DISCLAIMER: I do not own any Street Fighter characters, and I make no money from this fan fiction.

The Foreigner

by

Rhonnel Ferry & Richard Ferry

Simphiwe Ceesay and Momodou Khonco of the Kama Liberation Army discuss how boring the day is, guarding the general's villa, when they notice the foreigner approaching them. The stranger is barefoot, and dressed in a white, shabby karate gi with the sleeves torn off. He also has a black martial arts belt around his waist, a long red headband on his forehead, and a simple duffel bag he carries over his shoulder.

"Get out of here!" Simphiwe shoos the man away, mistaking him for a beggar.

Then he notices the man's impressively athletic build, and thinks twice.

"Maybe he didn't understand you," Momodou suggests. "He looks Asian."

Simphiwe points his assault rifle at the foreigner.

"Walk back the way you came or I will shoot you!" he warns the stranger, but the man continues steadily advancing, conviction evident in his eyes. "You've been warned!"

The soldier squeezes the trigger. The gunshot interrupts the quietness of the desert. To Simphiwe's surprise, the stranger merely tilts his head to avoid the bullet.

"What the devil-?!" the rebel soldier exclaims, and switches the rifle's setting to full automatic.

With a yell, he lets out a burst of automatic fire at the trespasser. But the stranger merely glides forward like a phantasm, the bullets harmlessly passing right through him!

Now close enough, the foreigner grabs the assault rifle by the barrel, pulls it aside, and throws a fist into the flabbergasted soldier's midriff! Simphiwe buckles. His eyeballs roll upward, and he collapses to the dusty ground.

His friend gasps in fear. He swings his rifle at the attacker, but is not fast enough. The foreigner push kicks Momodou in the midsection! The soldier is catapulted right through the wooden gate, shattering the barrier into splinters!

#

General Mahama Kama, the feared desert conqueror, stares in utter disbelief, as he watches the trespasser singlehandedly dismantle his troops through the surveillance monitors in his villa's security room.

"I cannot explain it, General!" Nahla Awal, his head of security screams from her seat. "This man is like a ghost! Unarmed, he has neutralized several of our men, and has avoided every single bullet fired at him!"

"That is no ghost," the general responds gravely. "That is Ryu. I have seen him compete in an underground street fighting tournament one year ago, when I was a guest of the Yakuza oyabun in Kabukicho!"

"Why is he here?" Nahla asks. "Does this have something to do with the recent threats made by the UN?"

"Oh, please. Nobody takes the UN seriously anymore."

"So why then?"

"I honestly do not know."

"What do we do?"

"What do we do? Send in a tank."

"Against one man?!"

Mahama glares at the image of the invader on the screens, and dreadfully declares, "That is not a man. That is a demon."

#

Ryu leaps over a barrage of gunfire from a machine gun mounted on a military truck. As he descends, he slices the weapon in two with a knifehand strike, before knocking the gunner out with an elbow to the face!

The truck driver panics, and steps on the gas, but he doesn't get far. His entire vehicle is obliterated by his own allies with a high explosive shell!

Ryu's quick reflexes allow him to leap out of the way in time, but the shock wave is too strong, and his body is thrown against a cement wall!

"He's down!" the tank commander informs his crew. "Quick! Hit him again!"

"You mean he's not dead?!" the tank gunner incredulously asks.

"No! He's getting back up! Shoot him again!"

Ryu dizzily rises from the rubble. He sees the main gun of the tank slowly swinging in his direction for another shot.

He thrusts his palms forward, and shouts, "HADOUKEN!"

A surge of spirit energy flies towards the tank, easily destroying the heavily armored fighting vehicle and everyone within!

#

Nahla hastily removes her headset, drops it on her keyboard, and bolts up from her revolving chair.

"Where are you going?!" Mahama demands.

"I am going to escape, and so should you, General!" she fearfully answers.

"Escape?! From one man?! Our enemies will laugh at us!"

"They wont know! And even if they do, they wont believe it! I can hardly believe it!"

"No! I have worked years to take this region! I am so close to taking over the entire country! I will not start from scratch!"

The loyal security officer sadly looks at her superior, and says, "Go ahead then. Let this demon drag you to hell."

#

The remaining rebels flee. Ryu steadily walks up the porch of the stately home, and enters through the majestic front double doors. He finds the owner waiting for him at the grand foyer.

"I don't know who sent you and why you have attacked my compound unprovoked!" General Mahama Kama furiously yells at the foreigner. "But I know that you are about to suffer for it! I am not called The Feared Desert Conqueror for nothing!"

With one hand, the general rips off the top of his uniform, revealing a muscle-bound physique, and an unusual looking technological harness fastened to his body. He flips a switch on his belt buckle. The harness hums mechanically, and Mahama's body becomes enveloped in an eerie sparkling blue electrical glow.

Ryu doesn't appear at all intimidated, and he merely raises his fists defensively.

With a fierce growl, the general lunges forward. Ryu effortlessly sidesteps the right straight, and counterattacks with a left hook to Mahama's face! Blood and teeth spew out of the desert conqueror's mouth, as his head violently swings in a wide arc!

But to Ryu's surprise, his entire left arm is suddenly assailed by a powerful electrical shock! He grunts in pain, and hops backward.

"Shocking, isn't it?" Mahama gloats, blood trickling down his chin from the corner of his lips. "A gift from my supporters at the Yakuza. This techno-harness is able to increase a man's speed and strength, and transforms him into a human electrical weapon!"

The general does a roundhouse kick that Ryu barely manages to duck under. Mahama then follows the attack with a spinning heel kick! Ryu blocks the strike with his forearms, but it's like defending against a lightning bolt! Waves of electricity sting his body inside and out, and the foreigner is thrown back against a stone column that cracks on impact!

"I told you that you would suffer!" Mahama taunts his opponent. "You maybe a devil in the street fighting tournament, but in this country, I am a god!"

Ryu says nothing. He just forces himself back to his feet, and dusts some dirt off his gi.

Mahama frowns and says, "You don't talk much, do you?"

Ryu's only reply is, "HADOUKEN!"

"That wont work!"

An electrical forcefield forms around Mahama's body. It effectively protects him from the energy projectile, but it also causes the techno-harness to short circuit! Sparks fly from the straps and fittings. The humming sound fades, along with that eerie sparkling blue electrical glow.

"Hm?" the desert conqueror mumbles rather nervously.

He repeatedly flips the switch on his belt buckle on and off, but his techno-harness refuses to return to life. Cold sweat beads his brow.

"W-Wait. Give me a second-" the general stutters.

Ryu doesn't give him a second. He doesn't give him half a second. What he does give him is a strong uppercut to the chin! Mahama's body is like a rag doll as it is launched upward, and like a crash test dummy as it smashes back into the marble floor.

After a minute or two spent pitifully groaning in pain, Mahama Kama slowly forces himself onto his elbows. He spits out even more blood and teeth.

"What do you think you've accomplished?!" he venomously shrieks at the victor. "Every country must go through adversity before it can become great! So what if some people suffer! So what if I associate with criminals from other lands! It is a small price to pay for-!"

"I don't care. I'm just a street fighter."

"W-What...?"

"I heard that you would be a strong opponent," Ryu explains. "Apparently, I heard wrong. You are just a fraud that relies on tricks and gadgets."

Ryu turns his back on the confounded conqueror, and steadily walks out the door.

#

Outside, the villagers greet him with praise and gratitude. They invite him to a feast in his honor. But he ignores all of them. Ryu just retrieves his duffel bag, and quietly walks towards the sunset.

END