Disclaimer: Same old, same old...

Chap. 20

The next day, the trio made there way into the city once again. Using the Yellow Pages, they managed to find out that the man they were searching for owned a dojo a few blocks away from were they were lodging.

"Wow. This place is cool."

The interior was completely different from the battered outside look. The dojo was furnished in red with various gold designs all around the place. Two swords were hung at the far end.

"It looks very much like the dojo back home." Shinji commented after Mel's exclamation. The three continued to examine the place when...

"What are you three doing here?"

The three quickly jumped and looked toward the source of the voice. On a nearby flight of stairs, a blond woman stood. She was clothed with loose jeans and a short sleeved shirt. She gave the three a fierce look

"If you came for lesson, I'm afraid today's not a good time."

Mel stammered, "Less...oh, no. We were just looking for someone."

The woman's glare didn't leave them, "Oh really? I bet you were looking for someone." Her hand began to reach for one of the nearby staffs. "But it looks like you found trouble instead, you..."

"Maki, calm down. They're not criminals."

Another woman descended from the stairs from behind. This woman was almost the same size as the first, with light brown hair. Her hand reached over to Maki's shoulder, trying to get her to lower the weapon.

Maki glared back, "Why should I calm down?"

"Because it's not good for the baby."

It was then that the three youngsters noticed Maki's slightly swollen belly. The woman pressed her hand onto Maki's and Maki dropped the staff.

"Go upstairs and get some rest." the woman encouraged.

Maki gave a semi-growl, but sighed, "Tch, fine."

Maki slowly trudged her way back up the stairs, leaving her companion behind. She shook her head at her friend and then returned her attention to the teens. "Forgive my friend. She's been going through a lot lately." He stepped off the stairs, "My name is Rina."

"Hello, Ms. Rina." Shinji started. "Sorry to enter unexpectedly like this, but we were looking for someone."

"Who?"

"Someone said a man named Guy lived here." Cori said. "We were looking for him."

Rina blinked and nodded her head slightly, "Well yes, this is my husband's dojo. But Maki was right. It's a bad time for accepting students."

Cori shook her head, "No. We just wanted to meet him. We wanted to talk to him about something."

The elder woman put a hand on her hip, "What about?"

"It's...kind of personal." Cori meekly answered.

Rina noticed the tone and nodded again, "I see. Well, he's not here now. He may be back later."

"May?" Mel questioned.

"He tends to stay away for long periods of time sometimes." Rina explained.

Cori lowered her head, "I guess we'll have to come back later."

The three began to move toward the entrance when...

"No, wait."

The three stopped as Rina called them back, "From the looks of it, you guys have traveled a long way here. Why don't you stay for a few minutes and have some lunch?"

"Lunch? Uh, we don't want to impose..." Shinji started.

"Nonsense. We could use the company for a while. Beside, it's better that waiting around." She looked around, "This isn't exactly the safest neighborhood to be in."

Mel suddenly stepped forward, "Well since you put it that way, we'd love to stick around."

***********

Warehouse, Thailand...

"You were a salesman."

Kairi and Hayate stood around the new fighter, Skullomania. Hayate was questioning him a bit while Kairi stayed silent, seething to himself.

"Yep. From long ago. But one day, that changed. I was sent into a circus act to help a sales product. Something clicked then and I discovered I had a talent for fighting. I had somehow awakened a power within me and now I am the superhero that stands before you."

Hayate looked at him strangely, "Uhh, right. Anyway, thanks for your help. What made you come here away?"

Skullomania seemed to frown within his mask, "The one known as Shadowgeist. We seem to have the same powers, only his is evil." He gazed upward,  "That may be the reason I can sense his presence is, wherever it's at."

"Really?"

"We should go, now."

The call came from Kairi, who practically growled and began to walk out of the warehouse. Hayate stared after him.

"Kairi?"

Kairi continued to walk, but called from his shoulder, "Look, the longer we're here, the harder it is to find Sakura and the others. We have to go."

As Kairi strode right out, Hayate turned to Skullo.

"Forgive him. He's been through a lot."

Skullo merely gave a slight wave, "No apology needed. But he is right though. We should go before others arrive."

As the three left the warehouse, Hayate gave another worried glance at Kairi. He's becoming more unstable. Mainly emotion wise. Kairi is just as worried as he was about Sakura, Hokuto and Nanase. Perhaps more about Sakura. But it was affecting him in the worse way possible. The dark part of Kairi's power was beginning to surface once again. If this keeps up, Kairi will become the dark warrior he was before. And if that happened, nothing that Hayate could think of would be able to stop him.

**************

Interpol...

Chun-Li had just returned from her brief visit to the Masters residence to find Guile in the main viewing area where they were monitoring the abductions. More seemed to pop up ever minute as reports continued to come in.

"It's getting worse." she muttered.

Guile turned his head slightly and nodded, "Yeah. But I may have something." He indicated toward the southern Asian section. "Thailand. That's where a good number of these shadow soldiers have been sighted."

Chun-Li blinked. 'Thailand? That was where Shadowloo base of operations was formerly located before it was wiped out.'

"This gets more disturbing each second."

Guile continued, "We may have to accept that this organization is at least linked with Shadowloo. But we need more info. That's why I'm going there to investigate."

"But that's far too dangerous." Chun-Li argued, "Considering that we are up against an unseen force, such a move is reckless."

"That's why I'm going."

From behind on of the lower monitors, Alex walked out beside her.

"I'm getting bored here watching you guys have all the fun."

"Chun-Li, considering what's going on, a small reconnaissance team would be best." Guile went on to explain, "The less people, the better. And Alex has combat experience, so we'll be able to move mostly undetected."

Chun-Li frowned a bit, "Then I'll accompany you as well."

"No." He held up his hand, "And before you even think of arguing with me on this point, think about it. If anything happens to me while we're out there, you're the only one with the full knowledge on this. So it'll be up to you should we fail."

"....Fine. Go on." She held up a finger, "But I want an open radio link just in case."

"Sure, sure." He then grinned, "You know, it has just occurred to me. This is the first time I've won an argument against you."

"Don't push it." was the soft growl.

****************

Unknown...

Two figures were conversing with each other in a dark chamber. One of the figures was tall, with the darkness seeming to emanate from him.

"Our forces have increased by 10 percent."

"Only 10?" the tall figure questioned.

"Given the levels of street fighters worldwide, 10 percent is more than enough."

"It is only enough when I have them all. What's the status of the project?"

"Still low, although we still have yet to test the one called Sakura. And Shadowgeist is luring Kairi here as well. Either one of them would have the sufficient purity of power."

"And Ryu?"

"Still the same. No trace of him anywhere. There were unconfirmed sightings, but nothing concrete."

The voice became uncaring, "No matter. He will come. There's no doubt about that. He's drawn into these conflicts. But soon, he will meet his last."

The minion continued, "Speaking of Ryu, our agents have found some interesting data." A video-screen activated on the wall, showing a familiar image.

"This boy possesses incredible talent and power. But the battle was too brief to have extracted any real data so I cross-referenced it with other possible conflicts. It turns out that this boy has eluded capture on two occasions and has stopped one of our abduction teams in Greece."

"His fighting technique...Who is he?"

"Shinji Xiang."

"Xiang? Chun-Li. So she has a son." A small echo of laughter came from his lips briefly. "Well that makes things interesting. And the father?"

"Ryu."

The figure now bellowed, "Hahaha. Several birds with one stone."

"I thought you would like it. We have made his capture one of our top priorities. But he is not alone. From what we gathered, he's been traveling with another young fighter, Mel Masters as well as a young woman, whom we have also been trying to capture."

The screen reformatted, showing Mel as well as Cori.

"Well, Masters is no surprise. But what of the girl?"

"We've checked her file. She is only known by the name Cori. We don't know her parents or history, save for the fact that she has been living in a church for several years. No data on her before that time. But based off the data from the last encounter, her energy level spiked to level A."

'Hmm. She possesses a powerful aura. Almost like...' He commanded, "I want you to make their capture the top priority. Those three are the key to my ultimate success."

"Yes sir. We are dispatching more soldiers as soon as possi..."

"No. No soldiers. I want stronger fighters to apprehend them. Send Cracker Jack and Vulcano Rosso. They should do just fine."

"As you wish, sir."

****************

Metro City, Guy's residence

"So you three are on a world tour, huh?"

Shinji, Mel, Cori, Rina, and Maki were all sitting at a table, eating lunch. During this time, they told the two women their stories and what they had been doing for the past several months. Which was strange considering both boys were chomping down on the food like wildfire. It didn't help with the fact that Maki was doing the same thing.

"You could say that." Mel answered after swallowing his food. "Our sensei sent us out to learn more about the art of fighting."

Maki stopped eating for a moment, "So you three are fighters?"

"Uh, sort of. We're just students. And Cori is traveling with us."

Rina turned to Cori, "Oh, really? What for?"

Cori looked up from her meal, "Well, I'm looking to find out what happened to my mother. I heard that she was a street fighter and joined these two in order to find her."

"Oh, that sounds intriguing." Rina responded. "Have you...found anything yet?"

Cori's eyes lowered, "Actually, no. Everywhere we've been has turned out to be dead ends. That's why we're here."

"You think Guy would know?"

"I don't know. I hope so." she answered.

Maki gulped down another plate of food, "So who was your mom?"

"I don't know her name." She began to reach into her pocket. "I only have this photo of her."

Rina took a look at the photograph, "Hmm. This woman looks familiar. Hey Maki, you know her?"

She handed the photo to Maki, who at the sight of the person, nearly choked on her food. After coughing a bit, she looked at it again.

"Uhhhh, well....I'm not sure...maybe."

The group looked at her funnily and even Rina was confused by her friend's actions. 'That was strange.'

"It will be late soon. We should return."

Shinji now turned to Cori. 'Why would she say that?' From the look of things, they may have found someone to help her quest. But now she was suggesting that they leave.

"Are you sure, Cori?"

Cori took back the photo and put it back in her pocket. "It...is best. We can always visit tomorrow. "

Mel gave her a strange look as well, but shrugged, "Okay. Is it alright if we visit tomorrow?"

Rina nodded, "That would be just fine if you want." She then joked, "I may have to get more food though. You boys have quite the appetites."

The two scratched the back of their heads in mild embarrassment as they went down the stairs. The sun was just setting outside as the three youths entered the doorway.

"Well, we'll see you..."

A suddenly whoosh of wind stopped her and the other felt it as well. Turning around outside, they saw the same orange-clan man that had saved them the night before. Guy looked at the teens with some surprise.

"You..."