Of Love, Honour and Revenge Ch. 36
By Matt Lawson

Cammy ran ahead through the dimness of the underground corridor, Sakura following her behind, Dan providing directions towards the airfield. The pain in her leg was of no concern to her as she ran on, shooting any Shadowloo agent in sight. Dan’s weapon had since run out of ammo, and was useless. She was their only means of defence, her assault rifle her only firepower. At every crossroad, junction and turning, Dan paused as he tried to remember which was the quickest path to take.

A voice continued echoing along the corridor. It was calm, efficient and artificial.

“Attention. Emergency. All personnel must evacuate immediately. You now have nine minutes to reach minimum safe distance.”

They continued running. Cammy staggered on as if in a dream, her lungs and leg straining no longer. Her body was so pumped up, she felt as if she was flying across the stone floor. She sighted two Shadowloo agents running in the opposite direction, weapons drawn. She fired, the muzzle of the FAMAS flashing with every bullet it launched as she gunned the two men down. Suddenly, the rifle clicked, as the hammer hit nothing, signifying that the weapon was empty.

She released the magazine, and hammered a new one into the rifle. It was her last one, she was out of refills, having spent bullets profligately while escaping with the others. Once that was gone, she was defenceless, save for her hand-to-hand skills. She flicked the gun on a three-round burst, to conserve ammo.

The voice of the temple boomed around her. There was a rising note of mechanical urgency in its tone.

“You now have eight minutes to reach minimum safe distance.”

They stopped at a junction, Dan pausing, trying to remember where to go.

“Come on, Dan. We don’t have much time!” Cammy stressed. She was no longer fearful, had no time to panic. Too many other things to concentrate on. She was too busy to be terrified.

“Umm…..Down here. Then…we turn left, and just keep going.”

You’d better be right, pal, she thought as she started to follow him.

“You now have six minutes to reach minimum safe distance.” the sad voice of the station informed any who might be listening.

They reached the elevator cage, and saw an agent handily press the call button. Seeing the three intruders, he raised his weapon, and instantly jerked back as Cammy fired a round from her own weapon straight into his head. It was blown apart by the multiple impacts of large hollow-point bullets, and the body dropped backward limply to the floor almost as quickly as the cartridge cases ejected by the weapon that killed him.

They reached the elevator doors, and were rewarded by the whine of a healthy motor as the metal cage comenced its slow fall from the upper levels. A series of bullets hitting the walls made them turn. Cammy fired back at the agents who had suddenly appeared, then stopped as Dan picked up the dead man's sub machine-gun and fired continuously into the walls the agents hid behind.

The cage's descent was too slow. Cammy saw a service ladder set inside the wall, with a space wide enough to climb past the elevator. Pulling the doors open, she started her climb, strapping the assault rifle to her back, Sakura following after her. Dan threw the SMG down and hurriedly followed. Since it didn't have a strap, he couldn't carry it with him.

Cammy climbed, then stopped as the cage descended past them. She pulled out her assault rifle and aimed at the cables. The cables snapped as she fired, sending the elevator plunging downwards and removing any hope of escape for the Shadowloo agents below.

They finished their climbing, and Cammy leaned across to open the doors. There was no-one behind them.

"You know have three minutes to reach minimum safe distance."

Yes, I KNOW!

They climbed out, and ran outside, to the runway. There, they saw salvation.

There was a Chinook transport helicopter up ahead. A Shadowloo pilot was running towards it on Cammy's right. She made a mad dash toward the helicopter, paying no heed to the increasing pain in her leg. The bandage began to loosen, the wound bleeding once again, but still, she ran on.

The pilot reached the helicopter before her, turned, drew his pistol, and fired. The shot bounced harmlessly off the tarmac as Cammy spun and back-fisted the gun out of his hand. She grabbed the pilot's collar, spun him around, then viciously twisted his neck.

She flung the lifeless body to the floor as Dan and Sakura ran up from behind. As they climbed into the chopper, Cammy tightened the bandage around her leg, then headed towards the cockpit.

The helicopter blades spun as she activated the engines. Behind them, they could just hear the voice of the temple from the runway speakers. They, like the installation they served, had almost run out of time.

"You now have two minutes to reach minimum safe distance."

"We have to go, now!" Dan said, strapping himself into the co-pilot's seat.

"But what about Ryu and Chun Li?" Sakura spoke over Cammy's shoulder, fear in her voice.

Cammy closed her eyes as she realised the awful truth. They could still be inside. They would die as soon as the Psycho beam struck. But Dan was right, they had to go. There was nothing she could do for them, for her best friend.

"We just have to…hope…that they made it out in time."

"Wait!" Dan shouted abruptly, pointing to the top of the temple. Looking up, they saw several blue and purple flashes of light. And then, a fireball leapt from the roof.

Ryu's fireball.

"He's up there. We can rescue him if we go…ufff."

Dan didn't get a chance to finish as Cammy jerked the joystick and sent the Chinook sharply upwards, towards the temple.

The battle had been long and hard, but it would soon draw to a close.

Standing on the stony floor of the temple's roof, surrounded by small puddles of blood, both his own and his enemy's, Akuma watched with contempt as Ryu wiped the blood from his mouth and formed his stance.

Akuma placed his hand above his eye. The cut from a particularly powerful spinning roundhouse kick was still bleeding. For the first time in his life, an opponent drew blood from him.

We smiled. At last, he was getting a challenge. And it was his own doing that brought it on himself to face that challenge.

He had been bored by all the so-called 'warriors' that he had fought before. They were just pathetic challengers, whose deserving reward had been a quick death by his own hands. Not once had they inflicted any pain upon him, and he partly blamed himself for that. His lust for power and strength had provided him with the chance to learn the forbidden arts of the Shotokan. He took that chance, and was duly rewarded. He was too fast, too powerful, too deadly. Why then, would the fools who kept challenging him think they were powerful enough to defeat him? All they would gain was the loss of their lives. Unless, of course, that was exactly what they wanted.

But Ryu was different. He had grown powerful, and though he had temporarily been gifted with Satsui No Hado, he had shunned it, pushed it away thanks to the love of a woman. He no longer had the evil intent inside him. Why then, did he become such a strong warrior? Was there something else, an opposite power to Satsui No Hado that he had never thought existed?

A good to counter the evil…

He pushed the thought aside as Ryu lunged forward, fist outstretched. Akuma blocked the attack, countered with a kick, then hopped back as Ryu blocked, and attempted a Dragon punch, missing him by several inches. Ryu landed in a crouch just to see Akuma charge forward, but before Akuma could strike, Ryu sweeped his foot along the floor, the dust flying afterwards, and sweeped Akuma off his feet. Akuma flipped himself back to his feet after landing on his shoulders.

That was dumb, Akuma realised. He should not have attacked so hastily. Then he realised that he wouldn't have performed a move like that before, why did he do so now.

He cleared his mind, focused on the Evil Intent that was his power. Let the Evil Intent be his weapon.

Ryu attacked with several hooks to his face. Akuma's head jerked sideways with each punch. Suddenly, Akuma grabbed Ryu's hand, and twisted it round, causing Ryu to grimace as he felt his arm twisted hard. Akuma kicked the defenceless Ryu's chest, then pulled him rouand and threw him across the roof. Ryu slid along to the edge, then flipped to his feet.

At that moment, Ryu sensed something was happening. Akuma's eyes glowed red, burning like fire. Somehow, his power was increasing. Akuma stepped forward, snarling.

Ryu jumped and span, his foot outstretched in a hurricane kick. It connected with Akuma's head, but Akuma suddenly grabbed Ryu's foot in mid-kick, then threw him over his head into the floor. He then flung the warrior aside.

At that moment, a sudden pain crept into Akuma. What was this pain, this strength? Was the Evil Intent taking control?

The pain subsided, and a new feeling grew inside him. A feeling of power that he had not experienced. It felt good. So good.

Ryu managed to get to his feet, and saw Akuma glow faintly. Waves of purple energy surrounded Akuma, indicating that something was happening. Ryu charged his own energy into his hands, and fired a Hadoken. As the blast of energy thundered towards Akuma, the demon suddenly made his move.

"GO HADOKEN!"

Akuma's hands pushed forward, and a purple blast of energy emerged from them. Ryu's fireball hit it, and was vapourised. The purple fireball, however, continued its path towards Ryu. In desperation, Ryu leapt aside to avoid the attack.

Out of the corner he saw someone else appear, and suddenly realised his mistake.

The purple fireball continued its path. Towards a new target.

Towards Chun Li…