The Day Before...

Sergei Rezlorn Romanav, the Crimson Phantom, but his friends called him Rez... if he had any, was in a sour mood. The @#%$ lobby was still crowded, not as crowded as the first day he got here but crowded enough that he had just lost his prey. But that's alright, for now he would channel that negative energy into something positive... like making the woman scream. Oh how he'd love to hear her scream, killing was easy but killing a brave person after turning them into a blubbering chicken was much much more satisfying.

He hadn't paid much attention when he got here, but now that his prey had been temporarily lost by the distraction Rez became acutely aware of his surroundings noting the Hawaiian decor which he thought was just a bit overdone for his Spartan senses. But he had to admit the room was incredibly huge now that there were less tourists and event goers mulling about in the lobby, for Rez he absolutely hated these bright lights yet he relished at the thought that at any moment right now he could just pull out the gun in his pants, not that one you dirty douche, and plant in everyone's head a bullet.

Oh, how he loved being him.

Ah, there she was, he couldn't believe he had missed her. All one had to do was simply follow the ogling looks of shameless men and he'd find a young Puerto Rican being the target of their affection holding her wet sneakers in one hand while trying to appear non-chalet yet modest with one arm across her chest. Rez grinned at the sight of her bra straps through the white t-shirt and he casually headed over to where she was standing patiently waiting like another patron of the hotel for the elevator to arrive.

Oh, he was really going to enjoy this. First, he was going to hit the emergency break. Then he would slaughter everyone else in the elevator so that he could focus on just this fiery young lass... Yes, it sounded like a good plan, there was no way anyone could think of something better...

A tall, lean man with a copper tan complexion suddenly brushed past Rez and stood next to his target and Rez had to instantly pull himself together lest he flip out and kill someone like a ninja. He took the man's face in quickly and recognized him as Enrique Pierantoni, wasn't he...? Wait, wasn't the runt outside? What the hell was this man still doing standing there healthy?! Absolutely disgusting.

"Oy, chica, did you pass by a strange little girl outside on the streets earlier?" Rez heard Pierantoni whisper to Victoria.

Rez felt like this was one of those days where nothing wanted to go right, kind of like that time that SABER punk escaped him. He had seen the kid's name on the fighter roster, he should check up on him if he ever found the time, maybe have a little fun... But if what Pierantoni said was true the girl had obviously seen him and he had walked away... unscathed.

The elevator arrived and in one agonizing moment Rez had to decide whether to follow the two or check up on the runt. Feh, whatever, he told her she could use the streets as her pillow anyway. She'd better be waiting when he got back because he was going to take out some of his frustration on her. Thanks to her mistake now he had two fighters to take on in an elevator, one of them being an FBI agent. He'd have to just follow them and find out where they sleep for now so he can kill them later under... better circumstances.

Grumbling under his breath and ignoring the indignant looks shot his way, Rez stepped onto the elevator.

-

Post Heagy...

It was about noon now and Shing Tao smiled as he breathed in the rich aroma of the tea set before him. His compliments to the proprietor of this establishment for picking out this particular brand of tea, but Shing Tao assumed that was perhaps expected considering the owner of this hotel. Indeed, it was as if every part of this establishment were meticulously looked over and relooked over to the brink of perfection. Shing Tao could get used to staying around here.

Taking a sip of the tea, he carefully set it down while picking up his knife and fork and meticulously cut into the baked salmon with tomato concasse. Like the rest of the hotel the restaurant had a Hawaiian theme going on as well in order to provide a smooth transition from one sector to the other Shing Tao supposed. He didn't look up when a man dressed in khaki pants and blue dress shirt appeared before him.

"I don't suppose this seat is taken is it?" the man inquired as Shing chewed down his salmon and carefully set his utensils in front of him, he dabbed carefully at his lips before responding.

"Not at all, Mr. Koh." Shing smiled. "I was wondering when you would grace me with your... new presence." He looked critically over his former acquaintance and inwardly shook his head, oh how could the man just let himself go like that? Locke Koh had been a meticulous and ruthless man in his past life and although his posture was correct the man hadn't bothered to tuck his shirt in! Barbarous.

Locke smiled slightly, letting Shing know that Locke had seen the slight twitch in his pupils displaying his disapproval at his new lifestyle.

"Well, I guess it's good for you, then." Shing sighed. "You do know how much I dislike competition."

"I'd never dream of standing in your way to world domination, Shing Tao." Locke nodded. "But I suppose it's not me you're interested in... this time."

"Always the sharp one, eh Koh?" Shing chuckled. "Well, get on with it, I haven't got all day and my lunch is getting cold."

"What are you doing here, Venom?" Locke whispered, his eyes fixed on Shing Venom's.

"I'm here because all the big players are here." Shing spread his arms in a non-threatening manner. "And I thought I'd get in on the fun."

"Do you know what they're up to?"

"I have no idea."

"Well, for old time's sakes, I do hope you stay out of trouble." Locke stood up. "Sorry for interrupting your lunch, it's on me and I've had them prepare a jar of that tea for you to take with you."

"Ah, so it was you." Shing smiled.

Locke returned a ghost of a smile and left, leaving Shing Tao to ponder what had just transpired. He didn't touch his lunch again... but he did take the tea.

-

"You've been really distracted since you got here."

Eliza looked up at her husband, offering a faint smile. "Really?"

"Everything okay?" Ken reached down, his large hand covering hers over the table.

They had decided to have a late breakfast at one of the restaurants in The Makai. Sean had taken Mel on a tour of the hotel and surrounding grounds for probably the fifth time since Eliza and Mel had arrived on the island.

Ever since her encounter with Iwa, she'd been on edge. The safety of her family was compromised, wasn't it? But that wasn't a new thing. Over the years, she'd always had a hard time accepting Ken's role as a fighter... what bothered her most was how easily he'd put himself in danger. But she also knew that was part of who he was.

It was just that... danger was so close to home. Several years ago, there was no doubting the closeness between Iwa, Ryu, and Chun Li. Now...

Ken sensed her mood, and his hand tightened over hers. "Eliza? What's wrong?"

"I... it's nothing."

His eyes studied her for a moment before he shook his head. "I know something's bothering you. You can't even talk to me about it?"

He could see in her eyes that a part of her really did. Was she afraid of telling him? She glanced to her left and right, as if expecting to find people who could overhear their conversation. While the restaurant had many patrons for breakfast, the conversation level was kept to a respectful low volume.

"About Iwa..." The instant the name came out, her husband's eyes narrowed. He hadn't forgotten their last meeting, either. When Ken told her what had happened after the first day of preliminaries, she had felt sick to her stomach. She hadn't been able to sleep very well. It had even taken her a little longer to muster up the courage to make the trip to Honolulu.

Maybe if they stayed away they could be safe. But Mel wanted to see Sean and his father. And if there's one thing Eliza learned from Ryu and Chun Li... no matter where a person was... if Bison was involved and determined... no one was safe. So being closer to her husband made her feel moderately better.

"Is that why it took you so long to get here?" Ken asked.

A rueful smile coming to her lips, she was still amazed at how well her husband knew her.

"Yes," she admitted.

"You should have told me," Ken said. His hand tightened over hers. "We'll get through this, I promise."

"You can't make a guarantee like that," Eliza swore. "Remember what she said?"

"You told me what she said and I'm as scared as you are," Ken said in a low voice. "But I can't walk away from this. If there's a chance we could get rid of him once and for all, I want to be there for it."

"I just-"

"You know that weeks ago, she started tossing out invitations to this tournament?" he pressed. "It's like he wants to gather fighters together. I knew Bison was involved somehow... seeing her in San Francisco made that pretty obvious. What I don't know is how he got involved in all of this and when. Last I checked, his organization wasn't on the list of sponsors."

Eliza's eyes rounded. "Ken... maybe you're wrong."

"What?"

"If the man can control people... maybe he bribed one of those smaller sponsors... or some of the news companies here... he could influence anyone, right?"

He winced. "I... never... thought of that." He'd originally hoped that this tournament would bring aspiring fighters together... get the chance to see old friends and rivals again. So much for that.

"But it's not that hard to believe... "

"No, you're right. If anyone could do it, he could." Ken scowled. "But of all the things to... I mean, who would have thought that he'd-"

"Ken Masters, you sneaky swine!" a voice said in outrage.

They swiftly turned their heads to see Karin Kanzuki just four feet away, quickly coming their way to stop right at their table.

"Karin? What the-?"

"Do you take me for some fool?" she demanded.

"What are you-?"

Indignantly, she cut him off, "I knew one of these days you'd show your true side! I'm surprised-"

"Excuse us," Ken nodded towards his wife, and quickly rose from his chair, steering Karin out of the restaurant.

"Don't manhandle me, you brute!" the young woman exclaimed, not in the least bothered by the curious looks the other customers sent their way.

Or the faint voices of gossip...

"That's Ken Masters, isn't it?"

"Who's that woman who started yelling at him?"

"It must be a lovers' quarrel... "

"But Ken Masters is married... that's his wife sitting over there... "

"Poor woman... "

"How typical. You're born with surfer boy looks and you think you can have any woman you want. Cheaters get caught. Doesn't he know that?"

"No, he's just stupid, remember?"

"His wife could do SO much better... "

Ken gritted his teeth and glared at the young woman who returned the gesture with one of her own before they were safely away from gossip and prying eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ken demanded.

She sniffed. "I could ask the same about you."

"I don't go around like a banshee embarrassing other people," Ken pointed out. "In case you couldn't tell... I was spending time with my wife."

"She can wait," Karin declared haughtily.

"Just... don't ever do that again."

Ignoring his comment, Karin reached into her small Burberry bag, which somewhat clashed with her black and magenta sundress, to pull out a short list of names.

"What's this?"

"You tell me."

Ken frowned before looking back up at her. "I don't know what this is."

"They're from DT Agency. Are you familiar with them?"

Ken shrugged. "Yeah... corporate espionage. Companies hire from them temporarily if they want to improve internal departments. I used their competitor maybe twice since I started working... "

"I didn't hire them," Karin declared. "Someone else did. I checked with the managers... no one in my company hired them to investigate... they hired them as regular employees."

"I'm not following you."

"Those people got themselves jobs in my company so they could spy on me for their client!" Karin exclaimed, exasperated. "All these people... A janitor, one of those... tech support guys... they... what's the word... infiltrated into my company. Their client wanted information on my company!"

Ken's eyes rounded. "What?"

"They came on board months ago... just after talks about the tournament started." Karin faced him squarely. "Did you send them?"

"What?!"

"It's an honest question, Ken," she said. "Very few companies can afford their prices. Especially if it involves sneaking your way into an organization... " She crossed her arms, tapping her foot several times. "Well? Did you?"

"No," Ken declared firmly. "I'm surprised we're even having this discussion."

"It's very suspicious-"

"And you thought I was responsible?!" he countered. As if he didn't have enough to worry about. "We've both been in the tournament scene for years! You know me well enough to know I wouldn't do something like that."

"Well, it's not like I-"

"I don't have any interest in your company or how it runs."

"Then who... " Karin immediately turned and began walking away.

"Karin! Where are you going?"

"To find the person responsible for this... " Karin shot over her shoulder as she headed towards the stairs.

"Where... ?" In his effort to follow her, Ken realized she was headed for the second floor of the main lobby area – that floor held ballrooms, meeting rooms... and hotel management offices. "Crap... Karin, wait a minute!"

She was already at the top by the time Ken reached the stairs. He quickly ascended the stairs two at a time, reaching the last step just in time to see her push open one of the office doors. Damn Karin and her crazy conclusions...

He broke into a run and made it to the doorway just in time to see an attractive strawberry blonde scramble up from her desk in the reception area.

"I'm sorry, Miss Kanzuki, Ms. Rinaldo is on a conference call!" she cried out just as Karin shoved the door leading into the company president's office.

Karin marched her way inside the office, standing directly in front of Meliza's desk, her hands propped on her hips.

Meliza's assistant rushed in, "Ms. Rinaldo, I'm so sorry, I-" she stopped abruptly when Meliza raised a hand to signal that she wait until her phone conversation ended.

"I'll call you right back," Meliza said into the phone.

The instant the phone was back on its cradle and out of her hand, Karin opened fire.

"So that's how you did it! That's how you outbid me for the hotel spot in this tournament! You sent spies!"

Ken groaned aloud, covering his eyes with his hand.

Meliza turned to her assistant first, "It's all right, Raquel... if there are any phone calls, please transfer them to voice mail."

"Yes, ma'am... " Her assistant left, closing the door quietly behind her.

"Miss Kanzuki, are you in the habit of disrupting others' work days?" Meliza asked quietly.

A quick glance at the executive told the young female fighter that she was indeed, dressed for work, with the exception of her blazer hanging over the back of her chair.

"Only if I feel it's necessary," Karin retorted.

"Then is there a problem?"

"Yes! You had to use underhanded techniques to outbid me as the hotel sponsor," Karin accused. "You contracted spies to infiltrate into my company and knew that we were considering investing in hotel property for-"

"Karin, wait a minute," Ken interrupted.

Meliza stared at the other woman. "First of all, I've never had to resort to 'underhanded' techniques – that's not the way I work. Second, try researching next time before you start making accusations-"

"I don't need this kind of lecture-" Karin huffed, only to be cut off again.

"And I don't like being accused of something with no proof to back it up."

"You should-"

"Ladies, please," Ken spoke up loudly. He could see the frustration and anger practically blasting out of Karin. The other woman was a little better at keeping her temper in check, but she didn't appreciate what was happening right now either, judging by the dark look in her eyes. "Karin... I asked the Rinaldo company to be part of this."

"What?" Karin's head whipped around to face him.

Ken shrugged and continued, "I was in Waikiki scouring for spots... I came across a really nice hotel but the general manager, Ms. Rinaldo's uncle, was concerned about how it would affect tourism in such a small area... so he recommended I come here. I liked what I saw, so I met with the sales and event manager here and started the contracts right away."

"Well, someone is responsible for spying on my company! Who else is there?!" Karin declared. She threw her hand up over her head. "What about Umbrella? Iris? I refuse to believe a couple spies got hired into my company for nothing. And around the time we started talking about the tournament. That's too convenient!" Immediately, she pulled out her cell phone and pushed a button to speed dial. "I have a job for you. I want you to call the head of Umbrella Pharmaceuticals and Iris Industries."

"Karin, criminal accusations are really serious with big corporations," Ken hissed.

"So is spying," Karin retorted before listening to the phone. "Call until you get an answer."

"You can't just harass them!" Ken shook his head, glancing at their hostess' neutral expression.

"What do you mean, they're gone? What kind of conference? No, I think that's ridiculous!" Karin immediately hung up her phone.

"You need to calm down," Ken ordered.

"Something is wrong," Karin declared. "How can company leaders be gone during a big event like this?"

Ken took a deep breath. Everything about this whole tournament was wrong. Too bad he only found out late.

"Miss Kanzuki," Meliza spoke up. "If you ask my assistant, I think she has several ways of contacting the people you need. She might be able to help your staff."

Karin blinked for a few seconds before clearing her throat. "Thank you." She opened the door to enter the reception area.

Ken shook his head. "I've known her for years. Hurricane Karin." He settled in the chair across from his hostess.

"I'm not happy with her storming into my office... But she is worried," Meliza reasoned. "Is she the only one?"

He didn't miss the sharp look in the other woman's eyes. "Why do you say that?"

"Victoria told me a while back what happened to her teacher," Meliza said quietly. "She'd look around for information. She wouldn't come here unless this tournament could give her that."

Ken sighed. "A lot of people are here with their own agenda. What brought them here aren't always good reasons. Something I learned with every tournament I participated in... But we're fighters. We survive."

"I'm not questioning anyone's reasons or judgment," Meliza responded. "Just the safety of everyone. I was at Fighter's Isle, too."

"I know. The last thing we all want is a repeat," Ken swore. He hesitated briefly, before speaking up, "You have the list of participants? There is a couple you and your staff might want to watch out for... "

"A couple?" She already had an idea who to be wary of, but any help was appreciated.

Minutes later, Karin rushed into the office. "Umbrella was lying. Their president isn't at a conference, he died of a heart attack two days ago!"

-

Outside the hotel along the street four women walked, chatting.

"Seriously, I can't believe those meanies set him up like that!" Elena fumed, which was unusual because Elena was such a bright and cheerful young woman.

"He still should have known better." R. Mika growled. "Oh for Atsushi Onita's sake he should have some common sense!"

"Isn't Reno's match coming up next? Shouldn't you be there with him?" Sakura asked Cana, hoping to quickly change the subject.

"No," Cana shook her head and sighed examining the tiny fissures on the floor, "he said I'd be too much of a distraction."

"Well, that's rude of-!" R. Mika began.

"Oh, lookie! An okonomiyaki cart!" Sakura squealed and started running at full speed towards a modest little cart to the side of the street with a single man with an apron and straw hat manning it, there were no customers and he had conveniently parked himself next to a payphone and appeared irate talking with the person on the other side.

"Wow, what's an okonomiyaki cart doing here?" Elena wondered aloud looking doubtfully at the somewhat ragged look of the cart itself and the bicycle attached to the front of it, a medium sized husky was sitting next to the cart wagging its tail at the sight of the girls. He barked to his owner.

"Look, hon, can I please come back home?" the man pleaded into the phone. "They told me its too late to register and the tournament's already started! There really isn't much I can do right now. Quiet, Reno! Can't you see I'm trying to get us home?! Damnit, out of quarters!" 'Reno' barked again. "What, customers? Hello!"

"You're not Japanese!" Sakura accused. "How come you got an okonomiyaki stand?"

"You don't have to be Japanese to make Okonomiyaki!" the vendor shot back. "Um, if you're going to buy, can you pay in quarters?"

"Only if you give me a discount!" Sakura chirped.

The man behind the counter groaned and held out his hand and winced at the 'discount.'

"Is this all?!" he groaned again.

"Yeah and you better not be stingy on the toppings either!"

He took the rest of their orders and began cooking. Cana stared at the man all the while, feeling as if she should know him. When he handed her her okonomiyaki he blinked.

"What, is there something on my face?" the vendor asked, puzzled by the woman's intense scrutiny. Cana tried to angle herself well enough to get a good enough look of the man's whole face but his hat still covered much of it except his mouth. She wondered if he was even capable of sight.

"No, nothing." Cana said finally when she noticed that her companions were looking at her strangely now. She grabbed her okonomiyaki and bit into it, her eyes widened. "This tastes good."

"Thanks." the vendor's chest swelled up in pride. "Its my own special reci-!"

"Hey you! What did I tell you about peddling without a license?!" a security officer suddenly appeared waving a baton.

"Ah crap, not you again!" the vendor's hands moved quickly securing everything before he quickly hopped onto his bike and pedaled away as fast as he could.

His dog, Reno, growled and barked at the security officer before his master whistled and shouted, "Reno, get your tail in gear!"

"What the hell was that?!" R. Mika blinked.

"And I wanted another one, too..." Sakura whimpered.

Cana started walking in the opposite direction. The three guys blinked and looked at each other before following her.

"Cana, where are we going?" R. Mika asked.

"To Reno." Cana said simply.

-

Reno Tseng supposed it could have been worst. His partner was a giant baboon, but at least he could use a giant baboon as a meat shield unlike say... a small Japanese schoolgirl. He sat on a stool he brought with him watching his teammate pose to the crowd while nibbling on a slice of pizza.

Yeah, it could have been worst.

His fight was actually going to take place on one of the beaches of the island, which gave Reno some interesting ideas. At first he supposed the organizers were doing his opponents a favor by giving them something soft to land on should this overgrown ape fall on them, but then he saw that one of his opponents was a sumo wrestler. Reno immediately formed a new theory and that was that the organizers were being cheap and didn't want these two breaking floors and stages.

Setting his slice aside for a moment in its box, Reno bent down to grab some of the sand and his eyebrow twitched slightly as he shook off the sand. Damn, that was hot! He looked doubtfully at the giant sumo in only his underwear also entertaining the crowd. At least the man had the sense to put on a pair of sandals but Reno wasn't so sure how he was going to handle being on the sand... if he couldn't avoid it.

Well, as for his other opponent...

"Um, hello, I'm Mien." the sumo's partner greeted herself and held out her hand to him.

His opponent was a Goth? Or was she an Emo? He never really tried to learn the difference between the two. Reno shook off the rest of the sand from his hand and shook hers, smiling a smile he didn't feel.

"Reno, its a pleasure to meet you." he said cheerfully.

He guessed he didn't really smile well enough because her handshake had become stiff and her eyes suddenly narrowed in suspicion. Oh crap, she definitely had to be one of those two, either way he hated Emos and Goths.

"I've heard you were a musician..." Mien said carefully.

"You heard right, I'm part of a small Indy group in Japan, probably never heard of us anyway." Reno supposed he should try to keep up this facade, maybe she had something bad for lunch.

"Oh, really? What instrument do you play?" Mien appeared interested but Reno could tell from her eyes the wariness she still felt and it was growing stronger by the second.

"I'm lead guitar."

"Wow, I play the guitar, too."

"That's awesome, I bet you could show me a few tricks, eh?" Not f--king likely!

"Maybe." Mien laughed, but it was a forced kind of laughter. "Well, the match looks like its about to start so I better head to the other side. Good luck to you guys." She said all that in quite a hurry and left without waiting for his reply.

Hmm, that one might be trouble. Reno sat back down again and pulled out the slice he had been eating before out of the box, waiting for the match to start.

"You'd better be careful, or else Hugo there is going to take all the glory." Poison smirked, spinning a pair of handcuffs in one of her fingers. "Might make you get fat off of that pizza."

"Easiest way to the top, then." Reno said brightly. "Big guy does all the heavy work and I still get to reap half of the prize."

Poison laughed and turned to the 'ring' when the judges started motioning for everyone to get ready.

-

"What are your thoughts on this one?" Chun Li murmured to Ryu, this time the duo managed to make their way to the front of the bleachers which formed a U-shape around where the fighters were facing each other.

"Hugo and Honda are both tough, they can take a lot of damage and equally dish out the same." Ryu murmured. "I haven't faced Honda with a while but I can only guess he's improved and Hugo... well, Hugo took my Shin Shouryuken once and was still standing after it."

Chun Li chuckled at the image.

"There are still the newcomers, a strange pair." Ryu continued, smiling briefly at her. "The girl is dressed oddly, but her spirit feels strong... she looks overly tense though."

"It's a street fight, should she be any other way?" Chun Li said dryly.

Ryu shook his head, "No, this is different... the word escapes me somehow. It's as if she finds something is really wrong." Ryu turned toward the other newcomer and narrowed his eyes. "The other one though, he's barely giving off anything. So I'm not even sure what to expect from him."

"They say he's just a musician and he got in with a special guest ticket, maybe just along for the ride while Hugo does all the fighting." Chun Li said in mild disgust, she frowned upon looking at the red-head closer and shook her head.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, for a moment I thought... no, it can't be that's impossible." Chun Li shook her head.

"You're probably right, he's probably just tagging along for the publicity or something." Chun Li's expression told him she didn't believe him and he couldn't blame her, neither did he.

-

A judge stepped forward and waved two flags, one blue and one red. He pointed the blue flag towards Honda.

"In the blue corner, E. Honda!"

The crowd cheered and several Japanese fans in the front began beating on their dreams as Honda pumped his fists into the air.

"In the red corner, Hugo!"

The crowd cheered again and several wild and unruly young men screamed at the top of their lungs all of them sporting pink undershirts like Hugo with large puffy hair and together they chanted, "Eins, zwei, drei, Ende! ...Eins, zwei, drei, Ende! ...Eins, zwei, drei, Ende!"

"Wrestling fans." Poison shrugged helplessly towards Reno who ignored her and started working on a second slice of pizza on his pie.

"This is the first round of the third match of the Champion of Fists! Are you READY? FIGHT!"

The two behemoths charged simultaneously and locked hands, immediately the two began working their way towards an advantage over the other. Working from a crouching position Honda overcame Hugo and pushed the large wrestler onto the floor with Hugo landing on his butt. Hugo roared as he exploded upward with a head butt into Honda's chin causing the sumo wrestler to fall back onto the hot sand in a daze.

Honda recovered quickly, smacking his face a few times to bring things back into focus and he and Hugo continued to circle on another. Several people winced when they noticed that parts of Honda's back were already blistering from the hot sand, yet the sumo appeared to shrug it off as if it were nothing. The two circled each other for several minutes, then tension running so high that even the crowd was silent.

Seconds ticked by and the two's eyes were locked onto each other, but unfortunately for Honda Hugo's upright position allowed him to stand in the way of the sun causing Honda to blink. Hugo saw this and roared as he dashed forward with a clothesline. Honda heard it and panicked as he threw out a flurry of Hundred Hand Slaps blindly into his opponent's direction, Hugo had been too hasty and the momentum of his run caused him to be hit by one of those slaps knocking him backwards and forcing him to scurry to his feet and once more the two circled each other.

Reno sneezed.

The two competitors paid him no mind but the audience blinked and turn to look at him.

"What?" Reno blinked.

"Bless you." Poison grimaced and turned her attention back to the fight, time was quickly running its way down now.

Sweating profusely in the hot sun, Hugo could only see his opponent but was acutely aware of time quickly running out. If he wanted to win this match he needed an opening. For a moment in the middle of their revolution, Hugo's eyes locked onto Reno's.

Honda saw Hugo's eyes were no longer on him and eager to finish this match quickly due to the growing blisters on his back Honda flew forward head first deaf to his partner's belated warning scream. Honda wondered why he felt like he was undergoing one of the biggest static shocks he'd ever felt and why his face and chest were burning so badly. He struggled to push himself up from the floor, dizzy and felt a pair of hands help him up. No... they weren't there to help him.

Honda screamed in fear when he found himself high in the air, he gasped as he felt his back crack.

"Eins!"

He didn't think it was possible but Honda thought he was being carried even higher into the air, he tried to gather the breathe to scream again but found the wind knocked out of him at the feel of his back cracking again.

"Zwei!"

Honda was feeling pretty faint about now, not just his back but his whole body felt like it was burning. The rushing wind of flying into the sky seemed only to make his body hurt more. Suddenly he felt a large form pressing him from above and subconsciously he realized with horror what was about to happen.

"Drei!"

"Nooooooooooooooo!" Honda managed to scream as Hugo crushed him into the ground with a Moon Sault press.

"Ende!"

-

The fans were cheering in a mad craze for more blood, particularly the wrestling fans who kept chanting "Eins, zwei, drei, Ende!" Paramedics quickly came onto the stage to get Honda onto the stretcher, it took six of them to do that.

"This round goes to... HUGO!"

The crowd cheered madly and the wrestling fans got even louder as Hugo posed flexing his biceps and pointing towards the sky.

The judge looked around for the next competitor and found her at the ambulance trying to wake up her teammate who looked badly burnt covered in hot sand, trying in vain to sweep them off. Then she started glowing...

"No!" Honda choked, his hand weakly grabbing her arm. "Th-this is nothing, save your strength... and kick his ass."

"I can heal you quicker." Natalie said desperately.

"Jin!" Honda called out hoarsely. "Get your damn girlfriend off me and into that ring or else we're going to get disqualified!"

"He's right, Nat." Jin said softly. "You can help him later, but you can help him more right now by winning this fight."

"Damnit!" Natalie punched Jin's arm in anger, causing him to wince.

"Hey, save that for the other guy." Jin chuckled.

"I-I'm sorry." Natalie quivered but quickly gained control of herself. She nodded to the judge signaling that she was ready.

"In the blue corner, Mien!"

There was applause and encouragement that came from the crowd yet that encouragement was in threat of being drowned out by the wrestling fans. Natalie glared as she Neo Shifted herself into her spot, a dark blue aura surrounding her with her head tilted towards the ground. "You both went too far back there..." Natalie whispered. "Now let's see what you can really do..."

-

Within the crowd of spectators a five foot tall Asian woman with a chittering squirrel on her shoulder were watching the match critically. She supposed that the first match was exciting enough, but the two veterans had shown considerable caution in their match circling each other for long stretches of time, yet the intensity had been so thick it had kept the crowd so quiet you could hear a squirrel crack open a walnut and nibble on it.

Actually that was exactly what Maru had done and Iwa flicked the squirrel's crumbs off in disdain and glared at her rodent companion. Maru ignored her and if possible the rate at which the crumbs settled on her shoulder increased. Iwa shook her head and took a moment to examine the sky, a small smile played on her lips as she noted the gathering clouds and supposed that sand wouldn't play as much of a role for the next match as it had for the previous.

She felt a prickling sensation on the back of her neck and lowered the cap she wore even further to make sure 'they' could not find her; it certainly would not do if they found her now.

The fighters in this tournament had shown themselves to be incredibly stingy in helping each other out as Reno spent much of the first match lazing about and eating his Hawaiian pizza. Iwa supposed it was smart to attack your opponent only when they couldn't see you as he had done to Honda leaping high into the air and descending in a blaze of pyrotechnics into the middle of the sumo wrestler's back hell first stunning him and allowing Hugo to connect with a devastating pair of backbreakers and ending with a Moon Sault smash... the Giga Breaker.

But perhaps the young man was a tad too stingy as Iwa could hear him argue with his teammate, the younger man apparently unwilling to go out there and fight.

"Listen here you punk, I'm not going to carry the entire weight of this team on my shoulders just so you could sit around and eat Hawaiian pizza!" Hugo rumbled. "I don't know how you got into this tournament in the first place but you're not getting a free ride, either you go out there and fight with her or we can forfeit this match and then you'll have to fight me. Prove to me you can fight."

They argued back and forth like that for a few minutes before the referee frowned and started walking towards them.

"We'll finish this conversation later." Reno glared brusquely walking past Hugo towards the stage where he would stand opposite of an enraged Mien.

Natalie turned to give her opponent a hard look. She didn't like him. He carried the face of an angel smiling kindly to others yet inside she had felt pure malevolence... Even now as he slowly stood up, munching on his pizza, smiling and waving to the crowd she could sense the anger threatening to overflow her senses.

"Well, looks like rain." Reno commented nonchalantly as he finished the rest of his slice, "You look pretty strong, take it easy on me ok, I'm just a musician." Reno chuckled as he adjusted his gloves and settled into a fighting stance, "Let's rock n' roll."

-

Ah, finally, the red-head was going to fight.

Though rain had not been expected in this area today the event organizers had been thoughtful enough to set up a colorful tarp with ads all over it to shelter the spectators from the rain.

Pablo felt it was awfully nice of them to do that.

He really didn't care who won or who lost, Pablo just really didn't have anything to do until his match whenever that was, these organizers were really weird. But there were perks and Pablo kept his eyes out for the red-head's silver companion, Cana. He really couldn't bother to remember a man's name after all and if he were one would simply have to start referring to that person in the past tense.

Ah, it appeared that the young woman had just arrived and with three companions as well.

"Pablo, why aren't you looking at me?" a pretty voice pouted at his side. Pablo grinned and turned to the companion at his side.

"Oh, Bonnie, I just thought I saw an old acquaintance of mine." Pablo murmured. "So, my pretty, what do you think of what we've seen so far?"

"Well, I think the woman down there is a lesbian!" Bonnie huffed, wishing that they would talk more about her and how pretty she is.

"Oh, why do you say that?" Pablo chuckled as he leaned over close to her face trailing a finger down along the side of her face.

"Well, I mean, look at her!" Bonnie shuddered slightly at the touch, oh she liked that. "That Goth getup, what kind of straight woman would dress like that?! And that hair! Oh, puh-leaze, that's my librarian's hairstyle!"

"Have you ever been to a library?" Pablo blinked.

"No, why'd you ask?"

Pablo was glad for this woman that she was pretty.

-

"He looks like he's at a disadvantage..." R. Mika whispered to Cana in concern. "That woman looks a little faster and her range..."

Cana didn't say anything, only watching the fight intently. It was true, based on pure numbers alone Reno was at a slight disadvantage. The woman, Mien, leaned forward just a little more with her punches and kicks allowing greater range and made up for any disadvantage with her speed allowing herself to recover well enough that her method of attack wasn't so foolish after all. Although Mien possessed considerable defense as well what advantage she had was being negated by Reno's stronger attacks. Reno suddenly grabbed Mien's outstretched arm before she could recover, pulled her towards him slightly as he stepped to the side and chopped the back of her neck causing her to fall forward flat on her face.

She could see the irritation in his eyes at how he had to adjust against his opponent's adjustments because he had come out in the match earlier with his fists flying, Mien had quickly backtracked to give herself room to counter with what Cana supposed she called 'Fire Raid,' hopping slightly with a roundhouse kick under Reno's chin, followed up with a flurry of kicks and a burning spinning back kick to the abdominals. Mien understandably tried to press the advantage she created for herself to end the match sooner yet found herself in a state of shock as Reno lashed out with a clawed hand creating an arc of electricity around him. Mien staggered back but not before Reno pulled her in quickly to punch her across the face followed by a front snap kick and an uppercut trailing with electrical current popping Mien high into the air.

Reno did not pursue her instead he growled as he slashed across the air, scars of lightning appearing and streaking from where he formed them to hit Mien's back in mid-air causing her to scream in shock. The red-headed musician took a moment to comb back his hair as the rain was settling them over his eyes. As Mien picked herself up, shaking off the electrical attacks, Reno placed one hand behind his back, smirked and motioned at Mien to come at him.

Mien gave him the finger.

"Well, maybe after you get out of the hospital." Reno grinned as he started walking in her direction. "Or maybe I can visit you... play a few songs on the guitar... I hear you like 'Walls' by Emery, but for you I think that by all accounts... today was a disaster."

When he came within range, Mien lashed out with a sweeping kick from the ground which Reno had anticipated by parrying it and once more performed Scythe smashing a clawed hand down on Mien's head. Mien was quick to recover this time however and lunged back at a surprised Reno with a lunging palm strike engulfed in blue flames. Reno gasped at the feel of hot fire rushing over his body and his hands automatically reach out to Mien in a vain attempt to grab her by the hair and give her a hair cut... the way that hurts.

Momentum on her side Natalie didn't let up pursuing Reno aggressively, she pulled him towards herself planting her right foot on his left shoulder and kicked the back of his head with her left foot propelling each other in opposite directions of the stage.

Reno staggered to his knees and coughed tasting blood in his mouth and coughing into the ground as he grabbed at the wet sand trying to clear the kick to his head earlier.

Mien hovered nearby, loose strands of hair from her bun plastered against her face in the rain yet her eyes appeared shadowed as dark blue flames rippled across her shoulders, the rain which touched those flames instantly evaporated creating a haze around her form.

"Sucks to be you," she whispered, glowing dark blue again and with a yell rushed at Reno with the Heaven's Rush.

Jin thought this was probably the slowest few seconds in his life when he saw something flash in Reno's eyes as Natalie rushed into her opponent with an elbow strike. It was in those few seconds that he saw electricity gather in the ground around Reno and suddenly it was as if the man had been struck by a giant lightning bolt. Jin watched helplessly as Natalie collided with that giant bolt of lightning and for a moment it appeared she would break through and finish this match. Yet once the lightning subsided Natalie had been knocked back, slightly stunned but appearing unhurt. Reno slowly stood up, currents of electricity running across his body, his hair floating slightly above his head now.

"I suppose you're not too terribly impressed by the damage you took from that." Reno said conversationally, his tone suddenly cold and distant. "But this," he clenched his and lightning flared from it, "is my deus ex machina."

"Wh-what just happened?" R. Mika's eyes were wide with shock.

"Didn't you hear it?" Cana asked. "The Howl of Thunder."

"What does it do?" Sakura blinked. "Mien doesn't look any worst off, I don't think that attack did anything to her."

"That wasn't an attack." Cana shook her head. "Watch."

"It bought you some time, but you can't win a match with such a weak counter!" Mien declared as she stood up shakily.

Reno smirked slightly and Mien suddenly found herself facing a barrage of Sickles making their way towards her. What the hell? He wasn't able to do that earlier! Mien whipped around suddenly to face Reno and was just as quickly back fisted across the face. Reno casually adjusted his gloves as he stepped up towards her, those currents of electricity still flowing across his body. Mien tried to recover yet suddenly found herself at the beating end of his Scythe as his clawed hand smashed down on her. What was going on? His attacks were coming out a lot faster now...

"Like I said, this is my deus ex machina." Reno said casually as he began kicking her repeatedly in the ribs and paused for a moment to grind his shoe on her abdominal, he bent down to flick away some sand from his shoes. "You'll find this definition in the dictionary, 'an event that provides a sudden and unexpected solution to a difficulty.' You should feel proud; I don't normally go all out like this." He pulled back his right leg and punted her a distance. "But this... this ends now." Electricity had begun flowing from the rest of his body into his right hand and for some reason Reno began to chuckle, the malice on his face made his intent clear as he held up his right hand with his left, consumed by and giving off a trail of electricity that no one could look at directly.
 

Mien staggered up, her abs feeling sore from the kicks earlier and her head dizzy from all the electrical attacks. She saw the malevolence in his eyes, the true demon within had shone its face to the world and no one could see it because of the large concentration of electricity in his right hand. Reno had already begun moving, gaining speed as he ran straight towards her with his right hand at his side ripping up the wet sandy beach. She saw it come at her slowly yet could not bring her body to react fast enough to dodge the deadly attack... was this... was this the end?

As the concentrated fulmination was almost upon her, her eyes suddenly squeezed shut at the brightness.

"Mien... DISQUALIFIED!" the referee shouted. "Outside interference by a non-teammate!"

Mien blinked and her vision slowly focused and saw a clawed hand just inches from her face crackling with electricity, she fell back unsteadily and as the dots began to clear she saw dark flames struggling to hold in the lightning.

"That's enough..." Jin said darkly, flames flickering around his right arm holding back Reno's attack. "You've won the match."

Slowly the electricity began to die around and Jin's flame also slowly faded away yet his grip had not relaxed as he still felt the tension within Reno's forearm. Reno smiled sweetly at Jin for a moment before an explosion of orange flames suddenly enveloped the freelance courier and he found his grip had suddenly loosened and his body flailing uncontrollably at the hot, demonic flames which were not his.

"Cana, that's enough." Reno said, his voice distant as he watched Cana holding Jin down face first into the wet sand, the rain had just subsided.

Cana said nothing and stood up, clapping her hands of the loose pieces of sand which Jin's flailing body had gotten on her. Reno casually nudged at Jin's body before kicking him in the side to turn him over, the other man struggling to maintain a look of dignity, breathing heavily yet Reno smiled when he saw the hot, smoldering hatred in his eyes. The attack wasn't life threatening to him, it had taken him by surprised and hurt his ego more than his body.

When Reno turned around his face changed, reverting to a smiling celebrity as he placed one hand in his pants pocket and raised his fist up in victory. Yet, for a brief moment he turned his head toward Mien and with that same angelic face said, "When you hear the howl of thunder that means you already lost."