A multi-crossover fanfic. "Anime Jam". By Julian Soullard (e-mail jnsoullard@hotmail.com). All of these series have there own respective author and company. I'm not saying that I created or own such series, I don't even want to think what would happen to me if I took credit for creating them. Anyway, there are so many companies and authors that I won't even bother in telling you which one is which. The only thing that needs to be perfectly and absolutely clear is that they're not mine and I'm not making ANY financial profit out of this and don't plan to make any in the future, so please don't sue me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ AND NOW, ON WITH... Chapter 4: Bend, don't brake. Inside UBT installations, several steps can be heard coming from the corridor. As the sound of those steeps start getting closer, we see five figures making their way towards the control room. The four UBT referees along with Shinobu were on their way to the meeting with their employer: Lord Jade 72. The most nervous person of all five about this so-called meeting was, with no doubt, Miyuki. Ever since she started walking with her coworkers towards the control room, her knees were trembling and she felt as if an entire swarm of bees were throwing a party inside her stomach. Trying to calm her down, Kamui walked next to the panicking girl, in a futile attempt to convince her that everything was going to be all right. A few feet behind, Pai and Kintaro were observing the couple. "So, what do you think, Kintaro?" the triclops girl whispered to her partner. "I say Kamui has the hots for Miyuki." he responded simply, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. "I don't think Miyuki noticed though." "Well look at her, she's a nervous wreck." Pai remarked. "Poor girl." "What do you think will happen in this meeting?" "Isn't it obvious?" the girl answered matter-of-factly, "Listen, I don't have anything against Miyuki, but she's about to get the scolding of a lifetime." "Then why are we suppose to be there too?" the Golden boy asked once again. "My guess is that Lord Jade wants to set the example with her so we don't screw up as well." "This is going to get ugly, isn't it?" he asked. "You bet your ponytail it is." she responded dryly. Kamui glared at the two of them. Without saying a word he kept on walking along side the nervous coworker. Still, Kintaro and Pai had a point. Even if he hated to admit it, Kamui had to acknowledge the fact that Lord Jade was probably going to set the example with Miyuki. [If Mr. 'Glowing eyes' dares to raise his voice in front of her, he'll have *me* to deal with.] Kamui thought. Shinobu slid his ID card on the panel next to the big iron door. Then, after entering a password on the keyboard, the door slowly began to open while making a sound similar to a vault... or crypt. That last interpretation didn't help in making Miyuki feel better. Inside the room were Narsus and Lord Jade 72. This last one being present in his default vertical-beam-of-light-with-two-floating-eyes-coming-out-of-it. The newcomers slowly made their way in front of their boss. "Lord Jade," Shinobu started, "I've brought you the referees of the tournament, as you requested." "Good." the voice said simply, his eyes then turned towards Miyuki. "I want to talk to you about today's match." "... er... y...yyy... yes?" the young girl asked trembling. Behind her, the other referees were already waiting for the worst to happen. "Congratulations." Lord Jade told her. "That's exactly what I was hopping for." All the present staff members blinked. "E... excuse me?" Miyuki inquired, now being more confused than scared. "You... You're not angry at me?" "Of course not." the voice echoed "Although I must admit I wasn't very sure on how you'd handle yourself out there at first." "Er... excuse me to interrupt you, sir." Pai began, "But I... I don't think I follow." "Actually that's why I wanted all of you to be here." Lord Jade made clear, "I want all of you to take Miyuki here, as an example. I want to see that the matches you'll be taking care of will be as entertaining as the last one. More if possible." "I'mmmm getting a little confuse here." Kintaro cut in. "Don't you want us to follow the rules by the book, sir?" "Hell no!!" his boss stated. "What fun would *that* be? Just do what Miyuki did. Let the players take a little initiative during the game. Go around the rules if necessary. In other words: make it interesting." "So we can let them do whatever they want to?" Pai asked again. "As long as it doesn't get out of hand, yes." *** Van took a seat and put his tray on the table. Getting some breakfast had really turned into a challenge, as much as for him as for any other contestant in the dinning room. Managing to get pass Ranma, Usagi, Miaka, Lina and Gourry was certainly not easy. However, today was going to be the day he would play. So the extra effort in getting a descent breakfast was necessary. Moments later, the rest of his teammates joined him. " I don't think we'll need to warm up for the match after that little brawl at the buffet." Allen stated as he put his tray on the table. "Serena, here's your muffin. Got there before Miaka saw them." "So, how do you guys feel about the match?" Hitomi asked trying to change the subject. "Personally, I feel I little nervous." Serena responded. "The Street Fighter team looks rather tough." "They may look strong, but it's skill that counts." Van brought out. "Well I think we're ready to face them." Allen encouraged. "We've been practicing a lot the past weeks and I'm sure we'll win." "Hey, guys!" a voice between the crowd beamed. "Hikaru, Umi, Fuu, come here and join us." Serena responded as she saw the three girls approaching. "We just wanted to wish you good luck before the match." Fuu brought out. "Thanks, guys." Hitomi appreciate. "So, how are you feeling?" Hikaru asked. "Well... nervous, anxious, a little scared, a little excited." the tarot reading girl stated. "I guess it's normal." "I think everyone is looking forward to see the match." Umi pointed out, "Unlike yesterday's circus show." "Say, by the way," Van brought out, "What's the word around on this match?" Umi gave this some though. After some consideration, she finally spoke. "Well, to tell you the truth, at first there was a lot of people thinking that team Street Fighter was going to win." she said sincerely. Team Gaia wasn't looking too thrilled by that. "But then, tastes started changing. About now, no one seems too sure who will win." "What made everyone change team preference so suddenly?" Serena inquired. "The way I see it," Fuu explained, "after yesterday's match, no one is judging the competitor by mere appearances." "Is that all?" Serena asked. "Well..." Umi added. "There's also a particular member of the Street Fighter team who hasn't convinced us of his skills." All the players of team Gaia looked at the blue hair girl with quizzical stares. Before any of them had time to ask her to be more specific, a sudden noise caught their attention. It sounded like someone fell to the floor along with every dish in the cafeteria. As all the present competitors in the dinning room stopped what they were doing at the moment to see the cause of such racket, a certain martial artist in a pink dogi was found laying on the ground with all the food, that was suppose to be in his tray, splattered all over his face and clothes. Not to mention that several forks, spoons and broken plates were sharing the same floor he did. A couple of feet back, Ryu was holding his face in embarrassment after that little display of clumsiness Dan performed. "See what I mean?" Umi told the players of team Gaia, as she pointed to the cause of all laughter in the dinning room. "Hey, Ryu!" Terry shouted from the other side of the dinning room. "Nice partner you got there! Was he the one who taught you all your moves?" "SHADDUP!!" was Ryu's answer. In the meantime, in another part of the dinning room: "Ha!" Godai said triumphant as he turned his cards around. "King! That makes a total of 19. Guess I win." "Not so fast, my dear college student." Woodchuck declared as he flipped his last card around "Mine score 20. Guess *I* win." "Damn!!" the Maison Ikoku tenant cursed. He then was forced to pay up. Woodchuck good-naturedly collected the money and put it along with the rest he'd won so far. The day had started rather well for him. In just an hour, he managed to squeeze all the juice out of Godai, Ranma and Shayla-Shayla. Now... if only he could find someone with more money. Surely that wasn't going to be too hard with all the people in the room. A girl with shoulder length brown hair approached the Lodoss thief. "Hi, mister." Nabiki said cutely, "What are you playing?" Woodchuck just smirked. This was going to be too easy. "Cards." he said simply. "Wanna play?" "Sure." Nabiki told him, as she went on with her cute little girl act. "But I don't know if I have enough money to play." as she put on the table a wad of bills. "Will this do?" Woodchuck's eyes grew considerably as the girl showed him the money. He then regained his stern look and turned to her with a smile. "Don't worry." he reassured her, "After all, it's not whether you win or lose. It's how you play the game." as he began to shuffle the cards. "[And I play for keeps.] So... have you ever played Poker before?" "Oh! The five card game, right?" Nabiki asked, acting even more innocent than her older sister. "How neat." "That's the one." Woodchuck validated as his smile was getting bigger by the moment. Moments later, once everyone had breakfast, all of the UBT guests began to move out of the dinning room and into the sport center. Unlike the last match, featuring team Garo vs. team Maison Ikoku, no one was 100% sure how today's game would turn out. Several expectations took place. Surely the members from the Street Fighter team looked better built than their adversaries. But were they fast enough? Allen and Serena put aside, the other players from Gaia were rather short. But that meant they could be sneaky instead. Especially that cat girl called Meruru which gave Ranma the creeps. Then again, if team Street Fighter was as good as team Garo Densetsu, team Gaia was going to have some problems... but then again... team Street Fighter had Dan on their side. Which definitively wasn't good. However, Serena Schezar looked too much like the delicate-princess type to be considered as a potential threat. Would she be up to her rivals basketball level? That and other questions roamed around the spectators heads. Along with the typical 'Do they have a boy/girlfriend?' questions. Ryu took a step forward into the basketball court after Honey called out his name. He was greeted by a generous round of applause, probably even more generous that the ones his teammates received. Yes, everyone was cheering him. Well... almost everyone. "LOOOOOOSER!!!!" Terry shouted from his seat. "Terry, stop making an ass of yourself!" Andy demanded. He then turned towards the rest of the spectators which were eyeing them. "No, really. We're not related. We just look the same." Pai made her way into the field, basket ball in hand and blowing whistle ready. Team Street Fighter was at her right with all of it's members dressed in white uniform, which clearly showed that Ryu was the one who decided what color his team would be wearing. At Pai's left, team Gaia was positioned, with all of it's players dressed in a complete pink outfit. That clearly proved that Hitomi had something to do with that particular color selection. Once everyone was ready, the ball was thrown upwards. "Hey, Belldandy." Urd began. "Where are you going? The game just started?" "I won't take long." her younger sister responded, "I just have to go to the bathroom." "Be careful." Keiichi added, apparently knowing in advance what was on the goddess' mind. "I will." Allen's path was cut as Guile put himself between him and the basket. Trying to protect the ball, the blond Tenku no Kishin brought it towards his waist where it was out of the american soldier's reach. He had to find someone he could pass the ball to. Hitomi and Van were already busy trying to get pass Ryu and Chun-lee. His sister was too far behind, which made Meruru the only possible candidate. When he supposed the cat girl was close enough, Allen made the pass. The ball was suddenly intercepted by Ken. Everyone began to take new positions. All of the Street Fighters began their assault, forcing their adversaries to head back towards their basket. Before any of the players from team Gaia could get there, Ken inserted the ball into the hoop. "Belldandy just left the sport center." Narsus informed Shinobu. "I saw her a minute ago." his coworker notified. "Don't worry, I already sent someone to take care of the problem." Van took the ball towards his opponent's basket. He stopped as Dan blocked his way, frenetically waving his arms around as he tried to cover as much ground as possible. The king of Fanelia just 'humph'ed. This guy could even look silly while blocking. Taking the ball with both hands, he sent it bouncing right under Dan's separated legs. Hitomi was already waiting behind the clumsy martial artist and caught the ball with no one present to interfere. She scored a two pointer easily. "This is really turning into a pretty even match, no da." Chichiri told his fellow Seishi. "I wouldn't be so sure." Mitsukake pointed out. The rest of his companions looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean by that?" Miaka asked. "You see," the healer began, "both teams are equally matched concerning agility. However, the Street Fighters are quite taller than most of the players from team Gaia. Unless they're able to perform very high jumps, team Gaia will have troubles blocking their adversaries attack. That can be the difference between losing and winning." At the other side of the stadium: "Team Street Fighter is too slow." Shayla declared. "There's no way they can match their opponents' speed. I say Team Gaia has the match in the bag. Besides, that Dan guy is enough handicap to make them lose." "But don't you think the other members can compensate?" Makoto Mizuhara asked. "Absolutely no-way." the priestess responded quite sure of herself. In the meantime, back at the dinning hall: [I have to be careful with this girl.] Woodchuck though as he took another card. [She took me with my guard down with that cute-little-girl act, but it's time to get serious.] [This is becoming harder than I though.] Nabiki analyzed. [I never guessed he was this good. It's in times like this that I wish Ranma was a little better at Poker. Lacking a good adversary can get you a little rusty. Oh, well. Time to suck him dry.] At that time, back at the basketball court, everything was going on normally (for a basketball match that is). Both teams were tied up with 26 points. Neither the players from Gaia nor the ones from Street Fighter seemed to be able to put more than a difference of 2 points on the scoring board. When that happened, the difference was quickly corrected by the other players which made the outcome of the game even harder to predict. However, the players still had several tricks under their sleeves. And the time to take the lead in this match was showing up. As Ryu took the ball, Ken and Chun-lee began to move ahead of him. Allen quickly tried to snatch the ball away, but didn't manage to get near enough as Ryu already passed the ball to the Chinese martial artist. "Chun-lee gets the ball." Honey narrated. "She passes to Ken. Ken dodges Hitomi and passes to Ryu. Ryu jumps towards the basket! Allen jumps too!! Ryu sends the ball behind him! Ken catches it and jumps! He sends the ball... and it's in!! What a wonderful combined play, ladies and gentlemen" As team Gaia took the ball, everyone started taking new positions. Serena got a pass from Meruru and threw the ball clumsily towards the basket. As the sphere object hit the hoop, Guile was already there winning the rebound over Van. Once the ball was back in the Street Fighters' hands, Guile sent a pass to Ken. The blond martial artist didn't make it pass half court as he was already being blocked by Hitomi and Allen. Not far behind, Meruru was also catching up with the intention of stealing the ball. Before he got cornered, Ken sent the ball way up towards his opponent's basket. "That'll never make it inside the hoop." Van declared. In fact he was right. The ball was starting to descend a couple of feet before even touching the board. However, Allen noticed something. [Shit!!] he cursed, as he began to run towards the basket. Too late. Ryu was already there, taking a hold of the ball after he jumped to catch it, then slamming it against the hoop. "Another incredible combined maneuver by both Ryu and Ken!!" announced Honey. [I don't like how this is turning out.] Van analyzed. Meanwhile, in one of the many corridors at UBT central, Belldandy was checking the place. Since she didn't knew if Lord Jade's headquarters had any mirrors, there was no way for her to teleport there. Still, if she could find the control room, she was quite sure she'd be able to use her powers to get inside... not that braking and entering was something she liked. Actually, she thought it was quite rude to do so. But desperate times called for desperate measures. Now, if only she could find her way through this maze of corridors. As the goddess made a left turn, she suddenly bumped against someone else and fell to the ground. The person she collided with fell as well. As the goddess reincorporated herself she noticed that the other person was a girl around twenty years old and with long brown hair, much like hers. "Oh, I'm so sorry." Belldandy apologized. "Are you all right?" "I'm fine, thank you for asking." Kasumi responded sincerely. "Here, let me help you." "Thank you again." "You don't have to thank me." the goddess told her. "After all it's all my fault. I should've paid more attention to where I was heading." "You don't have to apologize." Kasumi declared, "I was distracted as well. I should be held responsible as much as you." "I didn't hurt you, did I?" Belldandy asked concerned. "I'm fine, thank you." the oldest Tendou sister responded sweetly. "I hope you weren't hurt either." "I'm fine, thank you for asking." the goddess reassured. "Still, I can't help feeling responsible for what just happened..." "You don't have to feel guilty." Kasumi cut in, "It was all my fault. Like I said, I wasn't paying attention." "Oh nononono, it was all my fault. I hope you can forgive me." "You don't have to worry about anything. No harm was done." Meanwhile, back to the match: Things weren't looking good for team Gaia. During the last five minutes, the Street Fighter team had taken the lead and it would seem that there was no stopping them. The score board was now 36 to 28. It would appear that all the Street Fighters (except for Dan) were holding back since the beginning and decided to start playing seriously during these last five minutes. The strength of the team seem to rely mostly on Ken and Ryu who made some excellent combined plays. Most of the scored points came from those two martial artists. The rest seemed to concentrate more in the defense. If things didn't changed before the end of the half time, some serious morale backlash was going to hit the Gaia team. Allen took the ball and passed to Hitomi. The rest of the team began to advance. Guile tried to block Hitomi, but this last one dodged him and began to move dangerously close to the board. As Chun-lee took a shot at her, Hitomi made a back pass to Meruru. The cat girl threw the ball towards the hoop attempting a three point shot. The ball was about to get in when... "SHORYUKEN!!" The sphere object left the small area after Ryu's fist connected. Ken was already waiting on the other side for the ball. As he caught it, he dashed towards his opponent's basket and scored. [A little unorthodox, maybe.] Pai analyzed as she debated whether she should point out that unusual way of blocking a throw or not. [But I think I can overlook this one.] "Since when using martial arts is part of the rules?" Van asked to no one in particular. "The rules don't specify 'not using martial arts', boy." Ken teased as he moved back to his position. "Smart ass." Van mumbled. Meruru had the ball again but was forced to pass to Serena as the Street Fighter defense began to close up on her. Allen's sister sent the ball towards the hoop but Ryu blocked once again. "SHORYUKEN!!" [Not this time.] Allen thought, as he quickly slapped the ball out of Ken's hands as soon as he got it. What no one expected... Dan caught the lost ball and smiled. "Now it's my turn to taste the glory!" he stated. [Oh no...] Guile thought. "WHAAAHOOOO!!" shouted the clumsy martial artist as he began to go for the basket. His 'glory' however, didn't lasted long as Meruru easily stole the ball off his hands and change the course of the game. Since she couldn't get close enough to the basket, she was propelled to try her luck once again and make a three point shot. "SHORYUKEN!!" "Shit!!" Van cursed, he then raced against Chun-lee to win the lost ball. "Only twenty seconds before the first half is over!" Honey said through her microphone. Van caught the ball. That was good. But he was also being covered by Chun-lee, Guile and Dan. Not to mention that Ken was closing in. That was bad. He looked at the clock. Twelve seconds left. [It's now or never!] he thought. With a great jump, Van surfaced the defenders. However, his opponents immediately did the same thing, as they tried to block a possible pass. [There's no way he can score now.] Ken thought, [He has to let go of the ball before touching the ground again, and the guys are taking care of blocking him.] However, Van never touched the ground again. Guile, Chun-lee and Dan were already down, but not Van. Van was FLYING very comfortably above the three of them as a pair of white feathered wings stretched out of his back. Needless to say that the entire Street Fighter team, along with a grand majority of the crowd were shocked by that. Van began to flap his way towards his opponent's basket, releasing several feathers with his advance. As he took the ball with one hand, he spiked it right inside the hoop. After that, he came back to the floor. His wings disappearing, as all the feathers forming them came lose. Pai was confused. Ryu was confused. Ken was confused. Guile was confused. Chun-lee was confused. Dan was confused. The crowd was confused. "That... that was sooooo illegal!" Ken pointed out, after recovering his senses. "Well ha ha ha, blondy." Van countered. "As far as I know, flying isn't against the rules, now is it?" "Are you out of your mind!" Ken told him. "Well your friend sure didn't bother in using martial arts earlier ago!" Van responded hotly. "That's completely different!" "Not the way *I* see it!!" [Oh, God...] Hitomi thought [Van, why do you have to be so impulsive?] Both teams gathered around the referee to see what she had to say about all this matter. "Well?" Ken began, "Does it count?" Pai gave it some thought. Surely this was the first time anyone ever scored in that particular way. The rules certainly didn't cover the fact that someone flew towards the basket. However, considering that flying would put a severe handicap on the opponent team, it should be considered illegal. But then again... [The boss did say to make this interesting.] Pai thought. "The basket counts." "What??" Ken asked shocked. "Yes!!!" Van declared triumphant. "First half of the game is over." the referee added, "There will be a ten minute brake before the match resumes." Between the crowd: "You know something." Tomahome told his teammates, "I'm starting to think that this match will turn out even more crazy than the last one." "This basketball is definitively not the one Miaka told us about." Hotohori added.