Chapter 54: Semifinal Round, Fight One

Zephyr's Island, early afternoon

In the locker area of the stadium, Sean Matsuda and Mel Masters were stretching themselves out for their upcoming match against each other. As the two got themselves warmed up, Ryu walked over to the two Ansatsuken fighters and they immediately looked over at him.

"Sean, Mel, I must say that Ken has taught you two well. I see a lot of promise in both of you guys for you have immensely powerful fighting spirits," said Ryu.

"Thanks Ryu, that's means a lot coming from you," replied Sean.

"No problem, now go out there and honor our style well, show them what Ansatsuken is all about," ordered Ryu.

"You got it!" exclaimed Mel.

Both Sean and Mel bowed to Ryu as a show of respect and walked off towards the double doors to the outside of the arena where Triple R and Sue were both in the center of the ring to announce the upcoming fight.

"Well folks, the semifinals are now about to get underway, and like a pot of water that's been sitting on an oven burner for too long, I'm boiling over with excitement as we draw closer to see who gets to square off with Zephyr!" commented Triple R.

"That's right, and for you Ansatsuken aficionados, this is the match for you as the two successors of the style are going to throw down against each other in this match!" added Sue.

"First off, from Rio De Janeiro, he's pulled off some amazing victories and and a major upset last round by beating the champ of the last tournament. He's out to put yet another fighter on ice in his bid to win the whole shebang. Give a shout out to Sean Matsuda!" announced Triple R.

Sean walked out into the ring to a nice applause, he exuded confidence from every inch of his body. Sean was clothed in a red karate gi as a tribute to his master Ken. As Ken saw this, he smiled big and gave a thumbs up to his protege, Sean returned the thumbs up and turned around to face the double doors.

"And his opponent is San Francisco's son of the Shoryuken. And as the son of Ken Masters, he has burned through many strong contenders in this tournament and is looking melt another fighter that stands in the path of his flames, so give it up for Mel Masters!" announced Sue.

The double doors swung open again and Mel walked out with a determined look on his face as he stared at Sean. Much like Sean, Mel was alos clothed in a red karate gi like the one his father would wear into battle. Ken applauded even louder as he saw his son paying tribute to him. Mel and Sean took their fighting stances as Triple R and Sue went back to their announcers table.

"Semifinal round, Fight!" announced Triple R and Sue in unison.

Sean and Mel wasted no time in rushing at each other. Mel threw out an overhead kick in an attempt to confuse Sean, but the Brazilian martial artist, grabbed Mel's leg and swept the other one sending Mel to the floor early on in the fight. Mel rolled back to his feet however and saw Sean aim a cross punch at his abdomen, Mel parried the strike and threw out a knee to Sean's abdomen causing him to double over. Mel took advantage of Sean's state by grabbing Sean by his gi shirt and flipping the older fighter over his shoulders and back first onto the ground.

"And this match is off to a blistering start, I still wonder whether the heat or the chill will be the one to blow over all of us and blow into the final round," commented Triple R.

As Sean scrambled back up to his feet, Mel fired forth a Hadoken, Sean retaliated by firing his own Hadoken to nullify Mel's. Both projectiles fizzled into nothingness and the two Ansatsuken fighters rushed at each other yet again. Sean aimed a roundhouse at Mel's head, the blonde fighter tilted his head back which caused Sean to barely miss connecting with his attack. Mel then threw forward a straight fierce punch at Sean's face, Sean parried the hit and swept Mel off of his feet. Mel did another ukemi and saw Sean speed towards him for a Sean Tackle, Mel thought fast and pulled out a counter move.

"Shoryuken!" shouted Mel.

Mel ascended upwards with his fist ablaze, nailing Sean three times with his fiery fist, Sean flew back about eight feet but the flames left his body as he hit the ground. Sean rolled back up quickly ready to fight some more.

"Well, Mel kicks on the burners, bu I'm sure Sean will be looking to ice them over," commented Sue.

Mel sprinted towards Sean and threw out a sweep, Sean leapt over Mel's foot and pegged the blonde warrior with a hard punch to the face followe by a hook punch to the sternum and then chained into one of his own special attacks.

"Cold Dragon Smash!" yelled Sean.

Sean ascended upwards with a double fisted uppercut, freezing Mel over with his cold ki, and then with another punch while still airborne, the Brazilian and Japanese martial artist send Mel crashing downwards onto the floor, the frozen energy dissipated from Mel's body as he made contact with the ground.

"C'mon, you're crazy to think you can take me out, I'm far more experienced than you are," taunted Sean.

"Don't be arrogant, you never know what will happen," retorted Mel.

Sean and Mel ran at each other again, Sean let out a roundhouse kick towards Mel's chest, Mel parried the blow and threw a jab at Sean who also parried Mel's fist, Sean aimed for a grab, however Mel swatted Sean's hand away and countered with an attack of his own.

"Springboard 1080!" hollered Mel.

Mel let loose a high kick knocking Sean up into the air. Mel then followed suit and spun around three times nailing Sean with six powerful kicks, as Sean fell to the ground, he did another ukemi and as Mel descended to the ground, Sean smacked Mel with a Hadoken and while Mel staggered back from the Hadoken, Sean rushed forward for a Sean Tackle and knocked Mel to the ground, punching him twice while he was still grounded. Sean then leapt off of Mel and dashed back to get some breathing room.

"And Sean is tackling this match hard like a defensive lineman sacking a quarterback, I wonder what Mel will have under his sleeve to try and go for the touchdown!" commented Triple R.

"Well, this is more intense than a football game, but keep your eyes peeled for an awesome play, anything can happen when Ansatsuken is involved," replied Sue.

"Tornado!" shouted Mel.

"Tatsumakisenpuukyaku!" yelled Sean.

The two warriors spun at each other at high speed, both attacks connected at the same time and sent the two flying away from each other and hitting the ground with a loud thud. But both Mel and Sean sprang back up at the exact same time and laughed.

"Hey, I will admit this is fun, but I gotta put you on ice, no offense," said Sean.

"And I gotta melt you into a little puddle, no offense," responded Mel.

"I'm definitely proud of my two students, no matter what the outcome may be, I can definitely say that I know they'll represent Ansatsuken well," stated Ken.

Mel leapt into the air and went for a Jackknife Drop, Sean dashed back making Mel whiff the attack, Sean then hit Mel with a hard punch and chained it into a Super Art.

"Frigid Shoryu Cannon!" bellowed Sean.

Frozen ki circulated around Sean's fist as he rose up hitting Mel with an uppercut and then did another Shoryuken like maneuver sending Mel up with him. Numerous hits riddled Mel before he went down shivering as he landed on the steely canvaas.

"Shit, that hurt, gotta stay cool, just not in the way that Sean is aiming for," thought Mel to himself.

As Mel got back up, he saw Sean leap in for a Ryubi Kyaku, Mel parried the kick and smacked Sean with a kick to the abdomen before unleashing his own Super Art.

"Hyper Tornado!" shouted Mel.

Mel rushed forward smacking Sean with one of his old Super Arts, Mel unloaded a huge flurry of punches and kicks before knocking Sean upwards with a powered up Tornado followed by supercharged Ryubi Kyaku to knock Sean to the ground.

"And the two warriors of Ansatsuken are really doling out the heavy punishment stuff. But they've shown that they can handle it, but who will be the first to throw up from digesting too much pain," commented Triple R.

Sean scrambled back up hastily and saw Mel fire a Hadoken as he got up, Sean parried the blue ball of ki and rushed forward as if he were going for a Sean Tackle, Sean faked the tackle however throwing Mel off guard and allowing Sean to clock Mel with another combo as his body glowed blue again signifying that Sean was going for another Super Art.

"Shippu Jinrai Kyaku!" screamed Sean.

Sean spun forward unleashing a flurry of kicks before spiraling upward with a powered up Tatsumakisenpuukyaku. Mel did another ukemi as he hit the ground and as Sean descended, Mel glowed blue and unleashed his own Super Art into his friend.

"Shoryu Justice!" roared Mel.

Mel launched forward, pelting Sean with two Shoryukens, then followed up with a Somersault Shell like his uncle Guile, and then finished off the Super Art with a Shinryuken. Sean hit the ground hard, but still he managed to get back up.

"Urgh, I never imagined that Mel would give me such a good fight, but then again, he's been training with Ken almost as long as I have, so I guess that's understndable, but I can't allow myself to lose, not now," thought Sean to himself.

As the match went on, Ibuki and Kiyomi were peeking out from the double doors watching their boyfriends duke it out with each other.

"Hey Kiyomi, shouldn't you be resting?" asked Ibuki.

"I'll be ok, I couldn't stand just laying around, I wanted to watch Mel fight, I want to support him," answered Kiyomi.

"Wow, he's lucky to have you as his girlfriend," remarked Ibuki.

"Thanks, Sean's lucky to have you as well, you're definitely a sweetheart," replied Kiyomi.

"Heh, well let's just watch and let them know how much we love those two," suggested Ibuki.

Kiyomi nodded as her and Ibuki continued to look onward, silently cheering on their respective beaus. Meanwhile, Mel and Sean were still at each other's throats trading blows back and forth. Mel eventually grabbed Sean by the gi shirt and flipped the dark skinned warrior over his shoulders and threw Sean to the ground. Sean then rolled away before rising up to his feet. Blood and sweat ran down the warrior's foreheads and both were breathing heavily. The two smiled at each other as they stared each other down.

"Well it's been fun playing around with you Mel, but it's time to put you away," taunted Sean.

"Conversely, it may be you that gets put away, let's go!" replied Mel.

Mel and Sean rushed at each other again and as Sean threw out a Sean Tackle, Mel went over his head with a Tornado, both whirled around after recovering from their moves to face each other again. The two then launched out another barrage of attacks at each other. Both fighters matching each other blow for blow Mel then threw out a kick towards Sean's face, Sean parried the attack and countered with a snap kick to the abdomen causing Mel to double over, Sean's body began to glow red as he went for his Hyper Art.

"Tatsumakisenpuu Blizzard!" shouted Sean.

Sean spun forward with frozen ki circulating around his legs. Unfortunately, Mel recovered before the first kick connected and dove out of the way of the Hyper Art causing Sean to completely whiff his attack. Sean groaned in disbelief as he recovered from his missed Hyper Art.

"Aw, poor Sean, he was so close to putting Mel in a cryogenic sleep, but the freezer malfunctioned on him," commented Triple R.

"But don't expect Sean to blow his cool because of that, he'll still be looking to put Mel on ice," added Sue.

Sean dashed forward at Mel again, but the blonde warrior anticipated Sean's next move and parried Sean's strike and countered with a head butt making Sean stagger back and hold his nose in pain. During this time, Mel's body glowed red showing that he was ready to unleash his own Hyper Art.

"Shin Hado Shoryuken!" roared Mel.

Mel put his palms together and blue lightning gathered into his palms as a super powerful Hadoken formed in Mel's hands, Mel fired forth the supercharged Hadoken at Sean and ran after his projectile. The Hadoken hit Sean five times a Mel followed up with a Shoryu Reppa like his father used to do. As Sean descended to the ground, Mel decked his friend with another supercharged Hadoken, which pelted Sean five more times and sent him crashing to the ground hard. Sean got back up successfully, but upon trying to take a step, he fell back down and did not get back up after a second attempt.

"Are you serious," grumbled Sean.

"Whoa, and Sean is nothing more than a melted snowball now due to the heat he was hit with!" announced Triple R.

"What a hot match, and the winner of the fight is Mel Masters!" announced Sue.

Ken applauded thunderously for both of his students, and so did the rest of the crowd. Mel flashed the peace sign much like his father and then turned to Sean and helped him back to his feet.

"Heh, good stuff Mel, you're better than I thought," gasped Sean.

"I almost thought you had me a couple of times, I just got lucky," replied Mel.

"It was mostly skill though, I'd like to have a rematch with you someday, I think we'll both represent the style our master taught us very well from what I've seen," said Sean.

"Yeah, I think so too," responded Mel.

Mel and Sean shook hands and embraced each other in a hug as the crowd cheered loudly for the two heirs to Ansatsuken, Mel and Sean then headed back to the locker area so the other semifinal match could take place.

Author's Note: Well, are you surprised? Anyways, I hope you all liked this match between the next generation of Ansatsuken. I'm sure Ken's happy to have these two as students. So Mel is off to the tournament finals for a chance to be one to fight Zephyr. Next chapter is the match between Marcos Ortega and Brock Irvine. Which of those two will be the one to face Mel in the final round? You'll find out next chapter, but until then, please read and review.