"Number five, alright..." The announcer confirmed, as he wrote her name on the fifth line. "That puts you in round three, with Jackie Chun." He informed. "What's that!?" Jackie Chun exclaimed, as he inched just a bit closer, cupping his hand behind his ear. "Who's my opponent!?" He laughed, inching just a bit farther towards the announcer. "Oh, I apologize, sir. I said you and Majin Eve will be fighting in the third fight." The announcer repeated, assuming that the old man was simply hard of hearing. "That's what I thought you said!" The old master began to laugh uncontrollably, as he tried to contain himself from jumping straight through the ceiling out of pure excitement. "You young people really know how to spoil an old man..." He whispered, Chun wrapped his arm around the announcer, as he admired Eve from afar. "Sir, I had no part in choosing who you would end up fighting. It was purely random." The announcer explained, almost angrily, as he pushed Jackie Chun off of him. "Ehem." The announcer awkwardly coughed, as he dusted off his pants before continuing on. "This will be single elimination, in a full regulation-sized arena. You lose if you fall outside of the ring, stay down for ten counts, or give up. But poking in the eyes," he pointed to both of his eyes, which were hidden away by his sunglasses. "or hitting in the private parts is not allowed!" He further explained, gesturing to his own groin. "Just stay here, and I'll come back when it's time." With that, he excused himself from the group, and proceeded outside. -------------------------------------------------------------------- "Drinks!?" Shen angrily shouted. "The last thing I want to do is go out in public and be seen with your stupid face! I'm embarrassed you and I even trained under the same master!" He continued on his rant, but quickly cut things short, as he noticed the crowd began to hush down a bit. Shen looked up to see that a blonde announcer was approaching the stage. "Now, ladies and gentlemen," he exclaimed once he reached the center, now easily seen by most people, holding his microphone close to his face. "are you ready!?" He asked, while already knowing what the response was going to be. The crowd went wild, throwing numerous hats and caps in the air, screaming at the top of their lungs, showing that they were indeed prepared. "That's right, people! It's time for the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament!" He continued to explain, as the crowd only grew louder with anticipation. "Okay, and here are the big match-ups for the tournament's first round..." He trailed off, attempting to keep everyone on the edge of their seats. "The first match, [b]Shine[/b] versus Samu!" He revealed. "Second match, Gin versus Akita!" The announcer continued on. "Fight three, Majin Eve versus Jackie Chun!" The man explained. "And match four, Kiro versus Eno!" He ended. Kiro gulped, sticking his head just outside the temple's entrance, as he got a good look at the stage, as well as the intimidating crowd, just as his name was revealed. "The first match between Shin and Samu will begin momentarily, so don't go to the lemonade stand!" The announcer warned the crowd in a failed attempt at comedy. "Before we get things fired up, let me remind you that this year's winner will receive a prize of 500,000 zeni! With that said, let's welcome the esteemed director of the tournament who has a few words of wisdom to start this baby off." An extremely old dog-man passed by Kiro, as he climbed onto the stage. "Please, go ahead, sir." The announcer whispered to the dog-man, as he passed him the microphone. The old man took the microphone, and walked a few paces forward, to make sure everyone heard his wise words. The whole crowd went dead silent, eager to listen to whatever the director had to say. "Ehem..." He mumbled into the microphone, as he looked all around the audience, making sure everyone was paying attention. "Ruff!" He barked, as it echoed throughout the crowd. The director handed the microphone back to the announcer, never taking his eyes off of the crowd. "I-Isn't that profound!?" The announcer exclaimed, as if trying to tell the audience to clap and cheer. The entire crowd stayed silent, not really sure what to make of things, as one man awkwardly coughed. "And now, the first match of the tournament!" The announcer quickly shifted gears before anyone got too bored, as a gong was rang by two of the helpers in the distance. "Will the contestants please come done!?" He exclaimed, as he looked back at the temple's entrance. The crowd went wild once again, shrugging off the lame speech that was given, as they continued to cheer madly in anticipation of the two great fighters. "I think that means you, Shin." Kiro explained, as he looked back at his new friend, turning his attention away from the crowd on the outside. Him and Shin were in pretty similar situations. They both had to fight two really strong Crane fighters. "Go get 'em, man!" He laughed, as he patted Shin on the back. "Finish him off quickly, there's no reason to stall his defeat." Eno reminded Samu, the quicker the better, he always thought. There was a lot riding on this fight, as their Master Shen would be watching. If Samu lost, disgracing their school as fighters who could be defeated by children, Shen could very well kill the man-wolf. Eno would just say that he was worried about the school's reputation, but he wouldn't want to see his furry partner end up dying, even if it were justified.