USA…

“Power Wave !”

“Power Wave !”

Two yellow wave-like chi blasts collided and dissipated each other, the two fighters - one a blonde Caucasian wearing a red baseball cap, a pair of fingerless gloves, white sleeveless shirt, red vest, blue jeans, and a pair of sneakers. The other one was a Japanese wearing white t-shirt, black leather vest, black jeans, and a pair of sneakers – eyed each other looking for weak points.

The Caucasian – the older fighter – made the first move. He launched a punch, which was blocked and countered. The counter punch was evaded, but soon followed with an elbow to the ribs, which was evaded as well. The blonde fighter then replied with a spinning sweep, catching the younger fighter off guard. The younger fighter nearly fell, but he used his hand to break his fall and leap back to his feet.

The blonde fighter – known as Terry Bogard, the champion of King of Fighter tournament several years ago smiled. His opponent – known as Fu, a wandering fighter who likes to learn new things from great fighters returned the smile. They were enjoying this sparring.

This time, Fu made the first move. A series of punches and kicks was launched toward Terry, who had to make extra efforts to evade and block thee incoming attacks. An elbow finally penetrated his defense on his jaw. He was shoved back a couple of paces. Fu followed with a straight punch, but Terry caught Fu’s wrist and threw him over the shoulder. The younger fighter landed quite heavily on his back.

As the oriental fighter got up to his feet…

“Burn Knuckle !”

Terry came at him in charging move. His fist was imbued with energy so much that there was a rather thick layer of energy surrounding the fist.

”Crap.” thought Fu as he hastily blocked the power filled punch. The technique was enough to send him back a few feet away, nearly knocking him off his feet. He landed a few feet away sliding on the ground.

“Crack Shoot !” Again, Terry coming at him, this time with a vertical, spinning-jump kick. This technique, if connected, would surely send someone kissing the floor.

“Rising Wave !” Shouted Fu, as he created a blade-like chi wave in front of him. The chi wave raised up to two meters and protecting him from Terry’s attack.

Terry was knocked down by the counter attack and as soon as he got up, Fu was coming at him with a jump kick. He quickly bent his upper body downward while at the same time, raising his legs up, forming the technique called.

“Rising Tackle !”

Fu was juggled up about five times in the air with this technique. He landed on the wooden floor with a thud. He groaned painfully as Terry landed after finishing his move.

The older fighter grinned at the floored opponent. “How d’ ya feel ?” He offered a hand to help the oriental fighter up.

Fu took the hand and pulled himself up. “Man, I gotta remember about that technique. And how did ya do it so fast ? You were just recovering.”

The grin widened. “That’s a secret.”

The younger fighter flashed a lopsided smile. “Yeah, sure.”

Terry laughed as he put his hand around Fu’s shoulder. “Tell you what. I’m hungry. I’ll tell you the secret later.”

Fu grinned. “Sure, your treat.”

“What ?”

“Hey, that’s our agreement, remember ? Winner treat the next meal.” Said Fu, laughing.

Terry grumbled. “So that’s why you keep losing the sparring, eh ?”

Fu gave a wink and both fighters laughed as they returned to Terry’s house.

Tokyo…

A girl and a boy holding a reign of a beautiful white horse, with a hawk perching on his left shoulder, arrived on the dojo where a famous fighter called Dan Hibiki, master and creator of Saikyo-Ryu style, lived and taught his martial art.

It was evening time and there was a class going on in the dojo. Students’ shouts while performing their moves, signals shouted to command the student to perform the next move, and several other unidentified shouts can be heard loudly and clearly from the streets, threatening to break glass-based materials or eardrums.

The boy – identified as Nemo – parked his pet horse on a nearby tree in the dojo’s lawn before he and his companion, Lycia, entered the dojo. As they came in, Lycia was stunned to see so many students in brightly colorful gis. It was like looking into a kaleidoscope. The older companion grinned at her reaction.

“Weird, huh ? That’s the same reaction when I was here a couple of days ago.”

The girl recovered rather slowly. “Umm… Uh… Yeah…”

Nemo chuckled. He then pointed at a man in front of a group of students wearing bright pink gi, black belt, and a pair of wrist guards. His long brown hair was tied in ponytail style. “That’s Dan Hibiki.”

This revelation brought an even bewildered reaction from Lycia. “The man in pink gi ?”

Her companion grinned. “Don’t underestimate him. He may look silly – on the second thought, he is silly, but he is certainly a great fighter. I can be his witness.”

A student noticed the two fighters standing on the entrance of the dojo and informed his sensei. Dan Hibiki turned to see who were visiting his humble dojo and smiled widely. He quickly assigned a senior student to continue teaching the beginner students and walked toward his visitors.

“Nemo ! You’re back again !”

The two male fighters greeted each other and shook hands.

“You miss me already, eh ? Returning so soon.”

Nemo grinned. “Sure, I miss the sake that you generously provided.”

“Ah, what’s the worth of sake, compared to my companionship.” Replied Dan. Then he turned to Lycia. He pulled Nemo to the side and whispered. “Hey, you’re a quick operator, aren’t you ?”

The younger male fighter chuckled. “No silly. C’mon let me introduce you to my new friend.” The two fighters walked back. “Lycia, this is the master and creator of Saikyo-Ryu style, Dan Hibiki. Dan, this is my new friend, Lycia.”

“Pleased to meet you, Lycia.” Said Dan, extending his hand.

“My honor, Hibiki-san.” Said Lycia returning the offer.

“Please, call me Dan, we’re among friends.”

“Hai (Yes).”

Then, a little girl, about three years old – and in a pink gi, was running toward the fighters. “Nemo-saaaaaaaaan !” she was running toward Nemo and gave a hug.

“Jun-chan ! Hey, you’re practicing as well, huh ?”

“Of course ! I’m going to be as great as Oyaji-san (father) !” replied the little girl.

“Yes. You will, if you practice.” Said Nemo. He lifted the little girl with his right hand. “Hey, this is my new friend, Lycia. Lycia, this is Dan’s daughter, Jun Hibiki.”

Lycia was already spellbound by Jun’s cuteness the moment the little girl showed up. She grinned and offered a hand. “Hi, I’m Lycia.”

Jun, the moment she saw the pretty teenage fighter, was liking her straight away. She grinned back, making her cuteness became more noticeable. “Hi, I’m Jun Hibiki.” She took Lycia’s hand and shook it firmly.

“How old are you, Jun ?”

“I’m three years old.” Replied the little girl confidently.

“Three years old and already starting learning martial arts ? I’m sure you’ll be a great fighter someday.” Said Lycia.

“Yeah ! And I’ll be as great as Oyaji-san !” said Jun.

“That’s my little girl.” Said Dan as he ruffled Jun’s hair. Then he looked at Nemo. “So, Nemo, as much as I enjoyed your company and Lycia’s, I’m pretty sure that this is not a social visit.”

Nemo nodded. “Lycia is looking for someone and I thought that you may be able to help her, seeing that you’ve got wide contacts.”

“Now isn’t that a nice way to ask for a favor ?” asked Dan rhetorically. “Asked someone with such a nice compliment, how can I refuse ?”

Nemo just grinned. Lycia smiled. Jun was playing with Naza.

“So who are you looking for, Lycia ?“ asked Dan.

“A fighter called Gouki.” Replied Lycia.

The moment Dan heard the name, his expression was darkened, for a moment. This was not lost from the other two fighters. Jun, however, was still playing with Naza.

“Dan ?” called Nemo, as Dan was silent for sometime.

Dan was snapped out of whatever he was thinking. “Huh ? Oh, yeah. I was thinking.” He turned toward Lycia. “May I asked what’s your business looking for him ?”

Lycia’s expression turned serious. “I’m sorry, but that’s a really private matter.”

“Fine.” Replied Dan. “Please wait for a moment here.” He turned toward his students and dismissed the class. Some of them were clearly disappointed as the class was only begins for only half an hour, but Dan insisted. Ten minutes later, the dojo was empty save for Dan, Jun, Nemo, Lycia, and Naza.

Dan gestured the fighters to come with him as he walked toward a door connecting the dojo with his house.