Chapter 473: Please, Host, Do Not Brawl with Contestants
After a night of mental recovery, the two team captains and their respective members, at least seemingly back to normal, took to the stage one after another, confronting each other.
"I estimate that a small number of viewers are still unaware of the specific situation, so Aoko will provide some additional explanations here."
The moment Terry and Geese heard that annoyingly smug voice broadcasting, they instinctively felt something was amiss and simultaneously looked in Cheng's direction.
"Terry, captain of the Fatal Fury team, and Geese, captain of the Howard Special Team, are sworn enemies. At the same time, both were tragically attacked by the Midnight Blessing, transforming them from males into females.
What's even more despairing is that Dimitri, the caster who held their hope of returning to their original forms, has already been pulverized under their combined assault. Having personally destroyed their chance of recovery, can they truly give their all in this match? Please wait and see."
Under the director's precise capture, Terry and Geese visibly turned red with anger.
"Hey! You bastard, shut up! If you can't speak properly, get out of the host's stand!"
Terry angrily pointed at Cheng and immediately started cursing.
Geese was even more direct, waving his hands to unleash a double Reppuken towards Cheng Tian's direction.
Amidst the audience's gasps, the ki fluctuations, accompanied by fierce winds, whistled past. But the orange-gold figure arrived as expected, and a Muda Punch imbued with mental power directly slammed into the wind fluctuations.
Cheng Tian, having canceled out the fluctuations, also stomped his foot on the table. The shape of Mjolnir was already faintly forming in his raised right hand—
Then, a man with sunglasses and a small mustache next to him grabbed his leg!
"Please, our host, do not enter the arena and brawl with the contestants!"
The man with sunglasses and a small mustache shouted loudly.
After a small-scale disturbance, the outcome of Cheng Tian interfering in the fight was ultimately avoided, and it remained a battle between the Fatal Fury and Howard teams.
However, due to the intense animosity between these two teams, or rather, between Geese, Terry, and Andy, and also because of the special battle between the Neon Team and the Hell Band yesterday, the match format was changed. It shifted from the original 1v1 rotating elimination system to a vanguard battle, a mid-guard battle, and a commander battle, with a best-of-three format.
Both teams directly selected their opponents.
Terry, without a doubt, was going to have a showdown with Geese... No, both of them were already female, so it could only be a decisive battle.
Although Andy also held a great grudge against Geese, much of it had been resolved during his training in the Shiranui style, and it was far less intense than Terry's own. And even if he wouldn't admit it verbally, in his actual actions, he had clearly begun to show a tendency to defer to the feminized Terry.
One could only say that Mai Shiranui's worries were indeed well-founded. Even knowing Terry's original male identity, it didn't prevent the current Terry from being a truly charming woman.
This kid Andy had reached the pinnacle of "indecisiveness." From subsequent game easter eggs, it could even be inferred that he and Mai Shiranui had likely already been intimate, yet he still hadn't accepted her "marriage urging."
The evidence was in the KOF '99 versus battle intro easter egg, where Andy looked like Edvard Munch's "The Scream" when Mai Shiranui's fake child called him "Daddy."
At this point, calling Andy an irresponsible scumbag wasn't an exaggeration at all.
And so, Andy, compromising and deferring to Terry, chose to face Billy as the mid-guard.
As for the vanguard position, the two teams respectively assigned it to Joe and Ryuji Yamazaki.
This battle could be said to be the most authentically King of Fighters-flavored battle so far. There was no hurried response like between the Neon Team and the Hell Band, only pure King of Fighters flavor.
With the battle matchups decided, the two groups for the mid-guard and commander battles stepped down, leaving the newly re-erected ring to the two vanguards.
"Ora Ora!!!"
Joe, wearing only a large pair of boxing shorts and with his hands and feet wrapped in bandages, began to punch and kick at the air.
Opposite him, Ryuji Yamazaki was extremely arrogant, with one hand in his pocket, a clear look of impatience on his face.
As one of the Eight Hakkesshu of Orochi, he was the most rebellious among all of them.
Following his bloodline instincts, he came to Tokyo and accepted Geese Howard's employment. He vaguely knew his mission but had no intention of contributing to Orochi's resurrection.
He would always be loyal only to his own desires; even the instincts from his bloodline, he would find ways to overcome!
Moreover, Ryuji Yamazaki was very aware that there were three big-nosed individuals below, watching him intently, and the more anxious and irritated they became, the more delighted Ryuji Yamazaki felt.
Recalling the three big-nosed individuals who had been trying to cause him trouble since the announcement of the main tournament contestants, but couldn't freely attack him due to the protection of Geese Howard, the ruler of South Town, and his status as a main tournament contestant, Ryuji Yamazaki couldn't help but want to laugh. This feeling successfully projected onto his face.
"Does fighting me make you that happy?"
Joe, who had been continuously striking with a whooshing sound, looked at Ryuji Yamazaki's twisted smile, and his own confidence, characteristic of the King of Fighters' most self-assured, instantly surged.
Ryuji Yamazaki's upturned lips instantly drooped.
"Scum~~ If you don't want to die, just kneel and kowtow three times loudly. That way, I might consider leaving you a complete corpse."
Ryuji Yamazaki's expression returned to disdain as he slightly bent down, his right hand swaying in front of him, soft and boneless like a whip suspended in the air.
...I hope your strength is at least half as good as your sewer mouth."
Joe, with extensive tournament experience, was not at all angered by his opponent's foul language.
"Joe! Versus! Ryuji Yamazaki!"
"Ready~~ GO!!!"
Hah!!!!!
The moment the man with the small mustache announced the start of the match, Ryuji Yamazaki's arm, like a living python, lashed out directly at Joe, who was at an extremely close distance in front of him.
"Oh-ho! Contestant Ryuji Yamazaki uses Snake Charmer Mid! This is an attack that can only be delivered by someone with a height of 192cm and an extraordinary arm span! Due to his abnormal arm span, he can almost reach the range of a standard mid-level strike, giving him a huge advantage!"
"On the other hand, contestant Joe! A typical Muay Thai defensive stance with both hands guarding his face and one knee raised! However, as the Muay Thai King, contestant Joe's elbows and knees have been trained to a strength that can easily shatter rocks and crack the ground, even without ki energy protection. Only they themselves know who feels more pain when they strike each other!"
Cheng Tian passionately spoke into the microphone, spitting everywhere.
At the same time, the members of the Olili Team all looked at Cheng Tian with strange expressions.
"You definitely have a side job, kid!"