Chapter 4


Break of Dawn , Hong Kong
High atop the Hong Kong business district on one of the taller buildings, a lone figure sat in a meditative position, paralleling the horizon from which the sun the Far East was famous for was now lazily awakening. Bright beams of light shone and reflected off the toned muscles of this man. Sunlight glistened from his hardened abdomens as the light lifted the shadow from his body revealing the man's remarkable shape. The air's moisture was fresh, as fresh as this man's heightened senses. In this state he could hear the birds sing their softest songs , tree leaves gently stirring from a night's sleep stirring from the cool breeze's gentle touch, not a mechanical sound in the world. Nature at its enlightened the finest. A deep, low breathing emanated from this man's body, or more precisely his 'tan tien' , or lower abdomen. The breathing , slowed and rhythmic started and rose from his tan tien, and the peace would be briefly disturbed by his soft exhaling. As the sun gradually rose, so did he man appearing to stir from his tranquil peace, his head seeming to rise along with the sun revealing this oriental man to be none other than the great Fei Long. This man's 'greatness' was not due to his natural skill but sprang from his involvement with the Hong Kong movie business. Having made eighteen movies since he was 'discovered' in the last Street Fighter tournament, he had starred and co-produced his own movies, some of the martial arts films greats of all time "Fists of Death" , "Game of Fury" and the latest blockbuster which he was awarded the Hong Kong equivalent of the academy award "The Dragon Enters". Life was now a luxury, or more appropriately a bore. Long had it been since he had felt the thrill of physical combat. Fei Long stood up from his meditative position and smiled, the scenery gets more breathtaking everyday he thought. Starting his Kung Fu exercises, with the sound of the Hong Kong harbour heard faintly at the distance awakening.


With his eyes still closed , Fei Long straightened his trousers, and raised each leg flicking vigorously. He repeated this exercise raising his knee higher each time until he felt he had successfully warmed them up. Next he began some vigorous hand movements. At first Fei Long began with slow extensions of the arms , moving onto fast hand thrusting movements, mixing in some circular movements , soon adding torso spins and huge jumping rotations and ending with various acrobatics with many leaps and jumps, combined with lowered spins and circular rotations. Finishing with a handstand combined with a backflip, Fei Long landed into a firm horse stance both arms outstretched into the "Fu" (tiger) position. Fei Long's arms flicked open and suddenly converted his stance into a partial side stance with his lead hand lowered , both hands ready to strike or defend at a moment's notice. Quickly springing into action, Fei Long began a series of sharp, quick kicks and punches, alike to the ones he had performed earlier but with greater fluidity and strength. They combined together effortlessly, as his breathing became louder (but not laboured) reaching a crescendo as Fei Long reached the peak of his exercise, his punches became a flurry, as they powered through the air, the air groaned and exploded, his hands now becoming blurs of frightening power augmented by speed. He finished with a high pitched yell, his right leg shooting straight up far above his head, twisting upper body first soon twirling his body and whipping it around in revolutions faster than the eye can see, his natural energy amplified tenfold causing his leg to catch on fire as it spun through the air, then diffusing as he dropped down to the ground effortlessly, landing in the same position and stance from which he had become.




"I see you haven't lost your touch Si Gung*" Fei Long turned to find his old student Siu Kei with a wry smile spread across his tanned face, jet black hair parted down the sides. He wore a leather jacket concealing an old and recently brought out of inactivity kung-fu uniform. "Room for one more Si Gung?" Fei Long smiled and motioned for the young man to join him. He soon found himself going through the motions of the "10 shadows of Sup Ying Kuen Hung Gar" Kung Fu under the watchful eye of Fei Long. "LUNG!" (dragon) Fei Long called out as his once student struggled to keep up with the movements. "You've gotten rusty, how often do you practice these days?" "once a week" answered a huffing and puffing Siu Kei. "Sare!" (snake) "Si Gung, must you work me so hard? I am nearly out of breath here!" Fei Long frowned and replied "Siu Kei , after all these years , even though I have been... preoccupied, you have still not learned, good kung-fu relies not on the mastery of one particular style, a good martial artist must also learn to adapt with his opponent. Kung Fu is famous for its versatility, especially Hung Gar,

HOK! (crane)". Siu Kei quickly converted his snake fist , twirling his left hand back above his shoulder into a crane beak attempting to impress his teacher but he was clearly exhausted from his workout. "Why must I perform these repetitive drills?! I don't see you doing any of them Mr 'Master of my own style'!" Siu Kei exclaimed before Fei Long swept his legs out from under him "You concentrating more on how you look than your own feet positioning , remember the winner knows exactly where he will land whereas the loser merely guesses , now hurry up and get back into the fundamental position!" Siu Kei picked himself off the ground and began performing the "pow" motions (leopard) "Besides" Fei Long reflected "I have studied many forms of Kung Fu, to become seperate from the classical method and truly express yourself, you must have something to break away FROM!" pulling Siu Kei's overextended leopard punch taking advantage of Siu Kei's bad balance and weight distribution and sweeping his leg out from under him. Catching him before he fell , Fei Long asked his student "You're in pretty poor shape, you should practice more diligently and besides you still haven't explained what you came up here so early about"

* Whoops forgot to mention Si Gung means master, Sifu actually means instructor

After they had cleaned up and warmed down, the two sat on the steps leading up to the rooftop, a sweaty Siu Kei and a relaxed Fei Long. "Things just haven't been the same since you hit the big time , remember the little people!" Fei Long turned and slapped his student's back "You know I haven't had time to teach with the movies and everything, you should have continued practicing even when I'm not around, what are you up to these days anyway?" Siu Kei frowned "Teenagers today only want to learn Kung Fu just to fight, they're all becoming gang members, learning how to fight only helps them to become tougher, I've tried to keep them on track but its no good. They see all those fancy movies like Young and Dangerous , the girls and flashy cars and think its all so easy." Fei Long now fixed his attention solely upon the young teenager seated next to him "you still haven't answered my question", the young man let out a wistful sigh "well you know me si gung , still staying in school, still studying" turning again to Fei Long in a bad western accent "still fighting the good fight" then sighing again "but its a lost cause" Quickly changing the subject "and how about you , you sound more like one of those 'gwai low' now 'preoccupied'? Imagine what 'low yea' (cantonese slang for man) would have said?" letting out a sad but hearty laugh. "don't be disrespectful for Si Tai Gung (Grandmaster) , he brought you in off the streets and cleaned you up, you should be grateful", "you should talk , you sound so much like a Westerner now, ever since John Woo decided to go to Hollywood and take you with him , by the way I saw Broken Target on a pirate Video CD , it wasn't bad, you're still better than that Van Damme guy, oh I nearly forgot why I came up here. I heard there was a new tournament coming up, I'm not sure if its a street fighter or king of fighters one though. Some guy in a suit approached me and asked me to give you this" Siu Kei handed Fei Long a handwritten scroll which he unrolled. It read : 

Fei Long,
          You are noted for your great skill and we have acknowledged you as one
of this world's finest fighters. You have been invited to a contest that ver few
have the honour of participating in. The prestigious Street Fighter World Warrior
tournament. This is unlike any other Street Fighter tournament held in the past. 
We have noted that you are an honourable warrior and will choose to enter, however
if you choose to decline, your life will also be forfeit, a representative will be
dispatched soon to receive your decision and to provide you with further details.

						     Awaiting
							
							D


"Sounds fun doesn't it, who the hell is D?" asked Siu Kei. "Fei Long scrunched up the scroll and tossed it aside. Part of him was furious at such an outrageous offer, another part was curious about this mysterious D person, another partially excited. It HAS been long since I last gauged my skills thought Fei Long , but this is an outrage. Very well thought Fei Long, if they desire my skill then they shall have it. The great Fei Long will not shirk from a challenge!


Note: I had to use Blanka's music since i couldn't find any other Brazilian music :(

Cesar Cassilas loved the sound of the drums. He had often wondered which compelled him more to learn the forbidden art of Capoeira, was it the drums or the graceful, flowing movements. Nevertheless such reflections were put behind him as he stepped out into the crude arena formed by his fellow Brazilian villages. The hot tropical sun burned like any other day, the sun's rays shooting off his waxy charcoal skin, creating a shiny glint. True to Caporeiran tradition, before the bout both fighters would square off and entertain the spectators with dazzling footwork and acrobatics consisting of kicks , backflips, somersaults , cartwheels without the use of hands and many other techniques characteristic of a dance. The same dance that was disguised a martial art by his ancestors, the first capoeirstas many generations ago. He was not just a mere fighter though, he had earned the title of Maestri or teacher given to him by the elders recognizing his profound talent. He finished with a high split kick while standing on one hand being more of an acrobatic than a practical technique these days. The demonstration by both fighters had sparked a frenzy in the crowd and they were now cheering hysterically , eagerly awaiting the fight. Cesar's long dreadlocks flayed in the tropical breeze as he started his 'jinga' , one foot slid back, the other foot forward , again characteristic of a dance. He noticed his opponent adopted a wider jinga swaying his body in wider arcs, his feet traversing more sideways than the traditional capoerista style concluding that this fighter must like larger areas and longer ranges to manuever about, also indicating that this person must be an unorthodox showboat. "Very well santo, enough games we dance!" he taunted. His opponent retorted "you must wish to lose early mon.." Cesar opened quickly throwing two circular roundhouses, using his momentum to slide into a second one easily, baiting his opponent. His opponent grinned ducking them easily unaware that he was being led. Wanting to finish the fight quickly, he flew into the air, jumping straight up and twisting into a spinning double kick , with the front leg twisting out followed by the second in a 270 degree rotation. He was not aware that Cesar had already dropped to the ground anticipating this counterattack and was practically siting down, left leg outstretched. Cesar seemed to be flexing his right leg but true to his movement, he turned his back around as if using his right leg as a spring and coiled his body around smashing into his opponent's legs just as he had landed and sweeping both legs out from under him.

Cesar backflipped away raising his arms and rallying the support of the crowd. While his opponent recovered he performed two other flips, then readied himself again. 'santo' growled and got back onto his feet retaliating immediately, this time Cesar was the one to be fooled as the younger man flashed out his right foot in a crescent motion, but converted his attack into a cartwheel, both heels ramming into Cesar's chin. This time he would not let his guard down , Cesar jumped forward twisting his body in the air, and landed in a flipping axe-kick like manuever catching the other fighter by surprise. The fighter nicknamed 'santo' at the beginning of the fight dodged the blow barely however, and responded with one of his own, hook kicking cesar lowering him down onto his knees, then lifting himself up on both hands , ducked down and kicked backwards with both legs , catching Cesar squarely in the chest knocking him down to the ground. This time it was the showboat's turn to showoff, imitating Cesar's jinga and flaying his legs about mock uncoordinately. Cesar growled in anger and jumped up off the ground, this time 'santo' attacked attempting an outside to inside crescent but instead of dodging the blow, Cesar blocked it with his hands and dealt two double punches to his opponent's chest, followed by a high kick to the head and ending with a spectacular manuever, twisting into the air with high flying 360 degree kicks, and landing on one hand still using his circularl momentum to complete a 360 degree sweeping arc on the ground with the support of both hands, each one lifting up so the leg could fly past, and sending his unconcscious opponent crashing to the ground.

Cesar threw his head back in victory and flipping his long dreadlocks backwards crying out in victory. The drums became louder as the crowd cheered faster until the fight officially ended and the crowd has dispersed. One member however chose to stay behind. She was unusual looking because she had incredibly long legs, with already noticeable powerful thighs, her hair was white even though she was in her early 20's and was of African origin. "Your style is unusual, unlike any others I have seen, most capoeristas I have witnessed do not use their hands in a fight like you do" , Cesar turned to face the crowd spectator "It was a street fight, not traditional besides I think it foolish to sway my hands blindly not taking advantage of them, when they could help me fight chica?" "Elena, I have come to you because I am an admirer of your skill, you are different from the rest, but I can not muster the strength to perform the handstand techniques that you are famous for since I have a particulaly weak upper body. Fortunately I have more powerful legs and I have come to you for tutelage, maestri. Will you accept me?" Cesar threw his head back whiipping his dark brown dreads violently backwards and let out a hearty laugh "Chica, I am not as they say , one hundred percent brazilian , my mother was a britisher so yo can say that I am gifted with some western insight, but enough talk, my moqueca is very good tonight (seafood cooked in coconut milk and palm oil) Cesar turned around and cuffed his feet together with his arm extended doing his best British noble impression "may I have the pleasure of your company madam?" with a wide cheesy grin on his face Elena smiled back slowly "yes.. I would like that... maestri"

Cesar's small hut on the border of the Amazon Rainforest where Cesar and Elena are dining together, enjoying each other's company with occasional flirting from Cesar

"Yes like Karate and all the others , Capoeira also has a long history, it goes back to when the first slaves were brought over from Africa. Many warriors worshipped Ogun, the African god of war or vengeance. His symbol was a dagger stained with blood , and the warriors became great fighters with this weapon , but in the Americas they were usually no match for the hired gunmen of the plantations who often armed themselves with pistols and rifles. Later slaves were forbidden to carry any weapons , so they had to learn to fight empty-handed"

"Empty handed!" Elena exclaimed "Thats what Karate means in Japanese. They were forbidden to carry weapons so they learned empty hand techniques to defend themselves!"

"Yes Yes" contiuned Cesar with a little annoyance "you see, in order to practice their moves under their captors' noses, the slaves turned Capoeira into a kind of dance. Dance is the heart and soul of Brazil. The authorities could never forbid dancing even then, today Capoeira is carried on as an art form"

"Oh by the way I have something for you" , Elena reached down into her pouch and pulled out a small yellow and white envelope watching with curiousity as Cesar opened it and read the first few line "you have been invited". His face soon turned from curiousity to rage, scrunching up scrunching up the invitation in anger and throwing it out the window. "Is this how you repay my hospitality!!" screamed Cesar, kicking the table and overturning all of its contents onto the floor. "Who do you work for?!!!"

Elena calmly stood her ground and replied "I do not work for anyone , I was merely asked to present it to you maestri, the man did not say who he was or who he worked for but he when he grinned when he handed that to me, it gave me an uneasy feeling"

"What did this man look like , I will skin him alive!" roared Cesar

"Please calm yourself Maestri, I will explain" replied Elena "He wore a wicked sneer on his face, his hair shot up in a red mane, he was muscular but what was unusual was that his hands were bandaged up even and he held them like cat's paws. What struck me as unusual was that, they didn't seem to be bandaged because of wounds or injuries"

Osaka , Japan


One lone figure stood out like a sore thumb in the city of Osaka, STILL wearing a traidtional Karate Gi, wherever he went he attracted attention from everyone. A group of school girls, ran past giggling and whispering "he does look rather cute with the head band doesn't he? hehehe" "he's cute but he should so something about that hair" When Ryu turned towards them, they giggled and ran away. Ryu shook his head wondering if he'll ever understand schoolgirl mentality and continued on looking for his friend Guy. He had not seen Guy for a long time since the 'alpha' tournaments a while back. Ryu wondered how his friend was doing, he had supposedly settled down , much like Ryu was contemplating these days. He turned and walked down a quieter side of the city where the large tall corporate structures of the modern world gave way to the more mundane , plain apartment buildings. Completely lost, Ryu stood in them middle of the street scratching his head and wondering what to do. Suddenly he felt an unseen but familiar presence somewhere nearby. Ryu spun around defensively "Aku-! eh?"

Only to find a small schoolgirl standing in the middle of the street facing him intensely. "Ryu why won't you be my teacher?" she asked "ah" Ryu said with a sigh of relief "Its only you Sakura , why do you still insist on following me around? I'm not a master yet I'm still learning. Please if you want to learn there are many martial arts schools around I have to go see my friend now so long" Ryu turned and started to walk away, there was something odd about her this time around , usually she'd be totally ecstatic and hyperactive around him , kind of like a scatterbrained kid sister that he never had. She seemed really angry this time around "Why!!!! Answer my question!" Ryu stopped "I'm sorry I just can't take you on right now" Ryu said without turning around. "IS IT BECAUSE YOU'RE SCARED OF ME!! THAT PERHAPS I AM BETTER THAN YOU ARE?!!!" "What?! don't be stupid I am- wha?" "SHAKUNETSU HADOUKEN!!!"

Ryu jumped out of the way as the red fireball flew past him barely missing by mere millimetres. "What the hell are- where did you learn that!!" "Now I'll show you what I've learned by myself!!" Ryu realized he'd left himself completely open as Sakura ran towards him at a speed that she was nowhere capable of. "Messatsu Go Shoryuken!!" Sakura screamed unnaturally as Ryu put up his hands in a desperate attempt to shield himself far too late.

Coming next time : RYU VS SAKURA!! Comments? Criticisms? Guess who that guy with the red hair, weird grin and bandaged hands was? :) Who will win between Ryu and Sakura?
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