Chapter 6
Fighting Spirit, Burning Heart
Sometime later, the two female fighters got into position for their match in front of the convenient store. Mitchel stood a good distance away, closer to the store, while a crowd started to gather on the opposite side.
"Look! A fight between two chicks is gonna start!"
"I got my money on the tall one in the red gi!"
"Mine's on the girl in the seifuku! She looks like she's got some REAL spunk!"
"Go! Go! Fighting schoolgirl!"
"Kick ass, foreigner!"
"Great… now this martial arts cat fight has a crowd? And they're making bets? I didn't think they did this kind of thing in Japan." Mitchel sighed to himself.
"Alright, Foreigner Lady! How about this? We'll just fight this out until one of us can't go on! Heck, the loser will be the first one to go unconscious if that's what'll take!" Lumina declared.
"I'll go on those terms! Looks like I'll just have to make a quick knock out, then! You're really gonna get it it now!" Karen smirked.
"Does this fight really have to go that far? At this rate, Lumina will be in no condition to spar with me after this fight." Mitchel remarked.
"Okay! But before we start the match, I feel this deserves some fighting music!" Lumina cried. "Hey, you there!"
A young girl with twin braids drooping at the sides wearing some glasses looked up.
"Uh… y-yes?" she answered back.
"Can you put on some background music for this battle! A proper battle atmosphere calls for the right kind of music, so you think you can handle it?" Lumina asked while pointing to a jukebox nearby the girl.
The nervous girl nodded vigorously.
"S-sure… I think I know just the music!" she replied.
"Then hit it!" Lumina cried.
She then took out a quarter from her skirt and flipped it cleanly at the girl with braids, who immediately caught it and placed it within the coin slot. The girl then set the jukebox to a song entitled "Kono Omoi o Tsutaetai" and hit a button to start the song. The jukebox then begun playing an upbeat keyboard tune.
With the music playing loud and clear, the two opponents got into their fighting stances and looked at each other with anticipation of beating the crap out of each other.
"You've gone too far with the insults, kid. And know you're gonna have to learn from the School of Hard Knocks! I'm hope youre satisfied!" Karen threatened.
"I will not loose! I've gone to great lengths to emulate the art of the greatest fighter in the world! It may not be perfect yet, but it should be enough to stand up to the likes of you! Now prepare!" Lumina countered.
The fighting schoolgirl then brought her hands back and started channeling her chi between them.
"This is the first technique I've gained in my self-training! You will soon feel my power" she declared.
Despite the successful gathering of chi in Lumina's hands, Karen smirked in amusement.
"Oh, this rich! Another poser trying to use the Hadouken of all things! I bet hers will probably be less than have the strength of that loser Dan's "Gadouken"! Amusing little fangirl." Karen thought.
In an instant, Lumina felt her chi fully charged and tangible, then she thrust out in front of her.
"HADOUKEN!"
In the flame's first few feet of travel, Karen remained unfazed. However, it did not dissipate easily and retained its size. The cocky blonde dodged just in the knick of time to avoid damage.
"But that… can't be! How did she learn the "Hadouken" by merely witnessing it? She can't be normal! But this is insane!" Karen thought with panicked eyes.
The authentic Ansatsuken disciple recovered quickly and prepared to counter with the same maneuver.
"Nice one, girl! But let me show you how it's really done!" Karen cried.
"HADOUKEN!"
The stronger surge was sent right at Lumina at an even faster pace, but the schoolgirl felt it come and flipped over it cleanly. Karen tried to close the distance and continue the offensive, but Lumina leapt up once more with her leg stretched out.
"SHINPYUKYAKU!"
Lumina performed an attack move that appeared similar to a Triple Lutz, using the first two to propel herself in the air and the last spin to strike her opponent hard to the side.
Karen immediately returned the favor with a fearsome roundhouse kick to Lumina's face, then made a full rotation into a crouching position with a burning fist at her side.
"SHORYUKEN!"
The woman in red gi performed a spectacular rising punch of flame, but Lumina quickly leapt back in time to avoid the blow. A little after Karen's decent, Lumina rushed in for an offensive assault.
"SHOUKEN!!!"
The younger fighter sent a brutal ramming fist straight into Karen's gut, then leapt up and ricochet it into Karen's face. Despite the hard blow, both fighters managed to land on both feet.
"What's that? You couldn't get the harder moves right, so you decided to improvise?" Karen mocked.
"As a novice, I realize I still have much to learn. But I am certain that once I reach out to Mitchel-sama, he will give me the teachings necessary for perfection! And for this reason, I will not give in!" Lumina proclaimed.
"Keep on dreaming, kid. You ain't getting past me!" Karen sneered.
The two fighters met each other once again in earnest. They then proceeded to punch each other in the face, hook each other in the stomach, then lock their legs together in eerie symmetry. Karen then slid back and brought her knee forward, then shot out her leg in swift force. Lumina ducked to the side and moved towards her opponent in a rotation with her leg outstretched close to the ground. She then swept Karen with the first complete rotation, then continued to "juggle" Karen with a whirlwind of sweeping
kicks until she finally rose up with a fearsome cry and kick that knocked back Karen a good distance back.
Some of the crowd cheered because to the split-second panty exposure due to leg lift, while Mitchell groaned in disgust.
Karen wiped her nose in frustration as she slowly regained her footing.
"What the hell was that? It wasn't exactly the Tatsumaki Senpyukaku either, but it was significantly more powerful. This Lumina girl's really working to kick my butt, huh? Well, too bad I don't give in easily, either!" she thought to herself.
Karen picked herself up with a vengeance and got into her fighting stance. She then lifted an index finger and motioned it to urge her opponent to approach.
Lumina was more then happy to oblige as she ran head long towards her foe, however, she was cut off with a quick jab to her face. Karen then crouched down with a devious grin and followed up with a weak rising punch with little lift, followed by a second rising punch with greater strength and lift, and then…
"SHORYU REPPA!"
Her assault finished with her signature Shroyuken, only with far greater force and lift than ever before.
Poor Lumina crashed to the ground while Karen landed gracefully with both feet, and made a "V" shape with her left hand.
"Whoah! Looks like Karen has really been working with the Shoryuken in our time apart! She even developed a smooth Shoryuken combo along with unleashing that flaming fist of hers! But… did she really have to go that hard on the poor girl?" Mitchel thought after witnessing the last attack.
The weakened Lumina appeared to be in shambles, but she gradually and forcefully started to pick herself up.
"NO! I will not give up! This is not where it will end!" Lumina thought as she struggled get up. "Mitchel-sama is watching… and I've worked too hard to throw everything away!"
Eventually, courageous Lumina staggered to her feet and stared at Karen's back defiantly.
"THIS FIGHT ISN'T OVER YET!" Lumina shouted.
Karen was quickly plucked out of her moment of grandeur and turned to see Lumina with confusion on her face.
"What? You're still awake?" Karen scoffed. "Quite the stubborn fangirl, aren't you?"
"Enough! We do this until there's a decisive victory!" Lumina cried. "Now come!"
Upon hearing this, Karen let out a maniacal laugh.
"I can tell you this, girl: You've got guts. But having been so stubborn, you realize that I'm going to have to put you down real hard. And you have no regrets about this?" Karen said aloud.
Lumina shook her head. "The only worthwhile fight to me is a real one! Win or loose, I won't be satisfied any other way!" she proclaimed.
"Well spoken. Then I'm assuming you won't mind a trip to the hospital!" Karen remarked before rushing in.
"I WON'T GIVE IN!!!" Lumina cried before she did the same.
Both combatants then made their loudest battle cry as they met each other once more with brute force.
The crowd roared with the heated battle, while Mitchel reacted with a sigh.
"This isn't going to end well…" he thought uneasily.
---
After what seemed like forever, the conflicting fighters were sprawling on the floor with little energy left.
"I won't… loose… to some fangirl!" Karen coughed.
"Must prove myself worthy… for Mithcel-sama!" Lumina grunted.
The bystander in white stared at the heavily bruised pair in disbelief.
"Why the hell did you two have be THAT stubborn over a match this stupid?" he thought with a groaned.
Both young ladies attempted to use their elbows as leverage for picking themselves up, but they merely trembled in their paralyzed states.
"Say, young man! Do you think we should call an ambulance or something? Those girls really roughed themselves up!" a guy in the crowd shouted.
"No worries! These ladies are true fighters! I'm sure they'll be in good shape after a good rest!" Mitchel cried.
The two ladies resorted to crawling towards each other to resume the fight. Again, they brought their arms up and got into position for what looked like an arm wrestling match. However, after making merely a few inches distance, both fighters passed out simultaneously.
"Er… forget what I said earler! Call that ambulance immediately!" Mitchel shouted.
A few hours later, Lumina was resting comfortably in a hospital bed wrapped in a bandages. For awhile, she was in deep thought after hearing that both she and Karen fell at the same time, which caused the battle to result in a tie.
"A draw… all that trouble I went through, and the battle ended in a draw. Some part of me tells me I should be proud of how I fared, but it still means that there was no certain winner… and I'm not even sure how Mitchel-sama will accept the results. I really want to learn from him and better my self… I want to be a worthy student… I can't let my journey end with nothing gained... Mitchel-sama…"
Suddenly, a visitor came in with a bouquet of Blue Trick flowers in hand.
"I'm sorry… I should've figured you'd get banged up this badly. Karen was pretty pissed after the way you insulted her, after all." A familiar voice groaned.
"Mitchel-sama!" Lumina cried.
She quickly sat upright to get a good view of the one she idolized with sparkles in her eyes.
Mitchel nodded.
"I've got to admit, though, you handled yourself really well there. Do you realized you've just fought my old sparring partner to a draw, just after she got here winning the United States Tournament? She's probably going to remind me for days on end how angry she is about "that Japanese girl who showed up out of the blue." You should be proud of yourself. I've fought Karen plenty of times, and she never failed to give me a struggle." He confessed.
"Really? Does that mean that foreigner is your rival?" Lumina asked with a curious look in her eyes.
"Yeah, I was actually trying to tell you that earlier, but you got all obsessive over me too much to care." Mitchel said while rubbing his head. "Yup. You just went one-on-one with one my lifelong rivals, and now you're a rival of her's as well."
The aspiring fighter allowed Mitchel's praise some time to really sink it.
"So… I've impressed you? Am I worthy enough?" Lumina asked hopefully.
"With what I saw earlier, I think you could even give me a good fight in a match. I say you've definitely earned the grade!" Mitchel assured her.
With those words echoing in her mind, Lumina proceeded to return the favor with an affectionate hug.
"Mitchel-sama!" she cried with joy.
"Y-you're welcome…" Mitchel replied in an awkward tone.
"So, does this mean you'll teach me then?" Lumina asked. "I promse, as soon as the doctor gives the world, I'll be up and ready to be your student! And no holding back, because I want the full regiment!"
"Uh… about that." The world warrior began.
Lumina's sudden hope looked dashed along with her uneasy expression.
"Is… there still a problem? Are you that concerned about my health?" she asked.
"No… the thing is, I'm still learning the ways of a fighter, myself. Even after conquering the World Warrior Tournament, it has only been my first time. Who knows if I'll be able to hold on to my title as long as Bob did? And besides… there may very well be stronger fighters out there who do not allow their pride to let their presences known, and I have to seek them out to understand my true strength. I'm still a student much like you are, Lumina. I'm sorry I lack the readiness to take you on as my pupil." He explained regretfully.
The disappointed schoolgirl let out a big sigh.
"I guess… I got impatient, didn't I? It's a bad habit of mine… Grandma always said so." Lumina answered in a saddened tone.
"But I guess I should thank you, too. You showed boundless courage in the face of a fighter far more experience than you and put her to the test. I guess you gave me inspiration back then." Mitchel said with a humbled chuckle.
"But… you defeated Bob, "the Tiger Emperor"! How could you even compare your own victory with my battle?" Lumina asked.
"You just started out and learned what you could by yourself, right? I have to admit… what you just did is pretty badass for a beginner!" Mitchel assured her.
At that moment, the girl felt her body warm and her heart skip a beat.
"Mitchel-sama… I… I really didn't know you saw it all that way…" she uttered.
"Well, now you do." Mitchel grinned. "What you've just been through is certainly a memorable experience for a girl like you. I ask that you cherish these moments and keep all the lessons you've learned on your journey. And be patient… when I find that defining moment that tells me I'm ready for a student, I'll immediacy look to you. So keep yourself in good shape for that day. Do what you can to keep your dreams alive, okay?"
Lumina nodded. "Yes, sir!"
"Good." Mitchel answered back. "And don't worry about the Hospital bill. My buddy Karen took care of it. She's a rich American, you know? And we'll keep this on the down low in case your Grandma goes snooping around for your condition. I think the beating you went through is punishment enough."
"…Thank you, Mitchel-sama…" Lumina uttered in deep gratitude as her consciousness began to slip once more.
Mitchel nodded to her once more with a gentle smile before the patient's eyelids were completely shut. He then placed his bouquet neatly on a nearby table before he left the room.
"That's right… in the near future, Karen and I may well be fighting an opponent of unimaginable strength… one that I might not be able to handle as well as I did like with Bob. If all of his advantages prove to be overwhelming, I'll just have to remember what Lumina showed me. I have to be resilient… I have to be persistent… I have to remember what TRUE strength is…" he thought to himself. "Lumina… you may not have won that battle in the end, but you've taught me something important. And for that, I am truly grateful for our encounter…"
Right outside in the hallway, he saw Karen waiting patiently for him with bandages of her own.
"And on the other hand, I see the adult makes a miraculous recovery." Mitchel quipped.
"Hell yeah! I'm not going to let a fight like that keep me from continuing my quest! We're off to avenge Shishou, and not even one of your fan girls is gonna stop me! And I'm sure you feel the same!" Karen cried.
"Master Woody is right. You'll recover from anything as long as you know there's another butt to kick." He sighed.
"Damn straight!" Karen shouted. "So then, what are we waiting for! Like you said, we have a really big butt to kick, and we might as well meet up with it while we're still young!"
"Yeah, yeah... we're going." Mitchel groaned.
The martial artist in white then spied a white bag at Karen's side and hefted it up on his right shoulder. After that, both fighters began their leave from the hospital.
"I'll admit… I was surprised to hear you offer to pay for the girl's expenses, too. I figured you'd be too pissed to let her off the hook and let her "suffer for her unfortunate status" or something like that." Mitchel said.
"Well, first off… I'm not so big a snob as to let her family deal with the bill. And second… as much as I hate to admit it, she kinda reminds me of myself when I was younger." Karen confessed. "But I certainly wasn't some gushy fan girl that went gaga over the most impressive guy I saw!"
"Oh… really? What about that one guy that came over to the dojo that one time? I believe his name was Kai…" Mitchel remarked.
"H-hey! I wasn't obsessed with him or anything like that!" Karen panicked with a red face.
"I'm pretty sure you begged Master Woody to make him a fellow apprentice. I even remembered you threatening him with a match for rejecting the proposal, and you had your ass handed to you big time! It was a good thing generous old Kai was kind enough to cook for you until you recovered, eh?" Mitchel teased.
"Alright! Alright! I get it already! You don't need to turn it into a romance novel! Yeesh!" Karen complained.
And so, the finicky pair vacated the hospital with yet another memorable experience under their belt. However, their time of destiny is fast approaching….