*Shadow Dragon,* the telepathic words echoed silently in his mind.

Shadow Dragon was in pain. Extreme pain. For weeks now he had been caged within this seamless field of energy, barraged by a host of evil souls. And he never knew what was happening. But somebody was calling his name. He opened his eyes, and stared through his prison at the man before him. Shadow Dragon studied him intently. The man radiated pure evil. Wearing a red uniform of some sorts, and with a hat and cape, the man grinned widely. He reeked of insolence.

(Note: * indicates telepathic speech)

*What do you want?* Shadow Dragon answered evenly despite his wracking pain. This man was not the one who had defeated him. But he was obviously in alliance with him. The man's grin got even wider as he paced even closer to Shadow Dragon's prison.

*One would have expected better of you than getting captured to easily, boy,* replied the man. *You wanted to know why you are here, and I shall tell you. This is Naar's retribution.*

Shadow Dragon tightened at the man's words. Naar knew where he was. And that meant he knew where Earth was, too. But how?

*You are truly remarkable, my boy. It is no wonder why Ishir decided that you should be the last of the Kai Lords. But as he had killed Lone Wolf, he shall kill you.* The man turned to leave. But just before he exited the dark, dull chamber, he looked over his shoulder at Shadow Dragon.

*Know the price for defying a god.*

=====

ShockWave tested his weight gingerly on his left foot. Instantly a sharp pain shot up his thigh. ShockWave winced. Grabbing his ankle firmly, he gave a sharp upward twist towards his shin. The result was yet another stabbing lance of fiery pain and a sickly 'crack', but ShockWave knew that he had to fix himself... quickly.

Limping over, he grasped his staff and used it as a walking stick. He pushed his way through the door. From what he gathered, Dan's house turned out to be a small wooden construct behind his dojo. Yells, sounds of bodies hitting the floor and occasional screams of "Oshaa!" indicated that another training session was in practice. ShockWave grinned, making his way for the dojo.

Entering, he scampered up the wall and positioned himself atop one of the few beams which still remained intact, where he knew he wouldn't be spotted. He allowed his thoughts to travel freely. His twin brother instantly sprang to his mind. He couldn't actually believe he missed that pain in the ass. But besides from that, the more urgent thought of stopping Naar occured to him. Even though he enjoyed his newfound powers, he wished Shadow Dragon hadn't discovered the Sommerswerd in the first place and left Magnamund to its fate. He fingered the invitation in his pocket and sighed heavily.

"My students, I regret to say this will be the last session for some time since I, the _mighty_ Dan Hibiki -- pauses to flex a forearm -- am again invited to demonstrate my mighty skills to the world..." ShockWave was shaken from his daydreaming as Dan's students roared in approval.

Dan's students left a while later. ShockWave dropped down neatly beside Dan as the last pupil left. "The tournament, eh?"

"Yep," Dan grinned. But his smile faded a wink later. "Aren't you supposed to be resting?"

"Nah.. I'm a fast healer," ShockWave said dismissively just as Dan poked him at his bandages.

"OOWWWW!!"

"PHOENIX SNIPER!!" Crista screamed just as five flares of energy sped towards Crimson. Crimson tried to dodge, but still, three of the five projectiles scored direct hits at Crimson's stomach, knee and shoulder, knocking him to his feet. A ten-count by the ref later, Crista was declared the victor.

Night couldn't understand why he felt so happy for the girl. Seeing a large crowd and deciding to see what was happening, he had never seen the girl before. But still, how to account for his racing heart?...

Feeling a bit worn out by her match, Crista decided to do her shopping later. Right now, she could use a nice, warm soak on the tub..

"Here we are, miss," said the cabby. Crista jerked up from her daydreaming, and saw the tall building of the hotel she was staying in loom from the left window. Hurriedly paying the cabby his fare, Crista walked briskly into her hotel. She swiped her card at the door to her room and stepped inside, the door shutting itself with a click. It was then did Crista notice a tall, muscular Chinese male standing cross-armed in the centre of her room.

Crista furrowed her brow. "Who are you?" she asked, a little unnerved by the man. He wore a traditional while karateka gi, and raised his head, staring into Crista's face.

"Who I am is of no consequence. But what you want is."

"And what do I want?" asked Crista, starting to get a little annoyed once her shock passed. She picked up the phone, intending to call security, but before her finger could punch the first number, the man replied in a cold, flat tone.

"Akuma."

Crista turned towards the man, her attention captured. "You know full well that alone, you will never defeat Akuma," the figure continued. Crista was suddenly aware that something was wrong, but couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Your point?"

The figure laughed softly, with a hint of insanity. "You have potential, Crista. Surprised that I know your name?"

"Hardly," Crista replied. "Regardless of what you know, this little joke has lasted long enough. Please leave."

"Ah, but this is no joke, girl," snickered the figure, placing a hand on Crista's shoulder. Before she could react she felt the sensation of being briefly heated and chilled repeatedly. Then, with a loud 'whoomph', it ended. Crista opened her eyes. Trees shot up all around her. She turned back to the man.

"Teleportation.."

"Not bad. Obviously these would be of usefulness in your fight against Akuma, no?"

"Bring me back," Crista said with an iron-edged whisper. "Now."

"I offer you power far greater than Akuma could ever dream of possessing, and you turn me down?"

"Yes," Crista replied. "You see, I don't need your powers to win."

The figure growled in a low tone. Crista was afraid, but she didn't show it. In the blink of an eye she felt a staggering pain as the man landed a solid punch on her torso. Crista gasped in disbelief. She hadn't even seen the man move.

"Like it or not, you're coming with me," the man snickered with unbridled glee as a few more kicks and punches landed on Crista in rapid succession. The girl stumbled under the barrage of blows, so quick she couldn't see them, let alone block. Crista instantly flipped back to get some breathing space and launched her own attack, eager on turning the tables upon her opponent, but all her hits connected with was empty air. Then she felt something behind her grab her in a vicelike grip.

"En Metsu.." the man whispered as Crista felt his energies build up to fever pitch. Struggling, she attempted to free herself, but then an explosion sounded in her ears, accompanied by a raging inferno of pain. Aware that she had been blown into the air, Crista swung her body around, altering her point of gravity so as to land safely.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk.." Crista turned around as yet another flurry of blows rained upon her. But she was ready this time. Holding her arms as if to block, she began channeling her energy.

"Self-Ofuda!!" Crista yelled as she completed her move. Instantly the blows ended. The man stood there, paralyzed. But his face showed no surprise. Rolling back, Crista gathered her chi again, this time focusing them into the pair of arm bands she wore on her wrist.

"PHOENIX CALL!" she yelled elatedly, feeling the familiar tingling of surging energies rush up her arms before finding release in the form of a raging blaze of fire, directly at the man. Not content to let up her attack, Crista charged after the falling form of the man, grinning in anticipation.

"THUNDERBOLT!"
"THUNDERBOLT!!"
"THUNDERBOOLTTT!!!!" Crista fired off three bursts of energy in quick succession, each juggling the man in the air. After the final hit Crista landed on her knees, gasping in exhaustion due to the tremendous amount of energy she had just expended.

"Now I know why Naar chose you." Crista gasped in disbelief as the man casually brushed the dust off his gi. "But I tire of both you and his bidding, which means your life shall end." The man raised his right forearm. Before Crista's disbelieving gaze a sea-green blade, formed from pure chi energy. Instinctively, Crista dodged aside desperately as the first stroke sheared through the skin of her left arm. Exhausted, she didn't know if she could keep running. Unfortunately, her opponent sensed it too.
"Cherish your last moments of existence," he snarled as he brought his blade whistling at Crista's neck...