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Chapter Text

Greetings! My name is Roxas_Gramarye. Though just Roxas is fine, anyway, welcome to my new and improved Okron Tournament! So, this is a bit of a remake of my previous Okron Tournament, which I started, but ceased writing for after a pent-up feeling of discontent left me feeling like I wanted to start anew.

After a number of attempts and working out all the kinks and feeling like I knew what I truly wanted, I have confidence in this remake, and I hope to have you all gain some for it too.

So, let's get into these questions if this is is your first time! And for those who have seen the previous Okron Tournament.

Question 1: What exactly is the "UVR"?

Answer 1: The UVR was a popular tournament vote-fic where characters from various fighting games were pitted against one another, to my knowledge, it spanned from the 90's all the way to the early 2000's. It was majorly successful and spawned many other spin-offs, like the Megamix Tournament, Battle of the Luminaries, and Tournament of Kikai which were created by SSBFreak, Tinyhammer, and Orange-Ratchet respectively, all three tournaments in their most recent entries can be found here on AO3. For previous entries for the former two, check out Fanfiction.net, you will not regret it.

Question 2: Why are there some franchises that are not from fighting games?

Answer 2: It's what makes every different UVR spin-off it's own thing, different from the real deal, is that they're not limited to just fighting games. For this, I still decided to have at least most of my roster be from fighting games to stay true to it's name.

Question 3: What are "Big Guys" and how is voting affected?

Answer 3: Big Guys can be two things: Boss characters or characters who are just really big. For each Big Guy in the ring at a time, one extra fighter will get eliminated at the end of the section. For example, say there are four characters currently in the ring who are classified as Big Guys, so instead of the usual fifteen fighters being eliminated, nineteen of them will be tossed in the end.

Question 4: What exactly is "Fatigue"?

Answer 4: Regardless of a character's strength, fatigue will begin to set in at one point. So for every section a character survives, one automatic "die" vote is added to their score at the beginning of the next section, which further slims their chances of survival.

Question 5: How exactly do eliminations work?

Answer 5: The top 15 highest scoring fighters at the end of the section will get one elimination, regardless of if they actually survive or not. But, if there is a Big Guy in the ring, then the top fighter will get two eliminations as opposed to one. So, going back to the example on Question 3, if there are four Big Guys in the ring, then the top 4 fighters will get 2 eliminations.

Question 6: How do I vote?

Answer 6: Simple, I'll put up a voteform on every chapter after a section which you can fill out and post in your comment, or you can Inbox me it on here or note me it if you like. You must give fifteen "live" votes to the people you want to see survive the section, and fifteen "die" votes for the people you want to see get eliminated.

Warning, if there is an uneven amount, I'll personally even them out myself.

Question 7: The Second Chance twist, how will it work here, if it even is gonna be in?

Answer 7: Well, after experimenting with it twice, I realize that the virtue of being given another chance to succeed is very important, and it makes for some great voting dilemmas. But, sometimes it could lead to the screwing over of many good characters. So, instead of waiting five sections for five second chancers. A single Second Chance will be granted every section, except the first of course, up until a certain point, how is it earned? More on that later.

Question 8: Wow! That's a lot of extra nodes! Why?

Answer 8: I loved the original Okron Tournament's cast, but some things have become a bit dated, so an update is necessary. Not to mention, I've gotten into many nodes since 2020, and I just couldn't itch to use them any longer. So, in my opinion, the bigger the cast, the better.

Chapter Text

Here is the complete list of fighters who are going to be in the tournament.

Street Fighter V-VI (54)

Ryu, Ken Masters, Guile, Chun-Li, Blanka, E. Honda, Dhalsim, Zangief, Dee Jay, Balrog, Vega, Sagat, M. Bison, Cammy White, Akuma, Charlie Nash, Sakura Kasunago, Karin Kanzuki, Dan Hibiki, Cody Travers, Rainbow Mika, Birdie, Rose, Alex, Oro, Ibuki, Urien, Gill, Poison, Juri Han, Seth, Laura Matsuda, Rashid, Necalli, F.A.N.G., Kolin, Ed, Abigail, Menat, Zeku, Falke, G, Kage, Lucia Morgan, Akira Kazama, Eleven, Luke, Kimberly, Lily, Manon, Marisa, Jaime, JP, A.K.I.

King of Fighters XV (58)

Kyo Kusanagi, Benimaru Nikaido, Iori Yagami, Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Joe Higashi, Mai Shiranui, Ryo Sakazaki, Yuri Sakazaki, Robert Garcia, King, Chizuru Kagura, Shingo Yabuki, Kim Kaphwan, Luong, Billy Kane, Ryuji Yamazaki, Geese Howard, Rugal Bernstein, Shun'ei, Meitenkun, Athena Asamiya, Ralf Jones, Clark Still, Leona Heidern, K', Maxima, Whip, Angel, Kula Diamond, Krohnen McDougall, Ramon, King of Dinosaurs, Antonov, Vanessa, Blue Mary Ryan, Kukri, Elizabeth Blantorche, Ash Crimson, Yashiro Nanakase, Shermie, Chris, Isla, Heidern, Dolores, Rock Howard, B. Jenet, Gato, Haohmaru, Nakoruru, Darli Dagger, Sylvie Paula Paula, Najd, Duo Lon, Hinako Shijo, Vice, Mature, Goenitz

Super Smash Brothers (62)

Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, King K. Rool, Wario, Rosalina & Luma, Bowser, Bowser Jr., Piranha Plant, ROB, Mr. Game & Watch, Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Wolf O'Donnell, Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Marth, Roy, Ike, Lucina, Robin, Corrin, Chrom, Byleth, Villager, Isabelle, Ness, Lucas, Captain Falcon, Samus Aran, Dark Samus, Ridley, Mega Man, Pac-Man, Simon Belmont, Richter Belmont, Inkling, Ice Climbers, Pit, Dark Pit, Palutena, Solid Snake, Captain Olimar, Little Mac, Duck Hunt, Shulk, Pyra/Mythra, Wii Fit Trainer, Bayonetta, Joker, Hero, Banjo & Kazooie, Min Min, Steve, Kazuya Mishima, Sora

Hyrule Warriors (28)

Link, Young Link, Toon Link, Zelda, Toon Zelda, Sheik,  Ganondorf, Impa, Linkle, Darunia, Ruto, Skull Kid, Tingle, Medli, Tetra, King Daphnes,  Midna, Agitha, Zant, Ghirahim, Fi, Marin, Ravio, Yuga, Lana, Cia, Volga, Wizzro

Pokémon (32)

Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Lucario, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard, Greninja, Incineroar, Porygon-Z, Volcarona, Primarina, Roserade, Electivire, Staraptor, Sylveon, Meloetta, Aegislash, Coalossal, Tyranitar, Gastrodon, Alolan Ninetales, Dragonite, Absol, Darkrai, Gardevoir, Gengar, Mismagius, Orbeetle, Galvantula, Toxicroak

Sonic The Hedgehog (28)

Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, E-123 Omega, Cream the Rabbit, Big the Cat, Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, Charmy Bee, Silver the Hedgehog, Blaze the Cat, Mighty the Armadillo, Ray the Flying Squirrel, Sticks the Badger, Merlina, Bean the Dynamite, Bark the Polarbear, Nack the Weasel, Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow, Storm the Albatross, Chaos, Infinite, Metal Sonic, Dr. Eggman

Tales of The Tempest (7)

Caius Qualls, Rubia Natwick, Tilkis Barone, Forest Ledoyen, Arria Ekberg, Lukius Bridges, Rommy

Waku Waku 7 (9)

Arina, Rai, Mauru, Tesse, Slash, Dandy-J, Politank-Z, Bonus-Kun, Fernandez

Kizuna Encounter (13)

Rosa, Kim Sue Il, Max Eagle, Hayate, Chung Paihu, Gordon Boman, Nicola Zaza, Carol Stanzack, Gozu, Mezu, Joker, King Lion, Jyazu

Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (20)

Iron Man, Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Storm, The Thing, Human Torch, Elektra, Daredevil, Venom, Magneto, Dr. Doom, Johnny Ohm, The Wink, Fault Zone, Solara, Brigade, Hazmat, Paragon, Niles Van Roekel

Under Night In-Birth (23)

Hyde Kido, Linne, Waldstein, Carmine-Prime, Orie Ballardiae, Gordeau the Harvester, Merkava, Vatista, Seth the Assassin, Yuzuriha, Hilda the Paradox, Bloody Chaos, Nanase, Byakuya, Phonon the Chermeti, Mika Returna, Gaien Enkidu, Miyashiro Erika Wagner, Londrekia Light, Tsurugi, Kaguya Jingū, Kuon, Uzuki

Rayman (10)

Rayman, Globox, Barbara, Jano, Mr. Dark, Razorbeard, Hoodblaster, Bégoniax, Reflux, The Magician

Tatsunoko (13)

Casshan, Ken the Eagle, Jun the Swan, Joe the Condor, Ippatsuman, Polimar, Tekkaman, Tekkaman Blade, Karas, Yatterman-1, Yatterman-2, Doronjo, Gold Lightan

Dissidia: Final Fantasy (42)

Warrior of Light, Garland, Firion, The Emperor, Onion Knight, Cloud of Darkness, Cecil Harvey, Kain Highwind, Golbez, Bartz Klauser, Exdeath, Gilgamesh, Terra Branford, Kefka Palazzo, Locke Cole, Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Aerith Gainsborough, Sephiroth, Squall Leonhart, Rinoa Heartilly, Laguna Loire, Ultimecia, Zidane Tribal, Kuja, Tidus, Jecht, Yuna, Shantotto, Prishe, Kam'Lanaut, Vaan, Vayne Carudus Solidor, Gabranth, Lightning, Snow Villiers, Y'shtola Rhul, Zenos yae Galvus, Noctis Lucis Caelum, Ardyn Izunia, Ramza Beoulve, Ace

Darkstalkers (18)

Demitri Maximoff, Morrigan Aensland, Felicia, Hsien-Ko, Rikuo, Victor von Gerdenheim, Sasquatch, Lilith Aensland, Jon Talbain, Q-Bee, Anakaris, Donovan Baine, Lord Raptor, Bishamon, Huitzil, Baby Bonnie Hood, Pyron, Jedah Dohma

Fighting EX Layer (17)

Area, Allen Snider, Blair Dame, Darun Mister, Doctrine Dark, Hayate, Hokuto, Shirase, Sharon, Sanane, Pullum Purna, Kairi, Skullomania, Vulcano Russo, Cracker Jack, Shadowgeist, Garuda

Mortal Kombat (58)

Raiden, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Smoke, Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage, Cassie Cage, Jax Briggs, Jacqui Briggs, Kitana, Jade, Fujin, Kenshi Takahashi, Takeda Takahashi, Kung Jin, Bo' Rai Cho, Nightwolf, Sheeva, Baraka, Sareena, Li Mei, Kotal Kahn, Syzoth, Ashrah, Ermac, Goro, Motaro, Shujinko, Kurtis Stryker, Ferra/Torr, Erron Black, Kano, Tremor, Khameleon, Mavado, Darrius, Tanya, Rain, Mileena, Cyrax, Sektor, Kabal, Nitara, Havik, Frost, D'Vorah, Noob Saibot, Geras, Cetrion, Reiko, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Kollector, Skarlet, Sindel, Shao Kahn

Rushdown Revolt (12)

Seth, Velora, Weishan, Raymer, Urdah, Ashani, Zhurong, Kidd, Ezzie, Reina, Afi & Galu, The Torment

Justice League Dark (11)

Batman, Wonder Woman, John Constantine, Zatanna, Swamp Thing, Deadman, Etrigan the Demon, Black Orchid, Man-Bat, Doctor Fate, Enchantress

Melty Blood (18)

Shiki Tohno, Arcueid Brunestud, Ciel, Akiha Tohno, Hisui, Kohaku, Noel, Vlov Arkhangel, Michael Roa Valdamjong, Kouma Kishima, Miyako Arima, Aoko Aozaki, Mario Gallo Bestino, Neco-Arc, Saber, Mash Kyrielight, Ushiwakamaru, The Count of Monte Cristo

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat-Noir (17)

Ladybug, Cat-Noir, Carapace, Rena Rouge, Ryuko, Viperion, Bunnyx, Pegasus, King Monkey, Vesperia, Purple Tigress, Polymouse, Pigella, Miss Hound, Minotaurox, Caprikid, Rooster Bold

Bloody Roar (21)

Yugo, Alice, Bakuryu, Uriko, Busuzima, Stun, Long, Shen Long, Gado, Shina, Jenny, Xion, Mitsuko, Greg, Fox, Ganesha, Cronos, Kohryu, Uranus, Nagi, Reiji

Granblue Fantasy: Versus (31)

Charlotta Fenia, Ferry, Gran, Katalina Aryze, Ladiva, Lancelot, Lowain, Metera, Percival, Vaseraga, Zeta, Narmaya, Soriz, Djeeta, Zooey, Belial, Cagliostro, Yuel, Anre, Eustace, Seox, Vira Lillie, Beelzebub, Anila, Siegfried, Nier, Grimnir, Lucilius, Vane, Beatrix, 2B

Slap City (11)

Ittle Dew, Jenny Fox, Princess Remedy, Goddess of Explosions, Asha, Business Casual Man, Masked Ruby, Ultra Fishbunjin 3000, Frallan, Cruiser Tetron, Orka

The Owl House (27)

Luz Noceda, Amity Blight, Willow Park, Gus Porter, Hunter, Vee, Hooty, Edalyn Clawthorne, Lilith Clawthorne, King Clawthorne, Raine Whispers, Darius Deamonne, Eberwolf, Steve, Katya, Matt Tholomule, Emira Blight, Edric Blight, Boscha, Viney, Jerbo, Terra Snapdragon, Adrian Graye Vernworth, Vitimir, Kikimora, The Collector, Emperor Belos

Chapter Text

(VG Central; Megamix Dome)

The morning sun provided a lovely light over the bustling city of VG Central, a city known for being a universal hotspot for video game characters to get together and hang out. Our attention shifts to one building in particular, the all-too familiar Megamix Dome, the famous arena that was home to the Megamix Tournament, as well as the first two Battle of the Luminaries. While, the Tournament of Kikai, and the most recent Battle of the Luminaries had taken place elsewhere in Fictograph City, the mind behind this tournament simply felt like going back to where it all started was an opportunity too great to pass up.

Speaking of the mind behind the tournament, he currently stood at the base of the dome, overlooking at rebuilt structure in awe. This young man had silver hair and light skin, and was currently wearing a white t-shirt underneath a dark grey overshirt and grey pants.

"Wow, I c-can't believe he actually managed to get it fixed! And so quick too! Whoever he hired must be miracle workers!" The young man said in amazement.

This was Roxas_Gramarye. An ascended fan of the UVR-spinoffs. After witnessing them for himself, he knew he wanted to hold his own, and eventually, after many start-up attempts that didn't pan out. He was able to finally get up off the ground with this tournament, to say he was excited was an understatement.

Soon enough, he snapped out of his trance and walked over into the hotel located right next to the dome.

Once in, he pulled out a small digital cube that transformed into a tablet in his hand, he looked over some things on it.

"The other hosts couldn't accept my invitation, that's okay! They all have their own tournaments to take care of, I can handle this on my own. Man, I can't wait!" Roxas said excitedly.

Just then, his tablet vibrated, a notification popped up telling him he was getting a call from someone. Seeing it as his good friend Livia, he smiled and pressed the button to answer the call.

"Hey, Roxas! How is the host life treating you? Good I suppose? You landed okay?" The girl questioned.

Roxas nodded. "Yup! Just getting everything ready! Only one more thing left to cover. The security team! They should be coming in right about now, and I wanted to run them by you."

Livia on the screen narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Okay, you didn't hire any Max's or Psymon Stark's did you?"

Sheepishly, Roxas did an awkward laugh while shaking his head. "No, no! No one like that, take a look for yourself. I made sure to try and cover as many archetypes as I can!"

He then faced the screen toward the doors as five figures entered through the doors, the first of which, who looked to be the leader, was a brunette teenager wearing an eye patch over his right eye, as well as a blue jacket, brown boots and dark leggings. On both of his sides were two cutlasses handing inside sheaths. Lastly, he had a scar underneath his left eye. He wore a confident smile on his face.

"This is Vyse from Skies of Arcadia. Compassionate, charismatic, and determined, I think these qualities would make him the perfect leader for this security team!" Roxas said to Livia on the tablet, who eyed Vyse with uncertainty.

"A little young to be the leader, don't you think?" She said, still eyeing him, not convinced.

Vyse smirked. "Looks like I have something to prove, eh?" He said to Livia, before turning to Roxas.

"No worries, boss! I am to please, and I'm sure once your friend and you see me uphold the peace around here, you'll be impressed! Trust me, you won't regret electing me leader."

With a thumbs up to both of them, he walked past them and stood to the side, letting the other members of the security team get introduced.

Nodding, Roxas turned the tablet back around to face the next member of the team. Another teenager, this time a pale girl with dirty-blonde hair, wearing what looked to be a pink coat, a starry-designed skirt with blue leggings. She had a very dreamy and distant look in her eyes, as if her mind had already wandered off from the conversation that would soon come up.

"Luna Lovegood, hailing from Hogwarts and the Harry Potter series." Livia said, a bit bluntly, as if she was not impressed with this member either.

Still sheepish, Roxas scratched the back of his head as he nodded and introduced Luna proper. "Luna here is quite a powerful witch, able to take part in important and huge battles and come out better off than most. Not to mention, her wisdom and intellect are unmatched among the team, personally, a fitting enough person to handle magic and the logical thinking."

Luna, who had yet to say anything, finally turned to the two and gave a nod and smile, still looking around. "Quite a show you have put on. I wonder how crowded it is already."

That being all she had to say, she walked over to where Vyse stood and took her place next to him.

The next member to come up was probably the most ill-fit looking for the job, yet another teen, this time clad in what appeared to be a very cartoonish sailor outfit, his other notable features included the unruly hairstyle he had, and the spiked baseball bat he held on his shoulder. He wore an arrogant smirk.

"Ah, Steve "The Hair" Harrington of Stranger Things fame. A bit reckless, but sure as heck can take a hit, and dish out them just as easily with that baseball bat of his. Fared better than trained soldiers in taking down monsters." Roxas said as he introduced Steve.

Upon walking up to them, Steve simply gave a greeting to the two with a nod before he turned to see who he was working with.

"That my crew? Looks pretty alright, yeah. I think I can work with this and get things done, and maybe have a beer or two afterward. Peace! For now." Steve said as he took his place in line.

Watching him, Livia simply remarked with narrowed eyes. "Gee, you sure have a lot of faith in children to keep things in check here."

With a sigh, Roxas could only watch as the fourth security team member walked up to bat. This time, it was a bubbly girl with red hair tied into twin pigtails. Clad in a pink top, orange and yellow skirt, boots, and a fur pelt around her waist that held her weapon. She had a bright and sunny smile on her face.

"And this is Oerba Dia Vanille, hailing from Final Fantasy XIII, although just Vanille is fine. What can I say? Her optimism and upbeat nature are great for group morale, along with being able to fight. Her archetype was supposed to be the token girl, but that kinda went out the window when Luna entered the picture. Still, having a friendly face wouldn't hurt."

Vanille simply giggled as she hopped up to Roxas and Livia, greeting them both with a friendly cheery wave.

"Happy to be here! It's awesome that not only will I be able to root for Lightning and Snow in the tournament, but I'll get to watch over and make sure everyone is having fun too!" Vanille said excitedly, a little oblivious to the kinds of conflict this job attracts.

Livia gave a bit of a forced and nervous laugh at Vanille's words as she skipped over to where everyone else was. When she saw it was safe she sighed and glared at Roxas when he turned her to face him.

"I'm trying to see the good here, but I just don't have faith in this team."

Roxas was about to respond when he saw the final member to round out the team come in, his face lit up as he turned the tablet back to have Livia face them.

"Maybe this will inspire some hope in you. If just a little."

The last member of the security force was also without a doubt the most battle ready looking, a strapping young fellow with dirty blonde hair like Luna, only he was wearing armor that seemed to suggest he looked like he could handle himself in a fight. Further suggested by the sword he carried on him. He, like Steve, wore a smirk on his face.

"Last but not least, Soren, a young swordsman of immense talent, being a former member of the Crownguard of Katolis. Not to mention, his physique could lend him to add some much needed muscle to the team."

In a joking member, Soren walked up to the two and did a salute. "Incredibly good-looking and carrier of inexperienced security teams, Soren is at your service." He said, finishing with a bow before heading to the others to finish the line-up.

Livia eyed everyone, still a bit conflicted. "I don't know, I'm not confident in this team, but, nothing is valid until I see them in action."

Roxas shrugged with a smile. "Understandable. So I have sent out the invitations to all the nodes competing, and I think we have a good mix of characters here, even if some are a little bloated."

"Yeah, no kidding. I think this cast has a grand opportunity to deliver, especially the two smash-like nodes. Definitely a lot of potential there."

"Oh, I can only imagine the scenarios those nodes can create, it'll be amazing. Well, gotta go, see you later!" With that, he ended the call as he looked around him again, still amazed this was really happening.

(Gotham City; Wayne Enterprises)

Bruce Wayne looked at the invitation sitting on his desk curiously. He had already read over it many times, but none of it seemed to answer his question.

That question being why was only the Justice League Dark getting invites to this tournament? And even then, why only a fraction of it's overall members?

Bruce shook his head, he shouldn't be spending so much time dwelling on this. Anyone could be invited and, while he never really bothered to think about it, it was rather fulfilling seeing a team from DC that wasn't incredibly well-known get the spotlight, even if it still did only apply to it's most well-known members. Didn't that mean the purpose defeated itself?

Huh, guess it did. In addition, he was surprised that he was considered part of the team, largely because he had been part of it for one instance as a way to draw attention. He couldn't help but think this was another one of those times, a way to include him but not others.

Still, in spite of whatever tactic or technicality it was that allowed him a luxury most of the Justice League wasn't afforded. He wasn't unwelcome to the invitation, Gotham had been quiet for awhile, he could use something to kill time, though everyone knows that could change in an instant. 

Bruce then shifted his attention to who he could expect to see there, Diana was a clear choice for likely the same reasons as him, Zatanna was also a no-brainer to include. Then there was John Consta-....

Bruce laid his head back and groaned. Of course, John Constantine, of course the host was looking to bring that man to the tournament. He shouldn't have been surprised but it was aggravating all the same.

With whatever optimism he had now taken a dip, Bruce got up, grabbed his suit jacket and the invitation, and walked to the door of his office. He had a long few days ahead of him….

(Paris; Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie)

Marinette looked at the invitation in her hands in uncertainty, and then shifted her gaze to the Chinese Miracle Box that contained all the Miraculous.

"It's only for a few days, Marinette. The invitation calls for all of the superheroes to compete! No Akumas have come up since then thanks to your charms!" Her kwami, Tikki said as she perked up behind her.

Marinette read over it again, and gave a sigh as she folded into her chair. "I know, and we've already got everything planned to go. It's just, I have a bad feeling."

Tikki simply floated up to her. "You've accounted for everything, Marinette. The city will be in good hands while you're gone, especially since you'll have the Miraculous with you!"

Marinette mustered up a smile for Tikki's sake. Sure, everything in theory should be okay, and in worst case something did happen, Hawk Moth couldn't technically get what he wanted until she and her friends came back. But that was it, what if she was followed? Then what would happen? She'd be indirectly putting a bunch of people in danger. Especially Adrien….

Gah! She couldn't think like that, she had to have her mind of everyone's safety. Not just the love of her life.

"You're right, Tikki." Marinette said with a smile to her kwami. "I've done everything possible, so if a problem occurs, I'll be back to clean it up as fast as possible!"

"Marinette! Your friends are here! Time to leave for that trip your class is going on!" Her dad Tom, had called out to her.

With a look and nod at her kwami, Marinette grabbed her things, plus the Miracle Box, and headed downstairs to greet her friends and catch their train to VG Central.

(Earthrealm; Special Forces Base)

"So some kid wants us to go fight in another tournament for him? Ha! Sign me up, I know how to put on a good show!" Johnny Cage said as he read over the invitation.

Sonya playfully rolled her eyes as she turned to Raiden, clutching her own invitation in her hand. "I doubt we're not gonna run into trouble out there. If our node is invited, of course Shao Kahn is gonna come alongside us."

Raiden nodded. "I anticipate this, I have heard of alliances between villains forming over the course of each tournament I have found info on. No doubt Shao Kahn and his lackeys are seeking an audience with M. Bison."

Cassis then spoke up, with a raised hand. "If he does, we can't let him win, and neither can Kronika. I've heard reports from Kitana that her own minions were spotted in Outworld."

Johnny's excitement seemed to visibly drain out of his body as he shook his head. "Seems things can't ever go smoothly…"

"Indeed, as long as those two live, there will always be conflict it seems." Raiden said solemnly.

Looking to shift the topic, Cassie looked up at her mother. "So, are Kitana and Liu Kang ready to go?"

Then, Sonya got a message on her communicator, reading over it with a smrk. "Looks like it. Well, let's go kick some ass, both inter-dimensional and Shao Kahn's."

Cassie smiled as she got up. "Would be nice to see Takeda and Jin again. Been awhile, nice to see they haven't been forgotten."

Johnny finally spoke up again as he lifted himself up to go. "No kidding. If that roster is to be believed, a few more of those who might've been forgotten will be there."

(Japan; Rooftops)

Juri leaped from one rooftop to another on her way to catch the train to VG Central, In her hands she clenched a invitation. While it wasn't clear, inside she was eager at the prospect of fighting new opponents.

To say she was looking forward to the tournament was an understatement, she loved going to these things, and she couldn't wait to get a taste of the other fighters she might encounter there.

Stopping, she flipped the invitation over to look at the roster sheet, and her smile turned wicked as she eyed the many names. "So many fighters…..so many people I can't wait to get my hands on." She giggled, although it had a sinister tone to it.

To keep it simple, there were many fighters she looked forward to facing, which made her excitement heighten. She wondered if Bison would be there given he was supposed to have been destroyed by Ryu, though it wouldn't surprise the purple-clad woman if he managed to find another body. Regardless, she'll have her fun, no matter if that loser was back or not.

Seeing the train in the distance, her pace once again slowed, but remained steady. If Bison was in fact active, would he likely hatch another scheme at this new tournament? Eh, she didn't really care about that.

"Who cares about him? Honestly, I just want to fight." She said, shrugging to herself.

(VG Central; Megamix Dome)

"Well, that takes care of everything!" Roxas said as he checked off the last things on his list.

Taking another big gander around the room, he decided to just stay there and take it all in. This was it, his big break, it was finally here.

Finishing up his little act of taking it in, he pulled up his tablets, starting to get work on getting the rooms ready for every single fighter.

Chapter Text

(The Arena)

It wasn't too long until all the fighters, plus the mystery fighters, arrived at the hotel. During this time many of them chose to mingle and talk with one another, ignoring the fact that they may end up on opposing sides later on. Tickets for the tournament sold out quickly, and, not long after, the fabled day, the grand re-opening of the Megamix Dome as well as the start of the first Okron Tournament, had arrived.

The arena itself was a simple design, a huge square ring with a turnbuckle at each corner and rubber ropes connecting them. In addition, the ring also appeared as if it was floating above the ground. The reason for this being because it was suspended by a giant forcefield that served to protect the audience from stray attacks.

Roxas sat in the Announcer's Booth, which overlooked the ring and bleacher's, which currently were completely packed with fans who excitedly waited for the tournament to begin proper. He eyed the crowd with widened eyes, many different kinds of people from media were here. 

He would then take a deep breath, looking around him, this was a big challenge. As no one else was here to host with him, leaving him to do the task of hosting all by myself.

He wasn't too deterred though, as after another deep breath, he sharply turned his head to look forward, determined look on his face.

"Let's do this. Time for final preparations." He said as he took out his tablet once more. "Microphones."

He  gave a few light taps to the microphones after turning them on to check if they were working properly. Content, he gave a nod. "Check."

"Lights."

He pressed a button on the desk many devices. This act summoning lights all over the arena. "Check."

"Sound booth?"

He looked toward where he had put it, the machine appeared to be up and running, but just in case, he had left the door unlocked in case someone had decided to have a little fun.

"Check." He said with a slightly sly smile before moving on.

"First thirty fighters in the ready room." He said to himself.

With a tap on his tablet, Roxas checked the cameras and viewed the Ready Room where the fighters who drew numbers one through thirty sat quietly, except for the first two mystery fighters, for obvious reasons. Satisfied, he gave a nod and with another tap, his tablet was back on to the home page.

"Everyone is there and accounted for. All that's left to do is make the opening announcement." With a quick inhale and exhale, he excitedly grabbed a microphone and turned it on. "Welcome everyone to the first-ever Okron Tournament!"

At this, the crowd began cheering wildly.

"Just what I was hoping to hear!" He smiled. "I am Roxas_Gramarye and I shall be your host! Not to mention it's my job to make this arguably the biggest UVR-spinoff you have ever seen!"

With a quick pause, he got right back to speaking.. "Now, just like with most UVR-spinoff tournaments, everyone who gets thrown out of the ring will fall into a portal which will transport them to a random node where they will have to fend for themselves for ten minutes, after which they will be teleported back to the dome where our team of skilled doctors and healers will nurse them back to health."

When he finished, Roxas pressed two buttons on the control panel in front of him. The first of which caused a giant portal to appear below the ring, which lingered for a few seconds before turning invisible. The second button turned on monitors all over the bleachers that showed a view of the ring.

"Also, we know not all of you lucked out when it comes to seats." He continues. "So we had these monitors set up so nobody misses out on the action." He finished with a smile.

Almost there, just a little precaution. "I may be wrong, but just in case there are still some newcomers to the tournament out there, I'll take the liberty of explaining the basic rules of the UVR."

(Hotel; Bison's Room)

Bison looked stoically outside his window, his expression hard to tell. Although lately that had been the norm ever since the node had been invited to this tournament.

Truth be told, Bison himself wasn't sure what he wanted to do. Did he want to give it another try? Or just give up altogether? He had no answer as of right now, though he still made himself available to villains should he ultimately decide he wanted to try hitch a plot.

His time spent thinking and evaluating what he wanted to do was cut short when he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in."

With his permission, F.A.N.G. poked his head in. "Lord Bison? You have a visitor. The man known as Shao Kahn, says he would like an audience."

Bison raised an eyebrow, weighing his options, he nodded. "Send him in."

Just then, the door opened by force, with the former emperor of Outworld budging in, his demeanour making it clear he cared little for manners.

"Shao Kahn. This is a surprise, I thought you considered me a failure."

Shao Kahn scoffed. "I still do, but, I have been brought down by those beneath me because I let my guard down. Kitana, she surprised me. I want to launch one of my own at her."

Bison considered it for a bit, before smirking darkly. "Now that you have been shamed. You come begging to me. How rich, why should I let you conquer Outworld once more?"

Shao Kahn hung his head low for a brief moment, when he brought it back up, it wore a twisted smirk.

"Because you don't have a choice. It's clear your no stronger than me! Fool!"

The sounds of brawling could be heard from outside. Hearing it, Bison could only stare at where it all came from in confusion.

(The Arena)

"….And, I think that about covers everything!" Roxas said, before smiling. "Now, who is ready for the tournament to begin?"

The crowded then erupted into cheers once more.

"I'll take that as a yes. All right! Without further ado, let's kick off the first ever Okron Tournament!" He yelled.

Everyone continued cheering as they focused their attention toward the entrance curtain, where the first fighter was about to make his or her entrance. Whoever it was would kick off the first ever Okron Tournament….

Chapter Text

(The Arena)

To say the suspense was killing the crowd was an understatement, they showed their eagerness to get the tournament started by their applause. Which only grew once the spotlight finally reached the entrance curtain.

“Alright, the moment you’ve been waiting for, here’s who drew number one!” Roxas announced.

“AERITH GAINSBOROUGH!” (D:FF)

Doing a small spin with her staff as her name was called out, Aerith playfully giggled at the immense positive reception she got. Supplementing her fans with a wave and a thanks.

In most cases, one would probably be a bit more upset at getting first draw, but that really wasn’t her. She was just happy she got to be included with her allies in this tournament.

Reaching the ring, Aerith twirled her staff as she turned to look back to the entrance ramp. Patiently waiting to see who her first opponent was.

“Now, the person who drew number two!” Said Roxas over the speakers once more.

“JOHNNY OHM!” (MN:ROTI)

Air shredding to the song blaring for him through the speakers, which was Jimi Hendrix’s All Along The Watchtower. The electrical warrior Imperfect finishing his mini performance with a blast of electricity for extra flair to pump himself up.

“Woo! Oh man, is it great to finally get a break, time to show what Johnny Savage is capable of!” He said as he used his power to pull electricity out of the air and use it to levitate himself into the air to enter the ring.

Aerith looked at this man with curiosity, wondering how he came to get his power for a bit before taking a deep breath to prepare herself to fight.

Upon arriving and seeing Aerith and her weapon, Johnny scoffed in amusement.

“Girl, what the hell are you think’in? Fighting me with a metal pole? Ha!”

Using his power, Johnny began to pull Aerith’s staff toward him, and considering she was still holding onto it, Aerith herself.

As she was pulled closer to Johnny, Aerith fought for control over her staff, managing to wrestle enough control from Johnny to wave it at him and send a magic orb from the tip of it.

Johnny groaned as he was struck by the orb, briefly stunning him, but recovering quickly enough to prevent Aerith from getting too close with his electricity.

“Alright, girl. I see what you laying down, but, you know? It’s never good to fight against the current…”

“ELECTIVIRE!” (PKMN)

Johnny’s face fell once the third entrant was revealed.

Roaring of excitement, Electivire jumped up and down to pump himself up, causing electricity to surge around him.

This also had the effect of interfering with Johnny’s electric fields, which naturally disrupted his ability to levitate, causing him to fall to the ground.

Realizing what he had to do, he swiftly turned to Aerith.

“Don’t go anywhere. I got some stranglers to wash away.” He said as he ran to Electivire, leaving Aerith confused.

The now hyped up Electivire finally entered the ring just as Johnny made his way over, cross look plastered on his face.

“Hey, man! Sup? Listen, I don’t need you and your biz messing with my flow, so how about you keep yourself under control so I can fight, capiche?”

Electivire’s response was to launch a Fire Punch Johnny’s way, sending him crashing into the ropes, which launched him face-first onto the ground.

Coughing, Johnny looked up to see Electivire barreling toward him.

“Aw, come on, man! This ain’t how I wanted to start this!”

In spite of how he almost tried to attack her when this started, Aerith couldn’t help but shoot a look of pity his way.

“GOZU!” (KE)

Coming out to a lukewarm reception, which is putting it nicely, Gozu tried his best to tune them out as he got to mentally preparing himself for this tournament.

“Just….keep your wits about you, I guess. Don’t engage in anything stupid, and you’ll do fine.” He repeated to himself like a mantra.

When he was done, he burst down the ramp and entered the ring. Almost immediately, he passed on Aerith and looked to attack Electivire, launching a fireball at the Pokémon’s back.

Grunting as it hit him, Electivire let go of Johnny and turned to where Gozu stood, who still remained firm.

“Yeah! That was me! Come on electro yeti!” Gozu said, taunting the Pokémon.

Just as he was about to run at the ninja, Johnny launched his own burst of electricity at the Pokémon, who took the attack and seemed to briefly shut down, lowering it’s head to the ground.

Aerith saw this and was about to intervene on Electivire’s behalf, when sparks began to crackle around him.

Unbeknownst to them, Johnny hitting Electivire with his electric attack triggered the Pokémon’s ability Motor Drive, which granted a speed boost when hit with electric attacks.

Electivire stood up again, and when his head faced back upwards, a sinister grin was wreaked across his face. He then took off, barreling even faster at Gozu, who quickly realized his fate.

“Crap…” Was all he got out before he got slammed into at mach speed.

“VELORA!” (RR)

The most recent fighter released into Rushdown Revolt, the pirate woman known as the Scourge of the Seven Skies.

Looking out at the very mild reaction she received, likely due to being so new, she shrugged as she walked down to the ring.

“Still new to this whole gaming gig, so no surprise people don’t know me yet…But they will soon.” She said, finishing her sentence with a smirk.

Stepping into the ring, she saw Aerith all alone as Johnny, still struggling to use his own power due to Electivire. Was simply trying to help Gozu in getting rid of the Pokémon.

Approaching Aerith, Velora pointed her gunblade at her. “So, I got too much dignity to really interfere in that scuffle, not my scene. How’s about you and me instead?”

Aerith took one look at Gozu and Johnny’s failed attempts to take down Electivire and shook her head, as much as she wanted to help, maybe it was best she sit this one out.

“I would love to, thanks!”

“FOREST LEDOYEN!” (TotT)

The well built dark-skinned man brandished his axe while he looked down at the ring with a shake of his head.

“Looks like those two need help, best to not let them get killed…” He said hesitantly as he quickly made his way down.

Once in the ring, he dropped his axe as a bright light engulfed him, once it went away, he made his way over to Electivire.

His powers still useless, Johnny tried throwing a punch at Electivire, but the Pokémon swiftly caught it, before grabbing the electric warrior and swinging him into Gozu, who had tried to sneak attack him.

Electivire was going to unleash more electricity on them when he felt the tap of someone his shoulder

When he turned around, Forest, having transformed into his Leymon form, threw a punch at the Pokémon, causing him to stagger.

Quickly, Forest took the opportunity to motion for Johnny and Gozu to get away, to which they did. With that done, he glared at the recovering Electivire.

“Alright, just you and me now.”

“SCORPION!” (MK)

The thunderous applause the crowd gave for the iconic fire ninja was quickly silenced as he had disappeared in a veil of fire as soon as he stepped out onto the entrance ramp, target already in mind.

Gozu heard the name being called and froze in fright as he turned to the entrance curtain. Only to sigh in relief as he saw no one awaiting at the top.

However, his relief didn’t last long, as he would sense someone behind him. Turning ever so slightly, he then broke into a sprint as he saw the netherrealm spectre behind him, having immediately teleported to the ring upon his name being called.

Stopping, Gozu turned and flung a fireball in Scorpion’s direction, only for the ninja to catch it in his hand before firing one of his own at Gozu.

Gozu took the attack and collided with the ground, after a few seconds of reeling he rolled back onto his feet, knowing running was pointless. So he had no choice but to stand his guard.

“So, taking any sort of inspiration from you, personally, huh?” Gozu asked, only to get a shake of the head from Scorpion.

“It is insulting, yes. But that is not to say you and your node’s reputation doesn’t make the idea of going after you to conserve as much energy fighting as possible any less attractive.”

Gozu rolled his eyes. “Really? Well, since you’re so petty, I think I’m gonna make this as hard for you as possible!”

He then took off running again, his strategy instead to be to tire out Scorpion by running. The spectre simply gave an exasperated look before disappearing to chase after Gozu.

“PERCIVAL!” (GF:V)

The fangirls went wild for the red-headed swordsman, who simply took it humbly as any other cheer for him.

“Ah, so this is it? The fabled UVR-spinoff. Quite an odd start from the looks of it, but I’ll make due. My spirit burns with ambition and vision, I shall see to it that it carries me to victory.” He said, taking note of Gozu and Scorpion’s fight, as well as Johnny Ohm’s continued struggle to get his power to work again.

Not wanting to take up too much time, Percival ran down to the ring as fast as he could given his armor and sword.

Johnny had finally got his levitation to work again after putting as much distance between him and Electivire as possible. Smirking, he looked to go find Aerith again until he saw Percival approach.

“Man, I ain’t one to judge. But, you got a lot going on here, buddy!” Johnny said, taking note of Percival’s outfit and sword.

Choosing to ignore that, Percival simply held up his sword. “I take it your powers are restored. Good to know, it would be a great shame if I had to take it easy on you due to your faulty powers “

Johnny blinked before growling. “Oh, really? You so sure you can take Johnny Amazing that you won’t go one hundred percent while he’s down? What the hell do you know, huh? You know what? How about I take you down before I go teach lightning rod over there not to mess with my current!”

“MILES “TAILS” PROWER!” (StH)

In any other instance, the young Inventor and sidekick of Sonic would be thrilled about the immense cheers the crowd was affording him. However, instead the two-tailed fox had narrowed eyes with a look of disdain on his face as he looked out at the ring.

Ignoring the crowd entirely, Tails pulled out a cannon and attached it to his arm. He then began to spin his twin-tails and fly down to the ring. His expression unchanged from his entrance.

“Take this, love!” Velora said as she avoided a magic swipe from Aerith’s staff, and fired a shot from her gunblade.

“WEEB CHARACTER!”

Just as Aerith was about to dodge the shot, Tail’s voice rang out a few feet from her, throwing her off-guard and causing her to take the hit. This also left her open to another shot from Tails arm cannon.

Moaning a bit in pain before she got up, Aerith shot a confused look at Tails.

“May I ask, what was that for?” She said, slightly stern along with her confusion.

Velora, sensing this wasn’t her fight anymore, slipped away.

Tails simply shrugged. “You’re a weeb-appeal character…” He started, before his neutral expression changed to a more angry one. “I despise weebs! Everything about them! They’re the scum of the Earth if you ask me! So, in turn, I despise you! Now make this easy and let me destroy you!”

Aerith didn’t seem too intimidated as she avoided a blast from the cannon, if anything she just seemed more confused.

(Sonic the Hedgehog Locker Room)

To say confusion was the universal feeling in the room was an understatement. The members of the node that chose to sit in there all looked at the large monitor, then back at each other, in complete befuddlement.

After a few seconds of Tails’ little display, Sonic was the first to life a finger up to say something, but was  still too stunned to properly speak for a few seconds.

Eventually, he was able to get his bearings as he simply looked at everyone who was there. “Uh….since when did Tails have a thing against weebs? And since when was Aerith considered a weeb-appeal character?”

Amy, who still looked at the screen as Tails continued to fight Aerith, simply slowly shook her head at Sonic’s question. “I have no idea….”

(The Arena)

“THE MAGICIAN!” (RM)

Appearing on the entrance ramp in a purple puff of smoke, the dark-clad teensie simply rubbed his hands together in excitement.

“People think I can’t fight, huh? Well, Teensies aren’t masterminds of offensive innovation, but we aren’t completely helpless! I’ll show these fools just that!” He said to himself as he eagerly made how way to the ring.

Upon entering, he noticed a newly fightless Velora standing a feet from him, observing the fight with Aerith and Tails with interest.

Chuckling to himself he began a running start at her before looking to slide into her legs to knock her off her balance and take advantage.

Sadly for him, Velora senses weren’t failing her, she backflipped out of the way before kicking The Magician upwards. Then jumping up to grab his leg and slam him into the canvas, finishing with a blast from her gunblade for good measure before landing back on the canvas herself.

“I admire your confidence, dearie. Thinking you actually had a shot at getting the jump on me. Wasn’t meant to be, but now that you’re here, looks like your choice is already made, huh?” Velora said with a twirl of her gunblade.

The Magician simply gave a weak thumbs up as he let out a sigh of anguish.

“And now, Mystery Fighter… Number… ONE!”

“TERUKO TAWAKI!” (Danganronpa: Despair Time)

The protagonist of her Danganronpa series, the girl who adorned the title of Ultimate Lucky Student, in spite of the only luck she’s had throughout her life being bad luck. Teruko simply looked out at the crowd in a cautious manner, not entirely sure how to react.

Shaking her head, she decided to not waste too much time and elected to run on down to the ring, avoiding or outright ignoring the cheering crowd.

Upon entering, she quickly noticed that everyone was currently occupied in some manner. Looking up at the entrance ramp, she sighed and got ready for whoever came out next.

“Let’s see what being the universe’s punching bag gets me…” She said dryly.

“GANONDORF!” (HW)

“Yup. Just my luck.” Teruko said with an accepting tone upon hearing the name of her opponent.

Normally, the dark sorcerer would be relishing in the fear the crowd showed. Taking it all in with a dark chuckle, but the man seemed to have something on his mind as he was strangely quiet.

“This…This feeling of familiarity. Why do I feel like I’ve been at this tournament before? When a tournament of this name is only the first of it’s kind? I just can’t shake it…the feeling like this has happened before….” He said to himself, still pondering.

Eventually, he took a deep breath, smiling evilly when he was finished. These trivial thoughts could wait, he had a tournament to win after all, and no early draw was gonna get in his way.

Leaping up into the ring, he ignited his foot in powerful dark magic before slamming it into the canvas, causing a small explosion of purple where he struck. Obviously looking to make an entrance.

He then set eyes on the one person who was not preoccupied, of course that being Teruko. Who looked at him unimpressed.

“Geez, overdoing it much?” Teruko asked quite bravely.

Ganondorf smirked. “Quite a lot of gall you have, girl. Talking to me like that. The winner must make his entrance at least a little showy, lest he fall overshadowed by lesser fighters.”

Teruko rolled her eyes. “Sounds like you expect this to be a cakewalk.”

Ganondorf chuckled. “Ah, but is that not the right mentality for this? To walk into any fight thinking you are to win? It’s that confidence that allows you to succeed, something you very clearly know nothing about.”

Looking away for a second, Teruko turned back to face Ganondorf, a look of anger on her face.

“Okay. I’m obviously outmatched on the surface, but if you think you can beat someone by simply acting and believing it, then you know what? I’d be happy to prove you right.”

“ENCHANTRESS!” (JLD)

Walking out onto the ramp was a very distressed June Moone, who simply looked around at the crowd around her with a longing expression.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the Enchantress appeared out from behind her, placing her hands on her shoulders.

“Oh, June. Freedom is a highway, one you haven’t even started going down, and likely never will. Now, go to sleep. This evil hag has some wrinkles that need sorting out.” The Enchantress had said before she had taken over June’s body once more.

Once back in control, the Enchantress looked out at the ring, bored, as it seemed everyone has already found a fight. Was that going to stop her, though? Of course not.

“If there are no openings, I’ll make one myself.” The Enchantress said as she teleported into the ring

Forest and Electivire collided with each other, although when the two made impact, Forest had let out a small groan of pain.

He grew weaker until Electivire was able to gain the upper hand, allowing him to pick Forest up and shock him with his tails.

Forest fell to the floor on his knees, breathing heavily as he attempted to regain his footing.

When he was ready he stood back up to continue fighting, only to be met face-to-face with the Enchantress, Electivire standing behind her with a green aura surrounding his head and a dazed look on his face.

“Wha-..” Forest started until he was interrupted by the witch.

“The Pokémon is my property now, a worthy enough ally, at least until I find something better. As for you? An intriguing form…..is the most I can give you, I’m afraid you’ll have to die now.”

She then lashed out with a burst of green energy at Forest, causing him to fall backwards.

As he sat back up, he groaned when he looked forward at the approaching Enchantress and Electivire. His night just got a whole lot harder.

“NECO-ARC!” (MB)

The crowd was confused and befuddled at this next fighter, offering no reaction to them out of surprise.

Standing at the top of the entrance ramp was a very small cat-like person, with a very vaguely similar look to Arcueid Brunestud, almost as if she was a parody of the character. (Which she was.)

Not bothered by the lack of a reaction, Neco-Arc simply swerved in place as if doing a little dance for a few minutes.

“You know?” She asked to no one in particular. “I wonder how the author expects this first section to go. It’s obvious he wants to give every node a chance in the first section like he did the first time around. But with more nodes, it can get a bit hard to do…oh well! Better make the most of my WTF character status and rock this place while I can!”

Upon finishing that train of thought, Neco-Arc ran down the ramp and into the ring, she then expectedly turned around back to the ramp.

“Well, looks like I get that position! The one where everyone is in a fight and whoever enters next has to wait for another person. How about a little drinking game? Take a shot every time someone gets this position, five bucks says you won’t last past Section 5….in 2024!” She said while waiting, again, to no one in particular.

“RENA ROUGE!” (M:ToL&C-N)

Alya Césaire, also known as Rena Rouge, burst out onto the entrance ramp in excited fashion. With the crowd offering her a decent cheer, causing her to smirk.

“Heh, and here I was thinking we weren’t well-known! Nice to see the love is extended to all of us, not just Ladybug & Cat-Noir.” Rena said to herself.

Deciding to take it in a bit, Rena elected to take a bit of time getting to the ring, using it to shake a few hands and offer a few high-fives to the cheering fans.

Leaping into the ring, the fox-themed superhero looked around for an opponent, seeing no one available, she pulled out her flute and turned around to the entrance ramp.

That was, until Neco-Arc leaped onto her face.

“Confused, huh? So am I! Why would the host only invite the superheroes to the tournament? The list of akumatized victims can’t be that big, right? Is it just laziness on his part?” Neco-Arc asked in rapid fashion, surprisingly showing no trouble at all staying on Rena Rouge’s face, in spite of her struggles.

Eventually, Rena was able to pull off Neco-Arc and throw her off to the side.

“I…I have no idea? Although, I think it’s for the best that no one get akumatized to compete in this tournament. Also, what the heck are you supposed to be?” Rena asked in genuine confusion, looking Neco-Arc over.

“I could tell you, but we don’t have any time because we have to get to the next fighter! So, let’s fight! Take this!”

Neco-Arc then launched a stream of fire breath from her mouth, causing Rena to yelp and back out of the way.

“Okay, this thing can actually fight! Good to know! As for what it is…. Still not sure.” Rena said, still confused as she held up her flute, ready to fight.

“ROBERT GARCIA!” (KOFXV)

Flipping a coin in his hand, Robert looked out around him with a curious expression. As if evaluating something in his head.

Whatever it was, he shook it off as he pocketed the coin and made his way to the ring.

Upon entering, he took notice of Teruko throwing a punch at Ganondorf, only for the Gerudo-king to catch it and kick his foot into her stomach. The kick knocking the wind out of her and causing her to fall on her back, where she struggled to catch her breath.

Seeing this display, Robert sighed as he tightened his gloves and took a deep breath.

“Don’t let me regret this…” Robert said, as he ran toward the two.

Ganondorf brought out his sword and lifted it up at Teruko, who was still trying to catch her breath while scrambling away from the Gerudo-king.

“Maybe I was wrong, a dash of realism is needed to succeed, any thought of winning despite the immense difference in power is simply defiance. I commend you for that, but at least you see now.” Ganondorf said, before slamming his sword hard at where Teruko stood.

Rolling out of the way, letting him strike the canvas. Teruko swiftly jumped to her feet and channelled all her might into kneeing Ganondorf in the face as hard as she could.

The hard knee actually managed to make the Gerudo-king stagger, and he would fall as he turned in a daze to a series of multiple kicks courtesy of Robert.

Once he hit the canvas, Teruko wasted no time running over and kicking him as he was down.

Sensing the danger that came with this decision, Robert quickly grabbed Teruko and pulled her away from him.

“Okay, miss. You think he’s gonna feel that? No, so you should get outta here, not doing yourself any favors with those kicks.” Robert said as he stood Teruko up.

The Ultimate Lucky Student wrangled out of Robert’s grasp and turned to face him, a stubborn expression gracing her face.

“It’s more for me. I know he can take plenty, and no, I’m not going anywhere. This guy thinks he can last hours fighting? I’d be happy to send him out in the first round!” Teruko said, stubbornly.

Before Robert could respond, both looked over to see Ganondorf starting to get up, shooting an icy glare at Teruko while doing so, who returned the gesture.

Then Teruko suddenly got an idea, not caring and shrugging off Robert’s attempt to grab her. She ran up to Ganondorf and slammed her foot down on his hand, before reaching for his sword and pulling it out of it's sheath.

Before he could try and stop her, he got a fireball to the face from Robert. Giving Teruko enough time to take the sword and scamper back to where the Italian man stood.

“That worth it? If you insist on using it, you better be the greatest sword user in the world.” Robert said in a stern manner.

Teruko smirked. “Far from it, but don’t worry, now he’s riled up.”

Growling, Ganondorf finally got to his feet and pounded his fast against his palm. Unleashing a burst of dark purple energy from it. Fury evident in his eyes.

Seeing this and Teruko with a thrilled smile on her face, Robert simply sighed as he got back into a fighting position.

“You sure love living dangerous, kid. Ah, well, just try not to die.”

“RAI!” (WW7)

The main character of Waku Waku 7 adjusted his goggles to sit on his head as came out onto the entrance ramp, smirk on his face from the crowds decent reception.

Crossing his arms, Rai looked to be taking all the cheers in for a brief moment. After all, the Battle of the Luminaries had done wonders at giving his node a good reputation, good enough to get invited to another UVR-spinoff, and he sure didn’t intend to waste away this opportunity.

Figuring that was enough time to soak up everything, Rai dashed down to the ring, leaping in without hesitation, not losing any momentum, he ran toward his chosen opponent.

“Beastly Blow!”

Forest had tried to lash out with a blow at the Enchantress, but Electivire intercepted with a Thunder Punch, cutting the attack short.

With Forest down, Enchantress motioned for Electivire to hold him in place as she created a sword made of green energy in her hand.

Swiftly, she heard Rai approaching and turned to swing said sword at him, the boy managed to side-step it and run right past her.

Setting his sights on Electivire, Rai ran up to him and gave a pair of punches to the Pokémon’s face before finishing with a rising uppercut.

With the electric-type dealt with briefly, Rai set his eyes on Enchantress, who looked unfazed at his little display.

“Bravo, boy. What draws you to me specifically?”

Rai looked at the recovering Forest and pointed to him. “I figured if you were just gonna toy with him, I’d lend a helping hand. By the way, isn’t the Enchantress from Justice League Dark supposed to be a hero?”

Enchantress gave a brief chuckle. “Whatever Enchantress you speak of is not me, though June does think she can try channel my power for good. She is sadly mistaken.”

Responding to that with a shrug, Rai headed to the now recovered Forest’s side. “Well, whatever Enchantress you are, I never liked old hags! So, come on! I've been aching for the chance to fight again!”

Turning to see Electivire had recovered and still under her mind-control, Enchantress simply grinned as she turned back to face Forest and Rai.

“Fine. But be warned, you’ve never met a hag like me.”

Forest quickly turned to Rai with a grateful nod. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it, now let’s go!”

“ALEX!” (SFV)

Giving a few spins of his arm as a last-minute preparation for the tournament. The muscular blonde man appeared to be in thought about something, unbeknownst to everyone, it was about Bison.

“Bison hasn’t been spearheading anything lately, could be a virtue, but I’m keeping my guard up. Probably what he wants us to think, that he has given up completely, only to catch us off-guard, won’t work on me though.” Alex said to himself as he made his way to the ring.

Stepping in, he looked over at Tails, and shook his head. He didn’t know what had gotten into him, but he figured he’d put a stop to it.

So far, neither Tails or Aerith had much luck in hitting one another. The problem being that both fighters were able to avoid the others attacks, and both could keep the other from getting too close, which meant the fight went nowhere.

Realizing this, Tails growled as he decided to just wing it and rush at Aerith again, who launched another magic orb at him.

Deciding to just take the attack, Tails was launched back a bit, but managed to barely keep his balance and kept moving forward.

Before he could get more than a couple steps in, Alex came up and grabbed him by the head.

“Alright, what gives? What’s with your problem against anime characters?” Alex asked in a stern manner as Tails struggled to escape his grip.

“What’s to understand? Weebs suck, so any character that weebs like suck too!”

Aerith then approached the two, still not quite understanding Tails’ vendetta against her. “I’m sorry, but how am I the most offensive example here? And how do I qualify as a weeb character?”

Tails groaned. “Because anything with the slightest bit of anime influence attracts weebs! Especially RPG’s! Now, if you’re both going to get in the way of my quest of eliminating all weeb-appeal characters, then you both can be my first victims!”

Kicking at Alex’s arm to break himself free, Tails spun his tails to fly up, avoiding any attacks from the two.

Alex took to Aerith’s side as they dodged more blasts from Tails’ arm cannon.

“Something has to be up with this kid. I’m going to find out what.” Alex said to Aerith.

“Indeed. I would love to try sit down and come to an understanding, as it seems to be a bit of a miscommunication. Final Fantasy certainly isn’t a weeb-appeal franchise, is it?”

Alex shifted his eyes for a brief moment. Avoiding answering the question a bit before nodding.

“Of course not.”

(Hotel; Bison’s Room)

Hearing the sounds of brawling outside only made Bison, angrier. Top that, with Shao Kahn’s threat, and the dictator was promptly fuming.

Slamming his hand on the table next to him, he turned to the still smug former emperor.

“Shao, you threaten me?! I advise you, these are dangerous waters you are treading.” Bison said darkly.

Shao Kahn could only scoff as he looked back up at Bison. “Empty threat to a conqueror of Outworld! You see, I have heard of your many failures since the second Megamix Tournament, it is clear you are not worth working for. I, on the other hand, have forged wars on other realms and seized them as my own! But, naivety keeps me from getting all the allegiances. Everyone comes to you because no one  chooses to oppose you right from the start, I’ll show them how easy it is! And once I bring them you, they’ll flock to me, and my conquest shall begin!”

In response, Bison ignited his fist in Psycho Energy and threw a punch at Shao, who lunged out of the way and looked to bring his hammer down on the dictator’s back.

Smirking, Bison teleported out of the way and launched a Psycho Blast right at Shao upon reappearing. The quickness of this caused Shao to be unable to block or dodge, taking the projectile and falling to the ground as a result.

Before he could even fully back up, Bison torpedoed toward him in a Psycho Crusher, picking him up and sending them both through the bedroom door to the large main room of the penthouse.

Finally getting a look at what was going on, Bison saw his Shadaloo subordinates were fending off Shao’s own. Vega backflipped out of the range of Sindel’s  scream before leaping over it and kicking her in the face to take advantage.

Balrog swerved out of the way of Kollector’s mace before grabbing the chain and pulling the Naknada toward him, though he forgot about his extra limbs which caught his intended uppercut, leaving him open to get kicked, knocking him to his knees. Before the Kollector could plunge his sickle into the boxer though, F.A.N.G. shot a burst of poison into his face, causing him to scream in pain and stagger back, giving Balrog time to recover and deliver a few hard punches.

Speaking of F.A.N.G., upon saving Balrog, he got ambushed by Skarlet, who unleashed a flurry of strikes with her daggers at alarming speed, eventually finding an opening and letting her stab him with her blood tendrils, pick him up and throw him into a wall.

She immediately noticed Bison and the recovering Shao. Looking to buy him time to recover, she transformed into blood to teleport right above him. Dropping down and looking to pierce him with her daggers.

Bison sensed where she was and caught her, quickly shooting a blast of Psycho Power right into her face, and launching her back a few feet. Where a recovered F.A.N.G. leaped at her and looked to slam his poisoned fists into her, only for her to roll out of the way before resuming their fight.

By this time, Shao Kahn had got back to his feet, laughing. He ignited his arm in a green aura and charged forward at Bison, the speed of the attack catching him off-guard and causing him to a few steps back.

Sensing the tide turning in his favor, Shao swung his hammer upwards to catch Bison, who was aware enough to duck under it and spin forward in another Psycho Crusher.

As Shao hit the ground again, Sindel used her Kwan Dao to deflect Vega’s claw swipes before screaming at him, launching him to Bison’s feet while she took Shao’s side.

Following this, Balrog finally uppercutted Kollector strong enough to send him flying over to where his team lay. While Skarlet did the same with F.A.N.G., slashing him with her blood scythe and following with a kick to send him staggering back to his respective side of the room.

Once all four fighters on each side got back to their feet, they stared each other down for a brief few moments.

Eventually both Shao and Bison pointed forward, instinctively commanding their respective fighters to continue the fight while they remained still. Fiercely glaring into the others eyes.

(The Arena)

“NESS!” (SSB)

Adjusting his hat as the main theme of Earthbound played through the speakers, the psychic boy couldn’t help but frown as he remembered his past performances.

“Okay, so my track record at these things….not great. But, there is always room for improvement! I hope..” Ness said to himself.

Before long, the young boy climbed into the ring. Looking around, he quickly saw that everyone was currently occupied, and from what it seemed, nobody seemed to need any help, at least from what he saw.

“Oh, well, looks like I’m fighting whoever is next.” He said with a little uncertainty, turning to face back at the entrance ramp.

Meanwhile, clawing at Rena Rouge, missing but managing to duck under the counter attack. Neco-Arc looked at Ness’ decision to wait for the next fighter and held two fingers up.

“That’s two! Down another shot!” She said before resuming her fight.

“NANASE!” (UNI-B)

Twirling with her large sword, the young middle-school student stopped and looked out around her in an annoyed huff.

“Who knows when Hyde is entering, but whenever it is, I’m finally gonna have my revenge!” She declared as she made her way down to the ring.

Upon her entering, Ness shot her a very perplexed look.

“I thought your little grudge against Hyde was resolved? He asked.

Nanase shook her head with a smile. “It was, at first, but then I figured, why would I be attacked by a void out of the blue? Hyde must have had something to do with it!”

Ness tilted his head, not entirely sure what to think, but eventually he shrugged. “That is true, I guess. Anyway, want to fight?”

Nanase nodded, holding up her sword. “I got much choice? You’re on!”

“PRINCESS REMEDY!” (SC)

Doing a curtsey to the cheering crowd around her, the young princess smiled at the reception, giving a regal wave as she walked down to the ring.

So, she was to be the first of her node to enter the tournament? How exciting! She couldn’t wait to give everyone a great first impression of Slap City! Even if some of it’s fighters were quite…odd.

Stepping into the ring, she gave a gander at everyone currently in, stopping to ponder who to fight at the moment, however, it seemed that like the fighters before her, there was no one free.

Giving a frown, Remedy turned her gaze to look at the curtain. Looks like she had to wait off the side for now.

Shooting her foot out at Rena Rouge, before leaping on top the fox superhero’s head to disorient her, Neco-Arc shook her head, annoyed.

“Come on, Roxas! That’s gotta be like two shots of vodka at this point! You started strong, now finish strong! Next fighter!”

“LORD RAPTOR!” (DS)

Coming out to Deep Purple's Smoke On The Water, the British zombie rocker jammed out to the song for a bit on his guitar, getting a few more cheers from the crowd.

When he was done, he put away his guitar, where was anyone’s guess, and made his way to the ring. Holding up his hands in the signature rock and roll hand horns gesture.

Jumping into the ring, he quickly made a beehive to help Johnny Ohm, shoving Princess Remedy to the side.

Percival swept his sword ignited in flames at Johnny’s feet, successful tripping him and allowing him to combo sword slash Johnny.

Johnny winced as he got up, looking over the slashes across his body, hopefully he wouldn’t feel any of this at the end of the night.

Before Percival could continue attacking, Raptor came up behind him and smashed his hand across his guitar, emitting a loud noise that caused Percival to cover his ears in pain.

Leaping onto and over the swordsman, planting his face in the ground, Raptor then took to Johnny’s side.

“Thanks, man! Nice little display on top there, you find of rock?” Johnny asked with a smirk.

Raptor laughed. “Live and breath it! Couldn’t leave a fellow rocker hangin’! Now, let’s teach pretty-boy here that there is such a thing as too much to an outfit!”

Morphing his arm into a chainsaw, Raptor stabbed forward at Percival, who looked ready to block with his sword.

Before either could make contact, a giant syringe shot toward the chainsaw, deflecting it.

Remedy, having not taken too kindly to being ignored and shoved. Deciding to lend a hand to Percival, making this fight a two versus two.

“Oh, it’s you, love. Didn’t feel like waiting? Very well, you’re welcome to help your boyfriend out, not that it will make much of a difference.”

Remedy simply gave a playful smile at the zombie in response. Nodding to Percival, the two got into shape for battle.

“And now, Mystery Fighter… Number… TWO!”

“JEANNE D’ARC!” (Fate/Apocrypha)

A major character from the Fate series, known under one name as the Maiden of Orleans. Jeanne planted her flag in the ground, leaning on it to say a prayer to herself. Tuning out the crowd around her for a brief moment.

When she was done, she nodded to herself and regally marched down to the ring, looking out to see any potential opponents.

Upon stepping into the ring, Jeanne eyed one person in particular, with a sigh of regard for his fate. She continued marching over.

Swiping his fists at Teruko to try and knock her down so he can grab his sword, Ganondorf would find himself almost a victim of another series of kicks from Robert. Luckily, he managed to catch the love interest of Yuri and swing him into Teruko, who jumped straight over Robert and swung at the dark king.

Ducking under the swing, Ganondorf lunged forward and caught Teruko by the head, holding her up to prep her for his hand energy burst.

Before he could though, Jeanne rushed in and slashed him a few times across the chest with her flag, causing him to drop her.

As Robert recovered, and Jeanne helped Teruko up, Ganondorf looked over at his slash wound and paled when he saw that it glowed white.

“Th-That flag….it-it’s a HOLY weapon?!” Ganondorf, showing a surprising amount of shock as he came to the realization.

Jeanne nodded. “Yes, it is. I’m afraid your vision of conquest ends here.”

Ganondorf looked at Jeanne, still stunned. This was not how he had imagined this might would go.

“SHEN LONG!” (BR)

Coolly walking out on the entrance ramp, the purple-clad clone of Long gave a bored yawn as he looked out onto the ring.

Turning his attention to Ness and Nanase’s fight, Shen Long smirked. A couple of kids, easy prey for him.

Chuckling, Shen Long engulfed himself in a white light, transforming into a white tiger when it went away. Wasting no more time, he barrelled down the ramp.

Once more than a third of the way down, he leaped over the ropes and toward where Ness and Nanase were fighting.

Having just used his PSI Magnet to push Nanase back, Ness was about to pull out his home-run bat and wack the girl with it. When he noticed Shen Long flying towards them.

Quickly, he pointed toward the advancing white tiger to warn Nanase. “White tiger, twelve o’clock!”

Having just recovered, Nanase let out a “huh?” before turning around to see Shen Long just feet away from her.

Yelping, Nanase quickly grabbed Ness’ bat as he pulled it out, winded up, and put every ounce of strength into swinging it as hard as she could at Shen Long once he was close enough.

The resulting blow ended up causing the white tiger to flip backward, making him land on his face as he hit the canvas hard.

Nanase huffed. “You should be ashamed! Going after children? Please, where is your sense of dignity!?” She said, berating the clone of Long.

Unfortunately, Shen Long probably didn’t hear any of it, as he got up and gasped for air.

“G-Girl has an arm…” He said between huffs.

Ness, meanwhile, simply wondered why she bothered to use his bat when she was carrying a sword almost twice her size.

“PULLUM PURNA!” (FEXL)

Dancing to both her tambourine playing as well as the music playing through the speakers. The Arabian heiress danced the entire way from the ramp to the ring. The resulting dancing earning her more cheers from the crowd, though those that were more perverse simply increased the volume of their cat calls and wolf whistles.

Of course, she did this for a reason. Immediately she figured out that once again, the fights currently in the ring lent themselves to no openings unless one were to interrupt.

Not bothered by it, Pullum simply chose to continue dancing to her heart’s content, or until the next fighter made their entrance.

Elsewhere, Neco-Arc simply slapped her arm against her forehead. To her count, that was three times this moment had occurred, and at this point, she was done pointing it out.

“YATTERMAN-2!” (TAS)

Ai Kaminari, better known as Yatterman-2, came out to a mildly positive reception, though maybe some of that can be placed on Doronjo’s own popularity? Who knows.

Just being happy people were cheering, Yatterman-2 struck a series of poses for those that did cheer for her. Once done, she smiled and ran down to the ring.

Pullum saw her come in and smiled when she came up to her.

“Dance-fighting? Never heard of it before, is it fun? Sure sounds like it! I bet if I start doing it, I’d be as graceful as a swan, and Gan-chan would love me even more…” Yatterman-2 said dreamily, as if she was imagining it in her head.

Pullum let out a small nervous laugh at her wide imagination. Tapping her to wake her up from her daydreaming, she took a step back and got into her fighting position.

“I’m not entirely sure, maybe! I do welcome more people to try it! But, um, it’s time to fight is it not?.... You can fight, right?” Pullum asked, stopping and standing in place when asking that last question.

Yatterman-2 giggled and pulled out her trusty baton, the Electric Stick as she called it, spinning it around as if to somehow show her proficiency.

“Of course I can! Now, Gan-chan, watch and wish me luck!”

“ROCK HOWARD!” (KOFXV)

Taking a deep breath as the crowd cheered around him. The blonde son of Geese Howard crossed his arms and studied the ring for an individual, the identity of which clear to those familiar with him.

“Geese isn’t coming, not yet at least. I have no idea when he’ll come, but, just have to focus on surviving for awhile, then I can...-GAH!”

Neco-Arc, somehow aware of Rock’s little monologue to himself, had shot lasers out of her eyes at him in annoyance, meanwhile, Rena Rouge still struggled as getting her off her head.

“Ah, please! So edgy! It’s like it’s the only thing about you that’s interesting is your inner struggle and your obsession with Geese! There is so much more to you than that, like how you like to play bass, or drive cars, or even that you’re a genuinely nice person! No one ever focuses on that part of you!” Neco-Arc had yelled out to Rock, listing everything on her non-existent fingers.

Finally, Rena had grabbed her off her head in spite of her dragon’s grip and quickly threw her toward Rock, who had now entered the ring, not happy about that little attack.

Catching her, Rock shot her a glare. “I need to face Geese, after everything, I refuse to not have some sort of closure to this!”

Neco-Arc simply shrugged. “Whatever.”

She then transformed the lower half of her body into a rocket and flew out of Rock’s hand, the heat burning them a little.

As Rock groaned at his slightly singed hands, Rena then rushed at the little cat-like person, who simply soared upward to avoid her flute swing entirely.

When Rena had tried to leap up to catch her, Neco-Arc had simply transformed back to normal and shot her elongated foot at Rena’s face, continuing with a few claw slashes.

As both fighters landed on the canvas, Rock took to Rena’s side.

“This thing is like an anomaly of a fighter. What is it?”

Rena shook her head. “I’m still asking that question, now come on! She’s beating us by the virtue of being weird, if we can learn everything in her bag of tricks, she’ll be powerless.”

Neco-Arc, again transformed into a part rocket, flew in behind them a few feet away.

“Ha! I haven’t even scratched the bottom of my bag of tricks! Heck, it’s probably endless! Next fighter! Or fighters, because I totally get this, using loopholes to avoid having to take four shots, huh? Eh, you got me.”

“KARIN KANZUKI!” (SFV)

“TERRA BRANFORD!” (DFFNT)

In spite of the bizarre decision to have two of the last three fighters enter together. The crowd was willing to look past that from the looks of it, giving both girls thunderous cheers as they walked down to the ring together.

Doing her signature laugh while walking down to the ring, Karin approached Terra and gave a friendly nod as she looked over her outfit.

“Nice, saving the world in style! You could’ve beaten Kefka through your looks alone.” Karin complimented.

Terra, a little confused at the compliment, but grateful all the same, nodded and did a little curtsey. “Thank you, but, I couldn’t have done it on my own! Everyone helped and did their part!”

Karin playfully rolled her eyes. “Yeah, suppose so.”

As the two entered the ring, Karin immediately turned to Terra and pointed up.

“Now, I’m not gonna pretend like that last fighter to come out isn’t there, care to help me show him how to fight and win like a person of high-class?” Karin asked Terra, who looked up with a conflicted expression.

After a brief moment of being unsure, Terra nodded, a more determined look on her.

“Yes, I yearn to keep others safe, this time shall be no different.”

“And now, the final fighter of this section…”

“KAZUYA MISHIMA!” (SSB)

Giving a devious laugh as he step foot on the entrance ramp. The son of Heihachi and father of Jin, crossed his arms arrogantly as he looked out at the ring, unimpressed at his competition so far.

“I decided to compete, for this?” He asked in a condescending manner.

Shaking his head, he slowly walked down to the ring, taking note of the other villains currently fighting and seeing that they were either faced with multiple opponents like Ganondorf, or needed someone to fight alongside them like Enchantress.

Pathetic, it was. He could potentially take this tournament head-on all by himself and win easily, with nothing but pure raw strength and skill. At least, that was what he thought.

Upon entering, he immediately came face-to-face with Terra and Karin, who looked battle ready.

Raising an eyebrow for a few seconds, before chuckling, Kazuya got into position.

“You? You wish to face me? Girls?” Kazuya asked jokingly.

Terra nodded, still defiant. “Do not underestimate us. I have been through my fair share of hardships, and it has made me more resilient.”

Kazuya scoffed. “You wouldn’t know the first thing about hardships, girl. But, I will not deter from a challenge, no matter how in-vain it is!”

Chapter Text

(Announcers Booth)

“Now that all thirty fighters have entered? The Okron Tournament can now begin! If it hasn’t already! Heh Heh! I need to work on that.”

Roxas put the microphone down and pointedly looked down at his efforts below getting recognized. His dream! It was all coming to fruition before his very eyes! Nothing could….!

His tablet started ringing.

Okay. That snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Livia?” Was all he said as he tapped the screen to answer.

“Hey? Did you make some adjustments to the roster? Like, some literal last-minute changes? Because one second I was looking at it, and the next…. more fighters have been added! And a whole new node!”

Roxas scoffed. “What? No! Of course not, it would really call into question my competence if I did a last minute roster adjustment.”

Livia simply turned pensive. Her look signaling to him to look for himself.

“Fine. I’ll give it a look.” To the background Livia went! “But I assure you I didn’t make any w~wweeeeeeh?”

Silence. And a slack jaw was all Livia could see now. “How is that competence looking now, Roxie?”

“This… cannot be. I didn’t…! I swear it till the Archivists come home that I didn’t do this!”

“Well if you didn’t. Then…” A shrug was all Livia could offer. “… who did?”

Neither one. No. No one in either the Megamix Dome or the Hotel would notice the small swirling sands beginning to spin from nothing. Slowly growing and beginning to swerve around both buildings….

(The Arena)

“Kill them.” Beckoned the Enchantress.

A vague command, right? Well, most take it and be done with it in quick fashion. But this is Electivire, so when he hears this his first act is to ‘ragdoll’ all in front of him.

This started with Discharge, a huge electricity flare that purged from within and seared through those adjacent to the discharger.

Too bad it’s pretty transparent and not smart to use against assuming, mobile targets.

“Move!”

Both Forest and Rai darted back just an inch to avoid the flare.

“I got him, dude!”

“Wait! Don’t use..!”

Too late! Rai charged his gloves and pounded away at Electivire a few times. An incredibly stupid move.

“Your electricity.” Forest sighed.

Enchantress beamed. “Foolish child. Learn to temper your head or surrender control of your life entirely. Preferably to me.”

“Huh? Whaddya me~eEAN!”

Motor Drive increased Electivire’s speed, and that meant he rocketed off while stampeding poor Rai with him.

Forest turned back to the Enchantress. Brow furrowed. “Kill us? The rules do not permit that.”

“Oh? Is that so? Too bad I have the power to change to rules to suit my vices then.” Enchantress grinned darkly. Waving her hand around their section of the ring.

A glossy glass construct formed a cube around the four. Emerald green in color, but still transparent to see through.

Forest paled. “What?! What is this!?”

Enchantress wagged her finger. “Oh don’t submit yet, Leymon. I’m only just getting started.”

(Megamix Dome; Lounge)

“So just what is our grand undertaking?” Luna inquired to Vyse, who was pacing back and forth across his team members.

Steve was quick to ask a question of his own to Luna. “Uh, English please?”

“What is our big mission for tonight?” Bluntly answered.

“That.” Vyse raised a finger. “Is a good question, Luna. The answer is simple, I’ve heard tales of great danger lurking in the recesses of these tournaments. World-threatening plots going on in the background.”

Vanille put a hand to her mouth in a gasp. “And you think that…?”

Soren interrupted her and answered before Vyse could. “That some dastardly!” He started, peppering some dramatic pose and tone to his words. “Fiendish!” More dramatic flare. “Unholy scheme is being cooked up by some dotards as we speak? Well, you’d be correct that he does.”

Vyse coughed. “Exactly. Thanks, Soren.” He quickly recovered and got back to his point. “But he’s right. I don’t doubt it for a moment that someone will try to sink this tournament. And everyone here with it.”

“If you really think so.” Steve beat his bat into his hand. “Where do you think it would be? Just asking so we can kick it’s ass.”

Vyse smirked. So far he couldn’t help but like Steve’s eagerness to jump into action. “Well, it hasn’t happened in awhile. But there used to be common thread between every plot that has ever wreaked havoc on this place. And that one thread is…”

Before he could finish, all five members would get a call on their personal phones distributed to them by Roxas as a direct line to their employer.

“Hey! Got a little job for you! I’m getting a lot of grievances from the Hotel concerning noise. All of it emanating from one person’s room.”

“Bison’s.” They all answered in unison.

“Yep!” Roxas nodded with a knowing smile. “Knew I hired you all for this for a reason. So head up there and see what’s what. Then put a stop to it. Prove to everyone I didn’t err in making you the security team! Now, I gotta go! Bye~eeeee!” And~dddd he hung up.

“Wow! Looks like you were right, Vyse!” Vanille cheered. Much to Soren’s chagrin.

Luna agreed. “It would be more unbecoming to have this entire enterprise run autonomously, without fail.” This did not help Soren’s frustration.

“We ready to go stop this plot?” Perked up Steve.

Vyse unsheathed his cutlass. “Must it be something to be asked? Security Team, move out!”

All five members quickly made their way over to the Hotel. Though Soren lagged just slightly behind, his pride still bruised from getting overshadowed.

“And my excellent deduction of Vyse’s thoughts? What, did the wind take it?”

(The Arena)

Elsewhere to the Enchantress’ machinations. Gozu and Scorpion’s fight was still ongoing.

Well…. fight might be too generous. Really, Gozu was still employing his Ill-conceived strategy of attempting to tire Scorpion out. To lukewarm results.

Eventually it had to dawn on him that this was far from the best plan.

“Just… a little bit… further! Now!”

His huffing and puffing ceasing, Gozu jumped up on a turnbuckle. His newest idea being that he would be unlikely to be caught off-guard on a small surface.

When no yellow-clad Shirai Ryu came. Gozu chuckled underneath his gas mask.

“Ha! See! Try sneaking up on me now! I’ve been at the game longer than you, pal!”

“That may be.” Scorpion’s hollow voice said from…. somewhere.

“But did you ever consider that the element of surprise is meaningless once you are spotted? I don’t need to surprise you….”

Gozu scoffed. “Oh, yeah? Well come on then! Just try and use brute force on me! Get over here!”

Poised to stab with his clawed hand at the first opportunity, Gozu swirled around to see where Scorpion would come from.

As luck would have it a pillar of fire would rise up in front of him. Making out a vague shape in the flames, Gozu lunged his arm forward.

Only to get caught. Rather easily, might I add.

“That’s my line.”

Scorpion effortlessly flipped Gozu off the turnbuckle to the canvas. The Jaguar assassin didn’t get time to collect himself before Scorpion came rushing with his katana.

Gozu could only keep up with a few swipes before he was forced to vanish. Twin waves of fire flying on either side of where he stood.

If not other indication was needed to inform Gozu he had erred trying to fight Scorpion. Look no further. Scorpion takes the attack head on and doesn’t even so much as stagger from it.

“Aw, crap!” Would be all Gozu would say before Scorpion swung his hand and caught the gas mask ninja’s throat.

Before anything could be done to end the fight, however. Something strange would occur. Sand would begin swirling around the spectre, which only seemed to further swallow him further with each passing moment.

“By the Elder Gods!” The last thing the spectre would get out before he was completely engulfed by the same.

Taking his moments when they came, Gozu used his legs to push himself off Scorpion before whatever this was caught him too.

The Sand would continue to swirl around until it stopped just as quickly as it had started. When it finally had cleared, much to Gozu and most of the audience’s shock. The figure that stood before them had a different look to the one that did just moments before.

He had a mostly yellow outfit like before, but he wore no hood, only a mask. He also looked younger and alive, not at all like the resurrected spectre that Scorpion was.

“W-What has happened? Where am I?” He surveyed his surroundings. Taking note of the ring, audience, and people before him. Which only lead to one conclusion.

“Is this it? The tournament? The Okron Tournament?” The man inquired.

Gozu, for his credit, kept his cool enough to give him a small nod. To what motivated his ability to not freak out? Well…

“Now I have you!”

He leapt at the man. Eager to take advantage of his disillusion and eliminate him with ease.

Whether this was an alternate Scorpion or not, one thing was certain. He was still prepared for a fight no matter what. Vanishing into smoke in an instant and reappearing to give Gozu a fiery punch just as fast.

“I may not know of how I have arrived on such a whim. But I do know…”

He grabbed Gozu by the throat off the canvas.

“You best not be so clear with your attacks. Lest you leave yourself open for misdirection. Consider that when you get the chance to look back on your defeat.”

With one hefty throw, Scorpion? tossed Gozu clear out of the ring, the ninja unable to find any in which to get back in as he fell into the portal.

The portal opened and spat out Gozu on a couple of railroad tracks inside what appeared to be a mineshaft. Not far away from him were some masked guards sitting near a fire.

(We had it comin’..)

(We had it comin’!)

(We only have ourselves to blame!)

While the guards sang, Gozu sat up and sighed. Well, this was a bust. Incredibly early draw, and the distinction of being the very first person eliminated overall. He had waited so long for his next big chance and it got squandered. How? Why? Just where did it all go…

(I can’t believe it’s finally me and you and you and me and us and your friend Steve! Doo be doo woo doo do do do Ste-!)

“Hey guys? What the Hell is that!?”

….wrong?

A thick green, fleshy moss substance began emerging from the tunnel ahead. It’s appearance definitely not in any way implying a docile nature.

“Oh, I’m sorry! Was this room… taken?” A disembodied voice asked.

Oh, crap!

(Doo be doo da da doo doo-LEAVE!)

Screaming, the masked guards turned tail and headed off for safer pastures once the green flesh moss resumed growing through the mineshaft.

Unfortunately, Gozu didn’t quite get the memo to run away. Ouch.

“Get back here, Boy Wonder!”

Nanase pushed a green gust of wind to try and catch Ness, but the psychic boy easily floated out of the way.

Ever since the section began, the two had been locked into a three-way fight with Shen Long. The clone didn’t mind it at first, but his lack of hits in so far definitely wasn’t suiting his temperament at the moment.

“PK Fire!”

Nanase quickly swung her massive sword to create another green gust to nullify the projectile.

Shen Long took this chance to strike with a high kick to Nanase, following with a few hard punches with went into her sword, much to her surprise at his lack of a reaction.

“That doesn’t hurt?”

Shen Long shrugged. “What’s a fight if it doesn’t hurt, bike horns?”

Nanase seethed. “Bike horns!? Oo~ooooh! You’re in for it now, interloper!”

“PK Thunder!”

To remind the two he was still in this fight, Ness summoned an electric orb with a tail of lightning behind it and redirected it into himself. Rocketing into both Shen Long and Nanase with a nasty blow AND shock.

The pigtail girl groaned and sat up to glare at her attacker. “I’ll teach you what Batman never did! Not to interrupt a lady’s revenge!”

Ness could only blink. “…Batman?”

Even Shen Long couldn’t help but join in the confusion. “What the hell are you on about?”

The Windmill could only roll her eyes like what she had stated was the most obvious thing ever. “Boy Wonder? That’s Robin! So this kid is the Batman’s ward and sidekick! Duh!” The point at Ness certainly helped convey her message better.

….

….

….

….

“….What?” The two said in unison.

Nanase grinned. “This!”

The Windmill swung her sword up, taking Ness with her for another sword swing. Just missing the top of his hat.

Before she could go for another, Shen Long leaped up and grabbed onto her foot. This didn’t really help, since her shoe had wings on them, and she could float. Really all it did was annoy her. “Hey! Get off, perv!”

Shen Long guffawed. “I’m the pervert!? You’re the one who thought Hyde ‘defiled your body’!”

“Yeah, well… sh-shut up and…!”

“PK FLASH!”

Paying for their mistake of not paying Ness enough attention again, Shen Long and Nanase would have a giant burst of light go off in their faces. The explosion knocking them to the canvas.

It wouldn’t keep the purple-clad Zoanthrope down for long though. In fact, it just made him more…

“Okay…. That’s. IT!”

Angry.

Kicking himself up to his feet, he immediately dashed toward Ness. The PSI boy took out his bat to try and get him, but Shen Long easily swerved to the side and grabbed him by the head.

“I’ll deal with you second, after pigtails over there.”

One heavy stomp to the ground. And in a split-second Shen Long had gone into his tiger form again.

Before Ness could react, Shen Long charged his fist and let loose a heavy punch that rocketed him away.

Psh. They don’t fly that far. Ever. The Kid won’t be a challenge once he deals with the other annoyance.

“Thanks, pervert! Now I can focus on only one of you!”

Speaking of annoyance. Shen Long swerved away from a downward swing of Nanase’s sword. Easy enough. But when he went to counter, the Windmill jumped and conjured a tornado that swept him up and carried him away.

“I’m gonna beat you down and lecture you about my feelings! So you’ll know how it feels to make a mistake!”

Even if he could, Shen Long didn’t feel like responding to her already. This girl was too annoying to have a conversation with, and he never cared for talking during fighting anyway.

“And you wanna know what mistake that is!?” The Windmill asked as she slid to where he fell and struck him in the head with her Zephyr’s hilt. She took the silence as a yes.

“The mistake of challenging me! Now! Atmosphére of the Aether!”

Growling, Nanase charged up Zephyr briefly before unleashing a gigantic upward swing with the glowing blade!

The only problem? She whiffed it just ever so slightly, misjudging the distance and range somehow. This enabled Shen Long to catch her face in his palm after her failed grand finale.

Shen Long would begin executing his Snake Six-Level Combo Ring. Hitting the prone Nanase with blow after blow until his Ring was complete.

For his finisher, Shen Long changed back to his human from and grabbed Nanase again before punching her. Unleashing an afterimage of his tiger form to keep her locked in place. Finishing with a stomp that acted as a detonator to an explosion that would launch the Windmill clear out of the ring.

Shen Long crossed his arms and scoffed. “Go back to school, kid. By your logic it sounds like ya really need it. Oh, and one more thing! Shut up.” He said as he watched her fall into the portal.

Nanase landed in Rival Schools. When Batsu accidentally fell on top of her, it ended up creating another unfortunate situation regarding her innocence all over again.

Shen Long couldn’t help but pound his shoulders in victory. Only the first section and he managed to score an elimination for his node! Not bad. Now where did that kid go…?

Percival and Princess Remedy shoved their respective melee weapons forward. Colliding with a guitar, which belonged to Lord Raptor.

“I don’t think so, nobles!” Johnny shot lightning at Percival’s sword and Remedy’s syringe. Which made them both back off.

“Ha! Good luck puttin’ on a struggle like that! These bolts ain’t lettin’ you get a smack on him.”

Lord Raptor nodded along to his temporary partner. “And in the meantime… ROCK ON!”

The punk-rock zombie strummed his guitar hard, producing a loud soundwave that made both Percival and Remedy wince and cover their ears.

“What’s the matter? Can’t handle the sick, tasty sound of that hard rock? Come on! Bloody wankers!”

Johnny put a hand on his shoulder. “Sit tight, man. I’ll handle these two haters. Play up a sick beat for me while I shock their lights out.”

Grinning, Johnny stepped forward. Not catching the sneer on Raptor’s face that lingered for a single moment. He did as he was told, for now. Strumming on his guitar and beginning to play a familiar melody.

(Shoot me…)

(Shoot me…)

(Shoot me…)

(Shoot me…)

“How about you give me that sword, red head?” Johnny would use his powers in attempt to pull Percival’s sword toward him.

Percival grinded his teeth as he struggled against Johnny’s current. “Never! Scoundrel!” He turned to Remedy and motioned for her to get behind him.

Johnny grunted as the two fought for control. But the Imperfect would pull the plug on this plan and instead launch himself toward the red-headed Lord with his power.

(Here come ol’ flat-top, he come groovin’ up slowly..)

“Now!” Percival shouted.

Right as Johnny was about to rocket into Percival, Remedy leapt out from behind him and covered his peripheral vision with a magic blast.

“Say Aa~aaah!”

(He got ju-ju eyeball, he one holy roller..)

The attack would stun him long enough for Percival and Remedy to rush in with a couple of syringes and sword blows. The Imperfect was only barely able to avoid getting scorched by Percival’s flames before a syringe got him right in one of his goggle lens. Cracking it and causing him to turn hastily in pain.

“Oo~ooooh! You two gone done it now!”

(He got hair down to his knees..)

Percival waved off his threat. “Spare us your riffraff, I’ll see to it that fire will reduce you to ash and dust rather than electricity!”

The Lord of Flames waved his sword over the ground, creating a fiery projectile that nearly caught Johnny if he hadn’t used his powers to fly and avoid it.

Luckily, Remedy would use her own power to float and avoid it as well. The Princess smiled when she pulled out a flask and threw it at Johnny.

(Got to be a joker he just do what he please..)

The flask exploded, making Johnny fall and again leaving him susceptible to sword swings that he would barely manage to avoid.

“Why you little..!” Johnny hissed. When Percival went for another swing he would catch it with one hand, using his other to dispatch of Remedy with a bolt.

Chuckling, Johnny used his powers to make the sword a lightning rod. Shocking Percival as he writhed and slowly began to fall to the canvas. Which only got worse when the electricity spread to his armor.

(He wear no shoe-shine, he got toe-jam football..)

(He got monkey finger, he shoot Coca-Cola..)

“Let’s go for a little ride, friend? My treat.”

With Percival weakened enough, Johnny tackled him and glided across the canvas. During so he would prop the young Lord onto his upper back in an Argentine backbreaker position.

(He say, ‘I know you, and you know me’..)

(One thing I can tell you is you got to be free!)

(Come Together! Right now! Over me!)

“They call this the ‘Burning Hammer’!”

As soon as they stopped, Johnny would drop Percival to the canvas head-first. The Imperfect couldn’t help but shake his head while the Lord got up holding his own in pain.

“With such a fancy blade and look I expected better. Guess your just another pretentious royal with his head in the… CLOUDS!”

(Shoot me..)

(Shoot me..)

(Shoot me..)

Pricked. Never a pleasant feeling, especially in the posterior. A feeling Johnny now knew, courtesy of Remedy.

“Prison is no place to receive an inoculation, Mr. Ohm.” Remedy disclosed with a smile to a now very cross Johnny.

“What in the hell is wrong with you!?”

Still not losing her smile, even as Johnny glided to her. Remedy mentally cheered that her plan worked before she pulled out another flask and flung it at him. Another explosion sent him back, along with another syringe being launched into his other goggle lens.

Watching his ‘partner’ be kept on his toes did nothing to assuage Lord Raptor’s bubbling fury. It was just about time to take matters in his own hands…

…Oh, just a few more verses first.

(He bag production, he got walrus gumboot..)

(He got Ono sideboard, he one spinal cracker..)

(He got feet down below his knee..)

(Hold you in his armchair, you can feel his disease!)

“You’re finished, infernal conduit!”

Remedy knocked Johnny right into Percival, who had now recovered and was ready to finally end this.

(Come Together! Right now! Over me!)

The young Lord of Flames conjured fire into his sword. Spirits burning lively onto the hardened steel. With one swoop he engulfed Johnny with his sword’s swirling flames.

(Shoot me..)

(Right!)

He may have survived the death chair, but Johnny was well and thoroughly toasted by the blaze he was stuck in. Unable to do anything but road as the tesla coils embedded in his skin were fried.

(Come, come, come, come, come..)

Remedy placed a purple orb in front of her. Ready to give Johnny a quick injury evaluation once the attack was done.

(He roller-coaster, he got early warnin’!)

Johnny would find himself swept off his feet by another strike. Then grabbed by Percival and thrown towards Remedy. Who detonated her purple orb upon Johnny getting close enough.

(He got muddy water, he one mojo-filter!)

“It is done. Victory!”

Victory, indeed! Now all that the two nobles had to do was get the Imperfect out of the ring!

(He say, ‘One and one and one is three’..)

But wait. Weren’t there two of them? Where was…?

(Got to be good-lookin’, cause he’s too hard to see!)

Oh, no.

“La Malta! Slam Dunk!”

A strange fish-like being burst out of the canvas, to Percival’s bewilderment. La Malta took advantage of it and swallowed Percival whole, spitting him out a second later with the former condensed into the shape of a small ball.

Lord Raptor sprung into action, grabbing the Percival ball as La Malta morphed to form the shape of a basketball hoop.

(Come Together! Right now! OVER ME!)

Percival really couldn’t do anything to help his situation, helplessly forced to cope with the pain as Lord Raptor slammed him through the hoop, caught him again and hurled him out of the ring.

Percival landed in Demon Slayer. Where he had an existential crisis with Kyojuro over their identical voices.

Lord Raptor chortled while spinning his guitar. “This. This right here is why I am a solo act.”

Just them, screaming could be heard from afar which slowly got louder. The rock zombie turned to see Terra flying toward them.

Poor Johnny, who was now in severely bad shape from Percival’s attack, could only barely stand up now. And when he finally did he was rewarded with Terra slamming into him, which pushed him through the ropes and into the elimination portal.

Johnny landed in Fate/Grand Order. Where he was lucky enough to end up as one of Florence Nightingale’s patients! Yay. Lol.

Terra groggily got to her feet, looking at her surroundings as she got up. Predictably, she was confused. “D-Did I get eliminated from Mishima’s ten-hit combo?”

A shake of the head no was her only reassurance. But her confusion wouldn’t last, it all came back and she saw she was still in the ring. But another thing dawned on her mind.

“Oh no! Karin! I have to help!”

She took off to rejoin her fight with Karin against Kazuya. Leaving a very befuddled Raptor and Remedy to their devices.

“Well…” Remedy started quietly, but out came the syringe. “I’ll see you next.”

“Word.”

(Announcers Booth)

“This doesn’t make sense! Who is this Scorpion!?” Roxas asked to himself.

Better to not waste so much time wondering and less time actually figuring out why. The silver-haired man took out his tablet and went to his roster list, tapping on the name barring Scorpion.

“Okay. It says here that his Scorpion serves under the Lin Kuei? And that his actual name is… Kuai Liang!? Now this makes even less sense! Kuai Liang is Sub-Zero! Not Scorpion!”

He didn’t get any more time to contemplate the implications when he got a call from the guards down at the Ready Room. Great. What else was up?

“Yes?”

The voice on the other end didn’t sound any less exasperated. “Whatever is going on with the roster definitely is causing contemplations over here. A bunch of fighters numbers got moved up and fighters who we swore never drew one are here with the ‘stolen’ ones. A real problem.”

Roxas only had a sigh of exasperation on his face. This might was starting with some complications behind the scenes. And it just started!

(The Arena)

Rai currently was trapped in Electivire’s hold. A very troubling situation since he couldn’t bust out without activating the pokémon’s ability again.

Yeah, he wasn’t making that mistake again.

Forest really wasn’t daring much better, being trapped in magic prism that rendered him immobile. He only gained the ability to move again by The Enchantress blasting him through it.

The dark-skinned man slammed into the barrier the Enchantress had conjured around them. Sliding to the ground, he stared up at the dark sorceress weakly.

“Do you intend to provide a challenge in your current state?” The Enchantress quizzed lackadaisically.

Rai tried once more to break out of Electivire’s grip, but only got more crushed in his arms as a result.

Forest winced when he saw this and turned back to the Enchantress defiantly. “No matter what. I won’t let you bring harm to him at least. The rules are clear, you don’t kill.”

The witch could only her pupil-less eyes. “Please. Do you forget I’m a reality warper? I can easily amend the rulebook as I please.”

(Announcer’s Booth)

Roxas in turn rolled his eyes. “Are we going to have a problem abiding by my tournament rules, Enchantress? Because I can easily prove you wrong.”

His fingers would find a compartment he had installed into his desk. Pulling it open would unearth an unseen object giving off a red glow.

(The Arena)

“It can’t be! The Host would never not allow safeguards in place to protect his competitors!”

Enchantress laughed. “That may be, but if he was foolish enough to invite me to partake in his folly of a tournament. Then perhaps he needs to get a sanity check.”

Forest tried to lunge toward her from the canvas, swinging his axe. But the witch caught it before it could connect.

“How sad. You poor pathetic Leymon.” The Enchantress pushed the axe down and jabbed him with magic to launch him back into the barrier.

“Forest!” Rai managed to wiggle just out of Electivire’s hold to stomp on his foot. The Pokémon cried out and let him go and Rai used this window to blaze toward the surprised Enchantress.

“I’m setting June free!”

Glowing a kaleidoscope of colors, Rai launched punch and kick after punch and kick to the Enchantress. Charged with electricity since he didn’t have to exercise caution.

Electivire tried to put a stop to this, but Forest tackled him into the barrier having found his own second wind.

“Beast!”

Forest slammed into Electivire again, this time conjuring the image of a roaring lion when doing so. The blows deterred him slightly, but didn’t keep him down for long.

He tried gliding forward, but Forest wouldn’t budge this time. Keeping him and Electivire locked in a power struggle.

Rai roared and delivered a series to rising uppercuts to the Enchantress. Who could only grunt in pain before one last blow knocked her to the ground, unmoving.

The young boy cheered before he noticed Forest and Electivire still locked in a stalemate and rushed over to help.

Only to find himself unable to move, with a green aura surrounding him. The Enchantress could only chuckle and shake her head.

“Did you think that Power Star light show would put me down for the ten count?”

Right as this happened, Electivire would charge his tails and begin shocking Forest to seize the advantage. The dark-skinned man could do nothing as he stood helplessly in pain for several seconds as the current danced across his body. When he was done he fell to the floor and didn’t get back up.

“No!” Rai cried out, which just tightened the grip Enchantress had on him even more.

“Silence, child. You’ll be joining him in just moment.” Enchantress motioned to the ropes as she dispelled a part of her barrier. “I’ll abide by the rules for now, get rid of him.”

With a nod, Electivire picked up the downed Forest and carried him to the ropes. Dropping him into the portal unceremoniously.

Forest landed in The Emoji Movie. Unfortunately, right as Just Dance was getting deleted. A long fall into the abyss was in store for him.

Enchantress nodded smugly. “That’s one, and now your turn!”

The witch dispelled another part of her barrier and flung Rai into a currently ensuing fight.

Which one? Well, that would be Yatterman-2 and Pullum Purna’s.

Luckily, Pullum wasn’t one to leave an opponent hanging. She pointed to Yatterman-2 at the boy flying toward her.

“To your right!”

Turning to her opponent’s warning, Yatterman-2 eeked before readying her rod. Swinging it upward just as Rai was a few inches from her face. And since they were near the ropes, that meant she knocked him over them and into the portal. Scoring an elimination for herself, and arguably taking credit for what would’ve been Enchantress’.

It also just dawned on her what she accomplished. Her eyes widening. “Did I just?”

Pullum smiled. “Yes, you did! Congrats! Got your node on the board!”

Angrily watching with narrowed eyes as the girl briefly celebrated before continuing her fight. The Enchantress nodded at her as the next target.

When she moved to bring the barrier she made with her, to her confusion, she would instead find her crack and shatter away. As well as the fact that she couldn’t conjure another one, and that Electivire’ didn’t have that green glow to his eyes anymore.

“What is happening here?”

Roxas’ voice would come through from the Announcer’s Booth. “Oh, that? Just a little evening of the odds.”

Enchantress to her glare to the silver-haired host. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

Roxas shrugged in a lackadaisical manner. “It means that there are no room for powers for those who disobey the rules.”

The witch seethed. “You…! How!?”

With a grin, the man would simply hold up a red stone in his hand. “How, you say? The universal skeptic would say that how is nothing but a question of why. But for your information I bargained with a certain Merc for this, thought it would come in handy. Especially for undoing the weirdness of rule breakers. Effectively I neutered your reality warping powers.”

The Enchantress looked as if she was about to burst. “That is…! You can’t!”

Roxas could do nothing but grin at her. “Oh yes, I can. I mean, not like you can say I can’t anymore, time to take out the source!”

With a banshee-like scream the Enchantress separated herself from June and raced toward Roxas. This was all according to the his plan.

“Electivire! Take out the source!”

Within an instant, the Pokémon would immediately understand what he meant. June! Separate June from the Enchantress!

June wouldn’t get any time to try and make sense of anything before she was picked up by Electivire and pitched out of the arena.

The Enchantress would be mere inches away from clawing up Roxas’ face before she was pulled away by an unseen force. This would be the strings binding her and June together, and with June falling into the portal…. that meant it was bye-bye for her.

All the witch could do before she was dragged through the portal after June was scream ‘No~oooo!’

June and the Enchantress would land in Panty & Stocking. Where they would get quite an earful on the matter of rule-breaking from Kneesocks.

“Due to the matter of how eliminations work. The credit for Enchantress’ will go to Electivire. Great job, buddy!”

The Pokémon could only shrug in response. Two eliminations but both arguably have an asterisk next to them wasn’t ideal. But he wasn’t going to complain at the moment.

(Announcers Booth)

Roxas looked sympathetic for him. “Poor guy, at least I was able to free him from her and use the Reality Stone to fill him in on what happened….”

(The Arena)

Aerith twirled her guard stick to block a series of shots from Velora. Who couldn’t help but smirk.

“Not bad for a girl whose claim to fame is being stabbed in the back.”

Aerith fought the urge to retort about being such an unknown node in a tournament with other media giants. She couldn’t stoop to such a level, especially with the attack on her life when Tails first came out.

Speaking of Tails, she had to get this done and get back to helping Alex to pay him back for assisting her. As well as find out whatever was up with the young fox…

Meanwhile, watching the two fight was the Magician. Waiting in the wings, slowly looking for an opening. Once he had it he’d spring into action, unleashing his secret weapon and leave them both in the dust!

“Any moment now…”

Velora swung her gunblade, only to end up clashing with Aerith’s Guard Stick.

“I’m surprised they let an assist-only character in this tournament. No offense..”

Aerith nodded. “The host likely wanted a few more characters from our franchise. So he removed NT specifically so as to allow me in. Make no mistake, I am no pushover.” She smirked.

Velora smirked right back and leaned toward her. “Let’s finish and see for ourselves, shall we?”

The former con artist fired another blast, the noise making Aerith wince and loosen her grip. Allowing Velora to push her back and slice away at her, just nicking her in the arm.

The young flower girl gripped her arm for a second. But she knew not for long, using her good arm to block the sword again. This kept on until Aerith saw her chance and poked her Guard Stick into Velora’s chest. Giving her a good bash on the head for good measure.

Velora fell to one knee and groaned, letting Aerith think she was good for another blow. But she surprised the latter by holding up her gunblade and kicking her in the abdoment. A shot following afterward.

Aerith yelped and skidded across the canvas. But regained her composure when she saw Velora leap up and bring her sword down on her. This brought back a brief flood of memories and Aerith instinctively rolled out of the way.

“What’s the matter, dear? Your past coming back to haunt you. Sorry, but I got a tournament to win…”

“STOP!” Cried a voice.

Curious, both girls turned to the direction of the voice. It was The Magician, having cherry-picked his moment to intervene.

But…. now he wasn’t so confident. Still, he had to make his move!

“You got somethin’ to say?” Velora asked while pointing her gunblade at him.

The Magician blinked. “Uh… Music! Please!” He yelled. Gesturing up to Roxas in the Announcer’s Booth. Who could only shrug and get on his tablet to operate the Sound Booth from his seat. After a few seconds a chorus would begin to play.

(Shake! Shake! Shake!)

(It’s all that you make of it, take what you will!)

(You know, know, know! Your only mistake is if you stand still!)

The Magician would burst into dance. Complete with a disco ball appearing above him. Where did it come from? Who knew?

Aerith and Velora could only watch in complete confusion.

(So Shake! Shake! Shake!)

(It’s all what you make of it, break it until..)

(You know, know, know! Your only mistake is if you stand still!)

(It’s only up to you…)

He completed the lyric with a point to Velora. Who could only stare incredulously at the Teensy.

In the background, Aerith was watching the two and beginning to charge energy for an attack. A rather large attack.

(It’s only up to you…)

(It’s only up to you…)

(It’s only up to you…)

(It’s only up to you…)

The brief dance break would end with the song. And silence, very awkward silence, would follow it.

The Magician his pose, but with the newfound sweat that was pouring down his face it was obvious he knew now this was a failure.

Velora hadn’t moved from her dull glare at him, nope! Still just looking at him with the least impressed look ever conceived.

“You done?”

Before he could answer, a different voice would do it for him.

“Yes!”

Both fighters turned to look at who spoke, which was Aerith. Who was now floating and emitting an aura of light while four orbs surrounded her. Velora and The Magician realized too late what had happened.

The dance break allowed her to sneak off and charge up her Holy attack, which most Dissidia players would know was unavoidable when Aerith casted it.

Oh, well. Too bad for them.

“HOLY!”

A large explosion of light erupted from Aerith. Engulfing both Velora and The Magician in it’s radius, neither fighter able to do anything.

The blast was enough to send both victims soaring over the ropes and out of the ring.

Velora landed in Shadow of Destiny. Where she fell on top of Eike Kusch, her gunblade falling after her and impaling him.

Aerith took a deep breath of relief when she touched the ground again. She had gotten lucky and cut it a bit too close. But at least she managed to come out on top.

She turned her attention to Alex and Tails fight, the two were still going at it. When their eyes met, she silently signaled to him as if to ask if he needed help.

The blonde man motioned for her to stay back, insisting on doing this by himself.

Aerith sighed and nodded, but she still kept an eye on them. Just to make sure this wouldn’t end up being a mistake.

“Oh, phooey! Velora just got eliminated! Well, looks like it’s up to me to do her justice. Give me just a moment!”

 Neco-Arc reached into her skirt pocket and fiddled with something within. Causing both Rena Rouge and Rock Howard to stop their chase of the chibi clone.

“What do you think she’s gonna pull out now?” Asked Rock in a very tired tone.

Rena sighed and shrugged. “No idea. But let’s be ready for it. If we can.”

“A-ha! Gotcha! Introducing Neco-Arc’s Bag of Tricks!” She beamed. Holding up a small black bag that was marked exactly as she said.

Neco-Arc would reach into the bag and feel around, the sounds coming from within both made Rena and Rock sweat palm. What did she keep in there?

They got their answer when she pulled out a gunblade. Bizarrely identical to Velora’s.

“Now! By the power vested to me by the power of Fourth Wall, and Roxas_Gramarye, my next move shall be…. Velora’s super!”

With a single shot out of the gunblade a sequence of barrels would somehow appear out of thin air and begin flying across the ring. One would ram into Rena Rouge and explode, sending her flying several feet.

“What!? Just, what!? Ugh!” Rock would simply growl at seeing this nonsense. He knew better at this point to question the chibi, but still… this was ridiculous.

Dodging barrel after barrel, Rock moved to punch the small chibi-cat thing. But Neco-Arc would glide out of the way, which set her up for a high-kick. Then a backhanded elbow.

“Oof!” Was all Neco-Arc would say. Flapping her arms as the attack sent her back. But that wouldn’t be the end of it, as a recovered Rena Rouge came back and smacked her overhead with her flute.

“Reppuken!”

Rock swung his arm and unleashed a purple wave which struck Neco-Arc and sent her back again. Rena charged at her, but the former was quick to recover. Grabbing a barrel out of the air and threw it at her.

Rock couldn’t help but be bewildered again. “What? But those things explode when you touch them!”

Neco-Arc shrugged. “Who ever said? Here! Have one too!” She would pluck another out of the air and hurl it at him. He tried to punch through, but only got another explosion just like his partner.

A jingle would sound… where? Look, we have no idea. But Neco-Arc seemed to recognize it. “Oo~oooh! Time for another surprise from the Bag of Tricks! Oh! I think you’ll love this one!”

As Rock and Rena scrambled to their feet, Neco-Arc would fiddle around with her bag again. This time what she drew out of it was…

… A sword. But, not just any sword!

“Soul Calibur!”

WHAT!? Said by not just Rena and Rock, but by some of the audience too!

“Where did you get that!?”

Again. All she could do was shrug the shock off. “I don’t know. But this sword could use some duct tape. Hey, wait!” She’d reach into her bag and pull out some, taking a strip and taping it over the blade for some godforsaken reason.

“There! Now it can be quiet! Now, I only have one more trick to show you! But let’s have some fun with this one first!”

Rena would just blink. “That has to be against the rules.”

Neco-Arc raised her eyebrow. “Hmm?”

Rock would then cut in, his hesitant to speak clear. “Afraid not. Deadpool was allowed in these tournaments…”

The chibi clone would smile and nod in agreement. “Exactly! Screw the rules! I have a Bag of Tricks!”

Another jingle would sound. Much to Neco-Arc’s chagrin. “Already!? I didn’t even get to play with Soul Calibur yet! Fine. Next section I will.”

Rena whispered to Rock. “I have an idea. If this works, we can get her out!”

The fox-themed superhero would pull her flute back out and play a small tune on it, causing the tip of it to glow.

“Mirage!

Her illusion ready, Rena Rouge held her flute and flung the small glowing or a few feet from Neco-Arc. The illusion in question being an exact duplicate of her Bag of Tricks.

“Let us see what will be next to come out of the infamous Bag of Tricks!” Fortune for Rena and Rock, she would reach into what appeared to be the duplicate.

“We got her! Follow my lead! Sorry, Neco-Arc but it looks like you chose….”

Rena Rouge flung herself at the chibi-cat, flute outstretched to attack.

“WRONG!”

Neco-Arc shook her head, not alarmed at all. “No, I didn’t. I choose…” She would pull them pull out.

A cannon. Which made Rena Rouge’s eyes bug out. And in true Neco-Arc fashion it wasn’t an ordinary cannon. It was the…

“PROTON CANNON!!”

Rena Rouge took the massive beam blast head-on and be sent rocketing out of the ring and into the portal.

Rock could only stare speechless at the small, petite chibi while she placed the giant cannon back into her bag.

This wouldn’t go unnoticed by her. “Wondering how I saw through her ploy? Easy! I heard her and swapped the bags! Even if it worked, I know a trick when I see one! It’s in the name of my bag!”

When Rock remained still in shock, she just continued rambling on. “I could eliminate you right now. But sadly the voters decided otherwise, so how about a brief truce? Let me help you get your elimination.”

Rock still remained silent, and again Neco-Arc took this as an agreement. “Great! Now if memory serves me right, you were supposed to eliminate… oh yes! Remedy. Now just hold still while I…”

Neco-Arc would pull out another explosive barrel and hurl it at Rock, who only just then came to and futilely tried to block it once more.

Remedy was attempting to fight off Lord Raptor for eliminating Percival. She would shove a bouquet of flowers in his face, making him stumble back and choke on them as he did so.

That was when Rock would sadly slam into her, making her skid along the canvas and slide under the ropes to her elimination.

Rock would get back up with a groan, oblivious to his elimination. But not for long.

“Hey! Thanks for the assist! Now I can keep on rockin’ while I wait for the next section!” Lord Raptor said with a thumbs up to Rock.

All Rock could do was sigh.

(Hotel; 30th Floor)

Vyse and the Security Team got off the elevator and hurriedly rushed over to Bison’s room.

“Come on! The receptionist said at the end of the Hall!” Vyse told the others, not letting up on the running.

Meanwhile, watching them from another door, a man with the bottom half of his face burned off eyed them as they ran out of sight.

He held up a stone with a red-headed feminine figure projecting off from it. “The Security Team are actively seeking out Bison. This should prove worthwhile if they chase their tails after him. They’ll never see us coming, Nitara.”

The figure nodded, closer look would reveal a wide smile. “Indeed. They’ll waste precious time fighting off Bison and his cronies. Leaving us to level them both once they are weakened. Your quest for anarchy will be seen, and sustenance for Vaeternus will be provided.”

The man grinned. “In due time.”

(The Arena)

Alex frowned as he raised his bulky arms to block a series of energy shots. However, Miles “Tails” Prower merely gave an annoyed scoff before flying over his rotating tails before flying around Alex and continued to run fire shots at the wrestler. However, the latter was quicker than he looked as he either moved out of the way of the shots or simply blocked it. However, being a Sonic character, Tails was moving faster than Alex and managed to catch him in the shoulder.

The moment that Alex dropped his guard, Tails opened fire with a series of shots from his arm cannon while striking Alex multiple times and after five hits, Tails flew straight forward and kicked Alex in the face with both feet. As the blond man staggered back, Tails temporarily put away his arm cannon to get out a wrench and swung it forward. However, Alex snapped out of his daze and caught the wrench with both hands before it could smash into his face.

Alex then slapped his head against Tails’ own, knocking to the ground. However, the vulpine quickly recovered by spinning around and sweeping Alex off of his rear with his tails. As the wrestler fell onto his rear, Tails flew over and proceeded to spin around which struck Alex in the face with his tails multiple times. One final tailspin sent Alex sprawling on the ground. Tails then got out a wrench in each hand before throwing them both downwards.

However, Alex snapped out of his daze and managed to catch both wrenches with each hand. Tails just scoffed before he proceeded to throw even more wrenches at Alex. However, the blond man managed to catch each wrench one-by-one (while dropping the earlier ones to the ground with each other). By this time, Alex had managed to catch TWELVE wrenches without fail.

“Yo, I work on my car a lot!” Alex roared. “Do you really think that you don’t know how to handle a wrench!”

Neco-Arc then smirked before looking at Rock. “See? While not common, you could still showcase your hobbies, now and then, even in a fight?”

The blond man slumped his arms. “...How many people in this tournament fight with wrenches?”

Tails ignored the two as he narrowed his eyes. “So you could take a few of my attacks? It still doesn’t make you any less of a weeb-sympathiser for not only helping the white mage escape but also doing a crossover game against those Tatsunoko weebs!”

“Okay, this is fuc… Freaking ridiculous!” Alex muttered, mentalling reminding himself that Tails was a child. “Ignoring the fact that you rarely acted like this… Ever, doesn’t YOUR node have anime influence.”

Tails’ pupils shrink when heard this. “What!?”

“But don’t get so surprised. Your series has not only gotten an anime OVA but also a long-running anime!” Alex elaborated. “Hell, in the main series, Sonic basically becomes Super Saiyan! You are just as much of a ‘weeb-appeal’ character as the Dissidia and Tatsunoko characters here!”

Tails’ eyebrow then started to twitch violently at this. Suddenly, he let out a large roar before a pale blue light surrounding him, startling Alex. Then, the light cleared and…

“...You gotta be shitting me!” Alex exclaimed with slumped arms, completely forgetting to mind his language.

Tails was now in a blue mini-plane. Sonic fans cheered as they recognised it as the Tornado.

“Maybe if you didn’t spend so much time galavanting with weeb characters, you would have played the latest DLC for Sonic Frontiers and be more prepared!” Tails boasted.

With that, he flew the Tornado towards Alex. However, the blond man just narrowed his eyes before raising up his hands. Much to everyone’s shock, Alex managed to not only grab onto the plane but also stop it from sending him flying straight over the ropes as while the struggle sent them skidding back with Alex facing the ropes, the latter managed to stop himself.

“Ha! Tatsunoko VS Capcom aka the ‘weeb-appeal trap’ you hated so much gave me the opportunity to suplex two building-sized robots!” Alex boasted with a smirk. “Your Tornado is not more than an overgrown toy plane! What do you say to THAT!?”

Tails narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly, he smirked. “What do I say? I’ll say Cyclone Cannon.”

Alex’s smirk vanished when he heard this. Suddenly, the front of the Cyclone opened up to reveal a cannon. Alex’s pupils then shrank at this as the cannon started to gather up energy.

“No, wait!” Alex pleaded.

But it was too late.

SZSZSZSZSZ!

A large beam of light shot from Tails’ Tornado cannon into Alex and sent him flying until he crashed back-first into the barrier, protecting the audience from stray attacks. When the beam cleared, Alex peeled off of the barrier, losing consciousness and dropped into the portal like a stone.

Teruko swung Ganon’s own sword at him. Well one of them at least. As evidenced by him pulling out another identical to it to struggle against Teruko.

“Didn’t occur to you I wield two swords? How sad, now you will pay for it with..”

That was when Jeanne would intercept this with her flagpole, stabbing forward to Ganondorf’s chest.

Ganondorf would yelp and glide back to avoid the stab. The unbecoming act and sound would amuse Teruko. “Not so tough when you get faced with a flag, eh, green face?”

The dark Gerudo huffed. “Easy to say when you aren’t weak to Holy weapons, like the one your friend has here.”

This was the time where Robert Garcia would clock him in the back of the head with a kick. Making drop to his knees where Jeanne would attempt to stab him again, only for the warlock to risk the burn and grab the flag push it and it’s wielder into Robert. Who would only just manage to avoid puncturing his knee.

Ganondorf rolled to the side, where Teruko would again lock blades with him. This time attempting to kick him in the torso, but it had little effect due to his armor. All this really did was give him an opening to catch her leg and use his strength to flip her onto her stomach. Making her drop his sword.

Knowing there was no time to waste, the King of Evil shook the pain off his hands and grabbed his other sword just in time to deflect a series of rapid kicks from Robert. Once again Jeanne would come to swoop in and attempt to impale him, but again he slid back to avoid it.

“This woman. I have to get rid of her somehow. But that’s the question. How?” Would be what Ganondorf would ask himself in his mind.

His answer wouldn’t come right away, as Teruko had gotten back up and tackled him while he was busy thinking. Since he was caught off-guard she had managed to push him back several feet and even hold him in place.

“Get this asshole! Now!”

Heeding the Ultimate Lucky Student’s words. Jeanne spun her flag and jumped into the air above Ganondorf, looking to bring his tournament crusade to premature end by impaling him.

 But, true to the poor girl’s luck. It had run out at this point, because Ganondorf would break free of her grasp and shove her into the line of fire instead.

Jeanne could only just position herself so the flagpole wouldn’t spike her, but as a result of her momentum she would slam into her hard. And seeing as they were near the ropes, this meant Teruko fell through them and into the portal.

Jeanne could only gasp at her accidental elimination of her ally. Her shock and shame leaving her blind to the sound of a mini rocket coming up behind her. At least until she was picked up by the culprit.

Which was who, you ask? None other than Neco-Arc. The small chibi-cat shook her head while she hoisted her up with surprising strength.

“Sorry. But this was the best way I could think of going about this. Ah, well! Least you could say you got an elimination! Later!” The small chibi would pitch the blonde woman clean out of the ring with no hope of return.

Jeanne landed in World Heroes. Where she would spar with the Joan of Arc inspired fighter of that node.

Robert could only smack his head with a sigh. “You have to be kidding me.”

Ganondorf could only laugh in response. “Your allies have deserted you. It was for the best. Who knows what carnage keeping an Ultimate Lucky Student around would cause.”

Robert smirked at him. “We both know you couldn’t do anything to Jeanne. Her flagpole made sure of that.”

Ganon’s pupils shrank in fury. “And this conversation is over.”

The warlock briefly sheathed his swords to ignite his foot in darkness while blazing forward with it outstretched. Robert barely had enough to dodge, but doing so allowed him to climb up onto him and kick him away.

Rubbing his chin where he was kicked, Ganon grinned and got his Great Swords back out. He charged one up with his dark magic before flinging a concentrated orb of it toward Robert.

“Ryuu-Geki Ken!”

A fireball from Robert’s own hand intercepted the dark magic ball. An explosion would ring when the two projectiles collided. And rushing out of the smoke was Ganondorf.

The Gerudo King unleashed a wild fury of slices from his swords. His furious swinging putting Robert on the defensive.

Despite his struggles at keeping up, the Italian lover of Yuri managed to avoid every single stroke. Letting him get a rising kick to Ganondorf’s chin in, and he would follow with another fireball whilst in the air.

This still wouldn’t be enough to daze the warlock. Who immediately rolled back to his feet upon hitting the canvas.

“Not bad. But I’m afraid you’ll be leaving this tournament shortly.”

Robert couldn’t help but ask. “Oh, yeah? You think so?”

The man’s grin grew. “It is a certainty.”

Nothing was a certainty to Robert, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let this desert cactus say anything was certainty.

“Haoh Shoukou Ken!”

The fireball this time was massive and much faster, Ganondorf didn’t have nearly enough time to move out of the way. Holding his swords up to try and tank the blow as much as possible.

This was his best shot, he knew it. Robert went over as fast as he could, ready to deliver the finishing string.

“How’s this for certain!?” The man flung forward with airborne roundhouse kick.

Only to strike steel.

“Indeed, certain.”

Before Robert could react he was tossed to the side. His error causing him to fumble his landing and fall to his rear.

“Goodbye.”

Sheathing his swords, Ganondorf gathered dark magic into his hands. Leaping up and slamming them into the canvas. Creating a massive shockwave of darkness that caught Robert and launched him over the ropes and down to the portal. Limp as a sack of potatoes.

(Hotel; Bison’s Room)

The entire room was in disarray. But that was a given. Both Bison’s and Shao Kahn’s teams had wrecked havoc on the very expensive décor and furniture. Not that anyone cared.

Speaking of the two warlords, they were currently locked in a power struggle whilst their underlings continued to fight. Bison locked his arms with Shao’s hammer.

“Tell me, what do you gain from defeating me? I have no doubt the others don’t the same way as they did long ago. Really you’re wasting your time.”

Bison charged his fist and punched forward, staggering the emperor. Just in time for him to avoid Kollector’s spiked ball and chain which was aimed at Balrog, who gave a toothy grin and used his momentum against him. Pulling him in for a one-two punch.

Shao ignored this and held his hammer behind his head. “You really think so? If you do, your reputation must be starting to preceded you, or you are getting senile in your old age.”

If his intent was to rile him up he succeeded. Bison would catch the javelin Shao would throw at him and hurl it at Kollector, who had just staggered into his range. Pinning him against the wall and allowing Balrog to relentlessly punch him until he was knocked out.

“Senile? I think not.”

Meanwhile Vega ducked under a sonic scream from Sindel, tackling her and kicking the empress into the wall. She would only shoot the matador a pained smile.

“I hide behind no such masks. Your vanity undermines your own skill. It will be your downfall.”

Vega rolled his eyes. “My dear, notice that I am ignoring you and your words.”

He slashed at the purple-clad woman, catching her off-guard while avoiding her own attempts to counter with her spear. In fact, one more swipe and he had knocked it out of her hands.

They both looked at each other before Sindel lunged for her weapon. But Vega would beat her to it. Grabbing it and slashing her arm.

Sindel grinded her teeth to hide the pain. Then tried for another sonic scream, but Vega hopped over her and pulled her down. Taking her down and making her land on her head.

Vega chucked her spear at Shao, knocking his hammer out of his hands and allowing Bison to charge straight into him and then the wall.

Bison held his hand to the emperor’s throat. “You don’t know, but there is a reason I consider your move to be a waste of time.”

Skarlet swung her blood scythe at F.A.N.G. a few times, hitting him each time. On the final hit she swung upward and carried him into a ceiling light and then through a small cabinet.

She moved to go help Shao, but Bison easily launched her away with a fireball. Shao focused his attention back to his captor.

“And what reason would that be?”

Bison leaned in. “I don’t have a plan for dominion this tournament. I’m taking the night off. Simple, really.”

Right when he was about to interject. Two small swirling tornados of sand would begin to encircle both him and Sindel like with Scorpion earlier. The act made both Bison and Began stop and let go of their respective opponents while Balrog merely looked on it dumbstruck shock.

“The Hell? What’s going on?”

Neither had an answer as both were completely submerged with the sand, all the while not making any sort of sound. But when it all faded, two new but similar looking figures stood where they once were. Their eyes immediately met and shared a shared look of trepidation.

“Empress Sindel?”

“General Shao?”

Nobody would have a chance to say anymore as the Security Team busted through the door. But even they would all share equal looks of surprise at the scene before them.

“Damn! Does this mean there isn’t an evil plot to stop?” One would ask in a sad tone.

“What is all this? Who are they?”

(The Arena)

Shen Long attempted to pounce on Ness, but the psychic boy glided back and gave him a few PSI sparks to the face for his effort.

The clone growled while clutching his face. “How’s about you stand still and make this easy?”

His response would be a most profound one. “No.”

He could only roll his eyes. “Yeah, thought so.”

Ness avoided a kick from the purple-clad man, and went to go retaliate with his own powered kick. Shen Long would duck and uppercut him into the air.

Getting his bearings as he landed, Ness pulled out his yo-yo and smacked Shen Long in the shin with it. The older man hopped around on one foot before glaring at the teen. “We’re getting’ down to the nitty-gritty of this round. Not much people left, and it’s only a matter of time. I gotta secure my place!”

Ness tilted his head. “So why continue to fight me? You’ve already got an elimination. Heck, better than you’ve ever done before.”

The boy should be probably be fortunate the clone chose to ignore that part. “Yeah, true. But we haven’t seen any type of sceentime in years. Not to mention I hear there is a fourth Megamix Tournament happening and us Bloody Roar folk didn’t get invited! What that host here gave us is a gift, and I’ll be damned if I don’t make the most of it.”

The young psychic relented with a nod. “Alright, you made your point. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to eliminate you though.”

Shen Long nodded, smiling. “Likewise.”

This time he’d try another running kick, and he was more than prepared to catch the yo-yo this time around. But Ness had other plans….

“PK Flash!”

Sliding right under Shen Long’s legs, Ness cooked up another ball of light. The burst catching the clone and making him fall on his face.

Another low growl came from the clone, he turned swiftly to face his adversary and kick his leg out. Clocking Ness and enabling him to gather some leeway into this fight.

He'd try transforming again, but the effort exhibited with Nanase before would leave him with not quite enough to complete it. Slumping his body with a tired sigh.

“Damnit! It’s been so long… why did I use up all that energy on pigtails!?” He cursed.

Ness then caught him with his telekinesis, holding the clone in place over his head. “I don’t know. But, hey. You got one elimination, maybe you’re fellow nodal companions will get more.”

With nothing more to add, Ness telekinetically threw Shen Long out of the ring. The lack of purple coming back up signified to him that he was eliminated.

Shen Long landed in Ty The Tasmanian Tiger. Where he would serve as a great impromptu boss for the titular character.

Yatterman-2 narrowed her eyes before jabbing her electric rod forward. However, Pullum Purna smiled while humming and managed to dance around the incoming barrage, dodging every part. Yatterman-2 then tried a horizontal swing but Pullum did a flip to not only leap over the attack but also move over her opponent to kick the pink-clad girl in the back and send her staggering back forward.

Yatterman-2 quickly recovered before jabbing her rod forward, but Pullum spun around to avoid the attack before backhanding Pullum in the face. Yatterman-2 staggering back but quickly before swinging her rod like a baseball bat. Pullum then jumped backwards to avoid the attack. However, she was unable to avoid the ball of electricity that came from Yatterman-2’s swing.

The projectile hit Pullum head-on, not only hitting her but zapping her. This allowed Yatterman-2 to run forward and did her barrage attack, this time hitting Pullum with all of the attacks. Pullum grunted in pain before Yatterman-2 went over to continue the assault.

“Pullum Kick!” Pullum yelled, doing a flip kick which struck Yatterman-2 in the chin and sent her flying into the air. As Pullum gracefully landed on her, Yatterman-2 crashed on her back with less grace. Pullum then jumped up into the air.

“Drill Purrus!” Pullum shouted, doing a drill kick forward. However, Yatterman-2 snapped out of her daze before yelping and rolling to the side to avoid the attack. The blonde then kicked Pullum in the side and sent the Middle-Eastern woman staggering to the side. Yatterman-2 then got up to her feet.

“I will not give up so easily!” Yatterman-2 yelled in determination. “Gan-chan is watching and I have to make him proud!”

Pullum raised an eyebrow. “I mean… You DID already get an elimination.”

“Even still, I am the first representative of a node that probably wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t our crossover with Capcom!” Yatterman-2 insisted.

“Yeah, I kinda know how you feel.” Pullum sighed with a shrug. “Yes, the original characters of Street Fighter EX mostly have to have the Street Fighters do the heavy lifting for our node.”

“In that case, we BOTH should give our best for our respective nodes.” Yatterman-2 mused.

“Yes, let’s.” Pullum smirked.

With that, she jumped up into the air but Yatterman-2 thought quickly and swung her rod in an arc at Pullum. However, the heiress just giggled before JUMPING IN MIDAIR out of the attack. While Yatterman-2 was recovering from her own attack, Pullum swung both of her arms downwards onto Yatterman-2’s head. While the mechanic was stunned, Pullum landed on the ground and proceeded to do a series of kicks, while dancing.

Yatterman-2 grunted in pain. “Omotchama! Help!”

“I am on it!”

Suddenly, a yellow blur came from Yatterman-2’s back and punched Pullum in the face, forcing the Middle-Eastern girl to stagger back. When she recovered, she saw a tiny, yellow dice-like robot, flying using a propeller on his head. Pullum blinked twice before looking up at the Announcer’s Booth.

“Um, is this allowed?” Pullum asked.

“Well, Omotchama IS part of Yatterman-2’s moveset in Tatsunoko VS Capcom so as long as a separate character is part of someone else’s move, they are allowed with the main fighter.” Roxas explained.

Tails slapped his head. “Ugh, you mean we have to deal with MORE weeb-appeal characters!”

Yatterman-2 ignored Tails’ outburst (she definitely didn’t want to provoke into targeting HER next) and pointed her rod at Pullum. “Let’s go, Omotchama!”

“I’m on it, da-koron!” The robot cheered before flying forward.

Pullum yelped before jumping to the side to avoid a punch from Omotchama. However, this left her wide open for Yatterman-2 to run forward and lunged her rod into Pullum, zapping her with electricity. As the heiress cried out in pain, Yatterman-2 continued the assault with a series of rod swings and kicks with Omotchama helping out by flying behind Pullum and doing some punches.

Then, despite being in pain, Pullum got out a tambourine.

“CYCLONE!”

With that, she did a pirouette upwards with green wind swirling around her, striking both Yatterman-2 and Omotchama multiple times and sending them back. The latter struggled to keep himself balanced while still flying. He then looked up.

To see Pullum pulling her tambourine over her head.

TONG!

Pullum then smashed her instrument over Omotchama’s head, breaking it and trapping the robot inside of the tambourine. The robot was dazed by the attack, Pullum took the tambourine while Omotchama was still inside of it and turned towards Yatterman-2 who just now recovered and looked at the scene with shock.

“Hey, catch!” Pullum shouted with a smirk.

With that, she threw the tambourine like a frisbee towards Yatterman-2. The mechanic was not expecting this and took the tambourine and Omotchama to the stomach. This sent the two sprawling across the ground until they accidentally moved underneath the bottom rope.

“Winner!” Pullum cheered before getting out another tambourine out of nowhere.

Yatterman-2 landed in River City Girls where she and Kyoko gushed over their respective boyfriends, Gan and Riki.

Back in the ring, Pullum would look around and do a quick headcount of the fighters left. Thirteen. Just one more elimination was needed to end the section! Thrilled at the chance of surviving she turned to the last active fight remaining.

“Terra?”

When her name is called, the esper looked toward her ally. “Yes?”

Karin Kanzuki would sigh. “Can I just say? If we lose this, I’m never talking to you again.”

Terra blinked. “I can’t say I share that feeling.”

Another sigh from Karin. “Well, I can.”

Their current opponent, Kazuya Mishima, would state at the both of them with his arms folded, unimpressed. “Are you two done?”

The duo nodded, Karin in particular especially exasperated. “Yes, yes, let us begin again.”

Almost immediately when they resumed was Karin put on the defensive, catching Kazuya’s heavy punches in her palms was not a pleasant feeling. Thankfully, Terra was here to make sure she didn’t have to keep her guard up.

“Tornado!”

Two tornados appeared under Karin and Kazuya’s feet. Lifting them both up and into the sky, Terra rushed over to help Karin out and then turned their attention back to the helpless Kazuya.

“Worm!” Was all he could say before the tornado threw him to the ground. This gave both Terra and Karin the chance to attack, the latter going first by delivering a few punches to the man’s face, and then a hard palm strike.

Now Terra would rush in with her sword, to a less successful result with her only grazing Kazuya’s arms thanks to his holding them up in defense. He countered by kicking up high, throwing her off her balance and letting him get a devastating combo on her.

Then it came time for Karin to make the save, intercepting his next punch that would’ve launched her back not unlike what he did before. A punch to his face soon followed, followed by a jumping kick.

Rubbing his face, Kazuya didn’t seem dazed much at all by it. Proven when he lunged forward and socked Karin with a electric-charged punch. The young lady fell to her knees.

“Holy!”

A bit different to the attack of the same name Aerith used to eliminate Velora and The Magician, but effective all the same. Terra pelted Kazuya with magical projectiles until he was wide open to being swept off his feet and pushed back with a lunging stab.

Terra turned to Karin again and helped her up. “A little more faith would do you good.”

Karin nodded, looking away. “I suppose. But…”

Their attention turned back to Kazuya, who recovered once more rather quickly and was barreling towards them. A calmness in his expression betraying the absolute fury in his eyes.

A groan emitted from Karin. “Ugh! We’ll be going at this well into the morning. We can’t go on.”

Karin’s displeasure would be contrasted with Terra’s smile. “I have an idea, you know what they say about limits?”

A lightbulb went off in Karin’s head. “They’re meant to be broken.” The aristocrat smirked. “Limit Break?”

Terra nodded, a mischievous smile on her own face as well. “Limit Break.”

Good to see they got on the same page quickly. Because here comes…

“DIE!”

Or rather it would’ve been. If not for Karin activating her Critical Art while Terra would enter her Trance Mode at the same time.

Karin broke through his guard and jabbed him with twin palm strikes after the other and then a high knee. “Ready?”

Terra, in Trance Mode, beamed. “Ready!”

“TORNADO!”

Unlike last time, Terra’s attack summoned a massive tornado right in front of her. The start-up also signaled to Karin to let Kazuya go for a whirl now.

“This is for having an incredibly low skill ceiling! Anyone can pick up and play you to great effect with little effort!”

Tying up his arms, Karin spun them the other direction. Leaving him to spin helplessly in places at the tornado sucked him up.

Kazuya spun inside the tornado at an incredibly fast speed. Not for the faint of heart for sure. Spinning from side to side on top of already having been spun only ensured that his sense of direction and balance would be effectively neutered once the ride ended.

True enough, when he began falling to the ground his pupils were spinning in a loop rapidly. Not to mention he was holding his stomach and his skin was green. Effectively he was down and out for the count. And if now? He would be.

“Ohohohohoho!” Both girls laughed, surprisingly. But Terra would allow Karin the honors. With one small tap, Kazuya would fly back in a line right over the ropes and down to the portal. Way too dazed and nauseous to try getting back in.

The two girls would share a high-five at their victory, Terra exiting Trance Mode with her attack finished. Uncaring as to who got the elimination in the end.

It would then dawn on them that the amount of fighters that the section was now over. As one quick headcount would yield to twelve. The amount of survivors required.

One look around would show Neco-Arc and Rock still fighting, or rather Rock chasing the chibi clone, Ness watching them contemplating whether to join in, Ganondorf looking around at his fellow survivors with his arms crossed, his intent and expression unable to be determined, Lord Raptor was off to the side playing some more tunes on his guitar while Scorpion would glare at him in annoyance for breaking his meditation, Aerith was staring pensively at Tails who was cleaning his arm cannon, Electivire was off on a turnbuckle recharging, and finally Pullum Purna was to the side dancing with her tambourine.

Roxas voice would interrupt any ideas or plans the survivors had on their minds. “Alrighty, folks! That’s Section 1 in the books! Now just allow some time, a good few minutes max, no more than eight, to pass and we will get started on Section 2!”

The fighters all contemplated why a break would be needed. What exactly was going on…?

(RESULTS): (15 votes)

AERITH GAINSBOROUGH (D:FF) (13:2) = 11 (The Magician, Velora)

NECO-ARC (MB) (12:3) = 9 (Rena Rouge, Jeanne d’Arc)

ELECTIVIRE (PKMN) (12:3) = 9 (Forest Ledoyen, Enchantress)

TERRA BRANFORD (D:FF) (11:4) = 7 (Johnny Ohm)

LORD RAPTOR (DS) (10:5) = 5 (Percival)

GANONDORF (HW) (10:5) = 5 (Robert Garcia)

MILES “TAILS” PROWER (StH) (10:5) = 5 (Alex)

SCORPION (MK) (10:5) = 5 (Gozu)

ROCK HOWARD (KOFXV) (9:6) = 3 (Princess Remedy)

PULLUM PURNA (FEXL) (9:6) = 3 (Yatterman-2)

NESS (SSB) (9:6) = 3 (Shen Long)

KARIN KANZUKI (SFV) (8:7) = 1 (Kazuya Mishima)

(ELIMINATED)

YATTERMAN-2 (TAS) (8:7) = 1 (Rai)

SHEN LONG (BR) (8:7) = 1 (Nanase)

JEANNE D’ARC (F/A) (8:7) = 1 (Teruko Tawaki)

PRINCESS REMEDY (SC) (7:8) = -1

ALEX (SFV) (7:8) = -1

ROBERT GARCIA (KOFXV) (7:8) =-1

RENA ROUGE (M:ToL&C-N) (7:8) = -1

KAZUYA MISHIMA (SSB) (6:9) = -3

RAI (WW7) (5:10) = -5

TERUKO TAWAKI (D:DT) (5:10) = -5

THE MAGICIAN (RM) (5:10) = -5

VELORA (RR) (5:10) = -5

ENCHANTRESS (JLD) (4:11) = -7

PERCIVAL (GB:V) (4:11) = -7

FOREST LEDOYEN (TotT) (4:11) = -11

GOZU (KE) (4:11) = -7

JOHNNY OHM (MN:ROTI) (4:11) = 7

NANASE (UNI-B) (3:12) = -9

SIDE BATTLES:

“Big Bad Usurpation?”

M.BISON, F.A.N.G., BALROG, & VEGA (SFV) dispatch of GENERAL SHAO? EMPRESS SINDEL? SKARLET & KOLLECTOR (MK)

9 to 6

Where Did They Go?: You’ve probably noticed a number of eliminated fighters didn’t have their elimination nodes shown. Well, there is a reason for that…

Rule Explanation: As far as ties go in UVR-Spinoffs, they are settled by entry order, with whoever entered later getting the higher spot. Thus, since The Magician entered after Velora, he will eligible for this twist while she will not be, sadly.

Chapter Text

(???)

Normally when one gets eliminated in these tournaments they fall into a random node for ten minutes, then report to the Recovery Room, correct?

Correct! So imagine Kazuya’s surprise when he would get dumped in this room that looked suspiciously like the Ready Room.

Groaning from the spin he took he sat down in the corner and looked out at the other seven individuals before him.

“What is this place?”

Shrugs and shaken heads abound was his answer.

Though Alex would be the first to actually speak up. “Ain’t got a clue in hell what this is. But it says we have to wait until the section is over to find out.”

He pointed to the monitor currently saying that exact thing. ‘Wait here until section is over for more details, the tournament may not yet be over for one of you.’

Rena Rouge perked up. “Intriguing, right? Sounds like a type of Second Chance!”

Remedy nodded. “Quite. Though the question remains how will the one be determined? And just what exactly does this entail. What number were you eliminated at?” The princess nervously asked Kazuya.

“Last, overall. The section ended with my elimination.”

After he finished saying that, the screen on the monitor would change to a live video feed of Roxas_Gramarye’s face. “’Ello! All of settling in well? I would hope so, because you all have a chance to earn this tournament’s twist! What is that, you may ask? Ha! Well it seems all of you have a pretty good idea already! So I’ll just reveal it now, one of you is about to earn… a Second Chance!”

The awkward promo with especially awkward jazz hands at the end would only make everyone tense up, but they all settled with intrigue at this new development.

“In just a few minutes I will reveal which one of you eight will be the first lucky winner of this divine gift from the Heavens. So stay put until then, okay? Bye~eeee!”

The monitor turned off, leaving the eight individuals to eagerly wonder who amongst will be the winner.

“It has to be me! I would’ve had that pirate and white mage, but I chose the wrong moment to evoke my dance break! Another shot, I guarantee no mess-ups!” Confidently stated The Magician.

“You? Please. They have to let me in, I’m in the mood to clobber a certain cactus plant. We almost had him, but he just slipped out of our hands.” Then went Teruko.

“That’s nothing! I hardly got to fight at all because I decided to be the good guy and help out that Forest! Bad enough I was pitted against an all-powerful witch and a Pokémon who gets faster from my attacks. Come on! I got a raw deal!” And now came Rai’s plea.

Kazuya scoffed. “Those two girls had to combine their forces to even have a chance of getting me eliminated. Before then, it was decisively in my favor. As the best performer here, I felt I am entitled to another chance to succeed.”

Rena Rouge spoke up now. “Wanna talk about raw deals? You try going after a crazy chibi Deadpool who has access to a limitless bag of weapons ranging from a spirit sword to another fighter’s weapon to a giant proton cannon! She’s the biggest threat, and I have to get back up there and help Rock take her out!”

Robert flipped a coin when it came to his turn. “Well, like Teruko here I’d also like to stick it to that Gerudo. Isn’t helped by a lot of things had to happen in order for my trio to crumble. And I even held my own against the guy, that should be reason enough to give it to me.”

Alex just looked away to the door. “I can’t leave Aerith to fight against that crazy fox alone. Something is up with him, and I got cut before I could figure out what. That’s my reason for wanting to have this second chance.”

Finally, next was Princess Remedy. “You all have such good reasons, I’m afraid mine pales in comparison. I just want to get rid of that rocking zombie with his horrible music and even more horrid singing!”

Now that they had all said their piece, the room went back to being silent. The eight fighters patiently waiting the result…

This is the Voteform for the Second Chance vote for Section 1. Give four “Live” votes and four “Die” votes for the following fighters:

The Magician (Rayman):

Teruko Tawaki (Danganronpa: Despair Time):

Rena Rouge (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat-Noir):

Robert Garcia (King of Fighters XV):

Rai (Waku Waku 7):

Alex (Street Fighter V & VI):

Princess Remedy (Slap City):

Kazuya Mishima (Super Smash Bros.):

Voting ends November 18! So get your votes in!

Chapter Text

(The Arena)

After a good few minutes of very awkward waiting. Roxas’ voice would come back on. “Okay, folks! Pardon the brief intermission, and I hope you used that time wisely because it was time to begin the next section!”

He went silent after that. Time to start the next act of this show.

“TAKEDA TAKAHASHI!” (MK)

Unbeknownst to those in the crowd, and well, everyone. The Takeda that emerged from the curtain was not the same Takeda they expected.

It looked like the Takeda they knew, and sounded like him as they would find out. But in a matter of time they’ll find the differences between this Takeda and the former one.

Scorpion sat on a turnbuckle, attempting to meditate but found himself unable to keep from pointedly eyeing the crowd.

It didn’t make sense, just about half an hour ago he had been preparing to enter the arena. But before he could those mysterious sands had appeared and within seconds he was already inside it. And not only that, but the crowd was staring at him in confusion. When just the day before he had been as well-regarded as any other fighter.

Not a second more would be spent on the matter before Takeda’s whip would be caught in his hand.

“Does any of this not pique your curiosity, Takeda? It is quite incongruous.”

Takeda retracted his whip. Shrugging at the inquiry. “More than incongruous. But I didn’t come here for mysteries, Kuai Liang. I came here to fight, and to continue my mission.”

The Shirai Ryu grandmaster straightened his stance. “And you see me as the most worthy opponent?”

Takeda nodded, smirking underneath his mask. “A worthy fight with this crew? No offense to them, but I don’t see it. They look like something Johnny Cage would pitch to me as a script.”

Kuai Liang tilted his head, but soon nodded and got into his stance. “Very well, then.”

“By the way, there is something I must ask before we begin.” Takeda had dropped his stance as a result.

Which in turn made Kuai Liang do so as well. “Yes?”

“You haven’t heard anyone claim I’m Kenshi’s son, right?”

Beat.

“……”

“CHIZURU KAGURA!” (KOFXV)

Striking a few elegant poses upon emerging was the raven-haired descendant of the Yata clan. As well as a member of the fabled Team Sacred Treasures.

“My big debut at a tournament of this caliber. It’d be wise to not disappoint.”

She would scan the ring for an opponent. Now, she could take her fight to Ganondorf or Neco-Arc, but decided against such an obvious choice. She had a different adversary in mind, one that intrigued her greatly.

It helped that she foresaw how both fighters time in the tournament would turn out. So if she decides not to engage, then things should be alright, right?

Ness was still contemplating helping out with Neco-Arc, the little chibi definitely was full of surprises and her limitless arsenal meant that she was especially dangerous. Fitting her chaotic nature, perhaps it would be wise to…

“Greetings, child. May I have this fight?” A voice that suddenly came in his head asked.

Ness’ eyes bugged out. Someone was speaking to him telepathically?!

“To your left.”

The young psychic turned to Chizuru standing beside him, waving.

“You have telepathy?”

Chizuru nodded. “A gift granted by the Yata Mirror.” She explained.

Then she waved a hand to Neco-Arc. “I have seen your desire to try and help with the anomalous cat creature, but let me assure you that it is not necessary. I find you a most interesting opponent due to your powers, so I would like to request a bout.”

Ness turned to Neco-Arc at her words, and then back to her. Weighing his options….

Eventually he nodded. “Sure. You have my interest too.”

“FOX MCCLOUD!” (SSB)

The leader of Starfox came out to the Smash remix of the Corneria theme. The crowd gave him a wide positive reaction which he opted to not really react to, lest he break his focus.

Speaking of focus, after avoiding a punch from Rock, Neco-Arc would shift her gaze up to the space pilot upon his entering the ring.

“Let me pull out a classic to get the intended result!” Neco-Arc smirked to herself while running over to greet Fox.

“Hey!” Rock called out. “Where are you going?” He followed after her.

Said pilot wouldn’t get another second before the small chibi-cat thing came into his view, grinning.

“Oh! Oh! I got a little riddle for you, Fox McCloud! Wanna hear it!?”

Fox would stand still for a few brief moments, thinking about what the hell brought this on. But he would not very reluctantly. “I guess so.”

Neco-Arc couldn’t help but squeal. “Okay! I begin and have no end, and I end all that begins! What am I?”

Fox crossed his arms, surprisingly taking the question seriously. Another brief pause before he would answer.

“Death?”

The chibi clone nodded. “Yep! Death! Just like what your father suffered from!”

CRACK!

Rock, who was only now a few feet away, winced. “She did not just…!”

Neco-Arc only chuckled as she took off once more. A now enraged Fox with a murderous look in his eyes racing after her.

Rock sighed. “Better take these allies when I can.”

“PRISHE!” (D:FF)

Next was the spunky, youthful, warrior of Cosmos, Prishe. She may have looked young, but she was actually fully grown, if not older. Not like anyone needed to know, however.

“The Warrior of Light. No sign of him yet. Looks like I’ll serve up some knuckle sandwiches a la Prishe while I wait!”

Having decided it was her best course of action Prishe charged into the ring. Her eyes having found the perfect opponent; Ganondorf.

“Howling First!”

The evil warlock would be alerted to her presence with her attack shout, a charged rushing punch. The attack would get caught by his hand, which held her in place for his sword.

But Prishe would flip over the sword and use it to launch herself from his grip and kick him in the face.

Ganondorf growled from the kick. “Big mistake.”

Prishe scoffed. “Big mistake.” She said with a mocking tone. “Please! I’ve beaten Garland before, so I know I can beat you!”

Ganondorf got out his other sword. “Really now? Humor me.”

“EDRIC BLIGHT!” (TOH)

The first member of the new node that was added from the debacle last section. The middle Blight child looked behind him with a rather questionable expression.

“Tough crowd, today. Not sure what all the fuss is about. I mean, yesterday we were all welcomed with open arms.”

Edric wouldn’t let it hold him down for long though. “Oh, well! I got my chance to have my fun, and I won’t let it stop me!”

Stepping into the ring, Edric would waste no time placing ‘Hex Me!’ signs on all the males present. Then he would summon a bag full of potions with a twirl of his fingers.

“Now! Which one to try first? Oo~ooooh! How about I summon some tentacles? Or maybe I could put little trampolines everywhere with this…!”

He would get interrupted by Lord Raptor approaching him. His ‘Hex Me!’ sign in his hand.

“This yours?”

Edric nodded, unbothered. “That’s right. What of it.”

Lord Raptor would glare at him for a few more seconds before grinning. “Show me how to make these. I could use these for the name of a show, or maybe a new song!”

The green-haired teen grinned. “I think I can do that.”

“And now, Mystery Fighter… Number… THREE!”

“BAROK VAN ZIEKS!” (The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles)

With his theme playing the background, the English prosecutor rested a hand on his sword. His other hand cupping a chalice of wine as he stared up at the Announcers Booth.

“To you, my enthralled host. For allowing me the illustrious opportunity to compete in your tournament.” With that he drank, before throwing the chalice behind him past the curtain.

Upon entering, he avoided the chaos from the other fights around him and headed straight to Terra and Karin, who saw him come and immediately got into stance.

“You want a fight?”

The prosecutor nodded. “I have heard of the Kanzuki Zaibatsu from a learned friend. Seeing the current descendant and head of such a supposed prestigious order beckoned me to challenge you. To see if all your ancestors fought for was not lost.”

Karin tilted her head. “You can fight? You come from Ace Attorney!”

Van Zieks unsheathed his sword. “My node does not represent my skill alone. I once survived a fight with a gang of armed gunmen with nothing but my sword. Heed this, I am up for the challenge.”

Terra and Karin shared a look before nodding. “Fine. You’re on!”

“JP!” (SFV-VI)

The next new fighter from last section’s chaos. JP came out with a bit of a predicament, that being Van Zieks chalice and wine dropping down his head.

“This’ll be a chore getting out.” He lamented on his vest and dress shirt, which were now stained with wine.

Instinct told him to go after the one who had stained his outfit, but for now he decided against it. He had another matter to attend to with someone else.

Ganondorf caught Prishe with his swords and pushed her away. The purple-haired woman didn’t let it go, and immediately rushed forward again.

Only to be swatted to the side with a single swing of JP’s arm. Confused, Ganondorf turned to look at who had assisted him.

“Good day. I took note of the power you are said to harbor and couldn’t help but hone a desire to see it for myself.”

The warlock rolled his eyes. “Asking nicely means nothing. But if you really want to see my power. I’d be happy to demonstrate, rich boy!”

Prishe slapped her hand to her head. “Great. Now I gotta fight both of them!?”

“NIGHTWOLF!” (MK)

Of the Mortal Kombat roster who was replaced with their MK1 counterparts, Nightwolf was unique in that he did not change with the others.

A fact which completely perplexed him. And which made him seek out those who did upon his entry into the ring.

This meant he went straight to Takeda and Kuai Liang, who were currently locked in a power struggle. Both noticed him coming and broke up.

“Can we help you?” Takeda asked.

Nightwolf looked between them. “It is strange. I do not know what happened, but you are not the Takeda and Scorpion I know.”

The two shared a look. Kuai Liang spoke up. “And you seek answers, Shaman?”

Nightwolf nodded. “And a spar.”

Before Kuai Liang could respond, Takeda jumped in for him. “Done. Better keep up though!”

(Announcers Booth)

“So not all of the Mortal Kombat fighters have been replaced. But why did this happen at all? How many fighters are different and the same? And finally what caused this to happen?”

The silver-haired host asked to himself while he stared at all the updated fighter info on his tablet. This didn’t make sense, and why does something still feel amiss?

(Hotel; Bison’s Room)

“So, another timeline?” Asked Vyse.

All the new Sindel could offer the young sky pirate was a uncertain nod. “It would appear so. The only explanation as to why you are all unfamiliar with me, when my appearance caused no such dissertation in the days prior.”

Steve patted his bat to his hand. Unsure as to what to say to all this. “I sure as hell never saw you, or, this… version of you. Just the evil you.”

Vanille gave his arm a light tap. “Steve!”

The teen held his hands up. “Sorry, sorry. But yeah, it’s all… really weird.”

Vyse tapped his chin. “Weird for sure. Did all of your node get replaced, Empress?”

General Shao butted in. Annoyed at the situation. “Why ask such a question? We have no answer to that, boy.”

Vyse’s expression tensed. “Could of just said you didn’t know….”

Before the conversation could continue, Bison interjected. “Is there a reason this conversation could not continue elsewhere? I would like to be alone please, the interruptions removed.”

Vyse lifted his finger to say something. But the dictator put a kibosh on that by raising his hand. “I told you already. I have no plan or plot scheduled for tonight. Now, please leave my room!”

The sky pirate lifted his hands in resignation and motioned for the group before him to follow him out.

Just as this act was passed, Skarlet and Kollector sprung to life. Taking everyone by surprise as they bolted out the door to the room.

“So, what do you think this all is about? What they’re saying in there? Alternate selves? Timelines? Sounds like it’ll make for a great take to tell Callum and the others back home!”

Soren was regaling to Luna, whom were both assigned to guard the door to Bison’s Room while the new Sindel and Shao were interrogated, when the two kombatants sped past them.

“Do not start regaling yet, Soren.” Luna said to the knight before they gave chase.

The two didn’t get far. Two other thugs would block their way, letting Skarlet and Kollector flee a long ways from here.

The two were Darrius and Sareena, who looked to each other and then back to the two.

“Sorry. But we can’t let you lay a hand on them. Havik needs them for his plan.” Darrius told them.

This immediately registered a curious look on Luna’s face. “Havik? Plan? Mind telling us what?”

Sareena shook her head. “It is none of your concern, witch. If you wish to go down this path, then I’m afraid we’ll have to cut your journey short.”

The two locked into their stances. Soren would lean toward Luna’s ear.

“You should’ve known asking politely wouldn’t work.”

Luna nodded. “Quite. But now we have a chance to preen more info. Oh, this is all so mystifying! I want to see it through.”

Soren gave her a side grin. “That makes two of us.”

(The Arena)

“B. JENET!” (KOFXV)

“Ugh, finally!” Sighed Rock as now he would have a proper ally that wasn’t consumed by rage.

His blonde pirate teammate waved to the crowd while making her way down the ramp. With how she was stopping to high-five each cheering fan one could only assume it was intentional just to mess with Rock.

This wouldn’t go unnoticed by him, judging by his shaking of the head by the time she was finally done and made his way to him.

“Having some girl trouble?”

Rock shook his head. “If you count chibi-cat girls. The one being chased by Fox has been a nightmare with her tendency to hurl random things at us.”

B. Jenet couldn’t stifle the chuckle. “Really? Rock Howard having some trouble with a cute, adorable chibi cat? Ha! Priceless.”

That was the time when she would get a face full of explosive barrel in her face.

“Okay, I take back what I said.” She groggily said while getting up.

“DONKEY KONG!” (SSB)

The crowd cheered uproariously for the red tied ape. Who simply smiled and waved while dancing down the ramp to his theme song.

He shifted gears immediately upon entering, pounding his chest and howling as he looked around for a fight.

Luckily it would come to him in the form of Pullum Purna, who wore a smile on her face.

“Hi! I couldn’t help but notice your moves when coming down! For an ape, you have some serious potential! Surely you can show me more?”

Donkey Kong simply scratched his head before nodding, with that dopey grin on his face.

“Great!”

“NACK THE WEASEL!” (StH)

“Fang the Sniper… Pssh.” Was all the purple weasel would say while twirling his guns.

“My first mainline appearance in a Sonic game and I have to use the name I use to hide my identity, well, I’ll take what I can get.”

He could whine and complain about this later, for now he had a nodal companion to go check out.

“Hey, Tails! Everything on the up an’ up, buddy? A few of us are a little concerned at how you’ve been acting…”

Tails turned to him smiling. “Oh, I’m fine, Nack! Just cleaning up my arm cannon so I can go and destroy that weeb white mage over there!”

He pointed to Aerith, smile and happy tone still on his face. Nack sweat dropped.

“Ah, I see. Well, how’s about a team-up? For old time’s sake?”

Tails gave him a thumbs up. “Sure!”

Nack returned the gesture though he was sighing internally. “Good. Now I can keep him from killing the poor girl…”

“And now, Mystery Fighter… Number… FOUR!”

“HEATHCLIFF!” (Limbus Company)

The fangirls couldn’t help but go wild for the Sinner, who tried to ignore it while holding his bat behind his head.

“Ah, I ain’t gettin’ enough compensation for’ this, let me tell ya.”

Sighing, he shook his head and hoisted his bat to his side and entered the ring. Almost immediately did his eyes catch Aerith struggling to fight off Nack and Tails.

His inner groans of tiredness turned to a low growl as he charged forward to the two Sonic characters. Launching the two back with a hard swing.

“Hey! What was that for? Oh, let me guess… You’re another weeb-sympathiser!”

Heathcliff scoffed. “No. But damn if that isn’t a foul way to treat a lady. I’d expect better. But all’s not lost. I’ll be more than happy to teach you two some manners, in my own way.”

Aerith gave him a look of gratitude. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“METERA!” (GF:V)

Posing quite promiscuously for the legion of males amidst the crowd. Metera grinned and kissed the cheeks of those cheering that were closest to her.

“Lovely sign, your sentiment is appreciated! Thank you! You’re beautiful!”

Using her power of flight, Metera floated over the ropes and observed the fighters around her for a fight.

Oh. It looked like she entered at an inopportune time. There were no fights for her to join.

“Hmph. Whatever. I’ll just spar with whomever comes out next! They should be a lot more fun than all of them!”

“ORBEETLE!” (PKMN)

More fun? Debatable. Interesting? Sure.

The crowd gave a mild cheer for the ladybug-like psychic Pokémon. Who while not privy to emote well, nodded it’s head and flew down to the ring.

Metera studied the bug type once it flew over to her. Taking note of it’s enlarged head.

“Cranium doubled in size? I hope that doesn’t mean your all about books and typewriters. Old traditional things like that bore me. You’re not gonna bore me are you?”

The Pokémon responded by picking her up with it’s mind and flinging her into a turnbuckle.

Metera pushed herself off the corner with a smirk on her face. “That’s more like it!”

(Dome; Restaurant)

Raine Whispers held a cup of tea in their hand. Uncertainty on their face. After all, this was a different realm and who knew how their body would react to another realms food?

After a couple seconds of stop and start attempts at sipping the tea, to no avail. Raine finally relented and whistled softly into the cup, the sound changing the structure of the hot beverage.

Satisfied, Raine took a sip. Smiling at the taste and sighing in relief that it didn’t kill them. Now they could safely down a cup, and perhaps another.

“Excuse me! A refill please.” Raine said to the passing server.

Said server smiled. “Of course.” And poured the Bard witch another cup.

“Thank you.” Raine whistled again into the cup and took a sip to their pleasure.

“Pardon me for saying, but I don’t recall seeing you here before? Your entire node, in fact.”

There goes their pleasure, not like they could blame the server for the inquiry, but still, the sudden change in the public reception of their node was annoying to say the least.

Still, Raine sighed and gave a nod. “Yes, I know. Not sure I still understand it though. I probably sound crazy, but we were here when all this began.”

The server shrugged sympathetically. “I can’t speak on that. Still, your a beloved node! Clearly you’ll all get your due reaction when you enter the ring, right?”

Raine was going to agree. But out of the corner of their eye they spotted a figure that looked out of place here. A red-headed vampire, better known as Nitara.

The Bard Coven Leader watched her leave. Unable to shake the feeling that her presence here wasn’t coincidental or had good intentions.

“Excuse me.” Raine finished their cup and left a few snails for the tea. Then they made haste to the exit they just watched Nitara go through.

Only to stop when she heard her voice. Hiding behind the corner to the exit, she eavesdropped on the conversation she was having using some small amulet.

“The restaurant looks a secure place to set off one of the soul stealers. We can break the rock into fragments and interconnect all of them together.” The vampire reported to whomever she was speaking with.

The figure who was being projected onto the amulet nodded. “Excellent. Continue scouting out more possible locations for the other soul stealers. Once we have an area, we can report to Quan Chi and Shang Tsung about our progress.”

Nitara’s expression changed to one more smug. “Is our other allies experiment working? The plant witch and her fox test subject?”

Raine gasped upon hearing the words ‘plant witch,’ which would unfortunately capture Nitara’s attention. The vampire swiftly turned to face the wall Raine was hiding behind.

“I have to go, Havik. Go check up on Darrius and Sareena.” Nitara hung up from her call. “Come on out, I know you’re there. Whatever you heard, you need to un-hear all of it.”

“Alright! You got me.” Raine came out with their hands up. “Answer me this. Plant witch. You wouldn’t be talking about Terra Snapdragon, would you?”

Nitara tilted her head to the side. “It was something along those lines.” But then her posture grew more intense. “Not that it matters though. Because you’re about to become a feeding ground.”

Raine’s glasses shimmered. “Not tonight.” They summoned their violin, knowing now what they got into. “I can’t let the rouge Coven leaders muck around where they don’t belong. If that means making an enemy of your benefactor? Then put me in line.”

(The Arena)

“URANUS!” (BR)

The mysterious blue-haired woman stood at the top of the entrance ramp. A look of serenity in her eyes, betraying the hungry look on her face.

She shook her head before long, getting those thoughts out. There was no time to ruminate, not with a tournament to win.

Unlike Meters before her, she wasn’t going to opt to wait. No, she would go and bring the fight to someone else, and a simple process of elimination left her one target.

Electivire was finished recharging for the rest of the section, hopping off and peering to Uranus when she came over.

“Finished resting? Good, because you’ll need it. Believe me. Hope you can provide a good fight.”

To that Electivire grinned and pounded his fists, sparks flying from them.

“MATT THOLOMULE!” (TOH)

Another member of the new node, and like Edric. He turned behind him to the curtain, displeased.

“Wonder who shoved a stick up their butts? Our node was here yesterday with everyone else’s! It shouldn’t be a surprise when we enter, and it certainly shouldn’t cause a riot! Funny as it was.”

Mattholomule chuckled at the commotion he and Edric caused just by being there. He didn’t know what was going on, but it was definitely a fun mess.

Entering the ring, Mattholomule’s finger glowed, ready to smash some faces in with his construction magic!

But, sadly, he would follow Metera’s lead from earlier. No one present was currently available for a fight.

Scrunching his face and sighing. Mattholomule turned back to the ramp and entrance curtain.

“What a way to start a tournament, and for my first time here!”

“HERO!” (SSB)

The Luminary swung his sword a few times in readiness for the section. With a nod to the crowd’s cheers he held his sword up and rushed down.

Mattholomule yawned as he leaned against a stone construct. Watching the Hero come toward him, greeting him with a wave.

“Cool sword, bro. Wanna just get right into it?”

The Hero’s vigor and eagerness dropped like an anchor. “You sound so bored. Are you sure you are truly up to fight?”

The young witch grinned mischievously. “Ha! You think I wouldn’t stand here if I wasn’t prepared!? Pfft. You have a lot to learn, and Professor Mattholomule would be more than happy to lecture you. Come on, man! Bring it!”

Eleven just shook his head tentatively. “Arrogant. Then I’ll say you’re in for a rude awakening. You forgot I have magic of my own.”

Mattholomule’s grin grew. “Oh, don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten.”

“And now, the final fighter of this section and the first Second Chance fighter…”

“TERUKO TAWAKI!” (Danganronpa: Despair Time)

Ganondorf’s face immediately swerved to the entrance ramp. This momentary lapse allowing JP to swipe his face with his cane, followed by Prishe kicking him in the face.

Teruko was not wasting any time with her Second Chance. Barreling down the ramp and into the ring.

Her vigor and spirit not faltering she continued running toward a certain warlock while continuing to pick up speed.

Ganondorf didn’t even have time to register her arrival before he was downed again with a incredibly hard knee to the face.

“Nice, girl!” Prishe cheered.

JP crossed his arms. “Who in the World are you?”

Teruko pointed her glare towards the elderly businessman. “Someone. Who is going to kick both of your evil asses out of the Great White North!”

She immediately took Prishe’s side, who couldn’t help but smile when she did. And just as Ganondorf got back up.

“Of all the people to return… why did it have to be you!?”

Teruko scoffed. “You should just focus on not getting your ass kicked.”

Prishe nodded in approval. “I like this one.”

Chapter Text

(The Arena)

The Luminary raised his shield to block a kick from Teruko. Successful, he used to clobber the abrasive student across the face. Which did little to slow her down, surprisingly. Beyond piss her off even more.

“You’re not going to stop me from getting to that warlock, pretty boy.” She growled with gritted teeth while holding her nose.

The Luminary couldn’t help but look a little surprised. “You don’t even have powers, how are you still so vigorous!?”

Teruko smirked. “Call me a Black Knight. You want to stop me this time? You’re gonna have to kill me. Not let me pass to that desert cactus, or face me and my bad luck!”

The Hero sighed. “She has fight in her, admirable. I’ll give her that.” He muttered to himself.

In the background of their fight, Mattholomule was summoning another stone construct with his magic. Preparing a surprise for his fight with the winner of that one.

Elsewhere, a spear, bladed whip, and an arrow each made contact with each other. The impact causing the three weapons to scatter, before being retrieved by their respective wielder.

“So you’re saying that prior to your timeline. I was actually Kenshi’s son!?” Takeda asked shocked as he retracted his whip.

Nightwolf nodded. “Correct. If not for another timeline reset, Shang Tsung would potentially have conquered all.”

Kuai Liang took this chance to try and intercept Nightwolf with a flaming punch, but it was blocked by his axe. The Shaman then knocked him away.

Scorpion got back up none the worse for wear. “Intriguing, Shaman. But let us not get too carried away. There is still a tournament to fight through.”

Nightwolf would nod his head. “I have forgotten. Now, tell me about your life, Hanzo Hasashi.”

Scorpion tensed. “What? The boy I have taken in!?”

(Dome; Restaurant)

“What a mess. And it just keeps getting weirder…” Sighed a young blonde woman.

Said blonde woman was Cassandra Cage, who held her head tiredly while taking her seat on a small table to the side.

Oddly, so far the area and it’s inhabitants were unaware of the fight unfolding on the other side of the room. Were they used to it at this point? Or was something else at play here?

Nevermind. Let’s put the focus on Cassie, who sighed once more while rubbing her hands down her face in exasperation.

Really, that would happen when your Father is replaced with a younger counterpart. But not even then. It was one that seemingly hadn’t even met your Mother! From yet another new timeline! Seriously. All these resets and rewrites were getting out of hand. And Cassie needed no more evidence than the fact that they were now merged together apparently.

“Would a tea set your mind at ease, Miss Cage?” Asked a server. The inquiry snapped Cassie out of her thoughts when she looked up to face her.

The woman held in her hands a small teacup with the hot beverage inside. If not with a little greenish glow to it. Eh, probably just green tea.

“You know what? A tea sounds just like what I need right now. Thanks. How much is it?”

The server smiled and simply handed it to her. “On the house! Consider it a small coverage.”

Cassie blinked before her smile grew. A pleasant surprise to the girl. “Oh! Well, thanks. Really.”

“Of course. Let me know if you need a refill, also free of charge.” And with a nod the server walked off to tend to a beckoning squad of Koopalings demanding their order of fried Cheep Cheep fillets.

From another small table, just behind Cassie and out of view. An elderly looking green-haired woman put down the paper she was reading. Grinning at Cassie as she took a sip of the concoction in her hands.

“Perfect. And all too easy. Just like the Fox…”

(The Arena)

Aerith swung her Guard Stick down, trying to catch Metera while she had attempted to slide past her. But the Erune blocked it with her bow before sweeping the back end of it under her feet. Tripping up the flower girl. Metera then got back to her own feet and fired an arrow to the sky, which soon exploded into a cavalcade of arrows that rained down toward Aerith. The young woman barely got out of the way, using her Guard Stick to block one or two arrows as she escaped.

Metera laughed as Aerith got to her feet. “See what happens when you keep me from my fun? That Pokémon was my ticket to a fun time, and you just took it from me!”

Aerith nodded, a bit sheepish. “Sorry, but I had to fight someone. That man with the bat offered to clear out the two Sonic characters for me, so I took my chance and ran away.”

The Erune looked surprised for a second, then switched to teasing. “Is that what you plan to always do? Let others fight your battles for you? Preferably men?”

Aerith immediately waved her arms in denial. “What!? No! Of course not! They told me to stay away, I’m just doing as told. That two-tailed Fox has some strange grudge against me!”

Metera tilted her head and shrugged. “Maybe that’s true. But it definitely feels deliberate. Not that I don’t like it! If I were you, I’d be doing my best ‘Damsel in Distress’ impression too to make the men do my dirty work!”

Aerith’s eyebrow twitched. “I am not..! That’s it!”

The flower girl ran forward with her raised Guard Stick. An act which confused Metera, who shook her head before riding her bow into the girl, tripping her up and sending her into the air. Where an arrow to the face awaited her, launching her across the canvas right on her face.

“I’ll be the first to ask. What the heck was that? What were you hoping to accomplish? Man, I expected more fun out of someone who got two eliminations. But, hey! Have a kiss on me!” The Erune did as said and blew a literal kiss toward Aerith. Anyone familiar with Granblue knew this as one of her Aetherial Seals.

Metera hummed while firing an arrow through the kiss, which turned it into a column of magic that quickly descended down onto Aerith’s head.

Luckily, she would get up and roll over just in time. Before sitting up and hurling her Guard Stick like a boomerang at the Erune. Who easily ducked under it while it flew past her.

“Okay. This is just getting sad now, what was the point of that-OW!” Metera yelled when the stick flew back to her, hitting her in the head.

What had happened was Aerith actually threw her Guard Stick toward an unsuspecting Orbeetle, who had lingered around as it had no one to fight, but had caught it with his Psychic ability and threw it back to her. Making sure to hit Metera on the trip back.

Aerith caught her Guard Stick and nodded to the Pokémon, before turning her attention to a recovering Metera.

“Seal Evil!”

A darkened orb with a golden ring surrounded Metera. Who could only stare at it in confusion for about a moment before throwing her head back in pain. Only adding to her plight was that she had become paralyzed in place.

“Make this number three!” Aerith smiled as she began swinging away, knocking Metera closer and closer to the ropes. Finishing with an staff uppercut which sent Metera flying over the ropes. Too pained to try and use Zephyr to get back in.

Metera landed in Arrow. Where she got into a spar of arrows with the titular character.

Aerith did a light clap in excitement at her victory and third elimination. Her attention got put back to Orbeetle, and she ran over to start a new fight.

“This really isn’t an improvement from the last section…” Rock muttered as he and Fox chased after Neco-Arc.

“Yeah, no. Times really haven’t changed, have they? Especially since Fox’s father is still dead!” Neco-Arc smiled.

Fox growled and tried jumping up to unleash a fury of kicks at the chibi clone. But Neco-Arc simply turned her lower half into a rocket, aimed at Fox, she blasted him back toward Rock. Colliding with him and sending both to the ground.

Neco-Arc laughed. “Borrowed that little trick from your companion, R.O.B.!”

Fox turned back to look at Neco-Arc, and then back to Rock. Who was still groggy from the impact. “Nnnngh! What the Hell, Einstein? I’m on your side!” He said once his view came into focus and he saw Fox in front of him.

The lupine’s pupils narrowed upon hearing that. And before he knew it Rock was kicked upward and then fell to the ground.

Rock grunted from the pain. Quickly getting up and trying to quash the problem. “Hey, man. I’m sorry! I forgot that that was a bit of a…”

He wasn’t allowed the luxury of finishing due to eating two shots from Fox’s blaster. The lupine then spun forward with a butterfly kick, knocking him back further. Rock shook his head in acceptance that they were fighting now before blocking Fox’s jab and responding with a jab of his own. Followed by a leaping overhead kick.

Scrambling to maintain his balance for a moment, Fox turned to face Rock and performed a Fox Illusion. But Rock anticipated this and was ready to counter with another overhead kick once Fox made contact.

“Crack Counter!”

Rock’s plan succeeded. The second kick sent Fox sprawling to the ground, this time leaving himself open again. Rock took advantage and lunged forward with his fist.

But he ended up getting bounced back a few feet, a consequence of hitting Fox’s reflector. Known to many as the Shine.

Rock huffed upon stopping himself. “We don’t have to fight, you know. It was just a little mistake!”

Fox scoffed. “Tell me, would you have used those words if it wasn’t me?”

The young son of Geese Howard opened his mouth to answer, but to his detriment no sound came out.

The lupine shook his head and grinned. “That’s what I thought.”

Fox used another Fox Illusion, this time he was fast enough to hit Rock and launch him up slightly. Setting up perfectly for a spinning back kick to the face. Rock clutched his jaw once he hit the ground, but wouldn’t get much time to recoup as Fox immediately was rushing toward him again.

“Look, man. I’ll say this again. I’m. SORRY!” He yelled to the advancing lupine.

“Crack Counter!”

Once more when Fox tried to attack, he would be met with an overhead kick which pushed him forward without any control.

“Hard Edge!”

When Fox turned, all he would be faced with was Rock’s shoulder strike. Then a ki-enhanced palm thrust that knocked him back more.

“Rising Tackle!”

This time Rock propelled himself up using his arms, catching Fox in the chin with his foot and lifting them both up while the blonde continuously drill-kicked him. When it was done, Fox fell to the ground, seemingly prone.

Rock simply sighed softly and rubbed the back of his head while he approached the downed lupine. “Hate to do it, but I have to-Nerghh!”

Fox’s reflector activated again, pushing Rock back while Fox sprang to life and delivered a flurry of kicks to the stunned blonde. One final kick knocked him away, but the lupine easily closed the distance using a Fox Illusion.

“Let this be a lesson, accidental or not, I take insults about my late father quite personally.”

With a Fire Fox to seal this fight for him, Fox rocketed forward with Rock in tow. The force from the fiery blow being enough to knock Rock over the ropes and out of the arena.

Rock landed in Art of Fighting 2. Where he would use this chance to fight his father, albeit a younger version of him.

Back in the ring, Fox panted as he held his chest. Wincing at the pain Rock had inflicted on him despite his victory. However, this was short-lived….

“Good job! Your father would’ve done the same thing! You know? Your dead father!” Said Neco-Arc with a big smile still on her face.

Fox’s pupils shrank again. “Right. Still have you to deal with.”

Teruko ducked under a sword swing from Hero. Enabling her to try and wrestle the sword away from him. This wouldn’t last long as Hero’s sword then became engulfed in electricity. Making her take a step back in surprise.

“A-ha!”

Seeing his chance, he put up his shield and rammed it into Teruko, beginning to push her back. The Ultimate Lucky Student wouldn’t give up so easily, however. Fighting back with her own surprising amount of strength to keep the locked in place

Only this would make Hero get another idea. “Acceleratle!”

Suddenly Hero dashed forward with blazing speed, effectively picking up Teruko on his shield while he dashed toward the ropes. Hoping to use his momentum to launch Teruko off and over them. But Teruko realized this and swiftly wrapped her legs around his head and used his momentum against him with a Hurricanrana to send him into the ropes.

Hero hit the ropes and then was launched back into a high kick from Teruko right to the face.

“I am a lot of things, but an idiot isn’t one of them, pretty boy.” She taunted as she went to pick him up.

Only to be taken by surprise when he suddenly grabbed onto her arms, standing up and beginning to spin around. Whatever he was trying to do didn’t work as Teruko slammed her own feet into the ground to stop them both. She then stomped on his own foot making him yelp in pain before tackling him again.

The two would get locked into another struggle. But this time Hero didn’t intend to hold back, while Teruko had him mostly restrained, he was able to grab his sword and prepare another spell.

“Hatchet Man!”

With additional force applied, Hero swing his sword down hard at Teruko who rolled out of the way. But was still launched back by the shockwave produced by the attack.

Just to give himself some breathing room he would send a fireball toward Teruko for good measure. But the brunette teen slid right under it and jumped onto the magic knight, locking his arm in some type of hold which would bring the two to the ground.

“Ow! Wh-What are you doing!?”

Teruko groaned as she tried to apply more pressure. “Trying to get this sword of yours! What does it look like!?”

Before she could wrestle it out of his grip, and very nearly break his arm in the process, Hero rolled forward. This made Teruko roll with him unexpectedly and loosened her grip enough for him to wrestle his sword back from her.

The Hero stood up to his feet with another spell ready. “Thwack!”

His hand outstretched in front of him, Hero sent out a large dark purple blast out just a few feet from him. Teruko managed to get out of the way to avoid taking the full blast but still got caught by the tail end of it. Sending her several ways back.

Hero finally sighed with himself having seemingly won when Teruko didn’t get back up. Still being cautious and not wanting to waste time he walked over to pick her up and throw her over the ropes.

Much to the crowd’s, mostly the males, displeasure. A very high-pitched girly yelp came out of the Hero once he got close. Teruko’s foot set squarely right between his legs.

Teruko sat up and smirked mischievously. “One of the unfortunate parts of being a man. Sorry about your pride, but now I’m gonna be taking that sword.”

When he could only offer a breathless gasp for a response to her, Teruko swiped his sword from him. Then picked him up and dropped him past the ropes down to the portal.

Back in the ring, Teruko eyed the Hero’s sword for a moment. It looked regal and strong enough. Perfect for taking on Ganondorf! Great, now it was time to…

“Hey! Over here! I got an obligation to face the winner of your literal scrap, and I ain’t takin’ no for an answer!” Called out Mattholomule, motioning Teruko over toward him and his stone structures.

Rolling her eyes, Teruko gripped her new weapon and charged over.

Electivire coated his fist in his signature electricity, throwing a punch toward Uranus. But the Zoanthrope merely teleported out of the way and appeared behind him.

“You missed.” Uranus said darkly before starting a series of fast kicks and punches that Electivire couldn’t actually keep up with. One last kick would have him reeling. But to his credit, he recovered quickly before leaping upward and then bringing his fists down hard into the ground, producing the move Earthquake around the area they were fighting in.

Only there was one small problem.

Uranus pointed to her feet, which were hovering above the shaking ground. “I can float, Neanderthal.”

The attack subsided with no progress made for Electivire. Immediately thinking up a Plan B, he summoned a row of stars courtesy of Swift and sent them flying at Uranus. But the Zoanthrope proved too fast for them as they would fly past her and redirect into each other.

No matter, that was all according to plan for Electivire. Distract her and catch her off-guard! With her back turned watching the last star combust, he’d come up behind her and perform Low Kick. Taking out her legs and setting up for a powerful Thunder Punch to the back of the head.

Uranus sneered. “Low, even for a wild animal.” She got back up and teleported out of view, coming back to surprise Electivire with a spinning heel kick. Followed by another cavalcade of strong punches and kicks that pushed them closer to the ropes.

“Now, time to finally unleash my full potential. You’re gonna like this.” Smirked Uranus before she became enveloped in a flash of light while holding Electivire.

Electivire’s eyes grew when he saw her Beast Form, a Chimera whose size and height rivaled that of his own. If not outclassed.

Sporting a toothy grin, Uranus threw him to the ground. Then came two giant swipes from the Beast, each one tearing flesh from the Pokémon who could only cry out in pain.

Electivire got an idea amidst avoiding more swipes, barreling forward he tried his best to wrap up Uranus with his arms. It was a struggle, especially since the Chimera showed obvious resistance but Electivire was able to keep her in place for him to jam his tails into her shoulders.

The Chimera howled in distress as electricity surged through her body, and it didn’t seem to be stopping not until she finally turned back and could teleport out of the Pokémon’s grip.

Uranus didn’t take kindly to having her Beast Form duration wasted, shooting daggers at the Pokémon before a lightbulb went off in her own head.

“You fight with electricity. Well, sorry for you. But so do I.”

Teleporting behind Electivire again, Uranus let out a pulse of electricity. Then unleashed bursts of the element from her hands continuously as the Electivire seemingly winced with each blow.

Electricity crackled along the Pokémon’s entire body by the time Uranus was done. Smiling, pleased at her work. Especially once Electivire looked up at her with gritted teeth.

Which slowly turned into a grin as it begun to absorb the electricity flowing around it. Much to Uranus’ confusion.

See, it looked as if Uranus hadn’t paid attention to Electivire. Otherwise she would’ve known about its Motor Drive ability. To which she had just maxed out the multiplier on how much his speed could increase.

A fact she wouldn’t soon forget once Electivire rocketed into her, running at blazing speed to the ropes where he would throw her overboard. Using Thunderbolt to hit her in the head and daze her enough to prevent any attempts to get back in. Which succeeded.

Lord Raptor turned his leg into a buzzsaw and tried to swipe and catch Karin, who avoided the attack and kicked his leg to make it turn back to normal. Delivering an elbow strike to the stomach and then a palm strike to the face.

Edric then stepped in and used his telekinetic magic to push her back. This didn’t hold her back much as she soon grabbed the middle Blight’s arm and bent it.

The green-haired twin immediately cowered and held his hands up. “No, no! Please! I break easy!”

“ROCK ON!” A loud soundwave came from the side of Karin, courtesy of Lord Raptors guitar. Allowing Edric to escape while Karin held her hands to her ears.

The aristocrat looked up at her opposition. “Must you two insist on this folly? You’re keeping me from my fight with the prosecutor!” She turned to Edric. “And I would expect better from one of the Boiling Isles’ most esteemed families.”

Edric’s only response was to shrug with a cheeky smile on his face. Lord Raptor immediately put a hand on his shoulder in assurance. “He’s offered to help me out, so for now he stays with me. But we needed a neutral party to listen to my next gig. Speaking of, mind going on the front? I’ll be in the back to lend a hand.”

The middle Blight nodded and stepped forward to continue fighting Karin while Raptor took a step back and began strumming on his guitar.

(Standin’ in the rain, with his head hung low…)

(Couldn’t get a ticket, it was a sold out show…)

Karin threw a few jabs Edric’s way, the prankster ducking under each one until he pulled out a rope and spun it for a few seconds before lassoing it around Karin’s waist.

“Hey! What the…!?”

(Heard the roar of the crowd, he could picture the scene…)

(Put his ear to the wall, then like a distant scream…)

Edric snidely walked over and placed a finger to the rope, making it glow. Karin would feel the effect of the magic causing the rope to become tighter. Then no sooner did Edric magically unravel the rope, causing Karin to spin around helplessly.

When she finally stopped, she hopelessly looked around for Edric through all the blurriness. Unable to see him smashing two potions together in his hands, then blowing the liquid which turned into a colored most around Karin. Disorienting her more.

(He heard one guitar, just blew him away…)

(He saw stars in his eyes! And the very next day!)

“Always wanted to try this one out!” Beamed Edric as he threw a blue potion at the ground, creating a small gelatinous blue mound. He would then shove Karin back, making her lose her balance and fall rear-first onto it. It’s effect being to launch her sky-high.

When Karin hit the ground she pounded it and spun her feet out toward Edric when he approached her, knocking him down. Her vision finally coming back to normal, she picked him up. Only for him to throw a red potion at her which exploded in her face.

(Bought a beat-up six string, in a second-hand store…)

(Didn’t know how to play it, but he knew for sure…)

(That one guitar! Felt good in his hands!)

(Didn’t take long, to understand!)

Karin would begin to feel that rope being hoisted around her again, and this time she wasn’t about to let herself be disoriented. “I don’t think so, Blight.”

“Huh?” Edric said before Karin twirled and got herself free of the rope. Flipping the tables and making it so that she was the one thing him up. She then gave him an elbow strike, followed by another palm to the face and then a kick to the midsection.

(Just one guitar! Slung way down low!)

(Was a one-way ticket, only one way to go!)

(So he started rockin’, ain’t never gonna stop!)

(Gotta keep on rockin’! Someday he’s gonna make it to the top!)

With Edric all tied up and subdued, Karin’s mind immediately went to Lord Raptor. One down, one to go.

(And be a Juke Box Hero! Got stars in his eyes!)

Raptor already anticipated this however, and unleashed another soundwave from his guitar to incapacitate her.

(He’s a Juke Box Hero!)

With one mighty swing of the side of his chainsaw arm, he struck Karin and launched her into the air.

(Juke Box Hero! He’ll come alive tonight!)

Then with one more swing of his guitar, putting as much force into it as he could, he punted Karin right over the ropes, eliminating her.

Karin landed in Charm School. Unlike the actual hosts, she served as a much better teacher of charm and class than they ever could.

Raptor did one last solo on his guitar before he stopped. Grinning at his now second elimination, now to go help his little green ally…

A red potion would get flung in his face. The explosion disorienting him and leaving his vision foggy. Perfect for Edric to come strolling up whistling, a giant firework in his hands.

“Like this? I call it the ‘Ed Ricochet 12’. Leave me to face the aristocrat alone? You get to be the first tester!”

He then stuck it in Raptor’s mouth. The zombie finding himself unable to move due to Edric’s magic. The green-haired twin then ignited a fire spell and lit the fuse.

“By the way? That tied up image of me? All an illusion! Now, bye~eeee!”

The firework ignited and started flying upwards before bursting into an array of colorful explosions above the crowd. Said explosions also launched Lord Raptor into the barrier. He quickly peeled off and fell into the portal.

Lord Raptor landed in Guitar Hero. He effortlessly shredded his way to a high score.

(Hotel; 30th Floor Hallways)

Luna leaned back to avoid Sareena’s punches and kicks. Wordlessly leading her into a circle until the demon bumped into Soren, who held Darrius’ leg in his arm.

“Tell us what your friend Havik is planning?”

Sareena scoffed. “You expect us to fall for that?”

Soren made a buzzer noise in response, pushing Darrius to fall on his rear in the process. “Wrong answer! Luna? If you please?”

Luna waved her arm, wand in hand. “Wingardium Leviosa!”

Sareena begun floating in the air upon being targeted by the spell, as retaliation she pulled out her fellow demon sister Kia’s boomerangs and threw them at the young wizard.

“Reducto!”

So much for that. Sareena gasped upon seeing her sister’s weapons destroyed and opted to try maneuver through the air to Luna. Who watched her curiously.

Darrius tried to sweep Soren’s legs out from under him, but the blonde knight did a complete no-sell.

”Really? Fool me once, shame on me. I don’t know about you. But I don’t get fooled twice. Well, depends…”

He swiped his sword at Darrius, putting a cut on his pants and causing a small amulet to fall out.

“Hmm? Oo~ooh! Don’t mind if I…” Soren reached for it.

“No!” Only to pull his hand up to prevent it getting kicked by Darrius’ foot.

“Okay! I can play hard ball, and I can make you the ball…uh, baldie!”

The rest of the Security Team watched the fight continue on, Sindel and General Shao behind them, impatient looks on their faces. The sound of Bison’s door unceremoniously closing doing little to help the awkwardness.

Having enough faith that his two teammates had this covered. Vyse turned back to Sindel. “Do you know anyone with enough power in which to cause a time disruption? Merge timelines?”

The Empress shook her head. “No. Power that vast I have only heard in a dream. Though perhaps someone like Liu Kang’s close friend Geras could. But I have no reason to suspect any untoward acts on behalf of Lord Liu Kang’s allies.”

General Shao stepped into the conversation. “Empress. We cannot rule out any possibilities. If others have changed, then perhaps Geras could have a different alignment. He is a good lead to this time discrepancy.”

Sindel turned to him with a rather incredulous look. “If we have been replaced, then all from the timeline we know have replaced their counterparts. I will be cautious, but I retain faith that Geras is not behind this.”

He nodded at first, but the three security team members couldn’t help but briefly see his expression contort to a scowl for the briefest of moments.

Vyse didn’t comment on it, instead asking Sindel another question. “Perhaps you should find the others from your timeline. I can’t help but imagine a sudden sandy wind would cause a bit of chaos and confusion. We can tag along! Help clear things up.”

Vanille was quick to agree. “Yes! It shouldn’t take us too long, that is, unless specific people got replaced and caused some…”

Steve piped in to finish for her. ”Little… bit of… existential freak outs. I mean, people you know, replaced with people you don’t know? I would freak out and question crap too.”

“Okay! Okay!” Came a battered Darrius, tears rigoring his clothes.

“Sorry about the outfit. But at least it wasn’t your skin.” Soren chimed with a dopey smile, then leaned in with his voice low. “Now, talk.”

Darrius looked past Soren to see Sareena unconscious to his right, a victim of the Stunning Spell. And everyone else to his left, included the Empress and General of Outworld.

He sighed. “Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. They’re having Havik, Nitara, Sareena and I scout out the other timeline fighters, and areas around the Dome for plans involving Soul Stealers.”

Sindel gasped. “Just like what happened in the Living Forest.” She walked up to the rebel, her body language foreboding. “Did they cause this time anomaly?”

Soren smirked at Darrius. “You better answer this ladies’ question, air.”

Darrius groaned. “I don’t know, for real. They know about it. In fact, we have someone else on our side. An old plant witch, not unlike Sindel here…”

Soren smacked him across the head. “Woah! You crazy!? Can’t say that right in front of her. You have gotta have stones of steel, and I admire it. But not your penchant to disrespect royalty.”

“Soren.” Luna called.

“Right, right.” He looked back to her and then to Sindel’s cross expression. “Whose the plant witch?”

Darrius shook his head. “Terra Snapdragon. No idea what she’s done, but she also has two other witches on her side. Apparently they set up base at the restaurant.”

Soren nodded and turned to the others. “This all we’re gonna get outta him?”

Vyse stepped forward and looked at him, before nodding. “Let’s take him with us. He can pinpoint this ‘Terra Snapdragon’.” His eyes fell to Sareena. “And grab her too.”

“Roger!” Soren hoisted Darrius on his shoulder (also pocketing the amulet that fell in the process) and then did the same with Sareena. “Man, do I work out or not? If only you could see my sweet cannons under this armor!”

Before they would leave, Sindel would grab Vyse’s shoulder. “Myself and General Shao will accompany you. If Shang Tsung and Quan Chi are behind this, then they will have to answer for any chaos they may cause. General Shao can also…”

The Empress would turn to face where she thought the General to be standing. Only to be met with wind and air.

“General?”

The entire group looked around for any saw of Shao, but to their surprise there appeared to be no trace of him.

“How did we lose a guy that big?” Inquired Steve.

(The Arena)

JP gave a bored sigh when he ducked under a flying dropkick from Prishe, acting quick and swinging his cane back to catch her in the mouth.

“Ow! Ermhh! I think you chopped a tooth! Damn you!”

The Russian criminal only narrowed his eyes in disappointment. “And still you talk.”

Prishe sneered and tried to use Howling Fist, but JP caught it in his hand. Undeterred, he used his cane to smack her fist away and uppercut the girl.

“I do find your immortal status, intriguing. What Bison has sought all this time by choice, you managed to achieve by accident. The irony is not lost on me.” He regaled while slowly walking toward her.

Prishe stood up. “Pfft. Yeah, tell that to Bison. I didn’t even have to try to become immortal! Just like how I won’t have to try to beat your old ass!”

The small purple-haired woman then attempted to use Dragon Kick. But JP caught her attempt with his cane and used it to smack her a couple times, then deliver a heavy kick.

 “You’re annoying me, old man! Stand still and put away that damned cane!”

JP looked at his cane incredulously, and then back to Prishe. “Now, pray tell, where would the satisfaction in beating me be in that?”

Prishe stood still silent for a few second until she growled at not having an answer.

“Just, just shut up and take this! Banish!”

Much like all her attempts so far at attacking JP, the small bullet orb of light was swatted away with JP’s cane. She tried again, only to him to hold up his cane and take the attack. Though this did succeed in pushing him back ever so slightly.

“I’ll take it! You’re going down! I beat Garland before, so you won’t be much trouble!” The young girl boasted as she ran as fast as she could to try and make a combo happen.

Only for JP to parry her Shoulder Tackle, then use his free arm to hoist her upside down.

All he could do was sigh. “It dawns on me that this ‘Garland’ may just be worthless in combat, especially if someone such as yourself could defeat him. Alas, I grow tired of this farce. Let it be known that you did not lack ardor and courage. Though such things are worthless to me, I’m afraid.”

Ignoring the struggling Prishe’s efforts to break free, JP moved her over the ropes and softly dropped her down to the portal.

Prishe landed in the original Final Fantasy. She took her anger out on the Garland of that node for ten minutes straight. The party certainly had no complaints.

“That was… quite inadequate. If I must say.” Said JP with a shake of his head, before deciding to walk off to a turnbuckle to observe until the section was over.

Nightwolf held up his tomahawk to catch Takeda’s whip, the Shaman smirked before pulling the whip and by extension, Takeda, toward him.

Takeda immediately recognized what was happening and used his other whip to knock the tomahawk out of Nightwolf’s hand.

The Shaman wasn’t too concerned, summoning his bow and arrow and taking aim at Takeda. Kuai Liang would intercept this attack with a fireball. To which Takeda showed gratitude by whipping his former teacher a few times, the last strike sending him flying at Nightwolf.

Nightwolf would prepare to dodge the flying ninja, but it was unnecessary as Kuai Liang caught himself without trouble. Takeda took this moment to try and restart the conversation.

“So in your timeline, Bi-Han gets turned into a wraith known as Noob Saibot?”

The sudden question took Nightwolf by surprise, but he soon replied with a nod. Engaging in a power struggle with Kuai Liang. “Yes.” His eyes shifted to Scorpion. “Your brother thinks little of you as a result.”

Kuai Liang shook his head solemnly. “Seems it is destined to always happen. He no longer regards me as blood in my timeline either.”

Takeda would then cut off the conversation as soon as it started by throwing two shurikens at them. But both fighters kicked them back at him before they could explode. The explosions didn’t quite reach him, and he used this to catch the two by surprise. Striking both in the face with his whips, then hitting both with a jumping kick to the face.

Kuai Liang spun back to his feet and launched a fireball. Takeda swerved out of the way and inadvertently sending it into Nightwolf, who activated his magic to reflect it back to Kuai Liang.

Nightwolf adopted a green glow and dashed forward at Takeda. The swift attack making the former Yakuza stagger.

Kuai Liang then reappeared and struck Takeda with a fire-imbued punch. Takeda forced himself to stay balanced and threw another shuriken, this time his quick draw proved useful and the pyromancer was knocked back by the explosion.

In his hubris in getting Kuai Liang, he had forgotten about Nightwolf. And boy would he pay for it when he ended up eating an arrow to the chest.

“Hana! Attack!”

The eagle spirit did exactly as told. Flying straight at Takeda and delivering a vicious strike. This left him open to being tackled out of the ring by the Shaman.

Nightwolf wouldn’t have time to relish in his elimination as he was immediately struck with an all too familiar spear.

“GET OVER HERE!” Kuai Liang shouted. Much to the crowd’s delight.

Kuai Liang delivered a hard kick to Nightwolf’s face. Then ignited his kusarigama in flames before whipping it around to hit Nightwolf more.

Refusing to let the pain deter him enough to lose just yet, Nightwolf fought through it and grabbed Kuai Liang by the neck and raise him up prior to doing his shoulder tackle to launch him back.

Kuai Liang slammed his fist into the ground. Determination setting in, he wasn’t going to lose this.

And he wouldn’t, using his pyromancer he’d summon a pillar of fire under Nightwolf. The Shaman cried out from the burns and fell to one knee. Unable to do anything to block the incoming slashes from Kuai Liang’s ignited kusarigama this time.

“It’s over, Shaman.”

One more blow from the kusarigama was enough to launch Nightwolf up and over the ropes, letting Kuai Liang be the winner of their three-way fight.

Nightwolf landed in Killer Instinct. There he and Chief Thunder got into an argument about their respective tribes and whether both even exist.

Heathcliff let out a war cry, swinging his bat toward Tails, who in return held up one of his wrenches. Despite the difference in mass and weapon size neither side seemed to gain an upper hand, at least not after a minute or so. Where the Sinner would slowly start to overpower the Fox.

“Bugger, mate. What ails you? Couldn’t be a deep-rooted complex that got you up in arms with women, ain’t it?”

Tails didn’t answer as he was losing, but he would manage to get his tails around Heathcliff’s legs. He’d have the Sinner all tangled up and tripped not a moment later.

“No.” Was all Tails had to say, and for a moment Heathcliff could have sworn he heard his voice… strain.

“No?” Despite his confusion, he wasn’t one to really muck around too much with words. Never was, really. He kicked Tails back and swung his bat in an uppercut.

The young Fox caught himself in mid-air using his tails to hover above the ground. He would open his mouth to respond but once again his voice sounded like it was struggling to put together words.

“In the R-Restaurant….” He stuttered out to Heathcliff, landing on the ground.

Heathcliff blinked and set his bat on his shoulder. “Restaurant? What about it, lad?”

His whole body was shaking now, slowly walking over to Heathcliff as if he could barely walk. Not long after would he wince as if fighting some unseen force. Fighting off the pain he looked up to Heathcliff.

“The tea! Don’t… drink… the… tea…”

The Sinner would carefully mull over his words. What tea? Was that what had caused this? Man, he was just curious about what had made him react like this. But now it seemed like he just got himself wrapped up in something bigger…

“ALL WEEBS MUST BE DESTROYED!”

Oh, yeah! He had forgotten about the young Fox at his feet who after warning him about the tea had fallen to the ground. And was now up and back to his insane weeb-hating persona.

It was a decision he would pay dearly for with his tournament life. As Tails now had his arm cannon on and blasted Heathcliff with a few shots. Then turned his back to him and used his tails to deliver a few more blows. Finally wrapping up with grabbing the Sinner’s bat when he tried to retaliate and showcasing a surprising amount of strength by managing to hurl him straight out of the ring.

Heathcliff elected to not try and get back in. Seems he now had another part to his assignment here on his hands. Eh, it didn’t matter to him. So long as he got a chance to clobber some heads in.

B. Jenet gave a small snort as she put her hands behind her head and started to walk towards her opponent, looking down on him as she gave a frown. “You know, for a little guy that managed to push me down, you sure are full of surprises…”

The purple weasel/jerboa just rolled his eyes as he adjusted his hat. “Believe me, lady, it wasn’t my intention…”

“Oh, I know… but you reap what you sow. And seeing that you managed to push me out in the middle of a battle I was having, I’m going to have to take you down, out and now… hmmm… by the way, are you known as Nack or Fang?” B. Jenet asked.

Nack gave a small pause as he adjusted his hat. “Believe me, I’ve been known as Nack the Weasel in America ever since the Archie Comics, but thanks to a certain game, I think I’m finally starting to embrace the name I was ORIGINALLY known for… so, if you’d like…”

The jerboa smirked as he looked up. “Call me Fang… Fang the Hunter!”

“…you mean Sniper?” B. Jenet asked in confusion.

“Hunter, Sniper… whatever you prefer to call me.” Fang laughed as he readied himself. “Either way, you won’t be sticking around for very long…”

“Funny, considering how you got SO easily eliminated in the Tournament of Kikai.” B. Jenet smiriked.

Fang’s eyes widened in shock, before growling a bit. “It was that stupid bunny and his introduction to that wheel twist! If you’ve at least watched the recap show of the Battle of the Luminaries AND seen what I had to go through in the side stories of the Tournament of Kikai, you know perfectly WELL he had a vendetta towards me!”

“Oh, believe me, I’m perfectly WELL aware of what happened to you, and I sympathize with you, really, I do…” B. Jenet said, before giving a chuckle. “Yeah, ever since the whole ‘Monokuma’ incident, I don’t think Xero’s been taken any seriously…”

“Tell me about it.” Fang sighed as he shook his head, before giving a chuckle. “At least I gave him what for before I went in the Battle of the Luminaries 3… partly…”

“Oh, like the fireworks show you set up in the ending of the first Tournament of Kikai wasn’t enough?” B. Jenet asked.

“You know, we’re getting a little off-track here…” Fang said as he whipped out his popguns.

“You’re right. We can discuss this a little more AFTER I eliminate you out of here.” B. Jenet smirked as she readied a fighting pose.

“You mean… after I eliminate YOU.” Fang said as he bent his knees down.

“We’ll see about that.” B. Jenet smirked before the pirate woman jumped over and kicked Fang in the air, surprising the jerboa.

She then quickly followed it up by grabbing Fang and throwing him down on the ground, with the pirate woman jumping on top of the animal and spinning around on her shoe, kicking his stomach before jumping backwards. Fang quickly coughed a bit before getting up as he narrowed his eyes, before jumping backwards and using his popguns to shoot out a few corks at B. Jenet’s direction.

The pirate woman felt the corks hitting her in the stomach as she gave a small yelp. Those corks may have been small, but she had to admit, they packed quite a bit of a punch in the gut. B. Jenet looked over and started to move towards Fang as if to try for another attack…

But Fang was already preparing himself rather well as he used his tail to jump up into the air, leaping over B. Jenet before using his popgun to nail her in the back. B. Jenet staggered for a moment, before turning towards the jerboa with a small glare on her face.

“Why, you puny little rat!” B. Jenet growled before rushing forward to try to ready herself with a kick. Only, as she went close, Fang quickly lifted his foot and stepped on her left foot, causing the girl to yelp and stagger as she fell down to the ground.

The pirate girl got up and dusted herself up before turning towards the jerboa with a small glare on her face, before leaping forward and using her dress to create a gust of wind, entrapping the purple animal and sending him backwards towards the ropes. Taking advantage of the jerboa’s dizziness, she glided forward and slammed her legs at Fang, hitting him five times before sending him to a corner post.

Fang groaned as he shook his head, before trying to get focused… before his eyes widened as he looked over towards the announcer’s booth and squinted. His eyes widened in shock, before a small smirk came to his face.

“…this just got interesting…”

(Announcer’s Booth)

Oddly enough, Roxas was not in the Announcer’s Booth, but for some strange reason, a familiar yellow furred bunny wearing a red shirt and one ear was sitting where Roxas was, giving a small smile as he was looking down at the fights below.

“Oooooohhhh, it looks like the fighters are doing quite well this time… oh, and…” The rabbit noted Fang getting dizzy and looking around. “…looks like the Steve killer is still there… well, at least a hot girl is fighting him, so he’ll be out very soo- wait, he’s looking this way… he’s somehow summoning a vehicle and lifting himself up… wait… did he notice I’m here?”

Indeed, as the rabbit was narrating all of this, Fang gave a sharp whistle as he summoned a familiar vehicle with everybody applauding, recognizing the yellow hoverbike from Sonic Superstars (and the Archie comics) as they gave a loud cheer. B. Jenet could only watch in confusion as Fang used the bike up to eye level as he kept a sharp eye on the rabbit, staring at him.

The rabbit’s eyes widened in shock, before giving a nervous grin. “Uhhhhh… hi there, Nack… or… I guess your name is Fang now? How’s every little trick?”

Fang didn’t say a word as he pushed a button on his hoverbike. Three laser cannons then appeared from out of the hoverbike as they floated in front of the purple jerboa as they specifically aimed for the rabbit in particular.

“…still sore about me sending you off on a multiversal adventure that… I may have sent you on on purpose?” The rabbit grinned nervously. “Because it looks like you’re pretty sore on that…”

Fang just pushed a button as the lasers activated. The rabbit could only scream in pain as the lasers activated and shot right at the announcer’s booth. Everybody in the audience who had just noticed now couldn’t help but give a chuckle at this happening. As soon as the mess was done, Fang closed his eyes and smiled in satisfaction before flying away from the Announcer’s Booth. The rabbit slowly got up, now pretty charred up and groaning. “Ugh, can’t believe he did that… and on a poor, defenseless bunny, to-”

“Xero, what are you doing here?”

The one-eared rabbit, known as Xero, yelped as he turned around to see a frowning Roxas coming in, holding a soda. “I left for five minutes to get a drink from the vending machine, and you just came in without my permission to commentate?”

“Uhhhh…” Xero smiled nervously. “I noticed you didn’t have a co-commentator, you want one?”

“GET. OUT.” Roxas growled as he pointed towards the door.

“Sheesh, I’m going…” Xero grumbled angrily before walking out of the room.

“And take your stupid banners with you!” Roxas frowned as he picked up some nearby banners that were torn up like laundry and thrown directly at the bunny, then grumbled angrily as he closed the door. “Note to self, lock the door when you leave for a drink…”

(The Arena)

B. Jenet blinked twice as Fang came flying back in, looking ready to continue the fight. “What was all that just now?”

“I saw a certain bunny being where he shouldn’t be. I’m only doing what felt right.” Fang explained, before chuckling as he noted the audience cheering. “Besides, the minute everyone noticed who was in the announcer’s booth, I’m pretty sure they were going to cheer. Besides, I think this is what they expected…”

“Huh.” B. Jenet blinked, before going into a fighting pose. “So I see you managed to upgrade to Tails’ level when it comes to vehicles?”

“I may not be a scientific genius as much as Tails, but I do know my way around inventions.” Fang laughed as he patted the hoverbike. “The Marvelous Queen is my baby, a thing of beauty! I never take this thing out for a spin, and seeing as how Tails was allowed to use the Tornado… I figured using THIS was fair game!”

B. Jenet gave a small laugh. “I think you’re about to be washed up if you think your little advantage scares me!”

“Let’s test this, then!” Fang smirked before lifting himself up to the ground.

B. Jenet smirked before leaping forward in the air to try to slam her legs towards the Marvelous Queen, only for Fang to veer his vehicle to the left, causing the pirate woman to crash down to the floor. She got up and turned around to try to fight, only for small yellow energy pellets to come flying out from the vehicle and charging straight towards the pirate woman in purple.

B. Jenet took quite a few good hits from the pellets, knocking her back a bit as she started to stagger. She quickly frowned as she looked up at Fang, still riding comfortably in the vehicle, before leaping forward and attempting to do a dive kick towards the vehicle he was on in hoping to damage him.

However, Fang quickly saw her coming as he pushed another button in his vehicle, causing a missile launcher to activate as a few missiles fired directly at the lady. B. Jenet yelped as a missile made direct contact with her, exploding in her face as she flew towards the ropes.

She managed to save herself on the rebound, but B. Jenet shook her head and turned around to see Fang still riding on the Marvelous Queen, giving a small laugh to himself before pushing a button as a small floating grey square with a red dot was seen floating towards B. Jenet.

“What is that?” B. Jenet whispered to herself as the square opened up, a large red laser coming out from both ends. Her eyes popped open as she recognized the laser wall. “Ohhhh… snap…”

She tried to run away, but the only distance she could go was near the edge of the ropes as she gave a yelp. She had no choice but to let the laser wall run her over as the pirate girl gave a loud scream of pain, causing her to tumble over.

Fang couldn’t help but shake his head. “Heh, and you call yourself a clever pirate. Perhaps you should take a few lessons from a professional treasure hunter such as myself. Between you and me, nothing was going to stop me from winning. Off you go!”

With that, Fang backed himself up in the Marvelous Queen, before ramming her, sending her flying to the wall. She then slid down through the wall before going straight to the portal below.

The purple jerboa paused, before giving a small nod to himself. “Well, it ain’t much, but at least I’m back in my prime!”

Terra and Van Zieks clashed with their swords, the prosecutor showing a stunning amount of proficiency with his blade. He easily found an opening and poked the half-Esper with the tip of his sword.

“He’s good. Wouldn’t of expected this from an Ace Attorney character.” Terra whispered to herself prior to going back in to try again.

Again they locked blades, Terra trying to find a way through his so far unbreakable guard. But the young Lord proved impregnable, matching her swings step for step until he saw another path through and poked her again.

A slight bit of frustration staining her face, Terra lifted her sword and tried to do an overhead strike. Van Zieks simply held up his own sword to block and kicked her away.

“Do not be beguiled by my node, Miss Branford. I am no mere amateur to fighting outside the courtroom.” Van Zieks told her sternly.

Terra took a deep breath and nodded. “I can see that, if all your node is like you. It’s a wonder why Ace Attorney hasn’t ever been invited to fight more.”

Van Zieks chose to not give an answer to that. Instead choosing to thrust his sword forward, the advancing strike crippled much of Terra’s defense allowing him to get a few more swipes in creating a few tears in Terra’s dress.

The prosecutor then lifted his leg up and brought it down on Terra’s head, the half-Esper colliding with the ground hard. Okay, this was starting to get a little ridiculous, and embarrassing. Looks like it was time to start bringing magic into the mix.

Terra got back up slowly. “I’m sorry Lord Van Zieks, but… Fira!”

Van Zieks to his credit managed to dodge nearly all the fireballs, but one would end up catching his cape igniting it. But the prosecutor wasn’t bothered by it at all, simply casting it aside to the wind where it fell into the portal.

“Acknowledged that I am your superior in matters of the sword, Miss Branford?”

Terra begrudgingly nodded. “I must concede to that fact. However, I am unfortunately much better at magic! Blizzara!”

The prosecutor would use his sword to deflect the hurling ice shards to the best of his ability. But just like with the fireballs one would catch him in the face. Giving Terra the opening she needed to charge in with her sword and put him on the defensive.

“Maybe we’ll see more like you in the future. Either way, you definitely proved you could seemingly hang with the rest of us!”

With one last shove, Terra pushed Van Zieks through the ropes. Earning her victory from the fight, and her second elimination.

(Dome; Hallways outside Restaurant)

Nitara let out an inhumane shriek while lunging towards Raine. The Bard witch struggling to avoid being drained by the vampire’s fangs.

“So what does Terra want with you and your benefactor!?” They asked before managing to whistle and create a soundwave that made Nitara retreat screeching.

When her ears stopped ringing, Nitara shook her head at Raine. “That is something you’ll have to forget, witch!”

Raine’s glasses glistened. “You know, we banished all vampires from the Demon Realm. For the exact reasons you’d expect!”

Summoning their violin they strung on it once and created a cutting shockwave that Nitara barely managed to avoid.

“We can’t help what we..”

Raine put the kibosh on that nonsense immediately. “Save it. Your problem is entirely your own fault.

Letting out another enraged shriek, Nitara practically through herself at Raine. She would’ve succeeded too, had she noticed the witch drawing a magic circle on the ground and then stomping on it once Nitara flew over. Creating a big pillar of light that completed soaked the vampire and launched her into the ceiling.

When she landed, Raine ran over to check on her. Which was when Nitara came alive and slashed herself across the chest to gain a red aura around her while grabbing Raine and holding her close.

Nitara chuckled as she watched Raine slowly become more tired from being caught in her Blood Sacrifice. ”You aren’t gonna be able to stop the Soul Stealers. Especially once we find the perfect subjects to be blessed with the power of many souls!”

As weak as Raine was now, this new information made their eyes light up. Mustering enough strength they were able to whistle and send Nitara back.

When Nitara was about to fly into them again, Raine summoned a flute and immediately began playing a little tune on it. The music traveled to Nitara and slowly began to soothe her to sleep against her will.

A solid minute of playing, and the vampire was down and out for the count.

Clapping could be heard from behind Raine. And the Bard witch had a good idea of who they were, sure enough they turned and there was Terra Snapdragon. Flanked by Cassie Cage now.

”Well done, Raine. A pity you couldn’t have fallen under my control, you even ordered the tea by choice.”

Raine panted, still a bit drained from the fight. “Why get in touch with those from the Mortal Kombat node?”

Terra wagged her finger. “Ah-Ah-Ah! Not just them, dearie. A few other nodes as well. I’m sure you’ll see them when you’re off chasing your tail around this forsaken Dome.”

It was then that Raine took notice of Cassie and her blank look. Their face immediately turning to concern. “The girl behind you. She drank the tea.”

Terra beamed. “And so will many others. I’ve replaced the brew with my own. I even have a little test subject in the ring, currently. We’ve taken the Restaurant, good luck finding where the others are. Nitara here was checking to see if it was secure.”

Raine pondered her words and then came to the one conclusion. “’We.’ You, Vitimir, and Adrian. Hmph! I won’t let you get away with this!”

The Plant witch just laughed. “Oh it’s just like you, Raine! Always the hero! It’s adorable! It really is! But I’m afraid it won’t be happening this time.”

Raine internally cursed when they didn’t notice the giant plant growing behind them. With a snap of Terra’s finger it wrapped around their leg and flung them into the wall. Already drained somewhat from Nitara they soon succumbed to unconsciousness.

Terra smiled, and placed a hand on Cassie’s shoulder. Leaning into her ear. “Weebs are the scum of the Earth.”

Cassie nodded and repeated her words. “Weebs are the scum of the Earth.”

(The Arena)

“Drill Purrus!”

Pullum’s drill kick managed to break DK’s defense a little, the gorilla grunting in pain from the attack. Signified by his fanning of his hands.

“That worked! Somewhat.” Taking what she could get, the Arabian heiress then gave the gorilla a series of overhead kicks. A little overestimating of her luck would be her end of that combo when DK the last one she tried and shoved her back.

“Eep! Got a little too greedy there. Hmm… oh! Try… this! Pullum Kick!”

Pullum caught DK in the chin, lifting him up and leaving him to crash onto his back while her landing was more graceful. The Arabian-girl ran over to continue attacking, but got a powerful backhand slap that took her off her feet.

Pushing up back to his own feet, DK started spinning while holding his fists out. Pullum couldn’t get up in time and ended up receiving every spinning punch.

Landing on her back, Pullum pulled herself back up and got out her tambourine. Leaping at DK and smashing it over his head. However, this wouldn’t phase him so much as it did Yatterman-2. He easily pulled it off and threw it back at her head before she could land.

“Ow! Drat! That usually works!” Pullum cursed before ducking under a Giant Punch from DK. This granted the power of another Pullum Kick.

But this time DK would be ready, he immediately got out of his daze and brought both of his hands down onto Pullum’s head. Spiking her into the ground.

As Pullum collided with the ground, DK got out a banana and threw it near where Pullum stood. The heiress wouldn’t see it right away and would fall flat onto her rear from slipping on it.

Laughing at how his little trick worked, DK ran up and grabbed Pullum throwing her to the side by a good amount of distance. Her prone form making her easy fodder to be bowled right over.

Or so he thought. Pullum recovered and gave him another Drill Purrus, then did a number of twirling kicks to the face.

“CYCLONE!”

Shrouded in green wind again, Pullum did another pirouette, striking DK many times over and making him fall back several feet. Letting out several grunts of pain.

It didn’t always happen, but it was always possible. DK got an idea on how to end this fight. Pulling out his Smash Ball and crushing it in his hands, DK turned to face Pullum…

And then activated his previous Final Smash. Rather than his current one. That’s right, that meant he got out a pair of bongos and with the help of Roxas’. Began playing along to the beat of ‘DK Island Swing’ which just happened to start playing from the speakers.

Pullum was confused at first, but slowly she would get into the song as well. Pulling out her tambourine to add some background music to it. Unaware that the soundwaves DK was producing were pushing her towards the ropes.

With one final beat to the song, DK slammed the top of his bongos creating a huge soundwave which was just enough to push a shocked and duped Pullum through the ropes.

Pullum landed in Power Stone. Where she provided a nice little beat for Rouge to dance to.

“PK Fire!”

The small bolt projectile was fired at Chizuru who gracefully swerved to the side to avoid it. As well as the second PK Fire.

Chizuru brought her open-faced hand down at Ness, chopping his head and following with a palm strike.

Ness shook his head and used his yo-yo to wrap around her leg and pull it out from under her. It worked and opened the door for her to take a back kick laced with PSI Power.

Chizuru sat up and rolled back to avoid a downward PK Fire. She leaped over to Ness and caught him with a low kick, and using the Yata Mirrors abilities granted to her, she conjured a clone to spin upward and strike him multiple times.

“Ugh! Really trying hard to not mess up this tournament, huh?” Ness spoke telepathically to her.

Chizuru nodded. “Yes. It is my first time in these tournaments. A bit surprising I haven’t been in one before, is it not?”

Ness agreed, getting back up. “It is kind of puzzling. You are a proven main character of the KoF series. You should be a mainstay at these tournaments.”

Chizuru shook her head in agreement. “One of those mysteries with no real answer. Shall we continue our fight?”

“Let’s.”

Per the agreement the fight was back on, Ness swing his bat at Chizuru who ducked and looked to chop him upside the head again. Ness foresaw this and clocked her in the face with his yo-yo.

“PK Thunder!”

Ness redirected the lightning tail back into himself. Flinging his own body rapidly toward Chizuru, who gasped and leapt over the giant psychic rocket.

When Ness stopped, he swiftly turned and swung his bat at Chizuru’s face. The Yata clan descendant yelped and leaned back. Ness took advantage and telekinetically grabbed her and threw her into the ground.

Chizuru immediately got back up and swung her hand upward to catch Ness in the face. Then summoned another clone who struck him with her hand engulfed in blue energy.

Ness tried for a PK Flash this time, the slow moving ball of light struck the clone and made it disappear. Leaving the real Chizuru to swiftly grab his leg and pull it out from under him. Spinning him around with graceful precision.

Ness fell rear-first onto the ground. He didn’t let himself stay grounded, using his yo-yo to hit Chizuru in the face then give her a face full of PSI. Followed with another throw into the ground.

Despite the attacks thrown her way Chizuru still stood her ground. She used the Yata Mirror to summon another clone forward who waved her hands in a loop hitting Ness a number of times.

“I believe this is where I win.” Chizuru noted. Then activated her Climax Super.

A pair of silvery orbs surrounded the Yata descendant and then Ness once Chizuru landed another chop. The orbs circled him while he could only stare on confused. Not a second later did the orbs combust into him creating an explosion that knocked him clear out of the ring.

Ness landed in Mario Strikers Charged. Using his psychic powers along with the power-ups made him a pretty clear MVP for his team.

Chizuru respectfully bowed at her fallen opponent. A tad bit proud to have gotten her first elimination. “Not too bad for a newcomer.”

She then paused when she saw Ganondorf lying in wait. His eyes darting every which way. The act no doubt confused the white-clad woman.

“What are you doing?”

Ganondorf turned to glare at her. “Swatting away a little annoying gnat.”

That was when he saw a yellow bolt flying closer to him out of the corner of his eyes, causing him to smirk.

“There!”

The warlock coated his arm in darkness and then let loose a huge uppercut when the yellow blur got close enough. The blur then revealed itself to be Electivire, looking a little too hopped on its speed. It took the full attack and hit the ground hard.

Ganondorf’a grin grew wide as he picked up the Pokémon by the leg and hurled him over the ropes.

Electivire landed in The Walking Dead. Where his excessive electricity helped bring power back to the world! For all of about ten minutes.

Chizuru observed the act with an unimpressed look. “Couldn’t take a fair fight with him?”

Ganondorf rolled his eyes. “I tried to fight him straight up. But whoever powered him up through his ability made him too fast for his own good, and a good deal of my moveset is electricity. A fair fight wasn’t in the cards. I had to catch him off-guard.”

Chizuru put up her hands. “How about a fight with me, then?”

This elicited a smile from the warlock who pounded his fists letting dark energy burst from them. “Then what are you standing still for?”

Teruko swung Hero’s sword into a stone pick owned by Mattholomule. The boy struggled for a moment before kicking her in the stomach and then heading up one of his conjured stone pillars.

The Ultimate Lucky Student clutched her chest before noticing he was gone and up above her. Seething in rage she would swing into the pillar he was above to make it rumble and fall apart.

“Ha! Good luck! My magic isn’t baby spells! It’s the real deal! And so are my illusions.” Called Mattholomule from another stone pillar.

“Wha-?” Teruko looked to see the Mattholomule on top the pillar she just hit was an illusion, which then disappeared.

“Think you need a better view? Come on up!” Mattholomule spun a magic circle with his finger, creating a stone construct right under Teruko and lifting her up to his level.

“I really don’t have the time to eff around here! I have to get back to that overgrown cactus.” Teruko growled, pointing Hero’s sword at Mattholomule.

“Pfft.” Mattholomule scoffed, pulling Hero’s sword down and leaning on the blunt end. “You’re pretty brave for a girl with no magic or powers.”

The brunette yelped when Teruko pointed the sword up against his forehead. “Call me stubborn and determined. Now, will you let me try and get even?”

“Hmm? Let me think…” He held a finger to his chin in thought before contorting his mouth into a devious smirk. “Nah!”

Mattholomule used both his feet to kick Teruko off the pillar she was on to the ground below. But she wasn’t one to stay down so easily, she got up with a growl and lifted Hero’s sword to slash into the pillar.

“Oh, but which one will let you win? Oh, I don’t know! Find out!” Came what sounded like a plethora of voices, but all the exact same sound.

Teruko turned her gaze upward to see an assortment of Mattholomule’s occupying the top of every stone pillar. Every single one blew raspberries to taunt her.

“Come on, Miss Tawaki! Wanna try my guessing game? Or do you concede defeat?”

The Ultimate Lucky Student immediately answered. “Never!”

“Aw, really? Because you know, you’ve already outdone yourself. I mean one elimination isn’t so bad. You can leave this tournament with some pride in it. Especially for someone without magic or powers!”

Teruko shook her head again, reaffirming her choice. “I said never!”

She tightened her grip on Hero’s sword and slashed at one stone pillar. This time her anger helped her break it in one go. Too bad it wasn’t the right one.

“Oh, look at that! You can’t touch me! Probably because I’m an illusion!” The illusion Mattholomule said before disappearing.

Teruko seethed and swung the sword into the next tower. Again, no dice.

“Ouch! Double Whammy! There goes all your bonuses, AND your money!”

Teruko panted and directed her death glare to that illusion Mattholomule. “Will you please shut up!?”

“Hmm? Should I? What do you guys think? No? Okay, yeah agreed. Sorry, no can do!”

All Teruko could do at the moment was groan before she swung and knocked down another stone pillar. For the third time, nothing.

“Oops! Third strike, loser! Better luck next time!”

At this point Teruko had had enough. Channelling all her rage and anger she hurled Hero’s sword into center stone pillar. Despite it’s bigger width, it started to crack and crumble.

“Uh, oh.” Were all the Mattholomule’s could say before it collapsed. The pieces scattering toward the other pillars and knocking them down too. Creating a small burst of stone dust that covered the area for a brief moment.

When it cleared, the real Mattholomule gasped and jumped out of the stone that covered him. Then attempted to crawl free of the wreckage.

But then Teruko came into his vision, looking up he saw her with a seething look on her face.

All he could offer was a very nervous chuckle. “Mercy?”

“No.” She said darkly, and then she picked him out of the wreckage and threw him out of the ring as hard as she could.

Tails just gave a small grunt as he tried to keep his focus. As much as he wanted to make sure Aerith went down, even he had to admit there was a little bit of a bigger threat in front of him… in the form of a bug type Pokemon that had just dodged all of his wrenches.

“HOLD STILL!” Tails shouted in frustration as he kept throwing a few more wrenches in the beetle’s direction, only for Orbeetle to swiftly dodge them.

Aerith, having just recovered from her fight with Metera, just watched near the ropes as she noted Tails trying all he could to hit the bug. “I don’t mean to be rude, but for someone who’s smart, you’re certainly letting your anger get to you.”

“I do NOT need to hear it from you!” Tails groaned as the small fox turned towards the girl… before taking a deep breath and giving a sigh. “All right, all right… as much as I despise weebs… even I admit, I’ll need all the help I can get… and considering my partner got THROWN by that bug when it and the other girl were interrupting our battle…”

“Are you trying to say…?” Aerith asked with a curious look on her face.

Tails shut his eyes and groaned, before swallowing. “I still despise weebs, but… if you help me with this annoying little early Bug Type… I promise that I…” He gave a small sigh. “I’ll give you a small break for the rest of the round. After this round, I’m going back to fighting you.”

Aerith crossed her arms as she gave a small hum. “I don’t think that’s a good enough offer…”

“Oh come on! This is the best I can give you!” Tails argued… before being lifted up in the air and thrown by Orbeetle, who had just used its Psychic move and threw the fox to the ropes. Tails quickly got up and brushed himself off before turning to Aerith with a glare. “What else do you want me to do?”

“Well, since you talked mean to me for the past couple of rounds and tried to hit a lady… I don’t think I want to fight with you… unless you say you’re sorry.” Aerith said as she gave a small giggle.

“WHAT? SORRY?! I’m not- you can’t be-” Tails stammered a bit… before growling in frustration as he turned towards the Bug/Psychic type, who was setting up a Reflect move, an invisible screen shining over the bug for a moment. Tails then started to fly forward with his two tails as he readied another wrench to attack the bug with.

Tails gave a loud scream as he hit the bug in succession, only to let loose a loud, terrifying sound that buzzed right at Tails’ eardrums, causing the two-tailed fox to yelp a bit as he covered his ears.

“Ahhh!” Tails yelped as he rubbed his ears, feeling the effect of Orbeetle’s Bug Buzz attack. The young fox shook his head, before narrowing his eyes at the bug, before pulling out some boxing gloves. “All right, you may be a psychic type, but have you ever competed in the Olympics before? Because I had some skills there as well!”

With that, Tails jumped in and slammed Orbeetle in the face a couple of times, giving the small fox a laugh. “Try to top that! Your little Reflect may have reduced damage to you, but nothing can compare to hitting you multiple times with-”

Orbeetle could only respond by sending out waves of psychic energy as if through a beam, causing the fox to yelp as he felt the effects. After recovering from the Psybeam, he looked back towards Aerith, who seemed to be focusing on drawing what looked to be some flowers on the floor. Tails just grunted in anger… before giving a small sigh.

“Okay, fine!” Tails said as he marched over to Aerith. “I’m sorry. Now help me fight that thing!”

Aerith could only look up as she looked at the fox… before shaking her head. “Nope, I don’t think that was sincere enough. I want you to actually MEAN that apology.”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Tails shouted in anger. “I am not apologizing for what I stand for!”

“Good luck.” Aerith simply said before going back to her drawing a picture of the flower.

Tails’s eyes shrank as he looked back towards the small beetle, as it started to zoom upwards and about. Tails closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose. “Okay, okay, Tails… you played Pokemon Shield… and judging from what you’ve studied on Pokemon… this Orbeetle seems to have its Hidden Ability… it also has Bug Buzz, Psybeam, Psychic and Reflect… it also has a few more moves up its sleeve, and since the Pokemon are playing by anime rules in knowing more than four moves, that’s out the window… weaknesses… dark types, rock types… its own primary typing, I don’t quite get that… another study to think about later…”

The small fox’s eyes lit up and snapped his fingers. “Ah ha! Flying types!”

Giving a small laugh, the fox positioned himself and jumped up in the air as he started to use his own two tails to fly up in the air, causing the beetle with the large ladybug shell head to look at its equally flying foe in awe. Tails gave a chuckle to himself. “I may use the Tornado a lot more often, but I never forgot my own born ability! Let’s see you take this!”

With that, Tails spun around a bit slapping, Orbeetle with its tails as the flying bug winced at the attack, giving a slight cough before glaring at its opponent.

The young fox couldn’t help but give a small cheer as he laughed. “Not so cocky now, are you, Mr. Psychic type?”

“I wouldn’t berate your opponent so quickly if I were you.” Aerith said, still focused on her flower drawing, as she was now adding a nice little sun to it and giving it some lines pointing towards the flower, as if it was showing some rays affecting the flower.

Tails turned his head towards the flower girl with a frown. “Like you’re one to talk, Miss I’d-Rather-Draw-On-The-Floor?”

“You know, I can simply help you out if you just say you’re sorry… and actually mean it.” Aerith said, not even looking up.

“Ha! Like I need your help!” Tails argued as Orbeetle recovered and narrowed its eyes on the small fox as it held out its hand, materializing something from it. “Okay, I was thrown off a bit, but I think I finally figured out its weaknesses! I don’t think I even needed your help to begin-”

SMASH!

That immediately stopped Tails’s line of talking as the fox slowly turned to see that Orbeetle had started to glow blue, as if it activated a Final Smash.

Up on the announcer’s booth, Roxas looked in awe before grabbing the microphone. “Uh, ladies and gentlemen, I didn’t think I was going to talk about this already, BUT the Pokemon from Smash are NOT the only ones to have Smash Balls on them. No, ALL the Pokemon have come equipped with their OWN Smash Ball in order to perform their own Final Smash… and they have a few methods if they have options. One is for Pokemon that are capable of Mega Evolution. Another is for Pokemon that can’t Mega Evolve, but do have the power to Terastilizing, which I’ll get into when the time comes. And the last option can either go down to Dynamaxing, OR, in Orbeetle’s case…”

Tails just looked up in awe as the flying Pokemon started to grow big and transform into something rather… huge. While most of the size of the Pokemon remained the same, the ladybug-like shell on Orbeetle had now grown gargantuan, acting like a red UFO, with its spots now glowing with blue ring like targets, and even having yellow blobs and a large light underneath. Orbeetle then let out a large cry, looking ready for a battle.

“GIGANTIMAXING!” Roxas said in awe at the creature. “Now, unlike most Final Smashes, the Pokemon will STAY Mega Evolved, Dynamaxed, Gigantimaxed or Terastilized until either the end of the round or IF they’re eliminated! And unlike SOME Pokemon that didn’t have self control last time… this time, these Pokemon ARE made self aware in their transformed state… don’t want another Volcarona incident to happen after last time, after all…”

“Huh?” Tails asked as he (and most of the others still in the arena) looked up to the announcer’s booth in confusion.

“…nothing. Forget I said anything.” Roxas said, as if shifting his eyes a bit.

Tails blinked twice, before looking up at the large Pokemon. “A giant UFO? What are you going to do, abduct me and have aliens suck my brain dry? Come on, I’ve dealt my fair share of deal with aliens before.”

Orbeetle, staring down at the still flying creature, gave out a loud roar as it lifted its arms up in the air, as a small, blue ball was summoned from its antennae.

The small ball then went up in the air and started to open up, revealing some sort of black-reddish hole as it summoned various blue rings as they landed around the flying Tails, the little fox grunting as he felt the damage.

“Whoa! Th-that’s one… large attack!” Tails grunted as he looked up at the large UFO-like ladybug-like Pokemon.

All of a sudden, the fox groaned as he started to feel heavy, his tails stopped twirling around as he fell directly on the ground below. “OOOF!”

Tails grunted as he got up and tried to shake off being thrown off before looking up at the large UFO Pokemon with a sharp glare. He tried to twirl his tails to fly up again… only he couldn’t find himself lifting off the ground.

“Wh-what?” Tails asked in shock as he snapped his fingers, summoning the Tornado. He tried to lift off with it, only for it to immediately crash into the ground. Tails gave a gasp. “NOOO! What-what did that ladybug do to me?”

Tails took a few deep breaths, but tried to analyze the situation. “Okay, okay, Orbeetle is in its Gigantimax form for the rest of the round… meaning its using G-Moves on me… and the one it just used on me now must have been G-Max Gravitas… meaning that it damaged me a bit… but it also intensified gravity for a while… meaning it…”

He slowed down as his eyes started shrinking. “…nullified… my… flight… and all… of… my… planes… that… I can… summon.”

Tails slowly turned his head towards the large Gigantimax Pokemon as it sent out a large dark reddish fist to slam down right on the small fox. Tails screamed before jumping away. He looked over at Aerith, who had now finished her drawing on the arena floor. The drawing was that of a nice flower being shined by the sun, and a small house, with a drawing of herself and what looked to be Cloud nearby, holding hands, and a heart over their heads. Aerith was admiring the masterpiece to herself as she seemed rather proud.

Tails shut his eyes in anguish, trying to think about what he should do in this situation… he still had his hatred of weeb-appeal characters, but, at the same time, he knew that Aerith was just a good person in nature… and he knew he was coming off as harsh… even if he couldn’t help himself… he still made it his mission to eliminate any weeb-appeal characters… but sometimes, the fox had to admit, he had to swallow his pride…

Another dark red fist came down on Tails, causing the small fox to yelp as he got blasted away. Tails immediately crawled back to Aerith as he went down on his knees, shut his eyes and started to cry. “I’m sorry! And I do mean I’m sorry! I only acted out on you because I was never a fan of weeb characters, but I know it’s not your fault! I should be angry at the people who do the weeb thing, not the characters that are drawn as weeb bait! I can’t help it, though! It’s a bit of a YouTube channel thing I’ve been doing! You don’t deserve my scorn! And I took it too far! I admit that! Please, I’m sorry…”

(Dome; Restaurant)

“Terra. I thought you said he drank the tea!? What is this all about!?” A cross Adrian asked Terra, who was patting her fingers together nervously.

“I… took inspiration from his rants? But I saw him drink it! Not unless…”

It took a few seconds before it dawned on her. Raine was here since everything began. Relaxing at the same table, and who was sitting near her when he first came in….?

“Raine! Even when unconscious. You ail us!”

Adrian’s stood slack-jawed. “He was pretending this whole time!? No wonder I found it off that he could fight off the effects!”

(The Arena)

He sniffled as he laid his head down. “Can you please help me with this large Pokemon?”

At first, Aerith wasn’t paying much attention to Tails as she seemed more focused on her drawing on the floor that she was rather proud of. But, after a moment, though, she looked up at the small fox, who seemed to be suffering from an anxiety attack and… maybe there was a hint of remorse in this fox somewhere?

Nevertheless, Aerith gave a smile as she got up. “There, that is MUCH better. Now, was it really THAT hard?”

“So… you’ll help me?” Tails asked, looking up with eyes sparkling in hope.

“Well…” Aerith looked up at the large Pokemon before her, as it seemed to be readying for another attack. “I’ll see what I can do.”

With that, Aerith picked up her staff and gave a small stretch before looking up at the large UFO ladybug-like creature before looking up and giving a nod. “Okay, let’s keep ‘em at bay!”

With that, the flower girl waved her staff around as a large flower like shield started to materialize in front of her, blocking the large red fist that had materialized from Gigantimax Orbeetle’s aura. While Aerith was knocked back a bit, the young flower girl recovered as she looked up and waved her staff, sending out various energy orbs directly at the large Pokemon, causing Gigantimax Orbeetle to yelp at the attacks.

Tails looked up and smiled as he waved his arms. “Go get ‘em, Aerith!”

Aerith nodded before waving her staff once more. “Ready? And…” Her staff started to glow as Gigantimax Orbeetle was about to prepare another attack. “RAY OF JUDGMENT!”

A large blue beam of light then emerged from her staff as it blasted Gigantimax Orbeetle directly in the cranium, causing the large UFO-shaped Pokemon to let out a cry of pain, before locking eyes with the adorable flower girl before her. Aerith then closed her eyes as she waved her staff, sending another large beam towards Gigantimax Orbeetle, before the large UFO Pokemon’s blue circles started to glow, summoning green butterflies to zoom forward towards Aerith.

Aerith then waved her staff around like a bo staff before slamming it down on the ground, causing various lighting bolts to strike down each of the butterflies as they tried to go through, but only a couple of butterflies hit Aerith, causing a large green forcefield to explode around her. People who were in radius of the forcefield wisely ducked away as some of them turned and looked up to watch the large UFO/ladybug/beetle Pokemon narrowing its eyes.

The area cleared as Aerith was still standing, huffing a bit as she looked up, an orange circle surrounding her for a brief moment as a sound as if something was powering down was heard somewhere.

“Special attack drop?” Aerith asked before giving a giggle. “No issue at all. Now, Mister Large UFO, I believe it’s time for your nap… Tails, maybe you’d like to assist?”

The fox paused, before giving a nod towards Aerith. “Gladly!”

With that, Tails jumped in (or rather, slowly hopped as best as he could) before pulling out his Energy Ball arm cannon and holding it up. “Light ‘em up!”

“Like dynamite!” Aerith smiled as she pulled out some sunglasses and put them on, before giving a pose behind Tails as the fox did a smirk, pulling out a similar pair of shades and put them on, doing a similar pose to Aerith’s friend, Barrett. Then Tails and Aerith aimed their weapons, with Aerith shooting her holy light, and Tails shooting out energy balls from his arm cannon faster than normal.

Both attacks struck the UFO-ladybug-esque Pokemon as it let out a loud sound of pain as it tried to keep itself together. The small fox and young flower girl looked to each other before jumping and posing towards each other as they jumped to the opposite end, with Aerith yelling, “This one’s for you!”

With that, Tails managed to shoot rapid fire at Gigantimax Orbeetle, causing the large beetle to let loose as it felt ready to give out… but one more hit from Aerith’s staff and her rays of holy light was the final trick as the UFO started to go down right out of the ring and into the portal below. Both Tails and Aerith could only watch as the large UFO-like creature (who, even now, as it was entering through the portal below, was slowly shrinking down back to normal upon being eliminated) sunk down.

“Well, I guess that’s it.” Aerith smiled as Tails took a small breath.

“Y-yeah…” Tails paused before twirling his tails to see if he could get himself back up… but frowned as he noticed he couldn’t get himself up. “Ugh, yeah, just as I thought… the intensified gravity is still in effect… probably will last until next round, if I have to give an approximate…”

The two-tailed fox then looked over to Aerith as she seemed to give an innocent smile towards the fox. After a moment, Tails closed his eyes and gave a sigh. “All right, all right. You may be a weeb-appeal character, but…” He gave a small smile. “We did work great as a team back there. I still don’t like you, but I will acknowledge… we do work good together.”

“Awwww, you’re so sweet, Tails.” Aerith smiled as she patted the young fox on the head.

Tails shuddered a bit, before giving a sigh. “All right, look, how about we extend that promise I made? Not only will I leave you alone for the rest of the round, but I’ll find someone else to battle next section… could be another weeb-appeal character, could be somebody else entirely… either way, if you’re still here after the next two rounds, all bets are off.”

“And what if I’m not?” Aerith asked, cocking her head.

“Then…” Tails paused, before sighing. “I don’t know yet, but trust me, I have my ways.”

“I suppose I’ll take it.” Aerith smiled as she walked back to her drawing she made on the floor and bent down. “Hmmm… you know, maybe I should add some grass here…”

Tails blinked twice, before giving a small shrug and walking off, just deciding to relax to the side and wait until the round is over, just so he could get his flight back…

“Have to get you credit, Fox. You’re proving quite the capable leader! Just like your Father! You know, the one that died?”

“Quiet!” Was the angry reply.

Fox fired more shots at Neco-Arc, the chibi clone flying her way past each one. She then would reach into her bag of tricks and pull out…

A trident. One that looked crazy similar to the one that Ganondorf wielded in Hyrule Warriors.

The lupine’s eyes bugged out once he saw it. “Where!?..” He started, but opted to just sigh and slap his forehead. “Pointless to ask.”

Neco-Arc nodded in approval. “Good lupine.”

The chibi clone sent it hurling into the ground, where a giant crater formed where it landed, as well as a burst of dark energy.

Fox had enough sense to jump out of the blast radius. Neco-Arc would rush down to where to was to retrieve it. Giving it a good swing at Fox, who jumped out of the way and then again at another swing.

This was his chance! Using Fire Fox he rushed into her and managed to get her caught in the flames, making her comically spin with swirls in her eyes.

“Woah!”

With her still debilitated he ran over and kicked her multiple times. When she recovered she fired a laser from her eyes at Fox, who used his Shine reflector to send it right back at her.

“That reminds me…” She reached into her bag of tricks again. “Draw, McCloud!”

Her next trick had her pulling out two blasters identical to the one’s the StarFox trio used. Taking the shock as her cue, she fired shots rapidly at Fox. Who again used his reflector to send them all right back at her. Pushing her ever closer to the ropes.

“Are you trying to eliminate me!?” She asked with her hands on her hips. “Need I remind you that you are great and just like your dear old Father who…”

Fox completed her sentence, his rage evident. “Died! Yes, he died! But why you have to keep bringing it up over and over is beyond me! It’s not even funny as a meme anymore!”

Neco-Arc remained unfazed. “True. But I needed something to make this part of the section easier.”

Fox’s eyebrows twitched violently. “What are you…?” He didn’t have the patience to finish that question. ”No, forget it! I don’t care! Because…”

He would pull out his Smash Ball and break it in his hands. “You’re about to lose.”

The lupine summoned a Landmaster tank for his Final Smash. Hopping inside and immediately beginning to charge up energy to fire.

Neco-Arc simply stood in place, but not before reaching into her bag of tricks and pulling out a small target sign to put over her tiny body. “Well, folks that brings my run to an end. It was a fun two sections! And I’m betting one million cents that I’m gonna be the Melty Blood MVP! Mark that down Carver and Blunny!”

The Landmaster finished charging and fired. Hitting Neco-Arc with a huge blast that torpedoed her into the barrier surrounding the ring. She peeled off and feel down like a limp piece of meat.

“TELL MY STORY!” She said before she hit the portal.

Neco-Arc landed in Marvel Comics. Where she and Deadpool immediately became friends and took turns annoying the heck out of Taskmaster.

His Final Smash duration finished, Fox hopped out of the Landmaster before it disappeared and wiped his hands at his second elimination.

It took him a quick minute but he noticed that the fighting had stopped, and a quick headcount would tell him why; the Section was over! He looked around again to gauge what all the survivors were doing.

Fang was to the side trying to keep a Tails from reneging on his deal with Aerith, who could only clutch her staff while giving the Fox a concerned expression, Teruko was helping Chizuru hold off Ganondorf, DK was absentmindedly eating a banana, Terra was doing a little deep breathing in preparation for the next section, JP was silently observing the survivors before him with a look of disdain, and Edric was laughing to himself at the unamused Scorpion who now spotted a drawn-on moustache and glasses.

Roxas’ voice came on to announce that they would need just a minute to prepare for Section Three. Well, that was a lot less than a couple of minutes. An extra minute of breathing room, but would it be enough to carry through past this next round?

(RESULTS): (16 votes on the Main Event, 15 votes on the Side Battles)

TERUKO TAWAKI (D:DT) (13:3) = 10 (Hero, Matt Tholomule)

FOX MCCLOUD (SSB) (13:3) = 10 (Rock Howard, Neco-Arc)

AERITH GAINSBOROUGH (D:FF) (13:4) = 9 (Metera, Orbeetle)

NA…erm.. FANG THE SNIPER (StH)) (12:4) = 8 (B. Jenet)

SCORPION (MK) (12:5) = 7 (Nightwolf)

DONKEY KONG (SSB) (11:5) = 6 (Pullum Purna)

CHIZURU KAGURA (KOFXV) (11:5) = 6 (Ness)

GANONDORF (HW) (11:6) = 5 (Electivire)

MILES ‘TAILS’ PROWER (StH) (11:6) = 5 (Heathcliff)

EDRIC BLIGHT (TOH) (10:6) = 4 (Lord Raptor)

JP (SFV-VI) (9:7) = 2 (Prishe)

TERRA BRANFORD (D:FF) (9:8) = 1 (Barok van Zieks)

(ELIMINATED)

LORD RAPTOR (DS) (9:8) = 1 (Karin Kanzuki)

ELECTIVIRE (PKMN) (8:9) = -1 (Uranus)

NIGHTWOLF (MK) (7:9) = -2 (Takeda Takahashi)

TAKEDA TAKAHASHI (MK) (7:9) = -2

KARIN KANZUKI (SFV-VI) (7:10) = -3

PULLUM PURNA (FEXL) (7:10) = -3

NECO-ARC (MB) (7:10) = -3

URANUS (BR) (6:10) = -4

ORBEETLE (PKMN) (6:10) = -4

HEATHCLIFF (LC) (6:10) = -4

B. JENET (KOFXV) (6:10) = -4

BAROK VAN ZIEKS (TGAAC) (5:11) = -6

ROCK HOWARD (KOFXV) (5:12) = -7

HERO (SSB) (4:12) = -8

MATT THOLOMULE (TOH) (4:12) = -8

PRISHE (D:FF) (4:12) = -8

NESS (SSB) (3:14) = -11

METERA (GF:V) (2:14) = -12

SIDE BATTLES:

"Of Swords and Sorcery"

LUNA LOVEGOOD (HP) and SOREN (DTP) interrogate DARRIUS and SAREENA (MK)

14 to 1

"Whispers in the Wind"

RAINE WHISPERS (TOH) lulls NITARA (MK) to sleep

11 to 4

A Strong Start: Aerith manages her second string of two eliminations. Putting her node into an early lead with Terra's help as well!

My Greatest Second Chance: Teruko taking the top slot after coming back from being an instant elimination in Section One! What a hiatus will do for you, still, talk about making the most of your Second Chance!

Chapter Text

(The Arena)

Everyone seemed to still be fairly active in spite of the additional minute imposed upon them for rest. That is with the exception of Ganondorf, who was still fending off both Chizuru and Teruko. Thankfully, the student hadn’t gotten any better with a sword than the last section, and Chizuru wasn’t quite getting in enough to really cause damage. Still, they were persistent.

But then the spotlight found its way to the entrance curtain once more. Most of the remaining survivors stopped what they were doing and got prepared to face a new batch of fighters. Starting with…

“ELEVEN!” (SFV-VI)

The Secret Society’s prototype, one of many to be exact. It stood aimlessly on top of the entrance ramp before a voice came on through its ears. The voice of Urien.

“Alright you little duplicitous sack of plant food! Make yourself useful! Try and last long enough until I enter, so start off with someone low level. Like that blond girl in the dress, she should make a fine little warm-up… Heh Heh. Now go!” Urien barked.

Eleven nodded at it’s new orders, then leaped down the steps into the ring. It’s bright green eyes scanned around for its assigned target.

Terra’s eyes were fixated on the drawing on the floor, made by her of course. Having taken a page out of Aerith’s book. The drawing was of her and the children of Mobliz, peacefully going about life in the village as a family of sorts.

The half-Esper smiled lovingly at the picture and was about to continue when a white humanoid being walked over to her.

Terra cocked her head to the side. “Do you wish to fight?”

As a response, Eleven morphed it’s body to be identical to Terra’s in every way except for the lack of color. Holding up the sword it now held and pointing it at Terra. “Have what it takes to smash the mirror?”

Terra slinked back, a tad unnerved by the humanoid’s transformation. “Okay, that is definitely up on the list of weirdest things I’ve ever seen.”

“STORM!” (MN:ROTI)

The first of a dozen Marvel characters to enter, the crowd wouldn’t shy away from offering Ororo Munroe thunderous cheers. The mutant would remain humble and simply smile in gratitude while manipulating the winds to allow herself to float.

“Many worthy challengers…” Storm mused upon landing in the ring. A few piqued her interest greatly like Chizuru or Aerith, but in her mind there were only two she knew she couldn’t leave unattended. And since one was already occupied, that left…

“… but only one impurity to cleanse.” Her mind was made up at this point. She eyed JP and floated over.

To his credit, the leader of Amnesia did not falter whenn he was approached by the mutant. In fact he was courteous, bowing in her presence.

Storm just narrowed her eyes. “Do not think I have not heard of your deeds. Framing an innocent man, plundering money to satiate your greed. A sin, which will be your downfall.”

JP lightly shook his head and ignited his arm in Psycho Power. “I have heard these words so many times I have lost count. But if it will weather your mind. Let us put up our dukes for a duel.”

Storm raised her arms, summoning a strike of lightning that crashed through the roof into her hands. She then summoned rays of electricity to surround both her and JP.

“You will shrink in the face of Nature’s wrath!”

“ROB!” (SSB)

The toy robot shot out lasers from his lens as a way to hype up the crowd upon his entrance. It worked to a mild effect, elevating the sound of the crowd by a smidge. ROB was satisfied and pumped his arms up before gliding down using his thrusters.

“IT IS PIVOTAL THAT I ASSIST NODAL COMPANIONS. BUT IT APPEARD THAT NEITHER FOX NOR DONKEY KONG REQUIRE ASSISTANCE.” ROB said upon entry to the ring. He stood for a few seconds before speaking up again. “THEREFORE I SHALL FIND A TEMPORARY TARGET AS A PASSTIME.”

ROB activated his scanners and began looking around. He immediately crossed off his nodal companions for obvious reasons. Then the villains, and their respective fights, after a few moments of analyzing his available options he’d let out a beep and single in on one.

“THE NEWCOMER. THE GREEN-HAIRED WITCH, HE SHALL BE MY FIRST OPPONENT.” ROB declared, and made his way over.

“GREETINGS. I REQUEST A FIGHT. I NEED TO GAUGE IF YOUR NODE IS TRULY WORTHY OF BEING HERE! WHAT WITH THE MYSTERY SURROUNDING YOUR INCLUSION.” ROB said to the green-haired teen.

Edric cocked his head to the side and leaned toward ROB, a suspect look on his face. “What about our inclusion? We were here the whole time! Honestly, I don’t get why everyone is so up in arms about us being here…”

ROB shook his head. “THAT IS SIMPLY NOT CORRECT. YOUR RESPONSE HAS ME QUESTIONING IT EVEN MORE. I NOW SUSPECT FOUL PLAY, AND AS SUCH YOU AND YOUR PRIMITIVE FASHION SENSE SHALL BE ELIMINATED SWIFTLY!”

Edric blinked in shock, and let his eyes fall down over his clothes. “W-What about my fashion sense? And you’re one to talk! Naked robot!”

ROB stood in place again. And then once he finally spoke up. “NEGATIVE. ROBOTS HAVE NO NEED FOR CLOTHES. AND I BECAME A JUDGE OF FASHION DUE TO MY ABILITY TO NOT DISPLAY BIAS AND BE SUBJECTIVE ON THE MATTER OF CLOTHES. BLAME THE PRINCESSES AND BAYONETTA FOR THIS!”

“… Isn’t that a bit contradictory…? Oh. Oh! Oh, I’m so going to enjoy dousing you with potions…”

“MINOTAUROX!” (M:TOL&C-N)

As Ivan Bruel, the gentle giant teen would probably shrink under the sound of the cheering crowd. But as Minotaurox, he had more of a mind to showcase his excitement a bit more. Heroically posing for the fans with his signature mallet.

Upon hitting the ring…. he wouldn’t get two steps before he’s be immediately flanked by Fang on the Marvelous Queen.

“Hey, buddy. Not to immediately shred your aura of confidence, bu~uuuu..” Fang started, drawing out that last part.

Which immediately confused Minotaurox. “But, what? Spit it out!”

“……~uuuut! Weren’t you only shown in your superhero persona for… what? Five minutes? We don’t even know what your power is!”

Minotaurox huffed, which actually caused steam to pump out of his nose. “It’s the power of Resistance! I can make myself impervious to any power or attack!”

Fang leaned in with curiosity. “Really, now? Well then how’s about we put that to the test, huh?”

Minotaurox smirked. “You’re on!”

(Hotel; 30th Floor)

“Sorry, sorry!” Vyse apologized profusely to a very angry Felicia who was changing. He shut the door and turned to the rest of the Security Team, who all rescinded from their own ventures looking through the many rooms on this floor.

“We’re changing course with each new development. I cannot say that staying here to check the rooms for the General was a sound decision.” Luna said.

Steve couldn’t help but agree. “Yeah, no kidding. At least we had the brains to send Sindel up ahead to check her floor…”

Vyse shook his head. A little down on the failure of his plan. “You’re all right. Well, this was a busy. We have to get down to the restaurant for our little ‘friend’ to help us locate Terra Snapdragon.”

Soren leaned in with a sheepish look. “Doesn’t need to be said that we could’ve been done that already. But it ain’t going nowhere! So not like we lost anything! Let’s head down there…!”

The sound of swirling wind would emerge from within Soren’s armor. Vyse immediately took note of Darrius’ sudden head turn to where it was coming from.

“Oh, Soren! It’s coming from..!”

Soren nodded. “Me. Yeah, yeah, don’t worry Vanille. I got that little trinket right…”

The amulet he held started to glow, and a projection of a man appeared on the center of the gem.

“Nitara, Darrius, Sareena! I have confirmation on the eliminated seating. It is secure like the restaurant.” The man started, then his look soon turned sinister. “Perfect place for the second of our Soul Stealers. For the last two we are eyeing the nodal locker rooms. After all, a few of the nodes sheer size dwarf a majority of the others. We’ll be sending others to secure these areas. For now, focus on the new task of luring unsuspecting fighters to the restaurant. Miss Snapdragon will take care of the rest.”

The man waved his hand and the projection disappeared. Along with the amulet’s glow. The Security Team each exchanged looks.

“Split up.” Vyse broke the silence. “I’ll take Steve and Vanille to have Darrius pinpoint Terra and bring the operation to an end. Soren and Luna go make sure the eliminated seating is secure, then fortify the nodal locker rooms. Go!”

The team went into the elevator, pushing the button to head to the ground floor of the Hotel, where they would disperse upon the elevator door opening.

(The Arena)

“MIDNA!” (HW)

Appearing in a burst of dark energy the more recognizable imp-form of Midna appeared before the crowd. With a smile at of the immense cheers she was getting, she gave a sly wave and disappeared again.

“I’ll hold him!” Roared Teruko prior to her clashing Hero’s sword against Ganondorf’s own. With all her strength she was actually able to hold him back long enough for Chizuru to summon a clone that struck him in the face.

“Ha! Take this, dirtbag!”

Taking full advantage of his staggering, she thrusted the sword right into his armored chest. Denting the armor and opening himself up even more….

… And right into Midna’s cursed-shackle infused hair. Which grabbed Ganondorf suddenly and tossed him by the side.

Midna laughed. “Oh, sneaking up from behind to toss them away! Never gets old! You know it all too well, don’t you?”

Ganondorf immediately sat up at hearing Midna’s voice. “You.”

Teruko waved off his dramatics. “Shut up.” She turned to Midna. “You have a stake in this too?”

Chizuru also turned to face the imp. “Care to assist us?”

Midna shrugged. “He was gonna be my target anyway. I’d be happy to help out.”

Ganondorf groaned.

“And now, Mystery… Fighter… Number… FIVE!”

“RYOKO!” (World Heroes)

Those remembering the first three Megamix Tournaments immediately jumped to give the brunette martial artist a decent-sized cheer out of nostalgia.

Ryoko couldn’t help but blush and wave back at the crowd. But she tried to get back in the zone a moment later. “Come on! Now isn’t the time to look red! A fourth Megamix Tournament is coming, and it doesn’t look like we’re getting an invite…”

Right. That fact, that unfortunate fact. “But it doesn’t mean I can’t still come out here and do my best! For my node! And for D!-san!”

Finishing her pep talk, Ryoko sprinted down the ramp and leapt in. Looking over everyone left, she mulled it over before deciding Aerith would be her opponent.

Aerith was thinking over ideas for another drawing when Ryoko came over. “Oh! Fancy seeing you here! It’s been a while since you’ve been at these tournaments, hasn’t it?”

Ryoko nodded. “Far too long! I’m a pretty lucky girl to get the invite to come here. But now that I am, I won’t back down. Since you’re the fighter with the most eliminations so far, I’m challenging you first.”

Aerith picked her staff back up. “I accept. Let’s see if you’ve lost your step.”

“E. HONDA!” (SFV-VI)

Street Fighters resident sumo practitioner gave a hearty laugh and smirk to the cheering crowd. For some reason he seemed to be in a rather good mood.

With a smile still plastered on his face he charged down into the ring. Where once inside he would… ignore the rest of the previous fighters and turn back to face entrance curtain.

Tails, who was going to offer to challenge him first, flew over and tapped his shoulder. “Uh, is there a person you’re wanting to fight already?”

E. Honda passionately nodded. “Oh, quite! Someone who I can certainly put my sumo to the test with!”

The two-tailed Fox would slowly nod. “O~oookay? And who would that be?”

“HINAKO SHIJO!” (KOFXV)

“Oh.” Tails immediately realized what the smiling and uncontained excitement was about and sauntered off dejectedly.

The petite blonde respectfully waved a few times to the crowd with a smile. It had been a while since her last UVR, but she thought it nice that she hadn’t been forgotten!

“Back in the fray, DLC, but back in nonetheless! I will tell no lie in that it feels great!”

That was when she noticed who stood at the bottom of the entrance ramp waiting for her. A figure who immediately made her drop her usual composed demeanor.

“And it’s about to get even better!”

Hinako raced down the ramp as fast as she could, jumping over the ropes to greet E. Honda at the bottom.

“Oh my gosh! THE E. Honda! And he wants to fight me first!” She gushed with a wide-eyed look. E. Honda only smiled in response.

“You got that right. It’ll be a first! Two sumo wrestlers in the ring at the same time. Now let’s see how well your sumo holds up!” E. Honda asserted as he got into stance.

“It would be my pleasure!” As did Hinako.

“FUJIN!” (MK)

The unchanged wind god conjured a tornado in front of him as a means of playing to the crowd. When he was done he dissipated it and caused a surge of wind that blew to each side of him.

Like with Storm before him, Fujin elected to enter the ring through summoning a small tornado that carried him down to it.

Before he could decide on whom to fight first, Tails made the choice for him by flying over. The fox had another curious look on his face.

“It’s really a great turnaround. From debuting in a terrible game with a boss fight that has an incredibly cheap trick to becoming a playable character with cool powers and an expanded backstory that adds to your coolness.”

The wind god briefly tensed at the mention of Mythologies. Wasn’t a great debut, but when is one ever. The kid was only making an observation after all, and he had to admit the giant tornado WAS a cheap trick.

Fujin did a small smile at Tails. “We all come from humble beginnings.” He put a hand out to feel the gravitation. “It seems gravity has been restored. With that in mind would you consider a fight?”

Tails nodded. “You bet! Another practitioner of the wind! How could I pass that up!?”

Before they began, Fujin couldn’t help but ask something he had on his mind. “What was going on last section. What with your odd breakdown?”

Tails shifted his eyes. “You really want to know? For starters, it sounds like there’s something weird going on outside the arena.”

Fujin couldn’t help but chuckle. “Weird. Well, I’ve had my dose of weirdness. Try having your brother be replaced by a younger, mortal version of himself.”

(Dome; Restaurant)

“Yes, yes, Shang Tsung. The project over here is showing great promise! Seeing as I can speak to you aloud without a concern!” Adrian boasted to the amulet in his hands. Ignoring the fact that the restaurant was near deserted at this time.

The sorcerer grinned in delight. Satisfied at the answer. “Your illusion work is excellent, Adrian. Being able to act in plain sight without a care in the world, truly, I have not erred in picking you three for this task.”

The illusionist waved the compliment off, setting his gaze to a nearby table where one Mighty the Armadillo was shown drinking Terra’s tea while giving him a strange look. The Plant witch immediately coming over and uttering her phrase in his ear.

“Please. You flatter us. So while we’re mass producing minions for yours truly, are your own allies getting to work finding some suitable vessels for the Soul Stealers?”

The sorcerer nodded. “Indeed they are. If you could, do try to get anyone of great power to drink Terra’s brew. It could make our lives a lot easier.”

Adrian rolled his eyes playfully. “You say that like we’re not already on it. Oh! I think I have to check on how Kikimora’s doing with the Abomaton’s and preparing the Soul Stealers. Get back to you soon, bye~eeee!”

He hung up the call, Terra and Vitimir came to him expectantly. “You didn’t mention our little incident with Raine earlier, did you?” Terra inquired.

Adrian huffed. “Hmph. Give me some credit, Terra. You think me a fool to relay possibly damning info to our boss!? He doesn’t need to know, besides…”

He'd walked past the counter and into the kitchen, stopping at a door labeled accordingly for the janitor. Opening it revealed a tied-up Raine, still unconscious.

“We already have the situation handled.”

(The Arena)

“JOKER!” (SSB)

Tossing his knife in on hand, and brandishing a pistol in the other. The leader of the Phantom Thieves adjusted the collar of his sleeve and gave a smirk to the cheering crowd. With one final flourish of his jacket, Joker raced down the entrance ramp.

Spinning in his jump over the ropes for extra effect, Joker held up both his pistols and gazed around.

“Hmm, all the other villains are occupied, and the others in wait are nodal companions….” He pondered while casting an eye toward the entrance ramp.

After a few more seconds Joker nodded to himself and deciding to take the E. Honda approach, turned to face the entrance curtain. His decision made to fight whoever emerged next.

“GARLAND!” (D:FF)

The man, the myth, the legend. The original Final Fantasy villain in his entirety, Garland. The crowd arguably wouldn’t give him a response befitting such a status, but he obviously didn’t care one but about that. Slowly and methodically making his way to the ring.

And obviously, waiting for him was Joker, who went back to tossing a knife in his hands while sizing the dark knight up.

“You’ll do quite nicely. After all, if that woman could beat you with nothing but her fists…”

Garland’s armor shook in anger. “Silence! If you wish to anger me to your own peril I will gladly expose you to a never-ending cycle of torment and suffering!”

Joker nodded away. “Yes, yes, I know how you’re story goes. Hard not to, revolutionary as it was for the time. It was pretty barebones for a story now, was it not? But, to unapologetically burst your bubble…”

A mischievous smirk then graced his features.

“Did you think I’d come alone?”

“And now, Mystery… Fighter… Number… SIX!”

“RYUJI SAKAMOTO!”

Silence followed the announcement.

“Um…. RYUJI SAKAMOTO!”

More silence. The sound of a palm slapping a forehead and a faint “I’m an idiot…” could be heard the microphone.

“SKULL!” (Persona 5)

(BURN IT DOW~WWWWWN!)

Emerging from the entrance ramp was what most would recognize as Joker’s fellow Phantom Thief, Skull. Simple enough.

What they didn’t recognize at first was the gaudy ensemble he had on over his usual outfit. An incredibly expensive and tacky looking wool coat with shades over his mask. Not helped with his very overactive dancing. All of this accompanied by a very fast-paced rock number.

(Whoa-O~ooooOoooooh!)

When this part in the song came, Skull turned his back and swayed his fingers with the crowd echoing the vocals like a conductor.

When it finished and the next part was a very sporadic riff of heavy guitar playing Skull ran down the ramp and hopped into the ring. Immediately rushing over to Joker’s side.

The Phantom Thief could only stare incredulously at his teammate after that entire display.

“What the hell was all that?”

Skill ditched the additional components of his outfit, the coat and shades, to which both fell into the portal. He would then answer Joker’s question with a smirk.

“Just payin’ tribute to a favorite wrestler of mine-Seth Rollins! Got that there host to hook me up! Pretty stellar, right!?”

Joker winced slightly. “Great was not the word I’d use to describe that.”

Garland then interjected. “That is quite enough! I don’t know what that was, but if you are partners then consider my offer amended to include you both! I, Garland! Will knock you both down!”

Skull just blinked at the threat, as did Joker.

“Man, was that the best you could come up with? No wonder you get beat so easily!”

(Dome; Halls outside Recovery Room)

Heathcliff groaned as he ripped off the various bandages and wraps afforded to him by the various characters running the Recovery Room. He hadn’t the time to sit around and wait, he had to check out that restaurant.

He wasn’t quite sure why he was so keen on seeing this through. The man knew he was never one for brainteasers or plots. Especially not with instructions as vague as ‘don’t drink the tea’. Even now he questioned his choice.

Ah, maybe it was the events of just a few months ago. When… no, no, he couldn’t bring it up. It was buried away six feet under now. No need to bring it up and feel sorry for himself now.

The Sinner had put a good deal of distance between him and the Recovery Room when he heard a sound. The faint sound movement. Immediately he brandished his bat and hung it behind his back

“Bogtrotter. Make it easier for yourself and come on out! Fight me man-to-man, yeah? I’ll have you coughing up daisies in just a moment!”

Heathcliff stood on guard, not shrinking for even a second as he looked every which way. But it was when he took his eyes off his back for just a moment when a joined fire and ice blast caught him across the chest.

The Sinner cried out in pain as he fell forward, gritting his teeth and turning to find his attacker eyeing their weapon. Or rather attackers.

“Going somewhere? We aren’t jobbers. And we’ll prove it! This guy from a niche node doesn’t stand a chance!” The one in orange said.

“Agreed, brother. We’ll show Shang Tsung we can do the job better than those MK rip-offs!”

Heathcliff stood to his feet, shifting his eyes from side to side between the two KE ninjas.

“You two just committed suicide.”

(The Arena)

“KROHNEN MCDOUGALL!” (KOFXV)

The former NESTS team member, as well as the former K9999 adjusted his goggles with a huff. He’d then tune out the crowd to skim over the ring for an opponent.

“Still a few options left, that’s a relief. No need to have to make my own way in.”

Brashfully, Krohnen would wind up and dash down to the ring. Gliding in with a wide leap before making a beeline to Kuai Liang.

The Shirai Ryu founder finally got the last of that ink off his face. With a sharp growl, he made a mental note to go after the middle Blight, what with the blue-haired figure approaching him now.

Krohnen morphed his polymorphic arm into a drill and lunged forward to Kuai Liang. The pyromancer pulling out his kusarigama and swinging it at him only to get caught in the drill.

Kuai Liang disappeared in a puff of fiery smoke and then reappeared to Krohnen’s side. Decking him in the face with a punch.

“Fuck.” Krohnen muttered as he regained his balance. “That won’t happen again.”

Scorpion pulled his kusarigama back to him. “On the contrary, I can see it happening many times over.”

“Oh, yeah? Well let’s not waste time standing around to find out!”

“KATYA!” (TOH)

The well-liked food romance fanfiction author came out writing another one of her stories while dressed in her CATT’s attire. She was so wrapped up in her fanfic that she hardly noticed the cheers she was getting.

“What should I call a poly relationship between a carrot, onion, and celery? Hmm…. Oh! Mirepoix! I am so good at this!”

Still absentmindedly wrapped up in her food romance fanfiction, Katya walked nearly to the edge of the ring and into the ropes if she wasn’t stopped by Fox.

“Watch out! Be pretty embarrassing if someone got eliminated before all thirty fighters were in.” Chided Fox when he pulled Katya by her shirt back from the ropes. He immediately took notice of the food love in her book.

“What are you writing about?”

Katya looked down to where his eyes laid and gave a cheeky smile. “Oh, this? This is my next installment of my fanfiction series depicting a fluffy love story between a carrot, onion, and piece of celery.”

Fox honestly had no idea how to respond to that.

“Can you even fight?”

The fanfiction author cocked her head with a smile. “Can I fight? Of course! If I couldn’t I wouldn’t be a member of the Covens Against The Throne! Also known as the CATT’s!“ She followed with a little hiss.

Again, Fox was speechless.

“E-123 OMEGA!” (StH)

“No sign of Eggman…” The black and red robot said with a hint of disappointment once it scanned the ring and saw no trace of the doctor.

“Suppose I’ll have to hide my time.”

Landing in the ring using his thrusters, Omega looked around for those that were here for an opponent.

“All others are currently wrapped up in their own fights, at present the only suitable candidate is…”

WHACK!

A blade of some sort imbedded itself into Omega’s arm. The robot plucked it out immediately, recognizing it as a sai.

“Who was the perpetrator? Whose sai was this?” He asked no one in particular, but then he noticed the direction it came from; the entrance curtain…

“KHAMELEON!” (MK)

The culprit. An Umgadi Saurian with grey skin, walked out onto the entrance ramp. With an arm raise, she recalled her sai back to her.

“It appears my target has found me. No matter.” Omega mused to himself once Khameleon made her way to him, her pure white eyes glaring at the robot.

“You remind me of Sektor. Is your weaponry also purposed for untoward causes?”

If Omega could scoff, he would. “My weaponry is destined to eliminate Eggman. I will not settle for anything less. What about you? Hardly the beacon of originality.”

Khameleon tensed. Her body language shifting to mask her anger. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

Omega motioned to the weapons of the other female MK ninja’s fashioned around her outfit. “Taking moves from Mileena, Kitana, and Jade? With not a single move of your own, nothing in the way of originality.”

Khameleon huffed. “I was trained in those techniques with permission from the princesses and countess!”

 “So it is the worst of all worlds with you?”

That was the final straw for Khameleon. “We shall see, machine. No one disrespects a high-ranking Umgadi!”

“THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO!” (MB)

Hanging his head and hat low for the briefest of moments whilst his Melty Blood theme blared through the arena. The penultimate fighter for the section was one of, arguably, the most infamous anti-heroes in literature history.

Lifting his head up would show his face with a sly grin graced on it. Giving a tip of his hat to the crowd, and with a flourish of his cape he dashed down to the ring.

“No sign of that man, pity. Nor is there an opening in the list of those that unknowingly deserve retribution. For I see one soul who itches for a sparring partner. Very well, I shall oblige.” The Count said.

Donkey Kong had been resting on a turnbuckle eating banana after banana waiting for an opponent. Edric had tried once, but the plethora of peels left on the ground and a subsequent slipping on one of them shut down that idea.

“Ah, your mind. I can see that it is pure. Unworthy of feeling the voided empty hell that is despair. Truly, you wish to fight? Well, here I am!” The Count announced to DK, stepping carefully across each peel.

The moment DK heard another voice come closer he eagerly hopped off the turnbuckle and with one swift swing of his hand sent all the peels out of the way and into the portal. Bless whatever poor node got all those peels.

“So eager to fight, are we? So be it. Show me the source of your vigor!”

“And now, the final fighter of this section and the second Second Chance Fighter…”

“B. JENET!” (KOFXV)

“Woo-Hoo!”

The pirate girl hollered upon hearing her name be called as the second fighter to get a Second Chance. An excitement she shared with the crowd with a few waves and blown kisses.

She hadn’t forgotten what happened roughly twenty minutes prior where she had fought against Fang and lost. But it was her Second Chance, and she had a new fire lit inside her.

It hadn’t been long before she spotted Fang about to spray Minotaurox with a parade of corks when the hero raised his mallet to bash him. One leaping kick to the back of the jerboa’s head would not only knock him off his Marvelous Queen, but into Minotaurox making them both fall over.

“Now, what in the heck was… Hey, you’re back!”

B. Jenet flicked her hair, smiling at Fang. “Like I never left, friend! I have a score to settle for real, and if I have to take you both on? Well the more the merrier!”

Fang picked up his popguns, a slight grin breaking out from his mouth.

“How’s about I give you a little lesson on how to actually be a better treasure hunter, then?”

Meanwhile, Minotaurox just scratched his head in confusion on what was happening here.

Chapter Text

(The Arena)

“Thundara!”

A series of bolts rained down atop Eleven. The prototype didn’t falter and instead shifted between it’s mimic forms of Terra and Ryoko to dodge them. “The mirror is not so easily smashed.”

“Well then try this!” Ryoko performed a Judo chop to the artificial being. Though she would hit nothing but a gooey mass.

“Ew! Gross!”

Eleven had begun to shift just as she did that, and now it had taken her form again. Seizing the moment from her shock, it picked the girl up and threw her into Terra.

The two girls collided, Ryoko on top of Terra, she’d notice quickly and scramble to get off her.

Terra pondered aloud. “How did me trying to get Aerith’s help end with us fighting the strange intangible being together?”

Ryoko threw he hands up upon sitting herself upward. “You tell me!” The Judo girl didn’t look too cross for too long when she offered to help them both up. “But so long as we’re here, we’re suffering together!”

Good timing. Because both girls would get knocked down again courtesy of an energy burst from Eleven!

“Yeah, suffering.” Terra weakly said.

Eleven would shift back to its natural state, towering over the two, it grabbed Ryoko by the neck and help her up before assuming her form again.

“Ryoko!”

Before it could launch a huge energy blast in her face, Terra would jump and pierce her sword into it’s chest. It didn’t react to it, not even when Terra lifted her sword to split it’s upper body in half before grabbing Ryoko.

“You can thank me by helping beat this thing!”

Ryoko turned back to face Eleven, by now it had transformed back into Ryoko's shape. By some sick, twisted sense of humor it twisted its upper half so that it’s head was facing downwards.

“Come closer. The mirror world is waiting.” It said.

Both Ryoko and Terra yelped. “Okay, that thing just entered a whole new level of creepy.”

On another area of the ring, Ganondorf leaped into the air to create a huge shockwave, blasting Teruko and Chizuru away. Teruko stood back up first and charged forward with Hero's sword.

The three blade's clashed, though the student was trying hard not to buckle under the weight. “Amusing. For a human. A legitimate achievement in your stupidity.”

His leg free and unrestricted, he plunged it into Teruko's chest to leave her breathless for the moment. This was when Chizuru would try and catch him by surprise and pull his feet out from under him.

The Gerudo King would catch her arm. “Ha! Nice try!” And instead flip her upside down and kick her away and into Teruko.

“YA-HOO!”

Midna, riding on a Twilight Wolfo, barreled into the evil King. Ganondorf didn’t have enough time to retaliate before he found himself in her giant hair hand and slammed into the ground.

“I think I'll make myself a nice little Ganondorf pancake to feed to my little friends! Stay still!”

Binding Ganondorf with her hair and squeezing him to siphon a bit of his power. Midna conjured a giant ball of Twili Magic and used it to level the Gerudo King.

Teruko and Chizuru both got back up to witness the aforementioned attack. “Is he…?” Teruko spoke up.

“No. But I softened him up for you. He seems tired, and defeating him now wouldn’t be as fun. So go ahead and have your fun.” Midna said boredly, then picked up Ganondorf with her hair again and squeezed to siphon more power. “I'm bored with him, ta-ta!”

The two both looked at each other. Then Teruko shot Chizuru a sinister grin and held her back while approaching the now recovering Ganondorf. “This one's all mine.”

Chizuru took the hint and hurried off to start another fight.

Fang yelped and backed away from meeting the end of Minotaurox's mallet with his face.

“You’re not gonna make this easy, are you?” The superhero asked as he went for another swing, and missed.

Fang rolled his eyes. “Why would I? I ain’t gonna let myself eat a mallet. If anything, you hold still!” He said before firing corks out of his popgun.

Since he hadn’t used his power yet, when one cork got under his defense and hit his knee he immediately felt the punch it packed. Groaning a little he swung his hammer out of instinct from the pain. Which actually managed to surprise Fang and knock him flat on his stomach through hitting his legs.

“Ouch! Watch where you're swingin' that there mallet!” Fang chided when he straightened his hat on his head and swung away from another swing.

This wasn’t working quite well, so Minotaurox got into a running position and charged forward. While it initially took Fang by surprise when he saw it, he jumped over the charging ox and kicked him forward with his feet.

Minotaurox almost lost his balance from the kick, but managed to catch himself and turn back around to face Fang, who sent two corks right into his face.

“You do know you're an ox, not a bull, right? And by the way… giddy up!”

When Minotaurox came around again, Fang hopped on the handle of the mallet and then onto his back. Grabbing his horns and watching as the poor teenage hero tried to knock him off with his mallet with no luck.

“G-Ow! Of-Ow! Off!” Minotaurox said as he flailed his body and arms around.

Fang turned his body to the side, letting the mallet hit another part of Minotaurox's back. “Nah! How else am I gonna wear you down before you could use your power?”

Lightbulb! “A-ha! My power!”

(Hotel; Lobby)

“Wait. You guys! What about Sindel!” Steve asked as him and his team ran to the hallway which connected the two building.

Vyse looked at Steve with a nod. “We told her where we were going, she'll catch up with us!”

The team opened the door quickly and went through the hall to get to the Dome, they had to get to that restaurant first.

A figure who was watching them chuckled. He picked up the phone he had and held it to his ear. “Yes, they're headed your way. Best get everything ready for inspection. Shang Tsung will be displeased if this fell through so quickly.”

(The Arena)

“Get over here!”

A spear would be launched in the direction of Krohnen. Who scoffed and caught it. “The fuck? Think this shit will work on me? Ha.”

He'd morph his arm into a drill again to pull in Kuai Liang. Not anticipating the pyromancer to vault over him, Krohnen shifted his arm into a blade and swung it backward, but struck nothing but air. Kuai Liang ducked and ignited his fist and sent it flying into Krohnen's face.

“Fuck!” Krohnen swung back, but used the momentum to push forward again and ram the front of his gun at Kuai Liang. It didn’t accomplish much, as the pyromancer dodged the attack. No matter, he’d just turn his gun and shoot him in the face.

Krohnen shook his head in amusement. “The ninja tricks are pretty tame. You really got neutered in your new game, huh?”

Kuai Liang would take his turn shaking his head. “That may be true. But let's not stray from the fact that you are quite an enigmatic specimen. Copyright sure did it's toll on you, hasn’t it?”

“Not the point of that… Done with this conversation.” And he fired more shots at Scorpion, but without the element of surprise his gun proved less effective.”

The pyromancer ducked under one more shot. “What was that you said about our ninja tricks?”

“Fuckin' shut up!” Krohnen leapt to the Shirai Ryu ninja and morphed his arm into a blade. Kuai Liang held up his kama to block the slash, but found it knocked out of his hands with ease.

“What did I say?” Krohnen said before him and Kuai Liang began trading blows. At first they seemed evenly matched, one not getting a clear advantage over the other. But then Krohnen punched the ground under him and created an explosion which blew Scorpion away.

Not that it burned him, of course. Kuai Liang was back on his feet quickly and back to fighting, he wrapped his kunai rope around Krohnen's arm when he tried sweeping his legs by morphing it into a blade.

“What the fuck are you…?”

“Get over here!”

Kuai Liang pulled on the rope quickly, before Krohnen could turn his arm into a drill. Then he dashed forward in a fury of flames past Krohnen and pulled the rope again. He ignited his kunai end and in turn the flame spread across the entire rope, and when the rope forcefully came undone from Krohnen's arm it left a pretty nasty rope burn on it.

“Nghhh! Fu~uuuuuuck! Damnit! You'll…pay!” He sneered. Clutching his badly burned and bloody arm.

Scorpion stilled, his kunai and rope draped over his hands. “I took your arm out of commission. If you still wish to fight..”

Krohnen grinned, in spite of the pain. “Oh you fuckin' bet I still want to fight!”

“Very well.”

Krohnen leaped forward, sticking his leg forward at the last second to catch Kuai Liang off-guard. It didn’t work when the Shirai Ryu caught it and attempted to swing him to the side, but Krohnen used his other leg to kick him in the face and break free.

Kuai Liang ignited his fist again and punches forward, Krohnen caught it and redirected it to the ground. Then slammed his own palm into it to create a wave of fire that surrounded him.

Again, being a pyromancer, and Scorpion, he wasn’t burned. “You should know at this point that fire is not effective on me.”

Krohnen huffed. “So what, I can still…” He looked toward his damaged arm again, which was still badly injured, and was now starting to ache. “…Aw, crap.”

“Quite.” Said Kuai Liang, before reappearing to unleash a fury of fiery swings from his kusarigama.

Krohnen growled and tried to launch another fire attack, only to get intercepted by a fire elemental summoned by Kuai Liang breathing fire on him. He flailed around to put it out while Kuai Liang simply sighed.

“Same cannot be said for you. Best to put you out of your misery.”

Without much more effort, Kuai Liang walked up to Krohnen and booted him out of the ring mercifully.

With a snap of his fingers, JP summoned deep purple rifts in the surrounding area where he and Storm stood. The Marvel heroine summoned a mist around them in turn, fogging up JP's vision. He groaned and spun his cane to teleport to a nearby rift.

JP roared when he transported and slammed his cane engulfed in psycho power into the ground. The dark spike struck nothing but air.

His missed calculation was berthed by laughter courtesy of Storm, who summoned rain from an unknown angle and doused JP. Then struck him down with a bolt of lightning.

“Whirlwind!”

JP was picked up by a guest of wind and pushed away. It didn’t hold him long, with a swing of his cane he transported to another rift. Luckily he actually managed to land just above Storm. Taking her by surprise with a slash of his cane, followed by a dark purple shockwave of Psycho Power.

Storm held her hand to the new cut on her torso, then vanished into the fog she conjured.

JP spun his cane and teleported to another rift. Then used his Psycho Power to summon a dark phantom forward and clear away bits of fog.

“For one who wields Mother Nature and her elements, I did not expect such pusillanimity.”

A shard of ice would emerge from the fog and strike his hand, his cane sliding away into the fog.

“Nature has no mercy for those who bear their fangs and serpent tongues at her.” Said Storm as she towered out of the fog in front of JP.

“Give her my condolences…”

JP snatched at Storm's neck with his free hand. Psycho Power coercing through her body while purple vein-like cracks began forming on her body.

“You know how this ends, Ororo? In ruin!”

The cracks began to glow as Storm writhed for a few more seconds, then sat back up to face JP.

“For whom?”

In an instant Storm flew out of JP's grasp before his attack could finish, and pulled the fog back over them. JP swung his cane to transport to yet another rift when he heard Storm groan from the effects of his attack.

“Nature's righteous fury? I beg to differ.” He took to summoning more dark phantoms to clear away the fog. Next was a plethora of said creatures to cover most of the ground encircling him.

Bet he wasn’t expecting them to be fired back at him through a whirlwind. The culprit was clear as crystal.

“You have disrespected Mother Nature for the last time! Come forth wind!”

JP would find himself caught up in an ice spike summoned from the canvas. As Storm summoned massive hordes of wind around her.

“By the power of Gaia! The power of the wind!”

The typhoons swirled JP, chipping away at the spike and causing small chips of ice to pierce his exposed head. But through the pain he managed to break his cane hand free and teleport to a rift to save himself.

JP panted. “Free. At last.”

Before he could take another breath, he would suddenly find his lungs devoid of air. He would fall to his knees, suffocating while Storm floated over.

“Indeed you are.”

One last whirlwind would carry him over the ropes where he helplessly fell.

JP landed in SMG4. Swagmaster would repeatedly blast him with his ‘fun stick’ to try and coerce the names behind his initials.

Omega looked around for his opponent, since their fight began Khameleon had used the tactic of blending into her surroundings to try and gain an edge. Which had yet to happen for one reason, that being…

“Tell whoever gave you the ability to camouflage to supply yourself with the most efficient coolant known; mint.” He then opened fire on what appeared to be a clear area.

But the truth was revealed when Khameleon uncloaked herself and activated her Shadow Glow ability. Causing all the bullets to be ineffective to her.

“I am far from helpless, machine.” The Umgadi then sprung forward curled into a ball, uncurling to stab forward with her sais.

“I have yet to be convinced.” It appeared as though Khameleon struck nothing but his arm cannon. A fact made clear when she was blasted away.

Khameleon disappeared again. But it wouldn’t be long before Omega detected her presence and spewed fire in all directions around him. Trying to weed her out.

In his attempt to do so, he inadvertently created a fire shield that wouldn’t detect her body heat. Which gave her the perfect opening to smash him on the head with her jade staff.

“My sisters would be proud of my performance. Including our leader, Tanya.” She said with pride upon smacking Omega more, then swinging her staff upwards and upper cutting him.

She curled into a ball again and tackled him. Stabbing her sais into what she believed was his foot when they both stopped.

Only it turned out to be his thrusters.

The sudden stream of flame emerging took Khameleon by surprise, lightly burning her and blasting her back. Omega soon took control of his thrusters and fired a series of missiles at the Umgadi.

“Predator you are not, Umgadi. Your cloaking is useless here, these are heat-seeking missiles. My advice? Mint.” He said in response to Khameleon disappearing again.

Sure enough, a trio of explosions would follow his statement. But what put Omega on guard was the lack of Khameleon being revealed by them.

“Your mechanical body lacks spirit and vitality, machine! No soul, no victory!”

Two steel fans would make their way into Omega's body, first by the blade, and then would extend out to pierce even more of Omega. Khameleon uncloaked and took off at Omega leaping and extending her legs out.

POW!

Omega launched a punch with his metal arm that rocked Khameleon, sending her back, and well, right onto her back. Omega shook his head at the prone Umgadi.

“Very big words from a moveset clone. I should expect nothing less. At least you aren’t Frost, nor carry any of her moves.”

One last string of missiles would be the end of Khameleon's run.

Khameleon landed in Mortal Kombat Armageddon. Where she'd get confused with the past timeline version of herself.

Aerith leaped over a sword swing of Garland, and then ducked under another. She then swung her Guard Stick and sent out magic projectiles to knock him back.

“Not dissuaded so easily, flower girl. I'll have your head for these annoyances! Reel!”

A part of Garland's greatsword detached from the blade and made a beeline for the girl. It wouldn’t succeed in wrapping around her, but it would in doing so for her Guard Stick.

“No!” Was all she could say before she was pulled forward.

“Yes!” Garland retorted, his voice barely hiding his glee.

“Seal Evil!” Aerith shouted. That faint dark orb came back and paralyzed Garland in place. Allowing the flower girl to get herself free.

“Tempest!”

Aerith shot out her staff and conjured an array of pink petals that swarmed a pink-ish orb covered with arcane symbols and glyphs. It exploded just as Garland regained mobility.

The flower girl giggled. “I can see why Prishe was able to beat you. Honestly, I can almost forgive Midna for taking away my allies.”

“SILENCE!”

Garland swung his sword forward, creating a series of explosions in Aerith's path.

“Lustrous Shield!” Aerith called and put up a magic shield in the shape of a flower in front of her, blocking the worst of the attack.

“Now you've let your guard down!” Garland smarmily said when he crashed through the shield and grabbed Aerith by the neck.

“You… still… lost… to… Prishe….” Aerith said under his grip.

In response, Garland roared and tossed her away. “I said SILENCE!”

Aerith rolled on the ground with groans of pain, but used her Guard Stick to stand back up. “And I say… Seal Evil!”

The seconds were passing, Aerith got out of the way of his chain attack and fired more projectiles from her Guard Stick.

Garland staggered, but removed truly unperturbed and straightened his posture back to fix Aerith with a sneer. “Do you know who I am, flower girl?”

Aerith raised her staff to the sky. “Healing Wind!” The resulting Limit Break restoring most of her energy and vitality. She smiled at Garland. “Tell me.”

Garland stabbed his sword into the ground. “I am GARLAND! The first! The original! The one who came before all others! And I will knock you do-!”

Aerith interrupted him by pointing her staff forward. “RAY OF JUDGEMENT!”

The beam blasted Garland and very nearly made him fall on his rear. Not that it stopped Aerith any.

“Seal Evil! Tempest!”

One spell after another, she rendered him immobile and then blasted him back more with her pretty pink burst of magic.

“Ready?! Because this one's a keeper! Seal Evil!”

For what was possibly the last time, Garland was stuck in limbo through that accursed dark orb.

“Prishe was right after all, ha! HOLY!”

The large light explosion proved too much for the large black knight to handle, or at least, almost. He shot out the chain for his sword attachment one last time as he toppled over the ropes.

“Chain Cast!”

Aerith yelped as it wrapped itself around her Guard Stick, pulling her with it until she was against the ropes. The sheer weight of the knight and his weapon threatening to eliminate them both.

“I am not going down without an elimination! Give up, flower girl! You cannot hope to taste victory!”

Aerith couldn’t retort back under the extreme pressure of the weight she was holding in her arms. Groaning with each little strain, she aimed her staff at Garland's face.

“Seal…!”

“Flare!”

Garland waved his sword again and rising explosions littered the path upward, before finally catching Aerith in the face. The blast knocking her backward, and slightly igniting her dress which she quickly put out.

Sadly for Garland, the blast had the effect of melting the chain attachment from his sword. Which Aerith was holding. His last link to the ring severed he fell hopelessly into the elimination portal.

Garland landed in Suikoden. Where he made the mistake of trying to ‘knock down' Yuber.

Edric sent ROB flying back with a swipe of his finger, specifically into a turnbuckle. The robot didn’t look too deterred as it twisted it's body back into place and shot out a laser from its lens.

“YOU HAVE YET TO IMPRESS, IN LOOKS OR IN COMBAT, VICTORIAN WITCH. I ADVISE A DATE WITH BAYONETTA ABOUT MATTERS RELATING TO CLOTHING!”

A magic blue rope-like construct wrapped around his neck. “And I am telling you I'm not going! My fashion sense is top-tier!”

“YOUR SOCIAL SUICIDE.” ROB then sparked up his thrusters and began hovering into the air, taking the rope construct of Edric's with him.

The green-haired Blight didn’t take too kindly too it, not that he could do much at all. “H-Hey! Let us down!”

“NEGATIVE.”

ROB then began shooting lasers down at Edric, who could only help in fear as he struggled to swerve out of the way of each one.

“That also doesn’t give you the right to mess with it! Now let go!”

ROB shook his head. “NEGATIVE. YOU LET GO!” And there went another laser.

Edric barely managed to avoid singeing his hair, a fact which made his anger boil over. He took out another potion. “Fine!”

The middle Blight flicked the potion at ROB, creating an explosion which sent them both falling to the ground. Though Edric was mindful enough to use another potion to create a squishy, bouncy spot to land on before he hit the ground. Albeit at the cost of bouncing off it and landing on his back.

Right at the moment he got up, an even bigger laser than before came bursting right toward him. It came too quick to avoid and thus he ate it right in the face, knocking him down and leaving his with more than a few burns.

“Ah! My face! My beautiful face!” He despaired, clutching his bruised complexion while ROB rolled over to him.

Edric heard him and turned his head, face deathly calm. “I'm gonna turn you into a pile of unrecognizable trash.”

He summoned his fortified rope again and used his magic to wrap it around ROB. This didn’t serve to constrict him for long with his spinning rotor arms. Which he used to break out and hopefully try to catch Edric with a series of spinning punches.

It didn’t work, instead Edric used his illusions to make ROB think he had him while he swerved out of the way. A tactic which worked perfectly and allowed Edric to throw another exploding potion at ROB.

“YOUR TRICKS ARE EFFECTIVE, SOMEWHAT. BUT NOT THIS TIME.” Spinning his rotor arms again, he flung the potion in a random direction. He missed his target, and instead ended up flinging it towards Minotaurox. Which actually ended up harming the hero since the circumstances didn’t allow Resistance to protect him. Not that Fang was complaining.

“IT APPEARS I MADE A SLIGHT MISCALCULATION.” He said before getting wrapped up in Edric's blue rope-construct.

“That. You just did, period.” Edric too advantage of the opportunity and threw another potion at ROB, this time it created a gooey substance that left him even more incapacitated and unable to move.

Grinning, Edric tied another firework underneath ROB's thrusters and ignited a flame on his fingers.

“Let this be a lesson. Never insult a Blight's, the richest family on the Boiling Isles mind you, fashion sense. Bye~eee!”

And he had ignition! Like with Lord Raptor, the firework carried ROB up and over the ropes before poofing in an explosion of colors. Poor ROB wouldn’t have a chance of getting back in.

Immediately upon getting his elimination, Edric would hear a burly voice shout out…

“Resistance!”

Followed by a voice going…

“Aw, crud! Hey, kid! Mind giving me a hand with that rope of yours!?” Fang the Sniper called out to Edric.

The boy witch shrugged and immediately lassoed his fortified rope around the hero.

“Hey!” Minotaurox raised his mallet, only to find it shot out of his hand by Fang.

“I don’t think so. Now, time to say goodbye!” Fang snapped his fingers and his prized treasure the Marvelous Queen pulled up behind him. Revving it up and savoring the sound he dashed the bike forward.

Minotaurox struggled against Edric's grip, confused. “This doesn’t make sense. Resistance makes me impervious to superpowers!”

Edric smirked. “Not really much ‘impervious' qualities to a rope, is there?”

“What the kid said!” Yelled Fang as he slammed into the restrained Minotaurox. The force of the blow being just enough to launch him out of the ring.

With the deed done, Fang tipped his hat to Edric and walked off. Edric could only put his hands up in confusion. “Where's my thanks?”

(Dome; Hallways outside Recovery Room)

Gozu turned to look at his brother groggily as he faced down Heathcliff. The Sinner scoffed and shrugged off the ice projectile and slammed his bat at him. Launching the poor ninja into a wall.

Sneering at the bat-wielding British man, Gozu got back up and tried to stab forward with his claws. But Heathcliff easily caught with a scowl on his face.

“Oi! You ain’t looking so swell, yeah? How about I leave you for the healers? I ain’t got time to muck about with you lot.” With that he lightly pitched Gozu upwards and swung him into the wall as well.

Heathcliff shook his head as he pushed a stray strand of hair out of his face. “Like I said, I got places to be.” Just then he heard clapping from behind him.

He turned to see two young witches applauding his effort. Taking it as him being mocked he raised his bat to swing again.

The dark-skinned spectacled one held up his hands in protest. “Woah, hey! Relax! That was real, we were cheering you on. We saw the whole thing.”

Heathcliff let out a “Hmph” as he rested his bat on his shoulder. His tilting his head forward and raising an eyebrow seemed to signal to the two if they had anything else to say.

The more demonic-looking witch stepped forward. “I'm Amber, and this is Derwin. We were looking to meet up with our friend and fellow resistance member; Katya. When we couldn’t help but here you mention the restaurant?

The Sinner narrowed his eyes. “Yeah? What about it?”

Derwin tapped his fingers together. “Well, we were looking around for our resistance leader, Raine Whispers. We’ve been trying to get ahold of them, but they aren’t answering our messages or their crow phone…”

Amber spoke up again. “And last we knew, they were in the restaurant. So, do you mind if we tag along with you there? Just in case?”

Heathcliff narrowed his eyes at the two, looking at them with that same angry scowl he always wore. Truth be told, he was already tired of how much work this was turning out to be. But at the same time, a disappearance? And a warning? It couldn’t be a coincidence.

The British man sighed and held his bat down, motioning for them to lead the way. The two witches smiled and did so. While Heathcliff just shook his head at them and followed.

This had all better be worth it if he got his chance to let loose and crack more heads open.

The trio didn’t notice an armored man let out a sinister laugh as he slunk back into the shadows while running off to likely go tell someone about this. More interlopers!

(The Arena)

“Blizzara!”

“Blizzara!”

The opposing flurries of ice shards pierced each other and shattered. When this happened both Terra's clashed swords for a stand-off. Neither side won before Ryoko ran up and ignited an energy blast in the mimic Terra's face.

“That was close…” Terra puffed. The two turning to see the mimic of Terra reforming and ignited her hand.

“Fira!”

The two girls eeked and rolled to the side to dodge the fireball storm from the mimic.

Once Ryoko got back up the mimic Terra tried to squire her with a thrust of it's sword, but the Judo practitioner deflected the blade and left it open for Terra to blast it away with magic.

“My turn!” Ryoko tagged herself in and judo tossed Eleven over to Terra who sliced it in half with her sword.

Terra was about to use another spell when a hand formed out of the grey lifeless mass that was Eleven. It wrapped around her ankle and threw her back toward Ryoko so it could reform.

The girls both groaned. “If I could just get it in another struggle, I think you might be able to get rid of it then.” Terra said weakly as she got back up.

The idea made a lightbulb go off in Ryoko's head. It did sound like a good enough plan, and the perfect way to kill two birds with one stone!

And just in time! Because Eleven had just activated Trance Mode! Changing it's Terra mimic form to a Trance mimic. An act which made both Terra and Ryoko gulp.

“Look what I discovered! Meteor!”

“Oh, no.” Both girls said in unison. Sure enough, in a sense of deja-vu, meteors began descending around the girls.

“Hurry! Come on, Terra!” Shouted Ryoko as an exploding meteor went off near her and pushed her back somewhat. She almost crashed into Terra if not for blonde catching her. “Right behind you!”

“Meteor!” And with the call more meteor began raining down on the two. Terra sliced through one, while Ryoko broke one to pieces with an energy burst.

“Meteor!”

On the call of the Trance Eleven, more meteors came for the girls to destroy, Terra with a fire spell and Ryoko with a judo chop.

“You okay!?” Terra called out.

Ryoko flashed her a thumbs up. “I'm good!”

“Meteor!” Eleven called again.

And again both girls fought against the tide of space rock and continued on to the source. Terra blasted through it with Blizzara, and Ryoko actually caught one and flung it back at Eleven, who blasted it to bits in the same manner as Terra.

“Not bad for a World Heroes character!” Terra chimed with a giggle.

Ryoko huffed, though it looked less menacing and more cute. “Hey, I scored an elimination at all three Megamix Tournaments! Has to count for something!” She would then look back at her now slightly burnt hands and wince.

The two were now close enough to Eleven, who smirked at them as it unleashed another spell which began pulling them in toward it.

“Aren’t these your spells!?” Asked Ryoko who then turned tail and began fighting against the current.

“How am I supposed to know what it'll do!?” Terra defended as she too tried to fight it. But eventually both became pulled in right at Eleven finished charging.

“Chaotic Curr-!”

Right as Eleven could call the attack and unleash the second half of it, Terra stopped fighting and turned back to it. Then brought her sword again it's own.

“Ryoko! Now!”

Turning her head back to get a look at what was going on, Ryoko saw her own opportunity and took it! Charging up another energy burst while running over she sent it right into Terra's back.

The force of the blast would launch Terra right into Eleven, effectively forcing them both over the ropes, or through them in Eleven's case, and out of the ring.

Eleven and Terra landed in Kingdom Hearts. Specifically the battle with Maleficent. Yup! As soon as Eleven transformed into the boss character it began raining meteors down everywhere.

Ryoko jumped for joy back in the ring. “Woo-hoo! Two eliminations! D-San!... wouldn’t be the proudest, but I'm showing I can do well on my own!”

Ganondorf groaned as he held up his swords. Deflecting a blow from Teruko simply by standing strong, though it was helped by Teruko's aggressive approach.

“That puny little gnat of an imp may have siphoned most of my magic. But it doesn’t matter!” He said pointedly, and with pointing a sword to Teruko. “I can still defeat you!”

“En Garde.” Teruko smirked, recovering and pointing her own sword, Hero's sword, at the Gerudo King.

Ganondorf roared and charged forward wildly swinging his blades. Teruko learned pretty quickly that she wouldn’t be fast enough to dodge all of them so she took the approach of waiting for an opening and then slipping away.

There it was! Her chance! Ganondorf swung too far out and allowed Teruko to slid under his legs. Of course, the Ultimate Lucky Student made a note to lightly hit in between the legs.

Ganondorf felt the pain of that hit and dropped his swords to tend to his pride. Teruko smirked and slammed his head into the canvas with a curb stomp.

“At least make this a challenge! Even if you’re at twenty five percent!” Teruko taunted as she approached him again.

Ganondorf chuckled, his laughter muffled by the canvas. “Want a challenge? HERE YA GO!” His fist was only lightly coated in dark magic thanks to Midna, but looked to still be enough to pack a kick.

Sadly, Teruko knew to back away immediately, and for good measure she kicked at his arm. It didn’t break thanks to the gauntlets, but it definitely wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

“You… insignificant…!”

Teruko just rolled her eyes. “Shut up.” She said before kicking him across the face again. This seemed to knock some life into him as his pupils shrunk and he immediately stood up and grabbed his swords.

“How… DARE YOU!” Ganondorf leaped into the air as Teruko tried to back away, slamming his fists and unleashing a powerful shockwave around where he landed.

Bu~buuuut this was in vain, too. As again, the magic siphoning from Midna meant it didn’t quite reach Teruko, and even if it did she leaped out of it's blast radius.

Speaking of doing a leap of her own, Teruko roared and brought the butt of the handle of Hero's sword down on his head. Slamming him into the canvas again.

He tried to get up quickly and make a grab for her legs, but Teruko laughed haughtily and put a stop to that by slamming his arm down.

Teruko sighed and put a hand on her hip. “This really isn’t any fun since you got neutered. Guess I'll just do my business someplace else.” And without another word, she stood him up on the ropes and kicked him in the face over them. Not before swiping his great swords from him.

Ganondorf landed in Kid Icarus Uprising. Specifically in Palutena's temple, one ray of heavenly light later and he was down and out.

“So allow me to get this straight. You think there is something going on at the restaurant in the arena?” Fang tapped his foot in curiosity.

Tails nodded. “Yes! And whatever it is, doesn’t sound like it will stop. That Raine from the Owl House node warned me about it, it’s why I in turn warned that Heathcliff to check it out!”

The out of place party in this, Chizuru, who had been fighting with Tails before he suddenly stopped and called Fang over, placed a finger to her chin in thought. “So you wish for me to assist in this endeavor?”

Another nod. “Yeah, I'll get my friends to help, and you get yours to help out too! I have a feeling this is only piece of the puzzle. Whoever is behind this may have something to do with the Mortal Kombat characters getting replaced too.”

Fang twirled his popgun. “I don’t recall getting asked if I had a choice in this.”

Tails chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. “I was hoping you would help out free of charge.” Fang twirled his gun again, eyes narrowed. “And for a chance to get some treasure out of all this?”

Fang mulled it over for a minute, still twirling his gun. Meanwhile Chizuru finished her own thoughts and nodded to Tails. “If this has another chance of drawing those that would upend the seal…. then I shall offer my assistance to you. I find it troubling that this happened without my awareness.”

Miles nodded back and flashed a grateful smile. “Great! Thank you!” He turned to Fang, still thinking. “Whoever is behind all of this has to have resources, riches to exploit! Come on, Fang!”

Fang huffed. “Fine. I'm in on this crazy superheroic adventure. So what do we do now?”

Tails opened his mouth, but Chizuru spoke first. “We gather more allies. If this lies deeper than we know, then the enemy numbers must be numerous. I will offer to leave, I'm more useful outside the ring than in.”

A thumbs up from Tails. “Just what I was thinking!” He then began spinning his tails and offered a hand to Chizuru. “Wanna get on?”

Chizuru nodded and held onto Tails arms, soon the two were up and about to fly over the ropes. But before he dropped her in, Tails turned back to Fang. “You focus on getting more allies inside the ring, okay?”

Fang nodded with a roll of his eyes, twirling his gun again. “Yeah, yeah. I'll do my part. Don’t get your tails in a twist.” With one final nod for confirmation Tails dropped Chizuru into the elimination portal.

Chizuru landed in Winx Club. The titular characters decided to neonify her outfit into something more… personable. What followed was the girls getting a stern lecture from a rather cross Chizuru.

“Alright, now let… Ah!” Tails would end up getting struck in the face by a cork from Fang's popgun. The force of it ended up causing him to stop spinning his tails just long enough to let him fall into the portal himself.

Tails landed in Little Misfortune. He, along with Benjamin, quickly saw through Morgo's ruse and delivered the hurt to the demon.

Back in the ring, Fang blew off smoke emitting from his popgun. “Hey, the chance for a free elimination was there. I ain’t complaining.” He said with a shrug.

The Count of Monte Cristo flourished his cape while spinning out of the way of DK's attempt to bowl him over. He remarked the gorilla with a grin.

“Let your irrationality pave way to your defeat. Which will be swift and convicted.”

His response was a swift backhand nearly striking him in the face. The Count ducked under and brought his hand down to the gorillas face when leaping over him.

“Show me some poise.” Was all The Count said.

DK simply looked at Dantes for a moment, his mind seemingly understanding the phrase. Before The Count knew the ape was spinning, his fists held out to deliver punches.

“Hmph.” The Count leaned out of the way and used his cape to deliver a series of flame-laced punches to DK. It worked twice, but DK blocked the next to pick him up and hurl him upward.

The Count curled himself in to avoid a head smash from DK, then fired a beam using his flames right down at DK’s face. The attack worked and DK landed on his back.

Dantes landed seconds later and lunged forward, slashing at DK once he was standing up with his cape. DK tanked the attack and grabbed The Count. Bowling over him with his weight.

The Count kicked away at DK before he could grab him again and rolled back onto his feet. “You can scrap, but are ye truly endeavored to survive the fury of my flames?”

In his head, DK was starting to get real tired of this guy and his way of speaking. It honestly felt like he was talking in tongues! He had to eliminate him before too long.

The Count clenched his fist, igniting it in his flames. He then sent his fist upward into DK's chin, the rising uppercut knocking him back.

He then dashed in the air to get to where DK was going to land first. With a chuckle he slammed his fists into the canvas to create a large dark explosion around him.

Dantes looked up to the sky to see where DK had went flying, only to be grabbed by a set of hands and slammed into the canvas. He got back up, only to be launched further away from a rumbling caused by DK slamming his own fists to the ground.

“You’re proven yourself not but an impudent distraction!”

He jumped up and kicked DK in the face, then fired a beam down below. The ape avoided it and began spinning his arm over and over.

Confused, The Count shook his head and began running forward. Firing another beam at DK, who finally stopped and rolled away from it again.

The Count took this chance to leap up and delivering a deadly swipe with a swish of his cape. The attack knocked DK off his feet and allowed Dantes to continue.

A clone of The Count sprung forward and delivered another punch to DK, and then the real Count took his place and gave him another hard punch. Then he shot out his leg to bring it to DK's head.

DK snapped out of his disoriented state and caught The Count's foot, then grabbed the other and snatched him out of the air to slam him down into the ground. Doing it another time for good measure.

And this fight was done! Too dazed to get up properly, The Count would eat a massive Giant Punch from DK. Sending him clear out of the arena with no chance of returning.

Katya traced a spell circle with her hand, firing a ball of flame at her opponent; Fox McCloud. The projectile was dissolved when the lupine shot through with his blaster.

“Try again.” He taunted.

The fanfic writer growled. “Oh, you bet I will! But first!” She summoned more spell circles out of thin air and pulled out a tambourine. “How about a little music?”

All it took was one small tap and she managed to lift Fox’s blaster into the air with her magic. Now defenseless she rushed in on him, tapping her tambourine to create shockwaves.

Fox put his acrobatic skills to good use, dodging and jumping over every last shockwave produced by Katya. But it wouldn’t necessarily matter when he ate another fireball to the face once he was close.

Katya smirked. “Told you I’d try again.”

Taking a gander at the singer fur on his face, Fox seethed and sprung toward Katya, planting a kick right to her abdomen and then across the face.

Katya stumbled back and used another shockwave to force Fox back. “You ain’t taking down a master of the arts down so easily, Fox!”

Fox got back to his feet, head cocked to the side. “Master of what art? Music?”

The tambourine player grinned. “Fanfiction!”

SMACK!

Fox learned quite painfully what she was talking about when Katya summoned a book out of nowhere and slammed it across the his head.

“Ow! You hit me with a freaking book!” Fox rubbed the top of his head in pain.

Katya nodded. “Yeah, and?”

Fox’s eyebrow twitched. “And!? Okay, done playing nice!”

The lupine dashed forward again, this time taking the time to jump over the shockwaves and fire a shot from his blaster. Katya had less time to try and get him when she had to also swerve and lean before she could shoot again.

Her next mistake came when she tried to fire another shockwave from close range. Fox used his reflector to send it right back at her, much to her shock as barely had time to dodge it before she ate a kick to the face.

She staggered back, but recovered enough to see Fox charging up fire to smash into her with Fire Fox. In a haste she grabbed her tambourine off the ground and began tapping.

“Lullaby soothes the savage lupine!” She chuckled as her sleeping spell made its way to Fox. The effects were instantaneous and Fox immediately yawned and began struggling to stay up.

Katya continued to play, confident she was about to win. Fox took two steps in an attempt to run, but he yawned again and found himself unable to fight sleep.

Wait! The spell! He could reflect the spell! Of course! Fighting the sleeping spell for just long enough, he activated his reflector and immediately he could feel the spell’s hold wearing off as it bounced off him and flew toward Katya.

The fanfic writer yawned as she continued to play while the spell encircled her. Unfortunately, she put together what happened a little too late. And she had less fight in her, evidently because she was asleep within seconds.

Being a little delicate with the sleeping witch, Fox lightly shoved her under the ropes.

The lupine then wiped some sweat off his brow after his elimination. “That was close. Way too close, she almost caught me sleeping on her.”

SMACK!...again.

“No, but I did!” Said a smirking Teruko, who had just smashed Hero’s sword hard onto his head. The blow briefly knocked him down to his knees.

“Wha…?” Was all he would get to say as Teruko hurriedly picked him up and pitched him over the ropes.

Fox landed in Whiplash. Where he was set on fire by Spanx & Redmond to ‘cure’ his ‘human-loving disease.’

Fujin kicked up a whirlwind to dash forward and charge at Storm, who used her own mastery over the wind to push him back.

The demigod stopped and dropped to the ground. “Your mastery over the wind is impressive, Ororo.”

Storm nodded and crossed her arms. “My mastery is dependent on my mastery over my mind. Something that takes years of learning how to control.”

As a point of sorts, Storm unleashed a tornado right under Fujin. Who initially struggled before regaining his balance to use it to throw himself at Storm.

Storm managed to just swerve past the spinning demigod, and also impressively managed to deflect an arrow from his crossbow by flinging it away with her own wind.

Fujin landed back on the ground, turning to Storm with a smile. “May you weather your own inner storms completely one day, Ororo.”

The mutant blinked at the sentiment, and then nodded again with narrowed eyes. “I intend to.”

Fujin used his power to hurl his sword at the mutant, who exercised her own to catch it and flung it back at him. Fujin caught it back in his sheath and charged forward again, this time he was fast enough to catch her.

“Your inner strife is most sympathy inducing, Ororo. Perhaps I can help you weather your mind?”

Storm struggled against Fujin’s own might and control of the wind. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was aware that Fujin likely had her beat in this regard. But there was one last trick to try.

Fujin came to a sudden stop, the momentum he had racked up flinging Storm into the distance. Somewhat. She regained her momentum quickly, and when she did she waved her hand out at him.

The demigod was confused for a moment. Until he tried to breath and found no air coming into his lungs, he gasped and coughed when he realized what was happening. In his mind he couldn’t help but respect Storm for her tactic, but it was futile.

Fujin took a deep breath and shot his own hand out at Storm. Immediately she noticed the effect of what she had just tried at him. She gagged for a second before restoring her own airflow.

“A clever and useful trick. But one we both know and share, Ororo. Have you any others?”

Storm looked at Fujin, then smiled. “Plenty.”

The mutant rushed forward, catching all of Fujin’s arrows in mid-air and flinging them back to him. All of them were dodged easily.

“Was that a..” He started, and then stopped when he could feel the pressure in his ear increasing, an act that made him groan loudly and fall to the ground in pain.

Storm looked on with a nod, her plan was working now. With a thrust of her hands she conjured an earthquake where Fujin lay. His pain left him unable to activate his power to float.

“Whirlwind!”

The still pained Fujin found himself helplessly spinning into a wind tornado that carried him the ropes, Storm quickly following behind.

“You may field the power of wind more effectively, Fujin. However, wind is yet one natural element of Mother Nature. Of which I am wielder of all.”

She then floated above the ring and Fujin, almost to the roof. “Which is most unfortunate for you.”

Without another word she brought down a giant streak of lightning down at the demigod, who in spite of it had recovered enough to try and fly back in.

“I think not!” With one final flurry of ice shards aimed directly at Fujin, Storm had successfully spiked the demigod right down into the portal below.

(Hotel; 5th Floor)

Sindel walked the halls of the floor where her and General Shao's rooms lay. So far so good, not that she was scared, but with the suddenness of the General's disappearance. As well as his odd stance on matters, Sindel couldn’t help but be suspicious.

“Barren. Quiet, near silent. Can’t help but sense that I am not both alone, and not at the same time.” Sindel mused aloud as she went over to General Shao's room.

The Empress took an ear to the door to briefly listen in for signs of life, nothing. No sounds of movement, no doors opening or closing, not even the sound of the television. All in all the room was as quiet as the rest of this floor.

Ah! It was likely fruitless to check, after all, the silence told her all she needed to know. That the room was deserted, and no sign of the General was within. Shaking her head, she pulled her hand away from the doorknob and looked around.

Nothing. As is what she seemed to want to believe, but that aura remained. But she just couldn’t seem to detect exactly what was amiss….

But then she heard it, a small thump. As if someone bumped into something. And she had a crystal clear idea of where it had come from; her own room.

Scowl on her face now. How dare this intruder have the gall to mess about in her own room! Whoever this scoundrel was, they were surely in for a very rough punishment when she discovered their identity.

Without haste or caution, she kicked the door to her room open wide, and immediately she locked eyes with the culprit.

“How dare you! What business do you have in my personal quarters!? And to what end do you have to achieve in doing this!?”

…

…

(The Arena)

E. Honda gave a hearty laugh as he and Hinako clashed their palms together. The struggle would start even, but the older and bigger girthed Honda began to overpower her. Ending with a body shove back.

“Not bad, kid! This fight will be great in getting the art of sumo, my art of sumo, more attention!”

Hinako smiled with a tilt of her head. “Well, thank you Mr. Honda! Maybe you could even make an appearance for my school sumo club too!”

E. Honda chuckled. “Maybe. We’ll see. But I’ll definitely consider it! Now back to our main show!”

The older sumo wrestler got into running position and charged forward, but Hinako fought back with a shoulder tackle. It managed to get him to stop, giving her a chance to pick him up and throw him back.

Honda got up, his eyes wide in amazement. “Wow. Where did you find that strength kid?”

Hinako giggled. “Practice, of course! I’ve been honing my sumo for a number of years, and I’ve been able to throw just about anyone in KoF!”

The older man gave a smile to the petite girl’s explanation. “Ha! Could say the same for me! Glad to see the art is getting it’s due!”

Honda then resumed fighting, running over to Hinako again and catching her in his hands. But Hinako was able to break free with a palm thrust to his face. Following with more palm hits.

Eventually Honda was able to stop Hinako’s hands with his own, and when he did he pushed her back while still keeping their palms locked.

This ended when he pushed her into the ropes and let go of her, the momentum launching her forward into Honda’s arms where he throw her up then palm struck her back down on the head.

Hinako turned on her back, looking up only to see Honda’s hip coming down toward her. The young girl yelped before rolling out of the way.

When Honda landed, Hinako lifted her leg up and stomped onto the ground. The attack caused the ground near her to rumble, and it was enough to reach Honda and make him fall flat on his rear.

The young sumo practitioner smiled when it seemed like she had him. Getting into her own running stance, she kicked up dirt behind her before charging forward.

THUD!

That was when Honda had chosen his time to do a forward leaping headbutt, right into Hinako’s own head. Thankfully it didn’t seem to have hurt her much, though she did fall back with a groan and rub her head.

“H-Hey! That move isn’t in traditional sumo!” Hinako complained.

E. Honda grinned. “It’s in my traditional sumo style, and soon it will be the standard practice across the entire world of sumo!”

Hinako widened her eyes in horror. This man was a quack sumo wrestler looking to enforce his own blasphemous style into the entire sumo world!? The horror! No! She couldn’t let that happen!

The young sumo student huffed before activating her Climax Super. She got back into running stance and rushed forward. Catching Honda by his mawashi and taking him along for a brief ride.

When she stopped, she gave Honda a series of painful palm thrusts across his entire body. Then picked him up with her hands, and with one powerful dunk, slammed him into the ground. And then picked him up again to throw him clear out of the arena.

Hinako dusted off her hands with satisfaction upon getting her elimination. “I’ll die before I allow you to poison the sacred art of sumo!

“Yah! Woo!” B. Jenet exclaimed as she performed a diving kick at Kuai Liang, the Shirai Ryu founder caught her heeled foot and tossed her to the side.

B. Jenet managed to catch herself and land on her feet. Shooting a fake pout at Kuai Liang, she ducked under a fireball and leaped up and over a pillar of fire before planting her foot right in his abdomen.

“I don’t know if you were better off having most of your face hidden, yet. What are you, Batman?” She asked, her other foot resting on his shoulder.

Kuai Liang, who had doubled over in pain. Gave a deep sigh. “Most certainly not.”

He then flipped backward, kicking his legs to throw B. Jenet off her balance and leave her open to getting pricked by his spear.

Problem was that didn’t end up happening, instead B. Jenet caught the spear and wrapped it around her leg. Then spun her legs in an incredibly fast motion.

“Get over here!” B. Jenet said while spinning her legs, to which Kuai Liang roared about copyright before it pulled him along with it and making him eat a multitude of kicks.

When Scorpion fell to the ground, B. Jenet put a hand on her hip and clicked her tongue. “Fatigue getting to you? Don’t recall you letting Krohnen get away with that…”

Kuai Liang nodded, getting up to one knee. “Correct.”

He then disappeared and reappeared above B. Jenet, swinging down his kusarigama at her. But then he remembered that she still had his spear, a fact that came when she lassoed it around his axe and used it to pull him down.

‘Whoops, sorry! Forgot I still had this!” She said before using her foot and leg to pick him up. Kuai Liang dropped the possum act and grabbed her leg to flip her over his head and to the ground.

Picking up his weapons, he summoned a fire elemental to breath a stream of fire at B. Jenet. But the pirate girl spun her hand out in front of her to create a mini whirlwind that dissolved the fire.

“Get over here!” Kuai Liang shouted when he shot out his spear, using his pyromancy to ignite the entire rope in flames.

“Huh, uh… nah!” B. Jenet said before she creating another little whirlwind to catch the spear and let it harmlessly to the ground when it dissipated.

Growling, he tried his teleporting trick again. This time he reappeared to her side to throw a punch at her face. But B. Jenet caught it and threw him over her shoulder.

“You’re really starting to slow down. I don’t see Aerith having this much trouble, and she’s been in the same amount of time as you!”

Kuai Liang’s response was to surprise her with a kick to the head. He then spun to his feet and got out his kusarigama, only to tilt his head in confusion when he saw B. Jenet standing with her back turned to him, hands in her head.

“Honestly?” She asked him, her back still turned to him. When Scorpion got close was when she turned back around, expression angry. “You’re starting to bore me!”

In a rage, she took off her heel and began smacking Kuai Liang over and over and over with it. At the final hit she smacked him so hard with it she launched him clear out of the ring.

Watching him fall into the elimination portal, B. Jenet could just sheepishly laugh and put her heel back on.

Aerith fell flat on her back, a victim of one of DK’s backhands. She managed to get out of the way from the ape bowling her over not unlike what he tried with The Count.

This time Aerith was waiting with a few good smacks with her Guard Stick. It worked a few times, but DK grew wide and caught it when she tried one more time.

“You’re a lot smarter than you look, huh?” Aerith asked while she struggled in his grip. DK’s only response was to grin and chuck the staff and Aerith with it to the side.

Aerith struggled to keep her balance upon landing, which wasn’t good when DK had both his hands help at his side’s right behind her.

“Seal Evil!” She quickly cast the spell to paralyze him. Then fired a series of projectiles at him with her staff. He took the attacks and nearly lost his own balance as a result.

The flower girl was about to cast another spell when DK surprised her with another Giant Punch that came just inches of her face. Thankfully she was just out of reach of it, but the sheer force of the attack pushed her back.

This minor distraction allowed for DK to pick her up and toss her into the air. Then bring his fists down onto her back when he leaped up after her.

Aerith landed on her stomach, but quickly got up in time to swing her Guard Stick up to whack DK in the jaw and stop his attack from leaving her immobilized.

Instead, DK retaliated by smashing the ground with his hands. The force sent shockwaves that launched Aerith into the air again. But this time she sent another projectile to stop DK in his tracks.

Landing, she spun her staff and used it to block any and all of DK’s attempts to get in. When she had him all tangled, she gave him a swift bonk on the head for good measure.

In his daze, DK knew he couldn’t give up, so as a sort of Hail Mary he began spinning his arms around rapidly. Effectively turning himself into a spinning Kong copter, the attack was fast enough to catch Aerith and carry her with him while dealing multiple blows.

Back where this started, with Aerith on her back, she used her Guard Stick to pull herself back up. Yeah, no, she was starting to feel the effects of fatigue.

“Not… giving up yet!” She said in defiance to DK, who could only smile dumbly at her and strike a pose.

“Tempest!”

The attack caught DK off-guard, if only because the ape’s mind immediately wandered in awe at how pretty it looked. The resulting explosion was less so.

Her quick thinking was rewarded! Yes! Now it was time to finish this, she began charging up her next attack. DK got back up and shook his head, then his attention diverted to Aerith.

“Holy!”

Much like the other times, the massive explosion of light caught DK in it’s tracks, and also like the other times this move saw use it would send DK far away. Far enough to fly over the ropes, and his attempt to get back in fell just short.

DK landed in Mario vs Donkey Kong. His decided to help his younger self try and defeat the plumber, to middling degrees of success.

Aerith breathed a sigh of relief and sat down again, taking the chance to do a bit more drawing on the ground while waiting for the section to be over.

“Snack time!”

Midna summoned two wolves at Joker and Skull, the two Phantom Thieves shared a look before leaping over their first attack and brandishing their weapons when they turned around.

“Ready, compadre?”

Just then, Joker sensed Midna behind them, a theory proven right when the wolves disappeared into a dark swirling portal before they lunged again.

Joker’s eyes widened. “Behind us!”

Skull had more agency, surprisingly, and immediately swung his pipe behind him. It didn’t hit Midna, barely. But it did make her smirk.

“Not bad, Blondie. Looks like you’re very ‘for real’ about this after all. Almost a shame.” Was what she said before she slammed the dark twilight magic ball down at the two.

When the explosion cleared and the two were nowhere to be seen, Midna put her hands on her hips and pouted. “All talk, I expected more from the so-called ‘Phantom Thieves’….”

That was when Skull dropped to the ground, surprising Midna and swung his pipe to punt her back a ways. Following it with a blast from his shotgun.

“You ain’t seen anything yet, babe! Uh, but don’t take that too much to heart. Literally.” He said when Joker also dropped to the ground. The two having used Joker’s grappling hook to evade Midna’s attack.

Midna got back up with a smile. “Alright, looks like we have ourselves a fight. Good! Now to make you apologize for making me wait!”

She summoned another wolf to ride on, and then summoned two more and sent them forward. Joker and Skull managed to dodge again, and then jump on the spinning wolves when they came back. Joker taking the chance to leap at Midna first and catch her with a slash of his dagger.

Skull leapt next and leapt up higher to descend from above the imp, slamming his foot down onto her face. And repeating the process twice more before blasting her back down to the ground.

Midna growled and used her hair to grab both Phantom Thieves and slam them into the ground. Then got back onto her wolf and rammed into the two of them before knocking them back with another wolf throw.

Joker got back up first and used his grappling hook to latch onto Midna and pull her toward him. Though Midna was prepared for this and generated a shockwave of dark magic to blast him away.

Skull’s turn now! He tried to swing his pipe at her again, but Midna caught it with her hair. Prompting Skull to try wrestle it away when Midna simply shook her head and throw him toward Joker.

Joker saw this and leaped over the flying Skull, then firing a shot at her with his gun. It connected and knocked her off the wolf she was sitting on.

Skull limped back up to Joker, toothy grin on his face. Joker shot him a small grin right back. The two silently agreeing on the next course of action.

“PERSONA!”

“Arséne!”

“Captain Kidd!”

The duo’s respective Persona’s manifested behind them. Midna sat back up and looked up at the sight, and then did a real pout.

“Come on!”

The two Phantom Thieves smirked at Midna, Skull deciding to take his turn first. “Maziodyne!”

Midna summoned two wolves to hide under and shield her from the rain of lightning strikes, but the powerful attack broke through her constructs and shocked her anyway. Just in time for Joker to take his turn.

“Eigaon!”

The dark Curse attack sucked Midna in and dealt heavy damage to her in spite of her Twili status. When it was finished Midna was on the ground, downed.

Skull turned to Joker, pipe firmly planted on his shoulder. “Could be a possum act to snatch us when we’re not lookin’! Let’s say we go All Out!”

Joker adjusted his glove in response. Smile etched on his face.

“Time to go for an All-Out Attack!”

The two Phantom Thieves rushed the seemingly downed Midna, which only made her eyes widen and confirm their theory that she was pretending to be out.

Joker and Skull then unleashed an incredibly swift and powerful barrage of attacks on the poor imp, whose yells of pain filled the air around them while a small dust cloud from the attack was kicked up.

When it was finished, Skull leaped out of the cloud and got his shotgun back out.

“And don’t come back!”

With that last shot, he successfully blasted Midna over the ropes. Sadly, Midna was determined not to leave without at least one elimination.

In a flash, she used her hair to grab Joker and pull him with her over the ropes. The suddenness of the act was enough to leave him too stunned to try and get back in.

Midna landed in Jak II. She got hit on by Daxter and promptly kicked his butt into next week. To be fair, he found it incredibly hot.

“Joker!” Back in the ring, Skull rushed over to the ropes to see what had happened, and could only groan inn annoyance when he saw he was too late to save his friend.

“Man! Are you for real!? I can’t believe it! Stupid-ass imp!” He kicked the ground and leaned against a turnbuckle. Well, might as well see what everyone else was doing.

Storm was meditating in mid-air to conserve energy, Fang was similarly to him off to the side twirling his popguns, Ryoko and Hinako were currently sparring together whilst also chatting about something Skull couldn’t make out, B. Jenet was twirling a finger in her hair out of boredom, Aerith was still on the ground drawing, Omega was smoothing out a dent in his body from his battle with Khameleon, Teruko was napping away on a turnbuckle as Edric approached her with a snicker as he reached for the Hero’s sword only to get kicked in the face for his troubles.

With no immediate sign of the next section starting the survivors simply kept to what they were doing until they got to go ahead to prepare for the new fighters…

(Results; 20 votes on the Arena Fight and Side Battles)

STORM (MN:ROTI) (18:2) = 16 (JP, Fujin)

FANG THE SNIPER (StH) (16:5) = 11 (Minotaurox, Miles ‘Tails’ Prower)

RYOKO (WH) (15:5) = 10 (Eleven, Terra Branford)

AERITH GAINSBOROUGH (D:FF) (16:6) = 10 (Garland, Donkey Kong)

TERUKO TAWAKI (D:DT) (15:6) = 9 (Ganondorf, Fox McCloud)

B. JENET (KOFXV) (13:7) = 6 (Scorpion)

E-123 OMEGA (StH) (13:7) = 6 (Khameleon)

SKULL (P5) (13:7) = 6 (Midna)

HINAKO SHIJO (KOFXV) (12:8) = 4 (E. Honda)

EDRIC BLIGHT (TOH) (12:9) = 3 (R.O.B.)

(ELIMINATED)

MIDNA (HW) (11:9) = 2 (Joker)

MILES ‘TAILS’ PROWER (StH) (12:10) = 2 (Chizuru Kagura)

SCORPION (MK) (12:10) = 2 (Krohnen McDougall)

DONKEY KONG (SSB) (11:10) = 1 (The Count of Monte Cristo)

FOX MCCLOUD (SSB) (11:10) = 1 (Katya)

JOKER (SSB) (10:10) = 0

GANONDORF (HW) (11:11) = 0

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (MB) (9:11) = -2

KATYA (TOH) (8:12) = -4

FUJIN (MK) (8:12) = -4

E. HONDA (SFV-VI) (8:12) = -2

MINOTAUROX (M:TOL&C-N) (8:12) = -4

TERRA BRANFORD (D:FF) (8:14) = -6

CHIZURU KAGURA (KOFXV) (7:14) = -7

ROB (SSB) (6:14) = -8

KROHNEN MCDOUGALL (KOFXV) (5:15) = -10

GARLAND (D:FF) (3:17) = -14

ELEVEN (SFV-VI) (3:17) = -14

JP (SFV-VI) (3:18) = -15

KHAMELEON (MK) (2:18) = -16

“Through Patches of Fire & Ice"

HEATHCLIFF (LC) home-runs GOZU & MEZU (KE)

20 to 0

Third Time Is Most Definitely The Charm: Third section in a row where Aerith gets two eliminations. Impressive for the petite flower girl. Keep this up and she'll break the record for quickest amount of time to get double digit eliminations!

On The Subject Of Section One…: A lot of Section One finally got tossed this section. As a matter of fact, only Aerith and technically Teruko are left.

Chapter Text

(The Arena)

The ten survivors were off doing their own thing still when the section had ended. After all, if these few minute intermissions between each one were going to be permanent. Then might as well take a moment to leisure.

There were those that took leisure as another meaning for friendly spar, like Ryoko and Hinako. And some who took it quite literally, like Teruko. However, all eyes went back onto the curtain once that familiar spotlight gave it its glow. The ten remaining survivors looked in anticipation at who it was that would enter next.

“MASKED RUBY!” (SC)

And cue the incredulous looks at the masked black hat-wearing, sabre-wielding ruby.

Not that it bothered the Masked Ruby of course, in fact he seemed to take it entirely the wrong way. “Ah, yes! Stunned silence at I, as well as my greatness! My quest for popularity must proceed me if I generate this much love from the public at large!”

With a confident pose and raise of his blade, the Masked Ruby hopped into the ring. It didn’t look as if he was limited in his options for opponents, everyone seemed to drop what they were doing when he came in.

Still oblivious to the true reason behind all the silence, the Masked Ruby hopped on over to Skull, whose jaw was still open at the new arrival.

“Phantom Thief! I challenge thee to a duel! You'd be good to accept, because I would be challenging you anyway! Now, en garde!”

Skull blinked a few times. “Is this for real!?”

“MEITENKUN!” (KOFXV)

Not that the next fighter was any less eccentric. Clutching his pillow in his sleepy, semi-conscious state, Meitenkun yawned and groggily looked down to the ring.

The sleepy boy yawned again and wiped some sleep from his eyes, adjusting his grip on his pillow he stumbled on down to the ring. His perpetually relaxed demeanor meant the looks and cheers he got didn’t faze him all that much.

No longer than a few seconds upon hitting the arena did Meitenkun's sleepy tendencies take hold of him. Yawning again, he collapsed to the ground in slumber.

At that moment, Fang rode over on his bike, like with Tails he was searching for another easy elimination and just by the looks of this guy did he think he was in for another one.

“Heh. Why join one of these if ya ain’t going to fight? Honestly…” The jerboa said with a shake of his head as he reached for the sleepy teen's pillow.

Feeling movement on his pillow, Meitenkun bolted awake and tossed Fang into the air. Gripping his pillow back to him, he shot Fang a look when he landed.

“No, no, you can’t have it. I need it… for sleep.” He said in his sleepy, relaxed tone.

Fang peeled his face off the ground, sighing. “Somethin' tells me I wouldn’t want to deal with you if you were fully awake.”

“BIG THE CAT!” (StH)

The all too familiar big purple feline hummed a little tune to himself upon coming out onto the ramp. Though it was less because he was jovial and more to calm herself because he was nervous.

Big stepped down the ramp with that same nervous aura while turning to the frog on his shoulder. “Gee, Froggy. No matter how many times I enter one of these, I just can’t seem to shake those jitters. But it'll be okay! Long as I know you’re there, things will be just fine!”

For now, Fang wasn’t in the position to really notice him enter, too caught in his fight to. However, once he saw Big, he made a mental note to approach him after he was done. Call it pride, but he didn’t feel like asking the big lug for help.

Hinako finished her brief spar with Ryoko and rushed over to Big when he simply looked around with direction. Eagerly she waved her hand in greeting.

“Hello! You look like the type to enjoy sumo! Tell me, are you in training?”

Big cocked his head to the right in confusion. “Sumo? Oh, no. I'm just…”

Hinako wouldn’t quite let him finish. “No? Well, allow me to show you and whip you into shape. Trust me, with your size and girth, you’ll be a natural in no time!”

Big could only stare at her. Still very much confused.

“GORDEAU THE HARVESTER!” (UNI-B)

Despite what his name would likely imply, Gordeau came out with a carefree, relaxed look. One hand in his pocket, he just snapped his fingers to himself as he made his way down to the ring.

Ryoko, now left without an opponent, decided to try her luck at getting a new opponent with the new fighter. Approaching Gordeau, she waved. “Hello, Mister. I'm searching for an opponent, and was wondering if you were okay with being it?”

Gordeau raised an eyebrow, serious look on his face. Then he yawned and put a finger to the inside of his ear. “No need to be so formal, kid. I'm in no hurry, or have anyone in line waitin' here. So, yeah, I'll fight you.”

Ryoko nodded her head with a smile. “Thanks, now get r-!” The judo girl yelped when Gordeau swung what appeared to be a giant purple scythe at her, which she barely managed to avoid.

The In-Birth chuckled. “What? Surprised? Keep on your toes, kid. Don’t let that energy go to waste, if not? Then I'll make better use of it. Don’t you worry.”

“ORO!” (SFV-VI)

Holding a finger to his chin in thought while he looked out at the ring, Oro got out of his meditative stance and took a deep breath.

With a newfound loom of conviction the ancient hermit dashed as fast as he could into the ring. His few remaining hairs blowing in the wind, which was a rather unfortunate image.

Coming to a complete stop once he reached the ropes, Oro stepped in with quite carefulness. Then headed on over to his selected opponent… Omega.

The Team Dark robot stopped his buffing of the dent in his body and immediately aimed his machine gun at Oro. “Your bones will be too weary to resist. I can tell that you are well over a century old.”

Oro nodded, smiling despite being insulted. “Will I now? Or will your mechanical work fall apart when I so much as land a hit? You are artificially bound to your level, no soul, and no hope for improvement!”

Omega served his head to one side and then the next. “You think I have no room for improvement? I am artificially superior, I can easily enhance my current output!”

The hermit hummed and clenched his fist. “Then show me!”

“VAAN!” (D:FF)

Now it was time to go back to Final Fantasy, specifically with XII and it’s representative, Vaan. We say representative and not protagonist because… yeah.

The fact didn’t seem to trouble him though, he was twirling his sword in his hands with a smile as he waved to the cheering crowd before him.

“Another adventure awaits! Time to face it head on!”

Putting his hand on the top rope, he launched himself using it into the ring. Where immediately landing would he be faced with B. Jenet, teasing smile on her face.

“So I hear you’re a pirate, eh? Of the sky? Say, isn’t the leader of the Security Team also a sky pirate?” Vaan fell back at the sudden inquiries, almost losing his balance if not for the rope.

“I'm an aspiring sky pirate, yeah. But why are you asking me all this?”

B. Jenet smirked. “Because I'm a pirate too! And I can’t help but want us to have a little pirate duel. Land vs Air, let's go!”

Vaan would nod along, having decided to accept the challenge. “Sudden. But I won’t shy down from a challenge!”

“And now, Mystery… Fighter… Number… SEVEN!”

“CLAUDIO SERAFINO!” (Tekken 8)

The dark-haired exorcist and next Mystery Fighter struck an eloquent pose on top of the ramp. Turning a teasing side eye to the legions of cheering fans, he bowed in front of a few certain females in front of him.

Saying a phrase in Italian to himself, he pulled his body straight and headed on down to the ring.

Edric was currently observing Teruko sleep, rubbing his hands together and glee while contemplating how he was going to perform his latest prank idea.

The answer was he wasn’t going to get the chance, as Claudio would tap him on his shoulder and nearly sock him in the face when he turned around.

Edric ducked under the punch, thankfully. “What in the name of Titan!? Are you trying to ruin my complexion further!? You're lucky I’m a master of illusion magic!”

Claudio pulled his fist back as Edric got to his feet. “Yes, magic, befitting a witch from a realm of demons.”

The teen witch immediately caught on to the exorcist's words. “Oh no, not again…” He said in woe.

(Hotel; 5th Floor; Sindel's Room)

“Explain yourself!” Sindel said to her intruder.

And got a huff and chuckle as a response. The intruder, now shown to be Lord Raptor, strummed his guitar with a hum while he walked up to her.

“Just lookin' for… a line. A way to keep in touch, I know you MK folk use those amulets. Shang Tsung wanted me to find one for him, so I could be reached and ensure he has eyes all over.”

Sindel crossed her arms. “Unfortunately for you, I keep mine present at all times, so breaking and entering was a moot act from the start. Now tell me what it is the sorcerers are planning.”

Raptor scoffed. “Like I gotta tell you anything, doll. Tell you what? Get outta my way and I’ll keep your name outta my mouth when I report back to the big kahuna, deal?”

The undead zombie offered his hand to the queen, who just shot it down before kicking him into the wall.

“My answer is no.” She said, before her hair grew larger and longer. Adopting a more wild look. “Now you will tell me what you know, or you will face the truth wrath of a Queen.”

Raptor sat up and help his arms out. “Shang Tsung said you would be trouble, what better way to earn favor then to bring you in. Well, doll? Try not to fall behind, because this song is a doozy.”

(The Arena)

“ASHANI!” (RR)

Adjusting her mechanical gauntlets and rotating her arm afterward. The amateur boxing woman let out a breath as she hopped up and down.

“We're only oh for one, right now. Still a lot of chances to score one, but if anyone is going to make it on the board for our node? I'd love for it to be me!” Ashani said with pride as she rushed her way to the ring.

Pumped up and ready to get to fighting, Ashani slid into the ring through the ropes and immediately took note of the decreasing amount of potential opponents with each new entry. So she had to make a choice and quick.

Thankfully, she already had a target in mind; Aerith. Nodding in confirmation she headed on over where the girl was still drawing onto the canvas.

The flower girl stood up from her drawing when the boxer came over, well that was a nice break. Time to get back to work!

Aerith got up to her feet, Guard Stick raised. She paid the dark-skinned woman a smile. “Love your look and outfit!”

Ashani nodded her head, smiling back at her. Then punched her fists together, causing sparks to fly from them. “Thanks! But now it’s time to come through for Rushdown Revolt!”

“ETRIGAN THE DEMON!” (JLD)

Upon hearing the name of the next entrant, Claudio immediately turned his back toward the entrance ramp. While he was distracted, Edric immediately used this chance to slip from his grasp and run away.

The exorcist paid the fleeing witch no mind, his new quarrel was with this so called ‘demon’. Wordlessly he walked over to where this individual entered.

Betraying Roxas' words, the person who entered the ring was not, in fact, Etrigan. But the human that he was bound to; Jason Blood.

Jason immediately gave the side eye to the approaching Claudio, who had his arms crossed. “You are a demon?”

A scoff from Jason. “Not quite. And just who might you be?”

Claudio lifted his head, narrowing his eyes. “An exorcist. Let me guess, you are under this demon's hold? Well then, allow me to exercise it from your body.”

This time it was an amused chuckle. “That's rich. No exorcist worth their salt could tame and purge this particular demon from me.”

Claudio shook his head. “Maybe because you haven’t met me. Show me this demon, and I will do my best to remove him.”

The red-haired man sighed. “I’m afraid you’re playing with very uncontrollable flames. But this is a fighting tournament, and it looks like you're first in line. Very well.”

Jason took a deep breath and got on all fours. “Change! Change! O' form of man! Free the prince forever damned!”

“Free the might from fleshy mire! Boil the blood in heart of fire!

A stream of fire enveloped around Jason, while Claudio looked on, expression a mix of stoic and determined.

“Gone! Gone! The form of man! Rise the Demon, ETRIGAN!” Jason screamed in pain as his body morphed into the hellish form of his other half.

Etrigan, now fully transformed, stood up and looked at Jason with a hellish smile. “Here you await with bated breath, for Etrigan to drag you into the murky depths!”

Claudio got into stance. “Give your host my regards, you are not the most elusive demon I have encountered. But I owe it to him to give purging you a damn good try, and like hell I will not do my absolute best.”

“YUEL!” (GF:V)

Dancing a little at the top of the ramp, the young Erune kept her dancing streak up for a few seconds while she looked down onto the ring.

“Node's not doin' too hot, that’s okay! So long as I'm here, I'll dance till the sun rises! Now time to sprinkle stardust on a certain pillow case!”

Finishing her dance, Yuel slipped under the bottom rope to enter the ring. Her eyes immediately darted to the sleeping Teruko. ‘Tsk'-ing at her slumber, Yuel hopped on over and gently hopped her on the nose.

Teruko immediately threw her hand out to catch whoever dared wake her up, but she ended up missing and falling onto the ground. Yuel took this chance to climb up onto the turnbuckle in her place.

“Wakey! Wakey! Time to get back to the fight, Miss Tawaki! It ain’t gonna fight itself!” She greeted to the now awake and groaning Teruko.

Hissing at the energy this girl gave off, Teruko stood up and grabbed Hero's sword. “Fine. But you’re not getting off easy for waking me up, just so you know.”

“WILLOW PARK!” (TOH)

“Oh, thank Titan! Finally! One of Mitten's friends shows up!” Sighed Edric in relief upon hearing the name being called.

Back to Willow herself, being a member of the ‘Hexsquad' and one of the main characters of Owl House. She was naturally afforded thunderous cheers from the crowd. All of it caused her to blush and give cheerful waves to her cheering fans.

“Looks like there was no chance of us faltering in popularity. Even if our show concluded over a year ago!” Mused Willow to herself while she used her plant magic to carry herself to the ring.

As soon as she entered the ring, she would immediately be met with Edric, who had a pleading look on his face.

Willow crossed her arms. “What is it?”

Edric gave her a nervous laugh in response. “Look, you’re a friend of Mittens, and well, this tournament is really tough. So I was thinking… we could team up?”

Willow look away, thinking over the idea. While leaving Edric to himself was tempting, in more than one way he was still a dearly beloved sibling of her friend. And it wouldn’t go over well if anything happened to him, so…

The plant witch huffed. “Fine.”

“NAGI!” (BR)

Walking out with a playful stride to her strut, the young woman Zoanthrope waved to the crowd with a smile. Despite her dark and brooding look, she gave off a very petite and playful vibe.

Cheerfully walking down and entering the ring with her hands behind her back, Nagi immediately set her eyes on Willow and Edric.

“A welcoming committee. How nice! Are you two both looking for a fight?” Nagi asked with a head cocked to the side.

“No!” Edric immediately said before he got an elbow to the ribs.

“Yes! Don’t listen to him.” Willow assured.

Nagi's look turned playful and mischievous again. “Then what are you waiting for? Oh, I know!” She said with that cheerful disposition before a light engulfed her.

Both Willow and Edric looked surprised when it was gone and they got a look at Nagi's Spurious form.

Nagi held up a blade arm, still smiling. “Hope this doesn’t freak you out too much!”

Both witches shared a look.

“Eh, we've seen weirder.” They said in unison.

“MIN MIN!” (SSB)

Shooting out her dual ramen arms in front of her, Min Min posed for the fans to even more applause. A fact which made her smile.

“Smash has done wonders for ARMS, and I am honored and proud to be the flag bearer for both us ARMS fighters, but also for my ramen noodle house!” She said, still smiling as she used her arms to grab onto the rope and vault herself in.

Min Min didn’t hesitate to go over to help out Claudio with Etrigan when it appeared as though he had the exorcist on the ground. Launching her arm right into the demon's head, which then allowed Claudio to get up and deliver an uppercut to the demon.

Claudio glared at Min Min out of concern when she rushed to his side. “Thank you. But this is not your fight. Leave, find someone else.”

The martial artist shook her head. “No, not leaving you to fight this demon alone. I'm not discussing it.”

The Italian exorcist sighed. “If you so wish to put yourself at risk, then very well. You may help, but only because I know your mind is made up.”

“And now, Mystery… Fighter… Number… EIGHT!”

“NINON BEART!” (King of Fighters: Maximum Impact)

Oh, well that's just great.

The gothic, darker dispirited younger sister of Mignon Beart gave a twirl as she stood on the top of the entrance ramp. A little smile was visible on her face, one that bled satisfaction.

“The host chose me over my sister to compete, that must mean some out there sees my potential.” She said to herself before her eyes took aim at Claudio and Min Min's fight against Etrigan.

“My goodness, what have we here?” She asked rhetorically before teleporting away in a glint of purple light.

Etrigan kept his grin as he summoned his sword out of flame. “Two against one? Is this fate's design? Then I'm afraid your lives will be resign!”

“Hello, Etrigan.” Greeted Ninon who appeared by his side.

Both Min Min and Claudio stood speechless at her name drop. “You know him!?” Min Min would be the one to question it.

Ninon rolled her eyes as Etrigan returned her greeting with a closed smile. “Do you think I am not aware of most demons? Etrigan was one of the first, and I don’t think I appreciate you both double-teaming him. So I'm here now to even the odds.”

Claudio turned back to Min Min. “Consider me grateful you decided to help me out. What with this new revelation.”

(Dome; Restaurant)

“This cannot be right.” Vyse said in regards to the restaurant.

Contrary to what was shown previous, the restaurant now seemed to be bustling with business. Food was being brought to the tables, drinks being poured, many different characters were being seated and overall it seemed to just be a normal restaurant.

And there was especially no sign of any out of place characters who looked to be in charge of the joint.

“We couldn't have been tricked.” Soren said in mild disbelief, then he turned to the captive Darrius. “Hey! You said you knew who this witch was! Go on, point her out.”

The man huffed and looked around, his eyes immediately deducing what had happened here. After a moment he shook his head. “Maybe I was mistaken? I don’t see her anywhere.”

Steve immediately brandished his bat threateningly. “Tell us. Which one. Is her.”

Vanille immediately grabbed his shoulder. “Steve, wait. Something isn’t right about all these people.”

Luna pointed a finger up. “I can sense it too. The feeling being enclosed amongst others. I don’t get that here. I also can’t help but note how no one has battered an eye to us yet…”

Vyse absorbed their words and looked around them. They were right. Everyone currently in here hadn’t paid any of them any mind, in fact, they seemed to completely lack the sense to acknowledge any of them.

Now convinced something suspicious was going on, Vyse reached out his hand to a passing server. His suspicions confirmed when his hand went right through her.

“These people are fake! Illusions.” He turned and told his team, who all followed his example and got the same result.

“Damn it. The jig is up, Adrian!” Darrius called out, and one by one all the seeming residents of the restaurant disappeared. Except for a few.

Three of which looked to be the three witches who were running the place. The Adrian in question sipping from a cup of… black coffee. Annoyance registered on his face.

“Curse you all and your able minds!” He said at the team with a clenched fist.

“Where's Terra Snapdragon?” Vyse questioned with an intense state at the witch. Who just smiled and brought a hand to his compatriot next to him.

“That would be me, darlings. What can I do for you all?” She inquired in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Save it. Tell us what the hell kind of operation you guys are running he…!” He was interrupted by another voice coming from the other entrance.

“Oi!” A British Cockney accent exclaimed. Heathcliff soon coming into view flanked by the two young witches. “Got word that there was something nasty brewin' in this here restaurant. Came here, I did, to see what’s what.”

Terra growled, to which Heathcliff immediately picked up on it. “Well now, doesn’t seem like I'm in the wrong place after all. And I'm not leaving until I get my answers. Oh.” He looked back to Derwin and Amber. “And I got a missing person’s case. Goes by the name of Raine Whispers.”

Vitimir, who had this point had been silent and unassuming to everyone present, let out some strange green gas from his mouth and turned to his two fellow witches. “Terra!”

It was at this moment that Terra pulled out some sort of amulet. “Shang Tsung! We’re nearly compromised! Send in the reinforcements!”

A voiced chuckled from the amulet. “I had a feeling. So I sent some there to tail these ‘heroes'. Dispose of them and wipe their memory.”

Just then two figures appeared in each entrance to the restaurant. These two being Wizzro and Zant from the Hyruke Warriors node. Not only that but the two remaining people that weren’t currently in the conversation, Cassie Cage and Mighty the Armadillo, stood up and robotically took to the witch villains side.

This didn’t go unnoticed by Vyse. “The dead looks in their eyes… your brainwashing people here!”

Terra chuckled and twirled a finger through her hair. “That you are, boy. Too bad you won’t live to tell anyone.”

The seven villains, including Darrius, begun to circle the heroes. Heathcliff immediately got his bat out and lead Derwin and Amber to huddle up against the security team.

Soren took note of it and immediately adjusted his grip on the unconscious Sareena still on his shoulder. “So, looks like whatever this is. We're all in it together?” He then motioned to Sareena. “Excluding her, oh and I have a great idea of who she can be helpful though.”

Vyse and Heathcliff shared a look, then the Sinner looked back to Soren with a nod. “Looks like it. Oh well, it's a great chance to finally bash some proper heads in, yeah?” He said to Steve with a smile.

Steve smiled back. “Hell yeah!”

Waiting no longer, the two sides broke off and began fighting. Kicking off this restaurant showdown.

(The Arena)

“STORM THE ALBATROSS!” (StH)

The white-feather bruiser of the Babylon Rouges came out to their usual lukewarm reception. This time though, Storm opted to ignore it and pumped his fists together.

“Alright! This could be it! This could be the one where we dominate! I believe, just gotta…!”

He would be interrupted by the sound of someone above him clearing their throat. Looking up he would see Storm looking down at him.

“You bear the same name as my X-Men alias? Is it your birth name?” She asked rather curiously.

Storm gulped, still unsure of her intent and him not wanting any part of her. “Yes.”

Ororo simply nodded her head. “I see. Shall we begin our little contest to see whose Storm rages more?”

And there it was. The ask, and all Storm’s confidence began to circle the drain. He knew he had no choice but to nod.

“SQUALL LEONHART!” (D:FF)

Another representative, this time the cool, stoic protagonist of VIII, Squall. Who looked just as stoic as ever, gunblade hoisted on his shoulder as he walked briskly to the ring. He shot a look up toward Rinoa somewhere in the stands and very briefly shot her a very small smile.

As soon as he got in, he immediately noticed an unfortunate little wrinkle in things; no immediate opponent, and he wasn’t in the mood to interrupt anyone currently.

“Figures.” Squall said with a sigh, setting the gunblade on his shoulder again he turned toward the entrance ramp to whoever came out next.

“SHEEVA!” (MK)

Okay! This one could be interesting. Squall briefly hummed just a tiny bit in curiosity.

Another unchanged fighter in the Mortal Kombat series; the crowned Queen of the Shokan, Sheeva. With a mildly positive response to her arrival, the four armed woman made her way down to the ring.

She decided not to leave Squall hanging, immediately walking up to him in acceptance of his unspoken challenge. “You court one who is a princess in all but name, do you not?”

Squall would close his eyes while thinking of a response to that question. When he opened them again his next words were… “Who can say really, Your Highness. But you didn’t come here to inquire about my relationships.” He said before pointing the gunblade at her. “You came here to fight.”

Sheeva nodded. “In an effort to truly show my subjects what it means to be a feared warrior. I wish only that they remain so in the future, and not let luxury and wealth leave them complacent. Defeating you will be a good first example.”

Squall tilted his head a little while getting into stance. “Don’t get carried away, Your Highness.”

“ABIGAIL!” (SFV-VI)

Coming out to a mixed, though mostly negative reception was Abigail, the former Mad Gear muscle beat his chest a few times upon finally making it through onto the ramp. His loud roar to the crowd did little to improve his already decisive reception.

Eh, wasn’t like he cared one way or the other. He was way too self-indulgent at the moment for that. So he just paced himself down the steps to the ring. Leaping in and leaving a small crater where he landed. Roxas mumbled in the Announcer’s Booth about how that would take forever to get out.

Teruko swung her sword at Yuel, who deflected the blade and was going to respond with one of her own when a giant tire came out of nowhere. She yelped and slashed it in half quickly.

The tire had just barely managed to avoid hitting Teruko, who was less than thrilled herself at nearly getting socked. Annoyed, she turned her back to face the guilty party.

“Was that a threat?”

Abigail laughed. “No, that was me inserting my way into this little scrap! Getting rid of you two little girls will be as easy as fixing a internal combustion engine!”

Teruko turned to Yuel. “Temporary truce?”

“Sure!”

“DOLORES!” (KOFXV)

Emerging from a spill of holy mud, the Malian hermit took a gander out at the ring, adjusting her glasses while doing so.

“I sense something is in disarray with the current flow of fate.” She looked out all around the Arena at this. “Someone wishes to bring forth chaos and destruction to the balance of fate's design. This will require further investigation later.”

She had made a mental note in her head to do so. But now wasn’t the time for such things. There was a tournament to attend to, forming back into her mid she slipped under the ropes and reemerged inside.

A curious look came upon her when her eyes darted to Ororo and Storm's fight. Manipulating her puddle of mud under them she shot some upward and formed it into a spike to catch their attention.

“Do you have matters to attend to here?” Ororo asked the hermit, to which she received a nod.

“I do, Ororo Munroe. Your nature of carrying out Mother Nature's will is something I wish to share. Please. If you and the albatross would be to allow me to experience your power first hand?”

Ororo turned to the still dazed Storm, and then back to Dolores, well no harm in doing so, right?

Storm gave her a welcoming hand. “Observe. And show me how strong your resolve is to Mother Nature is.”

“And now, the final fighter of this section and the third Second Chance fighter…”

“JOKER!” (SSB)

Still as stylish as ever, the Phantom Thief twirled both his dagger and gun before throwing them into the air and catching them while striking a pose. The crowd went wild for the move and his return.

Motioning his signature running pose, he immediately got to work running off into the ring. Doing another little flourish of flips and spins before landing.

He knew pretty quickly where he was going, from one Phantom Thief to another, he wasn’t going to leave them hanging.

Skull used his pipe to block each slash attempt by the Masked Ruby. He was holding him well so far, but then the red gem parried a blow and delivered a few swipes to his chest.

As Skull held his chest, the Masked Ruby raised his sabre and got ready to deliver another blow… when Joker's dagger swiped him off his balance. He then rushed to help Skull up.

“Hey, man! You're back!” Skull said with wide eyes.

Joker nodded and straightened his glove again with a smirk. “A minor setback. And now the little imp isn’t here. But it looks like we have a new assignment.”

The Masked Ruby stood back up and looked between the two with a smile of his own. “Ha! TWO Phantom Thieves! What an honor to bear witness to such greatness! Fighting you both will surely bolster my popularity further. I can see it now!”

Both Skull and Joker stood back up, ready to bring the combined assault to this…. talking… gem… thing.

Chapter Text

(The Arena)

B. Jenet giggled whilst swerving out of the way of Vaan. So far the aspiring pirate hadn't been able to catch her with his swings, to the point she even managed to use her kicks to deflect his sword. Much to his surprise and chagrin.

"Are you not worried about losing your foot?" He asked in exasperation.

She shook her head. "I can spin fast enough to have my legs act as a makeshift drill. Your little toy is nothing." Stated with a rather intentionally aggravating giggle.

Vaan let his eyes fall. "You have the attitude of a pirate, that's for sure."

"Hail Storm!"

Storm the Albatross screamed as he rode him using his airboard to try to escape a hail storm in the part of the arena he was in. Emphasis on trying as he found himself covering his head from the incoming hail. He was so busy trying to shield himself that he didn't know where he was going.

CRASH!

Storm ended up riding right into a boulder that was randomly standing in the middle of the arena. Just like a cartoon he ended up peeled to it before falling off of his back. The boulder then suddenly dissolved into mud to reveal that Dolores was standing inside of it. She then coolly looked down at Storm while adjusting her glasses.

"Apologies, but you really should be looking where you are going." Dolores scolded.

With that, she turned to the other Storm (for convenience, let's refer to her as Ororo for now) and swung her arm upwards to create a portal of mud in front of the X-Men before sending a diagonal stalagmite at her. However, Ororo easily moved to the side to avoid the attack before sending a sphere of electricity from her palm towards Dolores. But the Malian woman summoned another mud portal to summon another stalagmite to block it for her.

Ororo then proceeded to swing her arms horizontally, sending blades of wind forward, but Dolores summoned another mud portal, this time underneath herself before dissolving into it. Not only did she manage to reappear to the side and Ororo before sending out her palm forward. However, the weather-manipulator had managed to block the strike.

Suddenly, the two jumped back from each other, just in time to avoid being rammed into by a charge from Storm the Albatross. Ororo and Dolores then continued on, as if the avian was never there, lashing out their respective elements of electricity and mud at each other. Dolores then got ready to send her palm out again, but Ororo got ready for another elemental attack.

…Only for her mud portal to appear BEHIND Ororo and send a stalagmite into her back. The Kenyan woman was sent flying Dolores who spread her arms and summoned bits of earth all around her to encase Ororo in a coffin on stone before swinging it down and sending said coffin crashing into pieces, knocking Ororo on her side with the wind knocked out of her. Despite this, she slowly floated.

"...Fascinating. I saw a lot of people use their powers, but never one who could use mud as elegantly as you." Ororo said in awe.

"While it IS technically mud, it is also holy soil." Dolores elaborated. "You may have the sky covered, but can you cover the ground?"

"I faced the likes of Avalanche and Fault Zone so I have more than experience." Ororo explained.

"Then, allow me to show you the potential of Holy Soil." Dolores shrugged.

With that, she raised her arms to create a floating sphere of mud which summoned four orbiting rocks before sending them straight at Ororo. However, the X-Men narrowed her eyes before waving her hand downwards before flying to the side. She ended up going by quicker than usual doing so while having a surge of light wind around her. She then flew towards Dolores who got ready to summon a rock to block the incoming attack.

Only for a white blur to zoom past them, making the African women's respective hairs blow in the wind. Ororo and Dolores both looked in the direction of the blur, only for it to suddenly go around and ram right into Ororo, knocking her to the ground.

Storm the Albatross smirked, definitely looking much more confident that he did when Ororo first challenged him. He then turned towards Dolores and charged forward. However, the hermit quickly encased herself in a stone coffin to block the attack. Though until the first time, Storm the Albatross actually saw this coming and sent his fist into said coffin. This not only broke through Dolores' defense, but sent her flying all of the way to the other side of the arena.

Storm the Albatross laughed before turning around to see Ororo flying up to her feet. The former just smirked before dashing forward, but Ororo thought quickly by summoning a giant ice crystal using her power to block the punch. But just like before, Storm the Albatross broke through it. Though Ororo predicted this and merely used the ice shield to fly backwards and upwards out of Storm the Albatross' range. Despite this, the Babylon Rogue merely smirked.

"Yeah, you better fly away because I am feeling like I am Boss!" Storm the Albatross taunted.

Ororo raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know!" Storm the Albatross laughed. "I just feel faster!"
Ororo blinked twice at this. She then looked down to see the surge of light wind she had summoned earlier was still there and Storm was floating in the middle of it.

"...Ahh." Ororo said in realisation.

"So you better come on down because all you are doing is delaying the inevitable now that I am as fast as Jet!" Storm the Albatross sneered.

Ororo paused. "...Very well."

With that, she descended to the ground. At first, Storm the Albatross was genuinely surprised that the X-Men took his taunt seriously, but smirked before zooming over ahead.

…While failing to notice that the wind surge has turned into blue static.

Storm the Albatross then sent his fist out again. However, he found himself moving slower than before, making it easier for Ororo to move to the side. While Storm the Albatross was stunned by his missed attack, Ororo kicked the avian in the head. This had made him fall off of his airboard and onto his rear with the attack hurting much more than he expected.

"Ow! What the crap!" Storm the Albatross cried out while rubbing his head. "I knew that she was an Omega-level mutant, but I didn't think she had SUPER-STRENGTH!

He then stood up to get back on his feet. However, that was when Ororo flew forward.

"Lightning Attack!"

As the Marvel VS Capcom fans in the crowd went wild, Ororo trusted her palms forward with electricity emitting from them into Storm the Albatross' chest. Not only did this hurt… A lot, but Ororo continued her charge while taking the Babylon Rogue with her. This continued on until the two reached the ropes where Ororo, letting the momentum from her attack, sent Storm the Albatross over them and into the portal. Ororo sighed before flying over to Storm the Albatross' board and used her aeromancy to create a ball to have it floating up in the air.

"So it seems that my Weather Control doesn't differentiate from friend to foe." Storm sighed before dropping the airboard after its owner (regardless of how she felt about the Babylon Rogues, she didn't want a fight to break out between Storm and Wave). "I suppose even a goddess can't use abilities they never had ahead of time."

Storm landed in Megaman X where the titular character mistook him for an ally of Storm Eagle and beat him into the ground.

Abigail roared as he raised his huge arms with the intent of crushing Ryoko under them. Since that torrent of wind had launched him away from Yuel and Teruko he decided to… go on about his business and continue trying to smash his opponent. He really had little care as to who it was specifically.

For his opponents, though? That wasn't the case. Neither Ryoko nor Gordeau were too thrilled when the big guy came crashing over suddenly, and in the minute it had been since he arrived the two had forged a temporary truce.

Ryoko easily found an opening through Abigail's brute force fighting style. To say she was unimpressed was an understatement, but she had no time to waste complaining. With a clap of her hands she burst energy into Abigail's face when he tried to shoulder rush her.

"Hey, kid! Bring the big guy over 'ere!"

Smirking, Ryoko obliged to Gordeau's command. Picking up Abigail with her surprising strength and judo tossing him with a turn around toward Gordeau.

Gordeau beamed and readied his scythe. "Lights out, big guy. Hope this doesn't smash your lights out too much…"

With a rising slash upward, Gordeau swiped a massive tear in the former Mad Gear's shirt and launched him back. Ryoko barely had time to duck before he flew overhead.

Practically gliding past his judo partner, Gordeau dashed to follow up with another slash. In his mind, he just wanted this giant nuisance out of the way so he could continue clashing with the girl.

He'd have to wait a bit longer, because Abigail skidded to a halt a few feet from him and roared, kicking his leg up to place his heel with Gordeau's face. Stopping him in his tracks.

Toothy grin formed, Abigail shoulder tackled him and then took off one of the tires that decorated his arm and attempted to swing it into Gordeau's face. But by this point the scythe wielder had recovered and sliced it in half.

"Gordeau!" Came a call by Ryoko, who was barreling toward him. The scythe wielding man shrugged and used said scythe as a launching pad for Ryoko to grab the head of the former Mad Gear and spin them both into the air. Abigail was flung into the ground with a kick from Ryoko after a few spins.

"Ha! Nice one, kid!" Came a cheer from Gordeau as he came up behind her. "Now, let's put him out for the night, yeah?"

"NO!"

Both Ryoko and Gordeau would find themselves gasping for air as a result of Abigail shakily grabbing their necks as he stood up. A little worse for wear, but still very much conscious, and now was literally steaming mad.

"You!" Abigail growled. Then he slammed the two together and then into the ground. He huffed and brought his massive hands to their necks again.

"Little dolls. Will make heads go…pop!" He said with a dumb chuckle. "Abigail… sma-!"

He was cut off by the two putting everything they had into jamming their feet into his stomach. It was just enough to make him drop them, and for them to put his arms over their backs and began to somehow lift him up.

"You know? The bigger they are!" Ryoko said with a grin as she and Gordeau lifted Abigail up and suplexed him to the ground.

Gordeau huffed and motioned for Ryoko to finish the job. "He's all yours, kid." Ryoko nodded and ran up to the recovering Abigail and clapped her hands to unleash another burst of energy that launched him back more.

"See ya! Another tale to tell D!-san!" With one last impressive display of strength she lifted up the large mountain of man and hurled him clear out of the arena.

Abigail was dispersed into Team Sonic Racing. Where he managed to cause a complete car wreck through just being in the way of the race.

Willow summoned a plant monster with a spin of a spell circle. "O~oooh! Let me give him a little upgrade!" Edric was quick to jump in and use an illusion spell to give it a wider girth and boxing glove-like fists.

The plant creature sprung toward Nagi, who huffed and immediately pushed it back with her own punches. Surprising the two witches. But Edric quickly assured Willow of the situation with a wave of the hand. Uncorking a potion with his teeth and hurling it at Nagi.

Looking out from the corner of her eye, Nagi kept the plant creature on the defensive before grabbing it and spinning them both so that the plant took the potions contents to the back. The resulting explosion had the plant creature down for the count.

Before either could even question where Nagi had gone, she came to life suddenly to the side of Edric. Leaping at him and causing him to yelp and futilely hold his hands up. "Again. I bruise easy! So, not so rough!"

Willow rolled her eyes as she summoned vines to lift her out of the way of the flying Edric, courtesy of Nagi's kick. The plant witch smiled and used the vines to launch herself into Nagi.

Willow crashed into the girl, but for sure sustained a bit of damage herself. Which she was now feeling as she got up along with Nagi. "Okay, gotta work on that…"

"You think!?" Nagi scoffed and did an overhead kick at Willow, who ducked and summoned a vine to confine her to that position. "But this? I know how to do without fail, thanks to Hunter!" Willow said with a prideful tone.

"I got your back, Willow! You can't keep a good witch down! Eat this!" Edric was back! And immediately got to work, rolling a potion of purple color toward Nagi and Willow. Which burst upon impact in a stream of abomination goo.

Willow had covered herself in her plants to shield herself from the blast. And let the vine around Nagi's foot act as a makeshift leash that sprung her away and just as easily pulled her back, giving her a hard landing into the canvas.

Nagi groaned. These two were good, but she wasn't ready to give up yet! She still had one more trick up her sleeve. "Time to cancel this show, like theirs was!"

"Hey!" An offended yell came from both witches. Edric took a step to get even… "Uh oh, wait! This is bad!" Willow warned, pulling Edric back once a light enveloped Nagi.

The moment Nagi was visible again, Willow jumped into action by swatting at her with a vine while Edric did the same with his rope. Both utensils were sliced in half by Nagi's Spurious blade appendage that replaced her arm.

"Okay, you're right. This is bad…!" Was what Edric said before Nagi lunged her blade at him, the green witch barely managing to contort his body to dodge it. Willow jumped to his aid by wrapping a vine around Nagi's blade arm, Edric recovered and reinforced it with his magic.

Just as she was about to break free, Edric held Willow back before taking two yellow potions out and smashing them together. Blowing a yellow mist into Nagi's face and greatly inhibiting her vision.

The young woman finally sliced the vine to free herself, but now was left blindly looking around for her prey.

"Do you know what this is?" Edric's voice called out to Nagi in a dramatic tone. "It's only the second of many, but it still hits all the fun checkmarks…"

Nagi still looked around in a futile effort to locate Edric through the sounds of his voice. Not noticing the shadow that slowly crept up on her until it was too late. The green witch jumped up from behind her. "It's your… ELIMINATION! Now, Willow!"

Willow nodded as the mist cleared, revealing a plethora of plants she had summoned with her magic. No longer seeing any need to hide her intentions, she sent them forth to which they completely wrapped around Nagi. Who unfortunately had her time in her Spurious form wrap up conveniently to prevent her from breaking free.

"Sorry, but you gotta admit, the mist was a pretty clever trick!" With those parting words, Willow's plants threw Nagi clear out of the ring.

Nagi landed in Resident Evil. Where she was mistaken for a Tyrant and soundly defeated by the protagonists.

Oro tossed his pet turtle between his hands while clobbering Omega as best he could. So far he was under the impression that all he had been doing was annoying the E-series robot.

Which could prove a problem if he couldn't make any leeway soon. Though… it was this mentality that was holding him back above all else.

"You are a senile old man, but that should've been obvious. Allow me to put you out for the night." Said Omega with his stoic, robotic delivery. He followed with a stream of fire from his flamethrower.

"Ha! Logic. Such an overrated sense. My age also corresponds to my years of experience, too! Allow me to demonstrate, machine!" Oro did so by double jumping over the flames and diving feet first at Omega. He managed to stagger the robot, which allowed him to pull energy from his head and bounce it into a ball on the ground.

The ball exploded on Omega's head, but this didn't deter him enough to stop him from swatting Oro away before he could gain more momentum. The hermit tossed his pet turtle up in the air while he flipped back, catching it when he stopped.

"Do you inhibit yourself on purpose? Or is your mind addled with age as well?" Omega asked rhetorically. He obviously wasn't keen on waiting to get an answer, if his rapid machine gunfire was an indication.

"Still on the age subject? Clearly, you have a judgemental mind. Wouldn't expect such from a machine." Oro asked in genuine curiosity and wonder as he avoided the rapid firing.

"I, as they say, call it as I see it. I have little time to waste on such matters. I have a mission to complete. Now, stay still." Omega shifted his claws into a drill and fired it at the hermit.

"Hmm… I think not." Oro said simply as he started channelling energy through his head again. But this time he summoned some random pieces of debris that were floating around, plus the drill that Omega had fired at him. "But to answer your prior question. I hold back because if I fought at my full potential, I'd eradicate you without even trying."

Beat.

Omega stood silent for a few moments, making Oro actually approach him and call off his coming attack, letting the debris and drill fall to the ground, confused. But before he could even think about possibly taking advantage the robot swatted him away again and then blasted him with a pellet. Actually catching him off-guard.

Oro was back in fight mode though, weaving past another pellet before jumping up and dealing multiple rapid kicks from above the robot. And then planting his feet back on the ground and doing a type of swirling uppercut.

Omega still wasn't stunned for long, catching himself mid-air and activating his thrusters. "There can be no more room for doubt. You are truly deluded from your many years in seclusion."

The hermit shook his head. "My, my, the lack of ears means what I tell you isn't even reaching! I obtained immortality, and age leaves room for experience, machine!"

Omega shook his head. "I am a robot. And am immortal by default." He then landed on the ground to meet Oro. "And in all my time, I can see things that you clearly can't. Like how defeating you is tempting, but not worth my time, and the purpose is to simply eliminate you. Which is why I have something to show you."

Oro raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "And what is that, machine?"

"This." With a deceptively strong amount of force, Omega had swatted Oro clear past the ropes, not helped by the additional leap out the hermit did to catch his pet turtle. He tried using his other jump to get back in, but a pellet blast from Omega prevented that, the robot scoring itself another elimination.

Teruko inwardly cursed at Ororo for inadvertently jumbling up a few of the fighters fights, and hers with Yuel and Abigail just so happened to be one of them. Leaving her with a new opponent that…

"Huzzah! I shall recount my exploits far and wide, this is but one of many hopeful encounters to tell stories about! My ordeal with the fabled first second chancer!"

Was a literal riff on a fabled story while serving as an archetype. Oh yeah, the mutant was her next target once she was done with this… thing.

Masked Ruby seemed oblivious to Teruko's ire, simply flashing his eternal grin as he and the Ultimate Lucky Student clashed in arms. But Ruby let go quickly and leaped over Teruko when his sudden give let her almost tumble forward.

This obviously didn't leave her too terribly happy. Grinding her teeth she turned and swung the Hero's sword in front of her. Ruby would again leap over her swing and this time clock her in the face with the pointed bottom of his gem body.

Teruko groaned, holding her nose. "Right. He's a freaking ruby. How did this get to a point where I'd be fighting a living ruby…?"

"That'd be when you decided to accept an invite to this here tournament, lass!" Ruby replied jovially. All Teruko did in response was roll her eyes. "Shut up." She deadpanned.

Time for a change in strategy, this time Teruko would mostly hang back and try strike after he missed. He was a ruby, after all. Surely one good hit would be enough to chip him. Though now Teruko couldn't help but wonder if breaking him apart would technically kill him.

Her brief focus on the outlandish topic would leave her open to a poke from Ruby's rapier. "Huzzah! An opening reveals itself!" And his loud declaration would be an even bigger blunder. Teruko snapped out of her thought and inwardly cursed again, thrusting the Hero's sword into the Ruby once he actually attempted to follow up.

A little chip off the side of his body, but it didn't seem to concern him all too much. He recovered and raised his sword once more. But again his theatrics would get punished by Teruko, this time with a strong kick back.

"You really should focus on actually fighting and not trying to put on a performance. Are you a fighter or some kind of showman posing as one?" The Ultimate Lucky Student inquired.

Which only made him stop his stance and grin. Taking a rose out from who knows where and sticking it between his teeth. "But of course, lass! I am the great sword savant, Masked Ruby. Seeking only fame and heroics! I even have my own theme song, courtesy of one Joe Hendry! Actually!"

Ruby raised his rapier to the Announcer's Booth, where Roxas sat staring down at him. "Host! Do be a dear and help me enlighten this girl to my glorious theme song!"

The silver-haired young man shrugged. "The similarities to the song it's taken from are pretty blatant, but whatever. Here." He then pressed a button.

(Say his name, and he appears!)

(I believe in Masked Ruby! Clap! Clap! I believe in Masked Ruby!)

Roxas just looked absolutely deadpan as he watched Ruby dance around as best as a literal gem could to the song that was playing. To the game's credit though, the crowd did clap along!

('Cause they love him in Paris, and London, and Tokyo! America, Scotland, and Canada, and Mexico! They say 'I believe in Masked Ruby!' Clap! Clap! 'I believe in Masked Ruby!')

Well fate be damned, whether it was the fact it was a parody song of an already popular wrestler's own catchy theme, or something else. The crowd actually got up and cheered! Chanting along with it!

All except one, and that was Teruko. "Enough of this!" She cut the song off and restarted the fight, charging at Ruby with a vengeance and swinging at blinding speed. Sadly, so did Ruby. He deflected and quickly gave her quick swipes with his rapier, slashing a few cuts on her arms and making her stagger back toward the ropes.

Teruko grinded her teeth and tried to power through with another swipe of the Hero's sword, but Ruby disarmed her with another swift poke. The fallen blade caught his eye.

"Hey, that's mine! I stole it first!" Teruko leaped for it, but Ruby somehow grabbed it before she could and backed off. He clicked his tongue at her. "It's neither of ours. But it's here now, and as they say 'all's fair in love and war…' I think I'll keep it. You say it is a Hero's blade after all."

"But.." She didn't get to finish, as Ruby stored away his rapier… somewhere and took up Hero's sword. Resuming to his heroics, he turned to the cheering crowd with a grin. "And thank you, my fans! For continuing to believe in Masked Ruby!"

Before Teruko could even try anything else, Ruby booted her under the ropes. Being just a normal high schooler she really didn't have any way of getting back inside.

Teruko landed in Danganronpa. Having no time for dealing with anything resembling a mystery she tried to brute force her way out of it. With less than stellar results.

"Michel on my right!"

Min Min narrowed her eyes before flipping in place, managing to kick a ball of electricity, deflecting it back towards its attacker. However, Ninon Beart just gave a small scoff.

"La Olam Amen!" Ninon shouted, covering herself in a purple light which made her vanish. She then reappeared behind Min Min before kicking the latter in the back. The Chinese fighter staggered forward, but managed to recover before spinning around with a sobat kick. However, Ninon raised her arms to block the attack.

But Min Min wasn't done yet as she did a series of kicks, but Ninon easily blocked them before flipping backwards to avoid a low sweep. Min Min then lashed out her Dragon ARM forward, but Ninon once again jumped back to avoid it.

However, she was unable to avoid the beam of fire that came from the Dragon's mouth.

The beam struck Ninon in the chest, sending the dark-clad girl onto her back. Min Min then smirked before sending out her other ARM, the Ramram, a red disc forward. However, Ninon managed to sit up in time to see the attack coming.

"Uriel on my left!" Ninon shouted, summoning a tornado around herself, deflecting the Ramram away. However, Min Min merely scoffed before retreating it back and trying again. However, Ninon had teleported again. This time, Min Min was ready before using both of her ARMS like a pole vault, launching herself into the air, just in time to avoid Ninon reappearing where she was. Min Min then did a diving kick, knocking Ninon to the ground.

Ninon again sat up, looking annoyed. "All you are doing is shortening your already short life."

"If I just let you go, you will actually help that demon!" Min Min scolded. "I faced Master Mummy before! I know how hard it is to take one down by yourself!"

Ninon merely scoffed. "You are comparing THAT glorified stone to Etrigan? No wonder ARMS fell off the map if you think THAT is strong."

Min Min narrowed her eyes in offense. "Hey!"

With that, she did a flying kick forward. But Ninon gave a small smirk before swinging her arms around.

"Raphael before me!" Ninon shouted, creating mist around her which struck Min Min and sent her flying away. The ramen chef crashed onto her back, but quickly flipped onto her feet before lashing out her Ramram. However, Ninon simply flipped to the side which prompted Min Min to send her Dragon ARM, but Ninon acted quickly before leaping on top of the Dragon's head.

Ninon then leapt off of it before sending down another ball of electricity. Min Min reacted quickly by retreating both of her ARMS and using them to block the incoming projectile. That was when Ninon teleported in front of Min Min away before grabbing the Chinese woman and doing a flip, kicking her in the chin and sending her flying onto her back. Min Min groaned before sitting up.

"Okay, why are you so good at hand-to-hand combat?" Min Min groaned. "You are a MAGE!"

"Even zoners need to know the basics of close-ranged combat. Even my SISTER knows that." Ninon sneered. "Especially if you are from an aggressive game like the Maximum Impact series."
Min Min narrowed her eyes. "Then, I have to be aggressive too."

With that, she got up. However, instead of sending out one of her ARMS, she instead ran towards Ninon. However, the black mage just smirked before holding out her hands.

"Iyo Iyo Zabati Rakiraki!" Ninon shouted, sending flames from her palms. However, this took Min Min by surprise, she quickly raised her ARMS to use it to block the flames. As both ARMS she had were fire-elemental, it didn't take much for her to block the incoming flames. However, Ninon wasn't done yet as she raised her palm up in the air.

Then, Min Min's eyes bugged out when Ninon summoned a giant orb of electricity, much bigger than the one she was sending out earlier.

"Watch this, Mignon!" Ninon announced before pointing said electric orb at Min Min. "Witness my power!"

With that, she sent out the giant orb of electricity forward at her opponent.

However, Min Min narrowed her eyes before raising one of her ARMS. The electric orb then engulfed Min Min, making Ninon smirk in success.

Then, it faltered when she noticed that the orb was seemingly floating in place. After a few seconds, the orb then burst into sparks.

Before a giant, metallic yellow sphere was flying towards her.

BAM!

ZAP!

Said sphere collided with Ninon which not only hit like a truck, but sent electricity through her body and sent her flying high through the air and over the ropes, too stunned to teleport back.

Min Min smirked before lowering her Megawatt ARM. "You may have a lot of elements covered, but I only need fire and electricity to win!"

Her smirk vanished before frantically looking around. There, she saw Claudio and Etrigan still fighting each other. Sighing in relief that Claudio didn't look that damaged, she immediately rushed over to help the exorcist.

(Dome; Restaurant)

To any passersby to the restaurant looking for a meal. The sounds of in-fighting would quickly dissuade them from doing so. Especially once the sounds of tables breaking entered their ears.

And sure enough, the fighting had gone on for a good while. What started as an eight on eight brawl had numbers on both sides dwindled down to the point where only half of that remained on each side.

Vyse panted as he gripped his cutlass' closer to him. His gaze turned to face the remaining members of his crew; Soren, Luna, and Steve. His eyes darting toward the downed body of Vanille with a sigh. His eyes direction wasn't lost on his teammates as they all eyed Vanilke and looked to each other, knowing their goal.

On the opposing side, Zant stepped up to seize leadership and beckoned his remaining forces; Wizzro, Terra, and Cassie over. The old Plant Witch looked at him with unease. Not taking kindly to having the leader position snatched from her.

Not giving any sort of silent agreement to the other side, Zant immediately commanded his forces forward. He was immediately put on the defense courtesy of Soren.

"With me, Cassandra!" Terra called over to Cassie who came over and engaged with Steve, his nailed up baseball bat taking her by surprise as she struggled to find her footing in that fight.

Terra in turn was up against Vyse and the sky pirate wasn't an easy opponent, cutting through her vines with ease until he rushed her and backed her up against a wall.

"Who do you work for!? What are they planning!?"

The old Plant Witch blinked in response to the question, eyes darting to the back room in the kitchen where Raine Whispers lay tied up. "You mean you don't know?"

Vyse rolled his eyes. "Of course we don't. Now, tell me!"

Terra couldn't help but chuckle. It was cut short though, when he saw Steve break a chair over Cassie's head. Oh, dear. This was quickly becoming a losing battle.

"I would've thought you'd know, they sounded like they were keeping in touch with someone by their words."

Once again, Vyse sighed in frustration. Especially so when Terra pushed him back and tried to swipe away at him with her vines, though that idea was easily swiped away. He leaped off a counter and kneed her right in the face before slashing away with his cutlass' until he had her up against a wall again.

"Tell me! Now!"

Terra grunted, and she too gave a frustrated sigh upon witnessing Luna blast Wizzro into the wall where he fell slunk to the floor. At least Zant was keeping Soren on his toes.

"Do not tell him of Lord Shang Tsung's plan!" This exclamation quickly caught the attention of all present and Terra quietly resisted the urge to drag the warlock six feet under.

"Shang Tsung?" Vyse inquired to Terra.

Terra inhaled sharply. "Yes, impudent child. But you won't get a peep out of me!" She managed to get a vine to suddenly grab Vyse's foot and hurl him toward Soren. Thankfully the young knight caught him and swung him right into Zant per the pirate's quick order.

With Zant now down, and Steve clubbing Cassie in the jaw with his bat to knock her out as well, Terra saw no choice than to summon a cavalcade of vines to quickly restrict everyone that remained to the wall while she moved to escape.

It wouldn't be long before Vyse and Soren broke free of the vines to pursue her and the former nabbed her in the head with a thrown blunt end of his cutlass to knock her to the floor. Where one last blunt hit with a sword courtesy of Soren would knock her out.

"Good work, Soren." Vyse said while he grabbed his cutlass and went off to free Luna and Steve.

"No problem! Call it me giving back to the Earth." He said nonchalantly with his hands on his head.

"Still, not much of a lead but we're somewhere. Let's regroup with Sindel and see what…"

A green fireball would interrupt him, striking down Luna and Steve, more would take down Vyse and Soren. Vyse groaned in pain as he along with the rest of his crew looked up to see their assailant.

A chuckle would fill the air as none other than Shang Tsung would make himself present on the scene. Flanked by Skarlet and Kollector. "They are no concern. Go to the back room and retrieve the test subject."

Skarlet would nod and do as told, while each of the four prone security members would find themselves unable to get up. Shang would notice this and grin evilly.

"Can't move? Yes, it is intentional. I am in no mood to fight at the present moment. So please, stay down for your sakes."

His grin would grow wider as Skarlet returned with the still struggling Raine. Vyse saw this and his eyes immediately went wide at the implications.

Shang caught his look and nodded. "This one knew of my plan, and their power is said to be great. Much potential in this one, which is why I am going to put it to good use."

He motioned to the two behind him to be off, while he strolled over to each of the downed security, ending with Vyse. Who he kneeled down to speak with.

"This restaurant is only one piece of the puzzle. If you wish to know where else I am finding my test subjects? Well, you're a smart bunch. So to speak, figure it out yourselves."

With one last chuckle he'd use his magic to levitate the eight members of the opposing side to him and carry them away. Stopping to smirk one last time before departing, breaking his hold on the four security members once it was safe and not possible to follow him.

Vyse stood up and gritted his teeth. Looks like they were back at square one.

(The Arena)

Meitenkun sleepily sighed upon using his pillow to catch another cork from Fang's gun for the umpteenth time. This time the sleepy young student decided to charge his pillow with chi to fire the cork right back at Fang.

"Woah now!" Yelped Fang upon ducking under the cork, but his compromised position left him to take a falling kick from the sleepy teenager.

Clutching his nose, Fang shot forward foot-first at Meitenkun. Who yawned and rather conveniently fell back to duck under the kick, turning onto his stomach so he could stand back up.

Fang rebounded back and pointed his popgun at Meitenkun's forehead before he could though. "Think Lady Luck favors you, friend?" The answer he would get from him would be a pillow smack to the face.

Meitenkun would drearily sigh and yawn again, clutching his pillow to his face as he looked at Fang with sleepy eyes. "… Can't…. imagine how it w-would matter…"

The zerboa rolled his eyes and put his popgun back onto his belt. "Alright. Let's see if you can even keep up with my precious Marvelous Queen!" One whistle and Fang's beloved cycle would roll up to him.

The sleepy student's eyes would only slightly perk up before immediately narrowing back into sleepiness as Fang revved up his beauty. "Try not to fall behind here!"

With a push of a button, laser cannons emerged from the hoverbike and took direct aim at Meitenkun, who could only groggily tilt his head to the side. Another button push activated the lasers.

But much to Fang's surprise, Meitenkun, who was still moving at roughly half-speed due to being half asleep, managed to effortlessly weave past the lasers. Something that left the purple jerboa aghast.

"What in the-!?" He could barely contain his shock unt he had to back away to avoid a pillow slam from Meitenkun. Not gonna let his shock get the better of him, he began firing pellets from his hoverbike at the sleepy boy.

He would have much greater success with these than the lasers, getting a few good hits in with them and pushing Meitenkun back. It definitely helped that he had more control at the speed in which he fired and how often he could fire, which was constantly.

"O-Ow… Ow…. Ow…" Meitenkun would say rather dully as he took pellets all over. But then he'd get an idea, much like with the corks, he's use his pillow to absorb a pellet and charge chi into it and send it flying right back into Fang.

"Gah!" Fang spun his hoverbike out of the way and turned to glare at Meitenkun. His anger would win out and he'd step on the acceleration to ram into the sleepy student, seeing as they were near the ropes.

"Huh? Oh…" Meitenkun yawned. "Hmmm…. I don't think so." Channeling chi into his pillow again, he'd lunge it straight into Fang's Marvelous Queen. The sudden force launching both the purple jerboa, and the hoverbike forward. Fang could only gasp and futilely reach out as his bike fell into the portal.

Huffing, Fang sprung to his feet. "Okay, friend. Nobody takes out my baby like that! So come on! Put em' up, I can take you all with my..! Wha-huh!?"

With one final yawn, Meitenkun grabbed Fang and chucked him over the ropes. Since he had no aerial vehicles to help him, he could only hopelessly fall.

Fang landed in Twisted Metal. Once he was reunited with the Marvelous Queen he opted to join the fray in hopes of getting a cash prize.

Ashani zipped around Aerith, trying to sneak in a punch to break through her guard. But the flower girl definitely wasn't making it easy, in spite of already being in a few sections she still blocked her attacks using her Guard Stick with ease.

"Determined, aren't you?" Aerith said with a breath as the two separated. Ashani smirked and pumped her gauntlets again. "Of course! Wouldn't you be in my shoes?"

Aerith tilted her head and put her pointer finger to her chin briefly. "Hmm… okay, you have a point. Though this won't come easy." She said while twirling her staff again.

Ashani grinned while wiping some sweat off her nose. "Good. Because I wouldn't want it to be anyway." She would try to knee the flower girl in the face, though Aerith would get her staff up in time. Good thing, too. She could actually feel her staff buckle under the pressure of the blow.

A little more weary of how much more punishment her staff could take, she shoved Ashani off her. But the boxer smirked and quickly let her know she knew her guard wouldn't last much longer. Aerith would go for low swing of her staff, but Ashani flipped over it and brought her foot to Aerith's face.

And know that she was through, it was time to press the advantage, she dove over another swing and leaped up to deliver a punch to Aerith's face. Then she used a bit of boost from her enhanced body to rush forward, carrying Aerith with her, and give the girl an uppercut.

A not so subtle scream would echo from the entire ring as Aerith let her vocal chords rip from that uppercut all the way until she landed on the canvas again.

She would sit up and immediately try to gauge her surroundings and luckily didn't require much to shake off the dizziness from the blow when she saw Ashani's fist flying toward her face. In a quick motion she held up her staff to block and then struck her forehead to push back a bit.

Ashani stepped back from the hit, then stood in place for a second while seemingly building up energy. Aerith gasped when she noticed what this could be and stopped her with a Seal Evil spell.

"Sorcerous Storm!"

A wide array of bolts and stray lightning surrounded Aerith, the attack caught onto Ashani and ravaged her entire body. She cried in pain before falling to her knees, her attack stopped in it's tracks.

"Not bad, and I mean it. I can see the potential. And the outfit is a catch too!" Aerith told with a deep breath of relief, resting her staff on the ground as she looked at the downed Ashani. "But now I think it's time to clear up this fight."

Right as she moved to, though, Ashani swept Aerith's legs. "Sorry. But I gotta come through for them!" With a flourish she sprang up and coated her fist in sparks as she came crashing down at Aerith.

"RAY OF JUDGEMENT!"

Ashani futilely winced once her mistake hit her, unable to stop the consequences of it from ending with her elimination. Taking all of it and being launched up and over the ropes and into the portal.

Aerith got up with a cheeky smile. "Next time, best to make sure your opponent doesn't have a way to retaliate." She said. But then sighed and leaned on her staff. "How much more do I have in me?"

Another fight that was victim to switch-ups was the Phantom Thieves fight with the Masked Ruby. But this interruption was a bit more abrupt and hands-on. As it involved Storm the Albatross' blow to Dolores which sent her flying into the two, and now they've been fighting since.

"Foot Dive!" Skull leaped into the air and charged his foot down toward Dolores, who used her influence over holy soil to send a construct to take the blow. This sadly wouldn't deter Skull, who simply bounced off of it and tried it again. This would continue three more times, each time with Skull shouting 'Foot Dive!', much to Dr. Doom's chagrin elsewhere.

By the fifth time Dolores rolled her eyes and instead used her power to grab Skull's foot with her mud and toss him back. Adjusting her glasses as Skull got back to his feet. "And may I ask what that was the point?"

Skull simply flashed her a grin, and Dolores only had half a second to react prior to Joker swinging his dagger down towards her from behind. A diversion, it turned out.

The blow propelled her toward Skull, who tossed his pipe in his hand and keyed up into position to swing it like a baseball bat. "Home Run!" The result of his swing would send her back into Joker, who leapt up to get to her and again slash with his dagger.

Dolores groaned from the pain of getting comboed by the two. But would have enough sense to summon another construct of holy soil to catch her fall, disappearing into the Earthy substance and sinking into the canvas.

"Huh!? Where'd she go?" Came Skull's immediate reaction. Joker was more analytical of his surroundings in contrast, looking around and trying to sense where the woman could of gone.

Then, all of a sudden he felt something under his feet, the bubbling of holy soil! Right as he got out his grappling hook to latch onto one of the metal beams way above however, it would erupt. Separating the two and hurling them on opposite sides.

When Dolores re-emerged she'd set her eyes on Joker, who just nodded and began running before throwing out a kick which was caught by her and then countered with a palm strike to the face. She'd try to catch him with her holy soil but Joker would leap up in time to avoid and send an array of bullets from his gun into the puddle that briefly appeared before him.

"What were you hoping for? It isn't a part of me." The spectacled woman couldn't help but ask. Instead of answering Joker just snapped his fingers and sent a small little bolt at her. Which she managed to dodge in time.

While she moved to the side, Joker turned to her direction and did a sliding kick to trip her legs out from under her. It worked and she fell over and a blast from Joker's gun. Like before, she conjured more holy soil to catch and surround her as a safeguard.

"Not this time." And true to his words he'd pull out his grappling hook and swung up to safely get out of the blast radius. Once it ended he was back on the offensive, firing another bolt which managed to strike Dolores this time. The blow sending her up where he used his grappling hook to pull her back down and get in another lash with his dagger.

As the pain of the Eiha wore off, Dolores stood back up quickly and managed to catch Joker when he was coming in with a lash of her own courtesy of a construct. Knowing she had to act now, she summoned more holy soil and sent it to engulf Joker.

"Arséne! Megidolaon!"

Summoning his signature Persona once more, Joker would use his grappling hook to evade the soil before calling out what would be his final attack for this fight. A giant explosion where Dolores stood, her shock from the Phantom Thief breaking free leaving her too stunned to notice until it was too late. She'd find herself ejected from the ring and into the portal before she had figured out what happened.

Meanwhile, Skull swung his pipe at Meitenkun, who lazily held up his pillow to block the blow and leave Skull open to have his legs kicked out from under him.

A pillow smack to the back of his head was all Skull needed to know he had to roll to the left and give the sleepy boy a good smack. Or it would've, had he not rolled in his sleepy, awkward way back from him swing.

Skull blinked. "Okay, what the hell is with this guy!? He's half-asleep and he's still friggin' kickin' my ass! Heh, but not for much longer!"

Meitenkun yawned. "I am a hungry little bunny rabbit…" Which wouldn't stop him from ducking another swing and sending a few light punches into Skull's midsection, finishing with a burst of chi.

Skull skidded across the canvas, but managed to keep his ground until he felt Joker catch him. "Need some help?"

The blonde Phantom Thief shook his head, grinning, though not without holding his stomach a bit. "Nah! Don't worry about it. In fact, I got this one all wrapped up! Case in point."

Meitenkun would hurl his pillow at Skull, but he wouldn't allow any further tricks or fighting to go on anymore and cut right to the chase. Pulling out his shotgun and firing straight into it, and since it was more powerful than Fang's popgun and the pillow itself wasn't charged with chi, it was flung right back into Meitenkun. The blow being enough to knock him off his feet and send him sliding under the ropes.

Meitenkun landed in NiGHTS into Dreams. He inadvertently ended up taking out the flying titular character and sending them to a journey of dreams, not that Meitenkun realized this as he was fast asleep himself.

"I made a promise to your host. I will see you exorcised from his body!" Swore Claudio as he went toe-to-toe with Etrigan, trading blows while Min Min tried to do the same from afar.

Etrigan just chuckled. "Ha! I care not for Blood's endeavors, by my decree he'll be bound to me forever!" The demon unleashed a stream of fire from his mouth. But both Min Min and Claudio leaped opposite ways to avoid the attack.

Right as the stream stopped, Min Min struck her Ramram ARM out, the curved ring weapon ignited and struck Etrigan in the jaw. It didn't appear to have any real effect on the demon though.

Etrigan rubbed where he was struck, confirming that it didn't have much effect at all. This was when Claudio would try and stager the beast with a few charged strikes of his own.

Min Min would rejoin the fight and continue to push the demon back with her ARMs. Their tactic of simply overwhelming him seemed to be working! He had been unable to get a single hit in and took blow after blow from the two…

"Enough!" Was all Etrigan needed to say to quash that little glimmer of hope. Summoning vortexes of flame in front of him that caught both of them in their crosshairs and whirled them back.

Leaping bounds to catch Min Min first, the Chinese ramen chef stood her ground and hit a three-hit combo ending with an upward kick at the demon. It made him take a step back, but nothing else. "To lay a challenge before me, your respect is kept, but I must declare you out of your depth!"

POW!

As her own way of saying 'shut up!' to Etrigan, Min Min unleashed the Megawatt. The sharp blow sent shockwaves through his body and sent him flying over the ropes like it did Ninon earlier.

Watching him fly off gave Min Min the chance to sigh in relief, it was over, and surprisingly quick too! Now to head over to Claudio to see if he was alright and…

WHAM!

A kick to her back knocked her forward and another swirling vortex of fire would engulf her as she was blasted at Claudio. The exorcist would manage to catch her but see that she was briefly knocked out for the time being.

Sighing, Claudio set her down and got up to face Etrigan. "I don't intend on failing my promise, demon." Said demon would just hang his head back and roll his eyes. "Helpless fool… so optimistic to the point of naivety, a powerful tool. Not to be underestimated."

With him seemingly prone, Claudio threw a punch at the demon, powered by his family's power. But he was stopped short by Etrigan's palm catching his fist. "But I have no need to worry about such."

Claudio then kicked himself free. "Not going to rhyme that one?" Etrigan just grinned and charged toward the Italian exorcist, utilizing his power of flight. Claudio was caught in his grasp and struggled to break free.

"You will not prevail! When this is over I'll find you and fulfill my duty!" Told the exorcist as Etrigan brought them over the elimination portal. "And I welcome the challenge, holy warrior." Said Etrigan.

SMACK!

Min Min, who by now had recovered, smacked Etrigan once more with her Ramram ARM. The blow and added flames made him groan and drop Claudio. It was this moment where the exorcist would begin charging one of his arrows.

"We will meet again, demon." He promised as he let his quiver go, firing the arrow of light right into Etrigan. The strike being enough to make him cry out in pain as he flew back into the ring, albeit not without a crash landing.

Though, this would unfortunately leave Claudio to helplessly fall into the portal. Not too bothered seeing as he got in that last hit, he felt content with leaving Min Min to do the rest of the work, hopefully.

"The time for fun and games is through, when I see that exorcist again I'll split him in two!" Howled Etrigan as he clutched his chest upon getting back up. Though he took a small sense of glee that he still got that elimination. His satisfaction wouldn't last as he turned around and got greeted with the face of a dragon that opened its mouth to unleash flames upon him.

Now that Abigail had been taken care of, Gordeau and Ryoko had focused their efforts back onto each other. And so far it seemed like they were dead even in terms of fighting.

Ryoko tried throwing a few judo chops to Gordeau's chest, but the bartender moved out of the way of each one. Then moved in to swipe his scythe at her, which barely managed to slash a hole in her pant leg.

The judo girl shook off the near slash and sent an energy blast at him, which managed to land and make him take a few steps back. She rushed over to judo throw him away, but Gordeau clicked his tongue as he recovered and blocked her hands with his scythe.

"Not so fast, kid. Ain't no one getting the better of me so easily." He flashed a toothy grin and took his hand out of his coat pocket, revealing a row of incredibly sharp looking nails.

Ryoko didn't have time to dodge as he swung his hand out and caught her in the stomach. She grimaced and held the spot where he slashed her. "Wha… What are those?"

Gordeau tucked his hand back in his coat pocket, smirking. "Let's just say it's my little ace in the hole. Feel it? Your energy seeping away? Yeah, my nails will do that if they get a hold of ya. Your vitality is slowly decreasing by the second."

The girl would move to deny it, but then she did begin to feel it. Her energy slowly beginning to fade from her body, as if her vitality took the place of blood from her wound. Eyeing the marks, she spoke up again. "You must be itching to get your node an elimination, if you're willing to employ this…"

Gordeau shrugged. "I don't really give a damn about that, but the feeling of being the first to score would be nice. So why not?"

Ryoko turned to glare at him. "Then my job is to make this as hard as possible!" Despite slowly losing her energy, she opted to use as much as possible to keep up the fight! Ducking under another scythe swing and thrusting her palm into his face, then firing another blast of energy.

Gordeau was taken off-guard by her sudden second wind. So much so that he ended up leaving up to grab him and throw him up into the air, followed by spinning with him in tow and tossing him into the canvas.

Sitting up using his scythe, he spun out of the way of being stomped on by Ryoko. Then tried to swing his scythe again at her, only for her to catch it and force him to retract it. He opted to go for another swipe with his nails but Ryoko caught him this time and blasted him away.

Gordeau stood back up, breathing heavily. "Still a lot of life left in her… that'll change soon enough." He could see it himself too, Ryoko was looking more and more tired by the minute and it was really starting to show. And she knew she had to eliminate him before she passed out from fatigue.

It had to be quickly though, she could already feel herself on the last of her reserves. So she shot herself forward foot first, Gordeau caught her on his scythe but she used it to vault over him and grab him by the head to judo throw him back.

Gordeau stood back up and blocked a few chop attempts, then kicked her upward and spun his scythe to catch her in a blender of hurt. It didn't work as she pushed herself to flip back and throw in a burst of energy when she landed.

The bartender just held up his scythe to absorb most of the damage, it pushed him back, but Gordeau himself was none the worse for wear. Same couldn't be said for Ryoko though, as though she tried to muster something left… reality set in and she simply fell to the floor, the last of her energy gone.

"Hmm… well, look at that. Score one for our node, took us long enough." Gordeau said as he picked up the prone Ryoko and dropped her into the elimination portal.

Ryoko landed in Cobra Kai. Where she ended up bringing the hurt to Terry Silver when he tried to recruit her.

Gordeau set his scythe down in satisfaction, glad to have been the one to finally score an elimination for Under Night In-Birth. He was about to rest up for a bit until he felt something metal smack the back of his head.

"Heh. See, Joker? I can be stealthy when the time calls!" The voice belonged to Skull, who made a move to swing his pipe into Joker. Gordeau recovered and opted to spin himself into Joker using his momentum.

Joker straightened his glove and leapt over the makeshift spindash, shooting out from his gun in all directions so as to stop Gordeau's rolling. It worked, and it collapsed in a heap as he stopped, allowing Skull to come in and attack. "Captain Kidd! Ziodyne!"

The electric attack shocked Gordeau to his core, but he remained standing, barely. Once the attack was done he made a move by swinging his scythe at Skull, who just jumped over it and foot dived him in the face.

When he fell back, he immediately sensed Joker behind him and swerved to the side out of the way of his attempt to slash him with the dagger. He swung his sharp elongated nails at the Phantom Thief, who in turn managed to dodge right back under him and back him in the stomach.

Right where Skull was waiting for him with his shotgun. The shot went straight into his back and sent him right back into Joker. But he managed to recover again and hearing Skull behind him, ducked under his kick which made him flew right overhead and crash into Joker.

Gordeau chuckled while the two got to their feet. "Looks like someone is trying to make up for their poor track record at these events… too bad it ain't goin' too well, huh?"

Skull rolled his eyes and pulled out his shotgun. "What's it matter to you? Shut up!" The shot rang out, but Gordeau managed to get out of the way easily. That wasn't the intent though, and it allowed Joker to rush him.

The awkward position he was in when he dodged the shot put him at an immediate disadvantage. He had too little time to try and fight back as much of it was spent dodging. But as luck would have it Joker stopped to take a pause, which to Gordeau meant an opening…

"Eiha!" Or not.

The bolt struck Gordeau and with those few seconds immobilized would be just enough for Skull to once again leap over and foot dive right into Gordeau's face. And followed up with a strong slash boosted by Arséne coming out.

Together the two-blow combo was enough to launch Gordeau over the ropes to fall into the elimination portal, making the tally three for the two Phantom Thieves this section.

Gordeau landed in the Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. In spite of things, he ended up getting along well with Grim, cultivating in the two sharing a drink while comparing scythes.

(Hotel; 5th Floor; Sindel's Room)

Lord Raptor strummed his guitar, emitting a shockwave that had little effect on Sindel. She grinded her teeth a bit, but otherwise kept up her fight. Striking at the zombie with her palm.

"Undead fiend! To whom do I pay my attention to for this break-in!?" She asked roughly. But would get clubbed with Raptor's guitar, then pushed back by his morphing into an insect shape and ramming into her.

Chuckling crazily, Raptor morphed his leg into a chainsaw and swept Sindel, or tried to, she leaped back over it while it shredded the large stand next to the wall.

Sindel took to the air, gliding in place before hurling foot first into Raptor's face, then she turned and allowed her hair to strike him a few times. Then kicked him into the wall.

"I will ask again, who decided to place you here in hopes of stealing my means to communicate?"

Lord Raptor grinned and kicked her legs out from under her, and then smashed his guitar into her face, sending her flying into the ceiling then back onto the floor.

"You wanna know so badly, doll? It was your buddy, Shao. He's in league with that there sorcerer Shang Tsung, and boy do they have a plan cooked up for tonight! Heh! Heh!"

The rocker zombie… probably should've taken this moment to finish her off or check to see if she was truly down. Because her hair would grab his leg and fling him back through the door, breaking it off it's hinges.

"General Shao? Shang Tsung? So they are responsible for this time discrepancy?" Sindel inquired. Going over and placing a firm heel to Raptor's neck.

Raptor huffed. "Beats me. All I know is that they are aware of it, and are using it to their advantage. Ain't nothin' wrong with that by the way."

Sindel narrowed her eyes. "Except when it comes with crossing me. And potentially placing my family in danger. Where can I find them?" The ruler of Outworld grinded her heel deeper into his neck.

Raptor snidely gave a toothy grin. "Why don't you try asking them yourself? Or better yet…" He managed to grab his guitar and smash it into his leg. Then morphed his arm into a long spear shape. When he moved it to impale her, she used her hair to wrap around the limb and hurl him into the ground. Unleashing a sonic scream to imprint him into the wall for good measure.

Sindel took a deep breath when he slumped to the floor, unconscious. "Looks like you already have this handled." Came a voice from behind her.

The ruler swiftly turned tail to face the source of the voice, only to find Chizuru Kagura and Tails hastily throwing up their hands. "Woah, woah! Easy. We're not here to fight. We were coming around here and couldn't help but overhear your fight and concersation." Said Tails.

Sindel immediately deduced the obvious. "And you have an opinion? And a quarrel?"

Tails weighed his hands up and down. "More or less, but we have a stake in whatever is going on here. And are looking to put a stop to it! Do you have any other allies?"

The benevolent Empress crossed her arms and began idly walking to the side. "They have gone off to the restaurant to follow up on a lead. I was supposed to be meeting back up with them once I looked through here for a trace of General Shao."

Her eyes met the downed Raptor. "And it looks like I've found it. Now I just need to get the answers I need."

Chizuru held up a hand. "It can wait, Empress. I detect our situation is needed over at the restaurant. A regroup of our forces is sorely needed."

Sindel locked eyes with Chizuru for a moment, then looked back to Raptor. Closing them she pondered her options. "Very well. I have a sneaking suspicion I could kill this one and not get the answers I need. Still, I have faith he will prove useful in other ways."

(The Arena)

Vaan dodged two kicks from B. Jenet, then lunged with his sword, but one kick knocked him off his post and another made him jab his forehead.

The pirate giggled, then moved to ram her leg into his private area. Vaan realized this and held up his knee to block, then held up his sword. "Steel Trinity!"

B. Jenet winced as two of the three slashes Vaan threw danced along her legs. Leaving two cuts traced along them. She shook her leg and the fight resumed, despite the injury she still managed to dance out of the way of Vaan's sword strikes.

"Fire!" Until that happened, Vaan summoning a ball pf fire to pursue her. Luckily she spun her legs and created a small tailwind to deal with it. Then shot forward with her foot at Vaan, who grabbed her, but she counted on this and instead flipped her body the other way. In turn flipping him onto his back.

"Expected more from a main character." B. Jenet said with a teasing grin. Vaan got back up and groaned. "I am a main character, I wouldn't be here if I wasn't. Now would I?"

The purple clad girl shrugged. "Who knows?" She then moved to swing her leg into his head, but he ducked and tapped her with his sword to push her back. Following with another Steel Trinity, only this time she managed to dodge all three slashes.

Wincing at the small sting touching her cut made, she still kept up her strategy of dodging his attacks then punishing when he made too big a commitment with a kick. But both also knew that this slow pace of attacks would last far too long and take up too much energy.

"Dervish!" So Vaan made the first move of trying to end this with a powerful attack. B. Jenet was taken off-guard with the sudden rush, and even more so when he kicked her away.

"Kicking is my thing! Ugh!" She huffed and ran forward, unknowingly charging right into his next attack. "White Whorl!" A swirling vortex of white light that sucked her in and spit her back out. Luckily, she recovered and glided back to her feet.

"How's this for a main character!? Calamitous Orb!" Now he summoned a colored magic orb, but B. Jenet wasn't going to let herself fall into attacks again so easily. Another whirl of her legs and she kicked up another tailwind that spun the orb right back into Vaan. It continuously attacked him over and over until he fell onto his back.

B. Jenet yawned. "Maybe you need to brush up on your fighting, cutie. And your pirate skills. You ain't ready yet." She leaped onto him and spun into his chest drill-like before kicking him away.

"I need more practice!? You're the one who lost to the purple jerboa!" That comment was all she needed to hear. She moved to hit him right between the legs again, but swerved and aimed for his stomach when he tried to dodge again. One more kick and he was sent flying over the ropes.

B. Jenet flicked her hair with a satisfied huff. "Ended really all that cute after all. Amateurs…"

"I still don't know…" Said Big with uncertainty. Currently he was using his fishing rod to catch Hinako off her feet, tripping her up and allowing him to kick her away.

Hinako immediately stood up, not too perturbed by the blow. "But you see? The force of that hit? You're a natural! Please consider it more thoroughly! Oh, and try and use your hands more!"

Big blinked, and turned to Froggy on his shoulder. "What do you think, Froggy?" The frog croaked in response. "Hear her out more? Oh, okay."

Hinako clapped her hands together. "Okay! Let me give you a demonstration of the basic combo in sumo." She then did a few palm strikes and then an elbow uppercut to start, and then turned to Big to do the same. "Now you!"

Big gulped and set Froggy down. He took a deep breath, in and out, and then replicated Hinako's moves as best he could. Finishing with that elbow uppercut. Hinako watched it closely, and when he finished she nodded in approval. "Mark of a true prodigy!"

Froggy croaked, and Big listened in then turned to Hianko. "Froggy makes a good point. Are you sure it's a good idea to do all this in the middle of a fighting tournament?"

Hinako shook her head with a smile. "Don't worry! It's not bothering anyone! And the section is almost over! We have plenty of time to get a few more moves in! Now, follow my lead on this one too!"

The next sequence Hinako demonstrated was a forward palm jab, using both palms, and then doing the same except this time from up above and then finishing with a stomp to the ground.

Froggy croaked again, and Big nodded with a smile in response. "Thanks, Froggy." Taking another deep breath, Big proceeded to once again replicate the moves to his best ability. And another pass and thumbs up from Hinako!

"Good! Now, we are going to demonstrate a technique on a moving opponent; each other! Do as I do onto you, okay!" Hinako beamed, and without actually giving Big a chance to respond she lunged forward in a hunched over position and gave Big a strong palm jab to the gut. Actually managing to knock him over.

"See? Now you try!" Hinako beckoned. Big got up with a huff and narrowed eyes, nodding to Froggy when he croaked again. "Got it, Froggy."

Moving quickly for his size, he lunged forward like Hinako did, catching her and carrying her a ways. Then he delivered a hard palm jab to her own midsection.

What neither had noticed however, was that they were actually rather close to the ropes. And neither would notice until Big's sumo palm jab had enough force put into it to actually knock Hinako right into them. To which she tumbled into the elimination portal afterward.

Big just stood there, dumbfounded to the fact that he had eliminated her by complete accident. He remained that way until Froggy jumped up onto his shoulder. "Oops."

Squall skidded along the canvas, a victim to one of Sheeva's kicks. He grunted then held up his gunblade at the advancing Shokan. "Getting a little ahead of yourself, Your Highness."

Sheeva tilted her head. "How so?" The answer was given in the form of a series of swipes courtesy of the gunblade. All of which were deflected with her shield. Huffing, Sheeva leaped into the air.

Squall immediately locked onto her descending location and rolled out of the way. "Lightning Shot!" Summoning a line of lightning bolts, he let them loose and pulled Sheeva toward him as the bolts struck her during her ride.

Still, the Shokan showed little weakness. Holding up her shield to block another swipe before clubbing Squall with one of her arms. Then doing so again before charging forward with her shield, catching him along the way.

Squall came to fast, sliding out to the side of Sheeva and actually using his gunblade to trip her up while doing so. Sheeva nearly tumbled to the ground but rolled back to her feet.

The SeeD agent went for another slash, but got blocked by her shield. Instead of retreating he kept his gunblade locked with it, starting a power struggle that went on until he had the gunblade pointed at her forehead.

Sheeva grunted under the weight of being pushed against, but wasn't showing too much sign of struggle. "Your weapon is not capable of landing a single…" She didn't get to finish as she was blasted in the face by the gunblade.

Squall grinned as she staggered back. "You were saying? Solid Barrel!" He rushed in again, this time following each slash with a blast from the gunblade. The explosions quickly knocking her back each time.

As a way to recoup and recover, Sheeva leaped into the air again. Squall noted her landing spot to be nowhere near his and quickly prepared another Lightning Shot.

When she did land, she took the sparks of lightning as best she could and instead held up her shield to club Squall in the face. Followed by upper cutting him with two of her arms.

Before he could fly too far away she grabbed him, threw him up and then sprung upward to him to drive him headfirst into the canvas. As he struggled to get up she leaped up a smaller distance, but still had enough force behind it to do significant damage once she landed on his back.

Knowing what she was gonna do, Squall just barely managed to roll out of the way. He shot another blow to her chest with his gunblade to give him time to get to his feet.

"Savage Claw!" A devastating series of slashes from the gunblade followed this, and to make sure he got his hits in he pulled the trigger to leave the shield as a non-factor.

"Sorry, Your Highness. But the show ends here. Fated Circle!" Squall spun around a few times, hitting Sheeva once or twice as well in the process. Then fired an extra explosive blast from his gunblade. The added firepower was enough to send Sheeva on her way to colliding with the forcefield. She then peeled off and fell into the elimination portal.

Aerith and Yuel clashed their respective weapons. The two kept at this until they pushed off each other. Though Aerith had an extra heave to her breaths. Something Yuel picked up on and smiled slyly at.

"Sounds like you're running on fumes. You've done well enough, nobody would say anything if you were to…?" Yuel started, but Aerith immediately held her hand up in protest. "No, not laying down until I have nothing left."

Yuel huffed and crossed her arms in faux disappointment. Didn't last though, a smile soon came back through. "Oh well! Alright then!" Her next move took Aerith by surprise, a sudden poke from both her twin swords in different places.

Aerith took both aggressive pokes and stepped back, Yuel honed in on this and swung her swords in opposite directions from side to side. Then from up and down when Aerith blocked the first two, this time it managed to knock her staff out of her hands.

Gasping at her lack of a weapon, Aerith slid forward on her stomach to avoid a twirling slash from Yuel. Managing to grab her weapon back and block Yuel's swords again.

The flower girl pushed her back and got back up to her feet. But Yuel slammed her fist and hilt of one of her swords into her chest. Then did another parallel sword swipe, followed by an upward twirling slash.

Aerith fell onto her back and once again struggled to get back up. Fatigue definitely really starting to get to her now. Yuel saw this and couldn't help but feel bad. "You sure you don't wanna bow out and get some first-aid?"

The response she got was a slight glare upon getting up. "I'm sure." Aerith then swung her staff down onto Yuel's head. Firing a magic projectile from it now that she was distracted.

Yuel ate it up and feel backward on her back. Rolling to her feet to avoid Aerith bringing her staff down on her again. Then sending her own feet into Aerith's face before swinging her swords and sending her away again.

Aerith got up and ran forward at Yuel, who just giggled and swung her tail into Aerith. The flower girl was surprised by the sudden revelation that Yuel had a tail to stop it from grabbing her and tossing her away.

"Surprised? Hehe! Most people are the first time, and no, it has never failed." Now it was Yuel's turn to run forward, but taking a route from above and jumping at Aerith once close. The flower girl barely had enough time to hold her staff up when Yuel's swords collided with it.

Aerith initially buckled under the weight, but managed to keep up the struggle. But it wouldn't last as her energy, or lack thereof, made itself known as she was pushed down onto her knees.

"Hey. Least you can say you gave it all you had now, right? Chin up! You did great!" Yuel reassured with a smile, then slinked back before jabbing her swords forward.

"Seal Evil!"

Only to be suddenly stopped in her tracks by Aerith's spell. She wouldn't even have the time to register it afterward as Aerith held her staff up again.

"Holy!"

Another large light explosion engulfed Yuel just as she became mobile again. But it would do her no good once it sent her over the ropes and down into the portal.

Aerith panted as she watched her eighth elimination fly away. She smiled to herself and fell to the floor on her back, taking this time to rest. "I can't keep getting away with this." She stood back up and did a head count, noting in her head how only one more elimination was needed before falling back onto the canvas.

Willow flew around on her palisman, Clover, as a way of distracting Ororo. While Edric suddenly grabbed at her from behind with his rope. "Now, Willow! Tie her up!"

Ororo shook her head with a smirk and conjured a whirlwind beneath her to spin herself out of the rope and use the momentum to leave Edric himself tied up in it. "You grossly underestimate my mastery over the elements of nature."

"And so do you, with me!" Came Willow's voice. Who emerged atop a plant right up from under Ororo. "Take this!" Willow would ensnare Ororo in vines that slowly would form a round construct of plant matter that fell to the ground.

"Wow! That was easy!" Cheered Edric as he hopped over to where the ball of vines landed, and turned to Willow. "Now please untie me!"

Just as Willow moved to do that, a portion of vines atop the ball would freeze over. Soon after bursting open along with a flurry of icicles. Ororo followed out, still a narrowed look on her eyes.

"Lightning Attack!"

Both Willow and Edric made a move to turn back and run, but Ororo cut that short by increasing the air pressure in their ears. Doing so caused both great pain, so much so that Willow fell to her knees clutching her ears, Edric having no such luxury due to still being tied up. A lightning bolt would soon catch up with, and hit both of them.

Ororo began spreading her hands apart, ready to unleash another attack on the two witches. That was until Clover the palisman rammed into her and knocked her down.

Willow cheered as her palisman came to their rescue. She even decided to cut through Edric's rope to free him. The two witches got back up to regroup when a fog would encompass the area around them.

"Nice! Time to make use of my potions again!" Edric got out a purple one and smashed it on the canvas, a purple pillar of flame soon erupted from where it lay. Blowing a small portion of the fog away.

"Great idea!" Willow said to Edric as she got back onto Clover to cover the area above, summoning a flower with her magic from the canvas that began spinning it's petals like a fan to blow away the fog. "It's working! We're so back in…"

"Hail!"

A large chunk of hail would then impale itself into the flower Willow summoned. It then died upon impact. The two witches looked up to see Ororo hovering over them. "Not bad, you two. I'd actually like to see more. However…"

Ororo would then summon a small whirlwind around Edric, the green-haired witch struggled to get out of it. But he would have no such luck.

"I see more potential with the girl. Besides, you've had your fun." With that comment, Storm sent the whirlwind swirling over the ropes where it slowly died out leaving Edric to fall helplessly into the portal. Willow and Clover would attempt to rescue him, but a brief redirection from Storm would delay them enough that he fell in with no interference.

Edric landed in Wacky Races. Where he and Dick Dastardly actually got along and found common ground in concocting schemes of sabotage. He was saddened when his ten minutes were over.

Back in the ring, Willow eyed Ororo with a glare. Before she could do more, however, her glare turned to confusion when she saw Ororo head off to a turnbuckle to meditate. "The section is over. I'd use this time wisely."

Meanwhile Aerith was still resting on the ground, Joker and Skull were off to the side discussing the plan for the next section, Squall was inspecting his gunblade for any scratches, Big was happily off to the side humming a tune to himself, Etrigan and Min Min were still sparring, Omega was buffing out more dents from his last fight with Oro, the Masked Ruby was posing for the crowd, and finally B. Jenet was twirling a finger through her hair humming.

With nothing else better to do now that the section was over. Willow saw it best to summon some plants and tend to them for the moment.

(Results; 20 votes on the Arena Fight and Side Battles)

AERITH GAINSBOROUGH (D:FF) (17:6) = 11 (Ashani, Yuel)

STORM (MN:ROTI) (15:6) = 9 (Storm the Albatross, Edric Blight)

JOKER (SSB) (14:6) = 8 (Dolores, Gordeau the Harvester)

SQUALL LEONHART (D:FF) (14:6) = 8 (Sheeva)

WILLOW PARK (TOH) (14:6) = 8 (Nagi)

BIG THE CAT (StH) (14:6) = 8 (Hinako Shijo)

SKULL (P5) (14:7) = 7 (Meitenkun)

ETRIGAN THE DEMON (JLD) (13:7) = 6 (Claudio Serafino)

E-123 OMEGA (StH) (13:8) = 5 (Oro)

MIN MIN (SSB) (12:8) = 4 (Ninon Beart)

MASKED RUBY (SC) (12:8) = 4 (Teruko Tawaki)

B. JENET (KOFXV) (12:9) = 3 (Vaan)

(ELIMINATED)

MEITENKUN (KOFXV) (11:9) = 2 (Fang the Sniper)

RYOKO (WH) (11:10) = 1 (Abigail)

GORDEAU THE HARVESTER (UNI-B) (10:10) = 0 (Ryoko)

EDRIC BLIGHT (TOH) (11:11) = 0

HINAKO SHIJO (KOFXV) (10:11) = -1

FANG THE SNIPER (StH) (10:12) = -2

SHEEVA (MK) (8:12) = -4

NINON BEART (KOF:MI) (8:12) = -4

ASHANI (RR) (8:12) = -4

VAAN (D:FF) (8:12) = -4

CLAUDIO SERAFINO (T8) (7:13) = -6

TERUKO TAWAKI (D:DT) (8:14) = -6

YUEL (GF:V) (6:14) = -8

ORO (SFV-VI) (6:14) = -8

DOLORES (KOFXV) (4:16) = -12

NAGI (BR) (4:16) = -12

ABIGAIL (SFV-VI) (3:17) = -14

STORM THE ALBATROSS (StH) (3:17) = -14

Restaurant Scuffle

VYSE (SoA), SOREN (TDP), LUNA LOVEGOOD (HP), STEVE HARRINGTON (ST), OERBA DIA VANILLE (FFXIII), HEATHCLIFF (LC) DERWIN AND AMBER (TOH) disassemble ZANT, WIZZRO (HW) DARRIUS, CASSIE CAGE (MK) MIGHTY THE ARMADILLO (StH), TERRA SNAPDRAGON, ADRIAN GRAYE VERNWORTH, AND VITIMIR (TOH)

11 to 9

Breaking and Entering

SINDEL (MK) pulverizes LORD RAPTOR (DS)

15 to 5

A Few New Firsts: This section proved a good one for a few nodes. With three in particular getting their first elimination, even if barely for one.

Missing Votes: If you're wondering why there is less votes seemingly counted towards the final result than one would assume at a glance. Well, with the fear of cheating, and a possible migration of them over to , I decided to look over each one carefully to see if they counted. A few I decided not to.

Chapter Text

(Second Chance Arena)

Immediately upon the word being given to begin, the small arena jerked to one side. The sudden motion took a few off-guard but they recovered quickly.

Who didn't however? Ironically, Oro. But not how you might think, he stayed perfectly upright despite the motion. But Sheeva immediately noticed this and tackled him then delivered a high kick to push him further back.

Cue the dodgeballs! Despite being informed beforehand they would appear, they still managed to catch a few by surprise and give them a few pelts to the head or shin once they bounced into them.

Like before, Sheeva immediately braced herself for them and managed to catch two straight away with her lower arms. Her earlier attacks also threw Oro off his game further, his perfect level quickly shattered thanks to the unpredictability of the Arena.

And it would be ended entirely once Sheeva pelted him off the platform with two clear shots to the head and chest, ending his chance at redemption as soon as it even started. One of the four rings shot out to grab her and hold her on that side of the wall until the next round.

One elimination and spot in the next round filled! Three more to go! Another round of dodgeballs came out, and with it came a lot of trouble and tiptoeing to avoid stepping on one and slipping.

Ashani smirked at seeing a cluster of balls all grouped at her feet. With a charged kick she swept a good number up into the air, before charging up her punches and rapid jabbing a bunch of them into her opponents. Who each couldn't react in time to avoid getting hit. The sudden jerking of the platform to a different direction didn't help matters.

What also didn't help Ashani herself was her missing a spot check in Yuel, who danced around the dodgeballs on the ground before picking one up with her tail and hitting her square in the face.

"Hey!" Ashani cried as she slipped and fell onto her rear.

Yuel shrugged, smirking. "All's fair, and besides. We both need the second chance, and the eliminations."

Ashani huffed. "You have a point there." And then she charged her fist and lunged forward, Yuel ducked under the blow and flipped her over with help from her tail. However, Ashani would catch herself and attempt to knee Yuel in the stomach.

Yuel would let go and swing back before taking the blunt ends of her sword handles and jabbing them into Ashani's face. Ashani fell over again, and timing would be her undoing as the arena jerked to another side, right where she would lose her balance and fall onto a pile of balls which carried her over and out from the arena. Sealing her second chance prospects and elevating Yuel's. A ring would grab her and hold her until the next round.

Half the spots filled, and now only half of the field remained on the arena itself.

Dolores sank into her pit of holy soil, avoiding Vaan rushing in and attempting to swipe at her. Not that it got better for Vaan, as he wound up eating a stray ball from Claudio, who had just dodged a ball thrown by Ninon by punching it away.

Naturally, Vaan didn't take kindly to this. "Fire!" And so he cast a fireball that flew through the air, igniting and taking balls with it. But his efforts ended up being in vain, as a sudden jerk of the platform saved both Claudio and Ninon, falling to their knees to just avoid it.

Behind Vaan, outside of his view, mud would form and begin dragging the balls toward it…

Now it was Ninon's turn, picking up a bunch of balls in her arms she would throw them all up and… "Michael on my right!"

Would magically blast a bunch of balls in Vaan's direction. Vaan would simply yawn in response. "Red Spiral!"

And now it had become pure chaos, the attack instead launching balls every which way. Both Claudio and Ninon opted to try and block or dodge them as best they can. But both would wind up pelted good by at least one or two.

As for Vaan himself, he'd easily cleave through any balls which came his way. And it looks like his plan worked! He had easy pickings on who to take out now, and from what he saw seemed like the mage was the right choice in this…

WHAM!

Oh yeah, the mud from before? That was Dolores gathering as much dodgeballs as she could before hurling them forward, all of which Vaan had amazingly managed to not notice at all. At least until he had taken that all-out barrage to the back, which was more than enough to pitch him clear off the arena. Dolores would give a small smile before the ring would grab her, spot in the next round secured.

And then there were two, with just one spot remaining. Not to mention the two left had a bit of history, what with their interactions in the main arena itself.

"We both have the same goal, in a way. To get back into the ring and help our ally." Claudio noted.

Ninon nodded, holding a finger to her chin. "Good observation. Suffice to say that whom wins this fight will win the second chance, one can safely assume?"

Claudio rolled his eyes. "Let us not go too far ahead of ourselves." And that was cue to get back into action, with another round of balls coming he aimed to punch a few back at Ninon.

Ninon scoffed. "Idiot. Uriel on my left!" The mage summoned a small tornado around her, deflecting the balls and sending them into the wall.

"What hope did you hope to have with th-.." She started, but was soon cut off once she noticed Claudio reeling a massive arrow of light back.

"Arrivederci!"

"La Olam Amen!"

The massive arrow of light pierced through the air, picking up every ball on the ground of the platform that was in its path and hurling them off said platform before making a home in the wall.

Claudio gasped once he saw that he hasn't hit his

mark, and he wouldn't have time to turn around to deflect whatever attack he had coming his way. He only got to turn his head to see Ninon with a giant ball of electricity at her fingertips before she shot it forward and it engulfed him. The blast launching him off the arena.

No need for a ring here. But they would afford the rest of the semi-finalists the opportunity to take their place back on the arena. And just in time! Because Roxas' face would flash back on the monitor above.

"Congratulations! You've made it to the second round! I acknowledge and applaud your efforts! Now, as a reward, the arena will become a lot more straightforward compared to the beginning. No more dodgeballs! Though the arena will still be jerked around at random intervals, and any dodgeballs that remain are still eligible to be used. Good luck! And only two advance from this stage to the finals!"

As soon as the round was considered begun, the arena jerked to one side. Unlike last time, all four remaining fighters managed to keep their balance.

Sheeva would try again to go for a quick elimination, barrelling toward Yuel. Who simply giggled in response before she swerved to the side, picking up what dodgeballs remained and hurled them at the Shokan.

Now was the most opportune time to use her shield, which she would. Holding it to block any balls from the front that Yuel threw at her. All the while continuing to run toward the girl.

A click of the tongue came from Yuel, who picked up another ball and leapt at Sheeva, vaulting herself over the Shokan's head by using the shield as a stepping stone. And giving her the chance to pelt her in the head with the ball.

The Shokan warrior growled and instead opted to leap high into the air, slamming down right in the center of the arena and causing it to shake quite a bit, throwing all remaining fighters for a loop.

Except for Yuel. Who recognized what would happen and jumped into the air herself. Allowing her to bypass the shake of the arena, and bop Sheeva on the head again.

"Bullseye!" Yuel cheered.

Sheeva was about to retaliate, or at least try to, when she'd feel a wet substance surround her feet and begin climbing up her legs.

Behind her, Dolores had used her mud to entrap Sheeva. Her plan worked, she then hurled her clear out of the arena…

Or, she would've. If Yuel hadn't managed to put herself in the line of fire, timing her aim just right to grab Sheeva out of the path she was on, and throw her right back onto it. Effectively taking Dolores' elimination for herself.

"Sorry! But I want back to the ring!" Yuel said, her tone unapologetic despite her words. The ring shot out and kept her to the wall, her place in the finals secure.

Dolores blinked once she realized her elimination was stolen. And the realization slowly sunk in once her eyes caught Ninon to her side, a large ball of electricity on her fingertips.

Unlike with Claudio, Dolores caught it in time to sink into her puddle of mud. The attack passing over where she was harmlessly.

Ninon narrowed her eyes at her miss, on high alert as to where Dolores could be. She'd get caught off-guard still when she got struck from behind by a pillar of mud.

The timing would be right again, the arena jerking to a side where Ninon stumbled to and almost costing her the chance at redemption. Luckily, she would recover in time to teleport to safety.

Not wasting time, Dolores used her mud to pick up whatever balls were still left on the arena and hurl them every which way. Hoping to get Ninon once she reappeared and knock her off or at least stagger her.

"Uriel on my left!"

But Ninon would simply take her strategy and fling it right back in her face. Literally. Another tornado appeared before Ninon and caught every single ball left, and would launch most of them right back to Dolores. The sudden reversal being too quick for her to try and reverse it right back, she ate a good number of balls to various parts of her body. The last one succeeding in knocking her off the arena, too stunned to try and make it back in.

For the second time, Ninon would be the last to advance. Not that it mattered since every round each remaining competitor had a clean slate. The ring would dispense Yuel back onto the arena as the monitor would have Roxas' face appear on it again.

"Congrats to the two of you! Welcome to the final round! This is just an all out fight! No dodgeballs, and no jerking arena! Simple game of knock the other off! Winner comes back, good luck!"

Both girls looked at each other, each one standing on one side of the arena.

"No hard feelings, but I can't keep Etrigan waiting." Was all Ninon had to offer before she thrust her palm forward at Yuel.

Yuel herself would catch Ninon's palm and attempt to flip her over her head. But Ninon quickly pulled herself free and swirled water magic around her and Yuel.

"Raphael before me!"

The attack sent Yuel to the edge of the arena, but she managed to get back up and, getting out her swords, went straight back after Ninon.

"I ain't letting you take this one so easily! My node needs this more!"

Ninon tilted her head. "But didn't you just score two eliminations in this mini-tournament?"

Yuel groaned. "Not the point!" It was then that the Erune girl would try swinging her swords at Ninon. Who managed to dodge every single one, then strike with a few kicks of her own.

But the Erune proved just as elusive, weaving just out of reach before using her tail to grab Ninon's leg and pull it out from under her. Ninon fell forward and right into an uppercut from Yuel with her sword.

Ninon rolled toward the edge of the arena herself, but managed to recover and roll out of the way of an attempt from Yuel to slash her off.

The mage and younger sister of Mignon would unleash a stream of fire in Yuel's direction. But the Erune simply vaulted herself right over it, and right toward Ninon…

"Uriel on my left!'

And then right into a small tornado that picked her up and tossed her toward the edge again. Unlike Ninon, she'd growl in pain as she tried to get back up, not nearly as quick in doing so as the mage was.

Ninon smirked darkly. "This is over." And that simple fact would be her undoing, one more ball of electricity later and Yuel would find herself zapped and hurled past the edges and out of the arena. Ending her claim to a second chance.

A stream of confetti would burst out from the dispensers that previously held dodgeballs as triumphant music echoed through the arena.

"And there we have it folks; our first winner of the Second Chance mini-tournament! Ninon Beart!" Cheered Roxas as he applauded audibly on the monitor.

Ninon simply smiled to herself. "Was there ever any doubt?"

NINON BEART (KOF:MI) (10:5) = 5 (Claudio Serafino, Dolores, Yuel)

(ELIMINATED)

YUEL (GF:V) (10:5) = 5 (Ashani, Sheeva)

SHEEVA (MK) (9:6) = 3 (Oro)

DOLORES (KOFXV) (8:7) = 1 (Vaan)

ASHANI (RR) (7:8) = -1

VAAN (D:FF) (7:8) = -1

CLAUDIO SERAFINO (T8) (5:10) = -5

ORO (SFV-VI) (4:11) = -7

So, about ties: Same rules apply as in the main tournament. Whoever comes out later gets the higher placement, and since Ninon came out after Yuel, that makes her the winner.

Chapter Text

(The Arena)

Another section had passed, and though the few minutes more of respite that came with the Second Chance twist was appreciated. It still was very much not nearly enough to sate fatigue.

Not that it mattered much, since the tournament stopped for nothing! With another flourish of light onto the curtain, all present took deep breaths as the next section commenced!

"SONYA BLADE!" (MK)

A strong start, for sure. The Special Forces general took the moment to give a quick salute to the crowd before marching down the ramp. While she looked stoic as usual, in her mind was a different story.

"Cassie hasn't responded to any of my attempts to communicate. And Johnny's been replaced with a counterpart that hasn't met me. What a night it's been, and I know for a fact it's only just getting started."

A sigh came from the general once she reached the end of the ramp and climbed through the ropes. "Nothing can be done now, let's just get this part of the night over with…"

And upon eyeing Min Min trying to take on Etrigan all by herself, she knew immediately she had her pin cushion to take aggression out on. Steadying her gun, she soon let loose a barrage of bullets.

This served as enough of a diversion to allow Min Min to clock him in the face with electricity. Sonya herself would take this chance to get a running start to a dropkick to the demon's face.

As Etrigan groaned and fell to the side, Min Min took to Sonya's own side. "Thanks."

Sonya motioned back to Etrigan. "Don't thank me yet, save it for when we get this one outta here."

And judging by the seething look on the demon's face? Yeah, that'd be a challenge for sure, even with Claudio's arrow taking a hefty lot out of him.

"LOWAIN!" (GB:V)

Humming a little tune to himself, the free-spirited Erune emerged onto the entrance ramp flanked by both his brothers Elsam and Tomoi.

Lowain couldn't help but grin upon hearing the rabid fangirls cheering for them. Placing his hands behind his back he turned to his brothers. "All for making the most of this chance, right?" He asked, smirking when he got smiles in return.

"Awesome! Alright, Brofams Forever?"

"Brofams Forever!" Elsam and Tomoi said in unison. The three would put their hands together and raise them up in a cheer. Then they would head down the ramp, Lowain at the front, though he would stop to allow his brothers to make his climbing through the ropes easier.

"Eeny, Meeny, Miney… her." Lowain said, pointing his dagger at Aerith, to which there were no objections. So they moved to approach the flower girl.

Aerith would notice them coming, not that it was hard not to what with being a group of three. Still, she took a deep breath and forced a smile. "Three against one is hardly fair, don't you think?"

The three shared glances then collectively shrugged. "Someone with your resume so far? Maybe not. Made quite a name and a splash, but all good things must come to an end. And you're crazy if you think you can win from the literal first position. I like that in a girl." Lowain said with a wink, while his brothers smirked.

Aerith could only groan at that.

"KIMBERLY!" (SFV-VI)

As soon as the name was announced. A spray can flew onto the ramp, sparks flying from the fuse as it ticked down until poof! An explosion of colorful spray paint filled the air, the mist forming into an expression titled 'All About Tha (Boom!)"

Not a second later a figure dashed out of the smoke, sprinting and jumping down the ramp before flipping into the ring with a little flourish. Joker would stare away from the display, muttering under his breath.

Sensing someone approaching her, the young Bushinryu student shook a can of paint in her hand and swung it in the direction of her would-be attacker; B. Jenet.

The blonde pirate would swing out of the way of the spray can's fumes, then swung her leg up to kick Kimberly in the head. Kimberly in turn would duck and swerve under B. Jenet's leg and kick her back in the stomach.

Shrugging it off, B. Jenet dusted off her dress and stood back up. "So Guy hasn't lost his touch, I suppose. Least I can say you have better taste than him, in fashion."

Kimberly's face turned contemplative, tilting her head to the side and staring up at the sky. "Hmm… wondering what I am going to do with you. Just a note? None of my options are good. For you, that is."

B. Jenet shrugged uncaringly. "I like those odds."

"HUITZIL!" (DS)

The gold robot emerged to a decisive response. It didn't care of course, simply ignoring all those around it to scan the ring. In spite of not detecting any fellow Darkstalkers, it did seem to recognize one threat.

And who was that? None other than the other robot in the ring; Omega. And to his credit, Omega immediately noticed it and recognized it as a potential threat as well. "Another robot. Perhaps this one will prove a worthy challenge."

Huitzil would make the first move upon entering the ring, morphing it's body into a launcher stance and firing a pair of rockets at Omega. In response Omega launched missiles at it in return.

The projectiles naturally crossed each other out upon contact. But Omega would seize the chance to lift himself up and attack from above, unleashing a storm of bullets at Huitzil.

The gold ancient robot's reply was to counter and cause a stalemate between the two with a barrage of bullets from his own vulcan gun.

What Omega didn't expect next was for Huitzil to turn it's lower half into a sphere shape that seemed to allow it to float as well. And the sudden air dash and blast of plasma would also catch him off-guard. Falling to the ground in a frozen heap.

Breaking himself free, Omega would stand back up and bring his missile launcher out again. "Potential? Certainly. Chance for victory? Absolutely not."

"YOSHI!" (SSB)

"Yoshi!" Cheered the lovable green dinosaur as he danced at the top of the entrance ramp. With another cheer and joyful laugh he'd wave to the crowd while prancing along to the ring.

Flutter jumping over the ropes, Yoshi danced in place while looking around for an opponent. His eyes trailed over everything for a moment until he noticed Aerith stunning the Lowain bros. in place with Seal Evil.

Seemed as good a place to start as any, so there Yoshi went! Just before the spell let the three move again, Lowain would be engulfed by Yoshi using his tongue and subsequently turned into an egg.

No more than a few seconds later, Lowain would burst out of the egg. His look didn't seem traumatized, just surprised.

"Dude…"

"Dude…" Elsam and Tomoi said with Lowain, in unison of course.

Lowain then stood up. "Is this gonna affect the story's rating? Like, this dinosaur just reenacted the birth of Venus, or something!"

"No kidding!" Elsam exclaimed, agreeing with his brother. "Roxas will probably have to put a birth tag or something for AO3 readers!"

Tomoi nodded. "And increased the rating for those on Fanfiction!"

Lowain shook his head. "Man. Who would've thought it'd be the cute, prideful dinosaur that'd bump this story's rating up…"

While all three brothers would look at Yoshi, the dinosaur would just blink and turn to Aerith. "Yoshi?"

Aerith would stay silent for a few moments, and then shake her own head. "Me neither. I don't know what the heck these three are talking about."

"And now, Mystery… Fighter… Number… NINE!"

"HOKUTOMARU!" (Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves)

Bursting onto the top of the entrance ramp was the now older disciple of Andy Bogard; Hokutomaru. Perhaps a bit too excited though, as he narrowly avoided falling over multiple times in his landing.

Sure didn't deter his excitement though, as evidenced by his bouncy and shiny happy disposition. "Heck yeah! A new game with myself in it! Which means I get a chance to show how far I've come as a student of Master Andy! And hopefully Big Sis Mai is watching too!"

Unable to contain himself anymore he bolted down the steps and once at a good distance, would leap and glide into the ring. Once again nearly losing his balance but managing to recover.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself a tad, Hokutomaru would survey the scene for any potential opponents. A lot of interesting choices, perhaps he'd be best to go against someone who bore a similar style to…

"ANDY BOGARD!" (KOFXV)

Talk about coincidences, huh?

Hokutomaru's eyes would nearly bug out upon hearing the next name called. His blood pumping in excitement again, he watched with anticipation to make sure he hadn't heard wrong.

And indeed, he did not. Emerging from the entrance curtain was the younger Bogard brother Andy, and Hokutomaru's master. Who seemed just as surprised as the boy under his tutelage that they ended up right next to each other.

"This couldn't have been incredible luck…" Andy mused, he was still suspicious, but put it aside for now once he saw his student's excitement.

"Master Andy!" Hokutomaru exclaimed. "I can't believe it! Our draws right next to each other! Who could've guessed. Hey, let's take advantage of this fortune and have a little training session!"

Andy smiled at the boy and crosses his arms. "You are up for one? Now?"

Hokutomaru grinned. "Always!"

"Well, while I have reason to believe this was deliberate. I can't pass up a chance to hone your skills, show me how much you've learned since our last session!"

(Hotel; Lobby)

"Far too many people for my own power to keep track of. So many racing minds or thoughts. If we could narrow it down a little…" Chizuru said, observing the many different patrons.

"Well, that's why we have this!" Tails said cheerfully, holding up what seemed to be a device meant to track sounds from far away. "Someone here has to be having some off-conversation about Shang Tsung's plot. A little mention of his name and we'll have a lead!"

Chizuru looked at him with apprehension. "I know. But… it feels like such a long shot to hope for such a breakthrough."

Tails sighed. "I know. But with Shang Tsung making off with his target without any trail to follow, we're kind of desperate now, yes. But something is better than nothing."

The white-clad woman would nod and simply look around. "Then so be it, let us see if we may unearth a clue of sorts here."

Tails smiled at turned the device on. His eyes narrowed as he listened in closely to every word he could hear and pick up from the device. A minute went by and he still looked as concentrated as ever.

A lot of conversations went by both of them. Mostly about room costs, hang-out plannings, the restaurant being closed, deja-vu at the feeling this has happened before, where those from the Owl House node suddenly came from, Roxas' potential loneliness, y'know? The usual.

They were about to give up trying here and go somewhere else to try, but then…"

"So, that sorcerer guy. What was his name?" A gruff voice would ask.

"Shang Tsung. A man shrouded in the musk of deceit and mistrust." Another, more stoic voice said.

Tails eyes lit up. "I got something!"

Chizuru would nod. "Yes! I can hear it too. Quick! Put it back."

"Yeah… said he… offer we couldn't refuse… go for it." Was what the device managed to pick up, but a lot of interference suddenly came on and caused the sound returning to become staticky.

"Oh, no! I can't quite here it good! But it was coming from over there!" He said and the two would up turning to see two men walking into the hallways. One wearing a dapper black suit with a hat on his head, and the other with long black hair and looking to have been wearing a rather traditional kimono.

"We have no choice! We can't let them get away!" Tails would then grab Chizuru's hand and begin leading them after the two.

In her mind, Chizuru couldn't help but feel like something was amiss. Especially after she managed to get a brief read on the two men. But nothing could be done now, at least until she could get am accurate read on them.

(The Arena)

"AEGISLASH!" (PKMN)

Floating into view was the Steel/Ghost type Pokémon Aegislash. In spite of whatever notions were thought of it in the Pokémon world, it was actually afforded a fair number of cheers from the crowd.

Given it's design and lack of proper expression it was impossible to tell how it felt about this. Oh, well. It didn't really matter in the end anyway. Changing from its Shield to its Blade form, it hovered ominously down to the ring.

Squall was currently inspecting his gunblade for any damage when he would feel a presence around him. Put on guard he looked around him to try and pinpoint where the eyes he felt on him were coming from.

He wouldn't get his answer until he suddenly felt something sneak up behind him. Acting fast he jumped to one side as a shadow hovered above where he stood before falling into the ground.

Squall would look at where it had come from with suspicion. That was one thing, but he could still feel he was being watched closely. He'd finally put an end to this mystery when he swung his sword at the same time he noticed something else swinging in the corner of his eye.

Deflecting the blow, Squall swerved out of the way and studied his attacker, Aegislash. At being spotted it would change its stance back into its Shield form.

Squall huffed and wiped some sweat from under his nose. "Nice try. But I am not easily surprised. You got any more tricks up your sleeve?"

Aegislash's only retort was to change its form again.

"SYZOTH!" (MK)

Coming out in his natural form, Syzoth couldn't help but smile at the cheers. Getting accepted by the Forces of Light was nice, but to be beloved by the broader range of fans? Doubly so.

Morphing back into his familiar human shape he'd give one last smile to the crowd before descending the ramp. Picking up speed before stopping right as he reached the ropes, once he did he activated his camouflage. Disappearing to enter the arena undetected to more cheers.

Both Joker and Skull were off to the side of the ring, waiting until someone came along to challenge them. Joker kept a close look on whoever was entering, and his mind quickly got to work trying to detect the latest entry Syzoth.

Skull on the other hand? Was more in his own mind at the moment. Simply twirling his pipe in his hands as he seemed to have… something on his mind, judging by his pleased smile.

His daydreaming would get cut off abruptly though, as he quickly felt something slug him across the face. Followed by another blow to his side which made him fall at Joker's feet.

Unable to hold his chuckle in anymore, Syzoth came out of his cloak and shook his head at Skull. "Be more wary of your surroundings, friend."

Skull huffed. "You for real!? This was all just a wack learning moment? Hmph, could've used a memo."

Once both Joker and Skull were back up, they brandished their weapons at Syzoth. Who kept his confident smirk before vanishing again.

Joker looked to Skull. "Best put that lesson to heart immediately."

Skull just sighed. "You don't have to tell me twice."

"LILITH CLAWTHORNE!" (TOH)

Taking a deep breath to straighten her hair out, the older Clawthorne sister stepped out to moderate cheers from the crowd. Despite the mildly positive reception, her eyes wandered to her back. Which lacked a certain little portahouse with a familiar bird demon hanging on it.

Lilith sighed. "Hootsifer wanted his own spot in the tournament. To make it fair for the others, his words, always so confident that one…"

She shook her head with a more admirable sigh. Hooty, somehow that bird…tube… thing had managed to worm his way into her heart. Just like Edalyn said he would…

A clearing of the throat from the speaker would alert Lilith that she had to make her way to the ring now. Snapping out of her daze she walked briskly down the ramp and entered the ring with no complaints.

The older Clawthorne quickly took note of Willow trying to grab Storm with her plants, only for the mutant to shock her by making them a conduit.

Gasping, Lilith took a deep breath and focused. Within seconds she had transformed into her newly acquired Harpy form and lunged forward at Storm.

"Ice Storm!"

Only to quickly be put on the defensive by the raining icicles aimed at her. Opting to just protect Willow from this, she flew up next to her and covered her with her wings. Taking the brunt of the icicles for the girl.

Lilith steadied the witch once the ice barrage stopped. "You alright?"

Willow nodded and quickly got back up to face Storm. "I really shouldn't be here if that was too much for me. I'm fine, no worries."

Storm looked at the two with admiration. "Resilient, you are. You lose an ally, and another one quickly comes to take their place. However, this time I see potential in both of you. Would you care to continue?"

Lilith and Willow both nodded. "You have to ask?"

"VILLAGER!" (SSB)

Giving a cheery wave and dance at the top of the entrance ramp was the all too familiar Villager from Animal Crossing. He didn't appear to be in any kind of hurry to get in, stopping once or twice to give a high five to a cheering fan.

Eventually he would get to the bottom of the ramp and pull out a lloid to ride over the ropes. Once in he hopped off and quickly walked over to where Big was sitting.

Big hummed to himself as he sat on a turnbuckle, having elected to take an extended relaxation period. Froggy was beside him hopping away on the ground.

Cue the Villager's entrance, which would get Big to open his eyes and sit up to greet the new arrival. Seeing it as his cue to get back into the tournament.

"Hello there! Were you looking for a fight? Or…"

He wouldn't get a chance to name another option before the Villager patted Froggy on the head and promptly pocketed him.

Big gasped and frowned at this. "Hey! It's not nice to just take other people's friends without asking! You have to give him back, or else I'll have to use that Sumo that the nice lady taught me to take him back."

The Villager just smiled and got out another lloid to ride away on. Big, as expected, gave chase.

"And now, Mystery… Fighter… Number… TEN!"

"ARSÈNE LUPIN III!" (Lupin the Third)

With the classic theme of Part 2 to the extended Lupin series playing, the world-class gentleman thief would let out a cheer of notoriety as he hopped on out to the ramp.

(So they say, 'Dance for me, dance for me, dance for me-oh!')

And that was when things might've hit a snag for Lupin. His eyes immediately taking note of the change in music. "What the hell?"

('I've never seen anybody do the things you do before!')

(They say 'Move for me, move for me, move for me-ay!')

('And when you're done, I'll make you do it all again!')

Lupin scanned the sound booth to see if he could spot the perpetrator behind this. Having known for a fact he didn't pick this as this theme!

And sure enough he would see it clear as day, in the Sound Booth room was his longtime pursuer and Interpol nemesis; the trench coat adorned Inspector Zenigata!

The Interpol officer simply tipped his hat to Lupin before disappearing from view. It was too late at this point to change anything, so Lupin decided to try and salvage it as best he can. Smirking and leaping into the ring with as much finesse and style as he could.

"Well, at least it can't get any worse…"

"KIM SUE IL!" (KE)

"LUPIN!"

And… he spoke too soon.

Normally the Korean detective would have a much more calm and collected disposition at one of these things. But this time around he had a look of sternness and determination as he barreled down the ramp and into the ring.

Almost immediately he went for Lupin, swinging his staff at the thief multiple times, with the monkey-faced felon able to swiftly dodge and dance past all of them.

"Whoa! Hey, hey! What's the big idea!? I didn't break any law here, and in front of you!" Lupin said as he dodged blows.

Kim would stop reluctantly, pulling his staff back and stuffing his hand into his pocket. "I've heard of your exploits. Not to mention we received a little tip from Interpol that you'd be here. Good thing, too! Not everyday a world renowned thief gets presented for arrest right on a silver platter!"

Lupin blinked. "Tip from Interpol?" The thief groaned, not taking long at all to deduce the culprit behind this. "Zenigata, that guy seriously needs to consider living his own life! And if it really is all about me so much, then the least he could do is take me out to dinner first…"

Kim smirked and smacked his staff against his palm. "Well, they'll be plenty of time to think about dinner once you're in a cell!"

Lupin smirked and waved off the threat. "You'd have to catch me first! And if a man who knows every trick of my trade can't then I can't say the odds are in your favor. But by all means!"

(Dome; Security Team Interrogation Room)

Vyse, Steve, Soren, and Heathcliff had their backs at the wall. Gazing out at their lone suspect and possible lead; the now conscious Sareena.

Steve would briefly break the silence by whispering over to Soren. "So, uh… any reason you told the girls and Sindel to wait outside?"

Soren shot him an incredulous look. "Dude, chicks don't need to see this! Especially when we're about to crack this one down for info!"

Heathcliff scoffed. "How courteous. Especially when you're aware that she is a woman too."

"Okay, enough all of you!" Vyse shouted as quietly as he could. "Now, how do we go about this? A little good cop, bad cop? She's the only lead we have right now to figuring out what Shang Tsung has planned."

Heathcliff sighed at the suggestion. "That'll be simple. I got charm comin' outta both options, if you believe."

"It is almost laughable how you seem to believe I am incapable of hearing you all." Sareena said with a glare at the four.

The four all tensed at her words, but not before sharing glances as if to silently ask if the other was willing to give it a crack.

"If the silence has your throats then I'll be on my way." Sareena made a move for the door, only for Vyse to slam it shut. "Absolutely not! Not until you answer our questions!"

Sareena threw her hands up in exasperation. "Then… get on with it." She sat on the table, annoyed.

Outside, Sindel looked at the door in annoyance. "What is the issue?"

Luna turned to Sindel. "Masculinity. Sounds as if each is eager to prove their status as a man by making her talk."

Vanille couldn't help but giggle. "It's kind of cute."

Sindel shook her head. "Kind of foolish if you ask me, and maybe a slight bit pathetic."

A less than quiet whisper could audibly be heard from the room. "Okay, so I thought we agreed that I'd be the Good Cop here!?"

"Yeah, because you're the only one who isn't taking this seriously."

One could head the offense in Soren's tone in his next words. "Come on! I am taking this very seriously."

Sindel took a deep breath to calm herself. Though at this point she was a couple seconds away from bursting into that room and getting this over and done with quickly. Time was of the essence and she didn't have time for these childish matters.

(The Arena)

"SABER!" (MB)

Despite her femininity, Saber was known to those that played Fate as that world's version of King Arthur. Which wasn't helped by her known title of the "King of Knights."

It didn't seem to matter all that much to her now though, stopping at the top of the ramp to say a prayer before charging on down.

Squall groaned as he help up his gunblade to block an Iron Head from Aegislash. He tried to retaliate, but the sword Pokémon quickly used its signature move King's Shield to block the attack entirely.

Squall was knocked back by the shield, and was about to try again when he saw Saber suddenly charge in and swing her own sword right on Aegislash's shield, surprising it and knocking it back.

This was his chance! He charged toward the Pokémon himself and swing, throwing in a blast from his gunblade for good measure. But Aegislash proved too fast, changing back into the sword form and swiping the blast away and deflecting his strike again.

Saber turned to Squall once he stumbled back to her sode growling. "A sentient sword who wields a shield as well? What a strange creature."

Squall grunted. "I could give a whole lot of fancy terms for this thing, one of the more prominent ones in my head is annoying. Still, if you're looking for some aggression to take out, then you'll have to go through me first!"

Saber ducked under Squall's swing, and then immediately had to duck again from Aegislash's. Looking between the two she sighed. "So much for an alliance…"

"ANRE! (GB:V)

Pardon a few fans for stopping to marvel and gaze at the very outlandish moustache the next fighter bore. Seemed he was aware of the lack of a reaction as he carefully ran his finger along it.

"Ah, when you've been tending to your hair as long as I have, you learn such things are possible provided you have the unwavering faith." He said with a chuckle, then spun his spear in his hand before floating down to the ring.

It wouldn't be long until an opponent would make himself known. The Masked Ruby would hop on over, his body glimmering in awe.

"Good sir! Your moustache! It is immaculate, how did you get it to do that, hmm?"

Anre simply shook his head with an unseen smile. "Hopung to grow your own? Well, I'd be happy to share with you my secret. If you could best me in a duel."

The Masked Ruby raised his sword in confidence. "Huzzah! Consider thy challenge accepted!"

Anre spun his staff again, if the Masked Ruby could see he'd no doubt be able to notice the very amused smile on his face. "You're not the first to take up my offer, and I have on goood faith you won't be the last."

"CLARK STILL!" (KOFXV)

The blonde-haired Ikari Warrior cracked his neck and rotated his arm whilst looking around the ring. His thoughts were confirmed when he saw no clear opponent to fight.

"Eh, gotta create an opening then." He grinned. "No problem for me."

He charged down the ramp and threw himself over the ropes. He looked at every current fight, eyeing carefully which one was gonna be the most worthwhile to…

"Sorry, handsome and incredibly spectacular thief coming through!" Exclaimed Lupin as he skillfully slid under Clark's legs, to his confusion. "What the hell!?"

And a second or two afterward Kim Sue Il would come charging right into him. Or at least try to, at best he made him stagger the slightest step back.

"Oh, sorry. I was just trying to catch that thief…"

Clark would immediately pound his fists together before he could finish. "Yeah? Well, now you're fight is with me. Saves me the trouble of finding one."

As he watched this unfold, Lupin couldn't help but give a cheeky laugh at the detective's misfortune.

"MISMAGIUS!" (PKMN)

The crowd fell silent as the sound of eerie giggling would seem to echo through the arena. Plus a strange shadowy mist would begin to lift from the entrance curtain.

The air around the curtain would begin to feel charged with electricity and the mist would continue to spread until...

Boo! The cry of the witch-like Ghost Pokémon would erupt loud and clear from the curtain as she flew out. Giving a good portion of the audience a good scare. Mismagius would let out what would sound like a laugh before hovering on to the ring.

Not needing to wait, or just not wanting to, Mismagius eyed Andy and Hokutomaru's spar and decided to make it a little more fun. Using Will-O-Wisp she surrounded their fight with little eerie blue wisps of flame.

It wouldn't take long for the two to notice. "Wha!? What is this!? Who did…" Hokutomark started before he was shushed by Andy.

"Up there." He would point upward to direct to Hokutomaru's eyes to their assailant.

Mismagius would emit more eerie giggles as she floated above them. She wanted fun, and judging by the looks of the two it seemed like she was going to get it…

"And now, the final fighter of this section and thefifthSecond Chance fighter…"

"NINON BEART!" (KOF:MI)

To the surprise of more than a few fans, the next Second Chance fighter was Ninon. Who despite what anyone else seemed to think, looked as if her returning was the most obvious thing ever.

"Seems my question has not an obvious answer, a shame. But idiots will be idiots." She said with a roll of her eyes, before staring at the ring. Her mind already made up on where to go.

"La Olam Amen!

Etrigan blocked a few shots from Sonya's wrist guns, once she was out of her round he pounced forward and shot his fire breath at her and Min Min. Both would roll out of the way and fire their respective projectiles again at Etrigan.

"Uriel on my left!"

And a suddenly summoned tornado would reflect said projectiles back at them, which they barely managed to dodge.

"Young witch." Etrigan said in surprise.

"Etrigan." Ninon replied with a smile.

"No way." Min Min said in annoyance upon getting up. "You? You're the next Second Chance fighter?"

Ninon smirked back at Min Min. "Yes, I am. I would expect less surprise. But nonetheless, I am back. And ready to setttle the score once and for all."

Sonya would look toward Min Min with an incredulous expression. "She a demon fanatic?"

Min Min sighed. "More like your typical Shining Twin."

Chapter Text

Here is the voteform for the fifth section.

Main Event

Due to fatigue, Aerith has four automatic die votes, Storm, Skull, Omega, and B. Jenet all have two, and Masked Ruby, Big, Etrigan, Willow, Min Min, Squall, and Joker all have one.

Omega, Etrigan, and Huitzil are Big Guys. As such, eighteen fighters will be eliminated in this section.

Give fifteen "Live" votes and fifteen "Die" votes to the following people:

Aerith Gainsborough (Dissidia: Final Fantasy):

Storm (Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects):

Skull (Persona 5):

E-123 Omega (Sonic the Hedgehog):

B. Jenet (King of Fighters XV):

Masked Ruby (Slap City):

Big the Cat (Sonic the Hedgehog):

Etrigan the Demon (Justice League Dark):

Willow Park (The Owl House):

Min Min (Super Smash Bros.):

Squall Leonhart (Dissidia: Final Fantasy):

Joker (Super Smash Bros.):

Sonya Blade (Mortal Kombat):

Lowain (Granblue Fantasy: Versus):

Kimberly (Street Fighter V-VI):

Huitzil (Darkstalkers):

Yoshi (Super Smash Bros.):

Hokutomaru (Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves):

Andy Bogard (King of Fighters XV):

Aegislash (Pokémon):

Syzoth (Mortal Kombat):

Lilith Clawthorne (The Owl House):

Villager (Super Smash Bros.):

Arséne Lupin III (Lupin the Third):

Kim Sue Il (Kizuna Encounter):

Saber (Melty Blood)

Anre (Granblue Fantasy: Versus)

Clark Still (King of Fighters XV):

Mismagius (Pokémon):

Ninon Beart (King of Fighters: Maximum Impact):

Side Battles:

None. At least for this round.

Voting ends August 12th. Get your votes in!