It was a bright sunny day at the Rumbledome, now holding 180,000 screaming, cheering fans. The Primal Rage Zoo was still holding court, drawing lots of little kids. (Blizzard, in particular, was enjoying himself immensely with the wee ones.) The Power Instinct bunch were in hiding from the Bloodstormers, who were hunting them again. Of course, this being the Rumble, far more was happening. __Birdman's Office__ "You see this footage?" Birdman clicked on the TV. His new chief of security, Scott Johnson, was watching impassively. "Look at this. I had to scramble to get this cut out of the videotapes last year. First, of course, the footage of the mutants and Shadloo troopers running amuck in the basements..." "Is that SIX troopers in Colossus' arms?" "Looks it. But that's not the worst." Birdman flicked a button. "Look at this. The brawl that broke out in the Eliminated seats. Over two hundred fighters running amuck. Boobwod, our previous chief, couldn't handle it due to the problems downstairs. So..." Scott retched. "Oh god." "Yup. Charlotte thought little Yoshi there was Reptile, and skewered the poor little fella. You should have seen the litigation Princess Toadstool raised. I didn't even know the Mushroom Kingdom had lawyers..." "And...oh man, Scorpion's gonna Toasty Erick...geez! He missed! And he hit...are those the players from NBA Jam?" "A good number of them. They didn't even bother to put it out, because they were so excited to be on fire..." Birdman clicked the TV off. "Anyway. This is your job, Chief. I do NOT want this happening again." "Done." "Watch out for Shao Kahn particularly. The scumbag always tries something." __Room 245, RumbleDome Hotel__ Morrigan tossed her hair. "*Why* did you call us here, Pyron?" Pyron stared at her. "You and Lord Raptor have demonic masters. They owe me favors. I have called them in. For the duration of this tourney, you serve me." "To what end?" "To MY end. I want Haohmaru, the samurai. I require him, preferably alive. Before Shao Kahn or Bison or another gets him." Demitri stared at him. "I have no master. Whyever should *I* serve you?" "Power." Demitri smiled. "You certainly know me." Lord Raptor grinned. (Of course, he didn't really have a choice, the way his face was.) "So, who's the babe-a-mint with the fuzzy wonder, flame-boy?" "I am Mizuki, impetuous one. I have formed an alliance with Mighty Pyron that we may both benefit." "And who's Mr. Downcast, then?" Lord Raptor bounced over to the sullen figure. "This is Neo-Dio. He was willing to sell his soul to get back in the action." She smiled. "Weren't you, dear?" __Room 345, RumbleDome Hotel__ "I knew it! I knew it! That scummy bloodsucker and his pals aren't up to any good!" Jon Talbain started pacing across the room, his ears up off the floor. "What is the problem, Jon?" Bishamon sat in serene silence. Duct-tape covered various bits of his armor. "Demitri and Morri-bitch and that undead weasel Raptor are all working for Pyron! They wanna get that Haohmaru." "Haohmaru?" Bishamon grimaced. "Much as I hate to admit it, I seriously doubt whether there is ANYONE who can defeat him." "And I also heard that Mizuki talking. She's in with them on this." "Interesting. Why would Haohmaru be valuable?" "Dunno. But, we'd better watch out for 'im. Pyron said that others were after him too." "Should we warn him?" "How can we? He's sequestered. We all are. That's kind of the point of these dressing rooms." Bishamon sighed. "I guess I have no choice, then." He peeled off one piece of duct-tape off his armor. A tiny blue flame shot out of it instantly, and floated in front of the undead samurai. "HAH! YOU GOT SOME NERVE! I MEAN, SEALING ME UP LIKE THAT!" "Shut up." The flame was subdued. "Now. I need you to find Haohmaru, from the Samurai Shodown, and tell him that his life is in danger. Do this now." "Yes SIR! Right away, SIR!" The flame sped off. "WhateverhisbloodyRoyalMajestywishesSIR! The flame shot out into the middle of the hallway and sped down it. All of a sudden, it saw a candle in an empty room. "WHOA! Hubba hubba! Hey, baby, how 'bout I come over there and we expend some oxygen, you know what I'm saying..." Suddenly the flame remembered what it was supposed to be doing. "DAMNDAMNDAMN! I gotta get the message QUICK! Who can I tell..." It saw a busboy moving past. "HEY! Yeah, you! Do me a favor? Great! Go tell Haohmaru that Bishamon says his life is in danger! Okay? Thanks!" With that, the flame sped into the room with all due haste. "Ummmmm...okay." said the busboy. __Room 820, RumbleDome Hotel__ "So, then. We are agreed?" Iori Nagumi nodded. "You're buying myself and my compatriots' services. Perfectly fair." Rugal nodded. "Very good. And you two?" He stared at Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge. Chang spoke first. "Well, we thought it over. And this is it. We like the money, and we'll work for you, but we aren't touching Kim no matter what. He's a good guy, maybe a bit uvva yutz at times, but I'm not gonna hurt him. Neither is Choi." Rugal smiled. "Perfectly understandable. And agreed." He turned to face Number 27. "And yours?" "I've informed them all. They all saw no reason not to accept bonuses for a little extra work..." __Rooms 730-734, RumbleDome Hotel__ A busboy wandered in and saw something of incredible proportions. About ten fighters, from various different nodes, were busily stretching out kinks, meditating, and generally preparing for the Rumble. "Ummmm...dang, I can't remember the name...Oh, yeah, Haohmaru, Bishamon says your life is in danger and here are your towels." The busboy dumped a load of towels from his cart and wandered off. Captain Kidd's eyes shot up from where he had been applying the body oil. "What? Ha! He just said Haohmaru's life was in danger!" Jubei Yagyu grinned at the sharpening stone where he was finishing work on his daisho. "Of course it is. Everybody's after him, after what he did last year." Kung Lao returned the grin as he did situps. "And notice who sent the message. Bishamon. The guy who was runner up. Looks like someone has a grudge." Guy and Takuma Sakazaki sat in contemplation, oblivous to the world. Heavy D!, who had managed to get into the Rumble for reasons unknown, was busy at a punching bag. Rose was busily trying to contact Charlie on her cell-phone with no success, and Sie Kensou was looking on at her, completely ignoring everything else, and trying not to grin goofily. Iceman was fixing himself a nice hot chocolate, Wolf Hawkfield was practicing howls on the balcony outside, and the ninja, Jago, was shadow-fighting with the sun shining behind him. Bishamon's message was apparently in vain. "IDIOTS!" The horrendous shout startled everybody. As one, they turned to the doorway from which it had came. A figure stood there, cloaked in shadow. The only distinguishing feature was a single gleaming red eye. "You don't understand, do you? When Haohmaru won the Rumble last year, a freak nodal anomaly supercharged his soul! The power to gained from it is immense! If he lives free, it will dissipate after tonight's Rumble. If he is captured, or killed and then captured, whoever gets it will be more powerful than the ruler of a dozen nodes! It could be the end of all your worlds!" Wolf stood. "So we have to protect the loudmouth?" "As best you can." Jago stood, troubled. "But...I have signed an agreement. Number 27 wished Haohmaru dead as well. We all agreed, as honor demanded. I cannot protect him!" "Do you have a family, Jago?" The figure looked concerned. "Two sisters and an uncle, yes." "You won't if Number 27 gets that soul. Quit whining and be a hero." Jago lowered his head. When it arose again, a new fervor was in his eyes. "So, it's us, and Bishamon, and of course Haohmaru, against basically everybody else? I DON'T like these odds..." muttered Rose. Kung Lao stood. "Hardly. The other Earth warriors from my node will quite happily fight with me. I imagine we all have a couple of allies we can turn to..." "But we can't contact them before the Rumble!" grumbled Wolf. "We're basically alone." Captain Kidd summed it up best. "Oh, *crap*." Jubei turned to the shadow again. "How can..." But the figure was gone. Kung Lao was thoughtful. "One red eye. Hmmmmmm. Sounds awfully familiar. What does Kano stand to gain from this?" __Elsewhere in the RumbleDome__ The figure that had been cloaked in shadows stopped. It would have to do. His hopes were all on those few, and the ones they could manage to join them. And, of course, himself. ------ Okay, so, a brief synopsis of the plot: WANTS HAOHMARU'S SOUL: ---------------------- Shao Kahn (with Sheeva, Motaro, Kano, Sindel, Shang Tsung, and lots of Centaurans) M. Bison and Akuma (with Sagat, Adon, Birdie, and Sodom, plus some Shadloo troopers) Rugal and Number 27 (with Billy Kane, Saishu Kusanagi, Iori Yagumi, Eigi Kasaragi, Chang Koehan, Choi Bounge, and all the Killer Instinct fighters except for Jago) Pyron and Mizuki (with Demitri, Morrigan, Lord Raptor, and Neo-Dio) WANTS TO PROTECT HAOHMARU: ------------------------- Jon Talbain, Bishamon, Captain Kidd, Kung Lao, Jubei Yagyu, Iceman, Wolf Hawkfield, Takuma Sakazaki, Heavy D!, Jago, Guy, Rose, Sie Kensou, and a mysterious dark figure who might be Kano. And, of course, no one else has any idea what's going on, least of all Haohmaru... ------ HOW TO VOTE IN THE SECOND ULTIMATE VIDEO RUMBLE: 1.) There will be twenty fighters every round. This is a bit more than last year but I want it to go faster. 2.) Ten fighters will be eliminated in a normal round. To vote, take the handy voteform that will be provided and mark off ten "survive" votes and ten "die" votes. Or, if you want, just do one set (either "survive" votes or "die" votes). Explanations are always welcomed, especially if they make us laugh. 3.) For every round beyond the first that a fighter has survived, he gets one die vote for fatigue. Thus, if Ryu is being voted on a third time, he has two die votes for fatigue. 4.) There are two classes of "power" characters: Big Guy and Really Big Guy. A Big Guy causes one extra elimination for every round he is present. A Really Big Guy causes two extra eliminations for every round he is present. Big Guys: Shao Kahn, Dural, Mizuki, Motaro, M. Bison, Akuma, Death, Eyedol, Juggernaut, Saishu Kusanagi, Zeus, Huitzil, Earthquake. Really Big Guys: Pyron, Magneto, Rugal, and one other who cannot be mentioned at this time. That's it. First round is coming soon. Chris "Birdman" Bird Brant "Techboy" Rogers Scott "Hasn't Given Me A Nickname Yet" Johnson Austin "Cheap Hanger-On" Loomis =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= "But the Creator liked the sheep best, because it was all fluffy and funny and white..." "Because it was WARM, STEAMING MEAT! You can't even get your own story right!" "This is MY story. I tell it my way." --Cain and Abel =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * Enslave humanity. Cthulhu is your friend. * =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=