The TSD Kids:

The S.P.F. Gang!

Lv. 17

Fortress of the Swamp

(Part 2)

Last time, we all finally made it to the swamp. The place looked bad but the smell was even worse! There we started our search. But as I was about to call it a day, I find that the others fall into the swamp sludge, and in a matter of moments I was locked in a battle with Chun-Li. But when things looked bleak, I had to jump in. Yuck… I then dropped into a metal passage, which turned out to be Bison’s underground fortress! Now I’m being given the runaround, looking for a bad robot that has the key to Bison’s inner sanctum, which is where he’s taken the others! But all the while I gotta keep myself from getting blasted by the security system! Just when I had enough, guess who appears? Dan. Yes, Dan! Hey, I’m not kidding; it was Dan! Don’t believe me? Then read!

T: “…Dan?!”

Dan: “Yes! It is I!”

T: “What the hell are you doing in a place like this?”

Dan: “Truth to tell… I followed you guys!”

T: “What?”

Dan: “Yes! I want to see if you all got stronger, strong enough to endure my training!”

T: “Uh…”

Dan: “But man, you guys sure did go to weird places! A super hot canyon and a ghostly desert… Some places to train!”

T: “Wait a minute, you even followed us into the voids?!”

Dan: “If that’s what you call em’…”

T: “Ugh, I don’t know how and why you came, but I guess I have no choice… I need you to help me out.”

Dan: “Really?! My fighting skills will prove useful to you??”

T: “Uh… sure, let’s go with that. Ryu and the others have been taken by Bison to an inner part of the fortress. I gotta get there and stop him before he… uh, since you were tailing us, you did see Chun-Li when she attacked me, right?”

Dan: “Yes.”

T: “Well, he might do that to them!”

Dan: “I see, well, then let’s go! This door, where is it?”

T: “The entrance to the inner part…? Well, you gotta see it.”

I led him to the giant skull, which was also the door leading to the inner part of the fortress.

Dan: “Whoa! That’s one funky-looking door!”

T: “That’s what I thought too. Come on.”

We went away from the skull and started roaming around the fortress.

Bison: “Ha, ha, ha, ha… just a little farther.”

Bison and his crap-parade of Mecha Guard Guys were still carrying Ryu and the others, who were still unconscious, to the inner part of the fortress.

Ryu: “Ugh! Stupid cage won’t break!”

Bison: “I’ve designed it so you can’t get out of it!”

Morrigan: “Ohh… my head…”

Ryu: “Oh, you’re awake, Morrigan.”

Morrigan: “Where are we?”

Ryu: “We got captured by Bison.”

Morrigan: “I don’t believe it. Where’s T?”

Ryu: “I don’t know… the last time any of us saw him was before Chun-Li knocked us all into the swamp ooze.”

Morrigan: “You don’t think she did away with him, do you?”

Ryu: “I hope not.”

Bison: “What’re you rambling about back there?!”

Morrigan: “None of your business, you cretin!”

Bison: “Grr… I don’t know what you and those other two are, bat girl, but you’ll be using your power for me soon enough!”

Morrigan: “Ugh… that human has an unnatural power about him.”

Ryu: “That’s his Psycho Power. If T is okay, I hope he gets to us in time…”

A few minutes later on…

Dan and I were quite far in the fortress. At least with his help, little as it may be, we managed to fend off the last of the security systems.

T: “I don’t get it. I can’t locate the signal, where is that Mecha Guy?”

Dan: “Where’s what now?”

T: “I was looking for one of those robots in particular.”

Dan: “Well what about that skull-thing? How do you expect to get through that?”

T: “The Mecha Guard Guy I’m hunting has a key to that thing. It’s got a bright yellow work helmet.”

Dan: “Uh… you mean a work helmet like this?”

Dan pulled out the head of a Mecha Guard Guy! But not just any Guy; it was the head of…

T: “Aah! It’s Yellowhead!!”

Yellowhead: “Y-you jerk! Let me go!”

Dan: “Yeah, I found him running around; I thought it was a training dummy.”

T: “Why didn’t you tell me you bashed that thing? Where’s the key?”

Dan: “I dunno.”

T: “You’re still functioning, tell me where the key is!”

“I’m not t-telling you anything!”

Dan: “Cool, it still works!”

Dan shook the head, and there was a rattling sound.

T: “What’s this? Either you’ve got a screw loose… or maybe there’s more than nuts and bolts in there!”

“Uh-oh…”

I reached under his hat and sure enough…

Cotton the Bunny: “(Cool, the key!)”

The head of the key also had a winged skull shape.

“Ohh… I failed to do my job!”

Dan: “Too bad; I guess my skills were just too much for you!”

T: “And now we’re a long way off from the skull! If you had only told me sooner…”

Dan: “Sorry about that…”

T: “Never mind; just grab my hand, and don’t yell!”

Dan: “Okay, but why shouldn’t I y… AAAAAAAAHHHH!!”

I zoomed off, using the Rapid Boots, for the skull. In a few minutes…

T: “We’re here!”

Dan: “That was fast!”

T: “Okay!”

I ran up the steps to the skull and used the key. The mouth opened slowly.

Cotton: “(Success! We’re in!)”

Dan: “So we’re gonna go in there, right?”

T: “Yes, it leads to Bison’s inner sanctum, and hopefully, we’ll find the others in there!”

Dan: “Oh yeah! Time to go save my future students!”

T: “R-right…”

We went in.

Cotton: “(What kind of room is this?)”

Dan: “It’s filled with plants and stuff. And a fountain!”

Cotton: “(Look at this picture!)”

On the wall, there was a portrait of Bison. He had his right arm raised in the air, as if he were saluting a large crowd. Below was a plaque.

T: “What does this say?”

It read as follows:

I WILL RULE THE WORLD WITH AN IRON WILL.

NO ONE SHALL OPPOSE ME.

THERE WILL BE NO GOOD OR EVIL,

ONLY MY LAW!

NO ONE CAN MATCH MY POWER,

AND ALL THOSE IN MY WAY SHALL WORK FOR ME,

OR PERISH!

T: “That jerk…”

I hopped up onto the plaque and slashed the portrait with the spike tip on the top of my hammer; then I hammered the plaque until it was dented beyond repair!

Dan: “So… that guy really makes you mad, huh?”

T: “I can’t say he’s my friend, and I won’t! I won’t let his twisted ideals be realized! Come on, let’s go!”

Cotton: “(Right behind ya, T.)”

Dan: “Wait for me!”

Ken: “Ugh… man, I’m seeing stars… huh?”

Ryu: “You finally woke up, man.”

Ken: “What happened? What’re these things we in?”

Morrigan: “Bison caught us and now we’re in these shackle things…”

Sakura: “Get me off this thing!”

Tessa: “T’s not here; where is he?”

Bison: “Are you all still worried about that adolescent upstart? My, my such loyalty…”

Felicia: “Hey, he’s our friend, you big meanie!”

Bison: “But no matter… once this machine is through with you, you won’t even recognize him anymore!”

Suddenly a door opened and Chun-Li walked in.

Bison: “Ah, you’re back, Shadow Lady. Did you find anything on your rounds?”

Chun-Li: “An intruder. He wore green.”

Hsien-ko: “(Gasp) That’s T!”

Bison: “I see… was he… dealt with?”

Chun-Li: “Drowned in the swamp. I knocked him in.”

Sakura: “No! Oh T…”

Ryu: “A young warrior… struck down so soon…”

Ken: “Chun-Li… what happened to you, man?”

Bison: “It will be the same thing that’ll happen to you! You will all work for me!”

Morrigan: “What do we do now?”

Tessa“It would seem this is where our adventure ends…”

Bison: “Enough talk! Graymatter!”

A door opened, and the Doc himself stepped through!

Graymatter: “Yes, yes… what do you need of me?”

Bison: “That Edge asked you to help me, so do tell, is this Mind Manipulator that old coot created ready to use again?”

Graymater: “Almost. Just a few more minutes, and you’ll have yourself some new recruits!”

He walked over to them.

Graymatter: “I hear you’ve all been traveling with that bespectacled pain in my rear; too bad he’s gone now!”

Tessa: “You should choose your words more carefully, old man. At least I still believe he is out there, somewhere…”

Graymatter: “Yeah, for the maggots to chew on! Ha, ha!”

Bison: “That’s enough. Now go man the machine. I must go; there are matters I must attend to. Shadow Lady, you stay here and guard the place.”

Chun-Li: “Yes, Master Bison.”

As the Doc went to his control panel, Bison left through a door.

Sakura: “We’re in hot water, guys!”

Hsien-ko: “Maybe not… Mei-Ling…”

Mei-Ling: “Yeah?”

Hsien-ko: “Please go and look around this place for me.”

Mei-Ling: “Got it!”

Mei-Ling slipped off her sister’s hat and floated to the floor. Remaining a ward paper, she crept past, so Chun-Li and the Doc wouldn’t see her. When she slipped under the door, she turned to her human form and ran.

Ryu: “Why’d you send her out?”

Hsien-ko: “Like Tessa, I believe T’s out there somewhere, too.”

As for Dan, Cotton and I, we walked up a low flight of stairs in a stone brick hallway, lit by torches.

Dan: “Who does his interior decorating?”

T: “The goob’s probably loaded.”

Suddenly, we heard footsteps coming our way, fast!

Cotton: “(Who’s that?)”

T: “I hope it’s not another one of those metallic meatheads…”

By the light of the torches, I saw a familiar yellow robe.

T: “…Is that…?”

Mei-Ling: “Oh! T! You’re alive after all! Hey, is that that Dan guy we met a while back?”

T: “Mei-Ling! Where’s your sister?”

Mei-Ling: “The others were captured by Bison. They’re gonna get brain-scrambled, just like Chun-Li if we don’t do something!”

T: “Lead the way, then!”

We followed her to the door. Dan peered in through the window.

Dan: “Hm, looks like a lab in there.”

Mei-Ling: “Chun-Li is guarding the area. And some guy named Graymatter is in there.”

T: “Did you say Graymatter?!”

Mei-Ling: “Yes; if they see us, there’ll be trouble!”

Cotton: “(Yeah…)”

T: “I don’t fancy the thought of getting hit by a Big Bang Laser very much…”

Dan: “A what-what laser??”

T: “But we gotta do what we gotta go.”

We slowly opened the door to the lab. Luckily we weren’t seen.

Cotton: “(Say, do the stairs here lead somewhere?)”

T: “There are the rafters up there. A safe vantage point?”

We went up the stairs quietly and looked out from the rafters.

T: “You guys see anything?”

Cotton: “(That machine looks weird…)”

Cotton pointed to a big, boxy contraption in the middle of the room.

T: “That has to be the thought manipulating machine I heard about at the funhouse in Specter City.”

Dan: “Hey, check that out!”

Dan was looking at a wall. It had a large face and two hands on either side of it. It looked like they were just embedded in the wall.

Dan: “Creepy… looks like it could pop outta the wall any minute now.”

Mei-Ling: “Oh! There, there they are!”

Mei-Ling indicated the others who were strapped to another wall in front of the machine!

Dan: “There’s my chance! I’ll save them, and then they have to be my students!”

T: “Dan, wait!!”

Dan: “Yahoo!!”

Dan actually jumped over the rafter to land on the floor below! Of all the stupid things to do, this takes the cake!

T: “You idiot!”

I grabbed him while he was in midair to keep him from getting spotted. Even Mei-Ling and Cotton tried to help me get him back on, but he dragged us all down!

T/Cotton/Mei-Ling: “AAAHH!!”

CRASH!

Of course, how could that not get Chun-Li’s attention?

Graymatter: “What’s all this, now?”

Chun-Li: “Intruders!”

Mei-Ling: “That hurt! Oh hey, sis!”

Hsien-ko: “All right! She found him!”

Graymatter: “What are you standing around for, Shadow Lady? Get those guys!”

T: “Graymatter… you and Edge never cease to make me mad!”

Graymatter: “You! I thought you were dealt with in the swamp!”

T: “You can’t keep a good guy down, and I’m as good as they come!”

Graymatter: “I had a feeling you’d show your face here… I had this prepared just in case!”

He slammed a button resembling a face. The room started shaking!

Sakura: “Oh, that can’t be good!”

Ryu: “Look! That head-thing on the wall!”

Dust started falling from it and the hands as it shook on the wall…

Dan: “I don’t believe it…”

The head and the hands both detached from the wall!

Graymatter: “This is the ultimate defense! Behold A.R.G.U.S.!

T: “A.R.G.U.S.? Time to scan!”

Name: A.R.G.U.S.

Species: Machine

Habitat: Unknown

Info:

A.R.G.U.S. Stands for Automated Robot Guardian Under command of Shadowloo. It uses its hands to bash, smash, and flatten intruders, and its head fires high intensity laser bullets. Its weak point is unconfirmed…

T: “We’re in for it now!”

Mei-Ling: “T, look out!”

T: “Oh!”

Chun-Li was about to drop kick me, but a small paper stuck to her and knocked her aside in midair!

T: “Who did…?”

Mei-Ling was holding several spell papers in her hand.

Hsien-ko: “Good going!”

T: “Nice save!”

Mei-Ling: “Thanks! I can use these spell papers to fight alongside my sister!”

T: “Pretty good. Okay, Dan!”

Dan: “Yeah?”

T: “Try and keep that A.R.G.U.S. thing distracted, but don’t get smashed! You’ve been helpful so far!”

Dan: “Really?! Oh yeah!!”

T: “Mei-Ling, please do the best you can to keep Chun-Li at bay. As for me…”

I zipped over to the others, who were on the wall.

T: “Who should I scan data from?”

I looked left to right, and left to right again, at Ryu, Ken, Sakura, Morrigan, Hsien-ko, Felicia, and Tessa. Granted, they were each strong fighters, but who to choose, who??

T: “Dude, I feel like a kid in a candy store!”

Tessa: “You must decide fast!”

Hsien-ko: “Yeah, my sister needs help!”

Ryu: “And I don’t even know what Dan’s doing here, but it looks like he’s having fun…”

Dan: “Yahoo! Can’t catch me!”

T: “Then… I’ll leave it up to fate!”

Holding A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R., I waved my arm back and forth rapidly and closed my eyes! I don’t know whom I scanned, but I saw the symbol on screen and decided…

T: “That’s who I’ll go with! Conversion!”

Mei-Ling: “Oh no!”

The second Chun-Li heard me say that word, she pushed Mei-Ling to the floor and jumped over to land in front of me! She kicked me straight in the air as I changed!

Tessa: “That’s not good…”

Sakura: “But he’s still changing!”

While in midair, my shirt and pants changed to a white color, and became slightly furry. My pants had small square-shaped holes where you see part of my legs. My hair looked like what it was in Wind power form, but it was blue! My hands turned into paws with green claws! Basically, I looked like a cat; I even had matching ears and a tail!

Ryu: “Looks like he scanned you, Felicia!”

But even so, that didn’t stop me from falling into one of the giant hands of A.R.G.U.S.!

Graymatter: “Good! Now put the squeeze on him!”

A.R.G.U.S. obeyed, and tightened his grip!

T: “AAAAHHH!!”

Dan: “He’ll squeeze him out like a tube of toothpaste!”

“Then do something!” said Mei-Ling, after knocking Chun-Li away with another spell seal.

Dan: “I got it!”

Dan rushed in, but using only one finger on the other hand, A.R.G.U.S. flicked him away! As he flew across the room, Ryu said,

Ryu: “He really should’ve trained harder…”

T: “I gotta get out!”

But how was I gonna? The abilities I got from Felicia might prove useful, but I gotta be free to use them! Suddenly, I felt something on A.R.G.U.S.’s hand.

T: “What’s this?”

It felt round. I tried tapping it with my fingernail, made sharp from the current Conversion.

ROAR!

Suddenly, A.R.G.U.S. acted funny! Its hand wriggled, and it opened up flat!

T: “Hey, I’m free! Huh?”

The round thing I saw resembled an eye!

T: “Could this be a weak point?”

I scratched the eye repeatedly, and A.R.G.U.S roared in pain! Then it’s hand drooped, rendered useless, but still floating!

T: “Cool beans! This must also work for the other hand!”

I jumped off the disabled hand, but when I landed…

Chun-Li: “Stop right there, trespasser!”

Chun-Li was behind me, readying herself to do the Big Bang Laser!

T: “Crap!”

Graymatter: No, you fool! Don’t use that in here! You’ll blow us all up!!”

She then paused, confused.

Chun-Li: “Huh??”

Dan: "Hey, thanks for distracting her, doctor dude!”

Graymatter: “What?”

Dan ran up close to her from behind and used the…”

Dan: “Gadouken!”

Of course now that he was in close range, unlike last time, he hit her! It knocked her aside, but she got back up quickly… I guess it still wasn’t that strong…

Dan: “Uh-oh…”

She started to advance on him!

T: “Leave him alone!”

I rolled up and sped toward her and landed an upward kick on her, sending her flying over Dan’s head! She landed right in front of the others on the wall.

Sakura: “Someone grab her!”

Dan ran up to Ryu and quickly undid the shackles to his legs with another Gadouken.

Ryu: “Thanks!”

Ryu then restrained Chun-Li with his legs.

Ryu: “Okay, I got her! Get rid of A.R.G.U.S.!”

A.R.G.U.S. then opened its mouth and started shooting a barrage of laser shots!

Cotton: “(Bunny Barrier!)”

Mei-Ling: “Guardian Seal!”

Both Mei-Ling and Cotton’s guard skills managed to stop the shots from hitting us.

T: “Hey, A.R.G.U.S.’s mouth… I bet it wouldn’t like an explosive treat… Looks like I oughta put a little pepper on this pizza!”

Cotton: “(But how will we get it to say ‘ah’?)”

Dan: “I don’t know…”

Clearly Dan was thinking of something else…

Dan: “That machine that’s pointed at those guys… what’s it do again?”

Mei-Ling: “If we don’t stop this thing, it’ll screw up their thoughts and make them work for Bison!”

Dan: “(Gasp!) Then I’ll never have my students!”

He ran to the machine and jumped on top of it.

T: “Dan?”

Dan: “Hey, over here, ugly!!”

He caught A.R.G.U.S.’s attention. It raised its good hand and…

Dan: “Yahoo! Fooled ya!”

SMASH!!

It brought its hand down, but not on Dan! He jumped out of the way, so it only smashed the mind-altering machine!

Graymatter: “NO!! You fool!!”

The Doc then made A.R.G.U.S. use its good hand to try and punch Dan. Dan jumped out the way as the hand fell onto the ground and opened itself up.

T: “Hit the eye!”

Dan: “Oh yeah!”

He socked the eye, disabling that hand too! Suddenly, A.R.G.U.S. dropped to the ground, and its mouth opened up!

T: “All right!”

Using the same trick I used to destroy the Freezy Bomb-Bombs, I created another explosive ball of energy and lobbed it into the mouth of A.G.R.U.S.!

Cotton: “(This won’t end well for that thing!)”

BOOM!!

A.R.G.U.S. exploded, sending bits and pieces of cables and stuff everywhere!

Graymatter: “No! This can’t be!”

The Doc ditched his control panel and ran out a door, sealing it behind him!

T: “Hey! He got away…”

Ryu: “T! A little help here!”

Chun-Li came to and went so far to free herself…

CRASH!

She pulled everyone else off the wall!

Hsien-ko: “We’re free!”

Morrigan: “But so is she!”

She marched slowly toward us, as the others tried to weigh her down by holding onto a chain that was snagged on her leg!

T: “That’s it!”

I walked right up to her. She threw a punch, but I stopped it straight!

T: “You been fighting for too long! I’m giving you an honorable discharge!”

I generated static electricity in my furry clothes, like Felicia. Then I gave her a mean electro-shock! But due to the chain that was on her leg, not to mention all the wires from A.R.G.U.S. we were all stepping on, we all got zapped, even me! I lost my Conversion ability the second I got volted!

All: “AAAAAAAAAAHH!!”

We all fell to the ground.

Several minutes later…

T: “Ooh… my head…”

Every one there was down but not out, according to A.N.A.L.Y.Z.E.R.

T: “I can’t believe I even did that…”

Chun-Li: “Uhh…”

T: “Crap, she’s waking up!”

I took my hammer and was ready to whack her, but all she said was…

Chun-Li: “What happened? W-where am I?”

T: “Huh?”

Chun-Li: “T, what’s going on? What have I been doing?”

T: "Are… are you… back to normal??”

I looked at her closely. Even the dark hue about her was gone!

T: “You are! Wake up guys!”

Ryu: “(Dazed) Did somebody get the license plate number of whatever hit us?”

Sakura: “Huh…? Oh no! Chun-Li’s awake!”

Tessa: “Hold her down!”

The others jumped on top of her in a dogpile!

T: “Uhh… guys?”

Chun-Li: “(Muffled) Ugh! G-get off me! I can’t breathe!”

T: “Hey, cut it out!”

They jumped off, giving her space to breathe.

Chun-Li: “What’s wrong with you guys?? What, do I have a sign saying ‘please beat me up’?!”

T: “Guys, she’s back to normal now.”

Sakura: “Really?! We did it!”

Hsien-ko: “Welcome back!”

Chun-Li: “Uhh… thank you?”

A few minutes later, we all got our bearings in the lab, now wrecked by the battle with A.R.G.U.S.

Chun-Li: “What exactly happened to me?”

T: “Remember the info on the machine we found back at the funhouse in Specter City?”

Chun-Li: “Yes.”

T: “Well, the reason that machine wasn’t there was because that goob Bison swiped it, along with you!”

Sakura: “He used it to screw with your brain, and make you think we were bad guys!”

Chun-Li: “WHAT?! How’d he do that?!”

Tessa: “According to the information, it has… or should I say, had the power to manipulate one’s thoughts.”

Chun-Li: “Had? What became of it?”

We all pointed to the remains of the machine.

Hsien-ko: “T and my sis squared off against a giant floating head and hand combo… Also you, too…”

Mei-Ling: “I’m sorry we had to hit you…”

Chun-Li: “I’ll be fine…”

Ryu: “As for the head-thing…”

Ryu pulled Dan and made him stand in front of Chun-Li.

Ryu: “This guy here helped save us all!”

Chun-Li: “What’s he doing here?! I don’t believe it; you saved us?”

Dan: “Yeah, I did!”

Morrigan: “It’s true; we all saw.”

Ken: “He lured that thing into smashing the machine!”

Chun-Li: “Well, if you say so… th-thanks Dan.”

Ryu: “Yeah, thanks.”

Sakura: “We owe ya one!”

Dan: “Yes! That means you can all be my students!”

There was silence all around.

T: “Come on guys, it’s the least you can do.”

Ryu: “(Sigh) Fine…”

Chun-Li: “After we get through with this, okay…? Uh, by the way, where are we exactly?”

T: “We’re in Bison’s underground Shadowloo fortress.”

Chun-Li: “Then he can’t be far off!”

T: “Too true, we just gotta find him and E… hey!”

I just realized something…

T: “Great galloping Goombas, where’s the Doc?! H-he was here just now, wasn’t he??”

Cotton: “(Looks like he flew the coop… the chicken…)”

Dan: “The only other exit I see aside from that entrance into here is that shiny door there…”

T: “Oh, I see!”

We approached the door.

Felicia: “This is where Bison left before you and Dan came in, meow.”

Sakura: “Looks like our way out!”

Sakura pressed the button by the door and it slid open.

Hsien-ko: “I see daylight!”

We exited and found our selves back in the swamp, but this time there was no rancid smell or pits of salty goo. The land was flat and somewhat damp.

Morrigan: “Ah, fresh air… now we can take care of business.”

T: “Yeah! Then let’s go and give those pricks what-for!”

Now that Chun-Li’s regained her senses, we can fight to our fullest! That Bison will rue the day he screwed with us!