Fatal Fury Fan Fiction ❯ Fatal Fury - The Vengeful Spirits ❯ Chapter Thirteen - King of Fighters Part Two ( Chapter 14 )

[ 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.

Chapter Thirteen: King of Fighters, Part Two

 

If Mai was startled to see her opponent, then outside of the ring, the expressions of Andy, Terry and Joe were completely poleaxed. “Do you know who that is?” Terry whispered to Andy.

“No,” said Andy, who was now watching the ring more closely than before. “Master Hanzo mentioned a few times that the Shiranui had some rival clans, but he didn't talk too much about them, since they hadn't been openly hostile in a long time. At this point, I know as much as you do.”

Terry gritted his teeth. “So we watch and listen, for now.”

“Right,” said Andy. And hope that will be enough, he then thought silently.

Mai's initial shock subsided quickly, as she remembered that she was in the middle of a match. She shook her head and looked again at the crest on her opponent's dogi. “That crest,” she said, pointing to it with her fan. “You're a Mochizuki, aren't you?”

“Mochizuki-Sokaku,” the man said with a slight bow of his head. He began to circle left, shifting his praying staff carefully from one hand to the other. “And you must be Shiranui-Hanzo's granddaughter.”

Mai moved to the left as well, fans raised in a defensive stance. “Yes. Shiranui-Mai. So... the Mochizuki clan, huh? My grandfather didn't talk about you much, since you guys had been keeping to yourselves since before I was born. But it was clear he didn't like you.”

“The feeling was mutual,” said Sokaku. “But if it is not too late, I would like to express my condolences for your recent loss. I did at least respect Hanzo as a warrior, and an adversary. I just wish I could say the same for his heiress.”

Mai scowled. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Sokaku gestured with the circular headpiece of his praying staff at Mai's outfit. “Well, it's obvious that your elders never taught you any modesty.”

“Hey!” Mai scoffed. “This happens to be the traditional uniform for a kunoichi of the Shiranui clan!”

“I suppose that's why I've never found it referenced in any of my studies of the Mochizuki clan's records dating back to when the feud started,” Sokaku fired back.

The vein in Mai's temple started to throb a little. “I can see why Ojisama didn't like you. You think you know everything! What would you know about another clan's traditions?”

Mai angrily launched one of her fans at Sokaku. Sokaku gripped the handle of his praying staff in both hands and turned it like he were turning a knob. A sudden burst of air emanated from the staff's headpiece, blowing the fan back towards Mai. The kunoichi was momentarily startled, but managed to catch the fan before it would have struck her in the face.

Sokaku then lunged at her, swinging his staff in a half-moon circle above his head, which generated a sudden burst of flame that shot towards Mai. Mai leaped to one side, dodging it, then quickly did a cartwheel forward. As she completed the cartwheel, she crouched for a split second and then launched herself elbow-first at her opponent. She struck him in the ribs and he slid back a few feet, but was still standing.

Mai then jumped forward with a flying kick, which Sokaku deflected with another half-moon swing of the staff, creating a halo of fire in front of him. The sole of Mai's foot touched the handle of his staff, and she used the purchase to do a backwards somersault jump, getting away before the flames could burn her too badly.

“I see you Mochizukis play with fire, too,” Mai remarked. “I'm willing to bet Shiranui fire is even hotter, though.” Mai flung three fans in rapid succession, each one ablaze with psychokinetic flame. Sokaku managed to dispel two with his staff, but the third one caught him in the solar plexus, momentarily engulfing him in chi fire.

Mai pulled another fan from the front of her gi and chuckled at her opponent. “Did that hurt, Sokaku-san? Want to stop the match, so you can go find your mommy to kiss it and make it better?”

Sokaku regained his feet and brandished his staff menacingly. “I can see another lesson Hanzo failed to teach you: how to listen more and speak less!” He came at her again, this time swinging his staff underhanded. Mai leaped backwards, for a moment balancing her feet on the ropes of the ring, then she jumped forward into another flying kick. This time her foot caught Sokaku on the shoulder, and she did another forward flip to land on the opposite end of the ring, facing him. She threw the fan she was holding and managed to catch him in the small of his back. The Mochizuki ninja was knocked forward against the ropes, but managed to right himself without falling down.

He raised his head slightly as he turned once more to face Mai, and the ninja girl saw cold fire in his amber eyes. “You are fast, girl,” he snapped. “But you are facing a man who is so swift, he can be in several places at once.” He once more gripped his staff with both hands, the left one resting just under the circular headpiece, and bowed his head as if concentrating. A few seconds later, a half-dozen impish figures, each a foot in height and bearing the likeness of Sokaku, materialized on the canvas in front of him and then jumped at Mai.

By the time Mai had pulled out another fan, the imps were swarming over her, attaching themselves to her body and battering her with their fists. Despite their small size, they definitely packed a punch. Mai staggered backwards, swatting at them with her fan, but she did not seem to be hurting them as much as they were hurting her. So she took a deep breath, using a second to focus, and then launched into a Ryu En Bou. Her spinning attack shook the imps from her and hurled them in all directions. They vanished in puffs of smoke upon hitting the ground.

Breathing hard, Mai turned to face her opponent again, but Sokaku still had his head bowed, both hands gripping his staff handle, which was held vertical in front of him. He sounded like he was chanting a sutra.

Mai started towards him, but then stopped her advance when she saw her opponent start to shimmer slightly. Then, it was as if a mirror image of Sokaku were suddenly standing next to the original, also brandishing a praying staff. The image came at Mai, moving extremely fast. Mai did her best to deflect the attacks but she was struck several times, as his speed proved to be too much for the normally fast and agile ninja girl. She jumped backwards to try and put distance between her and Sokaku's shadow, but suddenly it was as if he were standing behind her. He swung his staff horizontally, and caught her in the back, sending her flying towards the ropes.

Sokaku stopped praying, and the mirror image of him suddenly vanished. Mai stood there with one hand against the ropes, trying to catch her breath, and stared incredulously at her opponent. Sokaku raised his head, and though the bottom half of his face was still covered, Mai could swear he was smirking with triumph. He raised his staff and started towards her.

Mai's large brown eyes remained locked on Sokaku, staring at him as intently as he was staring at her. His last attack had taken a lot out of her. If he tried any other tricks like those, Mai was uncertain how much longer she would be able to defend against him...

Then she saw his eyes flick away from her, in the direction of something else, something... was it behind her? There was no time to figure that out now. For whatever reason, her opponent had looked away, and Mai's instincts took over. She summoned as much chi as she could and did a forward cartwheel, then flung herself towards Sokaku with her Chou Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi attack, her body engulfed in psychokinetic fire.

Sokaku looked back to her and swung his staff as she got close, but he swung too soon, missing her completely. Mai's elbow struck him dead center after he had completed the swing, and he flew backwards several yards, hitting the canvas hard. He lay there on his back, not moving, tendrils of smoke rising from his body.

For a few minutes, the crowd went insane, but Mai was too distracted by her own dark thoughts to soak up their adoration. She felt like her last attack shouldn't have connected. And her opponent was a Mochizuki. He wouldn't have just let her win. What was going on?

After a minute, Sokaku got to his feet, picked up his staff and his rice hat, bowed to Mai Shiranui, and left the ring. Mai was still too deep in thought to bow back. After another moment, she turned and left the ring to make her way back to Andy and the others.

Even though Mai had won, Andy Bogard could see right away that something was wrong. If the look on her face wasn't enough to tell him that she was troubled by something, the fact that she had not ended the fight with her signature taunt of Nippon ichi! would have definitely tipped him off. Mai left the ring without saying a word, making a brief stop at one of the coolers to grab a bottle of water before rejoining Andy.

“What's wrong?” Andy asked as Mai moved up alongside him.

“Something felt off about that fight,” said Mai after taking a long drink from the bottle. “For a while, we were evenly matched, until he broke out the spirit moves, which is when I started losing ground. He clearly had the edge towards the end. I feel like I should have lost.”

“Who was that, anyway?” Terry asked. “You seemed to know him.”

“I never met him before today, but I knew of him. He's a member of a rival ninja clan, the Mochizukis. Our families haven't been openly hostile to each other since before the second World War, but there's still no love between us. So he definitely wouldn't have let me win without a very good reason.”

“He was off right before you hit him with that final attack,” said Joe. “We all noticed that from down here. He swung way too early. That's a beginner's mistake, and he didn't seem like a beginner.”

Mai nodded grimly. “Right before that, he was looking right into my eyes. Then he seemed to look away... past me... at something in the stands, maybe? I don't know, I didn't turn my head to see what he was looking at. But right after he looked away, the fight went out of him.”

“You think he threw that match?” Terry wondered as he rubbed his chin. “Why would he do that?”

“That's an excellent question,” said Mai. “And the answer is: I have no idea.”

Joe tapped Terry on the shoulder, then. “Looks like Mary wants to talk to us,” he said, pointing to the barriers.

Mary did not waste any time. As soon the four were within earshot, she said: “I saw most of that fight. If that guy didn't lose on purpose, I'll eat my jacket.”

“Mai feels the same way,” said Terry. “We were just trying to figure out why.”

“Well, I saw Billy Kane whispering to that guy right before the tournament started,” Mary told them. “That could have something to do with it.”

Suddenly, Joe snapped his fingers. “I just remembered something! When I was looking at the boards earlier, I noticed that whoever won this match would go on to fight Andy in a few rounds.”

“So Billy wanted me and Mai to be in the ring at the same time,” said Andy.

“Whatever Geese has planned, that's probably when he'll make his move,” said Terry.

“Except I went over every inch of the upper levels,” Mary reminded them. “They're deserted.”

“And you can't think of anywhere else someone might launch an attack?” Joe asked her.

“Not yet,” answered Mary. “I'll keep working on it, see if I can remember anything else in the schematics that was unusual.”

For a while, they were all silent. Then Andy looked at the expression on his brother's face, could tell what Terry was thinking. Andy was thinking the same thing, but he understood why Terry didn't want to say it out loud. Finally, Andy spoke up: “Look, Terry, we all know what the best plan is. Let me and Mai fight each other like we're supposed to. The rest of you keep your eyes open for Billy or anyone else who looks suspicious, and try to stop them before anything happens. Then maybe we can get some answers from them.”

“Are you both sure you're okay with that?” Terry asked him. “Because you would be the ones directly in harm's way.”

“Hm...” Andy thought for a moment, then put his arm around Mai's waist. “Are you nervous about this plan?” He asked her.

Mai flashed him a coy smile. “The real question is: are you?”

Andy smiled back at her. Then he said to Terry: “We're on board with it.”

“I'll watch the fight from higher up in the stands, and come down the second I spot something,” said Mary.

“Right,” said Joe. “So I guess Terry and I will watch the crowds from down here.”

Terry nodded, though the other four all noticed the apprehension still in his eyes. “Okay. Well, it sounds like we all know what to do. Andy, you and Mai better get back to ringside, you'll be up in a few rounds.”

Andy nodded, clapped his older brother on the shoulder. “Good luck,” he said.

“You too,” Terry responded. As Andy and Mai walked back towards the ring, Joe couldn't help but notice the way that Terry's blue eyes lingered on both of them.

“Terry, it'll be okay,” Joe told his friend. “We've been in worse situations than this.” Joe almost made another comment about how they had survived those situations, but he stopped himself, since the look on Terry's face suggested that images of Lily were probably racing through his mind.

Mary reached over the barrier, put his hand on Terry's shoulder. “Hey, you sure you're okay with this?”

Terry turned, then gazed into her green eyes for a long moment. “Andy and Mai volunteered for it,” he finally told her. “Like you said, we're all here because we choose to be.”

Terry's tone was not convincing at all, but the detective simply nodded, and then started towards the stands again. Terry watched her disappear into the crowds, then turned his attention back towards the ring. Terry was thinking about Lily, but at the same time, the images of her death flashing over and over in his mind were inter-cut with something else: images of his dream from last night.

When it was finally Andy and Mai's turn to fight, there was a long moment after the announcer had signaled the start of the match where the two of them just stood there and stared each other down.

“This feels kind of weird, Andy,” Mai told him as she pulled a pair of fans out from inside her uniform.

“How so?” Andy Bogard asked her.

“I'm used to us being on a team,” said Mai. “I think this is the first time we've ever fought each other outside of a practice match at the dojo.”

“Technically, we are still on a team,” Andy said with a shrug. “By fighting one another, we're helping Terry and the others uncover a potential plot, and maybe get a clue as to where to find Geese.”

“Helping them by fighting each other... And you don't think that sounds weird?” Mai asked. “I think it sounds weird.”

“What's weird to me is facing my girlfriend outside of practice,” said Andy as he assumed his stance. “Because I've never actually wanted to fight you like I want to fight Terry. I mean, what do I do? Do I fight you for real? Do I hold back?”

Mai's expression grew serious as she took up her own stance. “I expect you to handle this fight like you do all your fights, Andy: come at me with everything you've got, because that's what I'll be doing to you. If I find out you're pulling your punches, then you'll be sleeping with yourself tonight.”

Andy came at her then, fists and feet a blur. Mai deflected his blows while trying to get in some herself, which Andy deflected just as easily as she did his attacks. Having sparred together since they were kids, each had a good idea of the others' style. Mai delivered a high kick which Andy ducked, and then he countered with his rising dragon punch, the Sho Ryu Dan. Mai did a flip backwards to avoid it and landed on the opposite end of the ring.

“Now that's what I'm talking about, Andy!” She said excitedly as she opened one of her fans and waved it at her face to try and cool herself off. The look in her brown eyes then seemed to change suddenly. “You know, Andy, you look really handsome right now,” she purred. “You're actually getting me a little wet. When we get back to the room tonight, I think I'll rip your clothes off with my teeth!”

Andy blinked, for a moment distracted by that mental image, and Mai used the distraction to launch a fan which Andy just barely caught in time.”Okay, now you're not fighting fair!” He said as he tossed the fan back to her.

“No, Andy,” Mai said with a shrug. “I'm fighting like a kunoichi. I did things like this all the time when we sparred as teenagers.”

Andy's brow furrowed for a moment. “I don't remember that.”

Mai giggled. “Because you spent so much time studying grandfather's lessons, you still hadn't learned what flirting was.” Smirking, Mai leaped at him and went into a flying kick. Andy dodged it and tried to counter with a hit of his own, not pulling his punches.

Down by the barriers, Joe Higashi took a moment to stop crowd-watching in order to glance at the ring. “I've never seen those two actually fight each other for real before,” he said to Terry. “I gotta admit: it's impressive to watch.”

“Stay focused,” Terry said as he scanned the crowd for any hint of red and blue. “They're counting on us, remember?”

“Right,” Joe said with a nod. He and Terry then continued to circle the ring, looking out at the stands for anything suspicious. So far, they had not found anything. Billy Kane stood out pretty easily in a crowd, but they hadn't seen him yet. As they reached the corner where two barriers intersected, they were met by Mary, who was holding her binoculars and looking annoyed.

“We haven't seen Billy or anyone else who looks suspicious,” Joe told her.

“I just saw Billy leave the stadium arena,” said Mary. “That's why I came down. I noticed that he wasn't heading in the direction of either of the stairways to the upper levels. Then I remembered something: There's a ramp that leads underneath the ring, but it's been sealed off for a few years.”

“You're sure?” Joe asked her.

“Positive,” Mary said with a nod. “I looked the whole building over when I first got this assignment. The entrance to that ramp is sealed by a wall of concrete and cinder blocks at least five feet thick.”

“And there's no other ways down there?” Said Terry.

“None that I found on the schematics,” Mary answered with a shake of her head. “But I still feel like we should check it out.”

“Me, too,” agreed Terry. “Joe, are you feeling up to coming with us? You took quite a hit not too long ago.”

Joe shrugged. “I've had worse, remember? Let's do it!” The two friends jumped the barrier, and let Mary lead them out of the seating area towards the ramp-way entrance.

 

Inside the ring, Mai risked taking her eyes off Andy for a moment, saw that Terry, Joe, and Mary were leaving. Andy took that moment to lunge with a Zan-Ei-Ken, which Mai almost didn't dodge.

“Mary's leading Terry and Joe out of the stadium arena,” Mai noted.

“That probably means that they've found something,” said Andy. “Let's keep this going so that they can do their job.” Andy then launched a strong jab at her, which Mai ducked. She then countered with a crouching roundhouse kick, catching Andy in the shins. He leaped back a few feet, hands raised defensively.

Behind her boyfriend, just outside the ropes, Mai noticed the Jin brothers standing there. The one in blue seemed to be looking down at the floor, but the one in red was watching the match closely. For a moment, her large brown eyes met Chonshu's black eyes, and Mai shuddered, forced herself to look away. She was so distracted that Andy managed to get close enough to throw her.

Mai landed on her backside on the canvas and did a quick handspring to her feet. Andy started at her, but then noticed the odd look on her face. “Everything okay, Mai?” He asked, stopping warily.

“I think so,” said Mai. “I just... don't like the fact that Chonrei and Chonshu are watching us. Something about their eyes creeps me out. They... seem like the eyes of someone who's already lived a whole lifetime. But that can't be, because they're kids.”

Andy nodded. “Well, whatever is going to happen, it probably won't be from them. They hate Geese as much as I do.” He then extended a hand to her, gestured with his fingers. “Now then... don't tell me you're finished already?”

“Not even close,” Mai said with a laugh as she launched herself at him feet-first.

They arrived at the entrance to the ramp to find that no guard was posted, and also that a hole had somehow been blasted through the barrier. Terry, Joe and Mary looked at one another without speaking, but each could tell what the others were thinking. Given the lack of debris, the hole had most likely been made by chi energy.

“Guess it's no longer sealed,” said Joe.

“Which means someone is down there,” said Terry. “Let's check it out. Mary, are you coming?”

Mary nodded as she slipped on her fingerless gloves. “I would normally say to leave it to the police. But since my gut is telling me at least one of them is involved in this plot, then yeah, I'm in.”

With that, the three of them started through the aperture, and down the ramp towards the area directly under the ring. Once at the bottom of the ramp, they moved cautiously but quickly down a drab concrete corridor with an arched ceiling.

“This area of the stadium has been abandoned for a while,” Mary said as they half-walked, half-ran. “Why are the lights still working?” She raised a finger skyward, indicating the tubular flourescents that buzzed overhead at the apex of the ceiling arch.

“I'm sure we'll find out soon enough,” Terry called back over his shoulder.

His words were almost prophetic. As they rounded a corner, they came face to face with a familiar figure armed with a bo staff. Billy Kane stood there with his feet apart in a fighting stance, flanked by Sokaku Mochizuki on his left, and on his right by a man with short blond hair dressed in black slacks, and a skintight black shirt and vest. Behind them were about ten grunts that Terry didn't recognize, probably just hired thugs.

“We just keep runnin' into each other, don' we?” Billy asked the three of them.

“Lucky us,” Joe growled.

“Well, in a way, you're right, Higashi,” Mary said with a small smirk. Then she called to Billy: “It's a bit late, Kane, but it looks like I finally have my excuse to put you in the hospital.”

“Ya know, the only thing I hate more than nature,” quipped Billy. “Is cops. Ya ready to dance?”

Before Mary could say anything, Terry surprised them all by suddenly slamming his fist against the grimy concrete in a Power Wave attack. As they expected, Billy, Sokaku, and the man in black all dodged it by leaping to the sides. The thugs behind them were not as quick. It struck one of them dead center, flinging him up towards the ceiling, which he slammed into rather harshly before falling back towards the ground and lying still.

The three main players hung back as the other nine thugs rushed at Terry, Joe, and Mary. Naturally, they didn't last long against such seasoned fighters. Soon, it was just Billy, Sokaku and the black-clad fighter left.

“Those thugs didn't give a very good showing,” muttered the man in black as their three opponents surrounded them.

“S'why we only paid them half up front, Yamazaki,” Billy responded to him.

“A wise decision,” Sokaku said with a nod. “So, which of them do you want?”

“Well, I can tell that Ryan's been achin' fer a piece of me,” said Billy. “So I'll take her, if you don't mind.” Billy started towards Mary, expertly twirling his bo staff.

Mary appeared undaunted by the display, and assumed her stance. Out of the corners of her eye, she saw Sokaku move against Joe, while the black-clad fighter (Billy had called him Yamazaki) went towards Terry.

“You flatter yourself, Kane,” the blond detective said to her opponent. “I don't really want a piece of you, per se. If anything, I'd love to meet your boss, and I hear you know where he is. ”

“Oh, you'll meet him when he's ready for guests,” Billy said as he lunged at her, swinging his staff. “But first, he needs to catch up on some reading.” Mary ducked the attack, heard the tip of Billy's staff graze the wall behind her, tearing out a chunk of concrete in the process. He followed this almost immediately with a low sweep in the opposite direction. Mary dodged it by using her hands to spring forward, feet lashing out and catching Billy in the stomach.

He slid back several yards, and almost immediately countered with a forward horizontal thrust of his staff, trying to catch Mary in the chest with the tip of it. She swiveled to the side, avoiding the attack, and then grabbed hold of it, preparing to use it as leverage to throw her opponent. However, Billy quickly channeled chi energy through his weapon, and Mary felt hot spikes of pain lance upwards from her hands to her shoulders. The resulting shock threw her back against the wall.

Mary quickly regained her feet, just as Billy did another thrust forward with the tip of the staff. This time Mary spun past it and towards him, getting close enough to grab and throw her opponent over her shoulder. Billy hit the ground shoulder-first, somersaulted to his feet, and then moved towards Mary again with a wicked grin on his face.

“So, any reason he's not ready for guests?” Mary asked Billy. “Does he need to tidy up, or is he still doing his nails?”

Mary dodged two swings from the staff, countered with a chop that Billy managed to deflect by swinging his staff to the left. Mary pivoted and delivered a spinning kick to his right side, then immediately followed this by sliding in low towards Billy, grabbing him by the waist, and flipping him again.

This time, the lanky fighter managed to land on his feet. “He's catchin' up on his reading,” Billy said with a cold smirk. “But once he's done that, I'm sure he'll be delighted to meet all of you.”

Mary smirked back at him. “He can read? I don't think that was in his file.” She then hung back, circling Billy, as usual waiting for her opponent to lose patience and make the next move. It happened rather quickly, Billy lunging at her with an underhanded swing of his staff. She dodged it, and then continued to watch for openings as he continued to swing.

Joe Higashi, meanwhile, had his hands full dealing with the imps from Sokaku's Nozaru Geri attack. The Muay Thai kickboxer managed to dispel them with his Hurricane Upper move, and the whirlwind also managed to catch Sokaku himself. He was spun around in the funnel before being flung several yards back up the corridor.

The white-clad ninja quickly regained his feet and launched a series of jabs at Joe with the butt of his praying staff. “So, why are you helping someone like Billy?” Joe asked as he dodged the blows.

“He made a very tempting offer,” Sokaku explained. “For too long, the Mochizuki clan has been idle. But it would be foolish to provoke our rivals openly. For the Shiranui to lose Hanzo's heiress in an 'unfortunate accident' at this tournament so soon after Hanzo's own passing would create a power vacuum. No doubt Mai-san's uncles would spend the better part of a year bickering over which of them should get what. That would leave their clan ripe for the picking.”

Joe dodged the latest staff thrust and countered with a punch that nearly connected. “Listen,” he said. “I don't blame you for finding Mai annoying, because she can be. But I have to draw the line at trying to kill her. Unofficially, she's my best friend's fiancee. Andy was already a moody bastard before he and Mai became serious, and it was only last night that they FINALLY consummated. If you kill her now, there'll be no living with the guy.”

Sokaku paused momentarily in his attack and held his praying staff in a defensive stance. “You mean she willingly tainted the blood of Nippon by allowing that American into her bed?” He shook his head in disgust. “All the more reason to dislike her and her clan.”

Joe took advantage of his opponent's distraction, and launched into a flying kick that caught Sokaku in the chest. Joe did a flip backwards after his foot connected, landing on his feet, and followed up quickly with a Tiger Kick that caught Sokaku in the belly. Joe's opponent was winded, but still on his feet. He countered with a half-moon sweep of his staff, and Joe leaped backwards to dodge the flames that it summoned.

“I cannot believe you just used those words together in a sentence,” Joe said with a shake of his head. “Dude, it's 1995. Who the hell talks like that anymore?” He then raised his fists and circled to the left, waiting for Sokaku to make another move.

Up in the ring, Mai had just finished dodging another attack, and countered with a fan chop. Andy avoided it, but Mai followed it up immediately with a leg sweep that Andy had to jump backwards to dodge.

For a moment, she and Andy faced each other, catching their breath. Mai let her gaze drift over once again to Chonrei and Chonshu, saw that both of the teenagers were now looking down at the floor.

They're doing that again, she thought to herself. Why do they keep doing that? There was little time for her to ponder it, however, as Andy came at her yet again. Mai raised her fan in a defensive stance and prepared to counter.

Down in the tunnels, Terry Bogard was grim-faced as he circled his opponent. There was something unsettling about this man, Yamazaki. Maybe it was his stance, the way his right hand stayed in the pocket of his slacks while only his left remained raised. Or maybe it was that look in his eyes, a wild look that seemed to suggest that whatever reason he was helping Billy, it was not out of loyalty to Geese, but rather for his own amusement.

The attack came suddenly as Yamazaki did a short lunge forward, swinging his left leg up over his head and bringing the heel down hard, his hand still in his pocket. Terry turned to avoid it, and countered by swinging his body around clockwise, leg extended in a spinning kick. Yamazaki's right hand suddenly came out of his pocket, and grabbed Terry's ankle in mid-kick. He then slammed his left fist into Terry's stomach several times. After a few hits, Terry swiveled his upper body, his elbow striking Yamazaki in the jaw. Yamazaki, dazed, dropped Terry's leg, and Terry immediately brought his other knee up into the black-clad fighter's stomach. While the blond man was winded, Terry followed this up by throwing him over his shoulder.

Yamazaki struck the far wall of the tunnel, but still managed to land on his feet. He then emitted a short, high-pitched laugh that reminded Terry of a hyena. Hand still in his pocket, he lunged and brought his left fist swinging in an uppercut. Terry dodged the blow, but was not prepared for what happened next. Yamazaki lunged again, thrusting his head forward like a battering ram and slamming it into Terry as hard as he could. Terry took the blow in his ribs and was sent reeling back towards the wall.

Yamazaki tried to press the attack. Terry, with his back to the wall, dodged a series of jabs, and then the elder Bogard's opponent tried to headbutt him again, but this time Terry was ready. He sidestepped, causing Yamazaki to strike the wall headfirst.

Now it was Terry's turn to press the attack. He brought his knee up into the blond man's breastbone, then followed with a left uppercut that knocked Yamazaki back several yards. Yamazaki stood up, hand still in his pocket, then spit blood from his mouth and emitted that eerie hyena laugh again.

Man, that is creepy, Terry thought to himself as he readied himself for another attack.

It came more suddenly than Terry was expecting. Yamazaki seemed to glide forward, swinging his right leg up this time in a high kick. Terry managed to avoid the first kick, but then his opponent swung the heel of their shoe down just as hard, catching Terry on the shoulder. Terry grunted as he felt a sharp pain stab at his chest, and for a moment he had trouble keeping his feet. That headbutt probably cracked a rib, he thought grimly.

Yamazaki saw him wavering, and pressed the attack. He grabbed Terry with his left hand as his right hand emerged from pants pocket, glowing faintly. A bright cone of chi energy seemed to spring from that hand, reminding Terry of the head of a drill.

As the energy slammed into him a second later, Terry found that it hurt just as badly as he imagined a drill might hurt. Hot knives of pain lanced through him, and he was flung backwards, up the tunnel.

Slowly, Terry got to his feet. He was not used to facing an opponent with such an unorthodox style. Yamazaki's techniques seemed to be all over the place, making it hard to sense patterns.

The black-clad fighter was almost upon Terry Bogard when Yamazaki heard a small yell from behind. A moment later, Billy Kane crashed into him, having been thrown by Mary, and the two of them struck the concrete floor in a heap.

Mary made her way quickly over to Terry's side and assumed her stance. “Having fun?” She asked him.

“A ball,” Terry said with a smirk as he regained his feet and took up a stance alongside her. “Fighting together seemed to work well last time, so why not again?”

Across from them, their opponents seemed to be recovering as well. “Can I have a turn with the cop now, Billy?” Yamazaki asked. “I probably hate them more than you do.”

While keeping one eye warily on Terry and Mary, Billy reached into his jeans pocket, pulled out a stopwatch, and glanced at its digital face. “Sorry, Yama, but it's time to book. Ripper should be long gone by now.” Billy turned his head slightly, called up the corridor to where Joe and Sokaku were still going at each other. “Hey, Sokaku! We're leaving!”

Sokaku, after hearing his name called, swung his staff at Joe in another half-moon circle, generating more fire, then he sprinted over to Billy and Yamazaki.

“Like hell you're leaving, Kane!” Mary growled through clenched teeth. Joe took up a position on the opposite side of Terry and Mary as the three tried to box their opponents in.

Billy gave her a polite nod. “Sorry, detective, it's been fun distracting you, but the fun times never last. Sokaku?”

Sokaku nodded, and spun his praying staff rapidly in front of him like a propeller. A cloud of thick gray smoke then seemed to shoot forward from the staff's head, shrouding the corridor completely and causing the trio of fighters to cough and gag.

By the time the smoke cleared, their opponents had vanished. “Shall we go after them?” Joe asked the other two.

“We shouldn't,” said Mary. “Billy just said the three of them were a distraction. We'd better keep moving. We're almost directly under the ring.” She stepped past Joe and started up the hallway once more. “Follow me, quick!”

A few minutes later, the corridor ended in a chamber with a high ceiling, and four concrete pillars in the center of the room arranged in a square formation. They could tell, judging by the noises that leaked down through the ceiling, that those pillars were directly beneath the ring.

As the three fighters entered the room, Terry Bogard's gaze looked upwards to the ceiling in between those pillars. His blue eyes opened wide with horror as he saw a considerable amount of plastique pressed against the spot directly below the ring, with a timer attached. Even from down on the ground, Terry could see that the timer read “00:10,” and was steadily moving backwards towards zero.

Andy... Mai... no! Terry started towards the pillars, and then stopped when he felt a hand gripping his arm. Mary had seen the same thing as Terry, and she knew that it was too late. Billy and the others had managed to distract them long enough.

“Terry, no!” She shouted. “That thing's gonna blow any second!”

“I don't care!” Terry shouted back. “Andy and Mai are still up there!” He continued to try and move forward, and even though she was gripping his arm with both hands now, the soles of her boots planted against the concrete, Mary found that she had trouble stopping him.

She cast a quick glance at Joe, silently pleading with the kickboxer for some help, and then all but screamed in Terry's ear: “I know, Terry, but it's too late! None of us can jump high enough to get to it in time, and we can't risk using a chi attack to dislodge it, or we might set it off. All we can do is get clear!”

After a few seconds of internal debating, Joe grabbed Terry's other arm and started to help Mary with dragging Terry backwards. He didn't like doing it. After all, his friends were up there. But Mary was thinking like a cop, and her logic was sound. All they could do now was stop Terry from getting in the way of that bomb, which now had only a few seconds left on the timer.

As he was half-dragged up the corridor by Mary and Joe, Terry screamed as loud as he could: “ANDY! MAI! GET OUT OF THE RING! NOW!” The next few seconds were a blur as the bomb detonated.

Up in the ring, Mai and Andy were still going toe to toe. Mai sidestepped Andy's flying kick, and countered with a spinning kick that caught him in his lower back. While Andy was recovering from that, Mai again took another moment to glance at Chonrei and Chonshu. The two boys were looking at the floor again, harder than they were before, their brows furrowed.

“Why do they keep doing that?” Mai asked out loud.

“Doing what?” Andy sounded puzzled.

“Looking down at the floor,” Mai explained. “It's almost like they're trying to...”

Anything else she was going to say was then drowned out by a bright flash and a deafening roar that seemed to erupt from beneath their feet.

 

To be continued...