"She'll do a hundred and forty with the top end floored, she's my
little deuce coupe, you don't know what I g-"

	There was a short pause as the figure inside the room processed the
sound of an opening door behind him.  Bean then practically punched the
stereo with one meaty finger as he turned to eye Tifa.  "How long have
you been standing there?"

	She bit down hard on her lower lip and shook her head.  "Definitely
not long enough to hear any music.  ...Beach Boys, right?"

	Bean grumbled as he turned back to the shelves lining the wall.  "So
I'm blasting some good American music about good American cars.  Nothing
wrong with that.  ...Stop nodding, Teef.  Either help me polish these
things up or go practice.  Or something.  I dunno."

	Grabbing a rag on her way over, Tifa patted her boyfriend on the arm
as she took a spot next to him.  "Sure, sure.  You're going to have to
remind me where some of this stuff comes from, though."

	Bean's face lit up at the chance to talk shop.  "Well, this hubcap's
from a 1965 Mustang, original chrome.  Oh, see the arrangements of the
spokes on this one?  That's how you can tell it's..."

	As he went on, Tifa's eyes began to glaze over.  Sure, she told him
about drink mixing methods, but that was interesting.  This new
fascination of his with shiny, perfectly-polished hubcaps was already
starting to get old.  But with everything that had been going on
recently, it was nice to see him in such a good mood, right? 

	That decided on, she promptly poured a thermos of hot water over him
to snap him out of his reverie.  She leaned back on her feet and shot
him a bright smile.  "So, you were saying, Beani-"

	"What the HELL?!"

	Tifa practically jumped out of her boots.  "What?"

	"It's gone!"  Bean dug through a stack of shipment crates at one
side of the room, then deepened his scowl.  "Definitely gone."

	"What is?"

	"Teef, have you seen my belt around?"

	She blinked.  "The Hardcore belt is gone?" she redundantly asked. 
"Bean... Bean!  Wait, do you want me to keep looking for it?"

	Bean waved a hand non-committedly at her as he stalked out of the
room towards Nabiki's office.  She'd talked about upping security, but
had anything come of it?  Of course not!  And now his hard-won belt was
gone, and he had no idea who'd taken it.

	"So!  My old foe has finally ventured out to face me!"

	The massive driver stopped in his tracks, lowered his sunglasses,
and with one deliberate shifting of several dozen muscles, raised his
eyebrow at Mousse.  "What?"	

	"You may have improved your skills at hiding, but they're still no
match for the master of hidden weapons!"  Mousse drew his hand back and,
with a "snikt," blossomed a sleeveful of blades.

	Bean rolled his eyes.  "Look, either I kick your ass now or later,
but I'd have to make it really fast if we do it now.  The Hardcore belt
just got stolen."

	"So, now you'll finally succumb to my superior... what?"  Mousse
blinked at that, then started when Bean turned on his heel and walked
away.  "H...hey!  Don't you turn your back on me, Bandit!"  He scowled
at the departing figure.  "You've been arrogant for far too long,
Bandit.  You've been asking for a lesson the way real fighters act
towards one another, and it looks as if I'll be the one to give it to
y-"

	*SPLAT*
	
	"Yeesh, enough with the Kunou talk."  Marla crossed her arms across
her chest and rolled her eyes.  She gave the futon resting atop the
unconscious fighter a prod with her foot, then smirked.  "You're even
more pathetic away from that Shampoo bimbo than with her."

	Bean took a few wary steps towards the girl, alternating his gaze
between her and Mousse.  "Uh... thanks."

	"... ... ... There was an accident with a urinal, OKAY?"

	The driver raised his hands to ward off her accusing glare.  "Hey, I
didn't say a word."

	"Yeah, whatever.  What's got your panties in a bunch?  You look
ready to kill someone."  Marla twirled a desk lamp on her finger for a
moment, then added, "Not that I care, or anything."

	"My belt got stolen."

	Crash tinkle tinkle, went the lamp as it hit the floor.  "What?!"
Marla asked, leaning towards the massive man.  "How'd you let someone
take it?  Don't you know you're supposed to guard that thing?  What kind
of Hardcore champ are you... wait, you're exactly the kind I've been
sayi-"

	"Iwaspolishinghubcaps," Bean muttered in the midst of his rival's
tirade.

	"Come again?"

	"I was walking towards my room, the janitor... mop bucket..."

	Instead of the mocking speech he'd been expecting from the "boy,"
Bean was surprised to instead find Marla shooting him a sympathetic
look.  "Yeah, well... I was thinking, Bandit.  You're dumb as a post,
but that car of yours covers a lot of ground."

	Bean raised an eyebrow.  "Yeah?"

	"Well... I could keep an eye out where I go, and you keep one out
where you go... and maybe, between us, we could find a cure.  I mean, if
it was just our brains, I'd find it years before you, but hey, I don't
have a car."  She shrugged.  "And then we could, you know, share it.  So
long as we don't give whatever it is to Saotome."

	"...Well, surprise surprise.  Not what I was expecting to hear come
out of your mouth, but you've got yourself a deal."  Bean flipped a
quarter towards Marla with a flick of his thumb.  "Here, kid.  Go buy a
cup of coffee or something to turn back with."  He shot off a quick
wave, then hooked his thumbs through his belt loops and continued his
journey towards Nabiki's office.

	"...Jerk," Marla finally said as she looked at the quarter.  "They
charge a buck."

*  *  *  *  *

	She sank down onto the couch, bringing one perfectly-manicured nail
up to her mouth to nibble on.  What was she going to do?  She was being
pulled in one way, then another, and it was so hard to decide which path
to follow... and the toxic chemicals seeping out of her nail polish
weren't helping.

	A minute or two passed as she stared blankly at the floor (or the
interior of her bangs), still nibbling on her nail.  Having killed
enough brain cells from sucking down pieces of Candy Apple Red, she
finally stood and walked over to the desk.

	Slowly, she sank down into the chair there and retrieved a
roughly-penned letter from inside the drawer.  "Hey, Shermie," it began.
 She smiled faintly.  She'd read it several times already, but she still
liked seeing his handwriting.

	"Me and Chris got a gig in Asakusa tomorrow night.  Not a big club,
but at least it's not lame like some of the ones we've done since Ultra.  They'd 
love you there, so... we talked about it, and if you want to,
you could rejoin the band."

	She'd missed that gig, but there was sure to be another one.  Right?

	One crimson fingernail reached out and trailed along the edge of her
mirror.  She still had bruises from the previous week's fight.  A lucky
break... she wasn't smart, but she knew enough to recognize a lucky
break when it happened.  She just was not cut out for Ultra.

	Her fuzzy mind wobbled at that revelation.  It wasn't often that it
decided on something with such clarity.  She should go back to the band.
Everything would be like it was, except for Orochi being trapped in
that cute duck.  Or that cute bishounen.  Or wherever he'd ended up.

	She retrieved a pen and a piece of Hello Kitty stationary from the
desk and started writing.  The decision made, there was just one thing
left to take care of.

*  *  *  *  *

	"And then... after winning the battle for us single handedly, putting all 
of us in awe of his piloting skill, Hiro got out and tripped over his own 
shoelace and planted himself face first into the dirt.  Wu-Fei was swearing for 
a MONTH!"  Duo grinned as he told his story.

	Daisuke grinned in response.  "I bet he was slightly upset to be upstaged 
by someone who promptly clutzed out.  Was Hiro embarrassed?"

	Duo shrugged in response.  "I dunno.  I think his eyebrow twitched once, 
beyond that it's hard to tell."

	The two young men shared a laugh again.  Duo was propped up against the 
ankle of his Gundam in the Ultra maintenance bay, while Daisuke was kneeling 
down next to some equipment nearby.  Their laughter halted abruptly when 
footsteps echoed through the nearby hallway.

	"Dai?  You in there?"  A voice called out apprehensively.

	Daisuke's eyes lit in recognition, and stood, nodding to Duo.  "In here, 
Rosh."

	The second cloned announcer came walking into the maintenance bay and 
whistled.  "Never actually been in here before."  He eyed the Gundam Deathscythe 
appreciatively.  "Fixing it up?"

	Duo grinned.  "Yeah, gotta be in peak shape before the UltraRage.  Gonna 
be my first one."

	A smile lit up over Hiroshi's face at the thought of UltraRage.  "This 
Rage is going to rule.  I'm sure you'll do fine, Duo."  Hiroshi looked at 
Daisuke.  "So what are you doing here, Dai?"

	Daisuke popped his neck gingerly as he responded.  "Got here a little 
early, thought I'd hang out with Duo some.  Now that you mention it, what brings 
you here?"

	"Card for tonight."  Hiroshi held up a sheet of paper.  "That tech guy 
from Neofighters was poking around outside, said he saw you go in here."  

	His complexion turned a bit paler than normal as Daisuke spoke,  "The 
Dude?  Oi.  I hope he isn't scavenging for parts."

	"Probably is.  The NeoDome got thrashed in their last episode.  Some sorta 
rumble.  But it sure brought in the crowds.  Their ratings are pretty impressive 
given their timeslot.  I heard Nabiki's fairly impressed with them."

	Shaking his head, Daisuke grabbed the paper from Hiroshi.  He scanned over 
it quickly, "Hrm.  Pretty tame tonight.  Looks like most of Omega has the night 
off for prep time for the Royale with Cheese next week."

	A fist slamming into a palm quickly responded to Daisuke's statement.  
"That's right.  And the God of Death is going to be ready for that battle."  Duo 
grinned.  "This is going to be great."

	Hiroshi eyed Duo, and then Daisuke, and then Duo again.  He opened his 
mouth, but promptly closed it, as if changing his mind about speaking.

	Daisuke eyed him wearily.  "What is it, Rosh?"

	The pale-haired boy looked flustered for a moment, and stammered out a 
response.  "I was.... just wondering..."  Stares from Duo and Daisuke met his 
awkward pause.  He sighed, and started over.  "How DID you meet a Gundam pilot 
anyway, Dai?  It's been bugging me all season."

	Duo busted out laughing, and bent over at the waist trying to catch his 
breath.  Daisuke looked slightly embarrassed.  "It's a long story..."  Duo 
laughed louder, resulting in a glare from the dark haired clone.

	A glance at his watch confirmed that there was indeed time for the show, 
and Hiroshi raised his eyebrows at Daisuke in question.

	Daisuke sighed.  "Fine, fine.  Just be quiet, Maxwell."  Duo snickered 
quietly beside him.  "It all started a few months ago..."

*  *  *  *  *

	His footsteps echoed down the hallway as he sprinted around the corner.  
Panting, he paused momentarily to catch his breath.  He swallowed a few gulps of 
air while hunched over, then paused, cocking his ear the way he came.

	It didn't take long for him to confirm the worst.

	"OOOOOH DAISUKE-CHAN!!  Come baaack!  It won't hurt.... much!"  Shermie's 
footsteps could be heard at an intermittent pace, as if she was merrily skipping 
after Daisuke in pursuit.  

	Shaking his head, Daisuke looked around frantically.  He could either take 
off down the hallway, or try to hide in the room behind the nearby doorway.  
Taking into account his exhaustion, Daisuke opted for hiding, and dove into the 
doors marked "Omega Portal Generators."

	His fright temporarily overrode by wonder, he looked around in awe for a 
moment.  The room was huge, large enough to accommodate the large Evangelions, 
and there was dozens of machines in the room, humming away happily.  "... I'm in 
the portal room.  Where the Omega competitors go to get to their arenas."

	"Daaaaaii-chan!?  Why are you hiding from me?  I just want to love you, 
and squeeze you, and poke you with sharp objects!  Maybe not in that order!  
Daisuke-chan!!!"  Shermie's voice rang out from the enclove Daisuke had been in 
moments ago, outside the doorway.

	Frozen in fear, Daisuke looked at the doorway frantically.  He forced 
himself to think rationally.  'Maybe she won't look in here.'

	"OOOH!  You must be in there!  I can smell PANIC!  I'm coming for you Dai-
chan!"  The sound of Shermie skipping toward the door resonated in Daisuke's 
ears.

	His head whipped around, looking for any obvious exits.  His eyes rested 
on the portal generator for the Omega matches.  "If I go in there... if the 
portal closes behind me I might be stuck.  And I don't even know how to work the 
thing..."  He looked around for other options, but failed to see any.  
"Hiroshi's had to run from crazed women before... what would Hiroshi do?"

	Daisuke considered for a second.  Then he quickly dove for the console, 
pushing buttons largely at random.  At least, he did until it started sparking 
angrily in response.  The machinery around him groaned in protest as it cranked 
to life.  Purple energy coalesced at the gateway of the portal room, and a hole 
in reality opened.  Quickly.  

	His eyes skyward, Daisuke winced.  "That portal's big enough for an Eva.  
I hope that it's not leading straight to space!"  After a gulp for confidence, 
Daisuke ran toward the portal.  He stopped however as a form started falling 
through it INTO the portal room.

	A VERY large form.

	"GAAAHHH!"  Daisuke ran back in terror as large mechanical robot stumbled 
through the portal.  A gush of wind accompanied him, sending Daisuke sprawling 
to the floor.  The robot managed not to fall over, something Daisuke silently 
thanked Lina for.  

	There was silence in the room for a moment, as the large robotic terror 
looked around curiously.  Laser burns and bullet indentations ran all over its 
metallic frame.  The staff it held ended with an arch of laser energy sticking 
out, making the whole thing resemble a scythe.

	"DAISUKE-CHAN!  THERE YOU-- OoooooooOOOoh.  Shiiiinyy!"  Shermie's eyes 
sparkled at the unusual sight.

	Taking one look at Shermie, Daisuke reached a decision quickly.  Running 
forward, he dove to his knees and knelt before his unexpected guest.  "PLEASE!  
SAVE ME!  SHE'S GONNA KILL ME!!!"

The robotic figure looked down at him curiously, giving Daisuke a clear 
indication that its internal sensors had picked up his voice.

	Shermie pouted behind Daisuke, walking up slowly.  "Anooo... I'm not going 
to kill you.  I'm just going to make love to you until your eyes bleed."  
Shermie smiled slowly.  "Finally, Daisuke-chan...  You're all mine!"

	Her squeals of joy quickly stopped, as the menacing laser scythe suddenly 
appeared pointed right at her overburdened blouse.  Looking up with big, scared 
eyes, Shermie whimpered.  The mecha shook its head slowly.

	"..."  Shermie stared at the large robot.  "A...Anoo?"

	A voice came out of the robot's external speakers.  "BOO!"

	"WAAAAAAHHHH!!!"  Shermie flailed and ran out of the room at ludicrous 
speed.  A bead of sweat formed on the back of Daisuke's head as he watched her 
go.

	Daisuke turned to thank his savior, only to see it standing down it's 
weapon, and a large cockpit opening.  A young boy climbed down the side of the 
robot.  Jumping off part of the way down, the boy landed next to Daisuke.  He 
brushed off his pants for a second, then stood up straight and extended his hand 
to the young announcer.  "Duo Maxwell, at your service."

	Staring in amazement, Daisuke took the offered hand.  "My name's Daisuke--
"

	The sound of the nearby portal generator exploding made both boys duck.  
Slowly, behind the Gundam Deathscythe the portal back to Duo's home closed.  
"NOOOO!!"  Duo ran at the opening, but it closed well before he got there.  The 
young pilot turned to Daisuke.  "You can reopen that, right?"

	Techs came rushing into the room, fire extinguishers in tow, and a few 
headed toward Daisuke with unhappy intent in their faces.  "Uhm, I'll let you 
know!!"  The announcer quickly raced off, much to the chagrin of the techies at 
hand.

	Duo stared after the fleeing announcer, then noticed three or four of the 
techs bearing down on him unhappily.  He scratched the back of his head 
nervously and greeted them.  "Uh... hi guys?"

*  *  *  *  *

	Hiroshi stared at Daisuke.  "You really thought of what I what do in that 
situation!"

	Grimacing, Daisuke sighed.  "I know.  I'm still--"

	"Daisuke!  I'm so proud!"

	"--regretting it."

	"..."

	Duo started laughing again, and Hiroshi turned to him.  "So they couldn't 
find out how to get you home?"

	The Gundam pilot sobered and shook his head.  "No.  They tried, but the 
console blew good.  They couldn't even tell where I came from.  They had that 
Washuu lady try to scan me for some sort of tracing signal, but something about 
the gundamiun alloy made that impossible.  And since I was in the Gundam when I 
came over, they couldn't trace me either."

	Hiroshi whistled.  "So why didn't you join Ultra back then?"

	Duo shrugged.  "I was depressed for a bit, but then I decided to explore 
this world.  I found a good place to stash Deathscythe, and I went exploring.  
Daisuke offered to get me a job if he could, but I told him to wait.  But when 
he called me up, and told me about your problem... well I was beginning to feel 
a little useless.  Fighting ruthless dictators is a hobby of mine, so it's good 
to be back in the saddle."

	"Wow.  I had no idea..."  Hiroshi smiled.  "Well I'm glad you were here!  
I still owe you."  Hiroshi gave Duo a thumbs up.

	"Hey, don't think like that.  Just consider it an offer of friendship."  
Duo grinned.

	"ATTENTION.  ATTENTION.  FIFTEEN MINUTES UNTIL SHOWTIME.  FIFTEEN MINUTES 
UNTIL SHOWTIME."  The intercom blared out across the maintenance bay.

	Daisuke tilted his head to listen.  "That's our signal.  Come on, Rosh.  
We have to get ready.  See you after the show, Duo!"

	Hiroshi and Daisuke quickly headed off in the direction of their dressing 
rooms.  Duo turned back to his Gundam, trying to pick which part of it he should 
tune up next.

	A spiky haired figure walked up slowly behind Duo.  "Duo Maxwell?  I have 
a proposition for you..."

	Duo turned around and saw the head booker of Ultra standing before him.  
He listened to his proposition, and when Controversial Jack finished, broke out 
into a major grin.

*  *  *  *  *

"And according to the latest data we've accumulated, the efficiency of the 
Psycho Drive is at 116% sir, a new record."  The Shadowloo scientist made sure 
not to make eye contact with his employer.  "The power it outputs is increasing 
as well, sir."

	M. Bison nodded slowly in response.  "Excellent.  I want to be fully 
prepared for my upcoming plans.  It would be unpleasant for a man of my position 
to be caught... unprepared." 

	"We also have an improved control module for the Psycho Drive, sir."  The 
scientist offered up a smaller wristband.

	Bison chuckled, removing and crushing the old one in his palm.  "Most 
excellent.  You have done well today.  Keep me pleased in the next report as 
well, and you might find yourself with an extended life expectancy."

	The scientist cringed, full aware of the average life-span of the previous 
project leaders on this most important endeavor.  "Y-yes, Lord Bison."

	Unnoticed by the scientist, or by even Bison, a lone, masked soldier 
watched the exchange curiously.  'So that's the controller.  Now I know.  Bison, 
count your days...'  Behind the mask of the Shadowloo soldier, Pantyhose Tarou 
allowed himself a small smile.  

"Now be gone.  I have a loose end to attend to."  Bison waved his hand in a 
dismissive fashion.  The scientist in question quickly scurried off.  Bison 
watched him with a look of amusement, then pushed the button on his armrest.  
"Send him in."

	Tarou's teeth clenched as he saw who Bison had summoned.

	"Project 8472, supplement to project 8375, Project Evangelion 00 in more 
understandable terms.  Or as your 'brother' would call you... Evil Hiroshi."  
Bison addressed the summoned individual.

	Evil Hiroshi met Bison's stare, but it was clear that he only did so 
because it was expected of him, not because of any great bravery on his part.

	"We seem to have come at an impasse, you and I.  I needed your help to 
control Rei... but that seems to be no longer an issue."  Bison thought aloud.  
"You don't even serve to torment that young boy any more, now that he has his 
beloved back I doubt if he's even thought of you."

	"Lord Bison!  I... I can help us regain Rei and her Evangeli--"

	"She will only be taken again.  No, more permanent measures have to be 
taken on that front.  Soon, all of Ultra, all of their fighters, will belong to 
me.  I have no need of you any more."  Bison strummed his fingers on his command 
chair.

	"Lord Bison!"

	"Begging will only make me kill you quicker.  Even my most prized 
creations are not immune to my wrath, and I assure you, you are not what I 
consider 'prized'."  As Evil Hiroshi fell silent, Bison thought some more.  "I 
have it."

	Evil Hiroshi winced, as if he was expecting the end to come, some new 
tortuous way of killing him that Bison had just developed while sitting there.

	"I'm going to give you one chance to prove your worth to the Shadowloo 
organization.  Kill Lina Inverse.  I want to send a message to those that would 
stand in my way."  Bison grinned as evil thoughts played in his eyes.  "Or Naga 
the White Serpent.  Either or... both if you can manage.  Use your... 
familiarity to get close to Nabiki... and then kill whichever one is guarding 
her at the time.  Then, if you can accomplish this, I shall let you live."

	There was a moment of silence as Evil Hiroshi considered the task before 
him, and swallowed as the weight of the situation hit him.

	"Lord Bison... I..."

	"This is not open for discussion.  Any more delaying on your part, and I 
will take that as a surrender on your behalf.  Now go."

	Evil Hiroshi stared desperately at his creator and master, then bowed 
quickly.  "Y...yes-sir."  He quickly headed off for the nearest transportation 
to Ultra.  

	Behind his mask, Tarou's earlier smile had completely vanished.  'If he 
bungles the job... he could hurt Nabiki in the process.  If that happens, 
Bison...'  Tarou kept his thoughts to himself, and proceeded to resume the 
duties he was supposed to be tending to.  'Soon, Bison... soon.'

	Bison sat back in his throne.  "This should prove most interesting." He 
reached for the button on his console marked 'Main Screen Turn On'.  "I do 
believe it's time for...'

*  *  *  *  *



                              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 71: Die, Ultra, DIE!
                 Written by:  This Old Dojo III

                 This Old Dojo III: Kristen 'Ultra Zombie' Smirnov
                                    Cold 'Ultra is sucking my brain!' Fury

                 MTCFF Ultra Created By:  Twoflower


	Dictionaries, despite common belief, are very flexible things.  Every 
year, words are considered for entry into the prestigious dictionaries, such as 
Webster's or Roget's, and they are evaluated on practicality, and on popular 
use.  During the early 1990's for example, the word ninja was added to the 
dictionaries due to the popularity of an American cartoon show.  

	In the year 2001, this has happened again, as a new word was coined by 
seismologists, doctors, and scientists in various fields of study.  The word 
quickly took off in popularity, and was soon adopted by society.

	It has been said that the Ultradome, at the start of an episode of Ultra, 
is exceedingly loud.  It has now been scientifically proven that the word loud 
does not cover the sheer amount of decibels Ultra produces.

	The word 'ultrocious' does.  And thus, linguists everywhere hung their 
heads in disgust, and dictionary makers everywhere jumped onto the bandwagon to 
get a little bit of that Ultra pie.

	"Are you ready for a little bit of that good 'ole... ULTRA VIOLENCE?!"  
Hiroshi shouted into his mic.  

	"I do believe they are, Hiroshi."  Daisuke winced at the crowd's response, 
audible even through his earplugs.

	"Now that's what I call an ULTROCIOUSLY loud response!"  Hiroshi cheered 
the audience on, as Daisuke sighed in annoyance.

	"I hate that word.  But I do believe, as Hiroshi would say, that we have 
one hell of a show for you tonight, folks!"  The dark haired announcer smiled at 
the camera.

	"Actually, I'd say we have a real slobber-knocker lined up."

	"...  You are not the one who says that."

	"I can pretend, can't I?"

	"... No."

	"See, you're messing with my--"

	"If you're about to say a word that starts with G... don't."

	"--opening monologue."  Hiroshi gulped.  "But Daisuke's right folks!  We 
have a great card lined up for the night, and maybe if we're lucky Jack himself 
will come out and give us a few clues as to his big surprise!"

	"I doubt it.  Jack's been more tightlipped than Ranma at an international 
fangirl convention.  And that SCARES me.  When was the last time Jack didn't 
spill ANY details of a secret plan?" 

	Hiroshi paused in thought.  "That time that he had us raid the Ultradome 
at a PPV and got arrested?"

	"Exactly."

	"Ulp."

	"But it's time for our first match of the night folks."  Daisuke gestured 
to the paper in his hands.

	"Indeed."  Hiroshi grinned at the camera.  "This is a requested fight, as 
one of this season's newcomers felt neglected by the old guard of Ultra, and 
wanted to make a name for himself by taking out a former belt holder."

	"We haven't seen much of Tasuki since his match with Iori after his debut.  
But what we saw was promising."  Daisuke noted.

	"And his target?  Former hardcore champion, Marlo Semaj.  Word got back to 
us that Marlo had a slight scuffle backstage with an old friend, but he was 
unhurt, and is on his way to ringside now!"  Hiroshi pointed at the ramp.

	Marlo appeared at the ramp, and continued to walk straight down to the 
ring without pausing to trash talk or taunt the audience at all.  The audience 
murmured quietly at this unexpected development.  They were used to a dressing 
down before a Marlo fight, and this was quite unusual.

	As Marlo slid under the ropes, Tasuki appeared at the ramp.  In his hand 
he held a mic, and it wasn't just a prop.  "You know... ever since I joined this 
federation... I've been ignored.  I left my old life because I was stuck in a 
rut, and feeling rather redundant.  So I come to the great world of Ultra, where 
competition is lifeblood, and winning is the crack injection.  And what happens?  
I get ignored.  That ends with you tonight.  I'm gonna kick your transvestite 
ass back to wherever the hell it is you came from, and prove that I belong in 
Ultra!"

	Shaking his head in the center of the ring, Marlo gestured for a mic, and 
was thrown one.  "Look, I don't care who you are, who you think you are, or what 
your bone to pick with me is.  I just want to get this over with, and if I have 
to school you in how NOT to pick fights in Ultra, I guess I'll just have to be 
the man that sends you packing back to Mommy."

	The crowd, unusually silent until that moment, began a quiet cheer after 
Marlo's taunts to his opponent.

	Hiroshi blinked, and stared at Daisuke.  "Are they..."

	"... I do believe so."

	"You talk to me like I'M THE CHILD!?  You're younger than I am!  And 
you're stupider too!"  Tasuki looked smugly at Marlo.

	Marlo rolled his eyes dramatically for the crowd's benefit.  "Well excuse 
me, Mr. Genius.  I didn't know we had the very next Washuu in Gamma over here.  
Why don't you shut your incoherent mouth and see if you can back that up at ALL 
here in the ring?"

	Tasuki growled and charged the ring, tossing his mic aside.  Marlo tossed 
his out of the ring as Tasuki slid under the ropes at full speed.

][ GAMMA MATCH #1
][ Marlo Semaj vs. Tasuki
][ FIGHT!

The red-haired bandit charged	Marlo quickly, his fist lashing out in a sloppy 
punch, which Marlo quickly deflected by pulling out a coat-rack.  Wielding the 
coat-rack like a martial artist wields a bo, Marlo quickly whapped Tasuki in the 
skull a few times, and then spun around, breaking the coat-rack on the bandit's 
chest.

	Tasuki flew backwards into a turn buckle, stunned.  Marlo examined the 
remains of his weapon, and shrugged, tossing the stub aside.  The crowd cheered 
as he pulled out an end table and chucked it at the ailing Genro.

	Diving to the mat at the last possible second, Tasuki was able to evade 
the oak seconds before it shattered against the turn buckle.  Pulling out a fan, 
he quickly stood and launched his counter attack.  "LEKKA SHINEN!!"  Flame 
streamed out of the endowed fan and arched out at Marlo. 

	The furniture warrior quickly pulled out a lay-z-boy recliner and blocked 
the barrage with it.  "FLAMING RECLINER STRIKE!"  Hastily tossing the lit chair 
at his assailant, Marlo blew on his hands cool them.

	Knocking the assaulting piece of furniture out of his way with a quick 
round house kick, Tasuki shook his head.  "Are you hands okay, boy?  Maybe you 
should soak them."

	Slyly, he pulled a water pistol out from behind his back, and fired.

	Marlo's eyes widened, or rather Marla's eyes widened as she realized what 
had just happened.  

	The crowed whooped and hollered at Marla's extra fan-service form.  Tasuki 
cackled.  "I've watched your fights.  Your weakness is your curse!  
BAHAAHAHAHAHA!  You're doomed now-- URK!"  

	An entertainment center slammed into his gut ended Tasuki's rant.  
"Predictable.  Going for the quick, easy win.  You're a loser, Tasuki."  Anger 
seemed to float in a tangible aura around the furniture savior.  "That's it.  
I'm finishing thi--"

	"FURNITURE TOSSING GIRL!  I WOULD DATE THEE!"

	"..."

	The sound of every head in the audience swiveling to look at the ramp 
could be heard, as the Lambda champions Kuno and Haohumaru entered the ringside 
arena.  "LISTEN TO MY MOST HONORABLE STUDENT, FOR HE WOULD BE A WORTHY CATCH FOR 
A LESS HONORABLE AND NOT QUITE LEGENDARY FEMALE AS YOURSELF."  Haohumaru nodded 
sagely.

	"For the last time, Kuno.  You're NOT my type.  I'm a fu--"  Marla's anger 
was cut short as Tasuki snuck up behind her with the remains of the forgotten 
coat-rack, and beat Marla upside the head with it repeatedly.

	Marla fell, and the referee began the count.  "YOU DARE STRIKE THE 
INTENDED OF MY MOST HONORABLE STUDENT!?"  Haohumaru unsheathed his sword.  "FACE 
MY MOST LEGENDARY STEEL, SCOUNDRAL!!"

	The referee held Tasuki's hand up in victory, only to have it yanked away 
as Tasuki made a break for it.  He jumped over the top rope and outside of the 
ring, bouncing off the Spanish announcer's table, which surprisingly did not 
collapse.  Haohumaru chased him around the ring twice before Tasuki ran up the 
ramp, with the legendary samurai in close pursuit.

	Meanwhile, Kuno had rushed to attend to the fallen Marla.  "Furniture 
tossing girl!  Speak to me!"  He cradled the young girl in his arms.  "Oh cruel 
fate... to have such a woman snuffed out, by such a callous of blo--"

	"FOR THE LAST TIME!"  A steel chair swung up at Kuno, connecting with him 
at the jaw.  "I..."  Another swing caught Kuno across the side of the head.  
"... AM NOT..."  A final swing of the chair sent Kuno crashing to the ground in 
front of an enraged Marla.  "... INTERESTED!"  

	Fuming, Marla proceeded out of ringside.  "Stupid... Gallagher 
imitating... IDIOT!"

	The crowd cheered Marla as she walked up the ramp.

	"It appears that the crowd is willing to forgive Marlo his past 
transgressions, so long as he continues to beat up the right people."  Daisuke 
added.

	Hiroshi was too busy cheering to respond.  "YAH!  YOU GO!  KICK KUNO'S 
BUTT!"

	A bead of sweat appeared along the side of Daisuke's head.  "Hiroshi... 
don't you HATE Marlo?"

	"..."  Hiroshi paused his cheering, and coughed.  "Erm, yeah.  Boo!  
Marlo.. sucks."  Daisuke continued to stare at him.  "He beat up Kuno!  It was 
cool!"  He protested weakly under the glare.

	"... True enough.  We'll be right back after this commercial break, with 
what promises to be a FINAL grudge match."

	"Ooooh!  Final!  Grudge!  Match!  I'm SO THERE!"

*  *  *  *  *

	"I agree, Mr. Bandit.  I'll look into this matter as soon as I can. I am 
quite busy, however, so this might take some time..."  Nabiki nodded politely at 
her unexpected guest.

	"Thanks, Ms. Tendou.  I know I didn't make an appointment, but this was 
kinda sudden..."  Bean sighed.  "All because of that stupid curse..."

	"I've heard it all before.  Trust me."  Nabiki gave a smile to Bean.  "Now 
if you'll excuse me, my prior appointment is waiting patiently still." 

	Bean glanced back behind him.  "Sorry about that... hey!  I know you!"  He 
glanced at Nabiki.  "Does this mean what I think it means?"

	Nabiki smiled.  "We'll see.  Now if you'll excuse me Mr. Bandit."

	"Gotcha.  Good luck, pal."  Bean left to presumably go look for his 
missing belt, or for something shiny if fate felt cruel today.  Nabiki returned 
her attention to her guest.

	"So... Mr. Cage.  It's been a long time." 

	Johnny Cage stood from where he had patiently been waiting.  "Yes it has, 
ma'am.  I'm ready and rip-roaring to start my triumphant comeback."  He punched 
the air eagerly a few times.  "I even have a new gimmick... ready?"

	Nabiki raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

	"See, Ultra is real popular in America with the Internet pop culture.  
So... to appeal to them and win their instant support, I'm gonna be Johnny L337 
H4x0r Cage!"  He pulled out a ridiculously huge fez, and a chain necklace that 
had a keyboard as a pendant.  "I'll use my mad typing sk33lz to 0wn all of 
Ultra!"  He put on his sunglasses and posed dramatically.

	Nabiki sweatdropped for a moment, then shook her head.  "Either way, I 
think you would be a nice draw for the fans, so do as you wish.  Let me just 
find the contract I had drawn up for you here..."

	The door burst open, and in rushed a very hurried Controversial Jack.  
"Hey Beeks!  Hey Johnny!  Long time no see kid!  How're the kids?"

	"... I don't have any--"

	"Doesn't matter.  Beeks, you're not thinking of hiring this loser are 
you?"  He turned to Johnny before he could protest.  "Nothing personal."

	"I happen to think he'd be a rather large draw.  His movies have gained 
popularity as of late, and if we have a certified action star in our ranks, 
we'll be sure to pull in even more of the coveted teenage boy demographic."  
Nabiki eyed Jack levelly.  

	"Pfft.  And we'll be paying him an action star salary too, right?"

	Nabiki cocked her head to the side, and eyed him curiously.  "Yes?  But 
since when have you ca--"

	"Since last week.  Johnny, my boy, I love you, let's do lunch.  I'll make 
sure my people don't call your people.  Go home and keep Sofia entertained or 
something."

	Johnny hung his head sadly.  "Sofia left me for Goro.  She said something 
about his feet being really huge."

	A bead of sweat appeared on the back of Jack's head as he shoved Johnny 
toward the door.  "Go try out our karaoke bar then.  Find a new woman.  Stay 
away from the succubi though, they tend to be nasty.  Or lolicon."  

	Jack slammed the door before Johnny could protest.  He turned around, and 
brushed his forehead wearily.  "Woo, that was close, wasn't it Mr. Duck?"

	*squeak*

	"JACK."  Nabiki stood angrily behind her desk.  "You are my employee.  You 
might be my head booker, and a valued employee, but STILL just an employee.  HOW 
DARE YOU--"

	"Beek, I love it when your face turns purple like that, but really, we're 
on a time table here.  Mr. Duck can only jam Bison's spy devices so long before 
the old boy gets suspicious."  Jack held up Mr. Duck to show a tiny jamming 
device strapped to the underbelly distinguished duck.

	"Bison..."  Nabiki eyed Lina, who was flipping through a magazine in the 
corner of the room.  Noting Nabiki's stare, she waved back at her.  "What does 
Bison have to do with Cage?  Is he working for him?"

	"Of course not!"  Jack paused.  "At least I hope Bison hasn't sunk that 
low.  But no, that's not it at all.  But I had to hurry, Washuu said this thing 
couldn't stay active too long without drawing Bison's attention."

	Fear began to boil over in Nabiki's stomach, and something told her she 
didn't want to ask the next question.  "Then... what?"

	Jack told her.

	Nabiki knew she shouldn't have asked.

*  *  *  *  *

	"Did you hear that?"  Daisuke cocked his head to the side.

	"What?"

"It sounded like a scream of utter despair and desperation coming from backstage 
somewhere, like someone's entire hopes and dreams had just been snuffed out in a 
tragic, fatal moment."

	"... Right."  Hiroshi noted the camera's attentions, and elbowed Daisuke.  
"Annnnd we're back.  We have a great match for you now folks.  These two are 
Ultra veterans, been around since nearly the beginning."

	"They were the best of friends, partners, and who knows what else..."

	"But now they're bitter, bitter enemies.  That's right, the former Team 
Pokemon meets in the ring one last time in what promises to be one helluva 
grudge match."  

	"We've also been informed that Misty HAS in fact turned in a tentative 
resignation, which she plans to follow up on based on the outcome of the match."  
Daisuke shook his head.  "I'm not sure what she hopes to gain from this match."

	"Redemption?  Justice?  A crotch shot on Ash?"  Hiroshi mused, and the 
audience cheered loudly at that last suggestion.

	Daisuke coughed.  "Impartial."

	"Or maybe he'll get a... er... crotch shot on Misty?"  Hiroshi followed up 
weakly.

	Daisuke sighed.  "On that note, the first of our two competitors... one 
half of the former Team Pokemon... MISTY!!"  

	The young pokemon trainer appeared at the top of the ramp, and waved 
energetically to the crowd.  She walked quickly down to the bottom of the ramp, 
and then quietly waited in her corner of the ring.  

	She didn't have to wait long before her opponent appeared.  Ash appeared 
at the top of the ramp, his eyes dark staring angrily at his former partner.  He 
held a mic up to his mouth and spoke loudly.  "Why, Misty?  Why did you turn 
against me?  We could've cleaned up this whole league, stomped the tar out of 
Gary... now... now you're just as rotten as the rest of them!"

	Misty glared back at Ash, not backing down for a second.  "You're wrong 
Ash Ketchum!  You're the one who's gone rotten!  You've lost your grip on 
reality, justifying your own cheating and tallying up your losses to fiction 
only you subscribe to!  You've got to come clean, Ash!"

	"You're the one who's filthy in her cheating ways.  I half expect Team 
Rocket to come out and jump me when I walk down this ramp."  Ash began walking 
down the ramp slowly in challenge.

	"They won't, Ash.  This is just you and me!  I'm going to tell you the 
truth Ash..."  Misty's eyes watered slightly, but her stare never backed down 
off of Ash.  "I'm quitting Ultra tonight.  This is my last match."

	A gasp of shock went through the audience.  Hiroshi eyed Daisuke, "But I 
thought that wasn't for sure yet..."

	Daisuke looked at his papers and shrugged.  "Maybe she's made up her 
mind."

	"But I wanted to try to save you before I left.  Please.  Ash.  This 
place.. it's done terrible things to you.  Come back home with me.  I bet your 
mother misses you.  Have you talked to her lately?  Last weekend was Mother's 
Day... did you call her?" 

	Ash slowed in his walk down the ramp.  "... My... Mom?"

	"I didn't think you did.  Come on, Ash.  Please.  Leave with me.  
Together.  Just the two of us.  Just how it... it was supposed to end up."  A 
single tear flowed down Misty's cheek as she spoke.

	His walk paused at the base of the ramp.  His head lowered, and his eyes 
were concealed by the brim of his hat.  The audience sensed the tension of the 
moment, not a cheer was spoken.  Even the hot dog vendors stopped their hawking 
for a moment, as every ear in the Dome was attuned to listen to Ash's answer.

	"Ash?  How about it?  Please?"

	Slowly, his head tilted upward.  "No.  You're nothing but a cheating... 
dirty... lying... TRAMP.  I'm too close.  Too close to showing them all.  You 
just want me to leave so things around here won't change.  I'll show them all 
who's the champion.  Who's the very best."  Ash walked into the ring.  And 
pointed his thumb at his chest.  "I am, and I'll show them that."

	Misty's lip quivered for a moment, but then her resolve strengthened.  
"You're always so stubborn Ash Ketchum.  If I can't talk you out of this 
crusade.. maybe I can beat it out of you!"

	"You can try, but you were NEVER a match for me Misty."  Ash fingered a 
pokeball eagerly.

][ GAMMA MATCH #2
][ Ash Ketchum VS. Misty
][ FIGHT!

	"HORSEY!  I CHOOSE YOU!"  Misty tossed her pokeball out first.

	"Heh.  Charizard!  Go!"  Ash followed suite, playing his trump card right 
out of the gate.  The large dragon pokemon dwarfed the smaller sea pokemon, and 
the Horsey had the decency to look decently miffed at being called into battle 
against such a larger foe.

	"Horsey!  Water gun attack!"  

	"Charizard!  Flamethrower!!"  

	The two attacks collided, as both pokemon unleashed streams of their 
inherent element at the other.  Theoretically, water had an advantage over fire, 
but the steam that rose up from the epicenter of the collision seemed to say 
otherwise.  Slowly the powerful flames overrode the stream of water.  The 
diminutive pokemon collapsed as it was directly scorched by the barrage of fire.

	Misty cringed.  "Darnit Ash!  You could hurt him!  Horsey!  Return!"

	"Not my fault his trainer is so experienced."  Ash grinned.

	"STARMIE!  STARYU!  I CHOOSE YOU!" Misty tossed out two pokeballs at once.

	"Two pokemon, huh?  Isn't that against the rules?"  Ash eyed Misty with 
annoyance.

	"Like you said at Reboot, Ash, this isn't the pokemon league!"  Misty 
pointed at Ash.  "Starmie!  Water cannon attack!  Staryu!  Tackle Charizard!"

	A large gush of water slammed into Ash before he could draw reinforcements 
for his pokemon, and he fell to the ground coughing.  Charizard turned its 
attention to its fallen trainer, and was slammed upside the head by a spinning 
Staryu as a result.  Dazed, the large pokemon stumbled a few feet backward.

	"Staryu!  Starmie!  Water gun and water cannon attacks!  Go!"  Both 
starfish shaped pokemon turned their attentions toward Charizard, who was 
promptly on the receiving end of a liquid representation of whupass.

	"Charizard can't take that kind of punishment for long... not from water 
pokemon at least."  Daisuke commented.

	"It took out that Horsey only due to it's superior power, but it IS 
inherently weak to water pokemon.  I wonder what Ash was thinking calling it 
out."

	"Charizard, return!  Bulbasaur!  Squirtle!  Chicorita!  Pidgeotto!  Go!!"  
Ash quickly tossed out four pokeballs in quick succession, filling the ring with 
his pokemon.

	"POLIWHIRL!  PARASECT!  I CHOOSE YOU!"  Misty tossed out two of her three 
remaining pokeballs.  The eight pokemon in the ring quickly collided into each 
other, strategic combat abandoned for poke brawls in situations like this.

	"Yow!  I don't know if we've ever seen so much poke-action in the ring at 
once Dai!"  Hiroshi ducked as a stray water blast shot past his shoulder.

	The Chicorita and Bulbasaur both vine whipped in the direction of the two 
starfish pokemon.  They dodged frantically, only to dance past the scene where 
Poliwhirl and Parasect tussled with Squirtle and a swooping Pidgeotto.

	"Agreed."

	"BULBA!"  Bulbasaur concentrated in the middle of the ring, gathering 
energy around him.  "Buuuulba..."  The energy coalesced around him... "SAUUUR!!"  

	"Holy hot tamale Daisuke!  That looks like Bulbasaur's solar beam attack!"  
Hiroshi dove under the table quickly as he spoke.

	"SAUUUUUURRR!"  The beam launched out and struck both Parasect and Staryu 
at once, sending both flying out of the ring.  Staryu collided with the Spanish 
announcer's table, which sadly succumbed to its second beating of the night.

	"Staryu!  Parasect!"  Misty grimaced.  "Starmie!  Poliwhirl!  Take out 
Squirtle!!  Hurry!"  Misty fingered her last pokeball nervously.

	"Squirtle?!"  The small turtle pokemon soon found itself running around 
the ring, being pursued by the Poliwhirl and Starmie pokemon.  

	"Interesting strategy by Misty there, Hiroshi.  I'm not sure why the small 
water based pokemon is such a threat to her.  Isn't most of her repartee water 
pokemon?"  Daisuke asked his partner curiously.

	"I don't know, but I wouldn't want to be Squirtle right now."

	The three pokemon ran circles around the inside of the ring, causing both 
the trainers and remaining pokemon to pause and watch the comedic development.

	"POLI!"  The Poliwhirl suddenly stopped.  "WHIIIRL.  WHIIIIIIIRRRL."  It 
gestured oddly, and light seemed to twist around it.

	Squirtle started stumbling in his panicked attempts at running.  Light 
danced in front of his eyes, and he never saw the spinning Starmie that slammed 
into the back of his head.  "Squirt--."

	"GOOD BATTLE!"  Misty jumped up and down happily.  "Everyone... RETURN!"  
All of Misty's pokemon returned to their pokeballs at once.

	Ash cocked his head.  "You give up?"

	"Never!"  Misty grinned.

	"This is certainly an odd strategy by Misty here, Hiroshi... there's three 
of Ash's pokemon still in the ring.. what can she have that she called back all 
three of her pokemon?"  Daisuke mused.

	"ONIX!  I CHOOSE YOU!!!"  Misty threw the pokeball into the center of the 
ring, and out popped a large Onix, staring down at the two grass type and single 
flying type pokemon.

	"OOONIIIX!"  The Onix growled angrily at its former allies.

	Ash blinked... "O-Onix!?  You don't have one of those."

	Misty shook her head.  "No, I don't!  But he does!"  Misty pointed at 
Brock, who was sitting in the front row of the stadium, waving wildly at the 
camera and cheering Misty on.

	"Oh my lord!  Misty has brought in a loaner pokemon!  Rock types are 
strong against nearly all other pokemon, except water!"  Hiroshi gasped from 
behind the announcer's table.

	"That would explain the urgency in getting rid of Squirtle.  It was the 
only pokemon that could've easily taken out Onix."  Daisuke noted.  "Onix is as 
well trained theoretically almost as well as Ash's pokemon, so there won't be a 
large power imbalance in his favor as there was with Horsey and Charizard."

	"...  That's not fair!  I... I wasn't ready for a rock type!"  Ash slammed 
his foot into the ground.

	"Onix!  Tackle attack!"  Misty pointed at Ash's remaining pokemon.

	Onix dove forward head first, slamming into both Bulbasaur and Chicorita 
at once.  The two grass type pokemon went flying about the ring.  Both were 
unconscious before they even hit the ground.

	Ash growled in frustration.  "Pidgeotto!  Tackle attack!"  

	The large, hawk-like pokemon, dove swiftly at the rock pokemon, only to 
bounce its head off Onix's hard form.  The Pidgeotto fell to the ground in a 
daze as the Onix snorted in its general direction.

	"ONIX!  Bind Ash now!"

	"Hey!  What're you-- LEGGO OF ME!"  Ash screamed as the Onix wrapped its 
snakelike body around the young trainer.  "What's the meaning of this!?"

	Misty ran forward to where Ash was being held.  "This is for your own good 
Ash Ketchum."  She rummaged in his pockets.  "Where is it!?"

	Ash struggled to escape against his rocky captor as Misty dug.  "What're 
you doing!  This is against the rules!  You can't do this!!"

	"A ha!  There it is!"  Misty pulled a small ball out from Ash's pocket, 
and pushed the button to enlarge it to a full size pokeball.  "Your last 
pokeball.  Umbreon!  Come out!  You're free!"

	Misty threw the pokeball to the ground.  It opened, and a light emerged 
from the pokeball.

	"Could it be?  Has this all been a ploy by Misty to free Gary's kidnapped 
Pokemon?"  Hiroshi stood on his chair, trying to get a better view.

	"MAGIKARP."  A Magikarp flopped about on the floor of the ring.  Onix, 
Hiroshi, Daisuke, and Misty formed giant beads of sweat on the back of their 
heads.

	"Magikarp!?  Ash!  Where's Umbreon?!"

	"I traded it."

	"Wh... Wha--"

	"I thought it needed a fresh start, away from its treacherous trainer.  
And I've always wanted a Gyrados.  Now I can call this Magikarp out into battle 
and let it get a little experience at a time, and evolve it into a tough as 
nails dragon."  Ash smiled.  "I'm the best trainer on earth, after all.  Why 
would I want Gary's rotten, corrupted, Umbr--"

	The audience had been steadily booing Ash as his explanation was spilled 
out.  But they fell silent as soon as Misty's hand raised up above her shoulder.  
The moment of impact rang out all over the Ultradome as the fury of a young 
woman was unleashed in a single slap.

	"Ash Ketchum!  I hope... I hope... I hope I NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN!"  Tears 
flowed openly out of Misty's eyes as she ran out of the ring.  "Onix... return!"

	As the rock pokemon vanished, Ash collapsed to the ground, unable to 
support himself right away after the painful bind attack was held for so long.

	Misty ran up the ramp crying, and Brock hopped the barrier and took off 
after her, despite security's attempts to stop him.  Ash stood slowly and shook 
his head.  "It's a shame Brock joined that hussy in her cheating ways.  I bet 
they're as rotten as Team Rocket now.  Good riddance.  Ultra doesn't need people 
like her anyway."

	The crowd screamed its disapproval of the events of the match, as the 
referee held Ash's hand up in victory via count out.  "You'll see.  I'll make 
you all see..."  Ash recalled his pokemon and headed up the ramp.

	Back at the announcer's table, Hiroshi sobbed emphatically.  "Poor, POOR 
Misty!!"  

	Daisuke patted his friend's back gingerly.  "There, there... it'll be okay 
Roshi."  He looked up at the camera apologetically.  "This has been hard on him, 
we'll be back after this word from your sponsors."

	"Why can't they just get along!?  Whyyyy!?"  Hiroshi bawled some more.

	"Aww, cheer up Rosh.  They'll be okay.  Here, have a soda to pep back up."

	"Ooh!  Caffeine!?"

*  *  *  *  *

	"Are you sure about this?" Brock asked as he looked at the suitcase
stuffed to overflowing.

	"I tried, Brock, I tried."  Misty shook her head with increasing
speed as she screwed her eyes shut to hold back tears.  "I can't... I
can't do it.  I tried.  I give up.

	The older boy sat next to her with a sigh, then put his arm around
her shoulder.  "You sure sounded like you were trying in all the letters
you wrote.  This isn't your fault."

	She sniffled.  "Yeah, I keep telling myself that, too."

	A soft touch on her knee drew Misty's attention, and she blinked
down at the figure there through a tear-reddened gaze.  "Pika," came a
soft chirp as the pokemon gently patted her.  "Pichu.  Chu."

	Misty smiled weakly at Pikachu.  "I tried, Pikachu, I did.  You
tried, I tried... we just... can't make him listen any more."  A beat
passed, then she looked up towards the figures in the doorway who she
knew must have accompanied Pikachu.  "Will you try, now?"

	Jessie and James blinked in surprise at Misty.  "You want *us* to
try and bring Ash around?"

	"Around to what?" Brock muttered.

	"Please... his old friends haven't been able to, and his old rival,
so maybe his old enemies..."  Misty's shoulders sagged as she trailed
off.  "I guess... that sounds stupid, doesn't it?"

	Team Rocket looked at each other for a long moment, then turned back
to Misty with a mutual smile and shrug.  "Why not?" Jessie asked, voice
light.  "If there's one thing the twerp and his mouse taught us, it's
how to act righteous towards someone who's cheating."

	"You can say that again," James confirmed, before shrinking back at
the flat look Pikachu gave them.  "Well, you and he both did! 
...Jessie, call back Pikachu!"

	Brock's eyebrows shot towards the ceiling.  "Misty, are you sure you
know what you're doing?" he asked in a low voice.

	"They're okay, now!" she assured him in a voice just as muted. 
"Really!"  A weak smile was her response from Brock, and she sighed. 
"Really... I hope."

	The brunette boy slowly nodded and rose to his feet, shouldering
Misty's bag as he did.  "C'mon, I've got your stuff."

	Misty rose as well, looking around the dressing room with a defeated
expression.  "Just... try," she said to Team Rocket in a quiet voice. 
"I'll be watching and cheering you guys on."

	The air of dramatic improbability hung over the room for a moment
longer, then Misty squared her shoulders and took a step forward. 
"Let's go, Brock.  I'm done with Ultra.  Pikachu, Team Rocket... good
luck."

	Jessie and James made quick sidesteps to let the Misty and Brock
pass between them.  As the two left the room, Pikachu scampered to the
door and peered out of it, face falling by the second.  Finally deciding
she wasn't going to turn to see it, the pokemon gave one last farewell
wave to the departing trainer's back.

*  *  *  *  *

	Sitting at the bus stop, Shermie stared intently at the wall of the 
Ultradome.  She wasn't seeing the magnificent architecture that allowed the 
building to stand, nor was she seeing the nigh-indestructible materials used to 
create it.  Nor was she seeing any of the chips or indentations on the paint, 
nor was she seeing the paint itself.  She was looking beyond the wall, to the 
center of the building.  To the ring, where at ringside, sat Daisuke.  Her 
beloved Daisuke.  She knew he was there, it was his job.

	She also knew he had no idea what she was about to do.

	The bus pulled up, and slowly came to a stop.  Her eyes cleared, she 
blinked a few times from behind her bangs, and she stood slowly.  The bus driver 
opened the door and stared at her.  "You coming on?"  His old voice was coarse, 
but slightly tainted with concern for the troubled looking woman.

	"Goodbye... Daisuke."  Shermie climbed onto the bus slowly, and took a 
seat next to a window.  

	She kept her eyes on the Ultradome until it was physically out of sight.  
And even then, she stared in the direction she knew it would be in.

*  *  *  *  *

	Daisuke sneezed.

	"Bless you!"  Hiroshi patted his friend on the back.

	"Thanks."  Daisuke sniffled.  "I wonder what brought that on."

	"Probably nerves, my man.  Nerves."  Hiroshi grinned at the active camera.  
"And we're back!  We have a terrific Omega match-up for you tonight!"

	"As you may know, at next week's UltraRage Eta, we have an Omega Battle 
Royale with Cheese scheduled... so most of the Omega competitors have the night 
off in preparation."  Daisuke rubbed his nose slightly.

	"But two of our competitors were just ITCHING to go at it!  So they waived 
their night off, and decided to get in a good practice bout a week before the 
real thing!"  

"Fan favorite Dan Hibiki will take on practical favorite Ifurita in a standard 
Omega match-up, deep within the grasp of deserted planet #42."  

	"We'll take you live to where the competitors are about to arrive!"  
Hiroshi clapped his hands in eager anticipation.  "Dan!  You can do it!"

	"Impartial, Roshi."

	Hiroshi coughed.  "So can... Ifurita.  You... go girl."

	"Better."

*  *  *  *  *

	Goku surveyed the surroundings.  The planet was lush with forest flora, 
but seemed to be devoid of any sort of humanoid or animal life.  He shrugged.  
"It's all right with me.  Less to worry about then."  He signaled for the 
portals to open, and simultaneously the two combatants stepped through their 
respective portals.

	"OOOOSHA!!  You have grown very powerful Ifurita, but your mixed might is 
nothing compared to the pure might of my mighty self, Taunting Saikyo Master 
Stone Cold Dan Hibiki!!!  OOOOSHA!!"  Dan flexed his mighty forearm not once, 
not twice, but thrice in Ifurita's general direction.

	"Technique #0.  Taunting.  Catalogued.  Ignored."  Ifurita stood with her 
Power Key at the ready.

	"You think you can catalogue the techniques of the Saikyo style!?  Only a 
true Saikyo master can use these techniques at their full power!  YOSH!"  Dan 
leapt into the air while flexing his arm.  "YAHOOO!!"  

	Landing with a quick somersault, Dan gave a thumbs up for the camera.  
"I'll show you what true techniques are made of!"

	Goku looked between the two.  "You know the rules... ready?"

][ OMEGA MATCH #1
][ Dan Hibiki VS. Ifurita
][ FIGHT!

	"YAHOOIE!  Face the autographing might of--"  Dan flexed his arm once more 
in Ifurita's direction.

	"Technique 583.  Instantaneous transmission."  With a blur, Ifurita's form 
disappeared and reappeared behind Dan instantly.

	"Mighty Taunting Ma--"  Dan kept taunting at the place where Ifurita had 
been.  He blinked as he realized she was no longer there.

	"Technique 723.  Saikyo style shotokan.  Shinkuu Gaduken."  Ifurita 
extended her hand quickly to the base of Dan's back, and a small but potent 
fireball popped out of it and instantaneously caught Dan in its ferocious power.

	"Technique 583.  Instantaneous transmission."  Ifurita once again blurred 
out of sight, only to reappear on the other side of Dan, where the powerful ki 
attack was forcing him.  His eyes opened wide in shock as she appeared in front 
of him.

	"Technique 271.  Shotokan Darkest Attack.  Shun Goku Satsu."  Ifurita 
floated forward, and grabbed a hold of Dan just as the Shinkuu Gaduken faded out 
of existence and sent him flying forward from the explosive force.  Forced into 
her grip, Dan couldn't even cry out in pain as the attack of murderous intent 
was unleashed upon him.

	Ki burst out of Ifurita's form, and the cameras were blinded by a white 
light momentarily.  When it faded, Ifurita stood over the crumpled form of Dan.

	Never one to go down easily, Dan coughed slightly, and began to rise.  
Ifurita looked down at him, and cocked an eyebrow.

	"Technique 457.  Power Geyser."  Ifurita reared back her fist, and let 
swing a ki charged punch.  Dan closed his eyes, but opened them to see Ifurita 
punching the ground right next to him.  

	"You mi--"  Dan felt the ground shake beneath him.  "...Oyaji?"

	The ground beneath Dan exploded in a powerful blast of ki.  The explosive 
force sent Dan blasting off into the stratosphere, while Goku and Ifurita 
watched.

	Goku counted to ten silently, and upon the final number, vanished.  He 
reappeared moments later with an unconscious Dan slung over his shoulder.  
"Ifurita wins by count out."

	"Technique #0.  Taunting.  Yosh."  Ifurita held her Power Key above her 
head momentarily, then returned it to her side.  "Yahooie.  Technique 583.  
Instantaneous transmission."  Ifurita quickly disappeared.

	Goku blinked a few times, then shook his head.  He then followed Ifurita's 
lead and teleported back to the Ultradome with Dan in tow.

*  *  *  *  *

	"..."  Hiroshi stared at the monitor in shock.

	"Wow.  Well that was certainly a new record.  I don't think Omega Level 
Dan has EVER gone down that fast."  Daisuke tried flipping through pages for 
confirmation.  "As far as we can figure it folks, that was a speed record for KO 
in Omega."

	"..."  Hiroshi continued to stare at the monitor in shock.

	"Get over it Rosh, we have our main event coming up."  Daisuke elbowed 
Hiroshi under the table.

	"... And what a main event it is!!"  Hiroshi snapped out of it once 
Daisuke contacted.  "Sakura and Shingo, the hottest tag team to hit Ultra in a 
long while, is taking on Sakura's challenger to the name... Sakura and Li... the 
Card Captors!"

	Daisuke sighed.  "So there's two young, short haired, Sakura's going to be 
in the ring?"

	"Yup!"  Hiroshi nodded.

	"This is going to be absolutely no fun to call is it?"

	"Nope!"  Hiroshi shook his head.  "But I guarantee you this!  The team 
with Sakura will win!"

	"For the last time, Hiroshi!  Be impartial!"  Daisuke paused for a moment.  
"Wait.  That was impartial wasn't it?"

	Hiroshi grinned.  "Yup!  Work with me, Daisuke!!"

	"I guess I earned that."  Daisuke hung his head in shame momentarily.
"Well here we go... coming down the ramp now... Ultra's latest tag-team... Team 
Card Captors!"

	Sakura and Li, with Kero-chan floating nearby, appeared at the top of the 
ramp.  Sakura was wearing a totally black ninja costume, complete with hood. 

	"Interesting choice in attire by Sakura..."  Hiroshi sweatdropped.

	"... Chosen because they're fighting martial artists I suppose."  Daisuke 
reasoned out loud.  "She has weird taste in costumes."

	Sakura scowled behind her mask.  "I told Tomoyo that this was a bad idea!"

	Kero floated in front of her momentarily, and shrugged.  "It was this or 
your school uniform."

	Li and Sakura made their way toward the ring, with a mixed response from 
the crowd.  

	As they climbed into their corner of the ring, Sakura and Shingo appeared 
at ringside.  The audience erupted into a volcano of cheering, as both waved to 
their fans.

	Sakura glanced at her teammate.  "You gonna be okay?"  

	Shingo's smile faltered mid-wave, and he sighed.  "Not only did we fail to 
get rid of Morrigan... we pissed her off.  So now she's still out there... and 
Karin's probably with her."

	Her expression softened as she saw the troubled look in Shingo's face, and 
Sakura gave him a mock punch to the chin.  "Don't worry, Shingo.  I'm sure 
things will work out."  She grinned.  "Either way, we have a match to win!"

	Flexing his forearm, Shingo smiled.  "YOSH!"

	Sakura sweatdropped.  "Not funny."

	The crowd erupted once more at Shingo's imitation of Dan, and cheers 
rained down as the pair headed for the ring.

	Li looked at Sakura with unblinking eyes.  "You're going first.  Ready?"

	Sakura felt her cards in her pocket, and her wand in the other hand, and 
nodded.  "I won't let you down!"

	"If you manage not to lose this entire match for us, you won't let me 
down.  Just try to stay standing long enough to let me gauge their abilities."  
Li curtly stepped between the ropes to the apron.

	Kero-chan patted Sakura on the shoulder.  "You can do it Sakura!  
Remember, don't hold back!  These two are very skilled martial artists!"

	Sakura nodded.  "Hai!  I won't let you down Kero-chan!"

	The diminutive guardian beast smiled.  "I know you won't!"

	The captor in training turned to face her opponent, and gasped when she 
saw who it was.  "Sakura Kusagano!  You're my hero!!"  Sakura bounced up and 
down happily.  "It's an honor to fight you Sakura!"

	The Sakura in question smiled hesitantly, and scratched her headband in 
confusion.  "Thank you.  It will be an honor for me too, I suppose."  She 
glanced over at Shingo on the apron, who shrugged.

	The bald referee looked between the two.  "You two know the rules?  Ya 
ready?  Let's get it on!"

][ LAMBDA MATCH #1
][ Team Card Captors vs. Team King of Street Fighters
][ FIGHT!

	The referee quickly dove out of the way, as the two Sakura's sized each 
other up.  The young street fighter assumed a defensive stance, indicating the 
card captor could launch the first attack.

	Nodding to her opponent as much as to herself, Sakura twirled her magic 
wand in her hands.  Striking her Clow Key to the card in her hand.  "Mirror 
card!  Project my image across the ring!"  

	A bright light lanced out from the card, temporarily too bright to pierce.  
By the time the Sakura the street fighter's eyes cleared, there were five 
identical Card Captor Sakura's standing in the ring.

	"Sakura has pulled an interesting move out on Sakura, and there's now five 
Sakura's in the ring!"  Hiroshi eyed the action intensely.

	"Six.  There's six now."  Daisuke pointed.

	"But there's only... oh... yeah."  Hiroshi pouted.  "This is hard."

	"I'd hate to be listening to the radio telecast right now..." Daisuke 
noted.

	The five card captors scattered, each running circles around the street 
fighter.  The young shotokan prodigy muttered beneath her breath before 
launching a series of attacks.  A foot connected with one image, and it faded.  
A stray punch clothes lined another image, and that too faded.  "This is too 
easy..."  Sakura thought to herself.

	"Windy!  Pin her to the mat!"  The real Sakura appeared a few feet back, 
hidden previously by the mirror card, striking her Key to the Wind card.  Gusts 
of wind swept down over the young street fighter.

	Caught off balance, there was no way Sakura could stay upright.  She fell 
to the ground, and the wind was so intense she was momentarily pinned, with an 
interesting side effect.

	"..."  Hiroshi's nose erupted into a fountain of blood.

	"... Snap out of it man!  And it appears that Sakura has pinned Sakura to 
the mat, but the wind it's taking to do so is giving... er... the nosebleed 
section quite a view."  Daisuke sweatdropped.

	"Now THAT is fan service."  Hiroshi recovered momentarily.

	The young card captor blushed quickly, and her concentration immediately 
broke.  "I'm so sorry!!!"

	The shotokan fighter, beet red, stood slowly, glaring at the young 
magician.  She glanced to her corner and saw Shingo just as red faced, but for 
quite another reason.  Her own shade of red increasing, Sakura held her fists 
together out in front of her.  "HADUKEN!  HADUKEN!  HADUKEN!"

	The ninja clad Sakura found herself being chased around by a series of 
fireballs.  She ran back and forth as if she was a target in a shooting gallery, 
narrowly avoiding each large blast of blue ki.

	"When all else fails, fireball fight."  Daisuke quipped.

	A large slap on Sakura's shoulder caused her to stop her panicked flight.  
Li hopped into the ring and shoved Sakura toward there corner.  "My turn."  His 
voice left little room for argument.

	Dejectedly, Sakura sat back in her corner.  "Waaah!  I wanted to prove 
myself."

	The street fighter Sakura ceased her onslaught of fireballs at the sound 
of the tag, only to find herself rushed by a sword bearing Li.  She narrowly 
ducked a blunt head trauma caused by the swing of the flat side of Li's sword.

	"You'll find I'm slightly more adept at hand to hand combat than Sakura."  
Li followed up with a kick to Sakura's mid section, sending the young girl to 
stumble back.  

	Shingo waved frantically at their corner.  "Tag!  Tag!"  

	Glancing back at her eager partner, Sakura recovered quickly, and when Li 
next swung his sword toward her, she caught the blunted instrument in her hand.  
Li's eyes widened in surprise, as Sakura spun her feet around in a quickly 
implemented hurricane kick.

	Multiple hits racked across Li's body and sent him flying back into the 
turnbuckle.  Sakura landed roughly, and ran over to her corner, tagging Shingo 
in.  "Go get him chief!"

	Shingo grinned.  "Don't worry I have a plan."  He posed dramatically in 
his costume, and with a 'poof' sound, changed forms.

	Both Sakura's on the apron tried not to crash into the floor face first in 
surprise at the new costume.

	Li cleared his vision and stood.  "I won't be so easy this tim--.... 
James-sama!?"  Li's eyes filled with stars.  "JAMES-SAMA!"

	"SHINGO KICK!"  The Team Rocket clad fighter flew threw the air, landing a 
solid series of kicks on the more experienced Card Captor.

	Perched on Sakura's shoulder carefully, Kero-chan shook his head.  "I 
don't think Li can take much more of this.  You two aren't contact fighters.  
Your strength is in your cards and wits..."  He paused, and stared up at the 
ramp.  "What the--?"

	"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"

	Shingo turned white in the ring, and slowly twisted to see the entrance to 
the arena.  "K... Karin!?"

	"And Morrigan."  Sakura Kusagano gulped nervously.

	"You think you can JUMP my associate and get away with it, because you 
FORMERLY dated a Kanzuki woman?  OHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"  Karin laughed into the back 
of her hand.  "You are SEVERELY misguided in this Shingo.  I shall have to teach 
you the error of your ways.  Severely."  

	Shingo paled even more in the ring.

	"And as for YOU..."  Karin pointed at Sakura.  "You little... man 
stealing... panty flashing... HUSSY... you're mine bitch!"

	Karin and Morrigan ran down the ramp side by side, with a very sinister 
look on their faces.

	Li stood up slowly.  "Sakura...  card.  If they interfere..."

	Sakura nodded in recognition.  "We lose.  Windy!  Blow those two cheaters 
out of Tokyo!!!"  She concentrated intently on the two charging blondes as she 
struck her Clow Key to the card.

	Just as the pair reached the bottom of the ramp, and Karin was about to 
make a grasp at her rival Sakura's ankle, a sudden hurricane burst forth from 
underneath them.  "Wha... Wha--!?"  Karin's voice shouted out in surprise.

	Morrigan struggled to fly against the wind, but was clearly losing the 
battle.  "This isn't OVER you two CHILDREN.  I shall make you PAY for your 
crimes against me.  MARK MY WORDS!"  Morrigan screamed angrily as Karin and 
herself were swept up and through the roof of the Ultradome.  

	Shingo watched them go.  "Looks like Team Psycho's blasting off again," he 
softly said under his breath.

	Daisuke winced as the roof of the Ultradome gained a tornado shaped hole 
in the roof.  He pressed a button on his mic stand, "Paging this old Dojo to the 
roof of the building..."

	Hiroshi pointed in the ring.  "Look!  What's Li doing!"

	Li pulled a card from his battle robes, and held it in front of him 
dramatically.  "Time card!  Speed me up to five times normal time!"

	To everyone in the audience, Li seemed to vanish in a blur of light.

	To Shingo, who had turned to Li and Sakura to thank them for their help, 
he saw only a confused looking Sakura.

	To Li, everyone slowed down to a crawl.

	Wasting no time, Li dashed forward and rammed the handle of his sword into 
Shingo's gut.  He followed up by punching Shingo in the face before he had even 
bent over in pain.

	As Shingo just started to show the signs of reaction to Li, the young 
magician swept his leg around and under Shingo's feet, causing the martial 
artist to begin to fall.

	Before Shingo could even hit the ground however, Li rammed the butt of his 
sword into Shingo's gut once more, driving him into the ground at super speed 
with the force of the blow.

	To the audience, Shingo started to bend over in pain, and suddenly fell 
back off his feet and slam super fast into the ground, all the while surrounded 
by a Li-colored blur.

	Li canceled the effects of the time card, and stood over his fallen 
opponent.

	Sakura Kusagano gasped at her spot on the apron.  "SHINGO!"

	As the referee raised Li's hand in victory, the other Sakura ran up to 
him.

	"Li!  That wasn't fair!"  The young girl held her hands at her hips with 
annoyance.

	"Didn't have to be fair.  It just had to be legal."  He shrugged slightly, 
and turned to walk off.

	Kero-chan flitted next to Sakura's ear.  "Be happy, Sakura!  You won!"

	Sakura sniffled, and watched as the other Sakura ran forward and tried to 
revive Shingo.  "That's not the way I wanted to win though..."

	Daisuke turned toward the camera.  "And a stunning victory by the Card 
Captors.  Looks like they really made use of the opportunity they were given 
this week, unlike their last match."

	Hiroshi nodded.  "Now folks, I know that was the main event, but don't go 
anywhere!  Coming down to talk to us right now is the man himself, Controversial 
Jack!  He's here to give us a few crucial pointers about his big secret event at 
the next UltraRage!"

*  *  *  *  *

	Nabiki stared at the sheets again.  They had been too good to be true.  
She was raking in money hand over fist.  She had even toyed with the idea of 
buying out Bison's evil monopoly, in a moment of fancy.  It HAD been too good to 
be true.

	Lain, that poor, poor girl.  She had been assimilating all the data for 
Nabiki faster than humanly possible, and had been giving Nabiki the reports 
directly.  At the order of Bison though, she had been inflating the numbers.

	They were too good to be true.

	Nabiki glanced at the sheet once more.  There was no telling how close to 
rock bottom they currently were.  Or if they were already beyond that and the 
creditors just hadn't noticed yet.

	She shivered to herself.

	Bankrupt.  There's a term she never believed she'd use.

	There was a knock at the door.  Nabiki glanced at her appointment book, 
and then at Lina.  Seeing the sorceress paying attention, Nabiki sighed.  "Who 
is it?"

	"It's me, ma'am."  The voice came timidly from behind the door.

	"If this is about a raise, this is a BAD time."

	"Uh, it isn't, Ms. Tendou.  I need to speak with you."  Nabiki sighed.  
"Come in, Hiroshi."

	The announcer walked in, still clad in his tuxedo from the day's event.  
"You weren't watching the broadcast?"

	"Sorry, not in the mood.  I'll watch a tape of it later, I'm sure.  Now 
what can I do for you, Hiroshi?"

	Hiroshi nodded quickly.  "It's simple really."

	"Enlighten me."

	"It's about Bison..."

	Nabiki's head snapped up and her eyes widened.  "What about him?"

	"I just don't think you have enough security here.  He could strike at any 
moment, and would Lina really be enough?"

	"Hey!  I am more than that over hyped bandit can handle!"  Lina stood up 
angrily and ran up to Hiroshi, yelling into his ear.  The clone flinched 
slightly, but stood his ground.

	"She USED to be God, but now she's just a flat chested wash-up."  Hiroshi 
shrugged.  "I had some ideas about who you could hire that would be better."

	Lina stared at Hiroshi, an aura of sheer anger developing around her.

	Nabiki sweatdropped as she saw the situation before her eyes brew.  "Uh... 
excellent Hiroshi.  I appreciate your consideration, I'll be sure to look over 
your list, but I think Ms. Inverse and her sidekick are doing a wonderful job on 
their own."

	With a triumphant nod to Nabiki, Lina stuck her tongue out at Hiroshi.

	"Are you sure, Nabiki?  I mean... Bison can get anywhere.  He could have 
an agent... right in this very room."  Hiroshi's voice took a more sinister 
context.

	"... Hiroshi?"

	"Not quite.  PSYCHO CRUSHER!"  The evil twin leapt into the air, and 
surrounded by the power of Bison's trademark psycho power, slammed into the off-
guard bandit killer.

	Nabiki gasped, and stood behind her desk, only to find herself held in 
place by an extended A-T field.  

	"You're not going anywhere, Ms. Tendou.  You get to watch."  Hiroshi 
sneered at her evilly.

	"FIREBALL!"  Lina recovered quickly, and a magical ball of flame arced out 
at the evil clone.  With his A-T field spread thin already, he was unable to 
raise it in time to block.

	Flame burst everywhere as the magical fire collided with its target, 
causing a minor explosion in Nabiki's office.  Evil Hiroshi rocketed through the 
wall, and out into the arena outside of it.

	Lina moved to chase, but Nabiki held her hand out.  "Overkill.  You might 
hurt someone in the crowd trying to nail him.  Ultra's versatile, Jack might 
even bill this a new main event.  They'll be fine."

	Examining her scorched costume, Lina scowled.  "I can't believe I fell for 
the old evil twin sucker punches the beautiful heroine trick."

*  *  *  *  *

	"Is it bigger than a breadbox?"

	"Yes."

	"Jack."

	"Is it bigger than the ring?"

	"Yes."

	"JACK."

	"Is it bigger than my house?"

	"Yes."

	"JACK!  You can't honestly expect us to guess what your big surprise is."  
Daisuke shook his head.  "There's no way."

	Jack chuckled.  "What do you think, Mr. Duck?"

	*squeak*

	"Well, my, just spoil everything why don't you, Mr. Duck?  I'm afraid 
after that rather large clue I'm going to have to call it a night and let your 
imaginations do the rest."  Jack grinned.  "Imaginations and checkbooks that 
is."

	Hiroshi pointed at the camera.  "You!  Yes... YOU!  Go order UltraRage 
now!  You know you want to!"

	"Why does every single one of these things sound progressively more like a 
drug fix?"  Daisuke held his face in his palms.

	Suddenly a large chunk of wall in the outer side of the stadium erupted 
inward, and a smoking figured dropped to the mat of the ring.  The audience, 
which had been slowly standing and filtering toward exists, rushes back inside 
as one.

	Hiroshi gasped.  "You!"

	The charred figure stood and coughed.  "You."

	Before Daisuke could even grab his friend's shoulder, Hiroshi was leaping 
off the announcer's table and into ringside.  A-T field met psycho power as the 
two clones clashed with each other.

	"Give it up.  My power is superior."  Evil Hiroshi shot a stream of psycho 
power at his less villainous self.

	The psycho power bounced off the hexagonal A-T field of Hiroshi's, as the 
announcer boy attempted to tackle his nemesis.

	The two tumbled to the ground, fancy techniques forgotten as they 
exchanged blows.

	"Rei is mine!  Ultra is ours!  Why don't you just GO AWAY!?"  Hiroshi 
punched his evil self twice in the face while resting on top of him.  A quick 
kick knocked him off however, and the evil clone stood shaken, but not yet 
stirred.

	"You first."  Evil Hiroshi ran forward again, and yet again both young men 
fell to the ground scratching each other.

	Jack stared at the fight.  "You know, if the two of them were the least 
bit female, this would be one helluva cat fight."

	Daisuke merely cradled his head once more.  "He better not get himself 
killed.  I am SO not hosting UltraRage myself."

	Back in the ring, Hiroshi took a series of punches to the face, the last 
one tainted with the evil flames of the psycho power.  He staggered back and 
fell on his butt, his vision blurred.

	Evil Hiroshi stood over him, laughing maniacally.  "You're not Lina 
Inverse, but I think Lord Bison will be pleased."  He held up his hand, and it 
crackled with sheer energy.

	Dazed, Hiroshi could do nothing but brace himself for the inevitable, as 
his mental processes were still too warped from the blows to properly form an  
A-T field.

	"Hold it right there, pal!"

	A hand grabbed Evil Hiroshi by the shoulder, and spun him around.  
Startled, the clone took in his new opponent.  "Maxwell!"

	Duo Maxwell smiled at the evil incarnation of hyperness, right before 
spinning his foot around to connect with Evil Hiroshi's jaw.

	The Shadowlaw operative fell to the ground.  Duo stood over him briefly, 
but turned to help Hiroshi up.

	Weakly, Hiroshi accepted Duo's outstretched hand to help himself up.  
"Thanks, Duo..."

	"Don't mention it.  I was watching the show, and thought you could use a 
hand.  Teaches those Bison people not to bother the staff though, doesn't it?"  
Duo flashed Hiroshi a grin.

	"How very touching."  A certain red clad individual appeared on the 
UltraTron, having once again pirated the signal.  "I'll be sure to make a note 
of that, after I take over."

	Hiroshi glared at the monitor.  "Pick up your scum and go!  You're not 
welcome here."

	"Pick him up?  Oh, you misunderstand me..."  Bison grinned sinisterly.  "I 
don't want him back.  He failed in his mission.  You can have him."

	"All right!  He's paying for his crimes!"  Duo smashed his palms together 
in anticipation.  "This is gonna be great!"

	"In ashes."  Bison laughed loudly as everyone tried to understand his 
meaning.

	Evil Hiroshi suddenly stood, a look of panic on his face.  Blue energy 
started to seep out of his body.  "He... help me!"

	The blue energy poured out at greater and greater speeds, until Evil 
Hiroshi fell to his knees and agony.  Duo and Hiroshi quickly dove out of the 
ring, just as Evil Hiroshi exploded in blast of psycho power.

	Daisuke stared at ringside in disbelief.  "That's some severance package!"

	Jack shrugged.  "You shoulda seen the one I had in mind for you guys."  He 
glanced at his watch.  "Whoa!  We're going over!  Hiroshi's okay folks, I saw 
his parachute!"

	A quick nod from Daisuke indicated Jack was telling the truth, of sorts.  
"Be sure to pick up UltraRage Eta, coming soon!"

*  *  *  *  *

	The halls weren't as welcoming as they used to be.  For someone
who'd never felt truly at home within Ultra, that was quite a feat. 
Shinji Ikari slowly walked towards a door at the end, torn between
achieving his task and processing the small amount of time he was
spending back in the Ultradome.

	A side door to a dressing room then opened, expelling a familiar
figure.  Shinji blinked, then quickened his pace, trotting up towards
it.

	Asuka turned and stared with him in mild surprise.  "Shinji."

	He stared back at her, the words trapped in his throat.  "Hi,
Asuka..."  He stared at her a while longer.  "I... came to, uh, ask
you... something."

	She slowly nodded, arms folding across her chest as she did. 
"What?"

	"I... you... I'm working with some good people.  They help out a
lot, and... well... I was wondering if you'd want to, you know, join
up."

	The redhead opened her mouth, then let it hang there as she
inspected the boy's face.  He was so earnest, and certainly looked
happier than he had for a long while.  But...  "I... I can't.  I still
want to prove myself.  I haven't, not yet."

	When Shinji spoke, his voice was just as quiet as it typically was,
though more self-assured than he'd ever managed before his departure. 
"I don't know that you can, Asuka.  Not here.  You don't look happy, and
you'd have a chance to really show what you can do somewhere else."

	"I..."  Asuka truly seemed to consider the option for a moment, then
shook her head.  "I can't just leave.  Maybe... that sounds nice, what
you're doing.  Maybe later."

	Shinji favored her with a slight smile.  "You'd be surprised how
good leaving it behind felt, if you do it for the right reasons."

	She finally cocked her head to one side, inspecting him with a
fascinated look.  "You've sure changed, Shinji-baka.  I... I'll keep
what you said in mind."  Asuka pursed her lips for a moment longer in
thought, then raised an eyebrow.  "What are you doing here, anyways?"

	He replied with a faint jerk of his shoulders.  "Pick up my last
paycheck, sign some papers, make some plans.  You know."  Another short
pause later, he smiled and waved.  "I should go do that.  Asuka... I'll
see you later."  

	As he walked away, one silent redhead was left staring after him,
mulling the possibilities over.

*  *  *  *  *

	"Washuu."

	"Oh, hello, Ifurita!"  The pink haired scientist waved happily at her 
friend and comrade.  "I saw your fight!  You did well tonight!"

	"I am done competing at Ultra, Washuu."  Ifurita looked at the scientist 
with unblinking, cold eyes.

	Surprised, Washuu set the object she was working on back on the table.  
"What?"

	"There is nothing more for me to gleam by competing in Ultra.  I wish to 
find a more direct route of helping you and Mary."  Ifurita's voice was, to the 
untrained ear, toneless.  But Washuu could hear the hint of frustration in the 
voice.

	"Hrm."  Washuu put her finger up to her chin thoughtfully.  "Wait.. that's 
it!  Ifurita... my super genius brain has just come up with an idea!!"

	"Technique #284.  Brain storming.  Catalogued.  Unable to replicate."

	"... Riiiiight.  Now listen, here's my idea!"

*  *  *  *  *

	"Checked your policies?"

	"Double-checked."

	"Upped your vitamins?"

	"I've got an IV drip ready back in my room."

	There was a short pause as Daisuke and Hiroshi looked at each other
in the hallway.  "I'm sure next week won't be any greater threat to our
health than any normal show, right, Dai?"

	"Right, right. ... ... I'll see you then, Rosh."

	The brunette sighed fatalistically as his partner walked off,
shaking his head.  The way he looked at it, he had a week to get into
the same mindset he did before every UltraRage: "I've had a good life." 
Granted, that wasn't exactly true, but it made the wait easier.

	He carefully shut and locked the door behind him as he walked into
his dressing room, caution the result of his Ultra experiences.  First
hanging his tuxedo jacket carefully on a waiting hanger, he then reached
for a shoe and started prying it off.  In the midst of his hopping, he
blinked, for he'd noticed a pink envelope resting against his mirror.

	"Shermie," he internally sighed.  Pink, and had gotten into his
locked room... no question about it.  He left his half-shod foot fall
back to the ground and hobbled over to the letter, picking it up
gingerly by one corner when he got close enough.  He gave it an
experimental shake, then hmm'd.  It didn't seem to be a threat.

	Once swipe of a letter-opener later, he carefully retrieved the
paper with a pair of tweezers.  And... it just seemed to be paper.  A
curious expression appearing, he sat down, unfolded the note, and began
reading.

	"'Yashiro wrote me and asked... haven't felt right here..."  His
eyes darted through the letter, skimming down to the last paragraph. 
"'...which is why I'm leaving Ultra.  I hope you can understand,
Daisuke.  Please don't be sad.  You can come see me perform, and I hope
you do!  But I'm just not right for Ultra any more.  So, I guess this is
goodbye... I'm sorry.'"

	Daisuke reread the letter a few more times, making sure to take in
every word on the latter times.  It didn't seem possible.  All those
times he'd wanted to be rid of her, and now she was the one who decided
to leave?  It was too good to be true, it was... depressing the hell out
of him.

	He dropped his head into his hand, rolling it forward to run his
fingers through his hair.  She was gone.  Finally, for better or worse she was 
gone.

	Slowly, he lowered the letter to his side, and leaned his head back to 
stare at the overhead light.  She was gone.  She'd made a choice between him, 
and a life outside of Ultra.  He had to respect that choice.

	Of course, if she came to play somewhere near Tokyo, it wouldn't hurt to 
go see her, and make sure she's happy.

	Daisuke blinked to himself suddenly.  "She's happy..."  He spoke the words 
out loud.  She hadn't seemed very happy as of late, even when he had made the 
time to speak with her.  Perhaps... perhaps if this made her happy... it was for 
the best.

	He folded the letter up neatly, took out his wallet, and placed it inside 
cautiously.  "For now, Shermie... Goodbye."  Perhaps, after she had time to 
settle in to her new life, he would go visit her.  To see where things stood.

	Or perhaps he would simply let both their lives go on.  But either way, 
this was how it had to be for now.

	He nodded to himself.  "Good-bye... Shermie."

*  *  *  *  *

	Outside of the dome, a lone figure stood masked in the shadows.  "You will 
rue the day you rejected me Ultra.  Yes, indeed.  I'll use my MAD SKEELZ to hack 
r00t from you... and then you'll pay!  DIE, ULTRA, DIE!!!"  He shook his fist in 
anger.

	A police officer walked up and glared at him.  "Mr. Cage, you may be a 
famous American, but I will NOT tell you again, NO LOITERING!"

	Johnny Cage's head drooped, and he nodded anxiously.  "Right, right!  I'm 
going!  I'm going!"

	He started to walk off, but made one final glare at the dome in question.  
"One day... Ultra..."

	"That's it!"

	Johnny Cage quickly sprinted off for his car, with a Tokyo police officer 
fast in pursuit.  "Mommy!"


*****

][  HARDCORE BELT was STOLEN from BEAN
][  MARLO and BEAN form TRUCE
][  DUO is FINALLY EXPLAINED
][  TASUKI defeats MARLO
][  KUNO would date with thee, FURNITURE TOSSING GIRL
][  JOHNNY CAGE not hired AGAIN
][  JACK tells NABIKI about FINANCES
][  ASH defeats MISTY by count out
][  MISTY retires from Ultra
][  SHERMIE retires from Ultra
][  IFURITA defeats DAN
][  TEAM CARD CAPTOR defeats TEAM KING OF STREET FIGHTERS
][  DUO & HIROSHI defeats EVIL HIROSHI
][  BISON kills EVIL HIROSHI
][  EVIL HIROSHI retires, permanently
][  DAISUKE is dumped via LETTER
][  DAISUKE gets over IT
][  JOHNNY CAGE arrested by POLICE

*****

Author's Notes:

Holy sheeoot in a hand basket.  This was the hardest chapter of Ultra to write 
ever.  Between scheduling conflicts, hardware errors, and just all around bad 
timing, this sucked.  I think Kristen & I did a pretty good job for a filler, 
pinch hit chapter though, and hopefully this will set up ETA nicely.

Kristen didn't give me any notes, so hopefully I'll sum it all up with this...

ULTRA BAD.  SCHOOL BAD.  SLEEP GOOD.

-ColdFury
(For Kristen Smirnov)
5/17/01
v1.0