Chapter 2: Seattle, Ken Masters’ Residence

The sounds of fighting could be heard from within the gym of the huge house. The floors were covered by tatamis and the surroundings were decorated in Japanese style to remind one of the atmosphere of a dojo. Sparring in the center were two men. One in a blue colored dogi and the other in a yellow colored one. Both were striking each other furiously although they were careful to avoid serious blows.

"Come on, kid. You can fight harder than that!", Ken commented while dodging a roundhouse aimed for his head.

"You mean like this?", Sean answered as he landed a quick left hook to Ken’s right side.

Ken winced slightly at the suddenness of the punch but he was quick to parry the uppercut that followed.

Sean pressed on with his attack and decided to sweep his opponent’s feet from below. Ken was able to jump over the attack and countered with an overhead kick to Sean’s torso before finishing it up with another straight kick to the solar plexus, knocking Sean to the mat.

"Ooof, that hurt!!!", Sean painfully said as he sat up.

Ken chuckled as he helped Sean up, "Don’t worry. At least you did better than last time. All you need is a little more practice and you should be able to make it past the quarterfinals in the next Streetfighter tournament. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even be a match for Ryu, hehehe."

Sean frowned at the comment knowing full well that if he was to beat Ryu then he would have to train harder than ever or he wouldn’t stand a chance just like last time.

"Anyway, we’re done training for the day. Go hit the showers and I’ll see you again tomorrow", Ken continued.

"Okay then, Sensei", Sean replied as he got his gear together. "See you tomorrow!!!"

After Sean had left, Ken went to the kitchen for a bite to eat.

"Boy, am I hungry", he thought. "I wonder how Ryu is doing right now… it would sure be great to see him again."

Grabbing some bread and some tuna, he proceeded to make himself a hefty tuna sandwich which he finished in a matter of seconds. Since Eliza and Mel wouldn’t be back until the afternoon, he decided to spend the rest of the day washing his car.

As he worked, he found himself thinking, "Just where is Ryu right now? He’s just as hard to find as a needle in a haystack. The last time I saw him was during Mel’s birthday but he didn’t stay too long either. But since the next Streetfighter tournament is fast approaching I suppose that he’ll be there to compete. If he shows up then I’ll be sure to enter the competition as well."

Suddenly, a pair of hands covered his eyes and someone said, "Guess who?"

Ken guessed, "Uhmm, pizza delivery???"

"No, silly!", Eliza laughed as he turned around and kissed her. "How was your day today?"

"Oh fine, fine", Ken replied. "Where did you go shopping with Mel this time?"

"She took us to the new shopping mall near the bay area", Mel piped in as his dad scooped him up. "We bought a lot of neat stuff and we even had ice cream before going home."

"Is that so?", Ken answered. "Well let me finish washing up over here and when I’m done, I’ll take you all out to dinner, okay?"

"Yippee!", exclaimed Mel as he went off. "I’ll go get ready then."

Eliza said, "You seem to have been deep in thought before we arrived. Anything you want to talk about?"

Ken replied, "Oh I was just thinking about Ryu again and how I miss seeing him. That’s all."

"Well you know how he is… focused on nothing but his fighting skills. He doesn’t even seem to mind being alone all of the time. But I know you’ll get to see him again one way or the other", she answered.

"You’re right", Ken said. "Since I’m already done here I guess we should get ready. Let’s not keep Mel waiting too long."

"Alright. Let’s go", Eliza answered.