Chapter 2: A Brand New Ally

After Ryu had saved the unknown girl from this malicious entity, that went by the odd name, Necalli... he had brought her back to the rented dojo, where his master was already waiting for him... his surprise could not be described in words, but denying an injured girl like this, was totally out of the question... so he was gladly willing to treat her... and after the procedure, he allowed the female Egyptian to sleep inside his own futon, that he had brought with him, in case they would get unexpected guests... now there she was, sleeping very peacefully, under the blanket...

The next day...

She stirred, as she sensed a presence, right near her... once she realized, it was Ryu, looking down on her only mere inches away... she starts blushing and then comically jumps in shock, causing their skulls to accidently collide with one another, with Ryu falling backwards, rubbing his now red forehead and she did the same...

"Ouchie..."

"Ngh, why did you do this?"

"I am so sorry... you really scared the crap out of me, geez... OK, that will leave a mark for sure..."

"Well, hehe, at least, you are fully awake now... when you passed out, I really thought, you were up there."

She then remembered everything... it struck her like a clap from a thunder...

"Oh, that's right! That dreadlocked freak ambushed me, before you had to help me and save my bacon... hmph, one or better yet, TWO thing are for sure to me now. First, this guy might never get past elementary school with that attitude... and if my own fate was to get eaten up by this beast, hoho, I will so hate my own job as fortune teller..."

Suddenly, an awkward silence overcame the two... before the still unknown girl realized something... and that fact alone, made her feel quite disgraceful...

"...my god! I am such a bonehead! Where have my manners gone to?! You saved my life and I didn't even properly introduce myself yet...! My name is Menat. I am a wandering fortune teller."

That reaction of hers actually manages to snap a smile on Ryu's lips, as he found the girl to be quite the likeable kind of "bonehead"... both then shook hands.

"Hehehe, nice to meet you, Menat... and also... to "complete the greeting", my name is Ryu. And much like you, I do the same... wander through all kinds of places and meet new people, although... I do anything, BUT fortune telling, before you ask. My heart is more set on testing my skills in combat, find my limits and go above and beyond to be the strongest..."

Hearing this confirmation... Menat was able to peacefully conclude for herself, that in the end, this really is the man, she has been looking for this whole time.

"So it really IS you... my eyes didn't fool me, all along... why it took me so long to recognize you, I got no idea..."

But once these words reached Ryu's ears, he became confused...

"Huh? What do you mean? Have you... been looking for me?"

"Yes. Who else? My current errand is as follows: Find Ryu and bring him to my master. Duh."

Even though, it wasn't clear yet... for some reason... repeating these last words over and over again in his mind, Ryu began reminiscing of something, that he nearly forgot about quite a while ago... that brought him down to this one decisive question.

"...Menat, who exactly is your master? Excuse my curiosity, if it's something you can only keep as a personal secret from me."

"Oh no, it's no big deal! I already expected you to ask me, sooner or later. To keep the long story short, I am the personal disciple of Rose, the well-known fortune teller from Genoa."

That was it. This cleared up everything for Ryu... he had to think to himself, as he remembered Rose's last words, before he departed with Chun-Li...

"Is this all just a mere coincidence, or... not...?"

FLASHBACK

Rose: "It is only a matter of time, Ryu... evil will not find rest... all that shall bring chaos back to the world... and until then, we shall see each other, face to face, again... and you will not be alone in this affair."

FLASHBACK ENDS

"I mean, not that Rose has ever been unreliable... but she does talk a lot and very certain things just never seem to come true, even when she bets her own beliefs on it... however... can this encounter with the girl here in front of me... be really counted as "coincidence", after she told me back then, that we "shall see each other again"...?"

He then returned to reality and asked the female fortune teller, exactly what he wants to know from her. The suspense was slightly overpowering him on the inside. Should his suspicion be confirmed correct... it's a bad omen.

"...by any chance, did Rose ever mention, that it was planned for me to reunite with her again, after a certain period of time?"

"How could you guess? Of course. But... from where did you know that? I am only the messenger, I don't deliver all too "special" news for someone, not even you... I run so many errands, it's hard to keep track, after all..."

"So I was right... something terrible is going to happen in the near future... and the time has come for me to go and return to her, as soon as possible..."

This only made Menat stare with her eyes wide open, as she was indeed really baffled... Ryu figured her out, but not only that. He reminded her of what Rose told her to do, when she sees him.

"...I may be the fortune teller here, but you just figured me out. And as an addition, you made me remember, what she told me, before I went off on my search for you...! And it went something along the lines of: As soon as you find Ryu, bring him and somebody else, back to me. This is the most important errand, you had to run up until now. And failing it, is not an option... I really am just a forgetful brick-brain..."

"I get, that I have to come, that's for certain, but... what does she mean by "take somebody else with me"? Does she mean, I have to bring more fighters to the table, than just myself?"

"She wasn't specific about the amount, but... does it really matter? Having reinforcements for large missions is always welcome home, y'know..."

This made Ryu fold his arms together, as he closes his eyes to come to a satisfactory decision... he cannot say for sure, if Rose's held any merit to them... but in the end, when it comes to these types of predictions... they never sound like something anyone could easily make up. He then reopens his eyes to stand up and give Menat, the answer she needed.

"...all right. I will go."

"Wow, really? That was quick. You are aware, that we can't get to Rose right away and this trip might take longer than you would initially expect..."

"I understand the circumstances well enough. And she says, she wants to see me... if that is the case, then I suppose, I have no other choice, but to listen to her prayer."

But then, Menat jumps off of the bed herself, as she then look at Ryu with a serious look now.

"If that is the case... then it's me, who won't have a choice either."

However, seeing her so quickly stand up, out of her bed immediately alarmed the Ansatsuken master... she may have rested for an entire day, but in his opinion, that is far from enough for a girl this small and fragile-looking... so you can imagine the shock being written in his eyes.

"Wait, why do you- are you really feeling well again? I mean, you- that beating you received from this monster did looking anything, but not agonizingly painful!"

But then... she smiled at him, letting him know, she was totally fine. And as it turns out... this girl seemed way tougher, than she initially looked...

"Heh heh... just a good piece of advice from me. I may look like your average, cutesy-looking fortune telling girl to you, but be warned... I am not Rose's disciple without a reason. I can take a beating like that just fine. I just wasn't prepared for this freak of nature... and how could I, cheap how he was, he basically rammed me down and gave me no room to defend myself."

She then starts warming up, by doing a little stretching with all of her arms and legs, while still having her eyes focus on him with a grin.

"And you may be wondering, why I am doing this right now. Well, let's say... now that I think about it, I can also now recall her having told me something about challenging you to a fight, just to test your abilities and see how far you've come from the last time, you met her."

"Wait... you want to fight me?"

"You guessed it. See it as two things: To prove myself, that I am worthy of being your personal guardian... and to see, if you are up to the challenges, that may lay ahead of our journey."

Ryu could not be anymore shocked at her overwhelming determination. But he reminisced of this classic phrase: Never judge a book, by its cover alone. If she is able to chew that much, it makes him wonder, how long she is going to last against him... so he nodded in approval.

"...OK. Then let us meet at the dojo. I am going to let Gouken know, that you are back in good shape."

"I will be waiting. You know where to find me."

Later...

Gouken was entering the rented dojo with Ryu and Menat already facing one another, right in the middle... he had to repeatedly caress the tip of his dense, grey-white beard, as he was really curious to see, what this little girl had for tricks up her sleeve.

"Hmmm... I can sense a really unusual aura emanating around her... she must be still green behind her ears, but I could be wrong... maybe, I shouldn't immediately be the really critical judge. This will be interesting, most certainly..."

Then, Ryu slightly bows his head before Menat as a sign of respect and sportsmanship, with the latter feeling confused, as of why he does that, as she wasn't that familiar with the far eastern culture... but since it's not like her to be rude, she goes along with it and bows before her opponent too... with Ryu adjusting his red gloves, while smiling...

"Are you ready, Menat?"

"Right when you are... and since you saved me, the first punch, is to be yours."

The second this message reached Ryu's ears, he then grew to be a little bit suspicious... he had to mutter to himself, not thinking much of it yet...

"I don't know why, but something tells me, that she must be plotting something... it's not very common to get allowance from the opposition to start the match, at least with someone as experienced as me... at any case, we may want to investigate this further and proceed with caution."

And as expected, Ryu went first, just to test the waters and see, what he is really dealing with here.

"Here I come! Raaaaa!"

And with that, Ryu sped forward, preparing for a well-timed, strong right... suddenly, everything goes in slow motion, as Menat then suddenly starts smirking to herself...

"Oh please... is that it?"

...and even though, she clearly had a plan, she didn't make any attempts to dodge the attack and right when Ryu's punch caused some dust to be summoned around the two... when the dust cleared... it was then, when the Ansatsuken master realized, he hit something incredibly solid.

"What in the-?!"

"Come on, did you seriously expect me to simply take it? You have got to do better than that..."

...and out of the dust, came forth a huge, shiny ball, that Ryu's fist is currently connected to and Menat's head was right behind it. With her then jokingly peeking her head out from the side.

"Peek-a-boo! I can see you!"

"Is... is that a crystal ball?!"

"I should have known it...!"

The female Egyptian starts giggling in a childish, yet irresistably adorable manner, before then stepping back a little to do a few almost acrobatic tricks with her crystal ball. And while she spins it on top of her index finger like a basketball, balances it on her nose, kicks it up and down with her ankles, as if she was playing soccer with it or balances it on the top of her hood, she playfully smiles at the two warriors, who couldn't believe their eye sight anymore... especially Ryu.

"So that's what you were planning... that's why you let me attack first... I should have expected anything, that resembled a significant counterattack, but... anything, but this! How do you do this anyway?!"

"Heh heh, impressive, isn't it? Can't blame you for looking pretty stumped right now... and well, how do I do this? As the shortest possible answer: Rose taught me so. Errands to run is a hazzle, but hey, you gotta know some way to fight and entertain yourself at the same time and this baby here, has never let me down. What is a fortune teller, without a crystal ball anyway? Too cliché for you?"

The surprise struck Ryu so badly, he couldn't even fathom this whole deal with Menat's "tool"... and he had to awkwardly chuckle, as he scratched the back of his head.

"Either way, this is... very... umm... "unique". I am really sorry, I can't even pretend... this is on a whole new level of bizarre... and as far as my knowledge goes, Rose never fought with a ball like that. She used her scarf... still... I am not going to lie. Now you made me even more curious."

He had to grin, before tightening his headband a little more, smiling to himself...

"After all, they don't call me the "Wandering Warrior" for nothing. Show me what you can do with this specialty of yours!"

"You should be careful with what you wish for... the outcome, the answer to this battle could already lay... right within my beloved Soul Sphere."

"Let's find out!"

FIGHT!

Since he saw, what kind of fighter Menat could turn out to be, Ryu first decides to go on the defensive and see, what else this crystal ball of hers can do... you may never know.

"Since you already had your first turn, may I start now, please? I'll bet, you'd like to see more from me."

"Go on ahead."

"OK."

And right within a brief instance, Menat closes her eyes to concentrate and when she did, her ball suddenly starts hovering above the ground... and then, she catapults her ball forward, as if it was a projectile weapon. However, the speed of this little ball was truly magnificent, as Ryu had very little time to react and because it came so sudden... he crossed his arms to block the attack and simply deflects it, by raising his crossed arms over his head. And just when he moved forward to attack the seemingly defenceless girl before him... she had to grin, before doing a little motion with her right hand, that she hid right behind her back...

"Oh, you thought that was it?"

And the moment, when his fist should connect with her face, he suddenly gets completely knocked back. Straight from the right with the glowing sphere coming in contact with his face, causing him to crash to the ground... before quickly recovering and then gawking at Menat with wide eyes...

"So you are able, not only to attack with it, but also to turn it into a projectile, that tracks down its opponent, even after a good block?"

"Correct. But still, no A+ for you... yet."

Ryu now began forming a stragety in his mind, now that he has witnessed the hard way, what exactly Menat's special ability is...

"If she really is capable of letting her own weapon work similar to a homing missile... then I really have to watch my step... blocking once won't cut it, as already seen... hey, maybe I can... let's try that! The moment I block and she tries to let it strike me again... she is going to get a taste of her own medicine!"

And with that, Ryu goes at it again and decides to face Menat upfront, punching and kicking her... but for some reason, this time, she did not use her sphere to block. In fact, before he even came closer to her, she threw the ball away from herself and then immediately began focusing on shielding herself more with her own body. Now, she was showing, that she can indeed defend herself, even without the sphere... as unexpected as that was for our hero to see Menat use her own arms and legs to block, it still positively astonished him. And she couldn't help, but not hide her excitement.

"What? You thought I am completely vulnerable without my sphere? Newsflash, Rose even let me go through all sorts of physical endurance tests too, y'know... that part with the ball is one thing, but that is a whole different story. Paid off, didn't it?"

"Indeed. So far, you don't disappoint."

"I am glad... but I still haven't showed you everything... like this one!"

She then blocked with both arms to take the kick, that he was throwing at her, before she then takes her ball again and take Ryu's confusion to her advantage... by first hitting him in the gut with her crystal ball, before jumping up, pull the ball upwards to get close to Ryu's face, before then slam kicking the sphere right into the Ansatsuken master's face with both feet in mid-air, causing him to slightly fly back, forcing him to rub his feet across the wooden carpet with him braking it with his right fist...

"Ugh!"

And she was far from done with him... this time, she decides to not go easy on him for a change and actually use her ball's combat potential to 100%. She does so, by catapulting her ball forward for a start with Ryu dodging it this time, as he found out, that this is not the right time to put his own stragety into action yet. He had to wait for the right moment... and in the meantime, Menat showed off more of her ball skills, as she then does some almost circus like movements with her hand. She literally forced him into dancing, by making him dodge the ball from every conceivable angle... from left to right, from right to left, from above to below, from below to above, from the top corner to the bottom one and reversed, it found no end and she couldn't resist, but laughing out loud, just by watching Ryu struggle like that, trying to keep up with her...

"If it wasn't for the fact, I was actually in the middle of a fight, this could actually count as the best time of my life... I am sorry, I know it's morbid, but I can't help it. It looks so funny, watching you trying your hardest to dodge my Soul Sphere...!"

"Well, amusing for you... not so much for me!"

"But I am getting bored of this... now for some real action! Hah!"

She brought her crystal ball to an abrupt stop, right in front of Ryu's face... and that one moment, of where he didn't watch his step, he found himself getting uppercutted into the air by the ball and Menat took the opportunity to juggle him a little around in mid-air and she increased the speed, until her wrist grew tired... and she decides to end this painful combination, by running forward, jumping up and then making Ryu crash right back to the floor below, by doing a well-timed, wild drilling-down Khamun Kick from above, striking his stomach dead on.

"Some shish kebab, coming right up!"

Although, that was a critical hit, he still recovered fairly quickly, tough as he was and he stood back up on his feet... even then, that didn't stop him from then realizing, that his nose was bleeding and that some part of his body ached. Gouken was sitting on the ground, laughing out loud, while clapping slightly.

"It seems, this little girl got you real good. Nevertheless, isn't she impressive? Like you, I didn't think much of her, but now I have to change my mind. Not many manage to catch you off guard like that."

His pupil had to laugh too, quickly wiping the blood away...

"I must agree... she really is something... she is so professional, yet so young. Not many can manage to get this far at such an age. Rose must have taught her well... and it definitely shows."

"What do you say? You think she really is worthy of being your guide?"

"I think so... but I'd like to see more of her. She did say earlier, that she still has got tricks to show me and I wouldn't want to miss the chance, now shall we?"

"Get on and make me proud, you two!"

While they had a talk, Menat was playing around with her sphere again and this time, it resulted with her kissing the ball and smiling at it.

"What would I do without you...?"

"Well, are we ready to continue?"

"Yes, we are!"

But Ryu had to think to himself again...

"She can block with AND without the sphere... I still have to wait for the right moment, of when I am going to put my plan into action... but for now... I am itching to know, if she can withstand this."

Then, Ryu steps back and starts building up a fair amount of blue energy in between his two hands... totally alarming Menat, comically making her jump out of her little trance. She grew insecure, as she has a technique up her sleeve, but she never really had to use it that often and now that it's time, she had a tough time concentrating in a situation this urgent...

"Uh-oh! Is he already planning on using it? OK... then... calm down, Menat... you can do this, use the sphere, exactly like how your master told you to do so... we practiced this more than once...! Focus... focus... focus!"

She then brings her crystal ball forward again, looking serious this time around...

"Alright...! Here goes nothing...!"

"You may have been able to withstand everything I threw at you so far... but are you also able to withstand THIS?! HADOUKEN!"

And with that, he fires a relatively large, blue glowing beam at her with her then doing a few super quick movements with her hands... causing her Soul Sphere to then turn into a huge, blue-white glowing barricade, right in front of her.

"SOUL REFLECT!"

And as expected, the barrier caught Ryu's projectile...

"What the-?! A barrier?!"

"Ugggh! Raaaaagh!"

However... even though she succeeded in summoning her barrier, the amount of force behind the Hadouken was way too much for her to handle and it caused a good load of pain, trying to hold it back from hitting her and absorb it... and with Ryu using more of his strength to try and break through the wall of energy in front of him, it grew tougher and tougher for the petite fortune teller to keep the barrier upright and soon, it reached a point, where her feet start rubbing against the wooden floor... before she eventually manages to close the shield and absorb the Hadouken... but the side effect of that was... the recoil of the blast caused her to fly back and crash right into the wall behind her, moaning in pain...

"Oh damn it... one hell of a bummer, if you ask me..."

Now Ryu realized, he must have went a little too far here... he was totally stumped by her deflecting barrier, but at the same time... she did not seem to use this technique with a lot of confidence in it actually working... he had to yell out with a softened up look, as he watched her only slowly cradling herself back onto her walkers.

"Menat! Are you alright?!"

"Yeah, more or less... but... I still need some damn practice with this stupid technique. I am basically at the end of my wits with it... let's better get on with it."

"Should we take a break, maybe?"

"No! I am fine, I can take it, just... don't mind me too much..."

She then makes a hand motion, that basically pulls her crystal back to her hand like a strong magnet, starting to look annoyed and frustrated as of why her own deflector move did not work as planned...

"...and fight me for real!"

"Here she comes! Now it's my turn to strike back...!"

And as expected, Menat fires the crystal ball at him again... only this time, he blocked, but not by crossing his arms to do it. He actually catches the ball with both hands, totally shocking the crap out of the female Egyptian, before kicking it right back at her... forcing her to catch and at the same time, also lower her guard and he dashed right in, giving her no means of using anymore tricks...

"I don't think so...!"

...and before she knew it, she found herself getting brutally struck by a Shoryuken, a direct hit in the jaw. She flies through air, completely defenceless, only giving more free spots to attack and as expected, it did not stop here. Ryu jumps after her, kicking her right gut first, before doing a well-timed spinning kick in mid-air, hitting her two times, before going for a good out-knocker. He balls both fists together as one and then hits Menat right in the backside, making her fly back down to the ground, face-first...

"Urrgh!"

...before Menat recovers and gracefully bounces off the wooden carpet, dodging a meteor like punch from Ryu from above her hood, pulling her ball back to its owner, before firing her ball right at him again. But since he grew smarter from that, he won't hide from it anymore and goes into the offensive.

"What do the wise ones say? Mistakes only make you smarter... and I am going to put it to use now."

He focuses all his Ki on his right fist... before then punching the ball out of the way, as he runs straight at her, ready to go for another Shoryuken, so it seems... but this time... he actually did something way smarter... of course, Menat would then desperately summon her ball back to herself to shield her body from injuries... only that this time, it is going to do the total opposite of what it's supposed to be doing, as Ryu then all of a sudden, jumps up... and does a fully charged spinning Tatsumaki... and the force of that special move was so intense, in the end, the ball starts repeatedly slapping Menat across the face, instead of protecting her and it became so bad, she was completely stunned to move, all she saw was comical stars swirling around her small head...

"Sometimes, your own weapon, can be your own demise... now, let's end this, shall we?"

He then goes in, pulls off another Shoryuken on her and right before she could land back on the carpet, Ryu fires off another, yet somewhat weaker Hadouken, just to send her flying against the wall again and there was nothing, she could do about. Ryu was just too fast for her in that moment... but much to his surprise, Menat still manages to stand up somehow, even after that harsh beating, that she received from him...

"Unbelievable... she sure is tough..."

"I am not finished with you yet...! I am ready for another go, show me your Hadouken, one more time...! I am prepared for you...!"

Suddenly, she starts focusing all the remaining Ki, that she had left inside her, all into the ball in her right palm... and despite her slightly doubling forward with her knees trembling, she was still fully determined to fight back... despite his doubts, Ryu would hate to disappoint her, so... he fully respects her desire, nods and starts charging up a stronger Hadouken... with more energy getting focused into the Soul Sphere, the glow around it became a stronger and shinier blue, mixed in with white and a faint yellow...

"HADOUKEN!"

"SOUL STRIKE!"

...with both fully charged, the Ansatsuken master fires his infamous projectile, while Menat dashes forward to fight against it, using her fully powered Soul Sphere to push her weapon against it, hoping it might eventually stop from reaching her dead on, so that she can hit Ryu... the power, that emanates from the clash is anything, but weak, as the ground underneath slightly starts to show cracks in some places... with both putting more power into it... suddenly, the struggle ends with the both of them getting mercilessly knocked back, as none of the two managed to overpower the other and no winner really came out of this... Gouken then steps forth, as he decides, this was good enough for him to confirm: Menat and Ryu are ready. He then does a handsign, that indicated, that the battle was over.

"All right, that is enough, you two. Enough fighting for today."

Both of the brave contestants slowly got themselves into a sitting position, with Ryu giving Menat a proud and encouraging thumb up, with her cutely returning it, feeling pretty proud of herself. None of the two may have won the match, but it didn't really matter anyways. All this was a fight to test one another and both come to the conclusion: We really are ready to go and start the trip. And no words were really needed to express their pride... Ryu was proud of the little fortune teller either way with how bravely she stood against him and how she managed to positively surprise him with her skills as combatant...

Later...

After the two having enjoyed a shower individually, and having received some wound treatment from Gouken... both decided to move out tomorrow, rather than today, as they will need all the strength, that they are going need... at the moment, Menat was outside, enjoying the fresh air... she simply wanted a moment to clear her mind, as she was not feeling that confident about this errand turning out to be a success... she may have looked confident about it, but at the same time... she was dreadfully nervous. After all, this is a mission, that might decide the fate of the whole world they live... they may not know exactly, what it really is, that threatens their world, but that wasn't really important... so she had to think to herself, while looking up at the peaceful and clear night sky, with a stern face...

"It's funny... master told me to watch over Ryu... yet at the exact same time, the other day, he had to watch over me not getting eaten by this Necalli freak... I don't really get it, why did she choose me for this job? Also, why does he need protection anyway...? After all, today, he has proven to be far above my league of skill... and yet, I am the one, playing the babysitter for him... am I really going to be any help at all for him?"

While she was totally sunken in her own sorrows, she then heard a voice behind her, that made her immediately break out of her mild trance...

"Menat."

It was no other than Ryu...

"Huh?"

...and judging by the look in his eyes, the little fortune teller was able to tell, he was sincerely worried about her. Now, she shall find out, how he comes to that conclusion deep down.

"You can't fool my eyes. I can tell, that you are feeling strong anxiety within your soul... is there something troubling you?"

At first, she was hesitant to respond back, as she doesn't really know Ryu on a personal level, so opening up to him felt a little awkward for her... a man, she doesn't even know, listening to her sorrowful ramblings... it didn't feel right, but nevertheless... since she doesn't want to be rude, she decides to play along...

"Umm... I guess, you could say that... You do know, that I have been entrusted by my master with the task of watching over you... but ever since you actually had to save my bacon, even though, it's supposed to happen the other way around, I... I am indeed concerned about the probability of success with this errand... and with me having received a major ass-kicking from you today... you get the gist..."

The warrior's look really softened up, as he was beginning to quickly understand, what was going on with her...

"I see... you are fearing of not being able to fulfill your task and thus disappointing Rose, in the process..."

"Yeah... you got me, heh..."

"You shouldn't really worry about it, Menat. I know, that Rose is not the kind of woman to severely scold you and I know, this mission may be very important, I get the idea... but breaking your head about it, won't get us anywhere... and I am sure of it, you WILL be a strong addition on this adventure, because... that technique you used to deflect my Hadouken... keep working on it, it's magnificent, you shouldn't give up hope, I was really stumped when you used it! Nobody has ever really tried to stop the Hadouken with their bare hands, you should be proud of yourself! If you master this ability... I will be very proud of you and Rose will too..."

Hearing Ryu's encouraging words... it made her feel like, he is her own father... that she never really had... she felt her cheeks redden and a warm fuzzy, comfortable feeling growing up inside of her... her happiness couldn't be hidden...

"Thanks... you are what they must call you, one hell of a charming, smooth talker..."

"Aspiring fighters of your kind need way more credit, than you get at the moment... but, back to topic... if you still can't get over your inner demons, why don't you just sit back and reduce your stress?"

"Reduce my stress...? Wait, let me guess, are you referring to... meditating?"

"Precisely. Sit down in front of me, we'll do it right away."

Her cheeks just became even redder than before... she felt really flattered and rubbed the backside of her head in embarrassment, as she has never really done this sort of thing before with a partner...

"Oh...! Hehehe... well, Rose keeps telling me to meditate to relax, as well, although... I have never done that with someone else giving me some company, but... it's not a big deal, is it...?"

"Hahaha, no! Come on, let us not stall!"

Within the matter of a few seconds, Menat was already sitting right in front of Ryu... that only made her situation even more awkward for herself...

"OK..."

"Well, if Rose has already shown or mentioned to you before, how this works, it shouldn't be a problem for you, right? Just... close your eyes... relax... and send all your sorrows to the desert..."

By that point, his eyes were already shut, not too tight, but also not too soft... he felt like, he was becoming one with the universe itself... the balance, the inner peace returned to him... this made his now official companion feel even more stumped than before... and she began talking to herself again inside her head...

"Wow, talk about "taking this way too seriously"... he is even worse, than Rose... if that is even possible... makes me wonder, if he goes to sleep like that in the middle of noon or when he is simply taking a nap in the afternoon, or-"

Ryu was quick to notice, that she wasn't easing up and her inner distress could be felt from inches away...

"Hey, you are not relaxing, are you? Remember what I said... let all the negative energy just flow out of you... like a river, under a brigde..."

"Oh, OK! Will do it right away!"

And this time... Menat really did manage to release all of her worst fears from her subconscious... at least, for the moment... and while she was spending time with Ryu, she felt like... that he might become her good friend within a short amount of time, for sure... she had to smile, while her eyes are still closed...

"He seems way kinder, than I initially thought... so humble and graceful... and I kinda expected him to be some self-centered guy, that only cares about picking up fights for the thrill of it and that's that, but... no... I couldn't be any further from the truth... may this journey be a success..."

While the two were meditating... Gouken had to watch the two with a proud grin on his lips, nodding in approval...

"This young girl is surely a kindred spirit... she may still have a long, long way to go... but all of her efforts today were truly beyond my expectations... it's not very often, that someone manages to withstand Ryu this long and with a lot of resistance... that potential of hers must NOT be wasted, at all..."

TO BE CONTINUED...