[2000]
It has been a few months since Ashura had met Athena and learned how to use the Psycho power. Ashura had been training a lot with Iori. He was now in the forest meditating, he decided that he had to connect with nature once again.
Ashura wore a short sleeve black shirt, and underneath dons a long-sleeve white shirt. He wears a belt to hold up his medium blue jeans which have a tear just above the knee of the left leg.
A portal suddenly appeared in front of Ashura, surprising him.
Ashura: What does a portal doing here, I should see where it leads to.
Ashura entered the portal and it disappeared after he got in the portal.
[Alternative world]
In Osaka, everything was destroyed and no human being was there, it was like a barren wasteland. A portal suddenly appeared and out of it came out Ashura, who was surprised by the condition of the place.
Ashura: What happened here? I better investigate.
Ashura started searching all the area and found nothing, then 12 individuals showed themselves and started attacking Ashura, but he was dodging all the attacks. Two of them used crimson flames, one of them used purple flames, one of them used electricity, one of them used ice, one of them used laser beams, one of them used energy attacks, one of them used cutting energy and the others used pure strength but Ashura was dealing with them very easily. He released a small wave of energy that knocked his attackers back.
Ashura: Why are you all attacking me and show yourselves.
The individuals took off their cloaks and revealed themselves to be Iori, Kyo, Chizuru, K', Kula, Maxima, Shingo, Goro, Benimaru, Leona, Ralf, and Clark.
Ashura: Why were you guys attacking me? and why is everything destroyed.
Chizuru: Sorry about attacking you, you must be from the Alternate world. Let's go to our hideout and we'll tell you about everything.
Ashura: Right.
Then the 13 of them started walking away. When they reached the hideout, everyone freaked out when they saw Ashura.
Kyo: Don't worry guys, he isn't the one who caused all the destruction.
Everyone calmed down, Ashura was confused about why everyone were scared of him. A woman with long blue hair rushed towards Ashura and hugged him, confusing him.
Kyo: Nakoruru, you know that the Ashura you're hugging is not the one we know.
Nakoruru: I don't care, it's good to see him once again.
Ashura looked at the remaining survivors and saw every fighters except for Athena, he tried sensing her energy all around the world and got scared when he didn't sense her, the only thing he felt was the energy signature like his, but was filled with darkness and malice.
Ashura: Guys, where is Athena? And why do I sense a energy signature like mine but very evil?
Nakoruru: [Looking at her feet] The truth is...
Chizuru: Athena is dead.
Ashura got shocked when he heard that.
Nakoruru: That's why your counterpart is evil. He loved Athena with all his heart and when she died, something snapped.
Ashura: Can you tell me everything.
Nakoruru: Okay. It all started at the 14th tournament...
[Flashback]
Alternative world, Antonov Super Arena, Russia
An outdoor stage area surrounded by packed grandstands and cameras both on the ground and raised above the fight via boom arms. In the background a platform can be seen, presumably where the winning team will receive their commendation. Ashura had just defeated Antonov and was about to receive the commendation, when suddenly the atmosphere around the arena changed abruptly.
Ashura wore a white jacket with black trimmings, a black shirt with a white hollowed cross, a pair of jeans with the rim of the sleeves slightly torn, a pair of black fingerless biker gloves, a small chain that hangs from the back pocket to the belt area, and black shoes.
The clear blue sky and the scattered white clouds had disappeared. In their place, black storm clouds had gathered, swirling, emitting blinding flashes of turquoise lightning.
Ashura: Here it comes, I've been sensing it since this tournament started.
The audience had fallen silent, and no one was moving, mistakenly thinking that the cracks in the sky were special effects staged by the tournament.
A bolt of lightning surged down, striking the ground some meters away from them with a deafening sound. Two more bolts destroyed a couple of giant screens and a third one shattered the stage, swallowing it in a big explosion.
The voices of the audience were heard again, but this time they were terrified screams.
Ashura shielded his eyes when the dust and smoke reached him. The whirlwind in the sky had turned red, and dozens of bright objects were coming out of it, as if materializing through a portal.
Ashura: Tch.
Ashura stepped aside as metallic trusses and the stadium's reflectors came crashing down.
When he looked around, Ashura saw the arena descending into chaos. People were running and stumbling, the scaffolding was toppling over, the flickering screens had caught fire. The metallic roof had cracked and a rain of debris was falling onto the terrified audience. Shrilling screams of pain were interspersed with desperate cries for help. Bodies lied face down on the aisles.
A dense black smoke obstructed the view toward the seats. When Ashura looked up again, half the stadium was in ruins. And, amidst the destruction, as if it were some kind of absurd joke, a reporter was commenting on the situation in front of a camera in a very shaky voice.
Ashura: [Harshly] Fool! Do you want to die!
The reporter winced, shook his head and ran for cover.
The stadium was coming down around him, and he didn't plan to leave until he could find out what was going on.
Ashura: [Smiling bitterly] The time paradox you have created has created this entity, Crimson. I'll do you a favor and destroy this entity before he destroys everything.
A fireball was descending from the sky, taking a humanoid shape.
Ashura felt his ki react to that being. It was definitely not human, and his body seemed to be made of fire. The creature's negative energy sent a shiver down his spine.
Ashura wondered if this was the power Nakoruru had mentioned, before the tournament started. Was it the same energy that had tried to possess Iori during the tournament?
With a guttural growl, the creature attacked.
Ashura managed to evade the worst blow, and rolled to one side.
Ashura: [Annoyed] Tsk.
The creature growled again. The syllables formed a word that made no sense.
Ashura: Verse? I'll call you that.
Ashura said disdainfully, getting back to his feet. He could see the creature clearly now. His humanoid body was covered in armor, where bright golden grooves alternated with a dull opacity.
Ashura was startled when Verse closed the gap between them in a blink. Hands were floating in the air. Two pairs of hands that could attack as if they had a mind of their own.
Ashura threw a punch and his knuckles hit the solid mass of the creature's body. He felt the scorching heat coming out of the molten rock affixed deep on Verse's chest. He heard a cacophony of voices, screaming, wailing.
Ashura: The souls of the others are inside of you. Orochi, Ash, Chris, Shermie, Yashiro, Goenitz and Gaidel. I don't know about other voices.
Ashura heard a cry behind him and turned around to see Chin, Kensou, Kyo, Benimaru, Goro lifting up a debris, Yuri, Mai, King, Nakoruru, Terry, the Ikari warriors and the Fatal fury team, he also felt a familiar energy and it was very weak, indicating that the owner of that energy was gonna. When Ashura felt the energy, his heart stopped beating.
Ashura rushed at Verse and hit his armor, creating a dent and sent it flying, then he teleported himself on top of Verse and hit him with both of his fist, sending him crashing to the ground very hard. Ashura then created a powerful barrier around Verse, Verse punched the barrier, but his punch had no effect.
Ashura: This barrier cannot break. I'll be back, I have an urgent matter to attend to.
Ashura dashed to the others to see what was going on.
[With the others]
Athena was on the ground in a pool of her own blood, a debris had fell on top of her and crushed her body.
Kensou: You're gonna make it Athena, just hang on till help arrives.
Athena: I won't make it Kensou. Ashura, where is he? I want to see him for the last before I die.
Kyo: He is coming, I think he sensed your energy.
Ashura appeared in front of the others and saw Athena dying. He tried using his healing powers, but for some reason, he couldn't.
Ashura: [With tears in his eyes] COME ON! WORK!
Ashura tried and tried and tried, but couldn't use his healing powers.
Athena: Ashura, it's too late for me, I'm not gonna make it, but before I die, I have to tell you something.
Ashura: You're not gonna die.
Athena: I am. Ashura, I love you. I have always loved you since the day we first met, I love everything there is about you. I will always cherish the moments we had.
Ashura: I love you too. Please don't leave me, you are the first woman who I have ever loved. If you die, I will lose my will to live.
Athena: And you are the first guy who I have fallen in love with. Before I die, I want you to give me a kiss.
Ashura: Alright.
Athena wrapped her hands around Ashura's neck, pulling him onto her lips to deliver a sweet impassioned kiss.
Athena mewled happily into his face, tasting Ashura as he wrapped his hands around her waist embracing her wholeheartedly. Their lip-lock remained innocent yet passionate, neither of the two wanted to turn it into a porn-style tongue play, instead, they simply made out in sensual embrace like longtime lovers usually do.
Ashura moaned into her mouth back, tasting Athena's lips as he went along, feeling her rump into his fingers then squeezing them around one of her cheeks causing her to whimper cutely into his mouth. He snickered a bit when feeling Athena react and slowly pulled himself off of her face, watching her dazzled expression as she pulled herself back with a smile.
Athena: I can die knowing that you love me. Before I die, please take the crystal on my clothes and remember me when you look at it. We will always be together. My only regret is that we can never have children together, take care.
Athena closed her eyes, with her last breath, she died in Ashura's hands. Ashura hugged Athena's body very tightly and he broke down crying. He took the crystal and put it in his pockets.
Ashura: [Crying] Why did it have to be you, not me.
Then the sky turned green, then it turned red, then it turned, ending off by turning black. Then dark fireballs appeared in the sky and further destroyed the stadium, everything was engulfed in black flames and a black lightning hit the ground, the entire stadium was engulfed in a bright light and when it died down, the stadium was destroyed, leaving a humongous crater and all the dead civilians were nowhere to be seen, probably incinerated, the fighters who were in the stadium when the stadium was destroyed, were badly wounded but they were gonna be okay. Ashura was still holding Athena's body.
Kyo: What just happened?
Nakoruru: It was the cause of a negative energy. I can still feel that energy, it's very huge and it's still rising, there's no limit to this energy, it is coming from Ashura.
Everyone looked at Ashura, who was still hugging Athena's body very tightly, they saw his hair turn white for a brief moment before it turned back to normal. The fighters were shaking due to the pressure of the energy. Ashura placed Athena's body on the ground and created a barrier around her. He turned around to look at the others, when they saw him, they got scared because Ashura's crimson eyes that were filled with happiness, were now lifeless and they were glowing very dangerously.
Ashura: [With a gruff voice] Get away from here guys. I will not be held responsible for what is going to happen.
Ashura suddenly appeared in front of Verse, who was still in the barrier, Ashura punched the barrier, breaking it, then he punched Verse to the ground very hard, breaking a part of his armor. Then he landed a punch that broke another part of Verse's armor, creating a huge shockwave, followed by another one that was stronger than the first one, he did this repeatedly with another punch being stronger than the previous one, the planet kept shaking as Ashura used much force in his punches.
Ashura was gonna punch Verse again but his fist was stopped by Nakoruru.
Ashura: What are you doing, Nakoruru. He killed my Athena and he deserves to die.
Nakoruru: You are gonna destroy the Earth, if you keep increasing the force of your punches.
Ashura: It's because of this abomination that my Athena is dead. What should I do, Nakoruru? Athena meant a lot to me, I'm slowly dying on the inside. You and the others must get away from here, the darkness in my heart is slowly taking over my body, tell the others to get away from Russia. I want you guys to kill me when I go on rampage, but let me finish the job.
Verse got on his feet and slowly walked towards Ashura. Ashura rushed at Verse using a normal human speed and punched Verse, successfully cracking his armor. Ashura then lit his crimson flames and punched him with a fiery punch, allowing his crimson flames to seep into the creature steadily, dissolving the darkness.
Ashura covered his eyes when Verse was set aflame. The creature disappeared in a beam of light that rose toward the heavens, where it exploded sending a million tiny fragments in all directions.
Ashura: He's dead, but it's not over yet.
Ashura got on his knees and grabbed his head and started screaming very loudly, the sky's turned red and the Earth started shaking rapidly as Ashura was screaming, his hair was slowly turning white as darkness was enveloping his entire body. The others didn't know what to do, Nakoruru tried getting closer to Ashura, but the force of Ashura's energy was pushing her back.
Kyo: Nakoruru, what's going on?
Nakoruru: The darkness in his heart is taking over him. He sealed 75% of his power so that we could have a chance against him, but we cannot make him use 0,00000000000000000001% of his power, he is still stronger than all of us combined. We need to get the others and get away from Russia.
Kensou: What about Athena?
Nakoruru: Ashura won't do anything to her. He loves her more than anything, I love Ashura too, but his heart and soul belongs to Athena. You guys get away from here, I'll stall him long enough for you guys to get somewhere safe. Now, GO!
All the others got away, leaving Nakoruru with Ashura.
The sky turned back to normal and the Earth stopped shaking as Ashura stopped powering up. His hair was completely white and he had glowing golden eyes with black scleras, his muscles got a bit bigger and his claws became sharper than ever, darkness enveloped his entire body.
Ashura: I see that the others have got away, you made a grave mistake Nakoruru. You should have got away when you had the chance, now you are going to be the first victim. Why do you want to save me Koru?
Nakoruru: I love you, I can't bear to see you like this. I never felt like this around other boys, but I feel different when I'm with you. I'm gonna save you.
Nakoruru rushed at Ashura and was gonna hit him, but Ashura disappeared in thin air and Nakoruru felt pain through her body, she saw Ashura in front of her with his fist planted in her guts.
Nakoruru: In the end, I couldn't save you. Forgive me Ashura.
Nakoruru fell to the ground unconscious, Ashura put his hands in his pockets.
Ashura: I'll let you live this time, but next time I will not show any mercy.
Ashura appeared in front of Athena and absorbed her body inside the crystal that she gave him before she died.
Ashura: You're body will recover inside the crystal, my love. I'm going to cleanse this world.
Ashura flew high into the air going to an unknown place.
[Flashback end]
Nakoruru: After knocking me unconscious, he flew all around the world, destroying every country. Me and the other fighters tried stopping him, but he always gave us a deadly beating and let us live so that we can entertain him again in our next encounter.
Ashura was shocked by everything he heard, he knew that the power of darkness he wielded was dangerous and very powerful, he also felt bad for everyone.
Ashura: I'll help you defeat my counterpart.
Nakoruru: Will you really do so?
Ashura: Yes, I hate seeing others suffer.
Everyone was happy that someone was gonna save them. Ashura felt that dark energy near them and rushed towards the exit.
[Outside]
Outside the hideout, there was a person that looked like Ashura but had white hair and glowing golden eyes with black scleras. He wore black leather fingerless gloves that have a white flame symbol on both of them, he had a black headband, he also wore a very short and very tight black jacket that would have exposed his entire belly if it wasn't for the tight black shirt. He also had matching black pants that were also tight, but only on the top part and not on the bottom since they were loose and wore white dress shoes. Both of the jacket sleeves have the same white flame symbol. Darkness engulfed his entire body.
Ashura got out of the hideout and saw his fallen counterpart.
Ashura rushed towards Alternate Ashura and started hitting him with an onslaught of punches and kicks, but his counterpart wasn't budging from his spot. Ashura backflipped a few feet away from his counterpart and rushed at him again. He landed a thunderous punch that shook the Earth, he then landed another thunderous punch that shook the Earth again, before hitting his counterpart with a barrage of punches that made it look like Ashura had a million hands, but his counterpart didn't even budge.
Alternate Ashura started launching beams of nothingness towards Ashura, who dodged them.
Ashura was then struck by lightning, followed up by a fireball, then a gust of wind followed by boulders, damaging him. Alternate Ashura then showed himself.
Alternate Ashura spawned a horde of blue spherical energy blasts, which then conformed themselves into daggers, and flew straight at Ashura, surrounding him, before detonating all around the helpless Ashura, sending him flying.
Alternate Ashura summoned and spread-shots purple lightning that incapacitated Ashura. Ashura shrugged off the attack and threw a huge blue fireball at Alternate Ashura, who created a wall of light the disintegrated the incoming fireball.
Alternate Ashura's eyes and mouth glowed red as he fired a deadly, red energy wave at Ashura who dodged.
Alternate Ashura generated a huge energy sphere that resembled a star and launched it at Ashura, who couldn't dodge in time and was hit by the attack, creating an explosion.
Alternate Ashura then held out the index finger of his left hand and then fired a blue energy wave from his fingertip at Ashura who was hit full force, creating an explosion.
Ashura got on his feet and charged at Alternate Ashura, going through him by creating a big Dragon with his black flames which harmed Alternate Ashura.
Alternate Ashura created a vortex of spiritual flames, that tried sucking Ashura in but Ashura threw a sun-like fireball through the vortex, causing a massive explosion.
Ashura charged at Alternate Ashura and hit him with an explosive punch, creating an explosion.
Alternate put his right hand under his left and started gathering dark energy.
Ashura cupped his hands together and started gathering green energy.
Ashura: Ashura's...
Alternate Ashurai: Dark Ashura's...
Both attacks pulsed.
Both: WRATH!
Both of them called out as they fired their attack and making them collide.
The attacks let out a great burst of power that caused a lot of wind.
Alternate Ashura's attack overpowered Ashura's attack and the attack engulfed Ashura, creating a humongous explosion. Ashura got on his feet with no problem.
Then Ashura powered up. When he finished powering up, Ashura's hair and eyes were blood red.
Ashura and Alternate Ashura charged at each other and their fists collided with each other then they traded blows with no one gaining the upper hand. Then they started shooting blasts at each other which created a big explosion, they charged at each other again and their fist collided creating a big explosion then they traded blows, their blows created explosions then Ashura punched Alternate Ashura in the stomach sending him a few feet away, then he charged at Alternate Ashura and tried punching him with his left fist which Alternate Ashura blocked then Ashura tried punching him with his right fist which Alternate Ashura blocked too, then he punched with a barrage of fist which Alternate Ashura blocked.
Ashura got a few feet away from Alternate Ashura and shot a barrage of psycho balls which hit Alternate then he threw multiple fireballs which were blue, purple, and black, they all hit Alternate Ashura, creating a big explosion.
After that Alternate Ashura was revealed to be injured. Alternate Ashura shot a blast of dark energy which hit Ashura then he shot a large number of balls of darkness which hit Ashura and destroyed the area around him. Ashura got on his feet. Ashura set his hands hands on fire before leaping to Alternate Ashura and slamming his hand to the ground, creating a large pillar of purple flames that burned him.
Alternate Ashura got on his feet and touched the ground to cause an eruption of darkness all around the area but Ashura protected himself with a forcefield made out blue flames. Alternate Ashura formed a huge spiritual blue flame in front of him and launched it at Ashura but he countered it with a black fireball creating an explosion.
Ashura was covered by a blood red aura while Alternate Ashura was covered by black aura then they were surrounded by a barrier, they charged at each and when they collided, they created the biggest explosion ever seen.
Then Alternate Ashura flooded the area with holy light from above that damaged Ashura a lot. Alternate Ashura thought it was over but Ashura surprised him by standing up. Ashura dashed at Alternate Ashura and hit him with a flurry of claws and scratches ending the combo by grabbing Alternate Ashura by the neck and slashed his neck then he dashed towards Alternate Ashura and delivered a powerful upward slash that hit Alternate Ashura's entire body.
Alternative Ashura rushed towards Ashura while engulfed by a huge amount of dark energy, while Ashura rushed towards Alternate Ashura while engulfed by the energy from his Earth. The two of them collided, creating a huge explosion and caused further destruction on Earth. When the smoke died down, Alternate Ashura was falling in to the ground while unconscious, while Ashura floated towards the ground.
Alternative Ashura's hair had turned blue and he now wore a short black coat, a shorter red shirt underneath with his midriff exposed, black pants, a large black belt with a gold buckle, a smaller black belt that hangs loose on the side of his hip, black shoes with black buckles, a black choker, and a black necklace.
Alternative Ashura fell to the ground, creating a huge crater. Every survivor watched the battle and saw that their nightmare was over, they cheered. Nakoruru rushed to the crater where Alternate Ashura was and put his head on her lap.
Nakoruru: Ashura, are you okay?
Alternate Ashura started regaining consciousness.
Alternate Ashura: Koru, are you alright?
Nakoruru: I'm okay.
Alternate Ashura got on his feet and saw his counterpart on his knees, panting hard.
Ashura: I was lucky that you sealed a lot of power. If you used your maximum power, you could have defeated me with ease.
Alternate Ashura: Thanks for saving me.
Alternate Ashura looked all around and felt guilty when he saw the destruction caused by him.
Alternate Ashura: Everyone forgive me for the destruction I have caused. I'll make everything right.
Alternate Ashura released a green wave that covered the entire Earth then everything started reverting to the way it was before the awakening of dark Ashura and everyone who died were revived. After finishing the job, Alternate Ashura fell to the ground on his back. Everyone were shocked when they saw everything.
Alternate Ashura: Everyone forgive me, I hope we meet again soon. Koru, sorry for all the pain I have caused you.
Everyone looked at Alternate Ashura and saw his body fading away.
Alternate Ashura: Athena, we will be together again.
His body completely faded away. Everyone except for the others cried as they lost their light. Ashura looked at the scene very sadly. The portal appeared and sucked Ashura in before disappearing.
[Ashura's world]
The portal appeared in the forest and out of came out Ashura.
Ashura: I know that I have to get stronger, I'm gonna train for a long time. I'm going to my pocket dimension to train.
Ashura created a portal and got in it before it disappeared, leaving nothing behind.