Street Fighter 2

Chapter 13

Ryu sat down to a Chinese meal of Egg fried rice, noodles, Sweet and sour pork, Chicken with cashew nuts in yellow bean sauce, and other assorted options. Chun Li looked on with a smile as Ryu devoured it greedily. If there was one place where Ryu sometimes forgot his manners, it was at the dinner table.
Ryu paused, then put his bowl down. He noticed Chun Li looking at him.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that I haven't eaten for so long that I forgot about everything else. I apologize for my lack of manners."
"No, don't worry about it. If you didn't do this, I'd be worried that it wasn't you. Go ahead."
Ryu continued eating. After his seventh mouthful, in almost as many seconds, he stopped to talk to Chun Li. They talked about their lives since they last met, about what happened since Ryu destroyed Bison's empire by destroying the man himself. Ryu listened while Chun Li told him about the drug busts, The missions that Guile, Charlie and Cammy were involved in. Ryu only heard about Cammy once, when Chun Li told him over a year ago about Cammy's temporary adoption by her. He wanted to know more about the British agent, and kept asking questions. Chun Li answered all of them with a satisfactory response.
Chun Li then stopped talking, and started listening when Ryu told her about Ken's marriage with Eliza.
"Wow, Ryu. I never thought you would make such a best man."
Ryu smiled at the compliment. "Thank you. I didn't actually do much, I just watched Ken get married, eat, and did a speech, that's all."
They ate some more, and Chun Li started again.
"So, Ryu. Do you think you're ever going to get married?"
Ryu stopped, and slowly put down his bowl, embarrassed. She chastised herself. Chun Li, you idiot, what sort of question was that to ask Ryu?
"I don't really know. Sometimes I wonder if the path I travel on is actually leading me somewhere."
"But if you met someone you loved, would you marry her?"
"Would you?"
A counter question. Now it was Chun Li's turn to feel embarrassed. She had not expected to answer such a question. Then again, neither did Ryu.
"Well, I…..um, that is…."
In the end, they just burst out laughing.
"I'm sorry Ryu. I shouldn't have asked."
"No, it's alright. I shouldn't have continued."
"Well, it's just that….."
Just when she was about to continue, the phone rang.
"Ugh. Just a minute."
She walked over to the hall way to pick it up. "Hello?"
Ryu listened to Chun Li's monologue conversation with however was on the other line.
"Cammy! Hi, how are you doing!"
She sounds happy, thought Ryu.
"It's so good to hear from you……No that's alright, I've got a friend round, but that's all……..It's Ryu, you know? The guy I told you about when I brought you here."
So nice to be known just about everywhere, thought Ryu with a hint of sarcasm. He never actually expected to be so popular.
"What? You're coming over? Great, we can catch up on ol…….sorry?" Her voice changed from one of surprise and happiness to one of concern.
She seems worried. Has something happened?
"Shadowloo?"
Ryu's interest piqued when he heard the name.
"What happened?………Oh my god. When will you be here? Okay. I'm on my way....... Don't worry, I won't say anything. I'll be there in five minutes."
She quietly put the phone and returned to the living room.
"Ryu, I'm sorry. I have to go to Interpol Headquarters for a few hours."
"Has something happened?"
"I'll find out. Could you just stay here while I'm gone? Your hotel's miles away, isn't it?"
"Okay."

Security was tougher at the Interpol Hong Kong division than Chun Li had expected. In fact, security was even tougher than it looked, because a man holding a weapon just looked like a man holding a weapon – from a distance you couldn't tell the difference between a plain cop and a trained expert. On closer inspection, Chun Li decided that the guys where the latter.
Cammy had told her why. An important General was coming to Hong Kong to tell some important news to Interpol. Chun Li, as the head of the squad against Shadowloo, was the one to be briefed first.
She stepped out of the car, turned to lock the door, and was immediately greeted by a marine.
"Detective Li?"
"Uh, yeah?" Chun Li said, turning.
"I'm Corporal Weldon. I'm here to escort you to the briefing room, ma'am."

They arrived at the briefing room after five minutes of walking. As soon as she entered the door, she was immediately greeted by Charlie Nash, and Cammy White.
As soon as they said their 'hellos' the US General stood up.
"Sit down please, Miss Li."
Chun Li sat on a chair next to Cammy, and turned to face the General.
"My name is General McGruder. I'm in charge of the operation against Shadowloo in Thailand."
"I've heard all about you, general." Chun Li said in reply. "Three tours in Vietnam, Panama, Grenada and Desert Storm. Two purple hearts, a silver star and a congressional Medal Of Honour. You could probably described as a legend."
"Thank you for the compliment, Detective Li, I'll take that in mind. Right now, We have a very delicate situation that I think you might be able to help us with."
"If it concerns Shadowloo, I'll be glad too."
"Then prepare for a shock, Detective. You might not like this."
The lights were turned off, and a film projector switched on. A black square appeared on the whiteboard at the front of the room.
The General started. "Yesterday, a C-130 carrying several rockets and some VX-gas warheads was hi-jacked and overtaken. Our escort was destroyed by five highly trained fighter pilots flying MIGs carrying the Shadowloo insignia."
Cammy interrupted. "Our old friend Vega was inside the plane at the time. He killed the pilots on board."
"VX?" questioned Chun Li. "I thought they were all sealed off in that holding pen near San Francisco."
"They were, but not anymore." replied Charlie.
"The military bio-chemical weapon depot was attacked today at about 10:30 am Hong Kong time by Shadowloo forces. They stole every VX warhead in the place, as well as the remaining rockets."
"How is that possible?" Chun Li asked with surprise. "Could Sagat be behind it? He was rescued from prison two nights ago."
"We thought that, but Sagat doe not have the tactical skill to conduct such operations. Only one man has the skill to think up plans like this and execute them with such precision. M. Bison."
"But he's dead."
"We thought so too…….until we received this message."
The film was rolling, and the communication that the USAF in Thailand received flashed onto the whiteboard. Chun Li stared in horror as Bison talked about his plans. When she saw the VX poisoning of the innocent civilians in Brazil, Cammy could see that Chun Li was having a very hard time holding back her tears. Her stomach twisted as if she was going to be sick. Bison, the man that had ruined her life and killed her father when she was twelve years old, the man who had killed and ruined hundreds of innocent people's lives, was alive.
When the film ended, the lights turned back on, the General continued. "There were no picture anomalies detected. There can be no mistake. Bison is alive, and is back as the leader of Shadowloo."
And at those words, Chun Li stormed out of the briefing room in tears.

Chun Li had been sick. The thought of what had happened was too much to bear.
She was washing her mouth out from the sink in the ladies changing room, the tap ran at the highest setting, causing huge amounts of large droplets of water to spill around the sink and her mouth every time she put her mouth to the jet of the refreshing liquid.
At that point, Cammy walked in. Chun Li turned her head, tears mixed with the water. She saw nothing but a blank look on Cammy, but she knew that inside, Cammy was concerned.
There was a long pause, then Cammy started the conversation. "You alright?"
"Yeah…I just…..I just didn't expect this to happen."
"No-one did, we were all taken back."
Another long pause. Then Cammy continued.
"You don't look too good. In fact you look like shit."
"My stomach's doing hula-hoops around my whole body."
Chun Li splashed some water around her face again.
"You're going to make it through this thing. Aren't you?" asked Cammy.
"I don't know. I guess nothing really prepared me for this to happen."
Chun Li lifted herself off the sink and sat on the bench. "You know, when I saw Bison being killed by that Hadoken blast from Ryu, I thought 'that was it'. All I needed to do now was mop up the rest of Shadowloo's criminals, then I'll be free. Free to live my own life in peace. Now that Bison is alive……I don't know what will happen. Now, I'm responsible for the whole world."
"I know this isn't easy for you, but remember, you've been trained for this kind of situation. It will all come back to you."
"And what if the training's not enough?"
"You've got people backing you up. Me, for one thing."
"I guess I should take some comfort in that. My adopted sister is going to help me now." Chun Li said. Cammy was glad there was no hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"I'm not your adopted sister anymore, Chun. I'm an MI6 agent who just happens to be one of your better friends now."
"There's something else that I'm worried about. The man who killed Bison."
"Ryu?"
"He's here. He's in my apartment right now."
"You're worried about his safety, right? Is there something between you two?"
Chun Li decided not to lie to her friend. "How do you know?"
"Call it female agent's intuition."
"I just don't know whether he realises it. I actually do care for him, it's just that he's never there long enough to find out."
Cammy's voice remained calm. "Listen, I'm sure that General McGruder will think up something that will help protect him. Right now, you keep your mind about what you're going to do right now, okay?"
Chun Li smiled. "Somehow, I'm thinking that I'm the lost and lonely girl looking for a friend now."
Cammy hugged Chun Li in a friendly embrace. Chun Li felt calmer. They left to return to the briefing room.

They walked in, and General McGruder and Charlie stood. Also in there was the commander of the Hong Kong branch of Interpol
"You alright?" Charlie asked Chun Li.
"Yeah. I'm okay."
"The General has informed me of the situation, Detective Li." said the Interpol commander. "Are you sure you can handle this?"
"It's not me that I'm worried about, sir, it's Ryu. He's going to be the first on Bison's hit-list."
"Alright." The General began to formulate a plan. "I want everybody to make a thorough search for this Ryu character, and make sure he's protected at all costs until we find, and eliminate Bison."
"Already done, sir." said Cammy.
"He's at my apartment." Chun Li finished.
"What?"
"Don't worry, sir." continued Chun Li. "I moved home after Vega attacked me and Cammy,* they don't know where I am."
"Good. Because as of now, you're going to be Ryu's protection twenty-four hours a day."
"Sir?"
"You know Ryu better than any of us, Detective." continued the Interpol Commander. "It would be better if Ryu stays with someone he trusts."
"Don't mention any of this to Ryu." Added the general.
"You want me to lie to him. I've never lied to him before. Or any other friend."
"He must not know of this situation until he has too."
"But sir, if he doesn't know, he won't realise what danger he's in."
"And if he does, he'll probably leave to find Bison. If Ken dies, he'll probably go psycho. Bison would find him easily."
"Ken?"
"You're probably wondering where Guile is," said Charlie. "Ken's going to be attacked, and Guile's gone to save him."
"Shit." Chun Li whispered.
"What about the VX? Has there been any news on the thermite plasma?" asked Cammy.
"I spoke to the Pentagon when we came here. They're getting it ready, but they still need time."
"We can't do an aerial bombing, even if we did find the vase. Bison would have put the rockets too deep underground." Charlie noted.
"Cammy, you're the best field agent there is. I'll contact Commander Lawson at MI6 straight away. When we find the base, we'll need you to penetrate the base, hook up the thermite plasma to the missile area in the base, and destroy it."
"I'll do what I can, when we find the base."
The general pulled out a small chip from his pocket. "In the meantime, Chun Li, I want you to fix this locator onto Ryu's clothing. In the event that he does get captured, the locator will track us to Bison's base of operations."
"Wait, does that mean you want him to get captured?"
"No, of course not. I'm sure we'll find his base before that happens. But at least this gives us a second option. We'll be staying here for some period of time."
Chun Li took the locator. It was tiny, no bigger than her thumbnail. The general was right. If Ryu did get captured, then they would locate Ryu's position, and hopefully, Bison's new headquarters.
She took the locator.

Chun Li drove back to the apartment, her mind filled with thoughts and questions of what she had just seen.
How the hell could Bison be alive? What will happen to Ryu if he is captured? What about me?
These questions circulated around her head as she arrived at her apartment. She knew that the hardest thing she was going to have to do so far was to persuade Ryu to stay in her apartment without telling him
She walked in through the front door, expecting to find Ryu, but finding that he wasn't there.
She checked everywhere, and couldn't find him.
"He's gone. I should have expected as much. He's never around when you want him."
She was about to give up and pick up the phone to tell Cammy, when the familiar cry of "SHORYUKEN!" was heard above her. She immediately ran out of the front door and up the stairs to the roof.
Chun Li lived on the top floor of the whole apartment block. Ryu had obviously found out about this, as Chun Li saw him stand in his meditative stance. His right arm was stretched out , his fingers facing upwards. The left arm was lower down, and his legs were bent, with the feet facing inwards. Ryu looked so calm and peaceful in this stance. Chun Li put her hand to her chest, watching Ryu as he meditated.
At last, Ryu moved out of his stance, and stood upright. He turned and saw Chun Li.
"Chun Li! I didn't realise you were back."
"I only just got back."
Ryu walked up to Chun Li. He noticed there were some tear marks on her face.
"Has something happened, you look like you've been crying."
Chun Li tried her best to make a suitable story.
"N….no. There was just a Shadowloo problem that occurred. A lot of people were killed by some terrorists carrying a deadly gas."
All of a sudden, she hugged Ryu, as if she needed comforting. Ryu, completely confused and bewildered by this, returned the embrace. At first he felt embarrassed, being one not used to this sort of thing, but he seemed to relax more and more as time went on.
"Ryu," said Chun Li in the midst in the midst of their embrace, "Why don't you stay here with me, instead of going back to your hotel."
Ryu was stunned by the question, but still didn't let go.
"I…..I wouldn't want to impose on you, Chun Li."
"You won't be. I promise. I mean, we haven't seen each other for so long, there's so much I want to talk to you about. Besides, You haven't got anything planned, have you?"
"Well, no. But…."
"So, what's the problem. If you want to train, you can train with me at Gen's dojo."
Ryu thought about it, and then believed that Chun Li was right. He really wasn't going anywhere important. Living in Hong Kong with Chun Li might help him collect his thoughts about his future. Besides, it was ungrateful to refuse a lady's offer.
"Okay. I'll stay."
Chun Li embraced him even tighter, a smile on her face.
Just as long as she lets me restore my blood circulation, thought Ryu, with a grimace.

* See the relevant chapter in The White Angel, (when it arrives)

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