"Why?" he asked the apparition that appeared behind him. He knew who it was. "Why must your quest go on?"
"For eternal life." the man answered in a voice that was like a something out of a horror movie.
"Is that not something the great can achieve on his own?" Vega turned his head. He expected Bison to be wearing a hood or something to hide his ghostly face, but no- he was sitting there in the same "uniform" he had worn for over 20 years- for all the world to see.
"You have nothing to offer me; I want only to make peace with god..."
"Before you die?" Bison finished. "Did they truly remove your spirit?" he almost laughed. This was not the Vega he knew. "I can cure you, but I have a feeling that is of no interest to you."
"I have seen your idea of a cure." Vega had no desire to replace some or all of his body with robotics.
"But perhaps this will attract your interest." Bison threw down 2 pieces of paper, the first was a picture of a familiar girl; Cammy, now a leader in the British army- the 2nd was a plane ticket- the invite to yet another tournament.
Not even in her 30's Cammy white was a sight to behold, breathtakingly beautiful, and now one of the most powerful military commanders on the UK. Maybe he did want to meet her one last time.
The flight would leave in less than 2 days, it was to Germany- and although he had no passport he was certain M. Bison would have that taken care of. He went to the bathroom to wash his face. His face was covered in scars. Maybe covered was not the right word, but he was certainly not the same person as he was 10 years ago. But that was ok.
He still had strength, and skill. He went to the airport and as he suspected, when he inputted the ticket code, it registered as "gov official- no passport needed". Cute.
He got on the flight and later arrived in Frankfurt international airport.
Unlike, more realistic tournaments, there were no real "arenas" to speak of, just "scenes", that could happen at any time. He went to a restaurant and started stole 3 steak knives, before anyone could see him. And with a piece of strap from someone's luggage he created a "claw" of sorts.
Round 1- Doctrine Dark
A man in a gas mask started at him- in the middle of the airport- and he was covered in explosives- this would be a short fight. Despite having terminal cancer in his kidneys that spread to his liver, stomach and lungs Vega was still fast. He wall jumped and dove at his opponent slashing at his chest. Vega then wall jumped away as the man hurled low power grenades (powerful enough to hurt but not powerful enough to destroy.) Vega landed one more attack slashing the man in the throat, just as a crowd of police arrived.
He dropped his claw and was taken in to custody. Seeing if it would work, he claimed to be an undercover agent of Cammy white on a mission that only Cammy white would know about. Since he was allowed on an international flight with no passport this seemed plausible.
Cammy was notified. The Germany authorities sent a picture of the man claiming to work for her. Was that Vega? She took a closer look. She looked him up in the international data base to see where the real Vega had been for the past 10 years. "I'll go get him."
She sent a transport helicopter to pick up Vega, (placed in handcuffs and leg cuffs) and transfer him to London. 2 hours later they met up in an interrogation room.
"So, I hear your dying." she said coldly. He looked up at her, with his blue eyes. Even with brown hair and scars, she recognized those eyes. The eyes of a man who chose to save her- steal her from Shadaloo and return her to England even though he, himself could not leave as easily.
"I just wanted to see." he said softly, as if to apologize.
"You re not dying?" she said in the same tone, even though her tough exterior was starting to chip away.
"The doctors I ve seen did have the medical equipment necessary to treat advance stage cancer." he answered, honestly.
"Are you in pain?" she meant to say those words in her head- she could not be seen, showing sympathy to known criminal. "I mean- you will be seen by a doctor in here in London." with that she left the room. Her hands were trembling. She rushed to a bathroom to get a hold of her emotions, but instead they betrayed her and she fell to the floor in tears.
A puff of smoke appeared then disappeared, leaving behind a plane ticket with the Shadaloo logo. A tournament?! WTF! It did explain why Vega was all the way in Germany, but what was the paint of yet another tournament?! The ticket did not leave until late the next day, so she would still have a chance to accompany Vega to the hospital.
Vega has been brutally abused in prison, upon finding out about his "famous" history as a rapist; he was pinned down by several men and given the same treatment. Although these men probably didn't value woman's rights all that much, they took sadistic pleasure in forcing the foreigner to be their- for lack of a better word "bitch."
Cammy was about to witness out the result of 10 years of such abuse. Vega had bruises and rashes that would never go away. The doctor looked at Cammy, as if blaming her for bringing in a clearly HIV positive patient with no warning.
Vega was sent for a scan which revealed cancerous tumors on all his organs, and brain, how he was able to function with no medication was a miracle. Treatment was not an option; his immune system would never be strong enough. He had 1-2 years to live at the most.
With the results, Cammy was given a moment alone with him. "I received my ticket, but I want to you come with me."
"Where does it want you to go?"
"Jakarta. I have a feeling I know who I am meant to fight- but he's an ally. He's married with a child and one more on the way; he currently works as a teacher for children in remote villages."
Who could she possibly be talking about? Vega would just have to go with her to find out.
They left less than an hour later, on a flight to Jakarta Indonesia. Flying first class, Cammy took the aisle seat. Vega fell asleep against the window less than an hour in to the flight. Slowly Cammy fell asleep as well, but when she awoke during landing she found she was holding Vega's hand. She did not remove her hand right away. She laced her fingers through his; it felt nice. Then she regained her composure and punched him in the shoulder. "Wake up, we've landed."
They walked to baggage claim and were met by a familiar giant of a man. "Sagat! I knew it was you! Bison really thought I would fight you?"
He was also relived to not have to actually fight someone. "Let's just call you the winner here." He had no idea how that would even work, but they would just roll with it for now.
They all went back to Sagat's home. He lived in a temple with his pregnant wife Anya, 2 year old daughter Eve and whatever travelers were coming through the village in search of enlightenment.
"Welcome" Anya said, offering Cammy a hug. Anya was tall and angelically beautiful with dark skin and long black hair. "Who is that?" she whispered.
"Just a friend." she slightly blushed. Cammy turned to Vega to change the subject, "um.. Yeah Vega this is Sagat's wife Anya."
Anya invited them to bathe and eat a meal of rice and local vegetation from her garden. Vega took off his shirt and splashed water on his face, from a small stream that did not seem very clean. But at least it was cleaner then what he showered in, in prison. Cammy took off all her cloths and went in up to her shoulders. She turned at locked eyes with him, even smiled.
Vega smiled back, 'maybe in another life.' he said to himself as he put his shirt back on and left.
But someone was watching, and now that someone had the information he needed. "She actually does still love him." M. Bison said as he stood 20 feet away. Now it was time for stage 2 of his plan. He teleported behind Vega, knocked him out with an injection and teleported off.
Eve saw this and went to her father. At age 2 she could not find the right words, but when she mimed "poof" or small explosion- paired with the fact that Vega was now missing- all the adults knew who she saw.
"Show us where he vanished from." Sagat asked, because as they guessed, sitting in the spot was a plane ticket for round 2.