THE MULTIVERSE VIDEO FIGHTERS' COUNCIL
PRESENTS:
MVFC CHALLENGERS!
Week # 39
(Battledome)
MVFC Arena
*BATTLEDOME FINALS! HANZO HATTORI (SS) VS. HAOHMARU (SS)!*
Wanderer looked at the two of them and smiled. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's the Loudmouth vs. the Laconic here in the Battledome!"
Emerald, from the other side of the booth, gave him a strange look.
Wanderer shrugged, his hand over the mike. "It's all I could think of." Removing his hand, he continued, "For those of you in the cheap seats, the Battledome is simple; knock the other guy into the cage more often than you hit it yourself, and you win. Haohmaru's got a lot riding on this fight; if he wins, he'll be at full Win Status and will challenge Dan Hibiki for the title of MVFC Champion. Let's see if Hanzo can stop that..."
*ptui* Sake went everywhere, but chiefly down the length of Haohmaru's blade.
"HA! I BID YOU GREETINGS, HATTORI HANZO! TRULY, IT IS GOOD THAT MY FINAL VICTORY BEFORE MY ASCENSION TO THE LEGENDARY THRONE IS AGAINST AN OLD RIVAL FROM MY OWN NODE! THIS WILL BE AMONG MY GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS, TO BE INCLUDED WITH MY VANQUISHING OF THE DEMON AMAKUSA FOR THE SEVENTY-THIRD TIME AND SAVING JAPAN (MY LEGENDARY MODESTY PERMITS ME FROM SAYING JUST HOW OFTEN I HAVE SAVED JAPAN) AND OF COURSE, MY VICTORIES OVER THE POSSESSED PRIESTESS MIZUKI! I HOPE THE NEWS OF MY MANY LEGENDARY ACCOMPLISHMENTS, INCLUDING THE DEFEATS YOU HAVE KNOWN AT MY HANDS, DO NOT FRIGHTEN YOU INTO SUBMISSION! FOR I AM A WARRIOR BORN, AND WOULD HATE TO THINK THE LEGENDS OF MY MIGHT HAD CAUSED AN OPPONENT SOME CHAGRIN! AFTER ALL, THAT WOULD MEAN A LOSS OF OPPORTUNITY FOR COMBAT! THAT, AFTER ALL, IS THE SWORDSMAN'S WAY, THE SAMURAI'S WAY, THE CAPTAIN JANEWAY--"
Hanzo merely stood and waited for the fight to begin. At least then Haohmaru would shut up.
The dome rezzed up around the two, doing nothing to diminish Haohmaru's volume.
*FIGHT!*
Haohmaru struck first, his Cyclone Slash sweeping majestically outward and striking...a log.
"HA!" Haohmaru cried, turning around and Kogetsuzaning a falling Hanzo into the cage. "YOUR TRICKS WILL NOT WORK ON ME, FOR I HAVE SEEN THEM ALL BEFORE!"
*ONE-ZERO!* (Haohmaru/Hanzo)
(1:55 remaining)
Hanzo immediately disappeared, avoiding a Cyclone Slash, and came spinning down on Haohmaru from above, slashing up the ronin's back. As Haohmaru stumbled forward, Hanzo tripped him up with his sword blade, causing Haohmaru to stumble into the cage.
*ONE-ONE!* (Haohmaru/Hanzo)
(1:40 remaining)
"HA!" Haohmaru smirked. "YOU ARE AS CUNNING AS EVER, BUT IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO FALL!"
Hanzo shrugged, and punched the ground for a Bakuen Ryu, which Haohmaru jumped, coming down on Hanzo with a thrust kick. The ninja took it in the jaw, and fell victim to a Cyclone Slash as he tumbled. As Hanzo fell down from the Cyclone, a second slash took him in the side, and propelled him into the cage.
*TWO-ONE!* (Haohmaru-Hanzo)
(1:07 remaining)
"HA! GET USED TO DEFEAT, NINJA!" As Hanzo got off the cage, Haohmaru kicked him back into it.
*THREE-ONE!* (Haohmaru-Hanzo)
(1:03 remaining)
This time, when Hanzo got off the cage, he teleported away. Appearing on the other side of the cage, he beckoned Haohmaru onward.
Haohmaru, pontificating all the while, ran out after Hanzo, blocking another couple of Bakuen Ryus as he went. As he reached Hanzo, the ninja jumped backward, putting a throwing star into the ronin, and disappeared.
"YOU CANNOT WIN BY RUNNING, NINJA! THE SCORE IS IN MY FAVOR!" Haohmaru, seeing a pair of images on either side of him, jumped at one, turning over in mid-air in the Earthquake Slash.
He guessed wrong.
As Haohmaru was somersaulting, Hanzo disappeared again, falling down from the sky with his blade extended. Haohmaru's technique, as Hanzo had known it would, put him dangerously close to the cage, and Hanzo's Sky Dance slashed him into it.
*THREE-TWO!* (Haohmaru/Hanzo)
(0:43 remaining)
Haohmaru pulled himself off of the cage, and realized that, once more, he couldn't see Hanzo.
That was because he wasn't looking down. Hanzo emerged from a hole in the ground, slashing at Haohmaru's ankles, tripping him up--and sending him into the cage for a second time.
*THREE-THREE!* (Haohmaru/Hanzo)
(0:39 remaining)
"THAT WAS WELL-PLAYED, HANZO-SAN!" Haohmaru jumped away from the cage, to avoid being slammed into it a third time. They met in the center of the cage, and clashed blades. Sparks flew as their swords met. Hanzo realized that this was a game he couldn't win; Haohmaru was stronger than he. However, it would eat up the clock, and send them into...
*SUDDEN DEATH! LOWER THE CAGE!*
The cage began to slide downwards, minimizing the space that they had to fight in. Haohmaru regarded this with some concern, and began to tremble. Hanzo knew what was coming, and backed up quickly...
"RAGE! TENHA FUJIN ZAN!" Haohmaru rushed forward in the Heaven Constraint Blast, sword describing countless arcs through the air, slashing again and again into...
...a log.
As Haohmaru finished his technique, he realized Hanzo was nowhere to be seen...which meant the ninja was probably right behind him. Haohmaru swallowed hard.
Hanzo, having begun his own Rage Explosion, punched the ground just behind Haohmaru, and a twisting gout of flame enveloped him. Haohmaru, scorched, fell backwards, but not quite into the cage...
...an invisible Hanzo did that a moment later.
Haohmaru fell to the ground as the cage de-rezzed.
*WINNER: HANZO HATTORI!*
The ninja reappeared, cracking his knuckles. Haohmaru sheathed his sword, saying nothing, which was a minor miracle right there.
*TV Control Center*
Wanderer: "Hanzo seemed to have everything going against him when he walked into the Dome, but he's walking out with a Win. I guess Haohmaru won't be Champion this week..." [Instant replay of Haohmaru seemingly falling into the cage by himself]
*MVFC Arena*
*BY ORDER OF THE MULTIVERSE FIGHTERS' COUNCIL, HAOHMARU, REPRESENTING SAMURAI SHODOWN, MUST PUBLICLY ADMIT DEFEAT TO HANZO HATTORI, REPRESENTING SAMURAI SHODOWN!"
"INDEED, HANZO, YOU PROVED ONCE MORE THAT YOU ARE A CANNY WARRIOR! TRULY, YOUR TRICKERY AND DECEIT WAS YOUR ONLY HOPE, FOR OTHERWISE YOU COULD NOT PREVAIL AGAINST ONE AS MIGHTY (AND AS LEGENDARY) AS I, HAOHMARU! WHY, HAD YOU NOT CONSTANTLY DISAPPEARED AND REAPPEARED, I WOULD HAVE CHEWED YOU UP LIKE A PIECE OF LUNCHTIME SASHIMI! MMM...THAT REMINDS ME, I'M HUNGRY! ANYWAY, WHAT WAS I SAYING...OH YES! YOU WOULD HAVE FALLEN BEFORE MY INCOMPARABLE LEGENDARY BLADE!"
Hanzo murmured, "I'll take that as a compliment."
*HANZO HATTORI'S WIN STATUS IS NOW: 8!"
The crowd cheered, although no one could hear it over Haohmaru.
"...DO NOT THINK, ONLOOKERS, THAT I HAVE LOST MY EDGE! AFTER ALL, BEFORE THIS MINOR SETBACK, I TOOK ON THE PATENTLY UNLEGENDARY OMEGA RED, THE ONE PARTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SEVERE HARM DEALT TO THE SISTER OF NAKORURU, THE LEGENDARY (AT LEAST FOR BEING KAWAII) RIMURURU, AND, DESPITE HIS MANY OVERFIENDISH TENTACLES AND HIS CONSTANT ATTACKS, VANQUISHED HIM AND ELIMINATED HIM FROM COMPETITION! NEXT WEEK, I SHALL ROAR BACK TO FULL LIFE! I BELIEVE I SHALL TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY, BEING ON TELEVISION, TO TELL ALL OF MY FUTURE OPPONENTS WHAT IS IN STORE FOR THEM!"
*TV Control Center*
"We're out of time?" Wanderer said to Emerald.
Emerald nodded. "Yes. Yes, we are."
Wanderer clicked on his mike and turned it up. "GOODNIGHT EVERYBODY!"
And, in other news...
(Psylocke (MSH) vs. Wolverine(MSH))
Wolverine came in strong, knowing he could beat his teammate, and for the first two rounds, Psylocke was hard-pressed to stop him. At literally the last second in Round 2, she connected a point-blank Kochou Gakure to turn things around...and never looked back. She owned the third round, polishing Logan off with a Psionic Maelstrom.
(Ibuki (SF) vs. Rancid (TK))
Ibuki's been going strong for the last couple of weeks, and nearly everyone thought her tear would continue. Rancid was one of those who didn't think so. Three arms and two rounds later, Ibuki was on the floor.
(Battledome: Psylocke (MSH) vs. Rancid (TK))
Does the idea of Rancid with the Power Gem scare you? It should. After three unanswered points by Psylocke, he smacked the Gem out of her hand and activated it himself. Thirty seconds and seven straight points later, Rancid had the Win. Rancid's Win Status is now: 3. Looks like nobody's going after the throne this week...
(Terry Bogard (FF) vs. "Stone Cold" Ken Masters (SF)
The old feud came back with a vengeance. In Magneto's XM:COTA stage, the two fighters threw everything they had at each other. Ken couldn't touch Terry in the first round, and gave up a flawless victory. Ken barely took the second round with a last-minute Jinrai Shippu Kyaku. With a DKO in the third round, it all came down to the fourth. With Ken in the corner and both of them on the verge of unconsciousness, Terry went for the coup de grace with a Triple Geyser...and Ken's Shoryureppa carried him right through it for the win (24-24, Ken got last vote). "Stone Cold" was feeling a lot of heat this time out, though...
(Blue Mary (FF) vs. Kyo Kusanagi (KOF))
Mary was facing elimination, and nothing could have stopped her; Kyo couldn’t even come close. She plowed through him with style, Typhooning her strikes away.
(Battledome: Blue Mary (FF) vs. "Stone Cold" Ken Masters (SF))
Tempers ran high in this match; using his own rage against him, Mary introduced Ken to the cage four times. However, Ken caught her with a Hurricane Kick, bouncing her between the cage and him for another four. As Sudden Death began, Ken Shinryukened Mary for the Win. Ken Masters' Win Status is now: 7, Cycle 2!
(Zangief (SF) vs. Scorpion (SM)
In a little preview of Annihilation, the two wrestlers battled it out in Team England's stage from KOF. Suffice it to say, Zangief now owes King a *lot* of money, as his Final Atomic Buster took both wrestlers out of the battle node and right into the basement. Difference was, after that much destruction, Zangief got up. Scorpion, bruised and battered, didn't.
(Robert Garcia (KOF) vs. Sindel (MK))
The FAA doesn't want to hear about this one. Sindel spent the first round abusing her air capabilities, winning with a few too many fireballs to Robert's head. After that, though, Robert opened up a tallboy can of whoopass (oops, sorry--this is the MVFC, isn't it. I meant whoopa**). The Queen of Outworld got a dented crown.
(BattleDome: Zangief (SF) vs. Robert Garcia (KOF))
Robert wasn't too thrilled walking into the Dome with Zangief, and the wrestler was looking forward to the chance to bust Robert's head for him. It came down to Sudden Death, and Zangief tried a Banishing Punch...on a HaohShoKohKen. The resultant airborne Russian nearly broke the cage. Robert got it together for his first Win since entering the MVFC all the way back in Week 11.
(Juggernaut (XM) vs. Baby Bonnie Hood (DS))
Bullets bounce off, knives don't pierce, and bombs don't phase the unstoppable Juggernaut. Unable to hurt her opponent, new competitor BB Hood got the axe rather quickly.
(Ukyo Tachibana (SS) vs. Heihachi (T))
Heihachi was on the edge of elimination--again--but this time he faced Ukyo. Despite a strong showing, Heihachi took the fall after four rounds' worth of tearing up the Southtown beach. [Scene of Heihachi being beamed out] He does win the award for Longest Lived Polygon, though...
(Battledome: Ukyo Tachibana (SS) vs. Juggernaut (MSH))
Ukyo couldn't do much damage to Juggernaut, but he could sidestep Juggy's rushes and headcrushes. That was all he needed to win in the Dome. Ukyo's sword never left his sheath as Juggernaut handed him a five-to-two Win. Ukyo Tachibana's Win Status is now 6, Cycle 2!
"Well, folks, it's been fun, and I hope to do it again sometime." Wanderer clicked off the microphone and got his coat.
"Aren't you going to plug the UVR?" Emerald asked.
"Nope." Wanderer smiled. "I'm going to let my work here do it for me. If people liked my style this week, maybe they'll check it out on their own."
"So you are plugging it, it's just subtle."
"Pretty much, yeah."