By Dan

Crimson and Balrog circled each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Their eyes narrowed, quickly beginning to lose patience in the other's ability to attack first. With a yell of fury, the boxer struck out first with a dashing straight punch aimed toward the heart of the young Bushin fighter.

Crimson dodged the oncoming strike and returned a palm strike to the back of Balrog's neck, which Balrog took as an insult. Turning around to face Crimson, Balrog snarled.

"HEY!!! My mother never smacked me like that, punk...", Balrog sneered. Crimson chuckled.

"That's probably cuz you were too ugly for that. You'd need to get kicked in your a-"

"WHOOOAAAAHHH!!!"

Balrog dashed at Crimson once more, this time locking in on the target: Crimson's ribs. The Bushinryuu student hit the ground and rolled backwards several feet before coming to a stop, crashing into several garbage bins.

The boxing champion didn't waste any time; he rushed over to the garbage cans to finish the job. But before he could lay another glove on Crimson, the young Bushin from his spot on the concrete kicked a garbage can directly into Balrog's face.

"ARGH!", Balrog spat out as the garbage can's contents spilled directly onto him.

"*Yes!!!*", Crimson thought triumphantly while getting back up to his feet while Balrog struggled furiously to get rotten banana peel pieces and other various garbage items out of his eyes. Crimson didn't waste another moment watching the now-comical scene in front of him.

Running at three-quarter his potential speed, the Bushin student turned his back to Balrog and thrust his elbow forward, slamming it deep into the prizefighter's gut, the sheer force and energy from the attack, sending Balrog flying back a yard and a half onto his backside. Crimson looked down the alleyway, with Balrog on his back breathing heavily and knew he could have this battle won.

"Time to bring this boxer bum to justice...", Crimson said to himself, amidst the nearby sirens of the police scene in front of the hotel. Walking slowly, deliberately and carefully to the fallen Shadaloo boxer, Crimson prepared to end this battle with his best move... Little did he realize Balrog had a trick up his sleeve...

*****

Guy woke up with a start. Looking around, he realized two things: One, he wasn't at his stop on the subway train. Two, he was *real* far away from his stop on the subway train. Three, he wasn't even in a subway station.

Looking around outside the train's windows, he realized the train was out of service and was in-between stations... Or so he thought. Guy knew the subway systems pretty well, but coming straight out of slumber he wasn't fully aware of his surroundings.

"*I'd better get out of here...*", Guy thought, narrowing his eyes. Heading for the door that separates one train car from another, the Bushin master hopped down onto the tunnel's walkway, designated for the train's operators and maintenance crews. Guy realized how dark it was in the tunnel and made sure to tap into his Bushin chi, making sure he could hear and see whatever could be coming around the bend, be it a person, or several tons of subway train.

"It is definitely not pleasant down here...", Guy muttered, observing his surroundings. Graffiti-tagged walls, some insignia specified to particular gangs of old such as Skull Cross, rats and other vermin scurrying about, and of course, the sewage running directly underneath the tracks. Nonetheless, Guy continued drudging through the dank tunnel, awaiting the fluorescent daylight of a subway station to come to him sooner or later...

"Perhaps more sooner than later, I hope..."

With the last words just moving past his lips, Guy slowed his walking pace to a stop. What was that he heard? Something muffled... Like a scream... Or a call for help...

"*It was *something*...*", Guy thought, his eyes narrowing into the always-serious look. Letting his Bushin instincts guide him, Crimson's former mentor began to run in the same direction he was originally going in. At the moment Guy didn't care about making it to Cody's house, or even his own safety. Danger was ahead, and he was going to make it his business to see it end.

*****

Cody hung up the phone, the third time he tried to contact Crimson's apartment. He was worried about both Crimson *and* Guy now. He knew Guy didn't exactly have to be taken care of, he could handle himself, but he wasn't one to eschew a deadline, and Cody had figured that the Bushin master was about an hour late, now.

"Damn... Where could those two be...?", Cody wondered aloud.

"...They couldn't be out there as a team... Could they?"

From inside Cody's bedroom, Jessica called out: "Come to bed, Cody! It's late!"

"I'll be there in a minute, Jessie!", Cody replied. Looking at the phone, he dialed in Crimson's number one more time. Waiting for the answering machine to come in, Cody looked to his bedroom and watched the overhead light go off and the dimmer glow from the nightstand light come on. In that same moment, the recorded voice of Crimson came in over the telephone.

"Hey, this is Marcus Redd's telephone... When you hear the beep, you know what to do... Peace out."

Cody sighed. "Hey, Marcus... It's Cody. Look, get back to me as soon as possible, okay? I haven't heard from you or Guy in awhile and I'm a bit worried. I won't go after ya, but if you don't get in touch I'm going to send Lucia and Dean out to find you two. Stay safe. Later..."

Hanging up the phone, Cody realized he was sweating a bit. Was he that nervous about Crimson and Guy? He would have all night to think about it. Turning away from the phone, Cody began to head for his bed. But then, the phone rang... Turning around, the Metro City hero kept his eyes on the phone, albeit somewhat curious about the phone ringing so fast after he just called Crimson's home. However, Jessica was becoming annoyed.

"Are you gonna' pick that up, baby?", Jessica asked.

"Yeah, I've got it. I was in the can...", Cody lied. Shaking his head, he picked up the phone. "...Hello?"

"Is this the home of Cody Grasso?", a man asked. Cody rose his eyebrow.

"Yeah... But who wants to know...?"

"BISON...", came the reply chuckling. Cody's eyes went wide as saucers.

"WHAT!?! Who the hell is this???", Cody asked. No response. Cody slammed down the phone, ending the conversation. Nobody would be stupid enough to make a prank call like that, Cody reasoned, so it was definitely legit. But why would Bison want to know about him for? Cody snapped his fingers. He knew why.

"I'm related to Guy and Crimson...", Cody muttered. Walking over to a window, he looked up and down the street, seeing nothing. He was hoping that none of the Shadaloo operatives would try and use him (or worse, Jessica) to get to one or both of the Bushin Ninjas. Cody ran a hand through his hair and sighed ruefully.

"Now I'm not going to get any sleep...", Cody said to himself. Moving from the curtain and window, Cody walked to his couch and turned on the television, trying his best to stay awake, should a confrontation occur.

*****

...Vega hung up the receiver inside the telephone booth a few blocks from Cody and Jessica's home, genuinely amused. Since Balrog hadn't returned with good or bad news regarding the deal, Bison sent Vega out to get him and to put together the deal that Balrog nearly ruined.

Wearing a black Armani suit with a white dress shirt underneath, the Spanish assassin walked over to a nearby Mercedes SLK 300, the owner being him.

"*Balrog is a fool...*", Vega mused. "*...I'm much better for the job. And if the Bushin master should interfere this time around, I'll simply paint the town red... With him!*"

Chuckling softly at his own threat, Vega pulled the luxury car onto the street and sped off, nearly causing an accident in the process.

*****

"So, you got anything to say for yourself before I bring you to the cops, Balrog?", Crimson asked. Balrog looked up.

"Yeah..."

Getting to his feet an in instant, Balrog attacked Crimson with his most potentattack, the GIGATON BLOW. Crimson's eyes rounded, knowing there wasn't escaping this move. Bhe'd be damned if he didn't try... The younger Bushin Ninja performed several backflip with all his might, doing his best to evade the attack, but when he landed wrong on his fourth backflip, he was caught by the final three hits of the Shadaloo boxer's final attack.

Crimson fell hard after being sent head-over-heels off the strength of Balrog. Breathing hard on the ground, Crimson cursed himself for not remembering that Shadaloo fighters had infused blood and chi which made them capable of attacking at their best at any time. A now-triumphant Balrog stood over the Bushinryuu student, ready to do his worst to Crimson...

Crimson felt himself being pulled up to his feet.

"*Am I doing this?*", Crimson wondered, still-groggy from the Gigaton Blow. He then was awakened from his dazed state with one solid punch into his ribs. If Crimson's cry of pain couldn't be heard over the din of the sirens and helicopter, he must've not have been hurt as bad as Balrog's punch seemed.

The prizefighter continued to unleash a furor of blows into Crimson's abdomen, trying his best to cause him to internally start bleeding... But the cops were fast approaching, and he didn't have time to be standing around unleashing hell into Crimson's gut. So Balrog tossed Crimson into the same garbage cans he had found a temporary home at.

"This ain't over, kid... Round two is mine. See if you can win three next time we meet...", Balrog sneered, looking at the near-unconscious form of Crimson, who groaned out a weak reply. The boxer fled down the alleyway as fast as his thick legs could take him and simply left the Bushin student there. Whatever happens, happens, Balrog thought evilly.

"*If he lives or dies, it's no matter to me...*"

Then Balrog stopped running. Once again, his mind (yes, his mind) came up with an idea. He knew of *one* person who'd care about whether Crimson lived or died, and another who could be baited into a trap... Turning around, Balrog quickly huffed over to the spot where he left Crimson, who was indeed knocked out.

"Man, that kid's fast, but he ain't got no type of endurance... Weakling...", Balrog mused to himself. Pulling out his cellular phone (which oddly enough survived the ordeal between him and Crimson), he tapped in a special number...

...Bison's number...