It was a dark and stormy night in the countryside of Japan.

And at the late Goukens martial arts karate dojo,a final battle was taking place.

Two great warriors of the art of Shotokan faced each other.
One wore white,the other wore a dark grey.

They were Ryu Hoshi and Akuma,and at last after many battles of wills and odds,the final act was being played out.

It was a long and furious battle,the pair unleashed many karate moves against one another both trying to gain an advantage.

Ryu swung his super spin kick at Akuma,but the evil demon caught his leg and threw him across the yard.

With Ryu down,Akuma leapt into the air and fired off a large Go-Hadou down at him.

Ryu backflipped to safety,just as the fireball burnt a hole through the ground.

Akuma then dove down at Ryu with a dive kick,but the warrior blocked it off and then slammed a hard elbow thrust into Akumas gut,followed by a backhand into his face.

Akuma growled ferociously in rage against his sworn enemy.

He then shadow warped across from Ryu appearing on the other side.

Ryu then saw his chance and fired off a Hadouken at him,but he simply warped again and was on the exact opposite side.

Ryu then spun into another spin kick,but Akuma blocked it off and then slammed a Shoryuken into his gut.

Ryu was hit for sure,but backflipped and landed to safety.

Akuma then sprinted at Ryu and swung into his own spin kick,but Ryu ducked it and slammed the evil warrior with a hard Shoryuken.

Akuma fell down to the ground,allowing Ryu to land a drop axe kick on his stomach.

Once he was completely down,Ryu tore the beads he wore around his neck.
These..he said. ..never belonged to you to begin with,Akuma! You were never the man that Master Gouken was..nor shall you never be!

You.DARE?shouted Akuma as he sprang back up.

Ryu threw the beads to the front porch.

While the two were at it,a small but very concerned audience was watching.

Ken,Sakura,Chun-Li,and even Sagat were all standing upon the front porch of the dojo all watching intently as Ryu faced Akuma for what was hoping to be the final time.

Sakura,Ken,and Chun-Li were his friends,but Sagat was his rival and desired a death match from him,but knew it would come to nothing as would the world if Ryu didnt defeat and destroy Akuma.

This is freakinnuts man!said Ken. I should be out there helping him!
No Ken,you cant!said Li. Ryu said this was between the 2 of them to begin with. It has to end here.

She is right,american.said Sagat.
Ryu may be the only one who can defeat the evil demon.
And what is he isnt one-eye,what then,huh?said Ken.
He must!said Sagat. We have all fought and been defeated by his power and skill,he must be the one to do it. And then..I shall fight him next.

I wouldnt if I was you,Sagat.said Li. Unless you want another scar to remember him by!
Cmon Ryu-san!said Sakura. Beat him!

Akuma then leapt backwards and charged up another shin hadouken.

Ryu did the same as the two warriors charged up their kis to the maximum.

HADOUKEN!they both shouted and fired away.

The two fireballs collided and ground into each other with a display of conflicting energies.

Finally,after what seemed an eternity..Ryus broke through and sailed right at Akuma.

WHAT?!
Was all the demon could get out as the Hadouken slammed into him and exploded right through his entire body.

KABOOM!

Once the smoke cleared,Akuma lay on the ground,his entire body burnt to a crisp as well as broken.

HE DID IT!said Sakura.
YEAH!said Ken. WAY TO GO!
Ryu..said Li with tears in her eyes.

Hmm..yes he did it.said Sagat grinning.

Ryu stood over the at last defeated Akuma.
I..I did itI finally at last beat you.he said. It is over,sensei can rest in peace.

Akumas eyes shot open and a wicked grin appeared on his face.

No..no..Ryu..he said. NotoverYET!

The evil warlords body began to glow a bright red,until at last in a flash of crimson light,all that remained was ash and skeletal pieces.

AKUMA!said Ryu. What did he do?

Suddenly,everyone heard an ear piercing screech and turned to see Sagat writhing in pain.

Sagatwhats happening?said Li as she approached him.

STAY BACK!said Sagat.
RyuRyuI can feel him..he is..he is..

Hes what?said Ryu. Is it Akuma?
Yes.said Sagat. He isnoooooooo!

Sagat fell on his knees,and his entire body turned to a dark crimson color.

He arose and his left eye was glowing a bright red and the Japanese symbol of Ten appeared on his back.

What-whats happening to him?said Sakura.

A-Akuma?said Ryu.

Yessaid Sagat in Akumas voice. I liveAGAIN!

No you dont!said Ken as he and the others rushed in to attack.

Sagat/Akuma swung out a powerful kick,knocking all three across the porch.

NO!said Ryu.

Victor Sagat is no more,Ryu.he said. I the supreme master of the fist live again in this mighty body.

IT IS NOT YOURS!said Ryu in rage. Free him at once,he has nothing to do with this!

Oh,im afraid he does,Ryu.said Akuma. He like myself desired to defeat you,and what better way to do that than joining together.

But rest assured..you have won this round..for now. Defeating myself as well as recently destroying Bison makes you a master now. But next time we meet,one shall be the true master! Till then..FAREWELL!

NOOOO!said Ryu.
HAHAHAHAHA!laughed Akuma as he shadow warped and was gone.

Sagat..no.said Ryu.
He then looked down at the fallen beads.

Did he win at last,or was it the end of round one?

Sakura then approached Ryu and bowed to him.
Master..Master Ryu.she said.

Ryu gasped and then awoke from what appeared to have been a dream.

Master Ryu..?said the voice again.

Ryu,now aged many years later sat cross legged on a mat in the meditation hall.

And someone stood before him.
It was Sakura herself.

Are you all right,sensei?she said.

II uh..said Ryu,now a master.

He was now in his early 50s and grew a thick brown beard,and wore a light grey karate gi with matching headband and wore the same beads that Gouken and Akuma wore.

Ryu Hoshi was at last the master he sought to become.

Sakura changed as well,she was now in her early 20s.

She was no longer just the schoolgirl cutie,but developed into a ravishing beauty with long brown hair,a shapely and muscled body,and wore a white karate gi and the same read headband that Ryu wore.

She was at last his student and was well on her way to mastering the art of Shotokan.

It was the dream again wasnt it?she said.

Yes..yes it was.said Ryu. You read me like a book,my student.
Sakura giggled. Training under you taught me a lot of things,sensei.she said. But you mustnt blame yourself on what happened to Sagat. He made a poor choice being there,and he was never as good as Akuma himself was ya know.

Sagat..may have been as wicked as Akuma..but he retained a sense of honor to only fight me when I was ready. Akuma made no efforts of honor,fighting anyone who he deemed worthy of challenge without proper cause.

I should have known he would try such a dirty trick like that on Sagat.

We havent heard from Sagat..er uhAkuam in years,sensei.she said.
But if we do,youll get him for sure like last time!
I..I hope so,Sakura.said Ryu. I pray I do.
Well,anyways,youd better get into the gym room,we need to practice again.
Yes,sensei.she said bowing and then went off.

Ryu smiled.
He was glad to have at last taken in such a worthy fighter after achieving master status.

But then he wondered about Ken,Chun-Li and the others.
How were they all doing?
And was the threat of such villains like Bison,Garuda,Gill,and even Akuma truly gone for good and would there ever be another World Warrior tournament for Street Figthters everywhere?