In the stands, Jacques Williams and his student, Adam Ludwig, are chatting about the fighters, more specifically the next match.
- "That Evan guy…he scares me."
Adam says.
- "There's something off about him, I can't really put my finger on it."
Jacques contemplates for a moment, before speaking up.
- "I think it's just because he looks scary, no?"
- "No, that guy is hiding something. Whatever it is, it's not pretty."
Another kid shows up and sits next to Adam. He's a little bit shorter than Adam, and he sports a side part with bangs that reach his eyebrows. His iris is silver, and his pupils are slit. Adam looks at him
- "I didn't know they allowed kids here."
The kid looks at Adam, confused.
- "You're a kid too"
- "Yeah, but I'm with my teacher."
Adam points to his Jacques.
- "You're alone."
- "Nah, my dad is here, but he's busy talking with his friends."
Adam leans back in his seat and shrugs his arms.
- "Your dad, huh."
- "Mhm, he's very strong!"
Adam leans forward.
- "Oh yeah? Well, my teacher here is probably stronger."
- "Nuh uh!"
- "Yuh huh!"
The kids bicker while Jacques continue thinking.
- "I've never fought them before, but I have seen them on TV. Evan's best bet is to fight at a short distance. He's strong and he's taller than Norrawich, but Norrawich's reach, and legs are longer. Norrawich is lighter than Evan, so I won't be surprised if Evan wins a striking clash, but Norrawich is also faster. And Adam is right, it seems like Evan really is hiding something. It could be a trump card, or it could be a weakness. Well, let's just wait and see."
Adam and the other kid stop bickering to pay attention to the next match as it is about to start.
- "Oh yeah, what's your name? I'm Adam."
- "My name's Sang!"
- "Cool name."
The fighters enter the arena.
- "Now it's time for round 1, match 4! Enter, Evan "Bear Killer" Armstrong versus Norrawich "The Sky Splitter" Sathitpitayayudh!"
They stare each other down.
- "I'm a big fan, I can't believe I get to fight you."
Norrawich says, giving respect to Evan.
- "Thanks, let's have a nice, respectful match."
The two get into position.
- "Fighters are you ready!?"
The two of them nod in agreement.
- "Then…BEGIN!!!"
Evan closes in immediately, hitting Norrawich with a straight punch to the solar plexus, and then follows up with a Gyaku Zuki.
Katsuya watches from a screen as he gets bandaged up in the infirmary.
- "He's still got it."
He mutters to himself.
Norrawich counters by grabbing the back of Evan's neck and then hits him with a knee kick to the nose. Evan goes for another straight punch, but Norrawich dodges and hits Evan with an elbow to the temple, following up with an axe kick, which Evan dodges. He backs off, but then he realizes his mistake.
- "What a heated exchange right off the bat!"
Evan wipes the blood off his nose.
- "Crap, I've made a mistake."
Evan goes into the Shiko dachi stance, lowering his body, widening his legs, and having his arms close to the hips.
- "I hope he takes the bait; there's no chance I can get close without him hitting me."
Norrawich circles around Evan. He realizes what Evan is trying to do.
- "This is bait, but I must get closer anyway. I can reach him before he can reach me."
Norrawich runs in. He hit a jab, which Evan blocks, but it was a feint to land a calf kick. Evan flinches. Norrawich goes in for another elbow, but just then, Evan hits Norrawich with a backhand to the face into an elbow to the stomach.
- "What!? Evan hit him in the face! This may be a no-holds-barred tournament, but I didn't expect a man as principled as Evan to break the rules of Karate!"
Evan, not one to let Norrawich go, hits him with a Triple Median Line Strike, hitting Norrawich in the philtrum, throat, and solar plexus. Norrawich is writhing in pain, but he gains distance.
- "Woah! A Triple Median Line Strike! Norrawich isn't going to recover so quickly!"
Norrawich spits blood.
- "Ugh, that was dumb! Why did I think he wasn't going to hit me in the face!?"
Evan goes into the Nekoashi-dachi, or the cat foot stance, with the weight of his body on the back foot while his front foot is positioned so that the ball of his foot and his toes are on the ground.
- "Sorry but, don't consider me a Karateka."
Norrawich gets closer slowly. Evan doesn't budge. They are now in each other's range; they are looking to land a counter. Evan goes first, with a straight punch, Norrawich parries, and knees him in the face. Evan gets pushed back. Norrawich hits a calf kick, stunning Evan. He tries to go for another calf kick, but Evan blocks. He goes for another calf kick, Evan raises his guard, but it was a feint into a reverse roundhouse kick, hitting Evan in the temple and dropping him to his knees.
- "And a massive reverse roundhouse lands square on the side of Evan's head!"
Norrawich raises his leg to drop an axe kick.
- "Oh! And Norrawich is setting up his signature axe kick!"
Norrawich slams his it down, but Evan evades in time. He tries to follow up with an elbow but Evan counters with a knee kick, shoving Norrawich back. He follows up with a flying kick, but Norrawich dodges in time.
Evan goes for a Gyaku Zuki, but Norrawich dodges and hits him with a calf kick, stunning Evan. He lands a jab to the jaw, rocking Evan for a bit. He goes for a low kick to the thigh, knocking Evan off-balance. Evan tries to counter with a straight punch, but Norrawich spins around and hits him with a backhand, knocking him away.
- "What a deadly combination from Norrawich! Can Evan really handle this much punishment!?"
Evan spits out blood, he's chipped a tooth. He regains his composure and closes the distance. Norrawich makes Evan know exactly what his effective range is, hitting a low kick which makes a line in the sand. Evan closes in anyway, and Norrawich goes for a roundhouse kick. Evan grabs his leg and throws Norrawich, using the same motion a shoulder throw would.
- "And what's this!? The master Karateka just used a shoulder throw! What an unexpected turn of events!"
Evan goes for the ground and pound, but Norrawich hits him with a left-right hook and shakes him off. The two men get up.
Katsuya, still in the infirmary, is approached by Hobin Choi.
- "That's your teacher, right?"
- "Yeah…"
Hobin clicks his tongue.
- "It's kind of disappointing seeing this."
Katsuya stays silent. Hobin doesn't provoke him further and leaves.
- "That man was considered to be one of the strongest Karateka ever. It's sad that he lost faith in his martial art."
Hobin thinks to himself as he walks out the infirmary door. Katsuya looks at the screen, with a sad look on his face. He is still in disbelief. He remembers a time in his life when he was an unruly brat. He remembers when he was scolded by his father and Evan. He ran away from the dojo for a little while, he was an emotional and impulsive kid after all. He ran so far away that he landed himself in Yakuza territory, and he was in a very dangerous part of the town as the organization running these parts had frequent clashes with Katsuya's dojo. He was kidnapped by a few of the lower thugs and brought to the boss, but before they could do any harm, his father and Evan showed up. They decimated the place, leaving everyone out of commission, all without hitting the faces with their hand strikes. Katsuya sobs.
- "Thank you, but why don't you guys ever hit people in the face with your fists!?"
His father and Evan look at each other, before Evan wipes his tears away.
- "Dummy. What's the point of being a Karateka if you don't follow the rules of Karate?"
Evan says, as the three walk back to the dojo. This memory was etched into Katsuya's mind, so why, just why does Evan break the rule? Katsuya looks away from the screen, he is heartbroken to see what his master has become.
Evan continues his assault, with a classic straight punch rush to the torso. Norrawich keeps his guard tight.
- "Body punch after body punch! Yet they can't seem to land on Norrawich!"
Norrawich finds a gap in the punches, and tries to counterattack, but gets met with an uppercut to the jaw, stunning him. Evan goes for another backhand to an elbow strike,
Norrawich gets pushed back and starts spitting blood. He recovers just in time to see Evan closing the distance quickly. Just before Evan can throw a strike, Norrawich drops an axe kick. Evan blocks, but his body is now wide open. Norrawich hits the solar plexus. Evan is stunned. He follows up with a crescent kick to the liver, knocking Evan to his knees.
- "My, my! Looks like even with that hardened body of his, weak points are still weak points!"
Norrawich tries to kick him while he's down, but Evan grabs his leg and lands a palm strike to Norrawich's chin. His brain rattles, he blacks out for a second. Evan grabs his face, and he slams Norrawich into the ground. Norrawich regains consciousness and instinctively rolls away before Evan could stomp on him. Norrawich sneaks in a leg sweep, causing Evan to fall too.
- "And they're both down! Yet they continue to get up!"
The two men get back into position. They both take deep breaths. Norrawich inches closer. Evan goes for a Mikazuki Geri, but Norrawich dodges and counters with a roundhouse kick. Evan blocks, but Norrawich lands a body shot. Evan flinches. Norrawich follows up with an elbow to the face, but Evan counters, landing his own elbow to Norrawich's face.
- "They've clashed! How many more of these deadly strikes can these men take!?"
Norrawich takes a deep breath. He recalls the first time he was taught "the winning combination." He was a Nak Muay at the age of 12. He defeated people older, bigger, and physically stronger than him, but he was easy to read. His master decided to teach him unpredictability, combining combinations with each other, and to adapt to what the opponent has already seen. He also recalls that the most attentive fighters get distracted by the littlest things, feints and fakes would do wonders against Evan.
- "Okay, I got this."
He thinks to himself, hyping himself up. He sweeps up dust, distracting Evan. He runs in with an elbow shot to the temple. Evan's vision tilts. Norrawich goes for a jab to the face, Evan tries to parry, but it was a set-up for Norrawich to land a low kick.
- "Norrawich uses the environment to his advantage! Evan is getting showered with heavy blow after heavy blow."
Norrawich goes for an axe kick. Evan tries to block, but his guard breaks. It lands square on his face, knocking him onto the ground.
- "There it is again! Norrawich's Sky Splitting Kick!"
Norrawich tries to finish him off, but Evan sweeps his legs, dropping Norrawich into the ground as well. They both get up once more. Norrawich throws an overhand right. This was his biggest mistake. Evan slips under the attack and goes behind Norrawich.
- "Oh crap."
Evan suplexes Norrawich headfirst. Their combined weight causes Norrawich to black out for a second. His consciousness returns, but Evan has already mounted him. He showers Norrawich with hammer fists. Norrawich tries to block, but it's no use, gravity is working against him. Evan continues showering hammer fists until he realizes that Norrawich was unconscious.
- "An amazing end to this fight! The master Karateka chooses to add more skills and moves to his arsenal!"
The referee calls for medical attention before raising Evan's arm.
- "And the winner is…EVAN "THE BEAR KILLER" ARMSTRONG!!!"
The crowd cheers. Evan looks up at the crowd but proceeds to look down. Despite winning, he feels ashamed.
Katsuya looks on in silence, clenching his fists. Leonardo stares at Evan leaving the arena.
- "He looks sad, like he's hiding something."
Jack knows that look all too well.
- "Yeah, he has lost faith in his martial art. I can't say I blame him; I don't know his circumstances after all."
Jack leans back, thinking about the past few months, and then he chuckles.
- "What's funny?"
- "Nothing, it's just…I kinda lost faith in my martial art too, until you came around. Thank you for rekindling my love for it."
- "Don't mention it."
Leonardo replies with a smile, before the two get up.
- "Let's go, it's about time to show the world what we have created."
Jack smiles too, before raising his fist up.
- "Let's go, Leo."
Leonardo fist bumps him. The two walk out of the stands and into the fighter rooms to get Leonardo into his fighting attire.
Adam and Sang are at the edge of their seats, almost falling over to the seats in front of them.
- "Woah that fight was awesome!"
- "Yeah! I was so surprised when the Karate guy pulled out a wrestling move!"
While the kids discuss their favorite parts of the fight, Jacques ponders.
- "So, he lost faith in his martial art, eh? That's kind of sad. He was one of the most renowned Karateka. Even back in the 70s when Vale Tudo was in full swing, he would never break the rules of Karate. Despite having his eyes poked, despite being kicked in the groin, despite being at a disadvantage when he fights a grappler-striker hybrid, he stayed true to the rules set by his dojo. I wonder what happened."
Evan goes to his private fighter room. He pulls something out of his bag. It was a picture of him, Katsuya, and Katsuya's father. It was a celebratory picture, taken after Evan's promotion to 9th Dan. He starts crying.
- "I'm sorry, young master."
He mumbles to himself before wiping away his tears.