Maybe It's Better Off This Way

Namiya: Well, it's seems like an awful lot of time has passed since I decided to update this awful excuse of a fanfic. If anyone who happens to read this thing also stumbled upon "Blindfolded..." not to worry, I'll update that fic soon enough. So, without further remorse...

Chapter 02: D (ecimate). A (nd). D (ie).

A flood runs through Ryu's left arm, being the source his shoulder socket. The color is self-explanatory, as an un-requested numbness invades this particular zone.

"Shi-kuso" Although usually very proper on his speech addressing, Ryu couldn't help it.

It's been only 15 minutes since the struggle began, and he was already at a noticeable disadvantage. Holding his left shoulder, from where blood dripped at a very slow pace, the Shoto-kan warrior lowered his head, though the combat was far from over, and his opponent showed no sign of mercy whatsoever.

Then, a grave, cave-depth like laugh echoed.

"Gouken's very own apprentice is failing. This is an odd, yet delightful sight" The statement was cut by yet another baritone-reverb of joy. As the mist began to wither, it revealed the enormous build of the voice's owner. He was tall, like no one the Japanese warrior ever confronted. Even the Muay Thai emperor, Sagat, seemed a bit short compared to this person. He was, at least, around 10 feet tall, while Ryu barely scratched below the 6 feet mark.

"But we're not here to delight on the pain of such a quartered mortal, are we? Nooo…" The unknown giant shook his head lightly.

"But better to let be known, that the very last one of the carriers of the Hoshi heritage, will die at the hands of a noble sir, and not to filthy rejects, like Gouki and his pathetic sibling who could not even carry with such a simple task"

Right after hearing that, Ryu's mind became a pool of nothingness. There were no words that sufficed to explain this…

Gouken-sense… appointed to kill me? Demo-- naze?

Still struggling with his flesh wounds, Ryu kept on staring at the floor, in hopes of finding the strength to believe such thing.

"Because he was supposed to do away with your father… yet, in the first place, he was unable to kill both you and your mother, who was supposed to be the last one of the clan"

"But… I thought my—"

"Your father?" The giant let out a scoffed laughter before continuing. "Do not be so naïve in your final hour, Hoshi! Your father was just a simple mortal that tainted the heart and womb of Hoshi Mikuni. The only thing remotely special about that mundane, filthy commoner was that he was able to actually sustain a battle against his brothers. Aside from that, he was a waste of flesh and blood"

Listening to that depriving talk about the parents he never met made him feel strangely relaxed. He still kept his look down.

"I see. May I know your name now?"

"Ha! And why would I speak of my name to whom is about to die?"

"Let it be the last memory that I take to my grave… noble sir" Making a slight emphasis on that last part, Ryu knew that appealing to a degree from the likes of his now conversational opponent was vital somehow.

"Fair enough… the name is Zog…" As the giant, Zog, took his right hand towards his sword-fund around his waist, he assumed a swords-man stance. "And I am your executioner" Zog quickly un-seated his gigantic sword, as he approached towards his kill at an unseen speed.

Ryu, on the other hand, stood still, with absolutely no guard or stance… as his opponent approached.

"DIE!"

A sword lunge sound could be heard. A line of blood quickly stained the ground.

"… AHHH!"

The atonal scream almost left Ryu deaf. The source was the voice of his now badly deformed adversary. Holding the place where his right hand was no longer, Zog fell on his knees, crying from the pain it brought upon him the loss of half his right upper limb.

"WHY?" He shouted, while holding his head up to stare at his opponent's eyes almost directly. "You were already a goner!" When he took a closer look towards Ryu's eyes, he somehow felt the urge of taking such words back.

Zog's black eyes opened wide.

"This is why you should save your utterly speech for the end, self-centered idiot" Ryu took a short leap back. Afterwards, he took a deep breath, while his eyes opened a little bit more, revealing their crimson color clearly.

After giving his left arm a slight massage, Ryu made a fast move with this same arm. His fingers were widespread. Thus, his giant opponent started to float off the ground.

"W-w-what in blazes? How can you--? But you are still--!"

"A boy" Ryu completed the phrase for Zog, who remained in complete awe, after witnessing his body was floating.

"But it takes years to develop the right amount of discipline to dominate telekinesis! Not even a Hoshi's heir should--"

"You THINK a full decade of training was worth nothing?" Ryu interrupted again, while closing his fingers a bit.

This had an effect on Zog's neck, similar to strangling. Suddenly, Ryu aggressively pulled his hand, as if scratching the air towards his right.

RRIP!

…A slashing sound could be heard. As a headless corpse fell to the ground, making a huge thud.

"… I guess being a noble tends to rot away such thing" Ryu sighed afterwards, as he looked aside. Finally, his eyes stopped between two of the tombstones that were demolished due to the battle fought a few instants ago. His trench coat was between the debris of those memorials. As he removed the stones, he started to dirt it off.

"Gee, you're really giving those old guys a headache, you know?" The Japanese warrior closed his eyes.

"Just come out, Sophie" Right after his words, the young woman appeared right between two graves that remained intact. Ryu turned back to confirm.

"Also, why would you never drop your façade? That's not something a Shoto-kan based student learns" She said.

"Because it's forbidden…" Ryu's comeback was clever, nonetheless.

"Spare me the bullshit. Tell me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that the whole reason for this to start?"

"You tell me… this whole thing brought you to the picture" While stating that, Ryu noticed how Sophie avoided stepping on any stains of blood on the ground… she missed one spot.

"Ugh… my chucks!" Bianchi uttered after noticing that she had stepped onto a mixture of blood and saliva. Ryu stared oddly at her.

"You DO realize that those are just shoes…" He suggested.

"But it's blood…" She interrupted. Ryu grunted in annoyance, after hearing that whiny excuse. "You know how hard it is to actually clean blood off your clothes--?"

"Actually I do" Ryu stopped for a second, to check on his wounded arm. While checking it, a strange glow started to appear on his right hand.

"And believe me… it's nothing compared to have one of your limbs broken" He continued.

Sophie witnessed, not without having a certain expression of awe, how the head-banded warrior proceeded to heal his wounds.

"Wow… talk about saving on bills" She stated, with something of a quirky tone.

"Um… Sophie. Exactly, how old are you?" Hoshi asked quite politely.

"That's none of your business, mister! Besides… you don't ask the lady-folk about such a thing" While hearing that, Ryu couldn't help but to let out a short laugh.

"You kind of remind me of her"

He paused for a brief moment, just to check on his arm.

"Ah, there it is. Oh, well, I'll just assume you're about her age"

Her pale skin revealed a slight colorful tone. "Hmph! That's quite rude, you know?"

"Okay. I'll leave that subject alone… It's just strange to have a traveling companion and not—"

"Well, we're not traveling companions in the first place…" She interrupted him "I'm not even allowed to meet you. The very fact of us speaking like this is jeopardizing not only your existence, but mine as well… Ryu-kun" This took Ryu off guard. He somehow knew that Sophie had already begun a scheme a bit different, but to know she was putting her life on the line as well…

"What drives you to do such thing?" This time he was officially intrigued. While the ansatsuken warrior kept on taking the dirt off his coat, Sophie turned back to stare at him.

This left Ryu greatly confused, making his right eyelid open in wide, while his left one remained concealed by his reddish / brownish bangs of hair. While she headed towards him, he grabbed off the ground his backpack.

"You should better riddle me this. How on earth are you going to dispose of a nine-foot headless corpse without anyone noticing it? I know that not many people come this way… but they say smell can be such a catch"

Even when her grin denoted that certain superiority thing, she was completely outshined when Ryu showed his serious mood once again.

"You don't want to know" By the tone he used, Sophie knew exactly what was next.

"O…kay, I'm keeping my pie-hole shut next time" Sophie started to walk away from the scene.

There was not much left to do. Ryu gathered his duffle bag that remained almost untouched by the destruction due to the fight he sustained with Zog. His belongings were scarce, but more than enough for him. After getting everything in order, Ryu glared upon the corpse of the one he murdered without even staining his hands.

This is obviously not a good sing of the things to come. He thought, while checking on Zog's already stiff corpse.

"Already Rigor Mortiis… well, this should be easy" Suddenly, Ryu's left palm was engulfed in a crimson fire. He placed this same hand a few inches away from the corpse.

As if a bonfire, the flame stood calmly within its range. While Ryu took his duffle bag once again, he started to walk out from this torn place.

After finally exiting the cemetery, He kept on his way, not daring to look back.

"Police should be here soon. I must hurry" After this comment to self, Ryu quickly started to run.

BOOM!

After that sudden explosion, the whole area that bordered the cemetery grounds was engulfed in flames.

I wish this grind would stop… this shouldn't have been necessary. Then again, seems everything's out of my reach these days. Solitude has always been a good "companion", so to speak. However, after setting the grounds of Chun-Li's resting place on fire, I feel that I am betraying everything that I am...

Ryu interrupted his thoughts for a moment, only to witness the destruction from a relatively safe point.

…Everything that Gouken-sensei told me. Everything that I used to stand for…was I really fated to embark on this journey? Or it could have been avoided…?

While he kept on brooding about this incidents, he decided to shut his vision off that scenario.

"Perhaps a more subtle approach next time" A melodic voice permeated Ryu's left ear.

"Sophie, stay off my head. The least I need is—"

"—to know why your own master was intended to kill you?" Ryu stared oddly shocked at Sophie's intervention. After a moment passed, Ryu looked down.

"Well, that would be a good starter"

"You shouldn't be so attached to this whole father figure/master routine. Hoshi Mikuni was quite the powerful one. So powerful indeed, that she was able to trick one of the mighty Ansatsuken masters into training her own son" Sophie's tone was quite playful at the end.

"Stop talking about my mother like that" Ryu shrugged, quickly crossing his arms while still holding his head down.

"Whoa, seems somebody doesn't like the hard truth. Why is it so hard for you to accept the prowess your mother had? According to good sources, you inherited her most outstanding traits"

Ryu turned his head away for the remaining moment. "Not something I feel particularly proud of"

"Why not? Most people would die to be like you. You possibly have the most grand amount of untapped power in this world" Ryu scoffed at this remark.

"Yeah, and if you add it up to a thing called a murderous intent, that just rounds it up nicely" Ryu dryly answered.

Sophie shrugged quietly. It seemed that Ryu was quite used to scold himself.

"But I thought Gouken rejected the original intentions of the Ansatsuken"

"It may be so. But the reason for such belief was because Gouken-sensei never killed anyone… ever. However, in all arts of war nature the first original principle is not to defend, but to attack…" Ryu paused a moment to clear his throat.

"… Thus, the very name and proper practice of Ansatsuken are both valid. However, modern society frowns upon its own history, so it's quite understandable why Gouken-sensei disguised both Ken and me as users of Shoto-kan. That is also the main reason why he only taught us the non life-threatening techniques of Ansatsuken"

Sophie stared at Ryu, completely out of words. Ryu put a puzzled face.

"I'm a little mixed up here. If he never taught you anything harmful about that goddamned style of yours, why on earth are you even able to use such?"

"Because, the only way I could ever be able to defeat Gouki was to embrace my dark nature. Although Gouken-sensei rejected the murderous intent, he never shunned the possibility of someone else being able to learn it. After finding his old scrolls, I started developing them…"

"You… didn't killed anyone before ending Gouki's life… did you?"

"Of course not. It took me almost 3 years to develop the correct amount of ki to not commit the same mistake both Gouki and Goutetsu-sama did. I won't take a human life without a purpose. Gouki's death was for vengeance…"

"What about Zog's?"

"It was on self-defense. If an enemy attempts to inflict harm, or even death upon you, yet you believe yourself skilled enough to counter such strength, then it is valid to end his life… this is the self-defense principle of Ansatsuken"

Sophie's expression continued to reveal her total awe. Maybe she was sent to serve Ryu on the whereabouts of his condemn, but to realize that he bears such a strength…

"It really makes me wonder why this girl, Kasugano Sakura, has the hots for you" Hoshi looked aside after Sophie's comment.

"Because she's ignorant…" He retorted. Then he returned his look towards Sophie.

"…but that can be fixed" His left eye, along with his facial expression denoted one thing solely: Determination. Sophie Bianchi recognized that, and smiled.

Useless foot notes: I do NOT own Street Fighter. I, however, own this story, as well as the character known as Sophie Bianchi(among a few other things). This chapter was influenced by King Crimson's first LP "In The Court Of The Crimson King". Something awesome inspired me, for a change.