At long Last ,Chapter 19-20 of Two Tiger's Tail.

Due to popular demand, I have been inspired and have gone on a writting spree the likes of which I haven't experienced in years. You might have noticed that I've been posting new and updated chapters of my other stories, but there's been little progress on this one. Well, here is some progress. I have been writting, but my mind's been bombarded with ideas for the other stories and I've only slowly started to add in more for this one.

I am still hoping to get suggestions on possible matches. If any one wishes to see a specific match, remember to give a bit of background on the character and the styles/attacks they use so that I know what I'm talking about. Or alternatively, you can draft it out and I'll add it if it fits with the direction of the story. Or maybe, we can do a series of side stories about various matches.

AN: I can only write as inspiration hits me, and unfortunately, this is one of my older stories and as such, I've been out of touch with the inspiration behind it. Don't worry, I am still writting, and will continue to do so until I feel it is done, but the updates will be sporadic at best. I can promise this:

I will not force you to wait more than a month or at most 6weeks for new chapters. I know many writers often take several months to add new chapters, and I for one, promise to not make you wait so long. With your help in the ways of review and suggestions or even sidestories for the matches, we will get this done.

I hope to actually write up to the end of the tournament for this story. I'm not sure if I intend to continue the plotline further than that, but if I do, I can only say that it would involve Ranma's meeting the Clan, and possibly, Ryoga's further adventures running into the SF crew.

********************************************************* Chapter 19 Ulaf vs. Honda FIGHT!

The crowd roared as the announcement was made introducing the combattants for the first round of the tournament. Ranma and Akane cheered along with the rest, though they didn't recognize any of the other competitors in the rings. Ulaf was stretching in the ring, staring at the immense figure of the sumo Street Fighter, Edmund Honda. The crowd was familiar with the former sumo champ and was clearly partial to him and opposed to the giant Icelander fishing magnate's son. Ulaf strode to the start line, hefting the rubber hammer he'd been given. Though those fighters with weapons styles were allowed to figth with weapons, they were provided with rubber and wood versions of said weapons.

The exceptions granted were for when 2 weapons users were facing off, as in the case in the next ring, where an American naginatado student was facing off against a nunchuku twirling Chinese man of matching height. Neither Ranma nor Akane was interested in the match, seeing how they believed the use of weapons implied a weakness of style and strength in the wielder. So they chose to focus on the match between the massive, surprisingly muscular Hawaiian and the hulking presence of their friendly Icelander giant.

The match started slowly, as each tried to feel out their opponents. Ulaf was the more impatient, and lashed out first with a side swing of the warhammer. It was an exact copy of the hammer he usually used in battle, though made of rubber and hollowed to be able to adjust the weight and soften impact. It was still solid enough that a good hit could bruise or break bone, but soft enough not to kill or maim unless a blow landed on a weak point in the skeletal structure.

Ulaf's strike was blocked with a ham sized fist.The punch forced Ulaf's arm back in the other direction, and he turned with the blow, surprising the other man with his agility as he used the momentum to duck and perform a back handed sweep with the hammer, taking out the Hawaiian's legs.

Honda landed flat on his back, causing a shudder in the ring floor. He roled backwards, avoiding a follow up blow. He came to his feet and did a side kick, connecting solidly with his taller opponents ribs and sending him skidding back on the mat. They again faced off, each surprised at the other's speed and agility.

The second sequence was begun by Honda, as he lashed out him a palm strike that was blocked with a hard blocking move that might had shattered his forearm, if he were a lesser man. As used to fighting such people as Zangrief, Balrog, and the rest of Shadowloo's warriors, the impact merely number his fingers for a half second.

Using the block as a distractiong, he quickly kneed the Icelander in the stomach and hit him with a left cross, rocking him on his feet. He followed up with a short burst of his 'Hundred Hand Clap', punishing his opponents ribs. He kept it up until the man's hand gripped his head and lifted him from the ground, startling him at the shear strength the other man possesed. No few people had lifted him from his feet, but only a very few could do so one handed. He gripped the other man's wrist, trying to break the now crushing pressure the long fingers were exerting against his skull.

With both his hands occupied, he took several punishing blows to his ribs from the hammer. Realizing that he wouldn't break free of the grip in this manner, he brought both knees into the man's stomach, againt slamming the tender ribs. The grip relaxed, and Honda's feet were again on solid ground. Gripping the wrist holding the hammer, and placing his other hand on the man's chest, he pivoted to the left, knees bent and arms straining. He lifted his opponent off the ground, and using the extra strength of his legs, tossed him towards the opposite side of the ring, and hopefully, out of the ring.

Ulaf felt himself lifted into the air and allowed the other man to throw him, knowing he'd be able to stay in the ring. He landed feet first, completed a summersault to twist his body into position. He spun and threw the hammer, aiming for his opponents legs. The sumo dodged the throw and smirked, then noticed that the hammer was trailing a long length of chain. Ulaf grinned and used the first of his special attacks, whipping the chain in a peculiar fashion. The hammer, controlled by his ki that was transmitted along the length of chain, twisted and turned, wrapped the chain around the sumo's powerful legs. To finish the attack, the head of the hammer slammed into the small of the sumo's back, sending shocks of pain coursing along his spine.

Ulaf sighed as he noted the weakness of the attack. When he used his real hammer, he would sent a burst of electricity through the metal, and the strike to the back would include the flash of an electrical discharge, electrocuting his opponent. But the rubber of the hammer he was using, insulated agaisnt such a charge and he was forced to adapt his style to exclude his other attacks based on using the hammer and electrical force conducted throught the iron heads.

No matter, he thought to himself. He had other tricks up his sleeve. He yanked on the chain and started twisting in place, forcing the chain to started spinning. He was hoping to have the chain release his opponent and send him flying out of the ring. The chain released the sumo fighter as planned, but not with enough force to end up ouside the ring. He landed clumsily on his feet, across the expanse of the thin mat. Ulaf pulled back on the chain, bringing the hammer back to his hand. He hung the hammer from the chain on the belt hook he'd designed for the purpose. Seeing his opponent staggering, he decided to borrow a move from rugby, and charged at him, intending to smash him with a shoulder tackle.

Honda saw his opponent, or rather, several copies of his opponent, charging him. Being used to the disorienting effects of rapid turns, he quickly shook off the dizzyness and set himself to await the charging man. The impact was tremendous, sending a roar through the crowd as Ulaf bounced off of Honda's massive stomach and landed several feet away. Honda was not immune, as he slid back an equal distance on the slick mat, leaving feet drag indentations on the mat.

Ulaf lay on his back, recovering his breath after the huge impact. 'This might be harder than I thought', he thought as he scrambled to his feet in time to avoid a potentially stunning Banzai Drop from Honda.

The two began to trade punches and kicks, blocking and striking against each other. It was an exhilerating fight and soon they were the only ones left standing as the other matches finished rather quickly. They backed away from each other, each nursing forming bruises and checking for broken bones.

Ulaf glanced at the clock next to the ring and grimaced. They still had another 3 minutes to go in the 10 minute limit. He was more exhausted then he could remember being. He hadn't been so evenly matched since the last time he'd visited his cousin in Siberia. That was before his cousin had started serving that maniacal warlord, M. Bison and his terrorist army Shadowloo.

He had to find some way to knock his opponent off his feet and out of the ring. There match had already lasted almost twice as long as any other and the second round could not commence until the first was finished. People were waiting, some glaring impatiently at them, while others cheered them on. He looked across the ring at his opponent and met his eyes. He nodded slowly, and took up a stance. His opponent matched his gesture, and took his own stance. Either way, they each knew that they didn't have much left. So they started gathering their energy for a final attack.

Ulaf charged forward, reaching back with his hand clutched tightly around the handle of his weapon. He roared out a challenge to his personal god, Thor. He was half way across the ring in a only a few steps, running towards the mountain form of the sumo.

Honda gave a tight grin as he gathered his ki into his legs, preparing for his final attack. Seeing his opponent approaching rapidly, he sprung into the air, sending his body hurtling towards the modern day Viking.

The collision shook the stands and a roar went up among the crowd. A flash of light from the pair as they slammed against each other blinded the stands and when their eyes returned to normal seconds later, a huge cloud of dust and foam bits blocked their view of the ring. The fans recirculing the air in the stadium started to blow the bits of foam and dust from the ring, and an earsplitting cheer came over the crowd. No one could tell yet who had won, but it didn't matter. It had been the best match of the opening round, and the crowd appreciated their all out effort.

A large hand came out of the center of the ring, dragging the huge body behind it. Ulaf's head and shoulders came into view before collapsing on the mat. He slid forward on the ruins of the mat, and a second large hand was seen grasping his shirt and pushing him out of the hole. Both hands grasped the edge of the hole, and Honda pulled himself out of the minicrater. He rubbed his neck sheepishly, hoping that he hadn't put the ring totally out of commission.

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Ranma and Akane clapped along with those around them. Even though they had been rooting for Ulaf, they had to admit that it was an excellent match. Honda and Ulaf had been evenly matched and both had fought a clean, fair fight. It could have gone either way, but on this day, Honda had proved to be hardier then his opponent.

The pair watched the replay of the first round on the overhead screens, while the stadium crew quickly replaced the destroyed ring. In 5 minutes, they had the ring replaced and ready, looking as though nothing had happened. The second set of fighters for the first round were announced and took their places in the ring, now more aware of what the fans wished to see than the rather staid and boring matches that had ended too quickly. They now had to contend not only with their opponents, but with trying to please the fans by putting on a good show.

Ranma leaned back in his seat and grinned. "That was a good fight! It's too bad they had to face off so early. It would have been good to see them against some of the weaker guys first."

Akane shook her head at her mate's statement. "What is it with you and seeing people pick on those weaker than themselves?"

"I didn't mean it like that, Akane. You know what I was saying. Sometimes it's more instructive to watch how a fighter treats those of lesser skill than to see him fight someone at their own level. If they are evenly matched skillwise, then it often comes down to who has the psychological edge. But if he toys with and taunts those weaker then himself with his superior abilities, than you know more about what kind of person he is than the false respect he might be forced to display to an equal. Even if he has no equal in his own mind."

Akane mooed at her mate. "I know that baka! I was teasing you. It was a great fight. Did you notice the match at ring 1? That one guy tossed the other around like he was moving in slow motion. What was his name? I missed it during introductions."

Ranma's face scrunched up as he thought back to the introductions. He hadn't really paid attention since he was focussed on checking out Ulaf's opponent. "I don't know the name, but I think they said he was representing some Western school."

Akane noticed a vendor passing their row and ordered a couple of packets of pocky. She kept hte regular flavor for herself and handed Ranma the shrimp. They chewed their snack noisily, watching for a drink vendor to pass by their row. Seeing none in sight, Ranma sighed and stood.

"I'll be right back Akane, " he stated, passing her the rest of his bag. He glanced at the rings in the stadium and the others up on the screens. None of the matches looked that interesting out of this group, and most were already over. He glanced at the board dedicated to the matchups and noted that the next series of fights were in the women's bracket. He could feel the aura's of many strong fighters, many of them females. In fact, jugding from the ki's and powers he could feel, the woman's bracket had the greater ratio of specialy skilled fighters than the men's. The men's bracket was mainly ordinary fighters. Sure, they might be all high ranking black belts or the equivalent, but compared to him and Akane, they were little more than children. He had earned his first black belt at the age of two, and Akane had gotten hers when she was five.

Shrugging, he went in search of a drink dispenser. He noticed a clock, and was surprised that it was already 8:10. He hadn't thought that much time had passed. He tried to hurry, but there was a small group of people blocking the pathway to the machines. Looking longingly at the drinks, he sighed and turned to look for a vendor. He spotted one just reaching the upper row, about thirty feet in front of him. Not wanting to waste anymore time, he judged the distance and the height of the ceiling. Seeing that he had enough room, he shifted his ki into his legs and pushed off, soarign over the heads of the people blocking his path. He ignored the gasps of amazement as he turned a double summersault before landing a good 6 feet in front of the group. He then walked the remaining ten feet to the vendor and purchased a pair of large iced teas.

He noted several people staring at him as he again leapt over the obstruction in the stairs. Smiling at them, he sketched a quick bow before turning and returning to his seat. He hand one of the plastic cups to Akane and took a sip of his own.

"What took you so long?" she asked as he placed an arm around her shoulder and stretched his feet.

Swallowing, he pointed over his shoulder at the group slowly making its way up the stairs. "Long lines."

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Chapter 20

Guile grunted as he was elbowed by the person sitting next to him. He glared at the woman, who didn't seem to notice him. She seemed enthralled with the match going on a few feet from them, though he found it rather ordinary and dull. Grunting again, he shifted as far from her as the limited space of the seat would allow, gained perhaps an inch in clearence from her sharp elbow.

Hearing a faint chuckling to his other side, he scowled and turned his head to his friend. "What are you laughing at, Li?"

Covering her mouth with one hand and turning the chuckles into a series of blatanly fake coughs, the Chinese woman shook her head. "Only you would be able to be annoyed by something like this, Guile. Look around, people are enjoying the show. Honda won, though the other guy put on a great fight. My first match is soon, and so is yours."

Sighing, he looked back to the fight board. "Who are you fighting?"

Chun Li looked at the board, struggling to find her name spelled in the kanji the Japanese used. "I can't make out the name, but it looks like it's somebody from the Jeet Kung Do school. Isn't that the one Bruce Lee founded?"

Speaking for the first time since the conversation regarding the young man named Ranma, Ryu answered. "Yes. There seems to be a lot of people from that school here."

Guile nodded. Being the only American, he could better understand why this was so. Bruce Lee had revelutionized the martial arts and had brought them in the mainstay of American culture. His style had spread quickly and been copied and modified by thousands of American martial artists. The mysterious death of the first true international megastar only added to his mystique and furthered the desire of people to try and understand him by learning the art he loved so much. He himself had started learning the martial arts because of a wish to be like Bruce, and had later spread his learning to include other styles and forms.

"It and it's offshoots are the most prolific schools of martial arts in the US." he added, wanting to clear up Chun Li's confusion. "Most of the people here are from the states. There are some from other places, but have you noticed? There are very few Japanese invovled with the tournament. Less than a quarter of the contestants are Japanese, and considering that this is Japan, that's a very low ratio."

Chun nodded thoughtfully. "I wonder why? Are there not that many martial artists in Japan?"

Ryu snorted. "Most Japanese fighters consider themselves either samurai or ninja. They those two rarely agree on anything, both agree that tournaments such as these are unfit for their presence. The samurai because they feel it tarnishes their honor to fight simply to show superior skill, and the ninja because they don't like the public nature of a tournament." He looked around the crowd, taking a moment to read the auras of those he noted as combattants. "Actually, I'm surprised there are as many as there are. Aside from Sumo and wrestling, the Japanese tend to shy away from the spotlight a tournament like these represents."

"What do they represent?" Guile asked.

"Greed. Fame. Power. Three things most Japanese struggle hard to control in themselves. There's an old saying here: 'The nail that sticks up, gets hammered down.' "

"That sounds familiar. But what does it mean?"

"That anyone who tries to stick out, to be different from those around him, gets pressured to stay the line. To be like everyone else. A tournament like this, with all the media covering it and the huge purse, goes agaisnt all that. It's all about sticking out, about being different. That's why most Japanese tournaments are more low key, more about the actual matches than about the show and the crowd. The money for the winnings of this match sure aren't coming from the hosts pockets. It's coming from the concession stands and the media and TV coverage rights. Sure, 100 million yen sounds like a lot, but the TV and international PPV takings will be ten times that. Add in the radio rights, still shots for paper printings, Internet boradcasts, concession takings, betting, and all the rest. They stand to bring in at least twice that, which means at least 200 times what the winner will make."

Guile was impressed. That was a lot, even when converting to other currencies. "That's a lot of cash. Think there's going to be trouble? A place like this, could be a huge draw to some of our acquantainces."

Ryu snorted again. "Not even Bison would be stupid enough to attempt anything with the security they have here. He's bound to know who is here. He might be insane, but he's not a comlete moron. No one who can be traced to Shadowloo will risk incuring his wrath by attempting anything here. No, I rather suspect that he's got somethign else planned somewhere else. As far from here as he can get."

************************************************* "Deejay, has the squad reported in yet?" General M. Bison asked of his aid- de-camp. He was currently overlooking a holographic display of his next target.

The Jamacain merc glanced down at the report he held, searching for the information his leader requested. "Dey be landed in a few moments, Generale. Dey be in place for the attack as per your orders for tomorrow."

Bison turned to look the large black man in the eyes. His own burned with the inner fire of madness, though he prefered to think of it as inner peace. "Excellent. Tell Sagat and Vega not to mess up, this time. I want the place burned to the ground, and I want no survivors." He turned to glance down at the display. he punched a button and laughed as one of the buildings began to flash as explosives on each floor went off. He laghed as the building began to crumble, stone steel and glass raining down on the city below. Other buildings began to fall apart as well in the image, leaving a heap of ruins in their places. He moved his gaze from the destroyed buildings to the famous harbor and the islands dotting the area. "Xanatos shall be punished for refusing to aid my quest to bring order to the world, and what better way that to destroy the city he holds so dear."

Flickering holographic flames framed his face as he chortled maniacally over the ruins of New York City. *************************************************