In hindsight, i probably should have made this chapter part of chapter 2 due to how short it turned out to be. Sorry, for that. But, with that out of the way, enjoy the finale of the fight between Juri and Ryu. Also, the chapter's title is a reference to the Street Fighter 4 OVA's name "The Ties That Bind"


Chapter 3: The Scars That Bind

Within the mountain range of Akaishi, in the Nagano Prefecture of Japan, one of the mountains, Mount Kita had been forbidden for years to be climbed or toured. According to the local folklore, a raging demon had recently claimed it as its home and now inhabited its caves and that all the wildlife around the mountain kept its distance from it in fear and respect of it.

Most of that was of course, folklore. Yet in part, those tales were indeed true.

For within one of its caves, were a watercourse run through, the fabled demon sat, legs crossed, meditating and reminiscing about his past battles. Yet, in spite of its nature, the demon took the appearance of a dark-skinned, incredibly muscular man with red hair tied in a topknot and crimson eyes, that wore a dark-colored gi without sleeves tied round the waist with a brown belt, matching sandals, wraps around his hands and wrists and a prayer bead around his neck. The man once went by the name Gouki before fully embracing the demonic force that was the Satsui No Hado and killing his own master in a fight to the death that, nonetheless, saw the man, Goutetsu die happily upon seing that his student had surpassed him. That same Gouki that many years later, in his search for an opponent that could finally defeat him and bring him death, ended up killing his own brother, Gouken.

Akuma.

The Dark Warrior still remembered his last encounter with his older brother's pupil, Ryu, who, in their last battle, had tapped partially into the Satsui No Hado, thus finally allowing him to match Akuma blow for blow, if only, for a short while. In the end though, the Raging Demon emerged as the victor once more, due to Ryu still refusing to give into the Dark Hado and transcend his humanity, much to Akuma's dissappointment.

"He was so close to awakening his full potential…. To finally grant me the fight to the death i have longed for so long…. That fool…. He seeks strength yet refuses to embrace the power within him…. How achingly predictable of humans to be caught in such meaningless contraddictions…. He will never-"

Akuma's eyes suddenly snapped open in surprise and he stood up. He had sensed something far away, something familiar yet at the same time, completely different "This disturbance….." he spoke out loud, recognising the presence he sensed as that of the Satsui No Hado. He walked out of the cave and stared emotionless at the blood red moon before him, its light cast upon the valley "It calls out to me…. Could it be?" he wondered, for a moment shocked to believe that this twisted, malicious aura belonged to the same man who refused to embrace the dark power within him.

Little did he know how right he was.


(OST: "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" = Naruto Soundtrack)

By the time Ryu and Juri, the former now taken over by the Satsui No Hado and the latter having now unleashed the full power of the Feng Shui Alpha, resumed their battle, it was no longer a contest of strength or skill, or a clash of ideals and convictions.

It had now become a fight to the death between two monsters.

And to any normal human's naked eye, the fight would have looked like two mirages, one purple and one red and purple colliding several times. That's how fast both of them were moving.

Juri grinned as she brought down an axe kick on top of Ryu, only for him to widen his stance, lift one knee and teleporting behind her as his eyes glowed, thus allowing her foot to instead strike the ground, creating a 10 meter wide crater. In response, she spun around and threw two roundhouse kicks aimed to his face followed by a backanded strike from her right hand. Ryu effortlessly blocked her attacks and replied by spinning around and slamming his right elbow on Juri's left cheek, making her skid backwards by several meters and thus giving him the opportunity to leap in the air and, with a mighty roar, throw a flying kick towards her.

Having anticipated this, Juri sidestepped at the last second and seized Ryu's leg with her arms, taking him by surprise. Grinning madly, she spun around and threw him to the ground, causing it to crack before raising her left leg up and bring down her heel on his head…..

Which would have succeded were it not for you using the Ashura Senku to teleport once more behind her and thus giving him the opportunity to throw another Dark Hado infused punch towards her, only for Juri to swiftly spin around and intercept his attack with a roundhouse kick. The resulting impact from both strikes, created a shockwave so powerful and released so much energy that many of the surrounding trees broke apart and fell to the ground, thus levelling a good portion of the forest.

Undeterred and even more enraged, Ryu threw his other fist forward, only for Juri to swat it aside with another kick and then taking the offensive, unleashing an onslaught of kicks followed by the occasional punch which were so strong, all Ryu could do was block them with his arms and legs "NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAA! I KNEW YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE TO FINALLY SATISFY ME! NO ONE BEFORE YOU HAS EVER MANAGED TO TURN ME ON SO MUCH! NOW ROAR! SCREAM FOR ME! SHOW ME YOUR RAGE!" she cackled madly, taunting him with each phrase, only serving to intensify Ryu's fury and by extent, feeding the Satsui No Hado within him and in turn, making him stronger with each passing second.

Having had enough of her madness, Ryu caught the last kick by Juri's ankle, stopping her before pulling her closer and, with another hateful roar, punch her in the face with her left fist, making her recoil back and leaving her wide open for his own barrage of punches that struck Juri in the face "Your madness makes you reckless! I SHALL EXTINGUISH YOUR WICKED AND PERVERSE THOUGHTS WITH MY HADO!" Ryu roared spitefully, tired of her deranged mouth as he kept striking her time and time again in the face….

Only for Juri, in spite of her face now being blodied and bruised, to catch the last of his fists with her left hand, wrap her right arm around Ryu's arm before jumping and also wrapping her legs around his bicep, thus locking him in an armlock. She then twisted herself on the left and as a result, both of them fell on the ground, Ryu face-first, thus allowing Juri to backflip several times backwards to distance herself before launching herself towards him.

Ryu got back on his feet just in time to see Juri in the air right above him, crazed smile and Feng Shui shining brightly and leaving a trail of energy behind, coming towards him with a axe kick. She looked almost like a Shinigami, a God of Death from japanese mythology, having come forth from the Netherworld to claim his soul. But even those now paled in comparison to what now was Hatred Incarnate.

Thus, Ryu sidestepped the kick before punching Juri in the face once more, snapping her head with a loud crack to the left and causing it to bleed once more.

But as he threw another punch, her purple eyes lit up, this time with her own rage and her own right fist was faster, finding its mark on Ryu's chin, knocking out a tooth.

Again Ryu struck her face.

Juri replied with an uppercut.

A now almost feral-like Ryu struck her in the abdomen twice with two mighty punches, which damaged her internal organs and caused her to cough blood from her mouth before following up with another punch on her face, causing her to skid backwards by several meters.

This time, she was the one to get enraged upon clutching her beautiful face and realising just how much he had damaged it "I'LL KILL YOU!" she roared as she ducked, avoiding another punch before spinning around and slamming her left foot on Ryu's stomach with a reverse kick, like-wise making him spit blood. She then leapt in the air, gathered as much energy as she could around her left leg and, with an wrathful roar, kicked him on his right cheek with so much force to send him flying dozens of meters backwards through several trees.

(Soundtrack Ends)

But as she landed on the ground, her legs suddenly gave away and she fell on her knees before suddenly coughing up even more blood as a result of all the blows she had taken which, nonetheless, made her feel so alive, so happy that she had finally found an opponent strong enough to satisfy her.

"I must admit, you are indeed very strong." to her dismay, Ryu came back from where he had been sent in just a few seconds, though she could see that her own attacks did hurt him as well, as shown by blood falling from the right corner of his mouth. He wiped it off before cupping both of his hands at his left side "However, i am still not satisfied. The Dark Hado cries for your blood and i shall satiate it!" he declared as a large sphere of red and purple energy appeared in between his hands, the Satsui No Hado's twisted version of the Hadoken.

Juri licked her lips and got back up on her feet, deciding to bet everything on one final attack "Guess we'll have to end this on a high note then, handsome." she then lifted her left leg, brought it backwards and as the Feng Shui Alpha brightened even more, it began to accumulate as much energy as it could on her leg, which she intended to unleash as the strongest Fuhajin she had ever used "GET READY! ONLY ONE OF US WILL BE LEFT STANDING AFTER THIS!" Ryu bared her teeth at her at her bold declaration as they both powered up to unleash their final attacks, their respective energies now flaring with such intensity to lift rocks off the ground, small to medium-sized and send gusts of wind that could be felt all the way from Suzaku Castle.

And finally, after many more seconds of the two combatants sizing each other up…..

"Metsu… HADOKEEEEEENNNNNN!"

"FUHAJIIIIINNNNNNN!"

Ryu thrust his arms forwards and shot the Dark Hadoken towards Juri, who spun around and, fired the strongest crescent shaped purple projectile she had ever conjured to counter it.

Both energy attacks met each other with so much force to send shockwaves that could be felt miles away. Sparks crackled around the two projectiles, so evenly matched in power that none could overcome the other and as a result, the pressure around the point of impact grew higher and higher….

Until both attacks detonated in a gigantic explosion that levelled a good portion of the forest and engulfed both warriors.

Juri shielded herself with her arms as the shockwave pushed her backwards and smoke began to envelop her "Damn. Hopefully, that was enough to put him down…. I'm drained, i can't fight anymore…."

To her shock and dread, two red glows pierced through the smoke and sure enough, Ryu, mostly unscathed, but with his upper GI now torn off was upon her like a savage beast once more "No…. It can't be…. I have to get away…." panicking, Juri turned around and attempted to escape, only to be caught by her left wrist by him. She could only gaze into his red eyes, full of fury and hatred as he held her in place, clenched his left fist before bringing it backwards, red and purple energy gathering around it once more.

"I c-can't move….." Juri gasped and began to shake in fear as, no matter how much she struggled, she coudn't free herself, not even after she threw a punch to Ryu's face that this time, didn't even phase him.

"Messatsu.

She could only gasp in horror and helplessness and watch as Ryu uppercutted her in the abdomen, bringing her above his head. The blow was so strong that it caused Juri's eyes to snap open in pain and cough up a large amount of blood from her mouth. In that moment she gazed towards the murderous eyes of the one she had challenged to a fight, unaware of the darkness that dwelled inside of him…..

And finally realised that the true monster all along, was him.

"GOSHORYUUUU!" Ryu finally roared as he finished his uppercut, releasing his energy. His fist was so powerful it scarred Juri the same way she had scarred his chest before. She could only scream in agony as it sliced through the flesh in her chest like a knife, splitting her breastplate apart and soon, blood erupted from the large wound in between her breasts, not too different from Ryu's own, as she was sent dozens of meters high in the air before coming crashing down, the ground beneath her cratering as soon as her body struck it and went limp.

"Ah….. Ah…. Ah…" Juri laid unmoving on the ground, bloodied and defeated, only managing to let out a few weak gasps due to the pain she was in. Her hairpins shattered as a result of the energy Ryu unleashed with that last attack and as a result, her long and beautiful black hair came undone and now laid on the ground all around her head.

"Hehehe… Man, that was one hell of a battle…." she mused out loud, happy that she could at least have the greatest fight of her life. And when she saw Ryu standing victorious above her, this time without any emotion on his face, she smiled again, this time in joy.

"Hehehe….. Looks like i bit off more….." she paused, coughing up more blood before saying "Than i could chew….." completely uncaring about her loss, Ryu reached out for her neck with his right hand and lifted her limp body off the ground, regarding her with utter nonchalance, as if she was a bug he had just squashed "Yeah, baby….. Just like that…. Show no mercy…. Finish me…. I'm…. Satisfied….." Juri moaned, overjoyed that this had been her last fight. Yet as Ryu brought back his right arm and clenched his right fist, preparing to finish her off, a single tear left her left eye as both of her eyes closed.

"Mom….. Dad …. I'm sorry….. I coudn't avenge you….." those were her last thoughts as she passed out, believing that her life had finally come to its end.

But that single tear, shed out of regret for not having succedeed in avenging her parents's death was all it took to stop Ryu's fist, right before it could connect. And then, all of a sudden….

"Ryu, you're stronger than this! If we beat that psycopath twice, who says you can't overcome this darkness inside you?"

"Let your heart guide you and listen not to the temptations of darkness, for a man's power isn't truly measured by the strength his body may possess…..But by the strength of his heart."

"Destiny is not pretedermined. We all can change our fate if we have the courage to rise and face it head-on. Fight, Ryu! Fight for your future!"

The precious memories of the words and smiles of Ken, his best friend, Gouken, his master and Rose, the italian woman and fortune teller whom he saved from Bison and many more of his friends all came back. He recoiled back in shock, letting go of Juri's unconscious body and allowing it to fall back on the ground. And then…..

"Ryu-San…. Please…. Wake up…."

Sakura's tear-filled eyes as she embraced him, begging him to break out of the Satsui No Hado flashed in his mind once more. And with that, the darkness's hold on his soul began to slowly vanish and, as a result, Ryu cried out in pain as he doubled over and clutched his head, his humanity returning and slowly beginning to prevail.

"No….. I won't give in…. I won't do it….." he muttered out as his body slowly began to change back to normal, the red and purple energy vanishing, his torn Gi returning back to its white color, his eyes returning brown once more, his hair returning to how it was before, no longer red, the "hole" in his chest and the star shaped scar on his back dissappearing.

"GIVE INTO THE MIGHTY POWER!" the Satsui No Hado, taking the shape of Akuma inside his mind, attempted one last time to take hold of him, to no avail.

"NO! RRAAAAAAARRRRGGHHHHHHH!" Ryu screamed to the heavens as he finally broke himself out of the Dark Hado's hold. He then collapsed on his knees and hands, breathing heavily in exhaustion "Dammit….. I lost control once more…" he cursed, all the rage, hatred and bloodlust he had earlier now replaced by shame and self-loathing. Yet, he knew that without that dark, accursed power, he would have died for Juri was unbelieavably strong, too strong for him to handle. He gasped in realization when his thoughts went back to her. He looked around, wondering where she was…..

And then his heart sank the moment he spotted her, lying motionless on the ground, bloodied and beaten, her breastplate split apart, her breasts exposed but drenched in the blood that came from the large, deep wound in between them, her long, black hair now unbound and now lying mesmerisingly around her head in all directions. He walked up to her and all of a sudden he began to feel nothing but guilt, believing he had killed her. She may have had ties with Seth and S.I.N. which most certainly was a good indication that she had the blood of innocents on her hands, she may have been borderline psychotic in nature. And yet, for some reason he coudn't quite fathom, Ryu almost felt pity for her, which only grew the moment he saw her eyes and noticed tears coming from them. Adding to his bewilderment, he also noticed how different Juri's faced looked now, no longer full of bloodlust and wickedness but rather…. Serene, content…. Even regretful in part.

"Had i fully given in to the Satsui No Hado, she would have been dead by now. How curious. In spite of all the bloodlust and depravity she showcased, i can see that there is more than that to her. Just what kind of person is this woman really?" he spoke as he got on one knee and gently laid a hand on Juri's chest, uncaring on wheter he was touching her breasts or not, while looking at her mouth to see if she was still breathing, which, she still was, as evidenced by the air coming out of her mouth and her chest lifting up slightly with each slow breath she took even in that unconscious state of hers "She's still alive, if only barely. And she said she used to work for Seth and S.I.N. ." Ryu remarked out loud, spending the next few seconds pondering on what to do. Eventually, though, he decided that there were some answers he needed and that, in spite of the danger he would have taken helping her, by his moral sense, he coudn't just leave her to die like this.

Therefore, he put his left hand around her back and his right hand behind her legs, lifted off the ground and proceeded to carry her back to Suzaku Castle, in spite of his own wounds. Waiting for him, were Abe and the other monks, having spotted him from the balcony walking towards the temple and immediately rushing to the ground floor to meet him "Master Ryu, you're wounded!" they all called out in worry which then turned into awe and bewilderment as soon as they took notice of the beautiful young woman in black, purple and white lying unconscious in his strong arms, her long and beautiful hair cascading downwards, her arms and legs hanging downwards.

Abe came past his fellow monks and the moment he came face to face with Ryu, his jaw dropped "Master Ryu, who is this woman? Why is she in such a grave state?" he asked, taken aback by the large wound in her chest before noticing a similar great scar across the Wandering Warrior's chest "And that scar….. Who gave you that injury?"

"She did." Ryu answered Abe's last question emotionlessly, making his eyes, along with those of the other monks, widen in even more disbelief "She came here to challenge me to a fight. I accepted, but she was strong…. Much stronger than me." he stated, adding even more shock to the monks.

"We saw the Satsui No Hado materialize itself in the forest from the Castle. We thought the demon had-" one of the monks hesitantly began to speak….

Before Ryu cut him off "What you saw wasn't Akuma's doing. It was me." his statement chilled Abe and his fellow monks to the core. He then looked at Juri's unconscious body while explaining "The Satsui No Hado almost took control of me completely. She almost ended up killing me, that's how outclassed i was and how one-sided our battle had become. And as much as it shames me to admit it, had the Satsui No Hado not taken me over at that moment, i would have been the one to die today."

The monks looked at Ryu in pity and sadness. He had trained so hard and journeyed so much around the world to master his control over the darkness within his soul that threatened to consume him the same way it consumed his master's brother. They could clearly hear the amount of self-loathing and guilt in his voice as he recounted what had happened "Master Ryu….." they could only call out his name in sadness and empathy, while at the same time, they were shocked to hear that the unconscious woman he now held in his arms managed to push him to that breaking point. Gouken's brother was one thing but never would they have imagined that even a woman could attain such great, overwhelming power, enough to heavily wound Ryu and almost kill him.

The Wandering Warrior turned towards Abe again and asked him "Can you treat her?" making him and the other monks gasp in disbelief "What?"

"Please, can you treat her?" Ryu repeated his question only for Abe to reply in mistrust "You can't be serious, Master Ryu. She almost took your life and yet, you want us to treat her injuries?"

"She cried, Abe. Before i could finish her off, almost fully taken over by that accursed power as i was, she shed tears of sadness and happiness. That, was what made me break out of the Dark Hado's hold. It made me remember all the friends i have and all the precious memories of the moments we shared together." he looked at her once more in concern, upon seeing her breathing accelerate "Please. I want to know more about her. There has to be more to her than what she appears to be." he pleaded one last time to the monks he knew ever since Gouken first took him in his care and raised him as if he was his own son.

Yielding, Abe finally replied "Very well then, Master Ryu. I shall see to it that this woman receives the best treatment we can offer." he then turned towards his fellow monks and gestured four of them to come forward.

"Thank you." Ryu expressed his gratitude towards them before proceeding to give them Juri's unconscious and beaten body to their arms and then silently, the four monks, escorted by the others minus Abe, walked back into the castle. The leader of the monks of Suzaku Castle then placed a hand on Ryu's shoulder, trying to give him a measure of consolation "I'm sorry, Master Ryu. It must have been harrowing to have nearly succumbed to that accursed power once more."

Ryu shook his head in reply to the monk's words "Don't be, Abe. If anything….." he turned his eyes away from him and instead gazed upon his right palm, facing upwards "It made me finally accept that no matter what i do, i will never be able to fully control that side of me. Still, i won't give up in my efforts to master it. To do so, would mean that all the efforts and sacrifices Master and i made would be for nothing."

Abe smiled at his conviction, happy to see the legacy Gouken, his old friend, had left behind "Let us hope so, Master Ryu. Come, your wounds need to be treated, also." he spoke, beckoning him to come back into the Castle.

When he arrived in the room the other monks were, he saw Juri's body resting on a long piece of cloth, being treated by the elderly monks, who were in the process of cleaning her bruises and wounds with towels moist in a water mixed in with traditional healing herbs. Thanks to their soothing and their curative effects, Juri's breathing began to ease and the monks coudn't help but admire her beauty and her body, curvaceous yet strongly-built and athletic at the same time, as they treated her and bandaged her chest after untying and removing her torn breastplate from her back and neck, were the most serious wound was.

As Ryu took his seat in the room and began to treat his own wounds with another towel, he still coudn't help but look in wonder at how different Juri's face looked now that she was in a state of rest. Gone was the psychotic smile full of nothing but ill intent as well as the bloodlust in those eyes. She now looked just like any other woman, resting happily in peace.

Yet as he treated his chest, he could feel the scar burn as it continued to cicatrize. He coudn't help tracing his fingers alongside it, still in disbelief that he had been scarred the same way he had scarred Sagat in their first fight "I still can't believe she did this to me….." he then looked at the woman he also scarred once more, recalling her name "Juri. Who are you, really?"


There was no mistaking it.

The dark presence he felt so far away was that of the boy. Only this time, it felt much more sinister, much more wicked, filled with much killing intent. The Satsui No Hado within him had tightened its grip on Ryu's soul.

And that made Akuma for the first time in only God knows how long, smile in satisfaction.

"Just as i had imagined. You can continue to resist it as much as you want, to deny your deepest desires as much as you want….. But in your heart, you know how much you yearn for that power and that its hold on you grows stronger with each passing day. Sooner or later, you will have no choice but to transcend your humanity to embrace it lest you succumb to it. For to truly achieve greatness, one must let go of everything else and focus only on obtaining absolute strength. Such is the fate of those who seek power. We shall meet again, boy."

He declared as he turned around and retreated back in his cave and in his silence.