The crow has flown away:
Swaying in the evening sun,
A leafless tree.
--Soseki

Ah, the product of four years of research and labor is finally coming to fruition! Vega breathed deeply and gave a self-satisfied sigh. He could not keep a broad grin from spreading across his face. None who saw that grin, however, could share the dark lord’s happiness, for the grin was far too wide, too self-assured--the fang-like canines too noticeable; too, in a word, evil.

Vega cared not how others thought, so long as they feared and obeyed him. It was power that concerned Vega--his own, which he carefully cultivated and fiercely defended, and that of others, which he actively sought and recruited. His drug cartel of years back, before it was toppled, was merely a source of revenue and the drugs were secondary to what they brought him--power. His horde of militia were but a means of keeping that power. He revived the Street Fighter tournament solely to discover and recruit talent.

But his grandiose plans all crumbled four years ago with three words: Shun Goku Satsu.

Vega was facing the finalist, Ryu, waiting for the match to commence, when it happened. Those words were all he heard as he did not even see his attacker. But he knew who had killed him--only one man in all the world had mastered that forbidden technique, an art whose secrets even Vega hesitated to delve into fully.

In truth, however, Vega knew that his downfall was caused by his own arrogance. Too certain of his own power, he had invited the very best fighters from around the world to fight in his tournament and ultimately to face him. A United States Special Forces officer sporting a bad hairdo who fought with a style that Vega never thought he would see again after eliminating his partner; an Interpol agent from China who dogged him for the murder of her father; a slip of a British girl whom he thought he had under his thumb; a cocky American street fighter and a Japanese Shotokan master; this motley group of warriors had banded together, defeated Vega’s top fighters, and were not far from overthrowing his tyrannical regime.

So he made a mistake: he should not have himself fought in the tournament. A good general lets others fight his battles, but never enters the fray himself. A small mistake, from which he could no doubt recover and rebuild.

Getting killed certainly did not help improve matters.

But Vega had turned even this rather mild annoyance to his advantage. Even awesome Gouki did not know the true extent to which Vega had developed his Psycho Power.

Immediately after hearing Gouki utter his death sentence, Vega had withdrawn his psyche away from his body, leaving his mortal shell to die from Gouki’s lethal technique. Thus he did not actually feel the shock of death that would have sent his spirit fleeing to the nether realms. He had lingered, watching the ensuing battle between Ryu and Gouki, intending to reoccupy his body after the match. He had watched Ryu and Gouki battle to a draw, for the demon had expended much of his energies in executing the Shun Goku Satsu, and was not able to summon such enormous energy against Ryu.

When all had left the stage--a temple in Thailand, Vega had descended to his body, but saw it flicker and disappear from this dimension. Pursuing it through the ethers of the astral plane, Vega finally reclaimed his body. His frenetic teleportation brought him here, to this alternate universe where mutants ruled.

Even one as powerful as Vega had trouble against the powerful mutants, with their supernatural abilities. But Vega discovered that his own powers were enhanced by the nature of this comic-book universe, where magic and psychic energies--creative energies--flowed more freely than upon his mundane Earth. Still, establishing a foothold was difficult, and rebuilding his criminal empire was a feat impossible for lesser men.

Vega had, for a time, collaborated with a mutant of like mind, who called himself Magneto, but that partnership fell through, as alliances between such strong-willed individuals must. The last he heard of Magneto, a telepath whose powers exceeded even Vega’s had drained his mind and left his body a husk.

But Vega had already acquired what he needed from his erstwhile ally--the technology to create the ultimate Shadaloo warrior. Vega had teleported back to his own universe, gathered up his remaining resources in that world, and returned here to start his empire anew.

The top scientists and technicians had joined their efforts in creating the "cybernation" process that would produce Vega’s new "Shadow" warrior. And he had the perfect fighter to use as a guinea pig for the process: Nash, a Special Forces officer who even defeated Vega long ago, after having hunted him down in Venezuela.

After retrieving Nash’s broken and bullet-riddled but, amazingly, still living body from the bottom of the cliff off of which he fell, Vega had kept the body alive and subdued, knowing that to have a fighter of such caliber under his control was an opportunity he could not easily pass up. The cybernation did not in fact take very long--as much of the body was preserved as possible, though vital organs were no longer necessary--only the brain and spinal cord, which were difficult to replicate. The nerves and their components had to be reworked, of course, along with the rest of the body, with cybernetic enhancements, as well as safeguards, to keep the powerful warrior under Vega’s command. But skeletal structure was maintained and muscle tissue merely replaced with synthetic fibers as strong as steel, so that the body would be familiar to the limited consciousness of the warrior’s brain.

The result stood in the arena beneath the throne on which Vega sat. Today, the Shadaloo warrior would be tested, his worth assessed, in a true battle. Vega had captured a defector from his organization and kept him contained, doing grudge work along in the dungeons beneath his headquarters in Thailand.. The brute would be a fitting test for his new warrior.

"Lord Vega, the prisoner has been brought up to the arena. We can begin the battle at any time," an obsequious underling informed him.

"Very well, bring him out," Vega called out.

The portcullis on the side of the arena rose and a massive figure loomed in the hallway beyond. The thick chains on his arms rattled as he slowly stepped out, unused to such open space. He stretched his arms--each one the size and thickness of a well-grown tree trunk, and gave a yawn, as if he had just woken up.

If not for his sheer size, one would be inclined to laugh at the comic figure. His skin was darkly-tanned and his brown mustache joined his sideburns on his face. He sported a yellow mohawk nearly a foot high, but with a conspicuous hole cut out of it, the result of combing his hair with a knife. A flaring vest and tight blue jeans covered his massive physique but barely, and curious, pointy-toed shoes completed his odd ensemble, that of an English hooligan. The prisoner stood still, looking at the mysterious, black-skinned Shadaloo warrior, then up at his captor.

"I hear you have been causing trouble, Birdie," Vega commented, as if to a miscreant child. He rose from his throne and hovered in the air above the arena.

Birdie snorted, "Just having a little fun." He hefted his chained hands to wipe his nose. Ominous red stains on the chains betokened rust, or something far more sinister.

Vega smiled his characteristically-wide grin. "That’s good. I see your labor has kept you in shape. You have a new playmate today." He nodded at his cybernetic warrior.

Birdie turned around to regard Vega’s creation. "This puny little darkie? Haw haw haw! With pleasure!"

The mohawked monstrosity lifted his head and charged at Shadow, head-first.

"One!"

Shadow ducked under the blow.

"Two!" Birdie repeated the attack. He never got to three.

The defense was different this time, as Shadow absorbed the blow, grabbed Birdie, and shifted his weight backwards, flipping his opponent over and into the ground, suplexing him.

Birdie rolled from the throw, trying to dissipate the impact, but came up rubbing a sore shoulder. He studied his opponent more carefully now, but Shadow made no indication of noticing, simply standing there in a guard position.

Birdie thought he caught Shadow off-guard and suddenly charged again.

"One-ow!" The brute ran head-first into a blade of pure energy. Birdie reeled back, stunned, as Shadow, sensing weakness, suddenly shifted to the offensive. He led with a signature overhead chop that parted Birdie’s mohawk, followed through with a hook to the jaw and finished with a flip kick.

"Somersault!"

The kick lashed out with an additional wave of energy that sent Birdie to the ground, skidding. He stood up, head spinning, and hit the floor again as Shadow took his legs out from under him.

Ready to finish the job, Shadow lifted his fists slightly as his eyes flashed. Ching!

"Cross Shadow Blitz!"

The Shadaloo warrior launched a barrage of punches and kicks to Birdie’s midsection, which the giant absorbed with a series of grunts. As Shadow’s momentum died off, Birdie still stood, and grabbed his opponent with two massive arms and slammed his head repeatedly into his immobile target.

The last head-butt sent Shadow flying to the ground, but the unfeeling warrior stood up and dusted himself off, then tugged his vest closer over his chest.

"Hmph!"

Vega looked questioningly at the technicians, who nodded.

"Everything related to his fighting style, including chohatsu [taunting], was retained."

The battle continued, with the smaller, more agile Shadow ducking and weaving around his larger, lumbering opponent, who could seldom land a solid blow. The Shadaloo warrior’s stamina seemed endless, whittling down his opponent, for Birdie’s breath was coming in short rasps.

Shadow’s eyes flashed again. Ching! Birdie noted this and remembered the blitzfire that occurred last time. He was beginning to suspect that his enemy was something more, or perhaps less, than human. And Shadow’s fighting style seemed familiar somehow--resembling that of a fighter in the Alpha circuits many years ago.

The British gangster leaped up just as Shadow unleashed a dozen sonic blades.

"Shadow Break!"

But Birdie had cleared the deadly barrage. As he landed, he wrapped his chain around Shadow and slammed him to the ground, flung him up in the air, then down again, thrashing his opponent. He heard a crack as the warrior’s neck broke and Shadow slipped from the chain.

"Haw haw, so much for that." Birdie guffawed at Vega.

But Shadow stood up, straightened his neck out with a snap, and returned to guard position, battered, but alive. Kind of.

Birdie stared, then growled as he crouched, looking for some weakness. He knew that he had to utterly destroy this creature--what would have killed a normal human being might have no effect upon a cybernetic creation.

Vega again turned to his aide in askance. "He telegraphed that Blitz and the Break too obviously. And the delay-time. Nash never hesitated so much when he was alive."

The technician hastily bowed his apologies as he explained. "Since Shadow is no longer truly alive, he cannot gather chi anymore, so we installed an energy-accumulating device to replace that function. Unfortunately, to unleash the level of power of a Shadow Break, the device takes some time, perhaps half a second, to accumulate the necessary energy. When this happens, his eyes glow."

Vega rumbled deep in his throat, obviously displeased by this flaw in his warrior.

Below, the two combatants were regarding each other warily, circling, each unwilling to make the first, and perhaps final, move.

Birdie saw his opponent move in front of the gate and an idea formed in his normally dull mind.

He dug his heels deep into the dirt ground, then charged forward, head-first, as always.

"Bull Revenger!"

Shadow turned sideways and used his arm to protect his body from the impact of the blow, but Birdie reversed his momentum and threw himself forward again, faster than Shadow could react, then again. All the cybernetic warrior could do was block the head-butts, each attack forcing him back, until he stood right under the portcullis.

With a whoop, Birdie grabbed the lever and threw down the gate.

Shadow retained his military genius despite the transformation and was well-aware of his position. His inhumanly fast mind had already realized Birdie’s tactic before the gangster himself had.

But Shadow had no choice but to block the Bull Revenger--he knew, however, that the move would shift his momentum backward and place him in perfect position to execute his secret technique. He shifted his stance forward, then back again, and, as the portcullis fell, his eyes flashed (Ching!) and in a split-second Shadow rushed forward, his right hand leading.

"Final Mission!"

The gate hit the ground at the same moment Shadow’s rising fist connected with Birdie’s jaw, sending the brute skyward. A flash of light accompanied Shadow’s massive release of energy and everyone observing the fight was blinded by its brilliance.

When their vision cleared, Shadow was standing alone in the arena, calmly readjusting his vest. He waved a hand dismissively.

"Too easy."

Vega looked around. "What happened to Birdie? Where did he go? Did Shadow just disintegrate him?" he demanded.

The technician pointed up, and Vega followed his gaze.

Nothing.

Then, a small dot appeared, growing larger and larger.

Vega’s mouth was wide open as Birdie, already dead, slammed into the ground, his body scorched and bruised almost beyond recognition. The impact practically splattered what remained of the English gangster.

"Do you find the warrior to your satisfaction, Lord Vega?"

The crime lord’s mouth finally snapped shut.

"He is fully under my command."

"Yes, Lord."

Vega nodded mutely. "No other flaws?"

The technician started sweating. "None, except for the, um, flashing eye."

Vega nodded again.

Then smiled.

The technicians gave each other high-fives and shook each other’s hand.

Vega hovered over towards his new warrior as Shadow climbed out of the arena. The Shadaloo Grandmaster admired the cybernetic fighter, noting how Shadow’s wounds were already on the mend.

"GO FORTH! SHOW THE WORLD THE TRUE POWER OF SHADALOO!" he commanded.

His smile widened.

"You can start here. Eliminate these men. They know too much!" Vega waved his arms towards the suddenly silent technicians and scientists.

As he floated away, Vega heard the frenzied, pained cries resulting from Shadow’s handiwork.

Sweet music. The fanfare of his return!