Kay paid no mind to his roommate, instead, staring intently at a small wooden top, spinning in place upon an oak table before Kay. Kay's face was expressionless as he moved his hands and fingers along his legs. It would be a while before he recovered, he had been fighting almost all day, and running just as much. Gathering some ice into a towel, Kay rubbed it along his legs gently.

Kay's eyes closed, when he finally stopped, the top slowly spun itself out. Kay again opened his eyes and glanced at the still top.

"One of us is gone." Kay whispered.

"Wai Lim! Wai Lim!" Kumori panted, pushing the bushes aside. "Wai Lim?" She stopped to stare at his harried form, crouched forward, supporting himself at the side of a tree.
"I know what you're here for . . ." Wai Lim whispered. "But its too late . . . she's dead."

Kumori stared as her legs suddenly gave out on her.
The two stayed at their places, motionless.

Iwa's hands moved against Rose's, the two battled it out with one another, trading projectile attacks. Neither were really in any condition to fight at their best, resorting to hit and run tactics at times.

"Why? Why are you betraying us?!" Iwa gasped, stopping for a moment, her hands held out before her. Rose's scarf merely glowed as she held it around her neck.

"I had to do it . . . the tarots say that you would have died if you remained there." Rose said bluntly. "This is the best path, her death will make our victory far more certain of the dark forces which are gathering."

"What do you mean?" Iwa cocked her head to the side, her eyes returning to their trademark apathy.

And then she felt it.

"It has happened." Rose whispered.

Iwa glanced back towards the direction of where the main battle had been, her soul fearing and knowing the worst.

"The girl had been the Essence of Death." Rose whispered. "She is one of you . . ."

Iwa slowly turned her gaze back towards Rose, her hands clenching and unclenching as she struggled to maintain her composure.

"Don't worry . . . its for the best." Rose said as she pulled out a tarot. Blue flames surrounded her, and she winked away before Iwa could grab her.

"Is it?" Iwa whispered to herself, glancing once more at where Crista had died. Her eyes sparkled with some understanding, and a ghost of a smile touched her lips. She nodded and walked away from the battlefield for now. Her knowledge was critical for the Essences, she understood why Rose did what she had to do.

Iwa stopped for a moment and frowned however. The lady didn't have to make the whole bit so dramatic, she could have just invited her and Kumori away for tea or something.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" John Heagy screamed shrilly as he ran through the narrow passage as the landslide echoed.

John hopped, skipped, leaped, rolled his way through the passage. His adrenaline pumped through his veins as he felt his pulse pound rapidly within his mind. He didn't want to die! He was too young to die! And he never had a chance to sample some good traditional Italian food!

John tripped forward upon a stubble, his hands reached out instinctively to secure his fall, but quickly covered his head. He shook in fright and closed his eyes tightly, awaiting the inevitable.

And waited.

John opened his eyes slowly and glanced slowly behind him, staring in disbelief that his foot had been mere CENTIMETERS away from being crushed by a pile of rocks.

John prayed his thanks to whatever deity was watching over him.

TS wiped the sweat off his head as he staggered back into a recliner. He had to pour in alot of luck for this kid.

TS picked up his TV guide from the side, and whistled as he read it, wondering if anything good was on.

"Well, this looks interesting . . ." TS mused as he picked up his remote.

Like any self-respected large commercial area, Fighters' Isle had a casino. This casino happened to be the biggest. And guess what the place was called.

Fighters' Casino. Big surprise.

In the midst of the frenzy of gamblers, the scene centers upon a pair playing a game of black jack. One, an aging man in a suit with only strands of hair still existant at the sides, was not so pleasing to look at. He had a self-confident smirk upon his face as he looked under his cards. The other, far more pleasing to look at, was a young woman in informal attire, a blouse and skirt under a black leather jacket. Her face was expressionless, looking at her cards without interest.

"I have an ace and a nine." the man said, revealing his cards.
"Guess I lost this round too." the woman sighed, flipping her cards over to reveal an ace and an eight.
"I don't know why you challanged me, young lady." the man said, eyeing her with a smirk. "If it was for my attention, you've definitely got it."

"Oh, I guess I'm just going through a little bad luck." the young woman shrugged. "How about one more game before I go?"
"You don't seem to have any more money."
"I got something else you might like." the young woman gave him a 'come-hither' look, though she inwardly recoiled at the thought.

"Sounds good to me." the old man agreed.
"But let's . . . up the ante." she smiled.
"Of course, if you win, I'll give you fify thousand dollars. A hundred times more than what you started with." the man smiled as he leaned forward. "I didn't quite catch your name, Miss . . .?"

"Meliza, just call me Meliza." the woman smiled.

The dealer dealed again, as the manager had someone bring in a suitcase, displaying its contents to everyone. Meliza flipped through them to make sure they were real.

The man smiled as he adjusted the cuffs of his shirt, unnoticed to observers that he pulled out an Ace of Clubs, and a Ten of Clubs.

"I believe I have this game won." the man smiled, revealing his cards.
"Oh, I don't know . . ." Meliza smiled inwardly as she innocently displayed her Ace of Hearts and Queen of Hearts. "My Ace and my Queen are obviously larger than your Ace and Ten."

The man's eyebrow twitched. "You cheated!" he shouted, and motioned to his guards. "Get her jacket!"

Meliza reached forward and grabbed her suitcase of money. "Seems like its time for me to go. Alas, parting is such sweet sorrow!" Meliza said theatrically, then frowned as she raised a glowing card over her head. "NOT!" With that, she threw the card on the table, it exploded.

In the midst of the smoke, the manager was shouting and coughing as he pulled himself up from the rubble. "Where is she?! Where is she?!" he screamed.

"Um . . . sir?" a bodyguard said nervously as he pointed a few inchest before his employer.

The manager slowly looked down in front of him, a glowing Queen of Hearts was there.

It exploded.

Zero1 smiled, almost purring at the feel of once more being at the wheel of a black Honda sedan. The streets on Fighters' Isle was wide enough for his mobile to pass easily, though traffic seemed heavy. He immensely enjoyed weaving through the cars, occasionally honking the horn just to annoy a pedestrian or driver, he even showed them the bird.

Life was perfect, he was once more at the driver's seat of his favorite car. It seemed to good to be true after so long.

It was.

"Zero1! Would you stop honking the horn!" Victoria yelled in irritation. "And how did we get around here anyway?!" Victoria folded her arms and glared. "I don't remember hearing about casinos being on the way to the Fighters' Hot Springs Resort!"

"Hey, I'm hungry." Kay mumbled, his stomach growling.

Zero1 sighed as he pulled out the map, he had been itching for a good long drive too. Oh well, he might as well drop these two off at the hot springs. The sooner the better.

Kay grimaced as his stomach rumbled again. The reason why the trio were even heading to the hot springs was for some required R&R, Rest and Relaxation. Victoria had found the ad for the hot springs in the morning paper, and immediately demanded that Zero1 drive them there. Kay didn't object, the hot springs might help his body recover. They still didn't know where the others were, but they were pretty sure that the rest would come around pretty soon.

Kay and Victoria were still bothered by the sudden loss of Crista. Zero1 didn't really believe them despite their insistence.

Glancing out the window once more, Kay noticed a woman with a suitcase running frantically from a large casino.

"Hey, what do you thinks going on?" Kay nudged at Victoria and pointed outside.

"Looks like some people are chasing her." Victoria commented.

"Look like she's coming this way too." Zero1 muttered as he glanced to his right, the side where the scene was taking place.

"She IS coming this way!" Kay exclaimed.

And that she did as she leapt and slipped through the open window of the front passenger seat of the car.

"DRIVE!" she barked.

"What? Get the hell out of my car!" Zero1 growled.

"Look, this is your brain." Meliza gritted her teeth as she pulled out a playing card, the card was a Joker, Kay noted. "This is your brain when you get me angry!" Her hand suddenly glowed, and its glow seem to have transferred to the card as she held it and threw it outside the window, it exploded at the feet of her pursuers. "Any questions?" she turned to them with an expressionless face.

Kay and Victoria cowered away from her as Zero1 hastily complied with her wishes.

Ryu Dragon smiled as he stood upon the banks of the hot springs. Although his companions were allowed to enjoy themselves, he would have to do so later as he had a match here. He smiled and waved to Rogue, who was currently waist deep in her part of the hot springs, her bathing suit fitting her snugly. This was the public part, so no nudity here unfortunately.

"Yo, where's my opponent?" a tall, powerfully built man of African descent said as he entered the area, boxing gloves hung over his shoulders, wearing blue shorts and shirt.

"Hey, I know you, you're Balrog." Ryu Dragon's eyes narrowed.

"Hey, I see that I have fans." Balrog smiled as he approached Ryu Dragon, eyeing the smaller man up and down. He frowned. "Hey, why the hell are you dressed like that Shotokan-boy, Ryu?"

"He's my idol." Ryu Dragon said proudly.

"I should beat some sense into you for that . . ." Balrog muttered as he began to pull on his boxing gloves. "In fact, I will! Maybe you'll start dressing like a REAL fighter afterwards, me."

Ryu Dragon narrowed his eyes. "I think not, and besides, I'm you're opponent. Ryu Dragon."

"WHAT?!" Balrog exploded. "I thought I was gonna be fighting the real deal! Got confused about that 'Dragon' bit, but . . . Alright, I'll have your name changed too! How about . . . Balrog Bull?"

"Bull." Ryu Dragon grimaced.

"Fight . . ." a hooded figure whispered as he passed by to sit on a rock.

Balrog sucker punched Ryu Dragon across the face with a fierce uppercut. Ryu Dragon flew to the side, skidding and bouncing across the ground. He got up shakily, the punch had been powerful. Wiping away the blood which stained the side of his mouth, Ryu Dragon pulled his hands back and concentrated.

Balrog edged forward carefully, moving from side to side. Having faced Ryu before, Balrog had an idea what this person was probably going to do.

"ELEMENTAL FIRE!" Ryu Dragon shouted, letting loose the crimson projectile from his hands.

Balrog grunted as he pulled his arms up, the projectile slammed against his body, dissipating upon contact. But Ryu Dragon had already recovered, rushing forward with a left kick to the head.

"HIYA!" Ryu Dragon shouted as he struck. "HIYA!" Ryu Dragon shouted again as he struck with his right leg, sending Balrog down towards the side.

"Pretty good, kid . . ." Balrog muttered as he got up, rubbing the side of his head with his gloved hand.

Balrog quickly charged forward towards Ryu Dragon, his right fist lashed out, pulled back, and out again. Ryu Dragon managed to dodge the first punch by inches, then quickly raised his arms up against the second punch.

The two proceeded to train punches like a boxing match, Ryu Dragon finding he was too close to Balrog to use his kicks effectively, too busy attempting to deal with Balrog's rapid-fire punches.

Batting a punch away, Ryu Dragon rushed forward into Balrog, shouting, "DRAGON PUNCH!" Ryu Dragon flew into the air, his fist connecting under Balrog's chin.

Ryu Dragon steadied his breathing as he landed on his feet, remaining in stance as he watched Balrog fall down upon the ground.

He didn't get up.

"You win." the hooded figure said to Ryu Dragon before walking off.

Crimson sighed blissfully as he sank himself deeper into the hot spring, looking over at Guy, who sat in his part with eyes closed, and hands held before him in form of meditation.

"What did I tell you? Was this a great idea or what?" Crimson grinned.

"Yes, it is very peaceful here, although artificial." Guy nodded, eyes still closed.

"Hey, I don't care if its artificial." Crimson sighed, the warm water washing across his muscles. "It feels good, and that's all that matters."

"If you say so." Guy shrugged.

"Does that feel better, Chun Li?" Ryu asked as he massaged her legs.
"Yea . . ." Chun Li nodded and grimaced at one point. "Have you heard any word on Iwa or Kumori?"
"No . . ." Ryu shook his head sadly. "But I sensed some heavy fighting before. It could have been either of those two."
"This place is getting more and more interesting by the second." Chun Li mumbled, then winced as she whacked at Ryu for going over another sore spot on her legs.

"What are we doing here?" Natalie's face was expressionless as she peered outside of the jeep towards the hot springs resort.
"We're here to relax." Guile grumbled as he opened the door and slammed it shut. "Humans eventually need that when they've been fighting too much."
"Are you implying anything by that?" Natalie arched her eyebrow at him.

But Guile had already walked off. Stifling a curse, Natalie quickly opened her door and rushed to his side. The two would not note a suspicious looking black Honda.

"So, you guys are fighters, huh?" Meliza smiled, leaning against her window, playing with her cards.

"How can you tell?" Kay blinked.

"You and the girl are hard to tell, but this guy . . ." Meliza motioned at Zero1. "He's got that certain aura. Besides, most of the people on this island are either fighters, retailers, or spectators." She looked over Kay and Victoria critically. "You don't have any cameras on you and you haven't offered to sell me anything, so I'm assuming that you're fighters."

Kay and Victoria nodded.

"Good! Then you guys can keep me company!" Meliza smiled. "Its been boring on this island all alone, the fights were exciting for a while I guess, but you kinda start itching for company sooner or later."

Kay and Victoria gaped at her.

"What?!" Zero1 sputtered. "You threatened to blow us up, and expect us to keep you company?!"

"And provide protection when possible." Meliza added. "There's been some weird stuff happening around here, and you can't leave a woman out on her own. Now how about it? Think I can join in on you guys?"

"Okay!" Victoria said quickly. Though the woman had threatened to blow them up, she desperately needed a woman with a fashion sense to talk to. Kay was oblivious to something as important as clothes and make-up, and Zero1 didn't give a damn. She needed someone to talk to about that kind of stuff!

~You make me sick . . .~ Rage gagged within her.
~Oh, another companion . . .~ Sorrow said.
~ Yay! A new friend! We're gonna have soooo much fun! ~ Joy shouted happily.

"Hey, you all right?" Meliza looked in worry at the young woman, Victoria seemed to be lost in a daze with a sweatdrop rolling down the side of her head.

"I'm fine! Let's talk about shoes!" Victoria chirped.
"Me and you are gonna get along just fine, Victoria." Meliza grinned.
"Shoes? What's so special about shoes?" Kay blinked.
Victoria and Meliza both slapped the sides of his head.
"Don't mind him, he's just a dumb male." Victoria glared at Kay.

"Aren't they all?" Meliza agreed.

Zero1 wisely kept his mouth shut, he had his car, and wanted to keep it that way.

The two women talked to each other about . . . girl stuff. The writer is male, he cannot comprehend nor repeat this without being overcome by a dizzying migraine. Eventually, the car would ease into the parking lot of the Fighters' Hot Springs Resort.

"Ayame . . . you have failed to kill the Heagy boy several times." the Arch-priest of Naar intoned as he looked down upon the prostrated form of Ayame. "Though it had been Bison to command you to execute him, you were not restricted from doing so."

"Pl-please forgive me . . ." Ayame whispered.
"Upon thee, I place a curse." the arch-priest intoned. "From the sixth hour of the evening till the sixth hour of dawn, thou shalt be cursed to become a butterfly. Your time is short, thou shall live only till the coming of our god, Naar, where he will bring this world under his mighty fist."

"N-no . . ." Ayame whispered. She didn't want to kill, she didn't really want any part of their dark god, but his existence had been everywhere upon her world.
"As thy time comes, thou shall begin to weaken." the priest's voice echoed as they began to chant a spell upon her, calling upon the blessing of Naar for the horrible curse. "We shall banish thee upon Earth, where thou shall witness all to be brought to mighty Naar's rule."

Ayame screamed as the spell touched her, and sent her away.

That evening as Kay sat in his room at the resort, he gazed out into the darkness, noting how beautiful the stars looked tonight, the moon was full, smiling upon the earth, reflected by the waters of the springs. There were still a few people drifting about in the springs for a bit of late night carousing.

His legs had healed nicely, especially with the help of the water of the springs. Not fully healed, but healed enough that he could walk decently without wincing. Now maybe people would stop giving him odd looks whenever he shambled by.

Bored, Kay decided that maybe a walk would do him some good.

Kumori sat upon a tree that evening, her legs swinging sadly from the branch she sat upon. One of them had died . . . Iwa had told her what Rose had told Iwa. But she still couldn't believe that it was necessary for one of them to die in order to gain victory in the end.

Kumori suddenly sense something appear, something that was covered with a dark feeling of magic. Hopping down from her tree, Kumori set out to look for it.

Kay glanced in awe at the glowing purple butterfly that floated before him. He had never seen anything like it before. Slapping his face several times to make sure he wasn't actually snoozing away in bed, Kay did it until his face had become swollen once more. No matter how many times he tried to wake up, the image just wouldn't go away.

Maybe it was real.

The glow suddenly faded from it, and Kay held out his hands open quickly to catch it as it fell. It twitched slightly, and was still. Though it was not glowing anymore, Kay admired the intricate beauty of the butterfly's design. Finding himself suddenly tired, Kay quickly headed home to bed, holding it carefully in his hand as he did so.

"Where is it?" Kumori whispered frantically, looking around the area where she had sensed the dark magic to have appeared. Now it was gone, there wasn't even a sense of its residue. As if it never were . . .

Kumori shrugged and rubbed her head. It had been a long day, she should get some rest.

Kay mumbled drowsily in his sleep just as the electronic clock at his side struck six. A certain purple butterfly which he had kept on a cushion on his lamp desk, suddenly rolled to the side.

A soft purple glow shined through Kay's eyelids, his body suddenly feeling stronger and more healed than it had the day before. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked at the girl with purple hair before him. Her eyes were open as well, staring at each other wide-eyed.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Kay and Ayame screamed.

"So, her name's Ayame?" Victoria asked slowly, looking over at the strange girl who was hugging Kay's arm tightly.
Kay nodded.

"And she just suddenly appeared at your side in bed?" Meliza asked slowly.

Kay nodded.

"How was she?" Zero1 asked casually.
"Huh?" Kay blinked over at Zero1.
"Pervert!" Meliza and Victoria both slapped Zero1's face.
"We should get her some new clothes." Victoria said critically as she looked over Ayame's clothes. "The ones she's wearing will make her stand out."

Zero1 had a dizzied look in the background as Meliza and Victoria commented on what kind of clothes they should pick out for Ayame.