Hero of Heroes Ch. 22 - A Light in the Darkness
By Night

Before Ryu was a burning, crimson effigy which almost spread fear into the young warrior. The demon's fiery aura illuminated the entire battlefield, and Ryu had to shield his eyes with his arms. He's... he's become true power... power made flesh... He couldn't deduce how much power was flowing through his opponent... but it was tremendous. Then he could feel it looming closer to him...

"Be one with the darkness, young one..."

Through his shielding arms, Ryu managed to peek a glance at what was coming towards him... and he could see that Shin Akuma was quickly flying straight in his direction... His entire body was high above the ground, and he hovered headfirst as if being launched from a cannon... Ryu knew he needed to evade, and in one quick motion, he backflipped as far back as he could.

Upon landing, he suddenly felt the presence of the immense energy instantly disappear, and he saw that Shin Akuma had as well... Wh-where... Before Ryu could even think... he felt the presence of energy reappear, heading to his right side... and Shin Akuma roared as he slammed his knee right into him... taking him in the air with him... carrying him a great distance without even touching the ground. The demon elegantly glided over the surface of the earth for many, many meters until he finally smashing Ryu into the wide surface of a large rock...

Ryu didn't scream... he closed his eyes tightly as he took in the full force of the blow and absorbed as much of the shock as he could... Finally touching the ground, he opened up his eyes, seeing Shin Akuma's fist coming straight for him. With a quick reflex, Ryu jerked his head forward just in time... and the incoming fist collided with the rock, causing the huge stone to shatter. Ryu could feel the tiny fragments of rock pellet against his back, and looked up to see that the demon was still floating above him with his arm was still extended in its punching position. Must... take this chance... From his kneeling position, he projected himself forward with a punch...

Shin Akuma didn't even need to think. Not even looking at the incoming attack, he used his other arm to carelessly parry the punch. Ryu's eyes widened, and within a split second, the outstretched arm retracted, forcefully impacted with Ryu right in the chest immediately after.

The young warrior skidded along the grass, and the demon propelled himself higher into the air, bringing his hands forward. On the ground, Ryu heard a small whining noise in the sky above him... the noise of pure energy being accumulated... and he looked up to see a small sphere conjuring within Shin Akuma's hands...

The whining noise grew louder, and the sphere in the demon's hands grew larger... Ryu was asking himself many questions in his head... wondering how his opponent could fly in the air... the total amount of power he possessed... but right now his instincts only focused on one thing... Run! His body was only a little bit fatigued, and he immediately flipped himself upright back on to his feet.

When more than enough energy was accumulated, the demon roared, and the sphere was finally discharged, hurling down towards the earth... Ryu backflipped to avoid the blast, but it hit the earth so hard that Ryu lost his balance and found himself on the ground once again. The fall almost knocked the wind out of him, and he breathed raggedly to try to rejuvenate himself. Looking behind him, he saw a huge, smoky, dirt-filled crater where he was last standing... He shook his head a bit to regain his bearings... How does he... He tried to conceive how this much power could be carried by a being... but his thoughts were interrupted by the same whining sound again...

Looking up into the clouded sky, the dark warrior's hands began form another sphere of light... Lightning flashed behind him and thunder howled noisily as if it represented the power. Staggering to get up, Ryu looked up at the demon, and looked in the opposite direction. He could see that the only direction he could go was down the slope of the mountain... which ended at an upward slope safeguarding the raging ocean that could instantly drown a man under its massive tidal waves and decimate anything by the rocks... The warrior's eyes sloped with fear... and as he felt the energy from above release from its host... his survival instincts instantly snapped within him. RUN!!!

When the demon released the stored energy, rather than a huge sphere, he sent an entire barrage of smaller ones. Ryu got back on his feet, and did what his instincts told him... and he ran for life down the treacherous slope of the mountain... He could feel small explosions right behind his feet, one after another as he ran. Run! Don't stop! Run! The young warrior speeded up his pace as the slope became steeper. He knew if she slowed down or stopped now, he'd be tumbling down... so he continued to go in no direction other than forward.

The demon grinned evilly, and soon began to fly ahead, releasing an endless amount fireballs. He looked ahead and saw that the edge of the mountain was nearing, and he laughed maniacally. "WHERE CAN YOU RUN???"

Ryu just kept running, not looking back. He could hear the demon's evil laughter, and feel the explosions behind him... He knew the demon was purposely forcing him to run... testing to see how far he can go... testing his limits... Keep going... He puffed as he ran... still feeling the explosions behind him... Keep going...

The slope of the mountain was so steep, it was impossible for Ryu to slow down now... and as he neared towards the bottom, he looked ahead to the rising of the slope that marked the edge of the mountain. This may be... my only chance...

Shin Akuma grinned and continued following from the air. He knew Ryu had two choices: Jump in to the chaotic waters below, or become pummeled by the tenma gou zankuu. He was hoping Ryu would choose the latter, and hopefully summon the evil intent from him through brute force. "Only a COWARD runs from battle! You are not yet defeated! To destroy yourself in this matter would be DISHONORABLE!!!"

I am not running away! And I am not destroying myself... not now! From the extreme speed built up from running down the mountain, Ryu used the energy to run up the rising... waiting until the last possible moment to launch himself. Backward.

The demon went wide-eyed as he saw Ryu leap... and saw his body coming straight for him! He tried to react, but it was too late... the young warrior's jump was so high that he managed to end up behind Shin Akuma... grabbing him from underneath the arms... crashing his head down against the slope of the mountain in a powerful suplex. Ryu flipped himself upright, turning around. He saw his opponent lying against the slope, but was now immediately getting up... and he saw that now there was no where to run. The slope was too steep to climb up, and he would have to get passed Shin Akuma anyway. He looked back... and saw nothing but the violent ocean...

"RYU!!!" the demon roared, finally standing up, "THERE IS NO ESCAPE! NOWHERE TO RUN! YOU HAVE LOST! YOU ARE DEFEATED! IF YOU WANT TO LIVE ANOTHER DAY TO FIGHT... THEN SEAL YOUR FATE!!! UNLEASHING YOUR FULL POWER IS THE ONLY WAY TO FIGHT ME NOW!!!"

The young warrior lowered his hands to his sides. He looked back... and looked forward, putting his hands back into fighting position. He was uneasy... undecided... unsure of what to do... He took another look back... looking out at the sea and listening to the violent storm from above... He breathed slowly and closed his eyes... No choice... Ryu swallowed hard... lowered his hands... and ran.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!" Shin Akuma launched himself forward to try to tackle the running warrior... but he was already too far ahead.

Ryu ran... and upon reaching the very edge of the slope... "TATSUMAKISENPUUKYAKU!" He span in numerous circles, giving himself as much horizontal distance as possible... and upon completion he positioned his entire body downwards and dived down to the waters below.

The demon instantly teleported and reappeared in the air, trying to intercept Ryu... but he had already gone too far down. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

*SPLASH*

Furious, Shin Akuma raised his hands high above him, immediately summoning energy... finally unleashing it as a powerful energy beam into the water. "COWARD!!!!!"

The waters rippled violently in a tremendous circle around the spot where the beam hit... but failed to reveal Ryu.

***

Ryu breathed slowly. He could feel the waves of water wash up against him as he was lying flat on the sands of the shore. The salty taste of seawater was in his mouth, and he coughed and spit to try to get rid of it. Holding his arms close to his body, he shivered from the coldness of the water.

The rain had stopped, but the thunder still lightly rumbled, and the lightning still danced in the air. Ryu didn't know how long he was in the water, be he knew it was quite a while. Wiping his hair down to get the water out, he looked up to see the edge of the mountain where he had jumped. When he was up there, he remembered seeing the shore from overhead, which made him take his near suicidal leap. I must've been crazy to jump... but there was no choice...

As he looked up at the mountain, he saw no trace of his demonic opponent... but he could already feel his evil aura... right ahead of him. Surrounded in a crimson aura, Shin Akuma stood with folded arms. "Coward."

Getting on his knees, and placing his palms on the wet sand beneath him, Ryu retorted, "I merely wanted to continue the fight on flat grounds, demon..."

"I see. So now that we are on an acceptable terrain, you think you can still destroy me? Cold, alone and helpless?"

Ryu growled, and got up on his feet into fighting position. "I... will never quit." Finding whatever strength left within him, he charged forward, yelling out with a voracious battle cry.

The dark warrior simply held position and stood with his arms still folded. As Ryu approached and soared to his opponent with a flying side kick... the demon instantly caught his legs, and lazily tossed him to the side, sending him skidding along the sand. With a grunt, he turned around and stretched out his arm, opening his palm.

The grounded warrior shook off the sand that covered his body, and stood up once again. I won't quit... As he watched the demon open his palm, he positioned his hands near his hip... calling up whatever energy he could summon...

Shin Akuma just looked straight-ahead giving Ryu a hard stare and with his hand stretched out, but not calling up any energy of his own...

Ryu continued to suppress as much energy as possible, letting it build up to its maximum limits... "SHINKUU..." and finally released it... "HADOKEN!!!"

The large blue sphere hurled towards the demon who was just standing still. Closer it came... and still he didn't move... until it finally impacted upon him. A huge explosion nearly blinded Ryu causing him to squint his eyes...

When the light of the explosion faded... Shin Akuma still stood. Still in the exact same position he was in before the fireball had collided with him. It was as if it never happened. Ryu clenched his teeth... and he could now feel the energy collect in the demon's open palm...

A whirring sound resonated louder as the energy accumulated... and countless of tiny projectiles of energy spewed in all directions from the palm...

The young one knew that there was only on direction to go... and he charged straight ahead... swatting away as many small shards of energy as he could... He was struck by some of them... but still pressed on ahead until he finally reached him... and he brought back his arm... lunging forward with all his might... striking right in the chest...

The punch landed with such force that it caused the demon's feet to grind backwards, making tread marks in the sand... but the demon himself acted as if he didn't feel anything... and reached his other arm to grasp Ryu's neck... raising him off the ground. "Shoshi."

Gasping for air, Ryu used his elbow to slam into Shin Akuma's forearm... only to find it as durable as iron. In another attempt, he swung one of his hanging legs around, kicking him straight in the head... finding the effort once again futile.

The demon reacted to this by clutching his hand tighter. "IT IS USELESS!" his voice boomed as he listened to Ryu's gasps, "USING SUCH MUNDANE METHODS TO TRY TO CAUSE DAMAGE TO ME? I THINK NOT."

Ryu's eyes began to slope, and he could feel his body beginning to go limp... he had almost no energy to do anything...

"AND TO THINK I SAW POTENTIAL IN YOU..." the demonic one continued, "SUCH A WASTE OF POWER. I HAVE HAD ENOUGH PLAYING. YOU TRULY ARE WEAK. JUST LIKE MY BROTHER. AND SOON YOU WILL SEE HIM."

Ryu knew he had lost. He was defeated. But at least he was beaten while fighting... and now he will die a warrior's death... Ch... Chun-Li... g... goodbye... He gasped for his last breaths of precious air... S... Sensei... I will soon be joining you... Everything began to get cloudy... and as the darkness began to set... he could hear a small, gentle voice in his head...

"Don't give up!!!"

...And suddenly... there was a light.

The young warrior could feel the grip around his neck loosen... and Ryu dropped to the ground...

Shin Akuma was caught completely off guard... and was pounded by a mighty flying kick... sending him to the ground.

Ryu's vision was blurry, and he shook his head a bit to regain his bearings... and when his vision became clear... he realized that it wasn't a small voice was in his head.

When he looked up... he saw what appeared to be an angel. She stood before him... her boots were almost knee high, and her muscular legs were covered by pantyhose... she was dressed in a blue Chinese uniform with a dragon design on the white portion at her waist... around her wrists were two, very large, spike-covered bracelets... and her hair flowed with the wind... hair that was tied by back an all-too-familiar red bandanna...