GILL'S REVENGE

A fanfic by neomage

(DISCLAIMER: Street Fighter and all characters therein are trademarks of Nintendo and Capcom.)

CHAPTER 12

BEIJING, CHINA

It was almost midday when they all arrived back at the old dojo in the middle of town. Luckily, it was Sunday, so the students would not be expected in at any time. This was the perfect time, the gang thought, for Rose to give her explanation.

They were all gathered in the training room, with Rose seated before all of them. "All right, Rose," said Guy. "Would you like to begin explaining what's going on?"

Rose didn't look at him or at any of the others for a long moment. When she finally did, she started to speak. "In order for me to tell the full details of the story, I must first give all of you a bit of background information - a bit of information concerning what happened a few years before the second Street Fighter tournament began twelve years ago."

Everyone leaned forward a little, eager to hear.

"You see," Rose began, "at that time, Bison had been increasing in power, thanks to his 'Psycho Drive' which allowed him to unleash great amounts of energy upon the world, and also gave him, to a degree, immortality. Most of you who had come in contact with him around that time may already know that fact."

The group members nodded.

"Anyhow," she continued, "I had been searching for Bison for many years, in order to put a stop to his abuse of his power. I first found him, with Chun Li's help, and was able to seal away some of his power, but not nearly enough that he wouldn't be able to continue his mad schemes." There was a slight nod from Chun Li at this point; she, too, remembered how she had battled Bison to distract him while Rose sealed away his powers.

"After a time of searching, I finally found Bison once again," Rose went on. "We had a fierce duel at that point...one that I..."

"One that Rose didn't survive," Guy filled in the gap. "I was present at that fight. Bison and Rose literally killed each other that day."

The others looked at each other with some surprise. Cammy herself looked like she'd be sick right there. "So...how did Bison survive? How COULD he have survived?" she asked weakly.

"The thing is, Bison had by then learned a way to survive without his body," Rose explained. "His soul had become one with the Psycho Drive, so all he had to do after our battle was to come back and re-possess his own body. That was around the time his Street Fighter tournament began."

"And most of us know what happened at that tournament," Guile said. "Ryu here won the whole thing by defeating Bison. After that, Bison just disappeared."

"No, he hadn't just disappeared," Ryu amended. "He was killed...shortly after our fight. Ken, you may know who was responsible."

Ken nodded. Of course he knew. It was Akuma who had used his Shun Goku Satsu on Bison, ending his life, right after the fight with Ryu had exhausted him.

"So, what about YOU, Rose?" asked Chun Li. "How did you come back to life?"

"Unfortunately, my coming back was not by choice," Rose answered. "It was Gill's doing. Those of you who participated in his tournament may not know this, but...the whole time you were fighting each other, Gill was collecting small fragments of energy from each of you, in order to resurrect me. All he needed was to find my body, and just a year ago he was successful in using the gathered energy and his own magic force to reanimate me."

"I see..." Cammy was at a loss for words at first. "So, Gill brought you back from the dead to make you one of his slaves to take over the world, right? Is that why Urien called you a traitor?"

"Yes, that's basically it. But...there's a lot more to the story than that." Rose swallowed hard. "You see, long, long ago both Bison and I were members of a group that sought to perfect the use of the Psycho Drive. We had been members of the group ever since we were very young children, and even when I was hunting Bison down I had been keeping in contact with the other members of the group. That group...is Gill's empire."

"Say what!" Cody shot up, infuriated.

"Stand down, Cody! Let her finish." Guy's voice held a certain quality to it. "We do owe her this much."

"Thank you, Guy." Rose took a breath, then continued. "The thing is, shortly before my last fight with Bison, I had declared that I would cut all ties with Gill and his group. I had seen by then that their interest in the outside world was not for its benefit, but it was just a way of analyzing it to determine how to take it over. Bison had wanted to grasp power for himself instead of for Gill's glory, so that is why they declared him a renegade member of the faction. I, of course, failed in my mission to bring him back. You know what happened after that, twelve years ago."

"There's one thing I still don't quite understand, Rose," said Chun Li. Her face looked very troubled. "Didn't your parents think it cruel to make you a member of that group?"

Rose closed her eyes; her face looked as though she were in pain. "They didn't care. You see, both my mother and my father were High Priests for the organization, and they saw to it that all of us were trained in Psycho Power to the fullest of our individual abilities. Bison excelled in his energy, of course, and he taught me how to control mine. Gill trained both of us, and showed us how to use our energy as a weapon against our enemies."

"How horrible..." Again, Cammy was at a loss for words.

"That's so freakin' heartless." This from Ken. "I knew that Gill's organization was brutal to begin with, but to do this to children...it's unheard of!"

Now Ryu spoke. He had an issue on his mind that troubled him greatly. "Rose...I think I've figured this thing out, but I need you to confirm it for me. My question is...if your father was a High Priest, would that make Bison or Gill anything to you?"

All eyes were now on Rose as Ryu asked this question. Her face now looked sad, void of all other emotion. One look at her and one could easily tell that she had been carrying a cruel burden all her life.

"Bison was nothing more than a teacher to me. But Gill...he was...is...my father."

"Wow." For once in his life, Ken was unable to say much of anything.

"Harsh, isn't it." This from Ryu.

The two old friends were seated on the rooftop of the dojo, looking up at the sun as it started to set in the western hemisphere. It had been so long since the pair had actually done anything together, but right now they didn't really feel to do anything at all.

"So...is what you're telling me really true, Ryu? Akuma killed Master Gen?"

"I regretfully say it is so, Ken. Chun Li saw it with her own two eyes - Akuma defeated Master Gen in battle, then murdered him with Ansatsuken's forbidden knowledge."

"How's she taking it?"

"Pretty hard, actually. For the second time in her life, she's lost someone she's very close to the hand of evil."

"And you?"

"It's a bitter pill to swallow. Master Gen was the closest thing I ever had to a father, or even an uncle - he had always been a close friend to Sensei, you know. And even worse, this only serves as a reminder that Akuma is always somewhere close by. I know that one day, eventually, he and I will HAVE to fight. My worry is whether I'll be ready for him when that time comes."

"You told me that he and Sagat were teamed against you?"

"That's what has me scared, Ken. To think that Sagat was so easily influenced by Akuma, even though he wasn't actually possessed by Satsui no Hado...it unnerves me, man."

Just at that moment Guile popped up on the rooftop. "Excuse me, Ryu, but Chun Li said she needed to speak with you. And Ken, could I have a moment?"

Ryu excused himself and dropped down to the ground. Guile came over and sat beside Ken. By this time the first stars of twilight were coming out. "Gonna be a nice night; that I can predict," Guile commented.

"How do you know?"

"When you've been in the Army as long as I have, and you have nothing to do but look up at the night sky, you'll understand." Guile sighed for a moment. "Look, Ken. I know you and I have never really seen eye-to-eye over the years, but you ought to know - I never once referred to you as NOT being my brother-in-law. I owed Jane and Amy that much, after being away from them all those years I was tracking Bison down."

"I know. Jane told me."

"She did? Then you saw her?"

"I saw both of them. They'll be all right, Guile - they just want to see you safely home where you belong."

"I certainly will, but first I'm gonna help you rescue Melvin. He is my nephew, after all. It's the least I can do, seeing as how you saved your sister-in-law and niece from harm."

"Done deal." The two brothers-in-law clasped hands together to seal the agreement.

Rose sat in the room alone, contemplating. "Guy, why aren't you outside with the others?"

Guy emerged from the shadows near the door. "I wanted to speak to you in private." He sat down beside her. "Rose, I need to know. All that time you'd been resurrected...you never even gave me any signal. Why?"

"Because I had to constantly be watching my back. In Gill's headquarters, even the walls have eyes and ears." Rose looked at him. "Believe me, Guy, if I had had the first chance to contact you, I would have. I just...I had to lay low for a little while, even after I escaped from my father."

Guy said nothing, but just looked at her. She could see all the years of loneliness and grieving reflected in his eyes.

"Guy...when he first resurrected me, my father tried to strip me of all my memories of everything that happened before my death. Had I allowed him to do that, everything I knew would be gone...including my memories of all my friends...and you." She fought hard to keep the tears back. "But that's the real reason why I betrayed him - I couldn't let him do that to me. And I just want you to understand...all that time that I was there, I never once forgot about you. Not even for a moment."

Still Guy made no reply, but now Rose could feel his hand holding onto hers with hope; and she squeezed it with affection.

"You wanted to talk to me, Chun Li?"

"Yes, Ryu."

The two were standing together on the porch, watching the stars twinkling above. "Ryu, there's something I've been meaning to tell you ever since you came to Beijing...and now, with everything that's happened, with Master Gen's death and Gill's return...I just feel that I need to say this while I still have a chance." Her voice was quavery.

Ryu looked at her with concern. "Okay. What is it?"

She looked straight at him. "Ryu, do you remember when I told you that there was a certain special someone I was thinking of?"

"Yes. And you gave a pretty good description of him, too."

"I know." She smiled a little. "Ryu...that man that I was talking about...everything that I said...do you know who I was referring to?"

Ryu closed his eyes in thought. "I have an idea, but...I want to hear it from your own mouth, Chun Li."

She nodded. Now she made no effort to hold her tears back. "That man...that man is you, Ryu. You are the one who's so special to me. Ever since the first time I met you twelve years ago...I always felt that there was this certain special something about you. I tried to deny it so many times, partly because I had other things on my mind, but more because I knew that it might really be true. But even more than that - I know you're a free spirit, and that you probably wouldn't understand or return my...oh, what am I saying? Now I'm talking crap..." She held her head down, the tears dropping to the floor.

To her surprise, Ryu gently pulled her into his arms. "Chun Li...in all honesty, I always knew that you felt this way. But I've never been too close to anybody - not even my best friend, Ken - because...I've been afraid all this time. Afraid of...what Akuma could do to the ones I care about, just to get to me."

Chun Li couldn't answer; she was speechless.

"But now," Ryu went on, quietly, "now I don't have to be afraid anymore. With all of us working together against a common enemy...with friends by my side...at least I can be free to express myself." He pulled her in even closer.

Again she couldn't answer; but now, too, Chun Li couldn't stop the flutter of happiness that filled her heart. "Ryu..." she whispered softly.