Chapter Text
Today was the day. The day Lisa drives all the way to Michigan to see her family. Lisa woke up at 5 am, had her breakfast consisting of Special K fruit cereal, washed and dressed, and packed the devices she had charged, including her laptop, and her chargers in her handbag. She also scooped her other bags and loaded them into her car as well as the treats she brought for the family, her cans of Red Bull and her lunch. She put the desserts in a secured fridge box and the flowers in secured pots of water. She then grabbed her keys, locked her house door behind her and jumped in her car before inserting the car key into the engine start-up. Confirming she is ready, she then set off on her long journey.
She set off at 5:18 am, so her journey could run smoothly. She first went to a nearby gas station to fuel her car. Once she paid for the gasoline, she set off. And sure enough, the journey did run smoothly. On the open routes, there was very faint traffic before she arrived at Sunoco Gas Station to give her legs some rest and to use the toilet. She only took a while before she was rested and ready to go on the road. It's now 10:03 am And Lisa was already out of the services and onto the main road. Around an hour later, she stopped at the Blue Heron Service Plaza to eat her lunch. When she arrived at the food court, she found an empty 2 seater table. She eyed on that table as she approached it. But halfway she accidentally slipped and fell back. Just as she was about to hit the ground, she felt two muscly arms holding her back and behind her knees. Her hands still clinging on her bag.
"You okay there?" said a manly voice, from the person who caught her.
"Oh, yeah I'm okay. Thank you for catching me," replied Lisa as she got back on her feet. People who were in the court clapped at the 2. The person who saved Lisa from an injury was a muscular body built man who appeared to be in his mid-30s, in a beige T-shirt, denim jeans and black boots. He had brunette hair with 2 fringes and his head was bulk built.
"What did I just slip on?" Lisa said before looking back at where she slipped, on a banana peel that some inconsiderate person left lying on the ground.
"Nasty litterbugs..." answered the man before picking it up and walking to the trash can to dispose of it.
"Can I ask who you are?"
"The name's Douglas. Douglas Jay Falcon. And you are?"
"Lisa Hamilton. Nice to meet you. I was just walking to this table over there."
"I was looking for a table myself to eat my grub."
"Oh, would you like to eat with me? I'm here to eat my lunch."
"Sure."
Lisa and Douglas then walked over to the table and took their seats. Both of them got their lunches and began eating. They also sparked a conversation.
"I'm right now on a very long journey to Michigan. To see my family," said Lisa.
"How nice. I'm driving to Michigan too. As part of the Grand Prix in racing, I've got a course to drive around." Douglas replied.
"That sounds exciting! Wait, are you like, a racer?"
"Yeah. I'm a racer and a part-time bounty hunter. I live in New York. Lucky me."
"I live in Pennsylvania. I got my first job there since there weren't any full-time job opportunities. So I had to move from my home town to look for a place to live. I used to work for a world-class top-secret company that creates ultimate superhuman projects. It used to be called D.O.A.T.E.C. But now the leader made a new organization called M.I.S.T because a wonderful young woman inherited control of the old company and destroyed everything and rebuilt the organization. As great it sounds though, trust me, working for M.I.S.T is probably the worst decision any living soul could ever make. Because the leader is sadistic, cruel, and plain evil. He uses abilities from innocent ninjas from secret special places for his projects. His name is... Victor Donovan..."
Douglas then raises his eyebrows in shock "Victor Donovan? The guy who planned the construction of the Tri-Towers going 999 metres high, the man who masterminded the superhuman monster, Omega, the man who was responsible for creating this jelly-like clone of a certain woman who was in my fighting tournament's ballot. It was called Alpha? Is that the guy responsible for all the shit he put the world through 2 years ago?
Lisa then just had to gasp in shock, not realising the man who saved her knows about the man she was referring to.
"Y... Y... Y-Yes." she muttered.
"Woah. Yeah, I'm familiar with him, he's a real sicko. I remember seeing that mask on his face when I was at the bar, with hundreds of men watching sports."
"What!? You've been attacked by him?"
"No. I thought I sensed something fishy about him back then, but then I chose to dismiss it. I was on a day off then."
"That's bizarre! I worked for him. I saw his true colours after the 5th tournament. It was at the darkest depth of the lab where the heroes were destroying the final phase of the Alpha Project. During the battles, the lab itself started falling apart! I was caught into falling rubble and was trapped with heavy injuries! I thought my life was over at that point, until a certain somebody, that I feel passion for him, came to my rescue. I was stuck for weeks, I was even surprised I survived all those long days without food or water and with major bruises. He was really negligent, he didn't even care about my well-being, much less trying to save me, all he cared about was profit."
"You must be a really strong woman! But still, about Victor, what a pathetic excuse for a human he is! I can't believe you used to work for him. Where do you work now?
"Surprisingly, for the opposition of his organization, NEW D.O.A.T.E.C, run by the woman who inherited control in the first place and rebuilt it, Helena Douglas. I work for her, literally! She gave me time off because she doesn't need me until her word demands otherwise. So I'm using this time to drive to my old home town to see my family. My sisters, my brother, my cousins and my side members."
"That's some change! What tournament, though, are you talking about?"
"Dead or Alive."
"The tournament I partake in is called, Super Smash Bros."
Lisa then had to gasp in shock again "Super Smash Bros? I thought it was a fantasy fighting video game, I heard of that."
"Well, believe it or not, it is true, there IS such a thing! Not many people know..."
"So how do you fight?"
"I'm a brawler, fighting with no weapons other than my power within. I am also a Kung Fu fighter as well as harnessing the bounty hunter defence techniques."
"Very interesting man." Lisa thought, taking an interest at what Douglas just said.
"So, about your tournament, what's your martial art?"
"I'm a Lucha Libre fighter as well as a professional wrestler."
"Ah, you're what they call a Luchadora, right?"
Lisa then widened her eyes briefly then smiled "Why yes, how did you know that?"
"I saw a few of these on my travels. I sometimes go to the WWE Coliseum with my friend to see matches, not be in them."
"Ooh, that's nice. Of course, some Luchadoras have a persona in the form of a name. I have one. I am referred to as "La Mariposa".
"Ah, the butterfly. Interesting."
"You know what it means?"
"Butterfly in Spanish."
"Goodness me, you can understand Spanish?"
"Not really, I've been to Spain a few times, some for holidays. I learnt the names of some animals in Spanish through excursions."
"I see. Well, I chose "La Mariposa" as my persona because it represents 2 favourite parts of my life. My animal and place to visit."
"How very interesting. Spain is one of my favourite places to visit too"
"Lovely isn't it?"
"Yeah."
Before they knew it, both of them had finished their lunches and went to dispose of their trash properly, putting them in the garbage can. Then Lisa swooped her bag and both readied their keys before going towards the front entrance.
"Well Douglas, it really has been nice to talk to you for the first time. You said you were going to Michigan too, right?"
"That's right, I'm driving to my next place as part of my Prix."
"Well then, see you later. My journey will be much more pleasant with you around." Lisa waved goodbye at Douglas as they exit the building and get to their vehicles. Both of them went out of the car park and left at about 11:57 am. Lisa managed to finish the rest of the journey to Michigan, knowing Douglas would be nearby all the time. He drove what looked like the Blue Falcon, a modified Ford Falcon.
Finally, at 4:01 pm, both have arrived in Michigan. They went their separate ways after 5 minutes of going through the city. Lisa stopped at a free parking area to then call Tamara. Thankfully Michigan has good signal so calling her sister was easy.
"Hello?" answered Tamara.
"Hey, sis. I'm in Michigan," replied Lisa.
"Lisa, darling! You're early."
"Really? Oh, is everyone free?"
"Oh yeah, they're still at home doing their things. I can let them know you're here."
"Speaking of, what's your postcode for your house?"
Tamara gave Lisa her address and postcode so Lisa can put it on her Satnav. The results were clear, from where Lisa is now, it was 22 minutes to Tamara's house.
"Okay, I'm on my way. And yes please, let them know I'm coming to yours. I have some flowers for you, Maureen and Thaireas."
"Aww bless. Thank you. I'll call them right away."
"Cheers, sweetheart. I'll see you when I get there."
"Bye, darling!"
Lisa then drove out of the car park to go straight to her destination. The journey, however, took a bit longer than calculated on the Satnav, because of all the traffic, but she did make it through and arrived at Tamara's house at 4:37 pm. She parked behind Tamara's car before getting out and unloading her car. She grabbed her handbag, the desserts, the flowers, and her suitcase, before heading to the front door and pressing the button next to it that works the doorbell. Tamara wasted no time heading towards the door to open it. Upon seeing each other, both sisters happily welcomed each other and hugged before Lisa gave Tamara her flowers. She then was welcomed into the house where she wheeled her suitcase in whilst Tamara took her bags with the desserts and Maureen and Thaireas' flowers.
Tamara was older than Lisa, she was a bit wider than her, she had curly hair, her face had wrinkles, she had redder lips and she always smelled like Peonies and Primroses. She also wore a brown V-neck top, denim jeans, and black fur slippers. Tamara is the eldest of Lisa's siblings, whilst Lisa is the youngest. She works as a staff training coach.
Her house is a 2 story general house with a living room with a floral theme, a kitchen with bathroom tiles as the floor, unusually, a spare room with grey painted walls, a table, a bed, and an empty closet. Tamara shows Lisa the lower ground of her house before showing the upper ground and where her room is. The upper ground consisted of Tamara's room, which was also floral themed, a bathroom with a shower as well, and 2 guest rooms, one colourful themed, and one chic themed, the room Tamara chose for Lisa, knowing she likes Chic. Lisa then went to put her suitcase and handbag in that room before looking around. The room had a double bed, 2 drawers on each side, an empty closet, a desktop and a coat stand. She hung her coat and bag and took her high heels off and walked to the living room where Tamara was on her phone with Maureen.
Lisa smiled and walked to the kitchen where she saw her bags empty. She looked at the fridge to see the desserts she brought are in. Tamara's fridge was very organized and very full of essentials, including Caviar. She was glad to be back in Michigan with her family members. That journey was so worth it, especially when she met Douglas, the man she met at Blue Heron Service Plaza. She is so excited to see Maureen and Thaireas after so long. She can't even wait to see more of her family members, including her mother and father. How much fun and joy will she have though?