------------------------------- UVR2- THE DESTRUCTION CONTINUES ------------------------------- SECTION TEN RESULTS ------------------------------- _The Ring_ Jeffry smiled as he powerbombed Robert Garcia to the mat. It was the third time now. The repeated powerbombings had driven the Fighting King to the point of insensibility. Oddly enough, his quarry was mumbling something subaudible. "Geez, Yuri...y'could've warned me your father would get so violent when he caught us..." Jeffry considered this. As far as he knew, "Yuri" was the girl out in the Eliminated seating. Best to reunite them! Jeffry smiled as he reflected magnificently on his brilliant thought which would no doubt aid a young couple in their amorousness. He then lifted the Kyokogenryu stylist over his head and heaved. Robert landed in the river near Shun's home in VF2. He was promptly fished out by concerned looking fishermen. Meanwhile, the fight between Magneto and Jago/Doom continued. Doom's timing, as computer-perfect as always, was flawless. Flying kicks, uppercuts, and Sitsu-Kens were used with machinelike precision. The smallsword on the ninja's back was used with equal facility, slicing and cutting with the strange green aura that somehow made it hurt more. Of course, all this meant that Jago/Doom was barely holding his own against Magneto. The mutant was all but overwhelming the Instinctual Killing Marvel Super Hero (and anyone else who came into range). "DOOM! You should have realized what would happen! Surely you did not think you would be able to best me in this inferior body...you can barely manage it in your own, on your finest day. I will end you now, and you will realize your failure UGH!" The last was courtesy of Guy, who had Rising Kicked Magneto. As the mutant fell out of Guy's arc, he was met by a Dragon Kick from Kim Dragon. A Soul Throw from Rose completed the aerial jugglefest, and a buttdrop from Jeffry capped off the cycle. Guy and Rose ran over to talk to Jago/Doom. "What happened to you, Jago?" Rose asked. "You don't seem quite yourself..." "I am not 'Jago'. I am Victor Von Doom of Latveria!" "Mmmmm-hmmmmm." Guy nodded. "And you want to kill Johnny Storm, right?" "Reed Richards, fool!" Rose poked Guy. "Don't bait him. He's not insane. His soul signature hardly matches that of the body. He really *is* Doom...but how did Doom get in Jago's body..?" "A process I will not divulge. This body was under control of the fiend known as Number 27, Hopefully, if we recover the original soul and spirit, we can rectify the matter. However, none of this is important right now...we must discuss the matter of Haohmaru. I recognize you both as being cognizant of the dangers involved..." "DIE! DIE DIE DIE!" Mizuki crashed into their conversation, waving her stick madly as her Demon Dog, Dog, leapt on top of Kim Dragon, who had been heading over to get the scoop on the newcomer. Guy and Rose were knocked down quickly, but Jago/Doom seemed unimpressed. "Eloquence is always the first victim of fanaticism..." muttered Doom as he slammed into Mizuki with a flying kick, which leapt into a 12-hit combo ending in a Sword Uppercut. Mizuki went flying over the ropes. She landed in Hexen, where she lasted precisely 12.5 seconds before being messily killed. (Her Demon Dog, Dog, lasted the full fifteen minutes when it jumped in after her, leaving behind a very pained Kim Dragon in the ring and a large amount of corpses in Hexen.) Kim staggered over to the group. "Yeeee...can't take much more of this..." Rose nodded. "Maybe it's time we transferred you out of the ring...you'll be more help in there...you're too tired to help us keep Magneto or Demitri busy." Kim Dragon didn't have time to say "Good idea", as a Shockwave from Magneto piled into the lot of them, knocking Guy unconscious and thoroughly stunning Rose and Jago. Kim Dragon got the worst of it, however: his chin made contact with Guy's wildly flying elbow, and he was tossed, (nay, *launched*) out of the ring. He landed in Dragon: The Bruce Lee story. "Bruce" looked at him. "But you were just here." "Huh?" Kim looked around groggily. "I'm hall'cinating. Great." Meanwhile, Ryofu was poking Guy in the side with his naginata. "Are you dead? If not, then I wanna kill you." Guy, rudely awoken by the pointy object digging into his chest, replied with a Rising Spin Kick. Ryofu was ejected from the ring. He landed in Smurf Village. "PAPA SMUUUUUURF! My pants are caught on this one's spear!" _Sub-Basement 32-AY7_ Billy Kane grimaced as Charlotte's epee skewered his side. He simply didn't understand this. Charlotte wasn't fresh. He'd watched her and Colossus fight for a while with those others, and they'd tired them some, he was sure. Then, somehow Colossus had been rendered powerless and knocked out. So, he and Eiji had attacked, as per Rugal's orders to knock out Haohmaru's defenders...and the whole Multiverse knew that Charlotte was Number One on the list. Of course, that shmuck, Dan, had stuck his head into the fight, and fought respectably for a bit. But honestly, who was he kidding? Eiji had managed to set him up nicely with that gigantic fireball wave he had (one of these days, Billy noted, he would *have* to figure out the Japanese pronunciation) which let Billy slam Dan upside the head with his staff, and poom, no Dan to worry about. Which made Charlotte all the more surprising. She was simply ignoring wounds. He'd bashed her left side at least five times, and she *must* be bruising...he certainly hadn't felt armor...but if that side hurt, it wasn't showing at all. Eiji was unconscious in one corner. That was probably a result of the Power Gradiation Charlotte had slammed him with, Billy guessed. Well, he hadn't moved after she hit with it. Billy considered that he was getting his ass kicked. Enough of this... ...and he ran like hell. Charlotte, no longer in the middle of a fight, paused to take a breath. Suddenly, she realized how much pain she was in, and sat down hard. "Charlotte! Thank god we found you!" Charlotte turned (not much, it hurt too much) to look. It was Andy Bogard and Mai Shiranui. They looked concerned. "Jeez! Are you all right?" Andy ran to her side. "You look like you had your ass thrashed." Charlotte grimaced. "A most appropriate colloquism." She looked up at the two. "We have to rescue Haohmaru." Mai shook her head. "Nope. We have to get you to safety. You're too hurt to be any good, and we're not going to leave you here." As if for the first time, she noticed Dan on the floor. "Oh, *there* he is. We'll bring him along too...means we'll have to come back for him, I guess." Andy shrugged. "He's not as important as Charlotte is." Mai nodded in response. Charlotte looked at them, confusion evident on her face. "I do not understand...we must save him, too. And Colossus." Andy smiled. "We already got Colossus. Don't worry." He bent down and lifted Charlotte up under one shoulder. Mai got underneath the other shoulder. Supporting Charlotte between them, they moved towards the doorway. Charlotte managed to turn her head to face Mai. She certainly admired the girl's optimism. The smile on her face, the gleam in her eyes... ...the bite marks in her neck? "Sacre bleu! Andy!" Ignoring the pain, she turned to face Andy...and saw the same marks on his neck. Her eyes widened. "You've been enslaved!" Andy shrugged. "We prefer to think of it as voluntary submission." He suddenly let go of Charlotte, as did Mai. The Frenchwoman fell with a thud. Charlotte staggered to her feet and clutched her epee from her scabbard. "I will give a good accounting of myself, lapdogs!" A new voice could be heard. "Mmmmmmm. I don't doubt..." And Charlotte faded into a intensely pleasurable unconsciousness. The last thing she heard was Mai's voice. "Don't worry. It's really better this way." _The Ring_ Iori nodded. "You certainly offer a better proposition than Rugal did. My own node, should I serve you properly..." His eyes glinted. A whole node, to be given to the Source, cleansed by the fire... Demitri Maximov nodded. "Excellent. Your companions...?" "Will do whatever I tell them if they aren't stupid." A smile ghosted across Demitri Maximov's lips. "Very good. You have the appropriate attitude towards underlings. You may prove to be a good lieutenant...Morrigan is certainly unworthy of my trust." "Why do you tolerate her presence?" "She serves as an auxilary arm for now. I believe when I garner the power of the Oversoul..." "The what?" Demitri cursed inwardly but gave no sign of it. "Nothing really. A pretty term for Haohmaru, nothing more. Anyway, when I have that power...I shall eradicate any vestige of free will she has. It is safer that way, is it not?" "So, what are my orders?" "Find a way to get out of the ring without looking obvious about it. I will join you shortly, after I enslave one or two of the would-be Haohmaru-protectors. I need more slaves." Iori grinned. "Don't we all?" He then walked away. Demitri nodded in satisfaction. Excellent, he thought. Finally, a competent underling. Although I would like to know what that rope between his legs is for... Meanwhile, Ken was looking irritated with Ryu. "Okay, Ryu, what's the deal? I don't get it!" Ryu looked inscrutable. "What are you talking about?" "Chun Li! We agreed that I had dibs, okay?" Ryu refrained from stating that *Ken* had agreed on "dibs" and merely defended himself. "I haven't done anything, Ken. I have meditated in my quarters and fought, nothing else." "Oh, yeah, right! I mean, you know, it's really low to go behind your best pal's back and sabotage your chances! I mean, all she does is talk about *you*! Nothing else! Just "Oh, wasn't that punch just *incredible*?" or "My god, can he summon fireballs!" You *can't* expect me to believe that you haven't been down there and made yourself available to her!" Ryu shrugged. "I beg to point out that she could have just been admiring my techniques!" "Oh, yeah? She seemed awfully appreciative of the "technique" between your legs!" Ryu blinked, surprised. "I...um...but..." "But nothing! Yeah, right, you keep your agreements! Ryu, my *BUDDY*!" With that, Ken Dragon Punched his costudent over the "ropes". Ryu landed in Gals Panic. Noting the landscape, he shrugged. "The pleasures of the flesh simply make us crazed...as my friend Ken so aptly demonstrates...ah well. It's not his fault. He never was able to control his urges." With that, Ryu sat down crosslegged and began to meditate. _Room 111, RumbleDome Hotel_ Chun Li was in shock. Ryu had been eliminated, and by KEN of all people! They had seemed to be having an argument of some sort. Chun Li briefly wondered if peeking at Ryu in the shower had somehow affected his fighting, then immediately discarded the notion. He *hadn't* seen her when he was towelling off his face... _The Ring_ A second Magnetic Beam slammed Victor to the ground. "Proud fools! Your patchwork man cannot stop the Master of Magnetism! I, and I alone, shall dominate all that there is!" With that, Magneto launched another Shockwave, which decimated the ring and slammed Victor out of it. The giant monster landed in Virtua Cop 2, on top of some guy who was tossing barrels at cops. "Hey! Are you Donkey Kong?" asked Victor. The madman, unconscious, did not reply. Cyrax, meanwhile, was smoking in rage at Sub-Zero (sitting in the Eliminated section). So absorbed was he that he did not notice Ken rolling towards him. "SHORYUKEN!" Cyrax landed in Daytona USA and was promptly smashed into a million little pieces by an unrushing race car. Demitri Maximov had overpowered Rose, utterly. The sorceress was wobbling after a heavy-duty Demon Cradle. Demitri smiled. "A mage. How thoughtful. You will make an excellent slave, girl." He extended his fangs. Guy, across the ring, saw Demitri's mouth open. "NOOOOO!" he yelled. Breaking into a run, he zoomed across the ring, ending in a flying kick. The Bushin Run had served him faithfully, again. Demitri, thus surprised, was a fine target for a series of punches and kicks which sent him flying out of the ring. He didn't show up anywhere. Up in the booth: "BRANT!" "I know, I know. I sent an agent to turn on the lights in Golden Axe II but he hasn't found the switch yet, I guess." Brant fibbed. _Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel_ Demitri appeared in a sudden flash. Most of the room bowed respectfully. (Lord Raptor didn't, and Takuma, Haohmaru, Genjuro, and Jon Talbain couldn't.) "Enough." He looked at Haohmaru. The ronin was spread-eagled, chained to floor and ceiling, suspended above the carpet. His gi was heavily torn. Bruises purpled across his face and chest. Genjuro, on the opposite side of the room, was in no better shape. His sword was bound to his hands, by the blade, and the sharpness scratched at his wrists. Blood flowed at a trickle. Takuma hung from the meathook, still. Jon Talbain was still conscious in his cage. The vampire strode over to the werewolf. "So, Jon, old friend. Good to see you will witness my final triumph." Jon spat. "Blow it out your ass, old boy. I promise you, I'll rip your heart out with my teeth and enjoy it." "No need to be uncivil. After all, I *am* going to explain my master plan to you." "That's rather cliched." "Hardly." Demitri turned to Haohmaru. "It's far too late for you to do anything about it." He looked back at Jon. "You see, I've known about the Oversoul Effect for quite some time." Jon looked confused. Demitri smiled. "You see, when a new node, like this Rumble node, is created, it garners an excess of power. That power is increased a millionfold when the node is connected to the rest of the Multiverse. It flows, you see, through conduits. Such as tournament winners." "So?" "So? So I've witnessed it before. During the third Dream Tournament, I decided it would be wise to examine tapes of my possible opponents. I'm surprised no one else noticed. In Dream Tournament Two, the buildup is clearly visible." "Huh?" "The Oversoul Effect. Much like what happened to our friend, Haohmaru. You see, when a tournament winner is a conduit, the power flows through him for about one year. It happened to Chun Li during Dream Tournament 2, and it happens to Haohmaru now. It doesn't work for later tournament winners, though. Only the first. The excess energy is expelled after the second tourney. I noted this when I examined Ryu's soul pattern at Dream Tourney Three." "But why didn't Chun Li get kidnapped by the forces of evil then, huh?" Demitri shrugged. "Not many attended. Geese Howard and Mr. Big were both flatly unknowledgeable of the magical affair. M. Bison isn't that aware. Death, being an elemental force, I can only presume to be uninterested in such things. Geegus is an alien, and hardly magical. That leaves Shang Tsung, who has proven to be...sloppy at times. The fact that he was attempting to mind-control Reptile as well possibly had something to do with it. Quite frankly, Chun Li escaped because nobody knew." "So how did everyone find out this time?" Demitri smiled. "I let them. A few tipoffs here and there. A few unlabeled communications. A mild power funneling. Subtlety was required, after all." "And you got someone to hire you..." "Yes. Pyron was an excellent choice, don't you think?" Demitri looked upon the conqueror mockingly. "Powerful, yet totally oblivious to the obvious-like the fact that I was planning to betray him. I knew I would need Mizuki sooner or later, for her connection to the Dark Guy. M. Bison was simply luck." "And Jubei?" Jon motioned to the samurai, barely avoiding the silver bars. "I assumed there would be *some* opposition. That was the mistake of all the others. They all assumed no one would know. I *knew* you were above me, Jon, and I knew you would oppose me. I'm slightly surprised you didn't hear me repeating key sentences in a slightly loud tone..." Jon smiled. "You're a sneaky bastard, I'll give you that." Demitri shrugged. "Afterwards, I went upstairs in bat form, and hovered overhead the tiling as I followed Bishamon's flame. I heard everything that mysterious figure had to say." "Who was it?" "I don't know, which bothers me. I assume it was Kano. I couldn't get close to him, because of an air duct in my path." "You've thought of everything, haven't you?" "Oh my yes." Demitri smiled again. "Now, all I need is the blood of one who loves Haohmaru. It is a pity Oshizu could not attend. Charlotte will have to suffice. However, Morrigan has been ordered to bring the fencer in. I doubt that she will disappoint." The vampire turned. "I know that the young Sakazaki lad is doing his able best to stop me. Let him try. I love to watch futility in action. I'm already powerful. In thirty minutes, I will be a god...and my first action will be to take total control of every denizen of the Darkstalkers node." He looked at Jon. "But, I think I'll let you keep your free will, Jon. Just so you can know that you failed, for the rest of eternity. I owe you that much..." _The Ring_ "But it cannot be!" said Jeffry. "Wolf is my friend! We chase women together! He would not do this bad thing, for he is not a bad man!" Rose sighed and began again for what seemed like the fifteenth time (although it was actually just the sixth). "He doesn't have free will! He's being controlled!" Jeffry's brows knotted. Finally, his eyes widened. "Ah! I understand. What you are saying is that Wolf is not his own self, as if he has been drinking too much?" Rose nodded emphatically. "Close enough." Jeffry beamed. "Good!" He whispered in a conspiratoral tone. "I am sometimes slow at getting these things." (Rose refrained from rubbing her temples.) In his normal tone: "Ah, then. I will help you as best I can!" Rose smiled weakly. "Oh, *good*." They were then interrupted by a loud "YATTAYATTAYATTAYATTAYATTA!" Iori Yagami was driven back between them. The driving force, of course, was Kim Kaphwan's feet. As Iori was driven back to the ropes, Kim ducked and then Flash Kicked upwards. Iori fell up, away, and over. He didn't land anywhere. "BRANT!" "Sorry! Golden Axe II again! I seem to have destroyed the attraction, though. We shouldn't get any more there. Must be a fluke." Brant lied through his teeth. He simply could not figure out the problem. He had tracked down the disappearances to somewhere in the RumbleDome Hotel. Unfortunately, that left 110 floors full of rooms. Down in the ring, Rose was calmly Scarf Snapping a very unsurprised-looking Matrix out of the ring. Matrix reflected briefly before she fell into a car next to a huge tower in the Killer Instinct node. Perhaps it was time the Time Killers gave up. Perhaps it was time to pack it in. Perhaps it was *THUDCLANGSPLAT*. _Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel_ Iori Yagami appeared in a flash of light. "I take it this was your doing?" smiled Iori calmly. Demitri bowed. "Of course. I need you here, not in some silly node for fifteen minutes." "So, what can I do?" "Hmmmmm." Demitri surveyed the prisoners. "You can put these shackles on Haohmaru, for a start." Iori took the proffered steel cuffs and chains. "Very well, but..." Suddenly the door opened. All present assumed a combat stance. They then relaxed as they saw Morrigan troop through, with Cyclops, Psylocke, Colossus, Billy Kane, Eiji Kisaragi, Wolf, Janne, and Charlotte in tow. Colossus carried Dan on his shoulder. Demitri smiled. "Quite an entourage." He gestured around at his own, with particular flamboyance to the World Heroes gestured near Mizuki. All now sported bite marks. "I thought it prudent to enslave these as well." Morrigan grinned. Her grin faded as she saw Iori. "Oh. Um. Sorry, but I enslaved your pals here. I didn't want them running out on us..." Iori shrugged. "Like I give a damn what happens to those losers?" Demitri scanned the entourage. "Three questions. Where are the other two? Should they not be with you?" "I sent Andy and Mai out to look for more victims to bring back. We can never have too many." "Agreed. Secondly, do you have my collar?" She tossed him the Genoshan power neutralizing device. "Where did you get this, and how did you know that I'd need it?" Demitri smirked. "Where I got it is rather elementary. Why I knew? When I saw the X-Men in attendance, I knew we'd need it for sure. I brought it along, expecting they would be in full competition after their limited guest appearance last year. And when you had Psylocke and Cyclops, I became certain we would need it...the X-Men are notorious for going back after their own." "But still, why would we need it? I can still bite them." Demitri walked up to Colossus and tapped the giant on the shoulder. A resounding *ping* was heard. "Not through that. We'll also need one for Wolverine." "Whatever for?" "Because his healing factor will presumably destroy our influence within minutes. We *will* need it to control him." Jon Talbain grimaced. "Yeah, the smartypants thinks he can control everything." Demitri looked at Talbain in surprise. "You're far more perceptive than I thought." Morrigan interrupted. "What's the third question?" "Is Charlotte your slave?" Morrigan lifted the Frenchwoman's hair away, to reveal bite marks. Demitri's lip curled upwards. "Excellent." _The Ring_ Ranma Saotome ducked underneath a Tiger Shot from Sagat. The Alpha Fighter jumped in for the kill. As Ranma struck Sagat with a thousand blows of the Tenshin Amagiken, fists flying rapidly, Sagat mused dazedly never to jump again unless absolutely necessary. He drifted upwards and over as punches continued to land, eventually landing in Return of the Jedi. He looked around. Everyone seemed quite panicked for some reason. *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!* Birdman winced. "Well, folks, being in the middle of an exploding Death Star is certainly a *spectacular* way to go..." Meanwhile, Ukyo Tachibana was muttering hoarsely to Rose and Jago/Doom. "*kaph* What do you want me *hakk* to do?" Jago/Doom looked noble. "I require an elimination. I must go forth and destroy those who would partake of souls." Jago/Doom glossed over the fact that he also looked forward to beating in the heads of assorted enslaved X-Men. (A perk is a perk, after all.) Rose nodded. "Sounds good. I can just..." She didn't finish. Ukyo whipped out his impossibly long sword (which in NO way was a phallic symbol, not at all, uh-uh) and tossed an apple. A moment later, he began slashing. Rose and Jago/Doom were both rocketed upwards and over, to spend their time fending off evil Pumpkins in the classic "Smashing Punpkins Into Small Piles of Putrid Debris". Ukyo nodded. "Guess it *hukk* worked." ***** FINAL TALLY (54 voters): --------------------------- UKYO TACHIBANA (SS2)- 42:12 (ratio=3.50) GUY (SFA)- 42:16 (ratio=2.62) KIM KAPHWAN (KOF95)- 37:17 (ratio=2.17) KEN MASTERS (SFA)- 37:17 (ratio=2.17) RANMA SAOTOME (R1/2HB)- 37:17 (ratio=2.17) JEFFRY MCWILD (VF2)- 36:18 (ratio=2.00) MAGNETO (XM:COTA)- 33:22 (ratio=1.50) *************LINE OF SURVIVAL************ JAGO (KI)- 31:23 (ratio=1.34) ROSE (SFA)- 33:28 (ratio=1.22) DEMITRI MAXIMOV (DS2)- 28:27 (ratio=1.03) IORI YAGUMI (KOF95)- 26:28 (ratio=0.92) RYU (SFA)- 26:30 (ratio=0.86) SAGAT (SFA)- 26:30 (ratio=0.83) ROBERT GARCIA (KOF95)- 25:20 (ratio=0.83) VICTOR VON GERDENHEIM (DS2)- 19:35 (ratio=0.54) MIZUKI (SS2)- 19:35 (ratio=0.54) MATRIX (TK)- 18:36 (ratio=0.50) KIM DRAGON (WHP)- 13:42 (ratio=0.31) RYOFU (WHP): 7:47 (ratio=0.14) CYRAX (MK3)- 6:48 (ratio=0.12) BONUS MATCHUP: CHARLOTTE (SS2) and DAN (SFA) defeat BILLY KANE and EIJI KISARAGI (KOF95) by 36 to 17 with one abstention. ELIMINATIONS: Ukyo, Guy, Kim, Ken: 2. Ranma, Jeffry, Magneto, Jago, Rose: 1. CURRENT ELIMINATIONS LEADERS: Haohmaru 13, Guy 10, Rose 9, Athena 8, Silver Samurai 6, Mai Shiranui 6. A LITTLE DOOM GOES A LONG WAY: Hey, KI got an elimination! Maybe putting Thanos in Sektor's body would've helped MK3... See you next round. Chris "Birdman" Bird Brant "No! I'm Birdman!" Bird Scott "HA! *I'm* Birdman!" Johnson Austin "Don't listen to them! I'M Spartacus!" Loomis