Chapter 6: Unsafe Departure
In a clean empty hotel room, all was silent, and darkness filled the room. The only light that managed to creep in was that of the morning lights of Tokyo outside, but even that was obstructed by someone straddling a chair in front of the window.
Juri sat in her chair leaning forward, practically pressed against the glass with a pair of technologically advanced binoculars. She's been keeping watch over Ryu ever since she left him at his burning dojo. She wouldn't dare leave her prize for him to simply vanish into the vast world. Especially when things were getting interesting.
Interpol's China girl let Ryu stay in her hotel room, which was smart on her part. The Tae kwan do master had not seen Chun li since her last skirmish with her and Cammy duing the Tournament Seth held a short while ago. She was always fun to beat on, especially since she keeps coming back for more.
"Hmmm." She thought to herself. "I thought for sure something would happen between the two...tsk...so boring."
This kind of tedious waiting was really starting to get under Juri's skin. She hated waiting around, and wanted to go out and do something. It was then her cell phone rang. Lowering the binoculars she answered the phone. "Hey, what is it?" She said, knowing that it was her secretary from S.I.N.
"Mistress Juri," He addressed. "We have located another Shadaloo facility located in Mexico."
"Have you mobilized the forces?"
"Indeed they are ready to go at your order. But I felt I should warn you. This facility is extremely fortified and security has heightened substantially since the last three Shadaloo facilities S.I.N. destroyed."
"I don't give a damn! Just burn that place to the ground! Leave no Shadaloo dogs alive!"
"Y-yes mistress."
Juri hung up and looked back through the binoculars. There was movement in Chun li's hotel room, it was Ryu. He was doing his morning exercises, push ups using only his thumbs. The world warrior was going at it like a machine, and Juri eventually lost count how many he lifted himself. After the push ups he started to do some crunches which he did with seemingly equal ease.
In the other building, Ryu came near the end of his work out when Chun li came out of her room wearing her pajamas. She was brushing her teeth when she saw Ryu throwing some punches and kicks in the room.
"Hey!" She called out trying to not let the tooth past escape her mouth. "Noh' in dah wroom!"
Ryu paused and turned to her. "Oh...sorry." He apologized as he abandoned his fighting stance.
Chun li noticed the sweat from his muscular body. The beads of sweat cascading down his desirable muscles. It was was the first time she saw him without his gi and bandana. Her eyes began to scan all the crevices of his body, admiring every detail.
"Chun li," He addressed politely. "You're toothpaste...it's...um..."
The Chinese woman suddenly came to her senses and noticed her toothpaste was dripping down her chin and onto the floor. "Ah!" She squeaked as she held up her hand to cover her face as she turned away. "Y-yu shud take a showah! you got a plane tu catch, wight?"
"Yes, you're right" Ryu then made his way to the washroom and locked the door. dropped his pants and trousers and hopped in the shower.
It was then Chun li realized she was still brushing her teeth and now the bathroom was occupied. Dammit! She thought. She let out a sigh and decided to use the kitchen sink.
When the two friends finished getting ready for the day they checked out of the hotel and stood in front of the building.
"Well I best be on my way." Ryu turned back and smiled at his friend.
"Yeah..." Chun li let out a small smile. "I suppose we can always have our sparring match another time."
"That would be nice. I can only imagine how impressive your kicks have become."
Just as the world warrior turned away the Interpol agent called out to him one last time. "Ryu...be careful..."
He nodded to her and began to make his way towards the Tokyo airport. Chun li continued to watch him turn a corner at the end of the block and immediately began to pursue him discretely.
There's no way I'd let Ryu roam around when I know Shadaloo is after him, the agent thought to herself. If Bison makes his move against him it would be the best way to take him down. I'm sorry for using you like this Ryu...
Just on the rooftops overhead Juri was spying on Chun li. "Well aren't you just a sneaky little China girl?" She chuckled to herself. It would make things difficult for Juri if the Interpol agent kept tabs on Ryu through his journey.
Looks like it'll be time for some fun after all! The leader of S.I.N. grinned. All that waiting last night was driving me crazy! I could use a little workout.
Juri followed the agent who was stalking the vagabond. It was an elaborate game of follow the leader. She was just waiting for the right opportunity to get Chun li away from Ryu. And then the opportunity presented itself. A large mass of people began crossing the street towards Ryu. The renown fighter disappeared into the ruckus of people.
The S.I.N. owner sneered as she saw Chun li struggle to even keep her eyes on the man with a tattered gi from where she was hiding. This was the opportunity Juri had been waiting for to intercept Chun li. She hastily leaped off the building towards the emergency fire exit stair case. She grasped onto the railing swung down and diligently descended. Her decent resembled that of a spider spinning down her web, it's limbs flailing purposefully as it clung onto every surface.
Coming close to the bottom she landed with a loud 'thud' intentionally so the Interpol Agent could hear her. And if that didn't catch her attention, she casually called out. "Hey there officer!"
Chun li turned away from Ryu recognizing that sadistic voice. Her eyes widened to see Juri standing there in her regular combat garb. The Chinese woman quickly threw off her over coat and got in her fighting stance in a single swift motion. "I Knew if I followed Ryu you'd show up soon enough"
"Bet you didn't think it'd be so soon, huh?" Juri sneered as she casually walked away, deeper into the alleyway. She knew Chun li would pursue, it's simply what cops do; chase the bad guys. To that point Juri sighed in disappointment as she heard the agents pursuit through the alleyway.
Chun li cautiously turned around the corner but when she did, Juri was no where to be in sight.
What? Where did she go? The Chinese woman wondered as she hastily scanned around the area. The alleyway was old, filled with litter and crannies. It was obviously not well kept, and must be a usual hangout for some, judging from the many smashed beer bottles and cigarette remnants.
The only thing that could be heard was the traffic in the streets, and the bustling of the city life. It seems Juri has vanished once again. The Interpol agent sighed, but knew she had to get back on track after Ryu. If she loses sight of him it'd be hell tracking him down a second time.
Just as Chun Li turned around to leave the alleyway a solid kick was scored to her chin. "Surprise!" Juri laughed menacingly. The force of the kick lifted Chun Li off the ground and everything became a blur for Interpol's China-girl.
As the famed agent was suspended into the air Juri quickly pivoted around and delivered a powerful thrust kick empowered with strange purple energy that was powered by the Feng Shui Engine. The blow winded Chun li before she had a chance to cry in pain, even as she crashed into the rusty dumpster.
"Eyes on me sweetie." Juri taunted as she pointed to her left eye. " 'Cause if you don't pay attention, you're gonna get more than seriously hurt."
Chun li fell forward but caught herself. Her vision was blurry and she still struggled to force air back into her lungs. "W-w-..." She couldn't speak. But somehow managed to get to her feet.
"W-w-wha?" Juri mimicked mockingly holding her hand to her ear as she leaned forward.
Angered, Chun li successfully took a deep breath "What do you want with Ryu?!"
"Aw, why spoil the surprise?"
It was dangerous to fight Juri with so many people around them, then again, it was dangerous to fight Juri at all. There was little other choice for the authority figure, and she took up her traditional Kung Fu fighting stance. "You're not getting away this time!" Chun li stated in a strong tone.
Juri smiled as she shifted her weight to one leg, popping her hip out and gestured her finger to taunt the agent over. She chuckled when she saw the flare of anger in the Chinese woman expression.
"Kikoken!" Chun li exploded as she thrust one hand forward unleashing a ball of chi energy. The Korean martial artist anticipated the attack and with amazing speed slipped under the projectile, stopping right in front of her opponent in a low crouching stance.
Juri laughed as punched Chun li lightly in the gut, causing the Kung Fu master to flinch, followed by a much heavier elbow to the solarplex, and finished it off by kicking both her legs out in a circular motion, powered by the Feng Shui engine. Her signature pinwheel move was performed flawlessly and knocked Chun li screaming as she was slammed back into the dumpster.
"Oh come on!" Juri said in a slightly angered tone. "Fighting you is fun and all, and your screams are amusing, but I got someone to keep an eye on right now. Since you can't keep this interesting, I'll finish this."
Chun li could hear the foot steps of the cruel woman casually walking towards her. "Yaaaaah!" Summing up all her strength, The Interpol agent sprung up unexpectedly and unleashed and powerful spinning bird kick striking Juri in the legs, then the side, and then her head and sent the Korean woman flying back.
Juri quickly caught herself and managed to land on her feet. "You bitch!" She shouted, the side of her face hurting from the multiple kicks that connected. She could then taste blood in her mouth from her cut lip. "Now you're gonna get it!"
The Feng Shui engine in the Tae kwan do warrior's left eye began to glow. The chi energy began to surround the hostile figure and Juri's frown grew into a menacing grin. The garbage and little began being blown away from the sheer force of her unnatural chi, abandoned newspaper violently too to the air, crushed pop cans skittering down the alleyway, broken bits of glass bottles rolling away.
Chun li prepared herself the best she could, as she shifted over to a more defensive stance. The agent wasn't even certain if she would be able to defend herself from the anticipated assault. She remember hearing her blasting Guile away and blowing up his jet in a single kick.
In an instant Juri was standing no more than a foot away from Chun li, it was as if she teleported. The abrupt speed left the Chinese warrior startled, but managed to regain her composure just in time to block a barrage of kicks that came at a phenomenal speed. High, low, high, high, Chun li said in her head, as she continued to defend herself from the relentless assault.
Her arms and legs were going numb from the abuse she was taking. Chun li's movements were getting more sloppy and sluggish from the pain. Juri changed the tempo and instead of a kick, she leaped towards the Chinese warrior, throwing off the rythm. The unexpected knee strike connected brutally connected to Chun li's chin. the sheer force lifted the agent off the ground. Juri then pivoted in the air and with the other leg, delivered a powerful thrust kick to her stomach sending her crashing into the alleyway wall.
Slamming into the brick wall, Chun li slowly slid down the solid surface, barely conscious. Everything was spinning, her fingers felt fuzzy, air refused to fill her lungs. She managed to open her eyes enough to see the hazy figure of her attacker. The last thing the Chinese warrior saw was the cruel grin of Juri's face before a thrust kick knocked the Interpol agents head into the solid gritty wall.
The fight was over, Chun li was defeated, bloodied and battered. Juri tilted her head as she looked down at the woman who was defeated by her for a third time and barely alive once more.
Killing her would be fun... The CEO of S.I.N. thought. But leaving her alive makes things more interesting to me. I was really hoping she'd gotten much better than this...sigh...maybe I'm expecting a little too much from my dear China-girl.
Raising her arms behind her head in a relaxed position, Juri turned away and casually made her way out of the alley. She knew that she simply has to make it to the Tokyo airport quickly to catch Ryu there. She'll be able to deduce where Ryu was off to from there.
It took a few hours but the World Warrior champion made it to the airport on foot. The airport was huge, and traffic around the place was busy. A constant flow of people walking in and out of the grand structure, busy to reach their destinations. As busy as they were, many of them would turn and glance over at the strange man in the sleeveless Karate gi and red headband.
Upon entering the structure, the martial arts vagabond could hear hi name being called. It was a man holding a sign with his name on it. The man was well dressed in a suit and had shades covering his eyes. From the look of him he was American.
"You must be Mr. Masters' friend Ryu." He said politely tucking the sign under his arm as he approached the warrior.
"Yes," Ryu nodded. "I'm Ken's friend."
"Wonderful, Ken has arranged a charter flight for you on his personal jet."
"I see."
This kind of behavior from Ken was not all that surprising. His best friend always did get excited and impatient when the two of them were going to get together. As much as Ryu wasn't too big on special treatment like this, it did cheer him up in knowing that even though Gouken's dojo was destroyed, not everything has changed.
"Allow me to take you to your flight." The man smiled as he lead the way to Ken's jet. Ryu nodded and followed.
Not too far away a man was sitting down at one of the reading a news paper, but his eyes were on Ryu the whole time. He pulled out his phone and made a call. "He's here." He said softly. "A man is leading him past the security. I think it's a charter flight."
"I know that!" A moody voice snapped back through the phone. "I got here half an hour ago."
"Y-yes mistress Juri..."
On the roof of the airport structure Juri casually sat on the ledge with one leg dangling of the side of the building. In one hand she was holding a set of binoculars, in the other she was holding her cell phone. She could see Ryu and a man in a suit walking towards a specific aircraft and she zoomed in on the fancy looking jet. Along the back end, it read 'MASTERS'.
Lowering her binoculars she smiled. "Well now," She said to her herself. "Guess I'm going to America." Getting to her feet and turning away from the ledge of the building she spoke into her phone. "Make the preparations pronto. Make sure you got a couple guys there waiting at close to the Masters estate too. I don't think we're the only ones who are going to catch on to this."
Juri stared down at the world warrior for a moment and raised her binoculars. She carefully examined his muscular figure, his hardened eyes, his battle-worn gi. Her soft smile widened as she watched the world warrior proceed onto the aircraft. A sense of excitement seems to creep up Juri's spine every time she looks at him. Soon...she thought to herself. "See you in America Ryu." She said in a playful tone.