Chapter 6: Caught!
Ryu and Ken both took a seat close to the ring. The first match was between a fighter who was skilled in the ways of Aikido. The second fighter was, in fact, an American boxer. The judge went over to the ropes and climbed out. Soon there was a bang on the gong next to the ring starting the fight off.
Both fighters circled each other waiting for one to make the first move. The boxer was the first to make the attack by throwing a couple of quick jabs at the man's head. The Aikido fighter parried each of the attacks with ease. On the last punch, the Aikido master grabbed hold of the boxer?s wrist as he was drawing it back and tried to put it in a wristlock. The boxer tried to twist his wrist out of the lock already applied and there was a sickening 'crack' as the boxer pulled back his broken wrist. With a 'yelp' he cradled his broken wrist and conceded the fight to the Aikido master.
"Sheese!" Ken snorted. "What was he thinking trying to over power a lock like that?"
There were a couple of minutes before the next fight was about to begin while people made their new bets on the two fighters who would enter the ring. Dan walked up with a huge lump on his forehead and took a seat behind Ken and Ryu.
"Man, who hit me? They sucker punched me. Must have been a group of them to actually blindside me like that." Dan said trying to sound convincing.
"Actually..." ken started to say " It was some woman who did that to you."
"Umm.... Err... no, no. Couldn't have been." Dan replied looking unsure of himself.
"Yes it was, she came over and called you a pervert." Ryu added.
"What did you do to her anyway?" Ken asked.
" I was walking to get a drink, when I accidentally tripped and groped.... Err... brushed up against her." Dan quickly said.
;Ken just shook his head and laughed. The gong sounded again, as people returned to their seats for the next bout. The first warrior to enter the ring was a huge man wearing a wrestling suit with a mask. The other fighter climbed into the ring. Ryu's eyes widened as he saw that it was the woman he saw last night. She was wearing the traditional outfit of a Chinese acrobat. Her long brown hair was bound in braids.
"Well, this ought to be an interesting fight." Ken said eyeing the ring.
Dan let out a whistle. "Wow! She is a babe! Not as cute as that red head, but...." he was cut off in mid-sentence by a glare from Ryu. "WHAT? What'd I say wrong?"
The fight started, as the wrestler bounded with surprising speed towards the girl. As he was about to grab her, she jumped high into the air and landed with a foot-stomp on the back of wrestler's neck then jumped from there to the opposite end of the ring. The girl was now on the offensive. She launched a series of punches at the wrestler that all connected, then she followed up with a sharp kick to the stomach.
The wrestler just shrugged off the hits and grabbed her leg as she landed the last kick. He raised her in the air above his head and slammed her down to the mat with a loud thud. Ryu's fists tightened. Ken who turned his head with an "Oww! That's gotta hurt look." noticed Ryu's reaction to the fight. Ken was surprised at Ryu?s attitude towards the fight. They had attended lots of fights, and seen lots of matches. But he never saw Ryu as much as flinch during any of them. He noticed that Ryu's eyes were glued on the beautiful Chinese fighter. "Hmmm, I think we have found this girl Ryu saw last night." Ken thought to himself as he returned his attention to the fight.
The wind was knocked out of the girl and she lay prone on the mat trying to regain her breath when the wrestler grabbed both of her feet and swung her around. He then let her go as she flew towards the end of the mat and into a wall; she suddenly twisted in mid-air and landed feet first on the wall. She then used the wall and momentum to launch herself back at the big man and land a flying kick to his head. The kick staggered the man and she pressed on with the advantage. Her leg became a blur of motion as she kicked the man rapidly to the head, then to the chest, and then finally his gut. The man took a step backwards, then fell to the ground.
The gong was sounded that the match was over, and Ken sprang to his feet with a yell..."ALL RIGHT! That was a beautiful match, eh Ryu?"
Ryu was still looking at the girl leaving the ring on the opposite end. "Hmmm? I agree Ken, most beautiful." He replied with a sigh.
;The man was pulled from the ring, and they were ready to start the next match. Ken heard his number called and got up and walked to the ring. "Now for some real action!" he called back to Ryu. Ken walked to his side of the ring as his opponent entered. He was a man of average height, wore a black gi, and was also Chinese.
"I am gonna mess up your pretty boy looks gaijan! I have the record for the fastest knockout." He taunted Ken.
"Hmph!" Well see about that." Ken retorted.
The fight began, and as the man launched a series of kicks at Ken's head, the blonde fighter blocked the first kick, but was caught off guard as he was backhanded across the mouth and was knocked down. Ken rolled to his feet and wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth. "Hmm not bad." he said. "Try this one on for size!" Ken said as he dashed in on the man. It looked as if Ken was about to launch a jab at the man's face, but at the last minute he rolled onto the floor and behind the surprised fighter.
;As the fighter whirled around to face Ken, he was caught with a crushing fist to the gut. Ken yelled out the familiar phrase as his other fist impacted on the Chinese man's chin. "SHORYUKEN!!!" The two fighters were launched into the air by maneuver. Ken landed gracefully on his feet, while the man in the black gi was sent spiraling into the crowd. The crowd was hushed after witnessing this spectacular move. One of the spectators suddenly spoke..."I've heard about that maneuver. That has to be Ken Masters!!"
;"I heard he is the one of the greatest fighters in the world!" someone said. "Yeah!" one chimed in. "He is second only to the man who beat Grandmaster Sagat and then disappeared." "You mean Ryu?" Dan replied. with a big smile. "Ryu didn't like the way this was going. He quickly motioned to Ken that he was going to split while it was clear. "Ken only nodded as spectators came up to him wanting autographs and gave him proposals for contract fights. "I know Ryu personally." Dan was saying to a group of people behind him who were listening to him. In fact, he is right behind me in the white gi with the red headband.... Errr was! Dan replied as he was searching the room for Ryu.
;Dan finally spotted Ryu almost to the door when he shouted out "THERE HE IS!" Everyone in the room turned towards the door and spotted him making a quick exit. "Wait Champion!" someone cried. "I have a deal for you champion!" another shouted as a mad rush was made for the door to follow Ryu. "Hey! What about me? I am his personal trainer!" Dan shouted. "I know where he is sta...." *SMACK* "OWW!!" Dan said rubbing his head. Ken was standing behind him. "What the hell do you think you are doing? You KNOW how much Ryu dislikes the spotlight. A pair of beautiful brown eyes watched Ryu as he made a full tilt dash out the door.
Ryu had a pretty good headstart on the crowd that was following him. The crowd had followed him for several blocks now. He had no desire to be in the limelight. He rounded a corner of a row of abandoned buildings and spotted an open window on the second floor. With a mighty leap, he bounded up and into the window and hid out of sight as the mob just rounded the corner and headed on down the street. When the mob was finally out of sight, he let out a sigh of relief at having lost the crowd. Just then he felt that there was someone there.
"So, you are the mysterious warrior everyone is talking about that defeated Mighty Sagat a few years back?" Chun li said stepping from the shadows.