Untitled Ch.4
By Shadow Dragon

The plane landed rather uneventfully. Dan stepped out, squinting under the hot sun. Charlie followed, and the rest of the group.

"Is it this hot all the time?" Charlie complained. Even inside the airport, the temperature was still a formidable 35 degrees Celsius.

"'Fraid so," Guile paused to remove a piece of paper from his pocket. "A limo's supposed to pick us up to the hotel." Even as he spoke, a uniformed man of about forty years stepped forwards. "The Street Fighters, I assume?" the man asked in a heavy British accent. "This way, please."
*****
"Man, this is sure one HECK of a hotel," Guy grinned as the reflective, polished glass doors slid open noiselessly, revealing the lobby. He turned to Fei Long. "You go check-in first; I'll get the luggage."

The chauffeur watched as the five warriors hoisted the luggage bags with ease over their shoulders and disappeared behind the glass doors. Getting back into the driver's seat of the limousine, he pulled out a small intercom from a hidden compartment.

"Lord Sagat? Yes, the one you call Dan is here, along with a few friends."

Fifteen kilometres away at the other end of the town, Sagat snickered softly. He turned to Bison, who was sitting behind him.

"I assume you know what you are supposed to do, Sagat?" Bison asked in a mocking tone.

"I am supposed to fight with those second-class fighters in your tourmanent?" It was a rhetorical question.

"That is so," Bison rubs his chin as he snickered. He could sense an overwhelming aura of pure energy in this town. His Psycho Drive was almost fully charged; and this final tournament will accomplish what he had started so long ago. He would be INVINCIBLE once he had gathered enough chi energy from the pathetic warriors in this tournament. All he had to do was wait..

Sagat bowed respectfully. "Yes, my Lord. But what I don't understand is what me fighting against the other warriors will accomplish for you."

Bison turned to Sagat. "You will do as I say, and no more. When you are done, you will have your revenge against Ryu. I wish to remind you the elimination contests will be held this evening at eight thirty sharp. You have your orders; do not fail me.. or else," Bison left the end of his threat dangling unfinished.
*****
The woman behind the counter smiled sweetly at the six fighters as she handed them three room keys and an enclosed envelope.

"What's this?" Chun Li frowned as she ripped open the envelope and scanned the contents, typed in fancy lettering. "The elimination contests.. held tonight at half past eight.."

"Whassat?" Dan peered over Chun Li's shoulder. "Err.. only 33 contestants are accepted in the tournament, who will be decided by the elimination contests.. interesting."
*****
Five hours later, 8:30 PM..

Guile milled idly in the crowd, along with tens of other fighters from various countries around the world. Some of them he recognized, some not. As well as the contestants to fight in the tournament, the stadium was also chock-full of spectatres who have come to watch the fray.

The microphone boomed, interrupting Guile's thoughts. Guile directed his gaze to the raised stage in the middle of ths stadium and scowled as he saw a figure with a red cap and black cape levitating a few paces above the stage. Bison raised his arms in welcome as the crowd roared their approval.

"And for the first fight of the evening.." Bison stepped off the stage to give way to a young man who held a sheaf of papers in his hand. "Will number five and sixty-three step in the middle of the ring?"

Guile started as he noticed that the glass sphere he was holding in his hand -- randomly assigned to him earlier that day -- had the numerals '63' engraved on it's surface in silver lettering. Getting up, Guile brushed his clothes as he pushed his way through the crowd and onto the stage, where his opponent was already waiting. Guile squinted under the glare of the spotlights as he sized up his opponent, probably of Asian origin who was wearing a white karate gi with armguards and a red bandanna around his head. The referee stepped forwards and briefed the two on the rules of the tournament, but Guile wasn't really listening. He was frowning, trying to recall where had he seen the ominously familiar figure before...

"ROUND ONE, FIGHT!"

Guile snapped back to attention just to see his opponent slipping away from his field of vision. Guile spun around, trying to lock on to his opponent, but all he saw was a flash of white as his opponent darted around.

"Dammit, he a fast one," Guile muttered. Just then, he felt a presence behind him and spun around in a backhand swipe, managing to connect with his opponent's jaw. But instantly his opponent swung a heel at Guile's neck. Guile gasped at the speed of the attack and ducked, but was still caught with a glancing blow thrown off-balance.

Guile got up and shook his head a few times to clear his vision and barely dodged a forward kick aimed at his waist. Guile twisted and waved around as he tried to evade the continous barrage of blows directed at his neck and torso, but he knew it would only be a matter of time before his defence was broken. He finally blocked an overhead smash the wrong way, and was rewarded by two blows delivered by his opponent's fist, knocking him back a few paces. Feeling somewhat confident, his opponent jumped at Guile. Bad mistake.

"FLASH KICK!" Guile focused his chi into his right foot before swinging it upwards at a 120-degree angle while doing a somersault. An arc of chi energy connected squarely with Guile's opponent in the gut and was knocked clean across the ring, slamming into the ropes. Guile circled his opponent warily, keeping an eye on his limbs. His caution was rewarded, for he managed to jump over a low foot swipe. Guile stuck a foot out on his way down, delivering a kick at his opponent's head. The white-dressed man growled in anger and smashed an open palm in Guile's ribs, which stung him for a few seconds. Smiling, the man cocked back his arms..

"HADOUKEN!" the man held his arms before him, a flash of translucent-blue light being thrown at Guile. Guile breathed sharply as he recognized the move, the famed Surge Fist. No mistake about it; he knew who this man was. Holding his arms before him, Guile absorbed as little damage from the fiery bolt of energy as he could, but was still pushed back from the sheer ferocity of the fireball, his arms smoking. The man was on him in an instant, again raining endlessly on his back. This time Guile was not so lucky -- a punch caught him in the chin, causing him to bite his tongue.

"Why you.." Guile snarled. "SONIC BOOM!!" Guile swung his arm forwards, lobbing a potential amount of chi energy at his opponent in the form of a scythe-shaped energy shockwave. His foe's eyes widened with surprise as he learned that Guile was also capable of channeling his chi energy, and was knocked back about a dizen paces. Seizing the advantage, Guile charged forward with a top kick aimed at his foe's forehead a split-second before realizing his mistake, for his foe rose into the air with the legendary Shouryuuken, the uppercut move that defeated Sagat. Guile felt as it a sack of bricks had been slammed forcefully at his stomach and fell back, gasping for breath, his eyes starting to water from the impact of the blow.

"You.." Guile panted. "You're Ryu, aren't you?"

The man arched an eyebrow. "Do I know you?"

"Maybe not, but it is so the other way round," Guile smiled. He stood up unsteadily, holding his arms in his fighting stance.

Ryu chuckled softly. "That is not surprising." He dropped into a crouch, arms and feet at ready. "You don't take this personally?"

"Hell, no," Guile said wryly. He knew he was in trouble. He was having difficulty seeing clearly, much less stand, while his opponent was still fresh. "Oh well," Guile charged forward with a second Sonic Boom. "I've got nothing to lose anyway."

Ryu dropped his arms regretfully. "Forgive me, but this is what I have to do," Ryu whispered softly as the familiar tingling sensation ran down his arms. His palms felt like as if they were on fire, so intense the chi energy he held and shaped into a ball. Delaying until the last second, Ryu stepped forward, thrusting his arms as a crackling, fiery wave of energy which overpowered Guile's Sonic Boom: "Shinkuu HADOUKEN!!"

Guile watched in dismay as a blast of energy as big as his torso connected with him squarely in the chest. Guile felt a strange feeling as hundreds of needles tickled his nerves before the pain registered, sending him into unconscious bliss...