Forty feet above the tan, sun-drenched shores of Myrtle Beach, a civilian chopper maintained a steady following over the two men below. It had taken off when they began their run, nearly thirty miles back.

As Ryu ran along the shorefront, he had to admit a comfortable familiarity being dressed in his old, slightly-tattered white gi, and the headband Ken had given him long ago. The air was warm, pleasant, and despite the slight trudging feeling each step gave him, the sand felt good beneath his feet. Learning to appreciate the journey as well as the fight itself was a hard-learned lesson, earned during that first encounter during the monster in his youth.

For just a second, his mind wandered to the day he lost control of his power and left a permanent scar on a man he would later call his friend.

Stop. It's in the past…

There was only what lay before him, ahead of him now. And what was ahead of him, by about four feet, was his closest friend, who was exhibiting an eagerness Ryu hadn't seen in years.

Ken was running with the exuberance of a man half his age and Ryu had to wonder if his friend would ever change. It was almost as if Ken was looking forward to the encounter…

The wind shifted. Ken stopped suddenly.

Ryu almost slid to a halt, taking a defensive back-stance with his hands raised protectively. This time, Ken didn't even turn around. Arms outstretched, he flew in a high backflip, swinging his right foot downward towards Ryu's head. Ryu dashed backwards to avoid the blow, and Ken kicked up sand in his wake. Ryu lunged forward with a long jab, attempting to catch Ken in the spine, but they knew each other's habits too well; Ken turned, parrying the hand away. He kept spinning, going for a high hook punch. His eye glimmered, he grinned, and Ryu was relieved to see that Ken was enjoying every moment of this.

Ryu blocked the hook, and Ken, true to form, followed up with a high roundhouse. Ryu crouched beneath the leg as it rose, extended his own, and swept Ken's standing leg cleanly out from under him. Ken showed no reaction as he hit the ground squarely on his back, braced himself on his hands, and sprung back to his feet. Ryu was coming in when Ken sprung backwards, keeping his leg straight, and Ryu nearly walked right into Ken's flip kick attack. Wonder if he picked that up from the American pilot…

Ken recovered quickly and Ryu pressed the advantage. He came at him with a sequential jab, reverse, wheelkick combination. Ken blocked all three moves, but the wheelkick knocked him off his feet and sent him rolling away from the ocean. As Ken rolled, Ryu took to the air, drawing energy from the water into his fist. Ken looked up just in time to see Ryu descending on him like a blue meteor, and tumbled backwards as Ryu exploded into the ground, fist striking and leaving a small crater.

When the sand cleared, Ryu looked up and barely caught the heel of Ken's right foot in his peripheral vision before it connected cleanly with his jaw. There was no recovering; the kick was followed through with a spinning roundhouse, and then another spinning wheelkick. He got faster…

Anticipating the next roundhouse kick, Ryu caught it on his shoulder. Ken was caught completely by surprise as he dropped suddenly to the ground, but swung his free left leg towards Ryu's face. The sudden motion surprised Ryu, who dropped Ken's leg, retreating. As Ken bound to his feet, he felt burning hands strike his chest and the wind forced from his body. As he fell, he registered Ryu, before him, in a familiar front stance, his arms outstretched.

Ken fell back onto his hands and despite the pain, bound himself back to his feet. He was charging in when he noticed Ryu in an unfamiliar stance; open hands instead of closed fists, his forearms shimmering with life energy.

Yeah, I can do that too…

It was heat that swelled through Ken's body, and he focused it into his right arm. By the time he was within striking distance he was dragging a trail of sand in his wake. He brought the fist up, aiming first for Ryu's chest, then his chin…

Ryu suddenly snatched the fist and before Ken could do anything, he found himself heaved over Ryu's shoulder. There was no rebounding this time, and Ken slid through the sand face-first. He rolled onto his back in time to see Ryu rushing him, and when Ken swung his leg again, Ryu caught it, raised his fist to strike.

Ken quickly put his fist into his hand at his chest and bowed, indicating his surrender. Looking to Ryu, he chuckled. Ryu smiled, lowering Ken's leg and offering him a hand. Ken took it and got to his feet. Ken looked to the chopper above him and made a circular motion with his hand. The chopper soared overhead and landed a few feet away. As the two approached, Ken looked back to Ryu. "Where'd you learn that?"

"What?"

Ken mimicked the stance he saw Ryu take. "That stance. I've never seen anyone hold ki like that before."

Ken opened the passenger door and reached into the cooler inside. Taking two bottles of water, he tossed one to Ryu, who smiled gently. "Dhalsim could do a lot more than stretch and blow fire." He nodded as he remembered. "He was good enough to teach me to manage the energy after the whole Shadaloo thing."

Ken chuckled. "Yeah, I remember being across the room from him and getting clocked by a heel fifteen feet away. He offered to show me, but the whole plastic-man routine just isn't for me, you know?"

Ryu grinned widely, always enjoying Ken's sense of humor. He took a drink as he gazed out upon the endless, sparkling blue of the Atlantic Ocean. Ken's next words surprised him.

"We don't have a chance in hell, do we?"

Ryu looked back to Ken, dumbfounded. "What makes you say that?"

Ken chuckled sardonically, tipping the bottle to his head in acknowledgement to Ryu. "Well, maybe you do." Ken shook his head. "But me…"

Ryu took a couple of steps towards his friend, and Ken raised a hand to ward him off. "Look, just…don't, okay?"

Ryu was confused.

"What's wrong?"

When Ken next looked to him, Ryu did not see the youth he had trained with. He saw a concerned man. "Why did you come lookin' for me?"

"Ken…we beat Bison together. I couldn't have done it by myself and neither could you."

Ken slammed the bottle against the floor of the chopper. "Yeah, but that was then, and this is now. And I gotta remind you that we barely got through that with our lives."
"But we got through it."

"It's always so cut and dry with you, isn't it? There's just the fight and that's it. Ryu, I have a family now. You ever think about them? I can't just up and do this kind of thing anymore."

Ryu took a deep breath, recognizing Ken's anger for what it was. "I thought about your family when I came looking for you."

He moved to sit beside Ken, his eyes still drawn to the water. "I thought about Mel. You know, I hadn't seen him since he was ten?"

He looked to Ken. "He's very strong. You're doing a good job with him."

Ken looked to Ryu, anger aside. "Ryu, Bison was one thing. This is something else and you know it. Maybe you're still up for this kind of thing…but you keep getting better. I don't."

Ryu scowled. "What? Yes you do!"

"No, Ryu. I keep discovering new techniques, but you find ways to fight better. That has always been the difference between us."

For a second, there was silence and an invisible gulf between the two as wide as the ocean. A breeze blew over them. "Ken," Ryu said cautiously, "I'm afraid too."

Ken closed his eyes, looking downward. Ryu continued.

"He came for Sagat, Zangief, and Vega. What if he had come for Eliza, Sean, and Mel? What if you hadn't been ready for him?"

Ken looked to Ryu and smiled. "Where do you come up with this stuff?"

"What? I thought you knew. Everyone has to watch 'The Karate Kid' before being awarded their black belt."

"No, it's 'Bloodsport' now."

They both enjoyed the laugh. Ken extended his fist, and Ryu struck it.

Ken hopped down to the sand and patted the chopper. "You can take off, Mike. Stay close."

The pilot looked back and nodded. "Yes, sir."

As the blades picked up speed, Ken looked back to Ryu. "We better get back to it. Try and keep up this time."

Ryu gestured. "By all means, lead the way."

Ken smiled in the familiar manner, and the two were soon on their way again, for a brief moment, oblivious to the shadow looming ever closer to them.