-------------------------------
UVR2- THE DESTRUCTION CONTINUES
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SECTION FOURTEEN RESULTS
-------------------------------

_The Ring_

	If Guy had known that being in first place would mean getting
constantly pounded with fireballs, he'd have gotten himself eliminated a
long time ago. Kuroko was a constant blur of Mega Smashes, Kohkens,
Kaiser Waves, HaohShoKohKens, flags on chains, and, although Guy couldn't
swear to it, he thought there had been a kitchen sink flying at him a
moment ago. The only thing keeping him on his feet was his speed, and even
that was wearing thin. 

	Meanwhile, across the ring:

	"KIKOKEN!" Chun Li wound up and threw a fireball at Jacky Bryant.
Close up, he'd been more than a match for her; maybe she could take
advantage of her stronger distance game? 

	He neatly stepped around the Kikoken and rushed in at Chun,
hitting her on the chin with a backfist as she straightened up, then
sweeping her off of her feet. 

	"The answer to that would be 'no,' then," she thought, as her
backside hit the canvas. 

	"I won't kid you; this is not how I imagined our rematch working
out," he said, advancing cautiously on her. "This is actually easy. What
happened? Did you stop training or something?" 

	"I don't know-" she wiped her face, "-what you're talking about."
She'd never fought this man, yet Jacky kept prattling on about a
'rematch.' Was *everyone* at this tournament crazy? Chun spun on him with
a sudden high roundhouse kick, which he almost disdainfully blocked, then
knocked her to the ground. Somehow, even though she'd never fought the man
before, he was able to consistently block and counter every one of her
moves, as if he knew exactly what to look for. 

	Thinking of their match in the first round of Dream Tournament
Three, Jacky backpedaled quickly as Chun got up, and her wakeup Lightning
Kick struck only air. However, Chun Li had another trick that he didn't
know about; as he stood in front of her waiting for her to stop kicking,
she glowed briefly, and canceled the Lightning Kick into the Thousand
Burst, slamming Jacky backward. 

	"Is it *still* easy?!" she demanded, lowering her leg.

	Jacky was too busy checking for missing teeth to respond immediately.
However, when he did, it was with a chain of straight punches that made Chun
wish she'd shut up.

	 Across the ring, in what was, perhaps, one of the biggest
mismatches of the night, Captain Kidd and Bishamon were fighting tooth and
nail. Kidd was losing. Badly. Bishamon's range and Reversal Slashes were
simply too much for the pirate, despite the fact that Bishamon was having
an ongoing argument with his sword and flames (concerning, it seemed, how
much it hurt when the duct tape got ripped off). Once again, Kidd fumed,
someone with a sword was making an ass out of him. In his next node, he
was bringing a cutlass, and that was all there was to it. But for now,
trickery would have to do. 

	"All right, already, lad. I surrender." Kidd stood in front of
Bishamon, his arms held out by his sides, palms out. 

	"What?" Bishamon, the sword, the armor, and both flames said in
unison. 

	"You heard me. I surrender. This is all pointless anyway. The
sooner someone wins this, the sooner the Multiverse gets saved. It's in
everyone's best interest if we cut this out now." 

	"This is unexpected, Kidd." Bishamon lowered his sword.

	"I wouldn't be too surprised, actually." Kidd took Bishamon
off-guard with a Shark Upper, knocking the undead samurai for a loop. Kidd
then ran for his life. 

	He didn't run fast enough. Bishamon leaped into the air, and sent
one of his little blue flames spiraling down at Kidd's back (which
completely ruined the dramatic effect by yelling "BANZAI!"). As it made
contact, the ghostly image of a beautiful woman appeared before Kidd. The
pirate slowed down and stopped, his eyes wide. 

	Said beautiful woman held out a beckoning hand, and Kidd,
entranced, stepped closer. 

	She then rudely punched him in the nose. Bishamon then walked up
behind the stunned pirate, turned him around, and slashed him repeatedly,
the final blow knocking Kidd through the "field." 

	He looked at the ghost. "That was somewhat melodramatic, my love."

	She shrugged. "It happens to the best of us."

	"Woo-woo! Bishy's gettin' down with the ladies!" the sword called.
Bishamon slammed it once into the ring floor to shut it up. 

	In the meantime, Kidd had landed in Skulls 'N' Crossbones, in the
middle of a fight between the pirate heroes and the fiendish Red Wizard.
The heroes were not doing well; both of their shirts were soaked with
blood. 

	The Wizard looked up and was struck in the face with a Shark
Knuckle. "Up and at 'em, lads! We aren't licked yet!" Kidd continued his
assault. The pirates rallied, and joined the fray. 

	"Hey, I remember that!" Wanderer looked away from the DimensionCam.
"Good node for Kidd, folks. That's what you call serendipity." 

	"No," Birdman said, "serendipity is when you're cleaning your gun
late at night and it goes off suddenly because you forgot to unload it and
it kills the burglar whom you didn't know was there. *That's* just an
ironic choice for Kidd." 

	Wanderer wordlessly stared at Birdman, who shrugged and continued
with the commentary. 

_Misty John's Office, RumbleDome Hotel_

	"Bunny, sweetheart, would I lie to you? Enlightenment is just
*that* easy. All you have to do is trust me-hello?" John hung up the phone
dejectedly. He didn't understand it; usually, that pickup line *always*
worked... 

	"Whoa." His magick grid was flashing. He immediately walked over to
inspect it. 

	The grid usually showed an overhead view of the entire Rumble
node, which only really contained the RumbleDome. At a touch of a given
square in the grid, John could get a larger, more detailed layout of an
area. It was one of the technicians' greatest works, and about the only
bit of technomagick the Akashic Brother had ever seen that was actually
worth using. 

	However, there were a couple of things he hadn't noticed before as
his eyes ran across the map. There were the usual large blips on the grid,
corresponding to where most of the mages happened to be at the moment;
those of them that employed what most called "magic moves" also showed up
on the grid. Oddly enough, though, a lot of the biggest blips were
concentrated either in one of the luxury suites or in what was perhaps the
most isolated sub-basement of them all. One of the biggest seemed to be
climbing up the outside of the hotel. Those didn't really bother John;
mages tend to wind up in strange places. 

	There was something else that did concern him, though. With the
dependence on technology that most of the staff employed, the only magick
that should be running around belonged to the fighters and himself. That
wasn't the case; according to the grid, the entire node was starting to
faintly pulse with magick, like background radiation.

	But what would someone gain by doing this? John could only think
of a couple of things, and both of them were *really* bad. He keyed the
comm unit built into his wall. "Brant? I think you might want to see
this." 

_Staircase, RumbleDome Hotel_

	Stryker examined the stairs. Demitri or one of his men had, at one
point, boobytrapped every landing with an endless variety of ways to
disable or kill someone; so far, they'd had to avoid poisonous gases,
punji stakes, explosives, breakaway steps, glue, spikes, darts, falling
ceilings, and, in one case, whoever had set the traps had apparently
gotten bored with routine and had set two of the walls on the hundred and
seventy-seventh floor landing to slam together with terrific force. Not
seeing anything out of the ordinary this time, he shrugged and turned to
Charlie. "Should we?" 

	"Might as well."

	They started blasting away, wrecking the stairs to hell and back.
Robert's HaohShoKohKens, Stryker's gunfire, Charlie's Sonic Booms,
Iceman's...ice, Kung Lao's razored hats, and Donovan's elemental barrages
all combined to shear the stairwell apart quite efficiently. The echoes
carried quite some distance, magnifying the noise tenfold and shaking
tiles loose from the ceiling. Matrix and Jeffry, the only people present
without projectiles, and Dan, whose Gadoken was of little use in this
situation, simply sat and waited with their hands over their ears, hoping
their hearing wouldn't be too badly damaged. 

	After a minute or so of this, Charlie brought his hand down to
signal that they should stop, and surveyed the wreckage. Standing out in
stark contrast with the blackened ruin of the stairs were a tripwire and a
broken fake stair, the gas trap that either trap would have activated now
obvious (and with a razored hat stuck in it). Iceman concentrated briefly,
and covered the wrecked stairs with a thick layer of ice. The group then
continued upward. 

	It was and had been the same every time; as they reached the top
of one flight of stairs, they destroyed the next. Then they would destroy
the landing, the walls, the wiring, the lights, the floor, and finally
Stryker would throw a few grenades just to be sure they'd gotten
everything. Matrix would curse them all for slowly destroying her hearing,
Iceman and Donovan would reinforce the stairs, and they'd continue up. 

	The purpose of this was twofold: first off, they were in a hurry.
Second, if they presented as large a target as they could, letting
everyone within a mile know they were coming, it would hopefully distract
Demitri and his men away from Ryo and Ryu's groups. 

	Eventually, they reached the top of the stairs, leading out to the
hundred and eightieth floor of the hotel. This was where the Hotel's
normal suites yielded to the luxury apartments, which were big enough that
there were only three to a floor; they were fully equipped with satellite
dishes, thick rugs, waterbeds, walk-in closets, picture windows,
surround-sound, and the usual easily stolen bathrobes with the UVR logo
stenciled on the breast. The luxury rooms were only available to those
fighters who were willing to pay for them, as opposed to simply getting a
free room for competing in the Rumble. At the current time, the only
fighters who had rooms up here were Robert, Earthquake (who had just
broken the lock and moved in), King (the KOFer, not the Tekkeneer), Lion
Rafale, Magneto, and Demitri. 

	Stryker and Charlie came out of the stairway door fast, each of
them covering a different side. Donovan, held Kilshred up and came in
between them. 

	"It's clear," Stryker called.

	"I wonder why?" Donovan sheathed Kilshred.

	"They know we're here...we made more than enough noise coming up
the stairs. Which means..." Charlie muttered. 

	Donovan, Charlie, and Stryker said it together. "...ambush."

	"All right," Charlie said, "this is where we split up. I'll take my
group up now; Stryker, you take point." Stryker nodded. "Donovan, wait
five minutes, and then come up after us." 

	"Good luck."

	"You too." The two men shook hands, and Charlie's group walked away.

_Outside Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel_

	Genjuro rushed at Billy and Akuma, his sword swinging. "Nothing shall
prevent me from killing Haohmaru especially a bunch of losers like you who
have undoubtedly all joined in an alliance to keep the Multiverse from
discovering that Haohmaru is a wussy loser, for that is what they will learn
when I kill him and rip his arms off and beat him with them then cut off his
legs and sew them back on where his arms should be and attach his legs to his
shoulders so he walks funny then I will take his sword and duct-tape it to
his back blade first so when he falls down he will impale himself and since
his arms are where his legs should be he will do that a lot and then I will
form a sideshow around 'Haohmaru the Oddly Walking Self-Impaling Wussy Loser'
and tour the world and make a lot of money and although Earthquake will try
to steal my money he won't be able to for he is a fat loser who will drop
dead of a heart attack in mid-theft-"

	"HADOKEN!"

	Genjuro kept coming even after the fireball had hit him in the chest.

	At least, Akuma mused, he was no longer talking. "TATSUMAKI
SENPUUKYAKU!" Akuma hopped into the air, and his foot blurred, slamming
into the advancing Genjuro several times. Quickly, Akuma pressed the
advantage with a flurry of kicks, leading up to a flaming Dragon Punch
that connected squarely with Genjuro's chin. 

	"Ow," Genjuro said, getting up; it was, to date, the shortest
sentence he could ever remember saying. Akuma quickly jumped to his other
side, to avoid a counterstrike, but it didn't come from that direction. A
light, flicking blow slashed him along the side and knocked him out of the
air. More importantly, it kept him within a sword's-reach of Genjuro. 

	Genjuro didn't let up there. There was no way that he was going to
let this loser take the fight to a distance again, and so he brought his
sword to bear in a deadly volley of blows, keeping Akuma close to him,
where he was best. It was a brutally effective strategy. In his initial
strikes, he dealt more damage to Akuma than anyone, not Ryu, not Haohmaru,
*any*one, had ever been able to do. His sword was a featureless blur that
Akuma was almost helpless to counter or avoid, spraying the walls and
floor with what Akuma felt were wholly gratuitous amounts of his blood. 

	Billy, seeing Akuma in trouble (!), ran towards the door to
Demitri's room. "This is freakin' dangerous...I have to warn the Master-"
Almost instantly, something knocked him down. As he struggled up, leaning
on his staff, Terry kicked him in the back of the head, slamming him back
down to the floor and into near-unconsciousness. 

	That dealt with, Terry faced the door, and was about to Burn
Knuckle it into toothpicks when he remembered about Akuma and Genjuro.
Neither was the kind of person he wanted to leave behind him while they
were still standing. Turning around, he saw Genjuro carving Akuma into
cold cuts, and nodded. He could just wait for Genjuro to win, knock him
out, and use him to beat Demitri's door in. 

	It was a good plan, but Genjuro promptly screwed it up. He was winning;
there was no doubt of that. Akuma was on his last legs. Wounds crisscrossed
his body like some demonic game of tic-tac-toe. Scarlet streaked down his
blade. Confident in that, Genjuro opened his mouth. All he got out was
"...wussy loser who smells like rotten eggs..." before Akuma closed it for
him with a Dragon Punch.

	Pressing his momentary advantage, Akuma launched a
bigger-than-normal fireball at Genjuro as he got up, engulfing him in
flames and knocking him back down again. This worm had *hurt* him; no one
could do such and live to tell about it. However, the pain was good. It
forced him to think. More importantly, the pain gave rise to the powers he
commanded. Akuma was practically bursting at the seams with chi. It
dripped from every pore. He would need it all for what he had planned for
this fool. 

	Running at him, Akuma gave an inarticulate yell of rage. That was
real enough. His motivation wasn't. This meant that Genjuro would have to
be foolish enough to believe that he would again try fighting up close,
after it had backfired so badly the first time... 

	...and he was.

	Terry saw what he was doing; he tried to knock Akuma down before
he got to Genjuro, but he was a second too late. Genjuro slashed out at
Akuma before he reached him, trying to end the fight with a single
decisive blow to the neck. It was well-aimed. 

	But Akuma wasn't there anymore. He had teleported already, behind
Genjuro, into the ronin's blind spot. 

	His power raged within him. With a cry of "SHUN GOKUSATSU!", Akuma
released it. Light flared around him and Genjuro as Akuma barrelled
forward in a brutal series of blows. 

	Five seconds later, a nearly dead Genjuro was on the floor.

	Akuma turned to face an awe-stricken Terry Bogard. He'd never
fought the whelp, but he'd seen him at the Dream Tournament. He was a
skilled warrior, despite his appearance. Still no match for him, of
course, but not someone Akuma could afford to underestimate. 

	"Ready to go down?" Terry asked, fists clenched. Akuma gave him
credit; he wasn't going to back down. Foolish, but brave. 

	He allowed some amusement to show. "Hardly." He would not lose to
this stripling, now or ever. 

	Terry wasn't thinking of Akuma. He was thinking of Blue Mary. It
occurred to him that the longer he took to beat the living hell out of
Akuma, the longer Demitri would stay alive, and his eyes narrowed. Terry
rushed the renegade Shotokan before Akuma quite knew that he would. 

	Both of them gave the battle everything they had. Akuma was
stronger, maybe, and definitely had finesse on his side, but Terry brought
to the fight every ounce of adrenaline and Rage (tm, Brian Wright, WWWF
Grudge Match) he possessed. Every technique either of them knew came into
play. Power Waves were canceled by Hadokens. After the first time Terry
felt a Shoryuken, he watched for them and sidestepped; as Akuma came down,
he was met with a Rising Tackle. Hurricane Kicks were countered with Crack
Shots, knocking both fighters down. Terry responded to Akuma's aerial
fireballs by Power Dunking him to the floor. Akuma used every bit of power
he could dredge up, flinging Super Combos as fast as he could, wearing
Terry down even though they were usually blocked. 

	Finally, after an exhausting couple of minutes, Akuma screamed in
pain, and the room darkened. Terry blocked instinctively, but Akuma's
Shoryureppa pushed him backward regardless. As Terry stumbled backward,
though, he tripped over Billy Kane. Unfortunately for Terry, this woke
Billy up. 

	As he rose, Billy saw on one side of him Akuma standing and
Genjuro not. On the other side, there was Terry, pulling himself out of
the dent he'd made in the wall. 

	"Well, well, well," Billy said, twirling his staff. Quickly, he
shot it forward and jabbed Terry in the stomach, doubling him over. "Not
so brave now, are ya, hero? Not so tough..." 

	Terry grabbed the stick. Billy's entire demeanor changed instantly.

	With a grunt, Terry tore the stick out of Billy's hands and
grabbed him by the front of his overalls. He flung Billy headlong at
Akuma, setting them both up for a "POWER..." 

	Akuma saw him telegraph the move, and stepped backward ever so
slightly. Billy did not, hitting the floor right in front of Akuma, and so
was at ground zero when Terry yelled: 

	"...*GEYSER*!" Instantly, the *massive* column of sheet lightning
shoved Billy up into the ceiling, frying the stickfighter to within an
inch of his life. Akuma, even though out of the blast itself, fell
backwards a bit from the sheer force of it. 

	Quickly, through the dying remnants of the Geyser, before Terry
got his bearings, Akuma kicked him in the face. Terry, already exhausted,
dropped to the floor. 

	Billy had weakly pulled himself up. He smelled char-broiled. "I can't
believe we pulled that off."

	"We?" Akuma raised an eyebrow.

	"Okay, I can't believe *you* pulled that off."

	Akuma snorted. "I could handle twenty such. They were as nothing
compared to my skill." 

	"Still, it was really cool when you slammed Genjuro with that
Dragon Punch, the flaming one?" 

	*WHAM!*

	Akuma nodded. "Yes, that one. Always a favorite. Don't you agree?"

	Billy, being unconscious, said nothing.

	"It would seem, unfortunately, that Demitri's doorway is now
unguarded. It's odd." 

	Billy remained silent.

	"Why, anyone who came along could walk right into Demitri's room,
and disrupt whatever he had planned." Akuma grinned. "The powers of
Haohmaru would remain locked, to disappear with the final victory in the
ring, never tapped by anyone. But you wouldn't understand why I would want
to deny that to Demitri. That is why you are a flunky." 

	Billy looked chagrined despite being in a near-coma.

	*That should complicate Demitri's plans,* Akuma thought, dragging
Billy to the side of the door. *If what I've seen so far is true, Sakazaki
and his allies should be here at any second, and there will be no door
guard to slow them down.* It amused Akuma that those who were so willing
to betray their allies, like Demitri, were always so surprised when
someone betrayed *them.* Especially when the vampire had to know that
Akuma had also desired the power within the ronin... 

	Looking at the unconscious Terry Bogard, Akuma put his hand to his
chin and considered his options. Noticing the increasing numbers on the
elevator, Akuma picked him up, pressed a thumb underneath Terry's jaw,
near his chin, dropped him, and teleported away. Terry had already begun
to move. 

_Outside the Hotel_

	"Maybe this wasn't the best idea I've ever had," Ryo muttered. The
only thing keeping him from a *very* long fall was the death grip he had
on Storm's hands. 

	"I find it amusing that someone who fears heights as you do
suggested this," Storm said. She was concentrating on the winds that kept
them aloft, but still managed to crack a thin smile. "Relax. I have been
flying for a long time, and I have not dropped anyone yet." 

	"That's a relief, I think."

	"Of course, you might be the first."

	"That's not funny." A thousand feet below, the ring looked like a
poker chip, and the roars of the crowd were too faint to notice. Ryo
decided to look up, instead, into the sky. The RumbleDome's artificial day
was coming to an end-off to the "west," the sun was slowly setting, and
darkness had begun to steal over the landscape. The 'Dome's artificial
lights had clicked on already, creating two conflicting sets of his and
Storm's shadows against the hotel's wall. 

	Quietly, they set down on the balcony of Demitri's room.
Immediately, Storm flew back down to the hundred and thirty-first floor to
get Jago. Ryo quietly parted the curtains, and looked in at what was
happening. He could hear voices, faintly, through the glass, and see a
sudden flash of light. 

_Eliminated Seating_

	To great mock applause from the Street Fighters and others, Bison
entered, rubbing the back of his head. Even though he'd never met this
'Guile,' he'd apparently killed someone very close to him. At least,
that's what the man had been screaming the entire time he'd been handing
Bison his ass in a bucket. Odd, how he'd fought so much like Charlie. 

	 Birdie ran up to him, disrupting his thoughts. "Bison! Are you hurt? Can I
help?"

	"No, you can't. I have to be somewhere." The Master probably needed him.
Bison didn't want to fail him again. Bison didn't want to lose his favor...
At this thought, he felt more fear than he ever had before in his life, and
he vanished.

_Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel_

	He reappeared in Demitri's apartments, in between him and an
understandably startled Morrigan. The vampire seemed unruffled, even
though he did blast Bison halfway across the room on general principle. 

	"How have you survived this long, Bison, if you couldn't keep
Sakazaki back? You're making me suspect that your fearsome reputation is
but smoke and mirrors." 

	Bison staggered up, the front of his uniform smoking. "He's changed,
Master...he's grown somehow. I can't explain it."

	"*I* can. However, my explanation concerns the fact that you're
completely incompetent. Fortunately for you, Bison, I haven't the time
right now to deal with you in the customary manner." Demitri accented the
last word in a way that made absolutely clear to everyone what the
"customary manner" happened to be. 

	Striding across the room, Demitri picked up Haohmaru, and threw
the ronin over his shoulder. He also picked up something of similar size
which was wrapped in cloth. "Come, Charlotte. We are leaving." The
swordswoman meekly followed him. 

	"Leaving?" Morrigan jumped out of Wolf's lap. "Where the hell do
you think you're going?" 

	Demitri glared at her, and her blood froze. "This room is, I fear,
about to be overrun by do-gooders. I have no doubt that Akuma can keep
Genjuro away, but Sakazaki must have mustered a small army if he has dealt
with Bison's force. While the forces we have mustered are significant, I
am not a fool. Fools trust blindly in their preparations to shield them.
With such in mind, I am relocating my ritual." Morrigan drew herself up
indignantly. 

	Jon Talbain muttered "Coward." Demitri was the only other being in
the room who could hear it, and Jon knew it. The vampire suddenly looked
pained, and Jon allowed a toothy grin to spread itself over his face. It
wouldn't be too much longer now...the cage was slowly falling apart. 

	On the balcony, Ryo gritted his teeth. It was things like this
that made eavesdropping so frustrating; he had to strain to hear every
word. He hissed through the glass at Morrigan, "Come on...come on, you
nymphomaniac...ask him where he's going..." 

	"You're leaving us here?"

	Fortunately, no one in the room heard Ryo shouting obscenities.

	"Oh, please. You're telling me you can't deal with Ryo Sakazaki?
You have once before." 

	"True..." Morrigan nodded slowly, and as she did, she sent out a
mental message to her slaves to join her in Demitri's room. She didn't
like this, but once again, Demitri held all the cards. He was getting
irritating that way. There was no way she could overtly refuse to guard
Demitri, but maybe she could pull an advantage out of this yet... "I'll do
it." 

	Demitri nodded. He had never doubted she would. "Do try to
dispatch him as quickly as you can. I shall pull those of my slaves who
are not otherwise occupied back here to help you." Demitri's eyebrows
furrowed. "Bison?" 

	"Yes, Master?"

	"Stay with Morrigan. Consider yourself blessed. I'm giving you a
second chance." 

	"Yes, Master! I'll do my best!"

	Most of the unenslaved portion of the room bit back a chuckle at
that. Ryo muttered a few more choice words from Yuri's vocabulary (for a
girl of her age, Yuri could send drunken sailors running with the best of
'em; too much time with King, he supposed), and contemplated how likely
punching through the glass now and Super Haohshokokening the lot of them
was to get him killed. 

	"What transpires, Sakazaki?"

	Ryo nearly jumped out of his skin before realizing it was
Jago/Doom. Storm had already disappeared over the edge of the balcony to
get Yoshimitsu. "Demitri's relocating the sacrifice and leaving Morrigan
to deal with anyone who comes up after him." 

	Doom muttered a curse in a language Ryo didn't know. "That may be
inconvenient for us. Has he said to where?"

	"Not yet."

	Pensively, Doom counted heads aloud. Morrigan, Bison, Cyclops,
Psylocke, Wolf Hawkfield, Sub-Zero, Mizuki, the bear Kuma, Paul Phoenix,
Mai Shiranui, Iori Yagami, Ganryu, Bruce, Charlotte, Neo-Dio, a Fulgore
unit... "I do not relish the idea of fighting through his bodyguards to
reach the vampire. While they haven't the ability to match either myself
or you," that last was obviously an afterthought, "they could slow us down
sufficiently to allow Demitri to finish Haohmaru." 

	Suspiciously, Ryo asked, "What are you thinking, Doom?"

	"Do not take that tone with me, boy." Doom looked at him and Ryo
felt somehow smaller. "I suggest we wait here for a moment longer, and
find out, if possible, where he plans to move his ritual to. Storm will
fly us there, and we may deal with him." Those last five words were said
with something very close to the crack of doom. 

	Ryo fought back the impulse to apologize. "I like it. We shouldn't
have to--" 

	Then, from his seat across the room from Demitri and Morrigan,
Iori Yagami suddenly leaped to his feet. 

	Demitri sighed. "Is there something *else* the matter?"

	Iori looked truly mystified. "He's here...but he's different
somehow..." 

	"Oh, please. *Who's* here?"

	And the front door of Demitri's room exploded into purple fire.

_Outside Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel (a few minutes earlier)_

	The elevator door opened, and Ryu, Kyo, Liu Kang, and Galford spilled out,
ready for anything.

	They had expected hordes of enemy fighters drooling for their
blood, or Demitri Maximov waiting for them doing...well, pretty much the
same thing. (An imaginative crowd this ain't.) Seeing a wrecked hallway
and three unconscious fighters was *not* what they had in mind. 

	As he took in the scene, Ryu thought he saw a familiar shadow flit
away out of the corner of his eye. But, he thought, the situation was
tense, and he was probably imagining things. 

	"What hit this place, a bomb?" Galford said softly. Poppy, beside him,
whined.

	"It would not surprise me in the least," Liu replied. One of the bodies
suddenly sat up, nearly getting its head blown off by three or four
projectiles at once, and rubbed its head. It was Terry Bogard, who looked
like he'd just been thrown through a gravel crusher.

	"Are you all right, man?" Kyo asked, his voice cool. "We could use your
help."

	"Jus' gimme a sec' for m' head to stop ringin'..." he said sleepily. Liu
Kang knelt beside him and inspected his head for anything serious.

	"What happened?" Liu asked. "Don't try to move too fast; you might have a
concussion."

	"A concussion. Imagine that." Terry grimaced. "Well, there was
Genjuro, he's right there--and there was Billy--and Akuma-" 

	"WHAT?" Ryu was across the hallway in an instant. "Akuma was here?"

	"Yeh...but I think I got 'im." Terry looked around. "I blew him
up...I smacked him right in the face with a Geyser." 

	Ryu frowned. "I wish I could believe that he was dead. I really do."

	Terry stood up quickly. "Omigod...Mary..." He pointed at the door to
Demitri's room. "She's in there. Andy told me Demitri was going to sacrifice
her to the Dark Guy!"

	"Her as well?" Ryu raised an eyebrow. "We were told he planned to do the
same to Haohmaru."

	"The loudmouth? Why?"

	"*I* don't fully understand. You can ask Ryo the next time you see
him." 

	"Assuming we live through this," Liu muttered. When Ryu and Terry
gave him dirty looks, he spread his hands and said, "Someone has to be
realistic here. Did you think it was going to be him?" He pointed at
Galford. 

	"The sacrifice of an innocent woman. Yet another crime for him to
answer for," Galford said to himself, petting Poppy. Someone had pointed
out exactly who was good and who was bad, and that they were threatening
safety and peace. Galford was in his element. He unsheathed his sword.
"Let's get him." 

	Terry nodded. "I see what you mean."

	"So, we're gonna get Demitri?" Kyo asked.

	There were nods of assent.

	"Then why are we just standing here?" Kyo murmured. He called his
flames to his hands, a shimmering purple cloud, and unleashed it at the
door in a torrent, before anyone could say to do otherwise. With a loud
battle cry, he ran through the hole he had just made, flinging violet fire
everywhere. 

	*Wait a minute,* Terry thought. *Kyo should be using orange flame.
No one uses purple flames but...* "Uh, oh," Terry said aloud. 

	And then things got very hectic.

_The Ring_

	Dhalsim had convinced most of the ring to leave him alone at that
point, usually by setting those who challenged him on fire. He floated in
midair, meditating on what might be learned from the debate with Kuroko a
few moments ago. 

	King, however, was in no mood for it. It had been a bad day for
her so far. She was in the final seven. That wasn't as good as it sounded;
it meant she was in for some of the hardest fights she'd ever seen.
Secondly, she was at ground zero of a plot that threatened the entire
Multiverse. *That* pissed her off to no end. Finally, she was in the ring
with noted pyromaniac Dhalsim, her flame-retardant tuxedo was still on
back order, and she did *not* plan to have the entire viewing audience see
her underwear, thanks all the same. At least she could do something about
that last one, though. 

	As she crept up behind Dhalsim, King raised her hands to beat him
over the head, when he flickered and disappeared. 

	"Oh, no...I *hate* this trick-" WHAM! As she'd expected, she got
hit in the back and knocked to her knees. Turning around, Dhalsim was
about halfway across the ring, and in the midst of throwing another punch
at her. 

	As it came, King smoothly sidestepped it, and hit Dhalsim with a
Double Strike. "Catch me if you can, slowpoke!" she jeered. The monk
frowned, and teleported to her other side. She was waiting for that,
though, and slammed into him with a Tornado Kick as he appeared. Both hits
connected, and he fell. 

	"Come on, get up," she said, bouncing from heel to toe, throwing
punches and kicks in the air. 

	"Do not be so eager, young one. I will be there in time." Dhalsim
flickered and disappeared again. Before King could react, he had already
booted her in the back of the skull. With a series of jabs, he drove her
backward before pausing slightly. As King rushed in for a retaliatory
strike, the air darkened and he took in an enormous breath. King
recognized what he was doing, from watching him fight at the Dream
Tournament, and got...somewhat upset. 

	"Oh, NO YOU *DON'T*!" As Dhalsim began to let the breath out, King
punched him in the mouth. Suddenly, his throat bulged, as something that
had been on the way up suddenly reversed direction. 

	*gulp*

	Suddenly, Dhalsim looked *very* uncomfortable. Smoke began to
gently drift out of his ears. He coughed, once, and a small tongue of
flame popped out. 

	"Man, I hope he doesn't explode," Birdman said.

	Wanderer was amused. "I'm guessing that's not because of the fact
that he'd be dead?" 

	"Nope. That'd only last fifteen minutes, after all. I was thinking
of the cleaning bill." 

	The point became academic a moment later, for Dhalsim began to visibly
sweat. "Water," he squeaked. "I need water..."

	"Sorry. All I have is Scotch." King booted him over the "ropes,"
and smiled in satisfaction. 

	"Well, folks, let's see if he can find water in the node he lands
in!" Birdman tuned the audience's monitors in to the DimensionCam, and
saw...smoke. He tapped the screen a few times. The smoke remained. 

	"Great. I think the Cam's busted. Remind me to tell Brant to work
on the wiring in here." However, as he spoke, the cloud began to slowly
disappear, to reveal a strange mechanical area that looked like nothing so
much as an empty aquarium. Robotic fish wiggled impotently, unable to move
without water. Deadly-looking spikes covered the walls. Finally, there was
Dhalsim, lying on his back in the middle of it all. The monk let out a
sigh of contentment; as he did so, a long streamer of smoke drifted out of
his mouth. 

	"What the hell node is that?"

	Wanderer looked up. "Mega Man 2, looks like. And there's..."

	Bubble Man was pissed off. "You inconsiderate wretch! How *dare*
you barge in here and evaporate all my water, and you don't even have the
decency to *apologize?!*" 

	Dhalsim ignored him.

_Room 1672, RumbleDome Hotel_

	Kim Dragon turned on the water in the tub as cold as it would go
and let it run over the unconscious Rikuo. Moving slowly, trying to mind
his wound, he walked out of the bathroom and into the hotel room that he'd
broken into. 

	On the two beds lay King and Lei Wulong, wrapped in wet towels. A
heavily bandaged Sie Kensou was lying on the couch. Finally, on the floor
on top of a number of blankets, there was... 

	"What's the situation, bub?"

	Kim jumped about a foot in the air, and came back down clutching
his wounded side. Wolverine, looking guilty, helped him back up. 

	"Sorry. I thought Storm'd told you; I heal real fast."

	"I must have missed that." Kim groaned as he straightened up. "Ryo
and the rest went up already, and left me to watch over the wounded. They
didn't really have the time to lug us around." 

	"Figures. One of the biggest flamin' scraps ever, and 'Roro leaves me
behind." Wolverine looked around. "Are you gonna be okay, kid?"

	"Should be. Are you going somewhere?"

	Apparently, it was a stupid question, judging from the glare he got.
Wolverine headed for the door, but stopped right before he got there,
sniffing the air.

	Wolverine quickly opened the door, and walked out into the hallway. Kim
heard him say "Somethin' I can help ya with?"

	Then, in a low-pitched voice that almost seemed to gurgle, "Oh, no..."

	"Get 'im!" Kim recognized that voice, Jack's, and started to hobble
out the door. 

	Kim staggered out to see Wolverine fighting with Gen-An Shiranui.
Wolverine, not surprisingly, was winning, despite the fact that he'd
turned a shade of purple not unlike that of a grape. This was because
Gen-An was frantically throwing Poison Blizzards, which, due to
Wolverine's healing factor, weren't doing anything more than irritating
the hell out of him. 

	And irritating Wolverine is a Bad Idea. Jack had found that out. He'd
figured he could just sneak around to the mutant's side while Gen-An had him
occupied, and claw him until he fell over, but Wolverine simply Drill Clawed
backwards, slashing him repeatedly, and advanced on Gen-An with murder in his
eyes.

	Jack got to his feet, and, being something of an idiot, tried to
sneak up on Wolverine again. Despite his wound, Kim kicked Jack in the
back of the neck, knocking him to the floor. The claw-wielding maniac
tried to get up, but Kim stomped on his head and put him out. 

	While the combatants were occupied, two things of some importance
happened: 

	Firstly, a man staggered out of Kim's hotel room, and towards the
elevators. He stumbled and fell, catching himself on the doorjamb, and
grunted in pain. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered to him, except what he
had to do. Clutching something to his chest, he pulled himself along the
wall, and punched one of the elevator buttons. As Wolverine and Kim Dragon
finished Gen-An off, the doors opened and he collapsed into the car. 

	Secondly, the temperature had begun to slowly rise. Before he'd left,
Charlie had made it a point to truss the unconscious fighters up as best they
could and lock them inside various hotel rooms. However, one of them could
not be tied up, and they'd settled for letting Sasquatch Ice Laser it and
throwing it into a room with the air conditioning set at forty degrees. Now,
in response to Demitri's psychic summons, the ice imprisoning it began to
melt even more quickly.

	"All right, bub--" Wolverine grabbed a barely sensible Gen-An by
the tunic and pulled him up, "--where were ya goin'?" 

	"...I was...getting to...Demitri's...room...he's almost done with the
ritual..."

	"Thanks." Wolverine slammed Gen-An into the wall hard enough to
make the plaster crack, and the goblin slumped over. "You comin', Dragon?" 

	Kim nodded. "I've done all I can for the wounded. I won't be much
help, I fear, but I can't just wait here." 

	Wolverine clapped him on the back. "You got guts, kid. Let's get-"

	Both of them felt heat against their backs, and both of them
instinctively ducked as what appeared to be a comet burned through one of
the doors and streaked upward, through the ceiling, melting its way
through the floors of the Hotel one by one, leaving a path of devastation
behind it. 

	Fortunately (unless one happens to be the one paying for the
repairs), the design of the Hotel is fairly utilitarian; on the way up and
through the hotel, all the comet struck were hallways, mostly empty at
this point since almost everyone was down in the 'Dome watching the
Rumble. The lone exception was the Rumble's delegation from Fire 'N' Ice,
half of whom enjoyed being hit with such a spectacle. The other half were
found after the Rumble, slightly melted, cowering in an ice machine and
asking if the 'big fiery scary thing' was gone yet. 

	Kim swallowed hard. "I guess Pyron woke up."

	"Good. I owe that thing a bucket of hurt." Wolverine looked back
into the room as he moved to close the door. "Wait a minute. Weren't there
four people in here?" 

	Kim walked over to the door. "There were." He slammed his fist
into the wall. "King's gone." 

_Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel_

	Sheets of purple flame raked across the room as Demitri's slaves and allies
dove for cover. Furniture burned to cinders in seconds. The wet bar in the
corner started to sag and melt, the bottles stacked against the wall behind
it exploding one by one like they'd been shot. Even Demitri, standing near
the back of the room, was taken aback by the raw fury of the attack. In the
middle of the holocaust, Kyo Kusanagi, his hair and clothes blowing in an
invisible wind, brought down a seething wall of heat upon anything moving
that caught his eye.

	Standing stock-still in the center of the room, his own mastery of the
Source barely beating back Kyo's, was Iori Yagami, whose main occupation at
the moment was attempting to get his jaw back onto his face. This...this was
like something *he'd* do. He never would have expected it from Kyo, not in a
thousand years.

	"How can anything control that kind of power?" Liu whispered.

	"Who cares? Just be glad he's on *our* side! " Galford bounded past them
all, and cheerfully barreled into the midst of a knot of the enemy comprised
of Neo-Dio, Ganryu, Cyclops, and Wolf Hawkfield, laying about him with his
sword. Poppy jumped right in after him.

	For the second time in a minute, Liu Kang was astonished. "Remind
me to ask Nakoruru what she puts in his food." 

	Terry nodded. "I want to be there when you ask. I want some of it."

	Then, Ryu ran past both of them. As he went, Kuma stepped into his
path, and Ryu Hurricane Kicked the bear out of his way without missing a
beat. Ryu knew what he wanted; the biggest challenge in the room. Demitri. 

	Liu and Terry looked at each other, shrugged, and ran after Ryu.
As the Shotokan came near, Demitri smiled, and quietly teleported away.
Ryu was forced to backpedal before a combined assault from Sub-Zero,
Fulgore, and Mai Shiranui. Terry and Liu retreated with him. 

	The room immediately became a textbook example of trench warfare.
Ordinarily, it would have resembled a nice, ordinary street fight, like what
usually happened when one or more of the people in this room got together.
Unfortunately, the strategy of the slaves was based around keeping Demitri's
person unmolested (the fact that Demitri wasn't there at the moment didn't
really matter). Therefore, whenever Ryu, Terry, or any of the others tried to
close in for a fist-fight, they would inevitably get smacked away with a fan,
an Optic Blast, a Soul Fist, Psycho Shots, a piece of scorched furniture, or
any of the nine or ten other ways that their enemies had to fight at a
distance. Inevitably, then, they retreated to around the doorway, and found
cover of their own. Liu Kang and Terry did, anyway; with the sheer amount of
fire he had suspended around him, Kyo didn't need to worry about it, and Ryu
and Galford didn't seem to care. (That whole 'hero thing,' don't'cha know.)

	As a purple wave of flame exploded against the wall behind her,
Morrigan gritted her teeth. Demitri hadn't been gone for more than a
couple of minutes, and the situation had already become idiotic. Reaching
out to the mind of Psylocke, she exorted her slave to fry Kusanagi's mind
before he killed them all. 

	She put her fingers to her forehead and concentrated. "His mind is
dark. There's nothing really that I can comprehend except...chaos.
Absolute...chaos. It's...too much..." Psylocke's eyes glazed, and she
keeled over. 

	"I always knew telepaths were overrated," Morrigan grumbled. Popping up from
behind her cover, she fired a Soul Fist at Ryu, who responded by glowing
slightly and countering her missile with a Shinkuu Hadoken. The Hadoken
overwhelmed her Soul Fist and struck her head-on, slamming her backward and
wrecking a nice Edward Hopper print that had somehow remained untouched.

	From his new position in the room, inside one of the ventilation ducts,
Demitri surveyed the situation. While he figured his damage deposit was well
and truly gone, it would seem that Morrigan had the situation well in hand.
Despite the fact that Kusanagi had levelled the playing field, neither him
nor his allies (and why were they here now? How many fighters had Sakazaki
rallied?) were making any more headway.

	There was no reason, though, to leave the would-be heroes alive for too much
longer. Thinking quickly, Demitri sent Kyo's mind a slight suggestion to look
his way.

	When Kyo did, their eyes met, and his mind was the vampire's to toy with.

_The Ring_

	Chun Li was finally gaining an advantage over Jacky. She'd thrown a Kikoken
from long range, and as he'd rushed in for it, she'd concentrated, and caught
him in a Kikosho. This unexpected tactic bought her time to elbow-slam him to
the ground. As he got up to deal out another combination, Chun, sure she
couldn't take any more punishment from him, reflexively jumped up into a
Super Chaos Kick, slipping kicks underneath his jaw with astonishing speed
and force. Jacky flew into the air, up and over the "ropes."

	Jacky landed in Super Mario Kart, directly into Bowser's
unoccupied vehicle. Bowser was a short distance away, eating what appeared
to be chicken flambe out of an open lunch box. Jacky shook his head, and
began to get out of the car. 

	"Hey! That's mine! THIEF!" A firebolt flew past Jacky's face, and
he almost reflexively slid back down into the driver's seat. 

	Jacky decided at that point peaceful negotiation would be more
trouble than it was worth. Looking around, he found the clutch,
downshifted, and gunned the motor, heading away from the Koopa King as
fast as the stolen car would take him, dodging firebolts as he went. 

	As Chun Li landed, she saw Guy, a Mega Smash hitting him in the
chin. The Bushitsu fighter went down, and was HaohShoKohKened as he got
up, pushing him back towards the ropes. Kuroko wound up; his next blast
would probably eliminate Guy. 

	Chun thought for a split-second. Did she want to save Guy to fight him
later, or let Kuroko eliminate him and fight Kuroko later? She decided to go
with the fighter she knew, and jumped into the judge, her feet leading.
Unfortunately, Kuroko saw her shadow as she jumped, and turned in time to
block the whole combination.

	"So, you're double-teaming me, are you?" Kuroko whispered. "Such a
flagrant violation of the rules can only be answered in one way!" 
Apparently, that was with a Kaiser Wave at *very* close range. As a
result, Chun flew into the electric "ropes"--all the way across the
ring--and stuck there, an electric web of current holding her aloft.
Kuroko took the opportunity to fling a number of Kohkens her way, while
she was unable to block them. This did nothing for Chun's comfort level. 

	However, Kuroko had forgotten someone. Guy shook his head and stood. As
Kuroko, sensing him, turned slightly, Guy was already somersaulting through
the air, over Kuroko's frantic barrage of fireballs, and came down directly
in front of him without attacking, an expression of rage on his face. This
was, apparently, so he could demonstrate to Kuroko every throw, punch, kick,
dash, and slam he knew.

	"Don't you feel like you should be taking notes?" Wanderer asked the
audience at large, watching the spectacle of Guy pounding the bejesus out of
Kuroko. "I mean, this is like a Bushinryu correspondence course..."

	"That's a rhetorical question, right?" Birdman murmured.

	"Yup."

	"Projectile-" WHAM! "-abusing-" THUD! "-flag-" CRACK! "-waving-"
CRUNCH! "-no-" WHAP! "-talent-" BAM! "-less-" WHACK! "-skill-" SNAP!
"-rules-" POW! "-lawyer-" WHAM! "-PUNK!" Finally, Guy concentrated, began
trailing blue shadows, and ripped into Kuroko with a Bushin Rampage; just
in case the judge hadn't gotten the point yet, Guy caught him, once he was
on his feet, with a Bushin Jump. The two subsequent Super Combos put
Kuroko out of consciousness and the ring. 

_Another World, 1999 A.D._

	The earth cracked, a fine web of red cracks overlying the green
and giving rise to an enormous bug-like creature, rising out of the earth
like some demon out of the mystical past. 

	In the nearby air, there was a sudden bright flash and a snap as a
white jet snapped into existence, one which contained three very special
people. 

	Crono turned around. "Are you two ready?"

	Marle swallowed hard. "Let's do it."

	Frog nodded. "For Queen and country."

	"All right!" Crono pushed the accelerator to the floor, then found
himself holding onto the controls for dear life; neither Robo or Lucca had
mentioned how difficult this thing was to drive at high speeds. (Maybe he
should have asked one of them about it before trying this stunt...nah. Why
worry them?) In the co-pilot's seat, Frog had his hand on the medal he
wore around his neck. The knight seemed to be praying. Both were trying to
ignore Marle shouting directions from the backseat. Finally, he yelled,
"Listen, *you've* never driven one of these either, so be quiet!" 

	As he did that, though, the Epoch rocked with a sudden impact as
something hit the windshield with enough force to splinter it. Marle
screamed again, and
 the 'something' in question, which was wearing a black bodysuit and, for
some reason, carrying a pair of flags, screamed back at her. It was a toss-up
as to who was more scared. Crono completely lost control at that point, and
the time machine/jet went veering towards the ground.

	Crono swore. "So much for ramming Lavos. Let's get outta here!" He grabbed
his sword from the side compartment and jumped out the rear cargo hatch. Frog
followed immediately, although he had to stop and grab Marle.

	As they jumped, the Epoch, with Kuroko perched on front of it, veered
straight into the a'birthing Lavos, exploding into its shell with a
definitive CRUNCH! Lavos clutched itself around its new wound, letting out an
enormous scream of pain.

_The Ring_

	"And, in case you hadn't noticed, our techs say Kuroko wound up in
Chrono Trigger, folks." Birdman's tone was dry. "That's gotta be one of
the more spectacular exit scenes tonight." 

	Wanderer couldn't speak. He was laughing too hard.

_Room 1891, RumbleDome Hotel_

	Terry ducked and weaved through the flood of projectiles suddenly
swarming at the heroes. He noticed Kyo was just standing still. The tidal
waves of purple flame had ceased, and, the major threat gone, Morrigan and
her 'troops' were making up for it in spades. Taking advantage of a lull
in the projectile volley, Terry quickly Crack Shot himself at the
approaching Mizuki, who obligingly fell down. Terry, now close to Kyo,
tapped him on the shoulder hurriedly. 

	"Yo! Bud! We could use you here, being outnumbered three to one and
all!" 

	Kyo grimaced slightly. "Burn..."

	"Huh?"

	"BURRRRRRRRN!" Huge gouts of the Source, even in comparison to before,
suddenly crackled from Kyo's hands. Terry threw himself out of the way just
in time to avoid being fried. Galford, however, wasn't expecting an attack
from a comrade, and was staggered by a second blast of the Source. Kyo then
proceeded to raze about half the room, friend and foe alike, and Galford was
only able to survive by using the now-famous 'log trick.'

	Terry blinked. "Oh, *crap*..."

	From his perch, Demitri smiled.

_Hundred and Eighty-First Floor, RumbleDome Hotel_

	Donovan walked down the hallway without any fear at all. "We
haven't heard anything too noisy yet. Hopefully, that means that Charlie's
been able to make it through anything Demitri's got planned without a
hitch." 

	Iceman glanced nervously around. "How much of that do you believe,
man?" 

	"Almost none," Donovan said comfortably, "but it makes me feel
better." 

	Behind them, Dan Hibiki and Robert Garcia were talking quietly.
Both of them had an odd compulsion to find out about the other's
background, just so they, if no one else, would know that they weren't the
same person after all. 

	"So, you're getting married, man?" Dan whispered.

	"Yeah, but we haven't set a date or anything yet. I gave her a
ring, but she never wears it; says it'd break the first time she hit
somebody." Robert's voice had dropped down until Dan could barely hear it. 

	Dan had noticed that talking about her seemed to cause Robert
pain. "What's wrong? Is she okay?" 

	"Demitri's probably got her by now..."

	"WHAT?!"

	Donovan and Iceman turned around quickly, ready for anything.
"What is it? What's wrong? Vampire? Mutant? Monster? Muay Thai? What?" 

	Dan simply said, "Demitri's got Yuri Sakazaki."

	Donovan frowned, then his eyes widened. "Your fiance? I fought
with her in the ring. She's really very good..." Robert's head snapped up,
an angry expression painted across it. "A good fighter. She's a good
fighter. Relax. Why didn't you say anything?" 

	"She's Ryo's sister. He's got enough on his mind without me adding
that to it." Tears streamed down Robert's face. "And we're gonna get her
back if I have to kill Demitri myself." 

	No one had anything to say to that. They continued walking,
covering the next three floors without incident. 

	"And here's my room," Robert murmured, as they passed by room 1842.

	"How can you afford that?" Dan asked.

	"Ah, my family's got money. Figured I'd treat myself to a little
comfort this time around." Robert leaned against the door a second. "Maybe
they'll let me stay here for a while after the Rumble-what the hell?" The
door gave at his touch, swinging open. He looked up at the rest of them.
"I didn't leave it unlocked." 

	Donovan drew Kilshred. "We'd better check it out. There are some
kinds of magic that need a possession of the target; maybe they're trying
to slow us down by striking at you." 

	Robert let the door open slowly, without creaking. His suite was
impressive; the carpeting, a rich maroon color, set off the mahogany
furniture well. Next to the door, there was a small kitchen with a wet bar
and well-stocked refrigerator (due to the Rumble's promotional deals,
there were a large amount of Jell-O products); next to it, they could see
into the bedroom, which would have been very nicely decorated if not for
Robert's clothes thrown all around. A fully equipped entertainment center
took up much of one wall, and another wall was a single pane of glass,
facing towards the ring. There was a spectacular sunset that none of them
could appreciate, because Yuri Sakazaki was tied to a chair in the middle
of the room. Her head slumped on her chest. 

	Robert whispered softly, "Yuri..." and ran in.

	The furniture had been pushed back against the walls in a fashion
that made it look like it had been the original setup of the hotel's
designers. Apparently, it wasn't; Clark and Joe Higashi hopped into view
from behind the couch, Joe Slash Kicking Robert as he did so. 

	As Robert went down, Joe jumped in to kick him again. In mid-air,
though, he was frozen into modern art by--come on, guess--Iceman.
Unfortunately, the icy coating melted almost immediately when Donovan set
Clark on fire. Janne and Brocken sprang out and joined them a moment
later, pelting Donovan and Dan with missiles (*real* missiles) and Angel
Arrows. Donovan knew the signs to look for; they had all been enslaved by
Morrigan or Demitri. As he slashed Brocken across the chest, he devoutly
hoped that Demitri hadn't been all *that* paranoid...there were a lot of
people he could have enslaved by now... 

	Across the room, Robert executed a Kick Dance, sending Joe
headlong into the kitchen, and turned around to free Yuri. Directly in
front of him, though, there was a small explosion, and robotic body parts
flew together to form Cyrax. As it assembled, it wrapped Robert up in an
Electric Net; before he could break free, Smoke streaked up from the floor
and dealt him a powerful uppercut. 

	In the brig, a hundred and ninety floors below, Shao Kahn suddenly
yelled "OUTSTANDING!" 

	Rugal looked at his cellmate. "Oh, shut up."

	"Dan!" Donovan yelled.

	"Yeah!"

	"Get Brocken off of me! We need to free Yuri!"

	"Gotcha, Dad!"

	"WHAT?!"

	"Sorry! You look like him!" Dan jumped into Brocken, connecting
three times in midair with a Gale Kick. 

	Shaking his head at the "dad" comment, Donovan swung Kilshred in
an enormous arc, ignored the sickening shear as it hit Janne in her side,
and brought it down on the back of Yuri's chair, crushing it and snapping
the ropes. Yuri collapsed to the floor, and Donovan immediately knelt down
next to her and shook her. 

	"Lemme sleep, Dad...katas wear me out..." She was badly bruised,
and there were fresh bite marks on her neck and wrists, but Donovan didn't
sense any vampiric taint on her. Yuri still had her free will. 

	"Wake UP, girl! We need your help-" Donovan looked up. The wall
behind the stereo system seemed to be bulging in a way that walls
typically did not. That, he decided as a large hole appeared, was probably
because Zeus was punching his way through it to get at them. 

	He looked around at his forces. Dan had Janne and Brocken under
control, but neither of the others were as lucky. Robert was swinging
madly at Cyrax and Smoke, who were alternating between netting and
harpooning him. Iceman was trying to deal with both Joe Higashi and Clark
with limited success; every scrap of experience the X-Man had was barely
compensating for their relentless assault. 

	Zeus finished off the wall, and saw the hunter standing in the
middle of the room, sword ready, looking at him. He roared at Donovan,
"Prepare to die, little man!" 

	"Giant, I wish I could argue with that." Donovan leaped.

_Hundred and Seventy-Eighth Floor, RumbleDome Hotel_

	Stryker glanced at Charlie. "You know, if you say that it's 'a
little too quiet' one more time, I'm gonna kill you." 

	"I'm sorry, okay? This reminds me a little too much of Vietnam, is
all." 

	"Just don't be surprised when it happens."

	"I'm appreciating the quiet, myself," Matrix grumbled. "It's giving
my ears time to heal." 

	The three of them, Kung Lao, and Jeffry were moving through the latest
floor's worth of luxury suites. The carpeting was thick enough that their
feet sank into it, the light fixtures were gold-plated, the air smelled of
sandalwood and room-service food, and faint classical music played from the
overhead speakers. It made them feel kind of bad, as Matrix had pointed out,
that they were fundamentally there to wreck the place.

	Stryker, in the lead, went around the last corner before the stairwell
quickly, his gun first covering the floor and leading up to the head level.
"We're clear!"

	Charlie nodded. "Good. We've got about another ten floors to go,
though, so we still need to be careful. There's still probably an
a-WOULPH!" Sektor streaked up from the floor in an uppercut, shimmering in
its teleportation effect, nearly breaking Charlie's jaw. 

 	"Targets acquired! Targets acquired!" it boomed, and doors
flew open up and down the hallway, disgorging Lord Raptor, Shura, Erick,
Pai Chan, Ralf, and, most worrisome, Duraal. Charlie and his group were
surrounded. 

	"Get 'em, boys! I got a bright shiny nickel for the first one a'ya to bring
me a head!" Lord Raptor charged into their midst, cackling his high,
screechy, Crypt-Keeper-esque laugh all the while.

	"I think we might have a slight problem," Kung Lao murmured. He ducked under
Ralf, grabbed the soldier by the shoulders, flipped completely over, and
threw him down the hall. However, while he was doing that, Kung left himself
open, and Shura took full advantage.

	Jeffry stepped in front of Pai. "Pai! It is me, Jeffry! Why do you
stand with these bad people-" Then, Jeffry saw the bite marks on her neck.
Unfortunately, Jeffry being Jeffry, the significance of this didn't
register in time for him to avoid getting crescent kicked. 

	"Inventive, aren't they? This is practically the same ambush!" Matrix
yelled, jumping over Lord Raptor as he rushed her. Said rush wound up costing
the ghoul an arm--which he promptly put back on. As Bishamon had said
earlier, it's very difficult to dismember Darkstalkers...

	Stryker yelled back, "Yeah, but this time, it worked!" As Duraal
came up to him, Stryker put about half a clip into the robot's chest.
Duraal had no visible reaction. "Uh-oh..." 

	Charlie quickly judged the situation. "Form a circle! Back to
back!" If he was going down, Charlie reasoned, he was going to make it
cost the other side dear... 
 
*****

FINAL TALLY (36 voters):
---------------------------

BISHAMON (DS2): 25:13 (ratio: 1.92)
KING (KOF95): 25:13 (ratio: 1.92)
GUY (SFA): 26:18 (ratio: 1.44)
CHUN LI (SFA): 20:18 (ratio: 1.11)
*********LINE OF SURVIVAL***********
DHALSIM (SFA2): 13:24 (ratio: 0.54)
JACKY BRYANT (VF2): 13:24 (ratio: 0.54)
CAPTAIN KIDD (WHP): 10:27 (ratio: 0.37)
KUROKO (SS2): 10:27 (ratio: 0.37)

BONUS MATCHUP:

AKUMA (SFA) and BILLY KANE (KOF95)
defeat
TERRY BOGARD (KOF95) and GENJURO (SS2)
by 16 to 14, with 6 abstentions.

ELIMINATIONS: Bishamon, King, Guy, Chun Li: 1.

CURRENT ELIMINATIONS LEADERS: Guy 15, Haohmaru 13, Rose 9, Athena 8,
Silver Samurai 6, Mai Shiranui 6, Ukyo Tachibana 5.

BUT HE NEVER STUDIED LAW: Kuroko's 'rules lawyering' has finally resulted in
his death by an impressive ratio. Where were you guys last section?

See you next round!

Thomas "Wanderer" Wilde

Editing, contributions, and Ebonics lessons by:
Christopher "Birdman" Bird

Special thanks go out to Scott Archer, for newsgroup submission and an
archive site for the summer, and noted net-author Victar, for some
grammatical editing. Thanks, you guys. I'd pay you, but...

***************************
Well I know it'll be all right if I just get on the road,
If I run I can free my worried mind
Yeah I know on the day I die I will lose my heavy load
But I wouldn't want to leave you behind...
	-Semisonic, "If I Run"