The following fanfic is just that. A fanfic. The following characters used in this fanfic are the property of CAPCOM, and do not belong to me. If I did, then maybe I wouldn't need to go to New Orleans to get a job in construction… --;
--The Darkness Comes: Chapter 4--
"So where are we going first?" Sean said after a big yawn. The time was 6:00 a.m. and Sean wasn't much of a 'morning person'. Ken and Ryu, on the other hand were wide awake. 'I can't keep up with these two…' he thought.
"We're going to the last place that Sakura hit up before she left Japan. According to some of the local thugs and gamblers that Ryu cough 'interrogated', she was in this one place in Shibuya." Ken explained. Sean wondering what was Ryu's definition of interrogation, looked towards Ryu's direction, who's only response was a simple crackle of his knuckles. Confirming his suspicions Sean added no further questions, and the trio headed towards the train station. Boarding the train, they each went over their plans of attack for what they should do when they get to the fight club Sakura frequented. Taking a moment to look around, Sean noticed everyone else in the train car was looking at them. In fact, a few of them were reaching for their cell phones.
"Oh, don't mind us, everyone! We're just discussing tactics for this new video game we bought recently!" he laughed nervously. Too his relief, they dropped their suspicions and he joined back in the conversation. 'Maybe we should switch to English when we're talking about this…' After a while of planning, the announcer on the PA system came on. "Shibuya… Shibuya… Next stop, Shibuya."
"That's us, guys." Ken declared. When they left the train stop, Sean checked back to see if they were being 'monitored' as they left the train, saw nobody staring at them, and caught up with Ken and Ryu. While they walked the streets of Shibuya, they caught conversations between people asking if 'she' was going to the 'usual spot' today or not. And down a few alleys there were even posters advertising tournaments with "The Dark One" as the champ. It seems as if Sakura had gained some notoriety in the short time she racked up the cash she needed.
Eventually, after a few hours of wandering, and Sean asking a few random passersby, they were able to locate the alleyway that held the fight club's entrance. Knocking on the door, they were greeted by the opening of a peep-hole, and a deep voice asking for a password. Sean, not knowing a password was needed, looked confused and said "… Open sesame?" CLANK! The peephole slammed shut. "Well, he was rude…"
"He wasn't rude, you just weren't knocking correctly." Ken said with a smile, and slowly backed away to the side.
"Well how are you supposed to knock at a place like--" Sean cut himself off when he suddenly see Ryu slide past him, plant his foot on the door, knocking it clear off it's hinges, and knocking out the doorman. "Oh, THAT'S how you do it."
The three walked inside the darkened place to find that, to no surprise, all activity inside the building had stopped. All eyes were facing them, and not too many of them were excited to see them. A few people who noticed exactly who had walked in, were shocked, but said nothing to anyone around them. But in every occasion, there is always that one person, who just doesn't want to get with the program, and that one person stood up and yelled at the three, "Oi! Ain't one of you that guy that won that tournament in the U.S. a few years back!?" Ken, smiling at the accomplishment of his past efforts said, "Yeah that was me."
"That tournament was nothing compared to this place! In fact, I think it was rigged!" Ken raised his eyebrow at the comment, and replied, "Look, I don't need to prove how good I am. We're not even here to fight. We just wanna know where "The champ" went after her last fight here."
"You think we'd tell you anything after you just busted my door in?" came a voice from behind the three. Turning around, the bartender of all people was the one to step up to them. He was a fairly large man with a good amount of muscle on him. Judging by the way he carried himself, it seemed as though bartending wasn't his only specialty. "You boys broke my door down. And you guys are either gonna pay me back with cash, or with your hides…!"
"Look, he just told you we're not here to fight. We just want some information!"
"Well then it looks like fighting is your only option here. See around here, if somebody wants something besides a drink, they gotta fight for it. So I'll tell you what, one of you boys fights anyone here of our choosing. You win, and we'll tell you what you want to know. You loose, you pay for my door, and you get your sorry faces out of my club! … We got a deal?" Without much of a choice in the matter, an agreement was made. The three of them were to fight three of anyone who'd try their luck against them. It would be a tournament style fight, with the winner getting their just rewards. Meanwhile, the crowd in the background began taking up bets on who would win, who would loose, and who would draw first blood. Drawing straws, the three determined who would go when. Shawn was to go first, Ken second, and Ryu would bring up the rear. As Sean went to the center where the ring was, he thought about who he was to fight, and eagerly awaited his chance to show off his skills thus far. To his surprise, it was an old man who looked like he was in his late 70's.
The announcer stepped into the ring and announced the two fighters. "In the red corner, representing the newcomers, Sean Matsuda! In the blue corner, representing the community of drunks around the world, Mr. Yamada!" The crowd exchanged their cheers and boos, and after the two entered their stances, the fight began. Sean, feeling confident in his abilities, decided to make the first move. Rushing towards the old man, he stopped just short of where Mr. Yamada stood, and performed a quick roundhouse aimed at the old man's head; however, his foot ended up hitting nothing but air, and felt a sharp pain in his other foot as he fell to the ground. Mr. Yamada had dodged the attack, and countered with a sweep kick. Sean rolled to his feet, and attacked again with a series of quick jabs mixed in with a kick every now and then. But Mr. Yamada was ducking and dodging in between each attack as if he could predict them. "Why…! Can't…! I…! HIT YOU! NGH!!" Sean yelled in frustration as each attack missed its mark. Mr. Yamada merely smiled, dodged another kick, and said, "Well with you broadcasting all of your attacks, it's no wonder how I can dodge them!"
'Broadcasting…?' Sean retreated briefly and rethought his strategy. Mr. Yamada, feeling cocky, asked, "What's wrong, youngster? Can't keep up with an old man like myself?" He 'showboated' a bit, making the crowd cheer in his favor, and waited for Sean to continue his assault. "You know, I was always told to respect my elders… but your wrinkly face is an exception…! Take this!" Sean rushed the old man as he did before, and aimed a short kick to the old man's shins; but just before Mr. Yamada was about to counter the kick, Sean shifted his weight, and planted a hard kick to the side of the old man's head. "OOOOH!" The part of the crowd that betted on Sean, acknowledged the clean hit, and cheered him on. Not wanting to let up on the now-unbalanced Mr. Yamada, Sean closed in, grabbed his arm, and did an over-the-shoulder throw on him. Upon landing on the ground, there was a loud 'pop' that echoed in the ring, and Mr. Yamada yelped in great pain.
"OWWWWWWWWW!!! My back!" Mr. Yamada doubled over in the corner of the ring, hold his lower-back. Sean didn't know whether he was faking or not, but after Mr. Yamada tapped out, it was clear the victory belonged to Sean. There was an equal amount of booing and cheering from the crowd as Sean exited the ring to rejoin Ken and Ryu. Sean was exited about his win in front of his master, but Ken was quick to disapprove of his disciple's victory, as it took him too long to land a clean hit on his opponent. Still, Ken was rather glad that Sean was the victor of the match, and got ready for his fight. "I'll show you guys how it's done." He said with a smile as he headed to the ring. Ken smiled even more when it turned out that his opponent was the same guy that was heckling them earlier. "I'll show you how real fighters do things around here, pretty boy!"
"Oh, so you have some martial arts training under your belt?" Ken asked in surprise.
"Heh. Sure do! I'm a devoted martial artist of Saikyo-ryuu karate under the great master Dan Hibiki! There's no way you can beat me!"
"…! Did… did you say… Dan Hibiki? … THE Dan Hibiki…?"
"Yeah, and I'm not holding back, just cuz you won some b.s. tournament in the states!"
"Wouldn't have it any other way, pal…" The two fighters entered their stances, and awaited the start of the match. The announcer arrived in the ring, and began to announce the fighters, when Ken quickly hopped over to the announcer, whispered something in his ear, and returned to his spot on the ring. The announcer, stared at Ken for a few seconds, and continued with the introduction. "In the blue corner, representing the Saikyo-ryuu school of martial arts, Kentaro Ryuuseki! The man known as Kentaro performed an outlandish battle-cry similar to what his predecessor might've done, and the crowd shouted along with him. "And, in the red corner, representing the… cough 'Good ol' U. S. of A.', the 'rising dragon' of the states… (I can't believe I'm saying this…) Ken Masters…!" Ken performed a similar battle-cry done by his opponent, but the crowd didn't receive him as well. "Aww, come on! You people wouldn't know what a real martial artist was even if he scissor-kicked you in the back of the head!" The crowd responded by throwing bottles, beer cans, and other trash at him. After the janitor cleaned the ring a bit, the fight began between the two hot-heads. Kentaro was the first to go.
"Alright, blondie! I got some things to do, and people to see, so I'm gonna end this fight quick!" Planting his feet on the ground, Kentaro raised his arm and prepared for his final attack in the beginning of the round. "Saikyo-ryuu Ougi...!" The energy swelled up in his raised palm as he charged for his 'attack', while Ken made his preparations to defend himself. "Shinkuu…! Gadouken!" Like it was a baseball, Kentaro swung his arm and flung a fireball towards where Ken stood, but to everyone's (except Ken's) surprise, the fireball was moving at the speed of a snail. Ken simply walked up to it, and smacked it out of the way. "W-w-w-w-w-w-what the!?!"
"Let me show you a 'real' technique, amateur! Ken quickly closed the gap with a roll towards his opponent, and begins to execute one of his flashier moves. "Ikuze! Shippu-Jinrai-Kyaku!!" Ken performed a short flurry of kicks, each varying in height, and ended with a signature hurricane kick that brought both him and his opponent in the air. After Ken stopped spinning, the two fighters fell to the ground, with Ken standing as the victor, and Kentaro unconscious on the floor. The crowd fell silent to witness their favorite guy loosing, but the half that made the smart choice of betting on Ken suddenly busted into a song and cheers of joy. Ken waved to his new fans, and made his way back to his seat with his comrades. "Now THAT'S how you win a fight! HAhahaha!" Ken basked in his five minutes of glory, with Sean idolizing his teacher as always. Ryu, on the other hand, was quietly contemplating his tactics on what might be his surest way to victory with his opponent. "Come on, Sean, Lemme' buy ya' a drink! But no alcohol for you, since you're still in training…"
"But, Master…!" Sean whined. But as the two went of to celebrate early, a dark figure suddenly appeared behind Ryu, and whispered in his ears. "Don't think you'll be so lucky, Ryu. The guy you're fighting is a student from someone in your past…"
"…"
-End-
A/N: Annnnnd here we are at chapter 4! Before I get any further in this, I'd like to point out why I chose to name Ryu, Ken, Sean, etc's fighting style as Shotokan style karate, instead of Ansatsuken. Shotokan is an actual name of a fighting style, and was the first name given to the people who used that style in Street Fighter. Ansatsuken refers to ANY martial art that was developed solely for killing. For me, Ansatsuken is too broad a term to use as a name, so I chose Shotokan instead. ANYWAY, after writing these, I've gotten the sudden urge to go a few rounds in Marvel vs. Capcom a few times. Anybody else feel like a quick match? I've always used Ryu in any Street Fighter game I've played, but personally I like Elena in Street Fighter III. Something about cute girls wearing nothing but necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and a two-piece bikini kinda sits well with me, ya know? Who's student do you think will fight against Ryu in the final match? Only way to find out is to tune in to the next chapter!