So, we have a Wily in our midst and Maria has a little - no, major - problem with that. Hopefully, things won't go his way this time.

Chapter 4 - Tournament, Round 1

Maria woke up the next morning with a lot on her mind, dampening whatever good mood that might have existed beforehand. She got up as her thoughts went back to what she had told Cap the night before.

"Should I have told him?" Maria asked, frowning. "I was really hoping that I wouldn't have to rely on that thing. And then there's the weird stuff that I read last night..."

The Reploid turned her attention to the monitor, which displayed a very short message:

"There will be a short respite from tests, as we will be turning to a tournament-style elimination for the day. Your opponents will be announced during breakfast, so make sure you have everything you need on you."

"Huh." Maria blinked. "I wonder if it's going to be one fight at a time, or everybody going at once." With this thought in mind, she stepped onto the warp panel and arrived in the dining hall.

The tables were still arranged in the same way they had been the night before. However, it appeared that those sitting at them had been switched around.

It took Maria a moment before she found Captain America sitting next to Batman at a table that was clearly "DC Kingdom" based. His shield, which hadn't been with him the last time the Reploid had seen him, was leaning against his chair.

"Morning!" Maria greeted cheerily as she approached and collapsed into the empty chair next to Cap.

"Morning," responded the figure sitting across from her: a muscular man in a blue, red, and yellow costume. The most notable part of the outfit was the giant "S" on his chest. The figure sitting next to him was someone who was also familiar to Maria: a scarlet-furred Mobian that looked like a cross between a hedgehog, an echidna, and a fox. "So, you're the one partnered up with Captain America? Maria?"

Maria gave a nod. "That's right." A grin appeared on her face. "And you're Superman, or Kal-El."

Superman blinked in surprise. "How did you -"

"You guys are in cartoons and comic books where I come from," Maria stated calmly. "With you and Batman especially, it's kind of a given to know who you are under the mask."

Superman glanced over at the Dark Knight, who was glaring at Maria. Stark, who was in his armor (minus the helmet), gave Maria an interested look.

The Reploid, catching sight of this, added, "No, I'm not going to say anything. They're your secrets, not mine, and I respect that. Besides, you guys were the first superheroes that I ran into. If my abilities end up setting any of you on edge, I can always try old-fashioned fisticuffs."

"Is your armor a part of that?" Stark asked, motioning to Maria's appearance.

The Reploid looked down at her form for a second, then smirked. "I guess you could say that." She looked back up at the playboy millionaire in the armor. "But the armor's augmented my abilities; it's not the source."

"It isn't?" Stark frowned. "Then why do you wear it?"

"It won't come off because it's a part of me. Simple as that." Maria shrugged. "Dr. Light saved my life with it."

"So...it's a support system?"

"Something like that. But there's more to it. A lot more." The Reploid grabbed a couple pieces of bacon and ate them quickly, then started to reach for a blueberry muffin. The basket they were contained in was too far for her, however, and she only managed to grab one when it was lifted up from the table by an unseen force and moved towards her.

"Thanks!" Maria grabbed a rather large muffin and took a bit out of it as the basket moved back to its original position.

"It was no problem," replied the source of the movement: a man with green skin tone, red eyes, and a red and blue costume of sorts. "Please, what is your ability? I doubt that you will have anything that would leave you completely defenseless."

"Well, water might short me out," Maria admitted after a moment of thought, "but I'm not quite sure that'll work completely." She looked over at the telepath for a moment, mentally going through the list of Justice League members. Mere moments later, she not only found the name of the figure, but also his weakness.

The Reploid's eyes widened. "I hope neither of us are forced to cross paths, Martian Manhunter."

The mentioned Martian frowned slightly. "Oh?"

"Y-yeah. If I got too carried away, I might end up getting the upper hand, and I doubt you'd want to be anywhere near me when that happens." Maria looked down at her muffin for a moment. "See, I'm kinda...a fire user."

Martian Manhunter's eyes widened. "A fire user?" A slightly nervous look appeared on his face.

Maria nodded, a grim expression on her face. "I haven't lost control of it, and I don't plan to, especially now." She finished off her muffin quickly, allowing the table to fall into an uncomfortable silence.

"She's telling the truth," another voice picked up - a boy with silver hair sitting next to the Martian. "Lea and I worked with her when she first learned about her abilities. You shouldn't have anything to fear from her."

Martian Manhunter gave Riku a slightly curious look. "Are you certain of this?"

Riku gave a nod. "Magic like what she has doesn't come unless it's summoned by the user. Maria won't lose control."

Batman looked down that table at the boy, his eyes narrowed into slits. It took Maria a moment to remember that the Dark Knight had run into magic before and didn't have a very good experience with it.

"What I do is nothing like what Etragan and his human host dabble in," the Reploid spoke up, looking directly at the vigilante from Gotham. This got Batman to turn his gaze on her, but Maria remained unfazed. "Probably the worst thing I could do is give you a nasty burn, if I don't rely on my secondary ability. Then you'd probably get blown into a wall."

Batman was about to open his mouth in order to issue a response to this, but another voice spoke up first.

"The tournament is a test of your strengths and weaknesses," Chaos stated. Maria turned around in her seat so that she could see him, standing in the center of he room. Well, hovering a couple inches above the ground, but still. "You will face multiple opponents before the tournament is up, both strangers and allies. I myself will be competing alongside you, although without a partner that is present here, as I am known by enough of you already."

Maria blinked, then frowned slightly. She thought through what she knew about Chaos, only for the Reploid came across what she thought the Mewtwo had meant. A smirk appeared on her face a moment later. "Tikal's a lucky Pokemon."

"Tikal?" Superman repeated.

The Reploid waved him off. "Someone from Chaos' past. Don't worry about it."

"Your opponents have already been chosen for you," Chaos continued, ignoring the interruption. "The battles will take place at the same time, so you will have to choose what stadium to go to. If you wished to see one particular battle, do not fear; these skirmishes are to be recorded for your entertainment later."

Maria relaxed slightly. "Good; I don't want to miss any of this." She looked over at Cap, a slightly bemused expression coming over her face when she noted that he had a guarded look.

"As I find it likely that you won't allow yourselves to of wait for long, your opponents have already been chosen for you, on account of previous interactions between you and your opponent." He looked at Maria directly. "Which, for some of you, places a lot of names on the table."

Maria grinned sheepishly as a few people she knew looked in her direction with knowing expressions.

Chaos waved a three-fingered paw, and a giant screen appeared on one of the walls of the dining hall. Photos of each of the members of the different worlds appeared, those who were partnered up located right next to each other.

Scarlet let out a whistle when she saw Maria's photo: she was standing in an attack stance in her Reploid armor, flames covering her arms up to her shoulders as spheres of fire hovered above her gloved palms. The serious and angered look on her face made Maria look like she was going to kill whoever she was facing.

"You look like you're ready to melt somebody," the Mobian stated.

Martian Manhunter flinched. Maria smiled sheepishly in response, then looked over at the photos again.

Directly underneath herself and Cap - who was holding his shield and looked like he was ready to throw it at the camera - were Knuckles (the red echidna was standing in front of a giant green emerald with a serious expression on his face) and Wolverine (who was snarling and in an attack stance, claws out).

Maria looked across the room at her and Cap's chosen opponents; the Mobian and the mutant were looking back at her, Knuckles with an eager look on his face, and Wolverine with a slight sneer.

"This isn't going to be easy," Cap noted.

"Both have short tempers, both have some sort of weapon built into their knuckles - literally, in Knuckles' case," Maria stated. "Knuckles is known for his tracking skills, as is Wolfie, so they're used to hunting down their opponents."

"And you are telling me this why?" The Avenger raised an eyebrow.

"I'm trying to get a feel for what sort of battle platform we're going to end up on," the Reploid replied, not looking back at her combat partner. "We could end up on some sort of forest stage that could play to their advantage, or a flat platform floating in the middle of nowhere...or some other place entirely."

"The stages are randomly set," Chaos continued. "Where you will end up is up to the computer system. The rules are simple: knock out your opponents before the time is up. You will be allowed access to different weapons which will be produced randomly, including the classic 'Smash Ball'."

"Smash Ball?"

Maria looked back at Cap. "I'll explain about what that is when we get to the fight. For now, just know it's supposed to give a lot of power for a short time to whoever gets it."

As the Reploid spoke, multiple competitors who had gone through something like this before grinned at each other with eager looks.

"The rest, you will have to learn for yourself," Chaos spoke. He motioned again, and the large, ornate doors that had appeared the night before reappeared. "Go through those doors - you will be automatically transported to your battle location."

Sonic grinned over at Flash, and the two zipped through the doorway with the same speed as they had the night before. Quickly, the rest of the groups followed at various speeds, Maria and Cap slipping through in front of Wolverine and Knuckles.

The crowd suddenly dissipated from around Maria and Cap, and the blackness disappeared soon after. A new place came up around him: bright blue sky; a desert.

Maria and Cap were suddenly dropped onto the ground, Maria letting out a grunt at the impact.

"Stupid floating platforms," Maria muttered as she got to her feet. The Reploid started to look around, trying to get a feel for the area. "Looks like some sort of plateau..." She looked over at the other side of the plateau, where two familiar figures were standing. The opposite pair quickly conversed, then glared over at Maria and Cap.

Maria rolled her shoulders back in a warm-up gesture. "Looks like we're going to be battling out in the open." She got into an attacking stance, balling her hands into fists.

"Logan is going to be as dangerous out here as he would anywhere else," Cap noted grimly, adjusting his shield's position on his arm.

"Yeah. I know. Knux will be, too." Maria got into a crouch, looking like she could take off at any moment. "Probably the only reason they're not moving now is because they're assessing us." She glanced up, scanning the sky for a moment. "Or..."

A loud horn suddenly resounded, and Knuckles and Wolverine dashed towards the two as one.

"I've got the angry echidna!" Maria called. She crossed in front of Cap and slammed into the Mobian, causing the two to go tumbling along the top of the plateau.

Knuckles let out a growl and attempted to push the Reploid off him. "You weren't wearing this stuff last night." He let out a grunt, causing Maria to roll off the echidna. Knuckles then leapt for Maria, aiming to hit her with a punch.

Maria rolled to the side, the Mobian's punch leaving an indent in the rock.

"I can't pick stuff up for no reason?" Maria asked with a slight smirk. She jumped to her feet, her gloved hands becoming coated in flames as her core temperature rose. "Come on, Knux. What sort of World Jumper might I be if I didn't get an upgrade once in a while?"

Spheres of fire started to fly into the open, forcing the echidna to dodge out of the way, jumping backwards to a safe distance.

"World Jumper?" Knuckles repeated.

A red and white sphere suddenly fell from out of nowhere and hit Knux in the head, bouncing onto the ground between him and the Reploid. The echidna turned to look at it, but Maria made a mad grab for it.

"Let's see what's in this one," Maria noted, grinning. She promptly threw it at Knuckles, getting him in the schnozz before the ball burst open.

"Goldeen!"

Knuckles was hit with a barrage of bubbles from a gold and white fish with a horn on its head. "H-hey!" He brought his hands up to his face, trying to push back the water attack.

Maria lowered the heat in her left arm, redirecting the energy to her right. This caused her arm to transform, the gloved hand disappearing right before a cannon similar to the one Rock had used two nights ago appeared.

"Here's one more surprise!" Maria aimed the Buster at Knuckles and fired. A sphere of yellow, electric energy careened towards the echidna and hit him as the last few bubbles from Goldeen's attack hit him; the strange fish disappeared.

Knuckles let out a yell as the electricity enveloped him, arching over his soaked fur.

There was a snarl from Wolverine, who looked like he had Cap on the ropes on another section of the plateau, and he lunged for Maria, leaving the Avenger alone.

Maria caught sight of something else near her, and snatched it up and hit Wolverine with it when he got close enough.

The mutant was sent backwards, but he didn't land on his back. Instead, he glared at the large fish Maria now held in both hands.

"Where did you get that?" he demanded.

"This tournament has elements from the Super Smash Brothers competition," Maria replied, grinning. "That's more than enough to give someone a possible upper hand in any situation."

Knuckles rammed into Maria's side, causing the Reploid to loose her grip on the fish. As soon as it hit the ground, it faded out of existence.

"What is this armor made out of?" Knuckles demanded, pounding into the metal. "I'm not leaving any dents!"

"Like I know what Dr. Light used!" Maria barked back. Her entire form became covered in flames, forcing the echidna to retreat before he could become burned.

The Reploid quickly got to her feet, the fire dissipating. Before she could even get her bearings fully, Wolverine barreled into her, sending Maria into the ground. Again.

When Maria hit the ground, Knuckles yelled, "Get that ball!"

The Reploid's eyes widened, and she was instantly on her feet and looking around for whatever it was that Knuckles saw. Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she saw the multicolored sphere flying around above their heads.

"It's mine," Maria snarled, gritting her teeth. She dashed forward, seeing that both Knuckles and Wolverine were in front of her, and quickly formulated a plan that could get her to the Smash Ball.

Unfortunately, the Reploid never got to it.

There was a flash of red, white, and blue as Cap's shield went above their heads and slammed into the Ball, cracking the device and sending it lower.

Knuckles then jumped up and crushed it.

The echidna's fur turned bright pink, and an eager grin appeared on his face. A moment later, a wide shockwave of power rocketed out of him, sending Maria and Cap flying.

Maria let out a yelp as she hit the ground, skidding nearly to the edge of the plateau. The Reploid got to her feet as Cap skidded to a stop nearby.

"That was a Smash Ball," Maria said quickly. "It'll take a while before another one shows up. Until then, we'll have to deal with Hyper Knuckles over there." She motioned to the pink echidna, who started to come towards them. "We're probably not going to have much time to clobber them before they do the same to us..."

The Reploid trailed off when she caught sight of something lying on the ground nearby: some sort of container with a gold base and opaque glass covering. It took her a moment to register what it was before a grin spread across her face.

Maria and Cap moved in opposite directions as Knuckles came flying at them. He turned and started to go for Maria, who rolled to a stop as she grabbed the item she had seen.

"When I let this thing go, who knows what's going to happen," the Reploid muttered. She started dashing around the plateau, doing her best to not only avoid Knuckles, but Wolverine, as well.

"What are you holding, kid?" Wolverine demanded with a growl. "Something else you're going to hit us with?"

Maria gritted her teeth, then let out a yelp when Knuckles slammed down in front of her, eyeing what she was holding.

"You're going to hand that over," Knuckles growled. "Now."

Maria held the device closer, protectively. "No, I'm not. You're definitely not getting this, porcupine."

Knuckles' eyes narrowed, and with a roar he came at Maria, slamming into her and sending the Reploid flying across the plateau for the second time. Cap managed to grab her before she went over the edge.

"Thanks," Maria stated as she got her footing unsteadily. "I knew Hyper Knux was strong, but..." She shook her head. "If I wasn't a Reploid, I wouldn't have been able to survive that."

Knuckles landed on the ground next to Wolverine, still glaring at Maria and Cap. A moment later, there was a bright flash, and the pink echidna returned to his normal coloring.

At the same time, Maria dropped the trophy, muttering, "We need an Assist."

There was a bright flash when the trophy hit the ground, and a moment later, three figures appeared in front of the Reploid and the Avenger.

"Hi!" the three creatures exclaimed together.

"We're the Warner Brothers," two of them said - one wearing only brown pants, the other with a blue shirt and a red baseball cap.

"And the Warner Sister," the third added. She was wearing a bright pink skirt with a matching bow on top of her head.

Maria grinned upon seeing them. "Hi! I'm Maria - that's Cap." She jabbed a thumb in the Avenger's direction. "We could use a little help."

"Well, that's what we're here for," the black and white creature with the pants said. "What do you need?"

Maria pointed at Knuckles and Wolverine. "Those two could use a little loosening up." Her grin became wider. "May I suggest the Anvil Song?"

The three creatures [a/n: who are also known as the Animaniacs in our world: Yacko, Wacko, and Dot] looked at Maria with surprised eyes, then looked at each other and grinned.

"No problem!" the girl exclaimed. "Yacko! Wacko! We've got a request!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Yacko replied. He turned and dashed for the Mobian and the mutant, the other two following close behind as music started to play. Loudly.

"What did you just do?" Cap asked, giving Maria a confused look.

"It's called an Assist Trophy," Maria replied. She looked up at the sky with the manner of someone who was watching for something. "It let's you call someone in at random to either help or hinder you. I'm not sure which the Animaniacs are, though."

"You know them?"

"I've watched their cartoons. Those kids have done things to other people that could make someone cringe." A smirk appeared on the Reploid's face. "But they still manage to make it funny."

Black specs started to appear in the sky, but none of them were above Cap or Maria. They were soon growing quickly in size.

"What are those three?" Cap asked, looking at the Animaniacs as large anvils started to rain down around Knuckles and Wolverine.

"I don't know, and I don't think I'm ever going to find out," Maria replied calmly. It was odd, being able to speak over the anvils without having to raise her voice.

Right as the three animal-kids finished up their song, an especially large, shiny black anvil that was definitely bigger than an average house slammed down on top of Knuckles and Wolverine.

"Bye! Thanks for all the fun!" Dot gave Maria and Cap a wave before she and her brothers disappeared in a flash of light.

The anvils, however, remained where they were, embedded all over the plateau.

Maria looked around for a moment, then walked towards the anvils cautiously. "Do you think they're done?" she asked.

"You tell me," Cap replied. "You seem to know more about this place than anyone else."

Maria let out a short laugh. "I doubt that," she stated. "Sonic's been here before, and he probably told Knuckles about it, since he knew was a Smash Ball was."

Just as the Reploid reached the anvil that had seemingly crushed Knuckles and Wolverine, there was another loud horn that resounded through the area. Maria, who hadn't expected it, let out a yelp and jumped back.

"Congratulations!" A gigantic right hand appeared in the sky above them. "You have moved past the first round of challenges."

Cap moved back, getting ready to throw his shield at the hand.

"Hang on," Maria stated, putting an arm in front of him. She looked up at the hand with a cautious look.

"As the two of you have proven yourselves - in fact, you have placed yourselves pretty near the top of the leaderboard."

"Let me guess - Sonic and Flash're at the top?" Maria asked.

"Not quite - I am afraid that Mario and his brother have taken that spot." The hand snapped its fingers, and a doorway appeared in front of them. "You may return to the dining hall or your own quarters, if you wish. Dinner is within the hour." With that, the hand vanished.

Maria and Cap relaxed slightly.

"That...was strange," Cap stated.

"I think he's one of the guys who's running this thing," Maria noted. She looked at the doorway, then started forward. "I could do with a little peace and quiet after that cacophony of anvils." The Reploid paused and looked back at the Avenger. "You coming?"

"In a moment," Cap replied. He looked over at the anvils. "Knuckles and Wolverine shouldn't be left there."

"I don't think you should worry," Maria replied. "This place is pretty much a digital realm where anything that happens here doesn't affect you out there. Knux and Wolfy will probably be sore, but they're definitely not squished." With that, the Reploid turned and walked off the plateau.