As the first round between some of the greatest fighters come to an end, there are perhaps even more questions than before. Some of the fighters have died, yet Balrog and Chameleon have, at the Alpha-Omega's request, arisen, and take up the defeated bodies of fellow fighters. Has anyone really died? Is it just an elaborate ploy? If they didn't die, then what happened? What about two Jades and two Jaxes? Human and Cyber Smoke? The dark sides of Akuma, Ryu, Sakura, and Ken? Who has the power to stop monsters like Goro, Kintaro, Motaro, and Shao Khan? Will a fight amongst them be the only way for Earth to survive? What about Meat, a third Reptile, Shadow, and Shadow Li? Questions are flowing like blood...will there be answers to help heal these wounds?

"Ah man! Now this is bullshit! How in the world am I suppose to fight a guy the size of this, with four arms! This is sheer madness! Of all the bloody people to fight, why'd I get Kintaro?"

"Shit happens, mon! You should know that. Look at it this way, you at least have the home turf advantage," replied in a silky voice of a lady in a purple tiara.

"Dommy? Nope! Thanks for the pep, AO! But that's easy for you to say; you aren't fighting Kintaro. Even if you were, you are a god!"

"Pitiful human. Always looking for a way out!"

"You, shut-up! I'm sick and tired of hearing about all of you other worlders bashing us 'pitiful humans.' I'd bet the bank that your own world has it's own crap, mon. We have ours, but don't go ripping us until you have seen your own. We all may be willing to tear open each other for a quick profit, but just as many are willing to help in a time of desperate need. We all do our best to do our part, whether it be to help the hungry, or our planet itself."

"It is a futile battle. It will end with you loosing, as will this fight!" and in a blink, Kintaro shot up, disappeared, and reappeared, stomping Deejay into the ground.

As he arose, he was leveled again by a series of fireballs spewed from Kintaro. As Kintaro moved in, he was met by a series of kicks from Deejay, knocking the giant to the ground, causing the very earth to shake under the impact.

This is gonna bite! I've already had to hit him with my best hit, and while he's down, he seems to be winded, at best. Before Deejay could decide what to do, Kintaro shot up, and delivered a bone-snapping uppercut to Deejay, causing him to scream out in pain.

While still down and cringing, he thought that some of his ribs were broken. He then heard the warp again, and didn't have the air to shout in agony as Kintaro stomped him again. If you could read his mind, you would have heard an entire life scream out in pain. Every part of him, each of his memories, flashed in a fury of devastation before his mind's eye. He wasn't sure if he could even get back up, let alone fight. If he didn't, he knew he would be killed. Kintaro picked him up, and laughed in a voice of death.

In desperation, Deejay kneed his giant foe where he knew he was ulnerable. Kintaro drooped Deejay to the ground, and was bent over, wheezing from the pain. This time, Deejay didn't hesitate. He began to rattle his fist, and then began to rattle Kintaro's head. He then hit Kintaro with his own series of projectiles, rocking the seemingly invincible giant.

"And now..."

"Good-bye, Deejay!" and with a shattering fist, Kintaro slammed his fist into the Jamaican, leaving him on the brink between life and death.

"Winner of Round 1, Fight 32, Kintaro!"

Kintaro merely went to join with Goro. Cammy, Fei Long, and Hawk helped Deejay out.

"Ah, the city lights. And the center of the show, the tower glowing green, where Khan draws the souls and takes them for his own. It is indeed a lovely sight!"

"I'd say you are a sick person, but I don't think you qualify to be a person."

"Ah, you hurt my feelings. It's too bad that that will be the only part of me you can hurt. Unlike those oafs lead by Goro, I cannot be knocked down. I can't be defeated! The strongest attacks are futile against me. Come, prepare to die!"

"I guess you've never been told that size isn't what's important (I don't believe I just said that)! Liu Kang's small, yet he's won all previous Mortal Kombat Tournaments. Then, there's that Jax guy. I heard he gave you a pounding. He relied mostly on those enhancements, but he still pounded you into pulp. If they can, I will! Ready?"

In reply, Motaro disappeared, and reappeared behind Honda. He then lifted the former sumo champ with one hand, and smashed his face with the other, sending him across the roof. Motaro didn't even wait for Honda to get up, when he fired three exploding blasts from his tail, driving Honda into the ground. He leapt, ready to stomp his defeated foe into the ground, but Honda had enough to roll out of the way, and his break came. Motaro slipped in the impression left by Honda, and most of his weight fell on his left front leg. Inside his head, he heard the sound of his bone crack. The pain was evident in his face, and it was only with extreme pressure (or pride) that he didn't scream in pain.

"Ah, there you are! You did a lot of work for me. You, in your arrogance, may have broken your own leg. Fool!"

Motaro attempted to trip Honda with his tail, but Honda sumo splashed over it. Honda then followed with his 100-hand slap, hitting all over his gigantic foe's chest and face. Knowing that he would do more hurt to himself than his foe, Honda decided on a head-butt, as opposed to a slam. Motaro screeched when their heads met, and he was now on all four of his knees. Honda was also on his knees, thinking that he had hit his head into a brick wall. He shook his head, and knew that he'd have to go for his super head-butt to finish this fight. The longer it would go on, the more chance his monstrous foe could recover.

"What? No! My student! How can this be? You, died! This..."

"...Is your host. You must forget about him, at least for now. You've been lucky so far. It's about to run out, unless you pay attention and end this match. You may not like it, but Motaro won't stop until one of you are dead!"

"NO! I'm not a killer! I will win without having to kill him."

"I didn't imply that you kill him. I only said that Motaro won't stop until one of you are dead! If you took it that way, it was your own way of interpreting it. Continue."

The form of Honda's dead student faded away. Once again, his favorite student was gone. He didn't know what the prize was, but he had to win. He knew the prize could help give back the life that was so wrongly taken. He knew Bison killed him, even though it was made to look like suicide. If Bison could control Cammy's mind, and others, then that was what had to have been done.

"You should have listened to the pest! Head's up!"

Motaro reached for Honda's head, and tore it off his shoulders!

Motaro then dropped the head onto the body, and was back in the void.

"Winner of Round 1, Fight 33, Motaro! Fatality! Birdie! Would you be so kind as to take up Honda! This will take more time."

"Yea, mate!"

"What is this, freak show? It looks like something from a bad horror movie."

"You might say this is my home. This lab, on this train, is where I became what I now am. Sucks!"

"It won't matter much in a short while. For soon, Lord Shinnok will overthrow Earth and all other Realms. Then he shall be the soul ruler, as well as ruler of all creation!"

"I may not be too bright, but I know that's one of the biggest lies I've ever heard! You don't care about this Shinnok, god or otherwise! You want him destroyed so that you can rule it all. It's the same with all of us. We look out only for ourselves, because if we don't, we'll be dead...or wind up like me!"

"If I had a heart, I may have actually cared. I don't. You are nothing but an insignificant insect, which I will now crush!"

Quan Chi teleported, and was ready to strike Necro. He merely smiled, and fried Quan Chi with his electric attack. Quan Chi shot up, and withdrew a huge spiked club. From half the room away, Necro easily knocked it out of the bewildered Quan Chi's hands. He then grabbed the weaponless man, and did a series of slams, knocking the air out of Chi.

"You're doing well, Necro. I must admit, I'm very impressed! You've really improved from the time you were first made..."

"You! You psycho with the wires! You're the one! I'll kill you!" spewed Necro at the man he thought to be the source of his troubles.

He was shocked when the man teleported from his Electric Storm, although he was happy that some of it hit Quan Chi.

"Damn you! If you're going to impersonate people, don't use psychos! Having one of each is enough, without there being copycats!"

"True! But you need a little motivation! Just know, to the winner goes a prize that many will kill for!"

As if on cue, Quan Chi shot up, and continued the battle.

Quan Chi picked up his fallen club, and threw it at the distracted Necro. Quan Chi receieved another surprise, as his weapon bounced of Necro's elastic body, and sent him face first into one of the tables covered with who knows what from horrors unknown. The smell of the vile things quickly brought him too, and Quan Chi just avoided a zap.

Quan Chi was charred in places, the result of being shocked by Necro's Electric Storm. Both had just heard of what the prize pertained to. It was "a prize that many will kill for!" Just what and how much are people willing to kill for? Nobody knows what the exact prize is, yet they are already more than willing to kill for it. Necro thinks back to the girl that escaped with him when Gill told Necro that he was a liability. Perhaps he could be human once more. Then, the two of them could start a new life! If it meant he had to give all of this up, he would, just to be with her.

"You have a certain dreamy look about you. It is usually the kind humans have when they are in love. What poor creature is the object of a freak's desire?" mocked Quan Chi, intent on blinding his foe with rage, making him easier to defeat.

Things rarely go according to the plans we set, no matter how careful we set them.

Necro did burst into a rage, but one that was intense to such a level, it had previously been reached by Fei Long, and Blanka. What was the madness that seemed to be plaguing certain Street Fighters? Was the seal of The Raging Demon burning fury throughout them all? Was Bison some how connected? Maybe it is simply a desperate instinct to merely survive. When cornered, logic is lost and self preservation can take control.

Necro spun hitting Quan Chi with his fists, which seemed to resemble hooks. He then grabbed his foe by the legs, and threw him over his head. He attempted a drill, only to have to block a green skull. Quan Chi then leapt onto the neck of his freakish foe, intent on breaking Necro's neck.

In a blinding flash, it was over. Necro had unleashed an Electric Storm of a level that he did not know he could reach. Quan Chi would live, as would Necro. His mind was set on what he would do. He would win the prize, whatever it may be, and use it for them.

"Winner of Round 1, Fight 34, Necro! Electric Storm!"

Now, I have defeated Gill, and avenged my mentor, Tom. I was just starting to celebrate with him, and my daughter, before I was spirited away. As I was there with them, I began to wonder. I felt like I could actually sense as other warriors were now looking for me. It is a strange feeling, yet I think I'd welcome it with open arms...or should I?

Another champion, Ryu, has that feeling too. Yet he lives like a monk of some kind. The only thing he seems to care about is the fight. I wonder, could I be like that. I respect what he does, and his skills, but his way of life? I can't simply give them up like that! Perhaps I need to think about this a little more. I've already missed much of her life, and I don't feel right about missing any part of my daughter's life! Maybe, after this tournament, I'll take some time for myself...if I survive. I'm good, but against these, I may be out of my game. No sense in backing out now. Play hard, and kick butt!

"Do you always mumble to yourself, or only when you are in a serious fight?"

"That is low! I've heard that you have taken on many forms, but to take the form of a dead being, it's just flat out sick!"

"Good! You're expecting me to be the Alpha-Omega! Too bad you don't know that we all look alike!"

She teleported in like Noob Saibot, did Ermac's TK slam, froze Alex, did a warp roundhouse, and finished with a roll.

What...is this...woman? NEVER have I seen one person with so much power and so many abilities. One of the three mimics the women, and a second mimics the men, this one does both. I can't out power her, not with the fire she's playing with. And I don't think I can play defense too...DAMN!

His foe teleported, and smacked him in the face, lifted him with a fan, flew and smacked him, tossed a fan into him, seemingly go through the ground, hit him on the other side, and finished by slamming him to the ground.

"My, I am impressed! I would have thought that after a pounding like that, you would have been out! You are strong, good! It will mean that I won't have to be bored with this fight!"

"Can the sarcasm, wench! I have a little present for you!" he yelled, as he leapt at her.

Unprepared, she threw a low star, which completely missed its target. Alex grabbed her, and repeatedly bashed her skull. When he threw her away, she was totally dazed. Alex ran in, and started a barrage of fists, finally turning the fight to his side. He hoped that his strength would be enough to end this match, because he knew he couldn't hold up to the potential onslaught she had if he couldn't take her out.

As he made set to slam her, Chameleon-Khameleon hurled an energy net at Alex, catching him in mid-move. Chameleon-Khameleon laughed and taunted him on how stupid he was, just before she took out her pole, and executed the same kombo Jade had used, combining it with the total invincibility of the other Jade.

As he fell toward the ground, Chameleon-Khameleon noticed that they were now in the dark void that she had seen when she first came here. Alex hadn't hit the ground, or had he? Everything was becoming distorted. There was no ground, sky, or anything to tell where everything was. It was a endless void, or was it the center of all creation? Whatever it was, Chameleon-Khameleon knew she had wasted too much time. If Alex was still in it, he had had more than enough time to recover.

"Alex, my boy! Get up!"

"Tom...or is this the form you've chosen for this fight?"

"Tom" didn't reply. He only repeated his initial command, and was gone. He got up, and was also disoriented by the void. However, seeing his foe rush in, he knew that it was only in his mind. In a burst of speed, he grabbed her, and put her in his Hyper Bomb!

"Now, that hurt," Chameleon-Khameleon said as she painfully got up, "but you are obviously distracted by something! Don't be so surprised! After all, I can use the snow for other things too!"

Where she had been, Alex saw a carefully arranged pack of snow with his foe's impression in it.

She then speared him in the neck, yanked him to her, and did a leg take-down. Still on his back, he was rocketed up by Chameleon-Khameleon, hit by two force balls, and driven into the ground by a bolt of lightning! Alex was smoking from the powerful bolt, and all seemed to fade.

"What! You killed him. You..."

"He'll live... Guile? There has been enough death for me and my dying race. Sagat spared my sister, if you will, so I have spared Alex," she turned, and went to join the remains of her race.

"Winner of Round 1, Fight 35, Chameleon-Khameleon! Mercy!

"Why are you even bothering with the trench coat? Any fool can tell you don't even look remotely human! And what are you reading?"

At that the objects burned, and Gill replied in force, "The notes are for the G-files! All you need to know is that Necro is a liability. Nothing else is needed. Why? Because I am your god!"

"I don't think so! There are enough gods roaming around as is without a Earthling claiming to be one. No! You are mortal, and can die!"

As if excepting a challenge, Gill dashed in on Reptile, leveling him to the ground. He stood up into a icy kick, and was frozen in somewhat different method from Subzero. Gill lifted him up, and executed a leaping powerbomb, picked Reptile up, and pound his fist into his helpless foe's face. He then hit Reptile with an ice ball, followed by fire. Then, he leapt into the air, set to crash his knees into Reptile's skull.

After a successful block, Reptile asked, "You may be good, but can you fight what you can't see?"

In an explosion, he was invisible. He then used the same kombo he had used on Rain in the Living Forest a while back. Reptile then hit Gill with two force-balls, followed with an uppercut, and slid into his off-balanced opponent. He then hit Gill with two punches, a kick to the face, and a roundhouse, sending him into raging wave crashing upon a rough beach!

"What the blazes! Of course, Alpha-Omega! Now, to finish off this jerk!" and Reptile repeated the same assault, knocking Gill further into the sea.

As he approached, he was flung back to the shore, and was shocked to see his foe rise from the sea on nothing more than what seemed to be a strange glow.

"I see that you are now visible. Unfortunately for you, I can resurrect myself! Let's see how long you last!"

Gill picked up where he left off before Reptile had turned himself invisible. This time, his attacks were faster, stronger, and had more authority. Perhaps it was because he had had to use his resurrection so soon that motivated him to now become the aggressor. Maybe he was simply messing around, and realized that his foe was indeed a worthy adversary who had to be taken seriously.

Both were still wavering from the pounding they had already taken. Both made a mad dash for the other, collided, and fell to the ground.

"Double Knockout! Too bad, I's going to show Urine to Gill! Oh well! On with the tournament!"

This ain't fair! What chance do we have? Yun fought Raiden, the god of thunder...a bleeding "god!" I don't think I want to go any further with that. I'm not much better off, though. My opponent isn't a god, but I don't think he's human; er, whatever. I mean look at the guy! He's totally black, and I'm talking night-as-dark-type-black; you know what I mean. The only part of him with color is his eyes, which are green. Actually, they seem to be glowing green (I'll bet he never has to look for a flashlight). I just hope some of this new stuff pays up.

"It's time, boy! I bet you are thinking that this is so unfair. All of you Street Fighters are a bunch of wimps! I guess that's typical of most beings from Earth Realm. You are so willingly to bitch and moan about having to fight gods, machines, the dead, and more. GROW UP! Even Sonya is willing to fight against us, futile as it may be. You know that you are really pitiful when a woman has more guts than you. Then again, maybe..." Noob Saibot stopped just in time to warp from a dive by Yang.

He then reappeared behind Yang, and slammed him into the ground. Yang shot up, but was met with four lightning-like kicks, sending him through an unusual stone figure.

"Interesting accommodations. It'd be nice if the Alpha-Omega would warp us before the fight, instead of in the middle of it."

"I don't do it every time. Usually, you all go at each other's throats before I can take you there."

"For an 'all-powerful being,' you have your limits."

"Why don't you try and: limit the power of all the other gods here; bring back the dead; transcend space and time; and warp people across creation without warping them so that they wind up a part of the scenery!"

"Hey! What gives? There can't be two of you against me! That's really bullshit!"

"What? Smoke? You already had a match against Dudley!"

"Now who said I couldn't change into characters that were in the tournament? As for you, watch out."

As Noob Saibot turned, he found his face planted in the ground.

He quickly rolled away. He stood a short distance, and seemed to be in a trance. Suddenly, he seemed to be running right into Yang. Instead of countering, Yang merely blocked. The image faded as it hit him, and the real Noob Saibot was also blocked. Yang stomped his foot, and made a furious dash at Noob Saibot, and began to hit him with a series of blows, and finished off with a kick, shooting them into the sky. If one could see Noob Saibot's face, one would probably see a look of surprise on his face. Now, it was wet, and somewhat bloody.

"H, how did you know that? Not just anybody knows that trick. You had to have help. It could only have been Liu Kang, or Raiden. You won't be so lucky..."

"Oh, do us all a favor--GO TO HELL, BASTARD!" screamed Yang as he assaulted a wobbly Noob Saibot with another super combo, bashing all parts of Noob Saibot's body, and sending him through another stone figure.

"This was Hell! Now, it ends..!" but before Yang could finish, Noob Saibot kicked him down low, keeling him over.

"Yes, boy, it's about to end."

Noob Saibot hit him with a small series of uppercuts. He then shot Yang with his ghost fireball, tele-slammed him, and then uppercutted him; and repeated until Yang got knocked through the aquarium.

After a moment to catch his breath, he looked at Yang, took a deep breath, and mockingly said, "Attack me if...nah, that's something a drag would say!" he then walked off.

"Winner of Round 1, Fight 37, Noob Saibot! I bet Ken ain't going to like that remark, not that Noob Saibot would care..."

All righty! This ends the second to last set for round one! Could Chameleon-Khameleon, the one with the powers of ALL the ninjas win it all? Perhaps it'll be Goro or Kintaro? What'll Motaro have to say? Don't rule out Shao Khan or Shang Tsung, if Khan makes it through his fight. Then, there are the dark-sides, each of whom have advanced. Stay tuned, because next we'll feature Shen Long, Goutetsu, and the all new, dark, Marvel Ken!

©2001

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