Kyo Kusanagi was PISSED. "KILL THEM! I DON'T CARE WHAT IT TAKES! ANYBODY WHO DOESN'T THINK THAT FIRE IS MINE DESERVES TO DIE!" Kyo was ranting to anyone who happened to be in the vicinity. The fact that no one was actually in the vicinity did absolutely nothing to deter him. Of course, when you're working with a demon, he doesn't actually have to be in the area to hear you. Talk to you, on the other hand... "Patience, Kusanagi. You want Rodriguez dead? It can be arranged. It will be at no charge to you, because it just so happens I want one of his entourage dead as well," Blackheart rumbled from the shadows. Kyo, for his part, was nonplussed. "Fine, fine, whatever. I already pledged myself to the eternal darkness anyway, didn't I? So we're working together no matter what." "Indeed. Shall we seal the deal with evil laughter?" "Let's." And there was much evil laughter from the top floor of the Kusanagi building. [---] Heihachi Mishima needed to get rid of Marco Rodriguez and Ryou Szakakazi, otherwise he couldn't win the election. Going strictly by their voter bases, the current mayor would win by a margin of 2 to 1. That simply would not do. SCABS was already looking for them, but time was running out. Eleven and half hours until the polls closed. If Marco and Ryou were dead before then, there would be no choice but to declare Heihachi the winner. And he would rule with an iron fist. Oh yes... But first, he had to hire someone special. Someone to help take care of the special bodyguards Rodriguez had apparently hired. One in particular. Heihachi laughed. Damn, he loved manipulating people. Still chuckling, he picked up the phone. "Yeah?" The voice was young, but carried a bitterness and cynicism well beyond its years. "Ah yes, I was wondering if I could hire you for a job." "Wait, lemme guess, you want me to kill Marco Rodriguez and Ryou Szakakazi so you can win the mayoral race. Don't think I don't know who this is!" "No, actually, I already have people hunting down Rodriguez. I was actually going to ask you about Violence Unlimited." "Violence Unlimited? What do they have to do with this?" "My sources in the police deartment tell me that they are currently acting as the Mayor's bodyguards. Word on the street tells me that you are after one of them in particular... I believe Kim Jae Hoon is his name?" "Yeah. That's him. You got yourself a deal." "Join me in some evil laughter?" "Sure." Heihachi Mishima laughed. Finally, the city would be HIS! On the other end of the phone, Rock Howard laughed. Jae would PAY for his crimes. [---] As for Jae himself, he seemed to sense all the laughter and tensed up. "What's wrong?" Angel asked. It must be noted she was wearing only a bathroom they had found in one of the rooms. The nudists in that room certainly weren't going to use it. "I just got the horrible feeling a whole lot of people are going to try to kill us." "Are you sure it isn't just the burritos you had two days ago?" Cracker Jack asked. "I mean, those things have a way of sneaking up on you. Trust me, I know." "Maybe you're right, boss--" Jae said. Then the whole front of the hotel was smashed in by a speeding car. "No, YOU'RE right! C'mon, let's BUST SOME HEADS!" CJ charged towards the car, screaming a war-cry. The Driver got out, dusting off his pant legs. CJ saw this, got distracted, and ran full tilt into the car. "Driver!" Jae yelled. "You alright?" The Driver nodded, then stuck his thumb out at CJ, who was currently implanted in the car. "I think he'll be fine," Angel said, pulling on CJ. CJ popped out (leaving a nice-sized dent in the car) and spit out a couple of bolts. "Yeah, I'm fine. Driver, good to see ya. C'mon, let's get everybody in the lobby. We got just a shade over 11 hours to keep Rodriguez alive. We'd better get our shit together and FAST." [---] Forgot About Jae Chapter 45: Killing Time with Marco Rodriguez This impro given a kick in the pants to get it to walk by Shelby "Darkheart One" Scott. This chapter shot out of a cannon to make it fly by Chris "Wildfire" Aumiller. This chapter grounded by JP Chabot and Kristin Brouse. [---] Last time on Forgot About Jae: - Ayane... er, AyaME, was hired as a temp by Violence Unlimited. - Speaking of, VU has an R&D section, led by a gnome. - FEMA's giving the Ghostdusters all sorts of hell. Damn government operations. - Heihachi and Kyo are after Marco. Possibly along with others. - When stopped by the "cops," Driver proceeded to open up a can. - SOREASS won the Stealth Olympics, but got their prize stolen. - Jan Jansen (the gnome) pulled a MacGuyver in fixing brakes while the car was moving. - CJ REALLY should have checked Ayame's references. - Of course, the hotel was a setup. Blackheart's GOOD at that sort of thing. - Alright gang, let's split up and look for a killer! - Fat Eddie on a toilet. Eww. Just eww. - Jae and Angel found out that Reforming Evil Is, In Fact, Tricky. - 12 hours to go... - Skullomania + Silent Hill = Whole Lotta Death. [---] "Alright, LISTEN UP!" CJ yelled to his troops. Currently the troops were Hugo, Poison, Jae, Angel, Fuuma, the Driver, Marco, Ryou, Jan, and Garrett. Along with CJ, but he wasn't counting himself. "Here's the deal. We gotta protect the Mayor and his running mate over here until the polls close. Now, the polls around here close at 10 PM, and right now it's," here he paused to look at his watch, "just about 11:30 AM. That means for the next ten and a half hours we've got a job to do. So no fooling around! That means you, Fuu--WHAT THE STONE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" Fuuma was currently trying to eat a plastic fern. "What? I'm hungry." "I DON'T CARE! NO! FUCKING! FOOLING! AROUND!" Each word was accented with a punch to Fuuma's face. Fuuma ended up spitting out half of his teeth. "Awww..." "Anyway, here's the plan. We're gonna hole up here. Whoever comes to try something, we knock 'em off. We only have to hold out ten and a half hours. Not to mention this hotel's fully stocked. Just don't go on the second floor if you value your sanity." Poison couldn't help but shudder. "Any questions?" "Yes, why are you calling all the shots here?" Marco asked. "It's MY life we're talking about!" "Listen, butt--" "THAT'S ROGRIGUEZ!" "--head, I don't care if you're the fucking Pope. You hired us to protect you, and we'll do it how we see fit. Since I'm the leader here, we're gonna do things my way. Capiche?" "I got it all but the capiche." CJ smacked his face. "Do I make myself clear, then?" "Crystal." "Good. Any other questions?" "Who are we expecting?" Jae asked. "Anybody in particular, or just a bunch of nameless thugs?" CJ turned to Marco. "Probably nameless thugs, because although both Kusanagi and Mishima want me dead, they probably don't want to get their hands dirty. I'd expect some Kyo clones at least," Marco responded. "Other questions?" CJ asked. "Fhrmmmrffafafruum?" Hugo asked. "The bathroom? Not sure. You can look after I'm done here. Anyone else?" Noting no one saying anything, CJ nodded. "Alright then. Here's how we're gonna do this. Driver, Poison, you two take positions at the front door. Anyone tries to get in, shoot the fuckers. Jan, rig us up a television set or something so that we can keep up-to-date on the election. Hugo, you go sweep the hotel. I wouldn't doubt someone's gonna try using ninjas, and we know they can be sneaky. Fuuma, stop eating the damn plant and go with him. Jae, Angel, you two take Marco and Ryou to the center of the hotel, preferably a room with only one way in and out, and guard him with your lives. Garrett... Garrett? Where the fuck is he? He was just here a second ago!" [---] Garrett was on a plane to Venice. He didn't realize that SOREASS was on the same plane. Fortunately for him, neither did they. This was going to be fun when they disembarked, but that's not for another 15 hours or so. Damn layover in New York. [---] "Well, forget it, he wasn't part of the group anyway. As for me, I'll be running back and forth between all the groups, making sure everything's coordinated. Now that you've heard what we're doing, any other questions?" Fuuma took in a breath. "No? GOOD. MOVE OUT!" Fuuma pouted. "But I wanted to ask where the snack bar was..." [---] "This is special correspondent Trevor Belmont with the Belmont Family News Factor, with an election update. Polls opened several hours ago, and people have been flocking towards them. Several incidents of violence have been reported, as people are apparently thinking there are 10 minutes left to the polls closing, rather than 10 hours. Exit polls indicate the Rogriguez/Szakakazi ticket with a slight edge over the Meishima/Kuma ticket, but at this point it's anyone's guess who will win. More updates as they come along." [---] SCABS had combed the city up, down, and all around. Despite all the searching, they couldn't find hide nor hair of the mayor and his running mate. And there were only nine and a half hours to go. "Dammit," Sharon swore under her breath, "how hard can it be to find a six foot tall guy with the most bizarre haircut I've ever seen, a fat guy in an orange gi that talks nonsense, and all those idiots I used to work with at Violence Unlimited?" "ABUBO!" "I think he means it's a lot harder than you might have originally thought," Rolento translated. "Well, I mean, DAMMIT! I know these people! One of them should have done something stupid that revealed their position!" "Like what?" Yoko asked. Suddenly there was a massive explosion. "Like that, maybe?" Rolento asked. "Like that!" Sharon's grin was positively feral. "Thank you, Fuuma! For once your idiocy has been helpful!" "One of your old 'friends,' I take it?" "Got that right, Rolento. C'mon troops! Let's go!" [---] Contrary to Sharon's belief, Fuuma was not responsible for the explosion. In fact, the one responsible for the explosion was only four feet tall and had a honkin' huge schnozz. "DAMN JAN!" Cracker Jack yelled. "How the hell did you cause that much of an explosion with just a TV tube and some telephone wire?" The gnome was nonplussed. "Well, old Uncle Scratchy used to say you can't make a television without blowing a few things up. Or was that Aunt Jemima?" "I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOUR FAMILY! Wait a minute, your family contains syrup?" "No, the syrup was named after my aunt, but without her permission. Boy, THAT was an ugly lawsuit. I told her she shoulda been a turnip farmer." "JUST WHIP ME UP A DAMN TELEVISION!" Now CJ remembered why he usually kept Jan locked in the basement. "Relax, it's finished. Just need to adjust the reception. Hand me that coat hangar, will ya?" "Yeah, fine, whatever. Why a coat hangar though? I mean, there's plenty of metal in this hotel." "Others have tried this. They could only get coat hangars to work. I don't know why..." [---] "E. Honda has changed the laws of physics so that only coat hangars work as TV antennas!" Seth yelled. "They still use antennas?" R. Mika asked. "Not really! That's why E. Honda decided it was a good idea! TO E. HONDA!" "TO E. HONDA!" And everyone took a sip of their drinks. "Hey, we've had enough alcohol to cause even E. Honda to pass out!" Sie yelled. A moment of silence followed. "Uh, to us?" Benimaru ventured. "TO US!" [---] "Who cares WHY it works, I just care that it works! We need those updates!" "Okay, okay... let's see... adjust this here, tweak this here, aaaaaaaaaand there we go! Simple as turnip pie." Indeed, the monitor now showed the Belmont Family News Factor, and Trevor was getting ready to give another report. "This is Trevor Belmont, with another special election report. The race is a dead heat, as Mishima supporters have swarmed the polls. This of course resulted in Rogriguez supporters doing the same, resulting in deadlock. Violence has erupted along faction lines, although there have been a few among them who fighting 'just for the hell of it,' chief among them the Bogard brothers." "Fighting for the hell of it and I'm not there? THIS SUCKS!" CJ yelled. "We're hoping to get an interview with them, but quite frankly, none of us here at the Belmont Family Factor wants to get anywhere NEAR the crazy people. In related news, there has been an explosion reported at Hotel Deception, but nobody gives a damn about that. More interesting, however, is the orange-haired ninja playing with a mirror in the sunlight. Experts in reading sunspots have determined the flashes are actually a message, one which says "THE MAYOR IS HERE COME AND GET HIM." CJ slapped his face. "Fuuma, you fucking idiot." "With eight and a half hours left before the polls close, this is truly the best race Southtown has ever seen. More as it develops... provided we are alive to tell it." "Damn! Fuuma just blew our cover! Alright Jan, see if you can prepare us a weapon of extreme death; we're gonna need it. Everybody and their brother's gonna be comin' here. I better go warn Driver and Poison, if the shit hits the fans, they're gonna be the first ones to get splattered." [---] Driver and Poison were up to their asses in alligators. Not literally, but it was a saying Poison had heard somewhere, and it was oddly appropriate. SCABS had found the hideout VU was using and was assaulting it with everything they had. This included rocket launchers, bazookas, energy weapons, knives, and a hapless squirrel that somehow got caught in the crossfire. Driver and Poison had taken the car and tipped it over on its side across the doorway. While it made a rather effective barrier, it could not hold out forever. Sure enough, one of the rockets demolished the car to the point of uselessness. Oh yeah, the squirrel chose this moment to explode into much gibbage. But that's neither here nor there. In any event, SCABS charged into the hotel, only to be met with Poison and Driver firing machine guns. While Abubo and Jack stayed to deal with Poison and Driver, the other 3 members of SCABS went looking for the mayor and the rest of VU. They didn't get very far. Hugo and Fuuma charged in with mayhem on their minds. Well, Hugo did anyway. Who knows what Fuuma was thinking about. In any event, Rolento had his hands full with Hugo, and Fuuma was proceeding to utterly confuse Yoko. In the chaos, Sharon slipped away... [---] ...but couldn't find hide nor hair of the mayor. "I've said this before, but DAMN! How hard can it be to find a six foot tall guy with the most bizarre haircut I've ever seen?" Sharon turned the corner to find a tall man wielding a baseball bat. 'Then again,' she thought, 'this is just as good.' "Long time no see, boy. How's it been?" Cracker Jack narrowed his eyes and gripped his baseball bat. "Not so well. These assholes have been trying to kill my charge. Maybe you know one. Goes by the name of Sharon?" "I know her. But the Sharon I know isn't trying to kill Marco Rodriguez." CJ raised an eyebrow. "Really?" "She's trying to kill an ass by the name of Cracker Jack!" And with that, she charged right at him. Unfortunately for Sharon, her face met baseball bat and she crumpled to the floor. "Wow. That was easy. Guess you're not so tough when you don't have SCABS, huh?" CJ grinned at his unintended joke. Picking up Sharon's limp carcass, he walked toward the mayhem of the main fight. [---] Mayhem was an appropriate word for the fight in the lobby. In fact, the whole had degenerated into a cartoonish brawl, complete with smoke cloud obscuring the whole fight. When CJ saw this, he did the only thing he knew that would stop it. "HEY! FUCKTWITS!" That did it. The fight stopped abruptly and everyone looked at CJ. Abubo had Poison up for a chokeslam, Driver had his fist cocked back and ready to break Yoko's nose, "Howling Mad" Jack and Hugo were both trying to squeeze each other to death, and Fuuma was eating Rolento's hat. CJ, for his part, had a shit-eating grin on his face. "Listen up, SCABS! I got your leader right here, and I beat the shit out of her! If you want her back, here's what's gonna happen! You're gonna leave this place, and I'll return her if and when I feel like it! Got me?" Rolento countered with "and what if we don't?" "If you don't, heads are gonna roll. Literally." Caught in an awkward moment, SCABS backed up and out of the door. Or rather, what was left of it after the car blew up. CJ, still with that grin on his face, tossed Sharon down to the others members of Violence Unlimited. "Hey Hugo, do me a favor and tie her up and throw her somewhere, would ya? After all this is done she's gonna get some... reeducation." Had Sharon been conscious, she would have been cringing at the thought. [---] "This is Trevor Belmont, with the Belmont Family News Factor. Our sources are reporting that there was an explosion at Hotel Deception earlier today. Whether or not this is related to the current location of Mayor Rodriguez is just speculation. Speaking of the Mayor, with approximately six and a half hours until the polls close, the race is still quite close, although exit polls show the Mayor with a half a point lead. The violence has continued, and besides the aforementioned incident at Hotel Deception, nearly three quarters of the city has been swept with rioting. More as it develops." The camera pointing at Trevor suddenly went haywire and skyward. Before it completely cut out, it flipped around to show a man with short, blond hair and a brown leather jacket with a star on the back. The microphone caught him yelling something to someone else... "Man, I haven't had this much fun in WEEKS! How about you, Andy?" "Sure is better than having Mai fawning over my ass all the time!" [---] Jae couldn't help but pace. He had heard the mayhem in the lobby, realizing in an instant that they had been found. Sooner or later there was going to be a fight in this room, and he had to be ready for it. It's strange what someone thinks about when they're about to face what could very well be his destiny. Currently Jae's thoughts weren't on the inevitable fight, but rather on Rock Howard. 'How could I have so crass and rude?' he thought, remembering back to when Rock's life was literally in his hands. 'That tournament... that time travel... it just doesn't make sense. Why did Rock do that to me? For that matter, why did I do that to Rock? It just doesn't make any sense!' "Hey Jae, whacha thinking about?" Angel asked. 'That's not important right now. Best to think about the present.' "Nothing much, Angel. Just trying to get ready for this fight that's going to be coming up." "It's not going to be easy," Marco said. "Hope you're ready for the fight of your life, because that's what you're going to get." "Errrr... I am sasparilla!" Ryou opined. "Thank you, my dear running mate, for that incredibly intelligent and wise remark." Jae ignored the bickering running mates and focused again. 'It's going to go down soon. I must be ready.' [---] 'Five hours to go. Seems like my father's... successor Kusanagi has interests in seeing the mayor dead. Well, when they get here, I'll just sneak right in behind them, take out Jae, and be on my way.' Rock Howard had obviously inherited his father's ability to scheme. 'So what if Mishima hired me to take out Rodriguez? Like I care about some chump mayor. I just want Jae's head on a silver platter.' Rock looked at the hotel. 'Come on, where are they?' [---] They were currently... occupied. "I don't get it," Scorpion said, flatly. "We shoulda been there an hour ago, but we can't find the place." After saying this, he tossed back another beer. "Agreed," Shang Tsung said around a mouthful of spaghetti. "You would think that a place like Hotel Decpetion would be easy to find." "But," Armor Jack replied, "with a name like Hotel Deception, the directions would be deceiving." Having impressed his colleagues with the incredible logic of his statement, Jack took a swig of motor oil. Goro said nothing. He was too busy stuffing his face with buffalo wings. He was doing this at a rather impressive rate, especially since he had four hands to stuff his rather large mouth with. Of course, someone took objection to Goro hogging all the wings. "HEY!" E. Honda bellowed. "NO EATING MY BUFFALO WINGS!" With that, he jumped up on the bar, and flopped right back down on Goro. "E. Honda's gonna kick the four armed guy's ass!" Rainbow Mika shouted. "To E. Honda!" "TO E. HONDA!" the worshippers yelled. "No, Goro's gonna destroy that tub of lard!" Armor King countered. "To Goro!" "TO GORO!" Goro's friends yelled. "E. HONDA!" "GORO!" "E. HONDA!" "GORO!" "E. HONDA!" "GORO!" Then the brawl broke out. Terry and Andy Bogard just happened to be wandering by. "Hey Andy! Look! A fight!" "Let's go!" [---] "Trevor Belmont here again with a Belmont Family News Factor special report. With a scant four hours to go, the race is still dead even. Either party could win this fight. Speaking of fights, the fighting and rioting that has accompanied the election has reached epic proportions and engulfed the entire city. Most of the population, in fact, has voted already, and seems to be fighting because they can. It's going to come down to a couple of votes. For the Belmont Family News Factor, this is Trevor OH GOD NOT AGAIN!" Trevor was screaming because Terry and Andy Bogard, who were currently fighting with Sie Kensou and Scorpion, just happened to be fighting his way. Remembering what happened the last time, Trevor got the hell out of there. His camera wasn't so lucky. [---] With three hours to go, two rather unexpected faces showed up at Hotel Deception. "Remind me again why we're doin' dis?" Drahmin asked. Moloch sighed. "Dis is why I'm de smart one. Since de boss has gone to such great lengths to make dese two hate each udda, dey haven't gone and tried to kill each udda. Now, bein' de smart one, I'm tinkin' dat de Jim kid..." "Jae." "Whateva! I'm tinkin' dat de Jae kid is too strong for dat Stone kid." "Rock." "Whateva! I hoid dat Rock was gonna be here, so we weaken Jae, let Rock kill him, and den Rock'll be evil, and we can use 'im!" Drahmin's eyes lit up. "So DAT'S what step two was!" [---] Quan Chi sneezed. "Why do I have this horrible feeling that my minions have just runied a brilliant, if somewhat obfuscated, plan?" [---] Moloch scratched his head. "Well, I dunno 'bout dat, but it sounds good ta me!" "Great! Let's go!" With that, he lauched a fireball into the (newly and hastily repaired) front door of Hotel Deception. [---] "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Kyo yelled. "TELL YOUR MINIONS TO STOP USING FIRE! FIRE IS MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!" "Those aren't my minions," Blackheart replied. "I DON'T CARE! TELL THEM TO STOP!" [---] Driver and Poison were quickly engulfed by the fireball. Hugo didn't last much longer. Hey, these are two DEMONS we're talking about. Cracker Jack attempted to hold them back also, but once his baseball bat didn't even do any damage, it was a simple matter for the two demons to punch him into a nearby wall. Fuuma was surprisingly effective, mostly because the big, dumb brutes couldn't catch the small, dumb ninja. In fact, it was a stroke of dumb luck that allowed Moloch to beat Fuuma into the ground. Namely, Fuuma ran into a potted plant. After that, it was easy to just punch him into the wall. The two demons then continued on their quest for Jae. Little did they see the young man sneaking behind them... [---] 'Yeesh, remind me never to follow these two again,' Rock thought. It's been a half an hour since they went looking for Jae and NOTHING! How hard can it be to find one man in a hotel?' As it turns out, quite hard. See, Moloch and Drahmin had forgotten exactly what Jae looked like. So they had to check EVERY ROOM IN THE HOTEL. Yes, including the one with Fat Eddie. That one made Rock nearly throw up. Same with the beating that the two demons gave him. Also, the beatings that the two demons gave everyone else they came across. Finally, a half hour later (for those keeping track, there are three hours left until the end of the election), the demons found the right room. Rock, breathing a sigh of relief, hunched back into the shadows to wait for his opportunity. [---] "You didn't tell us demons were after you!" Angel looked at Marco with an accusing glare. "That's because I didn't KNOW there were demons after... oof!" Marco took a shot to the jaw and fell unconscious. "That WOULD be a good... oof!" Angel took a shot to the stomach and fell unconscious. "Eeeerrrr... I was born in a hacky... urg!" Ryou took a shot to the chest and... well, three guesses what happened next. First two don't count. Finally, the only ones left were Jae, Moloch, and Drahmin. Jae was beginning to panic slightly, but he remembered that he was a Hero of Justice, and with Justice on his side, he could get through any problem whatsoever. That lasted all of about three seconds, before Moloch used his fist like a hammer and Jae like a nail. Since Moloch was taking care not to beat Jae too badly, Jae didn't fall into unconsciousness like the others, but only became a little loopy. "I gots somethin' ta say to ya, kid!" Moloch growled. "Ya wanna know why we're after ya? We're gonna destroy ya, and use your best friend ta do it!" "Yeah!" Drahmin cheered. "Ya see, you're too much of a goody-goody ta leave alive, but our boss wants to break ya body and soul!" "Yeah!" "So, he sent dat stupid friend of yours information about de Ultimate Armor!" "Yea... he did?" [---] 'What?' Rock's thought chilled his spine. 'Are they talking about me?' [---] "Yes he did, Drahmin. Anyway, that kid did all de work for de boss! He's gonna help us conquer de woild!" "Yeah! Wanna hear about it?" "Not... particularly..." Jae gasped. "Step one... kidnap Sumo Santa!" Drahmin recited. 'So THEY were the ones behind the Sumo Santa plot,' Jae thought. "Step two... cause you two to hate each other!" Moloch recited. "Step three... WOILD DOMINATION!" they both said in unison. "Heh," Moloch laughed. "Look at you. So much for de 'Hero of Justice.' Dis hero's nuttin' but a zero! HAHAHA!" "So, we gonna leave 'im for Rock Howard, or should we play wit' him a bit more?" Drahmin asked. [---] Once Rock Howard heard his name, the last straw was broken. Here he was hating his best friend... and only because he was manipulated. 'It may be too late to save my friendship with Jae, but I will be DAMNED if they think they can use the son of Geese Howard as a pawn!' [---] "Nah, let's play wit' him some more. Rock'll be along soon enough." "You're damn right he will," a voice hissed behind the two demons. The demons turned around to find a figure surrounded by a flaming blue aura. "Let's get one thing straight. Nobody uses Rock Howard and gets away with it." "How do you know?" Drahmin asked. "Because I AM Rock Howard. SHINE KNUCKLE!" Drahmin was suddenly introduced to a fistful of light, followed by a large vertical ascent, courtesy of the Rising Tackle. Drahmin crashed to the floor in a daze. Moloch attempted to save his partner by charging Rock. It was a huge mistake. "RAGING STORM!" Moloch was buffeted about by blue winds, fueled by Rock's rage. The winds propelled him and his idiot partner straight up, through the roof, and into the stratosphere. Rock, having calmed down considerably, surveyed the carnage. Angel, Marco and Ryou were just coming back to the realm of consciousness, but Jae was already there and looking at Rock with wide eyes. "Rock... why--" "Why? Didn't you hear me? No one uses Rock Howard. By the way, Mayor Rodriguez, Mishima IS trying to kill you. If you win, I'd be glad to testify against him or whatever. Bastard just wanted to use me... but I was so blinded by my hatred I didn't realize it." "Yes, I'd appreciate the help. Speaking of winning, anyone know how the election is going?" "I think Jan rigged something up, but I dunno where he is..." Angel said, but she was interrupted by two falling demons. Two PISSED demons. "Jae, I'll take care of this. You're hurt. Get everyone outta here!" Rock yelled. "Nonsense. You're my friend, and I'm not about to abandon a friend," Jae replied. He needn't have worried, as a HUGE blast came in from the hall and sent the demons spiraling over the hills. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that?" "I ordered a weapon of mass death, and I got it!" Cracker Jack crowed, running into the room. "The crazy gnome came through again!" "Course I did, ol' Uncle Scrizzly wouldn't have taught me right had I been able to do nothing!" Jan, the aforementioned crazy gnome, poked his head into the room and surveyed the damage. "Yup. Worked like a charm. I remember when Cousin Muknuk wanted me to build a turnip peeling machine. That was my best work until now. "LISTEN! I DON'T GET A FLYING FUCK ABOUT YOUR PAST! I JUST WANT TO GET TO A FUCKING TELEVISION TO KNOW IF I'M WINNING THE GODDAMN ELECTION OR NOT!" Marco screamed. Everyone else covered their ears. Except for Cracker Jack, who was taking notes. "Oh yeah, TV's downstairs if you want it." [---] "Trevor Belmont here once again with a Belmont Family News Factor special report. The fighting has increased to fever pitch as almost all the citizens have voted. Right now, the Mishima/Kuma ticket seems to have an ever-so-slight lead over Rodriguez and Szakakazi, but with less than two hours left before the polls close, I must beat a dead horse and say that either party can still win. Now, I am going to run like hell before the Bogard brothers find me again. This is Trevor Belmont reporting." [---] At the Hotel, Marco was in a panic. "NO! I'M LOSING! HOW COULD THIS BE?" "Calm down a minute! You can still win! Look, we have how many voters here? You heard how close the poll was, you can still win!" Cracker Jack countered. "That's true... there are still others... RIGHT! Come on, let's go!" "You guys go ahead," Jae replied. "I'm too young to vote, so it's okay. I just need to talk to Rock for a while." "Yeah, I'm too young also. Go ahead, we'll catch up," Rock added. "You two gonna be okay?" Angel asked. "Yeah. Go, you don't have much time left," Jae said. Rock simply nodded. "Sure thing kid. C'mon, you heard the man, let's get outta here," Cracker Jack said, leading Angel, Marco, and Ryou out of the room. Then there was silence. [---] "This is Trevor Belmont once again with the Belmont Family News Factor. With only one hour to go before the polls close, Mayor Rodriguez has emerged from wherever it was he was hiding these past few hours and come out to the polls to vote, surrounded by what he calls 'a crack security force designed to keep me absolutely safe from all the...' well, I can't say what on air. In any event, with the mayor and his entourage voting, every single voter in Southtown has done so, meaning the polls will close an hour early, and the votes will be tallied. In a somewhat related matter, there is a HUGE fight in the streets. While it was believed that it was related to the election, it has now been revealed that several months ago Terry Bogard, on his program 'Terry Bogard Fighting Around the World,' had declared today as a day to just let loose and fight. So, everyone is just kicking everyone else's butt. I'm going to join in the fray, especially since I have to get revenge on Bogard for destroying two cameras. This is Trevor Belmont, signing off." [---] An hour later, when the polls were originally scheduled to close, Jae and Rock were walking along a semi-deserted street. They were probably the only two in town that weren't fighting. "So lemme get this straight," Rock mused. "You thought that the tournament was only a little bit ago, but as far as I knew, it was over a year ago, but it was at the tournament you almost let me fall off of that cliff. But, I thought you were doing it to me for no reason, even though you were trying to teach me a lesson that I didn't need yet. Did I get it right?" "I think so," Jae responded while rubbing his temples. "It sounded right, but it's difficult to tell. Time travel gives me headaches. Makes it really hard to write history too." Both then suddenly said "I HATE time travel." Realizing that both were thinking the EXACT same thing, they laughed. It felt good. "So, now that we've figured out why we were at each other's throats, I gotta ask you something," Rock said. "Shoot." "Where's that girl you used to pal around with? You were good together." "We... broke up. I'm seeing Angel now." "You mean the girl with no clothes on back at the hotel?" "Yeah, that's her. Wait a minute, did you say NO clothes?" Rock nodded. "She must have lost that robe in the fighting. She's a nice girl and all, but my clothing bills for her are just AWFUL. She always seems to lose clothes." Seeing the perverted grin on Rock's face, Jae blushed like mad. "It's not like that, honest!" "Suuuuure, it isn't. You just like having her along for ONLY her winning personality. Right, and I'm the Queen of Southtown." "Cut it out!" "Fine, fine, whatever. You were always easy to tease. How 'bout that brother of yours?" At the mention of Dong, Jae's face darkened considerably. "What?" "You're not aware of this, but Dong seems to have fallen in with... an unsavory character. Goes by the name of Doctor Doom." "Yeah, I've heard of him. But you know Dong. He'll stick around with anything until he gets bored then moves on. Doom probably bribed him with lime green Jello or something like that." "I don't know, Rock... this IS Doctor Doom we're talking about." "Well, if it makes you feel better, I'll keep my ear to the ground. If I hear anything, I'll let you know." "I appreciate that. I really do. Hey, do you need a job?" "Well, I was just doing various odd jobs to make ends meet while planning your horrible demise. A steady income would be nice, but..." "But?" "You heard what I said back there. Nobody uses Rock Howard. Even if it is a decent place to work, how do I know they don't have agendas?" "Hey, Cracker Jack's a great guy to work for. Even if he does use curse words I've never heard before sometimes. I'm sure he'd be glad to at least look at a position for you. We tried a temp, but frankly, that didn't work out. Hired assassin and all. Besides, they're great people to work with. Angel, Poison, Hugo, Fuuma, and Jan are all people I consider friends. Even if they can be a bit quirky." Rock seemed to think it over. "Okay, I'll at least come down with you to meet these guys. Who knows?" "Great. Hey, looks like a fight over there." "I think I've had enough fighting for one day." "Yeah. Me too. Wait a second, isn't that Trevor Belmont?" [---] It WAS Trevor Belmont, and he was about to announce the results of the election. "Ladies and gentlemen, Trevor Belmont here with the Belmont Family News Factor, and the results are in! The Heihachi/Kuma ticket received 428,221 votes. The Rodriguez/Szakakazi ticket received..." All was silent. Even the fighting that had torn up Southtown just stopped. A tumbleweed tumbled past. Crickets chirped. A pin dropped. "...428,222 votes! RODRIGUEZ WINS! RODRIGUEZ WINS! RODRIGUEZ WINS!" Half the assembled masses cheered. The other half booed. Then Mishima (who was SOMEWHERE in the crowd) spoke up. "I DEMAND A RECOUNT!" The entire crowd yelled "AW SHIT!" And then started fighting again. Just another day in Southtown. [---] Author's Notes: So there you have it. The election is over... OR IS IT? For some odd reason, when I read the setup to Rock's turning evil, three words ran through my mind: ROCK FACE TURN. That's what brought that about. I like Rock on the side of good better, but that's just me. After all, Geese was evil enough. Hey, I would be too with a name like Geese. Besides, Rock has the Coolest Motherfucking Winpose of All Time. (tm Gavok I believe) Anywho, next up is Hwoooooooooon. Hey wait a minute, I don't know no Hwoooooooooon. So sign up before I unleash chaingun hellfire on you all. Wildfire 7/28/03