Of Love, Honour and Revenge Ch. 37
By Matt Lawson

Chun Li had only just walked up the steps leading to the roof, when she saw…something..head towards her. A purple ball of fire flew in her direction, leaving her with no time to block, no time to defend herself. In the light of the sun, she thought she saw the image of a skull in the flame. It hit her powerfully in the chest, her lungs somehow allowing her to scream, and the last thing she felt as she blanked out was the force of the attack lifting her and pushing her airborne. She saw Ryu, out of reach, and everything went dark.

Ryu could only watch helplessly, crying out her name, as the purple blast of energy impacted with the woman, sending her flying, flying towards the edge of the roof. Akuma smiled. He had won. Even if he couldn’t defeat Ryu, the loss of his lover would surely enrage him in such a way as to enable the Evil Intent to take hold of him again. And with the woman dead, he would never recover. He watched as Ryu started to run towards the woman. He was too far away, by the time he would reach her, she would be falling to her death. It was too late for him, he was… …there? Akuma watched, stunned, as Ryu teleported himself under the woman, trailing separate images of himself behind him. The woman fell directly into his arms. Ryu stumbled backward one step towards the edge, but held on. Finally, he gently lay her down on his knee, holding her gently in his arms as he knelt down to her side. He had teleported, just like Akuma could, but how? Akuma grew angry. His rage allowed him to utter one single word. “…how?”

Ryu couldn’t understand it himself. A moment ago, he had been several yards from Chun Li, a feeling of helplessness and grief inside him as he started a vain attempt to reach her. Then, suddenly, she was in his arms. What had just happened? This power he had was being unlocked from him. The ability to teleport faster than the eye could follow was something that he thought only Satsui No Hado was capable of. But he had shunned it, ejected it out of his system with that last kiss. Was it beginning to take over him again? He could feel nothing of its power, but he felt uneasy. Was it Satsui No Hado, or was it something else? Something pure… He shook those thoughts from his head as he shook her gently, in an attempt to wake her up from her unconscious sleep, while she lay on his knee. “Hey…Chun…wake up,” he called to her softly. A feeling of relief overwhelmed him as Chun Li’s eyes flickered open. He looked in the beautiful blue eyes of the woman he cared for, and smiled. “Ryu?” she spoke softly, and smiled in return. He was about to speak before he heard another voice. “…how?” Ryu looked up and changed his focus from the one he loved to the one he hated. Akuma. He had started this, he was the one responsible. Bison might’ve done the kidnapping, he might’ve brought them here, but the awakening of his evil side was Akuma’s doing. And now that he had almost killed Chun Li, Ryu could never forgive him. Making sure that Chun Li could hold herself up, Ryu stood upright, glaring at Akuma, and lunged forward. Akuma waited, then aimed a punch at Ryu’s face. But before it reached him, Ryu crossed his arms diagonally and held Akuma’s arm between his wrists for a split second. Then Ryu pushed Akuma’s fist aside with his own right arm, twirled his arms around rapidly, and was on him, driving a fist into his face so hard he could feel the nose shattering beneath his knuckles. Akuma staggered back, in pain. Ryu found the power to hit that hated face again, again, again, until blood flowed freely from the nose, the mouth, the split lips, the broken teeth. Then he hit him some more. Akuma fell onto his back, struggling to escape the ferocious blows. Ryu grabbed his gi, pulled him up, and prepared to strike. Until a new sound emerged from the air. Helicopter blades.

Chun Li staggered upright, the pain having subsided to a dull ache, and saw the transport chopper descending above them. Through the cockpit’s windows, she could see Cammy, steering the Chinook professionally. Two heads emerged from the opening at the side. “Guys, let’s go!” Dan called out to the people below him. “Ryu, come on, get into the helicopter!” Sakura shouted to her idol, glad to see that he was still alive. “This place is gonna be destroyed in about a minute!” Ryu didn’t look back. He still held on to Akuma’s gi, his fist raised to attack. Then, he lowered it. He couldn’t kill him, not in front of Chun Li and Sakura. He was a warrior, not a killer. He dropped Akuma, and stood up. “At least this will be a more painless death for you, Akuma. You deserve that much.” Ryu turned, and started to run back to the Chinook, into the arms of Chun Li

Akuma smiled. The pain was dreadful, but he could bear it. He rolled over, and picked himself up to his hands and knees. He wouldn’t let it end. Not like this. He felt his power surge through his arms, and turned to face the helicopter. He pulled his arms back, and glowed a faint mixture of red and purple, ready to fire at the woman piloting it.

Dan saw the demon prepare to fire a Hadoken. If he hit the chopper, then they would die. He crawled quickly to Cammy’s FAMAS, and checked the ammo in the magazine. There was one round inside, nothing more. Well, one round’s better than nothing. he thought as he slammed the magazine home, and crawled back to the opening. He leaned outside, and aimed the gun towards Akuma. “Nice try.” His finger tensed on the trigger. Ryu cried out one word before he fired. “NO!” Then he fired. The bullet erupted out of the barrel and sped towards Akuma as he was about to launch his attack. It slammed into his chest, causing him to stagger backwards as the stored energy exploded out of him. Akuma placed a hand to his chest where the bullet struck, and saw blood form on it. Then he laughed. Evil energy surged within him as he laughed, surrounding him with a red light. His eyes became blood-red, and the top of his gi was ripped apart. Ryu, Chun Li, and everyone else watched in horror as the demon that was Akuma suddenly morphed into something else. Dark, demon wings emerged from his back, and his wounds began to heal quickly. He truly became his name. A demon. The power of Satsui No Hado overcame him, and their chance to see true evil was complete. He took a step towards them, and stopped. The demon seemed to sense something else, looking to his left. Cammy’s eyes followed the demons gaze, she could see nothing in the air. But on the ground… She saw the huge weapon that was the Psycho beam start to emerge from the ground, ready to fire its fatal charge. The demon decided that this was not the right time to fight. Not the right place. He would choose the location himself for his victory. He turned, and Ryu saw the Japanese kanji ten was now emblazoned on his back, between his new-found wings. He was bathed in a fiery red glow, and suddenly flew away, faster than they could follow. Within a second, he had disappeared. “What the h*ll was that?” Dan asked to no-one in particular. “Shin Akuma…” Ryu spoke quietly, “The True Demon.” Chun Li looked at Ryu, and saw the concern in his eyes. Cammy startled them from their thoughts. “Come on! We’ve got to go!” Ryu and Chun Li climbed aboard. Now was not the time to think about this. Cammy pulled the joystick as soon as they were on board. She turned around, and flew away.

Inside the temple, a lone Shadowloo agent ran around, looking for a way out. The temple was a maze, that was for sure, and he knew next to nothing about its corridors and passageways. He was blocked from the elevator leading to the airfield, and had turned to run in the opposite direction. But he realised that their was no hope for him surviving. “You now have forty seconds to evacuate.” The temple’s voice continued its countdown to doom. He leaned his back against the wall, and slid down dropping his gun to the floor. He was going to die. “You now have thirty seconds to evacuate.” He pulled out an already-prepared syringe and needle, the tube filled with one of Shadowloo’s illegal narcotics. Yes, he thought, this would be a good time to get high. “Twenty seconds to evacuate.” He rolled his sleeve up, slapped his arm several times, and found a vein. He inserted the needle deep into his arm, and began to push the drug into his system. “Ten seconds to evacuate.” He finished the injection, and relaxed against the wall. “Five seconds, four…….three….” The drugs hit home. He would die a happy man. “Two…….one……..Good-bye.”

The helicopter passed the minimum safe distance point as the Psycho beam fired a huge purple and white blast of light. A few seconds later, it was reflected from the orbital satellite, which self-destructed as soon as the beam finished its reflection. Finally, the beam hit home. The Aztec temple was enveloped in an increasing ball of white fire, and evaporated, along with the surrounding jungle. The explosion decreased, and vanished. All that was left was a huge crater of charred ash and fire.

From the relative safety of his fighter, Guile watched as the Psycho Beam destroyed the temple. He smiled in perfect satisfaction. It was finally over. Shadowloo had suffered a blow that it would never recover from again. They were gone. He was about to head for home when he noticed a solitary blip on his radar. On closer inspection, he saw a single Chinook with Shadowloo markings. He flipped his radio on. “This is USAF Colonel William Guile calling Shadowloo contact. You are to remain on your present course and prepare to be escorted to base. If you try anything, you will be shot down. Do you receive me?” A voice he had not expected to hear spoke back. “Like I’m going to try anything with you, Colonel.” His face beamed, though the Chinook was not exactly going to see it. “Cammy? Is that you?” “Do you know anyone else with a sexy English accent like mine? I’ve got an Interpol Detective, her Japanese boyfriend, a Japanese hostage and a……man with me. Could you please follow up on your promise and escort us home?” They were safe. Somehow, they had survived. “Sure thing. Let me just tell El Toro the good news.” He changed the channels to home base. “This is Eagle 1. The Shadowloo base has been blown into a smoking crater and the hostages and MI6 agent are all safe and sound. We’re heading back. Over.” He switched off. He imagined the resulting cheers and celebratory shouts and screams would have probably deafened him, as he took up Cammy’s wing.

Ryu held a sleeping Chun Li in his arms, sitting in the helicopter’s hold as they headed towards safety, her head resting against his shoulder. A small smile showed in his face. “Do you think Sagat made it?” Sakura asked, slightly concerned. “Yeah. I’m sure that son-of-a-b*tch survived.” Dan said with a smile. “It’s all over now.” Ryu wasn’t so sure. Shin Akuma’s appearance and sudden disappearance worried him greatly, though he didn’t show his concern. He felt that for him, he still had one more fight to go. And even with his newly discovered abilities, he wasn’t sure he would survive. Only the fact that he had friends and loved ones to protect gave him the desire to continue his search for him. With those last thoughts echoing in his mind, he fell asleep alongside his girlfriend.