Chapter Text
Chapter 1 - Encounter with the Cat
It was a quiet sunny winter afternoon in a New York City apartment, where a young beautiful woman was sitting on her bed, laptop in front of her, her delicate fingers swiping the mousepad while scrolling down the website of a local animal shelter page. Years of working as an agent with Interpol, along with her recent promotion as director of the Special Criminal Intelligence division, had made Chun Li quite lonely. Sure she has gone on dates in the past, but nothing came serious from any of them. She even remembered going on her very first date with a Spanish bullfighter so many years ago when she was around 16.
Ah yes, the Spanish bullfighter’s name was Vega. The very same one who eventually became Bison’s top assassins and one of the most wanted criminals worldwide. Chun Li had always thought it was a shame that he ended up being pit against her, especially after reading up on his tragic childhood. Nevertheless, after Shadaloo’s downfall 5 years ago, Vega simply vanished. He wasn’t even mentioned in recent bullfighting programs in Barcelona the last time Chun Li checked. She assumed he had most likely died after Shadaloo fell, but something told her that he is most likely hiding in some place off the grid and not easily accessible.
While scrolling down on pictures of dogs and cats, Chun Li’s eyes fell on an ad on the website. There was a photo of a blond cat with striking blue eyes and the words “LOST CAT” below it.
“LOST CAT.
Last seen on December 16th
Color: light orange/blond with tabby markings
If found, please contact Ignacio Rodriguez Gomez”
Upon further inspection, Chun Li found that the cat’s owner, Ignacio, lived 2 floors down in the same apartment complex, and that the email listed was from the university down the street, making Chun Li believe that Ignacio must be either a student or an employee of the university.
After making a mental note to herself to keep an eye out for the lost cat, Chun Li got up and changed into her yoga pants and white shirt, putting a thick jacket on top before she headed out for a jog in the cold.
Christmas lights adorned the stores and streets of Manhattan as Chun Li headed for Central Park for her afternoon jog, mist puffing out as she jogged past. Central Park was filled with joggers and cyclists alike, along with people singing carols. As Chun Li passed by the lake, she heard a commotion coming out from the bushes. She slowed to a walk and carefully headed towards the bushes. She slowly peeked through and saw an orange blonde cat being surrounded by crows, each of them trying to attack it. The cat was able to evade their attacks by leaping gracefully over them before striking with its sharp claws mid-air, further angering the crows, reminding Chun Li of Vega’s attacks.
‘Wait a minute!’ Chun Li finally realized that she was staring at the missing cat that she saw on the ad earlier. Quickly thinking, she leaped over the bushes and ran towards the cat, fiercely waving off the crows.
“Shoo! Get away!” Chun Li yelled as she waved her hands to drive away the crows, who eventually flew away as she got closer to the cat, who appeared to be calmly observing her walking closer. Chun Li noticed that the cat did not appear to flinch or hiss as she knelt down to pick it up.
“Are you okay?” Chun Li exclaimed, peering at the cat in her arms. The cat merely stared at her, and Chun Li felt its striking blue eyes pierced through her soul, reminding her of how Vega looked at her the first time he laid his eyes on her all those many years ago in Barcelona.
Chun Li shook her head to rid herself of the thoughts of the assassin. She needed to get back home and pay Ignacio a visit to let him know she found his lost cat.
Though when she laid her eyes on the cat again, she just couldn’t help but think how soft and fluffy its fur is. Then she felt the cat nuzzling her cheeks.
“So cute!!!” she squealed and hugged the cat tightly, burying her face in its fur and nuzzling it, drawing some attention from other bystanders shocked by her actions. Embarrassed, Chun Li fled, taking the cat with her back to her apartment complex. She immediately went to Ignacio’s apartment on the 8th floor and knocked on the door. Chun Li waited for someone to respond, but after a few moments, there was no response. She tried knocking on the door again but no one answered the door.
“Are you looking for Ignacio?” an elderly lady peered from the door opposite from Ignacio’s apartment, “He flew back to Spain yesterday for winter break. He won’t be back until class resumes after New Year’s.”
“Is that so…” Chun Li trailed off, looking down once again at the cat in her arms. It seems that the cat will have to live with her for the time being until Ignacio comes back.
Back at the apartment, Chun Li surfed the web for cat toys and accessories. To be honest, she has never personally taken care of a cat before. She used to feed the stray cats back when she was a child in Hong Kong but her family never really adopted one.
“Let’s see…so I need to get this wand toy, maybe this toy mouse, scratching post…” Chun Li muttered to herself as she scrolled down the page. The cat sat beside her, merely staring at what she was looking at.
“Oh! Look, a catnip ball! I heard cats go crazy for this!” Chun Li exclaimed, turning to look at the feline beside her. She then noticed that the cat seemed to have an annoyed expression on its face, as if telling her if she was being serious. Chun Li stared at it quizzically.
“You are one odd cat.” she said, “You do seriously remind me of someone I know. I don’t think your owner even mentioned a name when he posted you missing. I can’t just keep calling you Kitty forever.” she scratched the back of its ear, earning her a soft purr in response. Chun Li smiled gently and picked up the cat and set it on her lap.
“I wonder if I should name you…” she started, scrunching her eyebrows as she thought of a suitable name. Then her face lit up.
“How about Vega?” she said excitedly as she peered down at the cat, “Vega Fabio La Cerda would be such a cool name!”
The cat’s eyes widened, its ears twitching.
“Do you like that name?” Chun Li smiled as she brought her face closer to the cat’s, “Your eyes and how you fought those crows remind me so much of him, but you’re such a total sweetie! I wish he was like that.”
The cat now named Vega meowed, and Chun Li thought its meow sounded…offended? Chun Li shook the thoughts out of her head.
“When your owner comes back, I’ll make sure to ask him what your name actually is. But in the meantime, I’ll call you Vega, okay?” she said as she gave the cat a gentle peck on its mouth.
Suddenly, there was a flash of blinding white light. Chun Li shielded her eyes at the sudden assault. Eventually the light died down and she slowly opened her eyes.
Vega the cat was no longer right in front of her. Instead, there was a man with long braided blond hair. His piercing blue eyes staring straight at her. A purple snake tattoo ran across his muscular torso. Chun Li gasped as she realized who it was.
“Vega…” she whispered, her eyes widened in horror. The man in front of her smirked before immediately lunging at her, the force enough for Chun Li to topple backwards on her back on the mattress and the man named Vega was on top of her.
“And here I am thinking I would be stuck as a cat forever.” Vega purred, nibbling at the bare skin of her neck. Chun Li shivered at his touch. This was bad. She needed to get free.
She shoved him off of her and quickly rolled off the bed. She finally noticed Vega’s full frame from her bed. He was fully naked, but noticed his claws were missing.
“Aren’t you supposed to be dead?” Chun Li exclaimed, glaring at him as she assumed her fighting stance. Vega gracefully got off her bed to face her and chuckled.
“Perhaps, maybe I’m a ghost, coming here to haunt you, mi amor.” he said seductively, walking slowly towards her. Chun Li backed away from him but found her back hitting the wall. Quickly glancing at her side, she found her umbrella in the holder and immediately grabbed it.
But she was not apparently fast enough for Vega as he quickly grabbed the umbrella from her grasps and threw it across the room. Chun Li was about to deliver a strong kick but the man immediately grabbed her foot and threw her on the floor. Before Chun Li could even get up, she felt herself being lifted off and thrown back into the bed, her arms being pinned by Vega’s strong grasp as he climbed on top of her once again.
“Hm…” Vega purred as he nuzzled against Chun Li’s soft jet black hair that had come undone during the skirmish. The girl cursed herself for being weak and just letting her be an easy prey.
“Let me help you keep warm, mi amor.” he whispered softly in her ear before nibbling on her earlobe, “We’ve got all night.”
Chun Li shuddered, tears leaking from her eyes as she thought to herself that he was going to take her against her will and probably killing her afterwardds, like a predator playing with its food before eating it. She felt his fingers softly tracing her other ear while the other hand was on her hip, slowly creeping under her shirt. It was then Chun Li had an idea.
With her hands now free, she buried her fingers in Vega’s soft blond hair, her other hand making gentle traces on his back, catching the man off guard. Vega stopped his ministrations and pulled back to gaze at her. Chun Li could see that his blue eyes were dark with lust, a smirk slowly forming on his lips.
“Are you finally coming around?” he said, inching his face closer to hers. Chun Li took this as an opportunity and reached out to press her lips against his. At that moment, she no longer felt Vega’s strong body holding her and when she opened her eyes, she finally found herself facing the cat that was laying on top of her chest.
Vega, now back to his cat form, hissed at her in rage and was about to swat her with his claws, but Chun Li was quick enough to grab him by the scruff of his neck and carrying him to the next room, dropping him on the floor like hot potato and immediately slamming the door to her bedroom shut and locking it. Chun Li could immediately hear it clawing at her door as she walked back to her bed, her legs shaking as she immediately plopped down on the mattress.
‘What just happened?’ Chun Li thought, perplexed at what transpired tonight, ‘Why is Vega here and what really happened to him?’ She immediately suspected that Shadaloo may have a hand on what happened to Vega and this made Chun Li want to investigate further.
The problem was who was going to believe her? That one of Shadaloo’s top assassins and bodyguard to M. Bison has been turned into a cat and can change back and forth with a simple kiss?
Chun Li shook those thoughts away. There was no way this was real. She had to be in a dream right now.
Ignoring the sounds coming from the door from Vega’s frustrated clawing, Chun Li went under the covers and laid her head back into the pillow, closing her eyes and willing herself that what happened tonight was just a bad dream.