SPARRING PARTNER
Silver Rayne

Chapter 8

Glaring down at Ken through the windowed globes of two very, blackened pupils, Dark Ryu began to contemplate torture scenes. Just killing his counterpart’s lover immediately would hold no satisfaction for him. Where was the amusement in bludgeoning someone to death? No. The slow and tedious process of ripping Ken apart would be far sweeter a victory. If only Ryu could look down from his shadowy grave to see the finale which would end his legacy. Not only would Ryu himself be stricken from the world but his useless lover would soon be following him. Without Ken, there would be no memories of Ryu. To wipe both of them from the very face of existence…it would be like their lives had never been.

"What a shame," Dark Ryu chuckled. He reached for Ken only to be punched squarely in the jaw. For all the energy that was demonstrated in that attack, the least of Dark Ryu’s worries was a very dull bruise. Not enough to even lose his temper over. Ken was beyond fighting. It was over. "It seems that my carefully orchestrated plan has fully bloomed. Which means…all that is left for you is to play out the last scene with me. This is the part where I tell you what a genius I am. How meticulously clever my mind is for foiling your sickening love with Ryu. And all the other nuances along that particular route. I have an idea, why don’t you ask me pointless questions to pass the time? Then we can laugh together, before I murder you that is."

"If you really did want to kill me, why haven’t you done so already? You’re bluffing. Ryu would kick your sorry ass if you tried to do anything to me."

"Is that so?" Dark Ryu belted Ken hard across his face, knocking him a few feet back where he lay, semi-conscious. "I don’t see the poor bastard in that much of a hurry to save your pretty face. You don’t get it, do you? Ryu is not the knight in shining armor that you believed him to be. He was never invincible, surely not by my standards. Ryu was a flaw, a mistake. Something imperfect which I was based upon without his morals and other weaknesses. The only thing Ryu was fit for in life…was to die at my hands." He sneered viciously when Ken struggled to pull himself off of the ground.

Ken choked, swallowed blood and fell back down. But, he tried again, succeeding in getting onto his hands and knees. "You don’t even know him."

"And now I never will." Snatching Ken up by his hair, Dark Ryu dragged him down the street like a fish on a hook. Shaking him occasionally until his captive went limp. "This…," he tossed Ken atop Ryu’s cold body, "…is a failed waste of flesh. Enjoy your last moments with it."

Gazing down, Ken caught sight of Ryu’s handsome face suffused with blue undertones, eyes forever closed. Lips not to utter another word, no breath escaping from deadened lungs. "Ryu…no…" His hands clutched the sides of Ryu’s face to feel the muscles slack, mouth already drying inside. As if remembering a distant fairy tale, Ken pressed a kiss to those cold lips but got no response. No amount of shaking or screaming could get Ryu to answer him. "RYU!!!" He hugged Ryu’s morose body, trying to give him warmth, to give him life.

"Give it up. There is not one person alive who has been able to survive the Shun Goku Satsu. I bet Ryu didn’t tell you about the time he tried to kill Akuma, So many secrets…and he said he loved you? Didn’t trust you though, did he?"

Ken leapt at Dark Ryu, filled with an inhuman, incomprehensible rage which befit that of a demon. It was the spell of vengeance, the claim of retribution. He would not let this enemy escape or win. Even if it meant his own death, Ken was more than willing to let life go. No longer having Ryu at his side deprived him of the desire to go on. "I don’t know what that move is and I don’t care either," he screamed as his hands found Dark Ryu’s throat in a choke hold. They attempted to crush the evil man’s windpipe, using that very grip to keep himself upright. The agony sweeping through Ken’s entire being nearly drove him out of his mind. But he wouldn’t die until Dark Ryu went with him. "I’ll use it on you, you son of a bitch! And I’ll laugh at your shredded corpse on the ground." Ken shook harder. "After you’re dead, I’m going to beat the crap out of…"

Dark Ryu shut Ken up quickly by mirroring the placement of his fingers onto Ken’s throat. He instantly trapped any air his enemy wished to breathe at the bottom of his lungs. "A difficult task, wouldn’t you say? I am the trained killer, Ken honey. You are just Ryu’s little plaything out on an extended walk. Where is your leash?" He taunted and glowered at Ken, seething with anger. This was not what he had expected. If anything, he had anticipated torching a whimpering fool begging for his life. So he had underestimated Ken, it would not happen twice. He gradually allowed Ken some oxygen, watching him slip on the verge of a comatose state. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Go…to…hell."

"Not nice. Not very nice at all." Dark Ryu tossed Ken back onto Ryu’s body. "And here I was willing to discuss your daddy dearest with you." He grinned when Ken’s eyes sparked with a sea of emotions. "Yes, that does interest you, doesn’t it. Well, if it’s of any consolation, old man Masters will be attending your funeral. In fact, I’ll bet that he will be so distraught over the death of his only son that he will commit suicide. How devastating that will be for your mother. She will need to be institutionalized for a mental breakdown. The Masters’ bloodline will be filled with tragedy."

"You’re wrong…my father couldn’t care less…about me." Ken rubbed his throat, closing his eyes in deep concentration. He had to finish this evil bastard off very soon. If he didn’t, the strength and motivation would be replaced with the mourning for Ryu. He knew that Ryu would want him to defeat this mockery before it permanently disgraced his name.

But Dark Ryu was not done with his mind games. "Your father proved to be extremely susceptible to implanted cognitive suggestions. That and a phone call leading him to your bedtime with Ryu. Maybe that would explain how you are able to partially read my thoughts. Serves you right for turning out to be an emotional misfit like him. Always letting your heart lead instead of your head. How futile."

Ken spoke in a low, wheezing voice. "That entire display…telling the guards to kill us…it was all a hoax?" His breathing accelerated, eyes burning with hatred.

"Not a hoax, you idiot! An elaborate series of suggestions directly forced into old man Masters’ mind. How could he ignore them when I was always nearby to ensure that they went through? Now do you see the path that was your fate? There was nothing that you could have done to prevent this from going my way. And now, I’m afraid story time is over. Any last requests, sweetheart?" Dark Ryu cracked his knuckles, leering like the proverbial cat which had eaten a helpless canary.

*I can’t beat him.* Brown eyes began to glow red, lip turned up in a snarl. *I wouldn’t stand a chance.* Nails dug into the soft flesh of palms, blood trickling down pulsing wrists. *But with the information that I sought from his mind while he was bragging…* Long hair whipped in the wind, swirling magenta hues emanating from a battered soul. *…I know what I must do to make him suffer. For this to end. For him to die.* He couldn’t get up, not with all the madness in the world surrounding him. Ken hadn’t even the strength to raise his head from Ryu’s chest. It was the inner power which drove him, guided him into what he prayed was the right decision. *Ryu…if this doesn’t work, we will be together anyway.* And, he coiled his fingers around Ryu’s shoulders, preparing himself for what he was about to do.

"Well? Why so shy all of a sudden? We’ve been through so much, you and I. Let’s not ruin it with you ignoring me." Destructive anger soared within Dark Ryu when Ken refused to answer. "Little wretch! Here I am, generously offering you parting words…a quote to remember you by, and you spit in my face? Don’t think that I won’t incorporate this insolence into the method of your death."

"I will die," Ken admitted.

"Huh?" The look on that evil face revealed confusion. So his prey had finally given up. What a surprise. "I knew it. Ryu was wrong about you, Ken. You aren’t even worth pitying."

"But not at your hands," he continued. Then, he clung on tightly to Ryu and screamed, "SHUN GOKU SATSU!!!" A blinding, swirling hole gaped open above Ken’s head. Flashes of explosions stormed there, knocking Dark Ryu back from the typhoon of chaos that Ken had created.

"Are you insane?" Dark Ryu could hardly contain his joy. "You’ve just sealed your own coffin."

"I know," Ken moaned, unable to latch onto the power he was unleashing for more than a few seconds. He watched the bubbling fire discharge from his fingertips, roaring into Ryu’s corpse. However, the demonic energy would not be disrupted inside of an already lifeless shell. And so it reversed direction, hitting Ken from the inside-out with a cataclysmic heart attack which led to his demise. But he had known, had calculated that his action would be suicidal. Ken welcomed it, screaming, crying out in even more agony than Ryu had. Would Ryu ever forgive him? *I’m…sorry…if this doesn’t work…* And then Ken slumped onto Ryu, the last of the attack sizzling from his toes and fingertips.

"Well, if that wasn’t the strangest thing that I ever did see." He nudged Ken’s arm with his foot but didn’t get a response. Not even a flinch. "So you deprived me of a couple of hours of beating you beyond recognition. No big deal. Ken…you definitely were the stupidest opponent that I ever had to meet." He turned to leave.

"If he is stupid, then you are infinitely inferior for allowing him to create me."

Dark Ryu barely missed having a foot jammed into his spine when he heard the newcomer make an entrance. "It can’t be…"

"Why not? It’s logical isn’t it? Ryu performed the Shun Goku Satsu and presto, there you are. So, Ken figured, if he did the same thing I would be the result." In the place of the voice stood a very dark, mellow Ken whose eyes appeared to be nearly hollow. "Now, I begin to wonder, which of us is more evil?" Dark Ken shrugged, flippantly swiping his bangs out of his eyes.

"How?" He couldn’t hide the bafflement at this new fork in his plans. "I don’t get it."

"Not too obvious by the dumb-ass look on your face," Dark Ken snapped sarcastically. "Then again, you never were too bright compared to me. Commoner!"

"Why didn’t Ken just use that idiotic move on me? He killed himself to let you be born. It doesn’t make sense. I know the way his mind works, he would not willingly die for someone as pointless as Ryu."

"Wrong. He would. But that isn’t why he did it." Dark Ken advanced on Dark Ryu. "If he had done it on you, his energy would have been wasted because he wasn’t strong enough to make it count. Lacked the skill too. But, that same energy was all he needed to kill himself and create me. See, I also know Ryu’s deepest, scariest secret now too. You were created when Ryu performed the Shun Goku Satsu on Akuma…after the evil one was dead. Ryu must have been paranoid over Akuma rising from the dead and did the attack twice to be cautious. Only, by flooding a dead body with so much power, he didn’t realize that demonic energy doesn’t work that way. It feeds on the living. And so, Ryu died and you were born. But…for some strange reason, Ryu is a hard person to kill. At that time when he killed Akuma, he was in some sort of spiritual form of evolution. He was able to revive himself by channeling the demonic powers into something pure."

"So?"

"So Ryu didn’t repeat that method this time because his soul and body was being used to protect Ken. He didn’t even think of using your puny energy to convert it back into a life source. Pity for him. Although Ken gathered all of your prior knowledge on that event and made good use of it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not praising the weakling. I cannot respect anything so pitiful that invites death. No matter what his intentions may have been." Dark Ken smiled a little, as if to throw Dark Ryu into a state of nervousness and anxiety. Let him worry. This was one man that Dark Ryu had no information on, could not anticipate the moves of. "Guess where that leaves us, my simpleton friend?"

Dark Ryu glared at him, becoming extremely offended when Dark Ken copied his Akuma stance. Both fists up for offensive moves only, attacking leg drawn up and bent at the knee. Body tense as a rock, preparing for teleportation if necessary. "You will suffer for this insult!"

The two evil forces collided and began to fight in an endless array of fists and feet. Kicking, punching, scratching for the eyes, biting for the throat and jugular. Wanting nothing more than to be victorious and prove who was more powerful. Only the most wicked fighter would be triumphant.

***********************************************

"Ryu, why must you leave?"

"I am going to find the next fight. The next challenge which will make me a stronger warrior."

"What if you lose?"

"There is never winning and losing, only learning. If I win, the experience will give me confidence to keep striving for victory. If I lose, I will know that in order to win, more training and practicing is needed. One way or the other, I will learn. That is why I fight, Ken."

A very small Ken looked up at Ryu for guidance but found that he could not recognize his features. The younger form of Ken balled his hands into fists and took a good whack at him. "You’re going to leave me! You can’t leave me!"

"I am on a journey."

"I want you to come back!"

"There is nothing to be gained by remaining in the past, my love." Ryu’s hand fell on Ken’s shoulder, gripped it solidly. "I cannot come back to where you are, Ken. You must make the decision to move forward."

A bed of thorns separated Ryu from Ken, pushing them apart. It was so difficult to hear Ryu now. "How can I? There is no path." Little Ken ran to one end of the thorny barrier but could not find where it ended. He returned to his original spot and ran in the other direction. The thorns never stopped. "Ryu! Help me!"

"Come forward."

"I can’t!"

"Never say that you can’t do something unless you’ve tried. How much more painful is it to cross this obstacle than the one you did by getting here? It’s the same. Progressing always creates scars, inflicts pain somewhere along the way."

"Not like this. Nothing could ever be like this." Ken sat on the ground and buried his head in his hands, groaning angrily. "I can’t do it. Why won’t you come to me?"

"Because I can’t go back as I have already explained to you. I walked your path earlier on and look at me now. I made it. There’s nothing to be afraid of."

"I’m not afraid of anything!"

"Then you will not succeed." Ryu turned his back to Ken to hide his frustration. "This place is not where you or I belong. We can only remain here a short time until an event occurs. Something that neither of us are ready for. You have to trust me. You have to trust yourself." He looked over to Ken again to see that his words had sunken in. Ken was getting back to his feet, growing to release the childish fear that he had been holding onto. "You were afraid that we would be separated forever. That won’t be our fate because of our love. Use it and come to me."

"Okay…but if I get blisters, I’m going to kick your ass."

Ryu grinned as Ken closed his eyes and placed one foot onto the bed of thorns. Then, as that foot began to bleed, he made his other join it. He wanted to rush across, to prevent the pain from lasting too long. But it would not be allowed in this place. The trial was judged by a certain amount of time. If he hurried, the barrier would only be lengthened to ensure that he fully benefited from this lesson.

"Am I there yet?" His feet felt as if they had been detached from the rest of his body. Agony was flooding through him like a familiar friend, only one that would gladly stab him in the back. If he opened his eyes, he would see the blood and that would be the end.

"A little further." Ryu gazed up at the swirling chasm that was swallowing the area behind Ken, catching up on him. "Keep coming." If it caught Ken, he would be judged and sentenced to an eternity in a realm suitable for the pureness of his soul. Even if that meant somewhere peaceful, which Ken deserved, Ryu would not accept that. It was not their time. "You made it!" He grabbed Ken in a bear hug and swung him around a few times.

"Ryu!" Ken crushed his mouth to Ryu’s and kissed him hard enough to bruise both of their lips. "Mmm..this is real!"

"Yes. And when we go back to our bodies, we’re going to have a little discussion about suicide prevention." He watched Ken grin sheepishly before putting him down. "As soon as you are revived, you have to attack Dark Ryu with everything you’ve got. I will take on Dark Ken because if we face our doubles, our powers will only cancel each other out. They can’t be allowed to live, do you understand?"

"We have to kill them?"

"They aren’t really alive, Ken. Our dark sides have only been solidified into forces which are too dangerous to remain in the world. Are you prepared to deal with the many casualties that they will create?"

"No."

Ryu took hold of Ken’s hand and led him into a warm light. "We’re almost there."

"I can’t believe that you’ve been here before. You died and didn’t tell me."

"Later, my love."

***********************************

Dark Ryu yanked on Dark Ken’s long hair and threw him onto the next street where he collided with a couple of school kids. They ran off screaming, their school bags abandoned to avoid more scrapes and bruises.

"This…", Dark Ken grabbed onto a motorcyclist as he was driving by, "…is for you!" He hurled the man at Dark Ryu, laughing when the man started to shout. He hit the pavement with a loud thud when Dark Ryu moved.

"Well then, take this!" Dark Ryu smashed his fist through a parked car’s window and reached inside the glove compartment. He pulled out a revolver and started to take shots at Dark Ken’s head. Every time he missed, an innocent bystander was knocked down instead.

"Give me that!" One very battered Ken seized Dark Ryu’s wrist and kept it pinned until he had retrieved the gun. "You and I need to have a little talk, dog-boy!" He roped a chain around Dark Ryu’s throat and pulled it tight. "Does doggy like his leash, huh?" He pulled harder, ignoring the hands which reached for the chain to get loose. "How do you like being treated like crap?" A couple of good kicks to Dark Ryu’s groin proved that he didn’t like it one bit. "I’m alive now and fully recovered. But, your fight with my dark friend over there has worn you out." With one shove, Ken had smashed Dark Ryu’s face through the windshield of the car the gun had come out of. "And don’t think that I forgot what you said to me." The dark one’s hands tore at Ken’s arms but he wouldn’t relinquish the chain. "You brainwashed my father!" He ground that nasty face into broken pieces of windshield, seeing blood spill onto the dashboard inside. "You took my family away from me!" Another few shakes and Dark Ryu was gagging. "You nearly took Ryu from me. I will never forgive you for that. Never!"

On the other side of the street, Dark Ken was regarding Ryu coolly. "So, this is what it comes down to? I have to fight you, the boy scout? Always doing what Sensei says. Ryu does no wrong," he sneered.

"Actually, I have done plenty of things wrong. Having to see this side of Ken is among those things. But you aren’t Ken and he could never do what you are capable of. And so you must die."

"Shouldn’t you be taming my wild side before you try to go for the evil one?" He gestured over to where Ken was personally breaking every single one of Dark Ryu’s fingers.

"I don’t blame Ken for releasing the pain that was inflicted on him. Knowing that you could have been the one to do this to us…I will show you no mercy either." Ryu attacked Dark Ken with his whirlwind kick and continued to pummel him even after the move had ended. Any punch or kick which was aimed at him, he was able to block because Dark Ken was not at his full strength. He couldn’t have defeated Ryu even if he had been. Ryu was a force to be reckoned with as he fought with the mind of a wise strategist. Weighing his enemy’s attacks and positions, devising unique attack plans to make the enemy crumble. Eventually crippling Dark Ken with a crushing blow to his spine. "KEN!"

Even though he realized that Ryu had called him, Ken kept raging on and on. Thumping Dark Ryu’s unconscious head into the pavement, stepping on his shoulders, kicking his face.

"KEN! Enough of that. Destroy him."

Ken shook his head to clear the screaming voice which told him to keep pummeling Dark Ryu. He knew what had to be done. As Ryu was charging up a fireball in his hands, Ken began to do the same. Howling energy surging from his fingertips, snapping into the ozone to burn the air crisply. Blue tendrils of light sparking everything it touched.

"NOW!"

As Ryu shouted, Ken released his fireball simultaneously, screaming "SHINKUU HADOUKEN!!!" Just at the same time that Ryu did. And then there was a flash, then silence.

"Ryu…are they…?"

"Yes. It’s over." He made his way over to Ken, embracing his lover tightly. Their old injuries beginning to take affect again. As his leg gave out on him, seeping with blood, he felt Ken sag against him, breathing heavier than before. They rested on the side of that road, afraid to speak lest the evil return.

Sirens started to sound in the distance, followed by those of a different pitch. An ambulance came to a screeching halt beside them, several police cars following it. And a man jumped out of the leading police car. He helped a sobbing woman out of the back of the car as two stretchers were wheeled to Ryu and Ken.

"Ken!" Mr. Masters knelt by his son and squeezed him in his arms, Mrs. Masters sneaking in to hug them both. "Son…I’m so sorry."

"It’s okay," he said tearfully.

"Oh Ryu, you poor dear." Mrs. Masters crouched beside Ryu when she was sure Ken would be alright. "What on earth happened to you boys?"

"It’s a very long story."

"And both of you will have a very long time to explain it to us." She got into the ambulance with her son and Ryu, her husband advising the medics of any allergies Ken might have. "We were worried sick! And when we saw those two awful men on the television, the ones that were dressed up like you both, we panicked. You could have been killed."

"Mom, we’re fine. I only have some bumps and bruises…a couple of broken ribs…"

"Shattered bones in my leg," Ryu joked. "It feels so good to be alive."

"I swear Ken, one of these days you’re going to give me and your father a heart attack." She shook her head as Mr. Masters came in to have the door shut behind him. Then, the ambulance took off for the nearest hospital. "And why didn’t you tell us about Ryu? We would have supported you. Your father came down with something and didn’t mean anything that he said. You should know better than to think that we don’t love you."

"You don’t mind?" Ken could hardly look his parents in the eyes. It was so humiliating to be discussing his love life in the back of an ambulance. Ryu was just lying there, laughing quietly at Ken’s uncomfortable questioning.

"Absolutely not," Mr. Masters announced loudly. "Although I would appreciate it if you two would move back into the estate. I don’t want my only son sleeping in a barnyard somewhere. So long as you know what is appropriate for displaying affections in public and what isn’t. Are we clear on that?"

"Yes sir!" Ryu grabbed Ken and kissed him passionately, making both parents go red in the face. They didn’t part for a long, long time.

The End.