The King of Street Fighters
A KoF/SF fanfic by Zero-Sennin
Chapter 7: Crimson Fists and Burning Blood! The Preliminaries Begin
That morning, almost every fighter in Southtown had awoken with a grin, smirk, or just a large amount of confidence.
It was the day many had been waiting for since they had arrived…a chance to fight for superiority, to prove who was the best of the best and who was gutter trash. Despite the varying emotions of each fighter, all were assured of one thing, and one thing alone:
Victory would belong only to those that claimed it.
And as each team made their way to the Southtown Stadium that morning to register their teams, they were all intent on doing so, no matter who or what got in their way.
The King of Street Fighters tournament committee had set up a large, circular platform in the middle of the grassy stadium to serve as the arena.
As the teams stood expectantly around it, a representative of the tournament board came to the center, dressed in a yellow two-piece tweed suit and wielding a microphone. After scanning the crowd, he twirled the mike between his fingers and brought it close to his mouth.
"Yo, everybody! Welcome to The King of Street Fighters prelim matches! Only twelve teams are leaving this arena today and heading on to the finals in scenic Chiryu City, Japan! The rest of you…well, you'll do whatever you do when you lose fighting tournaments. Now listen up…here are the rules! First of all, teams with four or five combatants must select three for combat prior to the start of any match. Secondly, two-man teams and single-entries must win at least 2 matches against three, four, or five-man teams to advance. Third, matches are won by defeating all members of the team when two three-man teams are competing against one another. If the number of people on each team is not the same, the team with fewer members will need to defeat the majority of the other team's members to win. Also, matches may be called at any moment if necessary. Finally, if you fall out of the ring, you automatically lose the match! And with that done, let's get this STARTED!"
"It's about time," Iori grumbled tiredly. "Freakin' HOT out here…"
The large screen on the western wall of the stadium blinked to life, and white words appeared behind a scrolling rectangular bar.
MATCH 1: Cherry Blossom Brigade vs. the "Master of Saikyou-Ryuu", the Amazing Dan Hibiki
The crowd began to disperse, settling themselves around the arena in their respective teams, as a young-looking woman in a red track suit, shinai at her side and the ponytailed, pink-clad Dan stepped into the ring. The woman's three teammates, two guys and a girl about her age, stood at the ring's edge.
Ryu's group settled down directly where they'd been standing.
Iori looked at Dan flexing his muscles and rolling about, yelling "YAHOO!", then looked over at Sakura, who was briskly smacking her weapon against the ground and grinning fiercely; after a moment, he put his hands in his pockets and turned to face the arena.
"That idiot…he's putting on such a show it'd be rude to ignore his inevitable beating."
Meanwhile, Dan had switched to directly taunting his opponent. "So, Sakura! You've decided to face me, eh?! With a weapon, no less! How sad… prepare to witness the awesomeness of SAIKYOU-RYU!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Sakura flexed her shinai and brushed her dark brown bangs out of her face. "Then, you make the first move. I promise you it'll be over quickly."
With one final "YAHOOOO!", Dan charged forward, his fists clenched and a triumphant grin plastered on his face. Sakura strode forward leisurely to meet him, and when he was less than a foot from her, she leisurely swept her shinai along the ground, tripping him easily. As soon as he hit the ground, she smacked him repeatedly and briskly all over his body before sending him rolling with a golf-swing styled strike. As Dan spluttered and mumbled, Sakura smacked her shinai on her shoulder lightly and grinned playfully.
"Wanna try that again?" she asked.
Dan rose slowly, shook himself off, then leaped forward suddenly, his knee extended as he flew at Sakura.
"SUCK ON SOME DANKUKYAKU!!!!!!"
Sakura quickly sidestepped, shoved her shinai into her waistband, and brought her hands to her side, assuming a familiar pose as a small ball of light appeared between them.
Kyo's gaze snapped onto Ryu. "Did you…?"
"No, I didn't. She learned by watching me. Impressive, huh?"
Light exploded as Sakura shot her hands forward, and the Hadouken, though smaller than Ryu's, traveled the short distance between Dan and Sakura almost instantaneously, smashing powerfully into his back and knocking him out of the air.
However, Dan's stubborn determination gave him the strength to tuck into a roll near the ground; once he slowed down, he practically sprang to his feet and whirled about, ready to charge…but in doing so, he got to see Sakura dashing at him, white tennis shoes thudding on the floor and shinai whistling through the air, flying at – and eventually smashing into – his face with an audible whack.
With a surprised yell that gave way to a groan, he staggered backwards; Sakura thrust her shinai forward with a two-hand grip, striking him directly in the stomach and bowling him over. By the time he hit the ground, his eyes had blanked out, and his breathing was labored and unsteady.
Cheerily, Sakura walked off, whistling a tune while her teammates grinned at each other; scattered laughter mixed with sympathetic hisses rose from the crowd in the stands as the announcer cried, "Winners are…the Cherry Blossom Brigade!"
Ryu and Ken nodded appreciatively as they rose from the ground, acknowledging Sakura's talent; the former went so far as to give Sakura a thumbs-up when his fan and former 'student' looked his way. Her face immediately lit up and she began babbling incoherently at such a speed that one of her male teammates, a tan fellow wearing a yellow gi like Ryu and Ken's, looked quizzically to see what had been bothering her, only to start babbling himself when he saw Ken.
Ryu grinned. "Sean seems pretty excited, Ken. You gonna talk to the kid this time?"
"Maybe, maybe not," Ken replied airily as he began to walk towards the stands, Iori in pursuit. "He's probably beyond me at this point anyway."
"SENSEI!!!! It's been forever since we last hooked up, man! What's the deal?!"
"…Or not."
Ryu couldn't help but break out into raucous laughter as Sakura and her teammates came over and sat down next to them; Sakura herself was still grinning happily.
"Been a while, eh, Ryu-senpai? How've you been doing?"
"Fine, thanks for asking…So, Sakura, it's senpai now, eh? What, you don't want to learn from me anymore?"
"You know just as well as I do that you're still my role model, Ryu-senpai. But since we're not that far apart in age and we're probably equal in skill at this point, senpai feels more appropriate, y'know?"
Ryu nodded. "True enough."
Kyo cleared his throat loudly. "The next match is starting and I'd like to be able to hear and see without any distractions, if that's not too much of a bother."
"Who's up?" Ken queried.
"'Team K' ' against some guy named Remy."
The blonde waved dismissively. "It's a fight we can afford to miss. No big deal. That Ash guy, though, if he shows up, let us know."
Sean fixed Ken with a questioning gaze. "Who's Ash, sensei? He sounds pretty cool."
Iori mumbled something under his breath, but made no further comment.
Sakura's other male teammate, a fellow in a blue school uniform wearing a white headband and sporting gloves similar to Kyo's, looked over at Iori sympathetically, only shifting his gaze to Kyo when the redhead gave him a stare dripping with thinly-veiled annoyance.
"So, Kyo, these guys, they know about what happened with Crimson already?"
"…Yeah, Shingo. They do. And they even offered to help, sort of."
"So did I…but you turned me down…"
"You need to worry about graduating…your mother would kill you if you turned into a shiftless high-school dropout fighter."
Everyone except Shingo and Iori fixed Kyo with a look that said no more and no less than 'Are you freaking serious?' for several seconds; Kyo's face colored slightly as he realized what he had just admitted. "Yes, I never finished high school…The tournaments got in the way."
"And you're a bloody idiot," Iori added smugly.
"Nobody asked you for your opinion, mop-top!"
"Right to free speech, Kusanagi. Don't you just love America?"
Kyo would have swung at him, but the billboard was displaying the next match, one that would prove to be much more interesting than the others so far.
MATCH 3: Team Justice vs. the Agents Team
Ryu was wondering idly who Team Justice was until he actually took a good look at the arena; Chun-Li was stepping in, dressed in a blue shirt, blue shorts with yellow trim, and blue-and yellow-sneakers, her ox-buns uncovered and spiked bracelets gracing her wrists. Her opponent was a woman wearing simple gloves, a sleeveless, collared white shirt, and long green pants; a red tie hung over her considerable…assets, and her hair was bright red.
"…Vanessa, huh," Iori mumbled. "That Chun-Li's gonna have a rough time…"
"She's that tough?" Ken asked.
"Sort of. Really punchy, for sure." He actually cracked a smile at his own joke, corny or not.
In the arena, Chun-Li was stretching coolly, limbering up as much as she could. Vanessa was busy reassuring her teammate Ramon that she could – and would – win, without any serious injury.
"Miss Vanessa, be as careful as you can, please. Those spiked bracelets, they look quite dangerous, and…"
"Ramon. Ramon! It's fine, Ramon. I can do this, all right? Trust me."
"All right, Miss Vanessa, but again, I implore you…"
Groaning, Vanessa turned her back to him, attempting to hide her embarrassment and slight irritation.
"He's a real gentleman, you know," she remarked idly to Chun-Li, who'd been observing the whole thing. "It's just that he…you know, gets too overprotective now and then."
"It's no problem," Chun-Li replied as she settled into her stance. "Anytime you're ready, I am."
Vanessa pulled her fists up into a regular boxing stance and bounced on the balls of her toes for a while, then slid forward with astonishing speed, directing two punches directly at Chun-Li's face; Chun-Li was so shocked by Vanessa's agility that she couldn't dodge either blow, which sent her flying up like a rocket. Luckily, she recovered herself in midair with a forward flip, and managed to land without much trouble…until she saw Vanessa rushing her again. Biting back a curse, Chun-Li quickly got up and parried the straight punch aimed at her stomach, as well as several rapid-fire jabs; she dodged the last punch, then retaliated with a quick kick to Vanessa's stomach, followed by a two-palm strike that pushed Vanessa back slightly.
Vanessa soon shook the stars out of her eyes and hopped forward with a few more jabs that Chun-Li easily dodged and parried; almost immediately after her last blow failed to connect, Vanessa suddenly slid back with the same speed she had used in the forward-sliding technique, moving her far away from the kick.
Chun-Li blinked, trying to make sense of what she had just seen. How does she move like that?! It's like friction doesn't even apply to her…
Vanessa smiled and kicked her shoe against the ground before pulling her dark gloves on even tighter. "The fun's just about to start! Get ready!"
She slid forward again, but seemed to slow down right in front of Chun-Li. Taking it as a sign of good luck, Chun-Li quickly rose up on one leg, preparing a straight kick to smash Vanessa in the chest and knock her back again…but when she struck out, she was shocked to discover that she had missed – Vanessa had DUCKED in the middle of the slide and was now directly beneath her.
Vanessa grinned and swung her fist up savagely. "TAKE THIS! UPPER…CUT!"
Grimacing, Chun-Li shifted her guard downwards, desperately praying that she could manage a block in time; she was all too relieved when Vanessa's hand smacked against her arms, but couldn't help wincing at the sting of impact. Quickly, she stepped back a few paces to gain some breathing room, then growled when she felt her ankle hover uncertainly in mid-air. Vanessa's offensive rush had been pushing her towards the edge of the ring, but she'd been so distracted that she hadn't noticed.
I'd better get back on the attack already...there's no way I'm gonna embarrass myself in front of all these people by losing through ring-out!
Vanessa had gotten back up and into her stance, but this time, she wasn't rushing forward again. She'd seen the sudden shift in Chun-Li's demeanor once she realized what had been going on, and knew that the Chinese fighter wouldn't be so easy to trick anymore.
If I can nail her with a Machinegun Punch, she'll probably be left open long enough for me to Champion Punch her out of the ring… but the only question is how to lure her in. It's probably best to let her take the lead this time – there's a greater chance she'll get distracted again.
Vanessa's thoughts were interrupted when she saw Chun-Li thrust her hands forward and send out an energy projectile. Taking no chances, she darted to the side, expecting it to pass by her…only to see it disappear long before it reached her. She'd left herself wide open to an attack, and Chun-Li was intending to capitalize on that error.
After going into a quick crouch, Chun-Li twisted herself a bit before using all the energy in her body to push into the air while managing to flip herself upside down and extend her legs. She had put so much force into the push that she was flying at Vanessa alarmingly fast, and before the boxer could react, her torso was being battered by Chun-Li's powerful legs.
"What the hell kind of a move is that?!" Kyo yelled. "She's SPINNING! AND UPSIDE DOWN! IN MIDAIR!"
Ken looked at him dismissively. "You can control fire and you're freaking about a move like that? Man, you're weird."
Back on the battlefield, Vanessa was sharing Kyo's opinion, but wasn't in any shape to voice it. Even after the final strike of the move, she was too disoriented to think straight; in fact, it was an effort to stay standing and keep an eye on Chun-Li, who had landed from her attack, right in front of Vanessa, and was now standing on one leg, the other bent in preparation to kick.
"I'm sorry if this one hurts a bit, but you're trickier than you look," Chun-Li said. "This one will put you down for good."
Still dizzy, Vanessa initially thought that the next attack would only be one kick, which wasn't too much of a worry to her. After all, she had taken several hits from those ridiculous legs before, and she was still standing, wasn't she?
It wasn't until she saw Chun-Li's bent leg straighten into a blur of kicks that she began to wonder if she was worse off than she thought…and by the time she was feeling every single one of those kicks, she was already beginning to black out.
On the sidelines, Cammy was nodding matter-of-factly, while Mary was staring at Vanessa and Chun-Li in awe.
"When you said…that she was a good contender for World's Strongest Woman, you weren't kidding."
"I never kid around about Chun, love. Never."
Finally, after about a full five seconds of kicks, Chun-Li delivered one final roundhouse that sent Vanessa flying towards the center of the ring. Immediately afterwards, she bent over, hands on knees, and began to breathe heavily; she'd been a bit more forceful than she'd wanted to be, but if it made sure that the redhead was down for the count, then it was worth it.
Poor Ramon was clutching at his hair with one hand and rubbing his large black eyepatch with another, all while yelling, "¡¡SEÑORITA VANESSA!! ¡¡AH, DIOS, SEÑORITA VANESSA!! ¡NOOOOOOO!" Cammy, Mary, and most of the spectators were cheering loudly for her, and the announcer himself, having just inspected Vanessa to make sure she was unconscious, looked pretty stoked as he announced, "Winner of the first match is…Chun-Li! Give it UP, everybody!"
The cheers grew deafeningly loud, and Chun-Li couldn't help but chuckle as she finally looked up to see what was going on. Vanessa was most definitely out cold, as Ramon was now hovering over her with almost comical sorrow on his face.
"¡Pierdo! ¡Pierdo!" he managed to say to the announcer. "I forfeit my match!"
"All right, then. The Agent Team has forfeited! Team Justice moves on to the semifinals!"
Vanessa's eyes snapped open, and she managed to grab Ramon by the collar and pull him close to her, shaking him violently.
"What are you DOING?! Where's your courage?! Why don't you 'become a tiger' like always, huh?!"
"I'm sorry, Miss Vanessa, truly!" Ramon managed to choke out. "She…she's scary, and I don't think I can take her like this…ay, condénelo..."
"Who's up for a drink and some food?" Chun-Li asked her teammates as she hopped down from the stage.
"As long as Mary's buying, I'm good!"
Mary huffed. "Cammy, you're such a cheapskate! Why can't you ever pay for your own stuff?"
"Because I'm on bloody vacation! People are supposed to be catering to my every whim! If I had to do everything myself, it'd be like I was back at work!"
"What kind of logic is that?"
"Hey, it MAKES sense! You're just not thinking about it."
"Yeah, I'm sure…"
"Ladies, ladies, please!" Ken called. "No need to argue. I'll treat everybody to something good when the matches are over. That's all right, right?"
Mary and Cammy looked at him almost simultaneously before shrugging.
"See, not so hard, is it? Now come on, kindly grace us with your company…" He patted the ground next to him and put a friendly grin on his face.
"Don't get too comfy, Ken," Kyo muttered somberly. "Look at the next matchup."
Blinking quizzically, Ken looked over his shoulder at the large screen.
Match 4: Team Ansatsuken vs. Team Kyokugen
Ryu groaned. Team Kyoukgen…? That means that we're up against…
"Yo, Ryu!" a voice called from the arena.
Startled by the sudden noise –and the familiar voice - Ryu's head snapped around to look at who was speaking. Naturally, it was none other than Ryo Sakazaki, orange gi blazing in the afternoon sun, accompanied by Yuri and Takuma.
"You and me this time, buddy," he said with a grin. "You wanna go first or should we save the best for last?"
Ryu looked at his teammates, and they all shrugged.
"It's up to you, man," Iori said. "Me, I only care about fighting Crimson."
Ryu nodded, and turned back to Ryo.
"Let's give the people a show. You and I will go last."
Yuri grinned and bounced on the balls of her feet. "Then I'll go first! Which one of you boys wants to tussle with me?"
Ken cracked his knuckles and hopped up into the ring. "I've been itchin' for a fight for a while…I'll take you on."
Ryo and Takuma nodded and hopped down out of the ring; as Yuri and Ken took their own positions near the center of the ring, Ryu flashed his training partner a thumbs-up.
"Kick some butt, Ken," he said quietly.
After a few quick stretches, Yuri entered her stance, her grin widening.
"Let's go!"
Ken smirked and made a beckoning motion with his hand. "After you."
Author's Notes (10/23/08): Yeah, I know this one took a while. My fault really, I got writer's blocked again. But a good review does the body wonders, y'know? I'll try not to take too long with the next one. And I'll start replying to reviews as a way of updating you guys on what's up, 'cuz, you know, I should and stuff.
UPDATE (10/28/08): Sorry, the separations didn't hold up for some reason. It should be better now.
