KOF:In the pits!

Ch.2:Gathered players.

NEW YORK CITY,THE FOLLOWING DAY.

Terry Bogard arrived in New York the following days after he recieved the invite to the Pit Fighters tournament.

He decided to head to the Statue of Liberty and see if either Andy or Joe were there as well.

After taking the ferry boat,and arriving at the statue,he went straight upstairs to the where the crown section was.

He walked through the crowds of people,his usual duffle bag over his shoulder,and looked for any sign of his friends.

Suddenly,he heard an all-too familiar sound from someone he knew.

"HEEEYYLONE WOLF!"said a voice.

It was Joe Higashi himself,and he was dressed in a pair of blue and green sweats and carrried a tiger striped duffle bag.

"Ohwellnot suprising."said Terry grinning. "But glad to see you made it."

"Likewise,Terry."said Joe as he shook Terry's hand."The call to fight always calls for men like us!"

"It sure does."said Terry. "By the way,was Andy and Mai with you?"

"Afraid not."said Joe. "I guess they weren't invited,much to Mai's chagrin...and of course Andy's worry."

Terry chuckled.

"Yeah,you can say that again."he said.

Suddenly,another familiar face showed up.

It was Ryo and he was dressed in a brown leather jacket,blue jeans and boots and carried a duffle bag of his own.

"Hey,look who it ain't!"he said. "The Fatal Furys"

"Yeah,and the Art of Fighting leader himself."said Terry as he shook Ryo's hand.

"How ya been,Ryo?"

"Me,i'm cool."said Ryo.
"The Kyokugenryu dojo's been busy since the last two KOF's we been in."

"That's good to hear."said Terry. "Sorry,your team didn't win either,but hey neither did we."

"Yeah,you'd think any of us in the earlier KOF's would've won gold again after the Southtown ones held by Geese Howard."

"Yeah,you'd think."said Joe.

"That's cause you don't belong to a team Japan as a native like me,boys."said another familiar voice.

Emerging from the crowds was Kyo Kusanagi himself.

"I don't believe this,Kusanagi!"said Joe.

"In person!"said Kyo.

"Ryo Sakazaki,it was an honor to fight you in the last KOF."

Kyo bowed to him.

"Uhmm...sure."said Ryo as he bowed back.

"Yeah,you probably say that cause you beat him last time."said Joe.

"S'okay,Joe."said Ryo. "It was a good fight last time for all of us anyways."

"Yeah,except for facing Rugal again."said Kyo scratching the back of his head.

"Anyways,i'm suprised you three are here the same place I am,but...did you get invites to this contest i'm going to as well?"

The three fightetrs pulled out the invites.

"Ditto."said Joe.

"Well then...I hope you three trained twice as hard for this,cause it may get to be just like the KOF all over again."said Kyo.

"Yeah,if you have experience with hardcore pit fighting."said Joe. "I been to few myself,and they are extremly dangerous."

"You ever been in any,Kyo?"said Ryo.

"Uhmmm...no,afraid not."said Kyo.

"Well then,you should be a cakewalk if you compete."said Terry.

"Don't bet on it,Bogard!"said Kyo.

"I been in several street fights myself,and I learn pretty quick from a situation fight,no matter what it is."

"Well,let's hope you back up the talk when we get in the ringor uhpit that is."said Joe.

"I'll be there,count on it."said Kyo. "You just watch your own asses.

Anyways,good luck and may the best fighter win!"

Kyo then walked back into the crowd.

"Yeesh,what a conceited ass punk!"said Joe.

"Yeah,i'm afraid his last two victories in the past two KOF kind of went to his head."said Ryo.
"Must not have much in it for him to get like that,HAHA!"said Joe.

"Okay guys,lighten up."said Terry. "Depsite whatever other flaws he may have,he's a true warrior,and it weren't for him and his mates,Rugal would still be terrorizing the fighter's circuit with his madness."

"Yeah,maybe...but we still could've won."said Joe.

"Well,we've all got to give it our best,and make sure the Japan Team man doesn't win another title."said Ryo.

"Yeah,so here's to the best man winning."said Terry.

"YEAH!"said Joe and Ryo in unison.

"See you guys at the tournament."said Ryo before turning back to the crowds.

"Well,at least he's got a good head on his shoulders."said Joe.

"Can the same be said for you,Joey?"said Terry smirking.

"Oh,haha!"said Joe. "Just wait till we get in the ring,wolf man! Otherwise see ya later."

"You too."said Terry.

Once the tour visit was over,each fighter retired to the local hotels they were staying at and patiently waited for the time to arrive.

And arrive it did.

It was 6:00pm in the evening and all four fighters arrived at the loaction of where the tournament would start.

The location was a large steel and silver lined dome of some sort with a square fitting around the bottom of it.

A large plastic flier was pasted across it saying:"PIT FIGHTERS TOURNAMENT:TONIGHT!"

"Definitely the place all right."thought Terry. "I wonder who else is here?"

Looking around,he spotted many familiar faces from the past KOF.

He saw Raiden,Kim and Chang,Toji Sakata,Todo,Ralf Jones and Clark Steele King,Michael Max,Chin and Kensou,Heavy D and Lucky as well as a few others and some other familiar faces.

"Sure is packed tonight."he thought grinning. "Should be a good fight."

Ryo,Joe and Kyo felt just as eager to start fighting as well,but had to be patient to wait and see what the contest would really hold.

Just then,the double doors opened and a group of dark suited men wearing shades and were all escorting a short and stout man at the doors.

He wore a dark red suit,wore shades of his own,had a slick back hairstyle and had a moustache.

"Evening folks."he said in a Brooklyn style accent.

"I'm your host Vinnie Scapelli,and welcome to the first in years Pit Fighters tournament."

Several cheers and hoots were heard.

"Now,now,settle down,okay?"said Vinnie. "I know you're eager to bust some balls and win some dough doin'it,but ya gotta be patient,cappeche?

Now,step right this way and we'll begin asap."

The group of men walked away from the doors and allowed the troupe of fighters to enter.

Once inside,they found a long and wide hallway of white and red walls,and a red carpeted floor that led to a large and even wider door ahead of them.

"I welcome you all to the first in years PIT FIGHTERS tournament."said Vinnie.

"I'm sure some of you remember that Pit Fighter was a spectacular underground fighting contest to determine that baddest and the best at street fighting and martial artist fighting.

And the last three champions to conquor the whole tournament,were...Kato the karate fighter,Buzz the wrestler and Ty the kickboxer.

Well...after years of other fight events and such,the Pit Fighter contest is back from the dead,but with a twist,we've decided to invite the very best from the King of Fighters tournaments and that's where you guys'n'gals come in.

That's right,after being so impressed by the five past KOF contests,we've went through a lot of detail to locate most of you selected fighters and decided to see who's the best.

But remember folks,this is no tpyical run of the mill world contest,it's a hardocre no-holds-barred,dirty fighting stlye tournament where the strong survive and only the strong win. Think you're up to it?"

Many of the fighters responded saying:
"YOU KIDDIN'? BRING IT ON!
"YEAH!"

"ALRIGHT,GO FOR IT!"

"WE READY!"

"YOU BET!"

Vinnie chuckled.

"Okay then,let's do it then! Right this way if ya please."

Vinnie and his men led the fighters down the hall towards the alrge door that lay in front.

Once they got there,they discovered it was a door made of copper and steel.

Vinnie told a couple of his men to open the door.

One activated a computerized lock while the other pulled on the door handle.

A sigh of pressure and a shift of hydraulics,and the door opened.

The group of fighters walked through and found themselves in a vast fighting arena.

There was a large pair of stadium seats on both sides of the room,along with a souvenier shop on the left,a concession stand on the right,and in the very middle of the room...was a deep and wide pit hole that was in reality,the fighting ring.

"Whoa!"said Kensou. "We're gonna fight in that?"

"Some of you will,actually."said Vinnie. "That,is just one of the many pit arenas you'll face off against each other in.
And that's exactly where the rules come in. So,please pay attention to the details that i'm gonna give out.

The organizer took out a pocket remote,aimed it at the large video monitor above them,and a map and details suddenly appeared.

"Here's how it works,gents."he began. "The first line-up of battles will be for the preliminaries. You'll each be selected in groups and be transported to a different fighting arena that's located across the big apple.

Once there,you'll meet and defeat your opponent till only six are left standing.

After that,the finals will begin. First,semi-finals,then...the grand finals...then the supreme final match as to who is left standing to facethe supreme champions!"

"And just who are some of these supreme champions?"said Terry.

Vinnie pressed another button on the remote and a trio of fighters appeared.

"These threeare the champions of the last Pit Fighter tourney."said Vinnie.

"KATO,karate warrior,Buzz,pro wresler,and TY,Kickboxing champion.

Once you make it to the supreme finals,you'll get to face these three in the pit itself in one-on-one combat. And once that's over,you'll face each other till one stands,and that fighter gets to facethe final challenge!

And who may you ask is this final challenger? You'll find out when the final match begins. So that means we're keeping a tight lip about it.But rest assured,you'll be mighty suprised.

Now,kindly await your name and location to be announced,we've got a lot of planning and match-ups to declare,so stand by,behave and wait for the battle to begin."

There were murmers of excitment amongst the fighters,especially with Terry,Ryo,Joe,and Kyo.

"This is it!"thought Ryo. "A new and deadly tournament for me to use my best skills."

"I can't wait to fight it out with my first opponent!"thought Joe.

"Man,wait'll Yuki and the gang hear about this."thought Kyo.

"Wow,if I didn't know better,"i'd say this contest was illegally organized."thought Terry. " I wonder..who could the final challenger be? Geese...? No,no,he's dead,he's gotta be."

(Or so Terry thought till his next adventure in Southtown,but that's another story.)

For the KOF contestants,the fight of a lifetime was about to begin.

NEXT:THE TOURNAMENT FINALLY BEGINS AND THE FIRST WAVE OF CHALLENGERS ARE PLACED AGAINST EACH OTHER IN SERIOUS COMBAT! DIRTY BLOWS AND OTHER PERILS FACE OUR HEROES IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!