Chapter 11: The Heat Of Battle

Xiaoyu bowed to the opponent in front of her. Her enemy was a woman in her twenties. She wore a sleeveless red Chinese dress which had slits up the sides for leg movement. Her hair was tied into two buns on the sides of her head, her bangs peering over her eyes. Lei-Fang was her name, a veteran from another famous fighting tournament.

Xiaoyu, dressed in a simple pink sundress, dropped into her stance, ready to attack. She had done some research on her opponent. Lei-Fang was a master of T'ai Chi Quan. Anybody could tell that she was focused, with her stance being composed of slow movements and heavy breathing. Lei-Fang was called a "Fighting Genius". She even fought in heels.

"Ready?" the announcer said as the two young women stared each other down.

"Fight!"

Lei-Fang was the first to move. Jumping towards Xiaoyu, she spun her right leg towards her head. Taken by surprise, Xiaoyu moved out of the way only to be hit in the back of the neck.

After landing on the floor, Lei-Fang twisted around, her leg becoming a falling log crashing into Xiaoyu's stomach. With a short gasp, Xiaoyu retaliated with a firm smack to the face. Next, she kicked at her stomach. After blocking it, Lei-Fang touched her face. Her head was ringing and her eyes were watering.

Quickly, Lei-Fang spun around to kick. Xiaoyu got down into her Phoenix Stance to avoid the kick. Then, she rammed her palms into Lei-Fang's stomach. Before she could react, Xiaoyu sweep kicked her to the floor of the sandy caged arena. As she moved forward to attack, Lei-Fang grabbed her hands and dug her right heel into the other girl's stomach. Before she knew it, Xiaoyu was flying over her and hitting the ground.

The audience roared with excitement as the two women rose to their feet. Both were obviously tired, but somebody had to win. Xiaoyu ran to attack, her black pig-tailed hair waving fiercely. She kicked up diagonally across Lei-Fang's chest, sending her into the air slightly. With her back turned to Lei-Fang, Xiaoyu back handed her, then came around with another hit, concluding the combination with a rear kick that hit Lei-Fang all before she could land on the ground. This was her Dark and Stormy technique.

With a loud thud, Lei-Fang hit the ground, not bothering to get back up.

"K.O.!" yelled the announcer.

Xiaoyu bent sideways, stretching her arms and shoulders as she mumbled something in Chinese.

Elsewhere, King swung at his opponent Steve Fox. Steve was highly evasive, with quick fists. King learned to never underestimate his opponents.

Avoiding a flurry of punches, King backed away from Steve. The next punch that Steve threw was caught by King. King pulled him in and grabbed his shoulder. After swinging him around, King jumped into the air and thrusted both of his legs into Steve's back. Steve slammed into the cage of the arena, his body slowly sliding down.

King had taken a few good hits, his chest bruised. Unlike most fighters, he waited for Steve to get up before attacking. Standing up slowly, Steve had a plan. Spinning around, Steve punched at King's chest and while King blocked it, he snuck in a quick uppercut. King staggered backwards, unprepared for a follow-up attack. Without flinching, Steve punched King in the stomach three times.

With a quick movement, King grabbed hold of Steve's arm and jumped into the air, landing on his back with Steve's arm in between his legs. King held his arm in a tight lock, a lock that threatened to break it. Steve cried out in pain and shock.

"Just give up!" King told Steve. Unwilling to lose, Steve withered around without success. He was finished. "Alright, alright you win! Now let go of my arm before you break it!" Steve yelled. King released his grip and stood up in triumph.

"T.K.O.!" the announcer cried out.

King, unable to hold in his joy, began to dance around in front of the cameras. Today, he was closer to his goal. After posing for some pictures, King walked out of the ring. Suddenly, King heard a familiar voice.

"Well congratulations big guy! You just took down one of the toughest newbies!" It was Peter, come to share his happiness with his step-father. King smiled and replied "Yeah I did it. Took quite a beating myself though, my chest is killing me."

"It's nothing that you can't handle." Peter said, a smile of admiration across his face. King smiled as he threw his arm around his step-son and the two left the arena. They were heading towards the beach nearby. Miharu was about to have her first match. She was up against Hwoarang, one of the tournaments many returning fighters.

Miharu stretched her arms out as she stood in the sand. She had her hair tied back behind her head in a very small ponytail. She wore a red oriental dress top, with a pair of black, red-trimmed shorts. Her black Nike sneakers were brand new, ready to be broken in. Hwoarang stood across from her wearing an army uniform. His red fiery hair was gelled up into spikes. Miharu thought that this young man was kind of cute, though he was WAY too cocky for her tastes.

She looked around in the audience. She smiled and sighed with relief as she saw Xiaoyu, Peter, Julia, Christie, and King all giving her a thumbs up.

"Little girl, are you ready! You're going to go down with one hit!" Hwoarang yelled to her. Miharu ignored his remarks, as they would only anger her and she would lose her composure and focus.

The fight was about to begin as the announcer prepared to start the battle. Drops of sweat fell from Miharu's fair features as if slow motion had arrived upon her. Then, it began. The cry of "Fight!" had bounced throughout the air, an echo replaying over and over in Miharu's mind.

Hwoarang ran forward to Miharu. She knew that he was strong, and she also knew that he was fast. Thankfully, she was faster. Speed would be her ally in this fight, since if she wasn't; a few hits would take her out.

Miharu cart wheeled out of the way of Hwoarang's kick. From there, she leapt forward and thrusted her fists into his collar bone. Hwoarang spun around like a loose top, kicking Miharu away from him. Recovering quickly, Miharu charged at Hwoarang, grabbing him by the legs as she tackled him to the ground. Once on top of him, Miharu unleashed a flurry of punches and slaps to Hwoarang's face.

Suddenly, Hwoarang flipped over on top of Miharu and began to choke her. Miharu would not allow herself to be caught, so she grabbed hold of his wrists and used her legs to throw him over her head. Next, she ducked to the floor and spun around, sweep kicking Hwoarang. Before she knew it, Miharu was dodging long ranged kicks.

She collapsed to the ground, as if in slow motion. The crowd looked at the two in amazement. It appeared that Hwoarang's last kick had done the job. Smiling, Hwoarang turned around to the crowd, but Miharu wasn't finished. Opening her eyes, she tripped Hwoarang, kicking him with her other leg as he fell. That was it. Miharu had turned the tables. She stood up in victory as the crowd cheered her on. This was her first fight that she even won. She liked the feeling.

"She's good." Peter mumbled to King. King clapped along and replied "She's good because she's got brains and speed."

Elsewhere, Jin looked on in awe. He had begun to hide himself, only being seen in public when he had a fight. Deep down inside, he felt an evil feeling boiling within his stomach. He couldn't believe it, but he was beginning to crave the thrill of the fight…