Disclaimer: Street Fighter II and all of the characters within it belong to Capcom. This fanfic, as well as the created characters within it belong to me.
Part 6: Deceit and Betrayal
By Evil Wild Lex
Interpol base
United States of America
Agent George Clarke's hazel eyes scanned the Interpol hallways, left, then right. His report to Bison was overdue, but this was his first opportunity to slip away. Shadowlaw had taken Bison's offspring right under Interpol's nose, and the international police force was not made up of a bunch of fools, despite the occasional evidence to the contrary. Presently, few people were walking in the sterile, white halls, and none of them were involved with this case. Perfect. No one to question him. The Cougar was beginning to feel caged.
Slipping into one of Interpol's many communications rooms, Cougar prepared the radio. He selected an older channel, one that nobody else would be likely to be trying to use. One of the more regularly used channels would be virtually static free, but he had no intention of putting himself in a situation where explanations would be necessary. He shut the door and kept the room darkened, lit only by the lights of the advanced communication system.
"Cougar reporting," he intoned quietly. There was thirty seconds of chilling silence before Bison's snarling voice finally replied.
"It's about time. Over the past couple of weeks, I've been growing. . .impatient." The last word carried a warning. Bison was a man who got what he wanted, when he wanted, and he liked to remind others of that fact.
"Humblest apologies, my Master, but all agents on this case are being watched closely. It wasn't possible to slip away any earlier."
"Hm." Whether Bison was acknowledging the problem grudgingly, or warning Cougar he was treading on thin ice was hard to say. "I hope you have something worth reporting."
"Yes sir, I do. Agent Chun Li Xiang has contacted Major Guile of the United States army." He felt relieved to have something that might interest the Megalomaniac.
"Don't you mean Captain Guile?" Bison questioned.
"He was recently promoted, sir. He's got soldiers all over looking for your base, and anyone from Shadowlaw that might show up here."
"Useful to know," Bison said with a little chuckle. "Perhaps I'll give him what he's looking for soon. Bison out."
Cougar could honestly say he hated what he was doing, gathering information and secretly destroying Interpol from the inside. Certainly, his ancestors had been far braver, meeting their enemies head on in battle. However, his people were being defeated just as, if not more indirectly than his own actions. Government legislation giving them scraps of land, and ignoring their identity because it was convenient, all under the guise of being a "free" first world country.
The bitter man pondered this as he closed the door and left the room. . .nearly walking right into Agent O'Connor. How perfectly awkward.
Agent George Clarke explained he was contacting someone for a rather slow moving case he was working on at the same time, but gut instinct told him that O'Connor was suspicious and didn't entirely believe him. Sure enough, less than two hours later, he found O'Connor fiddling around with the radio, trying to figure out which frequency he'd been using. Well, two could play at that game. He found Agent Xiang a few minutes later, and spoke to her solemnly.
"I found Agent O'Connor in one of the communications rooms, but he didn't sign in to use it. It looked like he didn't want anyone to know about it." As expected, Chun Li's lovely mouth curled into a disgusted frown.
"O'Connor? Really?" She sighed. "Try to find out who he contacted when you get the chance. I'll let the others know. Thank you, Agent Clarke." Cougar nodded gravely. It was good that he'd convinced her. Despite her being so young, she had more experience with Shadowlaw than any other Interpol agent...excepting himself. But nobody knew about that.
When the opportunity arose, he slipped into the communications room again, this time more urgently.
"Master. Agent O'Connor is close to the truth."
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Twenty minutes later
Shadowlaw Headquarters
Cold, unreadable, pupiless eyes fixed themselves on two men. One with blonde hair, a fair tan and a mask. The other darker skinned, incredibly tall, with a large scar across his chest. Their chiseled, commanding master faced them, with a frown that could have been carved from stone. A terrifying man, resembling the evil spirits portrayed in ancient Greek sculpture.
"You called?" inquired Vega lazily from behind his mask. That he'd left out the 'Master' honorific did not go unnoticed. Bison ignored it for the time being. He would put the beautiful little worm in his place at a more convenient time.
"I'm sending you both to the Interpol office in the United States," Bison growled, "to clean up the Cougar's mess." Something small in the posture of both men shifted. They did not want to be used for menial tasks--they, Shadowlaw's finest! It was insulting to their skills as fighters. "I need a certain Agent O'Connor killed. He's figured out too much."
"And the Cougar, who caused this in the first place?" Unlike Vega, Sagat was not eager for the kill. Just aware that no one failed Shadowlaw without repercussions.
"Beat him, but not to unconsciousness. He's been very useful so far. I can afford him some kindness." He looked directly to Sagat. "I have a different task for you, but in the same place. It seems that Interpol is continuing the search for my children. It would be a shame for their efforts to go wasted. Let them see how happy they are here in Shadowlaw."
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That evening
Interpol, United States of America
Behind his mask, there was a predatory smirk on Vega's face. It had been a while since his last kill, and Bison's strange children were setting him on edge. Spartacus for the striking resemblance he bore to his father, right down to the temper and voice. A carbon copy of Shadowlaw's leader, but in his late teens.
/Just what I need, a second Bison,/ he pouted to himself. Despite not fearing anything other than outer ugliness, Vega made a point of keeping tabs on anyone capable of beating him to the point of disfigurement. There were few and far between, so it was hardly a chore. Just good sense for a man who had so much pride in his appearance.
The girl, Athena, was in some ways more disturbing than her brother or father. The abilities she had shown were mainly defensive, but she was equally as deadly as the rest of her family. That wasn't what troubled Vega, though. It was her cool indifference toward nearly everything around her that was unnatural. The day after he, Sagat and Balrog had brought her here onwards, she had reacted to very little. She didn't even blink when he took his mask off in her presence earlier this week; she merely passed by as though he was another of her father's minions. Now that was insulting.
He looked forward to this kill. An Interpol agent...the only thing that could possibly have been sweeter would have been the chance to repay Chun Li for their encounter last year. It had taken months to recover from his injuries, plastic surgery to repair the damage on his exquisite face, and the worst of all, groveling to Bison. Of course, he wouldn't have even been spared if Bison didn't need him, but Shadowlaw's leader wouldn't let anyone forget for a moment what a cruel despot he could be.
Oh yes, this kill would be sweet. Just what Vega needed to relieve the tension he'd been suffering of late. And it was all his, despite the three others in his company. Their task was different.
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Sagat was impressed with the drastic improvements Bison's children had made when it came to controlling their powers. Having someone to teach them had made a huge difference in their skills than from when they were strictly self-taught. It appeared that this training was one of the main things keeping them here in Shadowlaw, too.
Athena had taken the lead, being hte quietest and least conspicuous of the three of them. Spartacus was in the middle, and Sagat was taking up the rear, despite being placed in charge of this operation. His height stood out enough and the kids were competent enough that he wasn't concerned about his position. Whatever got the job done. Satisfying Bison would mean being that much closer to a rematch with Ryu.
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Nervous tension running through his spine, Cougar had been waiting with Agent O'Connor, discussing things with him all day, ever since his report to Bison. He had already spoken to Chun Li about O'Connor being the spy, but didn't want the other man to present her with any evidence to the contrary. The Master was having everything taken care of. He expected it to be any time now, but felt as nervous about being discovered as he did about the arrival of whomever Bison sent. Though he knew he deserved whatever he got for letting himself get careless, he still didn't look forward to it.
O'Connor watched him suspiciously as they walked through the hallways. Cougar did the same. It would have been amusing, were this a game or joke of some sort.
The hallway the two men walked through was dim. Two of the lights ahead, at the nearest corner, were broken. Upon spotting those, and listening to the eerily dead silence of the halls, alarm bells went off inside Cougar. Every instinct told him an ambush was up ahead. Yet, he proceeded. The ambush was for O'Connor.
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Cougar had done well, Vega noted. Whether it had been his intention to take O'Connor through the quietest, most dimly lit hallways of Interpol, or whether he had been steering the man away from others to avoid discovery, it was more convenient for the Spanish assassin this way. Perhaps he would be nicer to the wild cat, and not leave him too bloody. Perhaps not.
Moving with the stealth he'd learned while studying ninjitsu, he listened to the approaching sounds of O'Connor and Cougar's voices. He paused at the corner, the darkest place in the hallways. The best place to ambush them.
O'Connor barely had the time to let out a strangled scream before Vega's claws pierced his throat, severing his vocal chords. Another slash gauged his eyes, and a final, fatal hit was driven into the Interpol agent's abdomen. Wet crimson soaked into his previously pristine taupe suit, leaving stains that would never come out. Blood had a way of remaining. As if it mattered to O'Connor now. The damage Vega did guaranteed a closed casket funeral or cremation.
The masked Spaniard watched his gory masterpiece take effect as the Interpol agent took his last, desperate breaths. Then he rounded on Cougar, who looked more like a small deer, paralyzed by fear as it looked into the headlights of his car. At least, that was the look Vega recognized in his hazel eyes. An amused, throaty chuckle escaped his throat. How amusing to see someone the Master valued so, showing signs of cowardice. Vega would savor his fear.
"This is what happens to those that fail Bison," he told Cougar, gesturing to O'Connor's recently dead corpse with delight he knew the expert tracker could sense.
Nearly smelling the fear on him, Vega advanced, licking blood off his claws while approaching the wild cat. To his credit, the other man actually showed very few outward signs of fear. His pupils had changed, and his heart rate was quite likely faster than normal, but he really only seemed uncomfortable and moderately nervous. A pity.
Like a whip cracking, he lashed a vicious kick into the ribs of his victim, following up with a punch to the man's face. Cougar grunted, but took the punishment like a man. More blows ensued. All painful, but none life threatening. At last, Vega stood back to admire his work. Agent George Clarke's nose was puffed up and bleeding, but nothing marked him as a victim of anything more than a brainless thug who got lucky. A signature would have to be left. Deftly, he leapt up and flipped behind his target. As he plummeted downwards, he let his claws gash into Cougar's dark back. It almost seemed a shame that Cougar was not to fight back. That separated this from a victory and what it was -- merely a job. Perhaps when he recovered, the chance to fight him would present itself.
"I want you to deliver a message for me," Vega said, almost conversational. He raised his claw in demonstration. "Tell Chun Li Xiang she's next." That said, he darted off into the shadows.
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Their mission had two purposes: to cause enough of a commotion that Vega could escape without notice, and to assert that Bison's offspring were with Shadowlaw of their own free will, making it futile to try tracking them down any further. They had begun with breaking into the office of this Interpol building's mainframe computer. No mercy was shown, to those who tried to interfere, and those who watched in terror. All were knocked into unconsciousness from powerful psycho blasts, courtesy of Spartacus, but all would survive.
Athena rapidly teleported to different seats, keying in values and letters so fast that her fingers and teleporting form were a blur of peach, dark red, and black. She went on like this for several minutes, then stopped, looking tired and in need of a short rest, but satisfied.
"What did you do?" Sagat questioned her. Bison's instructions had been to trust his children's judgment unless there was sufficient reason not to, but that didn't mean Sagat intended to be uninformed. Particularly considering he was supposed to be running this operation.
"I programmed a virus into the mainframe computer of this Interpol building, which will, in turn, infect every computer networked to it...including the one that regulates the power of the entire building. Of course, there will be a manually operated backup, but that should cause enough panic in a few minutes regardless."
Direct, as if reporting on any other solution to a problem. God. It was disturbing, the way she displayed no signs of guilt over doing this to the organization that had raised her. Sagat didn't like this method of fighting Interpol, regardless of how effective it was. It was the act of a criminal, not of a warrior. But then, Athena and Spartacus had been created and raised as weapons, which sat even worse with him. It seemed fitting that Interpol's living creations of war should turn against them.
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A few minutes later
Chun Li sat at her desk, contemplating what Agent Clarke had told her earlier today. It was hard to believe that Agent Pat O'Connor, one of Interpol's finest, was a spy. He'd had a career in the organization for fifteen years, with a nearly spotless record. In frustration, she banged her fist down hard on the desk. How could she fight Bison and Shadowlaw if she didn't know who she could trust?!
The harsh blow rattled her nearby monitor, which suddenly had a very poor, and rapidly poorer quality image on the screen. Then the computer beside it simply shut off.
/Did I hit the desk hard enough to knock the video card loose. . .?/ she wondered. Her question was answered when she heard various curses come from neighboring offices. No, it was a bigger problem. The question of whether it was just a network mishap or foul play was answered as every light and appliance in the building unceremoniously shut off.
Fumbling around in her bottom desk drawer, Chun Li fished out a small battery-operated flashlight that had come with her takeout lunch earlier this week. This furthered her belief that things happened for a reason, even if they seemed like a weird coincidence at first. Everything fit in at a later time. For example, another tour guide could have been chosen to show Ken and Ryu the sights of Hong Kong years ago, but it had been hear, and now they were dear friends, despite losing contact and not seeing each other much.
A determined look set itself in her delicate features, one that promised to hunt down the bastards that did this and make sure they were hurting before they were thrown in custody. It wasn't possible to do this sort of damage to the Interpol building from anywhere else but inside the building itself. Chances were, the bastards were still here.
Leading a few other armed agents she found along the way, Chun Li made her way through the dark halls, quietly but quickly. Whoever did this wasn't going to get away with it, especially if they were working for Shadowlaw! Their trek was halted when they met three shadowy forms. One as tall as a mountain, the second a slender, feminine figure, the last of them with glowing white eyes.
"Don't move!" Chun Li shouted at the trio, whom she identified as Sagat, and the missing Athena and Spartacus projects. A guttural chuckle came from the boy with pupiless eyes, and the girl merely sniffed disdainfully. Only Sagat spoke.
"Put away your weapons. I don't want to kill you if I don't have to, but I will if you make it necessary." He took a step forward. The click of a trigger about to be pulled could be heard through the wave of tension sweeping through the dark hall.
"Don't be stupid," Spartacus growled at them. "Your guns are nothing compared to our power...father's been training us." The agent with the itchy trigger finger fired at him, but the bullet never hit its mark. A shield of psycho power from Athena's outstretched arms made certain of that. The lethal bullet fell harmlessly to the ground, unable to penetrate the bright energy.
"Move out of the way," said the girl, a hint of anger in her calm voice. "Do not try to track us down. We will not return to Interpol's custody. More things of this sort will happen if you try to apprehend us. Attempts to prevent our leaving here will result in death. Act wisely."
Had they been brainwashed by Shadowlaw as Cammy was? Chun Li didn't think so. This seemed like an act of free will. Certainly, Sagat was not brainwashed. What a champion Muay Thai fighter like himself had been promised in exchange for the soul he'd sold to Shadowlaw, she couldn't say. However, everyone had a price. Apparently, one had been found for Bison's progeny. Training, and understanding of their abilities, perhaps.
"Stand down," she told the other agents after a full, tense minute. "Holding them won't do any good if our power's down and the security system isn't working."
"But Agent Xiang! They're with--"
"I SAID stand down!" she said, bite accompanying her bark. "We'd need the highest security possible for just one of them, much less three. We need to focus on damage control for now." In the dim light of her flashlight, her brown eyes shone vindictively. She glared at the Shadowlaw trio. "Get out."
As promised, they left without further casualties. Continuing along the halls, Chun Li heard a weak moan. Shining her flashlight at its source, she found a vaguely familiar face, beaten and bloody to the point that she almost didn't recognize its owner at first.
"Agent Clarke!" she exclaimed. "What happened?"
"Vega...killed O'Connor...I suppose to....silence him." The Native Canadian was clearly in pain, but forced himself to continue. "The body's...down the hall a bit..."
"It's a miracle you're still alive then," she said, the shock of today not quite taking effect yet.
"That's...because he had.......a message." Agent Clarke said, going on. His dark hazel eyes met her face, a grim expression in them. "You're next."
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Author's note: O.O Never believe me when I claim that I'll update soon. But this chapter was a long one, and I liked the way it flowed. Written out by hand in my notebook, bit by bit, then typed. I hope you enjoyed it. ^^ As always, please review and let me know what you thought. Particularly if you have any insight to offer on my characterizations...I tried to do that for Vega and Chun Li especially, so I'd like to know how successful I was. Keep in mind that my Vega muse is not a nice Vega muse that's got plans of being involved with anyone other than his reflection. ^_~ He's just mean and likes the art of 'stabby stabby kill kill'.