Fatal Fury Fan Fiction ❯ Fatal Fury - The Vengeful Spirits ❯ Chapter Twelve - King of Fighters Part One ( Chapter 13 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

 

 

All characters are the property of SNK/Playmore. I don't own them, the video games, or the anime.

 

As always, feedback is welcome from everyone.

Chapter Twelve: King of Fighters, Part One

 

South Town Commerce Plaza (formerly known as Geese Tower)

Billy Kane stood in front of the ornate mahogany desk which sat in the middle of the spacious office. The desk had been graciously left behind as a gift by the previous tenant. On the other side of its wide expanse, Geese Howard sat in the plush leather chair (another “donation” from the former tenant), sipping coffee from a china mug with one hand while his other hand held a phone receiver to his ear.

“You have your instructions,” Geese said to the man on the other end of the line. “Make sure everything goes as planned at the tournament today. If it does not, I will hold you personally responsible.” He hung up the phone, took another sip of coffee, then moved his gaze to Billy, standing at partial attention on the other side of the desk. “You remember what you're supposed to do?”

“I'd better,” said Billy with a nervous laugh. “You know how much I like living.”

Geese ignored the humor. Instead, he asked: “Did you encounter those two Chinese boys when you were fleeing Mr. Hughes's property yesterday?”

“No, sir,” Billy answered. “But I'll be sure our man at the tournament knows about them.”

“Good,” said Geese. “Well, you'd better get going. Don't want to be late.”

Billy nodded, fished his trademark red bandanna from his back pocket, and quickly tied it over his short blond hair. “Right. I'll call as soon as the deed's done.” He shouldered his staff, turned, and left the office.

After he was gone, Geese got up from his desk and moved to the picture window, hands clasped smartly behind his back. He looked out the window at the thin heat haze of summer shimmering over the ground below as the sun rose higher. Today was going to be both clear and hot. “An excellent day for someone to die,” Geese mused to himself out loud, a grin slowly spreading across his scarred face.

South Town Pavilion

The air throughout the stadium was charged with energy and excitement. Even back in the small green room, away from the lights and the crowds, Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Mai Shiranui and Joe Higashi found they had trouble keeping still. The room's walls were painted a peaceful sea green color, the same color as the comfortable couch (that none of them were sitting on) which was one of the only pieces of furniture in the room. But still, the calming effect of the color was lost on the four fighters.

“Did it feel this exciting the first time?” Mai asked the other three as she paced back and forth, twirling a fan in her long fingers.

“Remember, we've got work to do here,” said Andy, who was leaning against the wall by the door. “We need to be ready for anything.” Then he gave his girlfriend a faint smile. “And yeah, it was a little exciting the first time.” After he said those words, Andy's eyes flicked over to his brother, who fidgeted with his cap as he leaned against the opposite wall. Andy realized that he had no idea what Terry was thinking right now, what sort of memories might be dredging up in the elder Bogard's mind from being back here in the stadium. “But still dangerous,” Andy added quickly. “At the end of the day, we can't forget that.”

“We all remember the plan?” Terry Bogard asked simply, not noticing the look Andy had given him.

Joe, who was standing over by a table containing water bottles, fruit, and a few other concessions, nodded as he tried to peel an orange. “Yeah, we fight when our name is called. The rest of the time, we try to keep an eye on Billy, and also see if we can act on any info Mary might pass along. Seems simple enough. Even Andy's girlfriend can follow those directions.”

Joe then glanced over at Mai, wincing slightly as he waited for the retaliatory hit from one of her fans. But the buxom ninja girl continued to pace, as if she'd not heard him. I don't blame her, Joe thought. I was the same way my first time at one of these tournaments.

A few moments later, a man wearing a polo shirt and a headset opened the door and said that they were about to announce all the combatants. After he was gone, Terry stepped towards the center of the room and held out his right arm, palm of his hand facing the floor. Andy, Mai and Joe quickly took positions around him, forming a circle, and laid their own right hands on top of Terry's.

Terry's gaze swept over the three of them. Then he simply said: “Let's do this!” With that, the four of them broke their huddle and exited the green room.

The ring was surrounded on all four sides by stadium seating that was packed with the cheering crowds. Some of the spectators had probably placed bets, while others were just street-fighting aficionados who had simply come to watch their heroes. On her way to her seat, Mary Ryan had seen more than a few pre-teen boys dressed as Terry, Andy, or Joe.

The detective had chosen a seat high up towards the back, on a side that she felt gave her the best view of both what was happening down by the ring, and also up in the scaffolding that ran a few hundred feet overhead. She tried to remain focused on her task, but as each contestant was announced, Mary couldn't help but feel her heart begin to beat a little faster.

She still thought this tournament had been a bad idea. But at the same time, everything Terry Bogard had said to her in the diner a few weeks ago was true. Mary did her best to abide by the morals her father and grandfather had tried to instill in her, but deep down, she loved the thrill of the fight. In some ways, it was better than sex. She was a little annoyed that Terry had read this in her personality so easily. But she was also impressed. Everyone on the force knew how guarded Mary was. She grudgingly admired that Terry had managed to do what few people could, and read her the way that he had. He's not just a pretty face. He's actually got some brains, too.

The announcer said Terry Bogard's name, and Mary pulled the binoculars out of the pocket of her jacket, allowing herself a small indulgence as she raised them to her green eyes, watched the Lone Wolf emerge into the stadium a midst thunderous applause, and take his place alongside the fighters who were lining up on the other side of the interlocked crowd control barriers separating the ring from the stands. Mary's mind flashed briefly to the skills Terry had displayed last night...

Then the announcer moved on to Andy Bogard, and Mary shook her head. Focus, Ryan, she thought. You have a job to do. Business before pleasure, always.

She moved the gaze of her binoculars across the line of contestants, and Mary tried to recall some of their names. It wasn't necessary for a few of them, as she recognized them by sight alone. Mary spotted Billy Kane, wearing his usual outfit of boots, jeans, sleeveless Union Jack shirt and red bandanna, whispering into the ear of another fighter. The man was dressed in a blue and white dogi, the tunic of which was adorned with a clan crest she did not recognize. He also wore an over-sized Asian rice hat that blocked his face from view, and he appeared to be armed with a praying staff.

Mary frowned at this, and made a mental note of it. Then she turned her gaze upwards, binoculars skimming across the scaffolding overhead. She saw no movement on any of them. Which was not a good sign.

“I thought I suspended you, Ryan,” she heard a familiar voice say. She pulled the binoculars from her eyes, and saw Inspector Bowers standing next to her seat.

“You did, captain,” she answered him.

“Inspector, remember?” Bowers corrected her.

Mary nodded. “Yeah, that's what I said, captain. So, anyway, now that I have so much free time, I thought I'd come watch the show.” She picked up a greasy brown bag that was resting on the seat between her legs, and thrust it up under her boss's nose. “Want some popcorn?” She asked him.

Bowers ignored both the bag, and her jibe. “You've hated the idea of this tournament since day one, Ryan. Why the sudden change of heart?”

Mary shrugged. “Well, I found out that you had decided to take over running security. So maybe I just wanted to see how badly you'll fuck this up.” She brought the bag of popcorn back down to her lap, pulled a few kernels from it, and tossed them into her mouth. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm not on duty right now, and I paid for this seat. The first match is about to start. So go do your job, captain.”

Bowers fixed her with a cold stare, but in the end, he turned on his heel and started back down the steps towards the ring. Mary couldn't hep but smirk a little as she resumed watching the scaffolding with her binoculars. She realized that given her current suspension, it probably wouldn't help her much if she continued to give the inspector attitude. But then she reminded herself that maybe in their mission to stop Geese Howard, Terry and his friends might find some sort of dirt on Bowers that would finally lead to an indictment. She hoped so. That would definitely get her back to work with fewer questions asked.

A few minutes later, the first match was announced, and Mary heard Terry Bogard's name, so the blond detective allowed herself another tiny bit of indulgence by shifting her gaze from the ceiling back down to the ring. Through her binoculars, she saw Terry assume his stance several yards away from a brown-haired, barefoot Korean man dressed in a white gi trimmed with light blue. Kim Kaphwan, by the looks of it, Mary thought. This should be interesting.

The tae-kwon-do master smiled as he gazed across the ring at Terry Bogard. “I was hoping we'd be fighting each other today, my friend,” Kim said, and took up his stance. “I've been eager to show you what I've learned since our last meeting.”

“Likewise,” Terry said with a smirk.

For another moment, the two of them stared each other down. Then Kim launched himself into the air in a forward somersault, which Terry had been expecting. What he had not been expecting was for Kim to do a split kick when he got close to Terry, swinging the heel of his left leg like a hammer down towards the elder Bogard's shoulder. Terry barely dodged it in time, sidestepping and then blocking the two jabs that Kim threw towards him.

“You're improvising,” Terry remarked. “You usually open with your Hishou Kyaku.” Terry then dodged another kick and swung his own body around with arm outstretched, the back of his fist catching Kim in the shoulder.

“One needs to improvise when fighting an opponent whose own style is so varied,” Kim fired back, and then quickly launched into a rising somersault kick. Terry skipped backwards, though he still felt a rush of air as Kim's foot sliced past him, missing him by millimeters. Terry then countered with a body blow. Kim caught his arm, dropped quickly to his back and tossed Terry across the ring.

Terry landed on his feet and turned to face his friend. “It's been a while since I've had a fight like this,” he said. The palms of his hands then began to glow faintly as he gathered a small amount of chi. “Time to make things interesting.”

Mary watched the ring for another few moments as Terry and Kim went back and forth, trying not to think about how gorgeous Terry looked when he fought. Then she shook her head to clear it, and moved the gaze of her binoculars away from the ring towards the large arched doorway that the combatants had entered through.

A police officer stood on either side of the door, and Mary frowned. She didn't recognize them. She then shifted her gaze to the crowd control barriers separating the spectators from the ring, and saw three more officers. Again, their faces were not familiar.

What's your game, Bowers? She pondered, mentally blocking out the shouts of the crowd that she heard from all sides as her brain tried to work out the answer. After a few moments, she raised the binoculars towards the ceiling again, and continued to monitor the scaffolding until she heard the announcer say that the match had gone to Terry Bogard.

Mary lowered the binoculars to look down at the ring, and in spite of herself, she actually found that she couldn't keep from clapping along with everyone else.

 

For a moment, Kim Kaphwan sat on the ring's canvas, the shirt of his gi ripped, a few wisps of smoke rising from his body. Then he laughed and accepted the hand that Terry offered him.

“We should definitely do this again next year,” Kim said as he sprang to his feet and clapped Terry Bogard on the shoulder.

“I'll look forward to that,” Terry said as he clapped Kim's shoulder in response. “You should keep learning to improvise, by the way. I gotta be honest, for a minute you had me worried.”

 

Mary only half paid attention to the next few fights as she continued to survey the stadium with her binoculars. Billy Kane went up against a fighter in red slacks armed with nunchaku, and took him down rather quickly. The man with the praying staff whom Billy had been speaking to was up after that, and also bested his opponent in the span of a few minutes. Joe Higashi fought and defeated one of his kickboxing rivals, after which a teenage boy in a red Tang suit was up, fighting against a heavyset Taiwanese man in a green shirt and white shorts.

Mary's gaze went briefly to Terry, Andy, Joe and Mai, who all seemed to be whispering to one another. Mai looked quizzical for a moment, then Andy said something to her and pointed to a teenage boy standing just outside the ring, dressed in a blue Tang suit, who was watching the match very closely. Mary recalled yesterday's conversation in Terry's hotel room, when the detective had been asked about two boys in Tang suits.

Mary set her binoculars down and decided to watch the match as well. The boy appeared to be fast, not surprising given his size. But there was something otherworldly about his speed. At times, he seemed to move so quickly that he was like a blur. She looked back over at Terry and his friends, who were all looking at the boy with the same interest as Mary.

After that fight was over (naturally, the boy in red won) and Mai had entered the ring for her match, Mary got up from her seat and made her way down the steps towards ringside, stopping just in front of the crowd control barriers. Her green eyes met Terry's gaze and she motioned for him to come over. He, Andy and Joe made their way towards Mary. The three stopped just on the opposite side of the barrier.

“Is that one of the boys you met yesterday at the mansion?” She asked them.

“Yeah,” answered Terry. “Announcer said his name was Jin Chonshu. And he didn't look familiar to you?”

“Nope. Like I said, he's never come up in my research. He's pretty fast, though, and it didn't look like his speed was chi-enhanced. There's something else going on.”

“We noticed,” said Joe. “Also, his name is Jin Chonshu. And he's interested in the Jin Scrolls. Can't be a coincidence. Don't know what his game is, but hopefully he and his buddy in blue are on our side.”

“We've got other problems, though,” said Mary. “Back when I was still running security, my superiors told me how many men they could spare, but I was still allowed to choose those men. So I personally handpicked every officer for this assignment. But it looks like Bowers has replaced all of them with men that I don't recognize.”

Terry, Andy and Joe all exchanged a worried glance, but otherwise said nothing. So Mary went on: “Also, I remember reading about what happened to Joe the last time this tournament was held. Which was why I assigned officers to patrol the scaffolding above the ring. I've been watching it since I got here, and I've seen zero movement up there. No one is patrolling it.”

“Not a good sign,” said Joe. “I'd like to avoid getting shot this time, if at all possible.”

“Much as I would love to see my boss screw up,” Mary said to Terry. “I'd rather not see you or your friends get hurt in the process. Which is why I need to get up there and take a look around.”

Their conversation was interrupted by cheering from the stands as Mai defeated her opponent. They looked over at the ring and saw her standing there with one hand on her hip, the other arm outstretched and brandishing her fan. “Yeah, Nippon ichi!” She shouted as she winked at the crowd.

Terry, Joe and Andy looked back to Mary, and couldn't help but chuckle at the face that the detective was making. “She just does that,” Andy said, but Mary noticed the twinkle in his blue eyes as he watched Mai exit the ring and bounce over to them.

“That was fun!” Mai said as she wrapped her arms around Andy. “So, what are we talking about?”

After the kunoichi had been brought up to speed, Mary said, “There are two stairwells up to the scaffolding. When I got here, I noticed that one of them was under guard, so the other one probably is, too. The only way up is to get past those guards. I could take them down easily in a fight, but then Bowers would definitely nail my ass.”

“So, don't fight them,” said Mai. “I'll come with you, and provide a distraction, so you can slip past them unnoticed to the stairs.”

Mary was unconvinced. “These men are police officers, Mai. I doubt they'll fall for a distraction.”

Mai laughed, and puffed out her ample chest. “Mary, honey, I've trained to be a distraction. Besides, if there's one thing I've learned about men, it's that they're all the same. Except for my Andy, of course.” Mai batted her eyelashes at her boyfriend, who simply gave a resigned smile and shook his head.

Terry laughed. “Well, it sounds like you ladies have a plan, so I'll leave you to it. We'd better get back, since I think Andy is gonna be up soon. Mary, you be careful.”

Mary scowled. “Will you stop saying that, Bogard? I told you, worry about your own ass.”

Terry looked at her for a long moment, debating what he should say or do. For a moment, he remembered his dream. Then he just nodded, turned and walked back towards the ring. Joe followed him.

Andy stood there for another moment with his hand on Mai's shoulder. “Don't cause too much trouble,” he told his girlfriend.

Mai laughed. “Andy, when two women join forces, you know that's impossible.” Then she kissed him, and jumped over the barrier. “Lead the way, Mary!” Andy shook his head again as the two women walked away, then he turned to catch up with Joe and Terry.

“Making trouble, Ryan?” Mary heard a familiar voice say to her just as she and Mai had reached the door leading out of the stadium area.

She turned to face Inspector Bowers. “No, sir. My friend and I were just going to the ladies room to powder our noses.”

“Mm hm,” Bowers said with a nod, though the look on his face said he was not convinced. Then he noticed Mai, and his mind flashed back to Mary's report. Asian female, approximately five foot five, long red-brown hair, severely altered ninja gi. He cleared his throat and asked Mai: “Young lady, would you be able to tell me where you were yesterday between the hours of noon and five PM? And if anyone can verify your story?”

Mai regarded him for a moment with an odd smile on her face. Then, she shrugged her shoulders and spoke rapidly in Japanese: <“Sorry, keisatsukan-san, but I've seen enough of your American cop shows to know that I don't have to talk to you unless I have my attorney present.”>

The inspector's brow crinkled in confusion. “What did she say?”

“She's Japanese, sir,” said Mary. “She said she doesn't speak a word of English.”

“Don't you speak Japanese?” Bowers asked Mary.

“Yeah,” said Mary. “My grandfather taught me.”

“Well, then, can you ask her my question?” Bowers snapped, growing impatient.

Mary nodded. “I could, but technically you're not my boss right now. So I don't have to, and I'm not going to. Don't you have men on this security detail that can translate?”

“I'll need to check around,” the inspector growled. Mai, meanwhile, was doing her best to continue to look confused, but it was taking all of her ninja discipline not to laugh.

“Because I at least remembered that this would be an international fighting tournament,” said Mary. “So I picked some officers for the detail who could speak more than one language. Too bad you didn't keep any of them around. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have tiny bladders. Good luck keeping us all safe.” Mary and Mai then exited the stadium area, leaving Inspector Bowers red in the face.

As soon as they were out in the hallway, away from the inspector, Mai started laughing hysterically, and seemed dismayed when Mary was not joining in. The detective was walking briskly, hands in the pockets of her jacket. After Mai stopped laughing, she told Mary: “I just wanted to tell you that I'm really happy for you and Terry.”

Mary shrugged. “We're not exactly a couple right now,” she said, still looking ahead of her. “I got the impression that Terry doesn't want it to be more than a one-night stand. And I don't want to talk about it at the moment, because we have work to do.”

Mai said nothing in response to this as she fell into step beside Mary. To her surprise, she did not know what to say. After a few minutes, she felt Mary's hand on her shoulder. Mai looked over, and saw something in Mary's green eyes that she hadn't seen there before: gratitude. “But I do want to thank you,” said the blond woman. “For your kind words last night.”

Mai put her hand over Mary's and gave it a small squeeze. “Anytime.”

The two women continued up the corridor, and after rounding a corner, they saw a few hundred yards ahead of them a set of double doors being watched by a pair of uniformed cops. “You ready for this?” Mai asked Mary.

The detective gave a nod, and then cracked her knuckles. “Let's go to work,” she said.

Andy's match was over rather quickly, with Andy as the victor, which came as no surprise to Terry. What did surprise him was when the loudspeakers blared out the name of the fighter that Terry would be facing next: Jin Chonrei.

Andy left the ring, and made his way over to Terry's side. The younger Bogard saw Terry looking intently at the fighter who had entered the ring in Andy's place: a teenage boy with spiky black hair and a blue Tang suit trimmed with gold. He leaned back over the ropes towards the boy in red, who was just outside the ring, and the two appeared to be whispering to one another.

For a moment, Andy stood next to Terry and also regarded the two boys. Then, he said: “Did you hear his name? Jin Chonrei. Think he and Chonshu are related?”

“I'd say it's a good bet,” said Terry. “And if I'm fighting him, this could be a good opportunity for us. I'll try to drag the match out as long as I can, see if maybe I can get him to spill some information.” With that, he started towards the ring, and leaped effortlessly over the ropes into it.

As Andy stood there, Joe joined him, sipping on a bottle of water. “I just checked the boards,” said Joe. “After Terry's match, I'm supposed to be fighting Jin Chonshu.”

Andy nodded. “Terry is going to try to learn what he can from Chonrei. You should try doing the same when it's your turn.” Andy's eyes flicked for a moment from the ring over to the brown-haired boy in the red Tang suit. Even though Chonshu continued to look at his brother, Andy got the sense that the boy knew he was being studied.

Andy quickly looked away and tried not to shiver. Then he reached over and clapped Joe on the shoulder. “Just try to keep the wisecracks to a minimum when you're fighting him. I get the feeling that Chonshu doesn't have a sense of humor.”

Joe shrugged. “No promises,” he said, and then turned his attention up towards the ring.

Terry Bogard eyed his opponent warily as he assumed his stance. In some ways, Jin Chonrei was exactly what he appeared to be: a young fighter from China who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen. But in other ways, there appeared to be something more about him. It was the eyes. The coal-black eyes gazed calmly at Terry, unblinking, and Terry felt like they were eyes that had seen far more troubles than a boy Chonrei's age should have seen.

Chonrei attacked first, flying through the air and thrusting his left foot out in a jumping kick. Terry dodged and tried to counter, but the boy slid backwards, moving so fast that the air around him appeared to shimmer slightly. Terry blinked for a moment, thinking that he was seeing things, and Chonrei used that moment to try and land an uppercut, his fist becoming enveloped in crimson flame.

Terry felt the oncoming heat from his fist and managed to duck, countering with a crouching kick to Chonrei's shins. This time, his foot connected. Chonrei was knocked back a few feet but quickly regained a defensive stance. He and Terry then lunged at each other, each trying to land blows while at the same time trying to block them from the other person.

“I saw you at the mansion yesterday, but I don't think we were properly introduced,” said Terry as he blocked a series of punches, tried to counter with a chop to his opponent's belly.

“I know who you are, Terry Bogard,” Chonrei said simply as he deflected with his own chop. “There are few in the fighting circuits these days who do not know the reputation of the Lone Wolf.”

Terry launched forward with his knee, tried to hit the boy in the solar plexus. Chonrei dodged and countered with a punch that caught Terry in his chest. Terry backed off for a moment.

“You have me at a disadvantage, then,” said Terry. “Because I've never seen you before yesterday. What were you doing there?”

Chonrei raised his fists and circled to the left. Terry tried a kick, but Chonrei once more slid to the side with that same burst of speed that seemed to make the air shimmer. “I could ask you the same thing. Were you there to steal the scroll?”

“We were there to stop Geese Howard. You claim to know my reputation, so you should already know he isn't a friend of mine.”

Chonrei launched at his opponent with a mid-level punch, this one also charged with fire. Terry swiveled his body, countered with a kick that caught the boy on his left side. Chonrei appeared to fall towards the canvas, but then proceeded to roll in a half circle around Terry, springing up suddenly, again with that speed that seemed otherworldly, and striking out hard with his feet, catching Terry in the back. Terry did a jump backwards and landed with his arms raised defensively in front of his face.

“And how do I know that you weren't planning to take the scrolls and use them against Geese?” Chonrei asked him.

Terry leaped at Chonrei, and the boy did likewise. Chonrei tried to punch him, but Terry blocked his fist and landed a blow to Chonrei's torso. The two then exchanged a few more punches in midair before touching down again on opposite ends of the ring.

Terry took a deep breath, wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth. “Because,” he answered the black-haired boy. “I've seen firsthand what the pursuit of that much power does to someone. And I've seen the price that both they and their loved ones pay for it. If you're thinking of trying to get the Jin Scrolls from Geese for your own personal gain, I can tell you a little story about a man named Laocorn Gaudeamus.”

Jin Chonrei's expression grew darker, and his eyes seemed to glow with a strange light, like an icy blue flame. Whatever was making them glow, Terry could sense it wasn't chi energy. “I know of that short-sighted fool, and my brother and I are nothing like him! The scrolls are ours by right, and we will have them!”

“For what reason?” Terry asked.

“That is for us to know!” Chonrei snapped. “Now, we've talked enough! It is time to end this!” He swung his fists through the air, launching three fireballs at Terry Bogard. Terry could have dodged them easily, but then there was a risk that they would injure someone in the crowd. Terry quickly summoned his chi, his own fists glowing blue, and used his Burn Knuckle technique to swat the projectiles from the air, dissipating them harmlessly.

Chonrei then lunged at Terry, the air around him shimmering with boundless energy as the youth moved so fast, he became a blur. Terry was trying to dodge the punches, but Chonrei was moving too quickly. First he was in front of Terry, then he was behind, then back to the front again. Terry knew there was only one way to handle this.

Terry took a deep breath, then slammed his fist against the canvas, launching into his Power Geyser attack. A sudden burst of energy shot up from the ground around the elder Bogard, and although he had used only a fraction of the chi energy that he normally put into that move, it was enough to fling Chonrei backwards against the ropes, where he crumpled to the ground and lay still.

After a few moments, Chonrei got to his feet, and gazed at Terry with a slight look of awe. Terry did not notice, nor did he notice the strobe of camera flashes from the crowd, or hear the announcer say that the match had gone to him. He was thinking only about the light that he had seen in Chonrei's eyes, and that unnatural speed the boy had seemed to summon...

Joe Higashi smirked as he looked over at the brown-haired teen in the red Tang suit. “Apparently, they've lowered the minimum age for this thing,” he said. “Don't worry, I'll try to go easy on you.”

“Likewise,” said Jin Chonshu as he took up his own stance.

As soon the announcer yelled “FIGHT!”, Chonshu charged forward, moving with the same speed that he had used earlier. Joe tried to block the attacks, but half of them were still getting through. So he countered with a fast move of his own: his TNT Punch. Chonshu hadn't been expecting that. He took several blows to the midsection, which resulted in him leaping backwards.

“So, I take it Geese Howard is not a friend of yours?” Joe asked him.

Chonshu charged forward again, this time into a flying kick which Joe sidestepped. When the boy hit the ground, he immediately crouched and went into a leg sweep, which Joe easily jumped, and countered with a kick of his own that caught Chonshu on the chin. “What do you think?” The brown-haired youth asked. “You saw what happened yesterday.”

“Well, in that case,” said Joe. “I don't see why we can't join forces against Geese. You know, the enemy of your enemy...”

Chonshu launched into another flurry of attacks. Joe did his best to dodge them, stepping lightly backwards towards the ropes. When he was almost up against them, the Muay Thai kickboxer countered with his Tiger Kick, which Chonshu just barely dodged in time.

“This is a family matter, between me and my brother,” said Chonshu. “And will remain that way. Besides, how can we be sure you do not wish to steal the Jin Scrolls from Geese, and use them for your own ends?” He launched a fireball at Joe, and after some internal debating, Joe decided to take the hit rather than dodge it, and let it hurt someone outside the ring.

Joe slid back several feet as the pyrokinetic energy slammed against him, but he had been bracing for it, so its effect on him was minimal. Chonshu took a moment to gloat, which enabled Joe to recover, and counter with his flying Slash Kick, which caught Chonshu in the torso and sent him back against the ropes.

“You know what?” Said Joe, starting to get annoyed. “How can I be sure that you aren't secretly working for Geese? Like, you know, a double agent or something?”

Too late, Joe realized the spark that his words had ignited in the boy. Chonshu's eyes seemed to take on a strange quality, as if some ethereal blue mist had filled in the whites of them. He then lunged at his older opponent, once more moving so fast he was a blur. He swung his right arm in an uppercut, his fist blazing bright with psychokinetic fire. He caught Joe square in the chin and sent him flying from the ring. The kickboxer flew back several hundred yards and crashed into the spectator seating.

Thankfully, the seat he landed in was empty. Joe shook his head to clear it, then rubbed his jaw and gazed down in bewilderment at the ring. Chonshu stood in the center of it, those strange eyes still fixed squarely on him. When the announcement came over the loudspeakers that the match had gone to Chonshu, the boy did not seem to register the applause that erupted from all around him. Instead, he simply left the ring and went over to stand by Chonrei, who shot him a look that seemed filled with annoyance.

The two brothers then seemed to be engaged in some sort of argument, but Joe was too far away to hear, and he didn't know how to read lips. Instead, he checked his immediate surroundings, and saw that the seats to his immediate left and right were occupied by two attractive young women dressed in miniskirts and tight Lycra tube tops.

Joe shook his head again. “Well, there are worse ways to lose a match,” he said to himself. Then, to the girls: “So, are either of you ladies into kickboxing?”

From their position down by the ring, Terry and Andy Bogard looked up at the stands, and saw Joe getting chatty with the two female spectators.

“Well, he's definitely all right,” said Andy.

“Yeah,” Terry said. “But still... what the hell was that? His speed was just like Chonrei's... and then right before he knocked Joe out of the ring, his eyes did that same thing I saw Chonrei's eyes do. Chonrei was more reserved, though. Chonshu didn't even look like he was trying to control his power.”

“Hopefully one of us will fight them again tomorrow,” said Andy. “Then maybe we can learn something more.”

The brothers grew silent as they watched the next match. It was almost over when they noticed Mai and Mary making their way back towards the barriers, so they walked over to meet the two women.

“How'd it go?” Asked Terry.

“Well, Mai definitely wasn't kidding when she said she's trained to be a distraction,” said Mary. “I could have screamed in those cops' ears and they wouldn't have noticed me. But anyway, I didn't find anything once I got up there. No sniper nests, nothing out of the ordinary. The scaffolding seems shipshape.”

Terry rubbed his chin for a moment. “Are there any other ways that Billy or any of Geese's henchmen might try something?”

Mary chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment. “Possibly, but it would be trickier down here on the ground, with all these people. Overhead would be the best vantage point. I'm gonna go back to my seat, do a little thinking, and continue to bird-watch. I'll be back down if anything jumps out at me.”

“Right,” Terry said with a nod. The detective turned and made her way back up into the stands, while Terry, Andy, and Mai moved closer to ringside. In a few moments, they were rejoined by Joe, who appeared to be rubbing at a trace of lipstick still stuck to his cheek.

“Find anything out?” Terry asked him.

“That I might finally get lucky on this trip,” said Joe as he pulled a slip of paper with two phone numbers written on it out of the pocket of his shorts. “But if you're asking about Chonshu, I learned that he definitely hates Geese Howard. What set him off at the end of the fight was when I suggested that he might be Geese's double agent.”

“But at the same time, whatever they're up to, they seem determined to do it themselves,” said Terry.

“Honestly, that's fine with me,” Mai said to Terry. “Normally, I like kids, but those two give me the creeps, and I wasn't even here when you and Joe fought them.”

“But we can't forget, that they want the Jin Scrolls just like Geese does,” reminded Andy. “I just wish we knew why.”

The four fighters fell silent for a while as they watched the next few matches. Then it was Andy's turn, and as before, the match ended rather quickly with him as the victor. After two more matches, it was then Mai's turn. The busty ninja gave Andy a quick peck on the lips, then jumped into the air and did a forward flip, landing just inside the ropes. She reached down the front of her outfit, pulled out two fans, and brandished one in each hand as she scanned the ring for her opponent. She saw nothing.

“What, is he invisible?” Mai asked out loud to no one in particular. Suddenly, there was a puff of smoke from the opposite end of the ring, and when it cleared, Mai saw a man dressed in a blue and white dogi, a necklace of red beads around his neck. He was armed with a praying staff, and his face was concealed by a large Asian rice hat. But Mai saw the crest on the upper left corner of his tunic, and found herself remembering something her grandfather once told her...

The man raised his head slightly, and though his mouth and nose were concealed by a mask, the light brown eyes opened wide in recognition when he saw Mai Shiranui. Terry, Andy and Joe were watching from the sides, and their mouths dropped open as both Mai and her opponent shouted to each other at the same time: “YOU!”

 

To be continued...