Hello there. With joy, i present you chapter 31 of this fic.

I will stop apologizing every chapter, it's getting repetitive. So i will only apologize every few chapters if anything stops me from posting the chapters in less than 2 weeks.

As you noticed, i have tried to add more depth to the characters and their backstory while sticking as close as i can to their core idea. I thought it would be good, since the profiles i got usually didn't have a very clear background.

I hope i don't disappoint you and that the quality of the chapters hasn't dropped.

Anyway, enjoy and please, review. Your comments help me improve and give me more motivation :D

While most people tend to value things for their product, such as growing vegetables because they can be sold or doing scientific research to develop new technologies to improve quality of life for example, Raj belongs to those who appreciate things more for their artistic value.

Since very young, he saw martial arts and fighting as one of the greatest expressions of art. It was quick, it required strategy, preparation, it was customizable and so on. Every fighter was unique to some degree, even if one tried their hardest to be like other.

But his desire for action and his love for this art started to become more and more violent. Sometimes he snapped and his opponents were left as a bloody mess.

Raj wanted none of this. He only wanted to enjoy the art of fighting peacefully.

When he went to the psychiatrist for help, he was diagnosed with an abnormal mental disorder and after some more exams it was also discovered his problem had a biological part as well. This strange condition was not merely psicological. His body had a very strong reaction to certain mental stimuli, triggering what could be described as a "fight or flight response on steroids", increasing some characteristics, such as aggression, to dangerous levels.

After trying the help from medics and drugs, he got tired of it and droped both the drugs and the appointments, they weren't helping, at all. He loathed his body, his mind and himself. But then, he stumbled upon a buddhist temple. He tried all that science and conventional methods could offer him, but maybe... maybe... maybe all he needed was a bit of faith and religious guidance.

In the temple he learned how to be more patient, calmer, more controlled. It wasn't perfect, but at least he was making far more progress than before. Here was where he finally set his own goal: to make his own fighting style.

Mixing Judo and Yoga, he created something that allowed him to enjoy fighting and not lose control of himself.

But mortal beings, human beings...

All of them had a limit, no matter how strong willed they are. And that scared him.

Miyuki was again, back at the area. Smiling wide to the crowd.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen. We are back with more action and this time it's the third fight of the 2nd round!" The people in the stands roared in excitement as a reply.

"Then, let the fighters come in!"

A 3d image of a mask appeared above one tunnel, one half looked like a demon while the other looked like a smiling man. Green lasers focused on the entrance and Miyuki began talking "From India, standing at 6'4, weighting 265 lbs and representing Cola-Pop Co. Don't let his calm exterior fool you, if you aren't careful you might awaken the demon inside him, it's 'The Killer Pacifist' Raj Shan!"

Smoke filled the area and Raj came out of the tunnel with a calm expression on his face. Then, Miyuki pointed to the other tunnel, lasers focused on the entrance and a 3d image of a muscular arm appeared above it. "Standing at 6'3 and weighting 235 lbs. Representing San Jose Saba Schools, he is the brazilian man that fears no striker, 'The Amazon Brute' Jose Rocha!"

The aforementioned walked out with a look of confidence and excitement. Both men approached each other. Jose looked at Raj and said with a grin "I hope you are ready to let loose."

Raj's face warped into an expression full of worry "You don't know what you are saying."

Jose only laughed and said with mock disappointment "I heard that people from the rest of the world were more sophisticated, Raj, but not that they could be such meanies."

In the med bay, Charles watched the fight on the TV "Damn it, Jose. You don't know what you are doing. You could end even worse than Vlad!" The russian fighter was currently in the same room, but he had yet to awaken after his fight. A surgery was needed to fix his injured neck and spine.

The referee approached the fighters on the area "Play fair and square and i won't disqualify you." Both men nodded silently and got into their stances. "Ready?, FIGHT!" The referee threw his hand down and signaled the start of the match.

Both fighters stood in silence, looking at each other without moving an inch. And after a while, Raj sprang forward and launched a front kick. Jose blocked it and tried to take a hold of it, but Raj retracted it quick and threw a punch to his chest. The brazilian backed away while his opponent went after him.

Raj grabbed Jose and was about to use a hip throw when the brazilian put his legs around his waist and clasped his arms around his head.

Raj lost his balance and fell to the ground. Jose then put him into an armbar, but his opponent slipped away. Raj stood up, but the brazilian quickly used a double leg takedown. Jose now was mounting him and was trying to hold him in place. Both were struggling on the ground while the crowd cheered loudly.

"Damn it, i have to keep him on the ground, that way he can't throw me or hit me properly. But he is too slippery!" Jose was enjoying his match against Raj. In all his life, since he started practicing brazilian jiu-jitsu, he never had this much fun. Latin america did have a whole new underworld fighting scene that was quickly gaining popularity among foreigners, but most of the fighters were weak in every sense of the word: In their willpower, their pain tolerance, their skill, their wits, their power.

Few were of Jose's caliber, that was the reason for him to enter this tournament.

Suddenly, Raj escaped the mount and put Jose in a tight chokehold! The crowd roared in excitement as the brazilian tried to unclasp his opponent's arms around his throat.

In the stands, Feng and Miguel were watching the fight. The second asked with curiosity as he looked to his companion "Hey, isn't judo all about throws and takedowns? I thought his style was a combination of Yoga and Judo." Frowning, Feng turned to him to answer "Well, i am as curious as you."

"You are partially right." both men turned to the voice and saw a bandaged Brick using crutches. The man sat beside them and elaborated further "Yes, judo main strength are its throws and takedowns. But judo is actually a fusion of many jujutsu schools and many of them had ground fighting techniques like chokeholds, joint locks and many more."

"How do you know that?" With a smirk, Brick answered as he watched Raj and Jose "I am from the pro MMA community, Feng. If i want to be decent, i have to know the tools at my and my opponent's disposal." Then, Miguel asked feeling a bit uncomfortable "Are you ok though? Should you be out of the med bay like this?"

Brick just waved a hand dismissing his concern "I am ok, the crutches are just to lessen the strain on my body. Shibo gave me quite the beating, but i should be back in shape in a month, more or less."

Back in the area, Jose slipped out of Raj's grasp and rolled away. Both men sood back. The brazilian charged toward his opponent and landed a powerful punch on his stomach, followed by a quick hook to the temple. Raj staggered back, but Jose continued his assault.

Raj blocked some hits and retaliated with a thrust of his own. Jose dodged to the side and threw an overhand. Raj backed away and launched a roundhouse kick, following with a heel kick. The brazilian managed to block the first, but the second struck him on his head.

While Jose was dizzy, Raj circled him and threw a powerful palm strike to the side, an uppercut to the body and a side kick. Jose blocked the palm, but the uppercut and kick sent him back. Raj attacked with a kick and a punch, but Jose sidestepped and counterpunched Raj, landing a hit on his face.

Jose quickly threw some jabs while Raj parried and blocked. Then he landed a powerful liver hook on him. Raj gritted his teeth and clutched his side. "Now is my chance!" Jose tackled Raj to the ground and put him in a joint lock.

But the pain was too great for Raj, it wasn't letting him escape Jose's clutch. "I have to get out, quick!" Raj then tried pinching Jose and squeezing him where some of his nervous clusters where, allowing him to losen up his opponent's grip and finally getting out.

Raj stood up and punched Jose's face, followed by an elbow to the chest and another punch to his ribs. Jose blocked the last one and retaliated with a straight to the chest, he sidestepped a kick and threw a combo of jabs and straights until he broke through Raj's guard with an uppercut.

Jose threw a hook, but Raj jumped back and launched a spinning high kick. The brazilian ducked under it and dodged a couple of palm strikes. Raj threw a combo of hooks and uppercuts while Jose ducked and jumped back.

Then, Jose launched a quick jab, hitting Raj on his stomach and making him double over. The brazilian throws a strong straight, but Raj takes a hold of the arm and uses a shoulder throw, slamming Jose on the ground.

The brazilian was in pain, but Raj didn't lose time and was already about to put him in an armlock. Jose rolled to the side and managed to escape his grasp. Raj rushed at him with palm strikes and kicks while Jose blocked then. The brazilian moved his head to the sides to dodge some punches and both fighters started to circle each other, in hopes of landing the decisive blow.

Jose launched jabs and hooks while Raj blocked or swayed his body to avoid them. Then Raj would counter with elbows and punches. Their blows sprayed drops of blood around the area as they chased each other.

Raj threw a palm strike to Jose's head, but the brazilian ducked and counterpunched with a blow to the chin. Jose followed with a leg trip and put Raj in a compression lock after an armbar. "If a bicep slicer doesn't make him go , then i don't know what will."

Raj grunted in pain as he struggled to free himself. Through gritted teeth, Jose asked with frustration "Come on, Raj! Just go wild... so i can fight you at your strongest!" The aforementioned was even more frustrated thanks to his opponent's stubbornness, and with disbelief, he replied "You don't understand! You don't- Ugh! know what you are asking for!"

"You guys- Grrr! are all the same! The gringos, Europeans, Asians, everyone! Whenever, uff! Whenever one of us does something important, we don't get recognition from our people! But you- Unff! give us fake recognition! Implying we can't compete with you, old worlders! You say 'You are the best among your people', well... like the saying goes 'In land of the blind the one-eyed is king'! Você are all only mocking us! Just fucking snap already, caramba!"

Jose was tired. All of his life since he began to compete in the martial arts scene, he almost only saw arrogant individuals. And all of them thought the same thing: Latinos are weak, pathetic and incompetent. Americans are weak, pathetic and incompetent.

This line of thought infuriated him to no end. There were a lot of very smart and powerful people among them, he met some, but to these people it didn't matter. Their efforts and dedication didn't matter to them. The view of these arrogant foreigners crippled their potential and growth!

Didn't other people from the continent managed to enter this tournament? Even a kid and an old man from the acclaimed 'end of the world' were in this tournament.

Jose didn't entered this tournament just for the fun. No, he wanted to restore the american continent and it's people's pride as a place and community of possibilites. It was neither a playground nor the shadow of the other continents, it can be an equal, it IS an equal.

Jose put more pressure on the lock and Raj released a painful scream before the crowd went silent. Raj stopped his struggling and went completely silent. The brazilian was confused...

Until he realized.

"So, you finally snap."

Raj quickly freed himself and put Jose in a painful leg lock. They started roll around the area while the crowd went wild and cheered loudly.

Jose finally got out of Raj's grasp. He attacked the brazilian man with a kick. Jose readied himself to block it, but it was only a feint and Raj landed a hard punch on his face thanks to it. Jose staggered backwards and Raj followed up with another kick and two palm strikes. The brazilian blocked the last two hits and answered with a combination of punches to his opponent's chest and head.

Raj didn't block them, but he pressed further and threw his own flurry of kicks, punches and elbows to overwhelm him. They started a fast paced exchange of blows, before Raj finally took a hold of Jose and started to repeatedly hit his face and use a throw to slam him on the ground as hard as he could.

The brazilian coughed blood, but Raj grabbed him again and slammed him once more.

And another more...

Jose was barely conscious and he couldn't think straight, then...

He passed out.

And when Raj was about to attack him one last time, "Enough! I am calling the match!" the referee intervened, putting himself on Raj's way. The fighter growled and gave him a look full of wild anger, but the referee did the unthinkable...

He glared back and delivered a mighty punch to his temple!

All the crowd was shocked. Brick looked in awe "Daaamn, that is one nasty punch. So that is Lloyd Ramirez, the man that came closest to defeat Shibo."

The referee announced as Raj came to his senses and stood up "Winner by KO, Raj Shan!"

EMTs carried Jose to the med bay as Raj walked shakily toward the tunnel with guilt and frustration "I lost it again!"

In one room, Osu and Tyson were watching the match on tv. The younger of the two said with a sad look "Well, even after all that, he still snaped." Osu stared at the screen with a neutral expression and said "We are all human beings, we are far from perfect and all of us have limits. We can only hope that Raj gave his all to tame his impulses."

(later...)
Jose was waking up in a bed "Ugh, is this the med bay?" He felt pain all over his body and he was feeling dizzy. It seems he lost the match...

The door to the med bay opened and Raj walked in. He had a look full of guilt and worry. None of them said anything for a while, but then, Raj talked "I told you. I never wanted this... curse. I only wanted to fight fair and square. But you never listened, i am sorry."

Jose felt full of guilt. This man, only wanted to have a friendly fight and he only pushed him to turn it into a vile public murder. "No, i am the one sorry. I should have listened. But i was so blinded that i never actually noticed how much you hated this."

Both kept silent for a while before saying goodbye to each other.

TBC