The Path of the True Warrior Ch. 9
By Ryu-san

Chun-li and Ken are surrounded by bodies of shadaloo warriors and they look around. All of a sudden, more fighters kick through the building and surround both fighters…

“How did it get to this? Ryu…” Chun-li talks to herself.

Three months before…

“Target sighted, initiating battle sequence,” Cammy says.

Gen turns around and sees the three girls charging at Ryu’s fallen body.

“Fei! Wake up!” Gen yells as he twists around and avoids Cammy’s drill kick. He jumps up and strikes Juni with his fist. He aims a quick kick at her again and ducks under Juli’s kick.

“Ugh…” Fei grunts as he slowly rises.

“What the!? Sifu!” Fei cries out.

“Guard the others! Don’t worry about me! I’ll take care of these three! Now take the others and go!” Gen yells as he defends the girls’ attacks.

“But…Sifu!”

“Go now!”

“Grrr…Sifu, afterwards, I’ll be back to help you!” Fei says as he runs over to Chun-li.

“Chun-li! Are you ok? Wake up!” Chun-li does not stir.

“Ugh…that old freak is fast…” Fei hears.

“Ken! Hurry up! I will grab Chun-li, you grab Ryu and just RUN!” Fei yells, already running. Ken needs no further encouragement and he grabs Ryu and follows Fei.

Meanwhile, Gen jumps off a wall and attacks Juni. Juni is hit so hard that she swoons. Juli sneaks up from behind, though, and kicks Gen as hard as she can in the back of the head. Gen feels an irregularity in his heart again but he suppresses it using his chi. He then concentrates and musters his entire chi for one blow. He fakes and then strikes Cammy in the head and a slight snap is heard. He then watches as Fei runs off with the others.

“Good…Fei…always obey your master…” Gen weakly says as he clutches at his chest. He crumples and does not rise. Cammy takes a quick look and scans him with a device.

”Target eliminated…useless old man,” Cammy taunts.

“Let’s go!” Cammy orders the other two. Juli grabs Juni and they head off, running for Ryu.

“Fei! Where are you going!?” Chun-li asks, finally awake.

“I must return to help sifu!” Fei says. Ryu holds him back.

“What do you think you’re doing!” Fei asks him as he tries to wrestle out of Ryu’s grasp.

“There’s no way you can do anything to help Gen-sama! Don’t worry, he can take care of himself! He defeated all four of us easily!” Ryu argues, trying to hold Fei back

“GRRRR! Still! There must be something I can do!”

“The best thing you can do is to not make his sacrifice in vain! I’m sure we’ll meet with him again soon!” Ryu says. He feels Fei stop struggling.

“YAAA!” Fei yells as he kicks a tree, breaking it in two.

“Hmph! Fine, but if he dies, I swear that I will fight you to the death, even if it costs me my life!” Fei tells him as his fist starts shaking at his side.

“I’ll not refuse you…Let’s hurry to the street fighter tournament. With that out of the way, then we’ll go back and look for Gen-sama. I’m sure he’s alive,” Ryu reassures him.

“For once, I agree with him. Sifu is important but he wouldn’t have wanted us to die in vain. Let us prove ourselves at the tournament to make him proud,” Chun-li suggests.

“I’ll call my jet to meet us here,” Ken tells them as he pulls out his cell phone. Ryu watches Fei and feels sympathetic for he acted the same as Fei when his sensei died.

Japan

“So, care to explain things now? How did you know where I live?” Dan asks.

“Well, first, let me introduce myself. I am Rose. I have clairvoyant abilities and can decipher the future to an extent. I read your mind, that is how I knew to come here,” Rose tells him.

“How about…”

“Sakura and Blanka are on their way. I must be going soon, so just listen. There will be an upcoming battle involving many warriors. Two of the key people will be Ryu and ‘that man.’ He is the leader of the Shadaloo and he is actively searching for Ryu,” Rose explains.

“Bison…” Dan says.

“You know the man?” Rose asks, surprised.

“Yes, I devoted an early part of my life to defeating Sagat and I did some research. Bison is in charge of Shadaloo, which is involved in many illegal dealings with drugs, violence, human experimentation, anything,” Dan tells her.

“Yes, but he is more than that. Bison is just a body, but his ‘soul’ is another matter. It is a parasite that feeds off its host until the resources are exhausted. I believe that even with the psycho power, he is weakening and he has target Ryu for his new host body,” Rose tells him.

“We gotta warn him right away! Hm…I haven’t seen him for almost a year though…and he always wanders off……I know! He’s definitely going to be at the tournament!” Dan exclaims.

“Tournament?” Rose inquires.

“Yea, it’s a place where I’m going. All the strongest street fighters gather and fight each other. The top fighter gets to fight the head honcho Bison and if he wins, there’s prize money too,” Dan explains.

“So that’s his plan…” Rose, “Very well, I ask permission to travel with you if it is not too imposing.”

“Sure but the tournament starts in less than a week. What day is it…OH MY GOSH! I have to get plane tickets now! I’ll be right back, stay right there! I have to call the airlines and the others!” Dan says.

Thailand, three days later…

There is a great bustle of crowds and many fighters wait in line. It is quite a spectacle watching the different fighters from all around the world. A man with red hair and a headband, another with a blond Mohawk, a large Russian wrestler, a man with a blue mask and two sais, and many more.

“We’re finally here!” Sakura yells.

“Yea, let’s go and sign in. We need to be registered, coming Rose?” Dan asks.

“Hm…yes, I believe that is the fastest way to meet that man,” Rose says. They walk over to the counter to register.

“No way! YOU!” Sakura yells as her eyes bulge.

“What a coincidence meeting you here, Sakura,” a blonde haired Japanese girl says, walking up to Sakura.

“Karin! Why did you follow me here!” Sakura demands.

“Obviously, I was recognized for my superior strength. O ho ho ho ho (she’s not Santa Claus)!” she replies, arrogantly.

“Gr…when I meet you, this time, there will be no draw! Last time was luck!” Sakura shouts at her.

“Ha ha ha! We’ll see, we’ll see,” she says as she walks off.

“YEAH! WE’LL SEE!” She yells at her.

“Gahh! Why is she so annoying!?” Sakura says. Without thinking about it, she turns and swings a punch, accidentally hitting someone.

“OHHH! Gomen nasai!” Sakura says.

“Ha ha ha! It’s ok, I can take the hit, little girl,” the large man replied.

“After all, if one punch could hurt me, I could not become Japan’s strongest yokozuna!” he told her.

“Oh, arigato! You’re so nice! Good luck in the tournament!” Sakura tells him.

“Yes yes! You too! I am Edmond Honda, your name?” Honda asks.

“Ah! I’m Sakura! Nice to meet you!” she tells him.

”I have to go now, hope to meet you later,” he says as he walks off.

“Ok, we’ve signed in. Jimmy and I have one room, you and Rose have another. Let’s meet after my first match. Good luck ladies!” Dan replies as he walks towards his room with Blanka.

“Shall we go?” Rose asks.

“Hai! I can’t wait! This is so exciting!” Sakura says, as she tries to remember every detail of her fight tournament.

At the registration desk…

“Yes, let’s see…Mr. Masters, you, Ms. Li and Mr. Hoshi have already been through this before. Please take your rooms. Mr. Long, you and Mr. Masters have room 209 and Ms. Li and Mr. Hoshi have room 210,” the receptionist tells them.

“WHAAAAAAAT! Me! With him! Never!” Chun-li screams in outrage.

“Miss, I’m very sorry but there are no available spots left. And the nearest town is fifty miles away,” the receptionist informs her with growing worry and nervousness.

“Fine then! Here, carry my stuff,” she orders him.

“Uh, uh, Li-chun san! All this…!?” Ryu says as he looks at the six large suitcases filled with various objects. Ryu grabs his duffel bag and barely manages to carry all the necessary items.

Fei and Ken think the same thing while a drop of sweat drops from their brow. *Ryu is so dead*

Meanwhile, inside a luxurious room…

Chopin’s nocturne no.2 plays softly in the background as he observes a chess board.

“Hm…all the pieces are now in place…It’s time to start the game…” Bison says as he moves a single pawn on step forward.