Chapter 55: Semifinal Round, Fight Two

Zephyr's Island, mid afternooon

Both Marcos Ortega and Brock Irvine had some renewed vigor inside of them knowing that the ones that they had come to save were safe and sound. Now all that remained was to down Zephyr to make sure that they remained safe.

"Well you two, I'm anxious to see which of you will get to face Mel in final round," chimed Godo.

"Yeah, I know you aren't gonna make it easy on each other, you're both strong," added Unoka.

"Either one of us can testify to what Unoka said," added Skye.

"I do look forward to Marcos's challenge, but I'm confident I'll be the one to move on from this round," commented Brock.

"Confidence is good, but don't try and predict outcomes unless you're an actual psychic," replied Marcos.

"Anyways, I think you two should get to the arena, they should be announcing you guys soon" suggested Tomoko.

"Good luck you two!" called out Xavier.

Marcos and Brock nodded and smiled at their friends and walked out towards the double doors to the arena Outside, Triple R and Sue were again center stage with microphones in hand.

"We're so close to the main event and cannot wait to feast our eyes on that. But I'm sure that this match will satiate your desires for a while," commented Triple R.

"That's right, this match will determine who will get to be one of the top two dogs to fight for the chance to sink their fangs into Zephyr," added Sue.

"First up we have Oakland's prime time punch king who like his nickname the Powerful Bull has trampled across many would be matadors, and he's looking to gore yet another unlucky sap in his path, once again, give it up for Marcos Ortega!" announced Triple R.

Marcos emerged from the double doors and walked out proudly, he saw his mother in the crowd with his girlfriend and Dudley and he raised his fist at them. Marcos wa clad in a white button down shirt with a black bowtie along with green suit pants and shiny black shoes along with his blue boxing gloves. Dudley grinned upon seeing his prodigy pay tribute to him. Marcos turned to face the double doors and waited for Brock to come out.

"And his opponent is Sydney's surfer dude of Muay Thai who's wiped out many strong contenders and he looks to take someone down into the undertow of a strong wave of power. Once again, show some love for Brock Irvine!" announced Sue.

Brock stepped out into the ring, also highly proud like Marcos, upon seeing his best friend in the crowd, Brock smiled and waved at him. Brock was clothed in blue shorts with yellow trim and a yellow stripe running down the sides of the legs. Sagat also smiled upon seeing Brock pay homage to him. Marcos and Brock took their fighting stances as Triple R and Sue got back to their announcer's table.

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

Marcos and Brock dashed at each other right off the bat. Brock threw out a high kick to Marcos's face, Marcos jumped back to avoid the kick and threw out a jab to Brock's ribs, Brock swatted the fist away and connected with a knee to Marcos's abdomen, Marcos staggered back as as Brock threw out another kick, Marcos tilted his head back and stuck out a hard hooking punch, connecting with Brock's outstretched leg. Brock jumped up and down holding his leg in pain. Marcos capitalized on this by running full speed at Brock.

"Flamethrower Blow!" shouted Marcos.

Marcos lit Brock ablaze wit hnumerous rapid fire blows knocking the Australian fighter to the ground. Brock rolled back to his feet however and took his fighting stance again.

"And Marcos lights the fuse that will make this match dynamite, but which fighter will be blown to bits? It's still to early to decide," commented Triple R.

Brock tried to ignore the pain coursing through his leg as he turned back to Marcos and fired forth a Tiger Shot, Marcos ducked under the projectile and ran at Brock with a Toro Charge. Brock parried the powerful punch aimed at him and grabbed Marcos and flung him over his shoulders. Marcos did his own ukemi upon hitting the ground and saw Brock run at him and stick out another kick, Marcos dodged the blow and smacked Brock with a punch to the ribs followed by another Toro Charge knocking Brock to the ground, Brock did another roll and saw Marcos leap toward him.

"Tiger Uppercut!" shouted Brock.

Brock rose up nailing Marcos on the chin with five strong punches, Marcos crashed to the ground hard, but quickly scrambled back up to his feet to fight again.

"Hmm, what's sharper, the bull's horns, or the dingo's claws?" asked Triple R.

"Don't know, but one of them will be left dull after this is all said and done," answered Sue.

"Well mate, you truly are giving me a good run, but I will be the matador to finally take you down," commented Brock.

"No way, I'll be the wave that knocks you off your surfboard gringo," replied Marcos.

"Green...go, I know green means go, so why did you call me a greeen go?" asked Brock.

"It's a Mexican word, it means white boy. Now let's get back to business!" replied Marcos.

Brock and Marcos again ccharged at each other and both threw out an attack at each other. Both strikes connected and the two staggered back from each other, Brock fired a low Tiger Shot, Marcos leapt straight up over it and rushed it and fired a hook punch at Brock's face. Brock parried the blow and retaliated with his own move.

"Kangaroo Kick!" yelled Brock.

Brock jutted both feet forward nailing Marcos across the abdomen with a poweful double legged kick. Marcos doubled over and Brock grabbed Marcos for another special attack.

"Surfboard!" shouted Borck.

Brock slammed Marcos onto the ground and then leapt onto his back pretending to ride the Mexican boxer like a surfboard and then jumped off shortly afterwards.

"Brock is looking to hang teen and to leave Marcos hung, man it's quite an exhilarating match we're seeing right here folks!" commented Triple R.

As Marcos sprang back up he saw Brock throw out a kick towards him, Marcos began weaving like a snake and then just as the kick made contact, Marcos grabbed Brock's leg and countered.

"Culebra Counter!" hollered Marcos.

Marcos darted forward with a strong straight punch nailing Brock square in the face and sending the Australian surfer crashing to the ground. Brock quickly rolled back up to his feet and rushed at Marcos with a Dingo Claw at the same time Marcos came dashing in with a Toro Charge. Both attacks connected yet again, and both warriors got sent flying back from each other and landed hard on thier backs. However, both fighters got up again at the exact same time.

"And both the bull and the dingo are still going at each other's throats, this is definitely more intense than when animals attack!" commented Sue.

Marcos and Brock again ran at each other and Brock stuck out an elbow, Marcos parried Brock's blow and countered with two body blows and chained the two punches into another of his special attacks.

"Drill Punch!" shouted Marcos.

Marcos spun forward like a drill and smacked Brock across the chest with a powerful spinning punch. Brock flew backward, but did yet another ukemi and as Marcos followed after the surfer, Brock fired a Tiger Shot again making Marcos flinch as he jumped back a bit from the ki projectile's force. Brock then glowed blue as he prepared to unleash a Super Art.

"Wild Dingo!" screamed Brock.

Eight rapid fire Dingo Claws immediately riddled Marcos, and soon afterwards Brock grabbed the Mexican boxer by his shirt and slammed him face first onto the ground yet again and rode him like a surfboard again. As Marcos got back up, Brock tried to keep him down with a kick to the face, but Marcos parried again and decked Brock's leg with another punch bringing Brock down to his knees. Marcos glowed blue and he prepared to fire off his own Super Art.

"Clock Cleaner!" bellowed Marcos.

Marcos hit Brock with an uppercut and held Brock with one hand spinning his other hand around like a clock's hand. Marcos then swung his hand low like a clock's pendulum for a couple of seconds before bringing his fist upward with blinding speed for a super powerful uppercut. Brock sailed high into the air and landed down with a loud thud.

"Brock, show him that you're a warrior, not a beginner!" called out Sagat from the stands.

Brock slowly got back up and wiped some blood from his lip, he then chuckled a bit and took his battle stance again.

"You sure don't disappoint me mate, this is probably the next best thing to riding a really good wave," remarked Brock.

"Heh, you certainly have given me some good exercise, I won't deny that, no matter what the outcome is, I'm satisfied with how I fought," replied Marcos.

Once again, Marcos and Brock rushed at each other and flurry of fists and feet began to litter the arena. Marcos was surprisingly holding out well against the Muay Thai fighter even though he was adhering to the rules of boxing by not using his legs other than to move. After a while of trading hits back and forth, Marcos eventually parried another of Brock's strikes and retaliated successfully with two quick jabs and his body once again glowed blue signifying the release of yet another Super Art.

"Corkscrew Drill!" roared Marcos.

Marcos spun forward in a drill like motion decking Brock with a supercharged Drill Punch, after being riddled with many hits, Brock sailed about ten feet away and landed on his back with a groan.

"And Marcos drills through Brock like a piece of plywood, is it over for the surfer dude?" asked Triple R.

"Not yet Rick, Brock still hasn't wiped out yet," answered Sue as Brock stood back up again.

"Ay carumba, you still get up after that, I should've expected that knowing who trained you," stated Marcos.

"Damn right mate, time to put you down for the count now!" replied Brock.

Brock leapt at Marcos who aimed to knock Brock out of the sky with a Rocket Thruster, but Brock parried Marcos's attack while still airborne and kicked Marcos in the chest and as Marcos fell back, Brock glowed blue ready to unload another Super Art into Marcos.

"Boggo Road Blast!" screamed Brock.

Marcos found himself being pelted by two Kangaroo Kicks before Brock chained those kicks into a powered up Tiger Uppercut that registered eight more hits on the Mexican boxer. As Marcos fell back to earth, Brock fired a supercharged Tiger Shot that nailed Marcos while he was still airborne. Marcos flew back ten feet groaning as he landed on the steel deck.

"Marcos, you can do it chap, don't let Brock be your matador," called out Dudley from the stands.

Marcos slowly got back to his feet and Brock groaned in disbelief aas he saw the plucky pugilist stand back up.

"Crikey, why can't you just be a good little bull and let me turn you into steak?" asked Brock.

"Because that's not how I roll ese," replied Marcos.

"Why are you calling me a term paper?" asked Brock.

"Ese means friend, now about we finish this, ok friend," sggested Marcos.

Brock nodded in agreement as him and Marcos darted full speed at each other again unloading yet another barrage of attacks onto each other. As the back and forth battle wore on, Brock nailed Marcos in the abdomen with his knee and his body glowed red as he prepared to unleash his Hyper Art.

"Wild Dingo Wipeout!" hollered Brock.

Unfortunately, as Brock rushed forward with his rapid fire Dingo Claws, Marcos rolled out of the way making Brock miss his Hyper Art, and before the Australian surfer could have a chance to recover, Marcos glowed red as he prepared to release his own Hyper Art onto a vulnerable Brock.

"Fuego Del Toro!" roared Marcos.

Marcos rushed forward with his fists glowing a reddish orange color and as Brock whirled around, Marcos pelted the surfer with a bevy of punches which enveloped Brock in flaming ki. Marcos then linked his punching barrage into a Flamethrower Blow and rose up into the air with a Shinryuken like move taking Brock upwards with him, at the apex of the attack, Marcos struck Brock with a powerful hooking punch sending the warrior sailing downwards and hitting the ground with a loud crash. Marcos soon descended landing on his feet and looking at the downed Brock.

"Crikey," grumbled Brock as he sat back up trying to move his legs, but failed and fell back down to the ground.

"Wow, and the surf king has wiped out under the pressure of a wave he couldn't handle!" announced Sue.

"He sure did Susie! So the winner of this match is Marcos Ortega!" announced Triple R.

The crowed applauded thunderously for Marcos, especially Dudley and Marcos's mother, Rosalinda and girlfriend, Crystal. Sagat and Brock's best friend, Paul, looked onwards ans smiled at Brock.

"You gave him a good fight my student and you fough with honor, you've done me proud," said Sagat.

"Good show my protege, one step closer to Zephyr," said Dudley.

After taking a minute to revel in his win, Marcos turned to Brock and lifted the defeated fighter to his feet.

"Good work mate, I got cocky in that last second," gasped Brock.

"But you still could have won it there too, maybe one day we'll get to have our rematch, just take comfort in the fact that our loved ones are safe now," responded Marcos.

"Yeah, I hope either you or Mel knock that wanker Zephyr into oblivion that way he'll pay for what he did to them," said Brock.

"You have our word amigo," stated Marcos.

"Now that's a word I know," piped Brock.

Marcos and Brock laughed a bit as they walked back to the locker area to get treated. As they disappeared from sight, Triple R and Sue took center stage again.

"Well folks, the semifinals are done, we're almost to the big brawl against the mighty Zephyr," announced Triple R.

"But who will get to face him, that's what our final match of this tournament will be for, the champ here will be the one to fight for the fate of the world," stated Sue.

"The final match will be Mel Masters versus Marcos Ortega, one of those two will be the ones to hold that fate on their shoulders," said Triple R.

"But before that match takes place, we will give those two a couple of hours to rest up and get patched up so it'll be a fair fight," added Sue.

"So get out and stretch your legs, and we'll see you in a couple of hours," called out Triple R.

As the spectators all walked out to get some fresh air, Zephyr looked down at the vacant arena and began musing malevolent thoughs to himself.

"These fighters need to learn that playing with fire will get them burned, so I'm going to be the one to burn them, this will teach those so called saviors to interfere with my grand performance that I have planned for me and for all of them," cogitated Zephyr as he stared off looking into the sky.

Author's Note: Just a little ways to go before the big fight, next chapter will be some more downtime, more little twists, and some more story development. Chapter after the next one however will be the match between Mel and Marcos to see which of those two will be the one fighting Zephyr. But until then however, please read and review.