By Maia
The car came to a sudden stop. Terry got out of the car, as
did the others. Sakura looked around. It seemed to be a forest of
some sort.
"There's nothing here."
Terry raised his eyebrows and motioned for them to follow. The
group went north into the woods. He swept aside the leaves and
branches that got into his way.
Ryu and Ken allowed their escort to lead the way, while they
lagged behind out of hearing distance. Ken leaned toward Ryu.
"Do you think that we can trust this guy?"
Ryu looked around to make sure they couldn't be heard, then spoke.
"Do we have a choice?"
Ken stopped and looked at him.
"Of course we have a choice!" He whispered heavily.
Stopping he turned around and faced his friend.
"Oh? And what would that be?"
Pointing toward the direction Sakura and Terry went, he looked
straight at Ryu.
"We can beat the crap out of this guy and find Chun Li
ourselves!"
Ryu let out a sigh, or actually a grunt of some sort, then began
walking again. Ken hesitated, then followed.
"Look, I'm suspicious too okay! But, if this guy knows where
Chun Li is, we're better off following him than starting from
nowhere."
He then stopped again and turned towards Ken. Ken let out a sigh.
"Fine."
The two turned again and tried to catch up.
"But if this guy screws us, I'm kicking his ass." Ken
muttered under his breath.
Ryu rolled his eyes, but then looked at Ken.
"You won't be the only one."
After a while, the group came to a cliff. The three looked around…nothing.
Ryu shook his head and grabbed Terry by his collar. "I
thought you said that you knew where the hideout was! We are
wasting precious time…"
Sakura cut in. "Ryu! Let him at least explain! You're
choking him!" She ran to help him, but was stopped by Ken.
He simply shook his head and left Sakura to watch.
Ryu tightly held him by the shirt and left his feet dangling by
the edge. Terry was shocked. He struggled for his breath.
"Wa-it…ple-ase…it's ---here."
Ryu looked at him as if he was a lunatic then brought him to the
ground.
"Where!!!?"
Having regained his composure, Terry pointed down the cliff.
"There."
All three looked down the edge. Sakura yelped in surprise.
"I see it!"
Ryu looked at Terry. Terry shifted uncomfortably, then spoke.
"Um, I guess that we should be heading down there now…"
With only a nod, Ryu began to skid down the side, followed by Ken.
Sakura turned toward Terry.
"He is sorry. Sometimes, he just gets frustrated."
Terry smiled. "It's okay. If I had a girl like Chun Li, I
wouldn't let anyone take her away from me."
He moved toward the edge.
"Coming?"
Sakura just nodded and followed the others.
The four crept behind the side of the wall. Ryu peered around the
corner and saw two guards. He turned around and held up two
fingers. Ken rolled his eyes. He held up two fingers and then
waved them off like air. Ryu smirked.
They sneaked closer to the guards, who seemingly weren't doing
their job.
Chris leaned his back against the rocky wall. He turned to Joe,
his patrol partner. "Man, did you catch a glimpse of the
hostage Bison has?" he then let out a low whistle.
A huge smile appeared on Joe's face. "Hell yeah! I would
have loved to be in a room with her for just five minutes."
Chris nudged him in the ribs. "Hey, that would make 'any'
man happy!"
The two then laughed.
Sakura watched her companions' expressions. Terry was obviously
disgusted with the respect lacked of. Ken was practically set to
kill the two. Her expression faltered as she looked at Ryu. His
fists were clenched, knuckles pure white. He was ready to tear
each of them apart. They made eye contact, but Ryu looked away.
"Let's go."
"Hi!"
Sakura waved to the two guards. They rushed to their feet.
"What the hell are you doing here?!"
Joe ran towards her, but was kicked back. He was surprised that
he didn't fall down. He turned around and saw a blond man…a
very strong blond man. He tried to move but couldn't.
Ken had one of the guards in a headlock. He twisted his head in a
counterclockwise direction and let the man fall.
Terry swept Chris's feet, as he fell to the ground. Chris raised
his head and slowly looked up. He saw a man in his late 20's, his
eyes widened. He got up and pointed to Ryu.
"Hey! I know you! You're the guy the Boss has been trying to
captu-"
He was silenced by a strong, painful punch to the face. Sakura
looked at the two bodies on the floor.
"Well, that was quick."
Ryu made his way to the door. "They'll wake momentarily."
Ken followed.
"Darn."
Ken grimaced as they entered the lair. He looked around.
"Well, well. Isn't this cozy."
The walls were metal…as were the floor and every other door.
Each turned as they heard something shift behind them.
"CHUN LI!"
Ryu ran toward her, but was stopped dead in his tracks. He
narrowed his eyes.
"Bison."
Bison smiled as he held Chun Li close to him.
"Well, well. If it isn't the great Shotokan warrior!"
"Ryu!" Chun Li yelled as she was trying to pry open
from Bison's hold.
"Let her go Bison!" Ryu walked toward the pair.
"Stay back!" Bison yelled. "We wouldn't want any
harm to come to the lady, now would we." He tightened his
grip on Chun Li, as she let out a distressing moan.
Ryu didn't move a muscle. "What do you want?"
Bison smiled. "Simple. You and Ken for her."
"Don't do it!" Chun Li managed to yell out. Bison
grabbed a handful of her hair and seethed into her right ear.
"SILENCE!"
"Stop it!"
They turned to the four again.
Ken stepped forward. "You've got yourself a deal. Let her go
NOW!"
Sakura spoke up. "He's lying! We can't trust him!"
Terry put a hand on her forearm and pulled her back. Ken and Ryu
made their way toward Bison. Chun Li panicked.
*I can't let them do this! He's not going to let me go!*
She brought her right leg backwards and wrapped it barely over
his leg. Then, kicked it forward, causing him to lose his balance.
Now positioned on the ground, she swept him off his feet. Not
wasting any time, she ran with all her might toward Ryu and Ken.
Ryu was the first to meet her.
He wrapped his arms around her, holding her with all his might.
Burying his head into the neck of her hair, he let her cry from
relief.
"Look out!"
Ken pushed the two to the side floor, as a blast from Bison
soared past the area of where they were standing.
Ryu propped himself up finding Chun Li underneath him. Her eyes
were closed and arms wrapped around her. He stroked the side of
her cheek.
"Are you okay?"
Chun Li slowly opened her eyes. She looked at Ryu and threw her
arms around his neck.
"I thought that you would come…"
Ryu was shocked and held her at arm length. "Why wouldn't I?"
She faltered.
"GUYS!"
They turned and saw Ken. Each followed his gaze. Bison was
walking slowly toward them, destroying everything in sight. Ryu
narrowed his eyes, but turned to Chun Li.
He stroked her hair. "Stay here."
"No I—"
He looked her straight in the eye. "PLEASE CHUN LI!"
She looked down and silently agreed. Ryu ran to meet the others.
He looked at Terry.
"Watch Chun Li!"
Terry complied and ran over to her. She obviously recognized him,
as she hugged him.
Ken, Ryu, Sakura stood in fighting stance before Bison. He sent
blasts everywhere, causing them to separate. Ken ran towards him.
"SHINRYUKEN!!!!!!!!!"
Sakura did the same.
"HADOKEN!!!!!"
Bison merely dodge the attacks and sent a blast their way. The
impact sent them both flying to the ground.
About to send another, he was stopped.
"DON'T!"
He turned around and found Ryu.
"IT'S ME YOU WANT!"
Bison smiled. "You know me too well."
"PSYCHO CRUSHER!"
The move sent Ryu flying to the ground. He quickly recovered, but
Bison was already preparing another attack. Ryu braced himself.
"STOP!"
They both turned to see Chun Li running from Terry's hold. Bison
smiled as Chun Li stopped before him.
"Ryu, I think that I will have more joy in killing her. The
pain of losing her will be more to you than your own death…I'm
I right?"
He sent a massive force toward her.
Ryu looked on in horror.
*NO! I CAN'T LOSE HER! I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING, SHE HAS TO KNOW
HOW I FEEL!!*
Chun Li closed her eyes and prepared for her death. She gasped as
she felt strong arms surround her.
With swift motion, Ryu turned Chun Li around as he prepared to
shield her from the blast. He leaned toward her ear.
"I love you."
"NOOOOOOO!!!"
……….the attack never came.
The two turned to see Bison lying dead on the floor.
Ryu held onto Chun Li tighter. He felt something…wrong.
Turning around, he found a sight that he feared for all his life.
"Akuma."