The tournament continued to go underway as many fighters from around the globe battled it out for the right to be numero uno!

And this time instead of taking place in a world-sponsored arena,it was just in a civic center arena in Los Angelos California.

The matches raged on,as one fighter was knocked out of the ring,another moved onto the next spot,only to get knocked out by another.

The Street Fighters continued to go out on top as they plowed through the competition.

Chun-Li’s opponent was someone dressed in a black karate gi with a red belt and brown cropped hair and wore a pair of red grip gloves.

“BEGIN!”said the referee.
Her first opponent made the first move by running at her and doing a jump kick.
Li naturally ducked it and he landed right behind her.

Li then took the initiative and did her Spinning air Kick at him,causing him to get knocked right out of the ring.

“Alright Li,you get’em,yeah!”said Makoto.
Then it was Dudley’s turn.

His opponent was a bald muscled guy dressed in a white tank top,cargo pants,and had his hands and in tape wrappings used for fighting.
“BEGIN!”said the referee.

Both Dudley and the brawler hopped around the ring in their defense stances,each waiting for the other to make a move.

Suddenly,the bald brawler made a move…

He charged up his fist with a strange yellow energy.
“EAT THIS—POWER ORB!”he shouted and threw it at the boxer.

Dudley dodged it and thrust himself forward at his opponent and landed a few lightning fast punches into his abdmomen then,he jumped into the air right over the man and landed a straight down fist on his head.
“POW!”

As Dudley landed on his feet,the brawler simply fell flat on his back and out cold.
“KNOCKOUT—DUDLEY WINS MATCH 04!”said the referee.

“As you would say Dudley—good show!”said Guy.
“Thank you much.”said Dudley. “But I wonder—when will get some real competition? I’m afraid to say,that every fighter we get so far is really just an amateur compared to any of us so far.”

“Maybe they haven’t trained as long as we have in the past.”said Ken. “But…be on your toes,like Ryu said may come face to face with some real challenges yet.”

While back in Arena 5,Ryu continued to watch the other fighter’s of Den’s team mop up the competiton.
Ted Durst,the judo champion decked it out with a pro wrestler who was dressed in yelliw and black togs with a matching mask.

As the wrestler plowed his left shoulder into Ted,he shoved him off,grabbed his right wrist and hoisted him right over his own shoulder where the wrestler met with the floor.

His opponent was down,but not out yet as he angrilly got back up.
“YER DEAD MEAT MAN!”he snarled and ran at him again and ready to do some bodilly harm.

Once he was close enough,Ted simply thrust out his foot into the wrestler’s gut,causing him to nearly fall over.

And once he got him right where he got him,Ted did a roundhouse kick right into the side of the lug’s head,knocking him out cold.

“WIN GOES TO TED DURST!”said the referee.
“He’s better than Ken says he is.”thought Ryu. “I wonder how good the others are?”
As if in answer,Tana So Moon was next in line for the contest as she and a brazillian Capeoria fighter (dressed in green shorts,tank top,sandals,and long dread locks,typical fashion of course.) faced each other.

“BEGIN!”said the referee.
Tana charged at her opponent and did a thrust spin kick at him,but the brazillian dodged away from it and then thrust forward at her doing a cartwheel kick.

Tana just barely dodged in time from the kick attack.
Once the capeoria was back on his feet,Tana ran at him and did a hop up scissor kick right in his face.

“UNNGH—HEY MON,TAKE IT EASY!”he cried.
“You did something bold with me darling,now I shall be so bold—WITH YOU!”said Tana and after that final declaration,the seductress of fights jumped up at the man and swung an axe kick right down on his head!

“SMAKK!”
And the brazillian crumpled to the floor just as the others did before him.
“MATCH 03 GOES TO TANA SO MOON!”said the referee.
“Yes,Chun-Li herself definitely has some competition this time.”thought Ryu. “And it’s not Cammy White this time”

It was then,Makoto’s turn as she and another fame-less fighter stepped up to greet each other. He was an old chinese man dressed in a green and purple tunic with an orange sash around it.

“Oh,looks like I get to face—the experienced and elderly eh?”said Makoto as she stepped into the ring.
“Just don’t underestimate your opponent Makoto,no matter who they are.”said Guy warning her.
“No prob.”said the karate as she stood face to face with the elder.

“BEGIN!”said the referee.
Makoto made the first move as she hopped at her opponent and did a fast thrust punch at him.
The old man dodged it and then stuck out his left foot,ausing Makoto to nearly trip.
“HEEEEY!”she cried as she nearly lost her footing.
The old man smiled and got into the stance of a druken boxer.

“Wanna play games do ya?”said Makoto as she got into her stance. “Well let’s play!”
The old man jumped forward at Makoto and then jumped over top of her again and then began to bring both of his fists down upon her in a double overhead smash.

“WAHH!”cried Makoto as she jumped out of the way.
The old man giggled with glee as he landed and got back to his stance.

Makoto then charged at him and unleashed a furry of fist and kick attacks.
She did a palm-strike to the man’s face,but he slapped it away.
She then did her push kick,he blocked it off.

She tried for one final surprise move,her rushing justice fist.
Makoto thrust forward and made her move,but to her surprise,the old man simply caught the fist and then shoved her away.

“DAMN IT!”she thought. “Every attack I use,he just bounces it back at me! I’ve gotta do something before I get knocked out of my fist fight! I would at least like to make it to the finals!”

Suddenly,the old geezer charged at the young fighter again and this time unleashed his own furry of moves in turn.

The old man swung out a kick and began moving at her with lightning barrage speed like Chun-Li’s.

“WHOA—YOW—WHOOAH!”cried Makoto as she tried to dodge the attacks.
“Looks like we’ve got a case of copyright infringment here huh Chun-Li?”said Ken.
“No worries.”said Li. “I’ve even a few female fighters try to imitate that move,but..we all know who the real deal is right?”

The old geezer then pummelled Makoto in the chest and ribs with a fury of punches.
“OW—GEEZ-THAT SMARTS!”she said.”Okay that’s it,two can play at this game!”

She then caught both of the man’s fists and then planted a knee into his gut,knocking him away.

The old man was indeed furious by his opponent and then went for another attack.
Makoto simply stood there,waiting for close enough contact.
Finally,just as the chinese master was close enough,she grabbed him by the sides of his head and slammed her own forehead into his—HARD!

The old geezer gasped in pain and fell sideways to the floor,out like a light.
“WINNER!”said the referee. “MAKOTO WINS MATCH 05!”
Makoto rubbed at her forehead,and then jumped into the air excitedly.
“YEAH,I DID IT!”she shouted. “I WON MY FIRST MATCH IN YEARS!”

“Looks like she’s learned well.”said Guy.
“Yeah,even if she didn’t use a Shot-stlye move like we taught her,but…improvisation never hurt anyone,literally.”said Ryu.

The next match was between Allen Snider and the ninja known as Hiryu.
Guy watched from the distance as he got a rare chance to see the ninja he fought in the gym. He wished to see what kind of skills this type of ninjitsu had.

“Begin!”called the referee.
Allen who was a practicioner of Shotokan like Ryu,Ken and Sean made the first move.
“SOUL FORCE!” he called as he threw a fireball similar to the Hadoukens they made.

Hiryu simply vanished into thin air as the fireball flew past.
“WHAT?!”he said in amazement. “Where’d he---?”

As if in answer,Hiryu appeared behind Allen and landed a thrust fist into his back.

“HEY!”said Allen as he stumbled forward. “Using cheap tricks huh?”
“The ninja uses no mere ‘tricks’as you would put it.”said Hiryu. “Only the most skilled and deadly arts of the ninja!”

“Says you!”said Allen. “I’m gonna mop the floor with ya!”

Allen jumped at the ninja and the two started trading blows with one another.
Allen thrust several punches,elbows and high kicks against Hiryu,but he simply blocked them off.

Suddenly,Hiryu vanished again.
“Aw man,now what?”said Allen.

Suddenly,comign right out of the floor as if it were something transparent,Hiryu appeared and shot upward at Allen,doing an uppercut that sent him flying out of the ring.

“WINNER!”said the referee. “MATCH 04 GOES TO HIRYU!”

Guy’s face was calm,but his eyes shown concern.
“Hmmm…he may not be Bushin.”he thought. “…but he posesses ninjitsu moves that even I never thought of or even Master Zeku.would’ve done.”

The rest of the matches continued to go underway as both Ryu and his team and Den and his team knocked out one fighter after another.

Ryu and the rest of the fighter’s saw the amazing and brutal skills on the rest of the fighters.

Fred Wilk’s Kickboxing skills knocked out anyone who tried to take him out.
Rango’s wrestling skills were as sharp as Mika’s and he threw out everyone he fought in the ring.

Ukyo slammed his competitors flat on the mat ring with his superior weight and strength.
Chen Wung’s Aikaido spared no one in his assualt as he slammed and pummeled anyone who crossed paths with him.
And the young Juno was as skilled and strong as they were as she slammed a thrust fist into the chest of her last opponent.,causing him to fall out pf the ring.

Almost every fighter they fought ended up in intensive care,leaving Ryu and the others wondering if they’ve truly met their match.

That little concern was placed on hold as Ryu and the others finished off the last of their competition.

Sean used his Roll Tackle attack and then hadou burst to finish off a Bruce Lee looking opponent.

R.Mika did her Rainbow Hip Rush and then body slammed her opponent into submission.
Guy went up against old Mad Gear member Damnd and used his Bushin Goraikyaku and kicked him right out of the ring.

And Sodom used his specially designed samurai weapons to take on a large guy dressed in a pair of black leather pants with boots and armed with a pair of black batons.

Sodom clashed with him and his own weapons,his hard plastic sias.

The two struggled in a sumo style sumo shove match,both trying to gain an advantage.
“Think he’ll manage it?”said Sean.
“Knowing Sodom,if there’s opposition to face,he’ll overcome it.”said Guy. “Except when he takes me and Cody that is.”

Sodom shoved the thug off and swung his sias into his batons,knocking them out of his hands.

“GRRRAARR!”growled the man angrilly as he lunged for Sodom’s throat.
But before he could,Sodom did his Meido No Miyage move and his enemy’s face was hit several times by a sia barrage attack,knocking him out after the last blow.

“SODOM WINS MATCH 09!”said the referee. “THE STREET FIGHTER TEAM SHALL BE THE FIRST TO GO ON TO THE FINALS!”

While that was happening,the referee in Arena 2 made a declaration.
“DEN WINS MATCH 10,THE HEAVY HITTERS TEAM SHALL BE THE SECOND TO GO ON TO THE FINALS!”

“YEAH,WE DID IT!”shouted Ted Durst. “WE’RE GOING TO THE TORUNAMENT!”

“As are we!”said Sean to the hitters.
“Oh,so we get to take on more amateurs like you in the matches?”said Chen.
“Sure looks like it.”said Ugyo.

Sean growled fiercly,but Ken held him back.
“Save it for the real contest to begin,Sean.”he said. “We’ll make him eat his words.”
“I know the kid feels.”said Sodom. “I owe that stinking Sumo a whallop as well.”

The head referee then spoke into his microphone.
“CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH TEAMS FOR THEIR EFFORTS. NOW,IF YOU’LL BOTH FOLLOW ME,WE’LL TAKE YOU BOTH TO THE LOUNGE ROOMS FOR A WELL-DESERVED REST.

AND REMEMBER,TONIGHT IS THE BIG NIGHT FOR THE TOURNAMENT TO BEGIN. SO BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING CAUSE THIS TIME IT’S GONNA GET REALLY COMPETETIVE!”

“Sounds good to me.”said Ken.
“Well,at least that narrows it down.”said Chun-Li. “But…could the killer---be really one of those fighters?”

“We may not know till much later,Chun-Li.”said Ryu. “Either way,be on your toes,all of you.”

SHADALOO HQ…

Bison viwed the events of the tournament in his screening room.
Once it was finished,he rose from his throne and came to a decision.

“I have a plan.”he said to his officers juli and Juni. “Once the finals begin,we shall lead an all-out assualt upon the civic center and capture the finalists all together,and bring them all back here.”

“Uhmm—is that truly wise Master Bison?”said Volkes,the blonde haired group captain of Shadaloo’s forces. “That may attract the local police forces and---“

“When I need an opinion I’ll ask for it Volkes!”said Bison. “Besides that,I for one am tired of the same old covert,secret clandestine methods we’ve always tried anways. Every time we try it,Ryu and those accursed allies of his stop us at every turn anyways! I intend to bring them down and to me—NO MATTER WHAT!

So..Capt.Volkes,Juli and Juni,gather our forces at once for our planned desination. This time…SHADALOO SHALL BE TRIUMPHANT!”

THE LOCAL FUNERAL HOME….

The undertaker was to prepare the last touches on the body of Michael Blaines,he entered the room where the cermony was to take place tomorrow.
But…once he opened the casket….the body was gone….

“WHAT THE HELL?!”he replied.

WHILE AT THE LOCAL MORGUE….

The coroners entered the room where several bodies of local martail artists were slain.
But…when they got there…they found the vaults where the bodies were stored….were all opened—the tray beds were pulled out---and the bodies were gone!

“HEY—what’s going on---where the hell’s the bodies?”said the first coroner
“Sheesh,first vampire-like serial killings,now grave robbings?”said the other.”And it’s not even October!”

While somewhere outside in the city….a series of dark clouds circled overhead where the civic center was.

And in the far distance,atop a tall office buidling,two mysterious beings watched with intent and concern.

“So…it has begun.”said the being on the left.
“You know where we—must go?”said the other.
“Yes…the local Interpol HQ.”
“You know we may be giving ourselves away if we do this.”
“Perhaps,but what other choice do we have this time? The one called Ryu has strong allies with him. This may work out to our advantage yet. The descedant of our ancient enemy—must be stopped!”