Started on: 02 March 2001 Finished on: 07 March 2001 This Omake set directly after ReBoot 1.0 Shingo sat in his dressing room, depressed. He had almost won the UltraReBoot, but had fallen at the final hurdle. How could he have lost to... her? She was a good fighter, sure, but she had a broken arm! How could he have lost with such an advantage? Shingo sighed. Well, at least he had beaten Mr. Satan and Akane. Well, Mr. Satan at least. Just. "Damn!" cried Shingo, punching his locker, "I didn't even deserve to come second!". Tears started to well-up in his eyes. He was a failure, not only to himself, but to his friends, his family, CHAOS, Karin, and worst of all, his Sensei. He had to do something, but what? After much thought he came to the perfect conclusion - leave Ultra. Then, when he had proven himself he would return, and only then. His mind made up, he packed his bags, leaving a note by his locker explaining everything. Which is why, when Dan came in that morning (wearing, as always, his Manly pink gi) he had a pretty bad shock - "I see my pupil has left a note for ME, the MIGHTY DAN HIBIKI", he said, shaking his Manly fist at the locker. "I shall read it right away" he announced, and busily started reading. Five minutes later, Dan was found pounding the locker with his Mighty fist and crying Manly tears by Hiroshi. "What's wrong Dan?" asked Hiroshi, concerned, "Why are you so upset?" Wordlessly, Dan handed him the note. Two minutes later Daisuke found Dan AND Hiroshi pounding on the lockers. "For goodness sake, I could hear you from the basement! What's wrong?", he asked. "He... he's, gone", sobbed Hiroshi. "Who's gone?" "Sh... Sh... Shingo..." "Shingo's gone? Why?" Hiroshi passed him the letter. Daisuke scanned it then turned to Dan, who was still pounding the locker. "Calm down," he said, "I think I have a plan..." LIVE! NOT FROM THE UltraDome! THE BIGGEST SPECTACLE IN ANIME AND VIDEO GAME SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT AND IMPROFANFIC! IT'S TIME FOR... { M A G I C A L T R O U B L E S H O O T I N G } { C R O S S O V E R F I G H T I N G } { F E D E R A T I O N } { .-----------. } { | U-L-T-R-A | } { `-----------' } { http://www.mtcffultra.com } Episode: Proving Grounds Episode written by Shingo=Yann MTCFF Ultra created by Twoflower Hiroshi pounded down the (virtually) empty corridors of the UltraDome, passing various offices and storerooms until he came upon the door of the current director of Ultra, Nabiki Tendo. Catching his breath, he summoned up his courage and opened up the door. Nabiki's secretary looked up at him in disdain. "Do you have an appointment?" she enquired. "No," hiroshi said breathlessly before carrying on, "listen, I've got to talk to Na-" "Sorry, you need an appointment if you want to see Miss Tendo" "But you don't understand, I..." "Sorry pal, no buts. You need an appointment to get in here," Realising that he wasn't getting anywhere with this approach, Hiroshi decided to take the other option open to him. He bolted towards Nabiki's office and charged through the door, only to find himself standing next to Lilith who had evidently been talking with Nabiki. Resisting his urges to run away VERY quickly, Hiroshi steeled himself and pushed Lilith out of the door, saying - "ImsorryLilithbutIhavesomethingvery importanttotellMissTendosocouldyoupleaseleave". Having done so he slumped in the chair opposite Nabiki and took a deep breath. "I hope you have a good excuse for barging into my office this way" said Nabiki, waving away the secretary, who had rushed in after Hiroshi. "Yes Miss Tendo, I'm sorry but I had to tell you..." "What did you have to tell me?" asked Nabiki, who was fast getting bored. "It's Shingo, he's... he's left, Miss Tendo" "Let him. He is only a CHAOS lackey. Why should I care if he stays or not?" "Well Miss I've looked at our ratings and he is one of our biggest crowd pullers, behind only Dan and Morrigan, and his loss would affect attendance ratings for the worse" "I have to admit, he is quite a crowd pleaser" agreed Nabiki, "Very well, I shall look into the matter..." "Well actually I already have an idea Miss Tendo. I was wondering if you might want to hear it?" "Alright, but it had better work" "It will miss, I promise..." Meanwhile, Daisuke was explaining to Jack exactly what had happened. "- so that's why we need your help" *SQUEAK* said Mr. Duck. Daisuke sweatdropped. "Mr Duck, I hate to admit it but you're right. We must do something - Shingo is one of our best fighters!" agreed Jack. "exactly-" "And if and if he leaves, then so will Panty-Flash girl." continued Jack. Daisuke thanked Lina that Sakura hadn't heard that remark. "Uhhh... yeah. So we've got to get him back, right?" "Right. So what's the plan?" "Well..." 2 hours later and the plan was well under way. Jack had managed to get Sakura to help, Nabiki had allowed Ranma to help, and Dan had manged to find Ryu. Daisuke was standing by a lane, hiding in the bushes with Sakura. "You know what to do?" he asked. "Of course I know what to do", Sakura replied. "Good" Further along the road Ranma was waiting. He knew what he had to do. Even further away Ryu was waiting with Dan, who was giving him 'advice' on how to taunt. "It's like this" explained Dan, shaking his fist at Ryu. "You try" Ryu rolled his eyes, and made a half-hearted attempt at copying Dan. "No, not like that" sighed Dan. "Here, let me help" Ryu shook his head in disbelief, and tried to remember why he had agreed to help. Soon Shingo came walking along down the lane and came close to the bush Sakura was hiding in. "Now!" whispered Daisuke, and Sakura leapt out of the bush, landing gracefully... Or at least that was supposed to happen. As Sakura leapt, her foot snagged on one of the branches in the bush and Sakura found herself laying face down in the lane. Dusting herself off she stood and faced Shingo, a little embarassed, but unhurt. "Ahem" she coughed "Uhh... I'm here to stop you from leaving" she explained. "You can't stop me, I've made my mind up" replied Shingo "Now let me pass" "I'm sorry, but if you want to pass you will have to go through me" said Sakura, shifting to her defensive stance. "So be it" agreed Shingo, and charged at Sakura. ][ MATCH #1 ][ SHINGO YABUKI vs. SAKURA KASUGANO ][ FIGHT! Sakura dodged to the side, neatly avoiding Shingo as he charged towards her, whilst simultaneously sticking her foot out directly in Shingo's path. Shingo, unsurprisingly, tripped over her foot and slammed into the floor. "Hey!" cried Shingo. "That wasn't fair!" "Who said anything about fairness?" asked Sakura. "I thought you were my friend..." "I am, Shingo. And I'm being the best friend I can by doing this to you." Shingo shook his head, not understanding. "Listen, just fight, okay?" Sakura told him. "Very well" said Shingo, and without warning did a sweep-kick knocking Sakura to the ground. "Shingo, form of... Sakura" said Shingo, flipping through his notebook. Sakura looked up to see Shingo wearing her clothes, and couldn't help but snigger. She soon stopped when she recieved a Hadouken to the stomach. Shingo went to check Sakura's prone figure and was greeted by an uppercut to the chin, then as he went flying through the air Sakura jumped up and executed several kicks and punches on him and finished off by smashing him in the gut with a massive kick which sent Shingo flying into a tree. "Do you... give up?" she panted "no, never..." groaned Shingo as he stood up. "I'm afraid I am going to have to show no mercy" he apologised, before tranforming into Iori. "Oh... shi-" Sakura was cut off by a fireball which set her on fire and sent her flying through the air (again) and she fell heavily onto the floor. Looking up, she said - "I guess you win." "What?" he exclaimed. "Oh, didn't I tell you? It was first to three falls" "!" "Well go on then. You can carry on now!" Shingo shook his head in disbelief, then decided what to do. "uhh... Okay... Bye then" He said, and carried on his way. Sakura shrugged her shoulders and thought "Well, it's all up to the others now", before walking into a portal which had just opened in front of her. "That went as expected" said Jack, who had been watching from a camera that Daisuke was carrying. *Squeak* "You are right, of course Mr. Duck, the next fight should be interesting. He had a sudden thought. "Hey, Hiroshi, do you have any of that popcorn left?" "Sorry Jack, I don't" "Damn" Daisuke had watched the fight and was now stalking after Shingo with his camera, using every tree and bush to keep out of sight. Daisuke was soon near to where Ranma was waiting, and he quickly set up the camera. Shingo was still wondering about what had just happened when Ranma walked out from behind a tree. "Let me guess, you're here to stop me?" "Yep" "No way to persuade you to let me pass?" "Nope" "So what is it this time?" "Sparring. Best of three" "No magic?" "No magic" "No Tricks?" "No tricks - just friendly sparring. It will be interesting to see how much you have advanced since we last sparred." "You too" "Let's begin" ][ MATCH #1 ][ SHINGO YABUKI vs. RANMA SAOTOME ][ FIGHT! Ranma and Shingo rushed at each other, exchanging blows, with neither gaining an advantage until Shingo miss-timed a kick, leaving him open to Ranma's follow-up, a round-house kick to the head. There was nothing Shingo could do to stop himself and he hit the deck. Ranma helped him up. "You okay?" he asked. "Sure" replied Shingo, smiling. "Let's go!" And with that Shingo an Ranma started again, this time Shingo took a more defensive stance, parrying most blows and waiting for a chance to counter. He soon saw an opening, as Ranma attempted a leg-sweep he hopped over it and executed a perfectly-timed kick to Ranma's chest, knocking him off his feet. Ranma flipped in mid-air, but as he landed Shingo hit him with a rising-knee, knocking Ranma head-over-heels. "Good timing" Ranma smiled at his friend, "But let's see how you fare in the final round" Meanwhile at CHAOS headquarters, Hiroshi was getting excited (as usual). "Wow! Did you see that? Anyone could win this match! Wow!" "You haven't been drinking my Coke, by any chance?" asked Jack. "No? Whatever gave you that idea?" replied Hiroshi, bouncing in his seat. "Oh, nothing" "That's OK then! Wow!" Jack sighed. Well Mr. Duck, looks like we're the only sane people here." *Squeak*, replied Mr. Duck. The battle had been going on for a minute now, and there was nothing to show for it. Both parties had succesfully parried every attack thrown their way and the two fighters were getting tired. "Good...fight...Ranma" gasped Shingo, parrying Ranma's punch. "You...too" replied Ranma, dodging Shingo's elbow. "Want...to...call...it...a...day?" asked Shingo, jumping over Ranma's sweep kick. "Not...until...you...decide...to...stay" answered Ranma, parrying Shingo's palm strike. "Sorry...I've...made...up...my...mind" replied Shingo, before executing a fast kick to Ranma's shin. Ranma buckled, but managed to turn his fall into a sweep kick, which Shingo narrowly avoided. Before Ranma coould recover from his sweep Shingo elbowed him in the chest, making him lose his balance. As Ranma fell, he put his hands behind him and propelled himself feet-first towards Shingo using them. They caught Shingo in the chest and he stumbled, but threw his weight forwards, keeping himself standing. Then, as Ranma rose from a crouching position Shingo pulled back his fist, and threw a powerfil punch at Ranma's jaw. It connected. Ranma dropped like a stone. Shingo stood for a second, then realised what had happened. "I won! Yay!" He looked down at Ranma. "You okay?" Ranma picked himself up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Well, well done!" "Thanks!" Suddenly Shingo rememberd why he had been fighting, and his spirits dampened a little. "Ah well, goodbye" he said sullenly. "Yeah, see you around. You know where to find me, right?" "Right" "Well, bye then", and with that, Ranma walked through a portal just like the one Sakura had walked through. "Bye" said Shingo, and returned along the lane. "Hi Sakura" Said Ranma, "Did you watch the fight?" "Yeah. It was a pretty close match" replied Sakura. "To tell you the truth, I expected to win. I didn't realise he had improved so much!" "Didn't you watch the ReBoot?" "Yeah, until Akane got punked by Marlo - I swear I'm going kick his-" "Now, now, remember what Doctor Tofu said - try not to get too angry, you don't know what could happen" "You're right" Shingo breathed in deeply. "Okay, I'm fine now. Let's just watch what happens next, alright?" "Right" Daisuke continued tracking Shingo down the lane and soon they came upon the place where Ryu and Dan were 'hiding'. The fact that 'Dan', and 'Stealth' just don't ever exist in the same sentence made sure that although they were indeed out of Shingo's vision, hidden behind a tree as they were, Shingo knew they were there well before they jumped out. This was due to two things - one, the fact that Dan was practicing his taunts, albeit in whisper, and two, the fact that everywhere within a radius of two metres of Dan was coloured in a Pink hue. In fact, it was Shingo who crept up on them, sneaking up to the tree and and waiting until Dan stopped taunting, before walking round it and saying in a cheerful voice - "Hello Se-" before noticing Ryu. A look of shock came over his face. "Ryu? What are you doing here? I thought you had more important things to do?" "Normally, yes. However, Dan-" Dan beamed "Told me what was happening and I couldn't just let you walk out on Ultra when you were doing so well." Ryu explained, "So I came here to stop you" "Listen, I have no chance against you in a fight, and if you intend to try and convince me like Sakura and Ranma tried to do, it's not going to work. It just wouldn't be fair!" complained Shingo. "Now, now, you didn't think I would do such a dishonorable thing as to try and force you to stay, did you?" He looked Shingo n the eye. "Of course I wouldn't. I intend to convince you to stay" "I already said, I've made up my mind!" said Shingo determinedly. "You can't convince me, okay? "Just listen to me for a second, please. Why are you leaving?" "Because I failed at the Ultra ReBoot..." replied Shingo, warily. "So you are leaving to..." Ryu said, leading him on. "Prove myself" "And how do you intend to do this?" "Uhh... by fighting people and winning?" replied Shingo, trying to work out what Ryu was up to. "And what have you just done?" "Well, I just walked here, after fighting Sakura...and...Ranma" said Shingo, realising what Ryu was geting at. "HEY! I just proved myself, didn't I!" Ryu smiled. "You did" "That... that means that I can stay!" exclaimed Shingo. "I AM worthy!" Dan, who had stayed silent until then, leapt up, crying - "YAHOO! The Mighty Dan Hibiki has convinced His pupil to stay! I truly am the Greatest!" he then saw Ryu and Shingo looking at him in a funny way and quietened down a bit. "Uhh... of course I couldn't have done if it wasn't for Ryu-san..." he corrected himself. Ryu and Shingo stared at him for a few more moments before looking back at each other and shaking hands. "Well that went as planned, didn't it Mr. Duck!" *Squeak* "I'm glad you agree. What about you, Hiroshi?" Jack turned to see Hiroshi sprawled on the floor, drooling. Jack sighed. Notes from the author - Well this is my first Fan-Fiction and although it is rather short, I am quite proud of it. I have had pronlems getting this and my website done, due to me being 16 and still being in school, but I think I did quite well considering. I'd like to thank Twoflower for creating MTCFF Ultra and for inspiring me to write this Fan-Fiction. If you have any comments, e-mail me at - yann@yprbest.freeserve.co.uk Also, why not visit my website? It's not complete, but I am working on it. http://www.geocities.com/yprbest/index.html Thanks for reading my first ever Fanfic :)