"Oh, Ryu…" Chun-Li gasped and knelt by a body that was glowing faintly, though stronger than most of the others.
It was Ken, and the mirrored bite marks in his arm were surrounded by malignant tissue, turning green and yellow with infection. His face was pale, but in repose, and he seemed to be asleep.
Chun-Li reached out to touch his face, and her hand slipped through the floor as if it had not finished hardening after the arm-creature had deposited him there. It felt as if she were reaching through goop, the faster she forced her way through, the harder it felt, "Look at his arm, Ryu…We need to get him out of there."
"Wait! Get back!" Ryu snatched the flashlight away and flicked it off. He pulled her arm out of the floor and they retreated back into the darkness.
The arm creature returned, its jaw hanging limply, and one hand's fingers broken. It stopped by Ken's 'grave,' then moved towards the one where the man had a missing arm. Plunging a talon into the goop, the red energy flared, then faded to black.
The jaw re-hinged and mended, as did the fingers. The creature disappeared into the blackness once again.
The body that had once laid there was a skeleton now, one arm missing. Chun-Li looked at Ryu. They moved in unison, reaching down for Ken.
"Chun-Li, look at his arm!"
The infection and injury was gone, as if magically healed. The two would-be rescuers looked around at the other glows, many of which had just been revived. Ryu glanced down, "Do you think that the monster is healing them?"
"Don't know, don't care. Let's get Ken out, so he can help us get the other humans out of here before that octopus thing gets back," She trotted back to Ken's 'grave' and reached out, trying to grab his arm.
Ken's eyes flashed open.
They were white…
His hand flashed out, closing around her throat. She tore at his grip as he cut off her air supply, straining for breath. Ryu dove to help her, realizing that the other bodies were coming alive as well.
One by one they pulled themselves from the floor, climbing out onto the solid ground. Their eyes were all black, completely solid orbs of color…Ryu found himself wondering why their eyes were black and Ken's were white…but he had no more time to speculate.
Even skeletons had risen from the ground, breaking through a shell of goop that had hardened over them from the lack of body heat. The one with a missing arm was the closest of all the rising bodies…
"Ken—"Ryu grabbed the hand that was griping Chun-Li's throat, "I hate to do this, man—"
He brought her wrist down on his friend's shoulder as hard as he possibly could. The pop of the bone pulling out of the socket resonated in the blackness, and his hand fell numb. Chun-Li pulled away and stood, staring at the black-eyed people around her. Ryu backed away as Ken pulled himself to the solid ground.
His mouth turned up into a smirk, "About time you got here."
"Ken? You're still in there!" Ryu was held back by Chun-Li, "Let me go!"
"Ryu! Listen! That is not Ken!"
'Ken' chuckled, "Smart, but not enough. This indeed is the body of your friend, though his soul is far, far away."
"What are you talking about? Who the hell are you?" Ryu demanded.
"If you want to save the humans, you must compete," The puppeteer spoke with the American's voice, and it was beginning to get on their nerves, "Fight him, and kill him. Only then will these people go free."
"I won't kill my best friend!" He snapped back, "Whoever you are, you're insane if you think that I would kill Ken!"
"To save him, you must kill the other humans here," 'Ken' gestured broadly, the red button-up ripped open, revealing the black t-shirt underneath, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, isn't that right?"
"You sick bastard," Chun-Li snapped angrily, "Why Ken? Why did you attack any of these people?"
"I needed bait, to get the Warriors of the Hadou Ken into my realm," The American's face twisted into a sneer, "You are obstacles that rise in my future path. With you dead and under my control, covering the world with darkness will be a simple task."
"You tricked us!" Ryu snapped, "You dragged us in here so you could get us to kill each other! What the hell are you on? Ken would never kill me, and I would never kill him!"
"And Chun-Li?"
Ryu glanced at the woman, "What about her?"
"Would she kill one to save the others? I can restore them all to life and functionality, erasing their memories of this nightmare," The puppet's voice became soft and coaxing, "They could return to their normal lives, and you would have saved thirty good, hardworking men and women."
Ryu was stunned, but not completely surprised, to see Chun-Li look at the people surrounding them, back to Ken, then to the people again. Her eyes moved to rest on Ryu.
"Undecided? What about children?" The red-clothed arm swung back, "You like children."
Three small figures walked quietly out of the darkness into the red glows. One was nothing more than a baby, clutching a teddy bear, barely able to walk. The oldest was a child of three…maybe even two…with large black, glossy eyes.
Ryu gasped when he saw the children.
"And I would set them all free, returning them to normal as soon as you agree to fight and kill your friend," The voice was quiet and smooth, brining tears to Chun-Li's eyes, "I will set five of the people free right now as a gesture of faith. Behold."
He pointed to a section of the blackness as five figures, the skeletons and one live human, walked away into the void. The blackness faded and lightened until Ryu and Chun-Li saw the outside, what existed beyond the black boundary.
The second that the skeletons passed through the bubble, flesh was made whole and clothed. All five people came to, their eyes returning to normal. They glanced around, confused, and ran when they saw the bubble behind them.
"I have proven my trust," The puppeteer said softly, "Would you waste the lives of the rest of these humans…these children?"
Now even Ryu was undecided.
"Well?"
'Ken' raised his hand towards one of the children, who began to choke and strangle, whimpering in pain.
"Stop it…" Ryu whispered.
The puppet grinned.
"I'll do it!" Ryu cried, "Just let them go!"
The child was released, and he fell to the ground crying. The creature that had taken over Ken gestured to the other humans, and everyone but six left. In the lightened darkness, Chun-Li and Ryu saw them leaving.
"What about these six?" Chun-Li demanded.
"One for each round."