Kengan Alternative
Ch. 7: Opening Act
Jumping across the Grand Canyon.
Straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Making a card vanish from a deck, and reappear inside the Queen of England's handbag.
Escaping from a locked safe, inside a building scheduled for demolition.
These are just some of the impossible acts made possible by Lorenzo Romano, indisputably the world's greatest magician. Performing magic tricks both physics and death defying, Romano's shows have left audiences speechless with wonder for the better part of the last decade. But when you know every trick in the book, what then? What's left to do, other than the slow death of five Vegas shows a week for the next twenty years?
Lorenzo had the same thought as he ate breakfast, overlooking the city from his hotel balcony. Yes, the crowds applauded, and always wanted more, but he felt like he was going through the motions at this point, the same tricks, the same jokes, the same… him. For the first time, he felt his age. What could he do to bring back that excitement, the thrill of pulling off a new trick, of not knowing if the audience would respond well or not, feeling like he earned a hard fought success?
As it turned out, "hard fought" meant just that. Lorenzo cancelled his latest tour and dropped from the public eye. The crowds he sought to entertain lived in the world of underground fighting organisations. The crowds were more than receptive to his particular brand of showmanship, and with every bested opponent Lornezo was showered in adoration. The adrenaline rush, thinking on his feet, adapting with every opponent, he hadn't felt like this since his first shows. He had found his new stage.
Lorenzo straightened up from his bow, handing his hat and cloak to a scantily clad assistant.
"Thanks for letting me have my little introduction, Morioka!" He called to the announcer, giving a warm smile and a wave, which she returned.
"No problem, thanks for teaching me that coin trick!"
"Anything for a fan!"
Akarou Kirishima watched as the older man, his opponent, turned his full body away from him and began to converse with the announcer. When had this last happened to him? The sheer bloody disrespect on display here, did Romano consider the fight beneath his notice? He bent his arm in again, slapping the crook of his elbow loudly.
"Hey, forgetting why you're here?" He called, keeping the frustration from his voice as the magician started from the slap, turning back to him.
"Mhh, sorry, of course not! My attention is always one hundred percent on my performance." Romano smoothed out his moustache, striking a fighting stance, his right side turned towards Kirishima, right fist held out, as though he was pointing a sword.
"Or a magic wand..." Akarou thought to himself, adopting a Lethwei stance, arms raised in a high guard. "Enough with the performances, old man."
"Stop performing? In front of a crowd this size?" Romano's smile grew wider beneath the moustache "You must be out of your mind."
"FIGHT!"
The referee gave the signal, and Romano leapt forwards, his extended fist lancing out in a jab. Kirishima stepped left, to Romanos outside, ready to counter, when the punch changed direction, connecting with his cheekbone. Halfway through the recoil, it came back, again and again, a wild volley of unpredictable jabs.
Art of Deception: Flourish
"So he's not just a performer!" Kirishima closed his guard against the onslaught of blows, feeling them rain down on him through every opening. They felt designed for speed, not power, but all it would take would be a bad hit to a vulnerable spot for them to do the trick.
Fortunately, the Samehada Style had been designed to turn the tides like this.
Kirishima's eyes widened as he focused on the flourishing fist, waiting for the barrage to slow. He knew it would, eventually, even the best fighters couldn't keep up a rush like this for long. Sure enough, Romano exhaled, and there was a lull in the attacks. The next fist that came was slower, and predictable enough for Kirishima to grab the wrist, yanking hard and exploding inside the magician's range, seeing the surprise on his face a split second before he brought his forehead down hard into Romanos jaw, feeling the crack of bone vibrate through his skull.
Samehada Special Technique: Thresher
The counter worked as expected, the speed of Lorenzo's jab doubling up the force of the headbutt, sending the magician straight down to the ground, groaning as blood reddened his moustache.
"Oh wow! A nasty headbutt from Kirishima!" yelled Morioka "There's the Lethwei training kicking in, folks!"
"Like I said, Lorenzo." Akarou said, shaking off his bruising forearms "Enough with the Performances."
"What did I miss?"
Above the fight, in the VIP section, the three assembled fighters were approached by a new arrival. His muscular build marked him out as a fighter, and the building muscles in his legs and dragon tattoo extending up his neck from beneath his shirt collar marked him as Irving Blake, the ex-footballer turned underground martial artist.
"Lorenzo Romano just died, I think." Agnes replied, looking at the prone Magician. It was a joke, but one with a tinge of worry to it. When the magician rolled over, Groaning, she exhaled, sighing in relief.
"Oh wow, didn't think he'd go down that fast." Blake settled next to her, leaning over the railings. "I went to one of his shows once, God, he was fantastic! Funny, inventive, a real master of deception! I remember this thing he did with one of his assistants, where-"
"Sorry, what was that last bit?"
"Well, I was drunk, so I might be misremembering, but his assistant was tied up beneath a-"
"No, no, the other thing." Agnes narrowed her eyes, watching as Lorenzo tried to get to his knees. "Deception…"
Akarou launches forwards to the unsteadily rising Lorenzo, intent on finishing the fight with a punishing roundhouse kick. Lorenzo slowly turned, watching the other fighter plant one foot, bringing the other up in a head-high arc…
...and quickly feinted down, kicking into Kirishima's planted ankle. Not expecting his opponent to have the strength left, Kirishima felt the kick knock his leg out from under him. Toppling him. As he stumbled, Romano rose beneath him, all evidence of damage gone, meeting Kirishima's gut with an uppercut.
Art of Deception: Playing Dead
The wind blew out of Kirishima, making him cough and splutter, taking a few bouncing steps away from Lorenzo. Romano stood back up, cracking his neck, looking like he was basking in the roar of the crowd.
"I thought I said enough Performances." Akarou tasted copper, and resumed his fighting stance. "A fake out's a dirty trick."
"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't resist! All business from here on out!" Romano settled back into the same stance as before, one fist extended. "You're a good fighter, kid, but you need to know how to put on a show as well."