Chapter 5: Rumble in the Rising Sun
In the country of Japan lie a forested area on the outskirts of thecapital city of Tokyo. Birds chirped cheerily and the trees danced magnificently in the winds that blew over the landscape. Deep in the forest there stood an old martial arts dojo which despite its age still maintained a sturdy look. Near the region of the dojo, a man was busy training himself in the ways of the martial arts. He was of Japanese descent and had short black hair and dark brown eyes. A red headband draped across his forehead and he was also clothed in a plain white karate gi complete with brown gloves and a black belt. The gi top was draped across his waist as he sweat profusely from his rigorous workout. It was none other than Ryu, the Eternal Challenger.
"The answer to what makes a true martial artist lies just beyond my fist, but for some reason, the answer still eludes me. I wonder what keeps it out of my reach?" mused Ryu to himself as he performed a kata in the forest.
"Ryu!" boomed a voice from out of nowhere, causing Ryu to halt what he was doing as he pulled his gi top back up over his torso.
"What was that?" gasped Ryu as he looked around in bewilderment trying to find the source of the voice. Immediately, a strong gust of wind blew over Ryu and as the gust died down, the spectral image of Gouken that had visited Ken earlier was now standing before Ryu with a grin on his face.
"Ryu, always dedicated to ways of the martial arts, I must say you were always a great student. I know you seek answers and I tell you that the quest you will embark upon will help you grow closer to the answers you seek," stated Gouken.
"Another journey cross the world I take it, what am I to accomplish on this quest?" asked Ryu.
"You are to help those that will accompany you save the world from two sinister evils," answered Gouken.
"Although the hero lifestyle is not something I am overly fond of, if it will bring me closer to being a true martial artist to save this fused world, then I will gladly embark on this journey, I guess I should get going now," remarked Ryu.
"No, wait here, your companions are coming to find you, I know you desire challenges my student, but do not rush into battle not knowing what may stand against you. A lone soldier cannot defeat an entire army, but if that soldier works together with his unit, victory will easily come to him," replied Gouken.
"Very well, I shall patiently wait, and thanks for helping me along my way,"commented Ryu.
"Anytime Ryu, always remember everything I taught you and the answers will eventually find you," commented Gouken as he faded away, Ryu just looked on in awe until Gouken was completely gone from sight. He then sat cross legged on the grass below him and began to meditate silently mulling over the words that his deceased master had said to him. In the meantime, Link and the others had all arrived in Japan, they materialized in an alleyway in Tokyo.
"Are we in Japan?" asked zelda.
"Yes, I'm sure of it, I know they layout here quite well," answered Ken.
"Really, so we should have no problem finding Ryu if that's the case," stated Link.
"Provided he isn't travelling right now, but if he's not, then he should be at Gouken's dojo, which is just a few miles north of here," informed Ken.
"We should check it out then, after all, we need Ryu to succeed in our mission to protect Tokeau," suggested Chun-Li.
As the heroes left the alle, they began to walk through the city. link and Zelda gazed in wonder at the busy streets of Tokyo, businessmen walked down the streets talking on cell phones. Many folk were gazing at much of the merchandise in the shops. Cars drove up and down the streets.
"Who are those guys with those strange devices talking to?" inquired Zelda.
"You mean a cell phone. Phones are used to talk to people far away from you, it's quite complicated to explain how it works, if we had more time, I'd tell you more about phones," answered Alex.
"Amazing, the tools you all utilize on a daily basis intrigue me, I'd definitely love to learn how to use some of those," remarked Link.
"Maybe when we have some extra time on our hands, right now, first things first," remarked Chun-Li.
"In all honesty, I think Ryu would be right at home with you guys, since he's not too up to date either with technology," commented Ken.
As the heroes coninued walking, they eventually passed by a noisy arcade where many people were playing various video games. Link and Zelda were of course mesmerized by all the flashing lights adorning the numerous arcade cabinets in the building.
"What do you call those devices that the people in there operate?" asked Zelda.
"We call those video games, again something that would take us a long time to explain to you," answered Alex.
"Do you think Ryu would be in a location like this?" inquired Link.
"In an arcade, no, Ryu rarely travels to the city when he's actually in Japan. He lives on the outskirts of this city coming here occasionally to get food," answered Ken.
"We've still got quite a ways to go before we reach the road leading up to the dojo," added Chun-Li.
"Do you think we could stop and get something to eat really quickly? I'm hungry," chimed Alex.
"I admit my stomach yearns to befilled, but we must soldier on through our hunger pains until we can assure that Ryu is with us and not in the clutches of Urien and Ganondorf," replied Link.
"Besides, it would be rude to leave Ryu out of a meal, he loves to eat, so we'll stuff our faces afterwards. After all, I say a human does his or her best work on a full stomach and an empty bladder," piped up Ken.
"I would actually agree with the words you speak Ken," spoke Zelda.
"Hey Link, Princess Zelda, man it feels great to see a familiar face around these strange parts!" exclaimed a main with short reddish brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a pair of round spectacles along with a purple colored coat, light brown paints and black shoes. Tucked under his arms were a couple of books.
"Oh, Shad, you wound up here when the worlds fused Isee. Are you enjoying your time here?" asked Link.
"This world that Hyrule has merged with is absolutely fascinating! There are so many discoveries that I still have yet to find, I'd love to write a book about this world, I've taken so many notes on this world so far and I don't even feel like I've scratched the tip of the iceberg!" answered Shad with lots of excitement in his voice.
"Far from it, our world is very big, it would take you years to study everything that this world has to offer," said Alex.
"I don't doubt that my friend, but I'm eager to absorb as much as I can from your world," responded Shad enthusiastically.
From within the arcade building, a group of people ran out of the building with worried looks on their faces, Link turned to see a legion of creatures with dog like faces clothed in either red or blue chucking boomerangs at the innocent people.
"Goriyas! I figured Ganondorf would send some monsters here to upset the people here!" exclaimed Link.
"They're being really bad dogs I'd say," remarked Alex.
"Then why don't we put these hounds to sleep?" suggested Ken.
"I couldn't have said it better myself," said Chun-Li.
The Goriyas let out a hoarse barking sound as they charged at Link and company who also were rushing them down. Zelda used Nayru's Love to place a barrier around her and send the boomerangs the Goryias threw back at them. While the creatures stagger about stunned from being nailed with their own weapons, the heroes made quick work of the Goriyas. After all the Goriyas had disappeared, the townspeople calmed down and thanked Link and company for saving them from the Goriyas.
"Arigato gozaimasu!" exclaimed a Japanese woman.
"Doo itashimashite," replied Ken to the woman.
"What type of language is that?" inquired Zelda.
"It's Japanese, I take it all the languages of this world can be confusing to you," answered Chun-Li.
"She basically said thank you to us, and I replied by saying you're welcome," informed Ken.
"Ah, thanks for clarifying that," replied Link.
"You guys fight well, I'm glad you were around to stop those little beasts," said a Japanese man.
"Anytime, we're always glad to help those in need. After all, it's a good idea to do so even more since who knows what dangers you may face since your world fused with mine," responded Link.
"Say, would you like to come for a free meal at my restaurant, it's the least I could do for you guys saving our hides?" asked another man.
"We'd love to, but maybe after we obtain a friend, we feel he may be in trouble as well," answered Zelda.
"Ok, the offer's always good should you change your mind!" called out the man as he walked off towards his business.
"We better get to Ryu fast in case some more of those Goriya things are after him," stated Chun-Li.
"Sure thing, let's go!" shouted Ken as him, Chun-Li, and Alex obtained nearby bicycles and started pedaling furiously while Link and Zelda galloped away on Epona towards the forest where Gouken's dojo lied. In that forest, Ryu had just finished his mediation and decided to go for a walk in the forest to stretch his legs. As he trekked through the lush green area, a hissing sound entered his ear causing Ryu to look towards the source of the hiss.
"I'm not alone in this forest, but whoever's watching me is hiding, I must be on guard," mumbled Ryu to himself.
As Ryu walked along the forested path, another loud hiss became audible and a monster plant with a blue head and sharp teeth lunged at Ryu who jumped back just in time to avoid being chomped by the plant.
"What on earth? A man eating plant. I've never seen anything like that during all the years I've been here," gasped Ryu.
As Ryu gazed at the one plant, many more plants similar to it rose up from the ground making lashing their tongues and gnashing their teeth hungrily at Ryu as all the plants were looking to take a nice big bite out of the Japanese martial artist.
"Hadoken!" yelled Ryu without hesitation.
A blue flame projectile surged forth from Ryu's palms singing the plants in front of him, and before one behind Ryu could successfully bite him, Ryu darted forward through the forest dodging and weaving trhough any of those plant monsters he came across. Some plant monsters careless to lunge at Ryu would receive a swift kick across it's head or a Hadoken which would wilt the wild plants.
"How many of these things are there?" groaned Ryu as he continued sprinting through the forest. Unbeknownst to him, a boomerang whizzed at Ryu decking him in the face and causing him to stagger back and fall hard on his backside. A group of Goriyas leapt out from the bushes and laughed hoarsely at Ryu.
"More monsters, looks like I'm in for a tough fight," said Ryu to himself.
From behind Ryu, another monster plant arose and was licking its "lips" voraciously ready to snack on Ryu's head. But before it could chomp down, a fiery burst of magic singed the leafy beast to its death and made it disappear in a puff of smoke. As Ryu whirled around to see where the blast came from, Epona galloped up and came to a stop right behind Ryu, with Link and Zelda still mounted on the mare's back. Ken, Chun-Li, and Alex soon followed suit as Ryu quickly sprang back to his feet.
"You the ones that defeated that strange plant thing?" asked Ryu.
"You mean the Deku Baba, yeah, we ran across a whole lot of them here, and I see you've run across some more Goriyas as well," answered Link.
"Goriyas, Deku Babas, this is all so confusing to me," grumbled Ryu.
"I bet it is buddy, but let's take care of these freaks of nature," suggested Ken.
"I agree," affirmed Ryu.
Zelda began to use magic to wilt any angry Deku Babas that reared their ugly heads, Link unsheathed his sword, leapt off of Epona and began cutting down Deku Babas before they got a chance to attempt biting any of the heroes. A small cluster of Goriyas charged at the six warriors. Alex seperated the cluter with a Slash Elbow sending them flying in different directions. Chun-Li ran to the left and used her Spinning Bird Kick to extinguish some of the Goriyas while Ken ran to the right and took care of more of the dog like beasts with his Tatsumakisenpukyaku. Link wound up srrounded by a series of monsters ans spun around in a quick with his sword sticking out, which ended up with Link sending another series of Goriyas and Deku Babas to their death with his lethal Spin Attack. The Goriyas flung their boomerangs at the group again but Link deflected the Goriya's weapons with his shield as Ryu ran up to the Goriyas while they were unarmed and floored some with his Tatsumakisenpukyaku. One Goriya tried to sneak up behind Ryu, but the martial artist listening to the rustling of the leaves on the floor whirled around and placed his palms out in front of him.
"Hadoken!" shouted Ryu.
The blue ki projectile nailed the Goriya dead on and sent him off with a poof. Within minutes, all the Goriyas and Deku Babas were eterminated and the six fighters breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ok, now can you explain to me what's happening here?" inquired Ryu.
"You're aware of the fusion of your world and my world right?" asked Link.
"Yes, so are you and the lady on the horse from the other world?" replied Ryu.
"We are, I am Link, this is Zelda, we need you Ryu to help us in saving Tokeau from evil," answered Link.
"Tokeau, is that the name of your world? questioned Ryu.
"No, it's the name of the fused world, the sages from Link and Zelda's world gave it this name," answered Alex.
"So Master Gouken visiting me wasn't just some bizarre hallucination," remarked Ryu.
"I might have known Gouken would visit you too, he was like your father practically," commented Ken.
"Ken, you're helping out as well," gasped Ryu.
"Yeah! You, me, Chun-Li, and Alex were chosen to assist Link and Zelda in saving our worlds from Urien and Ganondorf," informed Ken.
"Glad to see your still keeping up in your training, you did great in assisting us with those beasts," said Chun-Li.
"Thank you, so is there anyone else that we need to find, or am I the last one you guys needed?" asked Ryu.
"You are the last one we needed, our team is complete," answered Zelda.
"So now that we got the whole team, what's on the agenda now?" inquired Chun-Li.
"We must now look for these documents called the Secret Texts of the Illuminati before Ganondorf and Urien can get their hands on them," answered Link.
"Sounds fine and dandy, but do we have any idea as to where these Secret Texts are? We should know where to begin looking before going off and wandering aimlessly," suggested Ken.
"We can ask Sahasrala if he's located any clues as to where any of the texts can be and maybe he can transport us to that location," stated Link.
"Good idea, but hey, like I said earlier, can we eat before we go do any more adventuring, we got Ryu so the whole team is assembled, no one would be left out," piped up Alex.
"I must agree with Alex, for a warrior without anything sidetracking his mind is a much more effective warrior," added Ryu.
"Then we'll eat, and afterwards resume our adventure," informed Link.
The other five nodded in agreement and headed out of the forest to grab a bite before heading off to find the location of the first Secret Text. On a cliff overlooking the dojo, a man watched the heroes leave the forest. He was a tan skinned man who had the same build as Ken and Ryu, his flaming red hair was spiked upwards and he was clothed in a black gi similar to Ken and Ryu's with a piece of rope tying the gi top shut and he also had wooden sandals on his feet and a beaded necklace around his neck. His eyes glowed red as he stood atop the cliff, the wind ruffling his gi.
"Gouken my brother, your pupils are off on a journey to save these pathetic fools that cannot comprehend my path that I have taken. Ultimately as they grow stronger from their travels, I shall face them in combat when I see fit to do so. They cannot escape their fate at the hands of me, the Master of the Fist, Akuma," said the man.
Akuma eyed the warriors until they were no longer visible to the naked eye. When they disappeared from his view, he turned around his back facing the dojo, a red kanji symbol for "Ten" meaning Heaven glowed brightly on Akuma's back and with that, the dark warrior vanished from the cliff.
Author's Note: Well now, Ryu is in the fold and the entire team of heroes is now complete. Next chapter, the adventure to obtain the Secret Texts of the Illuminati begins for our heroes. So now I'm off to go plan the next chapter of this fic. Until then, please read and review. I am Error!