Sorry this took so long…

Meta Knight and Young Link rematerialized at Final Destination. Many of the other fighters that had been watching the battle were downright stunned. Meta Knight looked as if he had years of experience with the blade. And yet a kid beat him. Just like that, with a throw of a Fan. Had Meta Knight gone easy on him, or was he fairly bested? In either case, most of the large group was proud of Young Link. Meta Knight returned to his spot on the platform, saying nothing. Master Hand reappeared soon after.

"Young Link advances to the next round, of course."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"…The next match is Joe-"

Joe cleared his throat loudly. "It's Viewtiful Joe. Okay?"

"Joe…versus Marth."

Roy looked over at Marth, who stood up, brandished his divine sword, and walked to the center of the platform. Joe stood up as well.

"Silvia, wish me luck."

"Good luck honey." Silvia blew Joe a kiss. An anonymous person booed, probably Bowser or some other villain. Joe joined Marth in the center. His helmet underwent a slight change; his eyes now glowed yellow behind a clear blue visor, and some type of metallic mask protected his face.

"The randomly selected stage was Aeropolis, Dragon Slope. Are you two ready?"

"Let's get it on," said Joe.

The two disappeared. Silvia prayed that Joe would emerge victorious, while Roy hoped that Marth would do so.

(Aeropolis, Dragon Slope, is a racetrack in F-Zero GX's Diamond Cup that takes place in a city littered with absurdly tall, futuristic-looking skyscrapers. The track is so high, the ground is out of view. It is daytime and fairly bright, even though the sun is nowhere to be found.)

Joe and Marth appeared on their respective platforms. They were a few feet in front of the starting line, and the race had not yet begun.

"Ready?"

The two landed.

"GO!"

Marth dashed toward Joe, ready to slash. Joe backflipped just in time to avoid the strike, and before he landed, he performed a diving corkscrew kick that hit Marth twice. In response, Marth stabbed Joe in the leg twice in succession.

"3!"

The two looked at the F-Zero machines, which were hovering above the ground and starting their boosters.

"2!"

The two wondered how they were to avoid all these racers.

"1!"

The two felt themselves become a little taller.

"Go!"

The racers shot through the starting line at a speed much quicker than the machines Marth remembered. Luckily, a platform, paneled and semi-transparent like the actual track, picked up the two fighters and carried them up several feet before they got hit. The two watched the machines drive straight, then make a left turn to a sideways track, then make another left turn to an upside-down track right above them. They almost forgot that they were battling because of the ultra-high speed machines.

Well, at least Marth did, because he got hit by a sharp, spinning Voomerang, multiple times. Marth turned around to see Joe's V-Emblem regenerate. The two were at opposite ends of the platform. They dashed towards each other. But as Marth neared Joe, he could swear that time had slowed down significantly. He was right. The stage had dimmed. The Slow VFX was in effect. Joe did a sliding kick. His entire foot glowed pink; if that connected with Marth, it probably would've hurt much more than normal. So Marth jumped over it (in slow motion, of course). Joe stopped under him and performed a spinning jump. The twirling pink glow surrounding him made him look like a drill, but Marth Countered just in time, breaking the Slow VFX. Joe fell on his back, but quickly propelled himself up.

The platform began to move. It traveled through a short blue tunnel and into a very wide-open space, where only a few layered strips of racetrack floated. It stopped in the middle of the space, between the 2nd and 3rd sets of strips, and the fight resumed.

Marth and Joe walked toward each other. Joe started punching Marth rapidly with both hands when he got close enough. Marth backed away from the punches gradually and struck with a swift Shield Breaker slash, followed by an even swifter Dolphin Slash. While Marth regained footing, the airborne Joe double-jumped above Marth and prepared to stomp on him with both feet together. The pink glow surrounding his legs made them look like a falling stalactite. Marth executed a rolling dodge forward (or right, from a typical in-game view), but the shockwave following the landing still further damaged him, though slightly. It also destroyed a Capsule that revealed a Freezie. Joe grabbed it and waited for the right time to throw. Marth, who had already gotten up, waited for the right time to dodge.

A faint whistling sound was heard, and a slight rumble was felt. The racers were coming. Most of them had jumped the platform, but 5 made it incredibly close to the platform. 1 hit each fighter, yet due to the damage percentage, Joe flew up higher.

The platform began to move. It moved further over the track, over the moving, flying traffic. It rotated 180 degrees and headed for the part of the track that led straight up, next to the Neo-Uranos machine. The platform approached the side of the pumping structure and slowly rose.

Marth caught the Freezie and threw it back at Joe. The Slow VFX went into effect, and Joe caught the item, waiting once more for a good time to throw. At this time, Joe noticed that activating Slow hurt him a bit. As the platform rose around the Neo-Uranos, the two fighters approached each other cautiously. Joe shifted his leg. Marth dashed forward, Falchion glowing blue at his side. Once the distance between him and Joe reached a foot, Marth swung quickly, unleashing a wave of blue energy as tall as Joe. Unfortunately, Joe had rolled behind Marth just in time, and the Freezie connected. Marth flew up. Joe jumped up after him and kicked him forward. Marth fell all the way down.

The frozen swordsman lost a life. As the platform neared the giant metal ball (the supercomputer that created the city, Mother-Q), Marth was revived. He didn't want to lose to a newcomer the way Roy did.

Joe grabbed the Maxim Tomato that appeared in front of him, bringing his damage percentage down to 17. Marth hit him with a Forward Smash, from his sword's sweet spot. Marth jumped up after Joe and hit him with a double slash. Joe utilized Slow and performed his corkscrew kick, except now, his legs flamed. Marth Countered and ended Slow for the second time.

The platform traveled along a rising, twisting road. The F-Zero machines returned, threatening neither fighter. The platform traveled through heavy traffic, threatening Marth. As Joe double-jumped to reach it, a passing bus hit Marth hard. He flew over Joe's head with 25 percent damage. Marth double-jumped to reach the platform, which was about to pass through an area containing the F-Zero audience (bleachers from the future, you could say). Marth was about to land safely, but Joe did a Slow axe kick, knocking Marth diagonally downward. He hit the moving track, was knocked straight up, and hit by a Voomerang. Slow ended. Marth attempted to use a Dolphin Slash to save himself.

He grabbed the edge of the platform, which had just passed through the crowd area. Joe awaited his total recovery. Eventually, Marth did a somersault from the ledge and dodged the drilling jump. He landed behind Joe, turned around, and began slashing Joe repeatedly, fluidly. Joe couldn't escape the barrage, but he could counter it. Slow went into effect. Marth slashed. Joe dodged in midair (viewtifully, might I add) and struck a pose. A bright flash of light knocked Marth away as loud cheering and applause came out of nowhere. Slow ended and Marth landed on his feet.

The platform crossed the finish line and retreated into the racetrack.

Marth discovered some type of large, transparent capsule with a picture of a lightning bolt in it. He destroyed it with Falchion and was instantly covered in an electric barrier. Joe realized that he was being dragged toward Marth, and so did Marth. So he walked toward Joe, smirking. Joe launched a Voomerang at him, but he swatted it away with his sword. He continued walking; Joe continued being dragged. He didn't want to risk attacking him directly, so he jumped up and stomped on the floor, hoping the shockwave would get him.

It didn't. Marth had already jumped, and Joe was dragged right under him. Marth landed on Joe's head, creating a small, electrical explosion. Joe flew almost straight up, electrified, and almost lost a life. He fell back down quickly. Very, very quickly. Marth felt a fairly strong gust of wind as Joe landed. The Mach Speed VFX had been used.

The platform began to rise. Marth's barrier had gone with the explosion, and this increased speed was confusing to him. He walked toward Joe at twice his normal speed and attempted a Forward Smash. Joe jumped over him, landed, and jumped again, doing a backflip. Marth fell onto the track quickly, and, since Mach Speed also took effect on the level, the platform traveled into the tunnel quickly, leaving Marth to be knocked up a bit, then fall down and lose another life.

Mach Speed ended when the platform went between the 2nd and 3rd sets of strips. Marth was revived, on the platform, and on edge. He would not go down like this.

"You are going to die at least once before this match is done." Marth pointed Falchion's tip at Joe.

"Jeez, man, calm down. You can't be all about winning; you'll never get anywhere."

"I'm not mad that I'm losing. I'm mad that I'm losing to an amateur like you."

The two heard faint whistling and felt a slight rumble.

"I may be new at this, but…an amateur? I'm hurt that you would say that."

"Really?"

The two began dodging the racers that would've hit them. When it was over, the platform began to move toward the Neo-Uranos.

"Yeah! I mean, I've been fighting for a while. And I don't mean to brag, but I kick some serious butt."

Marth sighed. "I don't care." He placed Falchion at his side. "Continue."

Joe sighed in annoyance. "Whatever, dude."

Falchion glowed blue as Marth charged at Joe. He released the wave unexpectedly early and it hit Joe. Marth didn't know exactly how high Joe's damage had gone, but the wave KO'd him. The platform began rising around the Neo-Uranos, and Joe was resurrected. 2 lives to 1, with equal damage on both sides, a flat surface…and a Cloaking Device. Joe activated Slow and the two fighters raced to pick up the item in the center of the platform.

Joe reached it first.

Marth swung ahead blindly, hitting nothing. He felt Joe grab his hips and knee him in his leg a couple of times. Then he was thrown to the ground and bounced once. As Marth landed face-up, he felt a sharp blow to his head, knocking him forward a bit. Marth stood and could just barely see Joe's figure. Marth attempted his Dancing Blade. The first strike missed, but the following three connected.

The platform approached Mother-Q.

Joe was visible again, and had taken 10 percent damage from his VFX usage. He threw a Voomerang at Marth, who sidestep dodged. It didn't work because the flying emblem did a complete loop and hit him anyway, knocking him to the edge. Joe performed a sideways spinning kick to Marth before he could regain momentum, hitting him multiple times and knocking him straight up. Joe followed his flight, grabbed Marth in midair, and threw him up further. Joe landed.

The platform rose along the twisting track.

Marth knocked Joe against the floor with a fierce downward slash prior to landing. Joe kicked Marth in the face prior to his landing. Marth double-jumped back onto the platform. Joe gave Marth a hard gut-punch that knocked him into a glass-protected bleacher. He bounced back onto the platform and skidded to the edge opposite Joe's. Joe jumped up and did a diving kick, which he called the Red Hot Kick. Marth jumped up to avoid it, and Joe landed right on the edge. Marth tried his downward slash once more, but Joe's sideways spinning kick broke through it and knocked Marth directly forward, almost ending the match. Marth double-jumped, did the first part of the Dancing Blade, and used the Dolphin Slash to reach the edge of the platform.

But Joe used a Slow axe kick, knocking Marth down into the blast line.

"Game!"

Oh well. Two Fire Emblem characters against two Capcom characters, and the latter two won both. Huh. Like I said, sorry this took so long.