Joining Forces
(New Mexico)
The now larger Fatal Fury group had traveled all day and all night, passed morning, stopping only for meals and breaks. By the time they reached their destination, night had begun to loom over them in a clear, starry night.
The vehicles rolled to a stop next to each other.
The group got out of their vehicles and all the could see were the outlines of mountains, their headlights doing little but illuminating a short distance in front of them.
"I don't see anything, are you sure this is the right place?" Mai asked.
"This is where the map said to go." Ken said as he decided to recheck as he walked to the Hummer and used the headlight to read the map.
Keith began to walk around the vicinity of the lights, picking up small sticks and branches from shrubs and small trees.
"I guess we'll just have to wait then. The desert nights get pretty cold so I suggest we get a fire started to keep warm. The cars can't hold all of us if we decide to sleep."
Others joined him and began to gather what they could find.
"This might help a little." Guile said as he pulled out a large bag from the back of the Hummer and placed on the hood.
"Whatcha got there?" Ken asked, putting away the map.
"Basic survival tools incase of a breakdown in harsh terrain. Fire starting and space blankets, enough rations to feed the maximum capacity for this vehicle for three days, plus it has road safety equipment."
Guile pulled out a red flare.
"These can help out too. They burn for up to five hours with enough heat to melt aluminum."
"Cool." Ken said with mild enthusiasm.
A decent fire had been built and some of the martial artists used their skills to break some larger wood to fit in the fire.
A few flares had been lit to light up their surroundings.
The group had gathered around the fire and ate the rations, but even still, the desert night chill was hard to push away.
"Brrr." Lina said as she brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them to keep warm.
"Here, take this." Terry said sat down his food and he took off his jacket and placed it over her shoulders.
Lina was surprised by this, but accepted it as she stuck her arms into the sleeves and zipped it up.
"Thank you, Terry." She thanked him with a little shy smile.
"No problem." Terry said with a grin as he finished up his food.
Keith noticed this and grinned, but said nothing, as if he wasn't aware.
The groups discussed their views of what might be going on, but none had any evidence to what Bison was up to, but this kept them conversing until they all dropped to sleep, one-by-one.
The fire began to die, as were the flares.
Mai and Andy slept inside the Hummer while Ken graciously let Chun Li and Lina sleep inside his Porsche, putting up the top to block the wind.
Most of the men roughed it on the ground in space blankets, but some decided to stand watch, which left only Keith and Terry.
"Hey, Terry." Keith whispered.
"Yeah, what is it?" Terry said, trying to sleep, but the cold was hard to fight, and let Lina have his jacket.
Keith moved closer and turned around, pointing to his back.
"Lean your back on mine. I heard that soldiers used this to stay awake and keep an eye out for danger. Plus our body heat might keep us a little warmer." He said.
Terry didn't see any harm and did so.
Both were quiet as the remaining lights dimmed away, but the stars did offer some light for them.
"Terry, you and I need to talk." Keith said, breaking the silence.
"Oh, about what?" Terry replied.
"About you and my sister. Do you like her?"
Terry was caught off guard by such a direct question, much like Lina did before.
"I'm just putting it out because I feel there is about to be a big fight coming up. If you like her, that's great. If not, try not to string her along. I don't want her heart to be broken."
"Keith, you must understand…"
"I understand, Terry, but hear me out first."
Keith yawned for a second and rubbed his neck.
"You see, I experienced a similar life to yours, only instead of seeing your father murdered, mine abandoned me when I was just a child for reasons I don't know. My mother was incredibly ill and was always bedridden for a very long time. I tried to help her, but I was too young to be able to do much and so eventually she succumbed to her sickness and died. I had no kin so my sister and I had no choice but to leave and live out on the streets."
Terry listened, not wanting to interrupt.
"Even though when you're little, survival instincts begin to take over. I did everything I possibly could for my baby sister and me to live. I grew up very quickly because of that, avoiding the law because all they would do was place us in foster care and possibly split us up. I couldn't let them do that. I knew the only way to keep that from happening was to get stronger. I traveled all over the city, growing tougher and more experienced to obtain money in underground fighting, all before I was ten."
Keith wiped away a tear that formed on his eye.
"I learned everything from the streets, and then I ran into an old restaurant owner. I can't remember his name very well, but he saw something inside me, a kind of fire if you will. He took me and my sister in for a while, giving us food and clothing, doing what he could to teach me schooling."
Keith looked up at the bright sky, watching a few shooting stars streak by.
"He was also quite skilled in a very old philosophical martial art, virtually extinct except through me. He taught me about the universal ki that gives energy and the recipient ki that receives energy. He taught me to use the universal ki with my own to draw in my power, which my techniques come from. They are also played through my emotions which you saw when I used it against that man."
"What happened?" Terry asked.
"He unfortunately died when his restaurant burned down. I had learned a great deal and decided to use everything I had learned to put Lina through school. She never knew what I did when she was gone. She was very bright and she even received a scholarship to go to a big university in New England. I thought I could travel by myself to find powerful street fighters, but she heard of you from the first KOF tournaments and dropped out of college to come with me for the chance to meet you."
He sighed a little.
"I know of the rumors that come out once in a while. You say that you are a curse to those you love, but Lina doesn't care if it's true or not. She just wants to be with you. So it just boils down to that question. Do you love her?"
Terry was solemn at the moment, past memories coming back to him like a flood of pain.
"I'm not sure, I don't want to hurt her."
"Love is grand, but it can also be a tragedy. As strong as it is, it isn't a cure-all. I'm just letting you know that I won't stop you. She's a young and beautiful woman. Sometimes, you've just got to take that chance."
Keith's head went slack.
"I'll leave the rest up to you, good night."
X
Morning had come and the bright desert son began to wake them up.
Once light had come, they still saw nothing but dirt and rocks.
They heard a bike heading right for them and turned to see a biker slow down and park their bike.
"Rock?" Terry said.
"Hey, Terry, what's up?" Rock said with a grin.
"How did you know that we were here?" He asked.
"We got this map from a big buy with an eye patch and a long scar on his chest." Rock replied.
"We?"
An SUV rolled in after he said that.
"Is this the place?" K' asked as he stepped out, placing on his shades to block out the bright sun.
"It's what the map says." Alba replied.
The two groups gathered together.
Introductions went quickly, mostly because most of the fighters knew each other.
After everyone was acquainted, they tried to figure out what was going on.
"If we are where are supposed to be, then where the hell is everybody?" Kyo asked.
At that moment, the ground shook violently.
"Does that answer your question?" Iori spat as they all tried to keep their footing. As the ground literally shot upwards, throwing the group, even their vehicles, into the air several inches.
Seconds later, the shaking ceased.
The group was greeted by sinister laughter.
"It's Bison, I'd know that voice anywhere." Guile growled.
The dirt seemed to fall away to reveal that they were standing on a slab of concrete wider that the Super Bowl stadium.
"So the fighters have arrived. This will prove to be very amusing." Bison said, his voice echoing all around them, yet he could not be seen.
"Where are you Bison! Show yourself you coward!" Guile demanded.
"Now now, Colonel William Guile. You'll have your chance, should you survive my little obstacles."
"Obstacles?" Everyone looked at each other, not sure by what he meant.
The center of the round slab split at the center as a smaller circle opened and something was coming up.
"Them."
Some in the group grew shocked or angry at whom they saw.
Before them were Geese Howard, K9999, and Don Duke.
"Duke!" Alba roared with great fury.
The evil man simply snickered in response.
"So boy, are you ready to finish what we started?" Duke said as he rubbed the scar on his neck in anticipation.
"You bastard! I'll make sure that you die this time!" Alba's aura slowly formed a deep crimson around his body.
"You were lucky last time, I won't be playing with you anymore." Duke said with a sneer.
Geese glared at Terry with pure hatred.
"Terry Bogard, you die by my hands today." He stated.
"Hey Geese, long time no see." Terry replied, not affected at the least by Geese's threat.
Geese was about to explode in violent rage, until he saw Rock.
"So it's you. You dare to aid this punk against your own father."
Rock's expression was emotionless, cold even.
"You never cared for me or my mother so why should you care about me now?" The youth replied.
Geese smirked.
"You are weak, just like your mother."
Rock was mad enough to charge, but Terry held him back.
"Not yet, I can sense that he's grown a great deal stronger than before." He warned.
K9999 and K' said nothing, but both radiated an intense rage towards the other.
"You'll pay for trying to hurt Kula." K' said as he glared through his shades.
"K', it'll be a pleasure to cut you to pieces." K9999 snickered.
"But that's not all; I've allowed the rest of you some entertainment of your own." Bison said as several large shadows shot up from behind the three, landing in front of them.
Chun Li gasped as she recognized them.
These four beings radiated powerful auras, giving off an unnatural, unholy evil.
"Great, not these guys again." Ken groaned.
"If you already haven't noticed, these Cyborgs have incorporated all of your fighting styles and powers and far superior than Sadler's mind could ever comprehend, not to mention that they've been enhanced with my Psycho Power. Enjoy what life you have left, you won't survive passed this day."
The arena began to shake even more and rise even higher.
The group had no idea what was going on.
The shaking caused the vehicles to slide backwards.
Ken caught the movement out of his eye.
"Oh no, not my car!" He bolted for his Porsche and reached it just as it and the others fell off the edge.
The four machines fell for several seconds before smashing and exploding into shards of burning metal.
"Ken?" Ryu and some of the others reached him and saw what was going on.
For a great distance, the arena was only a small piece to an enormous red ship as large as an aircraft carrier.
"And I just paid it off too." He moaned.
"Do you have car insurance?" Guile said.
Ken brightened up a little.
"Yeah I do. I forgot about that." He said with a grin.
"Then don't worry about it, we've got better things to deal with!" He yelled and looked back at the Cyborgs, who seemed itching for battle.
X
Bison watched them from his chair, an arrogant sneer on his face.
The room seemed to darken as something entered the room.
"Why allow these meddlesome pests to live? Your power is great enough to finish them off without effort." Said a dark evil, a very ancient evil.
"Because I want to take my time with them. Conquering the world will be a waste if there isn't some rebellion." Bison replied.
"Very well, since we merged together, your body has been restored with greater power. I am immortal so there is no hurry on my part. Do with what you will." And the presence left.
X
Geese stepped away from the other two.
"I'm going to fight Terry here. I'm tired of waiting."
K9999 and Duke said nothing as the platform descended.
"He's getting away!" Alba was about to charge when Soiree got in his way.
"Wait, you can't take them on all by yourself." He said.
"I don't care, Duke is mine!" Alba said as he tried to force his way through.
"Hold on a sec!" Chun Li commanded, strangely it stopped him.
"We can't go charging like a bunch of idiots. Just getting by these four will be trouble."
"So what do you suppose that we do?" He demanded.
"Simple divide and conquer. Some of us will keep these guys busy while the rest go on down and stop Bison."
"Good plan Chun Li. These guys are giving me weird vibes. I doubt we can take them on one-on-one, so I suggest we team up. It is the best option."
"So that's what we'll do then. Allow me to get things started." Keith said as he walked a short distance and stopped, even as the winds grew stronger as the ship began to fly slowly in the lower atmospheres.
He turned his head back.
"I'd brace myself if I were you." He said with a smirk and turned his head back.
"Do what he says." Lina said as she knelt down and did her best to stay low.
The others took her advice and Terry, remembering his talk with Keith, knelt next to her and wrapped an arm around her to hold her steady for what's to come.
Lina blushed a little, but tried her best to hide it.
"Here we go." Keith said as he cracked his knuckles and brought them down to his sides as he spread his legs a little wider and clenched his fists so tight that his knuckles popped.
Geese snickered as he watched the boy.
"Kill him."
The Cyborgs did as commanded and charged in perfect synchronicity.
Keith closed his eyes, drawing in the ki of his surroundings and building it with his own.
His aura slowly formed like steam off his body.
His eyes snapped open as his arms shot out in front of him, his fingers bent like claws and his hands slightly apart as ki surged brightly and erupted like rolling thunder as his aura flared like a thunderstorm.
The Cyborgs didn't stop their charge.
"Ready for this!" Keith stepped forward with his right leg, raising his arms at the same time to stop over his head like he was about to pass a basketball.
The Cyborgs had covered half the distance already.
The second his foot touched the ground, the ki in his hands roared like a volcano.
"BIG….!"
He swung his arms down, his palms facing them.
"BANG!"
The ball shot like a cannon, instantly becoming as large as a tank, creating a shockwave that crushed the ground where he stood and hitting all of those behind him.
Terry held onto Lina and his cap.
Guile held down Chun Li.
Andy held onto Mai.
The other men did their best and held out until the shockwave passed.
The Cyborgs saw that giant blast and dodged as it shot by like a bullet, heading right for Geese.
Geese jumped as the deadly sphere hit the ground and exploded into a dome of pure energy that vaporized everything nearby.
Keith lowered his arms and let out a heavy breath.
"There, I bought you some time! Whoever's going, you'd better do it now!" Keith yelled.
"Well he wasn't kidding was he?" Andy said as he got up and dusted himself off.
Ryu and Ken looked at each other and nodded, then ran.
K', Alba, and Soiree quickly followed and the five leaped into the newly made hole that was several times larger than it previously was.
"Damn, that kid's got power." Geese said as he had narrowly avoided the blast radius.
He saw the five enter, but didn't care since none of them were Terry.
The groups split apart to take on a Cyborg with the exception of Terry and Rock, who went towards Geese.
Lina stayed away, hoping to not get caught in the fighting.
Due to the size of the arena, it was rather easy to get apart.
Guile and Chun Li teamed up.
Andy and Mai teamed up.
Kyo and Iori basically got stuck together, but former battles proved that when it came down to it, they made a pretty good team despite their hatred of one another.
That basically left Keith by himself, which didn't spell good news for him, but what choice did he have.
X
The other five reached the bottom, seeing nothing but an empty interior.
"I expected more of a resistance." Ken said, got something else already in motion, using this as a distraction."
"If they're anything like NESTS. They have something else up their sleeve. This is most likely a distraction for us." K' said as he peered over his shades.
In a flash, something extremely fast came at them, which they narrowly avoided.
They turned to see a long metal blade had pierced through the metal hull.
"So glad you could come down to see me." Shouted K9999.
"I came here to put you into the ground where you belong." K' said as he leaned over the railing to see K9999 at the bottom, retracting his arm.
"Come now, defect. I'll be the one who kills you. I am the perfect weapon."
"Says you." K' jumped over and landed sticking his hands in his pockets.
"Go! I've got this one!" K' yelled.
The others quickly left the two.
"You should have asked for them to stay. You'll need their help."
K' pulled off his shades and put them inside his leather jacket.
"Me alone is more than enough to take you down."
This angered K9999 as his fire erupted around his body.
"You should know your place, you defective clone."
K' replied by flashing his red glove, which became encased in fire.
"I know my place, now I'll put you in yours."
X
Alba, Soiree, Ryu, and Ken ran down a long corridor that connected to other corridors.
"Dammit, this place is a fricking maze!" Alba growled.
"Just keep going ahead. We'll find a way out." Ryu shouted.
They entered a large, open, metallic room, adorned in Bison's insignia.
The four stopped and looked around.
"Where are we?" Ken asked.
Suddenly, the entrance was cut off by a thick metal door.
The bang alerted them as they turned.
"Sledgehammer!"
Alba recognized that attack and was the quicker to react.
"Get out of the way!" He shouted and none hesitated as they dove as a red hot blast of ki scorched the metal ground and collided with the door, blasting it wide open.
"Hehe, you're still the little rat, aren't you?" Duke said as he walked towards them from the opposite side of the room.
Alba growled as he got to his feet, his normally calm demeanor gone with his rage for the tyrant.
"After all this time in hiding and you dare to call me a rat." Alba retorted.
Duke chuckled evilly as he rubbed the scar across his neck.
"Insults won't work on me, boy. My power is far greater than yours, your attack only sparred your life. This time I'm going to spill your blood all over the ground."
Alba's hair waved as his aura radiated from him.
"He's not alone." Soiree said as he pulled off his cowboy hat and tossed it away before doing a mid-air somersault to land next his brother.
"You're facing the Meira Brothers. If you fight one of us, you fight us both of us."
Alba grinned as he glanced at his younger twin.
"Your two go on ahead, we've got a score to settle." Alba said.
"Right." The two said and ran around Duke.
"Oh no you don't!" Duke charged his ki and fired another Sledgehammer at the two.
"Conquering Lightning Flash!"
A powerful blast of electricity shot from Alba's fist and struck the blast, canceling it out in an earthshaking explosion.
Ryu and Ken burst through the dust, unharmed as they reached the exit.
Duke turned back to the two, who got ready to fight.
"I'm really going to enjoy hearing your bones break in my hands."
Alba snorted.
"Bring it on."
X
Bison watched as the fighting began above and inside his ship.
"Interesting, but foolish."
The screen returned to the scientist.
"Is Sagat ready?" Bison asked.
The old man bowed.
"Yes sir. Shall I release him to deal with the intruders?"
Bison grinned wickedly.
"Yes."
X
Elsewhere, Sagat's restraints were released.
His torrent of screaming was replaced by an eerie calm.
The tall man sat up and got out of the chair.
His stood, motionless, like a statue.
His head was slumped over, which then rose with a quick snap.
His left eye glowed red as his face was emotionless, like it were cast in stone.
"Ryu, how I've waited for this moment. The true warrior will come out of this alive."
X
Ok, done.
Some of you might have questions, but I've still have some twists yet to reveal.
Don't think people are placed this way because I like one better than the other and therefore they are stronger.
I like them all so don't get all hot and bothered.
Don't pass judgment on my work until you actually read it. We all have our tastes, but I try my best to appeal to all as best as I can which isn't easy.
Expect a lot of action that will truly be awesome and maybe unlike anything you've ever seen, because I intend to make it so with my skills as a writer. Possibly too big for a single chapter.
NOW LET'S KICK SOME ASS!
