The King of Street Fighters

A SF/KoF fanfiction

Written by Zero-Sennin

Chapter 12: Prelim's End: Goodbye Southtown BRAWLS

A/N: Make sure you read today's Author's Notes. Important retcon information is contained within.


Brush-haired Joe Higashi bounced into the ring the moment his team's name came up on the boards. Hell, he'd been waiting his turn forever, and now he had it! A chance to dazzle the crowd, wail on some losers, and prove that he was the most BADASS guy on his team (next to Master Sagat, of course).

His first opponent? The short, fedora-wearing butcher turned thief, Choi Bounge. As the diminutive man pulled on a pair of sharp-looking claws, Joe snorted indignantly. That little wimp was still using weapons after being trained by the likes of Kim Kaphwan? Ridiculous!

"Don't think you're gonna win, short old man, wuss-weapons or not!" he cried arrogantly. "I'm Joe Higashi after all! I'm un-de-freakin'-beatable!"

"We'll see about that, buddy boy," Choi retorted grouchily. "I may not be doing this of my own free will, but I'd rather drown than lose to a cocksure punk like you!"

The ref gave his signal and moved gracefully out of the ring, knowing that things were going to end quickly for one of these fellows. As soon as the way was clear, Joe shot off two fierce uppercuts, spawning a pair of fast-moving tornadoes that swirled poor Choi around, then followed up with a rising knee attack that sent him soaring towards the edge of the ring. However, Choi's 're-education' had been taking a positive toll on him, as he recovered easily in midair, caught himself near the 'edge of despair', and landed on his feet in a crouch.

After glaring at the advancing Joe for a minute, he hopped forward with startling speed and kicked Joe square in the jaw, then cut at him wildly with his claws. Luckily for Joe, Sagat had been beating on him far too often for a kick to stun him for long, and he quickly hopped out of Choi's short range before he could get hurt, only to slide back into it with several rapid-fire punches. Poor Choi was still vulnerable in mid-air, and took a ridiculous beating before getting a powerful left to the stomach that shot him straight out of the ring.

Joe grinned ferociously. He'd done it! No close calls, no embarrassing defeat, nothing! He'd said that he would win, and he did! Overwhelmed for a moment, he dropped to his knees, his head bowed…then he thrust both fists up and roared his excitement to the heavens.

"YOSHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The crowd responded with an enthusiastic cheer that matched his own, and over with Team Ansatsuken, Ken nodded, fairly impressed.

"So he wasn't just some uncouth loudmouth…then again, Sagat's a tough kind of guy. He could've brought him up to this standard if they've been training together."

"Joe always had it in him, I guess," Kyo replied. "It's just that he's kind of a goof…he used to moon people after beating them, and made stupid faces at them…things like that."

Ryu groaned inwardly as Dan suddenly came to his mind, rolling and YAHOO-ing the day away. How the man ever managed to qualify for tournaments was a mystery that even Columbo couldn't solve…

Back in the ring, Joe's next opponent had stepped up, and was he an opponent. Large and tall, with a full black mustache, small eyes, and a huge iron ball that looked like it was made for crushing…

"Well, well, if it ain't Chang Koehan," Joe drawled. "Think you can catch me with that huge-ass paperweight you lug around? I'll just save you the trouble and say this – you can't and you won't. Come on, make the first move, I'll Screw Upper you right out of it and knock you out to boot!"

Chang muttered something to himself and looked over to the sidelines at his mentor/handler Kim Kaphwan, as if he was asking 'Can I please, please, please crush him?' Of course, being the follower of justice that he was, Kim shook his head, and Chang sighed before unwrapping the chain that his ball was attached to from his large, gi-clad frame.

The ref gave the signal, and Chang moved in, swinging around the iron ball like a toy before tossing it at Joe's head. Joe ducked it and shot a Hurricane Upper at the chain; the tornado ruffled it but didn't break it. With a moan, Joe dashed forward and tried his rapid-hitting TNT Punch again, but his fists wound up bouncing off of Chang's stomach and he had to take a few steps back.

OK, plan B. KNEE TO THE HEAD, BABY!

With a roar of "TIGAH KICK!" Joe sprung forward and smashed Chang in the face with his knee, then landed and tripped him with a standing sweep. Chang groaned as the ground rushed up to meet his face, though the groan was cut off when Joe's foot smashed into his face, flipping him head over foot and causing him to land on his back like a sack of bricks.

Joe watched him carefully for a while, unsure if the giant man would get back up. For a brief moment, it actually looked as if he was going to, given that his fingers were scraping the ground repeatedly. However, in the end, he groaned out two sentences, in a deep, gravelly, and pained voice:

"I…can't feel my face. I give up."

Kim sighed but said nothing, simply stepping up to pull Chang out of the ring (no mean feat, but one he'd gotten used to over the years) before turning to face Joe.

"Your cockiness is a bit…unlikable," the brown-haired Korean admitted to Joe after a few moments of silence between them. "I'm afraid I'll have to take a corrective measure."

"Are you trying to say you're gonna beat me?" Joe questioned incredulously. "HA! As IF! I'm the man, man, and there is nothing you can do that's gonna change that!"

Sagat and King groaned to themselves. While his handy victories against Choi and Chang had been a sign of his growth (growth stimulated through painful ass-kicking, but growth nonetheless), his pride was, once again, muddling everything up. And that gleam in Kim's eyes should have been ample warning that the Taekwondo justice fighter was about to lay a smackdown that wouldn't be forgotten anytime soon.

The ref gave his signal, and Joe grinned fiercely as he shot off several Hurricane Uppers in a row; with quick, adept footwork, Kim evaded all of them, then hopped into the air and kicked down several times, as if he were pedaling a bike. Joe took the hits, mostly because he'd been caught in the middle of recovering from his last Hurricane Upper, and they were strong enough to stun him while Kim landed and briefly took a stance, eyes closed, before rushing forward with a two-word battlecry on his lips.

"HO'OU KYAKU!"

Joe blinked through his daze. Did he just say…Ho'ou Kyaku…? OH, SH-

Kim's knee slammed into Joe's gut at that moment, and the world blurred for the poor Muay Thai fighter as Kim went into a dazzlingly fast combo of high, middle, and low kicks, repeating only one phrase as he continued to beat on Joe.

"ATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!"

Ryu and Ken hissed sharply as Joe's head snapped up, down, and all around; it was almost like watching Vanessa get pummeled by Chun-Li again. Ironically enough, Chun-Li was thinking the same thing over at the medical tent, with the added admission that she'd never, ever, cross Kim in any way, large or small, if it'd help her avoid a beating like Joe's.

Finally, Kim ended his assault with a flip kick that sent Joe straight up in the air, and followed it with a powerful side kick that shot him out of the ring, right over the heads of the brush-headed man's ashamed teammates. Afterwards, Kim bowed gracefully to the audience, who applauded him as loudly as they had Joe at the end of his first match.

"Those traitors," croaked Joe miserably from the ground. "They should be showering their praise on me! Me! Why…?"

Ignoring her teammate, King turned to Sagat and humbly murmured, "I'll go in for him, if that's all right with you."

Sagat nodded, his face more unreadable than stony, and King immediately got in, hands on her hips as she studied Kim intently.

"I'd hoped you wouldn't get too upset with Joe, but that might've been a bit much to expect," she said after a while. "Let's just focus on having a good match, hm?"

Kim cracked his knuckles and smiled eagerly. "Yes, let's."

As the ref's signal came, King's hands rose up to defend her upper body, and the tip of her foot bounced lightly against the ground. Kim had already begun moving towards her, but she preferred the 'hit him when he's open and go from there' approach, and her patience showed it.

Without warning, Kim howled out a battlecry before going into a quick forward somersault, intent on bringing his foot down onto King's head. King stepped to the side briefly, letting Kim's foot bust the concrete where she'd been standing, then countered with a somersault of her own, except that this one was in reverse and she barely moved from her new position. In contrast to Kim's attempt, though, King caught her opponent squarely on the jaw, then assaulted him with a few quick kicks upon landing, the last being a strong one that knocked Kim to the floor.

Kim caught himself near the ground, though, and slid back a bit on all fours. After shaking his head vigorously for a moment, he got back to his feet and rubbed his sore jaw before lashing out with several kicks; King matched his footwork with her own, and the THWAKs of their shins colliding resounded through the arena several times before King reached out and slugged Kim in the face with a straight that Balrog would've been envious of.

Your legs are never your only weapon! Fists, elbows, knees…all are the tools of the one who seeks to master themselves! Do not stoop to using a weakling's tricks, but do not fear knowledge beyond what you know either. That is how you grow! That is where the invincibility that man can grasp at lies!

King would have scoffed at Sagat's words if he hadn't been the greatest Muay Thai fighter alive, but now she wasn't regretting the fact that he'd imparted them to her; if he hadn't, she wouldn't have developed her punching power in the month or so that she and Joe had trained with Sagat out in the wilderness…

The sting of her own blow reminded King that she was in the middle of a fight, and she quickly pulled her mind away from thoughts of her training and back towards knocking out Kim before he could get himself together again. Hopping forward a bit, King sunk an elbow into Kim's cheek, then a knee into his stomach, and finally a foot into his shoulder before grabbing him and tossing him over her own shoulder, hoping that the impact against the ground would knock him out cold.

It didn't.

In fact, that damn Kaphwan didn't even seem all that fazed by her attacks, though it did take him some time to get up. He lurched a little bit afterwards, though, which immediately let King know that she'd been wrong in assuming that he came out in one piece.

"Not going down…that easy…" he groaned. "You wanna…try a bit harder, maybe?"

"You don't want harder, trust me," King replied. "Otherwise…you might be going down to that medical tent. Not because I want to send you there, mind…"

"I see…I'm guessing you've polished up that Illusion Dance of yours, huh? Well then…if you can, hit me with it! I'll just…counter it, when you're open."

King briefly considered taking his bait, just to toy with him, but she realized that Sagat would have disapproved, and she wasn't about to risk her 'apprenticeship' with him just to show off. Instead, she shook her head, almost apologetically, bent down, then leapt up, knee outstretched. Kim did his best to move, but he reeled a bit when he did, and he was struck in the chest solidly, traveling upwards with King; when her other leg snapped out sharply, her foot collided with his chin, knocking him away and out of the ring. He landed with a dull, but not sickening, thud on the ground, grinning happily as if he'd eaten the most delicious pie in the world instead of getting knocked the hell out.

Satisfied with his 'disciple', Sagat nodded, a smile barely breaking his rugged face as King stepped down from the ring.

"See, Joe?" he said to the brush-headed man, who was still lying face-down in the dirt. "That is how a Muay Thai disciple carries his or herself in a battle. With pride and purpose, not clownish antics."

Joe's muffled reply sounded vaguely like an apologetic "Gotcha, boss", but the dirt made it difficult to tell. Sagat himself looked up to the match board after the response came, waiting eagerly to see what the next matchup would be.

At that moment, a short announcement came over the speakers, reverberating clearly throughout the stadium:

"Brave fighters, you have endured the eleven rounds so far with grace, courage and power. Now, only one remains. The twelfth and final preliminary matchup will be announced shortly."

All eyes turned to the matchboard now, eagerly awaiting the next battle. The rectangle blinked for a long time on the board, then slowly and dramatically moved across to reveal its final words:

Final Match: The Rindoukan Dojo vs. The Huge Wrestlers

"Rindoukan?" Ryu said aloud. "That sounds familiar…"

Puzzled, he scratched his head, trying to make sense of the memory nagging at his skull…then, he saw the competitors stepping into the ring, and everything clicked.

For the Rindoukan side, a young woman with short-cut black hair in a billowing white gi and a red undershirt had stepped up into the arena, black belt cinched at her waist and a yellow scarf tied around her neck, blowing nobly in the wind.

Ryu recalled the battle he'd had with that girl and noted that it had been a difficult, but pleasant, struggle. Her moves were simple and precise, but the power in them could have shattered rocks…and her fighting spirit was, in and of itself, practically immeasurable.

That summed up Izuchi Makoto…'heiress' of the Rindoukan dojo.

Even now, her eyes were unclouded and unafraid as she gazed upon her giant opponent, a man with messy black hair, a chain belt, dark tank top and pants, and large, made-for-stomping boots.

"Come on!" she roared passionately. "This is the fist meant to cleave mountains! You will not stand in its wake!"

"Remember, Hugo, try not to crush her," a pink-haired woman in Daisy Dukes and a torn-sleeved T-shirt called from the ring. "This is a real match and all that other mess."

Hugo nodded once, then pulled his hands up and began to wobble unsteadily, almost as if he was drunk. The ref gave his sign, and immediately, Hugo lumbered at Makoto with all the grace of an elephant. Without pause, Makoto drew one fist back to her head and extended her other hand towards Hugo, the wind seeming to magically pick up as she waited patiently for him to come into striking range…

And the moment he did, she shot forward like a rocket, her fist digging deep into his stomach before he could register what had happened. He didn't move back very far, if at all, but it seemed as if Makoto was expecting that, and continued with a snappy side kick that did put a fair bit of distance between them.

Once he'd stopped sliding, Hugo groaned and muttered something to himself about how his stomach was hurting. On the sidelines, the pink-haired woman scowled, noting that the only time Hugo had been so staggered before was when that Ryu guy had nailed him with some Shin Shoryu-whatever. She didn't like where this was going, but she didn't want to call out to Hugo and wreck whatever concentration he had going on, so she kept her mouth shut.

Seeing how Hugo was still open, Makoto kicked off the ground, then used a wicked axe kick to strike Hugo's head once she was level with it; his upper body bent over like a branch in a gale, and the pink-haired woman bit back an audible curse as Hugo sagged to his knees with a very, very loud grunt. Seeing her chance, Makoto retreated briefly with two small steps, then shot off a powerful straight that crunched into Hugo's face, and another, and ANOTHER.

The result? Hugo dropped like a rock, shaking the ground when he flopped onto his back. Makoto inhaled and exhaled deeply, drawing her arms to her side, then bowed curtly to Hugo's prone form and returned to her team's side of the ring, nodding to a black haired fellow wearing a gi like hers as she sat on her knees and turned away from the ring. Immediately, he stepped up and assumed a solid stance, waiting for Hugo to be dragged out of the ring by the medical staff.

While everyone waited, Ryu nodded to himself in what appeared to be satisfaction while the rest of his teammates (Iori included) were staring in utter shock.

"Did that girl…just floor a guy the size of Chang with HALF the effort Joe took?" Kyo mumbled in disbelief, shock plain as day on his face. "Damn! What the hell is this Rindoukan stuff?!"

"She said it herself," replied Ryu. "It's a style that cleaves mountains, though she didn't mean it so literally…I got hit with that sliding straight punch of hers once, and I could've sworn that I was going to black out. The rest of that match, I was effectively fighting with a handicap because my stomach wouldn't quit aching."

"Did you still manage to win?" asked Iori with a hint of curiosity.

"Yeah, but…it was close."

At this point, Hugo had finally been carted towards the medical tent, and a large, muscled, scarred man with a brown Mohawk and beard was facing Makoto's teammate. His only attire was a red Speedo-like garment (which was thankfully nowhere near as tight as one) and red boots with gold trim.

"I am---! The dynamite-body wrestler, Zangief!" he roared. "Who are you, little man? I must know who challenges me!"

"Nagato," the younger, smaller man replied. "Are you ready to begin?"

Zangief grinned and made mock-grabbing motions with his hands, just before the ref gave his signal. As soon as that happened, Zangief rushed forward with speed that didn't match his frame, and clutched Nagato in a bear hug before leaping into the air with him, spinning around like a top for the moments they stayed aloft before crunching him into the ground; everyone hissed as the massive man-mountain opened up his hands and sprung back, leaving the Rindoukan practitioner to crumple to the ground, seemingly unconscious. Strangely, Makoto didn't even look fazed by the whole thing, even though she'd turned around to watch once the match begun, and made no move to get up and relieve Nagato.

"Another falls to Zangief's might," the Russian proclaimed proudly. "What else could have happened?"

"I could have avoided your grab and used a Seichusen-Godanzuki to bodily eject you from the arena," replied Nagato from the ground, his voice devoid of frustration. "But that would have only happened if I could have anticipated you, and your speed made that impossible."

Slowly, he peeled himself off of the pavement, gently moving his muscles to ensure that he hadn't been too badly hurt by the strange slam. He did feel pretty sore and a little out of sorts, but not enough to impede his fighting ability.

"My Spinning Piledriver…it cannot have been ineffective! Surely you feel even a little bit…!"

Nagato grimaced as a slight wave of nausea washed over him. "I do. But…Izuchi-senpai's training has subjected me to slightly more painful experiences. Prepare yourself. I'm ending this match now."

He dashed forward, a blur to everyone, and snapped his fist out at Zangief. The scarred wrestler, however, had gained a newfound respect for (and caution of) his opponent, and used a large hand to smack the strike away before wrapping Nagato's arm in its grip and lifting the smaller fighter into the air; in response, Nagato lashed out with a foot and caught Zangief in the side of the head, forcing him to let go. Right as Nagato hit the ground, he shoved his fist into Zangief's chest, but had to bite back a curse as his hand began throbbing the moment it made contact. The pain kept him from evading the punch Zangief slammed into the back of his head, and he staggered long enough for the brawny Russian to sweep his legs, knocking Nagato back to the ground for the second time in many minutes.

Of course, that wasn't the end of it, as Zangief took the opportunity to spring into the air again, spreading his arms and legs wide as he fell forward…towards Nagato. For a few terrifying moments, it looked as if Nagato was going to be crushed painfully underneath Zangief's bulk, but with an incredible amount of willpower, he rolled to the side just enough to let the scarred man smash into the ring without a human cushion. Then, with deliberate slowness, he rose up from the floor, sighing a bit as he realized just how sore he was feeling, and looked over at his opponent.

Zangief hadn't hurt himself badly, but it was pretty obvious that he wasn't trying to get up, and it didn't look like he was going to any time soon. Nagato had to admit that while he was happy that he hadn't lost, he didn't want to win like this.

"Nagato," Makoto called to him.

He turned, expecting to see disappointment in her face at his fluke, but he was pleasantly surprised by the smile and nod she gave him.

There's always a next time, she mouthed. Don't get down on yourself or your fist will falter.

Understanding, he nodded and left the ring, feeling a little bit proud of himself. As he did, the display board burst into a flood of color, and a single phrase appeared:

CONGRATULATION. ALL MATCH COMPLETE.

Ken (and several others) couldn't help but burst out into raucous laughter at the horrible Engrish; Ken in particular was practically rolling on the floor. Naturally, the more sober fighters blew the whole thing off, but a few could be seen cracking a hidden smile. As if the tournament committee was completely unaware of the glaring error, it stayed up for quite some time before another announcement was heard.

"The twelve chosen teams are to report to the ring immediately. Repeat, the twelve chosen teams are to report to the ring immediately."

Ryu, after grabbing Ken by the gi and lifting him to his feet, nodded at Kyo and Iori, and all four members of Team Ansatsuken entered, standing proudly as the first team down. They were soon joined by the other teams, slowly but surely, with Ash Crimson entering last – and alone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, these are your twelve finalist teams! In a week's time, they'll be battling it out in Chiryu City, Japan, for the honor of becoming the King of Street Fighters! We'll give each of them a short introduction just so you know the all-star cast that you'll be watching!"

The ref hopped into the ring and stood next to Ryu, mike in hand. "First off! We've got TEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM ANSATSUKEN! Ryu Hoshi, Ken Masters, Kyo Kusanagi, and Iori Yagami! GIVE IT UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!"

Ryu and Ken raised their fists in the air, while Kyo and Iori jammed their hands into their pockets and looked off disinterestedly.

After the roar of applause, the ref slid over to the Justice Team and spun the mike around a bit in a bit of showmanship. "The lovely Justice Team is here to dazzle, and DAMN, did they dazzle! Chun-Li Xiang, 'Blue' Mary Ryan, and Cammy White!"

All three women struck a rehearsed pose that looked cute AND sexy at the same time, and half the crowd fainted (naturally the male half…and maybe a few of the females, but that's neither here nor there). Iori in particular seemed to cast some sort of gaze onto Cammy, but said nothing particularly interesting.

"Of course, there's the Cherry Blossom Brigade, striking with the power of youth and spring itself! Sakura Kasugano, Shingo Yabuki, Sean Matsuda, and Hinata Wakaba!"

The team flashed a group 'V for Victory' sign and grinned infectiously.

"Of course, we can't forget those funky warriors that use dance to the max, the Beat Crusaders! Elena Otowe and Dee Jay are in the building, ya'll!"

Long-legged, white-haired Elena did a quick handstand and saluted the crowd with a cheerful "Jambo!"; Dee Jay settled for his trademark broad grin.

"We've also got those deadly serious and highly dangerous Ikari Warriors here today! Don't you mess with them or you'll be feeling it! Leona Heidern, Ralf Jones, Clark Steel, and little miss Whip, you guys are rockin'!"

Ralf and Clark flexed their muscles, while Leona shrugged stolidly and Whip shot the announcer a death glare for prefixing 'little' and 'miss' to her name in one sentence.

"And the one team with fire, ice, and tech blending together into a kickass symphony of awesome, Teaaaaaaam K'! Maxima, Kula Diamond, and of course, the eponymous K' himself! Show some love!"

Chestnut-haired Kula, wearing a purple top and jeans shorts, briefly activated her ice powers, turning her hair a shade of light blue, and juggled a few snowballs around before smiling cutely at the audience. Giant Maxima merely nodded his head and crossed his arms, his light-colored full body suit a bit blinding even in the slightly faded daylight, and K, wearing a dark, full-leather outfit, just sighed and readjusted his sunglasses.

"Of course, who could forget the skilled and powerful Shinobi Alliance!, Maki Genryusai, Andy Bogard, Mai Shiranui, and Ibuki are masters of their art, so you'd better not cross 'em or you'll have a kunai at your throat!"

Maki cocked her head arrogantly, but said nothing; Ibuki didn't bother to strike a pose, and Mai was too busy leaning lovingly on Andy to do so.

"Nothing like the bond between a father and his adopted son, eh? No wonder the Wolf and Cub team made it so far! Give Terry Bogard and Rock Howard a little appreciation, huh?"

Terry began pumping his fist wildly, and the crowd roared louder than they had for anyone else; the man's victory had been pretty damn stylish, after all.

Having worked the first row of teams, the ref now jumped to the back, still full of pep and cheer. "And the might of Thailand's premier martial art will undoubtedly be well represented by Joe Higashi, Mademoiselle King, and THE! LEGENDARY! SAAAAGAAAAAAAAAAT!"

Sagat crossed his arms and smirked, while Joe flexed a muscle…only to wince when he wound up pulling something. He began to rub his arm with a grimace on his face, and King sighed in disgust.

"The victors of preliminary match twelve may not be well known to you all, but as you saw they possess power and wit in equal measure! Give it up for Makoto Izuchi and Nagato of the Rindoukan Dojo, everybody!"

Nagato and Makoto bowed, and said nothing.

As he approached the last team, the ref's spirit faltered, but only a little. "And last but not least…we've got the Shin Face Team, featuring Yashiro Nanakase, Shermie, Chris, and the enigmatic Wind!"

Chris and Wind smiled serenely, with Wind patting the young child on the head, while Shermie blew a kiss to Yashiro; the taller man tried not to look too enamored but he was doing a crap job of hiding it.

"Of course, we can't forget the only single entry participant that qualified for the tournament, Mr. Ash Crimson!"

Ash smirked obnoxiously, and Kyo and Iori both looked like they wanted to vomit.

"They'll get to enjoy themselves in Chiryu City for a few days before the tournament starts, so if you're in the area you might just luck out and get an autograph! Teams, your flights leave on Friday and the tournament proper will start next Sunday evening – Saturday evening for us over here in the US of A, so get ready and get set to rumble!"

"At this time, the preliminary rounds are concluded. We'll be emptying the arena for cleanup now. Thank you all for attending the King of Street Fighters preliminary bouts. We hope to see you in Chiryu City for the finals."

The teams dispersed from the ring, and Ryu smiled somewhat grimly as he turned his head to look at the eleven other teams he and his friends would be going up against.

"It's gonna get wild," he whispered to himself. "And I can't wait."

Then the Justice Team and the Cherry Blossom Brigade broke away from the other teams and towards Ryu and co., crying out one word in perfect sync.

"PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"

The Ansatsuken Team collectively blinked.

"Dammit," Iori growled. "What else would they want to do after all that…? I'm never gonna get women or brats."

"Hell, I'm with them!" Ken replied suddenly, his face split by a smile. "We deserve it any damn way, we made it into the real fights!"

"I'm with Ken," Kyo said simply.

Iori muttered something under his breath, and Ryu shrugged sheepishly with a stupid-looking smile on his face.

A party would be nice right about now…

Together, the three teams left the stadium, unaware that they were being watched by two sets of interested eyes…


Author's Notes: Regarding my retcon - I realized that I wrote that there were supposed to be sixteen matches earlier in the story, which I did before I became sane and went to twelve instead. In chapter 7, where said statement of 16 matches was written, that has been fixed. In other words, no plotholes NYEEEEEEEEEEH! :P

Anyway, here we are in the great year '09. What awaits us is unknown, but in time we shall discover it! Or something.

This chapter, I gotta thank Carrotshake for inspiring the whole Kim/Joe thing in his own way…I was about to throw a Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) reference in there but then that might've been a bit much.

These next chapters might be a little action-devoid, or might not be. Mostly it's about building the bonds that will make the story stronger, which means lots and lots of hanging out between teams.

Of course, that's after the massive party, which'll be interesting in its own way. ;)

Later!

EDIT (8/30/2009): Due to some minor mishaps with counting, the actual timeline the MC gave out just above has been altered to be slightly more sensible. It should be right this time.