The cheers from the last match had hardly faded before Hiro was ranting into the microphone again. "ANNND do we have a slobberknocker of a match up next!! Star-crossed lovers, or at least starting to be, matched against each other in the FIRST ROUND!! Oh, what cruel twists of fate!! The Storming White Dragon, YUN LEE! ...Against the Comeback Queen, MAKOTO RINDOU!"

Dai gave him an even stare. "Can you *get* any more caffeinated, Hiro?"

"YES!" Hiro yelled, gulping down a can of Jolt Cola.

Dai sighed. "Anyway, this *should* actually be interesting. The fighters have chosen to have it out right here in the ClashDome ring, and they're very similar in style."

Hiro swallowed and then ranted faster than was healthy. "YEAH! It'll be a SLOBBERKNOCKER! Like I said!!" And then had to cough and gasp for breath.

Giving Hiro a gimlet stare, Dai said, "Work with me, Hiro." After a pause to ensure that there was no yell forthcoming, Dai went on. "I think Yun Lee is the more agile of the two, but will that be a point for or against him in the ring, with limited space and no place to wall-jump or skateboard to? We'll have to wait and see."

Hiro looked towards the north entrance ramp. "And here come the fighters!"

Yun, appearing from the north entry on his skateboard, performed a tail grind on the banister, then leapt off, did a 720, then landed, skidding to a halt, resting his board under his foot. Casually, he waved to all his adoring fans.

A horde or two of fangirls in the audience all reacted as if he was waving at them personally; screamed, waved, and fainted.

"WOW! Impressive show of skateboarding!" Hiro enthused.

Dai grunted. "He's going to need more than that to win. Statistics from last tournament show that the match is in favor of Makoto 3-1."

"Ouch!" Hiro replied. "Can Yun Lee come back from such a humiliating defeat in the last tournament?" Suddenly Hiro cut off, his head whipping around to stare at the south entrance. "Oh baby, here she is! The queen of comeback, the princess of punch and all around babilicious Steamroller Girl - Makoto Rindou!!"

"YAHOO!!" Makoto yelled, entering on her scooter at full tilt. She bounced off the floor, skidding along the safety partitions in a rail slide, then vaulted off, flipped in midair, folding the scooter as she did, and grabbed the ring rope to flip into the ring. Dropping the scooter to the ringside floor, she bowed in all four directions. "Thank you, thank you! I owe it all to my teacher!" she called out, waving a hand at Yun.

"....." Yun replied, staring at her with his eyes the size of saucers and his jaw down to his chest.

It should be noted at this point that, rather than her usual *gi,* Makoto had chosen to wear her short green Chinese Amazon dress to the ring.

"Yun? Yoo-hoo? YUN!" Makoto called, waving a hand in front of his face.

Up in the announcer's booth, Hiro had only one thing to say. "....." (He, too, was slack-jawed, only he was drooling too.)

Dai's eyes rolled heavenward. "Oh, please." Leaning out of the window, Dai called down to the ring. "Excuse me? Makoto?"

"Yes?" Makoto called back.

"Your outfit's incapacitated my broadcast partner. Can you change to your *gi?*" Dai asked.

"Aw.. Okay," Makoto pouted.

Dai turned to his mike and keyed it to the arena P.A. system. "We apologize, folks, but we'll start in a few minutes after Makoto's had time to change-"

Makoto then, in mid-ring, performed the Kunoichi Clothes-Rip, tearing the dress off to reveal her *gi* beneath.

"...or not. What the...?" Dai finished, boggled.

Yun grinned. "I preferred the dress."

Makoto grinned right back. "Well, I *had* planned to fight in it... but I guess we can't have everything," she joked... then took a glance at the ringside floor. "AAK! Where did all that blood come from?? Geez, if we fall down there it'll be like a greasepit!!" she cried.

Again, it should be noted: half the men at ringside were holding bloody tissues to their noses.

As the monitors fractaled away from the crowd shot, Dai began: "We deeply apologise for the local fanboyisms," with a ¬_¬ look for the semiconscious Hiro. "Competitors, get ready!" Dai finished.

Yun kicked his skateboard aside so it rolled safely off the ring, then went into his fighting stance. "This is what you've been waitin' for, right? - to kick my butt inside the ring. This time I'm actually gonna try."

"Yun no baka!" Makoto replied, motioning as if she were malleting him before sliding into *her* stance. "Not kick your butt, test our skill! And find out, gender notwithstanding, who DA MAN is!!" she finished with a laugh, then challenged, "OK, let's go!!"

In the announcer's booth, Dai nodded. "Get ready..... FIGHT!"

Makoto wasted no time, lunging sideways across the ring with a high side kick. Yun hopped into the air, evading it, then cartwheeled over Makoto's shoulders in the Zenpou Tenshin... and tapped her back as he stepped away.

"A tap? What the-" Makoto exclaimed, then reached back and pulled a Post-it note off her back. "'Kick me'?? Yun, of all the juvenile-"

"Kick you? OK! Heeyah!" Yun answered, letting go a side kick of his own that sent Makoto tumbling away.

"Oof! Why you...!" she growled as she nipped back up.

Hiro, having recovered what passed for his consciousness, was aghast. "Oh!! Yun's trying to humiliate Makoto!! That's dirty!" he protested.

"That's smart," Dai countered. "He's got his opponent scouted. He knows her weakness is her temper, and he's going right for it."

Back in the ring, Makoto smirked. "OK..." she said.

"Oh-oh. That's trouble," Dai noted.

Makoto streaked forward in the Hayate - only to screech to a halt in the fake version of the move just in front of the blocking Yun. Before the Dragon could react, she'd snapped her hands out - and grabbed Yun's arms, pinning them in blocking posture across his chest. The Lee brother looked up at Makoto, who was still smiling sweetly at him over the pinned arms, and gulped.

Hiro marked out. "SHE'S GOT HIM! Yun's in real trouble!!"

"I actually have to agree," Dai noted. "I don't see how Yun can get out of that without taking majour damage. It'll be interesting to see just *what* she does-"

Makoto leaned forwards. "Naughty Yun!" she chirped at him, nipping her head forward to give him a peck on the cheek.

Dai cut off, then recovered enough to speak. "...she kissed him? Of all the-" the announcer began, disgusted.

Hiro, at the same time, was enthusiastic. "OH, That's SO sweet! I -"

Both of them cut off as, suddenly, Makoto let go of Yun's arms and dropped to the mat. With Yun too stunned by the kiss to move, she whipped her leg across in a footsweep and dropped him on the back of his head, then nipped away. "Gotcha back!" she crowed.

"I take it back. It was a ploy! Good counter!" Dai nodded.

Hiro looked, for once, uncertain. "...I guess... but wasn't that dirty too??" he asked.

Yun rolled backward and backflipped several times, ending up in an indolent position with his back to the ring ropes. "Kicks and stones may break my bones but cooties will never hurt me," he said with a grin and a wink as he assumed a ready stance and waited.

Makoto nodded. "Now let's get a bit more serious," she commented, walking forward cautiously.

Yun stood and waited, grinning. "You look constipated."

"OOH! Karakusa!"

Yun ducked, letting the grabbing hands pass harmlessly overhead.

Makoto followed up with, in order, a Hayate, her ground-to-chin spinning Roundhouse, a crouching post-kick, a quick chop, and a spinning backfist, all of which Yun dodged or hopped over as appropriate. "Damn, Makoto, you look so serious," Yun said, ducking under a side kick, flicking her forehead and backflipping away before she could retaliate.

"Geez, I thought your *brother* was the speed artist," Makoto complained, backing off. "You wanna actually try attacking? And for heaven's sake, *please* quit treating me like a joke!! I'm a martial artist too, you know!!" she yelled.

Yun shrugged. "Sorry. Couldn't help but notice-" a sudden dash put him face-to-face with Makoto, "-how cute you are when you're serious."

Makoto recoiled, taken aback. "R-really??"

"Annnd the favorite seems flustered, folks!!" Hiro yelled, finally getting over the 'dirty tactics' depression he was in.

Dai grumped. "*What* are they doing? This is supposed to be a martial arts match, not a flirting session!" the announcer complained.

As if he'd heard the comment, Yun grinned wickedly. "Hyah!"

A series of attacks began with a pair of short knifehand thrusts, a snap kick to the shin, an elbow to the side of Makoto's head, a palm strike, and the Kobukushi. Makoto grunted out through the combo, "I - was - kinda - expecting - this-" and as the Kobukushi hit, "-OOF!..." but as she tumbled back, it became a roll, and from that Makoto sprang into the air, grinning evilly. "Sucker! INAZUMA!"

As she rebounded off the ringpost, she thought, {'Lightning' seems like an appropriate battlecry for the Abare Tosanami Kudaki Combination!}

*KRAK-whamwhapwhapWHAM*

"And one more for luck! HAAH! HAYATE!" Makoto cried, her EX Hayate picking Yun neatly out of the air and sending *him* tumbling across the ring. "How's that??" she called after him.

"Folks, it looks like the comeback queen has made yet another victory! It's a good thing no one bet on Yun..." Hiro lamented.

The horde of fangirls yelled in protest of this statement... and this got Makoto's attention. Distracted, she yelled, "Hey, you fangirls! Get your own, I saw him first!" and drew another storm of protests.

Yun got up and cocked an eyebrow at her. "What's the matter? Jealous?"

Makoto paused, then looked down at the mat. "...maybe..." she murmured. "I just think about that kiss back in your neighborhood, and then when I see the screaming fangirls, I feel like... 'what am I when Yun can have all of them..?'" Stopping, she shook her head. "Hey! We have a fight to finish. Unless you want to concede...?" she asked with a grin.

Yun chuckled. "What are you, huh? You're meant for the best, that's what," he said, walking towards her.

"Yun, wha-" Makoto blurted as Yun walked up to her.

Then he kissed her on the lips. "MMM?? Mmm. *Mmmmmmm...*" was her only commentary as she melted against him.

Hiro joined in a chorus with every romantic person in the crowd. "Awwwww!"

The fangirls had another opinion, letting out a unified, "*SHRIEK!!* NOOOO!!"

Dai looked ready to vomit. "Oh, *please!* Dammit, if they don't fight soon, can we teleport them into a hazard stage or something so we'll at least *get* somewhere-" the announcer said, but cut off at a turn of events in the ring.

Yun broke the clinch, and before Makoto even had time to ask why, sprang to the attack. A knifehand/shin kick combination led into a fist to the face and a short Tetsu Zanko shoulder bash, but Yun wasn't done. "GEN'EI JIN!" Two knifehands led into the Zessho Hohou rush punch, a standing side kick, and the Dakai chi-palm attack, all multiplied by the rushing images of the Gen'ei Jin. As Makoto tumbled across the ring from the Kobukushi variation, Yun grinned evilly and said, "But I'm here for a fight. Now're you ready to go, or have you had enough already, you pansy?? I'm just warmin' up here."

Before she even got up, Makoto's battle-aura flared red. Her voice drifted up from where she lay on the ground. "You break a mood like *that*... and you *sneak attack* me... and then you say *that?*"

A pause, during which the whole arena was silent.

"The calm before the storm?" Dai murmured... but quietly.

"YOU ARE SO DEAD!!" Makoto roared, rolling towrds Yun and performing a nip-up... that led straight to her Tsurugi, the *chi-*powered ax-kick. Caught unaware, Yun was flattened - then desperately rolled aside as a punch descended at his head.

It went *through* the ring.

Yun tried to jump away, but Makoto's post-kick clipped his ankles as he did, and with his momentum broken, he fell right into a Fukiage uppercut. As he flew into the air, Makoto snarled, "Pansy *THIS!*"

When he came down, she didn't let him hit the ground. Hopping forwards, she clipped him with a lunging punch, spinning him back into the air, then did it again... and again. Seeing that she was too near the edge of the ring for another hop-punch, Makoto hit him with a roundhouse kick that sent him back into the center of the ring, then leaped up onto the ring ropes, let them spring outwards, and kicked off as they launched her back in.

"INAZUMA!!"

Yun bounced off the ground from the roundhouse right into the Super Combination. As he hurtled into the air again after the final uppercut, Makoto disdained to even chase him, instead growling, "Do *YOU* wanna give up???" as she slammed into her stance.

"OH NO! True love falls apart!" Hiro cried in distress.

"YAAY!" the fangirls yelled. Makoto didn't even notice.

Dai smirked. "Finally. A good ploy by Yun, but he should have followed up and not asked for surrender - he of *all* people knows her reputation as the 'comeback queen.' And a good reply by Makoto - nice touch, hitting Yun with his own specialty, the juggle."

Yun flipped to his feet and thought, ~Time to get serious.~

Hiro gawked at that. "He's taken that AND he's still standing? What is he *made* of?"

Yun feinted high, then ducked low and swept Makoto's legs out: popping up before she could, he let her nip-up, then side-kicked her into the ropes. As she bounced out, he hit her with a Kobukushi and blew her back in. She bounced again; as she came out, she met a two-punch combination, and another Kobukushi.

Makoto grabbed the ropes this time, and used them to flail a kick at Yun's head. Ducking, he blasted her away with the Dakai as she came down, then chased her with a Zessho Hohou before hopping away. Grinning, he nodded at the hole she'd put in the ring as she climbed to her feet. "Cute... the mat needed a new gopher hole anyway."

Makoto scowled. "Gopher this!" she said, thrusting out another side-kick at his head... but aiming just a bit to one side. Seeing this, Yun sidestepped... and his foot slipped into the hole and, as he tugged at it by reflex, stuck there.

"Well! You *did* go for it!!" Makoto smirked, slamming Yun with the MEGA UPPER PUNCH!! (OK, it was really an EX Fukiage, but that's close enough, isn't it?)

While he flew up and fell down, Makoto focused her *chi* as she crossed her amrs over her center... three times. "Heeeh... hoooh... *Haah!*"

Hiro recovered from shock and blurted out, "EEK! What a trap Makoto laid there!"

Dai nodded. "Excellent move. She negated Yun's mobility and struck, and now she's made the most of *her* advantage, power. Yun will really have to work for an upset victory now..."

Yun winced as he landed and climbed to his feet. "Oh shit... one Abare Tosanami Kudaki could finish me off..."

Makoto frowned as she thought, {I don't have the energy for another one of those yet!} Then she glanced at the ring ropes and nodded. {Time to improvise!} she thought, and said, "Who needs it!? HAIII!" as she leapt up to the nearest ring ropes, landing in the center of the cord and letting it spring her back and forth, then leaping off it to an adjacent rope, and adding *its* momentum to hers, then rebounded off that rope at Yun, her foot extended in a classic flying kick.

Yun, in response, swung around as if his front foot were a hinge and he the door. Makoto missed him cleanly... and as she skidded along the mat, *her* foot got stuck in the hole. Her face took on an almost comical "Oh, S##t," expression as she tried to get free.

Yun stopped, one hand on his hip, and shook his finger condescendingly at Makoto before he lunged. "Tch, tch, tch. It happens once - shame on me. It happens twice - shame on you!" Another knifehand jab/shin-kick combo led to a chest-punch and another short Tetsu Zanko before Yun cried out again, "GEN'EI JIN!" and followed up with a triple-image Zessho Hohou and a double-palm Dakai.

Hiro was screaming into the mike. "Oh my god! OH MY GOD! AS GOD IS MY WITNESS, HE'S BREAKING HER IN HALF!"

Dai was a bit calmer about it. "Well, Yun Lee seems to be rising to the challenge. Will it be enough?" the announcer commented, then covered the mikes and said to Hiro, "Will you *stop* with the Jim Ross-isms? D'you *want* to get sued by the World Wrestling Federation?"

Makoto's foot was pinned firmly enough that even with the triple-hit affect, she didn't go anywhere. Still in the Gen'ei Jin, Yun let fly a pair of heavy side kicks and another Dakai.

Makoto wobbled back and forth, but didn't fall... quite. "I'm... not... done.. yet..." she managed to say through her swimming head. Shifting her foot, she lifted it out of the hole, and took a step towards Yun, despite the fact that she couldn't even seem to lift her arms.

"Ping!" Yun said, tapping her forehead.

Makoto stopped dead, and wobbled for a moment. Then, with an "Oooohhhhh..." and a *Thud,* she hit the mat and did not get up.

Hiro went crazy. "HE DID IT! YUN LEE GETS THE UPSET!!!"

Dai, again, nodded. "Excellent work on his part, though I really think he should have hit her harder when she took that step. What if she'd been faking?"

Makoto just groaned on the mat.

"..And it looks like the winner is Yun Lee!" Dai declared.

"What an upset!" Hiro ranted. "The black horse of 3/1 shows he IS nothing else but THE Storming White Dragon! Everyone give him a big round of appl-"

He was cut off by a unified, glass-shaking cheer from the fangirls. "YAY!! YUUUUUNNNNN!!!!!"

Yun knelt down by Makoto. "Dumb girl..." he murmured, picking her up and carrying her out of the ring.

Hiro pounced on it immediately. "WHAT IS THIS???? Can this be true love after all???" he asked, cutting off the fangirls mid-cheer.

Yun grinned towards the fangirls. "Gotta take care of the ladies," he said, and gave them a wink to say 'I'm not forgetting about you.'

The happy sighs from the fangirls nearly took the wind in the ClashDome to gale-force for a moment.

Makoto stirred with another groan. "I saw that, Lee... Owwww," she managed, giving Yun a weak grin. "Nice trick with the hole. I didn't think I'd be in line for it there... You won this one." Her grin improved a bit. "But just wait until next time!"

As they entered the hallway, Yun snorted. "You always say that. But remember - I'm still DA MAN, and I'll still kick your ass.... good lookin'." And with that, he threw his hat over the video camera as he leaned in for a kiss.