DREAM TOURNAMENT IV: ROUND TWO RESULTS
This is the list of matchups for round two. For details on voting, see the
"How to Vote" post or file. The following resources are available for DT4
installments:
1) posted as they come out in rec.games.video.arcade, rec.games.video.sony,
rec.games.video.nintendo, and rec.games.video.sega.
2) available via ftp at brawl.ecom.net, in the pub/dream-tournament/IV
directory.
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MATCH 1: CHOI BOUNGE (KOF95) vs. HAOHMARU (SS3)
-----------------------------------------------
Choi looked up at the clock, alternately yawning and cringing from
his opponent's tendency towards speech-making. With astonishment, he
realized that the fight had already begun! With a mighty cry of "SHUT UP!
SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!!!!" he charged the ronin. Haohmaru was so overcome
with his speech, he never saw him coming. Choi barreled into him, slashing
with his claws, and looked down in astonishment.
"VERY WELL, IMPATIENT ONE!" Haohmaru boomed from the ground. "IF YOU
ARE SO EAGER TO MEET YOUR OWN FATE!" Haohmaru climbed to his own feet, and
bellowed, "KOGETSUZAN!!!" slashing Choi lengthwise as he leapt into the
air.
As Choi got to his feet, he thrust out quickly at his opponent, only
to find his claws easily turned away, and a quick counter-slash waiting for
him. He slashed at the ronin, only to watch him dodge to the side, or
parry. Choi quickly found himself buckling under the force of the ronin's
blows, as Haohmaru won the first round.
"HA!" boomed Haohmaru, as the second round began. "YOU FIGHT JUST
LIKE SHIRANUI GEN-AN!"
Choi mused on this, and realized that it was true! From what he'd
seen of Gen-an at Dream Tournament III, their fighting styles were very
similar. Finally, he fell back on one weapon he'd NEVER seen Gen-an use.
With a cry of "Tatsumakishippuuzan!" he began turning so rapidly that a
small whirlwind formed underneath him and carried him up. Haohmaru quickly
hopped back out of the way, before laughing.
"HA HA! A NEAT TRICK, SMALL ONE!" said Haohmaru, "ALLOW ME TO SHOW
YOU A BETTER ONE!" With that, Haohmaru slashed at the air with such force
another whirlwind was created. Choi was caught up in the vortex, and sent
spiralling into the air. Haohmaru leapt into the air to meet him, and with
a mighty overhead slash, sent him crashing back to the platform.
With a smirk, the ronin stuck his sword into the ground, and bowed to
his fallen opponent.
The tournament staff wishes to note that later that day, Choi was
brutally thrashed by Gen-An Shiranui's children for making fun of their dad
in his match.
[WINNER: HAOHMARU-44 votes, CHOI BOUNGE-4 votes, DRAW-0, DKO-2]
MATCH 2: ANDY BOGARD (KOF95) vs. HON FU (RBFF)
----------------------------------------------
As the round bell rang, Andy Bogard let loose on the panicked Hon Fu
in a way that few but a jealous boyfriend can.
The Hong Kong flatfoot sidestepped Hishokens, blocked Shoryudans,
and endured a withering barrage of attacks.
DODGE! WEAVE! PARRY! BLOCK! THRUST! SPIN!
As Hon recovered from his second embarassing blow to a sensitive
area in as many rounds, he pleaded with his opponent, "Hey! Andy!
Calm down man! Honest! There's nothing to jealous abou..."
"CHOREPPADAN!" A firey Andy blasted the battered cop clear out of
the ring, and growled as he looked down at him. "Don't you EVER look at
Mai like that again!"
[WINNER: ANDY BOGARD-35 votes, HON FU-8 votes, DRAW-2, DKO-5]
MATCH 3: MORRIGAN (NW) vs. SODOM (SFA)
--------------------------------------
When the round began, Sodom immediately dashed in, swinging at the
odd woman with his jitte. She backed away slightly, and said, "Ooh, an
aggressive man... I like that."
Deuce sat at ringside, smirking at the goings-on with his head
resting heavily on one hand. "Better him than me," he muttered, still
wracking his brain for the memories of what had transpired the previous
night.
Interestingly enough, Morrigan wasn't really fighting back. In fact,
Sodom was pummelling the hell out of her (no pun intended). But he was the
one who was looking flustered and such, while she seemed to be enjoying
herself. To a disturbing extent, in fact.
Why, even when Sodom grabbed her and played "wheelbarrow" with her
face, she seemed a little too "into it." She stood up and coughed a bit.
She floated over to him, and he was completely on his guard. He expected
some vicious attack, but what he got was much, much worse. Or better.
Depends on how you look at it.
She had whispered something to him. Whatever it was, he found it
rather disturbing. So disturbing, in fact, that he ran from the platform,
screaming. She grinned to herself. "I guess that means I win... and we'll
see what else I win later...." She cackled to herself, and posed in her
usual sultry fashion for the crowd.
This had its usual effect. 98% of the men in the crowd stood up and
whistled, catcalled, drooled, had minor seizures, etc. 100% of those men
who were accompanied by girlfriends got abused by said women.
[WINNER: MORRIGAN-34 votes, SODOM-13 votes, DRAW-1, DKO-3]
MATCH 4: SAGAT (SFA) vs. BLUE MARY (RBFF)
-----------------------------------------
From the moment the fight began, Blue Mary took to taunting and
goading the tall man endlessly. She simply wouldn't stop talking to him.
"Hey baby, bet the girls just LOVE that eyepatch!" and other such
colorful statements.
This served its purpose quite well, in that it angered Sagat enough
to attack thoughtlessly. He was telegraphing every move, enough for Mary
to catch his strikes and counter several times. Sometimes she zapped him
with her taser, other times she simply tossed him into the air and
smacked him with a high leaping kick on the way down. These defensive
tactics managed to sustain her for a good while.
Until, that is, she made a major mistake. "Cover up that scar, big
boy, you're driving me wild!" Sagat suddenly started glowing with the
power of his anger.
"YOU... DARE...," roared the big man, "TO MOCK MY GREATEST SHAME?"
Mary EEPed and suddenly took a step back, thinking that maybe she'd gone
a bit too far. Indeed, she had. Sagat was now at the point where he
would break the small woman in half if he got his hands on her. He
began chasing her around the platform.
At one point, Mary turned around and attempted a low sliding kick,
but Sagat blocked it and did one incredibly powerful Tiger Uppercut. So
powerful, in fact, that it not only knocked her out (with the expected
sunburst effect), it knocked her clean out of the ring. Sagat roared in
fury, and started to climb down after her.
Terry and Joe were at her side, though, and helped her up. Terry
glared at the tall man. "You won your match. Leave her be." Sagat
calmed down a bit, and raised his hands in victory, laughing as Terry
and Joe led the semi-conscious Mary back to her room.
[WINNER: SAGAT-30 votes, BLUE MARY-15 votes, DRAW-2, DKO-3]
MATCH 5: EIJI SHINJO (TSD2) vs. KUNG LAO (MK3)
----------------------------------------------
"I am *NOT*", Kung Lao boomed, "a James Bond villain!" He hurled his
hat with all his might at the young swordsman.
Eiji quickly rolled out of the way, and dashed by the monk, slashing
him lightly across the side. "Jeez, YOU'RE a bit touchy!"
Kung Lao teleported behind Eiji, and responded with a flurry of
punches, rounded out with an uppercut, taking the first round.
In the peanut gallery, the Time Killers formed a motley chorus, and
began serenading the platform with the theme-music to Goldfinger. Kung
Lao's face broke into a killing rage. (The Time Killers have that effect
on people.) Forsaking his fight, he leapt from the platform, and began
trying to use his hat to hack Rancid limb from limb. Despite losing the
match, he went on record as having said "It was actually one of my better
days."
[WINNER: EIJI SHINJO-24 votes, KUNG LAO-12 votes, DRAW-4, DKO-4]
MATCH 6: CHANG KOEHAN (KOF95) vs. ADON (SFA)
--------------------------------------------
Not long after the match started, both competitors realized that
their opponents were very little like what they were expecting.
Adon noticed that Chang didn't really seem very intent on grabbing
him up in the chain he carried - rather, he seemed much more interested
in beating him senseless with the large iron ball at the end of it.
Chang meanwhile, took a little longer to realize that his opponent
wasn't really Joe Higashi - not to say that Adon's fighting style wasn't
dramatically different, for it was, with no whirlwinds of any sort, and
all his flying kicks kept coming in at weird angles - no, it was more for
lack of 'computing power' in Chang's bald cranium.
The rounds dragged on, with each fighter getting more bruised,
battered, and annoyed. Adon decided it was time to finish it all, and
lashed out with his Jaguar Revolver combo, attacking the heavy, ball and
chain wielding Korean with multiple flipkicks - which Chang blocked,
crouching, and trying to escape the worst of the assault. When it was
finished, Chang was still conscious - barely - and lashed out with a
flipkick of his own, finishing Adon off as he yelled something that
sounded like "Heunzun!"
Regrettably for Chang, however, he still hadn't quite perfected
this move yet, and instead of landing gracefully on his feet, as was the
intention, he came crashing down on his back, hitting his head and
finally succumbing to unconsciousness.
The match was declared a DKO as Kim Kaphwan, standing by the
sidelines, sighed and shook his head.
Rancid, jeering at the contenders from a few feet away, asked,
"What? Disappointed in your student's PATHETIC performance?"
Kim, unperturbed, just shook his head. "No, no. I just wonder
how many times I have to tell him. It's pronounced 'Hienzan'!"
[DOUBLE ELIMINATION: ADON-21 votes, CHANG KOEHAN-17 votes, DRAW-1, DKO-7]
MATCH 7: ELLIS (TSD2) vs. SASQUATCH (NW)
----------------------------------------
Despite the intense Cuteness-dampening field set up around the
platform, waves of nauseating happiness washed out over the crowd.
"Awwww!" crooned Rancid, to his buddies, "Isn't it CUTE the way
'Squatch just swallowed Ellis!" In fact, he was so overcome, he wasn't
even revving his chainsaw.
"But look!" pointed out Lord Wulf, "Did you just see Ellis stab yon
snow-beast thirty-six times? Verily, 'twas far more adorable!"
Inside the field, it was so cute that small clumps of flowers, fluffy
white clouds, and even a small, happy sun (wearing sunglasses) had
spontaneously appeared. But as the fight progressed, Sasquatch began
looking a little green. Not only that, but Ellis was acting a bit groggy.
Moments later, the pair of them collapsed (not due to combat).
Jolly Green rushed up with a medical team. There was some hustle,
and bustle, before the Jovial One produced a small microphone, and on
speakers, which magnified his voice to rival Haohmaru's, he made an
announcement.
"FIGHTING FANS! WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT BOTH ELLIS AND
SASQUATCH ARE SUFFERING ACUTE CUTENESS SYNDROME. THE TREATMENT LASTS FOR
SOME TIME, AND BOTH FIGHTERS WILL BE UNABLE TO CONTINUE IN THE TOURNAMENT.
THE RESULT OF THIS FIGHT IS..."
[DOUBLE ELIMINATION: SASQUATCH-20 votes, ELLIS-17 votes, DRAW-4, DKO-8]
MATCH 8: SARAH (VF2) vs. KIBAGAMI GENJURO (SS3)
-----------------------------------------------
Genjuro gave no quarter, expecting none. He immediately began the
match with an Oukazan, swinging his sword upward, creating a large card-
shaped projectile of energy which spun at his opponent. Sarah raised her
arms to block, and the card bounced into the air. Seeing his opportunity,
the samurai rushed in, and slashed once at her legs, shattering her
defense. As he geared up for another slash, this one aimed for her neck,
the card fell back down, landing on her shoulder and causing much pain.
He completed his second slash, which came slightly lower, and sliced across
her collarbone. Sarah went flying back.
"Hah. So much for you being a worthy challenge, I see," he said
with a mixed tone of disappointment and disgust. She rose to her feet and
glared at him. He beckoned to her. "Is that all you've got?" he said.
She began to charge in at him, gearing up for a deadly combo which
would put this self-absorbed swordsman where he belonged: on the ground.
This was to be a very deadly mistake. He leaned forward, trailing
his sword behind him, and slid toward her through some unseen motive
force. She hadn't expected him to take the offensive. She skidded to a
quick halt, and brought up her block again. Genjuro slid past her,
swinging the sword just so that it bypassed her defense. The image of a
hanafuda card appeared and split in half. Blood fell to the platform...
and evaporated, as usual. The samurai immediately slashed again, across
her stomach, then slid forward once more, performing a powerful upward
slice, creating another split image of a card. After one last cut across
the stomach, the large man lunged forward, swinging his sword in a
powerful, deadly downward arc, which bit deeply into the Virtua Fighter's
shoulder. Sarah collapsed, utterly beaten.
Genjuro was declared the winner. He pulled out a sake dish and
sipped from it, as he so often did after a match. "Pathetic." He tossed
the dish to the ground and strode off, to a hefty number of both cheers
and boos.
[WINNER: KIBAGAMI GENJURO-39 votes, SARAH-10 votes, DRAW-2, DKO-0]
MATCH 9: ANAKARIS (NW) vs. JON TALBAIN (NW)
-------------------------------------------
Mike gaped at the huge cloud of dust that was swirling around the
platform as the two old adversaries went at it tooth and nail. (Or at
least, Jon went tooth and nail...for Anakaris it was more like bone and
bandage). He really couldn't tell what the heck was going on in there,
as he was catching only the occasional glimpse of a flash of fur, or
glint of a sarcophogus.
"Sheesh," He thought to himself, "I thought the Night Warriors
were an anime style game, not a Looney Tunes style game."
When the dust finally settled, Wraith struggled not to laugh.
While Jon had clearly taken the mummy apart, he had done it in such a way
as to get himself hopelessly mired in the bandages. He whined piteously,
and tried to pull his tail out from under the large ornate sarcophogus
that had it pinned to the floor. When it became clear that Jon was
pretty much incapacitated himself, Wraith ruled the match a...
[DOUBLE ELIMINATION: ANAKARIS-19 votes, TALBAIN-18 votes, DRAW-3, DKO-8]
MATCH 10: KIM KAPHWAN (KOF95) vs. BILLY KANE (KOF95)
----------------------------------------------------
The combat proved to be evenly matched through the first two
rounds, with Billy using the added reach of his cane to offset Kim's
greater speed. Geese's right hand man claimed the first round, and the
Tae Kwon Do champion, the second, both by a narrow margin at timeout.
The third round dragged on much the same way, with the lifebars slowly trickling away as time ran down. Kim struggled to close in with Hangetsuzan's, while Billy battled to keep him back with staff
extensions. Finally, bruised and aching, Billy sidestepped one of Kim's attacks. "Hey, hey, hey!" he called.
"Hey look!" Rancid jeered, "It's Fat Alb-ouch!" He was cut off as Billy quickly and almost nonchalantly swatted him in the the head before returning his attention to the fight.
This opening was, however, all Kim needed.
Leaping in with one knee extended, he began his famed "Houohkyaku"
- the Phoenix kick. As kick after kick landed, almost faster than the
eye could follow, Billy was lifted slowly into the air, a glowing nimbus
began to suround him, to dissipate as Kim delivered a flipping kick,
catching the man with the stick under the chin, and launching him up, up,
up and out of the ring.
[WINNER: KIM KAPHWAN-27 votes, BILLY KANE-12 votes, DRAW-2, DKO-3]
MATCH 11: GALFORD (SS3) vs. LORD RAPTOR (NW)
--------------------------------------------
The arena was awash with...sounds. Some of them were good sounds.
Some of them were not-so-good sounds. And some of them were downright
painful to listen to sounds. You could almost SEE the tortured notes,
riffs and chords crashing back and forth between the two competitors.
Raptor stood at one edge of the platform, his guitar screaming out
disharmonious notes in the best "Men Without Heads" style, every last one
of them causing visible pain to his opponent (and much of the rest of the
DreamArena.)
At the other edge of the fighting area stood Galford and Poppy,
forming a very unusual musical sensation all their own. Their lively (but
thankfully IN KEY) performance seemed to strike something at the very
core of their undead opponent, who seemed to be twitching more than usual
as the match continued.
As the rather strange 'battle' continued into it's fourth round,
with both competitors clearly the worse for wear, most of the audience
saw fit to take advantage of their complimentary earplugs, even though
Haohmaru had retired to the locker rooms.
Finally, deep in the fourth round, the ghoul collapsed, mumbling
something about having "played my fingers to the bone...hee...hee..."
With a sigh of relief, Galford wiped the sweat from his brow and smiled,
"Well. We were nearly defeated, eh Poppy?"
Poppy just whined.
"Sorry girl. Sometimes I forget your hearing is more sensitive
than ours. That really must've been hell." He leaned down to give his
Faithful Canine Sidekick a friendly scratch behind the ears. "Come on.
Let's go get in our seats to cheer for Nakoruru-san!"
[WINNER: GALFORD-34 votes, LORD RAPTOR-12 votes, DRAW-1, DKO-4]
MATCH 12: LION (VF2) vs. HSIEN-KO (NW)
--------------------------------------
Hsien-Ko was growing irritated. This was not something that
happened to her very often, being undead, and really only having one
driving goal in unlife, but this man...no...this boy was beginning to
truly irk her. She had claimed the first round easily enough, keeping
him away with barrages of projectiles and other sundry unpleasantries,
but since then, he'd been flitting about the battlefield, dodging
cheerfully, and zipping in for a few quick strikes. He'd won the second
round that way, and she was DETERMINED not to let the little insect
defeat her. She had better things to do than get disqualified now.
The ghost kept her guard up, and continued to heckle Lion with her
long ranged attacks, but every once in a while, the little bug would get
in a shot or two.
"Mantis style indeed," she thought to herself as she reached into
her voluminous sleeve for the weapon that should do the trick...
Lion gaped, and leapt to the side just in time to narrowly avoid
being flattened. This would almost be demeaning if it weren't so
frightening. He was being chased around the platform by a blue ghost,
wielding a gigantic flyswatter. Good thing time was about to expire....
[DRAW MATCH: HSIEN-KO-22 votes, LION-16 votes, DRAW-4, DKO-3]
MATCH 13: YURI SAKAZAKI (KOF95) vs. HISAME SHIZUMARU (SS3)
----------------------------------------------------------
The match was fast and furious, but fought clean and honorably.
Every time Shizumaru managed to connect with his umbrella, Yuri wondered
what on earth the thing was made of, because it was PAINFUL. But she
was able to give as good as she got. Several times, she was able to dash
in and slap the young boy across the face. Through patience and a hefty
amount of perseverence, she was able to claim round 1.
Shizumaru was no pushover, however. He knew how to use the oddly-
weighted umbrella to great effect, and at one point, he managed to
connect with his super. He opened his umbrella and spun forward at Yuri
with impressive speed. She blinked and had no time to dodge or react, and
the edges of the parasol dug into her skin, and she felt herself rising
into the air, being cut multiple times. When the torture ended, she fell
painfully back to the ground. The round was over. Shizumaru had won.
In round 3, Yuri kept the young boy away with Koohkens, and charged
up her ki whenever possible. Blocking all of the projectiles gradually
ticked away at Shizumaru's life. When she was ready, she hopped forward
and leaped in at the young boy. On impulse, he spun his umbrella upward
and leaped, but he mistimed, and she leapt right over him. As he was
falling, he heard the phrase, "HienHouohKyaku!" Suddenly, as soon as he
landed, he felt himself buffetted with an amazingly fast barrage of kicks,
climbing up his body. With one final kick to the face, Yuri hopped
backwards into combat stance. Shizumaru fell back, and collapsed. A
quick glance at the lifemeters told the story. Shizumaru's life meter was
completely drained, and the victory was Yuri's. Takuma, Robert and Ryo
cheered for her, as did many of the fans in the crowd.
But instead of posing or anything of the sort, she leaned down and
offered her hand to her opponent. He smiled up at her and accepted it.
When he stood, a bit shakily, he bowed to her. "Thank you," he said.
"You were a very worthy opponent, and it was a good fight."
She grinned. "No problem. It was fun. Maybe you should join me
and the others for drinks later this evening."
"YURI!" bellowed Takuma from below. "You're too young to be
drinking!!" And so it went...
[WINNER: YURI SAKAZAKI-26 votes, HISAME SHIZUMARU-17 votes, DRAW-5, DKO-3]
MATCH 14: TERRY BOGARD (KOF95) vs. SHUN DI (VF2)
------------------------------------------------
Shun Di had unwittingly made a grave mistake. He hadn't accounted
for Terry's unusual ability to fight while drunk. He had gone into the
match expecting his opponent to be debilitated by the strong drink, but
found this was not the case.
In fact, Shun was having a devil of a time just getting close to the
young man. He was doing something which no one had ever seen him do
before. He was repeatedly doing the Crack Shoot in place. It looked
remarkably silly, but Shun knew better than to try and knock him out of it.
The drink ended up having an interesting effect on the self-taught
fighter... he was getting inventive. Through the first two rounds, the
two combatants traded hits repeatedly. Shun won by a fairly solid margin
in round one, and Terry eked out a win in round 2.
Down in the peanut gallery, the Time Killers were having a field day
with this new development. "Let's see, whose move is he going to steal?"
queried Lief. "Maybe Chin's? Betcha he does that fire spit thingamabob."
Rancid was waving his hand in front of his face. "Wouldn't surprise
me... I can smell Bogard's breath from here!"
Terry leaped in on Shun, connected with a heavy kick to the face,
then followed up immediately with a powerful kidney punch. Most members
of the crowd winced, since they knew what was coming next... or so they
thought. Predictably, Terry jumped forward, kicking Shun into the air
with him. Also predictably came the cry, "POWER...." And the crowd
tensed, waiting for the followup.
It didn't come. At least, not how they expected it do.
Terry punched downward, his hand shrouded in energy, just he always
did. But he didn't cry out "DUUUUUNK!!!" like he normally did. Instead,
he followed Shun down to the ground, and struck the ground when landed.
The normal followup was replaced by, of all things, "GEYSER!!!!" and a huge
column of energy blasted Shun back into the air and off the platform.
"Ring out!" came the announcement. "Winner is Terry Bogard!" Terry
tried to toss his hat in the air and yell, "OKAY!" like normal, but he
teetered and fell over instead. He didn't notice that two Japanese men in
black suits and carrying briefcases were striding over to the platform,
looking extremely upset.
They walked onto the platform, gave Terry a small slap in the face to
get his attention, and said, "Mr. Bogard? We must speak with you."
"Huh?" came the slurred reply.
"We're from SNK," continued one of the men. Terry suddenly felt a
LOT more sober. "Mr. Bogard, I'm afraid we can't have you using moves we
have slated for upcoming games."
"But you said you weren't gonna use that one," said Terry.
"All the more reason why you can't use it. So what if it's still
in there. Do you have any idea how many people will be harassing us about
that move?" said the man, raising his voice slightly.
"Oh, all right... it was just an experiment anyhow... *hic* Didn't
expect it to work." Terry stood, shakily. "Don't worry, I won't use it
again... even if it IS neat...."
The two men smiled. They then tossed their briefcases into the air
in unison. "OKAY!" they both yelled, also in unison. Then they left.
Terry just passed out again, and was led back to his room by Andy
and Mai to rest up for the next round.
[WINNER: TERRY BOGARD-30 votes, SHUN DI-15 votes, DRAW-1, DKO-3]
MATCH 15: HATTORI HANZO (SS3) vs. BISHAMON (NW)
-----------------------------------------------
The match began with Hanzo eyeing Bishamon's equipment in a rather
threatening manner. The two danced lightly around each other for a
while, exchanging light, flicking blows that really didn't do anything
except annoy each other. This, however, was exactly what Hanzo wanted.
After a little while though, he got impatient with the procedure, and
threw a Bakuenryu. As the firey projectile bounced along the ground, he
clenched his fists and began to gather his chi, producing a flickering
aura around himself.
Bishamon, meanwhile, blocked the projectile, and dashed forward,
trying to strike the ninja while he was distracted. It was to no avail,
however, for just as he reached the black clad man, Hanzo slammed his
fist into the ground, and was surrounded by a huge gout of flame, which
struck, in particular, Bishamon's extended sword.
"YEEEEEOOOOOWWW!" the blade exclaimed, as it went tumbling from
the samurai's grip...to shatter in half in midair.
"What the?!?" Mike exclaimed, "He's not supposed to be able to DO
that anymore...."
Kuroko, standing nearby to judge the match, shrugged his shoulders
slightly. "Techniques are not forgotten...they merely fall into disuse."
Meanwhile, on the platform, Bishamon and his armor were looking in
dismay at the two pieces of the sword.
"Buddy! Speak to me!" The armor implored.
"Oooouuuuuccccchhhhhh...." the sword groaned weakly.
"Hang in th-" the armor began, only to be interrupted by the large
blue hand that pushed it's way out of the armor's 'mouth'. Strangely
enough, the hand had its index finger extended, the tip of which was
glowing bluish. "Ouch...?" The voice of the hand inquired.
The sword screamed in terror, hastily reassembled itself, and fled
the platform in terror, pursued by Bishamon, being dragged along as the
hand followed the sword, "Ouch...?"
Hanzo, having spent this time happily invisible, reappeared with
an almost amused chuckle.
[WINNER: HATTORI HANZO-28 votes, BISHAMON-16 votes, DRAW-5, DKO-1]
MATCH 16: KING (KOF95) vs. PAI (VF2)
------------------------------------
"DOUBLE STRIKE!"
Pai quickly dodged to the side watching another pair of
projectiles fly past. She attempted to close the distance, and met
with another flurry of kicks from the kickboxing bouncer/nightclub-
owner. All while Lord Wulf crooned from below, and Rancid shouted
badly pun-laden innuendos.
With a cry of "TRAP-SHOT!" King quickly did a backflip, knocking
Pai into the air. Suddenly, the air AROUND Pai was filled with King's
feet. A flurry of kicks, so fast that nobody could even make out her
legs, enveloped Pai. When the storm dissipated, Pai collapsed, losing
the first round.
The second round didn't go much better. Pai managed to score a
few hits, but most of her attempts were dodged. All the while, Wulf's
singing got worse, and Rancid's voice louder. At an unspoken cue,
both women leapt from the platform. Pai threw herself into the Peanut
Gallery, and started kicking the bejeezus out of Rancid.
On the floor of the arena, King issued one last kick to the
Knight's battered armor, as his lute went flying just as the clock
wound down to zero.
In the control booth, Wraith pondered briefly on how to handle
this one. Noting that King was ahead in health, he decided in her
favor.
[WINNER: KING-31 votes, PAI-10 votes, DRAW-5, DKO-3]
MATCH 17: LAU (VF2) vs. HEIDERN (KOF95)
---------------------------------------
The match was fought with a strange, almost frantic fury of
aggression on each side. The combatants would close, exchange a flurry
of blows, then part again for a moment's respite. Both fighters seemed
almost driven, and their attacks seemed to fly with greater speed than
any observer in the audience could possibly have imagined.
Round one went to Lau in a lucky ringout, when Heidern, pressing
the attack, found himself caught in Lau's sideways throw, sending him
toppling out of the ring.
In the second round, Heidern was wary of the edges of the platform,
and Lau went further on the offensive. Finally, the round bell rang, to
show Heidern with a slight edge in life after a lethal counteroffensive.
The third round proved to be a no-holds-barred slugfest. Both
fighters seemed to almost utterly disregard their defense as combo after
combo landed, and the lifebars plummeted. And plummeted. And plummeted.
Until finally Heidern's reached zero. The crowd and staff all watched in
silence as the green beret tottered slightly on his feet...and...stood!
His single eye blazing with some sort of incredible force, Heidern
launched another attack on the slightly baffled Lau...reducing him to no
energy. Yet...strangely enough, both competitors continued to battle,
though their movements now seemed somewhat jerky, and they could both be
seen trembling whenever they had a chance to stand still.
"Mike! We've got a problem here!" Both Jolly Green and Deuce
radioed up to the control area.
"I know! I know! I hear you! I'm running a check now."
The round bell rang, and both fighters were still standing,
twitching and trembling, as Mike looked at his scan results in disbelief.
"As near as I can tell...they both have too much caffeine in their
systems to actually go down. Er...call it a draw...I mean..they DO both
have the same amount of life left."
[DRAW MATCH: LAU-24 votes, HEIDERN-24 votes, DRAW-6, DKO-3]
MATCH 18: CHARLIE (SFA) vs. DEMITRI (NW)
----------------------------------------
Wraith sighed, as he buzzed Jolly Green and the brute squad. "I
guess there's gotta be ONE every year." He muttered as he looked at the
general melee that was occuring on and around the fighting platform. "I
should've known it was going to happen."
The festivities had started off innocuously enough, with a little
between fans rivalry in the peanut gallery. Demitri's gothic fans had
been heckling Charlie's squad of special forces. While not necessarily
the best idea, if it hadn't been for the Time Killers seated directly
between the two groups, nothing probably would have come of it. As it
was, the brutes were hauling away all manner of fans, and occasionally
a piece or two of a Time Killer.
As Birdie dragged off the last participant in the brawl, a
particularly enthusiastic special forces trooper, Jolly Green couldn't
help but announce into the intercom, "Marines! We are LEAVING."
Rolling his eyes, Mike inquired, "What happened to the combatants
anyway? I lost track of them in the scuffle."
The Jovial One looked at the platform, where the two unconscious,
trampled fighters lay in an awkward heap. "They're still down here.
Looks like a..."
[DOUBLE ELIMINATION: CHARLIE-23 votes, DEMITRI-19 votes, DRAW-1, DKO-5]
MATCH 19: EIJI KISARAGI (KOF95) vs. AKIRA (VF2)
-----------------------------------------------
(Before the bell)
Akira groaned audibly, and rolled his eyes. "I thought you ninja
were supposed to be CLEVER! Do you do anything besides watch TV?"
Eiji thought for a second, before quickly replying "Yeah, well,
your shoe's untied."
"REALLY?" Akira said. He blinked a few times, as he knelt to
check, though something seemed REALLY suspicious about the whole thing.
*DING*
As Akira bent down, it dawned upon him that he wasn't wearing
any shoes! He shot a quick look to Eiji just as the match started,
and saw knife-blades flash in the ninjas hands. Eiji rushed at the
Kung-Fu artist, only to meet a flurry of punches. "Clever, ninja!
But I'm not stupid!"
Quickly teleporting back, the ninja dashed in again. He kicked
Akira in the chin, and stood there as the Kung-Fu artist staggered
back a step. His eyes widened beneath his cowl, as Akira delivered a
devastating series of punches.
The second round proceeded similarly. Eiji would deliver a solid
hit, only to be met by an even stronger counter from Akira. Finally,
seconds away from the end of the match, Eiji threw his hands up in
despair.
"I THOUGHT", he shouted, "that you were a KUNG-FU artist!"
Akira raised his hand, and started to comment, but Eiji continued his
diatribe. "Now, why you're not moving in slow-motion like they always
do on the SHOW, I have no idea!"
Akira doubled over laughing. Seeing a few seconds to spare,
Eiji ran up to the Kung-Fu Fighter, as he was paralyzed by laughter.
In a blur of motion, Akira spun, and dealt him a punch right underneath
the jaw. Eiji was left in a condition where he could do little BESIDES
watch TV.
[WINNER: AKIRA-24 votes, EIJI KISARAGI-15 votes, DRAW-3, DKO-5]
MATCH 20: DONOVAN (NW) vs. MAI SHIRANUI (KOF95)
-----------------------------------------------
It was a moment of unparalleled grace, and unspeakable torment.
For the audience, anyhow. The male portion, at least. But then, this
was usually the case when Mai was in public view.
Andy stood at ringside, cheering her on, as she fought tooth and
nail against the demon hunter. Donovan had no such cheering section,
save the quiet little girl who always accompanied him, staring up at
the fight with hope in her eyes.
Her hopes were, alas, in vain this day. Donovan fought hard
against the Shiranui ninja, using all of his mighty techniques, but he
found them too slow against the quickness and agility of the woman.
Throughout the rounds, Donovan had managed to land some solid hits,
but not enough to finish Mai off, and she countered with many flame
techniques, diving at him like a missile from the air, and generally
made him feel charbroiled.
Finally, Donovan fell to the mat and did not get back up. His
life meter was at zero. Mai grinned, opened a fan and tossed it from
one hand to the other and said, "Nippon ichi!" bouncing for all she
was worth the whole time.
A few moments later, while on the way back to her room, she could
be observed delivering some mild abuse to a spectator. "No, I'm *NOT*
saying, 'Me bouncy,' you idiot!!!"
[WINNER: MAI SHIRANUI-32 votes, DONOVAN-13 votes, DRAW-5, DKO-0]
MATCH 21: FELICIA (NW) vs. NAKORURU (SS3)
-----------------------------------------
Felicia pounced. Regrettably for her, THIS avian was no helpless
little duckling. Mamahaha dove down, and seized the catwoman in mid-
leap, lifting her, and dropping her onto platform. Whoever it was that
said cats always land on their feet obviously hadn't had Felicia in mind
when they said it, because she landed on her stomach with a startled meow.
As Felicia opened her eyes, she found herself looking right at
something she really hadn't wanted to see - the huge wolf she had noticed
earlier had put its paws up on the edge of the platform and was looking
her square in the face.
Shikuruu growled.
Felicia hissed.
Shikuruu barked.
Felicia panicked.
The catwoman fled for all she was worth, not even stopping to think,
and began to run circles around the edge of the ring with the lupine -
and, surprisingly enough, Mamahaha as well - hot on her heels.
Nakoruru, meanwhile, was standing in the middle of the ring,
watching the strange spectacle of her two companions chasing the
obviously panicked catgirl around the ring. It was a long moment before
she came to sufficient terms with the situation to mutter more than,
"Ano... Shikuruu..?" and by that time it was entirely too late.
The results were not pretty for Felicia.
----
With a frown and a sigh, Wraith made his way to the ringside. He
knew what he had to do. He didn't LIKE it, but the rules WERE the rules.
"Miss Nakoruru?" He queried as she stepped down from the platform.
"Hai?" she answered.
"Ah...I'm afraid I'm going to have to disqualify you from the
tournament for violating our "only one animal per match" rule." Mike
fidgeted slightly.
The young Ainu frowned slightly, then shrugged and nodded. "Hai.
I understand."
"Hey! Waitaminute!" Galford interrupted as he arrived on the scene.
"She won. What do you mean you're not going to let her continue?"
"Gal-kun," Nakoruru chided, "You of all people should understand
the value of heeding the rules."
"Er...yeah...but...," the american ninja stammered.
Giving him an affectionate pat on the shoulder, Nakoruru shook her
head. "Hush."
Galford did.
After a moment's silence Wraith began again, "So...um...you're not
too upset I hope?"
Nakoruru laughed then, "Wraith-san. This is only a tournament.
While it is a privilege to compete, winning holds no special allure for
me. Nothing is at stake."
"Whew." Mike thought to himself as he answered, "Well...there is
all the fame and ah..." He trailed off, realizing he certainly wasn't
going to change her opinion. "Alright then." He checked his pocketwatch,
"I'd better get to the next match..."
Nakoruru, however, had already set off to give Shikuruu a stern
lecture on the subject of chasing cats.
[DOUBLE ELIMINATION: NAKORURU-23 votes, FELICIA-18 votes, DRAW-5, DKO-8]
MATCH 22: RYU (SFA) vs. RYO SAKAZAKI (KOF95)
--------------------------------------------
The match was nothing less than ferocious. Ryu had unwittingly
made Ryo call upon every single bit of strength at his disposal, and
spent the first round almost entirely on defense. Anytime he attempted
an attack, Ryo was quick to punish him for it. The first round went,
rather decisively, to Ryo Sakazaki.
In the second round, after having taken Ryo's measure, Ryu brought
his own considerable strength to bear. But he had to work for every
inch of ground he gained. Despite Ryo's ferocity, which would have done
the tiger (for which his particular style of Kyokugenryu was named) very
proud, Ryu was able to eke out a victory.
It would all come down to round three. Ryu was pleased. It had
been ages since he had met an opponent of this caliber, and this was
precisely what he lived for. This would be a battle to be remembered,
regardless of the outcome.
Ryo was steaming. It hadn't been 5 minutes since this Shotokan-
using twerp had had the audacity to call him "Ken" to his face, and so,
his adrenaline was still flowing, though nothing like it had been
initially. This would be a battle to be remembered, because it would
mark his victory over the infernal Ryu.
When the start of the round was signalled, the two men paced
around each other, both more than a bit tired out. When they finally
closed, it was a stunning spectacle. The entire DreamArena had been
darkened, with the exception of the outer hallways and the fighting
platform itself. The crowd was absolutely roaring as the two mighty
warriors clashed again and again.
Ryo unleashed the Ryuuko Ranbu. Ryu caught Ryo in the Shinkuu
TatsuMakiSenpuuKyaku. Shouryuken met Koho. Hadouken met Koohken.
Ryo attempted aerial fireballs, but Ryu had fought Akuma, and was used
to countering such tactics. Ryu threw a Shinkuu Hadoken, but Ryo countered with a HoahShoKohKen.
The fight drew near its end, as the timer ticked down with
relentless surety. Just before the timer reached zero, both fighters
struck again, purely concentrating and hoping to at least gain the
upper hand when the round ended.
Neither was able to counter or avoid the other's move. Ryu's
fist struck Ryo's cheek heavily, which made his brain do a quick set of
acrobatics (at least in Ryo's perception). At the same moment, Ryo's
fist slammed into Ryu's solar plexus, causing him to lose his breath.
Both fighters fell to the mat. Neither stood up. A quick glance at the
lifemeters told the unmistakable truth. They were both unconscious.
[DOUBLE ELIMINATION: RYU-25 votes, RYO SAKAZAKI-23 votes, DRAW-0, DKO-2]
Deuce was utterly amazed. Even the Time Killers were at a loss
for words (though it's hard to know if that's what Deuce was amazed at,
or at the DKO). He snapped on the PA, and boosted his output level to
that of Haohmaru on the average day.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN," came the announcement, "THE TWO FIGHTERS
ARE BOTH UNCONSCIOUS! THIS MATCH IS A DOUBLE KNOCKOUT!"
The arena erupted in a tidal wave of shouts of disbelief, cries
of defiance, and several boos. Ken and Chun Li hopped up onto the
platform to help Ryu and take him back to his room, and Robert and Yuri
came to Ryo's aid as well.
Jolly Green looked at Deuce. "Can you believe that?"
Deuce shook his head. "Only barely. I'm impressed, I didn't
figure Ryo even stood a chance."
"I'm betting lot of folks thought the same. This is quite an
upset," said Jason. "Two of SFA's heavy hitters out by round two?"
"Well, maybe three... I can't wait to see how Ukyo vs. Ken is
going to turn out."
Jolly Green nodded and waved, going back to his security duties.
Deuce returned to his own planning work and shook his head. The
platform was cleared for the next match, which would be...
MATCH 23: KABAL (MK3) vs. CHAOS (TSD2)
--------------------------------------
"cOMe oN," pleaded Chaos, "JUsT A lItTLe pEek?" After a moment,
he added, "PLeAsE?"
Kabal slashed out at the loony again, as Chaos tumbled just out
of the arc of his slash. "I said *NO*! This mask is all that keeps
me alive!" He charged forward, and started into his tornado spin.
Chaos swung his scythe out, and hooked Kabal's leg, sending him
sprawling to the mat a final time. Kabal's breath came in gasps, and he
bled a putrid, gelatinous fluid from numerous slashes dealt by Chaos'
scythe. "Chaos..." he groaned, "Come here."
Intrigued, Chaos toddled on over next to his dying opponent.
"Help me get this mask off," said Kabal with great difficulty.
Chaos knelt beside his fallen opponent. "BuT yOU'lL Die..."
Jolly Green suddenly strolled into the ring. "Sorry folks, I'm
afraid we have to judge this one as a DKO on the grounds of extreme
plagiarism."
"WHAT?!?!" both fighters declared in unison.
"Come on! Give me that! Sic 'em Birdie!" called the Jovial One
as his assistant grabbed the two fighters. After a brief frisking, the
Jovial one held up two reams of paper to the crowd. "Just as I
thought! Transcripts from Dream Tournament III!* I KNEW that scene
looked familiar. Take 'em away, Birdie."
*To readers who are unfamiliar with DTIII, read the Nakoruru vs.
Reptile matchup in that tournament.
[DOUBLE ELIMINATION: CHAOS-20 votes, KABAL-19 votes, DRAW-1, DKO-3]
MATCH 24: KYO KUSANAGI (KOF95) vs. JOE HIGASHI (KOF95)
------------------------------------------------------
Joe was pretty amazed, in his own brand of somewhat self-absorbed
arrogance, that this little kid (in Joe's eyes, at least) was able to
dish out so much punishment.
Kyo grinned at his opponent, and proceeded to burn him a bit more.
It was only a two-round match, with Kyo maintaining a constant upper-hand.
He kept Joe in the air against his own will for a sizable portion of the
fight. When it was over, Joe was pondering asking Kyo for some pointers.
Just when he'd almost swallowed his pride enough to do it, he noticed some
attractive female spectators glance at him, and proceeded to draw himself
up. He walked over and flirted with them for awhile, until he finally had
to be led away by the DreamArena security.
[WINNER: KYO KUSANAGI-29 votes, JOE HIGASHI-13 votes, DRAW-3, DKO-3]
MATCH 25: KEN (SFA) vs. TACHIBANA UKYO (SS3)
--------------------------------------------
Ken topped the platform just in time for the starting bell. His lip
curled in a snarl of rage, as he called out "SHOU-RYU-KEN!!!!" launching
into the mighty Dragon Punch. His fist caught fire, as the blow connected
solidly beneath the champion's chin. He looked as Ukyo fell to the mat
below him, and upon landing, launched into a hurricane kick.
Ukyo caught Ken's foot with his face, and staggered back under the
force of the repeated blows. As he climbed to his feet once more, Ken
grabbed him by the head, and began kneeing him in the face until he fell
back again. Bruised, and battered, the champion stood once more.
Ken crouched, and focussed all the chi he'd built up over the round
into his fist. A flash of blue shone throughout the arena, as he cried out
"SHINRYUKEN!!!!!" He launched up, twirling, carrying Tachibana Ukyo up
with him, locked together by the force of the blow. As Ken landed gingerly
on his feet, he realized he hadn't taken a blow! He flashed a 'V' for
victory to the crowd.
******
As the second round of combat began, Ken smirked. This champion was
a paper tiger! He briefly pondered why Guy hadn't destroyed him, when he
realized the match had just started. A split second was all the time his
attention was diverted for.
A split second was all Ukyo needed.
In that split second, Ukyo had drawn his blade, and dived along the
ground at his opponent, slashing him vertically down the length of his
bottom. As Ken staggered back, still reeling, Ukyo's hand vanished within
his shirt, and emerged a second later throwing something through the air at
Ken.
Ken watched the apple sail gently through the air. He noted the
grace, and beauty of its arc. Time itself seemed to slow as the fruit hung
suspended in mid-air. Then suddenly the apple split into about a dozen
slices. Ken mused in a detached way, wondering what could have caused the
apple to do that.
A second later, he felt the pain of a dozen slashes criss-crossing
his body. He reeled from the pain. He felt as if Ukyo had drawn lines of
fire across his body. Then with a speed that was almost inhuman, Ukyo
dashed forward. He criss-crossed in front of, and behind Ken so fast that
only a blur of motion could be seen. As he came to a stop, he spun the
Drying Pole, and snapped it neatly into its sheath.
Ken stood, amazed that he was untouched. That was when the wounds
hit. Blood gushed forth, and Ken convulsed from the pain. Finally he
collapsed to the ground.
******
The third round was ugly. Ukyo would dodge Ken's Dragon Punches and
respond with lightning-fast slashes of the Drying Pole. On the other side
of the coin, the champion's tuberculosis was catching up with him.
Periodically, he fell to the mat, coughing up blood.
The clock ticked down, and both opponents were battered. With a cry,
Ken leapt into the air. Ukyo joined him.
Ken twisted suddenly, launching into a hurricane kick. He spun
through the air, arcing right at the kensai.
Ukyo unsheathed his sword, and with a cry of "TSUBAME GAESHI!!!"
brought it to bear on the Shotokan disciple. A burst of flame filled the
air above the platform, and it became impossible to see the fighters
trapped within.
Two shapes fell to the earth. One stood up a moment later.
It twirled a blade idly, before snapping it back into its sheath.
Ukyou inhaled deeply, before he observed a crowd of women (led by Eliza)
charging in his direction. With a sigh, he dashed off to the locker room.
[WINNER: TACHIBANA UKYO-31 votes, KEN-15 votes, DRAW-4, DKO-2]
MATCH 26: ROBERT GARCIA (KOF95) vs. ROSE (SFA)
----------------------------------------------
Rose sighed. This Robert fellow, while a good fighter, seemed to
have things other than fighting on his mind. And it showed. Whenever
his attacks connected with Rose, it felt as though he was pulling his
punches. Takuma and Ryo stood in the peanut gallery, shouting for Robert
to get his act together.
Finally, Rose could stand no more. "Listen!" she said, "Why is it
you are pulling your punches? I know you are stronger than this! Fight
me honorably, or don't fight at all!"
Robert smiled, and his teeth glinted. (*Kting!*) "Well, I would,
but I'd hate to mess up that pretty face of yours, you know." Yuri began
to steam from the sidelines.
Rose thought it wise, for her opponent's sake, to point this out to
him. He failed to notice. "After all," he continued, "I'd hate to upset
or alienate a potential date."
At this, Yuri blew up. She turned so red, she would have done the
Shodowners of yesteryear proud. "ROBERT GARCIA!!!!" she screamed, and
Robert instinctively cringed. "THAT'S IT! I'M GOING TO GET YOU IF IT'S
THE LAST THING I DO!!!" And he shrieked. He knew she meant business, and
wasn't going to stop for anything.
Robert looked at Rose. "Uh, sorry... something's just come up. I'll
pick you up around eightish, okay?" And before Rose could respond, he
dashed off the platform, with a very angry Yuri hot on his heels. Rose
blinked in confusion, and the match was declared in her favor, by a
disqualification. She shrugged, not exactly how she wanted things to go,
but it would do...
[WINNER: ROSE-28 votes, ROBERT GARCIA-16 votes, DRAW-0, DKO-7]
MATCH 27: ASAMIYA ATHENA (KOF95) vs. KUBIKIRI BASARA (SS3)
----------------------------------------------------------
Basara laughed, as the young woman dashed at him. "Foolish little
plaything," he screamed maniacally, "it's all over!" He spun his blade
out at her legs. She leaped over the whirling weapon and gave him a solid
kick in the head for his efforts.
The undead man stumbled back, his blade suddenly, mysteriously, back
in his hand. The Psycho Soldier pressed her attack, channelling her
mental powers into her hand and uppercutting Basara, sending him flying as
she called out, "Psycho Sword!!!" Many audience members cringed. Deuce
was certainly not the least of them.
Basara rolled to the side and got to his feet, quaking with anger...
or something. He laughed again and beckoned her over to him. "Come to me,
little girl!" he said in a disturbingly gleeful tone of voice. "I will
show you exactly what death is all about!"
"Shut UP!!" screamed Athena. More cringing. Basara suddenly split
in two again, this time one of him on the ground, the other leaping. "Oh
no," she said, "you're not tricking ME with that. PSYCHOBALL!" [Cringe.]
A bolt of psychic energy flew across the platform at Basara. A foolish
move. The real Basara, the one in the air, tossed his blade down at the
girl, and she had no time to recover. It bit deep, and she screamed in
pain, falling back.
Basara cackled gleefully, and waited patiently for the girl to get
up. When she did, he charged in while she was still shaking her head,
trying to clear it. She glanced up and blinked. Basara wasn't there.
Then suddenly, he was. Dashing straight toward her. She began to get
into her block stance, but he vanished again. Suddenly, she felt cold,
thin arms around her, and she screamed as she saw the strange man appear,
gripping her tightly as his cold, dead eyes pierced into hers.
A portal of darkness opened up beneath them, and Basara cackled as
he dragged the young girl down into it with her. Everyone, especially
Sie Kensou, was leaning forward to see what would happen next. Suddenly,
Athena flew from the darkness, Basara's blade following right behind her.
It spun and opened many gashes across her back. As she fell, the blade
retracted, and Basara reappeared.
Basara laughed once more and waited for her to get up. "No more,
little girl?" he asked, giggling. "Is that the best you can do?" She
strained, trying to get up, trying to fight the pain, to return to the
fight, but found that she could not. She collapsed to the ground,
very nearly in tears at her failure.
Basara screamed with laughter as he was declared the winner. He
drew his blade across his chest, opening a deep gash. He then ran a
finger through it and tasted the blood. This drew many an "ewwwww" from
the crowd. With another hollow, mirthless laugh, he simply winked out,
vanishing from the platform.
[WINNER: KUBIKIRI BASARA-26 votes, ASAMIYA ATHENA-17 votes, DRAW-4, DKO-2]
MATCH 28: M. BISON (SFA) vs. OMEGA RUGAL (KOF95)
------------------------------------------------
No sooner had the match begun than Rugal crossed his arms across
his chest, curling his hands into claws and concentrating, causing his chi
aura to flare up around him. Bison looked him questioningly.
"What are you doing?" he asked with a sneer.
"Charging up," Rugal snarled as he launched himself forward, sliding
along the ground with one hand extended in front of him. Catching Bison
utterly off guard, he seized the crimelord by the throat, shouting,
"SHINE!" Continuing to slide, he slammed his opponent into the invisible
'wall' surrounding the platform, causing it to shake and a huge column of
purpleish energy (replete with skull image) to shoot up around Bison, and
doing unpleasant things to his windpipe in the process.
Round 1. Rugal.
Coughing somewhat, Bison got back to his feet to face his opponent
for the second round. He could feel how his own chi levels were nowhere
near their potential, so he endeavored to build them up a bit. He
closed, lashing out with a few quick jabs, which Rugal easily blocked
before hopping backwards. Bison followed up with a Psycho Shot.
Bad Idea.
"KAISER.....WAVE!"
The vast energy blast blew clean through Bison's small purple
projectile, and slammed into him, nearly KOing him right there. As he
staggered back to his feet, he found Rugal staring down at him with his
one red, glowing eye, and, as he rarely did, the leader of Shadoloo felt
fear.
With good reason.
"GENOCIDE CUTTER!"
[WINNER: OMEGA RUGAL-27 votes, M. BISON-19 votes, DRAW-1, DKO-4]
MATCH 29: SAISYU KUSANAGI (KOF95) vs. AKUMA (SFA)
-------------------------------------------------
No further witty dialog was exchanged between the fighters. The
only sounds the two warriors made where grunting noises, and the sounds
of impact.
The first round started off with the traditional projectile-
trading. Saisyu's fire-wave slid right underneath Akuma's HaDouKen,
and both fighters got burnt. Snarling, both fighters launched into
their uppercuts, and both fell again to the earth.
Saisyu caught a blur of motion as he got up, and wheeled to where
the fallen Akuma was collapsed. Or at least where he should have been.
With a grunt, Saisyu felt something connect with his back, dragging him
up into the air. As a trace of blood escaped his lips, Saisyu collapsed
to the mat, ending the first round.
As round two opened, Saisyu dashed in quickly, grabbing Akuma by
the neck of his gi. He pulled him up into the air, and willed him to
catch fire. Akuma reeled back from the unexpected agression. Saisyu
persisted, throwing waves of fire, and spiraling into the air,
enshrouded in a fiery aura when Akuma ventured too close.
Suddenly, the lights went out, and only flashes could be seen in
the fighting ring. Muffled cries of pain were heard throughout the
DreamArena. When the lights returned, Akuma stood over a broken Saisyu
Kusanagi, the japanese character 'Ten' glowing on the back of his gi.
[WINNER: AKUMA-28 votes, SAISYU KUSANAGI-17 votes, DRAW-0, DKO-6]
MATCH 30: VERMILLION (TSD2) vs. AMAKUSA SHIRO TOKISADA (SS3)
------------------------------------------------------------
Vermillion casually raised his pistol, sighting his opponent.
With disdainful ease, he pulled the trigger, and the thunder of his
gunfire filled the DreamArena. That would have ended the match, if
Amakusa hadn't been ready.
With a high-pitched *WHOOOP* Amakusa vanished before the bullets
reached him. Reappearing behind the assassin, Amakusa reached out, and
began slapping him silly. As his rain of blows fell on the strange
man's face, Amakusa noted that the odd little things that sat on the
bridge of his nose had fallen off. He shrugged, and decided it was of
little import.
Vermillion was stunned, and not only because of the torrent of
slaps landing about his head. He couldn't SEE! This sorcerer had
somehow knocked his glasses loose! Desperate, he tried to raise his
hands afore him, in an effort to shield off the blows. Finally he
stumbled back. With a snarl he began firing wildly. Sparks lept from
the points where the bullets impacted with the protective field
surrounding the platform.
Amakusa leapt high, and the air around him suddenly ignited. In
a fiery blast, he plummeted straight into the blind assassin. With a
choke, Vermillion fell to the platform.
Between rounds, Vermillion's glasses were found, and returned to
him. With an angry snarl, his conservative, sniper-ish fighting style
began to resemble something out of a John Woo movie. He began blasting
away angrily, shotgun in one hand, piston in the other. He barely took
the time to reload, before unleashing another assault on the sorcerer.
For his part, Amakusa desperately tried to parry the bullets with
his crystal, but there were so many! He took a slew of hits to the arms,
leaving his sphere hovering before him, from sheer force of will.
Finally, even that tired, as his wounds overcame him, and he in turn fell.
The third round, both warriors were wary. Both now aware of their
opponents skilled they circled slowly. Once, Vermillion leapt into the
air, blasting away with both weapons. Amakusa met his attack, though he
took wounds in the process. Finally, in a last gambit, Amakusa teleported
behind the assassin. Grabbing the neck of his trenchcoat, he half-pushed,
half-dragged Vermillion to the edge of the platform, and beyond. Grinning
with the exultation of his victory, he failed to notice Vermillion grab the
flowing sleeves of his robes. Both fighters plummeted to the floor below,
and due to a convenience of gravity, landed at precisely the same instant.
[DRAW MATCH: VERMILLION-22 votes, AMAKUSA-22 votes, DRAW-3, DKO-2]
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Apologies for the delay, but the holidays have kept us quite busy! We hope
these were worth the wait. Be on the lookout for the round 2 wrapup show
and epilogue, coming very soon!
Jeff "Deuce" Nussbaum Mike "Wraith" Pureka "Jolly Green" Jason Wright
deuce@scsn.net mpureka@wesleyan.edu jasondw@hargray.com
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Jeff "Deuce" Nussbaum - deuce@scsn.net |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Author: Deuce's Unofficial Neo*Geo Homepage! |
| http://www.scsn.net/users/deuce/neogeo/ |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| NeoFreak Code: Gm A++[22] N++ C+ j+++ F++* P++ p+ n++ c+++ |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| "Beliefs are dangerous. Beliefs allow the mind to stop |
| functioning. A non-functioning mind is clinically dead. |
| Believe in nothing..." - Tool, ÆNIMA |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
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