Chapter 6: Psycho Double Duel

Ash was face-to-face with a man of Shadaloo. The white of his eyes disguised the evil intentions he had for the young trainer/fighter. Coming off his victory in France against Makoto, not to forget that he's on a three fight winning streak with the addition of a no-contest against Chun-Li, word of the Pallet Pantheon was spreading like wildfire and with the power of the World Wide Web, those running the tournament had to be shaking in their boots at how fast Ash had managed to receive fame. Right now, that fame was becoming his worst nightmare with the appearance of his next battle. Intimidated by the power he was emitting, Ash was unnerved. 'That's some terrifying energy he's exhausting,' he thought. Pikachu could be thinking the same thing. Finally...

"Bison!" shouted Guile as he entered the room. The three turned to see the American and his seething anger at the man in red who grinned at the avenging fighter.

"Well, well, if it isn't Charlie's AWOL partner," he mocked. "Do you miss your best friend, Colonel?" That's fuel into Guile's fire. The mocking was so under his skin, Bison had no shame in pushing his buttons. "You'll have to forgive me. I'm taking this boy to fight me and test his strength." To Guile, this was unacceptable.

"He's just a child! You have no authority!" Bison would disagree.

"Wrong...he's a valiant warrior. I'll bring you his body when we're finished." That's when he thrust his arm at Ash to grab his collar but ended up getting his arms. No matter for Bison. Guile ran up but was too late. Bison opened a portal and sucked in himself and Ash, leaving Guile and Pikachu in great concern. Ash was in deep and against someone as powerful as Bison, they feared Ash had no chance to battle him.

"He's...he's gonna die..." All Pikachu could do was pray for Ash to be alive.

(Solar Eclipse, Zimbabwe, Africa)

Two females were ready to battle in an open field full of exotic animals like hippos, giraffes, zebras and a pond by the side. One was a young teen brunette wearing a loose white t-shirt and blue skirt. She also wore the same gloves as Ken, Ryu, Akuma and Dan and even wore a headband like Ryu. The other was a raven-haired with a sinister smirk. Her hair was like overweight wings with neon purple hoops on. She wore a skinny and tight purple midriff with white baggy pants. Unlike the brunette who wore red tennis shoes, she was barefoot and held a leg in the air and staying perfectly still. She had to have powerful legs. It was about to be interrupted. Before either made the first move, a portal opened up, forcing the two to gawk at what could be occurring. That's when Ash was thrown out where he landed on his feet by the brunette. Bison soon emerged and floated down by the raven-haired. "This isn't good," she huffed. Bison wasn't worried about the brunette. Why, it wasn't worried about Ash or Pikachu or Guile for that matter.

"Relax, child," he told the brunette. "The boy is my opponent." The raven-haired snickered, making all turn to her.

"This is very humorous," she sneered. "I'm surprised that you would put your hands on a rather stoic kid." Bison twisted to see the raven-haired, intrigued by who it was.

"If it isn't 15's test subject with the eye." A test subject?

"Oh, come on, you're just flattering me. But can't you wait it out for a second? Sakura and I need to settle something." Sakura? This was who Dan told Ash to inform besides Blanka.

"Maybe we should let these two work their differences first, Juri," Sakura offered. Juri wasn't satisfied with just hanging back and letting the boys duke it out.

"Oh, no, sweet cakes. Eye still have you in my sight." She tried to make a joke by pointing at her eye. If so, it wasn't funny. It was a double duel: Ash versus Bison and Sakura versus Juri. Bison was swaying to warm himself up while Ash and Sakura paced their breathing and Juri sneered more and more as she had her leg pretty high up. It was time to start. Bison soared through the air, aiming right at Ash. Ash rolled away as Bison landed where he just stood. Now was that counterattack as Ash spun with a roundhouse right hook...but Bison vanished just before contact...and reappeared behind the trainer and tried to slap him hard. His hand was burning an eerie purple. Ash ducked but the burning slap hit his cap, sending it flying. A giraffe snagged the headgear with its horns. Did Bison play horseshoes before being this dictator he claimed to be? It still left an opening for Ash and he scored an uppercut to the gut. Not letting up, Ash spun his body around and smashed Bison's ribs with a mule kick. That couldn't feel too good. Maybe Guile was wrong. Once Ash reset, he watched Bison getting back on his feet.

'His moves are pretty sloppy,' he believed. 'All he's using is that energy inside and not using his hands properly. I could use that to gain some sort of advantage.' Back up, Bison was impressed with Ash's quickness.

"Well, young worm," he grinned. "You've a feet of agility and keen eye unlike 15's doll. Perhaps you've trained for moments like these." To Ash, Bison believed that his training with Pokémon had inadvertently developed into his fighting prowess.

"Not quite but it's along those lines." Juri seemed to be a younger Chun-Li the way she kept swinging her legs out. The way she kicked at Sakura had enough air pressure to fire out ripples of air which were glowing purple. Sakura bobbed and weaved through each ripple.

"My, you're feisty!" she playfully teased Sakura. Sakura huffed a groan, finding Juri's spoken tongue distasteful. Juri leaped to the sky but Sakura began to gather some sort of energy. It looked a lot like Ken doing the Hadoken but Sakura continued to build energy. Juri started her dive with a leg out.

"Hadoken!" she screamed as she threw her big fireball. The fireball struck Juri, knocking her out of the air.

"Whatever..." Juri quickly rose back up, her left eye glowing eerie violet. Bison's sloppiness was really catching up to him as Ash countered each swing. If Guile was there, he would be amazed at Ash's progress.

"Very well!" he snarled. "You've asked for it! Psycho Crusher!" He dove right at Ash while cocooning himself in the energy. He acted like a baseball in a line drive with an arm sticking out. Ash had little time to act. That's when he crouched and reached for a Pokéball. A setup!

"Head's up!" he roared as he did his back flip. Perfect shot as it caught Bison through his cocoon and under his chin. The kick propelled Bison high but the strike jostled the ball loose. The ball opened up and revealed Corphish. Ash had gone through a full rotation. "Corphish, use Crab Hammer on me!" Was he serious? Having Crab Hammer hit him instead of Bison? Corphish was game and scored a bulls-eye on Ash's feet. The strike launched Ash sky high and met Bison, his arms once again in flames. Bison gazed at the ready-to-strike trainer.

"How dare you!" Ash just grinned as he wound his burning fist which changed to white.

"Hey, you challenged me, remember?" Finally, Ash threw the punch, nailing Bison in the chest. That's when something odd played out: Ash's strike shot a beam which propelled Bison down to the ground. KABOOM! The impact of the beam-propelled Bison left quite an impression...literally. He was twitching periodically. Ash landed with his two feet and peered at his opponent who was burnt amongst his ribs and had a blackened mark from where he got walloped. Surprised, Ash glared at the mark and at his fist which the fire was dying. "Was that Overheat?" Overheat?

("That's Overheat, alright,") Corphish gargled. ("Never saw it like that before.") Ash was willing to check on Bison but the cat fight seemed more appealing. Sakura was taking a beating and Juri was about to finish it.

"Let's end this," Juri playfully decided with her eye, then her body emitting that eerie purple again. She raced at Sakura who seemed to be left with little to do. That's when she saw the speeding feet.

"Haru Ranman!" she cried out as she performed a roundhouse leg sweep, catching Juri's stepping foot. Juri realized she was in trouble. "This oughta fix you!" Sakura rose and fired a kick which looked like a football punt, catching Juri in the chin. She was sent skyward and pursued by the brunette. She curled backwards as if she turned to a moon but had her fists ready as makeshift sledgehammers. "Attack!" She slammed her fists into Juri's head, causing her to fall. She smacked the turf as Sakura flipped for her descent. CRASH! Sakura double-stomped Juri in the stomach. The air in the raven-haired girl's lungs were deflated and she was out like a light bulb busted by a rock. "...And that's a wrap." That was a wrap. Bison and Juri were both down for the count. Ash strolled over to check on Juri, making sure she'd be okay. Suddenly...

"Ash!" shouted a bunch of men. The standing three...yes, we're not forgetting Corphish...turned to face several vehicles heading toward the survivors. One African got on the radio.

"Lt. Mutabe to Guile!" he called. He didn't wait long for Guile to respond.

"Report!" was the reply.

"We've located the target!" It was news that Guile was dreading. He only hoped that Ash was at least alive as he sailed over to rendezvous with his team in his jet.

"Condition?" The lieutenant gazed over the dashboard and saw Ash waiving with a gleeful smile.

"From my view, I'd say excellent!" Hearing that made Guile smile. He was in disbelief that Ash was able to defend himself against Bison. "Orders?"

"Retrieve him! We'll rendezvous at the airbase! And lieutenant?" The pause was making the lieutenant a bit eager.

"Proceed!"

"Tell him his...partner's with Chun-Li in Japan. The little guy will be happy to know he's alive." The lieutenant hung up and reached the group. Military secured Bison with numerous restraints while a gurney whisked Juri away. During the ride, Ash and Sakura were chatting up a storm while she petted Torkoal.

"I can't believe you were able to meet Ryu-san over in Metro," she gasped. "I'm jealous." Ash wasn't too proud of meeting Ryu in America. It was just dumb luck after his fight with Ken.

"I'm sure he had a chance to meet Ken's new son," he laughed. After a long ride, the escort arrived at an airfield where Guile was waiting. The men disembarked and greeted the colonel.

"Sir!" they saluted in unison. Guile walked passed them and came to Ash's side. He was happy that he was alive but astonished that he was able to beat Bison.

"Great work, kid," he praised. Ash accepted the praise with a salute of his own.

"Thank you, colonel," he replied. As they finished saluting, one soldier entered with information.

"Col. Guile, Bison has awakened," he reported. Guile was waiting for this moment. Finally, he was moments away from the answers about Charlie.

"About damn time," he scorned. "I'll go and have a chat with Bison. I would like one of you to fly Ash to Tokyo and rendezvous with Chun-Li." One rose his hand for the task. Guile tossed the keys to him and he raced to get the engine started. Sakura was a bit upset to see Ash getting ready to leave and reunite with Pikachu.

"Hey, Ash?" she called. Ash turned to his brunette teammate. "Thanks for supporting me. By the way, if you run into Ryu-san again, tell him I said hi." Ash fluffed a nod before heading to the jet and to Tokyo. "Oh, one more thing!" Now what? Ash turned to Sakura once more...only to be met by the lips. Hey, it's not everyday that a Street Fighter offers a little lovin'. Ash was awe-stricken. Come on, man! It's not like this was your first kiss, right? "Ash-sama." Ash was encumbered in awe. If Ash wanted to prove his mettle, Sakura gave him a pass. Meanwhile, Guile was once again face-to-face with Bison.

"Now that you're safely secured, we can get down to business." Bison wasn't in the best of moods. Think about it, he had his butt handed to him by a child. "I only have one important question to ask: Where's Charlie?" Bison restricted moving anything, even his mouth. He wanted to remain quiet. This would take some time.

(Ancient Temple/Tokyo, Japan/Four days later...)

Reunited with Chun-Li, Ken, Eliza, Mel and Pikachu, Ash walked into a temple. "Thanks for keeping an eye on Pikachu while I was fighting Bison," he greeted to Chun-Li. Pikachu was equally thankful for Chun-Li's care.

"Hey, after hearing how you whooped Bison, I should be thanking you," she replied. "I guess Guile got worried over nothing." Well, technically nothing was not the case to Ken's mind.

"Bison's super powerful with his psycho abilities," he informed. "But I'll admit, this is the first time someone fought him and won without breaking a sweat. If I'm not mistaken, that's two perfect victories under your belt." Not according to Ash who began to blush from the compliments...or was it from...

"I broke more of a sweat when Sakura..." he froze his words as his face blossomed redder. Pikachu realized that Ash was kissed.

("Ashy boy's growing up~!") he teased. That embarrassed Ash.

"Pikachu, cut it out!" Too late. Suddenly...

"Is that you, Ken?" sounded an old man. The group turned to see a bald but heavily white bearded muscular man. He wore a pseudo toga brown top and white pants. Was this Ash's next opponent?

"Ah, Master Gouken," Ken greeted with a bow. "It's nice to see you again." Gouken bobbed a nod, acknowledging the good nature of one of his pupils. That's when he saw Mel in Eliza's arms. It intrigued him.

"So this is your child?"

"He is. My son, Mel." Gouken gently stroke the tiny infant, humbled that one of his students was now a father. That's when Ken decided to ask something. "He's one of the reasons we're all visiting the dojo. I want to ask if you can be Mel's godfather, in case something does happen to us." Gouken smiled, honored to be raising the young baby under circumstances.

"I'd be honored to." The adults and Pikachu smiled. Mel was in great hands. That's when...

"You've arrived!" sounded Ryu. The group now twisted to see the other student of the master. "And I've heard about what you did with Bison. You definitely are a force to be reckoned with." Ash eyed Ryu with determination. This had to be Ash's next opponent.

"I did run into Sakura," he spoke. "She wanted to me tell you that she said hi." Ryu scoffed. Something about that kid gave off that snicker.

"Nice to give me that message. At least I know why you came by." Ash nodded.

"Ready to go?" Now Ryu bobbed a nod. Ash and Ryu were ready to face off. Was Ash really ready for the Street Fighter veteran?

TO BE CONTINUED...

(Alright, it's Ash vs. Ryu in the next bout! I'll post a new poll to help determine the last fighter for Ash before his rival and final bouts. Don't forget to read and review.)