Chapter 52
** Around 8:20 am in the morning, Area surrounding the Warehouse, secluded neighborhood at the Outskirts of NYC **
“They gotta be kidding me” He says and looks at the note again “This place is older than my grandma!” he mutters bitterly and sighs heavily, “I bet the books are covered in moss and smell like old shoes, how am I supposed to sell this crap!” he complains to himself as he walks.
He frowns some more as he looks at the building from the outside, “I’m going to kill Kyle for this one…” he mutters, complaining about his boss and his attitude problem as he walks over to the back alley, facing the more rural area, no roads or buildings there, it facing a long river behind it.
The warehouse was a good few hundred feet from the neighborhood, secluded and a pain in the a** to carry merchandise from. He hangs his head low as he approaches it, it taking a couple of minutes.
He then looks for the door that enters the storage room. “What the…?” he says and then presses his ear to the metal door, eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he hears bizarre sounds, panting, movements and things being toppled over, the first thing that runs through his mind is burglary.
“I really should call the…actually why should I…it’d serve Kyle right...I’ll just say I didn’t know…yes that’s it” he says, his train of thought shifting as well as his tone as a small smile reaches his lips and he prepares to walk off.
“I really need to take an aspirin when I get back to the office,” he mutters as his head aches suddenly, a dull pounding and small pit of nausea in his stomach. He then blinks as he feels chills up his spine, his skin crawling as he turns.
Suddenly a chunk of the wall is torn off and a fist procures from a new-made hole in the wall. He looks at it with fascination and fear, the dark toned skin and large fist not supposed to have done that. He tiptoes closer, curiosity getting the better of him.
He looks through the hole and then gasps slightly, and backs away, stumbling back and fear filling him, as he feels the air vacuumed into the hole as a pulsing violet light begins to escape it, it filling the inner chamber no doubt. The sense of electrifying power intimidating as he hears a voice that could only belong to a monster of some sort, shout something in a language he can’t understand.
Then hell breaks loose as the wall is torn asunder, a beam of light carving through it and enveloping him as well. The stone shatters and disperses all around, smoke and dust spraying in all directions. The salesperson is thrown back, enveloped in a horrid heat, his body being devoured by the power, cloth, flesh and bone being burnt as well as a huge shockwave and explosion engulfing him and sending his crispy corpse sprawling against the wall.
From within the fiery inferno two figures emerge. One is a man clad in white, tossed out of the opening ungracefully and landing on his back, groaning lightly and looks up at the burning gap in the wall. Then the devil himself it seems leaps through the smoke shroud opening.
Eyes blazing red and teeth, sharp, bared menacingly, descending toward the warrior, pulling his fist back and then aiming to slam into the man’s body. The latter however manages to roll aside and a deep impression is left upon the pavement, it cracking and breaking under the being’s strength.
Ryu looks aside and grimaces as he rises to his feet, panting and holding his side, breathing labored and body quaking with insufferable pain. Akuma had gotten better since the last time they fought, or perhaps this was his true power all along.
“You cannot stall the inevitable, you fall before me!” Akuma shouts and launches himself forward while swinging his foot toward Ryu’s body. The world warrior catches his foot, but is still sent against the wall hard, grunting and glaring at Akuma.
The demon offers no reaction to other than to promptly deck him with an aerial axe kick that causes his body to explode with pain, air forced out of his lungs as he collides hard against the pavement. Shivering and coughing, so spent and tired, the longer this bout is prolonged the smaller his chances of survival seem.
Ryu was indeed losing, he had been fighting Akuma for hours now, and this physical torture was gnawing at the limits of his endurance, the demon seemed to know less of such a trivial thing, the dark energies which had granted him his power shielding him mostly against exhaustion. Ryu had to do something before it was too late for him, and he would join his master in the world beyond.
“What is it going to take to make you impress me?” Akuma asks while locking his hand around Ryu’s neck and hefting him up effortlessly, suspending him in midair and glaring at him from point blank range. Ryu gags inwardly, the demons hot panting and horrid breath hitting his face as he fights his grasp in vain, while his stomach churns in disgust.
“Do I have to turn that Xiang lady into that?” he asks and points at the burnt salesperson, body emitting a disgusting aroma of charred flesh. “Or perhaps I should grind Masters’ flesh and milk his blood from his weak and frail mortal flesh?” Akuma asks while shaking Ryu like a rag doll.
Ryu feels his consciousness begin to falter and concentrates all his strength on one last desperation technique, forcing all available Chi into his fist and gasping for air, a cut out scream of rage escaping him as he slams his fist into Akuma’s body with all he has.
All he wants is to protect what he cares for, not wanting to let this monster get hold of them. Akuma however absorbs it and laughs “Is that all you’ve got?” he asks before his eyes widen and his hand goes over the area of the blow and clenches against it, him dropping Ryu and gasping for air, crumpling to one knee, convulsing and looking up. “Impos…possible…” he mutters as he barely holds himself on one hand.
Ryu collapses to the ground, coughing violently, lungs burning for air as he gasps fervently to consume sweet, blissful oxygen, unable to move much from place, lying limply almost, eyes barely gazing up to see Akuma lift a hand, and grit his teeth. “D*mn…you!” he shouts and then his eyes roll back and turn blank, collapsing forth, his lifeforce waning away to nothingness.
Ryu glances at the dead Akuma, in complete shock and disbelief, not understanding how things had transpired that way, his blow was strong enough to conquer Akuma, not after seeing him get up from much more deadly attacks.
He then winces and swallows some vomit as the dead body deforms and the skin crawls and muscles tone begins shrinking, the skin turning from tight to loose, hair shifting color from red to white, the skin turning from deep tan to bright white, what’s left of the mighty Akuma, is a broken old man.
Ryu looks at him with a mix of hatred and pity, despising Akuma beyond words, but knowing in a way he, Gouki, was a victim, a victim of ambition and greed, and a power that is hard to deny, this he knows for he almost submitted to it himself.
Ryu had received many revelations over the years while fighting to rise in power to surpass the demon-possessed man known as Gouki. He had first learned of a dark heritage, one that cast a shadow upon him, and made him detach himself from the world, fearing he might walk down the same destructive path.
How much pain that had caused him, for there were emotions and desires he denied from fear, he lived like a hermit, speaking an ever-hated phrase to push people away “the fight is all”. He scowls in disgust, what an absurd and stupid saying that was, for a whole dimension lay beyond the fist, one he’s seen for years, but recoiled from in fear of damaging it with that very fist.
He knew love, he knew longing for the both the care of a woman’s heart, and the pleasures of flesh. He knew friendship and longed for a kind smile and loyal group of peers to turn to in trouble, he had postponed his life up until now, but perhaps, it was not too late.
He was now at the age of 35, his life still stood before him, if a bit late, there was hope for him yet. He would now seek all he could never reach out for before not long ago, the woman he had yearned for so long longed to have and love, the friends he missed so, build the life in the visage of what he saw beyond his fist.
He had already set a new path for himself in motion; he had already set the first step in the new journey of his life, a life with the woman he loved. A life of peace, content, joy and affection, the life he should’ve taken in the first place, instead of embarking on such a quest, but time could not be reversed, better late than ever.
He whispers in his heart to his late master, knowing the answer for his eternal question, for so long, but now after spending a third of his life fighting he knew his goal, knew what waited for him. For he was waiting impatiently now for what lays beyond a fist poised to strike, a life of peace, content and happiness that that very strike is used to protect.
At last, the world warrior was at peace, and could lay his armguards down and settle down. A new light shone upon his life, it was time, to smile upon the world and embrace it with an olive branch and message of care, rather than violence.
** Meanwhile, “Stonehenge” Prison, Nevada desert, USA, 6:24am**
The prisoners are huddled around, pushing one another, and waiting eagerly Breakfast time was over and it was time to see if that new girl was serious about her willingness to brawl with the top dog of the “Stonehenge” maximum-security penal facility.
The rumors of a bloodbath reaching far and some of the warden’s finest guards are standing at the ready to quench down any out of hand violence, in case the inmates try to utilize the ruckus to their whim. Long batons of steel held in right hand and thick plastic riot control shields strapped to their left arms.
“Yo Jessica! 2 bundles on Lisa!” One shouts to the bookie, a scrawny little woman with glasses, her prison overall hanging on her bony body, nodding and writing into a book. “Put 3 bundles on Lisa for me Jess!” Another shouts and then a whirlwind of bets aimed at the poor woman who buckles lightly under the torrent of shouts, wincing lightly and sighing.
The said woman, Lisa Taggart is standing near four other inmates who are dying for some sweet violent goodness. They are all waiting for that insolent new girl to show her face, planning to knock her around good, so she learns some respect. She spits some and rubs her nose with the back of her hand, looking around.
“I bet she ran tail between her leg and bawled to the warden,” she says and chuckles mockingly. Ever since she got here Lisa had been on top of everything, she had the inmates respect, she was the meanest, most vicious and conniving of them all, and they feared her and were at awe with her for that, no greenhorn inmate would ruin the specially built equilibrium she’s worked on creating for so long.
“Mei, you make sure nobody from the crowd tries anything funny, k?” Ibuki muses as she walks toward the crowd, walking out of the cafeteria while wearing a calm façade and non-chalantly approaching the mass of people, standing in a half circle around the five women.
“Ok cous, but I still think this is a bad idea…” she says and frowns slightly, having a bad feeling about this, crossing her hands behind her head and sighing heavily, looking out at the clear blue sky and pushing her lip out to nibble on it lightly, inwardly groaning at the smoldering heat.
Ibuki smirks lightly and turns to look at her as they walk “Look, you want to be humiliated and bigoted by those b*tches for the rest of your time here? It’s only liable to get worse, cause we’re not reacting like they want, and they’ll insist we do,” She asks her plainly while unzipping the top of her overall, tying it around her waist.
She’s left in a loose sleeveless undershirt, the off-white shirt tightly clinging to her body, yet allowing her a lot more mobility than the heavy top that now hangs around her body as she rubs her hands together and rubs her nose with her hand once.
“No, but…” she begins before Ibuki cuts her off by lifting her hand “Look, these women find strength in numbers and enjoy intimidating people into place. I hate people like that; I find them disgustingly cowardly, unable to fight their own battles and acting so highly because they hide behind others. I’m going to teach them a lesson for messing with me and you earlier this week and put them in place, end of story, so relax and enjoy the ride.” Ibuki says, before Mei stops her, not willing still.
Ibuki turns toward her, a grim look on her face “Look, I’ll be fine, I know you’re worried, ever since Jason killed Hwang and Interpol threw you in here, but I’m not planning on going anywhere, ok? So trust me” she says, hmming and making Mei look at her, slowly nodding.
“Besides, keep this whining up and I’ll bug you to no ends, you and I are gonna share that cell for a LONG time, being the two newest gals here, so don’t ruin the equilibrium” Ibuki says and winks, causing Mei to shake her head at her, as Ibuki puts her hands on her hips as they reach the area.
Ibuki looks at the five who crack knuckles and smirks at her, looking smug and content with their outnumbering her so. Ibuki wears a calm façade and quirks a brow at them, “Them your Entourage? I was expecting more, no matter,” she asks as she hops lightly on her feet.
She ignores Ibuki and points at her, “There she is! F**k the b*tch up!” she says and two of the women walk forth, the other inmates cheering on them as they approach Ibuki who stands calm, hands at her sides, not looking phased by them, actually looking at them with boredom in her eyes, a flat and expecting look on her face.
“Such a pretty face, too bad we gotta bust it” one says and throws a punch at Ibuki, intent of clobbering respect into this arrogant little she-dog. Ibuki studies her movement and notices the blow is quite clumsy and slow, and not utilizing this woman’s physical power much, the whole motion wrong.
Ibuki shifts her body sideways, it whistling by her head harmlessly, a mile away, she meanwhile lifts her knee with her motion, slamming it into the woman’s gut. She grunts and exhales sharply, unwillingly bending down a bit as he muscles ache at the vicious blow.
Ibuki then lifts her hand and bringing the palm down on the woman’s back, forcing her down the ground. The woman grunts as he body hits the ground and slumps against it some, holding her stomach, as he head throbs, one of her eyes shut as she winces while coughing the nausea away.
The other woman wastes no time, and lunges at Ibuki, proceeding to lock her long her arms around her, lifting her up into the air, straining hard while initiating a brawling bear hug technique, and squeezing the life out of Ibuki hard.
Or so she believes she is doing, in reality Ibuki holds her breath, the pain a slight annoyance as he arms are touching her still slightly weak ribs, but nothing compared to the bear hug Zangief gave her a little over a year ago, it was time to turn the tides.
She had been through a line of Street fighting prodigies and experts and has walked out of it, these rookies wouldn’t stop her, she determines as she brings both knees into the woman’s diaphragm just as she feels her lungs inflate.
This causes her diaphragm to push the air too hard and makes the woman cough at the blow and choke on the air she took in, while the muscle explodes in a blinding, unbearable hurricane of painful sensations.
Thus, she lets go of Ibuki and moves to press her hands to her lungs and diaphragm as the shudder and the air is jammed in her throat, hoping to soothe the pain and make it stop, while tears sting her eyes involuntarily.
Ibuki then with kneels down a bit and turns, while lifting both hands over her head. She plants both of them against the other woman’s body and uses her momentum to throw her into the now gasping woman. The land in a heap, groaning and down for the count, of the game so to say.
Ibuki turns her glance slightly to look at the others who are less confident now. “Don’t just look at her, get her! Get her!” Lisa shouts before she sees Ibuki has shifted strategies and is coming forward, eyes cold and piercing, as her impassive face is bone chilling.
** Back in the alley behind the warehouse, 8:27am **
Ryu then sighs and turns around, gasping in surprise and shock and stepping back, stumbling some and slipping to the ground, confusion and dread in his eyes, “Boo” a deep voice speaks, and a low laughter follows, a man, was facing him, levitating over the ground. A pale violet glow dances within his eyes, his power swirling hypnotically and illuminating only the area around his eyes, the rest of him hidden by the darkness.
“So you’re Ryu Hoshi, the world warrior, I must say, I’m not very impressed, lucky I came by and saved you from that little blunder of yours with old man Gouki here, no?” the man says and lands lightly on his feet, them making a faint tapping sound as he does.
He then crosses his arms and scans Ryu from head to toe. Ryu in turn, shakes his head and gets up shakily, glaring at the man calmly, despite a pang of fear filling him as he senses an immense amount of power shining in the man’s spirit. “Who are you? What do you want?” he asks cautiously, head throbbing and trying to clear the haze before his eyes.
The man grins, a bone chilling smile full, the venom of corrupt light in his eyes undeniable familiar, the power, akin of both Akuma and someone else, Bison. The man says nothing and quirks a brow at Ryu and rubs his chin, seeming to analyze him.
“Who I am, doesn’t really matter to you frankly. But since I’m willing to waste some time in reasoning with you, for now, you can call me, by my street alias, X” he says and smirks in amusement as Ryu’s body tenses, caution, fear, anxiety, how amusing a sight, coming from such a formidable being as this warrior.
“Reasoning?” Ryu questions suspiciously, something eluding him about that alias, his mind still blurry from exhaustion and the drop of adrenaline in his blood, his eyes follow this man carefully, hands ready at moment’s notice to rise in defense. Despite him being seemingly ready for battle, he knows, with his strength zapped and body on the verge of collapse, a good fight he will most likely not be able to put up.
“Why yes, you see, Ryu-San, I have an offer for you” He says and grins lightly, pushing back a black cloak, and stepping into the partial light, his attire, that emblem, it couldn’t be, Shadowlaw is dead. The man, also known to a select few as Xavier, lord of Shadowlaw, seems to be more and more amused as Ryu’s mind reels at the implications and possibilities and many emotions rage within.
“Wait a minute…You’re!” Ryu says and his eyes widen, realization finally hitting him as the pieces of the puzzle he was too tired to figure out come into place, him entering his stance immediately, eyes blazing as he remembers a conversations he made with Chunli at Guile’s funeral. “You b*stard…” Ryu hisses and knows what this man has come for, intent on not going down without a fight.
“Really Ryu, it’s not what you think” Xavier says and waves his hand in dismissal before stepping back and blocking a lunging kick from Ryu, swatting his foot aside with the side of his arm and moving his head aside, a follow up punch, vicious in force missing narrowly, it leaving a faint impression on the wall.
Xavier looks at Ryu who waves his hand lightly while wincing, pain shooting up his hand, but resolve not breaking, pushing forth once more “Really Ryu, I’m not here to fight you, will you cease this nonsense” he says and shakes his head. He is then forced to stop Ryu’s next blow, as it aims at his face, his hand whipping forth and encasing it with his own hand, seeing the warrior struggle with his grasp he pushes him back with a weak burst of his power, trying to immobilize him enough so he get through his thick skill with his words.
“Then why do you come here?” Ryu asks, though he relents not, and cups his hands, forming a Hadouken, straining the last bits of his strength, intent of not giving in to this evil lying down, his chi raging violently and focalizes rapidly, illuminating his body, Gi torn and blood staining it as he pulls his hands back.
“Is this really necessary?” Xavier asks rubs his temple, “Why must they always do things the hard way?” he thinks and sighs lightly as the Hadouken in unleashed, the chi cleaving a path toward him, power crackling and illuminating the alley, as a trail of Ryu’s signature aura is left in its wake.
It hits Xavier and dissipates, energy dispersing against his body, a faint blue hue surrounding X’s body as he uses some of his power to absorb the blast. Then he grunts lightly as Ryu lunges forth and kicks him back, the warrior’s heel hitting his body, sending him staggering a step back while pain rocks him, surprising the Psychic tyrant with his speed.
Ryu then leaps forth and aims his knee to sink into Xavier’s abdomen. The Psychic blocks it with his hand and turns slightly around Ryu’s left side and takes a step back “Do not force me to you extreme measures warrior, I’m just here to talk” he says and his voice carrying a hint of warning and anger.
Ryu steps forward and sends a kick at X’s body, one which is soundly dodged, at the lord of Shadowlaw, who in turn, sighs in exasperation. That is before Ryu spins around and plants a kick into the side of his head, sending him reeling into the wall.
“I see you’re as stubborn as ever…” X muses and turns to him, spitting some saliva from his mouth and rubbing it with the back of his hand, glaring slightly at Ryu who offers him a cold glare while lunging forth and pulling his fist back. “So be it…” he mutters darkly.
Xavier points his hand at Ryu, his energy flowing through his hand, lighting up his skin in a purplish hue, energy crackling between his fingertips as he bends time and space with his power and sends an invisible gust of power at Ryu when he is around 2-3 feet away from him.
The blast pushes the air forth, it folding and swirling some as it hits Ryu squarely against the chest, sending him catapulting back, the blast packing a punch and making him hit the ground a good 2 feet away, groaning lightly, the air knocked out of his lungs and pain aggravating his wounds, courtesy of Akuma’s raging power earlier.
Xavier dusts off his military suit and clicks his tongue in a reprimanding manner, one in which one would use on a boy misbehaving, and watches as Ryu crawls to his feet slowly and barely keeps his footing, breathing heavily. He gasps for air as his lungs burn and body aches hideously, panting heavily while lifting one hand to stabilize his head, the world beginning to spin, nausea fighting to push vomit from his throat and mind screaming for this torture to stop.
Xavier chuckles “My My, and here I thought there was hope for you yet” he says and rubs his chin, looking reproachfully at the World warrior while shaking his head lightly, and watches as Ryu falls to his knees and scarcely holds himself up the ground.
Xavier uses his telekinetic power, Ryu’s body being surrounding by a faint blue hue and lifting off the ground, suspended in midair, limps slumping some and head lolling back as his body is quite beyond its limit. Ryu strains to break the hold over his limbs, but fails, panting and glaring at Xavier coldly “Go ahead! Kill me when I’m weak! Prove your impotence and pathetic potential, degrading to murdering me like come second rated coward!” he challenges, voice hoarse and weak, but angry and despiteful.
Xavier smirks widely and pinches his cheek while smiling widely with amusement in his eyes “Why aren’t you the cutest little thing? Trying to anger me enough to let you go and fight you another time,” he says and chuckles lowly before tapping his fingers lightly on Ryu’s cheek, in a patronizing manner.
“Unlike my father, however your death occurs, just doesn’t matter to me, as long as it is so, so I’m afraid since you so vulgarly refused my offer to negotiate, I’m going to have to kill you, cowardly or honorable, you’re still a threat I’m going to erase,” he says and smiles widely, beaming at Ryu. “No hard feelings, I’ll send my regards to Chunli, your little lovergirl, all alone once again, as she should be, too bad you have to learn the hard way, that hope and dreams, are nothing but illusions...” Xavier says and grins at Ryu.
“You…” he begins before X’s eyes narrow just a bit and glow brightly, a irrepressible torrent of purple psychic power sent forth into Ryu’s mind, crushing his barriers of willpower, the power behind them something incalculable. It flows like a juggernaut Tsunami, crashing against his psyche and spreading through him like liquid fire and burning him from within as it rapes his mind’s defenses and weak points, making Ryu gasp in pain and thrash violently, if in vain.
“YOU…BASTARD!” he screams as his body convulses violently and he thrashes as purple energy swirls around him, X ignores his screams, keeping an even, impassive look as foam comes out of his mouth the purple blanket of power piercing his skin and melting into his body, crushing tissue of all kinds beneath it’s raging force.
Blood pours from Ryu’s nose and ears as X continues destroying his nerve tissue with his power, causing his body to jerk with spasms, but keeping him alive enough to relive ever horror and painful moment of his life, it looping in his mind, having some time to spare to make this detestable thing die slowly.
Xavier then watches as the spasms slow down and his body stops convulsing, only twitching now, eyes wide and unfocused, body slumping against the pavement, blood pouring from his ears, X’s power making his brain meltdown from within.
Moreover, he sent his body into a world of such traumatic pain, the horrid pain conquering him and creates a system-shock that even a body as sturdy as Ryu’s couldn’t withstand. X senses people’s auras coming closer, the screams and earlier explosion obviously have caught someone’s attention.
He sighs, he was expecting them sooner, he would’ve cut the chase earlier if so. He crosses his arms against his body, chuckling darkly, this would look nice on the front page of the newspapers, oh what he would give to see Chunil Xiang’s face when she reads it, frowning and snapping his fingers, and shrugging it off as he teleports off to his business.
** Back at “Stonehenge” prison, 6:27 am**
Ibuki reaches her prey, ducking under a panicked hook punch one sends at her, as she rises she sends her fist into the woman’s chin, then directs another 5 punches at the woman’s body, her blows raining down quickly and efficiently, leaving horrid pain in their wake.
She fists hits her face 2 times, her knuckles leaving pain and bruises over the woman’s left cheek and the right side of her jaw, When the woman’s head snaps sideways she proceeds to spread 3 punches at her abdomen.
She then collects a sheer amount of Chi into her hand; it glowing very weakly as she slams her palm into her gut, making her step back once, and bend down while holding it desperately. Coughing and gasping, while her footing is left wobbly and unsteady
Ibuki then plants a foot onto her body and kicks lightly upward, propelling herself upward before planting her other heel into her upper body and pushes back hard. The woman stumbles back and falls to the ground with a thud, panting and unable to move as Ibuki uses her body as springboard to continue her attack.
Ibuki shifts direction in midair, using the new found momentum propel herself in the opposite direction while spinning around, extending her foot and clocking a woman who was sneaking behind her with a vicious reverse roundhouse kick, which seemingly came out of nowhere. Her foot slams into the poor woman’s face, her foot rattling the assaulting woman’s teeth with its sheer force.
The woman staggers back and stumbles, almost falling backward, not having time to think twice about what Ibuki will do next, as it is delivered to her before she can blink. The former Shinobi bringing her down for the count by slamming her foot into the woman’s temple, her shoe crashing against her face and sending her collapsing down while squirming in pain and holding her head.
Ibuki then feels a punch hit her gut, Lisa sneaking in a blow and causing her to exhale a bit sharply, a follow up punch approaching at breakneck speed, Ibuki’s head bends back some and her hands clasp around the woman’s wrist, twisting her arm hard and forcing her to the ground, grinding her cheek to the burning hot soil.
“Don’t f**k with me, or my cousin again, and start showing us some respect. Or by God, I’ll shove this here shoe so deep up you’re a**, you’ll need to have it surgically removed,” she says and lets her go, scowling in disgust and kicking some dust on her.
Lisa smirks and spits dirt out of her mouth, rising to a kneeling position and rubbing her arm lightly to soothe it while chuckling lowly “I wouldn’t count on it nip” she says and crawls over to the other inmates now sprawling near the rest of the group, and lying on the fronts, with hands behind their heads. She then looks up and sees the guards being pushed back by the convicts, before they finally push through, using their shields and batons to break through the line, while bruising and battering any convict who stands in her way, then turning to lunge at her.
Ibuki lifts her hands in a non-violence signal, but they keep on approaching, their grip on their batons tightening as one lifts his and brings it swinging down at Ibuki. She steps back and gives him a pushing kick, to the side sending him off balance.
“Get her! Take her down!” one shouts and they attempt to tackle her to the ground “Hey Hey!” Ibuki says and backs away more, seeing Mei dragged away by three of them already, while thrashing and kicking in vain against their arms.
She then leaps over one who lunges at her, planting her hands on his shoulders and pushing upward while spreading her legs, performing a leapfrog jump and landing behind him, looking around at the ever-growing guards who are rushing forth to detain her.
“Warden?” One of them speaks through a walkie-talkie, one who looks higher of rank then the others, not participating in the mad attempts to grasps a Shinobi as slippery as a muddy piglet, not doing much damage to his men, mostly just pushing them back and giving them light blows to try to deter them while trying reason with them.
“I understand sir, but see claims to want to come with us peacefully. Sir maybe we should. Ok sir, I understand sir, No sir, yes you’re in charge sir, Ok sir,” he says and sighs and turns to someone perched in a watchtower above and motions him at Ibuki.
He nods and cocks a rifle, prepping to fire, and then aims at her. Ibuki suddenly a twisting feeling in her gut, a dreadful premonition of impending danger, something was not right, this she realizes as the guards suddenly thin their circle around her.
She was never one to take needless chances, crouching and promptly hitting the deck, a rubber coated bullet missing her head and hitting the ground.
Then they are upon her, baton’s crashing to her back, and kicks raining against her body, caushing her to shudder, she doesn’t shout, or gasp or anything, she grits her teeth against the pain. She feels some her healing rib ache, threatening to fracture once more, and grimaces, when the blows cease, as quickly as the came, she coughs blood and strains to get up.
Nothing was broken, but she would be carrying many bruises and would be hurting for a good while, the blows not meant to crush, but meant to maim and immobilize, this she was sure of, why the warden sent them only on Mei and her was beyond her. She then sees the other inmates looking at her with an odd look and Lisa smirking victoriously.
“I’ll come peacefully! Will you cut it out?!” she says while coughing and holding her stomach, rising to sit on her knees, one hand stabilizing her, as she feels a bit dizzy, pained and a bit weak, she would rebound from it in a day or two, but this wasn’t supposed to happen, so what went wrong.
She then gasps in pain as an electrical surge hits her lower back and causes her body to convulse involuntarily, her knees buckling as she falls to her knees. It hitting her again in again, unable to quench small sounds of pain, despite gritting her teeth as she convulses and pain rocks through her, squirming on the ground, before blackness envelops her.
The guards step back, and two grab her arms and haul her toward the head guard, who looks at her grimly “Take her to the isolation cell, the warden will want to talk to her later,” he says and turns to leave, heart heavy with what they just did, everyone had seen the girl was just defending herself.
He glances at the sight of her being dragged, her body limp and head lolled forward, her body bruised and sweating, burn marks on her skin and clothing from the tazers, grimacing and feeling for her, it a ghastly thing to do, but he had a job, and this was how the warden kept peace.
With a feeling of wretchedness, he drags himself toward his office; he needed a shot of scotch, and sit down, these things and atrocities against the prisoners making him sick in his stomach and make him feel despicable and with good reason. He pushes the thought from his mind, opens the doors, and disappears into the office building.
** Later, 12:35 am, Manhattan Pathological institute, NYC, USA **
She is pacing through the corridor; her hair combed absently, eyes a bit red from lack of sleep, it was her day off and she slept in, but then she got a call that made her stomach drop and heart crash. The words spoken to her by her old friend are just not digestible by her mind, disbelieving, denying the possibility and coming over herself to shatter this horrible mistake.
She tossed on the first civil looking attire she found and got into her car and drove here. She had most likely committed most of the traffic crimes in the NY law book, driving insanely in a manner that would put Hollywood chase scenes to shame.
She pants lightly and looks around, looking for the doctor in charge, feeling a ping of panic and dread as she walks over the main desk and taps her fingers on the wooden table, tapping over it many times as her mind begins to reel at implications of such a turn of events, should it be true.
Chunli hugs herself, waiting quietly, if impatiently, foot tapping lightly as she bites her lower lip, unable to push negative thoughts and assumptions that creep through her barrier of calm, which is beginning to crack.
“Ah, Agent Xiang, good morning to you” a woman says, coming through a nearby door and throwing some latex gloves into a garbage can and pushing down a facemask. Smiling at her and rubbing her tired eyes, she had worked all night long, and still couldn’t figure out what the h*ll happened to that poor man.
Chunli offers a strained smile, nodding her head “Morning Dr. Liebowitz,” she says and inhales deeply, pushing down her unstable emotions and tucks a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. Uncommonly finding it hard to speak casually and non-chalantly requesting to see the body of her latest victim, the corpse that might belong to the man she secretly loved.
“If they sent you here to report about the cause of the death of that mysterious guy, I have to disappoint you, I have no idea what killed him,” she says and sighs lightly “I’ve looked up medical symptoms on the internet and nothing matched…” she says.
“Can I see him?” she asks, a slight plead in her voice, but subtly so, trying not to sound desperate and weak, afraid and anxious, trying to keep a neutral façade. The Dr. quirks a brow at this uncommon site and purses her lips slightly, nodding once and shrugging, motioning her to follow.
She enters the room where the bodies are kept in large refrigerators of steel. Chunli is handed a facemask and promptly puts it on, then looking to her right, eyes widening in horror and shock, putting a hand to her mouth as breathing hitches and heart twists painfully within her chest.
“Ryu…” she whispers inaudibly as her eyes threaten to well up with tears, holding them back by willpower alone and licking her lower lip as the doctor ignores her momentarily and points a strong light at the pale, lifeless body of Ryu.
She then takes a large nail file like tool and pushes back the skin, to reveal the inside of the world warrior, Chunli gags inwardly, not at the sight, she had seen it before, but at the thought itself. “From what I could figure out so far, something burned away his nerve system.” She says, though Chunli isn’t quite attentive.
“It started in the upper right frontal lobe, then began spreading to the left one, moving down rapidly and causing muscular damage, ruining tissue with unstable hormonal and electrical supplies, the body in other words, turned to eat itself from within.” She says and turns to look at Chunli, who nods once grimly, eyes somewhat faded, a deep sadness and pain burning in them.
The doctor, purses her lips under her mask and pushes out a heavy sigh “From what I take the process took a short while, then ended with a horrid, unexpected manner…it seems his heart’s pacemaker was sent ever increasing signals from the brain. The muscle was torn apart by the strain, destroying any hopes of survival…” she says then looks at Chunli “Agent Xiang, are you ok?” she asks as she notices Chunli’s attention is elsewhere.
Chunli comes out of her daze, and offers the most fake smile the Dr. Has ever seen, and gulps “Thanks for the info…I have to go…go report” she stammers and retreats from the room. The doctor is not blind to the pain and agony the Chinese decent is reflecting in her eyes, or the weak façade she is putting up and looks at her sadly, nodding.
Chunli rushes out of the building, almost crashing into people on her way, eyes downcast as she bites her lower lip until she can feel the bitter taste of iron in her mouth, shivering as her shoulders shake with choked sobs, once she finds her car, she enters and leans her head on the steering wheel.
God…no…” she whispers and hits her head against the plastic, tears falling as sobs hit her “No…no no no no no…” she utters as he voice shakes, breathing in an irate manner and pounding her fist lightly against the dash board.
Ryu had met up with her 6 weeks ago, he had changed so much, he told he came back for her this time, he had confessed pushing her away for so long, because he was afraid of love, he had confessed he wanted her just as much as she wanted him.
Those were the most beautiful 5 weeks of her life, they had rekindled love and affection for so long, made hot and passionate love for hours and hours, sinking in emotions and sensations, desires and needs both had dreamt of satisfying for so long.
He promised her he was coming back, he promised her he would come back for her, promised her he would be her mate, would not leave her alone ever again. He promised her with such honesty and conviction she had let him go, why did she let him go. The pain and sense of horrible loss crush her heart and milks blood and agonizing wails from her soul.
Now she could never hear his soft and tender voice, feel his warm hand stroking her gently, hold him closely, feel so secure, and content, never feel the sparks of joy in her heart. She would never be able to tell him, she bore his child within her body, never be able to make the dream he told her of come true.
She doesn’t move for the longest time, the most horrid pain and loss in her heart, she knew exactly who did that to Ryu, she knew who was responsible, and only one sort of being could burn someone’s neural webs in such a manner. She had seen it before, a few years ago, when Guile found Charlie’s corpse in Brazil, delivered dead and rotten, courtesy of Bison senior, the work was undoubtedly one of a psychic.
There was only one monster, one horrible bestial fiend who would do this, who would crush him in such as humiliating and torturous manner. She would make him pay, she would wring his neck in her bare hands and choke the fire of life from his corrupt and putrid body, she would bathe in his blood, he would die a thousand deaths for her lover. But not now, she would wait, she had to, she wouldn’t sacrifice their child, the child of a love revealed so shortly, she loved him too much, and that child was all she had in the world now. The thought once more makes her body twist and writhe in agony.
Once her child was born, she would give it to her grandfather Gen and her two cousins Yun and Yang, for safekeeping, then she would hunt that bastard to the ends of the earth, until the moment she is the sole reason for his death, a slow, and painful one with that.
She let’s her mind drift for a while, knowing the pain won’t ever leave her and trying to push it back, if for a very short while. She had would use anything possible to achieve her means, if it meant allying herself with the brotherhood and the murderous lunatic who ruled it, Gill. If it meant hunting down and interrogating every Shadowlaw operative, she could lay her hands on.
She would even go as far as using the wild card she had, Ibuki, she had interrogated her, and she had shown a deep hatred for the lord of Shadowlaw, but she did help him, willingly or not, mattered not to the law. Though she personally couldn’t understand her personally, and could not blame her, her arm was twisted behind her back.
She also could probably convince the Black Dragon clan’s sole survivor to help her, after all Jason had killed her sibling and left her purposefully to be captured. She hated playing into Shadowlaw’s hands, Chunli wasn’t especially proud of arresting her, but the protocol demanded, and high commanded had been hunting her for Mei Hasigawa for over a year now.
So she tossed her into the same place as Ibuki, so the two would remain healthy and well, purposefully knowing that the women might still have use to her personally in the future. She had milked nothing useful in terms of info out of any of them, their ties with Shadowlaw minimal, despite the acts they did.
But she had always known, and so did Cammy when they discussed it over, that perhaps such dangerous individuals could be invaluably useful for them later, she kept that in mind when she changed their imprisonment location and tossed them both, into the same cell, so they could heal their wounds.
She knew blood was thicker than water after all, in that maximum security prison and not the special specials containment center in Alaska, they would do her no good, as vegetables locked up in stasis cells and ice, to forever be erased from the lives of humanity.
But now wasn’t the time, her poor Ryu, he fought so hard, suffered so much, denied his own personality and life, because of wanting to protect people from Akuma and himself. She would not let all his sacrifices be for naught, she wouldn’t betray him, even though suicide never sounded more inviting as it does now.