"What d'ya mean I can't enter?!" Undyne growled at the man in front of her.

"I, I'm sorry, um, miss. But the rules say that you can't wear a mask-"

"A mask?!" She pointed to her face which wore a scowl. "I'm not wearing a mask! You think a mask could move with my mouth?!"

"Well, uh, a really good one could..."

"Psst," Saitama whispered. "Things don't look good. If you'd like I could still-"

"No way! Master Bang's honor is on the line!"

"Wait, you're Bang's pupil?"

"That's me!"

"The one whose place you're taking called. He warned us that you looked odd but I didn't expect..."

"Be careful on how you finish that sentence."

"Forgive me. Here's the paperwork."

"Thanks," Undyne gave a grin before turning to her friends. "Looks like I'm in!" Everyone but Saitama congratulated her in their own way. "It's a shame Mettaton couldn't come," Alphys pointed out. "He's still working on getting his big tv special passed through."

"I CAN'T WAIT FOR IT! I BOUGHT MY TICKET AHEAD OF TIME!" Papyrus exclaimed.

"Well, wish me luck."

"Good luck," Genos gave a thumbs up.

"Yeah, and remember, if you win you agree to split the prize money with us," Saitama reminded her.

"Keep your shirt on, I remember." Undyne waved them goodbye before scooping up a duffel bag and making her way to the waiting room. On the door, Charanko's name was printed on it. "Guess they didn't have time to change it." Inside were a few lockers and a desk with a chair. Undyne quickly began writing down her application, making an extra effort to write down her school correctly rather than mess it up for the whole world to see. When she was done, she opened up her bag and pulled out a white gi. As she was getting ready, somebody outside pounded the door. "Charanko!" A male voice called. "Open the door!"

"I'm busy!" Undyne shouted back. "Come back later!"

"Oh, sorry ma'am." It was quiet for a few seconds. "Hey, wait a minute! Who is this?! Where's Charanko?!"

"He's not here! I'm taking his place!"

"What?!" The door flung open. Standing there was a tall man with a pronounced cleft chin and short black hair. Like Undyne he wore a white gi. He got a good look at the stranger in front of him. "So the kid decided to back out. I'd say I shouldn't have expected it, but..."

"Hey! I'll have you know he's out of commission because of that jerk Garou!"

"Wait, he went after Garou?!" The man faltered a little.

"Damn straight! Hang on, how do you know Garou?"

"Because I was there the day he left the school of the Flowing Water Rock Smashing Fist! Out of the blue, he turned on everybody; beating down anybody who got near him. It was also the day I left to pursue my own path: Sour Face Style."

"Hold on, you were also Master Bang's pupil?"

"Yes. I am Sour Face, and from the sound of things, your senpai."

"You left Master Bang?! How could you?!"

"We all did! Only Charanko remained after Garou's assault because he was busy gathering water! Him going after Garou is only proof that he is a bigger fool than I thought."

"That's my senpai you're talking about!" Undyne got close. "And if you talk smack about my senpai, you talk smack about me!"

Sour Face began to sweat. "Well...I guess we're rivals then! I'll see you in the arena!"

"Count on it!"

"Hmph." As Sour Face closed the door behind him, Undyne went back to putting her gi on.

"Stupid belt..."

It wasn't long before nearly everybody was seated in the arena. Genos, Saitama, Alphys and Papyrus all sat together. "ISN'T THIS GREAT?! I'VE NEVER SEEN SO MANY PEOPLE TOGETHER! BUT WHAT ELSE DO YOU EXPECT WHEN IT'S UNDYNE THAT THEY'RE HERE TO SEE!"

"Um, Pap, I don't think they're all here for Undyne," Alphys pointed out.

"OF COURSE THEY ARE! I MEAN THERE'S YOU AND ME AND SANS..."

"sans? sans is here?" Saitama asked.

"SURE WAAAYY OVER THERE!" All but Genos squinted to see that sans was indeed across the stadium walking into a dark corridor out of view. "You sure that's sans?"

"what's up?"

"Ah!" The normally nonchalant Saitama was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the skeleton. "How'd you get here?"

"Indeed. My radar failed to pick you up until now," Genos stated.

"you should get that whatchamajigger checked out. all i did was walk."

"Oh...okay..." Saitama's eyes drifted down to the concession tray he was holding. "You selling hot dogs?"

"yup. want one?"

"Yeah." As the hero reached for one, sans pulled back.

"whoa, where are you grabbing?"

"Uh, for a hot dog?"

"not for free you're not." sans winked.

"Aw, come on."

"sorry, no freebies today. i got a business to run."

"Ugh. Genos you think you could..."

"Of course, Master." The cyborg handed the cash to sans.

"thanks." He tossed a wrapped dog to Saitama who quickly unwrapped it and took a bite.

"Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention, please?!" The voice came from the emcee standing in the middle of the arena. "We thank you for your patience! Without further ado, the twenty-second Super Fight tournament will now begin!" The crowd cheered at the proclamation. "Now let's meet our contestants!" He pointed toward the entrance where people of noticeably different shapes and sizes came in. At the very end was Undyne, smiling and waving at the cheering crowd. "UNDYNE! OH! UNDYNE! UP HERE! IT'S ME!" Unfortunately, Papyrus' calls only served to annoy the people behind him as he stood right in their vision. They managed to catch her eye as she scanned for them. When she did see them, she winked and gave a thumbs-up. "You're the best Undyne!" Alphys shouted out of nowhere. "You got this, babe!" Suddenly realizing what she said, Alphys' face turned red and she sunk in her chair. "I'm sorry," she squeaked out, her words inaudible over the commotion. The emcee began to call off the contestants one by one. The roster included other heroes, first-timers and veterans. "And now, making her debut as not only the first S-class hero but first monster in Super Fight history to enter! The Sushi Lancer and Flowing Water Rock Smashing Fist's Undyyynnee!" The crowd didn't know how to react at the news that an S-class hero had entered, especially paired with the fact that she was a monster. For a few seconds, all that could be heard were various mutterings.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

A single figure stood up in the seats, clapping for this strange newcomer. It was Saitama with a look of determination and respect on his face. The next one to get up was Papyrus, then Genos and lastly Alphys. Just then someone else began an applause, then another and another. It wasn't long before the entire stadium thundered with clapping, adding a few whoops for good measure. Undyne couldn't help but grin.

"Yes, well. Let's welcome our final contestants!" The noise from the crowd died down. "First, we have the winner of two previous tournaments! What's scary is how one-sided they were! Ladies and Gentlemen, Bakuzaaaann!" The man was large and burly with wild, black hair, eyebrows and chin beard. "And finally, after a seven year hiatus he's back! The winner of four consecutive tournaments! Master of the Void Fist: Suiryuuuu!" The crowd lit up upon hearing Suiryu's name, far more so than with any other contestant's introduction. The man himself was tan and youthful with a short ponytail and wearing Chinese-style clothes.

"Sounds like he's pretty strong, huh?" Alphys twiddled her thumbs nervously.

"Yeah," Saitama's fish eyes were focused on Suiryu.

"Y, you think Undyne might have trouble with him?"

"NO WAY! UNDYNE'S SUPER STRONG! THOSE KIDS IN HER GYM CLASS ALL SAY SO!"

"Y, yeah. She'll be alright."

After the opening ceremony was finished, all of the contestants cleared the field for the first match. Sour Face himself was facing against the wall muttering to himself. "Deep breaths, deep breaths, you're fine..."

"Yo!" Undyne called out, breaking Sour Face's meditation.

"Don't do that!"

"What's the matter? You nervous?"

"N, no! I'm just...repeating my mantra!"

"Sure you are..."

"Hey, you!" One of the other contestants came up to the two. He had long blonde hair, sharp eyebrows and wore designer sunglasses. "Are you really from Flowing Water Rock Smashing School, or did you steal that ticket?"

"What the hell did you just say?" Undyne bared her teeth. "I've been training under Master Bang for weeks now! Just who do you think you are?!"

"I guess he's desperate if he's accepting monsters as students. I'm Zakos if you weren't paying attention earlier; master of Head First Rushing Style. If you're really in Flowing Water Rock Smashing Fist, then you must know that Bang was chosen as a judge."

"Master Bang is coming here?" Sour Face started to sweat more than before.

"Of course, I haven't seen hide nor hair of him so I doubt he's going to show up. He must be off on some 'heroic' mission. Or maybe he's just too old to make the trip?"

"How dare you!?" Sour Face and Undyne said in tandem. They each began spouting their praises for the man, Zakos taking their words calmly. "Well if you're so confident in him and your training, you'll get to prove it. I'm your first opponent," he turned around. "Just don't make me look bad, my girlfriend is watching and I plan to propose after I win."

"Oh yeah?! Well my girlfriend is watching and maybe I'll propose to her after I beat you!"

Zakos shrugged it off. "See you in the ring." When he was a good distance away, Sour Face looked at Undyne. "You're not letting him get away with that, are you?"

"Hell no!"

"Glad to hear it. Also, did you mean to say boyfriend instead of girlfriend?"

"No! I have a girlfriend! Got a problem with that?!" Sour Face's body stiffened.

"I, er, no. I just wanted to make sure I, er, heard right. Excuse me, I need to prepare."

"And the winner is Lightning Max!" The emcee first match of the tournament had finished rather quickly. It was between an A-class hero by the name of Lightning Max verses a woman named Lin Lin. "What an amazing match! Despite being put in the reverse seed, it's clear that Lightning Max is a competitor to look out for!"

"Hey, Sour Face. What's a reverse seed, anyway?" Undyne asked Sour Face, the two standing off by an entrance.

"It means that those who are perceived as weak fight first amongst themselves." He pulled out a bracket list from his gi.

"But that guy was clearly too much for her; why'd they think he was weak?"

"Because he's a hero."

"What?!"

"Martial artists who transition to being heroes are seen as cowardly for abandoning a path devoted solely towards martial arts."

"Even Master Bang?! That's a crock of-"

"Master Bang is an exception. He's respected in both the world of heroes and martial arts."

"Okay. Well where am I in this 'reverse seed' thing?"

"Your match is next, which stands to reason that you're a reverse seed too."

"What?! I'm no weakling!"

Sour Face raised up his hands. "Settle down. You're still a first-timer with little experience. Even if you're an S-class hero and a monster it'd still be a stretch to say you could compete with someone like Suiryu who's practiced for years."

"I guess that makes sense... wait, does that mean that guy who was running his mouth earlier is also weak?"

"Given the fact that he's been at this seven times, I'd say yes."

Undyne gave an intimidating grin. "Well I don't usually go after weaklings, but since he talked crap, I'll make an exception."

"Uh, ok..." A bead of sweat ran down Sour Face's forehead.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, we have contestant Zakos verses contestant Undyne!" Both competitors took their places on the stage facing each other. Zakos wore a smirk while Undyne kept a straight face. "No hard feelings when I beat you, eh?" Zakos taunted.

"Likewise, jerk." Both took a unique stance as they prepared for the referee's call. "Aaaand... begin!" Right out of the gate, Zakos charged in, his fist ready with a wind up. "Take this!"

Undyne instinctively raised her arm to block. Instead of changing, Zakos continued with the attack, striking Undyne's forearm.

Whump!

The attack hit its mark, slightly moving Undyne an inch or two to the side. "That's it?" Undyne made an intimidating grin. "That's it?! That's the best you've got?!" She quickly grabbed the dumbfounded Zakos by the sleeve and swept his leg. Using the momentum, Undyne twirled into a tornado with Zakos at the edge. "How's this?!" She let go, sending Zakos flying out of the ring and into the wall.

Thump!

The impact was so strong it shook the first couple of rows on that side. After Zakos hit the ground, he tried picking himself up on shaky arms but collapsed after getting a few inches up.

"And in one move, the winner is Undyne!" The emcee announced before the crowd erupted in cheering. "How disappointing for Zakos! How will his girlfriend take this embarrassing defeat?! Oh, hold on! It turns out Zakos' girlfriend did not attend the tournament! Your pride is safe, Zakos." Zakos managed to give a thumbs-up in spite of his injury.

"Tch," Undyne scoffed. "I was hoping we'd have have a more exciting match. Gotta remember not to fling my opponents out." She then grinned and waved at the crowd, especially towards her friends.

"Did you see that? Undyne won!" Alphys twiddled her claws excitedly.

"Yeah. Good fight." Saitama noted with a small smile. "Kinda wish I got to see more, though..."

"NYEH HEH HEH! THAT'S UNDYNE FOR YOU! A MASTER IN THE KITCHEN AND THE BATTLEFIELD!" Papyrus exclaimed. "I CAN'T WAIT FOR-"

Beep! Beep!

"HM?" Papyrus reached into his battle armor and pulled out a smartphone. It read, "Blizzard Group needs you. Come to D City!"

"OH! IT'S FINALLY HERE! MY FIRST HERO ASSIGNMENT!" He stood up, blocking the person behind him. "MY FRIENDS, DUTY CALLS ME AWAY ONCE AGAIN! PLEASE MAKE SURE UNDYNE HEARS THE CHEER I REHEARSED FOR HER!"

"Move it already!" The guy behind him demanded.

"THANK YOU FOR YOUR ENCOURAGEMENT, CITIZEN! NOW, I AM OFF!"

"W-wait! Papyrus! What cheer are you talking about?!" Alphys' words were too late as Papyrus had already dashed out of earshot. "Sigh. Do you think he'll be alright?"

"The Blizzard group does not usually take on powerful opponents like higher-class heroes." Genos noted. "It is unlikely they will run into something they can't handle."

"Oh, that's a relief," Alphys breathed a sigh. "I just hope that phone has GPS. I'd hate for him to not know how to get there and back."