Of Love, Honour and Revenge Ch. 22
By Matt Lawson

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back - whether in the evening, or at midnight, when the c--- crows, or at dawn.
-Mark 13:35

At the same time, in a dilapidated Lear jet, the greatest Street Fighter in the world sat with his head against the window, murmuring remarks in the gibberish of a deep sleep, until the bright light of the sun shone into his face and rouse him from his slumbers. For a brief second he couldn't recall where he was. An inner voice, thick with spite, snickered quietly in his head. Embrace the moment, it whispered. Hang on to the amnesia, because this tiny moment of zero recall is the best thing that's going to happen to you for some considerable time.

Naturally Ryu didn't care much for this inner voice, and was doing his best to ignore it. But nothing could stop the inner voice when it had bad news to impart, news as bad as this bad news. Whatever you do, it continued to bait him, don't access reality - you're not going to like it one bit.

He struggled into a sitting position and peered through the grime of the window. He was on some kind of plane that was preparing to land, swooping down over a series of trees clumped together into one big sea of jungle. He raised his handcuffed wrists and tried to massage a sensible expression on to his face with the balls of his palms.

Jungle?

Why would he be landing on a jungle? A jungle with no runway in sight from what he could see?

He pushed his face against the porthole and watched his reflection peer gormlessly back at him. He didn't recognize it at first. This hunched stranger with hooded brown eyes.

Was this him? This guy with a face that would make a sloth look overcome with joy? This guy in the plain fawn chinos and dark blue polo shirt?

Where was his usually kind demeanor? Where was his pleasant smile and determined face? Where was his white gi and red headband?

He was staring at a stiff in casual clothes and a handcuff on his arms.

He looked to the other side and jerked back at the sight of a beautiful Chinese lady, asleep with her head on his shoulder, a sad look on her face.

Also handcuffed.

Also a reluctant guest of Shadowloo.

Then Ryu remembered. He remembered everything. His face went whiter than a pair of brand-new trainers.

Told you, said the inner voice. Isn't this the worst situation you've ever been in in your entire life?

The inner voice was wrong, but not by much.

Ryu gazed out of the window and his facial muscles accessed the programme 'No One Home' as he began to catalogue the series of disasters that had led him to this point in time. He started to list the decisions, the choices, the fights, the great friendships and unfortunate enemies that had led him here, to a Shadowloo jet bound for God-knows-where. He'd never expected much from life. All he wanted to do was to travel around the world and fight, so that he could gain enough skill to defeat his most hated enemy, Akuma. Was that really too much to ask - to be able to fight to honour his Sensei's name? Well, something had gone wrong somewhere. If he had not killed Bison personally in order to help his friends in their time of need, things could have worked out so differently. He wouldn't have wound up here, in the hands of the very force that Bison led, sitting next to the woman he loved and miles away from a decent meal.

Then again, if he hadn't, the woman he loved probably wouldn't have been the woman he loved at all.

Somewhere along the line he made a major mistake - and if his victory over Bison wasn't it, what could it have been?

Ryu let out a sigh, like a newly opened bottle of coke, and wondered when it had started to go wrong as Chun Li stirred and woke up.

The Lear jet landed on the newly converted Shadowloo runway as it approached evening. Even at this time, the baking heat of the Brazilian jungle hit Ryu and Chun Li's faces like a backwash as they walked down the stairs, still handcuffed. Behind them, two armed guards pointed their FAMAS assault rifles at their backs to make sure they didn't try anything. Ryu stared at the base they landed in. It was huge!

Several MIG-27s and SU-27 Flankers littered the runway and hangers, all bearing the Shadowloo insignia. Several Hind D attack helicopters also lay on the heli-pads, refueled and rearmed. A scouting group of two MIGs took off from the runway, obviously on a scouting mission.

Chun Li was amazed. With all this activity, it was incredible that GPS satellites couldn't actually find this base.

Several Shadowloo soldiers ran up to the base of the steps in two lines, one on either side. As Ryu and Chun Li made their way towards the ground, they saw a huge black VTOL plane land vertically, a few feet in front of them. The door opened and a disembarkation ramp appeared from beneath it. Ryu's eyes widened in fear and disbelief when the image of a man he never expected to see again walked down the ramp, with a few others behind him.

Walking towards him was the very man he thought he destroyed a year ago.

M. Bison!

Even more shocking, however was the appearance of a man Ryu had not seen in years. A man wearing a pink gi, with a small ponytail at the back of his head, chained by a khaki hairband.

Dan?

Bison walked straight up to Ryu and examined him. This man, this warrior that killed him one year ago, only to be captured by the very same person who was killed and later resurrected at master Akuma's bidding.

After almost a month, he had done it. He had finally kidnapped him. But he wanted more than that. He wanted to kill him. But he couldn't. Akuma wouldn't let him, and even if he tried, he would have suffered under his power yet again.

Then there was the girl. Detective Chun Li. This girl had killed his best assassin. He wanted her killed as well, but yet again, Akuma wouldn't allow him. This time, he didn't know the reason why. Why wouldn't Akuma let him kill her for what she did?

He turned away and wondered whether he made the biggest mistake of his life in agreeing to Akuma's demands.

"Take them away……..wait."

He suddenly sensed something on Chun Li's person and walked up to her. He clasped hishand around her face and squeezed it.

"Check this lady."

The guard behind her felt his way around Chun Li's body, and stopped around her waist. His hand finally rested on her golden armband, a present from Uncle Gen. Chun Li gasped as he managed to find the locator inside the armband that she had managed to hide inside the band. She couldn't bear to hide it under Ryu's clothing so she put it on herself.

If he was captured, she would rather be there with him and not left behind.

The guard flung the armband onto the ground and stomped on it, breaking the locator.

"Very good, Detective. But it is to no avail. Our headquarters is actually quite far from here as you will soon see."

He let go of Chun Li and walked back towards Dan. "Take them to their quarters."

Back in America, Cammy and the intelligence officer watched for any further news of the locator.

"We lost the signal while you were in the briefing room. At least we got a vague idea of his location, but not enough to tell us precisely where." the intelligence officer said.

Cammy slammed her hand down on the desk. "D*mn it!"

Suddenly the loudspeakers blared at full volume. "Captain White, please report to the briefing room immediately."

Cammy walked out of the door towards where details of her next assignment would unfold.

Dan didn't expect this. To see his old 'friend' Ryu again, and as a prisoner of the very group he was working for.

He had been told that some very important prisoners were going to be arriving soon, and he was ordered to take them to their cell. If he had known one of the 'important prisoners' was Ryu, he would have been prepared for the surprise. Now, he didn't know what to do.

The journey from the airbase to Shadowloo's headquarters normally took about an hour's walking time. They arrived after an hour. Ryu's hangover from the sleeping drug he received back in Hong Kong was still taking effect, and he had to stop several times from the heat and the headache.

When they arrived, Ryu and Chun Li stood in awe at the wonder before them. The huge transformed Aztec temple stood before them like a skyscraper, towering over everyone. From what Chun Li could tell from her history books, it was a sacrificial temple.

How appropriate for a man like Bison, she thought.

They walked up the long flight of stairs and entered the temple itself. Ornate aztec markings surrounded the walls, mixed with Shadowloo's machinery and own writings.

After half an hours worth of walking, they arrived at the cells and were pushed in by Shadowloo guards. Dan walked in behind them and signaled them away.

"It's nice to see you again, Ryu. It's been a while."

"I didn't think your anger would drive you so far as to join a group as insane as Shadowloo." Ryu replied, a look of anger in his own face.

"You know this guy?" asked Chun Li, confused.

"We go way back, Ryu and I." Dan replied. "I was a member of Ryu's Sensei's dojo, once."

"That only lasted for a year, Dan. Your anger drove you out." Ryu said in disgust.

"It was going way too slow for my taste. I wanted to be able to fight and finish what I started. Why do you think I invented Saikyo?"

"And now your using your own art, this Saikyo, on the side of evil, huh?" Chun Li asked.

"You want to know why I joined? Look behind you, Ryu."

Ryu turned his head and saw a fist flying in his general direction towards his chin. He flew straight back into the door, Dan sidestepping casually to avoid Ryu's body crashing into him. Chun Li ran to his aide, Ryu rubbing his jaw. He looked up and saw what hit him so hard. Standing there, looking as angry as a starving Doberman, and just as ugly, was Sagat.

"THAT'S FOR MY SCAR!!" Sagat shouted as he slumped back onto his stone bed, his only piece of energy spent on the attack.

"I joined to get my revenge on that man right there. I'm enjoying every moment of it, and I have Bison to thank for the opportunity."

"Really?" Chun Li said with a state of disbelief on her face. "So by joining a monster, you become a monster to get revenge on another monster, huh?"

"I don't have to answer that, Detective. Besides, I've done a lot of nice things here. The young girl next door to you was hanging in the air by her hands. She was practically dying in there. I gave the order to take her down, take care of her, at least give her some semblance of living."

"Living in this sh**-hole? Why don't you just release her?"

"I can't. She was to be used as bait."

It was then that Chun Li realised who Dan was talking about. She decided to hold it until he left.

"Listen. I'm sorry things had to end up this way. But what I do is my own business. I came here to teach this b*st*rd a lesson. He killed my father! You don't know jack s--- about what it feels like!"

Suddenly, Ryu grabbed Dan's throat and pinned him against the wall.

"You selfish b*st*rd! Do you think you're the only one who lost a father? You know nothing!"

Chun Li was stunned. Ryu had never acted like this before.

"This young lady you're talking to, her father was murdered when she was twelve years old," Ryu continued, his anger barely concealed, "By the same man you're serving! And I suppose you haven't heard yet. My own father-figure, our Sensei, was killed eight years ago by someone else. Did you know about that? Or were you too caught up in your own selfishness and anger to even find out!"

A couple of guards stormed into the cell and slammed the butt of their FAMASs into Ryu's side. Ryu loosened his grip off Dan's neck and allowed him to break free, stopping the guards before they attacked again. Ryu clutched his painful side, Chun Li holding onto him.

Dan rubbed his throat. "I suppose I should say sorry, but I see you hate me so much, you probably wouldn't accept it."

He motioned someone to come in from outside the cell, and a man carrying a dinner jacket and an elegant dress walked in. He threw the clothes at Ryu and Chun Li.

"Lord Bison is inviting you for dinner. And I think it might be in your best interest if you accept his invitation. Otherwise he'll kill the girl next door. You've got three hours."

"We'll be there." Ryu muttered.

Dan walked out with the guards and locked the door behind him, leaving Ryu, Chun Li and Sagat locked by themselves, with a dinner jacket, a dress, and a lot of problems.

"So, Sagat." Ryu said, "Do you want to start, or shall I?"

"Don't bother. I'm too weak to fight. That arrogant brat Hibiki has been torturing me for days now."

"So, I take it you're not part of Shadowloo anymore." said Chun Li.

"No sh**, Sherlock. Great detective work there." Sagat replied cynically. Chun Li was somewhat annoyed, but kept calm.

"What the h*ll happened to you?" Ryu asked, leaning against the wall.

"I was released, but said 'no' when I was given the opportunity to come back to Shadowloo. They didn't accept my refusal too lightly."

There was silence. Then Ryu started talking to Chun Li.

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?"

"……Yes." Chun Li's face remained unemotional.

"Why didn't you tell me Bison was alive?"

"I couldn't. I was under express orders."

"You still could have told me. I would have….."

"What? You could have what. Gone to find him and get yourself killed? I couldn't live with that. I wanted to tell you, Ryu. But I would have put you in so much danger that I couldn't be by your side when it happened."

She lifted up her arm and laid a warm, gentle touch on Ryu's cheek. Sagat looked away, obviously wanting to leave the two love-birds alone. Ryu held her hand and pressed it against his cheek.

"I love you, Ryu. If Bison had killed you like he did my father, I would never continued on with the fight against Bison."

She rested her head on Ryu's chest. He began to stroke her hair as they cuddled each other.

"That's so sweet. I never thought you two would get on so well." A voice from nowhere suddenly said.

The couple broke up their embrace, surprised by the voice. "Who's there?" Ryu shouted out.

"Don't you at least recognise the voice, Shihan Ryu?"

He did. But he couldn't believe that she would be here. Here of all places.

"Sakura?"

"Hi, Ryu. It's nice to see you again, I just wish it wasn't in these circumstances."

"What are you doing here?"

Chun Li explained everything to Ryu about Bison's plans, about the capture of Sakura as bait, the VX gas, everything she knew at the briefing.

When she finished, she got up. "They've got you now. I don't know what's going to happen to you."

"Don't worry," Ryu spoke with determination, "I killed Bison before, I can do it again, taking this whole syndicate down."

"Yeah, except for one problem." Sagat suddenly spoke. "Bison's not the leader he once was. There's someone else controlling him."

"Who?" Ryu asked, puzzled.

"I've no idea. But this guy must be powerful if he can control the leader of the most powerful crime syndicate in the world."

Great, Chun Li thought, this whole d*mn case keeps getting better and better.

For two and a half hours they talked, trying to keep their spirits up. Unfortunately, there was no escape from the truth. They were prisoners of Shadowloo, and whatever fate that Bison and this mysterious leader had in store for them, they knew it was going to happen.

"Well," Chun Li spoke, "We'd better get these clothes on I guess."

Sagat looked away yet again as Ryu and Chun Li dressed into the clothes that Dan had supplied them.

He couldn't believe that instead of wanting to kill Ryu, the man that completely destroyed his pride and gave him his scar, he was just talking to him.

Must be an effect of prison life, he thought.