Chapter 56: Ryu & Ken (Legendary Street Fighters)
Suzaku Castle
The sounds of thunder echoed in the air as lightning flashed in the sky. Downpours of rain fell around the area; making big puddles and rapid rivers on pathways around the castle grounds. Thunder echoed in the air once again with a lightning flash, and the light revealed the defeated fighters of this universe; laying on the ground with varieties of injuries. The fallen fighters on the ground were: Blanka, Dan Hibiki, Major Guile, Zangeif, Luke, Marisa, Sagat, M. Bison, Cammy, and Chun-Li. But one fighter had stood among the rest, staring at the open gateway to the back of the castle. That fighter was none other than Ryu's enemy: Akuma. He stared out into the darkness as rain poured down on him. He blinked his eyes, looked back at his defeated foes, back to the gateway, and then walked away from them; going into the darkness on his own.
As he walked, Chun-Li opened her eyes, and slowly stood up; watching him go on his own. "Akuma... you have no idea... on what you're about to see in there..." she said in pain. After that, she fell back down to the ground. She crawled upto a wall, sat herself up, groaned in pain, and then saw a light shine in the sky. She blinked her eyes twice, and then saw me appear from the sky. I gently flew down and went over to her. As I helped her up, the team appeared from the shadows and helped the others stand back up. "Chun-Li..? You alright?" I asked her. She groaned in pain again, and then saw me heal her. "Well... I'm better now. Thanks to you." she said. I nodded my head in understanding, and then me and the team took her and her allies to our Ships, called the medical team from my world, and watched them appear and help heal her and her allies wounds.
After getting everyone settled, Ganondorf and I walked over to Chun-Li and sat down with her. "How are you feeling?" I asked. "A lot better. Thank you very much for your hospitality." she replied. "No problem." I replied. She lightly smiled, and then looked down at her hands, and turned them into fists. As she did this, we could tell that she was angry at herself for some reason. "So..? You know why we're all here?" Ganondorf asked her. "...Yes. According to your medics and people from her universe... you're all here to stop Ryu and Ken." she replied. "Correct. But... this ain't you're normal Ryu and Ken. These versions of them are created by Shadow Bugs. When most of us were caught in that multiversal attack a few months ago and turned us into Trophies... the ruler of the Dark Realm in Spirit's universe sent the creatures to take possession of us, make shadow clones of us, and made them do things in the multiverse that give the Dark Realm ruler a newfound power to make him a multiversal god." he replied as he clutched his right hand into a fist.
She looked at us surprised, and then turned to me silently; staring at me sternly. "I see. And you say that this villain that did this to Ryu and Ken is from her dimension and is using them to obtain our universe's power in order to make himself a god?" she said. "Yes... it is true." he replied. "Then how come hasn't she defeated him yet? If she destroys him, then this multiversal madness would've never happened in the first place?" she replied. I blinked my eyes, lowered my head, and then turned away silently. "It's not that easy. He had this planned out for years... but there was one giant fail in his plan that is stalling him." he said as he looked at me. "And that would be what? Her still alive?" she replied. "That is correct. He tried to take her life and absorb her powers when she was a child, but she escaped his grasp and was teleported away from her homeland by the soul of the legendary hero that once saved her home many centuries ago. After her escape, her powers blocked her memories of it all in order for her to stay hidden, but as she grew up, and began her journey to save us and restore our worlds... all of her memories came back." he replied.
She blinked her eyes, turned to me again, and then saw me clutch my hands into fists. "Chun-Li... I'm so sorry..." I said. "Spirit... it's alright. All of this was not your fault. I should be the one to apologize after what I said to you. I never fully understood what you were going through until Ganondorf explained it to me. I'm sorry that I made you feel the way you are feeling right now. Please. Forgive me for my actions." she replied. I turned to her, blinked my eyes, and then nodded my head to her; showing her that I forgive her. She lightly smiled and nodded her head in thanks. "Okay... now that the sappy stuff is out of the way... I've got a question for you." said Ganondorf. "Of course. Ask away." she replied. "Did you see anyone go beyond where we found you to challenge them?" he replied. Her eyes widened in shock to his question, and then she began to remember her battle with Akuma, her loss to him, and watching him go after False Ryu and False Ken.
She snapped back into reality, and then nodded her head yes to his question. "Yes... I did see someone go after them." she said. "Who was it?" I replied curiously. "...It was Akuma." she replied. Our eyes widened in shock to her response. "Akuma!? What in the hell does he think he's doing!?" he said in shock. "He wants to challenge Ryu. They have been enemies for many years, and Ryu has always found ways to defeat him." she replied. "And now that he thinks False Ryu is the real one... he thinks he can truly beat him with all the darkness in his head." I replied. She nodded her head yes to my response. "Wait a second... doesn't Ryu have an evil version of himself that he fights as sometimes?" he asked. "He does... but he only goes into that state when he is in a very dire situation. It's very risky when he does turn into that state... it turns him into a monster.." she replied. "A monster like Akuma..." I replied. She nodded her head yes to my response, and then clutched her hands into fists. "That damn Akuma... he has no idea what he's about to face." she said.
We nodded our heads in understanding, and then left Chun-Li's room to let her rest and heal her wounds. We then went outside of the medical area, and met back up with the team. "So... you guys got some info for us?" Captain Falcon asked us. "Yeah. We know now who's going after them." Ganondorf replied. "Who? Who's going after them?" Little Mac replied. "Akuma." I replied. Everyone looked at us in shock, and then we all turned to where we found everyone here, and heard the sound of thunder echo in the air. As we looked out to the area, I could sense the auras of False Ryu and False Ken out in the stormy night. "So? Who's going with her on this one?" Bowser asked. "I'll go. I think it's time that they face the Demon King." Ganondorf replied as he clutched his fist. "Alright... that's one person going... anyone next?" Bowser replied. No one else said a word, and then looked at me and Ganondorf. "Alright... I guess it's just you two then." he said.
"Yeah." I replied. "It seems to be that way." Ganondorf replied. "Okay... just be careful, alright?" Roy replied. "We will." I replied. "And don't you worry, Roy. She's safe with me. I'll make sure no one seriously harms her." Ganondorf replied. "Thank you, Ganondorf." Roy replied as he nodded his head. "And we'll be on the look out for their Trophies. Once we revive them, we'll tell them where you two are, and they'll find you." Link replied. I nodded my head in understanding, hugged him and Roy, and then left with Ganondorf. As we walked, Bowser clutched his hands into fists, and then began to go after us. "Huh!? Bowser! Where are you going!?" said Mario surprised. "I'm going to help them out. I know that they have the power and strength alone to take them on... but I know that Spirit's life is in danger by them. If they can sense her emotions... they can manipulate her and take her down easier than Ganon. So I'm going to give them a hand." he replied as he stopped and turned to him.
Mario was surprised by his words, and then nodded his head in understanding. Bowser did the same, and then chased after us. After a few minutes, Bowser caught upto us, and saw us turn to him in shock. "What the hell? Bowser? What are you doing?" said Ganondorf. "Helping you two out. Besides... its time for two of the greatest villains in the tournament to team up together and take on the two legendary Street Fighters." he replied. Ganondorf was surprised of what he said, smirked confidently, and then shared a fist bump with him. Bowser smirked as well, and then they ended the fist bump. "Hell yeah. Let's show them to true power of darkness." said Ganondorf. "Hell yeah, brother." Bowser replied. After that, they caught upto me and we continued our walk in the area.
A few moments of silence later, I began to sense the auras of False Ryu and Ken. I stopped in my tracks, closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and used my powers to sense around the entire area. "What the..? What is she doing?" said Bowser as he and Ganondorf stopped and looked at me. Ganondorf stared at me silently for a moment, and then they saw me quickly open my eyes as they glew. "Move!" I said. We jumped out of the way of each other, and then we saw two fiery energies hit each other. We jumped back to our spots, heard thunder clap, and saw the cherry blossoms rapidly fall from the trees as the wind became stronger. "What the hell was that!?" said Bowser. "...It's them. " Ganondorf replied as we turned to his left. When we looked in that direction, we saw False Ryu walk out of the shadows, heard thunder clap again, and saw his yellow eyes glow and stare at us.
"False Ryu." said Bowser sternly. We then turned to his left, and then saw False Ken appear a moment later; holding Akuma by his outfit. He then threw Akuma to us, and we looked down at him. "False Ken... and they took down Akuma..." said Ganondorf in a light, surprised tone. "Not just took him down... look at the giant hole in his chest area. They've killed him..." I replied in a soft, shocked tone. Their eyes widened in shock to this, and then we saw both False Ryu and False Ken get into battle positions; ready to fight. My eyes and armor glew brightly as I looked at them, and then I released some energy around Bowser and Ganondorf. Once they saw it surround them, they realized that I am using it to protect them. We nodded our heads to each other, got into our battle positions, and then we began our battle. When our first punches and kicks connected, a bolt of lightning crashed down to ground and a big clap of thunder echoed in the air as the rain began to fall heavier and faster.
We fought them ferociously and cautiously for about ten minutes; watching their moves and countering them with our moves. Bowser using his Koopa Flame and Klaws to take on Ryu, Ganondorf and his Triforce of Power against Ken, and I using Electric, Wind, Ice, Dark, Water, and Fire elemental attacks on both our foes. "Whoa... I guess you've learned a lot from them, Terry, and Kazuya, eh sport?" said Ganondorf. "Yep. Once you watch them fight, you learn their battle styles and their world's opponents; making you more unique that they think." I replied. After I said that, I punched False Ryu with a electric fist, and sent both him and False Ken back to a tree. We stood tall silently, watched them stand back up, and crack their necks and knuckles. "Shit... they're too strong." said Bowser as he breathed heavily. They then charged at us, and gave us a powerful beating; sending us to a small, abandoned shrine. They then followed our path, looked down at us, and saw us stand back up.
We wiped off some blood and rain on our faces, and then we clashed with them again. I tried to get at their backs and blast a Light Beam through them, but they quickly caught me off guard, knocked me out cold, and threw me back to the shrine. "Spirit!" yelled Bowser and Ganondorf. They fought our foes again, and were knocked out too. They then walked over to me, took out a Energy Absorber device, and aimed it at me. Bowser and Ganondorf woke up, and saw what they were trying to do. "Spirit! Wake up!" yelled Bowser. "Wake up, sport! They're about to absorb your powers! Come on, kid! Wake up!" Ganondorf yelled. They turned the device on, and locked it on me. As the did this, I slowly woke up and used my Shadow powers to turn into a shadow and get away from the device. Their eyes widened in shock to this, and then I made myself appear in front of them, and punched them with my fists covered in Light energy.
They dropped the device on the ground, and then I used Electric, Earth, and Fire elements to destroy the device. "Spirit! You alright?" Bowser asked me as he and Ganondorf ran over to me. "Yeah... I'm alright." I replied. They lightly smiled, patted my back and shoulders, and then we saw our foes stand back up. We got into or battle poses, and watched them charge at us. "Shinku... HADOKEN!" said a voice. We turned around, and saw a giant, blue energy sphere appear out of nowhere from behind us, and hit our foes; pushing them away from us. "No way... there's only one person that can do that..." said Ganondorf. "Hey. Bowser. Ganondorf. Spirit. You guys need a hand?" replied a voice. We looked out into the shadows, and saw Ryu appear for the first time. "Ryu!" we said (A/N: Ryu is in his Street Fighter 6 design). He nodded his head to us, stood by us, and was ready to fight. "Great to have you back, Ryu." I said. "Thank you, Spirit. Now you all don't have to fight them alone." he replied. "Hey! Don't forget about me!" replied a voice.
We turned to my left, and saw Ken appear for the first time. "Ken!" I said. "Hey, kid. Thanks for holding these guys back for a bit. You can rest until the final attack. We can take it from here." he replied as he stood by us; ready to fight too. I nodded my head in understanding, and jumped away from the group. "Alright, guys! Let's finish this!" said Ganondorf. "Right!" they replied. After that, they teamed up together and fought our foes. "Hadoken!" said Ryu. "Shoryuken!" Ken replied. "Tatsumaki Senpukyaku!" Ryu replied. "Shinryuken!" Ken replied. They fought their False selves for a few minutes, and then watched them fall to the ground. Bowser and Ganondorf turned into their most powerful forms, gave our foes a beating for a couple minutes, and then turned back to normal. "Alright, boys... they're yours now." said Ganondorf. "Thanks, Ganon. Ready, Ryu?" Ken replied. "I was born ready." Ryu replied.
They got into their battle poses, felt their energies reach their limit, and then charge at their foes as they stood up. They punched and kicked their foes again, and then nodded their heads at each other. "Now!" said Ryu. "Right! Shippu Jinraikyuaku!" Ken replied as he used the attack; sending them in the air. Ryu charged after them, charged up his fist, and jumped up in the air. "Shin... SHORYUKEN!" he said as he punched them and lunched them very high in the air. As they landed on the ground, I ran up near them, and used Terry's Final Smash, Triple Wolf, on them, and combined it with my energy; destroying them for good. After that, the storm that had clouded the area had disappeared, and we saw the sun begin to rise in the sky. We celebrated our victory, and then saw the team appear and reunite with us. "Nice job, you guys." said Meta Knight. "Thank you, Meta Knight." Ken replied. After that, we all went back to the ships, and I used my powers to restore this world back to normal.
Inside the Great Fox
"So... who are we finding next?" said Falco. "Well... let's see what the Slate has to show us." Fox replied. They activated the Slate, watched it do its scan, and reveal the next Fighter to us. As we saw who it was... Link, Roy, Pikachu, and I stared at the screen in complete shock. "Well... who is it..?" said Sonic. "It's Cloud..." Rock replied. Sonic's eyes widened in shock, and then he and Rock saw me, Roy, Link, and Pikachu stare at the screen in shock and silence. "Oh... this one's personal to them." he whispered. "Yeah. I just hope that False Sephiroth doesn't have him or anything." Rock whispered. Sonic nodded his head in agreement, and then saw Marth walk upto us. "Guys..? You alright?" he asked us. We snapped back into reality, and then walked upto the Slate. I held both Roy's and Link's hands; beginning to worry about Cloud. They held my hands back, and then looked at each other; beginning to worry about him too. "Fox..? Where is his Trophy located?" said Roy.
"It in the city of Edge. According to the Slate... Tifa and their group found him and are keeping him safe. And they are under attack by... Bahamut SIN." he replied. Our eyes widened in shock to this; knowing of Cloud's history with that monster. "Okay... if there is a way to contact Tifa and her group... call and tell them we are on our way." Link replied. "Got it." Falco replied. After that, we began our journey to Cloud's world; ready to save him and stop Bahamut SIN once and for all.
Thank you so much for reading Chapter 56 of the story! Holy crap... this one was a process. The writing for the fighting segment was brutal. I wrote so many drafts of the fight and how I thought it would play out... but a majority of them just never made sense to me. So I had to throw them out, and then thought of this scenario. And this one seemed to work out in my favor; especially for Ryu and Ken to join in and show off the moves they do in their franchise. And the little cameos from many other Street Fighter characters was fun to do for the fans and let them see some of their favorites.
Anyways, thank you so much for reading Chapter 56 of the story, and have yourself and awesome day!
Next time, Chapter 57: Cloud (Midgar's Mercenary). Our heroes arrive at Midgar, help protect the city of Edge, and help Tifa and her group bring Cloud back to life. As this goes on, Taylor teams up with False Cloud to take on Bahamut SIN. Will the real Cloud be revived on time before Bahamut SIN destroys everything and everyone he cares about? Find out in Chapter 57!