Ryu and Rose were faced with a most desperate situation,their fellow street fighters were transformed into vampires beforetheir very eyes.

"Ken--Guy---NO!"said Ryu.
Rose held him back.
"No,Ryu!"she said. "Your friend's minds are no longer are their own! Den's spell has transformed them into his own race of Darkstalkers!"

"That's right m'dear!"said Den. "And neither of you have enough weapons or power to face them or me all at once! You're both finished--surrender now!"
"NEVER!"said Ryu. "We'll stop you,or die trying!"

"That i'm afraid may be the only option you have left for you,Ryu!"said Den.
The Vampire prince then aimed the blood ruby at the pair of fighters and fired it's spell blast once again.

Rose then raised her hands up and a protective shield of purple energy suddenly appeared.
"Even your powers cannot protect you both for long,Rose!"said Den as he continued to fire away.

"Perhaps---not!"said Rose struggling. "But--we can--escape from you for the time being!"
Rose's eyes then flashed a bright white,and the pair of heroes then disappeared.

"NO!"said Den.

Both Rose and Ryu were transported to an area a few meters away from Den's lab and spells room.
"What are we doing here?"said Ryu. "We're supposed to be fighting that bastard!"

"Ryu,have you learned nothing from your sensei Gouken over the years?"said Rose. "To fight blindly without any knowledge or strategy is foolish!"

Ryu sighed in frustration.
"All right...sorry,it's just that this has gone on long enough,and...I can't belive this happened."he said.
"I know,"said Rose. "this is a whole new monstrous kind of evil even i've faced. But we must keep our heads together if we are to do this."

Rose reached into her scarf and took out one of the silver stakes the other figthers were carrying and handed it to Ryu.
"You must use that to kill Maximov."she said. "Only by killing him,will you be able to destroy the spell he has inflicted upon them and his forces will undoubtedly fall with him. But we must find a way to defeat him first,before all is lost!"

"Well,do you have a plan yourself?"said Ryu.
"I think I do,we may have to distract him somehow,and then..."began Rose.

"Should we search for them,my lord?"said one of the hoodmen.
"No,no...there's really no need,and no time left for this."said Den. "I'll just use the Ruby's spell to search out,and transform them into my last followers,and the rest of the plan can proceed."

Den raised the ruby into the air and the same crismon spell energy flowed from it and went off through an open window.
"The ruby's spells can search out,find and transform the person it infects,into my loyal follwer."he said. "And those two are next!"

While back upstairs in one of the upper levels of the castle,Ryu and Rose ran down through the rooms and corridors of the alien compound.
Suddenly,a pair of masked gunmen appeared around a corner.

"Intruders!"said the one of the left.
"Shoot to kill!"said one of the right.

But before they could open fire,Rose flung her scarf forward and a pair of huge fireballs flew at the two goons,enveloping and burning them both,to dust!
"Pretty handy scarf and power you have there."said Ryu.
"I was trained by the best to use my spirit ki for any situation and against all evils."said Rose. "Now come,we must--"

Rose's sentence of determination was cut short as the duo saw a misty cloud of red energy fly straight at them.
"Wha---is that the power of that ruby?"said Ryu.
Rose's eyes went wide with terror. "Run--RYU--RUN!"she said.

The two heroes ran back down the corridor the other way they came.
But as fast as they could run,they could not escape the red mist that was chasing after them.

Suddenly,as they both tunred around a corner,a dead-end wall stood before them.
"NO!"said Rose. "NOT NOW!"

The mists started to float around the corner and creeped towards them.
"No,it can't end this way!"said Ryu. "We must do something!"

Rose then had an idea.
She zapped a protective bubble shape around Ryu,trapping him inside.
"Rose,what?"said Ryu.

"No time to complain Ryu!"she said. "I must transport you as near as possible to where Den and his minions are!
When you get there,you must do what you can to destroy him!"

"But...but there are so many of them,what can I do?"said Ryu.
"You were trained and raised by Master Gouken,you are a true warrior,you will know what to do,just as they say,believe in yourserlf,the fate of earth depends on it!"

Before Ryu could say another word,Rose teleported him away from the dead-end,just as the red mist covered Rose,turning her into Den's latest vicitm.

"SSSSSS--RAAAAH!"
she screamed,her features now that of a vampire.
"ROSE,COME TO ME AT ONCE!"called Den telepthically to her.

Rose nodded and floated off to him.
While back in another corridor,Ryu fell on his tush.
"NO,ROSE,NO!"he shouted as he pounded the wall next to him.
"Why did she do that? Now she's a monster along with the rest of them! I'm alone on this one,now more alone than ever!"

Ryu then thought about getting that maniac for all that he did ever since the tournament began hours ago.
"No...I mustn't let that get to me!"he said. "I've fought villians and monsters before,I must stop that vampire from affecting the rest of the world like he did with my comrades--or die trying!"

Ryu then saw a ventilation shaft above him,and then had an idea.
He reached up,tore the shaft open and crawled inside.

Rose appeared before Den.
"Damn!"he said. "She must've helped him escape somehow at the last minute!
Well,no matter,we'll find him soon enough. I've wasted enough time to destroy that nuisance. The time is now right,I must conjure the spell!"

Ryu then began crawling around and about in the shaft and looked through each ventilator grill to see where he was.
He saw several rooms with other vampires and monsters and other stuff in them.

Finally,he heard Den's voice through an upcoming grill.
He then crawled towards it and saw his enemy and quarry through it.

There,standing in the center of the room,was Den Maximov himself.
His hooded followers were on the left side and the rest of the infected Street Fighters were on the other,Rose was among them.

Den rasied both arms in the air,the blood ruby was in his right hand,and a stewpot cauldron sat before him.
The cauldron was filled with pure human blood and other enriched spells of dark and evil magic,it's steaming fumes swirled from it and around him.

"Yessss...."he hissed."I can feel the power of the blood cauldron swirling through me.
The Blood Ruby's power is truly strong tonight!
The time is now my chidren! The time has come,for the power of the Maximovs to rule the earth and Dark realms--TONIGHT!"

Ryu had heard enough,he fastened the stake to his black belt.
He then carefully pulled away the grill as to not make any noise.

Ryu then crawled through the grill feet first and then jumped out onto the top of a pillar.
He saw Den Maximov standing across from him at a good vantage point.

He then looked over at Ken and the others,remembering all the good times and bad he shared with them and everyone else in his life since his teachings with master Gouken,and the very first World Warriors tournament.

"It's now...or never!"he thought.

Ryu then arose on the pillar,he took a deep breath,stood firm,and then jumped high into the air from the pillar.

"DEN!"he shouted as he flew down towards the vampire prince.
"WHAT?"said Den as he turned to see what it was.

The last thing he saw was Ryu doing a flying kick right into his face.
"WHAAAMM!"

"AARRR!"cried Den as he went flying across the room and crashed into a nearby wall.

"LORD MAXIMOV!"said one of the hoodmen.
Ryu landed safely on his feet.

Several of the vampires started to creep towards Ryu,their fangs shining bright.
"You will not leave here alive,mortal!"said one of them. "No one dares to touch or lord and live to regret it!"

Ryu took out the silver stake,and kept his fighting stance.
"Come and get it!"he said.
"NO!"said Den as he arose. "HE'S MINE! HE MUST DIE HERE AND NOW!"

The hoodmen all bowed and backed away from Ryu.
"Den Maximov!"he said. "YOU EVIL ENDS HERE AND NOW TONIGHT! I CHALLENGE YOU TO OPEN COMBAT!"

Den smiled wickedly.
He had barely missed the first enjoyment of taking on the World's greatest martial artist. He also knew that the plan had to go underway soon,but he could control it as long as he wanted.
He now knew that he had to destroy his enemy,here and now.

"I gladly accept,Ryu Hoshi."he said as he took up a fight stance. "But remember,while you may have held your own against giant Muay Thais,Psycho powered madmen,and demonic warriors of all sorts,you face the true power of a Darkstalker."

"So...what's your point?"said Ryu.
Den chuckled. "Very well,I have looked forward to this moment ever since I saw you battle Sagat in the first tournament. Now we shall see how good you truly are."
"And the winner must surrender their life!"said Ryu.
"Agreed."said Den. "Preape yourself,street fighter!"