Fatal Fury Fan Fiction ❯ Fatal Fury: Terry and Sulia ❯ The Tournament ( Chapter 5 )

The Tournament

The three women sat watching the other women get ready. They'd been ready for hours and had been going over the plan ever since. They grinned at each other. The guys were out in the stands watching and probably just as eager for the Competition to begin…but for other reasons.

Laela rolled her eyes. She doubted the Bogard brothers were eager for the fighting to begin because they would get to watch women beat up on each other, but she was sure Joe was. Sulia and Mai had to agree with her. When the ushers announced to them that the tournament was about to begin, Sulia said farewell to her friends and headed off. Laela and Mai wished her luck.

Andy and Terry sighed in resignation as a trio of women spotted them and Joe in the seats. The women probably recognized the three of them. Only Joe was eager for the female company. Andy and Terry both wanted the Competition to begin so they could figure out who was the one behind all of this.

Terry just hoped Sulia would be all right wandering around by herself. He had wanted to go with her, but everyone had advised against it. The worry was getting to him and the tournament hadn't even started yet.

"Hello fellas!"

Andy looked up in confusion while Joe just grinned. "Hello, ladies!"

The women came up to them and sat down beside them, each one surrounding one of the males. Joe just grinned happily while Andy gave a longsuffering sigh. Terry was too worried to notice. The first of the fighters came out and the Tournament began. The women were too involved with the men they were flirting with to care about the fight.

"So Andy…" one of the women began, clutching onto his arm making his eyes widened as she pressed herself against him. On the other side of him another woman did the same, smiling at him with a sultry look.

"Whom are you rooting for in the Competition?" she asked with a slow smile.

Andy's eyes twinkled evilly. If Mai saw him with all these women around him she'll have his head. So there was one way to get rid of them. But before he could tell them anything the Announcer came on the speaker and announced the winners and the next competitors. Mai's name sounded on the loudspeakers. He turned to the women.

"I'm here for my fiancée, and you just heard her on the loudspeaker."

One of the women smiled. "Who? Janet Cobalt?"

Andy shook his head and Joe grinned, Terry silently chuckling. "Nope. Mai Shiranui."

One of the women paled as the other turned to the ring to see a big breasted, beautiful Japanese woman bounce into the ring. She swallowed. Downright beautiful. She turned to Andy with a wicked smile. "Can she fight?"

Andy burst out laughing, as did Joe. Terry blinked for moment and then shook his head. The women looked at them in annoyance as the fight began and Mai made short work of her opponent. The women were officially silenced. They turned to Andy and sighed sadly. Then they grinned and attached themselves to Joe.

Meanwhile, Mai caught sight of the situation going on with the guys and passed the information along to the other two women. Mai giggled. "They've probably attached themselves to Joe by now after seeing me." Mai grinned. "When you go up, Laela, they'll probably remove themselves and glue themselves to Terry."

Laela rolled her eyes. "Why would they bother to do that? It's not like I care."

Mai sighed. "Maybe you don't now, but you will when see them mooning all over him." Mai grinned. "You may try to hide it Laela, but I know you like Joe, at least a little bit. Sulia knows it too, perhaps even better than the vibes I've been getting from the two of you. After all, she was with you when you first met up with him, wasn't she?" Laela harrumphed and turned around, her arms crossed around her chest.

"I don't know what you're talking about. But if Joe even dares to claim me he's going to get some problems!" She sighed. "Especially since it'll drive those women to toss themselves onto Terry in desperation. I just hope Sulia isn't around to see that when it happens."

"Even if it did happen I don't think it will affect Sulia as much as you think it will. Sulia's strong. She knows Terry. You know, he was bad when Lily died. He even got drunk and wandered about a wreck for months. But according to Andy, Terry's rage when Lily died was nothing compared to what happened to him when Sulia did. I think Terry has found the woman he wants forever. And I'm sure Sulia knows it!"

Sulia suddenly sneezed. She quickly covered her mouth hoping no one heard her.

Laela was then called out to the ring. She waved at Mai, and the buxom beauty gave Laela a resounding, "GOOD LUCK!"

The women that were draped on Joe were smiling contentedly until he jumped up rooting for a woman that came into the ring. She was wearing almost translucent white robes over a white dress and she held a staff in her hands. Her auburn hair hung wildly around her in a brilliant mass and each woman could feel herself growing evermore jealous. When the woman's violet eyes turned to Joe who was bellowing like a lunatic in the stands, the woman rolled her eyes but smiled up at the man. Joe winked in her direction.

The women sighed. She was downright beautiful and with the clothes she was wearing the woman that Joe was rooting for was probably a goddess. But if they were lucky she couldn't fight and her opponent would smash up her pretty face.

No such luck. Laela beat her opponent in no time flat. Enjoying every minute. She hadn't had the thrill of a battle in a long time. She had believed that being a medium was the best thing for her and that fighting would lead to nothing. But she had never forgotten the rush it gave her to be in a challenging fight, even though she was so peaceful minded. She bowed to her fallen opponent and smiled up at the men. Joe was yelling like a wacko, but when their eyes met, he realized she was like him.

She enjoyed a good challenge.

Joe grinned. He would make it worthwhile for her.

If the women with the men had not given up on him yet, the look they had just passed each other would most certainly made them give up. The silent communication that went on between the two sent the women sighing and onto Terry.

Laela managed to catch them out of the corner of her eye. Poor Sulia. She really hoped she wasn't around to see this. And if she was, Laela hoped she would catch the look in Terry's eye. Then she would get her confidence back.

When Laela returned she told Mai exactly what had happened. Mai agreed with Laela. She hoped Sulia wasn't around to see it, but if she was, that she would just look into Terry's eyes and not worry about it. Mai grinned. "But I'm not really worried, you know. I think if it does happen, Sulia will be fine."

Laela nodded.

Terry sighed in resignation as the women batted their eyelashes at him. He looked to Andy and Joe for help, but all he got were shrugs or evil grins. Terry shook his head as the women tried to put another move on him.

"So Terry Bogard…are you still single like the last time I heard?"

"Yeah. I hope no woman has been able to snap you up like they have with Joe and your brother." She shook her head. "Nah… You're too much of a loner to take a lady, but you know you should."

The other nodded in agreement.

"Ah…"

Joe snickered evilly. "Shame on you Terry! You'll break poor Sulia's heart if she could see you now!" Joe burst out laughing as Andy rolled his eyes. But Joe continued. "I mean Terry, look at you! You didn't even bother to correct them and say you were taken! What will Sulia think when she sees you!"

Terry swallowed, as the women holding onto him looked horrified. One, who looked exceptionally hurt, blinked up at him with tears glistening in her eyes. "You? The Lone Wolf has found a chick? And she's here too?"

Terry looked toward his brother and friend in desperation. But before Andy could even think of helping, Joe spoke digging the hole deeper for Terry. "Chick? I don't think you could call Sulia a chick. Mai and her are complete opposites, but they sure are these two wolves' mates. The lone wolves aren't alone anymore."

Andy smiled rolling his eyes while Terry gave a longsuffering sigh. The women hanging onto Terry looked ready to cry. All three of them. "You're joking, right?" They turned to Terry and one of them looked up at him. "Okay, Terry Bogard, hit us. Is she just as beautiful as Joe and Andy's girl? Is she as good as a fighter? We have no chance do we?"

Terry shrugged. Joe answered for him. "Well, Sulia's not really a fighter. She's…" Joe grinned. "She's special, but she is definitely Terry's other half. Sorry ladies."

They shrugged it off. "Well, if she isn't a fighter," one said, "the we don't have to worry about her beating us up if we try anything with this Lone Wolf, huh?"

Andy lifted an eyebrow. "I wouldn't try that if I were you. Sulia may not be a fighter, but she packs a powerful punch when Terry's involved."

Joe whistled in agreement.

The women turned to Terry, ignoring the other two. "Well, Terry? Do we really have anything to fear? Or can we just keep you to ourselves?"

Terry was about to tell them to leave when he spotted Sulia's golden eyes in the distance. He shot up and shook them off. His eyes gazed into hers and he smiled.

The women stared in astonishment as he looked over the railing to see what had gotten Terry's attention. What they didn't expect to see was a violet-haired, golden eyed young woman smiling shyly at Terry in return. The women beside Terry blinked as the girl waved at the man standing before them… A man who was smiling brilliantly, his eyes sparkling.

Sulia couldn't believe her eyes when she saw those women hanging over him. But when he had brushed them off when he'd spotted her, she felt better. She had wanted to catch a glimpse of him before moving on, and seeing his smile gave her all the confidence she needed. She smiled in return, her eyes glowing with all the love she had for him.

The women looked down at the girl. She wasn't that much to look at... And she didn't seem as if she could cause them any discomfort…let alone fight for Terry if they tried to take him from her. But when they looked up to Terry and saw the beautiful blue eyes lost in the gold ones of the girl in the distance they sighed in frustrated resignation. The three best guys in the entire stadium and each one was taken. At least with Andy and Joe the woman was a worthy opponent that they didn't mind loosing to. But this little snip of a girl? It was downright insulting.

They sighed and got up one at a time, leaving the men. There was nothing for them to do here. But one of the women was furious that a young girl usurped her. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Terry Bogard. She would tell the boss about this. He had wanted to know if either of the Bogard brothers was going to be at the Tournament after all.

Eventually Sulia turned her gaze away from Terry and continued moving along. She went into the infirmary where the injured fighters were and decided to ask them a few questions about the sponsor of the tournament and about the layout of the building.

One woman was in especially bad shape so Sulia secretly healed her with some of her healing power. Luckily, it had been enhanced thanks to the Godamus armor. The woman had been sleeping and Sulia startled her awake with her healing.

"Shhh. It's okay. I was just passing through. I thought you were in worse shape than some of the others, so I figured I'd give you a hand. I wonder what kind of person is the one who runs this tournament. You're in real bad shape." Sulia smiled at the woman. "I just hope I can find him in this maze of a building."

The woman shook her head and blinked in confusion, as Sulia got up and with a smile turned away to continue searching the building. The woman that Sulia healed wondered who the young girl was…and why she wanted to meet Geese Howard?

* * *

By the end of the Tournament, there was only Laela and Mai left. The women made a plan on making the fight last as long as possible. They figured they would make it a draw to really throw off the person in charge and make a huge distraction, which would allow Sulia more time to find out who was the one gathering the evil energy against Terry.

The entire operation went like clockwork.

The fight lasted a good forty-five minutes and the end exhausted both Mai and Laela. They didn't even have to work at it to make it a draw. They knocked each other out just out of sheer fatigue. The announcer had to make it a draw. The crowd went crazy. Now that was one end they weren't expecting.

Sulia heard the announcement on the speakers just as she found her way up to the room where the sponsor was. She hoped they would be right behind her.

Joe was bragging about his genius while Andy and Terry laughed when Mai and Laela came rushing to them, both of them holding their trophy and gasping with the effort of running so quickly. The men looked at them in surprise until they saw the fear in Mai's eyes. They shot up.

"What is it, Mai? What happened?" Andy asked wrapping his arms around her as she grasped to him for dear life.

"Laela are you all right?" Joe asked, but she waved him off.

Terry's eyes narrowed. "What is it, Mai? Did something happen to Sulia?"

Mai took a deep breath and swallowed. "I just found out. A woman Sulia helped, or healed I should say, from the infirmary, asked us if we were friends with a golden-eyed girl. When we said yes, she asked us if we knew where she had gone, because she had wanted to thank her. We told her that we didn't know and she went pale. She then told us she hoped Sulia hadn't wandered near the top floor where the guy in charge of the tournament was. When I asked her why not she told me that we should never have let her go wandering off alone." Mai's eyes narrowed as she stared at Terry. "She said that Geese was not really the best company to be with alone."

Andy and Joe's eyes widened in shock and Terry's eyes widened and then narrowed. His heart pounded in his chest in fear. Sulia, alone with that monster? Did he know that Sulia was with him? Terry's heart beat rapidly in his chest as he turned to his brother.

Andy shrugged. "I don't know if he knows we're here. If he knows that Sulia belongs to you. But with all the eyes he probably has in this joint, he probably knows who Sulia is to you."

Terry's eyes narrowed. "That only puts her in more danger."

Laela took in a deep breath and shivered. "I know this will probably make things worse than they already are, but I think that maybe this Geese person is the one Sulia was talking about earlier. The one with the evil power who wants to destroy you, Terry."

Terry's heart galloped. He turned to Mai. "Where is this girl? Does she know where Geese is located, where he is now?"

Mai grinned at Terry. "Already done, Terry, honey!"

"Good. Then let's go. I don't want Sulia alone with him for any amount of time that can be prevented. We have to hurry. Lead the way, Mai."

"With pleasure." And the group took off after their friend.