UMBRELLA UNDERGROUND RESEARCH FACILITY. ARKANSAS, U.S.A.

Eléonore Dumont did not like Sergei Rezlorn Romanav, not even one bit. Not only was he always carrying a gun (and had acquired quite a habit of startling her with it), but merely thirty seconds ago, he had pulled away her precious toy chest out of her reach.

The odd-looking twelve-year old struggled against the constraints that chained her to the wall and also limited her teleportation and telekinetic abilities, trying in vain to reach the wooden chest. It was an ordinary toy box, not unlike those found in the bedrooms of "normal" children, with drawings of cute bears and bunny rabbits, pink clouds and happy looking families.

With an unreadable expression upon his face, Rez pushed the box with his foot a few inches further from Eléonore's grasp, chuckling malevolently as she grunted in frustration.

Rez yawned as the little girl looked up at him, the red-markings on her face deeply accentuating her angry frown. A little over one week was left for the preliminaries of the so-called Champion of Fists tournament to begin, and he was already starving for the action. The instructions Umbrella had given him were simple: to assist in the collection of samples and in the recruitment of "test volunteers". As long as he kept his side of the bargain, he would remain alive.

Two more weeks... Rez thought, but until then he was stuck in that damned hellhole of a lab, and using the undead as target practice was beginning to get old.

He casually picked up his Desert Eagle from a nearby steel table, smiling as Eléonore gasped in fear, cowering away and pressing her back into the cold wall behind her.

"How does it feel to know exactly what I'm about to do and being unable to do anything about it?" Rez said, pointing his handgun directly at the child's head, who in turn hid her face in her hands, whimpering audibly.

Rez then aimed his gun at a group of glass probes that were neatly stacked on the table in front of him, surrounded by the shattered remains of other bottles, indicating that the muscled man had been target practicing with defenseless laboratory instruments for a while.

He pulled the trigger, neatly shattering every single probe. A piercing shriek filled the room, immediately followed by Eléonore vanishing from sight. Rez's features were adorned by an amused smirk, even more when the child teleported back into the same spot she had been sitting in seconds earlier, the electronic shackles still placed securely around her small wrists.

"Amazing, isn't she?"

The lab's electronic doors slid open, just as a middle-aged man, wearing a white lab coat stepped through. His name was Dr. Jacques Noiv, one of Umbrella Pharmaceuticals lead scientists.

Rez merely grunted and lowered his handgun, as the scientist kneeled in front of Eléonore and caressed the trembling child's hair. She slowly looked up at the man and a gleeful smile spread across her face when Dr. Noiv retuned to her the precious toy chest Rez had so wickedly taken away.

Dr. Noiv then stood up and eyed the mess Rez had created.

"Bored, Mr. Romanav?"

"Why of course not doc... I intensely enjoy my chatting with the walking dead and playing with lil' missy here and her doll house." Rez replied, busily shining his precious Desert Eagle.

Meanwhile, Eléonore had opened her toy box and had retrieved from it a dagger, a small sword and her very nifty scythe in chains among other particular small bladed weapons. Her expression resembled that of a child who had just opened a long awaited Christmas present.

"You must be patient, Mr. Romanav. Soon it will be time for you to... indulge in your task. Great times are near for Umbrella Corporation."

Dr. Noiv kneeled again in front of Eléonore, this time handing her a couple of blank pieces of paper and a box of crayons.

Rez chuckled. "Patience, doctor, I have too much of it. Heh, what can I say, thanks to you and your little band of sci-fi nerds, I have eternity to wait."

Rez then raised an eyebrow and laughed out loud. "I think she's more eager than I am for the taste of blood." He said, referring to the physic child on the floor, who had just finished drawing a very disfigured version of Rez Romanav with her crayons, and was busily stabbing to smithereens the poor paper and the funny looking figure of Rez with a knife.

"Ah, little Eléonore..." The scientist said, clapping his hands together. "Soon we will see how much progress you have made since your last assignment. The prey is loose. We must unleash the huntress."

********************

ISLAND OF OAHU. HAWAII, U.S.A.

It was mid-morning, and the warm Pacific breeze was a subtle warning of the heat the afternoon was going to bring, as it found its way to caress the few locks of hair that had managed to escape from the young Filipina's hair bun.

Meliza sat in The Makai's outdoor café, quietly enjoying her brunch, which consisted of scrambled eggs, hash browns, toast and a tall glass of orange juice. She was dressed very nicely, wearing a blue v-neck sleeveless shirt, white pants and matching heeled sandals. Her white blazer was carefully draped behind her on her chair.

The young business woman smiled as three children raced in front of her in the direction of the pool, their parents not far behind. The Makai had already attracted quite a handful of tourists that sought a good time away from the busy resorts in Honolulu and Waikiki. And that was exactly what The Makai had to offer. It was strategically located between Waikiki and Maunalua Bay, on the south of Oahu Island, in what used to be private grounds of those who had originally built the hotel there. It was distant enough from big-city riots and yet close enough to civilization for those who loved the adventurous nightlife of the Hawaiian capital.

"Ms. Rinaldo!" Erica waved excitedly, as she hurried towards Meliza, reminding the latter of the meeting she had to attend to in a few hours.

"Good morning, Erica." Meliza said smiling at her event manager, before taking one last sip of her orange juice and pushing her now empty plate aside.

"I've assembled a few things for the meeting we have today with the company representatives. I have also finalized every detail for the welcoming party the night before the tournament begins. It should be very exciting, I'm sure they will like it." Erica said, pulling up a chair and handing Meliza a simple manila folder.

Meliza nodded as she opened the folder, eyeing its contents. Erica continued.

"We will be meeting with representatives from the Kanzuki Zaibatsu, Umbrella Pharmaceuticals and Iris Corporation."

"Iris? How odd, I've never heard of them." Meliza said, looking up from the papers and raising a skeptical eyebrow.

Erica shrugged. "Me neither. A new company, perhaps? A start-up corporation will definitely benefit from an event like this."

"Maybe." Meliza said, looking down at the papers again. "What about Mr. Masters? We'll he be attending?"

"Mr. Masters already expressed his agreement to all the contracts. He will be arriving in about three weeks, after the San Francisco preliminaries."

"Very well, looks like we're all set." Meliza said smiling again, and returning the folder to Erica.

Suddenly startled by the ringing of her cell phone, Meliza reached into her purse retrieving the phone from it and smiling slightly as she recognized the caller's name.

"I have to take this call, Erica. Meet you inside in a few minutes?"

"Of course, I'll go check if the conference room is ready." Erica said, before standing up from her seat and making her way through the café and into The Makai.

Meliza abandoned her seat, taking with her the white blazer and handbag, and smiling widely as she pushed a button on her phone and pressed it against her ear.

"Hi. I wasn't expecting you to call so early." Meliza said, still smiling.

"Keep your eyes open Meliza. I have a bad feeling about this tournament you're hosting." The voice on the other side of the line wasn't as welcoming as she would have hoped, making Meliza grimace somewhat at her boyfriend's stern statement.

"Not even a hello?" She said playfully, trying to lighten the mood. "You know I can take care of myself. Besides, it's perfectly fine. I'm quite acquainted with one of the sponsors."

"Just be careful." The man who was now known as Devlin demanded.

"I will. I miss you." Meliza admitted, now making her way around the pool and facing the splashing waves of the beach that lay behind her resort.

"I miss you too. I'll call you tonight." He said briefly before the line went dead.

Meliza sighed as she put her cell phone inside her small white bag, and stared at the ocean a bit more, inwardly hoping and *knowing* that Locke had nothing to worry about. It was only a harmless competition and excitement was already building up inside of her, since she was sure that friends she had not seen in a long time where going to be there.

Two medium-size speedboats cut through the waves, not far from the beach resort's shore. Meliza shielded her eyes from the sun, eyeing the two vessels for an instant. No suspicion arose in her mind; except for the slight worry the boats might be a danger to any of The Makai's guests that were currently enjoying the seawater.

She didn't give it much thought though, and almost as soon as the concern had slipped into her, she dismissed it and slowly made her way into The Makai. She did not notice the peculiar "Umbrella" emblems that adorned the sides of each vessel.

******************

SOMEWHERE IN SOUTHERN TOKYO

It took nearly all of Jin's resolve to prevent him dashing up the stairs leading to the front door of his apartment. Pulling out and using his keycard, Jin slowly opened the door, coolly slipped inside and silently closed the door behind him.

The first thing to reach his senses was the lingering, almost tasteful scent of sakura, gently tickling his nose and fleetingly soothing his mind. It was also a scent his mien carried in her long, cascading hair. Prevailing that, however, is the second thing that one of Jin's senses registers, it being the numerous collection of animal cages located around his originally Spartan living room, serving as a living testament of the freedom and advantages Natalie took reign over when it came to his apartment.

Taking out his headphones - the sound that emanates from it now is a distinctive, hip-hop one - it's then that the final thing his senses detects come into effect: his cat, Baka-neko, as he calls it, brushing against and past his right leg, followed afterwards by Natalie's voice...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Natalie stepped out of the shower and towel-dried her body, unable to help glancing again at those ugly scars in the full-length mirror on the bathroom wall. She shrugged though, appearance didn't matter all that much to her. In fact, one of the few feminine things she did was use was some perfume or scented body lotion like the one she applied to her skin now. Cherry blossom, or rather sakura, to match the scent of the shampoo she used. Just as she wrapped her bathrobe around herself and began to brush her hair, a certain cat decided to spring up and tangle himself in said hair.

"OWW! You furry little bastard! Get out of my hair!!!"

After a minute of wrestling the feisty, playful cat out of her un-combed locks, he finally got the picture and let go, hitting the floor with a bow of his back and a disgruntled hiss.

"BAKA-NEKO!!" she yelled as the cat skipped out of the room.

She sighed and towelled her hair nearly dry, brushing the tangles from her incredibly long waves of hair, muttering small insults about her troublesome cat. Oh well, she'd forgive him quickly and he probably knew it. Getting dressed in a pair of very baggy black jeans and a grey tank top that clung to her body, she walked out of the bathroom door and stops upon reaching the living room, her gaze locked on the figure standing just inside the door.

"...Jin?"

For a moment she was almost too shocked to move. He hadn't told her he'd be home so soon! Of course, this was soon rectified as she nearly ran to him and wrapped him in a tight hug. He returned the embrace with the sort of relief that anyone might have when returning home after such a long trip. What was intended by both to be a relatively short kiss of greeting turned out to be longer than planned, or at least until Baka-neko attached himself not so gently to Jin's leg...

When Jin winced and muttered a curse, Natalie sighed and knelt to pry the cat off, who promptly hopped onto her shoulder and began purring.

"Damn cat," she muttered, "I think he's jealous..."

"Well, isn't he always?" came the reply as Jin reached out to gently pet its head. Although Jin and the cat got on rather well, in spite of the name he gave to it, there was no denying the near-protective nature it often held towards Natalie at times. Speaking of jealous animals made Jin realize how few animals actually occupied the cages spread here and there throughout the rooms. Other than Baka-neko, there weren't any animals running rampant through the apartment either. Jin blinked; this was the least amount of animals he'd ever come home to since Natalie moved in.

"We seem to be running low on roommates, Nat. You feeling okay?"

As Jin eyed her with a slightly raised brow, Natalie blinked and ran a hand through her damp hair, "Yeah, well... I was sorta planning a small trip... so I only kept the ones that could do fine on their own for a while..."

"A trip?"

"Yeah..." she walked to the couch and sat down and Jin followed. "Well... you remember Iwa Hoshi, right?"

The look on Jin's face clearly gave a resounding 'No'.

"The Essence of Nature?"

"Oh right, that one," The image of a Chinese woman, short in appearance, with a round face and shoulder-length hair held back by a blue headband soon trickled into his thoughts. When he and Natalie had first met, he had been assigned to actually hunt down Iwa along with the other Essences. While he and Astaroth were successful in capturing Iwa and a couple of others, a change of fate had the pair returning back to rescue them. Thinking on that, he wasn't quite sure what it would be like encountering Iwa along with those he'd once considered his enemies again... but things had changed since then. From the troubled look he was now seeing in his fiancée's eyes, they may have changed drastically.

"What about her?"

"I saw her two weeks ago..."

********************

PACIFIC HEIGHTS. SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. U.S.A.

Dropping her large duffle bag on the sidewalk, and a tad more gently placing her suitcase beside it, Victoria stepped out of the taxicab and briefly placed her eyes on the huge mansion in front of her. The driver eyed her curiously, as she turned towards him digging some money out of her wallet and handing it to him. With a warm smile, the young Hispanic woman thanked the driver just before he waved and drove off.

Victoria zipped up her red jacket, shielding herself from California's cool spring breeze. Having been living in the Caribbean for the last couple of years was enough to make her tingle because of the local weather.

She picked up her belongings and walked to the front door, not hesitating to ring the bell. Looking down at her digital watch, Victoria failed to see the curious blue eye that was staring at her from the peephole. The door slid open soon after.

Victoria didn't even have time to flinch, when two very strong fists aimed themselves at her midsection. She reacted accordingly however, moving casually to the side without even the need of releasing her luggage.

A small grin crept into her face as she watched the attacker miss his target and stumble past her on the steps outside the door. The attacker then turned around and launched himself at Victoria again. This time Victoria did not bother moving, and simply grinned again as the attacker wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Victoria!!"

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Masters." Victoria glanced down as little Mel Masters released her from his quick embrace and began throwing a few light jabs aimed at her abdomen. Victoria didn't seem to feel them. She did notice, however, the small red gi the child was wearing, almost identical to the one that had become his father's trademark. How adorable... she thought.

"Looks like someone's been practicing." Victoria said as she nodded a hello to a maid who had appeared to assist her with her bags.

"Come on! Dad's downstairs at the gym practicin'!" The little boy said, his blonde hair bouncing about, as he pulled Victoria's arm and lead her downstairs.

Once in Ken's large basement gym, Victoria witnessed as the Shotokan warrior threw his student, Sean, over his shoulder, the latter landing forcefully on his back on the blue mat that covered the floor.

"Mom, Dad! Victoria's here!" Mel ran off to his mother, Eliza, who waved at the younger woman after setting a tray with a couple of lemonades on a small table.

Mrs. Masters walked over to greet Victoria, followed by Ken, who stepped over a stunned Sean that was still lying on the mat.

"Hey there kid..." He said, ruffling Victoria's hair, "It's nice to see you again."

Victoria's brow twitched a little after being called kid, but she smiled nonetheless, amidst her now messed up hairdo.

"Same. I just wish it were under better circumstances," she said shaking Ken's hand as her smile saddened somewhat.

"I heard about what happened to the dojo, but I have no idea what could have gone up over there... who knows, maybe an old rival of the Grandmaster?"

Victoria shrugged.

Meanwhile, Sean had managed to finally get up and was eyeing Victoria very curiously.

"Vic, have you met Sean? " Ken said, smacking his student on the back.

"Sean Matsuda, and it's very, very nice to meet you." Sean shook Victoria's hand gently, who in turn responded by squeezing his fingers hard with a small smirk.

"Nice to meet you too."

"Hmm, I've been debatin' whether or not Sean should be allowed to participate in Champion of Fists but I still dunno if he can cut it..." Ken said changing the subject, causing Matsuda to curse under his breath with slight embarrassment. "Tell you what girl, since I know your not here for chit-chat only, how about you prove to me you got what it takes? Who knows, you might just win over Sean's invitation..."

Sean's eyes widened. Victoria blinked.

"Call it an audition." Ken grinned.

"I'm up for it! What do we do sensei?" Sean said, now grinning and cracking his knuckles. Victoria simply smiled and crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing her would-be opponent briefly.

Ken motioned for the two young fighters to step into the mat, noticing his son's excitement as he hopped around yelling, "fight!"

"Okay guys, here's the rules," Ken announced. "Three points, light contact..." he deliberately took a pause, "...and no ki attacks got it?"

The both of them nodded in agreement, Victoria taking some time to tie her hair up into a ponytail. Some strands refused to comply, though, choosing to dangle against her face instead.

"Alright then," Ken then raised an arm, before dropping it down definitively. "GO!"

Without a second thought, Sean launched into the offensive, hurling out two hand strikes in Victoria's direction. With an equal amount of speed, Enid parried the first strike, leaning backwards to avoid the second before cutting her leg through the air at Sean's head. Crouching slightly, Sean's body slipped under Victoria's leg as he lashed out at his opponent's stationary leg. Victoria let the sweep hit home, yet rather than let herself fall to the mat she arches her body backwards, catching herself with her palms and using the momentum to jack-knife herself into a standing position away from Sean.

By the time she corrected herself Sean was already homing in, leaning forward slightly as his arms suddenly aimed and hooked themselves around Victoria's knees, and tackling her towards the ground. A surprised Victoria becomes even more so as Sean continued the maneuver with a quick roll, ending up in a kneeling position on top of her whilst sending a light, simple jab to her abdomen.

"One," Sean said with a smile, before adding quickly, "I could very easily get used to this position." He soon leapt backwards, and Victoria effortlessly kicked herself upright.

Cute... she thought, allowing herself to smirk at Sean's sly comment, and shifting into a loose defensive stance. ...but you won't get that opportunity again.

Seeing her choice to fall on the defensive Sean zoomed in again, appearing to be trying another Sean Tackle. He's unsuccessful this time, for Victoria at the last minute shoulder-rolled over Sean to end up behind him. The young fighter reacts to his missed technique well, lashing out with a wild back fist while turning back around that merely whiffs through Victoria's hair. Victoria soon lunged forward with an attack at Sean's exposed lower guard. The young student manages to block the elbow launched yet is unable to stop the rising palm strike screaming at his face. Victoria then halted her strike, gently tapping her index finger onto Sean's nose.

"One," she said, noting the brief moment of bewilderment on her sparring opponent's features with a satisfied grin just before he nodded in agreement. The pair began to circle each other, both pair of eyes zoning in on a possible opening in the other's defense.

Having earned the last point, it's Enid who decided to initiate the next assault, rushing forward with a low kick to the shin. At this Sean raised his targeted leg above the blow, continuing to raise it before snapping a heel at Victoria's forehead. Without moving a step Victoria leaned her neck back slightly, feeling the breeze generated by the kick as it brushes past her face. Sean paused the leg in midair, sweeping it back and forth at Victoria to no avail as the latter is subsequently forced to edge backwards. Once again Sean paused his leg in midair, slashing it downwards in an axe-kick almost reminiscent of his mentor but Victoria is able to leap backwards away from it. Before Sean is given enough time to appreciate Victoria's speed, the latter is already closing in with a straight punch.

The punch impacted soundly against Sean's raised guard, and Victoria followed up with another punch only to get the same result. Not to be discouraged, Victoria threw her weight forward to release a short, impressive display of leg strikes in order to test his guard. As she expected, the young warrior blocked the first few and skillfully evaded the rest, widening the distance between them little by little. Still pressing on the offensive, Victoria jumped back and then ran forward to which Sean reacted by rising up his guard again, anticipating another series of leg strikes.

Enid, however, had another idea.

Closing down on her opponent, Victoria suddenly took to the air, with the soles of her sneakers pressing off a surprised Matsuda's still-raised guard as she used the momentum to further push herself up and over him with a smooth grace. The force of Victoria's manoeuvre caused Sean to stagger back slightly and the still-airborne, lithe fighter used that opportunity to twist her body around, darting downwards at Sean's exposed back.

Sean's resiliency caused him to turn around faster than Victoria expected, yet not fast enough to completely stop her attack, much to his chagrin. The collision was quick, Victoria's hands grabbing the upper half of Sean's gi as the pair crashed into the mat, the former taking the full brunt of the impact.

Enid, meanwhile, continued her momentum with a short somersault forward, fully completing the slight variation of her Hammer Jack technique.

"Two," she said with a cute grin. "Toma!" (Take that!)

Sean's only response at this is to slowly and deliberately rise back up into his stance, again nodding at Victoria in agreement.

Didn't expect that move, he admitted to himself. Time to step up my game, now.

With more fervor than used up to this point, Sean exploded forward with two jabs, aiming the first high and the second low. Victoria blocked both and Sean moved onwards with several more punches, increasing in speed behind each one. Infuriatingly to him, Victoria's just too fast, as she eluded each attack by a slim margin, eventually retaliating with an equally fast kick designed to momentarily cut off his forward movement. Shifting outside of the attack slightly, Sean let Enid's foot pass him, loosely locking one arm around her ankle before she had time to withdraw her leg.

With Sean still holding her leg, Enid twisted her body through the air, dragging her other leg with her as it sailed at a curved path, hoping to catch Sean across the jaw. The would-be enziguri completely missed Matsuda, however, who simply leaned back to avoid the blow whilst letting go of his hold. Victoria landed on her palms, and then her side, pushing herself into a side-roll to create some space between her and Matsuda.

Maintaining his offence, Sean pressed on after the rolling Victoria who used her rolling momentum to throw herself off the ground in time to avoid an axe-kick. She's not on her feet for long until an incoming knee drove her a few steps back. Desperately, Victoria threw out a close range jab to the abdomen, only to have her fist deflected by Sean's palm as he stepped in close, a knife-hand heading towards her face.

He stopped just short of impact, gently brushing his finger across Victoria's cheek. "That's two, mami," he uttered, his voice dripping with a deliberate, effective smoothness that causes Victoria to openly return a warm, sweet smile at him.

Both fighters were sweating at this point, a few visible strands of hair stuck onto Enid's face. Time seemed to pass slowly between the pair at this point, but it's not too long until they return to circling each other once more.

Both fighters leapt forward at each other at the same time, forearm meeting forearm and shin crashing into shin with a determined intensity, almost as if their brief moment a few seconds ago didn't occur, save for the casual smile that flashed over Sean's face. Unable to find an opening, they took a leap back before rushing in again, only to gain the same result. Victoria feinted and Sean fell for the bait, shifting the flow of the bout in her favor. As before, Sean opted to evade rather than block the assault, his eyes searching optimistically for some kind of opening. After twisting to the side of another attack he found it, continuing his spin into an elbow at Victoria's left side, sure of his victory.

It came as an unpleasant surprise when, just as his elbow presses itself onto Victoria's jaw - lightly, of course - Sean felt something collide with his lower back, also catching the smile on his opponent's face. They appear to freeze in their positions forever - Sean's elbow touching Victoria's chin; Victoria's heel pressed onto Sean's back - but that period of time shattered when Victoria's face nudged away from the thrust of Sean's elbow, whilst the latter stumbled forward a step in reaction to Enid's roundhouse. Before they had the time to fully discern what had just taken place, Ken's voice broke through the silence.

"Nice," he started, slowly walking over to the pair. "In fact, if I didn't know better I'd think something was going on between you two."

Sean wiped an arm across his brow. "So which one of us got that last point, sensei?" he asked.

Ken gives a casual shrug. "Can't call it. From what I saw, you both hit each other at the same time. So I'm considering it a draw."

"You mean three points each?"

Ken responds to Victoria question with a small nod. He then walked over to a large duffle bag he had on the side and procured from it a small white envelope, tossing it to Victoria who adeptly caught it.

"I think you'd like that. And as for you..." He said, eyeing Sean, "I'm still thinking about it. Come on kiddo, let's go get a snack!" Ken grabbed his young son, tossing him over his shoulder and holding on to him by his little back.

Sean growled slightly at Ken's remark, but Victoria was completely oblivious to this for she was utterly grinning as she pulled a couple of plane tickets to Hawaii from the envelope.

"So, um, Vicky... how about a movie tonight?" Sean said very casually as he slid his arm around Victoria's waist.

The next few seconds were just a blur, for Sean could feel multiple hits on his upper body - not extremely hard, but Victoria made sure he felt them – next thing he knew, he was being tossed over Victoria's shoulder, his back crashing against the mat and his arm being twisted by the small fighter that was now towering him.

"Don't ever call me, Vicky." She said with a grin on her face. Victoria then walked off in the direction Ken and his family had gone.

"Oh and, no thanks!" She said, waving at the Shotokan student that was still lying on the mat.

*********************

GHIRARDELLI SQUARE, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

Iwa Hoshi took a brief moment to inhale the relaxing aroma of her recently brewed coffee. The moment couldn't have been more blissful as she sat outside a small Café facing a fountain with very peculiar looking sculptures. A very small, almost unnoticeable smile crept into the woman's features just as she was about to take a sip of her precious drink when...

"Sqeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Iwa blinked. Not once. Not twice, but thrice at the little annoying squirrel that hopped around her table squeaking very menacingly.

She blinked a fourth time and set her cup down, eyeing the half full bag of nuts she had bought the little critter when she had gotten her coffee.

"That's another five minutes worth of nuts you have there... so what's up?" Iwa said, momentarily raising an eyebrow before finally taking a sip of her drink... only to have another stream of squeaks interrupt her again.

Needless to say, the pair got quite a couple of odd looks from passers-by. It's not everyday you see a woman talking to a squirrel... then again you always see weird things in big cities. Maru the squirrel was seemingly pointing at a certain something or someone on the other side of the fountain and squealing madly in an effort to make his point clear to his companion. Iwa's eyes moved to glance in the direction Maru was pointing, only to smile slightly and then grab a nut and stick it into Maru's mouth in an attempt to stop the critter's wailing.

"Stop whining. Of course I can see him. Why else do you think we're here?"

Maru blinked and continued to devour his food while his human companion finally had a chance to enjoy her hot
coffee.

Meanwhile on the other side of the plaza, Sgt. John Heagy was doing a pretty good job at blending in with the crowd. Dressed in grey cargo pants, a similarly grey shirt with a white T-shirt beneath it and his tan-colored boots pressing harshly against the bricks of the historic plaza, no onlooker would have even imagined that this man carried various forms of weapons and ammunition under his casual looking clothes. Seldom did he take his eyes off his target and his instincts were almost certain that she had not noticed him watching her. Of course, neither was he going to underestimate her abilities, for Iwa was definitely a formidable foe.

John watched as the woman finished her coffee and stood up from her seat, leaving a tip on the table just as the squirrel jumped onto her shoulder. He saw as she picked up her phone, speaking indistinct words into it, and followed her closely as she dispersed into the crowd, staying far enough behind to avoid being spotted.

The duo walked past numerous shops and restaurants, Heagy of course, not noticing any of these as he kept his eyes on Iwa's back, and the former being confident that the latter was unaware someone was hot on her trail.

To his surprise, Iwa decided to walk right into the middle of a small marching band, causing the soldier to briefly lose sight of her. Heagy quickly manoeuvred his way around the group of musicians, his eyes widening slightly when he realized he had lost his target in the crowd of spectators. His eyes then narrowed, as he traced his steps back somewhat, scanning the area quickly. He didn't notice the Chinese woman as she easily slipped behind him, a smirk taking over her features.

A quick sidekick to the middle of the back forced Heagy to stumble a few steps forward, bumping into one or two civilians. He quickly recovered and turned around to face his opponent, only to be greeted by a roundhouse aimed at his face which, without much effort, he evaded by leaning his neck back only centimeters away from where the hit would have impacted.

The crowd moved to circle the two fighters, unsure on what to do. Meanwhile, Iwa had procured several punches aiming them at John's now upraised guard, closing in the distance between them. With a small smile, the short woman ceased her attacks, locking her gaze with John's momentarily and then leaping backwards, somersaulting into a crouching stance, effectively placing a few feet of distance between herself and Heagy.

Iwa took a moment to adjust her earpiece, never taking her eyes off her opponent.

"How convenient..." She pronounced into her headset. "Little Heagy has grown up."

John almost flinched at the word "little". Almost.

In the blink of an eye, Hoshi took the offensive once again, leaping towards Heagy with another barrage of strikes and kicks aimed low. John skilfully evaded all of them however, and surprised Iwa with a quick yet forceful low kick that made its way behind her left knee making her lose balance for a split second. It was enough time, nonetheless, for Heagy to grip her vest and pound his knee into her abdomen.

Iwa retreated a few steps, momentarily holding her midsection. She then darted two quick punches in the direction of Heagy's face. The first one almost hit home, flying by John's cheek with a painful breeze. The second one however, John was able to parry, leaning his body to the side and at the same time taking a hold of Iwa's attacking arm and effortlessly swinging her over his shoulder. The woman grunted slightly as she crashed into the bricks beneath her and yet was unable to hide her smile.

Now as serious as the situation may have been, the onlookers could not help but gasp in amusement as a very defenseless looking squirrel launched itself in the direction of Heagy's head. Its little paws tangled themselves into the short locks of John's spiky black hair. Heagy grimaced, more out of annoyance than anything else and managed to pull the little scratching, biting and walnut tossing critter away from his face and hurl it into the fountain not too far away.

Maru could only screech in terror as it saw the dreaded water fountain draw closer and closer...

Iwa lifted herself up from the ground, ignoring the sound of a small splash behind her.

Heagy eyed the crowd around him for a split second. Catching the attention of such a large group of civilians was dangerous to the completion of the mission. He then turned to Iwa.

"I-I don't want to hurt you Iwa, but if you threaten to jeopardize the mission I will not hesitate to neutralize you." John said bringing his guard back up.

"That's perfect, because I want you to bring it on." She replied with a grin, reaching into a pocket, retrieving a very familiar looking envelope and then tossing it at his feet.

John kneeled to pick it up. He did not have to open it to know what it was, and yet he made the mistake to lower his eyes to examine it. When he lifted his gaze once again, Iwa and her wet little fur ball had disappeared.

***********************

ELSEWHERE...

Enrique Pierantoni forced his eyes away from the airplane window. It had been a long flight and he was only halfway to San Francisco. The FOXHOUND agent had already gone through almost all the reports that were provided to him for his mission. Most of it was boring paperwork, something he dreaded so dearly. Still, some of the details peaked his interest. He had not only gone over practically all the documentation of the research on Umbrella he had performed a couple of years back, but also very detailed information about the other corporations that were supposedly sponsoring the Champion of Fists tournament.

He found no mention of Shadowlaw however, and briefly wondered why Snake would suspect that an organization that had been thought destroyed would have something to do with the tourney.

With a yawn, Riq stuffed all the paperwork into a briefcase and from that same briefcase retrieved a compact disk, which contained the last information he was required to see.

After inserting the CD into his laptop, Riq paused to accept a whiskey shot handed to him by a stewardess. Drinking it with one swift motion, his face contorted only slightly as he felt the burning sensation of the alcohol down his throat. He then proceeded to examine the contents of the disk.

Only more information about the upcoming tournament. Riq yawned again. The locations of the Champion of Fists preliminaries, however, did catch his attention. Coincidentally, the preliminaries in Tokyo were to begin tomorrow and just as Snake had indicated, the preliminaries in San Francisco were to begin in a little over a week simultaneously with the events in Hong Kong.

He closed that file, after memorizing the dates and locations of all the preliminaries that were to be held around the world in the coming weeks, before the main event in Hawaii.

The next file Riq opened contained information about tournament participants, such as their nationalities and brief overviews of their fighting styles. The information that FOXHOUND had been able to acquire was obviously only of those fighters that had either already registered for the preliminaries or had been directly invited to the final event. He skimmed down the list of names, recognizing one or two.

Pierantoni immediately stopped scrolling down, the breath in his lungs halting for a very small moment when he saw Victoria's name under the fighters who had been invited. Cursing softly, he motioned for the stewardess to fetch him another shot of whiskey.

*********************

TOKYO

Natalie stood at the end of the bed re-packing the duffle bag that Freckle had half un-packed for her. Jin, sitting on the edge of the bed, looked over the flyer advertising the tournament. Well, it looked like he'd be taking up Fei's offer after all. After Natalie's fight tomorrow - which he was sure she'd win - they'd be competing in the tournament together.

Jin gave a small smile as he realized the possibility of them actually facing each other, depending on the competition and how things were set up. At least this time it would be on much better terms. He did somewhat regret the fact they'd have so little time at home before they left, but Hawaii was a great place to spend the weeks remaining before the official Champion of Fists tournament, as well as the duration of the tournament.

Looking back at Natalie as she pried Baka-neko's claws out of a pair of socks she was trying to pack, he noted how quiet her demeanour had become since telling him of her suspicions. He trusted her intuition enough, but still suspected she was letting herself get dragged down a bit too much.

"So it's in Hawaii this time? That's convenient."

She looked at him curiously, "Why's that?"

"Well, I figured you could do with a tan," he responded, before casually moving to the side just as a pair of socks struck the area where his head had been.