Chapter 10 – Fall into darkness
Chun-Li, Mai, Andy and Ryu were locked in their fighting stance awaiting the next move of the 50 Shadaloo guards in front of Vega and Juri.
Vega pointed his claw at them and shouted, "DESTROY THEM!"
"RAAAAHHHHH!"
The Shadaloo soldiers charged screaming with their weapons held high.
Ryu and Chun-Li gathered their chi while Mai and Andy enveloped their fists in flames. Simultaneously the warriors unleashed their fireballs at the charging crowd.
"HADOKEN!" "KIKOKEN!" "RYUU ENBU!" "HI SHO KEN!"
BOOOM! BOOOM! FWOOM! BOOOM
The four explosions unleashed a wall of flame and light which sent a dozen soldiers flying in all directions.
Before the smoke settled the Hoshis and Bogards charged through it and attacked the Shadaloo goons.
The first punches and kicks sent several of them on the ground.
However, now they were surrounded and about to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of soldiers.
Ryu shouted to his fellow warriors:
"Let's make us some space!"
Chun-Li reached with her hands to the floor, performed a perfect split with her legs and was spinning in one direction.
"SPINNING BIRD KICK!"
Weapons broke, and bones shattered where her chi-empowered legs made contact.
"TATSUMAKI SENPU KYAKU!"
Ryu jumped in the air, extended one leg and propelled himself in the opposite direction of Chun-Li.
"HOUOU NO MAI!" "CHOU REPPA DAN!"
May and Andy imbued their feet with fire and attacked the soldiers with flaming cartwheels.
Mai gracefully evaded several swipes from katanas and maces.
She then used the tassel on her dress to hit several attackers in the face immediately followed by a roundhouse kick.
Then she produced a fan out of her dress, ignited it with fire and hurled it at another attacker.
The resulting explosion stunned the soldier and he received several punches from Mai and plummeted to the ground.
Andy engulfed his fists in flames and blocked each attack sent at him by the Shadaloo goons, instantly followed by a counter attack with either a punch or kick.
His blows were so severe that it took only one blow to knock out each one of the attackers.
Chun-Li utilized her legs to great effect. The Shadaloo goons had no chance of hitting her as she evaded each attack while performing low and high kicks with intense speed and ferocity.
Each soldier was sent flying several feet by her blows.
She focused and then charged an entire group with her Lightning kick.
Her kicks hit with such speed that the five opponents fell almost at the same time.
Another group of soldiers charged at Chun-Li.
She channeled her chi into her legs, jumped high up in the air and spun her body around.
The attacking soldiers stopped dead in their tracks and watched in awe at this graceful performance.
"Tensei-Ranka!"
Chun-LI hit the ground with her chi-powered legs and unleashed a shockwave which sent the attackers flying back into the walls.
Ryu evaded the blunt attacks of the soldiers with little effort.
He knocked out the first attacker with a collarbone breaker followed by a roundhouse kick which sent a second opponent on the floor.
Ryu noticed another soldier trying to hit him with a mace, but he just stopped the descending weapon with one grab and sent the attacker flying back with a solar plexus strike.
While throwing the mace away, Ryu kicked another soldier into the group behind him.
"Denjin Hadouken!"
The charged ball hit the group and they all screamed in pain as they were electrocuted.
Vega and Juri watched the battle with unhappy faces.
30 soldiers were knocked out with no damage to the four warriors.
"Hrrrr….I can't wait any longer!"
Juri growled while Vega readied his claw and mask.
"Very well, let us end this fight! You take Ryu! Chun-Li is mine!"
Vega jumped forward and rolled towards Chun-Li.
Juri got in her fighting stance and her Feng Shui Engine sparked as she gathered her chi and enveloped her legs in dark purple flames.
She then rushed towards Ryu and surprised him with a heavy side kick.
Chun-Li noticed Vega rolling towards her. Instinctively she grabbed the soldier she just fought and threw him at the Spaniard.
With no regard for human life Vega thrust his claw into the incoming soldier and flung him aside.
He then jumped and performed a flying Barcelona attack which Chun-Li only just evaded yet two of her ribbon bands got cut off.
Mai and Andy repositioned to take care of the Shadaloo goons, so Chun-Li and Ryu could focus entirely on their new opponents.
Ryu got back up on his feet and held his side in pain where Juri just hit him.
"Oh, did that hurt?" Juri taunted with a sadistic grin on her face.
Anger swelled up in Ryu and he charged the Korean spider in absolute rage.
Juri's Feng Shui Engine sparked again as she gathered more chi in eager anticipation of his attack.
Ryu performed a jumping kick which Juri simply evaded.
Enraged he tried to hit her with a rapid barrage of punches.
Juri laughed manically as she evaded every blow with incredible speed.
Then, as Ryu attacked with a high kick, Juri ducked, gathered her chi and performed a pinwheel kick straight in Ryu's face which sent him flying on his back.
As he was getting back on his feet he thought:
'Aaahn…how can she be so fast?'
"Where is that wandering warrior I heard so much about? It can't be this pathetic monkey!"
Juri's taunt made Ryu angrier and he gathered his chi in between his palms.
"SHINKUUU…HADOKEN!"
A giant ball of energy raced towards Juri who seemed to welcome the destructive projectile with an evil smile. Her eye sparked purple as she gathered her own chi.
"FUHARENJIN!"
Juri sent out flames of purple chi with her legs at the approaching Hadoken.
KRAKOOOMM!
Ryu was awestruck as he witnessed his attack getting cancelled out.
Juri charged through the explosion and stopped right in front of the shocked Ryu.
"This is the end for you!"
She grinned and with her purple flaming legs she kicked Ryu in his stomach and sent him flying upwards.
She followed him and kicked him again and again sending him higher up.
"KAISEN DANKAIRAKU!"
Juri assisted Ryu's descent with an axe kick.
Ryu screamed in pain and crashed into the concrete floor.
Before he could get back up Juri landed on his back, inflicting more pain.
She grabbed Ryu by his hair and said sadistically:
"That felt good, didn't it?"
Suddenly Juri received a flaming kick in her face which sent her off Ryu.
It was Mai who already took care of all the Shadaloo goons on her side and couldn't just watch Ryu getting killed.
Juri landed hard on her back and laughed, seemingly enjoying the pain.
Mai reached her hand out to Ryu.
"Come on, Ryu. Get up! You can beat her, I know it! For Chun-Li!"
Ryu smiled at her encouragement and thankfully accepted her helping hand.
"For Chun-Li!"
He started to remember the atrocities Juri inflicted upon his wife.
Strength built up inside him and helped him past the pain.
Ryu tore off the shredded top of his gi and adjusted his belt.
Mai smiled at Ryu's new confidence and then rushed towards Andy to help him against the remaining soldiers.
At the same time as Ryu and Juri's fight, Chun-Li was beating hell out of Vega.
The Spanish matador tried again and again to slash the Chinese fighter with his claw.
But Chun-Li was too fast and evaded each attack gracefully and countered with palm and finger thrusts which inflicted great pain on Vega.
He tried to hit her in her chest.
Chun-Li ducked and sent Vega on his back with a powerful low kick.
She got in her stance and watched Vega rise back on his feet laughing.
"Hehehe….ah senorita. My claw cannot wait to finally taste your blood!"
Chun-Li was unimpressed.
"Empty threats, looser. You threatened my children's lives, you bastard. Now you will pay!"
Chun-Li gathered her chi and charged forward at the stumbling Vega.
She delivered a barrage of lighting kicks followed by a high kick right in Vega's jaw which sent him flying upwards.
Chun-Li jumped after him and turned herself upside down.
She split her legs and performed a chi enhanced spinning bird kick.
Her powerful legs connected multiple times with Vega in mid air and shattered his mask.
"HOSENKA!"
Chun-Li swirled around and smashed her leg down on Vega who crashed into the floor.
Vega got on his fours and checked his face.
His mask was in pieces and he was bleeding out of multiple cuts.
"My….my face!"
Vega realized that he didn't stand a chance against Chun-Li, but noticed that Mai was not far away with her back to him, fighting the Shadaloo soldiers.
He growled at Chun-Li who was ready for his next attack:
"At least I will get your friend!"
Vega sped off into Mai's direction with his claw aimed at her heart.
Chun-Li was shocked that he would kill her friend out of spite.
"NO! MAI!"
Mai turned around upon hearing Chun-Li's warning and was stunned at the image of Vega speeding at her with his claw up front. Completely stunned, she crossed her arms in front of her and closed her eyes.
Chun-Li could only think of one technique to safe Mai from certain death.
She got on one leg and focused all her chi into her right index and middle finger above her head.
Then she rushed forward at incredible speed with her fingers aimed at Vega.
"ZAN'EI!" ….. KAWHOOOOOOMM!
A flash of light blinded everybody in the room.
Mai opened her eyes and spotted Vega just standing in front of her without motion.
Suddenly blood spurt out of his nose, eyes and ears and he spat a large amount of blood out of his mouth.
"IMPOSSIBLE…..HRGRRRLL!"
Vega fell to the floor, dead.
At the sound of the thunder and the blinding flash Ryu and Juri both turned around to see what happened.
Ryu was shocked to see Chun-Li in the final pose of the most forbidden technique of the Mantis style taught to her by Gen.
Mai and Andy looked at her completely shocked, while Juri just smiled at the scene.
Chun-Li's body started to shake, and her eyes filled up with tears as she realized that she tapped into the killing intent.
She fell to her knees and held her hands before her head.
"NYAAAAHHHHH…..RYUUUU!"
Ryu wanted to approach his wife to comfort her when suddenly the room's lights dimmed.
A vortex started to form around Chun-Li.
Mai, Andy, Ryu and Juri had trouble to fight against the sucking force.
"AAAAAHHHH!"
Chun-Li screamed out loud and held her forehead in pain.
Black lightning struck from within the vortex, tearing holes into the surrounding concrete and hid Chun-Li in a cloud of black dust.
FWOOOOOSHH!...FWOOOOMMMMM!
Chun-Li seemed to suck up the vortex of blackness and a second later expelled it outwards with explosive force.
The other fighters got thrown off their feet and landed on their backs.
When Ryu got back on his feet, he desperately tried to locate his wife.
As the dust settled, he spotted her standing in the middle of the room, but something was different.
Chun-Li stood there completely still with her fists clenched.
Her white boots turned black and the blue on her quipao seemed to be black as well.
The white waist belt she wore was now red as blood as were her ribbons.
Her eyes were crimson, and her face showed an angry expression with an aura of dark red flames and black lightning surrounding her.
Ryu could not believe what he witnessed.
He felt the dark power emanating from her and it pained his heart.
It felt as if all hope perished and he could only whisper:
"Oh my god! Chun-Li!"
What an incredible fight! 4 against 50! And the Shadaloo goons didn't stand a chance! And Chun-Li has a dark side!?
As we know Ryu has a dark side which he constantly has to fight from emerge...but what about Chun-Li? She has chi attacks like Ryu and was trained by an assassin in a very lethal martial art! In the UDON comics she witnessed as a young girl how Gen protected her from a mercenary with the Zanei and he was adamant to not teach her since it would send her to dark places. Now in a desperate attempt on saving her friend from Vega's fatal blow she tapped into that killing intent and it cost her dearly!
Read on in the next Chapters how Chun-Li's friends try to get her back into the light and the assault on the island by the US Armed Forces.
EDIT 2018: i've rewritten the chapter for easier reading.