Early the next morning, Ryu woke just as the sun began to peek over the horizon. The night before had been an interesting experience. It was rare that Ryu walked in a city.

 He warmed up and began practicing. It was an exercise he would always immerse in, disregarding time and anything else around him.

 Around eight a.m., Ryu detected a presence. That presence wasn’t in his room before…they only entered a short while ago. He looked up, seeing a figure cloaked in black ninja garments, clinging onto the ceiling. The eyes of the ninja narrowed and he quickly swooped down to the floor. Ryu jumped aside in the nick of time, raising his arm to block as the intruder raised his foot to deliver a kick.

 When Ryu saw an opening, he attacked with his fists. The ninja dodged every one, seized Ryu’s wrist, and delivered a powerful hit to the stomach. Ryu reeled back in pain. As soon as he got his bearings, he kicked the intruder, causing him to fall. The intruder shook his head, apparently stunned. Ryu grabbed the opponent’s shirtfront.

 “Who are you?”

The figure’s eyes went wide and gray smoke appeared. He slipped from Ryu’s grasp. Ryu fanned the air, coughing as the smoke irritated his lungs. When the air cleared, he spotted the ninja clinging to the windowsill of his room. He tossed something at Ryu. Ryu ducked, thinking it was a knife, but a pristine white envelope landed on the bed. Ryu looked at it, then at the ninja, who saluted before jumping out the window.

“Wait!” Ryu called out, dashing to the window.

The ninja was nowhere to be seen.

On the roof, a tall blond man frowned disapprovingly at the figure cloaked in black.

 “That was a bit of overkill, don’t you think?”

 The ninja removed the hood to reveal a long black ponytail. After removing the face mask, her oriental eyes curved as she smiled. “You said make it good, so I did.”

 The blond man shook his head, smiling wryly. “He could have beaten you…”

 “Maybe.” She shrugged. “Think he’ll come.”

 He nodded. “Definitely. He can’t resist a good challenge…”

Cautiously, Ryu walked back to the bed. He picked up the envelope, opening it carefully. He removed the paper inside, reading the handwriting scrawled by penmanship he had never seen before: Come to the Crystal Ballroom at eleven a.m. Challengers await you. BE ON TIME.

 Ryu frowned, narrowing his eyes. This day was turning out to be very interesting…