Hey, guys. Long time, no see, heh? Sorry for the wait, those who were
waiting on this chapter LONG ago. Winter's the time of the year when my
brain hibernates and I get lazy, so take it out on the change of seasons,
not me. Well, here you go. Trust me, this story IS going somewhere.
---- -----
Heating Up
"You're reacting too slow, Mel!" Elena yelled while sweeping the young fighters with her powerful legs. Mel hit the ground and it took a while for him to get back up and guard another strong kick to the head. He then decided to counter.
"Shaaaaaa!!!" he screamed as he used a burst of speed to jump up and strike while coming down like a lightning bolt, his leg covered with electricity. Before he knew it, he found out that Elena dodged his Raikoukyaku...
"Hah!"
Instantly, Elena brought her heal down into Mel's skull with force. Mel reeled backwards from it, dazed, and Elena followed up with a flying kick.
"Rhino Horn!"
Ken's son looked up just to get nailed in the face once again, his body falling back into the canvas.
"Mmm... Elena sure doesn't fight like she acts..." Yang commented from his seat.
Yun nodded.
(Wonder if Ken introduced Mel to the fight too young...) Sakura K. thought inside her head. (He's not doing so good...)
Elena stopped attacking and taunted while standing on one foot.
"Hey... you okay? Maybe you should practice more. I like to have fun, not beat up little kids."
"O... okay... El... ena..." Mel murmured as he shook his head, "playtime's... just beginning. Come on."
Elena's look turned blank. "Huh? What do you mean?"
Mel grinned as his dizziness vanished. "You'll see..."
At this moment, Elena smiled as well. "Oh...! Okay, here I come!"
As Elena assumed her stance, Mel entered.... a different type of stance. He planted his feet into the ground, his left hand and his front and his right in its chamber. In the control room of the stadium, Ken smiled.
(That's it, Mel) he thought. (Adapting to your opponent's style... Great choice.)
"Shall we dance?" Elena asked as she flied towards the young Ansatsuken fighter, preparing to attack with her Brave Dance super art. Mel stood firm... and dodged the rapid attacks Elena threw.... then countered with a powered punch from his chambered fist to Elena's shin. The African girl yelped out painfully as she stumbled away from Mel, only to get nailed with a roundhouse kick to her head, flooring her.
"Okay, Mel!" Sakura S. cheered out along with the ruckus of the crowd. "Looks like you still got a lot of spunk left!"
"Uuugh..." Elena groaned as she lifted her body up off the ground and looked at Mel. "That... that was..."
"Good?" Mel ended while smiling. "I was taught by the best! Now, I'm going to end this! Get ready!"
---- ----
(She's fast...)
Nanase sensed Yin behind her and quickly grabbed her pole, pulling it over her head to block her punch. She then slid her left sneaker behind Yin's and pushed back to make her trip and fall on the grass.
"Hadoushou!"
Unfortunately, this left her open for Kaoru's blast, knocking her next to Yin's downed body. Kaoru then dashed in, pursuing Nanase, but forgot about Yin, who reached up, grabbed her sneaker, and made her fall face first to the ground. Yin then threw her legs up above her head and flipped to a standing position, standing on Kaoru, and turned around to meet...
"Sanrenkon!"
Nanase striking her in the stomach three times with the end of her pole. Yin fell back once again, holding her throbbing stomach with her hands. Nanase then placed her pole to her side while turning to Kaoru and ate a sneaker in the cheek, making her reel back. Kaoru was back on her feet and on the attack again, hitting Nanase hard and fast. Just as she started to build momentum, Nanase used her pole to counter and knock her down.
"En..."
Nanase couldn't even take a breath afterwards. The third Dragon of Hong Kong was behind her and nailed a powerful fist to her back of the new girl's head. Yin then turned her back, still in movement, and struck with the other fist.
"...si... ken!"
Yin then finished with her shoulder ram, knocking Nanase into the air, following wither the Senkyutai. As the pole girl plummeted to the ground, Yin prepared to land but...
"Youkai Kusushuu!!!"
Kaoru appeared right in front of Yin while airborne and grabbed her before performing a rush of attacks before slamming Yin into the ground with a final fist. Yin fell fast to the grass, writhing in pain.
"So... you give up?" the adopted sister or Sakura and Darrell asked while landing. All that answered was Yin's moaning as she got to her hands and knees and tried to keep going. Kaoru smirked... but as she tried to speak...
"Izayou Rekkon!"
Nanase came from the side of Kaoru with an overhead strike with her pole, then a stomach blow, then an upper, airing her foe. She then jumped up in pursuit while spinning her pole above her like a helicopter blade and striking accordingly. Her move was done 12 hits later, but the two didn't even touch the ground before another sneak attack landed...
"Shoura... SHUURAI!!!"
From below, Yin threw her arm up, a wide blade of energy rising up and hitting both her opponents, then swung her arm back down, flooring the two. Yin took this time to rest herself, putting her hands on her knees and breathing hard.
(That should by me some time... to relax a bit...)
Yin looked above her to see what Kaoru and Nanase were doing... Kaoru was down for the count, but Nanase still struggled to get up, using her pole for leverage. Yin frowned.
(Man... Nanase's is still up after getting whooped by both me and Kaoru... If she's this tough... I wonder how the real tourney is...)
---- -----
"Hey... Going somewhere?"
"Um...? Who are you?"
"Oh... sorry... Didn't introduce myself. My name is Makoto... I've seen you floating around here looking for something or someone and I thought, well, since you're a fighter and all... I'd have a little chat with you."
"Oh... I see... Well... I have time on my hands, miraculously. My fight is next, though. Sure are a lot of people here this time around..."
"Yeah... It's a pretty big tournament... Is this your first time? You are sorta new to me..."
"No. I've participated in the tournament a few years back."
"Oh. Okay. What's your name?"
"Hokuto."
"Nice to meet you."
"Same here."
"Well, come on and take a seat. I'm chatting with some other fighters as well, so make yourself comfortable, okay?"
The girl in the karate gi and the older woman in the hamaka outfit sat down at a Chinese restaurant table in the lobby of the stadium. Already there was Tong-An representative, Mitsumi Yao along with her boyfriend, WangTang who came for support, as well as Mexican fighter Vulcano Rosso and Air Force pilot Charlie Nash, all chatting about the tournament so far and watching Elena slowly get worn down by Mel on the TV next to their table. Hokuto calmly took a seat and after seeing Makoto do the same, remembered something.
"Hey... I just realized... I fight you next, don't I, Makoto?" she asked. Makoto paused a bit before responding.
"Now that I think about it, yes we do. What do you know... This shall be a great way to get to know you before we fight."
"Should be interesting," Mitsumi said while eating her food down. "Too bad I have to wait until tomorrow to get my chance to fight. Late at that."
WangTang smiled. "Don't worry about it. It'll be more time to prepare for your match. You take on Sakura Kasugano in the first round, and she is NO pushover from what I remember over the years."
Charlie scoffed. "Yeah.... that's for sure... I know personally."
"And just what does that supposed to mean, huh?" Vulcano asked while casually sipping at his wine. "Don't tell me that you lost to her."
"No..." the American replied quickly, "I just watched her during an... altercation about a year ago... She's definitely not one to be taken lightly."
(And by altercation I mean having to release her and her friends from Bison's brainwashing...) he added in his mind. (Good thing that freak is gone and done with...)
"Whatever you say," Vulcano added as he ran his hands through his curled up black hair which had white stripes running through it. "Ironically, I have to take on her sister as well. Looks just like her, only her skin's darker..."
"Sakura Satsu?" Makoto asked. Vulcano nodded.
"That's the one. I take it that she's not one to underestimate, either, huh, Charlie?"
Charlie only nodded as he watched Mel and Elena's fight, which was about to end by the looks of Mel pounding on Elena. Makoto took this time to continue her chat with Hokuto, her first round opponent.
"So are you here with any friends or family?" she asked.
"Well... my sister is here..." Hokuto replied humbly as a waiter handed her a glass of water to drink.
"What's her name?"
"Nanase. My... slightly older brother is here as well... Both of them at that."
"Oh, really?" the karate girl asked as she took another bite out of her dish. "Who are they?"
"Well... one is Hayate, the swordsman that I came across upon entering this arena. He's always off on his training and such... I am too, but I'm not as 'into' it as he is."
"...and your other one?"
Oddly, Hokuto turned quiet at that question, staring at the cup of fresh water in her hand. Makoto stared at her and then quickly noticed that she had said something wrong.
"Sorry... You don't need to tell me that. I guess I was too much into your family affairs."
Hokuto quickly shook her head. "It's alright. It's just that when I think of him... I get a bit... emotional...."
Makoto acknowledged that and said, "I see..." She sighed.
(Brother... I can't believe that after all this time this is how I see you... I got to see you and set you straight before you do something drastic...)
"Hey, you two..." WangTang said, breaking Hokuto's thoughts, "you might want to get ready. Mel's about to finish the match..."
Both fighters looked at each other for a while... then Makoto flashed a warm smile.
"Well... let's see who the better woman is. Good luck, Hokuto."
"You two, Makoto..." Hokuto answered back as she got back up and left, getting ready for her fight. The rest of the table watched her go... then Mitsumi looked at the table and smirked.
(Hokuto didn't finish her water...)
---- -----
"Well, Elena... it's been fun, but I gotta win this... Shoryu Higyou!"
Mel attacked with a Shouryuken, knocking the now dominated Elena into the air, then performed 8 more additional attacks while still rising in the air, ending with a kick sending Elena down on the canvas in a heap. Within the last 3 minutes or so, Elena couldn't touch Mel. He just kept reading her attacks and countering, being too much for her to handle. The African girl was K.O.'ed long before Mel's super art ended.
"And your winner for this fight in Mel Masters!!" the announcer screamed. He had to, since the audience was already cheering loudly on Mel's come- from-behind victory. Mel sighed heavily while bowing to his incapacitated opponent, then walked out the ring, smiling at all the attention he was getting.
(I wonder if Dad saw that...)
On the side where the other fighters were sitting at, Sakura K. was ecstatic.
"Yeah! That's what I call a comeback! Awesome technique and everything!"
"He's good," Yun said slyly, "but he won't get far. He had that Kairi guy next round in two days..."
"Yeah... That guy gives me the creeps..." Sakura K. muttered under her breath as Darrell suddenly stood up. "Hey... where are you going?"
"Where else? I'm going to buy some refreshments. This is going to be a long first round so I might as well get ready to relax. You guys want anything?"
"Give me some of those hot dogs they got," Sakura K. immediately replied. "6 of them."
Darrell raised an eyebrow. "Six?? You eating them all???"
"No, silly," Sakura S. said while rolling her eyes. "Sis and I are going to split them. Add some Sprites to go with that. Large."
"I should have known..." Darrell mumbled. "You two have a monster appetite... You, Yun?"
"Hmm..." the capped Dragon thought. "A bag of popcorn. Biggest they got. Throw in a bottle of sake. I don't care what type they got."
Sakura K. shot Yun a look. "What type of appetite is that?"
Yun just shrugged.
"Okay... how about you, Yang?"
Yang just shook his head. "Don't worry about me. As a matter of fact, I'll go with you. I need to see what Yin is up to."
"Yeah, good idea," Darrell thought. "She went on out and took Kaoru with her. Wonder what those two are up to..."
"Well be right back," Sakura S. informed them. "The next fight is about to start in a minute."
Both young men nodded and as they left, the announcer started to speak again.
"Okay, everyone. Next is #15 Makoto vs. #22 Hokuto. This is going to be a battle of the technical fighters, so watch for yourselves. Things are only warming up!"
----- -----
End of Chapter. Stay tuned. Next chapter is going to break down what happens in Makoto and Hokuto's fight, and just what Ryu's training with Oro is about, not to mention what Yin, Kaoru, and Nanase are doing with their spar... and Yang and Darrell start talking tournament politics. All and more coming up next!
----- -----
Translations in this chapter
Shoryu Higyou : Rising Dragon Strike
Raikoukyaku : Lightning God Kick
Sanrenkon : Three Part Barrage
Youkai Kusushuu : Phantom Air Raid
Hadoushou : Energy Palm
Izayou Rekkon : 16-Night Severe Cane
Ensiken : Yangquig Fist
Shoura Shuurai : Grand Lightning
---- -----
Heating Up
"You're reacting too slow, Mel!" Elena yelled while sweeping the young fighters with her powerful legs. Mel hit the ground and it took a while for him to get back up and guard another strong kick to the head. He then decided to counter.
"Shaaaaaa!!!" he screamed as he used a burst of speed to jump up and strike while coming down like a lightning bolt, his leg covered with electricity. Before he knew it, he found out that Elena dodged his Raikoukyaku...
"Hah!"
Instantly, Elena brought her heal down into Mel's skull with force. Mel reeled backwards from it, dazed, and Elena followed up with a flying kick.
"Rhino Horn!"
Ken's son looked up just to get nailed in the face once again, his body falling back into the canvas.
"Mmm... Elena sure doesn't fight like she acts..." Yang commented from his seat.
Yun nodded.
(Wonder if Ken introduced Mel to the fight too young...) Sakura K. thought inside her head. (He's not doing so good...)
Elena stopped attacking and taunted while standing on one foot.
"Hey... you okay? Maybe you should practice more. I like to have fun, not beat up little kids."
"O... okay... El... ena..." Mel murmured as he shook his head, "playtime's... just beginning. Come on."
Elena's look turned blank. "Huh? What do you mean?"
Mel grinned as his dizziness vanished. "You'll see..."
At this moment, Elena smiled as well. "Oh...! Okay, here I come!"
As Elena assumed her stance, Mel entered.... a different type of stance. He planted his feet into the ground, his left hand and his front and his right in its chamber. In the control room of the stadium, Ken smiled.
(That's it, Mel) he thought. (Adapting to your opponent's style... Great choice.)
"Shall we dance?" Elena asked as she flied towards the young Ansatsuken fighter, preparing to attack with her Brave Dance super art. Mel stood firm... and dodged the rapid attacks Elena threw.... then countered with a powered punch from his chambered fist to Elena's shin. The African girl yelped out painfully as she stumbled away from Mel, only to get nailed with a roundhouse kick to her head, flooring her.
"Okay, Mel!" Sakura S. cheered out along with the ruckus of the crowd. "Looks like you still got a lot of spunk left!"
"Uuugh..." Elena groaned as she lifted her body up off the ground and looked at Mel. "That... that was..."
"Good?" Mel ended while smiling. "I was taught by the best! Now, I'm going to end this! Get ready!"
---- ----
(She's fast...)
Nanase sensed Yin behind her and quickly grabbed her pole, pulling it over her head to block her punch. She then slid her left sneaker behind Yin's and pushed back to make her trip and fall on the grass.
"Hadoushou!"
Unfortunately, this left her open for Kaoru's blast, knocking her next to Yin's downed body. Kaoru then dashed in, pursuing Nanase, but forgot about Yin, who reached up, grabbed her sneaker, and made her fall face first to the ground. Yin then threw her legs up above her head and flipped to a standing position, standing on Kaoru, and turned around to meet...
"Sanrenkon!"
Nanase striking her in the stomach three times with the end of her pole. Yin fell back once again, holding her throbbing stomach with her hands. Nanase then placed her pole to her side while turning to Kaoru and ate a sneaker in the cheek, making her reel back. Kaoru was back on her feet and on the attack again, hitting Nanase hard and fast. Just as she started to build momentum, Nanase used her pole to counter and knock her down.
"En..."
Nanase couldn't even take a breath afterwards. The third Dragon of Hong Kong was behind her and nailed a powerful fist to her back of the new girl's head. Yin then turned her back, still in movement, and struck with the other fist.
"...si... ken!"
Yin then finished with her shoulder ram, knocking Nanase into the air, following wither the Senkyutai. As the pole girl plummeted to the ground, Yin prepared to land but...
"Youkai Kusushuu!!!"
Kaoru appeared right in front of Yin while airborne and grabbed her before performing a rush of attacks before slamming Yin into the ground with a final fist. Yin fell fast to the grass, writhing in pain.
"So... you give up?" the adopted sister or Sakura and Darrell asked while landing. All that answered was Yin's moaning as she got to her hands and knees and tried to keep going. Kaoru smirked... but as she tried to speak...
"Izayou Rekkon!"
Nanase came from the side of Kaoru with an overhead strike with her pole, then a stomach blow, then an upper, airing her foe. She then jumped up in pursuit while spinning her pole above her like a helicopter blade and striking accordingly. Her move was done 12 hits later, but the two didn't even touch the ground before another sneak attack landed...
"Shoura... SHUURAI!!!"
From below, Yin threw her arm up, a wide blade of energy rising up and hitting both her opponents, then swung her arm back down, flooring the two. Yin took this time to rest herself, putting her hands on her knees and breathing hard.
(That should by me some time... to relax a bit...)
Yin looked above her to see what Kaoru and Nanase were doing... Kaoru was down for the count, but Nanase still struggled to get up, using her pole for leverage. Yin frowned.
(Man... Nanase's is still up after getting whooped by both me and Kaoru... If she's this tough... I wonder how the real tourney is...)
---- -----
"Hey... Going somewhere?"
"Um...? Who are you?"
"Oh... sorry... Didn't introduce myself. My name is Makoto... I've seen you floating around here looking for something or someone and I thought, well, since you're a fighter and all... I'd have a little chat with you."
"Oh... I see... Well... I have time on my hands, miraculously. My fight is next, though. Sure are a lot of people here this time around..."
"Yeah... It's a pretty big tournament... Is this your first time? You are sorta new to me..."
"No. I've participated in the tournament a few years back."
"Oh. Okay. What's your name?"
"Hokuto."
"Nice to meet you."
"Same here."
"Well, come on and take a seat. I'm chatting with some other fighters as well, so make yourself comfortable, okay?"
The girl in the karate gi and the older woman in the hamaka outfit sat down at a Chinese restaurant table in the lobby of the stadium. Already there was Tong-An representative, Mitsumi Yao along with her boyfriend, WangTang who came for support, as well as Mexican fighter Vulcano Rosso and Air Force pilot Charlie Nash, all chatting about the tournament so far and watching Elena slowly get worn down by Mel on the TV next to their table. Hokuto calmly took a seat and after seeing Makoto do the same, remembered something.
"Hey... I just realized... I fight you next, don't I, Makoto?" she asked. Makoto paused a bit before responding.
"Now that I think about it, yes we do. What do you know... This shall be a great way to get to know you before we fight."
"Should be interesting," Mitsumi said while eating her food down. "Too bad I have to wait until tomorrow to get my chance to fight. Late at that."
WangTang smiled. "Don't worry about it. It'll be more time to prepare for your match. You take on Sakura Kasugano in the first round, and she is NO pushover from what I remember over the years."
Charlie scoffed. "Yeah.... that's for sure... I know personally."
"And just what does that supposed to mean, huh?" Vulcano asked while casually sipping at his wine. "Don't tell me that you lost to her."
"No..." the American replied quickly, "I just watched her during an... altercation about a year ago... She's definitely not one to be taken lightly."
(And by altercation I mean having to release her and her friends from Bison's brainwashing...) he added in his mind. (Good thing that freak is gone and done with...)
"Whatever you say," Vulcano added as he ran his hands through his curled up black hair which had white stripes running through it. "Ironically, I have to take on her sister as well. Looks just like her, only her skin's darker..."
"Sakura Satsu?" Makoto asked. Vulcano nodded.
"That's the one. I take it that she's not one to underestimate, either, huh, Charlie?"
Charlie only nodded as he watched Mel and Elena's fight, which was about to end by the looks of Mel pounding on Elena. Makoto took this time to continue her chat with Hokuto, her first round opponent.
"So are you here with any friends or family?" she asked.
"Well... my sister is here..." Hokuto replied humbly as a waiter handed her a glass of water to drink.
"What's her name?"
"Nanase. My... slightly older brother is here as well... Both of them at that."
"Oh, really?" the karate girl asked as she took another bite out of her dish. "Who are they?"
"Well... one is Hayate, the swordsman that I came across upon entering this arena. He's always off on his training and such... I am too, but I'm not as 'into' it as he is."
"...and your other one?"
Oddly, Hokuto turned quiet at that question, staring at the cup of fresh water in her hand. Makoto stared at her and then quickly noticed that she had said something wrong.
"Sorry... You don't need to tell me that. I guess I was too much into your family affairs."
Hokuto quickly shook her head. "It's alright. It's just that when I think of him... I get a bit... emotional...."
Makoto acknowledged that and said, "I see..." She sighed.
(Brother... I can't believe that after all this time this is how I see you... I got to see you and set you straight before you do something drastic...)
"Hey, you two..." WangTang said, breaking Hokuto's thoughts, "you might want to get ready. Mel's about to finish the match..."
Both fighters looked at each other for a while... then Makoto flashed a warm smile.
"Well... let's see who the better woman is. Good luck, Hokuto."
"You two, Makoto..." Hokuto answered back as she got back up and left, getting ready for her fight. The rest of the table watched her go... then Mitsumi looked at the table and smirked.
(Hokuto didn't finish her water...)
---- -----
"Well, Elena... it's been fun, but I gotta win this... Shoryu Higyou!"
Mel attacked with a Shouryuken, knocking the now dominated Elena into the air, then performed 8 more additional attacks while still rising in the air, ending with a kick sending Elena down on the canvas in a heap. Within the last 3 minutes or so, Elena couldn't touch Mel. He just kept reading her attacks and countering, being too much for her to handle. The African girl was K.O.'ed long before Mel's super art ended.
"And your winner for this fight in Mel Masters!!" the announcer screamed. He had to, since the audience was already cheering loudly on Mel's come- from-behind victory. Mel sighed heavily while bowing to his incapacitated opponent, then walked out the ring, smiling at all the attention he was getting.
(I wonder if Dad saw that...)
On the side where the other fighters were sitting at, Sakura K. was ecstatic.
"Yeah! That's what I call a comeback! Awesome technique and everything!"
"He's good," Yun said slyly, "but he won't get far. He had that Kairi guy next round in two days..."
"Yeah... That guy gives me the creeps..." Sakura K. muttered under her breath as Darrell suddenly stood up. "Hey... where are you going?"
"Where else? I'm going to buy some refreshments. This is going to be a long first round so I might as well get ready to relax. You guys want anything?"
"Give me some of those hot dogs they got," Sakura K. immediately replied. "6 of them."
Darrell raised an eyebrow. "Six?? You eating them all???"
"No, silly," Sakura S. said while rolling her eyes. "Sis and I are going to split them. Add some Sprites to go with that. Large."
"I should have known..." Darrell mumbled. "You two have a monster appetite... You, Yun?"
"Hmm..." the capped Dragon thought. "A bag of popcorn. Biggest they got. Throw in a bottle of sake. I don't care what type they got."
Sakura K. shot Yun a look. "What type of appetite is that?"
Yun just shrugged.
"Okay... how about you, Yang?"
Yang just shook his head. "Don't worry about me. As a matter of fact, I'll go with you. I need to see what Yin is up to."
"Yeah, good idea," Darrell thought. "She went on out and took Kaoru with her. Wonder what those two are up to..."
"Well be right back," Sakura S. informed them. "The next fight is about to start in a minute."
Both young men nodded and as they left, the announcer started to speak again.
"Okay, everyone. Next is #15 Makoto vs. #22 Hokuto. This is going to be a battle of the technical fighters, so watch for yourselves. Things are only warming up!"
----- -----
End of Chapter. Stay tuned. Next chapter is going to break down what happens in Makoto and Hokuto's fight, and just what Ryu's training with Oro is about, not to mention what Yin, Kaoru, and Nanase are doing with their spar... and Yang and Darrell start talking tournament politics. All and more coming up next!
----- -----
Translations in this chapter
Shoryu Higyou : Rising Dragon Strike
Raikoukyaku : Lightning God Kick
Sanrenkon : Three Part Barrage
Youkai Kusushuu : Phantom Air Raid
Hadoushou : Energy Palm
Izayou Rekkon : 16-Night Severe Cane
Ensiken : Yangquig Fist
Shoura Shuurai : Grand Lightning