Welcome back! Time to learn more about our resident bad guy, Guerrilla. Just who is this guy, anyway? What is his interest in Chun-Li? And how tough is this guy that he waited for two of the strongest fighters in the world to come to him? Time to find out... wouldn't you say? Enjoy!
(EDITING NOTE: Thanks to fataliT428, Guerrilla now speaks with an "accent" as oppose to "accident." Sorry about that.)
Chapter 6
Ryu and Chun-Li stood in the presence of the leader of Neo-Shadaloo, Guerrilla. His size alone was intimidating but Ryu could feel the power he commanded as he was standing still that was far more prominent. It was no wonder he was the leader of Neo-Shadaloo.
"You two are quite the detectives," Guerrilla said, speaking in a heavy African accent. "You followed the breadcrumbs right to me."
"Breadcrumbs?" Chun-Li asked.
"But, of course," he threw in a French accent, which he put on flawlessly, before returning to his normal voice. "You think that I just let you go all over the world and not take notice the second you stepped off a plane in London."
Chun-Li was confused.
"So, why didn't Vega know we were in London until after we found Markway?" Ryu asked.
Guerrilla tsked. "Oh, please, Ryu. As a good a soldier he may be, I don't trust Vega that much. In case you haven't noticed, the man is absolutely insane."
Ryu couldn't argue that. "And you're not?"
The evil leader laughed, hard. "I can see why you would think that. Kidnapping a child, holding a man hostage, all to drive a single woman crazy." He chuckled. "But… no. I am quite sane." He shrugged, "Of course… I'm sure you're wondering why I chose you, Chun-Li. Why out of all the Street Fighters, you. I can tell you'd like an explanation."
"I would, yes."
Guerrilla smiled. "Hmmm." He paced calmly. "Tell me, how many of the so-called 'World Warriors' actually have families that one can target?"
Chun-Li's anger began to slowly boil up.
"The number is small. But… there's more to it. Of all the fighters, you two, along with people like Guile, Ken, even Cammy, played your parts in the bringing down the original Shadaloo and killing Bison." He scoffed, "Basically, though… I'm looking to not make the same mistakes as my predecessor."
"What do you mean?" Ryu asked.
"Bison went in, fists flying. He relied on his power to carry him through. While that's a strategy that can work, I'm smarter than him. I'd rather rule without having to fight the opposition. Well… at least, not all at one time."
A realization hit Chun-Li. "I was your test? Just to see how far one of us would go for our loved ones?"
He smiled. "You're as smart as I thought, Chun-Li."
Ryu's anger boiled over. "You… you kidnapped a child! JUST TO PROVE A POINT!"
He held up a finger. "Correction: to test a theory." He lowered his hand. "Experiments. They have their downsides."
That was the last straw. Ryu didn't need or want to hear anything else Guerrilla had to say. With a roar, the world travelled fighter charged at Guerrilla and went to punch him. Guerrilla dodged every punch and even a kick. He ducked under one more punch and got behind Ryu, slapping him hard enough on the back to the throw the world warrior off balance. Ryu regained his footing and took a stance against Guerrilla, who was still smiling. Not about to be left out, Chun-Li jumped up and tried to kick the Neo-Shadaloo leader. Guerrilla dodged as she came down with the kick. She turned around and tried to landed an open palm with her left but Guerrilla dodged. She followed up with a right. Another dodge. She went for a kick. He caught her foot and tossed her toward Ryu, who caught her as she flew through the air. Guerrilla just stood as though he went for a walk, not as though he was just in a fight.
"Well," Guerrilla smiled, "are you two feeling better? Now that you got to throw your fists at me?"
"Where is Mei?" Chun-Li shouted as Ryu was still holding on to her. "Where is Chow?"
Guerrilla chuckled. "You're the detectives. Find them." He quickly proceeded down the stairs, both his movements and speed impressive for his size.
Chun-Li charged after, Ryu barely a step behind her. They rushed down the stairs to catch Guerrilla. When they got back to the bottom floor, they opened the doors to the outside to find a group of henchmen apparently left by Guerrilla to keep them from following him. Ryu and Chun-Li had enough aggression to tear through the henchmen, though it took a while. After fifteen minutes of constant combat, which took them from the hotel to a back alley of Shinjuku, the duo had taken out all of the henchmen. They thought they were done when they heard a heavy footstep that was coupled with a metal clanking together. They looked up to see a large Japanese man with a large couple of chains hanging from his belt.
"Oh, hell…" Chun-Li cursed.
The man charged at Ryu and Chun-Li, starting off with a flying kick. They both dodged and Ryu went to kick him, but the man dodged. The man threw a hook; Ryu ducked under and caught the man in the side of the abdomen. The man winced and Ryu followed up with a punch to the other side. The man blocked and gave a few punches to Ryu's gut, forcing him back. The man's style revealed that he is well versed in kickboxing. Chun-Li stepped in and forced both her feet into his back. The Kickboxer stumbled. Chun-Li recovered, got into stance, and rushed in. The Kickboxer came with a backhand, she ducked under, came up with a palmed uppercut, connecting with his chin. She punched him a few more times before the Kickboxer caught her forearm and tried to kick her. She trapped his leg underneath her arm, broke his free of his grip on her arm, and severely fractured his leg with a single chop. The Kickboxer retreated in pain but Chun-Li wasn't done with him yet. She went into a handstand and performed her Spinning Bird Kick, knocking the Kickboxer down and out.
She stared down at the unconscious fighter after she got back to her feet, breathing hard. She wanted to do more damage. She wanted another fight. She wanted something else to hit.
Ryu walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey…"
She turned around with a fierceness that he'd never seen in her. She almost hit him. She stopped just short of her palm connecting with his face. She came back to herself. "R-Ryu…"
He didn't even put up a guard. "If you need to hit me, I get it. But, just keep in mind… we're nowhere near done for the night. We should save our energy for Guerrilla."
She lowered her hand. She took a deep breath. "Ryu, I…"
"Come on. I think I heard a car speed off. Might have been Guerrilla." He hurried for the street.
She sighed and followed after him.
They both looked in all directions but could see no sign of a car in a hurry or Guerrilla.
Ryu grunted. "Dammit…"
Chun-Li looked around then pulled out her phone. She called Cammy. She asked if there was any way to track Guerrilla's movements. She gave him his description, hanging up afterward. She looked up at Ryu. "What do you wanna do?"
"Look."
They spent the next hour searching, going through the Shinjuku district, looking for anyone who knew anything about Guerrilla and keeping their eyes open for sight of the Neo-Shadaloo commander. After two hours, nothing was turning up. They went to a side outdoor restaurant, sitting on the stools as they tried to figure out their next move and getting any food in them they could for energy. They sat and ate in silence with the emotions of the night still running strong. Ryu seemed more visibly upset that Chun-Li did; Chun-Li feeling upset about almost striking Ryu and Ryu was upset that they were no closer to finding Chun-Li's family. It was starting to get to the both of them. And, in spite of themselves and their anger, both had to silently admit that Guerrilla… is quite the opponent.
Chun-Li's phone rang. Cammy was calling back. She learned that someone fitting Guerrilla's description was indeed seen at a very lavish hotel, the Hilton in Tokyo.
After getting all of the details, Chun-Li asked, "And you're absolutely sure he's there?"
"Yeah. We managed to find some security footage of him coming and going. And checked out all of the information. It's good."
Chun-Li thought it over for a second. "Alright."
Cammy was concerned. "Chun-Li… let me call in some favors. Get some people over there to…"
"No. We can handle it."
"I know. I'm just saying…"
"Thanks, Cammy." Chun-Li hung up. She looked at Ryu. "Got his location. Let's go."
Minutes later, they were in the Hilton. They took the elevator to the floor where Guerrilla's room was. They walked down the hallway, both ready for the fight that was coming. They rounded the corner and saw the room door. They were both a little surprised that there were no guards at the door. They proceeded with caution toward the door. They both looked at each other, ready for this to come to an end. Ryu squinted his eyes as he moved in front of the door to kick it open.
Except the door beat him to it.
The room door flew off its hinges, thrusting right into Ryu and sending him against the far wall.
"Ryu!" Chun-Li looked at the direction of the door just in time to see a massive foot retreat into the darkness.
Guerrilla stepped out. He smirked. "I'm surprised you two found me so quickly. Did you have help?"
Chun-Li charged at him, going to a kick. He moved back and, quickly returning to striking distance, punched her in the gut. It was undeniable the pain she felt immediately. Chun-Li stumbled and collapsed to her knees, doubled over in pain.
"Pretty little bird…" Guerrilla towered over her. "Never learned how to take a punch." He lifted both his fists to pummel her but Ryu tackled him to the ground, Chun-Li barely got out of the way of their fall.
The two rolled on the ground, hurrying to their feet. Ryu went for a kick, Guerrilla blocked and went for a punch that was deflected. Ryu went for a punch of his own and Guerrilla absorbed the blow with his forearms over his face. The fight went like this for several minutes, with Guerrilla eventually forcing Ryu toward the service stairs. Guerrilla had managed to get around Ryu's attacks and force him against the metal bars of the stairs. He held him there, putting his massive hands around the world warrior's throat, squeezing tighter.
As Ryu struggled for air, Guerrilla smiled devilishly. "Bet you wished you'd never helped her… eh, Ryu?"
Suddenly, a kick connected to the back of Guerrilla's knees. He buckled, causing to lose his grip on Ryu. Ryu fell to his hands and knees, gasping for air. Guerrilla looked up to see Chun-Li standing over him. She kicked him in the face as hard she could, removing a tooth in the process.
This made Guerrilla snap.
He lunged forward and grabbed her by the throat, quickly forcing her against the wall, the back of her head slamming against the wall left her very disoriented and hard enough to leave a crack in cement. Ryu tried to jump in but Guerrilla whipped around with a kick to send him flying back and down on flight of the stairs. Ryu landed with a thud and groaned as he tried to get up.
Guerrilla turned his attention back to Chun-Li, who was still dazed. She saw him slowly advance and did what she could to fight. She tried her best to hit him but Guerrilla caught her right arm as she went for a punch. He lifted her up over his head, having a firm grip of her throat and leg. "Let's see if birds can fly…"
"NO!" Ryu screamed as he reached out for her.
Guerrilla threw Chun-Li down the stairwell.
She ricocheted off of the metal bars most of the way down before landing with a loud thud on the ground below, motionless and unconscious.
Guerrilla scoffed. "I guess not."
Ryu didn't bother with Guerrilla. He rushed down the stair well to see about Chun-Li. Guerrilla left the scene.
Ryu kneeled down next to Chun-Li, propping her head up. "Oh, my God… No…" He was looking for any form of life. He wasn't seeing any. "Chun-Li? Chun-Li? CHUN-LI!"
Bad. All bad. Coming up next: did Chun-Li survive her fall? What will Ryu do next? Where has Guerrilla escaped to? Has Neo-Shadaloo won a major victory? And, with decisive and devastating blow dealt, who can stop Guerrilla? Find out next time.