Chapter 13: Trouble in Kyoto
Kyoto, Japan: 10:00 A.M.
"Our little piggies are all in one pen, Miss Raven. Awaiting further orders."
The wind blew briskly at the top of one of Kyoto's many buildings. A sole person stood on top of it, hidden to all eyes, scoping out the horizon through the binoculars in hand.
"That's good..." a pleased voice came from the communicator in the figure's right ear. "We're downloading the specifics from your database now. Standby for the next orders..."
"Roger."
A good silence began to claim the air, the individual on the rooftop still staring at the stores below. It was another 10 seconds before Raven spoke again.
"Alright, then... Your new orders are to track down the Psycho Soldier known as Athena Asamiya. If you can, capture her, but the main reason for finding her comes in two parts. The first is that they have a certain boy with extraordinary powers in his little body. He participated in past KOF tournaments and is known as 'Bao'. He's as important as Athena, if not more, so don't forget that he's first priority. Second priority... Those same Psycho Soldiers that have been breaking up our Kyoto businesses will be expecting some company in the form of a certain individual you're very fond of..."
With that, the individual's eyes stiffened and the binoculars dropped from her face. "Is it... her...?"
"Yes. Sakura Kasugano is due to meet Athena and her little troupe at their recording studios. You're there to conduct your mission, but if you'd like to spice things up... you can say 'hi' to her..."
With that, the young woman stood up from her kneeling position, running a hand through her short blond hair, her lime green eyes broadened by determination.
"I understand, Miss Raven. I'm on my way now."
"Understood. Don't disappoint me, Saya."
And with that, the young blond nodded. "Over and out..."
Once she shut the communicator off, she sighed and closed her eyes. Only one word flashed through her mind as she collected herself...
Sakura...
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Kyoto, Japan: 10:45 A.M.
"You really think it was a good idea for us to split up like this?"
Sakura let the black-haired girl's question sit in her mind as she tried to navigate through the streets of Kyoto. True, what Jan said was correct. The Breakers did break off upon reaching the city to cover more ground. Chun-Li took Ace, Karin and Ran with them and went north while Batsu, Hinata, Kyosuke, and Akira went south. On the other hand, Kaoru took her small group of Mitsumi and Yui west and the remainder, Jan, Darrell, and herself, went east in the city. This way, at least one of the teams were going to run into some type of clue, but seriously the Cherry Blossom and the Flameflower weren't sure on this. Both had a feeling that the ones leading the group, Karin and Chun-Li, were going about all this too fast. Abet that was their job, the two of them, most noticeably Karin, were beginning to grow a little impatient even though it was only two days since they started their journey. Darrell kept that in mind, crossing his arms as he looked at the pavement, trying to think while still walking towards their destination.
"I don't really think so..." was his response, his voice calm despite the situation. "It's not like we have much of a choice, though. The others are pretty serious on finding something and something fast, and you can bet they don't want to come away from this city empty handed. If they can find something here on Shadowloo, then they're not going to stop until they do."
"Oh... I see..." Jan replied. She then took a pause, her face slowly coming from a saddened one (which was like that for the past 20 minutes) to a more joyous one. "But hey! Sakura says that we're going to check out a lead from that famous KOF fighter and singer! Knowing that it's Athena we're talking about, we're bound to come away with something big right here."
"Hopefully," Sakura answered. "It sort of bothers me that Athena and her friends are going about fighting Shadowloo guys like they are now. Sure they're strong and can take care of themselves, but it's just that they don't know Shadowloo and what they're capable of. I'm still a little worried about you, Jan. Even though you've show a lot of progress in such a short amount of time, I never really saw you fight in a real battle, and seriously, I'm wondering if you can hold your own against such skilled fighters."
"You don't have to worry about me, Sakura!" the young girl smiled brightly. "I'm not going to let you down at all."
Jan's reply made Sakura smile in the process. "You really do remind me of myself when I was younger..."
"Sorry to interrupt, but we're not much farther from where we need to go, now, are we?" Darrell interrupted, now looking around their surroundings. Here the area was crowded with skyscrapers, encasing a lot of the life on the streets in light shadow. The sky was partially cloudy and there was a light breeze running through the air today. Sakura and Jan both looked around and the oldest of the three nodded.
"Yeah, you're right. It's one of these buildings... Athena's supposed to be in a radio station doing an interview and recording her latest CD around here... We just have to find the street she's on. It shouldn't take us more than a few minutes to get there. Just follow me, ok?"
The two beside her nodded and continued to make their way through the light crowd around them. As the trio began to reach an intersection, Sakura's eyes lit up upon recognizing the crossing street...
"Yep! We're here!" she announced to Jan and Darrell. "We just need to find the radio station, find out where Athena is, and figure out what's going—"
"SAKURA KASUGANO! STOP RIGHT THERE!"
The loudness of the sudden voice was enough to stop traffic, literally. Cars screeched to a halt and activity went to a similar stop. All observing eyes found their way to the intersection of Kio and Retsu Avenues, where a shocked and stunned world champion found out that just above here people were dodging out of the way of someone moving fast in their direction. Neither Sakura nor Darrell recognized the voice at all, other than the fact that the person sounded Chinese...
...and once a person emerged from the opposing crowd, all three Breakers let out a blink of surprise and confusion, staring at the young, light-haired woman in front of them. Her blue jeans were really loose, just barely showing her red sneakers, her wrists with matching bands and she wore a short top, her waist sprouting a thin yet decorative red sash that swayed its ends in the breeze. Her eyes were certainly serious and with a down-to-business tone to it as she struck her pose, her gaze hard on the two World Warriors, hands on her hips.
"Hey! Who knew that we'd run into you so fast!" she said loudly. "Sakura Kasugano and Darrell Markis! Just the two I was looking for!"
Taken by surprise by this turn of events, neither of the mentioned knew how to react to this, and Jan realized that, deciding to return the favor by shouting back, "Hey! Who are you?"
The Chinese woman fixed her eyes on Jan and made a puzzled face, not recognizing this young fighter at all in the white and black shirt and matching shorts, sneakers, and red sparring gloves. She then smirked and said proudly. "The name's Xiao Fen, proud user of the Fuushi-ougi style of martial arts. I've traveled along side my friends all the way from Shanghai to meet you. Now that I have, I've got some things to settle out with you two!"
She sure does have impeccable timing, whoever she thinks she is... Darrell thought smugly, making a face. Nevertheless, she does look like she's quite the fighter...
"So what's the deal here, huh?" he then said out loud to Fen. The woman began to respond to that, but suddenly another woman shot out from behind her, grabbing hold to her arm. She was around her size; her choice of clothing a bit more casual than Fen's, but the fact that she wore a sleeveless shirt that exposed her toned physique and alternate colored wristbands made it obvious that she was as good in shape as the younger.
"Fen, I can't believe you!" she scolded the autumn-haired fighter. "Did you lose your mind?"
"Mei-Ling, not now...!" Fen said through closed teeth, her focus still on Sakura and Darrell. "I've found some of the people we were looking for! I had to make an entrance, you know...!"
"W... what...?" Instead of being mad at her friend for her behavior, Mei-Ling now looked for herself, and found out that indeed Fen was correct. Quickly Mei-Ling shook her head and gathered her composer, the turned her attention to the World Warriors a few meters away from them.
"Greetings," she said politely. "Please excuse my friend here. She doesn't mean to be rude."
"Another one, huh...?" Sakura said afterwards. "You mind telling me who you are, too?"
"Gladly. My name is Shui Mei-Ling. We caught your story not too long ago when you were attacked, and we need to get some information on you concerning the people behind all this mess."
"You're kidding..." the cherry blossom replied while shaking her head. "Just what would you guys want with info on Shadowloo?"
Mei-Ling took a pause before answering, her mind flashing on to the image of her father in his hospital bed back in Shanghai...
"My father was victim to an attack from those scoundrels. He's currently recovering from it, but I just can't sit back and let them get away with what they've done. I'm set to bring them down if I can. Considering what happened a few years ago when you were working for them, I figured—"
"Nani...?" Jan said in shock, now looking at her sensei, so to speak, with wide eyes. "You never told me that you willingly worked for them! I always thought it was a clone of you or something..."
Remembering those dark months made Sakura and Darrell's faces grow grim. They hated to remind themselves on those times when Bison was still alive...
"That wasn't the case..." Darrell said, choosing his words carefully. "The leader of Shadowloo brainwashed us into doing whatever he wanted. What we did those three months... I truly regret letting that happen..."
"Oh, really... You could've fooled me back then..."
Now a third voice ran in the air, only this time, both World Warriors knew vaguely who this one belonged to. Stepping in-between Mei-Ling and Fen came a young man in black and red, his hair a golden yellow and his eyes a red iris... His face read a lot more seriousness than Fen's, and at the looks of things, it was unclear what he wanted to do...
"Rock Howard...?" Sakura gasped. "Aren't you that Southtown kingpin's s—"
"Don't even finish that!" he snapped, making the World Warrior champion's heart skip a beat. "I cut all ties to that man a long time ago... That's not why I'm here. Did that brainwashing make you forget what you did to Terry that day after you "murdered" Geese?"
At this question neither Darrell nor Sakura was able to answer...
"Well?" he demanded again.
"I don't remember that..." the flamethrower muttered. "After we got our heads together, Chun-Li only reminded us of so much..."
"I'm not buying that..." Rock replied, now stepping forward and unzipping his jacket sleeves. "Maybe if I beat it back into you then you'll remember..."
"Hold up a second...!" Sakura began, and before either Fen or Mei-Ling could make heads or tails out of what they just heard, Jan stepped forwards, her face ticked off.
"Now you listen here, pal!" she said while facing Rock. "Sakura would never purposely attack someone like that unless something was wrong with her! Besides that was many years ago. Why haven't you gotten over that by now?"
"Things like that I just can't slip by without them being checked..." was Rock's only reply. "Now you might want to get out of the way. This doesn't concern you. This is just between me and those two."
"No way! If you want to mess with my master, then you'll have to get through me!" Then, throwing caution into the wind, Jan went into her fighting stance. "I, Jan Kaito, will take you on right now! I don't care if you're as good a fighter as people say you are... but I've been training with the best! You don't stand a chance, pal!"
At first Rock couldn't respond to what he was hearing. His face seemed to read it all; he really didn't want to fight this young girl... but taking in how Jan was taking it, there seemed to be no way he was going to get otherwise now... Rock made a face and then responded to Jan's challenge.
"Well... I didn't intend to have to go through a roadblock to get some answers here, but if I must... then I will..." He then slipped into his stance as well and ended the conversation with, "Let's see what you got, then."
Behind Jan, Sakura frowned.
It seems we're going to be a little late for our appointment...
On the other side of things, Mei-Ling and Fen both had confused looks on their faces.
"Is he... serious...?" Fen asked her friend. "Is he really going to fight that girl?"
"I believe so..." Mei-Ling muttered. "I wish he had told me everything on the way here. This doesn't seem very... wise... I honestly didn't know this was his intensions... Perhaps if I knew more about him during the travel here then I would've been able to reason with him..."
Mei-Ling then turned and gave her friend a mute look.
"...IF you weren't flirting with him the entire way..."
"Hey!' Fen shouted defensively. "Can you blame me? It's not every day you get to be around someone as handsome as him. I'm telling you one day I'm going to crack him. You just watch."
Mei-Ling paused at this, making what Fen said sink in her head. Then, without warning, she smirked at her.
"So... I take it you're developing some sort of... crush on him...?"
Fen instantly twitched, heavily sweatdropping, and stammered a little. She then turned away, looked up into the sky with a hand behind her head and laughed uneasily.
"I don't... know what you're talking about! Don't be silly, Mei-Ling! I... I just like him. That's all..."
The older girl's smile only grew as she turned her attention back to Rock, who was now beginning his battle with Sakura's student, and gave off a sly look in her eye.
"Look at him, Fen..."
"Huh?"
"Look at how he moves when he fights..."
At this, the light-hair girl gasped, noticing that not only was Mei-Ling's words seemed very unlike her (she knew Mei-Ling normally scolds her instead of encouraging her), but also that she was paying attention to Rock as he did battle with Jan. It was rather apparent that Rock's experience at fighting was showing off against the inexperienced rookie, for as Jan kept attempting haymaker swings at Rock's head, the older swayed and ducked them all easily. He then chose an opening and threw an elbow into Jan's face, making her stumble back and onto her rear end, holding her mouth with her hand.
"Ow!" she cried out, her eyes closed from the pain. "Owww...! That hurt, you jerk!"
Rock merely kept bouncing in his fighting stance. "You can expect that a lot if you're fighting. You shouldn't sweat it so much."
Once Jan caught her second wind she sucked up her pain and stood up, shaking her head. "Ah...! Bachi gaataru! Ikuzo! (You'll pay for that! Here I come!)"
On cue she shot up towards Rock, who stood ready, and even before she could attack, he sidestepped, letting her stumble forwards to try to halt herself, however Rock tripped her up and once she was on her hands and knees, gave a hard kick to her rear end, launching her forwards through the air, the others standing by wincing at the impact. The young fighter landed on her back, but, mildly surprising Rock, she flipped up quickly and to her feet... abet rubbing her sore behind for a few seconds.
"Alright..." she whispered to herself, looking beyond her opponent to Sakura and Darrell. "I gotta think about what I do... I can't be making those mistakes... Remember what Sakura said..."
She then took an additional pause, thinking about what to do, and then came with an idea. Slowly she inched herself towards Rock, her opponent standing by on the defensive. Once she was close, she then threw a fast jab that Rock effortlessly swatted away... but Jan went right along with it and threw her other fist forwards, slamming it into Rock's cheek. The blow was hard enough to make him reel back two steps, and Jan kept up her attack string, turning her body and lifting her leg up for a roundhouse kick. However the attack went over Rock, letting him reverse by grabbing Jan by her legs...
"Hu...AH!" she gasped, finding herself being sent airborne and over her target, courtesy of Rock's Shinkuu Nage. Jan's eyes went wide finding herself about to come face first with the pavement again and prepared to at least try to roll once she touched the ground...
"REPPUKEN!"
...only she never did. Instead, Rock threw out his ground projectile attack, the Reppuken nailing Jan just before she could land, and it certainly did more than throw her off. The young girl groaned as her body was knocked back even more to the sidewalk where thankfully Darrell was there to catch her.
"Jan, are you sure you still want to—"
"Ugh..." she groaned, nursing herself a little as she focused on her adversary once again. "I'm fine... I'm not going to give up... I got the hang of this now..."
Then, before either of her companions could stop her, she shot back into the fray, turning her side towards Rock...
"YAH!"
...and attacked with a very hard elbow attack with as much force as she could muster. To much of a surprise to Mei-Ling and Fen as it was to Rock, it was enough to break his guard, opening him up for an uppercut to the chin, which Jan canceled into a double overhead arm strike, coming back upwards with her left arm, spinning once while attacking, and then finishing up her "Sakura" attack with the last overhead attack, sending Rock into the ground, adding in a kick while Rock was grounded. On contact the American fighter rolled out of the way, no longer waiting on Jan to make the first move...
"Not bad for a beginner," he commented quickly, bringing his arm up again and swiping at the ground twice. "DOUBLE REPPUKEN!"
Jan watched as the first swipe created another Reppuken, but the second sent it out, making it bigger than before... and fast. Jan had no other choice but to block it, and once it dissipated, she began to counter... but was thrown off at Rock dashing towards her after the attack. Again she blocked a few punches, and again Rock dashed... but this time he blurred out of sight...
"Nani?" she gasped, her surprise taking over... not realizing that Rock was now behind her... and she paid for it. A hard fist slammed into her head, and in no time Jan was seeing stars. Unfortunately for her, Rock wasn't finished...
"Kurae na... (Take this...) ORIYA!"
Terry's prodigy shot himself into Jan, his body and fist engulfed in golden energy, almost as if he turned into a comet. The moment he finished his super attack, the Shining Knuckles, Jan let out a loud cry as her body flew away from the force of it. All the spectators watching the street fight gazed on as Jan slid hard against the pavement of the street, stopped abruptly by a parked car. From there she didn't move, her mouth gasping heavily for air. Rock merely brushed his hand against his chest.
"...but I guess that's all you had," he ended his previous statement.
"N... not... yet..."
Jan, on the other hand, just opened her eyes, although she was still in pain, and tried to stand up... The 15 year old was aware of the fact that her vision was blurry, and the fact that a majority of her body was racked with hot pain, but all of that didn't matter to her. She wasn't going to be bullied again...
"You should really give it up," Rock told her. "You're just not ready for this."
"No way... F... forget it..." Jan struggled to say, her eyes beaming determination through her pain. "I'm... no weakling... I'll show you..."
"Jan, that's enough!"
The young fighter stopped on a dime once Sakura finally decided enough was enough. Jan looked on as her teacher made her way towards her downed self. Once Sakura got close, she noticed that Jan's face seemed really disappointed...
"Gomen na sai, sensei... I tried..."
"It's ok. You did well," Sakura replied with a warm smile. "All that counts is that you tried your hardest. Just try to rest yourself. Here. Let me help..."
Oblivious to the two, Rock, Mei-Ling, and Fen were watching this, and for some reason, the scene of Sakura nursing Jan's wounds that Rock inflicted on her suddenly made the three of them, mostly Rock, feel a bit guilty...
"Rock, I don't know about this..." Mei-Ling responded. "I don't think fighting is going to solve the issue you have with them."
For a while Rock didn't respond, looking on as Sakura bandaged up a bruise on Jan's cheek with some cloth she happened to always carry around with her for such a purpose. Then he sighed.
"I guess you're right..."
Fen then looked down at her attire and pouted.
"Darn... and I changed into my good fighting clothes for this, too... Bummer."
"I... don't think that was a nice thing to add to this little incident..." Mei-Ling muttered while gazing at Fen through the side of her eyes. Meanwhile...
"There," the cherry blossom said while helping up her student, who was fully patched up. "Not exactly good as new, but it should help."
"Arigatou... (Thank you...)" Jan replied, trying her best to smile.
"Douitashimashite... (Don't mention it...)"
The World Warrior champion then turned around to face Rock, her face now a totally contrast to earlier; seriously determined.
"As for you... if you want a real fight, you got it. We've wasted enough time on you guys. We're late for our appointment!"
"Appointment...?" Rock repeated.
"Yeah. We were supposed to meet Athena at 11, but it's past that now because we got hung up by you! If you want to fight so badly, then I'm not going to hold back at all! Darrell!"
"Yeah, Sakura?" her husband called, his game face already on.
"Let's show them our stuff..."
"No! Stop!" Mei-Ling called out, now stepping forward and into the street. "This isn't what we wanted!"
"Says you..." Fen whispered to herself. Of course, Mei-Ling didn't pick it up, instead turning her attention to Rock
"Rock... Let's reason with Sakura and Darrell. There's no need to cause bloodshed if we're willing to relax and listen."
Rock turned his head over to Mei-Ling, his hands slowly relaxing out of their fists state. However, Sakura and Darrell stayed on their ground, the younger of the two speaking now.
"Listen, huh...? Weren't you listening when I was speaking about that earlier, Rock?"
Now it was Rock's turn to stay silent, making Darrell continue.
"I don't like to lie to people, no matter who they are or wither I know them or not, so whatever I say is the truth as far as I know it. All I remember through all of that was that the leader of Shadowloo captured us and brainwashed us and made us do all of his dirty work. Whatever we did... was out of our control. Despite how corrupt Geese was... we wouldn't have just murdered the guy for no reason or on that reason alone. In fact, killing someone is the least on our minds. We like fighting, and we use it for fun and comparing our skills against others. And the god-honest truth... I don't remember the Terry incident at all."
"Me, neither," Sakura added, her hands on her hips. "Sometimes you just can't be that impulsive. Trust me, I know. There are certain times that your fists need to speak for you, but in times like this, its best to just hear things out before speaking."
"Yeah... You're right about that..." the blond said while making a face. For some odd reason, Rock didn't feel the same drive against the four that hurt Terry that morning. In fact, Terry was telling him the exact same thing before he left... "That was stupid of me..." he continued, twisting his mouth. "I have no idea why I was so closed down to words... but..."
He then sighed, giving a calm look to the three Breakers in front of him. "I guess I should say I'm sorry then..."
Behind him, Mei-Ling smiled.
Now that's how things are handled properly... Now...
"Excuse me," she then said out loud, "but do you think I can get some info on all of this mess?"
"Oh, yeah... That's right," the cherry blossom reminded herself while snapping her fingers. "Well, here's what we'll do. Since we were going to meet Athena and her group about that, why don't you come on as well? It should prove to be informative on all ends."
"Yes, that's good," the oldest of the other three responded cheerfully. "I guess we'll be following you then."
"Alright, then..." Sakura responded while motioning everyone to follow her. "Hopefully Athena won't mind a bigger crowd..."
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Kyoto, Japan: 11:07 A.M.
About 8 miles away from this spot and in the same city, another small set of fighters were also out on the search for answers...
Terry and Kim remembered this area distinctly. The small crowd in front of the dojo in particular was further proof. As they, May Lee, and Ryu approached the crowd, battle cries could be heard rather clearly...
"Oriya...! Hien Shippu Kyaku...! Zanretsuken...!"
...as well as a further sound of a body hitting the pavement, followed shortly by applause from the students of the dojo.
"Yep... Looks like the new Kyokugen school is doing just fine..." Terry commented as the foursome made their way to the action. There they could clearly see a man in a pink karate gi on the floor, lumps all over his face in such a way his eyes were barely visible, and his body was occasionally twitching after enduring such onslaught. A few feet away stood another fighter in orange, who brought his arms to his side and assumed a stance.
"Now get this right, Mr. Dan Hibiki," came his voice, confident and strong. "No matter how many times you try, your Saikyo style just can't match up to the power of Kyokugen! If you want to, try me again in a week, or, you could also do yourself a favor and join a real dojo and really learn a true fighting style. Either way, it's no skin off my cheek. Believe me."
The man on the ground, who was indeed the infamous successor of the Saikyo style of martial arts, struggled to sit up and speak at the same time.
"F... forget it, Ryo...! I'll show you just like I... showed Sagat years ago... Saikyo can beat ANY style..."
"Oh, you really convinced me of that..." the self-proclaimed "Invincible Dragon", Ryo Sakazaki, muttered while running a finger lazily in his ear. "That display of fighting really made me think that you stand a threat to our style... You've been at this charade at least once a week for the past 10 years. Seriously you need to stop or actually get better for a change."
Before Dan could reply to that, he so happened to catch the view of the pants of a white karate gi... and he looked up...
"Ryu...?"
Just then, Ryo blinked, noticing a familiar presence, and turned to his left. The moment he laid eyes on where it was coming from, he grew a smile on his face and turned his full attention to the group.
"Well, then! Looks who is here! I didn't expect to see you guys until the tournament started."
"Yes, well, we're here on business," Kim retorted. "I'm afraid you know about all the events that have been happening recently worldwide."
Ryo nodded. "Of course. Robert informed me of this not too long ago when he e-mailed Yuri from his stay in Italy. Mass kidnappings and an increase in crime activity worldwide. He also informed me that out of all the people being abducted, it seems as if whoever is behind all of this is targeting skilled fighters around the world. Father believes that we might meet up with these people personally knowing our luck in such situations, so we're all getting ready to defend ourselves. As I speak now, Yuri is taking on a challenger inside the dojo... and in a way I envy her... Who she's fighting is surely a better challenge than he is..."
The Sakazaki then jerked a thumb at the downed Dan, as if the others didn't already know that already.
"Well, then..." Terry said smugly. "Whoever that girl's fighting, he must be good if you're actually jealous."
Ryo made a face and then walked forwards, motioning the others to follow him into the dojo. He didn't say a word at all while doing so, leaving the others a little puzzled. However, they followed regardless, Ryo's students staying outside to gawk at the downed Hibiki. Once inside, the air was quickly filled with the battle cries and the sound of wind caused from attacks flying around the wooden battlefield. The students inside sat in awe as the middle aged woman in the white gi top and blue tights and sneakers shot forwards in a blaze of attacks, her large hair braid constantly flowing in the air due to how much she was moving. On the defense was another woman, this time Chinese, with a similar hair style, but her attire was mostly red with a golden phoenix design on it...
The stage was set...
Yuri Sakazaki vs. Yao Mitsumi.
Not too long ago, Mitsumi, Kaoru, and Yui were traveling through the area trying to find any clues that could help them flush out Shadowloo, however, upon passing the Kyokugen school of Karate, the female master of the school came out to offer a challenge to the threesome. As Yuri put it, Ryo had just won a local tournament for a nice cash prize and they were offering up challengers to take a portion of it. The reason; to improve their skills and let the world realize how skilled Kyokugen is in person. However, at the moment Mitsumi was the only one who decided to try it out; Yui and Kaoru were long gone, continuing on their search.
At the moment, as the 5 fighters at the door noticed, the fight was rather close, Mitsumi heavy on the defensive. She took multiple steps backwards, weaving her body out of the way of the numerous attacks that Yuri was throwing at her while trying to get back on the offensive herself.
"Raiohken!" Yuri shouted, jumping forwards quickly with both her arms over her head. Just before she landed she threw them forwards, emitting a large ball of ki to slam into the floor just a few centimeters away from Mitsumi's black shoes. On instinct Mitsumi shot backwards to avoid it, but Yuri was still closing the gap on her, and as the mountain girl realized, she was running out of space to run. The wall of the dojo was right behind her...
"I got you now!" Yuri shouted once again, ducking forwards with her fist to her side. "Chou Upper!"
Without much choice, Mitsumi put her arms up and blocked Yuri's uppercut, but before she rose off the ground, Yuri stopped. It took a moment for Mitsumi to realize that she did a momentum cancel, opting her to add a hard blow to her guard once again. The Kyokugen fighter then ducked in more, going for a hard kick to keep the pressure on, but Mitsumi predicted it and broke her guard to parry it...
"Yuri!" Ryo called out, seeing this better than his sister could. Hearing her brother's warning, the younger sibling canceled again and ducked, dodging a high knee, but just as she began to counter...
"Hoo!"
"Yuri!" she yelled, gathering up some of her inner strength to plow her fist into Mitsumi's stomach, however, Mitsumi was moving over her, using the wall for leverage to give a flying kick which would've started her Femikketsu Demizu, but in this case it allowed her to escape her trap, avoiding Yuri's devastating Shin Chou Upper. Planning on not letting Mitsumi build momentum once again, Yuri canceled a third time before lifting off, turning around quickly and raising a hand above her head.
"Ko'ou..."
Then, as Mitsumi turned to face her opponent, she noticed that Yuri held onto her ki, bringing it towards her body... Everyone who knew Yuri knew that her projectile, the Ko'ouken, has pretty limited range... but everyone, including Mitsumi, knew that if she held on to it...
"Just kidding...! HAOU SHO KOH KEN!""
...she could launch both her arms forwards, her projectile coming out larger and going a lot farther than it should. As Mitsumi blocked the attack, she made a mental note...
She sure uses her ki a lot... If she keeps at it she's going to tire out really fast.
Surely enough, the mountain girl was right. As she got a clear view of Yuri, she could clearly see the sweat trickling down Yuri's face as she panted for breath. Mitsumi then smirked.
"Looks like you're tiring out, huh?" the Chinese martial artist teased, raising up an arm and gathering her ki. "Time to finish this off then and claim my prize! Ryujin..."
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Before Mitsumi, or anyone else in the dojo could react, a deafening explosion ran through the air, making the others in the room duck for cover as the wall to the right of Mitsumi fell apart at the seems. As the dojo shook at the force of the impact, Yuri and Ryo both noticed the location of the explosion...
"Father's side room!" Yuri shrieked, scrambling up to her feet and heading out towards the back of the dojo. Ryo was almost right on her heals, but Kim and Terry held him back...
"What the heck are you guys doing?" he shouted back, instantly trying to shake them off.
"Hold on, Ryo," Kim responded, holding one of Ryo's arms tight. "Don't do anything nuts yet."
"But that's my father...!"
"Actually... brother..."
Ryo then blinked, realizing that Yuri came back... only to find out that the only thing she came back with only a small piece of paper in her hands. Quickly she made her way past Mitsumi, who was still bewildered at all that just happened, and to Ryo, who was finally released so he could read it himself. What he read almost didn't make sense at first, but as he went on...
"To the members of the Kyokugen family...
Sorry for disturbing you in such a manner... but in such a manner, you must know there's a reason for such a big interruption... Well... as you have noticed, your father has been gone for a short while to pick up some supplies for your dinner tonight. Unfortunately... he won't be returning. Since we realized that your father is the famous Takuma Sakazaki, grand master of the art of Kyokugen karate, we found it very essential that he'd come with us... If you'd like to see him again... well... we're not sure if you can if you tried..."
Ryo instantly crumbled the paper in his hands in hatred... and the other mainstream fighters in the dojo knew who was behind this...
"Shadowloo..." Mitsumi muttered. "Looks like Chun-Li was right... Things are hot here... I'd better get in contact with the others, pronto..."
At the same time, Ryo cursed under his breath...
"That's it. They've hit far too close to home now. Whoever these guys are, they've now got the Kyokugen school on their behinds now...!"
--------
Kyoto, Japan: 11:10 A.M
"It's a good thing you all came. Really, it is. The others and I have been having a pretty hard time trying to keep these guys down. They just seem to pop up whenever we give them a chance."
The lovely, youthful and energetic voice, belonged to the one that most of Asia called the "singing goddess"... Many girls want to be like her and many boys (or grown men) drool over her. Be it her heavenly voice or her colorful and decorative attire and hairstyles, there was no mistaking her for anyone else in the world. There was only one Athena Asamiya.
At the moment she wasn't singing, nor was she looking at fan mail or doing her countless interviews (she had just finished an interview 5 minutes ago). Now it was strictly business. Beside her were her partners from the King of Fighters circuit: Sie Kensou, a young and gifted Psycho Soldier who was also gifted in Chinese Kempo, Malin, a teenage girl who built a reputation in holding nasty weaponry in the folds of her clothes, and the young psychic boy, Bao, who was known throughout the years as a small but powerful psychic package.
As Athena looked on at the visitors in the room, her face had a mixture of its normal cheer and pizzazz, yet there was a hint of determination and seriousness on as well. Sitting directly in front of her on a beige couch, Sakura noticed this clearly, and responded to her old friend.
"Shadowloo's like that... I'm glad that you're standing up to them, Athena... but this isn't quite like the other problems that you've had. These guys mean business."
"Oh, I know that, Sakura," Athena replied, crossing her legs. "Funny thing is, after seeing something like Orochi years ago... I think we can handle something like this crime organization. We're only getting better, and if you said that these guys have been at this gig for over 2 decades, then you guys should—"
"It's not all that simple, Athena," Sakura interrupted. "This time it's a whole lot different. They're really hitting hard this time. I know you realized the rise in deaths and crime over the world. It wasn't like this until recently. What they're doing now is a lot more dangerous than what they used to do. Shadowloo's really serious this time, and I don't think they're going to stop or let up until they get what they want."
"But from what I heard you guys stopped them plenty of times," Kensou spoke up, leaning forwards and letting his brown hair droop some. "What makes them so hard this time?"
"Well... putting it bluntly... we do know everything here," Darrell responded, who was sitting next to his wife, drinking from a water bottle in-between a few sentences. "We don't know who is leading this, what they're planning to do, and barely have an idea as to who they're targeting to achieve it. They might have lackeys out doing their dirty work, but all the main guys are so well hidden... and taking what happened within the past week or so into consideration, they can attack anyone at any moment. You guys are pretty fortunate that no one in your group's been messed up like us..."
"Wow..." came the voice of Malin, who was leaning on the couch Athena and Kensou were sitting on. "It would be nice to ignore all of these things and just go on about our business, but the fact of the matter is that we can't. The Psycho Soldiers have a knack at fighting evil people, and I might not have been in this gig for too long, but I know that if the rest of these goons are like the ones we beat up, then this'll be a piece of cake."
At this, Mei-Ling, who was sitting in a solitary chair beside Athena's, shook her head. "It's never really wise to underestimate such a mighty organization. After seeing firsthand what they did to my father, I'm not taking them lightly."
Malin made a face at the Chinese woman's reply, but before she could counter it, Rock spoke.
"What I think... is that, well, knowing that people like Shadowloo crave power, you can bet money that they're going to come after us eventually. Think about it. Southtown was run by gangs and kingpins who wanted it all, and wouldn't stop until they got everything. Evil and greed sort of come hand and hand, and I know that we're somewhere on their hit list, us all being fighters."
"Yeah, you're right..." Athena sighed, closing her eyes and trying to get everything together in her head. "So what are you suggesting..."
All eyes went on the young man in the red jacket, and Rock's eyes showed no playing around when he said what he said next...
"To be honest... I've been thinking about all of this... and I think that instead of trying to search for them... we should let them come to us. At least that way we'll be able to get a better grasp on things instead of wasting time and energy trying to track them down. Think about it. We move; they move. If we stay, they come to us... then we squash them."
A bit of murmuring filled the lobby room from the three teams as they looked over Rock's suggestion, then Kensou turned attention to himself.
"That doesn't sound too bad, but at the same time we won't know if we're going over our head by just letting them find us. Like those guys said, we don't know everything. What if they just want to "off" us, just like that?"
"We're not going to get much progress if we don't take some risks here and there..." the blond responded with.
"This isn't getting us anywhere fast..." Athena interrupted, placing a hand on her chin. "I think what we need to do is—"
Before she could complete her sentence, she was interrupted by the short sound of static followed by a voice coming from the entrance of the room. At closer inspection, it came from the speaker communicator on the door.
"Excuse me, Miss Asamiya?" a male voice ran through it.
"Yes?" Athena responded brightly.
"You have another visitor."
Athena then looked over to Sakura and asked quietly, "I thought you told me that this was all you were bringing."
In response Sakura gave an innocent look. "It is. It must be a fan of yours or something."
Athena then turned her attention back to the intercom and said, "Ok. You can let that person in, then. I always have time for my fans!"
"Surely."
The intercom then shut off, and the door opened, revealing the hallway to the rest of the studio. Standing there was a tall, black-haired man, who was the man who was responsible in seeing visitors to their destination. At the moment he was looking down to the visitor, inviting her in...
"Here you go, madam. Enjoy yourself."
"Thanks..."
...and upon sight of who the visitor was, both Sakura and Darrell gasped, Jan noticing the surprised looks on their faces.
"Saya! What a surprise!" Sakura chirped happily. Surely, the person who came into the room was small, young teenage woman with short, blond hair and casual clothing, her green eyes bright in the realization and surprise at seeing her sensei again.
"Wow...!" she welcomed, coming over to hug her school teacher. "This really is a surprise... I didn't expect to see you after what happened that day at school... At least... not this early..."
"Yes, I'm very fortunate on that..." the cherry blossom said, looking over her shoulder to Jan. "Jan, this is my favorite student back at Tamagawa Minami. Her name is Saya Hashimoto and I've been giving her pointers weekly on fighting."
At that, Jan's eyes lit up. "Oh! This is the same person you were telling me the other night, isn't it?" She then came forward and gave Saya a formal greeting. "Jan Kaito. I'm Sakura's #1 fan and I'm training under her directly. It's really nice to see you."
That quote made Saya return the gesture, yet upon ending it, she put a hand on her hip. "Really? Sakura's training you, too? That's great to hear. For how long?"
Jan smiled wide as she replied. "Running on two days now."
"Oh, you just started. Well, I've been under Sakura's wing ever since the school year started." Saya answered back.
"Really?" the black-haired girl asked, her voice high in excitement. "How cool! She must've taught you quite a bit!"
Saya smirked. "Hey, just let me get what I came here for and then I'll get back to you on that..."
Jan nodded enthusiastically, her heart running wild at the fact that she could see Sakura's first student first hand. Saya turned her attention to Athena, the two of them smiling, and then the blond said, "Miss Athena Asamiya, I've been a fan of you for about as long as I've been a fan of Sakura. I came out this way to see if I could get an autograph of you for me to take home."
"Ah, so that's it, huh?" the superstar singer replied, her eyes sparkling. "Well that's no problem. Just what do you want signed?"
Saya smiled, reaching into her jean pocket to get a special photo of Athena split diagonally, the left side of it of her singing at a concert, wearing a pearly white suit, and the right showing her during on of her bouts at the King of Fighters circuit, performing her famous Psycho Ball Attack. Almost out of nowhere, as Saya placed the collector's edition photo on the table in front of Athena, the singer pulled out a pen out of practically nowhere, obviously a new psychic trick, and prepared to sign it.
"Just who am I making this special signature out to?"
"Me," Saya replied. "Saya Hashimoto. S-A-Y-A..."
As Saya spelled her name out to Athena, the others looked on in a pleasant atmosphere, witnessing such an act firsthand.
"She sure looks happy, doesn't she?" Fen asked Mei-Ling, the younger leaning on the wall next to her best friend, her arms crossed as she smiled at the scene.
"There you go!" Athena smiled as she finished, Saya lifting up the autograph in order to see the writing...
"To Saya Hashimoto
A prized fan that I'll hold deeply in my heart.
Athena Asamiya
Proud Psycho Soldier"
"Thanks a lot, Miss Asamiya..." Saya replied gratefully, cracking a smile at the singer.
"No problem at all. If Sakura knows you, then I know that it's the least I can do."
The blond girl then put the picture away, just as Sakura stood up to come next to her.
"It's really a pleasure to see you again, Saya," the blossom said while placing a hand on Saya's back. "Really, that brought my day around quite a bit."
Saya didn't reply, for as Sakura's hand felt her back, the older woman blinked a little at the feel of her back...
"Saya..." she said quietly. "Are you wearing more clothing under this? You must be hot. It's around 74 degrees out today."
Saya merely brought her green eyes over to look at her teacher through the corner of her eye. At that moment, the Psycho Soldiers, who were sitting in front of them, noticed that Saya's expression seemed odd. And, at this moment, they also just realized what she was wearing a black, thick marble necklace around her neck... Sakura did, too, and commented on it.
"And what's this...? On your neck...? Wow... That must've cost an arm and a leg... It looks beautiful though."
"Thanks..." Saya replied.
"I wonder what it's made of... That has to be pure marble..."
Sakura then let her hands come to it, trying to get a feel of it... but the moment she did, she blinked.
Hey... This isn't marble... It feels like metal...
"Are you ok, Saya?" Malin asked, making Saya bring her eyes over to her... It was then that she realized the young boy standing quietly next to Malin... making the blond blink...
That's him...
...and the instant her green eyes opened again, Saya broke away from Sakura's grasp, not only surprising and startling her, but everyone else in the room. She hopped over the table effortlessly, and before anyone could make heads or tails on what was going on, Saya fist was glowing in a golden tint above her head...
"LIGHT BREAKER!"
...and she slammed it down... Little Bao barely had a chance to see Saya, let alone yelp out or defend, as Saya's attack collided with his head, sending him backwards into the wall before she quickly came over to him and scooped him up over her shoulder... as if he didn't weigh anything at all... At this time, everyone was up and alert, all three of the Psycho Soldiers yelling out the boy's name as Saya stood up fully, her back to the others in the room... Most noticeably, no one in the room was more shocked than Sakura... As much as she wanted to move... or do something... she couldn't...
It can't be... No...! It just CAN'T!
"Saya!" she cried out. "Please...! Please don't tell me you're working for them!"
"Heh..." came the blond's reply, her back still to the others in the room. "Don't tell you, huh...? Well... I'd like to tell you... but I'd think that it's better that I show you!"
And as she spun around, her body surrounded itself in its golden light energy... not fading until she was directly facing Sakura... and when it did fade, Sakura's face went pale...
"No..."
That black attire... Those black boots... Those red combat gloves... and most importantly... the silver flying skull symbol on her shirt... There was no mistake about it... and it all left Sakura absolutely bewildered...
Saya Hashimoto... her favorite student both in school and on the battlefield... was working for Shadowloo...