While the finalists prepared for the final battles of the tourney,both Ace and Dark continued their recon outside the arena.

"Man,you weren't kidding when you said Guile and Cammy were great inside the ring as well as out,Dark."said Ace whilst looking through his binoculars.

"Naturally."said Dark while he was drinking some hooch from his flask. "They both made it pretty far in the 2^nd tourney that Bison held once..they're the best."

"Yeah,well let's see if either of them make it even farther."said Ace.

"Anwyays,besides the contest action…we haven't really seen anything suspicious or anything related to something shady.."

Ace then began to view the rest of the building to see if anything was happening.

"Well..keep your eyes peeled."said Dark. "War as they say is a waiting game..anything could happen,."

Suddenly,Ace saw a pair of fighters exiting from the dome,only to be hit from the back by a pair of black clad figures and dragged away into the shadows.

"HEY---I JUST SAW SOMETHING!"said Ace.

"What?"said Dark.

"I..I just saw a pair of fighters get kidnapped by..what appeared to be--some of those same terrorist dolls we fought before a few days ago!"

"You--you're sure about that?"said Dark.
"I got good eyes my grandpa always used to tell me."said Ace. "I know what I saw!"

"Well then--"said Dark as he put away his flask. "This may be the chance we've been waiting for--we'd better head over there and investigate at once."

"What about the colonel?"said Ace. "Should we inform him?"

"And disrupt his performance?"said Dark. "We'll inform him once the contest is over--let's go!"

"Right!"said Ace.

The two commandos picked up their assault rifles and headed down to the dome.

While back in the dome,the rest of the kidnapping continued to happen under everyone's noses.

Yun,Guy,,Maki,Hugo and the rest of the fighters who were ever in the contest were being hoodwinked by Shadaloo's elusive ultra dolls and agents.

Rose then saw what was happening down the hall and suddenly vanished in a flash of energy.

She then re-appeared out on the street,just in time to see Guy and the others get carried away by the unseen enemy.

"Guy..no!"she thought. "This is getting distressful--my soul powers are not back to their full strength--there's nothing I can do as of now to help any of them.

Unless…"

Rose then had an idea,she quietly sneaked onto the back of the van,lifted the door and got in with the rest of them.

"Bison or no..if Shadaloo thinks they can get away with this--they're badly mistaken!"thought Rose.

Ace and Dark went up to the side door where the two fighters exited from and were about to enter..when suddenly…

A single explosion of gas erupted around them!

"GAS!"said Ace.

"NO!"said Dark. "Quick cover your--!"

But it was too late,the gas's effect was so strong that the two soldiers fell to the ground on impact.

Another pair of dolls then appeared and dragged them both away.

While back in the van,Rose took a look over at the other fighters who were all huddled together with her in the van.

"They're all still alive..thank the gods."she thought. "Shadaloo must need them alive for something--but what?"

She then noticed Guy who laid up against the wall,still unconscious as the others.

"Guy.."she thought.

She still remembers the brief moment she had with him back at the dome.

Rose sat cross legged on a bench,sipping a can of coffee drink.

"Nice try you made out there,gypsy woman."said a voice above her.

"Eh..?"said Rose as she looked up.

It was Guy.

"Oh--Guy.."she said with a smile on her face. "It..it's been a long time..you've..grown a bit of a beard."

"Yeah,I decided to look more..masterful once I took Maki more seriously."he said stroking his goatee.

"So.."said Rose looking over at his successor. "…she shall be the next Bushin then?"

"Yes,and the first female ever to inherit the mantle. Anyways,I'm glad you finally came out of your coma. Frankly,I'm not really all that surprised..I knew a powerful psychic like you would return sooner or later."

"Actually."said Rose. "I'm pretty surprised myself that I was able to return to the mortal realm.

I..sensed something..in the void."

"Something?"said Guy. "Something like..Bison?"

"Well..no..it was nothing like him.."said Rose. "It..was…"

Suddenly,Rose's description was cut short as they found themselves under attack by unknown kidnappers and assailants.

Rose sighed still looking longingly at Guy.

"You saved my life and mortal body long ago,Bushin master."she thought. "I will repay your kindness to you and the street fighters soon enough. For now..I must venture forth no matter what the cost!"

While back in the dome and fighting ring..

The first match was set to begin.

"This is it.."said Ryu still watching. "Sakura and her longtime rival Karin are about to fight it out at last."

"Yeah,sounds familiar doesn't it?"said Ken.

"Mm."said Ryu nodding. "Let's see who makes it next."

The tv announcers were detailing the event and the judges were ready for who would be called the winner when the match was over.

Sakura and Karin stood across from each other,both ready to pounce.

Sakura stood with a serious countenance while Karin wore a slight smirk on hers.

"So..you at last ready to rumble,school girl?"said Karin.

"That and more,rich girl."said Sakura. "You were always good,but I've trained a lot more under Master Ryu than you can imagine."

"I've trained a long time as well."said Karin. "But under many great masters from the world over.

Mostly I've learned to better harness my mastery over karate and Aikido. But enough talk,let's get this match started!"

"Music to my ears!"said Sakura as she got into her fight stance.

Karin did the same.

The judge got into the center,threw his arm down and announced the first match of the finals to begin.

"FIGHT!"he said.

Sakura made the first move as she threw her arms forward and fired a Hadouken at her enemy.

Karin smirked and then jumped high into the air and right over the fireball.

Before Sakura could act,Karin landed a flying kick into Sakura's stomach,nearly knocking her backwards.

"Ughh…caught me by surprise did you?"she said. "I'll show ya!"

Sakura whipped out her spin kick,and attempted to land several kicks into Karin's head,but to her surprise,the Aikido fighter simply blocked it off with her left arm.

"Ulp!"replied Sakura in surprise.

"Heh."said Karin grinning.

She then grabbed her leg by the ankle and threw her across the ring.

"UNNF!"replied Sakura as she fell on her back.

"Man..she's a lot..faster than I remember!"thought Sakura.

"Ho-ho-ho!"laughed Karin hautingly.

"Man,quite full of herself isn't she?"said Guile.

"I'll say."said Li. "Karin may be skilled,but coming from those damned rich ass families only add to ego."

"Some thing sure as hell never change do they?"thought Sakura as she got back up.

Karin made the next move as she thrust forward with an elbow strike.

Sakura dodged it and counterattacked with her own move.

"Shoryuken!"she replied and slammed her in the chest and face with a mighty shadow barrage of Dragon Punches!

"Yeah,that's the way,Saky!"said Ken. "Just like we taught ya!"

"We?"said Ryu arching an eyebrow.

"Well,sure she owes the Shotokan art to both of us right?"said Ken.
"Heh,I guess so."said Ryu.

Karin staggered backwards,but kept on her feet.

"Good so far."she thought. "But we'll just see how far she goes against my style!"

Sakura then rushed at Karin and then did something rather unexpected.

She swung out her right leg in a low strike manner and tripped Karin,causing her to fall backwards to the floor.

Once down,she brought a fist down on her chest,causing her a bit of pain.

Karin growled in rage and then backflipped to her feet.

"You dirty--!"she said clutching her chest.

"Ready to throw in the towel?"said Sakura.

"LIKE HELL!"she said and then rushed at her again.

The pair of young women traded blows for a few minutes,until at last Karin unleashed her rush strike.

Sakura managed to dodge and jump away from the strike attack,allowing her to unleash her own attack.

She then flew forward,landed an elbow into Karin's chest and then followed it up with a hard Shoryuken!

"KRAAKK!"

Karin dropped backwards once and was down for the count.

"KARIN IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!"said the judge. "SAKURA IS THE FIRST WINNER OF THE FINALS!"

The crowds cheered in response.

"YEAH!"said Ryu. "Oh--er--ah--sorry.."

"Heh-oh just let it out will ya Ryu?"said Ken slapping him on the back. "Honestly."

Karin slowly got back up and groaned.

"Ooooh…lost again I see."she said.

Sakura helped her up and the two then bowed to each other.

"You are indeed the better fighter in the end,Sakura Kasugano--I salute you."she said and bowed again.

"Uh--well..thank you."said Sakura blushing. "But anytime you want a rematch someday."
"Maybe.."said Karin smirking. "…but we all need to move on sometime. Just fight hard in the rest of the contest,and good luck."

"Yeah,I will."said Sakura.

"Well I'll be."said Dan scratching the back of his head. "I guess maturity does change some people after all."

"You said it."said Li. "I heard that Karin does not take losing very well."

"Well,let's see how well the rest of us fare here."said Guile.

"Indeed."thought Akuma.