Vendetta Ch. 5 - Master Gen's Story
By Dare

Around the time that you went off to join Interpol, I began receiving news, terrible news, from all over the world from colleagues and friends.

There were stories, horrible tales of a Dark Warrior, who left only death and destruction in his wake. It seemed that he was seeking out my comrades who were exponents in the fighting arts and challenging them. Now, I tell you, many of these men were fine warriors, lethal and more than a match for any ordinary man. But this Dark Warrior was more, or perhaps less, than any ordinary man.

The eyewitnesses said that he was possessed of a terrible Darkness, a black and evil shroud of death. He rent from my old colleagues their very souls as well as their lives. His only mark, left on a destroyed temple or kwoon wall, was the Japanese character "ten", the symbol of, blasphemously enough, heaven.

At first, I thought these stories were exaggerated, embellished by grief- stricken family members. But soon, it didn't matter. I had gone to too many funerals.

And so, I set off in search of this Dark One, leaving behind my school and my students, vowing not to return until this evil was vanquished. The following months were trying. I first traveled to India to see my friend Kruyabhut Dhalsim, a resident teacher and guru. All he could tell me was the man's name, which I eventually learned was Akuma. At least that was the most consistent one. A later foray into Japan revealed that an alias was Gouki.

The rest of my pursuit took me all over the world. Italy, Africa, England.......even the United States where I briefly ran into you that time. But everywhere I went, it was the same. The places this man Akuma had desecrated displayed death and ruin, exhibiting the machinations of a murderer and soulless monster. I journeyed on, all the time my hatred of him mounting and swelling.

In time, I eventually was able to track the killer down to a cave in Okinawa. When I came face to face to him, he smiled, as though he had been expecting me. And perhaps he had.

I will tell you, child, that this was a man whose allegiance was with the Unknown. He had the composition of a mad bull, and his eyes shone with a terrible, unholy red light. His teeth were as sharp and pointed as the st alactites we fought under, and he smiled a smile that promised only death. His voice was like shattering glass on rocks, as he mocked me and my attempts to bring him to justice. We fought.

In all of my eighty-seven years of life, no other battle had strained me, stretched me like that one. No other contest had required all of my reserves, all of my strength and effort. But in the end, it availed me naught. After so many months of searching, my efforts had proved fruitless in my defeat.

As I waited for this Akuma to finish me, I prepared a final strike, a blow that would have surely killed me, but would have ended his life as well. But oddly enough, he laughed and then somehow vanished, leaving me with the emptiness of the caverns and the darkness. In the end, I came away from my quest with nothing.

Or so I had thought.

As Master Gen concluded his tale, Chun Li was still trying to take it all in: The events of a dark portion of her master's life that were too similar to her own to be comfortable.

"It is true that I escaped the battle alive, but not unscathed. As I returned home, I began to experience bouts of chest pain and terrible fits like the ones you have seen me exhibit tonight. At first I thought they were no more than injuries received after such a battle, and assumed that the effects would lessen after time. I was wrong.

The spells became worse, more intense after time. I finally went to see a doctor, and all he could tell me was that I have internal hemorrhaging; I am slowly bleeding to death inside. The only reason I am alive today is through the many potions and herbal remedies whose formulas I have procured over my life. Still, they serve only to delay the inevitable, not deny it."

Master Gen said these last words in a matter-of-fact tone. He turned to see Chun Li staring at him with disbelief and shock.

"I see that my words have been heard, Little Sparrow, and I wish that this news would have reached your ears under better circumstances. But now was the time for you to make the decision I never thought to make."

Speechless, all Chun Li could do was sit there in confusion. Master Gen went on.

"Be assured, I have no bitterness regarding my 'condition'. After all, death is part of life, and I have led a most enriching and fulfilling one. We warriors know this most of all. But to die from foolishness and impetuousness, that is a fate most undesirable. But it has become my lot in the remaining years of my life."

"What do you mean, Master?" Master Gen took a long, shuddering breath, and Chun Li thought that he would start coughing again. Instead, he looked away from her as he spoke again.

Master Gen somehow looked even older as he went on to say "During my battle with Akuma, I was consumed by my loathing and disgust of him. So much that the marginal success I had in simply surviving the encounter can only be attributed to divine intervention, for otherwise I should surely have perished.

"But all the while, this Akuma seemed to sense my hate. What is more frightening is that he seemed to thrive on this malignance, adding the re flection of my hostility to his blows and strikes."

Chun Li just sat there, hand over her mouth, finally beginning to understand.

"By letting myself be taken in by the hate, the rage, the need for revenge, I ultimately fell to the same level that this Akuma existed on. I had become what I feared and hated, and he used it against me. Now I am dying, and it is by my own foolhardiness."

Chun Li's eyes flowed with the tears of sorrow and grief, but this time they were not for herself.

"I guess the one thing I regret most of all is the selfishness of my actions." Master Gen continued, his own eyes watering. "When I fought Akuma, I was blinded by one thing: vengeance. The many friends I had lost, the heartbreak from long months of searching through all the destruction, it all culminated in that battle. It was then I had lost sight of what I was doing.

"The friends I told myself I was avenging? They were gone. Gone and at peace. Destroying Akuma would not have brought them back. And I doubt I would have cared. My 'mission' had gone from a quest for justice to a petty desire for vengeance. Somewhere along the way, I had forgotten what I was fighting for. I didn't want to defeat Akuma for what he had done, I wanted to _kill_ him for what he had taken away from me. The battles I fought, the people I faced, all I saw was him. His mocking image seemed to replace those of the opponents I fought during my journey. For by that time, I had ceased to see anything around me except my lust for this monster's blood. In the end, that bloodlust was my undoing."

Quickly wiping his eyes, Master Gen faced Chun Li with a most serious expression, a combination of pleading and determination in his eyes.

"And it is this same bloodlust that will be your undoing, Little Sparrow, if you do not heed my words."

Chun Li met her master's gaze, her own eyes beginning to clear as she listened.

"This man, Bison. Do you seek to destroy him for the evil you say he is? Or have you followed that deceptive and hazardous path called vengeance?"

Master Gen put a warm hand on Chun Li's shoulder. "I know how much your father meant to you, Little Sparrow. But the time for grieving has long passed, save for the sorrow you carry in your heart. I knew your father, he was one of my closest students, perhaps even more so than you. And I know that he would know sadness at the pain his death caused you. But he would surely weep at the pain you have inflicted upon yourself."

Master Gen stood. He seemed stronger, now.

"The choice is yours to make, Little Sparrow. Can you turn from the path of destruction? Can you strive for the justice that precedes your own need for revenge? These questions may hold your destiny."

Chun Li was silent as Master Gen picked up the package that he had brought with him. He handed it to her, and she took it with gentle hands.

"This is a remainder of the past. I know not what to do with it, but it belongs to you. Like many other gifts in life, it is up to you what you do with it."

With that, Master Gen turned and silently walked away.

Chun Li opened the package carefully, removing its cellophane wrapped contents.

What was inside took her breath away.