Laos

“Tell me, little girl. Have you ever lived for years at a time, watching your back more than what lay ahead of you?” It was Rolento, talking harsh and spitefully as he was led by the spear wielding doll, with the spear at the nape of his neck, forever threatening to stab him if he made one wrong move. “Have you ever had a friend beg you to kill him in order to quicken their inevitable death?” His voice was filled with rage. Rage at harsh memories that rushed his mind and overflowed his memory banks. Memories of war, anguish, and death.

Sutma was stunned, she had never expected to hear of such things. “I…” she began, but she choked on her words far too long, letting Rolento continue, a bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes and a vicious toothy display of anger and insanity.

“Do you know what it’s like to live every day as though it very likely could be your last?” His voice was a raspy, enraged hiss at best. “I didn’t think you would!” he answered before she could say yes or no. “I do! It’s awful!” Rolento roared. “It drove me insane!” he continued.

“You…” Sutma tried to counter, but to no avail. “You didn’t have to let it get to you…”

“Oh, but I did!” Rolento replied, turning to face Sutma head on, for in her horrified shock, she dropped her weapon. His hand roughly grasped her shoulder as his head was less than an inch from hers, his eyes filled with blood red insanity for a brief second as his eyes stared into hers. “You see, the war was a BAD thing. However, it gave me a sense of power! Nam was a nightmare, but the thrill of the slaughter, and the scent of burning blood mixed with the scent of gunpowder and smoldering flames was addictive and invigorating!” He licked his lips at the thought, “I still miss those days of fear and certain death!”

Sutma’s eyes widened, as she lowered her head, “That… that is why you came back?”

“YES!” he yelled in response, far, far too loudly. “Even after getting kicked out, I returned some time later for a month more of terror. It was wonderful!” he laughed.

Sutma snarled, “You bastard! You killed my family!”

“Ah, show your rage!” Rolento grinned. “After that, the thrill of the slaughter died down. I settled to return to America, far more refreshed. It was then that I tried my luck with a gang called Mad Gear.” his voice calmed only slightly “It was a well paying crime lot, until some strange ninja named Guy attacked me. He put up an amazing fight for an unarmed warrior.” He sighed, taking a second to catch a breather. “After the death of it’s leader, Belgar, one of Mad Gear’s other members, named Sodom, took over. I had decided to break away by then, for surely enough, under Sodom’s rule, Mad Gear was defeated for good.”

“And what does this have to do with you being an insane bastard?” Sutma asked, calmly, though obviously angry by the snarl and harshness in her one of voice.

“Ah, but war does not mean to kill. Terror and fear keep people, keep NATIONS,” he stated that word with emphasis, “obedient and loyal. I knew that I had to make my own nation, where I could rule and all who wished to join would be rewarded with the power of leadership by fear. That was when I heard of a strong device called the Psycho Drive.”

“That’s Bison’s! What did you do to it?” Sutma demanded.

“I did nothing. I never got to see what it was. I did find out that it was a machine of incredible power and destruction. It was of no use to me, for what good is it to rule a world that’d be almost dead?” Rolento asked, not exactly directing the question to anyone at all. It just gave him an enjoyable amount of suspense, drama, and emphasis. “Sodom was impressed by my skills, and even sought to join me in my quest for a powerful nation. He has proven himself useful.” Rolento laughed as he sighed, “Now, however. Your helping to remind me of the past I missed so greatly fills me with the fury and heartlessness I now yearn to relive.” He grinned viciously as he licked his lips with his baton twirling in his hands.

“You!” the girl spat as she held her spear in her hand, “You are supposed to be my prisoner!”

Rolento laughed, “As I said before, I don’t like prisoners.” he grinned. “Oh, but don’t worry. I won’t kill you.” he laughed before lunging at the girl with his staff, ready to strike.

It ended in a metallic clang as it struck against the steel part of the woman’s weapon. “Bison would prefer you alive.” Sutma snarled as she lunged with her spear, only to be parried by a swift sideways push from the military man’s baton, which ended in yet another loud clang.

As Sutma tried to strike again, Rolento used his great agility and leapt into the air, backwards, as he grabbed a knife with his left hand, before landing on the ground. “Bison… I guess that would explain why you are so powerful for a little girl.” the man in yellow shrugged, as she advanced towards him carefully her spear held in front of her as the sunlight gleamed off of it’s sharp, metallic head. As she encroached, Rolento leapt straight upwards, the knife leaving his hand the second after his feet left the ground, and another knife was chucked soon afterwards.

Sutma snarled as she struck both with her pole-arm with unnecessary amounts of power to the point that the second knife seemed to dent from the power. “I am not a little girl!” Sutma roared, as she too jumped, performing a lunging kick, that Rolento had no time to escape or even block. It struck him in the chest, causing him to wince as he stumbled to the grass below. However, as a war veteran, one mighty kick wasn’t going to stop him. “I am not even a human!” she roared, sadness in her words, “I am just a doll… and… nothing more.” she trailed as her voice softened at each word.

Rolento saw his opportunity to strike was far too perfect as the girl let her guard down to wallow in self pity. With a snap of his fingers, he unleashed a thin, yet sturdy wire, which wrapped around the doll’s ankle. The man in yellow swiftly needed to think of what to do. El Gado was not here to support by helicopter, so he needed to find somewhere else to hang the wire. The best he could figure, were tree branches. As he jumped towards one, he quickly tied it to a branch, then brought it to the ground, and tied to yet another branch. Then he pulled at the chain forcefully, taking the saddened doll by surprise and bringing her to a painful ride as she hit the branch of the tree with a mighty crack, then struck the ground, and then the next tree branch, before hitting the ground with a thud. She was alive. How she survived, she was not sure. Nor did she care at this point. She was too caught up in the fact that she was, is, and forever shall be nothing more than a mere doll.

“I give up!” she sighed, her eyes watering over. “You, uh, you win.” she snarled weakly, trying to maintain her sense of threatening nature, but it was to no avail.

Rolento laughed. He laughed with the feel of power over another person. “We’re not done yet!” he hissed, his sanity down the tube for the time being, “I may not be one to take prisoners, but I am not above the important aspect of war known as torture!” he grinned, grabbing the girl forcefully by the neck. “You will learn in a most literal sense of the term, why you don’t ‘@#%$’ with Rolento Schugerg!” he laughed at his sick joke. Yet, as sick at the joke was, the promise it held was very real, and nothing to laugh at. Rape. “Yet another aspect that defines war, and it will stick with you forever. Ha, man I’m good! POWER!” he roared, until something struck him in the back of the head, snapping the soldier out of his dark, evil laughter.

“I see you’re still a jerk!” a voice shrugged from behind the soldier. With his blonde hair, as well as his indifferent tone of voice, Rolento knew just who it was.

“Cody Travers…” Rolento stated calmly before his storming rage seemed to want to shred the ex-convict to pieces. “What a most unpleasant surprise…” he sighed, eyeing him up and down carefully, assessing his enemy, “I see you have given up on crime long enough. If you wish to join my glorious nation, there’s still a chance for your to repent your ways and realize who your betters really are.”

Cody shook his head, “Nah, I’ll pass.” his voice as indifferent as ever, “I’m actually here to help the girl.” he sighed, “Bison’s orders at to bring you in, Rolento.”

“You work for Shadaloo?” Rolento asked with a slight chuckle. “Oh, this is funny. I see you really have gone corrupt. I guess killing flows through your blood after all. Was tossing Belgar out of a window enjoyable?” Rolento cackled, “Was it fun to break Jessica Haggar’s heart by leaving her in favor of reckless violence? You and I are more alike than we think.”

Cody snarled, “Don’t talk about Jessica AT ALL!” the blonde gnashed his teeth as he stomped his foot against the dirt, kicking some up to cake his shoes and the lower part of his jeans with dirt. He still missed Jessica so much. He had something so great, and he didn’t even realize it at the time. “Look, I don’t want to be here any more than you do, but if I don’t do what I’m meant to do, Bison’s gonna kill Guy!” he stated, before realizing that he had blabbed. Thankfully it was only Rolento, who was not going to be able to tell anyone else anyway.

“Ah, so you’re on blackmail.” Rolento laughed. “I never did like Guy. It is one thing Sodom and I can actually agree upon. If his life is weighs in the balance of me getting captured, I guess there’s just one thing to do.” Rolento smirked, as he stood to his feet, then showed some acrobatic grace as he back flipped, leaping high into the air and away from Sutma and Cody. “I’d have been more than happy to knock some sense into both of you, but I see that the cost of one dear outweighs the balance!” he explained as his agile movements brought him to leap far and fast. There was no way Cody would be able to keep up with the military scumbag, even if he tried. The stone he tossed Rolento’s way missed, making a soft thunk as it struck the tree, and fell to the ground.

Sutma sighed in relief, “Thank you so much.” he heaved in a quick breath, but her words were lost on the ex-convict.

His fist were clenched tight enough to crumple steel as though it were paper. “God Damn it!” Cody roared in anger. “I messed up bigtime!”

‘No, I think you did just fine.’ It was Bison’s voice. ‘You proved yourself to be quite the listener.’ the bodiless voice laughed. ‘Not to mention that you saved the life of one of my assassins.’

“He knows!” Cody shouted.

‘Who exactly does Rolento know to tell about this? The US military does not like him at all. That is a good thing, because I think I’m going to enjoy life without having to hear the words ‘Sonic Boom’ every so often.’ Bison laughed. ‘I have better ideas for host bodies anyway. Just return to the base, both of you.’ It was at that, that all was silent.

“Great…” Cody sighed, noticing the Vietnamese spear wielder at long last. “Hey, are ya ok?” he asked.

She nodded, “Yes, uh, thanks for that, uh, Cody was it?” she bowed slightly, respectful for her rescue.

“Yea, Cody Travers. Well, let’s go then… uh, what was your name again?” Cody asked.

“Sutma.” she replied quickly enough. Cody seemed an odd individual to the dark skinned doll, with his total lack of disconcert for almost everything if it didn’t have to do directly with him. He was odd, but still, could she really hate or dislike him after he saved her life?

Cody shrugged, giving her the cold shoulder after that. “Uh, ‘k.” he said, being very brief. He just wanted to return and make sure that Guy wasn’t yet a pile of bloody rodent pudding.

Mexico

“Oh, the ocean is so violent.” Thunder Hawk sighed, “A storm must be brewing somewhere out in the Atlantic, though it’s still a bit early for such weather.” he sighed yet again as he took a pause in his words, “Perhaps it is a message from Mother Earth herself.” His gaze was deep, looking into the Mexican Gulf, as waves crashed along the shoreline, getting salty water along the bottoms of his shoes. “Some day, I hope for a good omen, and a sign of good fortune to come.” He raised his hands as he looked out to sea, “Oh spirits of the ocean, if there is anything to happen, show me a sign!” he stated in desperation. The water was a great and powerful spirit indeed. It had the power to bring and take life as it wished. It grew vegetation, and at the same time it crashes mountains. Water, powerful yet gentle when needbe. ‘Just like father…’

Hawk never did get to know much of his father, Arroyo Hawk. Arroyo was the Mexican word for water, and from what he had heard, the word was fitting. He was a powerful, yet kind and righteous man. He really wished he could have gotten the chance to get to know what his father was like, and to talk to him for guidance towards the future. ‘If I walked this path alone, I’d feel far better, but Noembelu insists that she be by my side, and not let the memory of our tribe die out. She doesn’t deserve to have her life wasted on a dead dream and a desolate home amongst the plains.’

Life was filled with sorrow and emptiness for Thunder Hawk, as even hunting brought on pain. The word Bison would haunt him forever, and the animal by the same name was hard to stomach, or even look at or think about. At least, last he heard, Bison was dead, and Shadaloo was gone. Why they wanted his dead, and accursed remains of the deserted land once called home was unknown, nor did Hawk really care. Al he wanted now, was hope, or a motivation to his meaningless life.

“What?” That was when he noticed something large sprawled across the muddy sand at his feet. It was more than just a mere something, it was a human being too. It was a vaguely familiar looking human being at that. The black skin, and the dreadlocks in this man’s hair, Hawk gasped as the realization hit him, “Dee Jay!” The word Maximum along the side of his pants was a clear giveaway, and the fact that he noticed chest movements meant that he was still breathing. That was a good thing , but Hawk wondered why Dee Jay would be here, of all places, and how he got here.

Regardless of these lesser details, he looked as though he had traveled by ocean without a boat, and all the way from Jamaica no less. Or at least, more than likely all the way from Jamaica. It was impressive that Dee Jay was still alive.

Metro City, USA

“Os, sensei!” Sodom stated as he spoke with Edmund Honda by phone. “It will be most honorable to see the Red Cyclone once again.” he stated calmly.

“Red Cyclone?” Haggar blinked, “Heh, Zangief…” he snickered, nearly bawling out in immature laugher at the fact that the Red Cyclone was homosexual. Michael Haggar certainly needed some more maturity.

“Nani, sensei?” Sodom asked, “Oh, that is just Mr. Haggar-sana. He is a big time rival of Zangief.” He paused as Honda spoke yet again, “What? He’s going to invite Haggar-sana too?” he asked.

“Say what?” Haggar asked, “What’s going on?” he demanded, “Zangief did what now?”

Sodom held out his hand as though to say stop, as he listened to sensei Honda. “Ah, that is most wonderful news, Honda-san. Erm, yes, I have been practicing my zutsuki carefully. Os, sensei. Hai, I shall see you there as well.” he paused, nodding, “Hai, I shall be practicing. Sayonara, sensei!”

Haggar spoke up as Sodom hung up the phone. “I only have one question… did you dial down the center before you called?” Sodom nodded his masked head up and down as he did. “Good! Don’t want to make your teacher go broke, do you?” he laughed lightly to his joke, “So, what’s the scoop?”

“The Red Cyclone is hosting a party, and you, Michael-san, are invited. Zangief wants to meet you, for you are his biggest rival.” Sodom explained.

Haggar laughed, “Yea, I’ll show alright. Heh, I’ll show him why I was worth an office in government, while he’s just their government slave.”

Sodom nodded, not really paying attention to Haggar’s boastings. “The events going to be a few months from now. Sensei Honda says there will be partying, and even fighting matches. Oh, and you get to bring a guest.”

Haggar put his hand to his chin, “So why don’t you get to bring one?”

“Actually, Mr. Haggar-sana, I do. Zangief knows I have friends who like to fight, but I’ll need to meet up with Rolento-sana or El Gado-san soon. Since I told him Metro City is loaded with many violent people, I guess the Red Cyclone-san figures you’d like to invite one.” He shrugged, “I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the reason at all. Uh, Perhaps Lady Maki-sama would like to join you?”

Haggar shrugged, “How would I know that until I ask her myself, huh?” he joked, “Yea, I’m guessing she’ll want to go. It’ll give her a chance to boast how she’s a worthy Bushin master like she won’t ever shut the hell up about anyways! I think she’ll like the idea.” Haggar laughed, before realizing something, “Hey, I bet that Nanakawa will be there!”

Sodom nodded. “I’m sure she will, Mr. Haggar-san, there is no need to wager money on it.”

“Err, I didn’t mean…” Haggar shrugged. “Eh, sure.”

Sodom placed his hand to his chin, slipping it under his blue samurai mask of course, “I wonder if Rolento-sana is okay. He hasn’t answered hi his phone, nor has he attempted to call me at all. Even El Gado hasn’t heard from him.”

“Heh, you still have that knife wielding lunatic?” Haggar laughed. He remembered clobbering the Arabian loser easily, and more than once.

“Hai, that he does. Gado-sana has grown a bit stronger though. He has been training back in his homeland.” Sodom stated.

“That place? You mean the Middle East? That place is a damned war zone. It makes Metro City look like a peace conference!” Haggar laughed, “I bet that’d make anyone toughen up fast or die a miserable death.”

“It is foolish for these people to all be fighting. I am not sure whether it is religion, money, or resources but none of them are ever worth it.” Sodom stated with a shake of his head.

“Ya damn straight!” Haggar agreed with a nod of his head, as he opened up a can of beer that he had. Haggar was hardly a drinker, by far. It was his first, and only can of the evening. Well, maybe he’d have a second, but that’d be all. “Want one?” he offered one to the samurai.

Sodom held up his hand, shaking his head, “No thank you Mr. Haggar-san.”

Japan

Honda laughed as he almost always did. Being an outgoing person, he laughed quite often, to be frank about the matter. Still, it was going to be a blast to see the Red Cyclone yet again. Honda would show up, alright, and he would put up a good fight. He may have given up street fighting, but as always, the chance to show the world the power of the sumo never faded from him.

Regardless, Honda had read the news. There had been a few assassination attempts at the life of the Red Cyclone’s good friend, Gorbachev, in the recent past. Hopefully, things were now under control, for surely Zangief would not be hosting a party with danger afoot, would he? If anything, a chance to do the Cossack Dance was thrilling. The dance in itself was fun, and actually rather simple, even for a heavy man such as Honda, where arching the back like that and only relying on one’s own feet for balance could quite likely be dangerous to his spine or legs.

With a sigh, the good old days of the past flooded his memories. Back when he globally fought many worthy opponents of many vast fighting styles. Perhaps, one day, he would leave retirement and travel the world to show everyone that the sumo wrestler as no joke when pitted in combat. Perhaps, his student Sodom would go in his place. Sodom however, wasn’t exactly the most youthful choice out there. In fact, the samurai was probably older than Honda, or around the same age.

It was then that he was snapped out of his memory trip. “Mr. Honda?” asked a female voice. A familiar female voice at that.

“Hello Ms. Nanakawa.” Honda greeted with a smile, “It is nice to see you, but what brings you here?” As she stepped forward, Honda gasped, “No footwear allowed in my dojo. Please, if it is not too much to ask.”

Mika shrugged, discarding her footwear and leaving them by the entryway to Honda’s dojo. “I am sorry if I disturbed you.” the wrestler apologized as she bowed her head as a sign of respect, her pigtailed hair drooping in front of her as she did.

“Nonsense!” Honda laughed. “Friends are always welcome, but please, I can’t stress it enough to please just not enter unless you’re barefoot.” Mika had become a good friend of Honda since his first time meeting her back during the big match with Sodom and the Red Cyclone. She had proven to be quite a worthy opponent then, and a friendly, likable person. But, reiterating the fact for the umpteen hundred billionth time, Honda was an extremely outgoing, and friendly person. It wasn’t always true though. Until he became a sumo, his fat had just been something people would make fun of him for. “So, is something wrong?”

Mika shook her head for a second, but then sighed and nodded, “Well, not exactly wrong, I’m just a bit concerned.” she took a deep breath, a second to think over her words carefully, “You see, with Zangief hosting the small festivity in a few months, I’m likely, and very well gonna want to fight.” she thought over her wording carefully yet again before continuing. “The thing is, I haven’t had too much experience fighting different kinds of fighting styles.”

“Ah, so you come to me for knowledge?” Honda asked.

“Yea, and since I know you make lots of friends, do you know where I could find any of these great and diverse warriors?”

“Hmm,” Honda thought carefully for a second. “I think I remember some things. I think I know there are several boxers from Thailand if you wish to try. They call themselves boxers, but I remember this black guy named Barmog who also claimed to be a boxer.” he rambled, saying whatever he could remember as best he could. His information however, was obviously filled with flaws. “I remember a great fight against a warrior in a white karate gi. He was a fellow countryman, and he put up an amazing fight, but in the end, I emerged the winner. I believe he was in a big tournament held by some one eyed Thai boxer. Ah, yes, that fighting style is important to know about. It was very strong.”

“Where can I find him?” Mika asked with hope.

“Hmm, I do not know.” Honda shrugged. “But I know of another such warrior, I believe. His gi was pink, and his moves seemed a bit of a showboat, but he was much like Ryu’s style. I believe he lives in Hong Kong.” Honda shrugged.

Mika nodded, “I see. Domo arigato, Mr. Honda.”

Honda chuckled, “Please, call me Edmond. We are friends, after all.”

“Would you like to practice, Mr. Hon… um, Edmond? You know, if you’re feeling up to the challenge, I’ll take you on.”

“Of course, Mika.” Honda smiled, “I am always poud to fight a fellow countryman, or countrywoman, even if I’ve fought them before.” He nodded, and both Japanese warriors stood ready to fight a friendly match.

Thailand

‘Sagat…’ snarled a man in a karate gi colored pink, as he eyed the giant bald man as he sat in what appeared to be a meditative trance, or at the very least, he was trying to achieve meditation, but failed miserably. ‘Your guilty conscious wont let you attain inner peace, you bastard! Oyaji!’ Yes, with his pronounced face with a somewhat oblong chin and brown hair, this was Dan Hibiki, founder of Saikyo-ryu martial arts.

In the past, one may have considered Dan nothing but a mere joke, who was more of a showboat than a true warship so to speak, but those days were over. It was a painful lesson to learn, but when he did, it stuck with him forever. Now, well, his ego was still three times the size of Russia, but his actual skill had gone up. He could even unleash beams of energy that now had more than a few hundred feet of distance at bare minimum, whereas, before that, he’d be lucky if he could have clinched even one tenth that distance. Still, vengeance was heavy in his heart and mind as he stalked Sagat, the giant who had slain his father, Go Hibiki. Now was a great time for vengeance, for Dan felt so ready for the kill. He had been training, and working constantly to attain his goal of being a truly Saikyo warrior, a truly perfect warrior. Now, he felt ready for it. “There he is, Jimmy!” he said quietly to his friend, a green skinned beast man.

Jimmy, or Blanka, for either name was fine enough for the green skinned monster, was an enigma. Raised in the Brazilian Jungles by the beats around him, Blanka channeled sparks of electricity through his body, and was fast and as furious as the beasts of the wild who raised him. Blanka was not a vicious or cruel beast-person however. He was actually friendly, if one could understand his muffled, snarl, and howl heavy accent. It was thanks to Dan that Blanka was able to speak in more humanly recognizable tongue. Suffice to say, Blanka was not always a green person. Once he was actually a regular human being, until his plane was shot down in Brazil, as he was on the way to see his uncle. He was the lone survivor, and now much has happened since then. His mother found him, and he moved back in with her, until she grew sick. It was fortunate that Dan was still willing to be a helpful friend to welcome the green skinned monkey to live with him, and even train in Dan’s perfect style if he desired. Blanka decided against it.

“Awo…” Blanka yapped in a quiet tone, “Revenge is bad, Dan. Besides, didn’t you already GET your revenge on Sagat?” To most people, it’d take a careful ear to hear thoroughly the words that were muffled by animalistic barks, snarls, roars and growls. Dan was used to it though, so he knew the words well.

“He let me win that time!” Dan grunted, “That bastard has no pride or honor. I’m gonna rip out his other eye myself!” He snarled, trying to be as quiet as he could be. “You don’t know what it’s like to have such sad loss!” he paused, as he caught Blanka’s look of confusion. Had the Saikyo master already forgotten the fact that he was in a plane crash? “Erm, well maybe you do. But I won’t let his cries from beyond the grave go unanswered!”

Blanka held his clawed hand to his head and covered his face in embarrassment. It was likely going to be a game of pick up the pieces and clean up the bloody mess for the beast man, as usual.

It was at that point that Dan could no longer hold back his rage. “OYAJI!” he roared at the top of his lungs. His words alerted Sagat to his hidden presence