South Town Blues

Lian thought about what she said. "Bad Rad? I heard of him. But which fighter hasn't? He's even famous outside the fighting circle. I kinda wanted to meet him myself too one day."

"For complete non ulterior reasons, I'm sure." Kyo said from his spot.

"Ah, shut up Kyo." The two seemed to bicker lightly more like siblings, there was no malice to it. "So you travel a lot too I take it?"

Terri nodded. "Yeah, but I try to get home as much as possible. This is my dad's place. She jerked a thumb to a door. That's my room. He always keeps it for me." She stood and stretched. "Yeah my dad encouraged me to see the world after I won my first King of Fighters. As for Bad Rad, I've never met him personally but I hear he's something else in the ring. I just wanna see if he matches up to the hype ya know?" She sat back down. "Hell I don't even know what he looks like. All the pictures I've seen were blurry or taken too far away to see anything."

***

On the Cristos Bad leaned against the railing. Suddenly, "ACHOO!!" he sniffed and rubbed his nose. "Hunh... it's not even that cold out." He said. Then he shrugged off his jacket and put it in his back pack. He turned the bill of his hat to face forward. Looking at his watch he noted that they had two hours before departure.

***

Terri looked at the clock. Standing she reached for her cap and back pack. "Well it's about two hours until the ship leaves so we better get going if we're gonna make it in time. It takes about and hour and a half to walk there so we'll have just enough time to find our cabin and settle in." She said and headed for the door.

Lian and Kyo followed after Terri, not that far behind. Lian jumped on one of fences as she continued trailing behind them somehow keeping perfect balance with ease. Kyo ignored this as if it happened every day.

"Heard its suppose to rain later too, so we may end up roughing it a bit." Kyo said as he followed. Harsh wheather was nothing new for them though. He had been through it before some worse then others and had came through in one piece. A little bit of water wasn't really going to hurt them.

Terri looked to the sky, "Yeah I shouldda checked the weather first before making my arrangements." She said and continued. She noted Lian on the fence however paid it no mind. He cousin did the same thing. He claimed it was to help maintain his perfect balance. But she knew he was just showing off.

Thirty minutes later it began to sprinkle. Thirty minutes after that it was a light rain and by the time the group got to the docks it was a downpour. Terri didn't mind, it was a cool rain. Not cold just enough to be refreshing.

She walked to the door of the shipping and receiving building. From there she slipped a small envelope into the slot and walked to the boarding plank. She got up and saw the deck a buzz with activity. People were locking down cargo above and below deck making all the preparations for their departure. A man in a rain coat and hat walked over, "Are you Terri?" He asked.

Terri nodded, "This way!" The man said over the sound of the rain. He led the group to the cabin reserved for them. "Here's your key we'll take it back when we get to Shad." He said and walked back out into the rain.

***

Bad was standing on deck when about a dozen people came out from below deck. They began hailing things below and fastening other things to the upper deck. Bad offered to help but was turned down. He shrugged his shoulders and felt something cool hit his arm. He looked and then he felt a light sprinkle. After a bit it turned into a light rain. Then a half hour before they were to depart it was a downpour. Bad took off his hat and let loose his hair. He decided to take the time to wash it. Might as well. He hung his head over the side and began scrubbing it.

When he was done he whipped his hair back and shook his head. One of the deck hands walked over. "Excuse me sir, we're gonna need you to either get below deck or stand in the hall!" he shouted. bad nodded and grabbed his backpack. The two walked to the hall. Several doors down there were three people getting into a cabin. *They probably got the last one* he thought. A few other people were standing in the hall. From the looks of them they were street fighters. He didn't recognize any of them and hoped none would recognize him.

It wasn't easy being the so called Legendary Street Fighter. Often people would track you down just to test their skill. He had been jumped more than once by groups of wannabe's seeking to earn a name for them selves. bad had often thought about going into hiding just so no one would find him. He quickly dismissed the idea. He decided to go with the idea of not staying in one place for too long. While he didn't like all the attention or publicity he did enjoy the challenge.

Lian and Kyo followed close behind, Lian having already been coming down from the fences. Honestly, the reason she did that was for training, she really didn't care if people thought it was cool or not. Her Sifu had told her just about almost anything could be a training exercise and that's how she thought of things at times.

"We'll, might as well make ourselves at home." Kyo wondered if being cramped would lead to other problems.

Terri looked at the bunks. There were two, one on the bottom and one on top. She nodded her head towards the beds. "You guys take those I'll grab the chair." She said and plopped down. "We can rotate, it's a seventy two hour trip. Three days, three people. So each night we can swap out who sleeps in the chair. I call tonight. Purely for selfish reason. I want two nights straight in a bed by the time we get to Shad." She said with a smile.

**

Bad didn't like it. However he had no choice. He would just have to wait the weather out. Until then he would have to stay awake. If it rained all three days then he would have to rent a room when they got to shad and sleep for like three days. His toes squished in his shoes and he made a face. Three days of this was not appealing.

Lian shrugged, she was fine with that. "Not the most ideal but but we've been through a lot worse so I can't really complain." She made herself over to the bed. Kyo went to the lower bunk but instead of laying down he went more of a mediation state and position. Lian knew what it was but didn't comment on it.

"Just wondering, have you ever went off realm before?" Lian asked. "Me and Kyo visited the Demon Realm once, its actually pretty nice. Minus the backwards assholes but that's with here and everywhere really. Can't get away from them."

* *

As Bad was waiting outside, there were some others. A rather attractive young woman was standing there in a coat and some jeans. Her horns made her stand out, as did her strange birthmarks, that were decidedly not tattoo's of any kind. She was still shivering from the cold but that seemed to be the least of her concerns. It was more of a few guys harassing and hitting on her making Organa more then a bit uncomfortable.

"You know, if you're cold I could warm you up." One of the men said, leering at her.

"..I'm fine." Organa shifted, she wasn't comfortable.

"Oh, come on don't be that uptight, we're just trying to get to know you." Another said, this man seemed a bit drunk and reached for her. Organa slapped his hand away.

"I won't ask again, leave me alone!"

That just irked the leader. "Listen you little demon bitch, you're lucky we're even talking to you."

Terri saw that he was meditating and decided to keep it down so as not to disturb him. She looked to Lian, "No, never. Until I see everything this world has to offer I'm gonna stay right here." She paused for thought. "Unless there's a street fight that takes me there." She whispered with a smile.

***

Bad watched this and grabbed his coat out of his backpack. He walked over. "There you are!!" He said in a loud voice. "I've been looking all over for you." He said and leaned in close. "Play along, i'm here to help." He whispered. He wrapped his coat around her shoulders and brushed some hair out of his face. *I should have kept it in a pony tail.* he thought. Bad then looked to the other men around Organa. "Is there a problem here hun? Are these guys bothering you?" He asked, his voice stern and his eyes were steel.

Lian could understand about that. She herself had a pretty adventurous spirit about her and liked to see and be at new places. She hadn't exactly been to each place worth seeing on Earth Realm. After all, despite not being the biggest it had among the most variety as far as sights and things to see were concerned.

"I hear that. Anyway, I'm going to try to get some shut eye for the moment. Holler if you need me." Lian then slumped down in the bunk, and like that instantly went to sleep. How the young woman was able to that in a heart beat was anyone's guess.

* *

As the men continued to harass Organa, Bad stepped forward with 'act' of acting like her boyfriend. This put off the young demoness, but she recovered hearing what he said and went with it for now.

"He's your boyfriend?" One of the thugs said in disbelief, knowing who it was.

Organa nodded. "Yes. And I'd appreciate it if you left us alone."

"..Fine." The leader grumbled, knowing a lost fight when they saw one. The grumbled under their breath a bit, some mostly a few insults here and there. Organa ignored them for the most part.

"Uh, thanks for the help." Now looking at him, he was pretty tall and handsome. Deciding the least she could do to thank him was offer her name, she extended a hand. "My name is Organa Ergo."

Bad led her back to the door way and pulled out his signature ball cap. He took her hand and shook. "Bad Rad." He said in a casual tone. "Go ahead and keep the jacket on. The temperature's dropped a bit." He said and leaned against the wall. "So what was that about?" He asked. "I mean I get that they were hitting on you but what was that about 'lucky they were even talking to you'?" He bent back to his pack and pulled out a dry shirt. He took off the wet one and slipped on the tank top.

***

Terri nodded and did the same. She didn't fall instantly to sleep but she got there.

Organa was grateful for the jacket. "..Okay if you're sure." That name sounded a bit familiar, but she couldn't place it. Maybe it would come to her later. At his question she sighed a bit at that. "..The men don't like demons much, but apparently I was 'good looking enough' for them to try to hit on me." She shook her head. "And when I didn't want anything to do with any of them they got angry and called me names."

Bad nodded, "Ah. Well that just shows how closed minded they are. And how much they drink." He said and looked out the door. "Looks like it's getting worse." He commented then looked back to Organa. "So you headed to Shad?" He asked.

Organa felt a bit better at the comment, she had always been a bit self conscious about her looks and such because of how she grew up. But that was in the past now. She offered a small smile. "Yeah. I planned on trying something a bit different, I wanted to see what Shad was like and maybe see a few fights here and there.." She looked at him. "What about you? You heading to Shad?"

Bad nodded, "Yeah, I'm going to enter the World Warrior tournament." He said. "Well if it's something different then Shad is the way to go. They're very culturally diverse." He didn't seem to pay any mind to her horns or birth marks. "It's a great place to start over, or just get lost." He settled down. His legs were getting tired because of all the shifting.

There was a sound of a ocean liner horn blowing and a voice came over the intercom. "This is the captain speaking, we're getting ready to shove off. I ask that all passengers please brace yourselves because the storm is going to get worse. We should be through it by morning." He said and the intercom went silent.

Bad nodded "Good to know." He looked to Organa again. "So what one is it? You going there to start over or get lost for a while. I've had to hide a few times myself. Shad's a good place for it."

"If I had to pick, it would be more along the lines of getting lost." Organa said, thinking for a moment and deciding to give up a bit more information. "I want to find myself. I'm not sure what I really want to do with my life so I'm traveling, and Shad just happens to be one of the places on my stop. Who knows..maybe I'll find what I'm looking for there. If I see you in any of the fights though, I'll root for you."

Bad smiled. "Thanks." He thought for a moment. "You know, my master once said 'In order to find who you are. you must know who was lost." It's a bit cryptic and fortune cookie like but it makes sense in a way." he said. "So I can understand about soul searching. I used to do it a lot when I was younger." He grabbed the doorway as the ship lurched to one side. A wave seemed to hit the side of the boat and then it settled down.

Organa had to latch onto something when the wave rocked the boat. This was one of the things about boat traveling she did not like. It could almost make her sea sick but not near close enough..just not as well int the stomach as normal. She ignored it, pushing it aside. It wasn't as if she had any medicine on her to deal with it. Best to tough it out.

"Your master sounds very wise. I'd like to maybe meet them one day." She really was hating this cold and wetness. "I know we don't know each other too well, but if its not too much trouble you think you could show me a bit around Shad? Or maybe at least point in the direction of where someone could guide me? Like a map?"

Bad smiled and nodded, "Yeah I can give you the ten cent tour." He reached in his bag and pulled out a map. "It's always good to have someone who knows the area to show you around." He handed her the map. "A map never hurts either." He finished.

***

Terri screamed in surprise as the boat lurched and sent her flying out of her seat. "Fuckin, sonofa...." She rasped as she pulled herself to her feat. "Maybe I should have waited for a better day to do this." She mumbled.

She took the map, giving it a once over before putting it away. "Thank you. I won't be as nervous if I have someone with me as a guide. I usually have my adopted father with me or someone else, but like I said I need to find myself and get away. Everyone has to leave the nest some time."

Organa sneezed a bit, wiping her nose. She hated the cold. "Can you tell a bit more about the island? Like maybe about the ruler of it..Makemba, I think the name was. I was also wondering if the place is racially diverse or its mostly humans."

* *

In Kyo's 'dream scape' he was in a abandoned city without a single other soul around. Save for one. The sound of fighting echoed through the deserted urban area as two figures clashed into each other at inhuman speeds, a normal human eye wouldn't have been able to catch the movements save maybe a glimpse.

The two stopped suddenly, there was Kyo breathing a bit heavily and another figure. This one was different, having the form of a cloaked woman. It was odd the Kyo's Inner Spirit was the opposite gender, but not as unusual as one would think. All of them were different, some didn't even to be of the same race as the user.

"You're distracted." They said, bluntly. "Your focus is off and you reacted a fraction too slow on a easy feint attack."

"I know." Kyo wondered if he should bother saying anything, technically since it was just an aspect of himself they already knew but still. "Just had a few things on my mind. I'm not sure if going to Shad I'll find what I'm looking for, that is potential students Kinta." He of course couldn't teach them yet, that was entirely up to Fei or another master. He could, however, point them in the proper direction.

'Kinta' tilted her head, her features and expression hidden. "You shouldn't write that off as easily. It may be closer then you think." They paused. "..And you might want to finally wake up."

* *

Kyo woke up from his strange meditation state at the sound of Terri screaming. He frowned a bit. "Are you okay?"

Lian, however, was still somehow dead to the world.

Bad nodded. "Let's go further inside. There should be a mess hall somewhere." He said and grabbed his backpack. "The island is also racially diverse. They have a lot of different kinds of people there. Including Zoanthropes." He started, "As for Makemba, she's the Queen of the island and her rule is fair." He glanced back at Organa, "Was there anything specific you wanted to know? I haven't met her in person all I know is her people love her. She's somewhat like a celebrity." He finished.

***

Terri looked back and stood. "Yeah just my ass hurts now. Stupid metal floors." She said and stood. Terri rubbed her butt and walked back to her chair. "How does she sleep so deeply?" She asked.

"If that many people like her, that must be a good sign." Organa followed after Bad but shook her head to his other question. "Nothing specific, no." She wondered how much housing costed there, she'd have to find out when she got there.

* *

"I have no clue. It's one one of life's unsolved mysteries. Oddly, she wakes up quickly if there actually is a dangerous situation instantly other times she sleeps through." Kyo thought for a moment. "Though there is one more way to wake her.."

A slight, and rare mischievous glint entered Kyo's eyes and he gently prodded Lian. "Lian, it might be time to get up."

No response.

Kyo then added. "It's morning and its breakfast."

As if posses by magic, Lian istantly rose. "Where?" Then she noticed it wasn't the morning time and glared at Kyo. "Kyo you jerk." She chucked a pillow at Kyo, which was about as effective as trying to kill a metal golem with a marshmellow. Then she curled back up. After one minute..

"..Now I can't sleep."

Bad nodded. "Well if you think of anything lemme know." He said and opened a door. "Here we are." He said and picked a seat. "But yeah it's a pretty tolerant place." He looked around there was no food being served but there were some vending machines.

He looked back to Organa, "So what's first on your agenda when you get to Shad?" He asked.

***

Terri nodded. "Yeah same here." She looked to the chair. "Stupid chair." She said. "Well it's still raining, so what do you guys wanna do?" She asked. Then she paused a moment. "Hey how do you sleep so well?" She asked Lian.

Organa wasn't really too hungry, but she'd keep the vendors in mind for later if she did get hungry a bit. "..I'm not really sure." She sounded a bit embarrassed. "I didn't exactly plan this all that well but I should have. I just decided to up and go after getting a few things and money and winging it..probably not the smartest idea go about it." She mumbled but what's done was done. "..So do you use Ki energy too?"

* *

Kyo shrugged a bit to that. "Not sure. Usually during times like these I play board games or read but we don't have much of either here."

"Same.." Lian trailed off, blinking at Terri's question. "..I don't know? I just always been like that. It irritated my Sifu at times but they got around it, I could always go to sleep at the drop of the hat.It was going back to sleep after being woken up that was the main problem."

Bad nodded, "Yeah, I use it to fuel my Ki attacks. It's one of the reason's why I have to enter fights or tournaments on par with the World Warriors. Street fighting is the best place to find people like that." He got up and walked over to a soda machine. He entered his money and it spat it back out. He did this a few more times and then got his soda. It was orange flavored. "So what about you? Are you a fighter too?" He asked.

***

Terri smiled, "I gotta learn that trick." She chuckled. She looked to Kyo, "I have a deck of cards we could use to play." She offered.

Organa shook her head. "No. Not a fighter in the sense I actively go into tournaments or anything but I can take care of myself. I have enhanced stats..and.." She held up a hand, a very small ball of electricty forming before closing it. "And that. That's about about as much as I can do with my natural abilities. Not..really impressive as much as others but it gets me by when I have to fight."

* *

Kyo thought it over a moment, then shrugged. "I'm game."

"Eh..I can't sleep anyway.." Lian got down from her bunk.