A thin layer of sweat gleaned on both female combatants. Seven minutes of hit-and-dodge fighting had passed, with both Sakura and Natalie landing solid hits one on the other. Natalie, or "Mien" as she was announced, had scored the more than twice the number of hits, but the force behind Sakura's blows made up for the difference. Shotokan relied more heavily upon power than speed, and though Sakura was fast, Natalie was the faster. Likewise, Natalie's reliance upon both speed and her lower body's strength left her at a disadvantage when forced to use punches, and so many of her hits hadn't managed to slow Sakura down as much as she'd hoped.

Currently both were taking a brief reprieve to stare each other down.

She's stronger than she was in the previous tournament... and much tougher... If I don't do something different soon I may lose my ticket into this thing... Natalie thought as she bounced lightly on her feet, her hands forming fists level with her hips. Using her Neo Shift dash technique, she attempted an unsuccessful leg-sweep followed by a rising roundhouse that connected and knocked Sakura a couple of feet to the left. The attack connected successfully simply because while Sakura was still in mid-air, she couldn't dodge...

DAMMIT she's fast!! Sakura had an instant to think as she reeled slightly, leaving her open to the following Fire Raid attack as Natalie jumped high in another roundhouse, then upon landing launched a blurring set of kicks to Sakura's prone mid-section, ending with a powerful spinning back kick to the stomach. Of course, with all the media attention the was already getting, Natalie refrained from using any chi energy in her attack, making it less flashy but also a little weaker than it would have been.

Another mistake was that once Sakura hit the ground, Natalie did not press the attack and waited for her opponent to get up. Sakura stood quickly, more so than Natalie hoped she would, though clutching her abdomen with one hand. A slow smile spread on Saky's features.

"You're good. I've never seen you before, though... and I can't tell what style you're using..." she said aloud.

Mien simply shifted slightly in her stance, "Thank you. My style is my own, and I don't often enter tournaments..."

"Well, you're not gonna get a chance to enter this one either!" Sakura said. Natalie barely had time to put up her guard as Sakura dashed forward and launched into a Hurricane Kick. Three strikes hit home, the other two were barely blocked and Natalie managed to stop the attack by grabbing Sakura's foot as the attack neared its end. She was about to throw the Shotokan fighter to the ground when she noticed the girl cupping her hands to one side...

"HADOKEN!"

Natalie growled slightly as she was hit by the powerful chi attack, though thankfully it was as it would have been if Sakura had found more time to charge it. Natalie was knocked back forcefully and let go of Saky's leg, now finding herself flat on her back, her chest and upper abdomen stinging and partially numb. She opened her eyes just in time to see Sakura standing a few feet away, her hands cupped once again, and this time she was preparing to launch a much more powerful attack as soon as Nat stood.

Aww, piss on it, Natalie thought as Sakura launched the Hadoken. She had just enough time to stand and negate the force of the energy with a fire projectile of her own, though it was a little too close for comfort. As soon as she launched her energy she followed it, Neo Shifting seemingly through both powers as they collided and catching a surprised Sakura in the chest with an elbow strike, throwing one palm forward and preparing to unleash her Neo Blast attack on the stunned Sakura. Sakura recovered quickly enough, and was about to launch her own assault in the form of a Shoryuken when both heard one of the judges yell, "STOP!"

Each froze, eyes a little wide at the shock of the interruption. They turned their heads, both still in position to attack, and looked at the judges. Karin Kanzuki was the one who stood and spoke, smirking, "As great a show as that was... your time limit is up! Ho ho ho ho!!"

As she giggled at the exasperation on their faces, both fighters turned momentarily to stare at each other, slowly relaxing out of their aggressive positions.

"So... who wins?" Sakura asked, still eyeing Natalie.

Karin hmmed and pretended to stroke her chin, "Well... that's really up to the judges. They'll decide who was better based on points and skill, though it might be a while before they make their decision. At least they should have an answer by the end of the next fight... which coincidentally is the last."

"Mien" sighed softly and stretched, wincing as one shoulder and two vertebrae in her back popped, "Guess we have to wait then," she extended her hand, "Good fight."

Sakura grinned slightly shaking her opponent's hand, "Yeah, it was. We'll have to finish it one day."

Natalie smirked, "Maybe... though not in front of so many cameras."

"You were holding back." It was more a statement than a question on Sakura's part.

"So were you," Natalie answered.

"Not so much as you. I'm used to it all... and you'd think that YOU might be used to attracting lots of attention with those clothes and that hair..."

Natalie laughed, "Wish I were."

Sakura hummed and tilted her head to one side, "'beautiful flame' huh? So what's your real name?"

Natalie shook her head, "Maybe later... if you make it into the tournament."

"Right... you know I won, don't you?" Sakura said with a grin as Mien turned to hop off the platform.

"Not likely!" the answer was shouted back over one shoulder. Sakura grinned again and hopped off the other side, also ignoring the steps since a fighter she recognized as Sodom waited there for his match.

Everyone was still looking for his opponent to show. Nobody knew that he was tied up in a bathroom two miles away. Under his mask, Sodom grinned. Little did he know that a match could not be won by default in the case of a no-show...

*-*-*-*-*

All's well that ends well, so they say. And so far, as Natalie sat in one of Tokyo's finest restaurants and stuffed her face without a care for manners or money, things seemed to be going pretty well. She had an invitation in one pocket and a plane ticket in the other. Four sets of tickets and documents had been awarded, and partially thanks to Sodom's misfortune, both she and Sakura had been awarded places in the upcoming tourney. Sodom, however, would have to fly to San Francisco if he wanted another chance at entering the game.

She, Jin, Sakura, E. Honda, Dan, Karin and a few other people -probably Karin's acquaintances- sat at a large table in a restaurant called the White Orchid. She had heard it was one of the hardest restaurants to even get into, reservations had to be made months in advance. Yet here they were, a group of about ten in their own private dining room with no advance notice whatsoever. The Kanzuki family definitely had some nice connections. Working on her second porterhouse steak, Natalie again eyed the expensive gold leafing on the chairs and table, as well as the matching luxury around them. Naturally, she still ate as if she were at a good old-fashioned southern Bar-B-Q. Good thing that she was surrounded by mostly fighters who lacked in manners just as much as she did. Dan pretended to know how to do this or that with whichever utensil but only managed to look silly. E. Honda ate with a small amount of grace but managed to still keep the waiters on their feet. Karin was more interested in talk than eating and Sakura just couldn't seem to care about how the napkin was supposed to lay in one's lap, just so long as it kept the sauce from her rack of lamb off her own rack.

They'd all had time to go shower and change clothes for dinner, though Natalie and Sakura hadn't worn anything much more dressy than their fighting clothes had been. Dan wore a mauve suit that looked at least two decades old and Honda, well... it's kinda hard to find a suit to fit a sumo of his size, so he wore a simple t-shirt and shorts. They were an odd looking group, Natalie thought. Karin, her friends, and Jin all looked pretty normal at least. It was still hard for Nat to keep from giggling at the way a few rich snoots had spilled things on themselves or given a "Good gracious me!! How'd she get in here?" when they had been led past the main dining area to this room. It made Natalie glad she had added that black eye-shadow and blood-red lipstick before coming here. Sakura had actually talked her into it.

She and Sakura had hit it off pretty well after the fight. Both found they had similarities in other things, if not taste in clothing. Each enjoyed outdoor activities, many not normally suited to girls, both enjoyed challenges and each had a sense of humor that was more than a little dirty. As he sat and ate his meal quietly, Jin noted these things. He'd heard them cracking jokes in the back of the limo that had escorted them here.

"Nice to see you're making friends that don't have fur or tails..." he remarked casually, neglecting the food on his plate. Natalie had almost refused the invitation to dinner until Karin had told her he could come along. Which meant that she wouldn't have to cook for him later. Too bad, really, hers would have been better...

She paused in her conversation with Sakura about the disgusting nature of caviar to reply to his statement, "I happen to have lots of human friends, thank you!"

As Jin huffed at his fiancée, Dan leaned in, apparently listening in on the conversation, "So you're an animal lover?"

Natalie chuckled, "You could say that..."

Jin huffed quietly again, "Or you could say that she's absolutely obsessed with them."

E. Honda chuckled, joining in as well, "Well, at least she's a healthy eater! If she keeps it up she might put on enough muscle to throw a man your size through a brick wall!"

Natalie grinned cutely at the sumo champion. In a way, she was sort of like a small furry animal. Adorable and playful one moment, possibly psychotic the next. Jin probably should have thought a little more on that before he spoke next, "She probably wouldn't have to do that if she does keep this up..."

Natalie eyed him as he poked at his food and said the rest under his breath, "All she'll have to do is sit on me."

Somehow her fork managed to miss her plate and lightly stab his hand on the table. Biting his lip to hold back a small curse, Jin chose not to comment on her eating habits for the rest of the night.

*-*-*-*-*

After dinner, Natalie and Jin had politely refused further invitations by the others to hang out/get drunk/go clubbing and what not. They had a precious few hours to rest at home before the long flight tomorrow, and Nat apparently had more to pack or buy. Presently she held Jin's hand and tugged him along the crowded sidewalk. It was nearly nine p.m., but it was always crowded in Japan's capitol city. Since their apartment was only a few blocks away, they'd opted to walk rather than take public transportation.

"Ow, watch the hand," Jin complained as Natalie squeezed a little too hard on the hand she had "injured" earlier. She rolled her eyes, "Come on, I didn't even break the skin!"

"I still can't believe you stabbed me with a fork."

She turned to him and walked backwards for a few feet while talking, successfully evading other pedestrians, "Oh come on, it's not even red! I'll kiss it better when we get home."

At that, Jin smirked, "In that case, you should've stabbed me somewhere else."

He caught the light punch she sent at him and added with a grin, "Like my face. Get your mind out of the gutter..."

Turning a bit red, Natalie huffed at him, "If my mind's in the gutter then it's because YOU put it there!"

"No.. I found it there. It was surprisingly filthy by the time I came along," Jin replied, chuckling at his fiancée when she couldn't think of anything to come back with and just tugged him along the way again at a brisk pace. She knew he was fairly correct. Sweet and innocent as she may have appeared, Natalie had always had a very dirty sense of humor. And to have one of those, one also needed a dirty mind.

Natalie kept glancing at her watch and walking a bit faster, obviously having given up on any sort of come-back. Normally when they were out at night, Nat would drag him to this or that store to window-shop, or look at some neat plant, bird or bug. Tonight she seemed quite in a hurry to go somewhere specific...

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see! Hurry up before it closes!" she replied, nearly running down the sidewalk with him in tow. Being slightly behind her, Jin couldn't see the evil grin that appeared on her face as she thought of a way to get back at him while finishing her shopping. Jin was still perplexed when she stopped in front of a store that had lots of frilly, pastel colored clothing on fat mannequins in the windows. Then he realized they weren't simply fat... they were at a maternity store. Jin blinked once, twice, thrice...

"Um... Nat, is there something you should be telling me?"

She turned to him with a huge, and somewhat mischievous grin, her hands still clamped onto his forearm. "Yup! I'm going to be a mommy!!"

If his eyes had gotten any wider, they'd have tumbled right out of his skull.

"How the f-"

He didn't get to finish his question as she dragged him into the store.

***

Okay, she had told him she'd be a mom. She did not say until they got back to the apartment that her "baby" was a three pound cat. Under normal circumstances, he'd have figured out her little joke much sooner, but that whole "kid" bit threw his mind for a loop that lasted half an hour.

"That was mean," Jin said as he watched Natalie adjust her outfit that she planned to wear for the flight tomorrow, whilst he sat at the mini-bar that separated the living room from the dining area and poured himself a very well-deserved shot of sake. She only grinned at him as she smoothed the front of her black maternity shirt over the giant guinea pig play-ball strapped over her stomach.

"How else am I going to get Freckle through customs? I can't let them impound him for a whole month. I thought it was pretty creative, myself. "

"Creative, yes, but very, VERY mean."

Another grin. "Maybe..."

"I'm going to get you back, you know that, right?" Jin said as he gave her a small glare over his glass. Freckle lightly batted at his shoelaces, aparently oblivious to the fact that Natalie planned to imprison him in the play-ball the next day.

"You might, but I don't think you could do anything that would top the look on your face while we were shopping..." Natalie mused as she tugged the outfit off, satisfied that it would work. Underneath she wore a plain white tank top and a pair of gray jogging shorts, her usual bed-clothes. Of course, the outfit wasn't quite complete until she slipped her feet into her over-stuffed froggy slippers that used to squeak before Jin broke the squeakers in them. Folding the shirt and setting it on the arm of the sofa in the pile of stuff to wear the next day, she glanced at her semi-sulking boyfriend, who sat staring at her with a half-frown as he poured himself another shot.

"Oh come on," she said, smirking as she carried her pile of stuff to the bedroom, "Are you going to sit there and plot against me all night?"

It was his turn to grin, "That depends on whether or not you plan on making it up to me."

He could imagine her rolling her eyes as she replied from the bedroom, "Excuse me, but I actually had to EARN my ticket to Hawaii today, and I believe I deserved a little fun at your expense. And while I'm on the subject of things at your expense, I believe you have a lot of romantic pampering to catch up on..."

"You're right. So come in here and make me some dinner, the food at the restaurant was crappy."

He grinned as he caught the pillow that was hurled toward his head, downed the remainder of the sake in his glass, and strode to the bedroom to return her pillow. He found her with her back to him as she turned down the covers, and waited until she turned to face him before he used the pillow to hit her with enough force to knock her back onto the bed, "Here's your pillow back..."

"Grrr... Cheater!!"

*-*-*-*-*
Hong Kong, in a museum...

In one of few famous museums in Hong Kong, there was going to be an exhibition of the relic of the students of The Buddha. Some workers could be seen in the main room that would have the relic; preparing showcases, setting up alarms, and arranging some furniture for the opening of the exhibition. The preparation for the exhibition was a special case as there were going to be numerous international guests.

The relic that was going to be exhibited was lent by the Vietnam government as part of its around-the-world exhibition. It had visited neighboring countries of Vietnam such as Cambodia, Korea, Thailand, and many more. In a couple of days, Hong Kong would have its turn.

Currently, the relic was stored in a special safety box in the museum's director's office. Adding the security with a couple of high class special agents, its safety could be ensured against most threats.

Most...
 

The threat that came for the relic was in form of a person, a man. He was an expert assassin working for a very high class crime organization. Known for his stealth, deadly skills, and vanity, the assassin's name was Vega.

That night, he came to the museum under the command of his lord, M. Bison to steal the relic. The purpose of having the relic was not known to Vega, but he knew it was important for his master; more so, he had failed the first try of getting the relic by using the service of a treasure hunter months ago in Vietnam. Now he had the chance to redeem his mistake and he would surely not waste this chance.

The Spanish ninja skulked about the silent and deserted corridor of the museum toward the director's office. The carpeted floor could be of help as it would dispel his footsteps, but it would also mean extra effort for his awareness of his surroundings.

However, through a few days surveying the museum and especially this area, he knew the security movement from the top of his head, and he knew that this was the best time to get the relic.

He crept silently along the corridor and when he was near the left turn to the director's office, he stopped and peeked at the corridor. As usual, a couple of special agents were posted in front of the office. He smiled under the cold expression of his mask. Too easy, he thought.

He needed, however, a distraction to occupy the guards' mind just for a couple of seconds as gunshots or shouts would shorten his chance to get the relic. The distance from where he stood to the first guard was about twenty meters. He took out a small device and pressed a button, then threw it into the corridor of the director's office. The device hit the wall, making a sound that attracted the guards' attention. The guards pulled their respective firearms and got ready.

One of the guards, the one nearer to the device carefully walked toward it. He looked at the thing and slowly crouched to pick it up. When he got the device on his palm and was examining it, the device suddenly opened up and sprayed gas on him.

It was the cue for Vega to move. With a nearly inhuman speed, he ran and leapt over the first guard. The second guard did not even have the chance to look at his attacker before he felt the sole of Vega's shoe making an impact on his face. As the second guard was down, Vega already moved to the first guard.

The first guard only had a chance to turn before he felt like being hit by a block of cement on his head and silently slipped into the darkness.

"Fools, you're no match of my skills and beauty," said Vega.

He unlocked the office door and then pulled in the two downed guards into the office. The professional assassin then moved to the farthest corner of the room. He removed the certificate hanged on the wall, revealing a hidden safety box. He examined the box's security lock and smiled inwardly. This thing gave more challenge than those two guards out there, he thought. He pulled out a few devices and began to work on the safety box.

***

Unknown to Vega, four important persons were still in the museum, one was the director, and the other three were guests. They consisted of two females and a male. One of the females was still in her early twenties, while the other was in her mid-twenties. The male seemed to be in his forties.

The youngest of the women was a professional singer called Linda Cath. She and her manager, Daniel Lo, and secretary, Saeko, were invited by the director of the museum to talk about making a performance in the opening day of the exhibition. The director wanted some performances like singing and dancing and Cath was offered to sing a couple of religious songs in the opening day.

The quartet walked toward the office while chatting quite happily about the coming up exhibition. When they were entered the corridor to the office, the director was surprised to see that no guards were seen in front of his office.

"That's strange." Said the director.

"What is it?" asked Daniel.

"There should be a couple of guards here. It seems that they've become too relax with the relic's security, I'll have a talk with the supervisor about it." said the director. He unlocked the door of his office and pushed the it inward.

He turned the lights on and they were shocked to see the two guards on the floor. "Oh no!" he exclaimed. The director quickly moved to the corner of his room and found that the certificate was still in place, but he needed to check on the relic anyway.

Cath knelt down beside the guards to check their vital signs. "They are still alive." She said. "Saeko, can you get the security here..." She never finished her words as suddenly the door was slammed shut.

They turned to see someone was blocking the door. A tall and blonde man wearing a cold and cruel _expression mask stood before the door. He had long claws fixed on his right hand and wore blue pants with red cloth as the belt and a pair of brown leather shoes. His hair was long and braided in a way that reminded Cath of a snake.

"Who are you?" Asked Cath as she stood up and Daniel and Saeko moved backwards slowly.

"Such a beauty." said Vega. "But I have no time for this." He pointed his claws at the director and said. "If you wish no harm for yourself or them, kindly open the safe and give the relic to me."

The director already opened two out of three locks on the safe. He shakily inserted the key to open the last lock. When he opened the safe door, a beautiful box ornamented with pearls and other sorts of jewelry could be seen in the middle of the safe. The director carefully took the box out and held it out to Vega.

"Place it on the table and open it," instructed Vega.

The director obediently set the box on the table and opened the lid. A brilliant golden light shone from inside the box, signifying the authenticity of the relic inside it.

"Close the box again." Said Vega and the director complied.

Vega took a step forward and was about to take the box when suddenly he sensed a movement from his left. He raised his left hand to block the incoming attack, but the attack that came at him; he was not prepared for it.

Linda Cath, who silently appraised the situation waited for a chance to attack. When Vega was about to take the box, she dashed forward, but rather than launching a punch or kick, she attacked with her voice. Using the combination of her chi and the natural talent she had, her voice, she created a note that could stun her opponent for a few seconds.

The attack, called Siren, hit Vega fully, causing the Spanish ninja to not able to move for a couple of seconds, enough for the female warrior rushed in a punch and followed with a kick, slamming the assassin to the wall.

"Get out of here!" ordered Cath to her friends.

The trio did not have to be told twice. They quickly dashed out the office. Vega recovered rather quickly. He swiped his claw at Cath who quickly ducked under the attack and launched a swiping kick.

The Spanish assassin somersaulted and landed on the desk. He used his claw to retrieve the box containing the relic. He expertly caught the box and tucked it under his belt while evading Cath's kick.

He landed behind Cath, close to the door. Cath turned to face her opponent. She could sense that he was smiling under the mask, though there was no fun or warmth shining from his eyes. Instead, she could feel insanity and cruelty from them.

"I am surprised. Not many beautiful doves like you have such skill." said Vega.

"Never judge a book by its cover, a wise man once said." Linda retorted.

"True. But you'll never win against me, Miss Linda Cath." said Vega. Seeing her surprised look, he laughed. "You think I do not know who you are? Really, you have a beautiful face and voice that I really hate to ruin, but unfortunately, these events dictated otherwise."

"You can try, psycho." Cath challenged.

Vega started with swiping his claws, but Cath evaded the attack by somersaulting backward and landed behind the desk. She lifted the executive chair and threw it at Vega who casually dodged the flying object. He dashed in and somersaulted forward by grabbing the edge of the desk. Instead of landing, he attempted a kick that Cath evaded successfully.

The kick was followed with another claw swipe, which Cath evaded by stepping backward, and another swipe that tore a part of the black tank top covering her belly.

Yikes, thought Cath, as she moved toward the center of the office. Luckily the claw did not hurt her at all. She looked up at Vega. "This is one of my favorites!"

Ignoring her comment, Vega gave chase. He launched a jump kick with such a speed that Cath barely managed to block. The attack pushed her outside the office and painfully bumped on the wall. She evaded a kick meant to crush her head by rolling then stood up with a backward leap. She tore her black skirt on the side to be able to move more freely. Next, she took off her black leather jacket and rolled it around her left arm.

Vega dashed forward then slid at the last possible second, attempting to knock Cath off the ground, but Cath leapt forward and landed gracefully. When Vega was up, she unleashed one of her special techniques called Sonic Spin. She performed a jumping spinning kick and a crescent-shaped projectile dashed toward Vega. Vega leapt above the projectile and managed to land a kick on Cath's shoulder, sending her flying a couple of meters backward and landing with a thud on the floor.

Dammit, thought Cath. She rolled under Vega's next attack and launched her anti-air attack "Tensho Kyaku!" The attack however, was easily evaded by Vega. He leapt and caught Cath on her waist then flipped and slammed her on the floor. "Aargh!" shouted Cath painfully as she bounced away after being slammed.

She stood up shakily and blood could be seen rolling down from the corner of her lips. He's so fast. At least as fast as Li-cie, if not faster, thought Cath as she wiped the blood.

Vega dashed in again, but in his sense of victory, he was not aware of his opponent building up her chi for... A super fast kick hit which stunned him and then followed with another barrage of kicks filled with chi aimed at various points of his body. Vega felt like being rained with a steel hammer. The kick was so fast, even faster than the time that he was attacked by Chun Li when he was assigned to kill her years ago. The last kick hit him fully on his chest and sent him to the wall.

When her super technique, Blaze and Fury was done, she was so out of breath. She knelt on the carpeted floor, trying to regain her breath and energy. She saw Vega stood up and felt like her head had been hit with a sack of bricks. Oh, sh*t!

Vega closed in and kicked Cath hard on her chest. She flew backwards a couple of meters and landed very painfully. Her body refused to listen to the command from her brain as she hardly even had energy to maintain her consciousness. Vega walked slowly and stood near her, his mask was crushed, revealing a handsome face marred by hatred and a slight scar on his cheek, a courtesy from past battles.

"You've caused a lot of trouble for me, lady. I would like to play with your body a little bit more, however, time only permits me to grant you a quick but bloody death." He raised his claw to strike.

Cath closed her eyes when Vega stroke, she did not see a body protecting her from the incoming claw. She felt, however, the weight of it and warm liquid splattered on her face. She opened her eyes and was in horror when she saw Saeko, her best friend and secretary on top of her. She could see the bloody claws protruded from Saeko's shoulder. Blood dripped from the blade and trickled on her body and face.

Vega pulled his claws in disgust and kicked Saeko aside. He licked his claws. "Now there are no more intruders..."

Disgust, anger, and hatred filled up Cath's heart as her eyes gazed at the psychotic assassin. She gathered every ounce of her energy she could muster and released it in form of a chi-filled scream. The technique called Banshee Howl blasted Vega off of his feet and his brain felt like being drilled all over the place. He felt another bone-crushing kick on his chest that sent him flying back onto the wall he was thrown before.

Cath quickly moved to her friend's side to check on Saeko's vital signs. Her life was not threatened yet but, if her wounds were not attended, she might lose her life. She turned to Vega, but he was already gone, no doubt that he calculated that if Saeko was there, there would be security officers and other special agents coming. He was in no condition to fight that many people, even with his marvelous skills. The fight with the fighter/singer had damaged him a lot.

Cath quickly attended her friend's wounds. She was so dizzy from her own wounds that she was hardly conscious when helped had arrived. She was not able to fight the tiredness and quickly slipped into the unconsciousness.
 
 

*-*-*-*-*
Egypt, at a hotel room...
 

Ming woke up from his sleep and stepped down from the bed, being careful not to disturb the pretty and naked creature under the blanket. He moved toward the window and looked out at the beautiful night view of the city.

He thought of his mission when he came to Egypt. He had the files needed to help him with his mission. When he first arrived in Egypt, he took only about half a day to scout around and find the person needed to get information on Shadowlaw. He had found El 'Diablo' Pablo in a bar in town.

From there, he had a little disguise and 'accidentally' picked a fight with some local punks. After that, he went to the bar where Pablo was in hope that he could use the fight to get acquainted with the grave robber. The plan had gone quite smoothly and the two had become 'friends'.

To Pablo, he passed himself as a tourist that was on a holiday and wanted to visit pyramids and the Sphinx. He carefully brought up the subject of Atenakhen and quite clearly impressed the grave robber. He hoped to fish out some information regarding the new pyramid excavated by Shadowlaw, but apparently Pablo's mouth was as tight as a needle hole.

The two had gone for night entertainment: gambling, drinking, fighting, and whoring. Tonight he got himself a beautiful brown-haired woman under his blanket thanks to Pablo. Pablo seemed to be able to get beautiful girls on his hands quite easily.

The brown-haired woman stirred and reached out to find no one at her side. She opened her eyes and looked up to Ming who stood silently looking out to the window. She stepped down from the bed, ignoring her nakedness and walked toward the treasure hunter. As she got closer, Ming turned around.

"Hey, what are you doing? Why are you not in the bed?" She asked with a tempting smile.

Ming looked at her beautiful naked body and unconsciously grinned. "Nothing, just thinking and it seems that my effort was rewarded handsomely or should I say, curvedly?"

The woman looked a bit confused but then laughed. "You naughty man..." She exclaimed and playfully slapped Ming on his arm.

She closed in and Ming could feel her warm and soft skin. He hugged her softly and kissed her lips passionately. When their lips parted, she said. "Well, have you done enough thinking? If yes, maybe we could get back under the blanket and you can teach me one or two things like you said earlier."

Ming grinned. "Well I wouldn't disappoint an eager student like you, Miss Juli." The two of them giggled and quickly slipped back under the blanket.

***

The next day, Ming and Juli went to see Pablo and his girl. They'd promised to meet up at the edge the town to travel into the dessert to see the Sphinx and the new pyramid that Pablo had promised to show to Ming.

Ming was dressed as a tourist in his white loosely worn shirt, a white hat, a pair of white jeans, and a pair of white and grey sneakers. Juli dressed very nicely in a flowery long dress, a light blue hat, and a pair of white sandals.

The two of them arrived at the meeting point by taxi. Pablo was not seen anywhere, so they waited on a café nearby. Around eleven o'clock, Juli excused herself to buy something and asked Ming to wait for Pablo, just in case if he came shortly.

Ming agreed to wait, so Juli went to shop. She turned at the corner of the café and not a minute later, Ming heard her scream calling his disguise name. He quickly stood and ran after her. He went around the corner and saw Juli on the ground being held down by four big men.

He quickly dispatched one man with a kick to the abdomen and another with a punch on the face. The other two gave only a slight fight before being brought down with a side kick each.

Ming quickly attended to Juli. He knelt down and held her. "You okay, Juli?" He did not hear her answer and suddenly he felt two stinging sensations on his back. "What the?" He turned around to see Pablo holding a gun with a silencer. He felt an odd tiredness sensation and knew that he was shot with tranquilizer.

"Relax, we ain't gonna kill you, Charlie Wen, or should I say, Ming?" said Pablo, grinning evilly.

Ming was going to answer but he found that he could not speak as his consciousness was slowly fading. He had already slipped into the darkness before arriving successfully to the ground.

Juli got up and dusted herself. She took out a communicator and said "Target, Ming, apprehended."
 

*-*-*-*-*
Tokyo, that morning...
 

Jin couldn't help but stare a bit as Natalie dropped the bottom half of her maternity shirt over the sulking feline held captive in the plastic ball strapped around her middle. Oddly enough, Freckle hadn't put up much of a fight, but he obviously was not a happy kitty, with his ears pressed flat against his head and the occasional growl emanating from Nat's stomach. At least he seemed quiet after a few moments. Jin wasn't sure how his girlfriend might explain her tummy meowing.

Natalie happened to look up and catch him staring, "What??"

"You just look weird like that."

She grinned, "You're just paranoid. I bet you're one of those guys who gets sick watching a birth video."

"They have videos of that??" He sounded pretty disgusted. Natalie only laughed and went to the bedroom to make sure she wasn't leaving anything. Jin shook his head and carefully laid his Murasame katana and his grandfather's kodachi into the large, false-image suitcase Natalie had "acquired" for him. One of these days he was going to ask her what other neat gadgets she discovered during her time as an agent. He probably wouldn't need his weapons, but it was better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

Natalie walked into the living room with her carry-on over one shoulder, smiling in her unnervingly perky manner. "Ready?"

"Ok, who else are you bringing?" Jin asked in a flat, knowing tone. Natalie pretended to look confused, and did not exactly do a stellar job of it, "Huh?"

Jin sighed and pointed to her chest, "They're twice as big and lop-sided now, and that one is moving. Kinda hard not to notice when it looks like something is about to jump out of your girlfriend's shirt. Now which finger-biter are you trying to sneak past me?"

Natalie frowned and her bottom lip poked out as she fished around in her shirt, pulling out a fat White's tree frog and showing it to him, "I couldn't find anyone to leave Happy with, so he has to come with me."

Jin eyed her with a knowing glare, motioning with his fingers for her to show him who else she planned to bring along, "Happy is not that big..."

Natalie's frown turned into a scowl as she set Happy on Jin's outstretched hand and dug around in her shirt again, pulling out a Tokay gecko, which immediately hissed at Jin upon seeing him.

"Keep 'em coming."

With an over-dramatic sigh and a roll of her eyes, Nat kept going til she pulled out two anoles, a hermit crab, a Pac-man frog and a baby chipmunk. Jin simply stared at her for a long moment, mouth slightly gaping, "Don't some of these things eat each other??"

"I told them to behave. They'll be good."

Jin thought for a moment, "What about when they have to go to the bathroom??"

Natalie grinned and extended a leg slightly, showing her many pockets on the baggy black jeans she wore. She was still holding all the critters minus the tree frog, who still sat upon Jin's hand with that silly looking "grin" its species was known for, "I have food and kitty litter in zipper bags in my pockets. None of the reptiles have been fed since day before yesterday, the crab will sleep all day and the chipmunk is nestled in a plastic-lined mini-nest. The rest of the spaces are filled with tissue so they don't move too much or look all lumpy."

Jin could just imagine all the bad scenarios that could occur at the airport or in the plane. Handing Happy back to her, Jin picked up their luggage and headed for the door to put them in the taxi, "I swear you're the weirdest person in the world," he said over his shoulder. Natalie only grinned, carefully arranging the pets back in her clothing and making sure that this time she wasn't so lop-sided.

She couldn't help but giggle softly, "I guess it's a good thing he didn't check Rosie's cage! Huh Rosie?"

The large Rose-Hair tarantula simply stayed nestled between her breasts, curled into a tight ball while sleeping...

*-*-*-*-*
Meanwhile, at The Makai...
 

"They're arriving WHEN??" Meliza nearly shouted into her cell phone, then immediately quieted her voice as a few of her employees stared at her in the kitchen. She was trying to decide on a few new items to add to the menu when Erica called her.

"I'm sorry, there was a mix up with the arrival times. Most of the guests won't arrive until next week at the earliest, but at least 5 are arriving today from the Tokyo preliminary matches. I'm reaaaaally sorry boss! The schedule I received had a mis-print about the dates for the fights..." Erica said in an apologetic voice. Meliza sighed.

"It's ok... when are they arriving again?"

"Around 2 p.m."

"Dammit. Notify the transportation service. At least everything else is pretty much in order... all but assigning the rooms. It could be worse I guess..."

With that the young businesswoman clicked the "end" button on her cell phone and went about her task of making sure everything would be perfect when the first fighters arrived. She was right, of course. Things could always be worse...

*-*-*-*-*
Two miles off the coast of The Makai's private beach, in Umbrella's newest bio-genetics research facility...

Two men sat in a small, dark room watching the combatants on the video monitor, which was the only other thing in the room aside from the chairs they sat in. The room itself looked cold, sinister in the dim light cast from the screen. The two men occupying the room seemed even less wholesome. One wore a white lab coat and a slightly crazed, sinister smile. He was bald on top with a fringe of hair around the back and sides of his head, and he was pale, as if he'd never even seen the Hawaiian sun. The other man was completely bald, wore a fine black suit and a look of cool apathy, "These two are the best of this particular bunch?"

"Oh yes," the scientist replied, "The one with the short hair is a relatively known street fighter, Sakura Kasugano. The other goes by the alias of Mien, though her passport gives the name Natalie O'Fallon. We believe that is also an alias, though we have no leads on any previous records as of yet. Probably hiding from the U. S. government, though I could find no one on the list who matched the description..."

"What makes these two better candidates than the two men?" the man in the suit asked in a cold, bored tone.

The scientist smiled, "Their age, for one thing. Their bodies will regenerate at a much higher rate, and may be much more adaptable to the T-virus, or any of its new counterparts. Under thirty is what we are looking for, unless a particularly wonderful specimen were the case. Less important, but interesting to note is that their bodies - and minds - seem to deviate slightly from the typical female, without losing the advantages that a female warrior might have. Slightly broader shoulders, stronger bones and joints, and well-developed muscle structure, which could easily be made even more powerful. These two girls are not soft and supple; they are machines, seemingly built for combat! And for these changes they have not sacrificed any speed or maneuverability! This surveillance also shows that, likely thanks to already being fighters, they do not have the hesitation of the typical female, which had been Alice's only major failure in the beginning stages of the Nemesis project."

"Why are you so keen on looking for female test subjects?"

The scientist grinned, "As powerful as the male body is, it cannot adapt as readily to change as the female body can. Pregnancy is one example. The menstrual cycle is another. Severe hormonal changes take place monthly in a woman, and only once in a typical man. Though it may be difficult to find another Alice, I believe our best chance would be a female, whose body is more willing to adapt to change. However... if we were to find a male with the ability to adapt in such a way, or who could at least be made to transform without dying, that in itself would be magnificent..."

The man with the suit finished his thought, "Because if we find at least one male and one female, we could breed out the flaws..."

"And produce the perfect army with our accelerated growth program!" The scientist was nearly beaming.

The stern man nodded, "Very well then, monitor them. For now we can do nothing but wait. I will inform Mr. Bison that the first possible subjects are being considered."

With those words he exited the room, leaving the scientist to his twisted thoughts.

*-*-*-*-*

Rose woke with a start, a thin layer of sweat glistening on her nearly naked body. She sat up and turned on her bedside lamp. She glanced at the clock and noticed it was eight a.m. Normally, she would never get up so early, but with such nightmares she could not sleep. Not bothering to open the heavy drapes that kept the light of the sun out of her luxurious bedroom, Rose got up and sat at the small table that held her deck of tarot cards. She began pulling them out, one by one, until they spelled for her an ominous message.

"Darkness is building. A great danger is coming from all sides to crush the world..." she breathed as sweat beaded on her forehead, causing deep lavender tresses to stick to her forehead. "Life. Rebirth. Change... so much change. And an unnatural life born of something evil..."

She flipped another card and took a deep, shaking breath.

"Death. One who was dead lives again. One who is dying clings tightly to a dark hope... and one," her brow furrowed slightly, "One who was forgotten shall soon return?"
 

***

The scruffy looking man in the filthy Hawaiian shirt sat dejectedly on the park bench. He listened with a soft, sad sigh to the grumble of his own stomach and wished that the hot dog vendor had not been sick that day. Oh well... he'd have to walk the two hundred meters across the small park to the other vendor to steel one of his less-tasty franks. No easy task on a stomach that had been empty since night before last...

Running a tired hand through somewhat tangled, wavy locks, the man who would be Aaron Volpe pushed himself to a standing position and proceeded to drag himself along. Then a piece of paper blew into his face...

He caught it and read it, "Oy, what's this?"

Hmm, something about some silly fighting tournament, a trip to Hawaii and some prize money. He crumpled the paper up and threw it over his shoulder...

Then scrambled to pick it back up again. Money?? For beating the @#%$ out of people??

"Huzzah!!! Where do I sign??" he asked aloud to no one in particular. The fine print on the bottom of the page answered him. All he had to do was hitch-hike to San Fransisco, knock a few people down and he'd have donut money for life! Okay, maybe not for life. But for a very loooong time.

Finding more strength than he realized he had, he ran by the hot dog stand, snagged one from the vendor's hand and kept going...