Later
A stretch of beach some ways from the Makai

While the rest of the spectators look on at Vega's flamenco act, Iwa's attention remained on her newly purchased cellphone. Synching the phone and her bluetooth earpiece she waited for a moment until a picture of a winged skull blinked onto the screen. Iwa sighed.

"It goes as planned," she spoke into the phone. Placing the earpiece back on her ear, she rummages around her pocket. A voice on the other side acknowledges her password and connects her line directly. A grunt on the other side signalled his presence.

"You like what was sent to you?" She kept nodding at what the other person was saying. Finally she fished a little piece of embossed winged skull sticker out of her pocket and stuck it neatly onto her new phone.

"All that was left are my ringtones, games and wallpapers. I have to download those again unless I steal my phone back from Killer Bee."

Iwa raised her new cellphone and recorded a live video of Vega flamencoing. She then proceeded to record a panoramic view of the area. There are quite a number of familiar fighters watching this match; it wasn't that much of a surprise.

She pans the cellphone stopping now and then at the marked fighters that had potential use for her master. She pans and then stopped to zoom in on one fighter in particular. John had been glaring at her ever since he spotted her.

"That's the ookami I mention. Prone to occasional bouts of confusion and impaired judgment, but which one of your soldiers ain't? The loyal type, an expert in the firearms department. Of the few of the Brat Pack that came back, this one is actively on my case. Oddly enough he didn't contact my 'parents' for any info."

Iwa waved cheerfully at him. Automatically John waved back and then he suddenly realized what he was doing and pulls his hand down and returns to glaring at her. "Cute isn't he. Fits the Ryu-type that you're so fond of." She laughs. Off camera she noted someone else waving at her from behind the temporary steel barriers that separated the spectators from the fighters' rest area.

With her camera still fix on John she waved back at Mel much to the annoyance of the watchful Ken. Mel hops off his father's arm and headed for the concession stand with a frantic Sean in tow. Iwa then pans the camera to her opponents. She stopped and caught sight of Ryu helping Chun Li over the barriers.

"Lovely as ever aren't they?" she then panned the camera until she caught sight of Linda and zoomed in on her.
"Would you like a singing doll as well?" She started to wave at the young lady in an attempt to freak her out.

------------

The opposite side of the tourney grounds
 

She stood there watching the couple and their friends banter on before match starts. It felt strange that they were at ease about it considering who they are coming up against. A controversy in itself.

For one there was her herself. Little Miss Idol should not be playing king of street fighters with a bunch of iron-fisted warriors. It's not some virtual fighting game but she had worked too hard to be here. No way was she going to be sent back like some little girl. She had to prove her usefulness.

On the other hand there was Vega, the one who she was after in the first place. He who had spent much of his time annoying her by sending her flowers and stalking her just for the fun of seeing her frustrated. Then when she'd tried to confront him, he had somehow managed to give her the slip.

About Vega, Chun Li and Ryu had being more than willing to provide any form of information they had on him. Obviously they were more worried about her having to face Vega than Iwa.

As for Iwa, most folks who had followed the career of Ryu or Chun Li would have known about their relationship and the unfounded rumors where Iwa's speculated bloodline is concern. Thinking about it, Linda realized that even she has no idea of what Iwa's private name was or who she was by that name. Like the rest of the world all she knew was her fight name.

Linda felt that Ryu could be the key as to whether or not they could bring Iwa back into the fold. He had been so hesitant to approach his ward and Chun Li was strangely meek in this matter. Just what is it that they can't even tell her? Why would they choose to deal with Iwa themselves and not let their friends, the ones who know her well help as well?

Looking up from her thoughts she caught sight of Iwa directly across the battlefield, filming the area with a camera phone. Her opponent waved at someone, Linda caught sight of a young man waving back before catching himself in the act.

"Where have I seen him before?" Linda wondered. Then she realized that Iwa was filming and waving away at her.
 

--------

The flamenco dance had ended and the fighters for the first round had been picked. Vega let his dance partner leave the area while another woman fetched his mask and claw. Linda stepped into the designated area.

"L.O.V.E. LINDA!!!!!! GO LINDA!!!!!!" screamed a bunch of her diehard fans who had somehow managed to track her down. She nervously smiled and waved back at them - a bunch of teens dressed in a Lolita-like costumes complete with cat ears and tails that she had used in one of her MTVs. She looks to Chun Li who smiled encouragingly at her.

Her eyes narrowed on seeing the Spanish ninja study her. He bowed in a showy flourish, straightening up, before he whipped a rose out of thin air and kissed it before tossing it at Linda's feet. Smiling he wore his mask.

"BOOOOOOOOOO" Her fans obviously aren't too fond of him.

"FIGHT!!!!!" the referee yelled

Linda exploded into action towards the Spanish ninja with a Windy Blast flying kick. Easily he backflips to avoid each kick and then rolls in the moment she lands to draw first blood with a slash across her torso. Her fans booed him loudly while he waits for her to make the next move.

Once more she dashed towards him with attack in mind. As if to tease her, he ducks her every kick and swats off her every punch, treating their fight like some sort of a game. In her frustration she sang out Siren, stunning him in mid attack. Forgetting herself she unleashed her rage at him.

She gasped in horror when he finally recovered and caught her foot, as she was about to unleash another series of attack at him. He drew in close to her, eye to eye, her heart was rapidly pounding away.

"Such a lovely little bird. He cooed at her from beneath his mask, his claw by her neck. Those mesmerizing eyes of his harden and broke the spell. She backstepped and the claw grazed her neck lightly.

Linda leaps into the air as Vega rolls towards her. Gathering all the qi she could muster, she stomps down hard on her opponent, crushing him into the sand. Beautifully she somersaulted and lands on her feet a little distance away. Her fans were cheering for her, but turned into a loud gasp as Vega drags himself up from the sand.

Linda launches into a Windy Blast again but he leapt up the coconut tree behind him, using it as a springboard he dives towards Linda. She blocks him off and he rebounded a little ways from her. Sensing an opening, he cued his disgruntled partner in on a partner assist as he leaps against the tree to launch a flying Barcelona attack. Linda sensing the danger that she would be in cues Chun Li in as she switches to a Tensho Kyaku.

"WHAT?!" Iwa suddenly exclaimed, one hand to her earpiece.

That one moment of distraction caused her to mistime her jump. Vega caught the brunt of three vicious sets of Tensho Kyaku instead.

On landing both Linda and Chun Li stared at Iwa. Someone was overheard grumbling away at Iwa via the earpiece. The streaky hair woman just shrugged and bounded back to her corner.

Standing in readiness and breathing heavily, Linda waited for Vega to rise. The referee had begun counting. Linda gasped, for like a horror movie monster Vega rose to his feet. With a laugh he dashed towards her. Leaping over her Siren blast, on landing behind her he grabs her by the waist and suplexed her! Leaping back a little ways he glared at his partner who nonchalantly points to her earpiece ending all arguments as to whose fault it was.

He dashed towards the rising Linda. Linda launched into a Tensho Kyaku but he leaps backwards into a tree at the last possible moment. Using it as he springboard he met Linda at her Tensho Kyaku's apex. He grabs and Izuna drops her heavily into the sand. Jumping back up, he flips his braid aside and waits.

"Twice over I clipped your wings. You amuse me my beautiful bird. Another time perhaps." Confidently he removes his mask and tosses a rose by his fallen victim.

"KO!!!" the referee yelled.

Linda's fans were dismayed as the medics rushed in to check on her.

Linda coughs hard when she finally caught her breath. She looks back to Chun Li who smiled encouragement at her but the stoic Ryu who was standing with the crowd a little ways behind her was lacking in any form of expression.

Turning around she saw what caught Ryu's attention. Iwa had stepped up beside the tall blond. One hand held out her earpiece to him. Grudgingly the tall blond held it close to his ear. He grimaced as the grumbling on the other end of the line ordered him to hand the next bout to his short partner. With a 'huummph!' Vega stalks back to their rest area while Iwa shuts off the earpiece and kept it in her vest.

"Ready?" Iwa asked and a squeak answered from one of her pockets. "Bring it on." Iwa motioned at Linda and Chun Li with her hand. After a brief discussion with Linda it was decided that Chun Li should take the next fight.

"Hey CL!" Ken called out as Chun Li gets ready. "Kick some sense into her streaky head!! Or I'll have to!"

"Yeah! Don't you hold back on the runt now, woman!" Guile flexed his bicep.

Chun Li gave them a thumbs-up in reply and glances at the silent Ryu. Their wordless conversation ended with Ryu giving her a smile for good luck. Chun Li turns around, face to face with her disciple.

"It goes as planned." The younger woman mumbled her words unheard by the roaring crowd.

"He worries you know," Chun Li said.

"I know. Let's make him proud then." Her taunting arrogant expression unchanged. They both shot a look at Ryu and got into a ready stance.

"FIGHT!!!" the second round begun.

Master and disciple burst into action, a mad flurry of kicks and punches to test each other's strength. Punch for punch, kick for kick. Each move serves only to counter and neutralize, but the master is stronger and fast enough to time the end of the attack to launch into another.

"Spinning bird kick!!!!!"

Unable to block Iwa suffers the maddening assault that sent her into a bout of confusion. The attack stopped and her vision cleared. Chun Li's arm flew forward locking into her disciple's neck and ramming the younger woman into the sand. Iwa rolled away as Chun Li leapt into the air.

"Tensho Kyaku!" Iwa countered the impending headstomp. Chun Li landed on her feet and dashed towards her descending disciple with a flurry of kicks. Her wayward disciple could only block. Knowing the timing of the end of that attack Iwa dashed forward a bit and smashed her fist into Chun Li's stomach.

"Check your dojo email. There's a little something about the master that you'll find useful."

Iwa leapt backwards, holding her wrist she fires off a Kisatsu shot, but Chun Li leapt over it and stomps upon Iwa's shoulder like a stepping-stone towards the other side.

Taking it to be a cue for a partner assist, Vega leapt into the fray with vengeance in mind, but Chun Li countered him with a Kikoken much to the delight of the cheering crowd.

Taking advantage of the distraction Iwa dash forward, intending to intercept her disciple. Chun Li throws a Kikoken at her. Iwa Senenshu-ed over the projectile, her foot smashing into Chun Li's shoulder, stunning her. Following that Iwa smashed a series of qi filled punches into her stunned sifu and then with a roundhouse sent her across the sand. Chun Li refused to scream as the qi exploded within her.

Iwa looks towards the alarmed John. Her thumb and index finger forming the universal sign of a gun and shoots at him. "There's one for you as well." She mouths the words.

Chun Li rose and dashed towards Iwa. In the attempt to throw each other master and disciple were locked in a test of strength. Between them the building up of qi caused sand swirling around them.

"You've gone stronger."

"He'll be disappointed if I've not."

"KISATSU/KIKOKEN!!" They both yelled at the same time. Both were repelled across the sand by the explosion of qi. Bruised, the two women dragged themselves up.

They stood there, watching each other as they think. Suddenly they blasted towards each other and exchange another series of attacks. In the midst of the exchange bright blue qi flashed from Iwa's fist, blinding Chun Li momentarily as she smashed a two hit punch into her forcing her sifu to her feet. Iwa leapt and there was enough time for her to land three successive head stomps on the older woman.

Before she could follow with a forth, Chun Li summoned Linda who kicked Iwa across the sand, freeing Chun Li. Linda returned to her corner. Guile, Ken and Nash were cheering away while Ryu shot a glance at Chun Li who helplessly shrugged her answer.

Iwa got up, spitting out a mouthful of blood. She smiled wickedly and dashed towards Chun Li. Chun Li responded with a Senenshu, forcing Iwa to block. Chun Li unleashed the Hoyuksen upon her disciple in attempt to break her defense. When the flurry of kicks ended Iwa managed to hop towards her former sifu with a Double Knee Press.

As it connects, a forceful Shoryuken wrenched Chun Li up with its ascent. Iwa somersaulted at the apex, beginning a fearsome Tensai Renka at the end of which smashes Chun Li into the sand. Landing she stood in readiness, her eyes narrowed.

Iwa laughed and dashed towards the rising Chun Li. Her fist ignited in blue qi. From the stands, Ryu starts to worry. Something felt very wrong.
 

"0!!!! TIMEOUT!!!!!!!" the referee yells.

Iwa's Psycho dash came to an abrupt halt a hair's breath away from Chun Li's chest. The ghostly qi dances in silence and soon dies off. Iwa just laughs away.

Over at the spectator stand, Chun Li's four male friends leapt over the barrier and headed towards them. Iwa stopped laughing and grins, turns and started a sprint towards the shoreline. Ryu stops beside Chun Li and checked on her while the three ran after their ward with Nash closing in on her.

Maru scrambled out of Iwa's pocket and clambered to her head. Holding onto a lock of hair with one paw and an acorn with the other. With deadly accuracy he throws the acorn knocking Nash's glasses off. Quickly he grabs a walnut out of his cheek pouch and throws it again, hitting Nash between the eyes and dropping him from the chase.

With a flying kick Iwa dislodge a spectator who was watching from his jet-ski. With a quick turn, she sprays her pursuers with seawater and sped away. She can't afford to be captured. Not here not now.

-------------

-Sometime later, in Oahu-

SGT John Heagy walked alone, moving further and further away from the heavier populated areas of the city as he found himself in deep thought in the aftermath of Iwa's battle. His own turn in the tournament was fast approaching but that was the last thing on his mind at the moment. Currently, John's entry into the tournament had proven more of a liability than an asset, his skills and senses causing far more damage and chaos than would've occurred otherwise. The young sergeant caught what appeared to be a twinkle from a building down the street and tensed, his hand grabbing the handle of his Glock 19 out of sheer reflex though his mind willed it to release without drawing his weapon. Most likely it was just a piece of glass or an unarmed civilian or just his imagination. His normal response would be to fire a few rounds of suppressing fire before seeking cover in the likes of a potential sniper, yet his common sense shouted at him that there was no danger. It was a simple civilian city in a tropical environment.

While John was at home in any number of tropical and jungle environments during combat as well as being well versed in urban warfare, trying to stay on guard in a civilian atmosphere continued to prove nothing more but one incident after another. His partner, Elena had been less than happy when he had smashed in the door and tossed an XM84 'flashbang' stun grenade into the room since Elena had used her spare key to let herself into his quarters. There had been no way for him to know it wasn't an enemy soldier waiting in ambush.

On the same note, Sakura hadn't been pleased when she had been carrying a medium sized, brown package in his arms and he had suddenly tackled her from the side, launched the box down the fire stairwell, then dropped a M67 frag grenade down with it. The package had been ticking quietly before it suddenly began to hum. Of course any normal person would have realised that it was not an IED that was on the verge of detonating and was instead a rather expensive custom made alarm clock with a picture of Ryu computer drawn in the background onto a hologram card. He still had bruises from Sakura's resulting burst of feminine emotion as well as a number of deep scratches.

Movement off to his left, across the street, suddenly attracted the young soldier's attention. A rather pale looking young girl, somewhere between 10 and 15 though it was hard to measure accurately from the range. Her clothing was rather simple though it did seem strange, though most civilian clothes seemed to lack any sort of practicality to him. A girl? Out this late at night? John thought to himself as he watched her move down the sidewalk slowly. More movement suddenly set of the alarms in the back of his mind again. A large-framed male this time, probably in his late 30s or so and appearing to be of Arabic decent. That enough was enough to cause Heagy to tense slightly but he remained calm, doing his best to appear to be fascinated with a TV in nearby shop.

The man was moving up behind the girl at a rate that was borderline hostile yet appeared to be unarmed, though he could be concealing a knife or small firearm in his jacket. John's guts were proven correct this time as the man suddenly produced a knife and grabbed the girl, tugging her off into a nearby alley as he clamped his other hand across her mouth. A feral rage suddenly begin to boil up from somewhere in his stomach as he quickly made sure there were no others civilians around and drew his Glock 19 quickly. Ejecting the magazine loaded with less than lethal rubber bullets, he quickly slapped home a full 15 round magazine loaded with 'Quicksilvers' as he begin to rush across the street as quickly as stealth would allow.

Leaning against the wall at the entrance of the alleyway, John took one quick breath and popped around the corner as he spoke in a harsh tone, "Freeze! Drop the weapon and release the hostage. Hands on your head now!" The young soldier quickly levelled his Glock 19 on the enemy's head, doing his best to keep a steady shot as he took up a classic shooter's stance. The girl appeared to be unharmed for the most part and John quickly focused his attention back on the enemy.

The man dropped his knife and slowly placed his hands on the back of his head as he took a step back, "Hey now. I give up... turn me over to the authorities." he said in a calm tone that just angered Heagy even more.

"Get over here kid... get behind me." John spoke in a calmer tone as he moved forward in a combat glide, keeping his weapon trained on the man. The girl just nodded her head silently and slowly moved behind the young SABRE operative and out of his field of view. Heagy kept his narrow eyes locked on the man as he took a few more steps forward then stopped, keeping the man outside of effective melee attacks.
 

-Seconds earlier-

Atop a rooftop adjacent to the alleyway, Rez grinned to himself as he watched the little SABRE brat through his spotter's scope. The stupid pup was letting his anger cloud his senses and his judgment, but that had been the whole point of the entire setup. The young whelp's psychological profile wasn't that hard to figure out. He was one of them little goody goody boy-scouts who just happened to have a bit of tension towards certain people due to various conflicts. Of course the stupid kid also had qualities that reminded Rez of himself in a way. His eyes during those days, they were like a savage animal fighting to survive. And that was why killing him like this was going to be such a disappointment instead of killing him with his own hands, but life was always full of letdowns.

Focusing back to the little scene across the street, Rez smiled a little as the little soldier let Eleonore move around behind him. It was a stupid mistake to let anyone get out of your field of view but that's why the scenario had been built like it had. Eleonore had produced the Guillotine and was moving in for the kill. Rez licked his lips in anticipation and was actually hoping the attack only injured the whelp, so he could finish him off personally
 

-Alleyway-

John kept his Glock 19 leveled on the man as he watched the man's expression change to one of almost mocking enjoyment. The thought that the man would probably be released in only a few months time was enough to invoke his anger once more. "Down on your knees... now!" he commanded in a harsh tone. The man's face no longer looked so sure of himself as he slowly moved down to his knees.

"What the hell are you doing? You know if you hurt me it'll only hurt you in the end."

"... Wartime protocol Guardian Angel, use of deadly force authorized to protect the lives and slash or well-being of the civilian populace. This is to include protection from death, assault, rape, theft, and etc." John spoke in a calm tone from memory. The man's face begin to pale some as he opened his mouth to speak just as Heagy squeezed the trigger of his Glock 19, sending one of his custom 'Quicksilver' 9mm rounds into the man's skull. Due to the nature of the round, the man's head exploded like an over ripe melon as his body slumped over in an unnatural position, twitching as the body tried to struggle on for life.

Turning back to the girl as he lowered his Glock 19, John was surprised to find that she was missing. Scanning the area quickly the young SABRE was unable to find any trace of the girl. Suddenly the warning lights in his mind were going off again as his eyes begin to dart around the area quickly. His senses begin to focus as he noticed there was a quiet hum and cursed loudly, throwing himself outside the alleyway seconds before a nearby trashbin detonated into a fiery explosion.

John barely had hit the ground before his guts told him to move and he performed a combat roll quickly, narrowly avoiding a stream of 7.62x39mm rounds kicked up pieces of the concrete against his body. Assuming cover behind a nearby Buick, Heagy cursed to himself as he tried to get a fix on his attacker's position and get situational awareness of what was happening.

Someone had just tried to kill him with an IED of some kind, a rather potent one at that. And now someone was firing at him through a machine gun of some kind, the sound of the weapon firing reminded him strongly of a Russian AK-47 though it was more likely a Russian 7.62mm RPD from the rate of fire and volume of ammunition being sent his way. He briefly glanced over the hood of the Buick and was able to see the flashes from the machine gun fire seconds before the hood was riddled with bullet holes.

Whoever was manning that machine gun had good targeting skills and good control, the rounds were accurate and being fired in short burst. John slowly took a deep breath then leaned low around the front end of the car and fired a couple of rounds from his Glock 19 at the muzzle flashes, though his weapon wasn't accurate up to that range the attack would still help suppress the enemy. The machine gun fire quickly zeroed in on his location and set bits of concrete biting into his flesh as bullets slammed into the pavement.

Heagy drew a couple of his smoke grenades and sent them rolling under the Buick into the middle of the road. White smoke quickly began to fill the streets and forming concealment screen for him to use. The shooter began spraying random burst in multiple directions, most likely trying to suppress him and keep him from fleeing, though John had no intent of falling back just yet. Once the smoke screen was rather thick John drew a M67 fragmentation grenade from his cargo pocket and pulled the pin, letting the spoon fly off as he through the grenade with all his strength towards the roof of the building across the way, quickly dropping down behind the Buick's engine block compartment once more.

The grenade exploded and John quickly rushed through the smokescreen towards the building, stopping next to the doorway briefly before quickly turning and kicking the door in and entering the building. Without any pause John quickly begin to move through the two-story building until he found the stairwell. Once there he slowly begins to ascend the stairs, keeping his Glock 19 orientated upwards as he carefully watched the stairway above him. Making it to the roof door without any resistance, John paused.

Taking a deep breath, John drew his last XM84 stun grenade he had on him from his cargo pocket and kicked the door in, tossing the grenade out onto the roof before moving to the other side of the doorframe. The grenade detonated with a loud boom and a blinding flash, and Heagy quickly proceeded out onto the rooftop, letting his Glock 19 scan over the area slowly.

The young soldier slowly advanced across the rooftop until he noted the RPD machine gun setting atop the ledge of the roof, several cans of belted 7.62mm ammunition were lying around along with a spotter's long-range scope. Carefully examining the area John saw where his grenade had exploded and saw traces of blood along the rooftop. The blood trails led off the edge of the roof and Heagy tracked it until he looked below and pile of smashed boxes and trash and an open sewer cover near by.

Letting out a deep breath John slumped down to the ground and ejected the magazine of his Glock 19 and slapped in a fresh one, shaking his head slowly as he reached into his pocket and dialed a number into his cell phone. "Rapier... this is Black Wolf." then waited for a reply.

"Black Wolf, this is Rapier. Send it," a female voice replied in a quick tone.

"Rapier, have been engaged in direct contact. I repeat, confirmed first contact with enemy forces. Well organized and well equipped. One tango is down and the other tango managed to escape with fragmentation from a grenade wound. Over."

"Black Wolf, we're confirming engagement with two tangos, one KIA and one escaping. Any suspects? Over."

"Rapier, that's a roger on the count. Unknown enemy however. It may very well be Shadowlaw or that I've attracted too much attention so far. Awaiting further instructions. Over."

"Black Wolf, proceed with original plan. Primary targets are still to be neutralized if the chances are given. Codename Fallen Squirrel is not, I repeat, is not a priority. Confirmation of viral infection is however. You know the rest of your orders. This is Rapier, out." this was followed by a click followed by a dead tone.

John let out another breath as he flipped his phone closed and looked upward at the night sky, "Yeah... containment and sterilization procedures..." then looked down at his right hand slowly, Another life taken by these hands... There was no need to take the tango's life... but... the young soldier cut his own thoughts off and closed his eyes. Iwa's not a priority... keh... friends are always a priority... then shook his head slowly. The attack had been well organized and almost too much so. Whoever the would-be assassin was, he was good at predicting him. It seemed that things would be getting busier from here on out.
 

-A short while later, somewhere in the sewers-

Rez was not amused at the moment, not in the least. That stupid little brat had hesitated too long in killing target and then fled just because he'd shot their pawn. Not only that, but the SABRE whelp had managed to escape him personally and even give him a good wound. Pain echoed in the back of Rez's mind at this thought as he clutched the bloody wound in his left arm as he ran. The whelp and the brat would both pay for this one now. This was twice now that the whelp had wounded him without being paid back.

The events had been a bit surprising to him though, which was an extremely rare occurrence. The little SABRE whelp had actually shot the unarmed man, even though there was no need. He'd thought John was still just a boy scout, despite when the little whelp had shot him and almost killed him. It seemed little Heagy had his own dark side under all those rules and regulations he tried to hide behind. The thought made a grin spread across Rez's features once more. Maybe with a little more pushing, he could push the whelp into the darker side a bit more.

Rez toyed with these thoughts as he let out the laugh of a man whose sanity wavered as he ran through the sewage away from the scene.