Disclaimer:
Ukyou Kuonji,
Parasyte are not
our own. Hands off the others!
-Haiku
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| Budoka no Jinsei:
| EPISODE 4:
| Satsujin, Part 2
|
|
| The Omega Tournament orchestrated by:
| opaj
| The super-spaztastic characters in this episode brought to you by:
| Hero, Spam_BIT, Cain, ragingtofu, & Nabiki
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"Well, here we are again, on the second day," the announcer started. "And believe me, today is going to be twice as action-packed as yesterday!" He smirked. "Let's just say that... a certain... earth moving individual is going to make an appearance!" At that, the crowds went wild. Of course, none of the serious fighters really got it, but what can you do?
***Ryuu vs. Hiroshi Geppu***
The two martial arts masters bowed to each other from their respective sides of the ring. Yet, to Hiroshi's disappointment, Ryuu somehow managed to keep his face hidden by his hood throughout the bowing process. "Not going to take that cloak off even during a match? Feh, doesn't show much respect for your opponent."
As always, only Ryuu's mouth could be seen through the hood. Hiroshi could see that Ryuu was forcing back a smile as he replied, "The amount of respect you deserve is about to be determined." Hiroshi growled in return.
The instant the buzzer sounded, Hiroshi tore threw the air towards Ryuu. "I'll unmask you!" he yelled as he lunged for the cloak. Ryuu sidestepped to the left and jabbed with his left at Hiroshi's side, a jab that never connected as Hiroshi seemed to disappear and reappear behind his opponnent.
"Wha-?" Ryuu said in alarm before Hiroshi delivered a vicious kick to his back, sending him sprawling to the floor. Hiroshi tried to follow up with a stomp to Ryuu's head, but the cloaked fighter pushed himself off the ground and into the air, landing on the other side of the ring. {He's so fast... I didn't sense his movement until he was already behind me. This isn't good.} Despite his uneasiness, Ryuu did not let his outward appearance hint at his emotions. "So, you know the Shadow Slide?"
Hiroshi grinned wickedly. "A lovely trick, isn't it? Although I'm surprised you've heard of it. It's not a very well known technique."
"I get around. Still, it's impressive to experience first hand. To shape your own aura so that it links with your opponent's and propels you around to the other side... that's quite a trick."
"Thank you. I also have another little trick up my sleeve." Hiroshi's hands started to glow with a golden aura. "It's called Sabaku Arashiken."
"'Desert Storm Fist'? Sounds painful. Let's see it." With that, Ryuu and Hiroshi charged each other, their meeting at the center causing a burst of energy to vibrate throughout the ring. Not wanting to fall to the Shadow Slide again, Ryuu called forth more of his power, channeling it into his speed. However, it seemed the more energy Ryuu released, the more Hiroshi had to manipulate. As the fight progressed, Ryuu started taking hits to his body as Hiroshi's speed was multiplied. What was different this time was the incredible searing pain that accompanied every strike. Finally, Ryuu was forced to retreat. Taking a look at himself, he saw smoking holes in his cloak where he had been struck. He was also bleeding profusely.
"H-how?"
"I simply emitted a rather erratic aura around my fists. It's so erratic that, like a desert storm, it can rip the meat off your bones. Luckily for you those weren't good enough hits to rip that far." Hiroshi sighed. "I grow tired of this fight. Just submit. If you continue the next thing I aim for will be your face. I can guarantee you that whatever it looks like now will be completely different than what it would look like then."
Suddenly, the wind inside the ring started to pick up. Minor tornadoes were created and destroyed one after another as the velocity increased. After a while, Hiroshi was having trouble keeping his balance. Even with his superior martial arts skills, he was having a hard time standing up to the breakneck speed of the winds assaulting him. A cold, emotionless voice came from the cloak. "I agree, this fight has gone on long enough." The winds instantly changed course and started to circle around Ryuu.
Hiroshi was terrified, to put it lightly. Yet, he wasn't going to let this man beat him, not when Fuante was still out there. Putting both arms above his head, he brought them down upon the ground screaming out, "Aoka!" A monstrous blue flame flew across the floor of the ring and hurtled itself towards Ryuu.
"Ryuu Satsu Ha!" Ryuu cupped his hands together and thrusted them forward. The winds followed his motion and formed into a fearsome typhoon which collided head-on with the flame. Said flame was instantly extinguished and the next thing in the storm's path was Hiroshi. The arrogant martial arts master bellowed in pain as several of his ribs were crushed from the impact and he was thrown backwards, slamming into the protective wall surrounding the ring. Letting out a moan, he slumped to the floor unconscious.
Ryuu 'hmph'ed as he walked out of the fighting area, ignoring the blood that was still soaking his clothing. The crowd roared in deafening applause and the mysterious fighter was declared the winner.
Ever watchful in the north lobby, Bisen finally let his seriousness fade as he grinned at the scene. "I see now."
Just then, his next fight was announced. Bisen removed his pitch-black mantle to reveal his pitch-black tank top, then stood up. Running his fingers through his brown-streaked hair, he made his way to the ring.
***North Lobby***
Saburo practically jumped to his feet when he was called to the stage. "Finally!" He hastily started to prepare his arsenal- a kodachi-bokken and katana-bokken hanging on his right side, a shinai strapped to his back, and an actual kodachi and katana on his left. Sweeping his ponytail behind him, he strode to what he expected to be his destiny.
***Bisen vs. Saburo Shinmen***
The two muscular warriors stepped up to the ring simultaneously. Bisen wore a face of determination and concentration, while his one-armed opponent expressed nothing but confidence. After all, Bisen was emitting less energy than a senile old man.
Saburo carefully sized his opponent up, his hand hovering over first the shinai on his shoulder, then the kodachi-bokken at his side. Nodding thoughtfully, he drew the bokken and nodded to Bisen. And thus, it began.
With unexpected speed, Bisen made his way within Saburo's defenses before the kendoist had a chance to react and opened with an uppercut. Saburo just barely dodged it with a back roll, and to Bisen's surprise, Saburo had drawn his other bokken by the time he was back on his feet.
Even more to Bisen, and everyone else's surprise, however, was the way Saburo held his weapons. He was holding both in his only hand; the longer gripped between his index and middle fingers, and the shorter between his ring and little fingers. They were facing away from each other, looking almost like the claw of a crab.
This time, Saburo made the first move. With a burst of speed, he attempted to clamp onto his opponent's neck with the wooden swords, but Bisen easily dodged. As the black-clad warrior stole past the swordsman, he delivered a punch to the gut, forcing the younger to his knees.
"You're faster than you look," Saburo said as he got back to his feet. "But that won't help you against me!" With that, Saburo charged again. This time, he held the handles of both bokken together as one would normally, the longer lower-hand and the shorter upper hand. As he reached Bisen, he swung the lower in a wide cut upwards, which Bisen predictably jumped up to avoid. Again, just as Saburo had expected, Bisen was about to counter with a punch. Alas, it was not to be.
Saburo suddenly changed the direction of his attack to direct his kodachi-bokken, which was much closer to his target, towards Bisen's shoulder. Bisen was forced to jerk his hand back and change momentum to avoid the strike, and hit the ground with a thud.
Wincing slightly as he got to his feet, Bisen rubbed his shoulder and noticed something. Looking down, he noticed that the cloth where he was nearly hit was shredded, and his exposed skin was bruised. Feeling his neck, he noticed that it, too, was bruised. A look of shock appeared on his face, as looked at Saburo and said, "You were planning on killing me from the very beginning!"
"Don't insult me," Saburo said with a frown. "I wouldn't kill someone unless I had to." His countenance lightened. "You just would have been hospitalized for a few months."
Bisen took a more serious stance at this. "It appears that I have underestimated you." Suddenly, he was gone. Unfortunately for the audience, so was Saburo. They reappeared mid-air, Bisen gripping Saburo's hand in an attempt to prevent the kendoist from gaining full use of his weapons. With his free hand, he slammed down on his opponent's arm, and then swung down and kicked his foe in the stomach. Said kendoist and both of his weapons went flying in three different directions.
Saburo quickly jumped back to his feet and got his bearings. He glanced behind him and noticed that he was standing just on the edge of the platform. Just another foot and he could have fallen off! He looked around to find that both of his bokken had been tossed out of the ring just as Bisen touched back down in the center of the arena.
As soon as his feet made contact, Bisen was off again. He charged full speed at Saburo, who deftly jumped over the attack and drew the shinai on his back midair. Bisen simply changed momentum and a split-second later was flying back at his opponent with a jump kick. Saburo sidestepped the attack and quickly delivered a strike to the chest and the back of the head. Bisen, seeing that he needed to regroup, rolled a good distance away from both the swordsman and the edge of the ring. "What's the sudden change in tactics?" he inquired.
Saburo grinned condescendingly. "I'm so glad you asked. You see, the bokken I was using before are great when it comes to power, as that bruise on your neck shows, but crap when it comes to speed." Saburo swung the shinai in a demonstrative arc that Bisen could barely follow. "The shinai, on the other hand, has an excellent speed rating while still retaining a good amount of power."
Now Bisen was nervous. Saburo and Bisen were pretty much keeping up blow for blow up to this point, but now Saburo had at least twice the dexterity. Bisen knew what his next action would have to be: the Jiryuuken, one of the sacred Five Dragon Techniques of Dragon's Cry Martial Arts.
Saburo was done waiting. He approached Bisen with the same speed and ferocity of any of Bisen's previous attacks. Bisen glanced at the timer. 05:13'21.
{Focus is the key,} Bisen thought. {Time is but sand running through my fingers... If I tighten my grip...} Bisen looked up to see that Saburo's advance had slowed. It was still coming quickly, but this was the best Bisen could do. Already he had no time to dodge the attack, and he saw no other way. He tried to lift his fist. It was like moving through molasses. Yelling a battle cry was like trying to breathe underwater. Still, Bisen willed his fist onward. He could feel power course through his arm ever so slowly. After what seemed like an eternity, fist met bamboo.
The weapon was easily broken into two pieces. The one attached to Shinmen's arm would pass by harmlessly, but Bisen could see that the remaining piece was on a collision course with the side of his head. With all of his might, Bisen forced his way away from the sword-turned-projectile through the molasses. He felt the force of it's proximity on the side of his face for what seemed like an eternity, but finally, as he turned in his descent, he saw that he was safe. Several severed black and brown strands of hair seemed suspended in the air in front of his face. He turned a little more to see the bamboo strike the wall. He lost concentration when he saw the bamboo shaft, which was in no way sharp, embed itself several inches into the concrete.
Time sped up again. Bisen rolled back to his feet. Saburo looked down in amazement at the remains of his shinai. Bisen glanced at the timer again, which now read 05:13'58. Smoke rose from Bisen's arm and blood fell from his fist as Saburo dropped his old weapon and drew his real swords, now holding the longer one upper hand and the shorter one lower hand.
"I don't know how you did it, but I'm playing for real now," Saburo challenged.
Bisen's eyes narrowed. "I really don't care what you're playing for," he responded, taking a horse stance. "All I really care about is what I'm playing for: the honor of fighting Kyojin. Everything up to that is just a warm-up." He smiled. "Don't get me wrong, kid; you gave me a run for my money. But in the end, experience is what counts." With that, his visage hardened again. "PERFECT KARYUKEN!" With that, the energy levels that he had been giving off went from "Dying Man" to "Small Star." He was engulfed in bright yellow and red flames. The glass separating the audience from the warriors began to vibrate, as did the very platform on which they fought. "It's over."
Bisen again ran under Saburo's defenses and delivered a punch to the solar plexus. Saburo swung, but Bisen narrowly dodged the attack. Bisen followed up with a snap-kick to the chin, which sent Saburo sprawling. To Bisen's surprise, however, Saburo got back up, spit out some blood, and once again took the offensive. The wide swing was sloppy at best, a sign that the kendoist was tiring. Bisen jumped over it and delivered a double-roundhouse to Saburo's cheek. Instead of letting Saburo go with the blow again, however, Bisen grabbed his opponents arm and used his free arm to deliver another punch to the face. "I said, it's over!" With that, Bisen delivered an elbow to the gut that would have sent Arnold Schwarzenegger crying to his mommy.
Saburo collapsed. "Is this it? Has the mighty Saburo Shinmen bitten the dust? Here's the countdown!"
Bisen looked again at the timer. It read 07:24'45. {Was it really that short?} He wondered. {I can't believe it took six months worth of stored energy just to get past the first round...} He glanced back at his fallen opponent. {I hope I didn't kill him...}
"9... 8..."
Then Bisen noticed a warm red substance obstructing his vision. He put a hand to his forehead to find a gash just above his right eye. {When did this happen? He never even hit me with his sword...} He remembered the shinai. {Could this be from that? Or maybe when he was using the bokken?} Then something else occurred to him.
"5... 4..."
Bisen looked down to find his clothes in tatters and his body completely covered in cuts and bruises. Shaking his head in amazement, he thought, {I wasn't like this right after I destroyed the shinai... Then that means...}
"3... 2..."
{My god! He did that while I was using the Perfect Tatsuken!}
"Ladies and gentlemen, Shinmen is back in the fight!"
"Wha--"
Bisen was unable to complete his sentence as he felt an angry and desperate martial artist tackle him. Bisen was just beginning to get his bearings, and was just about to deliver another set of punches when he noticed that he was neither touching the ground or his opponent anymore. With a thud, he hit the ground just outside of the platform.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I present to you the winner, SABURO SHINMEN!"
The sounds of thousands of action fans applauding the great battle was the last thing Shinmen heard as he passed into the cold comfort of unconsciousness.
***West Lobby***
Tofu just stared at the video screen. A one handed sword fighter... no, a kendoist... and he did all that with one arm? Oh, sure, Tofu had a lot of sword training, even learned some Kendo, but how the heck was he supposed to beat this guy? He decided not to worry about it now. As it turned out, it was Jake's turn to fight.
***Jean Ray vs. Jake Hazuki***
"Jake Hazuki, you have two more minutes! If you don't enter the arena now, you will be disqualified!" The blonde haired inventor wasn't scared... rather, he was making last minute adjustments to his Blaster. He began frantically stuffing his overcoat pockets with casters, hoping that he would have the right ones for the right occasions. If his blaster failed, all he had left was... well, he probably wouldn't have to resort to that. He dashed out to the arena floor. "Fighters... ready, arena... ready... FIGHT!"
"So, you're Jake, huh? Good luck, you're gonna need it!" said a high-pitched, whiny, annoying voice from the other side of the arena. The female fighter was wearing a bright pink shirt, horrid pink jeans, and a jean jacket (pink, of course). What caught Jake off guard, though, was the equally pink blaster that she had just fired at him. He managed to dodge it just in time, and roll off to the right. He quickly pulled a random caster out of his pocket, jammed it into his gun, and fired.
{Hope this works,} he thought. His aim was a bit off. But that was probably for good reason, because where it landed caused an explosion large enough to make a small crater in the pannels of the arena floor.
The resulting explosion also launched Jean straight towards Jake. However, she used him as a springboard, bounding off his chest and landing (somewhat) gracefully on the other side of the arena, stumbling a bit. As Jake regained his balance, he once again had to face his opponent. {Okay, think, Jake... this girl apparently has a weapon almost like yours, and she's not afraid to dismember, decapitate, or kill you. Perfect.}
He rummaged around in his pocket again, turning slightly away from his opponent so she couldn't see. "Hey, are you going to attack, or what?" said Jean, sounding annoyed. Jake loaded one caster into his gun, then held three in his hand. "Okay, you take too long! Take this! Shock Shot!" The attack fit the name... it appeared to be a ball of electricity, which smashed into the unfortunate Jake. Losing control of his body, his gun was flung right out of the ring, and there wasn't any way for him to get it. When the electricity stopped, he was rather fried, but still managed to carry on. "Hey, you should be paralyzed for, like, 30 minutes! No fair!"
"Jeez, I'm not THAT weak..." replied Jake. He reached into the left side of his black overcoat and pulled out some sort of handle to a sword. He twirled it around in his hand, and a flare of energy shot out, much resembling a sword (NOTE: It's not a lightsaber, and I really don't want LucasArts all over my butt about it. I repeat, it's not a lightsaber!!).
"Whoa... what... what's that thing?!" said Jean, looking rather scared.
"It's pretty simple. It's a device that channels the energy of the user into a blade. The more energy you have (it comes in many forms), the stronger and better the blade. Of course, considering my energy, this is more like a knife... but it should still work." Jean was still stunned as Jake rushed up to her and slashed her weapon clean in half. She staggered back, completely confused and scared, and right off of the platform.
"Jake Hazuki is the winner!" said the announcer. Jake sheathed his dagger, leapt off the platform, and picked up his gun. "Great," he said with a dark tone. "This is going to take hours to fix..." Re-entering the lobby, he tossed his energy sword thingy to Tofu. "You might be able to use this in your fight," he said with a smile.
*****
And then, something totally uninteresting happened. A fight. Between boring, weak people. Now, back to your regularly broadcasted brutality.
***West Lobby***
"Tofu Sushi and Dan Suder, please report to the competition floor!"
Tofu was sitting in the corner, still trying to figure out how the heck Jake's energy sword worked. Jake had rushed off to fix his Blaster, leaving Tofu clueless about how to make the stupid thing work. He flicked it, he twisted it around, he tried a bunch of different motions... none of them worked. What was worse, the cameras didn't record how the heck Jake did it in the first place. He slammed it into the table with a little more force than intended, and split the table in two. Noticing the gazes from everyone else in the lobby, he said "Uh, I'll pay for it later..." That's when he heard his name called. He checked that he had his weapons. Two shinai, one on his left and right sides, the energy sword tucked into his belt, and a BFS (Big Fat Sword) strapped to his back. He also had two specially made wooden swords as well, and a katana (which he didn't plan to use) for effect.
With that, the 16 year old stepped into the arena. His dark, brown, and strangely spiky hair was tied into a small ponytail at the back. He wore a dark green shirt with "S.T.A.R.S." on the back in white lettering, and some jeans. He acually looked like he had gotten lost and walked into the arena by accident. He turned to face his opponent.
***Tofu Sushi vs. Dan Suder***
Dan Suder looked at his right arm, sweat dripping down his head. He was totally unsure of what to expect in his battle, knowing he could rely only on his recent workout sessions and a certain ally.
Tofu began to have his doubts. He had a weird feeling about this guy... almost like a sixth sense. He could sense two organisms... no, that can't be right. There was only one person standing there, but still....
"Begin!" shouted the announcer as the buzzer rang out. Tofu sorted through his weaponry. "Best not to kill him..." he said quietly. "Ah, here we go!" He drew one of his custom wooden swords. It was very thin, only about 1' or so in width, but it looked very strong, and capable of doing some damage. {Better just start with one,} he thought. {If I use two, I might make a mistake... and I don't want to do that this early in the match.} With that thought, he charged his opponent, striking downwards towards his opponent's left arm.
Very aware at that point that weapons were allowed in the battle, Dan Suder flung his left arm down and away, the attacking stick merely grazing his skin. One swift movement afterwards, Dan Suder tore a foot long metal crowbar from his shin, quickly holding it up in his left hand.
"All right. Let's fight!" he yelled as he took a defensive position.
"I think I know how he plans to use that," said Tofu, stepping back a bit. He wasn't totally sure how well the guy could fight with a crowbar, so he readied his sword, hoping that it was strong enough to withstand a blow from the blunt object. {Okay, just have to figure out how he attacks,} he thought, still nervous. He decided to wait for his opponent to attack.
Dan Suder, noticing his opponent's mild surprise at the sudden appearance of another weapon, quickly flung the crowbar at Tofu. Although it missed him, it smashed the wooden sword next to him with enough force to send splinters flying. Tofu whipped out another sword, circled around to Dan's back, and swung it at him, hitting him on the back of the head with the dull edge. This sent Dan staggering foward a bit, but otherwise it didn't affect him too much. While Dan turned around, Tofu charged at him. Dan also realized what he had to do. Raising his right arm into a defensive position, Dan charged his opponent.
Tofu couldn't figure out exactly what he was trying to do. Before Dan could smash into him, he decided to jump straight into the air- much higher than a normal person. Unfortunately, Dan saw this, and grabbed his left leg, smashing him into the arena floor.
Dan Suder looked at the fallen Tofu. {What amazing dexterity this kid has,} thought Suder as Tofu struggled to get back up. Suddenly, Suder heard another whispering in his ear, and he quickly slammed his right arm into the now upright Tofu's chest. A loud thud came of this action, and Tofu careened across the arena, landing precariously close to the edge. Suder stared in the direction of his fazed opponent, then at his arm. {Not a scratch,} he thought, {at least, not on me.}
{How did he do that?} thought Tofu, clutching his chest. {He's a lot stronger than he looks. Or is he?} He knew he had to do something to stay away from the edge, so he dashed at his opponent. His plan was to try to hurt his opponents right arm; there was something about that one arm. Instead of using his wooden sword, however, he holstered it and pulled out his katana. He readied it for a downward slash. {I hope this works,} he thought.
The finely sharpened katana plummeted towards Dan Suder's right arm. The blade connected with full force, but suddenly halted in its downward advance. While the blade was deeply imbedded in Suder's right arm, to be sure, but there was no blood. Frowning at the very peculiar events, Tofu quickly attempted to pull his weapon out of his opponent's arm. The blade, however, was very much stuck. Suddenly, Suder's arm contracted, warped, then suddenly sent the stuck blade flying in the reverse direction it had traveled, stabbing Tofu deeply in his right shoulder, sending blood oozing into the surrounding clothes. The opponent reeled back and collapsed, in shock at the sudden proceedings more than from pain. Suder merely looked on in worry, wondering what his damaged opponent would do next.
{Yup... something weird about that arm,} thought Tofu. With a bit of effort, he pulled the sword out, ignoring the look on his opponent's face. {Gotta focus...} The bleeding from his arm stopped almost instantly. It didn't heal, but at least he could focus on the fight instead. Jumping to his feet, he once again readied his katana. Charging his opponent, he yelled, "Tenseiken Slash!"
Tofu attacked his opponent in earnest, his katana slashing from the lower left. But in one graceful movement, Suder's right arm, seemingly moving on its own accord, literally reached out and grabbed the blade. This time, the arm yanked the weapon out of Tofu's hands, snapping into two pieces.
Things were getting hopeless for Tofu. He tried his last form of attack- he pulled out the energy sword from earlier, and finally got it to work. It was getting hard to focus because of the pain, but that didn't matter anymore. He didn't care if he won or lost, if he lived or died, or anything of the sort... just that he proved himself, that he could prove that he wasn't as weak as others thought he was. {This is for you, dad.} A bright green aura surrounded him, and began to flow off of his body like sand in the wind. "TENSEIKEN SLASH!!" he again yelled as he drew ever closer to his opponent.
And so Dan Suder did the only thing he could do.
He ran.
Unprepared for any sort of cowardice from his seemingly stalwart opponent, Tofu's furious slash went broad, hitting thin air. Suder turned about in that same instant, slamming his right arm into Tofu's chest again. But Tofu's aura protected him from the strike, and the energy blade came down again, shearing Suder's left shin. Suder winced, but somehow managed to strike again with his right arm, smashing Tofu in the head with a balled up fist.
Tofu went down, unconcious, but still alive. Nearby, the energy blade deactivated with a quiet hum.
Likewise, Suder finally let out a howl of pain, and collapsed gripping his damaged leg.
As blood ran from Suder and Tofu's wounds, the crowd roared with applause, and the announcer happily annouced the end to the round.
Winner: Dan Suder
*****
Corianna unsheathed her sword and wiped the remaining blood from her last meal off of it. The rubies in the pather's eyes that sat on the handle of the word glistened in the light. Although it looked heavy, Corianna practiced with it like it was a feather in her hand. She practiced with her whip also... Hime came running at her and threw a chair at her. Every time she threw the chair directly at Cori, Cori whipped her whip, caught the chair and flung it out of her way with lightning speed. There were about three chairs in there that she destroyed before being satisfied with her slick motions.
"Corianna MacNullen..."
*****
Phillip Xerxes looked out onto the ring floor. He didn't know what to expect from his opponent, but knew that from her demenor that she was not one to trifle with. Xerxes steeled himself, sure that he was ready for any challenge...
***Phillip Xerxes vs. Corianna MacNullen***
{What a pansey,} Corianna thought as she looked at Xerxes. She was in a slaugtering mood. Taking a silent stance she flapped her dragon wings behind her and held out her RBS (Really Big Sword) to the insignificant being in front of her. She smiled wickedly as she formed her red aura of defense, then lunged at him.
Phillip Xerxes smirked as his obviously mad opponent charged him. Sure that the Division 3 Agents had already tracked him down, Xerxes knew it was pointless to hide his powers. Concentrating hard, Xerxes head suddenly made a vague cracking noise, and deep lines appeared on his face. With a woosh and a dull thrashing noise, Xerxes' head suddenly changed into three blades, each half the size of his opponent's weapon.
Connected to a stock that Xerxes was in full control of, two of the newly appeared blades countered Corianna's attack with a strangely guttural clang.
"Touche!" bellowed Xerxes from a new mouth.
{Hmmm,} thought Corianna as the blades met her sword. {He may not be easy.} "Shing!" went her other hand as massive sharp claws came shooting out. "Two can play this game, metal-head!" she said as her claws met his arm and dug in and out quickly.
{Damn!} Phillip Xerxes screamed mentally. With a newly formed eye Xerxes surveyed the damage, which he found only to be a disgusting mess of flesh and blood. His arm still worked, however. Snarling inwardly, Xerxes flashed his third "blade" down and around, knocking Corianna's claws away from any sort of ready stance.
Mere milliseconds afterwards, one of the two blades that was countering the vampire's RBS morphed into a very sharp tunefork, effectively holding the opposing metal in its V-shaped blade. The other blade moved just as quickly, but as soon as the blade tried to come at her, her alacrity kicked in and she flapped her great wings at the mutant. The first flap made her soar up out of his way and made him fall back.
But Xerxes knew his opponent had a few more tricks up her sleeve. He moved his two non-occupied blades back into a defensive position, just as Cori swung again at him and slashed at his shoulder.
Phillip Xerxes fell back from the attack, slashing his two blades forward to counter it. The RBS now removed from his third blade, he reformed it into a more plausable weapon, and sent all three blades into an attack against his opponent's right wing.
This guy was really pissing Corianna off. She shrieked as the three blades swung at her and seared her stomach a bit. This pissed her off more and her eyes glowed red. She inhaled another shriek and blew a heavy, large flame, aiming it at the mutant's three blades.
As the blast of fire came spewing out of his opponent's mouth, Xerxes' very cellular structure quivered, and he toppled over, totally unable to move. His body twitching in shock, Xerxes finally gave in, and his whole body went slack. The blades and their connecting stocks withered as well.
Winner: Corianna
Corianna let out a high, piercing laugh and pushed him off the platform. "You fool!" she hissed. The paramedics came in and dragged his body away, declaring that he was still alive.
*****
Some more fighting happened. But it wasn't really that great, so we'll skip to the next fight.
***East Lobby***
"Hey, Herbert! You're up!" said one of the WMAF flunkies that happened to be in the Lobby.
"That's Urthcrusher to you, shrimp!" replied one freakishly-muscular giant in a black gi. "It can wait a second- I just gotta finish my exercises." With that, he applied what seemed to be a friendly pat to the wooden training dummy in front of him- and completely shattered the thing.
Mirsky cocked an eyebrow at that. "Luke, if you fail as usual, I am going to disown you."
Luke Masterson frowned. "Of course, master."
***Luke Masterson vs. Urthcrusher***
"Ladies and GENTLEMEN! May I present, the WMAF's very own champion, URTHCRUUUUSHER!" the announcer exclaimed into his microphone. "His punch has been measured to a record-breaking 500 kilos! All of the experts give him the greatest odds for being the champion of this very tournament!"
Urthcrusher stepped out onto the platform, rallying his hundred of fans as Luke entered quietly, standing completely still in the center of the arena.
"FIGHT!"
With that, Urthcrusher spun around and smashed his fist straight into Luke's face. Luke tottered back, but then rebounded to an upright position, sending Urth straight onto his backside.
"Why you--" Urth sprung back to his feet, and this time sent a side-kick straight into Luke's shoulder. Luke again leaned out with the blow, and again he returned to his former position.
This time, Urth caught himself. "FINAL PUNCH!" he cried, sending a... well, earth-crushing left at Luke. Instead of going with the blow, however, Luke side-stepped the attack, reaching out with his right and hovering it just under Urth's still-moving fist.
The audience could hardly believe what happened next: Luke moved his hand under and up, moving Urth's own arm into an armlock as if by some invisible force. Urth looked up incredulously as Luke raised both arms, almost as if the moment was frozen in time.
Suddenly, Luke swung his arms down, and Urth was smashed into the floor by his left shoulder socket. The tiles around him shattered, and blood flew from his mouth and chest.
All was silent for the next few moments. Luke slowly walked towards the edge of the arena as the head physician rushed up to check the status of the WMAF's star fighter.
"Omigod-" was all he could manage before losing his lunch. Wiping his mouth clean, he looked helplessly at the announcer. "H- his chest cavity was imploded by the force of the blow... As far as I can tell... his internal organs have been crushed!"
One could hear one of the fans drop their drink as Luke made his way back to his lobby.
***West Lobby***
"The death toll keeps on rising," said Dave quietly. Jake, Amanda, and Tofu nodded their consent to this comment. "Guess he just doesn't understand that you have to have more than physical power to be a good fighter, the poor fool. No speed... no agility... he was too busy making himself look important to notice what was going on. Ah, well. Good night, guys." Dave quietly made his way out of the lobby and back to the hotel.
"I have to go," said Kenji. And with that, he did.
***East Lobby***
Mirsky was gone by the time Luke made his way back.
*****
Tofu wandered into the lobby where his friends were sitting. They were all watching the highlights of the day's fights, including, of course, Tofu's. Instead of anger, he looked quite happy.
"Aren't you dissapointed?" asked Amanda, gulping down a Jolt cola.
"Eh, the best fighter won," he replied as he turned his head back towards the screen, patiently watching. There was something about him, though. He seemed almost happy, even though he had lost the fight (and the prize money).
{I'll never understand him,} she thought.
***11:37 P.M.***
Amanda caught Tofu sitting on the roof of the hotel. "It's about your father, isn't it? I've never seen you fight like that before."
Tofu let out a weak sigh. "I always looked up to him, you know? He was the best swordsman in town. Why did he have to die that way... it doesn't make sense. If I had just done something--"
"What could you have done? You were five years old! You can't change the past, but you can change the future. I think it's time you stop blaming yourself for something that was completely out of your control. I mean, look at me. Some bad things have happened, but I've learned to cope with it... and you need to cope with your problems, too." Amanda leapt off the building on to the top of another one.
"Where ya' going?" yelled Tofu.
"I've got some stuff to take care of," she yelled back, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
"I hate to admit it, but she's right," said Tofu quietly as he walked back to the stairs leading back inside. He looked around quickly, then headed off in the direction of Amanda. {She's up to something,} he thought, {and I've got a bad feeling about it.}
***Later that night***
"I should not have waited so long to finish this." Kenji stared warily into Mirsky's eyes. The two stood off in the deserted alley, having homed in on each other's energy signatures and converging on the spot.
"Ha! Idle threats," Mirsky shrugged. "Twice now you have had the chance, and twice you have failed. Now, you will never have the chance again." He glanced around. "Besides, your cat is no where in sight. How do you expect to win without him around?"
"The time for talking is passed! Mirsky, Luke is the last wrong you will ever make!" With that, he charged.
*****
Mirsky sighed as he limped out of the alleyway. "It would be to easy to kill you know, old enemy." He glanced back for a moment, before adding, "Soon, though. Very soon."
*****
The following day, a worried Nicole returned to her lobby to watch the battles. She hadn't seen Kenji since he had run off to do God-knows-what. Just then, the day's fights were announced on the bulletin screens.
***Hime vs. Dave Ryo***
{Hime? What kind'f a name is Hime?} thought Dave as he headed to the entrance. Once again, Ryo walked out onto the arena floor, but nothing could have prepared him for his enemy. {A... a panther?!} Indeed, his opponent was an unusually large black panther, but there was something different about the animal besides it's size. He couldn't quite figure out exactly what it was, however. He had seen the animal with the vampire, but he didn't think it would accually fight.
He readied himself in a tiger stance, and waited for the opening bell. {This is incredibly weird,} he thought to himself, as the panther stared at him menacingly.
Hime growled low and her aura of pure evil and darkness cloaked her so that she almost disappeared. Walking stealthly to Ryo she bared her fangs in warning and slashed a claw of foot-long claws at him.
Before the sharp blade-like claws could touch Dave's skin, however, a wave of ki pushed the panther back, much to it's suprise. Dave took a variation of his old Tiger Stance, but with his hands lower than usual (for obvious reasons). He fired off a quick, light blue ki blast, which headed straight for the aggrivated Hime.
Hime's alacrity kicked in and she flew into the air, dodging the ki. She landed behind Dave as he spun around. As she fired her flame at him, Dave did the first thing he thought of... he covered his face.
A few moments later, the flame ran out, and a blue aura could be seen through the smoke. Despite his clothes being ripped, torn, and burned, he seemed okay. However, his legs had suffered heavy burns, most likely because of the cargo shorts.
{This really is not a normal panther... I gotta do something before one of us, most likely me, gets seriously hurt,} thought Dave. The blue aura started to shift to one of his damaged legs. {Maybe this'll work,} he thought. {But if it doesn't... I've already accomplished what I came here to do.} With a yell of "LEAPORD STRIKE KICK!" he sent a ki-charged foot at Hime.
As fast as the ki-leg came at Hime, she charged at it and clamped down her fangs onto it. Both man and beast screamed in pain. This kick wasn't the average one. Hime stumbled back in pain, ripping a chunk of foot. Dave stumbled back but went in again with another Leopard Kick and this time was met with more fire. He quickly covered his face but collapsed. Hime hungrily circled the body but didn't bite. Instead, she took one huge paw and swiped Dave clear off the platform.
"Hime wins!"
But Hime didn't hear it. She lept off the platform and nudged Dave. He was alive and she was satisfied with this. "Nice fight, human," she hissed and licked his legs, which healed his burns. She then slipped into the shadows of the lobby.
*****
"I'm telling you, Tofu, that thing talked to me!" said Dave to his friend who had a rather strange look on his face.
"For some reason, I believe you," replied Tofu. "That's not an ordinary panther. Plus, the woman it's with... she's not very normal, either."
Dave just muttered to himself. "Still, I can't believe I lost to a... panther...." He kicked around the sushi in front of him with his chopsticks, and then perked up a bit. "No use moping about it. Sure, it's a lot of money, sure, I lost to an animal of all things, but I've got other things to worry about."
***Kevin Front vs. The Crimson Ninja***
"Ladies and gentleman, may I have your attention please?" called out the announcer to the excited crowd. "Our next fight is between Kevin Front and the man simply known as the Crimson Ninja!" The crowd responded with deafening cheers.
Kevin took his spot in the ring and began to calmly gather his ki. His opponent also made his way to the fighting area, dressed in a bright red ninja outfit. Kevin was surprised when discovered that he couldn't sense the ninja's thoughts. {This is not good. I'll have to really focus for this one.}
The moment the bell rang, Kevin propelled himself at ki-boosted speeds across the ring. The ninja tried to block against his opponent's fist, but was not fast enough. Taking a blow to the face, he reeled back. He didn't even have time to recover as a double-punch was delivered to his gut. It was followed by a sweep that almost took out his legs, but he managed to jump up and over Kevin. Kevin spun around to face the ninja and lashed out with a jab to the face, his hand covered in a knife-like aura. "Dachiken!"
The Crimson Ninja tilted his head to the left, but the attack still grazed the side of his mask, causing it to tear and fall off, revealing...
"KYOJIN!" Hiroshi bellowed from the crowds, having decided to watch this fight personally. In their room, Bisen spewed out the water he had been drinking.
{This is him?} though Kevin nervously. {This is Geppu-sensei's rival?} He gulped. If this really was Kyojin, then Kevin was in a lot of trouble. Nevertheless, he was honorbound to continue the match. Deciding to use his ace in the hole, he began to probe his opponent's mind, trying to learn his fighting habits.
The unmasked fighter grinned. "So, found me out, eh? Well, I congratulate you. Too bad that knowledge won't help you." With that, he delivered a barrage of rapid kicks to his opponent's front (no pun intended... okay, so there was).
"Wha-? He's not...," was all Kevin got out before he was thrown across the ring by the force of the onslaught. Fortunately, he wasn't knocked off, but he did find himself spralled on his back near the edge. "Ow..."
Hiroshi broke out of his angry glare suddenly. {Wait a sec... that's not the Sen Ryuu Boki. It may be fast, but the energy's focused all wrong.} His suspicions grew as "Fuante" began to gather his ki between his palms, preparing for a ki blast. {That's not Kyojin's aura! That's... not even ki! Who is that guy?}
Kevin did a backwards handstand and flung himself up into the air, narrowly avoiding being fried. Landing on his feet, he just barely managed to jump over a second blast. "You...," he stammered, "you're not even human! You're brain patterns are completely off!"
His opponent glared, his secret being discovered. "You're full of surprises, aren't you? It turns out you're right." With a burst of smoke, Fuante was gone. In his place was what appeared to be a boy about Kevin's age. He looked human, aside from the fox ears protruding from the top of his head and the nine bushy red tails he sported at the small of his back. He was dressed in shaggy, yellow robes. The crowd gasped
"You're a demon!"
The boy smiled. "We prefer the more politically correct term 'playful spirit'. I am Akaro, two-thirds kitsune and one-third incubus. As you can see, most of my physical attributes come from my mother's side." He fondled his left ear. "Well, since my disguise is gone, allow me to show you my true power! Wild Demon Firestorm!" From his mouth came a blast of flames, which expanded and quickly filled up the entire arena. There were screams from the audience as they realized what must have happened to Kevin. "Heh, that was easy." Akaro smirked. That was when he noticed a pale white glow emanating from the edge of the ring. "Huh?"
Kevin was there, still standing and fixing a cold stare at Akaro. "I read your mind and I know about kitsune. Those flames are nothing but illusions." As if to make his point, he waved his hand over the ring and the fire was instantly extinguished. "You shouldn't have tried that trick on a telepath." Glancing over at Hiroshi in the crowd, he smiled. {Sensei, I hope you like my new technique.} Turning back to Akaro, he began to let his aura seep out of his body and into the rest of the ring. "Bakedan Special Attack: Kappa Kaze Ken!" Intensifying his ki, he filled up the ring with his pale aura, which created a most effective smokescreen.
Akaro looked wildly about, trying to make out his opponent's location. Suddenly he felt a pain in his stomach which was followed by the sensation of flying backwards and out of the ring. When the "mist" cleared, Kevin was standing alone, his fist extended. He was also breathing heavily. Apparently he used all his ki reserves for that attack. Panting, he fell to his knees.
Winner: Kevin Front
***Alex Harper VS. Amanda Yenah***
{No way...} thought Amanda. It was the same guy she had met the night before. Amanda headed out onto the arena floor, ready to face another opponent. This time she wore a green shirt with a black tank-top over it, and dark blue jeans. As she turned to face her opponent, there was something very odd about him that she hadn't noticed before. It wasn't anything that had to do with ki, but something else...
Amanda didn't have too wait long to find out. Almost instantly, half his clothes were ripped off as grew to a size about twice as big as before, and lunged straight for her throat. The only think holding him back was the staff that she was holding in her hands... her opponent was a werewolf. He slashed at her clothes, shredding her tank-top. {If I don't get this guy off me, it's going to be flesh instead of cloth...}
She kicked him off, then smacked him away with her staff. "I thought werewolves only appeared at night!" she yelled, worried.
Then Alex started to... talk? "No... wrong... help...." he growled before beginning another attack, ripping open Amanda's shoulder. With a grunt of pain, she leapt back, then sent three quick ki blasts into the werewolves face. Alex staggered back, confused and hurt. "Must... hurt... no... Amanda...." The best growled slowly.
{How can I take him down without hurting him?} Alex lunged at Amanda again, but that's when she found her opening. She made a quick slash across her opponent's face with her claws, sending him sprawling to the ground in pain. As he got up, she found her opening. She charged her opponent, ending in a sort of pounce that carried them both out of the ring, but with Alex landing out of the ring before Amanda. The blow rendered Alex unconscious, and his body went limp.
"Amanda Yenah is the winner!!" was the announcement as the audience roared with (confused) applause. Amanda was confused, as well. {That's interesting... last night wasn't a full moon... and I don't think tonight is... so, how did...} She decided it was something that needed more research anyway, as she evaded the medical teams as she made her way back to the lobby.
***Xim vs. Mark I***
Mark I stepped silently into the ring, eyeing his slugishly moving opponent. Becoming impatient, Mark I moved his hand to his side, fumbling with the device inside of his pocket. Hoping the act gave him some semblance of good luck, Mark I took a ready stance. On the opposite end, Xim began moving even more sluggishly. Mark I raised his eyebrow. Did the creature somehow know his plan? The superhuman shook the idea off. After all, the thing was barely self-aware...
The announcer buzzed the round into a start, and the crowd roared with anticipation.
Mark I took off immediatly, charging toward his opponent. Xim looked at the charging figure with what looked like curiousity, then slowly began moving away, turning its back at the charging figure.
Mark I immediatly skidded to a halt, and, using his reversed momentum, dived away. In that same moment, Xim's body initiated a literal turnaround; face became back of the head, limbs reversed, et cetera. The unisex clothes Xim wore adapted to the sudden reversal easily, and just as easily Xim morphed its limbs into the all too memorable blades, slashing with intent to kill.
Mark I managed to manuever in and out of the deadly attacks, striking with inhuman power as he went. Xim's limbs reared back at each attack, and slowly the deadly assortment of attacks was reduced to uncoordinated slashes.
Aware of its failing, Xim moved its damaged limbs back to it's body, staring in a mix of fear and anger at its opponent.
Sensing victory (or something close to it), Mark I prepared to commence another charge- only to loose all feeling in his right leg.
The superhuman collapsed with a cry of surprise, then struggled to regain control, pumping his body to increase the blood flow.
As Mark I went down, Xim moved in to strike. Mark I, flailing like a fish out of water, looked on in dread as his extra-terrestrial opponent morphed its very head into an assortment of blades. Just as quickly as they appeared, the new blades slashed at their downed target.
With mere milliseconds to think, Mark I rolled out of the attack, the area beside him clanging with a sharp ring as the blades collided with it. Knowing his time was running out, Mark I desperatly moved his hand into his pocket, gripping the device with nary a thought on how to use it.
Xim's blades reared back from the failed strike. Intent on finishing off its opponent as soon as possible, Xim moved its arm blades up to strike with its head blades. With a thought, all the blades slashed down at its opponent.
As the deadly blades careened down, feeling abrubtly returned to Mark I's leg. Immediatly Mark I leapt away, evading the blades. Without another thought, the superhuman jumped onto the reeling figure of Xim.
The extra-terrestrial being swayed back and forth as its opponent clung around its neck. Having been caught completely by surprise, Xim never thought to simply morph its back into a sheet of deadly blades. Instead, it swung its blades to and fro, attempting in vain to reach Mark I.
Mark I viewed Xim's acts of seeming ineptness without much humor. He knew that, at any moment, Xim would come to its wits and tear him to shreds. Working quickly, Mark I pulled the device he had been keeping in his pocket out. It was a small injector, fitting nicely in the palm of his hand. In a connected container there was a strage, greenish-red substance. At the front of the device, a thick injector point protruded. With nary a thought, Mark I plunged the injector into the still flailing Xim. Moving his head to Xim's ear, he muttered, "Go back to hell, you monster." Mark I pulled the trigger, and the odd colored fluid flowed into the Parasyte.
Xim's body convulsed as the liquid swam into it. Slowly, molecule by molecule, Xim literally crumbled. Within moments, what was an undefeatable killing machine was reduced to fine powder.
Mark I stood over his defeated opponent, holding the injector with great pride. Sadly, his body chose that moment to loose all feeling in his head area, and with it his whole body collapsed.
The crowd erupted with cheers, drowning out the end-game buzzer and the annoucer's words.
Winner: Mark I
***Ryuu vs. Saburo Shinmen***
Saburo maintained a somewhat relaxed stance, but in truth he was very tense. He had seen what this Ryuu character could do in a fight, and to make matters worse Ryuu wasn't hiding his ki one bit. Saburo was feeling everything Ryuu was made of... and it wasn't helping. The moment the bell rang, Saburo flung his bokken out boomerang-style. Not only that, but after Ryuu quickly ducked under the attack, the blade returned to its master's hand.
Ryuu smiled. "Not bad. You almost had me." He sighed. "I guess this robe is slowing me down." Utilizing his control over the wind that he had shown earlier, Ryuu shredded his outer garment. The crowd gasped.
"That's the real Kyojin!" Hiroshi growled to himself. He turned on Bisen. "You! You knew about him!"
"Of course I did," came the calm reply. "I'm not blind, you know."
Back in the ring, Fuante began to once again gather gale forces about his body. With a menacing yet calm voice he spoke. "You've defeated Bisen. Though your victory was due to his carelessness, you still won. I will not go easy on you."
Saburo resolved himself. "Very well." With a strong, downward stab, he thrusted his shinai into the ground, causing a fissure to run across, splitting the ring in two. "I WON'T HOLD BACK EITHER!" Leaping into the air, he resumed his staff-formation of the bokken and shinai, whirling them like a helicopter.
Fuante did not enter the air, but instead fires off two wind blades. Realizing the strength of the blades, Saburo did not engage but turned his body and slid in-between them, landing on his feet. Wasting no time, he slashed out with his bokken, which was caught by Fuante's fist.
"Wha-?" gasped Saburo. "That should have taken your hand off." It was then that he noticed the trickles of blood seeping out from Fuante's knuckles. "You're quite good."
"I should hope so," Fuante grunted. With a moan of pain, he moved his arm forward, pushing Saburo back. "Shinsei na Kyuu!" His trademark white beam of ki shot forth from his bloodied hand.
Saburo barely managed to regain his balance before he was forced to leap to his right. Quickly discarding his two wooden weapons, he unsheathed his katana and lobbed it like a spear at his opponent, hoping to strike the shoulder and disable the arm.
A brief image of Luke and his last fight flashed in Fuante's mind. Time seemed to slow down as his thoughts raced. {I can't fight Luke. My own heavy fist will meet his and one of our deaths will follow. Saburo, you have to do it.} Normal time resumed and Fuante shifted his body to the left, changing the katana's destination.
"No!" Saburo yelled as Fuante was harpooned through the stomach. As Fuante fell to the floor, Saburo rushed to his side. "Why did you do that?" he asked so that no one else could hear.
Coughing up blood, Fuante grinned. "I'll be fine." He coughed a few more times, spraying Saburo's gi. "You'll do us proud... kid."
As the medics rushed into the ring, Saburo fell to his knees and threw up.
***Jake Hazuki vs. "Python"***
Once again, Jake was late for his fight. As he walked in, he didn't see who he was supposed to fight.
Jake looked around for his opponent. For some reason, he didn't see the guy. "Fight!" yelled the announcer. Jake was still confused, however... his opponent was nowhere to be found. He heard a gunshot ring out, and before he knew it, he had a tranquilizer in his arm.
"That's unusual," he said out loud. Jake heard the announcer choke down a laugh. He knew he didn't have too much time before it would take effect, but that's when he noticed something... a single cardboard box sitting in the corner of the arena.
{Did that thing just move, or was it my imagination?} thought the weary Jake. Either way, it was his only chance. He raised his weapon, and fired off a single caster, knocking the box out of the arena.
"Jake Hazuki is the winner!" Not sure what had just happened, Jake made his way over to the edge of the arena. He was pretty suprised... his opponent, "Python," was inside it, his foot hanging out and touching the ground.
"Honestly... what kind of moron would use a cardboard box as cover?" said Jake before collapsing.
(Author's Note: All you Metal Gear fans out there, please don't kill me. I'll give you a cookie if you don't.)
***Dan Suder vs. Corianna MacNullen***
Dan Suder stepped into the ring. His head pounded, his eyes bulged... his leg flared. His attacked shin still stung like mad. No matter what the medics in the Omega Tournament infirmary had done, it hadn't been enough to alleviate his agony. Attempting futily to brush the pain aside, Dan Suder raised his right arm in anticipation of his upcoming opponent.
Fully powerful and just as hungry as her panther, Corianna swept into the ring, her sword glowing and her claws shining in the light. {Mmmm, a tasty man!} she thought and glided toward him, her muscles bulging in her boots. Dan swore he saw the glint of fangs slightly bared at him. "Grr... Come get me, big boy!" she sneered.
Dan Suder visably rocked back and forth at the sight of his blood-thristy opponent. After viewing the fight between Phillip Xerxes and Corianna, Suder knew he was in big trouble. With the knowledge that defeat was looming before him, if not death, Dan Suder raised his right arm even higher, and charged his opponent.
Practically drooling at the thought of eating this pathetic looking man, Corianna caught the arm in her claws and twisted her arm to throw Suder down to the ground. His body gave a funny crunching sound but he leaped back up again, relatively unfazed physically by the attack, but mentally shattered.
It was all too obvious that his opponent could easily crush him if she intended to do so. Hoping that the fact that killings resulting in the loss of the prize money would hinder such an act, Suder raised his right arm again in a defensive gesture.
"Tasty." Before Dan knew what was happening, Corianna bit into his arm with her sharp fangs and tore a big chunk of it.
Dan Suder screamed as the creature began gnawing on his arm. In fact, he nearly ran out of breath doing the act. But Suder wasn't worried about his arm; he was more worried about a side attack. Still screaming as the vampire chewed rather happily on his arm with razor sharp teeth, Suder make a quick check with his still active eyes to see what else the creature had planned. As far as he could tell, nothing.
Apparently Suder's "friend" noticed that as well, as a small voice quietly said into his ear, "Lose." Obeying the order with relief, Suder made a gasping noise, which was hardly half-hearted, as a second later blood began gushing out of the area of chewage that Corianna had created. Rearing back in a vague shock, Corianna looked intensely confused as to why the blood hadn't began flowing the moment she bit down.
Knowing his opponent was quite the vampire, and in that that blood would only increase her killing spirit, Suder collapsed with another scream onto the ground. With that, he felt a slight imbalance in his body (no doubt caused by his "friend"), and he fell into unconciousness. As the annoucer declared Corianna the winner and the crowd roared with cheers and/or boos, the vampire could merely stare in shock at the collapsed figure of Suder. She had been expecting a better match...
Winner: Corianna
***Mike O'Farrel vs. Luke Masterson***
Mike and Luke stepped up simultaneously, Mike shaking in his boots and Luke seeming both enraged and ecstatic at the same time.
"Look, as soon as the buzzer goes off, I'll just jump out of the ring!" Mike said, hands raised in surrender. "This is an easy win! I sure as hell don't want to fight you!"
Luke only smiled.
"FIGHT!"
Mike spun around, running full force for the edge of the platform. "I made it!" he exclaimed, jumping off at full force.
"NO!" Luke flung his arms out, and a wave of dark energy shot straight at his opponent. By the time Mike hit the ground, he was a pile of dust.
As was with his second fight, the arena was in total silence. An aura of absolute evil pervaded the arena- a baby began to cry, and several of the spectators ran from the stands. Luke noticed none of this.
***LOCATION: Classified***
A team of elite soldiers a mile away from the Omega Tournament peered intently into their spy monitors in a dark and hidden van. Unbeknownst to the fighters of the Tournament, secret cameras littered the arenas and halls, allowing for silent and effective espionage to take place. As Luke Masterson took to the ring against his opponent, the soldiers readied their recording instruments.
Suddenly, just as quickly as the fight began, it was over, with Luke's opponent being vaporized into nothingness. The soldiers glanced at each other, but in what mood was impossible to discern from their stern faces. They recorded the killing, making special note of it...
***West Lobby***
"That's... what, three?" said Tofu, drinking a Jolt cola. "Lesee... one was squished, another was stabbed, and this one was incinerated. I can't immagine how much higher the death toll can get. It's incredible how- how you got those knives." He was refering to Amanda, who was presently cutting up a sushi roll into smaller pieces.
"I borrowed them from the bar," was Amanda's reply.
"You mean you stole them," muttered Tofu.
"I heard that. I'll put them back as soon as I'm done," said Amanda angrily. "As long as you're here, can you try this? I need to see if I have a good mix of ingredients."
Tofu picked up one of the now completed sushi rolls. There was something weird about it, but he couldn't pick up on what it was. He tossed it in his mouth and ate it... which was a big mistake. "Excuse me," he said quietly before nearly demolishing the door as he dashed out of the room. Amanda had a confused look on her face while everybody else stared at the now defunct doorway. She turned back to her food, and tried eating one of the rolls.
"Wow, I can understand why he did that... the Green Dragon rolls are WAY too bland." She lauged quietly, and put even more wasabi on the green tinted food. "Perfect!" she said with a smile.
***Somewhere Near the East Coast***
Kenji awoke in the middle of nowhere. He craned his head around, taking in his surroundings. He seemed to be in a farmland of some sort.
He scanned his own body as he slowly moved to his feet; luckily for him, he had slept off all of the damage he had taken from Mirsky. After their fight, Mirsky must have thrown him into the back of a truck or something. Kenji cocked his eyes as he faced westward. He was detecting a high concentration of power in that direction, far off in the distance. The Omega Tournament.
With that, he ran in that direction at a brisk pace.
***WMAF Headquarters***
Johnny Williams, the PR executive of the WMAF, looked worriedly at the latest data on his computer. Sure, the tournament was recieveing record ratings, but interest in the tournament had waned slightly, and the HR guys at the company were notoriously cut-throat. He had to do something to rekindle the ever-fickle audience's interest.
And something was exactly what he was going to do.
***Somewhere in Central America***
Tiger looked up from his dinner. This was the longest and farthest trip he had ever made from his companion. It was refreshing to know that they were beginning to seperate, but now he knew where he had to be.
And so he took off for Los Vegas.
***EDITOR'S NOTES***
The characters Stroppa Mirsky, Mikhail Mirsky, Kenji Nakamura, Tiger, Nicole Peters, Luke Masterson, Bisen, Saburo Shinmen and Mitsuko Shinmen were created by opaj.
The characters Mark I, Xim, Human Tank, Phillip Xerxes, Dan Suder and the government guys were created by Nemesis.
The characters Fuante Kyojin, Suzuko Kyojin, Shinichi Mamono, Hiroshi Geppu, Kevin Front, Akaro, and mysterious guy with sword were created by Spam_BIT.
The characters Corianna and Hime were created by Cain.
The characters Tofu Sushi, Amanda Yenah, Jake Hazuki, Dave Ryo, Rando, Sparkster and Sara Sushi were created by ragingtofu.
The character Kyorei was created by Nabiki.
The character Ukyou Kuonji was created by Rumiko Takahashi.
On to Episode 4: Satsujin(Part 3)
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