~Flashback: 10 seconds ago~

Regaining his equilibrium, the Lord of Shadoloo maintained his altitude, looking down at his opponent. Even without any offensive action on his part, she was already in a defensive stance. "You must do more than block and counter, girl, if you ever hope to defeat a serious opponent." Swooping down like a hawk, his fist cracked against Sakura's skull in a vicious jab. Wasting no time, his hands moved to grab the young karate-ka. Recovering with inhuman speed, Sakura pushed herself away from him and excuted an acrobatic backflip in order to put some distance between her and the madman. Grinning madly, Bison belted her out of the air with a Nightmare Knee Press even as she was just about to land.

The impact, as with her fight against Shin Akuma before, was enough to knock her out of the Defender mindset and back to herself. She *could* have turned that to her advantage - had she gone for a sudden attack, seizing the initiative from her opponent as she almost always tried to do, she might have gained and held an advantage as Bison readjusted his tactics to her normal style.

Instead, she hesitated for a fatal moment, and Bison rocketed backwards, sheathed in blue. Sakura screeched, knowing what was coming, and tried to summon up the Shinkuu-Hadoken to counter... but she was too short on both energy and time.

"PSYCHO CRUSHER!!!"

~End Flashback~

Sakura Yugure pried her eyes open, noted briefly she was on the ledge of a rooftop, and tried to sort out what had happened. {I remember Bison hitting me with the Psycho Crusher... damn, that hurt worse this time than it did in Thailand... I have a few crazy-quilt images of tumbling through the air... how far did I fly? Damn move hits like a jumbo jet at full tilt...}

She gasped, but could do nothing more, as a large hand seized the collar of her fuku and pulled her up off the ledge to see that they were on a building directly across from the Rindou Dojo. {Damn... I was thrown almost a city block..?}

"You know Miss Yugure," Bison said nonchalantly as he dangled her over a twelve storey drop, "you do realise that if you had come willingly we could have avoided all of this..." He waved his free hand at the area around them, which bore the marks of their battle, "...unpleasantness." Waving his finger at her in admonishment, he chatised her as if she were a student back in school and he was her teacher. "Now I'm a very, very busy man. World domination is an exacting task and my time is precious. For the inconvenience of subduing you, I think I deserve a little entertainment as recompense, don't you? Kage and Akiko will be mine to shape as I please into the most fearsome instruments of mass destruction to ever walk the Earth but the rest... ah, alas, they are but bit players in this act. Fit only to be the tragic victim. Maybe I should have Akiko kill those who have offered her sanctuary?" Sakura's face hardened as if it were a mask of sharp-edged flint as the madman shook her like a rag doll in his increasing agitation. "I *hate* her. Those eyes feigning righteousness, her heart so filled with concern for other people. I will *BREAK* her. I will teach her the *joy* of slaughter until she wallows in the blood! I will remake her in my image and she will be my sword!"

Inside Sakura, three voices rang out.

{~His crimes must be Avenged!~}

{~We must Defend the others!~}

{~And Akiko must have some part in his defeat, to help her slay her inner demons. That is Justice.~}

Sakura smiled savagely. {~Then let's do this- ~}

{~TOGETHER,~} they chorused as one, and Sakura was exalted.

Bison flinched as another aura sprang up around the Yugure girl, signalling another 'second wind.' "This is growing tiresome," he noted, moving to slam her face into the ledge and end her resistance.

Before he even began to push, the aura flashed from her usual gray to a brilliant gold, and her hands flashed out, bracing her against the ledge and blocking his move. As he pushed down harder, trying to use superior power and position to drive her in anyway, Sakura's left foot lashed out twice, the flat of her shoe meeting the bottom edge of each of his kneecaps, and Bison stumbled away from the edge, pulling her with him by the grip he retained on her collar.

Her right hand came around to smash into his thumb joint, forcing him to release his grip, and she swung around behind him, her left arm looping under his chin while her right slipped overtop of his head in a wrestling grip, a hold she'd used against Ryu in the Thailand encounter. She wrenched his head around several times, defying his every attempt to break away, then smashed him down to the rooftop with an elbowsmash from her right arm.

He rolled to his feet and whipped around to face her, then teleported.

As he phased back into reality, he reached out a hand to grab her by the neck again. He had aimed to arrive just behind her this time, figuring that she would expect him to duplicate the previous ploy and stay facing front.

The hand met thin air.

And a savage, exultant voice whispered in his ear as he heard someone else teleport in -

- Behind HIM -

"I can do that too. *Vengeance* comes!"

And an exultant scream.

"MIDARE-ZAKURA!!!!"

Bison whirled around to try and block the attack, but found himself instead subjected to almost every punch and kick in the girl's arsenal, each one with savage force behind it, each blow sheathed in the gray fire of her variant of Psycho Power, and each one landing with an almost millimeter-perfect precision so as to bruise each and every inch of the front of his body... and then the uppercut hit, and he was flying, for the first time since he had fought her and Ryu in Thailand, *not* under his own power.

He landed in water - fortunately, only about six feet deep - and burst up to a standing position, bringing his head and shoulders clear of the water as he did so, and noting that there was a buzzing in the back of his head that could denote some psychic jamming technique.

There in front of him was Akiko Tendo, her aura ablaze and her eyes alight with vengeance, and behind her was a vaguely familiar man from whom the psychic static seemed to be coming. A glance to the right showed a woman, a Jokuzetsu Amazon by her battle garb, awaiting him with drawn swords. To the left of the - pond? - he seemed to have landed in, a man stood, his skin red with rage but still holding the calm and poise of a veteran street fighter.

A *thap* from behind and above him drew his gaze, and he turned to see Sakura Yugure, now without her aura, straighten out her legs, having evidently just landed on the wall of what Bison now recognized as the compound of the Rindou Dojo. The girl had picked her shot, and sent him hurtling into the center of his enemies' strength. "It seems I underestimated you, miss Yugure," he acknowledged with a nod.

Then the attacks began.

Akiko was a sliver-hued blur as she rocketed towards Bison with such speed that the rest could do naught but watch. A swift kick in the gut doubled over Bison and her foot met his face with a statisfying 'crack'. A masterful leaping roundhouse kick lifted Bison off his feet and sent him sprawling helplessly in the mud. Sakura witnessed all this with a fierce grin on her face, one that looked disturbingly similar to M.Bison's.

Struggling to his hands and knees, the would-be sovereign of the world coughed out a gobbet of blood mixed with bile before he was floored again by a kick to the ribs. Grabbing a fistful of his hair, Akiko pulled his head up to face her. Cocking back a fist wreathed with silver light, Akiko spoke in a dead, cold voice, "and so it ends."

Before she could land the fateful punch, Kage grabbed her hand with a grip of iron. "Wait, look at his aura." Akiko's look of blatant betrayal transformed into a curious, oxymoronic mix of perplexed comprehension once she examined the person in her grasp. His energy signature was totally unlike that of the dictator which she had fought. It was the soul of a goodly, just man.

Blood trickling from his mouth and nose, Michael looked about in confusion before his pain-clouded gaze settled on one man. "Kage? What the heck are you doing here kiddo?! I thought I told all of you to get clear as I blew the generator!"

Lowering the injured man in her hands gently to the ground, Akiko took a step back as Kage tended to his fallen friend. The rest of the inhabitants of the Rindou Dojo looked at each other quizzically, not quite sure what to make of this bizarre turn of events. Scowling menacingly, Sakura stayed by Kage's side, ready to pound on Bison if this proved to be another ruse. She had no idea if it were even possible for someone to mask their aura so completely, but she was taking no chances.

Kage helped his benefactor to his feet. Leaning heavily on the younger psychic, M. Bison looked at the people around him and smiled. It was as if the benign facade had been ripped away in a heartbeat. That smile contained enough malevolence to please a thousand demons. There was nothing human in that smile save perhaps some sort of perverted joy.

Faster than the eye can see, Bison's hand gripped Kage's head and filled it with the cerulean energies of Psycho Power. Both Akiko and Sakura were in motion at that point and both were only inches from striking Bison before the entire group froze in mid-stride.

Kage's eyes looked around wildly with the pure panic of a cornered animal as he felt Bison's insidious energies infiltrate into the very core of his being, taking command of his body and actions and yet leaving him aware; horribly aware that he was no longer in control of himself.... or his powers.

Both bishoujo warriors strained against the telekinesis that held them captive. Sakura and Akiko tried to fight through to the object of their hate. Hearts once pure tainted by malice, the two gnashed their teeth like rabid dogs in frustration.

M Bison sighed dramatically as he watched their antics. Flicking his hand dismissively, Akiko was sent hurtling into the dojo wall with bone-crushing force. Drawing her shattered frame from the rubble surrounding the dojo wall with Kage's telekinesis, Bison smiled beatifically and said in a stage whisper, "the lesson begins...."

Akiko was then brutally slammed into the ground headfirst. A spider's web of cracks marked the point of impact, artfully decorated with numerous droplets of blood. Looking immensely bored, Bison caused Akiko to be slammed into the ground again. And again. And again until she hung limply from Kage's telekinetic grip.

Kage's eyes were impossibly wide as he witnessed the love of his life being slowly killed, by his hand no less. With tear rimmed eyes, he screamed for the horror to stop, for this travesty to end. Unfortunately, the universe is rather short of caring gods. Bison stepped right in front of Kage, their noses almost touching as Bison gazed deep in Kage's eyes. "You love her, good, good!"

"Why Michael? You were my friend! You were my *hero*! Why are you doing this?" Kage shouted as he looked away, refusing to meet the twin pools of madness that served as his friend's eyes. Somehow, a protector and guardian had inexplicably metamorphed into a horrible mockery of his former self.

In a soft, gentle whisper almost lost to the breeze, Michael replied, "it is precisely because I am your friend that I am doing this. I must awaken you to the destiny for which you were born. Forgive me, Kage."

Sauntering over to Akiko, Bison looked with approval at the damage she had sustained. Her limbs hung from various unnatural angles and a bloody froth spilled from her lips. And yet, Akiko's eyes were still remarkably clear despite the pain. Still defiant. "You know, I had this little toy implanted in the base of your skull in case you ever went rogue," M. Bison remarked as he cupped her chin in his right hand. "Alas, poor Akiko I knew her well." With a snap of his fingers, M Bison activated the implant and it injected a noxious chemical cocktail right into the cartotid artery. Akiko voiced a hollow scream as poisons flooded through her bloodstream. She could feel hands of ice clutch at her very heart as the toxins tried to still its beat forever. Fresh and uninjured, she might have been able to purge them with meditation and the power of her chi. Now, near death and horribly weakened, she could only thrash helplessly as the lethal compounds marched implacably on their fatal course. The world spun away from her and she knew no more.

Comb shivered involuntarily as Kage howled in grief. It was the howl of a wounded animal that tore from his throat, not the outrage of a rational, thinking human being. He ran towards his love babbling incoherently as he tried to imagine a way to cure her. Kage could level mountains but his powers were useless when it came to mending wounds. Comb's mind raced as she tried to recall all of the healing lore of the Amazons. Absently patting her pockets in search of anything that might be of use, a full moment passed before Comb realised the import of this. She could move again! Sprinting to Akiko's side, Comb prayed that her lessons would serve her well. From what she had seen, it would take divine intervention to pull Akiko away from Death's grasp now.

Sakura was beyond seething; beyond the limited scope of words to describe her anger.

She spoke, but all she could manage past her rage-tightened throat was a quiet, deadly hiss as she addressed a man who might or might not even be rational enough to hear her. "Kage-san. You and Kho-Om tend to Acchan, I'll finish this. And all of you... if I don't stop once this is over... stop me. Kill me if you have to."

Itamu Rindou looked at her. "You had all you could handle in bringing him here! How can you... and what do you mean, 'if you won't stop'? What are you going to do?"

Sakura's eyes were slits: her voice even more snarlingly bestial than before. "Simple. I'm going to go *INSANE*..."

And with that she reached down inside herself. Deeper than her *chi*, past her sense of self: she touched the Avenger in passing along her route. And then she reached and firmly pulled unto herself what her former self, Sakura Kasugano, had so briefly touched as she created the being now known as Sakura Yugure.

And Sakura Yugure gave herself willingly to the Satsu no Hadou.

"*BIIIISOOOOONNNNN!!!!!*" the scream rang out over the yard. Sakura's stance changed before Itamu's eyes: from the disciplined and well-rounded ready stance of Shotokan to the hunting posture of a beast enraged, hands clutched into claws and her body hunched forward.

Itamu watched in horror as the girl began radiating rage and hate that put even the levels of the Tanden Reki, his family's technique for channeling anger into power, to shame. {How can she possibly control herself...?} he had time to wonder.

"Oh dear. Have I upset you, miss Yugure?" Bison asked in an avuncular fashion.

Sakura's reply was half scream and half snarl, and all utter hostility. She set her foot a bit farther back -

-and was gone! Only a stirring in the grass marked her place, that and a gust of wind moving toward...

A *THOOM* from across the yard drew Itamu's eyes back to Bison, who was blocking what had evidently been a rushing punch from Sakura - one so fast Itamu's eyes had been unable to follow. The dictator's face showed pain despite the successful defense, and Itamu marveled at the speed and power of the attack... but remained frightened by the intensity of the emotions he was sensing from Sakura. {Child, what have you done??} he wondered... but had the wisdom to remain silent and not risk attracting her attention.

A blurred exchange of blows followed: in one of his few clear glimpses through the dizzying pace of the fight, he saw Sakura take a full roundhouse right from Bison, charged with Psycho Power, and simply shake it off, belting the dictator with gray fire-fists in return. {A rage too intense to even feel pain,} Itamu thought, beginning to feel both understanding and shock.

Bison took to the air, leaping up and floating there, but as he tossed a ball of Psycho Power down at Sakura, she vanished again, this time in the multiple images of the Ashura Warp. Both Bison and Itamu glanced around, trying to locate the girl, and both were aided in their task by her first actual words since she screamed Bison's name.

"HYAAAHHH!!! TENMA-GOU-ZANKUU!!!"

As Bison spun in midair and Itamu looked upwards, Sakura was revealed as having teleported *above* Bison, and now unleashed a veritable hailstorm of Hadoukens down upon the mad dictator.

Caught in midair and unable to block, Bison crashed to the ground like a blazing comet, albeit burning in shades of gray rather than red and yellow. Bison rolled sideways out of the crater he'd made upon landing and stood up, albeit with some ugly burns across his exposed skin, and scorches and torn spots on his uniform.

Itamu had time to note that Bison had been slammed headfirst into the selfsame spot where he had injured Akiko, his impact effectively erasing the marks from earlier. {Is she thinking rationally in this state, or was that coincidence? And if that was intent... should I be relieved or even more frightened? Such eye-for-an-eye malice is so utterly unlike the girl...}

Sakura touched down herself, near the koi pond she had hurled Bison into earlier. She, too, was bearing marks from the battle: her nose was broken and bloody, her forehead was split open, and one of her legs had a gash in it. {She is either unable to heal as she could during her bouts with Akiko-san, or simply does not care to,} Itamu noted... then Sakura Ashura Warped again.

Once more, both sensei and Psycho master swiveled their gazes back and forth, trying to find the rage-crazed girl - and this time, neither was immediately successful. Both men kept looking as seconds ticked by, the time normally elapsed in the Ashura Warp long since past. Itamu took some satisfaction in the increasingly worried expression on Bison's face, but was far from calm himself. {What happened? I doubt she'd have retreated in *her* state of mind... has she lost focus and gone to attack something else? Did she somehow mismanage her teleport and suffer an accident? Or...} Now Rindou-sensei's face began to grow worried as well. {Or is she still here, but hiding, stalking somehow? And if so, where... and will she stll confine her wrath to Bison, or is she sufficiently deranged to attack others as well....?}

Bison was evidently in no better a state of mind than Itamu was, as he began to turn in circles, moving about slowly and cautiously.

It wasn't enough.

Bison took two sliding steps to the side, glancing over at Itamu and the others: he backed up a step, glancing behind himself and then skyward as he moved past the koi pond in an effort to place a solid wall at his back.

With a sudden flurry of motion, a hand lashed up out of the pondwater like some horror-movie sea creature, snagging Bison's ankle and, with a sudden yank, jerking him into the water. As he tried to stand, Sakura swarmed up over him, locking in the neck-hold Itamu had taught her long ago, then lashing her legs around Bison's and toppling them both backwards into the water as Itamu watched in horror. {Does she intend to kill both him and herself??}

Itamu needn't have worried - not about Sakura suiciding, at least.

With her conscious mind almost totally submerged at the moment, she was operating on instincts.

Instincts which understood one thing about Sakura's new self as opposed to a real human body - one thing that Sakura herself did not, and likely would not for some time, as her memories of this period would be hazy at best.

The Dark Sakura - Sakura Yugure, as she called herself - was a construct of Power made to become solid, and to move, by Will.

As such, however well it might mimic a human body, it wasn't one, and lacked certain needs.

She still needed to eat, to provide fuel to replenish her Power and maintain her form. Likewise, she required sleep, to rest her mind and restore her focus.

However, she had no 'cells', just Power shaped to mimic them, and thus no internal chemical reaction fueling her body.

As such, she didn't really need oxygen...

...although Bison did.

Itamu continued to watch the churning waters of the pool, though the thrashing within was growing somewhat less. {But who is winning, if *either* of them are...?} he wondered, still unaware of Sakura's advantage.

Suddenly, the water level dropped several inches, splashing up in the center of the pond, and Bison appeared about five yards away from it, choking and spitting out water.

As he began to straighten up and draw in a breath, the pool erupted again as Sakura came dashing out of it, spinning sideways to thrust out one leg like the business end of a pile-driver in her classic side power-kick, which landed about a foot lower than usual, taking Bison right in the breadbasket and doubling him over again as lack of oxygen began to turn him an unflattering shade of blue.

Sakura came up under his bent-over stance, placing a Sho-Oh-Ken directly into Bison's nose, which broke, and hurling him across the yard again to land near to where Kho-Om was watching Kage carry Akiko into the house, the Amazon having evidently done all that she could for the redhead.

Kho-Om walked out from the relative safety of the Rindou Dojo and eyed the wretched form before her. {This madman ordered the death of my sisters, and now he will pay,} she thought. With all the might of her Amazon training Kho-Om kicked him solidly between the legs. Emitting a high-pitched sqeal, M.Bison curled into a little ball as Comb drew her sword. "For my sisters," she whispered, raising the sword high to administer a final, fatal stroke. Before she could strike, she heard Rindou-sensei's reproachful voice.

"Would you murder a man in cold blood?"

Conscience, vengeance and honor warred within her. Administering another brutal kick, she spat on the Lord of Shadoloo and walked away. She was an Amazon, a proud warrior. Not even *his* death would tempt her into becoming a butcher.

Sakura shook her head, as witnessing Kho-Om's act of mercy restored her to some degree of rational thought. Then, as the Amazon and the sensei strode back into the house, she took three quick steps forward and snatched up Bison by his collar. "What Comb-okaasan shrank from I will not. Ironic that she's seen less of the darkness than a girl she once taught, ne? You will not live to hurt others again, and know this: If you return to life and then bother us again, I will hunt you down and kill and kill until you *stay* *dead.*"

Hauling his head into line with her hip, her hand shot forward in the rapid punch that began the Sho-Oh-Ken: with the victim so pinned in place, the maneuver would smash his face into the back of his skull. Blurringly the fist swept forward: but Bison blurred also, vanishing in the Psycho Teleport. The girl's hate-maddened eyes lashed back and forth, seeking her target: but Bison did not reappear. Giving vent to her raging fury and frustration in the only safe way she could, she let out a *chi-*powered howl that echoed across not only miles but worlds, as psychics and mystics across the planet felt a sudden chill and looked up to find out what the matter was.

After almost three minutes of this scream, she had vented the last of her rage, and suddenly apprehension overtook her as she remembered Akiko's desperate state, and she dashed off to the guest bedroom. Arriving at Akiko's bedside, she clasped the hand of the barely aware warrior and summoned up her *chi.* "Acchan, take my power - use it to heal yourself, if you can," she implored as she channeled said power into the redhead. She tried to summon up Justice as well, to gain the assistance of the Aspect that had aided in healing Rin-Rin back in Jokuzetsu village, but her fear and sadness interfered.

Turning to Kage, she asked, "How is she...?" while dreading the reply.

"I removed the implant that Bison was talking about, so at least it isn't making matters any worse, and Comb stitched the wound on her neck back up so neatly it hardly shows, but..." His voice trailed off in a choked sob as he gestured, indicating Akiko's still, pale form.

Kage, inter-dimensional traveller and the most powerful ESPer alive, could do nothing but wring his hands. "I can't lose her again Sakura-san, I just *can't*. She's the sun my world revolves around. Everything I am, everything I do is for her. I would die a million, million deaths to see her smile. I would murder angels and wallow in the gore if it would mean she was happy. I would cross any ocean, climb any mountain, brave any danger to be with her. I love her Sakura-san. I love her more than springtime, I love her more than summer light.... I love her more than God."

Sakura Yugure just nodded mutely. {I've never loved that way before; never *been* loved that way before. It's scary to think that another person could love someone so intensely that their entire existence just orbited around that one person. Scary... but would it be so bad?}

"Akiko was always so full of life, so full of energy... so full of hope. She gave me a reason to carry on, a reason to wake up every morning, a reason to *be*. To see her like this is killing me, Sakura-san. I don't know if I can be strong again."

"Kage, Sa-chan...." The two of them practically levitated out of their seats as Akiko spoke. A bright hope surged within their breasts but her voice was weak, so very very weak. Akiko coughed feebly and tried to speak again although the effort was visibly costing her. "Sa-chan, thanks for everything." Akiko degenerated again into a series of fitful coughs. "Kage, promise me...." Akiko struggled to mouth out the last words, her strength fast fading from her mortal shell. In a delicate whisper as faint as the wind, her dying breaths brought forth the words, "promise me that you'll wait for me at Hachiko Station...."

Kage grasped her hand, his eyes shiny with unshed tears. That was a promise for lovers to be faithful forever. In Hachiko Train Station, there is a bronze statue of loyal Akita awaiting his beloved in tribute to their tale of undying love. With trembling hands he touched her hair one last time and closed her unseeing eyes. Any answer he would make would go unheard now....

"No..! No, no, no, no...!" Sakura trembled as she held back her own tears, her hand still clenched around Akiko's even as the redhead went limp. She had lost to the one enemy no one could never defeat: Death. Her fingernails bit into her free hand deeply enough to draw blood as the Avenger surged to the fore.

Kage just cradled Akiko's head in his arms and sang her a lullaby, an old mountain song his mother taught him when he was just a child. The flush of life had yet to leave Akiko's skin so she looked as if she were asleep instead of... Kage's mind never finished that thought, unable to grasp the grim reality of the situation.

A bright burst of light interrupted his reverie. An angel stood before him, clothed only in garments of sheer radiance. A celestial chorus uplifted his soul as the melodies of salvation washed over him. Limned with golden light, Akiko's lifeless form floated off the bed until with a sudden start she started breathing again.

Unnoticed by the preoccupied ESPer, the familiar face of the Aensland Princess emerged from Sakura's shadow. "Let's just say I called in a few favors, little sister, and don't think it was easy. I wouldn't count on getting divine intervention anytime in the future even if Belldandy agreed to this one."

Looking down to Morrigan's face poking out from her shadow, Sakura whispered quietly to her older sister. "I owe you a lot for this, 'Neesan... A *lot.*" Even in a whisper, her voice was husky with grief and gratitude.

"I'll count the favour repaid if you come on that tour of my castle that you avoided by defeating me," Morrigan murmured back.

Sakura swallowed heavily. "I.. I'm yours for a day, then," she replied in a voice so quiet it was hard to hear. "I'll meet you at your hotel as soon as I can wrap things up here. No keeping me any longer, though; I have a promise to keep," she finished, thinking of her oath to learn what Akuma had to teach.

"Until then... little sister..." Morrigan finished throatily as her face sank back into Sakura's shadow and vanished just in time for Sakura to hear Akiko's voice weakly calling for her.

"Sa-chan....?"

"Acchan!" the girl yelped gladly, and leaped over to hug her friend.

Cammy idly fiddled with all of the controls of the Shadoloo aircraft. {Lord Bison's taking far too long with his fight. Damn it all, the resulting energies of that tussle make it almost impossible for my instruments to make out anything worthwhile from that range.} She gasped and nearly sent their plane into a steep dive when Lord Bison materialised less than a foot from her. She caught him before he fell and eased him into a chair. {That horrible Sakura girl must have done this to him; the unenlightened always seem to scorn his benign offerings,} she thought as she tended to him, putting the plane on autopilot for Mriganka.

M Bison smiled as Cammy's tender hands cleaned off the worst of the blood and grime. By channeling his chi through his body, his wounds would mend in less than an hour. He had much to thank Mistress Rose for, her teachings in the healing capablities of Soul Power in particular. Despite his injuries, M Bison smiled. All was going to plan. Soon the Destroyer would come to him and the brothers would be reunited. And yet, that was not the sum of the day's endeavours. The Redeemer and Judgement were of little use to him as they were. He needed to teach them how to *hate*, a bone-deep hatred that tainted the soul. Once that precious tapestry was stained, there was no power in the world that could cleanse it.

A few days later, Akiko was back on her feet, showing no sign of her brush with death. (Sakura, on her way down into the koi pond from where Akiko had hurled her, complained good-naturedly that she had no right to be so tough so soon after that... but she did it silently.)

"Knockdown! Match to Akiko-chan!!" Kage yelled from the sidelines.

"(pfft) Foul! Biased judge!" Sakura catcalled as she spat out water and shook herself off on the edge of the pond. "Yeah, I'd say you're fully recovered, Acchan," she stated as she wrung out the fuku skirt.

"Does that mean you are leaving?" Rindou-sensei asked from the dojo door where he and Kho-Om stood, a few feet behind Kage.

"Yeah, I have to - well, check on a few things," she said. "I'll only be here long enough to pack my things now that I'm sure Acchan's okay. I'll be back, though, so stop looking so glum!" she admonished the Amazon and the sensei.

"Sa-chan, what are your plans?" Akiko asked.

Sakura fidgeted, not wanting to reveal what she would be doing in recompense for Morrigan's favour. "Umm... I'm going to revisit some old friends, then I'm going to see about a little remedial training - I think my Shotokan must be getting rusty, losing all the time like this," she grinned at Akiko. Meanwhile, she thought, {There. I didn't *lie,* I just didn't say the old friend is Morrigan and the training will be with Akuma.} "After that, I think I'll see about getting back into formal schooling somehow. Can't have too broad an education, y'know!"

"We all wish you the best of luck," Kho-Om stated. "Just remember that you are always welcome here."

"I will, Kho-Om-san," Sakura replied, bowing formally.

Kage walked up to his hosts and bowed at the waist, far more formally than tradition would dictate. "I'm afraid that I must take my leave of you as well, Rindou-sensei, Kho-Om-san. I have... pressing business elsewhere."

The other four inhabitants of the dojo exchanged worried glances at this. "You plan to find him."

Kage sighed, "yes, Akiko-chan. The Bison I knew would *never* commit such heinous acts let alone do so with such glee. There was something horribly wrong with him, *no one* can just change their aura like that. The more powerful the psychic, the harder it is for him to mask himself fully. What we saw was not a single soul that could cloak itself but twin souls existing in the same shell. I will find Michael Bison again and I will find out if he can still be redeemed." Kage's fist clenched so tightly that his fingernails drew blood. "If not, then I must ensure that he will not be able to harm Akiko or those gathered here again. EVER."

Sakura waved goodbye to the others as she and Kage stood at the gate of the Rindou Dojo. "I'll miss you all," she commented, adding, "Especially you, Acchan," with a wink and a nod at Akiko.

Turning to Kage she added quietly, "And I know you didn't want to involve us in this, but I have your memories of Michael too, you know. I have some things to take care of myself or I'd come with you now, but if you need help, just find me and ask. I'll come."

Kage nodded grimly at her, and with a final goodbye to the residents of the dojo, the two vanished in their respective teleportation affects.

Sakura materialized a moment later in a certain hotel penthouse in Venice, the same one where Morrigan had taught her so much about her new nature and powers. {I owe Morri-neesan *so* much, between then and her saving Acchan... and I have to talk to her, too,} she thought, remembering her dream of fighting Berial and the all-too-real battle with Jedah that followed.

Glancing around, she noticed a note lying on the ground and picked it up.

Dear Little Sister,

I hope your aren't too tired from your journey. I've opened a small portal to my castle gates from the upstairs bedroom - you remember, we left from there to fight our challenge match in front of the castle? Just walk from there to the gate - I've told the guardians to expect you. They'll summon guides to bring you to me. You'll like them, trust me.

Morrigan

Sakura shook her head slightly. "Oneesan... what are you up to *now?*" she asked no one in particular, then walked up to the second floor of the penthouse suite, a smile on her face.

A moment later, the room was once again empty.