By Dan

Marcus Redd, also known as Crimson, made his way over several rooftops in his Bushin outfit. Satisfied with the distance from his home and his current location, Crimson finally put an end to his rooftop leaping and stopped by the Bergen Street "F" train station.

"*Well, we'll see if something happens tonight, although I doubt anything will...*", Crimson thought to himself. Looking out past the rooftop while crouching, the young Bushin student searched for a situation he could come in-between, or at least a kitty he could save or something...

"*(Sigh...)*"

Crimson shook his head. Nothing ever really happened much in Brooklyn these days. Back when he was living in The Bronx, things were much more interesting... Colombians moving cocaine, gang shootouts, and a crime going on almost every other day. But now that Crimson was residing in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, nothing much went on.

"It's all good now, I'm out the hood now...", Crimson muttered rolling his eyes.

=====

Leaning back on the couch inside Cody and Jessica's living room, Guy waited for his friend to return with a cola for him. Instead of taking the city transportation like any normal person would, the Bushin Master simply used his speed to make time.

He was lucky Cody was expecting him, for Jessica may have thrown Cody out had she knew that her fiancé was out gallivanting with the famed Bushin master. As Guy pondered what would call for his services as a Bushin next, Cody returned with two glasses full of bubbling Coca-Cola.

"And one for the lady...", Cody cracked, toting the glass in Guy's direction. Guy scoffed.

"Incredibly funny, Cody..."

"Soo...", Cody began while sitting down on a chair to the left of Guy's spot on the couch, "...How's life, man?"

"It's been better, I can say that...", the Bushin master replied almost quietly whilst yawning. He was admittedly tired. Cody leaned over to speak more quietly, catching Guy's drift.

"Yeah, I can tell you've had a pretty hard night, man...", Cody said after a sip of soda.

"..You wanna' crash here or something?"

"Only if it's not too much trouble...", Guy answered. He didn't have a whole ton of money, and really didn't have a significant place to reside with the exception the dojo he kept in after Master Zeku passed on. So, much like a drifter, Guy made a home where he could find one, seeing as how he always had to be on the trail of evil. But regardless, Cody didn't mind helping one of his best friends if he had the opportunity to. Besides, he owed Guy one for the Warden Ferguson incident...

"It's not any trouble at all... That is, if you don't mind the basement...", Cody warned. Guy smiled.

"I've dealt with thugs, being shot at, a teenager, and Bison himself. I can handle a basement...", Guy replied. Cody chuckled.

"Alrighty then, I'll get some pillows and bedsheets...", Cody said, heading upstairs. Guy looked around. Cody was definitely living better now that he had "settled down". Pretty big house, nice car, great furnishing...

"*Damn, I probably could have this if I settled down...*", the Bushin master thought while waiting for Cody to return.

"...But then again, I probably wouldn't want it."

=====

"Well... Hello, what's this?", Crimson said, looking down below his current spot on the apartment building rooftop. Two people dressed in all-black, exchanging something in bags... A drug deal! It wasn't much, but Crimson still had felt obligated to stop it from happening. But before he jumped into the action, Crimson made sure it was an actual deal and not just some sort of transaction. Using his Bushin senses, he took priority in observing the bags that was being passed between the two men. One was a clear ziplock with green leaves, which Crimson identified as marijuana. The other bag had a white substance inside it, and Crimson easily knew what that was. After all, when he was in Mad Gear, he used to deal and transport it...

"*Ha... It's legit. Time for some action...*"

Jumping down to the side of the building, Crimson made it down the fire escape in record time. Listening to the conversation between the seller and buyer, Crimson waited in the alley for the perfect opportunity to break up their little "transaction".

"So let's see...", one man began, "That's two nickel-bags right there, and that's about a couple of grams of the white stuff..."

"Heh, I owe you a bit of green, right?", the other man replied. The first man nodded. The drug buyer then pulled out some cash. A lot of cash. At least one-hundred dollars. Crimson's eyebrows rose. Those drugs couldn't be worth that much, Crimson thought. That is, unless...

"Hey, it doesn't cost that much for all this, y'know...", the seller replied. The buyer nodded, smiling.

"Nah, it's all good...", he began, "...Besides, I wanna' make a down-payment on the next shipment, know what I'm sayin'?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get you.", the seller answered. Both the buyer and the seller shook hands and were about to go their separate ways, but the buyer called the seller back.

"Yeah, what's up?", he asked.

"There's one more thing I've got to tell you...", the buyer said with a smile. It was then that Crimson made their business his business.

"There's something I've gotta tell the both of you, too...", Crimson said upon making his entrance, "...Both of you are busted..."

The seller looked at Crimson and instantly took off running. The buyer followed suit and ran after the drug seller.

"Damn! Do they always have to run?", Crimson asked himself, taking off after the two criminals. He knew that he might not be able to catch up with the dealer, but with a burst of Bushin speed, Crimson could easily apprehend the drug buyer. Focusing his chi, Crimson used that burst of speed and tackled the drug buyer.

"ARGH! Damnit!", the buyer exclaimed as he hit the ground. Getting up to his feet, Crimson moved quickly to capture the criminal, but the drug buyer got up and retrieved a gun from underneath his shirt and pointed it dead center at the Bushin student's chest all in one motion. Crimson froze dead in his tracks. As fast a Bushin was, a bullet discharging at 200 miles per hour at point blank range couldn't be avoided even by Master Zeku...

"Put the gun down...", Crimson said, trying to reason with the criminal. The drug buyer looked at him incredulously.

"You damn idiot! Do you know what you've done? Or are you working for that dealer?", he said angrily to Crimson.

"Huh? What are you talking about...?", the Bushin student asked uncertainly. It was then that the "criminal" pulled out an official Metro City police badge from his back pocket.

"I'm an undercover cop...", the man explained to Crimson's shock.

"...I've been "buying" drugs from that man for months, waiting for the perfect time to arrest him. He had said he'd be going down to Florida after our next deal, and I figured I'd take him in now instead of next week. But now, who knows where the hell he is, thanks to you!"

Crimson couldn't believe it, but he knew it was true. He really screwed up this time...

"Look, I apologize... I...I didn't know...", Crimson said, stepping back away from the cop. But the policeman wasn't having any of that.

"Stay where you are. You're under arrest! You attacked me, so that's assaulting a police officer! So either come quietly, or I call for backup...", the cop warned. Crimson put his hands up. He knew he was defeated in this situation.

Crimson had never been more embarrassed in his life. People from the street were staring at him and pointing, and he completely ruined the police's sting operation. He could just imagine what Guy's response to this would be had they still been a team. Crimson hung his head down in shame as the cop handcuffed him and called for a police unit. One mistake was all it took...

"*What am I going to do now?*", Crimson thought sadly to himself.

"*How am I supposed to get out of this mess this time?*"