It became apparent to him during their conversation what Cammy wanted. Six point five billion dollars deposited in an anonymous account in Zurich for the safe return of his friend, Chun-Li. Of course, by the time the Masters' security force traced the call, Cammy had hung up, leaving the cryptic conversation in her wake. "Comply or else." Ken deployed the security to the call's origin, but all they were able to come across was a telephone cord dangling in the booth, its fiber optic wires exposed and crackling. No fingerprints. "Idiots didn't get there in time," he thought. "And my father is paying them how much? No matter, I'm going to take this right back to her!" That night, he telegrammed the man he trusted the most in his life, Ryu.

"Ryu,

Shadowloo kidnapped Chun-Li. Come immediately. Concord jet awaiting at Tokyo International Airport.

-Ken."

Putting down his pen and shutting off the light, Ken walked over to his bed and slipped between the sheets. He looked over at the digital clock; its red digits glared back "2:30 AM" at his eyes, which he closed in frustration. Ken knew that tonight would bring a sleepless night.

Sliding out of the sheets, he stood up and flicked on the closet light. Walking in, he slid around the hangers until he found what he was looking for; his red Gi. Removing his clothes and putting on his Gi, he flipped the switch and the light went out.

Padding outside his room, he listened carefully, as master Gouken had taught him. Ken couldn't hear any activity on the floor or downstairs. "Hmm, mom and dad must be out at another one of their society parties. I wonder which socialite bloodsucker balding offspring they wanted me to meet tonight?" he thought glumly. He remembered that corporate ladder climber, Pierce, who had a cocky smile, fake British accent, and a silicone-infused super model to complete his gloating image.

"So, Kenneth. What have you been up to? Any corporate takeovers, any girls swooning at your feet? Ha-ha-ha, old boy. Really, you ought to try harder."

"Name's Ken, pal. And, for reference purposes only, I have been working on something."

"Oh really? What is it, pray tell?"

"This," said Ken calmly before smashing his fist into Pierce's face . "See Pierce, it's marvelous, isn't it?" drawling in his own mock Brit accent to the unconscious moron.

After that, Ken never went to another business party again, unlike his parents who spent that night, and every night thereafter apologizing to Pierce's parents.

Ken slid down the stairs and walked down the insanely long hallway to the training room, where he'd left the practice dummies in a perfect circle, their stuffed arms positioned in a stance of menace. Walking confidently into the center of this circle, Ken sat and meditated. He saw Cammy, when she was sixteen and just learning to infuse the Psycho Power into her "Spiral Arrow" attack. She saw so powerful, so deadly, so beautiful when she beat Ken and Ryu for killing her master. The broken ribs reminded them, painfully, that she was a force to be reckoned with. He envisioned Chun-Li, manacled to a rack and slowly being tormented by Bison's protégé. Ken saw her tears, the blood that trickled out of the corner of her mouth, the bruise on her left eye that was a painful blue-black color. Standing up, he opened his eyes.

Around him stood six Cammys, all ready for the fight. He parried their "attacks" with his own.

"Spiral Arrow!"

"Hadouken!"

"Cannon Spike!"

"Shoryuken!"

"Frankensteiner!"

"Tatsumakisenpukyakuu!"

Three mannequins remained, glaring at him with evil eyes. They taunted him, then. "Come on!"

"You know, Cammy, you aren't nearly as powerful as your predecessor. Bison had his mind on the fight. You, on the other hand, taunt your opponent to make your own weakness seem small. But you're a big walking lie and I can see right through you!"

The Cammys' eyes did not like that, especially when he kicked one of them in the head, knocking Cammy number four out of commission. Their eyes were flooding with Psycho Power as they charged their super attacks.

"Spin Dive Smasher!" The roaring corkscrew of pure energy came right at him, flashing brightly with Bison's mind fire. Timing it, Ken sidestepped and let Cammy number five knock out Cammy number six.

"Really, Cammy. That was weak! Now, learn from a Shotokan pro..." he flooded his fist with the Ki energy. "Shoryureppa!" The uppercut made contact with Cammy's chin, throwing her high into the air before she crashed down to the floor, unconscious. "That one was for Chun-Li."

Suddenly, his fury ended. He blinked and saw he hadn't K.O.'ed six Cammys, but six dummies, who were lying on the floor in various positions of agony, the sixth was perched on the weight rack, it's head positioned on the floor nearby.

"Guess I got carried away. Damn dummies cost too much anyway," said Ken, aloud. the sweat dripped off his body, cooling him gently. "Better take a shower," he thought as he made his way up to his room.

His clock read 4:00 AM when he came out of his shower. Discarding his towel, he brushed his hair back with his fingers and snapped on a new elastic. The red-blond looked brownish in the mirror, like it had all those years ago, when he and Ryu were training partners. Exhausted he returned to the bed and lay down, his mind racing. "Gotta get Chun-Li outta there, and fast. Ryu, where are you when I need you?:

It was 7:00 AM when Ryu received the telegram from Ken. He looked up cautiously at the British man who had delivered it.

"Sumimasen? Hai, desu ne?" The broken Japanese refused to flow off the old butler's tongue.

"Speak your own, I'll understand."

"Hai..I mean, er..yes. The jet awaits us at the aeroport." He pronounced "airport" as "air-o-port", which Ryu thought was quite amusing. Not to mention the look on the butler's face, which read "You're coming now, and I've packed your bags for you."

"I'll get some clothes," said Ryu.

"No worries, Master Ryu. I've already taken the liberty."

"Thanks."

"Your bags are in the car. Shall we go?"

"One second, let me lock up, okay?" Ryu liked the old man enough, but found his insistence mildly annoying.

Five minutes later, they were aboard an expensive and rather posh Concorde jet. They would reach Los Angeles within a few hours, and would take a car to the Masters' estate in Beverly Hills.

"So..how is Ken anyway?"

"He's been better. Speaking of which, he's asked me to give you this," replied the butler, handing Ryu an envelope. He tore the end off and emptied the folded paper out into his other hand. Unfolding it, he read Ken's horrible Kanji, but managed to read the whole thing.

"Ryu,

By the time you are reading this, you should be a few hours in the air. Anyway, Cammy telephoned again. This time, she let me talk to Chun-Li, whose voice sounded sad and scraping. I don't know what they're doing to her, and I really don't want to know. Yet she is clearly in pain. We have to rescue her from Shadowloo, if we find out where the organization is. Being the evil type, Cammy has given us a month, after which she says Chun-Li will exist no more. Hope you've trained as hard as I have.

-Ken"

The note was spattered with teardrops. "He's very upset Chun-Li was captured. More shocking, his tears are of rage, meaning he wants to personally go after Shadowloo in order to take Cammy out in Bison's stead. Stupid airplane, can't you go any faster?" He thought to himself.

Twelve hours later, they arrived at the Master's estate; exhausted from the jet lag. It was 3:30 AM by the time Ryu had walked into Ken's room. To his shock, he say his best friend sitting in the dark and staring out of the floor-length window into the night sky. He was curled up in the sofa, hugging his knees to his chest, his soft brown eyes mirrored the bright moon in the night sky, his hair not in the usual ponytail, but strewn all over the cushions of the couch.

"Ken? You out of your mind or something? It's three in the morning! You should be asleep, not up worrying like this. Chun-Li is a big girl, she's a Wushu master, she can take care of herself," came Ryu's voice

"You're here, finally. It wasn't Chun-Li, I was just waiting up for you," whispered Ken. Ryu dropped his duffel bag on the floor and walked around the couch and sat in front of Ken's face on the floor.

"You shouldn't have done that. You're going to be too tired to train tomorrow. You should go get some sleep," his friend spoke in a gentle, teasing voice.

"I know. But this is Shadowloo we're up against! Remember what happened last year, when Bison kidnapped and tortured me, slowly, until you came. I can only imagine what Cammy is doing to Chun-Li, how many tears our friend cried waiting for us. I'm scared I might crack when I go up against them again; I'd be useless to our cause. Living pudding, Ryu, in the worst of times!" Ken's eyes started to mist up, a tear rolled down his cheek.

"That is not going to happen. Bison is long dead, and remember Cammy is only how old? Sixteen? Eighteen? Her powers must be relatively weak. Besides, Chun-Li is twenty-two; she could kick Akuma's ass if she wanted to," came his friend's soothing voice.

"You're right, though that doesn't mean we shouldn't take Cammy's threats seriously. I'm tired, Ryu. I'm going to bed," Ken yawned. "Guest room is two doors down the hall, on the right if you wanna sleep there."

"No, I'm too tired. Mind if we share? It would be like old times."

"No protest coming from over here, I'm too exhausted to resist." Ken took his side on the large bed. "G'night."

"Good night, Ken." Hearing the heavy breathing of his friend, Ryu knew he was in a deep sleep. He undressed quickly and slipped into the bed next to his friend, wearing only his boxers. "Not that it matters what we wear when we sleep together. We've always slept together since we were students of master Gouken, he couldn't afford three beds," thought Ryu before slipping into unconsciousness.

Sometime during the night, he awoke groggily to Ken's shivering. At first, Ryu was unable to comprehend why he was so cold. "Pig, you have most of the blankets!" He thought of all the times when he'd said that. But it wasn't that. Ryu was reflecting on the reason, when Ken whispered into his ear gently. "Ryu...don't let them hurt me. Not again. Cammy knew she'd be screwing with my head when she took her. He used my fear of Shadowloo to keep me at bay while she kidnapped Chun-Li."

"I promise you, Ken, I won't let her hurt you or Chun-Li. I'll always be here when you need me."

"S..so cold. Don't understand?" His light brown eyes were half open, but Ryu cold still see the fear and hatred of the dread organization in them.

"It will pass. For now, sleep," he said as he gathered Ken into his muscular arms. "I'll keep you safe. Remember the time I did this when you were afraid Akuma would get is in the middle of the night? Master Gouken showed him a lesson. But afterwards, you felt safe, right?"

"Right. And Ryu..thanks."

"Just try to sleep, all right? Everything will be better in the morning."

The next day, Ryu woke up with Ken's hair in his mouth. He'd forgotten how long it was, or how intense the red-blond color of it was. Its many strands, devoid of elastic had draped themselves over Ryu's neck, gently caressing it. There were many things Ryu forgot about Ken, such as how muscular his stomach felt when his arms circled around it. He remembered that night after Ken was rescued from Shadowloo's torture. Ryu recalled how Ken begged him to hold him so Bison couldn't get him again. One moment bled into the next, but he remembered the lips on his throat, and himself returning the favor. Perhaps maybe this new incident would bring the two closer together.

Ken began to stir within Ryu's embrace. "Uhhnnn....Ryu? You up yet?'

"Yes. You sleep quite...."

"Don't say it. I didn't mean to be so...turbulent. It was just a bad dream is all."

"Kind of hard to hold you."

"I'm sorry." Just then Ken felt something like lips on the back of his neck. Something familiar from long ago. Something that felt like Ryu's caress.

"You're forgiven." Ken eased over to his other side and looked into Ryu's strong, dark eyes. Eyes that seemed infinitely deep. His mind didn't register Ken's lips moving closer to Ryu's. Nor did it computer the fact that both sets of lips met for a very long time.

"Been awhile," Ken breathed deeply as he broke the kiss.

"Too long for me," came the reply.

"You haven't...."

"No."

"Do you want to?"

"Wait a sec! I'm the one that started this! I should be asking the same question." Ryu ignored Ken's shocked expression. Snaking his hand down below the covers and into Ken's own shorts. "My answer is yes." He tugged gently.

Ken couldn't suppress his laughter. "How cliche! No...gauche!"

Ryu rubbed harder and faster, while Ken continued to giggle. "It really has been a while, hasn't it?"

"Shut up and moan already! Do you know how hard it is to rub this thing?"

"You got the hard part right!" Ken moaned sarcastically. "Oh yes! Yes! YES!! And if you think that's good, try the body wash!" Mimicking that Herbal Essences commercial.

Ryu's strong hand continued the assault on the lower half of Ken. He stopped laughing, leaned back down into the soft bed, closed his eyes, and enjoyed the sensation. A low sigh of pleasure escaped his lips as he succumbed more and more to the feeling. Suddenly and unexpectedly, he came everywhere. Ken remembered breathing heavily before blacking out.

"Ken? Ken! Wake up!" Ryu coaxed a deeply breathing Ken. "Ok, Masters-kun. We can do this the hard way." He climbed on top of his comatose friend before firmly pressing his lips to the slightly open pair opposite him. Snaking his tongue into Ken's mouth, he gently brushed it against his uvula, eliciting a slight cough and a gagging noise.

"Ryu...didya hafta be that cruel?!"

"You were unresponsive for a long time. How could I not get worried?"

"You should be worried; when I get through with you, you won't be able to move for a very long time," Ken's eyes suddenly seemed evil as he flipped Ryu and landed on top of him. "I'm the one who returns favors." Planting a quick kiss on Ryu's soft lips, Ken smiled a sinister smile.

Ryu gasped lightly when Ken's hand grasped his cock; the fact that he barely touched it suddenly made it stand straight up. The other hand grasped the waistband of his shorts and pulled them down. The organ was bigger than Ken remembered; much thicker and perhaps a little longer.

"Ryu...there's something I've wanted to try for a long time," breathed Ken. Ryu's eyes opened wide and the irises trembled slightly.

"I'm not ready for that kind of sex yet."

" That is not what I meant. I'm not either."

"Well whatever it......" he was cut off by a sudden wet and warm feeling on his cock. Looking down, he saw Ken bent over him, licking at the head. Ryu moaned deeply and opened his legs wider, to fully benefit from the hands which now were kneading at his balls. Then, without warning, Ken took the entire head in his mouth and sucked gently before pulling the rest of his friend into his eager mouth. Ryu couldn't help but moan all the louder and thrust ever so gently into the source of his pleasure before coming. Ken swallowed everything his depleted companion had to offer before removing his lips and crawling back on top of Ryu.

"I told you I can be persuasive,' the soft brown eyes seemed to glow with an aura of love and happiness.

"Yes....but tell me....where'd you learn that?"

Ken's only reply was a smile.

"Dammit, Ken! Answer me!" Ryu's mind was slowly piecing the puzzle together. "There is someone else, he just won't say," he thought as Ken's smile seemed to fade into something more perturbing.

"Ryu...." Ken couldn't force the words out, yet some part of him screamed "tell him!" He spoke, then, in a low, pain-filled voice. "When Bison got me...he did torture me...but in more....than one way. There was no way I...I couldn't get away....." the tears came then as Ken recalled what Bison did to him after the beatings.

"I'm so sorry, Ken. I didn't mean to pry it out of you," said Ryu. His mind knew then what his intuition refused to confirm: Bison had his way with his partner, against his will.

"No....you should know....you deserve to after what you did earlier to me. But, you'll never know what it was to be secured and spread and denied any movement by.....your own arch enemy," Ken was nearing a vegetative state.

"You mean...," Ryu knew the answer, but he couldn't accept it. "Had the man with the scar...no...he was still picking up the pieces of his ego," he thought.

"Sagat," his lips could barely force the words as he passed out. Ken's skin was cold and clammy, his forehead was nearly covered in a cold sweat. Ryu reached over and pulled him towards his warm body. "Ken...it's going to be ok. They can't get you, not now, not ever. I'm here now, always."

"R...Ryu?"

"Don't try to talk, just sleep for a bit, okay?" Ken's closed eyes seemed to nod in agreement. He felt sleep enclose his visual circuits; gently dimming them out before all he could make of Ryu was a dark blur lying next to him.

"Chun....Li......," he murmured as he succumbed to a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, in the bowels of Shadowloo, something entirely different was happening.

"Hello, Chun-Li...or shall I call you by the literal translation... 'Beautiful Spring?'" taunted a very young, energetic, and defiant voice. Dohrai's daughter lifted her bruised face and made eye contact with the blue irises that lacked pupils....a sign of Bison's residual mind control.

"Whatever.....we're all friends here, right?" Chun-Li replied with sarcasm dripping in her cracked voice. For the past week she had been captured, beaten, stripped, mind-raped, and slowly tortured by Bison's psi-probes, designed to pick out whatever information the operator desired.

"That wasn't very cordial, now, was it?" The Brit spoke again, angrily. Her English mentality was warped by the perversions instilled in her mind by her master. "No, not indeed. Back in merry old M-I5..."

"Don't tell me....you're Baby Spice, right?" Cammy was the second overinflated, pompous blowhard Chun-Li had encountered after her father's death. She knew which buttons to push, especially her trademark "Spice Bitch" comment. Once, Chun-Li even tried calling Ken "Ginger", but he retorted with "Posh" and proceeded to usher her into his car and take her shopping for that leather-Armani suit her look alike wears.

Slapping her captive across the face harshly, Cammy then dragged her fingernail along the prisoner's unblemished cheek. A trickle of crimson appeared; the victim winced. Yet, as soon as the blood touched her finger, Cammy received another one of her alarming flashbacks.

She caught a glimpse of a tall man with reddish-brown hair picking her body up in his strong arms and carrying her into his Bentley. She noticed the heavy chain link fencing and the guard towers, but was comforted on some level when she heard the man speak into his car's radio.

"This is Colonel Wolfman. I'm bringing in a stray. Her bruises indicate she had a row, that scar on her face in particular matches the one Shadowloo gave me seven years ago, when I rescued Guile. Is it all right if I tend to her?"

"One moment please.....I just received a fax transmission from headquarters in London...your request has been accepted to 'draft' your friend into the military. Please, Colonel, bring her to the medlab first so we can examine her."

"Very well. Wolfman out."

Cammy returned to real life then, and her pupils sank back into the residual blue glow of her brainwashed eyes. Punching her "friend" in the stomach and grinning when the Chinese girl coughed up blood, Cammy winked at her before turning around and walking towards the exit.

"Good night, Beautiful Spring."