The Quest - Ryu's Journey Ch. 3 - M. Bison
By Dragonwriter

The woods were peaceful and quiet this morning. The birds chirped, the crickets called to each other, and the sun seemed to smile down at the life below it.

Then, for a second, it all stopped. No noise permeated through the woods. It was like everything was holding it's breath.

A shadow formed in the air. A hole in space. It grew until it was about the size of a tall man.

Which sort of fits considering that that was exactly what came out of it: a man about seven feet tall with a muscular build.

He had brown hair that fell down to his ears, and blue eyes that seemed to pierce a hole in you, staring right into your very soul.

He wore black trousers which were tucked into his black boots. The tops of the boots had silver rings wrapped around them to prevent his trousers from slipping out. He wore a black sleeveless shirt which was covered by a gold, open-sided tunic. The tunic was cinched at the waist by a leather belt which had various pockets hanging from it. A gold cape hung from his shoulders, out over his back.

His arms were muscular, and wrapped around each of his wrists was a bracelet. The bracelets were made of silver wires which were twined loosely around his wrists. Just below the back of each of his hands, the silver wires met and twined around a multi-colored jewel which shined in the sunlight.

The man looked around him at the new world he had entered, his expression never changing from the cold, unreadable, piercing look that his eyes held. The man closed his eyes, extending his senses, and the jewels set into his bracelets began to glow a gold color.

The man sensed no one in the immediate vicinity, and he opened his eyes, letting his senses return to normal. The glow from his bracelets slowly dimmed until it stopped.

The time is drawing near. The Guardian in this world has already passed his first test, and the evil foretold in the prophecy has begun to form. I must find Ryu!

***

Bison: "Guile, you cannot defeat me! Should you try, I will destroy you the way I did your friend Charlie."

Guile: "Bison, only one of us is going to walk away from this alive, and it's gonna be me!"

Bison: "We shall see about that..."

Bison and Guile faced each other, battle-ready. Each had studied the other almost to the exclusion of everything else, and now the moment of truth had come. They both knew only one of them would survive this fight, and each feared that it might not be him...

Guile was the one to start things off...

Guile: "Sonic Boom!"

Bison pulled his arm back for a second and threw it forward, sending a psycho-shot flying from it.

The two attacks met in midair, detonating in a small explosion. Guile jumped into the air, hitting Bison with a jump kick. He followed it up by hitting Bison in the gut, then finished up with a Flash Kick.

Bison was sent flying into the air, but recovered himself and, flipping over midair, stomped on Guile's head. Jumping up again, he came back down fist first, his hands surrounded in psycho-power.

Guile: "Flash Kick!"

Guile landed, smirking at Bison laying on the ground.

Guile: "Give up yet?"

Bison: "Never!"

Bison's body took on a dark blue glow.

Bison: "Psycho-Crusher!"

Guile fell to the ground, stunned.

Bison floated over to Guile, arms folded across his chest, a huge smirk on his face.

Bison: "Normally I would let you live with the shame of defeat, but since you're so adamant about fighting to the death..."

Bison drew back his fist, a blue glow appearing around it.

"Tenshi Ranka!"

Bison was sent flying up into the air, and juggled in the air by kick after kick from some mysterious attacker.

"Spinning Bird Kick!"

After a prolonged stay in the air, Bison fell to the ground, bruised and bloodied.

Chun-Li helped Guile to his feet.

Guile: "I thought I told you Bison was mine!"

Chun-Li: "You did. I followed you anyway. Bison killed my father, and I'm gonna help take him out wether you like it or not."

They both turned to face Bison, who was slowly getting to his feet.

Guile: "Any other surprise visitors I should know about?"

Chun-Li: "If there are, you'll know about it soon enough..."

With that, they both charged toward Bison, hurling ki attacks.

Bison folded his arms over his chest, and vanished.

Guile and Chun-Li stopped short, glancing around, only to see nothing.

Bison: "Psycho-Crusher!"

Bison hit them from behind, sending them flying into the distance. He didn't have long to celebrate though, because a large ki attack suddenly slammed into his side.

Rose: "Soul Spark!"

Bison turned to face his new assailant, an evil grin spreading across his face.

Bison: "Ah, my student. I was beginning to wonder what had happened to you..."

Rose: "Spare me your eloquence, Bison. I'm here to end your reign of terror."

Bison: "That won't be so easily accomplished."

Rose: "We'll see about that..." Chun-Li! Guile! Stay hidden for now, and when I say so, attack! "Soul Spark!"

Bison teleported behind her and punched her in the kidney. Rose turned around and slammed her shawl into his cheek, sending him flying.

Bison: "You'll pay for that, you little b----!"

Rose: "I don't think so."

Rose's body glowed for a second, then returned to normal. Not realizing what had happened, Bison charged directly at her.

Rose: Get ready you two... "Soul Spiral!"

Only when Rose hit him did Bison realize what she had done. As Rose herself hit him, images of Rose mimicked her movements, slamming their own shawls into him and doing huge amounts of damage.

Rose: Now!

Chun-Li and Guile sprang out of hiding and hit Bison with everything they had.

Guile: "Sonic Break!"

Chun-Li: "Kikosho!"

Bison fell to the ground, out cold.

Guile: "And now to finish it..."

Rose: "No Guile! Don't kill him. Capture the beast, don't become it..."

Guile thought for a long time, but finally pulled out a pair of handcuffs and snapped them around Bison's wrists.

Guile: "You have the right to remain unconscous. Anything you dream can and will be used against you in a court of law."

They all burst out laughing.

***

That night, after Bison had been taken away to a special prison facility designed to contain him safely, Guile, Chun-Li, and Rose sat around a campfire. They talked about all kinds of things, sipping hot chocolate to keep themselves warm.

Chun-Li: "Guile I got to ask. Isn't this a little old-fashioned? Sleeping out under the stars instead of inside the tent they have set up for you at headquarters.?"

Guile: "Yeah it's a little old-fashioned, but I've found that the old ways are sometimes the best ways. Out here, it's a lot easier to think. You don't have th constant noise that you have in camp."

Rose: "I agree. Much has happened today, and it takes time to adjust to it all."

Guile: "I still can't believe I finally did it. I finally caught Bison."

Chun-Li: "You!? We caught Bison together, remember?"

Guile: "Oops. Sorry."

Chun-Li: "It's okay."

Rose: "Shh you two. Do you hear that?"

They all listened carefully, and could hear the sound of a figure approaching them. Whoever it was, they were very good. It was almost impossible to hear them. But they were definetlty coming towards the campfire.

Rose motioned for Guile and Chun-Li to keep talking, and pulled out her shawl. The person was almost upon them, when Rose swung her shawl into the bushes, surrounded by soul power.

The shawl stopped midair as if the person had caught it, then a figure emerged from the foliage. A figure dressed in a white gi with a red bandana tied around his forehead.

Chun-Li was shocked for a second, but then she realized who this was and jumped up to embrace him.

Chun-Li: "Ryu! It's you! What on earth are you doing sneaking up n us like that!? What are you doing here for that matter?"

Ryu: "Why, looking for you and Guile, of course."

Chun-Li realized how forward she was being and, blushing a little in emberrassment, let go of Ryu and guided him to a seat beside her.

Ryu sat down and, after greeting Guile and Rose, told them of his adventures. They all listened intently, not knowing that there was another being watching them as Ryu talked.