It has been over a full day since the death of Apocalypse.  Everyone made it back to camp alive but most of the fighters rested for the entire day for their wounds to heal.  Raiden has actually stayed with the fighters for the entire time.  Only a few fighters didn't rest, Wolverine healed quickly and stood guard over the group and talked with Raiden while they rested.  The only time he left was when the fire went out just after dawn and he went to get more wood.  And another who didn't rest was, of course, Piccolo who felt it was more important to prepare for the next battle which can occur anytime soon.  He has been meditating since before daybreak and fought against himself using his split-form technique a little while after Wolverine returned.

            But now, it's late afternoon two days after Apocalypse's defeat.  The group is starting to walk around again.  Piccolo discussed about ambushing Onslaught before he does the same, but Raiden believes that they should continue to rest up.  Of course Piccolo didn't agree but, now knowing Raiden's part in the war, he doesn't argue with his decision.

            Piccolo meditates by the oak tree.  Reptile retreated during Piccolo's practise because of the danger of being detected by Wolverine's nose or Piccolo's ears.  The others sit around the fire, few stand, and talk about strategies and more about themselves.

            Ken stands up and cracks his back, "That's enough sitting for me today.  I feel like I can take anyone on."

            Ryu stands up soon after.  He looks at Ken and nods.  Ken smiles and nods back.  Ryu looks at Raiden who stands just outside the group.

            Knowing what they would say, Raiden replies, "If you must."  He tilts his staff in a certain direction, "A river is just a half mile over there.  It'll be a good spot for you."

            Ryu and Ken both slightly bow, "Thank you."  They then begin to walk in the direction pointed out.

            "Huh?"  Sakura quickly stands up, "Hey, you guys!  Wait for me!"  She hurries up to them.  "You didn't think you would leave me behind."

            Piccolo watches them until they enter the trees, "At least someone else is going to practice."

            Fireballs crash all around a burnt landscape.  Dr. Octopus jumps backwards.  He grabs another set of tentacles and pulls another Doc Ock, but with a greyer tone, to the ground.  Behind them, two Friezas hit the ground hard but both jump off in different directions.  Lightning hits the ground off to the side, and a Rain flies across the burnt grass.  In the sky above Dr. Doom and Cell separately fight their counterparts.

            On a nearby hill which isn't as badly burnt, Xavier stands as he watches his men fight.  Bison and Magneto stands on each side of him while Kintaro stands behind him.

            Bison clears his throat, "Maybe we should stop their mirror match before they become too exhausted."

            "Non-sense," replies Xavier, "this will train them for our next attack on Raiden."

            "They have been fighting for nearly thirty hours continuously," says Magneto.

            "Just be happy I didn't force you three to fight."  Xavier chuckles, "The only one who has shown their worth is Scorpion."

            "What!?" says Kintaro, "but he cheated.  He attacked his clone before you gave the order to begin."

            Kintaro feels something metal on his neck.  "Is that a challenge?" asks Scorpion with his sword touching Kintaro's neck.  "I fought with instinct.  In a war, when you get the opportunity, you must strike."

            "Even though I didn't like Scorpion attacking before my command to," replies Xavier, "Scorpion made a wise choice to attack his clone before it did the same."  He turns his head back, "But Scorpion, you should not threaten my second-in-command."

            Scorpion withdrawals his sword from Kintaro's neck.  "That 'clone' wasn't so though either."

            "I balance them out to give you guys a chance.  With lower attributes, they should be easier to kill.  But these clones have no souls allowing greater concentration and less individual thought.  As you can see, they can be as strong as the original."  A fireball hits the ground a few feet away.  "Scorpion's knowledge of offensive tactics allowed him to strike the smarter one who didn't know those tactics."

            "Hmph, smarter," says Scorpion as he turns around and disappears.

            A few seconds pass, the other fighters continue their battle.  Suddenly a figure appears just a few dozen yards walking towards Xavier.  The four standing quickly notice him.

            "What now?" says Xavier to himself with a slightly angered expression.  "What does Shinnok want now, Quan Chi?"

            Quan Chi continues his walk towards him and stops a few feet from him.  "Our master is giving you another chance."

            "What's the catch?"

            "Just this; if you fail, Shinnok will chose your next fighters for your forces.  But they will be stronger than most of your men."

            "He still doesn't trust me?"

            "If I were him, I would kill you for your failure and take your place."  Xavier growls at him.  "But that's just me.  Shinnok must respect you to a degree in order not to."

            "What's he going to do next?" asks Kintaro, "Tell us who to send?"

            "I recommend a surprise attack, something that will confuse them.  Something like—."  Quan Chi turns his head to the side as he tries to hear something.

            A soft rustle is heard through the trees.  Then hollow footprints litter the ground as it comes towards them.

            "Reptile, my old friend," says Quan Chi.

            Reptile makes himself visible revealing himself in his human skin and ninja outfit.  "I am NOT your friend."

            "Report," commands Xavier.

            Reptile gives a quick bow.  "Master, three have left Raiden's group for independent training.  Ryu, Ken, and a teenage girl named Sakura."

            "It just keeps getting better."

            Bison steps forward.  "Let me take those three out."

            "No!"

            "But sir, this is about revenge.  I swear I will not fail you."

            "I know you wouldn't, Bison."  A scream is heard as the grey Doc Ock's tentacles land a few feet from him.  "But I have different idea."

            "Wow!" says Sakura as the group reach their destination. 

            Ryu and Ken come out of the trees behind her.  They smile with awe at the small clearing which is close to a waterfall and a river.  The grass is fairly short and the area looks it hasn't been disturbed for a long time.  Sakura walks quickly to the rivers edge and looks at the beautiful view of the waterfall.

            "Hey, guys," yells Sakura.  "There is a great view of the waterfall over here."

            "That's not why we came," says Ken.

            Sakura looks back at the other two.  Ryu tightens his gloves while he feels the ground with his foot.  Ken cracks his neck and shakes himself to loosen his cloths.  Then they each get into their fighting stance.

            "I sorta figured that out a long time ago," she says with her arms crossed.  "I want to spar with Ryu next."

            "We'll see," replies Ken.  He strikes first with a hard punch but Ryu easily dodges out of the way.  Ryu attacks with a roundhouse kick which Ken blocks then comes back with a roundhouse kick of his own.  They continue on with blocks and counterattacks.

            Sakura moans in disappointment, "At this rate, they will be fighting all day."  She sits down on the grass on the riverbank and gives a heavy sigh.

            As Ryu and Ken spar and Sakura watches, no one notices the stranger watching them on the other side of the river in the trees.

            Rini, Roll, and Pikachu laugh and play as they toss a large, pink ball around among themselves.  Pikachu headbutts the ball to Rini which she catches after it goes on an irregular course of flight.  Rini then throws it to Roll.  It flies high smoothly then takes a suddenly drop in front of Roll, and then bouncing over her.  As she turns around, she becomes slightly afraid as the ball rolls to the hovering, meditating Piccolo.

            The ball stops short of him as Piccolo's eyes open up.  As Piccolo looks down at it, a pair of eyes open up on the ball and look back at him.

            "Get out of my sight, you little marshmallow," says Piccolo.

            Kirby bounces off the ground in fright.  As he lands back on the ground, Kirby's body morphs into a wheel and speeds back to Roll.  Kirby jumps up into her arms and become the ball again.

            "Poor thing," says Roll.

            "Hmph," says Piccolo under his breath.

            Meanwhile, the others talk to each other while they sit near the fire in the afternoon sun.  They fine-tune their pass tales but people like Spiderman keep their secret lives just that.

            "An alien?!" asks Chun Li, "but I thought I heard you say that you are a Saiyan."

            Goku chuckles, "Saiyans are aliens, Chun Li.  We came from a distant planet called Vegeta.  I came to Earth when I was a baby, and my master Gohan raised me.  I named my son after him," he says as he looks at Gohan next to him.

            "Oh.  I thought that Saiyan was something like a telepathic, or… a generic type of mutation, or something."

            IronMan looks at Goku, "Does flying and fireballs come with the species?"

            "Hmm, sorta.  We just are able to control that ability better than others.  But if you try, you can too."

            "I hope those suits have air conditioning," says Cyclops to IronMan.

            "Our suits have a cooling system," replies WarMachine, "we'll be fine."

            "Why don't you take them off?" asks Sonic.

            "Look, we do trust you," replies IronMan, "it's that we can lose some much if others find out our identities."

            "I know how that feels," says Spiderman.  "Only I can know my identity.  If someone finds out, it can endanger those around me than just myself."  Spiderman remembers back.

            ["Hey, Parker!" says Venom as he clings on brick wall of a building.  "If you want to your Aunt May again, you must come to the Hudson Bridge… alone.  We look forward to be meeting you there."  Venom shoots a webline and swings away.]

            "That's okay," says Knuckles, "we don't need to know what you guys look like under there."

            B.B. Hood looks at Goku, "So how many Saiyans are there now?"

            "There's only a few of us left…"

            "An endangered species," says B.B. Hood under her breathe.

            "… Me and another named Vegeta are the only pureblood Saiyans left unless there's another that I never heard of.  Gohan and Vegeta's son, Trunks, are part human but they both are or will show the signs of being Saiyan.  Oh yeah, and this girl named Sonson that Ryu mentioned a few days ago."

            A bare foot touches the grass of the clearing.  Piccolo turns his head slightly towards it.  The others, including Kirby and them, look that way as well.

            "I didn't expect you guy back so soon," says Chun Li.

            Ryu performs a sweep kick but Ken jumps over it and counters by bringing down his foot.  Ryu backrolls out of the way.  Sakura sits cross-legged on the ground with her elbows on her knees and fists under her chin.  She watches every single attack, every block, every counter that Ryu does.

            Sakura suddenly senses something, which snaps her from her trance.  She glances around but doesn't see anything.  She ignores what happened, taking it as part of her imagination.

            It happens again but stronger.  She stands up this time and looks around.  Ryu and Ken both notice her quick actions but continue on.

            And again, and stronger than the last.  The sense has turned into a quick spell of hate.  Her Dark Hadou is trying to take control for some reason.  Another burst is felt again, her eyes turn a slight shade of red.

            Ryu notices Sakura's actions this time and stop attacking Ken.  "Something wrong, Sakura."

            Sakura feels another burst and takes a few steps away from the river's edge.  Ryu walks in front of her forcing her to stop.

            "What are you doing now, Sakura?" asks Ken.

            She looks up at Ryu slightly, "I… have to go back."

            "Why?" asks Ryu.

            Sakura's eyes flash red for a second.  She swings her arm around and knocks Ryu down while he was off guard.  She advances a few more yards then stops.  "I'm sorry, Ryu."  She suddenly straightens up her back.  A second passes, and she continues on in a quicker walk.  About a dozen yards in, she breaks into a run.

            "What was that about?" asks Ken as he helps Ryu up.

            "It's happening again."

            "Huh?  What's happening again?"

            "The Dark Hadou is taking control of her again.  She's going back to Raiden and the others."

            "Why?"

            "I don't know, but we better stop her.  Let's go."  He starts to run after, and Ken does the same a split-second afterwards.

            They have lost sight of Sakura.  They try to follow the path they had taken but the bush and trees become thicker along the way.  As the bush becomes dominated by trees, they hear something.

            "HALT!" yells a female voice.

            Ryu and Ken stop quickly and look around.  A few seconds pass, then suddenly a tall, skin figure jump out off of a tree limb to the ground on the path which they were traveling.  Ryu and Ken both get ready for a bigger ambush to come.

            "I challenge you… RYU!"

            "Why are dudes back so soon?" asks Michaelangelo.

            On the other side of the clearing stands two figures in karate outfits, Ryu and Ken.  They stand there without budging except their chests to breathe.

            "Something wrong with you two?" asks Lilith.  She then stands up and floats towards them.  Ryu and Ken stare back with angry expressions and their fists clenched.  Lilith waves her hand in front of Ken's eyes, "Hellooo?"  He doesn't flinch at all.

            Everyone gets suspicious and worried.  Piccolo stretches his feet downward and lands solidly on the ground.

            "Are you guys playing a game or something?" asks Lilith.

            Suddenly, Ken's gaze turns to Lilith is standing in front of him.  She gets slightly startled.  Then, without notice or second-thoughts, Ken creates an energy ball and hits Lilith.  The fireball pushes her back at, through, and pass the others.  She screams until she hits a tree, which shatters on impact.  She moans as he slowly falls to the ground.

            Everyone is shocked as they watch her.  They turn back to Ryu and Ken who still stare back at them.

            Goku hops over to Ryu.  "What's going on, Ryu?"  Ryu's eyes meet his, Goku cautiously backs away.  Ryu suddenly jumps at Goku, and bends down to do a sweep kick.  Goku jumps over the attack but Ken does a roundhouse kick which hits Goku's chest.  Goku flies back but lands on his feet.

            "Something's wrong with them," says Cyclops.

            Liu Kang looks at Raiden for guidance.  Raiden has his head slightly bowed as he thinks.

            "Raiden," says Kung Fu Man, "what's wrong with them?"

            In a split-second, Ryu and Ken break into a run as they head towards Liu Kang and the others.  Just as they approach Rini and Roll, Piccolo quickly flies by the two children and kick Ken away.  Ryu changes his target Piccolo and goes in a fury of punches and kicks.

            "I… can't tell," says Raiden.  "My vision is clouded.  It may or may not be them.  Their souls are blocked from my sight."

            "So… what do… we do?" asks Piccolo as he attacks and blocks.

            Ken is seen running at them again.  A card hits the ground in front of him and explodes.  "Do you want to play some cards?" jokes Gambit.  Ken doesn't even stop.  Gambit is surprised as Ken comes through the smoke and is Shoryukenned.  Gambit falls back onto the ground and moans, "I thought I was the dealer."

            Goku materializes behind Ryu and hooks his shoulders holding Ryu back.  "RYU!  SNAP OUT OF IT!"  Ryu replies with a low blow with his heal.  As Goku releases him and falls forward, Ryu elbows his back.  Ryu jumps up into the air and is about to divekick Goku's back when Liu Kang comes in with a flying kick.

            "TACKLE THEM!" orders Piccolo.  Everyone, except Rini, Roll, Pikachu, Kirby and Raiden, head towards the nearest one.  Ryu and Ken remain in their fighting stances.

            When the fighters are a few yards away from either Ryu or Ken.  Ryu performs his Shinku Tatsumaki Senpukyaku and Ken performs his Shinryuken.  The force of the attacks draws the fighters inward and hit as the two rise upward with fire and energy.

            The fighters fall to the ground hard.  Some counter the fall and land upright but most still fall on their backs.

            Ken and Ryu jump far back near the tree line.  Everyone look as they prepare for their next attack, a double-team Shinku Hadouken. 

            Energy and electricity swarm their bodies.  But before they even begin to gather it into a fireball, they are both hit by a Hadouken themselves from behind.  The blow caught them off guard.

            As they fall downward, Sakura lands and kneels on the ground.  She slowly stands up and looks at the other fighters in front of her.  They stare back wondering if she has the same condition as Ryu and Ken.  As Ryu and Ken stand up and advance towards her, she quickly turns around to face them.

            Everyone shocked when they see Sakura charge at Ryu and Ken as they do the same.

            "We don't time for this," says Ryu.

            "We have to go.  Now," adds Ken.

            The female figure tilts her head slightly, "But I haven't had the pleasure of facing you yet."

            "Why should I fight you," says Ryu.

            "Yeah," says Ken, "we never heard of you before."

            "You don't remember me, Ken?" asks the figure.  "But faced you and I fought not too long ago."

            "You fought me?"

            "Yeah.  I won the first round, then you won the next, and then you almost beat me."

            "What!?"  Ken becomes angry, "What do you mean 'almost beat me'?  There is no way I would have lost to someone like you."

            Ryu raises his arm to stop him from approaching her, "Take it easy, Ken."

            The figure takes a step forward, "Fine.  If you want, I'll take you both on."

            "Both of us?" asks Ken.

            "It doesn't matter what type of match you want.  You can fight simultaneously or have a team.  But I still want a one-on-one match with Ryu sometime."

            "Look," says Ryu, "I don't understand why you're so interested in fighting me.  But we have to see what is wrong with Sakura and we must go now."

            She gives a sigh of disappointment.  "Well, it's doesn't look I'm going to get my wish."  She moves aside, "Go as you may."

            Ryu starts off first with Ken close behind.  "Thanks," says Ryu politely.

            As Ryu passes by, Ken slows down to the female figure.  "There is no way you could have beaten me."  He continues on, following Ryu.

            She watches them as they move out of sight due to the trees, "Strange, they never refused before.  Maybe there's a malfunction with this thing."  She touches something on her right arm.  With a swarm of electricity, she disappears.

            Sakura gets thrown to the ground but turns over and jumps back up.  Ken and Ryu jump at her, but she does her Shunpukyaku which hits both of them, forcing them back.

            They break away from each other and stare each other down.  A few seconds later, Sakura moans loudly as she powers up.  The two stare back at her in their fighting stances.  Sakura's skin darkens and eyes redden as becomes Dark Sakura once again.

            All the other fighters watch them, each one with confusion of what's going on.

            Sakura goes back into her fighting stance, and then charges at Ken and Ryu.  As she tries to clothesline both of them at once, they easily duck.  Sakura turns around to attack again but is then hit with a double-team roundhouse kick.  She slides on the ground, flips over onto her feet, and lunges at them again.

            She goes into her Shouoken attack.  As she is halfway through the uppercut part against Ryu, he delivers several strong punches to the gut.  As she turns around, Ken continues the attack with a jump kick in and then a few other kick, with the last one launching her in the air.  Ryu and Ken face each other and each does a shoryuken.  The double-team attack hits Sakura on her way down.

            Sakura lies on the ground breathing heavily.  Ryu is about to dive his fingers into her chest as a final blow when a fireball just missing him.  "Look Ryu," yells Liu Kang, "I don't know what's wrong with you.  But I won't let you kill one of our own."

            Ryu starts the attack again.  A web-ball hits Ryu and covers him completely.  Ken's attention turns back to the other fighters.

            Rogue flies behind him.  "Sorry, Sugar, but you need to take a nap."  She places a gloveless hand on Ken neck.  A second passes and nothing has happened.  "What the—."  As she is about to touch again, Ken grabs the hand, brings it over him, and slams her into the ground.

            As Ken is about to finish her off with a strong punch to her back, an optic blast hits him back.  Cyclops and Gambit run to her to carry her back to safety.

            Ryu breaks free of the webbing, and rips the rest off him.  Captain America's shield flies him, which he dodges by backing up.  Ryu and Ken regroup side-by-side.

            "Don't make us hurt you," says Liu Kang with Kung Lao beside him with his deadly hat in hand.  Everyone gets ready to attack full force.

            The two go into their power-up stances.  They roar, which is like a louder Sakura's moan, as energy builds around them.  A strange, invisible force hits everyone, except Raiden, who were ready to fight.  This attack is new, was unexpected, and almost unblockable.

            "Hey, blondie!  Leave them alone!"

            Ryu and Ken turn around to where the voice came from.  The other fighters look at the same place as well and are shocked to see another Ryu and Ken.

            "They're us," whispers Ryu to Ken.

            "This is freaky," he replies also in a whisper.  "Maybe that's the Ken that the girl mentioned."

            Ryu looks at Sakura who is hurt and with the others.  "What did you do to her!?"

            The other Ryu and Ken suddenly begin to sprint towards them.  "I guess they want to start the fight first," says Ken.

            Each one is attacked by their counterpart.  Ryu goes on the defensive by blocking each attack that comes close to him.

            Ken on the other hand dodges the attacks of the other and give a quick punch at the chance.  Ken delivers a strong punch to the other Ken's gut forces him to bend over in pain for a second.  "I'm going to feel sorry about hitting that beautiful face of yours," says the real Ken but he hit in the face instead by the other.  Ken wobbles a bit but goes back into battle.

            As the two Ryus fight, the real one starts to have feelings of déjà vu.  He counters a punch with one of his own, which then allows him to get an arm around his neck to hold him from behind.  Ryu tries to think of what to do next when notices something strange.  The other Ryu has a slow, calm heartbeat.  How can he be so calm on the inside while he's giving his all on the outside?  Ryu suddenly has a feeling that he is going to hit by the other Ryu's roundhouse kick to his right.  Ryu sees the attack coming and let's go to block it.

            "Didn't that look familiar," says Chun Li.

            There is a pause in the group as they watch.  Spiderman steps forward, "Hey, Chun Li.  Remember our last battle with Onslaught.  Remember how we had to fight clones of ourselves."

            "I remember that," says WarMachine.  "It was hard fighting against the powerful counterparts of friends.  Let alone, when we had to Onslaught with a copy of ourselves.

            "Ryu sees it too," says Wolverine.  "He's noticing a similar attack pattern."

            "How can you tell who's who?" as Gohan.

            "I can smell them."

            "That's not enough," says Kung Fu Man.  "We need a distinct difference that we can all see.  It'll be hard not to attack the wrong one by mistake."

            Just then, the real Ryu and Ken knock the counterparts away from them.  The clones regroup to think of a strategy.  Ryu and Ken prepare for another run.  What came next surprised almost everyone.  The counterparts begin their roaring thing again but it is much longer than before.  A wind flows around the clones as they roar louder.  Then their skin darkens and eyes redden just like Sakura did.  They stop their roar and go back into their fighting stance with their new forms, Evil Ryu and Evil Ken.

            "WHAT!?" asks most of them while others gasp.

            The clones go back facing off against Ryu and Ken.  Suddenly, Dark Sakura leaps back on her feet and dashes towards the clones.  Right when she is close enough to attack, Evil Ryu hits her with the back of his hand.  She flies back and onto the ground again.  The Dark Hadou disappears from her and leaves her bruised and hurt.

            Ken turns his head towards the others, "Uh, guys?  A little help."

            Evil Ryu and Evil Ken dash quickly at Ryu and Ken.  Several fireballs hit both of them off course.  Captain America does his Charging Star attack on Evil Ken while MegaMan does his Mega Buster Blast on Evil Ryu.  IronMan and WarMachine both do their SmartBomb attack on both of them.  As they try to get back up, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Sub-Zero, Pikachu, Mario, MegaMan, Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, Goku, Gohan, Piccolo, Cyclops, Storm, Spiderman, IronMan, WarMachine, Morrigan, Lilith, and Gambit team up to do one massive projectile attack.

            Evil Ryu and Evil Ken stand up as they each throw their projectiles.  When it comes within a few yards of them, the invisible force field comes back and destroys each one of the projectiles or throws it back.

            As the smoke clears, the clones seem to have out-matched them.  But then a blue and a red blur race again them.  "Spin and win time," says Sonic as he and Knuckles create a miniature whirlwind.  As the whirlwind dissipates, several small grenades fall down onto them and explode.  B.B.Hood cheers on her attack, but it didn't do much damage.

            Chun Li runs in at Evil Ken who is caught off guard and is then pounded with kicks from Chun Li's Senretsukyaku.  As he recovers his footing, Kung Fu Man comes in with his Smash Kung Fu Uppercut.  Evil Ken flies high into the air and lands a fair distance away.  His body goes limp on the ground and disintegrates into nothing.

            Evil Ryu watches his partner disappears not knowing that Sub-Zero was closing in on him.  As he turns back around, Sub-Zero grabs his forearm and freezes him into an ice statue.  Michaelangelo then comes in and shatters the statue with his knunchukahs.  There is a slight pause, and then they cheer for their victory.

            "Hurray!" yells Roll.

            "You did it," adds Rini.

            Raiden smiles at his followers as they cheer and laugh.  But that smile quickly fades away as his eyes meet Piccolo's, the only one not celebrating.  Piccolo gives a grunt then goes back to meditate some more.

            "NO!!!" yells Xavier in a deep, Onslaught-like voice.  He bangs his fist on throne.  "My clones have failed me!!!" he yells as his followers begin to back away.  "Even with the Dark Hadou to aid them, they were still out-smarted!!!"

            A laugh is heard echoing through the castle.  Quan Chi, thinks Xavier.

            A portal appears near the throne.  Shinnok appears sitting on his own throne, "I hear that your plan didn't work out just right."

            Xavier growls and his eyes flash greenish red.

            "Well, now it's my turn."  The stairway grows darker in light, and then Quan Chi walks outward.  "Here are my warriors who I will allow you to lead."  Quan Chi moves to the side on the wall.  Through the doorway first comes an eight-foot, four-armed, beast with a ponytail.  Next comes a shorter figure in blue clothes and thick hair that comes out and away from his face to a point.  The last one was a tall man with a cape, metal helmet, and armour parts with curved blades all over his body.

            "You will get to know them soon enough.  But tonight, I want a full scale attack on Raiden and his men," says Shinnok.  "The attack begins in three hours while his forces are off guard and wounded.  It's time to end this war.  HA HA HA HA HA…"