Chan: Oh! Now I get it … you were glad to be rid of your boyfriend, haha never mind. I thought you meant that about Kenny, which was what kinda confused me.

Xardion: Yeah no kidding. I actually planned to end this a long time ago but there's so much progress still to be done before we can even get to the final battle. I was gonna say the next chapter would be the final battle, but I figure I'll just keep my mouth shut until I've finished write it. That way when I actually tell you all again, it's be true this time.

Edgar: No problem! I understand if you've been busy or you've just plain got sick of the story. Even I had to take a long break from writing it. But this time I'm quite set in my resolve to finish it. I've been writing fanfics straight for one and a half years now. And I've only completed two!! When I finish this one, it'll be my third. Hurrah!!

Jami: Yes, I've already got a half baked sequel in my head, but since I'm so busy with unnecessary aspects in my life like school, and because I'm working on completing this one, I haven't gotten started on it yet! Hero of Metro City is quite enjoyable. In fact, I'll head over to read it after posting this.

Tao Shui: Dude … as much as I should fear "Leet" … I don't. In fact, it irritates the hell outta me. Now about my treatment of Akuma, I've never really liked him, you know? Everyone's always going "Ooh, he's a demon, he's powerful with his Shun Goku Satsu, and God knows what else. I admit he was cool when he first came out but then Ryu gets the move, and then Sakura gets it … it's seriously becoming ridiculous and definitely not as cool anymore. But some strange loyalist fans (of whom I will refrain from mentioning here) have found some reason to remain an Akuma fan when I could probably kick their assess using Dark Sakura in a Street Fighter match.

The Numen: Of course! We all know Bison's ass will get kicked in the end. I just gotta figure out how first.

Vammy: Yeah you know I'm ready for Sakura to get some action too! I've been meaning for her to get her own fight scenes, but I've been so preoccupied with everyone else's story. Kinda strange too cause this story started out with Sakura being a focused character.

Kikoken: I've been trying to read "Heart of a Warrior" but after being away for so long, I got mixed up with what was going on. And since, it's been hard for me to follow, especially with all these original concepts you've added into the story. But I'll definitely find another fanfic of yours to read, that way I can start fresh again.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

                "Psycho Crusher!!" Bison propelled himself parallel towards the ground with blinding speed, straight towards the three street fighters in front of him. He grinned as he watched them scatter to get out of the way, before the flames surrounding his body powered by the psycho drive could incinerate them.

                Smoke was beginning to fill the miniature hangar, home to Bison's personal escape plane. It was getting thicker now as the flames ate their way through the Shadowlaw complex in a fiery rage. Bison mainly concentrated on the two blond haired Caucasian fighters. Despite the base's untimely demise, Shadowlaw was widespread all over the globe and Ryu was still a powerful asset for him to attain. Bison never understood how one man could escape the wrath of a global criminal organization.

                Just as the dictator recovered from his special move, the blondes closed in. The military man came at him with blinding speed, attacking him fast and low. He shot his leg out, performing two low kicks, one aimed at the ankles, the second at the knees. Just as Bison was recoiling from the impact, the man interrupted the two hit combination attack with swinging chi blades that seemed to extend from his arms as he yelled, "Sonic Hurricane!!" The force of the impact threw Bison back a few feet, but he was able to catch himself so he wouldn't collide with the ground.

Just as Bison was preparing a counter attack, the rugged looking one in a white T-shirt jumped onto his back and wrapped his legs around his waist. Using his arms, he pounded Bison's head mercilessly with his hard fists, hoping to knock the dictator out. Bison, using his anti-gravity boots, floated a few meters into the air and threw his assailant down, hearing him land painfully on the cold metal floor a few seconds later.

                                                                                *              *              *

Ken's heart was pumping fast, supplying his arms and legs with the oxygen they needed to get him to his destination faster. He ran as quickly as he could, feeling the head rush and short breaths of fatigue slowly taking him over. And the pain in his ribcage didn't help either. Sure, he was wrapped up in a cast, but the heavy breathing rapidly expanded and contracted his lungs, making them press painfully against his injured ribs. But there was alot to worry about at the moment - lives were at stake. Three lives to be exact, somewhere in this complicated Shadowlaw complex facing God knows what. He knew he didn't have time to worry about himself, the others needed help. But he was reminded of Ryu's comment earlier in the hospital . Would he be more of a liability than an asset in this condition? No matter what the truth was, he knew he couldn't just sit around and let his friends risk their lives while he remained safe and warm in the hospital.
                Ken turned his head briefly to look behind him, seeing Maki running just a few steps behind him. The Bushinryuu kunoichi had sustained injuries too, with a broken left arm. She cradled it with her right as she continued to run with him, looking quite injured and in pain, but the look of resolve in her face matched Ken's emotions exactly.
                "How're you holding up there, girl?" he asked between hurting breaths.
                "Not too bad," she replied. "I'm just more worried about you."
                "Don't be feeling to concerned," he said, cocking an egotistical smile, "You're talking to a Shotokan master! They don't call me Ken Masters for no-" Ken suddenly wrapped his arms around his torso and fell to the ground, wincing in further pain upon contact with the cold metal floor.
                "Ken!" Maki cried, running to his side.
                "Damn ..." he said weakly, paralyzed from his suffering. His arms were wrapped around his ribs. Maki noticed and she tried moving them.
                "Let me take a look at that," she said, trying to think of something helpful to do.
                "No," Ken said, "We ... we need to get to the others."
                "But," she began to protest, but then she understood. Yes, lives were at stake and Ken was definitely proving now to be liability, one that could cost him his life. "I should get help. The others can hold up for now. I think you need more help than they do." Ken began to argue, but he saw the logic in Maki's thinking. After all, they weren't the ones with injuries like his and if they did, they would've sustained them during a fight, which meant that whoever they were fighting were injured as well. At least they were making progress. "Stay here," Maki ordered. "I'm going to find someone who can help."
Despite his suffering, Ken still managed a smile. "I don't think I have much of a choice..."
                Maki briefly rubbed his shoulder and smiled back sympathetically. "I'll be back as soon as I can." She reluctantly rose to her feet and continued heading down the hallway, wincing as a shooting pain ran up and down her arm. She'd momentarily forgot about her own condition. Her warrior instincts allowed her to cut the pain off, focusing on the mission at hand. She continued down the darkened halls, unable to take her mind off the Street Fighter she'd left behind.
                Maki let her mind wander as she sped through the Shadowlaw complex, thinking about the others that needed help. Where were Ryu, Cody and Guile? Where they fighting off regular Shadowlaw soldier by now? No, that seemed unlikely. Guile's military forces should've taken care of them by now, allowing them to penetrate the base straight to wherever Bison's forces were. But did they know where Bison was? If they did, did they find him? Are they fighting him? And if so, were they hurt? And then there Chun Li and Sakura that she and Ken had left outside the complex, and not to mention Kenny ... if it weren't for her, that boy wouldn't be in this mess. Too many questions bombarded her mind. All she could do was pray that everyone was alright, although given the circumstances, she had a feeling it was too much to ask.
Maki stopped when she came to the end of the hallway. There were two huge metal doors about three meters high that were left slightly open. She peered through the gap, keeping her body behind one of the giant doors for protection. The room was a giant hangar, where Shadowlaw likely kept their aircraft, although none where in sight right now. Most likely, those in the base had escaped - either that or their bodies littered the ground.
                "Uhh ..." There was a sound of movement somewhere in the back. The adrenaline immediately began pumping through her body. Maki raised her guard and walked slowly into the room. It was dead quiet in the enormous hangar, so any movement would've produced a sound that echoed throughout the whole room. She swallowed the lump in her throat as her tongue caressed her dry mouth.
"Is somebody here?" she asked, sounding more like a lost little girl than she'd intended.
"H ... help me," a voice said, coming from somewhere in the back, perhaps behind the pile of crates in the corner.
                Maki began to panic. Whoever it was sounded injured, but it could've just been a tactic employed by a  Shadowlaw soldier to kill her. To prevent such a confrontation, she cleared her throat and began to exercise any acting techniques that she hoped lay dormant within her.
                "This is Maki Genryuusai from the American FBI," she fibbed. She noticed the authenticity in her voice and was quite impressed with her skills. She cuoldn't help but smile a little with pride. "Come out slowly."
                More sounds of movement, and she began to get more nervous. Maki wasn't armed with a gun or anything to defend herself in case the soldier had a weapon. She could see his form slowly appear. He was well muscled and obviously very proud of it, as he wore only a yellow vest on his upper body, leaving almost nothing to the imagination. His legs were covered in pants with the stereotypical military camoflauge design. The most interesting thing about this man was his blond hair, not because it was blond, but the way it was styled. It was mostly short, but his bangs were longer and came together in a single lock that hung down in front of his face.
                The he raised his arm towards her. Maki's instincts were right, this man had a gun was about to shoot her! She mentally slapped herself for being so stupid. But what was she to do? She wasn't trained in this kind of situation. She made a mental note to take this to the Bushin masters when she made it out of this ... if she made it out, that is. Again, Maki scolded herself for just standing there as this man raised his gun to shoot her. In fact, she was surprised that he hadn't killed her yet. She looked at him, realizing that he did have his arm raised towards her with something in his hands, but it sure as hell wasn't a gun. It was some kind of badge ...
                "Charlie Nash, from the United States air force," he said.

                                                                                *              *              *

Cody had landed hard on his back. He felt a sharp pain in his spine, at about the same time he heard an ear splitting crack. "Aww … fuck!!" he mouthed through gritted teeth. He couldn't even open his mouth he was in so much pain.

"Don't move!" Guile said, rushing over to his side. "You'll only injure yourself more if you do."

WHAM!!!! A powerful wave of energy pushed Guile over, threatening to send his body sailing through the air had he not caught his balance. A brilliant light came from behind him, temporarily blinding him and Cody at the same time. Guile turned around to get a look at what was going on.

Bison had summoned a concentrated ball of energy in his palms that radiated strong energy waves and shot it towards the two of them when Guile had his back turned. But standing in between the energy wave and Guile's certain death was Ryu, his arms firing back at Bison with a powerful Shinkuu Hadouken. He had jumped in to save both their lives in the last second. Thankful for Ryu's quick reflexes, Guile attempted to get up and assist the Shotokan warrior, who was know engaged in a fireball fight with Bison, both of them straining with whatever energy remained in their battered bodies. Instead, Guile found himself being blown away by the resulting shockwaves from the fight. Many years in the military had turned him into a strong person, both mentally and physically, but what Ryu and Bison were engaged in was more than strong. They were both experienced warriors whose survival skills easily surpassed that of any military man. Perhaps it was due to the strange energies present in both their bodies …

The force that Ryu and Bison emitted from their present struggle grew stronger. Guile heard Cody slightly whimper among all the noise, reminded him that Cody was injured and needed help. Miraculously, the Metro City hero struggled slowly to his feet despite his condition.

"Cody, get down!!" Guile ordered, but his words fell upon deaf ears. Cody turned around and shouted something to Guile over the noise, but he could barely be heard. He motioned for Guile to follow him through the open door of the hangar. Did he plan to just leave Ryu here? Guile turned around hesitantly, looking at Ryu fighting for his life and everyone else's. Was it okay to just leave him like that? Guile was too absorbed in his moral dilemma when a tap on his shoulder brought him back to reality. It was Cody, reminding him once more that it was imperative that they get out of the hangar. At least, the intensity in his actions seemed to say so. Finally, Guile threw his dilemma out the window and wrapped an arm around Cody's shoulder, helping him hobble out of the room.

Guile and Cody once again entered the smoke filled hallways of the Shadowlaw complex, squatting against one of the walls to catch their breath. Neither of them knew what to do for Ryu now. They weren't strong enough to join in the war of chi going on the inside the hangar. Guile had understood some aspects of controlling chi, but his ability was restricted to quick, short range movements, hence his Sonic Boom. But Ryu … his chi abilities were beyond extraordinary. He could even shoot a thick, continuous stream of chi at an opponent from considerable distances. And then there was Cody, whose only projectile attack was throwing rocks and the odd knife. He was good at it, Guile had to admit, but it was nothing compared to what was going on between Bison and Ryu right now.

The two men looked at each other, both understanding the helplessness of their situation. All they could do was sit there and pray for the best. A little help from the others, wherever they were, would've been nice as well. 

                                                                *              *              *

Maki could've sworn she felt her heart stop momentarily when she saw the body lying on the ground with a gaping wound in his chest.

"It … it can't be …" she said, unable to comprehend what happened to Kenny. He was lying there, looking so peacefully asleep but his wounds, they were gruesome! Who could've done this? The tears began to well up in her eyes. She tried sucking them back, she tried to be strong … but for this to happen to a child?

"This doesn't look like the work of any Shadowlaw soldier," Charlie said, joining Maki at her side. He squatted down and examined the boy's wounds. The blood was beginning to dry around the edges down.  "If this was caused by a weapon, it would've been really strong, enough to punch a hole through a human body. But it would be so impractical for Shadowlaw to do that. Why waste powerful ammunition on a kid?"

"I don't know," Maki replied. "Why would they even want to kill a kid?"

"Shadowlaw doesn't care who they kill. But they definitely wouldn't waste powerful ammunitions to kill one person, when it could be used to take out a dozen. That's why I don't think this was their doing."

"How can you say that?!" Maki nearly shrieked out of anger. "They are responsible for killing so many. Bison himself was the one who took Kenny away from us, so even if it wasn't Shadowlaw who physically killed him, they are ultimately responsible!" The tears began to flow now. She never realized how hard this assignment would be. In the beginning, she only wanted to tag along with Guy and help him with whatever mission he intended to complete. Maki realized she had been arrogant in the beginning. Yes, three times had Mike Haggar saved Metro City from the Mad Gear gang, and once did Maki have a major role. Shadowlaw was just another crime organization. How different could they be? That was complete arrogance. She couldn't believe how naïve she could be.

Charlie stood up and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Listen," he said, "I didn't say Shadowlaw isn't responsible. I'm just saying that I don't think it was Bison, or at least his given orders, to do this. It's not their style. We'll figure it out in time and we'll bring the bastard who did this to justice. Right now, we need to get to your friend."

That was right, Maki had almost forgotten about Ken.  Her mind had been through so many traumatic experiences at this point, it was getting hard to remember everything. Charlie took her by the shoulder and began to lead her out of the room, back to the exit.

"Where did you leave your friend?" he asked gently, careful not to say anything that might upset Maki further.

"He's out in the halls somewhere," she replied. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to leave him by himself. Ken's got a few injuries."

"Such things are bound to happen when you participate in a war," Charlie said.

"He didn't sustain them in battle," Maki said, feeling somewhat ashamed. "And this …" she raised her bad arm for him to see, "it wasn't from battle either. Did you hear about the collapse of the Osaka Dome?" Charlie nodded, unsure of where she was going with this. "That's where we got our injuries."

He shook his head in confusion. "Then what are you doing here?"

"Guile was desperate for some help against Bison. He had a military squad infiltrate this base, but it was up to the street fighters to take Bison out, seeing as how the dictator is a street fighter himself."

"So he recruited a bunch of injured street fighters? What the hell was he thinking?"

"No, Ken wasn't supposed to be here because his injuries were more severe than everyone else's. And me, it was my decision to come. He didn't force anyone into this."

They stopped talking as soon as they heard someone approaching. It wasn't hard. The empty, quiet hallways magnified any sounds. The footsteps were slow, almost zombie like … as if whoever was making them was injured …

"Ken!" Maki cried loudly, hearing her own voice echoing through the halls.

"What the hell took you so long?" replied the familiar voice. Charlie and Maki looked at each other, and instantly the both of them ran further down the hall until Ken was in sight. His face was caked with dirt and a shiny layer of sweat. His blond hair hung down the sides of his face in greasy locks. The strange thing was, he had a pair of automatic rifles, one strapped to each shoulder. "I had a little trouble back there," he said, wiping away a trail of blood from the corner of his mouth. "A couple of Shadowlaw soldiers…"

"How were you able to fend them off?" Charlie asked, more out of curiosity than concern.

Ken shrugged. "A little surprise tactics always work. Shortly after you left me, they came out from behind us and were headed in your direction," he cocked his head at Maki, "probably wanted to attack you from behind wherever you were going. So I sorta snuck behind them. One punch to the back of head for each of them was enough to do the trick."

"I'm surprised they couldn't hear you coming as easily as we did."

"Well when you have two morons walking around stalking someone, talking in their walkie-talkies like there's no tomorrow, it'll be kinda hard to hear anyone approaching. Anyways, I hope you're thankful cause now I've got some new toys for us." He handed a rifle to Charlie. "You're a military man. I'm sure you know how to use one of these."

"That I do," Charlie replied, taking the gun by the handle. The hugged the butt into his side and positioned it carefully, trying to get a feel for the weapon. "I'm an air force pilot, but we've had training in firearms before."

"You wanna shoot a gun, Maki?" Ken asked as a boyish smile crept across his face.

"No thanks," came the predictable response. "You boys can have your toys." Ken winked and gave her a thumbs up.

There was a sudden explosion coming from deeper within the complex.

"Holy shit, what was that?!" Ken cried. "It sounded pretty close."

"It was an explosion …" Maki said, getting mysteriously nervous all of a sudden.

"Well no shit," Ken replied rolling his eyes.

"I sense intense chi levels," she continued. "Whatever that explosion was, it was definitely a result of concentrated amounts of chi."

"So that means …" Charlie said, trying to piece it together.

"Ryu!!" Ken realized in horror. "There's only one man in the world who can produce that much chi. You guys, we've gotta get there and help him out!" Instantly, the three of them sprinted down the halls, each of them praying that their friends would be alright.

"You better make it out of this, Guile," Charlie thought mentally while he ran. "You better not be involved in that explosion."

Ken couldn't take his mind off the fact that Ryu was somewhere inside there taking on a powerful force. Ken had definitely sensed Ryu's chi and he was definitely using huge amounts of it. But what could possibly be pushing Ryu that far for him to use all his strength? Perhaps it was the Satsui no Hadou threatening to blossom inside of him? He hoped not. He pumped his legs faster, ignoring the shooting pain that had once again begun to form in his ribs. He managed to gain some distance ahead of Maki and Charlie. He couldn't wait to find out what was going on.

Maki was scared for everyone of course, but it was Cody that had her most worried. They had been friends since their Metro City days and she had grown very attached to him, platonically of course. That was part of the reason, but on top of that, Cody was a street fighter in the literal sense of the term. He wasn't some expert martial artist, just a brute brawler. How was someone like that supposed to go against an army from a criminal organization, let alone their dictator? She only hoped that the infamous Bison was some coward that hid behind his generals, not the terrifying man she imagined capable of physically controlling such an empire. Maki laughed inside, how could one man physically control such a widespread organization. Impossible …