------------------------------- UVR2- THE DESTRUCTION CONTINUES ------------------------------- SECTION THIRTEEN ------------------------------- _The Ring_ The six fighters left in the ring were all now cognizant of the Haohmaru situation. Chun Li looked frightened, and, for some reason, was frequently casting small glances at Ryu, sitting in the stands. King had a determined set to her mouth. Bishamon was leaning on his sword (which was complaining bitterly about being used for such a purpose), explaining all he knew. Nakoruru was trembling with rage at the abuse of Nature, and clutched her knife with hands that had gone white-knuckled. Guy and Ukyo were simply trying to catch their breath. They all knew that as soon as someone won the Rumble, the threat would be past. But, being who and what they were, they would not simply allow someone to win. They would fight to the end. All six cast their eyes to the entryway for new fighters as Birdman's mike clicked on. "BIRDIE! (SFA)" "I don’t like you/I just hate you/I'm gonna kick your ass!" Hard-core crappy music from Guns 'N' Roses blared. The final Alpha Streeter strode down to the ring, his mohawk combed and gleaming. "I can do this! I can beat everybody! Then Bison will be so proud of me, he might let me join Shadoloo!" "Drooling yahoo," Ken muttered. "Bloody asskisser." Sodom grimaced. "JACK! (WHP)" "Nyah ha ha ha!" Jack made his way down to the ring. Birdman activated the mike. "For obvious reasons, could the people in Rows Five through Seven Hundred and Three please stop calling Mr. Jack a 'Vega ripoff?' Thank you." Chun Li looked at the World Hero blankly. "Who's Vega?" "KYOSHIRO! (SS2)" Traditional Japanese music began playing throughout the RumbleDome. "Behold, the art of my blade!" Kyoshiro ran towards the ring as best he could, hopping on one foot as he was. Wanderer looked at the Kabuki dancer with an incredulous expression on his face. "I still can't believe that guy's from the same node as Haohmaru and Ukyo." "CHOI BOUNGE! (KOF95)" "I'm your boogey man/that's what I am/I'm here to do, ah/whatever I can...early morning/late afternoon/after midnight/it's never too soon..." Choi Bounge's entry music, White Zombie's version of "I’m Your Boogeyman," as usual, had half its listeners headbanging and half of them wondering how the hell White Zombie had come to cover a KC and the Sunshine Band song. As he headed towards Demitri's room, Gen-An caught a glimpse of the proceedings outside on a handy video monitor. A few minutes later, a passing security officer caught a glimpse of a small, green hunchback curled into the fetal position on the floor, crying to himself. "No...that guy's at the Rumble...he followed me back from that node...I'm as good as dead..." The officer was mystified. Choi was just glad he'd gotten this late of a draw. Now, he wouldn't be lying 100% to Kim when he said that he'd had nothing to do with this whole business with Haohmaru... _The Stairs_ Ryo's group had decided that using the elevators would be a bad tactical decision. "What floor are we on?" Heavy D! asked. "Mmmmm...the sixtieth," Robert replied. Dan groaned. "Let me know when we get to the hundred and fortieth. I'm gonna throw up." _Room 245_ Rugal was incredibly aggravated. Earthquake and Saishu Kusanagi had shown up, and Magneto was said to be on his way, but still, he had the most incompetent people in the world, no, the entire bloody *multiverse* working for him right now. Now, however, he had three less of the most incompetent people in the world working for him. The Fulgore unit had just *left,* when he wasn't looking, and Baek and Combo were lying on the other side of the room, bloody and broken. The rest of his force were huddled in the corners of the room (except Chang and Colossus), hoping that he wasn't all that pissed. "When will I finally get some decent help...?" he inquired of the world at large. The door opened, as if an answer to his prayers. Orchid walked into the room. "I was told I was supposed to come here?" Rugal slapped himself in the forehead. "Yes, come in." Another bloody Killer Instinctive... As Orchid walked in, though, she was suddenly hit by something hard enough to make her ricochet off of the doorjamb. There was a flash of crimson light as she was disintegrated. Suddenly, the front door of Room 245 of the RumbleDome Hotel no longer existed. There was instead a large rent in it, now occupied by a *very* upset Shao Kahn and several of his Centaurian warriors, backed up by Motaro, Sindel, Shang Tsung, Kano (his cybernetic eye smoking), Mileena, and Baraka. Also, however, unexpectedly, others had joined the Kahn. Scorpion, Ermac, Reptile, Jade, Rain, and Noob Saibot all stood with the Kahn, for money, power, or other motivations (such as the head of Sub-Zero I on a platter). "*WHERE IS THE VAMPIRE DEMITRI MAXIMOV??!!*" the dark god bellowed at nearly Haohmaru-level volume. In the next room, a figure stirred as a result. His sword struck the floor with a harsh clang that no one heard...the wires that had bound it to his wrists had been bent slightly by Dan Hibiki, enough to allow him to free himself. Then, he heard what Rugal said to answer Kahn. "He's in the upper floors of the hotel, Kahn, sacrificing Haohmaru." Rugal sneered, flexing out of his shirt. "Where you won't live to reach. GET HIM! SHINE!" He then ran at the Kahn, his hands glowing, and grabbed him around the throat. He picked Kahn up and slammed him against the outside wall, consequently triggering the release of a column of power, complete with skull image. Kahn was knocked to the floor by the sheer force of it. Not to be outdone, Kahn recovered and slammed Rugal with his hammer, dizzying him. Kahn then followed up with a devastating shoulderslam. Behind the two of them, Riptor, Chief Thunder, Glacius, Cinder, Sabrewulf, Eyedol, Kuma, Jack-2, Paul Phoenix, Colossus, Chang Koehan, Saishu Kusanagi, and Earthquake rushed to attack the assembled Mortal Kombatants, who responded in kind. Unnoticed by the brawlers, though, a single figure ran out of the room. Genjuro was not going to let anyone kill Haohmaru. Except him. _The Ring_ "JULIUS CARN! (WHP)" The World Hero strode down to the ring, offending women in the audience as he went. He was covered in thrown popcorn as he jumped in and Mongolian Dynamited Ukyo. "LARCEN! (EC: CftDS)" "Larcen?" Birdman whispered quietly. "Larcen?" he said again, looking at the clipboard. There were now two new names on it. The Eternal Champion poked his head out from the door hesitantly, then, at the urging of Scott Johnson, came fully out and walked towards the ring. His trenchcoat was freshly pressed, and his suit was immaculate. He was ready to make up for his node's poor performance in the last Rumble. Wanderer looked at him in surprise. "Hey! That's the guy from the nineteen-forties! I used to play as him! I didn't know he was in the Rumble..." Then he looked at Birdman. Apparently, neither had Birdman. He was currently in the grips of something that looked, for all the world, like a serious attack of apoplexy. The clipboard had broken in two in his hands, and he was making low-pitched strangling sounds. Moving quickly, Wanderer grabbed what was left of the clipboard and jammed it in his mouth so he wouldn't swallow his tongue, then hit the comm button. "Yeah?" Brant's voice came over the speakers. "This is Thomas...Birdman's having some kind of seizure!" "Thomas? Oh, yeah, the new guy. Don't worry about it." "*Don't worry about it?* He's turning blue!" "Birdman does this every time we insert new fighters without telling him. It's about half an act. Just leave him alone...he always recovers in time to introduce the next fighter." "Why are there more fighters? I thought you guys were capping it at 160..." "Yeah, but the draws worked out so that there were only eight fighters in the last section. We figured that wasn't right, so we went trolling for fighters in the audience. All we have to do is put '162 Fighters!' stickers on the video box, and we're good to go." "I'll tell him that. He's reverting to his natural skin color." "Good. I have to go. You're doing good, kid." "Thanks, man." Wanderer flipped off the switch, and when Birdman looked like he could handle it, told him what Brant had said. Pulling his chair back up to the console, Birdman looked unhappy, but said nothing. "CAPTAIN KIDD! (WHP)" All of the indignities that the women of the audience had suffered as a result of Carn were now repaid by the entrance of noted heartthrob Captain Kidd. As he jumped into the ring and sent a Shark Knuckle at Birdie, though, his mind wasn't on the fight. His mind was on one thing: Haohmaru. He had to win this thing quickly, or who knows what would happen... "KUROKO! (SS2)" The deadly judge entered into the ring, and was immediately knocked down by a badly aimed Double Strike. "Ha! You are in violation of the Seventh Code of Muay Thai, which prohibits any kind of projectile in combat! Eliminate yourself immediately!" Kuroko said, leaping to his feet. King, just to be sure she'd heard him right, Venom Struck him on purpose. "You are being cowardly, and you force me to use deadly tactics!" Kuroko fireballed the bouncer. "For, according to Rule Seventeen of Shotokan Karate, any techniques are acceptable if they have been used against you in the five minutes prior!" Ryu and Ken looked at each other. "Gouken never mentioned that..." Wanderer groaned. "He's a rules lawyer..." Birdman shrugged. "What do you want from a judge?" Wanderer seemed to accept this. He went back to trying to figure out what Kyoshiro's deal was. "DHALSIM! (SFA2)" The yoga warrior levitated calmly down to the ring, his peaceful nature overcoming all around him. The fighters in the ring began to lower their weapons, or their fists, wondering why they had been making war. That was not the true way! Enlightenment would not be reached through violence... Then, of course, Dhalsim had to spit a Yoga Flame, crisp Jack, and make a mess of the whole thing. Birdman muttered, "At least it wasn't someone stupid. That's all I need, is a War God or something down there." _Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel_ Haohmaru was tied to a block of marble, his hands bound with several lengths of the finest chain that Demitri could find. Symbols and runes were drawn in fine oils all over the altar and the samurai. Those slaves Demitri had with him were busy sketching these intricate designs. The block was sitting at the center of a large circle, drawn in small runes with rare chalks and herbs. (It's amazing what room service at Multiversal hotels will bring these days.) As Demitri waited, he fingered a large knife. "What are you waiting for, Demitri? You have him, you have Charlotte, so what's the problem?" Jon Talbain asked. The vampire, lost in thought, was silent. He was reflecting back on his mortal existence, and his existence as an undead; he was thinking of all he was about to leave behind, and all he was about to gain. What price was there that he had not discovered? he wondered. He had not paid nearly enough. Something was hidden from him... "You're scared, aren't you?" "What, Jon?" Demitri turned around. "You're scared." The werewolf was confident now. "You're scared that your little plan might be discovered. You're scared that this might not work. You're scared of the Dark Guy. Most of all, though, you're scared of what might happen when you sacrifice Haohmaru. That's why you haven’t done it yet...fear." The werewolf smiled slowly, showing a great, great number of teeth. Demitri whirled, and fired a Vampire Rage at the werewolf’s cage. It fell over, Jon whimpering in pain. "Fool! I could have sacrificed this worm a thousand times by now if it weren't for this: I must wait for the proper alignment of the stars of this node, combined with the moment when someone else wins the Rumble! Only then will the power of the Oversoul be mine!" _Or mine,_ Morrigan thought, walking in. "Here are a few more fighters, Demitri." Ralf, Clark, Pai Chan, Sub-Zero, Joe Higashi, Fulgore, Cyrax, Brocken, Sektor, Smoke, and Dural were following her like puppies. Jon squirmed. That had *hurt,* but Demitri had played right into his hands. The cage had already been falling apart from his weight, and the Rage had only weakened it further... Demitri wasn't paying attention to Jon or Morrigan. There was someone else behind her. Mai Shiranui, limping, carrying an unconscious... "YES!" The vampire teleported directly over to the Shiranui ninja, and grabbed her burden from her hands. "This will give me the edge I need!" In his arms, Demitri Maximov held Yuri Sakazaki. _The Ring_ Birdman suddenly realized something. "It's time." Wanderer looked at him. "Time for what?" "And now, ladies and gentlemen..." Birdman hit a button. All the lights went out in the RumbleDome. The only illumination to be found was shining directly on the doors that new fighters came out of. Slowly, they opened of their own accord. Slowly, the familiar beats of the Alan Parsons Project's "Eye in the Sky" started playing throughout the RumbleDome. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. Birdman turned the reverb way up. "...the final fighter in the Second Annual Video Rumble..." A lone figure was cast in shadow as he ran down towards the ring as fast as he could. "JACKY BRYANT!!!!!!!!! (VF2)" The final Virtua Fighter entered the ring while it was still dark, and, in the silence before the audience went nuts, kicked Bishamon in the jaw. When the lights turned back on, the samurai Snap Sworded Kyoshiro, who he thought had hit him. Jacky, meanwhile, was safely across the ring harassing Kuroko. Jacky was many things. But, he wasn't stupid. _Hundred and Thirty-First Floor, RumbleDome Hotel_ Ryo led his group out of the stairwell. It only went this far up...they'd have to take another flight of stairs to reach Demitri's room. Wolverine suddenly stopped. "This doesn't smell right." Ryo held up a glowing hand, so none of the rest of them would keep going. "What does it smell like, then?" Wolverine nodded to Storm, who proceeded to blow down the doors in the hall with her lightning bolts. After the third door, Ryo got her to stop. "Why are you doing that? Do you *want* them to know we’re coming?" Wolverine glared at him. "It's too late for that, kid." Ryo glared back. "What do you mean?" Storm suddenly blasted the last door in the hallway down. A moderately scorched Fuuma fell out of the now-vacant doorway. "*That* is what he means. We were walking into a trap!" "Correction, mutant: you are *in* a trap!" Bison appeared in the hallway, laughing. Adon, Ryoko, Pyron, Blue Mary, Heihachi, Bob Wilson, Jubei Yagyu, Nina Williams, and Eiji Kisaragi burst out of doors up and down the hall, and rushed to attack. WHO WILL LIVE? WHO WILL DIE? WHO IN THE HELL WILL WIN THE RUMBLE?