"THIS-" Washuu said, whapping her pointer against the projected image
on the wall, "-is the key to Bison's control over Ifurita.  I'm
surprised that I didn't realize it earlier in my reserch, but that
was because the circuitry was sitting quite innocuous and inert just
outside of Ifurita's central core."  She stopped, and spun to grin
manically at her audience.

"So what is it?" asked Gally, sitting in a chair facing the
holographic projection and peering at the rather ordinary-looking
chip.  Inwardly, she really wished Washuu would just get on with the
presentation, and not stop for prompting all the time; she also
wished that she didn't have to sit through an entire
specially-arranged seminar, complete with formal dress requirements
and a post-discussion quiz, just to find out what Washuu's amazing
breakthrough was.  But the 20,000 year old mad scientist had a
personal style that demanded fulfilling, no matter how serious the
situation.

"Well!" Washuu said.  "My first assumption of the chip was that it
was an element of the design that was ignored or overlooked in the
final production of Ifurita, owing to the fact that the chip has no
power source attached to it."  She paused.

"So why is it so important?"

"A more specific question, please." Washuu guided.

Gally sighed and rubbed her forehead.  "So what use would it have if
it had no power source?"

"Ah!  I'm glad you asked!  This chip is in fact an external control
device that allows Ifurita to be commanded by the use of remote
energy flowing through the chip - remotely applied energy such as the
use of.."

"Of?"

"..PSYCHO POWER!" Wahsuu exclaimed.

Gally blinked.  "Hey, that's great!  So if we remove the chip, then
we can-"

"Ah, ah, ah!"  Washuu waved a chiding finger.  "I'm afraid that's not
possible!  The remote command circuitry is actually linked to
Ifurita's entire command processing system, including her own
self-commanding module.  Lose one part of the command system, and she
goes zombie."  She shrugged.

Now honestly interested, Gally supplied the questions out of natural
curiosity.  "But - if Bison can control Ifurita by applying Psycho
Power to the chip, and we can't remove it, then doesn't that mean
that all he needs to do is get in *range* of Ifurita to be able to
control her?"

"Not quite, not quite." Washuu smiled.  "Have more faith in the
greatest genius in the universe!  Bison's been able to imprint the
remote command chip with his own particular brand of Psycho Power.
By applying enough Psycho Power of a different sort to the chip, we
can erase Bison's traces of control and replace them with our own!"

"So where do we get Psycho Power from?  That's something only Bison
has-"

Washuu wagged a finger. "Oh, that's not true at all."

* * *

Upstairs, in the main Masaki household, the front doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!"  Tenchi Masaki, youngest member of the men of the
resident Masaki family, said, and opened the door.

Outside stood a young man, of about college age.  He seemed Asian,
with a round face, brown hair, and a slightly short but strong
build.  He was attired casually, with a blue jacket, white shorts,
and sneakers.

"Uh, hello." he began, scratching his head.  "I'm looking for.. " He
checked a scrap of paper in his hand.  "the Masaki household, and
Washuu?"

"Oh." Tenchi said, taken a little aback.  "You know Washuu?"

"Well no, not really, but she invited me over here.  My name's
Kensou.  Sie Kensou."

Washuu's voice, somewhat muffled, called out from behind the broom
closet door.  "A-ha!  There he is!"  The broom closet made a series
of clicking and beeping noises, and the small lock that had been
attached to its front vanished into nothingness.  Washuu's head
peeked out from behind it.  "Sie!  Good to see you, now get down
here- every second you waste chatting up Tenchi is one more second
that justice is being denied!"

"Right.." Sie said.   He pointed to Tenchi, then back and forth
between him and the closet door. "Er, sorry to be rude, but I've
gotta, uh, do stuff and.."

"I'm not involved." Tenchi said, throwing up his hands and walking
away. "Go right ahead, just don't blow up anything, especially not
this house."

* * *

Washuu motioned grandly to the robot woman floating in a clear
cylindrical tank of fluid, lit up with spotlights all around.  "And
*here* is the poor android girl you have to save!  Once I get a clear
idea of the interface to her remote command chip, you're going to get
your Psycho-powered brain in there and clean up Bison's mess, got
it?"

Sie leaned over to Gally and whispered.  "Does her containment have
to be so elaborate-looking?"

"What do you mean?" Gally whispered back.  "Sure, it's
dramatic-looking, but we need her offline while we work on her and we
need to be able to observe her while we do it.."

Sie looked over nervously to Washuu for a second, who had wandered
off talking to herself about something technical and, to him,
incomprehensible, then walked up to the tank, looking up at the
suspended robot.

"It's just that.." Sie began.  "Well, me and Athena have been
captured a few times by evil scientists."

"Really?"

"It happens to esper adventurers, you know.  Each time, Athena always
got the suspended-in-a-glass-tank-with-oxygenated-fluid treatment,
while I always ended up shoved in a dirty cage in the basement."

Gally rubbed her chin.  "Hmm.  I can't tell you what's up with that,
sorry."

Sie rubbed at his temples, looked around furtively, and pressed his
palms against the glass, watching Ifurita intently.  "The last time I
got captured it was extra-bad.  He was pretty brutal, as well as
being into all the scientific probes and experiments and stuff.  He
was a good fighter, too - he could actually take me in a fight - and
he'd use Athena to threaten me and try to goad me into doing things,
too."

Gally whistled. "Sounds pretty bad.  But, this is getting a little
off topic."

"Yeah, maybe." Sie agreed, continuing to stare up at Ifurita.  "I'm
just trying to explain, though."

"Explain what, exactly?" Gally asked.

Sie turned to face her plainly.  "I'm sorry."

The glass tank exploded as Ifurita's fist shot out and smashed
through.  Gally gasped in shock as fragments of glass scattered
across the lab, and water flooded the floor, shorting out some of the
smaller machines scattered around the complex.

"Sie, what the HELL are you--"

"Ifurita!" Sie shouted.  "Retrieve your staff!"

Ifurita wordlessly extended her arm.  Halfway across the lab, a small
metal box riddled with meters and scanners shuddered, and then burst
into flames as the Power Staff tore its way through the machine's
shell, flying into Ifurita's grasp.  Smoke from the broken machine
rapidly filled the lab, obscuring everyone's sight.

Within the smoke, Sie looked around uneasily.  There was a lot of
confusion in the lab, what with the smoke and the sparking machines
and the hazardously wet-and-glass-strewn floor.  Besides that, he had
lost track of Ifurita.  He reached out mentally to her, but couldn't
seem to get any response - he wondered, after the fact, if Bison had
been honest in giving him full instructions on how to manage Ifurita.

He spotted some movement to his front, an obscured figure.
"Ifurita!" he called out, relying on voice control.  "Pick me up and
get us out of-"

The figure turned and dove for him, resolving itself in a moment to
be Gally, her expression fierce and her fist extended.  She screamed
towards him with speed borne from Panzer Kunst, and Sie realized he
could do nothing but futilely throw his arms up to guard.

There was a fearful *crack* noise, and Sie felt himself flying
backwards through the air, arms numb with shock.  Panic set in as he
realized that he was flying blind; any second, he'd either collide
with the wall or one of the machines, and -

There was a bump, and Sie felt something grasp him around the waist.
He dared to look up, and felt relieved as he saw Ifurita's impassive
face staring back at him.

"Ifurita, good catch." Sie said.  "Now get us out of here!"

The broom closet door shattered into splinters as the android and her
cargo burst through it into the household above.  Not stopping,
Ifurita proceeded to ram her way through the rooftop, flying off into
the sky and disappearing into the distance.

A few moments later, Gally exited the lab, waving away at the smoke
escaping from the pocket dimension inside.  Washuu crawled out on her
hands and knees afterwards, coughing and dazed.

"I didn't see.." Washuu gasped.  "What happened?  Where did Ifurita
go?"

"Kensou was a plant." Gally growled, her fighting personality rising
to the surface.  "I screwed up.  I shouldn't have sent him flying
with my first punch, but I had to have cracked his forearms.  At
least."

"Bison had a plant." Washuu said, then started kicking at the
doorframe.  "Damn it!  Damn it!  DAMN it!"

Tenchi walked onto the scene, and looked upwards.  "There's a hole in
the roof," he groaned.



                         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 20: Toys and Big Boys
     Written by Sean Givan

The general noise and chaos of the audience during the first exciting
moments of a new Ultra show has already been described many, many
times.  And for good reason - because the great thundering noise of
thousands of hoarsely-cheering fans, and the sight of homemade signs
scattered so thickly among the audience as to obscure the sight of
the people themselves, is perhaps the most unignorable aspect of the
weekly fighting extravaganza.

But amidst the noise rang out one youthful and excited voice on a
microphone, cutting through the turmoil and at the same time being a
perfect example of what it was all about:

"THIS IS ULTRAAAAAA-AA!" Hiroshi yelled.  "HELLO, every-BODY!"

"We'd like to welcome everyone, as well as the audience watching at
home, to another weekly broadcast of Ultra." Daisuke professionally
stated.

"And guess what else, fans?  LET IT GO, NABIKI!"

At Hiroshi's command, a banner tucked hidden in the middle of the
Ultradome's roof unfurled itself, revealing the Ultra logo along with
a big 2-0 printed vertically under it.  Along with the banner,
thousands of streamers and balloons burst out from their holding
sacks, raining down upon the cheering audience.

"This week is EXTRA-special because it marks a milestone in the
history of Ultra - it's the big TWO-OH, the 20th episode of the
Magical Crossover Fighting Federation!"

"Well, actually," Daisuke broke in, "This should properly be
recognized as the 19th episode of Ultra, and not the 20th, since we
were forced to skip a week when the Ultra was mysteriously destroyed
about two months ago."

There was a long pause as Hiroshi stared at his partner, before he
threw up his hands, knocking aside the few balloons that had landed
on the commentator's table.  "Daisuke, PLEASE!  WORK with me here!"
Resuming his enthusiasm, he turned to face the audience.  "Anyway,
this is certainly not the only anniversary celebration Ultra will be
having in the near future.  We're planning something extra-special
come the end of the year, with our special TURN OF THE MILLENIUM
PPV!"

"Despite the fact that officially, the new millenium is not actually
to begin until the next year 2001, according to most reputable
historians-"

"Daisuke, Daisuke, Daisuke.." Hiroshi shook his head.  "Just read off
tonight's card."

"Sure, why not." Daisuke unfolded a piece of paper laid next to him
and studied the contents.

"Tonight, we unfortunately have no Omega matches to show this week.."

"We DON'T?" Hiroshi whined incredulously.  "But this is ULTRA *20*!"

"Well, Omega competitors and their battles wait for no man or
round-numbered episode, Hiroshi.  In the matches we do have, Johnny
Cage will be seeing action against Ryuji Yamazaki."

Hiroshi looked over Daisuke's shoulder.  "And it says here that
Wolverine's offering an *open challenge* on his Hardcore title in the
middle of the night!"

"But *before* that, Hiroshi - Ranma Saotome has been challenged by -"
Daisuke raised an eyebrow. "Kunou again?  Well, that's interesting."

"Well, I know who I'M placing my bets on during that match!  And
finally, in the Lambda division, we've got a BRAND NEW tag team
facing off against the Hungry Wolves, Mai Shiranui and Andy Bogard!"

Loud booing suddenly interrupted the two commentators, as the first
fighter of the evening strode out of the arena entrance and down the
ramp leading to the ring.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Touga smoothly announced, "Introducing first,
from Hollywood, California, the action hero, the Real Thing, JOHNNY
CAGE!"

Despite the obvious dislike of the audience, Johnny kept up his aura
of grinning smooth - polished black sunglasses, sparkling white teeth
- and a brown attache case carried in his right hand as he swaggered
his way to the ring.  He crawled in the ropes, raised his hands in
the air (which the audience responding to with a surge of yet more
catcalls) and set his briefcase down in the corner.

"What could be in that MYSTERIOUS briefcase, Daisuke?"

"Well, Hiroshi, since he'll be facing the gangster Ryuji Yamazaki,
who in his first match offered to throw the match to Shingo Yabuki
for the sum of ten thousand dollars, he might intend to bribe Ryuji
into giving him his first win in Ultra."

"WHAT?  What an underhanded, low way of breaking a losing streak!
Though it might be the only way Johnny COULD get a win in the highly
competitive Gamma division!"

"The 'highly competitive' Gamma division also features Dan Hibiki,
Hiroshi."

"That's RIGHT, Daisuke!" Hiroshi paused a moment. "Wait a second.
Didn't he leave for America last week in order to film a new action
movie?"

Daisuke nodded.  "The report is that he was able to complete the
filming for it, and its sequel, just yesterday, and flew back here
just hours before broadcast."

"WOW!  Maybe I don't know how the American movie industry works,
Daisuke, but if he managed to do the filming for two movies in six
days Johnny's movies must all be pieces of-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH, YOU TWO!" Johnny roared at them, leaning over the
ring ropes.

"-art." Hiroshi lamely finished.

"Love and Money" began playing over the speakers.  The boos came out
again, but less than what the audience had for Johnny - the Japanese
gangster, Ryuji Yamazaki, had after all only been making a heel of
himself for one match beforehand, while Johnny Cage had been making
himself the fighter everybody loved to hate all through Ultra's run.

The huge, black-clad gangster seemed to soak up every boo that came
his way though, giving every non-fan he could spot his own special
toothy smile.  Unlike Johnny however, rather than cockiness Ryuji's
smile seemed to transmit a sense of sociopathic warning; by the time
he got to the ring, the half of the audience that had been near his
entrance was rather muted compared to the boos of the other half.

GAMMA MATCH : JOHNNY CAGE VS RYUJI YAMAZAKI.  FIGHT!

"Ryuji giving Johnny a staredown in the ring.  We're waiting for the
bell and -- wait a second!" Hiroshi paused in his commentary.
"Johnny Cage is asking for a microphone!"

"Hey, hey, Ryuji!" Johnny schmoozed, oozing out his best Hollywood
charisma.  "Now, I gotta tell you one thing before this match starts
- I love you, babe!  You're amazing!  You're one of the most kickass
fighters I've ever seen, and I gotta say.. I respect you, man."

Ryuji's grin widened, and he nodded silently to Johnny's flattery.

"Now when I heard I was going to fight Ryuji Yamazaki tonight, I
thought 'Oh my god!  I'm going to fight Ryuji Yamazaki!  What am I
going to do?' And then, I remembered."  Johnny started tapping at his
temple to accentuate the point.  "If there's one thing you like
better than fighting, it's getting *paid* for not fighting, right?"

Ryuji nodded again, his grin now so wide and scary it was threatening
to tear at his mouth muscles.

Johnny walked over to the attache case and picked it up, holding it
up to Ryuji's view.  "Okay, now-"  A sudden, thunderous wave of
displeasure from the audience made Johnny stop.  "Okay, now let's
make a bargain that'll make us both happy.  I got ten thousand
American dollars here, fresh off a California mint - I give it to
you, and you give me a win.  Deal?"

Johnny set down the briefcase and the microphone at Ryuji's feet, and
backed quietly off.  Ryuji, in turn, snatched up both, and raised the
microphone to his mouth as he fingered the briefcase's handle.

"Okay, everybody listen up!" Ryuji roared, and got yet more booing
from an audience who definitely did *not* appreciate what was going
down here.  "Johnny boy here is a smart, smart man - and I gotta say,
he knows the right STRATEGY when it comes to facing a guy like me."

"Oh, yeah baby, yeah," Ryuji mumbled, "let's take a look at this.."
Ryuji clicked open the briefcase and peeked inside.  His grin
suddenly vanished.  "What the hell?"

"SUDDEN BLINDSIDE ATTACK FROM JOHNNY CAGE!!" Hiroshi screamed. "RIGHT
HAND! A LEFT! ANOTHER RIGHT! AND ANOTHER RIGHT! AND ANOTHER RIGHT!
AND ANOTHER.. gee, Johnny needs to work on his boxing combos."

"Ryuji has dropped the attache," Daisuke said, "and it appears to be,
only somewhat surprisingly, completely empty.  Obviously this offer
was a ruse for Johnny to get an initial advantage over Ryuji."

"But Johnny could EASILY have gotten a win from Ryuji by doing this
honestly!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

"I suppose that Johnny Cage would much rather that his first win be
given to him honestly, rather than by bribery -- or at least, as
honestly as this gambit of his allows.."

Johnny hammered blow after blow into the back of the huge man, trying
to slowly force him to his knees.  Around him, he revelled in the
noise of wild cheering from the fans - who had, thanks to the turn of
events - suddenly picked him as the match's fan favorite.

The feeling of being loved flowed through Johnny and gave him
strength; unfortunately, it also lowered his observation skills to
the point where he failed to notice that his repated blows weren't
really *doing* anything to the hulking Ryuji.

Ryuji stood up and turned to face Johnny, his smile returning and
containing an evil, sadistic glint.  Johnny's punches trailed off..
he gulped.  "Uh.. well, I could still, you know, go off and get you
some money, and maybe-"

"OH MY!" Hiroshi shouted.  "WHAT *HORRIBLE*, GUT-WRENCHING VIOLENCE!"

"Indeed," Daisuke stated calmly, despite paling a bit, "Ryuji
Yamazaki, proving that he is both able to absorb punishment, and dish
it out, in a very decisive and painful fashion.  I'm not feeling
comfortable about describing the action back to you viewers at home,
everybody.."

"And here is-a your winner!" Mario said, gingerly stepping over
Johnny's corpse and pushing up Ryuji's arm at the elbow.  "RYUJI
YAMAZAKI!"

The audience booed, disappointed in Johnny's loss for once.  Ryuji
once again took the mike, and brazenly addressed his detractors.

"Now I just hope that all you people in the Gamma division learn a
lesson from tonight's fight!  The next time I see one of you people
in the ring, I hope you know how to treat properly.." Ryuji paused.
"The TEN THOUSAND DOLLAR MAN.. Ryuji Yamazaki."

As he finished, brand new theme music started to pipe out over the
crowd...

o/~ Money money money money money..yyy..yyy o/~
o/~ "You know what little man?  YOU WILL BE BOUGHT! HA HA HA!" o/~

"Hey, is that Ted DiBiase's voice?" Hiroshi asked.

"We'll be right back after these messages." Daisuke said.

* * *

[Scene: An ordinary inner city street, likely Boston, with an old
stone house in the background.  In the foreground, we see
CONTROVERSIAL JACK.]

JACK: These condom companies, I don't trust them!  They're using
these condoms just to..

[Jack screams into the camera.]

JACK: BRING US DOWN!!!!

[The film jump-cuts to Jack standing back a bit.]

JACK: THEY! Say we gotta use them..

[Jack starts looking around frantically from side to side.]

JACK: BUT WHO! ARE.. THEY?!

[Another jump-cut.  Sheesh.]

JACK: If you think I'm gonna let THEM control ME with their condoms,
they've got another THINK coming, buddy!  They're all a bunch of
SECRET COMMUNISTS trying to reduce our American RE-POPULATION RATE, 
and turn us into CLOSED-MINDED PURITANS UNABLE TO ENJOY LIFE!

NEARBY GEN-X KID: Hey, you're right!  I never thought of it that way!

JACK: YEAH!!  These condom companies are DESTROYING the freedom of
this country!  Are we just going to stand back and do NOTHING about
it?!

GATHERING CROWD: NO!!!

[Jack and everyone else rush off screen to the right.  A few seconds
later, Morrigan walks on camera, dressed in trendy street clothes and
carrying a condom.  She looks around, confused.]

MORRIGAN: Um.. hello?  Jack, where'd you go?

[Cut to placard.]

NARRATOR: Trojan Condoms.  Get s-ARGAAAAKK!!

[Noises of a large crowd, and Narrator getting lynched.]

* * *

Controversial Jack's hands eagerly opened the envelope as he sat in
the comfort of the Sex and Violence stable lounge (which also doubled
as the VIP complimentary suites, though they didn't get used that
often anyway and Jack always considered himself to be Very
Important.)  "All right!  My commercial kickbacks came in.. Woo Hoo!
A cool ten thousand!  Oh, what's this, a letter.. hmm.. bla bla bla
legal obligated minimum bla bla bla airtight contract bla bla damn
your lawyers bla bla never work with you again.  Huh."  Jack leaned
over his shoulder and shouted in the direction of the bathroom.
"Hey, JOHNNY!  How would you like ten thousand dollars?"

"Shut UP, Jack!" growled Johnny's voice over the sound of running
water.

"Well it's all your fault anyway!  I give you a perfect plan for
getting your first win, and what do you do?  Get all prideful!  I
*told* you, wait until he officially conceded and then run like heck,
but NOOOO-OO.."

"Well, what was I *supposed* to do when he opened the briefcase to
check?" Johnny whined.

"So when you do attack, you get all excited and the only tactic you
can think of is to thump him on the back!  Pitiful.  Hmm.. pitiful..
that reminds me!  Mr. Duck needs to get his yearly rabies shots.."

Sofia raised an eyebrow.  "Giving Mr. Duck his shots is pitiful?"

"WHAT? HOW DARE YOU, YOU WHIP-WIELDING WENCH!  Hmm.. whip wielding
wenches.. oh, right!  Ranma and Kunou are fighting next!  I've got to
prepare!"

Jack seized a long, slim black box sitting by his side and dashed out
of the room.

* * *

Tatewaki Kunou was.. WALKING.  He marched slow, and with purpose,
flanked by his master, Haohmaru, who swaggered boldly, stopping every
so often to drink from the huge flask of sake by his side, spitting
on the floor, taking his scabbarded blade and holding it up high with
the occasional bellow of certain triumph..

"Do you *mind*, master?" Kunou said.

"OH HO! DOES THE STUDENT (WHO REALLY SHOULD NOT BE SO IRRITABLE AND
UNGRATEFUL CONSIDERING THAT THE LEGENDARY HAOHMARU TAKES TIME FROM
HIS BUSY SCHEDULE (WHICH, IN TRUTH DOES NOT CURRENTLY APPEAR SO BUSY
DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE LEGENDARY HAOHMARU *IS* TAKING TIME) IN
ORDER TO TEACH THE LOWLY (AND UNGRATEFUL (AND IRRITABLE)) STUDENT HIS
MASTERFUL SKILLS (SKILLS WHICH WERE NEVER SO MUCH 'TAUGHT' TO THE
LEGENDARY HAOHMARU SO MUCH AS WRESTED FROM THE BATTLEGROUND OF LIFE
RIGHT FROM HIS FIRST VICTORY AT THE AGE OF TWELVE AND THROUGH TO THE
MANY, UNCOUNTABLE OTHER VICTORIES OF HIS LEGENDARY CAREER, SO YOU'RE
GETTING IT EASY KID)) HAVE A PROBLEM?"

"AGH!" Kunou screamed, clutching at his head.  "Master, your
incessant babbling doth immerse my poor head in a sea of confusion,
when I should be focusing on one goal - the defeat of that accursed
Ranma Saotome, who has shamed me and pulled me along in his mocking
deceit for so long!"

"VERY GOOD!"

"What is very good, master Haohmaru?"

"YOUR SPEECH-MAKING COULD WELL BECOME IN THE SAME RANGE AS MY OWN
LEGENDARY BOASTS (WHICH, OF COURSE, ALWAYS MATCH MY LEGENDARY
ACHEIVMENTS).."

"Stop! Stop it!" yelled Kunou, clutching at his ears.

"Kunou! Master Kunou!" A small voice called out somewhere at Kunou's
waist level.

The upperclassman kendo master looked down and spotted a small
figure, wrapped from head to toe in dark cloth.  "Why, Sasuke, my
faithful servant of undying loyalty!  What brings you here?"

"I've searched high and low, master Kunou," breathed the figure,
pulling his hood tightly over his head in order to mash down the
spiky lumps protruding up top, "and I've found a truly magnificent
weapon, that will surely spell the end of Ranma Saotome in your
masterful hands!"

"Magnificent weapon, eh, my faithful servant.." pondered Kunou.  "Let
me see this weapon.."

The figure took out a long, slim black box, which he opened, and held
up to Kunou's face.

His eyes lit up. "Yes.. Yes!  This bodes *very* well."

* * *

Ranma bounced up and down on his toes, smacking his fists together
impatiently.  Why'd that idiot Kunou challenge him again?  It was
getting pretty tiresome - well, it was *always* pretty tiresome, but
at least doing it as an Ultra match was interesting the first few
times.  At least he could get an easy win; soon as he was done here,
he could think about making a bid for the Gamma championship next
week.

The music of 'Pomp and Circumstance' began to play as Tatewaki Kunou,
the Blue Thunder, and upperclassman of Furinkan High, stepped out
into the arena lights.  His bokken, surprisingly was not in his
hands; he strode unarmed and solemn to the ring, followed by a far
more casual Haohmaru.

"Hey, hey!" Ranma said.  "What's the deal, Kunou?  Why'd you dig up
the 400-year old fossil!"

"HO HO!" Haohmaru drew his sword and pointed it at the youthful
martial artist.  "YOUR BOASTS SOUND LIKE YOU MIGHT PROVE TO BE A
CHALLENGE TO THE LEGENDARY HOAHMARU, EVEN IF SAID BOASTS ARE NOT
HARDLY AS ENTERTAINING AND VOLMINOUS AS MY OWN!  HOWEVER, WE SHALL
FIGHT ANOTHER DAY.  TONIGHT, YOU WILL BE FACING ONE MY STUDENTS -
INTRODUCING, THE LEGENDARY-BY-ASSOCIATION "BLUE THUNDER", TATEWAKI
KUNOU!"

"How *dare* you insult my master with your base words, ruffian!"
Kunou fumed.  "And yet, it is only a small offense compared to the
shame you have forced upon me with your long-practiced lies and
deception!"

"What? What lies?" Ranma asked.

"Don't play such games anymore, foul sorcerer!  I now know the truth
- that you, and the wondorous, lovely, playful pig-tailed girl.."
Kunou's eyes started to glaze over before he caught himself. "who I
once loved but now can *never* love ever again, are THE SAME PERSON!"

Ranma leapt to a ringpost nearby the pair, produced a balloon, and
squeezed it hard enough to pop it, sending a shower of confetti,
streamers, and one 'CONGRATULATIONS!' banner over Kunou and Haohmaru.

"You FINALLY got it!" Ranma cheered.  "Man, I was beginning to think
you'd be chasing after me for the rest of my life!  Hey, I can't
thank you ENOUGH, Kunou!"

"What.." Kunou began, then turned a suspicious eye over the audience.
"Am I to believe that your sorcery and illusions were not
intentional?"

The audience burst into quiet murmurings among itself.

"He didn't know?"
"No, I don't think so.."
"No way!  Ranma's turned into a girl in plain sight of him!"
"He must *really* be stupid, or at least fogged in the head.."
"HA! MY LEGENDARY PERCEPTION HAD *ALWAYS* REALIZED THAT-"

"ARGH!" Kunou yelled.  "Sa..o..to..ME, prepare to DIE!"

GAMMA MATCH : RANMA SAOTOME VS. TATEWAKI KUNOU.  FIGHT!

"Oh, and *what* are you going to use to fight me with, Kunou?" Ranma
taunted.  "You hard head?"

Kunou smiled.  "I have acquired - at long last - the necessary skills
and tools to defeat you once and for all.  BEHOLD!"

The young man whipped out a small metallic cylinder, not much larger
than his own fist, and held it in front of him like his bokken.

Ranma shrugged his shoulders.  "So what is it, huh?"

The cylinder emitted a low hum, and a glowing beam of red plasma
energy sprouted from its hilt, creating a deadly sword made out of
light energy.

"Uh.." Ranma said.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Hiroshi yelled, "Kunou somehow managed to get
his hands on a LIGHTSABER!"

"Now just-a minute!" Mario said, bouncing in between the pair.  "You
can't-a use that weapon, it's-a.."

In a flash, Controversial Jack was in the ring, with an arm around
the referee and motioning to the weapon with his free hand.  "Aw come
on, Mario, loosen up a bit!  Look at that weapon!  I *dare* you to
find a sharpened edge *anywhere* on that thing!"

"But.. but.." Mario objected, but was dragged away by Jack, shaking
his head.  "Let's just let the two of them fight it out without
bothering them with silly regulations, okay?"

"Jack!" Ranma shouted. "*You've* gotta be the one behind th-YOWITCH!"
Ranma ducked and scooted away as humming death slashed at the area he
was occupying a moment ago.  

Kunou continued to chase Ranma in circles round the ring, waving the
lightsabre around like a madman as Ranma carefully leapt, ducked, and
side-dodged the continual attacks.

"Okay.. okay.." Ranma said.  "Just because he's carrying something
that's instant death doesn't mean it's *really* anymore than the
bokken he usually carries around.."

"SENPURETSUZAN!"  Kunou cried, swinging the sabre low to the ground
and sending out a whirling tornado of air on a direct course for
Ranma's retreating form.

"Of course I could be wr-OOONG.." Ranma was caught by the funnel of
air, and soared twenty feet up before landing hard on his back in the
corner.  He kicked himself up to his feet and found himself blocked
on two sides by ring ropes, with Kunou in front, sabre ready.

"Now, foul Saotome, you shall meet - your END!"  Kunou swung in a
wild, full circle - and Ranma jumped.  Kunou cursed and looked up at
the retreating form; then felt a sudden shift in the canvas below
him.

He looked down and realized his full swing had managed to shear off
the entire corner of the ring -- from behind himself.  With a
strangled awk, Kunou disappeared amidst a pile of collapsing post,
ropes, canvas and wood as the corner fell apart into a heap.

Bursting out of the pile, Kunou started digging around frantically.
"I've lost it!  Where is my magnificent weapon?"  He paused, and
looked up, where Ranma was now descending from on high overhead.

"TENSHIN AMIGURIKEN!" An irate Ranma shouted, his fists blurring.

Twenty blows later, Kunou slumped unconscious back into the pile of
rubble.

"Tut tut tut.." Controversial Jack said.  "I swear, every good idea I
come up with just has to get ruined by the idiots I give the idea to.
If that isn't a metaphor for the fall of socialism I don't know
what-- GACK! URK! COUGH!"

"All right, Jack, fess it up!" An angered martial artist said, his
hands wrapped tightly around Jack's throat.

"Fess- GURG - what up?" Jack croaked, his eyes shifting left and
right as he looked for potential avenues of escape.

"Why have you got it in for me?  You bugged me all last week and now
you went and gave Kunou that stupid flashlight!"

"A-heh-heh- UK- Sore wa - himitsu des.."

Ranma increased the pressure.  "WHY, JACK?!"

Despite having near zero air supply, Jack managed to deepen his
voice.  "Ranma.. *I* am your father." he intoned.

"Don't play games with me, man.."

By know, Jack's face was turning purple. "Okay.." he croaked.  "I'll
tell you.  Here, lean in a bit.."

Ranma leaned in close.

"The.. reason is.."

WHAM.  Ranma suddenly found his view of Jack's face obscured by a big
purple ball.

"Skinny man take THAT!" Shampoo fumed.  "Teach skinny man to try and
bug Ranma!"

"Uh..Shampoo.." Ranma said, releasing his grip on Jack, whose eyes
had turned into little swirls and who was definitely in no shape to
tell Ranma anything.

"Airen is lucky to have Team Nerima on Airen's side!" Shampoo beamed,
then started tugging on her bonbori.  "Umph - bonbori stuck - umph -
skinny man's hair no let go of Shampoo's--"

"Must be impaled on the freak's spikes." Ranma said.

The crowd popped on sight of James, from Team Rocket, running out to
retrieve his fallen boss.  "Hey!" he shouted from the ring entrance.
"You get away from him, or I'll- EEK!"  A hail of scissors, chains,
daggers, and assorted household items started clattering around his
feet, and James dodged left, diving headfirst into the audience,
which proceeded to spend the next five minutes joyfully body-surfing
him into the nosebleed seats.

"Ranma! Teammate Ranma!" Mousse shouted, continuing to scatter sharp
objects indiscriminately up and down the ramp.  "I'll rescue you for
the sake of Team Nerima!  Take this, Morrigan!"  Mousse then wound up
and hurled a bowling ball at the commentator's table, which broke in
half as Hiroshi and Daisuke bailed.

"I thought we got Mousse some contact lenses." Ranma said.

Shampoo shrugged.  "Mousse have trouble finding them this morning."

"That kinda figures." Ranma replied, slumping.

"Well.." Hiroshi said, daring to make his way back to the table to
pick up his mic, "We'll be ready to go once again once This Old Dojo
fixes the ring and the table and cleans up the mess Mousse is leaving
around the arena.  Don't go away!"

* * *

In the Spirit of Shotokan dojo, the daily routine was doing its best
to continue.  Everyone there missed Sakura's presence - the teenaged
girl added a spark of life to an otherwise dreary bunch of sober
Shotokan fighters - but there was still opportunity to learn and
practice, and so that's just what all the members did, if only to
keep their bodies occupied while they thought about what to do next.

"All right," Ryu said, leading Dan to a mat where two Shotokan
members were about to face off.  "Take a look at these two, and I'll
try to analyze their best points when they finish."

"All right, Kairi!" Allen Snider boasted.  "Let's see if you can last
longer than thirty seconds this time."

"I've ground you into the dirt more times than you can count, and you
*know* it!" growled back the scarred and dark-tempered young man.

"Now, first.." Ryu said, "I don't like to taunt myself, but if you're
going to, notice that these two just kept it short and then got right
into the fighting.."

"But.. but.." Dan objected, worried.  "Saikyo style is BUILT around
taunting!  Taunts are the essence, the core, the raison d'existence
of.."

"That's.. certainly true," Ryu admitted, "but remember, you're hear
to learn Shotokan style.  Ah! Look, Kairi's gotten Allen dazed, and
he's about to use his one of his special techniques!"

Kairi reared back his head and screamed unwordable rage towards the
heavens.  He then lurched forward and dashed, full-tilt towards the
rocking Allen, and opened up a series of brutal, rapid-fire punches
and kicks which bounced Allen around in place like a puppet held by
an epileptic.  His battle cry building in intensity, Kairi reached
back his arm and plunged it deep into Allen's chest cavity in one
powerful thrust, and pulled it out, leaving a deep gaping hole.
Kairi grunted in satisfaction as Allens slumped to the ground.

"..." Ryu said.
Dan pointed.  "So, am I going to get to learn-"
"No." Ryu interrupted, then sighed.  "Okay, Kairi, why don't you take
Allen to the infirmary, please?"  He turned back to Dan.  "Let's see
if we can find some other fighters-"

"Ya-hooooo!" Lina Inverse called out as she entered the dojo, waving
in a friendly way to all the training men.  Most ignored her, but a
few waved, including Ryu.  He, as well as the other main active
members of the Spirit of Shotokan, gathered together to speak with
Lina.

"Ms.Inverse," Ryu politely said.

"Oh, call me Lina, Lina, Lina!" Lina spouted.

"Thank you for visiting.  We know you've been a big help to Sakura in
the past."

Lina's cheer faded.  Maybe that's what Ryu thought, but the truth was
that Lina mostly used Sakura as a tool when she was with her, back
when she was trying to get Naga away from the Orochi's influence.
Sure it helped Sakura a little, taking away from the Orochi's power,
but..

"Well!" Lina said, forcing her happy face back to the front.  "I just
came to say that I'm not afraid of the Orochi.  If you boys need any
help facing down God-boy, you can just call on me or anybody else in
Unlimited Desire!"

Lina looked around behind her. "Hey, where's Schneider?  I thought he
was right behind me." She turned to the door. "Schneider? Dark
Schneiiii-derrrr!  Get in here!"

"I am *not* entering that place." A voice came from just outside the
dojo entrance.  "It stinks of sweat in there!"

"Oh, what a *baby*.."

"A what?! I'm not letting a sixteen-year old kid get away with
calling *me*, Dark Schneider, a baby!"

"Oh, well why don't you come in then?" Lina teased, as Ryu, Ken, and
Dan all started to sprout small sweatdrops.  "Baby, baby, baby--"

Lina was interrupted as a huge column of purple flame suddenly
appeared in the direct center of the dojo.  The room erupted into
panic and action, and fighters everywhere dropped their training and
gathered around in a loose circle around the burning pillar, waiting
tensely for something to happen.

Lina slowly and carefully took a few steps inside the circle, her
brow knitted in consternation.  "Hey, hey, Orochi." she ventured.
"So what brings the God of Hate to a nice place like this?"

Inside the pillar, a dark, obscured figure spoke.  "I shall keep my
message simple and clear.  Lina Inverse, if you continue to take
interest in my plans then the Orochi shall have no choice but to take
interest in you.  I challenge you to an Omega match later tonight!"

"What.. tonight?" Lina said, a little shocked.

"If you do not wish to fight later, perhaps we can settle our
complaints with each other right now in this dojo.."  The flames
flared briefly and menacingly, and the fighters circling around the
Orochi tensed and took a step forward.

"Whoa, whoa!" Lina said, throwing up a hand.  "Okay, Orochi, you got
it!"  Lina narrowed her eyes.  "And don't you think you're going to
get it easy, either."

The figure in the flames merely laughed and vanished, leaving nothing
but a few wisps of violet smoke behind.

Ryu quietly walked up behind Lina and squeezed her shoulder, who
jumped a bit, startled.  "Are you sure this is all right, Lina?
There's not much time to prepare for this fight."

Lina turned and smirked.  "Don't underestimate the greatest sorceress
in the world!  You guys.." she raised up a fist.  "This is actually a
good thing!  I'm going to take this fight as an opportunity - I
promise you, by tonight, I'm going to get Sakura back!"

Ken raised an eyebrow. "You're promising that, eh?  How?"

Lina chuckled. "Heh.  I'll figure out exactly how in a sec.  Gotta
go! See you later!"  Lina waved goodbye, and skipped out of the dojo.

Dark Schneider was waiting just outside, and they walked down the
hallway together a ways.

"Orochi puts on quite a show." The buff sorcerer mused.  "You should
have had the fight right then.  I could've ran in and we could have
kicked his posing ass together-"

"Schneider!" Lina chided.  "You think I'd fight a God with all those
bystanders around?  They're good fighters, all of them, but they're
not that powerful.  It's too dangerous, and it would sort of ruin the
point of us coming here in the first place to ask to help!"

Dark Schneider shrugged.  "Fine.  I don't care much.  But you think
you can handle Orochi all by yourself?"

Lina snorted. "'Course I can."

Schneider smirked.  "Then maybe I'll make a wager on you with Nabiki.
See you on TV tonight."  He briefly waved, and walked off.

Lina walked along the hallway alone.  Her bravado, having served her
well in the company of others, now evaporated, leaving her in doubt.
The last time she faced down Orochi, she had Dark Schneider by her
side.  The other times she faced him, she didn't really do so hot.
There was always this one logistic problem with her fighting the God
of Hate..

"I think that was very brave of you to do, Lina."

Lina spun, and spotted God, her hands folded in front of her, and
smiling approvingly.

"Kasumi?" The sorceress said in surprise, and then looked a little
embarassed.  "Well, yeah, but I had to -- " - she scratched behind
her head - " -- I kinda feel a little responsible for what happened
to Sakura, y'see."

Kasumi shook her head.  "No, you don't have to feel responsible.  But
it's good that you're going to try anyway."

"Yeah." Lina said, and frowned.

Kasumi naturally sensed Lina's unease; she would have done so even if
she weren't God, having been the Tendo Dojo's peacemaker for so long.
"Lina.  Would you like some advice for your upcoming fight?"

"Advice?" Lina perked up.  Advice from God?  "Oh, boy!  Yeah!"

"Two things you should know." Kasumi held up a finger.  "One.  Always
remember that there's always one more way to get something done."

Lina nodded slowly.  "Okay.. a little vague, but that's all right.
And number two?"

"Remember that I'm the person who told you number one."  Kasumi
beamed happily, bowed slightly, and disappeared.

Lina stared at her absence for a while.  

"Oh, that helped a *lot*." she said sarcastically.

* * *

"Say HOOO-OH!" cried Hiroshi.

"HOOO-OH!" yelled back the audience.

"Say HO! HO!" 

"HO! HO!"

"Say JIGGLE-BIGGLE-WIGGY-WOP!"

Silence.

"Oh well, I tried.  Next up is a LAMBDA DEBUT MATCH!  Let's hear it
from Touga!"

Touga raised his microphone.  "Introducing first.. from Tokyo, Japan,
the team of the Hungry Wolves.. ANDY BOGARD and MAI SHIRANUI!"

The crowd cheered as the two rather underplayed fighters made their
way to the ringside.  Mai spritefully waved to the fans and blew
kisses, and even Andy appeared in a light mood, smiling from time to
time at some of the fans next to the ring rails to cheered extra-loud
in his direction.

"Andy smiling?" Daisuke noted.  "This is rare.  Hiroshi, do you know
why the two might be in such a good mood?"

"You bet, Daisuke!  Our new Lambda tag team is in fact a pair of very
good friends of the two, and they've often met each other in the
annual King of Fighters tournaments!"

* * *

"I'm scared, Sie." whispered Athena, as she buried her face in Sie's
shoulder.  The two of them stood just outside the strips of cloth
that hid them from the outside arena.  "I'm so, so scared.."

"Athena.." Sie whispered back, and hugged her close.  As he held the
whimpering girl, he secretly gritted his teeth in anger at the
hovering figure, shrouded in shadow just behind them.  "I swear,
Bison, I'll get you for this.  I won't forgive you for what you did
to Ifurita, I won't forgive you for what you're going to do to us
now.."

"Stop, Sie." Athena's breathy voice floated out, muffled by Sie's
jacket.  "Don't make the bad man angry.  Please don't."

Sie's brow darkened. "..and I'll never forgive you for what you've
done to Athena."

* * *

"And introducing," Touga announced, "in their debut match, the team
of Sie Kensou and Athena Asayamiya.. THE PSYCHO SOLDIERS!!"

The crowd erupted into an excited pop.  Everybody knew this duo, the
pair who had started up as teens fighting crime with psychic powers
and then grown into other roles - pop stars, and martial artists.
Whistles and screams came from the audience as a surprisingly sober
Sie and a rather fright-struck Athena came into view..

..a crowd response which suddenly choked on its own voices when
M.Bison floated out behind them.  The criminal dictator's eyes seemed
almost gleeful, as if saying, "Yes. You *are* surprised to see me
here, aren't you?"  The trio filed their way to the ring, Athena
practically clinging to Sie's jacket sleeve and being tugged along,
cowed as she was by being surrounded by thousands of confused and
slowly disillusioned people.

"SIE!" Andy shouted, his hot temper flaring livid as he slammed his
hands on the ropes and leaned out towards Sie on the opposite side of
the ring.  "What's the meaning of this!  What the hell are you doing
hanging out with HIM?!"

"It's not-" Sie began, but his voice was drowned out by a wave of
boos washing over the three of them.  Athena hid her face once again,
and Sie growled.  "You fickle bunch!  What's the matter with you
all?!"

It was the wrong thing to say, and the boos continued to grow in size
and number.  "It's not our FAULT!" Sie helplessly exclaimed.

LAMBDA MATCH : HUNGRY WOLVES VS PSYCHO SOLDIERS.  FIGHT!

"Andy, something's not right about this.." Mai said.

Andy snorted in response.  "Oh, and what was your first clue?"

"No!  Andy, this doesn't make sense and you *know* it!  Why would Sie
and Athena pull a turncoat like this?  Why?"

Andy flipped over the ropes.  "Who cares, Mai!  The fact is they DID,
and that's all that really matters!  And whether they did or didn't,
it's still a tag team match, anyway."

Sie sighed, and turned to Athena.  "Don't worry.  This won't take
long."  He detached himself from her grasp, and Athena chose to hug
the ring post instead.  Entering the ring, he and Andy slowly circled
each other from afar.

The two matched dark glances as they paced - it was hardly the
friendly reunion any of them had been hoping for just a few minutes
ago.

"SILVER BULLET!" Sie shouted, crouching and hurling a brilliant blue
sphere of Psycho Power energy towards Andy.

"HISHO-KEN!" Andy countered by thrusting his palm, pushing a V-shaped
wave of white chi.

The two projectiles clashed and dissapated in mid-ring, and were
followed by more shots which did the same.

"I see.  The two have opened this match with a projectile war.."
Daisuke sighed, somewhat let down.

"SMELL THAT OZONE AND WATCH THE FIREWORKS, IT'S JUST LIKE MARDI
GRAS!" Hiroshi enthused.

"..." Daisuke responded.

Sie leapt up high - his martial training easily letting him clear a
dozen feet or so - and dived down, fist extended and aimed for Andy's
noggin.  Andy judged the incoming boy and responded with an aerial
counter, his arms pinwheeling as he jumped up and swatted Sie out of
the air to the ground.

Sie started getting up as Andy towered over him.  "I'm going to kick
your traitorous ass from here to kingdom come, Sie." he pronounced.

Sie frowned.  "You think being in the 'right' here is going to make
you stronger?" he returned.

Andy opened his mouth to speak, but-

"PSYCHO BALLL!!" A sudden ball of red Psycho energy slammed into him
from the side, knocking him down to the ground.

"ATHENA!" Sie shouted as he stood, trying to ignore the fresh wave of
booing flooding his ears.  "That's against the rules!"

"But the mean man was trying to hurt you, Sie!" Athena pleaded. "I
couldn't let him!"

"But that was ANDY!" Feelings of despair started to wash over Sie,
and his body slumped, seemingly drained.  "Don't you recognize him..
Oh, Athena.."

"Athena!" The two Psycho Soldiers turned to see Mai, standing in a
fighting pose, fans out, having replaced Andy in the ring.  "Sie.
Tag out - I want to talk to her for a while."

Sie seemed relieved.  "Thank you, Mai.."

"Don't thank me yet."

A tag and a gentle push from Sie sent the scared, purple-haired girl
into the ring.  "Um.. n-nice lady, I've got to try and fight you
while we talk, if that's- if that's okay with you.."

Mai blinked.  "'Nice lady?'  Athena, it's me.. Mai."

Athena jumped and soared high into the sky - even with the strange
things done to her mind, her skills had hardly diminished.  "I'm so
sorr-yyy!" she cried out.

"Athena, come on!"  Mai craned her neck to look up at the girl poised
in the middle of her leap.  "You're safe here!  You've got friends,
you've got me and Andy, if you're in trouble - please TELL ME!"

"PHOENIX ARROW!!" Athena tucked herself into a small package, which
spun down like a cannonball on a collision course with Mai.

Mai defiantly spread her arms wide, ignoring defense.  "Athena!
What's WRONG?"

Sie thrust an arm out in panic.  "Mai!  Watch out!  Put up some
defense, at least!"

"Athena, STOP!" Mai cried out.

The tucked ball crashed directly into Mai's torso, sending her flying
back and tumbling along the mat.  As Athena rolled to a stop and set
herself upright again, Mai's trajectory halted with a jarring smash
into one of the corner posts; she slumped, dazed and woozy. 

"Now is the time." Bison said, noting Andy reaching out desperately
for a tag to his semi-aware partner.  "You two shall use the
technique I have taught you."

"What?" Sie spun.  "But that's too much!  Mai took the Phoenix Arrow
full-on, she's already--"

"You WILL do it."

Sie growled, and held out his arm.  "Athena! Take my hand."

Andy shook at Mai's shoulders.  "Mai, how could you be so stupid?
Wake up and tag me!  Wake up!"

Sie entered the ring, and took both hands of Athena's.  The two lined
themselves up side by side, and crouched.  Their auras flared, red
and blue mixing into a uniform purple, and grew in size and crackling
activity..

"TAG ME, MAI!"

Sie and Athena leapt forward and soared, shouting in perfect unison.

"*PSYCHO CRUSHER*!"

The two were masked in a shell of raw Psycho energy, and flew like a
ten-foot glowing bullet towards the slumped Mai - and Andy, who was
hardly protected by the ropes from an attack such as THAT.  Andy
threw up his hands to block -

-and was overwhelmed.  Mai and Andy were blown like leaves in stiff
wind by the force of the twin Psycho Crusher, smashing bodily against
the force field erected for occasions where energy might spill over
onto the audience; and remained pressed there for several seconds, as
the Psycho Crusher continued to push until its energy was totally
spent.  Finally, the attack evaporated, and all four fighters fell to
the ground; Sie and Athena shaking with exhaustion and clutching each
other for support; Mai and Andy prone, unconscious to the point of
coma, and heavily bruised from head to toe.

"And THAT is a sure win for the Psycho Soldiers!" Hiroshi said.
"We've got to get some stretchers out here for the Hungry Wolves,
because they look in a BAD way!"

Bison took the ring, alone, as his tag team staggered down the ramp.
The arena practically shook with the noise of the audience's dislike
for the dictator, and for his newly acquired and turncoat tag-team.

Bison shunned the use of a microphone as he spoke, casting out his
voice proudly like a master thespian.

"You have seen the debut of my wonderful new team." he boomed, and
paused a moment to savor the boos.  "My presence grows in this
federation with every passing week.. I think that I am beginning to
*enjoy* coming here, and participating in the festivities."

"I would like to thank Sie Kensou, as well, for having given me back
my favourite Ultra pawn, Ifurita, as well."  The crowd started to
hush, shocked by this casually-stated revelation.  "Washuu, though it
might not always seem it, I do enjoy playing this game with you.  I
offer to you another round; if you are willing *right this moment*, I
challenge you to face my Ifurita and attempt whatever you would like
to attempt.  I am sure to foil you once again."

Bison floated out of the ring, the public arena, and began to
traverse the back hallways of the Ultradome.  Behind him, the crowd
boiled in confusion; but he was already looking forward to his next
activities.

"Kasumi!" he called out to the air.  "I know that you are listening
to me.  Take me and Ifurita to a suitable Omega battlefield right
away; I *know* that Washuu will accept this challenge."

There was a brief divine fanfare, and Kasumi appeared, standing on
the ground in front of the hovering dictator.

"I understand what's about to occur.." Kasumi said, a saddened
expression on her face.  "I really wish you wouldn't have to torture
Washuu so much."

"But nonetheless, you will allow me my actions." Bison responded.
"It is the promise that you've made yourself."

* * *

"GO, GO, GO!" Washuu furiously shouted, yelling at Gally through
Ryo-oh-ki's external speakers.  "Get in here right now or I'm leaving
you behind!"

"But he only challenged *you* anyway!" Gally shouted back, dashing
across the grass field outside the Masaki household where the huge
Ryo-oh-ki, in its spaceship form, floated a few feet above ground.

"Oh, that's right.  This must mean my stress levels are beginning to
impair my common sense.  That might not be a good thing.  NOW HURRY
UP!"

Gally jumped at Ryo-oh-ki's outside hull, and was helpfully
teleported into the inner chambers.  Above the spaceship, a large
interdimensional portal opened - Kasumi's ticket to their
recently-announced Omega battle.

* * *

"THIS IS SO EXCITING!  And to think I was disappointed that there
wouldn't be any Omega matches in the big TWO-OH broadcast of ULTRA!
According to this missive I've just received, Washuu will be facing
off against Ifurita in the northern continent of the planet of
Filgaia, a pastoral but somewhat environmentally-troubled little
world!"

"And that's not all." Daisuke added to Hiroshi's gushing.  "According
to this missive that *I* have just received, there will be a *second*
Omega match coming later this evening, featuring Lina Inverse against
the God of Hate, Orochi."

"YAHOO!  What a show!  Look, Daisuke, the Videotron's turning on!"

* * *

Filgaia's northern continent was a flat plane, covered mainly with
short grass, somewhat yellowing, mixed with patches of dust and
desert sands.  Occasional copses of trees dotted the landscape,
implying a land that was once lush and green, but was now slowly
drying out of its life energies and turning into a lifeless husk.

This pretty much passed over Bison and Ifurita's heads; Bison hardly
ever cared much for ecological matters, and Ifurita was programmed
not to care, period.  Still, Bison scanned the land as he hovered,
high in the air, holding binoculars to his eyes and panning around.

"Aha.." Bison grinned as he spotted something, far in the distance to
the southeast.  "Very interesting.  Either our dear young goddess has
made a mistake.. or she's playing a far more complex game than any of
us can guess at."  He put the binoculars away, and turned to face
Ryo-oh-ki, the crystalline-shaped ship descending from the portal
carrying it, casting a shadow over the parched land.

"All right, Bison, " Washuu's voice echoed out from Ryo-oh-ki's body,
"I'm here to play whatever game you want to play, one more time.  So
let's get it on!"

Bison grinned in response.  The scientist sounded angry - Sie's work
must have upset her a great deal this morning.  That was good - it
would make his plan much more satisfying.

"Washuu.." Gally said, a note of troubled concern in her voice,
"You've got to be careful.  Bison is a very canny person - he's got
to have an angle to this, or else he wouldn't have plain walked out
and challenged you like this!"

"Hah!" Washuu said.  "This guy's nothing more than a squalling baby
compared to me.  I'd like to see this masterful plan!"

"But, Washuu, the last time you faced Ifurita head-to-head you-"

"SHUSH!"

Gally shushed.

Outside the ship, Bison grew bored with watching Ryo-oh-ki float and
nodded to Ifurita.  "Let's go.  Southeast!"

The two of them turned and flew off in unison, retreating from the
spaceship.

"Hey!" Washuu said.  "I thought you came here to fight, you little
coward!  Ryo-oh-ki, blast them!"

"SHOUUU!!" The cabbit-ship fired off a blazing beam of heat, which
was easily countered by a simple force field from Ifurita, protected
both her and her master.

Washuu growled.  "Okay, after them!"

* * *

"And it looks like we're starting off this fight with a merry chase
over dusty hill and dale!" Hiroshi said, then turned to Daisuke.
"Hey, any new notes?  Which way are they going?"

"I've just been handed an atlas of the planet in question.." Daisuke
said, flipping through a map-filled book.  "..and Bison and Ifurita
are heading towards a.."  He paused.  "Uh oh."

"What?  What's the 'uh oh', Dai?"

Daisuke blinked, unsure of the truth of what he was reading.  "Well,
they're heading towards the city of Adlehyde, which is the main
capital of Filgaia's northern continent."

Hiroshi's face drifted from excited to serious.  "Wait a second.
We're not supposed to have populated areas in our Omega
battlegrounds."

The two of them stared at each other, then turned their heads to the
screen.

* * *

"Stop running!" Washuu shouted.  "You think you can run forever?"

"Well," Gally said, leaning against Washuu's command chair with her
arms folded, "Ifurita *is* a self-perpetually-powered android, so-"

"Oh, never mind." Washuu snapped.

Gally couldn't believe that the scientist was actually getting
*crabby*.  She could understand her being upset like she was that
morning, shaking her head and muttering as she tried to clean up the
mess that her laboratory was left in after Ifurita's escape - but she
hadn't showed any signs of coming around to her old self throughout
the day, and is was starting to become a bad thing.

"There!" Washuu triumphantly pointed to a holographic scanner image.
"They stopped just over this hill!  Bison, you're going to see just
what a mistake you made crossing my.."

Ryo-oh-ki cleared the hill, giving the two Cybergirlz a clear view of
the grand, medieval city laid out before them.  High overhead, Bison
floated, grinning maniacally as Ifurita stood, a huge glowing ball of
yellow energy, like a small sun, held at the end of her power staff.

"..path?"

Bison chuckled, both at his imagined confusion of Washuu inside the
spaceship, and the audible panic and turmoil of the capital's
peaceful inhabitants a half-mile below them.

The two stood motionless and silent, a Mexican standoff in progress.

"So.." Bison finally said.  "Washuu, your vaunted scientific
cleverness is in the end no match for the mind of a born and destined
leader.  I intend to show you that you *cannot* claim Ifurita as your
own, with a simple choice; you may continue to try and detain me and
my plaything - or you may go, forfeit this match, and allow the
people of this puny city to keep going about their lives."

"Washuu, don't do anything stupid!" Gally said, speaking the first
thought that hit her mind, and then wondering to herself that such a
thing *could* have been her first thought.

Washuu seemed better, though.  The sight of the obvious threat had
seemed to clear away her anger instantly, and now she sat in her
chair, blinking at the situation in front of her.

"Washuu," Gally continued, "Please, we have to back off and wait.  He
*would* carry it out, I know we would - those people down there, all
of them, are worth less to him than his toys."

"..Worth less.." Washuu said, rubbing her chin.  "Does that mean,
then, that his toys are worth more to him than the people?"

"What..?" Gally asked.

Outside, Ryo-oh-ki's external speakers came to life.  "Ha ha, Bison!
You think you're so smart?  Here's my counter-challenge!"  Washuu's
voice rang with triumph.  "I know for a fact that large ball of
energy Ifurita's got balled up is taking up a large percentage of her
power budget!  If she lets that thing drop, that's a big window of
opportunity where she's weakened - and I'll take that window and
steal away your PRECIOUS PLAYTHING!"

"WASHU--!"  Gally's panicked shriek got through the external speakers
just before communication was cut, leaving Ryo-oh-ki (who was
beginning to grow a starship-sized sweatdrop) silent again.

A few more seconds passed.

Bison smiled.

Ifrurita dropped the ball.

"Washuu, DO SOMETHING!" Gally shouted, staring in horror at the huge
shot hurtling towards the middle of the capital city below.

"He.. he did it." Washuu said, pale and stunned.  "But I thought..
that he would.."

Everyone held their breath and watched - Gally, Washuu, Hiroshi,
Daisuke, everyone in the Ultradome - as Ifurita's attack continued
towards the city, and prayed for a miracle.

The ball detonated, sending out a ring halo of concussive force
over the city.

The sight of it nearly caused rioting in the Dome for a few seconds,
before the audience collectively realized that no, the ball hadn't
impacted *into* the city, but *over* the city.  Everyone peered
closely at the expanding explosive cloud for clues, until they
spotted..

"GOKU TOOK THE HIT!" Hiroshi cheered.  "The Omega referee has
intercepted Ifurita and Bison's attempt to vaporize the city!"

Goku unflexed his stuck-out chest, and quickly checked the city for
any secondary effects from the blast.  Satisfied that the threat had
been averted safely, he turned a baleful gaze to Bison and Ifurita,
who remained where they were.

"Additionally, Goku does not look too pleased and may choose to
reprimand the pair." Daisuke observed.

"What are you trying to pull, Bison?!" Goku fumed.  "There are
thousands of innocent people down there!  I'm *disqualifying* Ifurita
for this!"

"I beg your pardon," Bison said, "but I believe the rules clearly
state that only the actual destruction of the planet or universe
being fought in constitutes a technical foul."

"DON'T TELL ME HOW I SHOULD DO MY JOB!  I'm ordering you off the
playing field!  Get out!"

Bison merely grinned and nodded to Ifurita, who used her Power Staff
to open a portal gate and remove the two of them.

Goku then turned his glare to Ryo-oh-ki and its passengers.  "And
you!  What kind of foolish judgment call was that?  Do you realize
what might have happened if I wasn't here?"

Washuu laughed nervously.  "A-heh.  People make mistakes sometimes.."

"Oh, goddess.." breathed Gally, as she tried to arrange her jittered
nerves back in order.

* * *

"Washuu the technical winner of this Omega bout, though definately a
significant snafu for all participants involved."  Daisuke said.

"But an EXCITING snafu!" Hiroshi shouted.  "What DRAMA!  What
TENSION!  Even if all the smart fans understand that Goku would never
allow such a tragedy to happen in the Omega division, what a POWERFUL
MOMENT!"

"Yes.  And now, it's time for the Open Hardcore challenge, which
should be commencing in just a few moments."

The crowd burst into cheering as the Canadian mutant brawler and
current Hardcore champion, Wolverine, strode down the aisle to the
ring, clashing his extended claws together and grinning in a feral
manner.  He leapt over the rope and stopped in the middle of the mat,
whipping his claws apart in a single quick slash and posing
dramatically, surging the crowd to even higher levels of excitement.

Finally, he motioned to Touga, which handed him a microphone and then
exited, leaving Wolverine alone in the ring.

"OKAY!"  Wolverine shouted.  "One more time, this is an *open
challenge*, which means that any one of ya hardcore hopefuls that
want a piece of the Wolverine, come on down and let's see what you
got!  Gambit, ya flea-ridden Cajun boy, you wanna go one more time
with me?  Get your ass in here!"

"Or maybe you people want to see somebody else's ass get kicked, hey?
Hey, Sofia, how's about a try?  Let's see if you can last longer than
sixty seconds this time!"  The statement was punctuated by laughter
and whooping from the crowd.

"Or Johnny Cage!  Hey, let's see if you can actually get your first
win, bub.  Come on, Johnny, come on and make your first win something
special, why don'tcha!  Or hell," Wolverine continued, getting into
the swing of things, "long as we're talking about Sex and Violence,
who wants to see me give that pansy James the biggest whupping of his
life?"  The crowd whooped long and loud in response.

"Or maybe we can get the two 'ladies' of Sex and Violence out here.
Hey Morrigan!  Hey Lilith!  You two never won a fair and square match
in your life against somebody who could actually throw it down - you
lost to me and Felicia, you lost the title to Mousse and Shamps.  And
I tell ya-" Wolverine looked around for a ringside camera, and leaned
in close to it- "-you two don't even LOOK THAT HOT."

* * *

"Ooo-ooh!" Lilith said, literally hopping mad as she bounced from one
foot to the other in rage.  "How dare he!"

"He called me a pansy!" James exclaimed, waggling his finger at the
television  "Oh, the nerve!  I have half a mind to go out there and
give him such a big thump!"

"Please, James." Morrigan rolled her eyes.  "And just ignore the
walking adolescent power fantasy, Lilith.  Jack hasn't woken up yet
and we're not going to run off and do any matches without our
manager's consent, all right?"

"But, oneechan!" Lilith whined.  "Hardcore is *our* belt and he's
making fun of us out there and Jack would want us to get the Hardcore
belt back even when he was unconscious and I don't like Wolverine and
he doesn't like us and-"

"NO." Morrigan insisted.

"James, really." Jesse insisted.  "The two of us are tag team
specialists.  You wouldn't have a clue what to do if you were by
yourself out there."

"I would so!" James insisted, somewhat defensively.  "Besides, I
wouldn't really be alone.  You'd-"

"No, we *wouldn't*." Morrigan said.

"Right!" Johnny Cage nodded.  "Sex and Violence sticks together and
plays by its rules.  If Jack doesn't say go, we don't go.  And we
don't help anybody who breaks rank and goes solo."

"You understand, Lil-" Morrigan started, then broke off to look
around.  "Lilith?"

"Uh oh - she must've gone to challenge Wolverine." James said,
looking a little nonplussed.

Morrigan hmph'd.  "All right, fine then." she said.  "She'll have to
learn the team rules the hard way."

* * *

"Okay-- okay--" Wolverine said, waving at the audience to quiet them
down a bit.  "I got another one.  Okay-- Morrigan is *SO* fat..."

"HOW FAT IS SHE??" called back the crowd.

"You're not being very nice!" a lone voice piped up from the ramp
entrance.

The crowd turned as one, then burst into cheers as they spotted
Lilith, looking irritated and righteous, slowly walking down the
aisle.

"Well, okay then!" Wolverine said, tossing away the mic and
unsheathing his claws.  "Looks like somebody finally got brave enough
to show up."

HARDCORE MATCH : WOLVERINE VS LILITH

"I'm going to make you sorry you said all those mean things about me
and oneechan and everybody else!" Lilith shouted, ignoring all the
warnings that the crowd was shouting at her.  "And I'm going to take
that Hardcore belt from you and--"

Lilith suddenly felt someone grasp her neck from behind, and then
screeched in pain as fire coursed from the grasping hand and engulfed
her in flames.  She collapsed to the aisle floor, smoking and
semi-conscious, and Iori Yagami callously stepped over her, making
his own way to the ring.

"How AMAZING!  Interrupting Lilith's own bid for the Hardcore title
comes IORI YAGAMI, a fighter already the holder of the Gamma
Championship *and* the title of 'Biggest Bad@$$ in Ultra!'" Hiroshi
raved.

"Despite Iori's claim that he is not particularly interested in
holding titles, he apparently wishes to add one more to his current
list." Daisuke said.  "Lilith is apparently incapacitated at the
moment and won't be able to interfere with the upcoming match."

"What're you doing here, Iori?" Wolverine growled.  "Don't ya think
you got enough titles to last you a while?"

"This is an open Hardcore challenge." Iori deadpanned.  "You were
only calling out people who you think you can beat.  Why don't you
try somebody who can put up a real fight?"

HARDCORE MATCH : WOLVERINE VS IORI YAGAMI.  FIGHT!

"Iori is still slightly injured in his hand from his recent matches."
Daisuke commented.  "He is certainly a dedicated competitor, though
it remains to be seen if he has chosen to push himself a bit too far
tonight by coming out once again."

"ESPECIALLY against Wolverine, whose adamantium claws are capable of
shredding SOLID STEEL, not to mention ordinary human flesh such as
what Iori Yagami is made of!" Hiroshi added.

"Hum.  Speaking of those claws, hasn't he been allowed to carry those
things around sharpened for quite a while now?  Even if he is a
Hardcore champion, he should.."

"AND HERE WE GO!"

Iori reared back his arm and pitched it towards the ground, dashing
out a gout of purple flame which skittered, hissing and sparking,
towards Wolverine's feet.  The move was practically ignored by the
Canadian mutant, he simply dashed and jumped over the projectile,
thrusting out his both legs and dropkicking Iori in the face.

"A conservative move by Iori proves a mistake against Wolverine's
fast-brawling style," Daisuke says, "and Wolverine is following up
with more punches."

Iori took a few rights and lefts and then howled, lashing out with a
clawed grip into Wolverine's head.  The wild move gave Iori a slight
opening as Wolverine paused, which he took with a powerful kick into
his stomach, sending Wolverine back a few feet and knocking him on
his butt.

Iori snarled and leapt at the semi-prone mutant.  Wolvering simply
answered with his claws, slashing out at Iori and carving three long
gashes across his chest.  Iori fell to the side, and Wolverine rolled
to his feet.

"These are two bestial and feral fighters GOING AT EACH OTHER LIKE
THEY'RE RABID FOLKS!  But Wolverine's got the edge in experience
here, as well as a healing factor-"

"-while Iori's only edge lies in the fact that being cut up isn't too
much of a big issue with him." Daisuke finished for Hiroshi.

"BERSERKER BARRAGE!" Wolverine shouted, and turned himself into a
wild blur of claw strokes that rushed Iori as he staggered about in
the ring.

"Iori's not dodging!" Hiroshi shouted.  "He's just standing there-
and bleeding all over the mat, too, but basically he's just standing
there!"

The blur came close enough for Iori to feel the breeze from it.  His
eyes flashed, and he stuck his arm out - right into the human
blender.  There was a nasty, nasty sound, somewhere between a *thump*
and a *sqlerch* - and the audience gasped.

Iori's arm dripped blood from numerous gashes, but he had managed to
seize Wolverine by the throat.  Iori's eyes flashed again, and he
screamed - the mutant was suddenly immolated in violet flames from
head to toe, which burned like fast propane at his body.

"He's not letting go!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

Iori continued to hold on, ignoring the incredible pain both from his
cuts and also from the effort of summoning so much demonic power.
The flames continued to burn Wolverine, overcoming even his healing
factor, and Iori's flaming choke began to force him to his knees.

"Wolverine is in deep trouble, unless he can find a way to free
himself from Iori's grasp."

Wolverine lashed out with kicks, into Iori's stomach and legs, and
slashed occasionally at his arms - but Iori, whose "only" edge lied
in the fact that pain wasn't a big issue with him, continued to hold
on.  Finally, Iori gasped, and turned off the flame.

"Neither competitor is looking good at *all* at this point!" Hiroshi
explained.  "Wolverine, covered in nasty burns and exhausted!  Iori,
cut up and bloody!"

"On this note, I'd like to send out my sympathies to Sana Kurata.." A
spookily evil smile sneaked onto Daisuke's face for a moment, until
he covered his mouth and rubbed it out with his hand, "..who at the
moment is still in hospital and would probably love a chance to be
color commentating live at this point."

Iori panted heavily, keeping a close eye on Wolverine as he continued
to grasp his neck.

"You.." Wolverine croaked.  "..so you finally reach your limits, huh
bub?"

Iori's brow twitched.  "I get stronger- every time I don't die from
using my curse.  Give me enough time.. and I won't have to rest
before I do.."

"THIS!!" Iori roared as new energy poured into Wolverine in one huge
gout, and instead of burned, EXPLODED.  Both were enveloped in a
purple mushroom cloud for a moment, and then Wolverine flew out of
the top, landing at the edge of the mat with a *thud*, rolling out
the ropes and landing on the concrete with another *thud*, and then
lying there, not making any sound at all.

"We have a new Hardcore champion - Iori Yagami!" Daisuke said.

"IORI YAGAMI is a TRIPLE TITLE HOLDER!  BY THE GODDESS, IORI NOW
HOLDS THE GAMMA CHAMPIONSHIP! THE HARDCORE CHAMPIONSHIP! *AND* HE'S
THE BIGGEST BAD@$$ IN ULTRA!  WHAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN NEXT?!"

"Hold it!  It's not over!" Lilith's voice exclaimed from the back of
the arena.

"Oh, okay." Hiroshi said, settling down.

Lilith was on her knees, smouldering a little but awake, and Yotsuya
had helpfully appeared out of howhere to hand her a microphone, which
she was now using.

"Iori, that wasn't fair!" she gasped.  "That was *my* Hardcore
championship match, and you stole it!"

Iori staggered into a ring corner and collapsed on his behind,
leaning into a camera which relayed his face to the larger video
screen over Lilith's head.

"That's too bad.  I don't remember there being any *rules* in the
Hardcore division, so if you weren't strong enough to get past
everybody and take the title, you didn't get it."

"Oh yeah?" Lilith said, straining to get back to her feet.  "Well,
there's one rule for Hardcore - and it's that I can challenge you
anytime I want!  And.. I'm challenging you *now*!"

Iori groaned, and staggered back to his feet, the act sending
involuntary shudders up and down his pain-wracked body.  "Fine.  Get
yourself to the ring, if you can."

Lilith blinked.  He looked a lot worse than she did, but he got up?
And she.. well, she could get up, easy.  After all, sure, the demon
purple flames had sapped out a lot of her strength, but she could
still stand up.. well, stand up with a little effort... okay, a *lot*
of effort.. well..
she..
was trying..

A strong hand took her shoulder and lifted her, putting herself
upright.  She wobbled a bit, but found that with the act done, she
could keep her tired self upright.  She turned to her helper, and
gasped.

"Wolverine?!"

The heavily charred, but smoothly healing mutant smiled a rather
charcoal smile to the youthful succubus.  "Go kick some ass, Lilith.
Let's see what you can do."

"But.. you're so mean to me and Morrigan!  Why..?"

"When you came out here, you came alone, and I didn't see no Sex and
Violence coming to pick you up all the way through the match.  That
means you came to fight one-on-one."  

Wolverine pointed.  "You're learnin' to fight fair and square, kid.
Good luck."  He turned to stagger to the back rooms.

HARDCORE MATCH : IORI YAGAMI VS LILITH.  FIGHT!

"So you're going through with it.  Let's see what you-" 

*CONK*  Iori dropped to the mat after a chair thrown by Lilith
bounced off of his head.  Lilith took the opportunity to enter the
ring as Iori struggled to his feet.

Despite being somewhat scary and frothing nuts and apparently on PCP,
Iori didn't seem quite so impressive to Lilith.  She never fought in
Ultra before without Morrigan to back her up, though - where *was*
she?  But that was okay, Lilith would just whack him good a few times
until he stayed down.

Iori lunged at Lilith, but the spry little girl easily twisted the
slow attack and spun behind the bleeding man.  "SHADOW BLADE!" Lilith
shouted, leaping into Iori's shoulders with her succubus wings as
they hardened for the attack.

The blow sent Iori staggering wildly forward, and Lilith followed up
with a jump kick to the back of his skull.  Iori hit the canvas, and
Lilith gleefully followed up with repeated stomps into his back.

"Lilith having an easy time of this match so far." observed Daisuke.

"Indeed, the THREE TITLE CHAMPION is in trouble of losing one of his
belts!"

"Don't harp on that too much, Hiroshi."

"But, Daisuke--"

Iori flipped over on his back and seized Lilith's boot as she tried
to stomp one last time, hurling it upward and sending Lilith off
balance.  As Lilith bounced on the mat, Iori slapped his hand against
it and shot out another spatch of flame shooting towards the prone
succubus.  It exploded under her, sending her flying into the corner.

Iori got up.  By now, the cuts on his chest and arms had left blood
soaking all the way through his clothes, and the exertion of his
demonic flame powers had left him pale white in skin.  Even being a
succubus herself, Lilith shrank back from the ghoulish sight of Iori,
pushed to his limits and far beyond - by his own choice - and still
moving by pure force of will.

Iori couldn't go down.  Her attacks, her special techniques - she
knew that they couldn't affect him, simply because trying to extract
a KO from someone so far gone was like trying to get blood from a
stone (which was a metaphor which could well also apply to Iori in a
few minutes.)

There was one more thing she could try, to finish him off in one
heavy, multiple-hit attack.

She wasn't sure she wanted to, but..

Lilith jumped to her feet, and crouched to dash.  Iori slumped
towards her, step by step.

The succubus burst into action, lunging forward into -- a happy
little skip, with her arms spread wide as if running up to embrace
Iori like a long-lost love.

"Lilith up, moving forward in order to - uh - wait - huh?" Daisuke
said, somewhat failing in his commentary duties.

"Iori-chaaaan!" Lilith squealed.  "Darkstalkers Succubus-style final
attack.."

Lilith bounced one more step, and flew at Iori, floating for one
suspended moment in time inches before him, the pantomimed meeting
nearly complete.

"..SPLENDID LOVE!!"

Lilith's leotard exploded.

* * *

"Oh, SHOOT!" Nabiki said, and lunged for the censoring controls,
opting to simply mask the screen with one large blue blob rather than
try to keep track of the almost fractally changing situation as the
Splendid Love swarmed over Iori and Lilith, her leotard having
transformed into a thick swarm of bats swatting Iori into oblivion.

"Those succubi.." Nabiki muttered.  "I have to remember never to let
my guard down around them."

* * *

"Wow." Hiroshi deadpanned, looking a little stunned.  "That was
pretty awesome."

"Yes, well.. Personally, she's a little young for me." Daisuke said.

Touga took the mike, tactfully remaining outside of the ring to
announce while Lilith's batch carefully rearranged themselves back
onto her body.

"Here is your winner -- and NEW Hardcore champion -- LILITH!!"

Lilith blushed as she regarded Iori's finally defeated form, and then
gave a start as she suddenly realized what she had acheived.  The
shock turned to pure excitement as Touga finally entered, and
gracefully offered her the Hardcore belt.

Lilith took the belt, and waved it furiously up high, while the crowd
showered her with waves of congratulations.

"Morrigan!"  Lilith shouted.  "Oneechan, look at me!"

Back in Sex and Violence headquarters, Morrigan sighed and shook her
head.

"I'm hardcore!  Wai!"

* * *

"All right, folks, we've got one more match tonight, and it's an
event truly worthy of going last!  In just a few moments, the
brilliant young sorceress, LINA INVERSE, is going up against the
God of Hate himself, the OROCHI!"

"And what remote and exotic location shall our next Omega matchup be
taking place in, Hiroshi?"

"AUSTRALIA!!"

"Australia?" Daisuke asked.

"What?" Hiroshi shrugged.  "There's no cities or anything really
important in there.."

* * *

Lina's portal opened onto a vast field of tall, wild grasses, swaying
back and forth in the brisk wind that accompanied what was sure to
soon be a wild summer storm.  Above, the air was filled with dark and
heavy clouds that churned low in the sky; in the distance, occasional
flashes of white-hot lightning threatened the far-off plains.

Lina looked around.  "This seems fitting, somehow."

Goku nodded.  "A-yep."

"Where's the Orochi?  I thought he was the one who set up this
match."

Goku shrugged.  "He's here.  He arrived about a minute ago.  Excuse
me." he said, and flew off to a discreet viewing distance.

Lina's head swept back and forth across the flat field, confused by
Goku's words.  Was the Orochi here already?  It would be easy,
though, to hide within the waist-high grass that surrounded her on
all sides.  But that didn't seem right; it was too lowly a tactic for
a self-declared God of Hate.

"RAY WING!"

A quick spell of flight lifted her above, and she began to scan the
field from a higher vantage point.  If anyone was hiding in the
grass, it would be plainer to see when looking downward.

But there was still no sign of her opponent.  Lina started thinking
though other options - he could be invisible - he could be hiding
within a pocket dimension..

Lina had often fought the egotistical and powerful, though.  Just
like it wouldn't make sense for the Orochi to hide, it wouldn't make
sense for him to lie in ambush, either.  

It had to be some kind of head game.  He wanted Lina to feel ill at
ease, unable to find him, while he chuckled at the small, weak
(though of course, Lina thought, entirely underestimated) sorceress..

..from *above*!

Lina's gaze shot upwards, to the only feature of the battleground
that was higher up than she was.  From within the opaque layer of
billowing gray storm clouds, a deep chuckle echoed, amplified by
unholy power.

"*Were I not the God of [HATE], I would claim how glad I was that you
have come, Lina Inverse.*" the clouds intoned, with a voice that
brimmed with smug self-confidence.

Lina folded her arms as she hovered in midair, and decided that a
little chatting was appropriate before the fighting began.  "Yo,
Orochi." She paused for a moment, unsure just how to continue, and
then was struck by a thought.

"You're hiding yourself again, aren't you?  Every time you've
appeared in public, you've been making sure nobody got a good look at
just who your new host was.  You aren't vain, are you?  You thinking
he's not as handsome as that Chris boy was?" Lina teased.

"*I, the Orochi, will decide the time and place for all things,
whether they be the destruction of everything of the mere unveiling
of my bodily incarnation.*"

"Yeah, I'm sure we're all waiting with baited breath for the next
action the celebrity God."  Lina frowned.  There were really more
important things than this right now.  "All right, Orochi -- we both
know why we're here.  You're the one that called me out today, so I'm
going to make a deal with you.  If I win, I want YOU--" Lina pointed
dramatically (at a point in the clouds where she at least guessed
Orochi was located, judging from the voice) "--to return Sakura
Kusanago to the Spirit of Shotokan!"

"*I refuse.  Do not presume to tell the God of Hate what he must do.
I still have use of the girl and I will keep her until that use has
ended.*"  Thunder from the far-off lightning storm rolled by at this
point, seeming to accentuate the Orochi's statement.  "*Afterwards
she will simply die, for this is what all things shall do under the
hands of the Orochi.*"

Lina sniffed, and turned around, coasting away from the voice above
here.  "Fine." she threw over her back, "If you're not interested in
my offer, then forget it.  I don't have to fight you, you know."

"*So then you must intend to forfeit the match to me.*"

Lina shrugged, and continued to float away.  "A few weeks ago, if you
asked me what I was here at Ultra for, and what I was fighting for, I
wouldn't have been able to tell you.  Or maybe I would've said that I
was here for the good food."

"I don't really care if I get another loss on my record.  It's just
points, after all - I'd only care if I was a serious athlete, or a
competitive martial artist."

"But hanging around here, week after week.." Lina sighed, and her
hands started to clutch at her folded arms.  "..I've been getting to
know everybody, and make friends, and even though Naga's really
irritating, and Dark Schneider isn't that much better, I've got
allies too.  And I'm going to count Sakura as one of my friends."

Lina finally stopped, and turned back around to face the clouds.  "So
if you're just going to say 'No, sorry little girl, I'm the one who
makes the rules here', that means I can't win Sakura back by fighting
and beating you.  And that means this fight doesn't have any
meaning."

The dark clouds had no response to this, and merely rumbled to
themselves.  Lina watched the skies for a while, and decided to
gamble a question.

"Hey, Orochi, you're the one that called me out here.  What do *you*
want from this fight?"

"*You are the one,*" Orochi's voice echoed, "*who led the efforts to
steal away my Black Serpent.  The God of Hate does not forgive you
for this easily.  It does not forgive you at all.*"

"Well!" Lina said brightly, "There you go!  You can try and get your
revenge on me if you want, but *only* if you promise to give back
Sakura if I win!  You got a deal or what?"

Silence for a few moments. "*I make a counter-offer.*"

"Shoot."

"*You have not escaped.. the notice of my new host.  There have been
times when he has seen you from afar, and harboured secret desires -
desires which were quickly buried under layers of deep shame and
self-loathing.*"

Lina's eyebrow twitched. "Uh-"

"*The hate and tortured feelings of my body fuels me, and I also see
an opportunity for an ironic revenge.  Lina Inverse, you shall have
your Sakura if you should win..*"

"Uh huh.." Lina cautiously nodded.

"*..and if I should win - the Orochi shall have YOU.*"

* * *

Back at the Ultradome, the conversation between the two was hardly
going uncommented.

"MY GODDESS IN HEAVEN!" Hiroshi raved.  "In order to win back Sakura
from the clutches of the God of Hate, Lina Inverse has been asked to
gamble her OWN FREEDOM in the attempt!  How will she respond?  If she
agrees, how will this match turn out?  If she loses, will the
transformation into an evil harbinger cause her breast size to--"

* * *

"I don't believe it!"  Gourry exclaimed, watching the proceedings in
shock and horror on the television set provided in the fighters'
lounge.  "How can he ask something like that?!"

"I don't believe it either!" Dark Schneider said.  "You mean there
was someone in Ultra who actually thought that skinny kid was
attractive?"

* * *

Lina growled, her irritation causing a small vein to pulse above her
temple.  "You little sicko!  How dare you take advantage of an
innocent young lady like that?"

"*Sakura is-*"

"I mean ME!" Lina raged.

"*Hum.  Are you agreeing with this or not?*"

"All right, FINE!  It's a deal!  I get her or you get me!  So let's
start the rumble already!"

The voice in the clouds chuckled.  "*I eagerly await my new servant.
This fight should go as well as our previous encounter..*"

The vein on Lina's forehead threatened to explode as it throbbed at a
furious rate.  "Don't you remind me!"


OMEGA MATCH : LINA INVERSE VS OROCHI.  FIGHT!


"BLAM BLAZER!"

A ragged spear of golden-bronze light erupted from Lina's palms and
vanished into the clouds.  Lina was guessing her target's location;
all during the talk that she and the Orochi had, she was trying to
gauge the location of his voice, trying to pinpoint where within the
clouds he was hovering.

The spear disappeared into the churning clouds.  Nothing else
happened.

Lina soared off to the left, circling below the area she was guessing
at.  She must have missed, but she expected it would be hard to
really target a man-sized figure that she couldn't see.  She thought
for a moment to dive up into the clouds and hunt around for the
Orochi there; but she rejected the idea.  The God of Hate obviously
wasn't bothered by the fog surrounding him as much as she would be if
she entered it; he had the advantage of cover already, and too much
was at stake here for her to casually go and give him another one.

There was that advantage he had - and that other, more important
one.. but Lina would think about that later.

Strategy time ended for Lina as the bottom of the clouds bulged -
somewhere near where she had guessed, thank goodness - and burst,
releasing a hail of flaming purple wisps.  They fanned out rapidly,
descending upon her in a cloud that was far too wide for her to dodge
in time.

Lina gritted her teeth and made a noise of dismay, then thrust out
her hands at the oncoming swarm.  

"BURST RONDO!"

Lina's spell answered back with a rapid-fire cluster of hot energy.
The little bolts shot out and met the Orochi's attack, and many, many
little explosions resulted as the countermeasure ate at the purple
flames.  Lina stared at the explosions, watching carefully for wisps
that might have gotten through - and two or three did, whizzing by
Lina's head and torso at an alarming rate, and impacting into the
field below.

Lina blinked, and decided to ignore what could have happened.  She
aimed again at her chosen patch of cloud - it seemed as though the
Orochi was confident enough to stay in one place as he fought.

Miming the act of drawing back an imaginary bow, magical energy
flared in the place where a bow and arrow would be.  "FLARE ARROW!"
Lina shouted, shooting the arrow into the darkness above.

One second after it disappeared, Lina was heartened to see a flash of
yellow come from within the clouds, and hear a muffled BOOM.  "*Very
good!*" the Orochi's voice echoed. "*I see that you have-*"

Found him!

"MONO VOLT!"
"MONO VOLT!"
"MONO VOLLL-T!!"

The Mono Volt was lightning, white-hot and white-bright, and it
lashed out three times, instantly tracking and striking the unseen
location of the Orochi.  Waving her hands to clear the smell of ozone
around her, Lina smirked.  And then waited.  And then frowned a bit,
noticing that no charred human forms were plummeting into view.

The Orochi's low chuckle resumed, and continued this time, becoming
louder and louder, and more and more echoey, its acoustics beginning
to wipe out any chance of pinpointing its source.  Unbidden, Lina's
heart began to beat a little faster.

"*Human sorceress.*" the voice said.  "*Can you believe that your
black magic, given to you by evil spirits, will save you from a God
of pure Evil?  You are amusing to persist even when you have been
proved wrong before.*"

Lina hovered, spinning to and fro in place, trying to get her
bearings as the Orochi continued to taunt.

"*Lightning, fire, magical arrows - the form makes no difference if
the base is useless.  You have NO POWER*!"  As he shouted, there was
a sudden crack from above, and a bolt of purple lightning snaked out
and struck Lina in the back.  She cried out in surprise and pain, and
fell, landing hard against the earth some thirty feet below.

She gasped and choked, and could her both the Orochi's dim laughter
and the sound of Goku nearby having appeared to patiently count her
out.

"This.. isn't fair.." Lina mumbled.

"..Four." Goku counted, ignoring the comment.

It was true.  Her magical abilities all came from tapping the powers
of spirits of darkness.  Of course a full-fledged god of darkness
would be able to ignore her magic - he had too much cosmic authority
to be affected by it.

But she had to keep going..

"..Eleven." Goku counted, and stopped as Lina raised a hand, and
pushed herself back to her feet.  Goku vanished quietly, and Lina
gazed up at the storm clouds from ground level, holding a hand to her
chest as she took a few thoughtful paces forward.

"*Show me your Dragon Slave, Lina.*
 *Show me your Ragna Blade.*
 *And then.. you can show me your FREEDOM, Inverse!*"

Lina averted her upwards gaze, and stared at the ground, her
expression hidden from public view.

"*Or perhaps you would like to end it now, and concede the match
right here.*" Orochi quietly stated.

Lina's mind coasted over the past events of the evening.  Her promise
to the Spirit of Shotokan.. her assurances to Schneider.. and
after that..

..two pieces of advice..

Lina looked back upwards, but her gaze wasn't intended for the clouds
or for the God of Hate hovering above.

"OK," she whispered.  "I don't really know if this is what you meant.
But here goes."

"OROCHI!" Lina called out.  "This is my last try.  I promise."

"*Then do your best to impress your audience, Lina Inverse.
Afterwards, I shall be the one to entertain them.*"

Lina took a deep, nerve-cleansing breath, and clasped her hands
together.  The two remained in silence for a while, him in amused
expectancy, and her in simple quiet, while around them the
thunderstorm continued to grow as its center grew closer.

"A simple light," Lina began, "that is the hope of others in times of
darkness.."

Lina's fast-beating heart shot up to levels of panic, and her body
broke out in sweat.  It was only words!  There was a difference
between words, and something that she *knew* would send out a magical
spell, and he was speaking ordinary words, in a plain and quiet voice
that carried no evidence of magical power.  A horrible self-doubt
began to choke at her.

"*Ahh.  Very good, Lina.  I eagerly wait the results of your
magnificent 'spell'.*"

"..t-that.", Lina stammered, ".. that has existed before anyone's
time, or anyone's life.."

"*Do go on, little girl.*"

Lina swallowed, and forced herself to continue. "..that shines, and
cannot be extinguished."

"*Your fate is sealed at the end of this poem.*"

"Let this lost and helpless person come back to the light, and ask
for its protection and for its power.."

"*Need you continue, Lina?  What do you hope to accomplish with this
babble*?"

"..and be granted it, as it always would be granted, as it always had
been granted."

"*And yet..*" The Orochi's voice turned thoughtful.

"Let that light make itself known, to answer back the arrogance of
those who would oppose its power.."

"*There is something in the air here..*"

"..and shine forth, clear and undeniable-"

"*..something is wrong.*"  The Orochi mumbled.

"-in a form unstoppable!  In a form unfaceable!  For the love of the
world and everyone in it.."

"*What are you doing, little girl?*"

"..LET THIS LIGHT BE UNLEASHED!"

It should be pointed out that faith has always been a different thing
than power.

The Orochi drew back his arms, meaning to pour out energy, enough
energy to instantly destroy the sorceress before she could unleash
whatever it was she was summoning - but Lina had already drawn back
her own, and thrust out her hands for one final time.


"[KASUMI SLAVE]!!"


It was a sphere of light, so brilliantly white and searing hot that
Lina instantly wrapped her arms around her face and staggered back
after it appeared in front of her palms.  It rolled away, thundering
with noise, and grew in size and speed until it was a full
quarter-mile wide, rolling towards the storm clouds and vaporizing
them even before the sphere touched.

Lina could barely see or hear.  Though squinted eyes, she watched the
scene unfold.  With the clouds gone, she could make out one tiny,
black speck - almost pitiful in size compared to the energy that was
inoxerably travelling towards it.  It wore a coat, wrapped tightly
around itself as if trying to futilely ward off the oncoming attack.

Who was it?  Lina strained to see, but the sillhouette was impossible
to read.  It staggered back in midair, flailed slightly.  Behind the
figure, a small black disc appeared; it fell backwards into it, and
the portal closed, just barely before the sphere rolled into where it
was a moment ago, and continued on.

A few moments passed, as the light began to shrink in the sky,
lighting up the Australian plains like a second sun.

"Orochi.." Lina whispered, and was suddenly taken by furious,
righteous anger.  "OROCHI!  You RAN, you little coward!  You CHEAT!
We made a promise and you RAN!"

Lina continued to rant at the empty air until she was interrupted by
Goku softly tapping on her shoulder.

"Don't sweat it.  You won!  I'm taking Orochi's leaving as a sign
that he forfeited."

"But you don't understand!  He was going to give back Sakura-"

A slight sweatdrop appeared on Goku's forehead.  "Er.. how was he
supposed to go and do that if you went and disintegrated him?"

Lina blinked in confusion.  "Disintegrated him?"

"That's.. generally what happens when you know overly large amounts
of destructive energy at somebody."

"Well.." Lina began, "not *always*.."

* * *

"..I mean, I know what I'm doing when I cast the really big spells!"
Lina ranted to Gourry, as they proceeded down the hall to the
fighter's quarters.  "I know the difference between casting something
to blow them away and casting something to just knock them around a
bit.."

"Well.." Gourry said, scratching his head.  "I'm not so sure.."

"Name *one* instance where I used more force when I should have,
Gourry!"

"Uh.." Gourry sweatdropped heavily.  "Can I pass on that one?"

"There, see?" Lina concluded, then spotted a familiar group of
fighters coming to greet them.

"That was well done." Ryu said, leading the rest of the active Spirit
Of Shotokan, as well as Gambit.  "The outcome was uncertain at some
points, but you never lost your fighting spirit."

"Ryu.. everybody.  I'm so sorry." Lina pleaded.  "Maybe I won, but I
lost where it really counted."

"Ah, don' worry 'bout it, cherie."  Gambit said, and then snorted.
"I wouldn't trust dat Orochi for any promise anyways.  What's done
happened to your hair?"

Lina blinked, and pushed a lock of her hair in front of her eyes.
Normally a bright red, her hair had bleached to a clean Javex white.
"Oh.." she said, slightly wondering.  "That happens sometimes when I
use too much magic at one time.  I guess I didn't notice in all the
confusion."

Gourry nodded.  "It comes back in about a week or so.  Not a problem,
right Lina?"

"It wasn't a problem last time.." Lina said.  "Wait, wait, enough
about me."  Lina smiled, and flashed a V-sign at the assembled group.
"Just you wait!  I'll try harder next time, got it?  I'll bring your
girlfriend back, Lina's guarantee.  Ja ne!"  Lina waved, pulling
Gourry along as she skipped down the corridor.

"Er - wait a minute." Ryu called after the two, blushing red.
"Sakura's not really my girlfriend.."

"Hey, I don' think the lady meant exactly you." Gambit said.  There
was an awkward pause, before he added.  "Dat doesn't mean, o' course, 
that I'm sayin' she's my girlfren'.  Not yet, anyways."

"And I, Mighty Dan, only have the pure warrior's love for Sakura that
those who recognize each other's true fighting spirit have!" Dan
exclaimed, then added, "..though there is a little teeny weensy tiny
bit of ordinary affection, too."

Embarassed silence hung over the group as they stood and shuffled
their feet.

"Okay," Ken said, "I just want to make it perfectly, 100% clear that
I have *Eliza* and have *no* interested in a sixteen-year old
schoolgirl, is that clear with *everybody* here?"

"Of course." Ryu said.
"Sure." Dan added.
"A-yep." Gambit agreed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lina and Gourry had returned to their dormitory quarters.
Gourry opened the door for Lina, who staggered in and slumped herself
ungracefully face-down over her bed.  She moaned, tugging her
whitened hair out of the way of her nose.  "That could really have
gone better." she muffled.  "I feel like such a goof-up."

Gourry walked into the bathroom, meaning to take care of a quiet
urgency that had been nagging him for the past hour.  "I don't think
you have to feel bad, Lina.  You showed the Orochi what-for; he's not
going to bother you again anytime soon, or any of your friends,
either."

"But.." Lina's voice floated in. "I wish that I had connected with
that spell."

"Mm-hm, mm-hm." Gourry nodded solemnly.  "Would've made things a lot
easier, I'd think.  Would have gotten Sakura back sooner."

"No.." Lina said, and let out a long, long sigh, that trailed off at
the end, sounding like a machine letting out its collected steam
pressure.  "I mean, I *really* wish.. that I had connected with that
spell.."

"Why's that, Lina?" Gourry innocently asked, and was answered by the
sound of a soft thump.

Gourry returned to the bedroom, and found Lina slumped unconscious to
the floor.

"Lina? Oy, Lina!"

* * *

"Whew!  What a night!  And to think that ULTRARAGE BETA, Ultra's
second pay-per-view, will be coming on the air just *two weeks* from
today!"

"That's right, Hiroshi." Daisuke nodded.  "Good night everyone, and
sleep tight."

* * *

Washuu's laboratory was silent and dark.

Where rows of machine once flashed with lights, and made little happy
bips and boops of activity and noise, a few machine stood unplugged
and powerless, while many more were simply broken, their loose parts
cleaned up but still a long way from their former healthy state.

It suited Washuu's mood just fine, as she sat alone in a chair, dully
regarding the cold and dark tools of her trade around her.

A soft light broke the dimness for a moment, and a soft rustle caught
Washuu's attention.

"Kasumi." she only said.

The goddess's face was etched with graveness.  "Washuu.." she gently
said.

"You're going to scold me, aren't you?"  the scientist said, and
turned her head away, facing the wall.

"I think Goku already did.  But he was right to." Kasumi said, and
walked around in front of Washuu, back into her view.  "It was a
foolish decision you made, and it was reckless.  I know that you want
to save Ifurita, but this isn't-"

"This is all part of some elaborate plan to put Ifurita back where
she should be, and teach me something about life, and teach a lot of
other people about life as well, right?" Washuu droned.

Kasumi sighed.  "You make it sound like a bad thing, and really it's
not."

"Adlehyde."

Kasumi remained silent.  Washuu realized, somehow, that she was
reading over what her next words would be; so she said them.

"Don't think that you can fool me, Kasumi, because even if you're a
nearly-omnipotent, nearly-omniscient goddess, *I* am twenty thousand
years old and *you* are barely going on ninteen."

Washuu continued.  "So Filgaia had people where Bison and Ifurita
could reach them.  You must have known what Bison was thinking about
doing; did you oblige him?  Were you going through what-ifs in your
mind that involved the destruction of Adlehyde, Kasumi?"

Kasumi turned away from Washuu, and quietly brought her hand to her
face.  If Washuu had been a religious person, she would have found
that deeply disturbing; but she was an realist, by her words, and so
she simply waited.

"How complex of these games of yours going to get, Kasumi?"

"They aren't games." Kasumi said, and then paused for a long while
before continuing.  "I know enough that I can't know everything.
And, sometimes.. when the people involved are larger than life.. the
plans have to become a bit larger than life."

"I didn't want anything to happen to Adlehyde.  I knew that the
threat would be serious; I knew it would prove that Bison was
somebody not to be taken lightly.  I knew that you would bring Gally
with you; I knew that she would have a right-thinking head, and be
able to give you advice to back off."

There was a pause.

"Washuu.. I thought that you would back off, too."

Another pause.

"And I'm grateful that Goku is a responsible referee."

Washuu sat in silence after hearing Kasumi's confession; but it was a
confession that, in the end, implicated her as well.  She watched
Kasumi some more, who still stood with her back turned, refusing to
face her.

"Kasumi.." Washuu said, half in wonder.  "Are you crying?"

"Washuu.. I'm not going to let you compete in the Omega division for
a while."

"What?" Washuu asked.  "For how long?"

"I don't know."

"But Kasumi, I- Kasumi!"  Before Washuu could protest further, she
had already disappeared, leaving the scientist alone again in her
lab.

Washuu sank back in her chair.  

Damn.

* * *

][ ULTRA EPISODE 20 RESULTS RECAP
][ SIE KENSOU kidnaps IFURITA and brings her back to Bison's control
][ RYUJI YAMAZAKI defeats JOHNNY CAGE - Now at 1W/1L
][ RANMA SAOTOME defeats TATEWAKI KUNOU - Now at 5W/2L
][ PSYCHO SOLDIERS 
   (Sie Kensou & Athena Asamiya) debut in the Lambda team ranks
   under the management of M.BISON
][ PSYCHO SOLDIERS defeat ANDY BOGARD & MAI SHIRANUI - Now at 1W/0L
][ WASHUU defeats IFURITA by disqualification - Now at 5W/3L
][ IORI YAGAMI defeats WOLVERINE in a Hardcore match - Now at 6W/2L
][ IORI YAGAMI becomes new Hardcore champion - and also becomes the
   first competitor to hold three titles at one time
][ LILITH defeats IORI YAGAMI in a Hardcore match - Now at 1W/0L 
   (Gamma division reckoning)
][ LILITH becomes new Hardcore champion
][ LINA INVERSE defeats OROCHI - Now at 4W/2L
][ WASHUU is barred from Omega competition until Kasumi's further
   notice.
   (Please note that this is not intended to be a 'retirement' of
    Washuu: future writers can reinstate her immediately simply
    by continuing the plotline.)
    
Notes:

Brian Stricklin is right!  These stories *are* draining, and they 
take forever to write, too.  Sorry for being a few days late - 
I underestimated the effort involved.

I'm the one who's responsible for update the Ultra scoreboard after
each episode, but I think I'll get some sleep and, you know, do it
later. :)

-Sean Givan