Disclaimer: See previous chapters

Chap. 55

He didn't want to do this.

He had seen many fellow soldiers die in this lifetime, and being an immortal, he had quite a long lifetime. But it was usually on the battlefield, or on a mission, when they fought for the same purpose. But not like this. Not underground in a sewer facility facing a former comrade who had been corrupted by his worse enemy and was now posed to kill him. Guile certainly didn't want this; didn't want to do what he had to do

But that was the problem; he had to.

Still crouched on the ground, Guile steadily reached back and unhooked his weapon, all the while, keeping his eyes on his opponent. Pulling it forward, the weapon was revealed to be a machete. It wasn't as elegant as many of the weapons Guile had seen used by other immortals, but it served him well and it matched his straight-forward style of fighting. Neal – Doctrine Dark narrowed his eyes at the sight of the weapon.

"So you're going to try to finish the job now?"

Guile said nothing in reply; only rose up with an open stance. He had already explained himself and already knew that the assassin's now warped mind wouldn't allow him to listen to anything he would say. Eyes hardened and mind focused, Guile awaited the first move, recalling one of Charlie's first lessons to him; 'Never start a fight, but always finish one'*. So he would wait. If his opponent really wanted the fight, he would let him start it.

And so he did.

Soundlessly, Doctrine Dark lunged at Guile, his wrist blade gleaming in the dim light as his arm rose across his body in attack. Guile hopped back, dodging the thin blade, but before he could return with an attack of his own, Doctrine Dark brought his other arm up and in a soft click, a second, longer blade snapped out from his wrist. Guile quickly wheeled his weapon about and deflected the blade. Doctrine wasn't dissuaded however and quickly turned the deflected blade inward and stabbed at Guile.

Guile managed to sidestep the attack, but Doctrine Dark was able to track him and stab in with his second blade, tearing into the soldier's side. Guile let out a grunt of pain, but he didn't falter and whirled about, bashing the back of the assassin's head with the hilt of his blade. Doctrine Dark let out a pained groan as he stumbled forward, but he quickly turned it into a forward roll and by the time Guile had turned about fully, he had disappeared from sight.

'Damn it…'

Guile searched around, but knew it would be in vain. With the dim lighting and all the obstructions from the facility, Doctrine Dark could disappear very easily within the structure. Of course, Guile realized that his opponent could use the terrain to his advantage, but it was still disconcerting to be caught in it nevertheless. In any event, he had a problem.

"So tell me something, Colonel..." Doctrine Dark hissed from the darkness. "How would you like to die?"

Changsha, China

Holding a cup of coffee in her hand, Chun-Li settled down in front of her work desk. Her folder spread out, the Chinese immortal took a sip of her beverage as she read it over. Tracking the killer down would be no different than tracking down a serial killer. If anything, it would probably be easier, for two reasons. First, the killer's pattern and MO was simple enough to follow. Judging from the time of death on the corpses left behind, the killer would always strike at night, and always at a location at least 10 miles away. Of course, finding a killer in a place like this would be close to impossible except for her second advantage.

She was an immortal as well.

Granted, that wasn't a complete advantage. There could be other immortals here as well. But the likelihood of that was a small one, especially given the fact that she was living in the time of the Gathering. Odds are any immortal she found here was either the killer or the killer's next target. It was only a matter of finding them before they could strike. And she already had a plan set for the evening to deal with them. But she would have to be extra cautious in confronting this one. Whoever it is was must be someone of unique skill and/or strength. They would have to be to take down the immortals in pattern.

But she was no pushover either.

Taking another sip of the coffee, Chun-Li turned to gaze out the window. Not for the first time had she wished that Guile was there to back her up. True, she had done well without him before and will continue to do so, both as an immortal and an investigator. But it was a good feeling having someone you trust back you up. But for now, she was on her own.

And that was just fine by her.

With a scowl, Guile stood in the middle of the dim facility, waiting for Doctrine Dark's attack. Not that he had a choice in the matter. He was fighting on the assassin's terra firma and at the moment, was at his mercy (which he made clear there would be none of), not to mention the wound he had received would slow him down a bit. But such situations were nothing new to Guile. He just had to keep a clear and focused mind.

He knew his enemy; knew his tactics. Assassins strike where you least expect it and the terrain would allow Doctrine Dark to maximize on that. If Guile was to survive this, he had to bring him in and fight him in close combat. But for that to happen, he had to wait for Doctrine Dark to attack and defend against it before it struck.

Suddenly, an object fell out of the darkness and landed near his feet. It took only a moment for Guile to recognize it by the blinking red light and quickly jump out of the way before the device exploded. It wasn't a big explosion, but it was enough to him to feel the heat through his boots. Wheeling about, his eyes quickly looked back to where the explosive had been thrown, but as he did, he immediately regretted it.

'Damn it. Distraction.'

And true enough, the explosive served to divert Guile's attention enough for a black shadow form to descend from above with a wire between his hands. Luckily, Guile managed to get an arm up before Doctrine Dark could completely wrap it around his neck, but that didn't stop the assassin from yanking back, working to force Guile to the ground.

With a growl, Guile pulled back, his captured arm lined with red from the straining wire. Fighting through the flaring pain, Guile bent forward, flipping Doctrine Dark over his back. But the assassin managed to roll on and regain his footing before Guile could completely rise back up. Wrist blades extending again, Doctrine Dark stabbed forward with both arms as Guile lifted his head up.

But rather than backing away to dodge, Guile slipped his foot back while his mind automatically timed the approach of the blades, waiting for them and their possessor to veer close enough. And in a flash, Guile had shot his leg forward and upward, his entire body propelling in the air with his booted foot meet with the assassins' arms, snapping them upward as well and flooring Doctrine Dark altogether.

Rotating forward, Guile landed neatly on his feet, watching Doctrine Dark pick himself up as well, but one of his arms was dangling at the side. Also, both wrist blades were bent at various angles. The fight was over, but Guile didn't lower his guard and lifted his machete toward Doctrine Dark.

"It's over, Neal."

Doctrine Dark looked up at him and glared. Guile saw the anger, but it wouldn't change the truth; this fight was over. Guile's Flash Kick had damaged his weapons as well as dislocated one of his arms (rather forcefully). But insanity knows no logic, and Guile already noted that his former comrade was long gone in that department.

"I am Doctrine Dark! And it is not over!"

With a wild cry, Doctrine Dark sprang at Guile, completely ignoring the blade pointing toward him and setting his broken wrist blade forward again to stab. The machete had a blunt end, so the assassin was in no danger of impaling himself. But Guile didn't lift his weapon for show. He was simply preparing for what would come and how it would end.

"Hraahh!"

The only loud cry the soldier made, Guile whirled about, moving so fast that there was a faint pop of a sonic boom. The machete of course followed, shown in the moment only as a shining ring of light that passed through Doctrine Dark's neck while Guile's single spin put him out of harms' way and allowed the assassin to pass him by. The assassin seemed frozen in place, bent forward and still as though time had stopped. Then, time started up slowly and his head slipped away from his neck while his body fell and slumped on the concrete ground.

With a grim expression on his face, Guile simply knelt to the ground; his eyes closing as the Quickening overcame him. The darkened area lit up from the energy and lightning flashed about and struck him. Muscle rippled from the shocking muscle and pained grunts could be heard coming from the kneeling soldier until the Quickening was at last completed.

Strained with pain, Guile rose up from the floor, sparing only a glance at the fallen assassin. 'Neal…' Through the Quickening, he saw all the suffering and trials Neal had been put through, which ultimately turned him into the dark assassin Doctrine Dark. Most of all, a face came into the picture; a man, who was the cause of that suffering. One that Neal had recognized as Shadowloo's master.

"Bison."

Making his way toward the exit and out of the underground, Guile felt a sense of resolution. Now Guile had a face to go with the name he knew was responsible for the sufferings of countless of people, himself included. The head of the serpent… Reaching the exit, he looked back once again through the dim lighting at the fallen body of Neal-Doctrine Dark. Although the end wasn't what Guile wanted and he wound up losing another comrade, in the process, he had learned something more about the Shadowloo organization because of him.

"Rest easy, soldier."

Sitting silently on the rooftop of the motel, Chun-Li gazed down and out over the buildings around her. A set of binoculars was at her side, but at the moment, she was using her own eyes to scan around in search. Another detail she had discerned was that the killer always struck near the edge of town. It would give them time to escape, to disappear. After looking over areas that would have the best departure route, she had chosen to stake out this one.

To be honest, it was a long shot at best. But it was the best one she had and she would go with it. Worse case scenario, the killer would strike and leave before she knew it. But the plus side to that would be that she would be in a position to pursue them. Just the same, she'd rather catch this guy before that.

Being on a rooftop meant that she more than likely wouldn't be able to sense them, but she knew immortals had other tells, like how they moved, the way they carried themselves, and more importantly, if they carried anything that could be a weapon or holding a concealed weapon. She had learned, had trained, to have that kind of an eye, which made her an excellent investigator.

'There!'

Blinking only once, she saw only a shadow, but something about it drew her attention. She was too far away to sense it as an immortal, but there was an aura of strength that she could detect. …And a sense of…familiarity? That was strange, but then again, if this was a Shadowloo agent, then it is possible the killer could be someone else she had known.

'Like Fei Long…'

She was getting ahead of herself. First she had to find out who that was. She lifted up the binocular to her face, but the figure had disappeared into an alley. That unfortunately, meant she would have to go down there and get a closer look. She would be detected, but she couldn't afford to wait. Placing the binoculars down, the Chinese immortal swiveled about and dropped right off the side of the roof and plummeted down.

Halfway down her descent, she brought her legs up and kicked off the wall, propelling her lithe body through the air and flipping toward the other side of the street. Gracefully, her body opened from the flip and her feet met the low wall of the building. She kicked off again, but with less force than last time, allowing her to land neatly on the sidewalk. Without a moment's pause, she moved toward the alley and the immortal sensation hit her.

'I was right.'

Reaching toward her back, her hand took hold of the sword that was strapped there. However, she didn't remove it; she wouldn't, not until she had a confirmed sighting. The alley opened up, revealing a wider, second alleyway. It was there that she caught sight of the figure she had followed. Whoever it was, they were roughly her size and female. A sword gleamed in her hand as she turned toward Chun-Li. Chun-Li's grip tightened on her sword, but once the figure turned fully, she blinked in surprise.

"Sakura?"

*The line I borrowed from Babylon 5 (John Sheridan). I've always wanted to use it somewhere and it seemed fitting in this case. And before you ask, no I do not own that either.