The proud amazons of Joketsuzoku looked glumly out of their pens to gaze at the remains of their village. Joketsuzoku had been burned to the ground; the ashes were scattered throughout their salted fields so that their village could never live again. Many amazons died in the attack that had so completely erased the evidence of their existence. More had died spiritually as they were bound and hobbled by shackles stronger than any mere chain. Many had lost the fire that was the heritage of an amazon, humbled by beings not fully human.

Lin Mo was accounted one of the most intelligent warriors; she had even attended Beijing University. Her intellect was a valued resource by the elders of the village and she was taxing it to find some way to escape their current predicament. Once the conquest of Joketsuzoku was complete, Shadoloo airlifted in several pre-fabricated buildings to set up a temporary base. Flimsy structures of plastic, any amazon worth her bonbori could knock down its walls at will. However, all amazons below twelve were housed in a central pen. Faceless Shadoloo Goons (tm) manned machine guns round the clock and if there were even a hint of violence, they would happily massacre the huddled children without a thought.

The young warriors were placed in a separate holding facility but none of the elders or Matriarchs could be seen. Either none of them survived (not too likely), they had been taken somewhere else (a horrible thought) or the Shadoloo commander had them all killed to feed her "precious" (an even more horrible thought).

Shadoloo had attacked them with over six hundred troops. Conventional forces had amounted to little against the battle prowess of the amazons; the regular infantry had died in droves despite the fact that they had modern weaponry. It was the "Special Forces" that had turned the tide of battle. Lin Mo was confident that even outnumbered three to one the amazons could have carried the day. However Shadoloo's freak squad had taken such a heavy toll on the amazons that it mattered little if Joketsuzoku slew all of the riflemen; the five of them could have destroyed the village by themselves anyway.

One of those "Special Forces" visited the pen now. Unlike the others, she did not come here to gloat. The breathtakingly beautiful woman was carrying a basket of bread loaves and water bottles. She noticed Lin Mo staring at her and crept to the edge of their prison, beckoning Lin Mo to come to her. "My name's Akiko. I 'relieved' the guards, they won't be coming to for a while now. Take this food and distribute it among yourselves. Eat with your back facing the cameras."

Lin Mo examined the woman skeptically. Her mane of lustrous sienna hair and voluptuous figure made most of the men in the pens salivate. Her features were perfection personified; she looked like a Grecian statue come to life but her eyes were weary and haunted. The collar around her neck was the first clue that she might not be serving Shadoloo on her own free will. Lin Mo accepted the food as Akiko passed the loaves to her one at a time through the metal bars of their prison. Before she passed on the loaves to her sister however, she took a small bite out of each. More out of paranoia that they were poisoned rather than out of hunger, Lin Mo found that her actions earned her a sad smile from Akiko. After burying water bottles throughout the dirt floor of their prison, the amazons ate and drank for the first time in over three days.

Akiko skulked out of the prisoner facility once her task had been complete. Shadoloo might have taken her freedom from her but that did not mean that she could not accomplish a bit of good on the side. They could not be watching her all the time.

Akiko continued to supply food and water to the imprisoned amazons for over a week before Shidoshi caught her.

The amazons were forced to watch as the benefactor rolled and writhed on the ground in abject agony. The implants that Shadoloo scientists had placed in her brain allowed them to stimulate numerous nervous impulses simultaneously. Tendo Akiko had the unfortunate experience of knowing what it was like to suffer the pain of being burnt alive, flash-frozen and dismembered all at the same time.

Her screams were loudest in Lin Mo's ears as the Joketsuzoku vowed to free Akiko from her servitude. If no cure could be found then a merciful chop at the base of the neck would have to suffice. Better to die with honor than to be the playthings of evil men. Akiko screamed for over half the night before her eyes rolled up in her sockets and she slipped into sweet oblivion. Ignoring the foam at her mouth, Shidoshi had two guards carry away Akiko's limp form.

After more than a fortnight of imprisonment, the amazons finally got to see the man ultimately responsible for their plight. M Bison and his entourage arrived via a high-tech transport strait out of Buck Rogers. Shidoshi kneeled before her Lord and placed her forehead to the ground. Bison floated off the ramp and landed beside his subordinate. Shidoshi rose from her prostrate posture from the ground as one of his Dolls took him to an underground cellar hidden below the Arch-matriarch's hut. As Cammy walked by, they had a whispered exchange of opinions.

"Anytime you want to try me Sword Girl."

"Waiting for it Osage no Onna." (J = Pigtailed Girl)

The two Shadoloo commanders glared daggers at each other before they followed in Lord Bison's wake.

In the treasury of the Arch-matriarch, M Bison found the object that had motivated him to attack the village in the first place. The magical treasures and wealth of martial art lore aside, it was this one item that doomed Joketsuzoku. A Khadaryn crystal as big as his fist lay buried under a pile of gold coins and gems. Khadaryn acted as a natural amplifier for psychic abilities and was the core component of his psycho drives. All he need do now was call on his scientists to defrost one of the Society members that he had stored in cryogenic stasis and another Psycho Drive would be operational.

Naturally, he then laughed maniacally as all good villains are supposed to do. It's in their contracts.

Bruticus saluted M Bison as he walked past. It was so cool working for him, the big boss man of Shadoloo gave great perks to his agents. Even now he got regular exercise with "Little Brutus" with these amazon chicks. It was great to *feel* again with one of few remaining parts of him that were still human.

Sss'lusstha-Kha, the snake woman her other team members knew as "Sibilant" bowed at the waist to acknowledge Bison's presence. He had promised her a mate at the end of her indentured service. If it meant that the Lemurian race could live again then she would serve this ape until he gave her what she wanted.

The Yuki-no-Onna (Snow Lady) that Shadoloo had successfully tamed floated about aimlessly around the hot springs nearby as she looked for any warmth. When her masters called, the Psycho Drive would cause her to home in on a particular area to wreak havoc but for now Shadoloo had no need of her at this moment.

Eric Masterson looked through the charts again. Lord Bison was becoming impatient with their work. This woman Tendo Akiko had many powerful combat techniques buried somewhere in her Swiss-cheese memory and it was their job to wrench it out of her.

A simple sterile room in the Mobile Command Vehicle (MCV) that served as Shidoshi's command centre was the best they could do for a laboratory as they plumbed the depths of Akiko's mind.

More than once Eric had dreamed of ravishing the stunning redhead but he was a professional: business before pleasure after all. Of course the fact that she could tear off his head with her bare hands had nothing to do with his decision, nothing at all.

One the bed, tied down with kevlar restraints, Akiko stared sightlessly as the Shadoloo scientist performed his mental rape, a violation far surpassing that of any physical variety.

Clutching the Khadaryn crystal in his left hand, Bison signaled Cammy to prepare their vehicle. He had a soul to corrupt before lunch and he hated to be off schedule.

Gregory Matheson tried his level best not to yawn as he maintained a Lotus position. Mistress Rose had been gone for a while now and it got a little boring around the house. Wake up, eat, meditate, sleep; the regimen was about to drive him stir crazy. Wondering what Mistress Rose would do if she found his withered skeleton still in a yoga position when she returned, Gregory near fell over when the doorbell rang.

Excited beyond words, Gregory threw open the door to welcome his sensei back from her trip but instead he found himself face to face with a nightmare. Those high-cheek bones, the strong chin and smile was exactly how the aspiring student had envisioned M Bison. Slamming the door, Gregory took a deep breath and counted to ten. Maybe he'll wake up and it'll all be a dream. Maybe it was some vacuum-cleaner salesman and his fuzzy brain had played tricks on his eyes. No way could M Bison be out there knocking on his door.

"That was very rude you know."

Gregory yelped and nearly jumped out of his skin as M Bison's voice came directly behind him. Just his voice was enough to scare him. It was teasing as if to an old friend to another and yet his whimsical voice carried with it an underlying tone of madness.

Gregory spun around only to confront...........empty air.

"Up here my boy, has Mistress Rose so slackened in her teaching?"

Gregory turned around and before him was the Lord of Shadoloo. Bison floated almost a foot above the ground in a blatant display of his power. Gregory knew that his grin was supposed to be disarming but Bison's smile revealed waaaaaay too many teeth to be comforting.

"Hello, Gregory. Just here to see how the old Alma Mater is doing. You know, the old college spirit and all that. Why do you look so afraid boy? Worried that I'm about to eat you?" Bison nonchalantly blew on his fingernails and wiped them on his jacket.

Gregory pointed a quivering finger at Bison, "but, but, but," as his brain processed the information that he was in the presence of possibly the most dangerous man in the world while in his teacher's sanctum.

"Save the machine gun noises for the children dear boy." Gregory never did figure out why Bison guffawed at that. It was not even that funny a joke to begin with. Only a complete whacko would laugh at his own joke.

"I do not indulge myself in petty violence my dear Gregory. I'm a man of wealth and taste. You already guessed my name so now we are going to play my game."

Gregory was no coward but he was no idiot either. He began making peace with his God since he was probably going to be a grease spot on the floor when Mistress Rose returned.

"I was wondering on your progress dear boy. By this time of my training, I was already exploring the astral planes, seeing the universe in all of its glory."

Gregory looked quizzically at Bison. What in the hell was going on?

"I can see that Mistress Rose's taking it slow with you. No Soul Sparks, no psychic calls for help. What *have* you learnt?"

Gregory was considering running when Bison answered his own question.

"Just a few breathing exercises? Oh poor Gregory, abandoned by his sensei while she goes gallivanting around the world."

Gregory was beginning to feel that this guy could literally read his mind. After all, Mistress Rose could.

"That's right I can. I'm here to make you an offer Gregory. You are going to have the once in a life-time opportunity to learn the Psycho Power."

M Bison soared over to the roof of Rose's little home as both of his hands flared with the energies of Psychokinetic Channeling. However his right fist was sheathed with swirling white energies and his left was cocooned in scintillating purple light.

"Notice the differences between Soul Power and Psycho Power," Bison said with the dry tone of an elementary school teacher. "Soul Power depends on the soul and only the soul. Therein lies its weakness, it ignores everything else." M Bison brought both fists smashing together and the purple energy quickly overcame the white.

"Psycho Power incorporates both the mind and body into its training as well as the soul. Soul Power denies the human condition. Psycho Power embraces it, exalts it."

Bison floated close to Gregory and spoke with him in conspiratal whispers. Up close, Gregory could feel the sheer power that Bison radiated. It was like standing next to a force of nature.

"Soul Power asks you to go a mountain top and say 'ohm', until you are old and gray, the life of the aesthetic for enlightenment. The only commandment of Psycho Power is: 'Do what thou wilt'. Psycho Power lets you tap your deepest desires and make them real."

Gregory swallowed. This was awfully tempting and this annoying buzzing in his head made it hard to think straight.

"Learn from me Gregory and you will have power undreamed of by all of those dusty mystics. Power enough to make your every whim come true and every fantasy a reality. All I ask of you is to cast aside your nets and follow me."

Gregory's resolve was wavering, what Bison said made a lot of sense. If he had Bison's power, he could do a lot of good in the world. He might even defeat Bison himself and bring Shadoloo crashing down once and for all. More than that, he could make sure that no little boy would lose his parents in a car crash like that ever again. Yeah, no more hunger, no more wars, no more poverty. He could *make* it stop with just a thought. Power to shake the world and it was being *given* to him.

"But I promised to learn from Mistress Rose." There it was out, his final pitiful defense.

"And so you shall Mr Matheson. I will come to you in your dreams to give you your instruction on Psycho Power. By day you shall take in her lessons on the soul; by night you shall know the true meaning of power. What do you say?"

"Damn, this buzzing is getting worse," Gregory thought. "Yes...."

"Yes what?"

"Yes......sensei."