SF: A Warrior's Path Ch. 10 - Purpose
By Gouki

Chun Li opened the match with a blindingly quick low sweep followed by a combination of hand techniques. Charlie blinked in sheer surprise of the attacks, just barely blocking the sweep and using his instincts to parry the strikes. He leapt back, distancing the gap between him and Chun Li, pausing to regain the needed air and strategize his intentions.

"Just as fast as Guy…" Charlie noted, falling into a defensive posture, a tactic that earned him his second victory. The Bushin Ninja had become confident of victory when Charlie did this. Perhaps too confident, as Charlie merely endured Guy’s attacks, and returned them with swift, powerful counter blows, ending the match with a Crossfire Blitz.

Chun Li dashed at the defending Charlie, lunging in with a side kick. Charlie raised an arm to deflect the attack, but the force of it caused him to take a step back in order to remain his balance. Hoping to break through Charlie’s guard now she’d closed the gap, the Wushu Mistress gathered her chi and blurred into her Hyaku Retsukyaku technique at her momentarily vulnerable opponent.

Charlie recuperated in time to see Chun Li’s attack and indistinct fists met her hazed kicks as he deflected and blocked the kicks in proficient succession. Each blocked attack was sending Charlie back a few feet and it wasn’t long before he found himself out of his adversary’s range. Li immediately drew her kicks to a halt, her body stopping to recover from the burst of energy. Charlie instantly saw an opening.

Rearing his right arm back, Charlie’s hand enclosed itself into a fist, a crackling glow of energy surrounding it. Driving his arm in an arc-like motion, the energy took shape as Charlie released his blast of chi forward.

"Sonic Boom!" he cried. The semi-circular blade crashed and dissipated into Chun Li, reeling her backwards, a portion of her physical energy lost. Quickly shaking off her slight dizziness, Chun Li looked across in time to see Charlie closing in.

Chun Li raised her arms just as Charlie threatened to bruise her face with a straight punch. Li skidded from the impact, and managed to absorb the damage used by Charlie’s uppercut. Charlie quickly threw a mighty backfist, towards her right, seeing the Wushu Mistress’s guard shift slightly to her left. Li crouched under the initial strike, feeling the rush of air graze her head, verifying her swift, yet propitious avoidance. Before the First Lt. Commander could withdraw his arm and complete his attack, waves of chi slowly surged into Chun Li's small frame.

"Hazan…" Charlie’s ears managed detect before Chun Li unleashed her harnessed energy at him.

"TENSHOKYAKU!!" Li completed as she vaulted her slender build upwards. Her body spun into a furious vortex, ramming her feet into her blonde adversary with seven powerful kicks in a rapid chain, the final blow sending Charlie smashing into one of the leaded trains below. His body gave a dull thud as it placed a new dent onto the few indentations that graced the vehicle, before it fell limply onto the hard road.

The mind of Charlie Nash slowly began to wander into the recesses of his unconsciousness, recollecting all his past battles, wins, losses, anything that had a link to his life until it stumbled into a warrior's greatest setback, fear.

Charlie found himself at the scene he would never forget. The Thai jungle, where the crash, the beginning of his saga began. Looking around, he realised he was standing in the middle of nowhere. Turning to his friend, he saw only the encircling trees and vines, and the moon-illuminated path. Why was he here? Where was Guile? These were some of the many questions that embraced his mind, questions he didn’t have an answer to. Charlie shivered at the cold air that coursed through his muscular body, before a sound caught his attention, the sound of footsteps.

Turning to its origin, Charlie gazed as he saw himself running towards him, followed by Guile. "What the…" Charlie muttered as he watched himself rush past him, before a gunshot screamed through the air. Charlie watched as he saw his friend fall, before he watched his illusionary double stop to pick him up.

"Just a wound, nothing serious Nash… It’ll be fine." And just as he remembered, he accepted his reassurance and they continued onto what Charlie now knew would be Guile’s inevitable demise. Try as he could, Charlie tried to return to reality, but the spirits of his unconsciousness wouldn’t concede.

Charlie continued to observe the scene, wanting to turn away yet, a hint of concern on how his friend was killed pushed at him to continue.

"Don’t worry ‘bout me, I can handle ‘em…" The revelation of Guile’s departure was soon to be shown. Fear, anger and anticipation all flooded through Charlie’s veins as he awaited the moment of truth.

He gazed towards where Guile now stood, at the soldiers that ended Guile’s life. That ended everything that was important to Charlie other than family, his position in the Air Force, and of course, his own life.

All because of Bison’s brain manipulation. Men who were used to serve Bison’s purposes, yet had no control of what they actually did. Charlie knew this because not only did their pupil-less eyes establish this, but he and Guile were to be Bison’s subjects for the "Biotechnology" program designed not to only enhance a warrior’s fighting skills, but to turn them into mindless killers, or "soldiers" as Bison called them.

Until they had escaped.

"Huh?! There’s only one" the leader of the squadron spoke "I guess you wanna be a hero, huh? Well that’ll be your biggest mistake…" a maniacal grin adorned his face as he said this. Guile’s sneer slowly grew, until his anger was close to clouding his actions. Rushing forward, Guile used the dark scenery around to his advantage as he placed a swift, powerful roundhouse aimed directly towards the leader’s head. A snap screamed through the air as the commander’s head snapped suddenly to the side, and his dead body slowly slumped to the floor. He didn’t even scream as an effect of Bison’s manipulation.

"Guess your biggest mistake was allowing me to attack." Guile answered. The remaining members stared at each other, trying to contemplate at what just occurred, before one Shadaloo soldier cocked his machine-gun and proceeded to fire. Guile leapt out of what would’ve been an army of bullets, if the same soldier’s body hadn’t suddenly jerked forward, and fell to the ground. The other two stared at their fellow teammate, which didn’t last long as they quickly embraced the same fate. Surfacing into Guile’s view was the Shadaloo Lord, Bison himself, defying the laws of gravity by using his Psycho Power to elevate himself above the deceased infantrymen.

"Bison…" Guile suddenly hissed through clenched teeth, his fighting spirit ready to erupt upon command.

"Such a waste of power…" Bison spoke unemotionally "So Colonel Guile, I see you and First Lt. Nash managed to escape. You have a choice: Join me or follow those disposable garbage below."

"f--- yourself, *sshole!!" Guile responded with almost no remorse in his voice. Quickly leaping up, Guile positioned his arms behind him, preparing to cry out his technique’s namesake. "Sooonnnniiiiiiicccc…" he began.

"Guile, no!" Charlie warned, then realised that he couldn’t hear him. Two blades of energy instantly formed around Guile’s flat palms. Charlie stared in amazement of his chi summoning, but couldn’t do anything to warn him, but only watch.

"A pity, you could have been useful to me…" Bison said with a tone of fake sadness. If Guile heard it, he didn’t seem to be bothered by it, as he whipped his arms across, and flung the energy blades forward.

"BOOM!!!" Guile ended, his voice creating an echo that flew to Charlie’s ears. The outburst of chi flashed through the air towards the levitating Bison. Inches from Bison’s body, he suddenly dissolved into the night, almost as if the fury of the Sonic Boom had vaporised him where he hovered. However, the trail of Bison chi lingered through the air, stating that he was still around. It seemed Guile was oblivious to this, as he searched around recklessly for his adversary.

Charlie managed to hear the sound of laughter as Bison re-emerged, this time behind Guile. A demonic smile brushed past his lips as his right hand began to radiate a violet-pink.

The colour of his Psycho Power.

"Guile, watch out!!" Charlie yelled, in the heat of the situation, forgetting that he was in his subconscious image of what occurred when he and Guile departed. Guile quickly turned around, like he heard Charlie’s caution, but unfortunately was too late to stop Bison’s intended attack.

"PSYCHO CRUSHER!!!"

And as Bison torpedoed towards Guile, who could do nothing but realise his arduous death, the scenery became darkness as Bison neared Guile, but not before a word, a single phrase managed to escape Charlie’s lips before it diffused into the frigid twilight.

"Bison… you will pay…"

Chun Li landed from her airborne assault, inhaling and exhaling deep breaths from her exertion of her fighting spirit. To her side lay her comatose opponent, a puddle of blood slowly trickling from a cut within his uncanny hairstyle, creating small rivers across his face. As Chun Li walked over to her opponent, to make sure he wasn’t fatally injured, she managed to make out a soft, inaudible word, or a phrase, depart from his bruised, split mouth.

"Bison… you will pay…"

The mention of Bison’s name caused her chi to suddenly flare off brightly, surprising her slightly. The man who had ruined her life had found another. He was probably seeking vengeance, like her. The feeling of vengeance triggered her distant, yet painful memories of on the life she had chosen to obtain her desire. Li quickly blinked, shaking her intended flashback from her angry mind, and awaited her opponent’s return to consciousness, hoping to continue on her offensive assault, and end the fight.

A quick rush of air flew from Charlie’s nostrils, as his eyes suddenly snapped open, and he leapt onto his feet. He placed his index and middle fingers to the incision, and after realising that it wasn’t serious, merely cleared the crimson that ran along his eyes and gazed over to Chun Li.

Not even waiting for an attack, Charlie lunged forward, surprising Li who hadn’t expected her adversary to be this strenuous, especially after the damage his body just encountered. It was that thought that lowered the Wushu Mistress’s guard slightly, giving birth to a solid straight punch, followed by an upward knee strike. Charlie continued his two successful attacks with an outside crescent kick, meeting the side of Chun Li’s head. Li fell and rolled with the impact, reducing the damage and crouched into a defensive stance, deep laboured breaths heaving through her slightly tired lungs.

"He seems more powerful, and energetic than before…" her mind wandered. "Whatever he experienced within his consciousness, must’ve inspired him in some way." Chun Li now needed a strategy.

This was going to be a long fight…