Vammy: Yeah, I think it would be nice to have the warriors treat each other like one big happy family. When they have things to deal with like Akuma and M. Bison, they'd better learn to work together! And no, Guy wasn't being stupid when helping Ryu. He's perfectly aware of what Ryu inherited, but he was a friend in need after all, right?

Jami: I'm honored that you want to use this fanfic! I give you full permission … with the appropriate credits of course ;)

Way of Water: Well what Street Fighter fic would be complete without a Chun Li/Ryu pairing? Granted this fic isn't going to introduce any romantic activity between the two, but there will be some interest sparking nonetheless. Actually, it wasn't the Shun Goku Satsu that caused all the destruction. It's explained in this chapter.

Kikoken: Whether or not Ryu gets over the Satsui no Hadou now becomes less important that the matters currently at hand! Read on and see!

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Ryu brought his hands to his face, glaring at them with shock. The rough, worked skin of his hands was coated in a thick layer of blood. He clenched his fists, but felt no pain. If there weren't any cuts on his hands, that meant the blood must've come from someone else.

                He looked around him, the uninhabitable surroundings suddenly hitting him like a thrown brick. The last thing Ryu remembered was fighting Guy, the Bushin master in the arena at the Osaka dome. But now, he was in some kind of disaster area that looked strangely like … His blood froze in realization.

                "Did I do this?" he whispered to himself, just barely so he could hear it. "Is this place … Osaka Dome?" He recognized the familiar walls surrounding him, or at least, what was left of them. The outer walls had collapsed in areas. From the ones that still stood, the balconies had collapsed in most areas. Worst of all, scattered all over the ground and hanging from strewn debris were human bodies; bodies of spectators, reporters, fellow tournament participants, people of all ages and races … dead.

                The familiarity of the unmoving form in front of Ryu caught his attention. It was Guy, his body crushed underneath a slab of cement. His short dark hair was lightened by a fine layer of dust. Dried blood was smeared on one side of his face.

                "Oh God," Ryu said as he bent down and gripped one end of the cement slab tightly. Using the his legs and back, he lifted with all his strength. He could feel the muscles in his body pulling and straining as he continued to breathe rhythmically, tearing the piece of debris off Guy. Ryu tipped the cement slab over onto its other side and knelt down beside the Bushin warrior, placing two fingers on his neck. Ryu adjusted the position of his fingers, hoping to feel some kind of a pulse, praying that there'd be one. If he had been responsible for killing all these people … Ryu didn't even want to consider that possibility. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he did.

                He felt something against his fingers. It was a pulse! Ryu collapsed backwards, landing on his rear in relief. But this was no time to relax. He'd found one survivor, but there were probably many more buried under the rubble. The sound of distant sirens relieved the Shotokan warrior. Help was on the way. But until they arrived, he had to tend to Guy's injuries or at least help him regain consciousness.

                "Do not fight the power," a deep voice growled. It was terrifyingly familiar and so deep, it could've come from in the throat of a demon. In fact …

                "Akuma!" Ryu exclaimed upon seeing the shadowy silhouette of the demon stalking around behind chunks of debris. "Show your face."

                "I tried to get you to embrace the Satsui no Hadou," Akuma said, ignoring Ryu's orders, "but you still fight it."

                "I fight because I don't want it!" Ryu retorted. "Why have you put that poison in me?"  

                "I've put power in you! Isn't that why you continue to fight; to become a better, more powerful warrior?"

                "Yes, but I fight to grow as a person, too. The Satsui no Hadou is powerful, but it isn't a part of me. Its dark nature isn't akin to my own. But yet, look what it's made me do." Ryu waved his arm around at the destruction everywhere. "This is what you've made me do, Akuma."

                Akuma scoffed. "Don't get so arrogant. I'm the one who boosted the Satsui no Hadou inside of you by joining our chi. Perhaps I used too much force, because the resulting explosion was psychic in nature, much more powerful than anything physical. That's why the entire Dome collapsed."

                "And it's killed all these people!! This is all your fault, Akuma!"

                "You will learn to appreciate what you've earned in time."

                "This isn't a reward. It's punishment…" Stinging tears of frustration welled up in Ryu's eyes. He didn't ask for the Satsui no Hadou. His main goal in life was to fight, to grow stronger as a person and as a fighter. But if that was what attracted Akuma to him, perhaps everything that happened so far really was his fault.

                "The more you fight the power, the more torture you put yourself through," Akuma said, as his form began disappearing just as quickly as he had come. "Just embrace it, and your pain will end."

                                                                                *              *              *

                It was so dark, hot and stuffy, Chun Li could hardly breathe. It was the struggle to breathe that woke her to consciousness. There was a pounding ache in her head. She brought her hand to her temple and gently massaged it, hoping to dull the pain. She saw spots for a few moments as her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. What the hell happened?

                The last thing Chun Li remembered was watching the fight intently. She'd just gotten out of the arena and was wiping the sweat off her face with a wet cloth in the women's bathroom. She remembered the scratches on her back by Sodom … and then the shaking started. Chun Li remembered darting into the hallway, out of the cracking glass and tiles in the bathroom and taking refuge against the walls.

                "It was an earthquake," Chun Li said to herself, coughing the choking dust particles out of her lungs. "This being Japan, you think the people would know how to make earthquake resistance buildings." She shook her head in disbelief and looked down the hall. At the end of the long, dark tunnel, where the arena used to be, there was light. The roof must've caved in on the place.

                "Help me, please! Can anyone hear me?" It was somebody's voice calling, high pitched, coming from a young female.

                Chun Li nearly collapsed with relief. There was someone else that made it out alive. She swallowed the lump in her throat and replied, "Where are you? I'm coming to get you!"

                "Over here!" the faint voice said. Chun Li rolled her eyes. Yeah, like that helped a lot. "I'm where the sidelines used to be, where the non-active participants sit to watch the match."

                Was this girl a participant of the Street Fighter tournament? Since when did they allow people that young to enter? Chun Li didn't know for sure if she was really that young, she just sounded that way. But as she approached the end of the hallway, she saw the figure of a girl stumble into view. She was wearing what looked like the remains of a … high school uniform, as far as she could tell from her limited knowledge of Japanese culture. The tattered remains of a sailor collar rippled gently around the girl's neck. Her knee length, pleated skirt was also ripped in areas. The only thing that remained constant was the layer of dust that coated her body from head to toe. Chun Li examined herself and smirked, after discovering that she wasn't much better looking at this point. Ah what the hell, they'd just escaped an earthquake for God's sake.

                "Are you alright?" Chun Li asked, running towards her.

                "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, dusting herself off. "But my friend needs some help and I don't know how to check if he's okay.

                "Alright, take me to him," Chun Li said.

                It was a short trip to where the girl's friend lay, but the view was horrifying. Dismembered bodies lay everywhere amidst the rubble. Chun Li's earlier predictions were right. The entire roof of the Dome had caved in and snapped in too many places to count. Some people were saved by the falling roof, caught in the protection of its arch when the walls started to come down. She scanned her Interpol trained eyes all over, taking note of the few survivors starting to make their way out of the rubble.

                But Chun Li's throat threatened to vomit out her heart when she saw the girl's "friend." There was no mistaking the blonde hair, bushy eyebrow man to be Ken, the man she'd met last year at the previous Alpha tournament. He was sitting up, with his back pressed against a part of a wall that remained standing. The girl must've put him in this position and attempt waking up.

                "He's not responding," the girl said. "I'm too afraid to touch him in case he's got any internal injuries."

                Chun Li shook her head. "I don't know what's wrong with him either," she said. "I'm not a doctor." She squatted beside Ken and put her fingers to his wrist, concentrating on finding a pulse. After a few panicked seconds, she felt a weak heartbeat through the artery in his wrist. "He's alive. Don't worry, … um …"

                "Sakura," the girl replied, pointing to herself.

                Chun Li nodded in acknowledgement. "Don't worry, Sakura. He's alive. None of his limbs feel dislocated." She ran her fingers gently along his joints and cupped his chin in her hands. "Ken," she whispered gently. "Wake up, Ken."

                A groan sounded somewhere from deep within Ken's chest. He moved his head slightly. In the background, Sakura clasped her hands in front of her face, praying that he'd be okay. "W…what happened?" he grunted.

                Chun Li smiled. "You're alright," she said, "and that's all that matters for now. Try not to move too much, help is on the way."

                "An earthquake happened," Sakura chimed in, "and you helped to protect me. Thanks a lot. And now, it's all my fault that you're hurt."

                "Hey," Ken said weakly, "I don't want to hear that. I'll do anything for a lady." He winked at her.

                Chun Li rolled her eyes, saying, "That's enough. Let's just wait for help to get here."

                                                                                *              *              *

                Kenny felt the cool air blow gently against his skin. He could feel the softness of his hair, brushing his forehead gently. His skin felt moist and dry, as if he'd just taken a shower. He opened his eyes slowly, his heavy eyelids resisting such movement.

                The first thing he saw was the foot of the bed, its metallic material gleaming under white, fluorescent lights. He looked at his arm, and noticed an IV jabbed into the vein of his forearm. He tried moving it, but his arm ached with every movement. And then he blinked. There was a sharp pain just above his eye. After the initial wave of pain, it became dull, like a bruise. It felt like someone had punched him in the eye.

                "Where am I?" he asked himself, not really expecting anyone to answer.

                There was a movement to his right, making the boy nearly jump out of his skin. "You're in the hospital," the voice said. It was gentle, soothing, and feminine sounding.

                "Auntie Maki!" Kenny exclaimed when he saw her. Her blonde hair was now undone from the usual ponytail, hanging around her shoulders in dry, wispy locks. There was dirt smudged on her face and a few scrapes and bruises on her arms. Her left arm was hanging in front of her from a bandage attached to her shoulder. "What happened to you? Are you alright?"

                She snickered. "I'd be more worried about you, kiddo," she said. "I've just got a broken arm, but you … you've broken one arm, a leg, fractured skull, one cracked rib … I could go on."

                Kenny continued to look at her in confusion. "Is that some kind of a disease?" he asked innocently.

                "Haha, no it's not a disease. But I bet if you try moving, you'll start to hurt." Kenny tried moving again, to test Maki's theory, but she instantly held out her good arm, her face contorted into a terrified expression. "Don't do it! I was just giving you an example, but it's better if you just rest."

                "Oh, okay."

                Maki sighed. "I'm gonna go get some food from the cafeteria. Do you want anything?"

                Kenny licked his lips. "I want some orange juice. I'm kinda thirsty."

                "Then you should get some water. All that sugar in the juice will…"

                "Please, Auntie Maki?"

                "Alright … but don't let the doctors know I gave you something to drink. They'll throw a cow at me if they ever find out. After all, I'm supposed to be in my own room."

                Maki headed out the door and disappeared into the hallway. Kenny sighed and looked out the window from the left. He could see the sun setting in the distance. Its last rays of light lit up the sky, giving it a deep orange color. Far off towards the east, the sky was blue, with a few faint stars glowing in the distance. It had been just before noon that the earthquake occurred. Now it was sometime in the evening. Actually, given the winter hours, it would probably be around four o'clock by now.

                Kenny wondered if the other warriors were okay. He let his mind wander, thinking about Ryu. Kenny had last seen him in the ring, just before the earthquake happened. He saw a really bright light engulf the Shotokan warrior, but had lost sight of him as the explosion occurred, and the shaking started. The Bushin ninja, the man that helped Kenny get Ryu to the hospital was fighting in the ring too. Likewise, there was no telling if he was okay either. Maki hadn't updated him on Cody's condition.

                His mind was starting to get overwhelmed by worry. He wanted to know what happened to everyone. Maybe it would be better if he actually went to look for himself! Kenny was quite pleased at himself for thinking of such a good idea, but he'd forgotten the physical condition he was in. Upon pushing his body up into a sitting position on the bed, he felt a pain in his lower ribs, as if someone had stuck a dagger in there. His right foot wouldn't co-operate either because his whole leg was strapped in an upwards position, hanging from the ceiling. A pounding headache started deep in his head too. Exhausted from the pain, Kenny lay back down, panting from the effort. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea after all.

                "You shouldn't move, child," a voice said. The first thought to enter Kenny's head was that Maki had returned from her trip to the cafeteria with some food. But then again, this voice was different than hers. It was deeper and definitely coming from a man. Finally, the person who was speaking to him appeared in the doorway, his huge form filling up the entire space. "After all, you're in no condition for any physical activity." He spoke with a voice that had a forced paternal tone to it. The man sounded gentle, but there was some kind of feeling Kenny got that this man was anything but. He seemed almost … almost evil.

                He started walking towards Kenny, suppressing a chuckle that leaked from his lips. The man was very tall with a very broad chest and shoulders. Powerful arms, thick with muscle hung at his sides, swaying back and forth as he slowly approached. He was dressed in a red suit, with gray metal armor on his shoulders, forearms and shins. A heavy looking black cape hung loosely from his shoulders, reaching down and spreading around his ankles. But his most noticeable feature was the hat that he wore. Its rim cast a shadow over the man's eyes, hiding whatever sinister expression he might have had. On the hat, in the center, was a golden pin of some kind. It was a skull with two wings, one on each side.

                Kenny pulled soft, white blanket up to his chest. The only protection it offered was psychological, but at least it was of some comfort. "W…who are you?" the boy asked, his voice receding into a weak whisper.

                "Hahaha," the man laughed out loud, the echoes of his voice bouncing against the walls. Kenny winced at the sudden rise in volume. "Don't be afraid of me, boy. You have something I need; something that I can use to …"

                "To what?"

                The man ignored the question, rewording what he wanted to say in a simpler statement. "You'll see." He reached out towards Kenny, despite his vocal protests.

                "No! Don't come any closer!" But the man didn't pay any attention. "Auntie Maki! Anybody! Help me! Get away! AAAAHHH!!!"

The man single handedly reached out to seize Kenny, his giant palm casting a dark shadow over the boy's terrified face.