This Week's Guest: Cain Harlocke 

Cain Harlocke. Martial artist. Street fighter. He's new around these parts, but he's already begun to make an impact. Starting out as an RPG character, there's word that he may be getting a solo project in the near future. Here's an opportunity for me to pick his brain and see what makes him tick.

[He's punctual, I'll give him that. Right at the time the interview's scheduled to begin, Cain makes his way inside, a smile present on his face. He looks as if he's just gotten back from running, wearing a pair of black jogging pants, sneakers, a red hooded sweatshirt, and a pair of headphones. As he takes the headphones off, I think I catch a quick word or two of 'Lapdance' by NERD before he turns it off. He reaches out and shakes my hand before taking a seat.]

NF: Hello, Cain. Glad to have you here today.
"I'm glad to be here. I'm not late, am I?"

NF: Nope, right on time, actually...
"Cool. I hate to keep a lady waiting."

[He smirks with that cocky grin of his, and I just smile and shake my head. This guy's a notorious flirt, and it seems to have already begun.]

NF: Well, I guess we can start off simple. How are you doing today, Mr. Harlocke?
"You can call me Cain. Not bad, not bad at all. I'm feeling pretty good today!"

[He's in a good mood, but he usually is from my understanding.]

NF: So Cain, are there any potential projects lined up for you?
"Well, there's been some discussion about me getting some sort of solo story deal, but nothing's really materialized as of yet. However, there still is talk of introducing me into the ranks of PaIn, which would be awesome if that pans out."

[Ah yes, the Paladin Invitational, better known as PaIn around these parts.]

NF: Any specifics as of yet?
"Well, mainly just some ideas being tossed around and seeing what sticks. I might land a spot in the actual story itself, but there's talk of a PaIn prequel that I could possibly be involved with. If you're familiar with the storyline, there was a league set up before the big tournament, to determine who would actually be a part of it. From my understanding, there are a LOT of characters left over that didn't make the cut for the actual story. This would be a chance to hear their side of things."

NF: What's something that we wouldn't know about you?
"Um... my middle name's Russell?"

[I raise my eyebrow and chuckle.]

NF: OK, we'll come back to that one. How was your early life, growing up?
"There's nothing too special about me in that regards. Just a middle class white boy growing up in San Diego."

NF: How about your parents?
"Well, they divorced when I was 12, which granted sucked all manner of ass, but I guess we adapted. Spent most of my time living with my mom, since dad was always traveling it seemed. Mom was usually at work, which left me and my brother on our own for a good bit. That was about the time I started getting into the martial arts, though, so that and school was pretty much taking up most of my time."

NF: Well, that's actually something we didn't know about. Tell me about your siblings.
"Well, there's just my older brother, who unfortunately I haven't seen in a while. He went off to UNLV a few years back. Last I talked to him, he was going overseas for some sort of study abroad program in England. We talk every once in an while, but our schedules are so jacked that I really haven't seen him since I graduated high school."

NF: And high school was where you met your friend Sumire?
"Oh yeah, Sumire was that cool girl that everyone at the school was hitting on. We sort of found common ground with the whole martial arts thing. That, and I wasn't constantly trying to get in her pants."

[Sumire is a good friend of Cain's that is also in ULTRA. Anyone with eyes can see the occasional bout of sexual tension between the two friends, but seeing as Cain's about as dense as a cinderblock from time to time, he typically denies any sort of feelings for her.]

NF: So how about those trips south of the border?
*blink* "Say what?!"

[Case in point.]

NF: The trips to Mexico.
"Ah!"

[Moron.]

"Well, that's where I really cut my teeth as a street fighter. Fought in a couple of tourneys here and there, made some cash. It was all good. Spring Breaks were insane, because not only the tournaments, but the drunk college dudes down there hitting on Sumire and picking fights with us. Now keep in mind that we were, like, 16, 17, at the time, so we really didn't look that tough. We'd always place wagers, though; I have a tendency to dress pretty nice when I have the cash, so combine that with the blonde hair and general pretty-boy looks, and they're thinking 'Oh, this is some rich kid that thinks he's Jean-Claude Van Dam.' Sure, we picked up a couple of cuts and bruises here and there, but we made a lot of money from those trips."

NF: What are your thoughts on your current sensei, Sen Tora?
"Sen Sen? He's good peeps."

[I can't help but noticeably blink at that.]

NF: Sen Sen?
"Short for Sensei Sen. He hates it when I call him that. I'll tell you one thing, dude's intense. He'll have you running drills from sunrise to sunset. Everything's a lesson with that guy. I swear to goodness, he'll come up with a deep and metaphysical lesson from something as simple as you tying your shoes. I've learned a lot from Sen Tora. He's been like a father to me these past few years. I was a bit shocked, but thrilled all the same when I found out that he was in ULTRA with me and Sumire.

[ULTRA is Cain's current gig. An organized fighter's league with all manner of character present. Good show, by the way.]

NF: How do you get prepared for a match?
"I try to stay on the up and up beforehand. Some guys in the back retreat in solitude and meditate before a big bout. That's not me. I'm usually in the dressing room bouncing around and shadowboxing, blasting Prodigy or something like that. I'm a high-energy sort of guy. By the time the music hits and I'm on the way to the ring, I'm ready to go to work."

NF: With all of the training that you go through, do you even have time for any vices?
"God yes! Going to clubs is a big one with me. I can stay up and party all night with the right crowd. And motorcycles. And flirting. Man, I'm such a damn flirt at times, it's not even funny."

NF: Yeah, I noticed.
*smirk* "Also, living in Japan is slowly getting me addicted to sake and karaoke, believe it or not!"

NF: No way!

[At this point, Cain breaks into an impromptu rendition of 'Kiss' by Prince, and it doesn't sound half bad!] 

"Trust me though, I sound much better when I'm drinking! My Japanese is a bit shoddy, but I can still do the occasional song and not sound too bad."

NF: If you weren't a street fighter, what would you be doing today?
"A singer, actually!" *laughing* "Truth be told, I'd probably be a wrestler. I've been a huge fan since I was a kid, and I guess it's always been a dream of mine to step into the squared circle and compete. I try to interject a bit of that Sports-Entertainment sort of feel into my matches."

NF: What do you feel are the differences between that and your current thing in ULTRA?
"Well, there's the thing about the traveling. ULTRA's fairly stationary, but I think I could get used to a life on the road all of the time. Also, in wrestling, it seems that as of late it's more about telling the story than the actual sense of competition. That's probably the main thing I'd miss, stepping into a ring and not knowing the outcome of the thing, but realizing that it's going to be based on my own skills, and not what the writers in the back had in mind. ULTRA has its own brand of storytelling, true, but that develops solely from the outcome of a match, rather than a group of guys sitting around a desk in a board meeting, y' know?"

NF: You've been a pretty popular guy around Club Ninja as of late. What are your thoughts on fame, not only here, but outside?
*laughing* "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't loving it! The folks here at Club Ninja are generally a friendly lot, though I knew that I'd officially arrived when I actually got invited to one of Mei-Lynn's parties!"

NF: Yeah... those things are... interesting...

"But yeah, it's nice being known. It's almost as if I'm the new mascot around this place. Step aside, Mani!" *laughing*

[Oh dear.]

NF: Alright, one last question for you... dating.

[He raises a brow and smiles. I'm sensing some flirtations coming my way.]

"Odd you should say that, actually... what have you got planned for this evening?"

NF: *smirk* I'm going home and polishing my sword. She hasn't seen blood in a while.

*laughing* "Point taken!"