Author's Notes: This fanfiction is an attempt to make the Street Fighter world more grounded or realistic, without taking away the fantastic elements (like the ki attacks and such). This is actually my first Street Fighter fanfiction (although I'm not too new to writing stories). I encourage readers to make suggestions and point out flaws that would make the existing chapters better, as I plan to edit and re-make all these chapters when the entire thing is done.
It's important to note that I don't plan on sticking to the canon, although I will try my best not to ruin any characterization.
Another thing that readers might notice here is that I plan to focus more on the fighting than anything else. Although this will certainly not be missing any story or character development.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this fanfiction. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Chapter 1: Ryu vs. Fei Long
Interviews
Ryu is a silent and humble warrior who is in forever in search of a challenge. He uses a mixture of martial arts such as the Kyokushinkai karate, and the Ansatsuken or "assassination fist". He travels the world, always looking for a fight against a worthy opponent. He was raised from childhood by a martial arts master. He has won several indie tournaments, and it's there that he became known as "The Dragon". But he has yet to test his skills in the most prominent fighting tournament of all: The World Warrior.
Tell us a little bit about yourself, Ryu.
"Well, there are probably very few people who know me, but I enjoy fighting very much. I've been told that I'm obsessive about it sometimes. Heh, heh... (Pause) That's... that's all, really."
As you know, you're facing Fei Long first; quite possibly the most famous fighter in the world. Does that make you nervous? Tell us your thoughts about your opponent.
"Not really. I can see that Fei Long is certainly among the best in the world. But... that fact makes me excited, you know? Instead of nervousness, I get this, uh... excitement. I've watched videos of his fights, and I see that he can strike very fast. Faster than normal. But... he's not unbeatable. I have strategies against these... these rush-down types of fighters."
Fei Long is probably the most well-known martial artist in the world, both thanks to his career as a movie star and the fact that he has won so many fights in his career as a tournament player in The World Warrior. His most famous move is the one-inch punch, which he once delivered to Honda and ended the fight in a record-setting 20 seconds. Will we be able to see this again in this year's tournament?
Introduce yourself, Fei Long.
"My name is Fei Long. I'm here in the World Warrior tournament to meet new challenges, improve my skills as a fighter, and at the same time promote my upcoming movie, The Green Stinger. The moves I show here will be seen in the movie."
As you know, you are facing Ryu first. Were you relieved when you found that out? You know, instead of facing someone sponsored by Shadaloo, like for example, Sagat? What are your thoughts on your opponent tonight?
"Hey, I never underestimate my opponents. The fact that my opponent is new means I don't know his style well. That's the thing about these fights; you can never be too careful because anybody can beat you if you slack off a tiny bit. One thing is for sure, though, this fight will be Ryu's introduction to the big leagues."
Introduction
"Welcome everybody to the most prominent fighting promotion in the world: The World Warrior Tournament. I'm Justin Chen, alongside David Wong, and we'll be providing commentary for the fights today."
The lights went on at the ring. The arena, silent only a few seconds ago, was now roaring, for the show had finally began.
"The first World Warrior match of the night," Chen announced in commentary. "Fei Long against Ryu. The movie star against the indy star. Which one will outshine the other?"
Ryu's music started playing. There were cheers, but they weren't that loud. After all, Ryu was new to this tournament. Some of his fans from the indies were in attendance, and interestingly they brought signs with them.
JUST HERE FOR THE DRAGON
I PAID TO SEE RYU
One of them – a girl still in her school uniform – was holding a sign with a very impressive drawing of Ryu doing his signature move, the 'Hadouken'. She and her friends were the loudest among those who cheered. Ryu's face was as stoic as usual as he walked towards the ring, but his lips showed a hint of a smile when he saw the signs from his fans. It was nice to know that they bought expensive tickets to World Warrior just to see him here.
"Ryu The Dragon. Practitioner of a mixture of martial arts, along with the Ansatsuken," David began describing Ryu. "A zoner. His style relies on continuously pressuring his opponents with his projectile called the 'Hadouken' to keep them at any range he wants. This severely limits his opponent's options, and any mistake will most likely get punished by his powerful uppercut, the 'Shoryuken'."
As Ryu reached the ring, he just stood there with his eyes closed. He meditated, soaked in the atmosphere of the arena, and completely shut off his attention to the crowd, the lights, and the cameras. With his eyes still closed, he took out his red headband and tied it to his head. He started to recall every fight video he had seen of Fei Long, every strategy he had formulated beforehand, every movement pattern he detected, and every counter-attack to those movements.
Fei Long's music started playing. With a combination of action movie fans and martial arts fans in the audience, the crowd erupted. The crowd signs were particularly hilarious.
Fei Long, I'm thirsty! Give me some WAAAATTTAAAAA!
Fei Long, I'm hungry! Give me a WHOOOPPPAAA!
When Fei Long kicks a revolving door, it slams
Light travels at the speed of Fei Long
Fei Long does push-ups with his breath
The signs were alluding to his characters in his movies. Most of which loved to make screaming Kung Fu noises, and were also unstoppable badasses. This entrance was one of the things which Fei Long always enjoyed in tournaments. Whether he wins a fight or loses it, he and the crowd would have a good time. So he just went out there and jogged towards the ring, smiling at all his fans.
"Fei Long. Practitioner of the Hitenryu," David described. "His game is to take his opponent into the corner and keep them there for as long as possible while he mercilessly beats them down at close range. As opposed to Ryu who uses his ki to create projectiles, Fei Long uses his ki like a rocket booster to add speed and power to his strikes."
Fei Long had reached the ring and put a serious face on. Even now, Ryu continued to meditate, while Fei Long proceeded to condition himself by stretching and hopping around, practicing his punches and kicks. Seeing both fighters now in the ring, the announcer stepped in the middle and grabbed his microphone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a no-time-limit battle. The only way to win is through submission or knockout.
"Introducing first, fighting out of the blue corner! Standing five feet, nine-inches tall, weighing in at 150 pounds. He is a nomadic warrior with no true home! Ryu! "The Dragon"!
"And now his opponent fighting out of the red corner, standing five feet, seven-and-a-half-inches tall, weighing in at 135 pounds. Fighting out of Hong Kong, China! Fei Long!"
As per the tournament routine, Fei Long and Ryu had a stare-down in the middle of the ring. This was like a communication for them, for they saw in each other's eyes that they were equally determined. Both of them saw that this was not going to be an easy fight. Their heart raced, partly in excitement and partly in fear of what their opponent could do.
"Alright, men," the referee began speaking to them. "I want you to do as I say at all times. Defend yourself at all times."
He signalled the fighters to go to the opposite corners. They did so.
"Are you ready?" He pointed to Fei Long. Fei Long nodded.
"Are you ready?" He pointed to Ryu. Ryu nodded.
"FIGHT!"
Fight
The fight began with the two circling around the ring for a bit, waiting on each other to make the first move. Fei Long knew that Ryu was good at counter-fighting, and he was trying to be careful. Before long, though, he began walking straight forward, seeking to intimidate Ryu into backing up. Ryu simply threw a Hadouken. Fei Long was forced to block it, and was pushed backwards a bit because of the impact.
They were now about two meters away from each other. This was the perfect range for Ryu to execute his zoning game. Sure enough, he started chucking Hadoukens at Fei Long like he was playing at the basketball arcade machine.
"As the fight starts, we see Ryu zoning here with Hadoukens," Chen narrates. "Interestingly enough, the previous champion, Sagat employs a similar tactic in his fight. This is a good strategy because his opponent's options become very limited. Fei Long can't just block every Hadouken because it would eventually do serious damage to him. He can't jump towards Ryu because he would get hit by the Shoryuken. Fei Long appears to have no choice other than to keep moving left and right. Do you know more about this Hadouken, David?"
"I've been watching Ryu's off-air fights, Chen," David comments. "Hadouken is when Ryu gathers his ki and pushes it forward. It has about as much force as a single punch. Now, he has three types of Hadoukens. The first is the regular Hadouken we're seeing here. The other is the Shakunetsu Hadouken, wherein some of the excess ki he gathers throughout the fight is thrown to look more like a fireball. It doesn't just hit once. It takes a longer time to disperse, so if you get hit, it sort of stays on your body for a longer time and inflicts more damage."
As if on cue, Ryu threw the Shakunetsu Hadouken. It came out faster than the regular Hadouken, which Fei Long didn't expect. His sidestep was too slow, so on reaction he tried to block the fireball with his hand. It indeed stuck to his hand for a while before dispersing. He had to wiggle his hand to cool it down. Ryu then continued zoning with the regular Hadoukens.
"There it is. Now for the third kind of Hadouken," David continued, "it's called the 'Shinku Hadouken'. Ryu only rarely does it because it drains so much out of him. But the guys who were hit by it? They said it's a little bit like being hit by a running motorcycle."
"So Fei Long has to watch out for that," Chen replied. "Especially now that it looks like he's getting zoned out."
There was almost a rhythm to the fight at this point. Ryu would throw a Hadouken; Fei Long would sidestep to the left, and walk a step forward. Ryu would take a step back and throw another Hadouken. Fei Long would sidestep to the right, and walk forward again. Ryu would step back again and throw another Hadouken. But there was only so much space in the ring. Ryu eventually reached the corner.
"There we go, they're now in Fei Long's favorite spot," David remarked.
"Oh, that's right. I was wrong. He wasn't getting zoned out," Chen pointed out. "He actually planned this all along. For the new viewers at home, Fei Long can't do much at long range. But here in the corner, he's a monster."
Fei Long then proceeded to demonstrate exactly what Chen was talking about. Before Ryu could finish preparing another Hadouken, Fei Long dashed forward like a jet, and struck a blow on Ryu's chest, another one on his stomach, and the last one on his chest again, but this time screaming "WAAAATTTAAAAA!" The crowd popped, not just because that's their favorite Fei Long noise, but because it's the first direct hit of the fight. The impact of that punch sent Ryu slamming into the corner of the ring.
"Fei Long with the one-two-three-punch he calls the Rekkaken," Chen narrated.
Fei Long stepped backwards a bit. This was a nice range for Ryu's zoning again, so Ryu took this as another opportunity to throw a Hadouken. Big mistake. As soon as the Hadouken came out, Fei Long leaped over it, landed fist-first into Ryu's face, rotated in mid-air, and had his foot come down on the top of Ryu's head. The crowd was now getting louder.
"Now the Rekkuu Kyaku," Chen continued.
But Fei Long wasn't finished. As soon as he reached the ground, he gathered a fire-like ki into his foot, and did a jumping upward-kick on Ryu's chin. The crowd roared.
"Followed by the Shien Kyaku!" Chen exclaimed. "Did you see that, David? Fei Long baited a Hadouken, and went over it with his Rekkuu Kyaku, and followed it up with the Shien Kyaku!"
"This is why Fei Long loves that corner. The pressure he creates in there can cause his opponents to make mistakes. And he punishes mistakes in a devastating way."
Ryu seemed to be weakening at this point, so Fei Long just went in and started frantically whacking his fists at Ryu, hoping to land one solid hit that would end the fight. Ryu wasn't weakened enough. Despite the amazing speed of Fei Long's punches, Ryu successfully blocked most them. Ryu was actually a master of this situation. When his opponents felt that he was weakened, and that they could finish the fight soon, they almost invariably started becoming aggressive and impatient.
Just keep blocking. Wait for an opening.
"Solid defense here by The Dragon," David commented. "His reaction time must be insane. Look at all these strikes he's blocking."
"It's actually not just from his reaction time," Chen corrected. "He also has a very effective defensive stance. Look at his arms, they're both in a vertical position so that it would cover both his head and his body, so he'll really only need to think about whether the next blow would come left or right."
There was eventually one straight jab, which Ryu didn't just block; he parried. After that, he quickly crouched down, and did a monstrous jumping uppercut that hit Fei Long on the chin, sending him staggering backwards. "OH!" shouted both the audience and the commentators as they saw the devastating solid blow.
"It's the Shoryuken!" David shouted. "It's always been Ryu's counter-attack for when his opponent gets past his zoning defense. When you're fighting Ryu, you've got to be careful and respect that Shoryuken."
As Ryu landed, he quickly ran towards Fei Long before he could recover from that Shoryuken. Ryu didn't make it in time, though. What was supposed to be an all-out offense from him turned into a series of trading blows with Fei Long. Both of them were boxing like mad, and the audience grew louder and louder with each hit. Fei Long had the faster, more scattershot-like strikes. In the time it took for his opponent to punch him once, he had already gone rapid-fire on their head. Ryu, on the other hand, had the more focused, and more powerful strikes. His punches went for pure blunt-force trauma. A single blow would rattle the memory of his opponent's ancestors.
Both Ryu's and Fei Long's breaths eventually gave out, though, so they both backed away.
"Interesting exchange right there," Chen commented. "They both got tired at the same time, and backed away at the same time."
It was at this time that the pain had caught up to both of them.
Fei Long was getting dizzy, both because he had been hit with a Shoryuken and it felt as though his chin had journeyed all the way up to his brain, and because Ryu had been pounding his head like crazy. His forehead was even swelling. But he retained his composure, trying to show Ryu that he did not do any serious damage.
Ryu was in worse shape. His left cheek had a giant bruise because of the Rekkuu Kyaku from before. He had a cut from just above his eye, and the blood was sliding down his cheek. And from all the blows he took, it seemed as though he was going to wake up with a polka-dot of bruises on his body. Not to mention his arms were sore from blocking all of Fei Long's punches from the corner.
Nevertheless, they both had to finish this fight.
They circled around the ring again, waiting on each other to make the first move. Ryu couldn't throw a Hadouken this time because of his respect for the Rekkuu Kyaku. Fei Long couldn't just do a Rekkaken because he might get punished by the Shoryuken again. They had both wanted to be careful this time, after all the damage they took.
They tried to fake each other out. Ryu would do his ki-gathering stance to fake a Hadouken; Fei Long would lean forward to fake a Rekkuu Kyaku. Neither of them would fall for it. Their intentions were different, though. Ryu's intention was to see how Fei Long would react to his Hadouken. Apparently, Fei Long wanted to wait for the Hadouken to come out before leaping over it with the Rekkukyaku.
Fei Long's intention brought a more immediate result. With Ryu backing away every time Fei Long faked a Rekkuu Kyaku, he had managed to take Ryu to the corner again with footsies alone.
Ryu once again went to his ki-gathering stance, but to Fei Long it didn't matter whether or not this Hadouken was a fake-out. Now that Ryu's in the corner, he couldn't possibly back away to counter-attack. So Fei Long just did the Rekkukyaku; he catapulted himself forward, intent on landing fist-first into Ryu's face. To his surprise, Ryu just took the blow to his forehead, and at the same time threw his own attack: the Shoryuken.
The impact from Fei Long's Rekkukyaku made Ryu bend backwards a bit.
The impact from Ryu's Shoryuken sent Fei Long flying upwards.
"OH!" shouted the crowd and the commentators again.
"Is this a double-knockout?" asked Chen.
But Ryu wasn't done. He had managed to pull himself together just quickly enough to take all the ki he had gathered throughout the fight, and unload them to create a massive Hadouken. It hit Fei Long's body before he even reached the ground. It pushed him horizontally for a while before dispersing, and Fei Long reached the ground with a shock on his face as his body felt like it had been hit with a motorcycle.
"The Shinku Hadouken! The Shinku Hadouken!" David screamed at the top of his lungs. "Ladies and gentlemen! Ryu! The Dragon!"
The crowd roared on their feet. And when they saw that Fei Long wasn't getting up and the referee had stopped the fight, they roared even louder. This was an amazing performance from both Ryu and Fei Long.
"And the fight is over!" announced Chen. "Ryu is the first victor of the night, sending the acclaimed movie star Fei Long to the loser's bracket!"
Post-fight
Ken, along with the official tournament paramedics, ran into the ring and handed Ryu a towel. Ryu, who had seemingly been bathing in sweat, ran the towel through his body, and then rubbed it on his hair. He also used it to wipe off the blood off of his face. "Great job, buddy!" Ken praised his best friend as he rubbed Ryu's hair. "That last move where you went for a trade… you know, his Rekkukyaku for your Shoryuken… that was genius! If this fight is any indication, you're probably going to win this whole tournament!"
Ryu simply laughed in response.
Meanwhile, the paramedics had checked up on Fei Long. He seemed to have come to after a minute. He didn't seem to have any serious injury, fortunately. There was a slight fracture on one of his ribs, though, but it was expected to heal in only a few weeks.
Eventually, both fighters were called into the center of the ring for the post-fight interview.
"Ryu, you were getting beaten up early on in the fight, but you managed to pull through in the end. How does it feel to not only have your first World Warrior Tournament victory, but to get your first victory through an amazing comeback?"
"Well, you know, the uh, this is a great victory for me," Ryu said, obviously in a nervous way. He didn't have trouble fighting in front of a lot of people, but speaking was a whole different story. "I feel great. And uh… there's not much else to say, really."
"That last part where you threw that huge Hadouken, did you just do that on reaction?"
"No, actually. I-I had predicted that Fei Long would jump at me, so I just… (shrug) Prepared myself to take the blow. I was also prepared to follow up the Shoryuken with the Shinku Hadouken."
"Well, that was a great prediction. Congratulations on your victory, and we'll see you in the ring on the next show."
"Thank you."
"Fei Long, you've fought hard, you've fought well, but you got hit hard and were knocked down. Were you disappointed by your performance in any way?"
"No, not at all. The way I see it, the fight could have gone either way. But I made the wrong prediction and lost the fight. That's just the way it is, and I accept that Ryu had defeated me."
"Well, you'll still have a chance to redeem yourself in the loser's bracket. Good luck to you, and we'll see you in the ring on the next show."
"Thank you."
