The first half of the great tournament was over,the time for rest was needed for the remaining contestants,now finalists.

The majority were in the lounge room,some were resting on the sofa,some drinking a soda or eating a snack,and some discussing old times since most of them knew each other.

Chun-Li was speaking with Guile over on a couch about all that's happened.

"So.."said Guile. "…you retired from Interpol after Shadowloo's defeat and are now playing teacher eh?"

"That's right Guile."said Li. "You saw my student. In the ring..after she did her best. I vowed to never fight again after rescuing my student from Urien during Gill's own tournament but…after discovering this new contest that Ken's holding…I figured one more time along with Pai wouldn't hurt."

"That's great to know Li."said Guile. "Nice to see you've still got those lightning legs of yours."

"Hey,I may be approaching middle age.."said Li. "..but ya can't keep a good woman down."

Guile laughed.

"Anyways..this isn't just a social call Li..I have some disturbing news for you."

"I--I figured as much Guile."said Li. "Okay,spill it."

"We…have reason to believe that..Shadowloo has resurfaced yet again."said Guile.

Li sighed.

"More good news."she said. "Frankly,I'm not all that surprised..Bison may be gone for keeps this time..but his scumbag legions never give up. Well..I'm afraid you're speaking to the wrong kind of ally here..as I said I retired from Interpol long ago,and with Bison dead..my father can rest in peace."

"I know but..that's not all I wanted to share with you."said Guile.

"We just discovered..that our old friend and all at arms--Charlie Nash is alive after all."

"WHAT?"said Li. "That's impossible…he should be dead!"

"Yeah,I told myself the same thing."said Guile. "But it's true,we captured him after a terrorist sting..it's him..but he claims to have no memory of me,or the Air Force..or anything save for serving Shadowloo.

We don't know if he's a clone..or something..or what. But I swear..when this contest is over,my allies and I will destroy whatever the hell is left those bastards--once and for all!"

"I sure hope so."said Li. "We've all had enough of being plagued..by old ghosts of the past."

Suddenly,Sakura walked up to the pair of veteran fighters.

"Oh--Mr.Guile--Miss Xiang!"she said. "I knew it was you both from earlier."

"Sakura!"said Li. "We saw you out there in the ring--you were amazing!"

"Thanks."said Sakura. "It's so good to see you both again after all this time."

"Ditto kid."said Guile. "You've sure grown since last we saw you."

Sakura scratched the back of her head.

"Yeah,I trained under master Ryu for many years after graduation from school. I learned a lot from him."

She said.

"Speaking of..mr.Fearless."said Li. "Where is he anyways,I thought he'd attend some fighting as well."

"Well…he never really explained it to me before.."said Sakura. "..I think after what happened with Akuma and Bison….I think he felt that his power was getting too great for even him to control in a fight."

"So..like Li here,he's decided to play the role of sensei eh?"said Guile. "That's a good role to apply,but imo not the best way for you to play out what's left of your young years."

"And I suppose that's why you still play the role of commando huh Guile?"said Li.

"Hey,you know me."said Guile. "Desk jobs are for wimps and you know it."

Sakura giggled. "Yeah,I guess so."she said.

"Anyways,Sensei Ryu is here..he's just up in the judges and monitoring booth with Ken."

"Ah,I see."said Li.

"You..you want me to tell him you're here,Miss Xiang?"said Sakura.

"Uh--no--no thanks Sakura!"stammered Li. "I..I'll catch him later..I.need a coffee right now."

Li then got up and went over to one of the vending machines.

"Hmmm.."said Guile rubbing his stubbly chin. "..now what makes you think brought that on?"

"Yeah really."said Sakura smirking. "Sensei doesn't talk much about her either..he just blushes and coughs if I ever mention Miss Xiang's name."

"Well..they haven't been in touch with either lately is all."said Guile. "That's what you get for letting your life get in the way of real love..but..if I was you Sakura..I'd have a little talk with them both after the contest is over,capeesh?"

"Oh..I capeesh all right Mr.Guile."said Sakura winking. "Some battles..just need a little help every now and again."

"Heh-good to hear."said Guile. "Well..good luck with the contest finals..fight hard."

"Thanks,you as well."said Sakura as she went off.

Dan was talking with his old friend Blanka.

"Hey,great to see you in human form again Jimmy."said Dan.
"Yeah,and great to see you finally make it to the contest as well,Danny."said Blanka tapping him on the shoulder.

"I still can't believe those wahoos never even cheered me on that last victory."said Dan.

"I mean I made it out as strong as ever,made it this far..what's a guy to do?"

"Don't le those jack asses get ya down,Dan."said Blanka. "Some people are too hard headed to see past things. Just give it your best as you kick all their asses..like I tried to."

"I will,that's a fact."Said Dan. "But..did you notice some of the competition here?"

Blanka noticed the two fighters sitting near the doorway.

The first one was the one dressed in black ninja garb and wielded claws,he stood against the wall.arms crossed and silent.

The other was the one dressed in hoods,rags and sandals.

He sat on a couch in a cross legged position.

"Huh,pair of psycho ass weirdos we got here huh?"said Dan.

"Yeah..but..there's something familiar about 'em both."said Blanka. "But I can't figure out what."

"Well..don't you worry."said Dan. "I--or someone here will hand them their asses and how!"

"Good to hear."said Blanka. "Well..I'm gonna head back to the bleechers for beer and a burrito..good luck Dan."

"Thanks."said Dan. "Take care now."

Sakura saw Dan saying goodbye to his friend.

"Well.."she thought. "..I guess it's never to late to reconcile things."

Dan turned to see Sakura approach him.

"S-Sakura..?"said Dan.

"Uh--yeah,tis me."she said. "That was..some pretty great fighting you did out there."

"Oh..you noticed huh?"said Dan.

"Yeah,I..I did..and sorry if I and the others didn't give you an applause or something..we were all..I guess too amazed or something."

"Is that all?"said Dan. "FYI..I just happen to be a far cry from the pink clad loser you and others saw me as."

"Yeah,I know I know."said Sakura. "It's just..that you were always so brash and accident prone back then Dan. I'm…sorry for not taking you seriously as a teacher it's just.."

"That I was too..clumsy you're saying?"said Dan.

"No!"said Sakura. "I know you had a fire in your eyes..but according to Ryu and Ken you had the wrong agenda..the wrong everything for the job as a Shotokan back then."

"Yeah well..that was then and this is now."said Dan. "I found the power and means to be a star in japan..and when this is over..I'll be a star to the world itself!"

"There you go again…getting cocky!"said Sakura. "Look,I'm happy for you that you made it in somehow..but this is the WW contest you're fighting in Dan..don't get yourself in too deep or it'll be back to square one for you!"

"Oh yeah?"said Dan. "We'll see who's in too deep when I'm done! Now if you'll excuse me..I gotta take a leak. See you in the ring..Ryu wannabe!"

Sakura huffed as Dan left the room.

"Man,some things sure as hell never change!"she said.

"Sad but true."said a voice behind her.

It was her old rival Karin Kanzuki.

"Greetings..once again."she said as she bowed.

"Uh..?"said Sakura as she cocked her head to one side.

"You're..being formal?"

"Yes,anything wrong with that?'said Karin.
"Well…no..of course not. It's..good to see you as well..Karin..it's just.."

"You thought me to come and instigate you?"said Karin. "Oh come on now Sakura..give me more credit than that..believe it or not--I've matured greater than you think."

"I..I guess so."said Sakura. "It's just been so long since our last fight."

"Yes,sorry about that."said Karin. "But remember..I still wish to fight in this contest..and I still wish for us to finish what we started. I just wanted to let you know…whoever wins..we shall both carry on with our lives as usual."

"Oh,okay."said Sakura. "You were pretty skillful out there."

"As you were you."said Karin. "The great Ryu has taught you well. Oh..and don't let Hibiki there get to you…he's full of it imo..but..if I were him..I'd go see a doctor about that skin color of his."

"Huh,what do you mean by that?"said Sakura.

"Well didn't you notice?"said Karin. "Some of his skin had some rather..dark and light purple splotches on the arms and elbow.

Somehow..I think Dan may be doing something that might cause him some pain later.

Anyways,good to see you again..see you in the ring--Ta Ta."

Karin then went back into the crowd,leaving Sakura scratching the back of her had and feeling..unusually relieved.

"Unbelievable."said Sakura. "Wait'll tell kei and the others about this back in Tokyo! As for Dan..I'll try to have another talk with him…if he's willing to listen that is."

Meanwhile outside the battledome..

Urien was dressed back in his two piece suit duds and feeling rather..annoyed at what had happened.

"Huh--stupid tournament!"he snorted. "I wasted my time coming here and getting defeated by a rank amateur! If my brother saw this..he would be laughing his very head off!

Well..no matter..I shall return to my empire and reflect on this. I am not defeated..but merely..set back for now!

One day--I shall be the master of this planet--one day--I--"

Urien's speech of self-ego was cut short as he saw what had happened to his limo and driver.

"What the hell?"he said.

The front doors and window were smashed and ripped apart and his driver was lain in the front seat,his face bloodied and bruised.

"Who--who did this?"said Urien.

As if in answer,someone kicked him in the backside,knocking him against the limo.

"WHAT?!"replied Urien as he swung around in rage to see who it was.

It was Q.

"Wha--you?"said Urien. "I..I haven't seen you since the last tournament my brother held!

Did--you do this?"

Q said nothing and simply nodded.

Urien's eyes became filled with red hot anger and his fists were clenched.

"You filthy drab dressing bastard!"he roared. "If you think this a joke--I don't find it funny in the least!"

Urien then aimed his right fist and a blast of Electromagnetic energy shot forth from it.

Q simply dodged the ball blast and then slammed a hard thrust punch into the tyrant's stomach.

"WHUMP!"

"UNNFF!"replied Urien as he slumped over onto Q.

The impact was so hard that it rendered Urien unconscious.

Q then reached into a pocket in his trench coat and took out a cell phone.

"Commander.."he spoke in a deep muffled voice.

"..I have captured the first quarry..Urien is in our hands now."

"Good,very good."came a voice on the other end. "Place him in the mobile unit across the street..and then dispatch all dolls and agents to apprehend the other fighters who were in the contest..they will make excellent additions."

"Yes my lord."said Q. "We will not fail you."

Q then carried the still asleep Urien across the street and came across a dark and large boxy shaped van with a red streak across it and a skull and wings on it's license plate.

Meanwhile,back inside at the dome..

Blanka just finished his use of the toilet in the men's room and was about to head to the concessions.

Suddenly,a pair of strange individuals stood before him.

They were both dressed in dark trench coats,hats and shades.

They also appeared to be woman by their faces.

"Hey--who are you--autograph hounds or talent agents?"he said.

The two women said nothing,instead they both aimed their fists and fired off a pair of some unseen projectiles,which hit Blanka in the chest.

Blanka winced in pain and then looked to see what it was.

They were small but effective darts.

"WHAT TH--th--hellll…"was all he could say before he passed out and crashed to the floor.

The two women looked at each and nodded and then picked up and dragged the now drugged Blanka to their destination.

While this was happening,Guy,Kairi,Hokuto and the others were being captured throughout the dome and brought to their master.

Rose however,managed to leave the dome a few minutes earlier by way of teleportation and was on the roof of the dome building.

"Just as I thought."she said. "They've made their move,I must find out what it is their plotting..and then warn Ryu and the others as well."

After several more minutes of waiting,the speaker spoke in the lounge room.

"ALL FIGHTERS WHO ARE IN THE FINALS--PLEASE REPORT BACK TO THE BATTLE RING AT ONCE--THE FINALS ARE ABOUT TO BEGIN!"

"All right,back in the ring!"said Cody.

"Oh yeah,this time I am gonna rock!"thought Dan.

"I shall kill all who cross me!"thought Akuma. "And then..you Ryu shall be next!"

The fighters made their way down the corridors and were back in the stadium arena where the crowds cheered in response for their coming champions.

"This is it,this is really it."thought Li.