Author's Note: Okaaaaaayyy... this is gonna be my fictionalized take on Ryo Sakazaki's life. The story's in the 90's. Will include some (Terry and co.)-bashing so no hard feelings, all right? Please R&R!!!!
Disclaimer: I obviously don't own any of the SNK Characters depicted below....
Or else I would've continued with the original games' story lines and left the King of Fighters to Kyo and his cronies, but we'll get to that later.....
A Tiger's Journey
Chapter 1
"Show me what you've learned, turds!!!"
Takuma Sakazaki was a content man. He has lived in Southtown for more than 20 years now, and, given the circumstances, life was fairly pleasant for him.
"You're not using enough power, punks!!!"
He wasn't always like this, you know. Once upon a time, Takuma used to be a lazy bum who had no confidence in himself. His childhood had been very harsh to him back in Japan. He was an orphan who never knew his parents. By the time he reached 8, however, he was as strong as a 14 year-old. So he used his strength in man-labor after school hours.
"Look at Bobby, Ryo!! He's actually getting the hang of it better than you!!! Just how much of a klutz are you??!!"
When he turned 16, he bought himself tickets from some of the cash he saved up from work, and went to Southtown, USA to achieve his dream of being a karate master. Oh sure, he won a few street fights here and there but that just wasn't enough for him to be actually proud of himself.
"Your stance is flimsy, kid!!! One kick and I would literally send you flying down the street so hard your eyes would fall out of their sockets!!!"
That is, until he saw her.
"Oh, come on!!!! Is that really your best??!! Put more anger into your energy flow!!!"
Blonde, not too fat nor too skinny, always smiling. From the moment she laid eyes upon him, she never stopped cheering for him, attending his fights and following him around wherever his travels took him. He wondered: "Just who is this girl? And what does she want from me?". He walked up to her one day, immediately after winning his 56th consecutive win, and said....nothing. He just stood there and gaped, like the idiot he later admitted he was, at her eyes.
"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa..... Did I just see you cheat your way out of a push-up, Bobby???!!! Okay, looks like I'm gonna have to go Godzilla on you for the idea to sink in!!!"
He thought they were the most beautiful, innocent, loving eyes he'd ever seen, not that he'd seen any love during his childhood. That's when he was brought back to reality by the sound of her laughter. She said, giggling: "Is that your winning pose?". He fumbled with himself, sheepishly saying: "No, it's kinda...".
He was immediately silenced when she leaned in close........
..................... and kissed his cheek. And then, she walked away.
"Not again!!! I feel like I'm teaching a rock how tap-dance!!!!"
....................................................................................
For the next few weeks he couldn't get that moment out of his head. Every time he saw her, he wanted to go over to her and talk to her about that small action. But he couldn't gather up the courage. Then, on a rainy day, he watched her running in the middle of the street with only a newspaper and a couple of magazines she held above her rapidly dampening head. She couldn't have seen the speeding truck that was to her left. When Takuma saw this, he acted quickly without thinking. He jumped the entire street and snatched the girl merely moments before the truck actually reached her. When she looked back at what almost happened, she was paralyzed from shock at first, but when she realized who saved her, she blanked.
"Next time, I expect both of you to be up at 6:30 a.m., got it?!!"
She asked him: "What made you do that?" He immediately said, without thinking: "You woke me from the dead, gave me reason for living and I had to...mmph" Next thing he knew, he was tackled by the girl and she was furiously making out with him.
After the intense display of affection, she said, lovingly: "Please, tell me your name, big guy..." "Takuma Sakazaki, what's yours?" "You can call me Ronette.." "Okay, Ronette, will you marry me?"
"That's the fifth time you knocked down the bottles, Ryo!!! Concentrate on the timing!!!"
The next few weeks were a blur to Takuma. He eloped with Ronette the very next day. And when he asked her about her family, she said: "They're dead..", so he didn't elaborate.
"That's excellent, Bobby!! See that, Ryo?! THAT is how you're supposed to kick!!"
The next week, he entered an international tournament held in Southtown called "The King Of Fighters" run by "some German dude" as described by his new wife, who suggested the whole idea of him entering in the first place. He was astonished when he actually went through the whole contest undefeated. He dedicated the enormous sum of prize money to his Ronette, who was jumping up and down in celebration, all dignity forgotten. Then he announced: "As for what I'm gonna do with the dough, I'm taking my wifey around the world to live and train under the very best.". This was on his 25th birthday, in 1953.
"BOOYAH!! All 6 ice blocks!! Great job, son!! You see, Bobby?! This is why I'm telling you to work more on your muscles!!"
....................................................................................
Tokyo, 1954. Takuma was lying in bed when Ronette came into the room, trying to look casual. He knew that she was hiding something from him. He could tell by now. "Come on, what is it?" Ronette said: "Nothing" Takuma looked directly into her eyes. "Really?" he asked, the sarcasm evident in his tone. "All right, okay. But, please don't freak out....Okay, this is harder than I expected....Okay, just gimme a sec...." Silence. Takuma was scared now. "What if she wants to quit the whole thing? I can't take this!! What if... what if she's gonna leave me?!! No, don't think that! What if she discovered she's got leukemia? Or cancer? Or maybe even AIDS??!!! I hear that's the worst one!! No, don't die on meeeeee!!!!"
"HEY!!" Takuma jumped five feet in the air and, once he landed, he saw that Ronette was howling with laughter. "That's NOT funny!!" He yelled as his wife still chortled. She finally relaxed and said: "I really needed that, babe. Thanks... Okay, I'm ready to tell you now.... Honey, I'm pregnant." Silence again.... "C'mon, baby..... Please say something..."
"WAAAAAHHHH!!!" Takuma comically threw himself at her feet, bawling at the top of his lungs. "I expected this would happen... I knew this was too good to be true!!! Why am I so cursed??? Why? Why? Wh.....wait, what??!!" "I said, I'm pregnant." Silence once again.... He went to his wife and asked: "Are you sure?" She happily nodded and said: "In my second month."
"WAAAAAHHHH!!! I've been dreaming of this since I was a little runt!!!" He looked into her eyes, his own large and puppy-like, "You are my gift from God!!!" She knew that he was speaking the truth, so she kissed him hard. "Why don't we take this to the bedroom?" she calmly said. He nodded: "Anything you say, babe."
....................................................................................
"Okay, now both of you are gonna take me on!!! Let's see if you're up to it!!"
7 months later, he was sitting in the waiting room while he waited for the doctor. He was in the middle of meditation when the doctor came back. "Mr. Sakazaki?"the doctor called. Takuma immediately ran to him. The doctor took off his mask and smiled: "Congratulations!! It's a boy!!". Takuma asked right away: "how's my wife?" The doctor happily replied: "She's just fine. You can see her if you want."..... "Which room?" Takuma asked. "Room 301" the doctor said. Takuma hugged him hard, in front of everybody, and twirled him around, shouting: "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!" Then, he ran as fast as he could until he reached the room. He went inside to see a sight he would happily and vividly describe to anyone who asked. He saw Ronette, with her gorgeous blonde hair slightly damp with sweat, holding a beautiful baby, also with bright blonde hair, and smiling tearfully at him. "Our son." She whispered. He came over to her and kissed her delicately and said: "May I?" She handed him the baby, who was squinting at his father, Takuma saw that the boy looked like his mother, except for the eyes. "He's got my eyes..." He said to his wife, who replied: "I know, and that will be his pride when he grows up". Takuma looked at Ronette and said: "What should we name him?" She happily said: "Ryo. I think it fits him. Yeah. Ryo sounds wonderful!!" Takuma looked at her and said: "You see? This is why I love you in the first place. You seem to know exactly what I'm thinking."
"Hah!! You'll always be punks who never take their training seriously"
....................................................................................
Fast forward 4 years, Ronette and Ryo were watching the TV which was showing Takuma fighting in the final match of the KOF tournament in a large square ring, about 60x60 against the previous champion, a Chinese man in his early 50's who goes by the name of Tung Fu Rue. "Come on, Daddy!!" Little Ryo jumped up and down on the little couch in the living room. His mother, heavily pregnant, sat on a chair reserved for her in the corner, watching and biting her nails. On screen, Tung landed a heavy blow in Takuma's chest, accompanied by a fairly large blast of light. Takuma fell down, hard.
"Good one, Ryo!!! You finaly get the hang of counter-punching!!!"
Ryo screamed: "NO!! C'mon, Daddy, get up!!! Getup getup getup getup getup getup!!!". Then, Takuma suddenly jumped back up and ran at Tung. When he reached him, he grabbed his head and started delivering fast knee blows to the man's face, ending with a vicious kick in the chin. Tung flew backwards, then flipped in mid-air and landed on his feet and started grunting. Takuma was a bit confused, until he saw his foe's eyes bulging unnaturally. Then, he noticed everything else was bulging....Shoulders, feet, arms, chest.... The man was transforming into this hulking behemoth. "Think fast, what can this person actually do? I'll just have to improvise as it goes..." Takuma silently thought to himself as Tung stared at him with his new body for a few moments, then he let out a loud, inhumane roar and lunged. The crowd seemed to know this peculiar transformation because they roared in applause as Takuma narrowly dodged the man's fist, but not before it grazed the top of his head, burning a few hairs.
"You surprisingly landed a hit on me, Bobby!!! That was impressive!!"
Takuma then leapt to the end of the ring, steadied himself and gathered all of his power into his body's center and he released it with a scream. "AAAAAAAARRRRGGHHHH!!!!" Then, he burst free from his gi and looked straight into Tung's blank eyes and said: "Come and get me, you overgrown geezer!!" Tung growled in response, as if he understood what Takuma said. Tung then jumped into the air and stopped, then started spinning rapidly with his huge arms outstretched and his hands balled into fists. Then, he launched at Takuma with unbelievable speed. Takuma brought his hands together and connected his fingertips without the rest of his palms and started charging his energy into the empty space between his hands, shaking more as he gathered more energy. Tung was fast approaching while Takuma was charging more and more energy, saying: "Wait for it..." And, when Tung was within two meters from him, he extended his arms, palms open, and shouted: "HAOH SHI KOH KEN!!!". His hands let out a huge blast of energy, which caught Tung as he was spinning square in the chest.
"Come on, focus on the side, Bobby!! Don't let him edge left..."
Ryo yelled: "YEAH!!! DADDY WON!!! Didn't he? Didn't he, Mommy?" as he watched Tung on the TV fly all the way to the other end. Ronette didn't say anything so as to be sure....
Tung then surprisingly got back up with out any visible signs of damage. Takuma thought: "Wow, this is one tough cat!!! I gotta try harder..." He got caught off guard when Tung suddenly jumped in the air, twirled once and kicked thin air at his direction, only his leg let out an enormous red blast of fire. Takuma, honed by countless hours of practice, instantly reacted. "Kou Ou Ken!!" Takuma yelled, while thrusting his fist.
The approaching flame was suddenly nullified by an invisible force. The crowd stared in disbelief, then they roared for Takuma as well. Tung, for the first time since the beginning of the match, spoke in a rough, booming voice: "You have earned my respect!! I assure you, I' m holding nothing back!!" Then, he smiled a scary smile and bowed, then resumed his pose. Takuma, while slightly freaked out at first, appreciated the gesture and bowed back and said: "Neither am I!!!"
"Nice one, Ryo!! Keep at him!!!!
Ronette yelled at the TV: "THIS IS NO TIME TO BE MUSHY,YOU IDIOT WIMP!!! BREAK HIS BONES IF YOU HAVE TO!!!" Ryo looked, horrified, at his mom then sat down quietly. Ronette then proceeded to take a large bucket of ice cream and wolf it down.
Tung's eyes then glowed a shining white as he put both his hands in front of him, then roared the same roar moments ago, which in turn made the crowd go berserk with joy, then released a huge beam of light at Takuma, who immediately reacted by a long and quick sidestep, then brought both hands crossed against his chest with his fists balled and bellowed: "KYOKUGENRYUU OUGI!!!!" Then, he executed a long dash, swiftly approaching Tung's exposed side.... the rest was martial arts history.....
"YEAH!! We got ya, fair and square!!!"
The crowd went completely silent, as they watched in awe what was happening in the middle of the yard.... Takuma first connected with a flying kick that hit Tung in the abdomen and threw him out of his beam stance, then quickly proceeded to pummel Tung with rapid punches and kicks to virtually every part of his body. Takuma ended his combo with a right chop that bounced Tung high in the air. Then, Takuma quickly dashed backwards, and brought his hands together again, then shot another energy blast, this time even bigger than the first, which crashed into Tung mid-fall, sending him flying to the end of the arena. Tung hit the floor with a loud crash and lay motionless. The medical team went to check his pulse, and were shocked to find him, once more, shrunken to his original size. They checked and signalled that he was unconscious. The announcer yelled into his microphone: "KNOCKOUT!!!!!" The crowd erupted with cheers that filled the entire arena. Takuma stood there, frozen, as he heard the crowd roaring his name: "TAKUMA, TAKUMA, TAKUMA!!!"
"Congrats!!! It's with great pleasure that I now give you your 1st dan black belts!!"
Ronette's eyes were filled with tears of happiness as she watched Ryo jump all around the apartment, screaming at the top of his lungs: "DADDY WON, DADDY WON, DADDY WON!!!" Ronette then went to hug her son, and said: "Your Daddy and I want you to be stronger than him." Ryo then looked up to his mother and said: "Don't worry, Mommy. I'm gonna be king, just like my daddy."
Takuma was instantly surrounded by the tournament committee and the announcer and his team. The announcer came up to him and yelled: "Ladies and gentlemen, our new champion!!!" The crowd's din was deafening. Then he asked: "Mr. Takuma Sakazaki, what would you like to say in this occasion?" ........ No response. "Mr. Takuma?" ......Takuma then jumped six feet up in the air and roared: "YES!!" The crowd, of course, cheered him more. Takuma then said: " Well, you cannot describe moments like this. This is what stories of legend are made of!!!! This is the moment I've been waiting for for five years!!!! This.... is the birth of a new martial art....KYOKUGEN!!!! If you're interested, I can be located here in Southtown later this year!!!" .... "Would you like to dedicate this victory to someone??" Takuma immediately smiled and said: "I'd like to dedicate this championship to my family: my wife and son and my unborn child!!!"
"C'mon, Dad!! My fight's in two hours!!! I need the damn bathroom!!!!"
Ronette, overjoyed and touched, burst into tears. She walked up to the TV screen and kissed her husband's image, saying: "I wish I could tell you how much I....."
Ronette then froze, and screamed a terrible yell of pain. Ryo was horrified at this and said: "Mommy?! What's happening?!" Ronette grabbed her son and said: "Ryo....honey....I need...you to call 911...." Ryo said: "OK...Hang on, Mommy!!"
....................................................................................
Takuma ran..... He ran like he never ran before...... He ran from the airport to the hospital after he came back from Japan..... He heard the news from the hospital while he was on the plane.... He reached the hospital..... He found his wife's room after threatening to break the receptionist's hand..... He saw his son sleeping on his mother's lap while she lay on the bed, motionless.... He listened to the doctor telling him that his child made it, a beautiful baby girl...... He listened to him saying that his wife, his beloved Ronette didn't make it..........
Takuma choked as the tears rolled down his cheeks as he held his daughter, with beautiful hazel brown hair just like his, and a spitting image of her late mother. "I'll call you Yuri. You will never, ever need anything anymore. Neither will your brother..." he sobbed.
....................................................................................
"WHAT IN THE BLUE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN THERE, YOU SICK FREAK??!!"
1966. Yuri is screaming her head off: "GIVE.... IT.... BAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAACK!!!!" Ryo just sticked his tongue out while holding Yuri's prized tennis ball. Suddenly, he felt a painful crash on the back of his head. "AAAAAHAOW!!!"(ow, if you're wondering) He looked up and saw his dear ol' daddy glaring at him with the infamous "stare from hell". "WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT BULLYING YOUR SISTER??!!" Takuma bellowed. Ryo whimpered: "I'm sorry, I swear I won't do it again.. Really, I won't..." and looked up at his dad with the same puppy-dog-eye technique that Takuma himself uses sometimes. Takuma inwardly thought: "That's my boy!!" But outwardly yelled: "Boy, I invented that. It won't work on me!!!" and proceeded to chase his little offspring all around the house.
Until the doorbell rang. Takuma immediately changed his demeanor to a serious one and said: "Right about time. Ryo, Yuri, I want you to dress up nice and wait in the living room, got it?" The kids noticed the attitude change and obeyed.
"GIVE YOUR FATHER SOME PRIVACY, YOU LITTLE MORON!!!"
They've always loved and respected their father, especially after their mother's untimely passing. They clearly remember how he fed them, taught them, bathed and clothed them. In short, he is their whole world.
"Oh God....Yuri, you're his little girl. He likes you, at least, so please, can you help me here?"
Takuma went to answer the door, and smiled when he saw who it was... "Gianluca, my friend!!!" Gianluca Garcia, heir to the Italian Garcia conglomerate, smiled and said: "Takuma, my old friend!!! It's always a pleasure to see you again!!" Gianluca gave Takuma a massive hug and entered the house with a small boy. Takuma asked: "So, this is little Roberto, huh? He looks like Mommy Sonia. Don't you, Bobby?"
Robert was clearly surprised by this man. Just who is this man? And how the hell does he know my mother's name? "A little shy, isn't he?" Takuma said. Gianluca laughed gently and said: "He's nothing like this at home...." Robert frowned at this.
"So, you're moving here permanently?" Takuma asked. The Italian said: "Not really. We're here for maybe about ten years to oversee the new metro system overhaul across the country." Takuma said: "Oh yeah, right. Well, you know how I don't like to get into these issues. If you ever wanted a bodyguard, then gimme a call. Heh...." Gianluca frowned and said: "You know I would never do that to you, you're..." Takuma interrupted him: "C'mon, I know, I know, I was only joking. Man, You still don't have a sense of humor!!! BWAAAHAHAHAHA!!!" Robert quietly muttered: "You got that right.."
Takuma suddenly looked straight at him. Robert felt that the man heard what he said, and it gave him chills. Takuma then beckoned them to the living room, where Ryo and Yuri waited. "So, how old is he right now?" "12." "Really? Interesting. He's my boy's age." "Good, friendly company's always good..."
"FINALLY!!! It's about damn time!!! Thanks a million,Yuri!!!!"
Ryo was peeking from the door when he saw his father and a man he'd never seen before in his life. "Yuri, come here!!! Look... Who's that guy? And what's with that kid? I've seen that man on the news.... Isn't he French?.... I'll bet he's got a lot of....."
Yuri quickly hissed: "Shut up!!! They're coming here!!!" Both of them backed away from the door so fast that Ryo tripped and fell on his behind just as they came in, He quickly stood up and bowed with his sister. They said in unision: "Welcome, honorable guests." Gianluca laughed at this: "You actually trained them to do that? Either way it's appreciated. Hi there!! I'm Gianluca Garcia, and this is my son, Roberto. Say hello, son." Robert whispered quietly: "Hi..." Ryo looked at him with curiosity. Cool hair, bro!! Yuri told herself: "what are these clothes? And the hair? Ugh!!" "OK, let's get this over with... This is Ryo... And this is Yuri... Kids, Bobby here is gonna come over every day for a while, so behave yourselves, or else!!!" Takuma then said: "Ryo and Bobby, you're gonna train every day with me in Kyokugen Karate.... Starting now. GET UP, YOU WORTHLESS CHICKENS!!! I'LL MAKE YOU THE BEST FIGHTERS IN THE WORLD!!! YOU'LL BE THE BEST 'COZ I SAY SO!!!! HUP HUP HUP HUP HUP!!!!!!"
Ryo and Bobby, terrified for their lives, ran out of the room into the dojo. Takuma said to his friend: "I truly intend to do what I said. You can pick him up at 6. So long, buddy." "Thank you, Takuma. I really appreciate it. See you at 6."
"C'mon!!! Hurry up, Ryo!!! You are not Tom friggin' Cruise"
....................................................................................
Present day, 1990. Ryo and Robert are about to leave for this year's KOF tournament....