A Barbeque to Remember [Invite]

Standing at the outskirts of South City, Shoga looked out over the skyline with satisfaction. Although he'd lived in the southern region all his life, he had never left Papaya Island until just recently. But now he was finally off on his world-spanning training expedition, and this was to be his first real visit to the regional capital. It was all very exciting, Shoga had even gotten his gi freshly laundered before arrival. As he slung the small gym bag that carried all his possessions over his shoulder, Shoga wondered what he would find on the bustling streets of South City. Ultimately he was here to train, but that didn't mean he couldn't see the sights while he was here, right?

Shoga spent quite a while just wandering the streets aimlessly, marveling at the bright lights of the big city. He was constantly in awe at the sheer size of the crowds that filled the streets and thoroughfares, and he started to feel a little claustrophobic being stuck in the middle of all those people. Seeking some fresh air, Shoga took a giant leap to the top of a nearby commercial building, landing lightly on the roof to take in the view. It was there that he caught a scent, wafting on the breeze above the reek and grime of the city streets... a familiar scent, one that conjured images of family gatherings and good food. "BARBECUE! I can smell it!" Shoga inhaled deeply, coughing and sputtering as he took in a lungful of exhaust that was covering the smell. He had to find it again! His stomach demanded it! Taking a moment to focus his senses, he managed to re-acquire the scent. It was somewhere on the east side of the city! "Hold on, I can sense somebody incredibly strong over there, too! That's it, now I've gotta go see!" Shoga put one foot up on the lip of the rooftop, shading his eyes with his hand as he gazed into the distance, searching for a glimpse of the meaty promised land. "SOMEBODY'S COOKIN', SO I'M GOING LOOKIN'!" he shouted to the sky, crouching down before taking a leap to the adjacent rooftop, making his way across the city towards the smell of food.

It didn't take long to find his destination, whatever party they were throwing was taking place right in the middle of the city park. Descending from one final rooftop, Shoga caught himself on one of the branches of a nearby tree, swinging from it and landing lightly on the grass. Shoga looked around in wonderment at the park, transformed by the rows upon rows of neatly-organized tables into some kind of outdoor banquet hall. "Oh wow, look at all the people! I wonder what they're celebrating?" He muttered to himself, staring about at all the decorations, and especially the huge pots of delicious-smelling food. The only clue Shoga could glean was a poster with some guy's face on it. He didn't bother reading what it said, but surely if he found the man on the poster his questions would be answered. And hopefully he could get some food out of the deal, too. Shoga wasn't sure, but he had a pretty good hunch that if he just followed that powerful aura he felt earlier, that would lead him to the host of this shindig. It wasn't hard to tell this aura from the rest, it stood out like a bonfire in a field of candles. Now he just had to follow it to its source...

Just as Shoga had guessed, it didn't take him long to locate the source of the overpowering aura he'd felt while overlooking the city. What he hadn't quite anticipated was that it would find him before he found it! The man before him certainly looked like he was all business, face impassive behind a pair of sunglasses. It was kind of hard to look directly at him without blinking at the intensity of his aura. As Shoga shut out his 'sixth sense' to avoid blinding himself, he wondered what kind of things this guy has been doing to get so strong. Maybe if they kept talking, he'd find out.

"Me? I smelled food and came running. This some kind of party?" Shoga was starting to get a better picture of what was going on around here, what with the decorations and all. He was a bit perplexed by the comment about his 'power level,' though. He assumed it had something to do with his strength. "I guess I might be a notch or two above the others here, but it's your 'power level' that I'm interested in! I could feel it from all the way across town." Shoga shook his head incredulously, continuing: "Do they make you guys in a factory, or something? Seems like all I've been doing since I left home is running into one ridiculously tough guy after another!" Shoga grinned and held out a hand to the pink-haired man, figuring he might as well be polite so long as he's crashing somebody else's party. "I'm Shoga. Good to meetcha!"

Shoga munched thoughtfully on a rib from the plate of food he had somehow acquired during Derry's explanation, and considered how to respond. "President, huh?" Shoga didn't really know how all that worked, to be honest. He knew that the president was chosen through an election, but that was about the extent of his knowledge. Upon reflection, the details didn't interest him that much. "Nah, politics aren't really my thing. Good luck with the election, though. What I wanna hear about is your training regimen! What have you been doing to get so strong? I'd appreciate some pointers." Shoga usually preferred to learn with his body, but he figured it would probably be rude to challenge a presidential candidate to a match in public. Plus, any insight this guy had might be super valuable! You don't get so tough without learning a thing or two, right? At least, that was Shoga's impression. "I left home a few weeks ago to start my training for real. Traveling, seeing the world, fightin' people. Normal stuff. But it seems like everyone's got a headstart on me, so I wanna get stronger as fast as I can. It's no fun if you just get taken down in one blow, y'know."

Shoga traded his stripped-clean rib bone for a fresh one from his plate, and thought some more while he ate. He wasn't sure this guy would be willing to share some of his training secrets, and he wanted to make sure to learn something from this encounter. Maybe the man's motivations would provide even more clues. "And... on second thought, I don't know much about politics... But I guess I wanna know why you want to be president in the first place. It don't seem like an interesting job for a fighter, so you've gotta have something you wanna do, right? What's your campaign all about?"

Shoga took the seat Derry offered him and prepared to listen raptly. Anything that might further his training was certainly worth paying attention to. "Not fast, huh? That's fine. Tell me all about it!" Shoga wasn't really into the science of training, but even he knew that nothing worth doing was quick and easy. As Derry continued, going into his reasons for running for president, Shoga nodded along but wasn't totally following. He didn't recognize any of the names, but he figured they must be the leaders of other planets. That made sense. He hadn't met very many aliens, but he knew that they were usually pretty strong. "So basically, you think Earth is getting left in those other planets' dust, and you wanna be president because you know how we can catch up?" Shoga paused to take another bite of his food, considering his feelings on the topic. He wasn't really one for politics, but this sounded like it might be important. Best actually give it some thought. "That makes sense, I guess. If we're really falling behind like you said, we oughta get somebody to do the job. But what do ya actually wanna do if you win?"

Shaking his head, Shoga continued in an apologetic tone. "Sorry, I'm askin' a lot of questions at once. Let's start with the training thing. What's your secret?" Shoga leaned forward eagerly, his curiosity at an all-time high.

Shoga nodded along as Derry continued his explanation of his plans after the election. As he gnawed on a bone, Shoga wondered if there wasn't more that this guy wasn't telling him. None of what Derry said seemed suspect, and making peace with the other planets was a noble enough goal, for sure... but Shoga's animal instincts were telling him that something was off with the well-spoken, pink-haired man in front of him. That said, it wasn't really Shoga's business. If he was a politician, keeping secrets was kind of his job, right? That was a good enough explanation for Shoga to brush off his weird feeling. He was much more interested in the guy's training routine, anyway. To that, he listened with rapt attention. "Weights and sparring, huh? That's pretty simple... But I guess it doesn't have to be complicated, right?" Shoga began to lay the groundwork for trying this out in his head. The sparring partner wouldn't be a problem, he'd just have to find somebody strong and ask them. But the weights would be a different story... normal weights stopped being useful ages ago, so where was he supposed to find something heavy enough to pose a challenge? "Hmm... what do you use for weights, anyway? I'd guess that the regular weights you'd find at the gym aren't even close to heavy enough." Shoga asked, a contemplative look on his face. Politics weren't really in his wheelhouse, but training? That he could understand. Now he just had to work out the details...

Shoga chewed his food thoughtfully as he considered his pink-haired host's advice. "Gravity chamber, huh? That makes sense..." Shoga certainly couldn't afford anything like that. He had enough money to feed himself while he was on the road, but that was about it. But that didn't mean it was necessarily out of the question. He didn't know anybody with that kind of cash, but he was traveling the world. He was meeting interesting people left and right, so it would probably work itself out eventually. At least, that was his thought process.

When the conversation turned to space, Shoga leaned back in his slightly uncomfortable folding event chair and stared up at the sky. You couldn't see them during the day obviously, but the stars were up there, tantalizingly out of reach. He'd be a liar if he said he had never dreamed of traveling through space before. "Traveling the galaxy? I guess I've thought about it. I've heard there are some really tough people out there. But..." Shoga leaned forward again in his chair, sighing. "Well, you kinda need a space ship to do that, right? I bet they're crazy expensive!" Shoga couldn't even imagine how he'd pay for such an extravagant item. He couldn't even afford a car! Well, not that he really needed one.

Although... Shoga couldn't deny that the idea was pretty attractive. Traveling to another world, learning the fighting arts of a totally different species... But how to get there?

Shoga nodded sadly when Derry mentioned the extreme cost of traveling through space. It seemed his dreams were still far away... but apparently, there was a more affordable option. "A pod? Those round coffin-lookin' ones? Hmm... ya might be onto something there." Shoga wasn't afraid of much, but suffocating in the void of space wasn't exactly the kind of warrior's death he was interested in. Was the price of a cheap starship worth the potential risks? It was something he'd have to think about.

As Derry continued on with his plans, Shoga started to wonder if he should know who these people being mentioned were. They certainly sounded important, with titles like "Queen" and "Emperor," but he'd never heard of them. "I'm curious, tell me about these guys. That emperor guy and the queen. You said you didn't know much about 'em personally, but what are their planets like? Their race? Never really met any aliens myself." Shoga leaned back, listening in with genuine interest. It was a shame Derry didn't know these rulers personally, Shoga would love to know more about them, given how strong they must be. If Derry was any indication, the ruler of a planet had to be a badass, right? That made sense in his head. But he was also curious what these other races were like. After all, there may be tough opponents he's missing out on, just staying here on Earth!