Cammy looked at Cranky uneasily, noting that he hadn't moved nor said much since they'd gotten down here to the cafeteria, miraculously open at this time of the nine. He held a piping hot cup of coffee, rough calloused hands wrapped around a small, delicate paper cup. She got him to say a few words on their way down here from Kenny's ward but they were more like one word answers.
"It feels so good to get out of that cold room, don't you think?" she'd ask.
"Yeah," he'd reply, but it was closer to a grunt than a word.
Cammy sat and continued staring, feeling sorry for him but at the same time, slowly growing tired of him. Cranky was down and she didn't blame him for it, but damn it, he was bringing her down with him. She wanted to leave, to return to her apartment to catch some shut eye for the tournament tomorrow morning, but she knew she'd never sleep knowing Cranky was at the hospital worrying his head off about Kenny. She figured if she at least stayed with him, then Cranky would have someone to keep him company.
"It would be nice if you'd stop looking at me like that," Cranky suddenly remarked, catching Cammy completely off guard. She blinked a few times to grasp the fact that he'd just uttered more than short sentences to her and that he was now making eye contact with her. He smirked childishly and winked, continuing. "You're acting like you're walking on eggshells."
"Well I don't know how else to act, especially when you're in this state," she replied, choosing her words and her tone carefully. "And you haven't said much since we left Kenny's room so …"
"I don't know what to say when you're acting like I'm going snap if you say something wrong!" he said in defense. "Geez, you're making the atmosphere all awkward." He shifted in his seat as if to emphasize his point.
"Well if I knew you were feeling awkward, I wouldn't have continued being so sensitive."
"I mean, I appreciate it and all but I've cried enough for the day. It's like I've gotten a little too comfortable with my feminine side." The corner of his lip curled upwards shyly as he scratched the back of his head. "How's the coffee?"
"It's shit," she said, pouting slightly.
"You'd know."
"I was raised with the Guile family," she replied smartly, "so yes, I'd know."
Cranky suddenly froze, his brows wrinkled as if he'd suddenly plunged into deep thought. Or something was bothering him. Cammy tilted her head at him, looking at Cranky from the corners of her eyes.
"Is there something wrong?" she inquired.
"I … I'm not sure," he said, rubbing his forehead. "My body just suddenly went cold for no reason." He looked up at Cammy but she seemed oblivious to whatever he was feeling. "Did you feel that?"
She shook her head slowly. "Are you sick?"
"No," Cranky denied. "I … I'm fine. But I've got a bad feeling …"
"About what!" she asked, fed up with his strange behavior.
He suddenly shot up from his seat, his eyes wide with terror. The chair he'd just been sitting in stumbled backwards and crashed onto the floor with a loud bang, catching the attention of other patrons in the hospital cafeteria. "Cammy," he said, swallowing a dry lump in his throat, "we've got to go check up on Kenny. Right now!"
XXXXX
"Akuma, don't," Ryu insisted, holding his arm out protectively in front of Kenny. "Your concern is with me."
Akuma scoffed and folded his muscular arms across his broad chest. "As yours is with me. I care not for the child."
"This is not the place for a confrontation. The hospital is a place for the sick."
"A place for the WEAK. Nature should be allowed to take its course and eliminate all who don't have the skills to survive. Perhaps I will be doing the brat a favor by eliminating him right where we stand."
Ryu took a deep breath and widened his stance, placing his fists protectively in front of his body - a poise refined over the years of fighting, one that symbolized a lifetime of training, of accumulated strength, wisdom, and skill during the course of his life. Akuma reflected the gesture, only his stance was so powerful, so saturated with raw power and evil to the point where his mere presence was suffocating.
The purpose of Akuma's first attack was meant to insult, not injure. He slapped Ryu with the back of his hand but even the simple action knocked the younger fighter back a few steps, Ryu holding his hand to his cheek as hot tears seeped from between his eyelids. A devlish smirk crossed Akuma's features.
"All these years and you are no different than the young pup I encountered when Gouken defeated me. How he hoped to instill the true ways of our martial art, I cannot understand."
"Ryu!" Kenny scrambled out of his bed, his head injury slighty affecting his orientation. He rushed over to Ryu's side but was met with resistance.
"Get away from here!" Ryu barked. "Let me handle this!"
"But ..."
"If you're so insistent on engaging me, little one," Akuma said, "I welcome the opportunity to get a taste of your weak skills."
"I'll show you weak, asshole!" Kenny lurched forward, shoulder first in a quick shoulder check. He collided with Akuma's chest, who stood there open and vulnerable, and bounced off harmlessly, landing on the floor in a drugged up, weakened heap.
"Kenny, NO!" Ryu screamed. But Akuma was already advancing on the fallen youth, lifting him up into the air by the collar, staring straight into his wide, terrified eyes.
"My turn," the demon grinned. And he threw Kenny, tossing him across the room. He crashed onto the bed by the opposite wall, turning the contraption over. Kenny rolled onto the ground in a sad attempt to soften the impact from the momentum with which his body sailed, but the overturned bed landed on him with a loud metallic crash. Akuma waited a few seconds, but there was no movement from him after that. He turned his back on the defeated youth to face Ryu once again.
But he had turned to face a glowing ball of chi, smashing into his upper torso. Akuma stumbled but regained his balance from the impact. He tucked into himself, moving into a roll on the floor with inhuman speed and efficiency, coming up from under Ryu with a deadly three hit dragon uppercut, connecting with Ryu's jaw. The force threw his body up towards the ceiling before gravity took over and pulled him back towards the floor.
Ryu's body bounced off the floor and he landed swiftly on his feet, wiping a small trail of blood from his lower lip. He then jumped forward, somersaulted, and kicked his leg out sideways as he was coming out from his flip. Akuma blocked the strike with his forearm, used his free hand to seize Ryu from behind the knee, taking him to the ground. As the demon landed on top of Ryu, the younger Shotokan warrior dug his foot into Akuma's midsection and used the strength of his leg to throw his opponent off him.
XXXXX
Cammy and Cranky sprinted down the hallways of the hospital. The elevators had taken too long to come and the duo had decided to take the staircase, despite the long, hard climb. Cammy might have been genetically tempered with by Shadowlaw, the experiments turning her into a physically fit, young woman – but even she lagged behind Cranky as he ran, showing no signs of slowing down until he got back to Kenny's room.
It had happened so suddenly, Cammy didn't even have time to absorb what was going on. Cranky suddenly panicked for no reason that was obvious to her and just seized her by the wrist and began running. While they sped through the twisting corridors, running past doctors, nurses and patients alike while being sworn at with waving fists and middle fingers, Cammy tried desperately to ask him what was going on. But the only comprehensible words coming from Cranky were "We have to go," and "Kenny …"
Logic told her that Cranky was overreacting. After all, he'd had a rough day with Juli and all. And then finding out what happened to his brother hadn't exactly been pleasant for him either. This was surely his nerves and emotions running on overdrive and she wanted to prove it to him and tell him to calm down – but not at the rate they dashed like madmen.
Just a few steps ahead, Cranky dodged a woman dressed in blue, who looked like she was in a hurry herself. But Cammy was too close behind him to have registered the woman in time. The both of them collided in a messy clash of crunching bones and sweat. Both women fell to the ground clutching various body parts in pain.
Ahead, Cranky jerked to a stop and turned around. "Cammy, are you okay?"
"Ouch," the woman cried in pain, "where the hell are you two off to in such a hurry?"
As she stood, the couple could see it was Inspector Chun Li from Interpol, more famously, the Street Fighter tournaments. "I'm so sorry," Cammy apologized. "We're just … in a hurry to get somewhere." That's all she was able to relate, she herself unsure of their motivations."
"Me too," Chun Li explained. "You haven't seen Ryu by any chance, have you?"
"He's keeping an eye on Kenny for us," Cranky said, "but I've got this feeling something bad is about to happen."
Chun Li gawked at Cranky at his displayed clairvoyance. "H…how do you know …?" she asked, pointing a shaky finger at him.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, looking back at her in confusion as he prepared to take off once again.
"Akuma's after Ryu …" Chun Li said. "The demon has just murdered the man who raised me since I was a little girl – a man searching for powerful opponents to pitch himself against. He succeeded in killing my Master Gen and now I fear he's after Ryu. And if you say he's with Kenny …"
"What!" Cammy cried.
"This is making too much sense," Cranky murmured, looking more nervous by the second. "Come on, we have to get to that room!"
XXXXX
They were both weak – Akuma standing on his two feet, slightly hunched over, struggling to maintain his composure. Ryu had almost sunk to his knees, breathing heavily. Both fighters had managed to land in some good hits on one another, but it was obvious that the fight could not be concluded in such a confined space as this.
"Leave now," Ryu ordered, but he knew it was useless. Hell, with the way he said it, it might as well have been a plea. "I'll say it again, Akuma. This isn't the time, nor the place."
"You're as quick as ever," Akuma commented, hiding his pride for Ryu deep inside. "The tournaments begin tomorrow. I look forward to seeing you in the final rounds."
"What?" Ryu couldn't believe it. Had Akuma actually signed up for the tournaments? That didn't sound right. He wasn't the type to stand in long lineups in the hot sun, in the middle of the city during daylight!
The demon nodded, the sadistic grin never leaving his face. "I look forward to facing you in battle, in an arena meant to contain both of our abilities, not in this weak, fragile place and it's inhabitants alike."
"Then what was your purpose of showing up here?" Ryu demanded. If Akuma hadn't come here to have their final battle, why did Kenny have to get injured – again? What was this sacrifice for? Was it even worth hurting the people close to Ryu?
"I wanted to see what I'd be up against."
"You're that sure I'll make it to the end?"
"Stop being so modest, you fool," Akuma snapped. "You and I both know you'll make it to the final rounds. The other fighters are weak, spoiled beyond comprehension in this material world. The rest rely on anger and revenge to motivate them to fight. They don't care for victory, or for what it means to be a fighter. Of everyone else, Ryu, you are the only one who is worthy of facing me."
Ryu hadn't a chance to say anything more, as a mysterious black smoke suddenly enveloped the demon's body. His body almost seemed to just warp away, leaving nothing behind but a trail of dark shadows. The ominous air lifted, as if having fled along with Akuma himself. All was quiet in the room now for a few seconds, until the lights flickered back on. Ryu blinked, his eyes trying to adjust quickly to the sudden brightness as he scanned the room for Kenny's fallen form.
The youth was just starting to come to, grabbing his head in pain. He grunted and groaned in pain, but didn't say anything otherwise. Ryu rushed over to help him up, tossing the wreckage of the other bed off his body. Ryu practically picked Kenny off the ground and stood up him on his feet.
"Are you alright?"
"Damn it," Kenny cursed. "I let him get too close."
Ryu smirked. "That was Akuma. Somehow, regardless of how you fight him, something tells me you'd lose whichever way."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"Please don't be offended, Kenny, but Akuma …"
"I know, I know," Kenny said, waving his hand dismissingly at Ryu, "it was a joke! I don't think I could ever beat something like that!"
The door to the ward burst open, giving both Ryu and Kenny a jump. They spun around in alarm to face the intruders, relieved to see it was only Cranky who had … kicked the door open! It was off the upper hinge, sagging sadly from where it had been screwed into the doorframe.
From behind him, Cammy and Chun Li spilled into the room, looking around for any sign of foul play. But they could see none – except for the bed beside Kenny's, which now lay in pieces on the floor.
"What the hell happened in here?" Cammy asked, scratching her head.
"You're alright!" Cranky cried in relief, running towards Kenny, who only looked back in fear.
"Cranky, don't, please don't …" But it was too late for him. Cranky seized his teen brother, wrapping both arms tightly around Kenny's wiry frame, picking him up inches off the ground, while the youth could only wince in pain and struggle in futile. "Cammy …," he wheezed, "…help me!"
"Cranky, he's just been through a lot," Ryu chuckled, "I think you're killing him right now."
"Mind explaining what this is all about?" Chun Li asked Ryu, pointing out the wreckage of the bed sitting on the hospital floor.
Ryu's good natured smile suddenly transformed into a foreboding frown. He took a glance back at Cammy, Cranky and Kenny as they celebrated with relief, noticing oddly that the threesome looked like a happy family. Kenny sat on his bed while Cranky and Cammy leaned over, asking him all sorts of questions like two parents panicking that their only child had scraped his knee for the first time. Ryu turned back to Chun Li when he decided the three of them were out of earshot.
"Chun Li, you're not going to believe this," he said. "I think you may need to sit down."
"I'm fine standing," she stated plainly, perfectly clear she wanted him to say whatever he had to say, and to do it now.
"Nine years ago, you may or may not remember that crazy Shotokan martial artist that was after me …"
"Akuma's back," Chun Li interrupted, "I knew it."
"Who told you?"
"One of Master Gen's current students. He came from Hong Kong just to deliver the message to me that he's returned."
"But Akuma is a warrior who lives in the shadows. There's no way he would reveal himself to anyone unless he deems them worthy of a fight. Why would choose to communicate with your Master's students?"
"He didn't reveal himself to Yun," Chun Li explained. "Yun just happened to be there when Akuma … when Akuma …" She couldn't continue. Memories of her conversation with Yun back at the police station came flooding back. It had hit her again – Master Gen was dead.
"I'm sorry," Ryu said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Chun Li fell into him, as the tears continued falling one after the other from her eyes and down her face. Ryu was unused to so much human contact, but he seemed like a natural at comforting her. He rubbed his hand gently on her back. "I know how much Master Gen meant to you. But everything will be alright." Ryu knew exactly what was going through her head. His own Master Gouken had been brutally murdered by the very same man.
"I know it's going to be alright," Chun Li said through her sobs, "because you're going to defeat him." Ryu was taken by surprise by her words. She stopped crying when she didn't hear a response from him and looked up into his eyes. "You're going to destroy Akuma, won't you, Ryu?"
"Chun Li …" he said weakly, "I fought Akuma to avenge my master. Back then, I trained hard only for revenge, with no other goal in life but to see Akuma's blood upon my fists. But look where I ended up. My hatred and anger made me the perfect host for the Satsui no Hadou. Such negative emotions do nothing but hinder one's ability to improve their skills."
"But …"
"This is why you cannot go into battle with Bison the way you are right now. If you get angry, you lose control. And when you lose control in a match and you become desperate, you might as well forfeit the match. There is no way you're going to win."
"What are you trying to tell me?"
"That I'm not going to destroy Akuma for you. I won't destroy him for Master Gouken, for Master Gen, for all the people he's hurt and not even myself.."
"… What are you saying …?"
"I will destroy Akuma because he poses a threat to those I care about."
XXXXX
"They look like they're having a serious conversation," Cranky noted, staring blankly at Chun Li and Ryu, the latter holding the former gently by her shoulders. They spoke, looking at each other so intensely that Cranky could've sworn he'd ignite the entire room if he lit a match. Kenny and Cammy looked on as well, Cammy with her arm slung protectively across the youth's shoulders.
"He didn't just say what I think he did …" Cranky said, pointing at Ryu, who had now turned to face him, having released Chun Li from his hold.
"You heard me correctly," Ryu said. He tipped his chin in Kenny's direction. "Your brother saw it too, didn't you?"
"I don't know what the hell that guy was," Kenny added, "but it sure as hell wasn't human. At least, not as far as I could tell. You gotta believe us, Crank …"
"It was the same man who attacked Father Marquez and I back at the church." He rubbed his hand through his red hair and let out a sigh. "God, this is so convoluted. Everything's going wrong all at once."
"Seems like someone up there really has it in for us," Cammy agreed. She looked to Ryu, expecting him to have some kind of answer. "What do we do?"
"There's not much we can do," he admitted. "We attend the tournament just like we signed up for and just … take it from there. Whatever comes our way, I suppose."
"With Ken out of the picture?" Cammy asked. "I don't know if we can afford that, especially since I don't know if I've even been accepted in the ring of new challengers yet."
"One way or another," Chun Li said, stepping into the conversation, "we will make it through this. I owe it to my father."
"Well I'm not going to sit on your coat tails to victory," Cammy insisted, "whether or not I make it into the tournaments. It's clear as day your life isn't the only one that's been screwed over by Shadowlaw. Even if I don't make it into the tournaments, I'll find someway of helping through Delta Red."
"Oh, I don't think you have to worry about that, anymore," someone said from the doorway, catching everyone's attention.
"Wolfman?" Cammy asked, recognizing the large build of her commanding officer, taking up the width of the door frame. He smiled cheerfully at her. "I was about to kill someone waiting at the hotel for Guile when the rest of the team got back to me and told me what'd happened."
"I'm sorry," Cammy apologized, "so much has been going on that I completely forgot to let you know … It's just that we had something else's happened here tonight …"
"What?" Wolfman asked, his eyes showing concern for his young soldier. "Are you okay?" He took Cammy by the elbows gently.
"I'm fine," she insisted.
"There's a new occurrence going on in the tournament," Ryu explained, "but I don't think any of it concerns Delta Red." He subtly aimed the comment at Cammy, implying his personal revenge he saved for Akuma alone, not wanting her to get involved with her official matters. Chun Li took a step back from Ryu as if to emphasize his point. Despite her personal vendetta against Akuma, Bison took priority on her list. That – and the fact she wasn't quite ready for a force like Akuma yet …
Cammy was about to ask Ryu why, but she was suddenly interrupted by Wolfman. "I have you news for you, Cammy." The words made her completely forget about what Ryu was talking about, as curiosity suddenly took precedence. "I just got word from the tournament heads that you have been accepted as a late comer in the Street Fighter circuit. Congratulations." Her blue eyes went wide with joy. She brought her fists to her chin and squealed like a child who just got a toy for Christmas, kicking her heels up and running on the spot excitedly.
"I … I made it into the tournament!" she asked. Her face was turning red now, and she was wheezing from shortness of breath.
"I knew you could do it, girl!" Cranky said, wrapping his arms around her. Cammy launched herself at him, throwing her legs around his waist. He brought his lips to hers and the two of them shared a deep kiss right in front of everyone. Wolfman folded his arms across his chest and sniffed back a tear of joy. Chun Li smiled over at Kenny, the youth would've surely been proud of Cammy and Cranky as well, but instead found Kenny sticking his finger into his mouth towards his throat, dramatizing a comical regurgitation.
"She had a lot riding on this," Ryu noted to Chun Li.
"Looks like it," the Interpol Agent agreed.
XXXXX
Bison waited impatiently, arms folded tightly across his broad chest, lips pressed hard into a tight frown. His cape drooped over his shoulders, emphasizing the dictator's menacing frame, lip up from underneath by a faintly glowing liquid contained in a large, metallic framed vat. Thick slabs of glass embedded into the metal frame served as window into the strange substance, emanating that almost holy looking light. However it was anything but holy in this place, somewhere in Japan's vast mountain chains, deep in the heart of Shadowlaw's base.
"Anytime now," he said quietly to himself. The procedure was nearly complete, one that had taken the better half of a decade to complete. And now the wait was finally over. Just a few more minutes…
Behind Bison stood the majestic, reassembled Psycho Drive, believed to have been destroyed in the third and final Alpha tournaments. The core emitted a purplish light, tinting everything within a few feet of it with its life draining color. It was cylindrical in shape, six feet in diameter and around eight stories in height, reaching far above into the dark ceiling. Dark metal fasteners bolted the Psycho Drive into the wall, while a silver exoskeleton prevented any force from rupturing the glass core.
"Everything's coming together nicely," Bison said, hardly containing his glee. The resuscitation process is nearly complete, after all these years of waiting." Beside Bison stood the tall looming figure of Sagat, his right hand man. Bison owed a lot to Sagat, the Muay Thai fighter being the muscle behind many of Shadowlaw's operations – aside from their private army. He could've single-handedly taken care of many of Shadowlaw's missions, but with such fighting skill, such strength and agility for someone his size, Bison would've lost a lot in Sagat if he were to be killed in battle.
"I don't know why he's of so much importance to you, my Lord," Sagat said, rubbing the stubble of his chin. "He's contributed much to our growth as an organization, but his usefulness ended along with his life."
"That was partially my mistake," Bison replied. "I don't say this very often, but I was younger back then. I should've handled the situation differently. Given the chance to go back in time, I would never have allowed him to tackle Cammy, Guile and Wagner on his own. A group of soldiers as backup would've never provided efficient backup against them. I underestimated Cammy's abilities, and Guile's experience in battle. Combined, they were far too much for him to handle – and it showed."
Sagat nearly let out a gasp at hearing Bison admit his mistakes. Bison was always a cold-hearted, but extremely efficient leader, even a dictator some people might say. He was remorseless, unforgiving, and most of all, he did not tolerate weakness. Had he not been like this, Shadowlaw would've never expanded to the kind of organization it was now, in just over a decade regardless of the kind of scientific talent and military muscle they had at their disposal.
"I have never thought any of your actions to be unwise," Sagat said, although it was a slight exaggeration of his most honest opinions. Like the Dolls, for example … "I, for one, am grateful to have you as a leader."
"Cease the sucking up, Sagat," Bison snapped suddenly, completely out of sync with everything else he'd said thus far, "I'm not used to hearing you talk like this and it's making wonder if you've gotten weak."
"My apologies, sir."
"Now that we've developed two fully functional soldiers from the Agent Initiative program," Bison said, changing the subject, "it's time to start assembling a true army, one consisting of Street Fighters worthy of the program. The tournament starts tomorrow. We will then be able to gather data on their true fighting abilities."
"What of the two Agents we have?"
Bison paused for a moment, wondering what Sagat was referring to. And then he remembered suddenly, a light bulb turning on in his head. "Once we have the first true Agents active, we can dispose of Wagner and Marquez, unless of course they prove to be of further use. Phase one of Shadowlaw's reconstruction project is coming along nicely. Have you anything to report on phase two?"
"Yes," Sagat replied. "The Feng twins are rising steadily in our ranks. The boy has just been promoted to Admiral, and the girl is the one responsible for patenting the Agent Initiative, based on the research material we were able to retrieve from her father."
"Ah, Dr. Tai Su Feng," Bison said, reminiscing about the times when that brilliant scientist was first hired into Shadowlaw's scientific branch. That was around fourteen years ago, and Bison credited him with much of the organization's scientific advancements, many of it based on the now defunct Shadow Technology that had failed. The finished product itself was a failure, as proven in Interpol Agent Chun Li, and Charlie Nash of the United States Air Force. But his research in itself was what the current scientific branch based a lot of their projects on. "Even in death, he is still useful to us."
"Like father like … daughter." Sagat hesitated, realizing that wasn't how the idiom went. Whatever the case, it was true. Dr. Feng's illegitimate daughter was following powerfully in her father's footsteps. Only this time, he was sure she would do nothing to betray the company like he did. And the girl's twin brother – one of Shadowlaw's most elite infantrymen – had risen from lowly grunt, to sergeant, to captain, and then transferred over to Shadowlaw's own private Air Force and had just been promoted to admiral.
"Why have I not been notified of these two?" Bison asked. It was posed as more of a question, not an angry outcry that was more typical of his character. "To think that they are playing such an important role in rebuilding our organization, I should've at least met them face to face a long time ago!"
"You did, sir," Sagat corrected, "when they were recruited shortly after Dr. Feng's assassination."
"Oh … I must've momentarily forgotten," Bison said, making an understatement so exaggerated, it was sinful. "No matter!" He threw his hands outward, magnificently spreading his cape so that it no longer hung over his shoulders. "I wish to see the twins as soon as they are available. I wouldn't want to interrupt their important work."
"I will send word immediately," Sagat said, bowing his head. Their conversation had come to a natural end, at least regarding this topic and the glowing pool of liquid at their feet suddenly dulled, losing its energy with the perfect timing to move onto another topic.
"It is complete." The mechanical hum of machinery at work filled the air, causing the metal grated platform on which Bison and Sagat were standing upon to vibrate just a little. The surface of the mucus like substance rose, shaping to indicate a human-like form just lying beneath the surface. Eventually, the form – the body – broke the surface, as the mucus peeled back slowly to reveal a naked body, the dull light of the room glinting off the thin sheen of slime coating the skin.
It was the body of an effeminate man lying there, displayed in its natural state in front of Sagat and Bison. His face was that of a porcelain doll with a pale, flawless complexion, rounded, pursed lips red as an apple, naturally long and thick eyelashes, and silky strands of long hair resting beneath his head. His body was built thin and lean, striations in the muscle clear underneath the skin. Dead for eight years and he was still looking as healthy as ever. Shadowlaw had truly destroyed the barrier between life and death – another ability Bison credited towards the Dr. Feng's research, leading up to the Shadow Technology's development.
Suddenly, the body came to life. The chest rose and fell, subtly at first but then quicker as air filled the corpse's lungs, as life flowed through its veins. His eyes fluttered open, not unlike a beautiful princess, waking from a century's worth of sleep and not aging a day. And then, a few short moments after coming to life, it spoke.
"L…lord Bison," it stammered. Having not spoken in so long, it was no wonder it was having a hard time remembering how to talk, as it got reacquainted with what it was like having complicated muscles like a tongue, lips, breath and teeth to contend with when trying to sound out simple words.
"Welcome back, Vega," Bison said, smiling with glee.
XXXXX
"Are you going to be alright here by yourself?" Cranky asked. Kenny only stared back at him angrily, fists balled with anger by his sides. Cranky couldn't figure out why his adoptive little brother was throwing such a tantrum. He was young once, but he still couldn't figure out the teenage mind. He cared about Kenny's safety. Why would anyone be annoyed to be fortunate enough to have someone looking out for them? And of all people, Kenny should be the most grateful, having been on his own for most of his memorable life.
"Gee, well considering I've been on my own for what … nine years now?" he replied sarcastically, "no, Cranky, I can't survive one night at a fucking hospital being pampered to up my brows."
"Well I want you to call me on my cell if you need anything."
Kenny frowned. It had taken an eternity to convince Cranky not to spend the night watching over him. Kenny wanted to crawl into a hole and die in embarrassment, especially when Cranky came up with his bright idea with everyone present. He wasn't six damn years old anymore! Ryu, Chun Li and Uncle Ken could wrap their minds around that fact. Why the hell couldn't Cranky! But then Kenny got the bright idea of taking Cammy aside and asking her to help him out by luring his brother away with sex.
It had worked faster than a light switch and a bulb. All it took Cammy was ten seconds outside the hospital ward in the hallway and Cranky came rushing back in, his face as red as his hair, telling Kenny how something had come up and how it didn't feel right for him to just leave Kenny alone but there was no other choice. He told Kenny to sit tight and endure the night alone.
"I'll be alright!" Kenny insisted, waving his brother away and goodnight with one motion of his hand.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow!" Cranky said happily, giving Kenny a tight hug, a pat on the back, just before dashing out the door, pulling Cammy along behind him. She looked back at the youth and mouthed the words, "You owe me."
"Thank you," Kenny mouthed back.
"Well I guess we'll be headed out too," Ryu suggested.
"The tournament begins tomorrow, and we've still got a lot of training to do," Chun Li added. She sighed. "And a lot of official work, too."
"Hey if you need to know where the Shadowlaw base is located," Kenny said, "why don't you get the information off Colonel Wolfman? He was the one who found me there."
"I've thought about it," Chun Li replied, remembering she just had a chance to ask the good Colonel a few minutes ago before he left, shortly before Cammy and Cranky made their exit. "But then I figured him consulting his records would be a waste of time and effort, considering that knowledge wouldn't benefit me as a participant in the Street Fighter tournament. The whole point is not to raise Shadowlaw's suspicions and my presence at their base would certainly raise some."
"But isn't your whole goal to help take down Bison?" Ryu asked her curiously.
"I want to take him down with my bare hands," she replied, curling her fingers into vicious looking claws. Despite her formal martial arts training, there was that feminine fighting instinct showing through, the natural tendency for biting and scratching." And breaking into the Shadowlaw base and taking out his goons won't do that for me. But making it through the tournament and fighting him in the final rounds …"
"I understand," Kenny nodded.
"Thanks for the thought, though."
Ryu and Chun Li bid Kenny farewell and headed towards the elevators down the halls. Ryu had stayed much longer than he'd originally intended, having that honest discussion with the youth, and Akuma having attacked them when they least expected it and all. He could feel the day's events getting to him – being informed by Wolfman that Delta Red had found Kenny safe and sound, discovering his best friend and rival Ken Masters on the floor bleeding from his wounds after being attacked by Julian Marquez, running into Guile and Kenny at the hospital after they'd been simultaneously attacked by Guile's adoptive son, Wagner … it was too much to happen in one day. He thought he would pop into Ken's ward and say goodbye, but realized he'd already done that before he made the impulsive decision to check on Kenny, before they were ambushed by Akuma.
But the day wasn't finished with Ryu yet. He realized that he was so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed that Chun Li had asked him a question. She looked at him with a questioning expression on her face, her head cocked slightly to one side as if leaning her ear closer to him in case he decided to respond to her. Ryu blinked his eyes as he snapped back to reality.
"I'm sorry, did you say something?" he asked.
"I said, it's cold outside," she repeated. "Do you need a ride back to the hotel?"
"No thanks, it's only a short walk," he replied. "I'll be …" Ryu whipped his head sideways to look over his shoulder, as if someone were approaching from behind. He glanced up and saw nothing but the hospital's fluorescent lights, and then right. Yet, he saw nothing.
"What's the matter?" Chun Li asked. But then she noticed it too. The hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood up straight. Goosebumps formed on her body as she began to notice the surge of negative energy.
"It's like when Akuma …" Ryu began, but never finished his sentence.
"It's not him," Chun Li interrupted. "This chi … it's not natural."
"Electric," Ryu agreed, "like it's being produced by some kind of … machine."
XXXXX
Ken had just deposited a few coins into the slot in the vending machine, his mouth watering as a bag of cheddar flavored corn chips caught his attention. He dug around in his pockets for the money, knowing that there'd be enough there. He'd developed a habit of keeping change on him wherever he went because one would never know when it was a necessity, whether it came to parking meters, paying off untalented street musicians to shut the hell up, a quick coffee, or some junk food like in this instance. Besides, after having trained so intensively and eating only the healthiest, grossest meals he'd ever tasted from Eliza's vast culinary menu, he figured he deserved at least a bag of cheddar corn chips. Besides, it wasn't like they filled the bag all the way up to the top, those money-hungry snack manufacturers.
He bent down to retrieve his prize and stuck his hand in the slot to grab a hold of the bag. Ken grimaced every step of the way, his healing wounds sending waves of shooting pain all over his body. He wished Eliza was there to kiss his pain away. Her gentle, caring nature and the sensation of her lips on his skin was enough to distract any man, no matter his state of suffering. But he had instead sent her back to the hotel to stay with Ryu for the evening. Their suite was in no condition to be slept in after today's attacks, and she needed the rest. Eliza talked about canceling her flight back to the States to remain by Ken's side but he would have none of it. They needed someone back home to take care of financial situations with their property and their business.
Ken shook his head in disbelief at how his life had changed in the past few years. He'd met Eliza shortly after breaking up with Cammy. Cammy was his first serious love but they both decided they weren't for each other. And in that frustration towards Cammy, and perhaps his lust for women, it didn't take long for Ken to set his sights on Eliza. The only thing that didn't work in the relationship at first was her outlook on fighting. Because she was so gentle and caring by nature, she had a hard time accepting Ken's lifestyle – fighting in martial arts competitions for money and fame. And she wasn't a big fan of his ego, either. But something about him won her over, and to this day, Ken had no idea what he'd done to get so lucky, but he wasn't about to complain.
Because he was raised alongside Ryu by the same sensei, a lot of Ken's philosophies had revolved around the fight. The only difference was that Ken came from a privileged family and he knew there was an outside world to take advantage of. Ryu, on the other hand, was taught that the fight was all, and that was all he knew. Despite his ultra-modern lifestyle, Ken still held the same values close to heart, and Eliza had a hard time relating to those values. To her, the fight was all about hurting others to satisfy a primal barbaric instinct among men. It had taken a long time for Ken and Eliza to understand and respect each other's views and that was where they were at today. Years ago, Ken probably wouldn't be in a Street Fighter tournament. He wouldn't have a United States to send Eliza home to because they'd be there already.
Ken ripped open the chip back and stuffed a handful of the orange crusted chips into his mouth, marveling at the taste. It instantly brought him back to the time when Kenny lived with them, when the youth was still suffering from amnesia at the young age of six. After he'd been dropped off at the Masters estate, surprisingly by Sagat of all people, Ken had been taken aback that he hadn't a clue what to do with young Kenny. After consulting with Ryu, they came to the conclusion that it was best that the child stay with them until they could find some sort of adoption agency, much to Eliza's elation. The sheer thought of a child as young as Kenny at the time, living alone on the streets with nobody to back him up horrified her. Besides, Ken could tell she wanted to keep him, at least for a little while.
Kenny also stayed at the Masters residence for a year. During that time, the amnesia attacks would happen every so often. He would remember the events up to the last attack, go to sleep and go through another, and his memory would be wiped clean again. Ken and Kenny would often sit in front of the TV every Friday night and on weekends and stuff their faces full of junk food into the early morning hours. Words would not bring Kenny's memory back, but somehow, the taste of the junk food – mainly cheddar flavored goodies which Kenny took a liking to – would jolt his memory, but nothing too significant.
Ken looked up from the bag of chips in his hand, sensing he was about to walk into an approaching person and stopped dead in his tracks, throwing his bag of chips to the ground. It was the same sight he saw earlier this afternoon, standing in front of him, blocking his passage through the dim, narrow passageway leading out of the cafeteria. The man's body was tall and powerfully built, judging by the size of his silhouette. It was his eyes that Ken instantly recognized as the last thing before he blacked out and woke up with the ambulance staff around him. He could feel his body instinctively sink into a fighting stance after so many years of training and this time, he would not be caught off guard by the familiar, once-friendly face. He could only guess at what was going on behind those cerulean blue eyes.
XXXXX
Wagner looked up from the book he was reading. It had been strangely interesting for a novel found crumpled at the bottom of a magazine stack. Wagner pulled it out because it was the most intelligent looking thing in comparison with the fashion and housekeeping magazines that dominated the racks.
He'd only made it through the first chapter when he looked up from the pages at Guile, sleeping soundly in front of him on his bed. Wagner smirked. And to think that just a few minutes ago, he was bitching and complaining to the doctors that he felt fine. But he respected the hospital's decision to keep him for observation overnight. Try as Wagner did to reason with his father, Guile would listen to none of it, continuously insisting that he felt fine. He couldn't understand why Guile hadn't realized he'd just been through a damn car crash. Me might have felt fine now, but who knew what other complications could've occurred as a result later on? At least if they were to happen, he'd be in the hospital and not in his hotel. In the end, all the resisting had taken a toll on his aging but healthy body and he'd fallen asleep instantly like a baby … or an old man.
Wagner had lost interest in the book, as his blue eyes scanned the room like a sharp, experienced soldier. Only he wasn't looking around for threats. He was looking for someone to talk to, despite knowing that there was nobody here, a lesson he'd learned on the battlefield – your eyes don't reveal everything about your surroundings. Ken had gone downstairs to look for food and his wife left before that. Guile was sound asleep on the bed leaving Wagner as the only conscious thing in the room. But not for long …
It started as a sharp pain behind his eyes. He closed them tightly and pressed his fingers against his temples, hoping to curb the pain, but his attempts were futile. He could've taken a hammer to his own head, but it would've been nothing compared to what he was feeling. The novel fell from his hands and clattered to the floor in a heap of folded pages, but he took no notice. The pain was threatening to render him unconscious but Wagner held on for dear life. As soon as he gave in to it and stopped fighting to hold onto his own consciousness, even for a split second he noticed that the pain would subside.
Then he noticed what was happening. He'd noticed it before and he thought it was over. But it was still inside him. Whatever Shadowlaw had done to him, it was coming back. If he let go of his consciousness, the pain would recede, that was true. But he would also lose control of his own body and be a prisoner in his own mind, watching his body from behind his eyes do things he had no control over. Then he noticed Guile lying beside him, fast asleep, completely vulnerable.
Shadowlaw must've kept some kind of a tracking device, or a camera on him. The timing was too perfect for them. Right after him and Guile were left alone, the Agent Initiative technology was activated. Shadowlaw wanted him to kill his own father, it was becoming more and more obvious. But upon realizing everything, Wagner immediately regretted it. All that thinking had distracted him from concentrating on holding on to his conscience and control of his own body. Ironically enough, it was his thinking that cost him his consciousness. Regret. That was the last thing running through his mind before it closed around him, trapping him once again in its depths as he witnessed his body take a life of its own.