Chapter 2: The Wait.
Ryu placed his satchel on the floor outside of the main airport at Cancun, and took in his surroundings. As far as the eye could look, people could be seen wandering around, going into shops, bars and clubs. Neon lights flashed on and off in a dizzying array of Las Vegas mimicry. Great amounts of alcohol flowed, both into waiting cups, and on the floors as patrons lost coherence. The day had ended just before he had arrived, and the parties had long since started before that. Twice already he had women (pretty ones at that) flash him, and three times he'd had women (not so pretty) make offers that...well, he just had to refuse. The worst was the drunken gay man who propositioned a fire hydrant to a night it would never forget, although he was rather put out by the lack of an answer. Daylight would arrive within a couple hours, and he had two hours after that until his plane left for the US.
Ryu just shook his head at the craziness going on, and just stayed near his satchel. Before he made it to Cancun he made the call to Ken after he had made the ticket arrangements at a small town a few miles down the road. "I hate it that we keep getting together only when something like this happens." He mused, as he sensed a body, male most likely, edging towards his satchel from behind. "Young guy, from the sound of his breathing," he analized the person "Not greatly in shape, might be able to run good. Probably just out of his teens...there he goes" He spun as the 20 year old guy grabbed his satchel and made ready to run for it. A quick combination punch-punch-high spin kick, and the would be thief let go of bag gladly. Ryu just closed his eyes and sighed at the mans foolishness, as folks around him applauded.
It was the steady Clap......Clap......Clap that got his attention though. He turned slowly around and saw a well-defined man approaching, making a deliberate clap every other step. Ryu sized him up. The man wasn't much taller than him, maybe 5'6, or 5'5, maybe even 5'7. Had brown hair pulled back tight into a ponytail. His outfit was much like his, tattered, standard karate uniform, cept it was pink, with a black shirt underneath the outfit. His clapping hands wore brown sparring gloves, and his arms looked to be powerfully built and toned. His feet were as bare as Ryu's, and his eyes were hard as he bore down on Ryu. For his part, Ryu just stood there looking at the man as a crowd gathered, sensing a battle.
"Very impressive," The pink one said mockingly, "for an amature." Ryu raised an eyebrow, as he sensed the man's ki. Ki was the fighting power of a martial artist. It was his total concentration of mind, body, and soul. The more ki a fighter had, the more powerful their fighting potential was, translating into the fighter being able to hit harder, move faster, and even have the ability to use their ki in actual attacks as balls of light and energy, although it could be taxing if used for that purpose too much. The man approaching either didn't sense Ryu's ki, or didn't care. Either way, Ryu didn't want to fight the man, although it was obvious that the man did. "He could be hiding it, but I've never met anyone who could hide their ki THAT good." He puzzeled over the man.
"I see you're having second thoughts." the man inturrupted Ryu's train of thought. "As well as you should, for not many men on the planet can face Dan, Master of the Saikyou-Ryuu style!" He somersaulted through the air and over Ryu, landing on his feet to the admiration of the growing crowd. Bets were heard as money started to make its appearance. He quickly crouched and spun in place, throwing his arm up, bent at the elbow, taunting Ryu by flexing his arms and yelling in Japanese, "Namen ja ne dou!"
"This guy is pathetic..." Ryu cocked an eyebrow as he took up a fighting stance, left leg slightly forward, arms close to the chest yet loose, one hand higher and closer to the face with the other lower, near the waist. In response Dan immediately stood up, feet apart slightly wider than shoulder width, arms and hands almost in the same position as Ryu's. Dan also moved, or rather, swayed in position forwards and backwards.
With a yell, Dan rushed forward with a arm swinging to connect with Ryu's head. Ryu batted it aside, forcing Dan to counter with a mid-level kick to his gut. This one connected, wretching a "WOOOF!" from the white clad fighter. "Doshita doshita!" Dan taunted, again flexing his arm, this time standing, as well as connecting Ryu with a vicious uppercut. Ryu bent over backwards, taking a couple steps away to regain his balance.
"My style is the strongest style, and obviously superior to yours. Pathetic." Dan raised his arms in triumph, slowly turning to face the crowd to their cheers. A smile on his face, he completed a 360 turn, only to face not a sprawled fighter, but one very determined, very focused Ryu. "Ready for more?" Dan asked, taking a stance again.
Ryus' answer was a charge. Moving faster than Dan anticipated, Ryu landed a hard left hand punch in Dan's gut, followed by a jab-jab-right house punch to his face. Dan rocked back in surprise as this white clad fighter continued to give him a pounding. Jumping in with a hard punch, then another hard punch, Ryu finished the fast combo with a roundhouse high kick. Dan, now feeling the pain, attacked with a flying, three kick move that would have probably taken Ryu's head. Ryu saw it coming though, and countered. Cocking his arm and focusing his ki, Ryu ducked just long enough for Dan to be right over him, then launched himself directly up.
"SHORYUKEN!"
Dan didn't see the train coming till it hit him. Dan's forward velocity, combined with Ryu's upward strike, caused more damage than Ryu's move normally would have. A red-gloved fist nailed Dan direct into where his diaphram was, then, as said diaphram finished its move to Kentucky, the same fist connected with Dan's jaw. The blow upwards not only knocked Dan out cold, it also knocked him ten feet into the air, and twenty feet away. Ryu finished the move by spinning 360 degrees counter from the direction that Dan took, and landed on his feet, facing Dan's prone body.
The crowd was silent
"I'll give the blowhard this much,"Ryu said, breathing out the tension, returning calm, "He hit hard." Picking up his satchel, Ryu made his way into the airport, taking money that was handed to him by folks who were too awed to keep their winnings.
In another dimension....
"Com'on Videl, I know you can raise your power level!" Gohan urged as Videl struggled, not only with the higher gravity, but in her attempt to follow Gohan's newest set of instructions. While the Z fighters were waiting for the Supreme Kai and the Grand Kai to finish their preparations, they decided to get in some training time. Goku introduced them all to a friend of his named Pikon, a green skinned creature from the Western Quadrant of their universe who had died untold years ago, and whom Goku had battled with in the Otherworld Martial Arts Tournament in an attempt to win a lesson from the Grand Kai. Vegeta, typically, was aloof, and disdainful of the fighter. Pikon returned the favor, with insult. Vegeta and Pikon were well into their "training" session as Goku watched. Krillin and Gohan, meanwhile, were attempting to help Videl become stronger by teaching her to bring out her energy to raise her strength. She knew how to bring it out to make her fly, so it should have been a piece of cake.
Turns out, the ten-times Earths gravity was getting the better of her, and although she still stood, it took more of her energy than she had to bring out. "She's close, closer now than she was an hour ago, but she's not quite there yet." Gohan considered a moment. Then he remembered something.
"Videl, I have an idea that just might help."
"Yea....well....don't....keep...me....waiting." Her voice was strained from the struggle with gravity. Never had she had to work so hard just to stand! "After he shows me this, I'm going to beat the shit out of him for not telling me this sooner!" she promised herself. Krillin, for his part, stood by and watched Gohan, waiting to see what he had in mind.
"Videl, I want you to think about the things that pissed you off the most in your life." he instructed "Take the feelings that those memories bring up, and use that to feed your strength."
"O...ok..." She thought back...to the time her father and mother last saw each other. She remembered how her father had wished her mother off. How her mother, with tears in her eyes, hugged the then-child Videl, promising to return in a few days. She remembered the police officer's talking to her father, who turned to her, saying, "Your mother, was killed in a car crash." She remembered how she felt when Hercule Satan, strongest man in the world, savior of the world, just stood there over the years, letting the fame go to his head, flaunting himself off with other women. A feeling of pure molten lava poured from her soul, and with an explosive scream, she took the energy from that feeling, and fed it into her strength. The weight from her body suddenly lifted, and she felt lighter, and stronger than she ever had before. This lasted a few moments, then the weight returned, with a vengence. She collapsed to the ground, straining to keep from smashing her face into the dirt. She heard voices calling to her, but her breathing was too loud in her ears to hear clearly.
She felt a small object being placed near her lips, and she chewed a senzu bean, regaining her strength. She found it much easier to stand now, and once standing, looked around. Everyone, Krillin, Goku, Pikon, Vegeta, even the Supreme Kai and Grand Kai, were looking at her in amazement.
"Ahh...." she blinked a couple times, "was that...good?"
Krillin spoke first. "Good? That was fantastic! Who knew you had so much strength." He shook his head in pure amazement, his midnight black hair fluttering.
She looked to Gohan. "Is that true? Did I really get that much stronger?" He just smiled and nodded, mostly too shocked to speak, for fear he'd ruin her growing jubilation with mere words.
"Videl, I think you're a lot more ready for what may be ahead than you were before."
Back in the troubled dimension....
All the girls were sprawled out on the floor of Raye's bedroom, sleeping hard. Well, all but one. Serena stood on the balcony of her room, gazing at the stars. Something brushed her leg. She looked down in surprise, and saw one of their feline friends looking back up, the golden moon on the cats forehead shining in the moonlight.
She reached down and picked the cat up, scratching it under the chin. The cat, enjoying this, said, "Mmmm...right there Serena. So why are you out here? You should be sleeping."
"I know Artemis. Just can't shake the feeling that we might be in over our heads with this, even with the Xmen on our side." Artemis looked up at her, surprised. Serena never spoke negatively, not even in the worst times that they've had. "She must be worried, I've never seen her like this." Artemis thought to himself, as Serena continued to scratch. She sighed, then turned and went back into the room to attempt to get some sleep. Morning wouldn't be far away.
In Massachusets...
"Scott, I want you, Logan, Jean, Rogue and Gambit to Seattle to meet the girls." Xavier said. Standing before him was Cyclops, this time in a blue bodysuit and yellow trunks, with a sort of utility belt crossing his chest and stomach to connect together in a large, red and black X. "After you pick them up, bring them here, we have much to discuss."
"Sure thing Professor." Cyclops turned to leave.
"And Scott?"
"Yes Professor?" He turned to look back.
"Do be careful."