Match of the Millennium

-=*=- FINAL MATCH: DJAMILA VERSUS ICHIKA -=*=- TOM: "So, looking forward to the final..." LOU: "On one side, we've got a young gal who's been on a spiritual, mental, and physical journey toward enlightenment alongside her best friends." TOM: "And on the other side, we have a vitriolic stripper who's put her own teammate in hospital and possibly unleashed a vengeful goddess on the world. Who would you cheer for, Lou?" LOU: "Well, I'm sure that I have the same answer as Ichika's dad. And that answer is: Tough call." A buzzer sounds and the word 'OFFSIDES' appears on the screen behind the commentators. Then, suddenly, the upbeat NFG theme starts to play. TOM: "The Prodigy of Steel faces off against the Dancer of Wind at the Metro City Arena this Sunday in a return to the very first match of FightFest 2023!" LOU: "That's right! It's practically scripted! The arena will be ready to go by then thanks to the fine folks at Ultratech!" TOM: "And in place of the third place match, which has been defaulted to Chevy, the NFG will instead be presenting a special returning guest to face off against the Thunder Next Door!" LOU: "You know, that nickname was probably one of the weirdest we came up with. It sounds like she's irresponsible with noise pollution." TOM: "I can't speak to Chevy's party hardiness, Lou, but I can promise that you won't want to miss her match with BRIAN STOOO-" LOU: "STOOOOO-" BOTH: "OOOORM?!" -=*=- BONUS MATCH: BRIAN STORM VERSUS CHEVY -=*=- LOU: "Wow! I can't believe Brian Storm is coming back to the NFG!" TOM: "And I can't believe that all of the proceeds will be going to charity!" LOU: "Neither can I! Is the charity 'Save the NFG?'" TOM: "I don't know off-hand, Lou, but I do sincerely hope that the NFG makes a return next year." LOU: "Of course. This is the longest-running gig we've had in years." TOM: "I mean, if there's one good thing we can definitely say about the NFG..." LOU: "At least nobody died." TOM: "...I was going to say that it really showed just how much potential is waiting out there to be discovered." LOU: "Oh, yeah. Imagine if Buford had stayed in his mom's basement, or if Junko had stayed in a remote mountain village." TOM: "Or Nixie was still serving coffee in a cafe." LOU: "Or Ichika stayed in school." TOM: "Or Zarine were still buried underground." LOU: "Or Coco still had a face." TOM: "Or Kenzo were finishing his Engineering degree instead of ending up in intensive care." LOU: "We woulda missed out on so much." TOM: "We certainly would have. And with that, I'd like to once again wish all of you watching at home happy holidays, and invite you to tune in or turn up to the Finals of the Finals next Sunday!" LOU: "And the charity third place replacement match! They had a lotta refunds, so, uh, tickets are still available." (Additional info in next post!)

Season's greetings, doodz! We've come to the end of the road for this year in the NFG! As mentioned before, with the early finish to the Semi-Finals, this Finals post has been delivered early in order to give those participating in the Final some extra breathing room before Christmas to play in! It would be great if the finals could be finished before EOD SUNDAY, 24TH DECEMBER! Thanks once more to everyone who's participated in the New Fighting Generation Project! It's been a blast running this plot. Special thanks to Kobun for support throughout in developing new tech to help this project come alive with website support, results tracking, and more. A huge thank you to Rafferty for support with stages, matchups, and rundowns, as well as being my personal cheerleader! And of course, player participation has been the key. You guys do almost all of the story work! I mostly just write cheeky commentary on it. Once the final is completed, plans for next year will be announced! Stay tuned! - Pringer X