Disclaimer: I do not own Street Fighter
A Tangled Web
Chapter 1: The Prisoner
The steel doors slammed shut behind her, the click of the locks engaging the only sound echoing through the hall. She stared ahead, the dim light of the only occupied cell on the block faint in the distance. A hand grasped her shoulder, causing her to release a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"Are you okay," Cammy asked eyeing her friend with concern.
"I'm fine," Chun-Li said hoping she sounded convincing.
She did not.
"Bullocks," Cammy snorted, "give me some credit. If anyone knows when something is bothering you it's me."
"I admit that I'm not looking forward to this, but I can handle it," Chun-Li said heading down the hallway, "she said she would only talk to me and if the information she has is worth anything then I can deal with a few minutes of uncomfortable conversation."
"I could just get it out of her the old fashioned way," Cammy said cracking her knuckles.
"First of all that's against regulations," Chun-Li said frowning. "And secondly, she probably would enjoy it."
"She probably would really enjoy it," Cammy said shivering.
They came to a stop at the last cell on the left, the florescent light shining through the bulletproof, shatterproof glass. That had been put in after she had broken the arm of a guard who had gotten too close. The bone had been snapped in three places and it was determined he would never have full use of his arm ever again. Behind the glass were the standard steel bars that matched the other cells but beyond that her cell had little in common with the others.
For one, the room was padded. While it could be stated that it was to prevent her from hurting herself, the real reason was that she was fully capable of shattering the concrete blocks of the bare walls and creating a weapon. The padding also prevented her from hurting herself in a bid to be brought out of her cell and taken to the infirmary. She had attempted that once, maiming three nurses and taking a guard hostage. Chun-Li had been brought in to talk her down and used her presence to distract her long enough so that knockout gas could be pumped into the entire infirmary.
She was not allowed a table or chair, her only furniture the slab of metal that jutted from the wall that served as her cot. It was on that cot that she now laid her back to them as she slept or so it appeared. Her floor was a mess of papers as she was allowed books, but with the cover and spine removed to prevent her from using it as a weapon. That policy had started when she had given one guard delivering her books a concussion with an unabridged copy of Lord of the Rings.
The only other thing she was allowed to have was a sketchpad and a small piece of charcoal. She had originally asked for a pen or pencil but there was no way in hell she would ever be allowed something like that even before all of the "incidents". Some pictures were of the dismembered corpses of Bison, Cammy and a few nameless others. Some were of spiders or nonsensical scribbles. Most were disturbingly enough of Chun-Li herself.
Some were just portraits, while others were full body pictures. Some had her posing or in the middle of an attack, all of them drawn from the artists photographic memory. While most of them were harmless enough, some of them were downright disgusting. Case in point was the latest one that sat half finished on the ground. One of Chun-Li…naked and straddling an equaling naked Cammy.
Chun-Li shot a glance to her friend and watched as her face ran the gauntlet from shock to embarrassment to anger as she spied the drawing.
"That filthy little harpy," Cammy hissed through her teeth.
"Now, now kitten, that isn't a very nice thing to say, is it," Juri sneered still lying down.
"I could say a lot worse about a vile creature like you," Cammy shot back.
"Oh, somebody's being a bad kitty kitty, sounds like someone needs a spanking."
Chun-Li held up a hand forcing Cammy to bite back whatever retort she had, a death glare instead being sent into the back of Juri's head.
"You said you had vital information regarding Bison that you would only disclose to me. I'm here, so tell me what you know," Chun-Li said as politely as she was willing.
"Straight to the point as always princess," Juri said sitting up. "No time for chit chat, no time for girl talk. It seems the only way I can get you to visit is if I have something you want or I'm threatening some peon's life."
"This isn't a social call Juri," Chun-Li said crossing her arms, "I have a job to do."
"You know what they say about all work and no play," Juri cooed licking her lips.
Juri stretched, before standing and sauntering over to the glass. Her hair had been cut when she had first arrived, now cropped away to just above her shoulders, devoid of any ribbons or decorations. The other most notable difference in her appearance was the black eye patch she now sported over her left eye. That had come courtesy of her final battle with Chun-Li, when in desperation; she had gouged out the Feng Shui Engine from Juri's skull.
It hadn't been pretty, but then again she hadn't been left with much choice in the matter with Juri attempting to strangle the life out of her. Quite frankly it was the removal of the device that had kept Juri locked away this long.
"What information do you have about Bison that's important enough to get me out of retirement," Chun-Li asked in a sterner tone.
"Retirement," Juri snorted rolling her eye, "people like us don't retire."
"You and I are nothing alike," Chun-Li growled.
"Is that what you believe," Juri asked stepping forward, "or is that what you tell yourself?"
"This is a waste of time," Cammy snapped stepping in front of Chun-Li and into Juri's face. "It's obvious you know nothing and this is just another one of your sick little games."
"I wasn't talking to you kitten," Juri sneered, "why don't you run along while the adults talk."
"Cammy," Chun-Li shouted grabbing her friends arm, "if this is one of her games then we aren't playing. Let's go."
Cammy stormed off with Chun-Li close behind, Juri's voice calling after them.
"He's still out there princess. Let me guess, your spy network becoming more and more unreliable, agents going missing," Juri cooed as Chun-Li and Cammy stopped dead in their tracks.
That particular bit of information was not widely known outside of the upper brass and those involved in the investigation. Over the past six months five deep cover agents had gone silent with their current whereabouts unknown. Interpol had feared that Shadaloo or S.I.N had been reformed and their agents being targeted, but there had been little or more accurately no evidence to suggest that this was the case. In a last ditch effort, investigators had been sent to question Juri on her knowledge of Shadaloo's protocols and possible active cells. She claimed to have very important information to be shared only with Chun-Li. The missing agents had not been mentioned.
"And how exactly would you have access to that kind of information," Chun-Li asked returning to Juri's cell.
"A girl like me has tons of adoring fans, some of them just happen to be full of interesting information," Juri lazily explained as she fingered through a pile of letters that had been read and passed on as harmless pervert terms of endearment.
"I see," Chun-Li said quietly, making a mental note to have a decryption team go through all of Juri's mail. "What makes you so sure that it's him?"
"Standard operating procedure for Bison," Juri drawled sitting on her cot, "infiltrate the enemy spy circles, brainwash those who can be and kill those who can't."
"Why should I believe you? Shadaloo hasn't been heard from for nearly three years," Chun-Li said crossing her arms.
"Bison is patient princess," Juri said lying back down, "he has all the time in the world. Interpol was so willing to believe Shadaloo gone that they won't allow themselves to see what's right in front of them."
"And you see it," Cammy snorted.
"I'm not blind…figuratively speaking," Juri said chuckling, a sound that was devoid of all the merriment the word conveyed.
"Let's say that I believe you," Chun-Li sighed, "and let's say you do have information that could take down Bison and Shadaloo once and for all. What do you want?"
"Oh not much," Juri said smirking, "a breath of fresh air, a little sun, maybe some warm sand…you in a sheer little two piece."
"You want to be allowed outside," Chun-Li asked ignoring the last part of the request.
"I'm sick of bars and padded walls. I want out and you want information, that isn't too much to ask for is it?"
"Considering the amount of trouble you've caused that might be easier said than done."
"Too bad," Juri said shrugging, "just let me know when enough dead agents have piled up. You know where I'll be," she said dismissing them with a wave.
"I never said it was impossible, but I'll need to speak with Interpol first."
"Of course you do," Juri said turning over. "Don't take too long princess, I hate waiting."
The two agents wasted little time departing the cell, the rush of nervous energy expelling in two long sighs.
"Do you believe her," Cammy whispered placing a steadying hand on her friends shoulder as they made their way quickly back down the hall.
"She just admitted to having intelligence reports smuggled in through her mail. That's a big ace in the hold to just give up. She was a top agent for S.I.N, who knows what level of clearance she had. As hard as it is to believe she might be telling the truth."
"I don't like this," Cammy said shaking her head. "All we have to go on is the word of that insane, lying bitch. Besides, there is no way they are going to let her out of that cell."
"That's for command to decide. Until then I think we should find out exactly what are in those letters before she thinks about destroying them."
"I'll have the captain do a sweep of her cell and hold back her mail until our people can look at those letters."
"Good, I'll contact headquarters and see how they want us to proceed," Chun-Li said thankful for the distraction work afforded.
As their voices slowly faded into the distance, Juri could only smile as she added a few finishing touches to her latest drawing, using her finger to add some shading under one of Chun-Li's breasts.
"Let the games begin," she cooed.
An idea I had after watching Silence of the Lambs and playing some SSF4. I don't really intend for this to be long, maybe three chapters or so. Just something to try and break me from my case of writers block on other stories. As always, read and review people.