Across the arena seating, cheers arose as one of the earliest hyped matches, dubbed the Six Angry Men match by publicity flyers and word of mouth, was finally underway. Thousands of screaming aficionados of personal combat roared their approval as six of the most violent and homicidal men in fighting history were locked in their cages.
Eyes first drew to the Vale Tudo fighter, Craig Marduk, who bellowed epithets and insults at the other men in the ring, beating his large meaty fists against his chest with all the fury of a raging gorilla. He was passion, fire, a towering inferno that threatened to consume all who would dare draw close. In some ways, it was perhaps fitting he be locked in a cage, for at the moment he seemed little more than a wild beast.
But as Marduk's rage drew attention, many looked to the massive hulk that was Abubo Rao. Almost a literal solid wall of bronzed muscle, his size and posture almost made him seem more the gorilla than Marduk, with brawny arms that almost dragged along the ground while his head, tiny by comparison, was almost hunched over from the repulsive development of his upper body. This analysis of gross anatomy was evident to all as Abubo played to the crowd, making promises of victory and trying to appeal to the women present, all the while posing and flexing so that the world could gaze upon him. Outside of the ring's forcefield his two escorts, Roxy and Linda stood waiting alongside Hugo's manager Poison.
A number of eyes turned towards the mutant killer Victor Creed, known to many as Sabertooth, as he prowled about his pen, his powerful muscles contrasted with catlike grace as he bared his fangs at his opponents, growling and hissing with all the seething fury of his namesake. The fact that he had since lost his brown and yellow tights and furred collar for a sleeveless bodysuit of black leather only served to remind the audience that despite his poor showing at UVR3, Sabertooth was by no means a foe to take lightly.
By contrast, the man across from him, Sagat, stood still and silent, his brawny hand stroking his chin in thought, his single eye staring with a hawk's precision over the beast before him. Unlike the others about him he did not preen or posture, reserving his full strength for the battle ahead, his posture loose yet regal. Long had been his career, and while his title had been taken years ago by his former student, Adon, there were those in the packed seating who knew that the true God of Muay Thai had at last returned.
Which brings us back to the two men who had been released. To be precise, the warlord Baraka, the Outworld mutant who was still basking in the adulation of the crowd, his arm-blades fully extended.
Of the lot of them he was the smallest and lightest, clad simply in white gi and black pants, his needle-like teeth gleaming evilly under the arena's lights. At last Baraka lowered his arms, dropped into a ready stance, glared at his foe with solid black eyes and began to trash talk.
"Me Baraka think pink man have enough meat on his bones to feed whole race for weeks!" He announced.
His opponent, the massive German wrestler known simply as Hugo, picked his nose before grunting in response. Clad in pink and black jeans and tank top, towering over the mutant in what looked to be an inevitable match of speed against power. And speed Baraka did use, as he ran across the mat to deliver the infamous Midway uppercut to Hugo's colossal chin, but found his most basic technique parried by the giant before him.
"Me Baraka never had that happen before," Baraka said before being backhanded by Hugo, which knocked the mutant a few feet away and to the ground.
"I guess I am just that special," Hugo grumbled. "But not special in the head. I mean special like... Special K, the cereal."
_Broadcast Booth, Star Arena_
"Eagle?" Gordon asked, "do you understand the words that are coming out of Hugo's mouth?"
"Can't say I do Gordon," Eagle replied. "It sounded like he was talking with his mouth full of marbles though."
"What's with the three girlies at ringside?" Gordon wondered.
"Those are just a couple friends of Abubo and Hugo. I hear one of them used to be a guy."
Gordon shuttered. "Oh. Well, that's a buzzkill right there. Jeez, that German freak is taking that bald guy to the cleaners. Wait, the freak just backdropped the giant into the forcefield. Just in time to see who's next."
"And it seems Abubo has been let out into the ring," Eagle said, "things could get pretty ugly for Baraka now that Hugo's partner's arrived."
"Yeah. And I 'could' be slightly overweight."
"Touche."
_The Ring, Star Arena_
Baraka backed up into Abubo, who gave a friendly smile before casually pounding Baraka's skull into his ribcage. Well, almost.
Hugo and Abubo punched the staggering Baraka back and forth. But after the third or forth punch from Hugo, Baraka walked into Abubo and surprised the giant with a backhanded fist. Enraged, Abubo lifted both fists into the air and slammed them into the mat. Everyone else in the ring, including those within their cages, fell over.
Hugo stood up and growled. "Vatch it, you jerk!"
Baraka got up again and lunged at Abubo's throat with his right arm-blade. Abubo repeated his prior attack and caused Baraka to tumble.
Hugo stood up again. "Do that again and you vill pay for it."
Out of spite, Abubo lifted both fists up again. Before he could slam his fists, Hugo punched his face in.
"Told you."
"Nobody does that to Abubo!"
Baraka was smart enough to crawl away. As he did, the two muscle-heads pounded away at each other.
"Tell your crony to stop!" Roxy screamed at Poison.
"Yeah!" Linda agreed. "Tell him to stop!"
Poison scoffed. "Abubo's the one causing problems. Tell your retard to quit being an asshole."
"Why you! Let's get her, Linda!"
"Yeah! Let's get her!"
"No!" another voice yelled. "Stay away from her!"
"Huh?" Linda wondered. Then out of nowhere, Bao of all people jumped at her, grabbed her by the shoulders and headbutted her face about eight times.
Poison had no idea what he was doing there, but decided to take advantage and forward flip-kicked Roxy into the concrete.
Bao pumped his fist at the ring as he saw Abubo sumo slap Hugo into the dome's forcefield. "Come on, Hugo! You can do it! I believe in you!"
Hugo grinned, grabbed Abubo by the shoulders and tossed him back. Abubo bounced off of Sabertooth's cage's forcefield and bounced into the air, where Hugo caught him and dropped him with a very painful backbreaker.
Abubo stood back up and slugged Hugo in the chin. Hugo punched back. Rinse, repeat for a while. Then the two reeled back and let each other have it at the same time. And at the same time they fell to the mat and disappeared.
Bao started tearing up. "Hugo, no!"
Then a security guard zapped him with a taser. The crowd's approval was one of the highest of the night.
Baraka, hurt yet satisfied, stood up. Then, before he knew it, Craig Marduk tackled him with a shoulder to the stomach. He mounted Baraka and pummeled him to and fro. Then he reared his head back and cracked Baraka with a wicked headbutt. Because of the thick metallic bone that made up Baraka's skull, Marduk's head emerged with a deep, bleeding cut on his forehead.
He helped Baraka up, moved to behind him and hooked both of his arms.
"Me... Baraka think you make mistake... Nobody here to hurt Baraka while you... hold me..."
"You're the one makin' the mistake, chump!" Marduk backflipped and landed so that he crushed Baraka into the mat, facedown. He then put Baraka in a sleeper and waited until he was completely under.
Marduk stood up and angrily shouted, "Who's next!?"
Sabertooth was. He raced passed Marduk and clawed across his chest, giving a loud shout of "BERZERKER CLAW!" Then, with his opponent stunned, the feral mutant clawed downwards, followed by an upward claw. The attack launched Marduk high up, where Sabertooth met him with a combination of clawing attacks and kicks. He ended the combo with a thrust kick using both legs. Marduk bounced off of Sagat's cage's forcefield and attempted to get up.
"I'll break your face!" Marduk yelled, trying to get to his knee.
"Good luck!" Sabertooth laughed. "Won't do ya much good."
On his way to finish Marduk off, Sabertooth stepped over Baraka. Baraka, in a dizzy stupor, figured it was Marduk and not his partner. He lept up and impaled Sabertooth with both of his blades.
"AH!" Sabertooth roared. Upon learning he was wrong, Baraka retracted his blades.
"Me Baraka am sorr--"
Sabertooth backhanded him. "Shut up!" As this happened, the bloody wounds over his back and stomach started healing up.
There was less than ten seconds on the clock. And with only one fighter left to enter, the crowd did not count down, but rather chanted the name of Sabertooth's next challenge.
"SAGAT! SAGAT! SAGAT! SAGAT!"
As the forcefield around the cage died down and the door opened up, Sagat placed his right hand over his chest scar and laughed.
Sabertooth allowed him to exit the cage. It meant more time for him to heal up. He then dashed straight at Sagat.
"BERZERKER CLAW!"
Sagat merely ducked down and knocked Sabertooth back with a fierce punch. Several people in the stands booed at this for some reason.
Once Sabertooth got up, Sagat let him have it with a plethora of bone-shattering punches and kicks to the head and upperbody. While Sabertooth's quick healing ability was superior to his rival Wolverine's, even he couldn't keep up with the onslaught. Like the pro he was, Sagat blocked and dodged everything Sabertooth threw at him. The fact that Sabertooth's moves were done out of desperation made it even easier for Sagat to overcome.
Sagat held Sabertooth up in the air by his neck. "You should hold back your anger. Rage will only get you so far."
Sabertooth's eyes opened and he kicked Sagat in the chin. Dropping down, he swung his fist across Sagat's face, slashed his left claw across his chest and finished off the combination with an upward slash.
"You shouldn't waste your time!" Sabertooth taunted. Then he went for his Berzerker Claw Barrage. It was unfortunate for him that his sidekick Birdie (the woman, not the mohawked guy) wasn't allowed in the ring. Because of that, his range of moves was very limited.
He passed Sagat once and slashed him across the side. He ran again and slashed the other side. A third time he ran past the Muay Thai legend with a bloody slash. But on his way to dash one final time and finish him off, Craig Marduk reached out and palmed the mutant by the head. Because of the headbutt to Baraka from earlier, blood was flowing from Marduk's deep cut, pouring over his face.
"You shouldn't have forgotten about me, freak!"
He twisted around, pulling Sabertooth into the air, before spiking him hard into the mat. So hard, that Sabertooth's bones almost turned to mush as he bounced high into the air.
Sagat clenched his fist and grinned.
"TIGER UPPERCUT!"
The rising fist of Sagat met with the spine of the falling Sabertooth, like two missiles meeting head-on. Sabertooth's body bounced back into the air, so far that it hit the roof of the dome's forcefield.
Elsewhere in the ring, Baraka tried to pick himself up by using his blades as crutches. "Me Baraka down but me Baraka not out!"
Of course, he said that right as Sabertooth's body descended upon him like an anvil. The collision knocked both of them out of the tournament.
As he was announced as co-winner, Craig Marduk scaled one of the cages and flexed for the crowd. "The name's Marduk! Don't you forget it!"
Sagat shook his head and walked over to the cage. With a strong kick, he shook the cage enough that Marduk fell off of it completely. Sagat looked down at the Vale Tudo expert and leaned over slightly.
"I can count all of the losses in my life on one hand. And when they weren't due to needless rage, they were due to excessive pride. Do you get it?"
Sagat walked away, but Marduk wasn't ready to leave. He rose up and dove at Sagat from behind. At the last second, Sagat spun around and kneed Marduk right in the skull, laying him out across the mat.
He shook his head and crossed his arms. "I told you to watch that temper, Craig."
_Broadcast Booth, Star Arena_
"Fantastic match," Eagle stated. "Though oddly enough, it included disputes between the partners of each team. I guess Sagat and Marduk were lucky that they could hold off their differences for after the match was over. What do you think, Gordon?"
"Are you sure one of those ladies used to be a guy?"
"You don't have a chance either way, fuzzy."
"I'll drink to that!"
Eagle shook his head as Gordon chugged another beer. "Could be worse, I guess. At least I'm not commentating with Gozu."
"I'll drink to that too!"
_Room 333, Panther Hotel_
In the darkness of the room, the Robo-Ky model awakened, his yellow eyes glowing in alarm.
"BZZZT!" it exclaimed. "MOTIONS_SENSED. SCANNING...SCANNING..."
Q stood near the door, looking Robo-Ky up and down. He remained silent.
"Whoa, I must be drunker than I thought," Gordon said, pointing to the ring. "Didn't that guy already fight tonight? Wait, what day is this?"
"Cram it, Big Foot. You're thinking of Jin Kazama. This guy is Kazuya Mishima, Jin's father."
"That don't make sense. Shouldn't he be Jin Mishima?"
"It's a disfunctional family," Eagle explained.
"Oh."
"This next match is Mr. Big and Kazuya Mishima taking on Raiden and Kuma and the team of Taki and Kunimitsu. If Jin is in fact a chip off the old block, I think Kazuya and Big will probably have this one in the bag. What do you think, Gordon?"
"I don't think that ninja girl is wearing underwear."
"Classy."
Gordon scratched his head. "No, seriously. Are you sure the censors are okay with this?"
Eagle sighed. "Moving on..."
_The Ring, Star Arena_
The first fighter to exit his cage was Raiden, known to some as Big Bear. He flexed his arms to the crowd, proclaiming the obvious.
"I am RAIDEN!"
Out of nowhere, his immediate opponent Kunimitsu flew out of the air and kicked the wrestler in the face. She held out her trusty dagger and sliced Raiden across the stomach. Before she could stab again, Raiden caught her hand, lifted her up with both hands and tossed her into Taki's cage. He then inspected the wound.
Despite the fact that he should have been in pain, he merely stated, "I didn't know there was blading in this match."
Kunimitsu took his distraction as an opportunity to rush and uppercut him into the air, using the same hand as that holding her dagger. Raiden went high into the air, but on the way down he bounced off of Kazuya's cage and fell onto Kunimitsu. The angry ninja girl struggled in attempt to push Raiden's body off of her.
"Get off of me, you fat idiot!"
She finally rolled him off and stood up. But Raiden proved it to be a trick as he quickly hopped up and dropkicked Kunimitsu. She didn't lose her footing, but she did run into Kazuya Mishima, who reacted with the impolite gesture of grabbing her by the arm and tossing her over his shoulder.
He turned to Raiden and frowned. "Is this a club for fools with ugly masks?"
Raiden prepared to grapple. "Yeah? Well maybe you could use one of those ugly masks for yourself! No mask could be worse than your face! You look like some kinda arts and crafts project that got an F!"
Though with hesitation, Kazuya joined Raiden in the laughter. He crossed his arms and giggled for a moment with his enemy. But like a whip's crack, Kazuya knocked Raiden back with a straight punch out of nowhere. "Jokes like you shouldn't laugh at others." He proceeded to punch and kick Raiden back a couple feet while the wrestler tried to block.
During this, Kunimitsu sat behind Kazuya's empty cage, taking the coward's way out. She would let Kazuya and Raiden take each other out and then defeat the weakened winner. But in the back of her mind, she wondered at Kazuya's strange facial appearance. The last time she saw him, he looked like a normal human being. But she figured it to be related to the rumors about Kazuya's involvement with the legendary Devil.
Raiden finally caught one of Kazuya's attacks. While holding him by the wrist, he laughed, "I had a talk with your pop, little man." He lifted his fist. "He said to give you this message."
Kazuya kicked Raiden across the face with his left foot, then followed with a kick in the opposite direction. Raiden let go, spun around and fell on his stomach. Kazuya merely crossed his arms and tilted his head. He waited for someone to attack. Was it time for another competitor to be released?
The roar of a grizzly bear proved yes.
"Kuma," Kazuya said, turning around. "How nice to see you again... Oh, scratch that. It seems this is our first meeting, isn't it?"
Kuma, wearing only a red t-shirt, stalked over cautiously.
"Yes. You're not the same pet I knew years ago, are you, Kuma? You're his son. The son of a creature whose lifelong mission to defeat Paul Phoenix was nothing but a failure. Your father was a failure, Kuma. A worthless failure."
Kazuya ducked a claw swipe and uppercut Kuma in the throat. He stomped on the bear's foot and went for a hook to the side of the face. But instead, Kuma caught him with another swipe that knocked Kazuya into his cage. As he staggered, he turned to Raiden. Raiden gripped his own throat and then spat at Kazuya's face with green mist. Kazuya backed into Kuma, who grabbed him by the ankle and slammed him around again and again as if the ring was on fire and only Kazuya could smother the flames.
Once Kuma finished, Raiden leap-frogged off of Kuma's shoulders and dropped his leg over the back of Kazuya's head. He wasn't going to be getting up any time soon.
"Die!" Kunimitsu shouted as she appeared from nowhere and slashed at Kuma's neck. She whiffed a kick at Raiden, who reacted by knocking her back with his gut.
"You shoulda tried to take us down when you had the chance," Raiden bragged. "Now whatcha gonna do when The Big Bears run wild on you!?"
Kunimitsu sprang up, running head-first into Raiden's elbowpad. He shoulderblocked the ninja woman into Kuma. Kuma swatted his arm back and forth, followed by swinging his paw downward into Kunimitsu's porcelain fox mask. She fell back, bounced and rolled off the floor, ending up with Raiden holding her up by the arms.
Baring his teeth, Raiden told her, "Have a nice day."
Kuma lunged his paw at Kunimitsu, who backflipped over Raiden. The attack meant for Kunimitsu instead almost took Raiden's blue lightning mask off. He ran away from the battle, yelling, "My mask! Hold on, I'll be right back! Cover for me, Kuma buddy!"
Kuma growled as if asking a question. It distracted him from Kunimitsu, who successfully uppercutted Kuma into the air, where he then landed on top of Raiden's empty cage. Kuma eventually fell off of it and lay face first on the mat.
There wasn't much action after that. Kuma, Kunimitsu and Kazuya were each taking a breather while Raiden tried to reattach his mask. Hearing the countdown, he hurried just in time to see his next opponent enter the melee.
Taki was next, brandishing her two daggers, intent on chopping the overweight wrestler to ribbons. But yet she couldn't help but sense a demon in the midst. She disregarded it and sidestepped as Raiden shoulder rushed her. With the smaller of her blades, Taki sliced Raiden across the thigh and then shoved him onto his belly. She flipped into the air, twisted and landed right on Raiden's spine whilst crossing her arms.
She jumped near Raiden's head, waiting for him to get up. As he reached his knees, she began to roundhouse kick him across the face several times. The third kick was blocked and with the other arm, Raiden reeled back and nailed Taki with a strong right hook. She flew back and tried to get back to her feet. The punch made her slightly dizzy, but it would have taken much more than just one punch to take her out.
Raiden ducked a jump kick and wrapped his arms around Taki. With a fierce grunt, he lifted up her body and slammed her into the ground with a powerbomb. He stood over her prone body and flexed his massive muscles.
"You hear that, ninja cutey? That's the sound of all the Raidenites out there cheering for their hero, The Big Blue Machine! What do you think about that?"
Taki angrily moaned something in response.
"Sorry, I didn't hear that," Raiden said.
She repeated. Considering how weak she was and the fact that she was wearing a mask, it sounded a little muffled.
"Take your mask off first, dummy!" Raiden growled.
Taki did so. "I... like... big, fat men... like you..." She then smiled and gripped her weapon handles. "When you hit the ground you make a lot of noise!"
"Hey! Why you--!" Raiden tried stomping on her face, but Taki slipped through his legs and rolled to her feet. She dashed at Raiden and stabbed into his gut with both weapons. Raiden, in desperation, spat the green mist into her face. Taki rolled back before it could get to her, bounced off of an empty cage, soared into the air, flipped in place and then like a bolt of lightning, she zipped right into Raiden, taking him down.
Standing on top of the beaten Raiden, Taki crossed her arms and smiled. "See? Right there you made a lot of noise."
Kazuya clapped his hands. "Impressive. It just goes to show that some people should wear tight, revealing outfits," he frowned at Raiden, "while others should just be snuffed."
Taki inspected Kazuya. "You... you're a demon, aren't you?"
"Me? Oh... you're only partially right. I guess you can say that I'm only half the Devil I used to be."
"You realize that I must kill you."
"Come on. I hear that one so often that it's lost all meaning."
Taki flipped forward and stabbed down with her blades. Kazuya ducked down, spun around, charged himself with electricity and then intercepted Taki with a jumping uppercut.
"Don't mess with an Iron Fist champion."
Elsewhere, Kunimitsu tried to fend off Kuma. She wasn't fairing very well, so she tried eluding the bear all together. She had barely enough room for Kuma to miss his claw swipes, partially because Kuma was pretty weak from the fighting. She backed into something and turned around in alarm when she noticed it was actually another fighter and not one of the six cages.
"Take five, baby," Mr. Big told her. She pushed her aside and held up his escrima sticks. "Come on, Gummi Bear. Let's go to town."
Kuma leaned over and roared into Mr. Big's face. It knocked his sunglasses off and would have blown back his hair if he had any. Mr. Big waved over his nose and shook his head.
"Knocked off my shades, eh? Not a bad trick. I got a neat trick too. Check this out." He started twirling his escrima sticks like his hands were helicopters. Though Kuma should have been trying to tear him apart, he couldn't help but be enamored with the act. Mr. Big waited until his hands had Kuma's undivided attention before baring his bright white teeth. "Now check this out."
He tossed the two batons into the air and watched as Kuma's eyes followed their movement.
"Damn, you're dumb!" Mr. Big laughed. Kuma looked down just in time for Big to pound him in the face with both fists. Kuma went down and vanished along with Raiden. Mr. Big caught his sticks and shrugged.
"Thank you," Kunimitsu said, holding up her dagger. "I'll make it up to you by killing you quickly."
"Now now, baby! You don't have to get so hasty. Why don't you and I put our weapons away? Then you can take that thing off and show me what you really look like."
"I take my mask off for no one."
"Hey, I wasn't talkin' 'bout no mask."
Kunimitsu lunged at him with her dagger, only for Big to block it with his sticks and then push her back. He dug his weapons into her ribs and then smacked the side of her mask. Kunimitsu twisted a little and fell to her knees.
"Please, baby. You're messin' with the man who made the pimp slap a household name. Now let's see if we can't crack that candy shell on your face."
Kunimitsu, kneeling forward, back kicked Big's stomach. She followed with a sweep and hopped onto his lying body, trying to drive her dagger into his throat. Big grabbed her by the wrist and pushed her off of him. He got to his feet and felt her heel smack across his chin. He staggered back, rubbing his face with his forearm and laughed to himself.
"See, now you're just askin' for it, baby." He put his escrima sticks together and twisted them, connecting his weapons into a black staff. "Let's go for a spin."
"If you insist."
The two fighters spun around like tops, each holding out their respective weapons. Mr. Big had the longer weapon, but he himself was slower. Kunimitsu had the smaller weapon, but she was quicker.
The two living tornados twisted at each other and bounced away from each other like unattracting magnets. Finally after about five meetings, the two stopped spinning.
Kunimitsu was extremely dizzy from the experience. Not only that, but there were cracks over her masks and she was certain that certain bones were broken within her. She fell to one knee and tried her hardest to stay up.
Mr. Big pulled apart his staff into the two lesser sticks and prepared to brag. But all of the sudden, cuts and gashes started opening up all over his upper body. With about a dozen serious scrapes tearing him apart, Mr. Big dropped his escrima sticks and fell onto his back.
Kunimitsu was happy with her win, but at the same time she was in serious pain. Looking up, she saw something that alarmed her. Kazuya Mishima, worse for wear, holding a kneeling Taki by the chin and arching her backwards. He popped her in the skull with his right fist and the demon hunting Taki fell face first and moved only to breathe.
Kazuya, to Kunimitsu's dismay, slowly advanced to her.
It was over for Kunimitsu and she knew it. She couldn't even stand up. There was no way she had enough strength left to take on much anyone. Make that person Kazuya and she didn't have a ghost of a chance.
But all of the sudden, Kazuya fell over and landed on his face. Sticking out of his back was the larger of Taki's blades. Kunimitsu faintly smiled beneath her mask. She waited for she and Taki to be announced the winners before collapsing into a heap.
The crowd gave a standing ovation for the closest UVT match so far.
_Broadcast Booth, Star Arena_
"Wow," was all Gordon could say.
"That about sums it up. What a match! That victory could have gone to any one of those teams. Neither of those six contestants should feel ashamed as they gave the fans their money's worth."
"Max, please. You know you're sore that Raiden didn't win. Ain't that right, 'Champ'?"
"Okay, I admit I would've liked to have seen him come out on top. But enough about me, what did you think about that match, Gordon?"
"Hey, I thought it was the best match so far tonight!"
Eagle smirked. "Even more than the Mai match?"
"Hell yeah!"
"Wow. What makes you say that?"
"Because the only thing I like better than watching a pimp getting his butt kicked is doing the butt kicking myself." Gordon adjusted his policeman's cap and downed another beer. "God, I love my job."
_Hallway, Amazon Hotel_
Kitana asked Violet to leave her alone. She was less than thrilled with their horrible loss and felt that solitude would do her some good. She stormed to her room for some peace.
"Hello, Kitana," Ryu said, passing by.
She tried not to look him in the eye. "Oh. Hello, Ryu."
"I saw your fight."
"I was humiliated."
Ryu shook his head. "No. You lost, but you fought your best. You fought with honor. That's all that counts. You shouldn't be beating yourself up. You should be proud of your efforts. There will be other tournaments and other fights. Just take solace in the fact that of all the fights in your life, this fight is far from important. You gained experience. That is enough."
Kitana took a couple deep breaths and thought to herself. She looked to Ryu's face and said, "I never thought of it that... oh. Oh no." The red headband on Ryu's head startled Kitana and caused her to pause.
"What's wrong?" Ryu wondered.
A tear seemed to form in Kitana's eye before she ran off and into her room, slamming the door.
Ryu scratched his head. "What was that about?"
"It ain't you," Jax Briggs said, leaning against a wall a few yards away from Ryu.
"Jax, right?"
"That's me." Jax removed his sunglasses. "I guess nobody told you."
"Told me what?"
"About Liu."
"I was wondering about him. I didn't see him listed on the roster. I just thought he wasn't popular enough to return or..." Ryu's eyes widened in realization. The solemn look on Jax's face seemed to confirm his notion. "Oh no. Are you saying Liu is...?"
"Dead? 'Fraid so. Happened a few weeks ago. A couple old enemies of Liu ambushed him and took him out like that. I'm sorry. I know you two were tight."
Ryu leaned against the wall, trying to recover from the shock. "We... he's been my friend since the first Dream Tournament. I never thought he'd..."
"The guys who killed him are here in the tournament together. I was hoping for a bracket closer to theirs so I could tear one guy's head off and shove it down the other's throat."
Ryu didn't respond, choosing to stare at nothing in particular.
"Listen, man," Jax put his metal hand on Ryu's shoulder. "It's best not to think about it. Want to go take a trip to the bar and get hammered?"
"No thank you. I don't drink."
"Well, if there's anything I can do to help you take your mind off it, don't hesitate to ask." Jax began to walk away.
"Wait," Ryu told him. "There is something."
Jax paused. "Keep in mind, I like the ladies."
"Just meet me in the gym in fifteen minutes."
_Library, Panther Hotel_
"Axl?" Sol Badguy asked out loud.
"Shh! It's a library, man."
Sol looked around, noting that they were the only two in there. He groaned to himself.
"Can you believe we're fighting each other tomorrow?" Axl asked.
"Why did you call me here?" Sol asked impatiently.
Axl was sitting on top of a table, surrounded by a pile of books. "I think I figured out the deal with Justice being here. Also why Kliff Undrson is here too."
"I'm listening."
"You should sit down, this might take a little while."
Sol sat in a nearby chair, resting his sword on a nearby table.
Axl picked up one book and started flipping through the pages. "I was trying to find some stuff on time travel, but after a few hours of reading I found that I don't have a clue when it comes to quantum physics or all this science crap. But then I found some stuff on alternate universes."
"And?"
"Well, as funny as it sounds, these multiversal events are behind Justice being here."
"I don't get it."
"Okay, let me explain. There are all these different worlds with different attributes and different people. They're mostly the same, most of the time. One year someone came up with the bright idea to set these worlds up and have a tournament between people from these different worlds. They called it the Dream Tournament. Just like this, but without the teams.
"The thing is, there's this one universe labeled 'Fatal Fury' where some of the fighters hailing from the late twentieth century were invited. But the problem was, another set of people from the same universe were invited too. These guys were from about twenty years earlier, in the 1970's. And thanks to these guys from two different times in the same reality mingling together, a separate universe was created. This one is called 'King of Fighters' in this book.
"The King of Fighters world was some kind of world just like Fatal Fury, but with a couple differences. The main one was that those guys from the seventies existed, but twenty years later. Some of them are here, like Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia. In the Fatal Fury world, these guys are in their twenties during the 1970's. But in the King of Fighters world, they're that age in the 1990's.
"After that, there were other multiversal events like the Ultimate Video Rumble, the Multiverse Video Fighters Council, the Fiction Fighters' Clash, etc. The more times these things took place, the weirder the effects of these alternate universes. Akuma from the Street Fighter world showed up in the Marvel world. A second King of Fighters world popped up where people who should be dead aren't. Stuff like that. Heck, a couple worlds showed up that were mixtures of two or more different worlds. Like Street Fighter and Marvel."
"Get to the point," Sol said.
"I'm getting to it. Our world, or 'node' as this book calls it, is known as Guilty Gear. No clue what that's even supposed to mean."
Sol shifted his eyes and said nothing.
"Because of all this multiversal activity, a second world appeared. You know how I said there was a second King of Fighters world where some people were alive when they shouldn't be? Well, there you go."
"So if what you're saying is true..." Sol rubbed his chin. "There's a separate world out there where Justice and Kliff are still alive long after Testament's tournament. Justice is still around after Dizzy's discovery."
"Spoken like a true child prodigy. So we really have nothing to worry about here. When all is said and done, we're just going to go back home, to a world where Justice doesn't exist anymore." Axl paused. "And by that I mean 'Justice' as in the Gear and not the concept."
Sol stood up and gripped his sword's handle. "Justice should not exist in any reality."
"The Gear or the concept?"
Before Sol could respond, someone else made their presence known.
"What's going on in here?" K' asked impatiently.
"Shhh!" Axl said. "We're in a library."
"Shut up. I was told my 'partner' was in the library of all places. Then I see him palling around with the enemy. What gives, Badguy?"
"I don't need to explain anything to you."
"Think you're cool talking to me like that." Flame surrounded K''s glove. "I'll take the coolness out of you."
"Try it," Sol commanded.
"Now now, guys!" Axl said, trying to stand between them. "There's no reason you two should-- oof!"
K' knocked Axl into a bookcase with a right hook. "Shut up. I'll deal with you later. Now it's just between me and the Badguy."
"But you're partners!" Axl reminded him.
"I don't need a partner," K' insisted.
Sol spoke through his teeth, "Neither do I."
"That's enough!" a man from security yelled, holding up a pistol in the general vicinity of Sol and K'. Others like him appeared, aiming different guns at the duo. "The cameras here picked up the white haired man attacking his opponent for tomorrow. We can't allow that, nor can we allow you two to decimate this library. You are commanded to leave at once."
"And if we don't feel like listening to your orders?" K' wondered. "Don't you think that we could take you all down if provoked?"
"Maybe as a unit," the officer admitted. "But it doesn't seem like you two are on the same team at the moment."
"He has a point," Sol said.
K' put his hands in his pockets and calmly walked away. "Forget this. I'm gone."
Sol shook his head and walked in the opposite direction. As soon as Axl admitted to being okay, the security force disbanded and left him to sit against the wall.
"Crazy how of all people, I'm the most mature around here." He noticed a book to his left. "Hey, 'How to Draw Bugs Bunny'! Yes!"
Posted on Aug 3, 2003, 4:16 AM from IP address 216.107.56.229