Metroport was supposed to be the very pinnacle of easy living for the kingdom of Capcomtrica. Its massive walls were supposed to repel bandits and feral beasts alike while keeping the citizens snug and secure. The ports and tradesman guilds were supposed to set the city up as a dominant contender in the eastern markets. The guards were supposed to look out for the citizens, and the citizens were supposed to be pleasant and content with their lives. Compared to Metroport now, what was intended would be considered a utopia.
The city was home to many criminals and shady characters from scheming merchants to full-blooded abominations. To make matters worse, two gangs made their rounds there: the Gnarled Cogs and Shadaloo. Both caused turmoil for their own insidious reasons. When the duke of Metroport intervened with two accomplices and weakened the first gang, the second took the opportunity to fade into the shadows and manipulate the city from the sidelines. On top of that, the wounds from the numerous crimes were not healing. It was a case off too many problems and not enough people to deal with them, although it never stopped the virtuous from trying.
Said virtuous types were usually white knights from neighboring cities, vigilant monks, or monster hunters. Tricky or dangerous criminals and beasts were taken care of by hired assassins or mercenaries, but there were exceptions. Pious monks looking to make the world a better place made it a point to lift curses and seek out supernatural beings to dispatch. Armed with religious tools, humanity's tenacity and a self-righteous will, monks were not to be taken lightly. Most of the time, though, the monks were in over their heads.
In the shadow of the city two monks were walking down a deserted path. If the dark gray walls behind them combined with the dead landscape in front of them weren't concerning enough, night had fallen upon the land. Shadows cast by the full moon fell upon the path, making the monks watch their step and look every which-way. Barren trees and the desecrated remains of sacked caravans littered their path. Their only reassurances were their tools and one oil lantern, and even that looked dim.
"Are we getting closer?" asked one monk to the other.
The older monk with the lantern shook his head.
"I doubt it. We're walking. She's probably running."
"But she's not covering her tracks. Look." The younger monk looked to a set of barefoot footprints. "She's using the same path as we are, but she's not stressed for time."
"Hmm... And given the depressions here and there, she's stopping every now and then." The older monk scratched his beard. "She's hunting..."
The two monks looked forward again and chuckled. The hunter was now the hunted. Duke Haggar did not send out hunters to take care of troublesome creatures, but he didn't look down on them either. Religious sects, monasteries, and rich merchants all had the right to send people out to take care of problems as long as they did not interfere with the city. The duke had his own problems to deal with and had no time to chase ghosts and other beings. But if the others did, then he and his people would be able to rest a little easier.
After a few more minutes of walking, the older monk stopped in his tracks and held his younger companion back. Before the man could ask why, the older man pointed up a hill running adjacent to their current path. Looking up, the pair saw the full moon in all its glory atop the hill, but more than that, they saw a lone silhouette in front of it. The figure was slim and somewhat curvy while retaining a sense of anonymity with what seemed to be a cloak draped around them. When the figure did not move or acknowledge the light from the old monk's lantern, the two deduced that the figure had not noticed them.
Perhaps the figure was the creature with the bounty on her head. The older monk, confident in himself, took up his lantern and made his way up the hill. He fished about in his robes for his ace while the younger monk circled around the hill to flank the woman. With a sword in hand, he felt that he was well-prepared to dispatch her when the time came. When the older monk's shoes crushed a few twigs on his approach, the woman turned and faced him.
She immediately shielded her eyes from the light, but it was no use. The monk had seen the purplish-red irises and raven hair. From the back, the woman was unassuming with her dark cloak, but from the front, she was conspicuous. Her cloak was open at the front to show her black and purple breastplate and white and purple greaves. She looked like a dark ranger who valued speed and strength over defense, even if it cost a bit of modesty to wear. However, the most concerning thing about her was not her choice of apparel but rather her toothy grimace.
In that grimace, the older monk saw pronounced canines.
"Now now, no need to hide your face. I know who you are."
The woman dropped her hands to her sides and took a step back to ready herself.
"I can't go anywhere in this land without running into one of your kind," she growled. "It irritates me to no end."
"Trust me. I wouldn't want to run into your kind either, Juri. They show up less and less now that the clans are dwindling."
"Yes... 'Tis amazing what the herd can accomplish with torches and pitchforks when fed misinformation." Juri glared at the man from under her hood. "Skip the pleasantries. What do your people want this time? My head on a pike?"
"Well, I hope it doesn't come to that gruesome of an end." The monk continued to hold onto something beneath his robes, and he made sure that Juri noticed. "You are to come with me back to Metroport to face trial for your crimes against humanity."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I'll have no choice but to end your life here," the monk replied.
Juri didn't even take a moment to think over her decision.
"So, a delayed, merciful death or a regular death." She smiled and giggled. "Here's an alternative option: how about I stop wasting my time with you and end your miserable existence?"
"You disappoint me."
The monk jerked his hand out from his robes and presented a holy cross. It was common knowledge that the mere sight of them was enough to startle an unholy creature, and if it was close to a vampire, it could immobilize them. Juri, however, stood her ground as the monk approached her. He thrust his hand out to ward her back, but his movements became less extravagant when he realize the unholy creature wasn't reacting. Confused, he lowered his guard for a moment.
A moment was all that Juri needed. She reached forward and gripped the monk's cross hand, her long fingers ensnaring the wrist like spider's legs around prey. She snapped up and jarred the cross out of his hand without much effort. The expression on the monk's face was priceless. What had once been confidence was now replaced with pure, undiluted fear. Juri wished she could capture those expressions on paintings, but her memory was just as good.
She let loose with a left hook and watched as her gauntlet-covered fist sank into the man's stomach. He dropped his lantern and doubled over with a wheeze. But Juri did not stop there. She kicked the cross off of the hill and brought down her hand to chop into the monk's back. With his age eating away at him, his back gave out under the strike. Juri reveled in the screams she enticed before kicking the monk away.
"A religious cross has no power over me, nor should it over anyone else. It's a tool to exploit the fear that dwells within most vampires." Juri approached the man as squirmed on the ground. "But as you've noticed... I'm not like most vampires." She grinned and revealed her fangs. "Let's see how much blood's in you."
She reached down and picked up the old monk to place him in an upright position. It had to be the neck. That was the sweet spot. With her strength, the old monk wasn't going anywhere, yet she allowed him to thrash and squirm about in her hold. Lively prey was much more delectable, but before she could clamp onto his neck, she felt a shadow coming from behind. She broke away from the older monk and kicked him away, his battered body tumbling off the side of the hill.
Her efforts prevented her from being impaled by a silver shortsword. By focusing on the prey in front of her, she neglected her surroundings. She turned on her new attacker and found another, younger monk. This one looked more cautious than his older partner, but less experienced.
"Well? Come at me again, idiot!" Juri shouted, irritated.
The young monk, eager to dispatch her, leaped forward and swung his sword at her. He slashed and sliced at every opportunity, hoping for a hit. Juri ducked under high swings and twisted away from the blade when she was able. If she was cut she could heal easily enough, but still, a silver blade hurt and took away her momentum. When she saw the blade come down from an overhead strike, she took the opportunity to counter. She reached out and stopped the blade with her hand.
Her hand felt numb from the silver, but it wasn't cut open by the blade. She locked eyes with the monk for a moment before pushing his sword up and away. With the blade out of the way, Juri twisted forward and sent her elbow smashing into the young man's face. His head jerked back and made him stumble which only led up to further strikes from the vampire. She kicked him in the side and dashed forward to follow up with roundhouses and pokes to keep him in position.
In the current age, being caught without a weapon in a bad situation was a death sentence. Those looking to defend themselves invested in knives, daggers, swords, or anything sharp that warded off would-be attackers. Swords and bows were the combatant's friend, but for Juri, her dagger remained in her sheath. She, like a few others, preferred the intimacy of close quarter combat and martial arts. It spoke to her. It excited her more than anything else.
She continued to assert her dominance until her tenacity was rewarded. One of her strikes dislodged the silver sword from the monk's grip. The young, inexperienced man was now completely at her mercy. But first, the death dealer was going to have a bit of fun. She grabbed the man by his shoulders and pulled him down upon a sharp knee. Hearing the wind escape his lungs made her smile, as did his pained gasp.
When he staggered back, Juri leapt up and rammed her knee under his chin. Blood dribbled from his lips as a result of a cracked jaw. His body felt so weak. The man was finished, a stunned wreck. He barely had the strength to stand! He didn't even react as Juri reached out to caress his chin, her fingers coming away with blood.
"Mortals are so weak," she cackled before licking her fingers. She grabbed his body and slid up to his neck with fangs bared. "Say goodnight..."
Juri didn't consider herself a blood knight solely because she loved to fight. She enjoyed drinking as well, if only for the warmth that entered her body when she fed. There was sadistic enjoyment in the whole ordeal as well. Seeing the life drain from the eyes of her would-be attackers filled her with a deep, morbid sense of euphoria. Plus, when she kept herself well-fed, she felt stronger and was more efficient with her ki powers. In the end, killing or feeding were just means to getting more power.
However, the vampire knew in her heart that there was a problem. She looked over her shoulder and back to the hilltop with the desecrated young monk as she wiped her mouth. She didn't feed from him, she drained him. In the past couple of months, Juri realized she had begun to drink more often and in larger quantities. This, more often than not, led to a few deaths that Juri had not intended. It took some time, but she soon realized why this change was happening.
It was also the reason why she was out hunting. She was tempted to go back to the hill and look for the older monk, but she shook her head. Finding her query was more important, and besides, she told herself, she was sated. She tugged her cloak tight to her body and returned to her tracking.
While she was a creature of the night, she wasn't safe from harm. Until she reached her target, she strived to avoid any further conflicts. There was no need to get into a fight yet. She moved away from the paths and into the bleak woods before her. Every once and a while she would stop and inspect the trees for markings, signs, anything that would reassure her that she was going in the right direction.
"Come on... You're a stupid, arrogant bastard. You have to have left something behind..." Juri scrambled over a few dead roots before a stump caught her eye. "Speak of the devil."
At first glance, the withered stump was just an eyesore. Amongst a forest filled with other dead trees and plants, it looked no different from any of the others. But Juri saw differently. She could see a single slash mark on the stump, one that was caused by the claws of an animal. Bears were dangerous creatures around Metroport, but Juri knew the marking wasn't caused by one. Compared to the animal that made the marking, bears were pussycats.
Juri grunted and scurried deeper into the woods. She looked for signs of recent activity: trampled branches, matted grass, depressions in the wood. All she found were the markings, but that was good enough for her. Markings had meanings, and they would lead her to the one she sought. It was ironic, she thought, that the very markings meant to keep people away would lure the very person they never wanted to see again.
Soon, she looked up and noticed that she had followed the markings into a more verdant section of the woods, although still they retained their grim appearance under the moonlight. With the unpicked fruit hanging from bushes combined with the undisturbed fauna and wildlife, humanity had yet to stake a claim here. For a moment, Juri had a desire to sit down and stare up at the moon through the branches above her or listen to the night cries of nocturnal creatures. Cities and towns were more interesting with all the people there, but even she had to admit there was some beauty to untouched nature.
Somewhere off in the distance Juri heard movement. She dropped into a ready stance with her hand hovering close to her dagger, her mind set on identifying the source of the sound. It was quiet, but Juri knew that they were lurking about. An owl darted out from a nearby hollow tree and distracted the vampire. As she turned to look in its direction, figuring her adversary was there, a large creature came barreling at her right out of the woodwork.
She ducked and rolled to the side to avoid the animal. Getting back to her feet, she jumped back when it leapt at her, its claws outstretched. Had she not been quick on her feet, she would have found over two-hundred pounds upon her. She looked up at the animal in front of her and grimaced when she noticed its gnarled, disgusted snarl. Spotted orange fur, large paws, the eyes of an arrogant warrior... A jaguar by any other name.
The two stared at each other through narrowed eyes and began to circle. The jaguar growled as it examined its enemy while Juri bared her fangs. She hung back, defensive. Today she had no desire to skin a jaguar. The fire in her eyes was washed away and replaced with a calm air about them, but if the jaguar noticed, it gave no indication. It continued to growl and circle before it pressed into the ground and leapt at the vampire once again.
This time, Juri met the pounce headfirst by wrapping her arms around the jaguar's body. She pressed her head against the side of its neck and felt it open and close its massive jaw in an attempt to bite her. Its paws scraped against her back, a few nails managing to puncture her cloak and pierce her skin. She gritted her teeth and shouted.
"Give it a rest, will ya? I'm not here to fight you!" She could feel her grip weakening as the jaguar struggled. "I'm just here to talk, alright?"
After a few seconds of struggling, the jaguar fell silent and closed its jaw. It snorted once in what seemed to be disbelief. Juri took the opportunity to scurry out from under it and crouched down to get eye-level with the beast.
"A day will come where we clash fangs again... But 'tis not this day."
As if realizing that its enemy was not willing to fight, the jaguar sulked away into the bushes. Juri hissed and rubbed her back before sitting down on a stump. She peered into the bushes in the distance and waited. Soon, the vegetation rustled and parted to reveal a well-built man in nothing but exotic blue and yellow shorts. His fiery red hair stuck out with its aerodynamic design and complimented his jagged, untrimmed sideburns. On top of that, his gaunt face and stained handwraps made him look like a wildman.
"I had hoped that I would never see you again," he yipped as he approached Juri.
The vampire looked up at the man and folded her arms.
"I shared that hope, Adon."
"I also hoped to hear that you turned up dead in a gutter in some godforsaken city, but you cheat, just as always."
"Yeah? Well I hoped you were torn to shreds by that tiger you carry on about, but since when can we both be satisfied?" Juri snapped back. She felt her anger growing in the mere presence of this man, but she had to hold back. "Ach... This is pointless. I said I wasn't here to fight and here we are, about to go at it."
She got up from her stump and removed her hood. Adon grimaced when he saw the raven hair held up with purple bindings. Two spider fang ponytails fell behind her head, frazzled and intimidating to those unaccustomed to such a hairstyle. The werejaguar hated Juri's hair as much as he hated her unnatural eyes. He hated just about everything about her, but despite his hatred, he couldn't help but find everything about her to be interesting as well. She was a terrible problem that he could not easily solve, but, like the wildman he was, he still tried.
Both of their constant attempts to defeat each other in combat or in verbal battles would be considered definitions of insanity. They were too evenly matched, and when it seemed that they weren't, one's individual talents countered the other's. Instigation balanced guile. Strength balanced speed. Pride balanced manipulation.
"Adon... Dammit, how do I say this..."
"Why in the world should I listen to you?" Adon interrupted. "You're affiliated with Shadaloo-"
"Was," Juri cut in. "Past tense."
"You managed to get me exiled from my clan!"
"That was unintentional."
"You humiliated me!"
"That was personal, I'll admit that," Juri said with a nonchalant shrug and a smile tugging at her lips.
Adon reached over and grabbed Juri's cloak by the front. He pulled up and brought the woman to her toes where she could see the ferocity in his eyes.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't destroy you where you stand!"
Juri refused to break her gaze. She narrowed her eyes and pressed against the wildman.
"You destroy me, you destroy your legacy."
The man hesitated, his brow furrowing in confusion. Slowly, he eased up on his grip and allowed the woman to break free.
"...What?"
"Do you remember the last time we fought?" Juri asked.
The last time they had fought had been in the Eastern lands. Both of them, willing to finally restore their foolish pride, agreed to meet in a grove to settle things once and for all. The vampire had tired of the werejaguar's arrogance, and he tired of her manipulation. They met at dusk with the moon high in the night sky. They exchanged blows, shed blood, growled with anger and clashed fangs, but in the end, they could not defeat the other.
Instead, the fight had taken a different turn. Their intense hatred for one another from that day forward warped into an equally strong feeling of attachment. They could survive without one another, but they could not live without one another. When it seemed that the fight had died, the two ended up spending the night together. Adon had faint memories of the vampire's pale skin illuminated by the moonlight, and Juri had recollections of rough hands turning soft. For once in their lives, they felt peaceful, content, and relieved.
Then the next day came along and they returned to their usual selves. Guilt, shame, and disgust ran rampant through their minds and returned hatred to the front of it all. They went their separate ways, neither angry nor relieved at the outcome. Instead, such a parting left them both with an empty feeling in their hearts.
"You... You can't be serious."
Juri replied by reaching for Adon's hands. She guided them to her stomach and let them rest there. Despite her status as a vampire, an undead champion of the night, Adon felt her warmth. It was another thing he both loathed and loved about her. He stared back at the woman with a skeptical expression, but before he could interject, his enhanced senses picked up something that shouldn't be there.
He felt beneath his hands a faint, tiny heartbeat.
"This can't be!" Adon cried. He tried to move his hands away, but Juri kept them there on her stomach. "'Tis impossible!"
"Don't tell me that this is impossible!" Juri snapped back. "We live in a world of men and magic, where green apes can emit electricity, men can change into beasts, and a bastard necromancer can terrorize an entire world. And yet, you say this is impossible?"
"It is! The bloodlines cannot mix!"
"Says who? A disgraced tiger? Monks? God?" Juri growled. "You can feel this thing growing inside of me. It's happening."
Adon broke free from Juri's grasp and stood away from her. He pointed an accusing finger at her and snarled.
"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't seduced me!"
"Seduced you?" Juri shot back, surprised that Adon would admit a weakness. "You forced yourself upon me!"
"Forced myself upon you?" Adon yipped, surprised that Juri would do the same. "Please! Don't flatter yourself! Besides, how is that even possible when you end up on top?"
The two fell silent and turned away from each other with embarrassed expressions. Admitting that they had weaknesses did not come easy to them. Under the given circumstances, they did not pass blame due to hatred. Instead, their uncertainty and anger were born from fear. They had little idea of what would happen to them now, and they were terrified of such uncertainty. After a minute, they locked eyes once again.
"...So we had a moment of weakness, then," Adon grumbled. "And this is the result of that."
Juri only nodded in reply.
"How did you find out? What led you to discover this?"
"Many things." Juri sighed and returned to her stump. She sat down while Adon squatted near her. "First... I noticed I was late. It's one of many things I keep track of. Second, I felt different. I couldn't explain it. When I thought I felt sick, I felt healthy. Then, I noticed that I was drinking more than I usually did."
"Drinking, eh?" Adon repeated with an eyebrow cocked.
"Well, feeding, if you want to be politically correct. I uh... Unintentionally killed a few people in the past couple of months. I gorged myself to the point where I drained men of all their blood. 'For what purpose', I thought to myself. The question remained in my mind, and as long as I kept feeding like I did, I thought it would never be answered." Juri snapped her fingers and looked up. "So, I took a gamble. I wanted answers, but from somebody who knew my kind."
"Let me guess," Adon interjected. "Your search for answers led you to Metroport's resident fortune teller."
"Mhmm. She told me what was happening with me, albeit cryptically, as most fortune tellers do."
"I see... I'm not going to ask how you found me, so spare me your jib." Adon stood up scratched his sideburns as he began to near the woman. He looked down his nose at her and folded his arms. "I could have lived not knowing what had happened to you. Why come all this way just to tell me?"
Juri looked up at Adon and frowned. She wanted to say she came back in spite of him, but that wasn't true. The trip overseas was too long and tiresome to say something like that. Perhaps the vampire recalled her past and how distant she was with her own relatives, or perhaps it was because she was curious what the werejaguar's reaction would be. She realized that it was pride that made her seek out the man, and it was devotion that made her tell him the truth.
But it wasn't devotion to Adon that spurred her actions, and neither was it devotion to herself.
"I felt that you needed to know, Adon," Juri replied softly. "Yes, you could have lived not knowing, but what if you did know and I was not here? Could you live knowing that your child, your legacy was in far off lands with a woman you did not trust?"
The desire to blackmail the man arose in the vampire's mind, but she shot it down. Using a child as blackmail material against the father... it wasn't right. It went against what little morals and virtues Juri held onto. Besides, what could she gain from a man who had hardly nothing left to lose? What good came from keeping a child from its father? Juri despised Adon, but he was still the father.
"When you put it that way, no. I would not stand for it."
"That's one of your redeeming characteristics. You and your animal instincts," Juri cooed.
"I see you still think highly of me after all this time. Good!" Adon chuckled. "So, you've got this all figured out then?"
Juri's smile vanished as she shook her head.
"I'm flying by the seat of my pants this time. I'm done with Shadaloo and their games, but I'm still a wanted criminal," she said without shame. "I'm not one to live under a shroud, but I can't live a normal life under the sun with humans. I'm not going to lower myself to their game, and I'm not going to subject my... Our child to it either. It deserves a better life than what we have." Juri stood up and looked out into the woods. "I think that's an unwritten rule of life. When passing on your genes to the next generation, you do everything in your power to allow them to have a better life than what you had."
"I never figured you for a deep thinker, Juri."
"When you've lived as long as I have, you start to wonder if there are things more important than fighting."
"Are there?" Adon asked.
"Yes." Juri grinned and flashed her fangs. "But they're not nearly as exciting."
Adon nodded his head in agreement. They were both fighters, and they were damn good at what they did. The desire to test themselves in combat for accolades and enjoyment remained in the forefront of their minds, and it was unlikely that a child would force them to reconsider. It was a fact, however, that they could not ignore their new situation. Far from it. Even full-blooded fighters had to drop the fists and take up a new title for awhile.
And in their case, even fighters were competent enough to raise a child, provided they put them first.
"Well, if you're short on ideas, I suppose I should assist you," Adon said with a haughty smile.
"Oh really?"
"Don't you get any ideas, vampire. I could care less about you, but now that you're carrying..." He shook his head and pointed out towards a clearing in the woods. "I know these woods like the back of my hand, as do I know about the areas beyond. If you're looking to survive in this land, you'll need me to see you through. Hunting grounds, shelters, nearby villages. I know them all."
"Hmph. Trying to keep me in your sight, eh?" Juri laughed and cocked a thumb at herself. "Listen here, jaguar-boy, I've managed to survive on my own well-enough without-"
Adon silenced her with a raised hand.
"Don't tell me to st-"
"Were you followed?" the man breathed.
"Uh... Two monks, but I took care of them," Juri answered in a hushed tone. "What is it?"
The wind whistled through the leaves in the distance. Much time had passed since Juri had begun her search, and now the moon was at the highest point in the sky. She had been so wrapped up in explaining herself to Adon that she neglected to account for the threat of ambushes. Knowing her own reputation and infamy, she doubted that anyone sane would follow her. It was probably paranoia on Adon's part.
But then she realized that if the two monks from before really wanted to kill her then and there, there would have been more than just monks. Adon seemed to realize this first and craned his neck in various directions. His eyes darted about in search of intruders, and Juri could have sworn she saw his nose twitch. He truly was a jaguar in his element, and he knew when someone trespassed on his territory. When he stiffened, Juri ducked to the side.
An arrow flew out from the brush and embedded itself in the stump she had been sitting on. She rolled in the grass and got back to her feet, finding more arrows in the ground where she moved. All of the arrows had bright crimson feathers attached to them, and while that meant nothing to Adon, it meant that a particular group had finally caught up with the vampire. Her eyes flashed as she dropped down into a crouch. She then jerked a thumb under her neck and sliced it with a crazed grin.
"Well well well! I wondered when the Crimson Rangers would catch up with me!"
"Crimson Rangers?" Adon repeated with a snarl. He curled his hands into fists and took a stance close to Juri. "Friends of yours?"
"No... But the little captain and I are very, very close..."
Juri could sense several rangers closing in on them from all sides. It shouldn't have been such a surprise given that the Crimson Rangers had a knack for hunting down the worst of the worst. In a way, seeing them here now gave her a sense of satisfaction. People really wanted her gone if they sent her old friends to come after her. She looked back at Adon and raised an eyebrow.
"Not running?"
"Me? Run? And leave you alone with these fools?" The man cracked his knuckles. "Ha! Far be it from me to turn down a challenge."
The two shared a competitive smile before more arrows flew out from the woodwork.
Author's Note: And now for something completely different yet not quite... I wanted to do something Halloween-themed, something that would make me think about the characters of Street Fighter and how they would be if they took on a more supernatural role. Who would be what? Alright, so maybe I had been playing Skyrim as my vampire main and got all giddy at the idea, but I think it fits Juri. It was either that, a succubus, or an evil mage, and I wasn't going to make Juri a succubus. Adon was fun to work with. Just thinking that he was prowling about in the woods was enough to set the atmosphere. Where would this man strike from? Well, given his pride, he'd probably leap out in front of you or something like that just to see the fear in your eyes. Oh, and sideburns. Wildmen dig those sideburns.
This story suffered from what I call 'too many ideas'. I needed to cut it short, so I apologize if the abrupt ending caught you off guard. I just wanted it about Juri and Adon, so I had to stop myself from putting Cammy into the picture. Don't get me wrong, I had so many great ideas, but I had to cut it short. Imagine Cammy as a master thief/rogue, Chun-Li as an adept mage, Guile and Abel as white-knights, Ken as a sleazy merchant, and so on and so forth. Hey, I had a good time envisioning Ryu and Akuma as emotionless zombies! ...But I needed to focus on my two mains, lest my story became like a bad Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic.
As for the theme of pregnancy... The question wasn't 'why', it was 'why not'. I wanted this to not have much in common with 'Clashing Fangs', and when I thought about consequences of them being together, my mind starting doing things. Mad dog stuff- I think you know what I mean. And so, this is the result!