The first referee,a man dressed in a white shirt with red bow tie and glasses stepped up to the first row of fighters that were Ryu,Ken and the rest of the street fighters that stood with them.

"All right everyone,this way please to the first arena."he said.

Ryu and the others all followed the referee to the first ring in front of them.
"Okay folks,what we'll do is this."said the man. "The first 12 of you will stand here and be fighting the opponent that is brought to you on your side,that is where the other 12 will stand to face across from you."

The referee then went to adress the next 12 fighters to fight against Ryu and the others.
"Sounds simple enough eh?"said Ken.
"Don't get too cocky."said Guile. "You don't know what kind of fighter you'll face until you've gotten into the ring."
"Yeah,well i'm ready for anything!"said Fei.
"Same here!"said Blanka.
 

The next row of fighters were placed across from Ryu and the others.
Among them were the following,a karate fighter with a shaved head and a black moustache,a muscular man with long black hair dressed in an Aikaido costume,a Judo fighter with white gi pants,black braceltes and a crew cut,a masked ninja dressed in grey,

A man armed with a pair of tonfas and dressed in a black tank top and cargo pants,
A Kung-fu fighter with long purple hair dressed in a chinese hook front shirt,matching pants and a red sash tied around his waist.
A large sumo fighter like Honda except he'd dressed in a purple sumo garment and has a red scar across his chest.
A large wrestler with longe blonde hair,a beard and is wearing purple shorts,gloves and boots.
A military man like Guile except he's dressed in a green flask jacket,red spiky hair,shades and green cargo pants with brown boots.
A Druken Fighter dressed in a pair of grey sweats,a blue shirt,sneakers,a thick black beard,and a red bottle of some form of either sake or alcoholic beverage within it.

A large black man dressed as a kickboxer with blue shorts and orange wrappings was there as well.
And an american fighter with brown hair dressed in a tacky yellow gi was there last in line.

"Let's hope they all fight better than they look."said Chun-Li.
"Agreed."said Cammy smirking.

"DAMN!"thought Nadji. "I was hoping to get first crack at Hoshi! Now i'm stuck with the measly competition.
Well,at least that gives me some time to work my way with the non-lethal version of my Tonfa staffs,and this should be no problem at all with these lightweights!

But....the time shall come,one way or the other!"
Tung Lo was dressed in a deep green version of his monk fighting togs with a sash over his right shoulder,a pair of green pants and red shin guards as well as a pir of red bracelts and a red headband around his head.

"I was hoping to take on Fei Long and Ryu."he thought. "But this will be the best part for a warm-up that I need. I shall fight my way through to the finals."

Bael Hoswang was dressed in a white and black version of his Tae Kwon Do gi uniform with a pair of white sneakers on with it.
"I was hoping to take on Ryu himself right now."he thought. "But a good warm-up for the match should be helpful--when I--face him."

Darren wasn't taking on any of the first front competition that was greeted to him either,but he could wait and fight with others first.
"Just you wait,Ken."he thought. "Just you wait."
The four of them were placed along with a bunch of other competitors and contestants that were going for the glory at the tournament in the next two rings.

"All right people,may I have your attention?"said the referee who was standing in the center. "When your name gets called both you and your opponent will be called to the ring.
And please follow all the rules that were explained earlier,all right? This is just the beginning of a major battle to see who will be the strongest to make it to--the world warrior championship!"

The referee looked over a copy of the registry and called out two names.
"RYU HOSHI AND RICO ROSS,PLEASE STEP RIGHT UP!"

Ryu and the first fighter called to him both stepped into the ring.
Rico was the man in the karate duds and bald head.
He looked pretty tough and skilled,but seeing was not a matter of believing as they say.

"Hey,lookit!"said the kickboxer. "It;s that Ryu guy,the one who won the last tournament!"
"This I gotta see!"said the man in the Aikaido outfit. "Ryu Hoshi in action!"

"Oh,they're gonna see it all right."thought Ken with a smirk. "And probably feel it as well."
"ALL RIGHT--BEGIN!"

Rico made the first move as he thrust forward at Ryu and did a few lunging punches.
Ryu dodged the first couple and blocked the next couple.
Rico then swung down for a leg-sweep,but Ryu jumped right over it and then was on the other side of where his opponent stood.

Rico then thrust again at Ryu again,this time with a flying kick.
Ryu ducked it and then jumped at Rico,firmly planting a flying foot into the side of his head.
"WHAKK!"

The impact was so hard,it sent Rico falling sideways onto the ring floor.
Rico then rolled back onto his side to get up,but before he knew it,Ryu was back on him again as he did a spin kick to the man's chin and then slammed a Shoryuken into his chin!

"KRAKK!"
Rico fell right out of the ring and landed with a thud.
"OUT OF BOUNDS!"said the referee. "RYU HOSHI WINS THE FIRST MATCH!"

"All right yeah!"said Ken.
"You're the best,Ryu!"said Chun-Li.
"He's--a lot more amazing than I had heard."said Guile.
"Yeah,he's good."said Honda. "But just you wait till the rest of us get up there."
"Yeah,i'm so stoked mon!"said Dee Jay.

Ryu stepped back down and waited for his next turn to come along.
"NEXT,KEN MASTERS VS TOM KIDO!"

"I'm up!"said Ken as he jumped into the ring.
"Be careful Ken."said Li.
"Yeah,your injuries are still healing!"said Ryu.
"Don't you worry so much."said Ken. "I've been training a long time for this!"

Tom Kido was the man dressed in an Aikaido outfit,and a sick look in his eyes.
"Hoo boy."thought Ken. "This guy's a real,'animal' ain't he?"

"I heard ya got injured badly by some fruitcakes."said Tom. "Sounds like you're getting older than your time,HAHA!
"Just shut up and fight pajama pants!"said Ken.
"BEGIN!"said the referee.
Tom thrust at Ken and did a roundhouse kick straight at Ken's head.

Ken ducked it and then slammed Tom with a fast and furious Flaming Dragon Punch!
"KA-POWW!"

The punch was so hard,it sent the Aikaido fighter flying across the floor and left him in a tumbled mess.
"KNOCKOUT!"said the referee. "KEN WINS MATCH TWO!"

"YEAH-VICTORY!"said Ken as he raised a fist in the air.
"Not bad,not bad at all."said Guile.
"Huh,that move don't look so hot to Zangief."said the Russian.

"Yeah,when ya still got it,ya got it!"said Ken as he rejoined the others.
"It's not over till we find out who's in the finals."said Li.
"And I hope for Li's sake,it's just Ken and myself,we've got to stop Sagat,Vega and that monster Bison--at all costs!"

"NEXT MATCH,CHUN-LI VS UNO JO!"
Chun-Li stood face to face with the judo slob she saw in the crowd.
"Hey,maybe when this is over..we could go out for some Thai food eh-cuite?"said Uno eyeing her.
"Crawl back to your slime pit creep!"said Li. "I'm here to fight,not flirt!"

Uno growled angrilly and then jumped at her just as the match began.
Li jumped out of the way just as his fist came down on the ring floor,nearly cracking a hole in it.

Uno then swung several punhces and kicks at Li,but she blocked them off with ease.
Uno then swung out a thrust kick,but the mistress caught it and then shoved him off his feet with it.

"UNNGHH!"
went the slob as his fatt butt landed on the floor.
"Alright,that's it--i'm gonna sack yer ass but good!"he said.

But just as soon as he was about to deliver another attack.Chun-Li went flying at him and landed a lightning kick to his head,knocking him backwards all the way!

"WHAMMM!"
The judo slob fell to the floor and was ougt like a light due to Li's efforts.
"CHUN-LI WINS THE NEXT MATCH!"said the refereee.
"See,told ya I could do it."said Li as she returned to her friends.
"Well,it's nice to see that even injuries can't slow them down."thought Ryu with a smile. "But--will they be able to handle what lies ahead?"

"That chick's got good kicks,"thought Cammy. "but just wait till everyone sees what I got with my legs."
"NEXT MATCH,GUILE VS GREKO THE NINJA!"

Guile faced his opponent,a medium built man dressed as a ninja with a yellow sash belt and black boots approached him.
"BEGIN!"said the referee.
"So..what do you do?"said Guile.

The ninja said nothing--and then striked.
He threw a trio of daggers at the captain.

Guile ducked it,causing the daggers to land on the floor.
But just as he turned around he saw Dreko jump into the air and was coming straight down at him for the kill.
"DIE GAIJIN!"he said.
"I--DON'T THINK SO!"said Guile as he arose to the challenge.

Guile counterrattacked with his Flash Kick,and slammed the ninja right in the chin.
"KRAKK!"
Drek flew right out of the ring and landed on his side,groaning and moaning in pain.
"THE WINNER IS GUILE!"

"Hey,pretty good there mon!"said Dee Jay.
"Thanks."said Guile as he stepped down.
"Man,who knew that flips could be so--devistating."said Fei.

While back in Bison's control room.
"This looks pretty bad,boss."said Balrog. "Looks like Ryu and his gang have pumped up a lot more than we remeber."
"Si,even Ken and Chun-Li appear to have recovered from their injuries we gave them."

"If you think i'm going to be intimnidated like a stupid whelp that you both are---you're damn wrong!"roared Bison. "And yes the both of yuo along with Sagat will face off against whoever it is that is left in the grand finals! Do I make myself clear?"
"Yeah."said Balrog.
"Si."said Vega.
"Good."said Bison. "The fighters there may be skilled,but they have yet to face with what's really behind the scenes at my tournament. And yes,Ryu Hoshi's power will soon be mine!"

While all this was happening,one lone stranger who was a fighter himself watched the events unfold from the shadows.
"Fools."he thought. "They are all foes,save for the one who posesses the greatest power to face me when this contest is over! Yes,I shall face him then,and if that fool Bison even gets in my way,he too shall fall!"