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"Hi, my
name is Rena, I will be your waitress for this afternoon," Rena said as she passed out the menus to her customers.
Nanase
was serving a table nearby and overheard Rena. It's only been two days since Guy, Cody, and Haggar left to search for Jessica,
but she noticed the dramatic change in Rena. All she would really do is mope around just thinking about Guy.
Usually,
when Rena worked, she would have a bright smile on her face whenever she introduced herself to her customers sitting at her
table. Now, that smile was pretty much gone.
'I should talk to her after our shifts end,' Nanase thought with a sigh.
'I don't want her feeling like this for days on end.'
At five o'clock, Rena and Nanase's shifts ended. After getting
into regular clothes, the two women walked outside into the cold streets of Metro City.
"Is everything all right?"
Nanase asked Rena.
Rena sighed loudly and looked up at the cloudy, dark sky. "I know it's been only two days since
Guy left to search for Jessica, but it feels as though he's been missing for weeks. I'm really scared for him. Who knows what
happened or will happen to Guy. I don't know if he's okay, if he's hurt........or even if he's......de......."
Nanase
placed a hand on Rena's shoulder. "Don't think like that! You have to think positive about this. Guy is strong, brave, and
smart, I'm pretty sure that he'll be all right. Yes, I am worried about my brother, but I always try to look on the bright
side and know that he's fine and everything will be taken care of."
"Has he ever gone on missions like this?" Rena
asked.
"A few times, yes," Nanase replied. "He's the 'chosen' one of the Bushin clan and it's his duty to make things
right. But it hasn't been like this since Kairi disappeared. The difference was that Hokuto and I were involved."
"What
happened?" Rena asked with interest.
Nanase took a deep breath. "It all happened three years ago just before we came
to Metro City. Kairi just disappeared one day and no one was sure where he is. For two months, Guy, Hokuto, and I searched
throughout Asia searching and looking for clues about Kairi's whereabouts. Guy decided after a few weeks that he would go
search for Kairi in the Western part of the world, and that's how he ended up in Metro City. Then, Hokuto and I heard about
a tournament called the Street Fighter EX Tournament in Thailand and decided to participate just in case anyone knew about
anything about Kairi.
"Indeed, it was there that we found Kairi. There were scars on his face so we knew that something
happened. Hokuto tried to get through to him, but all he would mention about is that he desired more power. We sensed something
evil in him, but we couldn't figure out exactly what it was. It also turned out that his memories were gone. He couldn't remember
us at all and it upset Hokuto and I. Hokuto tried to fight him in the tournament hoping to get him back, but she was defeated.
Then, something happened. A man we only know as 'Gouki' consumed Hokuto and made her evil. It was all up to me to save them
and I knew it was going to be difficult.
"I was pretty lucky because Guy must've sensed trouble from Metro City because
he came to Thailand. I told him everything that happened and he knew that we had to do something to save Kairi and Hokuto.
One night, we sensed something nearby and we became face to face with both Kairi and Hokuto. I fought Hokuto while Guy fought
Kairi. We figured that one way to get through to them was to tell them everything that has happened before Kairi disappeared.
It took a while, but after a few screams and beatings, it was worth it. Hokuto broke into tears and started remembering everything.
It took Guy a while to get through to Kairi, but when he did start remembering, he went down on his knees and screamed. The
four of us sat at that spot that night to rest and we talked about a lot. The only thing Kairi doesn't remember is how he
ended up in this mess in the first place. The last thing he remembered was walking home after training.
"We decided
that maybe it was time to start something new. Guy suggested that going to Metro City would be good and that's how we ended
up here."
Rena looked at Nanase after she finished the story. "I can't believe that happened to you guys."
"Yeah.
It was tough, but the four of us have a special bond and we got through it." Nanase sighed again. "Rena, we'll get through
this as well. You, me, Hokuto, Kairi, Greg, Maki, and even Guy, Cody, Jessica and Haggar. They will find Jessica and bring
justice against Mad Gear. Afterwards, we'll have a Christmas party at the dojo, all of us."
"I really do hope that
Guy will be home in time for Christmas," Rena replied. "I don't know what I would do if he wasn't here for it."
***
The
dark clouds began to release a light drizzle down on to the streets of Metro City. Haggar, Guy, and Cody walked through a
dark ally filled with garbage and cardboard boxes.
"Let's rest here for a little bit," Haggar suggested sitting down
on the ground. Guy and Cody sat on either side of the Metro City mayor.
"It's been two days," Cody said. "What if we
never find Jessica?!"
"Don't think like that," Guy replied. "We just have to hope for something and eventually, we
will find her."
That's when they heard footsteps in the ally. All three men slowly got up.
"Someone's here,"
said Haggar. They slowly walked towards where the footsteps were coming from. They entered another ally where there was a
dim light shining down on the ally. The three of them spotted a pale man walking through it.
Haggar squinted his brown
eyes. "I know that man. He was once arrested for a crime and it had something to do with the Mad Gear operation. I had him
come to my office to explain to me about the organization, but I got nothing out of him."
"Doesn't seem like he's involved
with Mad Gear," said Guy.
"Maybe we'll make them explain now," Cody said as he began to run towards the man.
Guy
grabbed his arm. "No! We have to slowly go up to him. If we run after him now, he'll see us easily and he'll run away before
we even get a chance to talk to him."
"I bet you that we run a lot faster than this man," Cody said.
"Who's
there?!" they heard the man cry out.
Cody released himself from Guy's grasp and quickly ran after the man. The man
tried to run away as soon as he saw Cody, but Cody was too fast for him and managed to tackle him down.
"I told you
Guy!" Cody cried out.
Guy rolled his eyes as he and Haggar walked over to where Cody was holding the man down.
The
man looked up at the other two. "Mayor Haggar?"
"It's good to see you again, Robert," Haggar said. "Now, there's something
that the three of us here need to know."
"I told you," Robert said narrowing his eyes. "I know nothing about Mad Gear."
"I
was told that you were part of the organization," Haggar said.
A small light hit Cody's blue eyes. He turned to the
light and noticed a knife just an arm-length away. He reached for it, grabbed it, and brought it up to Robert's neck. "You
better tell us or I'll f***ing slice your neck open! My girlfriend's missing because of them and I want to know more about
them so I can kick their a**!!"
Guy looked down at Robert's neck and noticed some blood beginning to trickle down the
side of his neck. 'I hope he can take it easy,' he thought.
"Listen," Haggar said. "If you just tell us, we won't take
you to the police."
"Fine," Robert replied. "Just release me, please!"
"I don't think so," Cody said.
"At
least bring it farther from his neck," Guy suggested. Cody growled and brought the knife a few inches away from Robert's neck.
There was only a small gash, which was not life threatening.
"I used to be part of the organization, but a lot has
changed since I left," Robert said. "I believe they're located in the Northern area of Metro City now and their leader is
named Belger. His commanders are strong and if you're looking for your girlfriend, be cautious because those commanders can
kill with no mercy."
"Thank you," Haggar said. "That's all we needed to know."
Cody released Robert from his
grip and placed the knife on to his belt with the rest of his knives. He, Guy, and Haggar left the ally.
"The Northern
area," said Guy. "How far is that?"
"Pretty far," Haggar answered. It would take us a while to get there. We might
as well go to the nearest subway station and take the next subway to Northern Metro City."
"Let's go!" Cody cried.
They began walking out of the ally.
Guy looked up at the dark, cloudy sky. The drizzle just stopped and left the streets
a little bit damp. Rena appeared in his mind and for a moment, he only had thoughts of holding her and protecting her from
harm.
'Hopefully, she's okay,' he thought with a sigh.
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