| K BRACKET Match 1 - Mark Ailshie Superman vs. Mighty Mouse Superman flew over Metropolis, looking down on his city. He could see the advantage of fighting in his own home, but he wished it didn't have to cause so much havoc among his people. Everywhere, people were panicking. Even the animals looked scared. Superman noticed several cats running terrified through the street. Then he noticed the little red blur that was following them. "That must be my opponent!" thought Krypton's last son, and he swooped to intercept him. Flying right beside the red blur, Superman could see him clearly. He was dressed much like he himself was. Except that he was quite obviously a mouse. That would explain why he was chasing the cats. "Hey! Those cats aren't doing anything to you. Why don't you leave them alone?" Mighty Mouse turned to his larger counterpart. "Here I come to save the day!!!!" he shouted, and seized Superman by his index finger. "WHOOOOOOOMP!!!" The man of steel was propelled backward and smashed headfirst into a cement wall. "Strong little rodent, aren't you?" he said, once he had cleared his head. "Here I come to save the day!!!!" The red blur slammed into Superman's face, and started pummeling him with little fists of stone. Superman was surprised by how much these little fists were hurting him! Using his icy breath, he breathed at the pint-sized powerhouse and froze him solid. Then he grabbed him by the tail and clapped him between his hands. Squish. Winner: Superman Match 2 - Mark Ailshie Al Capone vs. Captain America Cap hefted his shield, and looked around warily. He had no idea where he was, although it looked like either New York or Chicago. Passing pedestrians raised their eyebrows at his red, white and blue spandex, but no one seemed too surprised. Maybe they were used to this kind of thing. Of course, Cap recognized the name--Al Capone. One of the most dangerous criminals of all time, but certainly nothing he couldn't handle. Capone didn't recognize Metropolis either, but it hardly mattered. He wasn't here for business, but to kill. He had his Tommy gun, and a three piece suit. First, he'd better acquire some wheels. He headed for the street. A few minutes later, Capone had found a likely car to steal. It was long and silver, but not flashy enough to stand out in traffic. Some dumb reporter kid had left the keys in the ignition as he went to snap some pictures. Capone started the car and drove away, looking for this so called "Captain America" He stopped for a red light, and some impertinent bald guy just opened the door and sat in the passenger seat. "Hey!" said the gangster. "Who do you think you are?" "You wouldn't recognize me if I told you," smirked the bald man. "But I recognize you, Al Capone. You might say we were in the same business. I've been a great admirer of you. Keep driving. I've got a proposition for you." Capone knew when to keep it cool. He drove on. "Good," smiled the bald man. "Alright let's face facts, Al. You're outmatched. You've got superheroes left and right. Luckily for you, I'd like for you to win." "Why should you care?" Capone asked irritably. "Assuming you win this match, you will face off against another boy scout in blue tights. It is this person who I want you to eliminate. Here." The bald man handed him a clip of ammunition. "This ought to fit your gun. I'll help you beat Old Cap, if you use these special bullets to take out Superman." "Superman?" The bald man shook his head. "You wouldn't know him. But normal bullets won't work on him. Trust me. These are made from a very special metal. They'll do the trick. Let me off at this corner." "Wait! What about helping with Captain America?" "Just park over there and wait for him to turn his back to you, then open up on him--with the normal bullets! Save the special ones for Superman!--I'll handle the rest." Having no better plan, Capone complied. Captain America was getting tense. No sign of Al Capone. He'd visited three banks and a package store, but no luck. He was beginning to wonder how he would recognize one guy in a suit in a city of millions. Suddenly, a helicopter with "Lexcorp" written in green on the side flew low over head, and sent a spray of bullets all around Cap! Cap ducked his head under his shield, but the gunner was apparently a miserable shot. Well, Cap wasn't about to give him another try. He chased the helicopter until he was within range, and then hurled his shield into the rotor. With a popping wheeze, the motor exploded, and the helicopter spun out of control. A man jumped from the open door seconds before it collided with a building in a ball of fire. A scant yard before the man touched the ground, he ignited the jet pack on his back, and flew off in another direction. Cap retrieved his shield, and started chasing the jet packer. Something in the back of his head told him something was wrong, but he had too much to do to listen to wild misgivings. He ran by a long, silver car; and stopped to take aim with his shield at the jetpack. And suddenly it hit him: where would Al Capone have learned to fly a jet pack? Thirty bullets hit Cap in the back before he hit the ground. Al Capone blew the smoke off his gun and considered what had just happened. Obviously the bald guy had not betrayed him--in fact, he had led his opponent right into a trap. But how far could he trust him? He didn't like it. He didn't like not knowing the people he worked with. He snarled as he changed clips. The next time he met him, the bald guy had better tell him who he was. Winner: Al Capone Match 3 - Mark Ailshie LavaFlow vs. Simba People screamed in terror as Simba walked casually down the street. This was certainly a strange land. There were huge mountains with lights inside them, and the only animals seemed to be hairless monkeys wearing dark suits that kept going into and out of the mountains by caves at the bottom. And everyone that saw him seemed terrified. He didn't understand anything they were saying, of course. But suddenly he smelled something. He ambled over to an iron fence and looked through. It looked like a zebra! Simba licked his chops and tried to find a way around the fence to get some lunch. Screams had followed LavaFlow, too. But he had lived among humans long enough to be used to it. He couldn't really blame them; if he had been human and seen an orange six-foot walking pile of molten rock with glowing yellow eyes, he'd probably be scared too. People kept shouting for someone called "Superman." When he couldn't stand the screams anymore, he flew off into the air, trying to find this "Simba" character. He still could hardly believe they had put him up against an animal! He noticed another commotion far beneath him. People were flooding out of the entrance to the Metropolis zoo, screaming in terror. Dang, these people panicked easily! It was worth investigating, though. Simba was getting frustrated. There didn't seem to be any way to get at the Zebra -- the fence seemed to go all around the field! Worse, once he had gotten into this strange place, he had seen hundreds of animals trapped in cages. He had let a few of them go, but they didn't seem to know what to do with their freedom. Worse, about a dozen of the hairless monkeys had surrounded him, and were trying to put some kind of loop around his neck. They more they tried, the angrier he got, until he almost snapped at them. What did they have against letting a lion walk around in peace? LavaFlow spotted him. Or, at least, he thought it was him. It's not so easy to tell one lion from another, after all. He landed beside the irate beast and asked "Are you Simba?" The zookeepers scattered, shouting something else about "Superman." The lion didn't seem to recognize his name, but he had recognized LavaFlow, and roared at him challengingly. Simba wondered what to do. This "LavaFlow" he was supposed to battle was built like a rock, and was hotter than fire! He wasn't anxious to try his teeth on that skin. He backed slowly away, trying to think of something that could harm this thing. LavaFlow hated an unfair fight. Simba stepped backward right over a hose. With any other opponent, LavaFlow would be worried -- water could freeze him into stone -- but the Lion didn't have thumbs to manipulate the hose, even if it could somehow figure out that Water came out of it. This creature just wasn't in its element. It wasn't fair. But, at least it was fair on his side. LavaFlow tossed a molten ball of flame and magma at Simba that struck him in the eyes. The beast roared in pain, and frantically rubbed its face on the ground, trying to restore its ruined vision. LavaFlow grimaced and put it out of its misery as quickly as he could. Winner: LavaFlow Match 4 - Robert Newell Bigfoot vs. She-Hulk The two combatants faced each other, circling. They both have tremendous confidence in their own strength. Each thinks that they could easily crush the other without being harmed. In the beginning it is a series of exchanged blows, a kick by Bigfoot is returned with an uppercut by She-Hulk. Each fighter is beginning to realize that they are equally matched in strength and skill. After twenty minutes of sparring, Bigfoot gets She-Hulk into a full-nelson. She-Hulk responds by ramming Bigfoot repeatedly into a nearby building until he lets go. Both are exhausted and they circle each other. The sparring continues for several more hours, the blows keep on raining down, but both continue on. After seven hours of this, She-Hulk headbutts Bigfoot, knocking both of them unconscious. They both lie there for about an hour before Bigfoot finally comes to. His skull was thicker than She-Hulk's, but it wasn't enough to keep him from being knocked out for a while. Bigfoot slowly lumbers over to the prone form of She-Hulk and begins to strangle her with his massive hands. This attack wakes She-Hulk, who places a well aimed kick right where it will hurt Bigfoot the most. He doubles over in pain and doesn't recover until She-Hulk is back on her feet. Three more hours of sparring pass between the somewhat rested combatants. Both are desperately tired, but neither will capitulate. In one final burst of adrenaline-produced strength, Bigfoot kicks She-Hulk in the stomach, breaking her back. Bigfoot immediately has a heart attack induced for the exertion of eleven hours of near constant battle. Metropolis paramedics rush to the scene, but they are not familiar with Bigfoot's physiology, and can do nothing for She-Hulk's severed spine. She-Hulk dies shortly thereafter of internal bleeding from shards of her backbone lodged in her heart and lungs. Bigfoot's circulatory system shuts down after his heart bursts under strain and he dies as well. The paramedics did not check to see who died first, and in an act of bureaucracy, both are declared dead, twelve hours exactly from the start of their battle. No Winner: Double K.O.! Match 5 - Robert Newell Neo (Matrix) vs. Donatello (TMNT) Both combatants were very familiar with the city. True, neither of them had ever been to Metropolis, but they were both city dwellers and one city was pretty much the same as any other, in terms of being a battlefield. Donatello decided to increase his familiarity with the battle terrain; he ran and dived through an open manhole. Donatello prepared himself to meet his opponent. Neo was not stupid enough to follow this creature so quickly. He went down the street and went down the next manhole he could find. Neo avoided the ambush that Donatello had prepared, but his noisy entrance alerted the teenage mutant to his entrance in the sewers. Neo pulled out his gun and tried to decide where he would shoot this monstrosity. Neo raised his pistol and fired at Donatello. He had aimed at the head but Donatello had anticipated this and retracted his head into his shell. Donatello charged, swinging his bo-staff at Neo's hand. The well-aimed blow knocked his weapon way off into the distance. Neo had anticipated this, but without the Matrix to enhance his speed and skill, he was at a distinct disadvantage. He tried to intimidate his opponent, "I must warn you, I know kung-fu." The amphibian was not impressed whatsoever, "Kung fu is inherently inferior to my ninjitsu skills," he retorted. Donatello was right. Neo may know everything there is to know about using kung fu against people, but Donatello was not a person, he was a mutant turtle. He used his shell to deflect every blow that he could not catch with his staff. That was also an advantage for Donatello, he had a weapon and knew how to use it very well. Donatello sprung to the offensive and hit Neo in the head with three blows in rapid succession. A fourth blow to his windpipe ended forever Neo's dreams of liberating the humans from the Matrix. Winner: Donatello Match 6 - Brian Ailshie Storm vs Krueger Storm could tell this was not New York, but the sprawling Metropolis was quite similar. She hadn't had any real luck finding this 'Krueger' fellow on the streets. Then again, she couldn't see very far from down there, and each suit seemed to blend into the next one. She much preferred the aerials view her power over storms gave her. Krueger preferred an aerial view too. He had spotted the wench from afar. Her black leather body suit and cape made her stand out to anyone, not just an espionage expert like himself. He tailed her for a while and then all of a sudden she had taken off into the very air! At first Krueger was stunned. Then he felt the back-draft of air and figured the stunt out. The chic must have some sort of jet pack hidden under her cape. Still, it must be smaller and throw less propellant to hide it under a cape without burning it. However it worked, Krueger was intrigued enough to know that he must have it. So he had appropriated this helicopter and was now looking for the broad in black leather again. Storm heard the helicopter come racing around the corner behind her and dropped to a nearby balcony. Better not to let the local populace see her and develop a mutant-phobia. As the helicopter zoomed up and past her she looked, and then looked closer at the pilot. It seems dropping out of sight was truly the safest thing, for here was her opponent! Now she had the upper hand. All she had to do was aim a bolt of lightning at him and down he goes in a blaze of glory. Of course, best not to let any 'regular' humans get hurt. So she followed close behind for the time being. Suddenly the copter spun around full circle to face right at her! Storm was barely able to dodge the bullets from the man's pistol. But she was only caught off guard for a moment. Quickly a bolt of lightning screamed from the sky, through the metal blades of the craft, and into a lightning rod on a nearby skyscraper. Its internal circuits fried, the helicopter began to plummet to the ground. But Storm was faster. She yelled to the people and shoved some of them aside before leaping back to the air as the copter exploded on the ground. Storm questioned the "Thank you Supergirl!" remarks that followed her into the air, but was more grateful that no one else was harmed. Winner: Storm Match 7 - Robert Newell Treebeard vs. Chuck Norris "Hmm Hoom", Treebeard said to himself. What a strange place this was. It looked like the craftsmanship of dwarves, but all of the people were humans. He felt a compulsion to kill a human named Chuck Norris. Now why was that? Could he have forgotten what this human did to deserve death? Normally he wasn't this hasty, he decided to stand and try and remember before he did anything to rash. A huge creature that looked half-tree and half-man was not difficult to find, it did not blend in well with the urban sprawl of this city. Chuck Norris pulled out his pistols and made sure that they were loaded. This Treebeard character looked mighty fierce. He took aim and began to fire at the creature. Treebeard was still thinking when he felt stinging sensations in his chest. Someone was hitting him with little metal pieces. They did not do anything other than sting, but this irritated Treebeard. He could not tell where they were coming from. In frustration, he slammed his fists into a nearby building. The awesome might of the Lord of the Ents smashed through the building as if it was paper. It fell, right on Chuck Norris. Treebeard usually takes some time to come to a decision, but now he was enraged. Winner: Treebeard Match 8 - Mark Ailshie Billy the Kid vs. Mr. Freeze William H. Bonney walked carefully down the street of this huge city. It reminded him of the city where the first rumble had taken place. His hands hovered over his guns, hoping that they would be more use against this "Mr. Freeze" than they had been against Treebeard all that time ago. Some of the people looked at him oddly, but not many. They had seen much more strangely dressed people than him. Including Freeze. Of course, Freeze knew where he was. Metropolis was a familiar city, if not as familiar as Gotham. He'd have to keep a low profile to avoid the notice of that big blue and red freak. He ducked into a subway. The Kid spotted a little cave into the ground, where lots of people were going. He dropped in and was surprised to find a train station. Well, this would be a good place to find Mr. Freeze. In fact, that strange looking blue-skinned guy with the bubble on his head looked about right. Billy sauntered over to some cover, and then called, "Mr. Freeze?" Freeze froze. He had been recognized. He spun around with his ice cannon blasting. He froze several passer-bys, but Billy was obviously a bit faster on the draw. He felt the bullets slam into his chest, but that wasn't what worried him -- he had taken plenty of bullets in his day. It was the shattering of his suit that kept the temperature suitably cold for his skin. He knew he was a dead man. He shot his cannon fiercely, hoping to take the kid with him. But Billy knew better than to get in the way of someone's death throes. He ducked back up the cave, and set up a rematch between him and the giant tree. This time one on one. Winner: Billy the Kid Round 2 Match 1 - Robert Newell Superman vs. Al Capone Al Capone went over his plan once again in his mind. He was going to rob the First Bank Metropolis. His stooges would be in the front with guns to the heads of every hostage. Stooges were easy to find in any city. They had come easily enough. He had not told them all of his plan though. He would hide behind the counter and wait for this Superman to come. Lex Luthor assured him that the rounds loaded in his gun would kill this strange do-gooder. Luthor had been good to his word so far, and what little Capone had gathered suggested that Luthor had an undying hatred towards Superman. Well, this had better work. Clark Kent was at his desk, trying to figure out what that tiny flying creature he had battled earlier was. Suddenly, he heard a frenzied cry that the First Bank of Metropolis was being held up. Badguys would never learn he thought. Clark snuck off to a closet and changed his costume. Superman emerged from the closet and flew off to the scene of the crime. Superman ignored the open front door and smashed through the side wall. He caused thousands and thousands of dollars in property damages, but Superman neither noticed nor would have cared if he did. That would be a small price to pay for stopping the crime he thought, surely the people would agree with him. Capone was ready for him. Lex Luthor had told him that Superman was likely to do something like this. He directed a few of his goons to start firing at Superman. Superman walked into the oncoming bullets and shrugged them off, as he always does. As Superman was showing off by deflecting the bullets, Al Capone struck. He let loose with his clip of kryptonite bullets. Superman was too busy strutting to realize what danger he was in. The bullets slammed home, ripping through Superman's chest like tissuepaper. Al Capone walked over to Superman and shot him a few more times in the head, just to make sure he was dead. He then directed his stooges to unload the bank�s vault into the waiting getaway cars. Building a criminal empire in Metropolis was going to take quite a bit of money after all. Winner: Al Capone Match 2 Lavaflow takes the Bye from Match 4, Round 1 Match 3 � Brian Ailshie Donatello vs. Storm Storm searched the streets and rooftops for her opponent. Riding the current of her thunder storm, she had a great vantage point. However, there were also many places she could not see. Such as the sewers, which she was starting to believe might be the best place to look for a 'turtle.' Donatello didn't have as good a vantage point as his opponent. However, with that loud lightning storm flying her around, he didn't need it. He had spotted her hours ago. Since then he had set up no less than four ambushes that she avoided without even realizing it. Perhaps the fifth time was the charm. Or was it the sixth? In his frustration, Don had lost count. His pizza had surely gone cold long since. Storm glided to a landing in a short alley way. Two steps took her to the nearest manhole cover. As she bent to pick it up something hard cracked her across the shoulders. The blow knocked her to her knees, but she rolled to her right before her assailant could land another blow. Don's second blow bounced off the pavement as 'lightning girl' rolled away. "Should have suspected that." Don muttered to himself. However he did correctly guess her next move. Vaulting to his left with his Bo staff, Don avoided the lightning bolt that sizzled past him. Don flipped and jumped in a zig-zag formation that dodged two more bolts, and brought him within striking distance again. A side swipe to the ribs doubled her up in pain, and the following uppercut blow sent her flying to land in a heap. Don saw her spit teeth. "That aught to teach her!" he thought. "What happenth to a turtle when it's thruck by lightning?" The riddle and the lisp caught Don off guard. The split second he took to reason it out was his last. The bolt pierced a sickening black hole through the turtle's shell. At least it was quick and relatively painless. "The thame thing ath everything elthe." Storm answered herself, wiping the blood from her missing front teeth. Winner: Storm Match 4 � Robert Newell Treebeard vs. Billy the Kid Treebeard was furious. The stinging had returned. He thrashed around causing more indiscriminate damage. Was some wizard hurting him? He simply could not tell. Billy the Kid was impressed with the number of bullets this creature had had taken. He figured that he must be injuring it if it was acting like it was. He kept firing. A missed shot hit a fire hydrant near Treebeard. The shot from Billy's powerful pistol pierced the metal. Water began to spurt out of it. The hole widened, and the water began to gush. This all happened in a matter of seconds. Before Billy could move, a jet of water slammed into him. He was smashed into the wall behind him, and his neck snapped in a sickening pop. The judges rule that the unintentional suicide advances Treebeard to the next round. Winner: Treebeard Round 3 Match 1 � Robert Newell Al Capone vs. LavaFlow Al Capone had long since reloaded his tommygun. His next opponent was something called Lavaflow. One of his goons told him that lava meant really, really hot rock. He filed that thought into the back of his mind and called for a few of his stooges to accompany him. This city was turning out to be a nice place for Capone. His killing of Superman gave him instant respect and admiration from the various underworld groups, and before long, he was the leader of one. Suddenly, he saw a shambling mound of what he thought was fire. This must be Lavaflow, he thought. He ordered his cronies to start firing at it. The bullets melted harmlessly, and Lavaflow charged at the thugs. Capone understood that the bullets were ineffective, so he quickly came up with a new plan. He waited until Lavaflow got fairly close to a fire hydrant. He then opened fire at the hydrant and water began spurting forth. Lavaflow was struck full on and it began to scream. The scream sounded like the hiss of steam out of a tea kettle. No one was brave enough to get close enough to the ruined hydrant to try and stop the flow. It took several hours before a water main could be found and the water was shut off. All that was left was a pile of steaming rock. Capone chuckled to himself and went on his way. Winner: Al Capone Match 2 � Brian Ailshie Storm vs. Treebeard Storm licked her gums absent mindedly. That little turtle had been a pain. Literally! Her side still ached, and she still had a hard time thinking with the pain in her mouth. The rain she was flying in felt good on her skin though. If she could just find this 'treebeard' and get that over with perhaps she could get some rest for a minute. Treebeard shook his head and laughed the rain felt good. These 'mountains' were weird, and the lack of trees made him feel very homesick. Striding down the 'valley' he suddenly caught sight of a small stand of trees! Frowning, Storm looked again at the tree below her. Perhaps there was something more to the name Treebeard than she had expected. She could have sworn that tree had laughed. It was impossible, but it seemed to be moving too. But that was impossible. But then so was a man-size turtle wielding a Bo-staff. Suddenly the tree started to move really fast toward Central Park. That had to be her opponent, and if he got to Central Park, he'd be all but impossible to find amongst all the trees. The tree-man moved fast, but lightning is faster. Her first bolt caught the tree on fire, and the second stopped his motion. Storm settled to the ground and shut down the rain storm so the fire could do it's work. Odd, she could swear she heard moaning from the fire. Oh well. Al Capone looked up. So 'lightning-girl' was to be his next victim. Oh well might as well make it 4 super heroes in a row. Winner: Storm Round 4 Match � RJ Harris Al Capone vs. Storm Al's gang stood around in the shade. It had been extremely hot in the city this day and a cool breeze would have been welcome, but it was not so. Al and his men had been looking for the flying woman Storm for several days and no one had seen even a trace of her. Al was growing anxious; his other fights had been a bit easier than this one and if he had any fear, he did not show it to his men. Meanwhile, Storm had taken a much needed rest on top of the highest building. She had observed the gangster for many days had had finally begun to work out in her mind exactly how to defeat him. With the bit of extra heat she had bestowed upon Metropolis, Al had become weakened--soon she would make her move. Another week of excess heat plagued Al. He had become so obsessed with finding Storm that he nearly neglected every other detail in his life. He was tired and his gang had dwindled down to only a few stalwarts. Everyone was on edge--they hardly even noticed when they observed a woman fly down from the Daily Planet building and blow a freezing snow storm their direction. Al and his men began shivering. Only the gangster stayed outside to fight the weather controlling X-Man; even the loyal thugs deserted Al now. "S-s-so," Al said in a chattering voice, "It's-s-s d-down to you and me. Are yo-you r-r-ready to f-f-fi-fight?"$ "I am. Let the tournament begin!" exclaimed the African Princess. Al reached for his guns, but all of the triggers were frozen solid. Storm's winter "gift" had worked. Al made a desperate attempt to throw things at the floating Storm, but his attempts were in vain. Storm rose high into the air and bellowed: "DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO GANGSTERS WHO ARE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING?" Al was soon to find out. Ice had formed around him and he was stuck where he was. Storm flew into a cloud and sent a huge bolt of lightning in Al's direction. It struck with deadly force and the once powerful gangster was no more. Storm calmed the elements she controlled and flew off to rest and mourn. Winner of Bracket K: Storm |