Street Fighter Unlimited # 4

 By Mark Rodriguez

Guile, Cammy and Alex team up to rescue Chun Li from Vega, but are surrounded by Twelves. Meanwhile Ryu seeks guidance from Retsu based on what he thinks Gouken would have said. Instead, Retsu introduces him to Gouken himself. Ryu, thinking someone has dishonored his master's name, jumps in to attack!

Ryu attacks Gokuen, who blocks his ever move saying it's impossible that he's still alive since he held his dead body and burned his ashes himself. Gouken says he has to search his heart for the truth and defeats him in battle.

Guile, Chun Li and Cammy all fight against the Twelves but find themselves horribly outnumbered. Cammy manages to break one's arm, but it merely fixes it as if nothing happened. Alex fights one of the Twelves, and accidentally leaves himself open for attack. Instead of finishing him off, the Twelve stops and turns to leave. Alex takes offense to that and grabs him for a suplex. The Twelve crumbles into ash. Cammy, Chun Li and Guile are now completely overcome by the Twelves. 

Alex comes in to attack and for some reason, his attacks reduce them all the dust. Guile asks how this is possible and Alex says he was hoping they could tell him. Urien watches all of this from his viewscreen and is shocked.

Ryu wakes up and sees Gouken with him. Master and pupil hug though Ryu is still confused. Retsu steps in and says he can barely believe it either. Gouken tells Ryu that he did die. He explains that Akuma's Shun Goku Satsu destroys the body and the soul. At the last moment, Gouken managed to achieve nothingness and remove his soul from his body, but with his body dead, he couldn't return to it. Wandering between life and death, he found Retsu who helped him guide his soul back to the world of the living in a temporary corporeal form.

Ryu asked where he was all this time when he needed him. Gouken says Ryu needed time to grow on his own, and he is proud of him. Gouken is on borrowed time and he offers to train Ryu with everything. As they train, Gouken teaches Ryu all his techniques, even the forbidden ones, and it's up to him to decide how to use them, if at all. Gouken explains how the Satsui No Hado is too dangerous to be controlled and it only leads to uncontrollable rage and violence. Ryu says he came to ask how to control because he feels he won't be able to defeat Akuma without its power. Gouken says his time as his master is over and it's time for Ryu to continue his road with a new master, someone so enlightened that he has ascended to a level beyond good and evil. He's referring to the man known as Oro.

Back at at Guile's base, he gives his superiors his reports on the situation which only confirms their fears. It seems the Secret Society has influence over the higher ups as well. Just then a nuclear missile has been fired off and is headed towards Russia. The Kremlin messages them stating that if the missile gets any closer, they will counter with their own nuclear strike. With the missile not responding to any controls, all Guile and his fellow soldiers can do it watch until suddenly Gill arrives. Wearing heavenly wings on his back, Gill destroys the missile and prevents what possibly could have started World War 3. The people proclaim Gill as their savior and he says he offers them friendship, goodwill and peace.

'A Second Chance' opens with Juri Han as she makes ends meet and passes the time winning local street fights due to both S.I.N and Shadaloo being down. After winning her fight, Juri runs into Crimson Viper who pokes fun of her current situation. Calling her Bison's lapdog, pisses Juri off and she starts to fight her saying everything she did was to plan her revenge against him. Viper said it must have been horrible to wait all that time for the perfect moment to strike only to find out that Bison was a fake. Viper says Juri can still have time to get her revenge, which stops her attack. Juri asks how since Bison already died. Viper says Bison did die, twice, and she asks Juri if she's ready for the third act.

Elsewhere scientists are trying to recover Seth's body but his Tandem Engine is destroyed beyond repair. Someone else watches and says it's a shame, but there is another Tandem Engine out there and it's time they seek out this newer model. The man's silhouette seems to be that of F.A.N.G.

My opinions-

I sometimes wonder how it feels like to write out the stories for these games when new ones keep coming out with things that affect what you're trying to do. For the most part, Udon stays fairly true to the characters' stories and whatnot, but of course they have to leave themselves open to new things and battles. I believe in the game's lore, Gouken didn't die at Akuma's hands like it was believed, but he was put in a coma which he would not awaken from until we get to Street Fighter 4's timeline. But since the comic took it further with Ryu burning his ashes (as well as him spraying the wall with Akuam's ten symbol in his own blood) here they went for a more drastic approach in which he really did die and Retsu somehow gave his soul a temporary body.

Other problems we'll eventually have to face is Bison still being in the story despite being defeated sometime between SF 2 and SF 3. We're getting deeper into Street Fighter 3 territory as Ryu is set to meet Oro next issue. Plus we have Alex, Gill and Urien running around. Yet Bison and his chronies are still somehow involved. And now with Bison returning in Street Fighter 5..... we're gonna have Bison for a while. Plus bringing back Charlie, brainwashed and working for Shadaloo... expect for the fact that the comic already had him do that as Shadow before.

As for Gill, he has claimed the adoration of the masses. I hope they don't drag out the 'big reveal' that he somehow orchestrated the missile strike himself, because it's super obvious. I do wonder how Alex alone was able to cause harm to the Twelve. At first I thought Urien was making them fall back since he knew Alex... but he's just as surprised as we are and even says 'could it be...?' We have to remember Alex was meant to be the main character of Street Fighter III and ultimately it's up to him to put Gill in his place. And this comic seems to follow suit with that since Ryu is too busy with his own personal battle against Akuma to even know about Gill.

Juri's story was interesting, especially since F.A.N.G is supposedly involved... and Juri was, at the time, about to appear in SF5 as DLC. I haven't read all of Unlimited just yet, but this story could be the beginning of the little partnership Viper and Juri shared in several stories going forward.

Also since the covers all link up, here's how they're looking so far. I still question Ingrid as a Street Fighter character or not... but I do give props for them not forgetting the Street Fighter One guys that never returned to Alpha or anywhere else. Namely Retsu, Lee and Joe.