Brazil:  The Village

     It had become a tradition.
     The men worked in the fields every Monday through Friday.  Sunday was generally considered a rest day.  So Saturday was always the day to play.  And this Saturday was no exception.  Only a few hours had passed since noon; there was still a lot of sunlight left in the day.  All of the men had gathered in the main road of the village, while the children played elsewhere, and some of the women dared to watch from the outside of the man gathering.  The men were arranged to form a large circle in the center of the road.  Within the circle were Ricki and another man from the village.
     Anna was leaning up against a house a few meters away from the gathering.  She held a half-full laundry basket in her hands, and she watched the gathering with a jaded interest.
     From his house at the end of one of the side roads, Kain emerged.  With his cybernetic ears, he was able to pick up the noise the group was making, which piqued his curiosity.  He walked slowly up the side road, out onto the main road, where he unsuccessfully tried to figure out what was going on.  Eventually, he spotted Anna leaning up against a house.  With no other options, Kain decided to ask Anna what was going on.  He quietly advanced on her, hoping to startle her in good humor.
     “Hey!”  Kain said, when he was next to Anna.
     “Oh!”  Anna gasped, a little surprised.  “Kain, you frightened me.”
     Kain’s eyes widened with joy.  “Sorry ‘bout that.  What’s up?”
     Anna cut her eyes towards the gathering.  “Just the men letting their testosterone get the best of them.”
     “Huh?”  Kain did not understand what Anna was talking about.  Using his cybernetic eyes, he focused in on the center of the circle.  Inside, Ricki was fighting the other man.  “Isn’t that Ricki?  And Antonio?  Why are they fighting?”
     Anna sighed.  “Every Saturday, the men gather in the center of the village and have this little martial arts competition.  They fight from noon till sunset, and afterwards they all drink beer, get drunk, and laugh about things that aren’t even funny.”
     “Why would they do such a thing?”
     “Like I said, their testosterone gets the best of them.  Although, if you ask them, they’d say that martial arts help them improve their inner self, something like that.  They’d also say that this friendly little competition helps them to relieve stress after working in the fields all day.”
     Kain focused on the fight that was taking place within the circle.  “Is there any kind of organization to this?”
     “A little.  There’s a champion who starts fighting at noon.  The other men all draw straws to see in what order they will fight in.  Whoever wins, stays within the circle.  After all the straw holders have their chance, the champion asks if there is anyone else interested in fighting him.  Of course there is; they’d fight past sunset if they could see.  Whoever is the winner at day’s end is the champion for next week.  Usually, champions keep their status for weeks at a time; whoever has the longest streak earns them bragging rights until they’re dethroned.”
     Kain seemed truly interested.  “Who is the champion now?”
     “Ricki is.  He has been for the past two months, which is the longest streak thus far.”  Anna leaned in closer to Kain.  “If you ask me, I think he’s trying to impress me.  He has this......thing for me.  But I’m not interested; he’s too flashy, selfish, and arrogant.”
     “Hmm.”
     Anna looked at Kain for a few seconds.
     “What?”  Kain asked, when he noticed Anna staring at him.
     “You’re really interested in this stuff, aren’t you?”
     “No.....well......there’s just something about it that’s......familiar to me somehow.”
     “Familiar.....this?”
     “Yes.  I’m going to get a closer look.”  Kain started to move in, closer to the circle.
     “Hey, wait!”  Anna called, reluctantly following him.
     Within the circle, Ricki continued to fight Antonio.  Both men were holding long, bamboo sticks.  They exchanged attacks; Ricki threw a three-stage attack at Antonio, who blocked it with his staff, and Antonio launched a four-stage attack at Ricki, who blocked two of them and dodged the other two.  Ricki backed off, and smiled.  He took a fake step at Antonio, which caused him to raise his guard.  Ricki smiled again.  He then took a backflip, which lured Antonio closer.  Upon landing on his feet, Ricki swung his staff around, nailing Antonio in the head and spinning him around.  Ricki closed in, but Antonio backflipped over him.  He took an overhead swing at Ricki, but Ricki threw his staff up and blocked it.  Ricki ducked and spun on his left foot, extending out his right leg, sweeping Antonio.
     Ricki drove the end of his staff into the ground, trying to hit Antonio, but he rolled out of the way, was quickly to his feet, and took a baseball like swing at Ricki.  Ricki jumped back to avoid it, leaving his staff in the ground.  Antonio tried to close in on Ricki, but as he neared, Ricki threw a roundhouse kick at him.  Antonio ducked it, but Ricki brought his foot back just as Antonio lifted his head; he was squarely nailed.  With Antonio slightly stunned, Ricki forward kicked Antonio in the stomach, then lifted his foot, hitting him under the chin.  Quickly, Ricki jumped and spun in the air, hitting Antonio in the head with a flying roundhouse.  Antonio fell awkwardly.  Ricki began to advance, but Antonio held up his hands in surrender.
     “Enough, please.”  he said.
     Ricki backed off, and grinned.  He plucked his staff out of the ground from where he had plunged it.  He took a moment to gather his breath, then stuck out his chest and addressed the crowd.
     “Is there anyone else who would like to challenge me?”
     “I would.”  A voice said.  Everyone turned to see that it was Kain who had responded to the challenge.  A strange silence fell over the once rowdy crowd.
     “Kain!”  Anna tugged on his jumpsuit sleeve.  “What are you doing?”
     “Don’t worry about me.”  he said.  “I know what I’m doing......I think.......”
     Ricki stared, wide-eyed, at Kain for a moment, then let out a hearty laugh.  “You.....the robot wants to fight me?  Ha, ha,    I’ve never heard anything more ridiculous!”
     Kain began to walk forward.  The men parted in front of him, to clear the path.  Kain was now standing in the middle of the circle.  “What’s the matter?  Afraid to fight me?”
     Ricki laughed again.  “I’m afraid to turn you into a pile of parts.  After all that time Drew and Allan spent repairing you, they’d never forgive me for wrecking you.”
     Kain cut his eyes.  “What makes you think you’d win?”
     The men began to whisper among themselves.  Ricki stopped laughing, and eyeballed Kain.  “You silly robot, if you fight me, I can’t promise you’ll live to see sunrise.....”  A sinister smile passed across his lips.  “But then again, if you really want to fight me, who am I to stop you, eh?  Prepare yourself!”  Ricki turned his left shoulder towards Kain.  He bent his knees, and opened both palms.  Kain, in confusion, almost tried to imitate Ricki’s stance.  Instead, he bent his knees, extended his right arm towards Ricki and kept his left near his stomach.
     “Ready when you are......”  Ricki smiled.
     Kain narrowed his eyes.  “Fight on!”  He exclaimed.
     The two began to circle each other carefully.  Suddenly, Kain charged at Ricki.  He threw a punch, but Ricki caught it.  He twisted Kain’s arm, yanked him closer, and buried a knee in his midsection.  Letting go of the arm, Ricki punched Kain four times in the face, then hit him with a thrust kick in the chest.  The cyborg toppled over backwards.  Ricki turned around to gloat to the crowd.
     “Oh Kain.....”  Anna whispered.
     Kain got up quickly.  “Okay, I think I know how this works now.”
     Ricki turned back towards Kain and smiled again.  Kain resumed his fighting stance.  Instead of charging, he stood perfectly still.  Feeling a surge of confidence, Ricki closed in on Kain.  He tried a roundhouse kick, but Kain ducked under it, stuck his right leg out, and foot swept Ricki.  Before hitting the ground, Ricki stuck his arms out and recovered into a backflip.  Instantly, Kain was in his face.  He struck Ricki three times with his open palms, then tried a forward kick, but it was blocked.  Ricki retaliated with a quick set of punches, all of which were dodged.  Kain quickly struck Ricki with a fierce punch to the chest.  Ricki retreated, but Kain was relentless.  They exchanged attacks; rapidly punching, blocking, punching, and blocking again.  Ricki tried to roundhouse kick Kain’s head, but Kain ducked.  Ricki left the foot hovering in the air, and as Kain stood, Ricki brought his foot back and nailed the cyborg in the head. With Kain reeling, Ricki hit him in the chest with a few good strong punches.  He jumped and spun in the air, whomping Kain in the chest with a flying roundhouse kick.  Kain stumbled backwards, but did not fall.  He regained his bearings almost instantly, which was unfortunate for Ricki, because he dared to fly at the cyborg with a jump kick.  Kain caught his leg with his left hand, and with his right, he struck Ricki in the chest with the base of his palm.  Ricki fell sharply and hit the ground hard.
     The crowd was nearly silent.  They watched every move with complete fascination.  Anna was chewing on her thumbnail.  Ricki got up slowly.  He gave Kain a look before going berserk.  He charged; lashing out with fierce punches.  Kain blocked them all.  Ricki then threw a roundhouse kick with his right leg, which Kain ducked, but when his right foot hit the ground, Ricki used his momentum to swing his left leg around and kick Kain upside the head.  Ricki turned and hit Kain with another roundhouse kick.  Ricki went for a fierce punch to the head, but Kain caught his wrist and jerked him forward.  Kain buried a couple of shin kicks into Ricki’s side, twisted the arm, then turned around and shoulder threw him onto the ground.  With Ricki still on the ground, Kain retreated a step or two.  Acting purely on instinct, Kain lifted his left leg up as far as he could.  He tilted his body backwards.  The cyborg's left knee was up near his head, his heel lined up with his right leg and pointing outwards.
     Ricki began to get up.  He first brought himself to all fours, then looked up at the cyborg, who seemed to be striking a funny pose.  Groggy but still determined, Ricki stood up.
     The moment Ricki reached his feet, Kain shot his left leg out at him, at head level.  The kick had a tremendous forward momentum, with a slight curve to the left.  Kain's heel buried itself in Ricki's temple on the right side of his head, with deadly speed.  Ricki’s head turned violently, and he fell over backwards.  Still acting on instinct, Kain put his right fist on his left shoulder, then dropped it sharply to his side.
     “Allright!”  Anna exclaimed, not even aware that she had done so.
     “Whoa.....”  one of the men said, “I think Ricki’s knocked out.”
     “It’s nothing.”  another man said.  “C’mon, wake him up.”  He bent over and began to slap Ricki in the face until he came to.  Kain stood over Ricki and extended his hand downward, in a friendly gesture.  Ricki, who was still a little drowsy, looked at it resentfully.  He eventually stood up, without taking Kain’s hand.  With his head in his right hand, Ricki turned and started to leave.  The crowd parted out of his way.
     Kain watched Ricki until he was no longer within eyesight.  He then looked down, then all around, at everyone who was staring at him, partly in awe, partly in respect, partly in admiration, and partly in fear.  Only one thing seemed appropriate to say.
     “Is there anyone else who would like to challenge me?”
     “I would!”  A man called from within the crowd.
     “So would I!”  Another voice said.
     “Me too!”  Someone else added.
     Before long, most of the men in the crowd were yelling, all wanting a chance to fight against Kain.  Feeling slightly confused, Kain looked around, then picked one of the volunteers at random.  The man eagerly stepped into the circle, and assumed a fighting stance.
 

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