Originally, this was going to be Gill's SFV prologue told from Urien's perspective, but eventually, I decided to make this fic a prologue to SFIII. This idea came into my mind after reading the "Super Street Fighter" comic as well as watching Gill's SFV character story and playing ad Alex in SFIII: New Generation.
This fic is my own take of how Tom was attacked by Gill. For the sake of this fic, Gill's SFV story, "The Emperor Doesn't Look Back" takes place during SFIII, and is set two days before Gill attacked Tom.
Disclaimer: I do not own Street Fighter. It belongs to Capcom.
Tom's Gym, Brooklyn, New York
Placed between the tall buildings in Brooklyn was a training gym that had a large billboard with the words "Tom's Gym" written on it. Inside, there were two men practicing inside the training room. The old fighter, Tom, was seen training alongside his young disciple, Alex, as the latter was practicing one of his favorite moves, the Spiral DDT. Despite being in his early 40s, Tom still had a pretty impressive shape, as he kept his muscular physique, though he was not as heavily built as Alex, who stood 6 feet taller than Tom and had his long blond hair tied into a ponytail and wore a red bandana that kept his bangs away from his eyes.
When Alex was ten years old, he was taken in by Tom shortly after his father died. Both Tom and Alex's father served in the same military joint and had grown close, training in martial arts together. After leaving the military, Tom opened up his gym in Brooklyn and when Alex's father died, he decided to take him under his wing and train him how to fight, seeing his potential as a martial artist. In the next ten years, Alex would grow up with Tom and his daughter, Patricia, and saw them his only family.
After Alex practiced his DDT on Tom, Tom took some deep breathes before letting out sigh of relief.
"You've grown strong, Alex." Tom told Alex. "I see you've been training a lot lately."
"Well, you know, I wouldn't have done it without you help." Alex said as he reached his arm to Tom. "But I guess I still have a lot to learn."
"Perhaps you're right." Tom admitted as he grabbed Alex's hand and lifted himself up to the ground. "If there's a better wrestler than you, I haven't met him."
"Sorry if I interrupted this sweet bonding moment between you two."
"What the..."
As he heard the familiar voice reaching his ears, Tom turned around and saw someone standing at the door. The man had a blond hair that stood in a three-inch flattop and was clad a black military tuxedo with a white button shirt, a tie and a black aviator sunglasses. He also had three US Air Force decorations placed on the left side of his tuxedo jacket.
Upon seeing the figure standing in front of him and Alex, Tom instantly recognized him as his old comrade, Guile.
"Colonel Guile?"
"Long time, no see, Tom." Guile greeted Tom. "I was wondering if you have time to talk."
"What're doing here, Guile?" Tom asked.
"I know you've been busy, Tom, but there is something urgent that I would like to talk to you about." Guile told Tom.
"Tom told me about you. You two were on the same unit before you joined the Air Force." Alex inquired as he saw Guile.
"And you must be Alex." Guile told Alex. "A pleasure to meet you. I think the military could use someone like you."
"Thanks, but no thanks." Alex declined.
"Anyway, you wouldn't mind if I had to talk with Tom alone?" Guile asked.
"But..."
"It's okay, Alex." Tom assured Alex as he placed his hand on his shoulder. "I'll catch up with you and Patricia tonight."
After a moment, Alex took a deep breath and looked at Tom, knowing he could trust him with his decision to talk with Guile.
"All right. I'm gonna hit the showers." Alex said. "I'll see you later, Tom."
As Alex left the training room and headed to the shower, Tom turned around and glanced at Guile.
"Let's head to my office." Tom told Guile.
After Tom took Guile to his office, Guile looked around the room, noticing the awards Tom won during his career as a gym instructor as well as a photo of him and his friends placed on the wall, before taking a photo frame from Tom's desk, seeing a picture of him with Patricia and Alex.
"I see you've handled your life pretty well, Tom." Guile inquired.
"I appreciate it." Tom told Guile as he sat on his desk. "You know, I would ask you about your family and all that stuff, but I know you wouldn't come here just to have a simple talk. So tell me, what are you doing here?"
"Remember Urien?"
"I never thought I'd hear that name again." Tom muttered. "What about him?"
"For years, we believed he was the man responsible behind the actions of the Secret Society, until yesterday, when we learned the truth about the person behind the organization. Now we have evidence that the society is up to something imminent and big."
"And who would be the real person responsible?" Tom asked.
Guile pulled out his cell phone out of his pocket and gave it to Tom. Upon looking at Guile's phone, he noticed a video from the site FooTube that showcased a blonde man that had a muscular physique, with his body split between the colors red and blue and clad in a thong. The other one was a tall man whose appearance resembled Abraham Lincoln. Tom clicked on the video.
"What do you wish for my "Gate of Harmony"? What are your plans?"
"Good Sir. We are all earthlings, and therefore we must all have one wish, and that is... to become one with the Earth, and I, who is the President of the World!"
"Hmm... It is an odd feeling, but the power of this One, I know I have felt it somewhere before, but where?"
Tom closed the video and looked at Guile. He was confused about what he had seen in the video and demanded answers. If Urien wasn't the leader of the Secret Society as he had thought for years, then who might be?
"Who is that person?" Tom asked Guile.
"His name is Gill." Guile spoke. "He's the man we've been looking for all along. He had kept himself in the shadows and allowed his his brother, Urien, do all the work for him, until he revealed himself to the world yesterday. In the 24 hours following his reveal, we've re-opened our investigation on the Secret Society and learned the connection between him and Urien. We also learned that the woman who had worked with Urien, Helen, was in fact Gill's secretary, Kolin, and he was the one who requested Charlie's resurrection, which led to the destruction of Shadaloo."
Tom pondered about what Guile had just told him. He had heard about the organization Shadaloo before and recalled his conversation with Alex when Alex mentioned being kidnapped by Shadaloo, though he thought Alex was just having a dream. He was also surprised to hear that Urien was in fact an underling to his brother, Gill, and that Gill had been responsible for everything that had transpired over the last few years.
"We've also learned that the Society had influenced events that had transpired over the last two thousand years, having controlled the world's political, social and even criminal events, as well as conducting various experiments on humans, kidnapping them and brainwashing them to create their own race of super soldiers." Guile continued. "The person he had fought with, whom we also kept an eye on for quite sometime, had vanished following his fight with Gill."
"What I don't understand is that why would Gill reveal himself now." Tom insinuated.
"I didn't understand either, but Captain Taylor believed this was a part of Gill's plan to reveal himself as the savior of the World." Guile said.
Tom sighed upon learning the situation.
"That's why we need you, Tom." Guile suggested. "We're looking for someone who's been familiar with the Society for our deep cover mission. Their presence is everywhere and I don't know how badly the security of my department has been compromised. No one has been very close with the organization as you and being retired and disconnected from the military for many years makes you..."
"...The perfect man for the job, right?"
"Excuse me?" Guile asked.
Tom sighed before he spoke with Guile. "Seven members of my team had lost their lives that day, the last time we tried to take down the Society and capture Urien. I'm not the kind of person who's willing to take revenge for everything that he's lost. I've moved on with my life now. I have a daughter and raised Alex as my son. They need me more than ever and I can't risk that."
"I understand." Guile nodded before handing him the documents related to the Secret Society. "Take as much time as you want. In the meantime, here are all the files related to Gill and the Society if you ever consider taking on the mission. You know where to find me."
Tom took the documents from Guile and placed it on his desk. Guile then walked towards the door before turning around and looking at Tom.
"It's good to see you, Tom." Guile told Tom.
"Likewise." Tom nodded.
As Guile left Tom's office, Tom opened the documents and saw a picture of Gill, pondering about his decision to take on the mission. He remembered that fateful incident where he led his team to take down Urien that resulted in his retirement from the military. He had blamed himself for what happened to his men that day. However, now that he was aware that the leader of the Secret Society was now out and large, this might give him the opportunity to redeem himself.
As Guile walked slowly towards the door and exited the gym, he heard Tom's voice reaching though his ears.
"I'll do it."
Guile turned around and saw Tom standing right in front of him. He knew Tom would eventually accept the mission.
"But on one condition, don't involve Alex and Pat into this." Tom offered.
"Very well." Guile said before walking towards him and reached his hand to him. "Welcome back, soldier. We expect you to come to the base tomorrow."
Tom shaked Guile's hand before Guile let his hand go and walked out of the scene. Tom knew this mission would be dangerous, but he was willing to accept it if it meant keeping Alex and Patricia safe.
Illuminati Headquarters, Egypt
The following day, Tom had met up with Guile to discuss the mission to take down Gill. The two of them had met up with Guile's superior, Captain Byron Taylor, who informed about their mission; their objective was to investigate the Secret Society's base, gain evidence about their plans and apprehend Gill and take him into custody. Unlike Tom's previous mission to take down the society years ago, Guile would accompany him this time to help him capture Gill. Guile and Tom would also be assisted by seven soldiers, the same number of soldiers Tom led in his past mission.
Tom, Guile and the seven soldiers were now inside the military helicopter flying towards Egypt, the location of the Secret Society's headquarters. Captain Taylor was also on the helicopter, about to inform his subordinates their latest mission.
"All right, gentlemen, listen up; This is a deep cover mission to take down the Secret Society. Your target is the leader of the Society, Gill, who had kept himself in the shadows for many years until he decided to expose himself to the world, which gives us the perfect opportunity to take him out. Your objective is to infiltrate Gill's base, locate any evidence surrounding the Society's plans and then apprehend Gill and bring him down. Joining us on this mission will be a former operative who has knowledge about the Society and led his team to take down Urien a few years ago, Tom. With his help, we may finally end the Secret Society's reign before it becomes more powerful than Shadaloo."
After General Taylor ended his debrief to his subordinates, the military helicopter landed on its location; the Secret Society's base located in Egypt. While General Taylor decided to remain on the helicopter to check on his subordinates' progress, Tom, Guile and the seven soldiers got out of the helicopter and checked on their surroundings. The place the soldiers were in had a massive ancient temple with Greco-Roman decorations all over the architecture as well as numerous Obelisk pillars placed around the temple. There was also a tower standing outside the temple, being placed in the middle with ancient ruins.
"You heard the General!" Guile, now clad in his battle outfit, ordered. "Let's go!"
As Guile, Tom and the seven militants began running at the headquarters, each of them began taking a look at the place. None of them had seen the Society's headquarters before, especially Tom, as he had never visited the place before and thought Urien was the person responsible for the Society's actions.
Inside the Society's headquarters, Gill was sitting on his throne, observing the military's attempt to capture him and expose his actions to the world through his magical ball, which showed Guile, Tom and the troopers all entering his base. He was now wearing his white rope and long grey hooded cloak with sandals. As Gill was observing Guile's actions, he smirked, knowing everything was going according to his plan. His secretary, Kolin, arrived, intended to inform her master about Guile's arrival to the base.
"Lord Gill." Kolin told her master. "The military had just arrived here, intending to apprehend you. Are you sure this will not interrupt our plans?"
Gill let out a small laugh. "Let them come, Kolin. The plan is already moving forward."
As Guile, Tom and the troopers were searching around the headquarters to locate Gill, some of the troopers were concerned about the mission, as they felt uncomfortable about the place.
"I have a bad feeling about this." One of the troopers said.
"Calm down, soldier." Guile told his comrade. "We do not want to make any sounds."
"If we need to find Gill, we have to go through his research base first." Tom inquired.
"Are you sure, Tom?" Guile asked.
"Yes." Tom assured.
"All right, let's move it!" Guile ordered.
Under Guile's orders, Tom and the troopers ran slowly towards the research lab, located at the front of the headquarters. Upon reaching there, Guile kicked the door open and the troopers began searching the place. What they have found in the lab ended up shocking the troopers as well as Guile and Tom. None of them could have believed their eyes to what they have seen; the lab had held numerous genetic experiments at humans to create their own race of creatures. There had been numerous documents detailing the creation of the project as well as a scrapbook that contained events orchestrated throughout history. One of the soldiers looked at the containment room that held these experiments and was horrified at this sight.
"What is that?" One of the troopers asked.
"Remarkable, isn't it?"
The trooper then turned around and pointed his weapon at Kolin, who was standing right next to the soldiers, Guile and Tom. The troopers were also holding their weapons against her.
"Stand right where you are!" The trooper ordered.
Kolin giggled. "There's no need to point your weapons at me. You don't want to cause some trouble, am I right?"
"Enough with this farse, Kolin!" Guile demanded. "Where's Gill?!"
"We meet again, Colonel Guile. It has been too long." Kolin said. "Very well, I will take you to him."
"You know where he is?" Tom asked.
"Of course. Follow me." Kolin assured Tom.
Kolin took Guile, Tom and the troopers to Gill's throne room, where Gill was waiting for them. Upon reaching the throne room, Guile, Tom and the troopers readied their weapons, as they were planning to apprehend him.
"I've been waiting for you, Colonel Guile. I was expecting you to show up and confront me." Gill told Guile. "Though I did not expect you to bring in the cavalry."
"Gill. By the order of the United States Air Force, we will be taking you under custody." Guile said as the troopers pointed their weapons at him.
Gill laughed. "Did you think you could just apprehend me so easily, Colonel? How foolish."
"What do you mean?" Guile asked.
"Everything is as it was written in the prophecy." Gill told Guile as he stood up from his throne. "Soon, this world will be reborn and everyone will be able to achieve their hopes and dreams, under my guide, with a light of harmony. There will be a place where everyone will be living under prosperity and peace."
"And you think by killing people and experimenting on humans would justify what you're saying?" Guile demanded.
"My methods may seem harsh in contrast to my methods, Colonel." Gill inquired.
"Enough with this whole "savior of the world" crap!" Guile declared. "You will pay for your crimes!"
Gill let out a small chuckle. "Very well then."
Gill then burned his white ropes to reveal himself wearing a white thong around his hips, a traditional fighting attire worn by the Greek.
"If you insist on fighting me, come then, as meaningless as it might be." Gill taunted. "Show me all that you have!"
"Fire!" Guile demanded.
The troopers fired their rifles at Gill, who had managed to deflect them easily with his ice shield. The troopers were shocked at what they had seen, but had little time to react as Gill fired an ice ball at them, with Tom and Guile dodged it.
"Cryokinesis!" Gill shouted as he shot an ice ball from his left arm.
The attack managed to turn most of the troopers into ice, which allowed Gill to jump out of his throne room and performing a back-flip, landing on his knees and destroying four of the seven troopers on ice, killing them. As Gill got up on his feet, one of the troopers tried to apprehend him, but Gill easily responded by performing a fire lariat and unleashing a frozen pillar of ice spike through his left arm, neutralizing the trooper. Guile crossed his arms and shot a projectile as Gill.
"Sonic Boom!" Guile summoned.
To his surprise, Gill blocked his Sonic Boom and shot a flaming spear from his right arm at him, causing Guile to fall down to the ground. Gill then turned around and saw Tom standing right next to him, his eyes burned with the desire to defeat him and avenge his men.
"So, you're the former soldier Urien has told me about." Gill told Tom. "Let's see if you're still strong after all these years."
"My men's blood is in your hands, Gill. I will not let their deaths be in vain!" Tom shouted, convinced that Gill orchestrated his comrades' deaths years ago when they tried to hunt down Urien.
Gill laughed. "So, that's all what you see when you gaze upon me? The sound of your fallen comrades. Fear not, you will be joining them very soon, if that's what you desire."
Tom charged at Gill to attack him, but Gill was able to avoid Tom's attack shooting his Pyrokinesis projectile at his, striking him down. Tom then got up back to his feet and dodged many of Gill's ice projectiles, before striking him by kicking him in the face, sending him down to the floor. Before Gill could get up and respond, he found himself being grabbed by Tom, who took him by the neck and whipped him around to the floor. Though Gill was able to get up on the floor again, Tom took this opportunity by jumping up and striking Gill down with his feet, before he was able to grab him from the waist, lift him up and fall backwards to the floor, bringing him down to the floor. Tom had trained these moves with Alex during his time at the gym and still proved to be a capable fighter after all these years.
However, what was about to happen next would catch Tom off-guard.
"Resurrection!"
Tom turned around and saw that Gill was able to levitate from the ground and restore himself to life, something he never thought would be able to see. Before he could react, Tom found himself overwhelmed by Gill's Ice Lariat, before Gill kicked him with his Pyro Kick and performed a headbutt on him. Gill then used his frozen pillar of ice spikes through his left arm, leaving Tom with little time to react, before unleashing an uppercut with right arm that unleashed fiery lance that struck Tom. Affected by Gill's surprise attack, Tom was left dizzy, unable to react to Gill's attack, leaving the perfect opportunity for the Emperor to strike him down.
"It is God's Will!" Gill declared as he summoned a ball of energy that struck Tom and lifted him up in the air as Gill floated to the air and unleashed his six wings from his back. "Let me be the blesser of all souls."
Gill let out a maniacal laugh as he unleashed his full power on Tom, overwhelming Tom's vision as it was now filled with a white beam of energy that struck him down and surrendered him to his fate. This was the "Seraphic Wing", the same move that Gill used on the mysterious fighter who called himself "President of the World" when he revealed himself to the public.
"You must accept your fate!" Gill declared as Tom was placed on the ground, now affected by Gill's attack.
Guile opened his eyes and got up from Gill's attack, witnessing Gill's victory over Tom.
"Tom!" Guile shouted as he ran at Gill.
Guile charged at Gill and performed a backwards somersault kick that struck Gill on the chin, striking him down to the ground. Guile then reached out to Tom's unconscious body and placed him on his shoulders.
"Hang in there, soldier." Guile told Tom.
Guile then quickly ran out of the throne room and decided to meet up with General Taylor, who was waiting outside on the helicopter. As he got out of the Society's headquarters with Tom on his back, Guile ran towards the helicopter and saw General Taylor.
"What the hell happened, Guile?!" General Taylor demanded.
"We've lost a few of our men and Tom's been attacked. We need to get him to the hospital." Guile requested.
Guile then got into the helicopter with Tom's unconscious body with him and closed out the helicopter door. The pilot then flew the helicopter towards its next location, the Brooklyn Hospital Center, where he would be taken care of. The military's mission to apprehend Gill did not go according to the plan.
Brooklyn Hospital Center, Brooklyn, New York
Having returned to New York following the failure of their mission to take down Gill, Guile had placed Tom under medical care in Brooklyn Hospital Center. According to the doctors in the hospital, the injuries Tom received might not be critical, but it would take at least a week for him to recover. As Guile was sitting outside Tom's room, he noticed Alex standing at the hospital alongside his adoptive sister, Patricia, talking to one of the nurses.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you can't go in right now." The nurse told Alex.
"I need to see him right now! Tom promised me he'd been spending time with me and Pat." Alex demanded.
"I understand, but you have to..." The nurse talked to Alex.
Alex was unable to pay attention to the nurse as he saw Guile sitting in the waiting room. He was desperate to find out the truth about what happened to Tom.
"Guile!"
Guile looked at Alex and was surprised to see him approaching him. He stood up from his seat and tried to calm him down.
"Alex? What are you doing here? You shouldn't be..."
"Where is he? Where's Tom?!" Alex demanded as he grabbed Guile by the shirt.
"Alex, stop it!" Patricia pleaded.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this. Tom's been out of duty for twelve years. He left the military life behind him and decided to take care of me and Patricia, but then you showed up! Then I hear the next day he went on a mission with you and now he's in the hospital!" Alex yelled at Guile.
"Just calm down, Alex." Guile pleaded.
"Why?" Alex demanded.
"Because I can lead you to him." Guile told Alex.
After a moment, Alex calmed down and placed Guile down on the floor. Guile took some deep breaths.
"Where is he?" Alex asked.
"But sir, you can't just..." The nurse tried to tell Alex.
"It's okay. They're with me." Guile assured the nurse as he referenced Alex and Patricia.
"I want to know what happened to my father." Patricia said.
Later, the nurse took Guile, Alex and Patricia to see Tom in his hospital bed. He was placed with bandages around his head and chest and was unable to move from his bed. Guile stood alongside Alex and Patricia as Tom turned his head around and saw Alex and Patricia.
"Hey, Tom." Alex greeted.
"Alex." Tom greeted back. "I'm sorry I can't spend time with you today."
"I heard about what happened." Alex told Tom. "I was so worried."
"You don't have to. I can still recover from this." Tom assured Alex before seeing Patricia.
"I missed you so much, daddy." Patricia told her father.
"I missed you too, sweetie." Tom said.
Feeling his inner rage boiling inside him, Alex was determined to find the person the responsible for injuring the man who had considered him to be his father, as he regretted not being there when that happened. Alex wished he had saved Tom from the attack.
"Whoever is responsible for this, I'm gonna hunt him down." Alex said. "I'm gonna make him suffer."
"Are you sure you're going to hunt him down, Alex?" Tom told Alex. "I can see it in your eyes. You don't have to avenge me."
"Tom, please..."
"We fought. He was strong and I wasn't. That's all. It was a fair fight." Tom pleaded.
"It's alright, Alex. You can stay with us until dad recovers." Patricia pleaded Alex. "You don't need to do this."
"I..." Alex swallowed before he started speaking. "Had I known Tom was going to this dangerous mission with Guile, I could have stopped him. I didn't want to lose him like I lost my parents. You and Pat have been the best thing that happened in my life and I'm not wasting that. That's why I want to avenge you, Tom."
"But Alex..."
"Don't worry, Patricia." Tom comforted Patricia before turning back to Alex. "If you want to go, then go. Chase him and see the world for yourself. I've said everything that must be said. Your path is your own. I need to rest."
Weakened by his injuries, Tom closed his eyes and decided to rest.
"Daddy!" Patricia said as she started shedding tears.
As Patricia was crying on her father's chest, Alex pondered about Tom's words for a moment before deciding to hunt down the man responsible for his hospitalization; Gill. Alex then stood up and headed for the door, before Guile stopped him.
"Hold on." Guile pleaded. "What are you planning on doing, Alex?"
"I'm going to find the man responsible for this and I will serve justice for Tom." Alex told Guile. "Take care of him while I'm gone."
With that, Guile allowed Alex to go and turned around to see Patricia sobbing on Tom's hospital bed. He then approached and wiped the tears off her face.
"It's okay. Your father is safe with us." Guile told Patricia.
Illuminati Headquarters, Egypt
Gill was sitting on his throne room as he watched Alex on his magical ball, taking an interest in him. Now that he had Alex's attention, all he could do now was to sponsor a fighting tournament to seek out the person worthy of bringing mankind to paradise after the apocalypse. Everything was going according to his plan.
"So, Alex, you have finally made you move. Soon, our fates will be intertwined..." Gill muttered to himself.
And that's the end of the story. If you can tell by the epilogue, this fic directly leads to Street Fighter III: New Generation/2nd Impact. Originally, Gill's SFV character story took place after SFIII, according to Taka Nakayama's tweet, but since Street Fighter 6 came out, I'm not sure if this holds up, so I decided to make it set during the SFIII era and bridge the gap between SFV and SFIII. I also wanted to explore the US military's reaction to Gill's reveal and how it lead to Tom's hospitalization.
Guile and Tom's relationship is based on the "Super Street Fighter" comics and in that comic, it's hinted the death of his men at the hands of Urien caused him to retire from military service and opening up a gym. Since the actual games don't reference that, I'm going to include it in my fic.
The mysterious warrior resembling Abraham Lincoln is obviously G, and since we don't know what happened to him after SFV, I'd say he's went into hiding after his defeat by Gill. Alex's kidnapping by Shadaloo is a reference to his character story in SFV, where he was kidnapped by F.A.N.G.
Let me know your thoughts on the first chapter of the story and I hope you enjoyed it. Stay safe everyone and take care.