The Last Street Fighter.
This is a somewhat lengthy story I've wanted to do for a while now. A short explanation; I used to play a ton of these fighting games and always came up with my own stories for the characters, giving them their motives for being there I suppose, and this is just the culmination of that. This story takes place following the events of Street Fighter the animated movie, but watching that is not required to understand the story. I should warn that this story contains graphic violence and sexual situations and is intended for mature readers only. There's no actual sex per se, but I do have a couple of, shall we say, highly unorthodox romantic pairings that may offend. If you are offended, I recommend that you stop reading. I welcome criticism so long as it's not a personal attack against me. This first chapter doesn't contain any violence, but does feature one of those pairings I warned you about. Also, I don't own the rights to any of these characters, I think Capcom does. Enjoy!
Chapter one: Blood on her hands (Cammy\Chun Li).
It was a nightmare. She had so much blood on her hands, and no amount of washing would ever clean it off.
Cammy stepped into the shower, turning it on as hot as it would go, hoping somehow to numb the pain she felt like a dull ache. It was as if everyone she had ever killed was buried somewhere inside of her, trying to force their way out, making her stomach churn sickeningly. And it had been like this for as long as she could remember, which was only as far back as a few weeks. Before that, she had been a brainwashed assassin in the employ of M. Bison, a crazed would-be dictator who had entertained plans of global annihilation.
Now, after the Interpol doctors had finished with her, Cammy finally had her own mind back. And she wished she were dead. Now that she could remember, now that she could see the faces of each of her victims and watch them die over and over, she realized that being a mindless zombie would have been a more merciful fate. How could she deal with this?
Moaning under the impact of the hot water, Cammy suddenly turned it as cold as possible, shivering as the freezing spears tried to dig into her face and chest. Her skin had become tanned in her time out of the medical ward and she looked beautiful with her long blonde hair and soft features. But beauty was on the outside; inside she felt like a gnarled old hag.
Like a witch in one of those old children's fables, she thought to herself as she leaned against the wall of the shower stall and let the icy water run over her. That's what she was; an old witch with a penchant for murder and bloodlust. The mere idea of it was enough to make her want to cry.
She was an enigma to herself. She had no idea if she had a real name, as Cammy was all Interpol knew her as. And she had no idea if she had a family somewhere, or where that family might be; her features could have passed muster in at least twelve different countries, and her accent was American, however it sometimes sounded like English was her second language, though it was flawless just like all the other languages she could speak.
Cammy was like a ghost, a shadow of whatever had been there before Bison had corrupted her. And now, she felt so alone.
Suddenly, the water grew warm and Cammy opened her eyes. Two slim arms encircled her waist, holding tightly. Cammy smiled. Maybe she wasn't as alone as she thought.
"Mmm," she said as Chun Li kissed her neck. "I didn't know you were up yet."
"Well, I've got to get in to work early; something about a shipment of American stinger missiles on the black market, and the CIA wants our help and contacts to get them back." Chun Li had been promoted to Special Agent in Interpol after working with Ryu Hoshi, Ken Masters, and William Guile to bring down M. Bison. Since then, she had worked on a number of sensitive operations, especially with American intelligence agencies.
"You look upset," Chun Li said, stroking back some of Cammy's blonde hair. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," Cammy lied. She didn't want to burden anyone with her problems, especially not Chun Li. The other woman had worked hard with her doctors to bring her back from the nearly catatonic state she had been in. They had certainly never expected to be lovers, but life took odd twists and turns, and now they lived together in a fair-sized apartment in Japan, not far from the Interpol branch there. Cammy had as of yet found no job suited to her unique skills and hated living off Chun Li as she was. Today would be another day of fruitless searching, she was sure of that.
"You can tell me anything," Chun Li said as they got out of the shower and began to towel off. "You know that."
"Yeah," Cammy said as she quickly dressed. "It's nothing, really." She gave Chun Li a kiss and walked out of the bathroom. "I'm going to head out and pick up the newspaper," she called back. "I might do a little grocery shopping. See you tonight!" Then the front door slammed, leaving Chun Li alone.
The other woman sighed and began getting dressed in their bedroom. Cammy had been getting more and more depressed as time went on. Chun Li was afraid it was serious and that she might do something she'd regret. She couldn't imagine what the other woman was going through; having lost all memory of her past, and learning she had worked as a killer for a madman, it was all so hard to deal with. It would be easier if Cammy would only share those problems. Keeping something buried deep within yourself was a bad thing, and could only lead to more pain and trouble.
The phone rang as Chun Li was strapping on her shoulder holster with its accompanying Browning 9mm automatic. She answered it.
"Hello?" The voice was instantly recognizable to Chun Li. "William!" She said as former United States Air Force Colonel and now Special Agent in the CIA William Guile greeted her over the phone. "What's going on? It's been ages since I've heard from you; congratulations on your marriage, I wish I could have been there."
Guile chuckled. "It was a dull thing; you would've been bored out of your skull. Actually, I wish I had missed it and had been out in the middle of Siberia with you hunting down those Russian arms dealers, but don't tell the missus, eh?"
"Right," Chun Li smiled. "So why the sudden call?"
Guile paused. "That's sort of it. I've been posted on special assignment here to Interpol, about the whole missile thing. Since we've worked so well together in the past, my bosses and your bosses figured we could do it again. I just wanted to give you the heads up."
"Sure, thanks," Chun Li was a little surprised. Guile, here? In Japan? After what had happened between them, she had figured he would have wanted nothing more to do with her. Oh well, if the higher ups had said it, then no one had any say in the matter. She knew he'd act professionally, and so would she. Suddenly, she wondered how much her superiors knew about their relationship. Probably not enough, otherwise they wouldn't have requested Guile.
"Well, that's all kiddo, I just wanted to give you fair warning."
Chun Li raised her eyebrow. "Fair warning? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, just didn't want it to be a surprise," Guile sounded preoccupied. "Uh, listen, I've got to run or I'll be late."
"Yeah, same here. Bye," Chun Li hung up and sighed. Great, just great. Old lovers always tangled things up, no matter how careful you tried to be.
With a frown on her face, Chun Li finished dressing and left her apartment, heading downtown, towards the building that housed the local Interpol offices. Something in her gut told her things were going to get messy. Right now, it was a warm sunny spring day in Tokyo. But everyone knew that saying about the calm before the storm.
To be continued…
Well, there it is. Not much yet, but it'll get better with time, trust me. I should apologize for my ineptness when it comes to Interpol. I know nothing about it and so am completely making this stuff up as I go along. Never a good practice, but forgive me and try to pretend it doesn't mater. That's what I do.
J. Nelson, 3–23–2007.