[ S t r e e t F i g h t e r A l p h a 3 ( P a r t 3) ]
[Sumo Wrestler's Area, Japan]
"Hrryaaaaaah!!" E. Honda collided with his opponent, knocking him straight down to the ground. A group of men surrounded the two sumo wrestlers that were fighting. Beside the fighting area were sitting a number of more sumo wrestlers, training together.
"This is awesome, he busted seven sumo wrestlers in a row!" a man yelled out loudly. "Edmond Honda is amazing!"
A trail away, Ryu, in his new standard karate gi, walked down the path on bare feet. His feet were so hard and burnt from walking on the road that he might need another break. But this would not slow him down: he was just about to pass a place where he heard the sound of grunting, roaring, and thumping. He had definitely reached a fighter's area. He looked around and saw only a band of sumo wrestlers… there were no other style fighting.
"That's all?" he asked himself slowly.
"What do you mean, 'that's all?'" a sumo wrestler sitting behind him said. "Do you think we're not tough, little traveler?"
"Sorry, sumo wrestlers never really intrigued me that much—"
"Aha! A disbeliever!" the wrestler said, getting up. "Well, we've had a lot like you dissimilar fighters talking that way about sumo wrestling. Sumo wrestling is the toughest fighting style in this weak world! And whoever said that had to take back their word."
"I never really said I dislike the style, I just never interested in the fighters," Ryu responded politely.
"Well then, you're not being forced, but you better give a shot at our boss," the wrestler said.
"Boss?" Ryu asked.
"Edmond Honda. He's the toughest sumo wrestler known."
"Edmond Honda?" Ryu said. "Is he a street fighter?"
"Of course he is! He's the guy that travels all over Japan and starts fights in the middle of the roads to impress people and convince them that sumo wrestling is great. He's the only man that's trying to make sumo wrestling famous by traveling."
"I see," Ryu said. "I never heard of him, but we'll have to see."
The sumo wrestler pointed to the circle of men, who were obviously surrounding a fight. Ryu walked over and squeezed in, revealing to his eyes two sumo wrestlers fighting and punching, thrusting, and bashing. In the end, a wrestler with short hair and red marks across his face flew over to the other wrestler and bashed him hard with his head. He was definitely an expert. This must be Honda.
The sumo wrestler fell, and Honda stood up, revealing his true size. The men clapped their hands loudly.
"Any other of you got the wits out there?" Honda said boastfully.
Ryu raised his hand. "Me."
"Hmmmm!" Honda said. "A dissimilar fighter! So, another one that I gotta teach a lesson to. When will you karate guys learn? Sumo Wrestling is unbeatable."
"Ryu, of Ansatsuken," Ryu said calmly, entering the circle of combat.
And then, it happened. People all over gasped, and Honda took a closer look at him, finally revealing more interest and some fear.
"It is the Ryu?" Honda said. "The champion of the Street Fighter World Tournament? Oh why did I not realize you, your photos are all over the martial artist fans."
Ryu nodded. "You are strong, Edmond Honda. Please let us begin our fight."
"Hehe, I can't believe I'm already fighting the champion!" Honda said. People stared in awe as the two fighters made their stances. Honda bent his knees and rested on his legs again. Ryu had a left-side-first stance with his hands tightly open. He fixed his headscarf, and tightened his gloves.
"Perhaps, by defeating you, I can bring good fame to the style of sumo wrestling, and more people will join us," Honda said wonderingly. They approached each other slowly, still in their stances, with their toe-fingers making them crawl towards each other. And suddenly—
"HYAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" The launched at each other.
…
[New York, USA]
Karin walked back and forth across the deserted, roofed parking lot, holding on to her car. She was very anxious.
"Two hours of waiting and he's still not here."
She sat down inside her car, and was about to turn it on when she decided to wait a bit longer. She rested back in her seat and thought about her one and only rival—Sakura. Sakura, the only girl that was able to defeat her. It had been just two months ago when Karin had finally gone to Japan with Ken, her good friend who sometimes would spar with her, and through learning some Japanese, was able to communicate with Sakura. And Sakura was also a fan of street fighting. She had made a mistake by betting Sakura that Ryu, the man who was Ken's rival, would lose against Sagat in the World Tournament. But she was wrong, and lost her bet. At that time, in her anger, Karin had to challenge Sakura to a match, to determine who's better. But Sakura had mimicked so much of Ryu's moves that she was almost like her successor. And she beat him. The only girl ever to beat me!, she thought. In all my school years I never lost a match because Ken taught me so much. But Ken always went so easy on me. Is it as if Ryu and Ken's old rivalry the same as Sakura and my rivalry? But does that mean that Ryu is better than Ken? Wait, no, that's not possible. Ken is so strong I once saw fire in his fist… what was that anyway? But no… Ryu is much more powerful too… he won the tournament, you idiot! Don't underestimate Ryu… I only regret that I lost to that Sakura. Why did I lose my bet and lose to her at the same time?
While being in such a big conflict with her mind, Karin didn't notice the red car that parked beside her. A man wearing a rich uniform and blue sunglasses hopped out and realized that Karin was looking at the blank top of her car. She must be thinking. He went over to her and poked her, and she swung her head around until finally she realized Ken standing there. Opening her door, she came out and gasped sadly.
"You scared the hell outta me," she said.
"What did you call me here for?" Ken asked. "This place is so dirty and deserted and… dirty."
"Of course it is, it's a damn parking lot!" she replied. "Why the hell did you take so long you idiot!"
Although Karin meant to hit him hard on the head, his head didn't move at all.
"Was that a playful bonk?" he asked.
Karin grew angrier. "Damn you! This is exactly why I called you here! I want to fight you, now! And this is no sparring. This is an actual fight!"
Ken looked at her for a while, then walked around for a bit, then circled her. He seemed to be observing her. Then he checked out her fist, her wrist, and her hair. Then he walked a distance away, and laughed with all his might. His laughter grew to a cackle that filled the entire parking lot, and he fell to the ground with a giant tHuD.
"What—THE HELL?!?!" Karin shouted. "You ass! Why the hell are you laughing?! WHAT?!"
Ken laughed for another minute so strongly that Karin couldn't yell anymore, and decided to wait instead. Her sarcasm slowed down his laughter and he finally stopped, realizing that he was overreacting, and jumped back up.
"The problem is, Karin," Ken said, "First of all, you are a girl. Not that I think you're weak, because I've had some tough matches with girls before. I mean there's some good fighters out there. The second problem is, you're an average American girl. Which means you care more about your damn looks than your fighting ability. I mean look at your hair!... wait a minute, this has nothing to do with Sakura, does it?"
"I already forgot about Sakura, it happened like two months—"
"—Karin."
Ken's seriousness had to stop her from lying. So she sighed, and looked back up. "Okay fine. Sakura is the only girl that's ever beaten me. I was always more fond of fighting rather than looking good."
"Well, Sakura's been practicing, and of course she's a fanatic, not a fan, like you."
"Are you a fanatic?"
"Err.. no."
"Why not? Then how can you get so good in fighting?"
"Well….," Ken couldn't think of a good lie, so he just threw some of the truth. "I never cared about the stupid discipline fighting when I was about your age, because in my day I used to jump people when I wanted a fight. But my dad sent me to Japan and I learned some more about fighting. Truthfully, with discipline you become stronger. But you don't take any special fighting class so you can't really become as strong as Sakura."
"So Sakura has a karate dojo or something?" Karin asked.
"Nah," Ken said. "let's just get through this. Come on, let's fight."
They stared at each other for a while, and then—
"HYAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" The launched at each other.
[Osaka, Japan]
"Concentrate, loooose your soul!" Dan shouted out loud to Sakura, who was having trouble meditating. Finally she gave up. "Why would I wanna lose my soul anyway, I'm not ready to die yet. I just wanna fight."
Bored, Sakura got up and hanged onto the window of the wooden house and stared out at the narrow, old-fashioned street.
"I have mistaken you, apprentice, you are but a disappointing pupil," Dan said.
What DOES he mean by pupil?, Sakura wondered to herself. For a while, Dan had been calling her a pupil.
"Yo, I'm going out for a while. Gotta get some air."
She walked out. Within five minutes, she flew back in and slammed the door against the wall forcefully.
"What is the rush, pupil?" Dan said, irritated.
"Can you give me some money?" Sakura said enthusiastically.
"Have all the money you want, but first tell me what for."
"Ahhh… damnit. I just heard some guys on the television showing a live fight! Sumo Wrestling! Ryu fighting with a Sumo Wrestler!"
"Ahhh," Dan said. "Ryu… Ryu… familiar… familiar… money…. Hm… money… sumo… what was that…. Sumo… wrestling…?"
Sakura grew instantly bored, and waited until Dan finished.
"All right!" Dan said, standing up. "I am finally proud at you for the first time!"
"Eh? What's the reason to be proud of?" Sakura asked.
"Well… um… yeah… whatever," he bluffed. "Come, let's take a walk."
Walking out the streets, Dan kept repeating same things over and over, or so it seemed to Sakura. He was repeating the entire history of Martial Arts and what Ryu is and a great fighter he is. He said such basic things that even a kid would know it. But Sakura listened, in patience, because it was Dan's money. If Dan got angry at her, she might not get the money. Finally, at last, when they reached a park that was miles away, Dan stopped. "ooo… Evening time! All right, Pupil, I will let you go to find Ryu once again. But… what do you want with him now?"
"Perhaps I can fight with him some more," Sakura said.
"Won't the fight be over when you get there?" Dan asked.
"I don't care, I'll just ask the wrestlers where he went," Sakura said, making a pose. "I'll chase him all over the world if it takes me to."
"Okay, now a few wise advices from your sensei: Blah blah blah, blah blah blah!"
"Right…," Sakura began to walk away, but Dan stopped her once again.
"Halt! First, you mist achieve this opportunity by defeating me first!" he yelled. Sakura stopped, paused for a while, and then turned around enthusiastically. For a while, they just smirked, and then—
"HYAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" The launched at each other.
[Sumo Wrestler's Area, Japan]
Ryu once again slid past Honda to dodge another one of his quick punches. Again, Honda thrust his fist again, and Ryu had to vault above him, following with a full-weighted punch—setting him straight to the ground.
"You are skilled, Edmond, but you act before you think," Ryu said, hopping back.
"Ughhh," Honda got back up. He is much different than any other foreign fighters I ever fought! But why?
"I still have some more in me," Honda said hastily, as he crouched very low to the ground and charged up a move that Ryu did not know of. The crowd around them seemed to be expanding, so there wasn't much room for them to fight. Honda ordered them to loosen up the battling area a bit, and the area loosened. Ryu waited for Honda's attack, and so it came:
The mighty sumo wrestler used all his power to surpass his body weight, in order to swoop straight at his opponent. He was so quick that Ryu was too slow to react, and was knocked with such force that if he didn't pluck his feet into the ground he would have been shot out of the battling area, thus losing.
That move!, Ryu thought as he breathed intensely. What a move! How?...
"Interesting," Honda said. "Everyone who I used this on has never been able to stop himself from falling out of the area."
Ryu slowly pulled his legs out of the hard-sand ground and relaxed his muscles. "I must be more careful now." Once again, Honda crouched down to the ground and prepared for his move.
"Not this time!" Ryu shouted, as he dashed at him, trying to prevent him from using the technique once again. But it was too late: this time Honda set off faster than before. Once again, Honda came flying at him head-first. Ryu, having to act fast, packed a punch into the middle of his head, but the force that Honda was coming at didn't stop him at all. Plus his body weight was superior compared to the force of Ryu's punch. Honda proceeded to bashing Ryu into the chest. This time, it hurt worse, but Ryu was able to halt in the middle of the air, and fight his force into his foot—shooting himself to Honda. Surprised, Honda was caught in ribs.
Ryu proceeded to setting various combos to Honda, but the powerful sumo wrestler was able to counter with sucb quick punches that Ryu had to withdraw a distance away. Wait a minute!, he thought. I got it….
Honda rested his body very quickly. Indeed the man had great stamina, as Ryu realized. Once again, Honda crouched down to use his move once again. Ryu waited, and prepared for his counter that definitely had to work.
Within a few seconds, Honda shot towards his opponent, but this time much slower. It seemed that he was getting tired. With this much time, it was very easy for Ryu to execute energy into his hands, and even charge it for a while. Unable to stop, Honda was forced to be shot head-first with the fireball. Within an instant, the fireball turned red, and Honda felt the feeling of his entire body burning for a second, then total relief, and then falling to the ground.
It seemed that the two fighters had made a well-experienced battle, for the first time Honda had to admit that he had used all of his Sumo wrestling abilities and was unable to defeat a foreign fighter. But he would continue to fight. However, Honda wondered about the strange fireball that Ryu had executed…
"Ryu," Honda called him, as they both sat together in a Sumo-wrestling gathering.
"Edmond?"
"I have never seen a fireball turn red before, except one time before you, when I was fighting… this person," he said. "You are not an ordinary fighter, are you? No wonder you won the tournament. I should have taken you more seriously, but I was too confident on my sumo wrestling abilities."
"I see," Ryu said.
"How?" Honda asked. It seemed to Ryu very obvious what Honda was asking.
"Even I don't know how, it just happens," Ryu said. "It is the existence… is all I know of… I use it. And that's all I know. If flame is your soul, then flame is your energy."
"Difficult," Honda said thoughtfully. "Yet interesting. I have fought one person before you, who was able to execute such a fireball… except that guy surpassed even your abilities when I fought him. Do you want to be a stronger fighter, Ryu?"
"My dream," Ryu said. "Is to become the best Street Fighter… and to …"
"And?"
"Nevermind." Ryu couldn't tell him about Gouki.
"Well, that man lives in India," Honda said. "His name… is… Dhalsim."
"……" Ryu didn't know what to say.
"He is… the master," Honda said. "Invincible. You should go see him. He might teach you to strengthen that fireball.."
"I don't need training," Ryu said, getting up as he picked his bag and hung it on his shoulder. "I fight the way I am."
"But if it is your dream as a warrior, it is the dream of a warrior," Honda said, "and the dream of a warrior should be accomplished using any trick, any move, any type of training, any risk, at any cost. That is the chance that you have to take… if you were totally mind-set on this dream, you would definitely go to see Dhalsim."
Ryu hesitated to speak for a moment, and thought. "I have thought of going to other countries to find better fighters. Okay. I'll give it a shot. India, huh?"
"He lives in a northern village of India, near the Ganges river…," Honda said. "You'll see. When you get there, everyone knows of who he is, and where he lives. He is very secret to his mastery, so ask him as a warrior, not a begger. Challenge him. Fight him. Show him your techniques. And he will show you his."
"I see," Ryu said, turning to his next goal. "See you then, Japanese fighter."
"No problem, Japanese fighters are like brothers, we stick together!" Honda said. "Good luck."
[New York, USA]
In a matter of minutes, Karin flew across the parking lot and smashed into wall. Ken sprinted towards her and caught her, and shook her almost violently.
"Yo, you all right? Did I hit too hard?"
"Get away already!" Karin said, forcing him to let go. She was unable to stand up in her condition, though. Her knees were half bent, hair tangled up, bleeding from the mouth, and her right arm hanging down faintly.
"I overestimate too much, sorry," Ken said. "Well, better get going. You're troublesome, ruined my new coat and broke my sunglasses. Pretty good for a little kid though."
"Don't underestimate me neither, you Ken Masters!" Karin shouted. "Hey! Where are you going?"
"I'm going back home, then I have a date with Eliza, and then next week I'm going to India," Ken shouted back, as he walked to his car. Karin followed him.
"India? What for?" she asked.
"Training, I guess, and I haven't been to India before," Ken said, smirking coolly. "Want to see if there are any street fighters there."
"I thought you didn't like training," Karin said.
"I don't, I'm not the type that would train to get stronger because I can kick anyone's ass," Ken said. "I just can't beat this one guy!!"
"Ryu, perhaps?" Karin teased.
"Don't say the evil name," Ken said, gritting his teeth. "I've heard of a master monk there, perhaps he can teach me something about powering up fireballs."
"Huh?"
When they reached their cars, Karin thought for a minute. And then proceeded to saying: "Hey… I have free time as well. So, can I come to India with you?"
"No," Ken said. "Too dangerous. Plus having to carry around a kid like you would be troubling."
"No, no, maybe I can train too!" Karin said. "Plus I can fight you more."
"In the condition you're in? I don't think so."
"I can! I'll heal! PLEEEEAASE!"
Ken looked at her with a sneer, and a half annoyed look. Karin continued pleading. "PLEAASEE PLEASE PLEEEEEEEAASE PLEASE PLEEEASE PLEAAASE PLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEE—"
"OKAY OKAY!" Ken shouted to make her stop. "Just shut up and I'll take you. First you need permission from your parents or something though. Going to a different country ain't normal business."
"'kay fine."
[Sumo Wrestler's Area, Japan]
"Hey, mister?" Sakura asked. "Where's that big dude who was fighting the guy with the headband?"
"Huh?" the sumo wrestler said. "Hm… oh, the guy with the headband! He just left!"
"I know," Sakura said. "That's why I'm asking you where is the guy who was fighting him."
"Umm…., you mean Edmond?"
"Uh… if that's his name."
Sakura gulped, as the sumo wrestler got up and shouted across the area: "Hey, Edmond!!!!!! Some schoolgirl here to see you!"
Within a few seconds, a giant wrestler stepped up to Sakura. He was much bigger than he looked on the television. He seemed to be pretty injured: it seemed Ryu had beaten him.
"Yes?" Honda asked.
"Um… where did Ryu go?" Sakura said. In order to be more specific, she continued: "You know… the guy wearing the white gi."
"Ryu, yes, I know," Honda said. "He was headed to India. Up on the northern side near the Ganges river lives a monk in a village. Ryu went to meet him."
"Ah, DARN IT!!!" Sakura shouted, throwing her flowers to the ground. "I gotta chase him again?!?!"
"Well, you can if you really need him that badly," Honda said. "Well, that Ryu sure put some strain on my body and I can't just stand here now. I must get my rest! Get on, now, girl. This ain't a place for you."
"Fine, leave me like that! I 'm going after you, Ryu! I'm coming to India!!" the sound of her voice almost scared even the wrestlers.