Pyramid Laboratory.
"How's Peter?"
Wrench looked over at his friend in a medical bed in a farther part of the old Shadaloo lab. He was on the phone with Chun-Li, giving her the play by play.
"Stable, but in a coma. We don't know how long it'll be before he wakes up again."
"Oh god." There was a noticeable pause from Chun-Li. "How are you taking it?"
"I had to look at my bleeding friend's lifeless corpse while giving him blood, safe to say its going to be a while before I stop worrying." Wrench admitted. He usually didn't like getting into his feelings or getting into personal stuff, especially when it concerned someone he cared about.
"That makes sense. But you seem like a strong person Wrench, you'll be alright. And Peter will recover."
"I know, its just...maybe this is something we need to let other heroes handle."
"Wrench..."
"I'm serious Chun-Li. I mean, I've seen Peter get beaten before, but he has his eye gouged out. Not to mention we still have no leads on Seth. This is something Overwatch or the Avengers need to deal with."
"So what, you're giving up?"
Wrench stood silent on the phone. "Maybe I am. Goodbye Chun-Li." Wrench hung up. He knew Chun-Li was either pissed at him or concerned about him, but at the moment he didn't care. He walked back into the room where Peter was recovering, and saw his father sitting down with his head in his hands, obviously feeling a range of emotions.
"Hey Mr. Parker...bad time?"
"Please, just call me Richard. And there's not really a good time for something like this, is there?" Richard sighed.
"You know, I always hoped I'd see my son again one day. Just not like this."
Wrench stood quietly as he listened to Richard.
"Tell me, who is everyone that Juri brought along with Peter?"
"Well, I'm Wrench. The goth southern is Rogue, blue skinned woman with red hair is Mystique, and the blue skinned woman with armor on is Widowmaker."
Richard chuckled a bit. "Kind of an assortment of woman my son seems to know."
"Your son has a hobby of saving damsels in distress." Wrench joked. Richard laughed a bit, which helped ease his tensions.
"You went to highschool with him?"
"Nah." Wrench took a seat next to Richard. "We uhh, met in San Francisco. He had just fled from New York about 3 months after mutants were exposed to the world. Came to DedSec saying he needed to fight the government."
"And did he?"
"In a way. I'm sure you've heard about Talon."
"Yes, we did. Unfortunately it wasn't a day of celebration for me or Mary."
Wrench turned to Richard with his mask showing two question marks. "Why's that? We pretty much stopped them from continuing any plans to rule the world, saved the X-Men, and exposed a shit load of plants in different world governments."
"Yeah, you guys did do all that. But I'm guessing Stryker didn't have any information about Shadaloo, S.I.N, or us on any available hardware." Wrench stood in silence at the implication Richard was making.
"You're telling me that you worked for Talon?"
"No, I'd never do something like that. But when you guys took down Talon, our lives didn't exactly get easier."
"Richard...what are you saying, exactly?"
Richard sighed. "You might wanna get comfortable, its a tale."
Mountain Shadaloo Base, 1 Year Ago.
It was New Year's Day, as the clock struck midnight. Richard was in his office in the lab, passed out with a bottle of Rum next to him. To his knowledge, he was the only person in Shadaloo who had heard the news of Talon's fall, and was keen on keeping that information to himself and his wife, Mary.
Richard was slightly groggy, and didn't want to wake up or move as he wanted to just celebrate in silence. However, the sound of his office door opening told him to expect a conversation.
"Leave meee alone!" Richard blurted out, still drunk. His response was the sound of repeated teeth sucking.
"I'm disappointed with you Mr. Parker. Is that anyway for a subordinate to talk to their superiors?" Richard recognized the voice and scrambled to get up, visibly scared at who he just insulted unintentionally. He turned to see a skinny and slim Chinese man with small black sunglasses, a black brimmed hat, a purple changpao with outrageously long sleeves, Chinese capris with matching toe shoes.
"Fang! I-I'm sorry, I thought you were one of the scientists-"
"I don't wish to hear excuses Parker. If you weren't Bison's best scientist, you would've been dead a long time ago. Just be glad he's given me strict orders to not kill you, otherwise this disrespect would've not gone unpunished." Fang explained. Richard gulped at the threat, but was still trying to maintain his composure.
Fang walked around the office, looking for nothing in particular as he kept talking. "Judging by the bottle of Rum on your desk, I can assume you're aware of Talon's destruction." Richard opened his mouth, but Fang spoke again.
"Don't answer, it was rhetorical." Richard closed his mouth, still looking at Fang.
"Lord Bison wants to know what progress you've made on the Feng Shui engine you've been designing to counter S.I.N's."
Richard scratched his head as he started to talk. "We're still in the testing phases of the engine."
"Lord Bison demanded you have it done by year's end. It's the year's end." Fang replied.
"I know, and believe me, we've tried to hit that quota. But-"
"It sounds like you're about to make excuses." Richard went pale when he heard the next voice. He turned around to see the man himself, as Fang proceeded to bow down to him.
"Bison!"
"Tell me Richard, why is our Feng Shui engine not complete."
"Like I told Fang, we're still in testin-" Richard was cut off when Bison suddenly grabbed him by the throat and held him against the wall of his office.
"Why. Isn't. It. Complete?" Richard felt the pressure around his neck, indicating to him to talk fast.
"Compared to the one S.I.N made for Juri Han, ours is producing too much energy for even an above normal human to handle."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning the energy would fry them if ever activated."
Bison let his grip go on Richard. Richard hit the ground and started breathing heavily for oxygen.
"I'll give you another month's time to fix the problem. If I don't have a functioning Feng Shui engine by February, you'll be disposed of."
Richard didn't react to the threat, as he was still on the floor, waiting to get enough oxygen back in his lungs. Bison and Fang walked out, leading to a sigh of relief. He went back to his desk and combed over the many files spread throughout.
"Super collider...vibranium reactive armor...here we go." Richard grabbed the Feng Shui file and quickly peeked at it. The blueprints were only a copy, courtesy of a last minute request during a S.I.N raid, and it irked Richard's every nerve as he couldn't figure out how to replicate it the way S.I.N was able to.
"The power being admitted...it's too much for a normal person to handle." Richard said to himself. He quickly got a pen and paper as he wrote down some thoughts and theories.
"Can't decrease the power voltage, then the eye becomes just a prosthetic. Can't make a power storage without it affecting the rest of the head negatively." Richard scrambled some notes down for the engine when suddenly, an alarm started blaring throughout the facility.
"INTRUDER ALERT! ALL PERSONAL, GET INTO DEFENSIVE POSITIONS!"
"What the-" Richard saw his door fly open to see his wife, Mary, burst in. She looked disheveled and was frantically looking around.
"Mary! What happened?"
"We need to leave now Richard! We won't get another chance like this." Richard grabbed Mary's shoulders in an attempt to keep her still and calm.
"What are you talking about?"
"S.I.N. They're raiding the facility right now. This is our chance Richard! To escape! To find our son!"
"Mary, we need to be smart about this. We leave and find Peter, we'd have to hide for the rest of our lives." Richard stated. Mary got out of his grasps and started picking up numerous files off of Richard's desk as the building echoed the sound of running and screaming.
"And we stay here any longer, Bison succeeds in ruling the world, and we might be killed before that even happens." Mary turned to Richard. "I'd rather see my sons face and hide out for the rest of our lives than help that man anymore. Now are you going to help me take these plans out of here?"
Richard debated in his head, but ultimately seeing his son again won out overall. He grabbed the remaining files and followed Mary's lead to escape the facility. They dodged any security soldiers that came by and made extra effort to avoid any of Bison's personal guards. The Parkers eventually got to an elevator which would take them to the runway in the mountains.
While the elevator was going up, Richard decided to address their plans on what to do when they were free. "First things first. We need to get to the UN and warn them about what Shadaloo's planning." Mary looked slightly annoyed, but understanding.
"I know, but we need to find Peter first."
"I get that Mary, but-" The elevator door opened, and the pair were greeted by Bison's most recent entries in his Doll program.
"Oh crap." Richard muttered. one of the Dolls charged at them, making Richard and Mary duck out of the way. The other Doll simply stood guard at the pathway to the exit.
Fighting was off the table, as Richard and Mary were scientists, not soldiers or remotely strong enough to fight enhanced fighters. Still, Richard attempted to throw a punch, which resulted in his arm being twisted behind him as one of the dolls put him is a hold to prevent him from attacking further.
"Richard!" Mary yelled, before quickly being subdued by the other Doll. It was looking grim for the two scientists before they heard a voice in the background.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The voice was a mix between being sinister and somewhat sultry. Everyone turned their attention to the source to see a woman who Richard immediately identified from his time researching the Feng Shui engine. It's host.
Juri Han.
"Bison's personal doll collection, bullying some poor itty bitty scientists. Normally, I wouldn't give a crap what you Shadaloo asshats do on your free time, but I need both of them."
"That's not happening." One of the dolls stated. Juri simply laughed manically as she started to assume her fighting position.
"Oh don't worry, you don't have a choice in the matter." The dolls let Richard and Mary go, which prompted the both of them to hit the ground and not get back up as the fighting took place. They didn't dare look up or intervene, but could tell from Juri's laughter and the sound of bones breaking that she wasn't on the losing end.
After a few minutes, Richard felt a presence standing over him.
"And to think, Seth sent me all the way over here to get you two." Juri grabbed Richard's jacket and pulled him up.
"Congratulations, Seth chose you two to be his new lead scientists in making my eye stronger. Luckily for you two, I'll allow a lot of Bs if it means me getting stronger."
Mary got up and immediately started to protest. "No! We're done with evil and mysterious organizations. We just want to see our son!"
"Right. And I should care because?"
"Because you have a heart." Richard added. Juri bursted into laughter as she circled the two scientists, like a predator eyeing its prey before the fatal blow.
"Really? A heart?." Juri stopped as she faced the Parkers. "Ok, I'm intrigued. What's his name?"
"Peter. Peter Parker."
Juri hummed to herself as she crossed her arms, resting her head on one of her hands. "Good. I'll know who to search for to hurt if you guys give me the run around."
"No! You wouldn't-"
"Hurt a kid? Trust me, I don't think you wanna test that theory out." Juri stopped for a moment as another sinister look cropped up on her face. "Or maybe, I'll send your broken teeth as a gift from dear old daddy"
"NO!" Richard, in a fit of rage from hearing threats made about his son, attempted to rush Juri. He failed to recognize her activation of the Feng Shui engine, as well as her sidestep to open up a kick to the stomach, which led to him being back on the floor. Juri started laughing crazily again as Mary looked horrified and Richard writhed in pain on the floor.
"I'll admit, I expected you to be a timid type of scientist, but charging at someone with a weapon this powerful is sort of bold. If not straight up idiotic." Juri crouched over Richard.
"I'll give you 3 choices, just because you were crazy enough to even attempt what you just did. Option A) I just kill you two now, and save myself future headaches and boredom down the line. Option B) I turn you two over to Seth, and then I get more powerful, but Seth has you two all to himself. Option C-"
"You want us to work with you, personally. No Bison, no Seth."
"Seems like you picked a smart man." Juri stated, looking over at Mary. "I'm not going to explain it now, but I have some plans of my own that I'd like to see happen with Bison or Seth involved. In exchange for helping me-"
"You'll help us find our son. Thats our only demand." Mary interjected. Juri turned over to Richard, who nodded in agreement to his with's statement.
"Fine. I'll be fair and help you find the brat. So, we got a deal?" Juri stuck her hand out to Richard, waiting for his hand.
Richard knew that Mary was terrified, as was he, of this Juri Han. She was cruel, sadistic, and seemed to enjoy inflicting pain and threatening people. However, if she could truly get rid of Bison, and even find Peter, it was a necessary evil he'd have to accept.
He took the crazy woman's hand, and got back up.
"Don't worry you two, we're gonna have lots of fun."
Present Day.
"So let me get this straight. Juri Han, psychopathic street fighter, found Peter through you guys, and took you two from Shadaloo to help her kill Bison and Seth?" Wrench inquired. Richard simply nodded his head as he got up from his seat to check on Peter's vitals.
"She did her own research on Peter, we just gave her a name and where he was born. I don't trust her one bit, but in her own twisted way she kept the promise to find him."
"Just not under the best circumstances..." Wrench finished. Richard simply nodded, albeit with a pained expression written on his face.
"I should tend to the wound. If you don't mind Wrench, its best if you wait outside." Wrench understood and walked out of the room with the door locking behind him. He went back to the main room, where the others were all sitting away from each other, either out of spite or simply because they didn't know each other that well.
Everyone's attention turned to Wrench when they heard the door open, and Rogue was the first to speak up.
"How's Peter?"
"He's stable...but there's no update on when he'll wake up. Could be weeks, could be months." Rogue looked pain, and Mystique and Widowmaker looked somber at the news.
"So...what's the plan?" Widowmaker asked.
"There...is no plan." Everyone looked at Wrench, confused at the anarchist's statement. If anyone besides Peter had a plan, it'd be Wrench.
"What do you mean there's no plan?" Mystique demanded. "Peter's in a coma, we have no way of contacting the X-Men with Charles in recovery in New York, and we still have no upper hand on either Bison or Seth."
"You don't think I know that?!" Wrench snapped, catching the blue skinned mutant off guard. "I know we're majorly behind on this, and we've got no help."
"So what are you saying Wrench?" Rogue now asked. Wrench sighed while hiding his hands in his pockets.
"I'm giving up."
"You're giving up?" Widowmaker asked annoyed. "The same man who blew up a Talon base and their helicarrier, and helped take down a terrorist organization? Are you kidding me?"
"I'm not Peter, ok? I'm not a superhero with incredible strength, or some enhanced assassin, or a mutant. Hell, we barely got out of the Talon situation alive."
"But we still fought Wrench. Now we have the same situation again, but now Peter's hospitalized and we're doing this without his help."
"With his help we all barely got out of the mountains alive. Bison's power is beyond what any of us are capable of dealing with. We continue to fight, we're not going to end up like Peter. We'll be dead."
Widowmaker looked pissed off, and was at Wrench. She didn't understand how the same man she met a year ago in Italy, who was keen on hacking, exposing, and blowing everything up that was Talon related, was giving up so easily when it came down to Shadaloo. Especially since she knew Peter would fight like hell if it was anyone of them in that bed instead of him.
Rogue looked concerned about Wrench's thought process, as she's seen a similar situation with Peter years ago when they first met, while Mystique was seemingly just annoyed at the whole back and forth going on. She turned towards Wrench and Widowmaker.
"Arguing is going to get us nowhere. Obviously we can't fight them with the way we are now. We'll definitely need help."
"Agreed."
"We should look for the X-Men. Maybe we could ask Charles where they went, if he's recovered by now. Rogue and I will go back to New York."
"I'll try to contact Overwatch to enlist their help." Widowmaker walked out of the room, giving Wrench one last dirty look before leaving. Mystique was the next one to leave, albeit she didn't seem to even acknowledge Wrench's presence. Rogue was the last one to leave, but stopped for a minute to ask Wrench something.
"Tell me Wrench. Do you think you're making the right choice, giving up?"
Wrench stood quiet for a minute, before he eventually decided to speak.
"I know I'm not, but I know my limits Rogue. A dictator who's got powers beyond what a normal hero or villain would usually have, along with having a organization behind him."
Rogue didn't say anything in response, she just walked out without a fight or protest. Wrench knew everyone was disappointed by his stance on the matter, however he deduced it was the right decision. At least the right decision he could live with.
Wrench took a seat on the couch, took his mask off and held his face in his hand. He was stressed, and seemingly more stress was going to come his way when he looked up and noticed Juri was standing off in a corner, just staring at him.
"How long have you been there?"
"About a minute or so, just watching you look pathetic." Wrench groaned as Juri walked over to take a seat next to him.
"I overheard the others when they were leaving. You're really giving up huh?"
"If you're going to join in on making me feel like shit, then I don't want to hear it."
Juri chuckled as she gestured and turned her attention away from Wrench. "That'd be too easy. Besides, everyone's already beat me to it." She looked back to see Wrench still looked defeated.
"I'm sorry for blowing up at you in the car Juri. It's just...Peter's been the closest thing I've had to a brother for a while."
Juri immediately groaned in annoyance, slightly ticking off Wrench. "Jeez, I'm getting sick of everyone talking about how great Peter is. Seriously, none of you shut up about him."
"Yeah, well maybe if you actually cared about someone other than yourself, you'd-"
"I should care about the great Peter Parker because everyone says I should?!" Juri snapped. "The truth is that if he didn't stop me from bringing my foot down on Bison's skull, the dumbass wouldn't be in a coma right now."
"And anyone should give a shit about you?!" Wrench retaliated. He got up, face to face with Juri, as the both of them were back to the same arguing they were doing on the drive.
"The truth is Juri, you're a psychopath. I don't know what the hell Peter saw in you to even consider asking for your help."
"Because we both wanted the same thing, Wrench. Bison dead."
"No, you wanted that shit. He wanted to make sure whatever Bison was planning didn't go through. And now, he's in a coma, while some sadist he worked with is now just being hostile with everyone who cares about him."
"I should care about what you or everyone else thinks of me? No one cared about poor Juri Han when she lost her eye." Juri stated, turning her back on Wrench. He was taken aback at the mention of her eye injury, but she wasn't done.
"No one cared about poor Juri Han when Shadaloo kidnapped and killed her parents, leaving her as a left for dead orphan. I don't care about Peter or any of you because all of you will never come close to what I've been through."
Wrench simply chuckled as he put his mask back on. "That much is clear." Juri didn't retaliate with any threats or arguments. Instead, she just suddenly turned around towards the door.
"Where the hell are you going Juri?" Wrench asked. Juri stopped and turned half her body towards Wrench.
"It's either I go and kill Seth, or Peter's parents explain to him why you can't walk anymore. Your choice." Wrench remained quiet, which gave Juri the answer she needed. She turned towards the door again.
"You know he's going to be looking for you when he recovers, right?" Wrench said. "Despite you claiming you don't care about him, he doesn't just partner up with random people he doesn't trust."
Juri didn't move, or reply. She simply stood still and just let Wrench continue talking, letting the words hit her.
"He considers you a friend. In some weird way." Wrench couldn't see it, but Juri had a smile on her face when he said that. Not a menacing or sinister smile, but rather a genuine one of happiness.
Juri looked forwards to the door she need to go through to leave the lab, wondering if Wrench's claims of Peter caring enough about her to consider her a friend held any weight. Hoping that it would be the case, she simply replied
"He's welcomed to try."
Right, so this chapter a little bit more of the hefty/longer side, which hopefully means you guys enjoyed it (I hope). I should mention that originally I was just planning to have this story just cover Street Fighter 4, but seeing as I've basically hospitalized Spider-Man and Street fighter 4 doesn't have a set story for me to follow closely, this will now be a Street Fighter 4 and 5 story, meaning after next chapter, the story will be following the fifth game's story (as well as a few of the sub storiesstuff I may add or change). That being said, I hope you all enjoyed, and until next time.