I don't own Marvel Vs Capcom, that's owned by… Well Marvel and Capcom… Obviously. As is all characters within.

Justice… Ambition… They are irrelevant to a Strider, this was taught from day one, the job takes priority above all else, feelings and morality must be checked at the door to complete the mission. It used to be black and white for Strider Hiryu; his job was all he could concern himself with that was until the near catastrophe that was Galactus. The world ender himself had shown an interest in devouring the Earth which was bad news for all involved. Hiryu rallied with the rest of the world's heroes and fought back Galactus and his heralds and had managed to save the world… If only it were that easy.

For as most people know, the vile and wicked are not known to pack up and leave when they have lost, no they persevere and adjust their schemes. Currently all heroes who fought Galactus were under the employment of S.H.I.E.L.D to hunt down those responsible for calling Galactus. Dr. Doom, Albert Wesker, The Super Skrull, Akuma and Magneto were the leading suspects. The evil and brilliant minds of Doom and Wesker had managed to merge the worlds permanently and as such it was complete chaos, Sentinels roaming rampant in addition to Mavericks causing havoc, Shadaloo and Umbrella merged and were declared to be protected under the sovereignty of Latveria ensuring that they were untouchable from Interpol and S.H.I.E.L.D. All this meant that everyone under the employ of S.H.I.E.L.D was being run ragged. This suited some more than others, Hiryu and Zero were easily comfortable running multiple missions in a day but others weren't as able. More than once in the helicarrier lounge had Hiryu seen Frank West slump down in the lounge accompanied by Felicia and even young Viewtiful Joe all sitting around exhausted waiting on their next mission, they were all strong but everyone reaches a limit at some point.

Hiryu's current mission was simple, observe and report back to S.H.I.E.L.D. Albert Wesker had been sighted in the current area, the very outskirts of Racoon City. Hiryu sat, perched on a high roof looking down on the streets below, it amazed him that there was still such a huge population of undead in this city, Umbrella had cordoned off the rapid expansion of zombies but they still kept them for "experimentation." For almost three hours Hiryu patrolled the city rooftops to no avail, he was dedicated to his job but this was beginning to get ridiculous. However before he was about to radio for a S.H.I.E.L.D pickup he heard a gunshot in the streets below, probably just a zombie shooting itself in the head with a random gun lying around but Hiryu would kick himself if he left it unexplored, that was just unprofessional. Arriving at the location of the gunshot Hiryu was surprised to find Chris Redfield amongst a horde of zombies with none other than the Hulk smashing away at the encroaching horde and supporting the smaller man. Then Hiryu saw him, Albert Wesker and he wasn't alone.

Wesker had with him, a huge abomination that was clad in what seemed to be a boiler suit and huge boots, slung over its shoulder was a huge rocket launcher and a trail of green drool hung from its mouth. The beast, Nemesis, had its eye on Chris and even from his rooftop position Strider Hiryu could hear it growl; "S.T.A.R.S…" On Wesker's other side there stood a pale lithe woman in a skin tight blue body-suit that had a large open area on her chest where Hiryu could see some strange device attached to her chest, glowing periodically. He recognized her as Jill Valentine from his analysis of the S.H.I.E.L.D database in his very limited down time, she went M.I.A some time ago after a botched mission to take down Wesker. Hiryu could only assume that the device on her chest was used to control her and bend her to Wesker's will. Hiryu was unsure how to proceed, he had been given strict instructions not to engage Wesker unless it was absolutely necessary and if he did engage he was to escape as soon as possible but Hulk and Chris were outnumbered and something about just leaving them was sitting wrong with Hiryu, he was definitely running too many practice missions with Captain America, the headstrong captain was convinced that if he lead by example then Hiryu would eventually develop compassion for his allies. Regrettably it seemed like Captain America was getting through to Strider Hiryu, if only a little, as he decided he couldn't leave Chris and Hulk to fight off Wesker, Jill and Nemesis. Briefly he considered sending one of his hawks down to rip the device from her chest but he couldn't be sure that it would succeed or if it would leave Jill unharmed.

Below in the streets Chris and Hulk had dispatched the zombies and Chris was shouting at Wesker.

"Wesker! Let Jill go! I'm bringing you in." Chris shouted prepping his gun for the fight. Wesker smirked and fixed his glasses.

"It's time to close the book on us Chris…" Wesker clicked his fingers and on that command Nemesis launched itself at Chris. Hulk was too fast however and smashed into Nemesis, saving Chris.
"Hulk smash ugly man!" Hulk roared punching Nemesis right in its face before a devastating uppercut sent the abomination in the air; Hulk leapt up and continued to attack Nemesis in the air, the sudden ferocity of the assault gave Nemesis no real time to counterattack. Wesker growled and jerked his head at Jill. On that command she ran forward and swept Chris's legs out from under him, she somersaulted forward and brought both knees onto Chris's abdomen winding him. Chris rolled back and brought up his forearms to defend himself from a series of rapid kicks from Jill. Before another kick landed Chris grabbed her extended leg and he spun around tossing her into the wall of the alley. Chris ran forward and ducked under one of Jill's kicks and slashed at her with his stun baton, the momentary stun gave him time to get in close and start pulling the device off her chest.

Wesker however saw this and knew that he had to stop Chris or he'd lose a valuable pawn. Unfortunately for Wesker, Hiryu had chosen this moment to abandon his mission of simply observing, Hiryu would have to spend more time away from Captain America for sure because abandoning missions wasn't good practice for a Strider. Before Wesker could advance on Chris, Hiryu had leapt down from his vantage point and landed between Wesker and his target. Unsheathing his blade Hiryu glared at Wesker.

"You will go no further." Never one to mince words Hiryu was hoping that his display would unnerve Wesker however it only seemed to entice the evil man. A dark chuckle emanated from Wesker.
"Three against three hmm?" He fixed his glasses and stared Hiryu down. "You understand that you have no chance Strider?"

"You are the one who is outmatched." It disturbed Hiryu that Wesker would know of the Striders but that was for a later date. Wesker wasted no time in dashing forward faster than even Hiryu could see. Fortunately Hiryu needn't rely on sight alone; predicting that Wesker would try and finish this quickly Hiryu disappeared and produced multiple illusionary copies of himself to distract Wesker, who reappeared right where Hiryu had been moments prior. Wesker glanced around as all five Hiryu's descended on him, unable to determine which Hiryu was the real one. A solid kick to his back sent him forward slightly, he turned around with a growl and received a series of rapid slashes from Cypher's edge culminating in a strike that launched Wesker high into the air, before he could right himself Hiryu was on him again, striking him with more attacks from his vicious blade, knocking him into the ground. Wesker was given no respite however as when Hiryu landed he summoned a small satellite which launched itself at Wesker knocking him off the ground and finally Hiryu dashed forward and grabbed Wesker's collar throwing him up in the air again, this time he produced two copies of himself to rain down a multitude of blows on Wesker finishing with a shout, Hiryu let Wesker fall to the ground, satisfied that no one could survive his Ragnarok attack. Hiryu examined how the others were doing.

Hulk and Nemesis were locked in a fierce grapple neither giving an inch, Hulk had grabbed both of Nemesis's hands preventing any of his tentacles from lashing out and the rocket launcher lay discarded a few feet away. Hulk growled and head-butted Nemesis and using this distraction he pulled Nemesis forward, hauled it over his head and slammed the unfortunate monstrosity into the ground before smashing his fist on the ground and unleashing a Gamma Quake. Nemesis lay unmoving and Hulk's feet. Chris was almost finished pulling the device from Jill's chest despite her struggling and lashing out at him, with one final heave he pulled the device from her chest and she slumped down, shivering and shaking. Chris threw the device on the ground and shot it, the red liquid spilling out with a hiss. Hiryu was about to extend his congratulations and leave but he felt a hand close around his neck and lift him up.

Gasping for air he clawed at the hand around his neck. He heard the unmistakable sound of Wesker chuckling.
"Now Chris… You've gone and ruined one of my toys; I'll have to take one of yours." Hiryu felt Wesker's grip tighten, reaching behind his back he drew his plasma tipped climb sickle and stabbed it into Wesker's arm. Growling Wesker dropped Hiryu who rolled forward and stopped beside Hulk and Chris. Chris placed a hand on Hiryu's shoulder as he coughed and rubbed his throat. Chris raised his gun and aimed at Wesker's head.
"It's all over Wesker, turn yourself in now." Chris demanded while Hulk tossed the unmoving Nemesis at Wesker's feet and growled.

Wesker knew however when he was beaten and drew his cell phone from his coat, in seconds a troupe of Doombots arrived and three of them charged at Hulk, Chris and Hiryu while a further four helped Wesker and Nemesis escape. In no time at all the Doombots remaining were scrap metal and Chris was checking up on Jill, who was still shivering on the ground.

"Skinny girl ok?" Hulk asked Chris, concern evident in his voice.

"I think she'll be ok, her vitals all seem stable, weak but stable." Chris said, picking Jill up bridal style and turning to face Hiryu. "Strider right?" He asked inquisitively.

"Hiryu. My name is Hiryu."

"Well Hiryu, I owe you one. We really couldn't have done this without you." Chris smiled at Hiryu and Hulk.

"Small man is strong." Hulk conceded with a nod. Something was pre-occupying Hiryu however.

"Exactly why were only two of you dispatched to deal with Nemesis, Wesker and Jill?" Hiryu was sure that Nick Fury would send at the very least three people to deal with a high threat such as Wesker. Chris frowned slightly and with a sigh he began to explain.

"Nick Fury didn't approve this mission; I was leaving without authorisation when Hulk offered his assistance in tracking down Jill."

Strider raised an eyebrow at the Hulk of all people offering his aide to someone, Hulk shrugged off the questioning glance.

"Hulk helps his friends." Simple as that it would seem.

"Nick was actually waiting for your report on Wesker's movements before he sent any agents to fight him. As you can see he's insanely fast and strong." Chris finished his explanation, his expression darkened on the topic of Wesker. "Anyway, Nemesis's launcher destroyed our ride; I think our only option is to radio S.H.I.E.L.D for a pick-up."

Strider nodded, he could understand Chris's point of view. He was very surprised that Hulk would offer assistance to him but apparently they were on better terms than he previously thought. Perhaps he should make more of an effort to study the relationships between all the heroes. A horde of zombies began filing in from both sides of the alley and the group decided it was best to leave. Hulk hefted Chris and Jill over his shoulders and began rapidly scaling the building to their left. Hiryu simply ran up the side as far as he could and used his sickle to climb the rest of the way, Wesker must have been in a hurry to just leave it lying around. Once they were on the roof Hiryu radioed for a pick-up ASAP and within ten minutes the tell-tale sound of engines was heard above the roof. Hiryu requested an extra-large pick-up for Hulk and he was relieved to see S.H.I.E.L.D sent a Hercules carrier to get them. The airplane hovered at the side of the rooftops and to Hiryu's dismay when the hatch at the back opened, Nick Fury was there waiting.

"Strider Hiryu, I was under the impression that you were only concerned about the job at hand." Fury stated, pacing back and forth in the aircraft. Hulk, Chris and Jill were at the back being seen to by S.H.I.E.L.D medical staff. This left Fury and Hiryu alone at the front of the plane. "Imagine my surprise to find you not only disregarded your orders NOT to engage Wesker but that you also demanded this extra-large pick-up. Of course now I realise it was to accommodate our large green friend but still Hiryu, what was going through your mind?" Hiryu sat, fuming; it was beneath him to be treated like a child regardless of whom Fury thought he was, still he did disobey his orders not to engage the target and he was briefed on how dangerous Wesker was.
"Chris and Hulk needed assistance." Hiryu stated simply. To his surprise Fury smirked.
"Damn, looks like I owe Cap his one hundred bucks back." Fury chuckled to himself.
Strider once again felt his eyebrow rise, why was everyone so keen to surprise him today. "I knew full well that Chris and Hulk were going to go to Racoon City despite my orders, that's why Steve asked me to put you on the recon assignment for it, he knew that you'd find them and if they needed it, he was sure you'd help. I said you'd just call us about them the second you saw them and despite my losing one hundred dollars, I've been madder." Fury put his hand on Hiryu's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze before going to the front of the plane and sitting down in the co-pilot seat.

Hiryu was left alone to contemplate this mission, could it be classed a success; they had stopped Wesker and saved Jill there was no denying that. Wesker would have other plans though, he always did. It would just be up to them to stop him every time and what of his current mental state, was he still in the best condition to do missions. Perhaps he should take a day off for a rest, he thought to himself. Glancing toward the back of the plane he saw Jill start to stir and Chris and the Hulk smile between themselves as Chris relayed the story of what happened to Jill, occasionally pointing back to Hiryu.

'Perhaps I'm going about this in the wrong way.' Hiryu thought to himself. 'What was it that Captain America said after we finished sparring… "All skill, no heart and no victory." Looking at the trio toward the back Hiryu began to think more into those words, were it not for the Hulk's help Chris would have no doubt failed and Hulk said it best himself, he helps his friends. No heart and no victory, were they really coterminous? It was obvious what Captain America wanted Hiryu to do, maybe it was time he heeded his advice and started running co-op missions. Hiryu smirked to himself behind his scarf, Steve would be insufferable after this.

I'm suddenly aware how critically underdone the MVC fanfiction section is, with a few exceptions of course. I thought I'd maybe try give Strider a bit of character, needless to say that's somewhat difficult since he doesn't give us much to work with.

Well if you liked it, let me know. If there's anything you think I need to make more clear, do let me know too. All criticism is helpful.