By Dan

 Balrog and his fellow thugs burst through the elevator, shooting at any and everything standing that looked like a cop. The police inside the hotel weren't prepared for such an onslaught of bullets and were forced to duck for cover.

The boxer ran as fast as he could, shoving and shooting down anything he could. Kids and ladies screamed and ducked as the hotel's personnel ran for their lives. Balrog's insane grin got wider as he realized him and his crime cronies were going to make it out of there.

"C'mon boys... We're home free!!!", Balrog announced with glee. But then bullets came from behind them. Stupid as they were, the thugs obviously forgot that the cops had guns too, and were using them. Balrog turned his head only slightly, and then sweatdropped as a bullet zinged just past his head and embedded itself in a wall. The cops got to their feet and began to pursue Balrog and the ruffians.

"Yo! They're shootin' at us?", Balrog screamed.

"What do you think they're shooting at? Another minority? Fire the hell back!!!", a thug screamed back. Turning around ever-so-slightly, Balrog blindly shot backwards behind him while continuing to run forward.

They finally had got to the revolving doors of the hotel... the exit! Balrog practically burst through the doors, and stopped dead in his tracks. Him and his men were in a spotlight, with several police vehicles in the street, officers with rifles pointed dead at each one. Being the MCPD, the cops did not hesitate to fire their guns.

"SH*T!!! GET DOWN!!!", one of the gang bosses screamed, right before a bullet punctured his chest. Balrog watched in horror as the man fell out flat clutching his chest awkwardly and needed no further encouragement than that.

Running full speed back into the hotel, he looked for any type of other exit, a hidden door, anything... Pushing past more people and evading cops, the prizefighter grabbed one of the hotel's bellboys by his arm and pulled the young man to him.

"WHERE'S THE OTHER EXIT???", Balrog spat into the bellboy's face, who was clearly scared.

"Uh-uh-d-d-d...."

"TELL ME, YOU LITTLE PUNK? WHERE???", Balrog asked in a full rage. The bellboy simply pointed down the hall to Balrog's left.

"Thanks a lot, kid...", Balrog said curtly before throwing a punch into the young man's chest, rendering the bellboy unconscious. Fleeing down the hall, Balrog looked left and right, and while he saw several hotel room doors, he figured he'd never see this exit.

So Balrog made it up in his mind to simply blast through a door. Turning to room A-45, the boxer punched past the door. The police's shouts ringing in his ears, Balrog tore through the room, amidst the shouts and protests of a young couple.

"What the hell is this?", a man asked, foolishly getting in the boxer's face.

"Shut the hell up...", Balrog muttered, uppercutting the man into the ceiling. Balrog didn't even bother to watch the man crash back down to the floor, as he made his way to a window, seemingly the only exit left in the hotel. Looking out the window for the cops, the Shadaloo boxer forced his burly body through the window onto the fire escape.

Climbing down the rusty metal rungs, Balrog jumped the final five feet down to the pavement without any problem. The grin back on his face, Balrog knew that the cops would hardly have a chance to find him this time around...

"Heh, NOW I'm home free...", Balrog said to himself. Running through the long pathway of the alleyway, the boxer pulled out his cellular phone, which he was able to keep on his person, luckily. Dialing numbers quickly, Balrog cursed when he dialed in the wrong number. Would his bad luck ever end tonight? Not soon enough...

*****

...Crimson stood high above the building alongside the massive hotel, watching the scene unfold before him. He was able to follow the helicopter to the scene without too much trouble, and was now watching a couple of men trying their best to hold their own against practically a whole precinct of police officers...

"Are these guys crazy?", Crimson muttered to himself. He didn't even bother to answer his own question. No matter, though. It wasn't his job this time. Those guys must've wanted to commit suicide or something, Crimson reasoned. Nonetheless, he could've sworn he saw someone familiar running with those crooks when he first observed them come from the hotel...

Crimson froze. He felt something disturbing, some type of bad vibe... His Bushin instincts, although raw, could still pick up a harmful aura, and that's *exactly* what he felt at the moment... Quickly walking to the edge of the roof, Crimson kneeled down to perhaps spot what could be triggering his Bushin senses. He saw a figure, running hard to the street in the alleyway.

"*One of the thugs?*", Crimson asked himself. Tapping into his advanced Bushin sight, Crimson's eyes narrowed when he realized who it was.

"HIM...", Crimson muttered. The Bushin student needed no further train of thought. Instantly taking off into a dash, Crimson jumped off the roof's edge in blind trust of his skills... And landed silently right onto a ledge five floors below.

At this rate, he was already ahead of Balrog by several hundred feet, so Crimson silently made his way down to the lowest ledge on the side of the building, which was two more storeys down. Teeth gritting and eyes narrowing to mere slits, the Bushinryuu student waited as patiently as he could to get the drop on Balrog.

Finally, the boxer was coming toward him! Crimson's eyes widened like a tiger who was about to catch his prey. With a leap-frog over the ledge's safety rungs, Crimson descended down on Balrog in a diving kick similar to Akuma's... And promptly missed. But it was enough to get Balrog's attention. Whirling around, the prizefighter turned to see a black teenager in Bushin fighting garb. He knew who it was.

"You?", Balrog asked uncertain if it was who he *thought* it could be. Crimson smirked.

"The one and only..."

Running full-speed at the boxer, Crimson performed a Dashing Crescent kick into Balrog's chest, but it hardly staggered the brute, who returned the favor with a dashing punch. Crimson barely moved away from the attack and tried to kick Balrog in the shin.

And did so successfully. Balrog fell backward ever-so-slightly, and Crimson made it his objective to capitalize on the boxer. Throwing his prized fireball at Balrog, Crimson muttered a silent "Yes!" as Balrog hit the floor, bowled over by Crimson's HadouRyuKen (Surging Dragon Fist).

However, Shadaloo's boxer got up quickly. Spitting on the ground, Balrog spoke with a sinister grin. "Ya, I knew it was you... That little Crimson kid..."

"Yeah, it's me...", Crimson said, not for a minute letting down his guard. "...But I'm not the same kid you fought a year ago, buddy..."

"Oh, is 'dat so?", Balrog asked incredulously. "...We'll see about that!"

"Bring it on...", Crimson challenged. Balrog nodded, the toothy grin never subsiding on his face. Crimson continued to stand firm, ready to attack in the blink of an eye, if need be... Part two, it could be called... Old hatred and differences would be settled in this fight... But could Crimson pull off a victory *and* bring Balrog to justice? He would find out soon...