Chapter 10
The morning quickly turned into late afternoon as fight upon fight was held. The spectators in the arena were going wild as each fight showcased the young fighters performing incredible moves and throwing around chi-enhanced attacks like fireworks.
The ratings for the live television streams were going through the roof and the tournament was increasing in popularity and received frequent and detailed updates in news programs all around the globe.
As greatly anticipated both Mei-Lin and Ryan Hoshi effortlessly fought their way into the semi-finals. Mei-Lin was already warming up for her fight against Yuriko who had to use only little pyrokinetic attacks against her opponents to get this far.
But first it was Ryan's turn to fight against none other than Sakura Kasugano. She had just beaten Yang Lee, something she wouldn't let him forget for a long time, and her playful clumsy yet very effective Ansatsuken-derived fighting style quickly made her a favourite among the viewers.
The two young fighters stood next to Fei-Long in the centre of the arena and waved with big smiles at the cheering crowd. Fei-Long spoke into his microphone and his voice could be heard loud and clear out of the many speakers "…..give a warm applause for two of the best students of Ryu Hoshi. To my left: Sakura Kasugano…and to my right: Ryan Hoshi!"
Ryan and Sakura put on a big smile as they watched the entire stadium applaud to them. As they turned and waved their gazes stopped at the viewing section that was reserved for the fighters. Both their smiles grew bigger as they saw all of the adult and junior fighters applaud them. But one gave them an especially happy feeling: Ryan's father and both their master Ryu, who applauded them with the proudest of smiles.
Fei-Long interrupted their happy gazes "You two clear with rules?" Ryan and Sakura turned face to face and then nodded at Fei-Long.
Sakura held out her fists and said to Ryan "Let's show your dad what we can do!" Ryan smiled back and said as he bumped her fists "May the better fighter win!"
Fei-Long stepped back to the edge of the ring and said "Fighters….AT THE READY!" Sakura and Ryan jumped a few paces back and into their fighting stance. Fei-Long checked both their readiness and then said out loud "FIGHT!"
Sakura and Ryan were ready in their fighting stance and gazed at each other with wicked grins on their faces. The anxiety among the viewers was incredibly high as they waited for the spectacular fight to begin.
All of the sudden Ryan quickly lowered his palms to his right side, charged his chi in between them and thrust them at Sakura while yelling "HADOKEN!"
Sakura could see the crackling ball of blue energy race towards her. But instead blocking or countering Ryan's Hadoken, she smiled and pushed herself off the ground. The viewers behind Sakura flinched and gasped in shock as the energy ball impacted with the reinforced glass barrier that protected them from such special moves.
Ryan watched in awe as Sakura jumped towards him in a high arc. She charged her fists behind her head and with all her strength thrust them down at the stunned Ryan. He received a heavy hit that made him stumble backwards a bit.
Sakura put on the pressure and immediately performed a hurricane kick. She jumped up in front of Ryan and extended one of her legs to thrust it around in a twirling motion as she screamed "Shunpukyaku!"
Ryan got hit three more times in his chest armor. Sakura didn't lose time and hit Ryan with a high kick as soon as she landed back on her feet. The perfectly executed kick hit Ryan's jaw with so much force that he was launched upwards into the air.
Sakura jumped after him and performed another Sakura Otoshi in mid-air. She charged her fists behind her head and thrust them down on the back of Ryan's head and sent him crashing back down to the ground.
Ryan impacted hard with his back on the rings floor and could just see Sakura descending down upon him. She performed a somersault on her way down and then stomped on Ryan's chest with her outstretched feet. Ryan exhaled hard and screamed in pain.
Sakura jumped off him and said with a huge grin on her face "….and that's a wrap!"
The entire arena was dead silent and all of the spectators were completely stunned and could not believe the fight to be over so quickly. Everybody including the other fighters expected to see a much longer fight.
Even Mei-Lin and Yuriko, who interrupted their warm up to watch this fight, gazed with open jaw at the grinning Sakura who stood in the centre of the ring in a victory pose. Yuriko was holding her fingers to her mouth and whispered into her hands overly worried "Oh no, Ryan! Get up….please!"
Sakura wondered why her victory was not announced. She lost her grin when she turned around and watched Ryan rise up from the cracked floor. He smiled and spat some blood on the floor. He said to Sakura as he flexed his limbs and dusted off his armor "Phew….that was pretty good! You almost had me there!"
Yuriko's worried gesture turned into a smile of relief when she saw her lover back on his feet. Sakura on the other hand was awestruck and watched with open jaw at this young man in front of her who just took one of her strongest combo's and was now standing as if nothing happened.
Ryan readied himself in his battle stance and teased Sakura with a wink of his hand. Sakura grinned at his gesture and accepted his invitation. She launched herself forward and charged Ryan with great speed and force.
At half the way Sakura performed a shallow jump forward and twirled herself around in mid-air to deliver a devastating kick. However Ryan pushed himself off the ground just before her foot was about to hit his solar plexus.
The viewers gasped as Ryan jumped over Sakura in a high arc. She immediately attacked again as he landed. She jumped at him with her hurricane kick and yelled "Shunpukyaku!"
Ryan however ducked her attack and charged his chi into his right fist. When he felt her outstretched leg pass over his head and feeling it touch his hair he attacked. He jumped up and rammed his fist into her twirling body!
The impact of his chi to her body released a loud BOOM and he yelled "SHORYUKEN!" as he pushed her into the air. Sakura felt great pain form his attack and completely let her guard down.
As they were about to fall back down to the earth Ryan raised his leg and rammed it down on the dazzled Sakura. The direct hit increased the speed of her descent and she impacted hard on the rings floor.
She quickly tried to get back on her feet but she had trouble to regain her balance and stumbled a bit. She held her forehead with one of her hands and tried to quickly get over her dizziness. In the meantime Ryan had landed safely on the opposite side of the ring.
Sakura shook her head and now saw the wicked smile that Ryan gave her. She looked around the stadium and noticed that the crowd was going wild and many of them were screaming Ryan's name. This only angered her further. Not only did Ryan take her attacks without a sweat but he managed to turn the crowd on his side with only one combo.
Sakura took a steady stand and gnarled at Ryan "Ok buddy! Time to get real!" Ryan simply punched his knuckles together and replied smiling "I was waiting for it!" The two young fighters were staring at each other and focused for the grand finally.
The arena was quiet again as everybody watched them with great anxiety. Ryu was watching them especially close as he could feel both of their level of chi rise and rise.
Sakura got enveloped in a blue aura as she channelled all of her chi into her palms. Ryan did the same yet his aura turned from blue into a fiery red. Sweat ran down Sakura's face as she focused to control the amount of energy she was about to release.
Sakura held her palms to her waist and created a blue sphere of energy while Ryan formed a red sphere between his hands. Both of them yelled "SHINKUUUUU-" as their energy spheres grew larger and more intense.
Then Sakura reached her peak and thrust her hands forward and released a stream of energy while screaming "-HADOKEN!" Ryan released his charged attack as well and screamed "-HADOKEN!" His huge fireball raced towards Sakura's stream of energy.
The crowd watched this spectacular firework with open jaws and then both energy attacks connected in the centre of the ring…..BOOOOOOOM!
A gigantic explosion of energy brightened up the night sky and released a shockwave in every direction. Sakura steadied her footing and crossed her arms in front of her face. She screamed as the shockwave hit her "OH SHIIIIIIT!" She stumbled as the wave passed through her and bounced off the glass that protected the viewers.
Then Sakura could hear Ryan's voice get louder "NYAAAAAHHH!" She lowered her arms and watched in awe as he appeared through the cloud of dust. She was too surprised to act when she saw Ryan's foot fly towards her face at high speed.
Since Ryan practiced with his sister the effects of exploding Hadoken's he was ready for the aftermath and jumped at Sakura through the shockwave to catch her off guard. His plan worked and he delivered a devastating kick into Sakura's cheek.
The force of impact launched Sakura off her feet and she screamed in pain "AAAAAAHHHH!" She could feel how she flew several feet through the air and hit the ground. Somehow she thought this ground was softer than the floor of the ring.
She opened her eyes and noticed how she landed in the trench between the ring and the viewers. She thought 'Aaaw…damn it!' when she looked up and saw Ryan holding his right fist high up in the air while doing his victory pose.
Fei-Long's voice could be heard out of the speakers "RYAN HOSHI WINS!" and the crowd was going wild!
Sakura got back on her feet and patted some dust off her clothes while giving away a disappointed sigh. As she looked down to her feet she thought with a pout 'Great! One of my shoes fell off!'
"Lost something?" Sakura turned around as she heard Ryan's voice behind her. She grabbed her missing shoe from his hands and tried to avoid looking at his smile as she put it back on. Ryan asked "You ok?" She simply nodded. Then she felt his hand on her shoulder and he said to her "Hey….it was a really good fight! Toughest I ever had!"
This made Sakura get her grin back and she replied "Thanks. It was a good fight! Congrats on winning your chance for the crown!" Ryan started laughing and pulled Sakura closer for a friendly hug.
Fei-Long stepped up to the two fighters and said into his microphone "Well if that is not respect among fighters then I don't know what is! Please give a big applause for Sakura Kasugano and Ryan Hoshi!"
Sakura and Ryan waved at the cheering crowd with huge smiles on their faces and made their way to the fighters viewing sector. They received congratulations and hugs from all the other fighters until they stepped in front of Ryu.
He looked at them with crossed arms and a serious face. Sakura and Ryan quickly bowed and said "Master!" and "Father!" respectively. Sakura said "I apologize for losing, Ryu-san!"
Ryu looked at them and after a second started laughing. He hugged both of them at the same time and said "That was an incredible fight! I am very proud of both of you!" Chun-Li hugged them as well and said "I am proud of you too! That was a great display of skill! Now let's see how your sister does against Yuriko."
Ryan immediately jerked his head towards the ring at hearing Yuriko's name and thought 'Yuriko! Show us all what you can do, my love!' Sakura stood next to him and said "My money is on Mei-Lin!" Ryan countered "I'll hold that bet! I'm sure Yuriko has some great moves in store!"
"You can be sure of that!" A female voice said. It belonged to Mai Shiranui-Bogard, mother of Yuriko. She walked up next to Ryan with her husband Andy Bogard and looked at the ring, anxious to see her daughter fight and said "Yuriko has only used a small part of her abilities in the previous fights."
"That almost sounds like an invitation for a bet!" Chun-Li said while walking up next to Mai with Ryu. Mai smiled and asked "What's the wager?" Chun-Li replied "How about the loser will cook dinner for the other family?" Mai shook Chun-Li's hand and said "Deal!"
Fei-Long was back in the centre of the ring and heated up the crowd for the next fight "Well, well, well Ladies and Gentlemen. What an incredible fight we just witnessed and you can trust me when I tell you: IT WILL ONLY GET MORE SPECTACULAR!"
Fei-Long lifted his hands up high and nodded with a big smile at the cheering and applauding crowd. The he spoke into his microphone "Now that we already have one contestant for the final fight….RYAN HOSHI!" More applause "But we need a second fighter and that will be the winner of the second half-finale….an all female fight….please give a big applause for MEI-LIN HOSHI…."
Mei-Lin stepped onto the ring next to Fei-Long and waved at the applauding crowd. Fei-Long continued "….and YURIKO BOGARD!" Now Yuriko stepped on the ring with a big smile. As she walked up to Fei-Long she looked at Ryan who gave her a big smile and a thumbs up while mouthing 'You can do it! I love you!' She waved at him and then took a stand opposite Mei-Lin.
Fei-Long lowered his microphone and said to the two friendly rivals "Ok ladies, I promised them a spectacular fight and I'm sure you two won't disappoint!" The girls just giggled and nodded. Fei-Long continued "Good. Now you know the rules, so all I got left to say is give it your best and good luck!" He patted them on the back and stepped to the edge of the ring.
Fei-Long raised his arm and said into the microphone "FIGHTERS AT THE READY!" Both Mei-Lin and Yuriko jumped several feet back and got into their fighting stance.
Then Fei-Long took a deep breath and screamed "FIGHT!" He brought his hand down like an axe and the fight began.
The crowd was going wild and chanted the name of their favourite as Yuriko made the first attack. She charged at Mei-Lin with a cartwheel and tried to strike her solar plexus with her elbow. Mei-Lin predicted her attack and evaded it with a sidestep.
Yuriko then blocked Mei-Lin's sidekick with her thigh and immediately attacked with a palm thrust to her chest. Mei-Lin sidestepped again and simultaneously delivered a heavy punch into Yuriko's kidney. The punch hit dead centre and made Yuriko exhale painfully and turned her view black for a second.
Yuriko stumbled back from the devastating hit but recovered quickly. Mei-Lin got in her battle stance and awaited her opponent's next attack.
Yuriko gnarled and jumped at Mei-Lin with a flying kick and screamed loud "NYAAAHHH!" Mei-Lin evaded her attack with a jump backwards. Yuriko landed safely and put on the pressure. She twirled her body around and screamed "RYUENBU!"
With her pyrokinetic powers Yuriko enveloped her fists in flames and punched Mei-Lin hard in her chest. The powerful hit made Mei-Lin fly back towards the edge of the ring. However she managed to flip around and land on her feet.
Immediately Mei-Lin charged her chi and fired a bolt at Yuriko while screaming "HADOKEN!" Yuriko widened her eyes at the incoming energy bolt. Again she channelled her pyrokinetics into her fist. She flattened her palms in front of her chest and formed a fiery shield and screamed "GEKI HISHOU KEN!"
Mei-Lin's Hadoken struck Yuriko's shield and exploded with a deafening BOOOOM! Yuriko stumbled a bit but looked up when she heard Mei-Lin's voice "HAZANSHU!" In awe she watched as Mei-Lin twirled her body through the air and split her legs. Then she brought down her chi empowered leg onto Yuriko.
The floor cracked where Mei-Lin's foot hit the ground but Yuriko could just evade the attack by jumping high up into the air. Mei-Lin wasted no time and jumped after her. Her legs where still glowing blue with chi as she thrust a kick into the jumping Yuriko.
Mei-Lin then turned her body and extended her other leg into Yuriko and kicked her higher up into the air. Once more she turned her body and hit Yuriko with the third kick of her Tenshokyaku. Mei-Lin finished her combo with a chi-enhanced punch and sent Yuriko crashing towards the floor of the ring.
As they watched this incredible combo, Chun-Li said to Mai with a smile "I taught her that!" Mai replied "Nice move….but I'm afraid your daughter just awakened the phoenix in Yuriko!" Chun-Li raised an eyebrow and wondered what she meant by that.
Ryan let go a worried gasp, hoping that Yuriko was not to badly hurt. He sighed in relieve when he saw her crawl back on her feet.
Yuriko wiped some sweat and blood off her face as she watched Mei-Lin land gracefully on the opposite side of the ring. Mei-Lin said to her with a smile "Come on, Yuriko. This could not have been everything…..I wanna know what you can really do!"
Yuriko took a steady stand and clenched her fists at that remark. She gnarled "Ok, you asked for it!" Then she clenched her teeth and tensed every muscle of her body. The crowd in the arena gasped and watched with open jaw as Yuriko enveloped herself in flames.
Mei-Lin got stunned and regretted her request as she felt Yuriko's power level rise higher and higher. Yuriko's eyes looked as if they were flaming pits of hell and then she sucked her flaming aura back into her body. Mei-Lin's jaw dropped when a second later Yuriko screamed loudly "NYAAAAAHHHH…SHINSEI NO YURIKOOO!"
A huge pillar of flame erupted from Yuriko in every direction. Mei-Lin reacted immediately and charged her chi into her palms. Just when the wall of flame reached her did she release her chi and formed a protective bubble around herself while screaming "KIKOSHO!"
The Kikosho protected Mei-Lin from the flames that rushed past her but she had to put a lot of strength to hold up the bubble against the powerful flames. The entire ring was bathed in Yuriko's flames which bounced off the viewers' glass protection.
Mei-Lin's Kikosho perished just as Yuriko's outburst subsided. The entire arena gasped when the sea of flames made way and revealed an angry Yuriko completely enveloped in red flames. Her hair and the loincloths of her dress flowed with the updraft of the flames and made her look even more menacing.
Yuriko charged her fists and released to large fireballs. Mei-Lin focused her chi and enveloped herself into a glowing blue aura as she stomped her right foot forward. The fireballs raced closer and Mei-Lin jumped up. With a chi enhanced right kick she thrust away the left fireball and with her left leg she kicked the other fireball up into the sky.
When Mei-Lin landed she noticed that Yuriko followed her projectiles and attacked with her flaming fists. She screamed "RYUENBU!" and punched at Mei-Lin with her twirling body. The attack got blocked and released shockwaves where the two auras connected.
Mei-Lin quickly delivered a lightning kick and made Yuriko stumble back. However she quickly recovered and gnarled at Mei-Lin. Yuriko's aura of flames grew more intense and she made jump high up into the air.
Then she dropped herself down towards Mei-Lin and twisted her body. The crowd watched in awe and everybody thought that this flaming missile would surely deliver the finishing blow. Mei-Lin however remained focused and gathered her chi which made her aura glow brighter.
With all her strength Mei-Lin jumped up and twisted her body around as she raced towards Yuriko. She channelled her chi into her outstretched leg and screamed "SHORYUKIKKUUU!" Her attack broke through Yuriko's flames and hit her in the gut.
Yuriko screamed in pain as her attack got cancelled and Me-Lin's kick thrust her upwards. Mei-Lin followed her and twisted her body again. With her other leg she kicked down onto Yuriko and sent her crashing down.
The crowd gasped when Yuriko hit the ground. Mei-Lin landed not far from her and made herself ready to keep fighting. Yuriko tried to move and get up but then she dropped back down to the floor and her aura of flames perished.
"K.O.!...MEI-LIN WINS!"
The crowd cheered and applauded wildly as Mei-Lin raised her arm and held up a peace sign in her victory pose.
Chun-Li playfully punched her elbow into Mai's side and said to her "Get ready to heat up the oven, honey! I'm expecting a five star diner tonight!" Mai rolled her eyes while applauding and giggled.
Ryan was the only one who was not applauding. He looked worried at Yuriko who was still unconscious.
As Fei-Long stepped onto the ring Mei-Lin approached the Yuriko and knelt down next to her. She shook her body and said a bit worried "Come on…wake up!" Yuriko opened her eyes and raised her head. Still dizzy she asked "Nnnn…..outch, that hurt!"
Mei-Lin smiled and asked "Can you get up?" Yuriko nodded and accepted Mei-Lin's helping hand to get back on her feet. Mei-Lin noticed that Yuriko looked pretty beat down and disappointed so she patted her on the back and said "Hey….that was without a doubt the most incredible fight I ever had! You are an amazing fighter, Yuriko….and I'm proud to have had the chance to test my strength against yours!"
Yuriko smiled and pulled Mei-Lin close for a tight hug. This touching scene prompted wild applause from the spectators which only made the girls hug tighter. Yuriko said "Thank you, Mei-Lin. It was my honor to fight you. You are such a strong warrior."
"Well, well, well, ladies and gentlemen…..what an amazing spectacle this fight was!" Fei-Long said into his microphone as he walked up to the two girls. "Come on, people….let's hear it for Yuriko Bogard and Mei-Lin Hoshi!" he said and prompted the crowd to give a standing ovation for the two young fighters.
Mei-Lin and Yuriko blushed and waved at the crowd with big smiles while holding each other with one arm. Fei-Long approached them and said to them "Great work you two, that was an amazing display of power. You can go to the other fighters now and Mei-Lin, you and your brother can get ready for the final!"
Yuriko and Mei-Lin both thanked Fei-Long for his compliment and walked to other fighters. Fei-Long then said to the crowd "Now that we have our second finalist we will hold a small intermission of one hour. Have a bite to eat, get some drinks and get ready to watch an incredible fight for the title junior champion between Ryan and Mei-Lin Hoshi!"
The crowd applauded some more and then made their way through the exits into the food courts.
The two girls got welcomed to the fighters viewing sector with a lot of hugs and congratulations. Their mothers were especially proud and had to hold back a tear at how well they fought. When Yuriko walked up to Ryan he pulled her close for a tight hug and whispered into her ear "You were amazing, my love!"
Then without thinking he broke the hug and kissed her lips long and deep. All of the other fighters gasped and looked with open jaw at the romantic display between Yuriko and Ryan. When they broke the kiss and looked at the faces around them, they realized what has happened.
Yuriko smiled embarrassed and said to Ryan "I guess the cat's out of the bag now!" Chun-Li and Mai gave them a serious and shocked look and Ryan explained "Mom, Auntie Mai….that's not how we wanted you to find out, but….Yuriko and I are in love and we hope you'll approve our relationship."
Ryan expected an explosive outburst as he waited for their response. Mai and Chun-Li walked towards the two young lovers and then, much to Ryan and Yuriko's surprise, their serious faces turned into big smiles and they started laughing out of joy as they wrapped their arms around the young ones for a group hug.
Mai said laughing "Aaaw, that's such wonderful news you two!" Chun-Li added "You are such a cute couple! Of course we approve!"
Now everybody laughed out of joy and happiness for the young couple and applauded them with big smiles on their faces.
-RCL-
At her hidden base Juri Han was sitting inside the surveillance center and watched all the fights on the many big screens in front of her. She was sitting in a very playful manner in her big seat and had her legs on one of the armrests.
She just watched the coming out of Yuriko and Ryan via hacked cameras from the arena and said with a sadistic tone "Aaaw….well isn't that cute! You're lucky I'm not allowed to use that Bogard-bastard to torture you, Mini-Ryu, but I'm sure I'll find another way to use that against you!"
Then she asked one of her Cyborgs who was plugged into a computer "Did you measure Mei-Lin's power level?" Without a response the Cyborg displayed the recorded level on the main screen.
Juri's eyes sparked purple and she said while seductively touching her lips with her fingers "Impressive!" Suddenly a voice said out of the shadow "Indeed! And she only used fraction of her real power!"
Akuma stepped into the dim light of the room and continued "Once she and her brother access their true potential with the Satsui No Hado…..their power will become unmeasurable…..and then no one will stop us!"
Even though Yuriko and Sakura gave it their best, they had no chance against the children of Ryu and Chun-Li Hoshi!
After a short intermission the final fight between the Hoshi siblings will take place and decide who the junior champion of the Super Street Fighter tournament is.
But how does all this fit into the agenda of Juri Han and Akuma?
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Now this story has reached about its middle and it'll only get more exciting from here on out.
I tried to give the kids a good mix of their parents signature moves and put in some individuality. I hope i reached that goal.
Drop some reviews and let me know what you think...i'd appreciate it very much