Hero of Heroes- Ch.24- Keep Your Promise
By Night

The cold winds brushed past the bodies of two standing figures... One a man, one a demon. The man stood still... his eyes focused squarely on the fiery red eyes of the figure standing in front of him. And in his hand, he held the demon's fist... a mere inches away from his heart.

Shin Akuma's arm began to pulsate... straining as he tried to release the grip that Ryu had on his fist... and at the same time wondering... what sort of power could nullify the shun goku satsu...

But there was no answer... the only reaction given was an explosion of pure energy! Ryu roared... his battle cry echoing across the regions... and he became engulfed in a royal blue conflagration, sending the demon flying.

The woman in the distance could only watch... unable to calculate the immense amount of power suddenly being exerted... but looking through the blue flames... she looked into Ryu's eyes... knowing full well how it was happening, and she smiled gently... < Ryu... >

From another distance, Shin Akuma quickly got onto his feet... "What... is this form of energy?! I do not detect anything of..."

"Satsui no Hado...?" Ryu completed. Through searing blue flames, his eyes pierced into the demon's... "Why do I need such dark power... energy that is summoned through a mind clouded with evil and murderous intent... when my mind is finally cleared and fully focused in the right direction...?"

"..." Speechless... but still listening...

"The shun goku satsu... forbidden by the arts of Shotokan because even the person who performed it would die... and your fate had become sealed by it. Your inner demons released themselves and you were no longer human..."

"Its power... is unequaled." The demon retorted.

"Unequaled... yet still limited." The young warrior paused a bit, making sure his opponent took in every word he was speaking... and he opened his mouth to continue. "The shun goku satsu... fifteen blows to the most vital parts of the body... the last one ending at the heart. But it is this last blow... which channels the dark energy needed to destroy the body... once directed through the heart, the other fourteen vital areas struck previously will all feel this energy course through them... causing the body to instantly collapse. Without the fifteenth blow... you have nothing."

Almost insulted by this speech... Shin Akuma launched himself high in the air, looking down at Ryu in an immense fit of rage. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Cocking one arm back, he prepared to channel it with more dark energy for a tenma gou zankuu... but as his arm moved back... he could feel something grab his wrist from behind. Turning his head... he saw it was RYU!

With speed even faster than lightning streaking across the sky, Ryu had teleported and reappeared instantly behind the demon to interrupt his attack before it was even initiated. Still surrounded by a swirl of intense raw energy, he was not yet finished talking. "Why did you submit yourself to such darkness...? You've let power lure you down the dark path... when it is our hearts and spirit that make us warriors."

Listening to each word being said... Chun-Li down below, was completely fascinated. < Ryu... have you realized that... because of me...? And gosh... you sure know how to adapt to new energy FAST...! >

Shin Akuma on the other hand gave an anger filled grunt and snapped his arm back, causing Ryu to lose his grip on his wrist. With his other hand, the demon curled his fingers into a tight fist and swung his arm forward with tremendous force right at Ryu's midsection...

No reaction.

Ryu didn't even twitch from the impact. "When heart is pure, the mind is fully concentrated. When the mind is fully concentrated, the body is indestructible."

The words had the stench of truth within them... and enraged, Shin Akuma brought his other arm to strike for the head. The young warrior dodged as it were a natural reflex, and lowered his head a bit shortly before forcing his entire body upwards, slamming his knee squarely into the demon's gut. The unexpected blow had so much force, it caused Shin Akuma to hunch over and groan in pain... and Ryu raised both of his arms, bringing his hands together over his head, and crashed them down on his opponent's back with a crushing hammer punch. Shin Akuma headed towards the ground, smashing into it with a loud thud, causing even Chun-Li to jump. Knowing full well that things were becoming catastrophic... she slowly crawled over to the think trunk of a tree in the distance, and looked up in the sky above to observe the upcoming events...

Roaring in the air, Ryu stretched his arms and collected massive amounts of pure energy through his body, enveloping his entire self in a blue swirl of light. The demon down below slowly got to his feet... and could feel the intensity of the power being accumulated.

In an instant, Ryu extended his right arm forward, and rather than releasing a sphere, he let loose a large bolt of energy toward the earth-bound demon. Extending his other arm, another bolt was released... and finally his right arm retracted once again, and fired off a third one. Shin Akuma looked upward, seeing the incoming energy projectiles... but rather than attempting to defend... he stood still... and grinned. When the bolts reached their destination, they exploded upon Shin Akuma's body, one after another, which resulted in him lying down on his back in the middle of a huge crater.

The calm, serious tone on the young warrior's face never left him, and he looked down at Shin Akuma who was slowly getting to his knees...

"So much power, my young warrior... something I've never felt in all my years of searching..." The demon began chuckling as he slowly staggered back to his feet. "Heh heh heh... perhaps... this is will finally be my chance... to die...!"

"Mmm..." Ryu nodded, "we warriors all walk our different paths to reach the same goals. Unfortunate that you had to choose the path of darkness... achieving power too quickly without knowing your boundaries... The more powerful you become, the more destructive you become to yourself..."

"I see... so it appears we have a hero of purity... a hero of heroes..." The grin on the demon's face turned upside-down. "Ryu... I shall show you which path you should have taken!" Finally putting an end to the conversation, Shin Akuma quickly prepared himself to launch skywards... but was immediately interrupted. Within the mere bat of an eye, Ryu had warped from the air to the surface... materializing right in front of his opponent, landing his fist upwards into the gut with a painful uppercut. Shin Akuma could only growl in pain as he felt his body crunch forward... and he soon felt the fist of Ryu's other arm smash into his face with seemingly careless precision. And moves just didn't seem to end. There was no stopping the young warrior as he struck the now exposed solar-plexus with his elbow... followed by swinging his body to the side and bringing his arm around to smack the head... and finally using his momentum and direction to leap into the air, and delivering a full turning side kick to the midsection.

As the demon flew, Ryu immediately shot his arm forward, letting a bolt of energy fire from his hand... only to see it suddenly pass through open air. Feeling the familiar movement of energy... Ryu turned his head upward back into the sky, seeing that his opponent had warped at the last possible moment. The young warrior's eyes narrowed at the skyward demon, as he let out a soft breath of air. Shin Akuma was breathing raggedly, his body hunched over from the painful blows inflicted to him.

Down at the ground at a safer distance, the young Chinese warrior still watched from the tree she was standing under. Her eyes never left the scene of battle... and by what she could see now, it appeared it had finally ended. But even though it seemed the demon was completely exhausted... something didn't feel right... an uneasy feeling... < There... there is still great evil in the air... > She knew the demon wouldn't let himself become destroyed like this... and she could feel something terrible coming... Reaching her hand forward... she called out to her man... "Ryu..."

Looking over his shoulder... Ryu saw her... and the tightness of his clenching fists loosened as he saw that look in her eyes... the look of worry... of concern... of love. At the distance he was at, he could only nod... acknowledging that he too could feel exact same disturbance... but in that same nod he also returned the look she was giving to him... "Chun-Li..." Both took a deep breath... only looking at each other for a few more seconds... until finally looking back up into the sky.

Rejuvenated, but still breathing audibly... Shin Akuma at last spoke. "You were right Ryu... you were right... I... can no longer compete with your precision... can no longer match your ability... Ryu... you've shown me... your true power..."

The young warrior said nothing and continued to listen.

"... But... You were right about something else..." The demon only paused to catch a few breaths before continuing... "... Those who follow the path of darkness... never know the limits of their power... and the more power that is accumulated... the more fatal it becomes to the user..."

"..."

"... And... I would much rather die..." A deep breath... "... EXCEEDING ALL BOUNDARIES... AND EXTINGUISHING YOUR PURE SPIRIT!!!" And in an instant... the demon exploded into a huge sphere of pure red light...

Down at the grounds of the earth... Ryu's eyes turned into saucers and his mouth hung open as he heard the whirring sound of pure energy become summoned to limits beyond control.

And with a roar... Shin Akuma released the overwhelming amount of power he could no longer hold onto... unleashing it into a huge beam of crackling energy, which was wider than twice his entire height...

The entire dark sky was completely lighted by the intensity of the blast as it headed towards its target... and knowing that any hesitation could cost him his life... Ryu instantly positioned his hands near his hips to collect as much energy within himself as he could... "SHINKUU...!!!!!" ... releasing it as a beam of blue light at the last possible moment before becoming obliterated... "HADOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKEN...!!!!!"

The waves of energy clashed against each other... creating a flash of light which caused Ryu to close his eyes, and Chun-Li to hide her face in her arm. The demon had no care to the blinding illumination, and kept his red eyes focused on his target... From the initial collision... the two warriors continued to concentrate their energy on one another... The demonic warrior grinned evilly as he felt his energy beginning to reach levels of absolute overload... and he continued to channel even more throughout himself... plunging his beam of energy harder against Ryu's resistance...

It was nearly too much... the young warrior could feel himself slowly becoming overpowered... and he positioned himself into a deep front stance to gain a deep, strong balance. The more each moment passed, the more he tried to summon the strength and energy to overpower the force pressing him deeper and deeper against the earth. < It's... it's just too much...!!! > Groaning through clenched teeth... Ryu tried to continue channeling energy... little by little... and for a while... his ray of light was beginning slowly pushing his opponent's back... only to have it being returned back to him with even more power!

Shin Akuma smiled in victory... he could feel the wave of his dark energy forcing itself upon Ryu more and more and more. And at the same time... the demon could feel every cell in his body threatening to explode... Through complete madness... he let out a maniacal, demonic laugh that could even be heard through the loud clashing sounds of energy.

< I... c... c-can't... > Ryu's legs began to shake as he struggled to keep his balance. Hearing the laughter overhead... the young warrior knew that destruction was imminent. His arms were straining... and the only energy of his own that could be visible was the energy exerting at his hands. Ryu slowly began to give in... letting himself go... and in doing so... pictures began to form within his mind... pictures of his past... places... events... people...

Through closed eyes... he saw his entire life passing by. Through all the memorable events flashing through his eyes… he recognized certain special people… There was a middle-aged, calm, gentle, caring man guiding him through the arts he grew up with all his life... < Sensei... > There was a monstrous behemoth with an eyepatch and a huge scar burned onto his chest... < Sagat... > There was an elder gentleman, whose advise is invaluable to whomever he tells gives it to There was a man who's brown hair was tied back into a pony tail, and even through a black eye and bruises, he still gave a winning grin and a motivational thumbs-up... < Dan... > There was a serious, cool tempered warrior in a red Bushido uniform with his wife and best friend... < Guy... Rena… Maki… > There was a blonde-haired man, showing a trademark smile, standing alongside his beautiful blonde-haired wife, and asking for one last fight... < K... Ken... Eliza… > And finally... there was a young, absolutely enchanting woman... with long, dark, flowing hair and gentle, light brown eyes... eyes that were filled with tears... and through the tears... Ryu could see her full lips move... moving to form his name... < Ch... Ch-Chun-Li... > Throughout all the people that held the most importance in his life... the last one he saw was the one who was in that special place within his heart... and Ryu's closed eyes squeezed tighter... mentally saying farewell to everyone...

Unable to even open her own eyes from the brightness of the streaks of light... Chun-Li could feel it... feeling Ryu slowly give in... and she wasn't ready AT ALL for him to do so... especially without knowing his true feelings for her... The evil energy begin cast down towards the earth was too much for her own depleted energy to have an effect on... and despite the her tears leaking... it was too bright for her to open her eyes... The only thing that she could think of... was call out his name... "RYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Despite the loudness of energy clashing against energy... he could hear her voice...

"PLEASE!!!!!! YOU... MUSTN'T... GIVE UP!!!!!! I... I..." < Say it Chun... Say it... with all your heart...! > "I LOVE YOU, RYU!!!!!!!!"

The words were so powerful when he heard them this time... They were so powerful... that they needed a response. While desperately trying to hold back... Ryu remembered that he promised her... that he would one day tell her his true feelings. He wanted to tell her... he NEEDED to tell her! < I... I can't give up!!! I WON'T GIVE UP!!! >

With a loud battle cry that could be heard throughout the entire region... Ryu concentrated all his remaining energy inward... causing Shin Akuma's energy beam to press against his very palms... and using the inward momentum... Ryu redirected his own energy back... intensified with all the power from his entire self... his mind... his body... and his heart.

The demon from above... was completely mystified by the sudden backlash... and the blue beam of pure energy became _HUGE_ as it instantly consumed his own... and proceeded to consume himself. With Shin Akuma's energy levels already completely beyond his own control... he painfully roared in agony as he felt Ryu's energy course through him like incalculable volts of electricity. Each and every cell in his entire demonic body was reacting, and the demon knew... that at last he was about to receive his fate. Through the searing pain surging throughout him, he gave one last evil grin to himself... and Shin Akuma's entire body exploded... his power made flesh finally releasing itself from its host... and slowly dissolving and dissipating into the air...

When the pure beam of light had subsided... the cold winds howled throughout the land... and Ryu still stood on his feet. His body... completely drained of its stamina... slowly began to collapse... but before he reached the tranquility of repose... he could feel Shin Akuma's evil presence finally gone and eradicated... and he could hear the running of footsteps. As his eyes went dark... he could feel his body comfortably fall into the soft... warm... loving arms of a woman... and at last he fell into a well-deserved slumber.

Chun-Li held Ryu close as she slowly sat to the ground. In the cool air, her body instantly became warm... and her tears flowed freely down her face as she smiled... "I'm so happy, Ryu. Now... you can finally keep your promise..."