[center][h2][color=BFBFBF]Zenkichi Hasegawa[/color][/h2]
Esaka, The Tiered City- Pools
Lvl 9 [color=BFBFBF]Zenkichi[/color] (87/90)  -> Lvl 9 (89/90) 
Word count: 1,176 words[/center]




When Zenkichi made it to the arena for his match, he had to suppress a chuckle. It was basically just a gigantic raft, wooden logs roped together and floating in a great square atop the titular Pools. He could see other arenas out in the Tier, and sure enough, all had plenty of room to knock an opponent out of the ring, even the ones that were more than a cheap raft that could have been made in an afternoon. 

His opponent, [url=https://i.imgur.com/rDL4Gws.png]whose name was certainly more literal than Zenkichi was hoping[/url], arrived shortly after he did. “Hard as iron, smooth as silk. There is no match for my style.” Iron Monk boasted as he performed a series of acrobatic maneuvers, clearly meant to intimidate. Zenkichi, for his part, was a little nervous about the fact that the guy did match his name, nodded. 

[color=BFBFBF]”I wish I could afford to take it easy on you…but I can’t.”[/color] It sounded arrogant, and to a degree it was, but…Zenkichi had a sword and guns. As long as this guy wasn’t shooting energy blasts and slinging spells like crazy, Zenkichi had a feeling he wasn’t going to lose here. 

The livestream to the Four Kings gave Zenkichi his first good look at his target, Heihachi. Compared to the others, Heihachi made no attempt to look like a warlord or king, instead showing off his muscular body and dedication to the art of combat. That boded poorly, Zenkichi thought, but he’d have to make do with the situation as it was. 

Heihachi calling out and offering a bounty on G-Corp was even less expected, but part of Zenkichi couldn’t trust that seeming luck. While the old saying often blinded people into believing that the enemy of their enemy would be a friend, it was just as common for such partnerships to end in betrayal. Of course, he had no proof and no prior experience with Heihachi Mishima to say for sure whether the man was as principled as he claimed. 

M. Bison’s speech regarding the attempt on his life earned a blank stare from Zenkichi. Did Juri really try to kill one of the Four Kings and completely whiff it? That…was actually surprising, somewhat. He didn’t know Juri terribly well in the short time they’d been part of the Seekers, but she certainly wasn’t incompetent. That much he could be certain of. So, either Bison was hurt more than he claimed, possibly even killed, and returned by virtue of the Guardian Spirit…or he was a lot tougher than Juri remembered. Either option boded poorly for the Seekers.

The remote viewing ended, and Zenkichi found himself atop the floating platform with Iron Monk again, each fighter loosening themselves up for the coming battle. As soon as the start of Round 1 was announced, Iron Monk shot forward in a corkscrew, forcing Zenkichi to block with his arms crossed. He was pushed back a few inches, but even as the attack ended, Iron Monk refused to let up. With a flourish, the steel-skinned martial artist punched high, then followed up with a leaning double-fist punch out of a bad action movie. His moves weren’t terribly fast, so Zenkichi was able to dodge the latter despite being hit by the former. He instead wrapped his arms around iron Monk’s own as his body leaned forward, and as his foe tried to pull back to put his body over his center of gravity, Zenkichi dropped down to the floor, landing on his butt and dragging Iron Monk with him.

It was a completely improvised move, but Zenkichi spun around over Iron Monk and wrench his arm up towards his back like a schoolyard bully, prompting a hiss of pain and a pair of legs to clamp around Zenkichi’s torso. Caught off guard, Zenkichi was forced off, but he halted an attack from Iron Monk by summoning Ragnell and swinging it down before him, forcing the martial artist to back off. “What trickery is this?! You brought in no weapon, yet here you stand, holding a sword before you!” Iron Monk shouted, pointing a finger accusingly at Zenkichi. 

[color=BFBFBF]”Your body is literally made out of metal, I don’t wanna hear it from you.”[/color] Zenkichi deadpanned, a little sore from their earlier clashes. He swung Ragnell, taking advantage of the element of surprise to catch the monk with an energy blast, before walking forward menacingly. [color=BFBFBF]”And frankly, I’ve let you keep control of the momentum long enough. Come on, let’s get this over with.”[/color] At least thirty more seconds on the clock, probably closer to forty. More than enough time to make up for the damage he’d taken, especially with the couple of hits he’d given in return. 

Iron Monk approached with a double flying air kick, which seemed to defy gravity to keep him airborne longer. Knowing that he couldn’t match the other in attack speed, Zenkichi took a reactive position, sweeping Ragnell up and launching another energy blast to force Iron Monk to abandon the attack. He did, dropping to the ground and ducking the high-flying energy blast before corkscrewing forward, this time slamming into the hefted flat of Ragnell’s blade, before receiving a blow to the chest from the holy sword’s hilt, which Zenkichi followed up with a grab. 

Said grab was broken by a simultaneous jab, knocking Zenkichi back a step and throwing off his momentum. The detective shook off the blow, remembering Band’s words about the triangle: block beats attack, attack beats grab, grab beats block. Get your opponent’s guard up, [i]then[/i] go for the grab. 

Zenkichi dismissed Ragnell, prompting a surprised look from Iron Monk, before replacing it with the Greatsword, which earned an unimpressed look. “An unsophisticated weapon for an unsophisticated man.” The taunt was ignored, with Zenkichi hiding behind the massive weapon’s bulk. Iron Monk snorted before running forward to make for a grab, only catching the glint of steel at Zenkichi’s side at the last moment. 

A burst of gunfire forced Iron Monk back, and the martial artist was practically snarling now. “You hide behind weapons and deceit. My methods are pure, swordsman. And that is why I shall prove-” Cut off by another burst of gunfire before Zenkichi holstered his revolver, Iron Monk leapt forward with a jump kick, finding himself shocked as Zenkichi perfectly predicted the attack and sidestepped the kick, slamming Iron Monk into the ground with an overhead slash. 

[color=BFBFBF]”You’re too easy to rile up.”[/color] Zenkichi sighed as he kicked Iron Monk, sending the martial artist rolling and chasing after him as he rose. The monk caught a thrust to the gut, dropping to his knees before a second overhead slash finished the round. 

Zenkichi stepped back, a remorseful look on his face. [color=BFBFBF]”I did say I was sorry that I can’t go easy on you. This is what I meant.”[/color] He knew this kind of fighting was dirty, at least to somebody who was some kind of monk, so the least he could do was make this empty apology. He wouldn’t stop.