There it stands...

The ring. No, make that THE RING. It deserves capitals.

It was just an ordinary wrestling ring until the Rumble Promoters got it up and running...now it is a place of death and destruction. The ropes have been replaced with barbed wire. The posts have been electrified. Every so often, a jet of flame shoots up from the floor.

Of course, that's not the best bit. The floor outside the ring has been replaced by a moat. In the moat: acid (graciously donated by Shao Kahn from his Dead Pool). Of course, that's not enough...so, floating in the depths of the acid, there are large, spiked metal spheres, rigged to explode on contact with any pressure whatsoever.

And, into this torture chamber/sporting place, shall the ultimate test of skill and endurance be taken.

It's participants need fear nothing. (They ARE just video images, after all...)

THE ULTIMATE VIDEO RUMBLE

Section One

The arena was dark. Birdman and Brant stood, looking at it. "It's not much, but in a few hours, Brant, we'll be looking at a huge crowd. How many nodes are expected to attend?"

"So far, ten."

Ten nodes. Big as big gets in the video promotions biz.

"Think we can manage it?"

"Well, with the DT over, we were able to snag a lot of their personnel... we should be able to do just fine."

"Is the pit ready?"

"Yeah, Shao Kahn donated a LOT of acid. Why was he so generous?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't trust him much. Be careful of him."

Shao Kahn was in his dressing room, being attended by Kitana, Mileena, Shang Tsung, Baraka, and Reptile. Kintaro stood mutely over the entire affair, saying nothing, his presence a threat to all who entered.

"Have you prepared your spell, Tsung?"

"Yes, my Kahn. When I cast this spell, we shall all be able to withstand the acid of the moat surrounding the ring..."

"MY acid!"

"Yes, my Kahn, your acid. Since there is no rule preventing us reentering combat once we are thrown out of the ring, we shall dominate this tournament, and use it as your stepping-stone...

"TO THE CONQUEST OF OTHER NODES! Heh. We shall be mighty, hey, Reptile?"

"Yessss, my massster." Reptile's servile talk concealed his true hatred, for both Shang Tsung and the Kahn.

"They must all... PREPARE TO DIE!"

The arena was packed. Over eighty thousand packed this electronic reenactment of Toronto's Skydome. Visible in the crowd were fighters from other nodes, which had not made the cut. The Bloodstormers were busily hacking up the fighters from Power Instinct, who were saying "Oh, no, not again..." The Primal Rage Zoo was a popular attraction among the younger set. White Karate Master toured and waved happily to the crowd. Red Karate Master looked at him from a distance scornfully. In the autograph booths, the likes of Chain, Eagle, and Mr. Big signed busily.

And then the announcer spoke:

"WELCOME TO THE FIRST ULTIMATE VIDEO RUMBLE!"

Cheers from the crowd.

"AND NOW, INTRODUCING THE FIGHTER WHO DREW NUMBER ONE:

JULIUS CARN!" (World Heroes 2 Jet)

Julius Carn couldn't believe his luck. He had been selected first? This was great. Now he could look at all the women as he defeated them. He sat in one ring-corner, then quickly jumped away when he discovered that it was electrified. Who would he humiliate first?

"AND, THE FIGHTER WHO DREW NUMBER TWO:

"ORION!" (Time Killers)

Orion? J. Carn couldn't help feeling let down. As for Orion, he just walked steadily up the gangplank to the ring, jumped over the barbed wire ropes, and ran at Carn.

"LUCKY GLAUBER!" (King of Fighters '94)

Lucky was feeling anything but. Good thing there were lots of surfaces to bounce his basketball off of, anyway.

"SARAH!" (Virtua Fighter)

Sarah? J. Carn was a bit irritated. Couldn't they have sent a more... shapely... woman?

"ERICK!" (World Heroes 2 Jet)

Trudging up to the ring, Erick first smashed all in the ring with a mystic wave from his axe. They all looked at him, dripping wet.

Erick liked being a target. It was more of a challenge.

"T. HAWK!" (Super Street Fighter 2: Turbo)

Sometimes T. Hawk was glad he came from the Street Fighter Node. Heck, if he had come from the Mortal Kombat node, no one would have encouraged him to go out, and fight his best.

He didn't even notice the "fireball me" sign Dee Jay had stuck on his back.

"BILLY KANE!" (Fatal Fury Special)

"Oh well, at least I don't have to fight one of those gigantic monsters..."

"EARTHQUAKE!" (Samurai Showdown 2)

Everybody in the ring stopped fighting for a moment. Earthquake had GAINED WEIGHT since the Dream Tournament.

Billy Kane said, "D'OH!"

"SUB-ZERO!" (Mortal Kombat 2)

"Ground ice. Remember to use the ground ice. It'll hit more of them. Slide's no good here... hmmm, no, that combo's no good..."

"PYRON!" (Darkstalkers)

As Pyron ran to the ring, everybody who was fighting suddenly wondered, "Is it hot in here, or is it just me?"

"DHALSIM!" (Super Street Fighter 2: Turbo)

"Why do I keep doing this? Just because Honda likes it, I go. Man, I'm such a pushover..."

"GORO DAIMON!" (King of Fighters '94)

Goro decided to have a little fun. Just as he was about to enter the ring, he slammed the mat floor with his ground-pound move. Everybody in the ring stumbled but Earthquake, who promptly grabbed Goro and tossed him into the middle of the pack.

Earthquake liked being big...

"AXEL HAWK!" (Fatal Fury Special)

"Hey, Billy! I'm comin' to help you out, man! Don't worry, because we can, like, double-team and stuff!"

"Dear God, first that big fat guy and now this." thought Kane.

"FELICIA!" (Darkstalkers)

Felicia rolled all the way down to the gangplank, up it, and bounced over the barbed-wire ropes.

Then, Sub-Zero said, "Look! It's Sonic the Hedgehog!" and froze her in place.

"JETTA!" (Eternal Champions)

"When you can, enter with an advantage." Jetta murmured to herself. She then used her mental powers to triple her speed and reaction time, and ran like the wind into the ring.

"LAU!" (Virtua Fighter)

Lau walked through the gateway to the gangplank. As he walked down to the ring, someone in the audience yelled, "Hey! Your draw might've sucked, but always remember to keep a STIFF UPPER LIP!" The voice then burst into howling laughter.

Lau shrugged. He never did understand those jokes...

Original Authors
Chris "Birdman" Bird
Bob "Boobwod" Wood
Brant Rogers