Alexi travels to Peru to learn a new maneuver, the feared Siberian Bear Crusher, from one person he’s not sure he wants to see, the luchador Chilbacan, the man whose plot to challenge and defeat the Mayan gods at the Chaak came crumbling down upon him and nearly destroyed everyone else (if the party hadn’t squashed the gods themselves with the power of Pejaro-Jaguar). See Story, page 4.

Meanwhile, a mysterious man dressed in Catholic attire, calling himself Anton Sargossa, appears to the various party members, asking about the whereabouts of Dan. He appears mere hours apart to everybody, even though each party member is in a different part of the world (including Alexi as he comes down from the mountains of Peru). The party is hesitant to trust this man, though they check up on his business card. He is the top investigator working for the Order of the Rose within the Order of Saint Dominick.

The party runs into a rookie aura user and helps her to track a group of Shadoloo agents. Her boss, Vincent Bellock, looked up the party based on what he’d heard about Dan. While surveying the building, the party runs into Gloria. The party fights Orson Grul, a rather tough Shadoloo boss, Darkk (a dark aura user), and a Revenant Grod (revenants of humans spliced with gorilla DNA).

These agents were transporting Rose to Mri Granka. She had been drugged with something called ephemerol. Rose is stabbed in the throat, but the party calls Anton Sargossa who manages to appear almost instantly. In a demonstration of his power, he Telewarps with Rose (and Kagero) to Rome where a brother in the order heals Rose.

Meanwhile, Vincent interrogates Orson Grul by scanning him, but the Shadoloo loyalty chip in his brain explodes. Also, Bara worries Alexi by telling him that Gloria used powers that killed Shadoloo troops outright.

Then, Anton Sargossa reappears to take Vincent Bellock in for questions regarding abuse of power at the Battle Creek trial. Bellock tries to get the party to aid him, but they simply watch as Sargossa Mentally Arrests Bellock and captures him.

Funeral for a Friend (I totally stole that title from Superman) (Death to Miranda J’hana Part II)

Alexi and Sarah are walking in Sacramento when a shot rings out and a bullet pierces her heart. Before she falls, she makes a silent scream that erases the building (presumably with a sniper) from existenance, like wind blowing sand. As she hits the ground, Dan appears from a swirl of maple leaves and fires a repeating soul spark which Alexi blocks with his body. Pushing his way past Alexi, Dan raises a bonbori up to squash Sarah’s skull, but Alexi’s pleas start to have some affect on Dan. Seeing some merit in Alexi’s reasoning, Dan hesitates, perhaps thinking his soul might be salvagable.

However, gunshots ring out from behind and bullets explode from Dan’s chest. Martin Donner, a New York cop, lowers his machine pistol. As Dan falls to his knees, a statue is dislodged from a building rooftop and the shadow eclipses Dan. Alexi knocks Dan out of the way and examines his injuries. Dan’s dying request is for Alexi to be Gloria’s guardian angel, she may end up on the same path. Dan then shares with Alexi what he has seen and psychically transfers the visions of his dreams to Alexi. Then, he dies in Alexi’s arms.

Miraculously – though covered with blood, Sarah has no visible gunshot wound, only a pink area around the chest. Still, the shock puts her in the hospital for several days. Alexi tries not to worry her about the vanished building and however many people were inside. Also, Alexi investigates the rooftop that the statue fell from. It had to have been pushed by immense strength.

While investigating things like air pirates and the Cult of Yuri, the party encounters a disheveled bum. Vincent Bellock reveals that he was stripped of all his abilities by the Order of the Rose. The group basically takes some gratification in that fact.

While leaving an airport on another adventure, the party recognizes the organizer of the King of Fighters ‘97. They greet him, and Kagero talks to his two adopted daughters, Vanny and Maddy. Though cute, they remind her far too much of younger versions of Vice and Mature, and she thinks back to a dream she had of two entertwining serpents being reborn. The party’s thought is that stranger things have happened.

Tai Chi: The Legend Continues

One of the sifus whom Sarah studied under at the Tai Chi temple/monastery in China comes to stay at her dojo (the one Alexi bought for her with the KOF '96 winnings - the arena he had was destroyed by villains). Though Sarah is instructing Judo, he offers to help because he sensed she was in need of friends. The man is Long Sying Caine (played by David Carradine because the 400 lb gorilla was unavailable).

KOF ‘97 Pregame Party

Thomas Yaeger, of Yaeger Sporting Goods, holds a massive party on his estate with all the KOF fighters, promoters, and appropriate media present. This potential powder keg oddly doesn’t explode. El Referino is introduced (though he basically babysits Vanny and Maddy during the party).

Iori Burns Kusanagi Manor to the Ground and Hospitalizes Saisyu Kusanagi

Because the party told Chizuru they would help her stand against Orochi, the party gets the Kusanagi Sword from the injured Saisyu (in return for him getting a catgirl nurse). Kyo now wants revenge on Iori (this is different, and what Iori wants).

Senate Committee

Roy is asked to lead an investigation into missing funds and personnel resulting from the Guile-led operation against Black Noah. This leads to an abandoned facility in Kansas where ice mysteriously forms trapping the party inside. After escaping, they find tracks of ice skates in the ice. Much of the equipment is labeled with the serial number 63787.

Massacre of the New Moon Village

Acting on Chizuru's request to find the last artifact to help defeat Orochi, the players get the location of a village (from an old Indiana Jones who was touched by the Grail) which may hold the Jade Claw, the Hakkeshu artifact. They arrive in time to see troops slaughtering the villagers with real bullets and chemical bullets which cause insanity followed by death.
Saving less than twenty percent of the villagers (cause most were already dead), the players acquire the Jade Claw. The troop's equipment was labeled with the serial number 63787.

Operation Westworld

A high-ranking Shadoloo officer went on an exotic vacation retreat. The military tells Roy he is to acquire him. Westworld is an island, recreating the old west complete with realistic look and feel armaments (stun setting) of that time period. The only way there is by contacting the people with underworld connections and submarine transport.

After participating in some old west capers, Roy is shot and killed. Well not really, he awakes in an underground lab, being strangled by the whip-like tongue of a creature who was once a man, calling himself Snapdragon. After claiming to be the brother of Rose and shining red lights from his eyes into Roy to probe for Dan's knowledge of entrances into Mri Granka, he is defeated by Lillith and Roy (after Roy promises Lillith some ... energy, that is). Obviously, Snapdragon knows Dan gave someone something before he died; however, he mistakenly believed Roy had it.

The stranger known only as Blondie wakes from a trance with blood running from the eyes. It is Ken, and for some reason, he was there to kill Snapdragon.

Bizarro, I love you, Bizarro

In Sacramento, a bunch of Shadoloo guys are fought and a plot is discovered to blow up the Nanakase Shrine in Japan. Also, a Bizarro version of Barahime appears and then disappears, after causing much destruction and dismay.

Lord Blackhawk and Kyo's Grandfather

Defending the Nanakase Shrine, the player encounter Lord Blackhawk and the grandfather of Kyo Kusanagi (who helps them out). As they leave, Kyo appears to ask his grandfather for training.

Seasons Change with the Scenery, Weaving Canadians in a Tapestry, Won't
You Stop and Remember Me . . . It's a Hazy Spectre of Dan

Alexi is walking the streets of Tokyo when he spots several men in suits dragging Yuki, Kyo's girlfriend, down an alley. Alexi (well, Yuki) gets some unlikely assistance from Iori. Both fighters limp from the fight due to someone on a rooftop playing music which hit atemi points. The black sedan that would have taken her had the license plate 63787.

Looking back, Alexi has a sudden flash of a tarot card in his mind and finally decides to see the man Dan saw.

Yamazaki versus the Flower Shop Girl

Kagero spots Yamazaki holding a suspicious package, loitering around a flower shop. Assuming the worst, they watch him try to ask out the cashier, Chieko Kurumada. She tells him she doesn't like guys who wear all black. Kagero offers to help him out and the rest of the party is dragged along.

He gets all decked out, and she tells him she doesn't like guys with two-toned hair. Failing that, they try again, and fail. Eventually she is abducted by Lord Blackhawk. Yamazaki and the party rescue her, and Yamazaki gets a girlfriend.

Stacked Deck

Alexi goes to see Maximillian Hart and gets a Tarot reading. It mirrors what Dan had drawn, just a slightly different path, but the final cards, the Fool followed by the Tower, remain the same. Alexi voices concerns that Dan's spirit may be living inside him.
Hart tells Alexi that he could bring him some Dark Stalkers in stasis, it would be much appreciated. Hart tells of a place called Midian where he could send those monsters and restore some balance to the world.

The Boiler Room & The Ripper

Roy is called to meet a man with high level Shadoloo information at The Boiler Room in Sacramento. The meeting takes place during dining hours though musical entertainment in the form of Shag Ri La is present. The party notices Gloria enter. However, shortly thereafter armed men reveal themselves and take over, welding all exits shut and injuring several people in the process (Gloria and the contact). They catch a chef trying to call the call out so they shoot him and a mother in front of her child from the start to make a point (though Gloria uses her powers to shift aim non-lethally without him noticing). Then, finding the strongest men (male party members along with Yashiro and Chris), they send them to the basement to dig.

The laboratory of Gerdenheim is discovered behind the wall, complete with a Frankenstein's monster and a cage holding a glowing crystal (a Dark Stalker).

Using telepathy, the party tries formulating a plan. Tensions and tempers are high, but a course of action is eventually decided on. Of particular note, Gloria uses her powers to assume control of the gunmen on the second level who then turn their automatic weapons on each other. The civilians are safely freed and the People's Liberation Army (mercenaries/terrorists) are given to the authorities. In their unconscious state, they are found to have blood running from their eyes. Read the news article for more. The monster and the crystal are taken to Max Hart's mystical shop in Victoria Canada.

A few blocks away, a grisly murder is discovered, what seems like a re-enactment of Jack the Ripper (including a letter sent in the same style and a scalpel left behind dating back to the appropriate time period).

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