Private/Closed King of the Fist

[Jagson]

David snorted " You could've just said something." He said as he moved away from her.

"I'm sorry Coco." Cullen said keeping his eyes on her. His face looked apologetic as he made sure the person left. "I know that was awkward but I didn't mean anything by that. The man was going to continue to advance and you can't speak. So didn't want him to get any funny ideas.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Coco separated herself from Cullen. Although part of her was glad that Cullen had stepped in, she still felt extremely awkward about everything that just happened. Couldn't there have been a way that didn't involve her acting like someone's girlfriend? The mute kinds just stood there, still rubbing her arm. After a few moments, she looked back at Cullen and gave him a bit of a forced smile and nod, then looked away. Her blush still stood out against her pale skin.

Johann and Powell watched the whole thing go down with Cage, Coco, and Cullen. Powell frowned.
"Hey... Isn't that guy that one weird actor, David Cage?" Powell said as the actor walked away. Johann didn't say anything, and just watched Coco and Cullen.
"Quite a rude little girl." Johann said. Powell looked back at Coco and Cullen. He had seen the two of them on the train, but they were just talking. Didn't the guy break a cabin door or something?
"That's strange. They didn't seem that close on the train." Powell said.

 

[Jagson]

He knew he fucked up. He let out a breath before moving away he saw the two people staring at him. He simply waved as he started to walk away.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

As Cullen walked away, Coco felt a little bad. She opened her mouth so say something, but like always no sound was made. Coco watched Cullen walk away for another moment before turning back and looking out at the bay. Her mother's voice rang in her head.

So what if you made him feel bad? Coco could practically hear her mother say. He's an opponent, and not only that, he embarrassed you! If he feels bad, It makes it easier to beat him, which puts you one step closer to your priority. Winning!

Yet Coco could hear what her father would have to say about this as well. He was only trying to help you. He would've said. Without him, things could have gotten quite worse very fast. I think you owe him an apology for not thanking him.

Coco thought about it for a little while longer before making a decision. She would apologize to Cullen. But later.


Now the leather jacket guy and pale girl were walking away. The guy looked a bit upset, why Powell wasn't sure. Powell decided to leave back at Cullen. Johann simply stood there, watching. Her cold blue eyes jumped from person to person.
"So, Powell. Met any interesting contestants?" Johann asked.

 

[Jagson]

Cullen went back to watching people come in. He looked to his right and saw Boko staring out into the city. " Where are you from?" He asked.
" You people call it Africa." Boko said as he smiled at him. " Boko nows he is a freak to many people." He said. " But Boko a gentle man and will prove it in this tournament. Cullen nodded somewhat kicking himself for jumping to conclusions about the man.

"Hello." A girl around Coco's age said as she looked at her. " I'm Janet what's your name?" She asked with a smile. She was very happy. She was wearing a leather skirt and shirt. She smiled at her.

David smirked as he walked over to Johann. " So solider girl you want to have some fun?" He said.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Powell was about to respond when that actor, David Cage, walked up and tried flirting with Johann. It was clear to Powell that Mr. Cage was quite the player. While it was true that Johann looked quite beautiful, she still seemed to radiate a cold and dangerous aura that usually scared off most the pickup artists. So that meant this man was eithet oblivious or stupid. The boxer guessed it was the first one. Powell waited to see what Johann would do.

Lt. Johann slowly turned her head and gave David an icy glare.
"Move along, dirtbag." Johann said quietly, but loud enough for the actor to hear.

 

[Jagson]

David nodded before walking off. " When your ready to drop that bitch appearance I'll be waiting." David said as he walked into one of the cabins.

Cullen let out a yawn as the boat started to move. He kept his eyes on the harbor as it went further and further away.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Powell glanced at Johann, a smirk on his face. Although she didn't initially seem affected by the actor's retort, Powell noticed the Lieutenant's jaw harden, and a small vein buldged on her forehead. Powell could hear a small whirring of gears from her left arm as the soldier clenched her fists.
"Oh wow. He really got you good." Powell joked, nudging the soldier. After a few moments Johann relaxed, or rather went back to normal. She stared off, seemingly into nowhere and didn't bother to respond.

After a few moments, Powell decided to speak up again.
"Still doing Krav Maga?" Powell asked. Johann nodded.
"Still stuck competing in chess boxing?" Johann asked. Powell smiled and looked away.


Coco stumbled a little bit when the boat started to move, but quickly regained her footing. Another girl walked up to Coco, about her age, and introduced herself as Janet. Coco managed a smile back at the girl, and pointed at a nametag on her shirt that said "Coco Dune". After a moment, Coco gained a more thoughtful look and pointed at her own neck. She put a hand around her neck and shook her head.

 

[Jagson]

" Oh." Janet said as she nodded in understanding. " Do you know sign language?" She asked as she moved a little closer to her. " Sorry for being a bit close but seeing as you were hit on by two men I figured you might need some protection." She raised an eyebrow. " Unless you want men to hit on you."

Cullen walked away from his view as he accidently bumped into a solider. He looked at her and the man accompanying her. " Thank you for your service mam." He said giving his best salute to her. A quick way for a scrub to join the commons was threw military. Even so Cullen always had respect for the men and women who protected them.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Coco's eyes lit up when Janet asked if she knew sign language, and she nodded. Although, Coco didn't like the thought of Janet saying she needed protection. She was strong! She could take care of herself! ...Then again, this wasn't District S. She couldn't tell that David Cage guy to leave her alone by breaking his nose. She'd get kicked out of the tournament! Maybe it wasn't a bad idea to make some... allies. Coco rolled her eyes at Janet's last comment, but still couldn't help but to smile. Using sign language, Coco asked Janet if she knew ASL.

Johann looked at the man that had bumped into her. For a tournament of martial artists, they sure had poor spacial awareness. She looked Cullen up and down with her icy blue eyes. A scrub, and a gang member by the looks of it. How had he gotten past the preliminaries? He probably wouldn't last long. The scrub surprised her, however, when he saluted her and thanked her for her service. Wow. She thought he was going to try to hit on her like that scum actor a few moments ago. Johann nodded at the man, her gaze becoming a little less icy.

Powell looked over at the young man that bumped into Johann. He looked kinda... familiar.
"Hey, weren't you the guy that busted up the door on the train?" The boxer asked Cullen.

 

[Jagson]

She nodded as she replied Yes. " I can read it well I really can't do it though." She said as she smiled at her. " I can see that your a scrub." She said. " Hopefully you last longer than the scrubs from the last two tournaments." She said smiling at her. She proceeded to smirk " So was that eye roll a confirmation of my statement. Or would you rather a women hit on you."

His head hung low when the man said that. " Yeah I was. A man literally tried to kill me in my cabin. My only option was to kick him, and not knowing my own strength I accidently broke the door down when the man made contact with it." He let out a breath before stretching his hand out. " I'm Cullen by the way."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"Powell." The boxer said, shaking Cullen's hand firmly. "You must be pretty strong to kick a guy through a door like that. Either that, or it was a pretty weak door. The lady next to me is Lieutenant Johann Parker."
Powell smiled as he said this, but Johann looked at Cullen a little closer.
"Someone tried to kill you? Why?" Johann asked. That was a pretty serious thing to happen.

Coco shook her head. She was going to sign at Janet, but it wouldn't work. Taking her notebook and pen out of her bag, she wrote out a message.
I would prefer no one hits on me. It was a lot easier back in District S when I could just break the nose of anyone that harassed me. Can't do that here until we get to the ring. The message read. Coco showed the message to Janet. Coco then switched to sign language, asking Janet what class she was.

 

[Jagson]

"I don't know." He admitted as he kept his gaze on Johann cold eyes trying to show respect.. "I presume he was someone from my district probably a rival gang member trying to kill me."

"Business." She said keeping her smile. "That probably gives me less respect in yoiy eyes. I come from the "Seattle British Columbia district." She smiled a little. "Yeah breaking noses won't work here.

In a lower deck Pete rolled his neck as he waited for his food. " This is great." He said. For the past few days he has been treated like a king much better than being a scrub rat. He looked and saw a waiter. " About time." He said. The waiter simply smiled before pulling out a pistol with a silencer on it and fired two shots into Pete's chest.
" No hard feelings." The man said as he stood over the dying man. " But my employer doesn't want the chance that a scrub will win the tournament." He said before dealing the final blow. The man took a needle and connected it to a device and another needle went into Pete. Within seconds the assassin gained Pete's short thin black hair and long nose. Soon he gained all of Pete's features becoming a replica of the man. After it was done he disposed of the body and rubbed his back from a injury he received earlier that day.
"It's done." New Pete said into a telephone.
" Good." A voice said. " Now Pete will be disqualified in the first round after killing Cullen." He said.
New Pete smiled glad he was going to get some revenge on the man who vested him earlier.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"An assassin?" Powell said.
"Is your gang a very widespread?" Johann asked. Something seemed a bit fishy about this to her. Cullen must be a very high-ranking member of a gang in order for a rival to send an assassin. And even if they did, would they really risk it on a train with multiple martial arts experts?

Coco shrugged when Janet revealed she was a member of the Business class. After all, she was only around Coco's age. It was probably that her family was Business class, so Janet was Business class. She began to write another message in her notebook, then showed it to Janet.

What's it like, living Business class? The message read.

 

[Jagson]

He shook his head no. " We just are in one district. We've made plenty of enemies, The Santiagos Blazing Demons, and the corrupted Police. But They wouldn't have any reason to take a hit out on me. I'm not the head of the phoenix nor am I one of the five commanders." He said. Then he frowned as small pieces started to come together. " Hey have you both watched any of the previous tournaments. How many times has a scrub made it past the first round well besides the first tournament?' He asked.

" Well we have good food, fresh air. Amazing medicine." She stopped talking as she thought. " Hey his your muteness natural or did something happen?" She asked.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"Uh... I dunno." Powell said, scratching his head and thinking back. Although he had competed in the previous tournament, it was four years ago and he couldn't remember much.
"We competed in the previous tournament." Johann said. She had also competed in the previous tournament, having made it all the way to the semi-finals before her arm broke down. "None of the Scrubs made it past the first round. Though I fail to see what that has to do with someone trying to kill you."

Coco was a little startled by the change of subject. Man, what it would be like to live in business! Being able to walk around without having to worry about gangs or pimps or being jumped, in a beautiful city like she had just seen, San Fransisco. Maybe Janet didn't like talking about the difference in lifestyle between the Scrubs and the Business class.

Flipping to a new page in her notebook, Coco began writing again. After a few moments, she showed the message to Janet.

When I was a kid, I had a surgery. My parents never told me what it was about. Whatever it was, something went wrong and I lost my ability to speak. The message read.

 

[Jagson]

He shook his head. " I don't know. It's the only thing I can think of that might have a reason for my assassination attempt." He said. He shook his head wanting to get past his own mortality. " Anyways it'll be an honor to fight you both." He said smiling at them.

She read it. " Well my farther has been working on this drug that helps mutes that were inflicted with it gain their speech back." She said smiling at her. " When the tournament is over you can come with me back to my district and we can get you into the project. Even if it is a failure you can have three weeks of pleasure living as a business class person." She said.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

For the second time that day, Coco felt speechless. Even if she could speak, she didn't really know what to say. The ability to speak! Coco couldn't even remember when she was able to speak, or what her voice even sounded like! But this girl was offering to help. With a shakey hand, Coco wrote another message.

Is it dangerous? The drug? Coco wrote, and showed it to Janet.


"Yeah, you too." Powell said. Johann merely nodded at the gang member. The boxer thought about what Cullen said. Was he serious? Did he really think that someone was killing scrubs to prevent then from competing? That would be ridiculous! Another thought hit Powell, and he turned his attention back to Cullen.
"Who was that pale girl you were talking to earlier?" Powell asked.

 

[Jagson]

Janet shook her head no. " We finished animal trials earlier this year. It should be alright for humans." She said with a smile. " So who was that man who stepped in to help you. He was kindof cute." She said.

" Her name is coco. She's also a scrub." He said as he looked at him. "Why do you ask?"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"Hmmm... Coco... Coco..." Powell muttered, thinking. After a few moments, his eyes brightened with recognition and the boxer snapped his fingers. Powell smiled. "Ah ha!"
Johann glanced over at the boxer, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. Powell shrugged.
"I, eh, fought her before." Powell said to Cullen and Johann.

Coco thought for a moment, then with a sigh wrote down another message in her notebook.

Cullen. He's okay, I guess. The message read.

 

[Jagson]

"Really." Cullen said. " Did you piss her off or was it a legal competition?" He asked as he looked around and saw Coco. ahead of her was a guy with short brown hair and a goatee. He seemed to be conversing with a man muscular man that was only wearing underwear and a bear mask. He turned his attention back at Powell.

"Cullen." She repeated the name. She smirked a little bit. " Looks like he was staring at you for a little bit."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Coco shrugged. She didn't quite know what to say. She signed the message, yeah, so?, back at Janet.

"Neither, actually." Powell said. "I trained for this tournament by going to underground fighting rings in Scrub districts. She's quite a tough one for being so small."
Johann looked at Powell skeptically.
"You went to Scrub districts to train?" The soldier asked incredulously. Powell shrugged.
"A big reason I lost in the last tournament was because I didn't have much experience with different styles of fighting. Going to Scrub districts allowed me to study more fighting styles than I could just boxing." Powell said.

 

[Jagson]

" Oh no real reason just thought you should know." She said before shaking her head. "Anyway back to the oringal conversation. You never did awnser my question on wether or not you wanted to participate in the trial." She said.

He nodded than raised an eyebrow. " You ever go to district F before?' He asked wonder if he ever went to his district before.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Oh. She hadn't, had she? Quickly, Coco signed back that she would definitely want to be involved in the trial of the drug. To be able to have a voice... That would be incredible! No longer would she have to be silent and be forced to write or use sign language. She could talk to people! Heck, she could even use a phone! That would be incredible.

Wait. Hold up. Don't get your hopes up yet, Coco. This drug was still experimental. That means it might not even work. But, even if there was a chance it could fail, Coco thought the reward outweighed the risk.


Powell thought for a moment.
"Mm... No. I've been to Districts S, Q, P, and L. I've also been to the C district. But not the F district." Powell said. Johann looked around the deck again, taking another sweep at the contestants. A man in a lab coat with glasses and a clipboard emerged on deck, adjusting his glasses. Johann watched as the man took a double take at Coco, then quickly walked back to the cabins. Deciding that she didn't have much to add to the conversation, Johann nodded at Powell then walked to the cabins. As she walked away, if one listened closely one could hear a slight whirring from her arm and leg.

 

[Jagson]

Janet smiled and gently patted her arm. " Alright I'll make a call to my dad and tell him about it." She said she started to move before seeing the lab coat man she shook her head before moving. " I'll see you in a few minutes Coco." She said as she made her way to her cabin.

Cullen watched the soldier lady leave. He turned his attention to Powell. " Well good." He said. " That means I don't have to worry about you countering the phoenix fist." He said with a smirk. He looked at the lab coat person. He shook his head.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Powell smirked back at Cullen.
"Don't get your hopes up. I'll figure out something by the time we face off, you'll see." Powell said, crossing his arms. Noticing that something else had caught Cullen's attention, Powell looked to see what Cullen saw. But by that time, the man in the lab coat had already headed back into to cabins area. Powell looked over at Cullen. "Everything okay?"

Coco nodded and waved at Janet as she walked off. She hadn't seen the man in the lab coat, so she wasn't concerned. Coco turned her attention back to the ocean, watching the blue waves. Or, that's what she intended to do. Coco noticed that one of the people on this boat was a man in only underwear and a bear mask, and couldn't help but to stare for a moment.

 

[Jagson]

"Yeah it's fine." He said shaking his head. " Sorry I guess my paranoia about nearly dying is starting to get to me." He said. He looked back and Powell and smiled. " Well I hope to see you in the finals." He said with a genuine smile on his face.

Bear looked over at the pale girl and walked closer to her. "Mira algo que te guste." The bear man said as he leaned on the railing.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Coco now openly stared at the man, confused. She did not understand a word the man in the bear mask just said. Was that, like, Spanish or something? Who even was this guy?! Coco wrote a message in her notebook, then showed it to the man in the bear mask.

I don't speak Spanish. The message read.


"Oh, trust me. You will!" Powell said. He started to walk away towards the cabins, then stopped and turned back to Cullen. The boxer smiled at the gang member. "Best of luck to you."
With that, Powell walked back to the cabins.

 

[Jagson]

Bear man nodded before signaling to the man he was talking to earlier. The man heard Bear man speak and nodded. " This is Luchador Garra de oso." He said as he kept his eyes on the girl. " He was wondering why you were looking at him."

" You too." He said to the boxer as he made his way to his cabin.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Coco took her notebook and began writing in it again. This message took a little longer, but once she was done she showed it to both the man in the bear mask and the man with the goatee.

I'm sorry for staring. There's just a lot of people here who's styles of clothing I'm not used to seeing. Yours included, Mr. Oso. The message read. After she was sure they had read the message, Coco pointed to the name tag on her shirt that read, "Coco Dune".

 

[Jagson]

The Luchador nodded before speaking to Allen. Allen Queen looked at Coco before repeating it. " I understand Ms. Dune. Us Luchadores usually wear these kinds of outfits. We keep our identies hidden it's all apart of the act." .

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Coco tilted her head, still looking a little confused. Although the man in the goatee was making sense, she didn't know what that word, Luchodore, meant. Not only that, but what did he mean, act? This was a combat tournament, not a show. Back to her notebook Coco went, this time only taking a moment.

Luchadoor? The message read. Coco showed the message to Garra and the goatee man.

 

[Jagson]

Allen read it and repeated it to Oso.
Oso laughed a little bit before speaking to Allen. Allen looked at Coco. " I take it your from the NA region." He said. " Luchador is a SA thing." He said. " We are essentially wresltlers while we make a show of are fights we are dead serious when we have to be." Allen said. " We are sworn to keep our true identies a secret only those close to us know them." He said. Allen let out a breath. " Also you can just call him Bear Claw that's what his name translates too."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Ah. Now Coco understood. These Luchadors sounded a bit like the warriors of old that her father would talk about. When she was a kid, Coco's father would tell her stories of the heroes of old, like the Greek myths and powerful Vikings. Coco thought for a moment, then wrote down another message.

Are you a Luchador as well? What's your name? This question was directed more at the man with the goatee, rather than Bear Claw.

 

[Jagson]

"No." Allen said. " Names Allen Queen local vigilantly of the Columbus, Georgia Common district. He said as he offered her his hand. " At your service." He gave her a decent smile as he looked her dead in the eyes.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Coco accepted Allen's handshake, nodding at the two fighters. The mute turned another page in her book, then began to write again. Once she had finished, she showed the message to both Bear Claw and Mr. Queen.

It is very nice to meet you both. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get some rest in the cabin before the tournament. The message read. Coco gave a slight bow to the fighters, then turned and made her way towards the cabins.

 

[Jagson]

Both nodded as they conversed with each other.

After a four day boat ride the contestants made it to Genzo Island where the tournament was being held. Cullen walked off of the boat and looked around. Three Japanese men stood near the dock. Cullen recognized the youngest as the man who appeared on the TV. The current King of Fist champion Lee Genzo. The oldest of them had short greyish black hair. His face showed the man's age with all of his winkles and skin pigmints. The man was also sporting a fu manchu mustache. The middle one just looked at them with bitterness.

" Welcome." The old man said with a smile on his face. " If you fallow me I'll lead you to the dojo." He said as he walked away.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Coco looked around, in the group of all the fighters, then at the hosts. Her boat ride wasn't exactly the most pleasant. Sure, she hung out with Janet a bit. She even met up with Powell, an opponent she had fought once. Coco was quite surprised to learn that the boxer was a member of the Business Class. She just hadn't expected to have faced off against a member of the Business Class before. But there was that man in the lab coat.... Throughout the four days of the boat ride, she was sure that the lab coat man had been watching her. Why? Every time Coco tried to approach the man, he would run off. Very suspicious...

Unfortunately, Coco wasn't able to run into Cullen yet. She had been meaning to apologize, but just hadn't run into him yet. But Coco decided that she would before the tournament started. On the bright side, she had managed to stay away from that actor, David Cage. If she could just keep avoiding him, that would be great.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Coco slung her bag over her shoulder and followed the older man towards the dojo.

 

[Jagson]

Cullen walked into the dojo. remembering what his teacher tought him he took his shoes off and sat down infront of the three men. He watched as Boko sat to his right. The green man smiled at Cullen and gave him a thumbs up. He let out a breath. Before a bald man with pasty almost plastic like skin sat on his other side. He looked at the man and saw that the man had red eyes. He looked around to try and spot Coco. He wanted to fully apologize for his actions. Unfortanently it seemed like she was keeping her distance from him so instead he spent time with his ever growing friend Boko.

"Welcome to my dojo." The old man said in Japanese as translators translated it into multiple languages. "I'm Mr. Genzo CEO of Genzo corps, And founder of this tournament. over the next four days you will be competing in multiple fights all across the island. At the end of the fourth day only one of you will be left standing. He or she will be crowned King of the Fist. and be given a bountiful award. As for those of you who lose you can choose to stay and watch the fights up close or be sent to the docks." He said. Mr. Genzo let out a breath. " Each ring will have an out of bounds area if you are knocked into the area you will lose. Weapons are not allowed and if you kill someone you will be disqualified."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Coco sat down, and listened intently to the old man's translator. However, as she listened Coco began to get a funny feeling. It felt like someone was watching her. Coco slowly looked around, trying not to draw attention to herself. Sure enough, sitting two rows behind her... Lab Coat man. She made eye contact with him, and Coco felt herself go cold. Not cold with fear, but the cold she got when she was about to beat the crap out of some thugs back in District S. Lab Coat man seemed unaffected by the glare, and merely smiled at Coco before turning his attention back to Mr. Genzo. Watching Lab Coat man for a moment longer, Coco slowly turned her attention back to Mr. Genzo as well.