It glimmered in the faint light of the room, molded from black metal and 
silver, faint, dark blue runes glowing upon it's surface. An lo, did an 
Dark Angel grin.

"It is finished."

Sephiroth raised the gauntlet in the dim light, and his cold smile 
widened, the pale glow from the runes playing off his upraised face. It 
had taken the better part of a week to finish it, but now...now the time 
was at hand. He had to admit, B-ko's skill in craftmanship was 
extraordinary. Without it, this wonderful toy could not have been 
produced. It would help him create chaos within the ranks of Ultra...and 
increase his power many-fold. But first...a test. 

A soft wind picked up within the closed room, stirring the bishounen's 
silver-white hair, as the black-clad man lowered his head. Yes...this 
would prove a most interesting day. A dry chuckle, a flash of 
light...and he was gone.

**********

Lina Inverse was not happy.

Actually, that was an understatement. She leaned back on a large padded 
chair in Ultra's employee lounge, rubbing a temple with her fingers, 
trying not to lose her temper for the fifth time today. Nabiki had 
already warned her that if she wrecked another vending machine, it was 
coming out of her pay.

Zelgadis smiled vaguely, trying not to let his amusement show. Lina had 
asked him here, had sent a telegram saying it was important. 
"So...Lina...you're telling me that you got run over...by a talking 
car?"

"Yes, Zel.", Lina snapped. "I got run over by a talking car. And after I 
got woke up, the scroll I found in that dark mage's hoard last week was 
gone. I never even got a chance to really read it, but it was behind so 
many defensive spells that it HAD to have been something important."

"So what do you want me to do about it, Lina?"

"Well... nothing. I just wanted to see if maybe you knew what it did. 
Gourry, obviously, is not mentally up to the task."

Zelgadis folded his arms. "How can I do that if you don't have the 
scrolls anymore?"

"I still remember some of the characters," Lina said, taking a napkin 
from a nearby table, and sketching out rune-letters. "I browsed it a 
little when I grabbed it, just to make sure it was the real deal..."

Zelgadis hrmed, scratching at his chin with a sound like two rocks 
grinding together. "This doesn't LOOK like a spell. There's no 
projection of power. It's more like... the reverse of a spell. Casting 
backwards."

"'Casting backwards'? What, it's encoded or something?"

"No, this is the way it was meant to be read. But it doesn't tap your 
own power to make an effect. It taps an effect to make your power, or 
something. I haven't seen anything like it, of course, so your mileage 
may vary."

"DAMN! So it was rare, AND weird, AND potentially really awesome and I 
lost it! Rrgh. If I find the guy that took it, I'll kick his teeth in!!"

"Is that all? I have my own things to take care of..."

"Yeah, yeah. ...thanks, Zel."

**********

Hiroshi glared at the darkened screen in front of him, his hand white-
knuckled around the VCR remote he gripped like a vise. How dare 
that...that imposter do this? Noone was going to take his place. Not for 
Rei. Not now, not ever.

There was a soft knock on the dressing room door, and Daisuke peered in. 
"Hiroshi? It's almost showtime, are you re-" Daisuke broke off, seeing 
his partner's obvious anxiety. "What's wrong, 'Roshi?

Hiroshi slumped down into the rolling chair that sat by the TV, and hit 
rewind. "What's wrong, Dai?" After a few seconds, the clone announcer 
hit play. "This is what's wrong."

Daisuke blinked up at the TV, which showed a scene of Rei and Hiroshi 
eating ice cream together, joking around, and acting....very friendly. 
The look on Rei's face showed happiness and relief, as she fed ice cream 
to the other Hiroshi on the screen. After a moment, as Rei was opening 
another case, the Hiroshi with her looked up at the camera and sneered, 
his lips turning up in a mocking grin. Of course, it was gone by the 
time Rei turned back around.

Hiroshi hit the stop button, and the screen went black. "There's 
more...but I don't want to watch it again."

Daisuke sighed, grimacing. "Hiroshi...I know all of this is bothering 
you...but I'm sure something will come up to help Rei get of of there 
yet. I mean, how many people in this Federation hate Bison?"

"Maybe," Hiroshi sighed. "I just can't stand watching that weasel being 
with Rei."

Daisuke shook his head. "Come on, Hiroshi. Get finished getting ready. 
Ultra starts in a hour." He grinned slightly. "Look at it this way...at 
least you won't have to deal with Tarou today."

Hiroshi's frown lightened a little, then broke into a light grin of his 
own. "That's true. I'll have to rememeber to thank Krillan for that 
someday."

**********
Somewhere in the east wing of Tokyo General Hospital, Pantyhose Tarou 
sneezed, then grimaced in pain from his place in traction, grumbling 
something about bald headed referees.

**********

Dark Schneider fumed, striding purposefully down the back halls of the 
massive building that was the Ultradome. He'd had enough of this. He 
hadn't had a serious fight here in weeks, and that last 'match' was a 
joke. He hadn't come here to play cards, he'd come here to wreak havok 
and claim the gold for himself. "Dammit," he growled, turning the 
corner, "I'm going right to Nabiki and demanding a title shot at 
UltraRage! No more of this-"

There was a brilliant flash of silver-blue light, and a cold, tearing 
feeling throughout Darshu's body. He looked up with a hoarse cry, as 
sparkling quicksilver danced around his form, his vision already 
blurring, fading to black. As the darkness took him, his last vision 
reeled in his mind, two softly glowing green eyes, cold and mocking.

Sephiroth smiled a slow, dark smile as Dark Schneider's body fell 
backwards into a set of stage lights with a loud crash. He watched as 
the last of the Gauntlet's energy drained away from the still form, 
filling his own body with newfound power. The test...was successful.

Behind the black clad child of Jenova, B-ko sweatdropped. "Um....Sephy-
kun, I think you have it turned a bit too high."

Sephiroth nodded slowly, frowning. "I felt the strain on the Gauntlet 
there. The flow will have to be reduced, or the enchantment could break. 
But it is a good start."

**********

Nabiki sat behind her well-polished oak desk, her chair turned to 
towards the large window that faced the Ultradome parking lot. She 
stared out the window at the sun-drenched pavement below, light glaring 
off of the massive amount of cars that had already arrived early to wait 
for the day's big show to start. She grimaced slightly, then turned, and 
took two more aspirin, washing them down with a cup of water, poured 
from the pitcher she kept nearby these days. Things were not going well, 
and she knew it. She picked up a stack of papers that had been left 
there earlier this morning by her lawyers, and peered over them again.

"I can't believe Jack managed this." Nabiki growled. While the ex-head 
booker's lawyers had not yet begun persuing any charges against her, it 
was only a matter of time. Even with her new partnership with B-ko...the 
president of Ultra paused. It just was not enough. And now that lunatic 
Bison was after her, too.

There was a knock on the door. Nabiki looked up, and her face twisted 
with anger. "What is it?" Without Tarou around to act as her secretary, 
she'd been interrupted more than once today, and it was beginning to 
annoy her greatly.

The door opened to reveal a rather spunky neko-onna. Nuku-Nuku bounced 
in, all smiles and cheer. "Hiya, Nabiki-saaan!"

Nabiki's headache worsened with the cheer, and she closed her eyes for a 
moment, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "What is it, Nuku-Nuku? I don't 
recall you having an appointment with me today."

The young cat-girl smiled widely, her eyes as bright as the sunshine 
outside. "Nuku-Nuku wants to fight today, Nabiki-san! It'll make Washuu-
sama proud of Nuku-Nuku!"

Nabiki's forehead furrowed in thought. "You've had several fights in the 
last few weeks, Nuku-Nuku, and you've lost most of them. It's starting 
to get boring. Bored people don't watch Ultra."

Nuku-Nuku shook her head frenetically. "Nuku-Nuku won't lose this time, 
Nabiki! Nuku-Nuku will win!"

"Still, I don't want to overuse you. People want new things, fresh 
things, and you're-" Nabiki broke off, as a thought occured to her. 
"Actually, Nuku-Nuku...I'll think about it. Go grab a snack or 
something, then come back and see me in ten minutes."

Nuku-Nuku beamed. "Thank you, Nabiki-san!" She quickly retreated from 
the room, closing the door behind her. Papa-san had taught her to be 
polite, after all.

Nabiki grinned slowly, pulling out her cell phone and dialing a number. 
Perhaps this week's show would have some fire in it yet. After a moment, 
a voice answered.

"Daitokuji Industrial. How may I direct your call?"

"Yes, this is Nabiki Tendo. I'd like to speak to Ms. Daitokuji."

"One moment, Ms. Tendo."

**********

"So, do you think that's a good idea, Ranma?" Akane asked. watching her 
'fiance' struggle with the vending machine that had just swallowed his 
500 yen piece. "Ranma?"

Ranma growled slightly, rapidly hitting the coin return button, and when 
that failed, began to shake the machine a bit. "Blasted piecea junk! 
That was my last coin, too!"

Akane scowled. "RANMA!" Honestly, couldn't he just LISTEN for once?

"What is it, Akane?" He frowned, continuing his single-minded obssession 
of winning the war with the foul vending device.

"I said, do you think it would be a good idea to talk to Nabiki about 
setting up a fight for you and Iori at UltraRage?"

Ranma sighed, and turned away from the machine to look at Akane. "Well, 
she IS your sister. If anyone could talk her into it, it's you." He 
grinned. "I could cream that guy in a heartbeat, anyway."

"Don't get overconfident, baka." Akane replied, frowning. "He's got that 
belt for a reason, you know."

Ranma smirked. "I've beat tougher guys than him before, Akane."

Akane lowered her head, then shook it, her frown deepening. "I just 
don't want to see you get...oh, what's the use? You never listen to me, 
anyway."

"Come on, Akane...don't get like that. We're supposed to be a team now, 
remember?"

Akane turned on Ranma, anger apparant on her features. "Why don't you 
act like it, then, and listen to what I have to say instead of just 
tossing it off?"

Ranma opened his mouth to speak, a stubborn look on his face, which was 
an almost certain guarantee that an argument of mass proportions was 
about to begin, but at that moment, a cheerful Nuku-Nuku turned the 
corner, and waved to the pair, moving up to the vending machine. "Hi 
Akane-san! Hi, Ranma-san!"

Waving grudingly to Nuku-Nuku, Akane glared at Ranma, then sighed. 
"Hello, Nuku-Nuku-chan."

With a blink, the martial artist turned slightly. Nuku-Nuku had always 
made him nervous, and he never could put his finger on why. "Um....hi, 
Nuku-Nuku. You might not want to put money in that thing, it's-"

Nuku-Nuku dropped her money into the slot, and pressed the button. 
Smoothly, the machine dropped her cheese crackers into the bin, where 
she collected them.

Ranma blinked at the machine, then frowned in irritation. "Nevermind." 
Someone up there had it in for him, he was sure of it.

The hyper-enthusiastic catgirl beamed. "Nuku-Nuku would love to stay and 
chat, Ranma-san, but I have to get back and talk to Nabiki-san. Nuku-
Nuku is going to fight today! Wai!"

Akane waved, finding the other girl's cheer to be contagious, no matter 
how much of a jerk Ranma was being. "Good luck, Nuku-Nuku-chan!"

"Thanks, Akane-san!" Nuku-Nuku giggled. "Nuku-Nuku is going to win for 
Washuu-sama!" And with that, the catgirl scampered down the hall, 
heading for the office section once more.

**********

Ash stared at the monitor before him, quietly, watching an old tape of 
Ultra, as Hiroshi's voice rang out. "AND TEAM ROCKET WINS!!!" The crowd 
cheered wildly behind him. 

"Why? Why do they cheer THEM? They're /cheaters/!" The young pokemon 
master's face went sour. "They're not supposed to be the ones getting 
the cheers.../we/ are. I just don't understand it, Misty."

Misty looked up from her chair nearby, where she was feeding Staryu. "I 
don't either, Ash. Maybe it's because they were Lambda champions for a 
while?"

Ash seemed to think about this for a moment, then shook his head slowly, 
grimacing, as he continued to watch the after-match victory of his long-
time rivals. "They probably cheated to win there, too, somehow. They've 
always been bad news. I mean, every time we turned around, back when I 
was training to fight at Indigo plateau to become a Pokemon master, they 
were stealing Pokemon, harrassing people, and making a nuisance of 
themselves. And we ALWAYS beat them, in the end."

"We'll beat them this time, too, Ash. You'll see." Misty lilted, trying 
to keep a cheerful view. "It's just taking...longer than usual." She 
looked up at Ash slowly, and a worried expression appeared on her face. 
Ash had been taking this all so very seriously...something wasn't right 
about the boy she'd journeyed with, not anymore. She just couldn't put 
her finger on what it was.

Ash's face brightened with focused determination, and he swung around in 
the chair, cutting off the tape. "You're right, Misty. We'll beat them, 
this time, this match. Then the world will see that, and cheer /us/ for 
once. We'll show them all that fair play and honest competition is the 
way to go!"

Misty smiled, covering up her feelings, as she had learned to do so long 
ago, and patted Staryu on the head. "I'm sure we will, Ash."


**********

Nabiki looked considerably more relaxed as Nuku-Nuku reentered her 
office. She smiled. "Well, Nuku-Nuku, I do indeed have a match to offer 
you, but with a few stipulations. If you agree to them, I'll give you 
the match, otherwise...I'll have to put someone else in your place."

Nuku-Nuku blinked. "Ano....stipulations, Nabiki-san?"

"Yes, Nuku-Nuku. You've had too many boring, standard matches lately, so 
I've devised a solution. You'll be fighting a Minefield match with B-ko. 
The outside of the fighting area will be lined with landmines. You're 
more than capable of taking a few hits from mines, from what I've seen, 
and it'll liven the show."

Nuku-Nuku nodded, a smile on her face. "Nuku-Nuku is tough! She can take 
it! So Nuku-nuku has her match?"

Nabiki's smile widened. "Well, there is one more stipulation, dear. If 
you lose, you'll agree to give up all fights for three weeks and do an 
international Ultra PR tour."

The catgirl blinked. "A PR tour, Nabiki-san? What's that?"

"Well, it means you would be going from place to place doing public 
appearances, opening shopping malls, that sort of thing around the 
world, promoting Ultra. It'll bring in new viewers, and new viewers mean 
higher ratings for the show."

Nuku-Nuku seemed to think about this for a moment. "But Nuku-Nuku 
couldn't fight at all, then."

Nabiki smirked. "Well, that just gives you more incentive to win, then, 
doesn't it?"

After a moment, the catgirl nodded. "Okay, Nabiki-san. Nuku-Nuku agrees 
to your rules."

"Fine then." Nabiki nodded, professionally. "Your match is up first. 
Good luck, Nuku-Nuku."

Nuku-Nuku nodded, then turned and walked from the room, thoughtfully.

Nabiki's grin widened. She muttered softly. "You'll need it." This PR 
tour needed to happen anyway, to raise the slumping ratings. If she 
could get Nuku-Nuku to do it, all the better, one less CHAOS member to 
deal with for a while. She sat back in her chair, picking up the card 
and looking it over. "Okay," she spoke to herself, aloud. "Nuku-nuku's 
in. Darshu will have an easy fight today...things are looking up a 
little."

And with those magic words, a member of Ultra security came walking in, 
a grim look on his face. "We've got a problem, Ms. Tendo."

Nabiki blinked up, her relaxed feeling suddenly coming to a screeching 
halt. "What is it?"

"We just found Dark Schneider buried under lighting backstage. He's 
unconcious, and we can't wake him up. He's been moved to the medbay, 
where he's being looked after."

"WHAT?" Nabiki yelled. "What happened to him?"

The man grimaced. It was never a good thing when the boss lady was mad. 
"We don't know yet, Ms. Tendo. Other than the light bruises he got from 
the lighting, nothing seems to be physically wrong with him."

Nabiki fell silent for a long moment, before speaking, but when she did, 
it was with ice in her voice. "Then I suggest you get down there and 
find out what happened to him. Understood?"

"Fully understood, Ms. Tendo." He turned, and hurried out of the office. 
Jeez, what had crawled in her underwear today?

Nabiki brought herself upright, trying to regain her sense of inner 
calm. Okay...so Darshu was unable to fight. Which left a big hole in her 
card today. Which left-

"Having problems, Nabiki Tendo?", a smooth, deep voice spoke from behind 
her, full of amused malice.

Nabiki turned, her heart in her throat, stiffly, to face one M. Bison. 
She reached for the button under her desk, but paused. Wait...Tarou was 
in traction from last week's fight.

"Fear not, Tendo." The evil dictator smirked, crossing his thick arms 
across his barrel chest. "I've not come to bring harm unto you. Far from 
it. You appear to have a hole in your show today. I can fill it for you, 
if you like." Something in his voice said that not liking it would be a 
bad idea.

Nabiki frowned. "Did you have something to do with Dark Schneider's 
sudden inability to fight, Bison?" She worked hard to resist retreating 
this close to the madman before her, fought to keep her voice even.

Bison's smile widened. "No, Nabiki, as well timed as it may appear, that 
was not my doing. You will have to look elsewhere for your answers to 
that puzzle." He stepped to the window, and looked out it. "Rei will 
fight in Schneider's place today for you. Do you have a problem with 
that, Tendo?"

Nabiki balked at the mans' tone of voice. No one told her what to do 
with her own show. But there was a spot to be filled on the card...and 
it would not help the ratings to lose a fight tonight. "Fine. Rei can 
have her match."

Bison turned his back to Nabiki's desk, his cape fluttering behind him, 
his lips twisting into a sneer. "Excellent. Thank you again for your 
valuable time, Ms. Tendo." He snapped his fingers, and disappeared in a 
cloud of blue psychic flame that left the curtains singed.

Nabiki slumped down in her chair and rubbed her eyes, resisting the urge 
to take two more aspirin. 

**********


                             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 61: Pre-Rage Panic!

       Written by:  Darien Starr(Wanderer X) ferio@alltel.net
          MTCFF Ultra Created By:  Stefan 'TwoFlower' Gagne



The Ultradome was packed tighter than Santa's sleigh in December, full 
of cheering, rowdy Ultra otaku of all ages. LOUD, cheering, rowdy Ultra 
otaku of all ages. Brightly painted signs waved here and there, 
supporting thier favorite fighters. There was a vague, tingling 
sensation to the air, charged, as anticipation of the event to come 
flowed amongst the crowd. An occasional air horn blasted out it's shrill 
call, as Techno-rock music played and colored lights from the rafters 
above flashed and flared across the greatest arena ever to be built.

And sitting at its' base, at the very heart of the Dome, sat two people, 
on thier announcer's dais. Hiroshi sat beside Daisuke, absorbing the 
very essence of the thing that was Ultra. Suddenly he stood, and pulled 
the mic with him, inhaling deeply, as a twinkle appeared in his eye. 
"Are you....READY?"

Daisuke looked up to his best friend and sweatdropped lightly. He was 
hamming it up yet again. The crowd, predictably, went insane.

Hiroshi called out again, drawing it all in, as the magic of the crowd 
worked it's wonder on him. "I SAID...ARE YOU....READY?"

The crowd picked up it's decibal rating by several notches, cheering and 
waving wildly.

He drew in the deepest breath yet, and shouted into the microphone, as 
loud as he could, "ARE YOU READY FOR A LITTLE......ULLLLLLLLLLTRA-
*VIOLENCE*?!?!" 

The crowd roared in a single voice, shaking the air itself with its' 
force, like a shockwave. Outside the building, the windows on several of 
the previously mentioned cars cracked. Fortunately, the Ultradome itself 
could laugh at a Richter Nine-class earthquake, and ask for seconds, or 
everyone within would have been buried alive.

Hiroshi grinned. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm your announcer Hiroshi, this 
is my partner, Daisuke...and 
THIS.....IS....ULLLLLLLLLLLTRRRRRAAAAAAA!!!!" Hiroshi, waved the 
microphone in the air for several seconds, until the crowd calmed down 
to tolerable levels. "And WHAT a card we have for you tonight, folks! 
TWO, count em', TWO Omega matches in all thier glory! Also, a fierce 
rivalry will be brought to you again tonight in Lambda, as Team Pokemon 
faces off against thier long-time foes, Team Rocket. We'll have a great 
fight for you in Gamma, as well, as Marlo Semaj will fight everyone's 
favorite Shotokan'er, Sakura!"

"As my overly hyper partner says, there are a lot of high intensity 
fights coming our way tonight." Daisuke replied, "As well it should be, 
as we count down the days until UltraRage next week. While the seats at 
UltraRage have been sold out for weeks, you can still catch it live on 
pay-per-view. Check your local cable company for details." He paused, 
"However, getting right along to our first fight of the night, we take 
you straight to the heart of the largest desert on the planet 
Earth...the Sahara!"

Hiroshi nodded repeatedly. "Where, if the card reads right, we'll see 
another stunning Omega match between the irrepressible cat-girl, Nuku-
Nuku, and her opponent, the lovely B-ko Daitokuji, in a special LANDMINE 
match!" He stopped, then blinked at what had come over the teleprompter. 
"Landmine match?!  That can't be right, can it, Dai? They're running 
around down there in a MINEFIELD?!?!"

Daisuke grimaced. "It appears so, Hiroshi."

**********

It was hot. Very, very hot. This was the predominant thought on 
Krillian's mind at the moment, as sweat beaded up, and ran unimpeded 
down his bald head. He just knew that he was going to end up with a 
sunburn. He sighed, as the two competetors came through thier respective 
portals to wage battle on the sand.

B-ko was the first to arrive, in yet another new mecha creation, this 
one resembling a spider of some sort, black metal forming the body, 
while the tips on the eight legs of the huge beast glittered vaguely, 
sinking into the soft sand as it skittered forth. "Where is my opponent? 
Where is that little beastly girl?"

And from the other portal popped the aforementioned catgirl, who smiled 
brightly, and waved for all the fans, before looking up at the giant 
spider-like mecha. "I'm right here, B-ko-san!"

Withing the cockpit of her mecha, B-ko smiled viciously. "Ah, I see you 
do have the courage to come out and pay for your crimes against my 
beloved Sephiroth yet again. I suppose the first time wasn't enough for 
you?" Her voice changed to an irritable snarl. "Well don't worry, you 
pathetic little annoyance, I'll finish you off once and for all THIS 
time! OhHOhoHohOho....."

Krillian sweatdropped, though it could barely be noticed with all the 
other sweat running down his head. "Um...well, you two know the standard 
rules. Destruction of the planet is a foul. But I'll explain the new 
stipulation of this match. Do you see those ropes out there?" He pointed 
to a long, spiked-down rope that ran around the center of where the 
competitors stood, about a hundred feet out. "That's the border. The 
area beyond that point is covered in land mines. You step beyond the 
rope, and you'll run into them. Understood?"

The giant head of the spider mecha bobbed up and down, a rather 
discomforting sight. B-ko's voice rang out over the speaker system. "I 
understand perfectly."

Nuku-Nuku beamed. "Nuku-Nuku understands, too, Krillan-san!"

Krillian nodded his consent, taking to the air to watch from above, 
still wishing he'd brought some sunscreen. "Then begin."

] [ OMEGA Special LANDMINE Match
] [ Nuku-Nuku vs. B-ko Daitokuji
] [ FIGHT!

A loud call came from the head of the large mecha, speakers blaring. 
"Prepare to DIE, you repugnant little brat!" And with that, a pair of 
chainguns, fitted with special depleted uranium rounds, dropped down 
from the head like a pair of mandibles, and started blazing away in 
Nuku-Nuku's direction, spitting shells left and right as it spewed 
rounds downrange.

Nuku-Nuku's eyes widened as the first shots were fired, and raced off to 
the left, somewhat faster than the larger beast. She looked quickly 
right and left for cover...ANY cover, but found none, as the bullets 
whizzed through the air not far behind her.

B-ko's laugh was high, as the eight legs pulled in and out of the sand, 
readjusting her aim. "No cover this time, you little spore. No way to 
hide! And as *I* have ranged weapons and *you* don't, this is certain to 
be a short and rather humiliating defeat for YOU!" More bullets spat 
from the whirling maw of the twin chainguns, kicking up sand as they hit 
the ground here and there.

Nuku-Nuku got down on all fours, and ran hard in a half circle, using 
the only thing she had, speed, against her opponent, the spider 
following after her, turning as she did, if a trifle slower.

************

Back in the UltraDome, Daisuke shook his head. "This doesn't look good, 
folks. Nuku-Nuku is simply outgunned in this kind of terrain. There are 
no places to hide, no weapons to pick up. Nuku-Nuku had better come up 
with something quick, or she's in big trouble."

Hiroshi yelled, rising to his feet. "Come on, Nuku-Nuku! You can beat 
her!"

Daisuke sweatdropped. "Hiroshi....she can't hear you, you know that, 
right?"

"WORK WITH HIM, DAISUKE!!!" The crowd roared. 

Daisuke facepalmed. "...."

*************

Nuku-Nuku appeared to be doing a decent job of avoiding the withering 
rain of bullets as she dashed along, but then, paying more attention to 
the bullets flying past her than her surroundings...stepped over the 
rope surrounding the battlefield. There was a small explosion, and Nuku-
Nuku was thrown back into the clear field, rolling a few yards before 
rising to her knees, trying to shake off the dizziness and get back to 
her feet.

B-ko crowed with triumph as she finally got a chance to stop. She pulled 
the spidermecha to an abrupt halt, and the twin chainguns lowered to 
lock onto thier target. "Now, you foolish girl, you DIE!" She laughed, 
and pulled the trigger. A few bullets flew forth, striking the catgirl, 
who cried out in pain, before there was a sudden dead 'clickclickclick' 
from the chainguns. B-ko's eyes widened. "What???" She looked down. "OUT 
OF AMMO? I thought I put more rounds in here than that!" She frowned. 
"Very well, then, I shall just have to take out the beastly child with 
another one of my amazing weapons of destruction." She reached down to 
press a button on the console...just in time to feel her entire mecha 
lurch to the left. "Wh...WHAT?!"

Nuku-Nuku, even having been hit with the specially treated rounds, had 
not stayed down long, and while  B-ko had been arguing with herself, had 
arisen and closed the distance to the spidermecha. She wrapped her arms 
around one of it's legs and pulled hard, jerking the mecha slightly off 
it's balance, as grey fluids leaked down her leg, and stained her 
slightly sand-covered fuku-top. "That HURT, B-ko-san!"

"It was supposed to, you pest!" She frowned, as the spidermecha dug in 
it's legs into the sand on the other side. "You're not going to beat the 
Arigama-Seventeen THAT easily!" The leg that Nuku-Nuku was gripping 
waved hard in the air, trying to dislodge the tightly clinging cat-girl.

Nuku-Nuku, on the other hand, was going to have none of it. She slowly 
worked her way up to the base of the leg, then planted her feet on the 
main body of the mecha and kicked hard. There was a grinding, rending 
sound, and the leg of the the Arigama-Seventeen came off in her hands as 
she flew back, away from the mech. 

The entire mecha shook with the impact of the kick, and almost fell over 
in the opposite direction. B-ko twisted the mecha to the side, to get a 
better look at the catgirl as she flew free, and blanched. "Do you have 
any idea how much it cost to BUILD this?!?" She snarled. "That's IT! Now 
I'm MAD! Prepare to feel the full fury of the Arigama-Seventeen!" She 
slapped her hand down on the control panel, and hit about six buttons. 
Panels opened between the barrels of the now-spent chainguns, and over 
the eyes. "Now....DIE!!!!"

Nuku-Nuku bounded to her feet, still clutching the broken leg of the 
spidermecha, and raced towards it, even as missiles and lasers blazed 
above her, turning the spot of sand where he had been a half-moment 
before into a huge crater of blackened glass. She twisted, and with a 
mighty swing, slammed the fallen leg into its' companions like a 
gigantic baseball bat.

B-ko cried out as her mecha lurched to the left, it's legs knocked out 
from under it, grimacing as it hit the ground hard. Her eyes opened a 
second later, as the rhythmic pounding of Nuku-Nuku's fists on the torso 
of the mecha echoed throughout the cockpit. "Wh...what? Why? Why won't 
you just die already?!," she yelled. "Very well...I shall have to use my 
new secret weapon. It would have been so much more satisfying  to have 
beaten you without it...but still, a victory is a victory." She reached 
out, and pressed yet another button.

Dents were rapidly appearing in the torso of the mecha's thick armor, 
when tiny vents slid open all along the length of it's body, spewing 
forth a soft, greenish-clear mist. Nuku blinked, and stopped pounding 
for a moment. That...that smell...her head began to cloud, and a tiny 
giggle welled up in the back of her throat, as she rapidly lost the will 
to fight, backing up a little.

The Arigama-Seventeen slowly rose back to its' full height, missing one 
of it's legs. Two others dangled uselessly, as missiles flew forth once 
more towards the reeling cat-girl. "Ha! So now you feel the power of the 
Daitojuki Catnip Spray Blast!" 

**********

Daisuke sweatdropped. "The....what? I don't believe this..."

**********

The catgirl blinked up at the mecha lurking far above, then her eyes 
widened as the missiles approached. She dodged to the left, but it was 
too late, the missiles too close. An explosion struck Nuku-Nuku dead on, 
slamming her to the sand. This was followed by a dozen more just like 
it, and when the smoke cloud cleared, Nuku-Nuku lie still in the crater, 
unconcious.

B-ko smirked, fully arighting her mecha as Krillian finished the count. 
"Eight....Nine....Ten. The winner of this match, B-ko Daito-huh?!" 
Krillian's eyes widened as one of the legs of the giant spider mecha 
dove down at the fallen catgirl, it's diamond tip gleaming in the harsh 
sunlight. "Nooo!!!" He rushed towards the mecha...but it was too late. 
The sharp tip of the long leg slammed into Nuku-Nuku's torso, grinding 
as it's length punched a hole clean through Nuku-Nuku's abdomen. Dark 
grey fluid spilled on yellow-brown sand, even as B-ko's voice rang out. 
"This time...you'll STAY dead!!!"

Krillan snarled, punching the mecha hard, which came apart quite easily, 
as damaged as it already was. B-ko shot free in her ejection seat, and 
rapidly headed for the portal upon reaching ground, remembering well 
what Krillian had said to her in the last fight. She stepped inside and 
vanished without a trace.

Krillan's eyes widened as he saw the torn body of Nuku-Nuku. He gathered 
the poor catgirl in his arms and headed for the other portal, at top 
speed.

***********

Hiroshi's eyes widened in shock and horror. "Dear God in Heaven! B-ko 
just...just..." 

Daisuke put his hand to his earpiece, a worried expression flowing over 
his face as well.  "Nuku-Nuku has apparantly been severely injured in 
her fight with B-ko, and is being taken immediately to Ultra's medical 
station."

The crowd gave off a soft, confused mumble that spread across the dome 
like wildfire. What had just happened? Would the catgirl be okay?

Hiroshi just...gaped for a long moment, before whipping his head back. 
"Oh, the HUMANITY!", he moaned.

"Ahem...yes. Nuku-Nuku has been taken to Ultra's medbay, and is being 
seen to by our in-house doctors. We'll keep you informed as to her 
condition throughout the show." Daisuke had to do SOMETHING, and 
quickly, or the show would be ruined, and then Nabiki would have 
EVERYONE'S heads. "But for now, we'll take you to our second star-
studded match of the night. Right, Hiroshi?"

Hiroshi muttered something incomprehensible, not entirely all there just 
yet as he stared straight ahead, even more pale than usual.

Daisuke covered his microphone with his hand and hissed. "Hiroshi!"

His head jerking back to Daisuke, Hiroshi blinked, then seemed to 
regather his wits. "Um...oh, yes, of course, Daisuke! Up...up next we 
have another GREAT fight for you faithful Ultra fans! This rivalry has 
been boiling for a  long time now, back before either of the two teams 
joined Ultra, and now we have the privilage of bringing it here to you 
for your viewing enjoyment!"

"PREPARE FOR TROUBLE!"

"MAKE IT DOUBLE!"

Daisuke nodded, and looked up quickly to the entrance ramp, as the 
momentarily confused audience came alive once more, cheering wildly. 
"And here comes the first set of competetors to the ring now! It's Team 
Rocket!"

Jesse and James stood, dramatically, on either side of the ramp, thier 
uniforms sparkingly clean, with the giant red 'R' on the shirts, and 
posed for the crowd, thier musical accomaniment playing in the 
background. Pikachu stood in the center between them, much like thier 
previous mascot had, sparking with electricity.

"TO PROTECT THE WORLD FROM DEVASTATION!"

"TO UNITE ALL PEOPLES WITHIN OUR NATION!"

By now, the crowd itself had raised it's collective voice, calling out 
the familiar words of the chant with the Rockets, almost drowning them 
out entirely.

"TO DENOUNCE THE EVILS OF TRUTH AND LOVE!"

"TO EXTEND OUR REACH TO THE STARS ABOVE!"

Daisuke looked up from his announcers booth. "You know, they really 
should change those lines now...it's not like they're villains anymore. 
What do you think, Hiroshi?" His looked over to his co-commentator.

Hiroshi grinned, not catching a word Daisuke was saying, as he was 
chanting right along with the crowd. Daisuke sweatdropped.

"JESSE!" Jesse brushed back her hair and gave the crowd a brilliant 
smile.

"JAMES!" A rose was brought to the other Rocket's nose, where he sniffed 
it dramatically.

The two poseposed, pointing towards the rafters.  "TEAM ROCKET BLASTS 
OFF AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT!"

"SURRENDER NOW OR PREPARE TO FIGHT!"

All the electricity Pikachu had been building during the entire chant 
now flared out brightly along the ramp, catching the circuits that 
controlled the fireworks for the stage. With a crackling hiss, most of 
the fireworks went off, sending bursts of sparkling color everywhere. 
"PIKACHU!!!"

Hiroshi almost seemed to bounce with manic delight, as the crowd went 
insane behind him, cheering and applauding the two former champions that 
walked to the ring with pride. "And an AMAZING entrance by Team Rocket!"

"*o/` So you wanna be a....Master? o/`*" A loud burst of music flared 
up, and was met immediately by the crowd with loud jeering and boos, as 
Ash and Misty made thier way down the now-scorched entry ramp. Ash 
ignored the jeers as best he could, a angry, determined look playing 
across his face, as Misty followed after. 

"And making thier way to the ring is thier opponents, Team Pokemon. This 
is bound to be a tough match, one way or another. Both sets of opponents 
should know the other well by now. Let's see what they pull out of thier 
hats tonight." Daisuke commented, peering out at the ring.

Ash climbed up onto the ring, and slipped under the ropes, stepping out 
onto the canvas, motioning for a microphone, which the referee handed to 
him. "Okay, you Rockets, we've been been doing this for a while now, and 
we've watched you cheat your way to victory again and again. Not this 
time! This time, you're going down, 'cause we're finishing this TODAY!" 
He threw the microphone down and stormed to his corner, where Misty 
stood.

James' eyebrows raised. "Well, he certainly looks angrier than usual 
today, Jesse."

"Just get out there and fight, stupid!" Jesse frowned, giving her 
partner a shove towards the ring. "And don't lose, or we'll never hear 
the end of it from that little twerp!"

James stumbled forward, sweatdropping. 

Misty just looked up at Ash, that slight frown on her face. "Be careful, 
okay, Ash?"

"Don't worry, Misty. I can take these guys. We're going to win today, or 
my name isn't Ash Ketchum." Ash turned slightly, staring at James. 
"Let's go."

] [ LAMBDA Final GRUDGE Match
] [ Team POKEMON vs. Team ROCKET
] [ FIGHT!

James tossed his pokeball down quickly. "Weezing, I choose you!"

The poison pokemon rose from it's spherical holding pen and rose in the 
air, spewing foul gas out behind him, it's strange grin playing across 
it's pockmarked face. "WEEZING!"

Ash grinned. He knew how to handle this, and drew forth a pokeball of 
his own. "Pidgeotto, I choose you!" He lobbed it, and with a bright 
white flash, the great bird rose up in the air, to face his opponent.

"And the two Pokemon trainers have have called forth thier first two 
fighting Pokemon. They seem to be sizing each other up now.", Hiroshi 
said.

Daisuke replied, "They're both using balanced pokemon, ones that we've 
seen many times before here at Ultra. A good opening strategy. Let's see 
where this goes."

James waved to his Pokemon. "Okay, Weezing, Tackle attack, now! Take 
that bird out of the air!"

The crated pokemon responded to his order smoothly, rushing up into the 
air, hard and fast. "WEEZING!" Pidgeotto, however, was far more graceful 
in the air than the larger pokemon, and breezed out of the way, banking 
in midair as the other whisked by. 

***********

Mewtwo floated in the air, six feet above the ground, peering intently 
into a large, glowing dome of light. Washuu was indeed a brilliant 
woman, far above the like of her kind. He did not think humans were 
capable of building such devices as the holodome that stood before him, 
showing the action going on at the Ultradome far more realistically than 
any flat, two-dimensional television.

Within the dome, miniature versions of the humans danced around in the 
ring, fighting with the enslaved versions of his kind. Mewtwo was only 
slightly annoyed, as he watched. He remembered these humans. He had met 
the one in the red baseball cap before, and had judged him to be a fair 
person, one different than most humans. 

A slight frown played over the pokemon's face, as he watched Ash's 
strategies in the ring becoming more and more violent. Hasty, not 
thought out properly. The boy was acting in anger, and there was no 
doubt of that in his mind. Ash was losing the sheen he had admired once, 
becoming like the rest of the humans, savage, brutal. Perhaps he had 
been wrong after all.

************

James dodged to one side, eyes wide, as Bulbasaur's vines flashed out 
past Weezing's fallen form, lashing out at him. "Eeeeep!" The vines 
lashed onto the ropes nearby, drawing taut. James paled. That could have 
been HIS neck. "Weezing, return!" The rocky gas giant flashed back to 
it's pokeball in a beam of red light, and James turned to his corner, 
tagging in Jesse. "YOU deal with him for a while, Jesse!"

Jesse sighed, slipping under the ropes, and into the ring, even as her 
partner slipped out. "Very well, James. I suppose I shall have to deal 
with the brat." She threw out a pokeball, with a grand gesture. "Arbok, 
GO!" 

The snake pokemon appeared in a flash of light, hissing. "ARBOK!" Jesse 
pointed to Bulbasaur, who's vines detatched from the ropes and retreated 
to it's body. "Arbok, Wrap Attack, now!" The pokemon complied, rushing 
forward to entangle Bulbasaur in it's coils, constricting tightly. 
Bulbasaur let out a whimpering "Bulba...".

Ash frowned deeply, holding out his pokeball. "Bulbasaur, return!" The 
pokemon returned to it's pokeball,
gratefully, and Ash fumbled for another one, returning Bulbasaur to his 
belt.

"Let me have a shot at them, Ash." Misty said, from outside the ring. 
"Why don't you take a break?"

Ash shook his head hard, a frown on his face as he glared at Jesse. "No 
way, Misty. I can handle this. I'll take on these cheaters and win." He 
pulled out his next pokeball and tossed it to the floor. "Squirtle, go!"

Squirtle appeared , staring over at Arbok. "Squirt, squirtle!" Ash 
pointed. "Squirtle, Water Gun attack, now!"

Misty frowned. Why was Ash being this way? They were supposed to be a 
team, and he was acting like she didn't matter at all!

Squirtle sent out a burst of water, which struck Arbok dead center, and 
threw him back against the ropes, where he bounced once before striking 
the mat. Jesse frowned. "Arbok, return!" She pointed into the ring. 
"Enough of this! Pikachu, I choose you!"

Ash's eyes widened as the yellow mouse worked it's way under the bottom 
rope, and turned to face his once master. Pikachu frowned at Ash. 
"Pikapikachu! Pika!"

Hiroshi crowed into his microphone, rising to his feet. "And now Ash 
faces the pokemon that was once his best friend! What will he do?"

"That's a good question, Hiroshi. Will he be able to keep his cool and 
continue the fight? It looks like we're about to find out." Daisuke 
replied.

Ash stared at Pikachu for a long moment. "So now you come to face me, 
you traitor. How could you join up with those rotten bad guys? Why did 
you throw your hand in with Team Rocket?"

"Kachu! Pikapi pikapikachu!" Pikachu called out, waving his hand 
violently. 

"What do you mean, I've changed? I haven't changed at all. I'm still 
trying to beat those cheaters, and show the world that we're the best, 
not them." Ash said, his lips turning up in a slight snarl. "But if 
you're going to stand against me, Pikachu, then I have no choice but to 
fight you. Squirtle, Hydro Pump, now! Knock that traitor out of the 
ring!"

Squirtle looked to Pikachu, confused, then back to Ash. "Squirt?"

Pikachu stood at the far side of the ring, his red cheeks sparking up 
electricity around him, staring down Squirtle mournfully. He didn't want 
this. He didn't want to fight his friends, but Ash had to be stopped...

Ash pointed to Pikachu. "Squirtle, do it! What are you waiting for? Use 
Hydro Pump!"

Misty watched Ash's face as he pointed, and then looked out at Pikachu. 
This...this wasn't right. None of this was right. It shouldn't BE like 
this. They were all friends. Friends didn't fight friends...

Squirtle turned back with a soft sigh, and opened his mouth wide, facing 
Pikachu. A huge blast of water funneled up, and flashed forward at the 
electric mouse. Pikachu watched it flash forward at him, quietly, as 
jagged bolts of electricity flared around him. He closed his eyes. 
"PIKA.....CHUUUUUU!!!!!!" Electricity flashed outward, across the ring, 
striking the huge stream of water, and coursed down it...right into the 
Squirtle at the other end. 

Extra assorted streams of the electricity leapt onto the ropes, charging 
them with a flash that sent both James and Misty staggering back from 
thier places at ringside. Ash was at ground zero with Squirtle, and gave 
out a wordless cry, sinking to one knee as electricity coursed through 
his body.

The burst of water struck home, slamming into Pikachu at the same time 
as Squirtle fell, both pokemon laying still on the mat. Jesse blinked, 
staring at the aftermath of the attack.

"What a dazzling attack by Pikachu! Everyone in the ring has been 
leveled but Jesse!" Hiroshi called.

Daisuke nodded. "Apparantly Ash forgot for a moment that Squirtle's 
weakness is electricity. I don't think that water pokemon is getting up 
to fight for the rest of THIS battle. Ash and Pikachu don't look too 
good, either, however. Neither appears to be moving. Could this be the 
end for Team Pokemon?"

Hiroshi shook his head wildly. "Look, Daisuke, Ash is getting up!"

Daisuke blinked, staring at Ash's slowly rising form. "I don't believe 
it! How could he get up after an attack like that?"

In the ring, Ash groaned and slowly pulled himself to one knee. It was a 
good thing Pikachu had shocked him all those times before, or he might 
not have been able to recover so quickly. He slowly looked up from under 
the brim of his singed red cap at Jesse. He could hear Misty calling him 
vaguely in the background, but that didn't matter right now. All he had 
to do...was beat HER. Beat Jesse. Beat Team Rocket. Then everything 
would be okay.

Jesse blinked again at Ash, in surprise this time. He shouldn't have 
been able to get up after something like that. She reached down and 
pushed Pikachu to the edge of the ring, where James pulled the 
unconcious Pokemon free, safe. "Very well...", she said, "We'll have to 
finish-"

Ash snarled up, pulling off his cap and tossing it aside, his brown hair 
falling down into his eyes. "NO! I've had enough of this. Enough of Team 
Rocket, enough of cheaters, enough of YOU! This ends today." He recalled 
Squirtle, then ripped a pokeball from his waist, and tossed it to the 
ground, eyes narrow. "Charizard, I choose YOU!"

Hiroshi blinked, looking a little nervous. "And Ash calls forth his most 
powerful pokemon, the fire dragon Pokemon, Charizard!"

Daisuke grimaced. "In previous matches, Ash has had a hard time 
controlling Charizard. Let's hope he succeeds today in keeping the beast 
focused."

Jesse stared up as Charizard flashed into view, much taller than her. 
Her words caught and died in her throat as she was lost in the shadow of 
the dragon that now filled most of the ring. Charizard grinned a dragon 
grin down at her, and flames puffed from it's  nose for a moment. 
Jesse...just stared like a deer caught in the headlights.

Ash grinned, pointing to the unmoving Team Rocket member. "Charizard, 
Fire Blast, now! Take her down!"

Charizard reeled it's large head around to peer at Ash, then shrugged, 
turning back towards Jesse, and inhaling deeply. Jesse's eyes widened as 
the burst of flame roared forth. She closed her eyes, bracing 
herself...and was stunned when she hit the mat with an oof, feeling 
herself dragged from the ring. She blinked and opened her eyes. James 
stood above her, outside the ring. The ropes were melted through and 
hung loosely, drooping, leaving a open space into the ring. "J...James!"

"And James of Team Rocket saves his partner from an untimely 
incineration!", Hiroshi yelled.

James peered down at Jesse, concerned. He held Pikachu loosely under one 
arm, his once pristine uniform singed. "Jesse, let's get out of here. 
The kid's gone nuts!"

Ash snarled. "Oh no, you don't! You're not getting away this time, Team 
Rocket! Charizard, again! Get them!"

Charizard opened it's mouth wide, turning it head slightly to line up 
with the trio standing outside the ring...and then from above, a huge 
burst of water streamed forth, slamming into the fire pokemon with 
immense strength, sending it flying up and out of the ring, right 
towards the announcer's table. The crowd gave out a collective gasp, and 
many peered upward, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Hiroshi and Daisuke both let out a garbled gasp, and dove in different 
directions as the dragon slammed into thier table, reducing it to 
splinters. It continued right through and crashed into the steel rail 
that protected the fans, bending it inward at an odd angle with a 
tortured groan, where the pokemon finally came to a stop. It raised it's 
head for a moment, weakly...then collapsed where it lay, out cold.

 Ash shouted in impotent anger, and looked up to see where the blast of 
water had come from. A familiar voice called down from the rafters, 
slightly mocking. "Long time no see, Ash."

A light came on overhead, revealing a youth standing up on the rafters 
near the ceiling, his sandy brown hair spreading out in every direction, 
holding a mic in his hand. A light smirk played on his face as he patted 
the Blastoise that stood next to him. 

Ash's face went livid. "GARY!"

Gary leaned slowly against his pokemon, which bore his weight easily, 
and raised the mic to his lips. "So, this is what you've been up to, 
Ash." He peered around the Ultradome, casually. "Nice arena you've got 
here."

"What are you doing here, Gary?!", Ash demanded, his face twisted up in 
anger.

Gary grinned, obviously enjoying the discomfort his presence was causing 
Ash. "I've been watching you, Ash. Watching you lose control, just like 
you lost control today. You're giving Pokemon Masters a bad name, acting 
like such a spoiled child, and that includes me. I'm here...to 
straighten you out." The crowd cheered at those words, and Gary's smirk 
widened, almost visibly inhaling the cheers.

"Straighten me out???" Ash yelled. "I'm just trying to beat those 
cheaters, " Here Ash pointed to Team Rocket, outside the ring. "And show 
these people that good, honest competetion is still alive!"

Gary laughed at that, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Good, honest 
competition, Ash? You've lost your trainer's pride. Hell, Team Rocket 
fights cleaner than you do these days, and you want to talk about honest 
competition?" He snorted, audiably. "Whatever, Ash. I always knew you 
were an inferior pokemon trainer, and now I've come to kick some sense 
back into you. I'll drag your sorry butt back to grandfather Oak in 
disgrace."

Ash growled, shaking his fist at the other trainer. "Anytime, Gary. I've 
beaten you before, and I will again. Just name the time."

"Is that so?" Gary smirked. "Fine, Ash. I've decided to join your little 
fighting federation anyway, so why don't we have it out week after next, 
after UltraRage? Just you and me, one-on-one, like the old days." His 
eyes glittered, and he gave Ash a arrogant, mocking grin. "On second 
thought, you can even bring your girlfriend, if you want. Two on one is 
fine by me, and with YOUR skill lately, you'll probably need the help."

Ash's eyes went wide, then narrowed to slits. "I don't need Misty to 
beat you, Gary. I'll beat you all by myself!"

Misty stared up at Ash, anger apparant on her face. Ash had ignored her 
all match, after she'd tried to give him a rest to collect himself, and 
he hadn't listened once. Now THIS? She stamped her foot, and yelled at 
Ash. "Ash Ketchum! You don't need me, huh? FINE! See if I help YOU 
again, you jerk!" She turned, and stalked away from ringside, headed 
towards the back, her face red.

Ash turned, blinking. "Hey, wait Misty! Come on, I didn't mean it like 
that!" He watched Misty go, unable to stop her.

Gary chuckled. "Look like you even pissed off your girlfriend, Ash. 
Better hurry and go make up, or you'll be getting the cold shoulder for 
a while. Later, loser! See you in the ring!" The light went out, and 
there was the sound of scrambling above.

Ash ground his teeth at Gary's words, then stepped through the ropes, 
and headed towards the back after Misty.

The referee pulled himself up from near the base of the ring, where he'd 
been huddling ever since Charizard had melted the ropes with his firey 
breath. "I award this match to Team Pokemon, as result of a DQ!" He then 
dropped the mic, and raced from the arena, presumably to change his 
underwear.

Team Rocket sighed. Another loss. How were they ever going to get the 
belts back at this rate? They walked down the ramp, heading for the back 
themselves.

Hiroshi moved slowly back to what was left of the announcer's table, and 
picked up a mic. After a few seconds of toying with the thing, he seemed 
satisifed that it was going to work. "And while Team Pokemon walks away 
victorious, Ash seems to be having some difficulty finding pleasure in 
the victory."

Daisuke sighed as he approached the mess as well, eyeing the huge dragon 
pokemon that still lay in the crater it had caused, taking up a mic as 
well. "I have to agree with you there, Hiroshi. And who is this new 
entry into the federation? We'll bring you details as soon as they 
become available." He looked around the arena at the damage done to the 
ring nearby, as repair crews came down the ramp with thier tools. "We'll 
be back with the third fight of the evening after this commercial 
break."

************

In the medical bay, a injured Nuku-Nuku lay in a hospital bed. The 
doctors and mechanics had done thier best, with thier limited knowledge 
of robotics, to stop the loss of fluids, and stabilize the girl, but in 
the end, the best they could do was slow the process. Nuku-Nuku was 
dying. A doctor stood nearby the bed, watching the EKG beep slowly, 
shaking his head at all the wires attatched to the cat-girl's robotic 
form.

A portal opened quickly in the center of the room, a whirling black disc 
with a shining white rim, and from ths portal, Washuu stepped through, 
deep concern marring her brow. The doctor almost panicked at the sight 
of the portal, but after the red-haired scientist came through it, 
relaxed visibly.

Washuu stepped up to Nuku-Nuku's side and grimaced. B-ko had done a 
number on the girl, all right. She looked up at the doctor. "I'll take 
it from here."

The doctor nodded, and with a backwards look, left the room. Washuu 
began to untangle Nuku-Nuku from the mass of wires that surrounded her, 
detemined to take her back to the Masaki residence for better care. Back 
at the lab, at least she had a better chance to save-

"Washuu-mama?" A soft voice called from behind her.

Washuu blinked, looking over her shoulder at Mary, who had just stepped 
through the portal herself, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Mary, go home. 
I'll be there in a second."

"What's going on, Washuu-mama?" The young girl peered past Washuu, to 
see the horrible condition of the catgirl behind her, and her eyes 
widened in horror. "Oh no! Nuku-Nuku-chan!"

Washuu grimaced. "Mary, go home, honey. I'll bring Nuku-Nuku along in a- 
" She broke off again, as the young girl ran forward to the catgirl's 
side, putting her hands on a slender arm. "Mary, what are you- "

There was a sudden burst of brilliant white light from the small girl, 
so bright that even Washuu had to throw up her hands to prevent being 
blinded by it. The light was accompanied by a rich harmonic chord that 
rang throughout the room and beyond, eerie in it's beauty and majesty.

After a long moment, the light faded, along with the sound. Washuu 
blinked, trying to remove the white spots that danced on her retinas. A 
voice called out. "Mary-chan? Washuu-sama?" Slowly the white spots faded 
to a dim reddish-black, and her vision cleared enough to see Nuku-Nuku 
sitting up a little, her wounds healed, holding Mary's hand. Mary was 
crying softly, clutching the cat-girl's arm.

"Ano...did Nuku-Nuku miss something? Why are you crying, Mary-chan?"

There was a sound of rapid footfalls coming from down the hall, and two 
doctors entered the room, looking confused. Ranma Saotome and Akane 
Tendo followed quickly behind them, looking fairly startled.

"What in the heck was THAT?" Ranma inquired.
 
The doctors rushed to Nuku-Nuku's side. "Amazing! It's like she was 
never even damaged in the first place!" One of them turned to Washuu. 
"How did you do it?"

Washuu smiled, trying to put up a mask of smugness, keep the nervous 
tension off her face. She herself wasn't entirely sure what had just 
happened, but good money said that Mary had used her divine power to 
heal Nuku-Nuku, and she certainly didn't want THAT particular cat out of 
the bag. "Well I AM the number one scientist in the universe, and we do 
have to keep our secrets. Come on Mary, Nuku-Nuku, let's go home."

**************

"We're back!" Hiroshi cheered. "And we have good news for all you Ultra 
fans. During the commercial break, the self-proclaimed greatest 
scientist in the universe, Washuu, has repaired Nuku-Nuku down in 
Ultra's medical station!" There were loud cheers from the crowd, after 
all, Nuku-Nuku was a fan favorite.

Daisuke nodded, sitting down at the new announcer's table that had been 
provided to them. This Olde Dojo worked quickly, and almost all of the 
damage that had occured before the commercial had been repaired, right 
down to the new ring ropes and the unbent rail that Charizard had been 
resting against minutes before. "Apparantly, her wounds were not as bad 
as we believed, because she's up and around again, and has gone home 
with Washuu. We've had an exciting night tonight on Ultra, so far, 
haven't we, Hiroshi?"

"That's right, Dai! And we still have lots of great Ultra action to go! 
The next fight on our card promises to be an intense one, as Marlo Semaj 
goes up against Sakura Kasunago. This one is anyone's match, and I can't 
guess who will come out on top!"

Daisuke snorted. "I have an idea, Hiroshi. As usual, when Marlo fights, 
this match will commence with Hardcore rules enforced. Sakura's a good 
fighter, but Marlo's going to have the advantage here, no doubt about 
it."

Loud rock music blared from the speakers, and recognizing it, the crowd 
raised thier voices, a mixture of cheers and jeers, mostly jeers, as the 
Furnityre Saviour strode down the entrance ramp, grinning out at his 
public. He paused for a moment to bask in the crowd's response to his 
entry, then gave them the bird, and finished his walk down to ringside, 
grabbing the top rope and hopping over it.

"And our first competitor has made his way to the ring," Daisuke said, 
"and as usual, Marlo is motioning for a microphone."

Marlo grabbed the mic he was offered by the ring attendant and grinned 
up at the entry ramp. "As most of you peons know, I /hate/ fighting 
little girls. But as miss Tendo has declared that this fight is going to 
happen today, I have to yawn my way through it. Now, if Little Miss 
Panty-shot could kindly get her ass down here so I can wreck it, and 
stop wasting my valuable time..."

Bouncy j-pop replaced the hardcore rock that was playing over the 
Ultradome's speakers, and Sakura stepped out onto the platform, holding 
a microphone of her own. The crowd cheered wildly. She pointed up at 
Marlo, frowning. "You want a fight, buster? Well, you just got one. I'm 
going to get medieval on your furniture-wielding butt!"

"Is that so?" Marlo sneered. "Then why don't you get your skanky ass up 
here and prove it? Or are is it still a bit too sore from Morrigan's 
attentions, hmmm? I suppose that is to be expected, after all, she IS a 
succubus, and I hear you two had your own little party last night."

"That's a lie! You're toast, Marlo!" Sakura's face darkened, and she 
dropped the microphone, racing towards the ring.

] [  HARDCORE Match
] [  Marlo Semaj vs. Sakura
] [  FIGHT!

Marlo grinned as Sakura slid under the bottom rope, hopping to her feet 
just in time for him to hit her full across the head with a steel 
folding chair. "Oops!"

Sakura reeled back against the ropes for a moment as she saw momentarily 
saw stars.

With a flourish, Marlo continued his assault as he smacked her again 
with the chair, not about to give Sakura any time to recover. He smirked 
as Sakura reeled to the left. "Awwwww....did the widdle exhibitionist 
get a boo-boo? I'm so...." He wound up and delivered a fierce uppercut 
with the chair, following though. "...SORRY!"

Sakura's head snapped back as she flew up and over the top rope, ladding 
hard across her shoulders on the padding outside the ring, where she lay 
for a moment, trying to get her head to clear.

"And it looks like Marlo does indeed have the upper hand in this fight, 
folks. What an incredibly punishing series of blows!" Daisuke said, 
shaking his head.

"Dai! Look over there, in the crowd!" Hiroshi pointed. "Do you see what 
I see?"

Daisuke looked over, then blinked in surprise. "It's Bean Bandit! What's 
he doing in the crowd?"

Bean sat in the front row, holding his bucket of popcorn with a 
concerned expression on his face, his eyes on Sakura.

Marlo, however, apparantly hadn't noticed the hulking figure in the 
audience, leaning over the top rope to taunt Sakura. "Hey, sweetcheeks! 
This isn't the time to be taking a nap, ya know! Or are you just bound 
and determined to give the crowd another eyeful of your panties?" He 
waited another moment, as Sakura slowly pulled herself up to one knee, 
shaking her head. "Bah, you're not even worth it." He pulled a large 
couch from Furniturespace(tm) and dropped it from about ten feet about 
the ground, right above the girl.

Sakura looked up, as the shadow of the couch fell across her, and yelled 
in surprise, trying to leap free. The couch, however, never touched her, 
as a large figure leapt forward, catching one edge of it and tossing it 
aside. Bean turned and gave Marlo a dark frown as the couch crashed 
nearby, with a crack of wood.

"Bean Bandit steps in to save Sakura! And they say that chivalry is 
dead!" Hiroshi whooped.

Daisuke shrugged. "His chivalry just cost her the match. I believe 
that's a DQ."

"Ah, if it isn't the big, bad Roadbuster." Marlo said, mockingly, from 
his place in the ring. "Come to play the hero again? I thought you'd had 
enough abuse from our last few matches, but I guess it hasn't gotten 
through that melon on top of your neck yet that I'm smarter and far more 
skilled than you. Or are you just a masochist?"

"If you think I'm going to just stand by and let you abuse people, 
Marlo, you've got another think coming." Bean replied. "Maybe I'll just 
break your sorry ass into pieces, and leave you in traction where you 
CAN'T do it anymore. I'm sure Tarou would like the company."

"Bring it on then, Beany, and we'll see who's left lying on the mat."

Bean growled, and grabbed the top rope, using it to slingshot himself up 
and into the ring. He advanced towards Marlo, who pulled out a mahogany 
dinner table.

Suddenly, chains flashed down from above, glinting black in the ring's 
lighting, towards the two opponents. Bean twisted sideways as one of the 
lengths spiraled around his torso and pulled taut. The other, however, 
caught the table, punching a hole through the middle of it in a mass of 
splinters, and struck Marlo in the chest, knocking him to the ground 
under the shattered ruin. A voice echoed from above. "Don't forget about 
me." A moment later, Mousse landed lightly in the center of the ring, 
leaping down from the rafters, wrapping his hands in the sleeves of his 
robe. "Marlo...you are an amateur. I've come to show you who truly is 
the Master of hidden weaponry."

Hiroshi blinked. "What's this? Mousse has now entered the ring! Are we 
going to see all three of these competitors go at it tonight?" 

"If so," Daisuke replied, "Bean's going to be at a disadvantage. Both of 
the other two are real Hardcore fighters, while Bean only has his 
strength."

Mousse's gaze slid coolly over to Bean. "Just stay out of this. I'm not 
after you. I'm here to show this braggart who is the best, and to take 
that gold from around his waist."

Marlo groaned, pulling himself free of the table, and glared at Mousse. 
"Like hell, you will. This belt is mine, and it's staying RIGHT where it 
is!" He pulled out a chest of drawers. "Bring it on, cloak-boy!"

Bean shook his head, looking at Mousse, and strained against the chains 
that surrounded him, his face turning red. With a snap, the chains gave, 
falling to the ring around him. "I don't care why you're here, but 
nobody attacks me and walks away unanswered." He cracked his knuckles, 
and peered back and forth between the two. "So, who's first?"

There was a sudden whine of feedback, and Nabiki appeared on the 
UltraTron. "No so fast, boys. I don't recall sanctioning this match. 
What exactly are you doing in my ring?"

Bean shrugged. "I'm going to feed your Furniture-boy here his teeth."

"No, I don't think so. You're not even supposed to BE here tonight, Bean 
Bandit." Nabiki replied. "Nor you, Mousse. I should fine the whole lot 
of you for distrubing my show. But seeing as I'm such a big-hearted 
employer, here's what I'm going to do. You three want to fight so much? 
Fine. You three will be on the card for UltraRage, in a Three-Way 
Hardcore fight for the belt. A Hardcore Last Man Standing match!"

Mousse shrugged. "That sounds acceptable, Nabiki Tendo. It does not 
really matter where or when I put Marlo in is place, be it here or at 
your pay-per-view."

Marlo growled lightly. "Fine, boss. I can take these two schmucks 
anyday."

Nabiki nodded. "Good. Now get out of my ring. Oh, and by the way, 
Mousse...since you're so eager to fight here, and I don't want to 
overwork one of my employees, you and Shampoo will NOT be getting a shot 
at the Lambda belts at UltraRage. I'll leave it to you to inform your 
partner." Nabiki smirked, and gave them all a too-sweet, "Have a nice 
day, now!" And with that, the UltraTron went blank.

Mousse paled slightly. Shampoo was going to kill him. He sighed, and 
hopped out of the ring, headed to the back to start explaining.

Bean peered to Marlo, frowning. "See you at the pay-per-view, you little 
scumbag. I still haven't paid you back properly for stealing my car." 
He, too slid from the ring, stopping to check on the mildly injured and 
quite irate Sakura, as the two headed for the back.

Marlo grinned slightly. "I guess that makes me the winner." He shrugged, 
and left the ring, heading out through a service ramp.

"And Nabiki unloads a surprise on all of us! A three way, Hardcore, 
Last-Man-Standing Match, between these three veterans of Ultra? It 
should be quite a match, don't you agree, Daisuke?"

Daisuke nodded, taking a sip from a cup of water nearby. "Marlo's just 
been heaping on the enemies lately. He may be strong, but I have to 
wonder how long he can hold out, with all these people after him. Sooner 
or later, someone's going to take that belt from him."

Hiroshi nodded. "You're right, there, Dai. And UltraRage will be jam-
packed full of high-intensity fights just like this one! It's going to 
be one heck of a show!"

Daisuke stacked up his index cards, flipping to the next one. "And now 
we'll move along to the last fight of the night, as Voiduck faces off 
against-" He broke off for a moment, with a nervous pause before 
continuing. "Rei Ayanami, in EVA-00."

Hiroshi blinked. "What? I thought Dark Schnieder was supposed to be 
fighting tonight?!" He rummaged through his cards, and nodded at what it 
said.

Daisuke nodded. "He was supposed to fight, Hiroshi, but apparantly 
something happened backstage, and so he won't be joining us tonight. Rei 
will be fighting in his place."

Hiroshi fell silent for a long moment, before continuing, his voice 
pale. "We take you directly to the fight scene, live, on the grasslands 
of Nebraska."

************

A field of high grain, as far as the eye could see. Krillan looked 
around the area and shook his head, floating above it all. Not much of a 
place to fight, but at least way out here, noone was going to get hurt.

The twin black portals opened on he far sides of the playing field, and 
the two competitors stepped through, one a small, cute looking pokemon, 
the other, a massive giant of destruction. Krillan sweatdropped lightly 
at the comparison, how incredibly absurb it looked, but shook his head 
and waved the two forward. "You both understand the rules, correct?"

"[Voi.] The dark pokemon agreed.

EVA-00 stood silently on the far side of the field.

Krillian looked up at the massive EVA. "Rei? Do you understand the 
rules?"

After a moment, a distorted voice replied from the EVA. "hai."

Krillan nodded. "Then fight." He took to the air, to watch the action 
below.

Inside the EVA, Rei was having some difficulty. She'd had dreams of 
Hiroshi the past few nights, and they had always twisted into nightmares 
halfway through. Something was not right. Over her intercom, Gendo's 
voice rang. "Rei, destroy your opponent, now."

"Yes, Commander." Rei replied, and sent the EVA-unit forward, crushing 
grain underfoot.

Voiduck looked WAY up at it's opponent, and slipped away into the high 
grain, disappearing.
 
EVA-00 stopped for a moment, observing the way the grain stirred with 
the pokemon's movement, and brough a massive foot down nearby, crashing 
into the earth. "you shall die here."

Voiduck, startled, shuffled back as he was nearly flattened. "[V...Voi!] 
He frowned, as the EVA's foot came into view. "[Voivoi...]" A large 
black disc appeared overhead, then another. "[DUCK]!" The two flat discs 
spun up into the air, colliding with the EVA's torso, and knocking it 
back, where it fell with a crash, onto it's back.

Rei grimaced as her EVA hit the ground, jarred by the impact. She swung 
the EVA's arm out, cutting down grain like a giant metal scythe, and 
smacking Voiduck hard.

Voiduck let out a cry as the EVA's arm collided with it, flying off into 
the field of wheat once more, and slowly rolling to a stop, bruised. 
It's small body just wasn't built for such abuse, but it pulled itself 
to it's feet anyway, holding it's head. "Voioioi...."

Rei shook her head violently inside the entry plug of EVA-00, trying to 
focus on the fight at hand. She pulled her EVA slowly upright, then to 
it's feet, walking over towards where Voiduck had flown. "you cannot 
hide forever."

Voiduck didn't intend on hiding forever. Just long enough for the 
[HATEFUL] EVA to get close. It closed it's eyes as the headache began to 
grow truly bad, and rose into the air, free of the cornfield, glowing 
with a sick purple light. It would [DESTROY] the EVA and it's [PITIFUL] 
pilot.

"there you are." Rei said, reaching forward to grab the pokemon in her 
EVA's fist....and discovered that she could not, as the hand clenched 
around a powerful psychokinetic barrier surrounding the small pokemon. 
"what is this?"

Voiduck opened it's eyes, glowing with the same deep purple that 
surrounded it. It [HATED] the pilot of the EVA it was fighting, [HATED] 
being small and unable to break free of this tiny form, [HATED] being 
knocked around. Now the time had come to show that [HATE]. "[VOIIIII!]" 
It screamed, unleashing a barrage of telekinetic force upon the EVA, 
which gave off a slight groan under it's twisting effects.

Rei braced herself, grimacing, as her entry plug shook with the force of 
the expanding telekinetic barrage. She would have to deal with this. Rei 
closed her eyes, reached to expand her own AT-field to counter the 
attack...and suddenly shuddered, as a startlingly clear image of Hiroshi 
smiling at her formed behind the closed lids. Wha...why was she seeing 
this now?

Voiduck smiled darkly as its attack went unopposed, and two more black 
discs appeared over the massive hand that was trying to crush it. They 
flew forth, straight for the central orb of the EVA's chest, and 
impacted with a solid crack. The EVA flew backwards, and slammed into 
the ground, carving out a deep groove in the soft dirt of the wheat 
field. It did not rise.

Krillian blinked at the fallen EVA. It was like David and Goliath all 
over again. He called the ten-count, and then motioned to Voiduck. "And 
the winner of this Omega bout is Voiduck!"

Voiduck powerposed. "[Voi!]" And headed for his portal, disappearing. 
That would teach those fools in Ultra that the [POWER] of the [VOID] 
still [RAGED] on. 

Krillan flew over to the EVA and paused. "Are you all right, Ayanami 
Rei?"

"i am fine." The voice replied. How...how could she have been beaten? 
Rei sighed, and ejected herself from her EVA, opening the entry plug and 
stepping out onto the crushed grain, looking dejected as LCL dripped 
from her plugsuit.

Krillan nodded. "Then I'll take my leave. Good fight, Ayanami." He flew 
to a portal and stepped inside.

"not good enough." Rei replied dismally.

A voice, full of malice, echoed through the fall Nebraska air. "No...not 
good enough at all, Ayanami." There was a flicker of blue light, and a 
trio stood nearby. Bison, Protege, and the imposter Hiroshi. "You were 
beaten by a pokemon, Ayanami." Bison frowned. "That is most 
unsatisfactory."

"my apologies, commander. i will fight harder next time." Rei replied, 
her head downcast.

"You've humiliated our organization, Ayanami,"Bison declared, "And 
that's something that no one does without paying...a price. Protege? Why 
don't you show Ayanami what the price is for humiliating us."

"A task we find to be most pleasant, Lord." Protege grinned, advancing 
on the smaller girl, as blue flame flickered in upon his hands.

************

Back at the Ultradome, Hiroshi's eyes widened. "No! They're going to 
kill her! I....I've got to DO something!" He rose from his announcer's 
chair, tossing his headset down on the table, and dashed down the aisle.

Daisuke stood as well, looking startled. "Hiroshi! Where are you going? 
You'll get yourself killed if you take on that psychopath! Be 
reasonable!" He watched his friend retreat, and sighed, holding his 
head. "I sure hope you know what you're doing, Hiroshi..."

*************

Rei fell backwards with a light cry as Protege's fists slammed into her 
torso and face, one after another. She collapsed on the ground, her 
plugsuit scorched, as the smell of burnt LCL clung heavily in the air.

Protege, however, was not finished, giving her a sharp kick in her 
exposed ribs. Rei clutched them, curling up into a ball on the ground 
before the large man stepped back, looking to his master for further 
orders. 
The imposter Hiroshi just watched on coolly, as if the scene before him 
was none of his concern.

Bison watched Rei's writhings to the ground with light disdain. "I set 
this match up especially for you Rei, an easy fight, and you managed to 
lose, despite this fact. Why?"

"f...forgive me, commander. i...i was distracted. it will not happen 
again."

Bison's eyes narrowed. "Distracted by what, Ayanami?"

Rei slowly sat up, still clutching her ribs, her lip bleeding. "i saw 
images of hiroshi in my head, commander, ones i could not control."

Bison's square jaw set into a deep frown. "And you let that prevent you 
from succeeding in your task? What if that had been an Angel, Ayanami? 
All life on earth could be destroyed right now."

Rei's head dropped again. "i am sorry, commander. i will focus harder in 
the future."

Bison half-turned away. "Not sorry enough. But you will be by the end of 
the day. Protege...continue."

Protege stepped forward once more, an eager grin on his face...and was 
immediately hurled back, as a sparkling hexagonal field of power 
exploded outward with a vengence, surrounding Rei. Protege went flying, 
to land on his face in the dirt, as did the Imposter Hiroshi, as the 
shockwave of the AT-field rolled through. Even Bison, who had half-
turned away from Rei, jerked hard and stumbled forward a few steps at 
the field's explosive force.

Bison turned back, his eyes narrowing to slits, glowing a soft blue. 
"And now you strike your Commander, Aya-" Bison fell silent for a 
moment, as the dust settled, revealing the source of the AT-field to be 
not Rei Ayanami, but instead, a very angry Hiroshi, his silver-lavender 
hair hanging down into his eyes. "You."

Hiroshi snarled at Bison, his hands out before him, as the AT-field 
shimmered brightly, fueled by the announcer's determination. His eyes 
were narrow and hard. "You...leave...her.../alone/."

Rei's eyes slowly opened to peer outward. "hi...hiroshi?" She looked 
back and forth, confused, bewteen Hiroshi and his dark duplicate. 
"what's going..."

Hiroshi looked back over his shoulder at Rei. "Rei-chan! Don't be 
fooled! He's not me!"

Bison's narrowed eyes opened slightly, and he peered calmly at Hiroshi 
through the azure field. "Impressive, I must admit...but it is 
ultimately futile, boy. You see...I have her soul." He snapped his 
fingers, and Rei's eyes glazed over. She slowly climbed to the feet, and 
walked through the inside of the AT-field, to stand at the Imposter 
Hiroshi's side, laying her hand on his arm as he slowly stood back up.

Hiroshi's face twisted into a weary snarl, and the AT-field flickered, 
destabilizing. "Damn you, Bison...I WILL find a way to get her back from 
you yet, you just wait and see."

Bison seemed amused, a wicked grin appearing on his face. He crossed his 
arms across his chest. "Yes...we shall see, boy. Try your best, it 
amuses me to watch people squirm uselessly against me."

Protege slowly pulled himself to his feet and walked to Bison's side. 
"We concur. You shall be defeated if you try to-erk!!!" He gasped as 
Bison's thick, meaty hand whipped out to constrict around his throat.

Bison's eyes shifted to Protege, and narrowed once more. "Ayanami was 
beaten by a pokemon, but it was an Omega fighter. You were beaten by a 
ring announcer. Why?"

Protege managed a rasping choke, his face turning blue. "Forgive 
me...Lord Bison...he caught me by....surprise..."

Bison frowned deeply. "Insufficient. I'm afraid I have to declare this 
experiment a failure." Wisps of blue flame extended down the ruthless 
crime-lord's arm.

Protege's eyes widened. "No, wait, Master Bison, Plea-
AGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!" The being that was once called Protege burst into 
flames, immolated in the blue-white psychic flames. When it faded, 
nothing remained of the genetic creature but fine ash, which fluttered 
down onto the wheat below.

Bison smiled, watching the ash fall like snow. "It seems that I shall 
have to find Sagat a new partner for his next Ultra bout. So be it." He 
looked back to the slightly horrified Hiroshi. "I've considered you 
beneath my notice thus far, boy...but you've now shown yourself to be a 
threat, however small. We will see each other again soon. You may count 
on it." He snapped his fingers once more, and the trio vanished in a 
burst of blue flame, leaving the announcer behind.

Hiroshi watched for a moment, as Bison and his minions left, then the 
AT-field faded and died. Hiroshi fell foward into the grain...and lay 
still, a word on his lips. "Rei...."

*************

Daisuke stared in shock for a moment at the UltraTron, then fumbled with 
the microphone. "And that's all the time we have for you today, folks. 
Remember to call your cable company and order UltraRage Zeta, coming up 
next week. From here at the Ultradome, this is Daisuke, signing off. 
Good night!" He stood up and raced down the aisle. Hiroshi looked half-
dead out there, and he had to go rescue him. Again.

**************

Washuu walked out of Nuku-Nuku's room, where she'd gone to check on the 
cat-girl, and make sure she was alright one last time before she put 
Mary to bed. She'd been thinking, and it was time to talk to Mary about 
this, before things blew up in all thier faces. She stepped back into 
the living room, where Mary sat on the couch, watching the end of Ultra, 
waiting for her mommy to return. Washuu sat down beside the girl. 
"Mary... I want you to listen to me. I mean, seriously listen to me."

Mary rubbed her eyes sleepily. "Um, okay."

Washuu looked down at her young charge and new daughter. "What you did 
tonight... you know what you did tonight, right?"

Mary nodded slightly. "Hai?" 

"Don't do that again... not in front of other people." Washuu said.

Mary looked confused. "Huh?"

Washuu sighed, a worried look playing across her face. "This is very 
important.  There are people out there who would... how do I put this... 
okay.  You like it when I'm nice and open about stuff, right?"

Mary nodded softly. "Uh-huh."

Washuu explained, "There are people who would want to hurt you if they 
find out you can do that kind of thing, or they'd want to force you to 
do things for them.  It's a dangerous world out there, and it's 
important that you keep that a sec--"

Mary broke in, looking confused. "Why would someone want to hurt me for 
watching Ultra, mommy?"

Washuu blinked. "What?"

Mary tilted her head a little to the side.  "That's what I was doing 
tonight, mommy, watching TV with you."

Washuu shook her head slightly. "No no, I mean what you did earlier 
tonight, when you...healed Nuku-Nuku in the medical bay."

Mary nodded softly, her face scrunching up at the memory. "She was hurt 
so bad...I wanted her to be well again..."

Washuu nodded softly. "I understand that, Mary, but it's a very risky 
thing to show to others."

"But why, mommy?" Mary asked, obviously not understanding.

Washuu sighed. "Well...because.. because they don't have that power, and 
they'd want to use that power through you, like I said.  There's a lot of
people in Ultra like that, like Bison, and Sephiroth... look, Mary, these
things you do are... well..." Washuu paused for a moment, trying to decide
how exactly to word what she was about to say. She didn't want to just go
out and tell the girl that she was the messiah, the being that would
Change All Things. "Mary, do you understand how you do those things?"

Mary smiled cheerfully. "Nope!"

Washuu blinked, slightly startled. "You don't..?"

The small girl just shook her head.  "No, I just do them. It feels right 
to me. I like to help people and do the right thing, just like you taught
me to. I don't know where it comes from, but that's okay. Are you worried,
Mommy?"

Washuu's normal confidence was shaken, and a tired look played over her 
face, making her look much older than usual. "...yes, Mary. I am. Aren't 
you? I've been... I'll admit it, Mary. I've been avoiding talking to you 
about this for a long time, because I wasn't  sure you were ready. I 
don't want to scare you--"

Mary shook her head vigorously. "I'm not afraid. It's not scary, mommy. 
It's a good thing. I understand it, even if I can't explain it. It's like
breathing. I can't explain breathing but I do it anyway and that's good."

Washuu instantly went into professor mode. "Breathing is when your lungs 
compress to exhale, and--"

Mary looked up at her mommy with gentle eyes, trying to comfort her. She 
never looked this tired. "But it doesn't matter, 'cause I breathe 
anyway, whether I know about how it works or not. It's like faith... 
Mommy, you look really scared. Please don't be afraid. I understand 
about the bad people. I'll do my best to be careful."

Washuu looked at her daughter. How could she explain that people like 
Bison would use her without a thought to her feelings or wishes...and 
with the power Mary held withing her... "I can't help being nervous, 
Mary."

Now Mary's eyes clouded with worry, her face growing tight. "...am I 
that scary?"

Washuu sighed softly.  "No, Mary-chan... you're not scary. And I don't 
want either of us living in fear. I guess that's all I'm saying... as 
long as you know the risks, I'll take your word on it. And I'll do 
everything I can to keep you safe too... so we can both have fun as a 
family and live a normal life. Okay?"

Mary's eyes perked up, hope glimmering in them. "Does that mean we can 
go to UltraRage Zeta?"

Washuu paused, looking uncertain. "...well..."

Mary's voice grew pleading, and she cut on the innocent charm all 
children have when they want something from thier parents. "I really 
wanna go, mommy. It's better live than on TV! Pleeease? I'll be really, 
really good, I promise!"

Washuu seemed to think quietly for a few minutes, that worried 
expression not quite leaving her face, but then finally broke, finding 
it impossible to stand against the waiwai charm of her determined child. 
"Clean up your room, and I'll get tickets. I'm sure I can finagle some
out of Nabiki. Somehow."

Mary beamed, and ran off for her room, cheering. "Yaaaaay!!!! Thank you, 
mommy!!!"

Washuu watched her daughter go, and rubbed her temple slightly. She 
olnly hoped that this wasn't a mistake.

***************


After the cameras have shut down, after the crowd has gone home, 
after the injured in medical have gone to sleep, after the fighters
have  drifted off to wherever they go, the UltraDome is the province of
janitors and night watchmen.  It's dark, quiet, and mildly spooky.
Especially the boiler room.

Daisuke hated going down here, but he had no choice.

He pushed open the doors of the boiler room, the light from the hall 
spilling into the dark void.  Dark, save for the dozens of television 
screens quietly pumping flickering color and video into the room... big
ones, small ones, portable ones, whatever CHAOS could scrounge up over
the course of the last week.  All because Jack said it helped him
meditate.

Fearless Leader himself knelt on a tatami mat in the middle of a ring of 
media, being pounded on all sides by crazed American politics,
backstabbing  in the entertainment industry, stock market ups and downs
and talk show after talk show.  His eyes were closed; was he actually
sleeping?

Daisuke crept up, but before he had to decide to touch the man or not, 
Controversial Jack's eyes opened.

"How's it going, Dai?" he asked, calm and casual as can be.

"We had a rough night," Daisuke said.  "Weren't you watching?"

"Of and on, between the Geraldo Uncovers Secrets of J. Edgar Hoover's 
Underwear Drawer and World's Scariest Animal Kingdom Domestic Disputes," 
Jack replied, raising a universal remote the size of a TV dinner and
muting all the sets at once.  "Afraid my thinking is more important than
Ultra's pre-PPV hype right now."

"Yeah.  Okay.  Listen, speaking of the pay per view--"

"You want to know my next big plan, right?" Jack asked.

"Sort of.  I'd like to hear about it sooner than a few hours before 
showtime this season," Daisuke said, a little sore over the issue.  "And 
I'd like to formally request that it be nothing involving uniforms or 
getting arrested--"

"I won't be needing the CHAOS Army next week."

"Say what?"

"We're at a turning point, Daisuke," Jack explained.  "We've teetered 
off recently.  The unexpected has become the mundane.  The fire is gone.  
I haven't spoken up about this with the others, because I didn't want to 
disappoint them -- but it's okay, I was expecting this.  The public 
relations siege on the pagan forces of Tendo has simply peaked.  It's
timeto take it to the next level or shut it down forever."

"'The next level'?" Daisuke asked, deciding to stock up on insurance 
immediately.  "What, exactly and in excruciating detail, is 'the next 
level'?"

"I haven't finalized that yet."

"Ah.  Yes, that sounds about right for you, Jack."

"You misunderstand," Jack spoke, voice even and sedate.  "I know 
what I'm going to have to do.  It's time for the most controversial turn
I could possibly take.  But the execution needs fine tuning.  I'm going
to soak myself in the righteous fury and screaming lunacy of this twisted
culture for another week, until I emerge with my finger firmly on the
pulse of the world.  Then I'm gonna press down hard.  Do you understand
now?"

"Hell no."

"And thus you achieve enlightenment.  Begone, my son.  I have much 
meditation upon the Way of Controversy to complete."

Daisuke groaned.  "Great.  Terrific.  So in other words, no, you have no 
details for me, and you've got something huge planned.  I smell disaster 
on the downwind.  I'm not bailing you out this time, Jack.  I'm not
playing the straight man.  I have my job back, and even if things aren't
exactly peachy, I don't feel like risking what little I have for you--"

"I told you, I won't need the CHAOS Army for this," Jack interrupted.  
"There will be no big fight, no end of the world, no reality-shaking 
cataclysm -- and yet, everything's going to shift once more.  It's going 
to be like the Fart of Ages; silent, but deadly, lingering around long 
after the mild disturbance it causes.  Precise like a spitball to the
forehead.  The next level is mine alone to take on, Daisuke.  If I sink
or swim, I promise you guys won't feel the backlash."

"That's almost considerate of you.  If I didn't know any better, I'd say 
you were being responsible.  You, Controversial Jack, unpredictable 
whack job with the sanity of an emu on acid..."

"I know.  It's it so deliciously controversial?" Jack asked, smiling 
with a mouth filled with white teeth and eyes like stars on the verge of 
burning out...

Daisuke's eyes turned to the television screens, the onslaught of
information.  Jack's lost it, he decided.  He's gone so around the bend 
that he's come out insanity and to the other side of a queer kind of 
normality.  Or maybe, just maybe, he knows exactly what he's doing...


****************

] [ ULTRA EPISODE 61 RESULTS/RECAP

] [ SEPHIROTH gets a new TOY
] [ DARK SCHNIEDER gets punked by SEPHIROTH
] [ AKANE and RANMA plan for ULTRARAGE
] [ NABIKI TENDO has a HEADACHE
] [ B-KO defeats NUKU-NUKU and nearly kills her  
] [ TEAM POKEMON beats TEAM ROCKET by DQ
] [ GARY appears to taunt ASH and joins ULTRA
] [ MARY heals NUKU-NUKU, and is nearly revealed
] [ MARLO SEMAJ defeats SAKURA
] [ MARLO, MOUSSE, and BEAN mix it up, HARDCORE MATCH officially 
    declared for ULTRARAGE
] [ VOIDUCK defeats REI AYANAMI/EVA-00
] [ HIROSHI stops PROTEGE from beating his girlfriend.
] [ PROTEGE is destroyed by BISON as a failure
] [ REI remains with BISON
] [ WASHUU has a chat with MARY
] [ JACK meditates on CONTROVERSY

Author's notes: I...am....tired. ^_^; This took much, MUCH longer than I 
originally thought it would, and I apologize for it's lateness. This was 
and is my first Ultra Ep, and I hope you all enjoy it, however short it 
is compared to other parts. Gomen nasai.

I'd like to thank Stefan 'Twoflower' Gagne for his INCREDIBLE patience 
with me on this, and with helping me through the worst times I had with 
it. I'd also like to thank the peeps on #improfanfic, especially 
Ryuuzaki and Ravi for thier comments. A special thank you goes out to my 
beloved Tara, who was supportive of me all through it, and didn't mind 
the fact that she had a lot less of my attention. I'd also like to thank 
the letters A and G, and the number 3. Don't ask me why, it's 6:15 in 
the morning, and I'm losing coherence. n.n;

Now, let's all hear the Ultra writers' finish, ne? "I WILL NEVER...DO 
THIS....AGAIN!" (Though I likely will, anyway, just like most of us, if 
Stef allows it. ^^;)