Chapter Fourteen





"I just found more information about Shadowlaw," said Liang holding up a handful of papers. He places the papers on the coffee table.

"What about them?" asked Veronica.

Liang sighs. "Well, the bad news is, I'm still not sure how Bison has been resurrected, but we did find some of their bases."

Everyone nods. It has been a week since finding out that not only Shadowlaw exist once again, but also that Bison has been resurrected. Everyone but Jasmine are now sitting in the den of their London hotel trying to figure out what's going on. Jasmine's ribs have improved in recovering, but doctors still suggest that she should stay in bed for another week.

"They did have a base outside of Barcelona, Spain, but it was destroyed seven years ago."

Ryu, Ken, Guile, Chun-Li, and Fei-Long look at each other knowing full well what happened that day.

"There are other bases, mostly in Southeast Asia; one in Cambodia, Thailand, India, Taiwan, and the Philippines."

"They did talk about Cambodia about seven year ago," said Guile. Wagner looks at Guile with confusion.

"(Cambodia?)" Wagner thought. "(How did he know about that?)"

"We send a military to check Cambodia," said Chun-Li. "But that base has been destroyed as well."

"Seems like they have all of these bases are around because they don't want the military finding them," said Ken.

"So then how are we going to stop them?" asked Veronica.

"We received a tip that there has been something going on in Thailand," said Liang. "I'm not sure what it is, but I have a gut feeling that it has something to do with Shadowlaw."

"So I'm guessing that we're heading to Thailand now?" asked Wagner.

"Yes," replied Chun-Li. "We figured since we got that tip, we can investigate there first."

While this was all being discussed, Ryu was staring into space. He couldn't stop thinking about Jasmine, who was recovering from her injuries in her room. He also couldn't believe that someone like Sagat would do such a thing to a strong, beautiful woman like Jasmine.

"(I can't believe he joined Shadowlaw)" Ryu thought.

"Wait!" cried Veronica. "What about Jasmine? The doctors said that she still needs another week of rest."

"We'll have to talk to them," replied Liang. "This can't wait. She can rest when we get to Thailand. Hopefully, we can get their approval."

***

The next day, everyone was the plane that was heading to Bangkok, Thailand. The doctors have allowed Jasmine to go with them so long that she rests when they get there.

Wagner was looking out the window thinking about all that has happened since finding out that Bison has been resurrected.

"(Whoever resurrected that bastard is going to pay)" he thought angrily. "(What was the point in doing that when all he's going to do is take over the world and ruin innocent lives?)"

Guile notices how quiet Wagner has been. This surprised him because Wagner never shuts his mouth. Guile never knew who killed Wagner's family until now. He knew that Wagner would need time to think things over.

Then, Wagner turns to him. "Guile," he said. "Was it Bison who killed Nash?"

Guile became frozen in his seat. He has never told Wagner how Nash died. He thought about it for a moment. "(Maybe he's ready to hear this)" he thought.

Guile slowly nods. "Yes, Wagner. Bison did kill Nash."

Wagner looks down. "That bastard. Killing any innocent person he pleases."

Guile sighs. "Yeah."

Wagner looks up at Guile again. "What happened that day?"

Guile closes his eyes and leans his head against his seat. "While we searched for Ken and Ryu, Nash found the main control room. There, he tried to take care of Bison himself, but it cost him his life. I found him when it was too late." He looks at Wagner seriously. "If we ever face Bison, don't try to take care of him yourself. Promise me Wagner."

Wagner stays silent and looks out the window again.

***

Nighttime; Bangkok, Thailand..........

Everyone went out that night to look for clues about Shadowlaw. Ryu and Jasmine stay behind at their hotel since Jasmine is still recovering from her injuries, and Ryu stays to watch her incase anything happens.

Ryu steps out of the bathroom after a long, hot shower. He is only wearing sweatpants and left the upper half of his body exposed. He walks into Jasmine's room to check up on her.

Jasmine is up watching TV when Ryu came in.

"What are you watching?" Ryu asked with interest.

Jasmine takes the remote and shuts the TV off. "Something in a language I can't understand."

Then, she notices his shirtless body. Jasmine expected herself to go into a trance, but then she notices something disturbing. She saw shiny scars across his chest, abs, and back.

"Ryu," she said. "Where did you get those scars?"

Ryu looks down at himself and then slowly back up at Jasmine. He walks over to her and sits on the edge of the bed. Jasmine slowly sits up.

"I was frame for a crime I didn't commit and I was sent to jail," Ryu replied. He points to his scars. "This was their way to welcome me."

(Flashback)

A short fat man walks into a very dark room. In his hands is a whip.

Ryu hangs off the ceiling by a single rope, which is tied up on his wrist. He wore nothing but pants.

"I've been looking forward to our meeting," the man said. He quickly licks his lips. "Like with all of the other inmates, I'd like to give you a big, warm welcome.......my way."

Ryu stares at the man with emotionless eyes. He remembers Ken's words, saying to stay out of the way of the inmates and don't try to cause any trouble.

The man gets the whip out and only holds one end. "I hear that you claim yourself innocent. Well, this is what happens to those who lie." He takes the whip and smacks Ryu right across his chest. As soon as the whip made contact with his skin, Ryu could feel the sharp pain that seems to go through his whole body. He closes his eyes tightly and clenches his teeth trying not to scream.

After a few more whips, the man laughs. "Why don't you scream?! Maybe I'll go a little easier on you!"

*Smack*

"Maybe even more easier if you cried too."

*Smack*

"Come on!! Scream!!!"

The man keeps smacking Ryu with his whip. Sometimes, the whip would leave a line of blood on his body. Ryu tries his best to ignore the pain, but the intensity of it wouldn't allow him to think of something else.

Ten minutes goes by and now once did Ryu even wince. The man finally grew tired and falls to his knees out of breath. He looks down to the ground, seeing Ryu's blood dripping on the floor.

Ryu never felt so exhausted in his life. What was worse was that even after the man stopped whipping him, he could still feel the whip's enduring pain.

(End of Flashback)

Jasmine was horrified when Ryu told that story to her. She put a hand on his shoulder. Ryu looks over at her.

"I've always known that you were strong," she said. "I just can't believe you went through that. Even I don't think I could handle something like that."

Ryu nods. The two become silent for a brief moment.

Then, Ryu looks over at her. "Jasmine?"

"Yeah?"

Ryu sighs. "Back in Ukraine after the spell was broken.......um, you kind of, um.......embraced me."

"Hmmm?"

"Why? I mean you didn't even trust me? You even let me hold you when Sagat beat you."

Jasmine smirks a little. "Before you became processed, I started to trust you. When you went to that strip club in Paris, Wagner was saying how surprised he was when you didn't even wince whenever a stripper took off her bra. I didn't believe that until we went to Ukraine. There you punched that psycho for me when he grabbed me. That was when I started to trust you."

Ryu blushed a little and smiled at her. "I'm glad that you can trust me."

"No problem," Jasmine replied. "I really did want to trust you since the day we met in Hong Kong. I wanted to tell you something, but I needed you to earn my trust first."

"What would that be?"

Jasmine grins evilly. "This might give you a bit of a hint."

Then, to Ryu's surprise, Jasmine leans her face towards his and presses her lips against his. Ryu's eyes were wide open at first. He couldn't believe that this was happening, especially since it was Jasmine who made the move!

Then, Ryu relaxed and returns the kiss. For a minute, they continue this and went into a rhythm, opening and closing their mouths.

Soon, Jasmine pulls away and looks at Ryu's dark eyes. Ryu looks back into her green eyes as well, seeing how beautiful she is in the dim light.

Jasmine lifts one hand and places it on Ryu's cheek. "I really like you, Ryu. I want to be with you."

Ryu smirks at her. "I've had feelings for you too. I just didn't know when it was the right time, I........"

Jasmine places a finger over his lips. "Don't worry about it now, as long as we both know that we really like each other." She leans towards him again and their lips connect again.

They wrap their arms around each other and increase the passion of their kiss.

"(I'm not sure if it's 'really like')" Ryu thought. "(I have a feeling that it might be more.)"

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Sorry about the delays, I've been going nuts the last couple of weeks and it's not just about The Outworld. I'm also having a bit of trouble with the next chapter of The Hero of Metro City so it might be awhile before the next chapter comes out.