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July 16th, 2003Preshow Sonic the Hedgehog's Locker Room If there was one thing Sonic the Hedgehog hated, it was waiting. To sit, doing nothing...it wasn't in his nature. While other competitors, before their matches, might try to rest, to conserve their energy...Sonic was, as always, a buzz of activity. "I think you're being stupid, Big Blue," muttered Knuckles the Echidna, leaning on the wall of the locker room, watching his companion warm up by running from side to side of the room. "You're not taking this Ken guy seriously, and that's a mistake." "I'll be fine, Knux," breezed Sonic, flipping over into some push-ups, just for the hell of it. "He can't hit what he can't keep up with, right?" The guardian of the Floating Island shook his head again, his dreadlocks flying. "All I'm saying is, you have no way of judging this guy's skill...yeah, Samus beat him last year, but she also beat you, remember?" Narrowing his eyes, Sonic continued his workout. "Blind luck, that's all...now if you'll excuse me, Rad Red, I've got a battle to win." And in his trademark burst of speed, Sonic left the room. Knuckles simply sighed. ---- Ken Masters' Locker Room In the other end of the stadium, Ken Masters was the polar opposite of his opponent. The blond martial artist was standing perfectly still, eyes closed, his breath slow and even. There was an aura of stillness around him. Without warning, the door to his locker room flew open, and a white-clad blur leapt through the entrance, in a mighty flying kick. Ken's eyes flashed open as he spun to the side, blocking the kick and countering with one of his own, which was similarly blocked. Seeing his assailant, the American began to laugh. "Ryu! Shoulda known it was you...you're the only person crazy enough to attack me like that." His former fellow student grinned. "I just came in here for a moment to wish you luck. Be careful, okay? Sonic the Hedgehog isn't to be taken lightly, you know? He'll run circles around you before you even know the match has started." "I know, Ryu...but don't worry. I haven't spent all the past year training for nothing. I think that this Sonic guy shouldn't be that much of a problem...but I'll be careful." "Good. I'd hate to see our Master's teachings not make it out of the first round." "Hey, even if I lose, you'll kick the crap out of that Duke Nukem guy..." Ken laughed again, stretching. "Show him a Hadoken or two, eh Ryu?" Clapping his friend on the shoulder, Ryu grinned confidently. "Something like that, yeah. But that's later. The only thing that matters right now is your match. I'll see you after you win, Ken." The Battle "Speed" is what Ken Masters uttered, while lying on a bed in the medical ward, getting checked out by the staff after his fight. Why he was uttering this word? Because his friend Ryu had asked a question about Sonic the Hedgehog, his opponent in a match that had just taken place a few minutes ago. "That's the only word you need to describe him with. Speed." Ken was still wearing his red karate gi, the one he'd usually worn at an important battle. It had a few rips and tears, a few burn marks...but nothing that couldn't be repaired. What was really damaged more than anything was Ken's pride. Lara Croft was also there visiting Ken. She had befriended him in the days before the tournament. She had trouble making friends, with her not getting along with most of the other women, and most of the other men were always hitting on her. Ken was different. Well not that Ken didn't hit on her, but he was different because she actually enjoyed his attempts, even though they were quite bad. "I'm sorry I missed your match, Kenneth." Lara said, trying to comfort the wounded warrior. "That's okay Lara. It was pretty short...and I doubt even you would have been able to keep your eye on the hedgehog." Ken said, somberly. Lara just snorted. "He can't be that fast. From what I've seen of him-" "You haven't seen enough of him then. He is that fast. Here...let me tell you what happened..." And so Ken began to describe the events of the match to Lara. ---- "It all kind of started out like I expected. Sonic was standing across from me and before the match even began, he was taunting me. I can't remember exactly what he said...it's not important really. Main thing is though, he somehow knew about that red jewel I found the other day, remember that Ryu? Anyway, he gave me a little challenge; he offered that if I could attack him, or just so much as touch him in the first five minutes, he would forfeit the match, and if I couldn't, I would give him the jewel and the match would continue. "So I said to myself, 'Ha. This guys cocky...he's underestimating me and overestimating himself at the same time.' So, I went along with it, figuring I would come away with an easy win. Honestly, how hard could it have been to lay a hand on the little guy? "The announcer announced everything, fans cheered, and all that. I didn't know how many fans I had, until today. I was pretty surprised. Once the match started, I began to charge him. He dodged me easily, but not only that; he made me trip and fall flat on my face...totally embarrassing for me. Right then and there I knew I would have a tough time winning that challenge... "As soon as I got up, he began running around me, trying to taunt me again. He was blowing raspberries at me, making funny faces, all that stupid stuff. The crowd got a real kick out of it as I just stood there. What Sonic didn't realize though was that I never lost him once. I could always see him moving, and could always see where he was going. You've always been saying that I've got good eyes, Ryu. I don't know if he was going slower than normal or not...but, even if I couldn't catch him; at least I could see him. "I knew that if I just stood there and waited, he would give me an opportunity. From what I've seen, Sonic is impatient. All I would've needed was one slip-up. At one point, while trying to taunt me again, he did get very close. This is when a struck. I hit him with a shouryuken, hard. At least that's what I thought for a second, right before he dodged it. The hedgehog saw that attack coming from a mile away. All I could think was 'This guy has done his homework.' "I knew now I wasn't going to be laying any hands, feet, or any kind of body blows to this guy. He was just too fast and even I couldn't contend with that. As undisciplined as Sonic was, I had to wait for him to make a mistake. Time was almost up on the five minutes so I had to hope for a little miracle if I wanted to get that easy win. "Luckily, it came in the big form of that ugly turtle-guy, Bowser. He began saying stuff to Sonic. I can't remember exactly but it was something about Sonic being a little blue rodent. Sonic responded by saying he'd rather be that than a fat, ugly, stupid reptile. Sonic seemed to enjoy it, he was laughing, having a good time. His mistake was that he turned his back to me. As quickly as I could, I fired off a hadouken. You know I don't usually like hitting people in the back...but I was desperate to win. "For a second, I thought I had hit him, again. I even saw his fur get all black from the flames...I was probably seeing things though, because the next moment, I saw him standing next to me, unscathed. He was telling me the five minutes are up. Sonic tried to snatch the jewel from my pocket, but I caught him by the arm. I tossed him as hard as I could, sending him right into the wall. "That was after the five minutes though, so I made good on my word and walked the jewel over to him. He was still shaking his head a little bit trying to recover from hitting the wall. I got a little idea right at that moment. As soon as I threw the Jewel over to him, I attempted a tatsumaki senpuu kyaku. It worked too. He ducked under my first spin but he didn't expect my leg to be coming around again, and I hit him dead on in the face. That sent Sonic flying into the wall again. I know, I know. A little dirty on my part...but hey, can you blame me for wanting to win? "This just seemed to make the little hedgehog angry, however. Next thing I know, I have a speedy little blue line circling around me. It confused the hell out of me; I was having a hard time keeping up with his movements now. He must have been going full-speed or somethin'. He started to hit my with these little kicks and punches, all while spinning around me. Individually, the hits probably wouldn't have hurt badly at all. The guy was kinda scrawny...but he must have hit me almost a hundred times in just a minute. It was ridiculous. I'd be getting hit in the face, and when I'd go to react, I'd be getting hit in the stomach, or the leg... "Sonic most likely hit every part of my body. Needless to say, after he let up, I was reeling. He was across the arena now, and he began shouting stuff at me, again making the whole crowd laugh. Then he was talking about his 'Sonic Spin'? Whatever that was, it didn't sound too intimidating. I immediately changed my mind though when he rolled up into a little ball and began spinning in place; he was revving up and aimed right at me. "I saw another chance, so I took it. Thinking he probably couldn't see too well while rolled up into a ball, I shot another hadouken at him. He dodged that easily enough though and it left me unprepared for when he came flying at me. The little blue hedgehog ball began flying all around me, cutting me up. That's how my gi got all messed up and how I got these cuts all over my body. I did my best to dodge a few of his spin attacks, but when I'd do that another one would be coming at me right away. "The last thing I remember is Sonic flying at me, head first. I tried dodging it but my body just wouldn't respond. It was in too much pain. I take it I was knocked out then...and lost the match." ---- Ken finished his story, still looking disappointed as ever. "Hey man..." Ryu began, attempting to comfort his friend, "don't look so bummed. Anyone would have lost to Sonic. He's just too fast." Ken ran a hand through his long blonde hair, still staring down at his white hospital bed sheets. "I should have been able to at least lay a hand on him. And I lost that jewel...that could have been worth a lot of money back home." "You don't know that." Ryu said, not having seen the jewel at all. "Actually," Lara started, "it looked like a very rare artifact. It was from another dimension after all. Not very often you get to cross dimensional barriers and bring home something valuable, hey?" "Yeah...and...there was just something different about that thing. Like, it had a power...energy, something. " Ken said, looking over at Lara and Ryu, who both seemed a little unconvinced. "Maybe I'm just nuts." Ken then focused his eyes solely on Lara. "Say, Lara...how about, before I have to go back to my dimension and all, that you and I go on that date I've been talking about for a while..." Ken asked, hopefully. "I figure you can comfort my wounds...and I can tell you more about how I kick Ryu's ass all the time." Lara laughed lightly and smiled over at Ken. "I believe you have a nurse to comfort your wounds Kenneth, and I'm sure she'll be delighted to hear all your stories." Lara said, a grin spread across her face as she shot another one of Ken's attempts down. "I have other matters to attend to. I'd like to find out a little more about this "jewel". Maybe there are others treasures here like it." With that sentiment, Lara stood up off her seat and walked slowly out of the hospital ward, Ken and Ryu watching her the whole way. "You know Ken...you really need to work on your lines. 'Comfort your wounds.'?" ---- Over in Sonic's locker room, immediately after the match, Knuckles was there, having a similar discussion that Ken, Ryu, and Lara were having. Knuckles had missed most of the match mainly because he was searching the grounds for more Chaos Emeralds while everyone was watching the match. Sonic was now just giving Knuckles his version of the match. "To be honest, Ken didn't put up much of a fight." Sonic said, still smiling proudly, because of his victory. "The only surprise I got was when Shadow got involved and used his Chaos Control to move me away from the fireball thing. Why he did...I don't know. No one seemed to notice." Knuckles pondered over this, rubbing his chin with his large knuckled hand. So, Shadow wanted Sonic to get the Chaos Emerald...why? Sonic continued with his brief account. "If Shadow hadn't done that, that fireball would have hit me dead on. Other than that, fighting Ken was like fighting crabmeat." This would have surprised Knuckles, had it been anyone but Sonic saying it. "Ken must have put up a decent fight, at least. I've seen him training with that other guy, Ryu." Sonic just shook his head. "Let's put it this way Knuckles: the only interesting part about that match was when I said to him, 'Hey Ken, you would have a better shot of winning if you'd go get Barbie and let her fight for you.'" And that ended Sonic's account of the match. Aftermath The training dummies didn't just break, they shattered. Fists and feet struck out at them from all sides, all possible angles. Yet it was only a pair of each causing this destruction. The sun had yet to rise and light the training area, where a lone man in white practiced hand-to-hand techniques that had taken him years to master. Early morning, when he was the only one in the gym, was the best time to train. Ryu told himself this, but the truth of it was he couldn't sleep. He wasn't exactly angry; he had trained far too well to let such a debilitating emotion take control of him. Nor was he afraid. He was secure in nothing so much as his own prowess as a fighter. He had participated in countless such tournaments, and nothing could surprise him in single combat. Ryu was disturbed. Ryu tightened his sweat-soaked headband and prepared to spar another round with the dummies. Doubts had been crossing his mind since he saw Ken's fight with Sonic. In the space of two days, Ryu had seen as many great martial artists soundly beaten in their first round bouts. And I'm next. No! I'm the only one left. That's all it means. A disturbing thought nonetheless. Ryu saw at least some of Scorpion's impressive performance in the last of these tournaments, and had come to respect the thing's fighting style when it chose not to use its weapon. It may have fought with murderous intent, but it was trained masterfully. And yet it availed the thing little this year. He still couldn't bring himself to think of Scorpion as a "he." Then there was Ken. Ryu and Ken had known each other for what seemed like forever, and their intermittent rivalry had strengthened the bond between them beyond what their friendship could achieve. Ryu knew Ken's mind precisely through every second of that fight. And I wouldn't have been able to beat that hedgehog either. I wasn't just saying that to comfort Ken, he really was too fast. Ryu sucked down mouthfuls of the stale air. A faint smoky scent still filled the room, the only clue to 63 other contestants that Solid Snake also used this same facility. The smell served to remind Ryu of the commando, an opponent he would likely have to face if he could advance to the third round. Reprehensibly dishonorable. He would use any dirty trick he could conceive of to win. He is named well. Are the old ways, the ways men fight with honor, dead here? Everyone else here relies on some crutch: a weapon, magical powers, or some animal gift. In order to emerge victorious in this tournament, would I have to eschew my lifetime of training? Ryu landed an especially vicious blow on the nearest intact dummy, welcoming the pain in his fist as punishment for the direction his thoughts were taking. My chi will be my weapon and my armor. Without honor, victory is empty. "Hadouken!" Ryu shouted, willing the force of his welling frustration into a concentrated attack against another dummy. My spirit shall guide me as far as I deserve. Next Entry Back |