Street Fighter 2

The White Angel: part 5

They arrived at the apartment block, and made their way inside. As they walked up the stairs, Cammy started to talk.
"Did the interview get you anything?"
"Not much. We're searching the apartment the gang-members lived in, but so far, nothing's turned up. They must have destroyed everything the had to do with Shadowloo. He also said where he contacted Shadowloo three years ago, but I doubt anything will be left there. I'll check it out tomorrow."
Cammy was not convinced, and felt that she was no closer to the truth about her past, "Well that was a waste of time. We didn't get any major information and I almost killed someone."
"I don't think so. At least we're uncovering your abilities."
"I felt a rush of anger when you were in danger. I just couldn't help it."
"Don't worry. What you actually did saved someone, not kill someone. You saved my life Cammy, remember."
"Yeah, I guess I did."
A pause. Then Chun Li started.
"There's something you haven't told me. Your dreams. You seem to have the same dreams almost every night. Maybe we could get somewhere if you told me what those dreams are."
"I….can't remember."
Chun Li didn't question any further, though she knew Cammy was lying. She was having the same dream over and over again, and although she didn't scream anymore when she woke up from them, she still had that sad look on her face when she woke up in the morning.
Chun Li understood why she didn't want to tell her. She herself experienced nightmares after her father died when she was twelve. They were always about her father, they way he was so kind to her, the way he taught her Kung-fu, they way he took care of her when her mother died when Chun Li was six years old.
Then, all of a sudden, it was replaced by her father falling to his death, and then the image of Bison laughing.
It took her nearly a year to get over the nightmares.

Meanwhile, in an alleyway near Queen's Road east in the Wan Chai district, the stall-holder walked around uncomfortably, waiting for someone to arrive. He rubbed his hands together, blowing on them and tried to remain warm.
He's not going to come, he thought as his overcoat did little to block the cold outside. The alleyway was pretty dark, only a streetlight facing the other way provided any sort of life at all.
"I heard you were looking for me."
The stall-holder turned round and saw a man wearing a white mask and a trenchcoat, as well as a robe around his head. On his left hand there was a lethal-looking claw.
"Y….yes. I know the whereabouts of your lost agent."
"Where is she?"
"She's at the apartment of a detective, detective Chun Li. She's taking care of her."
The man in the mask did not ask the stall holder where the detective's apartment was. His Shadowloo contacts could tell him anyway.
"How do you know."
"Sh….she came to my stall three days ago. I recognized her instantly. The other woman, the detective, was with her at the time. They recently raided the building my former members-in-crime."
"How nice…." One less drugs competitor to worry about, the man thought.
"Listen, you didn't hear this from me, okay. I was the one who gave them the information about my previous life. If they found out I told you all this, my life would be ruined for another few years."
"Don't worry. Shadowloo does not betray it's allies. But I swear you this. If you breathe a word about this meeting to anyone, your life won't be ruined by a prison sentence."
The claw glistened in the street light as if to emphasize the point.
"Don't worry. I was thinking of leaving Hong Kong anyway."
The man-in the-mask turned and walked off, leaving the stall holder to start running.

Two days later, Vega was on the roof-top overlooking Chun Li's apartment. His contacts had told him the location only a few hours ago. He sat with his knees bent, watching all the people that came and left the apartment.
After several hours, he spotted his target. Chun Li and Cammy exited the building, for a reason he did not know and did not care. He watched as the detective and the former Shadowloo agent walked to the car, and drove off.
He checked his watch. 2:27 p.m. He would report this to Bison and await further instructions.

"My lord, I have them."
"Where."
"In an apartment, about a dozen miles from this building."
"Excellent, Vega. I want you to attack them tomorrow night. Do what you like to the detective, but I want Cammy alive. Do not fail me."
"I will not fail you."
The screen switched off. Vega was in his own apartment, watching a computer screen in the darkness. His mask and his claw were lying on his bed.
The two ladies shall have one day to live. Then, the slaughter will begin.

The next day, Chun Li and Cammy left to receive any information that was recovered in the house that the gang-members had lived before they were arrested, as well as any clues that had been seen at the place where the gang-members had contacted Shadowloo three years ago. Chun Li had been at the place with Cammy yesterday, but couldn't find anything. Chun Li called for backup to make a more thorough search.
They arrived at the Interpol building at noon.
"Well?" asked Chun Li to the forensics expert.
"We didn't find much. We found a loose bag of heroin under a load of black sacs, about three years old, but we can hardly call that as evidence against Shadowloo. What we did find, however were these."
The forensics expert held up two red gloves, that ran to the length of the elbow.
"These gloves are normally worn by Shadowloo agents. They have steel bars that are sewn into the arm area in order for the wearer to block any short-ranged weapon, like a dagger or club."
"Would they fit this girl?" Chun Li asked, meaning Cammy.
"We can only try. Cammy?"
Cammy hesitantly raised her arms. She felt that the arm bands would suddenly remind her about something that happened to her in her time as an agent of Shadowloo, something bad. However, she wanted to know everything about her previous life. If the gloves would help her, then she would wear them.
Chun Li helped her place the gloves onto her arms. They fit perfectly. Cammy looked at the gloves, rotating her arms to see all of it. Then the memories came.
She saw images in her head. Images of her strapped to a wall. She clutched her head in pain, and Chun Li stepped to help her up.
"Get away from me!" Cammy cried.
Cammy pushed herself away from Chun Li and staggered to the wall. One of her hands laid onto it, while the other still clutched her head as memories flooded back. She remembered her standing silent and motionless as her uniform was put on for her by other hands. She remembered staying in a small cell before her next assignment by her master. She remembered her being experimented on by scientists when she returned.
She screamed as she ripped off the gloves and threw them to the floor. Chun Li ran to her side. Cammy sat, gasping as she tried to hold back her tears.
"Cammy, what's wrong?" Chun Li asked, concerned.
"I saw…..I saw things. I don't know what I saw but…….it was terrible."
Chun Li lifted her up. "Don't worry, Cammy. I'll take you home." She picked up the gloves, and walked out of the door.

When they arrived at Chun Li's house, Cammy walked as if a heavy weight had been placed on her shoulders. Chun Li carried the two Shadowloo gloves in her arms.
"Do you want me to put these somewhere?"
"I want you to throw them away."
They had had this argument through the whole journey. Cammy wanted to throw them away so that they would never haunt her again. Chun Li wanted to keep them, hoping to use them as evidence of what Shadowloo did to Cammy.
"Cammy, I know how you feel about this whole situation, but….."
Cammy interrupted her, her voice raised in anger. "How would you know?! Shadowloo ruined my life. You only want to take Shadowloo down because they commit crimes, but what about me? I don't want to have to face all those memories again."
"Why? Before you wanted to find everything about yourself so you could help in the fight against them. Now you're saying you won't?"
"If I face those memories, what could I do. I made that move against that gang-member, yes. But that's all I can remember. Why are you pushing me into a fight that I can't win?"
"Who said you couldn't?"
"I did. And don't think you can change my mind. You have no reason to do this to me."
At that point, Chun Li slammed the table near her with her fist. Cammy's face changed to one of shock.
"Do you honestly think I don't have a reason to do this? You're not the only one who's life has been ruined by Shadowloo."
"Yes. The people who take the drugs that Shadowloo distributes."
"Not just them! My own life was ruined because that fucking bastard who leads Shadowloo killed my father!!"
Cammy stepped back in shock. She had just angered someone who she could trust because she didn't know anything about her. Nothing. And now the reasons why Chun Li was helping her had surfaced.
"I……I'm sorry. I didn't know."
Chun Li calmed herself down and walked past her. "No, Cammy. I'm to blame. I should have told you earlier."
She sat down near the dining table. "If I told you, this wouldn't have happened…..I'm sorry."
Cammy sat down opposite her. "What happened?"
"………It was when I was twelve. Before you were captured. Shadowloo had been around a lot longer than you think. My father was a Hong Kong detective specializing in drugs shipments. One day he was given an anonymous tip to a warehouse in the Naval dockyard at Victoria Harbour in Causeway bay. Instead, it was a Shadowloo welcoming committee that was waiting for him. They had already killed the backup that had been with him. They……." A small sobbing started, but she continued. "They tortured my father for seven hours by producing pain to the seven chakra, the seven most vital points to a human body. Finally, they took him to the highest point of a crane, and the leader dropped him to his death."
Tears rolled down her face. Cammy felt guilty at what she said.
"I remember when his colleagues came to tell me. It was my twelfth birthday. The other children left, leaving only me and Fei Long, my best friend. I was adopted by Uncle Gen, a man who taught several Chinese martial arts with my father. I trained with him, learning the arts of Wing Chun, Mok-Gar, Wushu and Tai Chi Chuan. I swore to avenge my father's death if ever I found the man who killed him. It was clear that Shadowloo was an international organization. So I joined Interpol. In a few days, Interpol are going to be signing a joint investigative alliance with NATO and the United States Air Force. But I can't do this alone, Cammy, I need your help."
Cammy stood up and walked behind Chun Li.
"What are you doing?" asked Chun Li.
Cammy picked up the portable tape recorder on the windowsill and gave it to Chun Li.
"You want my help? You want to know all that I can remember what happened to me? Let's talk."

Chun Li pressed the record and play buttons and held the microphone in front of Cammy. Cammy told her what she remembered.
"My name is Cammy White. When I was eight, my mother and father was killed, and I was kidnapped by a group of masked men. No-one saw the kidnapping, and my parent's bodies were never found until I had been flown out of the country. I was taken into a laboratory and experimented on until I became an assassin working for Shadowloo. Two weeks ago, I killed the English Minister of Defense, Albert Sellers, and was captured afterwards. I woke up with no memory of what happened over the last ten years.
This is what is written in the Interpol file. What is not written is what happened to me during that time.
I often have dreams about what happened to me. They invoke memories of something long forgotten. I dream that I see myself as a child, being taken into a fortress, my face looking out of the chain meshed window, scared. I am taken into the fortress, and see myself being experimented on with needles and drills, puncturing every part of my body with drugs, seeing what I can withstand. Over the years, the pain increases as they inject more powerful drugs into me. All this time, I am crying, and they beat me for it.
When I was twelve, there were just two doctors in there with me. My crying had since ceased, there are very few tears left to shed. One of the doctors leaves. He switches off a machine, and then walks up to me.
With what little strength I had left in me, I spat into his face. He withdrew a knife from his pocket and slashed my face. He then began to rape me after covering my mouth with a cloth."
Chun Li's other hand covered her mouth in shock. Cammy continued.
"He pulled his trousers down and entered me. I turned my head, and I felt the pain, but did not say anything. I could not cry. Inside me, I felt so much emotion swelling into me, but I could not release it outside me. He swung his hips back and forth until he came inside me. Then he withdrew and slapped my face, laughing."
Chun Li noticed Cammy displayed no emotion while she was saying these things. Cammy remained calm, but inside she felt like she was going to burst into tears. Chun Li knew Cammy did not want to say this at first, and she realised why.
"Then a man in a red suit walked in, he wore a cap bearing a skull with wings."
Chun Li instantly recognised who she was talking about. M. Bison.
"He saw what the man was doing. He grabbed him by the throat, and broke it with a twist of his hand. He then looked at me, and stroked my face, wiping off the remaining tears I had left. At that point, my emotions died, and the young girl died with them.
When I put on the Shadowloo gloves, I saw even more of what happened to me. Machines were placed into my body, turning me into a genetically-enhanced killer. I received combat training, and followed every instruction. I joined a group of hundreds of genetically modified assassins. I killed many of Lord Bison's enemies. Every time I returned from a mission, they put me into a holding cell, to await until my next assignment. And I didn't even notice.
This is what happened. I hope that the families of those that I killed can forgive me. But I know, that I must do something so that they can."

Chun Li put the recorder down and pressed the stop button. For a moment, there was silence.
"Cammy…..I felt that I was the one who's life was ruined by Bison…..I should have known better……I'm so sorry."
"It's alright, Chun. Bison, the man that you say is the lord of Shadowloo, has ruined both of our lives. We're the only ones that can do anything about it. I'm going to go to bed. Good night."
She put an arm on Chun Li's shoulder, and smiled. She went out of the door and went to her bedroom.
For a moment, Chun Li sat by herself, the tape recorder still in her hand. Then she lowered her hand and burst into tears.
"Damn you Bison," she said as she cried, "I swear……I'll kill you for what you did to us."

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