The King of Fighters Tournament

Fatal Fury team

Rock Howard parked in the school parking lot and took his helmet off while dismounting the Honda bike. He ran a hand through his silky blond hair and opened the seat to take out his things. He suddenly felt a strange presence behind him. It was something familiar, yet he didn't know what it was.
Rock quickly turned around to look, but all he saw was the tennis court a little far off. He frowned and slung his bag against one shoulder, making his way towards the locker hall to get his books.
He entered the combination and almost jumped out of his skin when a white object fluttered out. Confused, he picked it up from the ground and looked at it. The red seal with the letter R pressed into it was all he needed to know who the sender was.
"They invited me..." Rock murmured with a smile.
He noticed that he was running late for class and quickly stuffed the envelope into his bag before rushing off to the biology laboratory.

"Hey, I received an invitation for KOF..." Kim Jae-Hoon frowned, holding up the same kind of invitation that Rock found in his locker. "I'm not sure if my Dad would actually allow me to join his team. This is the first time they invited me."
"Hopefully he does," Rock shrugged, opening his lunchbox. "I mean... isn't he sick of entering with... sickos?"
Jae nodded in agreement. "I know right... it's always the degenerate criminals and mentally challenged idiots..."
Rock snorted. "I hope he joins with you and Dong."
"I don't think so..." Jae frowned. "He trusts me enough, but my brother..."
Rock started laughing when he remembered the cheap toy gun that Kim Dong-Hwan brought to the Halloween party.
"That Halloween thing..." Rock chuckled. "He picked the wrong costume."
"Who would've thought a criminal would walk in with the same costume?" Jae shrugged. "But seriously, though. That costume creeps me out..."
"Yo!" Scott Patton greeted as soon as he sat down with them, trying to get the amber strands off his face. "I heard about some tournament coming up? Just heard a few girls talking about it."
Hotaru Futaba rushed towards them, holding an envelope. "They invited me!"
"Me too!" Rock grinned, holding up his. "Jae too."
Jae smirked and held his up too. Scott frowned.
"Am I the only one who didn't get invited?" Scott croaked, feeling a little left out.
"Newbies have to apply directly through the organisers," Jae informed, putting his invitation back into his bag. "Judging by the seal, it's Rugal Bernstein. It's kinda nostalgic that he's organising the tournament again."
"I know right," Hotaru nodded in agreement.
"Who's Rugal...?" Scott asked, forgetting.
"The guy that got gender-bent before," Rock smirked. "You remember him, right? We met him in Paris."
Scott turned pale when he remembered the big, burly man with his thick moustache.
"Nuh-uh, no way I'm asking him!" Scott gulped. He then let out a nervous chuckle. "It's not like I can actually fight as well as you guys, right? But I'll be there, to cheer you on!"
The others exchanged knowing looks when he said that. Maple Cyprus ran towards them too, plopping down beside Scott.
"Yuri just texted me, saying that class is cancelled for the week because they're training for some tournament," Maple informed. "Have you guys heard about it? I heard that they're gonna have a stage right here in Southtown!"
Rock, Hotaru, and Jae smirked.
"They got invited, not us..." Scott stated sourly. Maple gasped. "I know... very mean, right?"
Maple rolled her eyes at him and turned to the rest. "Guys! Congrats! I'll be rooting for you!"
"Let's go together," Scott added. "I wanna see them in action too."
Maple nodded in agreement. "Are you guys gonna be in one team?"
They frowned and shook their heads.
"I'm probably joining with my dad and brother," Jae said. "That is... if he doesn't team up with whackos."
"I'm teaming up with my dad and brother too," Hotaru chuckled. "But they're definitely not gonna team up with whackos..."
"I thought your brother actually did team up with whackos before...?" Jae smirked. "I don't think Billy and Ryuji are sane."
Hotaru smirked wickedly. "Well, if he doesn't, then I'll make him."
Rock chuckled. "Well, I hope I don't have to do anything of the sort to make Terry and Andy team up with me," he suddenly frowned. "But if things don't go according to plan, I'll give you guys a call."
"Ditto..." Jae nodded determinedly.
"Where's Itokatsu?" Scott asked suddenly.
Hotaru frowned ruefully. "With my brother. He misses playing with Ito..."
"Aww!" All five of them echoed together.

Rock returned home from school and saw his adoptive father flipping through the day's newspaper, having a glass of whiskey on the rocks in the living room. His coat lay next to him, folded over the couch's backrest.
"So, how was school?" Terry asked as soon as he joined him with his lunch.
"Was good," Rock shrugged. Then he remembered the invitation resting at the bottom of his backpack. "Nuts... I almost forgot. I got invited to join KOF."
Terry put his newspaper down and grinned at him. "That's great. Hey, now we can enter together!"
"Did you and Andy receive yours?" Rock asked before spooning some of the food into his mouth.
Terry nodded. "Came in the mail this morning. You don't mind teaming up with us, right?"
Rock swallowed his food, shaking his head. "Not at all. I'd love to join with you guys."
Terry playfully heaved a sigh of relief. "Great. I thought you'd ditch us too. You see... Joe is teaming up with the Kanes this time..."
Rock almost choked on his food. He took a deep breath and drank some water. "Are you serious?"
"Yep," Terry chuckled. "He was only too happy when Billy called him just now. He was actually here to rub the invitation in our faces, but ended up running off, saying 'change of plans'." He stated, making air quotes.
Rock laughed as he imagined that. "Well, I can already imagine that."
"I know right," Terry snorted, filling his glass up again. "Anyway, when shall we start our training?"
Rock shrugged. "I'm fine with any time."
"How about tomorrow?" Andy asked, coming in. He frowned at Terry and took the whiskey and decanter away from him. "Also, no more for you. Remember the last time you got drunk?"
Terry didn't and shrugged. But Rock and Andy certainly did.
"How many shots have you drank?" Rock asked with a frown.
"Only two," Terry shrugged. "Oh come on, I can tolerate alcohol very well."
Rock snorted, shaking his head before turning to Andy. "Sure, tomorrow sounds great. I'll be free after school. Been some time since we trained properly."
So it was settled, the Fatal Fury team started preparing for the upcoming tournament.

***

Rock groaned and slumped down on his study chair, tired out after two long hours of training. He laid his head on the desk with a groan before summoning up enough strength to pull out his homework. Some of the teachers were evil enough to give tons and tons of homework when they were fully aware that the subject they were teaching was not the only subject the students were taking.
So he sat, poring over the mass of stupidly difficult equations. He groaned when he came to the hard ones and ended up asking his friends for help. Jae was only too happy to provide him with the answers, even explaining through text. Rock smiled and copied them down, glad for his help.
He finally closed the book and heaved a sigh. His gaze swept across the pictures of himself with his friends under the glass sheet on his desk. His eyes eventually landed on the small shelf, where a little box that his uncle, Kain R. Heinlein, had given him rested.

It was your mother's prized possession.

Rock sighed again and pulled the box towards him. It contained a deck of poker cards, each card bearing a different backing. They were all strange patterns that Rock couldn't make head or tail of.
Or maybe he just didn't look at them long enough. After all, whenever he remembered his mother, he also remembered the painful memory of her dying in his little arms. He was only seven at the time.
He glanced up at the painting of her, which Terry managed to save from a burning building, and frowned.
"What did you hide in these cards, Mom?" He asked aloud. "What am I supposed to do with these?"
Rock took out a few cards and held them side-by-side, trying to compare them. He eventually gave up, too tired after the training and mathematics homework.
He stood up from the chair and started preparing his things for school. He remembered using up the last of his 0.5 mechanical pencil lead and started rummaging in his drawer for a new pack. Rock finally found one and stuffed it into his pencil pouch, together with a new eraser.
Rock groaned loudly when he accidentally knocked down the box of cards when bringing the pencil case towards his bag. All 52 of the cards fell and scattered across the floor.
'At a time like this!' Rock groaned, getting onto the ground to pick them up.
But then he stopped short. The row of cards that scattered had formed a strange-looking image, almost like a part of someone's face. Puzzled, Rock started arranging the cards to see what the picture would create.
He eventually finished and stood on his bed to get a clear view of what the face looked like.
It was a woman. An unfamiliar woman. She had a smile, showing all of her teeth, and a distinct mole on the tip of her nose.
Rock frowned and took a photo of the arrangement before putting the cards back into the little box they came with.
There was something he had to find out about that woman, he just didn't know what.