Huitzil idly toyed with the arm of the Bio-Mechanoid Q that he'd ripped off in the last match. He sat on a makeshift throne somewhere deep within the Clashdome. Miguel and Esperanza stood by.

"Sakura Aensland Yugure..." Huitzil muttered to himself. "Adopted member of the Aensland half of the Dark One Royal Family. Fits somewhere into the royalty of the country of Nocturne and indeed, the Dark Dimension. Spirit-sister of Morrigan Aensland, Queen of the Dark Dimension, and noted Dark One." He turned to Miguel.

"Do we have anything else on her?"

"Affirmative, Lord Huitzil." Miguel intoned stiffly. "A scan by Phobos Drone #38 shows it's body to be made completely of dark energy, specifically that of the dark power called the 'Satsu no Hadou'."

A pause. "Implications?" Huitzil asked.

"It would have the ability to manipulate and change its body and form. Research shows that as an adopted member of the House Aensland, it can take the form of a Succubus. It can also morph its limbs into weapons, as can any other Succubus or Vampire."

"It must have a great control over its powers." Huitzil reasoned. "A trained cur. How interesting this match will be."

"Yes Lord Huitzil." Miguel and Esperanza intoned.

"And it must care very deeply for the other Dark Ones that inhabit the Dark Dimension." Huitzil thought aloud. "So we will rub it in its face. Bring me one of the most dejected, miserable, and above all young of the Dark Ones we took from Myre, and meet me just before the match. And bring with you a collar and choke chain."

"Yes, Lord Huitzil." Esperanza tottered off to where the vampires of Myre were being held. Huitzil looked down at Q's arm. A thought sprang into his mechanical mind. "Let's give Humanity a good show, eh Miguel?"

"Query. Specify a good show."

"You will carry this arm into the arena as my banner. I will give an impromptu speech about Human superiority over the depraved Dark Ones. That speech alone will no doubt fuel their hatred of Ms. Yugure. They will cheer as I take Ms. Yugure to Phobos City, where she can see her people, beaten and tired, wishing for death. She will give in to her anger, no doubt. And that anger will cloud her mind, while my cold logic will see through the obvious mistakes she is no doubt going to make. And then, I shall hurl her beaten, broken body down from the Temple on the Market Square, and I will give a speech. I will say I put her out of her misery. It will send a clear message to the Dark Ones that I will be the instrument of their demise."

Miguel continued to wait. Huitzil stood. "Come, Miguel." He said. "We have a rabid dog to kill."

Sakura Aensland Yugure, for her part, was talking through a scrying mirror (kindly provided by the ClashDome staff) with Morrigan and Demitri. "I have to say... Kyodai (brother-in- law,) I apologize for overreacting like that in our match. I should have conceded to you then and there... I just let my temper get away with me."

"I confess, your reaction was not entirely unexpected," Demitri sighed. "You are still young, you have yet to learn the control and restraint that most of us take for granted. You had best be careful in your next match, though... your opponent there is neither weak nor unforgiving."

Morrigan nodded. "Truly said. Dear, didn't you say you suspect this golem of having taken and enslaved a village in Sithicus' borderlands?"

Sakura recoiled. "Enslaved? A whole village of Darkstalkers..? How in both worlds..?"

Demitri frowned at her. "Too much confidence and not enough readiness can be the end of anyone. You and my allies the Jokuzetsu found this out recently yourselves," he intoned.

Sakura frowned, sobered by the reminder of the Amazon Village who had thought that their collective level of training made them unconquerable, only to fall miserably at the hands of a Shadoloo strike force. "I see," she replied. "I'll be careful, then... and I'll try and make sure that this Huitzil thing learns a bit of respect for us Aenslands and Maximoffs." Sketching a quick curtsey to the mirror, she jogged off towards the ring area for her entrance.

Hiro and Dai were back in the announcers' booth and doing their usual good job.

"Annnd for our next match, ladies and gentlemen, we have a true clash of powerhouses! The mysterious Sakura Yugure, fresh from her victory over Demitri Maximoff, returns to the ring to face the Gac War Machine, Huitzil!" Hiro ranted.

"This may be an intense matchup. Huitzil seems to have a vendetta against Darkstalkers in general - will he decide that his opponent falls into that category, and if so, what will he do about it? His fight with 'Q' was somewhat brutal," Dai recalled dryly.

"WE'RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT! EVERYONE, GIVE IT UP FOR SAKURA YUGURE!!" Hiro screamed into the mike.

A quieter, orchestral version of Sakura's theme music played, and Sakura walked to ringside, waving to the crowd and high-fiving ringside spectators. As she reached the ring, she called for a mike, and said, "Hi, everyone!"

More cheering.

Sakura smiled and slowly spun to look at the entire stadium. "I hope you all like erector sets, 'cause it looks like I might have to take one apart and put it back in the toybox here!" she yelled out.

Her smile and mirth were both cut short when Huitzil hit the ring, though.

A red carpet rolled from the entryway down to ringside and Huitzil, Miguel, and Esperanza strode out. They strode along the path of crimson to ringside, but they weren't alone. Miguel had Q's severed arm clutched in its hand like a victory banner, and Huitzil pulled behind it a young vampire on a choke-chain. The boy was thin, bedraggled, and his eyes were full of despair.

Huitzil reached the ring and nodded. "Good day, Ms. Yugure."

Sakura bit her lip on a snarl, instead replying with urbane anger inspired by Demitri. "And to you, Huitzil. I suppose you think this is appropriate behaviour, dragging out a humiliated prisoner!?" she asked.

Huitzil cocked his head. "It's not like it is a person. It's more like an animal. An animal which I will soon slaughter, like a pig or a cow. But I won't eat it. I'll just kill it, and that's one less Dark One to trouble my children," he stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Sakura crossed her arms and frowned. "And perhaps I'll disassemble you, since that would be one less arrogant machine to trouble both of my peoples. A being should be judged on its deeds, not its birth!" she shot back.

"I'm sorry, but did you say 'your' people? You are hardly human. You, Ms. Yugure, are merely a collection of energy particles. You could hardly be called human. But now, before we begin, I shall have General Esperanza read you your crimes," Huitzil stated.

Sakura let out a dark chuckle. "You fool! I was born of a human soul! I'm the product of a human's training, a human's desire, and a human's emotion. If you call me a Darkstalker, then doesn't humanity qualify as well?? But since that's most likely too big a concept for your teeny little circuit board, go ahead and have your clone there read, maybe I'll get a laugh out of it..." she finished, her grip on civility slipping.

Huitzil paused, then yanked on the chain, choking the vampire. Hard. "Esperanza, read it it's crimes against Humanity," the robot commanded.

Esperanza lifted a sheet of beaten copper. "Being born, continued existance, attempting to steal the identity of one Sakura Kasugano, fraternizing with proclaimed Dark Ones, refusing to be killed by well-meaning citizens, and succumbing to the power called the Satsu No Hadou, thus endangering any peoples that may habe been in the vicinity at the time," it recited.

Huitzil crossed his arms. "Those are your crimes and you stand accused. What say you?"

This took Sakura's grip on civility out of the 'slipping' category and into 'completely gone.' "Why, you...." she seethed, clenching her teeth against her desire to smash this presumptuous thing here and now, match rules or no. "I'm not even going to dignify the birth and existence ones with a reply... and if you'd really bothered to find out about me, you'd know I'm trying to get out of Kasugano's identity... and as for the rest-"

Cutting off, Sakura darted forwards, lashing one foot up in a kick that jolted Huitzil's right hand, knocking the chain loose. Grabbing the vampire boy by one hand and pulling him behind her, she took a stand in the center of the ring. "For insults like those, I'm going to make a point here... I'm gonna finish you off, not as a human..." she paused, let out a feral growl, and all in a rush assumed her Aensland form, wings already bladed for battle. "...but as an AENSLAND! JUST BRING IT!" she howled.

Upon close-up in-the-flesh view of Sakura's succubus shape, the fanboy contingent (naturally) went nuts. Hoots, hollers, and howls emitted from roughly half the audience, and Hiro fainted with a nosebleed. The vampire boy simply cowered amid the tumult.

"Oh dear," Dai said, then briefly covered the mike and asked, "Can I get a medical unit in for my partner?" before returning her attention to the match. "It seems that Sakura wants to prove a point here, but I think this match should be moved elsewhere, or we'll never be heard over the catcalls! Admins, do I have your permission to send them to the teleporters?"

Up in the control room, Racewing managed to pick his jaw up off the floor and stuff a tissue up one nostril which was leaking blood. "Damn, Icz, I didn't think she was that, well, um..."

Racewing paused as he looked at Iczel, who seemed to have one hand plugging his nose. "Neider bid I," Iczel said through his plugged proboscis. "Say dey c'n send 'em away, R'ce... quick..."

Racewing huriedly nodded and clicked the mike over to P.A. mode. "Um, that's a go, Dai..." he paused, then clicked it to 'intercom'. "..and Kyoko's on the way for Hiro. He should be up again momentarily."

Huitzil had straightened in anger, but waited until he could be heard again before speaking. "You admit your Dark One heritage! Very well. I find you guilty, and the sentence is death." Turning away from Sakura, he addressed the crowd. "My children, watch now as I make the world safe for you and those who cannot be here. As I crush the life out of this cur, this abomination, this piece of excrement, I will deal a crushing blow to Dark Ones everywhere and send them a clear message that THEY SHOULD NEVER HAVE EXISTED. Cheer for me, as I strangle the life out of this...thing, and prove that you are the superior force! I do this for you!" Turning back, he ignored the sudden silence that fell over the ring. "We will fight at Phobos City, where my other, ah, guests, will see your sentence carried out. Oh, and about the vampire..." Huitzil paused, then waved his hands. Two Phobos Drones dropped from the ceiling and grabbed the vampire by the arms, boosting back up into the shadows near the ClashDome roof before Sakura could do more than cry a protest. "Come," Huitzil said, turning to the teleporter. "Take us to Phobos City."

Up in the announcer's booth, Dai sweatdropped. "Um, destination is either random or must be agreed upon by both competitors... Sakura, are you okay with..?"

"Agreed," Sakura barked, cutting Dai off, and stepped into the teleporter.

In Makai, where a scrying mirror tuned to the tournament was showing the match to Demitri and Morrigan, the Maximoff shook his head. "A foolhardy gesture."

Morrigan looked askance at her husband. "Why? She certainly seems less restrained about using the full range of her abilities in that form..."

Demitri sighed. "My dear, have you known her to use that form in combat yet for more than a few seconds at a time? She has inherited the natural Aensland grace, but all of her instincts in battle will be geared to her original form. Against a foe such as this, she will not have time to think about her actions before performing them..."

"Oh. Oh, dear..." Morrigan stated. The look she cast to the mirror was definitely one of worry.

Moments after entering the teleporter, the fighters arrived in Phobos City, Market Square. The vampires were arranged in a semicircle around them. Phobos Drones had them all on choke chains and collars, and the vampires were all suffering from lacerations, bruises, cuts, and other signs of abuse.

"I've learned almost everything I can learn from these guinea pigs. I'll have to kill them to make more room for new stock, soon," Huitzil stated. "I'll say this for the Dark Dimension, it has some interesting specimens...Like your 'spirit-sister', Morrigan...I'm saving the really special experiments for her."

Sakura's reply accompanied a vicious smile. "I'm fairly certain I'd enjoy seeing you meet her one-on-one."

Just then, Kyoko revived Hiro, who returned to announcing as if there'd been no interruption. "OK! They're in position and the battleground is set! FIGHT!" he cried, and Sakura obliged, leaping in with a flying kick that only barely missed being literal, thanks to the propulsion of her wings.

"Please. I'd be more then a match for a slut like her," Huitzil replied, knocking Sakura from the air with one swift punch, showing surprising deftness for all his bulk.

"Unf!" Sakura grunted, but rather than drop to the ground, she halted her fall with a sweep of her wings and whirled in midair, planting a kick upside Huitzil's head with a CLANG. "In your dreams, machine. She'd open you up like a can of tuna," she taunted, dancing back a few feet.

Huitzil was unfazed. "Of course, her soul is dark, being a creature of lust, correct? I have just the thing for something like that," he replied, his Liquid Light tube snaking out of his hand.

Sakura snorted. "What're you going to do, hose me down? HADOKEN!" she asked scornfully, attacking with her fireball rather than waiting for a reply.

Huitzil skidded to one side, letting the Hadoken pass by, and replied. "No. This is my secret weapon. It is called Liquid Light, and it is the antithesis of everything you are. It will burn you like the strongest acid."

Sakura's eyes widened, and she clapped a hand over her Aensland Ring just as the spray of Liquid Light, misted for the most efficient coverage while using as little as possible, covered her. Tiny tendrils of smoke drifted up from her body, but she gritted her teeth, straightened up, and glared at Huitzil.

"Oooh, and a surprise show of resilience from Sakura! Will this turn the match in her favour??" Hiro enthused.

"That has to be demoralizing, I admit," Dai agreed. "Let's see if Huitzil changes strategies now."

Indeed, for the first time, the robot acted disturbed. "What? Impossible! The Liquid Light...it should work," he protested.

"Weren't you listening?" Sakura barked. "I come from -" a pause while she jabbed twice at Huitzil and then smashed a kick into his head again - "a HUMAN soul!" she went on, backing him up a step with her double-arm uppercut. "I am dark, yes-" she grunted as she roundhouse-kicked him "-but I am NOT a Darkstalker - except in my adoption! TWILIGHT BLADE!" she yelled, performing a variation of Morrigan's bladed Shoryuken-style uppercut, save that Sakura's blade resembled an ax rather than a sword.

Unfortunately, all that accomplished was to trace a shiny streak up Huitzil's armour and back him up again. "You are NOT human! Humanity is pure, clean, good. And -you- are just trash. And since you care so much for these vile creatures I have enslaved, I will up the scales," Huitzil ranted, whirling around the the Phobos drones and their vampire captives. "Phobos! PUNISH THE VERMIN!"

The Phobos immediately began to attack and beat the helpless vampires. Huitzil turned back around slowly. "I know your weakness. You -care- for these creatures. And I can do whatever I want to them."

In the ClashDome, Hiro's eyes went wide. "Hey, is that even legal?" he protested.

Dai's eyes were no less wide. "I don't know... well, technically, it is Huitzil's home node... as long as he doesn't have anyone else attack Sakura, it may be legal..." she mumured into the mike, her eyes on the scene of torture before her.

"You - - -" Sakura cursed, eyes wide in horror - then she cut herself off and took to the air. Her flying practice at Castle Aensland showed here as she hurtled among the drones and vampires, her wings snicking down to slash hoses and joints of the less-durable Phobos, disabling many of them...

...until a hail of bullets and beams slammed into her from Huitzil, sending her crashing to the ground courtesy of his Genocide Vulcan.

As he strode toward her, Huitzil's tone was smug. "Now, do you see? You gave in to anger and hatred. I counted on that. Now...Your sentence will be carried out," he stated, retracting his fingers into his arms to unleash another Genocide Vulcan.

"Not yet..." Sakura ground out, and cocked her arms at her side... then slammed them palms-first into the ground.

"What-" Huitzil blurted out, but that was all he had time for.

"SHINKUU-HADOKEN!" Sakura roared, the beam blasting into the ground and sending Huitzil tumbling back as the very earth between them detonated under the attack. Trying to finish healing, Sakura took to the air again, but a blue beam lashing out from Huitzil's head sent her tumbling back down, coated in ice. "Gah! C-cold.... dammit!" she cursed, shattering the ice as she landed, but shivering, for a few moments immobilized by the chill.

In those moments, Huitzil came forward, picked up Sakura, and then threw her down onto the ground in full view of the vampires. "Watch now, as your supposed saviour dies, and all your hope dies with her," he commanded, raising one foot to crush Sakura's neck.

"Not... TODAY!" Sakura cried, using the magical propulsion of her wings to skim out from under the foot, much the same way Morrigan had evaded her stomp attacks during their sparring. Arching her wings back, she lashed them forward, clipping Huitzil's legs out from under him.

In the ClashDome control room, things were even more crazy.

Racewing was freaking out. For once, he had good reason. "Dammit, they're really trying to kill each other! And I think Huitzil's goon-bots fudged the lethality interlocks! One of them could really die out there!!"

"I know!" Iczel shot back. "I'm trying to set up the teleporters to get them out of there the second one of them's no longer able to fight, but it's going to be touch and go!"

Sakura lifted off and charged up power between her hands, but shifted her target as she noticed one group of Phobos still bunched together, attacking the chained vampires around them. "MESSATSU... GOU... HADOU!!!"

With a CHOOM the volley of fireballs struck, tearing the drones into scrap metal - but Sakura panted as she hung in midair, her energy at a low ebb.

Huitzil, for a moment, stared at the crater where his drones once were. "My... warriors. I will kill you, abomination!" he raged, unleashing every long-distance weapon in his arsenal as fast and often as he could.

Sakura let out a shriek and twisted in midair, frantically trying for more speed in her flight. She swooped under a paired missile, dodged an ice-beam, and climbed just over a Genocide Vulcan... but her inexperience with her new form betrayed her in the end. Her greater height left a foot that she'd thought was safe in the way of a missile, and as she convulsed in pain from that hit an Icebeam tagged her squarely, dropping her straight into another Genocide Vulcan. Moments later, she crashed down into the top of the pyramid, near a large Stonehenge-type arch in the center. Gasping for breath, she desperately healed herself, listening as she did to the TROMP of Huitzil's feet ascending the temple stairs. "Ow... dammit dammit... I can't get much through that armour... I need to pin him in place somehow..." she groaned.

"I am sure the tournament staff would no doubt repair my Drones, and indeed upgrade them, but that is not the point. I must have vengeance for them. Prepare to die," Huitzil said as he reached the top of the pyramid. Picking Sakura up by the hair, he slammed his fist into her face. Again. And again.

{Damn - Argh! I can't - argh! - get much damage - argh! - through his - argh! - armour! I need - argh! - to keep him still somehow - argh!} she managed to think through the pain of the repeated hammerblows. Wrenching her leaden arms into motion, she blocked the next punch, catching Huitzil's forearm. "OKAY, THAT IS IT!" she roared, arm-throwing Huitzil all the way back down the pyramid in a clash of metal.

Huitzil got up and growled, "I am getting tired of you, cur. Simply make this easy and let me kill you. The world would be better for it," as he began to ascend again.

Sakura was thinking furiously. {I need to hold it in place so I can breach that damn armour and give it the disassembly it deserves...} Suddenly, she paused, looked up to the arch above her, and then looked back at her own wings. Morphing them as sharp as she could, she picked up a rock and dropped it on one... and smiled as it fell to the ground in two pieces. {It just might work...} she thought, then called out aloud. "Come and get me, you bastardized piece of technomystical scrap!!"

Huitzil thundered up the steps in sudden anger. "For the good of humanity, you must die!"

"You one-track nonupgradable PC! HADOKEN!" Sakura yelled back, blasting Huitzil in the head as it came into view over the edge of the roof. "Get it through your databank - I AM HUMAN SPIRIT BORN OF HUMAN!!" she screamed, lifting off and back - and slashing through the arch with her wings as she did. {It didn't fall - the slashes are too thin - but all it needs now is a tap...}

"You defiler of my children! You steal Sakura Kasugano's identity merely by EXISTING. There can never be two of the same person!" Huitzil ranted back, again retracting his fingers for a Genocide Vulcan.

"I - AM - NOT - HER!" Sakura screamed in answer as she let fly a Hadoken. The fireball flew on a slightly high trajectory and thus was not blasted apart by the Vulcan, which instead made Sakura jerk and twitch in midair as the rounds slammed home, testing her healing capacity yet again.

Things seemed to go into slow-motion as the fireball inched down....

...and hit the top of the arch just before the Vulcan finished. The arch slid down off the pillars and landed on Huitzil's outstretched arms, bearing him to the ground.

"WHAT?" Huitzil howled, heaving at his trapped limbs until Sakura landed and kicked his legs out from under him, sending him down on his face.

"Aw, that's right, all your weapons are arm- or front- mounted, aren't they? What a shame," she said in mock sympathy, then morphed her wings into a form she doubted Morrigan had ever tried.