A Fate Worse than Death Ch. 2
By Elaine

Though she didn't like to admit it, Nanase was scared. She had always been an incredibly obedient girl in the past, never rebelling, never talking back...and in the course of 24 hours, she had yelled at her master, ran off from the dojo and stolen his credit cards. A little voice inside her desperately hoped that he wouldn't be p*ssed.

"Now, if only I could find the Street Fighter place..." she muttered to herself, staring at the hastily scribbled down directions on a half torn piece of paper.

It had been a while since Guy had participated in Street Fighting, and his old, tattered invitation from years before brought testimony to that fact. She muttered a few mild curses as she rounded another unfamiliar corner. Tokyo, she had never been a fan of the city. When she had went with her master there to visit friends, she had always felt uncomfortable. Now, even more than ever, she wished to go back to her quiet dojo in the recesses of Okinawa... but now she had a mission...She couldn't back out...

She stopped in front of a decently sized night club and readjusted her belongings. A bag of clothes, her wallet and a long staff decorated with red and gold etchings. This was the place. Loud, blaring music played, echoing out into the streets. A long, winding line issued from the entrance and went around the block. Nanase groaned, there was no way she was gonna wait THAT long to get in. She went up to the bouncer at the front. It was a merry, huge Jamaican with incredibly black skin and very flashy clothes.

"I'm here for...a Street fight..." Nanase said, as loudly as possible.

"Yeah, mon! Just let me see yo invitation, yeah?"

She handed the tattered paper to him. He looked at it and laughed. "Woah, gerl. Dis here invitation is way year old! An' it for a certain Guy...an' I know you ain't him,"

"No, I-I'm his student, can I pleeaaase get in?" She was resorting to pleading already? Nanase mentally slapped herself.

"Guy's student, eh?" The Jamaican stared suspiciously down at her. "Alright den, what style of fighting is what he be teachin', yeah?"

She sighed. "He teaches the Bushin art, or Bushinryuu in a dojo located south of Okinawa," She tapped her staff on the floor in impatience. "Look, my sister, Hokuto came here a while..."

"Hokuto? De gerl wid de fan and sticks?"

"Yeah...didja see her?"

"'Ell Yeah! She wuzza good friend 'ere. Too bad she left...'ave no seen 'er fo a while, yeah. You her sister, then?"

Nanase nodded. "I'm looking for her. She's disappeared,"

"Oh, and lemme guess...this tournament might hold 'em clues to yo sis's mystery?" The bouncer smiled. "Well, I no one to stop you. Here, I show you around, yeah?"

Nanase bowed. "Arigato, this means a lot to me, sir,"

"Ah, I no 'sir' to you, gerl," the bouncer slapped her on the back. "To you, I is Dee Jay now, hear?"

*~*~

A small blonde girl watched from the roof tops of Tokyo. She was wearing a light gray turtle necked leotard and a tie that fluttered in the slight breeze. Her brown, emotionless eyes stared out at the scene unfolding before her. In coolly calculated movements, she put a hand up to her ear and her eyes started to glow a deep gold...

"My Lord, the third sibling has come,"

"Good, Juni..." The voice resounded in her mind.

"What would my Lord wish me to do with her?"

"Let her be for now. I wish to see if her potential is that of her brother and sister first,"

"And if she does?"

"We recruit her," the voice chuckled.

"What if she doesn't?"

"Then we will see, I want you to keep a very close eye on her, Juni..."

"Yes, sir...transmission ending," Her eyes slowly lost their luminescence and she flew into the night, determined to keep watch on the young girl...

*~*~

"An' dis is the fighter's rink," Dee Jay said, pointing to the large barred cage in the middle of the club. "Dis is where you fight yo opponents and beat 'em to a pulp,"

"I see," Nanase glanced at the two in the cage at the moment. They were young, in their mid twenties, and well-muscled.

"Dose..."he pointed at the two. "Dose are beginners, level one fighters. Brawlers at best. No match for da Bushin, yeah?"

"Yeah," Nanase muttered as the two launched themselves at each other. There was no form, it was just two testosterone induced males throwing their weight around.

"You see, dees are da preliminaries. Us betta fighters no have to take part..." He yawned as one fighter emerged victorious. "Da Street Fighten' Competitions 'ave changed alot over da years..."

"I heard. Guy used to tell me how the were incredibly secretive and only the best of the best were allowed to join,"

"Yeah...dat mon is right. Dese days? Riff raff...no rhythm," Dee Jay laughed. "Some of da old fighters got angry and went beatin' on dese new folks tho...so dey separated the tournaments in two, one for dem," he gestured to another two brawlers. "And one for us..."

"So when does the one for us start?"

"Oh, you is new, gerl...so you start with them,"

"What?" Nanase watched as the two new fighters made fools of themselves on stage. "But... I'm not THAT bad!"

"No, if Guy taught you, ain't no way you be bad. But regulation sez newbies fight newbies first, then move on...I can't show you to da next room till ya fight dese guys first..."

"Aw..." She pouted in annoyance. This was consuming her precious time.

"Come on, just for challenge, I throw four in at a time, 'kay?"

"And there's no...way...around this?"

Dee Jay smiled and shook his head. "Sorry, gerl...rules is rules. I gotta go now...sign you up for next round!"

Nanase nodded and sat down on a bar stool. How...frustrating. She didn't want to sound haughty, but these clowns were just wasting her time...and she didn't know if she had a lot to waste. "Ano," she thought to herself, "Maybe if you give a bright enough show, they'll let you progress onto a better level..." Well...then there wasn't anything to do but give them their show.

"Next round..." The announcers voice came over the club's PA system. "Newcomer Nanase against The Gruesome brothers..."

She sighed and walked up to the cage as the announcer started to read out their stats. There, she was met by four large men dressed in one of the most ridiculous costumes she'd ever seen. It took a lot of Bushinryuu control to not laugh at them. She took a few experimental jabs with her stick and smiled as the four men warmed up.

"Fighters get into your positions..."

"Hey, babe!" One of the brothers called out. "Too bad we're gonna have to ruin your pretty face!"

"You sure you don't wanna bail?" yelled another. "We could...head somewhere after this and have a little fun!"

Nanase smiled and bowed. It didn't matter that she didn't know what they meant. "Just humor them and then strike..."

"Ready!" The announcer screamed.

She got into position. The four men spread out onto the other side of the ring.

"Set!"

She took one experimental step towards the men. They growled at her and catcalled.

"FIGHT!!!"

Nanase leaped into action. Normally, she wouldn't have been the first one to initiate a hit, but these people didn't deserve that strategy. She was bored, frustrated and really wanted to get it over with. Threading between the four brothers, she led them into each other. As they gave chase, she fled a tantalizing step behind them circling closer and closer to the center of the ring. As their weak, flimsy battle auras smashed into each other, she leaped a few steps ahead. Then she faced them.

"SANRENKON!"

She flew at them, smashing her staff into the closest mans body three times, throwing him forcefully into his companions.

"TENSHOUKON!"

Lifting them with the staff, she juggled them into the air.

"IZAYOI REKKON!"

She leaped up to meet them in mid-air, spinning her staff and smashing it into them with every spin. She flipped over them and landed, facing the crowds of people watching the match as the battered brothers fell to the ground with a resounding thud.

"WINNER OF THE MATCH: NANASE! PERFECT VICTORY!" The announcer screamed.

"Great job, gerl!" Dee Jay gave her a great bear hug. "You in da big leagues now..."