Semifinals: Neo Commando Squad vs. World Warrior Team
Author's Notes: For those of you (few and far-between faithful) readers, this tournament has finally drawn to a close. The tournament bracket has been updated, of course. The story hasn't ended, of course. Well, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. (Frowns profusely at his writers' block.) The reason I've been kinda lax with updates can be blamed on three separate factors: truckloads of physics homework, too much time spent gaming, and of course my lovely girlfriend.
Nitro.exe: Much as I hate to admit it, the reason I killed "Child of the Crescent Moon" was because I didn't care about the story anymore. It was indeed a good story, but Colliding Worlds was coming up and I wanted to give all my time to it. I couldn't force myself to write more for Crescent Moon. So sorry if I disappointed you!
Fraser River, Canada
Four days have passed
Anyone who tuned in to channel WC on a certain auspicious day would have seen a rather unforgettable image: the ever-lovable Jin Saotome, thrusting his face right into a camera and proceeding to shout the equipment down. And any viewer unfortunate enough to have his or her volume turned above a bare minimum instantly suffered from audio concussion. "Yes my friends, this is it!" Jin screamed. "It had to happen! The Neo Commandos against the World Warriors! Ryu against Commando, Ruby against Kirina, Strider against Sagat! It had to happen and the time is now!" Jin continued to holler at the top of his voice while Commando and Ryu watched uneasily from the background.
"I hate it when he does that," Kyosuke muttered from his anchor chair in Osaka stadium. "Somebody cut the volume! Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, tonight the two strongest teams in the tournament face off against each other. Normally I'd ask Master Gen or Mr. Q to analyze the situation, but seeing as how both have been absent for the past several matches, your humble reporter will do the honors himself." One of the directors made a hand motion for Kyosuke to throw the question at Jin. The student turned reporter responded by blinking out a message in Morse code along the lines of only when hell has frozen over. "The lineup is team leader Captain Commando on the Neo Commando side, supported by colleagues Strider Hiryu and Ruby Heart. On the World Warrior side, team leader Ryu is backed up by his daughter Kirina and Sagat, the famed Emperor of Muay Thai.
"Folks, this match is hard to call and could swing either way. On one hand, the Neo Commando Squad has consistently shown the best teamwork in the entire tournament throughout all of its matches. The Neo Commandos are a team in the truest sense, with an especially deadly lineup for today's match: Commando leading, then Ruby Heart and Strider bringing up the rear. On the other side, Ryu and Sagat form the single most deadly pair in the tournament. Kirina Houshi too is no slacker and for today's match she's sporting a particularly wicked looking sword. The World Warrior lineup is Ryu leading, Kirina following, and Sagat in the rear. I suppose that it'll all come down to the actual ebb and flow of the battle itself. Let's head out and take a look at the field."
"Let's get out of here," Ryu muttered to Commando as Jin danced his way across the battlefield towards them.
"Agreed," Commando mouthed in reply. "Who knows what that maniac might try next?"
"Hey, Ryu! Captain!" Jin hollered. "Wait up! I have questions!"
"Run for your life," Commando advised Ryu.
Fortunately for both of them, at that moment Samantha McGrath intercepted Jin and engaged him in small talk, at the same time winking at both Commando and Ryu. Commando responded with a salute as he and Ryu met with their respective teams at the center of the battlefield. Today's battleground was no more than a small, flat island located in the center of the Fraser River. The grass was still green and vibrant, but already the river was choked with the beautiful reds and yellows of autumn leaves. The light of the rising sun produced a strange effect upon the battleground, casting long shadows everywhere. All in all the scene exuded an aura of strange tranquility (despite Jin's voice level) and more than one fighter found himself strangely soothed by it.
"To think that we would have come so far ..." Commando mused. "Ryu, did you ever imagine that it would end like this?"
"End?" Ryu asked. "This is simply the beginning."
Captain Commando stared hard into his prospective opponent's face. "Ryu, listen to me. There's more resting on this fight than a simple combat to see who can learn what. I know that you follow the way of the true warrior, but this is one of the times where we have to fight not just for ourselves. I hope you understand, Ryu: I can't lose this match, not now. I have to confront Marin for the sake of everyone here."
"Even though you risk everything," Ryu stated.
"Yes."
"Even though you cannot win," the wanderer continued.
"Even though."
"Then you and I are not so different as we would like to think." Ryu said with a smile.
"Motive is all the difference in the world," Commando replied solemnly. "You and I will never be the same."
The white-clad warrior leaned in closer and whispered into Commando's ear, the latter nodding occasionally. Commando frowned, but he listened without comment. Ruby Heart and Strider Hiryu glanced at each other and then at Sagat and Kirina. The talk lasted for a few minutes, but whatever Ryu had said, it must have satisfied Commando as the captain grinned and thanked him most courteously. There on the field of battle, in the very center of the island, Ryu and Commando gripped each other's hands as they smiled and exchanged the same look of sheer determination. "Let's do it."
Ryu strode opposite Commando as his teammates and his opponent's fell away, leaving the two contestants alone in the center of the battlefield. He adjusted his headband and wristguards absently, but his eyes were upon Commando. For his part, the captain tightened his gloves. When Ryu was certain that he was ready for the fight, he bowed to his opponent and Commando returned a salute.
Begin!
"Hadouken! Captain Fire!" Predictably, both projectiles collided and canceled each other out in midair; equally predictably, Ryu and Commando rushed in hot on the tails of their initial attacks. They met and Commando aimed a powerful front kick, but the slight twisting motion at the start of his attack betrayed his intent and Ryu dodged to the side, avoiding it entirely. Ryu threw a high punch that Commando parried to the side, but the world warrior stepped in closer and collapsed his arm backwards to elbow upwards viciously. Simultaneously, he pulled his knee upwards for a powerful strike into Commando's stomach. Commando jumped backwards and avoided the worst of the attack, while a swift water column called up by Ruby prevented Ryu from chasing him any further.
"This is already becoming a promising fight, ladies and gentlemen," Kyosuke reported. "Excellent start by Ryu, keeping Commando on his toes for much of the opening sequence. Ryu knows that he has more of an advantage at point-blank range combat and he's pressing for that kind of battle as much as he can, but Commando is having none of it. He's using Ruby Heart as a long-range support quite effectively and Ryu can't call out Kirina with any assurance of safety. Commando trying to keep Ryu at a distance with Captain Fires, Ryu retaliating with a steady barrage of Hadoukens ... here comes Ruby Heart again, prowling on the edges of the battlefield. Quick save by Kirina, knocking Commando out of a aerial attack with a Thrust Kick!
"Both teams are well-matched for a long battle that could very possibly be looming ahead. You see how Ryu is still trying to press in an attack, but Commando definitely has an advantage since he and Ruby Heart simply make such a stellar team. Ruby already managed to slip Commando a power-up earlier in the battle and now Ryu and Commando are dead-even in terms of fighting capacity. Ryu has to be able to keep Commando from recuperating, otherwise the captain's superior teamwork will overwhelm him. He has to start using Kirina more effectively in a striking capacity. Ryu dodges to the right ... takes the offensive ... look how he's still trying to take the fight to close-range combat, and Commando is saying to himself, 'You know what, I'm not having any of this.' His Captain Collider is simply a deadly weapon for stuffing Ryu's rushdown while Ruby Heart drops by to assist him. At the same time, Commando knows not to get too predictable with the Collider and its awful cooldown ... he drops another Collider ... Ryu avoids it, takes the initiative, launches a Hadouken -! And the World Warriors are back in the fight!"
Shaking himself free of the effects of Ryu's attack, Commando signaled for Ruby Heart to take his place as he leapt away from the battlefield. Ryu refocused on his new opponent, noting Ruby's cautious stance and the single arm held out protectively in front of her chest. Of his opponents, Ruby was the one of whom he knew the least and he hesitated before circling right to attack her from another angle. Ruby fixed her one good eye upon Ryu as a treasure chest materialized out of thin air; kicking it open, Ruby stepped back as a ghost materialized and wafted towards Ryu. She recited a spell that caused a column of water to explode underneath her opponent; Ryu dodged only by the barest of margins.
He launched the occasional Hadouken as he skipped sideways, but an experienced eye could tell that his real concern was getting close to Ruby Heart. Yet despite his efforts, from the other side of the lines Strider Hiryu projected a rarely used but undeniable battlefield presence. As Ryu rolled to the ground to avoid yet another of Hiryu's slashes, he glanced back and saw Kirina enter far too late with a Sniping Arrow aimed in Ruby Heart's general direction. Come to think of it, how did Kirina manage to even move with that enormous sword strapped on her back and the cloth tails dragging through the air?
For someone who wishes to be a true warrior, your mind drifts far too often. Was it his imagination, or did Ryu hear Gouken's voice admonishing him in his head? Either way, there still remained the fact that Ruby Heart had begun chanting a spell; Ryu rolled forward out of the way as a column of water exploded underneath him. The maneuver bought him a sliver of time, but he was forced to dodge again as Ruby slung an anchor and launched it towards him. Ryu sidestepped it and while Ruby preoccupied herself with dragging the heavy anchor back, Ryu took the opportunity to cup his hands together in a distinct and feared stance.
"Shinkuu ..." He focused his energy together, calling up his energy and directing it into a coherent form. In the use of energy attacks Ryu had very few peers, but Sakura Kasugano had been one of them. For a brief moment, Ryu's mind flittered to a conversation between McGrath and Gouken that he had overheard. She calls up energy through sheer willpower, Gouken. Most people can't do that; we have to substitute focus for willpower. It's a difficult skill that takes years to acquire. Later McGrath had shown Sakura how to draw energy using concentration in place of determination. The lesson fresh in his mind, Ryu focused intensely and nearly tumbled backwards as he felt raw power, more than he had thought possible, gather into his palms. "Hadouken!"
Caught flat-footed by the blast, Ruby Heart nevertheless managed to hoist her anchor up and catch the worst of the attack on its metalwork. Still, the steady stream of the Shinkuu Hadouken pushed her backwards under its tremendous force and Ruby gritted her teeth as she ground her heels into the soft grass. By the time the surge died off, she was ready to collapse as hurriedly switched out with Strider Hiryu. Ryu also signaled for a change, but when nothing happened he quickly dashed off to his own side of the battlefield. "Kirina, quickly!"
"Dad, I can't take Strider, he'll rip me to shreds for breakfast," Kirina hissed urgently.
"You don't have to," Ryu answered shortly, not because he was cross but because he had run out of breath. "Just hold him off for a few minutes."
"Fine." Kirina unslung her weapon and vaulted into the battlefield, landing in a ready fighting stance. Hiryu was waiting for her in the center of the field, but when she entered he dashed forward without preamble and aimed a powerful slash straight at her throat, an attack that Kirina struggled to parry. Still, her countermove must have caused him to reconsider; Hiryu watched her sword warily, perhaps unwilling to believe that any weapon of INRI's size could be wielded so deftly. Kirina tried her own rushdown, but Commando's sudden appearance and the spike of a Captain Commando killed it quite efficiently. Behind the safety of the electric pillar, Hiryu rushed threw a long energy blade off his sword that sheared through Kirina's skin.
He's so quick ... As hot blood began to seep through her hakama - Kirina spared a moment to glance down, thankfully the wound was only skin deep - the lady knight paused to reconsider her options. She dropped INRI for a moment as she fired off a quick Hadouken, but before the sword could touch the ground Kirina kicked its handle upwards again and caught it in a single, deft motion that won her a scream of approval from the overexcited Jin Saotome. When she refocused, Kirina glanced in front of herself but failed to see Strider. Unfortunately, there was a second's worth of delay before she located her enemy directly behind her and Strider moved in for the kill.
"Well, Hiryu wastes no time," Ruby Heart remarked.
Sagat's fortuitous appearance and a close-range Tiger Knee saved Kirina from a complete beatdown, but the World Warriors paid for it when Commando sailed across the battlefield with a Captain Kick and nailed Sagat in the stomach. Struggling to hold back the pain that seeped from half a dozen wounds, Kirina turned her attention back to Hiryu. No hostility emanated from those eyes. Only cold determination shone through Hiryu's expression as he emotionlessly narrowed down the distance to Kirina. Their swords clashed and rang, both fighters feeling the sheer force of the blows through the steel of the weapons. Hiryu's left arm whipped down with a vicious slash as he brought his grapple hook around his shoulder, striking Kirina with the flat of the blade as he did so. Continuing with the same motion, he drew the hook between their weapons and tugged, hard.
But he jumped back appalled as his grapple hook snapped cleanly in two where he had tried to force INRI out of Kirina's hands. Kirina took advantage of the situation to step forward with a single strike directed downwards; this Hiryu avoided by rolling sideways at the last moment. A stream of fire blasted through the space that he had cleared and caught Kirina cleanly on the face, burning her hair for a brief moment. Kirina signaled Sagat for an assist, but Strider easily dodged the Tiger Shot that came his way and retaliated with a powerful side strike at Kirina's exposed left flank. His Falchion struck true and Kirina's bone gave way with a snap.
Kirina prevented herself from screaming mainly by sheer force of will. She turned, called Sagat to replace her, and in doing so made her final mistake; Strider rushed through the opening she had given him and caught her around the waist. A moment later Kirina had been suspended in the air and Strider split off into different images, but only for a moment. Each image flew back dragging the lethal Cypher blade, converging on the helpless Kirina and slashing through her body. As the images vanished again, Hiryu himself reappeared and hooked Kirina around the neck with his leg, pulling her down to the ground ahead of him so that he landed with a stomp, driving her body into the unforgiving field.
"And Kirina Houshi is out of the fight!" Kyosuke proclaimed. "The Emperor of Muay Thai enters into the ring and now the Neo Commando Squad has to face off against the lethal pair of Ryu and Sagat, both of whom are still quite fresh. If Hiryu is smart he'll switch out with Commando right now - no, Hiryu is staying in the fight! Watch how Hiryu is using Commando's Captain Collider, which strikes in front of both of them, to kill any attempt at rushdown while he exploits the openings that the Collider has afforded him. Knowing the Strider, he'll go for his much-hated Ouroboros technique at any time now. And you people thought that Chan was cheap."
As yet another Collider withered away into nothingness, Hiryu struck at Sagat with an elbow to the side, but the Emperor of Muay Thai moved closer and absorbed the blow upon his rock-hard abdomen. An instant later, Sagat retaliated with his mighty Tiger Uppercut and sent Hiryu flying a good ten meters before crashing heavily into the ground. Hiryu wiped away the trickle of blood upon his chin; Sagat called Ryu for a covering fireball and dashed in, only to be stopped at point-blank range by the Captain Collider. His eyes fixed on his opponent, Hiryu had no trouble discerning the distinct motion of hands being drawn back to the chest. Even without a shout of warning from Ruby Heart, he already knew what his opponent intended for him.
"Tiger -!" Sagat shot his arms out as a powerful sphere of energy, nearly as large as the emperor himself, roared off his knuckles and towards Hiryu. The ninja Strider, for his part, simply folded his hands and vanished into the air, the enormous fireball tearing through the air where he had been but a moment ago. Hiryu reappeared behind Sagat, intent on debilitating his opponent with a powerful Masamune attack, but he was caught by surprise when Sagat spun around in a tight half circle to face him directly. At point-blank range, Hiryu had no chance. Sagat roared "Cannon!" and two more of the oversized fireballs plowed into Hiryu's body, blasting through him with the force of a miniature sun.
Nor was that all; as Hiryu held on frantically to the scraps of his consciousness, Ryu instantly took Sagat's place and unleashed another Shinkuu Hadouken, obliterating what was left of Hiryu's defense in one fell attack. Captain Commando knocked Ryu out of the Shinkuu Hadouken with a desperate Captain Collider, but by then the damage had already been done; Hiryu collapsed where he lay and Commando had to block the remainder of Ryu's attack. As the blast died away, Ruby Heart quickly appeared and offered an orb to Commando.
"You're tired, Ryu," Commando observed.
Ryu said nothing. From the side, Sagat threw in a Tiger Shot that Ruby Heart deftly countered with a column of water. When Ryu tried to rush in after Sagat's assist, Commando pulled a maneuver that the Ansatsuken fighter did not expect at all; he met the attack head on and they traded half a hundred blows before Ryu knocked Commando out of a kick with a fierce uppercut into his leg. But Ryu was unable to exploit his temporary advantage, for Ruby Heart blocked a follow-up strike with her rushdown assist. Ryu managed to deflect the flaming tackle, but Commando recovered as he did so and Ryu became grimly aware that he himself was fading, fast. "Sagat, your show!"
Sagat leapt into the field without delay, clearing his way with a powerful lancing kick that Commando blocked high. In an instant Sagat had come right up to Commando with a merciless barrage of close range attacks, but Commando would have none of it. He gradually gave ground until Ruby Heart appeared and stuffed Sagat's offensive with an anchor toss. This the Emperor blocked, but in doing so he was forced to halt his attack and Commando fell back to the edge of the battlefield, breathing heavily. Sagat recovered and tried to force his way in again, but this time Commando held him at arm's length with a combination of his elemental attacks. Sagat finally broke past the perimeter defense, only to suffer the frustration of seeing Commando cross the battlefield and fly out of reach with a graceful Captain Kick.
He pulled himself back for another barrage of Tiger Shots, but at long range Commando had him overmatched and Sagat decided to change his strategy after suffering two consecutive attacks by Commando and Ruby Heart. As Commando and Ruby paired up for another withering assault, Sagat deftly rolled underneath a pair of projectiles and closed down the distance to Commando by half. Sagat wasted no time; with a fearsome roar of "Tiger ... Genocide!" he launched himself into his most dreaded close-range technique, springing forward with a knee aimed straight at Commando's chin -
As it turned out, Sagat should have signaled Ryu for cover fire earlier. Commando raised his arm up, called out "Captain Shock!", and vanished in an instant. Sagat's powerful strike hit only thin air; instantly he realized what his opponent intended and tried to halt the remainder of the attack, but by then Ruby Heart had already appeared on the far side of the battlefield, far too distant to be reached by the Tiger Genocide. She snapped her fingers and pointed; on cue, a massive pirate ship materialized out of thin air and slid with deadly speed towards Sagat, its jagged prow glistening wickedly in the autumn light. The Emperor of Muay Thai skidded forward and the ship spiked him, slicing cruelly into his body as it ground to an abrupt halt. Portals on both sides opened, revealing three tiers of menacing cannonry, and Sagat's last conscious thought was of how unlucky he was to have all of them pointing straight at him.
Had that been a real ship, the injuries would undoubtedly have proven fatal; Jedah and Gill pulled Sagat off the battlefield barely alive. As Ryu entered the field, he felt that the odds were very much against him. Ruby Heart did not wait for her tired opponent to seize the initiative; instead, she herself dashed across the field and met Ryu head-on with a punch. Ryu blocked, lashed back with a kick, then ducked as Commando sent a stream of flames flying over his head. When Ruby slung an anchor over her shoulder and hurled it at him, Ryu vaulted over the anchorhead and planted his foot into her face with an airborne Hurricane Kick. Ruby staggered; Commando jumped in with a Collider, but even as he planted his fist into the ground, Ryu's next move had already come out.
"Shin ... Shoryuken!" Commando's Collider blasted right through Ryu without effect as the latter ducked into a crouch and placed his left fist into a still-reeling Ruby Heart. His right hand rose with unbelievable speed, causing a sickening crunch as it slammed into her stomach. Then Ryu took the attack one step further, lancing his fist up into her chin; with a clearly audible snap, the jawbone gave way and Kyosuke Kagami winced from his position in the commentator's booth. Ryu and Ruby both flew into the air as the powerful Shin Shoryuken landed one final blow; Ruby Heart practically flew to the other side of the battlefield, all of the fight knocked out of her.
Ryu landed on his feet, but as he forced himself to look up at his last opponent, sweat pouring down his brow, he understood that the fight was already over. Commando knew it too; silent understanding flashed between the two warriors as Commando raised his arm, lightning crackling down the length of his fingers. Ryu had no strength left to resist an all-out attack from Commando as that last Shin Shoryuken had drained his vitality. Even as Commando projected a beam of material electricity high above his head - even as he cried "Captain Sword!" and brought it down with punishing force - the look of respect in his eyes never faded. The pillar of lightning crashed into the field and Ryu closed his eyes, for once glad that he had lost the battle.