"You look troubled, Ryu. What’s wrong?"

The World Warrior glanced up at Ken and continued walking without comment.

The two had been travelling on the rocky path for several hours now, heading eastward, toward what Ken claimed would be Manhattan. Having grown up in New York, Ken was intimately familiar with the lands surrounding that city. As a child of a wealthy family, he was privileged enough to have a private family jet, and made many trips between New York and his homes in other big cities. Ken seemed to recognize the surroundings, the road signs, and highway markers. They were not very far from Manhattan, he claimed--the freak wind had carried them no more than thirty miles outside the city.

Ryu had not been convinced. Somehow, he felt that he and his old friend were more than just thirty miles displaced from their prior location. He, too, had travelled much in his time, especially during the World Warrior circuits. Ryu walked to and from tournaments when he was able, though he was often forced to take a plane for the World Warrior tournaments that were held in places all around the world. Though not as familiar as Ken with the New York area, he was no stranger, either.

But as a consummate warrior and master of Shotokan, Ryu was intimately familiar the world around him and how it interacted with his body, mind, and spirit. He had almost immediately recognized the difference in his chi after that "freak wind" had deposited him here. And the energy that he summoned for that Shinkuu Hadou-ken was unbelievable! Ken’s senses were dulled by a life of easy living, but Ryu’s were sharp and did not betray him.

Except for his sight, of course. And smell, and touch. If this was not the Earth he came from, it was damned close! His normal senses might register nothing out of the ordinary, but his sixth sense, the warrior’s sense, told him that something was wrong.

Ken had stayed quiet during while Ryu pondered his questions and Ken’s. Having known Ryu for over half his life and, more importantly, having trained with him, Ken knew that Ryu was not prone to speaking without having thought first. And as rash and impulsive as Ken was, he appreciated Ryu’s ability to think things through more clearly before acting, a trait that might make Ryu slower than Ken, but in the end, more successful. So he knew now, that Ryu’s thoughts were still on his question, still pondering, making sense of the events around them, and that when Ryu answered, it would not only be to the question he asked, but to the ones that remained unasked.

Finally Ryu replied, "Nothing seems to be wrong, does it, Ken? You look, and you see Manhattan in the distance. You smell, and the air seems like that of any summer’s day. You listen, and you hear the birds call overhead, the chittering of creatures around us. The dirt beneath your feet seems real enough. But what do you feel?"

Ken tried to be as pensive as Ryu but gave up. "I feel hot, tired, and hungry."

"Those are physical sensations, Ken. I meant to ask not what your senses tell you but what they do not tell you. Things that slip past your conscious mind do not go unnoticed deeper down."

"I do have this feeling of dread. But I think that’s caused by those weirdos we met back there."

"And what about the chi that you felt back there?" asked Ryu.

Ken stopped now; a man of action, he could not think clearly while moving, unlike Ryu, who was a man of thought. The power he felt when he fought those superhumans did bother him, but with a course of action planned out and a destination in mind, Ken did not consider the source of his enhanced chi.

"We are not on Earth, Ken, despite what our senses tell us. At least, not on our Earth." Ryu explained. "We have travelled the world many times during the Street Fighter tournaments and have never met anyone like those back there, or felt a source of chi as we now feel."

Ken bit his lip, "It’s kinda hard to believe, Ryu. But you’re right, I feel like that freak wind was a tornado just lifted us up and threw us into Oz."

Ryu smiled. "A tornado, in Manhattan? But that does not invalidate the metaphor."

They continued to walk.

"Did you hear that voice," Ken continued hesitantly, "the one that said something about a tournament?"

Ryu nodded, "I did. But I thought that might have been my own imagination. I’ve done nothing but train and compete all my life. I thought maybe I was starting to see everything as a tournament."

"That woman back there was incredible," Ken remarked. "Uh, I mean her fighting skills," he amended hastily, seeing Ryu raise his eyebrows.

"Yes," Ryu admitted. "As good as any I’ve seen." Aside from her incredible physique, the woman’s technique was nearly flawless. "You nearly lost," he noted.

"Yeah, I guess I got lucky. Er, I mean, I guess I was lucky I won." Ken flushed. "Damn, I can’t help it, she was fine!"

"At least you’re more aware of your subconscious," remarked Ryu wryly.

"There, below us."

Sakura saw them...saw him. Ryu and Ken had been out walking under the sun since their battle that morning. She squinted at them. Now, even though only a few hours from dusk, the summer sun was still fierce and burned her skin.

"Now is your chance," the demonic voice continued. No longer a man’s voice, this one spoke as if from the bowels of the earth, deep and echoing from multiple voices, multiple demons. Gouki walked up behind her, his skin even darker than hers, and so tough that it seemed the skin of a lizard.

Though those who practiced the dark arts were not afraid of sunlight, their skins and souls were burned by its rays. With time and exposure, one’s skin became darkly tanned and tough as leather. The transformation was somewhat painful, but such was irrelevant to most seekers of power. There were those, however, who could not bear the light of the sun, and these slunk off, appearing only at night, their skin pale as ghosts.

Gouki had told Sakura that the sun’s rays were like a purgatory, eliminating mortal weakness and purifying her soul with her body. Sakura was no where near as dark as Gouki, but far darker than most Japanese women. Right now, she looked like a bad case of sunburn, but that was only temporary. She wondered briefly about contracting skin cancer, but dismissed it. A demon succumbing to cancer, indeed!

Her training and progress under her new sensei had been incredible. Being a demon who dwelled simultaneously on multiple planes of existence, Gouki was able to travel the dimensions and bring her to Marvel Earth, as he called it, a universe teeming with chi.

Now was the time to put that training to the test.

Letting Sakura lead, Gouki followed her, managing the difficult and treacherous path down the cliff with the Ashura Warp. They would be upon their victims in the literal blink of an eye.

Ryu felt a tingling sensation in the back of his mind, and though his eyes did not register the two figures who rapidly approached, he could perceive their chi long before they neared.

He was surprised, however, to find Sakura standing beside Gouki when they appeared.

Ken did not recognize the girl, but the demon who had murdered his master Gouken was one who he would never forget.

"Gouki! You’re a dead man!" he cried, and charged. He thought to push the girl aside, but her form shimmered and left only after-images as she warped out of the way. Ken lost his balanced but quickly recovered, delivering a devastating barrage of punches and kicks at Gouki, who retreated freely. The two rapidly diminished into the distance.

Soon, only Sakura and Ryu remained.

"What has he taught you, Sakura?" Ryu asked her quietly.

"If you are referring to Gouki-sama, my master has taught me what you would not!" she replied, eyes burning into his.

"Why? This evil ill-becomes you. This is not who you are."

Her eyes flamed. "This is who I am!" A chill wind emanated from her as she raised her chi, whipping at their hair and the tails of their headbands.

"I am Satsui no Hado Sakura!"