Rosa has always been one of the more underappreciated characters of the SNK roster IMO, much like the game she comes from. I like her a lot more than, say, Shermie or B. Jenet, which should tell you something about my tastes(*unconvincing coughs*), so I was pretty excited to reach her point in the story, quite frankly.

BOYLE HEIGHTS'S STREETS, IN THE MIDDLE OF CLOGGED TRAFFIC

Even before joining the rebellion against King Leo, surviving in the unforgiving criminal underground day by day has always been a key part of her life. Those were her most important memories, together with the day when she choose her new name, Rosa, or meeting her beloved resistance group for the first time. She long past stopped caring about whatever traumatic event could've caused her amnesiac state, having built a pretty satisfactory life and identity over the years in the streets. What matters now is to provide for her family, to keep a rooftop over all of their heads, by taking missions from all sorts of contractors as long as the task wasn't outright morally repugnant.

Today was no different, as Rosa was on her Ducati, closely following a truck of one of Mr. Big's removal companies. A mere front, of course, to hide his criminal activities, but its destination is what interests her. The word that Big joined the New Hizoku spread fast through hearsay and his first job is to transport an important piece of machinery, the components of which are worth quite the hefty sum...that's what the rumors say, at least. It's an unwritten belief in the underworld that anything involving that buffoon, even considering his recent admission in Ron's inner circle, isn't worth anyone's time, but for Rosa that just means no pesky competition in a piss-easy job, especially if the value of the delivery is confirmed.

When reaching the crossroad in front of it, the truck went for the right with the impression that the destination was near. That proved to be the case, as Big's men entered an anonymous-looking warehouse filled to the brim with stolen assets, closing the huge metal gate behind them. Rosa leaned her bike on the wall by the other side of the road; From that distance it was impossible to understand what they were up to precisely, but safe to say that the army guy with the sunglasses was calling the shots there, giving the rest of those meatheads instructions. John Crawley, one of the most fervent loyalists of Mr. Big for some baffling reason, opened the back of his truck and started sharing its contents.

"Feast your eyes on these bad boys, people!" John enthusiatically announced, like he was opening birthday presents. "FN SCAR-L rifles. The best in the market and there's one for everyone so go nuts!"

While they took a closer look to thier shiny new toys, Rosa was wondering...that's it? A simple weapon delivery? Maybe her intuition really flubbed this time. Meanwhile, in response to all that ruckus, a pale-skinned woman with an open blouse barged from inside the warehouse.

"Can you keep it down? I'd prefer not having the police here attracted by your noise."

"Sorry about that, Miss Luan, but you can't blame my men for being ecstatic. I mean, who wouldn't be overjoyed by holding one of these beauties?"

"Pieces of metal strung together to form a dishonorable weapon, how riveting. Why don't you do something actually useful and come inside? That fat bastard is in a panic attack with the Chi-Converger."

The two left the open area, with thier flunkies still enjoying thier new equipment. A perfect distraction for Rosa to sneak in unnoticed. There was an armed guard at the entrance, but the cars parked near it served nicely as a cover. In a split-second moment, Rosa jumped at him while his head was facing the opposite direction, delivering a roundhouse to his stupid face and finishing the loss of conscience process with a hard fist to the temple. Suitably, she dragged him into a nearby trashcan where he could enjoy his afternoon nap in peace.

Now for the hard part, the swordswoman had to sneak inside without causing even the slightest hint of suspicion or trace of her presence. Getting past the parking lot and into the door Crawley and Luan passed through, Rosa rolled behind some boxes of rations, in a position where she could witness the toiling around of the dozens of Mr. Big's subordinates, preparing for god only knows what convoluted plan. Left in a tight spot, Rosa looked around for any possible vantage points she could've use, but there was an armed goon at every angle, making it impossible to move from there without alerting anyone. To make things even worse, two of them came near her for a smoke break, forcing an abrupt manuevre to avoid getting caught by standing in a lying position. One of them seemed visibly stressed about something, given the anxious way he was puffing his nicotine cylinder.

"Jesus, would you relax already? If you don't fuck up, that freak won't kill you. Sounds easy to understand to me." The goon on the left said.

"I'm telling you, this shit is way too big for us. It's gonna blew up in our faces at some point, just you wait." His friend responded, inhaling heavily once more.

"Please, don't be a pussy, not now that we've got the type of resources that piece of shit Howard can only dream of."

"Does it matter when our "business partners" are these sickos? The other day she tore Collins's guts out and left him to bleed on the floor in front of everyone for a misfired bullet. Am I the only one who thinks that's kind of fucked up?"

"Boo hoo, serves him right for being a fucking dumbass. Now quit whining and pass me a cigarette."

The guards kept arguing with each other, but that all sounded like white noise to Rosa, who was left with little option. Much to her reluctance, the stealthy approach just wouldn't have work, leaving only the much dirtier alternative. Charging up chi, her katana shined of an incredible light, long enough for everyone inside to look towards it. What they saw after that was a massive tornado of chi that swat them around like the pesky flies they were, namely the strongest move in Rosa's repertoire, the Shouri No Akatsuki. Sounds of falling bodies filled the room as the two liutenants made thier presence known, along with some other mooks and Jack Turner, another one of Mr. Big's closest allies.

"Guess you've made the wrong investments, guys." She cheekly snarked. "I'm Rosa, by the way. I'll be taking those components if you don't mind."

"Goddamn it, 'dem rifles ain't for decoration, use 'em!" Shouted Turner in a sterling example of positive reinforcement.

"Tch, another mercenary lowlife out for some quick cash. I won't sully my hands with one of your kind. YOU LOT! We don't need another "example", do we? Get rid of this gnat and fetch me her corpse once you're done." Luan commanded, before returning to the assemblement room.

In any other circumstance, an army against one equals the most obvious result in the universe, but in this case? Rosa liked her chances a lot.

NEXT TIME: Rosa finds herself in quite the precarious situation, having to deal with Mr. Big's lackeys before chasing after her grand prize.