SF: A Warrior's Path Ch. 7 - Tiger vs. Jaguar
By Gouki

Egoism clearly shown on his face, Adon lunged towards his former master, and threw an elbow with such speed that it seemed that he didn't do anything. Sagat merely raised his leg to block the attack and quickly responded with a volley of punches, ending the short display with an uppercut, snapping Adon's head back and sending him airborne. Landing hard on the ground with a loud thud, Adon immediately flipped into his stance, recovering rather quickly from those lethal attacks.

"Hmph! Pathetic!" Sagat said with contempt. Adon didn't reply, mainly because Sagat was right. He was quicker than he once was. He had truly underestimated him.

A slight grin adorned Sagat's face as he saw Adon go into a defensive stance. A swift jab was thrown, followed by a kick to his shin, to which Adon blocked. Sagat continued his assail with the same revelation of punches, which Adon parried once more. Though he was defending against Sagat's punches, Adon found himself unable to launch a counterattack, and was realising that his arms were slowly beginning to become tired. Sagat seemed to notice this, and thus increased the power and speed of his blows. Adon's body racked with pain as each hit home, his fighting spirit and adrenaline being the only sources keeping him conscious. He realised he only had one chance to slow him down, for the period. He had to focus on his eye. Hopping backwards just barely out of the reach of a left hook, he sprung himself backwards into one of the many stone pillars that embellished the battlefield. Using the strength available in his left leg, he sent himself forward towards his target.

"Jaguar Tooth!" the arrogant Muay Thai warrior yelled as he extended his right leg towards Sagat's face. At one time, Sagat had no counterattack for such a move, something he rarely worried about. Now he would punish him with the one move that stood a chance against his.

"TIGER BLOW!" the champion roared. A quick wave of fear passed through Adon's body as he collided with a vaulting Sagat. All Adon felt were around seven blasts of chi, which seemed to burn through his body, before he spiralled into the same monolith he leapt from. Sagat landed and watched with an unpitying eye as he watched his former student fall from the skies, and back down to the hard earth.

Dan opened the match with a right jab, extremely slow but all the while expecting it to connect. Sakura blocked the attack and prepared for a left jab, which came slightly faster than the first but was still easy to block. Dan almost looked p*ssed as he continued with an outside crescent kick to her right which she ducked.

"He must be testing me…" the teen thought as she parried a left jab. She responded with a jab, followed instantly by a kick to his ankle and ended her combo with a mid-roundhouse connecting with his midsection. The attack wasn't powerful, but the result of Dan being doubled over, the wind being knocked out of him made her think otherwise.

"She can block the basics." the Saikyo warrior noted. "Let's see how she does against the true skills of Saikyo."

Dan flew into a solid roundhouse kick, throwing most of his might into the blow, which Sakura managed to block, the force sending her backwards. Annoyed that his attack didn't connect, Dan threw two incredibly fast punches, but completely missed due to the fact they were launched in blind fury. Sakura immediately saw an opening.

Attacking Dan with a blow to the midsection, she followed it up with three more strikes, and ended the raid with a leaping uppercut, adding two more blows under Dan's chin, launching him upwards and into a nearby market stall. Dan threw the contents off him and went into his stance. Though he easily recovered from Sakura's "Sho-o-ken" technique, the laughter of the small market crowd, as well as Sakura's because of the hilarious grimace on his face only added to his fury.

"You will pay for that!!!" Dan almost shrilled, his voice on the verge of cracking. Sakura stood fast, ready for the next attack Dan would use.

Dan suddenly leapt forward, and aimed a flurry of kicks towards the adolescent fighter. Caught unexpected, Sakura attempted to duck under the flying knee, but took it straight on the chin, forcing her body to the side. Dan railed into her twice more sending the novice fighter to the ground. Dan landed and immediately showed his egoism with one of his patented taunts towards the floored Sakura.

"Doshita! Doshita!" he cried to the crowd that favoured him. "Dosh-" he stopped in mid-sentence as he heard a slight groan from his opponent while she pulled herself off the ground. Though she was hurt by the attack, she showed no sign of it, and easily proceeded into her respective stance.

"I have to admit, that was good" she proudly exclaimed. "Came close to winning there." Dan's fury slowly subsided due to her praising of his self taught attack. The rage for the killer of his father would forever consume him, as long as he learned to control it. That was one thing Gouken couldn't do, which was what he would now do. He looked up at the sun again. The day was slowly beginning to end, which meant he had to end this soon.

Sakura suddenly rushed forward, as if to end the fight and took to the air. Her body spun as she descended and extended her foot outward. Dan saw the attack coming, as if in slow motion, and a smirk adorned his face as he sensed victory coursing through him.

Dan took a step forward, intending on ending the battle with his favoured "Koryuken" technique, which was simply an altered version of the dragon punch. That was, until his foot stepped on a flat piece of rock.

"What the…" he started as he slipped on the smooth stone, enough time to stop his focus of chi and leaving him with enough vulnerability for Sakura to end her technique.

"Shunpukyaku!" he heard her cry before her heel crashed into his chest. He flew in to the air upon impact, yet he managed to somehow avoid falling on his back, instead landing on his feet. Cursing his misfortune, he looked up in time to see Sakura with cupped hands, near the underside of her armpit, holding what Dan recognised was a blue sphere of energy.

Dan raised his hand to the side of his head and waited for the small orbs of energy that collected into it. Keeping his gaze on Sakura, his eyes widened in disbelief as he saw her slowly enlarge the blue-white globe to the extent of her having to increase the distance between her palms to contain it. So amazed at her chi manipulation and utilisation, he was oblivious to the fact that he was collecting more chi than he usually did.

After holding it for some time, Sakura shifted her weight that was focused on her rear leg toward her front leg, and hurled the spherical energy forward. The action suddenly triggered Dan about his chi summoning, and he whipped his arm forward, hurling his chi in the process.

"SHINKUU HADOKEN!!" Sakura yelled, as if to add emphasis to the size of her fireball. An immense blast of energy escaped from her outstretched palms, targeted at Dan, who gave a lower cry of "Gadoken!" whilst a smaller, weaker looking energy ball flew to make impact with Sakura's.

Just as Sakura's fireball travelled to connect and dissipate with Dan's, it suddenly began to decrease in size until all that remained was a small, mushroom shaped source. It continued its shrinkage until it dissipated into the atmosphere, just as Dan's passed the location where it dispersed. The release of such a source of chi had drained almost Sakura's fighting spirit as a result, leaving her extremely tired. She had used too much energy, and was know paying the price for it.

Dan's fireball soared across the battlefield and towards Sakura, who had brought up her weary, weakened arms to block, knowing all too well that the fight was over. As it connected, Sakura braced herself for the pain that would soon come.

Instead of the one strike Dan expected, he blinked in shock and amazement as he heard five, machine-gun like shots inflicted upon the defending Sakura before she spun to the ground, semi-conscious, and defeated. Dan still stood in his shock-like state before a message flew to his head about what he'd just done.

"I JUST CREATED A NEW MOVE!!" the Saikyo fighter yelled before he threw multiple taunts to the now cheering crowd. Leaping upward, he lifted his left leg and flexed his left arm at a right angle, while he screamed out "YAHOI!" He landed and walked over to his opponent, extending a hand which she took to help herself up.

"You're not bad…for a kid" Dan said "But in the end, you were no match for my Saikyo skills!" he spoke arrogantly at that point, before he turned and continued on with his quest.

Towards where his path began.

"You are nothing…" Sagat growled into the barely conscious fighter. "Remember this…" a small, sadistic grin glided across his lips. "Against the Tiger, the Jaguar can never win" Adon cracked an eyelid open, allowing light to flood his mind once again.

Sagat clutched the limp Adon within his huge grasp and held him above eye level, grinning as he brought him down to fully end the battle.

As Sagat's knee rushed to crush Adon's ribs and lungs, he managed to glimpse something snake out and strike him directly at the side of his face. Sagat immediately released his grip on Adon and reeled back, using his hand to cover his eye.

Adon wasted on time as he leapt towards Sagat in a forward somersault, his leg forming an arc of chi as he neared his adversary, initiating his technique known as the Jaguar Revolver.

His foot connected with deadly accuracy with Sagat's right shoulder, striking twice before he repeated his attack twice more, sending the huge Sagat to the ground. A grimace adorned his face, angry with himself for having such a weak spot. He got to his feet, in time to see Adon leapt backwards to catch him off guard with another Jaguar Tooth. Sagat's lips curled in to a grin as he leapt to meet Adon with another Tiger Blow. Adon vaulted himself forward, but came at a steeper angle, skilfully evading Sagat's leaping uppercut. Sagat realised he'd made a tragic mistake.

Adon glanced up, to the falling Muay Thai Champion and smirked as he basked in his soon to be imminent victory. Pulses of energy began to surge into him, his chi flaring of with great intensity. Upon the sole of Sagat's feet touching the ground, Adon threw his fighting spirit at the warrior.

Four crushing elbows slammed into Sagat's chest, each one accompanied by small, wispy trails of chi. Sagat for a brief moment, though Adon's initial plan of attack being a bit foolhardy, but was unaware that his assault was just the beginning.

"Jaguar Thousand!!" Adon yelled as his arm pierced a multitude of strikes all targeted at Sagat's midsection. The last hit flew straight and struck directly with Sagat's scar. His mind suddenly brought up the painful memory of how he received the scar. It was all too much for him and he landed with a thunderous thud.

With his arms crossed in an arrogant manner, Adon chuckled as he marvelled over his victory, his achievement of the Muay Thai Championship flooding through his mind. He couldn't help but make one last comment.

"You always were just an old tiger, teacher" he mocked. "You didn't deserve the title of Muay Thai champion from the time you lost to Ryu. That eyepatch and scar only hinders how weak you've tru-" he stopped and watched in shock as he saw Sagat leap up from the battlefield and gaze over towards Adon. Adon watched in fear as he noticed the flare of chi emanating from his convulsing muscles. His eye was gleaming white with fury as he flew towards Adon.

"TIGER GENOCIDE!!" boomed Sagat as he swiftly threw himself forward, defying his huge physique with a Tiger Knee. Landing as fast as he went forward, he went airborne with a Tiger Blow, smashing his fist into Adon's jaw. Yet again, the Muay Thai warrior landed and swiftly rose into another, more powerful Tiger Blow, sending Adon's body spiralling into the distance.

Sagat landed in time to watch his former student crash into one of the ivory columns. Crumpling in on himself, Adon fell to the earth a final time, knocked out from the champion's assault.

"Pathetic…" he muttered with contempt. A smile of victory adorned his face for a brief instant, but was quickly replaced with his abhorrent sneer as thoughts of Ryu envisioned his mind.

"This is simply one step towards your demise, Ryu…" he thought and merely turned from the battlefield. Suddenly stopping for a moment, he turned to the side, and saw a man wearing a red uniform, with a navy like cap of the same colour. An emblem of what appeared to be a skull with wings could be seen on the cap. His blue cape swayed violently behind him, though no wind was present. Sagat found his aura disturbing.

"What do you want?" Sagat questioned. The figure simply grinned. A particularly evil one.

"You are a powerful fighter Sagat. You could be useful to me" he replied.

"Not interested" Sagat muttered and began to distance himself from the figure and the battlefield.

"Even if it guarantees Ryu's demise?"

Sagat stopped in his tracks. Not even questioning how the person knew of his intentions, the desire of Ryu's destruction clouded his suspicions and easily confirmed his decision.

"You have my attention" he spoke. The mysterious one again smiled.

"Excellent. Welcome to Shadaloo, Sagat…"