"Hello and welcome to the final round before the playoffs! This is gonna be exciting as teams try to claw their way on top in order for a slot to participate in the final race! Now...for the new brackets. Bracket 1: Steam Machine, Imperial Steam, Reformed Society and Darkness Emperor's. Bracket 2: Shining Ice, Silent Blades, Undead Party and Justice Men! Bracket 3: Rising Risks, Demon's Blight, Valkyrie Maiden's and Eastern Warriors." the announcer said.

"So we're in the same bracket as Steam Machine once again." Ichiro said.

"We need a solid win Commander Ogami… i hate to say it, but were nobodys around here." Gemini said.

"What do you mean?" Ichiro asked.

"Ogami… have you even heard what the spectators are saying?" Sakura said showing a message board to Ogami.

"Imperial Assault Team? Never heard of em, what is it they do exactly?" Tears asked.

"Apparently they are some sort of peace keepers." Blood said.

"I wouldn't worry too much about em… they've lost two matches already. When we beat them...they'll be nothing but empty names." Sweat said.

"Don't forget, we lost both of our matches, too." Tears said. "We lose here, we're done for. No chance of making it to playoffs."

"It doesn't help that Darkness Emperors is in our bracket." Captain Cold said walking up to the Imperial Assault force members. If it's anything like their last matches, the feed will cut, and it'll be a frenzy."

"True. Its mostly due to the Curse belonging to that one." Ivy said pointing to Marx.

"Then our answer is simple...we eliminate him first." Cheetah said.

"My master. It would seem we already have conspirators against us." Ashe said.

"Let them conspire. It makes no difference. In the end, we will be the ones ruling over these gutless worms." Miasma said.

"As poetic as ever my lord." Ashe said before he stopped. "Hmm. I sense a large source of energy entering the arena."

"So do I. Coming from the stands." Miasma said.

On the stands itself, the other groups were in shock.

"Holy… ACE?! When did you get here?!" Hope said, shocked that the Spirit Force came from absolutely nowhere.

"A few minutes ago actually." Ace said as he leaped from a great distance and landed in front of them. "How are you?"

"Dude, it's only been a bit since Valentia. Since then we've battled beasts and raced here. And the racers here are something else." Hope said.

"We practically dealt with zombies, vampires, werewolves, mutants, and Gargos himself. I also got this scar on my left eye." Ace said.

"Ouch…" Odd said.

"Hey Ace… you wanna tell me who this handsome man is?" Connor asked pointing to someone by ace who looked exactly like him, except he was older than ace and had multicolored hair.

"Well everyone you're not gonna believe this but...this is my brother!" Ace said.

"Your BROTHER?!" Pinkie asked.

"So you're Aces big bro, eh?" Kazuichi asked.

"That is correct, Spade Neptune at your service." Spade said as he bowed revealing the Exalted Falchion on his back a bit.

"Hey wait a… that's Exalted Falchion! Why do you have Marth's sword?" Jexi asked.

"He's not the only one who has a weapon like that." Ace said as he showed the Omega Yato, Stoj hefting Brynhildr, and Jago unsheathing Raijinto.

"(We overcame trials before going back to our own world to defeat Gargos.)" Hisako explained.

"Whoa, Hisako! What… what happened to you?"

"She's been purified thankfully, and is now Shin Hisako. Oh and there's something I want to show you as well as the Keyblade wielders." Ace said as he summoned Summoner's Oath.

"A keyblade? Incredible." Twilight said.

"Yes. This is Breidabliks final form and now since it's a keyblade, I am free from the curse." Ace said as he showed his keyblade.

"That's great." Lacy said before they heard the horns.

"Folks! We have just decided the races! Team Imperial Steam vs Team Steam Machine and Team Reformed Society vs Team Darkness Emperors!" the announcer said.

"Aw, great…." Captain Cold said. "Well, at least we know who we're going for. Moment the battle lap comes around and the feeds cut… your ass is frozen, big guy." he said to Marx before his throat was grabbed by Miasma.

"Be silent...insect." Miasma said.

"My lord, I must remind you we are still in a race." Ashe said. "Killing this bug will only cause problems."

"Quite right." Miasma said tossing him aside. "I'll just tear him apart during the race." he said heading for his mech.

"Jesus… that guy means business." Captain Cold said.

"Hmm. Who is that guy?" Mari asked.

"Miasma. He's the 3rd prince to the Dark Kingdom in the Darkness Universe." Abby said.

"I can tell his power is a bit weaker than Gargos but he's still a threat." Ace said as he crossed his arms.

"It's safe to say Cold, Ivy and Cheetah wont last long against Miasma and his team. But what i wanna see is the Steam vs steam match. Our fellow Samurai cowgirl is in it." Aya said.

"Yeah, but there was something weird going on when I tried to talk to her a little while ago." Ace said.

"Weird how?" Carrot asked.

"She said she saw bits of Kanji from me when she talked to Aya and Kagura and when I asked her she just hung up." Ace said as he waved his arms around in a "what" motion.

"Kanji? What in….oh. I guess she was just saying something about how you guys both seem...unmanly at times?" Gray said.

"I don't think so because whenever I saw Ace look at Guy he always had red cheeks a bit." Aya said walking up to them.

"Oh… hey Ace, is Guy… you know… Gay?" Sunset asked.

Ace quickly blushed and poofed as he dashed away.

"That's definitely a 'yes; from experience." Sunset said.

"Why would you ask that?" Jexi said with a disapproving look.

"Well.. it's just that whenever a guy blushes at another guy…" Sunset said as the mechs raced by. "You get the idea."

"Strategy lap for the first race is Gemini and Blood. For the other its Marx and Captain Cold and….uh-oh. Here come the technical problems again. It's like those Darkness Emperor guys are cursed." the announcer said.

"If only he knew they actually are…" Himiko said.

"Wait… you're saying a curse by that Marx guy is cutting the race feed?" Phantom asked.

"Yes, and according to his teammates, not even he knows it." Leonora said.

"Want me to knock some sense into him?" Saki asked as she cracked her knuckles.

"Nononono! Saki, it's okay! The guy may have problems, but aside from the stature and the scary face… he's cool." Jibanyan said.

"Shall I gather info about Miasma and his teammates? I'm sure I'll go unnoticed." Phantom said.

"Abby did that a long time ago, dude. What we need is someone who can get it through." David said.

"Someone who's good with tech or gathering information?" Anna asked.

"I feel like I'm speaking a different language. Someone who can warn them!" David said.

"Did you guys try to warn them?" Kagura asked.

"Are you joking? Those guys are former enemies. Why would they listen to us?" Lacy said.

"Dammit, fine! I'll do it!" Saki said annoyed.

"It should be possible if you can hack into their communication frequency." Vera said.

"Leave the hacking part to me and Futaba." Anna said.

"Do it." Ross said.

"And the battle lap has begun!" the announcer called.

"Uh… you might wanna hurry!" Hiyoko said.

"Hmm. Seems the systems are fine. But the problem lies with Marx. According to Necronomicon, he's constantly generating an electro-magnetic force that's harmful to TV and radio waves." Futaba said. "The only way to retrieve the signal would to somehow close off the field around Marx."

"Is he part robot or a meta human?" Anna asked.

"Normal human. I know." Chopper said.

"Wait...what of...Yes. If I could program a counter wave...we might be able to get some of the signal back." Futaba said.

"You better work fast. I dunno how long Cold, Ivy and cheetah are gonna last against those guys." Hope said.

"I need a little time. And there!" Futaba said as the TV flickered a bit showing parts of the smoke covered track fading in and out.

"We're hacking as fast as we can!" Anna said.

"Hey guys what did I miss?" Ace asked as he warped next to them.

"We're trying to get the video back but that's the best we can do." Futaba said.

"Smoke? What in the?" Cache said.

"That must be Ashe. He can create smoke off his own body." Leonora said.

"And inside that smoke, Miasma's making dark monsters, shadow beasts like Umbra can." Teresa said.

Stoj opened up Brynhildr as she silently chanted a spell which caused the infernals to stop appearing for a bit.

"What has happened?" Ashe said.

"Something's trying to block out my curse. I do not know how...but their efforts...are futile!" Miasma said as a dark aura rose from him like a fountain as the beasts respawned and grew more ferocious.

"Damn!" Cold said. "Cheetah, get goin!"

"But I…" Cheetah said.

"You wanna face him in the finals, dont you? Then win and we'll get him!" Cold said.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Saaya asked nervous.

"Cheetah, we obviously can't take first but you just passing will give us some credit." Ivy said.

"Grrr. Miasma...he will pay the same with Ishihara." Cheetah growled as she charged ahead as the beasts attacked Ivy and Cold.

"!" Ace had a shocked look on his face. "Dammit! Please hurry girls."

"Ace...we've done all we can. I'm afraid...things are over." Futaba said.

"Rock On!" Ace yelled as he megamerged and turned his buster into a sniper rifle. "We may not be able to hack through but I can still give those three cover."

"Ace, are you nuts? This is a race!" Jexi said. "And those mechs could cause serious damage to you."

"Don't worry I'll shoot from a high area with a silencer put on the rifle." Ace reassured.

"Spade, do something! We can't just interfere in a race!" Betty said.

"That's enough, brother." Spade said.

"Alright…" Ace muttered as he turned back to normal. "But if things take a turn for the worse…"

"We get it." Hope said.

"And the race is over! And no surprise, Team Darkness Emperors have conquered and won but...what's this? It appears only a single mech from the opposing team has survived. And the racer...is Cheetah of Team Reformed Society!" the announcer said. "An underdog or rather undercat has opposed the will of these mysterious emperors. A rebel!"

"She got past us?" Ashe pondered seeing Cheetah with 15 points on the board. "How? Ah! Of course. She stuck close to the smoke in order to avoid detection while leaving her teammates to keep the beasts occupied."

"Another….loss?" Miasma said as he growled.

"It's not a total loss, sire. She only tied it." Ashe said.

"But she claimed the first spot. In my eyes...it's a loss." Miasma growled.

"At least she made it, but still have you guys ever encountered those Dark Emperors before this?" Ace asked

"No. First time." Jexi said. "Only people we dealt with from the Darkness universe are Black and Shade."

"Hmm, I see, do you know what they're planning?" Ace asked. "Because I don't think they came here just to compete."

"Not sure. All he ever talks about is conquest and how he's gonna rise to the top. Just a guy with an overblown ego, if you ask me." David said.

"Narcissistic much?" Kagura asked.

"And for good reason. As a prince, he's seeking to obtain the throne of his land by any means necessary." David said.

"Ugh...great. As if Evange wasn't bad enough already, this guy shows up. If you ask me, he acts like a child." Saki said.

"Be lucky he's not here to hear you say that." Mayumi said.

"Hmph, I've dealt with worse in the past." Saki said.

"Now, if you excuse us, we have our own race to prepare for. Wish us luck!" Sectonia said.

"But what about Ichiro and the gang?" Hope asked.

"Hope...look." Jexi said pointing to the screen to show Ichiro and the girls standing triumphant over Steam Machine.

"They did it!" Ace said clapping his hands together as he smiled.

"Guess that means Steam Machine is definitely out of the running this season." David said.

"Looks like it." Jexi said.

"The next set of races have already been decided. We have Team Justice Men vs Team Silent Blades and Team Shining Ice vs Team Undead Party!" the announcer said.

"Oh man…. No hard feelings, right Kabuki?" Sting asked.

"None. So, don't take it too personally." Kabuki said.

"Don't hold back, Heart." Harumi said.

"Indeed! I shall proceed onto victory and rise to the heavens!" Heart said posing.

"Good luck, now then I'm gonna go explore the city a bit." Ace said as he flew to the city.

"Welp, guess it's my turn to deal with Graci." David said.

"You rang?" Graci said approaching.

"We did. Oh, and we were wondering who you chose to replace Bones." Hope said.

"Uh...that would be me." a voice said as approaching was a pale skinned girl with white hair and some stitches.

"This is Dawn. A zombie who isn't too bad with these mechs." Alec said. "She was our alternate."

"Uh...it's nice to meet you and I hope for a well race." she said bowing before her head fell off.

"Ahhh!" Fluttershy screamed.

"Sorry about that. Her body parts tend to fall off rather easily." Graci said reattaching the head.

"Look, we're sorry that you lost both of your races because of Bones, but we're not going to make it easy for you." Mayumi said.

"Even if we lose, it doesn't matter. There are lots of loser teams. We'll just have a random shot for one of the final slots." Graci said.

"Though we haven't completely lost. We won some points by having at least Alec survive...well just the one." Dawn said.

"And those two were due to Bones' incompetent leadership." Alec said.

"Ditto. Seriously, who's gonna miss that guy?" David asked.

"Nobody." Maki said.

"Well...even with him gone, I'm still gonna beat you all." Dawn said waving her arms before they fell off. "Ugh… Not again."

"You've got spunk, I'll give you that. You're gonna make it far in your new life, without a doubt." David said.

"Uh...thank you." she said blushing crazy.

"Now...onward! We have a race to begin!" Heart said.