Small Cadre

Tournament Arc

Picking up where the last chapter left off, Sunny and Anderson escaped from Johnny's hideout right where Johnny got arrested. As soon as they got out of Gowanus Park, Anderson began to talk to Sunny. Anderson: Thank you for saving me but where is Gary? Sunny: He's sick, one of Johnny's friends injected him with leaf spot so we're gonna go check on him. Anderson: Ah okay! I hope he's fine. Sunny: Let's go see him before night time! When the two brothers got to the hospital, they got into the room where Gary is about to drink the cure the nurse made for him. He drinked it, then he fell asleep trying to recover. When Gary went to sleep, William asked Sunny a question. William: What do you think we should do next once Gary is recovered?

Sunny: We're gonna do a tournament. William: What? Sunny: I know it sounds crazy but that could help us to stronger in case Johnny's friends show up. Anderson: The winner will get $10,000 for it. William: Sounds risky but we don't have much of a choice. But before we enter the tournament we have to train first, we can't just go in there not prepared. Sunny: It's settled. Well we have to wait for Gary to wake up. Gary's mind: Well here we go again. Moments later, Gary finally got out the hospital and started to feel much better. On their way to a park called Orange park, they found the same poster Sunny found on the pole. When the quad of four got inside the park, the wind began to pick up. Sunny chose Anderson as his opponent for demonstrating how to use Muay thai in combat. Before Sunny and Anderson were about to practice, William and Gary were finding a place to sit and watch. Anderson was putting his energy focusing on training to avoid distraction. Sunny started to teach Anderson the basics of Muay thai. Sunny: Before starting a match you have to show your opponent respect by putting your hands up your forehead by forming a Y. Anderson lift his hands up and formed a Y on his forehead. Anderson: How should I say greeting in muay thai? Sunny: Sawadee Krap. It's for men but for women you say sawadee ka. Anderson: Wow! Where did you learn that? Sunny: I studied it from a YouTube video. Anderson: Noted.

Sunny: Alright now I'm going to teach you how to Muay Thai. In defense it's simple. Put your rear foot forward and put your weight on it, lift your knee foot, extend forward and lift your knee foot back down. Anderson naturally performed the T in one try. He's excitement of learning it on his first try got him distracted. Sunny told him to stay focused. Anderson continued to practice the T kick. That's good! Sunny called out. Now circle your hands around as when you are in defense mode. Anderson practiced doing it for the next five minutes. Anderson watched as Sunny was showing him to stretch his rear foot further for a proper fighting pose. Gary and William found it interesting watching Sunny teaching his little brother how to fight. Gary: Do you really think were going to be winning the tournament. Of course! William said calmly. Even though muay thai was around since 2000 years ago, it's not too late to learn it. You're right, there are alot of fighters that fought for years. We have to think of strategies not just strength, William protested. Realistically that is how most fighters win. After William's conversation with Gary, he payed attention to Anderson's training with Sunny. Sunny: Okay now we're going to practice shadowboxing starting with the elbow. The elbow you use to throw a left and right hook. Anderson started to throw a left and then a right hook, it felt that he is using half of his elbows. Anderson: So were rotating the hips and shoulders as we are throwing hooks. Sunny: Exactly. We also have to cover the distance in order to deliver a hit with the tip of your elbow. Just try and throw a right hook at me and you'll see what I mean. Sunny lifted his right hand and Anderson began to throw his right hook at Sunny's hand. Good work Sunny complemented, now do it again. Can't Anderson take a break for a bit, he's been training for quite a long time. Sunny: No, you have to be prepared. Anderson: Fine. At the tournament, the training focuses on a different perspective with four new fighters known as Karron, Alex, Bruce, and Tyreek. They had formed an alliance together in order to win tournament. Alex is a tall Australian man with a role of becoming a dictator trying to make sure his plans for his team go successfully. Bruce is an inspiration of Bruce Lee but however, has the ability to do shadow boxing and has trained for years. Tyreek has a more aggressive approach on fighting and more durability than the rest of the fighters. Lastly, Karron has come from a land to win the prize money in order to save his family from starvation. They are having food shortages and they are counting on him to win and return home with enough cash to save them. Alex gave the orders, "come on Tyreek! He said, punch the heck out of that punching bag to increase your stamina. When Tyreek moved in position in front of the punching bag, there was silence. Without interruption he quickly went forward towards the punching bag and started to rapid punch it. The bag began to rip and the sand poured down. Tyreek's partners clapped and applaud for his success. Alright! Alex said, "we need to keep training! Going back to Sunny's perspective, him and friends were still practicing. All went well until Gary had trouble landing a hit on William. He moves to fast for him and when Gary misses a straight jab, he gets punched in the face in return. Soon he started to learn that he has to time his defenses before he gets attacked. William: Ok try and again but defend yourself quickly this time. William threw one right hook and Gary has finally blocked it in time. William and Gary smiled. Good! he said, let's keep practicing. Gary: Sure thing. Gary experiencing exhaustion, he decided to keep going.

Three hours later, the friends were exhausted. They have picked up their training gear then they set off for home. The next day, Gary knocked on Sunny’s door. When Sunny opened the door, Gary showed a poster of the tournament he dropped yesterday by Orange Park. Gary: The tournament is today at 4pm, we must prepare. Sunny with his nod of agreement, he decided to go. Anderson came downstairs ready to come with Sunny and Gary. He cannot wait to test out his skills during the tournament. Look! Gary said, seems your little bro is excited. Sunny: Anderson! Do you know that those fighters have been fighting for years right? Anderson: Yes. Then there was silence. Good! Sunny said. When the trio were on their way to go get William, Gary mentioned one fighter’s name he has not told the rest of the gang. Gary: There is one fighter I did research on and one of us must fight him in a challenge match. Sunny: Who is that? Tyreek! Gary said. Sunny: That is a strange name. Not just a strange name but he is aggressive. In combat he tries to end a fight as soon as possible. However, he at times give other fighters a head starts to see how his opponent will approach him. Interesting, Sunny said. What do you think about that bro? Sunny: Bro where did you go? Near a tree, Anderson was practicing the same Muay Thai technique from yesterday. Anderson: Rear foot forward, extend forward then kick! He said to himself. When Sunny and Gary saw him practicing, they were most impressed.  When they got to William’s house, he was already outside waiting for them. “How long have you been standing there? Asked Gary. “Long enough, William replied. He was trying to be careful of not revealing his eyes to them. It was kept secret between him and Gary. The brothers right away acknowledged their secret and decided not to ask about William’s back story. With that being acknowledged they went on their way to the tournament. When they finally made it, Gary already told William all about who Tyreek was. William was integrated but not amused. To his argument why he does what he does now because he is trying to end a fight in a shorter period which is not necessary. He should try and put up a good fight in the long run besides trying to end it quickly. Sunny: Cannot argue with that. Perhaps he is setting a different goal than the rest of us. “Exactly! William replied. When the boys waited at the front entrance, they made sure they have their gear with them. At the front door was a big guard wearing a black suit with a check list in his hand. “Nick names please” the man said. Sunny and Anderson gave their names known as Islesboro and Bokia. The guard was surprised. He looked down and glared closely at them. “Well, you two looks like twins”. Sunny: That is correct. “Ah! There it is! Islesboro and Bokia! Come in. Now it was Gary and William’s turn. “Nick names please” William was remembering of what he rehearsed back at home. Before Gary can ask, William already has given what their nickname was, and their nickname’s is called Liam and John. Guard: Liam yes? It is on the list, but “John” is not. It is okay Gary said to William, I can do this. Gary was going to tell the guard what his real nickname is. Gary: My nickname is Gerard. The guard checked his list to see if it was there. Guard: Interesting. That is a French name. Gary nodded at him and agreed that his nickname is real. He does not want to spend more time with the guard talking about his nickname. Guard: Alright you two, come in! Gary and William finally got in and they caught up with Sunny and Anderson watching a fight between two older men. Gary and William joined alongside and started talking about who they must fight next. Sunny was trying to see if there was tournament bracket in order to see who are they up against. There was alot of things that were going on and Sunny found it difficult to see the bracket with the lights flickering in the way. When the lights stopped flickering, Sunny can finally see the bracket and saw that there are four new fighters in it and they look strong. When their fight was about to begin, Alex and Tyreek were observing them, and Alex has the up most confidence that Karon will win the match. William was planning to find an opening through Karon’s defense. When Karon was beginning to warm up, he asked William if he was done plotting something. William replied to him in a calm manner, realizing that Sunny’s training would work even though they have practiced all day. The announcer has raised his arm. READY? BEGIN! At last William is ready to fight and Karon let him have his first strike. As Karon blocked him, he came to realization that William knows the Muay Thai technique and he should be careful. When William was about to attack again, Karon kicked William sending him across the boxing ring blocking with both of his arms. Alex and Tyreek watched as William was trying to find an opening in which that would lead to William’s demise. Alex’s training helped Karon’s defense for effective, but he cannot wait for too long to attack your opponent. Suddenly, Karon’s confidence overthrew him and William delivered a right jab to Karon’s face. Before William was about to do an elbow, strike inspired about the Swak technique, Alex right away yelled out BLOCK HIM! he told to Karon. Right when William commenced the attack, it failed by Karon’s block and William was shocked. Karon punched William in the face and knocked over his glasses in the process. When William’s eyes were almost revealed, everyone was shocked and appalled. Alex pretended that he has seen nothing and closed his eyes. William quickly picked up his glasses and put them back on. Karon stood on his ground hoping that the fight will resume without any interruption. William said to Karon that he is going to pretend that his has not seen that and dashed at him and punched him in the stomach. Karon gagged out saliva and the crowd has cheered once more. When the fight continued Tyreek asked Alex what move William tried to use. In Alex’s response he told him that he tried to use the Mat Wiang Yao punch known as the Haymaker Punch. Alex was worried of this that the boy was learning the arts of the Muay Thai. As the fight resumed, Karon introduced to what he learned from Alex. Karon kicked William three times and he defended himself. While defending, he found another opening and kicked Karon. He was seeing that William cannot really be on defense for long. Karon did an axe kick on William and fell on to the floor. When Karon was about knock him out, William barrel rolled out of the way. William got up and began to rapid kick him in the chest and Karon was now being held back. Alex wondered on how long the fight will take about he decided to wait out and let the fight see for itself. Sunny and Gary realized if the fight goes on for too long, William will lose the match. Anderson turned to his brother and his friend with his own counterargument stating that he can last a little longer. Sunny agreed with his little brother but he was wondering what William is planning to do to finish Karon. Once the boys were done with their conversation about William, they focused on the fight. William was going to try a new move he has not used during the match. He was going to preform the knee bomb known as the Khao Yao. But he must bring him down first. Karon was trying to not fall for William’s scheme. He picked him up and twirled him around until William got dizzy. William did get dizzy and then got knocked out for a couple of seconds. Before William was about to give up, he decided to get up once more. Upon William not giving up the match, Karon was impressed on William’s ability to get up after that. William knew that soon he might drop his guard like he did earlier. One last effort of victory, William dashed quickly and jumped kicked his knee and that made him collapse. When Karon fell, William quickly tried to keep him down for 10 seconds. Karon struggling to get him, Alex shouted at him to get up, but it was no good. William puts every effort he must pin him down. Karon grabbed and squeezed his arm but William still has not let up. The announcer was close to 10, William started to get tired and when the countdown went off, he finally beat Karon and collapsed from execution. Alex and Tyreek knew that Karon tried his best. Sunny, Anderson and Gary cheered and cheered. The crowd has never seen a fight like it for so long they started to cheer as well. Alex stated that speed is one thing but being powerful is another. Sunny came to William’s aid and told him he did great. William gave him his thanks and said that his glasses would have break. After the match, his glasses stayed intact and now it is Gary’s turn to fight Alex.