Untitled
By Ryu-san

“Man, did I ever tell you the time when…”

“You shoulda seen ‘em! They were…”

“Why, that’s nothin’, I remember when…”

The typical war stories and sexual escapades of the military men filled the bar as the colonel and lieutenant walked into the bar. All of the other men in the bar immediately stopped all chatter and rose from their seats to salute.

“At ease, soldiers, this is YOUR time. Just remember, you can drink as much as you want but if I catch you slacking tomorrow, I’ll personally break out a can of whoop a-- on you,” the colonel told the men.

Every man immediately stopped drinking but they resumed talking, a bit nervously, the colonel noticed.

“Ha ha, I just LOVE doing that!” the colonel said with a smirk on his face. “Now c’mon and follow me.”

The two sat at the end of the bar and began to talk.

“Hey! Barkeep! Get us some real hard stuff here!” the colonel yelled over the noise of the crowd.

He turned and faced his partner, a very stiff-necked lieutenant. His shoulders were obviously tight and nervous as he looked around the room apprehensively.

“Relax! You gotta learn to relax, Charlie!” the colonel said as he placed a hand on his shoulder. “If you don’t loosen up soon, you’re gonna get cramps. Now_loosen_up!”

Charlie took off his glasses and wiped the sweat off his brow.

“I don’t know, sir. I’m just not used to this…” Charlie replied as he put his glasses away in his left vest pocket.

“Two hard ones, comin’ at ya!” the bartender yelled as he slid the copper colored liquid at the two officers.

The colonel caught the drinks and he smoothly picked up his drink and downed it in one gulp.

“Aaaaahh…now you take a swig of this! Whoooooo yeaaaaa!!!” the colonel yelled as he shook his head. “Now THAT’S the s---!”

“Colonel, I don’t know if the officers should be drinking this…it’s setting a bad example for our subordinates…” Charlie said, eyeing his glass hesitantly.

The colonel slammed his hand on the table. Hard.

“Shut up and drink. That’s an order,” the colonel barked with a grin on his face.

“Yes sir!” Charlie said as he quickly drained his glass.

Charlie shook his head a bit. Was it just him or was the ground always shaking? He shook his head some more.

“Hey barkeep! Keep it coming!” Charlie yelled.

“Now that’s more like it!” the colonel said as his smile reached from ear to ear.

“Well, Guile…you mind if I call you Guile? Anyway, remember that one time when we were being tailed by those two shadaloo pilots? And then you led them away as I came from behind to blast them straight down to h---? Ahahahaha!!” Charlie laughed as he slapped his knee. “Where’s that d--- drink! Hurry it up!”

“Yea yea, I heard ya the first time, here ya go!” the bartender said as he slid the drinks toward the two again.

“So anyway, like I was saying,” Charlie continued as he grabbed the glass without even turning his head, “those Shadaloo guys sure are morons, eh? If they had half a brain, Bison woulda ruled the underworld by now. That’s the thing with bad guys, they talk too much. I bet if they…”

“Anou?” a voice asked from behind.

“What is it? Whaddya want?” Guile asked of the man.

The man who stood before them was obviously a Japanese man who practiced martial arts, based on his clothing. He had a companion next to him, a blonde American dressed stylishly in designer clothes.

“Ryu, let me take care of this,” the other man told him. “Hi, I’m Ken Masters and we just came here to have a good time but these men seem to be making too much noise. Could you ask them to quiet down?”

“No. Now get outta here,” Guile roughly told the two as he went back to talking with Charlie.

“Now wait a minute, these are your men, aren’t they? Why don’t you act like an officer and tell your guys to shut the ---- up?!” Ken demanded angrily.

“Look, kid, these are my men and while you’re out chasing women and pumping yourself full of drugs, we’re out there so you have the freedom to do that. I think we’re entitled to a little bit of relaxation. Now get the ---- out of my face before I have to lay a major smackdown on you,” Guile told him.

“Oh, that’s it. Step outside,” Ken challenged.

“Kids these days,” Charlie said to Guile with a scowl on his face. “Here, let me deal with this punk.”

Guile nodded as he finished his drink. Both men stepped off of their seats as they pushed the door open and stepped outside, with Ryu and Ken soon following suit. Guile and Ryu stood apart as Charlie and Ken faced each other. A few people threw cursory glances at the scene but few paid any attention.

“Here I come!” Ken yelled as he aimed a kick at Charlie. Charlie sidestepped out of the way and Ken rolled onto the ground, turning to face his opponent. Ken dashed forward and threw a punch but Charlie struck the punch and hit Ken squarely on the jaw. Ken reeled back and he began to see stars. He quickly shook his head and lunged towards Charlie, this time aiming a side snap kick. Charlie grabbed it in mid snap and pulled Ken towards him, striking him directly with his fist. Charlie then grabbed Ken by his neck but Ken grabbed Charlie’s outstretched arm and threw him against a lamppost. Charlie staggered and dropped down to his knees. Ken jumped into the air as he tried to finish him. Charlie quickly rolled out of the way, forcing Ken to redirect his kick to the flagpole. Meantime, Charlie grabbed Ken’s neck and kicked him in his Achilles tendon. Ken dropped to one knee and Charlie raised Ken up high, smashing him into the ground.

“Just stop, kid, this is pathetic,” Charlie taunted.

Ken closed his eyes and concentrated. With a sudden burst of energy, Ken swept Charlie and then smashed into his stomach with an elbow drop. He picked Charlie up by his vest and threw him against the lamppost again.

“Who’s pathetic now?” Ken taunted.

Charlie said nothing but he rose to one knee, gasping for air. Ken walked slowly toward his target but as he did so, Charlie threw a rock at Ken’s stomach while simultaneously throwing into Ken’s eyes.

“You dishonorable -------!” Ken yelled as he grabbed his eyes. The rock struck Ken squarely on the chest and Ken clutched at his chest with one hand while grabbing his eyes with the others.

“Honor? This is a street fight kid, you’re playing with the big boys and there’s no such thing as rules on the street,” Charlie said contemptuously as he picked up Ken by his neck.

“Sweet dreams,” Charlie said as he slammed Ken to the ground, instantly knocking him unconscious.

Ryu calmly watched the whole fight from the sidelines with his arm crossed.

“Hey, you just gonna watch your friend get beat up?” Guile asked him.

“I will seeing you soon and then we fighting…” Ryu replied fobbishly yet with a smoldering anger behind his words. “It improper to fighting when opponent is not being full strength.”

Ryu picked up Ken and walked away while Charlie and Guile walked back into the bar to get a drink.

“Man, the booze is starting to taste sour now…let’s just go home,” Charlie told Guile as he took a sip of his liquor.

“I agree…” Guile said soberly. The two left the bar just as miserably as their opponents…