Other Fan Fiction ❯ Namco vs Tecmo ❯ The Gathering ( Prologue )

Disclaimer (bah, different fic, same disclaimer): If owning a copy of the game means that you own the rights to it then…I still don't own Dead or Alive or Soul Calibur. Tecmo and Namco own them respectively. Oh well…

Creating the portals was easy enough for me to do. Through each one I brought the characters that I had chosen into the realm I had created. From the Dead or Alive 3 universe, Helena, Hitomi, Gen Fu, Brad Wong, Jann Lee, Bass, Lei Fang, Kasumi, Hayate and Ryu Hayabusa. From the world of Soul Calibur 2, I brought Isabella Valentine - Ivy -, Seung Mina, Heihachi Mishima, Voldo, Maxi, Astaroth, Xianghua, Taki, Mitsurugi and Yoshimitsu. I create two more portals, different from the other twenty. One of them carries Omega, or Genra as he may have been known. The other carries the being who once called himself Siegfried, but is now known as Nightmare. I make these two and Astaroth docile, so that they will not begin to fight before the time comes. At once Bass blurts out in surprise, but mainly in anger. My first real challenge has arrived.

"What the hell is going on? Where am I? Why is that guy wearing samurai armour? Why can I see that guy's heart? Why does that guy have three faces? Why does that freak have bandages on his face? What the hell is that big thing with the eye?"

"Silence!" My voice reverberates around unseen walls. I drift down from the sky slowly, the glowing translucent wings waving behind me. Everyone gathered looks up as I descend. I had chosen to show myself as the Archangel Tyrael, the one that featured in Diablo II.

"Yeah, shut up Bass," Helena quips. I ignore her, mainly because of the favouritism I harbour for her.

Hitomi smiles discreetly, "The Archangel Tyrael?"

"I have gathered all of you together for one purpose," I begin, "Welcome to The Tournament!"

I wasn't expecting anyone to applaud my miserable attempt at a name for my crossover tournament, and when no one did, I was a little happier. It made me even happier to hear no one laugh either. I continue.

"To begin with, I must ensure that everyone is armed with a reasonable weapon. That means that I won't grant anyone a cannon or a gun. I request that those without weapons please create an image in your mind of the weapon you wish to use, and I will set about granting it to you."

I looked around, and realise that Omega and all of the Soul Calibur characters were wearing or holding their usual weapons, except perhaps Heihachi, who didn't really count since he was wearing his iron armbands. Hayate, Hayabusa and Kasumi all wore theirs too. All the other Dead or Alive characters had finished with their decisions, I realised, so I set about creating the weapons.

Helena had chosen a steel and leather Chinese hand fan. When it was closed it looked like a stack of wavy bladed knives connected at the end by a single rivet to provide a pivot point. Helena tests the cutting point with her fingertip and smiles in satisfaction.

Hitomi had chosen to replace her padded boxing mitts with more damaging versions. These covered her arms up to her elbows, and featured a raised steel lump over each knuckle. Steel ribbing joined to the knuckle bolts, coveringthe back of her hand. Longer lengths of ribbing went from her wrist to her elbows. Just as Helena's fan resembled the one of the pair used by Kitana in Mortal Kombat, these gloves reminded me of the ones worn by Street Fighter's Cammy. Hitomi flexed her fingers, testing the rigidity of the leather gloves.

Jann Lee's nunchaku whistles through the air as he tested it. He seemed satisfied with the balance of the weapon. It was an obvious choice, since his preferred fighting style constantly made use of the chain-linked pair of rods.

Bass rumbles a satisfactory grunt as he swung his weapon lightly. It was an iron ball, perhaps twice the size of his skull and just as thick, connected to a length of solid chain. At the other end of the chain and gripped in his other hand was a foot long spike. Everyone, myself included, sniggers as it changes into a George Foreman fat free grill being swung by its power cord. In a blink it changes back. A little bit of foolery on my part had caused that change.

Gen Fu grips both ends of his bamboo staff in either hand and tests its strength. It is sturdy enough for him, and he rest one end of it against the ground. Brad Wong has done something similar with his weapon: a brutally thick cudgel of solid timber the length of his leg.

Lei Fang draws the traditional Chinese straight sword from its scabbard and performs a few practise thrusts with expert precision before replacing it. Hayate, Hayabusa and Kasumi all draw the weapons that they wore about them: Hayate drew the katana worn on his back, Hayabusa draws the ancient Dragon Sword from his back, and Kasumi draws her kodachi. I was sure that Hayabusa knew how to handle the Dragon Sword, but Kasumi looked relatively uncertain about using the kodachi. Time would tell whether or not that was true. Omega held his rod in his hand. Still docile, he had not revealed the glowing blades that projected from the ends.

"Good," I say.

"This all looks too unnatural," Maxi comments.

I wave my right hand grandly, and a glowing, ethereal floating screen appears in the air next to me. Printed on it is the draw for the tournament.

"This is the draw for the first round," I announce.

The draw was as follows:

Helena vs Ivy

Jann Lee vs Maxi

Gen Fu vs Heihachi

Brad Wong vs Voldo

Kasumi vs Taki

Hayate vs Mitsurugi

Hayabusa vs Yoshimitsu

Bass vs Astaroth

Lei Fang vs Xinaghua

Hitomi vs Seung Mina

Omega vs Nightmare

"I should lay down the general rules and regulations before we begin. Firstly, no one is allowed to Soul Charge - in fact I have rendered incapable all of the people capable of doing so. This is out of fairness, since not every one of you knows the technique. Secondly, aside from that rule, anything goes, however I will punish those of you who decide to do away with your weapons and fight with your bare hands. Aside from being close to suicidal, it is also against the spirit of the competition."

"Competition my ass…" Hitomi mutters.

"This is a knockout competition. Competitors who are defeated will be eliminated from the tournament. Defeat will be either loss of consciousness to the count of ten, death, or being knocked out of the ring. The ring will be predetermined before each battle begins. I should note that while you will lose if you die, you will not be permanently dead, and will be resurrected after your loss has been decided."

This brings a wave of murmuring across the crowd of fighters. Xianghua is accusing me of nothing short of heresy. Nightmare wonders at the extent of my power.

"Now, let the tournament begin! The first battle: Helena versus Ivy!"