Akuma grinned as he slowly took a step forward. These pest would prove little more than insects in his way. The other Shotaken devotee, the one named Ken charged foward, his body shifting slightly and practically shouting that he was about to use a Shoryuken attack.

Feinting a foward movement, the dark Shotaken master shifted back and down just as the young American launched his Shoryuken. Grunting, Akuma quickly grabbed the ankle as it went rising by his face then gave a sharp pull down and slamming Ken into the dirt onto his back roughly before slinging the limp young man into a nearby tree, it was impossible to tell whether the snapping sound was a tree branch or the blonde's ribs breaking.

The Chinese girl quickly launched her own offensive with a form of Wushu in a fierce jumping side kick followed up by a low leg kick. Quickly shifting to a defense, Akuma managed to block both attacks of his own while carefully watching the young girl's movements. The Wushu fighter managed to get a few stinging blows in as she attacked with her Hyakuretsukyaku, the attacks kicks coming in too fast for even the Shotaken master to avoid taking a few hits. Stumbling back a step, Akuma saw his opening as the Chinese girl performed her Spinning Bird Kick.

Other than the user flipping upside down and kicking out with both legs, the attack closely resembled their own Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku. Rolling down and forward at the last moment to avoid the kick, Akuma thrust his own feet upwards as he pushed off the ground with his arms and delivered a fierce kick to the girl's midsection.

"Chun Li!" Ryu shouted out as he quickly took a stance and begin to gather his chi for a powerfull Shinku Hadoken.

Rolling to the side and holding her stomach as she tried to regain her breath, the girl was unable to do anything as Akuma bein to cup his hands together and gather chi for a Gou Hadoken. Only the flash of light Akuma caught in his peripheral vision allowed him to roll to the ground and avoid the enormous wave of chi as the Shinku Hadoken flew past and crashed into a tree, splintering the ancient oak as if it were balsa wood.

"You show so much more potential than the rest of these insects Ryu..." Akuma spoke in a calm tone as he shifted his red eyes to the young Japanese man. Smiling just a little as Ryu's eyes narrowed on him with hatred. 'Your getting closer Ryu... whether you know it or not.'

Cupping his hands together and thrusting them foward palms first at Akuma, Ryu gave a shout of "Hadoken!" as he fired the bluish-white fireball of chi at the Shotaken master for a reply.

The older Shotaken master countered with his own purplish Gou Hadoken, the two fireballs exploding and briefly blinding Ryu. When Ryu opened his eyes, Akuma was no longer before him. Shifting his eyes left then right quickly, Ryu looked up just as Akuma fired a second Gou Hadoken mid-air.

Caught by surprise, the chi fireball caught Ryu square in the chest and sent him flying back to the ground roughly. Reacting quickly, Ryu forced the air from his body as it slammed into the ground the quickly rolled his legs up over his head and back onto his feet a bit shakily as Akuma landed.

"Ryu... your just like me... you love the feel of battle and feel most alive when your pitted against another strong opponent. Do you not? Don't you feel excited right now? Can't you feel it deep inside of you? That hatred you must feel towards me... just release it and you'll be ready for the next level." Akuma spoke much like a sensei would to his student as he slowly walked towards the young fighter.

"That's bullshit... Ryu's nothing like you, @#%$!" Ken shouted out as he pushed to his feet slowly, a thin trail of blood leaking from his lips and his legs were a bit shaky as he took up a fighting stance at a 45 degree angle from Ryu and Akuma.

Ryu sprinted towards Akuma just as the red-haired man had shifted his eyes to Ken and quickly attacked with a low sweep. Ken seeing Ryu make his move rushed in to support, striking with a powerfull Shoryuken.

Akuma shifting his gaze to Ken for the briefest of moments had been half-expecting Ryu to react as he did and quickly leaped upwards to avoid the low strike. He was however, not prepared for Ken's quick action to assist his comrade and could do nothing as the Dragon Punch connected cleanly. Ryu followed up with a strong roundhouse kick that caught Akuma mid-air and sent him tumbling across the dusty field.

Chun Li sit up just as Ryu launched his counter-offensive against Akuma. Watching the young Japanese warrior, she couldn't help but feel a little envious the way his friend and him worked so well together. Their years of training together showing through as they fought this demon of a man.

Watching as Akuma hit the ground, Chun Li sprang foward and performed a Hazanshu. Flipping foward, she drove her heel deep into Akuma's midsection then quickly jumped to the side next to Ryu.

"I'm nothing like you Akuma... your fight because you like to kill... I fight to become stronger." Ryu said calmly as he brought his hands back up into a fighting stance, Ken on one side of him and Chun Li flanking the other.

"Heh... you couldn't be more wrong Ryu..." Akuma said too calmly for any of the fighters as he slowly stood back up, "You think your friends there are helping you in this battle? They're nothing but handicaps for you... watch."

The red-haired fighter moved at Ken quickly and threw a couple of quick punches. Ken countered quickly with a quick left hook then followed up with a fast Shoryuken which hit Akuma in the chest.

Akuma suddenly turned his body while in the air and grabbed a shocked Ken's wrist before slamming his own fist into the elbow joint, causing the young American to let out a scream of pain as his arm snapped like a matchstick.

Turning his gaze to Chun Li, Akuma moved almost too fast for Ryu to track as he sped forward and delivered a quick Tatsumaki Zankukyaku before quickly grabbing he young Chinese woman by the neck before she flew from his range and lifted her from the ground with one hand. The Shotaken master then threw Chun Li like a rag doll towards the splintered oak, the shards threatening to act like spears.

Reacting quickly, Ryu threw himself at Chun Li and managed to cushion her blow as he secured her in his arms. He did not make it without injury however, Several of the wooden spears had managed to scratch his arms and legs up pretty bad, the only serious one was a large branch that had managed to stab into his left leg though.

Moving down to one knee, Ryu slowly let the unconscious form of Chun Li on the ground in front of him. The wound in his leg felt minor, but it was still crippling enough to slow him down at a vital time.

"Do you see now how these insects are nothing more than a weakness for you?" Akuma spoke with an arrogant voice as he walked towards Ryu slowly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ryu pushed up to his feet quickly then moved around in between Chun Li and Akuma as he shifted into the best fighting stance he could manage. Akuma slowly shook his head then lunged foward quickly, punching the young Japanese man in the solar plexus roughly before grabbing the stunned warrior by the throat and lifting him from the ground slowly

"Do you feel it inside you? Do you feel that hatred and anger? I can... your almost there... just a little further." Akuma held Ryu up with one arm as he slowly looked past towards Chun Li's fallen form. Ryu begin punching at the strong arm that held him as if he were a child, trying his best to break free as lack of oxygen begin to take it's toll. "Perhaps I need to kill one of them... perhaps that's all that's needed..."

"Damn you!" Ryu reached up with both hands and grabbed hold of Akuma's arm and used his upper body to pull his legs up to Akuma's chest, thrusting outwards with his feet to push himself out of Akuma's grip and rolling onto the ground roughly.

Coughing for a moment, Ryu righted himself as he narrowed his eyes on Akuma. "I'll kill you first..." Ryu muttered darkly, his eyes flashing crimson for the briefest of moments.

Ryu took up an agressive stance as his eyes flashed red again briefly then actually let out a quiet growl as he lunged foward at Akuma, launching a quick Joudan Sokutou Geri. The high blade leg kick was easily avoided by the Shotaken master who quickly spun about as he evaded and drove his elbow into Ryu's kidney.

"Better! Just give in a little more to that hatred... unlock the Satsui No Hadou in you..." Akuma stated easily as he assumed another defensive stance, watching the young warrior carefully.

Ryu pushed up to his feet again, his breath coming rapid and hard as he launched himself into another fury of attacks. Attacking with a high roundhouse kick which connected hard then followed up by jumping foward as he brought his fist up under Akuma's chin, "Shoryuken!"

The Rising Dragon Punch knocked the red-haired man flat onto his back but before Ryu had even landed, he cupped his hands together and begin to gather his chi before thrusting them out, palms forward. "Hadoken!" Akuma took a small bit of the fireball to his left shoulder as he quickly rolled to the right. So focused on Akuma was Ryu that he never noticed that his signature fireball was purple instead of blue.

Akuma noticed however as he quickly pushed to his feet. 'He's getting faster... whether he realizes it or not... he's accepting the Satsui no Hadou. Just a little more...'

Quickly rolling forward to close the distance between him and Ryu, Akuma launched his own offensive by delivering a fierce punch to the Japanese man's stomach then lifting him up with one hand by his white gi.

"Once I'm done with you... your friends have no chance against me... they'll die after I'm done with them." Akuma spoke harshly before he tossed Ryu up and delivered a fearsome Gou Shoryuken, sending the young warrior tumbling across the ground and slidding into a tree. Slowly Akuma walked over to Ken's unconscious form and delivered a hard kick to the injured fighter's side. There! I feel it from him!

Quickly Akuma turned to face Ryu, the young warrior's body was surrounding in a red aura and his eyes glowed a deep crimson as he pushed to his feet. Lightning flashed as thunder rumbled in the distance, signaling the arrival of a storm. 'He's awakened at last... my dark Ryu... now let us break you.'

Chun Li slowly sat up and shook of the sense of dizziness and nausea that overwhelmed her senses immediately. She managed to spot Ryu almost immediately, a frightening crimson aura almost engulfing him as he stared at Akuma. Chun Li slowly managed to push to her feet as she brought her hands up to her mouth, shaking her head slowly as she tried to speak but finding no words would escape.

Ryu let out an almost feral snarl as he turned his red eyes to Akuma then stomped out with left foot, dropping into a low stance as he brought his right fist to his belt and extended his left forward some. Akuma recognized the stance immediately of that of the forbidden Shun Goku Satsu. With a savage yell, Ryu launched himself at the red-haired shotaken master.

Reacting quickly, Akuma delivered such a strong kick that it lifted Ken off the ground then performed a Sakunetsu Hadoken at point blank range, sending Ken's unconscious form flying towards the incoming Ryu.

In Ryu's feral state the only thing he knew was something was between him and the man he was going to kill. As Ken's body came towards his own, it moved almost by instinct and instigated the forbidden attack. Deep within his feral instincts, Ryu could see everything happen in slow motion almost as his fist acted by the own accord, delivering fourteen devasting blows to various vital points of his body.

Ken! Ryu found he could do nothing however as his right fist drew back then starting coming forward again for the fatal blow, the punch to the heart that would kill the victim almost instantly. Right before the final blow could land, a bluish white fireball of chi knocked him onto his side roughly. Chun Li's Kikoken had barely made it.

The crimson aura surounding Ryu begin to quickly die out as he slowly pushed himself upright, his eyes slowly fading back to their natural dark brown as he stared towards Ken's fallen body in disbelief. Rain begin to drizzle out of the sky before unleashing a torent of water down onto the fighters.

Ken coughed up a mouthfull of blood roughly before falling still once more, his eye lids slowly began to close as his eyes rolled back a little. Akuma was nowhere to be seen now. Chun Li quickly pulled out her cell phone and prayed that it wasn't broken and that she had service.

Slowly, Ryu made his way over to Ken's broken form, finding no words of appology or anything could come from his mouth as he tried to speak. Watching Ken fight for breath before coughing up another mouthfull of blood, Ryu fell to his knees and looked up at the storming sky for a moment. 'I... I'm the one who did this to Ken...' Looking down to his fist slowly, he could still see Ken's blood splattered across his gloves. Ken begin breathing slowly as he tried to draw in haggard breaths before the rise and fall of his chest slowly stopped.

"I don't care what the weather is like! Get me a medical team here now!" Chun Li shouted into her cell phone before she heard Ryu's cry of anguish. The cell phone slid from her fingers as they went numb as she watched Ryu slowly unclench his bloody fist and let it drop to the ground, "I... I will not fight anymore..." Despite the fact that Ryu spoke the words so softly, they still managed to reach Chun Li as she watched the world warrior let his body sag forward before roughly punching the ground once.

"Ryu..." Chun Li whispered quietly as she watched the young warrior beat the ground roughly, drowning out muted sobs and being drowned out by the loud rumble of thunder.