybe we should go get something to eat instead."

"I'm with Celeste on this, guys," Vanessa said. "Besides, don't you remember what happened last week?"

"We're not going out to the Industrial Area," Kyle said. "We'll see what we could find. Come on."

From a distance, a man and a woman saw the group of teens walking towards the subway. They were both dressed in red martial arts gear.

As the quartet went down the steps into the subway, they all paid their fares to await the next train. For a group of teenagers, they knew to carry money, but not too much money, especially in an area like where they were.

"Spare any change?" a homeless man said as he sat against the wall of the subway. Vanessa was nice enough to lend a couple of dollars to the man. Paco did the same thing, despite not knowing if this person could be scamming anybody who walked by.

From another end of the subway stood a tall man with a yellow ringmaster jacket and green tight pants, a top hat, and what looked like clown makeup with long orange hair. Whether the hair was real or was a wig, no one knew for certain. This man was known as Philippe.

Accompanying him were three tall and lanky men who for some reason wore crop tops and carried retractable batons as they all let the batons slide out. One wore a purple vest and purple skull cap named Elias. The other was Eliot, who wore a black vest and yellow pants. The last one was Joe, an African-American man whose outfit was primarily red.

"Well, look what we have here, chaps," Philippe said with a British accent mixed with clown-like voice. Philippe also carried a cane, which could also be used a weapon.

"Looks like a bunch of kids came to the wrong place," Elias said as he slammed his baton against the palm of his hand.

The group of teens awaited the next train. Vanessa looked around. Her eyes widened as she jumped at the sight at who approached them. Celeste saw, but she let out a shriek as the first thing she saw was a tall clown.

"What the f-?" Paco said and saw the men. "Oh shit!"

Kyle turned around and saw the ruffians approaching them. He kept quiet as he didn't want to draw any unwanted attention to any potential thugs nearby, likely affiliated with Mad Gear. Paco told Celeste to back away, and Kyle did the same thing with Vanessa.

"Listen, man, we don't want any trouble," Kyle said. "We'll be out of here soon, okay?"

"You want to use this train, mate?" Philippe said. "You got to pay us."

"Fuck that," Kyle said as he put up a stance.

"Kyle, what are you doing?" Vanessa whispered. She, along with Celeste trembled at the sight of these men. Paco, however, put up a stance, but also had a look of unease towards them.

"You think you have a chance, bloke?" Philippe said. "You and your mate here?"

Kyle trembled a little bit, but couldn't display that much fear. Although he was willing to protect Vanessa, as well as Paco wanting to protect Celeste, it was possible that these man wielded more than what was shown. Joe pulled out a glass bottle with alcohol and a rag, as well as a lighter and shook his head with a look of "don't even try."

But Kyle didn't budge as he threw a punch to Philippe, but it only escalated from there as Elias whacked him with his baton. Eliot did the same to Paco and quickly grabbed Celeste, and Joe grabbed Vanessa, covering their mouths as they screamed.

"Shut the fuck up, bitch!" Elias yelled as he delivered a backhand slap to Vanessa's face.

"You son of a bitch!" Kyle yelled as rushed towards Elias after hitting Vanessa, but was hit in the back by Philippe's cane.

Elias shifted his attention towards Paco as Philippe had his attention on Kyle. Eliot and Joe held Vanessa and Celeste as they watched their boyfriends get assaulted, trembling at the sight while tears ran down their faces.

Meanwhile, the lady in the toll booth looked on called 911 to get the police here, but as she was on the phone, she saw a man and woman in red race down the stairs and jumped the turnstiles. The woman was shocked at the sight of the two, but didn't try to stop them.

The man turned out to be Guy, while the woman was Maki. Maki whacked Eliot in the back with her tonfa, letting go of Vanessa. Joe looked up and let go of Vanessa, but before he saw who the attacker was, Guy kiaied as he delivered a dropkick. Vanessa looked up and saw the two ninja. Philippe and Elias barely noticed their comrades on the ground before they were quickly attacked by the two martial artists. It was clear that Guy and Maki had ninja training because they were not only light on their feet, but also knew how to evade and do sneak attacks. They both flipped over as they grabbed the thugs and did their izuna drops.

Kyle and Paco got up, despite being hurt. The train had arrived. The two girls got up and headed for the train.

"Come on, Kyle!" Vanessa yelled.

"Paco, let's go!" Celeste yelled.

The two boys boarded the train as quickly as they could. As soon as the train was about to take off, Kyle looked out the window and made eye contact with Guy. Guy had a confused look on his face, while Kyle had a look that said "oh shit."

Kyle and Paco sat on the seats while the girls stood before them holding onto the brass poles.

"Do you know that guy?" Vanessa said.

Kyle nodded his head. "He is Cody's friend."

"Shit, Kyle, what the fuck were you thinking back there?" Vanessa said.

"You guys could have been killed!" Celeste said.

"We tried to protect you," Paco said.

Vanessa responded, "We appreciate that, but are you guys forgetting about what happened the other day? Kyle, you really shouldn't have started shit with him."

"I could have taken down that clown if he didn't have those guys with him," Kyle said.

Celeste added, "Paco was scared, too, you know. I know you two get into fights sometimes, but these were real criminals. Think about if you tried to get into a fight with those guys that one day. They had fucking knives!"

Vanessa hugged Kyle and held onto him tight.

"Promise you won't do that again, okay?" Vanessa said with her voice cracking.

Kyle knew that he was lucky to have Vanessa in his life. With her brother being a policeman, it's clear that she had a better head on her shoulders than Kyle did. Sure, she may have been up to getting into trouble with Kyle and the rest of the crew, but they faced some criminals head on this time. Kyle put his arms around Vanessa this time as well.

"By the way," Celeste said. "Me and Vanessa appreciate that you tried to protect us."

"Thanks," Kyle said.

"I try to protect you any way I can, baby," Paco said. Celeste put her arm around him.

Back in the subway, it had been 10 minutes after the train had left. Two cops had arrived. They were Edi-E and Dave, who saw the clown and his minions tied to the pillars of the subway.

"Holy shit, what happened here?" Dave said.

"Someone thinks that they could do our job," Edi-E said.

Over at an apartment building, Guy and Maki went to the doors of their respective apartments. Guy lived next door to Maki, Rena, and their father. He was close with the Genryusai family, and while he was in a relationship with Rena, he didn't live with them out of respect for Rena and Maki's father.

"Are you going to tell Cody?" Maki said.

"What?" Guy said.

"I know that look on your face," Maki said. "I see that you want to tell Cody that you saw his brother in the subway getting assaulted by the Mad Gear Gang."

"I have to," Guy said. "He has to know."

"Good thing you saw him," Maki said. "Kyle is only a kid, you know?"

Guy nodded. "Anyway, good night, I'll be by in the morning. Are you going to that thing tomorrow?"

"I'd like to," Maki said. "The mayor invited us, but one of us has to check on my father. You and Rena can go."

"We'll see, we'll talk about this tomorrow," Guy said. "Good night."

Guy opened the door to his opponent while Maki stood there. Maki and Guy had known each other for years. She had a crush on him when she was younger and still kind of did, despite knowing that Guy was with her sister. However, she also respected him as an equal in martial arts. Maki went into her apartment and saw that Rena was asleep in the room she shared with Maki, while their father was asleep in his bedroom.

Maki changed into her pajamas to go to bed.

Back at home, it was late at night. Jessica had walked through the door. She saw Kyle sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Kyle? You're still up?" Jessica said.

"I couldn't sleep," Kyle said.

"Is something bothering you?" Jessica said.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," Kyle said.

"Your brother is here, right?" Jessica said.

"Yeah, Cody's in bed right now," Kyle said.

Jessica walked right into the bedroom and saw that Cody lied in bed.

"Cody, baby, I'm home," Jessica said as she sat on the bed and kissed Cody on his forehead.

Cody woke up. "Oh, Jessica, you're home. How did it go?"

"Oh, it was fun, the girls can get wild," Jessica said. "How did your night go?"

"Just another night," Cody said.

"I see, well, I am going to get ready for bed," Jessica said. "You want to…, you know?"

"I'm tired," Cody said.

"Okay, baby," Jessica said and kissed Cody on the lips.

It wasn't long until Cody fell asleep. However, there was a weird feeling that Jessica felt when she kissed him, at least around the jaw area. What did it mean?

Chapter Text

Morning came. It was about 7:27 a.m. Cody had just woken up while Jessica lied there asleep after the wild night at the club. With Forge and Bishop there standing guard for the quartet of ladies, they had to step in when any male patrons bought the ladies drinks or tried to get frisky with them, especially with Jessica, the mayor's daughter.

Cody wasn't without having a wild night, either. If a few of the bruises on his face were of any indication, it was clear what he was up to. Thankfully, the bruises and cuts weren't that bad, though some were visible, like around his jaw-line and close to his eyes.

But what caught his attention was his younger brother passed out on the couch. Why was Kyle sleeping on the couch? Did he have trouble sleeping? Did he have a nightmare?

RING! RING! RING! The telephone rang in the kitchen.

Who could be calling this early? Cody thought to himself. It was roughly 7:30 in the morning. It was still early. Jessica was out because of her wild night, probably danced and drank. Cody wondered why he was awake at this time. But none of that mattered, Cody picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Cody said. "Guy, this is early. I didn't expect a call this early on a Saturday. What? Yeah, he's here."

Cody turned around from the kitchen and looked through the doorway and saw Kyle lying there.

"Wait, what did you say?" Cody said. "What happened?"

Cody didn't say a word which meant that Guy had a lot to say. Kyle ascended his body up from the couch, then shook his head and rubbed his eyes a bit. Through his line of vision, as groggy as it appeared, all he saw was a taller blond-haired man in the kitchen talking on the phone.

"Okay, I'll talk to him a bit," Cody said and then shivered a bit after what he had been told.

Kyle's eyes were wide open, as a jolt went through his system at what the sight of Cody on the phone, especially after what his brother said.

"Thank you for telling me this, Guy," Cody said. "If you and Maki weren't there…well, you know what I mean."

Cody looked right at his brother as he talked to Guy. Kyle had a look of "oh shit" on his face. He heard Cody address Guy, as well as thanked him and Maki for what happened. Kyle got up from the couch and quickly went to his bedroom.

"Okay, I'll talk to him," Cody said. "Thank you for calling me, Guy. I owe you big time for this. Bye."

Cody put the phone. He glared towards the door to Kyle's room, but it was different than anger. Cody didn't know whether to feel angry or concerned, but was more than relieved that two of his friends saved Kyle and his friends. He went right for Kyle's room and knocked on the door.

"Go away, Cody!" Kyle said inside the room.

"Fuck that, I need to talk to you right now!" Cody said.

In the other room, Jessica's eyes opened after she heard the shouting. It couldn't be good, especially with how Kyle had been to Cody lately.

"I got nothing to say," Kyle said as he packed up some stuff in a bag.

Cody muttered to himself and just stormed right into the room. Much to his surprise, Kyle's door wasn't locked, which was weird because there were times when Cody's door was locked, as well as had something on the door whenever he and Jessica had their alone time.

Kyle looked up and saw the stern glare on Cody's face. Cody saw a look of fear in Kyle's eyes, rather than a look of stubbornness. There was no getting out of this for Kyle. It was clear to him that Cody found out about the night before.

"Kyle, put that stuff down, and you're going to hear everything I have to say," Cody said.

"Cody, if you just listen, I'll tell you everything," Kyle said. "Look, it's…"

"SIT YOUR ASS DOWN!" Cody yelled.

In the next room, Jessica sat up and looked towards the wall. The shouting woke her up some more. From what she had heard, Cody had told Kyle that Guy and Maki saved them, which caused her eyes to widen more and then she got out of bed.

"Now what were you doing over there?" Cody said. "You know Mad Gear has a lot of people everywhere."

"I wanted to hang out with Vanessa, as well as Paco and Celeste," Kyle said.

"I understand that, but you couldn't just go to Vanessa's house or something?" Cody said. "Seriously, Kyle, you wouldn't be here if Guy and Maki didn't step in and save your ass."

"We just wanted to go and find a place to hang out, like an arcade or go grab some pizza," Kyle said. "But then those guys came up to us. I couldn't let them hurt Vanessa or Celeste."

"Yeah, and look what happened," Cody said.

Although Kyle didn't tell him everything what happened, Cody saw right through him that Kyle, as well as Paco tried to protect the girls, but given that the two were teenage boys and the guys they faced were rough thugs, the two boys were no match for them. Guy had told Cody that two of the Mad Gear members held down the girls, who cried and tried to scream, but had their mouths covered so that no one else would hear them scream in horror as they saw their boyfriends being beaten up.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Come in, Jessica," Cody said. The door had opened and in walked Jessica.

"What's going on?" Jessica said, and then noticed some blemishes on Cody's face.

Cody filled her in on what happened with Kyle the previous night. Jessica looked at Kyle with so much shock and concern on her face. Although Cody and Jessica were relieved that Kyle was okay at what happened, both of them were not happy that they defied Cody's orders that Kyle stay home.

"Kyle, listen, I'm so relieved that you're okay," Cody said. "But I am not happy that you didn't listen to me."

Kyle looked down and nodded his head after what he had heard. Jessica signaled to Cody that she wanted to talk to him. Cody then followed her outside of Kyle's bedroom.

Jessica looked at Cody's face. "What happened to you?"

"What are you talking about?" Cody said.

"Your face," Jessica said. "When I kissed you last night, I felt something around your lips. You got a bruise right there. I see a few bruises and scratches on your face."

Cody didn't know how to respond to that, especially since Jessica saw some of the fatigue that he had on his face from the fight he was in the night before.

"Did you get into another fight?" Jessica said.

Cody was at another loss. Jessica was aware that Cody had a propensity for violence, as she had witnessed her boyfriend getting into fights before. While those types of fights were in self-defense or because of some macho bullshit, the fight he was in for money.

Cody sighed. "Yes, but not in the way you would think."

"What do you mean?" Jessica said.

"You always say that we should be honest with each other," Cody said. "I was in a fight, for money."

"What?" Jessica said.

"I just wanted to make some extra money," Cody said. "I got paid."

Jessica sighed as her eyes shifted away from him in an expression of "are you serious?"

"Why didn't you tell me your plans?" Jessica said.

"I just wanted to go check it out," Cody said. "I didn't know if I was going to get into a fight."

"Yeah, but I hear about the kinds of fighters at those types of things," Jessica said. "Cody, I love you, and I know you can fight, but there are some guys who are tougher. I don't want you to get hurt. Shit, Cody! Kyle almost got killed!"

Cody nodded his head and leaned in to give her a hug.

"Listen, next time you do something like this, let me know," Jessica said. "I can keep an eye on Kyle."

"I don't need a fucking babysitter," Kyle said, after he overheard what Jessica said.

Cody looked up and Jessica turned around. Cody separated himself from his girlfriend and approached his brother.

"Listen to me, you should thank Guy and Maki for saving your ass last night," Cody said. "After what you went through, I think you should stay your ass at home at night. Just think what could have happened if I didn't find you in bed this morning, or on the couch, or if I heard that your body was found somewhere. You have no idea what I would do. You could have been killed."

Kyle knew that Cody was right, but at the same time, he also felt that he couldn't stay home. Only thing he could think about doing was not engage in a fight with any criminal, not just a Mad Gear member. His friend Celeste mentioned about that day when the group was at the Industrial Area as those guys had knives. They could also have guns, too.

Cody then approached his younger brother and put his hands to Kyle's shoulders. "I'm only saying this because you're my brother and I care about you. I don't want to see you get hurt."

Kyle nodded and hugged his older brother. Jessica then tapped on Cody's shoulder.

"You know that tonight we have that thing with my dad," Jessica said. "I am going to do my best to cover up those cuts and bruises."

"Thank you," Cody said and kissed her on the cheek.

Jessica knew that Cody had gotten into fights before, but this was something different. She couldn't say she was pleased to hear her boyfriend participating in underground fighting, but there was money involved. She knew that Cody was a good fighter, but at the same time, there might be someone better out there, whether it was in skill, or a size advantage, or a speed advantage. When she saw the scratches and bruises on his face, she knew there was something off when she kissed him before she went to bed the previous night.

The evening had come. There was a gala being hosted somewhere in Uptown Metro City. It was hosted by the mayor himself, Mike Haggar, who had invited Cody and Jessica, along with Guy and Rena. Maki also came along, because her father said that he would be fine at home. He may be an old man, but he was able to take care of himself. After all, he did teach Maki some tricks, as well as Guy.

Cody and Jessica arrived. Cody wore a suit with a vest over a blue pinstripe shirt. Jessica wore a purple dress, with her long blonde hair hanging in stylish fashion. Guy wore a suit with an orange-red tie. Maki wore a red and white dress. She wore similar colors in her kunoichi outfit, but this wasn't that kind of occasion. Rena had a black dress as she walked in and held hands with Guy, just like how Cody held Jessica's hand.

They walked into the hotel where this event was taking place. This event was not unlike the mayor's ball where Haggar gave his speech, as that was mostly a conference. This event was mostly a charity ball for the citizens of Metro City.

Haggar, along with Carlos, saw the group of people as they walked in. Given Haggar's muscular build, he had worn a suit that filled out his large frame and wore a pair of glasses to give him a more studious look. Carlos wore a suit, but it was mainly because he was one of Haggar's bodyguards for that night.

"There you are!" Haggar said. "You're here."

"Hi, Dad," Jessica said.

Mike greeted Cody and Guy, as well as introduced himself to Maki, whom he had not met before, but met Rena a few days prior when she served for them at the restaurant.

Carlos greeted his friends, and then saw Maki as his eyes widened with an expression of "wow!" on his face with a chill flowing through his face.

"Oh, hi, Maki," Carlos said and gave a nervous chuckle.

"Hello, Carlos," Maki said as she smiled a bit. "You're looking good tonight."

"Well, I'm kind of on duty, but you sure look nice," Carlos said.

"Why thank you," Maki said with a smile.

Haggar addressed the group that the event was taking place in the conference hall. With this event being held in Uptown Metro City, it was one of the nicer areas of the city. In fact, it was in the metropolitan area, but that didn't mean that there wasn't corruption in that area.

"Mr. Haggar." Haggar looked up as he heard his name from a few feet away. There was a man in a wheelchair in a dark blue tuxedo with a frilly shirt and bow tie, as well as a cummerbund around his waist. This man was bald with black hair. Whatever hair he had left connected to his Amish-like beard, as he had no mustache.

"Mr. Belger, great for you to join us for this event," Haggar said.

"I told you I was going to be here," Belger said.

Like Haggar, who had a band of bodyguards with him, including Carlos, Belger had an entourage with him as well. Right by his side he had a muscular man in a military uniform with medallions on the left side of his chest and patches on the shoulders of his jacket and had an ascot. What stood out to the likes of Cody, Jessica, Guy, etc. was the long scar going across the left side of the man's face. To top it off, this man wore a red beret. It was Rolento Schugerg, who had his right-hand man Freddie with him, who wore an army uniform.

"Man, does this guy have military connections?" Cody said to Jessica.

"I don't know," Jessica said as she shook her head, because there was something off about those two men, but she didn't know what it was.

"Listen, Mr. Haggar, I have wanted to speak to you lately," Belger said. "What do you say we find somewhere to talk?"

"We have that big thing in a little bit," Haggar said.

"Yes, I know," Belger said. "I am involved in this event, too. So I was thinking we should go find somewhere to speak, and I'd rather it be alone."

Haggar nodded his head and addressed his bodyguards, as well as the rest of the group to go walk around and find a table and get something to eat. Carlos joined the rest of the group, especially if Haggar told his bodyguards to separate themselves, as Belger told his bodyguards the same thing.

Belger had a motorized wheelchair and rode down the corridor as Haggar walked with him towards the elevator. Because the ball had not officially started, the two most powerful men in Metro City went to the balcony where more tables were set up. The area was empty, but it was open enough for the two men to speak in private.

Haggar pulled out a chair so that Belger could roll right towards the table, while Haggar sat down in the other chair as he stared Belger directly in the eye with the two face to face.

"So, Mr. Belger, what is it that you want to talk to me about?" Haggar said.

"Listen, Mr. Haggar, I know that I lost in the mayoral race against you, but make no mistake that I still have the capital to help give back to Metro City. I have helped out the poorer communities with the schools, as well as the medical department."

"Yes, I know that," Haggar said. "That's great you helped out, especially with all of the crime and assault that has been plaguing our city's streets for a long time now. But I've also been trying to help out the police department, who haven't been doing that good of a job in helping out with the city's problem."

"Well, my business had helped with the economic problems, but I see where you're coming from with the crime element," Belger said.

"And what is that? I had heard about drugs and weapons being sold on the streets," Haggar said. "I had heard about disturbances happening across Metro City but the police don't do a good job at responding to the crimes that really needed to be stopped."

"That's exactly what I was going to tell you," Belger said. "Some members of the Metro City Police Department have arrested some criminals, like members of the Punx, the Latin Lords, and others."

"But what about Mad Gear? That is more than just your normal gang," Haggar said. "A lot of misguided youths have joined them, as well as own several establishments."

Haggar noticed that Belger mentioned some smaller organized gangs. Well, except maybe the Latin Lords, but they were known for having had ties to Mad Gear, at least until recently. The only other examples he could think of were the 800 Dragons, which ran Chinatown, and had some connections to Mad Gear.

"The police department has been lacking the funds that are necessary for their resources," Belger said. "I could help them out."

"Are you insinuating that we should partner to help improve this city?" Haggar said.

"I'm just saying that there are a lot of things that could be done to help make this city better," Belger said. "But with my financial backing, it shouldn't hurt to turn to me for some help."

"Listen, I appreciate that there are no hard feelings for losing the election," Haggar said. "But I am the mayor, and I know that there are other problems besides the economy. I had heard that there is some corruption in the police department, and as the mayor, it is my duty to take care of the problem. I may appreciate your offer for us to work together, but I don't need your money, nor do I need you to provide the money for what you say the police department lacks. It's great that you provided money for healthcare and the education system, but aside from that, I need to see about solving the crime element myself."

Belger nodded his head. "Okay, I understand, but just know that you had your chance for us to be partners."

Haggar got up from his chair and shook Belger's hand as a sign of respect. The two were on their way as the ball was about to start soon.

But what was puzzling about this meeting was that Belger only mentioned some gangs that Metro City has, but not Mad Gear. Haggar couldn't wrap his brain around why Mad Gear wasn't mentioned, when they were the primary problem for Metro City.

Back with the group, Cody and Jessica sat with Guy and Rena, as well as Carlos and Maki, who were talking to each other.

"I bet I could take you on," Maki said.

"So you think that your Bushin style is superior, don't you?" Carlos said.

"It's a unique style of ninjutsu, your karate and kenpo won't be any match for my style," Maki said.

Carlos smiled. "We'll see about that. I almost took down Guy over there."

Everyone at the table looked at Guy with an expression of "really?" Guy nodded his head while keeping a straight face, as no expression of embarrassment was on display, but rather his stoic and calm demeanor.

"Well, you're on, handsome," Maki said to Carlos.

"Oh," Carlos said as blood rushed through his veins all over his body, as a red shade rose on cheeks through his tan skin as Maki smiled at him. Everyone in the group saw the way the two interacted.

Haggar had returned to the group at their table.

"Hey, Dad, where did you go?" Jessica said.

"Someone just wanted to talk business, that's all," Haggar said. "Let's all have a good time."

Meanwhile, Belger rejoined his two bodyguards, adding to the fold were El Gado and Holly Wood, both of whom dressed for the occasion in some nice military uniforms to blend in for the occasion.

Rolento looked on at all the people at this event, and then turned to Belger. "So did you talk to the mayor?"

"Yes," Belger said.

"What did he say?" Rolento said.

"He says he needs time," Rolento said as he looked at the mayor, but then turned his attention towards Cody, and then Jessica, as well as the others.

A smirk rose on Belger's face as he looked at them. "All in good time, Rolento. That's all that matters."

Chapter Text

Belger rolled out of the venue on his wheelchair while Rolento and his men stood there in wait for their boss inside a parking garage. A limousine rolled up close to them and went to a stop. El Gado and Holly Wood walked up to the doors. El Gado opened it. Belger rolled towards the open door and elevated himself from his wheelchair and went inside. In fact, he didn't need help getting into the vehicle. He did it on his own.

Freddie picked up the wheelchair and put it into the open trunk and sealed it. Once everyone was in the limo, they were off.

"What did Mr. Haggar say, sir?" Rolento said.

Belger poured himself a glass of champagne that he had in the vehicle. He then took a sip.

"The only thing I will tell you is that the mayor isn't smart enough to know what's good for him. I think those steroids messed with his brain."

"Mr. Belger, with all due respect, this man has a plan to make the city better," Rolento said. "He is right about the crime wave and plans to do whatever it takes to eliminate the crime element."

"But I have something he doesn't," Belger said. "I have a lot more power in this city than the mayor does. Mayor Haggar only thinks he has things under control, but he's wrong, and he knows it."

Belger looked out the window and looked around the atmosphere of Metro City, despite riding down a city street. He took another sip of his drink.

"One thing I suggested to the mayor is doing more funding for the police, but he doesn't know a damn thing," Belger said. "I'm already one step ahead of him in that department."

Rolento nodded his head. "One thing you should know, sir, is that my men and I keep the streets in line if the police won't do anything."

A smile rose on Belger's face when he heard that. "Oh, I know exactly what you mean."

Belger sipped at the champagne once more and smirked again. With his financial backing and business, he had Metro City at the palm of his hand, despite losing the mayoral election. But for some reason, he felt the power and influence he already had wasn't complete.

"Until the day comes, I have some ideas on how to let Mayor Haggar know that Metro City is ours," Belger said and then put his glass down. He then got out a cigar. Belger signaled to Rolento, who then got out a lighter and lit the cigar.

Belger took a puff and blew out the smoke. "All in good time, Rolento. That's all that matters."

Rolento nodded his head with a look of skepticism on his face.

At the Mad Gear lair, a meeting was called to action. Mad Gear members from Bred, Simons, Dug, and Jake to Two-P and J to Damnd and many others stood at attention. What were they waiting for? Only they knew.

First Damnd got beaten up, as well as some random lowly thugs got beaten up, as well as Philippe and his main thugs. Could Mad Gear be going through some problems at the moment?

Also attending this meeting were Edi-E and Dave, two of Metro City's finest, or so they believed.

Damnd looked at the two cops. "You should have done your fucking job and arrested those assholes who kicked my ass."

"Listen here, Damnd," Edi-E said. "It's not my fault you got your ass handed to."

"Haven't you heard of taking care of one of your own?" Damnd said.

"Hey, I don't know who did that to you, but as an officer of the law, I still do my job," Edi-E said.

"Sure, tell to that to big boss," Damnd said.

"Enough! Silence!" Everyone in the room all looked to their sides from the sound of that yell. The Mad Gear members spread out. Everyone from Damnd to Edi-E to Bred to others in the gang. Some members were women, too.

Out from the shadows walked Sodom, a tall man in a samurai outfit and helmet with a mask. Behind him was Retu, a kabuki warrior.

Sodom started to speak. "Retu had called for this meeting. He wants to speak to all of you."

Retu was about the same height as Sodom, if not taking into account that he stood a little taller than him because of his traditional kabuki sandals with the soles making him seem taller. The long hair and face paint gave off the vibe that he was as serious with the kabuki look as much as Sodom was with his samurai look. Also, given his size, he had an intimidating vibe about him.

"As your leader, it is my job to keep things in order," Retu said in a heavy Japanese accent. Despite the accent, his English was actually good. "Listen, none of us want to upset the boss, who is out tonight. Right now, I am looking at every one of you and I see some problems within our organization. Some of our leaders had been assaulted by vigilantes."

"Or people just looking to start shit," Damnd said.

"Silence, Damnd!" Sodom said.

Retu continued. "We are a family. A lot of people are here because the world does not accept you. The world doesn't accept people like us."

Retu looked at Philippe, along with his main soldiers, Elias, Eliot, and Joe. Despite the beating they took the previous night, they looked fine, albeit a little bruised. Jony and Atlas looked like they took a beating as well. However, those two only suffered a beating in one-on-one combat.

"Our only problem is that someone decided to take a stand against us," Retu said. "But you must know one thing. These are mere men. They are outnumbered against our organization. If we are one big family, then we should look out for one another. What happened to them, no one is at fault here. None of us expected any of this. If this were another gang, like any enforcers, lieutenants, from other gangs going after us, it is our duty to work together to stop the problem. I may get violent, but make no mistake about this. Our boss is not as forgiving as I am. Failure is never an option and if any of us fail, then that's your life right there. If it means taking out anybody steps in our way, then that's all we need."

Everyone started to nod their heads.

"Master Retu." A British-accented voice caught Retu's attention. The voice come from nearby as Retu saw Philippe raising his arm. This time he didn't have his clown makeup on but it was apparent that he had bruises on his face.

"Yes, Philippe."

"What happened last night was different. We got jumped by two people. They were highly skilled. They had skills in martial arts. None of us knew they were coming until it was too late."

"What do you mean?" Retu said.

"I mean, they moved like ninjas!" Philippe said.

"Ninja?" Retu said and turned to look at Sodom.

"Did you say 'ninja'?" Sodom said.

"Yes," Philippe said.

"We got our asses kicked by a fucking ninja!" Two P yelled.

Retu looked on at the other members of Mad Gear. Even Elias, Eliot, and Joe, along with Mic, and Mark nodded their heads. Retu had remembered not long before about how other fellow thugs in Mad Gear were beaten up by a female martial artist and talked about her ninja skills.

"What did they look like?" Retu said to Philippe.

"We didn't get a good look at them," Philippe said. "But the chaps wore red and white."

Just then, Retu had a look of "wait, what?"

"Except one thing," Joe said. "I noticed that one of them was a girl. She had blonde hair and wore a dress of some kind."

Retu quickly turned around and breathed hard.

"Do you know those people?" Sodom said.

"I think I have an idea," Retu said. "They practice a form of Ninjutsu called 'Bushinryu.'"

Everyone looked at Retu with confusion and concern, because to them, it seemed like he had history with practitioners of that martial art. No one knew for certain.

"A real ninja, huh? Interesting," Sodom said. "Sounds like someone I should challenge."

Sodom was the undefeated champion in underground fighting, but had his own venue for his matches. It was a wrestling ring somewhere in Metro City's underground. He was known for using sais or nunchakus in his fights, but when he engaged in any other battle, he would use a katana. This man was also known for being obsessed with Japanese culture.

From a distance, Damnd walked away with his usual band of cohorts like Jake, Bred, Dug, and Simons.

"Hey, Damnd, what about your little problem?" Jake said.

"Yeah, why ain't you saying shit about that fucker who kicked your ass?" Dug said.

Damnd chuckled a bit. "Because I got an idea of my own. Sure, that guy Cody may have gotten lucky and but he probably won't be as lucky next time. If he wants to fight the best we can offer, then I got the guys we need."

"What about that other guy?" Simons said.

"What other guy?" Damnd said.

"That guy with the long hair?" Simons said.

"We can give him a little challenge," Damnd said as he looked over and saw a couple of bikers in the meeting. "I think I have an idea right now."

Damnd let out a whistle. "Hey, Slash, Axl, over here, I got to talk to you."

Both Slash and Axl walked over towards Damnd and his crew. The two bikers led their own motorcycle club, but were also Mad Gear members and their fellow bikers were also a part of the organization.

"What do you need?" Axl said.

"How would you guys like to make some extra money soon?" Damnd said as a grin rose on his face.

Meanwhile, back at the apartment, Kyle sat alone and flipped through channels and came across a movie on TV. It was a movie called "1942," a war movie that was released a few years prior. It was either that or "Ghosts 'n Goblins," a fantasy movie about a knight about who battles monsters to save his girlfriend.

Kyle also had one a bodyguard nearby. His name was Summers.

Bored out of his mind, he wanted to make a call. After what he went through the previous night, all he could think about was what Vanessa said. Kyle and his friends couldn't be any luckier to be alive, but she was all he thought about.

He didn't go anywhere because he was still shaken. His brother and his brother's girlfriend took off to some event while he was left alone. Kyle was offered the protection of one of the mayor's bodyguards, but he was still uncomfortable with the idea of someone watching over him, despite being by himself. So he declined. He said that he wasn't going anywhere. But Mayor Haggar insisted that he would have someone come and look after him as he saw that Kyle reminded him of how his brother used to be.

Kyle got up and went into the kitchen. He reached for the phone and punched in a number. The phone rang until someone said "hello."

"Hello, Ms. Sims, this is Kyle. Is Vanessa around?"

"Oh, hello, Kyle, uh, Vanessa is not feeling well right now. She hasn't left her room for hours."

Kyle looked down for a bit. All he could think was that he was at fault for what happened. He wondered if he didn't try fighting that clown and his goons that things would be different. But could they have started the fight if Kyle didn't try to protect Vanessa and Celeste. Even Paco was scared. Fighting hardened criminals was a lot different than going against a bully on the schoolyard.

Kyle sighed. "Well, tell her I called. I'm sorry to bother you."

"Okay, Kyle. I'll let her know you called." Ms. Sims said.

Kyle hung up the phone and leaned against the counter, looked down, and covered his face. He really messed up, or did he? At least Vanessa told him she commended him for trying to protect her, but at the same time, it wasn't a smart move to instigate that fight.

What did I do? Kyle thought.

Chapter Text

On that Saturday night, an MCPD squad car pulled up in front of a brownstone home. With people walking around freely, as well as oil drums blazing with fire to keep any vagrants warm, this area wasn't as bad as some of the other parts of Metro City. Some of the people walking around didn't look like ruffians or drug dealers or anything of the like.

Of course, maybe not a lot was going on in that general area.

The doors opened and out walked an African-American male cop in uniform and a Caucasian blonde female cop in uniform. They were Sean Sims and Lucia Morgan, respectively. Sean led the way while Lucia followed him.

"You sure your mom won't mind that I'm coming inside?" Lucia said.

"Shit's been slow tonight, we're on a break," Sean said. "Besides, you've met my mom. This could be a chance for you two to get to know each other a bit better."

"I just don't want her to think we're…you know," Lucia said.

"Don't sweat it, she knows we're just partners," Sean said. "Besides, she has been wanting you to come by. She said she liked you last time."

"Oh, okay," Lucia said.

Lucia and Sean had been partners for a few months by that point. Sean was the veteran of the two. Although he wasn't much older than Lucia, Sean had been on the force for a tad longer. The two were regular beat cops in uniform, but they wanted something more. They want to become part of the Special Crimes Unit, but with a lot of the presumed corruption of the Metro City Police Department, it would prove to be a difficult task.

When the two cops got to the apartment, Sean used his key to get inside. There sat a middle-aged African-American woman in front of the TV. This woman looked to be in her mid-to-late-40s. It was Evelyn Sims, Sean's mother.

Evelyn raised her son and daughter. Although her son was an adult, Sean wanted to keep an eye on both his mother and sister, especially after Sean's father, George, died when he was a teen and his sister was a little girl. So he was the man of the house.

"Hey, Mama," Sean said.

Evelyn looked up. "Oh, Sean, you're home." Evelyn looked behind her son. "Hi, Lucia."

"Hello, Mrs. Sims," Lucia said. She wanted to be formal because she figured she was not quite at first-name basis with her partner's mother, at least not yet.

"How are things going?" Sean said.

Evelyn looked away and sighed in worry. "Things are fine."

But Sean looked at his mother a certain way. Things were not fine.

"Is everything okay?" Sean said.

"I'm worried about your sister," Evelyn said.

Sean froze for a moment, like maybe he and his partner should leave soon.

"Where is she?" Sean said.

"She is in her room," Evelyn said.

Lucia had a look of confusion when she heard that. "Wait, what?"

"Then why are you worried?" Sean said.

"She's barely left her room all day, she wouldn't talk to me," Evelyn said.

Sean and Lucia looked at each other. What could possibly have been the problem here? Sean knew that his sister had a social life, but in a place like Metro City, going out at night probably wasn't the best choice. It didn't mean she couldn't do something in the day, though. However, Sean's mother noted that his sister hadn't left her room.

"I should go talk to her," Sean said.

"I tried to do the same earlier, but she wouldn't tell me anything," Evelyn said.

Lucia cut in. "Vanessa is a teenager. I had a hard time telling my parents stuff when I was younger."

Evelyn looked at her son's partner and nodded her head. It wasn't unheard of for teens, be it boy or girl, to be reluctant in turning to their parents for advice or to talk about what had been bothering them.

Sean and Lucia, along with Evelyn behind them, approached a door. Sean knocked on the door.

"Go away!" A girl's voice said.

"Vanessa, it's Sean, please let me come in."

"I got nothing to say," Vanessa said.

"Mama said you haven't left your room all day," Sean said. "We need to talk."

No response. Dead silence plagued the air while Sean stood there with his partner and his mother. Sean knocked a few more times.

"Come on, let me in."

"The door is not locked, come in."

The door opened. Sean saw his own sister sit on her bed, sitting there with her knees to her chest and looking down. Deep in thought, so much on her mind, that was what Sean suspected.

"What's wrong, sis?"

Inside her room, Vanessa sat on her bed with decorations on her walls ranging from posters of R&B groups such as New Edition and Guy to solo singers like Keith Sweat and Bobby Brown. She also had posters of rap groups such as Salt-N-Pepa, J.J. Fad, and L'Trimm.

Vanessa looked up and saw her own brother, along with his female partner, and her mother near the door way. This was not going to be easy, but after what she had gone through the night before, she had a hard time leaving her room, let alone her home.

She had heard the telephone ring and her mom answered. Who could have called? Celeste, her best friend? Or Kyle, her boyfriend?

Through her very eyes, her brother Sean had a look of worry on his face. He had heard her brother ask what was wrong.

"Nothing," she said.

Sean sat at the corner of Vanessa's bed and stared directly towards his sister's blue eyes.

"Don't bullshit me, Vanessa," Sean said.

"Sean, language!" Evelyn said.

Sean signaled to his mother. "What's really going on with you?"

Vanessa knew she wasn't going to get out of this. Her brother had dealt with criminals on a daily basis and Sean would know when someone is lying. She knew she didn't want to tell anybody about what happened the night before. While that one incident in the Industrial Area was bad involving those gang members executing that one criminal like that, she was at a distance from what happened. What happened the night before, she was front and center. She was so scared that those thugs were going to kill her boyfriend and his friend. Even worse, she wondered what could have happened to her and Celeste.

The teenage girl looked away, right in front of her. Through her peripherals, she saw her mother and Sean's partner, Lucia, looking at her with some concern. Vanessa had talked to Lucia before. She never suspected anything went on between her brother and Lucia as their relationship was mostly professional, but with Sean bringing Lucia around at times, she saw that their partnership crossed the personal boundary but it was platonic.

Vanessa inhaled and then exhaled. "Last night, I went out with Kyle, and also Paco and Celeste. We were in the 12th Street station. This clown came up to us with three thugs. The clown was really creepy and the other guys looked really mean and scary."

She paused and took another deep breath. Sean had a look of suspicion the moment Vanessa mentioned the name Kyle.

"The clown and what looked like his main assistant or something, they started beating up Kyle and Paco while…," Vanessa's voice cracked a bit. "The other guys held me and Celeste."

Sean glared while Lucia and Evelyn had looks of shock on their faces.

"What did those other guys look like?" Lucia said.

Sean held his hand out in a position saying, "Please, not now." He then turned his attention back to his sister. "Did they hurt you?"

"No, because this guy and girl ran in and beat them up," Vanessa said.

Suddenly, Sean's eyes widened at what he just heard. The same thing happened with Lucia. It was great that two people came to the teenagers' aid, but who were they?

"What did these people look like?" Sean said.

"Things happened so fast that we just went on the train as soon as they came, but I saw them through the window," Vanessa said. "They looked Asian but they had these crazy ninja moves."

"Do you remember what they wore, or anything?" Sean said.

"All I remember seeing is they both wore red and orange," Vanessa said. "The girl had long blonde hair."

"What about the guy?" Sean said.

"All I remember is that he had a serious look on his face," Vanessa said. "The look he gave Kyle, it was sort of intimidating."

Right then, Sean glared when he heard Kyle's name. In his eyes, that boy was trouble. Sean turned around and looked down. Lucia looked at her partner. Evelyn looked at her son.

"I should have known," Sean said in an angry tone.

"Bro, no, please!" Vanessa said.

"Shut up! That boy is trouble!" Sean said. "I don't want you hanging out with him."

"Sean, please," Evelyn said.

"Calm down," Lucia said.

"You two are taking her side? Are you fucking kidding me?" Sean said.

Sean was shocked to hear his mother try to intervene about who Vanessa was hanging out with.

A tear started to come out of Vanessa's eye. She knew what her brother felt about her boyfriend. Although the two hadn't actually spoken, Sean had heard his share of stories about what his sister and her boyfriend had gone through.

"Kyle tried to protect me!" Vanessa yelled.

Suddenly, the entire room went silent. Sean, Lucia, and Evelyn turned their attentions to Vanessa.

"What did you just say?" Sean said.

"I said Kyle tried to protect me," Vanessa said.

"Well he didn't do a good job with all the shit you went through," Sean said.

Now he was just being mean about it. It was one thing to be a protective older brother, but the way Sean said it, it sounded condescending, like he had no trust in that boy. Sean knew that Vanessa was getting into boys, maybe "bad boys" at that.

"Sean, let your sister finish," Evelyn said.

"I'm telling you, Kyle tried to protect me from those guys," Vanessa said. "Paco tried to protect Celeste, too."

"Yeah, but he still got you into all that shit," Sean said.

"Sean, I need to talk to you," Evelyn said.

Lucia cut in. "Let me talk to her."

"She is my sister!" Sean said.

Evelyn cut in as well. "And I am your mother, and I say we need to talk alone, boy!"

Sean left his sister's room as he followed his mom. The door shut. The only people left in the room were Vanessa and Lucia. Vanessa had spoken to her brother's partner before. Vanessa had heard that this woman could hold her own if things got violent. Lucia looked to be in a good shape with her being tall and was also lean with muscle.

"Okay, Vanessa, it's just us girls now," Lucia said. "Can you tell me anything else?"

"I don't want you or my brother to arrest Kyle or those other people," Vanessa said.

"Relax, it's okay," Lucia said. "I don't want to arrest anybody, at least not someone who did the right thing."

Deep down, Vanessa felt weird because in reality, Kyle instigated the fight with that clown. She knew that Kyle sometimes tried to start fights. What happened the previous night was no exception, but at least she knew Kyle tried to protect her whether or not he started that fight. She didn't want to throw him under the bus, nor did she want to throw those other people under the bus.

Lucia continued, "You said that those people who saved you wore red and orange. You said the girl had blonde hair, right?"

Vanessa nodded. "The man gave Kyle a look, but he said the guy was friends with his brother."

Lucia had an idea on who Vanessa was talking about. This whole thing about vigilante justice being dispensed had gotten her thinking. If her captain wasn't doing anything about the crime wave that had been going on for months, then maybe citizens of Metro City needed to take a stand one way or another against Mad Gear.

It then hit Lucia about the power and hierarchy that Mad Gear had. Who was the top boss? Was there an underboss, a capo, and were some other members just lieutenants and the rest were just underlings and soldiers? Having witnessed some other members in various parts of the city, even off her beat, some just felt like muscle/enforcers, while few others handled the "wet work." It wasn't like Mad Gear was one big organization as they had other gangs allied with them.

"I think I might know who you're talking about," Lucia said.

"Those people saved me and my friends," Vanessa said. "Please don't arrest them."

"I won't arrest them," Lucia said. "And another thing, is it true that Kyle tried to protect you?"

Vanessa nodded again. "The same thing with my other friends. My friend Paco tried to protect my friend, Celeste, his girlfriend. The guys really tried to protect us."

Lucia saw right through Vanessa's eyes and heard it in her voice about how she felt about her boyfriend. Because Lucia knew who Kyle was related to, she saw that her friend Cody was like that with his girlfriend, Jessica, especially when they were in high school. This must run in the family.

"You really like Kyle, don't you?"

"I do, I really do. I don't want to stop seeing him."

"You won't stop seeing him. I know him, too."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I know him. I know his brother. Me and Kyle's brother go way back."

"Did you two…date?" Vanessa said with unease in her voice.

"Oh, no, no, it was never like that with us," Lucia said. "Cody and I are just good friends. Besides, he has a girlfriend already."

"I hear he is with the mayor's daughter," Vanessa said.

"Have you met him before?" Lucia said.

"I have seen him, but Kyle hasn't introduced us yet," Vanessa said. "He says that Cody is always on him about stuff."

Lucia nodded her head at that comment. "Well, you should talk to Kyle about bringing you around. If he protected you, he must really care about you and he should try to bring you around his family, too."

Vanessa nodded her head at that comment.

However, Lucia started to think about what Vanessa had said about the two people who saved the group of teens. In no way did she want to arrest them, but with people dispensing vigilante justice, it made her question what the Metro City Police Department was doing with the crime element.

In the living room, Evelyn stood before her son, who had a glare on his face after his sister mentioned a boy he did not approve of.

"Sean, why did you act like that?" Evelyn said.

"Because I know Vanessa is growing up," Sean said. "I have heard what she and that boy have done."

"Wait, have they…?" Evelyn said.

What? No!" Sean said. "At least I hope not." He then thought to himself, if they did, I will kill him!

"Then what are you talking about?" Evelyn said.

"I heard they ditched school a few times," Sean said. "With Mad Gear running the streets, I'm afraid that boy will get Vanessa into trouble."

While Evelyn wasn't thrilled to hear that her daughter skipped school, she figured her son had a point. However, there was something she needed to say.

"Listen, Sean, maybe you should actually meet the boy before you judge him," Evelyn said. "I've actually met Kyle a few times. He's a good boy. I know he might get into trouble sometimes, but I can see that he and Vanessa really like each other. So maybe you should talk to him."

Sean sighed. He knew his mother had a point. It was true. He hadn't sat down to have a talk with the boy that his little sister was dating. When he and his partner found that boy's older brother ready to get jumped, he figured that things ran in the family. Maybe it was time to put his issues aside and see for himself about the boy.

It was now the following Monday. Kyle and his friend Lou walked through the school hallway. Kyle told Lou about what had happened a few nights prior. As they walked, there stood Celeste and Paco, much to Kyle's surprise.

"Hey, guys," Kyle said. "Have you seen Vanessa?"

"No, I haven't," Celeste said. "I talked to her yesterday. She's still shaken about what happened. She needed a little more time off."

"I'm surprised you showed up," Kyle said and looked to Paco. "And you, too."

"Hey, I was scared, too, but I got over it," Celeste said. "I don't know how, but I did."

Kyle looked down. "I feel like this was my fault."

The three of Kyle's friends looked at him.

"Why would you think that?" Paco said.

"Because I started that shit with that fucking clown," Kyle said. "I should have known better."

Paco, Celeste, and Lou looked down as well.

"Don't worry about it," Celeste said and touched Kyle's shoulder. "You know Vanessa really likes you. She wouldn't hold this against you."

"I wonder what that girl sees in you, though, or what you see in her." A voice was heard from behind Kyle. Paco, Celeste, and Lou looked behind Kyle and there stood a boy who was taller and more muscular. While Kyle was in decent shape, this boy looked like he was on the Metro High football team. This guy was named Vito Bracca.

Vito had three other boys with him. One was Devin Aranoc, who was African-American and for some reason was called "Stiff," but was muscular as well. Another was Vito's cousin, Dino, who had longer hair and liked to be called "Blades." Finally, there was Nicholas Wissell, who was called "Weasel," a scrawny guy who hung out with them. Kyle, Paco, and Lou, along with Vanessa and Celeste, had dealt with these four guys before.

"Fuck off, Vito," Kyle said. "I got no time for you right now."

As Kyle was about to walk away, Vito said, "Why? Because someone like her can't see you for the pussy you are."

In this type of situation, Kyle would just fight him right then and there, but this was different.

"Like I said, I don't have time for this," Kyle said.

"Yeah, and rumor has it that you got your ass kicked by a clown," Vito said.

Kyle turned around and glared at Vito with so much hate in his eyes. His friends put their hands in front of him.

Paco leaned in towards Kyle and whispered, "He's trying to get you to fight him. Don't waste your time on an asshole like him."

Kyle took a deep breath. After what happened a few nights ago, he needed to control himself when getting into fights, even when someone tried to get under his skin.

I'll get you one day, Vito, but not now. Kyle thought.

Later that day at Guy's dojo, Guy and Maki trained their Bushin art. Carlos dropped by. He had the day off from being a bodyguard for the mayor. Carlos had his katana with him sheathed. He often carried it with him.

Maki looked over. "Well…look who decided to show up."

"Just wanted to train, that's all," Carlos said.

Guy walked to the side where his girlfriend Rena was. She had just ended her shift at the restaurant.

"I'm going to take a little break right now," Guy said.

Maki scoffed. "Not me, I'm just getting warmed up." She looked at Carlos. "Ready to show me what you're made of."

Maki then winked at Carlos, who then smiled at that remark. Carlos put on some padded gloves.

"Let's go," he said.

The two bowed before each other as a matter of respect. Maki threw the first attack which caused Carlos to dodge it. Although Maki was a bit tall, she was still smaller as Carlos was fit enough to be muscular, which gave her a speed advantage. However, Carlos had trained in his styles for years, which was why he had quick reflexes and knew how to evade attacks.

Carlos threw a few attacks of his own but didn't want them to land. He didn't want to hurt her, much less ruin Maki's pretty face. But because this was a friendly sparring session, the two martial artists knew what they were doing.

"You're good," Maki said.

"Thanks," Carlos said. "You're not so bad yourself."

"Well, I train as hard as I could, because I know I will become the 39th Bushin master," Maki said and turned towards Guy. "Isn't that right?"

All Guy did when he sat there with Rena was roll his eyes and just nod to appease his friend and rival in this.

Maki and Guy, despite having history with one another, had been vying for the next ranking of being a Bushin master. Maki's father, Hideo Genryusai, was a master of Bushinryu Ninjutsu and had taught the two the style. After a while, the mentorship was passed down to their current master, Zeku.

Carlos nodded his head at what Maki said. "How good are you with weapons?"

"Well, you've seen how I work my tonfa," Maki said. "I know a few tricks with nunchaku, the bo, among other things. I see you got that katana. Maybe next time you could show me your moves with it. What do you say?"

"If you think you're so good, you're on," Carlos said with a smile, which caused Maki to smile back at him.

Rena looked at the two while they sparred again as Guy sat next to her.

"Aren't you going back to training?" Rena said.

"In a little bit," Guy said. "I need to focus."

"My sister always feels like she has something to prove," Rena said.

"Your sister is a good fighter," Guy said.

"I know, but she needs to also see that there may be someone better," Rena said.

Guy knew his girlfriend had a point. As calm and reserved as Guy was, he also saw that he didn't have much to prove. He may be passionate about learning more about the Bushin style, but he's not one to show off or feel like he is better than anyone. He knew that Maki was good, but sometimes she could be a little cocky.

Rena saw how Carlos and Maki were training and getting along out there. The two had just met, but to her, it seemed like more than just a friendly sparring session.

"Do you see what I see?" Rena said.

"What is that?" Guy said.

"Come on, you don't see it?" Rena said and shifted her eyes towards Carlos and Maki on the mat.

Guy saw it. He knew what Rena meant, but he didn't want to answer her question. All Guy could say was…

"They train well together."

Rena chuckled at that remark and smiled at Guy as she put her arm around him.

It was now evening. Cody had left Tom's Gym. He had started a little later that day than his usual shift. It often depended when he was needed to open or to come in to do his personal training.

This time, he left in the evening. It was time to go home to Jessica and Kyle.

But at the moment, all he thought about was what he could do for the next fight night. Who was his opponent going to be? Should he go to the Surf Bar to see if he could take to anybody involved? Or should he call them?

In the meantime, he could train some more for the next fight. Maybe he could talk to Guy about getting in on this, and maybe Maki if there was a women's division. It's possible that they had ladies fighting at those events.

Cody was about to walk. It would give him some to think. Maybe he would catch a bus or take a train in the subway.

From a distance, a couple of hog motorcycles rolled down the street from Tom's Gym. On the saddles sat two bikers. One had blond hair and a red bandana wrapped around his head and wore a dark gray leather jacket. It was Axl. The other had dark hair and had a dark complexion and had a maroon leather jacket. It was Slash. Behind them were other bikers of their motorcycle club that the two were co-presidents of within Mad Gear.

Axl and Slash had a graphic on the back of their jackets that had a flaming skull surrounded by revolver pistols and roses on it that said "MAD GEAR MC" at the top, in the middle it said "METRO CITY," and at the bottom, it said "DISCIPLES OF APOCALYPSE." Some of the fellow bikers in their club had the same graphic on the backs of their leather jackets and leather vests.

The two co-presidents saw a blond-haired man leaving a gym and walking alone.

"Do you think that's the guy?" Axl said.

"It's got to be," Slash said. "Let's fuck him up."

Slash pulled out a lead pipe and Axl pulled out a chain. The other bikers followed them.

Chapter Text

The sounds of motors whirring drew Cody's attention as they got louder. Cody turned around and saw six hog motorcycles, such as Harley-Davidson and Yamaha bikes cruised towards him. The louder the sounds of the motor, the closer the bikers were.

What were usually empty streets at dusk wasn't the case this time. Sure, there may have been cars parked, but with the crime wave at its core, there was a reason pedestrians hardly walked the Metro City streets at night. Whenever that happened, any citizens would fall victim to any Mad Gear thugs and their prey.

Cody turned around. There were six bikers driving, all in formation with two at the forefront but there were lines as each had two fellow bikers behind him one by one. One of the bikers at the front brandished a lead pipe and held his right arm out as he approached Cody.

"SHIT!" Cody yelled. He ran as fast as he could down the sidewalk, about as far as he could go from Tom's Gym. As the biker closed in, Cody quickly jumped towards the sidewalk with the pipe barely missing his head by an inch while he descended onto the concrete.

While Cody ducked, he saw the same biker, Slash, turn from the street onto the sidewalk. The biker went to a stop.

What the hell is this guy doing? Cody said.

Slash faced Cody. This biker had a dark skin complexion and wielded a lead pipe. The biker gripped his right handlebar and rolled his hand forward.

VROOM! VROOM!

The sound of the revving continued while Cody stood there and stared blankly into the biker's eyes. One would expect him to move off the sidewalk, but he stood there. The rest of the crew sat on the saddles and watched. Did they think Cody was stupid or just scared shitless that he was frozen stiff?

Little did they know that Cody had a plan of his own while he stood there with a smirk on his face.

The dark-skinned biker ascended the kick start and started to move. Cody started to run. Much to the other bikers' surprise, he ran towards Slash who was gunning right for him. At full speed, Cody ran and quickly descended from his feet. He jumped into the air and folded his right leg into his left and then extended his left leg in midair. The biker's face was about to meet the sole of Cody's white shoe.

BAM! Slash fell backwards. The bike continued to roll until it tipped to its left, skidding along the sidewalk until it came to a stop.

The other bikers all went to a stop, set their kickstands down. The blonde-haired biker, Axl, yelled, "Get him, now!" The other four bikers busted out anything they had. Knives, brass knuckles, chains, crowbars, these guys were not messing around.

Cody was outnumbered, but this was not his first rodeo. The only thing he did while he looked at all six bikers, including the one who he knocked off as he slowly got to this feet, was yell out "Come on, assholes! Let's do this!"

Through his right peripheral, Cody saw a small piece of concrete. It looked like it was broken off a cinderblock or at most, chipped off the sidewalk. None of that mattered. Cody quickly reached for the piece of concrete and looked at the six bikers.

The bikers looked at him with devilish smiles on their faces. In their eyes, this was guy either had big balls or was just plain stupid to think he would stand a chance against six men.

Cody tossed up the piece of concrete like if someone tossed up a ball and caught it when it landed on the palm of their hand. He gave off a cocky chuckle and delivered an overhand throw as the piece of concrete slid from his hand and then landed on the face of one of the bikers.

But he didn't stop there. He raised right arm and delivered a hard elbow to the gut of a biker and ascended to use his left elbow and smashed his upper back and then kneed the guy in the face, causing blood to spray onto the pavement.

Slash whacked Cody in the back with the lead pipe. Cody screamed in pain and dropped forward. Axl and a few other bikers kicked him while he was ground. Cody yelled in pain some more.

No one said this was going to be a fair fight.

But Cody ascended and grabbed the legs of Axl and tackled him to the ground. Knowing there were five other men on him, he ascended and elbowed another biker to the face and delivered a hard palm strike to the face.

But Axl had another idea. He wrapped the chain he had around his knuckles and swung a hard right to Cody's face and knocked him down.

"Brothers, pick him up!" Axl said.

The rest of the bikers grabbed Cody by his arms and carried him to a nearby alley. Beating him down right there in the open wouldn't look good to the general public.

Slash and Axl led the rest of the Disciples of Apocalypse to the alley. They stopped near a dumpster. The area was strewn with garbage all over the place. Food wrappers, newspapers, empty alcohol bottles, and on top of that, a stench so rank that it was likely some of the garbage hadn't been picked up in about a week or more.

"This looks good here," Slash said. "It's time to take out the trash."

Cody knelt there and wondered what he meant. Were they going to execute him and dump his body in the dumpster? Fuck that! Cody thought.

Slash looked to the two bikers. "Skull, 8-Ball, hold him down." He turned his attention towards another. "Crush, you know what to do."

One of the other bikers, Crush, who was taller and had long brown hair and a goatee, pulled out a knife. Axl and Chains, the other biker stood there and watched.

Axl walked towards Slash. "So you think this worth the money Damnd is paying us?"

"What I wonder is if he will only pay us or if we split all the money together."

"This was too easy." Axl shook his head.

But was it? Crush got the knife as Skull and 8-Ball held him down. Crush gripped the blade while Cody was kneeling, breathing hard.

However, Cody saw that the two bikers weren't holding him down hard enough. He saw a sharp alloy move down before his very eyes and went to a stop and felt the sharp edge against his flesh on the left side of his neck. He knew what the man was going to do.

There was no time to try to break away from the two bikers. If he moved a certain way, the blade will do more than just break through his skin. Cody opened his mouth and bit Crush's forearm.

"AAAAAHHHH! FUCK!" Crush yelled. If that wasn't enough, he felt the back of someone's head ram right into his stomach.

The knife dropped to the ground. Cody moved around with all his might to break away from Skull and 8-Ball. He rushed right towards Skull, who was on his right, and pushed him to the wall and punched him three times to the stomach and butted his head against the biker's face and then dropped. In such an enclosed space, there wasn't a lot of room for movement. 8-Ball spread out his arms as he stalked behind Cody, but was met with an elbow to the face. Cody then grabbed him and threw him towards Axl, Slash, and Chains.

The knife on the pavement drew Cody's attention. There could be only a few ways out of this. Cody could try to fight all of them off, whether he would reign supreme or would fall to their offense. If he won this fight, it was likely they would find him and maybe he wouldn't be so lucky. If they beat him up, who knew if they would kill him right then and there, or take him somewhere else to inflict even worse harm?

The smarter choice would be to just walk away.

This was no time to think. So Cody picked it up and brandished it. "Back up! Back the fuck up!"

Except there was one man left. Crush was behind him, with a venomous glare that meant one thing.

Cody slowly turned around and saw Crush, who had a glass bottle in hand and smashed it against the wall. The other bikers could have easily tried jumping him, but with them knowing how angry Crush was after he got bit, they decided to let him handle Cody himself. Cody spun the knife around and shot him a look of "don't even try." Crush spun his broken bottle around into a stabbing position.

As Cody gripped the knife, thoughts came to his head. He could try slashing or stabbing this man, but the rest of the motorcycle club will jump him and likely kill him if he kills one of their brethren. Cody just walked forth towards the man, who just sidestepped each time he walked beside him in an attempt to leave.

So Cody chucked the knife to the side and put up a stance. Crush started laughing, as did the rest of the bikers. Cody quickly delivered right and left hooks to Crush's face, then a couple of blows to the stomach before ending it with a hard uppercut sending him flying to the ground.

After taking down Crush, Skull, and 8-Ball, there were only three men left. Chains rushed towards Cody, who then run and slid while ascending his right leg and delivered a hard roundhouse kick to the man's head. Chains dropped. The other bikers were bruised and bloodied. Cody was, too, but he wasn't going to give up.

He stared straight into the eyes of Axl and Slash. "It's just us now."

There was so much adrenaline in his system. It didn't matter if he got jumped earlier on. The amount of energy Cody had was mindboggling. He could have simply just walked away and not dealt with the last two bikers, but he didn't want to back down, either.

Cody laid a few hits to Slash and Axl, who had shown that they could defend themselves because they blocked each attack he tried to lay into them. One thing Cody noticed when he was attacked was that they didn't hit his legs. A simple kick to Axl's leg grabbed his attention. Cody elbowed him the face and grabbed him by the shoulder and then also grabbed Slash by the shoulder and collided their heads into one another.

All six bikers were down. Right then, Cody ran the hell out of there. He ran as fast as he could for three blocks. He didn't want to stop until he knew those bikers were nowhere to be seen.

He stood near a brick wall near a corner store to see if anyone had followed him. There was no one in sight. It wouldn't take too long for them to look for him. He would also hear the whirring sound of a motorcycle engine nearby if it was the case. With there having been six bikers, the sounds combined would have been louder.

It was now time to go home. Just to think what he would have to tell Jessica and Kyle about this. Hell, he would probably have to tell Mike about this, considering he was something of a father-figure to him growing up. If his brother got jumped by some Mad Gear thugs, this was no different, except Cody managed to fight them off. He knew Kyle could fight, but no one knew what those ruffians were packing in that moment.

Cody walked and then the glare of blue and red lights rose on the wall of the building he walked alongside. Then the high-pitched sound a siren got louder. Cody turned around. An MCPD squad car pulled up. Could it have been Lucia and her partner? Could it be any other MCPD cop?

Out walked two other cops. One looked African-American and was heavyset, but not to point of immobile and looked to pack some muscle. The other was Caucasian and looked more muscular than anything else. Neither of them looked familiar to Cody.

"Oh, good evening, officers, what seems to be the problem?"

The large heavyset cop, whose nametag read "Evans", approached him. "Hello, young man. We have reason to believe there was an assault nearby."

Cody looked away in confusion. "Not sure what you mean."

The other cop, whose nametag read "Walker," said, "Some citizens reported a fight taking place a few blocks away. Some mentioned a blond-haired man was involved. It matches your description."

Cody's eyes widened while his jaw dropped a bit. "Not sure what you mean. I was the one getting assaulted. Some thugs just tried to jump me."

Evans said, "That's not what we heard. Come on, you're coming with us."

"Whoa, whoa, hold up, those guys were kicking my ass!" Cody yelled.

"Yeah, yeah," Walker said. "Tell that to the judge. We're taking you down the station."

"I don't fucking believe this," Cody said as he tried to break away from them.

But Evans pulled out a nightstick and whacked him the back, while Walker grabbed a taser and put it against Cody's back. The electrical current went against Cody's system enough that he fell to the ground. Walker picked him up and threw him into the backseat of the police car.

From a distance, two women walked down the street. They were Poison and Roxy. It was a quiet evening, but they had some business to take care of.

They were walking down the quiet streets of the Westside. They weren't too far from their usual hangout, the Surf Bar.

"So who do you think Hugo should fight?" Roxy said.

"I don't know," Poison said. "A lot of the guys have been too easy for him."

"What about your boyfriend? You know, that guy you can't stop talking about?"

"Cody?"

"Yeah, I know you want some of that."

"Eh, I don't know. I don't want to see him get hurt, not by Hugo."

"Oh, so you do like him? You don't want him to get hurt?"

"Oh, come on, he's just getting started. Besides, what about Hugo's brother? Or the others in his family?"

Roxy stood there and looked at her friend and business partner with so much confusion. It appeared that the Andore family was hurting for some cash and also to fight.

"Well, those two guys just started fighting," Roxy said. "Don't you think we should look for a challenge for the two new guys? You really want to make him the top fighter. I know you're sweet on him."

Poison looked at Roxy. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you think he even remembers you?"

Poison didn't know how to answer that. It seemed that Poison may have known Cody in the past, but at what capacity?

Speaking of which, while Roxy tried to talk, Poison looked away as she a familiar face being put into a police car. Who was this person? Why did she have a worried look on her face?

At the Travers residence, Kyle sat in the living room watching TV. He came home right after school and went right to doing his homework. He had done some of it at school in his study hall class, mainly to keep his mind occupied from stressing about Vanessa. After coming home, he finished the rest and then started watching TV.

The news was on. There were reports of a young martial artist named Ken Masters, who was a part of the Masters family, a well-known wealthy family in the United States, winning the premiere U.S. Martial Arts Tournament and that he wanted to take part in another tournament. Then came a report about some problems overseas involving a seemingly terrorist organization named Shadaloo.

Kyle was unable to keep his focus. All he thought about was Vanessa and that night. Maybe he should go to the gym his brother trains at to unleash any rage he had.

"Kyle?"

The mention of his name caused him to turn to his left. A stunning blonde woman stood there dressed in regular clothes.

"Oh, hey, Jessica," Kyle said.

"What's wrong?" Jessica said.

Kyle sat up and looked at her. "Nothing is wrong."

"Kyle, I'm not stupid. You're just like your brother. I know when something is wrong."

She was right. Kyle had been around this woman for a long time and even he knew what his brother was like in situations like this. When he was younger, he would see when his brother tried to hide stuff. However, Jessica was not gullible. All he could do was take a deep breath.

"It's Vanessa," he said.

"What? What's wrong?"

Kyle looked down. He couldn't look at the TV or even at Jessica.

"I feel like it was my fault the other night. I almost got my friends killed."

Despite that same day that the rest of his friends not being angry about what happened, Kyle couldn't shake that if he didn't instigate that fight in the subway that none of that would have happened.

Jessica sat on the couch next to Kyle. "I don't think you should be upset about this."

"Why not?"

"Because Cody was the same way when he was your age."

"What? He got his ass kicked by some criminals as well?" He said in an emotion that mixed sarcasm and condescension.

"Don't say it like that. Yes, Cody has tried to prove he was tough when he was your age. Your brother may be a good fighter, but I've seen him fight other guys who were stronger. But you know what? I talked some sense into him. My dad also talked to him. You know that my dad didn't like me dating your brother at first, right?"

Then it hit Kyle. Vanessa had told him about how her brother didn't like her hanging out with him. It felt too familiar now.

Jessica continued, "But I stuck by him. I love Cody, even though I know he's not perfect. You're a good guy, Kyle. From what you've told me about Vanessa, it sounds like she really likes you. You can't let this bother you."

Kyle looked at her in the eye. It was crazy to think that he would be told something like this, but because she had been with his brother for a long time, he had to consider that maybe one day she would become his sister-in-law. In his case, with Jessica and Cody living together, she practically was.

RING! RING! RING! The phone rang.

Jessica looked up. "I'll go get that." Jessica walked over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Jess?"

"Cody? Where are you? You should be home by now."

"I got arrested. I'm at the police station right now."

"What did you do? Did you get into another fight?"

"Yes, but not like you think. Some cops wouldn't listen to me. I need you to call your dad. I need to get out."

"Can you at least tell me what happened?"

"I'll tell you later. Just call your dad."

"Fine, I will do that." Jessica hung up. What happened? The way Cody sounded, it seemed that he didn't deserve this. He had been arrested before, but he was caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, or at most, he got into a fight because of some macho bullshit.

This didn't sound like one of those situations.

Jessica took a deep breath and shook her head. What could have happened here? Nonetheless, she punched in the number.

In Uptown Metro City, inside a big home with the American flag and two other flags in the front, Mayor Mike Haggar had come home from a long day at the office. He had some people working for him at his home, such as live-in cooks, butlers, maids, etc. and of course, Carlos Miyamoto, one of his bodyguards.

With Carlos being from Brazil, his father was of Japanese descent and his mother being Brazilian, living in a favela wasn't easy for him or his family. While Metro City was no picnic, it was tame compared to the favela. So he had proven that he was a good fighter and also worthy of being a part of Haggar's security.

Haggar walked around. The interior of this home was so ornate with nice furniture. A couch in the living room with a large portrait of the Haggar family, with Mike, his late wife Nancy, and Jessica, who was still a little girl at the time the photo was shot.

A light from a room glared. Haggar walked towards the open door and saw a muscular man doing pull-ups on a bar that was set up. It was Haggar's personal gym.

"Carlos, you're here, thought you'd be out."

Carlos released the bar. "Hello, Mr. Haggar. Yeah, I know, but I just wanted to do some extra training."

"What are you training for?" Haggar said.

"Just want to keep fit, and keep my skills fresh," Carlos said.

It was clear to Haggar that Carlos had a lot of dedication to his martial arts and the shape he was in. Carlos reminded Haggar of himself to a degree.

"Well, keep up the good work, maybe we should spar one day," Haggar said.

"Are you sure about that?" Carlos said.

"Come on, just because I'm the mayor doesn't mean I've gone soft," Haggar said.

Carlos smirked and slapped Haggar's hand and shook it. "You're on."

Out of the blue, a butler walked up with a cordless phone in hand.

"Mr. Haggar, your daughter's on the phone," the butler said.

The butler handed Haggar the phone. "Jessica, what's up? What? What did he do?" Haggar sighed and looked down. "Okay, I'll take care of this. Thank you for telling me. I'll come get you in a bit."

Haggar got off the phone with a minor glare. What the hell did that kid get himself into now?

Carlos saw the look on his boss's face. He knew something was up.

"What's wrong, Mr. Haggar?" Carlos said.

"Cody's in jail," Haggar said. "Come on, you're coming with me."

Carlos nodded his head.

Chapter Text

Trapped in the midst of metal bars, Cody stood at the center and glared at what had happened. First he got jumped by some ruthless bikers and then he got arrested without being questioned. This made him question the current state of Metro City.

Cody held his arms together. It was cold in the holding area, as if any heating and air system had not been fixed in some time. One could wonder how things were during the summertime. Could this be the Metro City Police Department's way of punishing any criminals in holding for any crimes? Or was the department too cheap to get their heating and air system fixed?

In his company, Cody saw the people inside the cell. There was a man who wore a dress shirt with rolled up sleeves and a tie that looked loose. He had a disheveled look to him, like he had gone to a bar after work and probably drank because his wife probably left him for someone she had cheated on him with. Another man looked Puerto Rican with a driver cap and a small fro, with a glare shining from the ceiling light onto his gold chain. This man was probably a thug, likely sold stolen goods or bootlegs, but it was possible he wasn't a criminal. Maybe he knew some people, but this didn't live up to Cody's expectations of what he would see in a holding cell. But this wasn't his first rodeo and had been around the lowest of lowlifes.

However, two more men sat behind him with their eyes behind sunglasses glued right to Cody, who turned around and saw them. The two men had ripped up muscle shirts with their stomachs showing a tad and wore tight jeans and high boots. One had spiky red hair and the other had the same style but his hair was green for some reason. The one with the red hair was Sid and the other with green hair was Billy.

The two men looked at him with some evil smirks on their face but jumped at the sound of "What?" coming from Cody. Billy and Sid looked at each other and got up and approached him.

"What? You want some?" Cody said. "I got all night."

Although Cody's fight with those hard bikers was primarily self-defense, it would almost seem like he was engaging those two like he wanted to fight them, as if he was looking for another fight. Cody looked away, turned around, and took a deep breath. It wasn't the smartest choice to try fighting these men in a place like this, for a reason being that it was a small place to engage in violent activity and also in a police station. But if those guys were giving threatening glares to him, Cody was not going to back down. After what Cody went through tonight, maybe he need to release some of the rage he got from his arrest, not to mention his got jumped by those bikers, and managed to beat them all.

But at the same time, if he was engaging those two thugs, maybe it wasn't a case of self-defense.

Lieutenant Mark Abrams sat in his office. His desk looked like it had not been cleaned in a week with stacks of papers on cluttered on it, along with folders. This cop was up to his teeth with paperwork. But why? A lot of crime had been rampant across the city and not a lot had been done about it.

"Evans, Walker, what do you got for me?" Abrams said.

Edi. E and Dave stood before their superior officer. It wasn't long since they apprehended that thug who was accused of assault.

"This man has been responsible for a number of assaults, one at the Surf Bar, another near Chinatown, which happened tonight," Dave said.

"We have several witnesses to these crimes," Edi. E said.

KNOCK! KNOCK! Abrams looked up as he heard a knock on the door to his office. Through the window stood a young blonde female cop and a young African-American male cop. Abrams got up and opened the door just a crack.

"What is it, Morgan? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I need to talk to you now," Lucia said.

"It can wait." The way Abrams responded, it was as if what Lucia and Sean had to say was not important. It would be like if someone gave someone else a note with important information, but the other person just crumpled or cut the note in half and threw it out.

"No, it can't!" Lucia said.

"Listen, Abrams, we need to talk to you about something," Sean said.

Abrams barely looked at the two young officers in the eye. "I'm sorry, but Evans and Walker came to me first. After I'm done, then we can talk, do I make myself clear?"

"But…," Lucia said.

"No 'buts,' just wait, okay?" Abrams said and quickly shut the door on the two young cops' faces.

Lucia and Sean glared at what had just happened. Why was their lieutenant being dismissive towards them?

"Something is not right about this," Lucia said.

Sean scoffed. "You're telling me. Abrams always told us if there is something important that we should tell him right away. He can't be too busy."

"No shit." Lucia glared. Usually when someone had to talk to another person, one could wait and cut the other conversation shorter, but in this case, their captain barely looked at them in the eye.

As soon as the door closed, Abrams walked back to his desk. He sat and gave Edi. E and Dave his undivided attention. To him, it appeared that what these two had to say was more important than what two of his other officers had to say.

"So what were you saying?" Abrams said.

Edi. E spat out his gum into the nearby trash can. "Remember we have had reports of vigilante justice? Dave and I believe that the guy we caught was one of them."

"What makes you so sure?"

Dave added, "We know some people who have been taking a stand against some thugs in the city. The guys at the Surf Bar told us what the man looked like. Then we had heard from other people about some ninjas taking other people down and leaving them tied up."

Abrams looked up when he heard that last part. While it was not encouraged or condoned for people to dispense vigilante justice, it would seem that if whoever tied up some criminals after being attacked, they may have been trying to help the police. However, Abrams had this to say…

"Do these people think they could just uphold the law when it's our God-given right and duty to do our jobs?"

"That's what we were thinking," Edi. E said. "I was also thinking we should look for those other people."

Abrams nodded his head. There was no telling that these ninjas who allegedly assaulted some people were still out there and needed to be brought to justice. However, none of the cops in the room knew what those martial artists were capable of. They would need to figure out to way to trap them.

Dave turned around and glanced out the window of the office. "One more thing, what do we do about Sims and Morgan?"

Why was Dave bringing those two up? Abrams thought. "Don't worry about them. You two just worry about finding those ninjas."

"But sir…," Dave said.

"Enough, they don't know anything," Abrams said. "Now go and find those people."

Edi. E and Dave got up and exited the office. Abrams looked on at both men. Why was Dave concerned about Sean and Lucia? That was one thing Abrams wondered. He knew Dave had a crush on Lucia, so was this a reason to get her involved despite her having no knowledge of anything, or so he thought? At least Edi. E had more of a determination of arresting any vigilantes out in the city.

As Lucia and Sean walked around the station, the continued to talk about the confusing nature of why their boss was so short and dismissive towards them.

Sean said, "Do you ever think that our department just looks the other way?"

Lucia looked up. "Hate to say it, but yeah. The other day, Abrams gave me shit about how I helped some thug, but something was not right about that. Now he would rather not listen to us, when there are more important things to worry about."

"You don't think Evans and Walker have some important things to talk about?"

"There is something I don't trust about those two."

"Why? Because Walker has it bad for you?"

"It's not that. I saw Evans's watch. Something doesn't add up here."

It then hit Sean. The department had been arresting criminals and thugs from other gangs in the city, but there was something off about it. He had heard some complaints from suspects how some evidence was planted on them, or were arrested without any warrants. The real kicker here, however, was that none of whom were arrested were a part of Mad Gear. It made Sean wonder one thing.

"Are we the only honest cops on the force?"

A minor glare arose on Lucia's face having heard her partner say that. No cop can approve of any vigilante justice going on, but if the MCPD won't do anything about the crime problem, then what can be done?

Meanwhile, some time had passed. Haggar had called a cab service to give Jessica ride to his house while he had his bodyguard Bishop with her. The other bodyguard, Summers, stayed with Kyle. When Jessica got to Haggar's house, she was greeted by her father and Carlos, who was coming along to stand guard for both Haggars.

Haggar was anything but pleased about this, and it wasn't because Jessica called him to break some bad news to him. No, he wondered what his daughter's boyfriend had gotten into this time. Mike Haggar may have been something of a father-figure to Cody and Kyle, but that didn't mean he wasn't aware of the Travers' violent streaks. That was one of the reasons why he didn't approve of Jessica dating Cody in the first place. He was afraid he would get her into trouble. Although Cody and Jessica did get into trouble a few times when they were in their teens, it was not as if they nearly got killed. They just had harmless moments of ditching school and going to parties. Cody may have gotten into fights and such, but the last thing he ever wanted was to hurt Jessica or lead to her getting hurt. If someone so much as laid a finger on her, Cody was on them like a sniper.

The three all rode in Haggar's limousine. As they rolled along, Haggar looked at the floor. Jessica gazed at her father. Carlos did the same thing. Although Carlos was Haggar's bodyguard, it was mainly a job to keep himself busy as he was more focused on progressing as a martial artist. Haggar wondered what could have happened that Cody got caught.

Jessica, on the other hand, looked at her father with such concern. Unbeknownst to her father, she heard how Cody sounded when he called. It was not a case of "Hey, I got into trouble, I need to be bailed out," but rather his tone sounded like he was confused in the ordeal, like he didn't deserve to get arrested or anything like that, almost like he endured a wrongful arrest.

"Dad, are you okay?" Jessica said.

Haggar looked up. He knew that his own flesh and blood did not want to hear the same lecture from when he had heard Jessica started dating Cody. This was close to the same feeling he had when he heard his little girl moved in with him. On the plus side, he always tried to be a good role model to both Jessica and Cody. Maybe Cody was also intimidated by him because of how tough Haggar can be. It was not like Cody and Jessica had sired a grandchild for him, at least not yet. Given their current situation, that was probably a good thing.

"I know you don't want to hear this, Jess, but here it goes. Cody may be a good guy, but he's also a hothead."

"Dad, please…"

"Jess, listen to me. You know that he gets himself into all kinds of shit."

"Yes, I know, but…"

"But what, Jess? How many times have I had to bail him out? I lost count a long time ago."

Jessica looked down while gaining a moist feeling in her eyes. What her father said was true. She knew that. But the way her boyfriend talked on the phone earlier that evening was something else. Jessica took a deep breath. She knew she had to say something.

"The cops just arrested Cody! He's innocent!"

Haggar and Carlos looked at her like what just happened was unexpected.

"What are you talking about?" Haggar said.

Jessica breathed and wiped the tear from her eye. "The way he talked on the phone. Something tells me he didn't really do anything he wrong. He said he got into a fight, but it didn't sound like the kind of macho bullshit he does."

"So what you're saying he was wrongfully arrested?" Haggar said. "That could only mean if he got into any fight…"

"He was defending himself," Carlos cut into the conversation. The Haggar father and daughter looked at the martial artist/bodyguard with confusion. Carlos had not said anything during the entire car ride.

"How would you know?" Jessica said.

"Come on," Carlos said. "I grew up in a favela in São Paulo. The streets of Metro City are as bad as São Paulo. Because I grew up learning martial arts from my father, who also taught my mother and my sister to defend themselves, I learned different arts to survive the favelas. I have experienced being cornered by criminals in this city, so I had to defend myself."

Carlos remembered the night he met Maki when he was out with Cody and Guy. If not for Maki, that woman would have experienced extreme harm.

A look of concern arose on Haggar's face. First Jessica had to talk some sense into her father, now Carlos did the same for his boss. If Haggar trusted Carlos to live with him, then he had to also take his word. After all, Haggar knew Carlos came from Brazil, which is known to have rough areas, some rougher than Metro City.

"I got to do something," Haggar said.

Cody leaned on the bars to look to the outside of the holding cell. While the drunk man sat back and the young Puerto Rican man fell asleep on the bench, the two thugs, Billy and Sid, gazed at Cody while he stood there deep in thought.

Billy and Sid got up and reached for their chains that were hooked to their belts on their pants. Normally Cody would be more aware of his surroundings, especially when any riff-raff try to fight him or anything like that, but his thoughts about Jessica and Kyle were all what was on his mind in that moment, enough that he wasn't attentive of his surroundings.

Billy stretched out his chain like he wanted to strangle someone, while Sid wrapped his chain around his knuckles. The two other men in the cell were out. How would they witness anything?

Cody stood there. A quiet sound came to his ear, like a small pitter-patter from slow-moving feet. Cody awoke from his trance. He turned to his right. If he could see anything, it would be through his peripheral version. If he turned around completely, it would be obvious to the two thugs that he would be onto them. Cody moved his fingers into the palms of both hands.

Okay, fuckers, let's do this. Cody thought.

But then the sound of something hitting a wall grabbed everyone's attention. Cody turned to the bars and there walked an older African-American cop carrying a keychain.

"Travers, you are free to go."

Cody sighed in relief. Mike and Jessica came through for him. Now he wondered what to say to them about what had happened. After he exited the cell, he looked towards Billy and Sid with an expression of "I'll see you two again soon." The two thugs rushed towards the bars and screamed at Cody as he walked off not paying them any mind.

The cop guided Cody through the station. Cody looked around for the person who bailed him out. He expected a beautiful blonde stunner and a tall and muscular middle-aged man in a suit with a mustache and a grizzled vibe about him. However, it was the last person he expected as there stood a stunner with long hair that had a shade of pink that was dark enough that it bordered on purple, a leather biker cap, as well as short shorts and a black leather jacket covering a revealing top.

"Hey there, handsome."

"Poison?" Cody looked at her with confusion.

"In the flesh," she said with a smile and a seductive tone.

"What are you doing here?"

"I bailed you out. Come on, let's talk a walk."

"No, I am waiting for someone."

"It's the least I could do. We need to talk, come on, let's go."

Why this woman bailed him out, Cody wondered. Who was she to him? Why did she do this? All Cody knew was that she handled some stuff with the fights. But out of nowhere, he started to get a familiar feeling about her.

From nearby, a couple of young cops saw Cody walk out with a woman.

"Cody?" Lucia said.

After some time had passed, the limousine pulled up in front of the police station. Out walked Haggar with Carlos and Jessica behind him. Haggar wasted no time. He rushed towards the front door and slammed it open. He took a deep breath, while Jessica and Carlos looked him with so much concern. Jessica knew that her father had quite a short fuse depending on the situation. This was one of those moments.

An aging cop, who looked like he was close to his pension, if not already there, looked up at the massive man who stood before him.

"Mayor Haggar?"

"Yes, at your service, I'm here to bail out Cody Travers."

Several cops in the station looked up at him when they heard him say that.

"You just missed him," the old cop said. "He just left."

"What?" Haggar said.

"Someone bailed him out already.

Jessica and Carlos looked at each other with a lot of confusion. No one knew how much the bail was. After all, Cody was only in holding. One could wonder if the justice system was on the take enough to convict Cody on a false charge.

Haggar took a deep breath. "Thank you."

However, Haggar looked over towards Abrams's office and saw him talking with two officers. Haggar grabbed the small gate and just opened it.

"Dad, wait…" Jessica tried to reach for her father but the level of anger that steamed from her father made her plea fall on deaf ears. Lucky for her, Carlos was there to protect her in case something went down.

"Excuse, Mr. Mayor, you can't walk through here," the old cop said, but it didn't matter. Haggar ran the city, so he had enough authority to walk.

"ABRAMS!" The shout from Haggar's mouth made the entire station go quiet. Abrams looked at the mayor with such shock on his face, like how did he get past security.

But Haggar was not going to mince words. "Listen to me, and listen well. I hear that some of your officers falsely arrested someone. I have heard people say that there have been wrongful arrests lately. The next time that happens, I will talk with the governor and see what he'll do about you. I might even call the feds to crack down on this whole fucking department. Do you got that?!"

Abrams, along with Edi. E and Dave looked at him with a glare and a look of fear mixed together. All Abrams could do was nod his head. Haggar nodded his head, too, turned around and walked towards his daughter and his bodyguard.

"Carlos, Jess, let's go," Haggar said.

Darkness fell over the streets of Metro City with only dim lights shining along the roads and sidewalks with the light posts. Vagrants, such as peddlers of stolen goods, drug pushers, and homeless people were scattered among the streets. All it was down to was Cody walking with the lovely Poison.

There was no denying that Poison was a knockout, but the question on Cody's mind was why she bailed him out. He hardly knew her, but there had to be a reason why this woman put some money down for his bail, even though he was in holding.

"So, Cody, what do you think?" Poison said. "After that night, how about you face someone new? I think I know just the person."

Though Cody was up for a fight, this wasn't the time for such a discussion. "Hold on, Poison, I need to ask you something. Why? Why did you bail me out?"

"Come on, you're a good fighter, I couldn't see you go to jail like that."

"How did you know I was arrested? Who are you?"

"Oh, come on, you don't remember me?"

Cody took a close look at her blue eyes and beautiful face. He knew there was something familiar about her from before. The face started to ring some bells, but how could he forget the pink her that he had trouble recognizing her before? The smile on her face just gave him a flashback suddenly.

"Kristina Rayne?"

"Now you remember."

Cody knew a girl named Kristina Rayne from his past. In fact, she went to the same high school as him and Jessica. He also remembered this ginger girl she often hung out with whose name was Roxanne Frederickson, who often went by "Roxy." Just then, he remembered that Roxy was at the Surf Bar those nights.

Oh, no. He thought. "Wow, you…look…different."

"Is it the hair?" Poison said.

Aside from the hair, Cody noticed the way she was dressed. It's not like she was a good girl in school, either, but this woman was dressed in a lot more revealing attire compared to their school days.

Poison said, "If you really want to know why I bailed you out, let's just say that I can't let my best fighter get thrown in jail. You know, you did save me a few times from some assholes back in school, I thought maybe I could return the favor in some way."

"How?"

"Follow me." Poison led Cody into a nearby alleyway. Why Cody followed her, he had no clue, but he went along with her anyway.

Poison faced Cody and gave him a smirk and the eyebrow gesture. She then moved her body closer to him as she rubbed her hands against his clothed pectorals and then moved her face closer to his as her lips nearly closed in on his.

But Cody backed his head a bit and turned away. "I can't."

"Oh, come on, I can tell you want it," Poison said. "I can really tell." Poison's eyes shifted downward towards Cody's pants.

Cody sighed in embarrassment from what had just happened. All he could think about was Jessica. It only took until now who this woman was. In fact, he had some history with her. Why didn't he recognize her at first?

"Is this really what you want?" Cody said.

"Come on, you know I've always liked you," Poison said.

Cody knew. He knew very well that Poison, or has he knew her, Kristina, had a crush on him. He just did not anticipate that he would cross paths with her like this. Under a different moniker and under a different look than he had remembered.

"I know, but I have someone already," Cody said.

"Ah, you're still with Jessica, huh?" Poison said. "She's beautiful and she's lucky to have you."

No truer words had been spoken in Cody's case.

"I have to go home."

"Well, if you ever have any problems," Poison got close to him again. "You can find me and Roxy over at The Ten Foot Pole. We dance over there sometimes."

Poison gave him another smile, but then Cody decided to walk away.

It had been quite a long time since the two had crossed paths, but for some reason, Poison had never let go of her crush on Cody. A woman like her could have any man, but why Cody? There were times she wondered if he was too good for her, or if Jessica Haggar was too good for him, especially with her father being the mayor of Metro City.

But at the same time, she wondered if she would or could have him one day.

It had been more than a half an hour. Cody had found his way home by taking the subway and walking five blocks down Chinatown to get close to his apartment building. This had been a long night.

I wonder if Kyle's in bed by now. Cody thought. He wondered about his brother at that point. What Kyle went through recently was something that made him remember what he did when he was younger. Some guy tried to hit on Jessica, he would come to her aid. Some of the time, he would start a fight with someone by himself. The difference was that he didn't deal with a hardcore criminal like Kyle did. Cody knew what Kyle felt for that girl, Vanessa. One day he'll have to meet her. It seemed she was special to his brother.

When Cody got to the door, he put the key into the keyhole and turned to open the door. As soon as he walked in, the first thing he heard was "CODY!" and then arms wrapped around him.

"I was so scared!" Jessica yelled into his shoulder.

I really am a lucky man. He thought.

Chapter Text

Darkness loomed over the bedroom with clothes strewn on the floor. Sweatpants, T-shirts, briefs, panties, and a bra, they were all scattered on the floor adjacent to a king-sized bed with any glare beaming through the window from street lights shining in the midst of the night sky. Under the covers, Jessica lied there and caressed Cody with so much embrace as she leaned her head against his shoulder and rubbed her left hand against Cody's bare pectorals with Jessica's bare bust pressing against his body as well.

With the two naked under the covers, it was no secret what happened here.

"What happened to you tonight?" Jessica said as she looked directly at Cody while she still caressed him.

Cody lied there in silence for a few seconds. He knew his girlfriend would ask him this. What was he going to say? He got jumped by some bikers and fought back against them, only for him to get arrested without question? He knew he had to tell Jessica the whole thing.

After a few minutes, Jessica's eyes shift away with a flabbergasted expression before she let out "wow," like she had no idea to how to respond to that.

"You see what I mean?" Cody said.

Jessica still had trouble responding to this. "But I don't understand, why did the cops arrest you?"

Cody's eyes shifted towards the ceiling. Was there a better way to explain it? What he went through, he had already explained it, but there were so many questions on their minds as to why they happened.

"I still don't know," Cody said. "They just hauled me off without asking me. I just defended myself, but they said it was assault."

"Assault? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Cody turned to look at Jessica because of what she said. He was not used to hearing her swear like this. Maybe the occasional "shit" and stuff, but the F-bomb was something else. This sounded like she was upset over what had happened. When Cody got home, Jessica gave him a big hug. One thing led another and this was where they ended up.

"I wish I knew what was up," Cody said.

"I hope my dad fixes this city soon. We can't keep living like this."

"Not while evil stalks the streets."

After that encounter with the Disciples of Apocalypse Motorcycle Club, this was accurate about Metro City. It was no coincidence that those bikers found Cody. They had to have known somehow where he worked if they went to attack him.

But a thought had hit Cody in that moment. He could have run away and found a place to hide. He didn't need to engage in a fight with them. He was outnumbered by six of them and barely managed to make it out of there. Why didn't he just walk away? Cody thought hard.

On top of that, he was bailed out by someone he realized was an old school acquaintance. Poison tried to seduce him, but that didn't mean he didn't feel any arousal. Cody lied there and wondered if the sex with Jessica had stemmed from that moment with Poison.

On the other hand, he still wondered about any fights in the future to see if he could make any more money to possibly move elsewhere, like in a nicer area in the city.

In the other room, in the midst of posters of Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim, Megadeth, and Faith No More, Kyle lied in his bed with his eyes open. Despite hearing his brother and his girlfriend having some "quality time" in the other room, that was not why he was awake. No, the real reason was because he reflected on that conversation he had with Jessica earlier that evening. He knew she was right. He knew he had to control his violent tendencies. It was also clear that that guy Vito tried to get under his skin about Vanessa.

Now that he thought about it, the concern he had for her was too much for him. He still thought it was his fault about the other night. Then again, could those thugs have attacked them regardless? It left Kyle wondering that maybe even if he was attacked first, he would have still protected her, but with those other guys holding the girls, who knows what they would have done to them?

I will make it up to you, Vanessa. Kyle thought.

It was not long until he fell asleep after that.

Inside the Mad Gear lair, Damnd turned around and noticed six bikers quickly marching towards him, with bruises and cuts on their faces. One of the bikers' faces was wet as he likely had put some on ice on his face. All Damnd could think when he saw them was that they didn't get the job done.

Axl and Slash led their squad. Slash reached for his pocket and threw the money at Damnd.

"Here's your fucking money!" Slash yelled.

The dollar bills flew and scattered all over the place. Many other Mad Gear members looked on like they wanted to swoop in and pick them up, likely for themselves. Damnd didn't budge. All he did was look at the money flying towards him and through his blue-framed sunglasses, his eyes glared towards Axl and Slash.

"What happened?" Damnd said so calmly.

Axl rushed towards Damnd. "That fucker got lucky!"

Slash signaled Axl to calm down. "That guy, he beat all of us." Surprisingly, he was calmer than before when he threw the money at Damnd.

"What are you talking about? There were six of you," Damnd said.

"This guy, he was something else," Slash said.

"What? Like those ninjas Philippe talked about?" Damnd chuckled with such derision in his expression.

"We're not joking with you!" Axl shouted. "He fucked all of us up!"

There was no more explanation needed for Damnd. The way the bikers put it, Damnd just knew that Cody was not just some guy. This guy was different. All he could do was nod at their comments. There had to be a way to take him down. He looked around and saw two women from a distance. The hot pink hair and the fiery orange hair on both of them, he just knew who they were.

"Hey, Poison, Roxy," Damnd said as he approached the two ladies. "I got a question for you. Do Hugo and Gunter got any fights soon? What about Abigail, or even Bratken?"

Poison and Roxy looked up and saw Damnd stand before them after he addressed them.

Roxy replied, "Nah, they don't have any fights. Who do you have in mind?"

"Oh, I was thinking about the new guys. What do you think?" Damnd smiled devilishly after saying that.

The ladies looked at each other with a little confusion and mild concern.

"Oh, I don't think so," Poison said.

"Oh, come on," Damnd said. "I think those big guys are ready for something new than some punks you girls have been feeding them. What do you think?"

Poison stood there silently. "Well…"

Roxy cut in, "Let us think about it, okay?"

"Get back to me soon, okay?" Damnd said as he saw the two ladies walking away.

Poison looked back towards Damnd. The comments the man made about the Andore brothers, along with a couple of other men, and the "new guys" made her wonder what the man's motive was.

"Did you hear that?" Poison said. "He actually thinks Hugo and Gunter should fight those new guys."

Roxy went to a stop. "I was right. You are sweet on Cody."

Poison was not about to deny that. "So? What's your point?"

"You don't think Cody should fight Hugo? I mean, if he took down Axl and Slash, why should that be any different?"

"You're saying I'm sweet on that guy, but I saw you looking at his friend the other night."

"Right, but I know you've wanted Cody ever since high school. So don't give me any shit about that guy Carlos."

Both ladies knew about the Andore family, especially when one of them easily beat that one man that night. However, Damnd had mentioned other men, both of whom had some reputations as well. Poison knew that Damnd wanted to hurt Cody in some way. At least Poison knew that Roxy, her closest friend, was all about business in the fighting world, but in the case of her fellow Mad Gear members, someone had an axe to grind with someone.

"You're right, what was I thinking?" Poison said. "Come on, let's talk about this somewhere else."

As Haggar sat in the living room of his house, he looked at pictures of himself with his late wife Nancy, along with family photos which had Jessica as a little girl, and also pictures of the Travers brothers with Jessica. Kyle was about 9 or 10, while Cody and Jessica were teens. He looked away, deep in thought.

First, it was the criminal element, now it was corrupt in the Metro City Police Department. Did Mad Gear have that much power and influence over Metro City? It had not been too long since he was elected mayor but even he remembered that the crime element was present with the previous mayor, who didn't do a damn thing while he was in office. Haggar was determined, but what would he do? The real question was where he would start. Another question would be why he didn't leave Metro City.

Metro City was his home. It was where he was born, where he grew up, and was now running. It was not always like this for him. There was a time when it was more peaceful. It was safer to walk the streets of the West Side of Metro City, even the Slums were, while run down, safe enough to walk through. It was peaceful at times when he would go on international tours when he was a wrestler and left Jessica with some family or friends. When Nancy was alive, Jessica sometimes came along when a show would take place at the Metro City Arena. She was too young to go along on the tours.

One night, when Haggar took time off from his wrestling schedule, he took Nancy and Jessica out for some entertainment. As the night went on, Nancy went into a store while Haggar and Jessica stayed in the car. While Haggar and Jessica talked in the car, gunshots were heard from inside. The two looked up. Jessica thought "Mom?!" Haggar quickly got out of the car and told his daughter to stay put. He went inside and smashed one masked man's head against a counter. As a wrestler, he grabbed the other masked and slammed him to the ground, but went full stop when he what was in front of him after he heard a weak-sounding female voice say "Mike?" He turned around and noticed his wife with a gunshot wound on her stomach. Mike's eyes widened and quickly tended to her. It wasn't long until paramedics took her. He went and drove himself and Jessica to the hospital. Unfortunately, by the time they got there, it was too late. Nancy had lost a lot of blood and died before she got to the hospital. Both Mike and Jessica were devastated that Mike took months off from his schedule while he mourned his wife.

There was a reason he was iffy about Jessica dating Cody, and later on, moving in together. He knew Cody since he was a kid. He knew Kyle since he was a kid, too, and saw that he was a lot like his older brother. The Travers brothers didn't have the best upbringing. They went through foster care. Sometimes Mike offered to let them stay with him at times and then saw that Cody and Jessica got closer and closer. While he did teach Cody some things, he knew that Cody would get himself into trouble, some of which he bailed him out.

But if there was one thing Haggar admired about Cody, it was that he would never try to put Jessica in danger. He also would never lie to him. Cody may be rough around the edges but he was not a bad guy. He knew the young man cared about his daughter. While he hadn't talked to Cody about his arrest yet, Haggar trusted his daughter about what had happened. It became clear to him that the police force was corrupt, and it wouldn't be a surprise to him if Mad Gear had them in their pocket. The question, however, was who was funding them.

Haggar got up and walked towards his bedroom. A light glared through an open door as he slowed down a bit and went to a stop. He saw Carlos stretching and doing some sit-ups.

"You know you do all of that, you will not be able to sleep."

Carlos looked up. "Oh, hello, Mr. Haggar."

"Please, you can call me Mike."

"Right, Mike." Despite living with the mayor, Carlos was not used to addressing him by his first name.

"Like I was saying, you don't want to do that too much before bed, you'll be awake for hours," Haggar said.

"I'm just doing a little training. Besides, I don't work tomorrow."

Haggar nodded. "Anyway, I'm going to bed. Don't stay up too late training now. I'll see you in the morning."

As soon as Haggar went to his room, Carlos glanced ahead and made sure he was out of sight. Since he had a day off tomorrow, he reached for his katana and slowly walked out of his bedroom in a stealthy motion. Training was not going to be enough for him. If the city was in peril, he was about to help clean it up as well.

At the Genryusai residence, Guy sat on a couch with Rena and talked with her.

"That was a really nice dinner we went to," Rena said.

"Yes, but it would be better if I took you out by myself, not because I was invited by a friend," Guy said.

"Don't say that, it was still nice. You know that any time we are together, it's always a good time."

Guy nodded. Despite the straight face and emotionless expression in his eyes, it didn't mean he didn't like spending time with Rena.

Suddenly, an older man walked into the living room area. Guy looked up and quickly got to his feet and then bowed before him.

["Genryusai-San, pleasure to see you,"] Guy said in Japanese.

Hideo Genryusai, father of Rena and Maki, and also once a master for Guy and his daughter, bowed before his once-pupil. While he was a master of the Bushin style himself, as he got older, he passed the mentorship down to a man named Zeku. However, he had taught Guy and Maki some tricks of their own, some that Zeku couldn't teach them.

["Guy, the pleasure is always mine, you're practically part of this family,"] Genryusai said. ["I appreciate what you've done for my family, as well as Rena. Just know that even though I'm old, if you ever think about hurting my Rena, I'll still beat you."]

["Father!"] Rena yelled in Japanese.

Hideo smiled at that remark and patted Guy on his shoulder. ["You've always been like a son to me."]

["Thank you, Genryusai-san,"] Guy said.

["Well, I should go get some sleep,"] Hideo said.

Rena got up and was about to go to bed, too. However, as Guy stood there, he saw Maki, who signaled to him towards the door and towards the window. Guy nodded his head. What did their signal mean? Guy then hugged and kissed Rena goodnight and then exited their apartment and went into his.

Guy quickly changed into a red and white karate gi. It was not long until Maki left her apartment and wore a red and white outfit but it didn't have a skirt like she would often wear. She had her tonfa holstered.

"Are you ready?" Maki said.

Guy nodded. "Ready as I will ever be."

The two were then on their way out into the city. They felt there was some work to be done.

Chapter Text

It was a new day. As Haggar got ready for another day at the office, he walked by Carlos's room and saw that he was still asleep. It was his day off, but he looked out like a light. On most days, he would already be up, likely doing his morning workouts even on his days off. This was something different.

Probably worked out too hard last night. That was the only thought Haggar had in mind seeing his boarder/bodyguard. He hired the young man to be his bodyguard after seeing what he was made of as a martial artist. He trusted him enough to move in to his house. Whatever it was, Carlos needed a rest.

One thing that caught Haggar's attention was when he woke up, the news reports on TV suggested that vigilante justice had risen in the past week. In fact, there was a live report at around midnight about how some criminals were restrained when found by police. If that was not enough, the bruises and blood on the criminals' faces were evident in that some people had allegedly assaulted them. Haggar was puzzled at this. Police lieutenant Mark Abrams raised a concern about this but when some citizens were interviewed about these acts of violence, they were relieved that some people came to their aid.

All Haggar thought was that with the police likely on the take and not doing a damn thing about the crime element, then maybe taking a stand, whether it's in justice or self-defense, wasn't a bad thing.

Sometime soon, he had to talk to Cody about what had happened. He needed to hear the young man's side of the story. After what Jessica told him, it became apparent that the police had only complained about alleged assaults but these were not innocent people but rather ruffians who may have been assaulting innocents, whether it's for money to survive or just for fun, though the thought of the latter sickened him as there were people like that out there.

It was now time to get to the office. All he could do was await any complaints from the MCPD about the vigilantes out there, when in Haggar's mind, they could be doing the right thing, even if they were breaking the law.

Kyle had arrived at Metro High School with a bodyguard behind him. The bodyguard was Agent Summers. He was accommodated with this that he would follow him to his classes but the teachers would not pay him any mind as he was mainly there to protect Kyle from any riff-raff. However, it was going to be hard as Kyle had problems of his own with school rivals and such.

It was before school and the moment a black 1987 Ford Mustang pulled up, he went to a stop and faced that car. It took a few seconds and then saw a young light-skinned African-American girl get out. Seeing Vanessa gave him a sign of relief but she still looked down, as he didn't get a look at her luminous blue-green eyes. He wasted no time in walking to her. From a distance, Paco, Celeste, and Lou all got together and looked on as Kyle approached her.

"Vanessa." The moment she heard her name uttered, she looked up and rushed towards Kyle who gave her a hug.

"I was so worried about you." Kyle held onto her. "Are you okay now?"

Vanessa nodded. "I just had a lot to think about ever since…you know."

"You're safe now. You're here with me. You're here with all of us."

Vanessa nodded again. "I missed you, but please, don't ever do that again, okay? If you have to defend me or yourself, but don't ever start anything like that again."

"I won't and I will never let anything happen to you." Kyle looked and saw his friends approach them. "Come on, let's get going."

However, from a distance, Vito watched as Kyle walked Vanessa, along with their crew. Vito stood there with his crew. Something must be troubling him. Was it what happened the previous day?

It was now lunchtime. Kyle walked Vanessa to the cafeteria after he met her after the class before lunch. Vanessa looked down some more while Kyle looked at her. He then stopped her right before they entered the cafeteria.

"Hey, look, I know you're still shaken over what happened but just know that I would never let anybody hurt you."

Vanessa took a deep breath. "I know. I was just afraid of what those guys would have done to all of us. To me and Celeste, to you and Paco, just to think that we all wouldn't be here if your brother's friends didn't step in."

Kyle hugged her once again. "We'll figure something out to help you get through this. Come on, let's go eat."

The two walked and walked towards the table where Celeste, Paco, and Lou were sitting. The three had bought their lunches while Kyle and Vanessa brought their own lunches to school.

Once Vanessa sat down, Celeste immediately said something.

"So how are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm getting better, just had a lot on my mind," Vanessa said.

"I tried calling you this weekend. Your mom said you weren't feeling well."

Vanessa sighed. "It's been rough. I got to thinking about stuff."

"What's that?" Kyle cut in.

Vanessa said, "Maybe you guys should teach us how to fight."

The three guys looked at each other.

"Are you sure?" Kyle said.

"It's hard enough living in this city," Vanessa said. "You never know what could happen."

The other four in the group looked at her and nodded their heads. Vanessa's older brother was a policeman, so they knew he had to face a lot of thugs and riff-raff throughout the city. Kyle and Paco knew they were outnumbered when they faced that clown and his goons. The type of training those two martial artists had to take them all down was impressive but it was likely they all had trained their craft for years to get that good.

There had to be a way to teach them how to fight.

Suddenly, Kyle looked up and noticed Vito and his crew entering the café. He rolled his eyes and sighed at the leader's presence when he looked right at him with a venomous expression. Much to the group's surprise, they went towards another table that was close to a young redheaded girl who sat at a table all by her lonesome.

Through his eyes, he had a feeling what they would and stood up.

"Kyle?"

When he heard his name, he faced Vanessa.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, I just needed to stand up for a sec."

Vanessa saw that Kyle's attention was away from her and faced the gang of bullies and that young girl. In many cases, a girl would be jealous at her boyfriend looking at another girl. This was different. She knew those other guys. She saw a skinny guy approaching that girl at the table.

"Will you look at that?" Vanessa scoffed at what she saw. "Can you believe that weasel?"

The entire crew's attentions shifted over there now.

Nicholas Wissell, who was often called "Weasel," approached the young redhead and set one knee on the bench and looked at her in a pathetic attempt to look smooth. In the eyes of Kyle and his friends, this guy was a wannabe compared to the likes of Vito, Stiff, and Blades.

"Hey, Patricia," Weasel said.

The young girl looked up and her eyes gave off an annoyed expression with a sighed added in for bonus. "What do you want, Nick?"

"Hey, that's 'Weasel' to you. So listen, me and the boys were wondering if you wanted to sit with us."

"Sorry, I'm waiting for someone, now go away."

"Oh, come on, you're sitting here by yourself. I think you could use some company."

From a distance, Kyle looked like he was about to walk but Vanessa stopped him.

"Don't go over there," Vanessa said.

"But that asshole is…"

"You don't want to get in trouble again, do you?"

Kyle breathed. As much as he wanted to help that poor girl, the last thing he needed was another suspension. He had been suspended multiple times. If tried anything again, it was possible an expulsion was in order.

When Weasel tried to grab her, Patricia quickly shoved him aside. Before that he had tried to put his arm around her but she blocked his attempt.

"Oh, so you want to play like that, huh?" Weasel looked towards his crew and signaled to them to come on over there.

Once again, from the distance, Kyle, Paco, and Lou looked on and stood up. In any situation, Kyle would likely throw down but he wanted to maintain composure and use non-violent means, at least while on school grounds. Vanessa and Celeste looked around. No campus security was present.

When Vito led his other two friends towards the girl, a male voice behind them said, "Back off!"

Vito turned around and saw a teenage boy with long blond hair and a muscular build. He had a T-shirt that said "Eleanor Roosevelt Wrestling" on it.

"What did you just say?" Vito said.

"I said back off, she's with me," the young man said.

Vito walked closer to him. "All we're doing is having a little chat with the girl."

"And she is not interested, now fuck off."

Vito threw a punch but the young man quickly ducked and grabbed and took him down. While Vito was bigger and a little taller, this young man was muscular and a little quicker. Stiff and Blades tried to attack him but Blades met another slam to the ground. Stiff tried to punch the young man but he blocked his punch and twisted his arm and then shoved him. His attention shifted to Weasel

"I said leave her alone, now go."

Weasel glared but nodded his head and walked around. The young man looked on as the group of bullies walked away but not before some of them looked back in anger towards him.

"Alex?"

The young man turned towards Patricia. "Oh, hey."

"You know I could have handled Nick."

"Yeah, but then those other guys got involved, I couldn't let them…you know."

"I know."

Patricia and Alex, the young wrestler, looked up and saw Kyle and the crew approaching them.

"That was some impressive shit," Kyle said.

"Thanks, have we met before? You seem familiar," Alex said.

"Nah, but I think you're new here, right? I'm Kyle." He then introduced the rest of his friend to the two.

Patricia looked closely at Kyle. "Wait, I think I've seen you before. You're Cody's brother, right?"

"Yeah, I am. Why?"

"He works at my dad's gym. I think I saw you over there and I saw you around school but I never put two and two together."

"That's cool," Kyle said and turned towards Alex. "Listen, you guys want to sit with us?"

Alex turned his attention to Patricia, who nodded. "Sure thing."

Alex and Patricia joined the crew at their table.

At Guy's dojo, Maki and Carlos engaged in yet another training session. Maki wanted to work with a katana, so Carlos brought his and Guy provided one for Maki to use.

Carlos put on a blindfold and unsheathed his katana.

"What are you trying? Do you want to get sliced?" Maki chuckled.

"Watch the master at work." Carlos raised his sword in a stance.

Guy stood there with a straight face and arms crossed. He watched as Maki swung and swung but were met with the steel touching each other.

KLANK!

KLANK!

No matter how good Maki was, she should know never to underestimate an opponent. Carlos knew different styles to Bushin, but no style is ever superior to the other as they all have different qualities.

"Not bad." Carlos pulled up his blindfold. "Now let's see how you can do blindfolded."

Maki smiled at that remark. "Bring it on."

Instead of using sharp blades this time, Carlos used a couple of kali sticks while Maki brought out her trusty tonfas.

The same process was done this time. Maki blocked each attempt as Carlos swung the sticks. The young woman was light on her feet, enough that as she held onto the stick, she flipped and did a handstand and moved her body in a circular motion. All Carlos could do was tilt his backwards and strafe towards his left. Maki wasn't done, however, as she pushed herself up towards a different direction to where Carlos stood.

Guy looked on and shook his head.

Maki was back to her feet and pulled the blindfold up. "What?!" She saw that Carlos stood elsewhere and that Guy approached them.

She stood there in confusion as she came to the realization that Carlos evaded her last attacks. "How the…? What did you do?"

"Nothing, just pure skill."

Maki gritted her teeth. "Right, you just got lucky."

Guy stepped in. "Maki, don't take this personally. You are good but cannot let your ego get in the way."

"Why? I know that ranking will be mine. Just wait," Maki said.

"Guy's right," Carlos said. "There is a lot more to it than just showing off cool moves."

"Want a bet?" Maki said and shifted her attention towards Guy who put up a stance. In any situation, Guy often knew to be prepared for anything, whether it was an impromptu sparring session or a fight.

Carlos watched as the two Bushin ninja sparred. He knew that they were good. While he got along with both of them and had been getting to know Maki more lately, he saw that she was cocky. Although she could back up a lot of what she says, her ego could get the best of her sometimes, leaving her to suffer the consequences as a result.

Guy and Maki had been at odds for the next Grandmaster ranking of the Bushinryu art. Maki sometimes wondered why Guy was so calm and stoic in the matter. In her eyes, he should do whatever it takes to achieve that goal, but she always knew that Guy was just a calm and quiet type who didn't always like to expression his emotions. She sometimes wondered what her sister saw in him, even though she could admit she had a crush on him at one point.

Then something hit Carlos.

"Hey, have you two thought about fighting for money?"

Guy and Maki's sparring session went to a screeching halt.

"What?" Maki said.

"I'm serious," Carlos said. "Cody and I fought at this place recently and I thought you two should try it. They host fights on Fridays."

Guy remembered the place now. It was the same place Cody got into a fight. In fact, it was not too far from the dojo.

A smile rose on Maki's face, while Guy looked away. Just the previous week, he and Cody were approached by a couple at Tom's Gym talking about this opportunity.

"I don't know about this," Guy said.

"Oh, come on, Guy," Maki said. "A little extra money won't hurt. Besides, wouldn't you want to save up for a vacation with Rena, or the wedding?" She said with a playfully-mocking tone.

Guy had wanted to propose to Rena but it hadn't happened yet. However, his would-be sister-in-law had a point.

"Besides, if we go out and kick some butt on the streets, what's so different about making a few extra dollars?" Maki asked.

"She has a point," Carlos said.

The previous night, the three had gone out to clean up the streets a bit. They all met up at some point. Maki joined Carlos while Guy did things on his own at some points in the night.

Guy thought it over. "Okay, we can do this."

Maki and Carlos nodded and smiled at Guy's agreement. Guy then walked away to start practicing his own moves until his next class starts, while Maki shifted her attention towards Carlos

"One more thing, Carlos, how about we make a bet?"

"Okay, what do you have in mind?" Carlos said.

"Because I think you got lucky, if you lose the fight on Friday, how about you clean my apartment?"

The smile on Maki's face said a lot. She didn't deny Carlos's fighting skill but in some ways she felt it was pure luck that he dodged her attacks.

Carlos, on the other, smirked at that remark. "Okay, you're on, but what about if I win?"

"Oh yeah? What do you got?"

"If I win, I will have to take you to dinner sometime."

Maki's eyes widened at that remark. Her jaw dropped, too. Was he asking her out? She saw that the man was handsome, with his brown skin and his mixed look about him being half-Japanese and half-Brazilian, and that hair, the length just looked right on him. On top of that, the man was muscular and kept himself in shape. Aside from his external appearance, she respected his martial arts prowess and that was one thing she shared with him.

"Okay, you're on." Maki let out her hand and Carlos shook it while she gave off a flirty smile to him.

At Tom's Gym, Cody walked around and made sure that any gym members needed help on machines or with their training. A lot of them were fine, so he thought about using some time to some training of his own. He had already done some strength-training but wanted to train his fists for any upcoming fights he wanted to do.

After the previous night he had, it probably would have been better to call in sick, but Cody didn't want to do that. In fact, the fight he had was just the beginning. It was possible that he would take part in another fight later that week.

Once again, he saw Lucia working out, but this time she was working her legs. Given that she was wearing shorts, her legs were well-defined. It must have been leg day.

"Hey, Lucia."

She looked up when she heard her name.

"Oh, Cody, hey. What's up?"

"Nothing, just checking on some of the people to see if they need help. Besides, I need to train myself."

"Yeah, well, me, too." She got off her machine as she was done with her reps and headed towards the bag. She glanced at Cody's face. There appeared to be cuts and some bruises. It was amazing he came in to work today despite that.

"Hey, I need to ask you something," Lucia said. "What's this I hear that you were arrested last night?"

Cody froze and slowly turned his head towards his friend. "What do you mean?"

"Cody, I'm a cop, remember? I hear shit all over the station. I also have to deal with some assholes I work with. You can't fool me."

"It's more than you think." He turned his head towards the bag. "Come on, you go first."

"Okay, but after I'm done, you better tell me what happened."

Was it worth knowing, though? In Lucia's case, she could try talking to her superiors but her captain won't do anything. He didn't want to hear anything from her and her partner. What could she gain from this?

Lucia kicked the bag multiple times and let out a few punches.

From a distance, two women saw her kicking the bag. One looked like she had her hair dyed white and the other had a strawberry blonde shade to it. They were Mary and Elissa, respectively. They both looked over at Cody and Lucia talking.

"That girl is good," Mary said.

"Yeah, but I think I've seen her before," Elissa said.

After Lucia was done with the bag, it was now Cody's turn.

"Wait, weren't you going to tell me?" Lucia said.

"Let me vent some of my rage first," Cody said.

Cody took a deep breath and laid out a few jabs, which after a few of them, he then started laying out some harder punches than before. The harder they got, the look on Lucia's face grew to be more concerned. Even the two ladies from a distance noticed this, as well as some of the other patrons.

When Cody finished, he wiggled his hands after punching the bag.

"Damn, what happened?" Lucia said.

"I just hit the bag hard." Odd that Cody answered that question directly.

"No, what happened last night?"

"I'll tell you. Let's go outside."

Cody led Lucia to the outside of the gym. He didn't want to worry the patrons much with what he was about to say.

They were right by the front door. Cody looked away and took another deep breath. "You want to know? Fine. Last night I got jumped by some bikers who were about to kill me. I messed them up, but then a couple of cops just arrested me without asking questions."

Lucia's eyes widened. "What did they look like?"

"One was a fat and black, had a big beard. Another was not that much older than us, but was more buff and had a beard. I remembered their last names, too."

"Who were they?

"Can I trust you?"

"You and I go way back. I wouldn't be asking if I didn't care."

"Okay, their names were Evans and Walker."

Lucia's eyes widened. Just then, she knew her intuition about those two was correct.

"Do you know them?" Cody said.

Lucia scoffed. "Yes, I do. Evans, he is a respected cop, but I knew something was up. Walker, don't even get me started on him."

"What are you going to do?"

"Something I should have done a long time ago. I saw Mayor Haggar at the station yesterday. He looked pissed. I think I need to talk to him soon."

"I need to talk to him, too," Cody added. "Jess was worried about me. Shit, I almost got killed."

Lucia's suspicions about the Metro City Police Department were now confirmed. It was now time to bring down the corruption.

It was now evening. A meeting was called in Uptown Metro City. Inside a tower at the top floor, some of Mad Gear's lieutenants, along with soldiers and enforcers were called for meeting. Not everyone, but a good amount.

Inside an office, Belger sat at his desk and looked at a photograph of Mayor Mike Haggar and his daughter Jessica that was on tacked to the wall. That meeting with the mayor had him wondering what ways there could be to get him to play ball. He didn't win the mayoral election. The previous mayor played ball with him before. It was still early in Haggar's mayoral run, yet somehow there had been problems in the organization.

Belger held a knife in his hand and stared at the photo and then threw it as the blade punctured into the photograph.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Come in."

The door opened and in walked Rolento and Freddie.

"They're here," Rolento said.

"Good," Belger said.

He got up from his desk and sat in his wheelchair and started it up. Rolento and Freddie paved the way as Belger rolled out of his face and towards an area that overlooked the rest of uptown. This penthouse suite had open space with a long orange and red rug, chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, pillars with statues of naked women, and to top it off, stained-glass windows in that particular section.

"Hello, everyone," Belger said. "Nice for some of you to make it."

Chapter Text

Belger sat in his wheelchair before everyone. For every member of Mad Gear who attended, they all stood with expressions of respect and fear. Although Mad Gear ran Metro City, with some members calling the shots for some groups and sets in various areas, this man was the true mastermind behind everything. Rolento, along with Holly Wood and El Gado stood nearby.

Horace Belger came from a wealthy upbringing but his father had always run his businesses in less-than-ethical ways. However, after he started financially backing Mad Gear from the beginning, he gained full control and ruled them with an iron fist.

There was no denying it. Retu and Sodom may be in control for a good portion of the gang. Damnd may have his own set of followers and run the slums. The same could be said about Philippe and his men running things in other parts of the city. But there was one man they all had to answer to, and the last thing anybody wanted to do was cross him.

Rolento was something of a consigliere or underboss to Belger. While he had own his own men to command, Belger often turned to him to keep the rest of the organization in line.

"Okay, ladies and gentleman," Belger said. "Now that you're all here, I want to address some issues we have had lately. It appears that we have had some problems in our organization. Metro City citizens are taking a stand against us. Mayor Haggar has made threats against the police department. Something must be done."

Every Mad Gear who was present looked at each other in confusion and fear. Although El Gado and Holly Wood stood adjacent to Belger, Holly Wood raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"How about we take out the mayor?"

Everyone looked up.

"Are you serious?" Belger said. "There would be too much suspicion on us. I have a reputation to uphold."

To the general public, Horace Belger was a well-respected philanthropist who wanted to make a difference in Metro City. Although he had provided new playground equipment at elementary schools and athletic equipment for high schools, one would wonder where he got the money from. Belger may be a wealthy man, but some of that money could also be received through illegal means. He had a hand in all those operations, after all.

Rolento cut in. "Sir, with all due respect, if the mayor has become a problem and allowing vigilantes to take a stand, then there has to be some way to deal with this."

"Do you have any ideas?"

"I think we might have some ideas."

Belger looked away and suddenly, it just hit him. He whispered to him, "we'll talk about this in private." Rolento nodded.

Belger looked around and noticed Damnd among his comrades such as Bred, Dug, Jake, and Simons, along with Joe, Schot, Bull, and Elijah. Belger rolled in his wheelchair towards them.

"Is there something you would like to share with us?"

Damnd and his crew turned their attentions towards their boss. They stood up straight and kept their mouths shut.

"No, boss," Damnd said. "Just something we're discussing ourselves."

"Care to enlighten me? From what I hear, you have some problems of your own."

"It's my business, I will take care of it."

"Okay, but you better or else we will have problems of our own. I don't want you to lose focus in more important matters we have here."

Damnd nodded. "Yes, sir." Damnd was certain his problem with Cody Travers would resolve itself eventually.

Rolento approached Belger and whispered in his ear. "Mr. Belger, our associates are here."

"Who?" Belger said.

"Marshal Black and some of his associates," Rolento said. "Some of our men are with them right now."

"Okay, let's go."

Rolento led Belger into another room on a different floor of the building. Inside, there was what looked like an operating table of some sort that could be boosted and reclined with restraints for arms and legs. There was also a chair with restraints on there as well, but at the center stood a man in his underwear with his arms raised and wrists tied with a rope, surrounded by four men. They all stood on top of what appeared to be a plastic mat. One was an overweight man named Elick, who wore a uniform for an electrical power plant and wielded two tuning forks with a battery on his belt. Another was a tall and muscular man with long purple hair and black goggles and had brass knuckles with spikes. This man was known as Stray. Won Wong stood nearby wielding a meat cleaver. Finally, the man who stood nearby overseeing this was a tall and muscular man in military garb not unlike Rolento's gear, except he had an eye-patch. He was known as Marshal Black, leader of the Skull Cross Gang, a subordinate gang to Mad Gear. They were allies, but Mad Gear had more influence on Skull Cross.

Stray punched the nearly-naked man in his chest and stomach. Blood drooped from the wounds down his torso. Some got onto his underwear with red stains being on display.

"Had enough?" Stray said.

The man looked down, dripped with sweat, breathed hard, trembled hard, and tears dropped down his face and onto his bare chest. "Please, no…"

"Sorry, that won't do." Elick said, rubbing the tuning forks together, electrical flashes emitting, and clasping both of them to his nipples.

BZZZZT! BZZZZZT!

The electrical current strolled from his flesh into his system causing him to tremble from the shock. After a few seconds, Elick let go. The man shook some more and breathed hard. All of that electricity was more than enough for him to submit and talk, but this kind of torture session wasn't an interrogation. No one asked him any questions. When he looked up, all he saw was a bald man with an Amish-like beard sitting in a wheelchair.

"Mister…Belger?" The way he paused showed he had been through enough pain.

"At your service, Keith. I see you've met some associates of mine. Say hello to Marshal Black, and I see you've already met Elick and Stray."

Keith could barely breathe and move his head from the shock. Although he saw who was in front of him, it was clear he was disoriented.

"What do you want from me?" Keith said.

"Hey! I ask the questions here, not you!" The way Belger shouted meant that he was not messing around here. "What I want to know is what's this I hear that you have my money?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I thought you'd say that." Belger turned away. "Black, do the honors!"

Black slammed his baton to the palm of his left hand and rushed towards Keith and swung it right to his stomach.

"OHHHH!" Keith yelled.

"Does that jog your memory now?" Belger said.

"I don't have your fucking money!"

"Sure you don't."

"I'm serious! The other night some fucking pigs took it."

"I told you to stash it in a safe place before some of my men got it."

Keith continued to breathe hard. "Yeah, but some guys beat the shit out of me and the others first."

"I have been hearing a lot of stories like that lately."

"I am telling you. This guy and girl kicked our asses and tied us up with the money near us. Why would I fucking lie to you about this?"

Belger looked up and closed in on Keith's face. "And where did that guy and girl go?"

"How the fuck should I know?! They got the fuck out of there too quickly. It's like they're fucking ninjas!"

"Ninjas, huh?" Belger's remark sounded condescending. "I've been hearing a lot about ninjas lately. How do I know that you didn't just set it all up?"

"Like I told you…"

"Stop." Belger nodded towards Black, who then swung and whacked the baton right to Keith's left knee.

CRUNCH!

Keith let out a blood-curdling scream that would likely catch the attention of anybody standing outside the chamber if the walls weren't soundproof.

"I told you everything I know! What the fuck!"

Belger signaled to Won, who approached Keith to his opposite side and swung his meat cleaver to the ride of side of his bare waist, causing him to scream again. The man was battered, bruised, and bloodied some more when blood ran down from the long wound.

Panting from all of the pain, Keith said, "Why don't you just kill me while you're at it?"

"Who said I won't?" Belger pulled out a crossbow from the back of his wheelchair and loaded an arrow onto it.

Keith's eyes widened at the sight of the weapon. "Holy shit, I didn't mean that."

Rolento stood there and looked on at his boss torturing this man. He was no stranger to killing, whether it was on the battlefield or on the streets, though Metro City can be considered a war zone depending on the situation. He had a different outlook to his boss. His primary goal is to build a utopia-style military nation and wants to rule it. While he has hurt people, some of them were for business reasons, along with killing in combat and a contract killing to his boss's bidding. He would never kill an innocent bystander for pleasure, unlike some people in Mad Gear. Having witnessed some fellow soldiers die in combat, as well as innocent people get killed on the battlefield, he had his own code when it came to killing people.

Even his two loyal soldiers, El Gado and Holly Wood, while they have handled wet work before, it varied when it came to how they handled it. El Gado was more professional and expressed no emotion but Holly Wood sometimes expressed some pleasure out of it.

That man he killed in the Industrial Area, that was merely for business. That man stole money and was working with a rival gang. There was no tolerance for betrayal.

While this may have been a business reason, he knew Belger was ruthless and seemingly took pleasure out of this. He could have let him go, no matter how battered he was, but Belger had other ideas.

However, the other men in the room, Black and Stray, they were known for having more drastic methods than Mad Gear.

Belger held his crossbow in an aiming position. "Say goodnight, Keith." Belger pulled the trigger, releasing the arrow from the latch as it quickly rode along the flight groove when the arrow punctured Keith in the upper part of his stomach that bordered near his chest. The arrow broke through his back. Blood dripped from his front and back, as well as dripped from his mouth as Keith tried to breathe. A lot of the blood dripped onto the plastic on the floor. After a minute, Keith's head dropped down. Won cut the rope and Keith's lifeless body dropped to the floor.

"Wow, Mr. Belger," Black said. "You give a whole new meaning to the term 'drop cloth.'"

"Dispose of that trash, will you?" Belger said. "Thank you."

Rolento leaned in towards his boss. "Mr. Belger, are you sure that was necessary?"

"Keith fucked up and he paid the price."

"But sir…"

"No, he should have known what to do, but instead he fucked up. You should already know that."

Rolento's eyes shifted away a bit but nodded. No matter how much he disagreed with Belger's methods, he had a point.

"What about the mayor?"

"I'll see what I can do about him." Belger saw Black and Stray helping Elick and Won wrap up Keith's body. "Black, Stray, I have a proposition for you."

Black and Stray looked at each and approached Belger.

"What do you have in mind?" Black said.

"A favor, I'll pay you a lot for it."

A grin rose on Stray's face. Although there would be money involved, something told him that he would probably get to "take care" of a problem.

"Okay, what's the catch?" Stray said.

Cody had come home from another day at Tom's Gym. He took a shower and changed his clothes and sat down on the couch to relax. It was not long until Jessica had come home, accompanied by Carlos, as it was his day to be her bodyguard.

"Hi, babe." When Jessica got inside the apartment, she closed for a quick kiss on Cody's lips.

"Hey, Jess, how was your day?"

"Oh, it was hectic. I did a lot of a studying. I have an important exam coming up."

It then hit Cody. He was not in school like Jessica was. He had not had to take an exam in years up to that point, not since graduating high school. Hell, he barely managed to graduate. At least Jessica's father gave him some kind of motivation to study harder, but college was not his thing. However, Jessica told him that it's never too late to start.

"I hope you do good, baby."

"Thanks, Cody. I need to go study." Jessica gave him another peck before she walked away.

"Hey, Cody, can I talk to you?"

Cody looked up when he heard that voice. Carlos signaled to him. Cody followed him outside of the apartment.

"So, Carlos, what's up?"

"Are you coming on Friday?"

"Where?"

"To the fights."

Cody had remembered that Friday is fight night. Although Jessica knew about Cody taking part in a fight the previous week, he wondered if she should come along to watch this time. Also, the money could be good if he wanted to move to another area.

"Yeah, I'm coming."

"Great, also Guy and Maki are going to be there."

"Ooh, Maki!" Cody joked with him. "Are you trying to impress her?"

Carlos chuckled. "Actually, she wants to fight. I'm fighting, too. Besides, I have a little plan of my own if I win."

"Well, it looks like we got to prepare ourselves a bit." Cody then smiled. "Especially you." He had an idea what Carlos meant about a little plan.

"I train everyday, so I don't have to worry."

And so did Guy and Maki. Cody did the same thing. There was no way they weren't prepared.

"Okay, sounds like a plan." Cody shook his hand after that. "I'll call you soon about the fights."

"See you soon."

Right after Carlos left, Cody went back into his apartment.

"Hey, bro, can I ask you something?"

Cody heard a male voice. There was only one other guy living there and one person who would address him as "bro." He saw his younger brother at the kitchen table.

"Kyle, what's up?"

"I was thinking. Can you help get me and my friends a membership at Tom's Gym?"

"What?"

"I am serious. I was thinking maybe you could help get us."

"You're my brother and I can talk to Tom, but your friends…" There was something off about this to Cody. "…It's not up to me. They'll have to talk to their parents. Why do you want to go the gym all of a sudden?"

"I think maybe it would be good for my stress."

"Well, I'll talk to Tom about this, but only for you. Your friends got to do it themselves."

Kyle nodded. Cody went into the bedroom where Jessica was knee deep into a book and some notes she had scattered all over the bed.

"Hey, Jess, you need anything?"

"Nah, baby, I'm too wrapped up right now."

"Well, I might go for a walk. I need some time to think."

"I'll be here."

"I'll be back, Pretty Doll." Cody smiled and winked.

Jessica looked up, her eyes widened and a smile rose on her face when she heard that. She was called that during her father's time as a wrestler and she would accompany him to the ring, at least in the later years of his career. She chuckled at that remark.

"Don't be gone too long."

After Cody left the apartment, he saw the streets were empty. The citizens knew not to leave their homes after dark. It was also during the week. But what was he going to do? He went to a payphone and slid a quarter into the slot and punched in a number. It didn't take long until he heard a female voice say hello.

"Hello, Poison. I need to talk to you. About Friday. Okay, but we're only talking business. I'll be there soon."

Cody hung up the phone. He knew that this woman had a crush on him when they were younger, and judging from her behavior a couple of nights before, those feelings hadn't changed. The question on his mind was why he agreed to this. He just wanted to talk business, or so he believed.

Guy looked in the mirror in his apartment with so many thoughts going through his head. He knew how much he took his training seriously. Aside from any rest days, he spent a lot of time training. Whenever he taught his students at his dojo, he would somehow fit some of his personal training into it.

The thought of taking part in a fight for money never crossed his mind until sometime recently. It was likely that this was organized by criminals and Guy had his personal code – he must destroy evil.

What separated himself from his longtime friend and rival, who just so happened to be his girlfriend's sister, was that he was usually quiet about his skills. He didn't like boasting about it, unless he was in combat. But Maki also had a good point. A little extra money would never hurt. Plus, deep down, he wanted to find a good challenge himself.

Although he had been by next door earlier that evening to see Rena, he went and knocked on their door.

The door opened, there stood Rena. "Oh, Guy, you're back? You miss me already?"

"Of course." Despite Guy's often stoic demeanor, he gave Rena a hug. "But I want to know, is your father still awake?"

"Yes, he is," Rena said and turned to speak Japanese. ["Father, Guy wants to speak to you."]

It was not long until Genryusai walked out of a room while wearing red pajamas. All Guy did the moment he walked into the room was bow to him. Despite not being his master, Guy respected the man, as a ninja master and as his girlfriend's father. Even though Genryusai joked with Guy about beating him should he ever hurt Rena, Guy knew that he wouldn't dare cross him. Despite his age, he would likely take down Guy in a heartbeat. The man was a Bushinryu master, after all. He had taught Guy and Maki before Zeku took over as their master.

["Guy, what do you want to speak to me about?"] Genryusai said.

Rena turned to Guy and spoke in English. "I'll leave you two to talk. Goodnight, Guy."

"Goodnight, Rena." Guy leaned in for a quick peck on the lips before she walked away.

Now with the two Bushin ninjas in the living room, Guy let it out.

["Master Genryusai, when it comes you battle, have you ever sought out a fight just to look for a worthy opponent, even when there's money involved?"]

["What do you mean?"]

["Say if there is an opportunity to make money in fighting, do you agree or disagree with the method?"]

Genryusai nodded. ["I'm glad you came to me. You should always know not to seek out a fight just to fight. Whether it's for honor, justice, or self-defense, that is one thing. If you fight for money, there is nothing wrong with competition, but one should never fight because of boredom or because you want to hurt people. Looking for a worthy opponent could also be crucial to your training. I know this because I have been there."]

Guy nodded. Genryusai had a good point. Guy was conflicted about this but making some extra money should not be a big deal. He did want to take Rena on a vacation someday. Plus, he was likely going to face some criminals in these fights. It shouldn't be different from his act of vigilantism that he and Maki took part in the other night.

["Thank you, Master."] Guy nodded to him once again.

["You're welcome, and you're welcome to come to me for some advice."]

Guy let out a minor smile when he heard that. He had known this man for many years that he was almost a father-figure to him, if not completely. Genryusai was Guy's master at first, which was how Guy met Rena. He was close to that family already.

Now he just needed to train some more for the fights at the end of the week.

Chapter Text

Cody drove out to the West Side of Metro City. He pulled up in front of "The Ten Foot Pole." The exterior was garish with its colorful lighting on the sign with a depiction of a shapely woman in a skimpy bikini gripping a brass pole. The posters on the sides of the door were pictures of featured dancers but the ones that stood out on some nights were of Poison and Roxy, whom were in skimpy lingerie but wore leather biker hats.

He walked to the door, Bill Bull, whom Cody recognized from that night at the Surf Bar stopped him but Cody flashed his ID to get in. Bill Bull nodded and let him pass. As far as Cody was concerned, he was only here on business.

After he paid the fee to get in, "Wild Side" by Mötley Crüe blared over the speakers in a dimly lit room with colorful lighting shining from the stage areas to the bar area, all the while some patrons getting lap-dances from scantily-clad women and other patrons watching a beautiful blonde dancer on stage dressed like a French maid. It wasn't long before the maid clothes were taken off to reveal a purple bikini and then undid her hair to let it down. All the while she danced seductively on stage with many patrons putting down some dollars on the edge.

Cody paid little mind to what was on stage and walked to the bar. While the sight of a beautiful dancer was nice and all, the one thing on his mind was when he would fight next. Would it be that night? Would it be later that week? There was some motivation within to see about getting on the card on Friday.

Cody locked eyes with the bartender. "Hey, got any Nin-Nin?"

The bartender gave him look like why he would want that drink. "You sure you don't want whiskey?"

The bartender pulled out a bottle that said "Wisky," which appeared to be the brand rather than the name of the drink. The bartender was confused about anybody who would prefer soda to alcohol, especially whiskey being branded as such with a misspelling of the word. Nonetheless, the bartender poured the soda into the cup.

The song had ended and the DJ announced, "Give it up for the lovely Charlotte!"

As Cody took a sip from his soda, the DJ announced the next act as there will be two women dancing on stage and announced them as Poison and Roxy.

Suddenly, Cody looked up and set his drink on the counter as "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard started to blare over the speakers. If that wasn't enough, he walked towards the stage having left his drink behind. Good thing he paid and tipped the bartender. Once he sat down, all he could focus on was the seductive dancing from the two lovely ladies, whom carried crops while they danced. Cody noticed how Roxy bent over while Poison stood behind and felt her bare torso and ran her fingers down to her skirt and quickly slid it off of her, revealing a thong and then playfully slapped one of her butt cheeks. Everyone in the club yelled "ooh!"

Poison gyrated and slowly pulled off her tied-up button-down and got out of her skirt.

Cody watched as the two danced and swung around on the poles. Though he watched both women, most of his focus was on Poison. He did not deny that he was aroused by her allure from the other night but he had enough willpower not to give in to her advances. He loved Jessica. He also questioned why he decided to meet with her, at this place of all places. He had always known that Kristina, as he knew her before, had a crush on him. Despite dating Jessica, off-and-on during high school before things got serious, he had always felt attracted to her despite not admitting to it. While Roxy was a looker, too, he did not feel that way about her. He knew her and had spoken to her, but there was no attraction between the two, unlike how it was with Cody and Kristina.

Cody shook his head. You're here on business, remember that.

At the same time, he had to remember his primary purpose of being here.

After a few minutes, the DJ announced who was on next to dance while Poison and Roxy collected their tips and got off the stage.

Cody sat there deep in thought. It took a few minutes until the DJ announced the next dancer and "Move Somethin'" by the 2 Live Crew started to play.

"Hello, handsome."

Cody looked up and saw the pink-haired statuesque stunner standing before him with a smile on her face in a skimpy bikini and stiletto heels. He gulped. He tried to take a deep breath but after a couple of times he couldn't catch his breath.

"You wanted to talk, right?" Poison said. "Let's step into my office." Cody got up and followed Poison into the VIP area. He didn't have money to spend on a lap dance like this but he still followed her.

Once they passed through the door, Poison pushed Cody to sit on the chair.

"So you decided to come, didn't you?" Poison said.

Cody breathed a bit. "Um, yeah, I wanted to talk about Friday, you know, for the fights?"

"Right, right," Poison said while she danced suggestively before him. "So you want in? Honey, you're already in and I'll be rooting for you."

"I know, but what about my friends?"

"They can come by, too. I know that Carlos is in after his…performance from last week." Poison winked. "He certainly knew how to get the job done." Poison moved in a very lewd manner. "And I know you do, too." Poison gave him the eyebrow gesture while she smiled at him.

Cody knew she was speaking in double entendres, but he took them at face value. However, it was hard for him to resist her charms but he had to keep his head straight in this. "My friend Guy wants in, too."

"Oh, he can get in. In fact, it's an open night. Some of our fighters are out, so we can get others in. As for you, I know you won't have a problem. I heard you fought some bikers the other night."

Cody shot her a look of confusion. "How do you know about that?"

"Sweetie, I hear about things all over town. I heard you took down six guys. That's some impressive shit. I still remember when you kicked that one guy's ass for trying to get me and Roxy in the boys' locker room."

Cody smirked. Poison brought back a memory of him witnessing a guy getting rough with her in high school and tried to drag her and Roxy into the boys' locker room to meet with some other guys, which meant they could have done something drastic to them. He was not about to have any of it. It could have happened to Jessica. It could have happened to any other girl and he would not stand for it.

"Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet," Cody said.

"You got that fire in you, don't you? I'll tell you what. This dance is on me tonight. Better come ready on Friday. Don't ruin that handsome face and don't get hurt. You don't want to waste that energy, do you?"

"I won't. I'll be ready for whoever wants to take me on." Cody smiled and Poison smiled back and nodded.

Cody walked out of the VIP lounge and saw Roxy giving some guys a lap dance and shifted his attention elsewhere and walked over to the bar. He saw that the patron tried to get a little grabby towards her but one of the bouncers intervened and told the man to leave. It's against strip club policy to touch the dancers. Cody saw that the patron tried getting into the bouncer's face and but was then escorted outside the building. Roxy then walked to the back.

The only thought on Cody's mind was not only to prepare for what's to come but also that he agreed to this meeting. He had to remember he was only here on business and that he wasn't taking Poison home, because Jessica would not like that, though her allure got him again.

He walked out of the strip club. Much to his confusion, there was no bouncer standing at the door. Was there another problem in the club? Was the process in switching bouncers slow tonight? All that he saw was an orange-haired woman lighting a cigarette. Roxy probably needed a break after that patron got a little frisky with her, but under the exterior lights, even through the darkness of night, a shadow loomed near the young woman. A tall man of about 6'4" and a muscular frame walked up to her. Cody leaned in a little closer as the light glared over the man. It was the same man from before who got touchy with her. If that wasn't enough, the man tried to pull her.

"Stop! Let me go!" the woman yelled and slapped him in the face.

"Oh, you want to play that way? Fine" the man said.

Cody watched as this man forcibly pulled her into a nearby alleyway adjacent to the club. In fact, it was right next to it near the backdoor. Cody may not have been book-smart but something told him this man didn't think that any dancer, waitress, or any other member of the staff could just walk out and witness what this man was about to do.

The man got her and backhanded her to her face and then shoved her to the ground and then kicked her in the stomach while she was down. Roxy lay there bleeding around her mouth and a minor bruise from the backhand and coughed from the impact of the kick.

"Oh, we're about to have some fun, kitten." The man had a look in his eyes like he was ready to do something. He reached for the belt of his pants and was ready to undo it until a nearby voice said, "Hey, asshole, leave the girl alone."

The man turned around. Roxy lied there helplessly after she got beat up but then looked up at who stood before the big man. Cody signaled to Roxy to get up and go back inside. Though Cody had some muscle definition on him, he saw that this man was bigger and had some inches on him.

"You're trying to start shit with me, huh? I'll fuck you up!" the man said.

Better me than her. Cody thought.

Without hesitation, the big man took a swing and another. Cody dodged each of them. Cody threw a few punches himself but the big man dodged and then grabbed him and pushed him right to the wall and punched him in the stomach and in the jaw. Cody yelled from the punch to the gut and was bruised from the jaw attack. It was no surprise to him that the punches were hard given the man's size advantage.

But Cody kicked him in the leg and headbutted him, causing the man to let go of him. When he fought Slash, Axl, and the rest of those bikers, he gave one of them a sliding roundhouse kick that he had taught himself. While he knew how to deliver a roundhouse kick, he had been teaching himself how to do the one where he slid. In that moment, he just went ahead and delivered that kick. While it didn't knock him down, he saw a beer can lying there and tossed it a bit on the palm of his head.

Cody chuckled. "Come on, I'm just getting started." He proceeded to throw the can to the man's head.

The man gritted his teeth and glared at Cody with such venom that he rushed towards him and tackled him to the ground but Cody quickly kneed him to the groin.

"AAAAAHHHH! FUCK!" the man yelled and fell into a fetal position.

"Looks like you're not getting the action you wanted tonight." Cody just had to make a quip despite the heinous act the man tried to pull on Roxy.

Cody stood there as he looked at the man lying there with a bruised and bloodied face. The man slowly got to his feet and looked Cody dead in the eye.

"You're fucking crazy, you son of a bitch. You better not catch me again or you won't be so lucky."

The man slowly walked away while Cody watched. It was not long until Poison, Roxy, and some other staff from the strip club came out.

"Cody, are you okay?" Poison said.

"I'm fine," Cody said.

Bill Bull, along with a couple of bouncers and the manager walked out.

"What happened here?" the manager said.

"Well, I-," Cody was about to say something but Roxy cut him off.

"It's okay, Rob, this guy saved my life." Roxy looked at Cody with such relief. "Thank you so much." And then gave him a hug.

"Don't worry about it. I just don't want to see that happen to anybody." Cody was right. He remembered that night when that teenage prostitute tried to make a pass at him and was behind on money that night. It was likely she would have received another beating, or worse, get killed that night.

Cody then turned around to walk away. Poison walked towards him.

"Hey, Cody, thank you for saving her."

"It's no big deal."

"Look, if you didn't step in, she could have been…you know. Anyway, don't get into any fights soon. You need to be ready for Friday."

"I will and I hope to see you two there, too."

Poison smirked at that remark.

Poison leaned towards Roxy. "Good thing Cody was here."

Roxy breathed and nodded. "That guy was so close to…"

Poison put her hand to Roxy's mouth. "Don't say it. If it wasn't for Cody, you either wouldn't be standing here. I would have had Bill or Graham come after that asshole. Speaking of which, where are they?" Poison had an angry tone in her voice when she said that.

Being that Poison and Roxy grew up together in an orphanage, the two were like sisters. When they went into foster care, while they were separate from each other mostly, the two weren't too far apart. They were still by each other's side. They also knew how to handle themselves in tough situations. Roxy knew how to hold her own but this situation was something different.

Roxy knew that Poison was sweet on Cody. While she didn't have those types of feelings for him, she couldn't be thankful enough for what he did.

Cody walked towards the parking lot where his car was. He started it up and drove along the streets of the West Side district. It was only about 9:00 PM, so he had to go back home before Jessica would start getting worried. He just remembered – he told her he was going out for a walk. Walking in the slums of Metro City usually wasn't a smart thing to do but when had that ever stopped Cody?

In the midst of glares from streetlights, suddenly some brighter glares showed up on the rearview mirrors. Cody looked up. From the looks of things, one car was behind him and from behind the other car, the headlights looked a tad higher. The lights were so bright that it was hard to make out what kinds of cars they were.

It wasn't long until the two cars pulled in front of Cody's car and made a U-turn and parked in front of him, in the middle of the street, no less. The headlights on Cody's car clarified what cars were. One was a nice silver sedan and the other was a black SUV. Suddenly, four men from each car got out. There were eight men total.

"Oh, shit, them?" Cody saw who they were but his reaction was more annoyed than scared. Out of the sedan were Bred, Dug, Jake, and Simons. The SUV had Jack, Schot, Bull, and Elijah. "Well look who we have here? Where's your leader? Couldn't deal with me himself, so he sent you assholes?" Cody said in a taunting fashion. By "leader," he meant Damnd, but it was odd to see him not with them.

At the front of this group was Bred, who approached Cody. "Shut up, Cody. Damnd wants you off of this Friday's card. That's it."

"Or what?"

"Or we'll decide for you." Bred, along with the other seven men surrounded him. Despite dealing with six bikers a couple of nights prior, it was purely luck how he managed to get out of that situation. He was outnumbered then, he was outnumbered now. He knew that if Damnd didn't want to face him head on, especially after the beating he took from Cody that one night, then Damnd only sent his main thugs to do his dirty work, especially if they only relied on strength in numbers. It made him wonder what could have happened that night he was surrounded by them and if the cops didn't intervene.

Bred looked towards Cody's car and chuckled. "That's a nice car you got there."

Bred signaled to Jack and Schot. The three men pulled out lead pipes, hammers, and such. Bull and Elijah pulled out knives and approached the car as well. Cody found himself facing Jake, Dug, and Simons. Jake and Simons were more muscular but that didn't mean Dug didn't have some definition and likely had some strength on him.

If I could take down six guys, I could take these guys down. Cody punched Jake in the face. The first attack caused not just Dug and Simons to attack Cody but also the other men to start smashing Cody's car. The window panes were smashed. They left dents on the doors and the hood. One thing that caught Cody's attention was that the two guys with the knives were ready to make their moves on the tires. Cody elbowed Dug in the gut and shoved Simons out of the way and ran and jumped up to give Elijah a dropkick to the head and quickly grabbed the knife and glared at Bull with a look of "don't even try."

Bred then whacked Cody in the back with the lead pipe. Some of the men all surrounded him until on the concrete while he lay there.

It was all strength in numbers. Though Cody managed to beat up the bikers, but there was some thinking he did in that moment. Cody just went and attacked because those guys tried to destroy his car. Cody kicked Bred in the leg and got up. The other men all pulled out some weapons. Cody could try to get out of there or he could try to fight them off.

Which would be the better option? Cody thought.

"Back off." The sound of a man's voice caught the attentions of the thugs. Cody recognized the voice.

Bred turned around. "What did you say?"

"You heard him. He said 'back off." A female voice said. There stood Maki, Carlos, and Guy.

What are they doing here? Cody was confused. Why were they out on a night like this? It didn't matter. Despite them all being outnumbered, Guy pulled some nunchucks and swung them around, Maki pulled out her tonfa, and Carlos unsheathed his katana.

"You want some? Come get it," Carlos said. The men all dropped their weapons and went into their cars and drove off. Confusion was the only emotion Cody had in that moment. His crew was now only four people. There could have been more but being the cowards those guys were, they just ran away. Better that than a big fight go down.

"What are you guys doing here?" Cody said.

"I should ask you the same thing," Guy said.

"Hey, I just needed to talk to somebody. It's about Friday." Cody said.

Guy looked at him like there was something a bit off about this. He turned to look towards Maki and Carlos.

["You two, just go on ahead,"] Guy said in Japanese. ["I need to talk to my friend right now."]

["Are you sure?"] Carlos said. Guy nodded. The two walked away and Guy's attention shifted to Cody. "Come on, we need to talk right now."

Cody turned and saw the damage on the car. It could have been worse but this car was something he got for cheap. A junker, if you will, but it got him around. Cody went into the driver's seat. Some cracks were visible on the windshield. The window on the passenger's side was smashed completely. Guy went into the car and Cody started it up.

As the two drove, Guy broke the silence. "You didn't answer my question."

"What was that?"

"Why were you out there tonight?"

"I wanted to meet with someone about getting in on the fights this week. It's nothing."

"Looked like what happened tonight wasn't 'nothing,' like you said."

"Hey, those assholes followed me. I don't know where they came from but their leader is still pissed at me from that one night."

Guy looked closer to Cody's face. "Tell me about those bruises. Was that from just now?"

Cody shook his head. "Some guy tried to rape a girl and I stepped in. I couldn't let that happen to her."

"Why did you stop for those other guys? You could have just kept going."

"Do you know what it's like having to live every day and look over your shoulder? Something told me to just go for it. It happened the other night, it happened tonight, and it will happen again."

"You're better than that, Cody. You're my friend but you need to also know when to walk away."

"I couldn't let that guy hurt that girl."

"This wasn't about the girl. You did what you had to do but with those other guys, there were eight of them. You could have been killed. It could have happened to Kyle and his friends that night. Why should it be different with you?"

Cody sat there in silence and reflected on what Guy said. He was right. He didn't tell him how the fight with that belligerent patron escalated and he just kept fighting him. It could have been a simple fight in defense of the girl but he got more aggressive. He also remembered the fight with the bikers. He could have walked away but he didn't.

"I don't know. Maybe it's just this fire within me and it made me feel alive."

Then it hit Guy. As a fighter himself, he knew what his friend meant by "fire within," but he also knew when to use it. When he had a talk with Master Genryusai, he was told to use it when necessary, whether it's for honor and for justice. There was a time and place for it. Guy knew that Cody was a good fighter but with him, the thrill of the fight was something different.

"Let me ask one you thing, Cody. Would you ever fight for someone you love?"

"Of course, if something happened to Jessica or Kyle, I would fight for them. Would you do the same for Rena?"

"Of course I would. I would do anything for her. But don't get too carried away."

Cody nodded. "Anyway, we'll talk more soon."

The two shook hands and Guy stepped out of the vehicle. Cody started the car and headed back home. It was later than he promised.

When he got home, he walked through the door. Jessica got up from the couch with her books and notebook nearby and stood up.

"Hey, where were you?"

"I was out for a bit."

"You've been out for a while."

"I had a lot to think about."

Jessica's eyes shifted to the floor and shifted towards him. "What's with that bruise?"

"It's nothing."

Jessica sighed. "It's not 'nothing.' Did you get into another fight?"

Cody told her the same thing he told Guy earlier. However, he left out the part about going to the strip club, even though he was there purely on business.

"I'm glad you're okay, though."

Then it hit Cody. "Hey, Jess. What are you doing Friday night?"

"Why?"

"You want to come out to the fights?"

Jessica's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am."

Jessica was speechless. How could she respond to something like this? The nightlife in some areas of Metro City varied. However, she knew about the environments at some bars, especially those with fight arenas. Despite growing up with a tough guy for a father and a tough guy for a longtime childhood friend who became her boyfriend, there was a lot of skepticism on her end.

"Okay, I'll go but I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Oh, don't you worry about that." Cody then hugged Jessica.

It was another day at the office for Mayor Mike Haggar, who had started his day looking at some plans for the city's budget. Suddenly, a voice appears on a speaker nearby.

"Mr. Haggar, you got a caller on line 1. You want to take it? This person says it's urgent."

"Put them through." Haggar wondered why this call was so urgent. Who could be calling at this time with something this important to say?

The call went through. "This is Mayor Haggar speaking."

"Hello, Mr. Haggar. This is Officer Lucia Morgan of the Metro City Police Department. I want to know you have the time today so that we can talk. Actually, my partner and I want, I mean need to speak to you."

"Can't you do it over the phone?" Haggar looked at his planner to see what he needed to do. While he had some thing to look over, there was some time he could fit it in.

"Never mind, come by in a few hours," Haggar said.

"We will. See you soon."

The call ended. The one thing on Haggar's mind was what this person wanted to speak to him about. This person was a police officer and he had dealt with some cops a few nights ago. Something might not be right in the police department.

Chapter Text

A COUPLE OF NIGHTS AGO…

“Wait a minute,” Black said with Stray right next time. “You want us to do what?”

The two sat before Belger in his office who gave the two a proposition.

“I want you two to bring me the mayor so that I could get him to work with me.”

“How do you suppose we do that?” Black said.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just kill him?” Stray said.

Belger looked at Stray with a glare. Stray was known for his violent tendencies. Some would say he was a loose cannon, maybe a walking time bomb. Known for his unpredictable behavior, he had done time for manslaughter charges, but there had been speculation that what he did was murder. Unfortunately, no charges were made on the counts of murder. That isn’t to say he hasn’t done it, though.

“Do you want all that heat on you?” Belger said.

Black cut in. “Mr. Belger, I think there could be something else we could do. If you want to pay us, then maybe we could just eliminate the mayor like Stray suggested. Maybe sniping him from a distance. No one will know where it came from.”

“I don’t want to kill him. I just want him to play ball with me.” Belger knew what he was dealing with when the alliance between Mad Gear and Skull Cross started. The Skull Cross Gang hadn’t been around for too long, at least not as long as Mad Gear when they had ways of getting the previous mayor to play ball with them.

“I don’t know what you would like us to do,” Black said. “Stray and I could take him and torture him but what good is that going to do?”

They were right, Belger thought. What good would that do? All he wanted was to get Haggar to see things his way. He was no stranger to killing especially moments prior when he killed that one man in cold blood but too much heat would be on him and the others if someone tried to assassinate the mayor. He remembered the previous mayor. He had extorted him into playing ball. Then maybe he could do the same for Haggar.

Just then, Belger looked up at the wall at the same picture he threw the knife at with Mike Haggar and noticed the pretty young blonde next to him.

“I think I have a better idea.”

NOW…

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Haggar sat before Lucia Morgan and Sean Sims, two young police officers of the Metro City Police Department. It was clear to all parties in the room that the crime element was a problem in the city but after hearing about unjust arrests in recent memory, maybe there was also corruption.

Before Haggar was elected mayor, Metro City was already infested with crime. He wanted to make a difference in this city. Something told him there was more to it. The city had gangs running places but Mad Gear had more power over everything else. There was reason to believe that Mad Gear had another gang that was allied with them.

Janet, Haggar’s assistant, walked into the office with three cups of coffee for the people in the room.

“Thank you,” Lucia nodded to the assistant, took a sip of the coffee and took a deep breath. “Mr. Haggar, my partner and I think there is something fishy in the department. About a week ago, I saw a long time officer with an expensive watch. It looked like it cost a lot, like way more than anything what a cop would make in a month.”

Sean cut in. “Morgan and I tried to talk to our lieutenant but he wasn’t having any of it. He didn’t want to hear what we had to say no matter how important it was.”

Haggar tilted his head a tad towards them. “Is this a common thing in your department?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Lucia said.

“For some reason, our lieutenant would rather hear what some other cops have to say than us,” Sean said. “There have been times when guys were brought in and some of them said they got stuff planted on them.”

“Are you sure these weren’t some perpetrators making lousy excuses?” Haggar said.

“The way they said it, I don’t think it was that,” Sean said. “I have seen some perps like that before but this was something different.”

“This crime wave is something else,” Lucia added. “I know crime is common in the city but when Sims and I tried to talk to our lieutenant, he didn’t want to hear any of it. In fact, he called me in because he thought I assaulted someone.”

Haggar’s eyebrows raised and a sudden jolt went through his system. As young as these cops were, with Lucia looking like she was about the same age as Jessica and Cody, and Sims was probably in the same age range, for these two to voice their concern about what they believed was going on in the department made him made him realize that a lot of the crime was also on the part of the Metro City Police Department. Haggar remembered that a concern was raised by Lt. Mark Abrams about Lucia allegedly assaulting a criminal but this story was different.

“Did you assault a criminal?”

Lucia shook her head. “Whatever Abrams told you, it’s not true. Even then, if I attacked anybody, it’s in self-defense. I must let you know this.”

She filled the mayor in on what really happened and who the person really was but the case was different. It turned out a defenseless woman was about to be assaulted and another woman came to her aid. On the inside, Haggar wanted to shake his head but there was another conflicting feeling where he wanted to go right to Abrams himself and tell him straight to his face that the police weren’t doing a damn thing to clean up the streets. Abrams already got that treatment after Cody’s wrongful arrest, which reminded him that he needed to speak to him about that.

“I must add something, Mr. Haggar,” Sean said. “A week ago my younger sister and her friends were assaulted by some thugs. She couldn’t leave the house for a few days. Thankfully some people saved them. She is a little better now but now I am more scared for her safety than ever before.”

Haggar looked up with wide eyes when he heard that. “All of this madness needs to end.”

For Haggar, crime didn’t just start happening recently. It had been a decade since his wife’s death. In his last few years with the CWA and as a wrestler, he had planned on campaigning for his mayoral run. Although crime was nothing new, it only got worse when the previous mayor was in office and because he was still in the beginning of his term, he knew what he has to rally against.

But then it hit him. Hard, like a punch to the face. Why didn’t he think of this before?

“Someone is paying them off,” Haggar said.

But who could be doing this? Who has the financial pull to have the MCPD in their pockets? Metro City was already run by gangs but only one gang has more power than the rest, especially with another gang being allied with them.

Mad Gear.

Who else would it be? Any other gang and criminal organization could have the department and the city at the palms of their hands, but Mad Gear was so well organized that there were different sets and subsidiaries in their organization that they ran different districts.

The question on Mike’s mind was who the head of Mad Gear was. While there were known thugs in the area whom he had dealt with, along with Cody and Kyle, while some may seem like leaders and shot-callers for their own sets in their own areas, there had to be someone high on the food chain that everyone answered to. Mike had remembered a recent conversation he had with someone about “police funding.”

“It can’t be him, can it?” Haggar whispered to himself.

“Excuse me, Mr. Haggar?” Sean said.

“Are you okay?” Lucia said.

Haggar’s attention quickly shifted towards the two young officers. He realized he thought out loud. He was lost in thought when he reflected on Mad Gear and their influence over the city. He had remembered that there was an outfit called the Skull Cross Gang, whom was Mad Gear’s allies. From what he has heard about them, they have different ideologies to Mad Gear but there was some sort of understanding between the two gangs.

“I’m fine, I just have too much on my mind right now.”

Lucia responded, “Well, Sims and I should get going. We just wanted to tell what was going on.”

Haggar nodded. “I will look into this soon. Thank you for coming by.”

“It was our pleasure, sir.” Sean then reached out and shook the mayor’s hand. One thing that caught his attention was the size of Mayor Haggar’s hand and his grip. “I was also a fan of yours when you wrestled.”

“Well, thank you.” Haggar smiled at that comment.

As soon as the two young cops left, Mike reflected on the whole discussion. If Mad Gear was the source of “police funding,” then maybe he should check on the other precincts. Chances were good they were paid off but after talking with Morgan and Sims, there had to be more honest cops in the city.

But he had one thing to do first. He had to talk to Cody. After hearing what Officer Sims said, if a teenager had been assaulted, it made him wonder about Cody’s younger brother Kyle, who reminded him of Cody when he was younger.

In the Industrial Area, Guy took off with Maki and Carlos to a factory. It didn’t seem like this factory was functioning as the only sign outside said “KEEP OUT,” yet the machinery still worked for some reason.

“Why did you bring us here?” Maki said.

“For a little extra training.” Guy had found out about this place when looking around this area. He figured he could branch out in their training, as well as the other two, who have been looking for a challenge.

The trio stood in a hallway with large panes of glass hanging from the machinery. The machinery was still operational but it wasn’t used for anything to manufacture. What was the deal here?

Carlos and Maki looked at the large glass panes and machinery.

“So what are we doing?” Maki said.

“Watch.” Guy inhaled, exhaled, and went into a stance. He stretched out his left arm and his right arm looked ready for attack. He quickly extended to deliver a hard punch to the glass and spun around to deliver a hard elbow, causing the glass to crack and then shatter.

Maki and Carlos stood there with their eyes widened. If the three were going to fight this coming Friday, they needed to work with all their might.

Maki went forth and delivered some attacks to the glass. Carlos did the same but there were moments when the panes had spun around because he didn’t hit the glass properly. A lot of the glass had been smashed and shattered but their training session had not ended just yet.

Guy wanted to try something different. There were plenty of fuel drums nearby on the outside. It was safe to keep gas outside because of the fumes, which are deadly from inhalation, especially indoors. Carlos had an idea of his own. The three had stacked some of the drums on top each other but Carlos had a lighter in his possession. For him, he lit one up on top and the other at the bottom of the stack he had in his line of vision.

“Watch this.” Carlos looked at the stack as flames emitted from the bungs on both drums. He inhaled and exhaled. This was a risky move. The flames could light him on fire if he wasn’t careful but he had to try it.

Carlos strafed backwards. The two Bushin practitioners stood by and looked on. Carlos went to a stop. He took a deep breath and ran before he ascended to deliver a dropkick towards the burning fuel drums. His foot was level with the separating crack of the base of the top drum and the top of the burning bottom drum. He knocked both drums over and when he landed, he quickly jumped away from the flames.

A smile grew on Maki’s face while Guy stood there with so much stoicism but clapped his hands in amazement and smiled a tad at what he saw. Maki quickly got a fire extinguisher to put out the fire so that the fumes wouldn’t go into his lungs as well as hers and Guy’s.

Right when Carlos rejoined his group, some voices were heard through a door and came from above. The trio slowly walked towards the opening where there was more machinery such as conveyor belts, as well as heat coming from a blow-molding machine, but they noticed some men standing above on some platforms with steel girders. All they could make out was that they talked in accents, one being British and the other American. However, there were other men standing up there behind as the two men talked.

“What do you mean the weapons are not ready yet?” Philippe stood before Rolento with Elias, Eliot, and Joe standing near him. “I thought Drake said the boat was coming in.”

However, Philippe, while wearing a ringmaster outfit, he didn’t have his clown makeup on this time. The red hair, on the other hand, looked like it was a dye-job, rather than a wig.

“It is, but it’s taking some time.” Rolento said with Holly Wood and El Gado standing with him. “Since you’re in this business of smuggling in weapons and drugs, maybe you should go to the Bay Area and deal with this yourself.”

“No, I have too much on my mind at the mind right now, mate.”

“Why? Because of those ninjas?”

Philippe glared at Rolento for that remark. “That bird and that bloke took me and my men down. We must find those wankers.”

“You need to listen right now. I may be overseeing this operation right now but keep your head straight, or there will be consequences. I am in a higher position than you, remember that.”

Philippe glared at him. “I will find those bastards.”

“You may find them and do what you want, but business is important right now and my men and I are keeping an eye on things. I know you have a lot on your mind right now, but would you rather me talk to Retu about this, or…”

Before Rolento could finish, Philippe knew who he was going to mention. “No, don’t say it. Fine, I will be patient for the shipment.”

“Good, that’s all I need to hear. Besides, you’re lucky I’m a more understanding person than the boss himself.”

Philippe looked at Rolento and twitched a bit at that remark. While Retu may call the shots for a good portion of the gang, he was mostly a capo or an underboss, while Rolento was more of the adviser to Mr. Belger, the true head of Mad Gear.

The two men shook hands. While Philippe may have lead a team of followers and soldiers, there was always someone higher in the food chain to answer to. Rolento was the same way, but he had a position closer to the main bosses of Mad Gear.

Carlos, Guy, and Maki watched as the groups separated. It was clear who ran this factory, but now they have an idea on who was really in charge of Mad Gear.

“I think I should tell Mr. Haggar about this.” Carlos was confused about all of this given that they were on the grounds of a Mad Gear operation.

“No, we should wait,” Guy replied.

“Why?”

“Because I think I heard who is in charge.”

Carlos tilted his head towards Guy. “What do you mean?”

Maki interrupted. “I heard the name. I’ve heard of him. His name is Retu. He is not someone you want to mess with.”

“How do you know that?” Carlos said.

Guy answered. “Let’s get out of here and we’ll tell you.”

When they left the factory, Guy and Maki filled Carlos in on whom Retu was. It turned out that not only was high on the food chain for Mad Gear, but was also a pupil for Maki’s father, Hideo Genryusai, in Japan. However, there was word from some of his other students of the kind of activity Retu participated in. After that, Genryusai wanted no part of Retu.

Carlos’s eyes widened and turned away. “Wow, sounds like he’s real piece of work.”

“I just didn’t think he would be here.” Maki was quiet but serious in her tone.

“He’s an evil man,” Guy said. “Mad Gear must be stopped but we need to continue our training soon.”

Carlos nodded. “Let’s go.”

It was almost 7:00 PM and it had been a long day for the Travers brothers. Jessica had met with Cody at Tom’s Gym after one of her classes. Kyle had just finished taking a shower when he worked out with some of his friends, including his new friend Alex and his female friend Patricia, Tom’s daughter. Kyle speculated there might be something there between the two, but nothing had been said yet.

Cody simulated some punches to wall. Jessica walked up and watched with so much confusion on her face.

“Baby, what are you doing?”

Cody jumped and turned around and saw Jessica standing there. “Oh, hey, I’m just preparing myself a bit.”

Kyle walked in. “Preparing for what?”

“Oh, a fight,” Cody said.

Jessica sighed. “Are you sure about this, Cody?”

“It’s just for money, I can handle it,” Cody said.

Kyle smiled at what he heard. “Cool! Can I come?”

“It’s at a bar, Kyle. They won’t let you in.” Cody said.

However, everything went to a halt once they heard a knock at the door. Who could be coming by at this hour?

“Cody?” Jessica said.

“I’ll get it.” Cody slowly walked towards the door. Given the neighborhood they were in, if it was a potential home invasion, he would be more than ready to handle the invaders, but when he looked through the peephole, it was one man who he did not expect to give an unexpected visit, but he knew the man well.

The door opened. Jessica’s eyes widened and jumped at who was at the door.

“Dad?”

“Hi, Jess,” Haggar said and turned his attention to Cody and Kyle, and greeted both of them. “Sorry if I’m coming by on such short notice.”

“No, you’re welcome here any time, Dad,” Jessica said. “What’s this about? You could have told us you were coming.”

Haggar’s eyes shifted to Cody. “I need to talk to Cody.”

“What?” Now Cody gave off a confused expression.

“Alone, right now.” Haggar said.

Chapter Text

The unexpected visit from Mike turned out to be more than what Cody was ready for, but in Mike’s case, why he didn’t talk about this sooner was something he needed to get off his chest as soon as possible.

The men sat in the kitchen. With Kyle in his room resting and doing his homework, and Jessica doing some studying as well, the two men sat across from one another. Cody looked away and took a deep breath. For a tough guy, there was just no way he was getting out of this. He could fight, whether it was in the physical sense, as well as other ways to get out of a situation, but when dealing with the mayor of Metro City, as well as his girlfriend’s father, he had no chance. Mike Haggar was not a man to mess with.

The glint of determination in Haggar’s eyes caught Cody off guard, as the first thing he said was, “Cody, I need to know. What happened a few nights ago? I just want to know. Jess was upset at your arrest, but I need you to tell me.”

Cody took another deep breath. “If you really need to know, here it goes…”

After a half an hour, Mike looked at Cody with such confusion and anger. Not anger towards the young man, but anger towards everything that has happened.

“I don’t believe this.” Mike knew his real feeling contradicted what he just said.

“I’m telling you everything that happened. Shit, Mike, some punks in the cell were ready to jump me right there, but it wasn’t like I was going to take that shit lying down, just like what happened with the bikers.”

“This isn’t about the fact that those punks tried to jump you. Okay, maybe part of it, but really, things have been getting worse. Maybe even worse than when Rudolph was in office before me.”

Haggar mentioned former Metro City Mayor Edwin Rudolph, who ran the city before he was elected. Haggar may not have been mayor for long, but it was one of his aspirations while being a wrestler. He also lobbied to run earlier that same decade and was willing to go into retirement if elected, but didn’t win. He did, however, continue his wrestling career, even if it was part-time and wrestled his final match a year and a half before going into office.

When Rudolph was mayor, the criminal element didn’t go down much. Several news sources had speculated that he was in the pocket of Mad Gear. There was also speculation that the gang may have had some dirt on him, and if he didn’t play ball, the incriminating evidence could go to the press and his mayoral career would be history.

So why did things get worse? Why now? Haggar wondered.

Haggar looked away and turned his attention right back to Cody. “Earlier, I spoke with two police officers. Two young police officers came to me. One of them told me about how his younger sister and her friends were assaulted.”

Cody stared deeply into Haggar’s eyes. “Well, it’s time I tell you this. Kyle and his friends got jumped in a subway recently. If it wasn’t for Guy and Maki, well…”

Haggar turned his attention towards Cody when he heard that. He knew what Guy and Maki were capable of. “What? Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” Another thought shifted to his mind. “So it’s true, the vigilantes…”

So many thoughts piled in his mind. The vigilantism, the crime wave, the police corruption, maybe there was a connection with all of these.

“Mike, listen to me,” Cody said. “I hope you don’t try to arrest Guy and Maki, if anything, they are…”

Haggar cut him off. “No, it’s not that. I have heard on the news that some vigilantes have saved people’s lives. It’s a lot more than what the police have been doing. And as for those cops who arrested you, I’m going to see what I could do about them.

“And as for Kyle, he reminds me of you when you were younger. I don’t want him making all the same mistakes you did. You know that I was always on Jessica when you two started, remember?”

Cody nodded. Haggar then put his hand on Cody’s shoulder.

“I know I thought you were trouble at first, but you have shown that you care about Jess and Kyle that you don’t want to see them get hurt.”

“I would never hurt Jess, and Kyle, yes, he is a bit of a pain, but he’s no troublemaker.”

“I know he’s a good kid deep down. Anyway, I’m about to take off. You stay out of trouble. Tell Kyle to stay out of trouble, and take care of Jess for me.”

“You don’t have to worry about that, Mike.”

“Thanks.”

Haggar then knocked on Jessica’s door to let her know he was leaving. He did the same for Kyle. The sole purpose of his unannounced visit was to talk to Cody about a certain incident and everything that has happened up to that point.

In Cody’s case, he knew he had to train hard soon, especially for some money that he could use to get himself, Jessica, and Kyle out of the area they lived in. Even better, he could move them out of Metro City.

The next day, Lucia had arrived at the station. The moment she walked in, Abrams called her into his office. What did her captain want this time? He would be on her for something she didn’t do, but when she needed to talk to him about something, he didn’t want to hear it. Not to mention that he wore an expensive watch, as well as had new décor in the office that any other police captain could afford.

Lucia stepped into the office. No amount of reluctance was going to stop her, not this time, because there was something she had up her sleeve.

“What do you want to talk to me about?” Lucia said.

“I have a feeling you’re hiding something from me, Morgan. The talk about helping out criminals, and now we have vigilantes doing what you and Sims should be doing. Now I hear about this.”

“What?” Lucia sat there with a look of skepticism mixed suspicion.

“There have been some concerns that have been brought to my attention. You have had some narcotics in your possession. I have been told that you were trying to plant some evidence on people.”

“I was WHAT?! What are you talking about?”

There was no denying that this information was not only new to her, but also it didn’t sound plausible enough that she needed to be reprimanded for it.

Abrams pulled out a folder, as well as an envelope. He opened up the folder to display some photos to her, and opened the envelope, pulling out what appeared to be marijuana, as well as pills. Suddenly, the look of confusion on Lucia’s face transitioned to a look of anger and also disgust. The photos displayed her walking with a blond-haired man, whom Abrams stated was a criminal who was brought to the station a few nights prior.

“Also, what is this about the narcotics, Morgan? Are you using, or were you planting evidence, or were you about to sell them?” Abrams asked in a tone where he was talking down to her, acting as if he had her busted for corruption.

“So that’s what this is about, huh? You just wanted me to come down so you could confirm a lot of BULLSHIT?!” Lucia shouted so loud that despite Abrams’s office being soundproof, some cops who were nearby quickly looked up. “Is this what you want from me? Lately, you either don’t want to hear what I have to say or you just call me in just to tell me that I’ve been going against my duty as an officer, and now you tell me that I’m dirty? Who’s been feeding you this bullshit, Mark? Walker? Because I know that asshole has it in for me. Tell me one other thing, how can you afford a watch like that on a cop’s salary?”

If Lucia had to address her captain by his first name, it was clear how she felt in that moment. Lucia had left out that Walker had a crush on her, but because she didn’t reciprocate his feelings, he has had it in for her for quite a while.

“You know what? I don’t need this bullshit.” Lucia pulled out her badge and slammed it against Abrams’s desk. “I quit.”

Without anymore words, Lucia stormed outside the office. Everyone in the station all looked on.

Sean approached her. “Lucia, where are you going?”

All Lucia said in response was “home” and nothing else.

Sean knew he had to call her later to see what had happened, but Lucia was in no condition to speak about this at this very moment.

Lucia entered her apartment. There was a punching bag hanging near a kitchen. Three empty cups of instant noodles were on the counter and were yet to be thrown away. There was also a photo of her with her parents and her sister. If there was one thing that had to be said about her family life it’s that it wasn’t always the best.

Lucia had an older sister named Olivia, who was considered more “ladylike” than her. Olivia was more into fashion, boys (and later men), shopping for clothes, and going out with the girls. Typical girl stuff. Lucia wasn’t the typical girl. She was more into martial arts, playing sports, and when she was younger, she would always protect other kids from being bullied, which was what led her to become a cop. While she liked men and has dated before, she hasn’t dated in a while, probably because it is hard to meet men as a cop. Most men she came across were thugs and criminals, or sleazy types who wanted her for her body. Even then, while she considered guys like Cody and Sean good men, it was not like that, with Cody having been on and off with Jessica when they were younger, and Sean being her partner, though not the case anymore. At least she saw him as a friend, rather than their relationship as strictly professional. However, it was not like she was against crossing that boundary, but there were other things in the way.

Lucia’s parents, while they cared about Lucia, it was clear to hear that they favored Olivia a little more and tried to push her to be the more “perfect daughter,” something Lucia couldn’t live up to, at least that was how she perceived it.

With her off the force, what was there for her to do now?

All she could think of was go to Tom’s Gym to go ease off some of her stress.

She took off to the gym dressed in her usual gym gear, the blue sports bra and short shorts with her blue Chuck Taylor shoes. The whole time she used to speed bag and the punching bag. With so much rage in her system, she had to let it out sooner or later.

Then she heard a familiar voice say, “Lucia? Are you okay?”

Lucia looked up and noticed Cody standing there. It felt like déjà vu.

“Hey, Cody. I quit the force today.”

“You did what?!”

“Look, I couldn’t handle working there when some assholes are on my ass for shit I didn’t do.”

“Shit, that sucks. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“No, I’m out of a job.” Then something hit her. “Hey, I got to ask you something. I heard that fights go on at the Surf Bar.”

“Yeah, so? Look, there’s nothing you can do, especially if you quit being a cop.”

“It’s not that. I want in.”

“Wait, what?”

“I said I want to fight.”

This was new to Cody. Because these fights were organized on the fly, they could allow her to enter. However, this was so sudden because he saw the fire and rage in his friend’s eyes. He also knew what she was capable of.

“Okay, come meet me and everyone at the Surf Bar tomorrow. But in a little bit, I’m going to Guy’s dojo.”

“How about if I come along? I may want to spar a bit.”

Another feeling of déjà vu hit him. However, he saw how determined she was, almost on the same level of determination and anger that he has exhibited when engaging in fist-fights. This was going to be one hell of a night for everyone.

Chapter Text

It had come. In what was one of the busiest nights in the West Side of Metro City, a wild crowd had flocked to the Surf Bar. Whether it was for drinks, live music, or to see some fights take place.

The line at the front was long to the point of some people standing near a parking lot and a Chinese restaurant on the other side. Bill Bull stood at the door to ensure anybody would get in. Cody walked to the door.

"Cody, are you sure about this?" Jessica said.

Jessica's protest about this was reasonable, and Cody knew it. However, there was money involved. Money that could be used to get himself, Jessica, and Kyle out of Metro City, or at the very least, a less dangerous neighborhood.

"Don't worry, Jess, I got this." The confidence in Cody's voice eased Jessica's concern. "Besides, I'm ready for whatever they throw at me."

Jessica's eyes shifted elsewhere and took a deep breath. She knew that Cody was a fighter. A good one, at that, but she had also seen him get beaten up as well. With a crowd like this, she knew how bloodthirsty some of these could be, but nonetheless, she wanted to support her boyfriend in this. If the money was good, then maybe it was worth it.

She and Cody walked up to the front door. She had heard about this place. It was in the Chinatown of Metro City, which was on the West Side of it. Many Chinese businesses, such as the Chinese restaurant she, Cody, and her dad ate at were present. But here, the multi-colored neon-lit lettering that read "BAR" on the doorway, along with the sign that had a picture of a woman in a red bikini, something told her that in an area like this, there would be a rowdy crowd with drunk people engaging in aggressive behavior towards female clientele, bar fights breaking out, and no one to do anything about it.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" A rather portly man named Bill Bull extended his large hand that corresponded with his rather large frame.

"I'm fighting tonight," Cody said.

"You're not on the list."

Cody sighed. "Maybe you should look harder. I was here last week. I'm sure on the list."

Then suddenly, two women walked out through the door.

"Bill, how many times do I have to tell you? He is on the list." An attractive woman with magenta hair had to point her finger to the exact list that he didn't see. Bill had to look closer. It was under a list for fighters on the card tonight.

"Oh, sorry about that, you are on the list. Come right in." Bill Bull signaled to lead the couple in.

Cody and Jessica complied with the request. What Jessica saw was something unexpected. For a long line outside the bar, the bar area was not as crowded. Sure, there were people there to get some drinks, but an older man, who appeared to the bartender for the night, just stood there reading the newspaper. There was music, but an empty stage.

"Thanks for stepping in," Cody said.

"It was nothing. The same thing happened last week, remember?" The pink-haired woman mentioned that this happened before. "Besides, Bill isn't all that bright. Me and Roxy had some words with him about the other night, too."

"Oh, I know what you mean, Poison."

Poison looked around and saw a blonde nearby. "Jessica? Is that you?"

Jessica took a closer look. "Kristina? Oh my god, I almost didn't recognize you." She then saw another familiar woman with fiery orange hair. "Roxanne? What are you two doing here?"

It was only now she had recognized these two women. The faces and the hair color were unmistakable, but the way they were dressed, complete with their leather caps and skimpy outfits, the two women had a different vibe than how she remembered them from their days in high school. Jessica had remembered that these two had a rough childhood, having grown up in an orphanage and in foster care. The two were inseparable enough that they lived in the same foster homes. They were there for one another for many years.

"You're about to see very soon," Poison said. "And please, call me 'Poison.'"

Jessica nodded, even though she remembered that it was the woman's nickname in high school, though she never understood why.

"Come on, we'll show you." Roxy then turned around as she and Poison led the couple to the door to the patio area.

Suddenly, it became apparent about the long line. Jessica looked all around. The place looked like a patio with lights on the columns. Men and women cheering and jeering for the fighters inside the cage at the center. If this area was the patio for the bar and grill, then there was enough space for tables to eat and drink at.

Not anymore, though.

If that wasn't enough, Jessica saw how rambunctious this crowd was. Some people climbed to yell into the cage. Some yelled at the fact that they lost money. And then you had what happened inside the cage. Blood was strewn all over the cage floor. One fighter rubbed the opponent's face against the aluminum fencing. Both men were bloodied and bruised. How were they still going?

But the one who had the upper hand was a bald man with a tattoo on his chest. The opponent then yelled "STOP!"

"Here is your winner, Handsome Bob!" The announcer said.

Jessica saw the man. "Handsome" was not the word to describe this man. He was then escorted by some guys wearing blue shirts.

"Cody."

Just when he heard his name, Cody turned around, with Jessica by his side, and saw Guy, along with Maki, Rena, and Carlos.

"You are here," Guy said.

"Yes, we are," Cody said, not wanting to leave Jessica out. "I see you brought Rena along."

Rena said, "I didn't want to miss this. I am here to support Guy and my sister."

"I am here, too." A woman's voice caught the attention of Cody and Jessica, both of whom turned around, while Guy and the others looked ahead and saw a short-haired blonde.

"Lucia?" Jessica said. "You're fighting tonight?"

Lucia nodded. "I quit the force yesterday. Don't ask why. I will explain later. Right now, I just want to make some money."

Maki stepped in. "Well it's good that you're here. You impressed me that one day."

"You impressed me with your skills, too," Lucia said.

Cody was still not sure what to think of this. Lucia had told him she quit the police force, and with good reason, but this was so sudden. However, he knew what this woman was capable of, so he had no doubts that she could show her ability in this world.

"Ladies and gentlemen, here is our next fight. On the corner to my right, this is Locksmith!"

The fighter was African-American, looked to be in decent shape and wore an orange Kangol bucket hat, an orange tank top, and track pants. Cody saw the man jumping, throwing a few practice punches to help prepare himself. However, what caught his attention was the man who climbed into a cage. A familiar face who was taller and more muscular, and dressed a little more dapper than one would expect, despite the sleeves being rolled back.

"Now, on the corner to my right, our very own…Callman!"

Callman, the bartender/bouncer whom Cody and the crew had dealt with that one night, was now stepping into the ring. The man towered over his opponent. Cody recalled he had taken on men bigger than him, but one could wonder if strength and power should be an advantage. Once the fight started, Locksmith appeared to be faster as he dodged his attacks, but the speed could only get one so far, because Callman rushed him with a tackle and then gave him a blow to the stomach and then grabbed him and delivered a few punches to the gut and then the face.

Locksmith fell to the ground and was barely able to get up.

"Here is your winner, Callman!"

Callman raised his arm in victory and left the cage like it was no big deal. It probably went with the territory of him sometimes bouncing for this place.

The announcer made the announcement for the next few fights. They were accepting volunteers as there was no set card. It was an open fight night, after all.

"I'm going in." Cody walked towards the cage, but Jessica grabbed his arm.

"Be careful, baby." Jessica stared into his eyes with so much concern.

"Relax, you don't have anything to worry about."

"I'm just…"

Cody grabbed Jessica by her shoulders and looked dead into her eyes. "I'll be fine. Trust me."

Lucia intervened and put her hand on Jessica's shoulder. "Come on, Jess, you know your man well. He's got this."

Jessica inhaled and exhaled, and then nodded her head. She knew what Cody was capable of, but she also had seen him get beaten up.

Guy also stepped in. "We'll keep an eye on her for you."

"Thanks, guys. It means a lot." Cody stepped into the cage.

The confidence that Cody exuded was enough for Jessica to be at ease, but still exhibited some skepticism. She was surprised that he barely managed to fight off six bikers, but he still could have been killed that night. With the rest of the group in her company, it seemed like Cody had all the support he could get.

The announcer spoke through the speakers. "Ladies and gentlemen, our first volunteer impressed us last time with his fighting ability. Rumor has it that he recently beat down six bikers…"

Does everyone know about that? Jessica thought to herself. Lucia also showed a look of confusion when she heard that. Something told Jess that Lucia also knew about that.

"...this is the one and only, Cody Travers!"

Most of the crowd applauded for him, but some of the crowd booed for him. One person who stood out was an Afro-Caribbean man with blond dreadlocks, along with other men with him. There was also a tall and muscular man with a mohawk with them. There was something off about those men. Were they members of Mad Gear?

A man in military fatigues and an orange beret climbed into the cage. Near him were three other men in military garb, one of whom looked familiar. Except the familiar face looked to have more authority over the rest of them.

"His opponent, representing Mad Gear, SERGE!"

That was all he went by. Jessica remembered the other men, but the main one had the man in the lighter green clothes and the man in the orange clothes with him, as if they were his main bodyguards. Cody's opponent, however, looked like he was ready to throw down.

Cody's fist collided with the palm of his opposite hand. Serge looked at him with a sinister smile. All Jessica could see was that her boyfriend's opponent was likely ex-military, so Cody might be outmatched and outclassed here.

Cody threw the first punch. Serge quickly blocked the attack. Cody tried throwing a few more punches, but Serge dodged and blocked all of them. This man was quite defensive. When Cody tried to throw another punch, Serge not only blocked but also countered by throwing him to the ground.

There was no doubt on Jessica's mind that Cody's opponent had some military training. Some of the attacks this guy gave Cody were different from what he was used to. Cody may have taken on martial artists as well, but someone using grappling techniques and palm strikes was something different.

Carlos went towards the chain-link fencing of the cage and yelled, "Come on, Cody! Get up!"

Jessica yelled, "Get up, baby! Come on!"

And just like that, Cody knelt on the ground and looked around. All he needed to do was be less predictable. Jessica noticed that some people in the crowd had thrown beer cans into the cage. Whether it was to litter their cans, to attack one of the fighters, or because they didn't like what they were seeing in the ring, all Jessica saw was Cody picking up one of the cans and ascending to his feet.

Cody tossed the can on his hand while Serge's back was to him.

"Hey!"

Serge turned around and quickly met with a flying aluminum can to his face. After Serge yelled from the impact of the can hitting his face, Cody rushed and gave him a flurry of punches. It was not long until Cody grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder. While Serge's back faced him, Cody quickly jumped towards his back and delivered a stomp as Serge went to the ground.

Serge tried to ascend and then shook his head. "No more."

"That's it, he gave up!" the announcer said. "Here is your winner, Cody Travers!"

The military men came in to help Serge to his feet. What was odd about this was that the main one with the scar around his eye seemed more calm than one of the other military guys, who said something to the fallen Serge about how he will fight that night and make that guy pay. All the while a lot of people applauded Cody, including Jessica herself. Jessica didn't have much doubt, but she was afraid that he would be outclassed against a guy like that.

Cody approached Jessica.

"You were great, baby." Without any more words, she hugged and squeezed him hard.

"It was no sweat, Pretty Doll."

Jessica looked up at Cody once again and her face turned red at the remark. Just hearing him call her that meant a lot, especially since she was referred to as such when she would appear in her father's corner at CWA shows. It wasn't that long since he had retired from the ring, either.

"You did good out there," Carlos said.

"Very impressive, Cody," Guy said.

"Ah, it was nothing." Cody smiled while having his arm around Jessica.

The cage was open for another fight. The announcer said it was open to women in the house as well. It didn't matter if a fight was intergender as well.

"Well, looks like I should get in there," Maki said and turned towards Carlos with a smile. "Looks like you're going to clean my apartment soon."

Carlos smiled back at her. "You're on."

Lucia cut in. "Why don't I get in there?"

"Or we can fight each other," Maki retorted.

Cody cut in. "Nah, we don't want that."

"Not here," Guy also cut in. "Save that for the dojo."

Maki faced Lucia. "Relax, I'm just messing with you. We can spar soon if you want."

"Cool, I'd like that." Lucia then shook hands with Maki.

Guy observed his rival's behavior. She always felt like she had something to prove. Whether it's to a potential suitor like Carlos. Guy saw that their attraction was mutual, but also saw that she felt that Carlos may lose their bet. Also, with Lucia, it wouldn't be bad for those to face, but with a crowd like this, they would likely expect them to hurt each other in different ways.

Maki climbed into the cage and twirled her tonfas while throwing some attacks to help warm herself up. She came dressed in her red ninja outfit, along with her red and white Nike shoes. She took a deep breath and put her hands to her sides as she awaits her opponent. Cody walked up to the announcer and told him her name.

Guy stood there with Rena by his side. They both knew that Maki would be up for any challenge that would come her way. What kind of challenge could she face in this environment?

At the door of the cage, there walked two women in similar outfits with two other guys, one of whom had a similar color pattern in his attire to one woman. It appeared these guys were their boyfriends. Mary and Elissa faced their opponent and nodded their heads with cocky smirks.

So I'm facing two women? This'll be fun. Maki got in a stance. "Come on! Let's go!"

Outside, Jessica looked on. "So she's facing two women? That's not fair."

Carlos leaned in. "This shouldn't be too hard for her. You should see what she did the other night."

Meanwhile, Rena looked on in the cage. "Maki is facing two girls?"

Guy leaned towards her. "I have a feeling she'll be fine."

"Oh, I know she'll be fine, but I have a feeling they'll try something with her."

Rena knew what her younger sister was capable of. If her father trained Maki well when she was younger and passed along the mentorship to another master, then Maki shouldn't have much to worry about, but these two women had a vibe to them, like they may have something up their sleeves.

The bell rang. It was two-on-one. Maki put out her hand with a little "come on!" hand gesture.

These two think they could take me? Maki thought.

Mary and Elissa tried to attack, but Maki had evaded each attack. No matter how many punches and kicks Mary threw towards her, Maki blocked, parried, and countered. The same happened with Elissa, who was more aggressive. It was clear to Maki that the two women were well-trained in their disciplines. They did not give up on their attacks. In fact, Elissa managed to lay a hard punch to Maki's stomach.

"AAAAHHH!" Right after she yelled, she was met with a kick to the face by Mary.

After she fell to the ground, Maki touched her face until she felt that it was wet around her jawline. When her right hand separated from her face, she noticed it was red around her fingers. She looked up with a venomous glare. She got out her tonfas. Both ladies smiled and busted out a couple of knives.

Is that all you got? Maki thought. With the two women drawing knives like this, all Maki thought was that they had to resort to pulling out lethal weapons. No one said what kinds of rules there were, but in her case, things were about to get even more interesting.

Several people outside were yelling out, "Oh, come on! That's not fair!" while others yelled "Let's see some blood!" Jessica turned her head at the sight of a knife, while Rena watched with so much confidence.

Under her breath, she whispered something in Japanese. ["Come on, sister, don't let us down."]

Guy stood there with his blank and stoic expression, arms folded, but thought to himself, Those two will wish they never did that.

Maki ascended and jumped to the wall to hit Mary with a dropkick. She then rushed to Elissa, grabbed her, and slammed her to the ground with an Izuna drop.

Maki leaned over to her fallen opponents. "Did you really think you had a chance?" And then chuckled after that remark.

"Here is your winner, Maki Genryusai!" the announcer said.

Many of the spectators applauded. Some of the men whistled at her, others yelled out remarks in respect for her victory. By that point, Leon and Robert came in to help their ladies up, as well as pick up their knives that never got used, thankfully.

Right after Maki exited the cage, she approached the first person she saw among the group. It didn't matter if her sister, her would-be brother-in-law, along with some other friends, there was one person she approached.

"Well, Carlos, what did you think?" The smile on Maki's face spoke many volumes, along with asking him what he thought.

"Oh, you were great out there." The smile on Carlos's face was a mixture of his attraction towards Maki and how impressed he was out there with her performance.

Everyone else in the group was impressed by Maki out there, despite her opponents pulling out knives. Lucia went up to her.

"You and I better spar soon."

Maki pulled out her hand, and Lucia did the same. "You're on."

Both ladies smiled with an emotion of "You're on!"

Right after Maki's fight, a male fighter climbed into the cage. It was Handsome Bob again. It seemed like he didn't have enough. No one said that people could not fight multiple times in the night, even on other fight nights when there are organized cards. It was different when there were tournaments, though.

But what caught the attention of everyone in the fight arena was the opponent. The crowd had spread apart, paving the way for a large man being pulled in chains by Jony and Atlas, while also being guided by Damnd, along with his entourage of Bred and the others. Looks of shock and concern were on the faces of everyone, including Cody, Jessica, Carlos, Maki, and Lucia. Guy, no matter stoic he can be, felt a sudden touch of shock at the sight of this man. He was not only being pulled with shackles, but also had a muzzle over his mouth area. It was like this man was an escaped mental patient. Maybe he was kept locked somewhere when he wasn't fighting. He could probably be held somewhere like an asylum. He was known as Bratken.

Bratken came from The Netherlands. Not a lot was known about him, except that he was brutal when it came to fighting. He rarely spoke, but grunted and growled. It was enough to instill fear into the hearts of other people.

Once the fight started, Bratken threw a hard punch to his opponent's face, sending him flying to the other side of the cage. Bruised and bloodied on his face, Handsome Bob slowly ascended, until he met the sole of Bratken's boot in his gut causing him to drop once more.

It was clear who won this fight. Many people were shocked at what this monster of a man did, other people cheered for this monster because it seemed he had fought in this arena before.

Meanwhile, Cody had a smile of temptation. He turned to Jessica.

"Hey, babe, what do you think if I made some more money tonight?"

Jessica looked at the gigantic man being pulled away. "I hope you don't mean…"

"No, I don't want to fight him." Though he thought maybe one day he may want to step in the ring with him. "If that one guy fought again, then maybe I could."

Jessica knew what her man wanted to do. He wanted to make more money to find a safer environment for them, as well as Kyle. She knew Kyle was the only family Cody had, if she didn't consider herself and her father family enough. With his father not in the picture and his mother possibly in jail, it all made sense to her.

"Okay." She nodded. "Go for it."

"That's my girl." Cody hugged her.

While some people cleaned up the blood from the floor of the cage, two women walked into the cage. One was a blonde woman in a red karate gi named Kyra. The other was a dark-haired woman with a mini-skirt and bra top named Angel.

Other fights went on as the fight had progressed.

Guy had battled another military guy named Freddie, who was accompanied by Rolento, Holly Wood, El Gado, and Serge, and bested him, no matter how much Freddie tried to use his military combat skills against him. Guy was impressed by his skill, however.

Lucia fought a blonde woman named May. Oddly enough, Cody recognized her from the strip club a few nights prior where she went by Charlotte. Of course, many strippers don't use their real names. May gave Lucia quite a run with her speed and agility. Lucia was fast, too, and also used her kenpo and self-defense as she learned at the police academy. Lucia won the fight.

Carlos fought a portly man named Elick, who had a portable generator and used the two picks as his weapons. Carlos came out the victor.

Carlos approached Maki right after the fight. "I won. Looks like I'm taking you out soon."

Maki smiled and her eyes shifted away and then back to Carlos. "You just got lucky. Anyway, I would love to go with you somewhere."

Carlos smirked. "Sounds good. What do you think of Fujiyama Geisha? Have you been there?"

"No, I haven't. Is it good?"

"Actually, it is. We'll talk about this later."

"It's a date."

Carlos was satisfied when he heard that. He had wanted to get to know this young woman since the first time he saw her. After beating up those guys from almost assaulting that woman to sparring together at Guy's dojo, the attraction was on both sides. Now he just needed to set a date, in both meanings of that word.

Just then, Cody climbed into the cage. It has been a wild night so far. He was ready for another challenge to come his way. Who was it?

Two men with curly afros walked towards the cage. They stood at nearly eight feet tall with lots of muscle packed like these two lived in a gym or did a lot of strength-training in other ways. These two looked so much alike that they were brothers. In fact, they were the Andore brothers, Hugo and Gunter.

"What the hell?" Jessica's eyes widened and her jaw dropped at the sight of these two men.

Even Maki, Lucia, and Carlos were shocked at the sight of these two. If Bratken was scary enough, their friend was about to fight these two gigantic men at the same time.

Cody's eyes widened at the sight of these two. What was he getting himself into?

TO BE CONTINUED.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Cody screamed after getting kicked in the gut. He looked up. Many ruffians stood over him. Mad Gear soldiers and thugs, at that. But as Cody slowly ascended to his feet, he was quickly shoved to the ground. One thug tried to kick him, but Cody rolled to dodge. Another tried to stomp on him but he quickly grabbed the guy's foot and shoved him, causing the thug to fall backwards. Fellow Mad Gear thugs caught him before he fell to the ground.

Despite being surrounded, Cody got to his feet. Bloodied and bruised, from both the fights and the beatdown he just took, a look of determination on Cody's face showed that he was not going to give up so easily as he put up his fists in a fighting stance.

Many of the thugs talked among themselves.

"Shit, look at the balls on this guy."

"This guy must be fucking crazy or stupid."

Outnumbered, Cody knew there was only one way out of this. As soon as he threw the first punch, a lead pipe went right towards his gut.

"AAAAHHH!" Cody fell down once again. But the pipe swung down once again towards his upper back. Cody lay flat face down on the pavement. He looked around. Aside from the thugs in his presence, he saw that there were brick walls, empty boxes and crates, and nearby, a table and a chair for some reason.

What the hell is this place? Cody slowly tried to get to his feet once again, but before he could, he saw some two pairs of biker boots before his very eyes and looked up.

"Hello, Cody." Axl stood there smiling and held the lead pipe.

"Fuck me." Cody noticed another familiar biker nearby. Slash glared at him with some resentment. In fact, many Mad Gear thugs stood by. Jake, Bred, Simons, Dug, as well as Jack and Schot, the lowliest of thugs in the hierarchy. Then again, Mad Gear was known for recruiting misguided youths, some of whom he hasn't crossed paths with. So maybe they weren't the lowest of the low in terms of criminal rank.

Cody ascended to his feet once again. Outnumbered, it was not an issue with him. Axl swung the pipe towards Cody, but his hand gripped it once it closed in on his stomach, only to be met with a swing to his face. The punch was harder. He fell to the floor once again. He was left with a darker bruise on his face. He looked up. Slash stood there with brass knuckles.

This was going to be a longer night than Cody imagined.

It wouldn't stop him, however, as he continued to evade some more attacks and laid a few attacks on some of the thugs, but still, they got the upper hand on him. Graham Oriber tackled him towards the brick wall. Although he evaded that attack, Bill Bull attacked him from behind as he and Wong Who picked him up and pinned him to the brick wall. Graham punched him in his stomach and in his face, as if he wasn't battered enough already.

That wasn't the end of it, though.

Elias and Eliot whacked him with their batons. Elick shocked him with his electrified pitchforks. The same thing happened when Phillipe walked in and attacked him with his baton. He hit him hard on his lower back. Cody yelled in pain and lay on the floor in a fetal position.

Joe, who stood with Elias and Eliot, leaned in to whisper towards Phillipe. "Hey, you want me to finish him off?" He pulled out a bottle with a rag and a lighter.

"No," Phillipe said. "Someone wants a word with him."

Joe nodded.

Two-P and J talked among themselves. "Man, if Hugo or Gunter were here, or even Abigail, this guy would be dead already," Two-P said.

"Or Gado and Holly." J said.

Cody lay on the floor, breathing heavily, bruised and bloodied more than before. His white T-shirt had dark red stains on it now. It was amazing to some of the thugs present that this beating was not fatal, but some of them hadn't dealt with him upfront, at least not yet.

Some of the thugs got Cody to his feet and set him on the chair at the table. Jack and Schot held him down while Mic and Mark tied him up.

What was their plan here?

It was dark outside. It had been minutes since the taxi cab took off. Guy paid the driver dearly with some of his earnings in his fight, for both the fare and also to follow them. Guy stood with his back against the wall. It had to be the place. There were some cars and motorcycles parked nearby. It looked like it was in the slums of Metro City. Many people who lived in these parts were wise enough not to leave their homes, especially at this time of night.

Then one thing hit him.

The last thing he expected to see was a stretch limo nearby. Two men in Japanese garb leaned towards the window. Guy went forth to another to get a look at who these two men were speaking to. Guy leaned forth towards that direction. Aside from the two men dressed in Japanese gear, with one looking like a samurai and the other having a kabuki style to him, the one thing that stood out to him was the men in the limo. He looked bald and had a beard.

Why did he look familiar to him?

Must find Cody. Guy needed to keep his head in this. His friend was in trouble. It was a matter of time until Mad Gear no longer had use for him anymore. However, given that he was outnumbered if he had to face these men, he needed to arm himself somehow.

Guy peered to his right. Inside an open garbage can that had been knocked over, there were glass bottles, some of which had some alcohol inside, as well as half-eaten food, but one thing that stood out was a knife. Why was it in the trash can? That was not important. Guy picked it up and gently holstered it in his sash.

Cody's eyes were on the table. As much as he wanted to fight all of them off, he was in no position to do that. He was restrained. Why was there a table? If they wanted to torture him some more, they wouldn't need the table, unless Mad Gear had someone who specialized in other forms of torture.

Two men in Japanese garb walked into the warehouse. Why they were dressed like that puzzled Cody, but then again, he saw a clown who joined in on the torture. Nothing should surprise him anymore as to what he sees in his daily life. He has seen his share of weirdos. It was like that everywhere in Metro City.

"Who the fuck are you?" Cody said.

The taller man wore a samurai outfit with a red shirt that had some padding on his shoulders and a Japanese symbol on his chest area, and he wore blue pants with some padding, probably armor. To top it off, he had a samurai helmet and a mask on. This man was known as Sodom.

The other man had kabuki face paint and long pink hair, whether it was a wig or his actual hair, it was uncertain. This man had a mysterious aura about him. Could this be the leader of Mad Gear?

What do they want with me? Cody thought.

"Hello." Sodom said. "You're probably wondering who we are. Well, all we know is that you have been fucking with our business."

A puzzled look rose on Cody's face. The way this guy sounded, he didn't sound like he could be Japanese and said the F-word like that. If this guy was trying to be traditional, this wasn't it.

"In fact, my boss here has heard about some people fucking with us. He is not pleased by these actions."

Retu said something in Japanese. Now Cody saw that that man was of that heritage. The accent and the language said it all.

Sodom leaned toward Retu and then turned his attention to Cody.

"He said that from what he understands, there have been other men doing all of this, but from what we all understand, you have been giving our organization a lot of trouble."

Cody lay there and wondered if he was ready to accept his fate. He would have rathered that large man who sucker-punched him outside the bar give him a beating when he was picked up and put into a chair and saw what these men had in store for him.

Guy had climbed onto a ledge and stood next to a window overlooking everything that was happening inside. Those two Japanese men stood before Cody, tied up to the chair and sat in front of a table.

He continued to watch what was happening inside. Some thugs pulled out something from a bag and set it on the table. Guy's attention was directly on the events unfolding inside. He knew he had to save Cody somehow, but what was their plan? What did they pull out?

Guy's eyes widened and his mouth opened agape at what was placed on the table. They were sticks of dynamite with long fuses.

There had to be a way to get in without drawing too much attention, but how long before they would blow up Cody?

Sodom stood before Cody. Retu talked in Japanese.

Sodom translated it with, "My boss says that we will find the others. You, however, are only the beginning. We are going to send a message."

Retu looked to Joe, nodded and shifted his eyes to the table.

What was there for Cody to do? This was the end of the line. They were about to kill him. The beatings he took were not enough. They could have done other things - shoot him, stab him, burn him alive, anything, but they were about to blow him to kingdom come.

Joe lit the fuse. It started to light little by little. Many of the Mad Gear members started to walk away to the exit of the warehouse. It was just a matter of time before they would be caught in the explosion. That is until a knife had flown directly to the lit fuse, cutting it in the process, stopping the potential from happening.

Cody looked up and sighed in relief.

"What the fuck?" Axl looked up and a man in an orange gi flipped downward and in midair, his face was met with the sole of a shoe.

Wasting no time, Guy attacked the Mad Gear thugs that were in the room using a lot of his moves in his arsenal, ranging from hurricane kicks to elbows and various kicks, some of which had him doing backflips. Many of the thugs were knocked out from the attacks. Whenever someone tried to attack him from behind, Guy quickly evaded the attack and delivered an elbow to the man's face, resulting in a bloody nose.

A clown looked towards Guy.

"You again?!" Phillippe recognized the martial artist. So did Elias, Eliot, and Joe.

Some of the others recognized him, too, like Mic, Mark, J, and Two-P. After they had dealt with him before that time at Tom's Gym, there was no way they would make the same mistake twice. Sodom, however, looked at this man. Despite wearing a mask, he looked at him as if he was impressed by his skill, like he was a real ninja from Japan. Retu, on the other hand, looked at him with disgust. He knew what skills this man possessed.

Many of the thugs who tried to fight Guy were laid out and got up and walked away. The way this guy moved and fought, this was no ordinary martial arts style he practiced. As they walked away, Guy folded his arms and looked on with a stoic glare. Once the room cleared, he picked up the knife and began cutting the ropes that restrained Cody.

"Guy, shit, am I glad to see you." Cody breathed hard. "How did you find me?"

"I followed you in a cab. I saw some guys take you away."

Cody sighed. It felt like someone was watching over him the whole time, and just then, something hit him.

"Shit, Jess!"

"She's okay, don't worry. She is with the others."

So much relief flowed through Cody's system at that moment. He didn't have a lot to worry about if Carlos, Maki, and Lucia were in her presence. The same could be said for Guy with Rena being in their company, especially with her own sister being a highly-skilled ninja.

As soon as Cody's restraints were undone, he got up but was barely able to move. His legs ached, as did his arms, and his abdomen, too. The Mad Gear thugs gave him quite the beating.

"Cody…" Guy said.

"I'm fine, Guy. Let's get the fuck out of here." As Cody slowly ascended to his feet, he yelled, "AHHH!" Cody gritted his teeth and placed his right hand against his lower back while he was bent over adjacent to the table with the dynamite set there.

"No, I'm taking you to a hospital." As stoic as Guy often would be, the look of concern was something that Cody was not used to. Although Guy has displayed some emotion at times, he would often be stoic with that serious look on his face. This was something different.

"You are hurt," Guy insisted. "You can barely walk."

"I'm sure I will be fine by the time we get out of here." Cody didn't want to listen to his friend's advice. Despite what he thought, he was in no physical condition to be walking long distances. When he tried to move, he dropped to the ground and slowly crawled and placed his hand on some boxes in the room to ascend to his feet. Guy went in and placed Cody's arm over his shoulder to get him to his feet faster.

"I assure you, you need to go to a hospital," Guy said.

There was no use in arguing anymore. Cody nodded in agreement. They just needed to find a way to get there.

Jessica sat in her apartment with the rest of the group standing and sitting near. She looked down. She could barely look at everybody, who looked at her with such concern. Kyle was missing because she remembered he took off that night.

"Guys, I appreciate all this, but I am worried about Cody. I don't know what happened to him. He just disappeared."

Lucia patted her on the shoulder. "I wouldn't worry, Jess. Cody is a tough guy. He'll know how to get himself out of the situation."

"Thanks, Lucia."

Rena and Maki looked at each other. They remembered when Guy intervened about accompanying Cody to the outside. Guy told them something earlier that he would follow Cody outside the bar. Rena and Maki knew what he meant. While Guy was missing from their group as well, the Genryusai sisters didn't have to worry about him too much.

"Um, Jessica, I have something to say," Rena said.

"What is it, Rena?"

"You see, I saw Guy leave the bar at the same time, and…"

RING! RING! RING! The phone started to ring, cutting Rena off in the process.

"Let me get that." Jessica walked over to the phone. "Hello? Guy! Hey, what's going on? Wait, what?"

The group looked on as Jessica's facial expressions altered.

"What happened? What?!" Jessica then sighed in relief. "Thank you so much, Guy! You have been a great help to us lately. Yes, I will call my dad and I will have him try to reach Kyle. Thank you so much again. We'll see you in a bit."

Jessica placed the phone right on the hook. "Cody's in the hospital."

Everyone looked at her with more concern than before.

"I need to call my dad right now."

Mike Haggar sat alone in his personal office at his home. There were many things on his mind, whether it was the situation of the crime element in the city, which also pertained to Cody, who dealt with a couple of corrupt cops. The police corruption was another situation that was on his mind after the two young police officers came to raise their concern about that.

What more issues could there be?

RING! RING! RING! At a moment's notice, he picked up the phone.

"Hello? Jessica, what's wrong? What? What happened this time?" Haggar's facial expression changed into a look of concern. "Thanks for telling me. I will find a way to reach Kyle. I will be at your house soon to pick you guys up."

Haggar hung up the phone and then picked it up to punch in a number.

Inside a pool hall in the Westside district of Metro City, there stood numerous arcade cabinets, pinball machines, dart boards, and of course, pool tables with brightly-lit colorful lights beaming over the environment and clientele all the while the music that varied in genres with "Who's That Girl" by Madonna, followed by "Ain't No Half-Steppin'" by Big Daddy Kane. Kyle and Vanessa faced each other as a game of pool was about to begin.

"You want me to start?" Vanessa looked at him with an expression of "Are you sure you want me to do this?"

"Ladies first, right?" Kyle smiled.

Paco, Celeste, and Lou, along with their new friends Alex and Patricia, all watched to see the couple compete in a game of pool.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you." Vanessa prepped the cue ball when Kyle pulled up the pool ball rack and Vanessa prepared to make the first move.

Paco and Celeste watched, but Lou looked around and noticed Vito and his crew watching them, with Vito having this look of disgust at the sight of the group.

"Hey, look who's here," Lou whispered in Paco's ear.

Paco looked up. "Shit, them?"

Without any hesitation, Vito, along with Stiff, Blades, and Weasel all walked in the direction of the group. When they got closer, from the left of Vito's perspective, a man in a suit blocked their approach. It was Agent Bishop.

"Excuse me, sir, may I help you?"

"You get the better get the fuck out of my way, I need to talk to that fool now."

Bishop smirked at the way this boy responded. The last thing he needed was to deal with a minor like this.

"I'm sorry, but Mr. Travers doesn't wish to speak to you."

Blades, Stiff, and Weasel looked at each other with confusion, especially after hearing this man in a suit calling that boy "Mr. Travers." Bishop, despite being outnumbered, was not about to have any of this.

"Young man, if you don't leave our presence, my colleague over there will have to escort you out of here ourselves."

Vito chuckled and nodded. "So it's like that, huh?" Vito then looked towards Kyle. "Hey, Travers, this ain't over yet, punk. Your babysitters won't always be around, you know? Come on, guys, let's go."

Meanwhile, Vanessa was winning the game. With her having the solid balls and Kyle having the striped balls, Vanessa had pocketed all of her balls and it was now down to the 8 ball. The 8 ball was set to one side near a pocket, but it would be hard to sink it into that hole. However, she shot the cue ball from one corner as it hit one side, making contact with the 8 ball enough to roll into another pocket.

Kyle's eyes were big. It wasn't as if he went easy on her, he knew that Vanessa was good at pool.

"Wow, you're good."

Vanessa smiled. "Are you sure you didn't just let me win?"

Kyle said nothing. He couldn't in that situation.

Meanwhile, Agent Forge stood nearby and got a message on his pager and went to a payphone and made a call.

Celeste said, "Wow, Vanessa, where did you learn to play pool?"

"My dad and my brother taught me. My dad used to play it a lot before he did and he showed me what was up. My brother and I played it and he taught me some more."

The other friends were intrigued, as was Kyle.

"Excuse me, Kyle?"

Kyle turned around, while the group of friends stood there and looked on. It was Forge. The agent took a deep breath and took off his shades and looked away and back at the group.

"Yes? What's up?" Kyle said it rather slowly, like he suspected something was a bit off here.

"It's your brother. He's in the hospital. We need to take you right away."

All the friends looked at each other like they didn't know what to say.

Chapter Text

As Guy stood in a hallway, many EMTs took Cody to a room to check on him. He looked down and took a deep breath. When he looked up, he folded his arms. As hurt as his friend was, there was just something inside that made him think that Cody will be okay. 

But what was more troubling wasn’t that Cody was brutally beaten. No, it was more that he was almost blown up. It was crazy because while Guy didn’t always like to get involved in other people’s problems, he had a thing against evil and was often willing to help out his friends. Even then, aside from the Genryusai family, Cody was a close friend of his, despite the two having different personalities. He knew how Cody could be. Sometimes he wondered if Cody could be a bit of a loose cannon that needs some controlling.

Another thing that Guy thought about was that he could have gone in and stopped the torture sooner. It would not have been the first time he would have been outnumbered, but if he didn’t take his time, he wouldn’t have found some newer information that the mayor would like to hear. 

“Guy?” He looked up the moment he heard his name uttered. There stood Jessica with the rest of the group. Rena gave him a hug at a moment’s notice. She may not have had to worry about him much, but even she was worried that he would have gotten hurt out there.

“Where’s Cody?” Jessica said.

Guy pointed towards the room. “They’re checking on him right now.”

“Thanks.” Jessica proceeded to walk towards the room. “Excuse me, is he ready?”

“Yes, we’re about done here,” a female EMT said. Jessica nodded in response and sighed in relief.

Outside the room, Rena stood with Guy as Carlos, Maki, and Lucia approached him.

“What happened to him?” Maki asked.

Guy knew he had to tell them sooner or later. He started from the beginning, when he witnessed Cody getting abducted and having the cab driver follow the captors to seeing Cody get tortured and almost blown up. Everyone’s reactions ranged from widened eyes to looking away to finally sighing in relief as Guy told him that he saved Cody from being blown to bits. 

“Can you tell me where this place is, Guy?” Lucia added into the conversation. Despite not being a cop anymore, she could have her former partner and any other cops look into this place. Guy told her the street name and which area it was in. It was an abandoned warehouse, but not abandoned enough that it couldn’t be used for any torture sessions or executions. It must not have been useful anymore if Mad Gear planned on bombing the place to the ground. 

The last of the group to enter was the mayor himself. Haggar walked up to them.

“Hello, Guy,” Haggar looked towards everyone else and greeted them. He saw Carlos there. “Have any of you seen Jessica?”

“Jessica is in the room with Cody,” Carlos said.

Without hesitation, Haggar entered the room. Guy stood next to the door to the room with his arms crossed and eyes to the floor. The rest of the group entered the room and Rena stood in the doorway.

“Aren’t you coming?” Rena said.

“Just give me a few minutes.”

Rena turned her attention from the hospital room to Guy and approached him.

“Listen, you did a good thing tonight. What’s wrong?”

Guy couldn’t say a word. All that was on his mind was what could have happened to Cody, as well as what he saw. Could he have seen the head of Mad Gear? Those two men seemed like they could be the leaders, but then there was that other man in the limo. He barely saw him, but there was something familiar about him. Who was he to the gang? He needed to tell the mayor, who was right there in the room.

Jessica stood close to Cody, who was fine for the most part, despite being heavily bruised on his face. He may have been beaten within an inch of his life, he was still conscious of everyone around him, from Carlos and Maki to Lucia to Jessica to finally Mike, who stood out with his authoritative aura. He may have been the mayor, but he always knew him as “Macho” Mike Haggar during his CWA days and most importantly, Jessica’s father. Cody was grateful to have everyone come to see him after almost being killed. However, it had only been a few days since he fought six bikers. How often should he face danger like this, especially within a week?

“Jess, I want you and the others to step outside.” Mike’s attention was directed to Cody.

“But, Dad, we…”

Haggar turned his attention to his daughter. “I need to talk to him alone. I will let you know when you can come back in.”

“Okay.” Jessica nodded her head and directed the group to remove themselves from the room.

Cody knew where this was about to go. When Haggar showed up by surprise at his apartment, he had to tell him everything about that one incident. This, however, was something different.

“Cody, the first thing I want to know is what happened to you tonight. I know you get into fights a lot, but I know something else happened.”

Cody didn’t always like to hear lectures from Haggar, but this wasn’t one of those moments. Right after Haggar was done talking, Cody told him everything that happened, ranging from taking part in fights at the Surf Bar to getting jumped and kidnapped to finally almost getting blown up.

How did he end up in this mess? Was it because he was jumped by some guys a couple of times this week? Was it because he won those fights and there was more at stake, like maybe Mad Gear bet a lot of money on his opponents? Cody did not know why, but it was different than we had been through before. He had been in a lot of fights. He can admit that he lost some fights in the past, but being tied up and almost killed? That was something new for him.

Cody took a deep breath. “You want to know what the shitty thing about all of this is? I think Mad Gear is going after some vigilantes. They think they’re causing trouble for them.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mad Gear’s leader thought I was one of them. They’re trying to send a message” While Cody may have engaged in some vigilante activity, he wasn’t one of the people who had been going after them recently.

Although Haggar was a bit surprised to hear that Cody was involved in underground fighting, that was the least of his worries, at least at the moment. But when Cody mentioned Mad Gear’s leader, the first thing that came out of his mouth was, “Who is this guy? What did he look like?”

Cody remembered as much as he could. He was a man of 6’ 5” or 6' 6” in height and had kabuki clothes on. “He didn’t give me his name, but this other guy, who was about the same size, spoke for him. These guys looked Japanese, but I am not sure. I don’t even know their names.”

“The names aren’t important. Mad Gear has a lot of people in the city. There may be a lot more people working for them than we realize.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Until I find a way to deal with this problem, I might have to find out who the vigilantes are and tell them to lay low for a while.”

Cody nodded and looked away. He actually knew who those vigilantes were. The only thing he could say was, “What if I talk to them instead? Or both of us?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” Cody’s eyes shifted towards the wall.

“Wait, what?” Haggar said. “I think I get what you mean. Now that I think about it, I have a plan.”

Jessica looked down. Just the thought that she almost lost Cody tonight was something that she couldn’t shake. She had her other friends to help support her. Despite how Maki usually presented herself, she gave her a hug. Lucia patted her on the shoulder, as did Rena. 

Maki released Jessica. “Don’t worry about Cody. He’ll be fine.”

Lucia added, “You should know him by now.”

Jessica nodded. She should already know this about Cody, but some of the time, she wondered if he could learn to just walk away. She knew that Cody would get into fights, but somehow, like what happened before, this may not have been his fault.

Jessica looked at her purse. She unzipped it a tad. She peeked at the wad of money that Cody won tonight. With her father being present, the last thing he needed to know was how Cody won that money. On the plus side, it’s enough to help pay for some of the rent and other utilities in the apartment. The other two ladies were right, as well. Jessica should already know that Cody should be fine from all of this. After all, he did manage to take down six men, as well as two giants in the ring. But regardless of this, her worry wasn’t so much that he was physically hurt, but rather what could have led him to getting hurt like this.

She looked up and noticed Guy and Rena talking. Although they were speaking Japanese among themselves, Jessica saw the type of facial expressions on Rena’s face. Maki approached the couple and started speaking to her sister. It wasn’t long until Rena gave Guy a hug. She knew what those two had. It wasn’t much different to what she had with Cody. 

[“I am so glad you’re okay, Guy.”] Rena said in Japanese. [“I know what you’re capable of. My father taught you well, but I was still scared.”]

Maki cut in. [“Sister, you don’t have to worry about him. Guy learned from our father and Zeku. I knew he would be fine.”]

Rena looked at her sister after that statement. [“I know, but still. I worry about you , too.”]

Maki didn’t respond. She wondered what Rena meant by that. Maki knew what she, herself, was capable of, especially since she was a ninja. Why would and should her sister be concerned about her? 

“Things are okay,” Guy had switched from Japanese to English. 

Rena looked up and noticed Jessica walking up to her.

“Rena, I have to ask you something, what did you want to tell me?”

“I was going to say that I saw Cody leave the place and Guy left at the same time. Guy told me he would go check on him.”

Jessica’s eyes shifted towards Guy. “You went to go check on him?”

Guy nodded his head. “I had a bad feeling something would happen outside, and I was right.”

Jessica’s eyes shifted elsewhere and breathed in and out. Maybe it wasn’t so much that Guy knew, but had a good idea what could have happened. “I owe you a lot for this.”

“No need.”

“Guy, you saved Kyle and you saved Cody. I think we need to repay you somehow.”

Rena turned to Guy. “She’s right, Guy.”

So many thoughts flowed through Guy’s mind at that moment. Evil men were attacking other people. He didn’t feel like a reward was in order. He just did those things because it was the right thing to do. But with Cody and Kyle, it was different. Cody was one of Guy’s best friends. Despite the two having different personalities, they shared a bond and were alike in other ways.

Kyle had arrived at the hospital with Vanessa. The rest of the group were taken home after their parents were called. Agent Forge brought the two to the hospital. Vanessa asked to come with Kyle. Although the agent said that she should go home, Kyle insisted that she come along.

As Kyle and Vanessa walked down the hallway, the first thing they saw were a group of people outside the hospital room.

“Kyle?” Jessica said. “You’re here.” She saw that he had a girl with him. “You must be Vanessa.”

“Hi, you’re Jessica, right?” Vanessa said. “Are you Mayor Haggar’s daughter?”

Jessica smiled. “Yes, I am. Nice to finally meet you. Kyle talks about you all the time.”

Vanessa smiled at that remark. The two shook hands. She knew right then and there that maybe this guy was someone special after all. Vanessa looked around and saw more familiar faces, but one person stood out compared to them. “Officer Morgan?”

Just then, Lucia turned around right as she was talking to Maki. “Vanessa? What are you doing here? Does your brother know you’re here?”

“I just came with Kyle and…,” Vanessa saw the other blonde woman and to the right, where a Japanese man stood was another familiar face, with the same look in his eyes when she saw him through a train window. “Oh my god, it’s you.” Vanessa looked at them like she was surprised and with a touch of awe.

Kyle leaned in towards Vanessa and whispered, “Yeah, it’s them.” Kyle turned to Jessica. “Where’s Cody?”

“My dad is talking to him right now,” Jessica said.

“What happened to him?” Kyle said.

Jessica and Guy filled him in on everything that happened up to that point.

Lucia took Vanessa aside. Neither of them expected to run into each other, but in Lucia’s case, she probably shouldn’t be surprised that she would come with Kyle. However, Vanessa noticed some of the minor cuts and bruises on Lucia’s face, along with some bruises on her abdomen, with it being visible through the open vest she had on. What did this woman go through, Vanessa wondered.

“What’s going on?” Lucia said.

“I was just hanging out with Kyle and our friends. That bodyguard told us that his brother was in the hospital. I wanted to come along.”

Lucia nodded. “I see, and please, you can call me Lucia, and I think you should call your mom.”

“Okay… Lucia.” Vanessa nodded and walked to the nearest payphone. “By the way, what happened to your face?”

“Never mind that. Just go call your mom.”

Vanessa nodded once more, but all of the contusions on Lucia confused her. She was also not dressed in her regular police uniform. Could she have had the night off? Perhaps, but the contusions still threw her off, and they didn’t appear to be from dealing with criminals. Nevertheless, she slid a quarter into the coin slot of the telephone and punched in the number.

There was no denying that Haggar felt some tension within his system. Cody was almost killed, again. Now he had an idea on who might be heading Mad Gear after what Cody had told him.

“Do you think you’ll be fine?” Haggar said.

“This shit ain’t new to me.” Cody moved his legs and his body around. “Ow!” Haggar’s eyes widened and moved his head forward with a look of minor suspicion.

“Are you sure about that? I think you should stay tonight.”

“No, I’m better. It’s just a minor ache.”

“Okay, I’ll take your word for this, but if I hear about you fighting or getting into some more shit soon, you better stay the night wherever you are, whether it's here or in jail.”

“Come on, Mike. Don’t you know me by now?”

“Oh, I know, but I am more worried about Jess.”

Everything went full stop. A look of concern rose on his face. Cody knew what Haggar meant. Jessica was often concerned about Cody’s well-being. While Haggar knew what Cody was capable of, just the thought hit Cody of what could happen if he wasn’t so lucky and wouldn’t come home. Then another thing hit him. Kyle. Even the thought of his own brother not coming home concerned him, but what if it was the other way around?

Cody shook his head.

“You’re right.”

Haggar nodded. “I’m glad you realize this.” He then exited the room. Everyone was still around, but two new people joined the party of supporters.

Jessica walked up to him. “Dad, how is he doing?”

“He’ll be fine. I think he’s fine enough to go home tonight, but Jess, do me a favor. Please keep an eye on him, okay?”

Jessica took a deep breath. “I will.” She proceeded to get into the room.

“Listen, Cody is still a little hurt. I will have one of my men give you two a ride home.”

Jessica nodded and sighed in relief. “Okay, thank you. I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too, Jess.”

As Haggar walked towards the two new members of the group, he stopped at the two teenagers.

“Hello, Kyle.”

A chilling sensation soared through Kyle’s veins as he stood before the big man. Although he was a man of authority now, Kyle knew the kind of man Mike Haggar was before going into office. Kyle respected the man, enough that he was almost scared of him.

“Um, hi, Mr. Haggar. This is my girlfriend Vanessa.”

A tingling sensation soared through Vanessa’s system, but the feeling was different. She smiled. “Um, hi, Mr. Haggar. It’s so nice to meet you.” She shook his hand.

“The pleasure is all mine, young lady.” Haggar smiled and then turned to Kyle. “Are you keeping yourself out of trouble, Kyle?”

Kyle breathed and shook. “Yes, yes, sir.”

“That’s good to hear. Anyway, I’m going home. Stay out of trouble now.”

Kyle nodded as he watched the mayor walk away as some other bodyguards followed him.

An African-American man in a police uniform walked down the hallway and passed a hospital bed and wheelchair that were parked against a wall.

“Vanessa?”

The young girl turned around as soon as she heard her name. “Sean?”

“Hey, Mama reached me and told me to come get you. What are you doing here?” Sean then saw someone with her and he gritted his teeth and bit his lip.

“Bro, please, we came here together. His brother is in the hospital.”

As Sean got closer, he realized that he shouldn’t jump to conclusions, even though he had heard what this boy had gotten his sister into. “Hi. Kyle, right?”

“Yeah, I’m Kyle. You must be Sean. Vanessa has told me about you.”

Sean nodded. Despite his initial feelings, what surprised him was that this boy was being polite. Sean let out his right hand. Kyle locked his right into Sean’s.

“Nice to finally meet you,” Sean said. “Vanessa has told me a lot about you, too.”

After shaking Kyle’s hand, Sean looked around and saw the last person he expected to see there.

“Lucia?”

Lucia immediately turned around while she was talking to Maki. “Oh, Sean, you’re here.”

Sean approached. “Uh, yeah, what are you doing here? And what happened to your face?”

“My friend Cody is in the hospital. We’re all here to support him.”

She didn’t answer Sean’s question. He hadn’t heard from her since she quit the police force and stormed out of the police station.

“Come on, I’m taking you home.”

“No, I need to be here.”

“No, we need to talk. Come on, let’s go.”

Lucia gritted her teeth but agreed to go along. Sean signaled to Vanessa.

Vanessa turned to Kyle. “Call me, okay?”

“Don’t worry, I will. I got to see Cody anyway.” Kyle hugged Vanessa. Sean looked on from afar. It may take a bit for him to warm up to this boy, but it seemed to him that the process already started.

Later on, an MCPD squad car pulled up in front of an apartment building. As much as Sean wanted to talk to Lucia, he realized that Vanessa was with them and didn’t want her to listen to the conversation, but he didn’t want to leave her out there. However, he turned around and noticed her passed out in the backseat. 

“Thanks for the ride, Sean,” Lucia said and reached for the door handle.

“No, don’t go, I need to talk to you,” Sean said. “What happened yesterday? I tried to call your house but you didn’t pick up. You didn’t even call me back.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s my business.” Lucia tried to leave again.

“No, I need to know, why did you walk out like that?”

“Oh, come on, Sean. You don’t see that Abrams has had it in me for a while? I don’t know what happened. I think Walker set me up.”

“Come on, you think that Walker is that pissed at you?”

“And you don’t? Look, I don’t know if Dave had anything with this, but Abrams gave me a lot of shit about how I had helped a criminal and then found some evidence on me. Can you fucking believe that shit?”

Sean turned his head away from her. “Shit.”

“You see my fucking point now?” Lucia said.

“Look, why don’t you try going to another precinct or something, and what happened to your face?”

“I was in a fight tonight.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Now you’re getting into fights and shit?”

“It’s not like that. I made some money tonight. Besides, I’m going to try to find some work soon.”

“Okay, Lucia, but just know that I care about you because you’re more than just my partner, well, ex -partner, but you’re also my friend.”

“I know, Sean. By the way, you better take Vanessa home and get her to bed.”

“I will. I’ll call you soon, okay?”

Lucia nodded and walked towards the front door of the building. Sean looked on. Although he didn’t blame her for quitting the force, this was so sudden that maybe she should look into transferring to another department. But then he wondered if there were other precincts that were corrupt, as well.

SOMETIME LATER…

“In other news, Mayor Mike Haggar has issued a temporary law that will take effect soon. Due to the recent spike in criminal activity, the mayor stated that he wants people home at 7:00 PM when it gets dark. Mayor Haggar has stated that the Metro City Police Department should get to the bottom of things to help lower the crime wave. Until then, everyone needs to be home at a certain time. Anyway, we’ll be back with James Crandall in sports. Don’t go away.”

The TV came off. Inside an office, Horace Belger looked at some newspaper issues from days prior, with reports of criminal acts spreading around Metro City and how such activity slowed down temporarily until a recent increase. Some quotes were from Metro City citizens, as well as MCPD officers. The vigilante activity caused the decrease, but something happened along the way where the activity rose rapidly.

It was no secret that the mayor wanted to put a stop to it, and that was the start.

Belger reached for his telephone on the desk. “Hello, is Lieutenant Mark Abrams available? Yes, I would like to speak to him.” After a few seconds, Belger didn’t hold back. “Hello, Abrams. This is Horace Belger. I want to know if you and your people have been doing your jobs lately. Look, fuck all the money that I’ve been paying and some of the other precincts, you heard what the mayor said. Look, don’t try to fuck with me on this. You may run your department, that muscle-head may be the mayor, but this is still my fucking city and you will do what I say. You and your guys will do your jobs and clean the streets. You and some of your guys still work for me. So what you’re going to do is take care of any other gang that is out there. I will talk to my men. They will listen to what I have to say. Thank you. I will talk to you again soon.”

Belger hung up the phone and looked at the photo he had of Haggar and Jessica with a venomous glare and gritted his teeth with a deep breath seeping through.

If the mayor wants the streets clean, he can have it. But he will work with me, whether he wants to or not.

Chapter Text

ONE MONTH LATER.

It was a new day in Metro City. The sun shined over the urban landscape with people walking down the streets with little in the world, not having to look over your shoulder or having to see if there were any shady-looking people nearby. It was as if the city had fixed its crime problem overnight.

One afternoon in the middle of April, Kyle and his crew walked down the streets of the West Side area. He and the guys – Alex, Paco, and Lou all went into Jeffry’s Grocery. The girls – Vanessa, Celeste, and Patricia went into Silfie’s Clothing next door. Although the streets were safer, it was still too soon for Jeffry’s Grocery to have the protective bars on their windows removed. Not to mention that Mayor Haggar still had his security detail keep an eye on Kyle and his friends.

Agent Bishop went into Silfie’s to keep an eye on the girls while Kyle and the guys just walked into Jeffry’s. While the guys went around the aisles to look for some snacks or drinks, as well as finding an arcade cabinet, Kyle’s attention was drawn to an issue of the Metro City Times and the story that made the front cover was on some incident in Paradise City where a gang leader named “Geshita” was put in jail and six women were rescued. Some sources believed that it was done by two men who took the fight to the gang.

From a distance, there was some chatter with the guys with Lou talking about how he doesn’t have a girl like the others do, while Alex and Paco assured him that there was nothing to worry about. Paco just didn’t always like being a third, fifth, or seventh wheel, while the guys told him not to get down about that and that he may find someone soon.

However, Kyle’s attention was still on the article. As he read it, his eyes widened with confusion, surprise, and a touch of intrigue. “Hey, guys. Did you hear about this?”

The guys turned around as Kyle approached them with the newspaper in hand.

“What?” Paco said.

Kyle turned the paper to flash the cover page to his friends. “This shit is crazy. These two guys went and fought this gang all by themselves and they saved six women. Shit, two fucking guys did this!”

The others looked at the newspaper with the same type of intrigue that Kyle had.

“How the hell did this happen?” Alex added.

“I don’t know, but maybe this can help some cities if the cops won’t handle shit around here.” Kyle then went to the counter as he wanted to buy the copy of the issue.

“Oh, come on, things got better around, I don’t think we need anything like that,” Lou said.

Kyle turned around after the purchase was made with a look of “Are you sure about that?” While things had been peaceful as of late in Metro City, there was a feeling in his gut that this was only temporary. Because Kyle skimmed through the article, it was not said how dangerous that gang in Paradise City was, but with them kidnapping six women to traffic them, it was likely that they were no one to mess with, yet those two men stepped to them.

“I don’t know, man. Things may be fine now but who knows what will happen?”

Alex interrupted, wanting to change the subject. “So, are we on for Friday?”

“What was on Friday?” Kyle asked.

“We’re all going to see that movie, right? That movie with that cat girl?”

“Oh, right, I forgot,” Kyle said. “Yeah, we’re on, even though Vanessa thinks I want to see because of the cat girl.”

The guys laughed. The movie that they were talking about was called “The Curse of the Cat Girl” and it was about a half-woman, half-cat hybrid named Felicia.

“But other than that, she said she’ll go.” Kyle said.

“What about the stuff with her brother?” Paco said.

“Oh, he’s cool about it,” Kyle said. “Anyway, let’s get going.”

The guys exited the store. It was not long until the girls left Silfie’s and saw the guys standing there.

“Ready to go, ladies?” Kyle said and approached a smiling Vanessa.

The group walked off with Agent Bishop entering a car with Agent Forge as they kept on the group of friends.

However, they weren’t the only ones who watched Kyle and his friends from a distance. Vito, along with Blades, Stiff, and Weasel watched them walk away.

I’m going to get you soon, Travers. Vito looked at Kyle with an evil smile.

It was morning. Lucia lay face down on her bed over the covers. Why she was sleeping like this was anyone’s guess. Maybe she had a wild night. Maybe she came home late. If that was the case, what was she doing the night before?

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Her eyes popped open. Who could that be? She turned her body over and ascended and looked at the clock. It was past 8:00 AM. Cody didn’t expect her at Tom’s until around 10:00. Who would come this early?

Lucia put on her blue sweats while she wore her old Metro High Volleyball T-shirt. Since keeping it from her high school days, she had cut off the sleeves and part of the hem of her shirt to make it into a crop top off some sort. Her blonde hair was smashed up and frizzy. That would happen to anybody after rolling out of bed. She didn’t bother fixing her hair.

“Hold on, I’m coming.” She looked through the peephole and opened the door. “Sean? This is a surprise. You’re here this early?”

“I just dropped off Vanessa at school, and I tried calling you lately. You haven’t picked up. I also left you some messages. You never called back. I just wanted to check in on you.”

Lucia peered towards her answering machine. There were eight new messages. All of them couldn’t have been from Sean, could they?

“Sorry, I’ve just been busy lately.”

Sean looked around and saw a few old ramen cups laid out on her kitchen table, as well as some old bags from MicZiZi’s and burger wrappers from there. It was amazing to him what she ate recently and maintained her fit shape. However, her apartment was not in the best shape at the moment.

“Okay, well, I have been worried. I see that you haven’t keeping your place clean lately.”

“What do you want, Sean? Are you here to give me shit about my house?”

“No, I just haven’t heard from you lately. We talked a few times after you quit, but I haven’t heard from you in a week.”

“Like I said, I’ve been busy.”

“I know, but I just want to know if you have thought about coming back to the force.”

Lucia glared at that remark and shifted her eyes towards her former partner. “Is that why you came here? Jeez, Sean, with the way you’ve been calling me, I’m surprised you don’t want some of this.” She ran her hands down her body, implying that maybe he would have wanted her sexually. “Do you want some?” Lucia smiled in a rather seductive fashion.

“Oh, come on, Lucia. Wait, what did you just say?” Sean didn’t know how to respond to that one remark. Was she being sarcastic, or did she mean it? Her attractiveness wasn’t lost on him, though.

Sean added, “Anyway, I worry about you because you are my friend. You may not be my partner anymore, but you’re still my friend. Vanessa asked about you, too. Look, Abrams is an asshole. So maybe you could reconsider coming back but you and I could work at another precinct.”

Lucia turned away and sighed. “I don’t know about that. What if Abrams tells other cops about the shit he found?”

Sean’s eyes widened. “So, you’re just going to live on being a personal trainer and self-defense instructor, as well as underground fights? I thought you wanted to help bring peace to the community.”

“Hey, the money’s good for the fights. At least you guys are doing your job lately. I heard that you guys put away some gang members.”

In Sean’s case, at least Lucia had kept with the news about how the crime wave had been dwindling as of late. “Well, things have gotten better, yes.”

“Exactly, I don’t need to come back,” Lucia said. “I am fine where I am.”

Sean bit his lip. “Look, Lucia, I am not asking you to come back. I just want you to think about it. You were a good cop. Shit, you are a good cop.” Sean knew that Lucia was not a cop at the moment, but Lucia understood where he was coming from. “Anyway, you can come by my house sometime. My mom and Vanessa would like to see you.”

Lucia took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll think about it, but I’m not making any promises. I could come by, though.”

Sean smiled and closed to try to hug her but stopped and slowly let out his hand for a handshake. However, Lucia went ahead and gave him a hug.

“Anyway, I should get ready,” Lucia said. “I got to be at Tom’s Gym soon.”

Sean nodded. “I’ll call you later.”

After Sean walked out the door, Lucia went up to her answering machine and pushed the button.

“You have EIGHT new MESSAGES.” BEEP!

Lucia heard a couple of messages from Sean but then came a bigger surprise.

“Lucia, it’s your mother. I know we haven’t talked lately, but I just wanted to see how you were. I heard that you were in a fight recently and you aren’t a cop anymore. I am just kind of worried. Please call, okay? You dad and I want to talk to you.”

BEEP!

Lucia was unsure what to think. It was great to hear from her mom, but where did she get that information from? She had considered calling her parents, but with her mom sounding concerned that she got into a physical fight, she wondered if this was one of those concerns about how women should not get into violence. Lucia always felt her mother was a bit too concerned and told her how women should be, despite her interests in martial arts and sports. Her father, however, was a bit different in that regard as he supported her interests, especially since he didn’t have a son, but he still cared about his little girl.

The next message started.

“Hey, Luce, it’s Liv. How is my little sister doing? I hope you’re safe. I know things get bad in that city sometimes, but I hope you’re okay. I know I shouldn’t have to worry about you, but Mom was worried for some reason. You know how Mom is. Anyway, call me soon. I have been thinking about you.”

Even though her sister Olivia was different from her, the two had an understanding. While Lucia was often distant from her family, it was her mother that she was sometimes at odds with, while her dad and her sister were different.

Although her former partner made a valid point about coming back to the force, she still was not sure because it was possible that word would go around about her alleged corruption. She knew that someone planted evidence and took some pictures that had little context to them.

She just remembered that she tried to flirt with Sean but questioned to herself why she did that. Was she lonely? Did she feel a sudden need for male companionship? Why was she distant from her family, especially if they tried to reach out recently?

But there was one person she should call soon, especially after being accused of corruption and narcotics possession. She went to the phone and punched in the number.

“Hello, my name is Lucia Morgan. May I speak to Mayor Haggar? Yes, I will hold.”

Cody and Jessica took off to Tom’s Gym to go for a workout. Cody was off his shift as it was his day off and wanted to do some exercising as he had been in recovery from his injury that one night.

Cody didn’t suffer from anything severe, but the doctor told him to take it easy. He had not fought since that night, but he had come to work a few times since recovering.

“Cody? Jessica?”

Both of them looked up when they heard their names. Jessica saw a young redhead woman in red workout gear.

“Maisie? Is that you?” Jessica went ahead and approached her. “Oh my god, what are you doing here? I thought you were still in school.”

Margaret Marlowe was an old friend of Jessica’s from their school days. She preferred to be called “Maisie” for the most part. She went to college out of state to study business and political science.

“I’m just home for spring break; I am only here for this week.” Maisie said and looked over. “Hey, Cody.”

“Hi, Maisie, it’s been a while.” Cody politely waved and left the two ladies to catch up a bit.

“I see that you two are still together,” Maisie said.

“Yeah, we are,” Jessica said. “We’re living together now. Well, us and his brother.”

Maisie nodded. “Any chance of walking down the aisle soon?” Maisie chuckled.

Jessica chuckled. “Maisie, stop. We’re not there yet, but it’s not like we haven’t talked about it. Come on, follow me.”

Jessica went on got on an exercise bike and Maise got on the other one. The two continued to catch up and talk. Although Jessica and Maisie hadn’t spoken in a while, it was clear that the two were happy to see each other. Cody just let his woman do her thing while he shifted his focus on the punching bags.

There stood Lucia practicing her skills.

“Hey, Lucia.”

“Oh, hey, Cody, what’s up? Do you want to spar in a bit?”

“Not right now.”

“Are you still hurt?”

“No, it’s not too bad. I just want to see if I still got it. It’s been a month since I fought.”

Lucia laid a few hits to the bag, punches and kicks. “Well, I’ve been doing well myself. My landlord’s been off my ass about rent lately.” After Lucia laid the final kick, she slowed down and looked up. “Hey, is that Maisie?”

“Yeah, that’s her.” Cody stopped the bag from swinging. “I let Jess go and talk to her. Anyway, what are you up to?”

“I’m just training a bit.” Lucia went a started doing push-ups and switched to crunches in a bit. It was clear that this woman kept herself in shape with her shredded physique. “Besides, Friday is fight night, right? Are you coming?”

“I don’t know yet, I’ll see.” Cody was a little unsure about returning to the fight world. While there was temporarily an order to come home around 7:00 PM, some people still went to the Surf Bar, as well as other fight clubs in the area, to watch. The order lasted only a few weeks until there was some improvement in the community.

“Well, it’s open.” Lucia jumped to her feet and took a deep breath. “Anyway, I’m going to go talk to Jess. I’ll see you later.” Lucia smiled and patted him in the shoulder. “I’m going over to the dojo to see if Maki wants to spar.”

Cody gave her a thumbs up as she walked away.

The blonde and the redhead were going fast on the bikes the redhead slowed down and saw someone coming her way.

Maisie pushed her glasses up a bit and leaned forward. “Lucia?”

“Hi Maisie, hi Jessica.”

“Wow, Lucia, it’s been a while,” Maisie said. “I hear you’re a cop now.”

Lucia glanced away and quickly shifted her attention back to the two ladies. “Eh, not anymore. Long story, but I’m a trainer now.”

“Oh, okay, that’s fine,” Maise said. “Anyway, Jessica and I are talking about going to dinner on Friday. You want to come along?”

Lucia shot them a look of “what?” She did not know what to think. Although she got along with both women when they were younger and appeared to continue to get along with them, she knew she was different from them as she was more of a tomboy growing up while the other two were more girly-girls. Nonetheless, Lucia did have some feminine interests. However, this invite was sudden.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’ll have to pass.”

“Oh, come on, Lucia, you should come along,” Jessica said. “We could have a girls night out.”

“Nah, you guys go on ahead, but we can see about doing this some other day,” Lucia said.

“Okay, well, have a good one and it was good to see you,” Maisie said.

Lucia waved at the two as she was about to leave. It wasn’t as if she was opposed to the idea of doing a girls night out. But maybe the idea can be with her, Maki, Jessica, Maisie, and maybe Rena, if the Genryusai sisters would be up to it, though.

LATER THAT WEEK…

It was now Friday. Cody knew that Jessica had plans to go out with Maisie to a French restaurant in Uptown Metro City. Kyle had plans to go to the movies that night with his friends. It was going to be a triple date with Kyle going with Vanessa, Paco and Celeste, as well as Alex and Patricia. They were going to see “Curse of the Cat Woman.” Cody thought about seeing it, but Jessica teased him because she thought Cody wanted to see the attractive actress as a sexy cat woman.

Lucky for Jessica and Kyle, they had protection with them, in spite of the city’s improvement.

Now Cody had to figure out what to do. Should he go out to fight? Should he just meet up with Guy and Carlos to have a guys night out? People could go out now. There was nothing to worry about with some gangs and criminals being arrested. The police had been doing their jobs. Cody could go out, but what was holding him back?

Or maybe there was one person he should speak to.

Cody got the phone and punched the number in.

“Hello, this is the residence of Mayor Mike Haggar, may I ask who’s calling?”

“Hello, this is Cody Travers. I’m a… family friend. Is Mr. Haggar available?”

“Yes, he is. I’ll put you on.”

After a minute, a deep voice said “Hello.”

“Mike, this is Cody. How are things going?”

“Things are going well, but I got my hands tied right now. What’s been going on with you? Are you okay? Usually, you don’t call me like this.”

“I’ve just been thinking a lot lately, ever since I got hurt. I have been thinking about visiting my mom.”

“But Cody, your mom is…”

“In jail, yes, I know. I know she wasn’t much of a mother to Kyle and I, but we’re pretty much all she’s got left. I saw my aunt recently and she asked me if I talked to her at all. My mom and my aunt had a falling out a long time ago and haven’t talked in years.”

“So, what do you want to do?”

“I want to see her, but I can’t shake all the shit she put Kyle and I through. She just went out to get drunk or get high. Then she got into some shit that put her in for a long time. Fuck, Mike, I don’t know what to do.”

“Cody, at the end of the day, it’s all up to you. You know, it was hard for me to raise Jessica after Nancy was killed. Shit, Cody, I still think about her all the time. She was the love of my life, the mother of my only child. But I managed to keep things going, with my wrestling career and my political pursuits. I know you, Cody. I know that you and Kyle struggled being put in foster care, but I am glad that nothing kept you two apart. But in the end, Catherine is still your mother. You need to decide if you want to see her or not.”

Mike was right. Cody needed to take into account that Jessica went through some struggles, too, but she still had a loving father to help support her. However, Cody and his brother dealt with some bigger struggles. But Cody remembered he was almost killed. The one thing he should try to do is reach out to any other family he had.

“Thanks, Mike. I needed that.”

“Anytime, Cody. You’re welcome to call me anytime.”

“Thank you. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Hours later, as soon as the group of six left the theater, they all walked together. Each of them had to wait for their rides to come and pick them up. The least they can do was talk about the movie.

“Man, I didn’t expect it to end that way,” Paco said.

“Oh, come on, I thought it was nice that Felicia opened up an orphanage and called it ‘Felicity House,’” Celeste said.

“I’m just glad she continued with her career on stage,” Vanessa said and looked to Kyle. “What did you think about it?”

“I thought it would be different than what was shown, but it was okay,” Kyle said. “What about you guys?” Kyle looked towards Alex and Patricia.

“I kind of liked it,” Patricia said. “I didn’t expect there to be other cat girls like her.”

Alex added. “I thought the cat girls were kind of cute…”

Patricia shot him a glare at that remark.

“…But it was okay,” Alex continued. “But really, the preview for that ‘Red Earth’ movie looks good. So does that ‘Vampire Savior’ movie. I would see those, but Patricia is scared of those kinds of movies.” Alex looked at her. “Aren’t you?”

“Oh, come on, I can handle ‘Red Earth,’ but that vampire movie, uh…,” Patricia said.

The others started laughing at their comments of the movie. It was not long until a couple of cars rolled up. As well as a third one rolling up with a man in a suit at the wheel. Everyone all said their goodbyes and said they’ll see each other. Kyle and Vanessa went into the car. It was Agent Forge driving this time. Kyle told him to drive to Vanessa’s house.

It was not long until they pulled up to the brownstone. When the car went to a stop, Kyle told Forge to stay put. Kyle opened the door and guided Vanessa out as he walked her to the door.

“I had a good time tonight,” Vanessa said.

“Me too,” Kyle wrapped his arms around her.

“It always feels good when we’re together.”

“I know, I feel the same. I can’t go a day without thinking about you.”

The two leaned in as their lips locked.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Kyle said.

“Talk to you soon.” Vanessa opened the door and smiled at him as she closed the door.

All Kyle could think about was her. He was almost 17 and he already thought like he may be in love. This wasn’t teenage hormones as he respected his girl so much that he didn’t want to push her into anything.

While he stepped down each step on the stoop, the sound of a motor running caused him to look up. The car drove away.

“Ah, fuck!” Kyle yelled. “Shit!”

The agent just left him. Why? Why did this happen? On the plus side, he could make a call inside Vanessa’s house.

“Hey, Travers.”

But then he had the sound of his last name being uttered. Kyle stood there all by his lonesome in front of Vanessa’s place. It was dark with the only light shining over him was from the streetlights and any other light was seen through windows of the other brownstones.

Out of the shadows, four guys walked out, but he knew the voice of the person who called him by his last name.

“What the fuck do you want, Vito?”

“Hey, I just want to talk,” Vito said. “Maybe we should settle our little problem. Put all this shit behind us.”

One thought that came to Kyle’s mind was how did this guy know where to find him.

“I still think that Vanessa can do so much than your stupid ass,” Vito said. “Maybe she should be with a real man.”

“Fuck you, Bracca.” The glare in Kyle’s eyes heated as he looked right at him. It didn’t matter if Blades, Stiff, and Weasel were with him. Even if he was outnumbered, he was not about to go down without a fight. “You want some of this? Come get some, fucker.”

Vito threw a punch, but Kyle dodged and laid a hard left to his gut and delivered a hard right to the boy’s face. Blades got out a switchblade, but Kyle kicked the knife out of his hand. Even as physically imposing Stiff was, Kyle was still quick to dodge each attack and swept a leg to trip him. Weasel, on the other hand, knew he was no match for Kyle.

“What do you want now, Vito?” Kyle said.

“You think that’s all? I brought some friends along.” Vito pointed in the opposite direction.

Out from the other end stood four men. One had on a ringmaster jacket and top hat, and the other three wore open vests and skull caps.

“Oh, fuck me.” Kyle knew these men all right. The leader was the same clown as before. Philippe got his cane and slammed one end to the palm of his left hand. Philippe wasted no time in swinging his cane to Kyle’s gut. Eliot and Elias drew their batons, while Joe grabbed Kyle by his arms, but was met by an elbow to the gut and an elbow the face, and then swung towards Joe’s face to knock him down. Kyle moved swiftly away towards a nearby alley because he knew that the others will start wailing on him.

Kyle was now outnumbered by eight. There were only two things he could do. Run or call for help, and help was close by. Vanessa’s house was nearby. Or a combination of both. Kyle turned to start running out of the alley and towards the direction of Vanessa’s house. Before he got closer…

WHACK!

“AHHH!” Kyle dropped face first to the ground. Eliot clocked him in the back with his baton. Philippe led his men, as well as the four new Mad Gear recruits, as in Vito, Blades, Stiff, and Weasel, towards Kyle’s downed body. Philippe guided him to his feet.

“Okay, young lad, finish him,” Philippe said to Vito.

Vito walked towards Kyle as he was held by Eliot and Elias. Vito had some brass knuckles on both of his hands. He smiled as he was ready to show that he was ready to run with Mad Gear.

BANG! A warning shot was fired. “HEY!”

The sound of the gunshot caused all Mad Gear thugs to go full stop. They looked up. There stood Sean with his pistol drawn and shield flashed.

“MCPD, let him go, NOW!”

The two thugs just shoved him to the ground.

“Now get the fuck out of here!” Sean yelled.

The Mad Gear thugs just walked away. If they tried anything else, one of them would get shot. There would be no way around it.

As soon as they were gone, Sean ran towards Kyle.

“Kyle! Are you okay?” Sean said.

It wasn’t long until Evelyn and Vanessa came to the doorway.

Vanessa’s eyes widened and covered her mouth.

“Oh my god, Kyle!” She yelled like she was about to cry.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Kyle said. “I’ll be fine.” Kyle turned to Sean. “Thank you.”

“No problem, let’s get you inside and I’ll take you home,” Sean said.

Jessica and Maise stood and talked outside the restaurant. Jessica wore a red dress, while Maisie wore a green dress. Their conversation continued from the dinner they had. They had a lot to talk about, whether it was being the daughter of a mayor, as well as Maisie’s pursuit for her master’s degree.

“So when are you coming home again?” Jessica said.

“After I graduate, I’ll come home for the summer. We’ll see about hanging out. Maybe we can do that girl’s night like you said.”

“Oh, yeah, definitely, we’ll see what we can do.”

Maisie gave her a hug. “Call me sometime, okay?” Maisie handed her the number of her apartment.

“I will.”

Maisie walked away and walked towards her car. Jessica did the same for the car she rode in. However, something was up with the way the agent acted as he looked around towards the opposite direction. Maisie leaned forward and looked in the rearview mirror before starting up the motor. For some reason, to her, this didn’t look like he was looking behind for oncoming traffic. This was different.

When the car started driving off, it was not long until a nice silver sedan started driving up, with a black SUV behind the sedan. It was as if they drove in formation.

What’s going on here? Maisie shook her head. It must be nothing, but I should check in the morning.

After a few blocks, Jessica looked around. This didn’t look like the same direction to head back to her apartment.

“Um, Summers? Where are we going?”

Agent Summers didn’t respond. He kept driving. He continued to drive until they reached a darker area. Jessica looked around. There were no lights on anywhere. She couldn’t make out where she was. It was all darkness.

Until some light glared from behind. In fact, the light was so bright that when she looked out the window, she closed her eyes and turned her head away.

Then the car went to a stop. The bright lights dimmed with lights glaring from behind, but the other lights were nowhere to be seen. They were headlights. There was a sedan in front of them, and an SUV behind them. Summers made his exit from the car.

“Wait, where are you going?!” Jessica yelled. This was all surprising to her.

What was going on?

The passenger doors open on both sides. Jessica turned to face both directions. She looked to her left and felt someone grabbing her from behind and started screaming and kicked the man who grabbed her. She kicked him in the leg. But then someone else grabbed her from the other side and put his hand to her mouth to muffle her screaming. She tried to kick some of the guys around her. Although one of her kicks landed, one masked man drew a knife and yelled, “SHUT THE FUCK UP, BITCH!”

The man pointed the knife towards her face. Her eyes widened and tears ran down her face while her whole body trembled.

Again, what was going on here?

The other masked men opened the tailgate to the SUV set her to the ground. One man had some ropes and tied her hands behind her back. Another man tied her ankles together. Last but not least, one of them put duct tape over her mouth to suppress her screaming. She looked at all of them while she cried, and the tailgate was slammed shut.

The SUV started to move. It was so dark outside that she had no idea where she was. She couldn’t move her body up if she tried. She couldn’t call for attention if she tried.

Cody, Dad, please find me! That was all she could think at that very moment.

Chapter Text

The room was dark and dimly lit. The only light glared over the center of the room where Jessica. She faced down, eyes closed, like she was probably asleep. Her head moved towards her left shoulder and came upright. Her eyes slowly opened.

“Cody? Cody?” she said. “I had the worst dream…”

All she could make out was the bright light. But her vision became clearer once the chilling sensation hit her body. She started to shiver. The room was cold. There was no heater present or anything like that. Her eyes opened even more once she noticed that she was in her white strapless bra and white panties.

What the hell?! Where are my clothes?! If that wasn’t bad enough, she tried to move but noticed that her hands were tied behind her back and her feet were tied together.

“Rise and shine.”

Jessica looked up one she heard that. Although the only light present was from the pendant light, an additional glare beamed from a few feet in front of her. Out from the shadows walked a tall and muscular Dominican man with long blond dreadlocks and blue sunglasses. It was Thrasher Damnd. Then more men started to come out and stood next to him.

Jack leaned in towards Schot and whispered, “Man, she’s got nice some tits.”

Schot chuckled in response. “She is so fucking hot.”

But Damnd looked behind towards them with a stern expression.

“Who… who are you?” Jessica said.

Damnd walked towards her. All Jessica could do was stay quiet, but her shaking and breathing told and showed more of how she felt in that moment.

“You know exactly who we are… Jessica,” Damnd said.

Mad Gear? Jessica thought. Where the hell am I? How does he know who I am?

But then it hit her. She had to be well known for a number of reasons. Her father, her own father, was a public figure. Not just because he was the mayor, but also because he was a well-known wrestler and a former wrestling champion.

“What…,” Jessica paused a bit and breathed multiple times. “…Do you want from me?”

“Not important,” Damnd said. “But I want you to look over here.” Damnd pointed towards a camera in the room. “Smile for the camera, gorgeous.” Damnd let out an evil grin.

So much sweat dripped from her body and tears ran down her eyes. Her body trembled, both from the cold and the fear flowing through her body.

Simons carried the video camera and pointed it towards Jessica. Damnd signaled him to start recording.

“Okay, Miss, what’s your name?” Damnd said as he stood next to Simons.

“Jessica… Haggar.” She didn’t look up to the camera. She looked away. She couldn’t look at anything around her. All that was on her mind was whether her father or her boyfriend would come for her. It was bad enough that she was stripped down to her underwear. Who knows what would happen next?

“Do you know where you are?”

“No.” Her voice cracked. “I don’t know where I am.”

“Is there anything you want to say?”

Jessica nodded. “Dad… Cody… please, help me!”

Damnd then walked into the frame of the camera’s view. Through Simons’s perspective, Thrasher Damnd was now in full view in the foreground, fully covering Jessica.

“Listen here, Mr. Haggar, we have your daughter. Do as we say and we will get her back to you. Do you understand?” Damnd had that same evil grin as before and then started laughing.

Simons stopped recording and turned off the camera. He, along with Jake, Dug, Simons, Jack, Schot, Bull, Elijah, many other Mad Gear members in the room, they all walked towards Jessica. Thrasher Damnd put a strip of duct tape over her mouth. Jessica shook her head and her shoulders in an attempt to back away.

Elijah approached her and ran his hand on Jessica’s face and down her unclothed body in a very seductive manner. “You’re a pretty little thing, aren’t you? You got a nice body, too.”

Bull looked on with disgust. As someone with a wife and a child, he didn’t feel comfortable with his friend’s behavior. But he was in no position to stop any of his fellow Mad Gear comrades.

Some of the other Mad Gear members smiled at her in a creepy manner, almost like they wanted to have a little fun with her. Her body trembled some more. She wanted to run, but she couldn’t. She whimpered through the duct tape. She wanted to scream, but it wouldn’t do her any good. Not just because she was gagged, but she was with a dangerous gang. There were no outsiders around to hear her. More tears ran down from her eyes and her blonde hair was moist from all of the sweat that ran over onto her bare skin. With her in a state of undress, her skin was wet from all of the sweat coming from all the fear she exhibited.

Unbeknownst to everyone in the room, the door was cracked open and someone watched as everything went down here.

Through the crack, Poison watched the entire thing go down.

“What do you see?” Roxy said. “What are they doing in there?”

Poison shook her head. What exactly were they doing in there, she thought.

“I don’t know, but I hope they don’t…” Poison paused. It was clear to her what some of those guys would do, especially with a defenseless woman outnumbered by many men.

“Follow me,” Poison said.

The door slammed open.

“STOP, NOW!” Poison yelled with so much power in her voice.

All the men turned around and saw the two ladies barge into the room.

“Poison, what the fuck are you doing?” Damnd said.

“You assholes are only good for fucking with girls, right? Why don’t you try picking on me and Roxy?!”

“Or us.” Elissa stepped in with Mary. It seemed that Poison and Roxy were not along when it came to the treatment of the hostage.

Much to their surprise, Elissa and Mary noticed their boyfriends, Robert and Leon, were nowhere to be found. The same with Poison and Roxy noticing that Billy and Sid were not present. Billy and Sid weren’t their boyfriends, but more that they mess around with each other at times. All the guys in the room were just Thrasher Damnd’s main crew, the ones he usually led.

With Jessica surrounded by all those men, there was no telling what would happen if Poison and Roxy didn’t intervene. Because of it, they joined them. Despite their affiliation, the other two women wouldn’t stand to see this innocent woman violated like this.

“Fuck you, you can’t tell us what to do, you’re not the boss,” Damnd said.

“You only control these guys, Damnd, but do you think I should tell Mr. Belger about this? Oh, I bet he would love to hear about this.”

Damnd’s eyebrows raised a tad. One would guess his eyes widened through his shades, but he quickly glared at her.

“Belger’s not here, so get the fuck out of here. This shit don’t concern you.”

“Excuse me, ladies.” A male voice was heard. Poison, Roxy, Elissa, and Mary moved out of the way when someone walked in the room with two other men. Rolento was accompanied by El Gado and Holly Wood. Without any warning, Rolento grabbed Damnd and pushed him against the wall. Although Thrasher Damnd was taller and more muscular, Rolento still had enough strength and power to do that.

“If anybody has a say of what goes on here, it is me,” Rolento pulled out a knife and pressed against Damnd’s neck, but he didn’t cut or puncture through his flesh. “You may run the streets with these weaklings, but you’re not the boss. You have to answer to me in Mr. Belger’s absence. And I say leave the poor girl alone, you got that?”

Damnd nodded his head. The size difference didn’t matter with him being outclassed against a military veteran. Not to mention that Rolento was the adviser for the head boss of Mad Gear. Sure, Damnd had his own crew, as well as other thugs to follow him. He was a shot-caller of his own crew, but there were other mini crews within, like Philippe having his crew of followers. However, they would answer to Retu or Sodom, but the two men above them were Belger and Rolento. On top of that, despite the crews within Mad Gear, they were all a unit as a whole.

“Okay.” Rolento slowly slid the sharp alloy away from Damnd’s neck. “If you need to get something out of her, do as you must, but know this, we DO NOT do things like that!” Rolento then turned to everyone else in the room. “That goes for all of you, you got that?”

Some of the Mad Gear thugs like Bred, Dug, Elijah, and others breathed hard, shook, and nodded their heads in response to Rolento’s plea. Everyone left the room except for the four ladies.

Poison led the way for the other three to approach Jessica, who looked up with so much confusion in her eyes. Her mouth was still gagged from the tape.

“I’m going to take this off,” Poison said. “I’ll be gentle, but promise you won’t scream, okay?”

Jessica nodded. Poison slowly pulled off the tape.

“Are you okay?” Poison said.

Jessica breathed and shook, but she inhaled and exhaled. “I’m okay, I think.” Jessica’s eyes shifted towards the four ladies. “What is going on here? Why am I here?”

“I can’t tell you that, Jessica,” Poison said. “I just couldn’t stand to watch those guys hurt you.”

Jessica looked around her. The other two women started to look familiar to her. She remembered them fighting Maki that one night. It was then when something dawned on her.

“You’re with them, aren’t you?”

“What are you talking about?” Roxy replied to that remark.

“You and Kristina…,” Jessica looked at the other two girls. “I’ve seen you two before, too.” Jessica made eye contact with Poison and Roxy again. “You’re with Mad Gear? You kidnapped me!”

“Wrong, we didn’t kidnap you,” Poison said. “And don’t call me Kristina, okay? It’s Poison now.”

“Why are you doing this? Why are you with them?” Jessica asked.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Poison said. “Not everyone has a mayor for a dad. Roxy and I have struggled our whole lives and this shit sort of happened. I am telling you. Me and these girls, we had nothing to do with you getting kidnapped. In fact, I did not think this would happen.”

Jessica bit her lip. She understood what Poison meant. Although she wasn’t close to Poison and Roxy, she was cordial enough and there was no issue between them. She got along with them enough, but was sometimes suspicious of Kristina, as she remembered her, as Jessica knew that she had a crush on Cody. However, this whole thing changed things. Why would these ladies be aligned with something as cruel and vile as Mad Gear? The same could be said about the other ladies.

“Jessica, I did not think they would do this,” Roxy said and leaned in a bit.

Elissa chimed in. “I don’t agree with what they did.”

“Me, neither,” Mary said.

If these ladies were being respectful, or respectful enough, a thought just hit Jessica.

“Hey, do you think maybe you can, you know, let me go?” Jessica said.

Right then, everything went full stop in all four ladies. None of them wanted to hurt her, but they knew if they even tried anything like that, that would be it for them. It was not up to them, but up to their boss. The main boss, who may have had a good reputation to the general, but was far from a nice man to his subordinates.

“I can’t do that, Jessica, I’m sorry,” Poison said.

Roxy walked in with Jessica’s red dress. “Here, we can do this.”

The door was sealed. There were no cameras anywhere except for the video camera that Damnd and his crew had. Mary got out her knife and cut the rope that restrained Jessica’s wrists together. Elissa cut the ropes around her ankles. Without thinking, Jessica kicked Elissa in the face and ran right past Roxy and Poison towards the door. It didn’t matter if she was still in her underwear, nor did it matter if the four ladies were somewhat compassionate towards her, she wanted to get out of there.

Elissa ran and jumped and flipped over Jessica. Without hesitation, Elissa delivered a kick crescent kick to Jessica’s face.

“I was nice to you, and you kicked me? You’re going to get it now, bitch.” Elissa drew her knife. Jessica looked up at her with a scared look on her face and her body trembled once again. Jessica closed her eyes as if she was ready to seal her fate.

“ELISSA!” Poison yelled. Roxy shook her head. Mary looked at her too with the same expression.

“Rolento doesn’t want us to hurt her,” Mary said. Elissa put her knife back in the sheath.

Roxy grabbed a bottle and smeared the contents into a rag and put it towards Jessica’s face. Jessica’s eyes widen but after a few seconds, her eyelids slowly dropped. Her head dropped to her left and then her body began to tumble. Mary grabbed her and set her to the chair once again.

Poison saw her dress on the floor. Despite Jessica’s instinctual behavior, Poison was kind of enough to help put the dress on her, as well as her shoes. But given that they were under orders, they couldn’t let her go. Mary and Elissa found some more duct tape and restrained Jessica once again. Poison went up to Jessica’s unconscious body, restrained to the chair.

“Sweet dreams, Jessica,” Poison said.

Poison led the other three ladies towards the main area of the hideout, where everyone was hanging out. Some others were present like Slash and Axl, as well as Two-P and J, and others. Some were also new recruits.

But Rolento stood at attention with El Gado and Holly Wood by his sides. Poison went up to him.

“We had a little problem back there,” she said.

“What happened?” Rolento said.

“She tried to escape,” Elissa said.

“But don’t worry, she’s safe,” Mary said.

Roxy chimed in, “But she asked if we could let her go. I don’t know about you, but I felt for her back there.”

Rolento saw where Roxy was coming from. “Listen, it’s not up to me about this whole thing. I didn’t want to abduct her. This was all Mr. Belger’s plan, not mine.”

“I thought you said that you were in charge of things here right now,” Roxy said.

“I am only here to make sure that some of these guys don’t try anything stupid with her,” Rolento said. “That means no raping, no torturing, and no killing. Besides, Mr. Belger wants her alive.”

Poison replied, “What does he want with her?”

“He wants her father to work with him, and this was his way to get him to play ball,” Rolento replied.

So everything made sense now. This was all about Mayor Mike Haggar. This was Mad Gear’s way to get him to bow to them. They understood why they kidnapped her, but they didn’t agree with their boss’s motives. In fact, they knew that their boss was an evil man. While Rolento was no saint, either, but at least he had a sense of honor compared to their boss.

It was morning. Cody’s eyes started to open a bit and turned his body towards his left. It was flat on that surface. Cody’s eyes opened some more. There was no one there.

“Jessica? What the…?”

Where was she? Where could she be? Did she come home at all last night? That was all he thought.

Cody got out of the bed and went into the living room. Maybe Jessica was in the living room. Could she have passed out on the couch?

Nothing.

Another door opened. Kyle walked out and saw Cody sitting and looking. What could have happened?

“Cody, are you alright?”

Cody looked up. “Kyle, when you came home last night, was Jessica here?”

Kyle shook his head. “I didn’t see her. You were asleep. I thought she would come home late. Anyway, I got to tell you something about last night.”

“What happened?”

“Well, you see, I was out with Vanessa and then—”

RING! RING! RING! The phone rang.

“Hold that thought.” Cody went and picked it up as soon as it rang. “Hello? Maisie, hi.”

“Hey, Cody. I got to ask you something. Did Jessica come home last night?”

“No, why? I thought she was with you.”

“She was, but we weren’t out that long. All we did was just go to dinner.”

“So you didn’t go anywhere else?”

“No, but there is one thing I need to tell you. There was something off about her bodyguard last night. I can’t explain it, but I saw that something was up with him. I also saw a couple of cars driving like they were together going in their direction. I’m not sure.”

“Do you know what the cars looked like?”

“All I saw was some silver sedan and a black SUV. That’s it.”

Then it hit him. It couldn’t have been them, could it? Cody remembered the night when he was cornered by those lowly Mad Gear thugs. But what would they want with Jessica?

“If you hear anything, please call me again. Please leave a message if I’m not here, okay?” Cody said.

“I will,” Maisie said.

“Thanks, Maisie.” Cody hung up the phone.

“Hey, so what was that?” Kyle said.

“Jessica’s friend Maisie, she asked if Jessica came home. I said no. There is something not right about this.”

Cody couldn’t think straight. He couldn’t breathe. What could have happened to her? Could she have gone to her dad’s house? Jessica would have told Cody if she was going. Even then, there would be a good reason for her to go if she had to speak to her father.

“Look, I am worried about her, too,” Kyle said. “I’m sure she’ll come home soon. As your brother, maybe you should blow off some steam. How about we go to the gym?”

Cody looked at his younger brother. He had a point. Although Cody was worried for Jessica’s safety, he needed to get his mind off things. He had to think positively.

“Sure, let’s go get ready.”

It was a Saturday in Metro City. Mayor Mike Haggar went into the office to do some extra work. Though he had seen that the crime problem has gone down a bit, he needed to look into the education system, as well as some of the issues in the industrial area of Metro City. Some factory workers felt that they weren’t paid well enough, at least compared to one of the factories in that area.

“Good morning, Janet. How are you?” Haggar said as soon as he walked out of the elevator.

“Oh, you know, the usual,” Janet said.

“You know, you didn’t have to come in today,” Haggar said. “Don’t you think you should be with your family?”

“It’s fine, my husband is coaching my son’s baseball game. My daughter slept over at my sister’s house. She wanted to spend time with her cousins. Besides, I know you have a lot going on and I’m willing to get you anything you need.”

“It’s fine, I’ll be in my office.” Haggar went into his office and sat down at his desk. He took a deep breath. It was going to be a busy day today.

“Actually, there is something. I got a package with your name on it. Here.” Janet handed it to him.

Haggar looked at the packaging. It read “TO MAYOR HAGGAR. PUT THIS ON AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.”

“I’ll look at it soon, thanks,” Haggar said.

It was only a few minutes after he started looking at some documents for his plans to help the city and to help oversee any operations for any building projects when Janet’s voice came on the intercom.

“Mr. Haggar, I got a caller on line one.”

“From who?”

“I don’t know, but this guy sounds demanding, like he needs to speak to you.”

What was this all about? Who would be calling to issue a demand like this?

“Put them on.” After a few seconds, Haggar said, “Hello, Mike Haggar here.”

A laugh was heard through the phone. “Mr. Haggar, so pleased to make your acquaintance. I believe you know who I am.”

Haggar had a confused look on his face. The voice started to sound familiar, but who could this possibly be?

“Don’t hang up! We have a little business proposition for you. Your daughter for your cooperation…”

Haggar’s eyes widened. Jessica? What could have happened to her?

“…And we’ll throw in a good sum of money to your monthly salary if you work with us.”

“My daughter? Jessica? What happened to her? Who the hell are you?”

“Did you get the tape that we sent you? I’m sure your assistant gave it to you. Put that tape on, now.”

Haggar looked over at the package. He wasted no time in ripping it open. It was a video cassette. There was a label on it. It read, “WATCH ME.” Haggar placed the tape in the VCR and turned on the TV. He put his phone the ear. As soon as the video feed came up, the first thing he saw was a visibly-terrified Jessica in a state of undress, and it wasn’t long until a large Dominican man came on the video frame. Suddenly, when he talked, the voice sounded very familiar, and similar to who he was talking to.

“You son of a bitch, what the fuck did you to her?!”

“Oh, nothing… at least not yet. It’s not like we wouldn’t enjoy the opportunity with that pretty daughter of yours.”

The man started to laugh again, which further infuriated Haggar.

“Just hear me out, okay? Why make your job harder than it already is? You’ve been fucking with our business, just some other people have. Just let us do our thing like Mayor Rudolph used to.”

“What about Jessica?”

“You’ll have to talk to my boss first. Don’t worry. She’s fine, for now.”

“What do you want?”

“I already told you what we want.”

“No, what do you want so that I can get Jessica back? How much?”

“You think this is about money? Take it up with our boss, and we’ll give her back.”

Haggar had a bad feeling about all of this. For all he knew, they would probably kill her before any negotiations would be made. He could try to go to the police, but there was no use given that some precincts were in Mad Gear’s pocket. And as for his boss, there was only one man who he suspected was responsible for all of this.

Horace Belger.

“Fuck you. I’m coming for you assholes.”

There was another laugh through the phone. “I’d like to see you try.”

Haggar quickly hung up and ejected the tape from the VCR and threw it to the wall. Janet walked up shaken and confused.

“Mr. Haggar, are you okay?”

Haggar breathed hard and turned to the doorway. “Janet, consider this a day off for you. Go and be with your husband and your son at his game.”

Janet took a deep breath and nodded her head. “I hope you get better soon, Mr. Haggar.”

“Thanks,” Haggar said.

At Tom’s Gym, Cody punched the bag really hard. Kyle looked over at him and figured he was steamed over Jessica not coming home. Guy happened to be there as well and approached him.

“Are you okay, Cody?” Guy said.

“I’m okay.”

Guy saw Cody’s facial expression. He could barely look at his friend. He looked away. There was something wrong here.

“If you need to blow off some steam, let’s do some sparring in the ring,” Guy said.

“I’m not in the mood, Guy,” Cody said. “Maybe some other time.

While Kyle was on the exercise bike, he looked up at the TV and there was a breaking news report. One thing that stood out was a photo of Jessica Haggar was shown. There were two photos. One with her father Mike, the other with her boyfriend Cody.

“Oh shit,” Kyle said under his breath.

The text at the bottom of the screen read, “Jessica Haggar kidnapped.” Kyle immediately got off the bike and rushed towards Cody and Guy.

“Um, guys,” Kyle said.

“Not now, Kyle, we’re talking right now,” Cody said.

“Bro, this can’t wait, look over there,” Kyle pointed towards the TV. In fact, various TV sets in the gym had the same thing on the feed. The reports stated that this was the work of Mad Gear. Cody’s eyes widened and soon enough, his expression changed into a venomous glare. With the rage brooding inside, he let out a fierce right hand to the punching bag.

“I can’t fucking believe this!” Cody said. “Jessica has been kidnapped!”

Guy looked up. He could not believe it, either.

Cody said, “She was my sweetheart since we were kids. The Mad Gears will pay for this.”

Guy put his hand on Cody’s shoulder. “Cody, she is my friend, too. I’m in.”

“Thanks, Guy, but I think I will handle this.”

“You won’t get very far alone. This is something that won’t go unpunished. You’ll need all the help you can get.”

“Count me in, too,” Kyle said.

“Sorry, Kyle, but you can’t be a part of this,” Cody said.

“Cody, I was going to tell you this earlier, but Mad Gear jumped me last night,” Kyle said. “They almost kicked my ass, but Vanessa’s brother saved me.” Kyle paused. “Look, Jessica is a part of our family, too. You’re my brother, and I have your back. I’m in, whether you want me to be or not.”

“He has a point, Cody,” Guy cut in.

Kyle just remembered when Guy and Maki saved him that night. Maybe this could be his way of returning the favor to him.

Out of nowhere, Tom walked up to Cody and the other two.

“Hey, Cody, you have a call at the desk, it’s Mayor Haggar,” Tom said.

Cody walked to the phone. “Hey, Mike. What’s up? Yeah, I heard. Meet me at my house. I may need to make some calls. I’ll see you soon.”

Chapter Text

It was morning in Uptown Metro City. Horace Belger stood in front of window overlooking the Metro City skyline. It was just a matter of time, for him, for Mad Gear, to truly claim that the city was theirs and that they would have Mayor Mike Haggar at the palms of their hands.

He had the TV on. Various news outlets had reports on the recent abduction of Jessica Haggar. There were no reports on what Mayor Haggar would do, whether it would be paying ransom money or having the MCPD go and look for her.

"According to some news sources, Mayor Haggar has not discussed the matter of his daughter being kidnapped and meeting Mad Gear's demands. Nobody has gotten word from Mayor Haggar on the abduction of his daughter."

Belger changed the channel.

"We have received news that Jessica Haggar, daughter of Mayor Mike Haggar, has been kidnapped. No one's been able to reach the mayor on this issue, but here is what Metro City Police Lieutenant Mark Abrams had to say."

The TV monitor showed Abrams with fellow officers.

"This will be tough, but we will do whatever we can to ensure Miss Haggar's safety. We won't let the mayor down."

"This was WMET 17, back to you in the studio."

The TV shut off. Belger reached for a cigar on his desk. Not too far behind was a lighter where his thumb pressed against the wheel as it rolled when his thumb pressed the fork of it igniting a spark that quickly lit a flame towards the end, causing an ember to burn.

Tequila, one of Belger's assistants and bodyguards, walked in. "Mr. Belger, Agents Forge and Summers are here to see you."

"Tell them to come in." Belger looked over his shoulder and turned around took a puff of his cigar and blew out the smoke.

Two men in suits walked into the office. One of them was puzzled that the man stood on his own two feet. During interviews and other public appearances, this man would be in a wheelchair. However, a man with as much money and power as he had, it was best not to question it.

"Well, good morning, Agent Forge, Agent Summers, what brings you here?"

"We've come to collect," Agent Summers said.

A smug smirk rose on Belger's face. He figured what this was all about. "So, was this hard for both of you?"

Summers replied, "It was hard for me. I don't know about Forge."

Forge looked at Summers with an expression of "Are you kidding me?" All Forge did was leave some teenage boy to his impending doom. Summers, on the other hand, had the task of leading a young woman to her abduction. There had to be no witnesses, either.

"Does Mayor Haggar know about this?" Belger said.

"No, he doesn't know anything," Summers said.

Forge wondered about this. Did those thugs beat that boy to death? Even he questioned his involvement in all of this. However, there were no reports of a teenage boy being murdered. All that was covered was Jessica Haggar being kidnapped. Forge wondered if it was even worth leaving that boy behind like that.

Belger pulled out stacks of dollar bills to hand to the two agents. "This should be enough to skip town. Stay out of town for a little bit."

Summers took the money without any question, although in his case, how long should he be gone? It was possible that the mayor's daughter would give word to her father about what he did. Or maybe not. It was possible she didn't think of anything since things happened so fast and he probably got out of the car to deal with things.

But in Forge's case, was this worth it to him?

Nonetheless, Belger looked at the two agents. "Get out of town for a bit. I will handle the mayor myself. Now get the fuck out of here."

Without any question, the two agents walked out of Belger's office. Belger looked at them for a bit. What were the chances that word about their betrayal would go back to the mayor? It didn't matter. There was nothing Mayor Haggar could do about it. As long as Mad Gear had the city under their control, Mike Haggar would bow to them. After all, Metro City belonged to them.

Belger reached for the phone at his desk and punched in the number. The phone rang for a bit until someone said "Hello?"

"Damnd, is the girl with you?"

"Yes, she is with us."

"Good, when you get the chance, bring her over here. I'd like to have a word with her, to make sure her father sees what's good for him and her."

"Okay, when do you want her?"

"Bring her as soon as you can." Belger hung up the phone.

Metro City is mine, and that muscle head will see why it is mine. Belger thought and sat down to take another puff of his cigar.

White tape extended and wrapped around Cody's right hand with a look of determination on his face. He wrapped his left hand with some tape as well. Kyle wrapped both of his hands with tape as well. Cody looked at his brother with mild concern, but he would ask him this…

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Kyle replied, "Cody, you're my brother and I will do anything for you. Jessica is your girl. I will help you find her. Don't worry about me. I can handle those assholes."

Cody realized something. Kyle has been around Jessica for a good amount of his life. Even when Cody and Jessica were in high school, he would bring her around. While there were some on-again, off-again moments between the two, Kyle knew that Jessica was a big part of Cody's life, as well as his.

"Besides, I can handle myself, don't worry," Kyle said.

Cody nodded in response. Knocks were heard at the door. Cody opened the door.

"Guy, you're here." From behind, Maki and Carlos followed, along with Lucia. It looked like the team had arrived.

"You need all the help you can get," Guy said.

"We're all doing this for you, Cody," Lucia said. "Jessica's my friend, too."

Carlos said, "Maki and I will help, too. We know where we can find Mad Gear."

"We're all here to help," Maki said.

Carlos and Maki were seeing each other at that point. With the martial arts prowess that the others possessed, Cody knew a team had formed. With his brother, along with his friends, this should not be difficult. They were all comrades fighting the same battle. A battle against the one gang that made Metro City into the hellhole that it was.

Every one of them huddled and put their hands out and on top of each other. They all looked at each other. They knew this wasn't going to be easy. This was going to be dangerous. Who knew if any of them would make it back from all of this.

"Okay, let's do this," Cody said. They all pushed their hands downward and then split up to make their exit out of the apartment.

However, an X6 LZCD car pulled up in front of the apartment complex. Cody just knew who had just arrived. When the car stopped, out stepped the one man, in Cody's eyes, who had as much right to take part in this fight as everyone else did.

"Mike?" Cody said.

There stood the mayor himself, except he wasn't dressed like the mayor today. He wore a pair of green pants, but was shirtless and had a singular belt over one of his shoulders, almost akin to wearing suspenders.

"Hello, Cody," Haggar said. "Hello, everyone. I thought maybe you would need an extra hand."

Everyone looked at Haggar with amazement. It was as much his fight as it was theirs. This was his own daughter's life at stake, and they knew that Mike Haggar was not someone to mess with.

"Thanks for this, Mike," Cody said.

Haggar nodded. "Come on, let's go find Jessica."

At the Mad Gear lair, while Jessica sat in her chair with her hands restrained behind her back, Damnd stood before everyone else. Bred was at a table with Two-P and Dug. Jake stood with J and Simons. It was a long night for everyone. Some got some kind of rest, but not enough to be a good night's sleep.

Roxy was around and looked over at the guys to make sure they weren't trying anything funny with Jessica. She went up to her while she sat there.

"Don't worry, Jessica. When your dad pays up, you'll be out of here before you know it."

Jessica's eyes shifted upward towards her. She still had a lot of disbelief that she and Poison were a part of the gang. From what she remembered, Roxy wasn't a bad person, but she didn't make the best choices.

"Come on, Roxanne, you can still walk away from all of this," Jessica said.

Roxy's eyes shifted towards her left. Although deep down she wanted to break her free, if she even tried to show any signs of weakness or betrayal, who knows what would happen? Plus, she remembered that Jessica was Cody's girlfriend, and that Cody saved her that one night.

"Not so fast, princess, I kind of hope your daddy doesn't pay up," Roxy said. "That way we can have a little fun."

Roxy picked up a crop that was laid away nearby. However, Jessica saw right through her that her delivery as not legitimate.

"Hey, Roxy." When Roxy heard her name called, she jumped and looked behind her with a look of fear and worry on her face.

"Take five," Damnd said.

Roxy let out a sigh of relief and looked to Jessica and mouthed, "I'll get you out of here, okay?"

Meanwhile, a phone rang near Damnd. It could only one person he would expect to call.

"Hello," Damnd said.

"Damnd, do you still have the girl?" Belger said.

Damnd turned to look to her direction. "I see her. She's fine."

"I need you all to bring her to me soon. You got that?"

Damnd adjusted his shades a bit. "Yes, Mr. Belger."