The Bird of Darkness

by DeNice

With the dawning of another Shadowloo movement, fighters from all over race to get to the bottom of strange events that plauge the world. Little do they know how deep the rabbit hole really goes. CH.15 up: Another night is fully alive...

15. Azure Night

SAGA 2/5: DESPAIR

CHAPTER 15: AZURE NIGHT

Fushimi, Japan: 9:15 P.M.

In a small side street in Fushimi, a city nearby Kyoto, Mei-Ling couldn't be deeper in thought. Even as she walked, her hand was still calmly placed under her chin and her eyes closed. Hardly taking the possibility of running into (or being ran over...) by something or someone into consideration, the young martial artist kept her mind solely on her thoughts...

(Perhaps this is a lot more critical than I initially thought... If the World Warrior champion could be deceived like she was earlier... that means that we need to be extra careful... Things can get ugly in a hurry...)

"Mei..."

"Huh?" Mei-Ling gasped while looking to her left, seeing her best friend's face.

"You're thinking too hard, Mei. Relax, will ya?"

Mei-Ling smirked; a rare event to say the least. "I am relaxed. It's the way I think clearly."

The light-hair girl made a face. "But you've been like that even since this afternoon. I know your father says that meditation is all important and stuff, but come on..."

The oldest of the group merely shook her head. "Fen, I'm fine. Seriously."

"Well, if that's the case, I think we should figure out what we should do now. We don't have any leads now, and this splitting up idea we forged with those other fighters sure isn't helping us. We should've tagged along with them. They have better resources than we do."

Beside Fen, Rock frowned a bit. "You might be right about that... I guess now we have to keep our eyes alert for anything suspicious. It's all we can do for now."

"In the meantime, we should find a hotel to crash in," the light haired Chinese girl sighed, her eyes closed. "Not to say that I'm tired... A growing girl like me needs her beauty rest, you know."

Fen then struck a pose, as if she was a model showing off designer clothes, twirling to show off all she had. Realizing what her friend was doing, Mei-Ling gave an embarrassed smile.

"What do you think, Rock?" Fen asked the young American. "Don't I look sexy to you?"

"Um, well..."

Rock let out a small, nervous laugh while sweatdropping, causing Fen to give him a devious look in her eyes.

"'Well...?'" she repeated mockingly, leaning over Rock with a threatening manner, "Well what?"

Rock stuttered what little of a response he had, now trying not to look directly into Fen's wide eyes, finding Mei-Ling just staring away at an area down the alley...

"Hey, what's the matter, Mei-Ling?" he asked. Mei-Ling didn't respond, but it left enough time for her best friend to pop a vein in her forehead.

"Oh, don't you change the subject on me, Rock Howard! I know you like me; you just don't want to admit it!"

"Hey! I never said I didn't like you—"

"So you do like me, huh!?"

"Yes, but not like that!"

"What!? I'm not good enough for you, is that it!?"

"Ow! What're you—"

"I can't believe you! You're a jerk! You hear me?! Jerk!"

"You're crazy! Ow! Stop doing that!"

Meanwhile, Mei-Ling was once again deep in thought... However this time it was on something very different.

(This... this sensation...)

Suddenly, something was making her feel uneasy. Her nerves were on end, her body shook, and she was starting to sweat...

(This dark feeling... This feeling of dread... I haven't felt anything like this before...)

The martial artist's eyes never left its focus point, looking straight down to where the alley met the streets once again... The presence was in-between her and the street, but it wasn't so in-her-face... Still it was close...

(Too close…)

"You guys..." she mumbled, loud enough for Fen to stop senselessly beating Rock's head in with a pole she found lying nearby. "We're not alone here..."

"Say what?" Fen asked, holding Rock up by his black undershirt. Rock himself was knocked silly, anime swirls in his eyes and his tongue out in a silly fashion, not to mention several lumps across his skull.

"Don't you feel it? It's... almost surreal..."

Fen unconsciously dropped Rock on the ground and walked closer to Mei-Ling, who seemed frozen in place.

"What's got you all shaken up?" she asked while getting close to her friend.

It took a while for Mei-Ling to respond...

"Someone else is here, Fen... I can feel a really dark ki force nearby..."

On the contrary to what Mei-Ling was trying to get across, a mischievous smile appeared across Fen's face.

"Well, now... looks like we're on the right track," the younger girl smiled. "Let's go find him. I'm itching for some action tonight after what happened earlier today."

"Fen, please... Think about this before you do anything crazy. We've never came across anything like this before."

"Oh, don't sweat it, Mei. We can take 'em." Fen encouraged, pumping a fist. She then spun around to Rock, who was slowly recovering from the rather unnecessary ass-kicking Fen gave him, and shouted, "Hey, lazy! Get up! This isn't the time nor the place to take a nap! We've got something important here!"

Groaning, the blond sat up, rubbing his head, and responded in a low voice, "Easy for you to say... You didn't just get attacked by a wolverine..."

Getting back to his senses, Rock paused to look at the night sky. It was a clear night, the moon glowing fully in the mists of darkness. No stars were visible, and in the dim lights of this section of Fushimi, it was difficult to see the colors on the buildings surrounding him.

Then, while gazing at the roofs of the buildings, Rock saw a figure situated on the top of a building... From here, he could make out red hair on his head, a black jacket on his body with a white "C" shape on its back, and red bondage pants...

"...!"

Rock's eyes went wide as his right hand began to throb suddenly, making him let out a yelp as he held onto it. The disturbance caught both Chinese girls' attention, both quickly dashing to his side, wondering what was happening...

"Rock!" Fen cried out, kneeling to his side, "What the heck's the matter with you!? What's with that flame...?"

Rock's only response was a long, agonizing groan, his right hand now flaming with a violent blue blaze...

My bad blood... It boils...

--------

"Nnn...?"

The figure on top of the roods, originally staring out across the horizon the city's buildings made below the right sky, turned his attention to below his perch. Three individuals...

As he looked, his red hair shaded a portion of his face, his expression emotionless as he saw and felt the eruption of dark ki nearby...

"That power... I've noticed that power before," he said to himself. After a while, the ki dropped down to normal again, but not before a smirk appeared on the mysterious man's face.

"It appears as if I might just have a little fun tonight... I need to kill some time before another lead opens up..."

And with that, he dropped off the roof and down a good 3 stories to the cold pavement below...

--------

"Who's that!?" Fen shrieked, caught by surprise at the sudden figure that dropped down from out of nowhere, landing just a few feet away from their group. By this time, Rock was fully on his feet against Mei-Ling's wishes, and faced the man he spotted head on. Against the street light from the avenue behind him, his body remained in the confines of darkness...

"You... I know you..." Rock panted lightly, his eyes hardening with seriousness.

"You do?" Fen asked. "You actually know this creep?"

Rock nodded. "He's... Iori Yagami..."

"Yagami..." Mei-Ling repeated to herself. Surely she heard that name before... but where...?

Then it hit her... Hard.

(So that would explain that sinking feeling! Yagami is the ancient Japanese clan that grew cursed by an ancient entity and controls deadly dark azure flames! I thought that was just legend... but those eyes... I'm not mistaken…).

Mei-Ling just couldn't help the feelings surging through her body... and the worry showed clearly enough for anyone to see it...

Including Iori. A small smile crossed his face, and although he said nothing, the oldest of the traveling trio knew that he was smiling at her... She tried her best to get her head together, but her efforts only amused him more.

"Oh, don't try to fight it..." he said calmly. "I might not have seen you before, but by the way you're looking, it would seem that you know quite enough..."

Mei-Ling let out a low growl, bracing her tense body, just as Fen spoke to the stranger in front of her.

"Hey, freak! By the way you carry about, you must work for Shadowloo! How about you tell us where you're stationed at and I promise I won't hurt you!"

After hearing that, the smirk disappeared clearly from the red hair's mouth and replaced with an irritated scowl. "And who are you, cackling hen?"

Fen smiled, belligerent to Iori's cold expression, and answered. "Why, am I glad you asked that... I'm the supreme butt-kicker of Shanghai! The successor of Fuushi-style martial arts! I'm the very breath of the thunder that booms through the greatest of storms...!"

She then brought out a hand, making a victory peace sign, and winked at Iori.

"Xiao Fen, at your service!" she finished proudly. She then turned to Mei-Ling and whispered, "How was that? I spent most of the plane trip here thinking about a cool speech to say at a time like this... Wasn't that cool?"

Her friend just stared at her with a bewildered look before putting a hand over her face, shaking her head and sighing deeply.

"Fen..." she mumbled. "You really need to grow up..."

Fen, in response, made a face, thinking everything over as she put a hand on her chin and looked hard at the floor.

"Yeah..." she agreed... to an extent. "Perhaps the butt-kicking part was a bit off..."

"I wasn't talking about that!" Mei-Ling instantly mused, a vein starting to pop out of her head. "Geez!"

"Tch..."

The sound of teeth sucking made both of them turn their attention back to Iori, who put his hands in his pockets, his face irritated.

"Its amazing how many fools I must run into..." he mumbled. "I've had just about enough of my time wasted on listening to this... "

"Well, excuse me, but no one asked for you to pop your head in our business!" Fen shot back, not being fazed at the dark look Iori was giving her.

"That's it... I think I'll put you out of your misery now..."

"What was that?" Fen shot back, giving Iori a hot glare herself. "You really think you'll be able to just beat me so easily? Give me a little credit here..."

Iori scoffed. "Trust me, girl. You'll soon see enough... You're first. You can get whatever 'credit' you deserve in the next world...!"

Fen then heard enough. "Alright, you freak, that's enough out of you! It's time you got a taste of my fury of fists! Bring it on, jackass!"

"...die!"

Not wasting anymore time or words, the two charged at one another, Fen letting out a strong battle cry as she threw the first blow. Iori dodged to the side, letting her miss her attack...

"Ah!"

...and the next thing Fen knew, her back seemed to have a rough meeting with a rake. She fell to her knees from the sudden shock, holding herself up with her hands. Iori's counter attack stung badly, but it wasn't anything she couldn't take.

"Doushita? (What's wrong?)"

"Well, you did just—" Fen began to answer Iori's question, but Rock interrupted harshly.

"Fen! That's an ATTACK...!"

"Ugh!" she gasped, pushing up from the ground to let a grounded purple blaze miss her, setting up into the air. She set her sights back on her target and dropped down towards him...

"Fool!" Iori shouted, about to pick her out of the air with his anti-air Oniyaki, but, with a shout, Fen's speed increased and her sneaker rocketed into his face. The attack caught Iori off guard pretty well, blowing him back into a nearby wall. Before he could get off it, Fen was hot on the offensive again...

"Yahhh...!" she shouted before pounding Iori's chest with a multitude of quick strikes. After an unknown amount of hits due to the speed Fen was attacking, she then went on to finish it with a heavy fist to the head, but Iori ducked to the side, making her hit bricks instead. She immediately let out a howl as she recoiled her hand, shaking it from the pain. At the same time, she tried to bring her focus back on Iori... just to meet an elbow to her stomach, making her double over. The other arm then shot forwards, grabbed Fen's face, and forced her down to the ground. She yelled in protest and tried her hardest to get way somehow, but all she could do was stare at Iori's dark face through his fingers...

"Shi ne!"

A sudden flow of flames shot through his arm and a scream could barely escape from Fen's mouth before an explosion of dark purple flames engulfed her head...

"Fen!!" Mei-Ling cried out, the flames from the Kototsuki In burning out in her pupils. Fen stopped struggling as Iori smirked once again, then with a grunt threw his arm up, effortlessly tossing her body away, landing a few inches away from Mei-Ling and Rock's feet. Mei-Ling wasted no time coming to her friend's aid while Rock just kept his eyes on Iori...

(Should've half-expected that...) the young man mumbled in his mind. The more he stared at Iori, the more his blood boiled...

"You started an uproar within me..." the blond said boldly, his red eyes seriously burning into Iori. "You'd better be prepared to finish it."

"Bold words... from someone with such pitiful existence," Iori returned, getting into his fighting stance. "Son of Geese Howard... I will cripple you..."

"Come on..."

"Doushita?!"

"Reppuken!"

The two shot their energy straight into the ground, the Yami Barai and the Reppuken clashing against each other, instantly exploding against one another. As the ki blew off into the wind, Rock quickly shot himself forwards, elbow out for his Hard Edge...

"Muda na!" the read head shouted, dodging the attack and countering with a hard roundhouse kick. Rock stopped just in time and ducked, letting it sail over his head, then threw his elbow out, catching Iori in the neck. He stumbled a bit and retreated a bit as Rock kept on the offensive.

--------

"Fen! Say something to me...! Come on...! Open your eyes!"

Mei-Ling was normally composed. Normally she would know how to handle these situations. She was preparing her whole life for situations like this, but now she couldn't feel any more powerless. Her best friend was in pain... and she couldn't think of a way to snap her out of it. She bit her lip, trying to calm down her nerves, holding her friend close to her body.

(Come on... Let something happen...)

A little bit of time passed... and finally a low but audible groan escaped the younger girl's mouth. Me-Ling let off a relieved sigh as Fen's eyes slowly opened up, feeling Fen's slightly tattered face.

"Mei..?" Fen's first words were; confused at what just happened.

"That was so careless of you..." the older girl scolded. It was there that Fen remembered the events that led to her brief sleep, and why her face stung... She tried to stand up, clenching her fists...

"How... dare he lay his grimy hands on my pretty face..." she growled in a cold tone. It was then clear to Mei-Ling that this Fen... was different than the lovable fool she was friends with... This girl was serious. Deadly serious. Her eyes lost that friendly spark, turning dark along with the expression of her face. To Mei-Ling, she looked...

Evil.

She started to stop her and talk some sense into her, but she couldn't. She couldn't formulate the words. Even if she did, Fen wouldn't be able to listen.

"He's mine," Fen grumbled. "No one scars my face and gets away with it!"

--------

The battle between Rock and Iori only seemed to escalate. There was barely any space in-between them, blows being traded for blows, attacks being evaded and countered... After a short clash the two broke apart, standing ready yet taking the break to reform strategy...

(He's really relentless...) Rock thought, running a hand through his hair. (He's gotta have a weak point somewhere... he just doesn't seem to show any...)

Iori kept silent, then, surprising Rock, he smirked. His right arm caught on fire and he leapt towards Rock, threatening to strike...

At first Rock began to initiate a Crack Counter... but with the boiling of his blood... he found himself attempting another move...

(That's it! That's the opening!)

Wasting no time, Rock gathered as much ki as she could in the short time he had into his hands, now positioned above his head...

"Raging..."

(I knew he'd use that move...! The fool!)

Iori's eyes went wide with anticipation, canceling his attack and bracing himself... and not a moment too soon, for a moment later, Rock let loose his vigor...

"STOOORM!!"

The American bent down to the ground, slamming his hands onto the ground, causing the air around him to blow out from beneath him, followed by an uproar of Rock's energy shooting up violently into the air. Anything not nailed down was mercilessly blasted to the heavens above...

Iori grunted at the force as he, despite being above the Raging Storm, defended himself well until it died out. As he landed, he turned to his adversary to see his back turned to him, panting slightly.

Rock didn't stand up after his attack ended for his right arm couldn't control the surge of ki throughout the move... He held onto it gingerly, trying his best to not aggravate it more, but Iori wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily... he assumed a signature stance...

"Asobi wari da...!"

Rock began to try to dodge, sensing the infamous Ya Otome attack coming, but before he could move or Iori could dash close enough to execute it, someone shot in-between the two faster than the normal person could blink... and Iori couldn't begin to stop before a hard knee shot into his face, making him stop cold and practically jerk into a standing position...

"ACHAAAA!!"

...and a powerful fist followed into his chest, blowing him clean off his feet and into a shoddy wooden door into an abandoned building, destroying the structure upon contact. As the Yagami heir fell into the darkness and the dust and wooden remains of the door rested, Rock turned around and found the cause of the interruption of his fight...

"Fen...?"

In more ways than one, it surprised him. He honestly thought she was going to be down for the count, not due to the fact that he believed she was going to be deadweight on their journey (even though he had every right to believe that, due to her loud mouth and obnoxious behavior) but due to the fact that Iori was one of the most powerful fighters in KOF. But as he looked at her, there was a steady fury in her eyes. Before he could speak, Fen closed her eyes and sighed heavily.

"Felt good letting that out..." she said to no one in particular. She then focused on Rock for a bit. "As for you, I started this fight with the intension of finishing it. Go and mind you own business. I don't need saving."

Rock blinked a little the register the message. "I wasn't saving you. I had my reasons..."

Fen waved it off and turned to engage in combat for the second time. Although her back was to him, Rock could still make out the signs of a smile on her face directed at him.

"By the way... I still think you're a jerk."

(She's as confusing as ever...) Rock sighed to himself, letting her enter the empty building in which Iori was last seen. As she looked around, she began to grow familiar with her surroundings...

"What a creepy place..." she whispered to herself, observing the array of furniture that was set into disarrangement due to the flight path Iori took. The ambience of the area was incredibly gloomy and dark and by first glance, Fen couldn't quite pinpoint what this place seemed to be. Outside of the furniture, walls, and windows, outlined with purple drapes, everything was cleared out.

"Nn..." Fen let out as she began to step forward and search for Iori. "This joint sure does suit him well..."

She took one step...

Two steps...

Three...

BAM!!

Fen's breath got caught in her throat and barely let out a startled yelp at the deafening boom from behind her. Spinning around, she found out that the door had shut on its own accord... Realizing what had just happened, Fen caught herself again and scoffed.

"Oh, please... Are we stooping to lousy B-class horror movie tactics now, Iori?" she shouted out loud. "I'm not dumb! I saw The Ring 12 times! You're not going to scare me, pal!"

The Chinese girl then noticed a stairwell, abet worn out from age, heading to the second floor.

(Well... it's not like he's going to be down here, anyways...)

Fen took only a few moments to reach the stairs and fearlessly jog up a few of them, but suddenly she stopped.

"Oh, how contraire..." she muttered to herself. "A broken stair... No problem. I'm not falling for that stupid trick..."

She then gave the next step in front of her a firm stomp, making it break fully under the force. She then continued her trek on the next step which seemed stable enough. After skipping the broken one, she started to push off and reach the next floor... if it weren't for a sudden fast creaking sound...

(snap...)

"AH!!!"

A shrill scream shout out of Fen's mouth as her foundation suddenly collapsed, her body plummeting towards the floor below...

However, her instincts kicked in (or rather sheer luck) and her hands caught onto the edge of the broken steps she fell through.

"Ow!" she howled, finding herself handing a few feet above the debris she caused. Not only that, her legs stung with pain from the top to bottom... Straining, Fen used all her strength to pull herself back up onto the remaining steps, letting out a sigh. She then looked down to find out that the fabric to her fighting pants tore from the wood and that her legs were scraped up.

"Dammit..." she swore to herself, trying to nurse it. "I'm going to make sure to pound Iori's head in once I find out where he's hiding..."

The light-haired girl then sucked the pain up, stood firm, and reached the second floor to continue her search...

--------

"It appears as if someone is here..."

Darkness shrouded the entire room, barely showing the frames of books that lay about the area. The walls were age-torn and lacking any color at all, the bookshelves all around suffering from burns and other acts if vandalism. In the far corner of the room stood a lone figure, tall yet slim, a long dark-purple robe enveloping his body; a long brown ponytail falling behind it...

"I cannot afford for intrusions now... Its time this person finds the exit..."

--------

"I have a really bad feeling about this, Rock..."

Back outside to the alley, Rock, who was back on his feet and feeling back to normal, made a face. "Other than what we're going through now?"

Leaning on a wall in front of him, Mei-Ling nodded sheepishly. "It's a gut feeling... Maybe we should follow Fen and make sure she's ok."

Rock could plainly see the worry on Mei-Ling's face as she spoke, and had no other choice but to comply with it. "Alright... but you know how she is..."

"Yes, I know. She's a hardhead, though," Mei-Ling nodded again, "but often I'm the one who bails her out of these types of situations when she's over her head. It's one of those feelings again..."

"I see..." Rock made up his mind completely now. "Alright. Let's get her out of—"

He never finished the sentence... A few feet away a window from the building in which Fen entered shattered, startling the two fighters. They both turned to look at the disturbance to find out that someone had jumped out of the building... and Mei-Ling gasped at the realization of who it was...

"Gwoo..." a groan came from Iori's throat, hunched over from his current stunt. He wasn't in pain due to the glass, but rather from the Yamenkosougi that Fen gave him earlier... He then clothed his right hand into a fist and shot a glare at Rock and Mei-Ling, making them both stand ready to defend themselves.

"T... that girl..." Iori growled hoarsely at them. "Where is she...?"

At first Mei-Ling didn't compute the question, but once she did, her eyes went wide.

(He never saw them...? Then that means that...)

"Mei!" Rock found himself shouting as he realized that Mei-Ling made a break for the opening into the mysterious building...

"Stop right there!" the Yagami heir ordered, lunging at her with another 311 Shiki: Tsumagushi, but Mei-Ling sensed the attack coming. She quickly turned to face him... and jumped to intercept him with a fierce rising kick accompanied by a mighty martial arts shout, hitting square in the neck. Iori gagged on impact, eyes buggy as she finished with an overhead kick, driving him back to earth. Without even looking back to make sure he stayed down from her Dragon Fall attack, the girl bolted into the doorway and out of sight, leaving Rock behind.

(Didn't expect that, either...), he thought. (Looks like these girls aren't all so bad after all...)

"Dammit..." Iori mumbled, sitting up and coughing periodically. "This is starting to be more trouble than its worth..."

Shaking his head clear and getting his senses together again, the red-head turned his sights on Rock, this time clearly showing that he was now strictly getting down to business...

"You've caused me enough trouble... It's time to end this."

"You know what...?" Rock said while unzipping the jacket's sleeves, "That's probably the best thing you've said all night..."

--------

Meanwhile, back inside, Fen couldn't help but have the feeling that she was being watched. But, considering the dark hallway she was walking through, that was impossible. The only things around her were the multitude of doors that, as she kicked them open, leaving them to fall with a loud bang to the ground, led nowhere. After a while she let out a frustrated groan.

"Come on out, Iori!" she shouted as loud as she could. "I can tell playing games isn't your style! Besides, you're a pretty bad jokester, anyway!"

She then blinked, noticing that there was only one more door to search, located down a long stretch of hallway, long window drapes flapping in the breeze that came through the shattered glass. Once she noticed it, she let out a smirk.

"Game over, Yagami..." she whispered, making her way towards the door. Each step she took made the floorboard below her squeak under her weight, reminding her of her earlier incident. Fen then slowly tiptoes forwards, passing the first window. As she passed it the wind began to kick up from outside, lapping inside and at Fen's hair and clothes. At first it was a nice cool feeling... but a few seconds later, after reaching the second window out of three, it blew again from the first... and although she was far from it... she couldn't help shivering...

(Hey… How'd it get so cold...?) she thought, wrapping herself with her arms. (Stupid windows...)

Still, Fen kept going... but as she got closer, the chill that ran through her got colder, almost like ice, and the feeling of an unknown pair of eyes watching her grew even more...

(I don't like this feeling one bit... The sooner I get out of here, the better.)

Finally she got to the door at the end of the hall and without waiting she grabbed the knob, ready to throw it open... but at the instant she touched it, something blew by her... Something she couldn't see... but felt graze her face... blowing her hair back... and it made her let out a short cry as she jumped back; away from the door.

"What the hell was THAT!?" she shrieked, holding her chest where her beating heart lay. At that one moment, her body literally froze all over, her heart stopped... she stopped breathing...

It was almost as if she was temporarily...

"W... what's... wha...?"

She didn't have a clue what to do now. She didn't know wither she should leave it alone and act that nothing happened or she should go in and find out once and for all if Iori was causing these things. Granted, she didn't know jack about the Yagami clan, unlike Mei-Ling or Rock, but she'd be darned if she was going to let Iori get away with this.

(Hey...! That's right...!) she thought to herself, getting her nerve back. (It's only that red-headed weirdo! I can take him, no matter how creepy he may seem. He might had got me going a little, but he's not going to scare me away!)

Her confidence now at its brink, Fen wasted no time kicking the door open like she did the others behind her, the little bit of light from the hallway and windows peering into the pitch blackness...

"Alright, Iori..." she said boldly. "Time for you to come out of hiding so we can finish this."

Her eyes scanned the area, locating bookcases upon bookcases scattered around. Volumes of books lay on the floor with little care... and at first glance it seemed as if there was no human life to be seen in the room... until she spotted a lone figure standing in a corner, his black robe shielding him from the light...

"That must be you, Iori..." Fen said out loud. "You're the only person around here. What? You decided to change your clothes so that I wouldn't notice you? Well, I'm sorry to say this, but its not going to work."

The figure didn't move, but his voice did speak.

"So you're the one who has been making so much noise..."

"Wait a second... That voice... You're not... Iori..."

Before Fen could take to heart her mistake, the man turned around, revealing his face... and it made Fen's entire body lose the coloring in its skin.

"Y... y... you're... s... so... pale..." she stammered, eyes wide with the shock as she stared at the man's dark eyes and practically gray skin. He held no expression, but continued to speak.

"Someone like you does not belong here. If you won't leave on your own accord... then..."

Fen then gasped, realizing that the tall, pony-tailed man was now right in front of her face without warning...

"...I'll have to make sure you depart by other means..."

Fen didn't think from that point on. Everything just went on autopilot the moment his hand grasped onto her shoulder... and that familiar cold feeling filled her body...

"Get AWAY, freak!!"

Fen's free arm made a dist and plowed square into the man's face... but once she did... his skin immediately dematerialized into dust and his entire body crumpled to the ground, reverting to nothing more than a pile of bones...

At that moment Fen started to let out a scream, but her voice grew caught in her throat, eyes in total shock at the fact that she couldn't make a single sound...

(I... I gotta get out of here...! I've seen enough!)

Although she wanted to go faster, her body could only move away slowly through the paralysis of fear in her, staring square at the skeleton that lay at her sneakers... but she only took four steps before she felt someone behind her... She began to turn around, but only her head moved before she found herself frozen by the fact that the same guy she punched was not BEHIND her, his back to her...

"N... no...!" she chocked out in disbelief, her emotions running rapid.

"Time for you to rest..."

Then, an eerie whistling noise filled Fen's eardrums and a sudden wind began to blow beneath her... and what happened next was utterly unreal to her... Something white... began to rise from the floor around her... and as they popped up into view... Fen's pupils dilated...

(G... g... g... gh... gho...)

She was too scared out of her wits to even finish her thought, as about 20 or so supernatural entities surrounded her... skulls where the heads were supposed to be...

Fen's heart rose to hear throat... the energy in her body drained out, and her body just as pale as the mysterious man behind her...

"A.. ah... Aaahhaaa..."

At first it seemed as if she was laughing but it quickly changed... as her expression changed from that of a cracked lunatic to a plain terrified little girl...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

...and, for the next 15 seconds, for practically a radius of 3 square miles, nothing could be heard by a high-pitched mixture of a squeal and a scream...

--------

"Fen!!"

The scream was unmistakable to Mei-Ling, despite the fact that she never, ever heard anything like that from her friend, and it made her hasten her pace. She just reached the third and final floor to the abandoned building, and she went into a short run upon realizing that a new individual tall yet slim and wearing nothing but black, head down and eyes closed standing at the other end of the hallway. She was positive where she was at now... and stopped, feeling a deep drop in her heart...

(This guy... is surrounded... by the vibes of death...)

"Who... are you...?" she said out loud, her voice shaky yet as strong as it could be in this situation. "Who are you and what have you done with my friend...!?"

Slow to reaction, the pale figure lifted his head to reveal a somewhat youthful face and opened his eyes to gaze at the new young woman before him…

(Her vigor… Such a strong fighting spirit… I recognize that…)

"Answer me!" Mei-Ling demanded sharply.

"Are you… A member of the Shui bloodline…?" he said, his voice making Mei-Ling jump back a bit, even more so by the actual comment.

"How… how did you know that…?" she asked.

"Your vigor… I recognize it for certain now. You came from the family of legendary warriors… I've studied them throughout their history… I'm surprised I didn't recognize it sooner."

Mei-Ling didn't reply to the stranger's statement, unable to really figure him out. Warily she asked, "Who are you…? I've never seen you before…"

A little quiet swept the rundown hallway before he responded.

"I am Duo Lon," he answered. "now that I have told you… I have a request of you."

"What…?"

"I want to see for myself if the Shui bloodline has maintained its prowess throughout the ages… You have the look on a Shui… but I want you to prove it to me," he clarified, his dark eyes gazing strangely into Mei-Ling's. "If you can land three strikes on me… then I'll consider it still alive…"

Mei's eyes grew a sudden worried tone. "And if I can't…?"

Duo Lon didn't reply to the question, instead Mei-Ling suddenly felt a heavy dark presence nearby, similar to that of which she sensed Iori's presence… and grew shocked at the fact that something supernatural was surrounding Duo Lon from the walls and floors…

"W… What…?! Ghosts?!"

"Defend yourself!" his voice rang, and on cue, the volley og ghosts surrounding him hissed and charged a her. Her eyes grew wide in surprise, but quickly found herself shielding herself with her arms…

(What…?) Duo Lon thought within his mind. (Those gauntlets on her arms…)

As he noticed the red, blue and white metal bands on Mei's arms, they started to glow a faint silver tone as the ghosts approached. Right on impact a white aura enveloped the front of Mei-Ling's body, the ghosts clashing with the winds that emerged out of nowhere. Ghastly howls filled the air as the barrier repelled Dou Lon's attackers, sending them back to sender. Once the sound died down Mei dropped her guard in amazement of what just happened, the ghosts surrounding Duo Lon all over again.

"The Wind Gauntlets…" Dou Lon said quietly. "Forged in the 15th century by Shui Fu Hao during the Japanese invasion of China… Those led him to many great victories during his lifetime… It's been said that no weapon, no spear, no sword, no cannonball, no bullet could penetrate them… It takes one with great skill to get them to work properly… Impressive."

"That's… what my father told me…" she said out loud yet her mind had a different take on it…

(To be honest… I don't have a clue how these things work myself… They just activated on their own… I think… No wonder my father wanted me to hold onto these on my journey…)

The ghosts surrounding Dou stayed at bay as he raised his right arm and with a front, swung it back down to his side. Mei-Ling stood ready again for another attack, but this time the ghosts around the man merely disappeared back into the areas in which they came just as fast as they had appeared in the first place…

"Come…" was all he followed with, bringing himself into a strange fighting stance. Mei-Ling found herself nodding strongly in compliance. Now wasting any time, she prepared herself for her first serious battle, stretching her limbs and waking up all the muscles in her body. By the time her short warm-up body, her normally relaxed and visually beautiful body now changed a bit, showing a much more toned and sleek style under her casual clothes.

"Ready…" she called, "but… if I may… I must point out that I'm still a bit scared of you and what possible abilities you have… You don't seem like a bad guy, however… but still…"

"Yet I see it in your eyes that you're determined, just like a true Shui member… I assure you, I won't critically injure you."

"Alright, then… I hope for your sake that you keep your word…"

Mei-Ling then buckled down while jumping around in her standard fighting style, a Jeet Kune Do shoot-off, focusing purely on her opponent. After a moment, she took the initiative, inching closer to a stationary Duo Lon, still trying to read him correctly. By the time there was only half a foot between the two, she decided to make her first move.

"Ya!"

Mei-Ling opened the bout off with a lightning fast palm strike to the face, Duo Lon barely having time to block the blow, then ducked back to let a roundhouse kick sail over his head. Once settled back, Duo noticed that Mei was now in another fighting stance, crouching down with her arms out, one farther than the other.

(Multi-style Kung Fu…)

"Achoo!"

Once again, the girl from Shanghai poked out with her farthest arm, driving a guarding Duo back, then swaying with the second blow before following an upwards swipe with the initial arm. The man in black had to block the final attack, but started to counter attack immediately…

"HAI!!"

…until a shrill battle cry sounded out as Mei leaped up for the same Dragon Fall kick she used on Iori. Once again it worked the way it should, connecting against Duo Lon and due for two quick hits… however, Mei grew surprised at the fact that upon contact Duo's body crumpled to dust just before her second hit could connect. As she landed, trying to figure out what happened, a rough kick rained down on her back, making her body fly forwards into the dusty carpet. It took a few moments for the hair-braided girl to get back up and face Duo Lon again, yet once she realized what happened she got her head back into it and stood strong.

"Outstanding speed you have there…" Duo Lon said. Mei-Ling focused herself again as she entered her standard stance once again.

"That's one…" she responded.

"The next two… will not be easy for you…"

Mei-Ling's dark eyes hardened in determination as she stared at the calm Duo Lon at the other end of the hall. "Trust me… I never expected them to be…"

-------

"Shi ne!"

"Tch…"

The sound of a few blows shoot through the alley…

"Ha… Moratta!"

A blue blaze of energy shot a body across the darkness of the air into a set of empty trash cans… A second later…

"Rwoah!"

"Eh…!"

"Howah!"

A clawed hand found its mark onto flesh, sharp as nails…

"Hmm… Ha… PHOWAH!"

Three quick blows, two uppercuts and one jumping spike attack…

"Not enough…! Reppuken!"

"Doushita!"

The original battle between Iori and Rock was still raging despite the absence of Mei-Ling and Fen, but Rock knew he wouldn't be able to keep his pace with the admittedly more experienced Yagami heir for much longer. He was giving him everything he got, but the events from earlier today, namely his earlier battle with Jan Kaito, as well as the accumulative damage he was taking now, made him want to end things with Iori as fast as he could.

"Rwoah!"

The blond managed to dodge yet another 311 Shiki: Tsumagushi from the red-head, which was then followed by a hard backhand towards the head. Rock sidestepped and countered with a hard roundhouse kick. Iori evaded as well and before Rock could recover fully, a hand latched onto his face, driving him hard into the brick wall that rested behind him, knocking the air out of his lungs…

"That's enough of this rubbish!" Iori shouted, noticing the position he was holding Rock in and planning on cashing in fully… Rock could sense a large amount of Iori's Orochi flames about to shoot out through Iori's sharp hands and tried to knock Iori's grip off his head, but the collision with the wall knocked some of his strength away…

The Yagami heir let out a loud growl as a column of dark azure flames began to engulf Terry Bogard's prodigy, his eyes a cold glare as he set Rock in a blaze of hellfire. A second hand grasped onto his face, completing his deadly Kin 1229 Shiki: Enou Homurakegare attack and blocking any vision on Rock's behalf (if that was even possible). The blaze grew even powerful as it shot high into the night sky, shown as a light beam from far away, tearing through Rock's body relentlessly and try as he might, Rock couldn't withstand it…

"SHI NE!!!"

And in a brief flicker or azure flames the column exploded, Iori left to see his battered foe slump up against the wall, unconscious. Letting out a grunt, Iori simply rested his sharp eyes on the son of Geese, his business with him finished.

"And let that be a lesson to you, putz!" he muttered, about to leave the dark area before he realized a familiar presence very close by. In fact, it was coming from the building he exited earlier in his search for Fen.

"I recognize that power… Just what the hell is he doing here in a place like this…?"

Just as he was starting to contemplate going in once again, another feeling went through him, faint yet great enough to get his attention.

"There it is again…"

Iori then brought his focus back onto the downed Rock before scoffing a little more.

"Better be lucky I let you live this once…" he said in a low tone before turning down the alley in direction of his newfound trial being offered to him… With that he disappeared, the white "C" shape of the moon mimicking the real one in which the moonlight struck Rock's body as he faded into the shadows…

"Think of me when you look at the moon…"

--------

(I'm fast…? He's all over the place…!)

Mei-Ling stood still, observing her surroundings. The narrow hallway in which she was battling Duo Lon in was very much alive, filled with images of her adversary blurring in and out of her eyes at practically the speed of light. Just when she thought she had a clear shot at him, she'd be proved wrong b hitting nothing but air. She just recently slowed down her pace, realizing that she was beginning to wear herself out and tried to focus on where and when she should strike next…

(I can't be distracted by these mind tricks…)

"Don't expect me to just let you get your mind together…!"

Unfortunately for Mei-Ling, the instant she started to close her eyes to concentrate, they shot open again at the sight of Duo Lon appearing right in her face, catching her off balance a third time for the night…

Two strikes came in quick succession to her head, then a third heavy palm strike exploded into her stomach, rendering her defenseless. She reeled from the blow, stunned just enough for Duo Lon to attack once again, only this time it wasnn't as forgiving. Dou Lon's body bent and blurred into a grotesque shape, the area that would've been his head turning a gray color tint before his whole body went back into focus and jerked his head forwards, shooting the energy right into Mei-Ling's wide open body. It slammed hard into the Shanghai girl with great force, blowing her clean off her feet and made her land hard a few feet away from Duo on the carpet face first.

"Ugh…" she moaned, slowly but surely getting back up to her feet, wincing as her body shot out in pain. It took a few moments for Mei-Ling to recover and face Duo yet again, only this time fatigue was definitely showing on her body…

(Shoot…!) she thought while panting hard, clenching her fists tight. (Quick… Powerful… Tricky… How can I beat him if he bests me in every aspect…?)

A few moments passed by as Mei-Ling thought on her situation, then came up with something…

(I have to get him to attack me first…)

Focusing the best she could on her new objective, the martial arts girl steadied herself and lifted her right leg up into her favorite fighting position, the crane. Duo Lon, who was standing by and waiting patiently on Mei-Ling's next move, resumed his previous tactic, blurring in and out of sight as quickly as he could. Maintaining her stance, Mei-Ling slowly backed herself up, her eyes trying to follow Duo and make sure he stayed in front of her. The two fighters stayed patient, waiting for their opportunities to strike… until Mei realized that she had her back to the staircase in which she rose from. She let out a silent noise at the realization of having no more room to retreat to and refocused her attention on her foe..

(Left… Right… Right… Left…)

He was approaching her menacingly, threatening to knock her backwards if she didn't watch herself… but still she waited in her new stance… until Duo Lon appeared right in her face… and let her instincts flow.

"Yah, yah, yah, yah…!" she yelled out, kicking out fiercely 4 times, the first one going high and breaking Duo Lon's warps and forcing him to block the kick, then three somewhat slower low kicks to the legs, Mei's opponent blocking the first two before anticipating the last one to follow suit. His body disintegrated once more and Mei-Ling saw it coming. Duo reappeared above her with the same spinning kick that he used before to counter Mei's first blow, but at the same time Mei spun after her forth Rapids kick, faced Duo Lon in her neutral stance and put her arms up defensively. The plan worked out for Duo Long fell right into a counter attack of Mei's own, the Dragon Counter, catching his attack and returning it with a massive uppercut, her Sky Blaze.

(Two…) she counted, watching Duo practically come up to within a few millimeters of the ceiling before air recovering and landing safely on the floor.

"Very impressive…" she was awarded with, "and by the way… The name in which the Shui granted you with…?"

"Um… Mei-Ling…" she answered, suddenly relaxing and stepping in her stance. "I must say… this is quite a thrill… I never had a fight like this before… even against Fen… my spirit… It feels very much alive right now…"

"Hmm… Yes, that's it… Now do you think its time to test the extents of your prowess…?"

Mei-Ling nodded. "Yes. Give me all you got."

"If that's what you wish, then I'll comply…"

Right at the end of the sentence, Duo Lon's body started to glow white once again, only thie time, Mei knew it was different. For a brief second, Mei was sure she saw the rush of ghosts run from the floor around him and then back up to his head before disappearing through the ceiling…

(W… what type of technique is he using now…?) she thought cautiously, switching into her Tiger stance in which she used earlier to try to figure him out once again…

"…! AH!!!"

About half a second later, she got blown straight out of it.

She never saw him move… or even flinch from his position, but the attack, whatever it was, hit her as clean as any hit could've ever did… and unfortunately Duo Lon wasn't finished by a long shot. Just before Mei-Ling could recover from the attack, another blow negated the process, then practically two more at once… then three, one coming from behind…

They just kept coming and coming, each one connecting fiercely onto Mei's hapless body, unable to react to one hit before another 3 or so rained down on her. In the time span of a person blinking, Duo lon managed to lock Mei-Ling into a deadly, inescapable string of attacks, the air rich with the sounds of blows landing, swift movement up and down the halls and the harsh cries of pain from Mei-Ling's mouth…

Then finally, after an untold amount of blows, a final one punished her backside, knocking her forwards to collapse onto the floor in a bruised heap, only this time she wasn't moving at all…

"It takes only a second… even less… for an enemy to capitalize off even the littlest of one's openings…" came the voice of Duo Lon, his body finally reverting back to normal as he appeared a few inches from the downed Shui. He then paused, realizing that Mei-Ling wasn't moving, and added, "if you wish to quit now, I'd understand it…"

At first quiet ran through the air, no response from Mei-Ling, then, mildly surprising Duo Lon, Mei-Ling's body shifted, planting a hand shakily on the ground for balance… As she tried to raise her beaten up self up off the ground, totally hating the stale taste that came from the old dust in her mouth, Mei-Ling gasped desperately for air. Every part of her body stung and she knew if she took another shot like that she'd be not getting up again. Despite the odds and probably better judgment of her mind, Mei managed to stand, yet not without much difficulty, wobbling a little before leaning up against the ruined wall to her left.

"A… and let my family's… name be tarnished like that…?" she heaved, her eyes growing the fire that Duo Lon noticed earlier in the fight. "Never…"

Both knew she didn't have much left to work on, but Mei figured it was enough…

"I'm going to overcome you…" she declared, straining herself to brush off the wall and stand on her own accord, "No matter what I won't quit until I clear your challenge… I'll do it… no matter what…"

Just then Mei-Ling let out a light gasp, feeling her legs give out beneath her as her body against the will of her mind, and found herself on her hands and knees… Once again she forced herself to stand up, yet this time, surprising her greatly, Duo Lon came up close to her to help her up, wearing a rather faint smirk on his face.

"There's no need to push yourself anymore, Mei-Ling…" he responded with. "I was testing your spirit more so than your ability… You're already just proven your girth to me…"

The response made her blink in a confused manner. "Huh? What do you mean…?"

"For as long as I studied the history of Asia, I think I can tell a Shui when I see it. The spirit is unmistakable. It goes well beyond strength, but also into pride, will, skill, determination… All those qualities combine to make up a Shui family member. You might not realize it yourself, but you have a lot more of all those things in you than you think you do."

For a while, Mei-Ling just stared back at Duo Lon through her weariness, still unable to figure this mysterious man out. He was so enigmatic to the point that the only decisive thing she knew about him was his name, yet he seemed to know everything about her and her family history… almost to the extent of her father. On that note…

"I… need to know more…" she spoke lightly, finding the energy to break away from Duo Lon and stand on her own. Oddly, she didn't feel the original fear around the controller of ghosts that she did earlier, especially when touching him to stand up a second ago. "What are you here…? Who are you exactly…? I… just seem lost about the things that happened recently…"

Duo Lon stared back at her for a moment before responding.

"I'll tell you all you wish to know, but first… your friends…"

Mei-Ling suddenly gasped as she remembered the others in her trope. Before she could do anything, Duo pointed over her should, making her turn around to find her best friend Fen on the ground, passed out in the front of the far doorway. As she approached her, Mei asked, "What happened to her…?"

"She had… quite a scare…" the tall man explained while coming over to the girl's side. "Apparently she's deathly scared of ghosts…"

Mei made a face as she kneeled down and held her friend by the head, staring straight at Fen's closed eyes.

"Once again I have to come save you from your shenanigans…" she muttered flatly.

"The other one, however, will need some time to rest," Dou Lon said afterwards. "The fight with Iori… it must have taken a lot out of him…"

"Rock…!? Oh, no… I did leave him out there with that psycho, didn't I? I can't believe that I was foolish enough to—"

"Mei-Ling," Duo Lon interrupted, drawing her attention back to him. "You can't be in two places at once. You don't have to do everything, and plus you needed to be where you were needed the most at the moment. Rock was aware of the predicament the moment he launched his first attack. He'll be fine, I assure you. He just needs to take it easy for a while…"

Mei-Ling closed her eyes and sighed for a moment before standing up, somehow managing to carry Fen by the arm over her shoulder, and ask, "If you don't mind… I'll need your help getting back to our hotel…"

"…alright. And there, I'll inform you on some things that you'll most certainly will take notice of…"

--------

Kobe, Japan: 9:45 P.M.

"How's she doing...?"

In a hotel room in the city of Kobe, the sound of a door closing could be heard in a hotel room on the 8th floor. Just coming out of a bedroom inside was the silver-hair N.E.S.T.S. rebel, K, who's expression was more or less indifferent despite the situation at hand. In front of him stood Benimaru, hands in his pant pockets. Ever since their raid on Shadowloo's base the other night they hid out in Kobe, waiting on Kula to recover from her complications...

"She's about..." K answered, looking at Benimaru through the side of his sunglasses.

"I take it she's back to normal, then, by the way you're saying that."

K didn't respond automatically, instead walking forwards some and away from the door.

"If you want to go see her yourself, then go ahead," was all he said while vanishing into another room. Benimaru just watched him go and once he was out of sight, he turned towards the bedroom door and opened it...

"Kula?"

The room was relatively small and only lit by the small lamp on the nightstand next to the bed. The moon did shine a bit over the buildings outside, but it was hardly noticeable. The one thing that was noticeable was the young girl that was resting under the bed sheets.

"Looks like she's doing just fine..." Benimaru noted, standing directly to Kula's bedside. At the moment Kula's eyes were peacefully closed as she rested, her once blonde hair now at its 'natural' ice blue and even sparkling in the moonlight. The sight caused Benimaru to smirk. For somewhat of a kid, she did have a pretty face...

"nnn..."

A little startled at the sudden soft noise Benimaru immediately took a step back as Kula began to stir, her soft eyes slowly opening up and meeting her new surroundings. Letting out a sigh, Kula sat up while rubbing her eyes.

"Ah. Kula..." Benimaru said softly, welcoming her back to consciousness. "Good to see you up."

A little bewildered, the young girl blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing things, then, as she found out that she was safe, a small smile crossed her face.

"Oh... Benimaru... It's you..." her youthful voice responded, relieved at the fact that she wasn't being help prisoner anymore. "You guys... rescued me...?"

Benimaru nodded his head while putting his hands on his hips. "No easy feat, but nothing we couldn't handle..."

Kula sighed once again. "I'm so glad I'm out of that creepy place... It was horrible in there... They made me so weak... I couldn't do anything..."

"Do you have any idea who those people were...? The people we fought against?"

In response to Benimaru's question, the now crystal-haired girl shook her head solemnly. "I don't know... but... they sure weren't nice at all."

"K wouldn't tell us what happened to you all... and considering that and the way he is, I doubt he even will, so... do you think you can fill us in. With all we had to go through that night, it must have been something serious."

"I... don't... remember a lot..." Kula admitted, now sitting up fully on her rest-bed, frowning as she recalled the events that lead to her capture. "We were coming home from a day out and we... These people in black... came out of nowhere and attacked us out of the blue. I remember trying to help K fight them off, but... next thing I knew I was being dragged off as they swarmed him..."

Benimaru fell silent for a while, finally understanding K's attitude (well... at least part of the extra coldness)

"...what about Diana, Foxy and... um... 'Candy'?"

Kula's frown grew even bigger as she tried to come up with any information that she could… "I don't know… All I know is… is that I did overhear some of those guys talking to one another… about separating me from them… That's all I know…"

At this time, Benimaru sat on the edge of Kula's bed, comforting her the best way that he could. Even as he did so, his mind was also fixed on figuring these soldiers out.

(Whoever these people are… one thing's for sure; they want out special powers, no questions asked. Even outside of KOF, stuff like this never seems to stop popping up. I'm not even sure that these guys might actually be a resurrected N.E.S.T.S. or not…)

--------

"So, Kyo-sensei, what are we going to do from here?"

Shingo was obviously awaiting the details on everything happening around him. He just knew that somehow the Kusanagi heir had some sort of plan for such an occasion. It was the matter of figuring him out. Out in the hotel room's living room, the two sat, Shingo to the side and Kyo lounging over the couch and watching some sports on the TV; his jacket hanging on the entrance door's hook's as well as his shoes. Kyo's eyes were fairly relaxed and, to Shingo, it seemed he barely heard him, prompting him to ask again.

"Kyo-sensei…?"

This time Kyo heard him, his eyes lazily turning to his student.

"Yeah, Shingo…?"

"Um… I was wondering if you had any clue as to what we're going to do from here."

A sigh emitted from the Kusanagi heir, stretching out a little bit as he replied. "Not a clue… K is the guy that knows what's going on here apparently, and basically I quit trying to get details out of him long ago. If there's anything else he needs us for, you'd better believe that he'll say something about it. Until then I'm not sweating it…"

Shingo mad a face at the reply, but deep down he knew that it was torture to his egger mind. It was a definite letdown but he couldn't say that he didn't expect such an answer considering whom he was traveling with… With that he sat back down into his chair, deciding that it;d be best to keep his silence and follow the action on the television. Just as he began to focus on the close ballgame, his eyes caught movement across the back of Kyo's couch. Upon further clarity on his eyes, Shingo found it out to be K, hands in pockets, who seemed to be just roaming around the hotel room. Just as he began to ask him something, K's body began to fade out of sight as he vanished into the second small dark hallway, not sparing not even a single breath on him.

(Figures…) he said to himself inside his mind.

"Hey… Shingo…"

Shingo immediately jumped at the call of his name from Kyo. He tuned his full attention onto his master and obediently said, "Yes, sensei?"

Kyo, on the other hand, was still looking squarely at the TV as he completed his message. "Chill out will you…? There's no need to be snooping around in business you don't need to head yourself into…"

"Oh… alright."

However, as Shingo returned to relaxing himself, he failed to notice the slight bead of sweat over Kyo's forehead. For some odd reason he began to feel uneasy at a sudden vibe he was feeling. Not only was it hostile but it was also nearby… almost as if it was coming from within the very building they were hiding out in… A sudden pinch of dread fell over him, and deep inside he couldn't help saying this to himself…

(That better not be who I think it is…)

---------

Back in Kula's room, Kula was slowly getting over her predicament, calming herself down with Benimaru's help. To her, this was the first time she had been separated from her guardians Diana and Foxy as well as her… "pet" robot look-alike Candy and it showed. Normally the girl had a soft friendliness vibe surrounding her, but now her atmosphere was just as cold as the ice particles that circled around her body. She sat on the edge of her bed, Benimaru realizing that the young girl was dressed in the hotel-provided nightgown.

"I just hope they're alright…" she said quietly. "I don't have a clue as to what to do right now…"

"Don't worry, Kula… I'm not too sure at the moment what's going to happen next, but rest assured we're going to figure out what's going on here and find Diana and the others."

Kula then sighed, whisking her head back a bit while closing her eyes. Benimaru then noticed that her hair, originally a ice blue color, began to morph and change shade from that to a light blond shade. Also, the little ice sparkles surrounding her body now vanished… When her eyes opened up again and aimed their focus on Benimaru, they weren't a reddish tint anymore, but now a regular brown.

"Ever since N.E.S.T.S. went down K', Maxima, Diana and I have been on the run from bad guys like this… If you're here with us… does that mean you're on the run too?"

The question made the guy pause a little before shaking his head. "I wouldn't say that… Just think of us as a little bit of extra help for you guys…"

(Although, that does make me think. Where the hell is Maxima at? I never see K without him… He's practically the only guy he trusts, and no matter how good these thugs are they couldn't be able to take K', Kula AND him down at the same time…)

Just then, a shrill ring of the doorbell made him cut off his thoughts while startling a recovering Kula.

"Room service perhaps…?" the bishamon asked no one in particular. He then turned back to Kula and said, I'll go check it out. You should probably lie back down…"

However, the girl cut him off. "Uh-uh. I'll be just fine. Kula's bored anyways and she wants a snack…"

The quote made Benimaru smirk. He did hear that the procedure that N.E.S.T.S. performed upon Kula's body left her mind in a premature state… so her acting in such a way was something she'd just have to deal with… With that he stood up and helped Kula up off her bed before escorting her out…

--------

At the sound of the bell, Kyo's entire body cringed. As Shingo found out, he suddenly sat up on the verge of standing up fully, and, making the younger fighter blink, made an unusual request.

"Shingo… Could you get that…?"

"Uh… yeah, sure… I guess…"

Unfortunately there would be no need to. Almost on cue, something began slashing through the hotel door in a wild fury, almost too fast to be seen by the regular human eye, startling the two in the room. In a few seconds flat the once solid door was hacked to pieces and crumpled at the base of the floor, leaving a certain someone to stare at a single individual; one that was possibly more dangerous than Iori Yagami, Goentiz, Igniz and Orochi combined.

"KUSANAGI KYO!!!!"

A blur shot from the front doorway, Shingo barely able to see Kyo's eyes widen before he was blasted off his feet, landing back on the couch. From here, Shingo could clearly make out the person attacking his teacher (the best he could through his shocked state). It was a brown-haired young girl wearing traditional samurai battle attire and with great reason; Kyo was trying his hardest to prevent a katana blade from butchering his neck.

This just happened to be the same instant that the bedroom door behind the living room opened and exposed Benimaru and Kula, both due to see what was the cause of the doorbell ringing. Instantly their eyes were able to pick up the scene in front of them; the door torn to shreds and an unknown assailant struggling to let her sharp sword have a nice welcome place with the Kusanagi's vital points…

"Oh…!!" Kula yelped, eyes wide and her hands covering her mouth sharply. Benimaru was about to step in himself and put a stop to the sudden fight… until he recognized the attire and hairstyle the teen was sporting at the moment…

(Wait… That's…)

Just then Kyo grunted loudly as he adjusted his leg and kicked the girl of his body, making her crash into the TV set abruptly, stunning her slightly. Not letting her try to get her second wind he rose to his feet and prepared to finish things before they could start up seriously…

"That's it!" he shouted, clenching a flare in his right hand. "I've had just about enough of you! Kurae…! (Eat…!)"

"What the hell's going on out here!?"

The new voice came from the right of the room, K reappearing in the living room just in time to see a crimson wave of flames engulf a good corner of the room. Shingo, being so close to this action, had to jump behind the chair he originally sat in to avoid being toasted by one of Kyo's signature moves, the Orochi Nagi. Luckily for the mysterious girl, she was able to grab her sword and shield herself (and the TV behind her totally out of coincidence) from the powerful attack, yet the blaze managed to knock her grip from the hilt, making it fly all the way to the other side of the door in which she came and impale the wall with its blade end.

Now disarmed, the attacker grunted loudly, but stopped her sneak attack on Kyo, quickly realizing that this wasn't going to go the way she wanted to. Once Kyo landed and noticed the pause, he struck her a hardened glare.

"Of all the dumbass stunts, Tsuki… this is by far the dumbest of them all!" he said in a warning tone. "What the hell's the matter with you this time?"

"Tch! This time…? THIS TIME!?" her voice shot back, filled with loads of emotion to match her expression. "You want to know why I'm trying to kill you? You should know! I knew it was a bad idea to let her go to you by herself! She's—"

"Tsuki…?" K interrupted, coming closer so he could see the new person that he so didn't want to be bothered with at the moment. "Just what I need… Kyo, you know this bitch?"

"What did you call me?!" the brown-haired samurai girl immediately mused. Having never seen him before in her life, she grew the impulse to strike those words right back at him. "Say it again! I dare you to!"

Totally undaunted, the rebel from N.E.S.T.S. immediately reiterated in a deliberately slow manner, "Alright. Kyo… Do… you… know… this… bitch?"

Half a second later, K's eyes twitched at the sight of a small sharp object flying straight between his eyes with deadly precision. The blade, or rather, dagger would've nailed him right on his forehead…if he didn't duck it… and obviously, he wasn't about to take it lying down. Just as the dagger would've hit his body, it vanished once again, taking the Tsuki by surprise. Next thing she knew, K was right in her face, grabbed her before she could react to pull her forcibly towards himself then shot a hard elbow deep into the back of her neck, sending her face first into the carpet. Just as he started to add more to his counter attack, Kyo laid a hand onto his shoulder to make him stop.

"Chill, dude… I got this…"

K gave Kyo a cold start for a long while but eventually he eased off and backed away from the downed girl. By the time she looked up to find him, he was already gone back to the area from which he came…

"Damn that guy…" she muttered under her breath. "I just met him and already he gets my blood boiling…"

"Miss Keiko…?"

"Uh?" the girl blinked, looking to her side to see Shingo coming out from his soft spot behind the couch.

"What are you doing here?" he asked innocently, beginning to brush out the little embers that still were scattered about the corner of the room from Kyo's Orochi Nagi

"Here's a better question…" Kyo interjected. "How did you find us here… and why are you acting like such a lunatic again…?"

"Tch… First of all you couldn't get away from me if you tried, Kyo," Keiko said strongly, now standing up fully and brushing her clothes off. "Seriously… However…"

Suddenly her expression turned furlong and just then Kyo realized something… Only one Tsuki sister was here right now…

"Emi…" he said quietly, yet loud enough for Benimaru to hear him from behind the couch.

"What was that?" the bishamon asked while coming closer to his friend. Kyo turned his head to look at Benimaru with a worried expression and repeated himself.

"Emi…" he then turned to Keiko and asked, "She's not with you, is she…?"

Keiko pouted a bit. "If she was I'd have no business dealing with you right now… She was supposed to meet you along with Shingo two days ago at that restaurant back in Shinjuku yet when I called her there was no answer… I then tried to get in contact with you but I didn't get anything on your end either."

"No way… I always have my phone on in case Yuki calls me while I'm in Japan…" Kyo denied. "I never got a call from Emi…"

"Bullshit, Kyo! She must've…!"

"Look for yourself…"

Kyo wasted no time reaching into his jean pocket to get his newly purchased cell phone and flipped it open to show the younger of the Tsukis his latest messages and calls… As her eyes scrolled down the list, she grew shocked at the fact that he was telling the truth… and that Kyo's last call was from three days ago by, of course, Shingo himself. Not even her own phone call was on the list…

"That's just impossible…" she muttered. "Then where is Emi, then!?"

"Excuse me… but Kula want's to ask a question," the other girl of the group interrupted, making everyone in the group stare at her. "This Emi… Just what is she to you, Kyo?"

"…she's my second student… along with… Shingo…" he began, "She's still got a ways to go but she's definitely… a girl with some spunk underneath he—"

Just then he was struck with a sudden realization… making him close his eyes tight and shake his head. "No… They couldn't…"

The others (absent to Keiko) began to piece things together quickly, yet Kula was the one who said it vocally.

"You don't suppose those bad guys… did the same thing to her as they did with me…?"

And just like that, the renegade group's purpose in figuring out just what was going on in the world around them was intensified greatly…

"Those smartasses… They think they got all the chips together behind our backs, huh? Alright…" Kyo mumbled, his right fist beginning to erupt in flames. "Now it's gotten personal…"

--------

Skies above Kamaoka, Japan: 10:23 P.M.

"That's not nearly hard enough! Come on! Push it!"

"HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!"

Fists flew and collided with each other. Knees struck knees with never-ending force and determination. The Kanzuki training room was filled with vigor never before witnessed before from its owner, the blond known as Karin. At the moment she never felt so focused in her life, and right now that fact was really getting on her nerves... not because of the obvious...

It was because of her training partner...

"And you call yourself a world champion?" she shouted out as an open palm struck Sakura in the face. "On my best day I could finish you in a second!"

Sakura slid back sharply at the blow, maintaining a defensive stance that was quickly put to the test as Karin moved in close with a barrage of palms and fists, the two moving swiftly around the entire area. On the side stood Kaoru, who had her arms crossed and observing every little move with little emotion on her face. Not too far from here was Batsu, crouching down and watching the bout as well...

"Talk about being over your head..." he muttered loud enough for Kaoru to hear. "It's almost too much what we're dealing with."

"Yeah..." was the only response the tanned girl gave, just as a loud thud rang through the air.

Sakura had just buckled down, her arm up and blocking a heavy fist from Karin. She then threw it off and countered with her Shouoken, but Karin was quick to counter with her strong Yasha Counter... Just before the blond could strike again, Sakura canceled and spun away from the attack, striking a hard kick to Karin's side, making her stumble away.

"Better..." the older girl said, recovering from the blow.

Sakura then stood up and sighed. "Nice workout... but we gotta keep pushing the envelope. It's the only way we're going to win."

"You don't have to tell me twice, Sakura. I've been fighting just as long as you have, and I must say, that wasn't much of your effort, was it?"

Sakura simply crossed her arms and shook her head.

"What's the matter, huh?" Karin asked, a little annoyed at that fact. "You know better than to do that against me. I take quick offense to that."

"Sorry... I've just been a little distracted about what happened earlier today," she admitted regretfully. "Sure, I'm getting over it little by little... I'm just trying to get it all out."

"Oh... Well, in that case I understand," the owner of the Breaker's plane replied. "If that's the case, then I guess we should hang it up and talk it over...?"

Sakura hastily shook her head. "No, Karin. This is the best way for me to bring Saya back. If I prepare myself for that time we meet again now, both through my mind and body, then I can get this over the hump for good. I can't afford to get soft now..."

"Yeah, that's a good idea..." Karin then went back into her stance, Sakura following suit. Just before the two could go at it again, the door to the room opened up and the sounds of someone running to the small group could be heard. Sakura turned around, knowing that only one person had such a pace.

"Sakura...! Sakura...!" came the voice of Jan Kaito, stopping short of her mentor by a few inches.

"Hey, Jan... What's up?" the cherry blossom girl replied, putting her hands on her hips.

"I... I thought I should tell you..." she panted. By the way she was sounding, she must have ran all the way from the other side of the jet. "I saw Darrell heading to your room... and... well... he didn't seem all too ecstatic to see me... He just passed me by without saying anything. He seemed depressed..."

"Huh...?"

"Well, then... It seems that he still hasn't totally gotten over what happened earlier..." Batsu commented. "You know how he gets... 500 yen says he's holding in his true feelings about all of this... and 250 more says he's still pissed about it."

The others in the room except for Jan nodded.

"It is the second time something like this happened within a period of a week..." Kaoru noted, arms crossed. "Both times he was so sure he could get things to turn out differently... We've all been screwed recently, but I doubt any of us are taking it as hard as he is..."

"Yeah, you're right..." Sakura sighed. "Perhaps I should talk to him..."

"You do that," Karin replied. "The rest of us will keep the pace in case you come back. If you don't, I'll understand..."

Sakura stared at her rival and friend for a while and then nodded. "Thanks... and thank you, too, Jan."

"No problem, sensei..." her student smiled. With that, Sakura turned away from the group and started to head to the bedroom area...

--------

knock, knock

"Darrell...? You there...?"

"...yeah..."

"Well… Can I come in…?"

"…the door's open, Sakura."

"Oh…"

(slam)

"…"

"…"

The dark bedroom sat with an uncomfortable quiet for a while after the cherry blossom's entrance, the black, star-filled sky whizzing by outside the single window of the room. Initially Sakura just stared at her husband as he sat silently on the bed of their shared living quarters then she sighed, dropping her head as well. Apparently training just wasn't going to get Saya off either of their minds at all…

"I don't get it..." Sakura mumbled out her question. "She's my student... Why does it hurt you so much?"

"I wish I knew myself..." Darrell muttered. "It... I just felt something snap Saya revealed her true color and did all those things to you. I… it just felt so surreal coming from her. I'd never expect her to be like that in the inside..."

The cherry blossom didn't respond to her husband's analysis of her student, letting him go on.

"I don't care who young she is. If she's truly working under Shadowloo for all this time, then… I really can't forgive her for this... Nn...?"

Darrell then turned to find Sakura sitting next to him on their bed, the world warrior champion also looking at the socks both her and her husband were wearing... her eyes unable to really hide the sorrow inside...

"Somehow... taking what just happened... and how Shadowloo operates... I have a feeling everything isn't so black and white..." she said quietly. "There must be a reason as to why Saya is on that side... No one other than the obscenely corrupt or just plain crazy willingly work for Shadowloo... Whoever this... Raven is... she beginning to have to world hanging on a string... Doing all of these horrible things to people... Making them go ballistic... Kidnapping... Resurrecting old threats... Forcing them to work for a notorious crime syndicate... What gets me... is how it's going about... If this was Bison we were worrying about... he'd be a lot more direct... He'd attack his targets head on... instead of causing all of these distractions... He wouldn't be so well hidden..."

Darrell made a noise to confirm.

"This new leader is a lot smarter... and all these tactics are getting to everybody... She hit a critical wound inside me by using Saya... She brought out that dark anger that you try your best to keep under control... Kaoru's physically assaulted by Vega... And they have Chun-Li and Karin stressing out a lot... Akira feels as if Daigo might be involved as well... Everyone else is impacted by all this in one way or another... If we're going to be successful... we're going to have to keep a clear mind on this..."

Sakura took a pause as her right foot began to run a circle on the burgundy carpet, using the big toe to trace it...

"Human emotions are pretty fragile... We might not understand them all the way... but we all know that if we let them run wild... the results can be devastating..."

At this point, Darrell looked over to his wife, noticing that Sakura's expression was brightening up some, her mouth slightly curving into a light smile.

"But if we can keep those in check... then everything becomes a lot easier to bare..." she ended, looking to her right in time to see Darrell break a smirk at her.

"Sometimes... I wonder where you get all these quotes from..." he said playfully. Sakura giggled.

"You must think I get these things from the Tamagawa school psychologist..." she replied, laughing a bit as Darrell closed his eyes for a bit, letting them open again. Darrell then looked towards the opposite wall, catching the full moon that shone over the clouds and through the plane's window, the only light in the room...

"I just hate knowing that things will most likely get worse..." he sighed. "You know how bad I am under stress..."

Unknown to him, Sakura nodded behind him.

"It's just something that I have to work on..."

A few seconds passed...

"That's... something we can work on..."

Then, as the flamethrower turned back to face the cherry blossom, he found out that her lips connected with his... Sakura adjusting herself so that she could be more comfortable in this position... For a while the two stayed this way, the married couple looking each other deeply into each other's eyes as they shared their first "real" kiss in a long while... As the moment dragged on, Sakura's hands found their way on Darrell's shoulders and Darrell's on Sakura's back... and for a few precious minutes, the two forgot about Shadowloo and their other problems...

...all until they both broke it...

Yet they still held onto each other, letting those precious feelings sink into each other's minds and bodies... They then simultaneously looked out the airplane window, enjoying the moonlight and the beautiful dark sky... Although it wasn't said vocally, they knew what they had to do...

"We'll do it for Saya..."

--------

"Hmm…."

Darkness enveloped the room, the only light once again shining from a single TV monitor… It was an atmosphere that Raven had been negotiating with for a while now and she felt right at home with it. The light from the monitor shone upon her flawless face in an odd greed shade, the dark pupils in her eyes reflecting the visions that kept replaying rudely upon the TV over… and over… and over again… all while she held a smile on her face…

"For Saya – Saya – We'll do it for Saya… - for Saya – Saya…"

For a long while, Raven simply stared at the two individuals, the event unfolding in front of her obviously recorded previously… yet, it wasn't until now that she figured out just why she was doing it. Just then, her eyes sparkled as her expression changed from silent initiative to evil intention…

"So… they think they'd be about to make a difference… Well then… I know just the person to test their vows… By the time he's done with them, they'll be reduced to nothing… Delusional fools… "Leo" shall be paying you a visit… really soon…"

And at the end of her sentence, the screen flickered even more so than before any of it's many repeats, then pure white snow disturbance… then… a sudden shock that ran throughout the circuits of the tube…

…then darkness…