To Find Inner Strength

Chapter 5: Webs of Deception

His expression was solid and cold as he cupped his hands. Between his palms, a small and radiant orb of light gathered from what looked like electricity, which surged through his hands. With each moment the orb grew larger and brighter as it fed from the sparks of light that ran violently through the hands of Ken Masters. His eyes took on a faint glow of violet as he unleashed his glowing blue orb of energy at his long time friend.

"HADOKEN!"

Chun Li, at the very last second, snapped herself out of her trance of disbelief and managed to dive clear of the destructive projectile. She didn't have to look back to know that if she hadn't moved in time, there wouldn't be a body to discover. The explosion explained that much by itself. She didn't deem it wise to turn her attention away from Ken, either. Telling by the cyber chip on his forehead and the emotionless glare of his eyes, one reckless move could easily land her in a pine box.

"I see that there's no reasoning with you," said Chun Li as she regained her composure, "All right, then I have no choice but to take you down, Ken."

Masters had no verbal apply and reinforced that fact by rushing in at Chun Li with a barrage of kick attacks, which she found difficult to keep up with.

Chun Li found herself being pushed back by Ken, but also, her defenses were being weakened at the same time. Each one of Ken's kicks produced a violet spark of energy that added an unknown, but heavy force to his attacks. Before Chun Li knew it, her guard was broken and a hard kick was delivered to her ribs. She could clearly hear a snapping sound before her body was knocked into a brick wall. She managed to catch herself with her hands before impact and rebound herself back at Ken. In the same instant, she flipped her body upside down in mid-air and split her legs while spinning rapidly at her opponent.

"Spinning Bird Kick!"

Unfortunately, Ken was well prepared for this attack. As Chun Li's rapid combination darted toward him, he only had half a second to crouch down under Chun Li's signature kick.

Chun Li only had a split second to see her folly, but had even less time to regret, or brace for the impact. The last thing she saw before her world went black was Ken rising up from the ground with what looked like flames dancing around his fist.

"SHORYUKEN!"

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Shinji's eyes slowly opened to see the ceiling of what looked like an infirmary. It was becoming a really annoying habit. Has he settled into his surroundings, he caught the sound of a girl's voice reciting something that sounded like a rap song.

"Let's get it on now, select and make your first pick, let's get it on now, ten, nine, eight seven six. Let's get it on now, select and choose the best one, let's get it on now, five four three, two one…"

Shinji sat up in the infirmary bed and turned to his left to see a girl about his age with a sailor school uniform on and a white headband that reminded him of Ryu's. "Excuse me, who are you?"

The girl stopped and mid-song and addressed Shinji. "Well, I'm the one who dragged you all the way over here. You were K.O.'d in a lot behind some apartment complex. I'm Sakura Kasugano. Nice to meet ya!"

Shinji replied. "Thanks for your help. I'm Shinji. Shinji Ikari."

"Hey," said Sakura, "Can you show me how you did that?"

Shinji blinked quizzically. "How I did what?"

Sakura stood up and approached his bed with what looked like stars in her eyes. "Ya know, that glowing power aura and the spinning kick and the big KA-BOOM at the end!"

Shinji, at this point, was intimidated at how weird this girl seemed. "Uh, well…I really don't know." He decided to play dumb. "It just kinda happened, I guess. You'd have to ask my master, Ryu, about that."

Shinji would realize a moment later that he had spoken the secret word. Sakura seemingly followed Pee-wee's house rules on secret words. That would be the reason Shinji would be going home with his ear ringing.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?" Sakura screamed as she grabbed Shinji by his shoulders while shaking him violently. "Ryu? You mean THE Ryu? You mean the travels in a white karate gi with no shoes, beats up bad guys without breaking a sweat, anti-social, wondering off at any given time, muscle bound, ultimate street fighter of justice?! THAT Ryu?!"

"Uh…I guess," Shinji's eyes wandered to the other side of the room in order to avoid Sakura's star struck gaze. "Anyway, how do you know about him?" Shinji couldn't help but ponder such a thing. How did such a hyperactive girl cross paths with Ryu?

Sakura started as she moved her chair closer to his bed, "Well, it's kind of a short story. See, my friend, Mizuki, and me went shopping at the mall one day. When we were leaving, there was a shoot out between some terrorists and the police. Rumor has it that these are international terrorists who wanna rule the world. That's the Internet buzz, anyway. Anyway, when we saw it at first, we thought it was a movie shoot, so I ran to get a closer look……

Flashback

"Sakura, wait!" Mizuki cried in vain as her best friend ran into the commotion.

Sakura looked backed at Mizuki and shouted, "What's that, Mizuki? I can't hear you! Oof!" The girl slammed into something hard, like a wall or something. Of course, when she laid her eyes on what she ran into, it wasn't a wall at all. It was a huge muscular man with a bald head and an eye patch.

He looked down at the girl with a menacing gleam in his eye. "Pitiful insect!" With an effortless sidekick to the stomach, he knocked the schoolgirl back a good ten feet before she touched the ground and sprawled violently into someone's arms.

"Sakura!" Mizuki called out to her friend as she dashed over to her and the man who had saved her. "Sakura…"

Sakura was too weakened from the blow to speak many words. Her savior looked down at her and smiled. "Everything's gonna be okay." He looked over to Mizuki and asked, "Could you take her to a hospital? A kick from a Muy Thai fighter isn't something that most normal people can simply walk off."

Mizuki nodded slowly. "I understand. By the way, what's you name, sir?"

The man stood to his feet and replied, "Ryu." He then walked over to the Muy Thai fighter who had knocked Sakura down.

"Sakura, let's get out of here. It's dangerous." Mizuki slowly helped her friend up.

"Wait." Sakura weakly lifted her head and looked toward Ryu's fight. "Lemme watch him…that bald jerk…get him…Ryu…" Sakura watched the fight and paid all her attention to it. Ryu's movements, his reactions, even the looks on his face. When Ryu delivered the final blow, a look of astonishment took over Sakura's face. She had watched boxing matches, kickboxing matches, and even UFC matches, but she had never seen such a powerful uppercut in her life. Ryu's feet actually left the ground while pulling it off.

She repeated Ryu's words. "Shoryuken, huh?"

End Flashback

Shinji's eyes were wide at this point. "Wow, that's pretty unique way to meet someone."

As the pair continued to discuss their encounters with Ryu, a pair of sharp eyes watched them from an adjacent building through a pair of binoculars.

"Target acquired. Shinji Ikarai, age fourteen. Occupation: Student, Pilot of Evangelion Unit 01. Currently in custody of one Captain Misato Katsuragi of NERV. Proceed?"

The binoculars lowered, showing the face of a blonde woman in a red beret. She wore a green body suit that exposed her well-toned legs and on the left breast of her top, there was a sliver insignia of a skull with wings. In her wrist, there was a silver watch that doubled as a communicating device, which she spoke into with the confirmation of her target.

"Yes, proceed. Bring the boy me," said the voice from the wrist communicator.

"Affirmative. Agent Killer Bee 1 out." She cut off the device before proceeding over to the hospital building, along with a brunette with a similar uniform in dark blue.

Meanwhile, Chun Li finally regained her consciousness and also gained a big headache. She still could feel the impact from Ken's signature attack. Her vision was blurred at first, but slowly, the focus came and revealed her to be in an empty supply room. She was strapped to a mattress and was stripped down to her underwear. Fortunately, she wasn't in the state of mind to panic just yet. Her first plan of action was to get herself out of bondage and then find some clothes. However, before she could put her plan into action, the door before her swung open.

A huge, coffee skinned man with short cut hair and a white business suit stood there with a dangerously lustful look on his face. He grinned cockily at her. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Miss Chun Li Dorai of Interpol. Man, oh, man, if your daddy were alive to see this, he'd be so ashamed. Imagine a prideful lead detective of Interpol like you, lowering herself to having relations with Shadowlaw members. For shame!"

Chun Li spat, "Balrog, you'd better not be thinking of doing anything stupid. Otherwise, I just may forget who I am and terminate a suspect before bringing him in."

Balrog smirked as he sat down on the side of the mattress, taking off his suit jacket. "Funny thing about that. See, the drug Vega actually makes it so you can't do such a thing. In fact, it intensifies your sense of touch by 10 times. So basically, your nerves are becoming so sensitive that soon, you'll be unable to move without being effected. Just rubbing up against something will be too much for you."

Chun Li's eyes narrowed. "You're a sick bastard, you know that?"

Balrog chuckled. "I could care less about what your mouth says. Your body is about to be MINE." He proved his point buy running his finger up and down her thigh.

"Ugh..st…stop…" Chun Li tried to resist, but with the drug making its way through her system, she couldn't put up a good fight. Her senses were going crazy and an unwanted feeling of lust started to surface. However, her mind was still strong and resisting every bit of it. "Get….off!"

Balrog laughed heartily. "Then, why don't you make me?" He continued to move his hand further up her thigh and between her legs. Balrog could already imagine how great this experience was going to be.

Chun Li couldn't put up the fight too much longer. Vega's drug produced a sensation that slowly melted away her senses. She couldn't let this happened, but then again, it was overwhelmingly pleasurable. "I….refuse…to let you! Ah…no…ahh..hh!"

"Yeah, bitch. You know you can't resist. Vega's drugs are the best! No women can fight it off!" Balrog's smile was victorious. He was going to shame the strongest woman in the world. Or so he thought.

The door kicked open just at that second and a single shot was fired. The next thing Balrog knew, there was a hole in his leg. He screamed in agony as he fell onto his knees. He then felt cold steel pressed against the back of his head.

"Now, now, no naughty business without the lady's permission," Kaji smiled. "You probably don't get it, so I'll let you sleep on it." That said, he pistol whipped Balrog in the head, knocking him out cold. Kaji then greeted Chun Li with a smile.

"I appreciate the assistance, but could you PLEASE stop staring and untie me?" Chun Li huffed as he face turned red with both embarrassment and frustration.

Kaji asked, "What was that you said? A date tomorrow night? I'd be honored."

Chun Li sighed. "Fine, you win. Just untie me!"

Kaji smiled as he put his gun away and untied her. "Your wish is my command."

Chun Li added. "If you don't stop looking at my cleavage, it'll be the last thing you ever see."

Kaji grinned. "Promise?" That earned him a well-placed punch in the stomach. "Ow."

After Kaji recovered from Chun Li's punch, he carried her out of the cabin toward his car, where Misato was sound asleep in the backseat, snoring her head off. However, a man in a red karate gi stood between Kaji and Chun Li, and the car. He had the same emotionless face Chun Li remembered.

"Kaji, put me down. I have to handle this," said Chun Li.

Kaji shook his head. "No way. You still have those drugs in your system, you're in no condition to fight."

Ken grew impatient, as he was already charging up his ki into his cupped hands. He eyes gleamed with a crimson glow before he fired off his Hadoken attack directly at Kaji and Chun Li.

Kaji quickly, turned his back, determined to take the impact of the blast to protect Chun Li, but the impact was never felt. Chun Li looked up to see what happened and her face lit up at what she saw. The attack had been deflected by another ki attack.

Ken's eyes narrowed as he looked at the all too familiar form standing before him.

"Long time, no see….eh, Ken? Looks like Bison got to you, just like he did to Chun Li a couple years back." He got into a fighting stance. "I'll bring you back to your senses, but it's gonna hurt. A lot. Prepare yourself!" Guile jumped back, charging his ki once again.

"SONIC BOOM!"

Meanwhile, in the hospital room, Shinji and Sakura continued to talk until the lights suddenly went out.

Sakura looked all around. "What's with the sudden black out? Did a generator blow or something?"

Shinji shrugged. "I'm not really sure."

Just then the window shattered as a brunette woman with a blue uniform came crashing through it. A second later, the door of the room came cashing down as a blonde with a green uniform entered the room.

They both simultaneously stated their business, "Shinji Ikari, come quietly and you will not be harmed."

Sakura got into a fighting stance and said, "Looks like I get some more practice before I see Ryu again!"

Shinji stated, "They just want me. I'll do what they say so no one gets hurt."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "You're joking, right? Do you really think that people who crash through windows and break down doors just to get to you mean no harm?"

Shinji thought about it for a second. "Hmm. Good point." He stood up from the bed and said, "We need to find a way outta here!"

"Resistance is futile, " said the blonde.

Sakura said, "We've got no choice but to fight, both exits are blocked!"

Shinji gulped. "I-I don't know if I can fight…"

Sakura frowned. "You trained with Ryu. You're his student, aren't you? Shinji Ikari, if you back down from this fight...I'll never forgive you!"

Shinji then began to remember when Ryu offered his headband to him as a promise to never run away, to never fear again. He was still afraid. He wanted to run away but couldn't. The easiest thing to do was to cooperate, even though wasn't to protect Sakura, it was to protect himself. He wanted to think everything would be all right if he surrendered. He lowered his head, frustrated and confused. His hands balled up into a fist as voices from his memories sounded through his mind.

Misato's voice told him, "You musn't run away, Shinji."

Asuka's voice questioned him, "Are you stupid?"

Gendo's voice demanded, "If you're going to do it, do it now. If not, then leave."

Sakura's voice sounded off, "If you back down from this fight, I'll never forgive you."

"I mustn't," said Shinji. "I musn't run away…I musn't run away…I musn't run away! YAHH….Senpu Kyaku!" Shinji whirled his leg around kicking the brunette's face and sent her to the floor.

Sakura followed up with an uppercut to the blonde, which caught her off guard, giving them the chance to head out of the door. "C'mon, Shinji! Let's blow this joint!"

Shinji nodded and followed behind, but then stopped for a second. "Hey…my clothes…"

Sakura grabbed his hand and pulled him along, "Worry about that later, sheesh!"

The duo finally made it outside without any interception from their pursuers. However, the outside seemed to be flooded with brunettes who looked exactly the same as the two women who had been after them. They all spoke in unison, "Shinji Ikari, come along quietly and you will not be harmed."

Sakura did a double take and then glared at Shinji. "Okay, who the hell did you manage to piss off THIS much?"

To be Continued…