Guile ran his hand over his fine flattop hair, sitting rigidly on the waiting room chair, years of military training and discipline clearly shown from his posture.
To say he was unhappy about the situation they were in was the understatement of the year. He was downright furious and irritated.
As the wave of medical personnel and patients passed by him (they almost seemed like a blur to him), Guile closed his eyes and tenderly rubbed his throbbing forehead, feeling an impending headache.
A few minutes flew by before he heard a familiar voice called his name. "Guile! Over here!" the feminine voice yelled out, nearly drowned by the din in the hospital. This prompted the airman to open his eyes, searching for the source of the voice.
And there she was. Funny, considering how after the supposed 'fall' of Shadolaw, the 3 of them hardly meet each other face to face anymore, and remaining in contact with each other was out of question. It was as if Shadolaw brought them together, giving them a cause to fight alongside with each other: Guile lost his best friend Charlie, Chun li's father died in the hands of that murderous fiend, and Cammy…have some family relationship with the dictator.
After his death, the bond between them slowly but steadily dissolved, like snow melting when spring approaches. In those 2 months, Guile took a break and decided to make lost time with his family. Julia and Amy were elated over this, especially Julia, who was glad she need not worry whether her husband was going to return in one piece.
Those were the best 2 months he had in his life.
Unfortunately, this peaceful visage was shattered like glass with a single phone call by Cammy 2 nights ago.
Guile gazed upon the newcomer, observing that she scantly changed at all since the last time they met. Perhaps she seemed more tired; her eyes devoid of any vigour or fighting spirt in them, eye bags hung noticeably under her eyes. She looked worse off than him.
Chun Li took a seat beside him, letting a weary moan as she did do. She adjust her unkempt her hairs she stared exhaustedly at Guile.
"How did it go?"
"Smoothly." Guile replied sarcastically as he crossed his arms to his chest, letting out a sigh. "When I told Julia about the possible revival of Shadolaw, she looked at me with disbelief and started reminding me that the organization is gone, before changing tactics and begging me to stay, to allow sleeping dogs to lie. When this didn't work, she just turned her back to me, sobbing as she said "just go, then. I can't stop you. Nobody can." It pained my heart to do this, but I must. And when I was leaving, my little angel asked me innocently when I will be back…I was lost for words."
"Looks like some people just wouldn't die, huh?" Chun Li gave a humourless smile.
"When I get my hands on that son of a bitch, I going to beat the living crap out of him and breaking all his fucking bones." Guile grumbled, his hands tightening into clenched fist.
Before Chun Li could respond, a pink-hair nurse in blue hospital scrubs approached them, squeezing pass the sea of people with difficulty.
"Monsieur Guile?" The woman-though she appeared to be more of a teenage girl-smiled warmly.
"That's me," Guile said gruffly as he stood up, nodding his head in affirmation.
"Ms White is now able to see you. Would you follow me?" She then caught sight of Chun Li, who was also getting up. "I presume you are seeing Ms White too, ou avez-vous pas ? ''
''Yes.'' Chun LI replied, taking note of the girl's accent. It sounded French, though it seemed as if she was trying to mask it for some reason or another. Looking at the girl's face closely, which was partially covered with a surgeon mask, Chun Li felt a pang of recognition, but she could not remember when or where she saw her before.
Must be seeing things was the conclusion she arrived to as they made their way to Cammy's room.
Xxxxxxxxxxxx
The 3 of them entered the rather tiny room, which almost everything was glaring white, from the walls to the ceiling, from the bedsheets to the floor. Only the blue window curtain offered any colour in this dull room.
Both Guile and Chun Li's eyes fell onto the resting form of one of their comrades, her right leg wrapped in a cast and suspended mid-air from the ceiling. Bandages bounded her forehead, somewhat giving the 2 of them a surreal feeling. None of them have seen Cammy in such a state before; after all, she was an outstanding fighter who can defend herself from any threats, even managed to go toe to toe with for a few minutes when they last encountered the infamous dictator.
It would seem that 's power had increased drastically since their last encounter. For a Doll to simply beat her black and blue…It was almost inconceivable.
Not to say that the Dolls weren't a threat. Each of them wields part of the Psycho Power which enhanced their body, but due to their lifeless and robotic behaviour, it wasn't that hard to beat them as long as you have superior fighting skills.
So there was no way Cammy could have been beaten so badly, even if she was caught in surprise.
It could only be the worst case scenario.
The nurse closed the door with a 'click' as Guile and Chun Li approached the bed.
"Cammy…" Chun Li called out, her hands gripping tightly onto the railing beside the bed.
Cammy slowly opened her eyes and let out a weak smile.
"Hey guys. Sorry to have you seeing me like this on our first reunion." Cammy said before giving out a small cough.
"It's good to see you." Both Guile and Chun Li said in union, before looking at each other awkwardly. Cammy's smile grew wider before shrinking when she returned to 'business' mode.
"I'm sure you both know why I called you. It seemed, no, it is guaranteed that Shadolaw is back. There is no doubt about it."
"Are you sure? Just because that Doll you had with you go berserk doesn't mean he's back. Maybe there is a screw loose in her mind after all the experiments Shadolaw did on her." Guile rebuked.
Cammy's eyebrows knitted together as she replied, "I wish I could say that the revival of Shadolaw is on shaky ground, but from the way she acted, and the dark aura surrounding her…There is no question that the Psycho Power is behind this." "How can we say for certain? Maybe it was just the remains of the Psycho Power in her?" Chun Li piped in.
Cammy sighed. "The Psycho Power can't act on its own, it needs a wielder in order to be functional. The only known people who can do so successfully is Bison and myself. Since I'm a novice in controlling it, that leaves Bison."
Guile slammed his fist on the tableside, causing Chun Li to jump in surprise and Cammy to jerk on her bed. "Damn it, how can we kill this buster? Everything we tried only ends with failure!" Just as sudden as his fit came, it stopped, his shoulders slumped in defeat and sense of hopelessness.
Chun LI placed a comforting arm around Guile. "Don't be dejected. When there's a will. There's a way."
"I'm having doubt on the 'will' part." Guile muttered, his face downcast. Chun Li ignored his comment and turned to Cammy. "So what's our first course of action?"
"Well." Cammy said as she adjusted herself carefully into a comfortable position. "Colonel Wolfman decided to place a tracking device on Juni, just in case of…situation like this. As we are speaking, Delta Red are now tracking her down. Hopefully they will be able to find where Bison is hidi-"
Suddenly, Cammy's eyes widened as she stared passed her 2 visitors in shock. "GUILE! MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" She screamed, waving her arms frantically just as a 'pfft' sound could be heard.
Guile barely had time to leap into safety as the bullet whizzed past him, imbedding itself onto the wall behind him. Spinning around in alarm, Chun Li the nurse holding a smoking semi-automatic pistol in her hands, her eyes staring blankly at the recovering Guile.
Chun Li had no time to react before the 'nurse' fired a few more shots at Guile. He managed to dodge the first few before one struck his ankle.
"GAHH!" The airman yelled in pain as he landed on the ground heavily, his face displaying the pain he was feeling. Blood began to ooze out of his wound as he desperately crutch his ankle to stop the bleeding.
"Secondary target: William Guile. Expendable, termination in progress." The nurse droned as she aimed her pistol at the fallen airman.
The Interpol agent tackled the 'nurse' , sending both women sprawling onto the ground. She managed to smack the pistol off before a powerful hand gripped her throat. Shock, she furiously clawed at the hand to release her, to no avail.
Slowly, the 'nurse' stood up, pulling the thrashing Chun Li up with her. Staring squarely at the desperate eyes of the Chinese woman, she said, "Main target apprehended. Returning to base immediately."
Suddenly, she gave a quick lightning jab to the Chinese woman's face with such force that she was unconscious when the blow struck her. The 'nurse' slung a limp Chun Li over her shoulder just as Guile swung his fist weakly at her while his other hand covering his ankle.
Guile stared disbelief when his fist connected nothing. It's almost…uncanny! Almost as if she just teleported! Just then, he felt pressure being applied at the back of his neck and the world when black.
Cammy could only be the helpless spectator as she watched the Doll took down her friends with ease. Unbelievable! What had Bison been doing to them these past months? She then realized that the Doll was standing beside her bed.
The Doll ripped off the surgeon mask, allowing Cammy to recognize the face behind. "Fevrier!" Cammy cried out in disbelief. The last time she saw this Doll in action, she wasn't able to move this fast. It appeared that her theory that the Psycho Power was getting stronger is true.
The Doll looked at Cammy with a faint smile, something Cammy felt strange and…unsettling. "You served no purpose to Lord Bison, yet he didn't order your execution. Be thankful for being able to live another day."
Cammy had no time to ponder over the abnormal behaviour of the Doll nor the weird message before Fevrier's fist enveloped her vision.