Author's Response to Reviews:
Immortal: With Guy, since both him and Ryu are such great fighters, I doubt Ryu would have to hold back, but we'll see in time!
Edgar: Whether or not Ryu gives into the Dark Hadou, you can find the answer to that if you play the SF games! My story is intended to tie into the original storyline.
XZanayu: Here's the next chapter, as fast as I could!
Vammy: I'm glad your impression of Kenny was what I intended to portray. In fanfics, since most of the readers already understand the character, there's little need to fully describe them. But with original characters, it's a little more difficult.
Jami: Will he end up killing Guy? I'd say it'll take more than that to kill a Bushin ninja!
Kikoken: Thanks for your compliments! They're really useful in driving me to write more.
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Sakura looked towards the ring with worried, tearful eyes. She hadn't been clear on what was going on with Ryu. She didn't know why he tried to kill her the night before but apologized for his actions earlier this morning. But since then, he was acting like the champion she made him out to be, complete with modesty and humbleness.
However, at that moment, Ryu was beginning to show signs of … evil. Sakura couldn't think of a better word, but the way she idolized this champion, she could almost sense the kind of person he was. At the display he was putting on in the ring was completely different, even from the previous fights she'd seen him in before.
She felt a warm hand place itself on her shoulder. "Don't look, Sakura," Ken said.
"I … I've sensed this evil energy before," she said, ignoring Ken's instructions. "I sensed it last night, when Ryu tried to…"
"And it's happening again," Ken replied grimly. "I don't know if Ryu will be able to control the Satsui no Hadou this time. It's getting stronger and stronger inside him. And it gets more powerful each time it threatens to take over."
"No…" Sakura pressed her face onto the protective glass that separated the active participants from the others. She also recognized the mysterious Bushin ninja that Ryu was fighting. He was the man that helped her and Kenny get Ryu to the hospital last night! She never knew his name, but he'd been such a nice guy to help out. Now he was going to get killed by the man he helped. Sakura couldn't bear the thought. She clasped her hands together and prayed hard for the ninja to get out of the ring.
She looked to Ken who looked equally tense. His jaw was clasped shut, while his eyes remained fixed on whatever was going on in the ring. It was as if he believed the more he concentrated, the more helpful he could be. But they both knew they were capable of doing shit when it came to helping the ninja out.
Sakura felt her heart literally sink with dread when instead of moving away, the man knelt in front of Ryu and put a supporting hand on his shoulder. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but judging by his actions, he was probably asking Ryu if he was alright.
"Oh god, how stupid can you be?!" Sakura asked herself rhetorically. But she knew that the man was probably clueless as to what was possessing Ryu.
Suddenly, she felt her blood run cold. Time seemed to slow momentarily to almost a halt. Sakura remembered Ken lunging for her, yelling for her to get down. Then from the corner of her eye, rays of a blinding light shone through the glass barrier, making it impossible to see, covering the world in a layer of light. Sakura felt Ken's hand on top of her head, using his strength and his weight to push her down underneath his body. At that exact moment, the glass barrier cracked in a spider web like fashion and shattered into deadly bits of razor sharp fragments.
Everything went dead silent, but she could feel the force of the explosion, threatening to push her towards the back wall. Sakura wrapped an arm around Ken's shoulders, and the other around his waist. Ken continued to keep pressure on her head and neck while ducking and covering his own head from the flying glass fragments. The two of them held protectively onto each other, hoping their combined weight would keep them anchored while their clothes and glass whipped around them. Sakura winced as the glass cut into her bare legs, but there was nothing she could do but bite her lip and pray. She caught a glimpse of Ken's face with a trail of blood running down one side.
* * *
Kenny closed his eyes after he saw a blinding flash emanate from Ryu's body. A cold hand clasped his heart as he realized that Ryu was going to perform the move he tried to do on Kenny himself the night before on Guy. An invisible force seemed to pick Kenny up and throw him backwards. He felt a soft hand grip his ankle tightly. He looked to try to see what was going on, but managed to make out a mere silhouette of Maki holding onto him as a huge explosion took place in the middle of the ring.
Kenny felt his body drop, falling into Maki's arms. "Kenny!" she cried desperately. "Are you okay?" He nodded in response. Another explosion and she hugged him tighter. "Keep your head down. Don't open your eyes!"
But he couldn't do that. Everything had happened in a time frame of three seconds at the most. Kenny wanted to know what was going on. He opened one eye, trying to make out what was going on. Cody stood hunched over the two of them, protecting them from airborne debris with his massive form. His face was twisted into a mask of agony as he struggled to hold on for Maki and Kenny's sake. His lips curled back, revealing a row of white teeth. The tendons and muscles in his neck, arms and chest tensed up, but were beginning to shake from the stress. His blond hair blew all over the place, brushing against his red, tired face.
"Cody! What the hell are you doing?!" Maki cried. Her voice was shrill and terrified. "You're getting hurt! Oh god, Cody, please stop!" Tears started squeezing their way out of the corners of her eyes.
But he refused to listen to her pleas. He half grunted and half breathed, trying to make himself last long enough for Maki and Kenny to make it out safely.
"Aah!!" The three of them screamed out of surprise in unison. The cemented floor began to cave in, dropping about six inches. Cracks started to snake their way across the entire surface. Panicked civilians began screaming, some climbing the bleachers to make it safely to the exit. But the balconies above, each one holding well over five hundred people each, began to crack and give way. Each one began coughing out clouds of dust, as the metal supports began to groan under the tremendous weight of the collapsing structure. It had hardly been a few seconds when the balconies collapsed, spilling rivers of falling people over the edges, crushing those trying to escape the stadium.
People were getting crazy with fear now, pushing through each other, stampeding to find a way out of the collapsing building. A hysterical woman crashed into Cody, knocking sideways. Another man came from the other side, knocking him in the opposite direction. He struggled to maintain his balance but the last straw came when a man body checked him to shove him out of the way, nearly tripping over Maki and Kenny. Cody grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and slammed a powerful fist across his face, knocking the man out cold.
A cloud of dust began enveloping the entire stadium while at the centre of the ring, a huge fire had started. It was impossible to see what was going on in there, let alone know if Guy or Ryu were okay.
"Is it gonna be over soon?!" Kenny cried over the volume of the noise.
"I don't now," Maki replied, rubbing the back of the boys head lightly. "Cody's not gonna let anything happen to us." After she finished her sentence, the ground started to tremble. The cracks got wider, revealing a faint, glowing red light of molten lava beneath the surface. The trembling became a violent shaking and Cody was thrown off balance, almost falling onto Maki and Kenny.
The shaking stopped suddenly without warning. A moment of silence fell upon the stadium as everyone tried to take in what was going on. Other than the occasional cough or the sound of a child crying, the people waited silently for whatever was to happen next.
A deafening groan of bending metal beams sounded. Chunks of the roof came falling down five stories and gradually, the whole thing started to come down upon the helpless crowd, and the screaming started up again.