Chapter 25: A San Francisco Treat
San Francisco, California, 8:30 AM
On a foggy morning in the city of San Francisco, Alex, Delmar Langston, Xavier Jackson, Q, and El Fuerte were all riding a cab towards the mansion where Ken Masters and his family normally lived to see if Ken's wife and Mel's mother, Eliza knew of anything that could help them during their journey. After a while of slogging through commuter traffic for everyone driving into the city to get to work, the five men found themselves at the gate of the mansion.
"You want me to go through, there's probably gonna be security stopping us from entering," stated the cab driver.
"Yes, we do know Eliza Masters, I'm sure she'll allow us passage," answered Alex.
As the driver continued to drive, a security guard stopped them at the gate and peeked his head through the windows of the cab.
"Hey, what business do you have here, Mr. Masters is not in," stated the security guard.
"We know, we're here to see Mrs. Masters, we're friends of hers," replied Alex.
"Yeah, we fought alongside her son at the tournament two years ago, she knows us quite well," added Xavier.
"Oh my God! X-Clamation! Hey, I'm a big fan of yours! Sure I'll let you guys through, but you have to let me have an autograph later on!" exclaimed the guard.
"Of course, anything for a fan," responded Xavier as the cab drove towards the mansion.
"We were lucky to have a celebrity with us huh. That sure came in handy," remarked Delmar.
"I know amigo, now to see if Señora Masters can assist us in some way, maybe by giving us a direction on where to go next," piped up El Fuerte.
"Indeed, the sooner we know where to go, the sooner we can meet up with everyone, and hopefully find Maya," added Q.
Soon, the cabs had pulled up to the front of the mansion, Alex and the others paid their fare to the drivers before walking out of the cabs. The five men walked up the stairs leading to the door and promptly gave it a knock. About a few seconds later, a maid opened the door and peeked out to see who was there.
"Yes, may I help you gentlemen?" asked the maid.
"Is Mrs. Masters around, we must speak to her, it's discussing important matters?" asked Q.
"Tell her we're friends of Ken and Mel," added Alex.
"Wait just a minute, I'll go get her," said the maid.
The maid closed the door and Alex and the others could hear her scamper off. After a few minutes of waiting, the door creaked open again and peeking out from it was a beautiful woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a long white dress with white flats as she eyed the heroes and cracked a smile upon recognizing familiar faces.
"Alex, Quentin, Xavier, what brings you all here?" asked Eliza.
"We've been scouring this country for monitor cyborgs, in addition to seeing if we could locate your husband or son," answered Q.
"I haven't anything from Ken in a while, but Mel headed off towards Japan not too long ago along with Kiyomi and his friend Kojiro, that's all I know about that for sure," answered Eliza.
"Hmm, Japan you say, I wonder if they've had any luck in finding the others since they left," pondered Xavier.
"So Alex, is this the student I've hearing about from you?" inquired Eliza.
"Yes indeed, my name is Delmar Langston, it is indeed a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Masters, and we thank for all you know," said Delmar as he walked over and shook Eliza's hand.
"We have one other thing to ask of you though, has anything extraño gone on around here since your son left the country?" asked El Fuerte.
"Ah, you're El Fuerte, I know about you. But to answer your question, no strange things that I'm aware of. Things have been quiet on this front as of late," replied Eliza.
"Has a red haired woman in a black suit stopped by here though, we lost her on our journey and we're wondering if she may have stopped here?" asked Q.
"You mean Crimson Viper, I haven't seen her around in years. But I'll be sure to let her know if I see her. Are you guys gonna leave for Japan right away?" questioned Eliza.
"It would be best for us not to waste any time, Mel and the others could use all the help they could get, and I really want to stop the Illuminati's criminal activity in any way possible," answered Delmar.
"I see, well then, I'm gonna make call and have our private jet take you guys to Tokyo that way you don't have to deal with unruly passengers on the way there," stated Eliza.
"Hey thanks, that's much appreciated!" exclaimed Xavier happily.
"Don't mention it, it's the least I can do, it'll be a few hours before the jet is fueled and ready for take-off though, why don't you relax here for a while?" suggested Eliza.
"Of course, again, thank you," commented Alex.
Alex and the others went inside the mansion and proceeded to catch a little rest break as Eliza called the San Francisco Airport to have the Masters family's private jet prepared to take flight. In the meantime, the five men took a tour of the mansion and Eliza even prepared them a meal while they waited for the jet to get ready.
"Man, Ken and Mel sure live quite a nice life here, I like seeing what's it like to live ritzy for a day," remarked Delmar as he took a bite of the freshly prepared sushi that the Masters professional sushi chef made for them.
"Indeed, but I sure hope that they're doing ok out there and that somehow they're staying safe," added Q
"You know, I wonder if they'd let me try whipping up a dish here, I'd like to see how my cooking prowess has gotten over time," chimed in El Fuerte.
"Uh, I think you better not," commented Xavier.
"Yeah, besides, it would be rude to use their kitchen without permission man," added Alex.
After finishing their meal, Alex and the others continued to browse around the mansion admiring all the stuff that Ken and his family had acquired over the years. Before long, Eliza caught up to all of the men.
"You know, despite all this, Ken still values Mel, Sean, and I far more than any of the material objects that we have here," commented Eliza.
"Just goes to show that he's a great family man," remarked Xavier.
"I'd say so too. Just so you know, the jet is finally to go, when you're ready, I'll have the limo take you to the airport," stated Eliza.
"Thank you for the hospitality though Mrs. Masters, Ken and Mel are sure lucky to have you," complimented Delmar.
At that moment, a few of the security guards bolted through the door breathing heavily, a few of them bleeding, but not too badly. Alex rushed over to the guards with a look of concern on his face.
"Hey, what the hell is going on, is something happening outside?" asked Alex.
"Some crazy bitch just started attacking us from out of nowhere, we have a feeling she's here for Mrs. Masters, we're doing everything we can to make sure we can protect her," huffed a security guard.
"Crazy puta, what did she look like?" asked El Fuerte.
"Red hair, braided ponytail, wearing orange sunglasses and a black suit," gasped the security guard.
"No, it can't be!" shouted Q as he ran outside. Alex, Delmar, El Fuerte, and Xavier quickly followed suit as they ran outside. They could see a woman approaching the front of the mansion. Indeed, she looked exactly the way the security guard had described her. Her expression was completely stone faced as she walked forward without hesitation. Behind his mask, Q gasped in shock at what he was seeing.
"Maya! What do you think you're doing? Have you gone insane?" asked Q in an angry tone.
"These are orders from Master Urien, I am to destroy you by any means possible and anyone that may ally themselves with you," answered C. Viper in a monotone voice.
"Am I going deaf or did she just say Master Urien?" inquired Delmar.
"You're not hearing things Delmar, I believe Crimson Viper has been subjected to Urien's mind control," answered Alex.
"Maya, you need to snap out of this, what you're doing is against everything that you and I have been journeying this world for. Come back to us!" implored Q, but his pleas were falling on deaf ears.
"Quentin, I'd hate to say this, but you're gonna have to use force to bring her back to her senses if anything," stated Xavier.
Q sighed deeply as he reluctantly took a combat pose ready to fight Crimson Viper. C. Viper charged forward with an electrially charged fist which Q dodged and he quickly retaliated with a High Speed Barrage smacking C. Viper with three quick strikes all across her body sending her flying back. At that moment, reinforcements for Crimson Viper were arriving in the form of more of Urien's minions as Elena appeared along with Hugo to assist the newest mind controlled minion of Urien.
"You guys handle the others and protect Eliza, I'll deal with Maya myself!" ordered Q.
"Like Burger King, have it your way dude," replied Delmar as he knocked Elena down with his Dive Back Elbow.
"Quesadilla Bomb!" shouted El Fuerte running full force with his chest out at Hugo, whom he merely bounced off of. Hugo charged at El Fuerte with a clothesline who ducked under the giants massive arm as Alex parried the blow and struck back with a Flash Chop spinning Hugo around as Xavier leapt forward with his Flying Clothesline knocking Hugo to the ground.
"Why don't you help Delmar with Elena, us two can deal with the big guy," suggested Xavier. El Fuerte nodded and ran towards Delmar to assist him.
"Seismic Hammer," said C. Viper in her monotone voice as she hit the ground with a tremendous force that launched Q into the air and his soon hit the ground with a thud. Q quickly rolled back to his feet and saw the red haired agent leap towards him with a Burning Kick, Q parried the attack and countered with his Dashing Head Attack smacking C. Viper across the face with a powerful punch sending her flying back and falling near a fountain in the front yard of the mansion.
"Rhino Horn," said Elena in her monotone voice as she kicked El Fuerte aside with strong jutting kick. Delmar rushed forward and threw out an elbow to Elena who parried the attack and stuck out a kick to Delmar's sternum and he swiftly parried as well.
"Shark Shank!" yelled Delmar as he delivered a gut punch to Elena digging his fingers into her stomach and then he lifted the Kenyan beauty up and slammed her down hard onto her back with a scoop slam. El Fuerte soon followed up Delmar's attack with his Tortilla Press, all his weight landing down hard on Elena.
Xavier stuck out his boot in an attempt to hit Hugo with his Grape Squisher attack. Hugo parried and threw Xavier into the air and leapt up after him, catching Xavier with his Back Breaker before tossing him to the side. Alex charged forward with a Slash Elbow whih Hugo also parried and then Hugo picked up Alex and scoop slammed him onto the ground. Hugo then prepared to deliver a stomp to Alex while he was on the ground, but Xavier grabbed Hugo from behind and lifted him up for a Spinebuster, slamming Hugo's back hard onto his knee, as Hugo hit the ground. Alex followed up with an Air Stampede, coming down hard on Hugo's sternum.
"Thunder Knuckle," said C. Viper as she leapt into the air, knocking Q out of a leaping attack. As Q got up, the crimson haired agent threw out a kick to Q, he parried the attack and grabbed C. Viper knocking into the air with a powerful uppercut which he called the Capture & Deadly Blow. C. Viper flew high into the air and hit the ground with a powerful thud. Q charged forward and threw out a double fisted punch as C. Viper got up and she quickly dashed away from it and threw out a elbow strike to Q's face connecting with it as her body glowed blue signifying a Super Art.
"Seismic Storm Hammer," said C. Viper.
Crimson Viper charged up a Seismic Hammer knocking Q into the air and then juggled him with a leaping Thunder Knuckle, then as Q fell, C. Viper slammed him to the ground as electrcity coursed through her gloves shocking Q. The masked warrior lie on the ground for a brief minute to regain his composure and think about what he would have to do.
"I guess have no choice but to use that move, I'd hate to do so, but this situation calls for it," grumbled Q as he got up. Crimson Viper charged with another burning kick as Q parried and hit her with a kick to the stomach making her double over as his body began to glow red showing that he was going to release his Hyper Art.
"Complete Obliteration!" shouted Q
Q charged forward with his Critical Combo Attack Super Art riddling C. Viper with numerous punches as the fifth one sent her flying into a wall with such force that she bounced back at Q. Q activated his Total Destruction Super Art grabbed C. Viper and rammed her with a couple of headbutts as an explosion engulfed both of them blowing them both backwards. Q stood up as C. Viper lie on the ground out cold.
"I'm sorry Maya, I had no choice," said Q.
"Hammer Frenzy," spoke Hugo as he charged forward with his Super Art throwing out numerous punches at Xavier who parried all of them and retaliated with his own Super Art.
"Poison Mist!" yelled Xavier.
Xavier shot forth a green mist cloud into Hugo's face blinding and then began to riddle the German with numerous kicks across his body. The last one sent Hugo staggering into Alex who also charged up one of his Super Arts.
"You can't escape! Hyper Bomb!" shouted Alex as he grabbed Hugo and delivered two suplexes to him and followed it up with a powered up Power Bomb. Hugo began to feel about aimlessly still blinded by Xavier's mist.
"Spinning Beat," said Elena as she spun forward with three consecutive Scratch Wheels rolled into one. El Fuerte the whole Super Art and did his Quesadilla Bomb knocking Elena into Delmar who had his body glow blue for his Super Art.
"K-9 Takedown!" shouted Delmar.
Delmar tackled Elena to the ground and began to slam her face into the ground six times. Delmar then picked up Elena and delivered six body blows to her before slamming her down with a Full Nelson Drop.
"This wasn't so bad, maybe now we can find a way to free these brainwashed souls," remarked Xavier.
At that moment, a few monitor cyborgs fell out of the sky and exploded near the heroes blowing them back as Jorge and a couple other cyborgs picked up C. Viper and Elena's bodies and helped guide Hugo to the chopper.
"I'd love to fight you guys as some of you seem like you could give me a good workout, but unfortunately, that will have to wait another day. Still I think we've learned one thing, not to let our brainwashed lackeys go out on missions on their own," said Jorge as he boarded the chopper and flew off after throwing a couple other cyborg bombs to make sure the others didn't try to pursue him.
"Damn it! We could've saved Maya, we must go after him!" yelled Q.
"No Quentin, we're not gonna do anything rash! We need to get to Japan and find Mel and the others. We'll stand a better chance with more help," called out Alex to Q.
"My master is right, as much as I want to bring those punks to justice, we need to be smart so we don't suffer similar fates to Crimson Viper," chimed in Delmar.
"I suppose so. Then let's not waste any more time, let's go to the the airport," said Q.
"The limo is ready, be safe over there. And when you run across my husband or son, tell them I hope they come home soon, and in one piece," said Eliza.
"But what will you do Eliza? In case these guys come back for you, we don't want you getting abducted," stated Xavier.
"I'm gonna call my brother in law and have him and my siter stay over here for a while just for some company. Sure Guile may be getting old, but he can still lend a hand in terms of security here," answered Eliza.
"So you're gonna rent a soldier huh, quite convenient if I do say so," joked El Fuerte.
"I suppose, but you guys better get going, and take care out there," replied Eliza.
"You do the same," stated Alex as him and the others waved goodbye to Eliza before entering the limo and heading towards the San Francisco Airport for a flight to Japan.
Istanbul, Turkey, 5:20 PM
Yang Lee, Yin Lee, Kaoru Miadama, and Quock Xie had arrived in the capital city of Turkey as they continued their journey to meet up with their friends. However, they were still worried about Yun as he had not caught up to the others nor contacted them since the incident in Poland.
"What is taking Yun so long to get back to us, this leaves me feeling uneasy," grumbled Yang.
"I know brother, I fear the worst as well for him," added Yin.
"Hey, I'm sure Yun has been in worse situations that this, he'll find his way back to us, I'm sure of it," chimed in Quock.
"Well whenever we do see him again, I'm gonna kick his ass for not contacting us to let us know if he's all right," remarked Kaoru.
"Hopefully not too bad, you'll need him down the line," said a voice behind them.
Yang and the others turned around to see a few familiar faces smiling at them. Vicki Small, Scott Wagner, Amy, Datta, and Gyorgy Kaminski were also in Istanbul.
"Hey, fancy running across you guys here," said Wagner.
"Yeah, we figured we'd run across someone eventually, glad it was sooner than later," commented Quock.
"I can still sense Yun's chi though, he is alive. But where he is, I do not know," spoke Datta.
"Well that's a relief, at least we know we don't have to file an obituary for him in the newspaper," said Yang with a sigh of relief.
"So any reason that you guys decided to come here?" asked Amy.
"Not really, although I'm sure if we ask around enough, we might be able to find clues on where to go next," answered Yang.
"That's true, we never know what we might find here," chimed in Gyorgy.
"If I'm not mistaken, an olive oil tycoon who specializes in a unique form of wrestling lives in this country. Maybe he might know something since he has fought against S.I.N. in the past," piped up Vicki.
"I suppose you're right, it's worth a shot," responded Yin.
"Then let's get our asses moving!" ordered Kaoru.
And at that moment, the nine fighters headed off looking for the residence of the olive oil king living in Turkey.
Author's Note: Well, life in general has been hectic for me as of late. New job, new experiences, but with Fanime around the corner, I figured I'd try and crank out an update. I'm aiming to get me a 3DS soon for Project X Zone which loooks to be bad ass. Also, I'll make sure to crank out the next update sooner. I'm off to go work on the next chapter. But until then, please read and review.