It took the better half of a year for all the State tournaments in the country to wrap up.
Healed, feared, and deep in his training, Keith was summoned by a drone that flew into his backyard. It looked like a much more expensive version of the tournament drone.
Drone: Hello Champion of "Insert State"!
Drone: It is time to decide the one who shall represent our land of Freedom! So come on up to Washington DC.
Drone: And face off against your rivals and the current Champion of the United States!!
(POW)
Punching his tree with the fiery flowing aura of Seisho Flow, Keith cracks the tree.
Keith: I'll be there.
Drone: Faaaantastic!! Anything you'd like to tell the audience back home?
Keith: To the Empress of this world...
Keith: Watch closely.
(WACK)
(Shatter)
Swatting the drone away with a little too much force, Keith knocks it through Ashley's window.
Ashely: KEEEITH!!!!
Keith:!!
Keith: Crap...
Keith:(looks around)
Keith:(climbs up tree)
Several daggers and the drone fly out of Ashley's broken window and knock Keith out of his tree.
Keith: Whoa!
(Thud)
Ashley: THIS MESS ISN'T GOING TO CLEAN ITSELF!!
Keith:(annoyed mumbles)...
(Opening Theme)
The timing of the Country Tournament resulted in Keith being able to leave for summer break whilst Ashley graduated high school, and with the ability to fight her way into any college, she was going to enjoy a paid vacation to Washington.
Walter did the same, attempting to see this event as a chance to spend time with his kids.
Getting out of the airport, Walter shoved all their bags into the taxi and turned around to find his kids were gone.
Walter:?
Reaching over his left shoulder, he finds a sticky note from Keith.
"Going for a walk. Meet you at the hotel."
Reaching over his right shoulder, he finds a sticky note from Ashley.
"Following baby bro, so no trouble. Might also get some coffee. Meet at Mall. Love A. P.S K Loves you too.".
Walter:(sigh)... This is what I get for trying to minimize their phone usage...
Keith finds himself in the center of the city, after walking from the airport, only to discover Ashley sipping a fancy coffee.
Ashley: Why did you walk all the way here?
Keith: I thought there was going to be a fight...
Pointing up, Keith brings Ashley's attention to the sky. At first, she didn't see anything, but after noticing a shape. Above Keith was a semi-seethrough drone.
Keith: It appeared once we arrived... But I guess this level of the tournament has Drones constantly at the ready.
Ashley: It seems that way...
Ashley: Anyway... There's a mall nearby, on the way to the hotel. Want to check it?
Keith: You need something?
Ashley: No. But Dad is waiting for us. And you know how much he's been looking forward to spending time with us.
Ashley: So... I was thinking we hang out at the mall. See what catches his interest. Then surprise him with a gift at the end of the trip.
Keith:(cracks knuckles) Fine. Let's go to the mall.
Ashley: After me.
The siblings head for the mall, unaware that at least three parties have their eyes on them, and follow.
Walter walked around the mall searching for his children. But tired from the flight, carrying the luggage to the hotel, and wandering the mall, he decided to get himself an ice cream.
But tragedy struck as a woman slipped and faced first into his scoop. The ice cream did not survive, but Walter did manage to catch the woman his age with his body.
Walter/Woman: Ugh!?
Ashley: Do you see him anywhere?
On the highest floor, looking down on the rest of the mall the siblings searched for their father. Unable to spot him Ashley comes up with a plan.
Ashley:(flips a coin) Heads or tails.
Keith: Tails-
Ashley: Ha! Heads.
Keith: Tch... Wait, why did we flip a coin?
Ashley: To see who goes out looking for Dad as the other relaxes in that cafe.
Keith: You're too lazy for your own good...
Ashley: Think smarter Keith. Not harder.
Not having it, Keith goes out looking for Walter, as Ashley perused the cafe's pastries.
Ashley:(mumbles) Vacation means cheating on my diet... So which one of you is going to take my S-card...?
???: Excuse me?
Ashley: Huh?
Turning around, Ashley found a handsome man, roughly in his early to mid-twenties calling out to her.
They had brown hair and tanned skin. They wore a white T-shirt under a fancy jacket with its sleeves slightly rolled up, showing that he had tattoos.
(The Ace of Triumph; Alexander "Ace" G. Santiago)
Ace: Oh. Sorry. You kinda resembled the person I was looking for...
Ashley:(smirks) Maybe I can be the person you're looking for?
Ace:(chuckles)
Ace: Maybe you can...? Can I get you anything for interrupting your day?
Ashley: Hmmm... A cookie would be a start.
To her, this man was attractive, but that wasn't what had her interested, no, what caught Ashley's eye was this vague sentiment of familiarity, in the sense that he reminded her of some positive feelings she could not yet mark.
Like daughter, like father, Walter was getting to know a new acquaintance as well. After helping the woman who fell into his ice cream, the woman, to apologize, bought him a new ice cream and sat with him to talk.
Woman: Again. I'm so sorry.
Walter: I-Its nothing...!
Walter: I'm just glad you didn't get hurt...
This woman was beautiful. With short black hair and proportions that would make any man swoon.
Walter:(mind) Any more than what life did to you...
But Walter's awkwardness did not stem from her beauty, but from the scars all across her body, which became even more visible, once she removed her coat to sit down in her very revealing dress.
Trying not to stare at her missing eye, Walter licked his ice cream
Woman: Hm? Is something wrong?
Walter: No. Nothing is wrong. It's just...
Woman: Ohhh... Sorry, of course.
Woman: It's this dress.
Walter: Ehhhh...
Woman: You, see, I just came from a photo shoot. I'm publishing a documentary about the Law of Combat's effect on humanity.
Woman: And how it's both positive and negative affects us.
Woman: I was showing off a bit of the negative side...
Walter: Ahhhh.. Because of the scar-
Woman: Like how women have begun to wear slutty outfits to get an advantage in fights!
Woman: Did you know it came from old German warriors creating illusions of naked women?
Walter:....
Walter: No.... But I do know that female Ninjas back in the day used that.
Woman:(nods)
Woman: Oh. I'm sorry. You were probably busy.
Walter: No, no. I'm just waiting for my kids to arrive.
Woman: You have kids?
Walter:(smile) A girl and a boy.
Woman: I have one myself. He's of course doing his own thing but always makes time for me.
Woman: Are you also waiting for your wife?
Walter: Uhm... No. We're... Uhm.. Erm... Complicated.
Woman: Oh. Well, I hope it gets simplified-
Drone: We interrupt your daily lives for something MUCH more interesting!
Keith and another man land on the bottom floor, where Walter and the Woman are.
Keith: So ambushing is allowed...?
Man: If it is flashy. It's allowed.
Keith:(cracks neck) Noted.
Drone: We have the firey warrior Keith Samurick, going up against the Fling-Thing Flint!!
Drone: Till death or Defeat... Ready?! Fight!!
Keith: I've been waiting-
(POW)
Keith:!?
Flint closed the distance between him and Keith with shocking speed. Landing a punch so powerful it pushed him away from Keith, Flint leaned backward, aimed his feet, and kicked.
(POW)
Keith:(Grunts)
With the same speed he used to close the gap, Flint launched Keith across the mall.
From above, Ashley and Ace watched.
Ace: There he is. The guy I've been looking for!
Ashley: That Flint guy?
Ace: No. That Keith guy.
Ashley: Keith? (giggles), why where you looking for my brother?
Ace: Brother...? Oh...
He takes a step away from Ashley.
Ace: He... And you, are my cousins...
Ashley:.........................
It dawned on her why there was a familiar feeling.
Ashley: SON OF A BITCH!! I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN! UGH!!
Disgusted, she storms off. And wanting to get to the lower floor which she was heading to, Ace followed.
(CRASH)
Keith: Hugh?!
Flint bounced around the mall and knocked Keith around with his great speed which Keith himself would need to seriously push himself on a runway to hope to achieve, the young fighter was stuck thinking.
Keith:(mind) Mother warned me of these types of fighters... Didn't think they were real...
Getting kicked past his father and the scar-covered woman, Keith hits the bench they were sitting on, and slides back into a wall.
(THUD)
Flint: After what I saw of your champion battle, I thought I would need every advantage I could get!
Flint: But it looks like-
Keith: A "Gimmick Fighter".
Leaning back on the bench, Keith crossed his legs as he looked aimlessly into the sky.
Keith: I didn't think people like you were real... Much less capable of making it this far.
Keith:(mind) If I recall... These types of fighters originate from peasants who couldn't afford martial arts lessons...
Flint:.....(looks up)?
Keith:(mind) Which the three paths were meant to augment.
Flint: H-hello...?
Keith:(mind) They know one skill... However, they've trained nothing but that skill and developed their fighting style and techniques through that one skill...
Getting up, Keith throws the bench he sat on at Flint who jumped and dropkicked the thing into pieces.
Keith: You're using a variation of the dislocation technique, right?
Flint: I'm not telling you!
Closing the gap, he once again attempts to kick Keith across the mall, but the result is different this time after Keith clenches his fist boiling his Seisho into its Flow state.
Flint: Whaaa!?
His feet get stuck in the current of Keith's Seisho Flow, causing Flint to get flipped.
Lifting his foot, Keith kicks Flint as soon as it faces him.
(WHAM)
Mimicking Flint's technique with the dislocation technique and the flow of his Seisho to push it, Keith successfully launched the poor contestant across the mall.
Flint: Nugh!!
Dusting himself and hiding his pain, Flint stood back up.
Flint: Looks like I have to use my special move!
Keith: Huh?
Flint: "Hopper Pinball"!!!
(BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM)
Ricocheting off the walls into Keith for a barrage of attacks, Flint makes the young man realize why it took all day for his mother to return after leaving for a fight.
People like him were tedious.
Using Geist to help with his perception, Keith timed his next attack.
Catching Flint, Keith suplexed him with the speed and furry of his Seisho Flow knocking him out, not by hitting him in the head, but by making him faint from the pain, as the close contact from the attack burned Flint.
(WHAM)
Drone: And there you have it folks!! The tournament to decide the American Champion starts off with a Pow and a Bang!!
Crowd:(cheers)
Before Walter could approach his son, the Woman he was with got to him first.
Woman: I was hoping to find you!
Keith: No autograph.
Woman: Not even for your aunt?
Keith:!?
Gaining his attention, Keith turned to the woman he was trying to walk away from.
(The Failed Daughter: Ashley Gou-Virote)
Keith: Aunt?
Walter: W-Wait, what?
The father enters the conversation.
Walter: I... I should have figured... Which Aunt are you?
Aunt Ashely: Huh?
Keith: My father has a point. Which one are you?
Aunt Ashley: YOU'RE MY BROTHER IN LAW?!
Ashley: There you are Dad. You won't believe who I just happened to find and make friends with...
Walter: Oh there you are Ashley.
Aunt Ashley: Ashely? Aww, you named her after me?
Ashley: Eh?
Keith: Hold it, that would make you the dead-(notices scars)...
Keith: Never mind, I think I get the picture now-
Ace: Mom, you found the family I see!
Keith: Huh?
Ashley: We have a cousin... I told you the odds were high!
Keith: What are you talking about?
Ashley: Nothing. Ignore me.
Keith: I'll do you one better. I'll ignore all of you because I need a nap.
Ace: Hey, hold up. We've got a rare reunion on our hands and you're just going to leave?
Keith: I'm not doing this in front of all these people.
Putting an arm around his shoulder Ace led him towards the exit.
Ace: That's why you should come over to our place. We've got a lot to talk about!
Ace: We have a strawberry cake that's-
Keith: Let's go.
Now interested 100%, Keith led the charge to his cousin's home.
To be continued....