Before we begin, I'll make one thing clear – this is NOT a normal fic. In fact, it's a series of one-shots, each one completely unrelated to all the others. They are challenge responses from quite some time ago that I've finally decided to post on FFN for the enjoyment of the greater public, and also as a means to keep my ficcery stored and easily available.

To properly understand the context of Them's Fightin' Words, you'll need to read this introduction. Then it will all make sense, I promise.

The fics themselves were suggestions from other people that I asked for. In early 2004 I began a self-answering challenge on the BBS Of The InterNutter. The challenge in question followed along these lines…

I have been inspired. I also happen to have a lot of spare time, but that's incidental. Anyway, about the inspiration.
We all remember Mer's challenge from not long ago, right? It was simple - name two characters, and she'd do what she does best, which is to have them fall in love. How very sweet. Well, this is a variation on a popular theme. Again, name two characters, and I will do what I do best.
Namely, have them beat the living snot out of one another.

Rules:
1. Two characters are recommended, but I will allow up to six people for group battles. If you want someone involved, you have to name them. I also include groups of non-characters, like FOH or Weapon X soldiers, to be the equivalent one character.

2. I will accept requests on how the fight goes. If you want one person or team to win, say so.

3. Character death is also acceptable. If you want it, order it.

4. Anything you DON'T tell me from rules 2 & 3, I will make up myself. Unless specified, nothing is sacred.
That is all.

The response was enthusiastic, to say the least; I received a list of almost 30 challenges within a few days. I promptly closed off the challenge while I worked diligently over a period of time, not only on these fight scenes, but on my other works. One by one the fics were written and the challenges were met.

However, before I had finished, I lost computer access for a long while, and promptly forgot about the Them's' Fightin' Words challenge. As of May 2006, I've decided to pick up the old threads again and finish off that long list of requests I got such a long time ago.

The following battles are as requested by the denizens of the BBS Of The InterNutter, in accordance with the above rules. Though I wrote them, I didn't come up with the ideas, so if you don't like the way a certain fight pans out – tell it to the judge, not to me. It's not my fault.

Finally, I'll remind you that, as I said, this challenge is actually closed. Reviews are of course welcome, but there's not much point in requesting further fights until I've finished off that original list.

Thanks for reading this intro, and enjoy Them's Fightin' Words.

By the way - there was a severe formatting error with the original copy of these stories. All auto-formatted symbols (the ", ', ... and - symbols) became question marks. I've done my best to repair the damage, but it's entirely possible that at one point or another you'll find a question mark in a strange place. Please don't hold it against me - there's a LOT of work to go through here and it's not really that surprising that I've missed the odd one or two.