Legend of The Lightning Legs

03 - Shotokan Sorcery

It was late evening in Okinawa, Japan when Chun Li—dressed in a tight tracksuit, with her hair in buns—ran to catch up with a man called “The Announcer”. He was the organizer of an illegal, underground tournament sponsored by Vega, and one that she wanted to enter. When she finally caught up with him, he was not alone. Standing near him and talking loudly was a number of gangsters, investors and wealthy types that were there to place bets on the fight. The entourage had stopped at the top of a village and though Chun-Li didn't see any fighters, a lot of betting, shouting and laughing was transpiring.

Off to the side of one of the vehicles that they had arrived in, Chun-Li spotted a man in a tattered Gi. She had perched herself on the tallest branch of a nearby Sakura tree to get the lay of the land before approaching. She smiled to herself because she found the rough-looking fighter to be attractive, but extremely confident. He looked like he lived on the streets and had a rough disposition – but extremely calm eyes. His hair was in tatters and as he faced the announcer, he dropped a dirty duffle bag that looked as if it hadn't been washed in years. This guy's a regular Miyamoto Musashi, Chun-Li thought to herself as the man walked over to the announcer who handed him a thick wad of cash. The rough man looked to be in his early twenties, and as he walked into the empty field—that sat behind the announcer’s party—he began to adjust his hand-wraps.

From the other side of the field stood a Thai-kick boxer ready to fight him; it was Thailand’s own rising star, Adon. It only made sense that Adon worked for Vega, since, like Bison, he was a former champion who had fallen from grace, and a fellow countryman. The announcer introduced the rough man as Ryu, and Chun-Li wondered if he knew what he was in for. She had seen Adon fight and knew his jaguar kick to be legendary. When he was the world champion of kickboxing, it had taken a much more ruthless kick boxer to defeat him. Ryu was dressed like an old karateka and she had never met one that she couldn't beat. Adon on the other hand frightened her, so she saw Ryu as the underdog.

When the fight began, Chun-Li slipped from hiding and wormed her way over to the announcer. He had seen her the whole time, and waved her over to him.

“Was wondering when you were going to pop out pretty girl.” He said, as she closed in on him. “Are you with the police or did my master send you?” She let the master part sink in.

"Neither, announcer, I want to fight. Can you set something up for me in Beijing?”

The man seemed genuinely surprised, then sized her up to see if she was joking. “You?! Girl despite those powerfully sexy thighs of yours, what are you going to do in a street fight besides get yourself killed?” Chun-Li brushed his words off and shot him a stern glance. She noticed that he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her crotch and it made her regret her choice of outfit for the day. Still, she wouldn’t let it bother her. She could drop him with the touch of her palm, but she needed him, so she pushed for an answer.

“So can I expect my card to fight then? Or should I show you why I am the strongest woman in the world?”

The announcer was tempted to get a demonstration of her strength, but in the past when he had questioned those who wanted to throw their lives away, he had always regretted it.

“Okay miss—"

"Chun-Li"

"Okay Chun-Li, you’re in, but we need a demonstration to see if you are a world warrior. Meet me back here next week, same time? I will have someone for you to fight and we will see if you are worthy of being on the circuit. I seriously hope that you aren’t wasting my time.”

* * *

Ryu was being knocked back by Adon’s legendary hand speed. Chun-Li had always thought that karate was a brutish art, used by unwavering Japanese men with no grace. But Ryu seemed very much the genuine article where martial arts was concerned and she found herself impressed. When Adon ended his elbow barrage with a front flip to drop a heel on Ryu’s head, Chun-Li gasped at what happened next. Ryu, who had been blocking everything that Adon threw at him, side-stepped his descending leg and bellowed out a word that she had never heard before.

“SHORYUKEN!”

As he yelled the word, he caught Adon under the chin with what could be described as a jump-twisting uppercut, that sent him flying into the air. The bone-crunching uppercut was unexpected and as Ryu landed over the body of the fallen Adon, an aura of qi floated around him, his once peaceful eyes now blue-fire from his internal rage and energy.

Adon sprung up and retreated, spitting out teeth. He walked back slowly as the investors screamed at him to shake it off. Ryu began to breathe slowly and his hands made circular motions in a way that reminded Chun-Li of Kung-Fu. In fact, she thought…that is Kung-Fu! As Adon regained his confidence and began an acrobatic assault, Ryu pulled his hands back and dropped into a horse stance. Qi energy was all around him and his hands seemed to be sucking it in. Chun-Li was impressed as she did not expect fighting at this level. Since the days with her Korean master, she had never seen anyone manipulate qi like Ryu was doing.

"HADO-KEN!" Ryu shouted suddenly and his deep voice broke the silence and anticipation.

He let out the energy that he had gathered within his palms by thrusting his hands out in front of him. The surrounding crowd was knocked off of their feet—including Chun-Li, but Adon felt the worst of it. Raw energy from Ryu’s thrust burst right through Adon's body and he collapsed unconscious on the other side. After some time had passed and the spectators regained their composure, the announcer acknowledged Ryu as the winner and the mysterious warrior turned his back on him. It was obvious that Adon had done something to really set him off and though he had accepted the match, he didn't think the crowd was worthy of his respect.

I will need to be at my very best for this tournament, Chun-Li thought, and she bowed to the announcer and ran after Ryu to catch up with him.