"What?! This guy's strength..." Ken's face was written with disbelief.
"Hehe, kid, your fire isn't hot enough." Balrog wiggled his completely unharmed fist with a sinister grin.
"Don't underestimate us!"
Guile also launched an attack from the side! His body spun sharply, a Flash Kick carrying sharp wind like a battle axe, slicing toward Balrog's head!
"Buffalo Head!"
Balrog didn't dodge, instead using his forehead to directly headbutt Guile's kick!
CLANG!
A sound like metal striking metal rang out!
Guile felt like he'd kicked solid granite!
The massive recoil sent his entire body off-balance in mid-air!
"Now!"
Balrog seized the opening. With a roar, his body shot forward like a cannonball, instantly closing in on the still-airborne Guile!
"Gigaton Blow!"
His power-charged fist, like a battering ram, slammed squarely into Guile's abdomen!
PFFT!
Guile spat out a mouthful of blood, his entire body crashing into the distant wall like a broken kite, leaving a human-shaped crack!
Strong!
Too strong!
This man called Balrog had taken "overwhelming force conquers all technique" to its absolute extreme!
He had no fancy moves—only strength and defense that crushed everything!
Ken and Guile, fighting together, were completely outmatched!
Just as Balrog was about to advance and deliver the "final blow" to both of them—
A lazy voice, seemingly carrying a hint of electronic static, suddenly echoed through the broadcast system across the entire zone.
"Hello? Hello? Testing, testing. Can you hear me? Hello there, Shadaloo boys."
"This is your dear dimensional janitor, Cloud. Now for an emergency announcement—"
"Due to a teensy-tiny vulnerability in your security system, starting now, I'm officially taking over admin privileges for the entire base."
As this voice played, the entire base suddenly fell into an eerie silence!
All the alarm sounds stopped.
All the surveillance cameras simultaneously rotated to face the ceiling.
All the automated gun turrets drooped their barrels like they'd gone limp.
"What's going on?!" Balrog was stunned.
The hateful voice on the broadcast continued.
"Oh, right, one more thing. There seems to be a small problem with your salary accounts. All the balances have been transferred and donated to the International Children's Protection Fund. No need to thank me—just call me Lei Feng."
"Wishing everyone a pleasant day. Goodbye."
The broadcast ended.
And Balrog, after freezing for three seconds, finally reacted!
"MY MONEY——!!!!"
He let out the most mournful, most grief-stricken howl of his entire life!
For this money-obsessed boxer, this was worse than death!
Just as his mental state exploded from bankruptcy, sending him into massive stagger—
Two figures, one red, one green, like twin bolts of vengeful lightning, charged at him from two directions!
Ken and Guile had recovered!
"Now's our chance! Go!"
"Avenge our overtime pay!" (Even though they didn't actually have any)
"Shinryuken!"
"Sonic Hurricane!"
Both unleashed their ultimate techniques simultaneously!
A blazing ultimate Shoryuken, and an ultimate spinning kick that whipped up a vacuum storm capable of shredding everything, struck the mentally-shattered-from-bankruptcy Balrog from two directions at once!
BOOM——!!!!
"My... my money..."
These were Boxer Balrog's final words in this world.
...
Meanwhile.
Underground core area. A passage leading to the Psycho Drive.
Cloud was leading Chun-Li by one hand while operating a black-tech "universal terminal" redeemed from the system with the other.
That "Matrix"-style broadcast from earlier was his handiwork.
In the KOF world, he had "borrowed" quite a few techniques about "network intrusion" and "electronic warfare" from K' and Maxima.
Combined with the system's unreasonable permissions, hacking into Shadaloo's impressive-looking but actually hole-riddled "intranet" was easier than drinking water.
"Done." Cloud snapped his fingers and stored the terminal back in the system space. "Now the base's entire Skynet system is on our side. Bison is flying blind."
Chun-Li followed behind him, watching his casual demeanor, already completely numb.
Master-level fighter.
Intelligence like a ghost.
And now world-class hacking skills too?
What else couldn't this guy do?
Just as her mind wandered—
WHOOSH—
A silver flash of cold light, carrying a piercing whistle, shot without warning from the shadows of the corridor ceiling, aimed at Chun-Li's back!
"Watch out!"
Cloud reacted instantly. He pulled Chun-Li behind him while simultaneously launching a backhand knife strike that precisely met the flash of light!
CLANG!
Sparks flew!
It was a sharp steel claw!
"Hehehehe... Long time no see, my little wildcat."
A familiar, perverted laugh came from above.
A figure hung spider-like from the ceiling.
It was Vega—the one Chun-Li had blasted away with her Kikoken Ultimate!
Only now, he looked... different.
His face, which should have been disfigured, was completely intact—even more "bewitching" than before. His eyes flickered with crazed purple light. Dense Psycho Power energy wreathed his body.
His speed and strength were leagues beyond what they'd been during the tournament!
"You... you're not dead?!" Chun-Li stared at him in shock.
"Dead? Hehe, before General Bison's great Psycho Power, death is merely a boring state." Vega extended his tongue and licked his steel claw. "Thanks to you, I discarded that fragile flesh and was reborn! Now I am the most perfect, most beautiful existence!"
"This lunatic..." Cloud frowned slightly.
He could sense that the Vega before him could no longer be called "human." He was more like a puppet forcibly "glued together" by Psycho Power, filled with resentment and madness.
...
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