Chapter 8
The Shadow Knight, Melchior, scowled as he approached the tournament's entry desk. He had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but Diro refused to learn his talents. The prince boasted the knowledge of numerous martial arts styles, but he insisted that Bushin Ninjitsu was the only one he would practice. He claimed that defeating Vega with his grandfather's style was the best way for him to honor his memory. Truly, his intent was admirable, but foolish. If only he had bothered to benefit from the Knights' training instead of running around with Ranma, Melchior could avoid entering the tournament himself.
Unfortunately, Diro had his father's defiance. The boy would not be swayed when he made a decision. That trait could possibly make him a strong king, given that he accepted his position. Presently, he denied the fact that he had a father. If King Valcrist expected to bring his son into his life, he would be hard-pressed.
"You did what?!" He heard a young man's voice demand. He turned around to see Ranma Saotome arguing with his father. He watched the boy on occasion when spying on the prince and, in his humble opinion, found the pony-tailed one to be little more than an annoyance and a bad influence.
"I said I entered you in the competition." An older man in a white gi stated. This is a perfect opportunity for you to test you skills."
"But what right do you have to sign me up, pop?!" Ranma insisted.
"Do you mean to say that you're too afraid to compete? Whining like that will not make you manly! I weep for you, Ranma!"
The boy growled and a vein popped out on his forehead. "Give it a rest, old man!" He grumbled.
Melchior shook his head and walked away. He mused that this meant he may have to defeat Diro's best friend. If that was the case, then so be it. Although he disliked it, he would even defeat Vega if necessary. His primary concern in this tournament was the prince's safety; anything else was a liability to his mission.
He found Diro in the crowded lobby. The boy wore his grandfather's gi. It comprised of a black top, loose, black pants and a long sash that was tied around his waist. His arms were bandaged in athletic tape, which concealed a few shuriken in case of an emergency.
"So you came after all." The boy said, noticing Melchior. "I thought I told you to stay away from me and the tournament."
"There are greater things at stake here than your death feud." Melchior replied. "I cannot say for certain at the moment, but I must keep you safe until the time comes."
"Whatever. Now's not the time for your riddles, Mel. I'd suggest you warm up, because if I meet you in the first round, I'm takin' you out."
The knight took note of his present temperament. It was completely natural to become gruff and unfriendly before a fight, also the prince had yet to accept him as an ally. It was not unexpected. The Divine Knights acted with purpose, not out of peace and kindness as had the Sailor Senshi. Perhaps this was the flaw that had allowed the moon kingdom to fall in the first place.
Diro eyed him coldly as he nodded subtly and walked away. He felt a small pang of guilt for his harsh words, but knew his contempt was not entirely uncalled for. When he first met Melchior and the others, Balthazar and Gaspar, they had challenged him to a fight. That in itself wasn't too far out of the ordinary for him. With his unique lifestyle, that of a street fighter, he faced many unknown challenges. But those guys were different. He felt something of an alien aura around them, and suspected that they were hiding something from him.
The boy returned to his warm up exercises. This day would prove to be particularly grueling. The span of the tournament was to last one entire day, whereas previous ones tended to last a number of days. By the time the day was over, all fighters would be pushed beyond exhaustion. It would seem that this tournament was as much a display of endurance as skill.
"You seem like you're in a chipper mood." Sakura noted sarcastically from his side.
Diro looked over at her. In his focus on the tournament he had forgotten she was next to him. "Guess I'm just nervous."
"You? Nervous?" She asked incredulously. "Now that doesn't sound much like the Diro I know! What happened to the 'I love a good fight' attitude?"
"That's usually your outlook." He clarified.
"Aww, c'mon, Diro-kun!" She bounced in front of him. "This is gonna be fun!"
The boy looked back into her eyes and cracked a smile. Sakura had a talented of bringing things into a simple perspective. Besides, fighting was, in an almost morbid way, fun.
"Careful, Kotaishi." A voice from the side called out. "Being that close to anther girl might make your other girlfriends jealous."
"Saotome?" He asked and smirked to the side. "Did you come all this way just to mess with my mind, man?"
The boy chuckled slightly. "Also t' keep an eye on you. Whadya think you're doin' flirting with Sakura, huh?" He put the other boy in a headlock and tapped him with a knuckle. "What about that Rei chick? I know about you and her spending the night together a few weeks back!" He teased.
"I told you, I was asleep at the time!" Diro insisted. "I just woke up and she was in my bed! Nothing happened, dammit!" He saw the pony-tailed boy ignoring his rant and changed the subject. "So what are you doing here anyway? This lobby is reserved for competitors only."
His face twisted into a brief sour look. "Guess I'm in the right place, then. I planned on watching you two get the crap beat outta you, but my damned old man went n' signed me up to fight."
Diro was about to offer his faux sympathies when a man made an announcement from a podium in a corner. "Welcome, street fighters to the thirty-second annual tourney meet! Many of you have been here before and know what to expect, but for those of you who are new I'll explain a few things before we get started. First: the rules. Basically this is an underground tournament so just about anything goes. However, we do request that use of weapons be limited and that all participants try to avoid killing if at all possible. It's not that we frown upon it nor endorse it, but we prefer to keep things clean.
"Second: pairing of fighters. If you will look to the projection behind me, you will see that we have randomly assigned fights to take place in the first round. Of course, we operate on a scale of advancement. The winners of the first round will continue on to fight in the second round and so forth.
"Third: medical attention and resting between battles. After each fight, all competitors are required to check in with our quite capable medical staff. Likewise, you are all required to rest at least a half hour between matches. These rules are as much for your safety as they are for the spectators' entertainment and our wallets. The first match will commence in fifteen minutes, please be ready by then."
As the announcer stepped down; the fighters crowded around the projection on the wall. Various names and profiles were lined up on the bottom of the screen. Diro and Sakura paled as they saw the names in the first block: Ken Masters vs. Ryu.
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Sailor Mars walked on the concourse along side the chain fence that separated the spectators form the arena. Behind her followed the rest of the senshi and Tuxedo Mask. They looked around at the spectators which appeared to vary from business men, mobsters, and lowlifes. Mercury spoke up, "Are you sure we should be here, Mars? Diro-kun forbade us from coming for a reason."
"He said that we girls couldn't come because it was dangerous. He never said anything about the senshi." She corrected.
"Mars is right." Jupiter agreed. "We have to cheer on our friends, and I'll bet there'll be a lot of hunks here!" She winked.
Sailor Mercury could have groaned. She was used to her friend's infatuation with men, but at times she appeared to have a one track mind. "Still, I hope he doesn't get mad at us."
"How can he?" Mars asked. "He has no idea about our secret identities!"
"This is true, but if he wanted to learn what we had to teach, he would have figured it out in time." Balthazar, clad in white street clothes, interjected.
Sailor Mars squealed and jumped to the side. "Stop sneaking up on us like that!" She fumed.
The knight laughed. "My apologies, Lady Mars. Would you mind terribly if Gaspar and I joined you?"
She snorted. "Do whatever you like." The senshi turned toward the arena and wrapped her fingers around the fence as someone entered the ring. A tall man in a business suit stood in the center of the arena. He carried a microphone and appeared to be of great importance, possibly even a yakuza.
He lifted the microphone to his mouth and spoke in a loud clear voice. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our thirty-second street fighting tourney meet! I'd like you to turn your attention to the center of the ring as we begin our opening bout!" His words were met by a flood of applause and cheers from the audience. The announcer raised his voice to increase their excitement. "For your pleasure, we have two of the greatest fighters in the world to start things off! They trained in the same dojo under the same sensei, please welcome the wandering street fighter Ryu and the All-American Martial Arts Champion Ken Masters!"
The two fighters entered from opposite sides of the arena, both walked with a strong and purposeful gait. Even Ken, having been known a boastful exhibitionist had a serious, yet slightly anxious expression on his face. They met where the retreating announcer had formerly been standing and grabbed one another's hands in greeting.
"It's about time we finally faced off, too long in fact." Ken said. "I've been training hard for this moment, buddy, and I'm not going to go easy on you."
"Yeah, me too." The other answered lamely, yet with a friendly tone.
"We'll catch up later, Ryu." Ken continued. "Right now we've got a score to settle. What'ya say?"
Ryu nodded and took his stance within an arm's length of his opponent, and Ken did likewise. They stared at each other for a moment to gauge their comparative progress until the announcer signaled the beginning of the match. "Hajime!"
The fighters each quickly stepped forward. Ryu threw a punch to his opponent's chest, who dodged and countered with a knee-strike to the ribs. He then grabbed Ken's leg and hopped up to deliver a quick roundhouse to the side of his head.
Ken stumbled back a few steps and shook his head. He dashed toward Ryu and rolled behind him for a leg sweep. Ryu caught his fall with his hands and flipped away to stare down his opponent.
"You've gotten better." He said.
"So've you." Ken wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. He went back into his stance and said, "Shall we?"
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"Oh no! It's already started!" Sakura squealed as she ran along the concourse, dragging Diro and Ranma behind her. "Hurry up or we'll miss the match of the century!"
"Jeez, is it really that big a deal?" Ranma asked as he stumbled behind the girl and tried to yank his wrist from her grip. "It's just the crummy opening bout."
Sakura stopped dead in her tracks causing the others to stumble over her. She lifted Ranma up by his shirt collar and yelled, "The opening bout between two of the greatest street fighters on the planet! It's not crummy!"
Diro stood up and rubbed his head. "Sakura, warn me the next time you come to a sudden stop, will ya?" He looked into the crowd and saw a familiar face gasp and hide behind someone. "Eh? Was that Minako?"
"Wait! Kotaishi, help me out here will ya?" Ranma called out as the young ninja walked away paying little attention to the ensuing battle.
Diro pushed his way through the crowd to find the group of girls. "I thought I told you girls not to-" He stopped mid-sentence when he looked at them. "The Sailor Senshi? What are you guys doing here?"
Sailor Venus squealed and hugged him around the neck. "Diro-kun! Did you think we were someone else?" She quickly stuck her tongue out at Mars and turned back to look at him.
"As a matter of fact, yeah. You all look so much like these other girls I know, it's almost frightening."
Sailor Mars pried Venus away from him and imposed herself between them. "We heard that you were going to be competing today so we decided to come watch."
"Really?" He said. "How'd you hear that?"
Before she could answer, Sakura ran up, dragging Ranma by the cuff of his shirt. "Diro! Diro! You're gonna miss it!"
"What?"
"Just look!" She pointed to the ring as Ken and Ryu charged up their respective ki energy.
"What?!" He demanded incredulously. "They can't!"
"They are." She assured him. "They're gonna pit hadou against hadou!"
"No way! That's insane!" Ranma looped his fingers through the chain link fence and stared intently at the fighters. "I've heard of what happens when fighters do this. This ain't gonna be pretty!"
They watched the two combatants stare each other down as their unseen energy forced dust and sand to the corners of the arena in large clouds. A bright light emanated from each of them as their muscles strained to hold their bodies together. They screamed through the pain as they released their pent up energy.
"Oh shit!" Diro yelled and turned to his friends. "Get down now!" He instinctively grabbed two of the girls closest to him, Sakura and Sailor Mars, and threw them to the ground, protecting them with his body. Ranma followed his example by grabbing Mercury and Venus, while Tuxedo Mask protected the others with his cape.
The two Divine Knights raised their hands and chanted in a strange language. As Ken and Ryu shouted the triggers to release their energy, an invisible wall of magic protected part of the audience. The rest of the crowd, however, were all knocked over and pushed into various piles.
"Jesus!" Diro exclaimed. "What the hell were those two thinking?"
"I guess they just decided to go all out 'n give the audience a good show." Ranma suggested.
"I don't think so," Sakura pondered. "It was probably the only way to finish the match. Y'know, cause they're both pretty much an even match." She then looked up at Diro and giggled. "You can get off of me now, Diro-kun."
The boy stumbled to his feet and let them get up on their own. He rubbed the back of his head and blushed slightly. "Uh, sorry about that." He looked around and then said, "I was expecting a bigger blast. What happened?"
Balthazar chuckled quietly. "Well, we couldn't possibly let any harm come to our friends, now could we?"
"We set up a deflection wall." Gaspar explained. "It's something of a mixture of light and magic that blocks all energy."
"So I guess you guys are good for something after all." Sailor Mars mused. She then looked away to the side, almost as though she was ashamed. "Thanks."
Sailor Jupiter brushed herself off as she and Sailor Moon emerged from Tuxedo Mask's protective cape. "Hey, look! The dust is clearing!"
The crowd looked up to see a medic crew tending to both of the fighters who were lying unconscious on the ground. They consulted the announcer who considered the situation and then addressed the audience.
"Ladies and gentlemen, after that stunning battle, we have an interesting turn of events! Both of our competitors are unable to continue in the tournament! Therefore, the victor of the next match will automatically proceed to the semi-finals!" He waited for the cheer of the audience to die down before continuing. "Will the next fighters please report to the ring! Chun Li and Ranma Saotome!"
"What is this?" Ranma demanded. "I can't fight a girl!"
"If you don't fight and win you'll be out of the tournament, Ranma-kun." Sakura said, with a slight sing-song tone.
"Ranma!" A loud voice demanded from behind him. "What kind of a man would back out of a fight?"
The boy jumped and said, "Jeez, pop! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Get out there boy, or else!" He held up a bucket of cold water as a threat.
Ranma quickly backed away. "Alright, alright! I'm going! I'm going!"
Before he reached the fence, Sailor Mercury stopped him and cleared her throat. "Um, Saotome-san?" She flushed as he turned around. "Thank you for protecting me. And, well…" She shook her head and smiled sweetly. "Ganbatte ne! (Good luck)"
He grinned and nimbly leapt over the fence and walked up to the announcer. "Yo, I'm Ranma Saotome. Let's get this over with."
They waited for a few moments before the other competitor showed, a pretty Chinese woman dressed in a tight-fitting blue outfit. She walked with a seductive feminine gait and stopped just a few paces from her opponent. She looked at Ranma with an expressionless face and said, "I am Chun Li. I'm looking forward to our fight."
"Likewise." He glanced at the announcer, insisting with his eyes that he signal the beginning of the match. When he gave it and quickly ran from the ring, Chun Li rushed toward Ranma and kicked at his legs. Ranma, however dodged and nimbly leapt away.
Chun Li charged him again, this time leaping and kicking down at him. She followed up with a volley of swift and powerful kicks, which Ranma continued to dodge. "Are you going to fight me or are you just going to keep jumping around?"
"Well maybe if you were a little faster I'd have more incentive." He retorted after taking a nonchalant stance. "Jeez this is ridiculous how they have me fightin' a girl in my first bout."
"Ridiculous?" Chun Li's expression darkened. "It is a fool that makes assumptions about his opponent."
The boy dodged yet another of her attacks, this time jumping and clinging onto the fence. "No need for assumptions here!" He called and stuck out his tongue a little.
"Hey, Saotome! Quit tryin' to razz her on and fight already!" Diro called from the sidelines.
"Boy, don't keep running away! Get in the fight!" The elder Saotome yelled and threw the bucket of water at him. "Maybe if you were a girl you'd be more inclined to fight!"
"Pop! No!" He tried to leap away from the bucket when it hit the back of his head and the cold water spilled over him. He hunched over, trying to conceal his body's reaction. The boy considered making a break for the exit, but decided against it. He had nowhere to run, not to mention the match would be forfeit.
Ranma stood up slowly and turned to his friends, water dripping down from his soft face and his red hair. He kept an expressionless face as his entourage stared at him with a dumbfounded look.
"Ranma, you're…" Diro began.
"A woman?" Sakura asked, overcome with confusion. She looked around at the others who had similar expressions. Half of the crowd had gone mostly silent as well, although jeers continued rain down from those in the back.
Chun Li stood a few paces away from her opponent, as awestruck as the spectators. "What is this? What has happened to you?"
Girl-type Ranma sighed heavily and glanced at her opponent. "It's a long story." She said. "One that I don't feel like telling right now. I'm outta here, the match is yours." She turned around and walked out of the arena, giving a simple hand wave as means of dismissal.
Sailor Mercury watched s she walked away, the impact of this latest revelation resounding deep within her. She clenched the bow in front of her chest as she felt her heart sink. Her eyes welled up with tears as she felt some hidden sadness existing within her crush. Her throat clenched and she whispered, "Ranma-kun."