The sounds of battle could be heard from afar. The clash of bone and muscle, the explosion of chi being used for combat, bodies striking the hard earth. The forest and the night were alive with these sounds, yet they all seemed to quiet as if they could sense the conclusion draw near...

"Humph!"

A blinding flash illuminated the entire sky. The sound of over a dozen powerful blows striking like thunder echoed. The clouds themselves split apart, from a certain perspective the cracks seemed to draw the kanji character "Ten", or Heaven. Yet the birds only flew away from surprise and returned in mere moments. Still the world around the theater was determined to witness the end. For that was not it...

"Im...Impossible!"

"SHO! RYUKEN!"

A single crack; the sound of bone on bone, yet hitting with a force beyond what most would consider "possible." Its effect apparent on the victim whom was struck with it, as he flew high into the air from its mighty impact, only to fall far and crash into the ground below. Sound return to the secluded forest of Japan.

The wind blew and the leaves rustled about the two fighters whose long battle had finally ended. One victor, one fallen, yet it was a task bringing both to their very limits. Neither could deny who the better man was that day. The one who still stood, was a powerfully built Japanese man; wearing a white karate gi with no sleeves and ragged edges. His hand guards worn, yet still as a lustrous red as the thin headband he wore. He wore his dark hair cropped short and ragged, but age had set in graying streaks near his temple. The other warrior, barely conscious now, wore a dark purple karate gi; closed with a simple line of rope. Japanese sandals and dull brown, wooden hand guards marked him as similarly dressed to his opponent, yet different. His hair was blood red though, white lines struck all around; worn into an ancient, yet wild, topknot styling. He also had on a necklace of large prayer beads.

The shotokan warriors, Ryu and Gouki. This was apparently to be their final battle, and Ryu had triumphed beyond all doubt. He had surpassed "The Supreme Master of Fists", his devotion to his own way of fighting had proven a superior fruit.

"How?" muttered Gouki, trying to prop himself up, yet he could not find the strength. True, Ryu was also injured, but the other fighter still seemed strong. Though older, age was not a factor in either fighter...their power was still greater than it had ever been.

"Lie still," said Ryu, his voice surprisingly gentle to the man who murdered his own brother, Ryu's sensei. "You're in no condition to speak or move about."

"My death is near," replied Gouki, coughing up some blood as if to prove his point. "This battle took too much toll on me, yet I want to know why. You have defeated me before, but not so totally, how have you grown so much stronger than me? I must know!" More words than he had spoken in years, yet they had to flow once more...for he had much to say, much to know.

Ryu looked down with calm, kneeling to better speak to his fallen opponent, he honored this request. He was no fool, Gouki was about to die, this was a risk every warrior took. Ryu did not aim to kill him, though once he had sought revenge, but Gouki's own obsessive drive had pushed him beyond what his life would allow. He was about to die...and Ryu would honor this great fighter's final request.

"Because I know the truth that you do not. The truth of the Fist that eluded you."

"What is this...truth?" asked Gouki heatedly, he was angry at this sort of response.

"You once chided others and myself for denying that martial arts are a way of battle, and the means of battle were to destroy your opponent at any cost. This is true, you were right...but you failed to see beyond that. You are human." Gouki growled and his red eyes sparked with that same fierce energy that had fueled him for so long. "Humans are not meant to be weapons merely to destroy, their martial arts are a means to CONTROL a battle...destroying if only one must. That is the ultimate goal, but a last resort, for it is unnatural to be just a demon. As you said, to deny the truth of one's fist was to deny one's power. You had only a half-truth." The dark master grit his fanged teeth and clawed at the dirt, his black rage storming about his soul. "Even now you refuse to listen. In your arrogance, you believed you had mastered it all...then why challenge? You refused to believe there was more and thus could not improve, could not see beyond your own fist. You could not learn, you could only destroy. What you destroy is gone and can teach you nothing, so even your victories were hollow. I have had victory, I have had defeat, I have learned much. That is how you were surpassed. Your road was easier, but the path has its dead end...and this is it."

Gouki snarled once more, but then was silent...the red fire going out of his eyes, leaving only black shells. Ryu stood with a sad look on his face and turned to leave. He dusted off his clothing and went to retrieve his duffel bag, in which he carried all he needed.

"Wait."

Ryu turned to see Gouki looking at him, still with voided eyes, but no doubt, looking at him.

"I understand. I believe I see this truth you speak of, or at least your truth. Perhaps you are right only for yourself, I do not know...as you said...it is too hard for me to change now. I have followed this path too long to truly grasp any other. But it must be a kind of truth, for you have proven it."

"If I had to defeat you to prove it," Ryu said with an odd smile, "Perhaps I was not right after all. Yet I will still quest further for more meaning, deeper truths...to answer my questions and to better myself."

"Hah, very well. I make one more request: burn my body, and leave no trace of me on this world. Forget me and let me be as shadow." Gouki laid his head back down and prepared himself for the Abyss.

"No."

"?" The dark one raised once more, a flicker of red flashing in his eyes again.

"No. You are my master's brother, and though you have strayed from the path, you are still a great master and a powerful warrior. You will be remembered. You will have a headstone next to Gouken's and it will be attended to by myself every year when I honor him as well. You will rest in peace and your teachings will not die...they will help others know the darkness within them and better themselves for it. You will go on in spirit if not in life."

"...you honor me. I have not been treated so in so very long. Do what you will, Ryu. Gouken...my brother...would be...proud of you." And with those words Gouki, the Master of the Fist, the one with Evil Intent, the user of the Dark Hadou, died.

Ryu looked up to the rising sun, to night becoming day, and took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air. He had much to do, but he looked forward to it...as always.

"Would he? I would like to think so as well."

Weeks later, Ryu was still staying in his old dojo where he had trained in as a boy. He had erected a stone monument next to his master, honoring Gouki as he said he would. But now, what to do? He could not deny truth, as he had told his fallen opponent, and the truth was he was getting older and he was a human being. Strong still now, perhaps, but for how long? How long could he travel and find himself and answers through fighting, through his martial arts? As long as he could, certainly, but how long was that? And what after?

Should he settle down now and have a family, much like his best friend and rival, Ken? He smiled in irony at that thought. He was in his late-forties, the exact number not quite remember unless he paid attention to the date, it seemed a bit late to play the dating game. He was not a eunuch, of course, he had the same urges as normal men, but he simply choose a different path...he wondered from time to time, especially when he thought of Ken, if he could not have been a man as well as a warrior?

His stomach grumbled and he stood from the hardwood floor of the main training area. All of this will seem much more clear after a bowl of rice and some fresh fish from the market. He gathered some money and proceeded to travel to the town a few miles from the secluded dojo. It was a pleasant day, and he could always think more on the way.

Passing through beautiful wilderness as he had many times before and into the rural out parts of the town, he acknowledged the few locals who knew him with polite bows and niceties. Though different, his life was satisfying to him, why seek to change it so now? He had his way set out before him and it was not as though he was lonely. He had many friends throughout his travels, he could dip in and out of that type of life as he choose. People whom he had met that were doing so much more now, and through that, he could touch it as well. No, he was not a complete hermit, but he knew that normal family was not his.

"Take that, you stupid wimp!"

Ryu looked up from the fish stand he was at to see a young boy being bullied by some teenagers. Moving quickly, he pulled the larger youths off and stood in between them and their target.

"Enough. Leave him alone and go home," said Ryu, giving them a stern eye.

"What's it to you, Old Man?" said the largest of them, a tall gangly youth, sporting that latest "tough" fad look. He brandished a switchblade and his other friends circled around. Thinking themselves "badasses" and invincible, the entire half dozen charge at him.

It took a little less than three seconds.

Ryu helped the young one off the ground, ignoring the groans of his would-be assailants. The boy was scrawny, even for his apparant age. He was obviously poor and from the rural parts, easy prey for the more wealthy, jaded, and larger youths of the main parts of town. His tattered clothes were covered with dust, Ryu bent down and helped him clean himself as best he could.

"Thanks," sniffled the boy. "My name's Shin. They always pick on me, almost everyday. I really appreciate it, I wish I was strong like you, then maybe they wouldn't pick on me so much..." He seemed like he might start crying again, as his words became choked and he did not stop rambling. Yet...a memory stirred in Ryu, a memory of another young boy who was unfortunate...another young boy who wanted to be strong. And he was taken in by a great master...

"Hey now," said Ryu, wiping away the tears already starting to flow. "No need for that. Would you like something to eat? I'm afraid I've gotten too much fish and some will go to waste tonight. Why don't you join me for dinner?"

"I'll...I'll have to ask my mom, but I'm sure she'll say it's okay," replied Shin, elated to be noticed by his immediate hero.

"Great. Well, go and ask her, I'll wait for you right here. Then we'll go to my home, the dojo on the mountain. And then maybe, if you like...I'll teach you what I know of being strong."

"I'd really like that!"

Ryu smiled. Maybe...there was another kind of family after all.