With those words, Cloud snapped his fingers.
Snap.
The next second, the endless void within Bison's spiritual world began to collapse.
Not from being attacked. Not from being destroyed.
It was being deleted.
Bison felt his very "existence" being erased from the root, bit by bit, by an irresistible, incomprehensible force!
His memories were disappearing!
His will was dissolving!
That "self" he was so proud of was returning to "nothingness"!
"NOOOOO—!!!!!"
He let out the most anguished, most unwilling, most terrified roar of his entire existence!
Then his entire "consciousness" vanished completely—like pencil marks being erased by a rubber eraser.
...
In the real world.
"AHHHHH—!!!!!"
A scream filled with agony and terror erupted from Bison's mouth!
He clutched his head, rolling on the ground in torment, purple-black blood streaming from all seven orifices!
Those purple eyes were filled with endless fear and bewilderment, as if he had witnessed the most horrifying thing in existence!
His mind had completely shattered.
The entire Underground Core Zone 323 of Shadaloo's base fell into silence.
Everyone stared slack-jawed at this almost magical scene before them.
Ryu, Ken, and Guile—these three who had been worrying about "how to defeat a boss who can resurrect infinitely"—now had nothing but static buzzing in their heads.
What had they just witnessed?
That arrogant Bison who called himself a "god" had charged into Cloud's mind for a "friendly chat," and came out... mad?
And he'd gone mad in such a "philosophical" way—contemplating the meaning of existence right before death?
What was this?
Physical attacks: immune. Magic attacks: reflected. Mental attacks: fries the opponent's CPU?
This was just ridiculous cheating!
"Is... is it... over?" Ken stammered, feeling like his flashy Shinryuken combo had been reduced to a joke.
"His spirit has been completely destroyed." Ryu's eyes flickered with complex emotions.
He understood better than anyone the agony and despair of having one's very "Dao" denied at its root.
"Bastard... Bison..." Guile stared at the spot where Bison had collapsed, fists clenched. His eyes held both the satisfaction of vengeance fulfilled and an indescribable emptiness.
The enemy he had pursued for half his life had ended in a way he couldn't comprehend at all?
Chun-Li, meanwhile, looked at Cloud with worry.
"Cloud, are you... are you okay?" she asked nervously. Although she didn't know what had just happened, "mental invasion" didn't sound like anything good.
"Me? What could possibly be wrong with me?" Cloud spread his hands, his face showing the satisfied expression of someone who'd just enjoyed a mental spa. "I just very kindly invited Uncle Bison into my inner world for some tea and a chat about life. He just didn't seem to appreciate my home's interior design. Chatted for a bit, and he kind of... figured things out on his own."
Everyone: "..."
Like hell we believe that! Your "interior design" must be Cthulhu-themed, right?! To drive someone as mentally disturbed as Bison completely insane—what kind of SAN-destroying nightmare did he witness in there?!
Just as everyone was still reeling from this worldview-shattering shock—
"WARNING! WARNING! Psycho Drive core meltdown! Base self-destruct sequence initiated!"
"REPEAT! Base self-destruct sequence initiated! Time remaining: 60 seconds!"
The piercing red alarm and emotionless synthetic voice once again echoed throughout the crumbling base!
"59... 58... 57..."
The countdown on the walls displayed clearly before everyone's eyes like a death knell.
"Holy shit! You beat the boss and don't even get to loot the body before the base explodes? Bison really has no martial honor at all!" Ken was the first to react, letting out a yelp.
"Move! This place is coming down!" Guile immediately grabbed the still-stunned Ryu.
The entire underground base began to shake violently! Massive stones from the ceiling rained down like a storm! The magma below started surging upward!
A true "apocalyptic escape" had begun!
"Don't panic, everyone follow me!"
Cloud maintained his composed "veteran driver" demeanor.
He grabbed Chun-Li's hand with one hand, while pointing his other hand at the already-collapsing rock ceiling above!
"Psychic Shield!"
A massive purple telekinetic barrier instantly formed, like an indestructible umbrella, steadily blocking all the falling debris!
"This way!"
Using the base schematics he'd "borrowed" earlier, he guided everyone through the labyrinthine, constantly-collapsing corridors like a tour guide who knew his backyard intimately, weaving left and right, precisely avoiding one cave-in and explosion after another!
With his dual role as "human GPS" and "human tunnel boring machine"—
Everyone finally burst out of a hidden escape passage just one second before the countdown reached zero, breathing in the fresh air of freedom!
"BOOM—!!!!!"
Behind them, that fortress of steel hidden deep in the rainforest—along with its evil "heart" and all of Bison's ambitions—transformed into a towering mushroom cloud in an earth-shattering explosion!
The firelight lit up the entire night sky as bright as day.
Everyone stood at a safe distance, watching the raging flames, speechless for a long time.
It was finally over.
...
The aftershocks of the explosion gradually subsided.
The first rays of morning sunlight pierced through the smoke and dust, warmly bathing this land that had been reborn.
"Phew... finally... it's over."
Guile gazed at the ruins that had become a massive crater, letting out a long, turbid breath. That breath seemed to carry away all the hatred and burden he had accumulated over half his life.
He turned to face Cloud and performed a crisp military salute.
"Cloud! I, Guile, on behalf of my dear friend Charlie Nash, and on behalf of myself, offer you my highest respects! This debt of gratitude, I will never forget! From now on, whenever you need anything, the U.S. Air Force... no, I, Guile personally, will answer your call!"
This iron-blooded soldier's eyes showed genuine gratitude.
...
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