Round 1

The Setting:

The crowd of students and others seeking cheap entertainment had gathered inside of St. Hebereke's gym. To accomodate for the tourament fight, the bleachers had been moved back considerably from where they stood for regular events, and the ring that was reserved for Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics had been moved clear as not to be damaged in the fighting. The floor was typical of a high school gym, being wooden with a smooth finish on it's surface.

The announcer that had been provided by the school was the same announcer/referee that watched over all of Kodachi's gymnastics fights. She took a microphone in her hand and said, "Welcome everyone to event you've all been waiting for! St. Hebereke's School for Girls is proud to host this match of the 23rd annual Nerima Amateur Martial Arts Showdown!"

The crowd started to cheer, and some fireworks were set, causing a stunning visual effect. The last of the launched fireworks, however, flew out of control and exploded in the middle of where the fight was going to take place. Regulars to Rhythmic Gymnastic events noted that the firework exploded where Kodachi's challengers usually stood at the beginning of a match.

No one seemed too bothered by the mishap, though, and the announcer went on, "Introducing our first competitor... From the Wong school of Anything-Goes Martial Arts... Eddie Wong!" A young Chinese man walked onto the floor, looking rather meditative and disciplined. He wore a brown jacket and a white pair of pants, and had a katana attached to his belt.

At the mention of Anything-Goes, the crowd went wild, some even going so far as to wave around their "GO RANMA" posters just because of his association with the style. Eddie seemed uneffected by the crowd, remaining as calm as he was when he entered the arena.

"Now, our next competitor... A practitioner of Freestyle Fast-Food Martial Arts and an employee of Burger Land, Chen-Shan Chin!" Another young Chinese man walked onto the floor, but this one was wearing a fast food restaurant uniform. He carried a wet mop with him as he strolled out onto the floor, although no one in the audience could seem to tell why.

As the two fighters neared the center of the fighting area, Chen-Shan took note of the other boy's nationality, and said in Mandarin, <Nothing personal, but I'm going to win that vacation wether you like it or not.>

Eddie raised a brow, and replied, <You seem rather confident in yourself. Let's wait until the match is over before we decide who won.> He dropped into a standard fighting stance, and waited for the match to begin.

Chen-Shan let out a 'hmph' and took up a combat stance of his own, wielding his mop like a quarterstaff.

Comments:

Wade Tritschler

As Colorful as Chin is, I must go with Wong.  He's got the real moves, and a diverse arsenal.  His fair play ethic may get in the way at the beginning, but soon Chin's tricks just won't work anymore, and Wong has the serious moves to win.

Spanner

Under most circumstances, I would be forced to admit that Eddie would win. He's one of those original characters that tend to really annoy me: Strong and skilled enough to beat the Ranma regulars, smarter than them, too, and without any discernable character flaws. In short, a "perfect" character that drives all the other Ranma characters into the background. If Eddie could beat Ranma, then it's pretty certain that he could beat someone who's only good enough to beat Mikado. Normally, anyway. In this particular case, it's important to remember that a will to win is almost as important as any other factor in a fight. I just don't think that Eddie's stake in this fight is nearly as great as Chen-Shan's. If Eddie wins, he gets an oppertunity to repay a debt to the Tendos. A worthy cause, but only one of many possible ways he could pay them back. Chen-Shan, on the other hand, will be viewing this battle as a desperate chance at retaining his sanity. This vacation is VITAL to him, and he'll likely be fighting as though his very life was at stake. Two other factors play into this, as well. If this were Ranma fighting against Chen-Shan, I would expect him to fight with all he had, no matter what the stakes, simply because he would be driven by his overwhelming pride to do so. Eddie would not have that motivation  sure, he'd love to win, but it's not vital to his sense of self-worth. The other factor here is that many aspects of Chen-Shan's fighting style are grimy and disgusting. If there's anything other than Hei Fong that can get Eddie mad, it'll be getting a faceful of slop water from Chen-Shan. And, as has been shown time and again, an angry fighter is a sloppy fighter.

Maxfield Stanton

Eddie is simply superior to Chen-Shan in all aspects. Chen-Shan's strongest point is his speed. Eddie Wong has greater speed than anyone in the entire Ranma 1/2 cast, so in a best case scenario for Chin, the two of them are matched on this point. The problem for our Fast Food Fighter is that Eddie has so many other strong points that it isn't even a contest. Eddie is stronger, can throw all sorts of ki attacks, he's more calm and collected in battle, and he can use his weapons and his body with equally great skill. If Chen-Shan is dismarmed, he has only his Kung-Fu to fall back on, which is not very well developed. Eddie not only knows Kung-Fu himself, but several other martial arts styles. Despite Chen-Shan's overwhelming motivation, it won't be enough to get him a victory. As the great Master Happousai once said, "All the attitude in the world won't do you a bit of good if you can't get in a couple of good hits."

HexxJo

I've known people who have worked in the fast food buisness. Trust me, it changes them. You don't want to pick a fight with someone who works fast food, lest thee wish to feel the wrath of a disgruntled employee. Seeing how Chen-Shan is the ultimate disgruntled fast food employee, very little will stand in the way of his pure and total rage. Be afraid, be very afraid...

Lichan

After reading about both of these characters I'm going with Eddie. Not only does he know Anything Goes, but he defeated Ranma! Also he's smart and I don't think he's going to be fooled by Chen's tricks for long.

Blackjack

For one simple reason. Eddie doesn't lose his temper that easy. He is calm cool and collected. Beats hot head and angry most of the time. Plus the trick with the weighted clothing is good for surprising opponents.

The Fight:

The annoucer spoke into the microphone, "Fight!" She stepped back a bit, and watched the fighters carefully as the match had officially begun.

Neither combattant moved. Eddie was looking curiously at his opponent, while Chen-Shan returned the crious look with an angry stare.

Chen-Shan started thinking, <I have to win this match... if I lose, I'll never escape this hell that I'm in... I'll be stuck working, and going to school, and worst of all, I'll never get away from Azusa... I MUST WIN!!!> By this point in his train of thought, his face had twisted into a very ugly, very angry look.

Eddie wondered why his opponent was not attacking, but instead giving him a nasty look. Perhaps it was a secret martial arts intimidation technique? Eddie shrugged, and took the initiative. He stepped forward, and threw a quick punch to test his opponent's defenses. Chen-Shan swatted the attack to the side with his mop handle quickly, and Eddie thought, "He's fast..." Before he could finish the thought, his opponent counter attacked by swinging the mop-staff at the side of Eddie's head.

The Anything-Goes martial artist brought up his arm and blocked it. While it certainly wasn't weak, it caused Eddie to think, "... but his strength is a bit lacking. Okay, I know what to do." Eddie took a step toward his adversary, and threw a series of fast kicks. Chen-Shan attempted to block the strikes with his mop, but they were powerful enough to push the mop handle back and connect with the Fast Food fighter's body. Eddie was in too close for Chin to get a good counter swing.

Instead, Chen-Shan hopped backwards, jabbing forward with his mop at the same time to try and get some distance. His opponent simply did a quick sidestep and then hopped forward and started to kick again. The crowd wondered why he wasn't using his katana, but then assumed that he didn't need it anyways. Eddie's kicks again connected even through Chen-Shan's defense. Chen-Shan grew even more angry than he had been before, and did the same hop-jab that he did before when trying to get space. This time, however, he dropped a couple of ketchup packets onto the ground in front of him. Eddie again sidestepped and moved in, but the packets popped under his feet, and he slipped.

Chen-Shan hopped back a couple more times while his opponent started to fall to the ground, thinking, <I must put distance between him and myself. I won't last long at all so close.> He threw several frozen hamburger shuriken at the still falling Eddie.

Eddie twisted himself in mid air, which looked very impossible to the crowd with the short distance he had to fall. He was able to land on both his hands on the floor and push off, saving him from taking any sort of damage. As he was in the air again, the shuriken approached him quickly. From his jacket he produced shuriken of his own, and threw them into the air to intercept the burger patties.

With his latest attack nullified, Chen-Shan frowned. He thought, <He's good in the air... I know just what to do.> The Fast Food man dipped his mop into a bucket which had mysteriously appeared in the middle of the gym, and with a shout of, "Mop Scum Tsunami!" he swung the end of it across the floor in front of him. A wave of greasy, dirty water travelled across the gym floor at Eddie, who leapt up high into the air to avoid the attack. Several burger shuriken approached him at high speed at the apex of his jump. The first one was too quick, and grazed his arm, causing a small tear in his jacket and a small cut. He drew his katana and quickly sliced up the rest of the projectiles as they were about to hit in more vital spots.

Chen-Shan grinned in a most unsavory looking way, and shouted, <You're in the air now, jerk... You won't like what's waiting when you land!> He dipped the mop into the bucket again, shouted, "Mop Scum Tsunami!" And performed his attack a second time. The wave was timed perfectly to hit Eddie just before he would be able to land.

Eddie just smiled, and shouted, "Shinkuu Sogetsu Kyaku!" He performed a back kick in mid air, and was suddenly suspended where he was as the wave passed under him. Chen-Shan growled in frustration, and dipped the end of his mop into the bucket again. This time, it was empty.

Eddie landed on the ground, having to be somewhat careful that the ground was now very slippery. He said, <Give up... It's obvious that you're outmatched, and there's no need for you to get hurt.>

This didn't brighten Chen-Shan's mood. He shouted, <Give up...? Nothing.. and I mean NOTHING is going to come in between me and my vacation!!! Prepare yourself for the grave!> Unintentionally, he generated a very bright red battle aura, and managed to look still more pissed off. He gave an inhumanly angry cry, and charged. His slip-resistant shoes let him run over the slippery gym floor without the least bit of trouble, while his opponent stood still on uneasy footing.

Chen-Shan threw pepper-shakers into the air at Eddie, who countered by throwing shuriken at them. The shakers split open and spread a cloud of pepper around the Anything-Goes martial artist. He held his breath, and as several more burger patties flew in toward him, he sliced at them with his katana. A few got through, and caused more grazing cuts, but none of them did any serious damage. Chen-Shan leapt toward the center of the cloud, his mop ready to strike. Suddenly, Eddie was jumping through the air toward him, katana at the ready. Neither fighter was deterred in the slightest as they passed by each other in mid air, several quick attacks which the crowd couldn't follow thrown as they went by one another.

Both of them landed on the ground, and stood still, backs facing each other. After a few moments of stillness, the crowd gasped as Eddie clutched his stomach, suddenly feeling a solid blow there. Chen-Shan smiled, and thought, <He's finished..> His thoughts were interrupted when his mop-staff suddenly split into several pieces and fell from his hands, having been cut up somewhere in the exchange.

The two turned to face each other, and Chen-Shan said, <You leave me no choice... Behold my ultimate technique..> He performed a couple of silly gestures, and then shouted, "Chi-Ken!!" The audience collectively gasped, and waited for some sort of large explosion. Eddie was calm. He gathered his ki, and extended his arms with his palms facing his opponent, with his thumbs and index fingers coming close together but not touching. He then crossed his arms over his chest, and then... he was hit in the center of his face with a chicken fillet.

Chen-Shan laughed, and charged his opponent again during this moment of opportunity. He wielded his chicken tongs and leapt in to strike. Even though he was blinded by the chicken, Eddie turned his katana around and struck out with it at the approaching Chen-Shan, the bladed edge of the sword facing away from his opponent. The Fast Food fighter grasped the blade in his tongs and said smugly, <You're finished.> He shouted, and struck out at Eddie's head with his fist.

Eddie took one hand off of his sword and caught the punch, stating, <No.. you're the one who's finished.> He shouted, "Lighting Kick!" In a blur of motion, feet were slamming into Chen-Shan's midsection, and both his arms were occupied and could not be brought down to block. With a final strong kick, Chen-Shan was thrown off of his feet and landed on the ground rather ungracefully on his face.

Eddie pulled the chicken fillet off of his face, and took a bite. He said, "This is pretty good for fast food!" He watched his opponent, who laid on the ground unmoving. The announcer stepped forward, looking at Chen-Shan, and took the mic in her hand. She said, "And the winner is..."

She was interrupted by a loud shout of, "This is not over!" Chen-Shan rose to his feet again, looking really bruised and battered. His eyes contained a fire which was matched in intensity only by the battle aura which had manifested itself around him. He said, <I can't lose... I need this vacation... I WON'T LOSE!!!> He charged at Eddie with a yell again, blinded by anger and desperation, and threw a strong punch at his opponent's jaw.

Eddie thought, "Maybe I should just take the punch and let him win... I could repay the Tendous in some other way... but no, that is not the way of the warrior." Chen-Shan's eyes held unimaginable glee as Eddie stood there unmoving. His fist got closer and closer to the jaw of his enemy... and then met air. Chen-Shan's face went from insanely happy to insanely pissed in 0.2 seconds flat.

Eddie's image flickered and dissapeared as Chen's charge passed through it. Wong appeared to the side of his adversary, and delivered a strong chop to the back of his next. Chen's aura flared suddenly, but then died as he fell to the ground, now very unconscious.

The announcer looked at Chen-Shan Chin for a good 30 seconds waiting for him to get up before saying, "The winner by knockout, is Eddie Wong!!!!" As the crowd cheered and clapped, and waved around their 'GO SAOTOME' signs, Eddie took a short bow, and started to walk off of the field. He spared a glance over his shoulder at his fallen adversary, and said quietly, <I'm sorry it had to end this way.>

The Results:

Eddie Wong: 9

Chen-Shan Chin: 2

A few less votes this time, but I think I shut down the polls sooner. Thanks to everyone who voted in the match!