Prelude here: https://brendansversus.wordpress.com/2020/06/11/prelude-mai-shiranui-vs-kasumi/
Alright, the combatants are set. Let’s end this debate once and for all! It’s time for a Death Battle!
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A massive building was currently laying in the middle of New York City. It stood at 600 feet by 500 feet and sported a frame crafted from a combination of oak and various metals. Its inside consisted of a grandstand that surrounded a massive fighting ring. The ring in question was blank white and almost featureless, save for the massive logo that lay in the middle: a red circle containing the letters DOATEC written in black.
Indeed, this massive building had been constructed by DOATEC’s employees to serve as the battlefield for the company’s latest Dead or Alive tournament. And given the numbers they were pulling in- both in terms of contestants and in terms of spectators- they seemed to be doing extremely well! Hundreds of fighters from across the world had chosen to participate in the tournament, and the stadium’s seats were filled to the brim. Thousands of people were occupying the seats, and while all of them were of differing backgrounds and ages, they had all gathered here for one reason: to watch the world’s greatest fighters duke it out to decide which one was the best!
To say that the audience was extremely hyped was an understatement. Even as they approached the finals, everyone in the stadium was cheering or screaming, and all of them were clamoring for the next match. They wouldn’t have to wait much longer, however, as the announcer suddenly made his grand entrance onto the stage, keeping a firm grip on his microphone. A wide grin appeared on his face as he took in the applause, and then he began speaking.
”LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” He shouted excitedly, his voice echoing throughout the entire stadium. “WE’RE NOW ENTERING THE FINAL ROUND OF THE SEVENTH ANNUAL DEAD OR ALIVE TOURNAMENT!”
The crowd erupted into cheers, but these cheers would soon be silenced as the announcer directed their attention to the left corner.
“IN THIS CORNER, WE HAVE THE FAMOUS HEIRESS OF THE SHIRANUI CLAN AND ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE KING OF FIGHTERS’ WOMAN’S TEAM, MAI SHIRANUI!”
A platform suddenly rose from beneath the stage, slowly ascending until it had met the ring’s height. Upon coming to a complete stop, its lone occupant stepped forward. She was a fair skinned woman with dark brown hair that had been done up in a waist-length ponytail. Her clothing consisted of a red, sleeveless, side-tie dress with white ropes around its shoulders. Her waist was covered by a black sash that contained gold lining and an intricate pattern. A pair of fingerless red gloves covered her hands, and her feet were concealed by black two-toed shoes with red lining.
As she made her way to the middle of the ring, Mai struck a pose, causing the audience to erupt into cheers and shouts. Once these screams had died down, the announcer continued.
”AND IN THIS CORNER, WE HAVE THE LEGENDARY NINJA AND CHAMPION OF THE VERY FIRST DEAD OR ALIVE TOURNAMENT, KASUMI!”
No sooner than these words had left his mouth, another platform rose through the air, revealing the next combatant. She was a slender, petite woman with copper hair that was done up in a back-length ponytail. Her outfit consisted of a side-tie dress, much like Mai’s, but there were some noticeable differences. The first was its color, as its fabric was a rich shade of blue, contrasting with Mai’s red. Additionally, its top contained short, puffy sleeves and white trim. Stitched on its back in gold was her name, written in Japanese. Her skirt was adorned with a white phoenix, while her legs were covered by a pair of thigh-length stockings. Low heeled sandals obscured her feet, and her arms and legs were covered by a set of blue-and-white guards. A pair of pockets lay near her waist, and a wakizashi was currently strapped to her side.
After walking down the pathway and toward the ring, Kasumi stopped directly in the middle of the arena and looked directly at Mai. The two kunoichi then bowed in respect. As they rose back up, Kasumi was first to speak.
”I wish you the best of luck, Shiranui-san.” She said as she lowered herself into a fighting stance.
“Same here, Kasumi-san.” Mai responded as she pulled a paper fan out of her cleavage and followed suit.
“IT SEEMS BOTH COMBATANTS ARE READY TO GIVE IT THEIR ALL! WHO’S GOING TO TAKE THE CHAMPIONSHIP? WILL KASUMI SUCCEED IN ADDING ANOTHER VICTORY TO HER TOURNAMENT RECORD, OR WILL MAI OBTAIN THE TITLE SHE’S BEEN FIGHTING SO HARD FOR? LET’S FIND OUT!”
While the announcer was giving out this message, both Kasumi and Mai felt their legs tense up in preparation. They stared each other dead in the eye, waiting to see who was going to make the first move. Everyone in the arena would soon find the answer when the announcer gave a single command:
The moment this word had escaped the announcer’s lips, Mai rushed forward, closing the distance between herself and Kasumi almost immediately. Then, before Kasumi had a chance to register her sudden appearance, Mai threw out a hard punch to the stomach, forcing the nukenin to lurch over. Refusing to let up, Mai delivered two swift punches to the chest before sending Kasumi into the air with a high kick to the face. Kasumi ascended for a brief moment, and just as she began descending through the air-
“Ryuuenbu!” Mai declared as she spun in place, her outfit’s tassels catching fire as they slammed into Kasumi’s face. The Dead or Alive champion felt a small burn form on her face as she was launched several feet away, but she proved quick to recover by backflipping through the air. As she skid to a halt, Kasumi looked back up just in time to see Mai flipping toward her.
“Hissatsu Shinobi-Bachi!” Mai shouted as she approached the shinobi, wreathing herself in flames as she came down on Kasumi with a powerful elbow strike! The moment the strike made contact, however, her target’s body suddenly faded away, replaced by a flurry of cherry blossom petals. Mai’s confident expression morphed into one of surprise, which would only grow as her opponent’s voice rang out from behind her.
”I see that!” Kasumi declared as she reappeared, emphasizing her words with a swift elbow strike to Mai’s nape. Her opponent stumbled forward, the strike having caught her off guard, and Kasumi was more than willing to capitalize on it! With blinding speed, she delivered two punches to the upper back before throwing out a third to her lower back, striking hard enough that Mai cried out as she involuntarily bent over backward. Kasumi then followed up with a roundhouse kick to Mai’s exposed face, and just as quickly threw out a donkey kick that sent the heiress rolling across the arena. Rather than let this inconvenience her, however, Mai placed her hand on the ground and used her momentum to spin back onto her feet. Then, using her speed to her advantage, she lunged forward with a sudden knee strike to Kasumi’s chin. The force behind it sent Kasumi stumbling back, and with her guard momentarily down, Mai proved quick to take her revenge!
She started by throwing out a lunging elbow strike to the stomach and followed with a hard-hitting uppercut that caused Kasumi’s head to snap back. Unfurling her fan, Mai then delivered two quick, diagonal swings, creating an X-shaped slash across Kasumi’s dress. Bringing her arm back, Mai began channeling flames through the fan before following through with a third strike, this time backhanding Kasumi across the face. Despite its seemingly ineffective appearance, the strike slammed into Kasumi with enough force to break her concentration, forcing her to stagger back once again. With her opponent’s concentration broken, Mai charged into her, hitting Kasumi with another powerful elbow strike. The strength behind it was enough to make Kasumi’s knees buckle, but she stubbornly forced herself to remain upright. Unfortunately, it seemed that Mai was counting on this, something Kasumi would learn only a second later.
“Hishou Ryuuenjin!” Kasumi heard just as a flaming somersault kick slammed into her jaw, sending her into the air. Leaping after her, Mai appeared above Kasumi in a matter of seconds, a slight smirk on her face as she dropped down with a cry of “Yume Zakura!”
Mai’s knees buried themselves in Kasumi’s stomach, with their combined weight sending the two kunoichi hurtling back toward the ground at breakneck speeds. Just when they were milliseconds away from making impact, however, Kasumi suddenly disappeared into a pink flash once again. Mai’s eyes widened in shock, but before she could regain her bearings, Kasumi just as quickly reappeared, emphasizing it with a diving elbow attack that seemed to phase through Mai. Despite this, the strike had clearly hit its mark, as the Shiranui clan’s heiress was now flying toward Kasumi at a diagonal angle.
Turning to face her, Kasumi stopped Mai’s aerial descent with a flip kick to the head, slamming her into the ground hard enough that she actually bounced back into the air. Willing to exploit this to her advantage, Kasumi lunged forward with an elbow to the stomach, followed up with two knee strikes to the chin, and sent Mai flying with a dropkick to the chest. Despite her pain, Mai was still able to make out the image of her opponent disappearing once again, and this time she had a good idea where she was planning to strike!
Kasumi reappeared behind Mai some distance away, already preparing to continue her combo. Unfortunately, she would soon find herself in for a rude awakening as she watched her supposed target suddenly flip through the air, shooting her a pointed glare.
“Houou no Mai!” Mai announced as she cartwheeled through the air, her legs wreathing themselves in fire. Now forced to play on the defensive, Kasumi put her arms up to block the rapid flurry of kicks. While she proved successful on this front, this combo was still having an effect on her. With each kick, another burn was added onto Kasumi’s skin, and it was quickly eating away at her defenses. Realizing this, she began analyzing her opponent’s fighting style. Given Mai’s focus on speed, this meant her attacks weren’t as powerful as they could’ve been. This meant all Kasumi had to do was find the right opening to exploit. Such as one right… there!
To finish her combo, Mai threw out a final kick, but this attack was cut short as Kasumi caught it mid-strike. Before Shiranui had a chance to fight against her opponent’s grip, Kasumi stepped to the side and slammed her into the ground. The heiress bounced through the air once again, and Kasumi lunged forward to exploit this!
Once she was close enough, the nukenin threw out two straight punches, a jump kick to the trapezius, and followed this up by kicking off of her back. This last action had struck hard enough to send Mai hurtling across the arena, but Kasumi knew better than to just leave it at that. Using her teleportation, she appeared in front of Mai once again and stopped her trip with a cartwheel kick to the head. Mai slammed into the ground face-first, but she quickly recovered, a grimace on her face as she looked back up. She noticed Kasumi preparing another attack, but unfortunately for her, Mai proved quicker on the draw!
Just as Kasumi was about to throw out a second kick, Mai countered it with a sweeping kick that knocked her off her feet. As Kasumi was about to tumble to the ground, Mai followed up with a somersault kick to her jaw, reversing her momentum and briefly sending her airborne. While this was occurring, Mai brought both arms up to her chest, clasping one hand over the other and raising her index fingers.
“Kagerou no Mai!” She shouted, causing two spiraling columns of flame to erupt around her body. They slammed into Kasumi, creating several noticeable burns and sending her flying through the air. Rather than letting it end at this, however, Mai opted to continue her attack! Using her speed to her advantage, the kunoichi threw out three body blows, a flip kick that nailed Kasumi in the jaw, and briefly sent her airborne with an upward dropkick.
“Hanaarashii!” Shiranui declared as she spun through the air, stretching her arms out to ensure that she’d hit her adversary. This precaution proved successful, as both Mai and Kasumi were dragged further through the air, with the latter repeatedly being battered by the former. As they reached the height of their ascension, Mai immediately dropped down, slamming into Kasumi with an airborne-
“Hissatsu Shinobi-Bachi!”
The moment it slammed into her chest, Kasumi’s body suddenly burst into flames, causing her to let out a scream as she rocketed back toward the ring. With no control over her flight path, Kasumi could do nothing as she slammed into the arena, hitting the floor hard enough that it cratered beneath her!
[Stop music]
As the pain of her landing flared through her mind, Kasumi involuntarily opened her mouth, coughing up several flecks of blood. With a pained groan, she began pushing herself up, slowly rising back to her feet as Mai called out to her.
“You’re pretty strong, Kasumi.” She admitted before rushing forward. In response, Kasumi reached into her pouch and threw out five kunai. The airborne blades flew toward Mai at supersonic speeds, but with an almost casual air, the heiress managed to leap past them, and upon reaching the height of her ascension she immediately dove toward Kasumi. Expecting some sort of attack, Mugen Tenshin practitioner brought her arms up to block it, only to become confused as Mai seemed to phase right through her.
Keeping her guard up, Kasumi looked around the area, only to notice the shinobi out of the corner of her eye. She whipped around to defend against her attack, but it was too late. Before she had even fully turned around, Mai suddenly kicked her through the air. Then, using her speed to her advantage, the heiress began attacking from all angles. Diagonal, horizontal, vertical, it didn’t matter. Mai kept slamming into Kasumi’s body, and each hit would send the unfortunate kunoichi further into the air.
“But strength alone…” Shiranui paused as she wrapped her legs around Kasumi’s neck. As they began descending toward the arena, Mai began spinning around, intent on disorienting Kasumi to prevent what had occurred last time. This plan proved successful, as despite her best efforts, Kasumi couldn’t focus enough to properly teleport. Most of her vision had been obscured by Mai’s thighs, and the small portion that wasn’t was moving too quickly for her to tell what she was looking at. Just looking at her surroundings made her dizzy, but these would prove to be the least of her worries as they drew closer to the ring.
”Can’t compare to the speed and precision of Shiranui style ninjutsu!” Mai finished as she slammed Kasumi into the ground headfirst.
THOOM!
[Stop music]
The moment they made contact, a massive ball of fire erupted underneath the two ninjas. The ball exploded outward, quickly extending until it was 20 feet from all sides, and Kasumi was caught directly in its epicenter! As the explosion appeared beneath her, Kasumi found herself launched across the arena. A pained scream emerged from her throat, but it was quickly silenced as she hit the ground back-first. She rolled across the ring for several feet, but eventually came to a halt.
As she placed her hand against the ground, trying to push herself back up, Kasumi felt her body flare with pain. The explosion had covered her face and torso with burns of varying degrees, her skin had several bruises from Mai’s attacks, and her muscles felt like they were on fire. But even with this pain wracking her mind, Kasumi still attempted to push herself back up. Seeing this, Mai responded with a smirk as she slowly strutted forward.
“I’m impressed you’re still able to stand up, but don’t you think it’s time to give up?” She asked, stopping as she put her hands on her hips.
”Give up?” Kasumi repeated as she pushed herself back to her feet. “I don’t give up so easily! You said that my power can’t match your style’s speed and precision, right? Well, let me show you something that not even the Shiranui style can counter!”
Kasumi paused for a brief moment as she cupped her hands to the side. A pink ball of ki began charging up between her palms, and as it grew, she continued speaking.
”The ultimate technique of Mugen Tenshin!”
As her ki continued to grow in strength, Kasumi began preparing herself as her ultimate technique continued to grow in power. After roughly three seconds of charging, she decided that now was the time!
“TORN SKY BLAST!”
As those words left her lips, the Kunoichi of Destiny thrust her hands forward, firing off the gathered ki in the form of a massive pink laser. As she witnessed the legendary Mugen Tenshin technique rapidly approach her, Mai’s smirk only grew.
”Is that so?” Shiranui asked as she slammed her fist into her open palm, with the latter’s index finger being raised. “Then let’s see how your ultimate technique holds up against this!” She taunted.
“SHIRANUI SUPER…”
While these words left her lips, a spiral of flames began to gather around Mai’s body. Each of these flames were contributing to a fiery aura that began surrounding her body, and it was growing hotter with each passing millisecond. But this aura wasn’t the only thing Mai was building up. She was also busy focusing these flames into another part of her body: her hands. Her palms and fingers were quickly building up fire for her next attack. By this point, the Torn Sky Blast had made its way halfway across the ring, and it was then that the red-clad kunoichi decided to strike. As her aura spiked in intensity, Mai thrust her arms forward and gave a shout of
“BURNING MAI!”
Upon doing so, a torrent of fire erupted from her palms, rushing through the air at speeds rivaling the Torn Sky Blast. The two waves met in the middle of the ring, creating a shockwave that produced a massive tremor throughout the entire stadium. Both women could feel themselves being pushed back by the force, but they merely dug their feet further into the ground, refusing to let themselves be overpowered. Gritting their teeth, the two ninjas began putting more power into their techniques, causing both attacks to grow in size and strength with each passing millisecond until finally…
KRA-THOOOM!
[Stop music]
Their respective waves exploded outward, creating a flash of light that blinded the spectators. As their vision grew clearer, they looked back at the ring, only to find that it was now covered in thick smoke. While they were unable to see what was happening, they weren’t the only ones suffering this problem.
“Where’d she go?” Mai muttered between coughs as she cautiously advanced to the middle of the stage. With each step she took, the heiress would look around the area, searching for any sign of Kasumi’s presence. Unfortunately, the thick layer of smoke had made it impossible for there to be any chance of that happening. Instead, she was left to stumble through the dark, with nothing to do but… wait-
Mai cut herself off as she heard something fly through the air, seemingly heading toward her. Instinctively, she backflipped through the air, allowing her to narrowly avoid being impaled by several kunai. To retaliate, she quickly threw out several flame-wreathed fans, all of them aimed at a diagonal angle, but they ultimately hit thin air. Landing on her feet, Mai continued scanning the area in an attempt to find the source. Eventually, she managed to find it! Although she could barely make it out, Mai could see a vague shadow running across the arena some distance away. Eager to get the drop on it, Mai cartwheeled toward the blurry image.
”Hissatsu Shinobi-Bachi!” She shouted as she performed the attack a third time, once again hitting her opponent dead-on!
…Or at least that’s what she expected would happen.
Just when it seemed the Hissatsu Shinobi-Bachi was about to make contact, Kasumi cartwheeled back, causing Mai’s attack to whiff. Refusing to let her recover, Kasumi teleported above Mai and immediately punished her mistake with a powerful dropkick to the face. Mai staggered back from the pain, and it was then that Kasumi chose to strike!
Rushing forward at top speed, she slammed into Mai with an elbow strike before following up with two straight punches to the gut, causing the heiress to grunt in pain. Another elbow struck her face, followed by a roundhouse kick that briefly sent her through the air. A second roundhouse kick struck her jaw immediately after, sending the King of Fighters competitor sailing across the stage. Gritting her teeth, Mai quickly backflipped through the air, allowing her to regain balance and skid to a halt. While getting back to her feet, she noticed a familiar pink flash out of the corner of her eye.
Remembering what had occurred every other time this happened, Mai waited, keeping her ears peeled for any suspicious sounds. Unfortunately, this attempt at preparing herself would prove moot, as Kasumi inaudibly reappeared behind her before beginning her attack. She started by throwing out two quick straight punches, a hook to the right shoulder blade, and ended the combo with a powerful roundhouse that sent Mai flying several feet away. Just when it seemed that she was about to hit the ground, Mai placed her hands against the ring and used her momentum to cartwheel back to her feet. Once she’d recovered, Mai found herself attacked once again, this time by a hook to her lumbar, a roundhouse to the left shoulder blade, and a donkey kick to her thoracic. Yet again, the heiress found herself flying through the air, but she quickly righted herself in midair and landed on her feet.
Before she could even attempt to think of a way to counter Kasumi’s newfound approach, Mai suddenly felt a dropkick smash into her face. As she attempted to recover from the sudden attack, Kasumi teleported away once again, but rather than continue her assault, she instead rematerialized some distance away. Kneeling down, the nukenin let out an exhale as an aura of gold ki began to surround her body. The moment it appeared, the burns and injuries she’d previously suffered at Mai’s hands began to mend themselves back together. Three seconds later, Kasumi pushed herself back up, now back to peak condition. As she rose to her feet, the first thing she noticed was the slowly disappearing smokescreen, which she decided to make the most of.
Meanwhile, Mai was still scanning the area for Kasumi, keeping a firm grip on her fan and keeping her ears peeled for any suspicious sounds. She had come to the same realization as Kasumi, and she suspected that the opposing kunoichi was attempting to exploit it. This suspicion would ultimately prove true, as the nigh-inaudible sound of sandals slowly treading across the ground came to her. Turning toward its direction, she noticed a familiar looking shadow and chucked her fan as hard as she could.
Realizing she’d been spotted, Kasumi ducked underneath the fan and picked up the pace, gripping her wakizashi as she drew closer. She soon emerged from the smoke, unsheathing her blade just as Mai leapt into the air. The wakizashi hit thin air, and its wielder soon found herself struggling for freedom as Mai wrapped her legs around her neck. Then, with the greatest of ease, Mai tossed her into the air!
Kasumi soared through the air, unable to stop as her body continued to gain more altitude. All she could do now was watch as the ring beneath her rapidly shrank in size, leaving her with a bird’s-eye view of the entire arena. As her mind raced with questions on how she’d obtain a safe landing from this point, Kasumi noticed something rapidly approaching her. For a split-second, she caught a glimpse of a familiar red-and-brown blur flying after her, followed by a massive shadow suddenly appearing above her.
Instinctively, Kasumi looked up, bringing both arms in front of herself just in time to feel a powerful axe kick to slam into her. Despite blocking the brunt of the attack, Kasumi could feel the wind rushing behind her as her body accelerated toward the ground. With a slightly pained grunt, she flipped through the air, repositioning herself seconds before hitting the ground beneath her. Her impact was accompanied by an audible CLANG as she hit the scaffolding feet-first, causing the audience to look up in surprise as they realized they could finally see both combatants.
While this was occurring, Kasumi looked up to find her opponent descending on her with another Houou no Mai and quickly leapt back. The moment her feet hit the ground with an audible CLANG, Mai immediately realized she had missed, but before she could attempt to regain her initial advantage, Kasumi went on the attack! Reaching into her pouch once again, Kasumi threw out a rapid flurry of kunai, but Mai proved quick to react.
“Ryuuenbu!” Mai declared as she spun around, her tassels catching fire yet again. The kunai flew toward her at supersonic speeds, but the fire-infused fabric quickly deflected each one, leaving them to fall to the ground. Once she’d stopped spinning, Mai quickly pulled out another fan and threw it hard as she could before leaping through the air. Kasumi sliced the projectile in half with Shrouded Moon, only to realize that Mai was about to come down on her once again.
The red-clad kunoichi threw out an axe kick, but it was quickly blocked as Kasumi put her arms up. Noticing this, Mai proved quick to kick off of the nukenin’s chest, spinning across the ground upon landing, and went back in with a roundhouse. As if by instinct, Kasumi immediately brought up her arm, using it to grab the outstretched leg mid-strike. Then, using it as leverage, she leapt over it and countered with a roundhouse of her own. Mai was sent flying and slammed into the ground several feet away, but a swift cartwheel sent her back to her feet. As she looked back up, Mai’s expression shifted into one of surprise as she found that Kasumi had closed the distance faster than she’d expected. In fact, the Dead or Alive champion was now coated in an aura of pink ki as she rushed toward Mai, her right hand maintaining a firm grip on Shrouded Moon.
Once she was close enough, Kasumi unsheathed the wakizashi and delivered a lightning-fast horizontal slash, moving so quickly that she seemed to phase through Mai’s body! Rather than ending it at that, however, Kasumi turned back around and delivered an overhead slash to the back. Mai cried out as the lacerations appeared on her body, but this pain was only beginning. Shrouded Moon had only begun to dip toward the ground, but before it could scrape against the scaffolding, Kasumi reversed its momentum to deliver an underhanded upward slash. The force of the slash pushed the Shiranui heiress forward, leaving her defenseless as Kasumi performed a front-flip, spinning her blade as she delivered three slashes. Each slash ran across Mai’s back, creating a new cut and spraying blood onto the floor. The moment her feet hit the ground, Kasumi finished her combo with a powerful outward slash to the thoracic spine, launching Mai across the scaffolding.
A pained scream escaped Mai’s lips as she was sent flying through the air, but it quickly died down as she felt the wind brush against her back. Under most circumstances, this would’ve caused someone with Mai’s injuries to feel a coarse, stinging pain, but this feeling only seemed to piss her off.
With a frustrated growl, Mai backflipped through the air, recovering in seconds as she forced herself to grind to a halt. Then, in a sudden burst of energy, the red-clad kunoichi leapt through the air, closing the distance between them so quickly that Kasumi wasn’t able to react until-
WHAM!
A powerful axe kick nailed her in the head, forcing a grunt out of her as she doubled over. Not willing to end it there, however, Mai followed up with a powerful right hook, then a left that caused Kasumi to stagger back. She barely even had a chance to register the pain before Mai sent her flying with a hook kick to the chin. As she spiraled through the air uncontrollably, Kasumi attempted to recover by righting herself in midair, but she’d soon find herself interrupted as Mai suddenly appeared in front of her, nailing her in the face with a dropkick!
Kasumi stifled a cry of pain as she felt Mai’s feet smash into her face, the impact creating a CRUNCH as she felt her nose break. Unable to stop herself, the bleeding nukenin slammed into the steel beam at full force, creating an audible groan as her impact dented the metal. Involuntarily, Kasumi opened her mouth, coughing up several flecks of blood as she watched Mai dive toward her. The red-clad warrior had crossed both arms in front of herself, forming an X-shape that grew larger with each millisecond that passed.
As the distance between the two continued to shrink, time seemed to slow down for Kasumi. The drops of blood she spat out were decreasing in speed, to the point where they were barely moving, and Mai’s descent seemed to have drastically slowed down.
Gritting her teeth, Kasumi clenched her fist as she felt a surge of adrenaline flow through her. Then, after placing both hands against the beam beneath her, she sprang up, performing a backwards cartwheel as she flew through the air. Reaching out, the blue-clad shinobi grabbed hold of Shrouded Moon and pulled it into her sheathe as she gracefully landed on the ground, immediately falling onto one knee.
In the time it had taken all of this to transpire, Mai had slammed into the ground, her hands stopping just inches away from chopping through the steel beam that currently supported her weight. Her eyes widened in shock at Kasumi’s speed, and as she looked up to see where Kasumi had gone, it was at that moment the Eternal Heroine chose to strike!
Gripping Shrouded Moon, Kasumi suddenly lunged forward, smashing the wakizashi’s hilt directly into Mai’s stomach. The suddenness of the attack caused Mai’s pupils to shrink as she felt the wind get knocked out of her. Then, with a fluidity that rivaled the calmest river, Kasumi unsheathed her sword and swung in an upward arc, sending Mai airborne yet again!
A scream of pain and worry escaped Mai’s lips as she flew through the air, now sporting a massive gash that ran from her stomach to just below her chest. This scream would last for a few seconds before suddenly dying down as she noticed a familiar shadow above her. Pain morphed into confusion as Mai looked up, and just as she had, Kasumi’s thighs suddenly wrapped themselves around her neck.
”MMPH?” Mai’s question was muffled as Kasumi began spinning through the air, rotating her body once, twice, three times, four times. With each nanosecond that passed, Kasumi would continue spinning, dragging her opponent with her as they continued their descent. By now, they were moving so quickly that Mai couldn’t even make out her surroundings. Like Mai had done earlier, Kasumi had wrapped both of legs tightly around her opponent’s neck, replacing most of Mai’s vision with a close view her thighs. The little that Mai could see was moving too quickly for her to register, and with their speed rapidly growing, so too were the effects. Mai could only watch as both the arena and its spectators were turned into an indistinguishable, multi-colored blob. The only thing she could register at this point was the ring, a white blob that she and Kasumi were quickly approaching! The two kunoichi were a few inches away from making impact, and just when they were a split-second away from doing so, Kasumi suddenly released her grip. Planting one foot against Mai’s back, she quickly kicked off, using the heiress’ body as a springboard and slamming her into the ring!
KRACKT!
[Stop music]
Mai crashed into the ring headfirst, landing hard enough that she cratered the floor upon impact! At the same time, Kasumi backflipped through the air, gracefully landing on her feet. As she rose to full height, Kasumi instantly spotted Mai’s body laying a few feet away and rushed over.
Kneeling down, Kasumi quickly turned Mai over, allowing her to see the damages in full. The heiress’ eyes were closed, a result of the impact instantly knocking her out. Blood was spilling from where she’d hit her head, no doubt the result of the impact cracking her skull, and the lacerations on her body weren’t helping matters.
Concerned by this, Kasumi took a brief moment to place her open palm against Mai’s chest. A golden aura then surrounded both women, similar to what had happened with Kasumi earlier, though this time both were the recipient. As Kasumi’s nose repaired itself, Mai’s lacerations stitched themselves back up almost instantly, her bruises disappeared from sight, and her skull mended itself back together in no time at all. But even with her healing abilities, Kasumi could tell that it would still be some time before Mai regained consciousness. She wasn’t the only one to realize this, either, as the announcer took note of the unconscious ninja and briefly cleared his throat before continuing.
”AND MAI SHIRANUI IS DOWN! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT LOOKS LIKE THE WINNER OF THE SEVENTH DEAD OR ALIVE TOURNAMENT IS KASUMI!” Upon hearing this, the entire crowd erupted into cheers and applause, all of its members showering the tournament’s champion with praise. In response, Kasumi gave a polite bow before making her way toward the arena’s exit.
Now that’s what I call a fight between ninjas! And even better, the fight didn’t extend to 2 parts this time! Anyway, let’s move on to why Kasumi won this.
In terms of strength, Mai would be Large Island Level due to scaling from Verse, who created a storm above a stadium. Mai scales to this since her team is perfectly capable of fighting Verse more efficiently than Antonov, who was able to survive an attack from him. By comparison, Kasumi would scale to Ryu Hayabusa, who was able to defeat the Demon Statue, which could destroy entire countries. Additionally, Ryu has shown that he can use the Art of the Piercing Void to produce a black hole, which has been calculated to be Large Planet Level. While the two have never fought directly, Kasumi’s been able to defeat opponents who have either been able to directly challenge him or have been acknowledged by Ryu himself as a worthy rival (such as Jann Lee). Additionally, Kasumi was able to defeat Alpha-152, who could perfectly mimic Ryu, and has defeated the same opponents as Ryu in Ninja Gaiden 3. Among these opponents are an evil clone of Ryu, which further justifies this scaling.
When it comes to speed, Mai would scale to Takuma Sakazaki, who casually stopped a laser that traveled from a satellite to the surface in less than a second. This comes out as 11.3% the speed of light, and Mai would scale to this since she’s been able to fight against various characters who are superior to Takuma, such as Kukri. Kasumi, on the other hand, would once again scale to Ryu Hayabusa, who has multiple Massively Hypersonic feats.
And in case you’re wondering, no, Mai’s appearances in Dead or Alive wouldn’t really change that much for the verdict. Mai never really interacts with the cast in any meaningful way, and even if she did, her appearances are likely noncanon. Even if these appearances were considered canon, this would only make Mai and Kasumi equal in the stat trinity. There’d still be the other, non-physical stats to consider.
For example, Kasumi easily had better experience, as she’s been shown to fight other threats such as the Lords of Alchemy, while Mai’s only experience in fighting comes from participating in the King of Fighters tournaments… which she never actually wins. For intelligence, it’s a bit harder to decide. Both are fairly skilled in terms of their respective martial arts skills, but Kasumi’s also shown expertise in swordsmanship and stealth, whereas Mai lacks either of those things.
There’s also their mindsets to consider. Mai’s often shown to be extremely cocky, arrogant, and ditzy, which isn’t a good combination against the comparatively more level-headed and calm Kasumi. When combining this with Mugen Tenshin’s focus on defense and evasive maneuvers, Mai’s fight would become even harder since her fighting style focuses more on offense and speed. Even if Mai did start to overwhelm her, Kasumi could just switch tactics and begin wearing her down with stealth.
In fact, one of the things that really gave Kasumi the edge in this fight was her arsenal. Mai’s got an unlimited supply of fans, and that’s it. Sure, she could add power to them with her pyrokinesis, but even then Kasumi still took this aspect in terms of quality. She has Shrouded Moon, which gives her an edge in close quarters, and her kunai grant her better long-range options compared to Mai’s Kachousen. And since Mai’s outfit is designed to expose her body to the entire world, Kasumi’s bladed weapons would prove extremely effective against her.
Now let’s talk about their powers. Mai’s pyrokinesis could augment her attacks, which would make it harder to fight up close, and she could imbue her fans with fire for extra damage. Additionally, her hammerspace, as stated above, gave her an unlimited supply of fans. By contrast, Kasumi’s teleportation grants better mobility around the battlefield, she could heal herself with ki manipulation, and the Torn Sky Blast provided her with better long-range options and a massive AOE that Mai likely wouldn’t be able to avoid.
To summarize, Mai was easily the faster of the two, and her pyrokinesis would make it harder for Kasumi in close quarters, but Kasumi’s greater strength, durability, experience, arsenal, powers, and more level-headed nature gave her the win.
In the end, Mai’s chances of victory were a bust.
Kasumi (Winner)
+ Stronger
+ More durable
+ More intelligent and strategic
+ More experienced
+ Larger arsenal
+ Better mobility
+ Mugen Tenshin Ninjutsu gave her a perfect counter to Mai’s more offense based fighting style
+ Better in terms of stealth
– Though this wouldn’t matter since she doesn’t use it in combat
+ Bladed weaponry would prove effective against Mai’s mostly bare skin
+ Calm and level-headed nature meant she could exploit Mai’s arrogance to her advantage
+ Superior long-range options
+ Ki Manipulation could let her heal off any damage Mai inflicted
– Slower
– Mai’s pyrokinesis could make close quarters combat difficult
Mai Shiranui (Loser)
+ Faster
+ Pyrokinesis would give Kasumi trouble in close quarters
+ Hammerspace gave her an unlimited supply of fans
– Though Kasumi’s arsenal was larger and more effective
– Weaker
– Less durable
– Less intelligent
– Less experienced
– Lacked any options for mobility
– Inferior when it came to stealth
– Lack of armor meant that Kasumi’s bladed weaponry would prove extremely effective
– Arrogance could hinder her throughout the fight
– Kasumi’s more defensive fighting style countered hers completely
– Inferior long-range options
– Kasumi’s Ki Manipulation would allow her to heal off whatever damage Mai inflicted
Brendan’s Versus Battles 