Sakura Yugure phased in from her Ashura Warp in Egypt. {Well, here I am... the place I came to be,} she thought. {Where I can start saying goodbye to everything that *was* my - or Kasugano's - life before that.} She peered about. The place wasn't much to look at. The crater left after the battle between good and evil that had forced Sakura Kasugano to create her Satsu twin was gone, filled in with sand blown there by the everpresent winds of the desert. Sakura bowed her head. {Goodbye, you heroes and villains I met on this trip,} she thought, bowing her head. {In my new life I may never see you again... and in fact, I shouldn't, no matter how tempted I may be to look you up. Fare you well, all of you.}

Her benediction complete, Sakura raised her head. {Now where to?} she wondered. A moment's reflection on Kasugano's rather turbulent history brought a nod. {Yeah. I'll leave the Rindous and Rose out of this tour - they know me for what I am already. No need to push *them* away. So...} she mused, thinking back to the Alpha tourneys Kasugano had pursued Ryu through. {..That means Thailand is next, to bid farewell to Sagat and Adon; then to the Masters estate in America for Ken; then Japan, for a bunch of stops.} She paused, a quiver of regret weakening her resolve, then finished the thought. {First the Sumo arenas and E.Honda-san... then the Kanzuki estates to let go of old gigglebritches Karin... and finally... first to Ryu's cabin to bid adieu to the one who started me on the warrior's path, then...} A hard gulp. {...home. Kasugano's home, the one I have to let go of before finding my own.}

Finally, she shook her head, shaking loose some sand that had settled there courtesy of the desert wind. {Well, move it, Yugure, this isn't going to get any easier!}

A blur, the odd noise of the Ashura Warp, and she was gone.

On the island of Mriganka, there was a pause in a training session as the nominal teacher, Cammy, hit the wall and slid down to the floor. When she shook out the cobwebs, her 'student,' Sakura Kikage, was standing over her with a curious look on her face. "Cammy? I wanna ask you a question," the clone of Sakura Kasugano said in her childish way.

Seething at her ongoing humiliation, not to mention the attention Lord Bison paid this - this *creation,* Cammy got to her feet. "What? Make it quick. We have to train you some more this morning."

Kikage, oddly, didn't giggle, nor did she use another of her childish mannerisms. "Cammy, I saw you... um, with Daddy last night. He does that with you because he loves you, right? That's what the tech man said."

An unexpected surge of warmth rushed through the premiere DOLL at this. "Yes... yes, he does," she replied, smiling at her charge for the first time.

"Then why doesn't he do that with me too? Daddy loves me! I *know* Daddy loves me!"

*That* question stripped the warmth away in a second, replacing it with revulsion and fury. "How... how *dare* you! Lord Bison would NEVER soil himself with a soulless copy like you!! He'd... he'd sooner do it with that horrible Yugure girl!!"

Cammy's rage, and her vision, went away then in a surge of blue flames and pain. The last thing she heard was, "NO!! DADDY LOVES *ME!* NOT HER! ME! *MEEEE!!*"

That evening, Sakura Yugure stood on the slopes of Mount Fuji once again, getting her bearings. {Who'd have thought saying goodbye to *Sagat* and *Adon* in my heart would be so difficult?} she thought, casting her mind back for a moment to her trip to Thailand. {Still.. I guess even if they *were* jerks, they were warriors with honour. Never easy casting that type aside.} Pausing for a moment, she surveyed Tokyo, spread out below her perch in the gloom like a carpet of lights. {Okay, I think the Sumo arenas are over *there...*}

Another Ashura Warp, and she was gone.

Also that evening, Sakura Kikage went to Rose for comfort after the events of her 'training session' with Cammy, but found the mystic in a less-than-receptive mood. Ignored, the tearful clone found her way to Myrna, who Rose had introduced her to earlier as an 'aunt'.

"Aunt Myrna, why does Mommy push me away sometimes?"

A sigh. "Dear, it's a shortcoming of hers. Your body is human, but your mind came from the Psycho Drive. Rose has... a blind spot... about that thing."

"You mean she can't see it?"

"No, I mean she can't see certain truths about it. She thinks it lacks the ability to generate a true metaphysical individuality."

"Huh? I... I don't understand all that!!"

A deeper sigh. "I can't say it more simply without being very rude and hurting you, dear. I don't want to do that."

"Tell me! I don't care! It already hurts that Mommy pushes me away!!! TELL ME!" Tears. And pain, evident to the eyes, much less the deeper senses.

A hug. "Dear, calm down..." No response save for more tears. "All right, calm down first and I'll tell you."

A few minutes. Kikage gulped back her sobs and fought them down. "Okay, tell me..."

"Your mother doesn't think the Psycho Drive can make you a separate person. She thinks you might be like the DOLLS, only more so."

Cammy's cruel words came to mind. "Oh. I see."

"Hmm?" Myrna asked.

"Mommy pushes me away for the same reason that Daddy won't make love to me! They don't think I have a soul!" Kikage said brightly.

Myrna briefly wondered why the child was so cheerful about it, then rallied her thoughts and tried to reply. "I didn't mean it that-"

"But that's okay! I know what to do! I know *just* where to get a soul, a real soul!" A Psycho Teleport, and she was gone.

"Oh dear. That's going to be trouble." A rare understatement from Myrna.

Sakura Yugure, by now, was standing on the outer wall of the Kanzuki estate, smirking as various alarms went off, triggered by her weight on the stone. "Heh. One last prank, I guess. So long, Karin, you stuck-up, unskilled, no-talent..." A sniffle. "Oh, who'm I kidding. We were never friends, Karin, but knowing you and meeting your challenges made Kasugano - and thus, me - a better person, and I'm gonna miss you."

An Ashura Warp took her to a roof a block away, where she could snicker quietly as the Kanzuki security forces tried to locate the intruder who had been detected on the wall before turning away. {Okay, it's getting late and I still need sleep,} she thought. {First, off to a hotel - then, in the morning, I go to Ryu's cabin.}

The next morning, she did exactly that, paying her bill at the hotel with her dwindling Circuit winnings before walking into an alley and yet again Ashura Warping.

She deliberately arrived some distance from the cabin, so as not to get into a fight with Ryu by appearing in his lap reeking of the Satsu no Hadou. {He may have met me, as opposed to Kasugano, but that doesn't mean his reaction would be any better if I startled him that way.} She blushed. {Even if appearing in his lap *does* have a certain... um, appeal...}

Her red-faced giggle was broken off when she heard voices on the trail - tourists, from the sound of their chatter, coming to see the place where Ryu Hoshi trained.

"Yeah, and he was *so* cool in his match with Ken Masters about a year ago, they were sooo even!"

"Mmm hmm. But you know who *I* think the next star of the circuit is going to be?"

"Nah, who?"

"Sakura Kasugano."

"Get real, the schoolgirl!?"

"Duh, get real yourself! She's fought Chun-Li, Ken, Sagat - even if he did pound her - heck, she beat E.Honda and fought Ken to a draw, and the rumors say that she's fought and beat Ryu himself!!"

Sakura Yugure blushed. {I - oh - Dammit! Geez, I need to get a grip. That's Kasugano they're talking about anyway!} Then she pause to listen as a new voice broke out in a giggle - a higher, more childish voice than the other two, who broke out in startled gasps.

Then the first voice said, "Ka-Kasugano??"

Yugure blushed again and spun, figuring someone had seen her - but there was a solid brushline between her and the voices. {They couldn't have seen me,} she reasoned. {But then, who were they talking to...?}

"Hee hee!" the new voice said. "Nope, I'm not Kasugano, I'm Kikage!"

Yugure had time to think, {Kikage? Spirit shadow?} before a sound rang out over the forest.

The distinctive *crack* of bone.

Immediately she burst into a run, breaking through the brush to see a cloaked figure in front of two men, one of whom was down with an obviously broken arm. Plowing into the cloaked figure with a flying kick, Yugure sent her flying over to one side and barked at the onlookers, "Get out of here! Right now! Run, both of you, as fast as you can!!"

The unhurt man picked up his friend and helped him along as they left at a limping jog, and Yugure turned to the cloaked figure. "All right. Breaking someone's arm like that - *who* do you think you are?!?"

The cloak fell back as the figure stood, becoming a cape as its owner shifted it back over her shoulders. Underneath it, the figure was slimly built, dressed in a *fuku* much like Sakura Kasugano's, except for the additions of metal shinguards over the lower legs and a pair of metal shoulderpads to hold the cape in place.

{It's like a mix of my and Bison's outfits-} Yugure thought, then broke off as she saw the stranger's face, framed under a red beret that might have been Bison's as a child.

The face was hers.

"YAY! Now I'll beat you and take you and I'll have a soul!!" Sakura Kikage cheered, and while Yugure was gawking at this, plowed into her with a Knee Press straight out of Bison's repertoire.

Yugure flipped to her feet and riposted with a side power-kick, then dashed after the duplicate, her combat instincts overruling the confusion she felt. {Soul? What the hell's she talking about!? Did Kasugano make *another* doppleganger? And why in *hell* is she dressed like *Bison!?* Kasugano and I both hate him!}

"Whee! You're good! Daddy was right to have me trained!" Kikage cheered, which brought Yugure up short, combat instincts or no. {*Daddy!?*}

Kikage didn't waste any time exploiting the opening, dashing in with a series of jabs and kicks that were *very* familiar to Yugure. {That's - ow - one of Kasugano's - ow! - basic combos,} Yugure thought, managing to pick off the last of the blows thanks to her familiarity with the moves. "Who's 'Daddy'?" Yugure grunted, setting her arms to block the Sho-Oh-Ken that finished the combo.

Which meant she took the Cannon Spike right in the gut and flew backwards, the reply of, "Daddy's Daddy, silly! Everyone else calls him Lord Bison, though," echoing in her ears.

Flipping to her feet, Yugure let out a screech. "BISON!??!"

"Yup!" Kikage chirped. "Daddy made me from Kasugano 'cause he loves me! And that's cool, 'cause Mommy told me stories about how he was a hero!" She rushed in again, and Yugure snatched her wrist and threw her down in a judo move, then hopped back.

"Whoa, hold the phone, start from the beginning here," Yugure said. "I don't know who Mommy is, but that doesn't matter, I guess. Why are *you* here!? What the hell's this about you getting a soul if you beat me, and why do you think you need one!?"

"Auntie Myrna told me. Mommy and Daddy don't think I have a soul, 'cause I came from the Psycho Drive. And 'cause they don't think I have a soul, Mommy pushes me away..." she paused, eyes downcast.

Yugure felt a moment of sympathy. {Aw, the poor kid... She's so messed up, like I might have been.. and Bison raising her can't have helped..}

"..and when I have a soul 'cause I beat you, Daddy'll make love to *me* like he does to Cammy!!" the caped girl cheered.

Satsu fire flared as sympathy vanished. "He'll.. make.." Yugure grated out as revulsion warred with rage over the mental image of *her* - any part of her - in bed with *him.* "LIKE HELL HE WILL!!"

"NO! HE WILL! HE LOVES ME, *NOT* *YOU!*" Kikage screamed, and they attacked.

The fires of Satsu and Psycho Power intertwined in a dance as intricate as it was lethal. Yugure had more experience fighting and better defenses, but Kikage was drawing upon moves from three different styles, and it showed. A Sakura-style jab flowed into a Bison-inspired side crescent kick and whirled into a DOLL Spinning Knuckle, the second and third blows catching Yugure cleanly and sending her down to the dirt. Yugure's wake-up footsweep was blocked, as was her followup low jab, and her uppercut punch was ducked away from and replied to with a Spiral Arrow, flared with Psycho Power.

"I'm gonna win! I know your moves already, 'cause they're mine too!! I'M GONNA GET MY SOUL!" Kikage howled, all cuteness gone from her face as rage drove her onward.

Yugure was angry too - but it wasn't hot anger like Kikage's.

It was cold, like death.

"Then I'll use different moves," Yugure hissed through clenched teeth and a split lip. Flipping to her feet, she shifted her stance as the Avenger surged to the fore. Instead of the bouncing, fists-high boxeresque stance she'd inherited from Kasugano, she slid into a side-on stance, her left side facing her opponent, one arm bent down from the shoulder diagonally and extended horizontally from the elbow at her enemy.

Akuma's stance.

Heedless, Kikage rushed in, and ate a three-hit Gou Shoryu that caught her preparing for a Sho-Oh-Ken. On her way down, a Tatsumaki Zankyukyaku juggled her, and after the hurricane kick, a Gou Hadoken blasted her farther away.

Kikage flipped to her feet, but Yugure was already there, courtesy of the Ashura Warp, and a set of punches out of Akuma's repertoire smashed into her face and shoulders, sending the caped girl staggering back into the arc of a blistering roundhouse kick.

She shook it off and recovered, but it was too late.

"MESSATSU GOU SHORYU!"

The lethally intended ancestor of Ken's Shoryu-Reppa tore into the duplicate, not *quite* literally, and she crashed to the ground and lay there twitching.

Yugure strode forward and scooped her up by the Bison-style metal collar, prepared in her anger to annihilate this twisted reflection of herself. She had actually cocked one hand back to smash that cursedly-alike face in when she saw something that made her stop.

Kikage was smiling. Weakly, but a real smile, as if she was happy.

Still angry, Yugure shook her. "What's so funny? Do you *want* to die!?"

Kikage shook her head weakly. "No... but Mommy told me... about how you were made... and how Ryu did the same thing, and he took his evil side back... so I guess whoever wins, I'll get my soul..."

Yugure's eyes widened as she made the connections. {Oh, shit... I thought she was a doppleganger or an android... but she's not healing, and I can *sense* her, she's alive... she's a *Clone!* A clone of Kasugano, with none of *me* in her... I thought she wanted to capture me, but I was wrong! She wants to MERGE!! And that'll happen whichever one of us beats the other into submission!! Oh my God... if I keep fighting...}

As Yugure's eyes widened, Kikage coughed again. "Heh... maybe you'll hate Daddy less when we're together, okay? Join me? Please? I wanna soul..."

Recoiling, Yugure dropped her and staggered back. "No!"

"Huh..? No? Why... why not? Ryu got stronger after he did it, don't you wanna get stronger too?"

Yugure retreated further. "NO! I'm *me,* dammit, not Kasugano and certainly not you! I don't want to merge with *ANYONE!* I want to live my *own* life! I AM MYSELF! NOBODY ELSE! NOBODYYY!!"

An Ashura Warp took her away from there, leaving her lookalike confused and sobbing on the ground.

"But... but... why is being me so bad?! Doesn't *anyone* love me? WHY?? WHY ARE YOU RUNNING AWAYYY!!??"

But Sakura Yugure was far, far out of hearing.