"What could possibly go wrong?"

	Daisuke and Shingo leveled identical flustered gazes at Jack as he
spoke the forbidden phrase.  An equal mix of annoyance and curiosity
filled Daisuke's voice as he answered, "Do you really want to know?"

	"Yes, tell me, Daisuke.  Tell me how giving one of our fighters a
win over some schmuck everyone hates and giving us a boost in the eyes
of the viewing audience is gonna hurt, okay?  Remember, I was the head
booker, you were a voicebox.  Trust me on this."  Jack turned away,
apparently done with the conversation.  The other two were less keen on
stopping there, though.

	"So if it's going to be such an easy match, why did Nabiki agree to
it?  We know she's been cheating, Jack.  You don't think she'd take the
chance to make one of our fighters look stupid in the ring?"  Daisuke
frowned at Jack and quirked one dyed eyebrow.

	Another protest came from Shingo.  "And I don't want to fight
someone who got hurt last week, Jack.  That's just not right... I'd feel
bad about getting a win because my opponent couldn't defend himself!"

	Sighing, Jack sat returned to his seat in front of Daisuke and
Shingo.  Then slowly, very slowly, he continued his explanation,
irritation at being second-guessed plain on his face.  "Well, excuse me,
Mr. Eagle Scout, but did you consider the audience here?  They'd love it
if you pulled Marlo right out of a hospital bed and slammed him into a
turnbuckle.  We can't afford to miss an opportunity to look good to them
because your conscience is bothering you, Shingo."  He turned to Daisuke
and continued, "And that's why we're all going to be around the ring
during the fights, right?"

	"...Right," Daisuke acquiesced.  "Everyone there for both fights."

	"And I'd like to know how the Beekster could pull off something with
all of us watching."  Jack grinned one of those wide grins that let
people see far more teeth than they should, confidence in his booking
beaming out at the pair of doubters.  "Like I said, what could possibly
go-"

	"Daisuke!"

	As the newcomers entered the room -- which made everyone far more
cozy than they cared to be, considering its dimensions -- Jack looked up
and continued his grin.  "Hey, Sakura, we were just talking about your
and Shingo's mat-"

	The Shotokaner ignored her spiky-haired manager, instead directing
her comments directly towards Daisuke.  "You probably want to see this."

	Behind her, Team Rocket held up a familiar uniform, dismay plain on
their faces.  Shingo blinked.  "What are you doing with my outfit?"

	His answer came in the form of Sakura bringing out a lighter and
brushing the flame lightly against one of the henshin suit's arms.  No
sooner had she clicked off the butane source than had the entire arm
been consumed by the fire; the suit had also promptly been dropped to
the ground by a yelping Jessie and James, but everyone was too shocked
to notice them backing away from the burning clothes.

	Finally looking up from the smoldering mass on the floor, Shingo
said, "It shouldn't do that."

	Daisuke turned his gaze towards Jack.  "Well.  It looks like she
managed to pull something off."

	"Dammit!  Uh, okay, okay.  I know how this happened.  We're too
spread out, we need to focus, so no one can sneak something by us.  But
I have a plan for that, don't worry."  He nodded, hesitation vanished as
quickly as it'd come.  "Good work, Sakura."

	She smiled, but once again, her attention was directed solely on
Daisuke.  "I'm glad I thought to check our rooms before the fights, but
I'm not who noticed the outfit switch."  Behind her, Jessie and James
brightened as she motioned to them.  "Glad I ran into them on the way
here."

	Pride filled the redhead's voice as she stepped boldly forward...
well, rather, as she minced forward in the small space available while
trying to avoid the burnt suit.  Despite all that, Jessie still sounded
incredibly pleased with herself.  "Well, of course we noticed!  While
the chemicals on the outfit might have escaped a less exceptional
inspection, they didn't have a chance of getting past us!"

	James chimed in, "We've used it before ourselves to distract
officials while we broke into a..."  As Sakura turned and gave him a
blank yet vaguely disapproving look, he swallowed and finished,
"...well, we have."

	Jack rolled his eyes.  "And Team Rocket demonstrates their stunning
ability to detect bad clothes.  Great.  We've got the fashion police on
our roster."

	Sakura's disapproving gaze turned into a full-blown glare, matched
by and similarly directed at Jack by Team Rocket.  Daisuke headed off
any further conflict by stepping between the four, whipping his head
back and forth to meet all the dark expressions.  Pikachu scampered
along by his feet, flashing more than the occasional suspecting look up
at his new would-be trainers.  Shingo just sat in the corner, looking
more than a bit uncomfortable at all the tension.

	Silence hung over the room for a long moment before Daisuke broke
it.  "Will all of you just... please stay calm.  Jack.  You said you had
a plan?"

	"I always have plans."  Jack snorted and gave Mr. Duck a quick
squeeze.  He nodded as the duck squeaked, and returned his attention to
Daisuke.  "Don't worry, Mr. Duck and I will get Beek back for this. 
Just keep those two out of my way and everything will be fine."

	Daisuke gritted his teeth, but kept a smile on his face.  "Okay,
then, we'll all stay and make plans for the fights.  See you later,
Jack."

	Not bothering to excuse himself as he plowed between Jessie and
James, Jack left the room, Mr. Duck cheerily perched on his shoulder and
the singed clothing in his hand.  As soon as the spikey-haired man had
vanished from sight, Team Rocket turned to Daisuke and glared.  "You
said he wouldn't act like this!"

	Sakura stalked up closer to Daisuke and pointed after Jack.  "And he
still hasn't apologized for last week!"

	Pikachu tugged on the hem of Daisuke's pants and pointed at Team
Rocket.  "Piii... Pika!  Chu!  CHU!"

	Daisuke sighed.

*  *  *  *  *



                              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  T R O U B L E S H O O T I N G }
         {      C R O S S O V E R  F I G H T I N G      }
         {             F E D E R A T I O N              }
         {                .-----------.                 }
         {                | U-L-T-R-A |                 }
         {                `-----------'                 }
         {          http://www.mtcffultra.com           }

        Episode #46: Substitutions, Showmanship, and Shinyleather!
        This Episode Written By: Ardweden
                                 Anonymous
                                 Jesse Ellman
                                 Mechalink
                                 Phoebe
                                 Kristen Smirnov
        MTCFF Ultra created by Twoflower


	Sound waves capable of shattering solid granite, able to knock
telecommunications satellites out of their orbit, deafening people if
they're exposed to them for a fraction of a second... such terms had
often been applied to the Ultradome on the night of a taping.  This
night was no exception.  Zoning ordinances were broken, windows in
nearby vehicles were shattered, and a ruckus to end all ruckuses was
raised.  Indeed, the Ultradome was loud.

	And that was just the announcer.

	"HIIIIIIIIIIII EVERYONE!  Are you ready for some WAI WAI ULTRA
VIOLENCE?"

	Beside the hyperactive bundle of violence-loving joy that was his
co-announcer for the evening, Tarou muttered something entirely
inappropriate for network television.  He then flicked on his mic,
trying his best to maintain his stage presence.  "Welcome to Ultra,
ladies and gentlemen.  We have a great show lined up for you tonight,
with some real fights.  Yes, there shouldn't be problems with half-assed
fighters clogging up the airwaves-"

	"That's not how you should announce, Tarou!  Let me!"  Sana Kurata
hopped up on top of the table and wielded her microphone, grinning madly
at the audience.  "This should be an INCREDIBLY AMAZING SHOW for all of
you tonight right from the very first fight!  The Jungle Warriors are
going up against S&M!"

	Tarou blinked and looked up at Sana.  "Who?"

	"Then Asuka Langley against Naga the White Serpent!  Big explosions!
Hellfire!  Sakura and Wolverine!  The Hungry Wolves against Bison's
Busters!  Shingo and Marlo!  Shinji and Sephiroth!  Waiwaiwai!"

	Breaking into Sana's breathless string of fight announcements, Tarou
explained, "The last fight in particular should be a great one. 
Heaven's called out Sephiroth to settle things once and for all, but
it'll be a hard match for the spineless wonder.  Before that, though,
we've got plenty of time to watch some people get their faces bashed
in."

	Sana motioned for the audience to raise their cheering levels and
squealed over them. "Yeah, it's time for some of the ULTRA VIOL-"

	Before she could continue the catch phrase, the generic Ultra logo
on the UltraTron flickered once, twice, and was replaced by the grinning
face of one Jack Lysias.  Tarou glared up at him.  "WHAT?" he tersely
demanded.

	Ignoring the glowering announcer, Jack instead addressed the
audience directly.  "Hey, folks, doesn't that sound like a great
line-up?"  As they cheered, he grinned and continued.  "Doesn't it sound
like the Beekster's put together a top-flight show for you all to
enjoy?"

	Tarou narrowed his eyes.  "What do you WANT, Lysias?"

	"Tsk tsk, Pantyhose, you shouldn't interrupt me when I'm
complimenting your boss!  And I gotta ask, folks... are you looking
forward to having the ever-loving crap pounded out of Marlo Semaj?"  The
expected response was received, and Jack nodded and continued, ignoring
Tarou's increasingly suspicious gaze.  "Of course you are!  But... I
feel it's my duty as a participant in this federation to shed some light
on some dubious actions that have taken place around that upcoming
match."

	Confused buzzing filled the Dome; Jack let it continue for a few
seconds before moving on.  He held up the substituted uniform, holding
it nice and close to the camera so everyone would recognize it.  "See
that, folks?  Little Miss Tendou decided it'd be fun to leave Shingo a
present before the match.  If she'd had her way, that would've caught on
fire just as soon as Shingo used his flames.  I ask you... is
that fair, folks?"

	Tarou folded his arms and sat back, ignoring the boos that had
started up in the audience.  "You can't prove that.  For all I know, you
made that and burnt it yourself.  Now.  Get the hell off the screen;
I've got a show to announce."

	Jack smiled in return.  "Yes you do, Tarou.  You sure do. 
Especially that match between our normally-outfitted Shingo and Beek's
pwecious liddle furniture fighter.  But... oh DEAR.  He's not in top
form yet, is he?  And if your ace in the hole is gone... well, I know my
boy will still be fighting at REBOOT next week, but who knows if Marlo
will be in shape to?"

	Just before the screen flickered off, Jack let his smile grow to
maniacal levels.  "And what a shame that would be.  But I'm a fair
guy... whatever the audience decides is fine by me."  With that, the
screen went back to the normal logo, but the audience continued acting
as they had under Jack's prompting.

	Tarou calmly replied -- after taking a few seconds to compose
himself, that was -- to the accusations, "Since you all know that this
show isn't about to be directed by unsubstantiated charges from any
moron that thinks he can run a stable, I think we can move right onto
the first fight."  The boos continued, though, pulling a scowl onto
Tarou's face.  "Will you just shut up so we can move on?"

	Sana glowered at him.  "How'd you get this job, anyways?  I should
do all the announcing from now on!"

	"Like hell you will," he muttered under his breath.  Speaking to the
audience, he continued, "So let's get things underway.  Entering now are
the Jusenkyou Surviv... oh.  S&M."  He rolled his eyes.  "How witty."

	Sana smacked him across the back of the head with a squeaky mallet,
totally ignoring the disbelieving looks she got in return from the
belligerent martial artist.  "You can't announce at all!  Okay, folks,
entering the Dome RIGHT NOW are S!  And!  M!"

	Booing, continued from Jack's announcement, greeted Shampoo and
Mousse as they appeared at the top of one of the entrance ramps. 
Shampoo stalked forward, head held high, and grabbed a proffered mic. 
"You boo us?  We no care, we no care at all!  You stupid enough to cheer
for smelly jungle people who fight like animals over trained Chinese
Amazon warriors, we no want you to cheer for us!"

	Beside her, Mousse nodded mutely.  Given that backup, Shampoo
continued.   "Maybe we have to beat all teams here before you see we the
best?  Then we beat all teams, for no one fight like Amazons!"

	Before she could continue, a low, pulsing drum beat began to sound
throughout the Ultradome.  Green and yellow lights flashed on and off in
time with the music, momentarily making the interior look like it
belonged in the depths of a rain forest.  As the music swelled to a
pounding crescendo, Blanka and Cham Cham appeared at the top of the
opposite ramp, looking confident, pumped, and generally darn happy to be
there.

	After Blanka showed her which end to talk into, Cham Cham raised her
microphone high.  "You no beat us!  Blanka-chan and Cham Cham not lose
to you!"

	"We see, jungle girl!"

	"Now we fight, purple girl!"

	Tarou rested his forehead in his palm and groaned.

	Blanka and Cham Cham -- with Paku Paku clinging to Cham Cham's
shoulder -- ran down the ramp, bounding easily down its gentle slope. 
Shampoo set a more leisurely pace for her and Mousse to follow, swinging
her hips back and forth  and smiling kittenishly at the audience.  They
booed her anyway.

	As Shampoo and Cham Cham climbed into the ring, the referee raised
one hand.  "You know the rules.  Fight!"

][ LAMBDA MATCH #1
][ JUNGLE WARRIORS vs. S & M
][ FIGHT!

	Shampoo raised a bonbori high overhead and favored Cham Cham with a
tight gaze.  "You no stand in our way, jungle girl."  No sooner had she
declared her intent than she rushed forward, a grim intensity burning in
her eyes.  The concrete sphere rushed down at the green-haired girl's
head, only to swipe through empty space as Cham Cham sprung backwards.

	The Joketsuzoku growled and rushed forward, bonbori ready for
another strike.  She swung wide with one, allowing Cham Cham to throw
her weight to one side, only to plant the other weapon into the mat. 
Feet whipped free of the ground as she used the  handle to propel
herself into an arcing kick, aiming right for the green-haired girl's
head.

	The slipper-clad foot connected solidly, sending Cham Cham tumbling
head over heels towards the ropes.  Shampoo smiled at the success of her
ruse, but didn't pause in her advances.  She raised the bonbori in her
right hand high, ready to bring it down on the dazed girl's head.

	Had Cham Cham actually been dazed, it might have worked.  Instead of
laying there and taking the hit as Shampoo expected, though, the jungle
fighter instead whipped out her boomerang, hooked it around Shampoo's
ankle, and yanked backwards before the Amazon had a chance to react.  A
high kick to the chest sent Shampoo far enough off-balance to make her
crash backwards onto the mat, landing inelegantly on her rump.

	Ignoring both Tarou and the audience's laughter as she climbed to
her feet, Shampoo eyed the boomerang in Cham Cham's hand warily.  "You
think your weapon better?  It go far, but not as far as attacks from
fighter what use hidden weapons!"  She'd been slowly moving backwards,
only to suddenly whip around and slap Mousse's outstretched hand.  "Show
stupid girl what happens to those what challenge us!"

	Cham Cham favored Mousse with an expectant smile as he took the
ring, but he seemed more beleaguered than eager; Shampoo's fierce
cheering from outside the ring only served to demonstrate the
difference.  He easily slid into an offensive position, though, looking
ready to do as Shampoo wished.  Light from the lights overhead sparkled
in his grey-blue eyes, now clear and focused behind his contacts.

	"You ready to figh- wah!"  Cham Cham desperately threw herself to
one side as a mass of metal was suddenly launched at her.  The dulled
blades, sledgehammer, and baseball bat were all avoided, but a pair of
heavy-gauge chains managed to find their ways around her wrist and
ankle.  She tugged at the bonds, hit them sharply with her boomerang,
and then blinked in astonishment.  "Is no like vines!  No can cut
through!"

	She let out a yelp as Mousse yanked sharply back on her bonds,
dragging her across the mat.  Flexibility gained from her jungle life
allowed her to bend nearly flat at the waist, leaning forward to tug on
the chain wrapped around her ankle.

	"She down, Mousse!  Good job!  Hit before jungle girl has chance to
get away!"

	The reluctant look on Mousse's face vanished at Shampoo's praise,
replaced with an equal mixture of disbelief and giddy joy.  Reacting
just like he did every time a bone was thrown to him by the
violet-haired girl, Mousse redoubled his efforts, showing off every iota
of his skill with hidden weapons to impress her.  He whipped his free
arm forward, launching a new stream of projectiles at his opponent.

	Cham Cham yelped as she rolled away from the new wave of attacks,
managing to dodge some and having to block others as best she could with
her boomerang.  She tugged at her leg, still trying to free it from its
bonds.  Around them, the audience's booing revealed that they wanted to
see her get a chance to fight back, too, but Mousse ignored them.

	"Shampoo's proud of me!" he grinned, using the chains to whip Cham
Cham back and forth across the rough material of the mat.  His attacks
were halted, though, when the chains simply pulled to tautness.  He
frowned.

	Cham Cham smiled up at Blanka, whose outstretched hand she'd
managed to snag in the midst of getting swung around.  He tugged at her,
trying to free her from her bonds so she could leave the ring, but
Mousse wasn't letting go.

	Shampoo smiled ferally from her spot at the ropes.  "She no can
leave ring, still need to fight, yes?"

	The referee frowned.  "Well, she tagged out... but if she is
incapacitated in the ring, she has to be able to leave under her own
power."

	The audience booed, but Shampoo and Mousse smiled triumphantly,
ignoring Blanka's unsettled howls as he yanked on the chains.  Cham Cham
clutched the edge of the ring, her muscles straining as she tried to
force herself free.  Paku Paku danced around by ringside, squeaking out
encouragement and motioning her forward.

	With one mighty heave, she managed to throw her hips to the side,
sending her rolling over the side of the ring.  Mousse, surprised by the
sudden pull both from her movement and gravity, stumbled forward a few
steps, only to meet the fierce glare of Blanka as the jungle warrior
leapt into the ring.

	Before Mousse could retract his chains, which had been escaped by
Cham Cham after they finally slackened, Blanka grabbed them in his meaty
hand.  The long-haired boy paled.  Shampoo did the same.

	The audience collectively winced as electricity danced up the metal
lengths, traveling into Mousse's sleeves and finding more targets in
the other weaponry the Amazon kept hidden.  Mousse wobbled dizzily, then
toppled over, scattering weapons across the ring as he fell.  Just
barely did he escape getting pinned under Blanka as the monster jumped
at him.

	Shampoo yelled encouragement as she had throughout the match, her
voice drowning into the general clamor of the audience.  Not once did
she call for Mousse to leave, though, and so he didn't presume to force
her in.  Instead, he danced backwards away from Blanka, using whatever
weapons he could without a repeat of his earlier frying.

	"Awroo," muttered Blanka as a training potty bonked off his head. 
He moved forward once more, only to fall on his face.

	The referee spun and eyed Shampoo suspiciously, but she simply
smiled at him, a picture of innocence.  Behind him, Blanka climbed back
to his feet, rubbing one of his ankles.  The pursuit then continued,
with the referee following them; no sooner had the ref stumbled over one
of the scattered weapons in the ring than did Blanka topple over again. 
The audience's boos swelled, but Shampoo still looked guileless when she
met the official's gaze.

	It was the third time that caught her.  As Blanka went crashing to
the mat again, Shampoo went to retract the chain she'd snagged from
where it'd fallen to the mat. She ended up merely letting out a yelp
as a wooden blur struck her sharply on the wrist.  From across the ring,
Cham Cham narrowed her eyes as she caught her returning boomerang.  "Is
not nice to cheat like that."

	Shampoo looked up at the referee as he stormed over, her hand still
resting on top of the chain she'd used to snag Blanka's ankle.  She
stared at him levelly, unashamed of her position.

	It did seem to pose a problem to the referee, though.  He
pointed away from the ring.  "Disqualified!  Jungle Warriors win!"

	As the bell rang, signalling S&M's loss, Shampoo flashed a haughty
gaze at the referee.  She threw her shoulders back defiantly and
motioned for Mousse to come to her side.  "This stupid place if being
smart in fight is wrong.  We no need your yes or no, we prove that no
one here fight like Amazons.  Come, Mousse.  We make plans for next
time."

	Hesitating for a moment as he looked down at Blanka, Mousse slid out
of the ring, taking his place by Shampoo's side as she strode up the
ramp.  He took the chance to ask, "Were you really proud of me,
Shampoo?"

	She considered the question for a moment, then flashed a coy glance
at her partner.  "You not do bad, Mousse.  Not bad at all."  As he
giddily smiled, Shampoo echoed the expression, but with a much more
calculating twist.

	Cham Cham and Blanka watched their opponents leave.  The girl
finally turned to her partner.  "Cham Cham not know people here fight
like that," she frowned.  "But we off to good start, right?"

	"Awroo!"
	
	Sana-chan bounced up and down in her seat.  "And the Jungle Warriors
get their first win!  I'm glad they beat those stupid cheating people!"

	Tarou muttered as he looked up towards the camera.  "We'll have a
match with real fighters soon, who actually sound like they've passed
the second grade.  Stay tuned."

	"I told you to let me announce!  Stay right in your seats and DON'T
MOVE AN INCH!  Because the very best show on earth will be RIGHT BACK
and IN YOUR FACE!"

	"Whatever."

*  *  *  *  *

	Tifa impatiently flicked sweat-laden hair out of her eyes and stared
around her, trying to make out her target in this vast subterreanean
basement.  In yet another example of Nabiki's cost-cutting drive, dim
and flickering flourescent bulbs provided the only illumination of
the dank concrete lair.  It was a good place to practice without
anyone watching, though.  And since she couldn't be sure of exactly
what would be coming at her in REBOOT, the rougher environment was
ideal.  She spotted what she was looking for and refocused,
bouncing from foot to foot.

	"Ready?" she called.

	"Teef, your opponents aren't going to wait for you to do that," her
target grumbled.  "Just get on with it and bust my ass."

	"Maybe later," the brunette grinned, winking salaciously.

	Her partner grinned back, relaxing slightly.  Which, as it turned
out, was a mistake.

	Tifa pushed off with her back foot and soared forward, accelerating
towards Bean before he could blink.  With no time to recover from his
surprise and counter-attack, he stepped back and tried to block as
she dodged left, feinted right and finally landed a blow on his left
cheek.  It didn't hurt all that much, Bean thought dimly, as his
partner followed up her advantage with a quick succession of blows to
his unprotected head.  He reached out to grab her wrists, but Tifa
was a fast learner and had already ducked down into a leg sweep.  Bean
landed on his butt and rolled, trying to put some distance between
them.

	By the time he was back on his feet his partner had disappeared into
the gloom.  "Tifa?" he called suspiciously, crouching into a ready
position.

	"BOLT!"

	Bean cursed and dived out of the way, the lightning arcing over him
to earth on a collection of metal pipes.  He picked himself up again --
with effort, kevlar-lined clothes weighed a *lot*, however helluva
tough you were -- and narrowed his eyes, wary of the next attack.  He
squinted through the darkness, trying to make out his opponent.  He
should have looked up.

	A light patter of feet on the pipes above him was all the warning
Bean had before Tifa dropped on him, throwing him off balance and onto
the floor for the third time that evening.  She expertly avoided his
instinctive attempt to throw her off and twisted herself onto his chest,
trapping his arms with her knees and leaning forward, fist cocked and
ready to do some serious damage if he tried anything.  Bean froze.  "I
surrender," he said, not exactly worried, but a little uneasy at the
dead serious expression on her face.

	Tifa nodded.  "How was that?" she asked, relaxing somewhat.  She
didn't get off him, but Bean wasn't about to complain.

	"Good!" he said, squirming slightly.  "Really good.  You're packing
more power into your punches, Teef... and you're making good use of your
surroundings.  Just remember that those tactics won't work on people who
are much faster than me.  You've definitely got something going against
the strong ones, like Satan, or that Akane chick.  But watch out for
Morrigan, okay?  She's a flier, and that's bad news.  And she's a bitch
besides."

	"I know," Tifa agreed, frowning slightly in thought.  "I'll need to
work on plans for Morrigan... but apart from that, you think I'm ready?"

	"Yep. Knock 'em dead."

	Tifa grinned slyly as another thought occurred.  "Oh, I will, I
will.  Later.  But for now..." and she leaned forward and kissed him. 
It
was quite some time before either of them thought about REBOOT again.

*  *  *  *  *

     The UltraDome is surprisingly large.  Aside from the arena itself 
and the attendant concession areas and vendor's booths and restrooms and
janitorial storage and other places that were fairly standard, the 
UltraDome also housed the MTCFF Ultra, Inc. corporate headquarters, 
a dormitory for its fighters and staff, a dojo, and a sprawling set 
of sub-levels housing the impressive array of technology that made Ultra
possible.  Things such as force field generators, multi-dimensional
cable feed, and dimensional gates.

     In the sub-level where this last specimen of technology was 
located, Shinji Ikari was trying to find a room.

     Specifically, he was trying to follow the instructions he'd 
written down.  Unfortunately, 'B3 - 327, T-3 CDgm prtl, Ayanm. b4 mtch' 
was proving to be a fairly unhelpful reminder.  So, Shinji fell back on 
a tired and true tactic--wandering around and feeling sorry for himself.

     It felt kind of odd to be back here again, in the Ultradome.  Even 
in the beginning, most of the time Shinji had entered his battles 
by being teleported directly from the EVA hangars in Tokyo-3.  After 
his rebellion and merging with Unit-01, he had found that the complete 
synchonization with his Evangelion had given him the ability to move 
between Heaven and Earth at will.  This made things convient, so that 
he'd never really bothered going to the UltraDome much.

      Not that it had mattered.  Lately, he had managed to entangle 
himself in a series of fights with both his father and the enemies of 
his newfound home.  Only the fact that Jack or Nabiki had felt like 
televising them really connected him to Ultra anymore.

      Everything was going wrong.  Kaoru was in a coma and might never 
wake up.  Asuka hated him and had become an agent of Hell.  Rei was
still being used by his father.  Aerith, who had given him the courage
to stand up to his father, was a prisoner in Hell.  And he couldn't help
any of  them...  The most effective thing he had done was to prevent his
father from capturing that Skuld girl, and in the end, she had mostly
rescued herself.

      Still, he had another chance.  Rei had called (although he had no 
idea how they got phone service between Earth and Heaven or where Rei 
had gotten his phone number) and asked to speak with him.  She hadn't 
been able to tell him much at the time, only giving him a location and 
saying it was important.

      Maybe, just maybe, it was a chance to let Rei escape from his 
father.

      Eventually, Shinji found Room 327.  Opening the door, he looked 
around the room.  It was awfully dark.  Shinji stepped inside and felt 
along the wall for a ligth switch.

      Before he could locate it though, the sound of a soft footstep 
came from behind him.  "Rei?" Shinji asked as he turned to face the 
source of the noise.

      Shinji caught a brief glimpse of red eyes before a hexagonal 
field of energy filled his world, slamming his head into the wall.

     After that, everything went dark.

*  *  *  *  *

     A few seconds later, Rei flipped on the lights.

     Ritsuko and a crew of NERV MIBs entered from their hiding places 
somewhere in the hallway.  Ritsuko knelt down, quickly checking 
Shinji's pulse, then administering a seditive.  The NERV operatives 
loaded the unconcious boy onto a bubble stretcher.

     "Good work, Rei," the older woman stated after she finished 
examining Shinji.  She stepped over to the far end of the room and 
ran a passcard through the portal mechanism.  The circular arch of 
the device crackled for a moment as blue disk snapped into existance.  

      "Let's head back and deliver Shinji to the Commander," said 
Ritsuko, passing the card back to Rei.  The dark-suited goons hefted 
the stretcher as Ritsuko motioned them forward, before disappearing 
into the portal's blue disk.

      Rei followed a few steps behind, frowning slightly.  Two 
field operations in as many weeks had kept her away from the 
UltraDome.  She'd see him next week.  That would work, given that 
there were no scheduled Omega events for the pay-per-view.  But what 
if Lilith had...

      Rei sighed softly and stepped into the blue.

*  *  *  *  *

	Before any construction and/or remodeling inside the Ultradome could
proceed, seventeen forms had to be filled out in triplicate, eight
different signatures had to be acquired, and then a waiting period of
approximately three weeks had to pass.  Everyone agreed that for an
organization this size, that level of bureaucracy really wasn't that
bad, and dutifully filled out the forms.  Red tape was red tape, and
certain procedures had to be followed to work within it.

	Not surprisingly, Jack had ignored all of them.

	He nodded approvingly as the sledgehammers pounded into a wall,
crumbling it into a pile of wood and drywall.  Things were moving right
along for CHAOS to finally have a real base of operations, a war room
where they could make plans without inter-

	"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO OUR ROOM?"

	Turning to face the door, Jack met the twin horrified stares of
Jessie and James as they returned to what was very definitely not their
dressing room as they'd left it.  "Mind knocking next time?  Keep
sneaking up on people like that and you'll give them a heart attack!"

	The twin stares watched the sledgehammers fly, widening as a
particularly large hole was opened.  They worked their mouths wordlessly
for a moment, only to finally repeat, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO OUR ROOM?!"

	Behind the uniformed teens the rest of CHAOS could be seen, wincing
as they peered inside.  Jack, in too good a mood to let their shock
affect him, motioned everyone forward.  "Isn't this great?  Our old
place was a sardine tin with just four people, but this... THIS will be
the kind of place to wage a war from!  I convinced those psychos next
door to switch with you, Shingo, so we're just putting the two
together!"

	Looking up from his dazed inspection of the work, James weakly
asked, "You mean Sie and Athena?"

	"Isn't that what I just said?"  Jack rolled his eyes.  "Try to keep
up, okay kid?"

	Sakura stalked forward and glared at Jack; he instinctively took a
step away from her burning gaze, but she matched him pace for pace. 
"What do you think you're DOING?"

	"Geez, I didn't know you were best buds with Team Rocket, Sakura. 
When did this start?"

	"Don't you have any respect for people, Jack?  What, are you going
to try to film a commercial up Jessie's skirt next?"

	Jack blinked at her for a moment, only to grin as realization
dawned.  "Ohhhhh.  You shouldn't be mad about that, Sakura, even if you
shouldn't have chosen polka-dot panties that day.  The fans loved it. 
We got letters!  Wanna see?"

	Her left eye twitched.  Behind her, Jessie and James clutched each
other and sobbed as the workers demolished their room, coating all their
various and sundry shrines to their own magnificence in a layer of
plaster dust.  Rounding out the group, Shingo winced, Daisuke paled, and
Pikachu fell over laughing at Team Rocket's dismay.

	In other words, the last best hope against Nabiki's questionable
management was in a bit of a rough spot at the moment.

	Before anyone could make another move, a surprisingly clear and
assured voice rang out.  "Everyone, stop it RIGHT NOW."

	Jack turned and looked at Daisuke in surprise.  "...er, yeah?"

	"This needs to stop right now.  Jack, this isn't Sex and Violence,
and you can't just do whatever the hell you want.  You drove Lilith out
of that, fine, but we can't afford to have someone leave here.  Think
how it'd look."  Daisuke turned to Sakura next.  "Jack should've asked
you about the commercial, yes.  But nothing more was shown than is seen
every time you make your entrance in the ring."

	She blinked, taken aback.  "Err."
	
	Daisuke was about to continue, only to be distracted by an insistant
pull on his pant leg.  He looked down at Pikachu questioningly.

	"Pika!  Pichu!  Pi!  KACHU!" the pokemon rattled off as it pointed
at Team Rocket.  Drawn from their sobbing by the familiar sounds, Jessie
and James were now glaring at Pikachu as it shook a balled-up paw at
them.

	Daisuke twitched, but continued on in his same controlled tones. 
"And you three... will need to sit down and have a nice long... er...
talk."  Ignoring the foolishness of encouraging a discussion with a
pokemon, he continued, "You two are trainers, so train him.  And
Pikachu, remember that Nabiki would kick you out of here without Jessie
and James."  He spun on his heel.  "And Shingo!"

	The teen shrunk back as Daisuke's attention was suddenly focused on
him.  "What?" he cried out, deperately trying to think of what he'd done
to require a talking-to along the lines of the rest of CHAOS.

	"You'll need to pack up your old room, because it looks like you're
moving!  Jack's right, we do need a good center of operations!  Good
thinking, Jack!  But clue people in next time beforehand!"

	"Uh... thanks?" Jack said, scratching his head.  He wasn't used to
this version of Daisuke.

	"And Sakura!  Good luck on your match today!  Jessie and James, Jack
and I put together some promotional gigs for you this week; I'll have
the schedule after the show!  Jack, great job on working the audience! 
Shingo and Jessie, we'll all be rooting for you at REBOOT!" 
Daisuke stopped to catch his breath, only to see that everyone in the
room was staring at him.  He paused and went back over his actions of
the past few minutes, blinking.

	Jack eyed Daisuke as he said, "Right, then.  I'll keep handling the
stuff onscreen and you... keep doing what you just did.  And remember,
everyone, don't leave important stuff outside of this room."

	Everyone nodded, more relaxed and considerably less confrontational
than before Daisuke's intervention.

	Sakura looked between her two managers and slowly nodded.  "I'll go
get ready for my fight.  See you all ringside."

	Jack continued, "And yeah, make us look good next week, you two. 
Good luck and all that.  Fight the good fight.  Rah."  He twirled his
finger in the air and squeaked Mr. Duck.  "...I'm not doing a
cheerleader yell, Mr. Duck."

	As Sakura, Daisuke, and Jack filed out, Jessie, James, Pikachu, and
Shingo were left blinking at each other.  Shingo peered through the
quickly-widening hole, then looked back at Team Rocket.  "Well... hi,
roomies!"

	Pikachu looked at Team Rocket as the two looked at Shingo.  Despite
Shingo's attempt at cheeriness and the sound of swinging sledgehammers,
a pathetic whimper was the overriding noise in the newly-paired rooms.

*  *  *  *  *

	The smirk on the smug little bastard's face set her blood boiling. 
She eyed the military khakis that hung off his skinny little body, the
nasty steel-tipped boots poking out from beneath his slacks and the
steel chair poised in his scrawny arms and clenched her teeth.

	"YOU," she spat.

	He continued to smirk, the look in his eyes inviting her to attack. 
She lost no time in taking up his invitation, her mallet twirling in her
hands as she ran at him, battle aura flaring.

	She went for the chair first, sending it spiralling across the
training dojo, then took out his arms with blows aimed at wrist and
elbow.  A double knee-cap strike followed before she tossed the mallet
and kicked him in the chest.  Her hands blurred as she focused on his
face and ribs, feeling the satisfying crunch of internal breakage.  Her
face fixed in a snarl, she brought her elbows down on his crotch. 
Finally, knowing it was a little childish but unable to resist, she
stomped on his head until it exploded messily all over the floor
matting.

	Akane grinned nastily.  "Baka," she told the remanants of the
life-sized Marlo plushie.  Apparently they were very popular among Ultra
fans.  Probably for the same reason that she'd bought it.  She just
hoped that she'd be coming up against the infuriating loudmouth in
REBOOT...

	With that in mind, she moved to the middle of the dojo floor and
breathed deep, moving through basic kata.  If she *did* face Marlo, he'd
know exactly what a little girl could do.

*  *  *  *  *

	"WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME BACK TO ULTRA!!" Sana yelled into her
microphone.  "We've got what is going to be a SUPER EXITING MATCH!  Naga
the White Serpent, one of my favorite fighters, is up against Asuka
Langley, the EVA pilot from HELL!  This match is gonna have it all! 
MECHA!  MAGIC!  VIOLENCE!  AND NAGA'S AMAZING FANSERVICE!  ARE YOU
READY?!" Sana asked the crowd.

	The crowd cheered their enthusiasm.  "Of course they are ready.  And
we could have started already, if you weren't riding a sugar high." 
Tarou deadpanned, and got a squeaky mallet to the head for his troubles.

	"I already TOLD you to let ME announce.  And I don't NEED sugar like
that copycat Hiroshi, " Sana said to Tarou.  She uncovered her mic and
continued, "YEAH!  SO let's go right to the wonderful second moon of
Antares Prime!"

	Tarou smirked.  "Oh, so wonderful that nobody's ever heard of it,"
he commented, and got another angry look from Sana for his troubles.

	Sana turned back to the screen.  "And HERE WE GO!"

*  *  *  *  *

	Naga stepped out of the dimensional portal and looked out over the 
battlefield as it closed behind her.  It was the standard Omega
battlefield. Rocky, desolate, just what the doctor ordered for a brawl
between a sorceress and an evil mecha pilot.

	Naga had just recovered from last week's beating three days ago, and
was ready for anything.  "OHOHOHOHOHO!  Let that little girl come here!
As the former rival of God herself and newest fighter for heaven's will,
I shall emerge victorious!  She will fear the very mention of the name
of Naga the White Serpent!  OHOHOHOHOHOHO!"  Naga would have continued,
had Asuka not stepped through another portal, dressed in her black
plugsuit.  Of course, the fact that Asuka was glaring at her with
hate-filled eyes probably had something to do with it.

	"Ah, Naga the White Serpent," Asuka said to Naga, filling the title
with venom and scorn.  "Are you prepared to die today... because I'm
prepared to kiiilll you!"  Asuka looked at Gokuu.  "Come on, referee,
let me exact punishment on this top-heavy bitch of Lina."  At that,
the firey-haired agent of Cloud closed her eyes and bent over, coughing
up black blood.  At the sight of the blood, Naga panicked and started
backing away, her eyes slowly getting wider, but as Asuka started
changing form she regained control of herself.

	Gokuu looked at Asuka's rapidly twisting form, then at Naga. 
"Alright.  You both know the rules.  Let's go."

][ OMEGA MATCH #1
][ NAGA THE WHITE SERPENT vs. ASUKA SORYUU LANGLEY(EVA 02)
][ FIGHT!

	"It's time you paid for ruining my revenge, BITCH!" Asuka screamed
as she shot a thick bar of hellfire from her hand, which Naga dived out
of the way of.  "If it weren't for you, I could have KILLED that
sword-carrying BASTARD for my master!  And gotten revenge for his...
kiss.  Hehehehee... I'll show him a 'kiss' next time we meet...the kiss
of the reaper!"  The demonic EVA smacked its lips and bared a mouthful
of shark-like teeth that would put even Unit-01 to shame, as Asuka
ranted madly as she threw various blasts of hellfire at Naga.

	Naga, on the other hand, really didn't care what Asuka was whining
about.  She was too busy flying around in a Raywing spell dodging her
wild attempts.  After a particularly large burst of Asuka's fire, Naga's
Raywing spell was disrupted and she barely managed to land without
crashing into a cliff.  "ICICLE LANCE!" Naga yelled, as a thick spear of
ice flew at the EVA and shattered against the AT field.  "How
bothersome. Looks like ice won't do against the toy... RAYWING!"  Naga
jumped out of the way of another blast of flames and flew towards Asuka.

	Asuka, meanwhile, was throwing various blasts of fire at Naga and
screaming, "DIE! DIE!  Stand still and die, puppet of Heaven!"

	"I don't feel like it, little girl."  Naga flew close to the EVA's
head, dropped her Raywing, and muttered an incantation.  "MEGIDO FLARE!"
A ball of light extended from around Naga and Asuka stumbled forwards
and collapsed out of EVA form.

	Asuka had one single moment of clarity, as Megido Flare, besides
dispersing spirits, also removes feelings of ill-will. For one split
second, she saw everything she had done in the last few months without
the cloud of hate twisting her view.

	"Wha... What did you do to me?" Asuka screamed at Naga, as the
sorceress touched down from her levitation spell.

	Naga laughed.  "Just a little spell... merely a trifle for one of my
skill.  Tell me, though, how did you feel?"

	"I... Shinji... you...." Asuka mumbled... and her head snapped up,
eyes filled with hate once more.  "TRICKS!  LIES!  All you dogs of
Heaven are as bad as Shinji-baka!  Lies, confusion, all trying to
manipulate me!  Trying to  separate me from my Lord Cloud!"  Asuka sent
a blast of hellfire Naga's way.  "Now, you DIE!"

	"Hmph. Didn't figure that'd do much." Naga muttered to herself,
before starting to run sideways, firing off Freeze Arrows and Freeze
Bleeds at Asuka.

	The battle soon became a classic mage battle, with Naga dodging and
throwing ice spells, and Asuka standing still and using bars and columns
of fire.  And although Asuka could block any ice effect.... she had to
block EVERY ice effect, or be frozen.  So she had a few patches of ice
on her body slowing her down.  Naga, of course, didn't emerge completely
unscathed from all of the dodging, but she hadn't taken a full strength
hit yet.

	Naga fired off another Freeze Bleed, and as Asuka went to disperse
it, mumbled another incantation.  "DARK MIST!"  Suddenly Asuka found
herself in a black fog.  "Eerggh... enough with the tricks, Serpent!
Quit trying to prolong your inevitable death!"  Asuka sent out sweeping
bars of fire to disperse the fog, but failed to notice Naga's hurried
chanting.  As Asuka cleared the fog, she looked around for Naga.

	"DYNAST BREATH!"

	Asuka turned to the voice. "Ah, there yo-what--" and was frozen
solid in ice.

	Gokuu looked at the block of ice encasing Asuka and said, "Looks
like you win, Naga."

	Naga looked at Asuka one last time. "You received what you deserved,
little girl.  That's what you get for attacking Naga the White Serpent! 
OHOHOHOHO!" Naga laughed, as she walked through the portal back to
heaven.

	Xelloss came out of another portal and shook his head sadly. 
"Asuka-chan... you really need to work on not being frozen in ice.  I'll
come back when you're able to move again."  And with that, he left her
frozen on the ground of a desert planet.

*  *  *  *  *

	"What a great match!  Naga, one of the best fighters in the Omega
ranks, beats Asuka in a long mage battle the likes of which we haven't
seen since...  well, EVER!  YEAH!  GO NAGA!"  Sana cheered as the show
returned to the Ultradome.

	"Yeah.  Great match.  Fire, Ice, Fire, Ice.  About as exciting as
dropping matches in a bucket of water," Tarou said.

	Sana, however, completely ignored him.  "And the NEXT fight's going
to be better!  Sakura, the Shotokan schoolgirl versus Wolverine!  And
with Wolverine in the ring, we're SURE to see some BLOOD!  SO KEEP
WATCHING, PEOPLE!  YEAH!"

*  *  *  *  *

	Hiroshi was doing his best to look inconspicuous, he really was. 
He'd resisted the urge to disguise himself, reasoning (correctly) that
unless one was an expert, disguises just made one stick out more.  So
he'd gone for casual jeans-and-t-shirt-and-cap, pulling the cap brim
over his eyes for more, but not obvious, concealment.  Luckily, Nabiki
hadn't bothered to change the locks, so his security card to the myriad
back entrances still worked.  He kept an eye out for security cameras
and personnel, but didn't dart nervous looks in every direction, since
that would have practically screamed 'I'm not supposed to be here!'  In
other words, he did everything right.

	Unfortunately, since up until last week he'd been a regular on the
most-watched show in television history, anonymity wasn't really an
option.

	"Hey, thanks, man," the janitor grinned, tucking away his newly
autographed photo.  "I never saw you, okay?"

	Hiroshi nodded and hurried on.  The snack tray vendor in Corridor
C-14 had told him that Daisuke was last seen near the Lambda dressing
rooms.  Hiroshi hoped he was still there.  He needed to talk to his
friend. His calm, level-headed friend.  His calm, level-headed friend
who could help him out with his girl problems.  Granted, Daisuke's own
girl problems weren't exactly minimal, but Hiroshi was positive Dai
would have some sage advice, some wise words.  Failing that, he didn't
know what he could do, beside flip a coin...

	And there he was, in the corridor ahead!  Coming out of a dressing
room with Sakura and Jack!  Hiroshi gasped with delight and lunged
forward.  "Dai!" he called, "Daisu- GURK!"

	The security guard looked down Hiroshi's rapidly purpling face,
grinning lazily.  "Miss Tendou is *real* unhappy with you," he told the
clone, squeezing the boy's throat a little harder for extra emphasis. 
Hiroshi kicked out ineffectually, waving his arms in distress as the
guard marched towards an exit, the boy dangling in his massive fist.  A
few seconds later, he lay in a dumpster staring at the sky while the
guard dusted off his hands.  "And *stay* out," he grunted, slamming the
door for emphasis.

	Hiroshi was in no condition to protest about how cliched the guard's
lines were.  Semi-conscious and bruised, he lay there for several
moments before he groaned at sat up, rubbing his neck gingerly.  So.  It
looked like he'd have to handle his problems by himself.  He looked over
the edge of the dumpster and grimaced.  The first of those problems
would be how to get himself out of there without breaking a limb.  A
soft piffle of wings and a warm embrace solved that one for him, but
immediately presented him with another, as Lilith lifted him gently into
the air and set him safely on the ground.

	"Hiiiiii, Hiro-kun!" she giggled, snuggling up to him.  Hiroshi very
carefully kept his hands in a safe place -- that was, behind his back --
and nodded slightly in response.

	This didn't deter the succubus, who pressed herself closer against
him.  "Ne, Hiro-kun, I was so sorry to hear about you quitting!  But
that's okay, you can stay with me!  I mean, now that we both know that
you love me and that clone girl was just clinging onto you and-" she
stopped and peered into Hiroshi's face, puzzled.  There wasn't any of
the enthusiasm she'd been hoping for, or even the flustered expression
she'd been more or less resigned to expecting.  There was... nothing. 
The clone boy's face had gone frighteningly blank. "Hiro-kun?" she asked
uncertainly.

	Hiroshi didn't look her in the eye.  "Nabiki wasn't... entirely
accurate, Lilith," he said, his voice carefully level.

	Lilith moved away from him, confused.  "You mean you *don't* love
me?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

	"That's not it," the boy replied uncomfortably.

	"Then you still like the clone girl as well!" she accused, planting
her fists on her hips.

	"I- I need to think about it," Hiroshi stammered.  "I'm not quite
certain *what* I feel or who I feel it for... and I'm not happy that
Nabiki... told you what she did.  So... I'm sorry, Lilith.  I can't give
you any answers."  He got slowly and painfully to his feet, still
keeping his eyes averted from her.  "I... I promise I'll tell you when I
know, okay?"

	He walked away, head bowed and limping slightly.  Lilith made no
move to impede his progress, merely watching him with narrowed eyes. 
"Baka," she whispered softly.  But who she was referring to was unclear.

*  *  *  *  *

	The delivery boy checked his watch, then rang the doorbell again. 
"Miss Aensland?" he called.  "Special delivery from Miss Tendou..."

	"Leave it outside the door," a sultry voice replied.

	"Uh, I'm sorry, ma'am, but I need a signature," the boy insisted,
tugging uncomfortably at his collar.

	There was an exasperated exclamation, then a sudden howl that sent
frissons of primal fear down the boy's spine.  "Oh, be quiet," the
sultry voice snapped irritably, coming closer to the door.  There was a
*snikt* as the door was unlocked and swung open.

	The delivery boy fell instantly to the floor, lying motionless in a
puddle of his own nasally-ejected blood.  Morrigan poked him with her
toe for a minute, then wiped her hands on his uniform and picked up the
package, scribbling a signature.

	"They always come when I'm in the tub," she complained, re-entering
her room, but not bothering to close the door behind her.  She shrugged
a flimsy robe over her wet and glistening form as she sat down and
negligently sliced open the parcel with a well-honed fingernail.  It
contained seven folders, each headed with a different name. Morrigan
smiled.  It was good to be the champ.

	Wolverine howled again.  Morrigan looked over to where the crazed
mutant was tugging on the chain holding him to the wall.  "Shut up," she
told him, her eyes narrowing.  He snarled at her, backing off as she
stood up and strutted towards him, but not moving his wild eyes from her
amused ones.  She considered him for a moment, then bent down and
released the chain collar. "I know what *you* want," she murmured, a
husky chuckle escaping her throat.  She mentally put the folders aside
for later.  Business was business, but pleasure *always* came first...

*  *  *  *  *

	"And we're back!" yelled Sana happily, waving to the crowd.  "And do
we ever have a match for all you people at home.  It's gonna have all
sorts of yummy violence and carnage and gore and..."

	"Now hold on just one damn second!"

	The crowd cheered wildly as Jack, with Mr. Duck on one shoulder and
Pikachu on the other, strolled down the ramp with a microphone.  Shingo,
Sakura, Team Rocket, and Daisuke trailed behind as Jack motioned to the
crowd to let him speak.  "Somehow, I don't think this crowd wants to see
more of the Nabster's piss-poor booking.  Am I right?"

	The crowd whooped in approval.  Tarou, muttering something
unpleasant under his breath,  stood up, cracking his knuckles.  "What
have I told you about referring to Miss Tendo as 'Nabster'?  Now get
your sorry ass out of here before I have to get blood all over my nice
vest."

	"Wai! Blood!"

	Tarou looked back at Sana and shook his head.  Turning back to Jack,
he chuckled evilly. "Well? What's it gonna be?"

	Jack smiled. "I'll tell ya what it's gonna be.  Since Beek didn't
think to have one single, lousy belt go up for grabs tonight, we'll...
we'll just have to rectify that.  How about it, folks?  Do you want to
see someone defend their title?"
	
	"OF COURSE WE DO!!!" yelled the crowd.

	"Well then," said Jack, really working the crowd now, "since
Naberooni doesn't care about you people enough to book you a title
match... I guess it's up to CHAOS to provide you with one!  How would
you like to see a Gamma title defense tonight!"

	"WE'D LIKE THAT VERY MUCH!!!" yelled the crowd.

	"What the fans want, CHAOS provides!"  Jack turned around to face
the rest of the group.  "Sakura, would you come over here for a sec?"

	The cheering grew louder as Sakura, always a fan favorite due to her
grim determination, her never-say-die attitude, and her habit of
gratuitous fan service, stepped up next to Jack.  "First of all, I want
to publically apologize for that commercial a couple of weeks back,"
said Jack, a little more serious. "I was out of line, and I'll never do
anything like that again, right Mr. Duck?"

	*SQUEAK*

	"There, Mr. Duck will make sure I don't do it again," Jack
confirmed, extending his hand towards Sakura. "No hard feelings, right?"

	Sakura stood still for a moment before she reached out and shook
Jack's hand. "Yeah, no hard feelings," she said, leaning towards the
mike.

	"Great!" said Jack happily, mentally congratulating himself for
dodging a rightous beating.  "Now, I believe you have something you want
to say?"

	Sakura grabbed the mike and started walking down the ramp.  "Now, as
all of you know, Morrigan won the Gamma title at URD by sneak attacking
me right after my semi-final match against Shingo," she said, anger
flickering across her features.  "I'd expect no better from a DIRTY
SLUT like her, but still... I think I deserve another shot at the
title, don't you agree?"

	The crowd, already cheering for the "dirty slut" comment, turned
the volume up even louder, causing Sakura to crack a grin.  "So,
Morrigan, if you're listening, get your legs out from behind your head
and get your ass out here!"

	The screaming of the crowd was interrupted as Morrigan smoothly
floated out, "Nookie" by Limp Bizkit blaring out of the speakers at
ridiculous levels.  "Wasn't one beating enough, little girl?" she said,
smiling viciously.

	"Come down to the ring and I'll show you 'little girl', bitch!"
yelled Sakura, eliciting a chorus of "oooh"'s from the crowd.

	Morrigan's grin didn't fade in the least.  "Such foul language from
such a young, UNDEVELOPED pup.  How rude," she said, winking at Sakura,
who looked to be very close to having  steam come out of her ears. 
"I'll tell you what.  I was on the books as having the night off, and I
plan to keep it that way.  But, if you can beat my new pet tonight --
with some special stipulations to make it extra spicy-," here she paused
to run her tongue across her lips, "-then we'll set up a match for
UltraRage Epsilon.  Just you and me... one on one."

	"Aww, is the two-dollar crackwhore afraid to fight Sakura tonight?"
said Jack, sitting down at the announce table and putting on a headset.

	"What the hell do you think you're doing?" said Tarou, starting to
stand up again.

	"Shut up and let somebody with some charisma do the announcing,
schmuck-boy," said Jack, putting his feet up on the table. 

	Tarou was about to beat the tar out of Jack when Morrigan floated
down and put a hand on his shoulder.  "Miss Tendo said to let him have
his fun," she whispered in his ear, causing Tarou to (reluctantly) sit
down.  "As for you," she said, turning to Jack, "I'd advise you to watch
your mouth, lest we have a repeat of what happened at URD."

	Pikachu, still perched on Jack's shoulder, responded with an
adorable crotch chop.  "I think the little guy summed up my feelings
pretty well," chuckled Jack, grinning like a madman.

	Morrigan spun on her heel towards Sakura, disgusted. "So, do you
accept?"

	Sakura paused before responding. "Wait a second... what's the
stipulation?"

	Morrigan perched on one of the turnbuckles in a thinker pose. 
"Well, I had this great idea backstage... how about... a DRESS UP AS
YOUR FAVORITE POKEMON IN AN EVENING GOWN MATCH?"

	Sakura blinked. "A... what?"

	"Simple.  You dress up as a pokemon, you put on an evening gown,
first person to be knocked out or have their dress torn off loses."
Morrigan, seeing that Sakura was still confused, rolled her eyes in
disgust.  "If you're too stupid to understand, let me simply show you
what I mean. WOLVERINE!!!"

	The crowd fell silent as Wolverine made his way down the ramp.  Not
because they didn't care about him or anything, but rather that he
looked... different than usual.

	"And, in the Jigglypuff costume, wearing the red strapless gown with
the hip-length slits down the side," said Tarou, chuckling, "is
Morrigan's new pet, WOLVERINE!"

	"Kawaii... I think." muttered Sana, rather shocked.

	"Ooo-kay...this is about a seven billion on the weird-o-meter," said
Jack, shaking his head.
	
	"Pika pika." ("Yeah, what the f*%$ ?")

	Sakura, picking up her jaw off the floor, looked up at Morrigan.
"Umm... I guess I accept, if it'll get me my title shot.  Hold on a sec
and lemme get a costume together," she said, sliding out of the ring
towards Jessie, James, Daisuke, and Shingo, who were standing at
ringside.  "Any ideas, people?"

	"I dunno," said Shingo, scratching his head. "I don't know much
about women's evening wear, but I'd bet you'd look pretty cute in a Mr.
Mime costume..."

	The other four STARED at Shingo, who coughed nervously. "What?"

	"Anybody ELSE have an idea?" Sakura said, grimacing.

	Jessie smiled. "If it's costume change you need..."

	"...then you've come to the right people," James finished,
semi-dragging the reluctant Sakura into the ring.  Once there, they set
up a large square curtained area and disappeared into it. 

	There were several moments of silence before a yell of "You've got
to be kidding me!" came out of the curtained area. Several placating
sounds were next heard, followed by a disgusted sigh and the sound of
clothes rustling. 

	Finally, after a few more minutes (and several more curses from
within the curtained area), the lights dimmed. Everyone in the audience
know what was coming next.

	"PREPARE FOR TROUBLE!"

	"AND MAKE IT DOUBLE!"

	"To protect the world from devastation!"

	"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

	"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

	"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

	"JESSIE!"

	"JAMES!"

	"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

	"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

	Silence.

	"Sakura, now!" Jessie whispered, straining to maintain the powerpose
she was in.

	"Do I have to?"

	"Yes!"

	With a sigh, Sakura stepped into the spotlight, wearing her black
leather fuku, bunny ears, and a white bunny tail.  Going into a
half-hearted powerpose, she shook her head.  "Cheesecake, that's right,"
she monotoned.

	The crowd, after a moment of shock, cheered wildly, the guys
predictably cheering a bit louder than the ladies.  "And Sakura stuns
the crowd by taking the form of Cheesecake!" yelled Jack, clapping.

	"What the hell kind of stupid pokemon is a Cheesecake?" said Tarou.

	"Ooh, lemme!" squealed Sana, pulling out her handy Pokedex (Only
$39.95 at stores near you. BUY IT OR WE'LL SHOOT THIS TOGEPI!!!)
Flipping it open, she pointed the little computer towards Sakura.

	"Cheesecake. The pokemon of luuuuuuv," said the Pokedex, its
normally monotone voice  dropping a couple of octaves on the last word
(causing most in attendance to sweatdrop.)  "This pokemon is known for
its frequent use of fan service.  But beware: if it catches you looking,
it will become very aggressive and angry."

	"Damn right I will!" yelled Sakura, shaking a fist in the air.

	Morrigan, looking on from above, smiled evilly.  "It's not
technically an evening gown, but I suppose it'll do," she said.  Licking
her lips, she smiled salaciously at Sakura.  "Actually, dressed like
that, I wouldn't mind going a few rounds with you..."

	Sakura megablushed as a good chunk of the audience passed out from
nosebleeds.  "B-but...we're both..."

	"And your point being?" Morrigan said, examining her nails. 
Sighing, Morrigan shook her hair out of her face and grinned.  "If
you're going to be a prude, then I suppose we should get started, ne?"
Slowly floating down to Wolverine, she mockingly patted him on the head.
"Time to get started, my little slave."

	For a moment, Wolverine looked ready to tear Morrigan into bloody
chunks.  Finally, he turned towards Sakura, popped his claws, and
started walking towards the fuku-clad fighter.

][ GAMMA MATCH #1
][ "DRESS UP AS YOUR FAVORITE POKEMON IN AN EVENING GOWN" STIPULATION
][ SAKURA vs. WOLVERINE
][ FIGHT!

	With a bestial cry, Wolverine lunged at Sakura, swiping at her head
with his claws.  Sakura ducked, but the claws hit her bunny ears,
slicing them to ribbons.

	"What the hell!  His claws are sharpened!" yelled Jack, getting up
from his seat.  "That's illegal!"

	"Oopsie, did I forget to mention the other stipulations?"

	Jack looked up at Morrigan, scowling.  "What other stipulations?" he
asked, as Sakura backed nervously away from Wolverine inside the ring.

	 "Silly me," said Morrigan, as innocently as she could manage. 
"This is a 'Dress up as Your Favorite Pokemon in an Evening Gown
HARDCORE FLAMING TABLE THUMBTACK LADDER C-4 INFERNO ELECTRIC CHAIR
HELL-IN-A-CELL BARBED WIRE PIRHANA TANK LOSER-LOSES-THEIR-SPLEEN
JAPANESE DEATH MATCH!'"

	Ever hear seventy thousand people megablink at the same time? Here's
your chance.

	"Wai! Spleen!" yelled Sana happily.

 	"...you've got to be kidding me..." said Jack, practically stunned
speechless.

	Morrigan laughed delightedly.  "Actually...yes, I am."

	Ever hear seventy thousand people facefault... ah, never mind.

	"Huh?" asked Sakura intelligently.

	"I made most of that stuff up just to see your reaction.  And trust
me, it was worth it.  Seems you're not quite as willing to do anything
and everything to please the audience as you claim, ne?"  Morrigan
smiled evilly.  "One thing was true, though, this is now a 'HARDCORE
Dress up as Your Favorite Pokemon in an Evening Gown' match!"

	"Aww, no spleen?" pouted Sana.

	Jack stared at the cutesy girl.  "You're messed up.  And coming from
me, that means A LOT."

	"Wai! Thanks, Jack-san!"

	Sakura barely dodged out of he way as Logan lunged at her again,
intending to cut out her throat. Landing behind her, Wolvy lashed out
with a back fist, which Sakura ducked as she was spinning around to face
him. Using that momentum, Sakura stood up with a spinning double
axe-handle to the jaw, stunning Wolverine and giving Sakura a chance to
unload her variation of the Shotokan Hurricane Kick.  The move smacked
Wolvy upside the head seven times, staggering him and sending him head
first into the far turnbuckle.

	"What a move by Sakura!" yelled Jack enthusiastically.  "It looks
like our girl is well on her way to a title shot!"

	"Sit down and shut up," growled Tarou.  "I'm sure Morrigan has this
all planned out."

	Wolverine got up quickly and charged at Sakura almost before she
could react, claws flashing wildly.  Sakura, unable to counterattack,
desperately tried to block the wild attacks.  She mostly succeeded, but
several shots got through, slicing up her outfit and opening up shallow
cuts all over her arms and torso.

	"And it looks like the only question right now is what's gonna get
torn to pieces first: Cheesecake-girl's little costume or her body."

	"Wai!  Bloody lacerations!"

	Tarou clutched his head in his hands and turned towards Sana.
"Okay, if YOU don't shut up right now, I'm going to gouge out your eyes
and commit unspeakable horrors upon the bloody sockets."

	"Wai! Unspeakable horrors!"

	As Tarou banged his head against the announcers' table, Sakura was
slowly but surely being taken apart inside the ring.  Try as she might,
there was just no way should keep up with Wolverine's speed, even though
he was wearing a Jigglypuff costume and a dress.  Out of desperation,
she reached out to grab his arm as he swung.  This earned her a nasty
gash across her ribs, but she managed to snag Logan's arm and chuck him
across the ring, slamming upside down into the turnbuckle to a roar of
approval by the crowd.

	"And Sakura finally manages to stop the bestial fighter's flurry of
blows!" yelled Jack, jumping up and down in his seat.  "Can she use this
brief respite to catch her second wind and prevail?"

	"Nope," said Tarou, chuckling evilly.

	Back in the ring, Sakura was clutching her side, trying to staunch
the blood flow from the cut she'd just received.  Her fuku was in
tatters, barely covering what needed to be covered, and she had cuts
oozing all over her body.  Seeing Logan slowly rising across the ring
from her, she grimaced. "I gotta get him before he can get back on the
offensive, or I'm screwed..."

	As Logan got up and turned around towards Sakura, he was met with a
running elbow from the female Shotokaner.  She followed this up with a
flurry of punches and kicks, desperately trying to knock Logan out fast
as she pounded on him in the corner, the crowd on their feet and
cheering wildly.

	Unfortunately, Sakura overextended on one of her kicks, allowing
Logan to sneak in a headbutt that knocked Sakura back.  With a roar,
Logan charged at Sakura, knocking her down and landing on top of her,
ready to tear her apart with his claws.

	With the wind knocked out of her and Logan's weight preventing her
from rolling out of the way, Sakura did the only thing she could to keep
herself from being mangled.

	She kneed him in the balls.

	As the male half of the crows crossed their legs protectively, Tarou
pounded his hand on the table, angry and surprised. "What the hell?  I
thought groin shots were banned!"

	"Hardcore rules, remember?" smirked Jack, as Pikachu blew Tarou a
raspberry.

	As Logan writhed on the mat, Morrigan flew up from where she had
been sitting to hover above the ramp.  "What're you doing, you pathetic
runt?!  Get up and finish her off!" she yelled at Wolverine, furious.

	Logan's eyes it up as Morrigan yelled at him.  With a deafening
roar, he got up and charged at Sakura, murder in his eyes.  Sakura,
barely standing, could do nothing to defend herself as Logan charged in
for the kill. 

	She was thus rather surprised when Logan jumped over her, landed on
the ropes, and used the momentum to propel himself at Morrigan,
screaming wildly.  Morrigan, not expecting the attack, barely had time
to throw out a Soul Fist, which crashed into Logan and sent him crashing
back to the mat, smoking and smoldering.

	"Fool!  Get back in there and finish..."  Morrigan paused as she saw
the ref signal for the bell.  "What are you doing?"

	Jack grabbed a mike and rolled into the ring, walking over to Sakura
and helping her stand.  "Sorry, Morri, but it looks like your fireball
burned the dress off of Wolvy," he said, averting his eyes from the
now-naked Logan.  "That means Sakura wins, which means she gets her
title shot at UltraRage Epsilon!"

	The crowd roared in approval as Morrigan flew down to the ring,
snarling.  "I'll kill you!" she yelled, advancing on Jack and Sakura.
Before she could get to them, though, Shingo and Team Rocket leapt into
her path (while Daisuke cautiously rolled into the ring.) 

	"You lost, hussy," laughed Jessie, holding a pokeball in each hand.
"Leave before you do something you'll regret."

	Morrigan looked ready to try her luck for a moment before she
relaxed and spun on her heel.  Gathering up the unconscious Wolverine,
she looked over her shoulder at Sakura.  "Maybe you will be fun after
all," she said with a wink, right before she teleported away in a puff
of smoke.

	With Morrigan gone, the members of CHAOS turned to check on Sakura.
"You okay?" asked Jack, using his power tie to bandage the cut along
Sakura's side.  Daisuke blinked down at Jack's action, then smiled.

	"I'll be okay in a few days," said Sakura, grimacing.  "I swear,
though, at UltraRage Epsilon I'm gonna give that bitch the licking she
deserves..."

	Every male in the building, predictably, passed out with a major
nosebleed.

	Jessie twitched and drew her boot back.  The amazing physiology of
Team Rocket somehow meant that a sharp blow to the head woke James up
instead of knocking him out deeper, and he blinked up at his partner. 
"Ow!" he whined as she yanked him to his feet.
	
	Sakura shook her head. "Lousy perverts..." she muttered angrily, as
Jessie and James helped her up the ramp to the infirmary.

*  *  *  *  *

	There are choices that set in motion vast trains of events,
split-second decisions between life and death, good and evil, truth and
lies.  There are monumental moments, ones where the decision of one
person can change the path of all humanity, a twig redirecting the
stream, redirecting the river and draining the ocean, moments when a
single snowflake settling softly will bring an avalanche thundering
down, moments when choices are not only choices, but events.

	This was not one of those moments.

	"It's not *fair*," Shermie pouted, choosing a nice blood-red nail
colour instead of her usual pink and twisting the bottle open.  "I
wanted to talk to Daisuke-chan!"  She painted with fast, expert strokes,
three strokes to a nail in the fashion recommended by make-up experts
everywhere.  "I wanted to do other stuff too, but talking would have
been nice.  But Xelloss-sama won't even let me out of the dressing room.
Oh no, *I* have to stay here and prepare for REBOOT.  By myself!"

	Her listener cocked its head in inquiry.

	"Yash-chan didn't even offer to help me train!  Not even to beat up
that nasty Jessie girl who stole our title!  Oh no, he wants to train
with Chris!  I bet all the other Lambda competitors have their teammates
helping."  The homicidally-inclined girl stopped for a moment to blot a
problem nail, then continued.  "And I'm *sure* Daisuke-chan would have
loved you.  Presents are an expression of the heart's true feelings,
after all, and what's a better gift than a living creature to love and
adore and torment the way I do my Daisuke-chan?"

	"*squeek*!" the hamster replied, scraping at the big purple bow
around its neck with a paw.

	"Exactly" Shermie agreed.  "I'd prefer something larger, but we all
have to start small, right?  Daisuke probably isn't ready for cats or
dogs yet."  She gave her furry little companion a critical look.  "You
know..." she said thoughtfully.  "I might not be able to give you to
Daisuke and watch him play with the miniature torture kit... but that
doesn't mean we can't have fun together!"

	The hamster looked up at her.  "*squeek*?" it inquired tentatively,
backing nervously into the corner of its cage.

	"It's been a while since I tortured anything but humans... I'm
probably out of practice!" Shermie enthused, hopping off her seat and
moving towards the cage.  "This way, I'll be able to tell Daisuke-chan
the best methods for sure!  And maybe I can make him a cute little purse
out of your skin..."

	"*squeek*? *squeek*! *SQUEEEEEEEEEEEK*!!!"

*  *  *  *  *

	"HIIIEEEE!" Sana yelled into her microphone.  "WE'RE BACK!  And
we've got a wonderful great match for all of you viewers!  The Hungry
Wolves are gonna fight those mean nasty Bison's Busters, and we're gonna
see a great match!  There's lots of anger here, and where there's anger,
there's great fighting!"

	"Unless the person falls flat on their face.  The Wolves have this
little problem of losing every time they fight the obviously superior
Busters.  Especially with that idiot blondie in the ring."  Tarou
finished his comment with an derisive smirk.

	Sana looked at Tarou oddly.  "But they have fighting spirit!  And
Andy's fighting for his brother!  Surely they'll do great!"

	"Well, it looks like Blondie's back in his own clothes again.  Maybe
he's back to his normal wimpy self."

	Indeed, Andy was dressed in his own clothing again as he came out
from the dressing rooms, moving confidently and surely, with Mai
following him in, bouncing all the way.

	Sana looked at Andy.  "Well, I heard he thought he was his brother,
but it looks like he's back to normal and ready to kick some BUSTER
BUTT!  WAI!"

	Tarou sneered.  "Or get his blond ass kicked.  He's still a loser,
and the Busters are ready to wipe the floor with them. Oh, and now the
mental case's calling for a microphone. What's he going to whine about
now?"

	Andy grabbed the mic and pointed to his clothes.  "You see these
Bison?  These are in memory of my brother!  And I'm ready to get revenge
for what you did to him!  Send out your Busters, unless you've got cold
feet."

	Tarou smirked.  "Nope, looks like he's just as messed up as before.
Now he's getting revenge for... himself?  What a complete loser.  Can't
even handle his brother's death."

	Bison's face appeared on the Ultratron, smiling evilly at Andy.
"Well, Terry Bogard, you want another taste of our power?  Very well. 
It's not like you can win anyway."  Sagat and Ken started moving out
from backstage.  "Especially since you couldn't win last time."

	Andy responded quickly, "Don't worry about me, Bison.  Worry about
yourself.  Because once I kick your little Busters around, I'm gonna
come and pound your face in." 

	"Come on, Bogard.  Attempt to get your revenge, if you can.  When
you lose, you will know how futile is is to fight me."  Bison's camera
moved back, and showed his hand at the ready on the joystick.

	Andy moved back to his corner to have one last conversation with
Mai.  "Remember, I'm here.  Don't ignore me; you can't win this fight
alone."

	Andy smiled at Mai.  "Don't worry, Mai.  I'm not going to make the
same mistakes I made before."

	Mai briefly hugged Andy before moving behind the ropes, and Andy
walked towards the middle of the ring where Sagat was waiting.  "Well,
Terry.  Looks like you're getting awfully cozy with your brother's girl.
Catching her on the rebound, are you?"

	Andy growled at him while cracking his knuckles.  "Don't talk about
her like that."

	"And what are you going to do about it, little man?  Gonna beat me
up?"  Sagat withdrew in mock fright.  "Oh, please don't hurt me, Terry! 
Heh.  Come here and get your head handed to you again."

][ LAMBDA MATCH #2
][ HUNGRY WOLVES vs. BISON'S BUSTERS
][ FIGHT!

	Sagat took a slightly defensive stance, ready for anything Andy
would throw at him.  Power Dunk, Burn Knuckle, he wouldn't be caught
unaware this time.

	He was taken completely by surprise when Andy launched himself
towards him with both feet in a flying kick.  Sagat was surprised and
managed to block the first hit, but not the flurry of fists that
followed.  "What?  You were acting like Terry!"

	Andy, grinning madly, drove his elbow into Sagat's gut and followed
with a ki blast from his hands.  "Fooled you, didn't I?  I'm fighting
for my brother, and now that I'm better, I'm ready to avenge Terry's
death!"  And with that Andy did a Shoryuu Dan, knocking Sagat up into
the air and sending him to the mat hard.

	Sagat got up and smirked.  "Well, looks like you might be a decent
fight after all... TIGER CRUSH!"  He flew knee first at Andy, who
sidestepped it, grabbed Sagat, and smashed him into the ground, kicking
him away afterwards.

	"And you're supposed to be the 'Emperor of Muay Thai'?  Hah!  Joe
Higashi's better than you anyday!" Andy taunted Sagat, pummeling him and
keeping him from doing much.

	"And it looks like blondie might have his act together after all,"
Tarou smirked.   "Of course, that's not good enough, when you have the
invincible puppet over there."

	Indeed, Sagat had managed to catch Andy in a Tiger Uppercut and tag
out.  Ken moved into the ring and Bison proceeded to give Andy a
beating.

	"And Andy is being beaten up and down the ring!  Come on Andy!  BEAT
UP THAT MEAN PUPPET!"  Sana was jumping up and down in her seat, while
Tarou gave her a disparaging look. 

	"I thought Hiroshi was bad..." Tarou mumbled to himself.  He then
turned his attention back to the ring.  "Well, my opinion of Blondie has
finally dropped to 'complete waste of space'.  He's being thrashed
heavily by Bison's superior skill."

	Andy had finally managed to put up a defense and was now attempting
to trade blows with Ken.  Unfortunately, for every Shoryuu Dan Andy
tried, he was knocked back with one of Ken's Shouryuuken.  In fact, very
little was getting through.

	Meanwhile, Mai was yelling at Andy.  "Come on, Andy!  Tag out! 
You're getting pummeled in there!"  And as Andy finally landed one of
his few successful attacks he jumped back and tagged out, earning a
smile from Mai before she moved into the fray.

	"And blondie does the smartest thing yet in this match, tagging out
to the ever-bouncy one.  Not that that will matter much, in the end." 
Tarou ended the statement with a look towards Sana-chan, as she bounced
even more in her seat.

	"Yeah!  Go girl!  You beat that nasty evil puppet into the ground!"
Sana-chan yelled.

	In fact, Mai was doing exactly that.  Whenever Bison tried a move,
Mai would counter.  Ken's Shouryuuken was met with a fan swipe,
fireballs blocked with fans, spinning kicks countered with flames. 
Bison mashed his control stick in  frustration as Mai managed to catch
Ken in an air grab and smash him to the ground, where he lay
motionless as the referee started counting down.  "Looks like we've
won, Bison."

	Bison smiled on the Ultratron.  "Well, fought, Shiranuai ninja.
Unfortunately, my fighter cannot be beat."  Bison pulled out a shiny
quarter and slipped it into the coin slot, ready to spring up and show
Mai a thing or two about fighting.

	Unfortunately for him, Ken didn't get up.  He twitched a bit on the
mat, but wouldn't stand.

	"Get up, you stupid doll!  What's wrong with you?"  Bison shook the
joystick around some more.

	"Sorry, Bison, but we're not going to let you use Ken anymore."  Mai
pointed over to Athena, who was sitting next to Sie.  Athena flashed Mai
a weak smile before returning her full concentration to keeping Ken
from moving. 

	Sana grabbed the microphone.  "And it looks like the puppet had his
strings cut!  The Wolves are gonna win this one!  Isn't that great,
Tarou?"

	Tarou glared at Sana.  "Wonderful.  Unfortunately, they should have
been paying attention to the match."  Sagat had managed to reach out and
tag Ken, and was proceeding to toy with Mai.

	"I'm not so easy to block as my punching bag over there," Sagat said
as he smashed Mai with a Tiger Blow, and followed up with a series of
punches and kicks in the air that knocked Mai back to the ropes.  "And
not as weak either, little girl.  Come here and I'll finish you
quickly."

	Mai smiled, moving back.  "No, you come here, big man.  Or are you
afraid of a 'little girl?'" Mai taunted the Buster, beckoning him with
her fan.

	"Very well then, I'll finish you now!  TIGER CRUSH!"  Sagat flew
across the ring, and hit Mai in the chest with his knee, grabbed her,
and drove her knee into her stomach repeatedly.  "Looks like you made a
mistake, little girl." Sagat finished kneeing her and threw her back
into the corner, where Andy tagged in.

	Andy knelt down beside Mai and started shaking her. "Mai? Are you
okay?"  She looked up at him, smiled, and fell unconscious.  Sie came up
to the ring and silently moved her out of the way, as Andy stood up and
looked at Sagat.

	Sagat was over in the corner, lying back against the turnbuckle as
if he were asleep.  When he noticed Andy was paying attention again, he
stood up and moved to the center.  "Oh, is Andy-chan not happy about his
girlfriend?  Feh.  She's too weak to fight."  Sagat would have
continued, but right about then Andy drove an elbow into his face.  The
audience could almost see a battle aura coming off of him. 

	"That is enough."

	"You and your master have brought pain to thousands, even millions
of people."  Andy smacked him down into the mat, picked him up, and
again smashed him down.

	Sagat got up, and drove his fist into Andy's solar plexus.  "So? 
They were weak and pitiful people.  Deserving of nothing but scorn.  Why
should we care?"  Andy grabbed Sagat and flipped him over his shoulder.

	"Because they have lives too.  People aren't your playtoys or your
property."  Andy launched himself at the Muay Thai master with both
feet, knocking him across the ring.  "And the same goes for you, Bison. 
Your Psycho Power doesn't give you the right to hurt so many people."

	Bison again smiled at Andy, as Sagat jumped at him and threw Andy
across the ring.  "It doesn't matter, does it? You can't stop me, and if
you can't stop me, why shouldn't I?"

	Andy stood up, and threw himself at Sagat, punching, kicking, and
using everything he had against his opponent.

	"And it looks like it'll be over soon.  The pretty boy's spending
all his energy, and Sagat's blocking most of it.  It's all over for that
wimp," Tarou said dismissively.

	Then Sagat landed a series of brutal punches and kicks that sprawled
Andy out into the corner.  "Looks like it's all over for you, kid." 
Sagat moved in for the knockout, ready to pound the younger Bogard into
submission.

	Andy looked up and smiled through bloody teeth. "I don't... think
so."  And launched himself at Sagat feet first, wreathed in flames.  A
close range Chou Reppa Dan connected with Sagat's chest, and carried him
all the way across the ring into the turnbuckle, impacting head first.

	Sagat, Emperor of Muay Thai, fell face first to the mat.

	The bell rang.

	"And the winners of the match... the HUNGRY WOLVES!"

	Andy was in a daze.  "I... I won!  We WON!  YES!  See, Terry?  We
did it!  We won!  And it was all for you!  We won for you, Terry!  See?"
Andy turned to Mai, who was just regaining consciousness.  "We won, Mai!
We did it!"

	Mai smiled happily at Andy.  "I'm glad Andy-chan.  I really am."  He
could hear the crowd's cheers.  The yelling.  The screaming.

	The... clapping?

	Andy turned around, to see the source of the clapping, and saw Bison
on the Ultratron, clapping and smiling derisively.

	"Well done, younger Bogard.  Well done.  Unfortunately, your victory
means nothing."

	"What?  Of course it means something!  I won for Terry!  It showed
that you aren't as invincible you would like people to believe!  And
now you'll have to stop controlling and torturing people with your
psycho power!"  Andy shook his fist at the screen.

	"Oh?  You mean because you beat two of my fighters, all of a sudden
I'm supposed to repent my evil ways and never hurt anyone ever again?" 
Bison snickered.  "Maybe retire and take up farming?"  Bison laughed out
loud at the thought.  "No, I think not. You have won only a small
victory here, boy.  I have agents and interests in every corner of the
globe.  This is merely a... diversion.  A way to kick back after ruining
the lives of thousands of people."  Bison's eyes widened  and he
teleported Sagat and Ken away, just as Athena and Sie were about to grab
Ken.

	"No, no, no.  You aren't even going to get your little friend back.
He's still a useful agent.  And a fun puppet as well."  Bison's smile
grew even wider as Andy continued to glare at him.

	"We're coming for you, Bison.  Just you wait!" he screamed.

	"Oh?  And when will you find me, Bogard?  Smarter and better funded
efforts have failed.  But you're welcome to try.  It would be amusing to
see you try to fight me.  Well, I must be off.  People to kill, and
all."  The screen faded to black, with Bison's voice barely coming
through.  "Enjoy your... victory, Andy Bogard."

	Andy looked at the screen in shock and walked backstage, carrying
Mai with him.  Athena and Sie followed him close behind.

	Sana yelled into her microphone.  "And the Wolves beat the Busters
in an exciting AMAZING comeback win!  Yeah!  Wasn't that great?"  The
croud cheered their agreement.

	Tarou snorted.  "Yeah, great.  Pretty boy manages to win a fight
which doesn't even do anything.  What a wimp."

	Sana looked at Tarou.  "But there was lots of ACTION! and HITTING!
AND LOTS OF EXCITEMENT!  Come on, Tarou!  Get into it!"

	Tarou looked down at Sana.  "Maybe I don't WANT to get into it,
hyper-freak.  Ever think about that?"

	Sana hmphed at Tarou.  "What a meanie.  Well, next up we're gonna
have a match between Marlo, the Furnityre Savior and--"  Sana stopped as
the space where the audience-protecting shield was flickered for a
second.  Nabiki's face immediately appeared on the Ultratron.

	"I'm sorry folks, but the energy shield that was protecting you
isn't working very well.  Equipment fails, and all.  So, rather than
risk your lives for a little match, I'm canceling the Marlo versus
Shingo fight."  Nabiki smiled apologetically.  "I know you had your
hearts set on seeing it, but you'll just have to wait for next week,
where both Marlo and Shingo will have their chances to shine."

	"Of course they will, Nabsy."  At that voice, Tarou was standing up
and glaring at the entrance, as Jack came in.  "But it's a real shame
that all your little workers can't get this fixed before the match,
Beek." 

	Mr. Duck squeaked.  "Oh, I'm sure she's got a perfectly good reason,
Mr. Duck.  I mean, it's not like she would cancel a match simply because
she couldn't cheat."  Jack smirked with the knowledge that he had gotten
the upper hand.

Nabiki smiled.  "Oh, I wouldn't want to risk the audience on a rush job,
would I?"  Her smile turned dark.  "Tarou, get him out of there."

	The enforcer grinned.  "Already on it, Miss Tendo."  And with that,
Tarou picked up Jack and dragged him backstage, kicking and screaming
all the way.

	Sana pouted.  "Well, darn.  I was looking forward to watching that
Marlo guy get pounded.  BUT STAY TUNED EVERYONE!  We've got a
super-exciting OMEGA match coming up!  Sephiroth, the man who wants to
be God, versus Shinji, the spineless Angel!  SO DON'T EVEN TOUCH THAT
DIAL! YEAH, THAT MEANS YOU!"

*  *  *  *  *

	The angry look on the little girl's face made him laugh.  He then
eyed the yellow gi that hung off of that stick of a body, the short blue
hair covering her head, and the mallet held in her arms and pulled back.

	"Well, little girl.  Looks like you are looking to get your ass
kicked," he said.

	She still looked angry, but that wasn't surprising.  "Looks like
I'll have to beat your head in, ugly little BOY."  And with that, he ran
at her, chair at the ready.

	He went for the head, smashing the chair over it with a satisfying
*CLANG* before moving on to the body, alternating chair blows and
pulling out various furniture to slam into her for close range damage. 
He heard her spine snap in two, and the gi collapsed to the floor, mask
and wig falling behind it.

	"Bitch," he spat at the coatrack covered in Akane gear, before
rubbing his arm.  "Christ, what luck.  Got my arm when she knocked me
down the hall."  Marlo noted the tables and lamps that were lying
against the wall, as well as the filing cabinet smashed to pieces.

	He was secretly glad he didn't have to fight Shingo this week, with
his arm having been twisted and his shoulder dislocated.  Had to hand it
to the little man-in-girl's clothing, she knew how to do damage.  Even
if she was just knocking you down the hall on a stretcher.

	But as Marlo once again attempted to heft a chest of drawers, only
to have it fall on the ground, he sighed and picked up a metal chair. 
"At least I can practice with something."  And when Akane met him next
week, he was going to show the entire world what a fully healed
Furnityre Savior could do to the head of an ugly unfeminine brick-bodied
freak girl like her.

*  *  *  *  *

	Andy was in the infirmary delivering Mai over to their care.  "You
sure she's going to be alright?"

	"Don't worry, Mr. Bogard.  We'll take care of her."  The doctor and
some orderlies set Mai up in a bed, and Andy plopped down in a chair
besides her.

	Andy looked at Mai for a moment, then put his face into his hands. 
"Oh, jeez.  Bison's right.  We didn't accomplish anything here.  We
didn't even recover Ken."

	Sie came up to Andy and patted him on the back.  "But we did show we
could beat Bison.  And next time, we can do even more."

	Andy looked up at Sie.  "Yeah. But like he said, he's got agents
everywhere, and a massive criminal network that spans the globe.  What
can we do that honestly hurts him?"

	"I don't know, but we can't let him get away with anything else."
They both turned to Athena, who was shivering.  "I got glimpses of Ken's
true mind when I was restraining Bison's control... and it's awful. 
Bison's put him through insane torture. I don't even know how well he
could recover if we got him back."  Athena let out a strangled sob and
Sie moved to support her.  "But we can't leave him with Bison.  We just
CAN'T!"

	"Don't worry, Athena.  I'm sure we can help him when we get him
back."  Andy leaned over and grabbed Mai's hand.  "Just recover, Mai. 
We won.  We showed Bison we could do the job. And got some revenge for
Terry."  Andy smiled as he thought of how proud his brother would have
been.  "For Terry."

*  *  *  *  *

	Earth's Former Greatest Hero sat alone in a darkened room, preparing
for next week's match the best way he knew how.  With a VCR.

	*click*

	...With the fluidity of a born martial artist, Tifa landed four
punches into Shermie's gut before the other woman had even recovered
from the earlier attack, much less had time to block.  At exactly the
right moment, she shifted to one foot and executed a roundhouse sweep...

	Fast.  Technically skilled.  Calculating, when not crippled by
emotional problems.  She might be less intimidating when not backed up
by her partner, but he still didn't want to face her.  And there was the
added disadvantage that as a Gamma competitor, he'd never faced Tifa in
one on one competition. Of course she had the same problem...

	*click*

	...Shermie sneaked behind Shampoo during a particularly aggressive
blow and caught her with a vicious German Suplex, turning to lean over
the top rope and blow kisses to the audience...

	Skilled, but somewhat flighty.  And very, very vicious, albeit in a
smiley, bouncy way.  Didn't care about fairplay, and was backed by a
maleovelent, ever-smiling guy with nasty powers.  Another Lambda girl...

	*click*

	...WHAM.  The ring thundered when the sofa landed on Akane, the
mallet not being enough to knock away something like that.  Marlo
quickly jumped onto the sofa, and using skills honed as a small child
when he jumped up and down on his bed until his mommy yelled at him,
stomped the sofa down harder and harder...

	A nasty little freak, basically.  There *were* ways to avoid his
furniture based martial arts, but all of the ones Satan had available to
him involved taking a lot of pain.  He shifted uncomfortably at the P
word, rubbing his stomach in reflex.  Meeting the brat in the early
stages of the tournament would be bad.  Even if he won, he'd be crippled
for the next opponent...

	*click*

	..."Your muscles are so THICK, big boy..." Morrigan purred, rubbing
her thigh up and down Mr. Satan's body.  He attempted to shove her away,
but the succubus-

	*CRASH*

	Mr. Satan looked at the chair in his hands, then at the remains of
the monitor, vaguely astonished at himself.  Well.  With some luck he
wouldn't have to meet the crazy bitch.  He didn't trust himself to stay
calm if he did, and a cool head would be vital if he was going to be the
champion.  Still, it couldn't hurt to be prepared against her. He sighed
and picked up the phone.

	"Hello?  This is Mr. Satan.  I'd like to order a life-size Morrigan
plushie... I'm sorry?  No... I don't understand... wait... What?  With a
PLUSHIE?  What kind of a sick FREAK do you think I am?... NO!  I want to
tear it up!  NO, NOT LIKE THAT!  ARGH!  Just send me one, pervert, and
it had BETTER have some clothes on!!"

*  *  *  *  *

     "WE'RE BACK!  And wasn't that a great commercial for MY SHOW?"
Sana screamed into her microphone.  "I want everyone to remember 
it!  Watch Child Toy, with me and Zenjirou-sensei, every weekday at 
four on Tokyo TV!"

     Tarou snorted.  "A show fit only for the brain-damaged and 
particularly stupid children."

     Sana stuck her tongue out at Tarou before continuing.  "And 
now, we're bringing you MORE REALLY COOL CRAZED VIOLENCE!  From the 
Island Closest to Heaven, we bring you the One-Winged Angel, 
Sephiroth!  He's really cool and has a cool black trenchcoat and 
this big sword and spells and stuff and a Gundam, even if he does 
have really, really lousy taste in girls and--"

      "Quit jabbering and finish announcing," Tarou instructed.

      "And he's facing Shinji Ikari, who's a big wuss and is 
going to LOSE because he's totally SPLEENLESS!  YEAH!"

      "She means 'spineless,'" pointed out a small white bat.

      "Anyhow, God decided to have no-spine boy challenge Sephiroth,
hoping to end his assaults on the weaklings Heaven's been using for 
agents," Tarou explained.  "Although, personally, I figure that Lina 
just got sick of the whiny little twerp and is hoping Sephiroth 
will off him."

     "That's mean, Tarou.  Now I'm going to have to root for Shinji, 
just because you're a big jerk!"

     "Whatever..."     

*  *  *  *  *

      Sephiroth and Goku floated out of their respective portals and
assumed there positions on the playing field.  Unfortunately, the 
third blue disk failed to appear.  

      Moments passed as the swordsman and the referee waited for 
the other fighter to appear.  The breeze off the ocean set Sephiroth's 
coat flapping.

     After a few more seconds, Goku looked back to Sephiroth and 
shrugged.  A small holographic screen popped in existance nearby, 
displaying a visably displeased Nabiki Tendou.

     "What's the problem, Goku?  In case you weren't aware, we've got 
a match to broadcast."

     Son Goku rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled a little.  
"Well, yeah, Miss Tendou, I know.  But one of our fighters hasn't 
shown up.  That Shinji kid's not here."

     Nabiki scowled.  "Fine.  Give Sephiroth the win by 
disqualification.  If Ikari wants to waste our time and money, he can 
handle the consequences of his actions."

     "If you say so..." Goku shrugged, as the holo-screen winked out.  
"Looks like you got the win," he added, addressing Sephiroth.  A pair 
of portals opened back up and Goku departed.

      Sephiroth gazed into the distance.  "The cowardice of your 
lackeys is astounding, Inverse," he said in a icy tone.  "I vow, 
next time, that yet another of your creatures will die by my hand."

      And then, he too was gone.  

*  *  *  *  *

	"Well, that wasn't too unexpected."  Tarou snorted.  "Shinji's
probably wetting his bed right now."

	"No!  No no no!  I wanted to see blood!  I wanted to see GUTS!  I
wanted to see VIOLENCE!"  Sana pounded on the table.  "Why?  Why, God,
why?"

	"I don't know, but Lina has some explaining to do," Tarou growled.

	"But it's NOT FAIR!"  Sana sniffled a bit, then blinked.  "Oh well. 
There'll be plenty more blood and guts and violence and people getting
their spines ripped out through their noses in Ultra REBOOT!  So you're
all going to watch it, aren't you?  AREN'T YOU?  MORE ULTRA VIOLENCE
NEXT WEEK!  MORE!  YEAH!  WAI!"

*  *  *  *  *

	Nabiki scowled as she flicked the holo-projector's switch.  Various
employees scrambled out of her way as she stalked to her office. 
Standing next to the door was her secretary, holding the figures for the
day.  Nabiki noticed with dark amusement that she was faintly trembling;
good, at least she wouldn't make a mess of things like that pathetic
cat-girl.

	Snatching the papers out of her hands, Nabiki favored her with a
curt nod before entering her office.  She sank into her chair with a
sigh and went about looking over the numbers.  She did not have a good
day, but as long as the audience was happy, it didn't matter.  Profit
was everything, after all, and they were her profit.

	She frowned.  The number at the bottom line, the total profits, was
lower than expected.  An improvement from what used to be the norm,
which wasn't that difficult -- she snorted at the thought of Jack ever
running Ultra again -- but still.  This would not do at all.

	The head of Ultra mulled this over as she filed the papers away. 
Things were... less than optimal, she would admit.  The biggest draw was
cancelled because Heaven's representative didn't show; she mentally
placed an X next to Shinji's name.  And the Marlo/Shingo matchup...
there was a knock on her door.

	Nabiki's head flew up as her train of thought derailed.  "What is
it?" she asked almost pleasantly.  It wouldn't do to make a bad
impression on a potential asset.

	"Tarou is here to see you, Miss Tendou," her secretary's muffled
voice replied.

	"Let him in."

	"I can't stand her!" Tarou cried as the door shut behind him. 
"Please, Miss Tendou, you have to change my announcing partner.  Even
Hiroshi was better than this!  Sana, she's-"

	"Be quiet," Nabiki interrupted.

	Tarou's mouth snapped shut.

	"I have more important things to do than worry about your problems,"
she continued.  "Sana's done a good job in rousing the crowd.  In fact,
she may be one of the very few good things that came from this taping." 
She eyed Tarou critically, and he almost flinched.  "Changing announcers
is *very* low on my list of priorities.  Do you understand?"

	Narrowing his eyes ever so slightly, Nabiki's enforcer nodded.

	"Good.  Now, I want you to make sure everything's on schedule.  We
need to prepare for REBOOT, and I don't want any slip-ups."

	"Yes, Miss Tendou."  Tarou turned on his heel and exited the office,
leaving Nabiki alone with her thoughts.

*  *  *  *  *

	Lina was pacing in her office. Not something you would normally
think God would do.  But when it's a god with a big problem, they pace.
Seriously, what does God do when she's uncertain?  She's the one in
charge, the one making the rules, the one giving the orders.  Your
Shelter, your Shield, your Rock. Well, she wasn't feeling like a rock
right now.  Lina sighed.  "I wish Bell or Urd would show up."

	"OHOHOHOHOHO! Hello, Lina!"  That wasn't Bell or Urd.

	Lina turned around and saw, surprise, surprise, Naga the White
Serpent.  "Hi Naga.  Good match.  Great use of Dynast Breath there. 
Wouldn't have thought to use Megido Flare, myself." Lina turned back to
the window, and looked out over heaven's... heavenscape.

	"Of course I knew what to use, flat-ches-urk."  Naga would have
continued, had Lina not picked her up by the throat.

	"Listen, Naga.  Just because you're on my side now doesn't mean I'll
listen to those comments anymore."  Lina put Naga back down and walked
back over to the window.  "And I don't feel much like 'light hearted'
banter right now."

	Naga walked over to Lina.  "Shinji?"

	"Yes, Shinji.  He's gone, kidnapped by Gendo."  She heard someone
knocking at the door.  "Come in."

	Belldandy walked in, an expression of sympathy on her face.  "Hello,
Lina-sama.  Are you OK?"

	The bandit-killer-turned-god looked at Belldandy. "I just don't
know.  Shinji's captured by ShadowNERV, probably knocked out or pinned
in Terminal Dogma with that accursed spear of theirs or whatnot."

	Naga struck a threatening pose.  "Well, why don't we go down and
crush them!  Nothing can stand against the power of the White Serpent
and her former sidekick!  Especially with all the power of heaven on our
side!  OOHOHOHOHO!"  Lina glared at Naga, then looked out the window
into Limbo, almost as if she were attempting to lose herself in the
chaos.

	Naga leaned in. "Oh, come on Lina. It'll be just like the old days.
Going up against improbbable odds, throwing around large destructive
magic, letting off a little steam."  The White Serpent pulled back and
waited for Lina's obvious response so they could go out and kick some
ShadowNERV butt.

	"No."

	Naga turned around.  "Well then, I'll jus.. NO?"

	"No."  Lina looked back.  "I can't just go down and blow people up.
We had this problem before.  I can't just exercise my power whenever and
wherever I want.  I'm God, and like it or not, I have responsibilities."
Lina slumped her shoulders.  "But if I can't go and help him... what can
we do?"

	Belldandy piped in, "Well, you could do what we were doing
before..."

	Lina looked at Bell. "That's not something I'd see you
recommending...," she noted, before sitting down. "...and I won't do
that.  I mean, it didn't work before, and it probbably won't work now. 
Seriously, sending angel after angel isn't very efficient.  Plus, I
think Gendo's more interested in getting back at Shinji.  I mean, he's
the first one to really stand up to him for a long time.  I'm sure
Gendo's enjoying having him right where he wants him. Or even worse,
what if he wants to brainwash him?  An Angel as a puppet's much more
powerful than any old EVA pilot."

	Naga looked at Lina hesitantly.  "I'm not too good with comforting,
Lina, but I'm sure it'll be OK."  Lina stood up and looked out the
window once more.  "Well... I'll be going, Lina Inverse."  And with
that, Naga walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

	Lina and Belldandy stood in silence for a moment, each contemplating
the situation before the Norn of the Present walked up behind the Power
that Was and put her hand on the Goddess's back.  "Is there anything I
can do, Lina-sa--" and was interrupted as Lina turned around and grabbed
her. For a second, Belldandy could see the seed of a growing panic in
her desperation-filled eyes.

	"It IS going to be alright, isn't it, Bell?"

	She looked Lina square in the eye.  "You'd know better than I,
Lina-sama."

	Lina released Belldandy and turned back.  "I suppose so. Shinji can
take care of himself, and one way or the other, we'll find out what the
bastard's doing to him when he calls to gloat."  Lina looked at Bell. 
"You don't have any ideas?"

	"Nothing you haven't mentioned, Lina-sama," Belldandy replied.

	Lina nodded and sighed.  "And I know I'm doing the right thing.  But
still.  I don't like this one bit.  There's something MORE here, I'm
sure of it."  And as Lina looked out her window, now showing the last
rays of sunlight dissapearing over the horizon of Tokyo, she whispered
to herself, "Nothing good can come of this.  I just KNOW it."


*  *  *  *  *

][ ULTRA EPISODE 46 RESULTS/RECAP

][ JUNGLE WARRIORS defeats S & M and are now at 1W/0L
][ TIFA demonstrates her SKILL in MULTIPLE FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
][ SHADOWNERV CAPTURES SHINJI IKARI
][ CHAOS has a new HQ
][ NAGA THE WHITE SERPENT defeats ASUKA SORYUU LANGLEY/EVA-02 and is now
at 7W/4L
][ HIROSHI waffles for a little longer
][ SAKURA KUSANAGO defeats WOLVERINE and is now at 12W/4L
][ WOLVERINE attempted to attack MORRIGAN
][ SAKURA and MORRIGAN will face off at ULTRARAGE EPSILON
][ The HUNGRY WOLVES defeat BISON'S BUSTERS are are now at 5W/6L
][ Fight between SHINGO YABUKI and MARLO SEMAJ is CANCELLED
][ MR. SATAN isn't fond of PLUSHIES
][ SEPHIROTH defeats SHINJI IKARI/EVA-01 by defeault and is now at 9W/8L
][ LINA will WAIT AND SEE what happens to SHINJI


][ ANGLE SUMMARIES

 ][ = Angle continues, may have new developments
 [] = Angle is closed, might have been replaced
 }{ = Entirely new angle
 ??  = Possible new angle?  (Can be derived from events)
 XX = Didn't touch on this from past episode very well or at all


][  Nabiki's profit-mongering reign over Ultra
  (Her plans continue, but CHAOS is beginning to have a real hand in the
   show)
][  Jack and Daisuke, Ultra managers
  (After dealing with some internal strife, CHAOS is stronger than ever)
][  Shampoo and Mousse, heels
  (They're solidified as heels, now, and will take on anyone and
   everyone)
][  Bison vs. SNK/Capcom
  (Mai and Andy defeat Ken and Sagat, but to what ends?)
][  Sephiroth, the man who would be God
  (Heaven calls him out, only to show themselves in his eyes as cowards)
][  Morrigan vs. every red-blooded male in Ultra ^_^;
  (Or red-blooded female, as she accepts Sakura's challenge. And her
   "pet" bites back...)
][  Mr. Satan crusading against Morrigan
  (He's ready, if unexcited about it, to possibly face her at REBOOT)
][  Hiroshi's woes of Love
  (He couldn't give Lilith a straight answer... who's he moving
   towards?)
][  CHAOS using Lain Iwakura to help take control of some things in
    Ultra
  (Jack's ability to show up on the UltraTron continues... rather
   convienent for him)
??  Ifurita's and Nuku Nuku's Sempai/Kohai relationship
  (Ifurita has a personality, now how will things develop?)
XX  Shingo and the flames
  (Shingo knows about the true nature of Kusanagi flames, can now throw
   fire on his own... and was almost burned by his own powers)
XX  Mewtwo v. Pokemon trainers and/or Voiduck
  (He wants them all to be free, but who's his next target?)
XX  Marlo vs. Akane rivalry for the Hardcore belt
  (Ranma goes crazy, beats up Marlo)
XX  Yashiro is furious about his loss of his title and stature
  (Tried to get fight with Team Rocket, fought Psycho Soldiers instead)
XX  Yohko and Iori's relationship
  (Despite his words to the contrary, Iori seems to care, at least a
   little)
XX  Sie's rivalry with Yashiro and the Disciples of the Void
  (Learned it was Yashiro who punked him, barely defeated him in their
   match)
XX  Ranma's many wild emotional issues
  (Akane is busy preparing for REBOOT)
XX  Shermie stalks Daisuke
  (Xelloss' orders give Daisuke a blessed respite)
XX  B-ko and Sephiroth, Lovers
  (Sephiroth seems to be somewhat caring for B-Ko)
XX  Heaven vs. Hell
  (Hell's quiet this week, but it may just seem that way to Lina... she
   does have other things on her mind...)
XX  Cham Cham is after Haohmaru's hand in marriage
  (She and Blanka do get their first win, though)
XX  Team Pokemon as Heels
  (They've joined up with Meowth and are dead set on proving Team Rocket
   to be cheaters)

*  *  *  *  *

Authors' Notes:

Ardweden: Well, I wrote 0.03% of this patchwork chapter, so I don't
really deserve author's notes, but... hmm.  Good luck to Chris with
whatever prevented him from getting his parts in on time, and more luck
to him for REBOOT. ^_^

Mechalink: Well, I don't have any idea what I was doing.  I mean, it was
a little more than a month ago that I co-wrote an episode of Ultra. 
Side effects included: Sleepless nights, irritibilty, and insanity. ^_~ 
I immediately swore I'd never do it again.

	And look where that got me.  Writing in a patch part.  And it was
odd that I felt very very uncertain about nearly every seg I wrote, and
the others thought they worked.  I mean, I even supposedly got Sana-chan
down.  Luck, I guess.

	I'd like to thank all of the other authors for such wonderful
support.  Especially Illy and Phoebe for ideas.  And Chris for making
sure I had the info I needed to write and help set up REBOOT a bit
better.  And thanks to Falcon for prereading my Busters-Wolves fight.

	And the even more frightening thing is, I wouldn't mind doing this
again.  Masochism, or stupidity? You be the judge.

Jesse Ellman: Wow...that was weird...

	I've actually had the idea for a "Dress up as your favorite pokemon
in an evening gown" match since around when I wrote my part, but I could
never find a way to make it fit.  Then, a coupla days ago, Kristen asked
me if I could write a Sakura/Wolvy fight, basically giving me free reign
with it (within the overall plot of the episode.)  That, of course, was
her first mistake...=P

	So I sat down, started writing...and about five hours later, I had a
little over six pages of pure, unadulturated, 100% natural weirdness.
And damn was it fun to write!

	Thanks to Kristen for giving me the opportunity to write this, for
letting me bouce a few ideas off of her, and for editing it to make it
fit within the episode.  And credit for the Jessie/James gag at the end
goes to her too...

	Now, does anybody need a (hopefully) amusing Ultra commercial? =P

Phoebe: Wai, I had fun, beware the hamsters!

Kristen Smirnov: ...sometimes I fear Phoebe. ^_^;;  If not for various
complications in communication that came up during this, it could have
been in much sooner... such are the trials of team writing. In any case,
I hope this puts the REBOOT debut on a firm footing.

	Huge thanks go out to Jesse Ellman, who came to my rescue when I got
sick before I was to start writing my second fight. You're my knight in
shining armor and all that.  Ha ha, Phoebe, yes!  ARMOR!