Martial Arts Worlds

Five years ago in the city of Baobab. Bam! Bam! Bam! With the sun hanging high in the sky, the young martial artists attacked punching bags inside a well-lit dojo with sweat glistening on their faces. The sensei watched closely with a sharp gaze and occasionally smacked his students with a bamboo stick to correct their form. "Wrong! Twist your waist more! Widen your stance! Focus your energy on the tip of the punch!" At that moment, everyone heard disturbing noises coming from the back of the dojo, which distracted them from their training. The sensei's eyebrow immediately twitched as he realized who it was. "Hiyaaah!" A young Roy leaped off the ground and kicked the punching bag right in the center, causing it to swing mildly back and forth. "Yeah, what can you do about it? Yeah, I just kicked you, and there is nothing you can do!" Roy licked his upper lip and then sidekicked the punching bag. It swung slightly to the right. "Wohoo, cheers are filling the arena. Roy McHavellen is destroying his competition on the biggest stage in the world! He is on his way to becoming the world champion!" In his wild imaginations, he was standing in front of a roaring crowd, fighting in the finals of the world championships. "Roy, please keep your trap shut! You're distracting everyone else!" The sensei screamed. "I haven't won yet, though! I must keep up with my undefeated streak!" Roy said with his lips turning upside down. "What undefeated strike? Didn't I beat you in the sparring match?" A young girl said with a look of ridicule. "Hahaha!" Everyone around her laughed as she was the youngest person there, and Roy still lost to her. It was even funnier that he still kept calling himself the undefeated champion. "That's a sparring match! It doesn't count! I am still the undefeated champion in official matches!" "What official matches, actually? You haven't participated in any of the official matches!" "Right here! I am currently having one of my official matches!" Roy said while pointing at the punching bag, which made everyone laugh loudly. It wasn't a joking laugh, but a mocking laugh. "You and your imagination! If you don't plan on taking your training seriously, I must ask you to leave! You're disturbing everyone around you!" The sensei said sternly. He didn't want his other students, who were training tirelessly to one day have a chance to participate in the nationals, to be distracted by someone who wasn't fully committed. "I am taking the training seriously!" Roy exclaimed and showed some of his techniques on the punching bag, but none of the techniques were something that the sensei had taught them. It was only techniques that he had created for himself, but they were not very practical, as there were a lot of unnecessary flashy movements that left him off-balance and vulnerable. "Have you not learned anything from your time here? Your parents assigned you here two weeks ago, but so far, you have done nothing except play around. "I am sorry, but you're done here. I am going to tell your parents that you're not allowed here anymore." The sensei told him. "B-but!" Roy stuttered. "You're a bad influence for everyone around you. I don't want others to start making mockery out of the training!" The sensei said to him, walked to the door, and opened it, gesturing for Roy to leave. With upside-down lips, Roy walked out of the dojo with his head hanging low, and as he turned around to look back inside the dojo, he saw everyone else return to training as if it didn't matter to them that he was just kicked out. 'I thought they were my friends…' Bang! The door got slammed shut right in front of his face. "Haa…" Roy walked away with his head hanging so low that it was almost dropping off his shoulders. No one in the streets was paying attention to him and just walked past him as if he was invisible. It was because he was so short that unless the pedestrians intentionally looked down, they wouldn't notice him in their field of vision. At that moment, he arrived at the window of a toy store. The window showed a display of miniature action figures, dolls, and toy cars. However, one item in particular took his attention away—it was a belt with the words 'world champion' engraved on it. It was clear that the belt wasn't made out of any good material, but instead of cheap imitation leather. However, Roy's eyes still sparked with excitement, but when he checked the price tag and then checked his empty pockets, his excitement quickly faded. 'A belt fitting for an undefeated champion like me…' Roy smiled and smacked his hands together. "You'll kick me out? Fine! I'll become world champion, and then return to your dojo to rub it in your face! "My name is Roy McHavellen, undefeated champion!" … At the present day. "Roy? Roy! Hello? We need to get going!" The coach was waving his hand in front of Roy's face, trying to get his attention. "Ah? What is it?" Roy shook his head and looked at his coach with a confused look on his face. "Sigh…" The coach pinched his glabella. He had grown used to seeing Roy daydream occasionally. There were times when he was completely in his own world, not reacting to anything going on outside of his thoughts. "We must head over to the ring. The next round is beginning!" "Oh, okay!" Roy jumped to his feet, and as he tightened the white tape around his knuckles, he formed a confident smile on his face and walked ahead of everyone out of the locker room. "Here we go—Roy McHavellen, the undefeated champion!" "Yeah!" Shri and Harit acted as his hype boys. "Idiots…" The two girls sighed loudly as they followed behind Roy. After leaving their locker room behind, they were welcomed with the roaring crowd, and from another entrance near them, they saw their opponents, Karuza High, walk out.