Following Ryu's destroying of the Kyokugen school, the majority of the contestants from the King of Fighters tournaments - with the blessings of the SNK President - are now working to find Ryu and challenge him to a fight. However, in order to make sure Capcom's posterboy enjoys his vacation, the Capcom President takes several serious steps.
-Monday, somewhere in Brazil...-
After the fight with Hugo, Ryu decided to head south.
In several hours, he was in Brazil, on a boat somewhere in the Amazon Basin. He then arrives at a riverside village and ventures into the forest, looking for a friend that he hasn't seen since the last tournament. It didn't take too long for Ryu to find him. Mainly because he followed the trail of partially eaten pineapples and watermelon.
In a small clearing, Ryu found Jimmy Blanka.
Blanka looked up at his visitor. "Rowr! Hwoooo rawhr who hoo!" (Ryu! What brings you to Brazil?)
"I'm taking a break from fighting, Blanka," Ryu replied. "And I need a place to stay for a couple of days." In the back of Ryu's mind he was thinking, 'How the hell I know what he's saying?'
"Argh hwoo hoo! Rawhr arhr hwoo hoo!" (You can stay here in the jungle with me! No one will find you here.)
"Can you at least speak English?" Ryu asked.
Blanka rose to his full height. "Of course I can speak English. I just speak like I'm a mindless beast to throw people off."
"Oh."
Ryu and Blanka spend the day fishing. Later on, while Blanka was preparing a feast of fish, coconut milk and pineapple slices, Adon shows up. "Ryu! I knew I'd find you here! Come and face the God of Muay Thai!"
"Well, 'God of Muay Thai,'" Ryu replied sarcastically, "I'm on a break. What did I do to you anyway?"
"You dishonored the style of Muay Thai when you beat Sagat!" Adon barked out.
Ryu shrugged his shoulders. "So? You hate Sagat now. What's your point?"
"I plan on restoring the honor of my great style...on your face! Jaguar--"
BONK!
As Adon flipped into the air into his Jaguar Tooth move, a coconut intercepted the side of his face, knocking him into the river. Ryu looked at Blanka, who was tossing a extra coconut in the air.
The manbeast flashed Ryu a grin before chomping into the coconut. "Rowr argh hwoo." (He had it coming.)
When Adon resurfaced, he was pissed. "You dare interfere in my match?!" he yelled at Blanka.
"Hwoo yowl argh rowr," Blanka replied. "Whoo hoo hwoo." (You should be worried about yourself, Adon. There's pirhana in those waters.)
Adon blinked "P-pirhana?"
As soon as Adon uttered that word, several dozen of the aforementioned carnivorous fish poked their heads out of the water, their small, sharp teeth glistening in the afternoon sun. With a howl, Adon swam for his life, pursued by dozens of hungry pirhana.
Ryu couldn't help himself. He began to laugh.
-Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday morning...-
Upon arriving at the airport in Rio de Janeiro, Ryu found a plane ticked waiting for him, courtesy of his friend, Ken. The destination read Tokyo. Figuring he had nothing to lose, Ryu decided to take his chances with the plane ticket.
When Ryu arrived in Japan, he found both Ken and Guile waiting for him.
Ryu looked at the two men, knowing that they were both brother-in-laws. "You two getting along?" he mused. "That's a first."
"Actually," Ken replied. "We're here to help you with your little vacation problem, buddy."
"The President of Capcom told us to put you somewhere safe until your vacation is over," Guile said. He pointed a thumb to Ken. "And Ken has just the place."
-Somewhere in northern Japan, near Aomori, later on...-
Ryu's hideout was in fact a small retreat nestled within the woods. The location of the cottage close to the sea, and to Ryu, it felt like he was back at home.
When Ryu entered the structute, he was caught in a hug by Chun Li, who was still on her break from Interpol. Apparently, Ken had set it up so that Ryu wouldn't be by himself the remining week.
"Also," Ken added. "The President has told you to take an couple more days off to make up for the week you lost."
"Great," Ryu replied.
"Don't worry about anyone finding you," Guile said. "This place is almost as good as your hideout in India, so your rivals will keep guessing where you are until your vacation is over."
"Thanks," Ryu replied.
Guile shook his head. "Don't thank me just yet, Ryu. Just remember this, you're man enough to fight with me and win, so a rematch is in order."
Ryu smirked. "Get in line, Guile. I got several people already waiting."
-Meanwhile-
The false locations had made it to Ryu's rivals, mainly the ones from SNK. Acting on the chance of taking down Capcom's top man, they scour the world for him. All the while, Ryu was resting confortably with Chun Li at Ken's hidden Japan retreat.
In Paris, The Ikari Commando Team - Which consists of Heidern, Ralf, Clark, Leona and Whip were seated at an outdoor cafe. They had obviously had gotten one of the phony locations. What they had stumbled onto was the Genma invasion of Paris from Onimusha 3. Not the kind to ask questions, they sprang into action, taking down the majority of the demon soldiers...that is until the director yelled out "Cut!" and started to berate the commandos for wrecking his opening scene and putting some of his stuntmen into the hospital.
In Hong Kong, Takuma Sakazaki - or rather Mr. Karate - paid a visit to Gen's martial arts school with Kim Kaphwan. Obviously, Karate had heard what had happened to his family at the hands of Ryu and wanted some payback. When Gen answered truthfully about not knowing where Ryu was, Karate threatened to destroy Gen's school, forcing Gen to act. Despite Katate being the Kyokugen grandmaster, he was no match for Gen.
Following Karate's defeat, Kim challenged Gen on the grounds that Gen was a former assassin and that he needed to face justice. Gen tried to explain to Kim that he was not in that line of work anymore, but Kim failed to listen. When Kim attacked, he became thoroughly acquainted with Gen's devestating martial arts skills.
-Thursday, nearly noon...-
The first ting Ryu did upon arriving at the retreat was that he slept. He was exhausted from all the traveling and all the fighting. When he finally woke up, he saw that Chun Li had already made lunch.
Over lunch, Ryu opened up to Chun Li about his problems as the World Warrior champion.
"I know it's expected of me, but even someone like me needs a break from fighting. Being one of the world's srtongest fighters is a lot easier to handle when the tea is hot," Ryu confessed.
"So why don't you give it all up?" Chun Li asked. "Step down and retire?"
Ryu shook his head. "As much as I have my gripes about my job, I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world. I get to beat up other people for a living and not get arrested."
While Ryu and Chun Li caught up on lost time, everyone else were still looking for Ryu. Geese Howard and Rugal Bernstein had crashed the Code: Veronica set searching for Ryu, only to get double-teamed by both Albert Wesker and Alexia Ashford.
Meanwhile, Ryu was starting to relaxt some more, not having to worry about his rivals trying to track him down and challenging him to a fight. He took Chun Li to the Lantern Festival, both dressed in yukatas, but Ryu kept a close eye out on anyone popping out, screming for a fight. So far, no one showed up.
-Friday-
Chun Li spent most of the day traning while Ryu, dressed in only his gi pants and red headband, was doing a split, arms folded, eyes closed. Although he was forbidden tofight and train while on holiday, meditation helped him to keep his senses sharp and to recover from his injuries.
Later, when Chun Li had completed her traning for the day, she was most surprised to see that Ryu had cooked dinner for the both of them.
Chun Li blinked. "Since when did you cooked anything?"
"I've been cooking since I was a teenager."
Chun Li looked at the food. "Looks good."
Over dinner...
"So who taught you how to cook?" Chun Li asked as she and Ryu ate their dinner, which was a combination of Chinese and Japanese dishes.
"Whenever I go and visit Ken, the chefs and Ken's mom would give me some pointers," Ryu replied. "I always liked to cook."
"It shows," Chun Li replied. "You can cook very well."
"When your birthday comes around, maybe I can cook for you," Ryu said.
Chun Li laughed. "I have to watch my weight you insensitive jerk!"
"Just tell me what to cook and maybe I can cook it for you," Ryu said, also laughing.
While they were getting cozy with each other, the Ikari commandos, after getting chased off the Onimusha 3 set, confronted one of the few people who knew the whereabouts of Ryu Hoshi - William Guile. Heidern and his commandos found the commando in England following the fiasco in Paris.
"We know you know where Ryu is," Heidern said.
"So?"
"Where is he?" Ralf demanded.
Guile shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know anything about his present location. The last I heard, he was in Brazil. I don't keep tabs on him."
"Just tell us where he is and we won't have to beat the info out of you," Clark butted in.
"You can try," Guile stated flatly.
Before the Ikari team could jump Guile, fortunately for the latter, some serious backup had arrived in the form of Cammy White and her Delta Red team. The numbers now even, the commandos from both companies battled each other, until Guile and Heidern remained. Despite the fact that Heidern had tagged Guile with several good shots, but Guile was victorious.
"Ryu was man enough to fight with me," Guile stated to the unconscious Heidern. "You, on the other hand..."
-Saturday-
While Ryu and Chun Li were in town, someone was closing in on his location. Or so she thought.
Lian Neville, the buxom blonde assassin from KOF Maximum Impact had heard that Ryu was located at a deserted and ruined castle in the Japanese mountains. Sure enough, she found him in the courtyard, meditating. Of course, the dark gi and the slightly darkened skin was a dead giveaway.
Little did she know that was NOT the real Ryu, but rather his dark, murderous incarnation of the man she was seeking.
Evil Ryu sensed the English assassin by the dark taint in her soul. "What do you want?" he asked.
"Are you Ryu Hoshi?" Lian asked.
Evil Ryu slowly stood up and turned around. "Hmm. In a sense."
Lian was confused. "What do you mean, 'in a sense?'"
"I am Ryu, but not the one you seek," Evil Ryu rasped. "I am his murderous intent."
"Rubbish," Lian replied.
"You came looking for a fight, so be it," Evil Ryu stated, going into his fighting stance. "But you will never leave this place alive."
Lian and Evil Ryu fight. Lian wound up on the receiving end of the Messatsu Gohadou, the force of the blast sent her crashing into the courtyard wall.
Evil Ryu prepared to finish her off, only to be caught off guard by her employer, Duke, the final boss of KOF Maximum Impact. Evil Ryu merely shrugged his clothesline off and faced the newcomer.
"You're Ryu? The top fighter at Capcom?" Duke inquired.
"How many times I have to tell you people," Evil Ryu replied flatly. "I'm not Ryu! I'm his dark--"
"Shut up," Duke replied as he attacked.
Duke was most surprised when most of his attacks were parried and avoided. Then Evil Ryu made his move. When Duke tried another clothesline Evil Ryu teleported behind him and when Duke turned around, Evil Ryu grabbed him and performed the Instant Hell Murder. Instant knockout.
Evil Ryu walked passed Duke - kicking him in the head for good measure - and Lian before stalking out of the castle's courtyard.
"Idiot," Evil Ryu muttered.
At the retreat...
Ryu was still enjoying his vacation - and spending time with Chun Li - without any hinderance. Later on that night, things got a little...steamy for the pair. Okay, steamy was a complete understatment. Chun Li jumped onto Ryu with a passion. They ended up in bed together later on.
Meanwhile, unbeknonst to them, the Ikari commandos have finally wised up and were converging onto the real Ryu's location. That is, until they were chased from the area by a pack of Cereberus (zombie dogs), Hunters, and the cannon-toting Nemesis.
Inside the cabin, the snuggling couple heard the Nemesis roar. "What was that?" Chun Li asked.
Ryu shrugged his big shoulders. "Nothing. Just the wind."
Chun Li shook her head and rested her head on Ryu's chest.
-Sunday-
The next day, Ryu and Chun Li packed their things and left the cottage. Ryu took her to his home near Tokyo. In truth, Ryu had set up the new Shotokan School inside an abandoned shrine, which was restored to near-perfection. Ryu had inherited it following their deaths and stayed there ever since.
Ryu gave her the tour. The shrine itself was two stories, the first floor being the main dojo, and the second floor the living quarters, which was more like a penthouse-style apartment.
"All this time, I always wondered whether you lived in a cave," Chun Li said.
Ryu shrugged his shoulders. "Most people still do. I like to keep them guessing. I like this place. Other than Gouken's dojo, I'm here." To answer Chun Li, unasked question about the living quarters, Ryu replied, "It was Ken's idea to rennovate."
"At least I know that you're not a total hermit," Chun Li said.
"I'm usually not at home," Ryu retorted.
-Shadowlaw Headquarters - Mriganka Island, Thailand...-
General M. Bison was interrupted from his usual treatment in his Psycho Drive when the klaxons sounded, signaling an intruder. Stepping out of the chamber, grumbling to himself, wearing nothing but the bottom half of his usual Shadowlaw uniform. Bison grabbed his shirt/shoulder harnesses and slipped that on, the top button undone as he fastened the belt on his waist and threw his cape over his shoulders. He managed to grab his trademark hat on the way out of the chamber.
Upon stepping out into the corridor, he saw many of his men strewn across the corridor. He then found the reason why: the Orochi wind master Leopold Goenitz, along with Yashiro Nanakase, Chris, and Shermie - the Orochi New Faces Team - had infiltrated his base and was causing general chaos.
Goenitz notices Bison standing before him. "General Bison, I presume? You have something that I want."
"You reputation proceeds you, Goenitz," Bison replied smoothly, knowing Goenitz by sight. He looked around. "You and your...'kings' managed to take down my best men, so I give to you one-time special offer - join me."
"I want something more than your pathetic organization," Goenitz replied. "You know the whereabouts of Ryu Hoshi, and we would like that...now."
Bison flashed his trademark grin. "You dare make demands?! All of you will suffer in my Psycho Drive!" He began to hover a few feet off the ground, his hands encased in flames. "Anyone who opposes me will be destroyed!"
Goenitz send his subordinates on Bison. They fell, one by one to Bison's Psycho Power. This was something that Goenitz was not expecting to happen.
Bison stopped for a moment to adjust his uniform. "These are the so-called Heavenly Kings of Orochi?" he taunted. "Not even worth my time." He raised one hand, preparing to fire off a Psycho Shot at Goenitz. "I can just blast you with my power and call it a day." He then lowered his hand and threw the cape off his shoulders. "Instead, after I beat you to a pulp, I will extract the secrets of the Orochi from your body and combine it with my own Psycho Power."
Both Goenitz and Bison go head-to-head in a clash of the titans. In the end, Leopold Goenitz was defeated. Bison couldn't be any happier.
"Now the secrets of Orochi will be mine! All of you will suffer for eternity as human batteries!"
-Back at Ryu's hideout...-
On the grounds of Ryu's home, Chun Li and her host were both sitting on the roof of the house. "This place is amazing," Chun Li said. "And the view here is incredible."
"Now you see why I like coming here," Ryu said. "Why I like the seclusion. I like to practice and meditate here without being interrupted. The only time I get challenged is when I'm at my dojo."
"So when you're going back to work?" Chun Li asked.
"I don't know. Maybe tomorrow, or later on this week. I do have some extra days left, but I might be heading back in on Tuesday."
"Can you give me a tour of Tokyo then?" Chun Li asked.
Ryu nodded. "Sure. But there's something I have to do first."
-A cementary, near Tokyo...-
Before Ryu took Chun Li to Tokyo, he decided to pay his respects to his master Gouken. He visited his master's grave, bringing flowers with him. Chun Li tagged along, and watched from a short distance as Ryu placed the flowers in front of the headstone and whispered several words of prayer.
When Ryu stood up and turned around, he saw another woman standing behind Chun Li. Chun Li also senses something wrong and turns around. Standing behind them was the holder and participant of the 1996 King of Fighters Tournament, Chizuru Kagura.
For a moment, nobody moved. It was a Japanese standoff. Chizuru looked at Ryu, then at the headstone behind him. Ralising that he was there paying his respects, Chizuru turned and departed without incident.
"She didn't fight you," Chun Li noted. "Why didn't she?"
"Honor," Ryu simply replied. "Even someone like Chizuru knows never to lower herself by fighting me in front of the grave of my master."
"Oh."
-Downtown Tokyo...-
Ryu and Chun Li were at an outdoor cafe in Tokyo's Shinjuku district. The moment was then interrupted by a very drunk King, the stench of alcohol announcing her presence.
"Ryu..." King sluured. "You put my boyfriend in the hospital for three weeks, as well as the rest of his family."
Ryu frowned. "You're drunk, King. Go home."
"Shaddup!" King tries to attack Ryu, but consuming several bottles of booze can pretty much alter your fighting skills. After Ryu doges and parries King's blows for several minutes, Ryu decided to end this one-sided match.
"I'm gonna hate myself for this," he mutters. "Shinkuu...HADOUKEN!"
The huge fireball struck King like a comet, ripping her fighting uniform off, leaving her in partiallly shredded clothes and her underwear. Shaking his head, Ryu paid for the food and he and Chun Li walked away.
The rest of the day was uneventful. Well, almost.
Ryu and Chun Li acted like a normal couple, rather than world-class martial artists. Later in the afternoon, while visiting Guy and Rena in the park, the peaceful afternoon was wrecked when four tanks, driven by the Metal Slug crew - Marco, Tarma, Fio and Eri - came crashing through the trees.
Ryu frowned. "What now?"
"There you are!" Marco yelled from the loudspeaker. "You got to deal with us now, Ryu!"
Ryu stood up and faced the four tanks. "Can't you guys see I'm on vacation? You SNK guys are starting to piss me off!" He then fired off a Denjin Hadouken.
Upon connecting with Marco's tank, the following result was that of an electromagnetic pulse. The EMP fried the other three tanks' electric systems, disabling them.
The Metal Slug crew was helpless as they watched Ryu and company walk off.
"Geez," Ryu fumed. "Even the guys from Dead or Alive, Tekken or Mortal Kombat aren't as bad as these guys! At least they know when to leave me alone!"
After the standoff, Ryu and Chun Li returned to Aomori. There, they went to one of the local restaurants and ordered some takeout before returning to Ryu's home. While watching an old samurai movie, they ate their dinner.
"This has been quite the vacation," Ryu mused. "Makes me glad that I'm going back to work tomorrow."
"Are you sure that you'll be rested up?" Chun Li asked.
Ryu nodded. "I'm sure. I thought it was going to be bad this past week, but aside from what happened in Tokyo, it's been pretty uneventful. Oh, and you can stay here as long as you want if you like."
"Thanks, but I promised Master Gen that I'd help teach the students when I return to Hong Kong. That will take a week, then I mught go back to China, or I might come back here. It really has been great being with you, Ryu."
"Same here, Chun Li."
-Monday-
After seeing Chun Li to the airport, Ryu returned to work.
Dressed in casual attire - a black T-shirt, denim pants and sandals and toting a sports bag in one hand - Ryu emerged from the taxi cab and walked into Capcom HQ.
After showering and changing into his usual karate gi and red headband, he ran into the Capcom President.
"There you are!" the President said. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel refreshed," Ryu replied. He then noticed someone behind the President. "One moment."
That person that Ryu saw behind the President was none other than Dan Hibiki, who was still gloating over his 'victory' over Ryu. In the meantime, the President ordered a film crew to be sent to where Ryu was headed.
"Yeah! I took down the almighty Ryu!" Dan was bragging to the intern. He shook one fist in the air. "Now everyone can see that Sakiyo is the ultimate style!"
Ryu tapped Dan on the shoulder. As Dan started to turn around...
"Shinkuu..."
When Dan was facing Ryu, he saw that he was preparing for the Vaccuum Hurriance Kick. The one word Dan managed to get was, "Crap."
"TATSUMAKI SENPUUKYAKU!!"
SMACK!SMACK!SMACK!SMACK!SMACK!SMACK!SMACK!SMACK!SMACK!SMACK!SMACK!SMACK!KA-POW!
Ryu spun violently into the air, kicking Dan numerous times, the final kick punting Dan out the window and flying across the Tokyo skyline, the latter screaming out, "OYAJIIII!" as he went.
Ryu landed on the floor.
"That was perfect!" the President said. "And we got that in one take!"
The President's assistant looked out the window. "Uh, sir..."
The President looked up. "What?"
"A huge number of fighters from KOF are outside our building!"
"How many?"
The assistant looked at the president with a worried expression. "All of them, I think."
Ryu was already on his way to the front door.
"Ryu!" the President objected. "You can't take them all on!"
"Watch me," the Shotokan fighter replied.
As the President watched from the building, Ryu challenged, fought and defeated all of the King of Fighters in under three hours. As Ryu stood victorious over the fallen multitude, the President of Capcom was happy that soneone the likes of Ryu Hoshi was working for him.
And with the brawl outside of Capcom Headquarters, so ends Ryu's vacation.
END