Chapter 2 – Preliminary Round
In no time, Jakkin and Torden have registered to participate in the Chinese Martial Arts Tournament. Both were led to a large room where they see thirty more competitors. Some of them chatted and joked about what the tournament is going to be like, and others were punching and kicking away at the punching bags provided for warming up.
After a short while of waiting, an attendant entered the room. "Excuse me, may I have your attention, please?" he asked. The fighters turned to face him in response. "Thank you all for coming to the big annual Martial Arts Tournament, where we hope you will demonstrate your fighting abilities. Now, here's how the tournament works: all thirty-two of you will be matched up against each other in small rounds, and the sixteen victors will advance to the main event. With each round, the number of competitors will narrow down until the final round when only two remain, and whoever wins will be named Champion and rewarded with prize money and the official China Martial Arts Tournament belt as memorabilia for his or her efforts."
The fighters nodded understandingly, and felt such great determination to win and become the Champion.
"Before we begin the preliminary round, are there any questions?" asked the attendant. "Please raise your hand if you have one." But no one did. "Good, so let's get started."
Meanwhile, at the waiting room, Cynder, Draco, Darky, Percival, and Lily are having brunch after a long while of getting their tickets to watch the tournament. Cynder, Percival, and Lily enjoyed their small meals, while Draco and Darky were wolfing down large amounts of their servings.
"Goodness gracious, Draco and Darky!" exclaimed Percival. "You two are so ravenous with your food!"
Draco and Darky looked up, their mouths stuffed full of noodles. They exchanged glances at each other before slurping up the remains and gulping them down. This made Percival felt grossed out. Cynder stifled a chuckle. She was used to Draco and Darky having occasional uncouth table manners.
"Well, I get that a lot from some people," said Draco as he licked his chops. "But, hey, I'm a just guy who loves my food, and Cynder, Blaze, and Tails are already aware of that since they've been around me for so long."
"I understand," said Percival. "It's just that maybe you should slow down on your food rather than speed eating."
"Eating is a lot of fun that I can't help it," replied Darky after he uttered a faint belch. "I could help myself to six servings or more!"
"This food is yummy," said Lily. "I prefer my sweets very much, though."
"Guys, the preliminaries are about to start," said Cynder as she checked the clock. "We better start moving and see how Jakkin and Torden will do."
"It's just so hard for me to decide over whom to root for," said Draco with uncertainty. "Torden may be a strong fighter, but so is Jakkin, and he is quite a go-getter."
"Let's not worry too much about favourites," replied Percival. "I think we should just see them do their best, as long as they are having a good time."
"Yeah, though those two seem very competitive towards each other," replied Darky.
"Dim sums!" barked a vendor. "Get your dim sums, here! Nice warm, stuffed with any of your favourite fillings, from pork buns to seafood!"
Draco suddenly felt a very strong urge. Much as he tried to resist, he just couldn't pass off getting some dim sums.
"Uh-oh, someone's hungry again," teased Lily.
"Guys, I need to get some dim sums," said Draco hastily. "Just hurry to the stadium, and I'll catch up with you."
"Get me two packs of them, please, big bro?" asked Darky.
"Just get me one," said Percival. "I'd like to try some out."
Moments later, Draco hurried to the row where Cynder, Lily, Percival, and Darky were sitting. As he gave the ordered dim sums to Percival and Darky, he took his seat next to Cynder, which she had reserved for him. The crowd was roaring with excitement as the first of the elimination round started. The match was between a kickboxer and a sumo wrestler.
"When's Jakkin or Torden coming up, big sis?" asked Darky.
"Shhhhh," whispered Cynder. "They'll be on when it's announced."
Match after match, they watched each victor get qualified for the finals. At last the match between Torden and a boxer was about to start.
"Yes!" squealed Lily happily as she stood on her seat. "Torden's up! Go get him, Torden!"
"Uh, Lily…" said Cynder with disapproval. "You shouldn't do that."
"She's right, Lily," said Percival, his side being squashed by Lily's left foot. "Take your seat, everybody's staring."
Lily froze for a second, and when she opened her eyes, she saw a bunch of spectators in each row glaring at her. The pink dragoness felt so embarrassed. "Oops," she said sheepishly as she sat back down. "Sorry about that, just got a little carried away there…"
The match began, and Torden was delivering his all as he fought against his opponent. The boxer delivered several blows, but they weren't enough to knock Torden out. Torden responded back with a couple of jumping reverse hook kicks which sent his adversary reeling. As the boxer struggled to get back, Torden delivered a round kick that brought his opponent down to the ground. The boxer was knocked out.
"Torden is the winner!" declared the announcer. "He shall proceed to the finals!"
The crowd applauded. Cynder slowly clapped with a smile on her face while Draco, Darky, Percival, and especially Lily joined in the wild applause.
After a couple more matches, Jakkin was up next with a judoka. Draco looked on eagerly, trying to get a good view of the upcoming match.
"So the country dragon is about to start his fight," said Percival. "Let's see if he does win so he'll get the chance to match against Torden."
Sure enough as the match started, Jakkin made quick work out of the judoka. The judoka could not manage to lay a grasp on the Surian dragon as he was quick enough to anticipate the moves. In no time, Jakkin brought down the judoka and he was declared winner.
"I have a feeling he was going to do it," smiled Draco while the crowd applauded. Suddenly, there was a strangely familiar voice shouting nearby.
"Coming through, people!" the voice called. "Excuse me! Move please!"
In the blink of an eye, the person moved across the row where the dragons were sitting and he took the only vacant seat next to Draco. With only a brief glimpse, Draco noticed who he was as he saw an orange-fox with glasses and two tails at his side. "Tails?" he asked.
"Yep, it's me," replied Tails. "I'm glad you guys have decided to check out the tournament, I came just in time to see the match that will be coming up soon."
"What a surprise to see you here, Tails!" exclaimed Cynder. "What brings you here to China?"
"I just decided to come on my own accord," said Tails. "Felt like I could do with taking a little break from my experiments and inventions."
"Does Blaze know about all this?" asked Cynder.
"Yes, she does," replied Tails. "Besides, she knows I wanted to check out the Mystic Flame in action, whose match will be up not too long now."
Shortly after the next match, the last one was about to go underway. At one side of the ring came a muscular, reptilian humanoid which was recognised as a Machoke, and at other side arrived an oddly familiar-looking being with amber eyes, yet the rest of the face was concealed by a black mask. His outfit was completely black, including his cape which had a purple interior and even his boots.
"Is that the Mystic Flame?" asked Draco.
"That's him," said Tails. "I've been looking forward to this."
"You sure are excited about this," commented Draco.
As soon as the match started, the Mystic Flame and the Machoke started fighting. Both of them were evenly matched, but unbeknownst to the Machoke, the Mystic Flame had some tricks up his sleeve. The match progressed, and soon enough, the Mystic Flame spun around with flames surrounding his, catching the Machoke off guard. The crowd was amazed, but Cynder studied the match carefully.
There's something unusual yet familiar about this Mystic Flame, she thought. Those flames looked a lot like pyrokinesis…
The match soon ended, with the Mystic Flame as the victor. The Machoke was carried off, battered, bruised, and burned.
"Time for a short intermission!" called the announcer. "And soon after, we will begin the finalists and determine who will be matched with accordingly!"
While most of the crowd went to the waiting, Cynder stayed in her seat along with some of the other spectators.
"Cynder, you sure you don't want a snack or something?" asked Tails.
"No, thank you, I'm fine," said Cynder. "I'm just curious about this Mystic Flame."
"What do you mean?" Draco asked.
"Have you noticed how he used pyrokinesis?" asked Cynder. "I never knew anyone else who could master such a skill."
"Well, I guess that's why he's called the Mystic Flame," said Tails nervously.
"Tails, it can't be a coincidence that you just appeared to support someone I've just heard of recently," continued Cynder. "You seem to know this guy very much, but we don't."
"I've only heard about him since I once came to China some years ago," replied Tails. "Anyway, we'll be back when the finals start."
As Tails, Draco, Darky, Percival, and Lily made their way into the waiting room, Cynder thought deeply about match, being very sure that there's more to the Mystic Flame than what meets the eye, and she was even more certain that Tails knew something about him that he doesn't want to reveal.
Author's Note: There must be a secret behind the Mystic Flame, especially since Tails has shown up! Anyone up for guesses who it could be? Just wait as the plot unfolds!