Street Fighter Masters- Lily

By Mark Rodriguez

Street Fighter Masters are pretty much solo stories centered around one of the characters fro the classic fighting series. We've has issues devoted to Blanka, Chun Li, Cammy, Kimberly and others, and now it's Lily's turn. Lily is a member of the same tribe as T.Hawk so she uses similar attacks and also wind attacks. She also fights using clubs called pogamoggans, which have round stones attached. I'm sure getting clocked by one of those in the face would make for a bad guy. Let's see what awaits her in this issue.

The issue opens with T. Hawk and Lily driving 30 Kilometers away from the Thunderfoot Settlement. Lily is excited about a new ceremony she will take part in. She asks if the entire village will be there or if it will a secret only for the elders. T. Hawk says this treasured heirloom will soon grace their new shrine and bestow its powers upon generations of the tribe. Lily is concerned since this power can be a boon to their people, but power does tend to go to people's heads.

Sometime earlier, T.Hawk and Lily are having lunch as she's filming them on 'Footube'. She tells Hawk to tell the viewers to like and subscribe. T. Hawk asks Lily why modern day youth feel the need to film and monetize everything they see. Lily asks why his generation complains about social norms they can't grasp. T. Hawk says if she has time to be a village influencer, then she has time to train. He challenges her to a fight and Lily gladly accepts. The villagers watch and start making bets. 

T. Hawk says Lily should clear her mind and relax to prepare for the fight. Lily says she's ready and call him 'boomer'. T. Hawk says he's 'Gen-X'. Lily says she's seen his driver's license. T. Hawk calls for the match to begin and Lily leaps in with a flying kick.

Lily leap-frogs over Hawk and bounces off a tree to fly towards him with her Condo Spire. Hawk says it's too soon and grabs her leg. He swings her into a food cart. Lily apologizes to the vendor. Hawk asks if she's had enough, and Lily runs towards him again. T. Hawk sends her to the ground. He says the first round goes to the 'boomer'. He tells the crowd that the match is over and they have to go. The people that bet on Lily are upset she lost.

Lily notices that a hawk is flying overhead, and wonders if it's a sign of Arroyo Hawk. T. Hawk says there should hurry since there is a storm on the horizon.

Later on Hawk and Lily arrive at El Templo del Corazon del Trueno Sagrado (The Temple of the Scared Thunder Heart). Lily apologizes for the smack talk from earlier and Hawk understands she was just posturing for the crowd. Lily says she idolizes him and wants to fight like him. Hawk says she embrace the path of fighting arts that best resonates with her spirit.

T. Hawk explains that this temple was recently revealed to them. Their esteemed elder, Singing Wolf as well as an elder from Riverbend will be joining them. Lily senses disharmony in the ki energy. She senses a storm above but the spirits still avoid the temple. Hawk says the dark energy will be purged once they add the missing component. Lily asks about the gem they brought, and Hawk says that's not entirely it. Just then Lily hears something. Just then JP arrives, stepping out of a portal.

T. Hawk says that Shadaloo scum like him does not belong on their land. JP says he's exploring powerful sites worldwide and this place tempts him with dominion over it's might. Hawk says he will face the full might of the Thunderfoot Tribe if he thinks his dominion extends to their land. JP says he remembers Bison tossing Hawk's father Arroyo aside when he talked about that same might. 

Lily is angry that JP is mocking all that they've lost. JP says as he understands it, Bison displaced the tribe from their old territory, which led them to escape a country that has oppressed them for centuries (the US).Now they're in a new territory where they freedom to make all their cultural and political decisions they want, in exchange for a little discomfort (Mexico). Lily says they're in their current location since they had to get away from Bison. T. Hawk says Bison might be dead, but he still hears his voice through JP's words.

Suddenly Eagle's Heart arrives and tells them that he invited JP over. Eagle's Heart explains that Singing Wolf is occupied so he will preside over the ceremony. Lily asks why he invited JP. JP says he will provide the party favors.

JP brought some inert items. Eagle's Heart will use the shrine's energy to undo their spells and unleash the items' true potential. Hawk asks what he wants in exchange. JP assures him that no corporation, including his own will be operating on their land. T. Hawk says some of the items are unsettling. JP says the statue he brought is said to contain the spirit of a formidable opponent. He wants the opportunity to control such power. Lily says trying to control such darkness will lead to his demise. She tells JP to not interfere with their ceremony. JP says he will respectfully keep his distance and observe.

Eagle's Heart says the storm is coming as asks if Hawk brought the heirloom. He pulls out the gem and tells Lily to do the honors. The elder explains that Lily is the pivotal element of the ceremony. She will be the catalyst to unlock the shrine's latent power as well as the potential within her. Lily holds the gem and sets it in place. Lightning hits the shrine as JP watches, being impressed. Just then something forms behind him. Necalli appears, having being released from the statue.

Eagle's Heart tries to stop him and is easily swatted aside by the hungry monster. JP creates a portal and is ready to run off with the gem. T. Hawk tells Lily to grab the gem while he fights with Necalli. Necalli socks T. Hawk out, leaving only Lily to fight. Lily charges towards him, saying she is ready to fight. Necalli says she is ready to die. 

Lily goes for the Condor Dive, but Necalli punches her out of the air. He lands a few more hits and sends Lily to the ground. T. Hawk asks if she's alright. Lily says she got this and tell him to stop JP. JP tries to explain himself but Hawk charges towards him.

Necalli slams Lily's face to the ground and then lifts her by the head. He says she will be his main course and it's a shame she will never learn the true extent of the power contained in her soul. Lily sees visions of Arroyo Hawk who says these vessels were the only way he could reach her. He will guide her in understanding her true power, but for now Lily needs to set aside her natural instinct of self-sacrifice and to refrain from holding back. Arroyo sets his finger on Lily's forehead.

Lily awakens with new power and yells that she is not a child. She hits Necalli with her special moves, the Breezing Haw and the Thunder Bird, which knocks the monster into the air. She then grabs him and spins him around with her clubs, using her Raging Typhoon. Necalli is destroyed by her power and vanishes into the wind. Lily says that JP is next.

JP says there is no need for that. He said he had to hide the gem into another realm since he senses that Necalli was planning on taking it after devouring his opponents' souls. T. Hawk says he has to agree, as Necalli was the true threat. JP puts the gem back in its proper place and says their ancestors doesn't seem to have the power to protect themselves in the material world. Lily flies into JP knocking him down with her Condor Wind attack. She tells him that her ancestors say they don't need his hep and never will. She tells him to go seek power elsewhere. JP says they will meet again as he leaves through a portal.

After JP leaves, Hawk says that Eagle's Heart is gone, as if he was never there. He says he will inform the Riverbend Tribe about the passing of their elder. He says it was a bittersweet victory but Lily was the real protector of the Thunderfoot Tribe. Lily looks up and sees the hawk fly past them and says she didn't do it alone.

My Thoughts-

Pretty fun issue, and I'm assuming this explains how Lily got her wind powers? There were some surprises here and there. While JP was a surprise, I was more surprised to see Necalli. Now that's someone I never expected to see again. He seems to be one of the more forgettable Street Fighter 5 characters, and even though we ended up getting several seasons of DLC, none of the new characters had any ties to Necalli to bring him back into the forefront. It also makes sense that T. Hawk didn't recognize him since he wasn't in Street Fighter 5. 

The banter between Lily and T. Hawk was fun. I also like the contrast between the characters since Lily is the typical modern day teen with social media and whatnot, while T. Hawk is still the OG that was first introduced to us in 1993's Super Street Fighter II. It was interesting to see JP trying to twist Bison destroying the original Thunderfoot village in the US into some sort of good thing. I also like seeing T. Hawk sigh as Lily was about to start arguing against JP in a political debate.

There's not much to say about the issue, except it has the usual colorful and intense fighting artwork that Udon is known for. The only thing missing from the Raging Typhoon was to have Lily fumble in mid-air and land on Necalli's back. 

The comic also advertises that the next Masters comic will be about Elena but with her updated look. I assume it will be out just in time for her to be released as DLC for Street Fighter 6. There's also a new series coming out called Street Fighter Prime with seemingly all-new villains called Vortex. I guess this is a way to buy some time while Street Fighter 6 adds more villains to their DLC. Also it seems this means that Street Fighter is going into the Fatal Fury The Motion Picture route with all original villains.