CAPCOM VS SNK 2 ADVENTURE

CAPCOM VS SNK 2 ADVENTURE

Before we begin, let's introduce our protagonists.

Guile‑With rippling muscles, spiked hair, and the army fatigues, he's gotta be the man. Guile is a natural born leader, and most of the group respects him. His Sonic Boom comes in handy many times.

Chun‑Li‑The warrior woman from China, Chun‑Li's feet move almost as fast as Guile's Sonic Boom. She can float for a period of time with her feet as propellers, or create a shield to guard herself and her teammates.

Blanka‑Part man, part monster, Blanka's the Brazilian Beast. He looks goofy, but his brute strength is not to be denied, and he can create an electric shield around him. Respect his personal space!

Benimaru‑With the power to control lightning, Benimaru may be the strongest of the group. With his fashion style and good looks, he's a ladies' man; but his cockiness and vanity will keep him from being a good leader. He's the only one who doesn't respect Guile completely.

Nakoruru‑The teenage ninja girl from the mountains, Nakoruru is cute, but dangerous. She only attacks when provoked, but she enters the Mark of the Millennium tournament to support her village. She is beginning to show emotions towards Haohmaru.

Haohmaru‑The deadly Japanese samurai claims to be the strongest warrior in the universe‑and with the power to raise tornadoes from the ground with his sword, he may have a solid claim. Like most samurai, the sword is his weapon of choice, but he has taken the art to a terrifying level.

Now the villains.

Bison‑The evil marshall has mastered the art of psycho power, and is a main enemy of Guile's. He has put Guile's girlfriend, Cammy, under his control.

Geese‑Little is known of Geese, the powerful warrior with a dumb name, but it appears he and Bison have some sort of rivalry.

Cammy‑Guile's girlfriend is good at heart, but has been put under Bison's power, which makes it hard for Guile to fight her. She's quick and agile, but can't shoot the Sonic Boom like Guile can.

Sagat‑A member of Bison's army, Sagat's huge size makes him hard to take down. He has mastered Tiger martial arts, and is extremely quick, which makes him hard to fight.

Vega‑Another fast fighter in Bison's gang, this crazy man from Spain usually wears a mask and a claw. He can get annoying in combat as he leaps around through the air.

Iori‑Iori's main goal in life is to take the life of another‑more specifically, Ryo. At some times, he is possessed by a demon, which makes him go insane.

Akuma‑A powerful warrior whose combat style resembles that of Ryu and Ken. Akuma is a much faster fighter than these two, and stronger, but is extremely weak on defense. He fights Rugal on the rooftop of a castle by the Mark of the Millenium tournament.

Rugal‑He looks spiffy, but Rugal is extremely lethal. He fights Akuma, and it appears the winner will be the strongest human being...

Part 1

The Gathering

Guile, Chun‑Li, and Blanka stood before the crowd in front of them. Everyone was hurrying about, trying to pick partners for the Mark of the Millenium tournament. Guile, though, prefered the tried and true watch‑and‑wait method. Let people frantically choose teammates so they can get to fighting. Guile would watch and pick out the strongest warriors as the others picked weak ones. He could wait to fight. Chun‑Li agreed with this slow‑but‑sure style.

Blanka, on the other hand, did not.

"Urh! Urh! URRRRRRH!" the green man‑beast cried. "Let's go already! It's been twenty minutes! ARRRRRH!"

"Be patient, Blanka," Chun‑Li replied calmly. Her Chinese family had taught her to be ladylike and be quiet and patient. Blanka had no parents. He raised himself.

"That's what you said ten minutes ago! I've BEEN patient! ARRAAH!"

"Come on, Blanka. You want to win, right?" Guile replied, not even looking at him.

"Yeah, you're acting like a little kid," Chun‑Li said.

Blanka stopped yelling and silently cursed Chun‑Li.

"Hey, look there." Chun‑Li pointed to a tall young man with flowing blonde hair. He was dressed in a short brown leather vest and kahkis. He was talking to a brown‑haired woman with a long red shirt and white pants. Guile could tell the man was trying to pick some chicks up. He wondered how he was doing‑up until the woman slapped him across the face and walked over frowning to her team of currently four.

"Ouch," Guile said.

"Yeah, I wonder what he said that made her so mad?" Chun‑Li commented.

"Wait, there he goes again," Guile pointed again to the man, who was now chatting with a black‑haired teenage girl with a red and white sweatsuit. A falcon, probably her pet, flew above her. She looked like some sort of ninja.

"Maybe we should warn him about that dagger in her pocket," Chun‑Li chidded. But instead of stabbing him, the ninja kicked him in the shin. The falcon swooped down and proceeded to peck at his head. The girl went over to a ninja with flowing white robes and wacky black hair and started talking. Probably about the man.

Blanka shouted, "URH! Pick him! Pick SOMEONE!"

"He's got a point. We do need three more people," Guile said.

"I'm a little worried," Chun‑Li said. "The way he struck out with those two..."

"Oh, don't worry, Chun," Guile assured her. "He won't go for you."

"What did you just say?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

"Hey, you!" Guile shouted. At least a dozen other fighters gave him a "You talkin' to me?" look.

"You!" he said, pointing directly at the blonde haired man.

The man stared at him. He pointed to himself. Guile nodded, and he started walking towards Guile. As he walked, he slicked up his blonde hair so it spiked up.

"What's the deal, soldier?" the man said, giving a fake salute.

"Quit it, private," Guile joked. Continuing with the army charade, "I want to know if you want to join the ranks of our regiment."

"Huh?"

Guile sighed. "Do you wanna join our group?"

"Sure," the man responded.

The young man identified himself as Benimaru. He said he could control lightning. Guile didn't believe him, until he put his fingers on his spiked hair and singed the ends of it.

"Hey, check it out," Benimaru said, pointing to the ninja girl he had struck out with earlier.

"Wasn't she the one that burned you?" Chun‑Li said sarcastically.

He looked at her, faking a smile. "Ha ha, very funny. I'll get her this time."

"Hold it," Guile said, blocking his way. "I'll ask her if she can join our team."

"Ugh, Ugh! Yes, ask her!" Blanka grunted. "Just hurry up!"

Guile walked over to the girl. Before he could even speak, though, a sword popped out of nowhere and was pinned between his eyes.

"Do not touch her!" It was the samurai he had seen earlier.

"Wait, Haohmaru," the girl said. "That's not him."

"But the hair‑"

"It isn't him," she insisted. "Now please take that sword away."

"Whatever you say, my dear." Haohmaru drew his sword back, then turned back to Guile.

"What brings you here? Dear Nakoruru is very disturbed. A horrbile man made her miserable, and that is why I‑" He stopped talking as he saw Benimaru approaching.

Guile tried to give him a "Get out of here!" look, but he was already saying to the girl,"Let's have some bonding time, baby."

Perfect line.

"That's him!" Nakoruru squealed. "That's the horrible man!"

In an instant, the sword was at Benimaru's eyes.

Instead of freaking out, Benimaru grinned and said, "Whoa, chill dude. I just wanted to‑"

The sword lunged at him. Benimaru ducked and saw the sword from below. He started frowning and grabbed the lethal blade.

"I just wanted to be friends," he said like a whiny child, and sent a charge of electricity through the sword. Haohmaru yelped and flung backwards, unconscious.

"Thank you, thank you," Benimaru said like he had already won the tournament. But Nakoruru was slightly less pleased. She drew her blade and charged at him. Quickly, Guile grabbed her from behind.

"Stop! We want to know if you and you friend want to join our group." He pointed to the lying Haohmaru.

Nakoruru looked nervous. "Will he be there?" She pointed at Benimaru.

"Him? Well, yes." He quickly added, "But he'll behave himself, right?"

Benimaru was already looking at himself in the mirror, stroking his hair. "What? Oh, yeah, right. Whatever."

Chun‑Li stepped in. "And if he doesn't, I'll handle it." She gave a knowing wink at Nakoruru.

The ninja girl giggled. "Okay, we agree."

Her falcon friend cawed. Blanka rejoiced

The six walked up to the registration table.

The receptionist looked at the crazy bunch. "Names please," she groaned.

As mentioned before, Guile liked to wait. Instead of plunging right into fighting, he wanted to get to know everyone's skills and see how they blended with each other's. He knew what Chun‑Li and Blanka could do, so he turned his attention to the three newcomers‑Benimaru, the cock y electric man, Nakoruru, the teenage ninja girl with a falcon, and Haohmaru, the sharp‑sensed deadly samurai.

"Okay, people, let's split into two teams of three," Guile shouted in the training booth. "Chun‑Li, Blanka, and I will be on one team. Benimaru, Nakoruru, and Haohmaru, you head to the other side. I'll start the program."

The seemingly blank white room turned into a blue realm with numerous squares on the walls. Guile and his team gathered together in one corner, while Haohmaru led his team to another. Benimaru was about to say something to Nakoruru as he approached her, but the samurai cleared his throat. Benimaru saw him, gave a quick smile, and turned away.

"Round One," a computerized voice boomed. "Choose your lead fighter."

"Blanka, get out there," Guile said to the beast.

"Ugh, Ugh, Ugh!" Blanka howled as he walked out.

Nakoruru smiled at Haohmaru and winked. Haohmaru grinned and nodded.

"Benimaru, would you like to start?" Nakoruru said in her sweetest voice, just barely containing her laughter.

Benimaru grinned. "Whatever you say, baby." He walked out. Once he was out of earshot, Nakoruru and Haohmaru started laughing hysterically.

"Round 1. Begin!"

"Ohh, ohh! So you are the thunder man!" Blanka shouted. "I possess electric strength myslef!" He created an electric shield to prove it.

"Impressive," Benimaru muttered, looking extremely unimpressed. Suddenly, he disappeared in a blue flash. As Blanka looked around for him, he reappeared behind him, grabbed him, and sent hundreds of volts through Blanka. Thanks to the element of surprise, Blanka was already knocked out.

"Round 1 goes to Blue Team," the computer chirped, as a bright blue light flashed in Benimaru's corner.

Benimaru smiled. Blanka collapsed. The rest had trouble believing what they had just seen.

After a few moments, Chun‑Li leapt out.

"Round Two. Ready, begin!"

"You've got skill, I can see," she said, "but it's time to show you who's boss."

"I thought he was the boss," Benimaru said, pointing to Guile.

Chun‑Li looked back at Guile, then realized the horrible mistake she had made. She whipped back around, but it was too late. A streaming bolt of electricity was the last thing she saw before she blacked out.

"Round Two to Blue Team!"

Haohmaru was stunned. All this time, he had trainedm, but Benimaru rolled past it. A bolt of electricity whizzed past Guile's head.

Next, Guile tried a Somersault Kick. But while he was soaring over Benimaru, Benimaru swiftly kicked him with a Lightning Kick that sent Guile flying. He was slow to get up, but managed to dodge the Lightning Fist that Benimaru just unleashed.

Quickly, Guile fired his strongest attack, the Sonic Hurricane. It managed to hit Benimaru, and he went halfway across the arena. But the lightning man wasn't done. He gave one last shot, blazing across the floor covered in an electric shield. Somehow, Guile leapt over him, and shot an airiel Sonic Boom at Benimaru. As the shield went out, the Sonic Boom reached Benimaru, and he collapsed, unconscious. Still, Guile had to admit he did a very good job.

With the score Blue Team 2, Red Team 1, Nakoruru jumped into the arena. Guile really had to be careful. He had to watch Nakoruru, but he also had to be wary of that falcon. As if on cue, Nakoruru ordered the falcon to swoop down at Guile, and it drilled him with its beak. Guile recovered, and jumped ahead towards Nakoruru. She took her dagger out and sliced him across the chest. Blood started to drip through his army outfit.

One thing he had an advantage in, though, was the fact that Nakoruru, while very agile, was still young. As such, she had less stamina and was prone to make mistakes. Guile leapt around, dodging the falcon and Nakoruru's blade, making sure that none of her jumping slashes made contact. Finally, an exhausted Nakoruru wobbled to and fro, and Guile connected a solid punch to the head for the knockout.

Haohmaru was the last one out. Guile was tired, but still ready. Suddenly, a giant red tornado sprouted from the ground. Haohmaru was shouting something as the tornado hit Guile. Another appeared, and Guile saw Haohmaru swipe his sword. This wasn't a freak accident. Haohmaru was doing it.

He jumped over the next one, but suddenly, the samurai's sword sliced him from beneath him. As Guile was about to faceplant to the ground, Haohmaru leapt up high and slammed his sword on top of him. Guile fell unconscious.

Part III

The Commencing

"Ow!" Guile was still rubbing his head from the "sparing match" with Benimaru, Nakoruru, and Haohmaru.

"Oh, be quiet!" Chun‑Li said. "It's bad enough you're not fighting, but do you have to complain, too?"

"You go, girl!" Benimaru cheered. Chun‑Li smirked.

Nakoruru laughed. The ninja girl had recovered well from the fight, and remembered fondly what happened when Guile said he wasn't fighting in round one. Blanka went on a rampage. Chun‑Li screamed about Guile losing his mind or something. Benimaru got so ticked that he caused a power surge and blew a fuse in the headquarters. Haohmaru started fuming and gripping his sword tightly. She had just hung out and watched the fireworks.

But the fact that Guile was out was no laughing matter. That meant the other five would have to step up. More specifically, three of the five. The rules said only three fighters could fight out of the six. Guile said that he wanted Benimaru, Haohmaru, and Chun‑Li to fight this round. She sighed. Oh well. She'd fight soon enough. When Benimaru began to joke about Haohmaru just wanting to protect Nakoruru, "his little dear", she reminded him of her falcon and her dagger. He smiled and walked away. Nakoruru felt a little better after that.

"Okay, leadoff fighters please enter the ring," the judge said. Benimaru was to start for Guile's team. He looked around the lush London scenery they were to fight in, then saw the brown‑haired girl from the start of the tournament.

"Hey baby, what's your sign?"

Guile closed his eyes for the inevitable slap. Instead he heard the girl respond, "Hey there, cutie. What took you so long? You've been runnin' through my mind all my life."

Chun‑Li looked stunned. "Benimaru? Having success with a girl? Is this true?"

Benimaru even looked surprised, so he let his hair flow down. Bonehead move one. The girl instantly recongnized his hairdo.

"So, how much?"

Bonehead move two, Nakoruru thought. Even if she didn't know him, that would tick her off. The girl walked up to him, slapped him, and muttered something about a double‑crosser. Before the fight, Benimaru blew her a kiss, which seemed to infuriate her even more.

"Match one will be between Benimaru and Athena. Begin!"

"Benimaru, eh? So there's a name to the nightmare? If this wasn't an official fight, I'd bite your head off."

Benimaru waved his finger. "Now now, that's not very ladylike." A zipping bolt of blue lightning went her way. But instead of running, she leaped ahead and put up a huge red sphere that blocked it.

"Try this!" she shouted. "Psycho Ball!"

The same red ball that blocked the thunderbolt shot at him. Benimaru yawned and put his fist out in a huge ball of electricity. "Lightning Fist!" he yelled, as the ball of blue blocked the fireball. He then melted into the ground and popped up behind her. Before Athena could even gasp, Benimaru grabbed her.

"You have an apology for me, baby?"

Athena bit him on the nose.

"Sorry. Try again next time! Eleccorridor!" Electricity streamed through Athena. She let out one last scream before she passed out. Benimaru threw her down and blew her another kiss

"Round One to Team Red!"

"All right, Benimaru!" Blanka yelled. Haohmaru raised his hand, a sign of congratulations. Chun‑Li jumped around in glee. Benimaru smiled.

"Thank you," he said, and shot out another bolt of electricity for show.

Nakoruru was not as happy. "Look out, Benimaru!" The next fighter was ready, and man, was he huge! He looked like a wrestler. He charged at Benimaru and leapt at him.

"Whoa!" was all the group heard from Benimaru before he was flattened by the man named Zangief. The wrestler leapt back, yelling, "You're a dead man!" with a deep Russian accent.

Benimaru slowly got up, electricity tingling around his body. He just barely got standing again before Zangief drop kicked him and sent him flying. He got up again, and before Zangief could grab him, he made a lightning shield and electrocuted him. Benimaru, exhausted, then picked him up and managed to toss him into the air before he flipped up and shocked him again with a Lightning Kick. Zangief fell down. Shortly after, Benimaru collapsed from exhaustion.

"Double KO!" the announcer yelled. "Bring the next two fighters out."

Chun‑Li and Haohmaru decided that Chun would be the best choice to finish the fight. A schoolgirl with a white blouse and blue miniskirt walked in. Chun‑Li noticed the headband in her hair.

"Chun‑Li versus Sakura. Round three! FIGHT!"

Chun‑Li saw that Sakura's fighting style closely represented that of her good friend, Ryu. Still, Chun‑Li was much more experienced and physically fit than Sakura. A series of strong kicks put her down, and a giant blue fireball put her out.

"Round three to Red Team. Victory goes to Red Team!"

Everyone cheered, especially Guile. Next match, he'd be back, and if his team kept on fighting like this, no one could stop them.

A wobbly Athena walked over to Benimaru after the match. He was just waking up.

"Hey, I'm sorry I treated you that way. I know that you're just a stupid guy, and you acted like anyone would to a girl, so I understand that. Are we cool?"

"Uh...yeah," Benimaru muttered. He'd barely heard a word of what she'd said, but he figured it was good.

Athena laughed. "Great. Maybe we can be friends?"

"Yeah." Benimaru was waking up. "So, how 'bout a 1‑1 dinner on Saturday?"

"Creep!" she shouted, and she kicked him in the chest. "You'll never find a girl!" She stormed off.

"She likes me," he laughed before he fell asleep.

Guile just observed, chuckling.

"Ah, young love..."

Part IV

The Return

"Battle Two. Round One between Guile and Terry. Fight!"

Man, did Guile feel good! It was amazing what one match off can do for you! After the one fight with Haohmaru, Guile felt so bad that he could barely stand. Now he was leaping around and firing Sonic Boom blasts like they were free. Terry, the street guy he was fighting, took a few hits, but still looked fresh.

Terry approached Guile and gave him a few jabs to the head. Guile blocked his kick, but took another hard left to the face. Guile responded with a kick to the chest to keep him honest. He used another Sonic Boom to reel him back, then followed with a Somersault Kick to finish him off.

The next combatant, Ryo, came out. He looked a lot like Ryu, Guile noticed, especially when he saw the fireball come at him. He blocked it with a Sonic Boom, but Ryo was already there, giving him a solid uppercut to the chin. Suddenly, a series of quick kicks and another hard left sent Guile's mind exploding into a color without a name. Something else pounded his body, he couldn't tell what, and knocked him out.

"YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAH!"

Whip, slash, swipe!

Ryo was down for the count.

That was too easy, Haohmaru thought. Just get the element of surprise on the enemy, and they were yours for the taking. When Guile was taken off the stage in the auditorium, Haohmaru leaped up and slashed Ryo, taking him out in one blow. He took a peak at the giant wooden puppet that looked like him in the background for a second, before the next fighter came out.

"Don't tell me," Haohmaru muttered to Blanka. "Another one of Ryu's buddies?"

"Well, uh, uh, uh, sort of."

"What's the difference?"

"I've never met her before," Chun‑Li said.

"Watch out!" Nakoruru yelled.

Yuri, another fighter who studied Ryu's martial arts, jumped in and flew at Haohmaru with the heel of her shoe. The samurai swore he felt some of his teeth fall out. A couple cyclone slashes did nothing to Yuri. She simply leapt over them with the greatest of ease. He tried a Crescent Moon Slash, but she dodged it in midair. A couple more swift knees to his stomach, and Haohmaru could barely breath. He was gasping for breath as he tried to draw his sword. He held his weight with the tip of his sword. He just managed to get a kick on Yuri before she smacked him with her head. The last thing he saw was a blue light appear on the opponent's side.

Normally, Haohmaru was the one protecting her, but now, Nakoruru was avenging him. She sent her falcon friend into the air and put her hand on her dagger. She was ready for anything this Yuri girl could throw at her.

At least she thought. Out of nowhere, Yuri started a powerful and fast Bicycle Kick towards her head. The numerous shots rattled her brain, and she staggered backwards. A heavy fist smashed against her chin, as the uppercut sent her flying across the arena. Before Yuri could get another shot on her, Nakoruru called her falcon down. The bird swooped down and grabbed her, then Nakoruru gave a swift kick to Yuri’s head. Next, Nakoruru called on her bird friend to attack Yuri. While Yuri did off the bird, Nakoruru blasted ahead, dagger drawn, and slashed the martial artist girl. She fell down in a faint.

Nakoruru felt very proud. The judge held her hand up as the winner. Her entire team was on their feet‑even Guile and Haohmaru. Well, not everyone. Nakoruru, didn’t see Benimaru anywhere. She turned and saw him chatting with Yuri.

The teenage ninja laughed and began to count down. “Three, two, one¼”

SLAP!

"Because we weren't hungry then. ARRRRO! This is good meat. Good meat! What is this wonderful food?" Blanka asked.

"Raw horse," Nakoruru chuckled. "They're best when fried, though."

"BEEEEERK! BLEAH! Horse! You pay for this, ninja woman!"

"She's joking, Blanka," Haohmaru muttered. "It was beef. Just normal beef."

"EEEEEARH! You tricked me! Those who trick and make fun of me will not survive!" Blanka shouted.

"HELLO?!?" Guile yelled.

"We're coming, we're coming!" Nakoruru yelled back.

"You're not going anywhere!" a familiar voice screeched.

"Huh?" Chun‑Li looked puzzled. "Who are you?"

"WHO ARE YOU?" the voice said in a high pitched voice. "You don't know by now?" A red rose landed by her feet.

"OHH! UGH! VEGA!" came the grunt from Blanka.

"Let's take a wild guess," Guile said. "Bison sent you because he's a wimp and doesn't want to face us himself. And you've been ordered to eliminate us, correct?"

"Oh, you're so smart, you are!" the Spaniard squealed. "Perhaps I can see how big that brain of yours is after I slice your head open!" He swooped down, his claw aimed right at Guile's head.

"Go!"

A fiery flash appeared out of nowhere and slammed into Vega. He flew into the airplane. The pilot ran away.

"Good job," Nakoruru was saying to her falcon, as she landed on her arm.

"I see you've made a few new friends," Vega grunted. "Let's see if they're as smart as you!" He now aimed at Nakoruru as he swooped in towards her. The bird again got in his way and knocked him into a wall, and cawed in glee.

"Blasted bird! I'll give it something to caw about! Come on and fight!"

Guile lept up ahead of the group. Blanka joined him.

"GHGHUGHGH!" Blanka yelled. "You haven't learned lesson yet? Bison haven't learned lesson yet?"

"Here's a lesson: Don't mess with the best!" He tossed another flower.

"Man, do you ever run out of those?" Guile yelled. "Do you have some unlimited supply of roses or something?"

"Boy, you're a pesky little genius, aren't you?"

Vega lunged with his claw at Guile. Blanka created an electric shield around the two, but Vega was very acrobatic, and backflipped away. He then rolled towards Blanka and stabbed him with his claw. Blanka rolled into a ball and slammed into Vega.

"You not only one with‑" He was cut off when Vega landed on his head and began to kick him. Guile couldn't reach Vega, but then‑

"ARGH! Stupid bird!" Nakoruru called on her falcon again. It began attacking Vega. "I'll make this chicken suffer!" Vega then slashed the bird. It collapsed. Nakoruru quickly picked it up, ran back to the plane, and began rubbing it.

"Poor girl. You'll be alright. That awful man won't hurt you again."

"And good riddance!" Vega had had enough of the falcon.

Guile fired two Sonic Booms. He had forgotten how agile Vega was. He was a tough target. Blanka shot out in a ball, but he just smashed into Vega's claw. Blanka was getting anxious. He charged up with electricity, then fired at Vega. He hit the wall instead. Vega was already pounding away at Guile.

"THAT'S IT!"

Guile performed a Somersault Kick to get Vega off. A few kicks to the head sent him reeling. Blanka shot at Vega in a curled ball. Guile then charged up, then...

"Ready...Set...SHOOT!"

Vega was spun around and around in the Sonic Hurricane, then flew towards Haohmaru. He was ready. A samurai is always ready.

"Flame of the Conqurer!"

A giant blue flash appeared, and took out Vega. He fell down.

"Maybe we should..." Chun‑Li began, but Guile didn't bother.

"He's probably just here to bug us. And even if he's got some plot behind this, so what? We've got a match to get to. I don't want to get into this. Now LET'S GO! I'll fly the plane."

Benimaru looked jealous as he walked on. He muttered to himslef.

"I could've done that."

Chapter V

The Arctic

“BRRRR! Cold! COLD!”

“You said it, green boy.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re wearing a sweatsuit.”

“I live in the snowy weather. I’m used to it.”

“We’re all cold.”

“Not me!”

“Again, you are wearing a sweatsuit.”

“I told you to pack winter clothes, but no!”

“I didn’t expect to have to be in the Arctic!”

“Can you people shut up? We have a fight, remember?”

“You’re the one who doesn’t have to fight, remember?”

“I have good reason to. I saved all your skins.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks. Like we couldn’t take him. Besides, that falcon did most of the work for you and green boy.”

“OOOOOOOH! COLD!”

So went the conversation as our protagonists entered Barentsbourg, the site of their next battle. When they reached the battlefield, they realized that Blanka, because he was so used to warm temperatures, had gotten sick. Added to the fact that Guile was still bleeding from the numerous stabs of Vega’s claw, and it looked like Benimaru, Haohmaru, and Nakoruru were going to take them to the next round.

“Round one. Benimaru versus Chang. Ready, fight!”

“You look like an ex‑con,” Benimaru commented before slicking up his hair.

“How’d you guess?” said the giant man. He had chains all over him, and he was carrying a wrecking ball.

“Yeah, how?” A little man wearing a hat, green t‑shirt, and suspenders appeared behind Chang.

“Who’s the little dude?” Benimaru asked.

“This is Choi. He’s my partner.”

“Partners in crime, we are! Yesssssssssss.”

“Weird.”

“Hey, isn’t it illegal to have two people in at once?” Chun‑Li yelled to the judge.

“Not if it isn’t illegal to have that bird with you. Yessssssssss.” Choi pointed to Nakoruru’s falcon. Nakoruru blushed.

“All right,” Chun‑Li sighed. She walked back.

Chang threw his metal ball at Benimaru. It smacked him in the face and knocked him down. He hopped right back up, but right before he could kick Chang, the little man ran up and slashed him with his claw.

“This isn’t working,” Benimaru thought.

“Hey, baby!” he called out to Nakoruru. “Can I borrow that bird?”

She looked embarrassed that he called her “baby” in front of all these people, and nervous that he had asked her for her bird. “I don’t know if she’ll listen to you¼”

“I’m desperate. Come on, help me out here!” He just barely got past another wrecking ball throw.

“Okay,” she mumbled nervously. “Go, girl.”

The bird flew over to Benimaru and landed on his arm. It just stood perched there for a minute. Chang and Choi looked on. Benimaru thought of something to say.

“Okay?”

The bird pecked him.

“Come on, girl. Do something!”

She pecked his head.

Chang and Choi just stood there, enjoying as the bird defeated their opponent.

“Please, do something! Up or whatever!”

To his shock, the bird flew off his arm.

“All right! Let’s try something different. How about attack?”

The bird continued flapping.

“Umm, swoop?”

The bird immediately flew down and took out Choi.

“Hey buddy, you okay?” Chang asked.

Choi was out. But that didn’t mean he had won a round.

“All right! Try this! Blast!”

The bird peeled back and blasted forward, knocking out Chang.

“Okay! I’m getting used to this!”

Suddenly, the bird flew back.

“Hey, girl, were you going?”

It perched back on Nakoruru’s arm.

“You got it for one round and one round only.”

“Oh, all right.”

Next came a woman in a green outfit named Vice. Before Benimaru could try any pickup lines, she whipped him with a giant green rope that popped out of her suit.

“She must know about him,” Chun‑Li commented.

She continued lashing out at Benimaru. He could not get anywhere near her. Then he remembered he did not need to. The next time she shot out, he grabbed it and sent thousands of volts through it. As with most of his victims, she passed out.

Bingo. One more match, and it was over. Who says they needed Guile? The next fighter appeared. He looked like a clown, but he said he was a pro wrestler named Raiden.

“Isn’t pro wrestling fake?” Benimaru asked. Raiden looked offended.

“Pro wrestling is NOT fake! I will prove it to you!”

He suddenly drop kicked Benimaru down to the ground. The ice he landed on cut his face. He hopped up and punched Raiden, followed by a swift knee and a kick to the head. He followed up this combo with a flipping Super Lightning Kick.

“Oh yes,” Benimaru chuckled. “I’ve been saving this for a while.”

He crouched down and gathered a ball of electricity in his hands. He mumbled some words to himself, then got in a stance similar to one a runner might do before a race. Then he shouted out, “Discharge Spark!”

He blasted out and held out his hands. A shimmering trail of blue electricity followed him as he shot towards Raiden. The big wrestler in a blue costume didn’t know what was going on. Before the giant man could react, Benimaru had streaked past him, yelling “Spark!” Waves of huge rippling lightning bolts suddenly struck behind Benimaru.

After a second, Benimaru got up. Raiden stood in the same pose as he had shown when he was hit by Benimaru. Suddenly, the wrestler fell to his knees, then collapsed.

Looking pleased with himself, Benimaru walked back to his team. The only person who knew what had just happened was Benimaru himself. Then, the judge ruled the round in favor of Guile’s team, and they would advance to the next round.

But before anyone could ask him what he had done, a tan man with an eye patch on swooped down.

“I have watched your bout, and have been looking for a worthy opponent,” he said.

“Sagat,” Guile muttered.

“So I challenge you, lightning man, to a battle. Let us begin now!”

Part VI

The Emperor

“Benimaru, you can’t fight him alone!” Chun‑Li yelled to him. Benimaru slicked up his hair and ignored her.

“Correct,” Haohmaru agreed. “You are weakened from the previous fight. He could kill you!” Benimaru walked towards Sagat instead.

“Go ahead and get yourself killed,” Nakoruru yelled. “We don’t need you!” But deep down inside, she wished she had enough moral strength to call him back.

“Hey.” He turned and faced his team. “I haven’t let you down yet. I can take this big bully down. Besides, I’m the best!” He whirled back around and muttered to himself, “Okay bubba, let’s get this over with.”

Once on the battlefield, though, Benimaru was back to normal.

“Hey big guy! Isn’t it just a bit cold to be wearing shorts?”

“The Emperor of Thailand shall punish you for your amazing ignorance,” Sagat said back. He smirked.

“Ooh, so the big old Emperor uses a whole bunch of big words ‘cause he’s better than us,” Benimaru laughed back. “Tell me, how many people in that Thailand place really respect you as their leader?”

Sagat was through with joking around. He was just plain out ticked off now.

“Tiger!”

A small blue ray floated towards Benimaru.

Benimaru calmly stepped aside and let the ray pass him.

“Oh, come on!”

“Tiger!”

This time, the ray came at Benimaru’s feet.

Benimaru stepped over the ray.

“You’re pathetic!”

“Tiger Chan!”

A much bigger purple ray fired at Benimaru.

He ducked and watched it float by.

“All talk and no fight!”

“Tiger Chan!”

Another purple shot went at Benimaru’s feet.

Benimaru jumped over it.

“Is that it?”

Now it was Benimaru’s turn.

He fired a blue thunderbolt at Sagat. It was very small. Sagat sidestepped away from it.

“Oh, Mr. Cock y thinks‑AHGH!”

A second blue thunderbeam, much bigger, drilled Sagat. A second later, Benimaru was behind him. He swiftly kneed Sagat, followed it up with a jumping kick, and finished with a Super Lightning Kick. While Sagat was on the ground, Benimaru stomped on him and kicked him across the arena.

Sagat flipped up. He jumped into the air and kneed Benimaru back. Next, he preformed a Tiger Uppercut and sent Benimaru flying. He then used many high kicks to send Benimaru back. But on the next high kick, Benimaru grabbed his leg and threw him away. While Sagat was still lying down, Benimaru grabbed his ankles and threw him across the ice.

Sagat got up again, blood trickling across his chest from the ice. A few more Tiger Shots missed, and a Tiger Cannon was blocked by a Super Lightning Fist. Soon, Sagat just started kicking Benimaru. It worked in one way, but backfired in another. Benimaru looked tired, and his overall stamina was down. However, the whole time, his storage of electrical energy was rising.

Finally, Sagat missed one kick. Little did he know that the one kick would be his downfall.

Benimaru uppercutted Sagat to flip him around. Then, with very little hesitation, he grabbed Sagat.

For the first time ever, Guile saw Sagat be under someone else’s mercy. Then, he remembered what Sagat did to those who grabbed him. Usually, he loosened out of the grip and literally killed the person. The people who usually grabbed him, though, were nervous because of his size. Not Benimaru.

“Let go, Benimaru! AAAROO!” Blanka screamed.

“NO!” Guile yelled.

But Benimaru had no sight of nervousness in his face. He looked completely concentrated, very focused. In fact, he almost looked amused. Then, he turned to Sagat with a stone face.

“So, you wanted to fight the lightning man,” Benimaru said to Sagat without emotion. “Now you will feel why I truly am who you think I am.” He squeezed Sagat.

“ELEK‑TRIGGER!”

The flash that blinded Guile, Chun‑Li, and everyone else who happened to be watching the match had a light blue tint to it, but it could have been red, for all they knew. They couldn’t see a thing. When everything turned back to normal, the group saw the damage. Sagat was gone. Benimaru was walking back towards them.

“Where...i‑I‑is ha‑ha‑he?” Guile stammered.

Benimaru shrugged his shoulders. “After the flash, I just tossed him behind me.”

The group looked at the giant crater where Benimaru and Sagat were. Then they looked just a few feet behind it. No sign of Sagat. Just four feet behind Benimaru was the edge of the icy ocean. Blanka winced. Guile shook his head. Nakoruru shuddered. Both Chun‑Li and Haohmaru stayed perfectly still. Suddenly, Guile freaked out.

“You idiot! You killed someone! Murdered someone! You know what they DO to murderers? You’ll get us kicked out of the tournament for sure! They give you the chair for that!”

“Shut up,” Benimaru calmly replied.

Guile looked stunned.

“First off, the tournament rules said they were not responsible for death, and neither were the fighters.”

“But he wasn’t part of the tournament!”

“Then it was manslaughter if anything. Self defense. Second, of all things, they would not give me the chair. I’d suck all the power, blackout the station.”

Guile wanted to bring up another point, but he figured Benimaru had another answer ready.

“Okay. We’d better get out of here, though. We have another fight soon.”

“What freaky place are we headed to now?” Chun‑Li asked.

“Looks like Shanghai,” Guile said. “We’re fighting a swami, a street kid, and some other guy. No description for him.”

“Wait, is the swami Dslahim?”

“Could be. We’ve gotta be ready for anyone.”

“Swami? Cool, I’ve always wanted to meet a swami!” Nakoruru shouted.

“Trust me,” Guile responded. “If the swami is Dslahim, you’ll never want to see another one again.”

“Round One between Guile and Dslahim! Begin!”

“Yoga!” Two long brown arms stretched out and socked Guile in the face. A second later, a kick drilled him in the chest. And Dslahim was still on the other side of the arena!

“This is‑OOF!‑getting out of‑OU!‑hand,” Guile muttered. Then he remembered. A fight he had long ago with Dslahim. His strategy was to hit his arms and legs when he attacked‑because they were still part of his body!

The next time Dslahim threw a punch, Guile countered with a Sonic Boom and stunned him. He hit the next kick with a reverse roundhouse kick. Finally, he wound up with a Total Wipeout Combo. He threw two punches, a kick, and a backfist to send him back.

But Dslahim started spouting fire. A blast of Yoga Fire burned Guile’s arm. When Guile shot a Sonic Boom, Dslahim fried it with a Yoga Flame. Guile preformed a Somersault Kick to try and get a hit, but Dslahim dodged it and used a Yoga Thrust and burned Guile’s whole body. He blacked out.

“Yay! I get to fight the swami!” Nakoruru cheered as she hopped out onto the turning table of the Shanghai Arena.

A few seconds later: “Ow! You’ll pay for this!”

Nakoruru sent her falcon after Dslahim. The burning bird swooped down towards the Yoga master and damaged him. Finally, Nakoruru whipped out her dagger and slid across the floor, slicing him. He collapsed in a dead faint.

A street teen and his friend hopped into the arena. The friend started talking trash to Nakoruru. The other kid in a white shirt and blue hat looked away for a second. Then he held out his hand and asked his friend to leave, which he did.

“Nakoruru against Yun. Ready, begin!”

Yun was fast. He had a fighting stance like Chun‑Li’s, and the speed to match. He kicked Nakoruru, then turned around and shot his fist upward. Following this combo, Yun jumped into the air and shot his feet forward, right into Nakoruru’s head. She reeled backwards, then stopped. She almost lost her balance. Looking down behind her, she saw a pit she couldn’t see the bottom of. And if she had moved one step backwards more, she would be tumbling down it right now.

“I’ll be back in one second,” Benimaru said. “I need to talk with the head judge downstairs.”

“Wait‑“ Guile began, but Benimaru was gone. That was odd, he thought. Chances were, if Nakoruru went down, he would be their next alternative to fight. Everyone under the sun knew that, above girls, fashion, and everything else, he loved to battle. So why would he leave now of all times?

He looked back. Nakoruru was still reeling from the edge. This was getting too close for comfort. She’ll get out of this, he thought.

“Swoop!” She called her falcon to attack Yun. But he threw an uppercut and hit the falcon back. The bird fell down the pit!

“NO!” she called to her companion. Nakoruru turned to try and catch the bird, but missed. She was turned around against her opponent on the edge of a pit. The worst possible fighting position. This had to stop.

“I’m going to call this off,” he said to Chun‑Li. She nodded in agreement.

“ARRRROOOH!”

“What, Blanka?”

“NOOOOOO!” Haohmaru yelled.

Guile looked, but all he saw was Yun. He heard a loud echoing scream. Blanka was howling. Haohmaru was leaning on his sword, head hanging. Chun‑Li was shaking. Then, it hit him.

“Nakoruru¼” he whispered.

“NAKORURUUUUUU!” Haohmaru yelled.

In a nervous voice, the judge spoke.

“Point to the Red Team. Score is 2‑1. Blue Team must send out their next fighter.”

Part VII

The Accusation

It finally hit Guile almost a minute after it happened that he needed to send another fighter in.

“Blue Team has a representative now,” the judge said.

“But I didn’t‑“ Guile started, but then saw Haohmaru busy wiping out Yun.

“Point to Blue Team!”

“Every second I waste here is a second I could have used helping my dear,” Haohmaru muttered to himself. Another fighter approached Haohmaru.

“Haohmaru vs. Kyo. Ready¼”

But Haohmaru was already fighting.

“Unkatawakataeasaflam!”

The patented Flame of the Conqueror slash struck Kyo. In an instant, Kyo and his stunned look was flung across the arena. He slammed into the wall and collapsed on his face.

“¼Begin?” the judge finished.

“Come on!” Haohmaru shouted. “We have to help Nakoruru!”

“Gee, it’s Mr. Point Out the Obvious,” Blanka muttered. But the group ran after the samurai.

“What’s the rush?”

Benimaru appeared with a soft pretzel in his hand.

“Where have you been?” Guile said. “You just took off during the match? Especially bad time. You knew Nakoruru was in trouble.”

“Yes, he did¼” Haohmaru muttered to himself.

“You would have been next up if she had fallen, you know that,” Chun‑Li agreed.

“Hmm¼yes¼”

“So what where you doing down here?” Guile demanded.

“Ohh, yes!” Blanka said. “What?”

“Well, I was going to‑“

“TRAITOR!”

“Huh?” Benimaru asked.

“You did it!” Haohmaru shouted.

“Did what? What’s going on here? Where’s Nakoruru?”

“Of all people you should know¼KILLER!”

“Killer? Man, what happened?”

“You widened the pit so she would fall! That’s why he left when she was about to fall!” he explained to the group. “He is a MURDERER!”

“Well, that would explain Sagat,” Guile said.

“WHAT?” Benimaru looked offended and outraged. “Why would I want to kill anyone?”

“You were jealous of Nakoruru and I!”

“Dude, if I was jealous, I would have killed you instead.”

“Ah HA! He plans to kill me next!” Haohmaru announced. “But I shall make short work of him. I shall kill him first!”

“The match is over, sir. I’m afraid you’ll have to‑WHOA!” the judge shouted when Haohmaru and Benimaru got in their fighting stances on the stage. When he tried to stop them, Haohmaru threw him into the stands.

“We shall finish this now! I shall avenge my dearest!”

Haohmaru drew his sword and positioned it in a comfortable position.

“If you say so¼” Benimaru slicked up his hair.

Haohmaru sent a tornado flying towards Benimaru. Somehow, it hit him, and he was sent flying upwards. On his way down, Benimaru shot his feet out at Haohmaru. The samurai reeled backwards.

Next, Benimaru reared his fist back and sent a Lightning Fist forward, shocking Haohmaru. The samurai responded by doing a leg sweep, flipping Benimaru over. As Benimaru rose, he used his second favorite attack, the Super Lightning Kick, and warded off Haohmaru.

The two duked it out for almost ten minutes. Benimaru looked exhausted. Haohmaru was huffing and puffing like it was going out of style.

“You will never get away with this,” Haohmaru muttered.

“Dude,” Benimaru explained, “I didn’t touch your girlfriend. You wouldn’t let me, remember?” Without waiting for a response, “With all this time we’ve wasted fighting, we could have been helping her. Come on.”

“I will not let you go unpunished!”

“Ugh¼”

Haohmaru used his Secret Crescent Moon Slash numerous times. Benimaru was covered in crimson from these slashes. Then, Haohmaru reared back for another Cyclone Slash. Benimaru jumped up to avoid it.

But it never came.

Instead, Haohmaru did a Super Crescent Moon Slash. The Cyclone Slash was a fake.

Benimaru could barely stand. Then, Haohmaru approached him.

“The evil ones shall always suffer.”

With that, Haohmaru prepared his signature move, the Flame of the Conqueror. Benimaru had one last trick up his sleeve, though.

Quickly, he gathered a ball of electricity. From his spot on the sidelines, Guile could swear he heard him utter the word “Discharge.”

Haohmaru pulled his sword back.

“Unkatawakat‑“

“SPARK!”

While Haohmaru was charging up his killer move, Benimaru had slide across the floor.

Millions of bolts of electricity tingled around Haohmaru. The samurai screamed in pain. When the blue electricity stopped, Haohmaru was still standing. Seconds later, though, he fell to his knees and fainted.

Panting, Benimaru ran off the stage, but Guile blocked his way. His arms crossed over each other.

“If I was like Haohmaru, I would kill you right now,” he said blankly. He then lowered his arms. “Just what were you doing downstairs during the fight?”

“Okay,” Benimaru huffed. “I saw Nakoruru on that edge. I ran downstairs to talk to the head judge, to see if something was wrong. She said that the gap was indeed big, so she would fix it. I thought I would have more time, so I got a soft pretzel. I started walking upstairs, but the match ended so fast, I didn’t know what was going on. I’m guessing she fell, right?”

Guile wanted to shout “Duh!,” but instead responded “You got a soft pretzel during a fight?”

Benimaru got red. “Hey, I’m a human. I get hungry sometimes too.”

“But in the middle of¼whatever. We’ve got to get Haohmaru walking again, then go find Nakoruru and see if she’s okay.”

“It’s going to be harder than that.”

An unknown voice spoke.

“Chances were, if the gap was larger, it was planned by someone.”

Kyo was up and walking again, and was hobbling towards the group.

“What do you want?” Chun‑Li asked.

“I’m simply offering some advice. And some assistance. My team won’t be leaving for a while, so I’d like to join with you guys for a while.”

“But it’s illegal to join a team in the middle of a tournament,” Benimaru said.

“I don’t want to join you for the tournament. I want to help you figure out what’s going on,” Kyo said. “Will you accept my help?”

Guile thought about it. With Haohmaru still weak, they could use another fighter. Kyo had been given more time to rest than the samurai had.

“Sure.” He shook hands with Kyo.

“It’s a pleasure.”

“But what can you do?”

“Ah yes, you didn’t see much in the fight. That samurai was really P.O.ed, wasn’t he?”

He started a small flame on his finger. Then, he made a bigger one on the palm of his hand. He sent it streaking quietly past Guile’s face.

“I get the feeling one of my greatest foes may be behind this, and yours, too.”

“Bison?”

“We’ll have time to figure that out. Let’s get a move on.”

Chun‑Li brought Haohmaru to. The group with a new member started towards the gap.

“We’ll have to head down one at a time,” Kyo said. “It’s big, but not big enough for all of us.”

Suddenly, Amahaha, Nakoruru’s falcon, flew up.

“Good girl!” Blanka said.

“Haohmaru, you slide down with your sword. Blanka, cannonball down. Benimaru should transport himself down. Kyo, grab onto the bird. Chun‑Li,” he concluded, “grab onto my back.”

Haohmaru jumped first, and jammed his sword onto the wall to slow down. Blanka curled into a ball and shot downwards. Benimaru disappeared, then reappeared at the bottom. Amahaha grabbed Kyo’s wrists and flew down. Halfway down, Guile unleashed a parachute to float Chun‑Li and himself down.

The new group set out to solve a deadly mystery. Who could know how deep the crime could be?

Part VIII

The Labyrinth

Everything appeared blurry at first. Then, things came more into focus. It was green, dark green, like a jungle. It was a jungle. A big one.

But what about the match?

What had happened?

Nakoruru had trouble standing up. She had trouble moving at all. Every waking movement she made sent a sharp stream of pain through her body. The last thing she remembered was watching Amahaha plummeting into the hole. Then, she felt herself being pushed into the blackness herself. She couldn’t see. Then, she awoke.

Finally, Nakoruru gained movement in her legs. She then wiggled her arms until the pain was minimal. Finally, she moved around until she could finally stand up. Even then, it exhausted her.

Where was Amahaha?

And where was she?

“Where is she?”

“Come on,” Chun‑Li hushed Benimaru. “We’ve barely looked for ten minutes.”

“It is odd, though,” Kyo, the new member, commented. “If she fell down the pit like she did, she should be right here.

“This is getting weird,” Guile agreed.

“Yes! ARGH!” Blanka yelled. “You think Bison is part of this?”

“No,” Guile said.

“Yes,” Chun‑Li said.

The two looked at each other.

“Why would Bison want to take Nakoruru?” Chun‑Li said. “Why not one of us?”

“The same reason he took Cammy,” Guile responded.

Suddenly, he had a flashback. Cammy and he had a great relationship. They loved each other dearly. But one dreaded day, Bison found of their love. He concocted a mind control device that put Cammy under his power. Of all the tricks he had used, this one was the most cruel and heartless. From that day forward, Guile could never trust Cammy. He did not know if she was under Bison’s control when they talked or not. It destroyed their relationship.

“Are you coming?” Kyo yelled.

“Let’s go, Sarge,” Benimaru shouted.

“Grrr,” Haohmaru grumbled. “I must save her.”

“Hey, wait a second,” Kyo said.

The group stopped. Benimaru looked at Kyo and practically read his mind. He looked in the sky.

“Where’s the bird?”

“Ah, my friend. Good to see you again,” Nakoruru cooed to her falcon friend. Amahaha could hear her call from miles away, even if others could not.

The two partners walked aimlessly about to find some way out. She called to Guile and Haohmaru, but there was no response.

“Amahaha, did you see them?” she asked to her bird.

Amahaha cawed and grabbed Nakoruru by the wrists. The duo flew high into the air. She had never taken them this high before. Nakoruru was terrified. Then, she felt wonderful.

“I must tell Ninururu about this soon,” she thought. “It’s wonderful.”

Finally, they landed. Amahaha cawed, insisting that this was the spot the group had been. But no one was there. Then Nakoruru turned around.

“Oh my¼”

A gargantuan vine wall stood in her way. She walked around it and found herself in a maze of walls with vines.

“Good evening, my friends!” an evil voice shouted over an intercom. “Welcome to Shanghai’s Labyrinth!”

Nakoruru spun around, trying to find someone. “Where are you? Who are you?”

“I am a man of many names, none of which I will inform you of,” came the response. “Your arrival here has been no accident. You have been brought here under your own will for a reason.”

“That would be?”

“I believe you as an extremely powerful warrior. I must know, though, if you can combine this with quick wits and strategy.”

“What?”

“You will find your way through the maze here. Along the way, you will find some challengers who would like to battle. Defeat them and progress through the maze.”

“How will I find the exit?”

“Well, like all labyrinths, there will be a monster at the end. An all powerful being to battle before you exit. Once you win, IF you win, you’ll be free. If not¼”

“If not, what?”

“Well, let’s just say these battles will be to the death. Heh, heh, heh¼”

“Huh?”

“Begin! You have thirty minutes!”

A giant clock appeared above the maze. It read 30:00. It began counting down. Immediately, Nakoruru started thinking. What was the easiest way to find the way through in a half hour? The answer cawed in her ear.

“Go, girl!” she yelled to her bird. Amahaha flew up to survey the maze.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t going to happen.

“Somebody’s cheating!” the voice bellowed. A giant red and purple flash streaked across the sky. Seconds later, Amahaha plummeted through the trees. Nakoruru barely caught her.

“Good girl. I’m sorry. That won’t happen again.” She carefully placed the bird in her backpack. One minute wasted. Guess I’ll have to do this the hard way, she thought.

The ninja pulled out her dagger and began running through the maze. After running into a few dead ends, she finally found her first competitor.

Wait a second¼

“I am ready to strike!” It was Zangief!

“So you’re in this, too, huh?” Nakoruru commented.

“I’ve always been with Bison!” the Russian wrestler said. “You will be with him, too!”

“It is Bison, then! I knew it!” She cut him across the stomach with her blade. Strangely, he looked unharmed.

“A little toothpick like that is nothing for my muscular chest!” He grabbed the ninja. He jumped up, twirled around, and slammed her into the ground. Zangief then clasped her ankles and threw her into a wall. Before she got thrown again, Nakoruru flipped up and kicked him in the head. She then used a leg sweep to knock him off his feet. Not waiting for him to get up, she pinned him down and got her dagger ready.

“A little toothpick, huh?” She cut him numerous times before his eyes closed. “This toothpick is your death wish.” However, unlike Zangief would have, she did not kill him. Her goal was to kill only those who threatened her village. This was simply for sport and self‑defense.

Twenty minutes.

Almost immediately, Vega flew from a perch on a post, his claw aimed right at Nakoruru. She held her dagger firm and knocked him away.

"I'm so glad Bison did away with that bird so quickly," he chuckled. "Now we get a fair fight, just me and you."

Part IX

The Sacrifice

“Of all times, why did the bird leave now?”

Benimaru was very frustrated. The group had been looking for about a half‑hour now, twenty minutes since Mahaha had left. He was a great fighter, but not very patient. “And how is there forest beneath a fighting arena?”

“Be quiet!” snapped Guile, but Kyo cut in.

“He’s right, you know. I mean, what are the odds that this is natural? This was manmade.”

As much as he hated to admit it, Kyo had a point. Vegetation did not just grow out of anywhere, especially in a place mainly made of steel and wood. The whole thing had been planned by someone.

“Ergh! I here something!” growled Blanka. The group huddled around. They could here something. Two voices talking to each other, it seemed. One was low and evil, the other high and fresh.

“There’s no way they can get through this! We should be back in the maze killing!” This was the voice of the high pitched man.

The other one responded, “The way you act, I’m stunned he’s kept you on this long. Be thankful for your luck. We’ll just hang out here and kill anyone that comes our way.”

“No one is coming! Face it! All the action is in that maze!”

“Forget it. I here she’s already beaten Zangief. Knowing you, you wouldn’t last a minute against her. Let the big guys take the pounding. You’ve already lost against her, right?”

“It wasn’t her. It was that stupid bird!”

“BIRD!” Haohmaru yelled without thinking. He jumped through the bushes and started screaming. The rest of the group didn’t see what happened, but they heard a high‑pitched scream before they heard Haohmaru finally collapse to the ground.

“Should we go in?” Benimaru muttered sarcastically, and he busted through the already blazed path through the bushes. He saw one man standing, a man with red hair and a retro 50s‑60s outfit. Haohmaru lay upon the ground near Vega, the person whom the red‑haired one was speaking to. The group followed through to the same sight.

“So nice of you to join us,” chuckled the man. “Especially you, Kyo. I believe we have a score to settle?”

“Listen Iori,” yelled Kyo, “this isn’t about us anymore. This is something much bigger. Where is the ninja girl?”

“I’ll tell you, but I’ll have to kill you, too,” Iori responded. “Your ninja friend is in a labyrinth deep in this jungle. She will fight her way through numerous foes, leading up to a final fight with our boss, who will kill her. He will lead you to him, where he will kill you as well. Now that I have informed you of our scheme‑“

“Who is your boss?” Guile demanded.

“You are at no liberty to‑“

“LISTEN!” yelled Benimaru, and the rest of the group was even surprised at this newfound rage. “The man asked you who your boss was, and you’re gonna tell him now.” Electricity tingled around his body. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll kill you and everyone here. I’ll die if I have to, just tell us who it is. I’m sick of everything, and I have nothing to lose by death. The real question is, do you?”

Stunned, Iori did not tell. He remained silent. Benimaru muttered behind him. “Unless you want me to take you with me, get out of here now. Take Haohmaru with you.”

The group started to pick up Haohmaru. When Iori tried to stop them, Benimaru yelled “It’d be a real shame for you to die something other than a warrior’s death.” Iori let them take Haohmaru’s unconscious body out, as he muttered, “Revenge, revenge.”

What emitted in the jungle region after that was so dazzling and horrifying at the same time that it cannot be described by any word, phrase, or even picture or painting. It was like being born and dying at the same time, great and terrible at once. It lasted for almost a whole five minutes before it was safe to even open your eyes. After another five, it was safe to move. The group, led by Guile, walked back into the area. They had to run so far that it took them a good while to get back. It took them much less time, though, because half of the forest had been cleared out. Haohmaru had just awoken. The group found Benimaru and Iori lying on the ground. Chun‑Li rushed to Benimaru’s aide, but all he could utter was, “It’s Bison.” Then, mustering a smile, he repeated, “It’s Bison.” Then he collapsed, and he was out.

Whatever that was, it wasn’t human.

Nakoruru was running through the maze when an amazing light pierced her eyes. When she looked again, the entire labyrinth was decimated. The foes she was to fight were dead. One of them was Sagat. Well, if Benimaru hadn’t killed him, this certainly had.

She saw a glowing checkpoint, signaling the exit. She ran to it and saw her total time flash on a screen. Twenty‑two minutes and thirty nine seconds. Not bad.

But wait, didn’t that voice say something about a monster?

“Congratulations! Despite recent events, you did complete the maze in the allotted time. All your foes are dead. Good job!”

“So where’s this monster, Bison?”

“Ah, you’re a smart little girl, aren’t you? Yes, it’s me. Moreover, I take the form of another you know. The monster!”

He appeared out of nowhere and rocketed towards her in a glowing violet color, the last color Nakoruru saw.

“AAAAAAH!”

“NAKORURU!” Haohmaru yelled in response to the piercing scream. “That fowl beast!” He started to rush off, but Chun‑Li held him.

“Urg! No more rushing off!” growled Blanka. “Always get you in trouble!”

He pushed a little more, then gave up. “Very well,” he muttered reluctantly.

“Now, Benimaru managed to wipe out everything within a twenty mile radius of here. We should have no trouble finding Bison.”

“But what about Iori?” Kyo said.

“He’s dead, Kyo,” Chun‑Li responded. “What’s to wonder about?”

“Well, for one,” Kyo retorted, “he isn’t dead.”

The group all turned towards him.

“We haven’t killed him yet. I know he’s still around. Just like Guile knew that Bison was behind this whole thing. We have to really watch our backs.”

The group agreed, and continued walking. Blanka was carrying the unconscious Benimaru and muttering compliments to him. “You brave, thunder man, you brave.”

They reached a glowing sign, but when they crossed it, an ear‑shattering alarm sounded. Bison warped out of nowhere.

“Guile, I thought you would join us.”

Suddenly, Iori mysteriously appeared beside him. “Now that your impudent friend is out of the way, shall we get down to business, Kyo?”

“Argh¼” Guile groaned. Kyo took charge.

“You guys handle Bison.” He turned to Iori. “This is my fight.” He lit a flame on the palm of his hand. Iori did the same.

“You sure?” Guile asked. Kyo did not respond. Guile took that as a yes.

“I’d ask you for a special fight,” Bison directed towards Guile, “but since you have your pals here I guess you need to include them somehow. Very well. Drones! Come out now!”

Two familiar faces walked out. One was older, one was very young. Although everyone was surprised, the two most shocked people were Guile and Haohmaru.

Cammy and Nakoruru walked onto the battlefield.

Part X is missing, but I will have it to you soon.

Chapter XI

The Gang

The group decided to take Cammy with them to their next match in New York. She couldn’t fight with them, but she could reapply to the military there. Along the way, Cammy thanked them numerously for their efforts, especially Guile.

“I’m so sorry about all the pain I’ve caused you!” she sobbed into Guile’s chest the whole trip.

“Cammy¼.Cammy, it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t hurt me at all. Bison did. He tore you and I apart. You could never hurt me.” Then he grinned. “Well, off the battlefield I mean.”

Cammy stopped sniffling, looked up at Guile, and smiled. It was the first time she had smiled at Guile in years.

Meanwhile, Haohmaru and Nakoruru were making amends on the other side of the plane. Benimaru listened as well. Since Haohmaru had learned of the entire situation, he apologized to Benimaru and said that he had the upmost respect for him. Benimaru had responded by jokingly sending a small shock through Haohmaru. The two former foes were now friends.

“I am so sorry I lost you, Nakoruru,” Haohmaru sighed. “I didn’t know what had happened.”

Suprisingly, since the incident, Nakoruru had been extremely happy and energetic compared to before. Smiling, she laughed, “Oh, come on Haohmaru. Nobody could have predicted something like that to happen. Besides, fighting all those big sweaty guys was kind of fun!”

“Uh¼yes,” Haohmaru muttered.

Benimaru then popped his head between them.

“Hey how’s this for a deal? You take me, and you get all the bigness and strength of those other guys, less sweat, and much better looks!”

“Another strike out?” Chun‑Li asked.

“Man, nothing works for me!” he responded, rubbing his sore cheek. “The last girl I got was two years ago, and I only had her for a week.”

“To tell you the truth,” Chun responded, “you do have a huge ego. You need to be less braggy and focus more on the sensitive side of yourself. That’ll get them.”

“Sensitivity,” Benimaru muttered. “Hey, that just might work!” He ambled back over to the conversation and acted natural until Haohmaru walked ahead to get some more Cracker Jack. Then he popped his head within the seats again. “Hey baby, I thought I was the strongest warrior in the world ‘til I met you. Since then, I’ve always been under your mind control device.”

For the first time in a long while, the girl Benimaru tried to pick up didn’t slap him or insult him. Nakoruru smiled instead. “Benimaru, you’re really nice.”

“I am?” Benimaru looked very surprised.

“The thing is, it’s not that I don’t like you or think you’re not a great person,” she muttered, “it’s just that¼well¼”

She held out a small velvet case. Inside was a fabulous looking diamond engagement ring.

“Huh?” Benimaru stammered. Then he laughed, “Oh, you’ve already got somethin’ going with samurai dude, eh?”

“Actually, no. I don’t.”

“I’m not following yet.”

“It’s from a man back in my village in Japan, near Mount Fuji. His name is Vinnard. He’s the brother of my best friend Rinururu. We wed in five months.”

“Wait, how old are you again?” Benimaru asked, looking more concerned than turned down.

“I’m seventeen going eighteen in six months.”

“Ain’t you a bit young to go marrying already?”

“It’s customary for a young woman to marry before the age of eighteen in my village.”

“Okay, just wondering. So why’s the samurai so close to you?”

“I didn’t even know Haohmaru until earlier this year. He is a friend of Vinnard’s whom I met at a village revival. When Vinnard found out I was participating in this tournament for support my people, he learned that there were many evil doings going on in the same areas I was to be fighting. So he asked Haohmaru to come protect me.”

“But you’re the most deadly person I know! That falcon is about the most protection you’d need. And,” Benimaru lowered to a whisper, “between you and me, I’ll bet you could whoop Haohmaru any day.”

Nakoruru laughed in response. “Well, I wouldn’t say that. But Vinnard is cautious and wanted to be sure I was safe.”

“Not to diss Vinny or nothin’, but why didn’t he come himself?”

“Vinnard isn’t a good fighter. Besides, he’s the man of the house. The only one who can provide for his family is him.”

“Ah. I understand now.” Benimaru turned away.

Feeling guilty, Nakoruru called back, “Benimaru?” Surprised, Benimaru looked back. Looking left then right, Nakoruru kissed him lightly on the cheek. Even more shocked than before, Benimaru regained his cool and gave her a light kiss back on the cheek as well. They both smiled at each other for a minute before Haohmaru came back with the Cracker Jack.

“Well, how’d it go?” Chun‑Li asked when Benimaru returned. He just smiled and tapped his right cheek, then walked to the other side of the plane to watch Cammy pour her tears into Guile.

It was quiet when the group reached New York. Nighttime had taken over the metropolis and lights glowed along mostly empty streets. Eerie for a city that usually boasted the best nightlife.

Cautiously, the group made their way to the hotel when they heard a voice in the alley they walked by. “Hey you! Get in here!” Pointing to themselves, the group heard the voice respond, “No, the other bimbos who killed our pal, yes you!”

“Hey, the only person I killed was Sagat!” said Benimaru.

“Actually,” Nakoruru responded nervously, “there’s another story behind that Benimaru.”

“I didn’t call you guys to here you bicker about some guy you killed who we don’t care about! I’m talkin’ ‘bout Kyo! You totaled our homie.”

“Say what?” yelled Benimaru.

“You’re joking!” said Guile.

“Kyo got killed helping us!” responded Chun‑Li.

“He live in hearts FOREVER!” shouted Blanka.

“Listen, if he got killed helping you punks then you basically killed him.”

“Iori got him,” Haohmaru said.

“I’ll bet,” the voice responded. Then a group of people came out wearing street clothes. Some looked very familiar. Ryo, Yuri, Yun, and Terry were all from previous matches. Some others that didn’t look familiar were also there. A girl with a bright red outfit on, a teen with a snazzy jacket, and a man wearing a pink outfit similar to Ryo’s were present.

“We the Ultimate Street of New York,” Terry said. “The best there is. I’m the leader, Terry. You may know Yun, Ryo, and Yuri, but here’s some newbies here you don’t. In the pink here is Dan. The chick in red is Maki, and Mr. Snappy here is my bro, Rock.” After the others gave menacing glances at the team, Terry spoke again. “We’re not too pleased that Kyo got cleaned by a couple of stuck up jerks like you. We gonna give you a little preview for tomorrow’s match. That is, if you live to see it. We gonna kill you just like you kill our pal.”

“Oh yeah?” yelled Haohmaru as he drew his sword.

“Slow down, slash. You gotta know the fightin’ rules. Unlike other bad boy gangs here, we don’t get into no wild free for alls. We do it nice and easy. We send in each guy or gal one at a time to fight. Team with the last remaining fighter wins.”

“Hmm¼” Guile thought a second. Then he said. “Seven on six sounds a little unfair.”

Before Terry could smart mouth him back, Benimaru used some of his street smarts to get things started.

“Unfair in our favor,” he yelled. “Bring it on!”

Chapter XII

The Rumble

“Hey!” a voice yelled from behind. “You forgetting someone?” The group turned and remembered that Cammy was still with them. “Yeah, I wanna fight! Just because I can’t fight in the tournament doesn’t mean I can’t now.”

Guile thought for a moment, then nodded. “Okay, you wanna lead?”

Grinning devilishly, Cammy walked up to the gang’s battlefield. It was surrounded by junk so the cops wouldn’t see. Terry studied Cammy, as if sizing her abilities up. Then he motioned to Dan to open up the fight. Dan moved his arms a bit to get lose, then yelled over to Cammy, “Come on miss, I’ll grind you into the ground!” He smiled the same evil smile Cammy had a few minutes ago.

Cammy remained silent and got ready to fight.

“Okay! Round one, begin!” shouted Terry. Dan looked like he wanted a fast start, but before he could launch a Haduken, Cammy jumped forward and performed a perfect sliding tackle, taking him down. Infuriated, Dan fired another Haduken, but it missed again as Cammy spun around and used a backfist punch to knock him away. Dan was slower getting up this time, but wasn’t about to give up. Punches and kicks seemed like they connected, but they weren’t doing a thing. Finally, he launched his big attack, a Shinku Haduken. After the initial blast, Dan thought he finally had her, but Cammy wasn’t there. He turned and saw Cammy use a flip kick to knock him down for the count.

Stunned, Terry did not say anything for a while. Then, obviously very angry, he yelled, “Yuri! Front and center!”

Yuri jumped into the arena, obviously ready for a rematch with Guile’s lineup. Cammy obviously knew this wouldn’t be as easy as taking out the boastful Dan. She took a new strategy. Instead of making all attacks, Cammy held back, defensive. Yuri saw this and used a long‑range fire blast. Cammy ducked under this small ray, then rolled towards Yuri for a quick strike. But Yuri was ready for this one. She jumped upwards and shot another blast downwards. Cammy got drilled in the head with the fire shot and countered with a leg sweep that flipped Yuri over. As the teen got up, Cammy jumped towards her to get a good tackle, but yelped and fell back as Yuri put up a small shield. Finally, Yuri dashed forward, grabbed Cammy in mid‑air, and threw ten straight jabs to the head followed by a hard uppercut. Frazzled, Cammy staggered to her feet for a second, wanting to continue on, then collapsed.

Guile personally carried Cammy off the field as Terry yelled to his winning member. “Keep it up!” Yuri looked up at him and smiled, then returned to her battle pose.

After thinking a minute, Guile got a perfect idea. He analyzed Yuri and his own teammates and realized that he could use the personalities of his pals to defeat the competition. Getting an evil grin on his face, Guile called on¼

“Benimaru! Get out there!”

Confused for a moment, Benimaru returned the smile and walked out. Yuri looked terrified.

“Oh no,” she whispered to herself. “I know him from somewhere, but I never knew he was on this team.” She pulled out a picture from her pocket and gasped. “It’s the demon!” She screamed for about five minutes then passed out from lack of breath.

Everyone just stood there, more confused than ever. Guile looked at Benimaru and Benimaru back at Guile. They shrugged their shoulders. “Hey, it worked,” Guile said.

“I guess my reputation precedes me,” Benimaru grinned.

Growling, Terry ordered Maki out. When she nervously refused for “personal reasons”, Terry muttered, “Yun, go.”

"It’s been a while,” Yun said to the team as he rode out on his skateboard. He flipped the board up and threw it away. “Although I had no chance to fight you,” he directed to Benimaru. “Let’s hope you’re stronger than that girl I fought the other time.”

“For your information,” Benimaru responded angrily, “Nakoruru could kick your butt anyday. It just so happens that it’s my turn to kick it.” He slicked up his hair and got ready to fight. Yun adjusted his cap and got ready. Chun‑Li noticed his stance was similar to hers.

Yun was not too fast, but very strong. Benimaru tried his electric warp, where he melted underground and reappeared near his foe, but when he appeared, Yun stomped on the ground, knocking Benimaru crazy. Regaining his bearings, he jumped and used a twirling leg drill, which was countered by a swift uppercut. The two bounced across different sides of the field. Dragging his feet to stop, Benimaru ran forward and threw his foot up. But Yun parried the blow and threw him away. Frustrated, he used the electric warp again, which was again countered with the ground stomp. Benimaru was getting very angry, so he charged up his fist and launched his Heaven’s Call electric punch. It connected and sent Yun skittering across the ground. Nevertheless, it just was not enough. For some reason, Yun had Benimaru’s number this match. After a couple missed attacks and counters, Benimaru was exhausted. However, he had one last trick up his sleeve. He cut across the floor with his Discharge Spark. When he came out the other end, though, Yun was in the air. He had jumped over the attack and finished Benimaru with a swift kick.

The group couldn’t believe how quickly Benimaru had been finished. Guile asked Blanka to come out. Yun was pretty much done, but he got a few hits on Blanka before a cannonball attack knocked him out.

Feeling confident again, Maki was the next opponent. She was wearing two stick like weapons on her wrists. To open the match, Blanka used another cannonball attack, but was flung back when Maki flipped on her hand and twirled her leg around and around and kicked him away. Maki ran towards him, her fists balled for action. Blanka put up his shield to shock her away. So Maki changed up her strategy. She jumped on the piles of junk and bounced around before finally shooting her outstretched foot towards Blanka, kicking him away again. Try as he might, Blanka couldn’t get a hit on her. Finally, completely confused, Blanka was whirling his head around and around when Maki grabbed him. Showing incredible strength and agility, she picked him up and jumped from junk wall to junk wall, slamming him into each one. Finally, she flipped to the middle of the air and used a pile drive attack to knock out Blanka.

“This is getting out of hand,” Haohmaru said, and he volunteered himself to fight without asking permission to enter. Haohmaru fired a few twisters at Maki, but the agile woman simply jumped over them. An angry Haohmaru jumped high up, which is exactly what Maki wanted. She snatched him while swooping through the air and bounced around the arena. Finally, after this occurred for about a minute, she slammed him down to the ground. Haohmaru had only a little left, but he made it count in a big way. When Maki dashed towards him, she jumped high anticipating his move, but Haohmaru did not jump. Instead, he started charging his attack. He started pulling his sword back, which was starting to change blue. Maki slowly floated down to Haohmaru, but before she could avoid anything, Haohmaru yelled the dreaded words:

“Unkatawakataeasaflam!”

With the used energy to use the Flame of the Conqueror, Haohmaru collapsed, but soon afterwards, the injured Maki passed out as well.

Guile assessed the situation. Terry looked on as well. Guile still had Nakoruru and Chun‑Li on his side, as well as himself. Terry saw that he, Ryo, and his brother Rock remained.

“Nakoruru! Go now!” Guile yelled. Terry asked the same of Ryo.

This was scary. Nakoruru hadn’t fought for real since the Zangief battle. It felt weird brawling again. For a moment, she almost did nothing until Ryo attacked with a flying kick. Well, she was back.

Calling her hawk, Nakoruru started riding it again. From the air, she kicked and slashed Ryo and dodged his uppercuts and jumping attacks. Finally, knowing Mahaha was getting tired, she jumped off and careened down blade first into Ryo. With the slice, Ryo quickly favored his left arm and held it for every minute he wasn’t fighting. He could not use a Fire Blast since he used his left arm to do it. Uppercuts didn’t hit. He resorted to his feet. Nakoruru managed to stave these hits off and retaliate by sliding across the ground with her dagger.

However, Ryo came back. His left arm felt better after a while, but he favored it to trick Nakoruru. It worked. She still thought he couldn’t use it. When she started running towards him, leaning to the left, he quickly snatched her with his left arm. The startled ninja was forced to endure a whole minute of non‑stop beating from Ryo. She finally kicked him away, but not before the damage was done.

Although barely up, Nakoruru had an idea. She called upon nature. She called upon the wind and stars to assist her. She looked up to the pitch‑black sky and saw a hint of sunshine creeping in. Then a blue ray appeared, piercing the sky and surrounding her. She got in a praying stance, felt cool air rush through her, and was refreshed. The moment the light disappeared, she jumped high up and preformed a flying roundhouse kick to knock out Ryo. She couldn’t have felt better.

Nobody could believe this phenomenon. Terry, though, had had his share of surprises in this match and was not going to let another one stop him. “Rock, man, get ‘em!”

Rock fired two ground blasts to Nakoruru. She jumped and tried to attack, but Rock parried and used a counter move. When she got on Mahaha, Rock used a Rising Tackle and knocked her off the falcon’s talons. Frantic, she called on Mahaha to swoop, but the bird was too exhausted to help any longer. She was all alone now. The two engaged in fist‑to‑fist action for a while. After a minute or two of this, Rock changed the tempo, ducked, grabbed Nakoruru by the legs, and chucked her over his head. Feeling weak and knowing her Call of Nature move would not work a second time, she simply charged at Rock with her blade. When she got there, he had put up a violet shield that blasted her away. While down, Rock charged and kicked her away again for the knockout.

Chun‑Li was the next fighter. Her Spinning Bird Kick worked for a while, but Rock caught on and used a counter move. It seemed he could counter virtually any move a foe put on him. Therefore, Chun decided it would be best to attack from a distance. She shot fireballs at him for a while, each slowly but surely getting stronger. Rock realized her tactics and started rolling towards her, dodging the blue fireballs. Before she knew it, Chun‑Li was staring Rock in the face. She kicked him away quickly, then caught her breath. Rock was one of the most skilled warriors she had fought.

Chun‑Li let Rock come to her so she could put up her fireball shield. However, Rock saw it coming and used his Raising Storm shield to counter it. The two barriers held fast and pushed against each other. Nervous, Chun put an extra push on her blast. In the end, though, Rock’s attack was just stronger. The edge of his shield slowly pushed the fireball barrier back until finally, the Raising Storm destroyed it, sending Chun‑Li sprawling into a junk pile. That was the end of the fight.

A nervous Guile stepped onto the battlefield. It was hard enough to beat Rock, but he would have to handle Terry, the leader, afterwards. Guile had beaten Terry quickly before, but it was still a close match. If he wanted revenge, he’d probably gotten stronger, too.

Rock was already fatigued, but had a little fight in him. He countered two of Guile’s moves and drilled him with a double ground blast, but in the end, stamina won out. Guile’s Total Wipeout combo was enough to handle the pesky Rock.

Terry walked onto the junk pile. Some of the fighters who had been K.O.ed early on were waking up. Cammy and Benimaru were awake, and Haohmaru had begun to move. On the flip side, Dan and Yun had risen.

“You’ve got skills,” Terry said before their match. “Never before have I had to fight in one of our rumbles.”

“Your fighters are some of the strongest I’ve seen,” Guile responded. The two spoke as if they were friends.

“I’ll admit, you guys are pretty powerful, too. Even if you didn’t kill Kyo, I’m glad we got to fight.”

“Well, I guess that’s it.”

“Yeah. Well, I hope you’re as strong as your friends, because I’m giving it my all. Fatal Fury hasn’t let me down yet.” Terry adjusted his cap. “Here comes the power of the wolf!”

“I’m ready. Let’s get it on.”

Chapter XIII

The Anemia

Guile and Terry charged towards each other, each figuring out a strategy for the battle. Guile decided to change the pace, stopping and letting fly with a Sonic Boom. Bad move. Terry had skied high, gearing up for a huge downward hit. Guile managed to counter with a Somersault Kick. The two clashed in mid air and dropped at the same time. Before Guile could launch another attack, Terry was on him with a series of jabs and light kicks. Guile bobbed and weaved, trying to avoid as many hits as possible while still getting some damage on Terry. He ducked and used a couple sweeps. Terry got hit once, but jumped back and fired a Power Wave that sputtered across the ground, forcing Guile to jump. Another trap. Terry jumped forward and slammed him with the heel of his foot. Guile’s mouth bled like crazy as he was shot backwards. Even worse, he landed right on top of the Power Wave, which knocked him forward. Terry completed this nice string with a powerful Power Geyser. The large series of explosions knocked Guile every which way, but before he could safely hit the ground, Terry threw one last blast.

“Buster Wolf!”

This rocketing punch knocked Guile right into the simultaneous explosion, rocking the junkyard. Half of the piles of garbage had melted from the flames by the time the smoke had cleared.

Beaten, bruised, and wiped out, Guile struggled to his feet. Cammy led the cheers for Guile, as Benimaru, Haohmaru, and even Chun-Li now were just waking up and rooting for him.

“Come on Guile! It’s not over yet!”

Guile wobbled to and fro, leaving himself open to attack. Terry landed a series of hard punches without a single sign of an effort to block from Guile. The cheering turned into cries of mercy and “Are you okay?”

Terry gave a solid uppercut to Guile’s chin, sending him to the turf again. Guile was slower in getting up.

Terry grabbed Guile by his shirt and kneed him numerous times before throwing him against a pile. Woozy and near fainting, Guile wobbled up again. He managed a weak Sonic Boom, but Terry rolled past it, stopped right next to Guile and preformed a nice flip kick. Guile did two flips before he thudded against the ground.

“You’re good, but you’re no match for my best stuff,” Terry told Guile as he grumbled in pain on the ground. “You should quit now if you have to compete in that tournament.

But Guile didn’t listen. He was beyond hearing. He dragged himself upwards, put up his fists, and glared at Terry.

“You’ve got guts,” Terry murmured. Then, shaking his head, he threw another hard punch. Guile flopped to the ground.

He got up again. Terry pounded him down again. The sequence continued. Each time, Guile took even longer to get up.

“He’s good,” Benimaru said under his breath.

“This is awful,” Cammy sobbed. She clutched Benimaru, crying into his chest.

Terry seemed to notice them. After Guile lifted himself up yet again, Terry gave him another chance.

“Last warning, pal. Give up now, or don’t give up at all.”

Without the energy to speak, Guile simply shook his head as it sagged.

“Wait,” Benimaru said. “That match is soon.”

“Really?” asked Haohmaru.

“Yep. Look, it’s nearly daybreak.”

He was right. The sun had begun to rise.

“Guile, we have to fight in that match!”

Guile could not hear them. He was too tired.

Haohmaru sighed. “Fine, we’ll go instead. Cammy, can you stay here and watch him?”

Cammy nodded.

Benimaru, Haohmaru, and Nakoruru departed. Chun-Li and Blanka insisted on staying as well. The rumble continued.

Guile had enough strength to fire a Sonic Boom, but he would need a miracle to turn the tide of this fight. All he could hope for is for his second wind to kick in, but he figured it had been knocked out of him when Terry had landed a solid punch to his gut.

Then, he noticed something odd. Terry looked exhausted, too. It struck him that launching all those high-intensity attacks had worn him out. They were in the same boat. It was just that Terry’s exhaustion wasn’t showing as much.

The two jogged towards each other and began slugging it out again. A left just over the head, a nice hit to the chest, a quick kick. Even when both were groggy, the fighting was intense. Terry jumped ahead with a dashing uppercut, but Guile ducked just in time. This left Terry open to a strong hit, but Guile wasn’t fast enough to counter the move. The two began jabbing again. Finally, Guile landed a hard flipping kick, smashing Terry’s jaw. While hobbling in pain, Terry was left open to numerous attacks. Finally, the two were in the same boat-exhausted and battered.

Guile was on a roll. He threw two jabs and fired a roundhouse kick, too. The exhaustion was evident, but Guile wanted to ignore it as much as he could to get through the fight. He started in with the long range techniques, firing Sonic Boom after Sonic Boom. Terry was about to hit the ground, but Guile kept him up for a Total Wipeout combo and his ultimate finishing move.

“Ready, set, shoot!”

Sonic Hurricane. The beam attack knocked Terry back and forth. Once Guile let the beam go, the street fighter went flipping out of control into the ground. He didn’t get up. The battle was over.

The moment Guile knew Terry was K.O.ed, he hit the ground, too. Barely holding himself up, he huffed and puffed for breath. Cammy, Chun-Li, and Blanka scrambled over to help him out.

“You okay?” Blanka asked.

“Man, you wouldn’t give in,” Chun-Li commented.

Cammy was silent.

Some of the other team members came over to congratulate Guile on the long, tiring showdown. In all, the “rumble” had lasted eight hours.

Terry hobbled up.

“You done good, man. Great fight.” Terry smiled, then collapsed. Dan, Yun, and the now awake Ryo caught him.

“You too,” Guile gasped, battling to stay up, trying to make sure there was no double K.O.

“Hey!” yelled a familiar voice. It belonged to Benimaru.

“Done already?” asked Cammy. “What happened?”

“Don’t ask us, ask him,” Haohmaru muttered, pointing his sword at a grinning Benimaru.

“Let me guess,” Chun-Li said. “He took out the entire team before you got a chance to fight.

“You got it.” Nakoruru smiled.

Chapter XIV

The Confession

“Well, we have a while before the finals,” Guile told his teammates about an hour later. “What do you wanna do to kill time?”

“I’m sick of killing,” said Nakoruru. “Let’s just burn it.”

“Okay,” Guile responded. “How do you wanna burn it?”

“Let’s get a bit of TLC,” Benimaru suggested. “I’m beat.”

“You’re beat?” Guile exclaimed. “I’m the one-“

The sentence was interrupted with the squealing of car wheels. A nice blue SUV pulled up beside them. The sunroof opened, and a man in a cape jumped out of it.

“You again?” Chun-Li yelled to Bison.

“Obviously, your petty tournament is getting in the way of our match,” Bison muttered. “We finish this before you leave.”

“Then come on geezer,” Benimaru told him, hands sparkling blue. “I’ve got enough juice here to power Paris. Lighting you up shouldn’t be too hard.”

“You stay out of this, punk,” Bison told him. “This is between me and General Guile.”

“Why? Don’t wanna feel the burn?” Benimaru taunted, but Guile hushed him.

“He’s right, Benimaru. This is our fight.”

His hands still tingling, Benimaru grumbled and reluctantly retreated back with the team. Guile stepped in front of them.

“Nice car,” Guile fake complimented Bison. “Is the world’s wealthiest villain running a bit low on funds?”

“I wouldn’t talk if I were you, general,” the marshall said. “I know you are in a weakened state, and I don’t think it would be wise to challenge me so openly.”

“First, I’m not doing the challenging. Second, how do you know if I’m tired?”

“Don’t play games, general, I saw your street fight with that gang. Their leader gave you a good run for your money, eh?”

“He’s a better fighter, and a better man, than you’ll ever be, Bison.”

“Man, maybe. Fighter, never.” Bison threw off his cape. “Let’s not stall, general. Shall we get down to business?”

“My pleasure.”

Guile led off with a Sonic Boom, like he always did, but this time Bison casually knocked it away with his glove.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you about my new toys,” Bison smirked, holding up his gloves. “These things can repel any form of energy wave or beam. I think your Sonic Boom falls into that category.”

Guile growled and threw another Sonic Boom, but Bison flung that away, too. Furious now, Guile attacked using his Sonic Hurricane, throwing everything he had into it. Afterwards, though, Bison looked untouched. His gloves had taken the blow.

“My turn.” Bison slammed his fists together and launched a beam that encompassed the entire street. The only thing the team could make out was a black shadow being flung backwards.

As Guile slothfully rose, rubbing his head, Bison rose over him and grinned devilishly. “I also neglected to mention that any form of energy that hits these things powers them. Once they are fully energized...well, you can probably put two and two together, but just in case, it fires a beam powerful enough...to light a city, in fact.” He laughed at his own cruel irony and turned to Benimaru, still laughing. The teenager looked furious.

“And now, I have to finish something.” Bison kicked Guile in the gut. He rolled away, but Bison easily caught up with him and lifted him up. A wobbling Guile was sent quickly to the ground again with a solid uppercut to the jaw. There was no miracle in store for Guile this time. He was simply too tired.

“Heh heh heh,” Bison sneered. “Is this really the best you can do? I would have expected more out of you, but my pals over in the Ultimate Street must have done a better number on you than I originally thought.”

“Pals?” Blanka shouted.

“Oh yes. Once I let it slip that you had killed their pathetic pal Kyo, they would do anything I told them to, especially wear you down so I could go in for the kill.”

“What?!?” Benimaru nearly broke three windows with his yell.

“You filthy little...” Haohmaru started, but a familiar voice interrupted him.

“I’ll take that as enough of a confession,” Terry yelled from above. Everyone looked to see him and the Ultimate Street gang standing on a nearby rooftop. Terry jumped to the pavement, followed by the rest of the members. All of them looked fighting fresh.

“So, the truth comes out,” Terry muttered.

“You lying weasel,” Rock growled.

“Time to pay your dues,” Maki said.

Bison took a quick look around. The Fighting Street gang consisted of seven members. Guile’s team still had five members left, and Cammy was also there. Although Guile looked down for the count, he could easily be up in a minute. This made it a total of 14 to one. He looked left and right.

“That’s right geezer,” Benimaru said.

“None of your little friends are here to save you now,” Chun-Li growled.

“Watcha gunna do now, punk?” Yuri chortled.

“Huh?” yelled Haohmaru, drawing his sword.

Bison then made the worst mistake of his-or anyone else’s-lifetime.

“Bring it on,” he sneered, putting up his gloves.

The merger of Ultimate Street and Guile’s team could have easily killed Bison, but after a harsh beating, they left him with barely a strand of life. Guile was up by then, and he came over to thank Terry.

“You came through for us, pal,” Guile said, patting Terry’s back.

“Hey, the only reason we were foes at first was because of that loser,” Terry explained.

Meanwhile, other members of each congratulated each other.

“You were amazing!” Nakoruru exclaimed to Maki.

“Hey, all in a day’s work,” she responded, smiling and crossing her arms. “You weren’t too bad yourself, kiddo.”

“Aroo! AROO!” shouted Blanka.

“You said it, my friend,” Ryo grinned.

“You could be the best fighter in the world if you spent more time fighting and less taunting,” Cammy suggested to Dan.

“You really think it’s that bad?” he asked, in all seriousness.

Cammy nodded. “Mmm hmm.”

“That was incredible. Really,” Yun told Chun-Li. “Ever since you left China, I’ve wanted to fight like you.”

“I KNEW your stance looked like mine!” Chun-Li responded.

Yun smiled. “I know. I thought it might help my moves.”

“Where did you get that getup, man?” Rock asked.

“I was going to ask the same of you,” Haohmaru said. “Nice jacket.” He pointed his blade towards it.

“Hey, hey, hey! Watch the point!”

“You know,” Yuri said, “you’re not such a creep after all.”

“Thanks,” Benimaru said. “That’s nicer than anything anyone’s ever said to me.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

Yuri was silent for a minute. Then, “You wouldn’t have anything to do tonight, would you?”

“I was planning to sleep, but I guess that could wait.”

“There’s this really nice restaurant by 14^th and Chestnut. You wanna check it out?”

“How nice?”

“Very.”

“I don’t know. On my slim budget...”

Yuri laughed.

“If you can’t cover, I’ll help.”

“Okay! Let’s roll!”

Chapter XV

The Nightlife

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Chun-Li exclaimed.

“WHOO WHOO!” cried Blanka.

“Congats, Benimaru,” said Guile.

“Good luck,” Nakoruru told him.

Haohmaru remained silent, as usual.

Benimaru was loving every minute of the praise he got for his first date in nearly a year. The best part was that he didn’t need any pickup lines, flashy moves, or anything-he was just being himself.

“Guile,” he asked the leader, “about how much would you bring to Harry Yelows’ Place?”

“About $40 for a real nice dinner and dessert,” he responded.

Benimaru made a nervous face, looking behind him and crossing his arms. “Uh, Guile...?”

“Sure,” Guile said, shaking his head. Searching in his pockets, the soldier pulled out a twenty and handed it to Benimaru. “That’s coming out of the prize money you win.”

“Okay,” he sighed.

Benimaru dressed in his only dress outfit, a white collar shirt and tie along with a pair of khakis, and had let his hair fall down. Arriving at the restaurant about ten minutes early, he made sure his reservations were in check and waited for Yuri. She arrived about five minutes later, wearing a blue tank top and a tight pair of jeans. Her normally scraggly brown hair had been combed into a ponytail.

“Wow,” Benimaru said as Yuri walked up.

“What? What’s wrong?” Yuri asked frantically, thinking something about her appearance was not suitable for the occasion.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Benimaru said. “You just look...stunning.”

Yuri smiled. “You don’t look half bad yourself,” she told him, scanning his outfit.

The two laughed, then silenced instantly. Breaking the quiet, Benimaru stammered, pointing to the restaurant, “You wanna...you know...sit down?”

“Sure,” Yuri said back, apparently equally nervous about the upcoming night.

“What time is it?” asked Nakoruru in the apartment.

“About ten after eight,” Chun-Li said, looking at her watch.

“Wonder how they’re doing?” Haohmaru muttered.

“Okay, okay,” Blanka assured him.

“Wait,” Guile asked, looking at Nakoruru. She was smiling waggishly. “You’re up to something. What’s the deal?”

“Well,” the teen said innocently, “since Ben is out for the night having a good time, there’s no reason we can’t-“

“Oh, okay, fine,” Guile said, anticipating her question. “You can ring up the street group if you want.”

“Yay!” Nakoruru shouted happily, her ditzy side showing. She dashed to the phone. After a few moments, “Hey Ryo, it’s Nakoruru from Guile’s group. Yeah, can I talk to Terry? Thanks.” She waited a moment. “Terry? It’s Nakoruru from Guile’s team. I was wondering. Are you guys doing anything right now?”

“Mmm! MMM!” Benimaru mumbled through a full mouth. “This filet is fantastic! How’s yours, Yuri?”

“It’s good,” Yuri said a bit halfheartedly, pretending to stab her strip steak. Benimaru obviously wasn’t convinced.

“Come on, you’ve barely eaten anything. You want something else?”

“No, it’s okay.”

Still not convinced.

“C’mon, there’s gotta be something that’ll make you happy, make this a night that you’ll remember forever. How about a movie?”

Yuri’s face brightened.

“There we go,” he said. “Anything specific?”

“Well, how about Matrix Reloaded?”

“Sounds great!” Benimaru said, not willing to reveal he had seen it twice already. “Now, what do you want for dessert?”

About three hours later...

“That was awesome,” Benimaru told Yuri after the film, realizing that it got better every time.

“Yeah, intense!” Yuri exclaimed.

“So,” Benimaru said, trying to start up conversation, “where do you stay around here?”

“Our place is up by 21^st Street,” she responded.

“Need a lift?”

“That’d be nice. You got a ride?”

“You bet. Just give me a minute and I’ll pull her around.”

Benimaru ran around the back of the theater and used his cell phone to call...

“Guile?”

“Yeah, what’s up? Done already?”

“Not quite. Can I borrow your car?”

“Aw man, that’ll be a bit of a problem, but I might be able to pull it off.”

“Good. Be here in about a minute.”

“WHAT?”

“Please?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Thanks, man.”

In about two minutes, Guile came up with a nice Ford Mustang.

“Thanks again,” Benimaru told Guile.

“You owe me more cash, dude.”

“Fine. Be that way.” Benimaru got into the car and roared off before Guile could be seen by Yuri. Guile got the message and ran off.

“Nice wheels,” Yuri said. “They yours?”

“Of course,” Benimaru lied. “Hop in,” he said, waving her in. She threw the door open and jumped in. Benimaru zoomed off.

“You might wanna slow down a bit,” Yuri said, her hair flowing in the breeze. After a while, she turned her face so the wind wouldn’t sting her eyes. “It’s called a speed limit, and from what I’ve heard, you don’t exactly have enough cash to cough up for a ticket.”

“No problem, girl, I won’t get pulled-“. He saw a cop motorcycle tailing them. “-over.” He swerved to the side of the road and stopped. The cop screeched to a halt and hopped off the motorcycle. He took off his helmet.

“License,” he almost moaned. Benimaru turned pale. He searched through his wallet, pretending that he couldn’t find his license that didn’t actually exist.

“Just give me a sec,” he muttered. He was trying in vain to think of a plan that wouldn’t involve killing the cop. Then, he got an idea. Using one hand to search through his wallet, he pointed the other one towards the sky. In a second...

“Jeez! What was that?!?” the cop shouted, commenting on a massive bolt of lightning crackling across the sky. A second one struck a second later, drilling the cop’s motorcycle and sending it flying across the road. The cop swirled around to look, giving Benimaru a chance to floor it, making Yuri’s eyes pop in surprise. The cop didn’t even notice them leave.

After the shock had worn off, Yuri shook her head and turned to Benimaru. “What was that for?!?”

“I don’t exactly have a license,” he admitted.

“I kinda got that,” she said.

“Well, there wasn’t any other way, I had to get out of there!”

After a moment of awkward silence, Yuri closed her eyes and threw her head back into the seat. Then she whispered, “Smooth,” and grinned.

Benimaru smiled back.

After a while, they reached the gang’s hideout. Unusually, it was completely empty. “Wonder where they are?” Yuri wondered.

“Eh, who cares?” Benimaru asked rhetorically. “We’ve got the place to ourselves now.”

“Don’t try anything,” Yuri warned him. Then, silently, she added, “Yet.”

“What was that?” Benimaru asked, perking up.

“Oh, never mind.....I had a great time tonight, Benimaru.”

“Same here.” Then, “You look more fantastic every time I look at you.”

“Oh, come on,” Yuri waved him off, blushing. “It’s just a couple cheap things I threw together...”

“Seriously.” Benimaru insisted. “Well, see you later,” he told her. “I’ll visit after the title match.” He gave her a quick hug and spun around to leave.

“Wait.”

“Huh?”

Yuri had her hand held out to stop him. Benimaru slowly walked back towards her. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, you see, tonight was just perfect. And, well...” She paused. “I really like you, and...I don’t think I can wait for you to come back.”

“What are you saying?”

She said nothing more. She simply moved towards him, an odd tingle in her eyes.

“Yuri?”

That was the last thing he had a chance to say. The two locked arms and touched lips.

Benimaru pulled the car up to the hotel parking lot and checked back into the hotel, wondering how he would break the news to the gang. When he reached his room, the door was ajar. Creeking it open...

“What the hell happened here?!?”

Food scattered across the floor, bottles smashed, furniture drastically moved, the room was a wreck. Blanka was laying on the floor, obviously asleep. Chun-Li was trying to clean stuff up, moving around Nakoruru. Haohmaru wasn’t in the room. And he saw someone else he recognized...

“Rock? Okay, what’s the deal?”

“Nakoruru wanted to have a party,” Guile explained.

“And she thought it would be fun to invite New York’s Ultimate Street,” Chun-Li groaned, vacuuming the floor.

“I see...”

“So, how was the date?” Chun asked.

“It was great!” Benimaru said, hoping to get them in the appropriate mood. “I actually wanted to talk to you about it...”

“Less talk, more work. Help me clean this up.”

After a few minutes, Benimaru turned to Guile. “Guile, could I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure, Ben, what’s on your-“

“What’s going on out here?” Haohmaru yelled. “Rock, you haven’t left yet?”

“Not yet,” he responded. “I thought I might help out.”

“But you were just laying down five seconds ago-“

“Shut up!” he hissed to Guile.

“Ergh...” Blanka moaned, waking up. Nakoruru was also rubbing her head.

“That was wild,” she mumbled. “I never knew a party could wear you thin so quickly.”

“You’re tellin’ me to shut up?” Guile yelled to Rock. “This is my apartment!”

“Can’t we just all shut up and hit the sack?” Haohmaru shouted. “We’ve all gotta get to Osaka tomorrow.”

“I”M NOT GOING!”

The crowd turned to Benimaru, who had erupted in a loud shout.

“What?” Guile asked.

“I”M NOT GOING TO OSAKA!!!”

“What are you talking about?” Nakoruru said.

“I had a great time tonight, and I can’t come with you guys.”

Silence.

“I’m staying here in New York. With Yuri.”