Round 2

Orochimaru vs Deadpool

Orochimaru thrust one of his snake-arms toward Deadpool, tripping him like a lightening bolt. Just as quickly the assassin jumped to his feet, skipped over the other snake-arm, and went into a spinning kick that knocked Orochimaru through a display window and into a heap of stuffed animals where a sign proclaimed, "Best Savings of the Year!!"

Deadpool took this opportunity to catch his breath.

"Sorry you all had to come in on the middle of the action," he apologized, "but you didn't really miss much. Death-by-Chocolate announced the start of the round and we ran around for a bit trying to find each other. When we did meet there was the necessary banter of insults: I said he looked like the walking dead and he said I looked like a clown. Since we basically use the same styles we took shots at each others training. Then I gave him the finger and he stuck his tongue out at me… and hit me with it." Deadpool gave a slight shiver, "Yeah. That was weird. Anyways, then we started fighting hand to hand with a bunch of different punches and kicks. Then he started doing the weird snake thing you came in for and I'm trying to figure out how to counter that." He laughed, "Though, that kick wasn't bad. Oh, your back. How're you feeling?" This last was directed at Orochimaru who had scrambled out of the toy store and was staring at Deadpool.

"Who the hell are you talking to?" The ninja asked warily.

"The readers." Deadpool answered.

"What are you-" Orochimaru threw up his hands (the snakes were gone.) "Whatever, can we continue the fight now?"

"Gladly." Deadpool said, drawing his twin Katanas.

Orochimaru smiled; hopefully the crazy was done talking to himself. Orochimaru stayed out of Deadpool's reach and threw a few shuriken at the assassin. Deadpool dodged them all and got close enough to attack with his sword. Orochimaru evaded it neatly, but it still bothered him that Deadpool had gotten so close so quickly.

'Time for the Kusanagi' Orochimaru thought. He hadn't expected so many skilled fighters to be in this tournament! He flipped back onto a nearby kiosk and threw his head back so the snake and sword could come out easier. Took the handle of the sword in hand and swallowed the snake again.

"What?" Deadpool cried, "Are you trying to be the creepiest ninja possible?" Then he resigned himself to face whatever the creepy zombie-snake-ninja would come up with and resumed his attack.

Orochimaru was hard pressed to fend off both of Deadpool's blades with his one, but he managed. The Kusanagi, being a legendary sword, was better crafted than either Deadpool's so that helped a bit. They went through different areas of the mall, alternately attacking and running parallel to each other as they looked for a better position.

They both had excellent reflexes; Orochimaru swung for the neck and Deadpool's blade met the Kusanagi before it got anywhere near its destination. At the same time, Deadpool's other blade swung low. Orochimaru drew his legs up with a snap and brought one foot down on the low blade while kept pressure on the high blade with the Kusanagi. Then he pushed off the lower blade, stepped on Deadpool's shoulder and pushed hard off of that to land lightly on the railing of an opening to the next floor up scattering the crowd that had gathered there.

He could have made the jump by himself, of course, but the second that Deadpool was pushed to the ground gave him just enough time to disappear. Deadpool cursed, now he had no way of knowing where Orochimaru would be or what kind of plan he would have prepared. Well, he would just have to do damage control. Deadpool pulled out a hand full of smoke bombs, lit them, and tossed them up to the next floor. After just a few seconds he jumped up to the railing. The smoke wasn't thick enough yet but he hoped for more surprise by moving quickly.

Deadpool slowly circled the opening in the floor. Was that a movement to his right? Deadpool thrust a katana at the shadow and was rewarded with a stifled cry from Orochimaru as the sword sliced his side. However, a second later the ninja had skewered Deadpool soundly through the right lung. Deadpool grabbed the Kusanagi, to Orochimaru's great surprise, and tried to pull it out. Orochimaru recovered quickly and twisted the blade, driving it into Deadpool up to the hilt.

"Screw you." Deadpool gasped, grabbing the hilt and Orochimaru's arm. Then he roughly jerked the sword sideways into his ribs. It hurt but it shocked Orochimaru enough that Deadpool was able to kick the ninja away and pull the sword out of his side. Now he had the Kusanagi.

Orochimaru had enough wits to grab the sword Deadpool had sliced him with as the assassin took his prized weapon. They stood facing each other in the thinning smoke.

"You'd best give that back." Orochimaru said quietly. "Place it on the floor and back off. I won't attack you until you're ready."

"Actually, I kind of like this sword. I think I'll keep it." Deadpool grinned.

Orochimaru shook his head. As much as he wanted to rush Deadpool and grab the Kusanagi back, he knew he couldn't afford to be rash right now. He would have to focus on beating the assassin, not just getting his weapon back. He looked at Deadpool's side and saw the last of his wound closing.

"Regeneration?" He asked. Deadpool nodded. "Can anything kill you?"

"Not really," The assassin laughed, "not a sword anyway."

Orochimaru nodded thoughtfully, that could be more of an advantage than a set back. He had to keep Deadpool talking while he thought of way to use this.

"So, where does all this crazy stuff come from?" Orochimaru asked the first question that popped into his head.

"Ha, you and I are just products of crazy fan-girl typing away at her computer without a clue where she's doing next."

"What is wrong with you?" So much for time to think, no one could think properly with that crazy man's ranting.

"Me? I'm a bit insane." Deadpool laughed. "Come on, enough talking."

Orochimaru charged. He may as well just attack and see what happened. They resumed the sword fight, now they each had one sword that they weren't used to wielding, Deadpool had dropped his other katana in the struggle, so the moves were awkward. After a few minutes Orochimaru grew tired of repeating the same moves. He swung a wide arc so Deadpool would pay attention to the sword, then shot out his tongue and caught the other fighter's ankle. He pulled roughly and Deadpool fell to the ground. Orochimaru followed him, driving his knees into the assassin's chest and pushing his arms down, digging his fingers into the wrists until Deadpool let go of the Kusanagi. Deadpool fought to get up but Orochimaru put all of his weight straight onto his arms and kept him down.

"A stalemate?" Deadpool asked.

Orochimaru smiled and slid his tongue out slowly. He took the Kusanagi with the freakishly long muscle and whipped it around to point at Deadpool's neck for a moment before slicing it cleanly. The head fell away, and a number of people in the crowd screamed, not all of them girls.

Orochimaru stood, panting slightly from the fight, but waved off Kabuto as he ran over. The sannin picked up Deadpool's head and examined it before handing it to Death-by-Chocolate.

"He's alive." He said smugly. "My surgeon can reattach the head if you require." He gestured to Kabuto.

Death-by-Chocolate examined the head for himself. Deadpool was unconscious, but alive. "Orochimaru is the winner." He said.

Orochimaru thought he detected a hint of disapproval in the demon's voice. He only smiled more.

A/N Wikipedia says that Deadpool has been beheaded before and survived it.

Death-by-Chocolate doesn't necessarily disapprove of the violence, it's just that overall Orochimaru is someone whom people disapprove of.