The finals were set to begin,and the first match of the semi-finals had begun.

It was Adon VS Joe Higashi.

Adon made the first move as he jumped away and landed on top of one of the poles of the ring.

"Whatever he's got,"thought Joe. "i'm ready for it!"

Adon then did his Jaguar Tooth and thrust down at Joe with a fierce flying kick.

Joe saw it coming and then did his Rising Tiger Knee.
 

"WHAMM!"
The knee uppercut knocked Adon in mid-air,disabling his attack.
Adon fell on his side and rolled across the floor to get back up.

He rubbed at his side and sneered in anger at Higashi.
"You might dress like me,just don't fight like me!"he said.
"What do ya mean,fight like you?"said Joe. "This is my own original style,i've been using it for years!"

"His style must be coincidental,Adon."said Sagat. "So don't have a hissy about it."
"You'll be next when this is over,old man!"said Adon. "I promise you that!"

"Correction."said Sagat. "You'll try to make this over."
"Well."I thought. "It's nice to see some antagonists can follow a decent example when they try."

Adon and Joe ran up against each other and traded off blows.

Both collided their knees,low kicks and high kicks into each other,trying to out-kick one another.
Adon swung into a leg-sweep,but Joe jumped over it.
Joe then did an elbow slam into Adon's shoulder,but the Jagaur bit back as he did his Jaguar Knee,knocking Joe backwards!

"Rrrrrh---!"replied Joe,rubbing his chin.
"Man,coincidence or not,this is getting nowhere fast!"he thought.

Adon then went for another attack,his Jaguar Revolver!
"You won't survive this,Higashi!"he said.

Adon flipped forward and did a barrage of Jaguar axe kicks.

Joe managed to block off the assualt at the last minute,but the intensity of the kicks was so great,he fell on both knees while trying to keep the defense up.

Adon then landed back on his feet.
"Hmmm...maybe if I try another barrage,it'll get him for certain."he thought.

Adon then went for another Jaguar Revolver.

Joe saw what he was going to do,and decided to unleash his most powerful attack move.

"SCREW UPPER!"
Joe flung his right arm forward and a large orange typhoon of ki energy came right at Adon.

"WHA--NOOOO!"was all Adon got to say before the typhoon slammed him head-on and threw him out of the ring.

Adon crashed into the stadium seats,and was out cold like all the others who fell before him.

"THE WINNER,ONCE AGAIN,JOE!"I called.
"YEAH,I IS DA MAN TONIGHT!"said Joe raising both fists in the air.

Sagat smirked while Benimaru smiled pleasantly,he was glad someone placed ol'carrot top in the heap.
But suddenly relaized that he was next in line for the semi-finals.

"Next match,Sagat VS Benimaru!"

Joe got out of the ring just as Ben and Sagat entered it.
"Go get'em,Ben!"said Joe. "Make sure someone from KOF wins this contest!"

"Yeah,sure...you bet!"said Ben trying to sound enthused.
But deep down,he felt kind of worried for once in his entire life at the situation he was in.

Sagat may have been defeated before,but only by fighters like Ryu,Chun-Li and even Dan,he never fought someone so humongous and skilled in the art of Muay Thai before.

Ben made the first move as he jumped into the air and did a downward drill kick.

Sagat saw it coming and launched his Tiger Blow,knocking him out of the air.

Ben fell on his back,but back-flipped onto his feet again.

Sagat then began firing his Tiger Shots at Ben.

"TIGER-TIGER-TIGGERRR!"

Ben started to duck and dodge the first few but was hit in the shins when Sagat began doing his low Tiger Shot.
He then saw a new plan of attack.

"The next time he does a low Tiger Shot,i'll get'em!"he thought.
Sure enough,Sagat fired another low Tiger Shot,and Ben followed through.

The Japanese fighter jumped over the projectile and then thrust his left fist in a powerful discharge Spark.
"ZZZAAAP!"

Sagat was knocked on his back by the electric blast.

"HA-HA!"said Benimaru in triumphant response.
"I won---I beat Sagat!"

"I---don't think so!"said Sagat as he arose to his feet.
"WHAT?!"said Ben in complete dismay.
 

"I don't flatten so easily!"said Sagat. "Your power may be fast and skillful,but my power---is monumental!"
"We'll just see how monumental it is when I zap you into submission!"said Benimaru."LIGHTNING DASH!"

Ben launched into his powerful dash move.

But once he got close enough to Sagat,he was stopped dead in his tracks as Sagat simply reached out and caught him by the head.
"WHOA!"said Joe. "Caught him while he was in attack!"

"Uh---gulp!"was all Ben could muster.
"Nice try."said Sagat grinning. "Now it's my turn."

"TIGER----RAID!"
Sagat launched a flying kick at Ben which resulted in a series of rapid kicks that slammed into his head and chest.
The emperor then finished him off with a final flaming kick that sent Benimaru into the ropes and then tumbled out of the ring.

Ben lay sprawled out on the cold floor,his clothes in tatters and his long blonde hair a mangled mess.

"Aw man..."said Joe. "..this is not gonna look good for Team Japan when Kusanagi hears about this."
"Those guys have enough ego in them anyways."I said to Joe.

Sagat then stepped out of the ring and faced the remaining finalist,Joe.
"As you can see,"he said. "I am nearly overpowering to any opponent. Do you wish for your own destruction?"
"I've faced dudes as big as you,and flattened them. So let's fight it out in the final,Sagat,and see who is the world's greatest Muay Thai kickboxer!"

"Well spoken,Joe!"I said to him.
"By the way,Dunes."said Joe. "Do we fight now...or take a recess?"

"Now that you mention it."I said to him. "We should be prepared for the last battle,so..thirty minutes of rest for the both of you,then...it's the mother of all battles tonight."
"Very well."said Sagat. "I would prefer to end this farce,but I am rather quenched right now."

Nearly thirty minutes later,Joe was in a nearby weights room,practicing his moves on a large sandbag.
He slammed his fists,feet,elbows,and knees into the bag as if it were Sagat himself.

"I'm gonna win that title and money!"he thought. "Sagat may be the emporer of Muay Thai,but i'm gonna be the king tonight!"
Sagat was seated in a large folding butterfly chair,gulping down a bottle of ice cold wine and a pair of beutiful thia women who were massaging his feet and shoulders.

"Don't get too comfy,Sagat."I said to him. "You've been lucky so far,but Joe's a legend himself in the KOF just as you were with the Street Fighters.
"Huh,maybe he has been."said Sagat."But I have fought longer and harder in my life,than anyone in this ring tonight."

"We'll see,Sagat."I said to him.
"Oh,and the recess time is almost up."

Joe then re-entered the ring,flexing his muscles and throwing his fists.
"I'm ready to take some punishment,and to dish it out!"he said and then pointed to Sagat.
"YOU AN'ME SAGAT!"he shouted. "YOU'VE MET YOUR MATCH TONIGHT---AND IT'S NOT RYU HOSHI!"

Sagat smirked and then arose from his seat.
He then creaked his neck from left to right and then cracked his knuckles.

"I'm ready when you are."he said.
"Alriiiight!"said Joe. "Let's go!"

The two kickboxers then jumped into the ring.
"Whoever wins this match,shall become the King of Muay Thai tonight!"I called to them both.
"Are you both ready?"

"READY!"said Sagat.
"READY!"said Joe.

"THEN--FIGHT!"I said to them.

Sagat threw the first blow as he fired a Tiger Shot at Joe.
"TIGER!"

Joe ducked it and then launched his Tiger Kick at him.
Sagat was hit in the gut very hard by the thrust kick,but then retaliated by launching his Tiger Knee Launch at him.

Joe was hit in the chest and skidded backwards,but kept on his feet,not willing to be overwhelmed by his foe.

"Try this on for size---Hurricane Upper!"he said.
Joe threw a pair of punches and a pair of mini-hurricanes came at Sagat.

Sagat then fired off a couple of Tiger Shots,blasting them both away.

He then jumped at Joe and did a flying spin kick.
Joe ducked it and then came up at him with his Tiger Rise Knee.

"WHAMMM!"
Sagat was hit hard by the blow and then fell to the floor once again.

Joe landed on his feet,panting heavily.
"Man,he's...stronger than I heard."he said.

Sagat then slowly got back to his feet and rubbed at his chin.
"Not bad."he said. "But let's see how you take the rest."
 

Sagat then charged up both fists with orange ki energy.
Joe didn't really know what he was going to do,but he knew he had to act fast.

"TIGER BLAST!"he shouted and fired off a large Tiger Shot.
Joe jumped high into the air,just barely missing the Tiger Blast.

The large projectile hit one of the ring poles,causing it to explode and the ropes attached to it fell to the floor.
"Man!"said Joe. "That could've been me!"

Suddenly,before Joe knew it,Sagat came at him by suprise.
He slammed a fist into his face and then slammed him with another Tiger Knee.

Joe fell on his knees from the impact.
Once he was down,Sagat grabbed him by the throat and brought him upward.
"Aw no!"I said. "He's got him in his grasp!"

Sagat smiled wickedly.
"No one shall beat Sagat--not ever again!" he said.

Joe tried to struggle to break free,but it was to no avail.
Sagat then slammed several kicks into Joe's abdomen,causing him intense pain.

After five or six kicks,Joe began to feel his strength and stamina get drained away.
Sagat then tossed him down to the floor.
"HA!"he said. "It's over before it began!

He then turned to Dunes.
"Now,Dunes,I suggest you hand over the trophy,money and title to me,unless you want me to do the same to you."he said.
"Not so fast,Sagat--LOOK!"I said to him.

Sagat turned to find Joe Higashi slowly but surely getting back to his feet.
"It's not---over yet!"he said.

"Oh,yes it is!"said Sagat. "I'll break every bone in your body this time--RAAAAHH!"

Sagat charged like a wild animal at Joe.
"That's it...just a little closer..."thought Joe."...NOW!"

Joe then unleashed his second most powerful move!
He slammed a barrage of fast action punches into Sagat's chest and then did a few axe kicks into his head.
Joe then finished off the super move with an even harder Tiger Rise Knee!
 

"KRAAAKK!"
Sagat fell to the floor once again with a hard thud that shook the entire stadium room.

I went over to check his pulse,he was alive,but out cold.

"Did---did I do it?"said Joe.
"Oh yeah,you did it."I said to him. "It gives me great pleasure to announce--that the winner of the first ever King of Muay Thai tournament is---JOE HIGASHI!"

"YEAAAAHHH---ALLL RIGHTTT!"shouted Joe as he jumped in the air.
But as he landed,he tripped and fell on his butt.
He then laughed in spite of himself.

Minutes later,Sagat was escorted back stage and I,the writer of this fic handed him a large 24 karat gold trophy that was entitled "THE KING OF MUAY THAI"
on it and a white sealed envelope that contained a large sum of prize money.

Joe smiled proudly and took them both.
The same two Thai women who were massaging Sagat earlier then came up and kissed him at both sides.
"Ha ha!"said Joe. "I'm in the limelight tonight,and I couldn't be happier."

"You earned it,Joe."I said to him."But remember,there will always be others out there as great as you,and someone will always be there to knock you off the top,prepare to be challenged."

"No prob man."said Joe. "I'm awaiting the next KOF tournament or maybe Dan Hibiki will need me in the next Capcom VS SNK millinium fight tournament. I'm ready for the best!"

"Well then,good luck,and enjoy your fame."I said as I tipped my hat to him and then left the arena.

Joe then escorted the ladies back to his hotel nearby for some well-deserved r&r.

THE END...FOR NOW!