Week # 39

(Preliminary Match Two)

  It was not a good week for more than one fighter in the MVFC. Because of the excessive and rather blatant disregard for the rules, members of the Wolfpack and the Doom Foundation were all given notice that if there was even one more hint of tampering in a match, they would all find themselves permanently suspended. They would all get their chance at Annihilation, but not before.

  Morrigan received a bit of a lashing from the council members as well. Despite her claims of "self-defense" and just trying to save a fellow fighter, she too was given notice to watch her step, or else she would be watching Annihilation from her apartment.

  However, the one the council was the hardest on was Nakoruru. The post-match attack of Lilith left Nakoruru confined to quarters for the week and on probation for the rest of the year. Furthermore, if she came near either Morrigan or Lilith for any reason except for a scheduled match, she would be kicked out of the competition altogether.

  A tear ran down Nakoruru's cheek. She was sitting alone in her room, staring out of the window onto the outskirts of Dream City without seeing it. The previous weeks flashed through her mind, blurring the lines of reality.

  She was alone.

  Nakoruru had never been so alone before.

  Galford, her love, her life, the man she thought she'd marry, was gone, swallowed up into some remote region of Hell after his fight--if it could be called that--with Morrigan Arnsland. She had his sword, blackened with ozone, and she had Poppy, who had only stopped crying a week after the fight, and now slept in the same little puppy bed with Shikururu (who wasn't exactly pleased about it).

  Rimururu came into her bedroom again with food on a tray. "Nakoruru, it's been three days. You should probably eat--"

  Nakoruru shot her a look of such anger that Rimururu immediately fled back out of the room, leaving the food on Nakoruru's chest of drawers.

  She sat and looked at the food for a very long time. Then, she looked at the chest, and thought, and wondered, and remembered:

  The waterfall was beautiful; Nakoruru had never understood how anyone could stand to fight here. Galford seemed to manage just fine, though; he usually accepted challenges on the nearby bridge.

  "This site should not be profaned with blood, Galford," she said softly. "I have told you as much before."

  "I know you have." He was cheerful. As usual. "But it's the best place I could find for a fight. There aren't any villages or towns for a good ten miles, and the animals won't go out on the bridge. It smells too much like people. No innocent bystanders."

  "You've thought about it, I know." Nakoruru hugged herself tight; at that time, she was thinking of Zankuro's rampage. In two days, she and Galford would leave to stop it; in three, while they were fighting through the other questors, Kafuin Gaira would stop it for them. Then, four years later, Amakusa would resurrect Zankuro, and the whole thing would start again. "But I do not have to like it, Galford-san."

  "Why so formal?" He walked over behind her, and put his hands around her waist; she had known him long enough for now that she was comfortable with American gestures like that. "Are you thinking of Zankuro again?"

  "No."

  "Liar." He kissed her softly on the cheek. "You couldn't stop thinking about him if you tried. I have the same problem."

  "Are you frightened?" She smiled as she said it.

  "Me?" Galford drew back and drew his sword. "The great American Ninja? A warrior for truth and justice across the world?" Poppy panted and wagged her tail at him. Galford settled into a more ordinary pose. "Yeah. I'm scared out of my mind. The man's said to have killed more than a thousand people on his own, Nakoruru-san."

  "Amakusa was dangerous. Mizuki was dangerous."

  "But I didn't know you then as well as I know you now."

  She turned her back on him then, as tears welled up in her eyes. Nakoruru smiled. "Would it hurt you so much to say it?"

  "No." Galford sheathed his sword and put his arm around her shoulders. "I love you, Nakoruru."

  She felt a tear run down her face. "I love you too, Galford-san."

  Five years later, Nakoruru prepared for a match in the MVFC studios. It was here that her beloved had lost, and here that he had been lost.

  She had toyed, briefly, with the idea of retiring from competition. She didn't need the attention, and she would certainly be within her rights to do so after this tournament had cost her so much.

  But she hadn't. Rimururu was here now, after all, and so were the other Samurais. She had friends here, from the other nodes. She would have been happy--if she had never known Galford.

  Yet, even during one of her exhibitions, the emptiness lingered.

  She strapped her sword to her back and walked out to the arena to await her match. She held her head high. Poppy followed her, barking at the crowd.

 *NOW ENTERING THE MVFC ARENA, NAKORURU, REPRESENTING SAMURAI SHODOWN. FIGHTING STYLE: AINU SAMURAI. WIN STATUS: 0, CYCLE 2!*

  Nakoruru drew her sword. It was not her father's knife; it was Galford's ninja-to, still dark with soot from the lightning that had struck it. She slashed forward in an Annu Mistube, destroying a pair of dummies. A third dummy, between them, she didn't touch; instead, she pointed, and said, quietly, "Go, Poppy!" The wolfhound obligingly tore it to shreds.

  She barely acknowledged the crowd as she waited for her opponent to appear.

  She would hold on to her honor. It was all she had left.

  "Or have I lost that as well?" Nakoruru wondered aloud, staring into the darkness of her room. "Do I have nothing left?"

  "I don't know about that, but sitting in the dark feeling sorry for yourself is most disappointing. Especially for someone labelled as 'Guardian'."

  Nakoruru jumped up, blade in hand, to find BB Hood standing in her doorway.

  "Get out of my quarters, Darkstalker! I have no use for you!" Nakoruru growled.

  "Pathetic." Hood lit up a cigar. "You know, I don't have much use for you either, but as a wise man once said, 'The enemy of my enemy is my ally'. We have a common enemy; two, in actually. While you’re here wallowing in self-pity, they’re out there laughing at the mockery they’ve made out of you."

  "So why do you care what they do?"

  "It's my job to care and to remove these freaks. I just figured you'd want to help, especially with the way they are smearing your honor through the mud. I mean, she had a piece of your lover. That's a big smack in the face, now, isn't it? Of course, if you aren't interested..."

  Nakoruru growled in a low tone, "It depends. What do you have in mind?"

  Hood put on her best kawaii face. "Well, for starters, you need to take a more aggressive stance on things..." With that, Hood closed the door to work on giving Nakoruru a "makeover".

 TV Control Booth

  A new voice came over the speakers in the Arena.

  "Thank you, Emerald. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Wanderer, and this is the second preliminary match of the night. In just one moment, Hanzo Hattori, of Samurai Shodown fame, will go up against the Incredible Hulk! This may look like a mismatch to the new viewers, but they've fought before in the MVFC, and the match came out against the Hulk that day. Let's see if this'll be payback…"

 *HANZO HATTORI, REPRESENTING SAMURAI SHODOWN. FIGHTING STYLE: NINJITSU. WIN STATUS: 7*

 *HULK, REPRESENTING MARVEL SUPER HEROES. FIGHTING STYLE: BREAKING THINGS. WIN STATUS: 3*

 Soul Chamber, Mortal Kombat 3 Universe

Hulk flexed, his muscles popping like gunshots. In the greenish light from Shao Kahn's prison for souls, he looked...well, actually, he looked fairly normal. "This time it's going to be different. I've got a number of new tricks to try out on you."

  If Hanzo was impressed, he managed to restrain it. "Of course. I as well am not the same warrior as I was. We shall see who has improved more."

 *ROUND 1...FIGHT!*

  "GAMMA CHARGE!" Hulk rushed forward, only to find Hanzo gone and a throwing star sticking into his chest. Looking around, he saw Hanzo ... in front of *and* behind him. The ninja quietly awaited the Hulk's next move.

Hulk charged once more, into the Hanzo behind him. As the image flickered and vanished, Hulk knew he had been tricked. Hanzo added injury to insult by sneaking up behind him and piledriving him into the ground.

Hulk grumbled as he regained his footing. As hestood, he was besieged by a bouncing wave of flame; Hulk saw it coming, smirked, and charged right through it. The ninja, surprised, fell prey to a Gamma Throw directly afterward; one of Hulk's hands clapped onto Hanzo's skull, whirling himaround twice before slamming him into the ground with earthshaking force.

Hulk pressed his advantage with a flurry of jabs, which, though blocked, still hurt Hanzo badly. As Hanzo lowered his guard to retaliate, a massive foot caught him under the jaw and flung him backward. The ninja hadn't known how hard Hulk could hit...he was nearly unconscious.

Hanzo lay still. Smiling, Hulk assumed his victory pose and awaited the second round.

"RAGE! DEADLY SINGLE STROKE!"

Hulk felt Hanzo's sword dig into his back, and enormous amounts of green blood issued forth. Hanzo wiped the sword off and sheathed it as Hulk, completely senseless, fell over.

A dark and twisted voice rang out from the depths of the node.

*HANZO WINS.*

Hulk got up as the second round began. "Okay. You caught me by surprise. This time, I won't be so easy on you!"

Hanzo merely shrugged.

*ROUND 2: FIGHT!*

Hanzo waited for a dash or a Gamma Charge, but neither came.

"GAMMA CRUSH!" Hulk jumped high into the air, crashing through the ceiling.

Motaro went about his business, waiting for another of the foolish Earthers to come and challenge him. Usually, they would come from the staircase just beyond his fighting area.

Thus, Hulk's sudden arrival (and subsequent departure) took him by complete surprise. The Centauran fell over in a heap as his floor began to fall apart. Hulk's reappearance a moment later, holding a massive asteroid in his hands, only made things worse.

Hanzo, looking up, was treated to a spectacular view of not only Hulk and his portable meteor, but the above room collapsing. Tons of stone fell towards him. Quickly, Hanzo considered his options.

Hulk didn't see Hanzo, but he felt a definite impact as he brought the rock down, crushing it into gravel. Pebbles flew everywhere.

"Gotcha that time, ninja." Hulk moved to dig Hanzo out so they could prepare for Round 3. As he did so, he saw that there were a massive amount of splinters among the rubble. Slowly, Hulk realized something…there hadn’t been any wood in the ceiling…

Hanzo brought his sword down along Hulk's back, interrupting that thought. As Hulk stumbled forward, Hanzo quickly dashed in front of him. He could only see one way to end this fight quickly, and he did not desire to see what else Hulk was capable of.

Using Hulk's own momentum against him, Hanzo flung him into the undulating green field behind them. There was a sudden flash of light as Hulk's body intercepted the mystic energies, causing a backlash that exploded throughout the room. Hulk, teetering, got to his feet; finally, his eyes closed and he fell over as Hanzo assumed his victory pose.

*HANZO WINS. FLAWLESS VICTORY.* A different voice overlaid Shao Kahn's for a moment. "PROCEED TO BATTLEDOME FINALS AGAINST HAOHMARU!"

Once he woke up, Hulk got up and made his way over to Hanzo. "How did you know that would happen?"

"I didn't." The faintest hint of a smile made its way through the mask.

Over in the pile of rubble, Motaro groaned in pain.

  "Once again, brains beat brawn as Hanzo uses trickery and local advantages to put together an impressive win against Hulk! We'll see in a moment whether either of those will help him against Haohmaru in the Battledome...next!"