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(The Arena)
The eleven fighters remaining from the previous section looked at each other, sizing everyone else up. The only exceptions were the Eternal Champion and Pyramid Head, the former of which was chasing the latter in an attempt to keep it from killing anyone. However, everyone else knew that there was going to be a new wave of fighters entering the arena shortly, so the rest of the fighters glanced up to the curtain to see whom was entering next.
"CHAM CHAM!" (SS)
The green-haired catgirl waved to the cheering crowd as she bounded down to the ring on all fours, holding her boomerang in her mouth. The only real one not cheering was Felicia up in the Eliminated Seating. Said catgirl pouted and folded her arms.
Cham Cham hit the ring and quickly looked around for a fight. She saw Pyramid Head coming in her direction and smirked. "Nya! You look tough! Gimmie a fight!" She said as she jumped at Pyramid Head.
"No! Child, get away from that thing!" The Eternal Champion ordered.
Cham Cham stuck her tongue out at the Champion as she climbed aboard Pyramid Head's huge helmet, effectively keeping the creature from attacking her. "You don't have any right telling me what to do, freaky blue guy!" She countered.
"BAIKEN!" (GG)
The crowd cheered again as the one-armed samurai wandered down to the ring, scanning the arena with her good eye.
Yamazaki saw Baiken step into the ring and smirked as he approached. "You think you can win a fight with only one arm?" He taunted. "It doesn't even look like you can wield that katana!"
The thug started laughing, but stopped short when he saw a metal claw on a chain drop from the sleeve of Baiken's missing arm.
"Yes." Baiken said simply. "I'll give you three seconds to make yourself scarce."
For once in his miserable life, Yamazaki didn't need to be told twice.
"MARTH!" (SSB)
Although the blue-haired prince didn't show it (and simply waved to the screaming fangirls that were cheering for him), he was glad Musafar had already been eliminated. The robot had been the one to eliminate Marth last year and the prince would probably be so focused on revenge this time around that he'd probably lose focus.
Marth stepped into the ring and looked around for a nodal companion to assist. Purposefully ignoring Wario (the yellow-clad plumber annoyed him to no end and was disgusting to boot), Marth approached Fox. "It's good to see you still in the ring, Fox." Marth greeted with a slight bow.
"Hey, it's good to have lasted this long." Fox nodded. "You looking to team up?"
"Yes. Whom do you think is the biggest threat?" The prince asked.
"The girl in the blue spandex." Fox pointed at R. Mika. "Focus on eliminating her first."
"She doesn't look like much of a threat." Marth noted. "This shouldn't take too long."
As Marth approached R. Mika to challenge her, Fox shrugged. "Your funeral." He mused.
"ROLAND LESAURUS!" (S3)
(Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell)
(It was love from above that could save me from hell)
(She had fire in her soul, it was easy to see)
(How the devil himself could be pulled out of me)
(There were drums in the air as she started to dance)
(Every soul in the room keeping time with their hands)
The elven knight emerged from the curtain to Santana's 'Into the Night'. He waved to Nei up in the Eliminated Seating (after all, he had chosen the song for her), receiving a blush and wave in return.
All Roland could say was that he was extremely thankful that Toppo was eliminated, but not back at the dome. He'd have killed the elven knight if he saw him flirting with Nei.
Whipping out his bow and arrow, Roland set his sights on Iori. Standing a fair ways back, the elf took aim with his bow and fired an arrow directly at the redhead.
Iori turned his head slightly to see the arrow coming. Thinking quickly, Iori slashed with his hand, striking the arrow and sending it flying off to the side. Seeing Roland across the ring with a bow, Iori narrowed his eyes. Crouching low, the redhead tore straight at the elven man.
"Why do I have the feeling that I've done something stupid?" Roland asked.
"CLARK STEELE!" (KOF)
Clark stood outside the curtain, hands on his hips. Reaching into his pocket, Clark pulled out his shades and put them on before charging down to the ring.
Wario saw him come in and smirked, stepping into his path and cracking his knuckles. "Okay, soldier-boy! Let's see what you-"
That was all Wario could get up before Clark stampeded over him, continuing on and ignoring him completely. Wario groggily sat up and looked to his left as Clark rushed towards Sagat. "Mama mia." Wario muttered.
Sagat looked at saw Clark coming over. Holding out one of his hands, he caught an attempted punch. "I assume that you're looking for a fight." He pointed out.
"You assume right." Clark nodded. "I'm going after the biggest threat and that's you." He explained.
Sagat shrugged and put up his fists. With Ryu already gone, the only thing he could do was actually try to win.
"LAURENCE BLOOD!" (FF)
The Spanish matador emerged from the curtain, sniffing a rose. He cast a glance at the audience, causing the females in line of his sight to swoon and faint in happiness.
"Ole!" Laurence shouted as he tossed the rose behind his back, into the crowd. Holding his dagger, Laurence raced down to the ring and leapt in without a second thought.
Laurence's first target was Captain Falcon, but the pilot saw Laurence coming and swerved to the side as the matador's dagger swung past his head.
"Why is it that almost every Spanish fighter turns out to be some sort of matador?" Captain Falcon asked aloud.
"At least I'm not cowardly enough to hide behind a mask." Laurence said with a smirk.
(Hotel; Hallway)
Vega and Ash were chasing down Mimi when Vega suddenly sneezed loudly, falling flat on his face. Ash promptly tripped over him, giving Mimi more than enough time to escape the two.
Ash growled. "You idiot! You let her escape!" He shouted.
However, he was ignored. Vega was screaming. "Augh! It's all in my mask!!" The matador shrieked. "This is disgusting!!"
(Hotel; Arcade)
A gamer was swatted aside as a huge centaur scanned the arcade, looking around. Everyone else saw the size of the monster and decided that it was best to leave him be and let him do what he needed to do.
"I can't believe Bison makes me come down here of all places to find a gem shard." Motaro growled. "I know we lost those shards to the monster, but at least I tried fighting it off. Why couldn't he give this job to Crimson?"
As Motaro wandered through the crowded arcade, he ignored the people whom were looking at him in fear. Mothers held their children close, dates held their hands in fear and anyone stupid enough to actually stand in front of the centaur was brushed away like a fly.
Suddenly, after what felt like an eternity of searching, Motaro finally found the shard he had been assigned to locate. The centaur plucked it from the carpet behind one of the gaming machines and observed it.
"Doesn't look like it'd be very powerful." Motaro mused. "Bison must need a lot of them for this plan of his."
Something suddenly tapped Motaro on the shoulder. The centaur turned his head, only to see a huge, furry fist come flying at his face. Motaro recoiled and let out a roar of pain before getting a good look at his attackers.
The security force stood in front of Motaro, looking either crossed or smirking slyly (in the case of Psymon and Max). Sergei had been the one to hit him and was cracking his huge knuckles.
"Looks like the script was right again." Gumshoe told Max, whom was holding the script in his hands. "You sure it says that the shard is a piece of the Master Emerald?"
"Hey, that's what the script says, mac." Max insisted. "I'm not one to go against the script."
"So you fools think that you can take me?" Motaro asked. "That's a laugh. I am stronger than almost everyone else in my home node. I can take you all at once!"
"Oh. You're not fighting all of us." Gumshoe said. "Let'em have it, Sergei."
The huge Rabbid approached Motaro, his red eyes deepening.
Motaro smirked. "Bring it on. I'll have you know that any of your projectiles will bounce right off of me, however." He explained.
"Hey, that's awesome!" Psymon said excitedly. "Sergei doesn't HAVE projectiles!"
The colour drained from the centaur's face. "Wait. What?"
(The Arena)
"AKUMA!" (SFA3)
The red-haired demonic karate fighter paid no attention to the people cheering or screaming in fright. The red eyes of Akuma were focused on the canvas as he strode down to the ring and stepped in.
R. Mika screamed when she saw that Akuma was coming towards her and leapt to the side. Akuma continued going straight, seemingly ignoring the spandex-clad wrestler.
Iori was holding Roland by the neck of his shirt and was raising his hand, preparing to slash the elf in the face, when he suddenly felt a dark aura coming up from behind. Glancing over his shoulder, Iori saw Akuma approaching him.
The redhead gave a sadistic smirk. "Finally. Someone a little more worthwile." He said as he dropped Roland and jumped at Akuma.
"EILEEN!" (VF)
The second of the two newcomers to Virtua Fighter emerged from the curtain to a loud cheer. Eileen smiled at all of the cheers before taking off down the ramp and leaping into the ring.
Eileen hit the canvas and was quick to race over to Marth. She stopped on the way over for a moment to allow Pyramid Head to stagger past, still trying to get Cham Cham off its helmet, before continuing.
Marth looked up and saw Eileen coming over. "Hmm…I can't say I'm familiar with you." He noted.
"I'm new. That's probably why." Eileen said. "But one of the advantages of being new is the fact that no one sees anything coming!"
"Is that a challenge?" Marth asked with a smirk.
"You know it. Bring it on!"
A hauntingly-familiar chainsaw revving up was suddenly heard, everyone looked up to the entrance curtain, wonder who was making the noise.
"And now, Mystery Fighter…Number…Thirty-two!"
"RANCID!" (Time Killers)
Oddly enough, the crowd exploded with cheers for the green-haired, chainsaw-wielding punk that emerged from the curtain. The UVR veteran fighter smirked as he rotated his arm, walking down to the ring with victory on his mind.
Wario saw Rancid come in and walked over to him, showing that the average-height punk was still quite a bit taller than Wario. "So you think you're so tough just because you carry around a chainsaw?" He asked.
"Hey, this sucker's my trademark." Rancid replied. "I ain't going anywhere without it."
As if to prove this, Rancid thrust his chainsaw at Wario, only to see the plumber calmly waddle out of the way.
"You go right ahead, then. But I have to remind you that carrying around that extra weight is just going to make it harder to swing." Wario taunted.
"YUBER!" (S3)
The black knight emerged from the curtain, standing tall with his head low (probably to cover the facial injuries he had sustained thus far). Two blades suddenly shot from within the sleeves of his black jacket, and when Yuber caught them he raced headfirst down to the ring.
Yuber saw Yamazaki having trouble with Baiken and rushed over kicking the samurai out of the way.
"How're we doing outside of the ring?" Yamazaki asked.
"Not good. We're losing shards left and right." Yuber shook his head. "And now that the emerald's guardian is after us, it'll be even harder to find the remaining shards before he does."
"Well, you can always use the excuse I'd be using." Yamazaki suggested.
"And what may that be?" Yuber asked.
"That since I was in the arena when everything happened, I wouldn't have had any time to stop them."
"…If you weren't on my side, I'd already have gutted you by now."
(Stop!)
The sudden outburst of a song's lyric had caused everything in the arena to stop, everyone looking curiously up at the entrance curtain. Pyramid Head and the Eternal Champion were even frozen in mid-run as they looked up to see what the deal was.
(Hammer time!)
"HAMMA!" (PM)
The Hammer Brother juggled hammers as he walked down to the ring to 'Can't Touch This'. Stepping into the arena, Hamma made quick work of the opposition, throwing hammers at R. Mika, Clark and Eileen.
One of the hammers ended up hitting Captain Falcon on the head, and the pilot approached Hamma with the discarded weapon in hand. "You know, that kinda hurt." He explained. "You should be more careful with these."
"Oh. Gee, thanks pal." Hamma said as he accepted the hammer.
However, the instant Falcon had turned his back, Hamma had drove the hammer straight into Falcon's head from behind.
"SHURA!" (WH)
The young Maui Thai fighter emerged from the curtain to a mixed reaction. The young fighter scanned the ring as he made his way down the ramp, putting a few strategies into his head.
Shura saw Gordon Boman, a member of the Kizuna Encounter node. Seeing him as an easy elimination, Shura rushed him and gave him a hard kick to the back of the head.
Boman staggered forward a couple of steps before spinning around. "You punk! What made you do that?!" He demanded.
"Uh…Oh…You…You didn't really feel that." Shura said, suddenly not liking where this was going.
"BISHAMON!" (DS)
The samurai with possessed armour emerged from the curtain, hand on his katana. The flames circling him in the air followed Bishamon down the ramp until the samurai was in the ring.
Baiken saw Bishamon come in and saw him as a challenge. Sheathing her katana, Baiken rushed over.
Bishamon scanned Baiken over for a little bit. "Can I help you?" He asked in a deep voice.
"Yes. I'm looking for a fight and I think you'll give me a good fight." Baiken explained.
"An excellent choice." Bishamon replied as he got into his stance. "I like your spunk. Let's see if you've got the skill to match."
(Dome; Hallway)
"So you don't know what Bison's planning?" Jak asked.
"Nay. I assume it was because he was afraid Aye'd turn on him." O'Chunks shook his head. "All Aye know is that he's gatherin' those shards of the Master Emerald."
"I don't suppose you overheard anything during your captivity, did you?" Torn asked Nastasia.
"I overheard a few things, but nothing that I could form a complete sentence on." Nastasia sighed. "He kept me in another room as he discussed his plan."
"Then I guess the only thing we can do is try to find this group of people attempting to take Bison down and join them." Jak said.
"I'm with you, Jak." Torn nodded.
The quartet marched down the hallway of the dome, trying to find the group of heroes to assist them in their fight as they had been doing so ever since O'Chunks and Nastasia had reunited. However, they hadn't been having much luck thus far.
"Where do you think they would be?" Torn asked.
"I don't know. They could honestly be anywhere." Nastasia shook her head. "They could be searching the dome for more help or for emerald shards or they could already be going in to take down Bison."
"Well, Bison hasn't seen any of them yet, so you can rule that second possibility out."
The new voice had come in as the quartet was walking through a four-way intersection of hallways. They turned and saw Birdie coming over, brushing his unusual Mohawk with a comb.
"Bison's not gonna take too kindly to you leaving us, pal." Birdie told O'Chunks.
"Ye told me nothing would happen if I cooperated, lad." O'Chunks said, eyes narrowed. "Ye lot betrayed me when ye kidnapped Mimi, and I'm positive that she's either escaped or making you lads miserable."
Birdie looked away. "Both, actually." He muttered under his breath before turning back to O'Chunks. "Well, Bison told me to come search for shards, but now that I've spotted you, I'm sure he wouldn't mind me taking you out as well."
Torn pulled out his gun. "You're gonna have to go through-"
"No, lad. Let me take him." O'Chunks said.
"Uh…You sure, O'Chunks?" Nastasia asked.
"Aye've spent half the tournament forced to work fer these lowlifes." O'Chunks replied, stepping towards Birdie. "I'm actually looking forward to this."
"That's the last mistake you'll ever make, bub." Birdie said as he got into his stance.
(The Arena)
"GANESHA!" (BR)
The portly, older fighter emerged from the curtain and scanned the ring. He saw that Cronos, the prince he had been looking after for a long time, was already eliminated, so double-teaming was out of the question.
"Looks like I'm on my own for the rest of the tournament." Ganesha said as he marched down to the ring. "Shina and Xion don't really like me that much."
Ganesha stepped into the ring. Kid Muscle was instantly in his face. "I'm looking for a fight, old man!" He said. "Think you can manage?"
This amused Ganesha, as he gave a smirk. "You underestimate me, boy." He said as he engulfed himself in a white light.
Kid Muscle's eyes snapped open, because when the light cleared, in Ganesha's place stood an elephant, and one that look perfectly capable of throwing him across the ring easily.
"Oh…Well, crap." Kid Muscle said.
"EDGE!" (S3)
Everyone in the audience instantly heard a loud and obnoxious rant coming from the redhead teen as he stormed down to the ring, but quickly noticed that Edge wasn't even moving his mouth. Instead, the rant was coming from the sword on Edge's back.
"You completely humiliated yourself last year, you fool! What makes you think you can do any better this year?" The Star Dragon Sword asked. "Honestly, even that gorilla that used to wield me had more common sense that you do, and that's saying something because he didn't have any at all!"
"If I didn't have so much respect for Viktor, I would have gotten rid of you ages ago." Edge muttered under his breath as he stepped into the ring.
Yuber heard the rant coming from the Star Dragon Sword and turned to see Edge coming over. "Why is it that wherever I go, that loudmouth sword seems to follow?" He asked.
"I'm not the one to ask." Edge said as he drew the Star Dragon Sword. "Ask him."
"You know that I would never stoop to talking to a sword." Yuber said. "Now hold still while I gut you like a fish."
Edge used the Star Dragon Sword to block Yuber's attack. "I'll have you know that I'm just as stubborn as Viktor." He said.
"Fantastic." Yuber cursed. "That man was so horribly stubborn."
"PIT!" (SSB)
One of the newcomers (and the last of them to enter the tournament), Pit spread his wings and flew down to the ring, holding his two swords in his hands.
Wario looked up and groaned. "Man. Of all freaking people, why does it hafta be him?" He asked. "The kid's so cheap I can never beat him."
Pit landed on the canvas and raced straight at Sagat. The bald man saw him coming and sneered.
"I don't have time for this." Sagat mused as he sent his trademark projectile at Pit.
However, on the way over, Pit crouched and held up a shield. Sagat's energy ball bounced off the shield and struck the tall man in the stomach.
"Oh. So you can reflect, can you?" Sagat asked.
"I'm equipped with enough tools to take on anyone!" Pit said. "Why don't you see for yourself?"
Sagat growled and got into his stance. "Fine."
"ROLENTO SHUGERG!" (SFA3)
To a loud cheer, the military Street Fighter (and last of four Final Fight representatives) emerged from the curtain, holding a grenade. Rolento raced down to the ring and leapt in, soaring over the heads of a few fighters before landing gracefully on his feet.
Ripping the pin from his grenade, Rolento hurled the explosive at Pyramid Head. The grenade hit the evil being and exploded, causing Pyramid Head to roar in pain and throw Cham Cham from its back.
"Get away from that thing, you two!" The Eternal Champion ordered. "It can't die!"
"Comrade, I am not unfamiliar facing off against enemies where I am at a disadvantage." Rolento assured. "I can hold my own."
"I am serious. The creature can't die!" The Champion said. He saw Cham Cham scampering off and sighed in relief. "Well, at least one of them was smart enough to listen to me."
"BLADE!" (EC)
The Eternal Champion's eyes widened at the familiar name. Turning his head, he saw the tall, green-clad bounty hunter coming down to the ring.
"Excellent timing, Blade." The Champion said.
"You need something, boss?" Blade asked.
"See that creature?" The Champion asked, pointing at Pyramid Head. "It is unkillable. It can easily overpower almost everyone currently in the ring."
"So what do you want me to do?"
"I need you to keep people away from it while I focus on getting rid of it." The Champion instructed. "Once that creature is eliminated, the arena will be safer."
"Sure thing, boss." Blade nodded as he armed his wrist-laser and prepared to step into battle.
(Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods?)
(Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?)
(Isn't there a white knight upon a firey steed?)
(Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need)
Several people suddenly heard an old tune starting to play through the speakers. Curiously, some of the fighters stopped their fights to see what was going on.
"And now, the final fighter of this section…"
"CHANG KOEHAN!" (KOF)
(I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night!)
(He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and he's gotta be fresh from a fight!)
(I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light!)
(He's gotta be sure and he's gotta be soon and he's gotta be larger than life!)
On any other day, 'Holding out for a Hero' wouldn't have fit Chang at all. However, tonight the song seemed to fit him immensely. Chang was wearing the familiar skincap on his head and there was a cape wafting behind him as he jogged down to the ring determinedly.
Chang leapt into the ring and set his sights on Yamazaki. He saw that he was fighting Eileen and rushed in.
"Take this, criminal!!" Chang roared as he swung his wrecking ball, smashing it into the side of Yamazaki's head.
"Ow! What the crap?!" Yamazaki said before realizing what Chang was wearing.
"You shall not continue your evil deeds any longer, scum!" Chang ordered. "You worst nightmare has arrived and it's name is 'The Koehan'!"
The crowd erupted in cheers for the return of the fan-favourite superhero Chang had become last year.
Yamazaki groaned. "Aw, man. Not again."