Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Street Fighter or Mario.
Here is the fourth chapter of Akuma's quest. The main dish is Mario himself. Enjoy reading.
Akuma lands in a foreign land again. This time in a happy land; the people look weak and harmless. They still look weird to Akuma who watches that strange kingdom from a rooftop. They all have mushroom shaped heads. But those inhabitants soon start to flee at the sight of an incoming army. A bunch of Koopa and Goomba was closing in to invade the village. Bothered by them, Akuma makes short work of them with a Misogi.
(There is nothing in this world but a bunch of weaklings! Nothing worth a fight.)
But Akuma soon retracts that thought. He senses more powerful presences to the east. Three of them. But they come from the Koopa kingdom. Having no reason to stay still, he jumps almost up to the atmosphere, heading towards the east…
On their side, having overcome various obstacles in the evil castle, the Mario brothers finally got to the one causing mayhem again on the mushroom kingdom: King Bowser.
"So you two pesky plumbers came to stop my plans again," Bowser says in annoyance sitting on his throne. "Then in that case, maybe I shall reward you for making it this far, let our perpetual struggle begin!"
Bowser gets up and prepares to charge at the two. But…
"Huh?"
This is all Bowser can say before being splattered by a fist dropping out of the sky from a red haired warrior as the ceiling of the throne room crumbles. His body, shell and innards disperse in the most gruesome way. Mario and Luigi can only watch in awe as their arch-enemy meets his doom. Akuma turns in their direction and stares intensively. The two brothers don't dare to move.
Having made his choice, Akuma instantly disappears. The next moment he is visible again, he is just in front of Luigi. He kicks him so hard it sends him flying. Akuma follows up with the Demon Armageddon. Mario barely has time to react to the events; he can only watch helplessly as his brother is literally shot through the atmosphere.
"I am Akuma! I am the Master of The Fist!" Akuma introduces himself. "Your name."
"Mario!" He replies in reflex.
Akuma lunges at him immediately after. He punches him and Mario is pushed back. Mario recovers and consumes a mushroom. He then grows in size and strength. He attempts two punches and one kick but Akuma blocks them all. Mario then jumps on his head but it only angers the Satsui practitioner. He grabs Mario by the collar before tossing him in the air and beats him further with a Tatsumaki. Mario stands back up and consumes a red flower. He immediately starts firing fireballs at Akuma.
"Hmph! How absurd!" Akuma evaluates the attack with scorn.
He starts countering with his own fireballs. They counter each other to a standstill, until Akuma fires a charged Gohadoken that overpowers Mario's fireballs. Mario is hit and reverts back to normal. He switches tactics and uses the Hammer form. But even a rain of hammers is not enough to faze the Master of The Fist. He punches rapidly in front of him and all the hammers are deflected. He closes in and delivers a Goshoryuken. Mario once again reverts back to normal. He then uses a Tanuki suit and turns to stone. Akuma loses his temper.
"Take this fight seriously if you value your life!" Akuma shouts as he furiously breaks the stone with a Misogi.
Mario, again back to normal, decides to take it to the next level. He absorbs the power of a feather and a cape sprouts. He then charges at Akuma. Akuma punches and kicks but the spinning cape attack offers good offense and defense, allowing Akuma no opening. The cape then strikes the red-haired warrior. Akuma falls to the ground. Mario takes advantage of this to give himself some space. He jumps and takes to the skies through the bust open ceiling. He then dives and hits Akuma steadily. This aerial hit and run wears down Akuma. Having had enough, he jumps high with a Goshoryuken which connects. He follows up with a Demon Armageddon. But he prevents Mario from flying away by holding him down. He brings him down with a Misogi. Akuma shakes his head as he sees the red plumber get up with hellish difficulty.
(Is that all? Pitiful!)
It is at that moment that Mario used his trump card. He gets out a star out of his pocket and absorbs it. He starts laying a beating on Akuma and each time he tries to fight back, he hurts his own fists. Mario of course is unscathed. Mario then administers an uppercut that makes the Master of The Fist bleed at the mouth. Akuma falls on the ground. Mario runs towards the fighter for a final attack. Akuma tries to regain some composure and gets back on his signature stance. He starts charging his Satsui no Hado. An invulnerable Mario gets closer…
But then the power of the star wears off just as he was about to reach him.
"Oh! Mama mia!" He can only say.
"… Prepare to meet your maker!" Akuma answers.
What follows is a brutal Shun Goku Satsu that terminates the red plumber. The heaven sign illuminates the broad back of the warrior after the deed.
"The power of my fist holds no weaknesses! Grovel in your despair!"
The vortex opens again, but before Akuma gets in, he decides to blow up the castle sky-high. His earth splitting punch crumbles the entire castle until nothing is left but rubble.
(This realm is a joke!)
Princess Peach, before the events, had been kidnapped by Bowser and the Mario brothers had gone in that castle to rescue her. Held in a nearby room, she miraculously survived the collapse. As she looks around to see what happened, all she sees is the devastation caused by that mysterious warrior, Bowser's remains and… Mario's corpse. What occurred after all these events will remain unknown.
As for Akuma, he was nowhere to be seen…
Hope you enjoyed. The search continues. Next chapter, next week.