Author's note: Welcome, one and all, to the Bird of Darkness. A new story of sorts, this one will follow a rather unique path, yet it'll follow the New Archives storyline. This story is part of a three story trilogy (more details on these stories to be revealed later) and is broken up into "sagas". Each chapter will follow a few "teams" of sorts, and each chapter will NOT have the same characters in them, so don't confuse yourself reading it. Reviews are greatly appreciated since I haven't written in a while, so, without further ado, here's the prologue (Chapter 1). I don't own any of Capcom's, Arika's, or SNK's fighters. I only own the one's that I have in my profile and any new moves I gave existing characters. Also, there are a few characters that were lent to me from other author which are listed below…

MIGGYMIESTA

Tomoko Nakamura

Marcos Oretga

Skye Hawk

Unoka Muir

Chela Castillo

SONY LOVE

Emi Tsuki

Keiko Tsuki

JAMI

Scott Wagner

CHAN

Yui Su'ang

Now, with no further interruptions, let the BOD sagas commence...

SAGA 1/5: REBIRTH

PROLOGUE: A BIRD TAKES FLIGHT

One shall desire great power through deception and corruption... That person shall go down into the human world and play upon the lives of others, and eventually achieve the power desired... However... this is only a messenger... A pawn in a much bigger scheme... where the players play for much greater stakes... The sake of the world will be signified on the rise of the forgotten... Take heed, for the early apocalypse is approaching...

Renevois: 32:40

Location Unknown: 10:49 PM

"Is everything ready?"

"Yes. All components are in the green."

"Excellent. Prepare the body and the remains of his Psycho Power. The final transfer will begin now."

"Understood."

The loud whirling sound of machinery filled the entire lab, totally drowning out the harsh winds from outside the walls. Beyond those 4 walls rested nothing but snow and trees for about 100 miles. The isolation was necessary because if anyone were to come close to the solitary building they could quickly feel uneasiness in their heart. Inside, scientists were hard at work operating the huge contraption that rested in the far end of the room. It held two portals attached to the sides of the central computer, which was being operated by one of the male scientists. As he pressed buttons, the two capsules, which hid their components, started to glow...

"Commence the Psycho transfer in 3... 2... 1... Start operation."

As the operator entered the command to the machine, the man in charge crossed his arm as he made his way over to watch, a sadistic smile on his pretty face. This was the moment the bishounen had been waiting for. The tall, thin and handsome blond rested his blue eyes on the left mechanical capsule as the whole thing whirled louder and started to glow with an eerie purple aura. He could feel it... He could feel the familiar evil presence alive and well...

"Transfer if 45 percent complete," the lead scientist informed him. "Estimated amount of time until completion: 1 minute 15 seconds."

The blond in the Spanish matador outfit widened his grin. "That's wonderful... He, he, he... Just a little more until the revival of Bison..."

As seconds crawled by the evil energy in the capsule grew more potent. Steadily the aura seemed to grow bigger and bigger... and the man's anticipation grew. Things were going according to plan... until the screen the operator worked on turned from green to orange... and the whirling from the machine increased dramatically.

"What is going on here?" the bishounen demanded, his smirk now in a slight scowl.

"Don't worry, Senior Vega," a female scientist responded from behind. "This was expected. Bison's new body's undergoing its new addition..."

"Hmm..."

"He's grown accustomed to this secondary energy numerous times... but this is the first time that he has to actually accept it as his own. This 'new' energy and his Psycho Power will need to be carefully merged in order for the body transfer to be successful. It's all going according to how we planned it."

Vega nodded slightly and now watched carefully. The alarming signals that were present a few seconds ago were dying down and the whirling sound soothed.

"Transfer is now 86 percent complete," the head scientist announced. "It's going a bit faster than we planned... Status report?"

"Heart rate operating and running at normal pace."

"Energy still on the rise... It's far exceeding anything we've planned."

"Vital signs improving and blood flow at maximum efficiency."

"Splendid..."

The purple aura seemed to engulf the entire room in its afterglow, every now and then flickering in a red flash. Vega and the rest of the conductors just looked on in awe as the operation concluded.

95 percent...

96 percent...

97 percent...

98 percent...

99 percent...

Then the whirling came to a halt and the glow from the machine died down. There was a universal silence that claimed the room as everyone stared at the central computer's message...

TRANSFER COMPLETE

The time had finally come... The active capsule opened on its own slowly... Vega expected to see a man's sleek, masculine & powerful body to be the vessel for Bison's soul after all that extensive operations that spanned over a good 2 years. However, as the body was more visually displayed, much to Vega's surprise, what he saw was a much more slender body. It sported more... curves than a man's body... and upon the full opening of the cocoon, Vega's eyes widened in complete shock.

"Huh?? What the--??" he gasped, staring straight at the person inside. The features were surprising: slim, moderate height, low muscle tone, long brown hair... and ultimately, Vega was staring at a rather attractive, half naked woman, covered by red militia pants that loosely resembled Bison's and a normal t-shirt. Stunned, Vega stuttered his sentence out.

"W... What... What in the--?"

"Vega..."

That same man gasped a tiny bit at the new, somewhat soft voice that came from the woman inside the drive. Vega slowly looked into her closed eyes as she started to stir. Her eyelids fluttered a bit... then shot open wide, clearly exposing the completely red eyes that hid behind them. Everyone else in the room just looked on as this new being calmly emerged from the pool, her focus only on Vega. The Spaniard, somewhat sensing something, kept his ground, letting the brunette approach him face-to-face, even though she was a good few inches shorter than he was.

"What's the matter?" she asked, her voice now a bit more solid and firm. "You seem surprised to see me. Is age dulling your senses?"

"Errrr..." Vega mumbled under his breath. He had a strong hunch that was under the confines of this woman's skin... Also, he didn't exactly like the fact that if this woman WASN'T Bison that she was going off on his age... Then again, that wasn't the case. "Lord... Bison...?"

On cue the woman blinked, only this time her eyes went to a normal white color with a brown iris. Surprisingly, she only smirked at Vega's clueless-ness.

"Vega... don't refer to me as Bison from this point on. I've changed. Went under a metamorphosis, so you might say... 'Bison' is a thing of the past. Shadowloo has a new leader... Her name... is Raven. Get familiar with it, ok, my dear boy?"

After a bit of a pause Vega responded. "Ok, Si—er—madam," he corrected himself, his face twisting noticeably when the "Si" came out. Raven's surprisingly cute yet disturbing smirk grew at that as she continued.

"I believe I might owe you some type of explanation for my... appearance, don't I, Vega, my boy?"

"Mademoiselle Raven... you never owed me such a thing before."

"Correction," Raven quickly responded, putting a finger up to Vega's mouth, "Bison never owed you such a thing. However, believe it or not, I have a greater sense of logic, so believe me; you might want to hear this..."

Before Vega could even respond to that Raven cut him off.

"Don't lie to me, Vega. You know just as well as I do that you want to know why I chose the body of a woman for my latest vessel."

"...yes..."

Raven lowered her eyebrows a bit. "I thought so... Come with me while I find something a bit more suitable to wear for someone of my stature..."

Wordlessly obeying, Vega followed the woman out of the lab and down the red corridor. The walls were tattooed with the Shadowloo logo, the skull with wings as the duo passed other scientists and corporate criminals that were busy at their jobs. No one seemed to notice or mind the fact that Vega was walking with a virtually inappropriately dressed woman... Odd.

"As you might have known, you being the temporary holder of Shadowloo's operations over the past couple of years," Raven started while turning at an intersection and down another hall, this one with wide windows to showcase the white world of snow, sky and wilderness outside, "for about the past decade or so Shadowloo has been running into numerous bugs in its operations. These... 'pests' are harder to squish than I thought. My... absence over the last 3 years really hurt our organization, since it gave those bastards from Interpol time to recuperate and seek out a majority of our bases. It's about time Shadowloo got back on track. Time Shadowloo achieves its long anticipated goal on world domination... but in order for that to happen, Shadowloo needs to undergo a change, and for that to happen, the leader of Shadowloo needs to under a change."

"I see, madam..." Vega replied as the reincarnation of Bison passed a relatively large water cooler. Rather swiftly, Raven grabbed a cup from the dispenser and held it behind her to her subordinate.

"Drink?" she asked, surprisingly sweetly. Once again startled, the Spanish matador slightly hesitated before taking the cup and getting his drink from the cooler.

"Thank you, madam," he said somewhat cautiously, taking a sip from the cup in his hand. Raven nodded and the two started walking again.

"Yeah... well... where was I...? Oh, yes. So, the leader of Shadowloo needed to go about a change. I had tried to do this a good 15 years ago with that man... Ryu... That didn't go according to plan. Second was to steal the vigor from the youth to power up my existing body. This resulted in the capture of three little brats, the oldest one managing to destroy my first body."

At that moment Raven's face showed its first sign of distaste and spat to her side.

"To think... Bison losing to a schoolgirl... How absurd..."

At this time Raven stopped, shook her head to clear her thoughts, and continued on with what she was saying.

"Anyway, during my recovery Interpol somehow got a lead to one of our bases and from there operation went downhill all over the globe. However, ever since then Shadowloo scientists developed a plan more efficient than stealing youthful vigor. If somehow I could harness a small sample of the intent that destroyed me because of that girl, Satsu no Hadou, and manipulate it with Psycho Power, I could become the strongest being on this mangy planet. Shortly after my first incident and during my recuperation period I luckily received reports of the master of Satsu no Hadou was emerging. I planned to recuperate and handle this business myself but I didn't need to. The same schoolgirl and her friend destroyed him for me. My investigation team managed to secure a large portion of his remaining evil energy to undergo extensive tests..."

At this moment Raven stopped in front of a relatively larger door than the rest on the current corridor which she and Vega walked. At this moment the woman spun around to face Vega, and he could clearly see the serious tone in her face that closely resembled the face Bison would make, despite the face she was too pretty to actually complete that same message.

"Behind this door..." she said in a low tone, "is just one of our major projects just recently finished. I can tell because one of the earlier transfers informed me on current events. This is big news indeed... Come."

Raven then pushed the door open and the two went in. The room was rather dim in light... however, this was made up by the fact that two huge body containment capsules were right in front of the door to the small room. Inside one of them was a man in a purple karate gi, crimson red hair standing on end and tied up in the middle. His body on the outside looked normal... despite his abnormally dark skinned tone and the evil blood red aura that surrounded him. Beside him was another man, this one a bit taller than the first. This one had insanely long white hair that rode down his back in a ponytail, scars all over his body and one especially over his right eye. He, too, was in a martial arts gi, however the top was ripped off. He also was surrounded by an evil aura... and both were hooked up to what seemed to be a vital recording system.

Vega's eyes hardened. He knew who these two were. They were two of the most dangerous Street Fighters to ever grace the earth. If they were awake, their glowing red eyes would've pierced fear into any person's heart... However, Raven just looked on at them as if it was ordinary.

"I'm sure you're aware of whom these two are..." she said.

"Yes... Akuma, Master of the art of Ansatsuken Karate and Kairi... who somehow managed to manipulate evil energy and become a walking demon. Truly fearsome enemies... However..."

Vega trailed off at that point. Something inside him started to savor the sight of blood... Was it because he was aware of all the homicide these two caused among those who bared fists as weapons. Blood to them was a satisfaction... especially from a worthy opponent.

"However they suffered the same humiliating defeat as Bison did," Raven noted, her brown eyes hardening. "They lost to those two love brats... Apparently they have a lot more potential than before... However, we've managed to... how do you say... 'upgrade' these two so that not even Ryu himself can take them down... which brings me to my next segment. Come."

Walking away from the room, Raven led Vega to a nearby room. On the way she continued speaking.

"Now, I believe I wasn't quite finished explaining myself and this body. Well... we've managed to embody 'sample' Satsu no Hadou into ordinary people and test subjects. Not the real deal, but a rough simulation. I was pleased to find out that the experiments went extremely well. Even one girl in particular went the extra mile and practically mimicked the actual effects of Satsu no Hadou to the smallest detail. The real test now came up. After numerous times of trying to absorb Akuma's potent energy and failing, we found the flaw..."

Raven then used her hands to showcase her sleek yet very dangerous body to Vega.

"A body was needed that could harness both energies... Psycho Power & Satsu no Hadou all rolled into one. Hence this woman's body... and the birth of Seishin'ijousha Hadou..."

"... 'Psychotic Surge'..." Vega interpreted.

"Yes," Raven replied, her eyes starting to lightly glow in a reddish tint as they reached their destination. "The most powerful source of energy on this planet... and only I can use it. With this power I literally wield the weight of the world at my fingertips. The sweet thing is that once I absorbed Akuma's energy, I've learned new techniques... New abilities... and all the things that'll make me untouchable this time around. That African kid destroying my rushed second body was the best thing that could've happened to me... and since I no longer need to be dependant on the Psycho Drive to survive... Him destroying that was also just a waste of energy. However... the secondary Drives I had stored could serve some purpose..."

As an evil smirk spread across Raven's lips, they went into another room, this time littered with computers and operators. In this room all who were in stopped what they were doing and saluted both Raven and Vega. Raven gestured them to return to their work, then headed to the noticeably bigger computer near the back. She simple pressed only 2 buttons... and the profiles of several people showed up on the screen. Vega took a look and read the names out loud.

"Kasugano, Sakura... Markis, Darrell..."

At this time Raven interrupted.

"You notice the red frame around their portraits? That means these two need to be taken care of. They're top priority, since they always find ways to leave a scar in Shadowloo. If anything, their capture is something I'll prefer over killing them outright."

"Hmm..." Vega murmured as he read on. "Miadama, Kaoru... She looks... familiar..."

"Yes. I remember this girl very well... You remember that girl I told you about in the Satsu no Hadou experiments? This is the one. Shadowloo had been keeping tabs on her for a long while, but now she's getting too obvious of the truth. She needs to be taken care of as well. If she remembers what her real past is, she'll become very dangerous, especially since she no longer considers herself a curse. Also top priority.

"Hmm... not too shabby looking either..." the matador smirked evilly, suddenly getting the urge of bloodshed again... "I wonder how she'd look covered in her own blood..."

"You'll see soon enough, Vega, my boy..." Raven reassured. "You finished reading yet?"

"Not yet, madam..." he answered. "Hmm... Ryu... Obvious."

"After his appearance in the Street Fighter 4 tournament, it's obvious that somehow he's gotten too strong for our tastes. He's always been top priority, but now he's a bigger threat if he ever finds out about our operations..."

Vega murmured before going on. "Kusanagi, Kyo... Yagami, Iori... Again, obvious."

Raven smirked. "However, their reason on Shadowloo's hit list isn't quite obvious. You'll soon see..."

"...these three... in the yellow..."

"Yes... Meji, Saya and Kai Hashimoto. I've had my eye on these siblings for a while... Although they're of moderate priority, if we can get them to operate for us, their use can be... amusing... They seem to be a bit... easy to provoke anyway. Why not use it?"

"Fine..." Vega then wordlessly went down the list, looking at various other wanted people... then near the bottom his eyes widened. He ran across a name that he was quite familiar with..."

"White, Cammy..." he said, his voice noticeable lower in volume. He then looked at Raven and asked, "Mademoiselle?"

"What is it, Vega?" she asked, her voice slightly annoyed.

"Forgive me for asking this... but what is the reason for Cammy, our old super soldier, being on this list?"

Raven calmly turned to Vega and pointed a finger at him. A bit puzzled, Vega just stared at her as she slowly waved it naughtily.

"Now, now... You'll find out soon enough."

Although outside Vega didn't honestly reply to that, inside he grew a bit concerned...

Raven must have some plans in store for her... but why? Last time I checked Bison was finished with the doll project...

"Madam..." he asked calmly, "If you won't mind... I'd like to personally take one of those assignments."

"hmmm... You know, Vega, you've seemed to have changed quite a bit since I've last seen you... Has being the temporary leader of Shadowloo changed you from that homicidal maniac I once knew?"

Vega immediately scoffed. "Of course not..."

Raven then turned her attention to her #1 henchman and eyed him intensively, which still looked rather odd since she wasn't wearing anything of real Shadowloo authority on her cute body.

"Well, then," she grinned, "let's see if you can show that you still have that quality. That... thing about you that makes you Vega... You know that young woman you were so fond of a few minutes ago?"

At the completion of the sentence a male filer approached and handed Vega a pamphlet, but not before paying his respects. Before the Spaniard could look at it Raven grabbed his attention.

"All you need to know is right there in that envelope... You know what to do..."

"Yes..."

"You make me proud, eh?"

Vega glanced at the envelope in his hands a bit longer... then paid his respects towards the new leader of Shadowloo before taking he leave. However he couldn't help but think... Things are a bit different this time around... However... thing will be even more different later... At that thought he grinned evilly, the old, psychotic side of him emerging once again.

Yes... Really different... but for now... I have a beauty waiting to be sliced...