Chapter 4: Familiar Faces

Ryu and Menat finally arrived in America after a long flight, having had to land in Japan first, before switching flights to go straight for the North American soil from the air. And the moment they stepped outside of the plane, they were hit with an abominable heat and immediately, Menat began taking off her jacket, wiping her mildly glistening forehead, as they go down the steps to jump on the bus and go straight for the main airport.

"Phew, what the hell? It's only in the middle of April and already, it's this hot here in Texas? I mean, I don't mind warm weather one bit, because fun fact, I grew up in an incredibly arid country like Egypt, where the heat is probably ten times higher this time of year, but come on… having come from Japan now, the jump in temperature is jarring."

But Ryu, being very adaptable to most things that life likes throwing at him, he only began laughing.

"Oh, trust me, you should have seen my training routine, growing up. When I was your age, I was forced into literally training outside, while it was still raining, and it was mostly during the autumn season. It couldn't possibly get anymore chilly than that, now, could it? So, I dare you to do that too, and then come back to me to let me know how you did."

But all that he got Menat as a response, was a cute pout and some serious words of "wisdom" from her.

"I just so happen to be a girl, that hates the cold even worse than extreme heat. I am just so sensitive when it comes to things that are super chilly. So, all I can say to your offer is this: Not gonna happen. I'd rather dehydrate than freeze to death."

Ryu playfully began holding his hands up, feeling like the small mistress wants to punish him for him being "disrespectful" to her, despite it just being friendly banter between acquaintances.

"When you look at me with this moody pout of yours, I can't help but go, "Oh, my mistress, you wounded me!". But seriously, what would I know about your training routine anyhow? I am not you. You should know yourself better than I ever could."

She then does a cute nya-mouth, with her head comically growing and poking at Ryu's cheek, saying with a mischievous grin and tonal shift:

"Nuh-uh-uh, if you are so great as a martial artist, like how my master kept telling me, would you mind doing MY training routine as well? Just for your information, I am not just a fancy dancer here. I am a trained gymnast and one that walked away with 3 gold medals in gymnastics-based competitions. We shouldn't even be comparing each other and yet you still chose to make fun of me for me so being sensitive towards the cold, despite me telling you the reason why. So next time, when you tell me something about your sore spots, I will be doing the same, just you wait."

This only served to make the world-renowned martial artist laugh out loud even more, as he really began enjoying having conversations with her, as he knew already: She is a far stretch away from being "lifeless". He then gently shields his face from her constant poking, while saying with a playful grin.

"OK, OK, sorry, I didn't mean to cause any offence. It's just that, when I was younger, I kept having to fend for myself in the worst possible conditions that no one would ever dare imagining. And unlike you, I didn't have the time or mental capacity to complain about something being either "too cold" or "too warm". I had to go with it, either way. But if you really want me to, maybe I will take you up on your offer. I may not be the most flexible, but what the hell? You're never too old to learn something new, every day."

She then stopped, realizing she was actually touching Ryu just now and having felt his really masculine aura up-close in a moment of her having to justify herself, she then began blushing a deep shade of red, before hip slamming against his side on his seat and then revealing to Ryu, the cutest possible smile from her, he could have ever asked for, as she felt genuinely flattered by him having expressed the desire to join in on her gymnastics routine.

…and Ryu felt like, he just made a major mistake, accepting this offer, as he had the lingering feeling that Menat may be a small sadist and she is only blushing to hide how much she is looking forward into tormenting him, as she is now armed with the knowledge, he is not that flexible from the get-go.

"It will be the best trust me! I-I am looking forward to pushing you to your limits! I really am! Nobody has ever expressed interest like that to me before!"

"Umm… should I take that as a compliment?"

Later…

The moment both picked up their bags at the airport and went past the terminals, they were expected by a quite surprising guest… it was Chun-Li. And the moment Ryu saw her, and their eyes actually met, his eyes lit up in genuine joy, as he rushed in, with Menat catching his bag very smoothly without it touching the ground as she joined him in on this and began smiling like an idiot, watching this reunion of old companions go down.

The moment the two got closer, both without hesitation embraced each other, as if they were an old married couple, despite the two having returned into being a bachelor and bachelorette. Either way, having grown as comrades during training in their youth and having gone up against Bison together as a team, going through the tough times as one,

"Hey! Chun-Li! Haven't seen you in a while!"

"Ryu! It's so good to see you again, I am glad!

And in the background, as the friends from the days of old have their chat, as they leave the airport to head straight for Chun-Li's car, all that Menat could do, was curiously circle around Ryu's old companion, eyeing her curiously like how a cat would around their new owners, before comically stopping dead in her tracks, with the colors fading from her face, as she takes a look at Chun-Li's impressive leg-size and all the while, the conversation continues like normal.

"But how did you even know, me and Menat were to arrive here today? I never told you about this, even if I was going to, but I wanted to wait until both me and Menat were done meeting with Ken first, before giving you a call."

"Believe it or not, I already know what you plan on doing. You are looking for recruits, aren't you?"

While Menat was adorably goofing around the two, being the clingy cat girl that she is, the conversation suddenly became serious, as Chun-Li reveals something important.

"Wait, how do you know this?"

"Rose let me know in advance. She knew that, out of all people, I had the closest connection to Bison overall and not wanting to let me feel left out, while you are looking for the necessary recruits to start the operation, of course I would be informed as well."

"Ever the workaholic, aren't you? You are always preparing in advance, always one step ahead of me. What would I ever do without you?"

"I'd say that you should save the flattering words for later. Because this operation of yours, is something that has been itching on my neck ever since for a very simple reason. And that being that we haven't heard from Bison, ever since his biggest defeat, almost 20 years ago. Doesn't this appear strange to you already? Like, why would he just disappear like that and never show his face again? He knows, he is a wanted man, and I will never believe him to have "changed his ways" or him "having died of natural causes", like how the media repeatedly tries to make us believe. And ever since Rose told me of this premonition she's been having, which she also told you about, I presume, I found it tough to find any remote sense of inner peace with myself. And now I am here, as I want to lead the operation once more."

Hearing the raw determination oozing out of her words, Ryu felt all warm and tingly on the inside, as it really reminded him of the good old days, when they were still young, inexperienced and yet always ready to throw down and save the day as power couple.

"You really never changed, did you? I mean, this isn't the first time, where you had to lead the entire operation and now, we are back in business… sheesh, never thought I'd say that, though. Feels weird. I mean, we are not even "superheroes" or anything, just a couple of middle-aged folks, trying to come up with a plan on how to make the world a better place."

"To be honest, I would have wished a long time ago to remain young…"

That last remark of hers, was what stuck out the most for the older martial artist and normally, he'd not pay that much mind towards many things during conversations and just go with the flow. However, the closer he observed his lifelong friend, he was quick to notice, that Chun-Li's old sense of youthful enthusiasm has mildly dwindled away from her, and he could tell, just by looking at her, for the lack of a better word, "soulless", hazel eyes. Normally, he would have expected her to be all cheerful and ready to kick some villain's holy four letters straight into the next week, but now, this vigor seems no longer to be present with her.

Sure, they struggled a lot together back then, they never had it easy, they didn't even have that much money or many resources to rely on, most of all, they had to deal with one of the most malicious people to have ever graced the earth with his presence. Despite all the odds, they all still stuck together and still managed to win at the end of the day, having become practically inseparable as well, having grown wiser and stronger from the experience. Even with the possibility of death looming over all of them, but now… this enthusiasm was no longer with her, as it seems.

And it got even weirder, as he noticed that she was not really smiling that much anymore as well, even while talking with her during the drive to Ken's dojo. Seeing this go down, even Menat was quick to notice Ryu's growing melancholy. And the atmosphere during the drive seems to really tense up, whenever Ryu tried to bring old memories, they had formed together, either as a couple or as a team, fighting against the threat, that was Bison, even in their youth.

She'd either respond with, "Yeah, what about it?", or "I know, good times", in a disinterested tone, as if she really has no intention of reminiscing too much and while looking at her, every attempt at it would lead to her looking even more upset than before. And to avoid making her uncomfortable any further, he just decided to stay silent for the remainder of the ride. But this didn't stop the atmosphere around them to feel incredibly oppressive, for some reason. Ryu really felt like a knot is forming inside his stomach and even more so with Menat, who really does not like it, when something is in the air of this magnitude. She tried to break the tension by being the one to talk instead.

"By the way, you're a police officer, right?"

Unlike with Ryu, Chun-Li felt way more cooperative into talking with Menat and this made the older martial artist look at the lavender haired girl with a look, very mildly beaming in gratitude, as he watched the girls have their own ways of banter.

"Yes, I am. I am from Interpol. And if you are not aware of why that is so special, well… it never gets boring. Sometimes I work here, sometimes I work here, depending on where my assignment guides me. The world is basically open to me, so to speak."

"Wow, so you can really be everywhere and anywhere? That sounds so cool!"

"Aww, shush, it's not as cool as it sounds, it does still require me to actually focus on the job and not get distracted by the local… delicacies… geez, now that we are talking about food, I only NOW realize how hungry I really am. I am craving me some local chicken and waffles… with a load of maple syrup on top, hmmm…"

As Chun-Li was drooling at the idea of chomping down on some fried chicken and waffles, the local delicacy in the American south, this only made Menat and Ryu comically go silent, as they look with dot eyes at her, while the short fortune teller girl was saying in an unimpressed tone, feeling mildly betrayed here at the mood swings:

"This is all it takes to improve her mood. Fancy. Just mention good food and she will immediately feel better. Was she always like that?"

Ryu had to scratch the back of his head, while smiling in an awkward fashion.

"Unfortunately, I cannot deny this. Even when we were young adults, she was all about the food. Give her some fried rice with soy sauce and pork and next thing you know, the moment you turn your head the other way, only moments later, you return to find her plate being totally emptied. She always had a much bigger appetite than either both me or Ken. And if you would go to all-you-can-eat buffets, forget about it. You will never win against her, if she was to challenge you into an eating contest there. To be honest, I am still puzzled over how she hasn't gained any external weight yet. Sometimes, I really do worry about the balance between her in-take in calories and the amount of workout she gets to burn them all off."

Ryu was lucky enough to say the C-word without Chun-Li becoming incredibly defensive over it, as she was far too hungry to care about it over what he had to say, or her. But Menat could only chuckle out loud at the idea of Ryu's former teammate being such a food glutton, despite appearances having previously told her: This woman should be a professional. Hearing this tale from Ryu's perspective, it gave her to think: If Chun-Li is already such a goofball, despite her being long since past her angsty, young adulthood phase, what about the other former teammates they will be meeting up with?

"Pardon my question, Ryu, but… if you were to personally describe Ken to me, what traits come immediately to your mind? I am just asking, because… Chun-Li convinced me… you might have had a group of total misfits as friends, so, mind if you indulge me a little? I mean, I have no room to complain about weirdness, when I myself am completely weird in my own way, so don't get any wrong impressions on me and yet… care to share the tea with me?"

Feeling so relieved over the tension having majorly experienced a downward spiral, Ryu began to laugh, as he grinned in a mildly mischievous way:

"Oh, I can tell you a few things about him, that still make me laugh to this day. For one thing, and this is something I blame him the least for, is him despising all types of TV Soap Operas. I tell you, when he was living with me and my master in Japan for a while, whenever we went to a hotel there, Ken would always be the first to always, without fail, ask at the reception, if this hotel happens to have more international based television programs, because he really cannot stand Soap Operas. He absolutely DENIES the notion of sitting on the couch to watch this form of media entertainment. And this was especially true back then, because keep in mind, it was the 80s. You'd have to be lucky in order to still get to watch TV programs, where any western based movies or TV shows would be shown, while keeping the English language intact, only with Japanese subtitles."

Hearing this, Menat had to awkwardly giggle, because the mere idea of someone like Ken, a rich guy with no financial worries in the world, still being brought down to the ground of harsh reality, by the mere existence of Soap Operas, was too hilarious for her to not laugh at. All she could do was picturing it in her head, like a running cartoon, like how a young Ken would be moaning and complaining about the typical, late afternoon, TV program prime time.

"And it gets better, trust me. Not only does Ken not like Soap Operas, but the other thing that he doesn't like, is what we call in Japan, an "umeboshi", a really sour plum, which usually goes really well with tea. But Ken himself, the simpleton he can be sometimes, he just decided to completely abolish all common sense and just go for one of those plums all raw,

without adding anything. Need I say anything else? The result, if I was to describe it to you via cartoon effects, if this was a cartoon, Ken's mouth would shrivel up and "disappear" into his face cavity, that's how sour these small plums are. It's really no exaggeration, never eat this without adding anything else, it will never go well, otherwise. And to this day, he hasn't forgotten that small incident, ever since. And it traumatized him that badly, he even refuses to ever drink or eat anything remotely sour, ever again."

This made the short gymnast champion laugh out loud this time, as this was unexpected to hear. The great Ken Masters, brought to his knees by sour foods.

"And what about orange juice? Isn't that sort of a staple with many breakfasts out there, as well? Does he avoid that too? You need your daily Vitamin C from oranges, you know."

"I have no idea, how he compensates for that. I haven't seen him in a while, but regardless, us growing up together really affected us both, for better and for worse. And, I have something more of a fun fact about Ken. The moment you see him, the first thing that may immediately become recognizable about him, is his blonde hair. But did you know, his hair is not blonde by nature, and he is constantly trying to dye his hair blonde instead? Because his natural hair color is a dark shade of brown or black. And even I don't know anymore, what his actual hair color is now. With age, your hair can change naturally over time, so… the more you know."

But Chun-Li grew curious herself, as she wanted to know a little more about Menat. She knows that she is supposed to be the apprentice of Rose, but that's all she got for intel on her. So she puts on the sweetest possible, almost motherly tone that she could muster to innocently ask the short gymnast girl:

"I didn't have the chance to yet, but tell me a little about yourself, umm… Menat, was it?"

And the response from her couldn't possibly sound any peppier than it could:

"Yup, that's me, I am Menat, the soon-to-fortune teller in training. But just call me Menat, okey-doke?"

Watching the cute and almost whimsical body language, combined with the peppy and playful tone in her voice, that Menat makes consistent use of, while interacting with them and only now that being noticed by even the police officer, just the voice alone was enough to fill in the blanks in her mind, while still focusing on driving: Ryu really has landed the jackpot with her as an assistant and protector. It also served to improve Chun-Li's mood overall, as she kept on driving the car. Menat's peppiness was highly contagious, that was much was certain to her. Adding to her curiosity, all the more.

"Alright, Menat. Mind if I ask you something? It's nothing personal, don't worry about it. Bear with me, but please allow me the question: Is there any particular reason, why Rose has specifically chosen you to protect Ryu? I mean, I am not going to ever doubt you being competent as a fighter, Rose would never be careless enough to send someone without proper training, but what I actually mean is: Is there any clear significance on you having to be the one to guard him?"

The response was far simpler than it seemed at first. Wanting to put the misunderstandings to rest, she decided set the record straight, while still sounding as innocent as ever.

"Oh, that. In all actuality, the reason why Rose decided to pick me as Ryu's protector is because well, since I am currently out of schoolwork, due to me returning to home schooling soon and Rose wanting me to see the world some more, as it helps "expanding more horizons" the way she put it, she figured: Before I could be bored out of my mind, why not? She has this much faith in my competence, can you even believe it? But before you get any wrong ideas about me, I am not going EVER proclaim in me being some top-notch fighter or anything, I am only trying to be as resourceful as possible… unlike that one time though…"

She comically fell silent and depressed, due to how easily she has gotten overwhelmed by this unhinged beast, back in Thailand, that goes by the name of Necalli, who was so close into literally killing and absorbing her power for himself. We even get to see a comical, puppet show type of representation of her being completely overpowered by Necalli, before Ryu arrives to save her at the last second. But wanting to stay optimistic and not wanting to disappoint too hard, she returned to her cheerful self, trying to uphold Chun-Li's now improved mood.

"…but it still does make me feel all tingly on the inside, knowing that my master believes that much in me! I mean, how can I not get excited over this? She is so cool, damn it!"

Then she cutely and comically starts making a hyped Nya-face, while Chun-Li had to giggle herself, as, again, Menat's happiness is really contagious and it also affected Ryu, since even they had to agree to her sentiment, albeit, not referring to her the same way that her student does but really wanting to sympathize with her mindset. And Chun-Li kindly went all:

"Indeed. Rose is really one of a kind. She is the one, where the notion of "fortune tellers being nothing but scammers" is complete and utter nonsense. When she predicts something, it will all be added through logic and reason, given the current circumstances of the prediction. She in fact, has helped us all in more ways than one. And though I never really saw her as the type to actually train an apprentice, it does admittedly warm my heart to see you being treated so well by her. She must really love you, doesn't she?"

"Yup-yup, she is simply the best, nya-ha-ha."

But Chun-Li then looked at Ryu, getting mildly serious with him, which he immediately caught on to, as she still requires clarity over Menat's abilities and strengths.

"Ryu, mind indulging me for a bit?"

"Let me guess, you really don't want her to fight, do you?"

"No, it's not that, more like… did you see her fight? Can you explain her abilities to me?"

"The long and short of it, Menat really is in her own class of skill. Far removed from what either of us two can do, Ken, Guile and Cammy involved. Then again, Rose is also in her own class, so Menat easily joins her in that regard of possessing abilities that are tough to comprehend. If I was to give you a description: She uses her gymnast abilities to be as evasive as she can be, having excellent bodily agility too and using her own form of a melee weapon, a crystal ball, to put you at a distance, so you don't get too close to her for comfort. She is quite tricky to deal with, I can tell you this much. Even though I won against her, I still could not get a full grip on her fighting style, as though, she hasn't shown enough of it yet. And this thought process was birthed through the fact: She used her crystal ball to deflect my Hadouken and send it right back at me. It was not really an issue for me to evade getting hit by this but think about that for a moment. She managed to "steal" my own energy and turn it against me. If you had any doubts beforehand of her possible contributions, if we were to give her more training refinement, she may actually prove to be far more valuable than we give her credit for now."

That gave the police officer enough food to think about. Menat may seem like she could get in the way in the future, but given the fact, that Rose chose her to guide Ryu along the way and being also a "protector" of sorts, which does require a considerable amount of combat knowledge, she settled on something important on the inside.

"Stealing your own technique and turning it against the previous user, within just mere seconds… just hearing that, it sounds crazy… the world really is big, isn't it…? I may have to test her skills sometime. Ryu would never lie about something this important, considering the life of a teenager is being put at possible risk here. But I have always been a person of action instead of words, so…"

Later…

All of them finally arrived at the address of Ken's dojo, which turns out to be a dojo inside a huge building complex. All of them jumped off, with Ryu being the most excited out of all of them, as he finally gets to see his brother-in-arms again. He rang the doorbell and soon, the door opened so they went to the elevator to get to level on which his dojo is located and the moment all of them went inside, all of them had to stop, the moment they heard a really annoyed voice, telling someone over the phone something that they couldn't make out, as no names were ever dropped and nobody could tell, what this argument was really all about. The annoyed voice belonged to Ken, as well, increasing the confusion scale even higher.

"How many times do I have to tell you this? I am NOT. Accepting students. Anymore. The spots are all filled up for the season! I cannot just leave the country for another student, if I did, this entire dojo would just stop functioning altogether! Listen kid, if you really want to train that badly, you should go look for someone else, I am currently completely full, do you hear me?"

Then he hung up, not even saying goodbye, as he sighed deeply and full of internal aggression, wanting to kick something so badly right now, as he tried to remain calm and brushing a hand through his thick, faux blonde hair.

"Oh, for pete's sake, this kid is annoying. Why won't he listen to me already? I told him, I am all full and I cannot accept students for this season. He has to wait until next month or so, what else does he want me to say? I don't have a time machine to revert his lack of timing and tact, sheesh…"

But his mood quickly improved from worst to the absolute BEST, the moment he turned around to see, who was waiting for him at the reception: His lifelong brother-in-arms, Ryu. Followed by both Chun-Li and their newcomer addition, Menat. But Ryu was all that this martial artist cared for at the moment and feeling so happy to see him again, he immediately rushed in to do an epic bro-fist with him with Ryu happily returning it, as both began laughing heartily to each other's return.

"Hello, Ken! It's good to see you again, after all this time!"

"Ha! Same goes to you, buddy! And looking at you, you haven't changed a single bit. I'll bet, you are still living the same monk life as ever, amirite?"

"Yeah, well, someone has to keep watch on our master here. We wouldn't want him to pass on, due to old age or loneliness, or am I wrong about that?"

"No, you're absolutely right."

And as all four got inside the training area, Menat was talking to Chun-Li during all this, feeling so happy to see Ryu being reunited with his closest friend and brother-in-arms. And his good mood was just as contagious as hers. Chun-Li felt the same way, as this felt like one blast from the past that will NEVER get old, even for her.

"Man, seeing the two interacting together, it's like watching two young brothers on Christmas Eve, gifting each other the best of the best kinds of gifts one can give the other. Just watching them all happy together, makes me happy too, admittedly…"

"Yeah, I am with you on this, Menat. These two are practically inseparable. They literally went through thick and thin. You can't top this type of bond that they got, not even between me and Cammy."

And it got even more exciting, as all went to the training area to find a couple of students under Ken's care, who were currently taking a break to prepare for the next training session and now, all of their eyes and attention went straight to their teacher, as Ken yelled out in joy:

"Alright, alright, kids, hold the phone! Listen all up, before we get back to the usual training routine, I want all of you to take an even longer break today, because me and my good ol' friend here, will be duking it out, right here, right now! And I will guarantee all of you, it will be a blast. You may get inspired, who knows? But either way, enjoy your watchtime."

All of them did as they were told and all, including Chun-Li and Menat, sat down besides the ring to watch this upcoming spectacle with their own eyes. And all of them, even with some not even being in the clear yet on how important this fight will be for them, even they could tell: Ken is not one to tell lies. Especially as of now, Ryu and Ken faced each other in the ring, staring intensely at each other, immediately filling the air with an unexplainably high level of tension and genuine hype. It was like two gods reuniting and deciding to duke it out, just for fun. Ken could only smirk.

"Well now, Ryu… I sure hope you're ready. Considering you immediately bought into this bargain, I can tell myself, you are quite excited right now… or am I wrong?"

"No way. The moment I set foot in here, my first thoughts were the exact same as yours. I am just itching to fight you again."

"How does this line of yours go again? "The answer lies, in the heart of battle"? Oh, I can assure, I won't be going easy on you. So don't expect that "answer" of yours to be found out so easily."

"We won't know unless we try, now will we?"

Both then went into their respective fighting stances, ready to battle and make this reunion all the more worthwhile…

"Let's do this, Ken!"

"Don't you disappoint me now, Ryu! I hope you didn't get rusty!"

"In your dreams."

TO BE CONTINUED…