Disclaimer: See initial chapter

Chap. 53

Three months later...

Although her face was a picture of professional calm, Chun-Li was quite annoyed at being called in by her captain. Over the past couple of months, both she and Guile had managed to locate and bring down several facilities and agencies, all with ties to Shadowloo. Although they had yet to find of hear of any word of their headquarters, Chun-Li felt that they were getting close. She had to admit, having Guile as a partner was more beneficial to her work than when she worked alone. Their combined experience in dealing with Shadowloo played a great deal in bringing down the cells they discovered.

So when she was abruptly pulled her off the investigation, she was immediately annoyed, and that annoyance stuck as she sat in the captain's office. But she knew he wouldn't do this unless it was something serious. It might even be a related topic, but since she was the only one called, she doubted it. Nevertheless, it was wiser to hear him out first. She could argue later if need be; her stubbornness was legendary.

"What is this about, sir?"

Handing her a folder, the captain went right into it. "Yesterday, this corpse was discovered in the bay around midnight. Witnesses claim that there were flashes of light and upon following it, they found this."

Opening the folder, Chun-Li managed to hide her surprise at the familiar scene of the photographed corpse. "Decapitated?"

"Quite cleanly too." he nodded. "Whatever blade that did this, was quite sharp. My guess is a sword."

The woman immortal mentally cringed; the description all too familiar to her. Regardless, she kept her face solid and her voice even. "Not to sound unconcerned, but what does this have to do with Interpol?"

"This isn't the first time this has come up." he went on. "For the past few months, this has been a recurring pattern, reported from Okinawa, Shanghai, Korea, and just about every place from Japan to here." His eyes lower to the folder. "This just happens to be the latest."

"I...see."

The captain was silent for a moment, in thought from what Chun Li could see. "There have been rumors of this type of behavior all over the world. Up until this point, they have only been rumors. No noteworthy evidence aside from a few in random places. The only thing close that I could think of was the death of a Russian wrestler that happened some months back, but that was only regarded as an isolated murder."

Now it was Chun-Li's turn to be silent, her mind taking in the implications of all that was said. Filing away much of what she was thinking, she went on to say the only question she could ask at the moment.

"Why me?"

With a soft hum, the captain went on. "With you and Guile cracking down on Shadowloo operations, I want to confirm whether or not this is related. But I didn't want you guys to loose track of whatever leads you may currently had in case this turns out to be isolated incidents, so I want just you to check this out."

So it was a related topic after all. Not only that, but the captain didn't want her or Guile to lose any time, so he called her in because of his confidence in her abilities to quickly determine whether o not this as something that could help them. Chun Li was a bit surprised by this, and it must have shown on her face because the captain gave her a light chuckle. "Looks like you'll have to put that argument on hold, eh?"

The comment caused the face of woman immortal to flush and she couldn't help but lower her face in embarrassment.

"...Yes sir."

'There...'

Seated in the depths of a dark cave, the burning eyes of the demon immortal snapped open. There it was again, like a beacon to his senses. Power... The kind of power that could only come from an immortal of exceptional strength. Perhaps one that could give him a great challenge. His eyes narrowed as he tried to focused in on the power. It was a dark ki, negative in the balance. Such an opponent would give him a worthy challenge.

But not yet...

His last battle against the formidable Garuda had taken its toll on him. His victory granted him greater power, but the fight itself had pushed him well beyond his limits. He had rest and recover his strength, in order to be ready for the next fight. His eyes lid close and his focused inward, gathering and restoring his own strength; his own power.

For power was his only goal...

Since her meeting with the captain, Chun-Li's mind had been both focused and disturbed by her new assignment. Needless to say, she knew the killer had to have been an immortal. What she didn't understand was why the killer was leaving behind a trail. Generally, after an immortal slew another, the victor would bury the body or dispose of it in some way if the case called for it. Of course, there were those that would simply leave a corpse behind from lack of caring. 'Like Master Gen...' But in such a case, they wouldn't remain in that area or anywhere close afterward. Doing so kept it as a random occurrence.

But this one was leaving a clear trail to follow. That wasn't something she had heard of before. Immortals, as a rule, made sure they that they were out of notice from the world as a whole; to move silently through the shadows of time until the Gathering. 'Could that be what this one believes? That now in the time of the Gathering, there was no need to hide any longer?' It was just so odd. Whoever this was, they were putting themselves on notice, both by mortal and immortals.

Especially immortals.

Blinking in surprise, Chun Li thought about it more. This brought to mind two possibilities. One, this immortal was new and either knew little about the rules or was just being reckless. But that seemed unlikely; she recognized one or two of the victims and each of them she knew were quite experienced and strong. That left the second and more likely option; a powerful immortal that has no care for staying hidden, knowing that this would bring others to hunt after them and be killed in turn.

In short, a trap...

Whether or not that was true, it was up to her to stop it. If it truly was related to Shadowloo, then it could be the break they needed. With the assailant being immortal, it would have to lead to something major involving the shadowy organization. Still, she had to keep in mind that if it was a trap, then she would have to be ready for it. It was a dangerous situation, but if there was a chance to bring down Shadowloo, she would take it.

A trap she was about to willingly walk into...

"It sounds like a trap."

-"Nice to know I'm not the only one that thinks so."-

"So, kiddo, is this a call for back-up?"

He heard her snort over the line and grinned. It was something the two of them did; using pet names that would annoy the other. Sounding annoyed, Chun Li continued. -"No, I'm just giving you the heads-up...just in case."-

Hearing the underline of caution in her voice, Guile nodded. "Alright. Just watch yourself out there."

-"Is that worry I hear in your voice, brush-head?"-

His eyes narrowed slightly at the comment and he refused to let her get away with it, at least without a remark of his own. "Of course. Can you imagine the paperwork I'll get if you're found dead?"

He could practically hear her smirk. -"Hm. I'm almost tempted."-

Shaking off the humor, his voice returned to its usual no-nonsense. "Seriously. Don't lose your head."

-"Right."- she returned with the same tone. -"Talk to you later."-

With that, the call ended and Guile lowered his arm. Hearing about an immortal on a rampage wasn't the best news he had heard. Whether this had a Shadowloo connection or not, he didn't know. As it is named, the organization operated in the shadows. To draw attention in this way wasn't their style.

At least Chun-Li suspected a trap. Even though the Chinese immortal was older than he was (although she didn't act it at times), he couldn't help but worry about his partner. That was part of who he was, a soldier watching the back of a fellow soldier. But she was called in on this alone and given the fact that an immortal was involved, was better that way. At least she let him know about it ahead of time on the chance that something went wrong.

A very likely chance...

Pocketing his phone, Guile moved away from where he was standing by a window close by, unaware that from a few buildings away, another was watching him. The figure was wearing a dark-blue uniform and gear and his face bore a cylinder mask. Only the top half of his face and hair was visible; pale blond hair and blue eyes that seemed to want to pierce through his target.

But then again, that was what his blade was for...

Looking away for a moment, the figure lifted his hand and a short blade shot out and extended from his forearm gauntlet, glistening in the dim light. He may have been hired by Shadowloo for this job, but he would have done it freely. This was after all the target he had been searching for, for a long time.

Hunting for...