Disclaimer: I don't own Street Fighter or the song by Celldweller on which this fictional piece is named.

Also, a personal thank you to each reviewer. I feel honored to have even received a review, and by my idol writers as well. Its like Christmas came early. Thank you once again.

This installment is not my best work, and I may edit it later and repost it, but for now, its something I had to put up to see how it looks. Please enjoy.

The forest grounds had morphed into a damn near desolate plain of destruction and death. Ken, who was leading the rest of fighters that he had gathered in their search, took notice that as he got closer to the two dark chi signatures up in the distance, the forest began to lose its luster and looked broken and demolished. Trees had been completely leveled, leaving more space to see, but also leaving splintered debris. Something else caught Ken's attention, and he glanced up to the sky, and actually paused in his trek. Chun Li and Guile were a bit behind, but were in visual distance of Ken, and they looked to the blonde before following suit to see what was so interesting up above.

Looking through the splintering branches of surrounding trees, at least a hundred birds of assorted species could be seen flying and screeching frantically in the opposite direction of where they were going. It was as if they were fleeing from a powerful predator with all their might. If this one sight was not foreboding enough, the three of them heard sounds of flesh pounding against flesh in the distance that were encouraging enough to make them quicken their pace to their destination.

Up ahead, the fight between Sakura and Ryu had escalated to a higher degree, but it was still evident that Sakura was definitely on the offensive. It took quite a lot more than it should have for Ryu to stay on the defensive and dodge and block each of her blows. Ryu's conscience, what little was left from his transformation and from the conflicting levels of Satsui no Hadou within the vicinity, was still attempting to reason with him that he could not fight with her.

"Why won't you fight back, Ryu-sama? You have all that power that you were willing to forsaken your loved ones for, and now you won't even use it?" Sakura made her point very clear as she glided to the left of him and lowered herself in a crouch to direct a gut-wrenching punch to his abdomen. Ryu matched her speed and blocked silently, and quickly jumped back to avoid confrontation with her.

'She's asking for it! Fight her! Teach her that Satsui no Hadou is not a plaything. Teach her a lesson she will never forget..' Ryu's inner demon was whispering to him, nudging him to take the offensive. He still had the willpower to ignore the nudge and act out of his own accord, but he did not know how long this would last.

"Sakura, I do not want to fight you. I'm sorry to have hurt your feelings, but, please, you must go…" Ryu would have finished his sentence, pleading Sakura to leave before something else unfavorable happened, if he wasn't interrupted by the girl who teleported behind him without his knowledge once again. She had her back to his own, but she had gripped at his wrists and pulled his arms behind him, towards her.

"Ryu-sama. If you are truly sorry…If you want to redeem yourself in my eyes…Then fight me. Fight me here and now, with all your might. Don't you dare hold back. Only then can I forgive you." Her voice was not warped with anger, rage, or pain. It was solemn, yet warm. It was the first time that Sakura had regarded to him in a semi-normal manner.

Ryu understood what it meant to convey words and emotions through fists, and that was the instance in this case. Nothing he said would reach the young woman any closer than his actions. In that instant, he was proud of Sakura. She displayed the action of a young woman and a true warrior.

Sakura knew that she had gotten her point across to the street fighter when she felt him tense up from behind her. Her pupil less eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch as she suddenly boosted herself off the ground, still pulling at Ryu's arms from behind him. She planted her sneakered feet on the small of his back, and was in a crouched position atop his back, still facing in the opposite direction. She was ready to perform one of her throws.

Before she was able to complete the move and flip off of Ryu while kicking him painfully in the spine, Ryu somehow reversed the move by flipping the girl over his head, now positioning her in front of him and on her feet once more. Sakura was caught in complete surprise as she lost grip of his wrists and was sudden held by her small shoulders. A single knee came crashing into her stomach three times before she was pushed backwards. Sakura managed to regain the breath she lost from the move and gained a yard or two of distance from Ryu. She looked up to him and smirked at the serious expression on his face. Something within her was content that he was taking this match seriously, and not brushing her off .

Now, she had another reason to initiate this fight. Not only was she doing this to bring back the young man, but she wanted to prove to him and herself that she was worthy of utilizing and embracing the path of Shotokan.

Sakura took no time to continue her assault, and the real fight commenced.

Ryu, now in an offensive stance, met the fast approaching Sakura with a heavy swing of his right fist in hooked punch. Sakura sidestepped a fraction to the left, but was unprepared by the left jab that struck her in collarbone. She stumbled back, but only slightly, and returned the punch with one, or several, of her own. She rapidly swung both fists, which were haloed with Dark Hadou, in a five hit succession towards Ryu's face, but the warrior easily dodged the incoming attacks, only to grab the young woman's left hand. He pulled her into him, and for a millisecond, the two had froze. The moment, whatever it was, was short lived as Ryu tucked the girl in and flipped forward, still grabbing the phased woman by the arm. He landed on the soil below with his back to the ground, and Sakura atop him for a second before he planted a fierce kick to her stomach, launching her out of his hands and into the air.

Sakura regained her state of being in mid flight and managed to right her feet so she landed correctly when she returned to the ground three seconds later. She shook off the fierce throw with little difficulty and came at Ryu once again, her adrenaline pumping to levels she had never experienced before. Ryu also felt an exhilaration that felt unrivaled as the two tainted fighters exchanged blows that emitted unbridled force and emotion. The two moved about the crumbling forest grounds like they were in a vicious waltz, shifting to the left and right of each other in a synchronized manner, yet still managing to face each other, no matter how many times they teleported about.

Ken sucked in and released as much air as her lungs could allow after running so much. He had his hands to his knees as he lurched forward, exhausted from the pursuit. He was snapped out of his recovery when he was hit with shockwaves of chi and hadou that were at extreme percentages, and the atmosphere warped to something similar to a sweltering inferno. He looked up from the ground and straightened his posture, only to see Ryu and Sakura going at each other's throats with what looked like absolute hostility. Both of their bodies were enveloped in crimson and scarlet waves of Dark Hadou, but it seemed as though their own auras were battling each other as well. Their appearances were hard to determine in specific due to them moving at ridiculous speeds, moving around then colliding with each other at the supersonic velocities. Ken was able to get a clear glimpse both of their backs, which were pulsating with the kanji for 'Heaven' with the same demonic flair.

Ken's jaw dropped as he witnessed the fight between his friend and the younger girl that was like a little sister to him commence. He had seen the two spar countless times, but now, they were fighting as if it were a death match. Ken concentrated his own chi signature, manipulating it to be ready at his command. He was sure that he was the one that had to stop the two before they did something they would regret.

Before Ken could even move in to make himself known to the still combating duo, a vicious snarl rang out and stopped him in his tracks.

"Ken, don't you dare. This is between me and him." Ken would not have believed that came from sweet Sakura unless he hadn't been staring the girl dead in the eye at that moment. She was facing him with eyes as black as onyx, with no pupils in them, and a stone serious expression on her face. Ken almost completely lost his nerve from that alone, but he stood his ground and looked from her to Ryu for a brief moment.

"Sakura, what do you think you're doing! Ryu, you too! Are you crazy? Look, it doesn't have to be this way. Ryu, just come back with us and we'll straighten out everything…"

Ken didn't even sound like he was convincing himself, let alone the two in front of him. Ryu held no emotion on his face, so it was hard to even tell what was going through his mind. Ken would pay half his fortune to know what his best friend was thinking. Sakura, on the other hand, had a weak smile on her face that she allowed Ken to witness briefly, before she turned her back to him. The kanji on her back glared at him menacing, as if it was etched out of glowing blood. Ken had seen this side of both Sakura and Ryu once before, and he was able to talk them out of their states in the past…but, now, it could not be helped. Ken knew that before he even spoke; he knew that talking wouldn't solve the matter effectively. He had hoped, however, that Sakura would not have done something as reckless as attempt to go one-on-one with Ryu, especially in the state of consciousness he was in now. He wanted both of his friends back, preferably intact.

"Ken, we have to do this. You understand, don't you? Please, don't interfere." Even Sakura was surprised the sudden statement from Ryu that came out calm and collected, despite his slightly deeper, fierce tone of voice. Ken felt at a loss as Sakura nodded to Ryu to signal for them to continue before she rushed at him offensively once again. Ryu did not miss a beat as he moved in on her at the last second. Their fists connected with each other at the knuckle and a shockwave of power emitted from that one blow that made Ken slide back involuntarily.

Chun Li and Guile finally caught up to Ken and arrived at the site, only fall into a low crouch to prevent themselves from being blown completely backwards from the shockwave. Chun Li shielded her eyes with one hand while Guile squinted his own eyes to look forward. They were just as surprised to see the two combatants be Ryu and Sakura. Chun Li looked to Ken, who watched the fight continue with a hardened grimace.

"What's going on? We have to stop them!" Chun Li had to elevate her voice so that Ken could hear her over the background sounds of fists and feet connecting with each other harshfully. Even then, the sounds were unearthly, and resembled loud bangs and crunches that should never result from punches and kicks. Ken continued to look on, but answered the woman with a grim tone, giving her the answer she certainly wasn't expecting to hear.

"I don't think there is anyone who could stop them now."

Guile dug his hands into the trunk of one of the few trees that was not demolished and grabbed hold of Chun Li's arm to keep her steady and from flying backwards anymore. The two were still dazed as they watched Ryu and Sakura duke it out fiercely, with no consideration for the destruction they were causing around them.

Ryu had his arms at his side, cradling a large sphere of violet hadou with both his hands. Sakura teleported sporadically, giving him trouble in targeting her. He still released the Shinkuu Hadouken at the position he saw her last, but she teleported moments ago. Sakura phased herself in behind Ryu now that he no longer had the concentrated energy within his hands, and performed another hurricane to his back to eject him directly into the path of the hadouken he had just released. It seemed as though the two were moving at a fraction of the speed they maintained earlier. Ryu swiftly flipped over the ball of chi safely, not about to be the victim of his own attack. Sakura, however, was not done as she teleported once again to Ryu's side once again, bypassing the blast that was still crawling to the right, completely intact. Ryu was ready for the young woman the instant she teleported in front of him, and drilled his right fist into her chin in a shattering uppercut. Sakura was ejected into the air from the technique, but Ryu caught her in a headlock in mid air. He landed on his feet before he made a sprint directly towards the path of the sloth-like Hadouken, the fighter still dazed in his hands. He threw her into the blast, but also dove in with her, and the impact was immense as the searing hot blast energy engulfed both street fighters.

Ryu and Sakura both grunted as they separated from each other in the shockwave, and they both landed to the ground sprawled on the earth about a good four yards away from each other. The area was silent as the onlookers held their breath in anticipation. Ken was hoping the two knocked each other out so they would put a stop to the seemingly senseless battle. Chun Li and Guile both were ready to jump in at a moments notice to restrain the two now that they were thrown off balance from expending their energies.

Ken, Guile, and Chun Li were not ready for what they saw next, however.

Sakura, sprawled on her back, sat up and let out a animalistic growl, her eyes wide and wild with emotion. Ryu had yet to rise, and there was no signs of him even being conscious or even alive. Sakura rose to her feet albeit shakily, and with each trudge towards Ryu, she let out a grunt from the back of her throat. The other three fighters were actually frozen in their spots, stunned at the sheer endurance and power Sakura possessed to have bested Ryu. Sakura practically ignored the onlookers and stood over Ryu, her breathing labored and her burgundy aura flaring sparingly. Whatever she did next would have an impact on everyone present.

To be Concluded