A/N: I won't be continuing this story for quite a while, but I'm posting chapter 1 now anyway because I expect/want to see a lot of fan interaction before I get into the meat of the story. There are 128 fighter slots, 110 of which are currently open. I am also open to the possibility of accepting specific matchup requests, if the matchup doesn't interfere with my plans. Please send personnel and matchup requests to my PM box rather than leaving a review. I suppose if you don't have an account you don't have any other option, but I'd prefer not to have 100 reviews for chapter 1 of the story, none of which is an actual review. That said, please review if you actually do have a review to leave.

The current list of fighters is as follows:

Dragon Ball. Goku, Krillin. Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Roshi.

Rurouni Kenshi. Sanosuke.

One Piece. Luffy, Sanji.

Street Fighter. Ryu.

Fatal Fury. Terry.

Kim Possible. Shego, Kim.

Soul Caliber. Rock.

Mortal Kombat. Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile.

Naruto. Naruto, Jiraiya.

League of Legends. Tryndamyre, Olaf.

My Hero Academia. Bakugo, Kirishima.

Lots of spots still open. I can and will fill them all in myself if it comes to it, but suggestions are still being taken for quite a bit longer.

Disclaimer: I'm not an owner, I'm just a random shipper.

A Frozen Tournament

"...and with the northern trade route now permanently open thanks to Your Majesty, I propose that we-"

"Elsa! Just what do you think you're doing?!"

The doors to the conference room burst open, a redheaded whirlwind of fury and energy entering with a bang. The elderly members of the council quailed before her rage, but Elsa merely sent her a dismissive glance and returned her attention to the Trade Minister.

"I should think that would be self-evident. I'm in the middle of a council meeting, Anna. Now, please continue, Lord Daban."

"Don't you dare!" Anna hissed at the beleaguered councilman, instantly returning her attention to the object of her fury. "You KNOW that's not what I meant! WHAT. IS. THIS?!"

The Minister looked back and forth between the Royal sisters who had given him conflicting orders, one of whom was his Monarch and the other of whom it seemed it would be highly unwise to disobey at that particular moment, and promptly fainted.

Elsa sighed a long-suffering sigh. "Very well. Meeting dismissed, I suppose. Someone see to Lord Daban. Thank you so much, Anna, for terrifying my poor Trade Minister out of his mind."

Anna looked momentarily contrite, and whispered to the guards picking up the unconscious noble "apologize to him for me when he wakes up", but she would not be turned from her task. "You can't distract me with a guilt trip, Elsa. This needs an explanation. Now."

Elsa snatched the paper from Anna's hands and read through it quickly. "It all seems to be in order. What exactly is the problem?"

Anna's mouth opened in shock, but her face quickly hardened. "You're doing this on purpose. You know EXACTLY what I'm mad about. That's why you didn't tell me before you went and did it. That's why I had to find out from town gossip about my sister's marriage!"

"Leave us." Elsa told the remaining guards. When they were alone, she turned back to her sister. "Okay, fine. Yes, I knew you'd kick up a fuss about this, and that's why I didn't tell you. It's really not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?! What happened to 'you barely know him, Anna, you can't get married'? Now you're going to marry some random person you've never met who happens to be strong enough to win a tournament? Double standard!"

"Of course it's a double standard." Elsa replied, still calm in the face of her sister's wrath. "You're a princess, and I'm the Queen. A princess has some freedom, but the Queen belongs to the people. And right now, after all the wreckage I've caused, what the people need is stability. The kind of stability that comes from a nice, normal royal family."

"So court someone! You're holding this tournament a year from now, anyway! That would be plenty of time to court around a little and choose a husband you could really love. What if whoever wins is an ugly, horrible person who you could never fall in love with?"

"I can't. I've talked it over with my councilors. With the current instability, there is too much risk that the country of any foreign noble I marry will take it as an excuse to take over. Marriage to a commoner would be taken as a sign of weakness. It's a luxury well established monarchs of powerful countries have that I do not. And our own nobility is depleted. There are no good options there, believe me, I've considered everything. This way, the perceived strength of the tournament winner will mitigate the political weakness of marrying a commoner. It's the best answer."

"But what about true love?" Anna said fiercely. "You have to marry your true love, not some random strongman!"

Elsa laughed softly. "The truth about true love is that it's very, very rare. Most people never experience true love at all, and even for those that do, it's more likely to be unrequited than returned. And as for me, I've known since I was a small child that I would marry for the State. Father prepared me from a very young age for this. I'm happy for you and Kristoff, really I am, but you can't expect me to find that kind of happiness just because you have. True love was never in the cards for me."

Anna went quiet for a moment. Hesitantly, she said, "This is because I'm courting Kristoff, isn't it. If I were to court a noble-"

"No! Anna, no. This isn't your fault. It's no one's fault, and it's not your place to fix this. You're done making sacrifices for me. Done! Besides, it wouldn't help. Whether you marry your true love Kristoff and become happy or some random 'ugly horrible person' and are miserable, it wouldn't change the situation I'm in." Elsa heaved a longer, heavier sigh. "And besides that...I don't think true love is for me, anyway. Even if I wasn't bound by duty to marry for politics, that kind of love just isn't my destiny."

"That's bullcrap." Anna scoffed, her anger returning in full force. "True love is for everyone, and yes it is your destiny! How could it not be? With everything you've gone through, who is more deserving than you? You need to take back that proclamation. You aren't marrying someone based on some stupid tournament."

"Yes, I am, and no, I'm not reneging on my word." Elsa had steel in her voice. "And in this particular case, I can't even if I wanted to. The Monarchs of Arendelle are subject to precedent, and the tradition I've invoked is among the oldest precedents in our history, from when we were hardly removed from our barbarian days. Trial by combat to decide the spouse of the Monarch is a time-honored and well-recorded tradition that cannot be recanted once invoked."

"No! That's not fair, and it's not right! I won't let this happen! Mark my words, Elsa, I will find a way out of this for you, even if you don't want me to, even if it takes me the whole year! If you need me, I'll be in the royal library in the law section."

When Anna was gone, Elsa's mask finally crumbled. "Oh, Anna. Some day you'll see that this is for the best." She whispered. Then, even quieter, "Or maybe you never will, and that's okay, too."