Untitled Ch.11
By Shadow Dragon

Ken looked at Dan warily. He had seen how Ryu behaved under the influence of Akuma's Satsui no Hadou, and there was no telling yet whether Dan would bash up Bison, them or both. Dan's bright pink gi was gone, replaced by one the colour of forest green, and his skin had took on a darker tinge, similar to Akuma's.

"Akuma!" Sakura yelled. "What did you do to Dan?" Akuma merely smirked.

"Oh, nothing much," he said. "The weakling has discovered his own potential, and that was all."

Bison levitated in mid-air with a frown on his face. He could feel Dan's chi flowing more freely, more powerful now, and a sense of deep unease gripped him. He saw Dan tense, and teleported away just in time to evade a flying kick aimed at his face.

=====

Akuma warped simultaneously, trying to track Bison's teleportation path. His guess was accurate. As soon as Bison stopped, Akuma slammed him forcefully with a triple-hit Gou Shouryuuken. Bison was sent flying backwards through the air, where Ryu intercepted him.

"TATSUMAKI SENPUU KYAKU!" Ryu screamed as he pummeled Bison with multiple rotating cyclone kicks. Touching down, Ryu drew back his arms in readiness to throw a fireball, but paused when he realized that Bison was missing. He whipped himself around, half-expecting to see Bison behind him, but all he saw was Ken and Sakura also looking furtively around, trying to find Bison.

Ryu shut his eyes instead, and focused, letting his psychic senses probe his surroundings for Bison's lifeforce. But he found nothing. Not even a lingering evil aura, except for Akuma and Dan's. It was as if Bison hadn't even been here. Suddenly, the noise of a chopper distracted him. Somewhere above, a loudspeaker blared. Ryu looked up to see a squadron of Apache choppers hovering in mid-air. Low clanking sounds could also be heard as a tank pulled into view. Within minutes the armoured vehicles had surrounded them. Foot soldiers readied their machine guns uneasily, awaiting their command.

"Uhh.. Ryu?" Ken asked. "I think we're in a big, big fix here."

Ryu kept silent as he watched the lid of a tank pop open. An elderly man wearing the stars of a general raised a loudspeaker to his lips.

"Okay, boys, you're under arrest. As y'can see, we've got you surrounded. So just.."

Suddenly a tingling sensation of imminent danger ran down Ryu's spine. He sensed a concentrated chi source from directly above them, and it was rapidly getting closer. Ryu didn't have to look up to know what it was. Instinctively he yelled a warning: "TAKE COVER!" The five of them reacted swiftly, their years of martial practise overcoming the surprise. A split-second later, a dull explosion echoed as a massive chi blast hit the road.

Fire raged and smoke rose as pieces of tar, bricks and shrapnel flew wildly about, propelled by the force of the blast. The conflageration extended to the reaches of the tanks, blowing up the fuel and setting off a chain reaction. Screams could be heard as the soldiers scrambled hastily away to save themselves, but only a lucky few escaped with their lives.

Bison smiled. He was pleased, very pleased indeed. "Nobody survives that, not even me," he thought. Now he could continue razing what was left of the city in peace. The smoke cleared as a gust of wind caught it. Bison peered at it idly. The first thing he could see was a crater a mile wide. Then came the charred remains of the tanks as more of the smoke drifted away. From his vantage point above, Bison could make out four still forms: Ryu, Ken, Sakura and Akuma.

As the last of the smoke cleared, Bison saw something that didn't please him. Standing in the direct center of the crater was Dan. Tendrils of smoke rose from his charred gi, but he seemed otherwise unharmed.

"..." said Dan.

Bison touched down in front of Dan and brought his arms up in a fighting stance. "I want you to know, I consider this an honour."

=====

"This is Unit APC-03, reporting to HQ. What do we do now?"

"Command the Apaches to pull back, Commander. If they survive that, nothing short of an atomic bomb is gonna kill them."

=====

Fei Long felt a pair of hands grip him and pull him on his feet. He gasped in surprise that he wasn't dead yet, such was the pain of his legs.

"SONIC HURRICANE!!" Guile yelled as he pushed forth a wide disc of energy. Guile's attack sizzled noisily as it rushed against the fire, forcing it back, buying Fei Long and Chun-Li a precious few seconds. Guile dropped on his knees. His attack had robbed him momentarily of his energy. He had forced the fireball back a few metres, but it was only temporary. Charlie grabbed his arm.

"C'mon!" Charlie shouted angrily as the conflageration roared at them again. He could see a speck of light at the end of the passage which glimmered like a beacon of hope for their survival. The conflageration was steadily gaining on them again, and his muscles were starting to ache. Then, suddenly, he passed through the arched end of the tunnel into a bright room, Guile following him closely behind. Instantly Sagat slammed the door shut. The ground shook as the fire collided squarely into the steel door on the other side, and small cracks started to form.

"Howdya feel?" Charlie asked Fei Long, who stood up unsteadily.

"Fine.. I think."

"He's not fine," Guy snapped. "He's suffered first degree burns all over his legs, and needs immediate medical attention."

"Speaking of which, our lives need immediate attention too," Guile pointed at the door. The cracks had enlarged and small tongues of flame escaped. "That door's not gonna hold for long!"

"This way," Sagat punched through a wall with a Tiger Wave and ripped it open. "We have to get to the elevators before the fire does."

"Can you walk?" Chun-Li asked Fei.

"No," Guy said as he hoisted Fei Long over his shoulder. "And don't argue, Fei."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to," Fei said as Guy clambered through the hole. Guy could hear the wail of an alarm siren as gruff voices shouted orders.

"The guards will be more interested in their own lives," Sagat said, sensing Guy's worry. "Now hurry!" Sagat led them, running down passageways and tunnels before entering another room, filled with computers. A few key presses later, part of the wall opened.

"Get in there," Sagat urged. The ominous rumbling had returned, which meant the fire was not very far behind them. Sagat cursed himself silently for telling Guile to blow up the command room. Pressing a final key, Sagat stepped into the elevator as well, hoped that they would reach the surface before the whole place blew up...

Suddenly, yet another explosion roared as the elevator shook. Guile steeled himself, expecting the elevator to drop, but it continued its rapid ascent despite the violent vibrations.

Guile gulped. "How long does this thing take to get to the top??"

"About now," Sagat said just as the doors slid open, revealing a large empty room. Evidently it was different from the warehouse from which they had entered the subterranean complex, but seeing that the familiar, golden beams of sunshine indicated that they had returned to the surface, nobody was about to complain. Without a word, they dashed furiously towards the exit.

Chun-Li glanced behind her. The structure they had emerged from was akin to a military airdome, for docking of damaged aircraft. Then, all of a sudden, a heat wave hit her as the roof of the building blew off. Within seconds it had disintegrated into a charred heap of matter as the conflageration finally worked its way to the surface.

A stabbing pain shot up her back as Chun-Li felt a million shards of wood and steel pierced into her legs, neck and back. Overcome by the stinging sensation, Chun-Li finally allowed herself to drop to the ground, submitting herself to the welcoming darkness and the relief it brought.

=====

"Psycho Shot!" "Fukai Gadouken!" The two projectiles slammed into each other, cancelling themselves out of existence with a sizzle. As the flash cleared, Dan blocked Bison's punch, and jutted forward with his knee, but missed. Both aimed a sweeping back kick at each other, and were sent flying opposite directions as they traded hits.

"..." Dan said as he got up, thomping the ground with his foot in horse stance. He watched Bison intently, who sent another massive bolt of energy at him. Dan teleported away and behind Bison.

"Fukai Kouryuuken!" the words rang from Dan's mouth as he uppercutted Bison from behind, his chi burning with such fury that it formed a red aura that set Bison on flames. But Bison recovered with remarkable speed, jumping into the air and stomping on Dan's head.

Dan stumbled back, but didn't take his eyes off Bison. Getting confident, Bison unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks at Dan, a crimson battle aura starting to form around him. Dan blocked, but still the chi-enhanced attacks hurt like hell. Seeing an opening, Dan grabbed Bison's outstretched arm and pulled him over his shoulder, and slammed him into the ground with a chokehold.

"SAIKYOU OTOKO NAGE!!" Dan screamed, repeating the motion three times. After the third choke, Dan twisted his torso while still grabbing onto Bison's arm and flung him away to land face-first. Bison spat out a mouthful of dirt, his malevolant eyes burning with anger and hatred.

"You shall pay for that, fool," Bison intoned softly as he barraged Dan with multiple Scissor Kicks, which Dan blocked deftly. Bison was starting to get agitated by his constant inability to gain any ground, but he did not show it. He continued his renewed assault with yet another few Psycho Shots, but missed as Dan teleported away.

The first punch connected squarely with Bison's head. Bison reeled back in surprise as several more rocketed at him at him with lightning-fast speed, ending with a crouching uppercut. Bison cursed under his breath as the barrage of blows ended, leaving him gasping for breath. His powers were starting to drain, and he needed to recharge soon. Apparently Dan sensed it too, for he laughed maniacally at the evil warlord who was stooped on the ground.

Dark tongues of energy started to course up Dan's body as again he stomped on the ground with the force of a truck, causing the ground to shake. The sky darkened, and thunder flashed dramatically. Dan's eyes narrowed and started to glow with a manic red aura.

"Nise.."

Power coaseleced around Dan's upper torso like a mist as Bison forced himself on his feet. Dan chuckled evilly.

"You are getting old, Bison."

Instinctively Bison knew what to expect. It was Akuma's Raging Demon, the fabled killing technique. Even if it was coming from this loser, Bison wasn't sure if he would survive it.

"Nou..." Deep down inside, Dan was torn by his desire to kill his powerless opponent and by his heart. He looked at his hands. They held the power to kill all life, including his. Akuma had been the only one to execute the Shun Gokuu Satsuu and survive to tell the tale... then the blood lust overtook him again. Dan grinned.

"SHUN GOKU SATSUUU!!!" Dan mouthed silently as he levitated a few inches off the ground and slid efortlessly towards Bison, spreading his arms out wide as if to embrace him. Then, just as he reached Bison, Dan vanished. Bison grunted in surprise. But a split-second later, he felt two arms grab him from behind in a shoulder lock. Bison struggled as he tried to free himself, and was flexible enough to strike a few blows into Dan's body, but the dark Saikyou-ryuu master held fast.

"OYAAAJJIIIIIIII!!" the last thing Dan heard was his battle cry as a brilliant pink light enshrouded both of them. Dan vaguely remembered a burning heat in the pit of his stomach and a searing pain before he, too, passed out.

=====

The man looked grimly at the scene as he stepped out of his helicopter. Five unconscious forms lay dead still on the charred, blistered ground. He grimaced.

"Bring the body bags, private."

"Yes sir!"

The man walked around to the bodies, inspecting each in turn. Although unmoving, they showed virtually no physical signs of injury, which puzzled him. Then he felt something brush by his boot. He looked down in surprise, to see Ryu's fingers uncurling softly.

His jaw dropped. "What in the blazes..." Instantly he knelt down besides Ryu and felt for a pulse. To his utter amazement, the slightest trace of a slow throbbing could be felt.

"John! Call for a f***ing ambulance! Now!"