Loud step…



After loud step…




Liu gulps as the monstrosity known as Dogero is climbing up the pit of fire to enter the arena. Dogero leaps into the arena with his teeth bared and foaming at the mouth. His orange fur on his head and neck is singed at the edges. His two paws’ hair is also slightly singed. His arms flex and move forwards and back ready to rip something apart. Dogero looks poised and ready to do what Sub-Zero and Reptile could not…




Kill Liu.



Liu, exhausted from the struggle with Reptile, gets into his fighting stance but he’s shaking from exhaustion. He tries to ignore the pain he’s feeling as he stares straight ahead at the behemoth across from him. Dogero snaps at him impatiently.

FIGHT!

Liu stands straight up as Dogero laughs and is thrown two kendo sticks. Dogero begins running towards him swinging the two kendo sticks wildly. Liu runs at him and slides under. He punches Dogero in the back of the legs dropping him to the ground. Liu turns around and kicks Dogero in the back of the head. Dogero begins to stand up, but Liu is kicking away at the back of the knees. Dogero turns around smacks Liu in the side of the head with one of the kendo sticks! Liu flies away and tries to collect himself. Dogero begins walking towards him dragging the sticks. Liu tries to kick him, but Dogero hits his leg with the kendo stick. Liu tries for a jab, but the paws for his other arms smack his arm away. Dogero raises the sticks up and brings them careening down on the head of Liu. Blow after blow and Liu is falling to his knees. Liu feels the blood begin to flow from the back of his head. Liu looks up and sees something that may even the odds just a little. He strikes forward!

AGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Dogero falls to his knees as Liu has just punched him in the Doggy balls. Dogero drops the sticks and Liu wastes no time as he picks on up. He staggers to his feet and smashes the stick over the head of Dogero. Dogero snaps at him softly as Liu takes the broken edge of the kendo stick and jams the edge into the eye socket of Dogero! He howls in agony and begins swatting Liu away from him. Liu knows that a foe like Enigma wouldn’t be afraid to get their hands dirty so he has to as well to even the odds. Dogero gets up and is whimpering and growling at the same time. Talk about a confused sounding noise. Nevertheless Dogero tramples over and grabs the legs of Liu and holds him upside down. Dogero is trying to pull the leg off of Liu.

AHHHHHHHHHH!

Liu screams out in agony, but he pulls out the shard of the kendo stick he had broken. He pulls himself up and stabs it into the undamaged eye of Dogero! Dogero drops him on his back and flails around looking for Liu. Liu kicks him directly in the chest and continues hitting blows to the chest! Dogero is out on his feet. Liu jumps into the air and kicks Dogero in the eyes. Dogero howls again, but Liu isn’t holding back. He hits fifteen punches to the chest before his hand punctures the hide of Dogero! His hand goes in and comes out holding what appears to be the black heart of Dogero! Dogero falls backwards. Defeated.

Liu raises his hand in victory!

FATALITY!

Liu walks off the stage and walks over to Crimden. Crimden has a weird smile on his face, below his mask. Is that pride? Or sympathy? Or something else…

Shane Tsung stands up and introduces the next match. Caraka vs. Scorpion.

Caraka walks up to the platform looking especially sinister today. Scorpion… is not present as he never is. In the first round, he appeared and disappeared in an explosion of fire and smoke. A few minutes pass… thirty minutes passes. Shane Tsung looks bored. He stands up.

If Scorpion has not appeared within the next twenty seconds, this match will be a forfeit for Caraka.

Caraka smiles at this news and points at Liu Hung who is standing upright, but feeling the first three fights heavily. A clock appears next to Enigma counting down.

20…




19….





18…



17…




16…




15…




14…. The smell of smoke and fire slowly begins filling the air.





13…




12….






11….






10… Still no appearance but the smell is getting stronger.



9…




8….




7…




6…







5… A commotion is happening at the front gate. Several soldiers have fallen down dead.






4…






3… Several more soldiers dying seemingly in a cloud of smoke.






2…







1…






0.



The crowd is hushed as is Shane Tsung. They look around surveying the scene. Shane Tsung looks more annoyed than worried. He steps forward.

Now…. Let’s move on to the fin-blahhhhhhhh!

A razor sharp blade has just came through the center of Shane Tsung. Shane turns to face the man who the blade belonged to. Scorpion. Scorpion reaches forward and Shane disappears. Enigma wastes no time as he grabs the head of scorpion and lops it off. Scorpion falls into the pit of fire and Enigma throws the head in after it. However, now the entire place is in confusion.

Crimden begins laughing maniacally. Liu takes a step backward from Crimden. Crimden then removes his red mask to reveal the face of Shades! ‘Shades’ steps into the fighting area and stares at Enigma while laughing.

Oh Enigma. How silly you look when you’re confused. Let me help clear the confusion. You see the Mr. Shane Tsang that you knew? Never existed. It was a hologram all along! The Real Mr. Tsang is me. Shades Tsang. I created this tournament because well… who better to be the surprise ‘villain’ than the Universal Champion of the XWF? I’ve already shocked the world once… so why not twice? I had Crimson Face hook me up with the special effects, so to speak.

Liu looks at him with rage in his eyes.

Now why the long look, Mr. Hung? Did I upset you by using you? I’m sorry if you feel that way. However, I feel like Caraka still wants to bash your head in. You probably should deal with him before directing your anger towards me.

Shades Tsang walks back to his place by Liu as they glare at each other. Liu walks to the center of the fighting area and looks at Caraka. He thinks to himself…

Really… I don’t like the way he used me, but, for once, our destinies are aligned. I want to win this X-Treme Title shot, and he wants Enigma taken care of. Seems like a perfect opportunity to be on the same page with the Universal Champion.

Liu gets into his stance and readies himself for the finals. One more match before he could ascend into the battle with Enigma. All that remained in his way… was Caraka.