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Shadoloo Overlord Conference, Part Two

Tres convinces Bison that he knows the source of the guerilla attacks against Shadoloo. The overlords vote for an overt act of war.

Several Days Later...

In his dark chamber, the man pulled on his hauberk. He then slid on his chausses. The chainmail of the articles had been recently cleaned and shined. Not a speck of dirt was visible. Over top of these, he pulled on black breeches, and then black boots. The boots had been shined with a dull color so that no light would reflect from them. He took special care to button his shirt so that no crease occurred in the fabric. Every inch of the clothing he now wore had been gone over with a lint brush. That had taken over an hour. Each individual button and cuff-link had likewise been polished with the same zealous care.

He removed the scabbard from the wall. Sliding out the sword, he admired how it gleamed with perfection. One could easily perform surgery only by looking in the reflection on the blade. Returning the sword to the scabbard, he attached it to his belt. And in a single swirling motion, he removed his cloak from the wall and attached it with the chain clasp about his neck.

Upon entering the hallway, a messenger ran headlong into him. The messenger stepped back, off one of the man's boots which was now rather scuffed. The messenger smiled nervously and breathed in for some words to speak. The man stepped over the twitching messenger whose viscera now were splattered on the floor, having been removed with a single downward swipe of a hand. The messenger's words were of no consequence anyway. Nothing could deter him from this course now.

He entered the staging area and immediately turned to face forward. This will be rather like the last time I was there, he thought to himself. How ironic. "Now gentlemen, I hope everyone remembered to go to the bathroom." The thousand revenants and soldiers behind him didn't respond. "Come now, don't be like that."

"I think you're scaring them," Vega said, leaning against the massive staging door in front of the man.

"Now, why would they be scared? This is going to be so much fun."

Rome is Burning

The intrepid heroes traveled to Rome to visit Anton Sargossa. The psychic cardinal might have information on how to defeat an unholy thing like Tres. Sargossa hands the party the sword of a Grail Knight, a sword touched by water from the Holy Grail, and he also gives Alexi some last minute advice on his psychic powers. Meanwhile, the rest of the party kicks it back with Rose who has taken refuge in the Cathedral as it is home to her last supporters. The Cathedral also has the cell where Snapdragon is held and the laboratory where Brother Theo makes his inventions... such as his recent tachyon projector.

Unbeknownst to all, Tres had just been given the greenlight to take an army to assault the hideout of the guerilla psychic force, the one led by Charlemagne, which had been plaguing Shadoloo. However, Tres had incorrectly tracked the location of their hideout...

The Order of the Rose Cathedral was rocked by explosions as the firebombing of the city of Rome commenced. Vega, Balrog, Sagat, and Tres burst inside, some through the walls, looking for the leaders of the guerilla attacks. Instead, they find Rose and Sargossa with the heroes standing between them.

The heroes stand strong against the four generals of Shadoloo (Alexi, Kagero, and Wu prove more than a match for Vega, Sagat, and Balrog)until Tres unleashes the dread power "Fear of the Void Below" which pits one against their own sin and guilt. Gloria makes a timely arrival, having come to petition Rose, and turns the other 3 generals against Tres to provide a distraction for heroes' retreat.

Tres dispatches the severely battered generals with a single counterattack, but the heroes have already fled with his prey. His plot thoroughly foiled and being far too injured to consider pursuit, he simply feeds upon Vega's sins (of which there are many) to regain his strength.

The heroes dispatch one of Bison's killer dolls outside in the streets as they are joined by Roland and Vincent (who is carrying something wrapped under his arm). The party then finds themselves teleported into the audience of Charlemagne. Vincent shouts for someone to attend to Sargossa's mortal stab wounds (received defending Rose from Tres) while adding under his breath, "And keep him the hell away from me."

Charlemagne's eyes brighten as The Lady as he calls Rose appears. Gloria states that the time to attack Shadoloo is now and to gather everyone. Charlemagne asks if the Lady is with them.

Rose: "Shadoloo has gone too far, and I now have nothing left but to face him down in person. I am with you."

Charlemagne: "We leave in two days. We'll meet here again at that time."

Charlemagne to the heroes: "Gloria tells me you are noble warriors. I hope that you will join us. Use caution in speaking of this to others lest our last chance to stop M. Bison is lost."

Several of the heroes having been faced with their worst fears in the thrall of "Fear of the Void Below," it remains to be seen whether having been so affected will be a blessing or a curse. As the heroes undoubtedly begin to plan, Tres laments that there will be no time to corrupt Roy O'Bannon, the only one who resisted his power. It had been so long since he had encountered what he considered a truly noble spirit...

--

Fires in Rome burned out of control, fire stations having been among the targets of the terrorist attack. Revenants with chemical explosives hidden within them had gone off one after another in some of the more flammable areas of the city. Chaos and panic reigned, even after the violence had been quelled.

As that inferno raged on, a trial of another type was reaching its conclusion.

"TIGER UPPERCUT!" Sagat's fist struck M. Bison, knocking the overlord up into the air so that he came crashing down onto the ground on his back. The overlord did not rise again.

Fighters from all over the world were gathered at Mir Granka for this annual one day event, the final deciding match of the Street Fighter tournament. The MC leapt out of his chair and shouted, "And the winner of the this year's tournament is Sagat!"

Sagat raised his arm in victory to the cheers but was he smiling the smile of a victor?

Blackhawk's War　

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Preview of Things to Come

Kagero had received word through her underworld contacts that Lord Blackhawk had turned against Shadoloo and was now being hunted by them with the highest priority. Deciding checking into it could be helpful, Roy led the way to Blackhawk's under construction safehouse which Mr. Sark had revealed when the ex-KGB agent had worked with the party to capture The God of White Death.

The mountain-side had been the site of a recent struggle. A severed arm lay on the ground. It was not the only evidence of carnage. Going further, the limp form of Mr. Sark was pinned to the rocky cave wall by rebar through his shoulders and legs. As Roy investigated the body, Sark startling seemed to come to life again, pitifully yet with the faintest hint of hope gasping, "Roy . . ."　

Prologue to M-Day

Chizuru: "Yes, about Barahime's condition. Well, it is definitely most serious and dire. Still, we have much reason to feel hope. We defeated a true goddess; we are stronger for it. Even if not necessarily making her power our own... that's a good thing, for it was power beyond our comprehension."

Sarah was walking a crosswalk along the short distance back home from the local grocery mart. Alexi was off again on one of his adventures. Some sort of follow-up on Barahime's grave injury. It seemed like a good opportunity to try her hand at making chicken casserole. It was something to surprise Alexi with when he returned. The paper bag she held to her chest was nearly overflowing. She had bought far more vegetables than were needed. Well, her first try might not be a success, she thought with a grin.

Deep in her own thoughts, Sarah never saw the car run the red light at 45 mph. She turned at the last minute to look directly at the driver, some lady with a shocked expression in the process of dropping a cellphone. The low grill of the car smashed into Sarah's knees, shattering every bone in her legs. The grocery bag went flying as Sarah's body sailed over the hood, her head impacting into the driver's side of the windshield. All of Sarah's senses vanished as her head, now mostly gel, crashed through the glass into the steering wheel.

In the blackness, she heard the sound of crying. Someone was yelling out in terror. There was the feel of asphalt on the side of her face. Sarah opened her eyes to see a bent pole which a familiar Mercedes had wrapped itself around. The few people on the street were in a panic. Sarah pulled her limbs up around herself, trembling. Having spilled its contents, her grocery bag was beside her on its side. Someone walked up behind her and put a coat around her shoulders. She ignored a voice asking if she was okay. People spoke in the background about how lucky she was. The car swerved at the last minute to avoid her. Someone else swore that it had hit her.

Sarah stood and walked to the car. The driver's side door had flung open from the impact. The pole was nearly in the middle of the hood. The driver's legs were smashed. Her head had impacted into the steering wheel, re-enacting the position of the hood and the pole. Sarah reached out to touch her as if she could be healed. Then, backed away as the sound of sirens became audible. She trembled for a moment, touching her face. She didn't feel injured.

Sarah grabbed her bag, shoving in the contents, and ran. Voices shouted at her to wait for an ambulance; however, she decided there was nothing EMTs could do for her.
--

Chizuru: "Even in defeat, goddesses are not known for going quietly into the night, often making preparations to ensure that if they can't win, nobody will."

In the back of Barahime's mind, a darker version of herself looked at her, leering.

Barahime: "How did you get out?"

Mirror Self: "The door was left open for me. I'm not alone here you know. There is an intent, a wickedness beyond you or me. It is not a sentience. It is ambition. Yet, it is what saved me. You know I wasn't supposed to survive your defeat of me. We were supposed to become one. Join us. Then we three can all be happy together. Then, you won't be scared of your arm anymore. You'll be strong enough to control it again."

Barahime: "If that door was left open, then I'll shut it a thousand times harder! Only one person controls me and that is me! The rest of you can all just stay in the dark forever!"

Barahime hurled the dark inside her down farther this time, much father, and slammed a door shut it on it, and then another, and then another. She continued to the point of physical exhaustion.

Chizuru: "I still do wonder though... the mystical energy from the captured darkstalkers... what is it good for?"

Blackhawk tried weakly to struggle, bound by wrists and ankles in the center of the metal pentagram. At four points, a crystal pulsed with a sickly light, blue, green, black, and white. Putting an ill glow on his skin.

"Don't struggle, Gabriel," Tres told him. "You're far too drugged to have any strength."

Blackhawk tried to object, but his muscles simply wouldn't comply, not even those used to vocalize. He eyed the black and white gems. Light... Darkness... he thought with concern. What has he done to you?

Tres removed the pendant from around his neck. It glowed an intense red, growing brighter as he moved it towards The Machine. Tres placed Demitri in the one empty spot on the Diabolis Ex Machina.

One could feel the power of the gems begin to interconnect. "How do you feel, my Invisible Man? Oh yes, sorry. That's rhetorical. Or, should I call you the Hollow One? Yes. The Void. That's what you are. You have a unique purpose here, my Doorway."

Blackhawk's face registered fear and confusion.

"It's not that you are necessary to The Machine. It's just a matter of performance." Tres leaned in close. "You're like a magnet to draw them that much quicker." Tres looked down, a thin smile curling at the edges of his lips. "It begins now." He then took several steps back.

A blur began to obscure Blackhawk's chest. Slowly, it moved, swirling. Faster it moved, forming into a vortex. Blackhawk's chest seemed to collapse inward. Inside the vortex and behind him, stars became visible. Also, a swirling emptiness. A powerful invisible stream of Psycho Power flowed out, turning Blackhawk's eyes to pure white.

Tres stood, eyes closed with a smile on his face. He could feel them at the end of the passage, awakening, growing interested. Tangible fear and evil now oozed forth, permeating, warping. Tres basked in the coming end of everything and outstretched his arms to welcome it.

Standing in the Psycho Drive, the glowing blue of Psycho Power flowed into him, causing him to shine with a blinding brilliance. His grin crackled with energy.

Bison to Sagat: "Once this gauge reaches full, take all 100 of my Elite Psycho Guard and kill Tres. There is no need to wait for his betrayal."

Chizuru: "Sorry, I somewhat lost track of where I was. Anyhow... with how fortunate we've all been, you might even manage to convince me that we have angels watching over us."

His hand gently touched the globe. Letting his fingertips gently slide down the Western Hemisphere, "Earth," he said. Yanking his hand back with a flutter of his multilayered, cascading vestments, he set the globe spinning.

"Things are in motion," the lady said with glee, bouncing to his side. Looking up at his eyes, partially hidden by the long golden filaments of hair which seemed to glow with a light of their own.

"Whence the Dark Empire is scattered to the winds, a Kingdom of Light will arise," he said, his every word seeming to possess poetic merit. "Perhaps then, He will forgive what they did to her."

A mechanical whirring behind them signaled that the ancient one's head was raising, perhaps to add words of his own.

Paying no heed to the low grumbling, the Lady bounced forward, pressing herself up against the glass window. "Will that save them?"

"Hope," he said with a honey-tinted tone.

"Hope?" She repeated, and then, smiled down at the blue and white orb reflected in her eyes, ignoring its backdrop of the dark vastness of space.

Chizuru: "But all of this is just conjecture, everything could well be left to chance or coincidence."

Unlocking the door, Sarah entered her dojo home, her hands and face streaked in the dried blood of the dead driver.

She walked as if in a daze, still in shock. Having put away the groceris, she walked upstairs intending to collapse on the bed. Sarah sensed something in the closet. All Chi felt practically tangible to her right now, and there was something unique in a shoebox on a shelf in the closet.

Sarah removed the long knife from the box. Japanese writing on the blade glowed briefly when she touched the handle. "Kaze no Otome," she read. Looking at the writing more closely, it was in an ancient dialect she couldn't read. To ask how she had read it didn't even enter into her mind. Where had Alexi gotten this?

Sarah wandered back into the kitchen and began chopping up carrots with the knife.

Chizuru: "Still, we have weathered the worst of everything. Surely, we shall endure, persevere, and carry on. Let us believe in our strength one more time and be hopeful."

Hiro's sleep was fretful. Hino-sama, no, Bara-chan was keeping him constantly concerned. She had told him of the dark things she was fighting within herself. Still, she had her students who seemed to adore her. In fact, she had finally begun to start acting like a teacher to them during this last week.

And there was that weasel and that new foreign girl to keep her occupied. Hiro had spoken to Hans, who was now alseep in the adjoining room, before going to bed. Hans had told him Bara-chan was surrounded by people who loved and adored her, plus she was strong. Stronger willed than any of them could ever hope to be. She would be fine. She'd beat this, like everything else. Yes, everything was going to be okay.

"Hiro-san", a voice spoke. Hiro opened his eyes to see Bara-chan standing by his bed. She was looking down at him and smiling, dressed in her nightgown.

"Hino-sama," he said, "what can I do for you at this late hour?" His eyes drifted to the knife she held with both hands, poised above his heart.

"You can fight it, Bara," he said, willing himself to look straight into her eyes, and dropping his demeanor of manservant. "It's not stronger than you. Nothing is. You can beat it."

Barahime smiled at him, and Hiro felt a swell of relief. She then plunged the knife straight down with all her strength.

The Future Begins Now