Author's Note: In case you haven't noticed, you might've noticed that when I update, they'll be errors. Well, I just wanted to let you know that I put up the glitch draft for concept review purposes. I do go back and put up the clean version, which Chan Yoruyamatiha proofreads and sends back to me to update. In other words, I'm telling you guys to ignore any errors you see in updates spelling-wise. We clean up our messes in due time.

CHAPTER 4: UNEXPECTED VISITS

South Town, USA: 4:30 P.M.

Outside of a local music store in the Eastbound stood a young woman who had just exited the store. She had on white jeans and a blue & red striped shirt and sneakers, all accompanied by a pair of sunglasses on her navy blue hair. A CD player sat in one hand, a soda in the other, and headphones already set on her ears. The woman lazily looked both ways down the busy street to find a path clear for her to walk through. Once she found it, May Lee was ready to go.

It was a rather boring day out for her. All she did was spend a bunch of her money on clothes in the morning and now CDs in the afternoon. As she sipped her soda again as she reached the other side of the street, her thoughts were laid on the new circuit that going to start up in a months. It seemed to be a lot more interesting than to just lay around all day like she had been doing for the past few weeks.

{...mmm... I wonder what Master Kim is doing now...} she thought, unconsciously making her head in the direction of his dojo. Normally when she was bored, that's what she'd do; visit her master and observe his moves and the way the students were training themselves. Most of the time, May Lee would even spar with whoever would take her on. Whenever she was there, she never had a dull moment.

She officially made up her mind and started to sprint through the light crowd on the sidewalks towards the heart of the Eastbound.

{I hope you're not busy, Master, because I'm coming to visit you right now!}

Luckily she didn't need to travel far. The Tae Kwon Do for the Ages Dojo was only a few blocks away from her current position, right where the main plaza of the Eastbound was located. She quickly covered the ground between her and the dojo, quickly sipping on her soda in the process. Just as she got to the corner where she was supposed to turn, it grew apparent that the drink wouldn't last all the way there. Without skipping a beat May Lee tossed the bottle in a nearby garbage can and worked her way up the hill. A smile found its way onto her face as she saw the plaza gradually increase as she got closer. The grin even widened when she caught sight of a crowd looking on at an event taking place right there.

{It seems I got here just in time,} she thought. {It must be a spar for the students to be out like this.}

She didn't need to see it herself to know that she was right. She could her Master Kim's battle cries over everything else, even her headphones. While still running, May Lee decided to go on and make a great entrance... by plowing her way through the people in her way.

"Excuse me! Coming through! Sorry! Watch yourself! One way, people, one way!"

"Geez, May, pushy, aren't we?"

The moment she got to the other side, she couldn't even get a glimpse of the action without a hand grabbing hers and pulling her down towards the ground. Startled, May Lee almost dropped her brand new CD player but she luckily grabbed it before it could hit the ground. Giving a sigh of relief, May Lee quickly gave a sigh of frustration, due to who pulled her in the first place.

"Dong Hwan," she started, looking Kim's older son in the eyes, "I wish you wouldn't do that."

Dong Hwan just shrugged as he sat on the ground, wearing his black and red- striped gi, and gave May Lee a smirk. "I was expecting a more grateful welcome from someone like you."

"You expect me to be grateful for almost breaking my CD pl-"

"HANGETSUZAN!"

May's sentence was sidetracked by Kim's mighty voice. She turned her head just in time to see her master fly through the air while performing a front flip, attacking a man in a white karate gi and red headband. It only took a few moments for May Lee to recognize who was on the defensive.

"Hey, is that the famous Ryu?" she asked Dong Hwan.

"Yeah... You could say that..."

May's eyes lit up. "Wow! This ought to be an exciting spar! I knew I didn't run all the way up here for nothing!"

Dong Hwan frowned a bit. "You mean you didn't come here to see me?"

"Don't you have a girlfriend or five that you should be concerned about?"

"What's that supposed to mean??"

"It means I wish you'd stop trying to hit on me when you're already over your weight in relationships," May Lee responded while still looking at the battle. "I mean, come on. What if I had a boyfriend of my own? That'll just make you look stupid."

Dong Hwan just rolled his eyes. "That's highly unlikely... Me? Looking stupid? Sure, May. Sure..."

May Lee was about to counter that but was cut off as she saw Ryu toss Kim in a textbook-perfect over-the-shoulder throw. Quickly Kim got back to his feet to block an overhead fist and then crouched down to deliver his Comet Cruncher kick. He slid down to try to knock Ryu off his feet with the first sweep, but Ryu blocked. Too late to abort the attack, Kim quickly lifted into the air and threw a fast overhead kick...

"SHORYUKEN!"

...only to get knocked out of it by Ryu's Dragon Punch. Kim sailed through the air but once again landed on the ground perfectly. Ryu took the time to charge up a blue orb of energy in his hands...

"HADOUKEN!"

...and pitched it forward. Kim had plenty of time to avoid the move and did, jumping into the air towards Ryu...

"HISSOUKYAKU!"

...and came down with a fast barrage of alternating kicks. Oddly, he was still out of range, but he landed quickly in front of Ryu and worked on his guard with a few quick kicks. Just as Ryu was about to counter, Kim ducked down...

"HIENZAN!"

...and shot up with a rising flip kick, hitting Ryu's chin and making him shoot backwards towards the ground. Ryu recovered quickly and threw some counter attacks of his own as Kim came close. The Tae Kwon Do fighter wisely blocked the attacks then strafed around Ryu, testing him out. The Ansatsuken fighter, in response, brought his fist up and paused, making Kim hesitate just slightly, allowing him to take the downward strike. Quickly Ryu ducked down and gave a kick to the legs, then...

"TATSUMAKI SENPU KYAKU!"

...his hurricane kick, knocking Kim away with the force of a semi-truck. Kim fell down fully after that attack, triggering a slight applause of respect from the students that were watching. May Lee kept her eyes on her master as he took his time sitting up, a hand on his jaw.

"Not too shabby..." Kim started. "You're just like the rumors said you were."

"The same goes for you," Ryu started, not backing down.

{Wow... Ryu is good...} May Lee thought while at the same time swatting Dong Hwan's hand away from her shoulder, making him pout.

{Is she always this testy?} he asked himself.

Meanwhile, Kim was back on his feet and back on the offensive, coming in with an overhead kick. Ryu blocked that and the hard roundhouse kick after it, and then backed off just a bit. He then shot back at Kim with a strong straight kick, the Joudan Sokutougeri, but Kim was a step in front of him, parrying the kick... and ducking under the kick, taking advantage of the recovery time to give a hard kick to the chin, then...

"KUUSAGIN!!!"

...shot into the air with three spinning kicks, the last one hitting Ryu farther into the air. Kim landed before Ryu could, and took advantage of it.

"HOU'OU KYAKU!!!"

Kim dashed to where he'd land and started his famous barrage of lightning fast kicks with no room to defend or evade. About 16 hits later, Kim ended with a Hien Zan, once again hitting the World Warrior into the air. Kim then waited for him to come back down before ending with another Hien Zan. The moment Ryu hit the ground the students were showing their applause towards Kim for his damaging combo. May Lee was ecstatic.

"Alright! That's the pepper!" she shouted out loud. "He's bound to be down and out after that!"

She managed to catch a glance of Kim looking out of the corner of his eye to look at her then he looked back towards Ryu, putting his hands on his sides.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that..." he said cautiously.

"Huh? What do you-"

"Just watch, May..."

Sure enough, startling May Lee, Ryu was surely getting back up. He couldn't hide the fact that he took some serious damage, but he certainly looked like he could take more. He signified that by getting back into his fighting stance. Kim nodded then shot forward in a Hangetsu Zan. Ryu opted to parry but his body slightly hesitated, forcing himself to block instead. Kim recovered from his move and then brought his leg up and threw it forward in a strong kick that narrowly missed Ryu's guard. Ryu noticed that this was the beginning of Kim's stance switch and took action accordingly. He parried Kim's next kick, giving him room to dash in close and deliver a counter hit, followed by a quick Shoryuken. This time, however, he never really left the ground. He super canceled, quickly summoning a large amount of his ki energy into his hands.

"Shinku.... Hadouken!!"

Ryu then launched his famous super attack at close range to accompany the Shoryuken, the force blasting Kim to the ground. Luckily, due to the super cancel properties, the move didn't do nearly as much damage as Kim's chain, but it still did quite a bit. Applause ran through the air as Kim once again flipped to his feet, smiling as usual.

"Aaaahhh..." he sighed, slightly holding his chest to where the full force of the Shoryuken lay, "can't take a lot of those without being a little sore... I do believe that we're done with the test. How about we get down to the real reason as to why I called you."

Ryu nodded. That signified the end of the sparring match as a majority of the students either went back inside to continue their session or to get their belonging to head home. May Lee rose to her feet, grabbing her possessions, and made her way to her sensei as the two warriors met in the center of plaza.

"May Lee! It's a pleasure to see you again," Kim smiled. "What brings you here?"

"Boredom, mostly," the young fighter responded. "I also came to visit since I was in the neighborhood."

"That's swell, since I do believe that I know what you're going to say once I'm through talking to Ryu, here." Kim then looked over to Ryu and breathed deeply. "I'm not sure if you're in contact with the news, but there's something horrible awry happening all over the world. Have you noticed anything... out of the ordinary in your travels?"

Ryu took a slight pause to think it over, and then responded with, "I can't seriously say that I have... although I do notice a disturbance within the winds as of late. That... normally means that something's not right..."

Kim's eyes have a serious glare. "Well, I must tell you. People of all over are becoming crazy. Absolutely psycho. They've turned into murderers, criminals, vandalists... It's hardly safe to travel without running into one of those freaks. Worst of yet, that worldwide crime syndicate, Shadowloo, is back and under no good again."

Ryu's mouth twisted as soon as that sentence crossed him. "And I thought things would've been finished with them out of commission..."

{And I thought NESTS was tough...} May Lee thought, clenching her fist.

"I'm not sure what's going on," Kim stated, "but I can tell that it's not a good thing. The authorities can only do but so much... Ryu, I would like to ask you to assist me in bringing these criminals down. What do you say?"

Kim's request was met by a moment of silence from Ryu. He crossed him arms and closed his eyes, obviously thinking hard about the matter; about its advantages and disadvantages. He also reminded himself of the events that happened a few years ago when he last confronted Shadowloo.... After a few moments, Ryu opened his eyes.

"When did you consider going about this?"

"The moment I got word of these fiends resurfacing."

"I see... I do have some unfinished business to pick with the head of that organization..."

"So is that a yes?"

"Yes."

Kim flashed another of his famous sparkling smiles. "That's excellent. We'll leave whenever you're ready. I'm sure Jae Hoon can take care of things here."

"What about me?" May Lee's bright voice shot out. "If you're going to serve justice then I want to come along as well."

Just as the thought of saying no to that entered Ryu's mind, Kim cut him off. "That'd be nice of you to come. It would also serve well in your training. I hope you're prepared to go along with this."

"As a servant to justice, I won't back down from such a task," May Lee stated confidently. She then looked up towards Ryu and confidently clenched her fist. "It'd also be an honor to fight along side you."

"I see..." Ryu said. "A strong fighting spirit... Alright, Kim, what do you have planned for this trip?"

Flashback

"Are you sure? I mean... Isn't it rather sudden to go on and leave us like that?"

"Sakura... Thanks for letting me live here. You really made me one of the family. It's just that..."

"That what?"

"Well... It's that I've got a lot of unfinished business to attend to. There's a lot of questions that I need to answer... and in order for me to do that, I need to go."

"We can at least come along with you."

"No, I can't let you do that. I... don't know why, but this is something that I want to tackle without your help. If things really get tight, I'll call you, but..."

"I get it. Well, little sis, I'm going to say what my mom told me when I did the same thing over 10 years ago."

"What's that?"

"I'm not going to stop you. You just be careful out there. I don't want you to wind up dead or something."

"Don't worry. I've got too much to accomplish to come up empty handed out there. Besides... there's someone out there waiting for me... I better go."

"Keep in touch, ok?"

"I will! Bye Sakura! Bye Darrell!"

"See you later, Kaoru! See you when the circuit starts up for sure!"

"You might just see me before then, and when we do meet again, expect us to be rivals!"

End Flashback

Pyongyang, North Korea 5:30 P.M.

{Wow... Such a large city... I hope I can find him before evening...}

Sporting a denim jacket which was zipped up halfway to expose the black undershirt, short black hair that was really unkempt for the past few months, gray shorts, and black sneakers, 21 year old Kaoru Miadama made her way through the streets of Pyongyang, North Korea's capital. She had just arrived after many weeks of traveling throughout Asia, all with a small piece of paper which held directions towards an address. The sky was a beautiful orange-red, already signaling that the sun was about to set for the day. As she reached a red stoplight, she only sighed, closing her eyes tightly. She forced an image of the person that she was looking for into her mind, her hands clenching as she did so.

{It's been too long, Yui...} she muttered. {It's been almost 4 years since I last saw you...}

She opened her eyes just in time to see the light change to green, permitting her to walk on without any problems. As she crossed, she looked over to the far side next to her to see the river that ran through all of Pyongyang, the sun's evening rays reflecting off its surface. Breathing deeply, Kaoru looked at the set of directions in her hand and glanced around once she safely crossed.

{Now... turn right and look for house number 76...}

Kaoru looked up and found the nearest house number to her. Her heart started to pound.

{Great... 52. It won't be long now...}

For once in almost forever, Kaoru smiled. Just a few more minutes and she'll be reunited with her husband.

{Maybe I should teleport there... No... People are around. They'll know I'm a Street Fighter. Plus, I want to make the suspense last.}

She didn't get far, however. She couldn't take a step forward without stopping at the curve, staring straight forward.

{Come on.... Not now... Why do I put up with such things... Well... Might as well get this out the way...}

"You've been following me for the past hour..." she said out loud. "I know you're there. Show yourself."

It was quiet save for the natural sounds of the streets, but the message got across, as a voice responded back from behind her.

"I had a feeling that it was you. Kaoru Miadama, I've got some things to ask you."

"Well, make it quick," she responded, turning around to meet a young man around her age, redheaded, and wearing street clothes. He was a bit taller than her and from the looks of it, a fighter in his own right. Kaoru sighed.

"What do you want with me?" she asked sternly. The redhead nodded his head and continued.

"First, I'll introduce myself. My name's Wang. People know me as a rising star in the fighting circuit."

"Oh, really..." Kaoru responded unenthusiastically. "Let me guess... You're either looking for a date or a fight, and I'll tell you right now I don't have time for either."

"No, that's not it," Wang responded. "I'll try to make this quick."

The guy reached into his jean pocket and pulled out a photograph. From where he was, Kaoru could see the image clearly.

"This man... Have you seen him?"

The photo showed an image of Wang and another older man, Wang in particular giving a thumbs-up to the camera. Kaoru took a while to look at it then asked, "And this guy would be....?"

"My father. He disappeared a few weeks ago and I've been all over asking around this city to find out some clues."

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't know this guy. Never came across him."

"Oh... are you sure?"

"I'm pretty much so," Kaoru replied limply. "Now, I'll see you around. I need to go see someone."

Wang didn't reply right away, so Kaoru went on and went on her way. A few seconds later, Wang called out again.

"Hey, wait up!"

Kaoru gave an aggravated sigh and turned around. "What's the problem now?"

"I know you know something... I have been following you, and you've been acting very suspicious ever since I say you. Tell me where you're going!"

"I don't have time for this... Why can't you get it through your head? If I knew, then I'd tell you!"

"I don't know you that well! For all I know, you could be lying!"

Kaoru let out another moan. "Look, you can believe what you want, but I'm not going to stand here and talk to a brick wall."

Just as she spun around, about to go on and just go on without paying any attention to the guy, he made her pay attention. She heard wind slice her and ducked, missing a swift kick to the head. As she spun around, putting the piece of paper in her right hand into her jacket pocket and dropping her bag, Wang recovered from his miss and went into his fighting stance undaunted.

"You've got some serious issues..." Kaoru muttered. "You already got your answer, but yet in still you don't want to go away empty-handed. I'll tell you what; I'll give you something to write to your dad about...."

Within a blink of an eye, Kaoru's body zipped behind Wang, starting him. He never got a chance to figure out what happened, as the next thing he knew, a powerful roundhouse kick slammed into his cheek, making him fly onto a resident's small lawn. Kaoru just scoffed as she watched Wang shake his head clear, slowly getting to his feet.

"You sure not the fighter that you claim yourself to be..."

As if that sent off an alarm in his mind, Wang let out a sneer, jumping up to his feet.

"So you want to see how good I am? Then meet my super technique and I guarantee it'll make you change your mind!"

He then braced himself, letting out a long yell. The proper thing to do if someone was on the defensive was to get ready to guard, but in this case, Kaoru didn't even bother. She stood in her place, giving Wang a weak look...

"HHHHHHHAAAA!!! RAGING RAMBADO KICK!!"

As soon as the last word came out, Wang spun around and launched a massive kick, which had move range than it put on at first sight. However, despite how fast as the kick came out in its execution...

"Hiagasen!"

...Kaoru just ducked it, moving in at the same time to meet Wang up close with a rising kick to his chin. He let out a yelp of pain as his body launched into the air, where Kaoru quickly followed and ended with a stronger kick to send him back where he came from. Wang landed on his back, writhing in pain.

"Geez... I knew you'd be a waste of time..." Kaoru pouted. "Two attacks and already you're down and out. I don't know who you think you are, but face facts. If you can't last any longer than this then you don't have any business fighting at all."

She took a pause to give Wang one last look as he lay on the grass, then just turned to pick up her bag full of her things and put it on her back.

"And for the last time, I don't know jack about your father. Now don't bother me again!"

And with that, she started to walk away. She let out another sigh, closing her eyes while doing to. When they opened, she stopped, glancing at a shadow of someone standing right in front of her. Before she could look up, someone spoke.

"K... Kaoru? Is that really you?"

Before she knew it, a flushed feeling swarmed all over Kaoru's body. Her heart started to pound as she slowly lifted her head to face the person in front of her. He was somewhat thin with short hair yet long bangs, wearing casual clothing and carrying a few grocery bags. Just seeing him gave Kaoru a funny feeling in her stomach and a weak feeling in her legs. All the tough tenacity she showed with Wang vanished.

"Oh, Yui..."

At first neither moved. Kaoru knew why she couldn't. It was so long since she last seen her husband. Almost four years to be exact. The wait was finally over. Yui gasped as Kaoru let her bag drop from her back and then collapsed into his arms. She didn't cry, but she just closed her eyes, savoring this moment while it lasted.

"Kaoru..." Yui whispered, holding her head close to his chest, "It's been too long..."

"I know..." she responded quietly. "I missed you."

"We've got a lot of catching up to do... Let's not do it out here."

"Ok."

Kaoru detached herself from Yui to grab her bag, but Yui was quicker to it, surprising her quite a bit.

"Come on. I don't live that far from here. I bet you're tired from all the traveling that you've did."

Kaoru smiled, then grabbed onto Yui's free hand and together they went to their home.

Later...

"...so they did take good care of you. That's great. And I'm glad that you're alright after going through so much..."

"Yes. Training to find new arts for myself was tough enough. Fighting the right person can really take it out of me... it's just that... most of the time it wasn't really worth it. There're a lot of people who just don't know who they're dealing with nowadays."

The married couple sat at the kitchen table, where soft music played from the radio located next to the refrigerator. Their residence sat where they could get a wonderful view of the waterfront from the window. Although she was home, Kaoru didn't bother to unpack her travel bag. Why was the reason Yui was searching for, but he was just happy to see his wife again.

"Kaoru, honey..." Yui spoke up, sitting in front of her at the table, "I'm happy to see that you're doing well. I really am... but I need to know..."

"What is it?" Kaoru asked.

Yui looked to the side a bit, as if to find the right words, and it took a few seconds to found them. "You should remember... It's been so long since I've seen you. You... ran away from Rose's mansion without telling anyone... I was so worried about you until the tournament started. I never asked you this... but I want to know... Did you run away because of-"

"Yui..." Kaoru interrupted, obviously not wanting to go back into that part of her life, "please... You know why I left. It was so obvious... There were just too many questions that needed to be answered. I needed to find myself."

Yui's expressions softened somewhat. "And how did that go?"

Kaoru suddenly turned silent. Yui could see how it went for himself. It was all over her expression.

"Actually... even after all that I've did after leaving... I'm still in the dark. I did manage to find me a family that cared for me. You met them. I also managed to finish school and marry you.... but still... I don't know much about my real past & family. It's something that I just need to uncover."

"I understand... but why would you come back if you still have so much to do?"

"Because I wanted you to come with me."

Yui was taken a bit by surprise that Kaoru responded so quickly. Kaoru gasped herself, noticing that herself. She looked hard at her husband as she breathed deeply and kept speaking.

"I don't want to go another minute without you by me. This is something that I tried to go about myself, but I realized that... it'd be better if you accompanied me on my journey. I don't want to be alone anymore..."

Yui closed his eyes. "That meant a lot, Kaoru..." After a bit of thinking it over, Yui nodded. "I'd be glad to go with you whenever you're ready."

Kaoru didn't say anything afterwards. She just smiled, her body literally getting out of the chair not by means of her legs, but by her ki, and before Yui knew it, she was in his lap, giving him a warm hug.

"When did you pick that trick up?" Yui asked, smiling lightly.

"Around..." was all Kaoru said. For then until nighttime, the couple spent their time making up for three years of being separated from each other...

London, England 4:19 P.M.

"Hmmm... The kids aren't home yet... Must be hanging out with friends..."

It was a rather quiet afternoon... well... as quiet as things could get in the city of London. The sound of cars, commotion, and overall rustle and bustle of any city still swarmed in the air. However, this didn't bother the woman in this house. She was in the kitchen towards the back of their one-family house, which was nestled between another house and an apartment building. She was short and thin, around 35 years of age, yet still looking quite nice. She had long blonde hair which was braided in the back, bright azure eyes, and most noticeably, a small scar on her left cheek. At the moment she had her eyes closed, standing over the stove while vegetables cooked in the pot over a small open furnace, humming softly to herself as she also prepared a serving of mashed potatoes. After a while, once everything was set, she set the potatoes in the stove itself along with the full ham that was already inside, the heat smacking her face as she did so. This woman opened her eyes to look at the ham to make sure it was doing fine inside its pan, found nothing wrong, and closed the oven.

"Aaaaahhh..." she sighed as she sat back down at the chair waiting for her, which belonged to the oak table that sat in the middle of the room, and looked up at the TV above her, which showed a game show called "Pyramid". Life was rather easygoing... She enjoyed it like this... It was much better than what she used to do as a living... or rather... what she was forced to do as a living... However, she quickly shook away that thought of the past and started watching TV...

"OK, you have 35 seconds," the host informed the male team saturated at the left. "You get them all right, and you'll go to the Pyramid to get your shot at $100,000. Are you ready?"

"Yes, baby, let's do this!" the man in the white shirt and black pants answered enthusiastically, rubbing his hands together. The other man in the brown plaid shirt just nodded.

"Ok... Once again, the category is 'E-cellent.' Now... start."

"Ok... er... uh... Something that's chewable... Something-something that-"

"Edible."

"Correct."

"Hmm.... Sonic the Hedgehog... His enemy... Er... SEGA... ah..."

"Hmmm... umm... Eggman!"

"Correct."

"Ok... umm... ummmmmm... France... Umm... A delicacy... Umm..."

"Escargot!"

"Correct again."

"...it's a TV station... Umm... Sports..."

"MOOOOOOM!!!!"

The woman almost jumped out of her seat at that voice. It didn't come from the TV. Instead this new, feminine voice came from the front of the house. In conjunction with that, the house alarm went off briefly as the front door opened, showing a teenage English girl, wearing a green school uniform with a skirt, long socks, and brown shoes. Her hair was blond, just like the woman in the kitchen, only a bit brighter, and much shorter, only reaching to her shoulder. Her emerald green eyes scanned the living room, looking for her mother...

"I'm in here, Noel," her mother called and within a second the young girl walked in, carrying her book bag on her shoulder. That bag slid off and to the floor as its owner made her way to her mother and hugged her deeply.

"How was school?" her mom asked.

"Ah... it was ok..." Noel responded, "especially when Drake made a fool out of himself trying to impress this girl he likes... That was funny."

"For YOUR information," a sudden loud voice rang out from the living room, "I don't like her! She just wanted me to do something for her."

A young man walked into the kitchen and stopped at the doorway. He wore a uniform a lot like Noel, only he had slacks on and a long sleeved shirt. He had his blond hair long behind him, unlike his sister, and overall... if the two weren't male and female, it would've been easy to tell that they were twins... As a matter of fact they were. Fraternal twins. However, his emerald green eyes weren't as pleased as Noel's.

"Oh, so I guess holding Michelle's books for her and slipping while walking her to her 7th period class wasn't funny?" Noel teased, turning to face her slightly older brother (and by older it was meant by only 4 minutes), "Come on! Everyone within hearing distance was dying of laughter!"

Drake's cheeks flushed, although it was hard to tell if it was from hot anger or hot embarrassment. "But it WASN'T funny! You don't understand this. I'm pretty sure Michelle wasn't laughing."

"No. She was hiding giggles..."

"Ok, that's enough, you two," the mother broke them up before a fight could break out, "Noel, you go on and change clothes. You have homework?"

"Yes, mom... Biology and Geometry," Noel moaned, her voice obviously showing how much she 'liked' the whole thing.

"Well, you better get to it," the mother said. "You know Biology's your weak spot."

The girl sighed heavily and walked past her brother to go to the steps that lead to the upper level in the house. Drake, however, didn't let her go without quickly grabbing and tugging at her short, neatly done hair. Noel immediately yelped before slapping his hand away.

"Stop that, you dork!" she shouted, totally annoyed while shooting Drake the evil eye before moving on along to the stairs and eventually her bedroom. Drake just dropped his head, closed his eyes, and sighed before looking at his mother.

"Why am I related to that stuck-up weirdo?" he asked.

"Oh, now don't start acting like that... You two just like to get on each other's nerves a lot. It's a brother-sister thing."

"Oh."

"So where's Ms. Craft?"

"Uh... she didn't come in with Noel?"

The mother twisted her mouth. "No, she didn't. Then again-"

"Hey, Cammy!"

The mother cringed. "Oh, boy..." she moaned while standing up, heading to the living room. "The voice of evil..."

Waiting for her on her white couch was another woman quite a bit taller than she was. She had very dark brown hair while was of moderate length, wearing a sports bra with blue shorts and sneakers. She had her hand running through her hair as she sat one leg over the other, looking at the blond and her kid at the door.

"You never fail to make an appearance, do you, Bridget?" Drake's mother asked while twisting her mouth.

"No... I guess not..." the dark brunette responded. "But I wouldn't be who I am if I didn't now would I, Cammy?"

"No..." Cammy then looked over to Drake. "Drake, I know for a fact that you've got homework. You might want to make like your sister and get to work."

"Sure, mom," he answered while grabbing his bag and running upstairs. Once fully up the stairs Cammy sat down next to Bridget and gave her a look.

"You know... you never told any of us why you come here every time they come home for school. Don't you sort of think that's invading personal space?"

"Ummmm... If it's a crime then I guess I'm guilty, right?" was Bridget's reply. "Besides, you act like I'm not wanted here."

"Bridget," Cammy replied, "you live right next door. Plus, you don't just do this every once in a while. You do this every day..."

Bridget rolled her eyes, making Cammy frown a bit. "Look, if you want me to stop popping in, you can just tell me, you know... We're friends, right? I can understand if you need a bit of space."

"I did ask you. Quite a few times two weeks ago."

"Sorry!" the brunette cried out. Cammy's eyes softened a bit after realizing how her friend was taking it.

"Awwww, come on... This is the same reaction you gave me last time."

Bridget immediately blinked out of her mood. "Really? It is? Well... what do you know...?"

Bridget chuckled a bit... until she laid eyes on Cammy's melancholy face, which led to a sweatdrop. "Uhhhh..."

"Forget it. Yeesh... I wonder how we became like this, anyway."

"I don't know... We just did, I guess."

Cammy looked away from her neighbor a bit while crossing her legs over one another as they rested on the carpet. After a moment of silence she found herself smirking, which Bridget clearly saw.

"And just why are you laughing?" she asked curiously.

"Oh... just thinking back a few years ago... when I moved here."

Bridget's mouth twisted. "You don't mean when we first met, do you?"

"Of course..." Cammy smirked. "You made a fool out of yourself tripping on the way to greet us. If I knew that was a message of things to come, then-"

A sudden ring of the doorbell cut Cammy off. Letting out a small sigh she propelled herself off the couch with Bridget right behind. As she reached the door she took a pause.

"Cammy?" Bridget called. "You ok?"

A bit later, Cammy looked up towards her and nodded. "Yeah. I just wanted to figure out who this was is all. You?"

"I figured I'd better leave and head back home. I believe dinner doesn't cook itself."

"Alright. I'll talk to you later."

As Cammy opened the door to let her friend out, she also laid eyes on her visitor. The woman in front of her didn't resemble anyone she met before. She was a little taller than she was, sporting long brown hair and wearing a uniform that resembled that of a militia. A bit startled, Cammy straightened herself out and cleared her throat.

"Excuse me," she started. "I... wasn't expecting a visit from someone like you."

"Don't worry about it," the woman started, her voice rather soothing and even a bit cute. "You're Cammy White, correct?"

"Yes, I am."

"Great. Ms. White, I'm here to acknowledge the service you put into the Delta Red force over the past years. If I recall, you were the same Cammy who had history with Shadowloo, correct?"

Cammy's mind immediately went on a field trip to a place she wished she could forget. Those memories scarred her for life, remembering how she was revealed as a clone of M. Bison, its leader and left behind and discarded like trash. Memories of her searching for who she really was inside and her going through the second World Warrior tournament to try to even the score, only to no avail. She almost succeeded in forgetting about the pain, but unfortunately, it seemed she couldn't escape that.

"Yes..." she responded, her voice noticeably dropping in volume, "I am."

{Excellent... I knew it was her just by looking at her...}

"I'm sorry. Did I bring up something unpleasant?" the woman asked. Cammy responded by shaking her head.

"No, it's alright. Just don't talk so loud. I don't want my kids to find out about that. That part of my history has been a secret ever since they were born."

"Alright. I understand. Well, I'm not here to talk and waste your time, so let me get to business."

At this time, the woman in the red attire turned around to reach for a package. "Your comrades back at Delta Red haven't forgotten about how you lead them to so many successful missions, Cammy. As a token of their appreciation, they all pitched in and bought you these."

The woman brought the package in front of Cammy and opened it for her. Instantly the fragrant smell of roses and violets hit her nose, a bit strong at first. Cammy's face brightened a bit as she laid eyes on the bouquet of flowers that lay inside the box.

"Oh... That's sweet of them..." Cammy responded, reaching in to collect her present. "Hmm... I never was a fan of receiving flowers, but... those guys over there must've thought that chocolates would've been a weird thing to send."

Hints of a smile spread across her face as she took them into her arms and sniffed them up close. Once again, the scent was a bit strong, even more so up close.

"Phew... They must've sprayed something extra onto these..."

"You must be special then," the woman said.

"You could say that... Well, thanks for the package... er...."

Cammy blinked. She never asked who this woman's name was. Now that she thought about it while she laid her eyes on the person in front of her, she still had this feeling that she knew her... A gut feeling, so to speak. Cammy took the flowers out of her eyesight and looked at her closely.

"Do I... know you from somewhere?" she asked cautiously.

"I don't believe so..." she answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh... nothing... Perhaps we met somewhere at the base..." A pause... "I never caught your name."

"Oh, my name? It's... Raven."

"Raven..."

The moment she responded with her name, the flower's scent shot into her nose again, almost like a spray. Cammy immediately dropped the bouquet as she coughed, reeling backwards. She found her legs stop abruptly on her living room table and tripped her, sending her flipping backwards over the table and landed in front of her couch. The scent lay heavy in Cammy's head, clouding her senses. As she coughed, Raven made her way towards her.

"What's wrong, Ms. White? You don't like the flowers?"

"J.... just... wha... what's going on....?" Cammy demanded, looking up to Raven, taken aback to see her expression not the least bit remorseful.

"Oh, don't worry," Raven smirked as Cammy struggled to get up. "Relax... The more you fight it, the more it takes out of you. Now, if you'd be so kind to cooperate, you'll be coming with-"

"MOM?? You ok? I heard a crash!"

Raven stopped upon hearing a voice from above her head. She looked up as she laid eyes on Cammy's daughter, who was slightly undressed.

{Great. This made things more complicated... I better leave now.}

Noel, however, already saw her mother, who collapsed on the floor with the items that were supposedly on the table now all over her. It took a second for it to register into her brain, as the next second...

"MOM!!!"

Totally forgetting that Raven was right next to her, Noel ran down the steps, just as Drake raced to it as well.

"What's going on!?" he asked frantically. His eyes went to his mother, and he felt his heart sink. Before his sister could even get down the steps, Raven made her presence known as she grabbed Cammy by her shirt, not picking her up. Noel stopped abruptly in shock. She took a good, long look at her as Raven calmly spoke.

"Now, now, kids... If I were you, I'd stay right where you are. You don't want anything to happen to your mother, now, do you?"

"W... who are... you...?" Noel's shaky voice rose.

"What did you do to her!?" Drake immediately demanded. Raven just looked at Cammy's now unconscious body and smiled.

"She had a little accident. It seems she's allergic to these special flowers that I sent her. I was just going to... how do you say... check her into a hospital."

"Yeah, right," Drake shot back. Before he could even carry that on, Raven pointed a hand towards the two, which instantly lit up into a purple-blue mix of energy, making him shut his mouth.

"For a little boy, you sure got a smart mouth," Raven scowled. "I thought dear old Cammy here would raise you up better than that. A pity..."

Drake growled as, instead of feeling fear while staring at a very dangerous individual, he felt anger. He clenched his fists at his side and repeated. "You stay away from her, you... you...!"

"Hmmm... now that I think about it, I don't think we've met before, so I'll introduce myself. The name's Raven, and in case you're wondering, I've got a little 'catching up' to do with your mother. Trust me; she'll be just fine where she's going..."

"You're not taking her ANYWHERE!" Drake yelled out mightily, pushing his way abruptly past his slightly younger sister and rushed towards Cammy in a valiant effort to save her. Raven gave a 'humph' as she withdrew her energy attack and clenched her fists, sniffing it. However, she used that same hand to swing and strike down Drake with a swift blow, so powerful that it literally sent him flying backwards and crashing into Noel in a heap on the stairs.

"Kids these days..." Raven muttered, picking up a woman just slightly smaller than her by just one hand and picking her onto her shoulder. She gave one last look at Cammy's kids, who were hurt just from that one attack, but were barely looking at her. She smirked evilly, and before either sibling knew what happened, she vanished into thin air. A few moments after that there was complete silence as Drake tried to get up, but to no avail. Noel didn't even notice him. Her eyes were still on the area where that strange woman in red appeared.

{I... It has to be a dream...} she reassured herself. {This can't be happening... It... It isn't possible... No... Mom.... she.... c... can't be gone...}

"D... drake...?" she said in a tiny voice, holding him tight. Her chest was screaming in pain from the force in which they collided. Drake could only groan...

"S..... she's gone...." His eyes watered up... and before he knew it...

"MOOOOOOOOOTHER!!!!!!!"