Episode 17 – The Attempt to Run (Lost in Barcelona)
(Interrogation room, Interpol headquarters, New York – 16:16 PM)
"What were your objectives in New York?" The room was heavily lit, empty except for a steel table and two chairs. Across the Interpol agent sat a blonde young woman whose left side of the face showed burn scars. Her hands were tied behind her back on the nailed to the floor chair, her expression indifferent to the conditions.
"If you cooperate, we can ensure full immunity to US laws, you would be trialled internationally, possibly avoiding the death penalty. We found blood DNA traces on your clothes, matching the victim's." The interrogator reasoned. On the other side of the room commanding officer Barrac sipped from his cup of coffee, he wore earphones and listened in to the one sided conversation. His assistant interrupted him.
"Sir, Lieutenant Guile calls from Spain, he says he has urgent news to report." Barrac nodded and took the call.
"What can I do for you Lieutenant?" Barrac's eyes widened.
"Fuck!"
Meanwhile…
(Barcelona University Hospital – 22:17 PM)
"Dale su poco de andrenaline la estamos perdiendo!" A senior surgeon ordered his assistant, behind the procedure Ken and Ryu looked through the door window, with nervous postures.
"Was it our fault?" Ken clenched his eyes.
"She was too far away I couldn't get to her in time, but it wasn't our fault. She fought bravely and honorably. The best thing we can do now is pray for her." Ryu sat on a bench, he spotted Guile who was having a heated discussion at a phone booth, his voice echoed throughout the hospital halls.
"Sir, this is madness! We need reinforcements and military support if we are going to stop this bloodbath from escalating! A Shadowlaw bomb attack at a public place, a police station has just been eviscerated… what's next?!" Guile slammed his hand against the wall.
"Lieutenant I want you to keep sergeant Cammy and agent Karenina alive at all costs, we have lost too much already. I will negotiate a solution with my superiors; if everything fails we'll pull you out of Barcelona." Guile's grit his teeth.
"I don't want out, sir! I want every fucking Shadowlaw scumbag who was behind these recent attacks to meet justice, or better yet, put in body bags!" A sigh was heard from the other end of the line. "You have your orders Lieutenant…". Guile slammed the phone into its stand and made his way to the others.
"So, I take it uncle Sam won't be dealing out Christmas gifts this year?" Ken said while letting out a deep sigh and looking down in disbelief.
"You believe this fucking guy?" Guile looked at Ken and they both chuckled before confronting the situation head on.
(Underground Shadowlaw headquarters, Barcelona – 23.00 PM)
"Gentlemen we have completed a milestone, and I want to congratulate everyone involved in the Cyborg 2.0 program." M. Bison made his announcement at a large dining table. The Shadowlaw scientists, engineers and high-rank officers proceeded to toast to their success. Meanwhile at the nearby training facilities, controversies were unfolding.
"Dis is fuckin' unfair!" Balrog jabbed at a punching bag, whilst Sagat was meditating in a corner on the opposite side of the room.
"Silence, you idiot!" Balrog fringed at his colleague's remark.
"I did everythin' I was told to, and then some!" Balrog powered through the punching bag sending it Sagat's way. With a swift knifehand strike, Sagat cut through the punching bag, retaining perfect mediation posture seemingly unaffected by anything.
"You bore me…" Sagat's lifeless white eye opened.
"How much psycho-power did da boss share with ya? Dem ugly ass eyes give it away, ya know?" Balrog tried to strike a conversation with an individual he knew very little about other than his legendary reputation.
"You are wasting your time, go find someone else to annoy." Sagat closed his eye again.
"Yeah… At least Vega is having fun, while you sit by ya master's side like the good doggy ya are." Balrog said with a smirk, Sagat looked over his shoulder.
"Vega… The degenerate no longer concerns me; neither do you for that matter. Your attempt to provoke me is in vain, now I suggest you find something more productive to do." Sagat proceeded to put out some candles near him, Balrog's ranting was cutting his mediation session short.
"Hahah! Good'ol Sagat cool on the outside, but bitter from the inside, lost your one good eye to Ryu. If you could see clear you would see dis organization is doomed." Sagat faced him.
"I will pretend I did not hear that Balrog." The former boxing great looked away in dismay while Sagat stood up and walked towards him.
"You know the penalty for defecting…" Sagat crossed his massively muscular arms.
"Nigga, fuck you!" Balrog exclaimed and exited the training facility. Meanwhile at the command center.
"How is the search progressing?" Bison's lifeless eyes gazed at a collection of CRT screens which were stacked on top of each other.
"Sir, no signs of friendlies within this radius, we must broaden our search." A technical engineer replied.
"No signs of him yet?" Bison inquired.
"Sadly, no sir. He was last seen at the Barcelona stadium a couple of days ago, while he was there our surveillance cyborgs encountered a bug due to an overwhelming sonic disruption caused by the masses of people cheering the bullfight." The technical engineer explained, Bison smirked momentarily.
"Before he disappeared he left a big deposit of capital in our organization, capital that was imperative in our efforts in developing the new and superior cyborg 2.0 program." Bison stopped and took a sip from a glass of red wine.
"He is dearly missed, sir. But if he doesn't report in the next 48 hours we will have to categorize him as MIA, as in directive 5A, 32-4C." A highly decorated Shadowlaw officer concluded.
"I know the directives, officer! I wrote them myself." A small chuckle escaped Bison's lips, he continued: "Vega has such great taste in wines, this one I pulled from his personal wine cellar…" His expression turned into a worried one. "He is a lost lamb out there. I need him back by my side or else the doll program might as well close for all I care, he was the only one who knew how to speak to these young women…" Bison stopped for a moment and turned his gaze towards his staff. "Intensify search parties, send out dolls to intercept him, he must be brought back!" Bison emptied his glass and retreated to his quarters, meanwhile…
(Unknown mansion at the outskirts of Barcelona, 23:14 PM)
Chun-Li lay on her bed, her hands glued to Salgado's memoirs, which she had finished reading half way. The room was dark, and the only source of light illuminated from the night lamp situated at the bed stand. She closed the book reached out to place it on the stand, she looked down at her nightgown and her hand trailed to her lap, her eyes closed for a moment. The book fell abruptly onto the carpeted floor.
"Control… yourself." She whispered with a trembling breath. Hear pulse had intensified, the inner workings and cravings of a young woman had been suppressed ever since she had lost her father. The discipline she had put herself through had taken its toll on her, she needed to get away from the thoughts that were creeping inside her head, and stood up and made her way to the bathroom next to her room, where she proceeded to fill the bathtub. Footsteps caught her attention; they were coming from the corridor outside. With careful steps, she peaked outside, and gazed upon Vega who was entering his master bedroom. Chun-Li quickly fell to her knees, her eyes widened at the thought of him finding Salgado's detailed memoirs missing. She ran to her room and grabbed the book, and made her way to Vega's master bedroom, and knocked on the door.
"Come in." She heard him say, when she opened the door she found him sitting on the edge of the massive bed with a roll of bandage in his hands, she quickly hid the book behind her back as she approached him.
"Your wound, it needs cleaning some more…" She bid her lower lip.
"It is alright my dear, I shall do it myself why don't you rest." He proceeded to unwind the roll, her gaze trailed to the big painting of Vega's mother did not hang straight, and she remembered now how her neglect had caused this to happen when she had removed it prior to snatching the memoirs hidden behind it.
"You need clean water. I've already prepared the bathtub for you." She smiled to him, using her charms to get a reaction out of him.
"Yes I can hear it, you are so considerate, beautiful one." He stood up and walked to a drawer. Chun-Li slipped the book underneath her nightgown and came closer to him; she placed her hands on top of his muscular back and trailed her fingertips gently down the purple snake tattoo.
"So engaging!" He turned around and embraced her with his muscular arms, pulling her in for a kiss. They both closed their eyes, yet Vega's opened abruptly he pulled out of the kiss as he guided one had the bump on Chun-Li's back, revealing Dr. Raul Julia Salgado's memoirs. He pulled the book out and with his other hand pushed to Chun-Li, forcing her to land on the bed facing her back.
"What do we have here?" Vega looked surprised at the book cover. The water in the bathtub reached its limit and started spilling over.
"All the affection, because of this?" Vega skimmed through the book and threw it to the side.
"I had no choice, I needed to evaluate your mental state." She pleaded.
"You believe what is written in this is befitting of my true character?" Vega came closer.
"I don't know!" She cried out.
"You don't know?!" He jumped on top of her, pinning her easily.
"Was this an experiment to see how I would react, you constantly teasing me making me want you even more, for what purpose?" He frowned as his voice deepened with anger.
"I needed… I wanted to know if you were something else than a cold-blooded killer." She struggled to free her arms from his grasp.
"And do you believe what Salgado wrote about me?" He asked with an inquisitive look.
"I don't want to believe…" As these words escaped her lips, Vega loosened his grip.
"You could have asked for the book I would have gladly given you every information you were looking for. Still, I am impressed that you slipped through here, and stole the book without me noticing…" He looked at her suspiciously, and then continued. "I must have been too preoccupied with myself in the mirror." He made a self-aware joke which made her chuckle, and for a moment, he closed his eyes.
"Do you hear that?" He whispered with a serious expression. Chun-Li focused and remembered.
"I left the water running in the bathtub." She walked to the door.
"Stay away from the door!" Vega warned her, in a split second the door slammed open. Chun-Li's eyes widened at the sight, she swiftly backtracked towards Vega.
"What a surprise!" Vega smirked as he crossed his arms. Upon laying eyes on the intruders, Chun-Li frowned.
"Dolls? Here?" She went into battle stance, her eyes met with his.
"Was this your plan, all along?" She asked.
"This is unexpected..." Vega's.
"Master Vega, we are honored to be in your presence." The two young women said simultaneously.
"How did you manage to find me? This Mansion was never revealed to Shadowlaw", he asked with an inquisitive gaze.
"We scanned for numerous locations, master Bison requests a meeting, and it is of great urgency", one of the Dolls proclaimed.
"You can tell Bison I no longer care, my loyalty and services are no longer for hire. I thought I made that clear when I didn't return from my last assignment." Chun-Li looked bewildered as Vega opposed the dolls request.
"The assassination attempt on me?" She lowered her knuckles.
"We cannot take no for an answer, master…" The two assassins stepped forward.
"You better prepare for battle, my dear. These two won't take no for an answer." Vega lounged forward, and landed a strong punch knocking one of the dolls out instantly, meanwhile Chun-Li engaged the other Doll, with a powerful roundhouse kick she managed to end the fight as quickly as it had begun while sending the Doll flying into an antique cupboard.
"These were your students?" Chun-Li asked playfully.
"Yes, young ones… How would you call them, rookies?" He quickly managed his wounds with the bandage and proceeded to change into his battle garments.
"With assassins like these we might have a fighting chance." Chun-Li remarked.
"No chance, no Interpol agent has ever defeated a true Doll, if Decapre was standing here, you and I would be in trouble", he replied with a confident attitude.
"Decapre, she has been apprehended in New York." Chun Li remarked.
"Poor girl, she was my favorite student…" He stopped to reflect for a moment.
"Student? Did I forget to mention cold blooded killer as well?!" She asserted.
"My dear, it is all subjective." Vega pulled out his claw and mask, which he put on. When he turned to face Chun-Li, she raised her battle stance, but quickly lowered her fists.
"Do I scare you?" He asked, his mask conveying no emotions.
"Don't get me started." She sighed.
"Wait!" Vega kneeled and looked at one of the fallen dolls.
"I know it is not polite to ask a lady, but what size do you ware?" His eyes pierced hers, she came closer and crouched beside him, she gave him a playful smile.
"You think I can fit in this?" She touched the fabric on the doll's uniform.
"It will be perfect; the fabric is made to adapt to one's structure." He unzipped the Doll's uniform revealing her cleavage.
"Careful now." She stopped him.
"Wouldn't want me to get carried away, no?" He stepped back and turned his back to her, leaving her to undress the Doll, "You do know that I have never taken advantage of any of my students, I have always strived to maintain a professional relationship, I took a sacred Shadowlaw oath not to…" suddenly he felt her hand rest on his shoulder, as he turned to meet her gaze he took a deep breath.
"What do you think?" He gazed upon her body from top to toe.
"With you my dear, I would have broken that sacred oath." She gave him an irritated look before pushing to him, urging him to move.
"Quit stalling, let's get out of here!" She pulled him by the hand and they made their way out of the mansion. Vega lead Chun-Li to an abandoned construction site that was located a couple of hundred meters from his mansion, there he uncovered a manhole.
"It's not going to be sanitary." He looked over his shoulder and observed Chun-Li's reaction. She took a step forward and leaned over the manhole to look inside.
"Why by sewers?" She asked rolled with her eyes. Vega mounted a portable flashlight on his mask, and pulled another one out of the backpack he had carried with him from the mansion. "We must tread with caution, as I have said before the city has prying eyes, mechanical, unrelenting eyes…" He stopped for a second.
"I understand, so this is why you abducted me in the first place? Surveillance cyborg inhabit the streets of Barcelona?" She made a hand gesture to him as he handed her the flashlight. "Sadly, my beautiful city has been ravaged by the conflict." Chun-Li frowned to his late realization.
"Conflict? I don't know how you feel Vega, but Shadowlaw has been the instrumental undoing of many of my friends, my family… and." She lowered her gaze while Vega gently lifted her chin with his hand. "… and myself, the organization you work for, has been my undoing ever since that forsaken visit to this city." Her voice began to fade; a trembling sensation had overturned her confident tone.
"It was a faithful moment, my love. It changed both our lives, no? It was not your fault that your father was investigating Shadowlaw and that the Interpol conference held in Barcelona was compromised. I cannot imagine your loss, as you may know I shared a similar loss as a young child, but alas we are wasting precious time." Vega saw a glimpse in her eyes and quickly moved in for a kiss, she let it pass only to give him a gentle slap across the face.
"You're unbelievable!" She crossed her arms and shook her head.
"And that is why you love me." A confident smirk appeared on his face just before he put on his mask, they proceeded to descent down the manhole. Meanwhile…
(University Hospital, Barcelona 00:20 AM)
The doctors finished up their work, a confident nod was given by the head surgeon to his team of doctors. Cammy lay in a trance, unable to wake up due to the immense trauma of the attack and the sedative flowing through her veins. As the doors to the surgery room opened and she was transported to a safe room for rehabilitation with Ken and Ryo raced to her side.
"Is she going to be ok, doc?" Ken asked, the doctor nodded and gave him a report of the procedures done to save her life, Ryu continued pushing the hospital bed with the nurses in tow.
"Did she make it?" Lieutenant Guile came up behind and surprised Ken and the doctor. "We were just discussing the matter, and yes she will pull through", Guile sighed relieved upon hearing the good news from Ken.
"One step at a time, agent Karenina is being looked after as we speak, he has gotten a tremendous beating, and even though I have a feeling that you two have some unfinished business, I thought you wanted to know." Ken just shook with his head. "He is a brave son a bitch." He added. "That he is, I've been around some tough SOBs before, but this guy is worth his weight, we need to get debriefed ASAP as command has fallen to me now", Guile explained. "Is he really going to be okay?" Ken looked worryingly at Guile. "Yes! Hold your tears! A couple of broken ribs, a ruptured spleen. Which brings us to our next problem", Ken gave him an inquisitive look.
"We are sitting ducks! The hit on the station was perfectly executed, there are no lose ends except for a smashed up Shadowlaw surveillance cyborg, a couple of mutilated victims and a shitload to answer for the perpetrators", as he uttered his words Guile was still in disbelief.
"Basically, we got caught with our pants down, and now the bad guys need to pay?" Ken made Guile chuckle. "Fucking A, these dirt bags are gonna pay!" Meanwhile…
(Underground sewer complex, Barcelona 0:25 AM)
Vega looked over a trench in which massive bodies of water accumulated, behind him stood Chun-Li and observed her surroundings, it became apparent to her that they had come to a dead end, "Are you certain this is the right way?" She asked playfully, he only sighed as he turned to face her.
"I was always opposed to building the headquarters underground, and of all places near a filthy and disgusting sewer!" Vega proclaimed while trying to orient himself to his surroundings. "I guess M. Bison didn't listen your concerns?" She asked, his reaction was evasive, he turned his back to her and crossed his arms. "I… am sorry, I get grumpy this late in the night", he then turned to face her and came closer. "You didn't get your beauty sleep, lovely one", she gave him a teasing look. "Always the charmer, even when we are surrounded by rats and excrement…" He laughed at her remark.
"This is why I love you, and make no mistake my dear I will always find time to admire your beauty, your innocence and your strength", she gave him an inquisitive look "go on…" he stepped closer and lifted his mask. "I now know", she was eager to hear the rest, "know what?" he embraced her with one arm, easily covering up her entire back and pulled her in, with his other arm he gently pressed against a protruding cobblestone, Chun-Li was surprised to feel the ground vibrating, soon a passage opened which lead them deeper into the catacombs beneath Barcelona.
As they made their way beneath through the labyrinth corridors of the catacombs, it became apparent to them that the temperature was rising. "Is it just me, or is getting warm in here? Chun-Li wiped some sweat off her forehead. "If we were anywhere else, I would have said yes it's just you raising my body temperature, but I fear has more to do with the Shadowlaw facility ahead," she immediately stopped in her tracks, and pulled him over to the side, pressing his body against a wall and placing her hand on his bandaged wound. "Are you insane!?" He showed no signs of resisting her hold on him, "I know what this looks like, but I swear I am not leading you to Bison, near the facility lies a tunnel which leads to a small hangar, from there we can escape by stealth-boats, prototypes. A canal leads out just underneath Port Masnou." She frowned, "We could have taken the surface route and gotten a boat if that was your plan, even surveillance cyborgs sound easy in comparison to trained Shadowlaw soldiers. "I am staying at the facility…" She looked at him bewildered. "What?" Her voice turned powerless, "it is duty to see you safely return to your friends and allies, I will distract Shadowlaw and give you some time to infiltrate their data banks, there is a terminal near the underground hangar, which you must try to hack." She stepped back and covered her lips with her hand. "It will be alright, I have here my passcode and clearance card, you will be able to download the information and save it on a floppy disk. I have taken the liberty to prepare everything you need, mi amor." Vega placed his backpack on the ground and opened it to show Chun-Li it's content. Inside it were a handful of hand grenades, in a separate pocket Vega pulled out the clearance card and floppy disk, handing them to Chun-Li. Her reaction seemed reserved as she held items which potentially were key in deciphering Shadowlaw's present and future endeavors, but that this opportunity would present itself by the aid of one of her fiercest enemies, she never saw coming.
"You can't just go against them alone?" Doubt surfacing in her voice, to which Vega reacted by enveloping her frame with his strong arms. He placed his lips on her left ear and whispered: "I may be a hopeless romantic, when it comes to you, but I am anything but hopeless in a good fight." He then pulled back and met her gaze.
"Be careful Vega my lord La Cerda." And with that she placed a gentle kiss on his lips before splitting their duties and making their way deeper into the underground complex.
To be continued…
A/N: To whoever it may concern, please accept my deepest apologies for making you wait! I can promise one thing, and that is that I always finish what I start, and this fanfic will be no exception. Expect more update in the coming weeks, and I wish you all the best!