LIVE! 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 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.pixelscapes.com/improfanfic } Episode 1 : Ultra Battle to Commence!! Written by Stefan Gagne -=- Author's Note: Many thanks to the original grandmasters of this sort of amusement who inspired me... the Ultimate Video Rumble gang, Dream Tournament, Eric Fogel from MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch, and of course Vince McMahon, owner of the WWF. If you vaguely liked any of the above.. you're gonna LOVE this. Spotlights sweep the sky. Helicopters circle like vultures. The structure is huge. Not astronomically huge.. just huge. 15,000 people contained under one roof kind of huge, occupying a huge expanse of land just outside of Tokyo. If it could have fit everybody from Tokyo, they would be there; the rest have to make do watching the action on cable. Because it's been a long time coming, construction having started by a mandate from the heavens shortly after the spectacle known as Magical Troubleshooting Crossover Fighting Tournament Beta. And now, it is finished. And tonight is opening night, to a packed house... * But deep inside, in one of the many men's rooms, Hiroshi had his head in a toilet. It was ringing with the sounds of flushing, not with the cheering of crowds. "You know, you wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't eaten all that Olestra," Daisuke reminded him, not bothering to watch the technicolor spew. He was busy adjusting his bow tie in a bathroom mirror. With a gurgle, Hiroshi rose.. and turned to the mirror, to make sure he hadn't mussed his tuxedo. "I'm nervous, okay?" he said, fetching a wet cloth. "This is my first major job with massive public exposure. I mean, what were we before god -- KASUMI TENDO herself -- came down and hand-picked us?" "We were nobodies," Daisuke said plainly. "And I should remind you, we still ARE nobodies until tonight's done. So let's keep our heads and entertain the fans, right?" The taller of the two boys stretched out, unkinking a few muscles. Grinning. "You bet!" he cheered enthusiastically. "Let's knock 'em DEAD!!" "Wouldn't that effect future ratings?" "...work with me here, Daisuke." The two departed, for the broadcast table. * Outside the bathroom, in the stadium itself, the crowd was intense. Beyond intense and straight through to.. to whatever lay beyond intense. Chanting, cheering. Ready for the action. When the lights dimmed, and the opening music played -- something with lots of guitars and screaming and techno beats and so on, composed by a top advertising agency to sink into the mind like a brick into peat moss and stay with you for weeks -- they cheered, to say the least. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" an announcer shouted, over the PA. "MONTHS in the making! By the will of your favorite supreme being and mine, Kasumi Tendo, winner of the Beta Tournament, this IS ULTRA!" And Kasumi stepped out of the backstage area, underneath the massive video wall. Of course, she hadn't changed much. True, she won the tournament and became God, but she wasn't one to let that get to her head; she still wore a plain dress, and comfortable shoes, and smiled at everybody. Maintaining the harmony of the cosmos actually had turned out to be an easier job than managing the chaos of the Tendo household, and she took to it like a duck to two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. Plus, it left her time to do nice things like this for the people of Earth. Everybody liked to have a good time, after all. "Konbanwa, minna-san," she said softly -- although the microphone amplified it to godlike booming levels, of course. "Is everybody enjoying themselves tonight?" The shockwave of compressed air from cheering almost knocked her flat. "...that's good to know," she continued. "Tonight, we present you with twenty one of the most interesting fighters we could find throughout the multiverse. Three matches, three championship belts, and a lot of friendly rivalry. Now, everybody play safely, and enjoy!" * Cameras swapped back to the broadcast table. Hiroshi had taken some fresh water and gotten some color back to his face; Daisuke was solid, as usual. "KONBANWA, all you crazy people!!" Hiroshi shouted to the camera, playing it up. "We've got a spectacle and a half and three quarters for you tonight!" "That's technically more than two spectacles." "WORK with me, Daisuke. Anyway! Tonight, eight of the most.. unusual people you'll ever meet will slug it out! But there's lots more in the roster than these guys, and we invite you to go check out the official Ultra website for the whole cadre, including biography data, rankings and more! And the address is... umm.." He leaned forward, squinting at the cue card. "Etch tee tee pee... colon ... um, two slashes, the kind that go from the lower left to the upper right--" "We do have graphics, you know," Daisuke noted cooly. "We do?" -= http://www.pixelscapes.com/improfanfic =- "...oh," Hiroshi said. "WELL! Anyway! That is the address. Ehheh. SO! First up, we have two fighters drawn at random, who will compete to be the FIRST champions of the GAMMA DIVISION!" Daisuke explained, reading from the cards cleanly. "Gamma Division is our 'normal fighting' cluster. Here, straight martial artists will complete to match skills and strength in a ring. The first to be knocked out inside the ring loses. The winner claims the belt, and will be back to defend it in future episodes of Ultra. Let's go ringside, and wait for our combatant's entrance--" A series of explosions rocked the main stage, from fireworks and flashbombs and jets of flame. The flaring light was blinding, the crowd cheered... And Dan ran out of the special effects, screaming and on fire. "HELP! HELP! AAA!!!! IT HURTS! OH GOD PLEASE PLEASE..." "...while they're putting him out, let me introduce the first competitor," Daisuke continued. "'Stone Cold' Dan Hibiki. Master of self-taught shotokan karate, seeker of revenge for the death of his father. Known for wearing bubblegum pink clothing and never winning a match." "But hey! He could get lucky tonight," Hiroshi noted. "Um.. what's with the 'Stone Cold' thing?" "Well, stone is a hard substance and thus difficult to break, and coldness is often attributed to masculine deadpan emotion--" "It makes him sound cool?" "Basically." "Right. So... as paramedics administer painkillers and deliver Dan to the stage, let's welcome..." Nobody walked out to the main stage. The crowd waited patiently. "...ah.. where'd he go?" Hiroshi asked, standing on his chair, to see over the crowd. * WHAM WHAM WHAM. "Sir, you're due in the ring!" a flunky said. "You've got to come out. No challenges can be refused, it's in your contract!" "Go away!" the voice called. "I SAW her walking around back here. She's in your stupid federation, isn't she? I didn't leave Nerima just to bump into all my crazy fiancees again!!" "Saotome-san, please, the fans are waiting--" Ranma opened his door just a crack. "No, nada, not happening. Look, I signed up assuming I could use my martial arts and practice without distraction. Having SHAMPOO in this group is very distracting! No. I quit! I should've just gone to the mountains to train like I always do.." The flunkie sighed, and tapped his headphones, activating the built in mike. "He's not coming out. Should--" A soothing voice approached. "I'll handle this, sir," Kasumi said, walking quietly up to join them, smiling sweetly. As she always did. "Uh.. hey, Kasumi," Ranma grinned. Getting used to harmless Kasumi Tendo as god was a bit.. difficult. "Hello, Ranma. Now, please, will you come out? All these nice people came to see a little match, and I'd hate to disappoint them." "Umm... err." How was he going to say 'no' to Kasumi, god or no god? "I'd prefer not to..?" Then Kasumi used her trump card. She may be sweet and nice, but she wasn't dense. At least... not that she showed. "You don't want them to think you're a coward, do you?" she asked. "..coward?" "After all, your opponent has a terrible loss record, and you probably could handle him easily... of course, if you want to leave the federation, that's fine. You're an honest boy, and I appreciate your interest. Of course, the millions of viewers at home will probably think you wimped out, even if that's not the case, and--" She was pleased to see Ranma strolling right past her, heading for the stage. * "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" the announcer shouted. "HAILING FROM NERIMA, TOKYO, MASTER OF KEMPO AND VARIOUS OTHER STYLES FROM JAPAN AND CHINA, SURVIVOR OF THE CURSED TRAINING GROUNDS OF JUSENKYO--" Ranma winced. Did they have to say it so loud? He stood around the ring, wondering where the heck his opponent was... "...PLEASE WELCOME, RANMA SAAOOOOTOOOOMEEE!!!!!" The crowd went nuts. Granted, they had never heard of Ranma, but adrenaline was in the air thick like fog, and hey, people can be crazy. Ranma actually felt a little embarrassed.. and his ego started to inflate. "AND HIS CHALLENGER... HAILING FROM THE RELATIVELY MEAN STREETS OF HONG KONG, MASTER OF SAIKYO-STYLE SELF TAUGHT SHOTOKAN KARATE, PLEASE WELCOME.... STONE! COLD! DAN! HIBIKIIII!!!" THEN his opponent arrived, in a manly set of pink pants, and a pink karate gi with the arms ripped off in a really masculine way. He had a highly Y-chromosome ponytail, and rolled right into the arena under the ropes, crouching.. and taunting Ranma, his muscular forearm and fist shaking. "I am STONE COLD DAN!" he shouted. "And.. I.. AM.. MIGHTY! Tens have fallen before me! Today, you will be shattered by the iron fists of DAN!" "..um.. right," Ranma said, taking an attack posture. "You aren't related to RYOUGA Hibiki, are you?" "Cousin Ryo?" Dan asked, bewildered. Ranma swallowed. This wasn't going to be pretty, if his previous experiences with a Hibiki were any match. They're all unnaturally strong... While he was busy thinking, his opponent stood, and ran directly at him. "Feel my power! DAN DAN KIIIICK!" Ranma cursed himself for not paying attention, and raised his arms to block... Dan sailed at him, legs flailing around like an eggbeater... and right over Ranma's head, and into the ropes, bouncing off and hitting the floor of the ring. "ow," Dan stated for the record. The young Saotome scratched his head. "You know, the idea is to HIT your opponent when you're jumping at him like that..." But Dan was quick to his feet, resuming heavy taunting. "SILENCE, impudent little boy! How dare you dictate fighting tactics to a master of Saikyo-style as me?!" Bewildered, Ranma considered attacking.. but his heart wasn't in it. THIS was a Hibiki? Someone must have waded into the shallow end of the gene pool. "Ah, forget it," Ranma said, shrugging. "I'm outta here. This whole federation thing was a bad idea.." Dan got right up in his face. "Running away? BAH! You weak little girl! How dare you call yourself a man?!" The temperature in the ring dropped six degrees. "...what was that?" Ranma asked, quiet. Dan grinned stupidly, and poiked Ranma in the forehead at each word. "Weak. Little. Girl." * "THE WINNER OF THE GAMMA BELT, RANMAAAA SAOOTOOMEEE!!!" the announcer shouted, as Ranma soaked up the applause, tying on the heavy gold belt. And as the medical staff dragged Dan's bent form out of the arena. "This isn't over, Saotome!!" Dan shouted weakly back, through his oxygen mask. "Wait'll I tell my cousin Ryo-kun what you did! I'll get you one day, and your little belt, too, or my name isn't STONE COLD-- ow. Spine. Ow. Spine..." Back at the broadcaster's table, Hiroshi was hyper. "WHAT a fight!" he shouted. "Man! I haven't seen that kind of carnage since... well, Ranma's last fight! Folks, we could have a strong champion here, able to defend that belt. And what did Dan mean, about his cousin Ryo-kun? I can't wait to see what happens in the coming weeks!" "I can," Daisuke noted. "And now, our second event : the LAMBDA DIVISION! Tonight, one of these teams will walk out with a pair of tag team championship belts! And over to Daisuke, for an introduction of our fighters!" "You don't have to say 'and over to Daisuke'. I'm sitting right next to you," Daisuke said. "Does someone have the graphics for .. ah, good. "The first team consists of two creatures of the night, mistresses of hell and succubi. They're no strangers to combat, and are here for the first time working as a team after what apparently was a rivalry for control of a mutual body. The first is a.. mature woman, by the name of Morrigan. The second is her younger counterpart, by the name of Lillith. Tonight, they'll be fighting two skilled men for the right to wear the championship belts. "Their opponents are also special, in their own way. They hail from the fabled X-Men team of superheroes, and while they haven't worked well as a team before, they'll be giving their all in this match. He's from New Orleans, and is a trained gymnast, able to convert potential into kinetic energy... codename Gambit. His partner, with an adamantium skeleton and mutant healing factor, is Wolverine. "Both teams are skilled and strong, and this could prove to be a relatively interesting match," Daisuke concluded. "Let's go ringside, where both teams are ready and waiting." * Both teams were conferring, in private huddles, before the actual slaughter would commence. "I don't want any goofing around, Remy," Wolverine warned in his gravelly, scratchy voice. "Now showboating. We're trying to drum up public support for mutants here, not flaunt ourselves. You know the prof's request." "Mon frere! How little you believe in me," Gambit grinned. "Gambit will be good, you see." At the other side, the two women were discussing plans as well. "I don't know, I'd give him a seven," Morrigan shrugged. "He's got a nice butt, but the eyes are just too black for my taste. Reminds me of my ex-boyfriend. Besides, you're too young." "Ohhh, you're too picky!" Lillith whined, poking Morrigan's arm. "I'm just as old as you are, even if I got stuffed in this obviously lolicon body. And I say he's an eight. But the guy with the claws has too much body hair." "Agreed. So, about the fight...?" "Plan nine," Lillith agreed. "Let's go. As for who goes first... hmm. Jan! Ken! Pow!" "Damn," Morrigan cursed. "Okay, I'll wait here." So, the two opponents squared off... one hulking and nasty, with claws sharper than a fractal edge... the other an adorable little girl in a leotard. "Golly, you're a big scary man!" Lillith chirped. "Whatever will I do?" Of course, being the classical bastich, Wolverine basically ignored her and launched himself at her, claws flying... an X- like shape blurring through the air as Lillith got caught in the fray. He polished it off with a swift kick... knocking her in the air. Lillith got control back. She wasn't expecting him to be so FAST... and she wasn't exactly good at playing keep-away. But he made a mistake, booting her up.. her wings snapped out in full, and she flapped out of the way, before the mutant could snap off some hideous combination of mid-air strikes. "Nimble little brat," Wolfy growled... and blinked, as he saw a tiny little cute pink and green bat coming at him, trailing hearts. He didn't have long enough to ask 'what the hell' before it exploded in his face, knocking him back to the mat. Lillith clapped, and hopped from foot to foot. "Wai! Wai! I hit you good! I'm number one!" Wolverine squatted back to his feet, and shook his head to clear it. "Cute," he grumbled. "I HATE cute." "Aww, what's so bad about cute?" Lillith pouted. "Let's put it this way," Logan said, scraping his claws together. "I got a Furbie for christmas as a joke. So I made it schizophrenic with the TV remote. I.. HATE cute." A flash, in Lillith's eye. An idea. She span in place, and transformed into a playboy bunny costume.. taking off a top hat, and hurling it through the air, at Wolverine. The mutant just perked and eyebrow. "What the hell--" The hat landed on his head. A stage popped into existence under him, and a cute little tune started to play. "GLOOMY PUPPET SHOW!" Lillith called, tapping her foot in time. "Dance, doggie!" "I'm a little teapot, short and stout!" Wolverine found himself singing, while dancing around to the silly happy shiny beat. "Tip me over, and pour me out!" It worked. The cuteness of it sapped his will to be cool, and Wolverine fell off the stage, the magical attack complete. He only had once chance now. He reached out, weakly, to tag... But Remy 'Gambit' LeBeau was busy. "Oh, really, mon chere?" he smiled, his trademark gleaming charming smile. "What a coincidence. I'm not doing anything after the show, either. You want to be getting some drinks with Gambit and enjoy the evening, no?" "Oh, you're so STRONG," Morrigan purrred, running a finger along his arm. "Indeed. I'd love to--" Wolverine waved his arm pathetically, as Lillith started dancing on his back. "GAAAMBIT..." "Not now, man, I'm busy putting the moves on this lovely young thing," Gambit said. "Anyway, you were saying?" "Well, I know a delightful little Italian bistro that's just to DIE for," Morrigan said. "PARTNER!! Tag! Hello?!" "In a MINUTE, Wolfy." That's it, Logan thought. I'm getting a new partner. Giggling, Lillith used her wings to grab the beat-down Wolverine, and slam him into the floor of the ring. Wolverine's lights went out, unconscious... the match was over. The bell rang "Oooh, I gotta go for now," Morrigan said, noting the chimes of victory. "I need to fetch a belt." "A belt? Ah, women and their fashion accessories, I always...." Blink. Gambit looked around, hearing the cheering of the crowd. "Oh. Damn. Eh, win some, lose some. I always say that--" He was jerked to the floor by his irate, mostly collapsed partner, for a little private sideline grudge match. * "..a stunning display of backstabbing irresponsibility!" Hiroshi concluded. "I haven't seen a move like that since Benedict Arnold. You think Wolverine will find a new partner and demand a rematch with the Princesses of Darkness?" "It's possible," Daisuke said. "But if he does, Gambit is still in the Federation.. so he'd have to recruit a new partner for himself, or transfer over to the Gamma division. Remember, once hired, never fired unless for a very good reason. God's will." "And it's a good thing we have God on our sides, folks, because with the NEXT two competitors... the world could be doomed!" Hiroshi grinned, ear to ear. "We're--" A slender hand took the microphone from Hiroshi's fingers -- the touch of that skin was electrifying. "...if I may?" Morrigan said. She turned to face the crowd.. and gave her best smile. "My sister in arms and I hereby issue an open challenge, to all the other pathetic MORTALS in the Lambda division. If you think you can take these lovely trinkets from us... we'll see you next week on Ultra. I don't think we'll have any problem keeping these from unworthy hands. And don't keep us waiting, baby..." With that, she blew a kiss, transformed into a cloud of bats and flew away. Hiroshi was red in the face. "Ghhh... glahhh... gghhhh..." His partner dumped a pitcher of ice water over his head, and Hiroshi snapped back to focus, picking up right where he left off. "--onto handing out the final belt, the OMEGA DIVISION. Here, no holds are barred, no weapons are banned, and there is no ring... just a convenient subdimension, ready for two superpowered opponents to tear to shreds!" "That's right, Hiroshi. Omega Division is for folks who aren't exactly martial artists, but want to try and match wits and skills against people just as strong as they are. We've got demi-gods, demons, sorceresses and more. But for tonight, we're going to have a little mecha-on-mecha action..." * A mane of spiky red hair tossed back, as its owner let out an evil villainess laugh. She wasn't really an evil villainess... at least, not all the time... but it felt right. "PERFECT!" Washu Hakubi grinned, looking up at her eight story tall robot. "Independently targeted motion sensitive particle beam phalanx cannons. Six thousand 10 megaton warhead missiles in sixteen separate missile pods! Twin shoulder cannons, helicopter miniguns at every joint, and it's the most ADORABLE shade of yellow! Ryo-chan, I think we may very well have my Magnum Opus." "Miyaaa?!" Ryo-ohki mewed, in shock. And started to cry. Washu stepped back. "Oh! Oh, Ryo-chan, I'm sorry." She scooped the cabbit up into her arms. "You always have a special place in my heart, ne? I just don't want to see you hurt in any of these nice battles." "Miya, miya!" Ryo chirped testily. "Well... perhaps someday in the future. But for now, Mommy wants to use her UltraDeath Cybertron Megamax 6000. Okay?" The cabbit nodded, sulkily. Then shrugged, took out a little fan and waved it. "Mya, mya!" "That's right!" Washu grinned. "Washu-chan IS the number one genius scientist! Nothing can stop me now!" * Gendo sat behind his desk, hands folded neatly in front of his mouth to cut down on animation budget. "Get in the Eva, Shinji." His son sat in a metal folding chair in a spotlight. "But I don't want to pilot Eva. It hurts too much. But I don't want to run away..." "NERV is running out of funding, Shinji. If you don't take Eva into this contest, and get us some positive publicity, we'll go broke. It's either this, or Misato has to pose in Playboy again." But Ikari Shinji just sat, in sullen, angsty silence. Gendo sighed. He knew he was a terrible father, but really, he had a terrible son. Both of them had emotional issues that would make Jerry Springer's hands itch with glee.. if only Shinji would ACT, more. He was going to have to bribe the boy. "If you fight today, you can have the weekend off to do as you please, away from NERV," Gendo said. "No performance testing. If an Angel shows up we'll just send Rei." "...really?" Shinji asked. But.. guilt gripped him. They'd send Rei. He can't run away. Can't run... The director of NERV groaned. "Yes or no, Shinji. Decide." * Camera pods floated independently, over Tokyo-3. Waiting for the competitors to arrive. Most of the city had been evacuated... what was left of it, at least. By this point, all the smart people had their fill of Angels, and had moved to a safer place, like Beruit. All that remained were laundromat owners and clothing retailers, in some odd symbiosis... The first robot arrived via a transdimensional portal. It was huge. It had arms with massive, sharp claws. It had feet heavier than the Rock of Gibraltar. And it had a massive, yellow happy face, over a sign reading HAVE A NICE DEFEAT. Inside the control room, Washu grinned evilly, and waited. Safely away from the future dumping site, Hiroshi and Daisuke commented while watching the cable uplink. "Truly a stunning robot! Wouldn't you agree, Daisuke?!" "No." "But where is its competitor? Will this match for the Omega belt end in a forfeit?!" * Shinji stood on the loading platform, staring EVA-01 in the face. Looking into the white eyes of the angel, trapped in the hardened armor. "I hate you," he said, quietly. His angst was very high today, and he wasn't sure if he could go through with this. It was just.. just a stupid SHOW. He wasn't even saving the world. There was no good reason. He had told his father he'd do it, but... but now he was running away. He couldn't do it. He was pathetic-- "Well, if you're not interested..." Shinji turned in surprise.. * Moments later, the launch platform snapped into place, in the middle of Tokyo-3. EVA-01 had been deployed. "YOSH!" Washu shouted. "Let's ROCK, to use the vernacular!" She wasted no time; her robot was out and running, drawing a katana twice as longer as itself, ready to slash up any AT field the Evangelion produced. But the Eva moved blindingly fast, too... with a huge CLANG heard miles around, both mechs impacted with each other, locked in a grapple of death. Vibraknife scraping sparks against the katana. Inside, Washu was having the time of her life. She rarely got a chance to really cut loose and enjoy herself... it was like being in school again, playing king of the hill with the rest of the Extreme Science Club. Just like it. In an energetic push, she connected her own adrenaline to the robot's power supply, and got that extra edge -- shoving Eva- 01 away, as she flew back in the air, targeting all six thousand nuclear weapons at it. Why not do things the easy way? "Goood-night!" she politely dismissed, hitting FIRE. Streaks of smoke arced away from her mecha, as it shot backwards, to get to minimum safe distance.. the Evangelion too stunned to react, as all the nukes came at it... An explosion rocked Tokyo-3, and everybody who wished they had moved began to wonder if putting it off was such a smart idea. The mushroom cloud was visible from orbit, like a glowing ball hanging over Japan. It faded quickly, each explosion chaining off each other to fuel the fire and feed the destruction, but cleaning up with almost no radiation. Washu was a genius, after all, not a sadist. To some extents. When the smoke cleared, she had already broken out the chocolate Yoo-Hoo and was celebrating... EVA-01 stood, scorched, but unharmed. "NANI!?" Washu shouted, too late -- the captured Angel pounced, and both robots grappled again.. with a high pitched whine coming from the Eva. Washu tried to break the grip, but it was too fast, too soon; Evangelion kicked her mecha away, and lashed out an AT Field... horizontally, at waist level. You just don't argue with a shield of purest reality cutting through the middle of your robot. The UltraDeath Cybertron Megamax 6000 became a 3000 and 3000 respectively, as the top half slid off the bottom half, and fell into the smoking crater. The match was over. Washu poked at the controls of her dead mecha, stunned. She had lost. The number one genius scientist in the universe had LOST. Her hand made a fist. This wasn't over. This was not over by a LONGSHOT... * "A spectacular fight, from Shinji and Washu!" Hiroshi beamed. "I'm unbelievably excited!!" "I'm just glad I wasn't at ground zero," his companion pointed out. "Remember, viewers, destruction of the world and/or the universe is a technical foul. Hopefully, the body count will be lower in future fights." "I don't know, man, that Eva kicked some ASS!" Hiroshi shouted. He squinted, at the monitor. "It looks like the entry plug is ejecting.. let's see if we can get some words with the victor, Ikari Shinji!" The plug hissed, ejecting the LCL fluid, and the door opened... Revealing nobody inside. No pilot. "...eh?" "Shinji wasn't in it." "I can SEE that!" Hiroshi said. "But.. but Evagelions don't act on their own, right? Well, not reliably, unless you like having a eight story robot with the mindset of Charlie Manson running around..." Daisuke listened to his earphone mike. "It seems that the officials are going to attribute the win, and the belt, to EVA- 01, even if Shinji was not present. We'll get down to the reason behind this matter later, viewers. For now, that's all the time we have on Ultra. I'm your announcer, Daisuke." "And I'm HIROSHI! But you knew that already. What will happen next week? Who will answer Morrigan's challenge for the Lambda belt? Will someone unseat Ranma Saotome? And what new challengers will arrive, to take on the federation for the gold? This is Hiroshi, saying, good fight, good night!" "You can't say that. It's copyrighted." "Ara? I can't say that OR 'Let's get ready to rumble?'" "We discussed this before the show, Daisuke." "Then what DO I say?!" Hiroshi asked. "Nothing. We're about to fade to black." "We are? But I--" * Somewhere, hovering above the remains of Tokyo-3, after both competitors had left, two figures observe the damage. And smile. "Just as we had planned," he said, brushing some of his messy grey hair from his face. "For now, Shinji has the belt. All is well in the world. Ne, lord?" "Hai, Kaworu," Kasumi smiled. "And the true purpose of the federation has begun." -=- ][ ULTRA EPISODE 1 RESULTS RECAP : ][ RANMA SAOTOME is the new Gamma Champion ][ MORRIGAN/LILLITH are the new Lambda Champions ][ IKARI SHINJI is the new Omega Champion ][ No new fighters introduced ][ Next scheduled author : David Tai -=- WHO WILL TAKE HOME THE CHAMPIONSHIPS? WHO WILL JOIN THE FRAY? WHO WILL ATTACK WHO AND FOR WHAT REASON AND WHO WILL INTERVENE AND WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON?! It's all in YOUR hands -- this is Improfanfic, after all! Drop by http://www.pixelscapes.com/improfanfic today, and sign up to write an episode of Magical Troubleshooting Crossover Fighting Federation ULTRA. Be sure you read the rules and the full 21 fighter roster, and enjoy! Only with the support of talented authors and talented readers such as yourselves will this federation flourish! (Please do not send signups, requests or questions to this e-mail address; use the methods posted on the page.) Thanks for your support, and we'll see you ringside! -2f PS - Please pardon any grammar slips, I wanted to get this posted as soon as I could. :)