The Path of the True Warrior Ch. 15
By Ryu-san

"Ryu! Ryu! Ryu!" Chun-li says. Ryu merely remains silent. Chun-li pokes at him, then kicks him.

"Ryu! Wake up!" Chun-li says, to no avail.

"It looks like he's not waking, luv, let's just go without him," Cammy tells her. The two walk towards the dining hall, where they meet the rest of their new "group."

"Hey you two! Have you heard the latest?" Ken asks them.

"No, what happened?" they ask simultaneously.

"Someone's been murdered!" Ken tells them.

"WHAT!? Whowhatwherewhenwhyhow?!" They ask, barraging him with a plethora of questions.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…One at a time. You know that guy that Ryu fought yesterday? His body was found at a local bar, with multiple slashes, bruises, and his organs spread over the sidewalk…" Ken finishes.

"And the prime suspect is a man with a headband and a white gi! In other words, your friend who fought yesterday!" a man says. They all turn around to see a man dressed in an orange vest and green pants standing right behind them. His eyes narrow as he looks at the group.

"That's my friend you're accusing! Who do you think you are!?" Ken vehemently demands.

"The name's Charlie, Charlie Nash. I've already obtained the warrant to investigate and apprehend your friend. Many reliable witnesses say that they have seen a man with a headband and a gi walking away from the crime scene and your friend is the only man that fits that description," Charlie tells them.

"Gr…"

"Wait! But he's extremely exhausted and he hasn't woken up yet!" Chun-li protests.

"Then he won't mind being put in jail. Nobody gets leniency for murder," Charlie tells her.

"You jerk! I won't let this happen! If you arrest him, you'll have to get past me first!" she screams.

"Hmph…aiding and abetting a murderer…I'll have to consider you an accessory to this. You're both coming with me," Charlie says as he snaps his fingers. Immediately, several guards come and grab Chun-li, putting her arms behind her back and handcuffing her. Several minutes later, Ryu's body is carried by another guard and both are flung into the back of an armored vehicle. Ken is about to stop them when Gen places his hand on Ken's shoulder.

"Ken. Wait, I believe that they are innocent but we must be able to prove it…We can't do anything if we are arrested too. Let us return to the scene of the crime at a later date to investigate," Gen tells him. Ken's fist eventually clenches and unclenches as his head hangs down in submission.

*BAM! CRACK!*

Ken's fist cracks the wall. He forces himself to look away as two of his friends begin to head toward jail for a crime he knows they didn't commit.

"This I promise…I will get you two free!" Ken vows.

9:00 p.m.

"Stay in there!" the guard yells as he throws Ryu and Chun-li into a cell in the local jail. "You have five days until your trial and we don't go easily on murderers here!"

"Uhhh…" Ryu shakes his head and begins to rise.

"Ryu! You're finally awake!" Chun-li yells as she runs next to him.

"Oh…where am I? What am I doing here?" Ryu asks.

"The police suspect that you murdered somebody…" Chun-li tells him the events that occurred while Ryu slept.

"It's been almost two days since…but anyway, I know we're innocent and Ken said that he would help us," Chun-li tells him.

"Hm…but they only have five days…" Chun-li worries.

"Don't worry, Chun. This is my fault. I don't know what happened, but you can easily get out to this if I just admit that it's my fault. Don't worry, no matter what happens, I won't let you get yourself hurt," Ryu tells her, as his mind wanders to how Ken is faring.

"What is it, Gen-sama?" Ken asks him.

"I detect chi that is different from Ryu, evil chi that is emanating from this site…" Gen says as he and Ken arrive at the murder site.

"Hey! What do you think you two are doing!? This is a restricted area!" a voice tells them.

"We're…You again!?" Ken asks.

"Hmph…I had a feeling that you would be back here. Why did you come back here?" Charlie asks.

"We're here to prove the innocence of my friends!" Ken yells.

"Quiet…there," Gen says as he points to the sewers. "That's where the killer went. I can feel his chi and it is as subtle as a kusaya (kusaya is a very strong smelling fish, stronger than Limburger cheese I believe, anyway, the phrase meaning very blatant. Um…I just made that up so it probably sounds stupid.). Let's go, Ken."

"Hey! Where do you two think you're going!" Charlie asks.

"I told you, Ryu is innocent, and I'm here to prove it. If you want to find the truth, follow us," Ken tells him as he jumps down. Gen looks at him and then jumps down as well. Charlie shrugs his shoulders, puts away his glasses, grimaces and jumps in.

"I begin to see a few drops of blood here and there," Ken notices. Gen turns his head, put his fingers to his lips to quiet Ken and they quietly follow the trail of blood.

5:00 a.m.

"Hey! You two! Here's your food! And a few more 'friends!' Hahahaha!" the policeman says as he pushes six more criminals in the cell. "These guys are murderers too, so I guess you'll get along pretty well."

"Chun-li! Wake up!" Ryu says. Chun-li seems exhausted and cannot rise.

The newcomers walk toward them.

"Hmph! You think you're all dat cuz you jacked someone up!? You ain't nothin' foo! We a part of da crypts and we gonna **** you up unless you do what we say, got that!?" the apparent leader of the group of gangsters told Ryu.

"Very well, but…" Ryu starts. They start to walk over to them and begin looking at Chun-li.

"BUT! She is off limits, meaning that I don't want any of you near her!" Ryu yells. Chun-li, now fully awake, pretends to be sleeping but watches the spectacle through the corner of her eyes.

*SLASH!*

"I warned you already, b**** a** m************! You don't tell us what to do! Now, get the **** out of our way!" the leader tells Ryu, who sheaths his knife. Ryu clutches his shoulder, which is now bleeding, and then tenses the muscles in his arms.

"I told you…don't go near her!" Ryu says as he rushes and hits the leader with his head, causing a massive collapse in his face. The others rush and dog pile him but Ryu explodes off the dog pile, jumps and kicks one in the side of the head, slamming him against the wall. He grabs two by their heads and smashes them together. He then runs and punches one of them in their stomach and kicks them in the neck, causing him to fall and reach for his neck, gasping for air. The final one he walks up to and just grabs him, slamming him against the wall until he passed out. Ryu then checked all of them for injuries and then sat down next to Chun-li.

"You're bleeding…" he hears.

"Huh!?" he looks down and he hears Chun-li.

"You're bleeding. We'd better treat it before it gets infected," she says as she walks over to the front of the cell.

"Wait!" Ryu tells her.

"Don't think of escaping. I have faith in Ken, so, let's wait here for evidence proving we're innocent," Ryu tells her.

*BAM!*

"I was just worried that you would have an infection! Besides, these others need to be taken to a hospital too," Chun-li tells him. Unfortunately, the guard fell asleep.

"Grr…is the police system that useless!?" Chun-li asks.

"Well, we can do nothing by complaining. I checked the others and they'll be fine in a few days. As for myself, it is just a scratch," Ryu tells her.

"What the!" Ken says as he finally sees the trail of blood end.

"NOW WHaat…" Gen shuts Ken up and points to the new stains across the other side. They follow it. Gen raises a hand. A pair of red eyes can be seen in the distance.

"THERE! Now run!" Gen yells.

The red eyes runs away but Charlie is already blocking its path. It turns to one side and Ken is already blocking that path. The other is covered by Gen and the last direction is a brick wall.

"Oh my gosh…" Ken stares incredulously at the sight before him. There is indeed a fighter with a headband a gi; however, its face is deformed beyond description and in fact, almost falling off it seems, its skin is pale and pure madness is displayed in his eyes. It screams and dashes toward Ken. Ken braces for the impact and he feels it, immediately. He slams against the wall and drops into the sewage.

"Oh, you'll pay for that," Ken mumbles as he picks himself out of the sewer water.

"Sonic Boom!" Charlie yells. The creature turns around and blocks the vacuum-produced scythe of chi heading toward it with a projection of his own. Charlie runs toward it and it rushes forward, grabbing Charlie by the neck and flinging him backward. All of a sudden, he feels several blows course through his body as Gen performs his Zanei. The two size each other up and the creature runs toward Gen. Gen blocks and counters but the creature hardly feels the blow. It makes its counterstrike and smashes its knee against Gen's stomach.

"Sonic Break!" Charlie yells right after he launches four consecutive sonic booms.

"Shinryuken!" Ken yells as he batters the creature in an upward spiral of flames. The creature falls to the sewers, battered. It immediately rises, though, and punches Ken in the face, forcing Ken backward and causing a crater in the wall. It then turns around to Charlie and begins pummeling him with a series of rapid punches. Charlie collapses and coughs up blood. It then turns around to face Gen, only to discover that Gen is already jumping towards it. Gen hits it with both feet and it falls down. All of a sudden, it jumps up and it begins emitting a dark chi, charging it up, threatening the safety of everyone in the sewers. Unexpectedly, it begins to collapse on its knees and then, it disintegrates.

"What was that? Did you do that Gen-sama?" Ken asks.

"Iie…" Gen responds.

"Uh…I guess I will let your friend go…I have no evidence but I have seen enough with my own eyes. Good luck to both of you," Charlie says as he begin to climb out of the sewer.

"We must be going to Ken," Gen tells him.

"Yea, sure…" Ken responds.