Board Fighters 2 Chapter 36: Tribulation Writer: Iwa (w/ Animenadie and Cherie)    


The bodies of friends, enemies and strangers alike were strewn all over the scorched earth. Whichever way he walked, there was no sign of life. What did they do to him? How did he even get here? Suddenly he turned, sensing a hint of Psycho Power, and yet found nothing.

"You can't go back," a very familiar voice said, drawing his attention to the path ahead. There was no one. "You're no different from me," it added, "Taking the lives of others."

"I'm nothing like you!" John yelled back. He was unable to the judge the distance of the voice. Where was he hiding?

"You're no longer who you once were. You can't go back," Rez laughed. John thought he caught a shadow darting amongst the bodies.

"Come out and fight me!"

"That's all you're good for now? One mindless kill after another."

"I fight to protect others from people like you!"

"John!!!"

"Says you." The laughter came once more.

"Come out and face me!"

"John!!!!"

"Very well…" A flash of cold steel tore across his neck and he slowly slumped to the ground.

It… couldn't end like this…!


====


"John!!!" The voice called out as John jerked out of the hard bed. Wildly glancing around he found himself still inside the cell. His hand reached for his neck and found it to be dry. What were they trying to do to him?! He rushed to the bars and glanced down the corridors. There was no one else there.

"John!!! You okay?!" Eventually he registered Victoria's voice.

"Was anyone else here?!" He practically demanded.

"Not since the last meal. Are you okay?"

"Victoria." He got her attention. "If they do take you, whatever you do, don't let them into your head." It was the only warning he could give her, even if he didn't know how helpful it would be. He wasn't entirely sure if it was the scientists doing this to him, or the fact that Rez was in this place that worried him. He just couldn't shake the feeling that both were connected, and that eventually one of them would be his undoing.


====


0812 HAT
St Peter's Hospital


Standing by the window Iwa watched the mundane activities going on below her window. She knew of course they were anything but mundane. She suspected there were people sent to watch her. The people her Master sent would know better than to linger too long, considering the communication blackout imposed upon her for the time being. Evading those who were watching her would not be a problem but then her last orders were to stay put for now.

"If you so much as climb out that window, I wouldn't have enough red tape to keep them away from you."

Iwa spun around, a dagger in hand to face her unflinching mentor. It was out of reflex of course since she sheathed the dagger just moments after.

"Can we go now?" Iwa asked in a tired voice. No doubt there were things the older woman wanted to know and this is not the best place to ask. Still, all things considered, it did lead her one step closer to her marks, which left her to figure out how to collect both without being too greedy about it. Considering the battle strength of the couple, an all out fight with them both would not be to her advantage. And of course she needed to collect some equipment she had left in her partner's room.

"There's someone I'd like you to meet." The older woman sighed, breaking the awkward silence.

"I have nothing to say to him."

"Please, just give him a chance. Or at least for my sake if not his."

"He didn't want anything to do with me," Iwa hissed

"It was part of the plan."

"What plan?" Iwa's eyes narrowed. Something didn't sound right. What was her former mentor going on about a plan? Was it a slip of her tongue? She would very much like to pursue this and dig up a few can of worms, but then it would only prolong the inevitable.

"Fine, whatever." Iwa absently waved and folded her arms across her chest. She had to reign in her anger as he stepped into the room - the Master's obsession and the focal point of her anger and betrayal. Silence took over once again.


-*-


The sudden slip was intentional and it worried Chun Li as she realised that Iwa didn't remember the plan. Bison had twisted that particular event to his favour and used it against them. She had to think of a way to keep Ryu from Bison as well as get the other kids and Iwa back. She watched Ryu swallowed a lump in his throat.

"I am sorry." He broke the silence followed by an apologetic bow. "I admit I let my own fears cloud my judgement, and let you go through what you went though. I know you have no reason to forgive me, but I will work towards it. Once again, I'm sorry."

To see Ryu humble himself so was quite something for Chun Li but would it have the necessary effect on Iwa? She didn't know. Her disciple seemed to be equally conflicted. Or was she being calculative?

"Yeah… fine, whatever," her disciple answered in a nonchalant way, grabbing her bag she stalked past Ryu. The warrior straightened up and glanced at Chun Li. She smiled and gave him a pat on the back.

"It was a better reaction than I expected." She walked Ryu out.


====


St Peter's Hospital Basement Car Park


Things seemed to be going well enough. Iwa hadn't tried to bolt, not if she wanted a crack at Ryu. Hopefully Chun Li could drive them both back to the hotel without any incidence. She had already, with the aid of Ken, pulled a couple strings to transfer Iwa's belongings to the spare room near Chun Li's. After getting her disciple settled in she could then start looking into that thumbdrive to see what manner of information could be found within.

She had also heard from her superiors that she might need to share her resources with one of the various organisations involved in the case. She had heard of course that they were eyeing her key resource and may attempt to snatch it from her to get at Bison. There had been a bit of pressure of course but since it was Chun Li's case they had reluctantly agreed to let her decide what to do with her resources. Of course they would have no idea how personal it had become. One of them was waiting for her as they turned the corner for her car.

There was a grey nondescript van blocking the pathway out to the exit. Leaning against the van was a somewhat annoyed looking Guile. Chun Li's hand shot to the shoulder of her tensed up disciple.

"You set me up." The younger woman hissed.

"I can take him on if you want." Ryu's eyes narrowed. He was waiting for Chun Li's word.

"No. Let me speak to him." She gave Iwa's shoulder a squeeze and walked over to Guile.

"Guile. We had this talk before."

"That was before another one of my kids disappeared." Guile stalked towards her.

"I've only just managed to get them both to stand next to each without one trying to kill the other." A jerk of her head to indicate the two Hoshis standing some distance behind her. "Don't ruin this for me."

"Well congrats to you." There was sarcasm in his voice. "I know you three have issues, but I need information and your kid is in the middle of it all. You're too close to her, you know. Bison expects you to be delicate if it is part of the so-called trap he has for Ryu. Work with me. We could help each other."

It did make some sense to Chun Li that perhaps she could share some of her information with Guile to keep her resources away from other organisations. However she needed to keep the fact that she sent Iwa to Bison a secret from him. It would not do to have Guile suddenly back off. Plus considering Iwa's current mental state, things would get messy if too much was revealed to Guile. She had to be selective.

"That's what I'm working on. You'll be the first one I turn to if I can get substantial information." Technically it was true.

"Good. I'll need all the help I can get."

"But its up to her if she wants to go with you." Chun Li answered and received a snort in answer as Guile stalked over to Iwa. Chun Li turned but avoided following too closely. She didn't want Iwa to develop the feeling of being closed in.

Guile stood an arm's length from the duo, and was glaring at Ryu. "If you could only learn to pick the fights that mattered…" He sighed and turned his attention to the defiant young woman beside Ryu. "I need your help in an investigation. I would appreciate it if you came along without any fuss."

"I do not have to go anywhere with you." It sounded like a challenge to Guile's patience.

"If you haven't done anything wrong, there's no harm in answering a few questions is there?"

"What I know I already told her." Iwa motioned towards Chun Li.

"And of course we did find some charges that would stick."

"Only if his father press charges."

"If that's what it takes to cut you off this puzzle and settle the business. I can twist his arm."

"You know he won't cave."

"Try me. I'm sure you are well aware that there are others after you. They are less accommodating to you than I am. I'm sure you are looking forward to your fight with him." A jerk of his head indicating Ryu.

"If I go with you, what's stopping others from pulling the same stunt on me and perhaps making me disappear along the way?"

"I could keep them out of your hair."

"She comes too." Indicating Chun Li

"She comes too." Guile repeated in agreement. He stretched one hand out in a invitatory gesture to get into the van.

"Too easy." A female voice was overheard as Guile brushed pass Chun Li.

He placed a finger by his ear and answered. "At least its not messy. Get in the van."

A little distance away, someone jumping down from the top of a truck's cab caught Chun Li's attention. It turned out to be Cammy coming along to join them. She briefly unloaded some tranquilliser darts from a sniper rifle and placed it into a modified pistol. Obviously Guile wasn't going to take chances. She shrugged on seeing Chun Li.

Getting into the van she spotted Charlie in the driver's seat and he gave her a nod in acknowledgement. It made Chun Li wonder just how bad things were on Guile's side.


====

The Makai, owner's office


It technically was a workday, and while Meliza was in the middle of responding to emails, Karin had entered, brushing past her assistant, before promptly sitting in the chair facing Meliza's desk. Meliza knew Karin well enough to know that the heiress came to her office with the premise to explain something important, when she was actually bored. Apparently, Karin had yet to find other female companions besides herself and Victoria. Right now, Karin was in the middle of a tirade about appearances and other beauty tips that Meliza barely caught what she was saying until Victoria and manicurist came up in the same sentence.

"You hired a what?" Meliza stared at her friend incredulously. She couldn't have heard correctly, right? Karin hired someone to do Victoria's nails?

"A manicurist," Karin responded. "I thought I'd go to the hospital and I even arranged for a manicurist to go with me. Granted, Victoria just got out of a fight, but she could at least look good."

"I don't think Victoria cares about how her nails look when she's in the hospital," Meliza commented wryly.

"Still," Karin shrugged. "She wasn't there."

Meliza blinked, a twinge of guilt coursing through her. With everything that happened to RJ, she hadn't had a chance to see Victoria's match. "When did she check out of the hospital?"

"They couldn't tell me," Karin shrugged again. "I called her cell phone, no answer, hotel room, no answer. She should have called, at least." Karin huffed. "If she has free time now, then I don't see how difficult it is to pick up a phone-"

"Maybe she's just preoccupied," Meliza reasoned. A brief frown formed on her features as she remembered the lists of most recent battles. The matches were going to be reaching a close soon, and as time went on, they were getting more difficult.

"There should only be very few excuses on why I should not receive a phone call back once I have made one," Karin declared, flipping back her hair. "Your phone is broken, you're pregnant and in the hospital, or you're lying with your significant other."

"'Lying with your significant other'? Who says things like that?" Meliza laughed.

"Something tells me that Victoria is not pregnant or with whatever his name is, so for her sake, I hope her phone is broken."

Meliza shook her head, smiling. "He has a name."

"Yes, I know, but do you honestly think they're doing that? Considering she just left the hospital?"

"I don't know...sometimes a person's willing to defy all laws of nature if they can be with the person they care about most," the hotel owner said absently, penciling in something on her desk calendar.

Karin stared at her hard. "Please stop. I can't believe I'm hearing this from the woman who had a man to call on in every country."

Meliza dropped her pencil. "What in the-?"

Karin grinned before saying slyly, "Oh, your peasant boyfriend told me all about that. He said you were quite the teasing social butterfly until he-"

"He also has a name," Meliza interrupted. What the hell has Locke told her? From the way the other woman was talking, Locke had clearly exaggerated the facts.

"-came along." Karin sighed, waving her hand in dismissal. "It's all right, Meliza, I completely understand." At Meliza's wary glance, she continued, "We're the same. Wealthy women who have no interests in pursuing international relationships. Our work allows us to enjoy a man's company for a short time and we make it a point to be highly selective of the men we see. No one wants a needy pathetic fool who has no idea how to please a woman, so we'll gladly pursue or allow ourselves to be pursued by men who are just there to enjoy our company and enjoy life for what it is."

Noticing Meliza's blank stare, she dropped her fist on her friend's desk.
"Don't be silly, I know you at least had a small, short list of men you'd call on to entertain you when you were traveling abroad. Before Devlin. Although he must really mean the world to you if you could give up-"

"Can we get back to Victoria?" Meliza cut in. As exciting as that part of her life had been, she'd rather focus on what was happening now. "She came back from the hospital and you're upset that she didn't call you?"

"Right." Karin shrugged before rising to her feet. "I think I'll stop by her hotel room and yell at her."

"Okay. See you later." Meliza shook her head in amusement. Typical Karin.

====

U.P.R.F. Security Division - Oahu


"Anything yet?"

"Not yet," Jerry Dennison, security specialist, responded to his supervisor's question. "He wouldn't give the name of his accomplice. And we have reason to believe he's no longer at the hospital."

Carson Harris, director of security, scowled as he settled at his desk. "The hotel surveillance video showed Shan entering with two men. RJ Rinaldo and another unidentified individual. Has anyone been able to cross reference anything, find out who the other man is?" If he didn't get some answers soon, the higher-ups were probably going to step in.

"No sir," Edgar Smith, Dennison's partner, tried to avoid tapping his pen against his notebook. "Um...with all due respect...Shan and the information are gone. What if-"

"I'm not taking any chances," Harris responded. "What's the connection between her and Rinaldo?"

"I did some research...they don't know each other, but she did apply for a job at his property," Dennison explained.

"It still doesn't explain why he was with her." The supervisor frowned, obviously not happy with the turn of events. They had to proceed carefully. Because of RJ Rinaldo's connection to the Rinaldo Hotels, they couldn't afford to do anything that would draw attention. So when the man had been hospitalized, it was a fortunate accident for them, because they could easily get the information they need and dispose of him. They needed to know what he knew…and who else knew.

When his men had killed Shan in her hotel room, they destroyed the information on her laptop - no doubt given to her by Holden…but there was a chance that the two men who had gone to the hotel with her had also seen it. They had used indirect measures, outsourcing someone else to deal with Rinaldo as a precaution. But unfortunately, their hired hand had been caught in her attempt to interrogate Rinaldo.

Figures. Never send an outsider...

"I'll do some more research and see if we can find out who the other man is," Smith declared.

====

1013 HAT
Undisclosed location


Chun Li took a sip from the warm cup of coffee she held in her hands. Both Ryu and her were in an observation room with both Cammy and Nash just a little distance away from them. They were both pouring through the contents of Iwa's camera, cellphone and thumbdrive, which Guile had managed to convince Iwa to temporality part with. As for Ryu and herself, they were quietly observing Iwa in the room at the other side of their two-way mirror.

So far all that had been found within the digital equipment were photographs of tournament commissioned dolls, animals, cosplayers at some comic book convention, videos of concerts. That, plus a few videos of Guile's nephew running around under a cardboard box of which one of the various surroundings indicated it to be the Makai's grounds.

"There's nothing but photographs of dolls in this one file." Charlie commented. "Why is he so obsessed in making dolls of everybody?" He looked towards the British agent

"How should I know? Maybe Bison's thing with Dolls rubbed off on him. He even found a way to have Doll Guile's hair to stand without gel." She mused clicking on another one of the photographs. It showed a picture of the dolls that have yet to be redeemed by the fighters they were modelled after and that would be about three quarters of the male participants. "It's ironic though." She noted her own doll, which came in both Shadaloo and Delta Red versions.

Motion in the other room made Chun Li change her attention. Guile had entered the room, and Iwa's squirrel spat out an acorn aiming it at Guile.

"Call him off or I'll have him quarantined." His eyes narrowed. he was in no mood for games.

Iwa just smiled and laid a finger on Maru's head. The squirrel looked at her, then at Guile, and back at Guile again. Defeated, it shoved the acorn back into its cheek pouch and quieted down. Guile placed a cup of coffee on the table. The squirrel perked up in interest until Iwa grabbed it by the tail.

"Squirrels and caffeine don't mix," she said to the disappointed critter, dropping a pack of raisins on the floor to the draw its interest. With Maru out of the way she looked up at Guile, waiting for some kind of speech.

"I'm not going to dance around you and preach about how bad a choice you made and what you should've done and how all this could've been avoided. I know circumstances left you on this path. Frankly I would like to grab circumstances by the neck and beat some sense into him." Guile sighed and glared towards the mirror.

He was answered by a cynical snort from Iwa.

Chun Li stole a glance at Ryu, who remained calmly seated whilst taking all this in his stride. She had to give him credit for quietly shouldering the brunt of the blame.

"Some of your friends have gone missing." Guile placed photographs of Sean, Heagy and Victoria on the table. She picked them up, studying them a moment and separated Victoria from the boys. He picked up on the meaning instantly, being her way of saying 'friend' and 'mere acquaintances'

"I'm sure you paid enough attention to the news to know that some folks were killed during the season," he continued. A few more photographs were placed on the table. The two rock stars, a treasure hunter and a young lady by the name of Natalie. This in itself was no doubt a test to see how much Iwa really knew.

"And I thought she was just an animal nurse. Eh." Iwa mused, picking up the photograph of Natalie and replacing it after a closer look.

"And from what I know, you were missing for a short while but you managed to come back. What happened to you?" Guile gave Iwa a few minutes to absorb all that information.

"Trying to lose a stalker," she shrugged, picking up a picture of John who she showed to Guile. "Funny thing about people no? I hardly spoke to this guy at the last tournament and he makes it his personal mission to drag me home, whilst the people that matter don't want anything to do with me."

"Where is he now?" Guile knew better than to add something to that one.

"Beats me. Lost him in Kuaui. I think he would be pissed off by now."

"You keep mentioning Kuaui."

"Freighting Company makes flights direct for home. A good enough place to lose troublesome people."

"And you made it back."

"I bailed when I found out he was on my tail. Night jumps are tricky, especially with shark infested waters."

"He's back by now you know," Guile threw down a sheet of paper. It was a transcript of a few text messages. He soon caught a change in Iwa's expression, which seemed to express worry.

"He's not here now, right? Is he?"

"Maybe he is, maybe he isn't," Guile had a hand to his earpiece. After a while he turned to leave. "Guess who just called?" He said enigmatically and walked out the door.


-*-


On their side of the room, Chun Li scanned through the photographs that Charlie handed her. It was part of Sergeant Heagy's reports on the surveillance of Iwa. Looking through the photographs it was obvious that she knew he was on her tail and she wasn't going to make it easy for him to write his report.

Some of those photographs included ones of Iwa heading into a Ladies only Spa faculty of the The Makai, long fishing trips around Oahu, offerings of a chocolate bars, grilled fish and a bento to her stalker on various different fishing trips.

Some amount of time spent fiddling with the doll diorama of her partner's boutique doll shop, one mediation session with Maru aiming an acorn at said stalker, an offering of coins at a vending machine and various attempts to track his target through the crowd of a concert or some other events on the island.

"And in case you're wondering, she's almost never back in her room," Charlie commented pointing to the photographs taken by the infrared cameras that were strategically placed in her room.

The photographs mainly showed her climbing in from the balcony or coming in from her own door, retrieving clothes, amenities and other equipment from her room and coming in from and going out from her partner's joint room's door.

"Nothing on her partner's side of the room?" Chun Li asked, curious by the lack of photographs.
"Our boy was traumatised by what he found. Especially after your kid pointed out the cameras in her partner's room. No sane male would dress like that." Guile said when he joined them with another cup of coffee in hand. The comment had left Cammy pale.

"I think I already know." Chun Li mumbled a reply, wincing at the memory of a certain crossing dressing Spanish ninja.


-*-


Commotion in the other room drew their attention. The door was thrown wide open and the man known as Enrique Pierantoni walked right in. Iwa rose to her feet in response, one hand gripping the chair. She threw a quick glance at the mirror behind her

"Hey!! Who's this guy? You said only family." Her voice was low.

"Dammit! Get him out of there." Guile said to Cammy.

"No," Chun Li stopped them. "He's Victoria's sensei, isn't he?"

"What?! He'll kill her."

"Just do it. Call it a hunch."

"If you're wrong I'll make sure you spend the rest of your career behind your desk." Guile threatened, but Chun Li just ignored him

"Ten bucks says he'll explode and she bolts." Charlie was heard commenting to Cammy.

"Twenty says she'll eat him figuratively and literally."

"Her?"

"You obviously don't see Sergeant Heagy around do you?"

"Yeah, but he's socially awkward."

"And she studies Zoology, majoring in Ethology. And throw in some Doll training. Chicken now, are we?" Cammy challenged him.

"Fine," Charlie accepted, even though he seemed to have some regret.


-*-


Over at the other side Riq put his hand out in front of him to show he wasn't carrying any weaponry.

"I was expecting someone else. Or are you my new stalker?" She was still standing and the chair was an inch off the ground.

"Agent Pierantoni, FBI," He brandished his badge just as quickly.

"Do I know you?" It wasn't the answer she was looking for.

"Look, I know who you worked for, and I know Victoria is a friend of yours," Enrique began. "I had hoped she wouldn't get involved in this tournament but I can't stop her. The other guys were prepared for what they might get into since it's part of their job, but Victoria shouldn't have gotten herself involved this deep."

"If he met you last year you could have taught him a thing of two about disciple welfare, but I guess being adopted doesn't count with him." Iwa shrugged.

"I just need to know if your boss was interested in her." Riq tried to draw Iwa's attention back to the subject at hand.

"'Was' being the keyword, Mr. P," Iwa replaced the chair and sat down once more.

"Was?"

"They were hoping her psonics could bust through a certain level. She didn't make the cut so he cut her loose. Frankly I think she already busted that level and I have the bruises to prove it." Iwa laughed sarcastically

"Why?"

"Various reasons, some technical details. It's not up to me to question his orders." She shrugged in that vague manner of hers.

"Do you know who has her?"

"Sorry Mr P. I don't."

"What about this?" He picked up the sheet of paper with the text message conversation. The cellphone numbers indicated whom the two numbers belonged to. Iwa sighed after reading it.

"Maybe he lured Victoria off. He found out I had my eyes on her." She shook her head. "Had to fight him in a warehouse, shot me full of tranquillisers he did. Stuffed me in a crate and drove me off to who knows where. At least I managed to escape and lose him. Overzealous and not the most subtle of people."

"Then where is she?" Riq was starting to get annoyed by Iwa's ramblings. In the other room Chun Li and Guile were listening intently. They knew by her speech pattern that she was throwing around her usual brand of half-truths. In part done to throw people off, in part to prevent implicating herself. The hard part would be to sift through all that information.

"How should I know, Mr P. Maybe he stuffed her in a crate and shipped her somewhere safe for her own good. Aren't you keen for her to be safely away from this? Or are you following his footsteps in disciple endangerment?" She was turning the tables back at him.

"Victoria won't leave without informing her friends."

"He is her friend. They were a little clique and I hardly spoke to him and that other guy. Except for Kay. I like Kay, wish I had a little brother like him." Iwa just shrugged in answer.

"You can't tell me anything, can you?" He tapped his ear. He seemed to have suspected something and offered her a pen.

"Sorry Mr P. Nothing helpful." She tapped the side of her head and accepted the pen.


-*-


In the other room, the others looked to Cammy.

"Can Bison do that?" Charlie asked.

"He was able to get into the heads of weaker will soldiers. I don't really know if he could still do it for the Dolls though." Cammy replied.

"He ever done that to you?" Charlie continued.

"I don't remember." She shrugged helplessly


-*-


Over at the other room, Iwa was scribbling down a list of names. They were categorised in 'Priority', 'Scrapped' and 'Iffy'. Victoria, Makoto, Karin and some of those who had died were the few that fell into the 'scrapped' column. There was an arrow pointing the rock stars and Victoria back to 'priority' and Makoto's name was circled with the word 'backup' written beside the column.

Heagy, Sean, Luke, Natalie and Elena fell into 'Iffy'; most of the veterans were in 'priority', while Ryu's name had a few asterisks to it signifying his worth. Sakura, Jin and Linda the songtress were the only newcomers in the 'Priority' column.

"I don't believe you," Riq added. He would have noticed his name as well as the asterisks next to it on the priority list.

"I could lie to you if you like. That he knows who you really work for and your dominant soldier genes would have make one heck of a super soldier. Victoria is just a lure to flush you out and my other partner is with her right now." Iwa waggled her eyebrows and as if to emphasise her point, she removed the photographs of Sergeant Heagy and Victoria and placed them neatly away from the entire group.

"That's bullsh-t!" Something about what Iwa had said triggered an unexpected reaction in him.

"Believe what you will." She smiled again.

"Fine then, what about this?" Riq changed the subject. He couldn't risk Iwa baiting his emotions. He had thrown down another photograph to her.

"Hmm. Little kid like her shouldn't be allowed to travel alone. Good guardians are so hard to come by these days. Maybe her guardian would have more useful information for you. Kinda strange that they're getting much younger these days. I was her age when they started working on me." She mused, studying the photograph of the struggling child.

"It wasn't in your files."

"I doubt it would be. The good Colonel and company found me at the tail end of my ordeal. He however had compiled a whole cabinet worth of files regarding my tenure at the faculty." Iwa commented. Whether or that that defunct faculty had Umbrella roots was a whole different story altogether.


-*-


How true this was Chun Li couldn't say. Guile and her had little information about Iwa's time in Shadowloo hands and much less information in regards to the time when she disappeared and until Shadowloo's acquirement. That would have been a year's worth of Iwa's life.


-*-


"So Umbrella is working for your boss." Riq threw down a picture of the Umbrella logo.

"If that's what they call themselves these days."

"Where are they located?"

"Wouldn't know. Can't really tell when you're travelling in a crate. Paranoid people, mind you." She pointed off to two random locations.

"Then you've been in there before! Can you get in there again?"

Iwa beckoned Riq to come closer, who appeared to hesitate.

"Oh come on. It's not like I'm gonna eat you, Victoria will kill me if I did. I like your green eyes but without the red hair, you're not my type." She laughed.

When he did comply she pulled him nearer, effectively blocking her from the view of the people in the other room so they couldn't lip-read what she whispered into Riq's ear.

"Once, yes. As part of his inspection entourage. Now no, I can't go in as myself, not allowed to. Arrangements had to be made to pull out a colleague I resemble. Paranoia calls for a labelled crate and travelling in detours. Gomenasai Mr P. I am not allowed to make arrangement to go in empty handed." Iwa apologised, releasing Riq to ponder the information.

Guile had missed that part of the conversation as he entered the room.

"Can I go now?" Iwa asked

"No. You'll be here for a while until I can get you off their radar. Don't worry you'll get your crack at Ryu."

"Fine whatever." Iwa snorted as Guile ushered her out of the room.


====


-U.P.R.F, Level 6 -


Heavy boots thudded a steady rhythm against the sterile white floor as Sergei Romanav walked the long hallway from the elevator designed exclusively to reach this level. Normally, the prisoner - or "subject 457" as she was dubbed until further notice - would have been placed on the level where all of the others were held like trophies on display for both Umbrella and Shadaloo to see. Yet considering the methods used to coerce this subject, including exposure to "failed experiments" and "trial runs", it was no wonder she was being kept separate.

Rez looked through the viewing window to the young woman cuffed to the steel chair across from the starving, animated corpse of her former friend. He'd been fed a couple of times just for effect, but continued to writhe in his straight jacket for a taste of her living flesh. She simply stared back at it with dark, emotionless eyes, not even glancing at the man watching her from the window.

Rez smirked and indicated to the guards accompanying him to unlock the door.

"How do you feel, Natalya?" he asked as the door locked shut behind him.

As he expected, she didn't reply.

He walked around the front of her to stand on the other side. "So, have you considered your options?"

More silence, then he continued into a different subject, one he'd looked forward to since his confrontation with Jin.

"You remember the promise I made you about your fiancé? Well…"

He reached into the folds of his light jacket, causing her to glance at him from the corner of her eyes. What he pulled out made those turquoise eyes widen considerably.

"Where'd you get that?" she asked in a voice low and tight.

"Aha… Now I have your attention," he said as he turned the kodachi over, looking at the dried blood that dulled the gleam of the blade in the artificial light. "I was paying a visit to our mutual acquaintance, your former boss. I found that I wasn't the only one visiting him."

He leaned down, grasping the nape of her neck with his free hand as he held the bloody weapon before her face. He felt her trembling and secretly indulged in the dread and horror threatening to spill into her expression.

"How did you let him know, hmm? How did Mr. Kushina find out who betrayed you? I don't suppose it was too hard to guess, given Parker's obvious dislike of you. What's stranger is that your lover seemed to know I had something to do with it all."

"How did you get that?" She demanded through clenched teeth, eyes fixated on the blade.

"Well, I tried to bring him in like I was supposed to. I did try. He didn't cooperate very well. Oh, by the way, you might be happy to know he killed your idiot boss. It's too bad the timing cost him his life."

Those wild eyes cut to him then, already glistening in spite of her best efforts. "You're lying," she hissed.

Rez straightened and let go of Natalie's hair, sighing as he put the kodachi back into his coat. "I thought you might say that." With that, he nodded to the guards on the other side of the window. The door soon opened and one of them stepped in, holding a small, wireless monitor. With the push of a button, it began playing a recording of the previous evening's news.

A woman at a news desk droned a report that seemed to suck the life from the imprisoned fighter. "A local FBI agent was found dead in the remains of his home after authorities were alerted to a house fire. The building was almost completely lost by the time firefighters arrived, but investigators were able to identify the remains of two bodies found within the building. Special Agent Kyle Bradford Parker was found on the floor of his living room, and authorities believe he was already dead before the fire. Even stranger is that the man found only feet from his body was a participant in the local Champion of Fist fighting tournament, Jin Kushina, who was scheduled to fight action star Fei Long only two days from his death. It is unclear whether Kushina was involved in the agent's death, but the police are treating this as a double homicide."

Natalie didn't hear whatever else the reporter said. She couldn't… all senses dulled into nothingness for seconds that felt like years. She tried to breathe, but the air could not fill her constricting lungs. The heart that pounded an erratic rhythm in her ribcage felt hollow.

He can't be… he can't be…

Rez laughed at the tears tumbling from unblinking eyes. This would break her, he knew it, could see her world falling to pieces by her expression alone. Parted lips that quivered as they tried to speak and failed never looked so tempting. She was never so beautiful as she was now, in this moment of despair.

When her head dropped to her chest and her hair fell before her face, he began to speak. However, as Natalie's shoulders shook, Rez was stopped in his words by something he felt.

The air in the room was growing hot. She sobbed now, but tainting the sorrow in her tone was the razor edge of something he couldn't place until she looked up.

"I… I'll send you to hell for this!" her voice quavered with rage as maddened, tearful eyes glared at him.

Romanav kept his smirk, though warning bells sounded in his head. "Will you?" he challenged.

Not a full second later, she lunged, rattling her cuffs as she fought the drugs suppressing her power. He chuckled, but the guard looked unsettled.

"You can't do anyth-"

With her shrieks piercing the air, she rocked in her chair until the bolts holding it down broke. Toppling to the floor didn't stop her, and as both men grabbed her, they found that her strength was the least of their concerns.

"Dammit!" Rez cursed as he pulled back from the heat she scorched his hands with. "I thought she was drugged!"

"She is!" the guard shouted as the second man joined to try to right her, or at least hold her until more security arrived. The chains holding her wrists snapped, blood leaking from beneath the cuffs.

"Keep her under control!" Rez commanded, knowing he couldn't kill her. He'd known the fake news report would set her off, but he hadn't expected this.

"I'll kill you!" she screamed, clawing at whomever and whatever she could reach. "I'll f-king kill all of you!"

All she could think of was Jin, everything they'd had together and would never have again. And it was her fault that she would never see him again. All she could do was lash out at the man she believed to have killed him… and she'd deal with herself later.

Blood ran from her nose as her instincts fought with her mind and the limits put on her by the drugs, limits she was pushing desperately against… and overcoming. The first blue flame ignited one of the guard's sleeves, making him reel back, flailing to put the fire out. His scream was amplified, making Rez look back to see why.

The zombie in the other chair had leaned forward, and was now gnawing viciously on the helpless man's shoulder.

Another curse from the mercenary turned experiment, then another as the second guard pulled back, ripping his flaming shirt off and running out of the room. Rez followed, leaving the girl bound by her ankles to the chair.

She wasn't held for long. The same instant the door locked behind him, Rez felt her body collide with it. Her scream was long, broken and enraged, but he couldn't draw any enjoyment from it with his forearms and face bleeding from her long, biting nails. He was sure she'd broken two of his fingers, and hand-shaped marks were burned deeply into his arms.

The guard rattled shaken, urgent reports into his radio as he watched the window with panicked eyes. Rez stepped away from the door when he heard her beating the bulletproof glass with the chair. Every hit was accentuated with a growl or a scream, and adding to the scene was the gory sight of the dying guard being eaten behind her.

The man finally freed himself, but Rez saw the binds holding the zombie showing signs of wear. As the guard crawled across the tiled floor, trailing thick blood all the way, the creature who used to be Jack Carter tore at the straight jacket and reached out with one arm.

The girl spun on the monster, eyes wild with hate as she railed on the being that grasped for her. The steel chair was brought down again and again, each time with the sickening crack of bones and squish of soft, decaying flesh. The growls of the zombie became gurgles, then trailed into nothingness as blood and brain matter splattered the room and window. The only sounds beside Wynshire's were the whimpered pleas of the guard who pawed at the window weakly, waiting for help Rez would be damned before he'd give.

He heard heated exchanges between the guard behind him and the person on the other end, but what captured Sergei's attention were the girl's hands pressed against the window.

With a deep, animalistic scream, her hands shoved against the glass, which slowly began to bubble under the blue flames that flared sporadically from her limbs. Rez's cold blue eyes were wide and his mouth gaped when short bursts of fire flickered on the side where he thought they were safe.

"Stop her!" he shouted to the guard as he pulled a gun from the holster under the jacket. "Stop the girl or I swear I'll kill her, deal or not!"

Just as one of those inexplicable eruptions of flame bathed his gun hand, gas boiled out of the vents within the room, shrouding the girl within in a smoky cloud.

Her barrage continued for seconds more, before Romanav watched her slide down the warped window, her fit ending in pitiful tears and weakened, futile slaps against the glass.

He exhaled a sigh of relief as both guards and scientists soon poured into the hallway.

Whether the woman was going to be useful or not, he just knew she'd be a headache…
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