Together Again!
The plane going from Venice to Karakura Town was almost there. Chun-Li, Cammy, Guile, and Abel, as well as Tatsuki and her crew, couldn't wait to reunite with Logan. Tatsuki, in particular, wanted to fight Logan and see how good he is bare-handed since she knew he could rival Ichigo in swordplay. She knew that to keep up with Ken Masters is no easy feat to pull off, given his spontaneity. Orihime saw the smile on her face and knew what was on her mind. She couldn't wait to see him either.
Chun-Li and Cammy were equally excited, but Cammy couldn't hold it in, even blushing at the thought of the reunion. Chun-Li saw this and smiled. "Cammy, will you calm down? I know you're excited, but we have to stay alert in case Juri hitched a ride on the flight."
"Oh right, I almost forgot about her. You're right. There are ways she could get on the plane, even the wheels. Bloody Hell, Chun-Li! Why did you remind me of that one?" Cammy whined, getting a chuckle from her best friend.
"Hey relax, you lovely ladies. There's no need to worry about that Juri Han chick as long as I'm around. So chill and…" Keigo began before being slammed back to his seat by Tatsuki.
"Keigo, you do realize that Ms. White is a soldier of Delta Red and Chun-Li is part of Interpol, right?" she asked.
"Uh, what's Delta Red?"
"Grrr. No wonder Ichigo and Tatsuki get headaches from you," Chizuru said. "Delta Red is a military organization stationed in Britain. They specialize in both espionage and military tactics and weaponry. Essentially, they're Britain's answer to the US' C.I.A. and F.B.I. Why don't you read a book once in a while? It's a wonder you even made it past the 8th Grade."
Meanwhile, as the plane was approaching the airport, the wheels appeared under it and, sure enough, Juri was on one of them. She jumped off onto the nearest building and watched as the plane landed. "Well, if I find your boyfriend, China Girl, I'll let him know you said 'hi'," she said.
The plane landed and everyone was at the baggage claim waiting for their stuff. So far, Tatsuki wasn't having any luck because hers hasn't shown up yet and she was getting a little impatient. "Man, what a drag! I wish the luggage would hurry up and get here! I'm itching for a fight!" she exclaimed.
"Tatsuki, why don't you try fighting that guy?" asked Orihime. "He looks weird."
"Orihime, just because someone looks weird doesn't mean that they're in the tournament." Tatsuki then looked and saw that Orihime was looking at a fat guy with red makeup on his face, his hair in a bun, and a bathrobe on his waist. He also had a good deal of muscle on his arms, legs, and stomach as well. "Of course, that's not to say that they aren't in the tournament either," she said with a smirk, getting a giggle from Orihime.
Tatsuki stood up to face the fat man, who gave her a look of recognition. "You must be Tatsuki Arisawa, am I right?" he asked. She smirked in response. "Well meet your next challenger! I wanted to fight one of the strongest before I head out!" Chizuru checked the tournament roster for this guy and was shocked at his profession.
"Tatsuki, you better be careful! This guy's a Sumo Wrestler!" she exclaimed, shocking her.
"Wait a second, you're Edmond Honda! Aren't you supposed to be doing the Sumo Circuit this season?" the tomboy asked.
"Please, I'm in this tournament to promote Sumo and to show that it's the greatest form of Wrestling there is! I don't have time for the Sumo Circuit!" Both fighters got in their fighting stances, Tatsuki in her traditional stance and Edmond in his Sumo crouch. Chun-Li and the others caught up as Keigo grabbed Tatsuki's luggage.
"What on Earth is Edmond doing here?" Cammy asked.
"From the looks of things, he's about to fight Tatsuki," answered Guile. "The kid better be careful. He's faster than he looks." All the while, Abel was interested to see some of what Sumo had to offer.
Edmond started the fight off with a body slam, which Tatsuki dodged easily. She countered with a roundhouse kick to his face, but the Sumo Wrestler caught it with his hand and tossed her back. "Sumo Head-butt!" he exclaimed. The attack propelled Honda forward and slammed him into his foe, knocking her back a few feet, shocking her friends and Abel. This came as no surprise to Guile, Cammy, and Chun-Li, as they knew him personally.
Tatsuki decided that it was no time to be fooling around. She went for a jump kick, only to be taken by surprise again. Edmond did a series of rapid arm thrusts and hit her many times. Chun-Li and the others recognized this as his signature move, the 'Hundred Hand-Slap'. What they didn't know was that Tatsuki was mentally taking down notes on how to adjust to her opponent. That way, she could dodge and counter their attacks. This was something she learned to do after her last spar against Ichigo.
"I don't keep up with any form of Wrestling, but shouldn't Sumo matches be held in a ring and just be wrestling? Why is he out of the ring using palm strikes and head-butts?" Keigo asked.
"First off, Keigo, you watch the WWE and that's fake," Chizuru began.
"Second, Edmond fights outside of the ring as much as he does in it. For fights like this, he uses what he and Ryu call 'Street Sumo', which is basically Sumo, but with attacks in addition to wrestling," Chun-Li finished, explaining to Keigo what Edmond usually does.
Edmond jumped into the air for a 'Sumo Slam', but Tatsuki saw this as an opportunity for a comeback, having been taking enough hits. She did a bicycle kick and sent the fat bastard near the conveyor belt. Before he could recover, Karakura Town's Second Strongest Woman elbowed his gut and used an uppercut on his chin. She then grabbed him by the arm, spun around many times, and tossed him to the other side of their makeshift 'arena'. They were surprised that she actually beat a Sumo Wrestler. After a little bit, Edmond grunted and got up. "Ugh, you got guts, kid, and also a lot of strength. No wonder your reputation is what it is," he said.
"Yeah, well if you like that, then you'll love this: there are a couple of guys I know that are better at this than I am. One of them even matched up against Ken Masters in a fight and he's here right now," said Tatsuki. This surprised Edmond since he knew about Ken's battle style.
"Not only that, Edmond, he teamed up with Ryu in a tag fight against a pair of brothers I know," Chun-Li added.
"Well, my ticket's good for tomorrow. I'd like to meet this guy if you don't mind," Edmond said after a bit. The others nodded, happy to bring him along.
(Soul Society…)
Soifon and Momo finished the paperwork and Momo saw the viewing Kido that the Captain had. Naturally, she was curious. "Captain Soifon, what's that you're using?" she asked.
"It's a viewing Kido that Lady Yoruichi taught me how to use. With it, I can view Logan's progress in the tournament. When I hugged him, I picked up a bit of Spiritual Energy from him that belonged to Chun-Li and Cammy, so I'm using that to check on their progress. So far, Chun-Li's lost a fight against an international criminal named Juri Han, Logan teamed up with this fighter named Ryu against these brothers from Hong Kong, and Tatsuki beat a Sumo Wrestler," Soifon explained to the younger Soul Reaper.
"But shouldn't Sumo be practiced in the ring, not outside of it?"
"That's a good question, Momo. Sumo is traditionally practiced in the ring, but this guy, Edmond Honda, entered the tournament to promote Sumo. Over the years, according to what I heard from Chun-Li's explanation to Ichigo's idiot friend Keigo, Honda's developed a 'Street Sumo' style that's specifically designed for competing outside of the Sumo ring. It includes hand-slaps, chops, kicks, and head-butts. It is kind of an odd style, but I guess one would have to adjust like Tatsuki did."
Momo saw that Logan was training with Ryu, not doing any actual fighting. "I take it that that's Ryu?"
"Yeah, that's him. He's a wandering martial artist, so if you see him, consider yourself honored. How about we see what's in store next?"
(World of the Living…)
At the 'Urahara Shoten', Logan and Ryu were training in Kisuke's underground basement while the former waited for either his team to rejoin them (and to introduce Ryu to Abel and Tatsuki), or Yoruichi to get back in town. During the training, Logan found that his flaws were still there, but they weren't as great as they used to be. He was on his way to combining his Tae-Kwon-Do, Shorin-Ryu, and Ninjutsu into a style all his own. Training with Guile and Abel had its perks, but Ryu was of a different style. Both pointed out each other's weaknesses as well as their own. Occasionally, the Assassin would sense a darkness pulsating from the martial artist and they would take a break to avoid it, seeing as it was something he didn't want to mess with.
They both decided to call it a day on the training and head upstairs where Tessai was waiting for them. "Logan, you've got some friends here to see you," the big man said.
"Thanks, Tessai." Logan opened up the sliding door and saw who it was, being tackled by Cammy in the process. Chun-Li shook her head, knowing that her friend couldn't hold in her excitement. "Hey, guys, what's up?" he asked.
"What's up is that we're glad to see you again. I know it was just a day, but it was too long, especially for me and Cammy," Chun-Li said. Logan looked behind her and saw that they brought Edmond along as well.
"Is that a Sumo Wrestler?"
"You hit the nail on the head, kid! The name's…" the fat man began before being interrupted by Ryu.
"Edmond Honda," the martial artist said. "It's good to see you again, big guy. The same goes with you too, Chun-Li, Guile, Cammy. I guess this is Abel?" The ex-mercenary nodded his head and shook Ryu's hand.
"It's a real honor," said Abel.
"So did you find any clues about Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked Logan, still worried about her childhood friend. Cammy knew that with a question like that, she'd better get off of him.
"Maybe, and mind you, this is a big maybe. Guile let me in on a little info that Chun-Li failed to mention," Logan began, earning a nervous chuckle from the said Interpol Officer. "There is an organization out there called the 'Shadaloo Interrogation Network' or 'S.I.N.' for short. They've branched off from the main guys and became their own organization, specializing in secret operations which make Shadaloo themselves take the blame.
"Of course, we're still after them because Bison has an artifact called the 'Sash of Eden', which augments the user's powers by a certain amount. We each have our own individual goals to facing them as well: Chun-Li's after Bison to avenge her father; Cammy's looking to avenge some old friends after Juri took them hostage; Abel's looking for answers about his past; Guile's looking to get even with Bison after the death of his war buddy; and I'm looking towards a rematch against Vega after the narcissistic bastard left me to get arrested by St. Louis' corrupt cops."
Tatsuki and the others looked at the rest of Logan's team to see if he got the details right. They confirmed with a nod. "What about Balrog?" Ryu asked.
"We've got no quarrel against Balrog except that he's associated with Bison," Chun-Li said.
"Well look at that! Haven't been reunited for 30 minutes and already you're explaining your goals!" said a voice. They looked up and saw Juri standing on the roof of the shop. "It's nice to finally meet you, Assassin! I've got to say, you look better in person than you do in the picture."
"Juri Han, I presume?" Logan asked.
"Yeah, that's me! What, do you want to go on a date or something? I'm game for it!"
"What I want from you are some answers; more specifically, the location of a couple of friends of mine!"
"Is that all? I'll be more than happy to tell you since I know who you're talking about!"
"After the fight!" he said. "Right now, I want a little payback for the beating you gave Chun-Li and Tatsuki!" Tatsuki, Chun-Li, and Ryu were shocked while Edmond just grumbled, disappointed that Juri beat him to being Logan's next opponent. After a bit, Juri grinned at her new opponent.
"Well you certainly carry the muscle, but do you have the skill?" she asked. Logan's answer was grabbing her by the arm and dragging her to a skyscraper that was still being rebuilt after the cyborg attack. He threw her on a suspended lift that was supported by a crane. She got up and looked around. "Not just strong, but fast as well! This is exciting! I like it! So tell me, how badly are you going to beat me?"
"Normally, I wouldn't lay a hand on a lady, but this is a tournament! Besides, you're no lady!"
"I'll take that as a compliment!" Juri started by dashing towards him and doing a reverse cartwheel kick. Logan dodged that and punched her to the other end of the beams. They didn't know that the fight was being watched by the narcissist that Logan mentioned earlier.
'This should be interesting,' Vega thought, looking on from the shadows. Logan threw another punch, this time landing it on her stomach. Juri retaliated with a punch to the chest. She tackled him, but was thrown off in an instant. While he had a determined look on his face, Juri had a sadistic look on hers, showing that she was enjoying the fight. She even took the time during their dodging of each other's attacks to reconsider her stance against masochism when it came to him. Juri saw this as a date and to her, Logan was the one showing her a good time.
For every attack that one of them threw at each other, the other would counter. Juri tripped Logan up and gently put her foot on his chest, and bent down. That proved to be a big mistake, as he threw her off and got back up. Juri threw a kick at him, but he grabbed it and locked her leg under his arm. Her efforts to get free only caused her to stumble a little, which was enough for him to trip her up and pin her to the ground. "You know…this is really…fun…I like you," Juri said.
They both knew that she couldn't get out, especially since his legs were pinning hers down. "Now what about what I want to know?" he asked.
"Right, your little pals. Okay, I'll tell you. There at one of the S.I.N. headquarters in a holding cell. It's the one in Kyoto, so it's a good train ride from Tokyo. Of course, it'll take you a while to get there. You know, I bet that there was someone here who is going after them right now." Logan's eyes widened a little, so he looked to his left and saw no one. He sensed Vega's Spiritual Signature, though. During this time, Juri wedged her arm out of his hand, grabbed the back of his head, and spun them around. "Man that was easier than I thought…slightly. You're good, Logan Washburn. Here's a little goodbye present."
She bent down and kissed him on the cheek, making him blush. By the time he recovered, Juri was gone. After looking around, he jumped down and regrouped with the others. "Hey, are you alright?" Chun-Li asked.
"I'm fine, but I think I turned Juri into a bit of a masochist. She seemed to enjoy me hurting her," he replied.
"Well that's kind of odd," said Cammy. "Juri's never been one to enjoy getting hit. In fact, she gets extremely violent and temperamental when she does. So why did she make an exception with you?"
Orihime thought for a second before coming up with her own possible theories. "Well, either 1: She has a crush on you and got really excited when you fought her; or 2: She's some kind of alien who powers up when she's hit," she said, confusing the others and making Tatsuki embarrassed.
"Uh-huh, and how much wasabi paste did you put on your last bologna-and-cheese sandwich?" Logan asked, freaking out his teammates as well as Edmond.
"Um, about three tablespoons," Orihime answered. "Why do you ask?"
"That's what I thought. I think I'll go with the first answer since it seems more down to Earth. She did kiss me on the cheek after all. Good try though."
"All the more reason for Chun-Li and Cammy to hate her," Guile remarked, getting a nod from Abel, Edmond, and Ryu.
(Soul Society…)
Soifon and Momo were happy that Logan won, but disappointed at the same time that Juri had escaped. What made Soifon really mad was that Juri kissed him on the cheek. Luckily, she knew Logan well enough to know that he'd stay faithful to Chun-Li and Cammy, finally accepting the fact that he was being shared by both women. Momo saw that Soifon still had her disappointment showing. "Well that was…something. I never thought that Logan would be fighting one of his biggest fans," Soifon said.
"The least we could hope for is that it's a passing fling on this girl's part. There's no way he'll be falling for her. He's a faithful man from what I've seen from you two," remarked Momo.
"Yeah, one whose heart I had broken. I still can't imagine all the Hell his heart endured before this tournament. I still haven't forgiven myself for it, nor have I forgiven myself for getting him involved in our latest match. I know Lady Yoruichi would've, and Ichigo and I are her apprentices. He would've forgiven himself unless he broke Rukia's heart or let those closest to him get critically injured or even killed. I guess I know what it's like to be in his shoes after all.
Momo saw that Soifon was having a sad moment, so she thought of something. "Captain, if it means anything to you, I forgive you for what you did. You lost control of your temper, so you couldn't control your choice of words. It's nobody's fault since we all have a reckless side." After saying that, Momo quickly covered her mouth up in fear. Soifon realized that she was right, so she chuckled, which turned into a full-blown laugh.
"You know something, Momo, you're right; we all have a reckless side. You better get back to your barracks. Captain Hirako must be worried about you." Momo nodded and left. 'She's such a sweet girl. It's no wonder she's able to be friends with almost anyone. Maybe it's not just a new Lieutenant I need, but a new apprentice as well. Sadly, because of obligations to Squad 5, she's stuck with Captain Hirako as a Lieutenant. But perhaps I can have her as an apprentice,' she thought to herself.
CHAPTER 12 END
Okay, so just a little heads-up, the next chapter will finally bring in Decapre, which will finalize the characters added for Ultra Street Fighter IV as well as Guy, showing him as the last of the Final Fight gang to be featured from the roster. I also had the idea to have a 'friendly/flirtatious rivalry' between Logan and Juri, similar to the ones between Spider-Man and Black Cat and Batman and Catwoman. I honestly think it's a good concept.
So the crew has finally reunited and Logan, as well as Tatsuki and her crew, have met Edmond Honda. Logan also took his revenge on Juri for what she did to Chun-Li, in addition to discovering the location of Ichigo and Rukia. Is he going to beat Shadaloo to them? Who will they fight next? Will Soifon take Momo under her wing as her apprentice? Will I ever stop asking these questions? Stay tuned.