From a rooftop above a certain district of Tokyo, a young girl in a seifuku looked down on a school, and a girl who was working herself into a frenzy over a schoolteacher, and snorted in contempt.

"Hmph. I don't *remember* being like that before," she commented to herself, murmuring quietly. "But that's the problem, isn't it? I'm *not* who I was. Literally." Sitting down on the edge of the roof, she reflected on the series of events that had brought her to this.

A long time ago, she had been very like the person she was watching: just Sakura Kasugano, elementary student and Street Fighter enthusiast. Then she had seen *him* for the first time: a man barely out of his teens making an incredible run up the Street Fighter tournament. It hadn't been just his looks but his ability that drew her, and she worked, begged and borrowed until she had bought a video copy of each of Ryu's fights. He had conquered all opponents: Ken, his old training partner; Geki, the Ninjutsu expert; Gen, the master of the Assassin Fist; and Adon and Sagat, Muay Thai masters and in Sagat's case, the undefeated Street Fighter Champion.

Sakura watched the videos daily: and actually began to practice the moves shown there, both basic and advanced. A second, more impromptu tourney, referred to as an 'Alpha' tournament, sprang up two years later: Sakura had known she wasn't ready to compete, but managed to attend a match in Japan between Ryu and Ken. She watched every motion of the Shotokan masters, and in a bit of ill-advised sneakery got into the locker room, where she heard Ryu and Ken talking about the Wave-Motion Fist, the Hadoken, and how Ryu had managed to alter his. Sakura had managed to learn of *chi* before this, but not how to use it: and she memorized every word, practicing daily until she, too could project a Hadoken of her own: to her thrill, she could vary it into three distinct attacks. But she knew she could learn more: and when the word came around that a second Alpha tournament was beginning, she did more than watch: she joined it, putting her self-training to the test while seeking the man she hoped would become her *sensei.*

She tracked him all over the world, finally finding him - ironically - back in Japan. She made her request for more formal teaching, but he refused, insisting that he was still learning himself and had no time for a student. Outraged by his casual dismissal of her, she challenged him to a match. Somewhat to her own surprise, she won: but Ryu was not impressed enough to let her join him, leading her to believe that he had held back. She got a photo to remember him by, and returned home, throwing herself into both studies and training with new energy.

A year after that, a third Alpha tournament began: Again, Sakura joined in, seeking Ryu. She met a school rival in that tournament, Karin Kanzaki: and fought Ken again, comparing notes with him about Ryu. A Sumo, E.Honda, gave her a clue to Ryu's whereabouts and she followed him to Thailand, fighting off Sagat on the way.

She found Ryu again... but M.Bison, the criminal leader of Shadowlaw, had found him first. As a test of his mental control of the Shotokan master, Bison ordered Ryu to kill Sakura... and she got her first taste of a Ryu who wasn't holding back.

It was terrifying, but thrilling as well: for the first time since learning the use of *chi* her limits were being tested to the utmost. Luckily for her, Ryu's wild Bison-inspired aggression gave her an opening and he crumpled to the ground under the impact of her copied Shinkuu-Hadoken. Bison attacked her himself then, hoping to capture her as he had Ryu. She fought back with fury, but barely held her own... until she connected with a move she'd learned from Ken: He called it the Shoryu-Reppa: she called her version the Midare-Zakura (Chaos Flower.) Bison's body began to disintegrate, and he tried to go for Ryu, stating he needed to take Ryu's body. Sakura threw herself in the way and was slammed aside, injured: Seeing this, Ryu arose in a rage and struck down Bison with the Shin-Shoryuken.

The meeting ended on a bittersweet note: Ryu admitted that he was beginning to have feelings for her, but felt shamed by his attack upon her under Bison's control. Sakura assured him it wasn't his fault, but he left to calm his spirit and focus his mind - but the two vowed to meet again in a year, and to train hard for their next match.

That match never came. Sakura never knew what began the whole affair, but some worldwide crisis prompted many Street Fighters to cooperate with two bands of American superheroes. Ryu left with the band of mutant heroes called the X-Men, unknown to Sakura.

She made her way to his mountain *dojo* to find him missing. She waited there for two days... and the american hero known as Captain America came there, hoping to find Ryu.

Sakura left with him, adn the next two days were a whirlwind of travel, mysteries, and battles: they found out that Ryu and Ken had joined the X-Men to assault a villain named Apocalypse in his base in Egypt. There they had apparently been captured, and the Avengers and several other Street Fighters went to the rescue.

When they broke into teams, Sakura stayed with Captain America: the two of them fought their way into Apocalypse's chamber along with several other heroes, only two find *two* horrors wating for them there: Apocalypse himself, grown gigantic, and beside him, guarding the tubes holding the captured X-Men and Street Fighters, was a cybernetic version of the deadliest man Sakura had ever had the misfortune to meet: Akuma!

As Avengers and Street Fighters fell like bowling pins, Sakura was ignored for a moment, and dashed past the villains to strike the holding tubes with Sho-Oh-Kens, freeing the X-Men and Street Fighter captives to join the fray.

It didn't seen to make much difference: they fell as quickly as they arrived. It came down to her, Ryu, Cyclops of the X-Men, and Captain America against Apocalypse and Cyber-Akuma. Sakura was dizzy and half-conscious from one of Apocalypse's pile-driver fists when she saw Cyber-Akuma blast Ryu with his rocket-fist.

Her mind desperately tried to find some way to even the odds... and came up with one. Ryu, the real Akuma, Bison, and Cyber-Akuma had all talked about the 'Wave of Murderous Intent,' Satsu no Hadou. This was the force that transformed and gave power to those masters who risked calling it forth. Akuma, Bison, and Ryu's briefly-separate dark side had all done it... and now Sakura made the attempt.

She brought forth her rage, her fear, her desire to *smash* and *kill* thses things threatening her Ryu... and it tore through her, perhaps literally. There had been pain - no, pain was a totally inadequate term for the utter tearing anguish she had experienced. It had felt as if every separate cell in her body had torn itself in half... and then she had stood, new power surging through her, and told Captain America to go help Ryu while *she* dealt with Apocalypse.

The metal titan had been amused by her audacity... briefly. Then he was in pain, and she was exultant. She could win! She *would* win! She was hurting him! Heck, this fight was almost fun!

Apocalypse had used his beam cannons to blast her across the room, and as she got back up Captain America and Cyclops had turned away from helping Ryu for a second to batter Apocalypse away with shield throws and optic blasts.

And Ryu was hit with Cyber-Akuma's Shining Gou Shock and went down, writhing in pain.

A number of thoughts ran through her mind then: How dare those two abandon her Ryu to that monster; How dare they presume that *she,* most powerful of all of them now, needed help; How dare that half-man *Thing* hurt her Ryu...; and first and foremost, the desire to pay it back in kind, to hurt and stomp and break and kill!!!!

For Sakura, the world faded briefly to black as she glided lightly forward - literally! - and touched the cyborg on the shoulder...

...and when it faded back into view, Cyber-Akuma - or what was *left* of it - was collapsing to the ground before her, twisted and broken...

...and further in front of her, Ryu was staring at her. Not with admiration, or worry, or caring... but shock, horror, and very briefly, loathing.

That look had shocked the battle-lust right out of her, and she had stared back, wishing mutely for his face to move, to change expressions, to look at her *any* way but *that* one.

He hadn't changed expression, and with a choked sob, she had run out of the base, run out of the area entirely, and spent a miserable week wandering in Egypt before going to the airport and booking a flight home. The muggers she'd gotten the money from wouldn't miss it anyway.

Another shock had been waiting for her in Tokyo, though. By the time she had arrived, it had been nearly time for school: she'd pelted through the streets, vaulting a house or two for a shortcut, and on the last such vault she'd seen herself - HERSELF - come out the door of her home and dash off to school!

She'd been watching 'herself' for the past few days now. {All my old fighting skills seem to be intact in her,} the watching girl thought briefly, {But it's like the few days I spent fighting supervillains never happened to her. She hasn't shown *any* of the advancement I made in that battle, she's flightier than I ever was, and she's even forgotten about Ryu!!}

Puzzled, she shook her head. {And if she's an impostor, she's a very good one. Mom and Dad and even Shinji are convinced that's me.} She sighed and jumped down off the rooftop.

{I have only one option, now. I have to learn what else happened from someone who was there.} With that, the girl began to walk out of Tokyo, heading for a certain mountain *dojo,* hoping that Ryu was there, and that he'd listen to her and tell her what she needed to know.