Shin-Dan Ch.8 Separation Anxiety...
By Dan

The warm waters swirled. Not one of the two warriors had surfaced from the waters. Suddenly, a splash and a gaasp from...Akuma. Akuma shot out of the waters like a bullet from a gun, and cleared the jump back to the cave easily. He looked down to see if Dan had reached the surface. "Hmph. Good riddance to bad rubbish", Akuma exclaimed, walking away from the hole the the two fighters made. Akuma heard a splashing sound...a voice in the water. " Help me! I...can't swim!" Dan was on the verge of going under!

Akuma calmly walked to the hole in the back of the cave. Dan was part-relieved, part-scared, of what Akuma might do. "Akuma! Help me, I can't swim..." Dan was trying his best to stay afloat, and thirty feet up, Akuma was simply looking down at him. Even from far away, Dan could feel Akuma's evil aura, as if the cave itself was radiating the energy. " Please...Akuma. Help me. I... can't stay afloat for long..." Akuma smiled evilly. Rain drops began to lightly fall. They touched Akuma, and simply evaporated with a sizzle which made steam rise off Akuma's strong frame. Akuma then jumped in the air, off the cave's cliff! "What's he gonna' do?", Dan thought. He only needed a minute to think about it. NO! Dan tried to make a futile attempt to swim off, but Akuma was nearly to him! " Messatsu..." Akuma said quietly. He plunged down faster, and immediately, Akuma's super fireball instantly hit Dan. Akuma hit the water HARD, causing more steam to rise off him. The fireball drilled Dan to the ocean floor. the last thought Dan had was " Shouldn't the fireball evaporate in water?" before he hit the bottom and instantly blacked out. Akuma smirked at the incredibly evil deed he just performed. "Dan...we, hardly knew you..." Then he laughed. Akuma laughed, just as the bright lightning and crackle of thunder burst through the air.

(Two weeks later)

" Man...will this rain ever stop?" Guy thought. It had been raining now for five days straight. He hadn't seen Ryu, Ken or Chun-Li for a significant amount of time. He heard the news that Akuma kidnapped Dan and turned him into Shin-Dan, but that's all he knew. He couldn't get in touch with Ken, because thunderstorms downed some power lines with heavy winds. " Geez, it's coming down hard. Maki! Check this." Maki appeared from the kitchen. " Yes, Guy, what?"

"This rain! I mean, it hasn't stopped since, I don't know when it started!" Maki motioned to Guy that she wanted to sit down, and he made room. " It certainly is bad out there, Guy." She looked at Guy. "Guy? Is there something wrong?" Guy shook his head yes. " Yeah. Dan. I haven't seen him for so long, and now that Akuma has kidnapped him, I don't know if he's alright..." Maki kissed him on his forehead, and ran a single hand through his dark hair. Guy in turn, laid his head on her shoulder. Maki realized that there isn't really many times Guy is emotional, so she tried to console him. " Guy, you shouldn't worry. Dan will take care of himself. In fact, I bet Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li have found Dan already. It's just with the power lines down and all, they haven't been able to reach you." Maki knew in her heart that it probably wasn't true, and Guy DEFINITELY knew. But he kissed her on the neck anyway for making him feel somewhat better. " Thanks, Maki. I needed that. How did I get a woman like you?" Maki smiled. " You got lucky, Guy..."

Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li all weren't in good spirits. Seven days, still no sunshine, still no Akuma, and most importantly, still no Dan. Ken pounded his fist into his hand. " Dammit! Where the hell could Akuma be? It's been three, no, almost four weeks, and neither him, or Dan, have shown up. Ryu, Chun-Li, I don't understand..." Ryu was just as baffled as they all were. "I'd figure that Akuma must be training Dan to perform the Shun Goku Satsu properly. That's the only thing I can come up with..." Chun-Li nodded in agreement. " That might be true, but it takes this long?" Ryu explained to both Ken and Chun-Li. " The Shun Goku Satsu takes time to learn. It doesn't exactly take this long, but Dan still doesn't know how to aim a two-handed hadoken..."

Ken frowned. " Yeah, I see what you're saying, Ryu." Chun-Li snapped her fingers lightly. " You know something? Maybe we're not supposed to wait for Akuma, maybe Akuma is waiting for US!" Ryu was a little puzzled. " What do you mean, Chun-Li?" Chun-Li calmed down a bit, then motioned for them to listen. " Okay, think. Akuma has got Dan, right? Dan is now like his prized possesion. He would do like anybody else would do with a new toy...show it off." Ken nodded, understanding what Chun-li was trying to get at. " I see...Akuma wants us to come out there to fight him and Dan. He wants to beat us on his home turf!" Chun-Li nodded. "Exactly." Ryu tapped both of them. " A single problem... how are supposed to get there?" Ken tapped Ryu lightly on the back of the head. " I'm rich, remember? I'll tell my pilot to fly us in my private jet." The trio instantly began making plans.

(later that day)

The three were all getting ready to leave. They finally reached Guy and told him the news. They asked him if he was going to come along. He said yes. Eliza also heard the news, and made sure to tell Ken what she thought about it. " I don't like it, Ken. It's dangerous going out there to fight Akuma. Why don't you let police handle the situation?" Ken simply replied, " The police haven't done anything to help." Eliza was losing her patience. " You should be here with me and Mel, not gallavanting off to fight Akuma." Now Ken was getting angry. " Eliza, who said this was about Akuma? Dan's life is in serious danger! THAT's why we are going out there." Eliza sighed. " Fine, Ken. Go on. Don't get hurt, though." Ken kissed her on the cheek while packing an alternative orange gi. " Don't worry babe, I'll be careful." He packed the suitcase, and kissed Eliza one more time. She didn't exactly return the kiss. Ken noticed. " C'mon, Eliza. Please? I mean jeez, as much as I don't like saying it, Dan IS my friend. I care about the guy, and I'm sure if I was in trouble, he'd help me out." Eliza nodded silently. " Go, Ken. You'll miss the flight." Ken smiled, and kissed her on the cheek. " That plane isn't going nowhere 'til I tell it to!" He ran down the stairs out their bedroom and locked the door behind him. Eliza stayed upstairs in their bedroom. She watched him get in his red Lexus, and soon speed off. " Ken, you'd better be careful", Eliza said silently to herself. she closed the curtain, and went downstairs to look for Mel.