It's a couple days later since Ken, Sakura, Chun Li, Spiderman, Storm, and Cyclops have joined, everyone has become better well known to each other since then. The dark forces have been rather quiet for a while; there has been no sightings of them since the Shin battle. Piccolo has been also quiet since then. Sakura woke up the day after the fight but has been exhausted because of the fight and worrying about Ryu before that. And unaware to them, Reptile has been watching them still invisible on the trunk of the tree.
Ryu decides to go for more firewood and to be alone with his thoughts. He goes where he gathered wood before with Wolverine and Gambit. He finds pieces from the tree he kicked to pieces. He starts picking up the pieces, the tarot card falls out as he bends over.
He looks at for a minute. I have forgotten about this, he thinks. He turns to the card to pick it up, before he touches it, he feels a presence behind him. He turns around no one except a patch of fog.
There's a quiet laugh from behind.
He turns around, "Who's there?"
The laughter gets louder, it's a woman. The fog is surrounding him.
Ryu searches around him, the laughter haunts in the fog. He suddenly remembers the laugh. "Rose?"
The laughter quietens. "So you do remember me."
"Where are you?" He senses someone behind him. He turns around and, through a patch of clear air, sees Rose standing several feet away. He moves back a bit because of the sudden appearance.
"You should have been careful what you wish for."
"What?!"
"When we first met, you were cursed with the dark hadou which eventually led your ultimate weapon. You have learned since then to live with it and even learned to control it. But then a week ago, you were granted that wish. Now, you are limited to you original skills that you had."
"Why are you here?"
"I've come to help you." The card flies up to Ryu's hand. "That's not an ordinary tarot card, it tells a common story in some parts of the world. A man can defeat evil by becoming even more evil."
"Are you referring to me?"
"You are smart, Ryu. But I was not talking about the dark hadou that you once possessed."
"Huh?"
"For it will be your opponent once again. Become even stronger than you were. You can--" Rose stops suddenly.
The fog clears and Rose disappears, the card remains in his hand. Ryu is now more confused about the card than before.
"Hey, Ryu," says another voice.
Ryu turns around, Ken can be seen in the trees coming towards him.
Ken runs up to him. "It's been a very awkward week, hasn't it?"
"And you only just arrived," says Ryu. "You haven't seen much yet."
Ryu places the card back in and starts picking up wood, Ken decides to do the same. They start to walk back towards the camp. "You had us scared a few days ago," says Ken.
Ryu chuckles a little as they walk away.
A small haze forms behind them. "Could he too be part of the prophecy?" says Rose's voice.
"MEGA PSYCHO SHOT!" A ball of electricity hits a dug-in part of a cement-brick wall. The ball explodes on impact causing the wall to be dug in deeper. Bison growls with anger as he stares at the wall.
"Calm down, Bison."
Bison turns around, Xavier walks out of the doorway of the circular staircase. The room is dark, lit only with a few candles guarded by glass even with Bison's attacks. There is a dark room to the right of the stairway, which leads to an old dungeon. Strangely, like the rest of the castle, the rooms show no sign of vegetation growth even though the castle was abandoned long ago.
"You make it look like your battle was your last chance. It's not the end of the world."
Bison growls and turns away. Magneto appears behind him.
"…yet."
Magneto stands beside Xavier and looks around, this is one room he hasn't seen before.
"All I needed was one more minute," says Bison
"Yeah," replies Xavier sarcastically, "then Gambit can do his card trick on you three again."
"Cards," Bison says angrily.
"You two had your shots and wasted them. You're going to have to wait till I let you fight again."
Bison charges up another ball and chucks it at the wall dead centre.
"Raiden is being really quiet," says Magneto.
"Reptile says that they're thinking the same thing," replies Xavier.
"Whose turn is it now?"
"I've decided to recruit someone special this time. Dr. Doom and Dr. Octopus have gone to get him now."
Xavier turns to exit but turns again before entering the stairway. He raises his hand at the wall and an invisible force hits it creating a much deeper hole. He turns back to the stairway and exits chuckling. Magneto follows.
"They're back!" yells Sakura happily.
Ryu and Ken walk up to the fire with the wood they gathered and place the wood next to it. "Looks like you go your energy back," says Ryu.
She jumps up off the ground and gives a playful laugh. "Yeah, but I still can't remember much about what happened."
"Did you meet everybody yet?"
"Almost everybody." She moves close to Ryu's ear and whimpers, "except for that green guy over there."
Ken laughs. "Yeah, it took me a while to meet Piccolo too. Come to think of it, I never talked to him yet either."
"He usually keeps to himself," says Gohan who is also sitting near the fire with Rini, Roll, and Pikachu. "He taught me for a year, before Vegeta and Nappa came for the DragonBalls."
"DragonBalls?" asks Ken.
"He taught me while my dad was training in the afterlife," adds Gohan.
"Afterlife?!"
Ryu chuckles a little. "I guess Goku hasn't told you yet."
Ken's stares in a near-gasp, Sakura is not as curious as Ken though. "Afterlife, like in death?"
"Yep," says Ryu.
"I guess I should ask him later," says Ken, "it's just too unbelievable."
Pikachu runs up to Sakura, stands beside her, and looks at Ken.
Ken looks down at the giant, electric mouse. "Hmph. Well, I guess since I met people like the X-Men and DarkStalkers, nothings exactly normal anymore."
Sakura giggles a little.
"Have you met Raiden yet?" asks Ryu.
"Yep," she replies. "He told me that I was very special for my skills and determination."
Roll looks at Raiden away from the groups. "Is something wrong over there."
Everyone in the group turns to him, Raiden is looking at the sky and to the side of the camp. Liu Kang runs over from another group to see what's wrong, Raiden continues to look at the sky. Liu Kang says something and soon after Raiden looks at him and proceeds to the centre of the clearing and faces everyone. The fighters turn to him but Piccolo stills stand behind Raiden.
"Everyone," he says, "if what I have seen is true, then we're going to have another battle on our hands. I'll be back as soon as I can. In the mean time, be ready for surprises. Liu Kang as my general will be in charge but remember that this is a team effort, we all win or we all lose. And with that, I bid thee farewell." Raiden raises his lightning staff to the sky, a lightning bolt strikes, and Raiden disappears.
"Boy, wasn't that a lot of info," Piccolo says sarcastically.
"So where's this new recruit?" asks Bison with a hint of anger.
"He'll be here soon enough," replies Dr. Octopus.
"How's this one going to better than the rest of us?"
"You doubt my judgement, Bison," says Xavier in his throne. The others are in parts of the main throne room. Frieza and Cell are hovering near the ceiling.
Xavier looks at the centre of the room. "Here he comes."
A few seconds pass and a portal open. Unlike the portals that the fighters use, this one looks like a multi-colour whirlpool. Everyone looks at the strange new phenomena. A small, dark figure appears and grows as it comes out. The figure steps out, he's about the same size as juggernaut, wearing a blue armour-like suit, and a pale face with blue coloured eyes and lips.
"Apocalypse!" says Bison.
Everyone looks with amazement at the new comer, even Cell is speechless.
Apocalypse looks around the room at everyone for about ten seconds then glances back at Xavier.
He laughs. "The mighty Apocalypse doesn't need to listen to leader of my enemies. I was told that Onslaught has been resurrected."
Xavier laughs and in Onslaught's voice say, "You should recognize someone who has surpassed your strength and ability in so many ways after your two failed attempts."
Apocalypse gives a soft growl. "I AM APOCALYPSE!"
"AND I AM ONSLAUGHT!" says Xavier with anger as well.
Apocalypse calms down slightly. "Why was I summoned when you claim you can do it yourself?"
"Because I want you to destroy my enemies," say Xavier with Xavier's voice, "It's their leader who I must deal with. I'm sure that you have been briefed."
Apocalypse smiles. "When will I start my reign of destruction?"
Xavier smiles evilly. "Right now."
Back at the camp, the conversations have been cut short. Everyone is either waiting for Raiden or an ambush, even Piccolo is waiting for something.
"Does anyone have an idea who it might be?" asks Captain America.
"Na-da," replies Michaelangelo.
"Maybe it's Jedah or Pyron," says Lilith.
"It can almost be anyone," says Cyclops.
"It must be someone or something very powerful," says Kung Fu Man, "if Raiden needed to go somewhere for something."
Piccolo gives a glare to Goku indicating for him to come over. Goku walks over to him whose still separated from the others.
"What is it, Piccolo?" asks Goku.
Piccolo pauses for a second. "Goku, do you know where Vegeta was before we left?"
"I think he went back to Bulma's to train harder."
"What if it's him. You know that if he got the chance to beat you, he would."
"Yeah, but I don't think that it's him."
"But by the sounds of it, it's not just Frieza and Cell who are more powerful than before."
The others are standing around wondering similar questions to each other.
Pikachu is suddenly startled. "Pi!"
"Something wrong?" asks Roll.
Everyone looks at Pikachu. He stands up on all fours with each foot in a different position. A few seconds pass. "PIKA!"
"What is it?" asks Gohan.
Pikachu bangs his front paw on the ground. "Pi-ka."
Baby Bonnie Hood places her hand on the ground. Another few seconds pass. She looks up with a grin on her face. "This thing is big."
A few seconds pass. There's a quiet boom.
"I felt that one," says Piccolo.
"Where's it coming from?" asks Goku.
Pikachu points. "Pika pika!" Everyone looks in that direction.
There's a louder boom.
"We should go to it before it gets here," says Liu Kang.
"Agreed," says Ryu.
"Pika," says pikachu as he leads he group towards the cause. Everyone follows, either running or flying behind him."
Minutes pass. They come out of the forest to a short, rocky incline. Pikachu stops.
"The tremors have stopped," says Kung Fu Man.
Liu Kang starts up the incline, Kung Fu Man, Ryu, and Cyclops follow behind him. They stop at the top, the incline shows to be a small hill made out of rocks, the part they're standing on is one large rock. They look around and see more of the forest with several clearings. Liu Kang points at one of the close clearings, "That's where Scorpion and Sub-Zero attacked Rogue and Gambit."
"It's very quiet," says Ryu looking around.
Liu Kang starts the group off again.
B.B Hood runs up to them, "It knows we're here."
"Huh?" says Cyclops.
A couple of minutes pass again, they reach the closest clearing. It's rather large with inch-high grass.
B.B. Hood runs over to a spot and places her hand on the ground. "Someone's been here very recently." She reaches into her basket and pulls out an uzi-like gun. Some people who haven't seen her in action are surprise at the innocent little girl with heavy ammunition.
Everyone catches up to the five. Pikachu sniffs around the area.
A deep, laugh is heard. Everyone steps back from where it came from. The laugh continues and then several trees are pushed over as a dark figure comes into the clearing.
"Apocalypse!" yells Cyclops.
"Who?!" asks Liu Kang.
"He's from our dimension," says Wolverine.
"And most of us met him in the first two crossovers with them," says Ryu.
Apocalypse continues to laugh.
"This little thing caused those big tremors!" says B.B. Hood.
Apocalypse takes a step forward.
"Stay where you are," commands Cyclops to him. He places his right hand on his visor.
He takes another.
Cyclops blasts him. The blast hits him in the chest, the force causes to tilt back slightly but it doesn't leave a mark.
Goku and Gohan power up and transform into Super Saiyans. MegaMan powers up his buster.
Apocalypse chuckles. "I cannot be destroyed. I AM THE MIGHTY APOCALYPSE!"
Kung Lao takes off his saw-blade hat and it at him. The hat hits Apocalypse's right shoulder, flies around, and hits him in the left shoulder. Kung Lao catches the hat as it comes back. Everyone is shocked, the seemly deadly attack only left little, white scratches which then heal in a second.
Apocalypse chuckles again. He stands up and slowly grows to double his original height. Some are surprised, some are confused, and some knew it was coming.
A few seconds pass, then Liu Kang shoots a fireball at Apocalypse's face who becomes blinded for a second. "Now!" yells Liu Kang.
Captain America does his 'charging star' attack. Wolverine extends his claws and charges to do his 'berserker barrage'. Liu Kang does his 'flying kick'. Kung Fu Man, Lilith, Morrigan, B.B. Hood, MegaMan, SpiderMan, and Michaelangelo follow behind to do a follow-up attack.
Wolverine hits first with slashes of his claws on Apocalypse's head. Then Liu Kang hits him in the chest and Captain America hits his legs. But Apocalypse doesn't budge. He grabs Wolverine from his face and throws him, swings his arm at the other two, knocking them back.
Kung Fu Man jumps and does a 'Kung Fu Uppercut' to Apocalypse's chin and Lilith and Morrigan both do a 'Shadow Blade'. But Apocalypse blocks all three and backhands the all the attackers.
As everyone regroups, Apocalypse continues to grow to about forty feet. Everyone is either shocked or angrier.
"Let's do it!" yells Goku.
Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo suddenly fly out of the group. They divide up and stop in a triangle-like formation with Apocalypse in the middle. Gohan and Goku bring their arms back to form a fireball and Piccolo places two fingers on his forehead.
"Kha… meh… ha…MEH… HA!" yell both Gohan and Goku as they force their arms outward creating a large beam of energy.
"Special Cannon Beam FIRE!" yells Piccolo as he fires his beam of energy.
The Kha-meh-ha-meh-has hit Apocalypse on each side of the chest near the shoulder and the Special Cannon Beam hits him in the back. Apocalypse moans slightly. The attack lasts for a few seconds.
"Yeah," says Gohan excited.
Apocalypse gives an angry glare. "Pesky mosquito." He snatches Gohan from the air.
Goku gasps. "GOHAN!"
Gohan grunts as Apocalypse squeezes harder. No one can do anything but watch.
Apocalypse looks down at the others. He raises his other fist and, with a quick burst of light, the fist becomes a mace ball. He brings his arm down, but everyone dodges out of the way in time. The attack leaves an odd-shaped crater.
Storm flies into the air. Clouds roll in blocking the moonlight. "I call to the heavens, bring the mighty winds of the hurricane to help us with the evil one." A strong wind suddenly appears but concentrates itself on the giant. Apocalypse shields himself from the wind. He brings the mace-ball arm back and swings it at her. The attack misses but it creates a new wind causing Storm to loose control of the wind and fall.
Rogue flies up to grab her before she fits the ground. She lowers her to the ground safely. Unfortunately, Apocalypse still holds a tight grasp on Gohan.
Goku grows angrier. He then powers up. "KIAOKEN!!! TIMES TEN!!!" Goku becomes engulfed by a large, bright chi.
Piccolo throws off his turban and cape, which fall to the ground. "SPLIT FORM!!!" he yells. He then splits into two identical Piccolos then split again into four.
They suddenly disappear in a bust of speed. Then fireballs come out of places all around Apocalypse hitting him everywhere except the fist that holds Gohan. Gohan is starting to loose consciousness.
Apocalypse moans and growls as fireballs hit when he blocks another. He throws Gohan into the air. After a few feet, Goku appears as he catches him. Apocalypse shifts his bodyweight around and brings his mace-ball arm down on the two. They are luckily missed by the spikes but are forced into the ground. When the mace lifts, Super Saiyan Goku is covering his son, both with many bumps and bruises.
The Piccolos are shocked at the sight, which distracts them from Apocalypses maces swings. The Piccolos get hit and merge back into a single pair to conserve strength. The two go back into a couple of blurs and throw fireballs at Apocalypse.
Apocalypse changes his arm back. He looks forward trying to concentrate on the blurs. He swings his arms back and brings them together in a thunderous clap. The blurs have disappeared. Apocalypse separates his hands revealing a dazing Piccolo. With a quiet moan, Piccolo falls to the ground with a thud. He remains motionless and injured.
"Ken, Ryu, IronMan, and WarMachine," yells Cyclops.
"Let's do it!" says Ken.
"MEGA OPTIC BLAST!" yells Cyclops as we lets loose a wide laser beam.
"PROTON CANNON!" yell IronMan and WarMachine as large laser cannons materialize onto their arms and each fire a dense laser beam.
"SHINKU HADOKEN!" yell Ken and Ryu as they create their fireballs.
The attacks hit Apocalypse who moans as he tries to block it.
"Yo, dudette," says Michaelangelo to Rogue, "can you toss me at him?"
"What ever you say," she replies. She creates a step with her hands. Michaelangelo places his foot on and Rogue launches him high into the air with a grunt.
"COWABU-AHHHH-UNGA!" Michaelangelo flips in the air and aims to land on Apocalypse. He pulls out his Turtle Grappling Hook from his belt.
Spiderman sees what he is going to do so he plans to help as well. He does a far jump to Apocalypse's left side and jumps high at him.
Michaelangelo swings the grappling hook over his head and throws it at Apocalypse's head, which catches a part of his armour. Michaelangelo swings over the right shoulder and around.
Spiderman shoots a line of webbing at the other side of the armour and does an identical technique. The two swing around to different parts of the body as the Cyclops and the others continue their attack.
A few seconds pass and the attackers loose their strength to continue the attack. Apocalypse suddenly realizes that he is immovable because of the tangled grappling hook line and sticky webbing all around the body.
Michaelangelo and Spiderman stand on Apocalypse's right shoulder. "Excellent job, dude," says Michaelangelo.
"Thanks," Spiderman replies, "you weren't so bad yourself."
Apocalypse begins to growl and shake.
"Uh-oh," says Michaelangelo. "That's our queue." He and Spiderman jump form the shoulder to the ground. Spiderman grabs Piccolo and Michaelangelo helps Goku and Gohan, then all five run back to the group.
Apocalypse growls more, then everyone realizes that he is growing. Webbing starts to tear, then the hook jumps out from where it was caught. The hook flies around the body, helping tear some webbing. After a few seconds, the grappling hook flies outward towards the group, Michaelangelo catches the hooked end and it winds back up. He keeps it out to use again. Apocalypse grows up to approximately sixty feet tall.
"Why can't we hurt him?" asks Liu Kang angrily.
Goku tries to stand up right. "If you can give me a few minutes, I… think I can stop him," he says moaning. "I can't be distracted during my concentration."
There is a loud snap when the last web line holding Apocalypse breaks. He stands upright. Everyone becomes worried.
There's a loud bang in the distance like a sonic boom. Apocalypse looks in that direction.
"What was that?" asks Roll.
Suddenly a blue blur flies out of the trees at Apocalypse. It runs around his feet of the giant creating a small tornado around him. Apocalypse wobbles and falls backwards onto trees behind him.
The blur stops in front of Apocalypse's feet. "There isn't a giant alive that can stomp on this hedgehog." It's Sonic.
From the direction Sonic came from come Mario, Luigi, Kirby, Samus, Link, Fox, Knuckles, Tails, and Bunnie.
Kirby goes over to Pikachu. "Pika!" says Pikachu happily.
Mario runs up to Liu Kang. "Raiden brought us here. I guess we are kinda late."
"What's the plan?" asks Samus.
Apocalypse starts to get back up. Sonic runs to the rest of the group. In a few seconds Apocalypse is back on his feet.
Liu Kang speaks up. "All right, everybody. We'll distract them while Goku prepares his attack."
Everyone agrees and charge at Apocalypse. Only Sailor Mini Moon, MegaMan, Roll, and Goku remain.
Goku closes his eyes to concentrate. I call to all forms of life, thinks Goku, please give me your energy to help me create a Spirit Bomb.
"What can we do?" asks Roll.
"I can't do any more help with any power-ups," says MegaMan. "And I can't transform into my Hyper form without Rush and Beat."
"I don't know what to do either," says Sailor Mini Moon.
Suddenly they feel a presence, they turn around and see Raiden (without his lightning staff) standing very close by. He walks over to Sailor Mini Moon and kneels down in front of her. "Rini," he says, "don't feel like you can't do something. There is a reason why I choose you. You have a power that can never be taken away from you." Raiden hands Sailor Mini Moon her crystal bell. "You still have it and you can give this power to anyone." Raiden stands up and steps back.
"Okay, I'll try." Sailor Mini Moon kneels and prays, "Please, Pegasus. Protect people's dreams." She stands and waves the bell. "Crystal Twinkle Yell!"
There's a flash in the sky, some people turn towards it. Apocalypse is slightly blinded by the flash. From the flash comes the winged unicorn, Pegasus.
Goku shows signs of great concentration and begins to absorb tiny orbs of energy from his surroundings.
"Now," says Sailor Mini Moon. She points at MegaMan, "give your power to MegaMan."
Pegasus's horn glows brightly, then Pegasus points the horn at MegaMan. A beam of light hits him. The light disappears in a few seconds leaving behind the same blue MegaMan.
"Wow," says MegaMan excitedly, "I feel like I can battle a lightning storm." He flies into the air and transforms his arm into a MegaBuster. With a deep breathe, he takes aim at Apocalypse's head and fires the biggest and most dense laser blast that he fired before, even with a power-up. The blast takes Apocalypse by surprise and hits him in the face.
"Whoa!" Sailor Mini Moon, Roll, and many others are surprised at MegaMan's new move.
Apocalypse feels his face, which is slightly bruised. He growls at his injury. He transforms his arm into a giant drill and swings his arm around trying to hit MegaMan in the air then anyone who is around him on the ground. Everyone tries to dodge the giant drill.
"I need to recharge," warns MegaMan.
Goku raises his fist in the air. The newly gathered energy flows up to the fist
"You cannot defeat me!" says Apocalypse. "I AM—."
Just at that moment, Goku swings his arm forward releasing the large ball of energy at Apocalypse. It flies up and hits Apocalypse in the upper chest with such force that it pushes Apocalypse ball into the forest and he falls a few hundred feet away from where he stood.
Everyone regroups but Goku is exhausted by the amount of energy he had to give to create the Spirit Bomb.
Apocalypse moans as he stands up. He feels his chest armour and it's cracked and burnt. It slowly heals but much slower than before. He starts to approach them.
"I got a plan," says Liu Kang. "Everyone who can do a powerful projectile attack, try to give your all."
Most of them nod while others step back. They prepare to do their attack.
"SPECAIL CANNON BEAM FIRE!" yells Piccolo as he does his energy beam attack.
"KHA-MEH-HA-MEH-HAAA!" yells Gohan as he does his energy attack.
B.B. Hood takes out a second uzi and fires several large, full clips of ammunition.
"SOUL ERASER!" yells Morrigan as a large laser cannon appear on her; similar as to how WarMachine and IronMan's appear.
"LIGHTNING!" commands Storm to the heavens.
"Pika… CHUUU!" yell both Pikachu and Kirby as they do their own lightning attack.
Gambit takes out a deck of cards. "Do you want to play a game? ROYAL FLASH!" He throws the cards in quick succession.
Sub-Zero generates a dense ice ball and throws it.
"PROTON CANNON!" The large laser cannon reappears on his arm and fires.
"WAR DESTROYER!" A large artillery pack appears on WarMachine's back and fires a large array of missiles.
"BUSTER BLAST!" MegaMan fires another blast of his new power.
"OPTIC BLAST!" Cyclops shoots the large laser from his eyes.
"Shinku HADOKEN!" yell Ryu, Ken, and Sakura as they each create their powerful fireballs.
Liu Kang creates a large fireball in his hands and throws it.
All the attacks fly at Apocalypse close together. They hit him in a large flash of light. Everyone gets a little excited; they had beaten Apocalypse.
There's a deep laugh heard. The light and smoke fade away leaving only Apocalypse without a scratch. Everyone is shocked; that amount of force should have torn his arm off.
Apocalypse continues to laugh. He raises his arm, which now has a laser cannon instead of the drill. He aims it at the group and fires.
Everything goes white. As the light fades, all the fighters are spread out on the ground severely hurt. No one's left standing.
Apocalypse continues to laugh as he approaches them.
TO BE CONTINUED…