[ S t r e e t F i g h t e r A l p h a (2) ( P a r t 2 ) ]

[Secret Military Base, USA]

"Sir, Rolento?"

It was an enormous base, surrounded with all kinds of state-of-the-art military equipment. The walls were made of pure iron, pipes made of hard metal, cases that could hold more explosives than their volume, tunnels that were built like a maze, connecting one room to another, with always another turn to a whole new tunnel. The base, however, was made to be hidden in the underground for it was not legally made. The leader of this incredible military was a man named Rolento.

Rolento used to be part of the most powerful gang in Metro City, a few years ago, with many companions that were as powerful as him. But Rolento did remember three men that broke their gang, the Mad Gear, apart. After that, instead of being involved with the revenge being planned in Hong Kong for the three men, Rolento left the Mad Gear, and decided to make his own organization. He did indeed succeed, for now he held one of the strongest military bases designed in the world. He had connection with other secret exporters throughout the world, that provided his base with just about any weapon or explosive he desired. The price didn't matter to him. He could whip up a bank robbery plan in no time for millions. Rolento did, however, feel pity for the rest of the Mad Gear that he had betrayed. However, he had more reliability in his own core power, than being sided with other people as an upper-classed henchman.

"Sir, Rolento," a military soldier informed him. "We have been asked to travel over to Thailand to receive our five-ton order."

"Those bastards," Rolento said. "I thought I told them to export the material here?"

"No, sir," the soldier replied, "their ships were blown down from some enemies. They can't do it…we'll have to go there ourselves."

"And the extra money I added for the export?" Rolento said in a high tone.

"They said they'll exclude that, sir."

"I see," Rolento said. "Well, there's no point sending more people over there. I'll go with you this time to get that order for sure."

"Of course, sir," the soldier said.

"Get the jets ready, we'll be jetting to Thailand tomorrow morning."

"Roger."

"Wait," Rolento said. "Isn't this customer in Thailand a new one?"

"Indeed, it is, sir," the soldier said.

"Their name?" Rolento asked.

"I believe it was Shadaloo."

"Hmph…well as long as we get our stuff the name won't sound so corny."

[Secret Military Port, Thailand]

The next day, Rolento and about twenty of his soldiers flew over to Thailand to get their order of guns, and other equipment from the new connection with an organization named Shadaloo. When they reached the port where the dealing would be made, Rolento was more satisfied than ever. They had exactly five tons of equipment received from Shadaloo. Their leader, Vega, had made this possible. Rolento had not had such a perfect deal before with any other organization. With this in mind, he forgot about the fact he had to move to Thailand in order to transport the equipment.

"I never had a deal with you before, yet you say you have a worldwide transportation system," Rolento said to Vega, as his men with their heavy machinery carried the equipment they were given to a ship.

"We do," Vega said. "I have at least one base in every single country. The average is two every country. I have five in US, though."

"Odd," Rolento said.

"Indeed!" Vega exclaimed. "Some countries have heavy security all around. We were once attacked by the army, but that's where you see the advantage of having five bases."

"You flew to another base?" Rolento guessed.

"Obvious," Vega said. "And yet—"

"—and yet we have never had contact before," Rolento said with a smirk.

"We do now," Vega said slowly. "The money's pretty fair."

"So's your weapons," Rolento said. "I don't always get such good deals. It is quite a shock you gave out five tons of equipment without a single crying face."

"Well," Vega said. "That explains why Shadaloo is a global pain in the ass. Our bases are to be identified always by the top army in every goddamn country. It's hard to hide from those assholes these days. But in every minute I make about a million American dollars, either through weapons, explosives, robberies, drugs, or plain money. In every base there's something going on. But then again—there's always a traitor trying to run away and live a life with what he's earned. Many have gotten away, but I don't just let them go like that just because I have more than that. But either way, we have a lot of business. In here, Thailand, we usually just deal with drugs. This is the first time I've dealt five tons of weapons in Thailand. In other countries we usually do other things."

"Like?" Rolento asked with interest.

"In China I usually make contact with other bases," Vega said, fixing his red cap, "But currently China has a smart bitch who's been trying to track down our bases in the country. She already found one and wrecked it. In Japan we usually make the military equipment, due to high technology. There also lives a man named Ryu in Japan…very powerful judging by his battling sources. In Brazil we produce incredible amount of electricity. There's some sort of beast that can produce amazing electricity for hours and not get tired. In Russia we invent transportation systems…mostly ships, jets, helicopters and shit. But there's another ass in Russia that's trying to track us down…some dude who wrestles with bears as a source of strength, as far as I know...I have no time to deal with them though. I have other things to do. As for now, I'm staying in this base for about a month. It's the safest place for now."

"Amazing," Rolento said. "Sounds like you really have major shit throughout the world. But then again, there are enemies always trying to stick up your hard work's ass."

"Many," Vega said. "I had report before that some red-clothed Bushin style fighter was waiting for me to land in my base in Italy. I was heading for my base in Italy, but I knew that he was another smartass, so I decided to head to my Thailand base instead…. You can't live in this world with justice. Such a word should be internationally banned."

They both laughed.

"We're all loaded, sir!" Rolento's soldier shouted across the port, standing next to a ship loaded with all the five tons of equipment they had bought.

"How much is it for the ship?" Rolento asked.

"Don't mind it," Vega said. "But I'll need it back in a week, all the other ships are out to the far eastern countries, and I'll be needing this one for my export with another group somewhere in South Africa."

"Gotcha."

[Rolento's Mountain Testing Area, USA]

"That Vega's sure a good bastard," Rolento said, smirking as he faced all the items he had received from Shadaloo. "All this for two million only. Now I see how I've been wasting my money on other cheap asses."

Rolento stared at the items and then looked over at his soldiers who began testing them outside the base in a mountainous area. First the bombs were tested, which almost erased the peak of a mountain in only two shots. Then the guns were tested. A shotgun could crack right through a fifteen-foot thick rock. Impressed, Rolento began to feel even more delighted of the deal with Shadaloo. They went through every kind of weapon they had received.

"All checked, sir," a soldier said. "They are all above their expected power. It seems that Shadaloo's not bad after all."

"Spectacular," Rolento said. "This'll add to my perfect military."

"Sir Rolento!!!"

Rolento looked around and spotted a soldier who looked as if he had been running for miles, coming at him.

"Keep it down, will you," Rolento said. "Your ass-shaped mouth is louder than all those bombs we tested, altogether."

The soldier reached him and fell on his knees, gasping for breath. Rolento, however, grabbed him by the neck tightly and picked him up.

"I don't have time for your recovery," Rolento said. "What's your problem?"

"Sir," the soldier said, hardly being able to talk, "there is some red-clothed enemy coming this way. He looks dangerous. He wiped out our first line of defense in no more than ten seconds."

"Idiots," Rolento said. "Oh well…I haven't had fun with this shit yet anyway. Let him come."

The man, however, arrived in no time after Rolento said that. He indeed was wearing red clothes. It was—

"Guy?!" Rolento's voice echoed loudly through the open area.

There was a long pause. Then Guy approached Rolento more. "Yes, me," Guy said, closing his eyes. "I was training about five miles from this blasted place and could hear rotten eggs being blown. Which did disrupt my warm-up training fight with one of your friends."

"What kind of training could you have?" Rolento said. "You're just some wimp who beats up without thinking. If you were a soldier like me you'd understand the art of planned-fighting. And plus, who the hell could be fighting with you in a place like this?"

Guy's mood didn't change by Rolento's words. He kept his eyes closed, and then opened them slowly. "The Bushin style has much more planned technique systems than a military-obsessed bastard who throws bombs for the hell of it."

"Bushin style?!" Rolento said, seeming surprised.

"Never heard of it before?" Guy said. "I guess that shows why I kicked your ass so easily before, huh? Don't you learn a lesson, Rolento? Even if you did leave the Mad Gear, you are still accompanied by soldiers. You are still fighting with a side. The Bushin Style doesn't insist of having partners to fight with. You use this style to fight for yourself."

Guy began to walk away, but Rolento, finally out of his surprised look, said, "So… you're the one Vega was talking about. The one that was searching for him in Italy…"

Rolento's words, which were said very normally and in a low tune, did catch Guy's ears. He stopped, turned back with much serious eyes. "You know Vega?!"

Rolento smirked. "Your interest?"

"Shut up," Guy said. "You do know Vega. Tell me, where Vega is."

"I don't think I'll tell you," Rolento said. "You want to fight? Fine then…"

Rolento took out his long, metal stick, and made a fighting stance that made no sense to Guy.

"And about what you were saying about 'sides', I'll take care of that," he said. He faced his soldiers. "Take off and take the weapons with you. I'll take care of this ass and meet you back in the base."

As the soldiers left, Rolento faced back to Guy. Rolento had been longing for a fight with Guy for a while, but he didn't have the time to go back to Metro City to find him…or even find out if Guy was there. But the battle the Mad Gear faced was far severe from any other battle they had. Rolento looked back to the time. They, as a gang themselves, had faced many gangs, and defeated them all. Thus the name 'mad gear' became well-known throughout Metro City, making it the leading gang. But they were easily defeated by only three people. He had known all along that these three were not normal fighters. They were very strong… and all this time he thought that Guy had no fighting style, that he just beat him with plain strength. It was now that Rolento felt better. He wasn't weak, he only faced a tough warrior.

But Guy didn't seem to be Rolento's concern. Rolento thought even deeply. Besides Guy, there were two other people. One was the mayor, Mike Haggar, whose daughter was kidnapped and thus the fighting began. Haggar was no doubt a powerful man. Rolento had seen him battle Abigail, one of the leaders of the Mad Gear. Haggar didn't seem to have the time to be hit, so he just dragged himself to Abigail and defeated him in a flinch. The third warrior happened to be a young citizen named Cody. This was the man that Rolento had been looking forward to. Although Rolento never had the chance to actually battle Cody, since Guy took him on instead, Rolento witnessed Cody's battle with Damnd, who happened to be an indirect part of the Mad Gear, and Edi, who was another leader of Mad Gear. As Rolento had observed, Cody didn't focus about the pain of the fists flying at him, no matter how many of them, but just cared about how many he knocked down. He was like an unstoppable fire running through a grassy field.

"So," Guy's voice suddenly shook Rolento out of his thought, "Don't you want to know who I was fighting back there before your stupid booms led me here?"

"Heh…," Rolento said, "Like I'd give a shit."

"Of course you would," Guy said. "It was your old Mad Gear scumbag, after all…"

"Mad Gear, huh?" Rolento thought.

"Sodom," Guy said. "I was giving him a hard time, he couldn't catch up to my speed."

"What the hell is Sodom doing here?!" Rolento shouted. "In the middle of nowhere…shouldn't he be in some prison in Metro City."

"Odd enough," Guy said, "I met him in the middle of the training. It seemed that he was looking for you."

Looking for me?, Rolento thought. He had no idea why, after all this while, Rolento would look for him. Or was it because of something he did?... was it because he left the Mad Gear?

"You still have the time to give in to where Vega is, Rolento," Guy said. "I don't want to crack someone else's bones."

"Shut the hell up……. This battle is not gonna be like before."

Rolento stood tall, gripping onto his rod. This rod was what he used always when he couldn't use his explosives. It was his sign of power. He had pulled off major tactics, and along with his amazing speed. However, he could notice that this wouldn't be an easy match.

Damn it…, he thought. Could Guy have improved? Why the hell am I wasting my time…it doesn't matter to me where Vega is. …. … No……Why should I tell him…he's the man who defeated me before.

Rolento shot at Guy instantly and pulled his rod back to thrust it. His speed made it so that illusions could appear behind his actual figure. However, this trick didn't work on Guy. When the rod came, Guy instantly grabbed it by the end with one hand, and then hurling it around so that Rolento could crash away.

"I see you have improved," Guy said. "This time you actually got close to me…"

"Are you making fun of me?!" Rolento shouted angrily, getting up.

"Naaahhhh….. you're the real deal," Guy said sarcastically.

"Screw off," Rolento said.

"Is throwing insults all you can do?" Guy said disappointedly. "Already breaking sweats, are you?"

Rolento's anger got him back on his feet. His speed is equal to mine… much faster, in fact… if I rely on just attacking him like before he'll pull off a major hit. He seems like he's playing with me…like I'm nothing at all. He doesn't even move from his spot. If he does move, maybe I can attack him…but how do I get him to move?

Rolento charged at Guy once again. He formed the same illusions, but this time tended to circle Guy to confuse him. And so he did. He wasn't sure if the tactic actually worked or if Guy had let him do it to see what his next move would be, but he went along with it anyway. Upon reaching Guy's back, he made a quick move of hurling his rod at him, which he didn't…Guy flung his fist back but didn't hit Rolento. It was all a trick to get Guy to move. Being unable to see where he was, Guy followed where the illusions led. By the time he actually traced the real Rolento, it was almost too late.

Rolento's rod struck against Guy's head, causing him to fly off and colliding against the ground, very close to a cliff, dealing with the pain.

Yes! Yes! I've done it…so it IS possible to hurt an experienced fighter without bombs. This is it, Rolento. This is the fight that will determine your destiny. To create the perfect military, I have to become the strongest leader known in history. Even stronger than…Vega himself.

As the clouds of dust floated away, Guy's shape reappeared. Rolento looked at the ground for hints of blood, but didn't see any. He tried to look behind Guy's head but since he was facing him, it was not acceptable. He gritted his teeth.

"Even though I was open to anything, you couldn't hurt me," Guy said. "Sadly, I didn't even bleed…and you're using that metallic rod in your hands."

It wasn't much proof needed to ensure Guy's words. Rolento could tell that Guy wasn't an easy opponent. But this was one fight he couldn't afford to lose. Even if he was a bad guy, and Guy the good guy. If he had to change the fate of a good guy defeating the bad guy, he would do it, no matter what the cost. Thinking up a good tactic, Rolento's mind went dry. His grip on the rod loosened, letting it slip down a few inches. But looking back to the fact he couldn't lose, he held it firmly once again, looking straight in Guy's eyes. …… The guy's eyes were as pure as the red colored clothes of his. Those kind of eyes, they will not help in a battle.

Rolento quickly thought and threw his rod at Guy, letting it go from his hands. Thinking that Guy would duck, Rolento quickly slipped behind his back to catch the rod and launch a surprise attack. But he was wrong….As an experienced fighter, Guy easily catched the rod in a single hand, following by hitting it in Rolento's ribs and letting him fly off a distance.

"I…won't give up!"

The ambition once again flipped Rolento back on his feet with confidence in his fighting abilities. However, inside, he was not very confident. Hardly being able to breathe, he couldn't hold onto the rod much longer. As he observed the very loosened and energy-packed muscles of Guy, he wasn't sure if victory will actually be his. Guy seemed so confident he didn't even bother to make a fighting stance anymore. He just stood there, waiting to blow Rolento until the match was over. Out in the distance, Rolento was hardly able to see it, but could see a weird shadow-like figure coming towards their direction. It was very far away. Perhaps he was daydreaming?

Guy, getting tired of Rolento's huffing, decided to end the match quickly and flashed towards him faster than any speed Rolento had ever experienced before. In less than a second, Guy was from ten meters away from Rolento to already having him in a headlock. Unable to do anything, Rolento could just thrust his rod around here and there. His breath slowly dried out and all he could do was raise a single arm for what he thought was the last time. Like a miracle, the arm, supported by all of Rolento's strength, let him loosen slowly out of Guy's grasp. The other hand ripped through Guy's neck like a burning meteor, scratching through his neck. And then the other hand which was still holding the rod quickly sent Guy in the air by applying more impact to Guy's wound on the neck.

With all his strength packed into those sudden quick moves that even the Bushin style fighter could not defend against, Rolento collapsed to the ground, not even being able to hold his body with his hands. He let himself thud against the dust just lying there, breathing as fast as he could. He could feel his heartbeats thud so hard, the dust underneath could be seen floating out. Still looking into his dreams, Rolento heard a crash a distance away from him. Slowly lifting his head to see Guy also lying there, far away from him, Rolento didn't know yet what to feel. He himself was too exhausted to know if he had won or not.

But Guy did rise, and Rolento could finally see signs of blood under his neck, which showed him that he was not a weakling after all. Although this was a match he could never forget, Rolento knew that he had not won. He could barely lift his head to watch Guy slowly stand up. If the same attack had been formed on the back of Guy's neck, Guy's neck could have broken and he could have died. Rolento wasn't sure if he wanted to kill Guy. Guy was more like a foe you would have a fight with for a few minutes and then leave until the next match. But this match had gone too far?

Guy endured the pain in his neck in less than a minute, and walked over to Rolento. Rolento, thinking that this was the end for him, waited for Guy to finish him off. He waited there for what seemed like a minute, but Guy didn't do anything. He just stood there.

"That," as Rolento slowly began to face the other way, Guy finally spoke out, "was one experience I never had before. I guess I underestimated you…."

Rolento couldn't open his mouth to speak out, not yet. And he didn't even know what to say. It was a tense moment. Then Guy spoke out once again, and Rolento noticed that the wound in his neck was much deeper than expected. It was almost unbelievable how Guy was still conscious. But then again, he was an experienced fighter. Wounds were sources of experience rather than pain for these kind of fighters.

"I suppose this match has ended," Guy said, "We can't fight, not now."

Guy slowly began to walk away from the tired leader. Rolento looked around for signs of life. There was no one except the now walking away Guy. He couldn't reach for his pocket yet to take out his radio to contact with his soldiers. As Guy reached the cliff to jump down, Rolento quickly rose a little and yelled with all the energy he had collected during the lying time, "Thailand."

Guy turned around. "What was that?"

"Vega," Rolento spoke out once again, slowly lowering his head, "He's in his military base in Thailand."

"The base can be anywhere," Guy said. "Looks like that's all you wanna tell… We shall meet again one day to have a worthy, or perhaps friendly, fight."

As Guy leaped down the cliff and exited the scene, Rolento set his mind to the word 'friendly' that Guy had just said. It was a rather surprise that after such a fight, Guy decided to be friendly to an old foe who currently hurt his neck severely. Or was it because Guy just learned that underestimating can be dangerous, even against a fly? And what about the match…..who won? If Guy had wanted, he could have just finished off the battle when he was standing there next to the helpless Rolento that was lying on the ground. But he didn't.

Waiting for his energy to collect in his body so that he could reach for his pocket, Rolento didn't know what to do. At a time like this, anything could happen to him. Anyone could come and hurt him while he couldn't do anything to do about it. But there was no one in this mountainous place in which they had decided to do their bomb testing…. But then, Rolento proved himself wrong.

He was suddenly grabbed by the throat and lifted to his feet. He looked to the man holding him so firmly he once again could barely breathe. It was Sodom, his past assistant in the gang of Mad Gear. Looking just the way he used to be back then, Sodom still seemed to be a Japan-obsessed fighter he had always been. He was dressed like a football player, however.

So, Guy was right in saying he was fighting Sodom back then…

"Bastard," Sodom said slowly, "I despise you. First you betray the Mad Gear, and now you distract my very good battle with Guy. Next time I will cut through him like paper, but as for now I can just beat you up. You even lost to Guy, how pathetic! Look how weak you look… I could just smack you around all night."

Rolento was too tired to speak back, and tolerated as Sodom did as he willed, smacking and kicking him around. They were pretty short and weak smacks compared to Guy's, however, and Rolento couldn't think of anything but take them as a healing treatment. In the end, Sodom drew one of his strange-looking weapons, looking like a double-bladed object in the shape of a fork, but not including the third stem. He placed the object around Rolento's neck so that he could be trapped in between the two stems.

"I'll go easy on you if you just tell me where Guy went," Sodom said, smirking.

Not being able to oppose Sodom's demands, Rolento slowly said, "…Thailand."

"…Thailand," Sodom repeated. "And where in?"

"Dunno…"

Sodom withdrew the weapon from Rolento's neck and stabbed it in Rolento's arm hard enough for him to scream. "Since you're not going to speak out anymore, this is the price you'll have to pay at least. I'll kill you later, because right now I got to find a more important ass."

Sodom disappeared from the scene. Rolento once again just stayed in the position, but Sodom's 'treatment' had seemed to awaken his body back into function. He could now move, although still weakly. He slowly reached for his pocket and drew a radio and turned it on. He tried to reach for the button that would connect him with his army, but his thumb couldn't stretch there, and his fingers were too numb to move. After what seemed like an hour of struggling with the radio, Rolento grew frustrated.

"…Ah what the hell," Rolento whined as he threw the radio as far as he could, making it break, "Life's an ass."

Now he had nothing to do but wait for his loyal army to come back for him… but how long could that take?