------------------------------- UVR2- THE DESTRUCTION CONTINUES ------------------------------- SECTION EIGHT RESULTS ------------------------------- _Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel_ Another powerful blow lashed into Takuma Sakazaki's chest. Wolf admonished the beating. His face was contorted with joy as he pounded on the older sensai. Morrigan stood by, an angelic smile on her face. "Now, don't you just want to tell us where your son is? I promise we won't hurt him much..." Takuma's eyes slid open slightly. Almost mouthing the words, he muttered, "Go to hell." Morrigan giggled. "Too late! Oh, well. Maybe after another ten blows from Wolf you'll be more in the mood to chat, hmmmm?" She nodded to Wolf, who drew back his fist once more. Morrigan wandered over to Demitri. The Ventrue looked on at the torture for half-a-second. "*Why* didn't you just slave him, Morrigan? The noise is bothersome. I have a meeting with M. Bison in five minutes." "I tried, Demitri. Honest! But his willpower is too strong. It's weird. Not many here can resist me..." Demitri's eyes closed in disgust at the simpering Malkavian. "Whatever. It doesn't matter much to me, because you work for me now, correct?" Morrigan looked at Demitri. His aura was lashing out, almost violently. It looked like a hungry animal. She was scared of this man. And Morrigan didn't scare easily. "Yes, Demitri...you know I'm not stupid enough to resist a cutiepie like you!" She was proud of the way she managed to keep a quiver out of her voice. She turned away, quicker than she would have liked. Around the room, her toys sat, reclining upon on another. She made a note to take Cyclops again as soon as she got the chance...the X-Man, once his will had been cracked, had made an excellent slave. Much the same with Psylocke. Morrigan had been worried about the abilities of a telepath, but with the Brit's preference for combat, those skills had been dulled sufficiently to allow her supremacy in the contest. She heard a sudden exhalation from Takuma. Wolf was apparently finished his beating. Morrigan floated off to continue questioning her captive. _The Ring_ Haohmaru was easily blocking some basic attacks from Clark as Genjuro stormed down to ringside. Lau Chan had also made his choice, and run over to Haohmaru. As Genjuro came up to Haohmaru, he noted in irritation that Clark was blocking his path. "Insolent dog! Out of my way because only I can cruch Haohmaru like the total loser that he is and beat him up really hard and smack him around and you soldier-boy can't do anything like that because you are just a wussy girly-man who wears a baseball cap and thinks it appropriate fighting apparel and more importantly because only I shall destroy Haohmaru nobody else just me!!!" With that Genjuro leapt upwards in a purple uppercut, slashing Clark out of the ring. Clark landed in Sinistar. Lucky thing for him he exploded in vacuum before the Sinistar found him. Haohmaru and Genjuro began slashing powerfully at one another. Each blocked the other's shots with ease. The only conversation were their battle cries. "HA!" (clang) "HIYYYYYYARGH!" (ching) "HO!" (swoosh) "AAAAYYYYYYYAAGGGH!" (blang) Meanwhile, Guy, wisely staying away from the Haohmaru/Genjuro clash, was watching Galford. The ninja was standing stock-still...then, suddenly, he disappeared. Guy's eyes widened. Breaking into a run, he lashed out with a sliding kick. The kick connected with Galford's leg, and threw him off balance. While the ninja was dizzy, the Bushitsu master grabbed him and threw him over the edge. Galford landed in Smurf Village. Papa Smurf had had enough. "Look! I said maybe *one* fighter could drop in here! That's all I agreed to! Why can't you drop somewhere else? Like Gargamel's house?" Galford stood. "Gargamel? Who's Gargamel?" "An evil wizard, who tries to catch us and eat us. He lives off in that direction..." Papa Smurf gestured. "An evil wizard? Threatening innocents? We can't have that! C'mon, Poppy! There's wrongs to right and trash to take out!" "Woof!" With that, Galford ran at top speed, Poppy close behind, in the direction Papa Smurf had gestured. Papa Smurf was surprised. But good surprised. Up in the ring, Lau was trying to beat up on Haohmaru. To no avail. "HO! WHY, OLD MAN, DO YOU ATTEMPT TO STRIKE AT ME, THAT IS I, THE LEGENDARY HAOHMARU?" (clang!) "AFTER ALL, PERHAPS ONE OF YOUR INFAMY WOULD BE BETTER OFF MENDING THE INFAMOUS FENCES HE HAS BROKEN (TO USE A LEGENDARY METAPHOR)!" "WHat do you mean?" "HA! I OF COURSE REFER TO YOUR WELL-KNOWN FAILURE TO PROPERLY BRING UP YOUR ONLY DAUGHTER! IS IT NOT TRUE THAT SHE LOATHES THE VERY SIGHT OF YOU? IS IT NOT TRUE THAT THE WHOLE MULTIVERSE SEES YOU AS AN EXCELLENT FIGHTER AND BAD FATHER?" Lau yowled in pain. "Stop it!" "WHAT? ALL I SAID WAS THAT YOU WERE A BAD FATHER..." "Aggggggh! I can't take this!" "WHY DO YOU RECOIL SO WHEN I SAY THE WORDS 'BAD FATHER'?" "AGh! AgH! AGH!" "PERHAPS THESE WORDS, 'BAD FATHER'...CAUSE YOU PAIN? IF SO..." Haohmaru was interrupted by Lau screaming and jumping over the "ropes". Dauntless he continued. "I FULLY APOLOGIZE! ONE SHOULD ONLY BE GIVEN PAIN BY THE FIST OR THE BLADE OR POSSIBLY THE SAKE BOTTLE!" Lau landed in G.I. Joe. Rock-N-Roll looked at him. "Odd...I dunno who the new guy is..." Snake-Eyes, as was his wont, said nothing. _Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel_ "So, we have an agreement." Demitri sat back and smiled as he wiped his mouth. M. Bison was slumped in the chair. He said nothing, although he was still quite conscious. "Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. Who am I, Bison?" Bison whispered something. "Pray... speak louder." "Master. You are my master." Bison's eyes softened as he said the word. "Excellent." A pause. "And what will you do?" "I will send all my Shadloo troopers..." "HALF your Shadloo troopers..." "Yes...half my Shadloo troopers in an attack against Shao Kahn." "And what will you do with the remaining half?" "I bring them here, to act as your bodyguard." "Congratulations." He turned away and looked at Morrigan. "Do we have progress?" Takuma Sakazaki's body was beaten and bruised from head to toe. The Kyokogenryu master was naked save for his briefs...his gi had been burnt and applied to his skin. Morrigan sighed. "Sadly, no. The old man is more stubborn than any fighter I've tried to dominate." Demitri recalled the famed Sakazaki arguments. "Probably exceedingly used to equally stubborn opponents, given his family. Cease the torture..." Morrigan pouted. "It was just getting fun." "Shut up. I don't want him killed. Take your slaves back down to the Eliminated seating...I require a presence there. While you are there, enslave Bison's servants...who were they again?" He addressed the question to Bison. "Sodom, Adon, Sagat, and Birdie..." "I asked for the ones in the Eliminated seating, Bison." "My apologies...I am sorry..." "Don't let it happen again." He turned back to Morrigan. "You understand your orders?" "Yeah." "*What*?" She swallowed. Hard. "Yes, master." "Better." _Eliminated Seating_ Ryo and Yoshimitsu strode into the seats quickly. They made their way over to the seats where Andy Bogard and Charlotte were. A number of fighters had joined them: Heavy D! and Anakaris, Caffeine Nicotine and Rasputin, Mudman, and Colossus, and Lei Wulong. Nobody looked happy. Charlotte spoke before anyone else could. "Where are the others?" Yoshimitsu answered. "Two out of six injured, a further two out of six playing decoy. Thus, four out of six heroic fighters recommend that Ryo Sakazaki start telling everybody about the evil plot!" Ryo nodded. "All right. Everybody, sit down and shut up. I don't have much time here." Meanwhile, over in another corner, Asamiya Athena was napping on a bench. The drugs had worn off, but with that came a wave of weariness...and she didn't see the need to fight it. _The Ring_ Juggernaut was making his way over to Haohmaru, lumbering slowly. Guy, seeing the giant's target, broke into a run. Leaping into a speedy roundhouse kick... ...he bounced off. Juggernaut turned. He received a Haohshohkohken full in the face from Yuri Sakazaki. This made him blink. "Nothing can stop the Juggernaut!" he yelled. Picking up Guy, he started strangling the Bushitsu fighter. Guy gagged. Rose and Yuri continued launching projectiles at the giant, to no avail. It was as if they weren't doing damage. Juggernaut threw Guy aside. Guy moaned in pain as he fell- but this was of no concern to Cain Marko. Shrugging off repeated Super Scarf Shots from Rose and Haohshohkohkens from Yuri, he turned back to Haohmaru... ...and saw Donovan Bane standing in his path. Donovan pointed his sword at the mutant. "I don't know who you are. I don't *care* who you are. But, seeing as how my dear friend Rose feels it necessary to stop you, I think I'll do just that." Juggernaut growled. "You don't seriously think you can stop me, do you?" "No. But together we can." "Who is this "we" you speak of?" "Me and Kilshred here." "Who?" The sword started talking. "hi. i'm kilshred. me and donovan go waayyyyy back. so, without further ado, let's kill you!" Donovan leapt. Meanwhile, Rose's attention was being diverted by Benimaru Nikkaido. "Oooooh, girlfriend, I gotta tell you, the scarf is a hit! One hundred percent dynamite! But that doesn't mean it's *perfect*. We have to make some alterations. Like, that dress is *so* Twenties. That's a little retro even for me, right? And *pumps*? PUMPS? Table dancers wear pumps. If you want that fighting look, we simply *have* to get you some slippers or something...I don't want you fighting barefoot, it would ruin the style thing you've got going here with that scarf and that freaky hairstyle...plus, the hose *works*..." Rose had had enough. "SHUT UP!" She quickly Scarf Snapped the fighter over the "ropes". Benimaru landed in Tapper, where he promptly had to fight off a bar full of rednecks. Meanwhile, various insults were being traded by Juggernaut and Donovan. Neither could hurt the other: Juggernaut was failing to hit the faster Donovan, but Donovan's blows couldn't pierce the Juggernaut's blocks. Over in another corner, Ryu was interestedly paying attention to a yelling match Shura was having with Joe Higashi and Adon. The subject seemed to be "who's the best Muay Thai fighter?" Shura was so caught up in his argument he hadn't even entered the ring yet. Shura ended it. "Okay! I'll prove it! I'll go in and eliminate RYU! He can't beat me! NOBODY can beat me!" Ryu prepared himself mentally. It took concentration to fight...that's why he had fireballed Guy when his friend had tried to bother him with some boring plot. Ryu wasn't interested. The only villain worth worrying about was Akuma, and that villain was sitting back, watching the show in the ring. Shura, meanwhile, had marched up to the ring and entered. He took half-a-second to raise his arms triumphantly to the audience. At that point, Ryu slammed the World Hero with a Dragon Punch that sent him flying out of the ring and into Virtua Cop 2. A horrible villain had shot him fifty times by the next two seconds. During all this, of course, Genjuro and Haohmaru had continued their duel Both fighters were shouting now. "HA! YOU HAVE NO CHANCE AGAINST A LEGEND OF MY CALIBRE (WHICH I HAVE BEEN ASSURED BY FIREARMS EXPERTS TO BE FORTY-FIVE CENTIMETERS, APPARENTLY A WEAPON OF LEGENDARY STATUS, WHICH IS APPROPRIATE AS IT DESCRIBES ME)..." "I will mutilate you and decimate you and chop off your hand then I will chop off your other hand then I will slap you with your own hand then I will cut off your right leg at the knee then I will kick you in the crotch with your own foot..." "...NOTE, HOWEVER, THAT I HAVE ALSO BEEN DESCRIBED AS "THE WINNER OF LAST YEAR'S TOURNAMENT" WHICH, ALTHOUGH AN HONOR, PALES IN COMPARISON TO THE HONOR I RECEIVED WHEN I DEFEATED AMAKUSA SINGLEHANDEDLY AND SAVED JAPAN FOR THE SEVENTEENTH TIME, NONE OF WHICH A NONLEGEND LIKE YOU HAS DONE..." "...and then I will cut out your heart and I will chew on it and maybe season it with a little picante sauce which will not hide the taste of your inborn loserness and then I will go on a twelve city tour with your heart as the sole exhibit and make lots of money which I will use to build a large bomb and then I will return and blow you up because you won't be dead yet because I have not allowed you to die because you can't die until I say you can..." "...AND IT WILL BE AN HONOR TO DEFEAT YOU IN ONE-ON-ONE COMBAT, AS I WOULD HAVE LAST YEAR HAD YOU FELT IT UNNECCESSARY TO CHEAT (WHICH YOU DIDN'T SO YOU DID) AND THUS I SHALL SLAY YOU IN A MERCIFULLY LEGENDARY FASHION..." "...and then I will grab your entrails and make sausages out of them and then I will cut off each individual finger and make cookies out of them and then I will go to the delicatessen to get all the meat properly seasoned and then I will have a picnic with Oshizu under the stars as we eat your flesh although she might not want to at first she will eventually come around because your loserness taste will be removed with a little chutney..." Meanwhile, Ryu had noted that Juggernaut was starting to flag under the contined punishment from Rose, Yuri, Donovan, and Guy. The Shokotan fighter bided his time, then charged his chi...and launched a large Shinkuu Hadouken. The massive fireball slammed right into the flat of Juggernaut's back. The massive mutant sprawled forward and tripped over the "ropes". Juggernaut also landed in Sinistar. Being immune to vacuum, he didn't blow up before the Sinistar arrived. Of course, when it did, it knocked him into the nearest sun. _Room 109, RumbleDome Hotel_ @So, are we agreed, then? Together we will crush our opposition and take Haohmaru's soul for our use!@ Shuma Gorath said in its odd tones. "I have been for this from the start..." muttered Blackheart. "With only a third of Haohmaru's soul, I can take Hell as mine own..." Both of them looked at Doctor Doom. Doom stared impassively at them before turning his eyes to his gauntlet, where he pressed a small button. It started beeping quickly. "What is that?" Blackheart demanded. "My recording of your plot." replied Doom. "I have just forwarded it to one of the media agencies covering this sporting event." Blackheart stood and balled its hands into fists. "You had better have a good reason, human." "I have the best reason. Doom does not traffic in souls!" With that, the dictator of Latveria shot a pair of power blasts at Shuma-Gorath and Blackheart. His plan had worked. Now he would head home, his task done. Opening a portal with his sorceries, Doom began to step through. However, as he entered the portal, the edges altered colour. Blackheart smiled, even though he knew he would not garner Haohmaru's soul. He had successfully altered Doom's path. His body might land in Latveria, but his soul and spirit were trapped in the gateway. Revenge often sweetened these sorts of affairs... _Sub-Basement 119-A5Y_ Saishu Kusanagi was in pain. This wolfman was a capable fighter. He was holding his own, but he would have to retreat soon. A Source Uppercut gave him some room to maneuver, as Jon Talbain collapsed back. Baek had been little help. After one thrashing from his son (the fool), the Rave Warrior had run like a coward. "Answering Number 27's hails" indeed. What did the man think he, Saishu Kusanagi, head of the clan, would do once he found him? And how many fingernails did he think he would have left? Saishu would have been pounded into the ground by now were it not for the fact that Kyo was standing a distance away. Rage was plain on his face, yet he kept the Source veiled in his hands. No crackles, no sparks. The boy had control. Pride swelled up in Saishu depsite his opposition to his son's foolish ideals. Saishu thought dark thoughts. When would he learn? When would Kyo learn that the Dark Side was the sole course? When would his son learn the simple joys of delivering pain, of enjoying power, of worshipping evil? When would Kyo follow the path set out for him by destiny? However, now was not the time to deliberate over such things. Not when he was actually starting to lose by the slimmest of margins. As Jon jumped away, jaws snapping, Saishu ran forward in a Mad Rush. The Rush caught the wolfman as he landed, and the sweet feel of the Source coursed through Saishu's body as he channeled the energy onto Jon. The were fell in a heap. Saishu took the opportunity to run. He would deal with Baek when he found the coward. Jon staggered to his feet. "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU HELP?" Kyo looked angry. "I didn't dare. He's my father. If I fought him, I could turn to the Dark Side of the Source, and then you would've had two enemies to fight." Jon considered this. "Good point." (Werewolves generally don't hold grudges unless it's really important.) "Come on, let's get back to the good-guys section." Kyo looked confused. "Huh? WHAT are you talking about? There isn't a villain involved, is there?" Jon grinned, exposing many many many teeth. "More n' one. I'll tell ya about it on the way, kid." _The Ring_ Nightwolf was busily comboing the hell out of Ryoko when suddenly he found that he couldn't move. He was very cold. Why was he cold? His answer came as a big blobby fist knocked him senseless and over the "ropes". Bad Mister Frosty grinned. Well, he grinned as much as anyone can grin when their mouth consists of a line of coal chunks. Nightwolf landed in T. Hawk's stage on Super Street Fighter 2. T. Hawk waved. "Welcome to Mexico. I am T. Hawk, shaman of my people." "I am Nightwolf, shaman of *my* people." The two looked at each other for a second. An uncomfortable silence ensued. Finally Nightwolf broke it. "Got any good Indian Agency jokes?" Meanwhile, Ryoko was up again, and ran over to Yuri. "Ha ha ha ha ha, you're cuter than me!" Yuri shrugged. "I wouldn't know, really." "Well, gee, who would?" "Did you check with Donovan here?" Ryoko grinned, obviously pleased. "Yep! I'm not cute! Right, Donovan?" Donovan looked at her for a bit. Then: "You know, you're cuter than you were a few seconds ago...and, come to think of it, you're getting steadily cuter. You're starting to look downright huggable." Ryoko's eyes widened. She rushed Donovan, knocking him down. Pinning his shoulders to the mat with her knees, she began punching him in the face. "I!" "AM!" "NOT!" "CUTE!!!!!!!" Yuri calmly picked up the frothing-at-the-mouth Ryoko and heaved her over the edge. Ryoko landed in Aliens. Ripley nudged Hicks. "Who's that cute little girl?" Ryoko howled in anger. Wheeling around, she glared at Ripley. "WHO SAID THAT?" Ripley was taken aback. "Um, one of those Aliens over there..." She pointed to a nest of about fifty. Ryoko broke into a run for the Aliens. The Aliens, although incapable of advanced logical thought, were smart enough to run for their lives. On the other side of the ring, Charlie was calmly blocking Liu Kang's Bicycle Kick. The famed "gobblegobblegobblegobblegobble" was to no avail as Liu bounced off. Charlie took the pause to initiate the Sonic Blade. Three individual Sonic Booms slammed into Liu Kang in quick succession. Liu stood up, somewhat wobbly. Charlie proceeded to pound the Mortal Kombatant with his Flash Kick, which launched Liu Kang out of the ring and into DJ Boy. Getting up, he heard one of the boomboxes nearby playing "Staying Alive." "All RIGHT! Crank it!" He started dancing. Guy had noticed the reappearance of Ryo and Yoshimitsu, missing four fighters. He turned to Donovan Bane. "We need to get some more people in the Eliminated seating...we've lost quite a few." Donovan rubbed his chin. "Hmmmm. Sounds like an excellent idea. How do we do that?" Guy quickly grabbed him and tossed him over the "ropes". "Like that, and sorry..." Donovan landed in Zombies Ate My Neighbours. He hefted Kilshred. "Geeez, talk about gratitude. Okay. Time to kill some monsters." Suddenly, he saw Sarah Bryant land beside him. (Storm had used a Tornado Toss to send the Virtua Fighter flying.) He smiled. "Kilshred! We must protect the innocent!" He noted that Sarah was kind of spaced out. "Or, in this case, the stoned!" "i don't recall that being part of our mission..." "Shut up. Look at her! She's not half bad, huh?" "what about the sharp edges?" ***** FINAL TALLY (69 voters) ----------------------- GUY (SFA)- 54:17 (ratio=3.17) RYU (SFA)- 47:22 (ratio=2.13) ROSE (SFA)- 48:25 (ratio=1.92) STORM (XM:COTA)- 44:25 (ratio=1.76) HAOHMARU (SS2)- 46:29 (ratio=1.58) CHARLIE (SFA)- 39:30 (ratio=1.30) GENJURO (SS2)- 38:31 (ratio=1.22) BAD MISTER FROSTY (CF2)- 37:32 (ratio=1.17) YURI SAKAZAKI (KOF95)- 37-33 (ratio=1.12) **************LINE OF SURVIVAL************* GALFORD (SS2)- 39:37 (ratio=1.05) DONOVAN BANE (DS2)- 35:34 (ratio=1.02) JUGGERNAUT (XM:COTA)- 34:35 (ratio=0.97) BENIMARU NIKKAIDO (KOF95)- 32-37 (ratio=0.86) SARAH BRYANT (VF2)- 32-37 (ratio=0.86) LAU CHAN (VF2)- 32:38 (ratio=0.84) LIU KANG (MK3)- 30:39 (ratio=0.76) CLARK (KOF95)- 18:51 (ratio=0.35) NIGHTWOLF (MK3)- 17:52 (ratio=0.32) RYOKO (WHP)- 15:54 (ratio=0.27) SHURA (WHP)- 5:64 (ratio=0.09) BONUS MATCHUP: KYO KUSANAGI (KOF95) and JON TALBAIN (DS2) defeat SAISHU KUSANAGI (KOF95) and BAEK (T2) by a vote of 43-24, with two abstentions. ELIMINATIONS: Guy, Ryu: 2. Rose, Storm, Haohmaru, Charlie, Genjuro, Bad Mister Frosty, Yuri: 1. CURRENT ELIMINATIONS LEADERS: Haohmaru 12, Galford 8, Athena 8, Rose 7, Guy 6, Silver Samurai 6, Mai Shiranui 6. MUAY THAIS- NOT MUY RIGHT?: Lessee...so far that's Shura, Adon, and Joe Higashi all eliminated like that. Sagat's the only one left. Can he restore the glory of Muay Thai? See you next round. Chris "Birdman" Bird Brant "Smithers" Rogers Scott "Chief Wiggum" Johnson Austin "Kent Brockman" Loomis