The Quest - Ryu's Journey Ch. 4 - Akuma
By Dragonwriter

Guile and Rose were asleep. Ryu and Chun-Li were curled up in their seperate sleeping bags, trying to get to sleep. Ryu tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable. He readjusted his position again, but still couldn't get to sleep.

Chun-Li: "Ryu?"

Ryu rolled over to face her. In the darkness, the only thing he could see was her face, and that barely.

Ryu: "Yes Chun-Li?"

Chun-Li: "You can't sleep either, huh?"

Ryu: "No. I've got this strange feeling... Like someone's watching me..."

Chun-Li: "That's my fault I guess. I've been staring at you since we went to bed."

In the darkness, Chun-Li was glad he couldn't see her face turning red.

Ryu: "No, that wouldn't bother me like this... Maybe my bodies still on Tokyo time and I'm just being silly."

Chun-Li: "Maybe, but for some strange reason I doubt it."

They were both silent for a second.

Ryu: "Chun-Li, why did you hug me like that when you saw me?"

Chun-Li's heart stopped. Her face turned so red she was surprised it didn't light up the landscape.

Chun-Li: Does he know? Should I tell him? Oh god help me!

Ryu: "Chun-Li?"

Chun-Li managed to regain her composure enough to answer.

Chun-Li: "I... I just haven't seen you in so long... I... I missed you."

Ryu: "You missed me?"

Chun-Li: "Umm... yeah..."

Ryu smiled. It was good to know he had friends, other than Ken, who would miss him.

Ryu: "Come on Chun-Li. We better try to get some actual sleep tonight or tomorrow we'll be-"

Ryu stopped in midsentence, sitting up on his elbows and looking around at the foliage surounding them.

Chun-Li: "Ryu? What is it?"

Ryu: "Shh. Someone's comeing."

Ryu motioned for Chun-Li to lay back down in her sleeping bag, and got up. He stepped back into the foliage, and seemed to vanish.

Chun-Li lay back down, faking sleep, and listened to the sounds of someone approaching through the woods.

The mysterious person was taking their time, being very careful to be as silent as possible. Finally, they stepped into the clearing, and Chun-Li got a look at him.

He looked like he'd been trained in the same style as Ryu, because although she could see no family resemblance, their body types and the way they carried themselves were the same. He wore a black gi, and walked as if he were the king of the world.

He stepped up to Chun-Li and stood directly over her, staring down at her. She saw an evil in his eyes that revolted her, and quickly swung her leg up, hitting him in a spot renowned to be a male weak point.

The attacker toppled over, and Ryu burst out of his hiding spot. Quickly he javved the attacker in the gut, then kicked his knees, and brought his palms to his sides.

Ryu: "Hadouken!"

The attacker fell to the ground in flames. By this point, the noise had roused Guile and Rose, and they stood to the side, wondering what the h*ll was going on.

Ryu: "Who are you?"

Akuma: "I am the best fighter in existence. I am Akuma, and I am the one who is going to bring your life to an end, Ryu."

Ryu: "I don't think so..."

Ryu brought his arms to his sides, and unleashed a fireball at Akuma.

Akuma vanished, but Ryu felt his ki shifting and, swinging around, hit the fighter with a backhand swipe. Akuma stumbled back, stunned, and Ryu jumped into the air.

Ryu came down and hit Akuma with a jump kick. He them jabbed the fighter in the gut, kicked his knees, and cupped his hands at his sides.

Ryu: "Hadouken!"

Akuma fell to the ground, burning. Ryu stood over the strange fighter and crossed his arms.

Ryu: "Yield, before one of us gets hurt."

Akuma slowly got to his feet.

Akuma: "I will never yield until I am the ultimate fighter!"

A blood-red aura flashed into existence around Akuma's body and grew so bright everyone had to shield their eyes to keep from getting blinded.

When the light finally subsided, Ryu looked at his opponent, and gasped in surprise.

Akuma's entire body had changed. His gi was now a purple color, and his body muscle had doubled. He stood there staring at Ryu.

Akuma: "Now Ryu, it is time to die, fir I am Shin Akuma!"

Ryu could feel the power emenating from Akuma, and it scared him to his bones. But he got into a battle stance anyway.

Ryu: "Let's finish this."

Akuma: "I agree."

Akuma launched himself into the air, tucking in and flipping end over end over end. Ryu's jaw dropped at the maneuver, and he simply watched as Akuma somersaulted over his head.

Suddenly Akuma straightened out and grabbed Ryu's shoulders.

Ryu: What the h*ll?

Ryu was pulled into the air by Akuma, who flipped over so his feet were pointed earthward, and landed, slamming Ryu's neck into his knee.

Ryu flew forward, landing faceup in the dirt. If his neck had not been strengthened by his training, he would have died from the force of the blow. Picking himself up, he quickly ran up to Akuma, grabbed the fighter, and threw him over his shoulder.

Akuma recovered midair and , flipping over, drew back his hands. When he threw his hands forward, a fireball shot from each one.

Ryu: Oh my god! How did he do that!?

Ryu was so stunned he didn't even move when the fireballs hit him.

Rose: Ryu look out, I can sense that things evil aura. That used to be a person, but now it's a pure being of h*ll. A demon has gained complete possession of him.

Ryu nodded to Rose to show he'd heard her message, and turned back to Akuma. The demon, however, had taken advantage of Ryu's distraction and had cupped his hands at his side, flames running across his shoulders.

Akuma: "Jigoku Hadouken!"

Ryu: What on earth?

The red fireball impacted with Ryu's body and he reeled, trying to regain his senses.

Akuma's body glowed and, lifting one leg, he levitated towards Ryu.

Ryu was still stunned and didn't move as the demon came toward him.

Chun-Li: "Ryu!!!"

Something flashed past Chun-Li's vision, moving so fast it was nothing but a streak of gold and black. It moved between Ryu and Akuma, stopping between the two warriors. Only then did anyone get a glimpse of what it was.

It was a man about seven feet tall with a muscular build wearing gold and black clothes.

Akuma kept comeing froward, and the man just stood there. Akuma reached him and grabbed the man's tunic. His fists flashed, hitting the man in fourteen of his most vital areas and then, on the fifteenth hit, Akuma's fist aimed straight for the man's heart.

A flash lit the surrounding landsape, blinding everyone for a second. When it cleared, the man was still standing in front of Akuma. He had caught Akuma's fist just in front of his heart. The man grinned.

"Soul Grenade!"

The man's bracelets began to glow and a golden ball of energy formed in his palm. The same palm that held Akuma's fist just inches from his heart.

Dark energy traveled around Akuma's fist as he tried to force it towards the mysterious man's heart. The man smiled as if he were enjoying this.

"Tick, tick, tick, tick... Ding!"

*Boom!*

The ball of golden energy exploded, sending Akuma flying. When the smoke cleared, the mysterious warrior was standing, arms folded across his chest, a humerous smirk on his face. He threw his head bak and laughed at Akuma, who was standing with smoke coming out of his hair.

Akuma: "Who are you!?"

The man simply stared at Akuma, refusing to answer. He got in a battle stance.

"You wish to fight Ryu, you must go through me first."

The man's bracelets took on a golden glow, and from them gauntlets formed across the backs of his fists and his forearms. (If you've ever seen the movies Witchblade or Lost in Space, you'll be familiar with the effect of things forming from nowhere. Simply apply said effect to this situation).

Akuma: "Fine then. You'r skills will greatly increase my own."

Flames danced across Akuma's shoulders and he cupped his hands at his sides.

Akuma: "Jigoku Hadouken!"

"Soul Grenade!"

The two energy blasts collided, detonating with a huge explosion. Akuma stood still, waiting for the smoke to clear.

Akuma should've attacked...

"Firestorm!"

A fireball flew towards Akuma, but it was unlike any fireball he had ever seen. It shined with both blue and red energies. He didn't have time to dodge, and it slammed into him.

A pillar of fire sprang up around his body, imprisoning him in a wall of flames which he couldn't escape from.

The mysterious warrior threw fireball after fireball at Akuma, each doing little damage to the demon, but each paralyzing him for a second while the pillar of flame rose, doing some slight amount of damage to the h*llspawn.

Akuma: He's trying to wear me down. I must not let that happen!

Akuma tried to escape, but it was useless. He couldn't move.

Suddenly, the fireballs stopped, and Akuma was free. He looked at the mysterious warrior and saw why.

The mysterious warrior brought his hands together before is chest, his gauntlets still glowing gold, and closed his eyes. He slowly moved his hands apart, and a staff made of pure golden energy formed between them.

"Mystic Staff!"

The mysterious warrior grasped it between his hands, and everyone could tell that he knew how to use it. It was as if the staff was an extension of his body.

Akuma: "I've had enough of this! Messatsu Go Hadou!"

The man held the staff in front of him, and began to spin it so fast it appeared as a single disc of golden light.

"Mystic Shield!"

Akuma's attack was absorbed into the disc, and as the man slowed his movements, the staff could be seen glowing with the same blood-red color that Akuma's attack was known for. The man stared into Akuma's eyes, and smirked.

"Double Back!"

The man grabbed the staff, one end in each hand, and split it in two. He wound up and threw each blood-red rod at Akuma.

As they flew, the blood-red rods changed back into what they originally were. Each one formed seperately, however, so that there were two huge, blood-red fireballs heading straight for Akuma's body.

Akuma managed to teleport past them, only to receive the shock of his life.

The man had cupped his hands at his sides, his gauntlet's glow increasing to an almost blinding intensity.

"Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows. I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand. Against the gift bestowed in my unworthy hand..."

All the warriors gathered to feel the amount of energy collecting in the hands of the mysterious warrior. They also could sense, although they didn't know how, that the energy was not his...

"May the foes who stand before me be destroyed By the power you and I possess..."

Akuma felt the energy reach it's peak.

Akuma: Oh f---!

"Dragon Slave!"

A HUGE beam of energy flew towards Akuma. The power was so great, it was blinding. Chun-Li and Ryu, standing behind the mysterious warrior, planted their feet and held their arms out before them to avoid being knocked flat by the force of the attack.

Akuma screamed, splitting the air with the sound. They all flinched at the pain they could hear in his voice.

A huge explosion lit up the landscape, blinding everyone. They all fell back, unable to stand upright anymore.

When the blast had subsided, they all got slowly to their feet, looking around in bewilderment.

Akuma was nowhere to be seen. The mysterious warrior was just standing there, staring into the distance, his gauntlets softly glowing.

He continued staring into the distance, lost in thought. Ryu hesitantly walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

The man's gauntlets slowly dimmed until their glow stopped, and they reformed into the silver bracelets that were originally around his wrists.

He turned around to face Ryu and inclined his head ever so slightly, a symbol of respect.

"Greetings, fellow warrior."

For the first time in his life, Ryu was at a loss for words.

Ryu: "...Who are you?"

Rose: "Ryu hold on."

Rose ran up to they mysterious warrior, staring into his piercing eyes.

Rose: "This man is a shadow walker."