The Setting:
-ASSAULT ON THE TENDO DOJO: PART III-
Akane and Nabiki ran into the ruined back yard of the Tendo Dojo. Akane was badly hurt and needed Nabiki's help to bring her in. Soun rose from his game with Genma and began to shake with rage.
"Akane!! WHO DID THIS TO YOU??" Sound called as he isntantly ran toward his daughter. Genma was right behind Soun, but he noticed the incoming attack to late.
"Look out!" Genma tried to warn, but a huge ball of Psycho-Energy came down from the heavens and struck where the Tendos were. Soun flew back toward Genma and almost struck him. Akane and Nabiki were hurtled across the lawn. Akane had already taken too much damage and was out. Nabiki had twisted her ankle and crawled over to Akane to make sure she was OK.
"Akane?" Nabiki was frightened for her sister, barely aware of her own pain.
Soun was unconcious and draped nicely across the patio, having also knocked over the GO game. Black and white stones were scattered everywhere.
"FATHER!" Kasumi cried out as she ran to Soun.
Only Genma stood in the lawn, alone and shocked at what had happened around him. Appearing in mid-air over him was a man dressed in a fiendish red uniform. A skull adorned his cap and blue energy crackled all around him. A woman in green appeared with him, but she quickly dropped to the ground in a graceful manner.
"Playtime is over." The man said in a deep, booming voice. "Sagat, where are you?"
"Here, my lord." Sagat said as he entered through the hole Balrog had made in the fence a little earlier.
"Who are you? What is the meaning of this?" Genma demanded of the floating man.
"I have no need to anser you!" The floating man said as he hurled another ball of energy straight at him. Genma couldn't move and knew he was going to be out of this right there and then when suddenly, there was a flash of ribbon and the ball of energy was hurlted straight back at its creator. The man was only just able to doge it in time.
"His name is Bison. He is the criminal overlord of Shadowloo. For some reason he has come here personally in connection to this dojo." A woman said. Genma turned and was stunned for he recognized the woman as the strange person who was fighting Kodachi Kuno.
"Who are you?" Genma asked, feeling lost.
"My name is Rose and I have been hunting down this monster. He has no right to wield the power he holds and now that he is here, I must fight him!" Rose explained, looking straight at Bison.
Bison simply laughed. He seemed almost lost in his mirth, but Rose only scowled, knowing exactly what that laugh really meant.
"You? Fight me? Ridiculous!" Bison smirked.
"Sagat. Cammy. Remove these insects from my sight."
"I hope you're good!" Rose said to Genma.
"Just try to keep up with me." Genma smiled.
Commentary:
Christopher Horton
Oh...this is a tough one.This could really go either way, but I think that Genma and Rose will win this one by a thread. Cammy's the first one of this fight, as Rose will probably handle her with little problem. As for Genma and Sagat...that will be a good fight. Genma will have to transform to be more effective, but as he has a similar background to Sagat, it will really be a close fight. Especially when the chi blasts start a'flyin'...Yamasenken, anyone? The factors against Genma and Rose are that they have never worked with each other before, while Sagat and Cammy are at least familiar with each other. This match is a really good one, so this should be close, though.
The Artist Formerly Known as Kevin
Hmmm... This is very tough. Genma is an experienced martial artist and Rose's psychic powers are nothing to sneeze at, but I'll give this fight to Cammy and Sagat. Cammy is just as skilled as any other fighter, and her strength, speed, agility, etc. were gained through Shadowloo's genetic tampering. Sagat is a tough opponent as well, although I think Cammy's still the best. Genma just fought a battle with Balrog, so he's probably tired from that. Rose's powers won't surprise anyone here, since Bison has the same abilities. In the end, Cammy and Sagat will be victorious, although I hope Rose uses her powers to free Cammy of Bison's mind control.
J-Ryu
And, for the first time since this arc began, I judge in favor of the attackers.
Why?
One reason. Sagat. Frankly, the only Ranma cast I would rate over Sagat would be Cologne, Happosai, Pantyhose Taro in monster form, and Ranma - and the last only barely. Hell, I'd rate Sagat over Bison in a one on one fight!
Genma or Rose can probably take Cammy out - she's not bad, but she's nothing remakable. But I don't think both of them put together can take out Sagat.
ULRS
Well now, this certainly is an interesting battle. Both sides have their strong points, but unfortunately for team Bison, they have more weak points than Genma and Rose do. For instance, Genam and Rose are both serious fighters. Albeit Genma is a coward, and usually runs away, he's proven on many occasions that he is as skilled a martial artist as Ranma, when he wants to be. He is also physically stronger than him. Now then, I dont see him running away in this fight, for more than one reason. One, his best friend, lifelong buddy, and his meal ticket, Soun, was attacked. That would really tick Genma off. You don't want a martial artist of that caliber angry at you, beleive me. He wont be pulling any punches in this fight. Second, He will want to prove to Rose that he isnt all "cocky attitude, all talk no show". For the "honor of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts" I seriously doubt he's going to be beaten. Cammy is not a problem for Genma OR Rose, and judging, professionally, Sagat and Genma's skills, Genma is a MORE than a match for Sagat. Sagats only true skill is in Kickboxing, along with a few ki/chi attacks, whilst Genma is a master a many types of martial arts, and its not wrong to guess that he also knows kickboxing very well, and will know how to avoid most of Sagat's attacks. Rose is no slouch, either, and her "psycho power" will be a grand help to Genma, providing excellent backup should he need it. On Bison's team, Cammy won't last very long at all. Sagat has more skill than two Cammys together, but still, he is nowhere near Genma's level in speed, skill, and possibly strength, seeing as most of the Ranma cast (Ranma, Mousse, Ryoga) have superhuman type strength. ANyway, I'd say this will be a good fight, but Genma and Rose will win without too much of a problem.
The Will of Sotek
Sagat and Cammy make an excellent team. Cammy cancels most of Sagat's weaknesses, namely he's weak against very fast opponents (like Cammy), and his game is ground-based (Cammy has better air-to-air fighting ability). Cammy's up close style also complements Sagat's ranged attack ability. Both Genma and Rose must fight Sagat up close (Yes, Rose has a projectile and reflecting ability, but she will still lose to Sagat in a ranged duel) to defeat him, but then they will have to deal with Cammy speedy attacks, while stopping Sagat's long-reaching and powerful strikes. And if Sagat lands one of his massive uppercuts on either opponent... well, as unclemilo once said in a similar situation, "OH, MY SPINE!!!"
The F*cking Otaku
Ok, now yu might think that the Rose/Genma team won't work because they don't know how to work as a team and they are weak right? WRONG! Ok, now they definately won't have the advantage in team work, but desperate times call for desperat mesures, and she is asking for Genma's help, I think she will accept a little team work.I have never seen Sagat and Cammy working together, so I will only give them the team work advantage since Bison is there and they both work for him. IMO Sagat and Genma are the most flexible fighters, since Cammy rigid fighting and attitude are really more like that of a robot (or would pupet be a better answer?) and Rose's fighting style is specialized. From looking at it, this is a pretty good match, however, since it was Genma that's paired up with Rose, they have some advantages (or at least some stuff to remove disadvantages) Rose maybey an honorable fighter, but since Genma is a dirty enough fighter for both of them, it won't make as much a difference. I will have to say they have one trump card, Genma's Umesen-ken and Yamesen-ken techniques (Which I am a little disapointed at the fact that Uncle milo neglected to mention them). These techniques are VERY potent, and if it dose come to two on one, I think genma might use them. (Cause I know that if it ever did come to two on one, it would be Genma that is most likely to still be up) If he dose, then it dose not matter how good Cammy and Sagat are, anyone who has mastered these moves could take both one on one easy. Of course, if it's one on one in Genma and Roses favor... well I don't think they would even be close to being needed. (And for those of you who argue that Genma swore that he would never use them again, let us not forget that we are talking about the guy who traded Ranma for two pickles, a fish, and a bowl of rice! Trust me, if he needed to... he would use them...)
The Fight:
Cammy began the fight without a warning. She leapt up to the top of the Dojo and came hurtling down in Genma's direction. Genma moved faster than she anticipated and he flipped backward as Cammy plowed into the ground where Genma stood. Rose struck at cammy with a magical blast, but then Rose herself was knocked off her feet by one of Sagat's chi blasts. Genma looked up at Sagat and could tell that this man was not to be underestimated.
"Deal with that girl, I'll take on this one!" Genma said. He sounded more courageous than he felt. He had no idea if that floating man would interfere in the battle and that would be too much if he was guaging how hard it would be to deal with his current opponent.
"You will only lose." Sagat laughed as he hurled a chi blast at Genma. Genma leapt higher than Sagat was expectin and landed a good kick on Sagat's chest. Sagat fell back two steps and then made a powerful kick across Genma's head. Genma spun to the ground, but was able to flip backwards to regain his feet. Sagat kept Genma on the defensive with a torent of powerful kick after powerful kick.
"Poor enslaved girl!" Rose said as she became aware of Cammy's condition. She hurled another ball of energy at Cammy, but this time Cammy spun around the ball and landed a solid punh in Rose's midsection. Rose stumbled back and Cammy landed a harsh kick sending Rose into the ground. Rose rolled to avoid the next attack, but she was clearly going to need a moment to regain her feet and Cammy was not going to let her have it.
Genma was aware of Rose's situation and he leapt straight up, landing on the roof of the Tendo Dojo. Sagat tried to pull off a Tiger Uppercut, but it missed Genma completely. Sagat, realizing he lost his target for now, wasted no time in moving to assist Cammy against Rose.
"Gotta move!" Genma said to himself as he tore across the roof of the dojo. He saw Cammy striking at his helpless partner and he knew he had to move quickly before Sagat got to the scene. Cammy had a speed advantage and Rose was getting nicked and bruised from the hits Cammy landed on her. Then salvation came in the form of Genma's ariel strike. Ganma gave Cammy a dreadful blow and Rose was able to get up just in time for Sagat to pound into Genma again. Rose struck some fierce blows into Sagat's side and Sagat gave her a side kick that sent her into the wall of the courtyard. Genma used this opportunity to strike Sagat in a climbing kick. His first strike hit Sagat's leg and his other foot hit Sagat's stomach and then the first foot moved in to hit Sagat in the chin. Genma flipped back as Sagat fell to the ground.
Cammy was getting her wind back from the hit Genma had given her and she leapt over at Genma. Rose tried to strike at her, but she was too slow. Cammy wrapped her legs around Genma and did a flip, smashing Genma down to the ground. Rose was able to get a second hit in on Cammy and this one scored, sending Cammy through the wall and into the Tendo dining room. Kasumi looked out from the kitchen, where she had dragged her unconcious father.
"Oh my!" She cried out.
"I have to undo the damage that fiend has done!" Rose cried out as she moved into the Tendo house. Genma simply nodded and went after Sagat again. Sagat stopped Genma's charge with a Tiger Shot. Genma was knocked very close to the edge of the pool of water, but he didn't go in. Sagat leapt at Genma, feet extended and Genma flipped out of the way... this time landing right into the pond. He turned into the panda form and this stopped Sagat in his tracks.
"What?" Sagat stuttered.
Genma used the opening and hit Sagat with a sign that said "take that!" on it. Genma continued after Sagat using the brute strength of his panda form to land some crushing blows.
Inside the dojo, Rose got to Cammy and got on top of her to pin her down. She looked into Cammy's blank eyes and tried to use her own psychic energy to release Cammy from the control Bison had on her.
"Listen to me. Your mind is in the clutches of another. You must free your mind... Listen to my words. Listen to my voice. Let my words find that locked part of your mind... think of happy thoughts, memories from your childhood." Rose was fighting against Cammy's struggling. She was trying her best to break any of the hold Bison had on her mind.
"Puppies!" Kasumi offered in the background, trying to help.
"You are being used! You are being made to hurt people from his will! HE IS USING YOU! YOU ARE NOT HIS SLAVE!" Rose continued to talk and Cammy started crying out in her struggle to free herself from Rose's grasp.
Outside, Genma's attacks had been going quite well and Sagat had been on the defensive, but Sagat was able to jump back further than Genma expected and in that instant, he was able to unleash his Tiger Uppercut. Genma's panda form was pounded from foot to head with driving hits. It was Genma's turn to be driven into the wall. Genma was seeing double after the hit and tried to work out which of the two Sagats coming at him was the real one.
Then there was a terrible scream from withing the Dojo. Cammy came hurtling out of the roof of the Dojo and launched herself in a killer move toward Bison! Bison teleported out of the way and Cammy went through the top of the wall and landed in a cloud of dirt from the neighbor's lawn.
"Damn that woman, she has somehow released Cammy from my control!" Bison cursed.
Cammy came charging back into the Tendo's courtyard, but Sagat moved to intercept her.
"Traitor!" Sagat spat as he hurtled a powerful kick into Cammy's side. Cammy spun around and grabbed Sagat while they were in the air and she spiked him into the ground.
"Mr. Saotome!" Kasumi yelled as she ran out of the Dojo. "That nice woman is badly hurt in our kitchen!" Indeed, Rose had woken Cammy from Bison's control, but Cammy's outburst was not what Rose expected and she had been hurtled on to the hard floor of the kitchen. She would not see the rest of this battle.
Genma didn't know what quite to do. He couldn't see straight and his hearing was shot. Kasumi's voice was miles away. As he staggered toward the action, Cammy and Sagat were tearing at each other with all their power. Sagat could not land hard punches on the swift Cammy, but Cammy had little left to offer as she landed what hits she could.
"You think you can beat me?" Sagat leapt out of the way of one of Cammy's Spiral Arrows and he caught on to her braids. He flung her about his head and tossed her into the tree trunk. She hit it with a dreadful THUNK! and then landed on the ground in a heap. Sagat then turned to Genma.
"Now it's your turn!" Sagat laughed.
Genma held up a sign that simply read "I beg to differ."
Sagat laughed as he read the sign.
The sign was replaced with another. "I, Genma Saotome, am a true martial artist."
Sagat charged the panda and Genma spun out of the way and cracked the sign on the back of Sagat's head. Sagat stumbled and turned to renew his attack against Genma.
Genma's last sign read "I am prepared to lay down my life for the sake of the art."
"You see how this will end!" Sagat laughed as he moved in. Genma leapt into the air and landed his feet on Sagat's head. He was actually growling as he began to strike Sagat over and over. Both Sagat and Genma were at the end of their strength and both were battered and bruised. Sagat had stopped talking, but was making noises as gutteral as Genma's growls. The punches were fierce and the kicks were wild and it was hard to say which of them would fall.
Genma then landed a solid punch to Sagat's jaw. Sagat simply fell back a few steps, trying to keep on his feet. Genma didn't have much left in him. Sagat stood, preparing to defend against Genma's next strike. The two stood there, frozen in their positions...
"What are you waiting for!" Nabiki called out. Nabiki was still by Akane's side, but more keenly aware of her injured ankle. "Get him Mr. Saotome, I know you can!"
Genma focussed on Nabiki, steady and alert. He thought of Akane, stubborn and strong. He thought of Kasumi, kind and considerate. He thought of his good friend Soun whom he had been through thick and thin with... the engagement wasn't just to carry on the Anything-Goes style, it was the ultimate sign of two men's friendship... These were the people, these were the feelings, these were the things Genma was fighting to protect...
Genma began to glow with a battle aura of an intensity that rivaled Happosai. He suddenly lurched forward, knowing that he had to protect these people. They were as dear to him as his own son and no one was going to hurt them any further. He hit Sagat with the sound of a cannon! Genma sent Sagat through the wall of the Dojo, across the floor and into the far wall. Sagat was unconscious before he hit the ground.
Genma was drained from the one hit. It took everything from him and he barely could stand. He held up a sign for Bison to read. It simply said "you're next."
Genma Saotome and Rose: 10
Sagat and Cammy: 7
I was stunned with the outcome of the votes, but I think this battle also brought out some of the best comments I have read since I started this. Thanks everyone and stay tuned for the conclusion!