Chapter 4: The Grand Opening

Chinatown, Sydney, Australia

The wrestlers, King and Craig Marduk, arrived in Sydney early Saturday evening. Ganryu would make his grand opening near the Chinatown district at 8PM. Katsuhiro's men set up a vacant room at a penthouse near Chinatown, so the wrestlers could chill and change into their wardrobes. King had to change his mask into a more traditional luchadore mask, while Craig just wore a regular ski mask. Both men wore long sleeved clothing, covering their bulky frames. It was time to begin the raid on Chanko Paradise.

There was a big crowd getting ready to enter the grand opening of Ganryu's restaurant. Before the doors would open, Ganryu wanted to make a speech in front of his guests and supporters. However, this would act as the perfect cover for Shibata LP's men to take their positions inside.

Ganryu: "Ladies and gentleman, before we open the doors, I just want to take the time to say thank you for allowing me to open my first Australian location. My restaurant first started in Hawaii over 2 years ago and for my business to expand this fast is truly a dream come true. Let me name the following people who made this all possible…"

Meanwhile back in the storage room, King and Craig had rounded up some cooks and tied their hands & feet together. King looked at his watch to see how many minutes were left before the raid started.

King: "We got 10 more minutes. I hate to mess up this place. Some of the food smells really good."

Craig: "Yeah, but we'll get paid twice the amount of money for a wrestling match. Besides sumo wrestling sucks."

King: "You don't have to rub it in Craig."

Ten minutes passed and Ganryu finally has everyone seated. Everything was normal until sounds of dishes smashing the floor could be heard. The sounds of equipment being smashed were now growing louder. Finally soldiers wearing black camouflage gear surrounded the balcony and columns along the sides drawing out their guns at the crowd. At the front door, Katsuhiro walks in with two soldiers behind him. Ganryu stands in his Japanese suit at the back of the dining hall shocked at seeing Katsuhiro.

Katsuhiro: "Mr. Ganryu! Remember me? It's been a while since we last met. Do you know why we are here?"

Ganryu: "Oh shit! The loan! Look if you can give me one more month, I promise I will have the cash to pay it all back!"

Katsuhiro: "I'm sorry. You had six months of leeway. If you weren't so greedy to open up multiple restaurants, we wouldn't be here right now would we!"

Ganryu: "Don't kill these innocent people please!"

Katsuhiro: "Everyone leave this place now! Ganryu you stay!"

The crowd scrambles out the doors. Even some soldiers knocked over tables and pushed people around to get them scared. Back in the kitchen, King and Craig continued to break all of the equipment. Then a flying plate hits King on the side of his head. He looks at Craig, thinking he did it.

King: "Craig, dude, watch where you're throwing that plate!"

Craig: "Huh? I didn't throw a plate. I have a sledge hammer on my hands."

King: "Hold up! If you didn't throw it, then who did?"

Another plate hits King's head. He turns around to the back door and sees a huge round man, wearing a motorbike helmet with heavy leather bright yellow clothing on white stripes. This man makes his introduction to the wrestlers.

Masked man: "Stop what you're doing before you feel the might of Speed and….Weight!" (Poses)

The wrestlers look at each other in confusion.

King: "Is this a joke or something?"

Craig (laughs): "Gotta be I mean, who the fuck dresses like that?"

Speed & Weight: "No one makes fun of my fashion sense! Keeyaaaah!"

Speed & Weight flips over tables, jumping over King's head and the vigilante kicks Craig dead in his chest. Then he rolls really fast back to King and hits King in the chin with a flying uppercut. King crashes on table and Marduk gets up from hitting the sinks. Craig gets furious and attempts to tackle Speed & Weight.

Craig: "Why you! Rrrrrraaaawwwwrrrrr!"

Speed & Weight anticipates the charging Craig and rolls once more. He flips over Craig and hits him with his ass. Craig loses balance and collides with King who gets up from the wrecked aluminum table.

Speed & Weight (Not impressed.): "Hmph. They weren't much competition."

Bullets could be heard from the kitchen. Katsuhiro's men tried to shoot Ganryu. The sumo ran away all the way to the back of the bar area. The soldiers stopped firing. Suddenly a rolling yellow ball entered the scene. It was Speed & Weight once again, standing in the middle of the way between Katsuhiro and Ganryu, who has still hiding.

Katsuhiro: "What's the meaning of this? Who the hell are you?"

Speed & Weight: "Like I told those two muscle heads back in the kitchen. I am the only and only…Speed & Weight, the defender of justice and the eradicator of violence!"

Some soldiers and Katsuhiro began laughing at this overweight wannabe super hero. Ganryu couldn't help but notice that Speed & Weight had returned in his defense. From the kitchen, the door is kicked apart by a raging Craig with King coming from behind.

Craig: "Get back here you! No one embarrasses Craig Marduk and gets away with it!"

This slight distraction allows Speed & Weight to flip and get close to Ganryu.

Speed & Weight (To Ganryu.): "Glad I made it here just in time. C'mon Mr. Sumo!"

Ganryu: "Oh you saved my life. I'm right behind you!"

Katsuhiro: "They're running! Don't let them escape! Shoot! Shoot!"

Speed & Weight, not even looking, tosses some firecrackers behind him and Ganryu. They land on the floor exploding a very bright light, blinding most of the people in the dining hall. Some of the soldiers started firing their guns, but when the light disappears, the two men were gone. Katsuhiro was perplexed by the fact that two fat men could escape so fast.

Katsuhiro: "Dammit! Now they're gone! Search all of Chinatown! They couldn't have gotten far!"

Craig: "Aaaaaaahhhh! You guys are some pussies! Don't you know to shoot?"

Craig randomly punches and tosses some of soldiers around in a fit of rage. He got embarrassed by this masked hero. King had to restrain him and Katsuhiro needed to get him calm.

King: "Knock it off Craig! You're taking it out on the wrong guys!"

Katsuhiro: "Listen to your friend Marduk! We can still burn this place down! Ganryu would be a fool to rebuild his business here in Sydney."

Craig (Knocks off King): "Got dammit! I'll find those bastards! They won't get away from me!"

King (to Katsuhiro): "I'll follow him."

Katsuhiro motions more of his soldiers to begin preparations to burn down the restaurant. King and Craig looked high and low in Chinatown, but no sign of those fatties. Before returning to the penthouse, King asked Craig if noticed anything familiar in the masked man's fighting style.

King: "Craig, I don't know about you, but didn't you sense something about that guys fighting style?"

Craig: "No, other than the fact that he moves fast as fuck for a fatty."

King: "Not just that. In the last tournament, I heard rumors about this overweight practitioner of karate, but he mixed it with parkour and acrobatics. He overwhelmed his opponents with evasions and quick footwork combined with raw strength. I'm wondering if that was the same guy."

Craig: "I don't know man, but whoever he is. He will get the pounding of his life by me!"

Back in Phoenix

Julia arranged for Tiger to meet her and Christie back at the warehouse. The funny thing was, Tiger had already arrived in his Cadillac Deville. By the time Julia arrived with Christie inside her jeep, they noticed Tiger talking with Michelle near the front doors.

Julia: "Wow so Tiger is here already? That was fast. Well come on Christie."

Tiger (sees the girls): "Aye Julia! How you doing girl!"

Julia: "I'm doing great! I know why you're here though. Tiger this is Christie Monteiro."

Tiger (Observes Christie): "It's so good to finally to meet you in person Christie." (Kneels down and kissed her hand.)

Christie (giggling): "Nice to meet you as well Mr. Tiger!"

Michelle: "Come on in guys. I cooked breakfast, so let's eat."

The group dined inside the warehouse. They continued carrying conversation until Armor King motioned Julia to come upstairs. Inside the office, Armor King informs her that it was time to take another test.

Julia (depressed): "Again?"

Armor King: "This is the last one. After you're finished you can begin physical training. Now go tell your friends that they must leave."

Julia: "Why?"

Armor King: "They're former Tekken fighters right? We can't let them know of our training regime. I don't know about disco boy, but that girl has a keen eye for martial arts. She would find a way to expose the lucha libre style."

Julia: "Alright. I guess I will trust Tiger to look after Christie. It's her first time in America. But Armor King, do think there will be another tournament?"

Armor King: "I have no doubt in my mind there will be."

Julia went on downstairs to tell the others they have to go. Tiger wanted Christie to come with him. He offered to take Christie to whatever places she wanted to visit in the USA. Christie smiled and accepted Tiger's idea. She hugs the Changs and tells them how much she appreciated their hospitality. Christie even waves at Armor King who was looking from upstairs at the window. He felt awkward, but he did wave back. Armor King had watched the news last night when he visited a bar. They talked about the monster that attacked Tokyo the other day. He wondered when the Mishimas would make their move and announce a tournament. They had to be involved he just knew it.

Notes: Next time, King and Craig travel to Monaco in order to Kidnap Lili Rochefort who placed a stock on Ganryu's new food franchise.