Path of the Warrior Ch. 10
By Shadow Ryu

The pressure on Ryu's throat was agonizing. As he looked up, Ryu could see his opponent's face, with a wide grin from ear to ear, as he gazed down at him. The fighter said something in his native language that did not sound very complimentary as he proceeded to push down harder with his foot, causing Ryu to make an awful choking sound. When he did so, something in Ryu snapped. Suddenly, the intimidation of the crowd didn't matter to him anymore; his case of stage fright disappeared and the concentration he normally had during a fight kicked in.

In a sudden instant that took his opponent by complete surprise, Ryu rolled backward, wrapping both of his legs around the leg his opponent was using to choke him with. He managed to get the foot off his throat, throwing his opponent off balance at the same time and making him fall forward on his face. With a swift movement, Ryu tried to lock his opponent's ankle into a painful position in an attempt to make his opponent give up. His opponent, after a cry of pain, managed to roll over and kick Ryu in the face, making him let go of his grip. The Thai fighter, slightly shocked at the turn of events, backed away when he got to his feet. Ryu, meanwhile, stood up with a completely different look as he stared down his opponent, calmly settling down into his regular fighting stance. Suddenly, Ryu was all business; the crowd, which was louder than ever, was not getting to him at all.

When his opponent moved forward, Ryu counter attacked with superb precision, kicking him in the stomach, then dashing forward with a side kick to his side. The Thai fighter fell to his knees and managed to retain his footing well enough to push Ryu backward when he tried to move in. The Thai fighter then attempted a hard, straight punch to the face, but Ryu countered by ducking it, simultaneously throwing an overhead punch of his own. Ryu's fist impacted hard with its target's face. The blow stunned the Thai fighter, making him wobble backward a few steps. Ryu, noticing the opening, took a quick shuffle step forward and threw a powerful side kick into his stomach, sending him flying into the air, making him fall out of the ring completely. Having all the air knocked out of him, his opponent tried to struggle to his feet but finally collapsed to the ground after a few seconds of trying.

Just like that, Ryu had turned near defeat to victory. When the fight officially came to a close, Narin jumped up from his seat and cheered wildly, while a look of relief was etched on Rose's face. Ryu, himself, could not hear the crowd cheering him. Instead, he continued to hold his fighting stance, staring fiercely at his fallen opponent. It took him about half a minute to finally come to his senses. When he did, he walked out of the ring quietly without fanfare.

"Ryu!" said a voice from behind him. Ryu turned to see it was Izzy who was trying to catch up to him.

Ryu acknowledged him, sweat dripping from his forehead. "I didn't do very well out there," he said regretfully.

"Nah, you did great, man," Izzy told him. "Looked a little nervous there at first, but looks like you got over it quickly." As Izzy congratulated him by shaking his hand, Rose and Narin came up from behind him. Narin grabbed him by his uniform, getting his attention.

"You had me worried for a while there," Rose said, getting Ryu's attention. "What happened to you?"

Ryu rubbed his head. "I don't know. I just couldn't concentrate. But when he was standing on me, I just suddenly felt something. I just suddenly felt urgently that I could not lose. I didn't want to lose." Ryu stopped rubbing his head and tried to take a deep breath. "I couldn't let myself lose."

Rose smiled. "Well, don't lose that focus. After all, if you get into a critical situation like that again, you'll have me on the edge of my seat. You even had Narin worried here for a minute."

Narin looked over at Rose suddenly, then turned to Ryu, shaking his head. "I wasn't worried!" Narin lied excitedly. "Not for a minute. I knew Ryu would pull through!"

Rose laughed at the young boy's attempts. "If you say so."

"You did alright, man," Izzy assured Ryu. "You've got some deadly power in your strikes. You put your guy down a lot faster than I put mine down, that's for sure."

"I'll have to be better the next round," Ryu admitted to him.

"You won't be as nervous during the next round, I'll bet. Nothing to worry about." Ryu nodded. It was quite true in fact. Now that he had gotten through his first fight, he felt as though a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Ryu," Rose said, pulling him aside. "Can I talk to you for a second."

"Sure," Ryu responded.

When Rose had him far enough away from Narin and Izzy, she pointed over toward the bleachers. "Looks like an old friend is in the building," Rose told him. "Look at the first row of seats across the room, to the left of you."

Ryu obeyed and looked over to where she suggested. Sitting and looking at the action was Mr. Black, the man responsible for the carnage at Thuy's restaurant, sitting right next to a tall, handsome, blonde man in a sleek, blue suit. His presence angered Ryu slightly. This man, after all, was the reason he was here. He was the reason Thuy and Narin were being put through their hardship.

"Should I be concerned about him?" Ryu asked her, looking straight into Mr. Black's eyes, which were hidden behind dark sunglasses. It was hard to tell if Mr. Black returned the stare.

"I have a bad feeling," Rose said. "We'd best be on our toes I think."

*****

The day began to progress more swiftly after Ryu's first fight. The rest of the first round fights took place and most ended quickly. Ryu went back to studying the fighters that were his possible opponents later on in the tournament, formulating strategies to employ and looking for weaknesses to exploit. He felt more at ease with himself now; the nervousness had disappeared. In fact, he was now looking forward to his second round fight.

The final fight in the first round ended up being the one to watch that Ryu wanted to see the most. The Muay Thai fighter with an odd coloured mohawk hair style walked up to the ring, garnering a lot of attention from the crowd. This was the man who mocked him at Thuy's restaurant and exchanged glares with him when he registered for the tournament. Ryu was greatly interested in seeing what skills this man possessed.

Adon, unaware of Ryu's interest, entered the ring full of arrogance. Raising his hands into the air, he called upon the crowd to cheer his name, and they followed his lead. Having the reputation as the Emperor of Muay Thai's top student, the audience knew he would be a force to be reckoned with, and one that would be entertaining to watch. As the crowd expressed their enthusiasm for Adon, his teacher Sagat hid himself beside the bleachers away from the crowd's view. Sagat was clearly unimpressed with Adon's antics. In fact, the Muay Thai master was a bit angered by his student's cocky behaviour.

The fight itself was never in question. Adon's opponent, another Muay Thai boxer who looked very young with red hair, was obviously not in his league. The fight started with Adon kicking the youngster in the thigh, unceremoniously dropping him on his posterior. Adon laughed like a hyena at his weaker competitor as he tried to stagger back to his feet. When his opponent finally picked himself up off the floor, Adon stopped laughing and jumped backward into the air. Without warning, he defied gravity and shot down in the opposite direction, sticking his leg straight out in front of him. He moved downward with tremendous velocity and impacted with his opponent's chest. The red-haired fighter fell out of the ring and did not move.

The crowd roared its approval at the fantastic move.

"That's some funky s***, man," Izzy remarked about the move to Ryu as medical staff rushed to the aid of the red-haired youngster.

Ryu nodded as he tried to play back the move Adon performed in his mind, trying to figure out a possible countermove. Adon, meanwhile, took his time getting out of the ring, savouring his victory as if he had already won the entire tournament.

"Man, that attitude really gets to me," Izzy said. "That's how Ken acts when he wins. He really rubs it in, you know? Scary thing is, this guy is twice as bad as Ken is."

Ryu, remembering his long years of training with Ken, agreed with him. At the same time, it was a weak opponent that Adon had beaten, and Ryu found himself craving the opportunity to present him with a greater challenge.

*****

"He looks very good, Mr. Vega," Mr. Black said to the man sitting next to him. "I'm sure he'll fit into your plans well since Sagat would not offer his services."

"Apparently so," Vega said, letting out a sigh of boredom. "My boss will be happy. He's looking for people of great ability to help lead his growing organization. Adon looks like he certainly has the character for the job." Vega certainly admired Adon's arrogant attitude since it reminded him so much of himself. Although, Vega knew that he was much more handsome and graceful than the rugged Thai fighter. Not that it really mattered. This whole tournament, in fact, did not interest him in the least. He was only there for business. For the better part of the day, he had simply wished he was somewhere better.

"If Adon manages to win this tournament, and if he wins it convincingly, he will also gain himself a reputation that your boss will be able to use to his advantage. It should be easy enough to get him on your side. I have it on good word that Adon is having problems with Sagat. With your master's lead, I'm sure he can lead him against his teacher with the promise of becoming the King of Muay Thai. I have already had a talk to him about that possibility."

"Just make sure he wins the tournament," Vega said, uninterested in Mr. Black's rambling. "That's all that matters right now. If he does not win, I'm afraid our organization will not be interested. We don't settle for anything less than the best."

"Count on his victory, Mr. Vega," Mr. Black told him confidently. "Count on it."

Vega smirked at this guarantee. He knew from experience that there was no such thing as guarantees in the world he worked in.

"Are you staying to watch the fights?"

"No," Vega said. "I have better things to do than watch this nonsense. I have other business to tend to. I will return for the finals to talk to your champion, Mr. Black. Since you seem so sure he will win."

"Have a good time, sir," Mr. Black said, offering a handshake.

Vega stood up, ignoring his hand, and walked away in a graceful manner. Mr. Black watched him walk away, knowing that he could not trust him or his mysterious master. However, he knew very well that this organization, which was building up steam in the underground world, could help him expand his wealth. He was certainly willing to take the risk.

As Vega left his sight, he turned to see one of his men, Crackerjack, walking toward his seat from the other side.

"How goes the competition so far." Mr. Black asked him as his employee sat down in the seat that was occupied by Vega.

"Birdie won his first fight," ‘Jack said to Mr. Black as he watched the competition go on. "But there's something else you might want to know about." ‘Jack pointed over at Ryu, who was stretching his legs out in preparation for his next fight. "It's that guy, from that restaurant that fought us . . . he's entered into the tournament too."

Mr. Black took a careful look through his glasses at the karate fighter. "Really," he remarked. He did not seem too enthusiastic about Ryu's presence and also felt a little foolish that he hadn't noticed the white- uniformed warrior before ‘Jack pointed him out.

"Is he going to be a problem, sir?"

"No. Not yet," Mr. Black stated, adjusting his glasses. "Keep me informed on his progress throughout the day."

"Yes, sir." ‘Jack obeyed.

"For his own sake, this boy better hope he stays out of our way."