Cold, dark space closed in around them, choking them, swallowing them in nothingness…. The realm in which they had dared to trespass was little more than a pure void of emptiness where nothing seemed to exist, whether alive or dead. They had foolishly thought they could wander into the Void without consequence, and now they paid the price….

Scattered across what little ground existed in this empty world, the heroes that had entered the Void searching for answers were tossed every which way, weakened and defeated.

Spike Spiegel, the party leader, was lying flat against a piece of upturned rock, bleeding profusely from his skull and his false eye ripped right out of its socket. The girls of Ho-Kago Tea Time lay battered and bruised in a pile, their instruments reduced to little more than kindling. Gintoki Sakata lay faced down in a pool of his own blood, the cause of which was caused by his own sword piercing through his back. Yugi Moto lay not too far away from him, buried in his own cards and several portions of his spiky hair ripped from his skull. Ichigo Hoshimiya was right next to him, half of her face swollen by a massive bluish-purple bruise and her beautiful dress in unrecognizable tatters. Even the mighty Mobile Suit Gundam was thrown into disarray; its mighty structure now just a bunch of mangled machine parts that encircled the other fallen.

So many iconic anime characters had been defeated, almost with little effort, including himself….

Monkey D. Luffy grunted with effort as he stretched his arm ahead, groaning painfully as he dragged himself across the jagged ground. His body, which was supposed to be made of impervious rubber, was now broken and battered just like the rest of his friends. His lungs hurt, his vision was failing him, and every muscle in his body was screaming for him to stop…. But he couldn't stop…he had to get away…he had to warn the others about what was coming…. So important was it that he needed to escape that he even left behind his signature straw hat….

"Gotta…keep going…," Luffy wheezed. "Gotta…tell the others…. Everyone…everyone is in danger…."

He stretched his arm out again when a foot suddenly came down on top of it, grinding their heel into the back of Luffy's hand. The straw hat pirate let out a bloodcurdling scream; his rubber powers failing him, making him feel every ounce of pain the attacker could provide him.

"You're not going anywhere," it said. "No one will be warning anyone. You're going to disappear, any no one will ever know…."

"You're not…going to win…," Luffy said through gritted teeth. "The others will come…Goku…Ichigo…Naruto…. They'll find you…."

"I hope they do…," it said. "And by the time anyone figures out what's happening, it will already be too late…." It stretched its hand to Luffy's face, a white aura surrounding it. "Now…disappear with the rest of the fossils…."

The last things Luffy saw was the white glow of his attackers spread to every corner of his vision….

And then only nothingness….


SUPER SMASH ANIME
A FUTURE IMPERFECT

Episode One: The World Martial Arts Tournament


The air was electric with excitement and tension. The crowds swarming from all over for a chance to see it happen live. It was that time of year again: The World Martial Arts Tournament

In the bustling heart of Papaya Island, the crowds flocked towards the massive stadium grounds, filling up the thousands of benches all facing square stone area in the middle of the field that would, in a few minutes, serve as the final battleground for the tournament. The crowd was growing restless; chatter became louder and more impatient as the minutes rolled by. If the tournament didn't start soon, the people would start rioting just like they did last year. Tch, they truly are pigs in human clothing, she thought.

Seated in a special reserved box away from the rest of the restless crowd, two women sat in a pair of comfortable highbacked chairs waiting patiently for the match to start. The woman on the right, a stunning slim and pale-skinned woman, her long blonde hair tied into two long pigtails bunched up in odango buns with red disk barrettes and white hair pins. She dressed in a stylized sailor uniform with a dark blue miniskirt, red boots and ribbons, long white gloves, and a golden tiara.

Her companion, a stony-faced woman that gave an expression that demanded absolute authority, was a vision of true Japanese beauty. Silky, long black hair that reached to her butt and excessively thick eyebrows that looked like they were stuck in a permanent scowl, her body was something for the blonde woman to be jealous of, especially those breasts that were at least three sizes bigger than her own. Her own sailor uniform was more regal and militaristic, but was also more…menacing: shades of white and blue with golden epaulets and adornments on the sides, the uniform itself would have been beautiful if not for the patterns on her chest that looked like a pair of demon eyes.

SAILOR MOON (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon) – SATSUKI KIRYUIN (Kill La Kill)

"I was surprised to hear that you were coming, Satsuki-chan," said Sailor Moon. "I didn't think you like these kinds of things."

"I have nothing against it," said Satsuki stiffly. "But this tournament is rather bland compared to the ones we host at Honnoji – nothing interesting truly happens here. But I didn't come for the tournament. I came here to see you."

"Me? What for?" asked Sailor Moon curiously.

"You are among one of the lost and most influential anime in our world," said Satsuki seriously. "Surely you must be aware of what's been happening as of late."

"Who're you calling old?" Sailor Moon huffed. "I'm a high school teenager – "

"You're twenty-seven years old for god's sake!" Satsuki snapped. "The only people older than you are the characters from Dragon Ball."

"Okay, okay, I get you're point," said Sailor Moon, leaning back in her seat, pouting. "And about your question? Yeah, I have heard what's been going on. Or, to be more accurate, what I haven't heard…. A lot of popular anime characters have been going missing latterly, and no one seems to know where they went. Cowboy Bebop, K-On, Gintama, Yu-Gi-Oh, Aikatsu, even every iteration of the entire Gundam franchise seems to have fallen off the face of Animatia, the anime world."

"You forgot about One Piece," said Satsuki.

"Who?" asked Sailor Moon, tilting her head in confusion.

"You know, the one show with the rubber pirate?" said Satsuki; Sailor Moon shrugged her shoulder. "That one anime that has, like, a hundred flashbacks between every fight and like to drag the story on forever. Imagine the Namek Arc, only a hundred times worse."

"Oh, that one!" Sailor Moon shouted in realization. "Well, it's not like anyone's actually gonna miss that."

Satsuki conceded that she may have a point.

Before they could get any deeper into the conversation, the crowd suddenly exploded in a wave of cheers and applause. Sailor Moon and Satsuki looked forward and spotted the tournament announcer stepping on to the stage. He made a dramatic show of twirling his mic…which he immediately dropped and had to stoop over to pick up. Sailor Moon giggled; Satsuki shook her head.

"Ladies and gentlemen…it's the moment you've all been waiting for!" shouted the announcer. "The final round of the World Martial Arts Tournament! Now I know you're all eager to get things underway, so why don't we just skip the dramatic speeches and get right to the introductions?" The crowd wholesomely approved, many jumping out of their seats and stomping their feet. The announcer then gestured to his left. "In this corner, we have a returning fan favorite! He's the reason the World Martial Arts Tournament even exists because of his astounding popularity! Everyone put your hands together for…Goku!"

A thunderous boom from the sky drew everyone's attention to the clouds. A streak of blue light shot back and forth across the sky before it did a backspin dive straight down onto the tournament stage, landing with a mighty crash! When the smoke cleared, there was standing a tall man with an incredible amount of muscle mass that didn't make him look too bulky and his black hair was a naturally spiky mess that stuck out in every direction. His bright-orange gi stood out in the arena; it looked slightly tattered and had undergone a lot of needlework; this was understandable considering how long he's been fighting.

GOKU (Dragon Ball Z)

"And in this corner!" the announcer continued, gesturing to his right. "We have another fan favorite joining us for the final round. He has more fanfics than any other anime and eighty percent of them are yaoi, so that probably says a lot about him! His favorite technique is clone spamming, so you already know what to expect! Please give a round of applause for our challenger…Naruto!"

The very moment the introduction had ended, a cloud of black smoke suddenly exploded in the middle of the arena, choking both the announcer and Goku. When the smoke had thankfully cleared a few seconds later, a young teenage boy with spiky blonde hair was standing across from Goku. He was half Goku's age, only came up to the man's shoulders, and didn't nearly have the muscles to match, but there was a foxy grin that matched the whisker marks on his cheeks. He wore what looked like an orange and black track suit, but put a lot more emphasis on showing off the stylized metal headband.

NARUTO UZUMAKI (Naruto)

"I had a feeling we'd both end up here," said Goku, sounding very excited.

"Well, we are part of the more popular anime, so it makes sense," said Naruto, raising his fists. "But I'm not gonna lose to you, old timer. I'm younger and have a lot more character development."

"Oh yeah, well we'll just see about that," said Goku, crouching low into a fighter's stance.

"Is everybody ready?" shouted the announcer. The crowd roared with enthusiasm. "Then let's get this match underway in three…two…one…GO!"

The words had barely left the announcer's lips before Goku suddenly kicked off the ground, causing the stone beneath his feet to explode as he shot across the arena like a bullet leaving the chamber. He crossed the ring in the blink of an eye (the announcer barely had time to scramble out of his path), pulling back his fist as he approached his opponent. However, Naruto quickly crossed his fingers together and the entire right side of the arena was suddenly consumed in a cloud of gray smoke. Goku accidentally flew into the cloud, stopped himself before he could go in any deeper. He quickly adjusted his stance into a defensive pose and looked around with a suspicious gaze. Normally he would have been able to sense his opponent's energy inside the smoke, but the strangest part about it was that he could sense Naruto's energy coming off in every direction. He was surrounded, but by what?

Goku immediately sensed something coming from his right and blocked and oncoming kick with his forearm. Before he had a chance to counterattack, Naruto backflipped back into the smokescreen and vanished. He sensed another attack almost immediately after and reached his hand over his shoulder, catching the shinobi's fist before it could connect with the back of his head. Goku closed his fingers around Naruto's hand in a vice grip to keep him from escaping and dragged him around so that they were face to face.

Goku had considered knocking him out with a quick punch to the gut – the little ninja didn't look that physically stronger – but then he sensed another energy signature coming in from either side of him. As if his body was moving on autopilot, Goku threw out the elbow of his free hand and lifted his right leg, both of them blocking simultaneous attacks from both sides. Goku looked back and forth between the attackers, his jaw dropping when he counted one…two…three Narutos! The clueless martial artists looked dumbfounded as he looked between them.

"Whoa, wait, what?" Goku sputtered. "There are three of you? You're triplets! Isn't that against the rules?"

"There's a lot more than just the three of us," said the Naruto clone, grinning smugly.

At that precise moment, a powerful gust of wind suddenly blew over the world martial arts stadium and pushed the smokescreen away, leaving the arena floor visible to everyone. Now that his vision was unobstructed, Goku realized that his opponent was right: there are more than three of them. A grand total of at least thirty clones were covering nearly every inch of the stage. The tournament announcer was crouched over near the edge of the arena, not wanting to be lost in the sea of clones.

"My signature technique: Shadow Clone Jutsu!" all the Narutos declared at once.

"Hey, that's not fair! It's like…a hundred to one!" Goku complained to the announcer. "Is he allowed to do that?"

"Well, technically, it's not against the rules," said the tournament announcer. "Probably because we never really thought to add it…. But this isn't any different than when you fought Tien Shinhan, right?"

"Yeah, I guess that's true," Goku admitted after a moment of thought. He started smirking. "All right, if that's the way you wanna play, then I'm not holding back!"

With a furious battle cry, Goku released the Naruto clone in front of him and grabbed the two that were lingering by his side, smashing all three of them together into a Naruto sandwich. The clones were apparently not that strong because they exploded out of existence almost immediately. Feeling a newfound sense of confidence, Goku once more moved into a low fighting stance, giving the clone army a look that said "Bring it on!"

As one the Naruto army charged forward with echoing battle screeches – all of them except one, Goku noticed; one of them seemed to be meditating for some reason. But Goku had very little time to think about that when the clones were right on top of him.

One of the clones leaped at him in an uncoordinated pounce, but Goku effortlessly sidestepped the duplicate, grabbed him back the back of his jacket, and threw him at another clone followed up by a swift roundhouse to another's chin, causing it to explode. Four Narutos hopped over the ones piled on the ground and circled around him, throwing theirs fists and feet wildly. With skill that could only come from decades of training, Goku effortlessly blocked every attack coming at him from all side, almost as if he could predict when and where they were coming. With each hit he deflected, the Naruto clones were growing more visibly frustrated until, finally, one of them screwed up.

While trying to Attack Goku from the side, one of the duplicates tripped over his own foot and stumbled wildly into another of his counterparts and dragged him to the floor. Goku seized this opportunity to grab the other two clones by the wrist, easily lifting them over his head, and slamming them both down on top of the two piled on the floor. They exploded out of existence upon contact.

The Saiyan warrior didn't have time to catch his breath before the rest of the clones started to charge at him all at once rather than attacking in waves. One Naruto doppelganger pounced on him from above, but Goku took him out with a quick windmill kick before spin around to deliver a solid punch to another clone's face, forcing them both to vanish. He then jabbed a sharp elbow into the side of another clone coming from his right, then grabbed that clone by the face and threw him it a pair charging front the front; and three of them exploded immediately. After delivering a sharp backfist to the Naruto that thought he could sneak up on Goku, the Saiyan warrior shot a wave of energy at a pair of clones that were hiding in the back of the pack, no doubt trying to do something underhanded.

For the next five minutes, the match had become little more than Goku pounding away at the clone army, forcing them to vanish after one or two hits. By the end of it, Goku was standing in the middle of the nearly empty arena and the only Naruto left was the one meditating near the edge of the ring. Despite the one-sidedness of the match, Goku still had to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his brow.

"Phew, I'm actually getting a little tired," said Goku, taking a deep breath. "He may not be as strong as me, but he definitely has a lot of energy. And that stamina is unreal. It must have taken a lot to make that many clones and still have plenty of energy left over. But that just means I can't take any more chances." He quickly adjusted his stance. "I need to take him out quick before he pulls out any more of his tricks."

The ground once again crumbled underneath Goku's feet as he launched himself across the arena. Naruto, on the other hand, did not move.

"Goku's got this in the bag!" Sailor Moon cheered, pumping her fist in the air. "Go veterans!"

"I would advise not jumping to conclusions so quickly," said Satsuki evenly.

Goku was already standing over Naruto with his fist pulled back for the finishing blow; Naruto had not moved the entire time. Not even considering that Naruto might have something up his sleeve, Goku rocketed his fist at the boy's face…and Naruto casually tilted his head out of the way without even looking. Goku was dumbfounded. There was a split-second of pause between the two as Naruto slowly opened his eyes to stare into Goku's; he noticed right away that there was something off. His eyes were bright-yellow with distinctive oval pupils and a strange orange pigmentation around them.

Smooth as one could be, Naruto pushed aside Goku's arm with his left hand and used his right for an openhanded palm strike to the Saiyan's stomach. To an outsider's perspective, it didn't look like such a weak strike would hurt someone like Goku, but the Veteran warrior was knocked off his feet and sent flying to the other side of the arena. Goku bounced across the stage once…twice…but successfully flipped himself over and grounded his feet a small distance away from the arena edge. The Saiyan warrior tried to move into his battle stance, but felt a sharp pain in his gut and nearly took a knee, wincing and holding the spot where Naruto hit him.

"Oh man…that really smarts…," Goku grunted. "What was that…? I didn't sense anything different about him…."

"Goku, look out!" Sailor Moon cried.

Goku's head shot up at his fellow veteran's warning. Naruto had crossed the arena in no time at all and threw a punch for Goku. The Saiyan immediately crossed his arms and blocked. There's hardly any power behind it, Goku thought, so why did it hurt so bad the last time? And then, as if on cue, Goku was suddenly knocked back when he felt an unseen force slam into his face; it felt like he was being hit by a speeding bullet train. Goku managed to keep his footing, but he did stumble backwards by a few paces. He felt something warm running over his lips and wiped it with his fingers. It was blood; his nose was broken. But the question was how? Naruto's attack didn't even connect….

Naruto took advantage of Goku's confusion to throw another punch at the older man's head. Goku slapped the fist over his shoulder so easily that he barely had to brush it with his fingers. This left Naruto wide open for a counter attack. But before the anime veteran could consider making a move, the same invisible force that struck him before returned and smashed against his cheek with so much power that it sent him spiral sideways, skipping him across the ring like a stone one water. Goku threw out his hand, digging his fingers into the stone to slow himself, and stopped properly in a kneeling position. He touched his cheek where he was hit; it was bruised and throbbing.

"What kind of trick is he using?" Goku asked himself. "I can't sense any energy coming off him, so I can't figure out where his attack is coming from. There's gotta be a reason for this…."

"Getting tired, old timer!" Naruto shouted boastfully, charging straight at Goku. "Maybe you should call it quits before you break a hip!"

"Yeah, like that's gonna happen!" Goku shot back.

Ut despite his bravado, it was only just that. Goku successfully blocked the next punch that was aimed for his chest, but that invisible force he was fight still manage to drive a powerful blow that knocked all the air out of his lungs. It left him winded and his guard dropped; Naruto took advantage of them opening and attacked him with a ball of swirling blue energy that had suddenly appeared in his hand. Even the people sitting in the stands could feel the backdraft of the attack as Goku was shot backwards from the explosion of energy. The veteran warrior rolled on his side and stopped just a few feet short of the edge, looking battered. When he tried to push himself up on all fours, he flinched and held his side, taking a deep breath through his clenched teeth.

High above the arena, Sailor Moon gasped, jumping out of her seat and leaning over the edge of the private box. Satsuki remained seated, perfectly calm, with a subtle smirk gracing her lips.

"What's happening down there?" Sailor Moon moaned. "How's he getting beat up like that? Naruto hasn't landed a single hit."

"Actually, he has," said Satsuki coolly. "You older generation types might not understand it, but we younger generation have to work a hundred times harder to stand out in the modern world when being compared to you. Naruto, for example, had to learn a very difficult art called Sage Mode. It is a very strenuous fighting style that works by manipulating the natural energy that flows around us, rather than using the energy inside his own body. That's why Goku cannot see or detect Naruto's attacks, but the energy he's using isn't his own. Glad he's smart enough to use this form instead of selling out and using that Jinchuuriki Mode, which is basically just a spamming version of Super Saiyan."

"So it's a fighting style that the characters from Dragon Ball have no chance of sensing," Sailor Moon hummed thoughtfully. "Hey, wait, what do you mean 'we older generation wouldn't understand it'? Goku and I both had to work hard for our newest shows!"

"Did you?" asked Satsuki. "Or was it that much easier to gain approval because you already had fans from previous generations?"

"That's…not entirely inaccurate," Sailor Moon mumbled. "But we still had to work hard to make them good!"

Satsuki clicked his tongue in disbelief and resumed her focus on the battle as Goku started to retreat from Naruto. Sailor Moon frowned and took her seat again, shooting worried glances at Satsuki. This wasn't the first time Satsuki showed contempt for veterans like Sailor Moon and Goku; she and other newer generation animes often complained that they had to work harder to make a name for themselves than the older shows who already had a strong foothold in the world. She could appreciate the younger generation's efforts…but it wasn't fair to say they didn't work hard either. Plus, the younger generation had one thing to their advantage…something that made Sailor Moon worry every night…wondering if tomorrow would finally be the day when….

But, as usual, Sailor Moon kept her opinion to herself. There was no point in beating that dead horse. She just wanted to watch the match in peace….


But while the battle raged on at Papaya island, another moment of significance was taking place in the faraway city of Tomoeda.

From the comfort of their own home, two young girls were watching the World Martial Arts Tournament on the gigantic plasma screen TV. The first was an elegant-looking rich with wavy violet hair, though there was nothing about the way she was repeatedly pumping her fist into the air, shouting at the television screen. But her companion didn't seem to mind; she was laughing and shouting along with her. She was equally young as her companion, not even reaching the double digits yet, with short, wavy auburn hair that was held down by a red headband; around her neck was a tiny necklace with a golden star in the middle of a pink circle with a little key dangling from the bottom.

When Naruto landed another invisible hit on Goku on screen, the violet-haired girl groaned and the brunette cheered.

"Come on, Goku, you're way better than him!" shouted the rich girl. "Use your Kamehameha Wave!"

"Nuh-uh, not happening, Tomoyo-chan!" cheered the brunette girl. "Naruto's gonna win!"

SAKURA KINOMOTO (Cardcaptor Sakura)

"I don't get you Sakura-chan," said Tomoyo, pouting and crossing her arms. "Goku's a veteran like you. Should you be cheering for him instead of the rookie?"

"As an anime character, I think Goku's pretty awesome," said Sakura, frowning. "But as a character, he's a horrible person. All he ever cares about is fight. He's inconsiderate of other people and doesn't even think about the kind of trouble he causes for other people. And he's a terrible father. He would rather spend his time training and fighting strong opponents instead of being there for his wife or raising his children. Vegeta is actually a better person than Goku, and he tried to kill everyone!"

"Really, I never knew that," said Tomoyo thoughtfully. "I always thought he was a champion of justice."

"That's only because the English dub changed his personality," said Sakura. "He's really a terrible person in the original. At least Naruto actually cares about people."

"But does that really have anything to do with the fight?" asked Tomoyo.

"No, that's just my personal feelings," Sakura admitted. She looked back at the screen and gasped. "Look! Naruto's about to do his ultimate attack!"


Goku was down on one knee, holding his bruised side with shallow breaths. Just as Satsuki had predicted, Goku couldn't sense the natural energy coming from Naruto's Sage Mode; he had been getting beat on mercilessly for the last four minutes. But then, all of a sudden, his opponent had just broken off his attack and jumped back as far as he could to the opposite side of the arena. At first, Goku thought Naruto was being polite and just giving Goku a chance to catch his breath. But then he started to sense a huge swell of energy coming from the younger fighter and looked up.

Naruto was holding his hand high above his head, a ball of blue swirling energy forming in his palm once more. But the energy didn't stop growing; if anything, it seemed to expand like a balloon until it was as big as Naruto's head. Then it started to emit a horrible screeching noise that caused Goku to cover his sensitive ears. Four large curved pointed began to grow from the center soon giving it the shape of a shuriken. A huge backdraft of wind carried throughout the stadium at the moment of the technique's completion, causing many to cover their arms with their faces; Satsuki, naturally, sat perfectly still as if she wasn't affected.

"Oh man, such a huge power!" grunted Goku. "It's like a more powerful version of Krillin's destructo disc!"

"I gotcha now, old timer!" shouted Naruto confidently. "Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"

Naruto tossed the energy shuriken at Goku with all his might, crossing the arena in the blink of an eye. Goku was still kneeling on the ground, breathing through his clenched teeth….

"Goku, get out of the way!" screamed Sailor Moon.

But he couldn't get out of the way. Not because he couldn't…but because he was way too excited to take this thing head on.

Goku flashed his signature cocky grin at Naruto, confusing the boy immensely, and then forced himself to stand on his feet as the Rasenshuriken made its way down the final stretch. The veteran warrior stared down swirling mass of destructive energy with a focused gaze…and then he started to scream. It was a scream that everyone knew very well – the kind that all the Z Fighters did whenever they were powering up. Normally, Goku would go for the dramatic ten-minute shouting match like he usually did on the show, but he was short on time, what with the Rasenshuriken about to slice him in half, so he decided to jump straight to the point.

There was a flash of golden light and Goku's deep—black hair suddenly spiked upward and turned bright-blonde. He had transformed into a Super Saiyan Mode, his most famous transformation before he started doing that ridiculous blue thing recently.

Super Saiyan Goku stretched his hand over his shoulder, pausing for a long minute as the Rasenshurkien came up to him, and took a quick swipe at the jutsu. There was a brief moment where time seemed to stop when Goku's hand connected with the razor edge of the Rasenshuriken; Naruto was almost sure that he fingers were going to be cut off. But Goku once again defied common sense as he flicked the spinning death ball into the sky, where it exploded over the arena.

Naruto craned his head back to stare at the space where his most powerful technique had been thrown away like a piece of crumpled up paper, unaware that his Sage Mode had worn off. With Naruto distracted, Goku cupped his hands together at his side and started to draw on a huge amount of blue energy, shaping it into a sphere between his palms.

"Ka…me…," Goku chanted out loud, "ha…me…HA!"

He thrusted his hands forward and energy sphere exploded into a rippling blue stream of destructive power. Naruto didn't realize what Goku had done until the attacks brilliant blue light blinded him. He couldn't see what was going on, so he just raised his arms to protect himself, but it stood very little chance. The Kamehameha Wave struck him in full force. It lifted him off the ground and carried him not only out of the arena, but straight into the stand behind him. The audience quickly dashed out of the way – their reaction time told that they were far used to this happening. Naruto hit benches, which caused the stands to explode upon impact, covering the entire section in a cloud of thick smoke.

The stadium had gone silent; everyone stared at the cloud with rapt attention. Sailor Moon was leaning over the railing, mouth agape in awe, while Satsuki closed her eyes with a slight frown. Goku also stared at the space for a long minute before he let out a sigh of relief and powered down to his natural hair color.

The dust finally settled and everyone could see Naruto lying beaten inside a small crater. He was covered in scratches and his clothes were a little frayed, but he seemed otherwise unharmed; that was to be expected from shonen characters. The blonde shinobi groaned as he slowly lifted himself into a sitting position, rubbing the tender spot on his head while looking around. It didn't take long for realization to set it before Naruto figured out what had happened: he had been knocked out of the ring, he had lost. And it seemed that the announcer, who had also been stunned into silence, finally came to that same realization as he stumbled into the center of the arena and began to yell:

"Ladies and gentleman, what a spectacular ending!" he roared. "Both fighters gave it there all, but there can be only one winner! And I am proud to announce that the winner of the World Martial Arts Tournament is our returning champion…GOKU!"

The crowd turned away from Naruto and returned their attention to Goku, exploded into a fresh wave of cheers. Colorful confetti fell from the sky (even though there was nowhere to drop it from) and victorious music started to play over the screaming fans. Sailor Moon whooped and pumped her fists into the air; Satsuki, though still frowning, politely clapped.

Naruto winced slightly while trying to push himself up when a hand suddenly appeared in his vision. The blonde ninja looked up, a surprised expression on his face, and Goku smiling above him. And it wasn't a superior sort of smile that he often saw with Sasuke; it was a genuine, appreciative smile.

"You were pretty good out there," said Goku. "You had me on the ropes with that Sage Mode thing. I had no idea where your attacks were coming from. If I hadn't gone Super Saiyan, I might be the one laying there." Without even asking, Goku took Naruto's hand and lifted him up to his feet. "I hope you get really strong, because I'm definitely gonna want to fight you again someday."

"Heh, you're a pretty weird guy," said Naruto jokingly. Goku tilted his head; Naruto snickered. "But I'm not one to talk…. All right then, it's a deal. I'm gonna get super strong and then we're gonna have a rematch. No holding back next time!"

"It's a deal!" said Goku eagerly.

And so our story ends, the unity of generations young and old brought together by –

Okay, you know I'm pulling your leg, right?

Both Goku and Naruto were still locked in deep conversation with one another that they failed to notice the two shadowy figures lurking in the crowd, moving around unnoticed as they seemingly blended in with the chaotic environment. The two stalkers reached the edge of the crowd surrounding the two fighters from opposite ends, crouched low to remain hidden. They leered at the pair in silence as the subtly waved their fingers in tiny circles, drawing forth a steady stream of sticky red liquid that slowly took on the shape of a snake. The mysterious duo watched and waited. Naruto said something to Goku; the Saiyan warrior laughed out loud.

And then they struck.

The stalkers lashed their red snakes at the pair together. One snake clamped its very solid fangs down on Naruto's shoulder and the other on Goku's bicep. Both men cried out as the red snakes pressed down deep into their skin. Naruto dropped to one knee, already weak from his fight against Goku, but suddenly feeling even weaker. He tried to reach over his shoulder and remove the snake, but both arms suddenly felt like they weighed a tone each and fell limp at his side. Goku, at the very least, tried to put up a resistance. He grabbed the red snake by the neck and tried to rip it off with all his might, but the snake's jaw was braced on him like a steel trap. After a few moments of fruitless struggle, Goku suddenly started feeling weak as well and dropped to his knees, his vision starting to blur.

The natural reaction to the crowd was for them to run away as fast as possible, clearing the entire stadium in a matter of minutes, leaving behind Goku and Naruto with their attackers. Through their haze that was clouding their heads, both fighters looked up at the assailants, their breaths short and heavy.

There was no way to describe the stalkers in detail, mostly because there wasn't much to tell. Both were wearing skin-tight white body suits underneath tattered black cloaks with hoods that covered their heads, making them indistinguishable from one another. The only thing that stood out about them were the solid white masks that covered their faces with two curved lines overlapping the dark eyeholes. Both of them were holding out their right arms, which was where the red snakes appeared to be originating from.

While everyone else had fled the stadium, Sailor Moon and Satsuki were still in the private box, viewing the entire scene from above.

"We've gotta help them!" Sailor Moon cried.

"Then what are you doing standing around for?" Satsuki snapped, leaping out of her chair.

Sailor Moon would have felt insulted by Satsuki's rudeness, but as the younger swordswoman leapt courageously over the box railing, she figured it wasn't the time to get into it and jumped after her.

Both woman landed directly between the injured fighters and their assailants. Satsuki drew her sword to cleave both of the red snakes in half with pone masterful stroke, forcing the serpents to withdraw their fangs and splatter across the benches into puddles of sticky red liquid. The at tackers hissed and stumbled backward, likely not having expected any resistance from others. Before either of them could retaliate, Sailor Moon landed in a crouched position between the two groups holding up her heart-shaped wand at the attackers.

"Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" she shouted.

A massive glowing red energy shaped like a heart erupted from the wand's head and was launched at the attackers, both of whom were so dumbfounded by the utterly ludicrousness of the attack that they didn't even dodge. The glowing heart hit them straight on and exploded with a tremendous force that the ground quaked briefly; Satsuki, Naruto, and Goku raised their arms against the backdraft. Neither of the assailants, it seemed, were destroyed by the blast, but they were both sent flying across the field and landed with a pair of heavy thuds on the tournament stage.

Satsuki lowered her arm, humming thoughtfully.

"Despite looking utterly ridiculous," said Satsuki, "you are actually quite powerful."

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Sailor Moon. When Naruto and Goku groaned weakly, she refocused her attention on them. "Oh my goodness, are you two all right?"

"Yeah, we're not hurt," said Goku, grimacing. "But I suddenly feel really tired. Like I just went through a hundred sparing matches with Vegeta."

"Same here," said Naruto, winded. "I barely have any chakra left inside me, and I can't sense Kurama either. It's like I literally had the life sucked out of me."

"Hold on," said Sailor Moon, raising her wand over her head. "It'll heal you with my Moon Healing Escalation."

"I don't think they're going to give us a chance to help," said Satsuki, who was looking the other way.

Everyone followed her line of sight down to the arena. Both of the attackers were rising to their feet, but neither of them was using their hands or legs to do so. They looked more like they were floating back up, as if they were vampires. One of them twisted their head, snapping the bones in their neck with a sickening crack before righting itself. Both remained rooted to their spots, but the heroes could tell they were just waiting for an opportunity to pounce.

"We're not going to be able to help them as long as those two are still standing," said Satsuki. "We'll have to destroy them before we can do anything else."

"But – " Sailor Moon stammered.

"No, Usagi, she's right," said Goku, referring to Sailor Moon by her real name with a sense of familiarity. "You can tell they're not the type to stop until someone stops them. Go, we'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" asked Sailor Moon.

"We're pretty fast healers," said Naruto with what he hoped was a confident chuckle. "We'll catch up to you girls in a minute. Make sure to give them a good kick for us."

Though the pretty guardian of the moon looked hesitant to leave them behind, she understood their reasoning and nodded. Sailor Moon joined Satsuki at her side and together they both took a great leap over the benches, flying across the short stretch of lawn, and landed safely inside the ring. Both women stared down their adversaries; Satsuki's hand hovered over the hilt of her sword waiting to draw and Sailor Moon raised her wand in a combative pose.

"If you need to take a break, be sure to let me know, granny," said Satsuki with a taunting smirk.

"Just try not to trip over your own ego, you whippersnapper," Sailor Moon retorted teasingly.

Satsuki actually chuckled at the joke…. And then, with a furious battle cry, they charged headlong into battle together.


As requested by popular demand (and by that, I mean it got the most votes) a Super Smash Bros parody featuring anime characters, in honor of the new Smash Bros announcement made recently.

As you might have already expected, this is a parody of the Subspace Emissary storyline featuring anime characters in place of game characters. But, as I usually do in parodies, I'm never satisfied without throwing in my own little twists into the story. Whereas in the original game that involved basic world domination, the theme of this story is centered on history and an internal conflict within the heroes ranks between the older and younger generational animes, both of whom have their own reasons for disliking the other.

The younger generation's beef is already laid out: the older generation came first, so they are constantly being compared to them (as they are in the real world) and have to go the extra mile to stand out and be recognized. The Older generation, on the other hand, has a much more serious reason for resenting the younger generation slightly and has a direct connection to the main villain's motives. Be sure to stay tuned for that.

And as always, please show your support for Serenity Academy, because you know I'm just going to keep repeating this message over and over again. The newest chapter should show up by the end of the week at least.

Until next time, please read and review.