By Dan

The Bushin master Guy walked through the shadows of Metro City's still-notorious South Side, thinking several things at once. His life was never peaceful, and as a Bushin, he was used to confronting several situations at once. Right now, his mind was on three different situations: Handling the Shadaloo situation, two, handling his personal life with Rena, and finally, last but not least, thinking of a way to find a peace between himself and his former student, Crimson.

"*It's a hectic life I lead, but I'll manage...*", Guy thought wearily. But first, he needed to rest. He didn't live in Metro City anymore, but he was going to take a chance and see if Cody still resided in the city.

With a chuckle, Guy sighed. "*One day, when I'm old and crippled, I'll probably finally settle...*"

"*...Hm. Probably not...*"

=====

Balrog stepped from the shadows of the bar when he realized the cops were there. His eyes went wide. He didn't need to get caught in a situation like this.

"Awww, damn it all... I gotta' get the hell outta' this joint...", he muttered. Hearing the cops asking questions while arresting the gangsters that Balrog was negotiating with only about twenty minutes ago, the champion boxer made his way to the back of the bar into the shadows once more.

And he found himself a means of escape: A narrow hallway. Making his way to it, the large boxer found himself to be a bit too big for the corridor. But he managed to shuffle through it easier by turning his body sideways. But he was quickly losing his patience.

"*Argh...! Isn't there a fire exit or sumthin' in this dump?*", Balrog thought angrily, fumbling through the dark. Then the boxer actually used something he hadn't thought of at first... His brain.

"*Heyyyyy... I can probably punch through this wall...*", Balrog pondered. Throwing any caution to the winds, Balrog made his best effort to get enough distance to punch at the wall. When he was satisfied with the spacing, Balrog smashed into the wall with a left jab. But to his surprise, it didn't bust in.

"*All it did was crack? Heh heh, I must be outta' practice...*", the boxer mused. Giving it one more try, Balrog let out a more stronger punch on the defenseless wall, and the spot he aimed for crumbled to bricks around his feet. Looking outside, Balrog took note that it was the dead of night.

"Haha... perfect...", Balrog replied at his accomplishment. Now, with it being nighttime, no one could identify him as a member of Shadaloo. Stepping through the hole in the wall, he made his way to the nearby lot that hosted the cars of the bar patrons.

"*Where is the one I was drivin'?*", Balrog asked himself. Walking around, looking rather foolish at that, the hulking boxer realized he couldn't find his car, a black Lincoln Navigator, which would classify as an SUV, anyway. Then Balrog realized something else that he forgot: He wasn't driving in a car.

"*Uhhh... Oops. Heh.*"

Finding his Lincoln Navigator, Balrog took the keys from his slacks, and placed them in the front door, and opened the lock. Hopping in quickly, he placed the appropriate key in the ignition and revved the engine three times.

Placing the big SUV in reverse, Balrog quickly sent the car backwards out of it's parking space, then placing the vehicle back into drive, he proceeded to gun the engine, sending the shiny black Navigator cruising onto the streets of Metro City. Throwing on his favorite rap song, LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out", Balrog let out a laugh.

"Ha ha ha! Tha' perfect getaway..."

Then his phone rang. Balrog looked at the cellular in the passenger seat with wide eyes. It rang again. Taking it in his right hand while steering with his left, he flipped the lid and answered.

"Um, eh... Hello?"

"It's me, fool... I trust that the business deal went as planned, correct?", the deep voice replied. Balrog sweatdropped almost instantly.

"Um, eh... Not... technically, sir..."

=====

Derrick got to the third floor, huffing and puffing all the way. He had just finished playing a basketball game a half-hour ago, and after using all those shortcuts, and unnecessarily running up flights of stairs inside the brownstone apartment, Derrick was admittedly winded. But it would be worth it to get his revenge... Taking a couple of relaxing breaths, Derrick made his way to the front door of Crimson's apartment.

"*Heh, it due time that Marcus got his...*", Derrick thought with an evil smile. Knocking on the door, Derrick waited for Crimson to open the door. Hearing the shutter of the eyelet on the inside of the door open and shut, Derrick smiled as the door opened and Crimson stood in the hallway.

"Hey... Uh, Derrick, what are you doing here, man?", Crimson asked. Derrick kept smiling.

"I'm here to get my revenge...", Derrick answered, still smiling. Crimson gave him an inquisitive eyebrow raise.

"What are you talking about, Derrick?", Crimson asked. Derrick's smile soon vanished.

"It's about time you got yours, Marcus...", he said solemnly. Crimson backed up a step.

"What are you going on about, man...", Crimson asked again, this time more insistently. Derrick chuckled.

"You beat me on the court...", he began, "So I'm going to beat you... On the PS2!!!"

Crimson laughed. Derrick didn't.

"Oh, you don't think I will, eh?", Derrick asked Crimson. Crimson laughed.

"I doubt it, but ah, we'll see. Come on in... And get your butt whipped!"

"Let's go!", Marcus exclaimed, pushing Crimson as a taunt. The Bushin student chuckled. He needed to stop being paranoid... Crimson could've sworn Derrick had came here to attack him or something... But why would one of his best friends do that?

=====

Still walking through the darkness of the night, Guy continued his trek to Cody and Jessica's house. Then he realized that he might have to take the subway to get there.

"*Damn... It's a little farther out than I thought...*", the Bushin master thought to himself. But before he could head to the nearest train station, he heard a scream and a breaking of glass.

"My work is never done...", Guy murmured to himself, breaking into a slight smile. Running to where his senses said the scene happened, he found a lady on the ground with glass littered around her. The perpetrator was off and running. Guy knew he could catch him, so he made sure the lady was alright.

"Are you okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?", Guy asked. The woman shook her head no as he helped her up.

"I tried to hit one of them with a bottle, and the other snatched my purse as I swung the bottle... Please catch them...", she pleaded. Guy nodded.

"Call the police... I'll handle those crooks...", Guy vowed. In the blink of an eye, he was off and chasing the purse-snatcher. The crook, paranoid and feeling that someone might be chasing him, decided to cut a couple of corners in hope that he would lose whomever might be following.

When he was satisfied with the distance between himself and whomever, he slowed into a corridor in-between two apartment buildings where his partner was waiting for him.

"Damn... Jase, what took you so damn long, man?", his partner asked.

"I... (huff)... think someone's... (puff), chasing...me...", Jase managed to breath out. His partner grabbed the purse.

"Let's see what kind of scratch that lady's got in this purse...", he said with a grin. Pulling out a pair of glasses and carelessly tossing them aside into a nearby garbage can, Jase's partner broke into an even bigger smile when he got to the wallet.

"Cha-ching!"

"How much is it, Robb?", Jase asked his comrade-in-crime. It was then that Guy swooped down from a fire escape on the apartment building.

"It's not even enough to post bail for you two crooks...", Guy replied. Robb looked at Jase, and Jase looked at Robb. Then Robb spoke to Guy.

"What are you gonna' do, make us give it back? The odds *are* against you, y'know...", Robb said with a sneer. Guy smiled.

"No, you've got it wrong. The odds are against *you*...", the Bushin master answered back. Jase pulled out a knife from his back pand unshit.

"Let's go, punk!", Jase exclaimed, running full-speed at Guy. While Jase's attack wseem fast to normal people, Guy as a Bushin, and his eyes saw it as the slowest move in the world. Jase made a quick slash at Guy and the Bushin master ducked under the attack and sent a haymaker punch into Jase's gut.

His eyes wide, Jase struggled for breath as he dropped his knife and clutched his ribs with both hands. Then, in one fluid motion, Guy then sent a kick straight into the middle of Jase's forehead, sending him flying into the garbage cans. Robb then tried to sucker-punch Guy, but missed his attack.

The Bushin master moved much quicker than Robb, almost lazily parrying every swing Robb was taking at him. Deciding to end this nonsense, Guy stepped by a punch Robb threw out at him, grabbed the same arm, and pulled Robb forward into his knee, which found a home in Robb's lower extremities.

"ARGH!", Robb cried out, falling to the ground in the fetal position. Jase, with an angry scowl on his face, picked up a metal garbage lid and swung it at Guy. The Bushin master slid under the flying lid and watched it sail into the street. Looking at Jase, who had nothing else to heave at him, Guy actually laughed.

"What do you think this is, The Matrix?", Guy replied with another hearty chuckle. Running toward Jase at a speed the crook couldn't ever hope to achieve, Guy performed his sliding kick to Jase's left leg, which made Jase fall forward. As he fell, the Bushin master got up and actually found enough time to take Jase's head and slam it into his knee, knocking him out.

"What a cool move...", Guy muttered to himself while raising his hand and bringing it back down to his side. Picking up the handbag that the lady had, he made his way from the alley just as wailing sirens made it known that policemen were about to hit the scene.

=====

Opening the door for Derrick to his apartment, Crimson let out a laugh.

"Man, I can't believe you missed that shot, man... You were wide open, bro...", Crimson replied with another chuckle. Derrick shook his head.

"Wide open with Reggie Miller, and I miss... Man, is my luck totally screwed up or what?", Derrick asked Crimson. Crimson shrugged.

"Better luck next time, right?", Crimson replied. Derrick nodded.

"Hope so. Hey, good game, man...", Derrick replied putting out a fist. Crimson met it with a fist of his own as a symbolic handshake as he lead Derrick down the flights of stairs. Once the two got to the door, Derrick turned around.

"I'll get my revenge another time, Marcus. Just you wait... You can't beat me in NBA Live 2001 forever...", he replied while shaking his fist. Crimson rolled his eyes. He had to laugh at Derrick. The man was simply too funny.

"You get your revenge, I'll be right here waitin' for ya...", Crimson said. Derrick nodded.

"A-ight then, I'm outta' here. Peace out.", Derrick said while walking down the street. Crimson chuckled again, then made his way back inside.

"*Damn, it's late. We must've been playing for three or four hours. It's close to midnight...*", Crimson thought. Even though not much happened in this part of Metro City, but nonetheless it was time for his shift... Crimson figured he'd patrol the streets for about an hour tonight and head back home early.

"Yup... I think that's what I'll do...", Crimson said to himself. Heading back to his apartment, the young Bushin student retrieved his Bushin outfit from his drawer. These days he opted to wear it because Guy once said that wearing the Bushin outfit was a privilege and not a right.

So Crimson wore the Bushin outfit in his favorite color: smoke gray. Putting on the mesh undershirt first, Crimson then added the vest part of the outfit to his frame.

"*I'm glad it's not cold out here...That'd be a pain in the back...*", Crimson thought while putting on his pants. Slipping on the new pair of black patent-leather Air Jordan XI's, Crimson was ready to do his duty as a young Bushin. Putting on his headband last, Crimson opened the door to his apartment and looked left to right, making sure no one saw him. When he was sure no one was around, Crimson smiled.

"Time to roll..."

In a blur, Crimson went to the escape ladder located on his floor that led to the roof. Shimmying up the ladder in no time, Crimson opened the trapdoor and hopped out onto the roof of the apartment building. Making sure to quietly close the trapdoor, Crimson looked out above the borough of Brooklyn.

"Seems quiet... But, I'd better go out anyway. I could use the fresh air...", Crimson said to himself. Rolling his eyes, Crimson realized he was doing more of talking to himself than he used to. But he shrugged it off regardless. Running full-speed, Crimson leapt high and effortlessly cleared his building to the next rooftop. And the next one after that, and the next one after that...