KONNICHIWA MINNA! Wai! Chapter 10! I hope you all don't stop reading because of the speed in which the chapters are getting out (gomen, that's life), and a huge, gigantic arigato to all those who reviewed! Wai! It's because of you guys that I even followed the crazy little idea I had while listening to the Mortal Kombat theme so long ago (May 2001, actually). This being the halfway point in the story, I just wanted to take a moment to tell you all how much your encouragement means to me. Onegai keep being such awesome readers! This is also a neat midway point çause the story has reached the 100 review mark! Wai! I never thought it would get there! My deepest gratitude for not despairing with the plot or anything!
Arigatos:To Kingpin, ~*Sakura Scout*~, The Clow, Sakura&Li 4 ever, Meggie M., Sakura Jade and Lizzy Czapski! Arigato again for reviewing!
Dedication: To Alexandra-chan, Keelan-kun, Brittney-chan, Brittney-chan, Kristen-chan, and Ashten-kun! Wai! Arigato for being such wonderful critics of my work, and for being part of our little anime club! I would also like to thank everyone who has stayed with the ficcy, despite all things which fate has done to make things difficult. Arigato to Sensei Baker for arranging the Tournament on November 7th so that we can prepare for the one in March!
Disclaimer:
Jurei-chan Takano doesn't own:
MK
CCS
DB/DBZ
All else with a logo
She DOES own:
All the original Chara (Ryushi, Húmi, Xiu, Asina, Kensu, Shikoku, Yao'Xi'Liu, Miroku, Yin, Atami, Jade, The Shadow Kami, The Elder Kami, and Jun Fan)
The storyline
She would preffer if:
You did not sue her
You reviewed after reading!
You would go R&R her other story "Giving "Training" New Meaning!" (it's so sad and lonesome! Wahhhhhh! *shameless advertising*)
You visited her site (http://www.angelfire.com/anime3/shotojurei) upon its completion!
I will tell you when it's complete, minna! Brittney-chan scanned some pics for me, so there's actually something there to see! I also changed chapter 1 slightly so that it's easier to read. Stay tuned!
Now! To CHAPTER TEN! The midway point in this story!
The Tournament (When Worlds Collide)
A CCS fanfic by Jurei-chan
********
THUMP!
Syaoran managed to land as best he could in the pitch blackness that surrounded him. It wasn't easy, seeing as he couldn't tell when the ground was right under him.
It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the incredible change. Sure, the hall hadn't been too bright in the first place, but the contrast in light was still shocking. The young fighter looked around, seeing if he could find his companion.
"Jun Fan? Where are you?" he whispered. For some odd reason, he felt as if he should attract the least amount of attention as possible.
Suddenly, a strong amount of light shone, making the Chinese warrior shield his eyes. Jun Fan appeared, carrying a torch. Strangely, he seemed no worse for their fall into the entrance of the Core world.
"What are you trying to do? BLIND ME?!" demanded Syaoran angrily. He knew it wasn't really Jun Fan's fault, but this place made him edgy and nervous.
His companion ignored the outburst, smiling. Another thing to infuriate the already irate youth. "Gomen!" he apologized, "I guess the entrance could have done with a little lighting in the first place, ne?"
Syaoran merely grunted quietly in reply. Pushing past Jun Fan, he made his way along the passage that the torch illuminated with it's golden glow. Now that the shock was over, the torch didn't seem incredibly bright.
The roughly hued rock suddenly gave way to wide and uneven stone steps. The Green-clad fighter paused for a moment before stepping down onto the first step. Jun Fan followed, his feet barely making a sound.
At the bottom of the flight, the passage opened out onto a steep path. There wasn't any more need for the torch. The fires that burned here and there along the winding road. Jun Fan and Syaoran looked around, taking in their surroundings.
'So this is the Core World?' thought Syaoran, 'hmmm, makes sense.'
The Sky was dark and devoid of stars or anything else that could tell the travellers what direction they were heading. From where they were and heading off into the distance, fires burned in small patches. (Think Outworld from the first MK movie) Seeing as the fires were the only light, the shadows strewn more densely across the ground than the light patches were an almost purple shade. All in all, the feeling of the world was forbidding and hostile.
"Well, where do you think we're supposed to go once here?" asked Jun Fan after several minutes of silence and them standing there, immobile.
"Hmm…I don't know. Maybe we should head for that giant black tower that just HAPPENS to be looming in the distance?" answered Syaoran in an irate voice.
Jun Fan laughed, making Syaoran's nerves grate once again. "Why don't you try that scroll, just to be sure?" he asked, smiling.
'That's not a bad idea,' thought Syaoran, '…not like I'd ever tell him that.'
Taking the tube which hung around his neck, the Chinese warrior chanted the spell which Raiden had taught him before he had left. This was a useful little charm which acted more like a compass than anything.
"Ancient forces of our past and future,
Show us the way of courage and truth.
Let light and Darkness unite in the balance,
Now! I, the master command you!
RELEASE THE SPIRIT WITHIN!"
Jun Fan watched in mild amazement as a bright golden light surrounded Syaoran. All the power suddenly rushed to his hand, gathering there in a ball. In his palm, the forces molded into an arrow, pointing them in the direction of the Dark Tower.
"I guess I was right." Said Syaoran mildly, packing away the scroll.
Jun Fan wordlessly blew lightly on the torch. Crimson energy flower gently, dousing the flame. He then stowed the wooden segment in his travel pack. Syaoran looked at him strangely, shaking his head slightly. Why the other slightly senior fighter would want to save it, he wasn't prepared to even guess.
"What?" asked Jun Fan good-naturedly in respond to the glance, "Who knows when we'll need another light?"
Thw two silently began to make their way towards the black shape in the distance.
********
Sakura flopped down on her bed, sighing. She felt restless, bored, and slightly lethargic. For some reason, the Lookout just wasn't the same without Jun Fan and Syaoran. Even Xiu was away at the moment, apparently doing some spy work for Raiden.
'Mou! Everyone has something interesting or useful to do but me!' she complained inwardly, 'Asina and Húmi are down at the Dragon stables, Jade and Atami are off somewhere doing who knows, and Ryushi's off riding Hoshikyu ( Ryushi's dragon. Yeah, he has a dragon, ok?) I guess I could talk to that other recruit, Miroku, but I don't really know him that well.'
Her self-pity was cut short when she heard a knock. Looking up, she saw Shikoku standing in the open doorway.
"Hey!" he said cheerfully, "What's happening with you?"
Sakura merely allowed her head to flop back down in answer to his greeting. "Nothing," she answered tiredly, "And it's driving me INSANE! Mou, why couldn't I have something useful to do? Like go with Syaoran and Jun Fan."
Shikoku walked in and sat down in one of the chairs near her. "Because, right now, the most important and vital thing you can do for Raiden and the Side of Good is stay safe and alive. You're quite valuable to us, you know."
She sighed in answer. "Doushite? Why do I have to be valuable? Why couldn't I be dispensable like Kensu?"
Shikoku allowed himself a wry grin. "Kensu's not dispensable. He's just a pain in the-"
"Osu, Boss-man! I heard that! And to think, I put my life on the line for you and this is all the thanks I get?" joked Kensu, entering the room. He chose another seat opposite Shikoku and proceeded to toss and odd round object up and down in his hand.
"Oh, cut the theatrical pity act you little green-haired weasle." answered Shikoku tiredly, "Weren't you supposed to be working in the lab or something?"
"Already finished, Boss-man!" laughed the energetic fighter, "and Raiden-sama and Xiu will be happy with the invention this time. Though I don't agree with their verdict on my last creation."
"Don't ask." said Shikoku to Sakura before she even had the chance to phrase a question.
"…And I just need to test it on someone now…" continued Kensu, but Shikoku was already backing away.
"No way in freaking hell," he said to the green-haired fighter, noting the strange glint that had appeared in his eyes, "I'm not you're human guinea pig. Go test your crazy project on someone else."
"Naw. As if I'd use you, grandpa, " laughed Kensu good-naturedly, "You're too slow for my invention anyway. I bet a sloth would be better suited."
"Kensu, you've just done several things that annoy me," began Shikoku dangerously, "first, you insulted me. Next, you insulted my speed. Final and worst of all, you called me "grandpa". For that, you shall attent the Tournament in a group of individual body parts so small that they will be indistinguishable from each other."
Faster than the eye could see, he was on Kensu like a tiger. There was a blast of bright green light and smoke, and Sakura coughed, waiting for it to clear. When it did, however, all that was visible was Shikoku, sitting puzzledly on the floor.
"BWAHAHAHAHA!" came Kensu's laughter from outside, "I guess you were my human guinea pig after all!"
Shikoku rushed to the window, but Kensu was already gone, laughing maniacally all the way into the distance.
"So, what was he testing?" asked Sakura, slightly confused by the last while's strange events.
"Oh, Kensu's our "Guaranteed Road Evil Engineer and Natal Devealoper of Ocular Technical Services" here at the Lookout." answered Shikoku easily.
Sakura's eyes became those little anime dots, and she blinked several times in confusion.
"Try seeing what the first letters of all the major words spell." explained Shikoku. It seemed as if he was used to this kind of reaction by now.
"G-R-E-E-"oh, I get it now!" exclaimed the Card mistress, "He chose the name, didn't he?"
"How ever did you guess?" asked the elder warrior sarcastically.
"But why "Green Dots"? "
"Hey! Who knows the way that his twisted little brain works?" asked Shikoku tiredly, "anyway, I'd better get back to figuring out that "Special Assignment" for Xiu and Raiden-sama."
He was almost out the door when Sakura stopped him again. "You didn't tell me exactly what he was testing," she remarked.
"Oh! He was seeing if his new project was safe to use on human beings." was the answer she received.
"But, he tested it on himself? Didn't he realize what kinds of side-effects that might have had?" the fighter asked, shocked.
Shikoku walked back into the room and sat down directly next to Sakura. Taking her hand, he looked directly into her eyes.
"Haven't you ever wondered how Kensu's hair got to be the way it is now?" he asked seriously. Then he walked briskly out of the room, leaving Sakura laughing inside, her boredome forgotten.
********
A figure appeared out of the shadows next to Raiden. The immortal didn't even look at the warrior, merely nooded his head to aknowledge their presence.
"So, Xiu, how bad is it?" he asked, finally breaking the silence that had settled in. The black-clad warrior shook his head slightly, half disappointed, half wonderous of his old teacher's abilities. His face grew grave, however, when he remembered the true purpose for their meeting.
"Worse than expected," he answered seriously," the disappearances have been happening for a while now. Counting the Oni-chan of Nadeshiko's daughter, the total number is well over fifty. It's a good thing that Sakura had that vision, or we might never have known about it. I wonder how Yao'Xi'Liu has managed to get this past the Elder Kami."
"He has his ways," answered Raiden shortly, "I just wonder what the pattern in the missing is. There has to be some sort of connection."
"What do you think he needs them for?" asked Xiu carefully. Somehow, the knowledge that Yao'Xi'Liu was Raiden's brother made the question feel more awkward than it would have a couple days ago.
Raiden sighed, looking off in deep thought. "I wish I knew," he asnwered tiredly, "I wish I knew…"
********
Sakura sat down at the tabe that evening, feeling oddly giddy at seeing everyone again. Her face was alight in a smile, her eyes glowing with relief and happiness. The emotions dimmed, however, when she notices the two empty seats at the guys' usual table.
'Syaoran…Jun Fan…' she thought sadly, remembering her dream, 'I wonder if they're altight…'
A sudden image of a Chinese youth in green fighters' uniform and deep amber eyes crossed her mind, accompanied with a strange stab in her chest. Gasping slightly from shock, the young warrior placed a hand on the area, breathing short. The stab was gone now, replaced by an odd ache.
'What's going on with me?' Sakura questioned in her mind.
Her thought were cut short when she noticed the sudden loud sounds from the guys' table.
"Hmm…I wonder where Raiden's "Pets" are tonight? Probably skipping training duty, being too good to do like the rest of us." said a loudish drawling voice. It was revealed to belong to Miroku, another recruit that had been at the Lookout a little longer than Sakura and some others.
Sakura felt a quivering rage build within her, and was about to stand up and physically hurt the recruit, but Kensu got there first.
"Clean the stupid out of your ears for just one second and listen good," he hissed angrily, grabbing Miroku up by the collar, "You don't EVER suggest that other recruits are given better treatment by Raiden-sama, wakari-masu?"
Miroku shot the green-haired fighter a defiant glare. "I'll do what I want, and neither you, your bastard leader, or your slut of a sister can tell me otherwise."
Kensu's eyes exploded with green fire. He was on the recruit in a second,giving him a medium blow to the jaw. He would have done more, but was pulled off by Asina and Shikoku. "Kensu, you know better than to hit a recruit!" whispered the female fighter to her writhing and furious brother.
"But-"
"If he has complaints about the way things are run, he should take them up with Raiden-sama and Xiu. It isn't our place to educate him on the subject." added Shikoku.
The restrained warrior struggled a bit longer, then gave up. "Yeah, I know," he answered defeatedly, "but that little #@!$%!# makes me so mad with his attitude-"
"Well, we should keep this quiet from Raiden-sama and Xiu," said Atami quietly, "though I wouldn't mind having him thrown out, I don't think they need any more problems at the moment."
Wordlessly, the others nodded, all except one.
"You think we should tell, Húmi?" asked Shikoku, one eyebrow raised. The dragon-raiser gave no answer, but continued to look down at the table as she had been throughout the entire ordeal.
"Húmi, daijobu desu wa?" asked Sakura concernedly, moving over to pat the senior on the back.
"She just got news that her little sister, Kaeshi, disappeared." answered Asina in a subdued voice.
Húmi merely stayed in the same position, showing no change of expression.
All the fighters went still. No one moved or talked. It seemed the disappearings were getting closer and closer to home…
********
^^Well, that's it for this chapter, minna! Wai! Well, tell me if it was any good, k? I'm soooo sorry for leaving it there, but I couldn't really find another good place to end. Onegai, as usual WRITE A REVIEW! I WILL BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO YOU IF YOU DO! And it only takes a couple minutes…well, ahem, moving on, here's the ULT for this chapter!
ULT
Kensu's Corner-Joke of the Day
(This one is thanks to Kingpin, Arigato for giving me the joke! Wai! Now, I hope none of the readers take offense in any way! It's ONLY A JOKE! NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY!)
~Three blondes walk into a bar and order themselves a round. The bartender askes them why they're toasting themselves. One answers for them. "Well, we finished a puzzle in 56 hours, and on the box, it said "6 years and up!"
***
The Drunk (this is my joke, one of my favourites too!)
A police squad car parks near the entrance to the parking lot of a bar. They plan to wait there, and catch those who are out drinking and driving. After a little while, a man stumbles out of the bar, walking so unsteadily that it's obvious he's had WAY too much to drink. After walking aroung the parking lot cluelessly for a while, he drops to the ground in a heap. The police watch in amazement as he doesn't move for almost ten minutes, before he finally picks himself off the pavement and continues to stumble around. The cops wait tensely as he fumbles with his keys, trying them in several different cars. All this time a couple cars leave the parking lot. More card leave as the guy finally finds his car, and yet more leave as he fumbles clumsily with putting the keys into the ignition. Finally, he's the only guy left, and he's slumped over the steering wheel. The police think about checking if he's still alive, but he suddenly moves, turning on the ignition and driving out of the parking lot. (Knocking over two trash cans in the process). As soon as he's out, the cops turn on the signal lights, stopping the man and making him pull over to the side of the road. However, when they try the breathalizer test, the results are astonishing. There isn't a trace of alcahol in the man's body!
"Wait here while we get a new one," said the police officer to the guy, "this one's obviously broken.."
"I wouldn't say that at all, " answered the guy, "I'm the designated decoy."
^^lol! Hope you enjoyed them, minna! Onegai, send me any jokes you have and think are funny! (except pun jokes! Blech! Pun jokes are definitely the lowest form of humor!)