Invite ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Rainthorn Building, North-Central District The beautiful remodelling of the Sunset City had taken both the city and the world by surprise. But it could not have been possible with out the money, time and influence of the KAIGA Group. Their interest in the city of Sunsets was what made this dream come true for so many of the frightened normal people living here. But with that help came the more obvious benefits. To be known to the world as the company that brought forth a wonderful outcome from a city stuffed to the teeth with crime, suffering and mayhem. And such efforts did not come without a structure to signify the change. The Rainthorn Building was one of those structures. The North-Central District was the busiest part of town to work in. On the borderlines of the inner city, it was full of tall office buildings and small, businesslike restaurants and bars for the people working here to take their breaks at. It was the most elegant and business-like part of Sunset City by far. It was the first district to feel the weight of the so-called Sunset City Rejuvenation Plan. Thus it was where the KAIGA Group had their biggest financial footing. The Rainthorn Building stood above all others and was the headquarters of the operations of the KAIGA Group in this city. And because of this, Rockeye was not looking forward to entering it. But he knew as well as anyone that he had no choice. It was a brand new day. He had been defeated by Ryo Asagawa in the smoky hall of the Whiteout Nightclub. Most of his posse had scrambled after that. He'd chew them out about that later on. But right now he had to deal with the big issue. And Cyria would definitely not let this one rest. The massive man took a deep breath and walked past the revolving glass doors of the Rainthorn Complex. He strode into the building and was greeted with the pompous frowns of all the well dressed businessmen and businesswomen around. They were never very comfortable with him and his large, scruffy looks. But Rockeye had grown used to those looks and just ignored them as best as his temper would allow. He walked up to a lift on the other side of the room, ignored by all of the bodyguards who knew exactly what he was here for. The doors closed around Rockeye and the lift took him straight up to the taller point of that financial tower. At the 25th level, they began to open up again and reveal the highest floor below the roof. This floor by itself was not large. It was simply one elongated and very well-furbished corridor which stretched down to the office of the one he was appointed to meet. The battered Rockeye walked down the corridor past all the pictures and potted plants until he was face to face with the door of the head office. Upon that door was the gold plaque that read out the name of the one taking up residence in that office. It said simply, 'Cyria Mau.' Rockeye took another deep breath and opened the door. He was greeted with the brilliant rays of sunlight pouring from the wide windows of the office. There was a desk in front of it. A woman sat there. Lilac-haired and blue-eyed, her attentions swerved straight to the gang leader at her door. Rockeye gulped and tightened up. This woman was Cyria Mau. The mastermind behind the Sunset City Rejuvenation Plan and the KAIGA Group's main authority in this city. But she wasn't the only one there. Another woman was in the office. She stood against the window cross-armed, dressed in a grey business suit and donning a pair of dark black sunglasses. Her full name was Camilla Argand. Rockeye knew her to be a member of a legendary Swiss family of assassins, known as the Argand Family. But to the common people of the underworld she was regarded only by her ominous trade name. The Black Widow. The blonde woman had been given that name by her own family in recognition of her amazing assassination skills and incredible fighting powers. Cyria had hired her as a sort of bodyguard and hitman (or hitwoman, whatever). Thus far, Black Widow had killed over twenty people in the name of Cyria and the KAIGA Group. And around 110 people in her own. Needless to say, Rockeye was a little afraid of her. Cyria spoke first between the three of them. "Ah. Cain. You are late. But then lateness is something I should have become accustomed to long after we first met. Aside from brute strength, it seems to be the one thing you are skilled at." Rockeye nervously bowed before her. "I-I'm sorry, Ma'am. I got into a bit of a tussle last night with my boys at the Whiteout Club and I've been laid up in bed since then." "...I suppose that explains the wounds," Cyria gestured at the plasters over Rockeye's face and neck, "So who was it the work of? Another gang that needs to be crushed in your endless wars? Or was it just your usual case of over-zealousness?" "A kid injured members of my team. I had to take care of him..." Black Widow smirked menacingly at him. "But rather... he ended up taking care of you?" Had anyone else said that, Rockeye would have been on 'um like a bad stink. But when faced with the sneers and rudeness of a woman like Widow, Rockeye was completely humbled and silenced. Cyria spoke soon after, saying, "Who was this youth?" "Some guy called... Ryo Asagawa..." Cyria froze the second that name was called out. A vivid look of intensity was reflected in her smooth sky blue eyes from hearing it. "...Asagawa...?" Rockeye nodded. "Yes. He was stronger than I expected. B-But I will find out where he's hiding and take care of this before he even has the chance to rest. Y-You can count on me, Ma'am." "The son of Asagawa is back?" Cyria spoke to herself, ignoring Rockeye, "After all these years, the rumours were true after all. Tsukasa's progeny has finally crawled out of the woodworks." Black Widow looked over at Cyria. "Should we inform Schwarzluft of this?" "No." She replied, "He is already busy making arrangements for the God of Fighting Grand Championships. The last thing I need is for that German hothead to start breathing down my neck about obstructions to his plans. Such details can wait until I receive my own chance to confirm all of this." Cyria then looked back at Rockeye. "Now Cain. Listen to me. I will ignore the fact of your defeat this time around. But don't forget why you are here. I worked to rid this city of almost all its filthy little gangs so that you and the Zazubaza would have no challenge to your own claims. But I only did that so that I would have a perceptive ear to the underground world of this city. Outside of the data that you supply me with as an informant, you are worthless to me. So if you want a chance to prove yourself and earn even more money than you are getting now... I have a little 'job' for you to take care of." "I'll do anything, Ma'am." Rockeye offered. "Wonderful," Cyria smiled ominously and then pressed her finger into a buzzer on her desk. The woman then spoke into it, "Ayami. Prepare an invitation to the building for me. Make it out to... Ryo Asagawa." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Hutchingham Apartment Building, North-Western District "Hmmm... it's morning already..." Maya Mishimoto mumbled to herself, feeling the hot rays of the sun pour onto her face from the open window of the apartment bedroom. It was just at this time that she remembered that she was not in her own apartment. The young woman yawned and leaned upwards from the bedspread. She clutched and enswathed her naked form in it, covering her breasts. Then memory began to serve her when she looked down at the floor of the bedroom. The light of the windows shone off an empty bottle of vodka. And two sets of clothing led up to the bed. There was no way Maya could have forgotten something like last night. Although she had come to Sunset City purely out of business... this place really knew how to unwind you. And to be perfectly frank, it was a welcomed change from the speedy rat race of Japanese Journalism. Maya ran a hand through her lengthy locks of ebony hair and leaned up further. The door clicked while doing so. Out came the woman who had shown Maya the time of her life. A beautiful seductress of little words by blindingly forthright passion. She went by the name Elizabeth Argand. Maya just called her 'Liza'. But she knew that that was not the name she liked to go by. Like any normal member of the Argand Family, she liked to go by trade names. Elizabeth's particular one was 'White Rose'. A sweet name for a woman living with a forbidden profession of assassination. Normal people would have been frightened by that. But not Maya. As a woman, the thought of having a sexual relationship with a killer was thrilling and arousing. All the more so when sleeping with someone with the beauty of White Rose. The blonde-haired Liza sauntered into the bedroom, wearing only a large tee shirt that barely swung over the smooth curves of her thighs. She marched up to Maya's bed and leaned over, claiming the Japanese girl's lips with unhidden ardour and tremendously feminine strength. Maya pulled back with almost something of a swoon, breathing heavily. "Liza," She said softly, "Last night was... incredible..." Liza walked up to the set of roses on her windowsill. "I know. I didn't expect to hear from you this soon after that... story you covered in Japan. I'm glad you looked me up when you came to Sunset City." "Of course," Maya replied, "I... know we said we'd keep things casual... but... I just couldn't stop thinking about you. I had to know how you were doing." Then Liza primed the roses with a soft touch and replied, "Are you sure that's all it is?" "Why wouldn't it be?" Maya questioned. "Well... do you ask me this as a woman or as a journalist?" The White Rose replied, "I would have thought that someone of your profession would have been the tiniest bit curious about my current contract in Sunset City." Maya lowered her face. "It would be a fabrication to say... that I'm not curious. That comes with the territory, after all. But I'm not here for that. The fact that I've never spoken a word about the Argand Family must be proof of that much. I just want you. Nothing else." Fair enough. After rearranging the flowers on her windowsill, Liza turned back from the pot and walked over to her bed. She sat on it softly, shifting over to the charmed and love-struck Maya Mishimoto. It had not been in her best interests to hook-up with a journalist, but there was something about Maya that just clicked with Liza. Even though she had other details to take care of... she couldn't help but spend the night with this woman. The White Rose leaned over and stole Maya's lips once more whilst clasping her cheeks with both hands. She pulled back just a few moments later, staring into those head-over-heels-in-love eyes of Maya. "Lets go out for a drink later on," Liza proposed, "Then I'll tell you why I'm here." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Mao-Kung Dojo, Brookwood District "Hey, Yun-Yun. Thanks again for letting me stay here. I was going to go back to the old apartment but I'd rather crash here as it goes." The cheerful Ryo plopped onto the couch of Yun-Yun's living room, grabbing the remote. The Dojo was right below and Shun Son Lee was instructing a fresh batch of students in the great Kung-Mo-Lai style, counterpoint to the legendary Hao-Mo-Lai style of martial arts. Kayde sat across from Ryo on one of the surrounding cushioned chairs of the room. And Yun-Yun walked from the hallway into the living room with a bowl of corn chips in her hands. She flopped down onto the couch beside Ryo and watched on as he flicked through the channels of the television. "It's fine," Yun-Yun answered, "Just so long as you clean up after yourself. I remember how much of a pig you could be back then. So don't think for a second that I've forgotten about it." Ryo sniggered playfully. "Man, you sound just like Yoko does. Always nagging about how messy I am and how I never clean up after myself unless absolutely necessary. You'd think I was a warlord or something from the way you two act." "Are you insulting me?" As Yun-Yun and Ryo stared at each other with that, the normally cold and quiet Kayde couldn't help but pull a smile. To see the three of them together you would have never thought that they were apart. Ryo was staying in Sunset City for good. Maybe it really would be just like the old days. "Hey Ryo." The stoic American said. The Japanese lad look towards Kayde. "Yeah, buddy?" "It's been a long time," He put forth, "What plans do you have now? I'm guessing that you don't have much in the way of money." Ryo smiled sheepishly. That was just like Kayde. Always straight to the point. "Well you guessed it. I'm pretty much broke. All I have is enough money to pay for rent and bills for the next few months. I haven't had a job in years, so getting one will probably be a bit of a challenge." Yun-Yun blinked. "But I thought you said that you've been all over the world. How could you afford anything like that if you've not bee working at all?" "How else?" Ryo began, "Tournament Fighting. It's the easiest way to make money. Enter some low-level tournament, win, and then use the profits to fund whatever I wanna do. It worked fine up until now. But since we don't really have tournaments in Sunset City..." Yun-Yun heaved a sigh. "I can't believe you've been relying on such an unpredictable source of income for this long. What if you lost one of those tournaments and didn't have enough money to get out of the country you were in?" "Well then I'd just have to get a job there. I know it might not seem like a good idea but this is me we're talking about, right? I love living on the edge. That's just the way I am. But since that plan is out for now... I need a real job." Kayde spoke again. "They have an opening for a bouncer position over at the Whiteout Nightclub. I could talk to one of the managers about it. If you want the job that is." "Bouncer?" Ryo thought about it, "I can't imagine myself being a bouncer. To be honest I can't even picture YOU as a bouncer. Why'd you take that job anyway?" Those icy blue eyes of Kayde rolled as he shrugged his shoulders. "For the same reason you entered all those tournaments. Money. It might not be the most glamorous or graceful of jobs out there but the pay is good. That's all it amounts to." "Same old Kayde," The Asagawa-boy claimed with a smile, "I'm glad to see that not everything has changed since I left. With all the work that the KAIGA Group have been doing to this town, I hardly recognized it." At the mention of the KAIGA Group, Kayde scowled. "...I don't trust them." "The KAIGA Group?" Yun-Yun questioned, "I'm pretty sure that they're a bunch of money-grubbing suits but I don't think they're into anything shady. After all they have done some real good for this town. Even though the Zazubaza are still around causing a fuss, most of the old gangs have bitten the dust." But both Yun-Yun and Ryo could see that that was not enough to convince Kayde of the safety of the KAIGA Group. It seemed that he had issues with them. And Ryo would have pressed him about that, if not for Shun Son Lee. The ageing man walked slowly into the living room from the hallway, holding a letter in hand. "Ryo," He called on the boy, "It might be a bit early for it but someone left a note for you at the front doors of the Dojo." The Japanese fighter blinked. "A note? For me?" "Does anyone else know that you're staying here for now?" Yun-Yun asked. Ryo shook his head for a no. Nobody knew about that. And he had only been back for a day or so. How could anyone have know about his return so soon? Regardless, Ryo took the letter from Shun Son Lee and nodded in thanks. He looked at the front of the letter. It actually was marked with his name. Ryo then opened the letter to himself. "What does it say?" Kayde questioned sharply. "It's an invitation," He replied, "To something called the... Rainthorn Building?" Yun-Yun thought about that. "The Rainthorn Building. That's a huge new skyscraper over in the North-Central District. I hear it's where the KAIGA Group plan out most of the revival work left for the city. They're concentrating on the South Side now." Ryo blinked, lowering the letter. "But why would they want to see me? I'm just a 22-year-old with no job, after all. I haven't even been back all that long." Shun (who was still in the living room) answered that. "Well I'm not sure how they must of heard of you... but you are Tsukasa's son. I doubt that they are ignorant of all he did for this city when he was alive. It could be possible that someone who knew you father is there and wishes to meet with you." Kayde thought about that for a second. "That... does make sense. You'd better check it out, Ryo. Just to see who ever it is that wants to meet with you." "Well, I already know that much," Ryo turned the letter over to Kayde, "Some woman called 'Cyria Mau' or something."
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