Police Fighter Prologue
By Night

Without further ado...

The young man sat at the table, sipping his tea slowly, without making a sound. After placing his small cup down he took his umpteenth look at his surroundings. The entire place was blanketed in cigarette smoke. It reeked of liquor. And criminals were at his every side. He even recognized most of their faces on posters at his station. But his assignment tonight wasn't to arrest any of them. It was to hit one who has yet to arrive: Akuma.

The stories of the man known as Akuma were famous among the criminal underworld. He was one of the main assassins for the Japanese Yakuza. He has ties to no one, and only reports to those who those who give the highest offer. The Yakuza knows this and is always ready to pay whatever sum it takes to make sure one of their enemies is dead. To Akuma, this satisfied both his finances and his hunger for killing. Despite the many warrants for his arrest, no law enforcer has ever been face to face with Akuma and lived to tell about it. Cops were what Akuma loved to kill the most.

The young man breathed inwardly, preparing himself for the inevitable chaos he knew was going to occur. He briefly adjusted the red bandanna he wore and held his other hand at his hip, feeling the hard steel of the semi-automatic Glock model 22 concealed underneath. < Easy, easy… > he told himself… < It only takes one shot to kill a man… >

***

Lieutenant Ryu was hard working officer. Growing up an orphan in the streets of Japan was rough, and because of the harsh environment he naturally developed the skills for survival. From shoplifting to grand theft auto, Ryu, in his young years, was a major delinquent. He hated it to no end… but he had no other choice. But one day… a lone police officer was in the middle of a drug case. Ryu had been picking the lock of a red Porsche Carrera and the officer caught him red-handed. The officer though saw the youth in the boy's eyes. It was shame how boys that young are already involved in such things. But looking into his eyes, he felt there was still hope for him. Knowing that he would probably have information about the drug activity going on, the officer offered that if Ryu told him anything useful, he would forget he saw Ryu trying to steal the sports car. It sounded good to Ryu, since Ryu didn't care about drug lords one way or another. The boy had heard about a major drug transaction going down, and easily told the officer the location of where it was, and even told him the Carrera belonged to one of the gang members! The officer thanked him and stormed off to the warehouse, calling for backup. The bust was successful, and the officer had Ryu to thank. He looked for the boy afterward and saw him standing exactly where he was earlier watching as the policemen hauled the handcuffed criminals into the squad cars. Surprised he didn't run away, he approached him. Taking off his police cap, the officer told him, "My name is Gouken, what is yours?"

"They call me Ryu," he replied.

"Well Ryu, you just saved the day. How does it feel like to be a hero?"

"I don't know."

"Have you done any good deeds in your life, son?"

"Nope. In these s****y streets? Of course not. The only way for guys like me with no real family and no real home can only live a life of crime."

The officer brushed his hand through his dark beard. "Then why are you here talking with an enemy right now? Why didn't you leave? I told you I would let you go, but still you stay."

"Cops aren't my enemy. It's the other criminals out there that make my life a s***hole. I was laughing when I saw you guys dragging those druggies away. It's guys like that which try to control the streets and make us little ones suffer."

"Well, Ryu, judging from what you've done today and how you feel about crime, I'd say you have the spirit to be a great law enforcer."

The youngster's face crumpled into a confused look. "The f*** you talkin' about? Me, be a part of da fuzz?"

"Yes," Gouken gently replied, "I'm assuming you know how to fight, perhaps even know how to fire a gun, and know about major crime activity through the area. You could become a great help in cleaning up these dirty streets."

Nodding his head, Ryu responded, "Yeah… but I dunno man…"

"If you want to live tomorrow and every day after that like you've always lived it, you're free to do so. But I can offer you a ticket out of that life. I could train you. I could give you a real home. Give you chance to make a difference every day, like you did today."

Ryu's eyes looked up to the gentle eyes of the policeman standing in front of him. He could tell by that look that he was serious… "Man… you're f***in' wit me aren't you?"

"Nope. I s*** you not," Gouken answered, trying his best to relate to the boy.

The boy's eyes lit up. "Okay, cop."

Putting his hand on his shoulder, Gouken walked the boy towards his vehicle. "Looking in your eyes, I know you'll be a kick*ss cop," he continued saying, trying his best to match the youngter's language.

"I sure hope so. It'd be nice to know that I can finally have a light from all this darkness…"

***

Under the guidance of Gouken, Ryu had worked his way up quickly, easily becoming recognized and recruited into the Major Crimes Unit. He has arrested and killed countless criminals and had been in all too many engagements with live ammunition. And tonight was just another one of his daily walks in the park.