Cammy could've sworn she felt one of her ribs crack as her torso swallowed a massive fist. Her light body flew threw their air and bounced upon making contact with the tarp, like a pebble skipping across the surface of a lake. She tumbled painfully head over heels, random parts of her body smashing against the hard surface until she came to a rest, about three bounces later. Her body felt as heavy as lead as she tried prying herself from the platform. With weak shaky arms, she pushed her torso upwards and looked through her good eye at her opponent. The other eye was now swollen shut from the punch she received earlier in the bout.

He was a tall, giant man with tanned skinned and long, flowing black hair tied into a ponytail. He wore a headband adorned with some kind of Incan zigzag pattern with an eagle feather sticking straight up into the hair from the back of his head. The tribal paint on his face told her he was a Native American, probably from farther down south due to the Incan influence in his costume. It wasn't an elaborate getup by any means - a denim vest and jeans - but the strips of leather attached to the rims of the leather boots gave him a hint of the cowboy look. The opponent wasn't skinny by any means. Hell, she wouldn't have even used the word 'built'. He was a monster, almost as huge as Sagat was. The guy looked like he never left the gym with grotesque muscles and veins popping from every inch of his bare skin. If it wasn't for Cammy's engineered body, there was no way a girl her size would be able to take the abuse that T. Hawk had delivered sofar. He probably knew it too, which was why he was amazed that Cammy could pick herself up from the ground no matter how hard he pounded her.

"Stop this madness now, and accept defeat," he advised in a calm, collected voice, thick with a Spanish accent. "You are not the one I have come to destroy."

Cammy's body shivered with the shock his words delivered. Not here to destroy her? Had he come to kill somebody? "M. Bison ..." Cammy gasped, breathless. "I have come to destroy him. I will not let you stand in my way."

"It seems we have the same goal," T. Hawk replied. "Then what are we doing wasting our time fighting each other?"

"We have to eliminate each other in order to get to Bison," she replied, getting up to her knees.

"Hmph," T. Hawk scoffed, "how cowardly of him. Pitting his enemies against one another so he only has the task of defeating one of us. I'm starting to wonder how capable he is as a fighter, let alone the final boss of this tournament."

Cammy struggled to her feet, surprised that she hadn't met any resistance from her opponent yet. "Do not underestimate Shadowlaw," she said, almost wanting to wag her finger at him. "They have ruined many lives. I thought what they put me through was absolute hell. And I've only learned of others in recent developments."

"And you've just met another."

Cammy stopped talking. This man she was fighting, as different as he was from her, had been through equal suffering. It became more obvious to her that when it came to destroying people's lives, Shadowlaw didn't discriminate. She had to admit that she was slightly surprised to fight out even a man as huge and powerful as T. Hawk was just another toy to Shadowlaw.

"H...how in the world did they ..." was all she was able to let out.

"It's a long story and this isn't the time to discuss it," T. Hawk said. "I refuse to further injure a potential ally in my fight against Shadowlaw. Will you forfeit the match?"

"I ..." In all honesty, Cammy wanted to say yes. She was only here for a match with Bison, and fighting all these other people that got in her way would've drastically drained any energy she'd been able to save sofar. But at the same time, she'd come such a long way, training every day for this opportunity, coming to Osaka and meeting up with the one man she'd ever loved in her life, the understanding of what Bison had done to Guile, Wagner, and her father driving her the whole way. If she quit now, she wouldn't only be letting herself down. She'd be letting everyone else down too - and Cranky, who supported her and believed in her - even though he was probably mad as hell at her right now, she couldn't afford to give up. She wouldn't have it. "I don't."

"Then I will," T. Hawk replied sharply. "But on one condition." He held up an index finger. "That you save a piece of Bison for me."

"Cammy smiled and gave a firm nod. I don't know how long I can keep others from taking that last piece though."

"Oh, I'll be there to take it," T. Hawk said, a grin spreading across his dark features. With that, he turned around and walked off the platform, much to the dismay of the spectators wanting the fight to continue, wanting to see Cammy get the shit beaten out of her.

"T. Hawk is forfeiting the match!" the announcer cried, his voice blaring above the boos of the crowd. "Why is this happening? What has Cammy said to him!" But there was nobody to answer the announcers questions, and it was clear the audience was just as stumped. But Cammy understood why, and she breathed a sigh of relief to know that they had someone else on their side now, a mammoth of a man that she was sure she could benefit from.

She felt someone tug at her wrist, bringing her arm high into the air. A quick glance to her left revealed a referee, in his striped uniform while the announcer declared, "I give you your winner, Cammy!"

XXXXX

Katarina slammed her hands down in dismay onto the wooden table in front of her from the viewers booth. She shot a look at Bison, sitting just in front of her but if he was surprised, he hid it well. Vega was beside her, sitting on the table surface polishing his nails with one leg elegantly crossed over the other. He didn't seem the slightest bit disturbed either.

"Can you believe what just happened!" Katarina shrieked. "She fucking won the match!"

"Need I remind you of whose presence you're in?" Bison asked calmly.

"With all due respects, sir, that can't happen!"

"It's not within the rules that victory can only be achieved by knockout," Bison explained, the tone of his voice never changing. "If she managed to convince him to forfeit the match, then perhaps the Killer Bee is worthy of facing me after all."

"Sir ..." Katarina said, her pride slightly damaged. "I thought you said she was going to be facing me."

"You aren't a participant in the tournament," Bison snapped. "You are a Shadowlaw scientist. You should feel honored that I'm even allowing you to lay a finger on her."

"But if she is to be facing you, won't my involvment ..."

"I don't expect you to win," Bison replied simply. "You need to understand just who you are dealing with. I understand that you are angry for what she did to Vega, but your rage blinds you. Unless you are able to overcome that, I see little chance of you defeating the Killer Bee in battle."

"That's why you want Vega to come with me ..." Katarina hissed through clenched teeth, trying with all her might to keep her rage in check.

"Oh, he'll let you have your fun. Vega always loves seeing beauty in action. But he'll stop it when you've taken too much, since you're not in the right mindset to make that call yourself."

Katarina stormed out of the room, steam shooting out of her ears. How dare Bison say those things to her! How dare he! He obviously didn't understand the kind of talent she had outside of the lab. He didn't seem to recognize that her brother was one of Shadowlaw's finest soldiers, which would reflect on her ability to conduct herself in battle. He didn't understand how hard she trained day and night with intensity. Why, if she ever got to face HIM in battle, she'd teach him a thing or two ...

"Ouch!" Katarina took a step back in shock, in the dark hallway leading from the viewer's booth. She held her nose, feeling her eyes water from the pain. It felt like she'd walked into a brick wall but she could've sworn there was nothing there when she arrived.

"Hey sis, are you okay?"

"Aaron, is that you?" As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw her brother standing before her. A faint light from far off in the hallway illuminating his broad, powerfully built silhouette.

"Come on, Kat," he said, rubbing her cheek with his thumb affectionately, "they call me Issei now."

"Oh, so now you're too cool to be called by your real name, since they've made you Admiral, huh?"

"How's the nose?"

"If you've bent it, I'm never talking to you again."

"Maybe you should try wearing your glasses next time," he snickered.

"Fuck those, I'm getting contact lenses."

"Oh, I didn't know they made contacts that thick." But the comment earned him a hard slap on the shoulder. In the darkness, he could see Katarina pull her hand back and wave it in the air in pain.

"Bastard," she said. "But what are you doing here? I thought you and your unit were supposed to be on some kind of special mission."

"We're patrolling the area for any interference ..."

"What kind of interference?"

"The Satsui no Hadou kind."

"But doesn't Bison want to harness that kind of power? Why would he want you to extinguish it?"

"He wants us to capture it," Issei explained. "And to keep Ryu from it. Ryu has proven to be more powerful without the Satsui no Hadou. There is something special about that warrior and Bison wants to get his hands on him. At the same time, we're expecting involvement from a certain demon ..."

"Akuma ..."

"Correct, and Bison might want him too. Whatever the case, I've revealed too much information to you already. Just promise me you won't try to get involved."

"I know my place."

"Oh, and congratulations," he said, giving his sister a pat on the shoulder. "I heard about Vega's return. Looks like the resuscitation project was a success. I have to admit, I had my doubts as well."

"When I'm the one heading the project, you have no reason to doubt its success."

"I'm proud of you, sis," Issei said, holding Katarina gently by her shoulders. "but I have to get going. I've got some news to report to Master Bison."

"Alright, I'll see you in a bit."

XXXXX

"Tatsumaki …" Ryu wound up his entire body, focusing all the chi he could possibly produce in that one moment and concentrated it into a specific point in his foot. "Senpuukyaku!" He then heapt into the air and kicked outwards, unleashing all the stored energy in giant, devastating waves that ripped apart his opponent, an Indian monk with an unseen elasticity in his appendages.

The waves of energy Ryu unleashed lit up the entire arena, outshining even the light beams that bore down heavily on the fighting platform from high above the dome. Every spectator that crammed every inch of the tiers had to shield their eyes from the bursts of light, blinding everyone while the sounds of Dhalsim's body being battered left and right were the only thing that could be heard for that brief moment.

The light vanished as quickly as it had come, and Ryu stood gasping for breath in the centre of the platform. The monk was, to Ryu's surprise, still on his feet, though blood adorned his face and the front of his body. He then pursed his lips and drew a deep breath, but Ryu's trained instincts told him that the monk wasn't merely breathing. He could feel the electricity in their air being pulled towards the strange monk and before he knew it, the largest flame he'd ever seen in his life shot out of his opponent's mouth towards him. The heat was so intense that it lightly charred Ryu's skin, bathing his entire world in a fiery orange glow.

"Yoga Flame!" the Dhalsim declared proudly.

Ryu scrambled to his feet, regaining his balance with impressive speed, and dodged a row of flaming projectile launched from Dhalsim's mouth, zigzagging between them, moving closer to his opponent for a devastating elbow strike. But just before Ryu could make physical contact, Dhalsim folded his legs under his body, and remained suspended in midair for a split second and vanished suddenly. Ryu's strike had completely missed as he looked around in confusion as to where his opponent could have disappeared to.

Like magic, Dhalsim materialized right behind Ryu and seized him by the shoulders and began burying his fist into Ryu's skull, blow after blow, in rapid succession. "Yoga, yoga, yoga …" he said, with each punch.

Ryu struggled to maintain his orientation as the blows landed painfully on the top of his head. He cupped his hands and pushed them outward at Dhalsim's chest with such force that it had shattered two of the three skulls the Indian monk wore around his neck. Pieces of bone dispersed into the air, while the remaining shards of the skulls still attached to the gold rings around Dhalsim's neck stabbed painfully into his skin. Soon, blood sprayed, joining the cloud of bone bits flying through the air.

The monk was knocked onto the platform, landing on his back. He wrapped his arms across his chest in pain, moaning in suffering. Ryu took a second to catch his breath and looked with pity upon his fallen opponent. Perhaps he should've controlled his strength a little more in battle. After all, he wasting it all on these opponents that the tournament threw his way.

The referee came to his side, lifting his arm into the air. "Your winner for this match, the Street Fighter Champion, Ryu!" And the crowd went wild with excitement while fireworks flashed in celebration of the most familiar face in the Street Fighter circuit.

Ironically, Ryu paid attention to none of it. He wasn't surprised, nor was he overly excited about his victory. The fact that Akuma could make his presence known anytime during the tournament nagged at him from that back of his mind. His senses scanned his immediate surroundings for any traces of the Satsui no Hadou, but he was unable to detect any. But he knew that this was not to last. Akuma had promised him a fight and on behalf of the path that fate had planned for him, he was going to accept the challenge. It was just a matter of time, just a waiting game now.


XXXXX

Wagner struggled to open his eyes but the bright white lights assaulting his vision hindered his efforts. His head ached. So did his neck, and come to think of it, the arms did too. The more he became aware of his body, the more it hurt. Where in the world was he? The steady rhythm of high pitched mechanical beeps sounded in his ear. As his vision slowly came into focus, he turned his head to get a better view of his surroundings, noticing that there was a body lying beside him, the body of a Latino man, olive skin, thickly built, eyes closed peacefully. He looked back up at the ceiling at realized he was lying down – in a soft, comfortable bed to boot.

"At last, you have awoken," a soft, feminine voice called. "I was beginning to wonder if my treatment was going to work."

Wagner turned his head in the other direction to face the mysterious speaker. He didn't recognize her soft, comforting voice that rang like bells in his ears. His glance revealed a voluptuous woman, dressed unlike any other person he'd ever seen in his life. Her hair was a deep shade of purple, flowing gently behind her in some unfelt breeze. A scar shaped like a lightning bolt lay between her eyes. A yellow scarf was wrapped around her slender shoulders, and Wagner's attention was drawn to it, though he couldn't quite figure out why. And he could've sworn he saw a bluish haze around one of her fists but attributed it to his returning vision.

"Who are you?" he asked, unsure of what else to ask her.

"Who I am is not what matters," she replied. Her words were as mysterious as her appearance.

"What matters is that you are alright, and that the Psycho Power no longer has a hold on your fragile mind."

"The brainwashing is … gone?" Wagner asked, unsure of how the lady had done if, if she was at all responsible.

She grinned and nodded her head. "You may return to the life you once led. Your friends are in grave danger."

Wagner forced himself to sit up, making the room spin around him. Another look at the Latino man beside him revealed he was also beginning to come around. "My friends … where are they?"

"The Street Fighter tournaments have begun," the mysterious woman replied, her tone low and cautious, almost like she was trying to warn them. "Your friends and family are participating as we speak and are no patch for the power that Bison wields."

"I will kill Bison with my bare hands," Wagner spat bitterly.

"You cannot even hope to touch him," the lady said, folding her arms across her chest.

"And what the hell do you know?" Wagner asked, getting a little more defensive than he'd intended.

"I know that you are a young fool," she teased, "just barely older than the troubled child Guile took under his wing. No matter how much you've grown as a person, as long as you allow that child to dictate your actions, you will always remain that young, immature, headstrong fool. The key to winning isn't how powerful you are. It's how well you understand your enemy. And you don't have a clue when it comes to M. Bison."

Her words enraged Wagner. He had never seen this woman in his life and here she was, standing in front of him with a smug smile plastered across her face, acting like she knew him better than he knew himself. The nerve she displayed made him see red for a moment, but he fought to keep his temper in check.

"What do you expect me to do? If I'm as useless as you're making me sound, why have you bothered reviving me from my sleep? Why did you waste your time?"

She shook her head, saying, "I never said I'd wasted my time. You don't need me to be assured that you have some serious power going on in that body of yours. You just need to know how to control it. Your friends need that power right now, though they don't know it themselves."

"Cammy, Guile," Wagner said urgently, "what happened to them? Are they alright?"

"They plan to go up against Bison," she repeated, "but are completely unaware of just how powerful the new Psycho Drive is. Bison is planning to capture the champion Street Fighter, Ryu and use his power to further enhance the Psycho Drive. Simultaneously, he hopes to harness the power of the Satsui no Hadou and use that too. Ryu is a powerful warrior standing alone. Can you imagine the kind of power Bison will possess once he combines Ryu's chi, the Satsui no Hadou, and the Psycho Drive? He will be nigh unstoppable. As it is, they've developed a new program to brainwash worthy warriors, enslaving them, turning them into nothing more but disposable Shadowlaw agents, not unlike the Doll Program. Shadowlaw has a lot going for them right now, and the longer we wait, the harder it will be to stop them."

"And how do you know all this? If I am to believe you, I will need to know just who you are."

"You must do something, Scott Wagner, you and Julian Marquez, that man lying beside you. You were both captured by Shadowlaw and turned into their mindless agents. That should be evidence enough in itself."

"You're not answering my question."

She rolled her eyes. "If it will get you out of here and to the rescue of the people most important to you in your life … my name is Rose."

XXXXX

"Who is he, Master Bison?" Issei asked. He stood tall above his master, who was seated. Issei folded his arms across his prominent chest and spoke angrily to Bison, something he'd never done in his entire career with Shadowlaw.

"Be seated," Bison ordered. "I will not tolerate my subordinates thinking they can even talk to me in such a manner, regardless of their rank."

"And I will not tolerate my own employers keeping my past from me," Issei replied, standing firm. "Who was that teenager I saw with the fiery haired foreigner today?"

"What makes you so interested in some random teen walking down the street?" Bison inquired. "You have a mission, soldier. And I don't need you paying attention to trivial details. What makes you think this teen is a part of your past?"

"His energy signature, his 'aura' if you will, was nearly identical to mine and Katarina's."

Bison almost choked on his own spit upon hearing those words. The only other person who would share similar chi energy with Admiral Issei and Katarina Feng would be their biological younger brother, Kenneth. But the youth had already been killed … unless someone intervened. But who?

"I want that teen eliminated," Bison hissed. "He was supposed to have been destroyed days ago, but apparently the task was not completed."

"Why would you waste your resources eliminating a mere brat like that?"

"Do not question my orders, soldier!"

"Not until I get some answers, Master Bison!" Admiral Issei insisted. "Katarina and I come from a broken family. Our entire lives, we grew up under the care of Shadowlaw, training hard everyday in our respective fields. We have shed tears, blood, and sweat for this organization without asking you once for an explanation on our family. We were only told that we were the children of a certain Dr. Tai Su Feng, and his wife Shao Mei. But who were these people? Where had they come from? Why does that teenager share the same chi energy as Katarina and I?"

Bison took a moment to choose his words carefully, staring at Admiral Issei right in the eyes. "That boy is responsible for the death of your father," he replied. "He was nothing but a petty thief living on the streets when he stole Dr. Feng's masterpiece, the Shadow Technology, thinking it was some kind of computer chip that he could sell on the streets and make some money off of. Your father chased after him, but the teen retaliated, pulling a knife from underneath his jacket. He stabbed Dr. Feng to death."

"And the similar chi signature?"

"I'm sure you're aware that the Shadow Technology was in fact biotechnology. It had a natural attraction to biological makeup."

"Yes."

"Your father, being the creator of the work obviously had regular contact with the work and accidentally deposited his DNA makeup. So when the teen stole the chip and unknowingly absorbed all the information it contained …"

Issei nodded, understanding the elaborate lie. "So not only is he a potential threat to our developments, but he killed my father and stole his best work."

"Dr. Feng must be avenged, Issei. I didn't want to tell you the story because I feared you might …"

"I have not lost my composure, sir. And you have my word, that teen will die on behalf of my father." "