The super-psychic known as Rose stood before the exhausted and bewildered Street Fighters.

"Rose...I can't believe it."said Ryu. "I'd never thought we'd see you again."

"Given eternity,all things are possible."said Rose. "It's nice to see some of you again."

The other fighters simply stood,looking at the woman,trying to figure out how Ryu and Ken could know such a strange character.

"My,my.."thought Dudley. "...what an exotic woman."

Ryu and Ken shook hands with the woman.
"I gotta admit Rose,"said Ken. "after your last tussle with Bison himself,i'd never thought you'd wake out of that coma."

"Yes,"said Rose. "I almost had the evil warlord in my grasp when I tried to extinguish his own soul,but that devil's own Psycho Power was more than even I could handle in the end."

Guy approached Rose,he remembered the time he found her soon to be lifeless body,and took it to the nearest hospital where it was placed under life support for months.

"And you must be the one who saved my physical form."said Rose as she approached the Bushin.

"Er---uh--yes."said Guy as he slightly blushed. "I just fond your unconscious form outside Bison's underground HQ and I uh--."

"Looks like we found the great Bushin warrior's major weakness---girls,haha..."whispered Sean.
"Ya got that right,"said Sodom. "I betcha he even blushes if a hooker gave him a proposition."

"Now,now lads."said Dudley. "Not everyone is skilled in the art of romantic socializing--like myself."

Rose then turned to some of the new faces that were with the trio.

"Ah,and some of you must be part of the new breed of warriors that were from the last tournament."said Rose. "Of course I recognize Sodom from his past efforts of bringing Mad Gear together from Metro City."

"Oh sure,bring that up."said Sodom."Just don't touch my mustache."

Ken laughed.
"No worries Rose,"he said. "From what we've heard,Sodom's more or less gone pretty legit lately."

"And these three pals of ours are..."

"Sean,Makoto...and Dudley."said Rose. "Yes,I have heard and seen much of them from the astral plane I was watching from.

"Wow,she's good."said Makoto.
"Man,I never really beleived any of that pyschic mumbo jumbo stuff before,"said Sean. "..but now.

Dudley appraoched the psychic,took her hand and kissed it like a true gentlemen.
"Delighted to make your acquaintance madame."he said and then handed her a single red rose.

"Hmmm...i'm sure."said Rose smiling.
"Well,enough pleasantries for now. I'm afraid we have very serious business to discuss right now."

"You mean---the vampires?"said Guy.
"Very much so."said Rose. "I'm sorry that I wasn't around to help sooner and i'm sorry that this Maximov fellow has kidnapped your friend Chun-Li. But--I had to go and pick up a couple of your acquantices earlier."

"Acquantices?"said Ryu.

Rose nodded and then with a wave of her hand,both Charlie and Cammy appeared before them.

"Aw,blimey!"said Cammy. Am I glad to be off that creepy ship.
"Uh..hi guys."said Charlie. "Sorry we're late."

Ken and some of the others ran towards the two commandos to greet them.

"Man,you two are sure a sight for sore eyes!"said Ken.
"Yeah,after the stuff we've been seeing and going through."said Sean.

"Ha,you won't believe the host of freaks and monsters me an'Charlie just sparred with!"
"She's not kidding."said Charlie. "I still got the scars from that beasty guy."

"We'll have plenty of time to swap stories later."said Ryu. "Right now,we've got to figure out where Den just wnet to with Chun-Li.

"Oh dear."said Rose. "It would appear that I was a bit too late in coming here."

"Don't worry,Rose."said Guy. "We'll get her back,and destroy that cretinous monster once and for all!"

"Provided that you can help us find his whereabouts."said Dudley.

"No problem of course."said Rose. "With my soul powers,I can detect and pick up his trail."

"Okay then."said Ryu. "What're we waiting for?"

"Hold on a moment there Mr.Hoshi."said Rose waving her hand. "I'm afraid our comrades could all use a bit of a rest--and more importantly...we may need a proper plan of attack against our enemy."

"I--I suppose we should."said Ryu.

Moments later,with the sinister spell of the vampire lord now completly lifted,Ryu and the others were able to head back to the local military base on the edge of town.

Most of the heroes relaxed in the lounge,munching on cookies,muffins and drninking coffee,tea and hot cocoa.

Some like Guy and Ken were practicing hard in the gym,trying to get some last minute training and preparations done for the oncoming final battle.

Ryu meanwhile,was with both Charlie and Cammy and Rose in the breifing room with the succubus creature known as Morrigan.

Ryu kept a calm stance,but was indeed entranced by the beauty and strangeness of the half human,half demon being that stood before him.

"Aye,in my country of Ireland I have seen and heard many things of the great World Warrior of the past Street Fighting tournaments."she said. "And I admit I was suprised to see you fight an actual Darkstalker and live to tell the tale."

"D-Darkstalker?"said Ryu.
"I'm afraid that even Cammy and I haven't completly heard the whole story of these...Darkstalkers."said Charlie.

Morrigan sighed.

"Very well.."she said. "..but I must be bried as possible,we don't want to keep our other..'allies' waiting now do we?

Thousands of years ago...before the warriors of Justice High School,before the Street Fighters themselves,even before the heroes and villians of Metro City...they were the first this world and universe had ever seen.

They were....THE DARKSTALKERS!

Millions of years ago,before the age of humanity,a rip in the fabric of space and time erupted and carrying with it many creatures and monsters from another realm.

Vampires,wolves,goblins,robots,aliens,demons...and yes even my race the Succubus.

Suddenly,a voice called out to them from the darkness.

Those who live in darkness,come to me.

Naturally,many of our race answered the call to compete in what appeared to be a tournament of our own,and the one who organized the battle was a strange fire demon of sorts known as--Pyron.

Many battles were fought...but in the end it was the vampire king known as--Demitri Maximov."

"Maximov..."Ryu thought. "..that's the name Den had told me was."
Demitri destroyed Pyrin and absorbed his powers,making him stronger then ever.

In the years that went by...many more contests as well as wars ensued destroying our kind one at a time.

Until in the end...only as handful of us remained to stand against the evil vampire king and his minions.

A final tournament was devised,we all fought valiantly,but in the end...only I was able to make it to the final stand against Dimitri.

But as I stood before him in his throne room,my energy was spent from all the past battles I went through and fell to the floor,my energies spent.

Dimitri just sat there at his throne,smirking wickedly at his soon to be found victory.

He then arose and brought me up to his fanged mouth,ready to take and devour my very soul.

But...unknown even to him,I had as they call---an 'ace'up my sleeve."

Just as he transformed into his winged demon form,I slammed my palm onto his chest and unleashed a well-hidden and powerful spell!

I jolted a Medusa like spell upon him,freezing the both of us to stone.

In an instant,we were both frozen into cold hard stone,a nightmarish moment frozen in time for the both of us.

Many eons and centuries had passed and the land that Demitri's old castle had stood in became to be known as Romania and the statuesque prison of us was placed in a single garden courtyard.

But our own prison was soon to end one day...

One day during the days of World War 2,an old mystic gypsy similar to yourself madam Rose,walked into the courtyard and spotted the statue of us both.

She sensed a strong life essence within the statue.

She eventually hired a pair of movers to escort it to her country cottage where she performed many unusual and deadly
spells.

After speaking in an ancient tongue,the pair of us were at long last freed from our stone prison...

....but that was just the beginning of the nightmare."
 

MEANWHILE BACK AT DEN'S SECRET HIDEOUT....

Chun-Li awoke finding herself in a strange place.

She looked down at herself finding that she was covered in what appeared to be bedsheets,and a large soft bed as well.

Li was about to get out of bed...when she suddenly discovered something--different about herself.

...She was bare naked.

"GASP!"
Chun-Li blushed a bright red and jumped back into the covers.
It would appear that she was stripped of her clothing while she was unconscious.

She then began to collect her surroundings.

The room was indeed a bedroom quarters,but it was very strange looking.

A single lamp was on by a dresser to show the designs and colors of the room.

It was the colors of black and red and had a high and wide ceiling with a crystal chandelier hanging down from the ceiling.

And lastly,across from the bed she lay in was a dark brown wooden coffen that lay on the floor and what appeared to be a painting half shrouded in darkness.

"Wh-where the hell am I...?"she said aloud.

"A very good question,Miss Xiang."said a voice from the shadows.

"WHA--?"said Li as she raised the covers over her chest and shoulders.

Emerging from the shadows was their arch foe that they had been fighting all night,Den Maximov.

He was now dressed in a velvet smoking jacket and pajamas and had a pipe in his mouth.

"Who are you supposed to be,Hugh Heffner?"said Li.

Den chuckled.
"While on the subject,your true form unlcothed is indeed s gift from the gods,a sight to absolutely behold."

"YOU---PERVERT!"snapped Li. "You--you stripped me of my clothes and---!"

"Now,now,don't make such a fuss,Li."said Den. "While you were unconscious,I had my handsmaids undress. you and then place you to sleep for the time being.

Now that you are awake...there is still so much to do."

"To do?"said Li. "Like what?"

"To draw your friends here,and add their ki powered blood--to my own. And if the plan is truly successful..I shall end up owning the entire continent of North America by morning---HAHAHA!"

"Wha--what do you mean by that?"said Li.

"You'll see...soon enough."said Den. "But for now."

Den snapped his fingers in the air,and a pair of woman merged from the darkness where Den stood.

They were both japanese woman and were both dressed as gieshas,red kimonos and all.

"Miko,and Taka."he said. "Take Miss Xiang--to the baths."

The two women smiled and bared their razor sharp fangs as well as glowing red eyes.

"GASP!"replied Li as she backed up against the bed.
"Oh,what have I gotten myself into here?"she said.

WHILE BACK AT THE MILITARY BASE...

Morrigan continued with her tale of the past.

"Once we were awakened by the evil psychic,I broke free of Dimitri's grasp and began to fly away and out of the cottage.

But once I made it to the door,the vampire king blasted me in the back with a full blast of hellfire,knocking me out cold."she said.

"Hours later,I awoke to find myself in a hidden sanctuary of some sort,it was the bedroom to a german castle at that.

Beside me was the old psychic,then someone entered the room.

He was dressed like a nazi baron and was with Dimitri himself.

The Baron bowed to Maximov and adressed the situation.

"Lord Maximov,"said the baron. "I---Baron Burginmester am truly honored by your presence. My grandmudda has told me tales of der great Darkstalkers many times since my childhood. With your power at our side,ve shall truly crush de americans and rule da world. We shall be greater than Hitler himself!"

"And I am--somewhat grateful that your granmother freed both myself and my sworn enemy the Succubus from our prison,Baron Burginmister. But---I have lost so many years after what had happened...my kingdom--is gone,and I have no way of knowing if there are any other Darkstalkers left in the world."

"Fear not,lord Maximov."said the Psychic. "For I have a plan that may very well replenish your race. And,belive it or not,it requires another Darkstalker,a female one,namely the one right here."

Dimitri looked at me over on the bed.

"Y-you mean..?"he asked.
"Yes!"said the old woman. "You must--reproduce an actual vampire child--it is the only way to replenish your own race of Darkstalker vampires."

"I could tell by the look on his face that he was in an awkward situation just as I was."said Morrigan. "But--he eventaully agreed to do the dirty deed,so to speak.

And well,he-----"

"I--think we get the picture of what happened there,Morrigan."said Charlie. "No offense,but I think we've had more than our share of gory situations."

"And I second that as well!"said Cammy.

"Very well."said Morrigan. "In a nutshell,as humans say--a week later,I was forced to bear the child of--Dimitri Maximov,who is actually the same monster you have been fighting--Den Maximov."

"Then--you mean to tell me that you're his..?"said Ryu.
"Yes,"said Morrigan. "I am his biological mother. He is completly Darkstalker on both sides."

"My gosh..."said Rose. "How horrible it must have been for you that day."

"I prefer to let it remained buried,Rose."said Morrigan. "As for what happened next,well here is ther est of the offering.

I vowed to escape from my captors and kill the child one way or the other. But I needed a plan...and more to that---for the first time in my life--help.

Meanwhile,the baron's servants groomed the child into becoming Dimitri's successor."

Dimitri stood before his son which lay in a pink laced crib.
He was the spitting image of his father at such an infancy,he lay soundly asleep in his crib.

"Ah,he is truly of my blood."said Dimitri. "Pardon the pun."
The Baron laughed. "Yes,lord Maximov,with your power and future family,the nazis shall bring glory to de motherland."

"Perhaps,"said Dimitri. "But if you don't mind,I would like to see what is left of my castle and homeland before further of your,plans."

"Oh yes,yes,by all means."said the Baron. "The castle you came from still stands,but it is in a place which we now call--Romania."
"Romania..."said Dimitri. "I kind of like that name. Well then,I shall be back before sunrise,see to my son's every need,but keep that filthy bitch Morrigan away from it all costs."

"Fear not,m'lord."said the Baron. "He shall be safe with us."

Dimitri then went to window,transformed into his bar form and flew off into the night.

While back in the master bedroom,Morrigan had to find a way to free herself from the castle,and destroy both Dimitri and their newborn child once and for all."