Disclaimer: See initial chapter

Chap. 45

San Francisco

"Come on, kid. You're almost here."

Ken smirked as he watched Mel run up to the dojo, panting and sweating lightly in his white and brown gi. It was early in the morning and the kid was already a little cranky. The immortal's grin broadened. He remembered what that was like training at his age.

'Or was I older? Ah, well...'

"Okay. Now that you've had your run, time for the warm-up."

Mel had to suppress a groan. They had been training for three days now, but it mostly consisted of Mel doing regular exercises early in the morning (a fact that Mel groaned about on the second day and was 'punished' for with extra workouts.) and then again in the middle of the afternoon. Eliza wasn't around, as she was on a business trip, so it was just the two of them in the house (not counting the servants). After a couple of push-ups and sit-ups, the two of them were soon sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"Dad-sensei. Can I ask you something?"

Ken snorted humorously at the title use, but nodded. "Go on."

"Well, you said you would teach me how to fight, right? How does sitting on the ground help?" the boy inquired, hoping he wouldn't get 'punished' again.

"Hm." Ken raised an eyebrow and then complimented. "Good question. You see, martial arts are not just about beating people up."

Mel half-frowned. "It isn't?"

"No. It's a way to improve yourself, to take in the world around you. And the way to start doing that is with a clear and focused head."

"And that's why we have to do this?"

Ken smiled, pleased that the boy was getting the point so quickly. "Exactly. Meditation is a way to organize your thoughts and think about them all in a single line. When you can do that, then the fighting part will be simpler. Mind and body will work as one."

Mel cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

"Here, I'll show you." Rising up from the floor, Ken turned with his side facing Mel. His hand cupping on the side, Ken explained. "When you can work your mind and body as one, you can do things like this."

Ken then concentrated slowly, keeping his hands cupped and to the side. Normally, he could summon the energy of the Hadoken almost immediately, but he made it slow so that Mel could see what he was doing. Mel watched with fascination as the space within Ken's hand began to glow, lightly at first, but soon more brightly. The light then began to culminate, taking a spherical form and shimmering into existence.

"Wow!"

"What's going on here?"

Ken blinked in surprise and both males turned to the entrance to see Eliza standing in the pathway. The woman looked at Ken and then at her son, who was waving happily at her.

"Hey mom! Guess what? Dad-sensei was showing me a cool move."

"Was he now?"

Her gaze refocused on Ken and remained stonily on him. Ken had seen that look more than enough in his lifetime and it always meant the same thing.

He was in serious trouble...

Russia

The two immortals stood side by side as they gazed down at the gray stone marker that indicated the resting place of Zangief. He had been buried there a week ago and this was their first visit there. Sakura turned an eye to the elder immortal, seeing the neutral expression on his face. Yet, if it's one thing about Ryu, it was that to gauge his expressions, you had to see his eyes.

"You're doing it again." Sakura sighed.

"Hm?"

"Blaming yourself." she explained. "You're probably thinking, 'If I had come here sooner, this might not have happened, blah, blah, blah'."

Ryu turned to her with a raised eyebrow and after a minute, replied. "So what if I am?"

"I remember someone telling me that this is just the ways things are. "With a smirk, the woman raised her eyes up as if in thought. "We're immortal and so there always the chance of a fight to the death. Oh, wait. That was you, wasn't it?"

"Yes." he muttered at the fact that she was teasing him. "But even so, he was a friend." His gaze soon turned distant and almost sad. "And I hadn't made it a point of visiting my friends."

"Well, now's a good a time as any to change that. I'll even help out if you want."

"...Thank you."

With that, he turned to leave the grave, but was suddenly clasped into a hug by Sakura. Ryu blinked, once again surprised and confused by his former student. She always seemed to have a way of bringing him out of depression with her antics and this was no exception. He knew of her feelings for him, but what were his feelings about her? She was a student, his first student, and a close friend. But was that all? He wasn't sure.

That didn't stop him from returning the embrace however...

"What did you think you were doing?!"

In their bedroom, Ken was faced with the slightly angry visage of his wife. Ken held a breath. As a married couple, they have had their arguments before and he knew how she was. Right now, she was trying to cool down. But if they didn't discuss and settle things quickly, she can and will explode. It took him some time to discover that pattern. Luckily, Mel wasn't in the house right now; a friend of his invited him over to his house for the day. Unfortunately, that left Ken at the mercy of Eliza. And he still wasn't sure wasn't sure what she was angry about.

"What do you mean?"

"With Mel this morning." Her voice was even. "You were trying to teach him how to fight?"

"It's was a good idea if he learns to defend himself early on." he countered, trying to show her that he was only teaching him self-defense and nothing more.

She didn't seem to care about that part. "You didn't even ask me. Why did you wait, huh?" Her voice began to rise. "Why did you wait for me to leave before you did this?"

"I didn't..."

"You knew I wouldn't like this, didn't you? You waited until my back was turned."

"Hold on a second!" Ken had been calm for the most part, but now he felt irritation rise. "I did not wait for anything and I did not know you would react like this!" Reigning in his irritation, he questioned. "What's this really about?"

"I don't want my son to become like you!"

With that, Eliza whirled out of the room, leaving the shocked immortal in place. It took him a full two minutes to blink and it was then that understanding came to him. Despite all his wisdom and past experience, he had failed to consider what Eliza would think about him teaching Mel the martial arts. He had just assumed that she would go along with it.

"Eliza..."

Unbeknownst to Ken, a figure had been watching him from afar. Not only that, but the figure took note of the argument that took place beforehand. It didn't really matter much, but the emotional distress from the target would make it easier to set up for capture. Not only that, but the bait needed had just stormed out of the house. Picking up a radio, the figure spoke.

"Preparations underway. Prepare subject for the field test."

Though Dan wasn't too fond of cold weather, he liked the hotel rooms in Moscow. As usual, he was tracking down Ryu and glad for a more predictable change of pace, mostly due to his travelling companion and former student. Knowing a bit of Sakura's history, he knew that the relationship she had with Ryu went beyond the student/teacher one. Their embrace at the cemetery was proof of that. He just wondered how deep it really was.

It may explain his actions around another female immortal...

Pushing that to the side for a moment, Dan took a look at the updates to Watcher's network in search of the circumstances of Zangief's demise. Like Ryu, Dan was curious over who was the one that took down the Russian. True, Zangief wasn't invincible, but his strength was well known among the Watchers and it would take someone of serious power to bring him down.

'It might be the one I'm looking for.'

He finally found it. The report on Zangief's Watcher. According to him, Zangief was last seen exiting a stadium after a night of wrestling when he was approached by another immortal. Dan's eyes began to widen as he read on. The Watcher was a good distance away when the fight started but he managed to get in close enough to see who his slayer was. And it was the identity of this immortal that made Dan forget to breathe for a second. It wasn't the one he was looking for and in fact, he most certainly would want to avoid this guy.

The demon immortal...Akuma...

'Come on. Pick up, Eliza...'

After several long moments, Ken hung up the phone and sighed depressingly. He had called her several times, but she hadn't picked up. It wasn't late, but he was beginning to worry nonetheless. Was she really that mad at him? Had he really been so insensitive to her feelings? Ken shook his head in dismay. Despite his years of experience, he never fully understood the complexities of a woman's feelings. 'I don't think I ever will...' Still, he had to try and that meant making amends. Of course, to do so, he had to see her. And she had yet to return. Maybe he was feeling anxious, but he had to talk to her and set things right if he could.

Beep, beep...

Faster than he thought he would, Ken flipped open the cell phone and answered. "Hello? Eliza?"

The voice that came back was female, but it definitely wasn't Eliza. "Ken Masters. Come alone to the warehouse on Jackson Ave and Broker St at 8 pm. Failure to do so will result in the termination of your wife. Bring your sword."

The phone hung up and Ken froze. A multitude of emotions was flooding his mind right at that moment. Fear, guilt, anger, rage... It took him a moment to calm himself, strangely enough recalling to mind his earlier words to Mel.

"...It's a way to improve yourself, to take in the world around you. And the way to start doing that is with a clear and focused head."

He started to breathe steadily, calming his mind and body to focus on the facts. Eliza had been kidnapped and he had to rescue her. Whoever his kidnapper was knew he was immortal, which meant they had to be one as well. Rising up, he moved over to the other end of the room and grabbed hold of his sheathed blade. There was only one way to settle this now.

There can be only one...

Unknown

"Status."

"All is ready, Agent Juni." was the answer that came from a man in a doctor's robe and uniform. "The prototype is set for combat and all monitors are set to record. All that is needed now it the test target."

"On his way."

As the doctor went about his work on the monitors, Juni walked away and moved toward a large cylinder object nearby. Slams and loud noises resounded from within, but she continued to advance without fear. This was her master's work after all, just like her. Why should she fear it? The noises grew louder as she approached and she soon stopped just a few feet in front of it to look though the small glass slide. It was dark inside even with the slide, but she could make out the shadow outline of the creature inside. Something that was once human, but now a beast; a weapon to serve her master. And if this test proved successful, it would only be the first in what would be a line of killing machines that would obey her master.

Savage, destructive...immortal...