Are you ready to RUMBLE!? A quick announcement, then the first fights begin!
Also, as a heads up so I don't have to keep saying who's speaking each time:
"This speech type means that Donald is announcing!"
"And this one means Goofy is announcing!"
With that out of the way, let the Tournament continue!
After the opening ceremony, all 16 teams went to their own respective waiting rooms to get ready. Up on the big screen of the stadium, the bracket was being determined, with everyone watching in anticipation of who would fight who. As it was all left up to chance, no one knew who would get to go first, or even who the first match would be.
"And now the announcement of the first-round matches!" Goofy called.
The symbols of each team of the screen all got scrambled up, and when they finally stopped, the matches were revealed.
The Animilitia vs. The Worst Team
Double Trouble vs. Dream Keepers
Adam's Adventurers vs. Dream Chasers
The MonStars vs. Magia Genus
Dance Magic vs. Princess Power
Edgy Extraterrestrials vs. Team Anti-Heroes
Team Remake vs. Underdog X
The Aline-Cats vs. Team Second Chance
"Wait, I gotta fight the rage guy!?" Soren shouted, panic in his voice.
"Oh, that's an unexpected first fight," Brooklyn noted. "I kinda felt like they would be more of a final match event."
"Fighting one of my friends first…" Silver muttered to himself. He shook his head and looked determined. "That just means I have to give it my all!"
"The Phantasm, I've heard rumors about him and his powers," Rachel said. "We must be careful around him and his team."
"Great job with the random fights, author," Deadpool said, rolling his eyes behind his mask. "Oh well, cutting down some edgelords will be fun."
"Underdog X, let's do our best!" Logan cheered for his team.
"Uh, I don't know about beating up a team of cute cats," Neville said nervously.
"Now then, the first match will begin shortly!" Donald announced.
[***]
After a short intermission, The Animilitia and The Worst Team lined up on either side of the field. Soren's team got into formation, with Soren and Skylar in the front, Buddy and Makuu on the sides, and Steelbeak in the back. Genesis was standing front and center, with his teammates standing behind him.
"As a reminder, here are the rules," Donald announced. "The last team standing wins, and knockouts count one the opponent is either knocked unconscious, pinned for ten seconds, or forfeit the match."
"Good luck out there!" Goofy added.
Tinkerbell flew down and held out a bell, ringing it to start the match. Genesis immediately jumped into battle aiming for Soren, only for him to be stopped by Steelbeak, the rooster smirking as he held the boy back.
"I'll be taking on the kid here," Steelbeak said, flipping Genesis onto his back. "The rest of you, take out his posse!"
The Animilitia did just that, splitting up and chasing the rest of the Worst Team around. Skylar chased Darwin while avoiding the guinea pig's spy gadgets, Makuu chasing Maggie, Buddy chasing Chicken Little, and Soren getting the drop on Milo.
"You know, considering that you don't have any powers, I feel kinda bad about this," Soren said, pulling out a joy buzzer and giving a shock to Milo, knocking him out. Once that was over, Milo was covered in blue sparkles and disappeared from the field.
"And the first knock out goes to Soren!"
"Gawrsh, that was a fast one."
Genesis let out a grunt of frustration, glowing red as he punched Steelbeak away. The two started brawling, with Steelbeak occasionally using his steel beak to try and headbutt his opponent. Meanwhile, Chicken Little screamed as he ran from Buddy, but then turned around and stood his ground.
"Okay dog, go fetch!" he shouted, pulling out a baseball and tossing it. Buddy immediately started going after the ball, which let Chicken Little take a sigh of relief. That feeling was quickly mitigated when Soren pulled out a pie and tossed it in his face, knocking Chicken Little's glasses away and covering him from head to toe in cream. "Aw great, now it's just like gym class all over again!"
"Buddy, come back here!" Soren ran off after his teammate. "Now's not the time for playing fetch!"
Over with Skylar, he finally managed to pin the guinea pig. "Hey Mr. Guinea Pig, do you think you could surrender? That would make this much easier for us."
Darwin struggled a big, but then sighed a relented. "To think I'd be taken out by a flying cat… Oh well, I surrender." He faded into sparkles and was eliminated.
"That's two for Soren's team now!"
"Okay, enough of this!' Genesis shouted, his rage peaking. He held out his hand and conjured a red sword, which then quickly was set on fire.
"Wait, he's got magic too!?" Soren squawked.
"Hey guys, I've got this cow pinned over here!" Makuu called, having gotten Maggie into a hold with his jaws. "Hm, I kinda want to try what cow tastes like now. Is it any different from buffalo?" Soon Maggie was eliminated as well, with Makuu smirking victorious. "Aw yeah, that's three down, and two to- "
Genesis aimed his sword at Makuu, sending out a wave of flame that engulfed the crocodile. With a cry of pain, Makuu was left comically covered in ash before giving a cough and slumping over, defeated.
"A brutal elimination from Genesis!"
"Luckily for the contestants, Mickey set up a special spell so that all injuries are instantly healed after an elimination."
"No more playing around!" Genesis screamed. He rushed at Soren with a murderous look in his eye, only for Steelbeak to surprise him with a punch to the gut.
"Your fight is with me, kid," Steelbeak said, delivering another gut punch. "I used to be dumb muscle like you, but I got smarter, unlike you."
"Don't call me dumb!" Genesis growled, pushing back against the rooster as they resumed their battle.
Meanwhile, Buddy finally managed to drop the baseball, which Soren quickly took away so that Chicken Little couldn't use it again. "Buddy, if you want to play fetch, then go get the chicken," Soren commanded.
The dog barked and did just that, with Chicken Little panicking and backing himself into a corner. "Okay, I'm warning you, back off!" he said, trying to be brave. When the dog didn't go away, Chicken Little closed his eyes and screamed, pulling baseballs out of nowhere and chucking them wildly as he couldn't see his opponents without his glasses. Buddy let out a while and ran for cover, with Soren and Skylar flying around trying to dodge the balls coming their way.
"And Chicken Little is going all out with his pitching arm today, folks! He used that move to help Sora, Donald and I a few times."
"Duck, dodge, weave bob!" Skylar called as the two Jaquins dodged the projectiles.
Meanwhile, Steelbeak and Genesis continued their duel, with the rooster expertly dodging the attacks of the raging boy, going in close and karate chopping his sword arm, forcing Genesis to drop it. With all the baseballs flying around, Genesis grabbed a few and ignited them, tossing them at Steelbeak and adding more chaos to the mix.
"Genesis sure is scary with his rage powers. This is why I take therapy, people. It lets me channel my rage into protecting my family and not lashing out at everyone."
With all the projectiles flying around, it was inevitable that one of them would eventually hit someone. Just as a flaming baseball was going directly at Soren, Skylar quickly flew in the way and took the hit, singeing his wings a bit and falling to the ground. Luckily for the jaquin, he landed right on top of Chicken Little, knocking him out from having the much larger jungle cat landing on top of him.
"Oh now, Skylar!" Soren said, worry in his voice.
"It's fine kid, just a few burned feathers," Skylar said, wincing a bit as he flapped his wings. "Okay, yeah, I won't be able to fly right now, but we only have Genesis to deal with. So let's go help Steelbeak win this!"
Soren nodded, then gave a grin of playful trickery. "I think I have a feline idea that we could use."
While Steelbeak was still on the advantage in the fight, Genesis' growing rage was starting to overpower him. The boy ripped into the ground and started tossing chunks of the area at Steelbeak, which was becoming harder and harder to dodge. Just as it looked like the fight would turn around, Genesis let out a surprised cry as a bucket of paint was dropped onto his head, coating his body blue and making him struggle to get the can off.
"It worked!" Soren cheered, floating above where he dropped the can. "Steelbeak, Skylar, let's end this!"
Skylar positioned himself behind the struggling Genesis while Steelbeak pushed him, making the boy fall over onto his butt as he tripped over the jaquin. Just as he finally managed to pull the bucket off of his head, Soren hovered in front of him, holding out a paw. Genesis angerly grabbed it, only to get a nasty shock as he fell for Soren's joy buzzer gag. The boy slumped over, finally defeated as the bell rang.
"And the first match goes to… The Animilitia!"
"A great match to start the event off with!"
Soren beamed with happiness that he had won, while Skylar hoisted the smaller jaquin onto his back and Steelbeak just smirked. The three then when to go heal up after the fight, the crowd cheering for them all the way.
"In the end, the brains of Soren's team managed to beat out the brawn of Genesis," Brooklyn said.
"But if you think about it, Genesis had a good setup, in a way," Gabriel said. He shook his head. "It's kind of sad, but Genesis set himself up to intentionally get mad. Being "The Worst Team" sets you up for having low self-esteem and loathing, thus increasing his anger."
"Geez, that's kind of sad, now that you mention it," Jasiri noted.
"Either way, we're up next," Lena said.
"Then let's do our best, team!" Kairi encouraged.
[***]
Gabriel blinked as he stood across from Ditto, who looked like an exact copy of the raven. The Dream Keepers stood behind Gabriel, ready for the fight.
"And strategies, leader?" Jasiri asked.
"Tyrone isn't that dangerous, but Leroy and Sentibug are problematic," Gabriel said. "Sentibug can do anything Ladybug can, and Leroy is Stitch but stronger in every way. Luckily, I know his weakness, but you guys will have to cover me while I get that ready."
"Got it," the team responded.
Tinkerbell came down and rang bell, and the match began. Ditto shifted into Brooklyn and met the gargoyle head on, clashing blades with each other. Jasiri summoned illusionary hyenas to protect herself and Gabriel from Leroy, with the evil experiment ripping through the illusions as fast as she could make them. Kairi backed up her teammate by casting Water, which made Leroy back away after being splashed.
"Huh, so he does share a weakness to water with Stitch," Gabriel commented. He used his magic to summon bongo drums, setting them up for his plan. "Jasiri, an elephant will be a nice distract as well."
"On it!" the hyena replied. Summoning an elephant, Jasiri laughed as she rode the beast above everyone else, making their opponents scramble as it stomped around.
"You're good, I'll give you that," Brooklyn said, pushing against Ditto. He grabbed his katana and started to dual wield his swords. "But don't think you can copy all of my moves."
"And why would I want to do that?" Ditto replied, drawing his own swords. "I wouldn't want to have your sorry excuse for a love life."
Brooklyn growled, eyes glowing white with anger. "Don't even go there, faker," he warned, clashing once more.
Lena sent some magic bolts at Leroy, but then quickly ducked when June came in for a karate kick. Focusing on the new opponent, the teenage duck grabbed June in her telekinesis, holding the girl in the air.
"Hey, no fair, Lena!" June complained, crossing her arms as she was held upside down.
"Sorry sis, but you're my best friend's clone sister, so I know all of Webby's tricks by now," Lena said.
June rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine, I'll give you this one." She then disappeared as she was eliminated.
"Don't worry about losing, June. Daisy and I will take you and your sister out for dinner tonight."
"Donald, shouldn't we be focusing on the match?"
"Oh, right! It looks like Sentibug is about to make her big play!"
"Senti Charm!" Sentibug called out, holding up her yo-yo to use her special move. The copycat hero summoned a rocket launcher, which she immediately pointed at Gabriel as he summoned more instruments.
"Look out!" Lena called, getting in front of her partner and putting up a shield. She blocked the incoming rocket, but was then blindsided by Leroy, who threw Lena into the arena's wall, knocking her out of the fight.
"I think we need to change up opponents," Jasiri said. "Brooklyn, go for Leroy, and Kairi, focus on Sentibug. I'll take on Ditto."
The teammates nodded and got to work, with Brooklyn proceeding to use his swords to swipe and Leroy (luckily being enchanted to be unbreakable by normal means), and Jasiri having to face her own double. Kairi put up a Barrier to block another rocket attack from Sentibug, then used her Starcracker attack to counter her enemy.
"Hey, stop ignoring me already!" Tyrone shouted, running at Gabriel.
The raven looked over and quickly got an idea. Grabbing the bongos he summoned, he switched the beat and did a big slam attack, sending out a wave of water at the clone. Tyrone gasped as the water rushed over him, melting the paper clone and eliminating him. "Don't think I didn't remember your weakness," Gabriel said. "You may be Dipper's clone, but you're still paper in the end."
Kairi and Brooklyn were quickly getting pushed back against each other, pinned on either side by Leroy and Sentibug. "Brooklyn, I think I have an idea," Kairi said.
"Anything is good enough for me," the gargoyle replied.
"Then hold on tight," she warned. "Team Attack: Burning Flight!" Using her magic, Kairi lifted herself and Brooklyn into the air, summoning a pair of burning wings to keep them aloft. Brooklyn grinned and smashed his fists together, activating his kinetic gloves that started burning with fire as well.
"Phoenix Smash!" Brooklyn called, dropping to the ground like a meteor. Sentibug tried using her yo-yo as a shield, but the block failed, sending her flying away as Kairi rained down burning feathers to distract Leroy and Ditto.
"That's another elimination for Team Dream Keepers!"
"Ugh, this isn't going how I planned," Ditto growled as he fought Jasiri. "We were going to easily overwhelm you with Sentibug and Leroy's powers, with the rest of us distracting you!"
"Wow, way to tell us your entire plan," Jasiri said. "Gabriel made sure to plan for everyone to have an equal part to our victory. And I think I know how to beat you as well." She summoned a giant lion spirit to stand over her. "You can copy my form and skills, but you can't copy my magic, can you?"
Ditto gulped, then screamed as he was pounced upon by the lion, fading into sparkles as he was eliminated.
"…And done!" Gabriel said, summoning a ukulele to play.
"Just in time, too," Kairi said, landing next to the raven. "Brooklyn's holding off Leroy for now, so give it your best shot, leader!"
Brooklyn grunted as his swords were knocked away by Leroy, the experiment laughing as he pounced on the gargoyle. Just as he was about to finish off Brooklyn, Gabriel strummed his ukulele while Jasiri played the bongos, Kairi feeling Gabriel's magic as it brought a song to her mind.
"Hey Leroy, remember this number!?" Gabriel shouted.
Aloha ʻoe, aloha ʻoe
E ke onaona noho i ka lipo
One fond embrace
A hoʻi aʻe au
Until we meet again
As Kairi sang, Leroy grabbed his head in pain, his eyes glowing green as he glitched out and slumped over. Brooklyn let out a held breath and stood up, glad that his opponent had been dealt with. "how'd you know that song would work?" he asked.
Gabriel smiled. "Jumba may be an evil scientist, but he puts a failsafe in all of his experiments so he can control them."
"And with that final performance, Gabriel's team wins the second round!"
"Oh boy, that sure was a fun one!"
As Gabriel's team took a bow of victory, Ditto stood off to the side, then slunk away into the shadows. "It's not over here. I've just got to get into character…"
Author's Notes
As I said last chapter, all matchups were chosen at random, so even I was surprised at who was going to fight who! This story is hopefully going to help me write better fight scenes, so feel free to comment on how I'm doing in that regard.
The first match was interesting, as while Genesis has his rage-induced strength, his team was very ill suited for a fight. Soren on the other hand has a more well-rounded set up, with Steelbeak being the stand-out player here. Don't underestimate the little Jaquin either, as his pranks make him like a good guy version of the Joker!
As for Gabriel versus Ditto, I was a bit disappointed that they would be fighting so soon, but then I realized that it could have great story potential! Gabriel's knowledge on Disney makes him a good strategist here, but it's his reliance on believing in his teammates to know what to do that's his true strength. Of course, it looks like Ditto isn't going away after one match, so look out for him…