by ShockWave
Tension filled the air.
"They outnumber us at least two to one..." Cammy whispered softly, her
eyes gleaming as she eyed the opposition front, the line of Bison's men forming
a barricaded semi-circle, spreading out to encircle the front of the cabin, as
well as the small group of fighters amassed before it. Cammy's eyes darted
around. Most were no-names, mere hopefuls seeking to prove themselves worthy of
Bison's trust and a position in Shadowloo. Unsettling, however, was the fact
that several other warriors were ones that had made themselves names for the top
wanted fugitives hunted internationally by security forces across the globe, as
well as having secured their personal fame in not only the Street Fighter
tournaments, but various underground fighting championships as well. Sagat,
supreme overlord of Muay Thai. Vega, elegant Spanish assasin. And Balrog, one of
Shadowloo's most unstable -- and dangerous -- hitman.
"Ryu?"
"Yes?"
"They outnumber us at least two to one..." Ken hissed under his
breath, repeating Cammy's statement as his eyes flitted from fighter to fighter,
doing a silent headcount. "And two of us are likely to be more of a burden
than anything else."
"We're holding position," came the curt reply. "Split in groups
of two, and take down the ones we don't know first. They're many, but only a few
of them pose a real challenge. Ken, you're with me. Remember, we're here to buy
time, not win the battle."
"Got it..." Cammy nodded as she adjusted her handguards, then turned
to face Natalie. "You. You're with me."
"Everyone ready?" Ken asked, giving his belt a final yank, closing the
knot. Low grunts of agreement echoed. "Good, then."
With a flash of violet light, a figure appeared in the centre of the
battlefield, floating effortless in mid-air with a cap concealing his features.
A hand was slowly raised, then thrust down towards the small band of heroes.
"Bison..." Ryu Dragon drew a sharp intake of the air as he caught his
first sight of the commander of the international terrorist legion.
"Surrender the Essences..." the voice that spoke the brief message was
surprisingly flat, yet filling the entire battlefield with its harsh, gutteral
tone. Ken stepped forward, looking upwards at the airborne being of evil.
"Fuck you."
"Take them down. Take them alive, and..."
A loud clap of thunder drained Bison's voice, cutting off his words as another
arc of lightning streaked across the sky. Bison looked up, frowning as he
noticed that the dark clouds that were rapidly moving to conceal the afternoon
sun. A cold breeze caught him, causing his cape to flutter dramatically in the
breeze as the surroundings transformed to a drab gray from the lack of light.
Fighters from both sides looked around in confusion, puzzled by this
inexplicable, drastic change to the weather. The wind intensified to a howl and,
suddenly, droplets of water pattered from the sky.
Bison's face was an interesting shade of purple. "Rain?... RAIN?!?"
"Hey, boss, its raining."
"Yeah, we're aren't paid to work in the rain, you know."
"Besides, its darned cold."
"And wet."
Rumblings of discontent rose from the fighters as one by one, they started to
make their way back towards the airship. Bison spluttered. "WHAT do you
THINK you're DOING???!?!?"
"Hey, chill, boss. Let's just go back and have some hot chocolate..."
Birdie looked up, holding his chains over him in a somewhat futile attempt to
ward off the rain. "And marshmallows."
"Oh, I can't believe this... my rotten luck..." Bison grumbled,
raising his cape to shield off the steadily-increasing torrents of rain.
"Hey, wait for me!... I'll have some coffee..."
Ken's jaw was slack as he watched the entire mini-battalion of foes vanish in a
matter of minutes into the airship, shortly before it took off into the air and
disappeared from sight. "What the..." he spluttered, searching his
vocabulary of words for a fitting adjective, "... HELL?"
"Okay... um... let's just go inside; the storm's brewing..." Chun-Li
replied hesitatingly as she turned, then pushed her way through the cabin's
door.
"That was quick," Guile commented off-handedly as he ran a towel
through his hair. Chun-Li gasped, looking around. The seven Incarnates, lounging
around the interior of the cabin, with Volpe and Dan dealing cards. Yun and Yang
were taking turns with the hairdryer.
"Somebody pass the sugar!!" Crimson yelled out from his comfortable
position by the fireside, which was promptly replied by Zero1 hurling a tiny,
rectangular packet across the room. Catching it squarely, the Bushin-ryuu
successor ripped it open, then poured its contents into his steaming cup of
coffee.
"Explain."
"Hey, it rained, okay?" Guile shrugged as he finished with the towel,
then extended an arm out towards Chun-Li, holding a small teacup. "Cappucino?"