A/N: Okay… my first sequel story… and biggest gamble (Considering that the entire Alcemian part is based off a story I'm hoping to publish) First of all, I suggest all of you out there reading this and interested to read Paths of Darkness, so you'll know what half the stuff I'm writing means. For those of you that don't, you'll be horribly confused from the start. I don't own Darkstalkers or Street Fighter, but the concept of Alcemia and everyone in it are mine.

"So what's on the menu for tonight?" asked a teenage girl with short violet hair. Her eye color was similar, and she was wearing a white blouse and red jeans, and was talking with her "sister" over a few drinks at a local bar.

"Don't know, Lillith," answered a similarly dressed Morrigan Aensland. How long had they been doing this, splitting in half in that way they figured out after the whole Kirin incident and using the ultimate two-pronged acts of seduction with both Gen and Chi, ten years? That sounded right. It had started out just plain great, but even the most celibate priests in the world couldn't handle two succubae that were completely coordinated. It was quickly losing its fun and challenge. The physically older of the two sighed as she finished her drink at the mortal bar as her eyes drifted up to the television. Something caused her to look extremely intently.

"Something wrong?" Lillith asked as she noticed a news story was being played. A video camera was playing a scene of a teenage boy, who was wearing a black t-shirt and long blue pants, hack his way through several security guards with a katana.

"Ah, you haven't heard about the mystery at Onio College?" asked the bartender, seeing that both of his female customers were intrigued by what they saw. "About a year and a half ago, there was a murder there and these two teenagers, Simon Tyer and Brian Lernan were found guilty. It probably wasn't them, considering that the big man on campus's dad was the judge there and pretty much called the shots there. What I don't get is why a kid that's not even Japanese would use a katana! And it's about time those dumbasses actually let the authorities get the full story and show the video records!" He turned up the volume on the television, after all, it couldn't hurt business to have those two stick around and pick up on the full story and buy a few more drinks too.

"The day of the execution," the reporter explained on the television, "a strange person broke the two out of the prison, although there was no escape path. They literally vanished into thin air." The video shifted over to a scene of a black-garbed woman with a red ponytail killing off the guards in the cell with what looked to be black blades attached to her wrists. "Three weeks later, however, Simon Tyer returned to the prison in the same place he disappeared, only to hack his way through a number of authorities with what appeared to be a hand grenade." Another video was shown of the blonde-haired teenager, apparently this "Simon", being held at gunpoint in the cell as he raised his hands. Five seconds later, what looked to be a ball of fire shot from his raised hand, blasting apart the gunmen. "After two days of hiding, Simon Tyer confronted the Judge Thayro, who is only now telling his story."

A clip from an interview with a slightly muscular and aged man, Thayro, was shown. "He said he'd kill me if I told them he was heading back. But now… it doesn't really matter."

The television went back to the reporter. "Mr. Thayro has been under severe stress for nineteen months now, and it is obvious he has cracked from it. Although some fanatics claim he was making agreements with humans not of this world." The television showed a still photograph of Simon holding Thayro up close, the katana Tyer had at the judge's throat.

Lillith turned to her other half again only to see the stool was vacant. The queen of Makai was standing near the door. "Time to go, Lillith. I figured out what's our next stop."

"What is it?" Lillith asked as she ran to the door, exited with Morrigan, and followed her to an alley to transform in. "The way you looked at that Tyer guy, I thought you saw a ghost! Do you know him?"

"No," Morrigan said as her outfit morphed into a gray suit and Lillith's changed to a similar, albeit red, one. "But his sword is one I've seen before. Two hundred years ago, easy." Lillith's confused look told Morrigan she needed to explain further. "It's the Saber of Ectratin, the same sword that the Alcemian, Balteria Ciercin, Kirin's old nemesis, used when he came to Makai."

"Coincidence?" Lillith asked, "I'm sure there's at least one sword on Earth that looks like it." She flew up into the night sky, above the clouds, following Morrigan's lead as they headed west, towards the Midwest of the United States.

"That's certainly possible, but think about the woman we saw on the video. Ten years ago? Obsidian blades generated from her skin?" Morrigan's questions had been the hints that Lillith needed.

"You mean… Owikamki?" Lillith asked. Although she held no grudge against that Darkinarki, it was surprising that once again, she found her path crossed that of the girl with the black soul. "But what's she got to do with two college students that vanished?"

Morrigan sighed as they shot through the moonlit night. "I have no idea. But I'm sure that if we're lucky… we might just find a path to her planet. A change of scenery would be nice... possibly very nice."

---

Where am I? Thought Simon Tyer as he looked around his surroundings. More importantly… who- but a quick look in a mirror shot a good number of memories through his head. Okay… I remember who I am… Except he couldn't remember why he was sporting a single blue lock of hair. But who he was, how most of his life had played out, he remembered much of it. His best friend Brian, who had helped him get through thick and thin. Miki, who'd been the hardass in his life and had saved his life on countless occasions. And then there was Blade and the rest…

He took in his surroundings. Okay… he was in a decrepit bathroom, and he had two swords around his waist, and that brought up another couple of blanks in his memory. The first he checked was the one on his left, which looked to be a katana… not bad. And the other was… a wooden short-sword? But Blade… he thought as he exited the bathroom. She made it so powerful… dammit! I wish I could recall more! He instantly recognized the burgundy-hued bracer on his left arm, that was easy. Gift of Chaos bracer…

Chaos… that single word brought back even more memories as he climbed up the stairs to the nightlit rooftops and recognized the sky as that of Earth, not Alcemia. He was… a Champion of Chaos… a person to steer Chaos when its power waned too much… someone that had performed an unparalleled act for Chaos's good so Balance could be restored. And Brian was one too! Brian'd became one when Simon got killed along with Miki, and Blade and Brian had brought them back with an old alchemy relic! Good old Alcemia, where they had been lucky enough to reverse death on three separate occasions.

And Blade… he chuckled as he looked down at his right hand, with a small ring made of a blue crystal on his index finder. Simon Tyer, legendary Champion of Chaos, he thought as he rubbed his temples, trying to recall why he was standing in a amnesiactric daze on Earth, in love with the new Goddess of Order… but crazier things have happened. Like Flare and Miki… or Brian going Cleric to help them rebuild. Or even Arc, Mr. "Holier than You" admitting Chaos was needed… He remembered so much… but there were still empty points.

The landscape seemed familiar enough for him. It was Onio all right. How long had he been out? Who knew? More importantly, why was he back on Earth? Some freak accident with an Inter-Spacial Matter Transporter? That could be it, but why would he hop in one in the first place? His life had been Hell here, and even with that dying occasion on Alcemia, his life on that planet had been better off. It certainly was a change from being a college student… actually able to trust people, being someone to restore Balance by taking out the corrupt heads of the Lightbringers organizations, but he'd found friends and even someone he loved.

All right, paranoid-man… he thought as he lied down on the rooftop, do something smart. Wait this out and see what happens or if I'll remember why I have that blue streak in my hair. It seems natural… the hair, at least…

---

"So why is Interpol interested in this whole mystery, miss?" asked the coroner as he lead a Chinese woman down a morgue hallway.

"The video I saw on the news caught my attention, that's all," said the woman in decent English. She kept the fact she'd seen energy blasts like that before to herself. I didn't see him at the last Street Fighter tournament with Gill… and that fireball thing looked a bit to much like it stemmed Psycho power… thought the woman as she took out a notebook and a pen. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to take a look at the body myself."

"No problem. She's ice-cold, which is awfully confusing too. No matter how hot the cremation machine got turned up, she wouldn't burn at all. Wouldn't even increase in temperature. Eventually we decided to keep her here for students interested in medicine. She's completely sterile, so don't worry about viruses or anything," the coroner nodded his head in a polite manner and headed back to his office as the woman pulled open a container marked "Emily Senin Tyer."

The Chinese detective looked at the body as if it was extremely bizarre. The dead woman had blue hair and skin, and that wasn't from being kept so cold. Emily Tyer… she wrote in the notebook, married to a Zen Tyer, no social security number, nothing. No identifications whatsoever… had a single son with this so-called Zen Tyer. Committed suicide five minutes after Simon was born… "For my son" were her last words. Simon devotes himself to studies while his father constantly blames him for Emily's death and the young kid gets into college at the age of fifteen.

This is where the story had a twist. It seemed that as much as Zen blamed Simon, he needed someone to put the blame on. When Simon moved out, Zen killed himself as well. Simon found friendship in another orphan named Brian Lernan, who was the voice of reason to the often paranoid Simon. Until, of course, almost two years ago when they literally vanished.

This is about as much information I can get here, thought detective Chun Li as she slid the blue body back inside it's slot and exited for the actual jail where the two had been held.

---

The unlit surroundings of a now nineteen year old Miki Owikamki were set off by dozens of red laser points, aimed at different parts of her body. She wasn't sure if she could get back into the swing of things so easily… but the Darkinarki was confident she'd remember quickly. Suddenly, bullets were fired across the lasers' paths, and it was time to get down to business.

Miki called upon her black hole manipulative powers and bent the lasers away from her, and also slowed down her perception of time so the bullets shot at a speed of a paper airplane. As each bullet reached the vertex of the angles the lasers formed, she deftly flicked each bullet so their flight path was akin to the lasers. As the last bullet slammed into a pre-placed bullseye, the lights flicked on inside the warehouse.

"You missed one," said a black haired man nearing twenty as he pointed to a single, marginally off-place impact. Aside for his slightly red eyes and a pair of vampire-like fangs, the young King of Aniar was essentially a human, courtesy of the Subtle Edge's effects.

"Flare," Miki said as she checked the path, realizing she had indeed bungled one bullet. "One's not going to kill me." She shrugged and kissed him on the cheek. "Besides, isn't the Severed Swordsman Tournament going to come around again in a week or two?"

"Meek," Flare said as he looked her in the eyes, using the not-so creative nickname he had cooked up during the one before the previous tournament, "You're ranked number five in terms of Alcemia's strongest, and the four people ahead of you are practically tied for first. And besides, you haven't been putting yourself through this tough a regime in over a year. Something's up."

Miki nodded and led Flare outside as they looked over the snowy landscape of Aniar. "It's been something I kept out of my mind for a while, especially during that whole conflict. The last thing we needed was a strategist so preoccupied about the future that she couldn't focus on the present." She looked over to Flare as they both sat on the edge of the simple castle. "So how's Blaze doing?"

"Oh, Dad?" Flare asked, "He's enjoying retirement. Last I checked, he was out on a fishing ship up north, drinking all the icewater he can and laughing at the Aniar curse."

"That you guys are pretty decent fighters, but are oftentimes stuck having to lead a city in the middle of nowhere?" Miki asked. "I have to admit, that is pretty bad. But at least you did get out a couple of times. And would've won the tournament that one time if there hadn't been that assassination."

"Only because you decided to help get me up to reasonable standards," Flare said as he put his arm around the girl he loved. "And then that opened a whole new can of worms between you and me. But seriously, what's Dad got to do with you training again?"

Miki sighed as she slowly recalled her entire journey through Makai, hearing about Kirin nine years before facing off against her again and actually dying for a second time. "Just something I read in Balteria's journal a long time ago. Something about me and Blade and the rest of the Travelling Sword-Mages…"

She recounted her first actual series of fights and her "Makai Adventure", the wins, the losses, practically getting killed by Lillith if not for Morrigan's timely intervention, and finally the journal of Balteria Ciercin and the prophecy that in ten years she'd return, only to be a piece of deadweight.

Flare sat there, looking at the sunset and soaking in Miki's entire story in silence. "And that's the end of it," Miki concluded as she put her head on Flare's shoulder, hoping to hear some assortment of comforting words. Instead she heard him burst into restrained laughter. "FLARE!" She yelled out, realizing she might have to go back on her vow of not beating him to a pulp, which was something she was capable of, albeit with some trouble. She had trained him too.

"I can't believe you're worried about this!" Flare said in between his laughs as he tried to straighten up. "I mean… look at you! You've managed to keep up with four of the most powerful beings in Alcemia: a goddess, two Champions of Chaos, and the Supreme Arch-Paladin, through just training and experiences throughout your life. Simon and Brian are just plain the strongest people on Alcemia, Arc's got a giant broadsword and that Tempered Soul thing, and Blade at her best could justwill someone to death! If Akura and Kalazi and the rest of the Commandos were alive today, they'd have to retire because you could handle their entire workload." He was worried that mentioning Miki's fellow Darkinarki would bring up a number of bad memories, dating back more than two and a half years ago.

In fact, Miki did recall that horrible event of three years ago, reclaiming one of the swords that Simon used, the Saber of Ectratin, from the Clerics when Chaos/Order relationships didn't even exist. But they had died for a good reason, and that alone helped her with the pain. "Flare, I think you're in danger of becoming a politician, but you're right." She stood up and then helped him stand as well. "I'm still going to be training."

"It wouldn't be a tournament if you didn't squeeze in extra training," Flare said as he walked back into the warehouse and unsheathed his family heirloom: a black long knife known as theSubtle Edge. "Now what should be first on your training regime?"

"Sparring sounds fine." Miki smiled, wondering just what it was about the Severed Swordsman tournament that brought them together. She charged, wrist blades already formed, striking down as Flare matched her smile and blocked it.

---

"Miss…I…uh…" stuttered a security guard as Morrigan and Lillith both gave him a succubus's equivalent of the innocent puppy dog eyes, except it wasn't too innocent. "You can't go in there!"

"Won't you please? We won't be a problem," Morrigan cooed as she hugged him. "We just want to take a look, that's all."

After even more stuttering, Morrigan and Lillith gave up on the hope he'd focus enough to say something along the lines of "go ahead" and just knocked him out. As they opened the door, they finally found what Thayro had put under top secret protection.

"It's rather… bland," Morrigan said after she looked at it for a moment and also looked at a nearby computer terminal. "Inter-Spacial Matter Transporter… Kirin ever say anything about it?"

Lillith shook her head. "No. From what she said, the only way she figured out to travel between worlds was to die and then get reincarnated somewhere else. She did mention about four generals she had back on Alcemia, but they didn't have any powers like that." Before Lillith finished, Morrigan had already walked into the transporter.

"Well, are you going to come or not?" Morrigan said. "Might be good to see just if Kirin's still around or not."

Lillith looked down at the computer, realizing that it was already set for a planet called Alcemia and had listed a group of names. "Ectratin, Aniar, Niesek… Niesek! That was where Kirin said she'd be when she came back on Alcemia!"

"Niesek it is, then," Morrigan said as Lillith flipped a switch labeled activate and they both literally vanished without any flash of light or anything like that.

---

"Alright Simon. Where did you go?" asked a young woman as she looked around the Onio campus, hidden by the moonless night. She was wearing a white robe and letting her long light-brown hair down. Her actual robe was like that of a priest, albeit with a symbol on it that some would know as the Seal of Chaos on the shoulders. On her left wrist was a blue crystal bracelet in a spiral shape.

"He'll show up," said her partner. His outfit was similar, although it was a white jerkin with a black cross on the chest. His brown hair had always been cut short, and on his left wrist was a yellow bracer with the chaos symbol on it. "I've known Simon long enough that he'll show himself soon enough. Incidentally, how'd he vanish in the first point?"

Blade shook her head. "Wasn't anything I did. I may be the Goddess of Order but," she pointed to her bracelet, "I broke most of this thing for a reason. It's just way too dangerous to leave on the physical world. Besides, why did you come along? Worried I can't win a fight without help?"

"Nothing of the sort," Brian said as he raised up his hand to quiet Blade. They stood in complete silence for a moment, listening for anything out of the ordinary. In a very slow manner, Brian called upon his Gen as a yellow handgun, crackling with electricity somehow, appeared in his right hand. He pointed behind him, and Blade nodded, turned around, started walking in the direction opposite of him, and produced from her robes a silver-hued staff with a red gem on the top and a sharp point on the other. Too quiet for even an abandoned sidewalk, Brian thought as he looked around. No moonlight meant minimal shadows, but being a skilled gunner meant honing your eyes. Look at what we have here, he thought as he spun around the corner, seeing something remotely human, and plugging it with three blasts from his so-called "Lightning Magnum."

The creature itself took the hits pretty badly and ended up getting smashed into a buildingside. But before Brian knew what had happened, the target was on him again, unfurling razor-sharp claws and slashing down. Brian reacted almost subconsciously to the attack, caught both wrists before they had even fallen an inch, and smashed his head into his opponent's. Except he wasn't expecting to bash into a collection of… teeth.

"I assume you're the associate of a Simon Tyer?" asked the stranger as he kicked Brian away and finally got a good look at him. The gunner saw he was pretty well built, but was sporting blue hair and had more than a passing resemblance to a werewolf. "You're lucky your shots weren't silver, or else I wouldn't have survived."

"A name, please," Brian stated. It wasn't a request as he reformed his handgun into the shape of a shotgun. "My magnum is the second-weakest in my arsenal. I assure you that the Lightning Scatter will blast your brains apart, despite its lack of silver." He looked around the corner. Where the hell was Blade? She should've gotten around by now!

"Jon Talbain or Gallon, take your pick," said the old acquaintance of Miki, "I saw a friend of mine on the video from here and wanted to see if she had come back. She said she would in ten years anyways."

The remark caused Brian to lower his firearm a bit. "You know Miki? From where?"

"You know her personally?" Gallon asked, lowering his guard about the same level as Brian had.

"Know her? Hell, I spent an entire year fighting alongside her just trying to set things right on Alcemia!" Brian looked around, wondering exactly where Blade was. She's as good as -possible better in some cases than- I am, he thought, and my bracer would light up like a Christmas tree if she slung those elemental attacks around. "I guess introductions are in order…"

A/N: Next chapter, Morrigan and Lillith do a good deal of investigation as they find out just what had happened to Kirin roughly one year ago. Meanwhile, Simon is confronted by a doppelganger of the woman he loves, and on Makai, a ten-year-old corpse attains new life in Placement of Pieces.

P.S. I'd love to send a synopsis for the entire Alcemian storyline to anyone who gives me their e-mail address in a review. It's long, but it'll definitly help with understanding what's going on.