Shing Tao waited patiently in the entrance hall of the dojo, hands clasped behind his back as he surveyed the small room and its occupants with near boredom. This... Master Gen fellow seemed docile enough, but Shing of all people knew that looks could be very, very deceiving. He may not have known much about Shadowlaw, but Shing had heard many years ago about the legendary assassin Gen had once been. It sort of went along with the old saying that still waters run deepest, and as calm and gentle as Gen might appear now, Shing could easily tell that beneath the surface of that visage lay deadly currents of power. Even at such an age, Gen would still be a challenge for even the greatest warriors. Shing Tao, or rather, Shing Venom as he was also known, smiled slightly to himself. He could respect a man like Gen, might even enjoy challenging the old man himself one day... but for now, he had information to gather.

Shing's gaze shifted to Linda who stood fidgeting near the door. The silence was likely uncomfortable for her, as often was the case with young women who are actively social. He could tell by the set of her shoulders and slight musculature of her small frame that she was a fighter, but even more obvious was the fact that fighting was not her main interest. Shing successfully hid the look of disgust that threatened to tug at the corners of his mouth. What a waste of potential power. Rare enough were the true warriors, why someone who could one day amount to something on such level would chase other frivolous pursuits was beyond him. Though it was true that he had his own interests aside from fighting, power was always his main interest and had been for much longer than this girl had been alive. Still... she was pretty to look at...

Just then Ryu and Chun-Li entered the room, both instantly noticing the new face in the room. Shing Tao put on a pleasant smile as Gen introduced him. Chun-Li already looked suspicious of him...

"Ah, it's good that you both are here. This is Mr. Shing Tao... it seems he's had a brush with some old... acquaintances of ours," Gen said quietly. Ryu raised a brow and extended his hand, which Shing took and shook firmly, "Ahh, you must be the famous Ryu who travels the world in search of a challenge, the "world's greatest warrior," so they say..."

Ryu offered a smile, though something in the back of his mind troubled him about this man's presence, "Actually, most of my traveling days are behind me at this point... though I welcome all challenges..."

Shing nodded and turned to Chun-Li, "Ahh, and you... you must be the lovely Chun-Li Xiang, the strongest woman in the world..."

He took her hand and kissed it and she smiled just slightly, politely, "I'm flattered, Mr. Tao, but really I'd rather know why you're here."

His smile widened a bit, "Indeed," he procured the Shadowlaw emblem he had shown to Gen and handed it to Chun-Li, who's expression hardened into a grim visage. Her voice was quiet and thoughtful as she asked, "Where did you get this?"

"Off of a man who... troubled me. I have reason to believe these people are after me, and I'd like to know who they are and why they're doing this. I was told that if anyone were an expert on this organization, it would be you..."

"We had thought they were destroyed... until recently. If they are after you, then you'd best have some protection..." Chun-Li said, leveling an even, serious gaze at Shing. He nodded, "I can take care of myself... although a little help would not be refused. Could you tell me more about them?"

She sighed and gestured to the door she and Ryu had just entered through, "You might as well come and have some tea or something, this will take a little while..."

*-*-*-*-*

Young Mel Masters was still practicing his punches even with a candy bar in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. Victoria smirked, he definitely was his father's son. She, Ken Masters and his wife, Eliza, sat upon the over-stuffed burgundy sofa, chatting and nibbling on the contents of the small tray of fruits and other snacks that rested on the coffee table. Looking around the huge living area, Victoria couldn't help but think that one could probably buy several nice cars with the money it took to furnish just this one room. Her mind was utterly boggled by the thought of how much fun one might have with, say, a Victoria's Secret catalog and all that money...

She snapped out of her brief daydream to continue their conversation, "So... Do you know who has been invited to this thing so far?"

Ken thought about it for a moment, "Well, I know Ryu and Chun-Li both have invitations already. Let's see... Guile, probably Charlie too, Fei Long and a few of the other veteran fighters. As for new blood, most of that is being decided by the preliminary matches."

"I'm aware of the ones taking place here in a week... are there others?"

"Yeah. They start tomorrow in Tokyo, and a week from then in both Hong Kong, simultaneous to the ones held here... You're lucky ya know, most people don't just get one of those envelopes handed to them..." Ken said with a grin, gesturing to her with the water bottle in his hand. Victoria smirked.

"I guess it's good to have friends in high places, you did save me a lot of trouble..."

As if on cue, Sean walked in through the doorway, apparently freshly showered with a clean set of clothing and a towel around his neck, "So um... have you thought about it enough yet??"

Ken rolled his eyes, though he retained his light-hearted grin, "No... I think it might help if maybe you go do... hmm, about seven-hundred and fifty finger push-ups. And then you can clean the pool... the pool guy is slacking and green stuff is growing in it again..."

Sean's eyes widened, "No way!! You've got to be kidding! Come on Master, give me my ticket, please??"

Ken only grinned more, "If you're really ready for this thing, then a few push-ups and a little hard work won't hurt you one bit. Oh.. and while you're at it, blow up the floating mattresses and tubes. They're all deflated now and I think I want to take Mel swimming tomorrow. Maybe by then I'll have had enough time to think."

"God I am such a doormat..." Victoria heard Sean mutter as he stomped away to do as he was told. She couldn't help but giggle. She knew a little about how it was to have your Master dump more than you'd like to do on you. Eliza turned to her, "Victoria, have you made any plans as to where you'll stay the next few days?"

"No.. not really. I just came directly here from the airport..." the young Hispanic woman answered.

"Great! Then you can stay here with us!!" Mel chirped.

Victoria laughed, "I'd love to."

Eliza smiled and Ken gave his usual grin and a wink, "It's settled then!"

***

In a tree just outside the Masters residence, a lone figure crouched on a high branch. Well... "lone" but for the squirrel that gnawed on a walnut while sitting on her head. Iwa looked once again through her binoculars at the small group laughing and chatting in the living room. She sighed a bit, "Of all the luck..."

Was everyone she knew coming to this thing? She hadn't been aware of any plans to draw Victoria into this tournament. Yet, here was her former friend, out for revenge and having utterly no idea what lay ahead.

Well, damn it all.

If it came down to it, Iwa would naturally do as told. Even if it meant fighting an old friend. But she would have liked some warning about this one. Hopping down from her perch and passing Maru another nut as he chirped angrily at her for the disturbance, Iwa proceeded to easily evade the security system and guards to get back off the property.

She would have to look more closely into certain events in the future if she wanted to stay ahead of everything... and everyone.
 

*-*-*-*-*

It was late in the evening when Shing finally took his leave, having all the info he needed. Chun-Li and Ryu saw him of at the door.

"If any more incidents happen, contact us," Chun said.

Shing nodded, "I will. Thank you very much for your assistance, if you need help in the future, I will repay the favor. I will keep in touch," they nodded, and with that he left.

Now, Shing thought to himself, Let us see how professional this Bison and his fellows really are...

Chun-Li sighed, watching him turn the corner just outside the gate and vanish from their view. Ryu turned toward her, "I have a bad feeling about him..."

"Me too, but not much we can do about it without knowing more about him. Either way.. I need a distraction," she mused with a voice as tired as her eyes. Ryu placed a hand upon her back in concern.

"Anything I can do to help?"

And then, she smiled deviously, "Actually... I think so!"

A small sweatdrop appeared on Ryu's forehead as Chun-Li grabbed his hand and proceeded to drag him... somewhere.

***Later that night***
 

Linda Cath sighed softly as she sat upon the bed in the guest room she was staying in. It was one of those annoying evening where one was too tired to do anything and too bored to sleep. She still felt a little guilty over bringing up the subject of Iwa when it upset Li so much. More than that, she had a feeling that the mysterious man named Shing was not exactly wholesome company.
She idly poked at the set of Chinese chess on the night stand. While the dojo itself was traditional, all of the bedrooms -save Gen's- were modern. The guest room she stayed in was small, but well furnished, from the plush throw rug at the end of the bed to the thick quilted comforters and pillows that were piled upon the over-stuffed mattress. Apparently Chun-Li's taste for modern comforts had taken over nearly all of the redecorating. It was a nice room, but Linda still wished for some company. As if on cue, there was a soft knock on the door. Linda looked up, "Come in..."

To her surprise, it was Master Gen who opened the door and stepped just inside, stopping just past the threshold, "Ah, I thought you were awake."

"Oh, hello Master Gen. How did you know?" Linda asked with a small smile.

"Your breathing pattern was of one who was awake and troubled."

Creepy, was the first thing that came to her mind, though she chose not to voice it. Instead she continued to smile and gestured to the chair across from the end of the bed. "I guess I am a little bored... and I didn't think it appropriate to bother Chun tonight..."

"Probably correct. I was hoping you might play a game with me. Are you familiar with Chinese Chess?"

"A little. I don't often have time for games, but I'm willing to learn," she replied. The former assassin smiled and they set the nightstand between them and began playing. They hadn't been playing long when they heard voices from the room adjacent to Linda's... which happened to be Chun's room.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" they heard Ryu question. He was in Li's room this late at night? They must be closer than Linda thought, she realized.

"Yes, I've done this hundreds of times!" they heard Chun-Li answer. Linda's face flushed a tad as she made her next move. Gen did not even blink.

*suqueeeeaaaky squeeeeaaaky squeeeeeeeeeaaaky*

"I'm fairly certain that this thing is way too big."

*bump bump bump*

"Dammit Ryu! We're going to make this work, ok? Just hold it up a minute..."

Linda was quite sure she was the color of a ripe tomato. Gen simply studied the board and made his move. She tried to concentrate... but that was more than a little difficult.

*squeaky squeeeeeaky squeaky bump*

"I'm telling you this isn't going to work, Chun. I mean... look at the size of this thing!"

"*sigh* No... that's not the problem, THIS is too short!"

"Too short??"

"YES! It needs to be at least three inches longer!"

"What am I supposed to do? Go to the store and buy another?"

"No... just... Ugh, we'll MAKE THIS WORK. You just keep that thing up!"

"*huff* Yes ma'am..."

*squeaky-bam-squeaky-bump-squeaky-squeaky-bump-bump-huff-puff*

"Almost... got it..."

*huff puff*

"Hurry up! I don't think I can hold it forever!"

"Just... a little... more..."

*squeaksqueaksqueaksqueaksqueaksqueaksqueak*

"There!! Right there! YES!! PERFECT!! YES YES YES!!!"

*heavy sigh, bam-squeak*

"Finally... gods I thought you'd NEVER get it..."

"I told you we'd make it work."

By this point, Linda could actually feel the heat radiating off of her face as she stared at the board, mortified. Gen simply made his last move and won the game, as calm as ever. She looked up at him, eyed still wide and as he stood to leave he looked at her with a steady gaze and spoke in his even, sage voice, "When one sees a boat rocking upon a still pond, even though the vessel appears empty, it is unwise to disturb it. Likewise when one stays in another's house, it is always prudent to bring earplugs."

The first part she didn't really get. The second was obvious enough. And with that, he took something out of his sleeve and tossed it to her. She caught it and looked up to see him leaving, closing the door with a soft click behind him. She groaned lightly as she looked down at the tiny bag containing the spiffy new ear plugs. There were some things she just did not need to know about her sifu...

***inside Chun's room***

Chun-Li stood upon her bed and admired her newly acquired painting which now hung high over the head-board of her bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, rubbing the stiffness out of his fingers, Ryu eyed the three-foot-by-five-foot monster that his love called a work of art. World champion or no, carrying that thing from the antique store to her room and holding it up for her to position and hang was no picnic. The hanger he'd bought for it was apparently too small, but at least it was up.

"You do realize that thing could fall off and crush you tonight..."

"It'll hold! I think it's very pretty..." she mused, admiring the white dragon that twisted its way across the background of the picture.

"Pretty heavy. I thought pictures were supposed to be light..."

"This one is a one of a kind, the dealer told me. The frame is granite... didn't you notice?"

Just then, the hanger gave way and the picture fell onto the bed, effectively bouncing Chun-Li off to collide with the floor.

"Ow... dammit!"

"I told you so."

"You're going to the store tomorrow to get a bigger thingy."

Ryu sighed, "Yes ma'am..."

*-*-*-*-*
Meanwhile, in Tokyo...

"I thought you were heading out for a drive." Cana murmured as she lightly sipped her tequila at the bar ignoring the lecherous side glances of several men in the room.

"I don't know, something changed my mind." Reno shrugged as he lightly shook the glass of Kamikaze in his hand. "I could have taken it, you know, the bullet."

"I won't take any chances." Cana said simply and caught herself before she could add, 'when its you on the line.'

Reno laughed softly and Cana frowned slightly as several bar patrons glanced their way uneasily. Reno's laugh... always had a hint of madness to it, always. If she hadn't found him three years ago when he had run away for a year... No, she didn't want to think about that.

"I parked your car nearby, why don't we go for that ride you mentioned before..." Cana suggested softly nudging his shoulders.

"Alright..." drinking always managed to mellow Reno out a bit so he agreed without too much of a fuss. "Why did I take a taxi again?"

Cana shrugged, "Beats me." She pulled the keys out of her coat pocket and tossed it side ways to him, he caught it without breaking stride and unlocked the car with a quick beep.

Reno had two passions in life: music and racing. When she had found him three years ago he had been racing down mountains across Japan in illegal street races at night, she suspected it was an over-exaggerated attempt at suicide on his part so she watched him closely whenever he went out for a drive. Though his driving skills were top notch Cana still feared for him, especially after seeing him drive first hand.

The engine of the silver Nissan 350z warmed up quickly and they were already speeding towards the nearest mountain. Cana leaned forward to turn on the MP3 stereo and started playing one of their songs, the one that playing had Fuuma singing. She played the bass and occasionally sang as lead, but Fuuma was the band's lead singer.

Music... she didn't know where the foundation for those skills really came from, but that was a story for another time as Reno reached over to lower the volume a little. Cana looked up at the clouds, the forecasters had said there might be a short heavy storm today and large droplets of water were already beginning to fall.

"There's someone tailing us." Reno said.

Cana glanced briefly at the rear view mirror. The car trailing them was a black Toyota Supra, heavily modded to give off a menacing aura with a faint tinge of red around its front lights. It was a lousy car for tailing someone so its driver obviously wanted to be caught.

Light suddenly flooded their car and Cana braced herself as their car rattled from the impact of their car being rammed into. Reno showed no signs of worry as he deftly spun the car to counter ram the Supra from the side working with only a narrow road. Reno was pissed, he didn't like even a dent on his car, the Supra had probably done a lot worst than a dent.

Looking around now Cana realized that they were already at the mountains and Reno had rammed the Supra against the rails, placing it on the edge of falling off. Reno got out of the car, ignoring the rain, and walked briskly to the left front side of the Supra as a small ball of electricity crackled in his right hand, he hurled it furiously at the black tinted window which exploded in every direction, Cana reached him quickly enough to put up a barrier between them and the shards of glass coming in their direction. The body of a dead man sprawled out, obscuring what was inside. From the looks of things, he had been dead for months already.

A giggle came from the driver's side.

"Oh, very good, Mr. Tseng." a male voice giggled. "I'd thought you'd put me on a merry old chase, but this is fine, makes my job a lot easier."

"Tetsuo." Reno's eyes narrowed. "I never thought I'd hear your girlish voice again."

"How long has it been, Tseng?" the voice giggled. "Well, that doesn't matter now... I've gotten a new... sponsor and they seem very interested in you. They'd prefer you and your girlfriend over there come alive, but if you resist I can bring you both in dead, what I'd prefer."

Something was strange here, Cana realized, that dead man seemed to be looking at her.

"You and a corpse?" Reno laughed.

"Oh, I don't know, you'd be surprised at how much life Taka here still has..." suddenly the dead body started to move! 'Taka' raised its head up and glanced hungrily in their direction before crawling out of the front passenger seat and across the hood of the 350z in their direction. "And he has friends, too. Hehe." Glass exploded outward as three more animated corpses crawled out from the passenger seats and two more from the trunk.

"Feh, zombies." Reno spat, but an evil grin started to cover his face. "Just what I needed to get the stress out of my system."

"Now, now is that any way to talk about those who could have been your brothers and sisters?" Tetsuo's voice chided.

"I don't know, I'd have killed them a lot sooner if I knew they were going to turn out this ugly." Reno said casually as he grabbed 'Taka' by whatever remained of its neck and... crushed it. Reno pulled the skull off from the body, deftly parrying its slow attempts to claw at him. Cana stood back to concentrate on hurling fireballs at its companions. It was difficult in the rain, but still possible as long as the flames were strong enough. "Fragile bunch aren't they? He just lost his head touching a celebrity."

There was an angry silence from the car and finally 'Tetsuo' stepped out. Or whatever had remained of the former mountain racer that Cana last remembered. He wore only a black trench coat with black pants and boots, his body looked sewn together from the parts of many different people with stitches criss-crossing each other.

"You look different." Reno laughed as he tore the zombie in half and went over to help Cana who fending off three of the zombies with two fast approaching. Cana enveloped one completely in flames, it swung its arm in a last ditch effort to take her out but was cremated within seconds. "New haircut?"

"I told them to give me some better reinforcements," Tetsuo growled, "but I guess its better this way, I wanted to be the one to kill you myself." From his coat Tetsuo pulled out a large pump action shotgun and a .45 pistol. Reno's hand pierced the soft rotting flesh of a zombie and curled his hand around its spine as he hurled it at Tetsuo before the former mountain racer could fire off a shot.

"Watch where you point those things, you might hurt yourself." Reno taunted as he jumped high into the air engulfed in electricity as one foot shot out to land on Tetsuo and the zombie. His foot met no resistance from the corpse but Tetsuo only grunted as he staggered up. Reno kicked him across the face and picked up the guns. He tossed the shotgun over to Cana, "Use this to blow their heads off."

Tetsuo managed to recover quicker this time, tackling into Reno who fell back into the ground with a grunt. "It doesn't matter, I wanted to take you out with my own bare hands anyway." Tetsuo snarled as he encircled his hands around Reno's throat. "Don't think your slut will help you now, I made sure one of them was a lot more durable than the rest."

Cana desperately wanted to help Reno, she had taken out all the zombies but one, a female who appeared a lot more solid than the rest had been so far. Cana threw out a pair of Claws at the zombie, her eyes narrowed when the zombie countered her orange flames with green flames.

"Saa, I guess I shouldn't be surprised." Cana shrugged and smiled. "Everyone and their kitchen sink seem to be fighting with fire these days." Swirls of flames licked at her form and an evil smile touched her lips with one eye obscured by her hair. "But can you handle the heat?" Cana leaped high into the air and came down diagonally engulfed in flames, the female zombie blocked high to avoid most of the damage and reached out to grab Cana by the arm and slammed her to the ground.

Cana rolled with the counter easily enough and twisted herself out of the zombie's grip and swept her off her feet in one smooth motion as she got up.

Reno wasn't going to bother to gauge how good a fighter Tetsuo was as his left foot came crashing down on the nape of the golem's neck. He followed up with a side kick to the ribs with was immediately engulfed by electricity as Reno somersaulted hitting Tetsuo's face as well.

Reno didn't stop as he ran forward to grab Tetsuo, but Tetsuo had been waiting for this as his hand lashed out to grab that hand and then the rest of his arm as his knee drove into Reno's shoulder crashing into the ground. Tetsuo followed up relentlessly with stomps to Reno's ribs before Reno managed to roll back in time to lock that leg with his and take Tetsuo down. Holding his shoulder, Reno grinned.

"Better, much better." Reno cackled. "But not good enough." With that said, Reno used his left arm to grab Tetsuo and drove his deeply against the jagged surface of the mountain wall. Reno casually used Tetsuo to wipe the wall before stopping to come back his hair with his fingers in the rain to admire his handiwork as pieces of Tetsuo's flesh and blood clung to the rocky wall.

"Reennooo." Tetsuo moaned as he slowly unstuck himself from the wall, the front of his body in tatters.

"Say my name, bitch! Say my name!" Reno cackled. "I'm Reno Tseng, BITCH!" With that Reno relocated his arm with a painful snap, which only made him laugh harder. "You picked a pretty bad time to mess with me today. I started out pretty pissed and didn't you check the weather? It only makes me stronger." Lightning suddenly engulfed Reno and he held out his right hand as all the electricity running across his body gathered into one bright, shining nexus. "This is the end, we won't be seeing each other again." Reno blurred as he ran his clawed hand through Tetsuo with electricity streaming out everywhere from his hand.

Tetsuo screamed as his body racked in pain as almost as electricity ran through his body. He slowly slid down against the wall. Reno planted his foot against Tetsuo's shoulder.

"Talk, who sent you?" Reno hissed, smiles gone now.

"What are you gonna do? Kill me?" Tetsuo chuckled. "You never really had the stomach for it... you can probably thank your 'father' for that."

"No, I'll keep you alive with the same amount of pain you're feeling now." Reno said slowly. "Killing you wouldn't really bother me, you're already dead anyway I'm just making sure you stay in your grave."

Tetsuo was silent for a moment and Reno suspected the man was trying to die quietly so he injected enough volts of electricity inside him to keep his organs pumping. "Talk or I'll have Cana burn you alive for days."

Cana came up from behind him, the water from the rain sizzling around her. In the back at the cars were the burnt skeletal remains of the female zombie, the hot remains hissing in the rain.

"Umbrella..." Tetsuo whispered. "They told me everything they knew about you and... they were interested. No one's been able to figure out how you and that bitch of yours are able to walk in the first place... That's all I know, now let me die!"

"No, I still have some more questions... I'm a very curious guy..." Reno dug the heel of his shoe deeper into the man's shoulder.

Later, the rain had stopped and the clouds cleared to allow the moon to shine fully. Cana had burned everything: the cars and the zombies. Reno was going to miss the car but he didn't plan on attracting unwanted attention to the zombies. It could be bad for business.

And so the two slowly made their way back down the mountain, he was going to have to get a lot of rest tonight if he was going to play tomorrow night before they leave for the preliminaries of the tournament.

"Hey," Reno said after a period of silence, "I just remembered why I didn't take out the car earlier." They had managed to make it down to the base of the mountain and he hailed a taxi.

"What was it?" Cana asked as they got into the cab.

"I forgot my keys." Reno replied.

*-*-*-*-*
The next day, also in Tokyo
 

"I am soooo going to kick her ass one day..." Sakura mumbled to herself as she adjusted her gloves and glared at the blond Kanzuki heir. While Sakura Kasugano prepared for her fight in the ring, Karin Kanzuki, her "friendly" rival, chatted gleefully with a few reporters. The Kanzuki Zaibatsu was co-sponsoring this new tournament, and though it was still uncertain as to whether or not Karin would compete, everyone knew she'd get a free invitation should she decide to. Most street fighters did... but not Sakura.

Stuck up little...grrrr... Saky thought as she bent and re-tied her track shoes for the second time. She just knew that Karin was the reason she had to bother with a preliminary in the first place. "Someone has to make sure you're not getting rusty!" Karin had told her with a laugh...

Well, at least she wasn't the only one. E. Honda had won a match earlier, and much to everyone's surprise Dan had managed to beat Dee Jay to secure his spot. After her supposed "master" had won his match, Sakura simply couldn't lose...

Of course, looking at her opponent, she could be wrong. The woman standing just outside the ring across from her looked to be the same age as Sakura, perhaps a year or two older, but that was where their similarities in appearance ended. Sakura's opponent - Mien was the name she went by- was a little taller than the young Shotokan fighter. Sakura's hair was short and boyish, Mien's was something out of Lord of the Rings, reaching to mid-way down her thighs and held in a tight braid. Saky wore a simple outfit of blue track shorts and a white tank top over a red sport bra complimented by red fingerless gloves, while Mien looked like a mix between a punk rocker and a goth chick. The braid in her hair was adorned by an equally long black ribbon that wound around it to nearly the tip. She wore a sleeveless, black leather top that laced up on each side and zipped up the middle, with black mesh here and there to vent what might normally be a very uncomfortable outfit. Black netted sleeves started just below her shoulders and ended in a pair of black studded bracers and matching fingerless gloves. Dull gray jeans and gun-metal gray boots completed the outfit, and Sakura thought to herself that the only thing that seemed to be missing would be heavy eye-liner and black or burgundy lipstick...

God, she looks like a friggin' vampire, she thought to herself, adjusting her own gloves. Having a few more moments before the officials would tell them to begin, Sakura went through her stretching routine and noted that her opponent's visage clearly didn't quite match her style of dress...

***

Natalie glanced around the small arena as the crowd began to settle back into their seats, having had an intermission between this fight and the last. Those who managed to have seats anyway, much of the crowd was left to stand. What caught here attention, and worried her the most, were the cameras she had not expected to see.

I really wish I'd have thought to hide my face a bit, she thought. In all honesty, she didn't look forward to explaining her return to anyone who had known her before, and was even less happy with the possibility that her former employers might discover that she was not quite so dead as they had believed. Working for the U.S. government had its perks, but being forced to do other people's dirty work was not exactly her idea of a career...

And she deeply hoped she was not jeopardizing the life she'd built here over simple paranoia.

They were on a large platform that had been set up near a park, and the crowd around them kept growing larger and larger. The judges and sponsors for the tournament sat upon comfortable cushioned chairs in a raised booth that gave them the best view of the fights. Natalie looked around nervously, and finally spotted Jin nudging his way through the crowd only a few feet from the ring, obviously intent on getting a better view. He seemed fairly certain that she would win, but Natalie knew her opponent, even if Sakura didn't know her. Sakura Kasugano, Ryu's number one fan and a teen prodigy when it came to fighting, was no one to simply play with. Staring at Sakura and trying to measure how much she may have improved, Natalie slowly smiled and took her stance as one of the judges stood...

"At least it won't be too easy..." Natalie whispered under her breath.

"BEGIN!"

*-*-*-*-*
 

"Chinatown Flowers, Devlin speaking."

*incoherent chipmunk-like babbling*

"Sooo... you want the roses instead?"

*mumble-chirp-mumble-mumble*

"Okay... so you want red roses and white calla lilies... What about the gladiolas?"

*chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-mumble*

"Right. Cancel those..."

Locke Koh, or Devlin as he now went by, scribbled on his note pad and tried very hard not to break the pen in his hand, whilst the little, teeeeeenie tiny part of his mind that was vocal on an extroverted level chittered away, dammit-dammit-dammit-dammit-dammit-choke-on-a-rose-petal-and-DIE!!!!

Naturally, as was the norm for when those little thoughts came to mind, Devlin locked them away in a small, neat little corner of his brain to be sorted later. Maybe much, much later.

Finishing his conversation with his latest indecisive customer, Locke dropped the phone on the receiver and sighed, briefly massaging his temples. Work plus stress plus more work plus a very trouble-proned girlfriend made for a very, very bad headache.

As is the way of things, the phone rang again as he stood up to go have lunch. With a heavy sigh and a heavier thud he plopped back into his chair and answered in as patient a tone as ever, "Chinatown Flowers..."

"Found out some things I thought you should know."

"Tanaka?"

It was not so odd that his friend would call him. It was odd that he did so without any form of good humor in his greeting. Devlin sighed, "Is this about Meliza?"

"Sorta. Turns out that one of the main sponsors of the tournament -Umbrella pharmaceuticals- has a lab in an undisclosed location near Oahu. Second is that a lot of really strong fighters have been receiving less-than-friendly personal invitations to that tournament. I've heard some bad stuff about Umbrella before, not much that could be proven of course, but still... just thought you might want to tell Meliza."

Another sigh, "I need a vacation..."

"So take one."

"I... can't. Too much work, plus Meliza will think I'm being overprotective."

"So, you were already thinking about going there?"

"Hm?"

"I said take a vacation, I didn't say where."

"Oh, right," Locke fiddles again with the pen and notepad, scribbling little circles in an aimless pattern. "She's probably right. It's probably just a tournament."

"Dev, there's one more thing. That nuclear meltdown that happened in Raccoon City?"

"Yeah?"

"I hear it wasn't really a meltdown. And coincidentally, an Umbrella research facility was there. There's a rumor that security in that facility had been compromised not long before the explosion."

Silence for a few moments, then Devlin, known to only a few as Locke, sighed yet again. "I guess I could use a vacation..."

He could hear from the sound of Tanaka's voice that he was grinning, "We'll take care of things while you're gone. Not like you need to sell too many flowers anyways..."

"Don't screw up my business. Seriously."

Tanaka laughed, "We won't do too bad! Even if we did, a nice long vacation in a tropical place with a hot girlfriend seems more than worth it to me!"

And with that, Tanaka hung up and left Locke alone with his thoughts. And unfortunately, his stress too. That he definitely could have stood to share...