What is power?

I heard someone ask that once. How do you get it? How do you keep it? Can you hold onto it at all? I have no answers, no certainties, but what I do know is that I don't know. I can only make guesses and assumptions, and that's all. One of my guesses is that power is not influence or control, but change. It's the possibility and the potential to change one's environment and not control it.

My theory is that if one is an agent of change, then they have power. Those that try to control things or force action are not powerful, but only seeking a false image of it. But once again, I don't really know. I'm only speculating.

The reason I thought of this theory was from traveling the world and meeting these people that seemed to so effortlessly change a person's mood, life, and way of thinking. But if that change is harmful, does not do anything to better someone? Then it is a negative change and must be righted, if at all possible.

-Excerpt from the diary of Karin Kanzuki

Kanto the Slayer presents

A Street Fighter Fanfiction

Beyond Alpha

A total of seven days had passed since their arrival in India, and six days since they had come to Kerala. The training continued, uninterrupted by any outside factors. Sometimes, improvement was gradual and slow, other times it came in leaps and bounds. But today, on this sixth day on the white sand beaches of Kerala, they weren't even at the beach.

Sakura and Karin were in the hotel room, opting to do their training there. They sat with their legs folded on one of the king-sized beds in the room. Eyes relaxed, almost sleepy. Their bodies hung at the edge of wakefulness. Minds cleared of thought, intention, or any kind of plans. Breathing was slow, deep, and almost physically imperceptible.

They both slipped into as close to a comatose state as one could get without being forced there.

Ryu sat before them, the back of his chair facing the two students. He'd already told Dhalsim that they were trying something new and to let him guide them through it. Well. He certainly hoped he could.

He waited for some kind of realization or change, felt for any kind of sensation that let him know they were improving. "Stay relaxed. You're doing fine. Don't force things to happen, just let it take its course. Let your mind do what it does without getting caught up in it." He saw Karin blink. Yeah. It was hard stuff.

She growled in frustration. "This is not working."

Ryu shook his head. "You don't know that. Just keep at it, trust that it'll come in time." They had to do that or else it was pointless.

Karin sighed. "I've been doing that, and nothing's been going on." She looked over toward Sakura. "I can't believe she's still doing this. I'm sure she knows that nothing's happening yet, right?"

Ryu shrugged. "Maybe she's doing it just to do it."

Karin rolled her eyes. "She's being silly, then." She shook her head, looked back over at him. "Are you positive this is how your master taught you? It seems a tad excessive. I'd rather have my eyes closed; far less distractions that way."

Ryu nodded. That was the point. "You said it yourself; if it's possible one way, it's possible in any way. Now, keep going."

She shrugged, let her eyes lose focus and her face settle into a blank expression again. Ryu checked her breathing. Good. He couldn't see her moving. He looked over at Sakura. She was still at it. It'd been an hour now. Had she even heard them talking? Probably not.

He leaned forward in the chair, set his forearms on the back of the seat. Gouki hadn't shown up. As expected. He'd keep his distance from Dhalsim for as long as he could; he didn't bother with people who didn't want to fight. Sooner or later though, he'd have to face him, just to keep him off of Sakura and Karin. Ryu wondered how Chun-Li was doing on that distraction. She had to have recovered by now.

He felt the air shifting, eyes snapped toward Karin. Was she doing it? She was still motionless, relaxed. But he could feel the air around her vibrating, slowly stretching itself out. He nodded. There it goes. He didn't say anything, only observed. He felt another shift and looked to his left. Sakura was starting to get there as well. Good.

He finally spoke, his tone even, soothing. "Let go of your conscious mind altogether and trust in your subconscious to do the work. Pretend that you're blind; your eyes are open but you still can't see."

Thirty seconds passed. The air around the two students pushed further outward. Ryu nodded. "Good. Keep going." They were getting the hang of it. Soon they wouldn't have to close their eyes at all. Still a better method, though. Five more seconds went by, the air pressed outward further as they expanded their fields of perception. Ryu smiled. "Okay, break time."

They sighed. Sakura lifted her right hand to her forehead. "Wow, this really is a workout. I'm sweating up a storm here. Didn't know just doing this was so hard to do."

Karin looked toward Sakura and nodded. "It certainly is difficult at first." She turned her head toward him. "I sure hope you don't have to be sitting down to do this. It'd be a waste if that were true."

Ryu shook his head, chuckled. She was good at getting to the point, finding a practical use for things. "Sooner or later you'll be able to sense ki from any distance without having to go into any sort of meditation. All you're doing is entering the other part of your mind and letting it run things."

The blonde smiled. "Well that's good to know. Now that we've been doing it for a few days, it seems easy."

Ryu smirked. "Well, try saying that when you're in a fight. You'll be too busy to notice what you're doing. That's why you have to train every skill you are taught, constantly. When the time comes to use them, you won't have time to think about doing anything. Actions have to happen so fast that thoughts don't have room."

Karin tilted her head down, closed her eyes as if she were thinking on what he'd said. "So how does one use this in a fight without things slowing down? What if you have to use it immediately, without hesitation?"

Ryu nodded. "Not too many people ask that question. Good. The way you use it is to not have to turn it on at all. This is the kind of thing you use at any time, in any situation. It'll help you avoid unnecessary battles and let you know when you have to fight." He smiled. "It'll also let you know how a person is feeling at any given time, if you can get that far. Some people can see the color of an aura and can tell what's going on from that."

Sakura looked toward him, tilted her head to the right. "Can you do that?"

Ryu shook his head. "No, I can't. I'm still learning things too, you know." Then again, he was always learning. In fact, he was learning right now, about them. Karin was more intellectual, reasoning things out. Sakura didn't rely so much on logic as she did her spirit. They balanced each other out. How interesting. Did they even notice this?

Sakura shrugged. "Guess you're right. It's no fun if you know everything, right?" She yawned. "So anyways, we should probably practice using this stuff in a spar or something, just to get the hang of it. I figure if we're gonna be using it, might as well use it for what it's intended."

Ryu raised an eyebrow. Whoa. She was jumping the gun a bit. "That's not too good of an idea right now. You're still new at it. Yeah, it can be used to predict an opponent's moves and find out which ones are fakes, but if you use it without proper training it could end up badly."

Sakura peered towards him. "How bad could it get?"

Ryu shook his head. "If someone finds out you're trying to read their moves, they'll try and find a way around whatever you're doing. You have to make it so that you can use these senses all the time, not just in a fight."

Sakura scratched the back of her head. "Okay, I got you. I'll practice on it."

Ryu nodded. "Good. Okay, break's over. Get back to it."

The rest of the morning wound on without Dhalsim ever coming to check on them. But Ryu did not mind in the least. He trusted that everything would work out. Tired of being inside, Sakura and Karin decided to train something other than their minds. He had to agree with that; they hadn't sparred in a while.

He stood between the two of them; each dressed in their practice uniforms and wearing their hand wraps for the first time in months. He hadn't really considered using the beach they were training with Dhalsim on to fight, but now that he'd thought of it, it was a good idea. Tough to keep one's footing on sand, so they'd have to work a bit harder to launch their strikes with power. They'd have to fight the cold water, the wind as well. Perfect.

"Keep it clean as usual. I'm looking for three knock downs. No head shots. No trips or throws." It's always good to change the conditions. Made one think about what they were doing. "Any move that you've learned is accepted, but no incapacitating strikes. I'd rather you both come out of this safe." Yeah. The way these two fought sometimes, he had to put that in.

"Okay, Ryu-sensei."

"I understand."

They didn't even look at him, just stared intently at each other. Ryu sighed and folded his arms. They were already fighting their fight. He took a few steps back, raised his right hand. "Take stances."

He watched Sakura as she took her position, frowned. Did she always have to use the same stance that he did? It was too predictable. Karin developed her own personal stance, and that sometimes confused people. Well. He'd have to help her make her own later. He looked between the two of them, watched them settle their weight. Okay. Time to go. His right hand dropped. "Begin!"

Karin wasted no time, immediately going on the offensive. That was another thing about her stance: it allowed her to move with rapidity. Ryu nodded. Better to strike first than to get hit first. She rammed her left foot toward Sakura's right leg in a front kick. Sakura sprung to her right and the kick whiffed. She countered with a fast right jab to the ribs and a thrust of her left palm. A surge of bright blue energy rammed into Karin's shoulder.

Karin slid backwards, carried by the force of Sakura's Hadouken. Her bare feet made ruts in the sand. Sakura gave no quarter, rushed in. She launched herself into the air, sailed in with a left roundhouse kick aimed at Karin's chest. The blonde blocked with both forearms, staggering backwards from the impact of Sakura's shin bone.

Ryu winced. Oh. That was why she used his stance. It was a good defensive position to counter from.

Sakura snaked in again, swung at Karin's left side with a short right hook. The blonde's ribs creaked, complained, made her hiss in pain. Sakura threw a left hook, right, left hand to the belly. The air left Karin's lungs entirely with a gasp and she doubled over, not entirely falling down but not in good shape, either. Sakura danced backwards, settling into a more offensive stance.

Karin looked up at Sakura, a smirk developing on her features. "That's as far as I'll let you go."

Sakura grinned. "That's just what I wanted to hear. Stand up and come on!"

Ryu smiled. Okay, good. They weren't out to kill each other, and Sakura gave Karin room to recover. This was turning out to be a good fight after all.

Karin recovered her stance, came in with a right straight to the torso. Sakura's arms moved… and she was knocked backwards as Karin's left hand dug into her solar plexus. She landed on her back, five feet away from the sudden palm strike.

"Stop," Ryu called out. "Point for Karin. Recover and take stances." Not bad. She'd improved since the last time they'd fought. Still, Karin had to be hurting because of that fierce assault that Sakura unleashed.

The brunette stood, dusted herself off. "Nice hit."

Karin nodded, but did not respond. She took her stance.

Sakura grinned. "You're right. This isn't the time for talking." She set herself, prepared to attack.

"All right, second set." Ryu stepped in between them, made sure they were in position. Good, they were. He moved out of their way. "Let's go!"

This time it was Sakura who advanced first. She closed the distance within the space of a breath, rammed her right fist toward Karin's chest. Ki twisted outward from the fist, turning the straight attack into a spiral one. "Sandanjuu!"

Karin's forearms caught the impact, but it wasn't enough. The attack broke through her guard, and the last two ticks slammed home. She staggered, kept her footing, only to have Sakura in her face again. "Shit!"

Sakura's right fist rammed toward her again and Karin moved to block, only for Sakura to throw a left roundhouse kick just above Karin's right knee. She growled in pain, eyes screwed shut and face locked in a grimace. Sakura drove her right heel into the blonde's stomach and pushed outward. Side thrust kick. Karin fell to the sand hard, a good four feet away.

"Okay, stop! Recover and take stances." This was really turning out to be some fight. Karin had just been matched, blow for blow. Ryu looked over at Sakura; saw her wide eyes and her huge grin. Wow. She was really into this.

Karin got up, shook the sand out of her hair. Her face was unreadable, a mask of indifference. But her aura was vibrating with an almost uncontrollable frequency. Ryu smirked. She was just as excited. No need to hide it, really. "Get ready… go!"

It wasn't even a full second after he had started the fight, and Sakura was off. He could feel the ki in her legs as she blurred toward Karin. Wow. She was really trying to end the round in one shot.

With a shrill cry, Sakura buried her left fist half an inch into Karin's body before she had the chance to get out of stance. Karin's eyes widened as she stumbled back, gasping for air. Sakura didn't let up, throwing three more straight punches at Karin's chest before she could raise an effective defense. Her rival staggered further back, winced in pain.

Sakura got in her face again, a wild grin plastered on her face. She ducked down for only a moment, channeled instantaneously… and let fly. "Shoryuken!"

Her right fist dug into Karin's belly, tore upwards. Three hits registered, one of them straight to the solar plexus. Karin went flying, ten feet upwards. She seemed weightless at the apex of her trip before she began falling back to the sand again. Gravity performed its cruel, unbiased task of bringing what was up, right back down.

Sakura landed, clenched her right fist as she looked up. "Yes!"

Ryu's eyebrows frowned. Damn. That looked like it really did a number on her. Was she all right? He moved to try and catch her when he felt her aura come alive. An eyebrow rose in curiosity. She was doing something.

Three feet before impact, Karin threw her legs backward, tucked her knees in to flip again, and landed on the balls of her feet. She looked up at Sakura, hazel eyes shining. "Enough!"

Ryu's eyes widened as the air around Karin drew inwards. Uh oh. She was channeling ki. Sakura could be in trouble. He looked over at Sakura and raised an eyebrow. She must have been able to sense what was going on.

Sakura's hands trembled, stared fixedly at Karin as she drew energy toward her. "Wow…" She grinned, fists tightened. "Awesome! That's more like it!" She got into stance, bent her knees, drew ki inwards. "Come on! Show me what you got!"

Ryu saw Karin's grin from the corner of his right eye. He smiled. She just couldn't hold it anymore, could she? How much did they need? What was going to happen when they were done? Ryu's fists tightened, his heart raced. He wanted to see it.

They stopped drawing energy and everything went silent. Time seemed to slow as the two of them stared each other down. Ryu raised an eyebrow. What was this?

Sakura giggled. "Hey, you look weird. There's this green light around you."

Karin smirked, pointed to Sakura. "Speak for yourself. Look at you, you're all blue. It doesn't look strange on you, though."

Ryu's eyes widened. No. It couldn't be. They could see each other's auras? How? Had they taken in so much energy that it couldn't be contained? He softened his gaze a moment, stilled his mind. Ten seconds, passed… twenty… he sighed, shook his head. He couldn't see them. But there were certainly some major waves coming off of them; he could feel it.

Sakura eased off of her stance, raised her right hand to her face. Her eyes widened, eyebrows raised. "Whoa… This is my aura, huh? Weird." She moved her hand through the air, watched transfixed as the light followed her every movement. Sakura grinned. "Cool."

"Don't ignore the situation, Kasugano." Karin set herself. "We're in a fight!"

Sakura got into stance again. "Right, back to business!"

Ryu nodded. Good. Keep her focused. It wasn't over yet. If he remembered right, they each had a knockdown in their favor. Still, something had just happened, even if he couldn't see it yet. There was no time to consider it now. He had to keep this from getting out of control.

"You ready?"

"Any time you are." Karin was still motionless, waiting for her adversary to make a move.

Sakura dug her feet into the sand, lowered her stance. "Then let's get moving!" The grit beneath her exploded outward as she rocketed forward, her body a blur of white and blue. A birdlike cry pierced the air as she closed the distance, her face full of excitement.

Karin was on her way as well, moved just as fast. She roared as she charged headlong, heedless of defense.

The two met halfway, Sakura wildly launched a right straight while Karin threw out her Hou Shou palm strike. Instead of hitting their targets, the two attacks collided against each other. A shockwave of force knocked the two women backwards before they charged in again. They beat on each other, fists flying as they tried to wear each other down the tiniest bit.

Ryu gritted his teeth. Hard to see what was going on very well any more. Sure looked like it hurt, though. No matter. They wouldn't die from all this. But they might break something, though. That'd be bad for their progress. His eyes widened as Sakura flew backwards from a sudden surge of attacks from Karin. Was that it? No. Sakura recovered before she hit the ground. Nice.

Karin launched herself forward again, tried to maintain pressure. She faked high with her right, moved in with two elbow strikes. Sakura staggered backward, jaw clinched. Her chest almost caved in from Karin's Guren Ken strikes… and then she shot upwards as her rival's legs kicked outward.

Karin knelt, prepared herself. "Kanzuki-ryuu…" Her aura grew in intensity, the green halo of light almost too bright to look at. She launched herself upward, the air around her exploding as she rocketed toward Sakura. "…Kou'ou Ken!" Her arms pin wheeled, palms tore into Sakura and sent her back down to earth hard.

Ryu grimaced as Sakura's body rammed into the unforgiving sand, bounced into the air after impact. Damn. Was she all right? He sighed in relief as Sakura threw her legs over her head before hitting the ground again. Good. But that had to hurt!

Sakura rushed underneath Karin as she fell from her leap, a grin almost splitting her face in half. "Here I go!" Her right leg cannoned upward as she channeled her ki through the limb, toward the foot. Her heel slammed into Karin's gut, sent her flying again.

It didn't stop there.

Sakura put the right leg down only to spring off of it and spin into Karin with her left leg like the rotor blade of a helicopter. The kick didn't knock her down just yet; instead, it rammed into her eight times in total. Sakura had enough energy built up to launch a final back kick with her right leg, still in mid-air. "Shinpuukyaku!"

Karin soared, the breath leaving her lungs with a dry exhale. She hit the sand three seconds later, the ground heaving upon impact. Sakura landed on the balls of her feet, bounced back and forth. "Come on, get up. You got one more left in you."

Ryu's eyes widened. Whoa. That was incredible. The exchange of energies filled the air, overtook his senses. He looked over at where Karin had landed. Her aura was weaker, much less vibrant. He looked over toward Sakura, nodded. So was hers. They'd spent most of their ki on those techniques they had just used. But Sakura was right; they had at least one more left before they were back to normal.

Ryu crossed his arms in front of him. They were gonna exhaust themselves on this last charge. Whoever scored the knockdown first would win. Normal techniques that used one's own personal energy didn't affect that which they'd drawn in. In fact, the more attacks one threw, the more energy they had ready.

It was anything that drew from those stored reserves that would take away from it; anything that required more ki than what was necessary. Once those reserves were gone, there was something like a hangover. One was exhausted and worn out until they could get their normal energy levels back.

But as long as they didn't draw from that which they'd drawn in…. Ryu shrugged. Well. Anything was possible then. Speed, power, stamina all increased. Pain was dulled. Senses were heightened. But using any kind of advanced technique or a big move would shorten the lifespan of that boost considerably.

He felt the air shift a bit, looked over to Karin. Good. She was still able to stand.

Karin pulled herself out of the hole she'd just made in the sand and shook the grit from her blond hair. She walked a few feet, got into stance within a few meters of Sakura. "Then this one will end it."

Sakura nodded. "It was fun, really! You've gotten a lot better…" Her fists tightened, stance lowered. "Let's give it all we got, okay?"

Karin just got ready for the attack that she knew was coming.

Sakura's body seemed to go rigid for a moment, and then she shot forward, covering the distance in a heartbeat. She fired off a left roundhouse kick at Karin's right thigh. Karin lifted her leg to check it… and then Sakura lowered that leg, planted it; fired off a Hadouken with her left hand. It hit Karin squarely in the gut, but she regained her footing. Sakura didn't care. She pressed the offensive, flew into Karin with reckless abandon, hit her with a short right hook to the ribs and hit in deep with a left knee to the solar plexus. Karin hissed in pain, staggered further back.

Sakura kicked the inside of Karin's right leg, made her stumble. She kicked the outside and almost made her collapse with the force of the attack. Again, again, over and over… and Karin showed signs of tiring out.

Ryu raised an eyebrow. She was trying to make her collapse instead of knocking her down, was she? But it wasn't that good of a tactic. Attrition never was. He felt Karin's aura flare up. This was it.

Karin's eyes opened, hazel fire shining from their depths. Her teeth clenched, legs shook dangerously, but she held her position. "Kanzuki-ryuu…"

"Not this time!" Sakura sprung away, hopped again; set her stance. She brought her hands together, bright blue streams of energy flying towards the space between her palms from everywhere; the sand, the air, even the remainder of her very aura was sucked in. "Rasen…!"

Ryu's eyes widened. Whoa. That was a hell of a lot of energy… what was she doing?

"You're too late. Shinpikaibyaku!" Karin charged forward and unleashed four rapid palm strikes. Sakura was finished by then… and got hit anyway. The pain set in instantly. The aura surrounding her was put into the attack, and so every hit she took during the fight came back to her like so much bad karma.

She was beyond caring. "…Hadouken!" Sakura shot backwards as the final palm strike was delivered, but had the silliest grin on her face.

The shockwave caught Karin completely by surprise. Pain shot through just about every nerve she had, including once she didn't think existed. The attack drilled into her, delivered one impact after another until it winked out. Eight hits total. She flew ten feet away, the green halo of light around her body faded as she landed on her upper back and shoulders. After a hard bounce, she face planted in the sand.

Sakura's stance broke with Karin's final move, leaving her not much better off. The Rasen Hadouken blasted her backwards as well and made her tumble head over heels on the hard-packed earth before finally settling down several feet away. Sakura laid still. Everything hurt. Nothing spared.

Ryu sprinted over to Karin, fell to one knee. "Karin, can you hear me?" He shook her right shoulder. Holy shit! What did Sakura do to her? He felt for a pulse, sighed in relief. Still alive. Such an immense amount of ki, but it still wasn't the kind that could kill. He shook her again. "Come on, on your feet."

Karin groaned. "Ryu…?" She pushed herself up with her hands, her body quivered with fatigue and aches. "What… what just happened? What was that?"

Ryu looked toward Sakura, shook his head. What indeed. "I don't know. But I can't call this match. Look there." He pointed toward where the brunette was lying.

Karin looked up, eyes widened. "Is she okay?"

Ryu nodded. "Yeah, she is. Thing is, this doesn't make it a win for either of you. The match is a draw."

Karin shook her head. "I've never felt that much energy in my life. It was like a tsunami…"

Ryu nodded. He didn't want to say anything to dampen her spirits. But she had a point. He'd never seen anything like that. He could feel the pressure coming off of her ki from where he stood. That one move was stronger than the Shinkuu Hadouken. Much stronger. He bowed his head slightly, eyebrows knotting. It could possibly take someone out in one single blow, but he wasn't sure of that.

He looked up again. "She did that on purpose. Let you hit her, drew you in. She didn't care if your attack did the trick or not, just fired from as close of a range as possible."

Karin nodded. "It's obvious in hindsight. I've used that attack too many times on her. She knew that the first few hits wouldn't knock her down, but the last would." She stood, fought the need to collapse on the sand again. "I've got a long way to go…"

Ryu held onto her, guided her towards the beach towels. "You need some rest. I'll get Sakura up."

That evening, on the beach, Ryu sat with his legs folded, palms turned upward. When had Sakura developed that move? He searched his memories, attempted to find what he was looking for. Was it way back in Japan while he was asleep? Why did she not show it to him then? He shook his head. No. That wasn't it. It had to be later, when they started moving from place to place. Where had they been to next?

Hong Kong. Yeah, that was it. So it had to have been there. He searched again. What exactly had she been doing? He wound forward, played everything in slow motion from the first day. Something came to him. Sakura had been doing something big with her ki on the roof of the hotel…

Wait and see, she'd said. Was this it? Ryu's head seemed to clear. Yes. It was. His eyes opened, brows creased in worry. She was advancing far too quickly. He didn't know what else to teach her that she couldn't learn on her own. Sakura already developed several unique moves on sheer instinct.

He couldn't let Gouki have her. The possibilities were catastrophic if he got to her. Ryu began formulating yet another plan. Hopefully, Chun-Li was rested enough now to keep him busy, but just in case, he would have to find another way around him. Sakura knew the basics, but she would always be learning. That was the path she'd chosen; she knew that. Of course, that meant that she could always, always learn from the worst people imaginable.

"Finding it difficult to sleep?"

He nodded. Dhalsim. He wasn't so surprised by his sudden appearances anymore. "Yes. I expect you know why."

The yoga master sat next to him, legs folded the same as his. His blank eyes stared out at the ocean, toward the setting sun. "You do understand that sooner or later, this power will corrupt them both. Why do you teach these things when you know the inherent dangers? Not even you are immune."

Ryu frowned slightly. He asked himself that same question constantly. "She started learning far before I started teaching her. She lacked proper guidance; I felt I had to do something before the wrong people came in contact with her." He looked toward Dhalsim. "I know that you're against violence, but it's a violent world. Some people are selfish, greedy, desperate, and easily angered. Sometimes the only way to reason with them is force. I'm against killing as much as you are, though."

Dhalsim closed his eyes, breathed. "This kind of force should only be used against someone who is truly evil; so violent and filled with negative spirit that they are a danger to all. But if one fights a monster, they are in danger of becoming that which they fight. I will help them as much as they can, because the being that pursues them is as such. But they must stay the course which they now tread, no matter what."

Ryu sighed, closed his eyes again. "The problem is that she's learning too quickly. It's like nothing's a secret to her. I'm going to have to leave her sooner or later."

Dhalsim nodded. "Do not become attached. Let things take their course."

Stillness reigned as the sun dipped below the horizon. Ryu began considering having Sakura and Karin travel on their own. But not yet. No, they had more work to do. The time was coming though, and sooner than he'd planned…

Round 36: Seeing the Spirit

It's been a long time in coming, but here it is. I don't really have much to say for this one except that I wanted to make this fight as exciting as possible. At the same time though, I wanted to display a few concerns that the other characters were having. I sure hope you guys forgive me for the long wait. Oh, and thanks to everyone who added this story to their favorites, or me to their Author Alerts because of the story. Much appreciated. Spread the word if you think it's good enough!

Whoa, there it is!