Section Four

The next fighter would appear in seconds. Who would it be this time?

"RAX!" (Eternal Champions)

The cyber-kickboxer walked slowly down to the ring. He couldn't believe he was doing this. Whose idea had it been to come to this tourney anyway? "Their unfamiliarity with us will give us the advantage." Yeah, right.

"Yes folks, Birdman here, and this is true, Sub-Zero has now been in the ring for a full half hour! Whatta fighter!"

"GUILE!" (Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo)

The loudest cheer of the day so far rolled out of the crowd. Chants of "Sonic Boom!" could be heard anywhere you looked. The only exception was a bunch of hooded monks up in the eighteenth row, carrying signs that read, "Brothers United Against The Invisible Throw" and "He Used To Cheat. Don't Trust Him Again."

"LEIF!" (Time Killers)

"ODIN!" yelled the Viking. As he walked down to the ring, he contemplated how Rancid had drawn so well. Heck, Rancid had been worrying that his draw would be lousy, and yet he had drawn a nice late number while Leif got this pretty bad one. Oh well.

It was a good thing Leif was illiterate, or he would've noticed the childish scrawl crossing out "Rancid" and writing in "Leif" on his draw ticket...

"THE ETERNAL CHAMPION!" (Eternal Champions)

"No! I don't shop at the same store as Jubei and Geese Howard! Now leave me alone!"

"GENJURO!" (Samurai Showdown 2)

"HAOHMARU! I KILL YOU!" screamed Genjuro, running down to the ring. Sub-Zero wondered if Genjuro could speak any non-monosyllabic word other than 'Haohmaru'. Scorpion noticed that Genjuro was foaming at the mouth. Haohmaru just prepared for his greatest challenge so far.

"MUDMAN!" (World Heroes 2 Jet)

"Whoo-hoo!" yelled the Polynesian on his way down to the ring.

"Hmmm. I don't know what that means. Tam Tam?"

Birdman's new broadcast partner nodded. "Hmmmm. I believe by that particular 'Whoo-hoo', he is expressing his delight in participating in this competition."

"You sure about that?"

"Well, either that or he's saying how much he loves kumquats."

"RYOFU!" (World Heroes 2 Jet)

The huge warrior walked down the aisle, naginata in hand. He burped quietly to himself, expelling a little extra flame from a fight he had had earlier with Andy Bogard, who had rudely stepped in front of his shadow.

"RYO SAKAZAKI!" (King of Fighters '94)

Ryo noticed Haohmaru's tape recorder on his way down to the ring.

"HA! I HAVE NOTICED OF LATE THE INCREDIBLE NUMBER OF FIGHTERS WITH A FIREBALL ATTACK PATTERNED AFTER THE MIGHTY RYU! EVEN I HAVE ONE (ALTHOUGH I HUMBLY BELIEVE MINE TO BE THE FINEST)! I MUST ADD HOWEVER, THAT FAR TOO MANY OF THESE ATTACKS ARE SIMPLE FIREBALLS, STOLEN FROM THE GREAT PUPIL OF SHENG LONG! I HEAR THAT THERE IS EVEN A FIGHTER WHOSE NAME IS SIMILAR TO RYU'S! HOW PATHETIC FOR HIM!"

Meanwhile, up in the stands...

"We must cheer Ryo on, Robert. Perhaps he will not make the mistake of using the Thousand Kicks on an unstunned opponent."

"I don't see you in there, Takuma."

"WHAT! Shut up and cheer!"

and, the final fighter of this section...

"LIU KANG!" (Mortal Kombat 2)

The cheers for the last son of the Shaolin temple were nearly as great as those for Guile earlier. As for Liu Kang himself, he merely walked down the aisle, meditating on the conflict at hand, going over his battle strategy in his mind, and praying to the gods above (except for Raiden) that luck would augment his skill. When he came into the ring, he immediately Bicycle Kicked Jubei, causing everyone to look about in shock for a turkey. ("Oh, it's only Liu Kang.")

WHO WILL LIVE?
WHO WILL DIE?
WHO WILL WIN THE BATTLE OF GENJURO VS. HAOHMARU?


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