Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story.
"Hoo boy! That was a fantastic battle!" Grubba praised, having summoned Team Sky to his office. "You guys are getting crazier, and I love it! I can imagine the ratings going through the roof over this!"
"Ah, it was nothin'." Sora said, rubbing his nose with a chuckle.
"So! Ya got a name for this little guy?" Grubba asked.
"Hmm, haven't really thought of a name for him." Vivian mused. "Oh, I got it! Shadow!"
"Nah... how about Midnight." Koops said.
"Nightshade?" Mario suggested.
"Blackberry? ...Nah, that's dumb." Luigi said.
"Dusk!" Sora suggested.
"Hmm... Eira! Wait no, that sounds feminine." Grubba mused. "Cramoisi? …Nah, I think that'll work on a different colored Yoshi."
"How about Nocturne?" A voice spoke up as they turned to see Jolene. "Oh, sorry, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation."
"Oh, I like Nocturne. It's fitting for me!" The Yoshi smiled.
"Then it's decided! And I got a good name for you... the Nocturnal Nightmare!" Grubba said, but everyone stared at him in confusion. "...No? Eh, I'll come up with something else."
"So, was summoning us here just to congratulate us?" Koops asked.
"Pretty much, and to promote ya to the Major Leagues. You've earned it!"
"I have a question." Sora said. "So, the Elite Four that that Rawk Hawk guy mentioned in the ring, are they the top four on the roster or...?"
"Nope. You'll fight the Elite Four and Rawk Hawk after you work your way to the top. Think of it like the Elite Four in the Pokemon regions. You can't just fight the first three gyms and then have the Elite Four be in the last four gyms. Work your way to the Pokemon League and then you'll be able to fight the best of the best before fighting the champion himself."
"Oh... I don't know what a Pokemon is, but I think I understand it!" Sora grinned.
"That's my boy!" Grubba smiled. "Jolene'll show ya to the Major League room."
With a nod, Jolene escorted them to the Major Leagues and once they were in there, Jolene would walk out as they would get themselves settled in.
"So… now what?" Luigi asked… and suddenly, the door opened up.
"Make way, champion coming through!" Rawk Hawk said, walking through. "So, word on the street is that some punk team is making some noise around these parts and rising through the ranks!" He said and then spotted the team. "Aha! So it's you. You've been making waves around here and you're pretty much stealing my fans! I'm warning you, if you even think about-"
"We're stealing your fans? Buddy, your ego is showing… so I advise that you put your ego back in your pants before I burn it off myself." Vivian said in a low threatening voice.
"Tch, you don't scare me." Rawk Hawk smirked, eyes locked with Vivian while Luigi noticed something about the champion belt.
"Hmm…" He mused, taking a closer look, as did Nocturne.
"What'ya thinkin'?"
"Just as I thought… it's fake."
"Yup, it doesn't look shiny enough. Dude's a poser."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Rawk Hawk yelled as he snarled at Nocturne. "You have five seconds to take that back or I'll-"
"You'll do what?" Vivian spoke up, fire conjuring in her hand. "Don't make me burn off those feathers of yours."
"Rrrgh… you'll regret that." Rawk Hawk said, walking off and slammed the door behind him, then Nocturne blew a raspberry at him.
"Okaaaay, dude needs to be taken down a few pegs." Sora said with everyone agreeing.
"So if the Crystal Star wasn't there… where could it be?" Mario wondered… and then Sora's pager went off, causing him to jump.
"Ah! Oh that's right…" He said as he pulled it out as everyone gathered around him.
"If you want the Crystal Star, heed my instructions. From X."
"This is the same person who gave me this pager… not sure who X is though." Sora said.
"Well, it's better than nothing, I guess?" Luigi shrugged. "Least this X guy knows where it's at."
"Yeah." Mario nodded, walking to the screen on the wall which was a built in Switch as Mario pressed the button.
"Heeeey! How do you like the new console? Better than the last one, no?"
"Pretty much!" Sora nodded.
"Fantastic! Now then, for your next fight, you will be fighting #9 in the Glitz Pit, the Lionness!"
"I'll-a go!" Mario said.
"Alright, you have fun in there!"
With a nod, Mario gave his teammates a thumbs up and ran into the arena.
"Alriiiiight! For this next match, we have the Great Gonzales going against the Lion Queen herself, give it up for… Leeeooooneeee!"
Mario raised an eyebrow, seeing Leone approach him. "You have a thing for lions, I take it?"
"Oh, I suppose you can say that." Leone chuckled, squaring up as did Mario.
"Let's get ourselves ready to… BAAAAAAAAATLLEEEE!"
BGM: Gekisen (Akame Ga Kill) (Start at 1:33)
Glitz Pit Fighter #9 - The Lionness (Leone)
Leone jumped into the fray, punching at Mario but he jumped back as he would throw some fireballs at her. Leone responded by batting a few fireballs away while soaking in the other. Mario jumped in and delivered an uppercut to her gut and then sweep kicked her to the side.
Leone smirked, punching at Mario but he would block the attack before pulling out his hammer and countering with a hammer to the gut, which Leone would respond by giving him a right hook to his head, knocking him back a little as Leone would pounce with sheer strength and ferocity with her punches, but Mario stood stong, blocking with his arms until he found an opening and used a fiery uppercut to her chin, snapping her head back as Mario jumped up and kick flipped her to knock her further.
"Mmph… heh!" Leone smirked. "Alright, let's kick it up a notch! HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" She roared as Mario would see her gaining claws, lion ears… and her hair got even longer, like a mane.
"Ooooh, that explains it." Mario nodded before realizing something. Uh oh… if I don't dodge these attacks, I'm more than likely gonna be in a world of hurt! He thought.
Leone pounced again, swiping her claws at Mario as he backflipped away, throwing fireballs at her but she batted them away like they were nothing as she swiped at Mario, forcing him to barely dodge in time before she slugged him in the gut and then flip kicked high into the air, then she jumped up and axe kicked him to the ground.
"Ooogh…" Mario groaned before rolling out of the way to avoid getting crushed by Leone, then he leapt into action, pulling out his hammer and igniting it as he jumped forward and swung his hammer down, but Leone grabbed a hold of it with a smirk.
However, Mario reached into his pocket and pulled out an Ice Flower, absorbing it as he threw down ice at Leone's feet, freezing them solid. "Huh?!" Leone said in surprise as Mario then threw an ice punch to her abdomen to make her hunch over, then Mario pulled the hammer away as he then delivered solid swings to her face. She attempted to scratch him with her claws, but Mario jumped back.
"Alright, that's it!" Leone punched the ice to free herself. "You're going down!" She yelled as she lunged at Mario. "HRAAAAAH!" She yelled, pulling back her fist while Mario stood there and threw down a mighty punch… but Mario ducked and then sweep kicked her to trip her up, and then he grabbed her by the leg and spun her around until he threw her out of the ring, which slammed her into the wall.
End BGM
"Ringout! Give it up for the Great Gonzaleeeees!" Grubba exclaimed as Leone got up and shook it off as she gave Mario a glare… before giving him a thumbs up with a playful grin on her face.
Back in the Major League room, Mario walked back in, rolling his shoulders and high fiving Luigi. "Way to go, bro!" Luigi praised.
"Man, not even I would thought of something like that!" Sora grinned.
"That was so cool!" Nocturne exclaimed, as Luigi would then hit the button on the screen.
"Now that was a way to end the match, that was amazing! Now then, for your next opponent, you'll be facing #8 in the Glitz Pit, the Ramen Bomber!"
"I'll give it a whirl!" Luigi said.
"Alright! See you there!"
"Ramen Bomber? Is that who I think it is?" Mario asked.
"Pretty much." Luigi nodded while the others pictured a bomber plane dropping ramen as Luigi walked in.
"Alriiight! For this match up, we have the the Green Thunder going against the Ramen Queen, give it up for Min Miiiiiin!"
"MIN MIN FOR THE WIN WIN!" The crowd cheered.
"Luigi? I didn't know you'd be participating in this tournament." Min Min said.
"I could say the same to you." Luigi said.
Min Min smirked. "Well… let's have a good fight then!" She said, activating her ARMs.
"Let's arm ourselves up for a… BAAAATTLLLLLEEE!" Grubba yelled, which prompted Luigi and Min Min to look at him weirdly. "…What?"
BGM: ARMS Grand Prix Official Theme Song (Super Smash Bros Ultimate)
Glitz Pit Fighter #8 - The Ramen Bomber (Min Min)
Min Min rushed over to Luigi, throwing her Dragon Arm at him as it fired a laser, but Luigi would nimbly dodge as he rushed over, quickly avoiding the Ram Ram arm as he would deliver a solid punch, with Min Min blocking with a kick as Min Min would then flip kick to knock Luigi back as she would then throw her Ram Ram for good measure, then attempted to hit him with a laser, but the laser was slightly off where Luigi would land on the ground and fired electricity from his Thunder Hand, stunning her for a few seconds where Luigi would run over and delivered swift jabs and a body slam right after.
"Mmph!" Min Min grunted before switching her Ram Ram to the Megawatt. "Chī diǎn zhège ba!" (Have some of this!) She yelled, before thrusting her arms forward as Luigi jumped over the arms and kicked Min Min in the face, but this caused her to smirk once he jumped off, as Min MIn grabbed a hold of him and pulled him close before flurry kicking him, then sending him away with a kick and then threw her Megawatt to smack him in the face to send him flying. "Bèi wǒ shuǎ dàole!" (Got ya!)
Luigi shook it off, getting back up and rubbing his nose, then getting in a stance and doing a 'come at me' gesture, causing Min Min to chuckle before running to him, switching to another Dragon Arm as she threw both Dragon Arms at him, where he would jump over the dragons as he used a Luigi Missile, hitting her in the face to knock her back as he would then pull out his Poltergust and fired a plunger, sticking her on the chest.
"Huh?" Min Min wondered before Luigi turned around and lifted Min Min up in the air. "Mā de!" (Oh shit!) She yelped as she was slammed into the ground a few times a la Luigi's Mansion 3 as she got back up a little dazed, rubbing her head as Luigi ran over and clobbered her a few times while flailing his arms until Min Min would block with her leg and would grab him with her ARMS… until Luigi wrapped his whole body with electricity to electrocute her. "Gyaaagh!" She yelped, dropping Luigi as he ran over and used a point blank Super Jump Punch to send her flying into the air.
"Ai yaaaaah!" Min Min cried, falling out of the ring as a result.
End BGM
"KO! Give it up for the Green Thunder!" Grubba exclaimed as Luigi walked over to Min Min and helped her up.
"You alright?"
"I'll be fine…" Min Min chuckled, as Luigi wrapped his arm around her to help her walk back to the Major League, where they would gently set her down.
"Hey, where's Vivian?" Luigi wondered.
Meanwhile, in the Minor League room…
Vivian popped up on the other side of the wall, finding some kind of storage room. "Okay… where is it?" She wondered, holding the pager in her hand.
"Do you remember seeing a large block in the Minor League Room? Let your ghost friend go through it and find a piece of paper. - X"
"Where could it… oh?" Vivian found the Dubious Paper after some searching. "…Schematics? Schematics for what?" She wondered before texting in the pager.
"I got the paper for… some schematic thing. What do I do with it? - Vivian"
"Go to the storage room and leave the paper there. - X"
"Ooookay then." Vivian said and then went underground, popping up in the room and leaving the paper on the ground. "It's done. What now?"
"Go back to the Major Leagues and wait for further instruction. - X"
"Okay, if you say so." Vivian said and then went underground again… and then a phone rang nearby as Joker landed on the ground.
"The paper is in the storage room. Get it and go back to the other Major League room to look at it with your team. Then go back into the storage room and go into the ventilation, preferably with quiet teammates. - X"
Joker walked over to it, picking it up as he read it over. "Interesting…" He mused as he quickly disappeared out of the room.
Back in the Major League room…
"What did the X guy want?" Sora asked.
"Honestly, I wish I knew." Vivian shrugged as Mario hit the button on the screen.
"That was something fantastic! Now, for your next match, you'll be going against #7 in the Glitz Pit, the Masters of the Martial Arts!"
"I think we'll give it a go." Koops said. "You ready, Nocturne?"
"Ready!" Nocturne nodded.
"Great! See you in the ring!"
"Let's do this!" Nocturne grinned with Koops nodding as they walked into the ring.
"For this next match, we have the Koopinator and the Shadow of Despair-"
"Really?" Nocturne raised an eyebrow.
"-going against the Masters of the Hadoken, give it up fooooor… Ryu and Keeeeeen!"
"Huh, not every day we fight a Koopa and a Yoshi." Ken said.
"Regardless, we will not go easy on these two." Ryu said.
"We're ready for ya!" Koops said as they squared up.
"Let's get ourselves ready to… BAAAATTLLLLEEEE!"
BGM: Ken's Theme (Street Fighter V)
Glitz Pit Fighters #7 - The Masters of the Martial Arts (Ryu and Ken)
Koops and Nocturne ran to the duo, as Ryu and Ken held their ground. "HADOKEN!" Ken yelled, forcing Koops to go into his shell and spin toward Ken, hitting him in the knee while Ryu attempted to punch at Nocturne, but he jumped back and threw an egg at his face, hitting him accurately but Ryu would throw a Hadoken at him, but Nocturne would swallow it up and spit it out at him.
Ken attempted to go for a Shoryuken on Koops, but he ducked into his shell and then countered by throwing an uppercut of his own, striking him in the gut… and then Ken used a Tatsumaki Senpukyaku at the same time as Ryu, knocking both of them back as Ryu got close to Nocturne. "SHORYUKEN!" He yelled, striking Nocturne and sending him up in the air… but Nocturne smirked and ground pounded Ryu, slamming into him while Koops went into his shell and Shell Slammed into him.
"Ooof!" Ken grunted before using a Focus Attack, kicking Koops in the face to stun him before kicking Koops away, making him spin away on his shell. Nocturne would see this as he grabbed Koops with his tongue and then swung him around, striking Ken in the face to knock him back where he crashed into Ryu as well as Nocturne then swallowed Koops up and then threw him as an egg, smacking into Ken's face as Koops burst out of the egg and body slammed onto Ken.
Nocturne ran over to Ryu, the latter charging up an attack and then threw a Shakunetsu, but Nocturne slid underneath it and used an uppercut before flutter kicking in his face, and then Ryu Focus Punched him in the face, and then threw a Tatsumaki Senpukyaku to knock him back… and then got in a stance.
"SHINKU… HADOKEN!" Ryu yelled, throwing the massive Hadoken toward Nocturne, causing the latter to smirk and then swallowed it up before popping out an aura-fied egg as he ran toward Ryu as he punched Ryu, only for Ryu to knock him into the air with a Shoryuken.
"Got ya!" Nocturne smirked, throwing the Shinku Hadoken'd Yoshi Egg at him, where it exploded and drilled him into the ground.
"Ryu!" Ken exclaimed… and then was tripped up by Koops shooting himself into the leg and then Nocturne ground pounded him in the head to knock him out.
End BGM
"KO! Give it up for the Koopinator and the Shadow of Despair!"
"…Is that what he's going with officially?" Nocturne wondered.
"'Fraid so."
"Ugh, wonderful." Nocturne mumbled as they walked back into the Major League room… where Jolene would walk in with some cake.
"A fan made this for you. Dig in." Jolene said as she walked out as they went over to enjoy the cake… and after Sora had a slice, he walked over to the Switch and pressed the button.
"You guys are amazing, y'all know that? Anyway, the next match is #6 in the Glitz Pit, the Hyrulian Champion!"
"I'll give it a shot!" Sora said.
"Alright, see you there!"
"Save some cake for me!" Sora requested as he ran to the arena.
"Alriiiight, for this next match up, we have the Sky Warrior going against the Hero of Hyrule himself, iiiiits Liiiiink!"
Sora got in a stance. "Sword and shield combo, eh? Sounds fun."
"Don't get too cocky now." Link said, readying himself.
"Let's get ourselves ready toooo… BAAAATTLLLLEEEE!"
BGM: The Knight Who Seals the Darkness (Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity)
Glitz Pit Fighter #6 - The Hyrulian Champion (Link)
Sora and Link lunged for each other, both of them clashing with their blades as Sora would use an Aerial Slam on him, but midway through, Link dropped a Remote Bomb and detonated it, sending Sora back while Link landed on the ground, then he pulled out his bow and pulled out two arrows, firing at Sora.
Sora would roll out of the way as he rushed ahead and used Sonic Blade, but Link would swiftly block with his shield and countered with a Shield Bash before charging up a Hero Spin and then unleashed it, trapping Sora in the spinning vortex and sent him flying away but Sora Aerial Recovered and unleashed Ragnarok on him.
Link would run to the side, seeing that some of the Ragnarok is following him as Sora would land on the ground and proceed to throw a Strike Raid at him, where Link would slide underneath and slashed at Sora, but he resummoned his Keyblade and blocked the attack, and then parried the attack and slashed Link a few times before hitting him with a Thundaga attack.
Sora would then run over to Link and slashed him, but Link would freeze him in place with a Stasis as he proceeded to slash him in a flurry before Stasis timed out, sending Sora flying back but he Aerial Recovered. Man, this guy's brutal! Sora thought to himself as Link threw his boomerang at him, but Sora would jump to the side and run toward him where the boomerang would come back as Sora slashed at him… and then the boomerang would smack him upside the head as Link jumped back and left him a little present… which was a remote bomb that Link had just detonated.
"Rrrgh!" Sora grunted. That remote that he uses… I gotta get it away from him! He thought as he used Firaga, but Link would block with his shield as Sora Airstepped to him and Reversaled around him as he Aerial Slammed him to the ground, and then Airstepped again with an Ars Arcanum attack, only for Link to block it as he aimed his Sheikah Slate and then suddenly an ice pillar struck Sora from underneath to launch him up in the air and then Link fired a Bomb Arrow at him.
"Gaaaah!" Sora grunted as he landed on his back but he jumped back up. "Alright, that's it…" He growled as he rushed toward Link, where the Hyrulia would pull out his Sheikah Slate again. "STOP!" He yelled, using Stopga on him as Sora Airstepped, grabbed the Sheikah Slate from him and yanked it away as he jumped away.
"Alright, let's see how you like it." He said, fiddling with the controls as a Remote Bomb appeared in his hand, as he tossed it up in the air and then Sora would swing his Keyblade at it, sending the Remote Bomb flying toward Link right as the Stopga spell ended… and Sora detonated the Remote Bomb.
"Agh!" Link grunted as he realized he wasn't holding his Sheikah Slate and before he could react, Sora hit him with a Stasis attack, causing Sora to charge up Ragnarok and fired it, all of it hitting him at once as Link was knocked back, as he let out a growl before rushing toward him but Sora hit him with a Slow spell.
"Alright, what's this one do?" Sora wondered, using Magnesis as the Sheikah Slate pulled the shield off of him. "Cool, it's a shield stealer!" He grinned as he spun the Shiekah Slate around, hitting Link multiple times on the head until Link had enough and grabbed Sora by the collar.
"That's enough!" He said, taking the Sheikah Slate back… and caused the Hylian Shield to land on top of his head. "MMMPH!" He grunted, holding on to his head before falling on his back in defeat.
"Oooh!" Sora winced.
End BGM
"KNOCK OUT! Give it up for the Sky Warrior! …Can someone check to see if he's alright?" He asked as Sora used Curaga on the knocked out Link and then carried him to the Major Leagues.
Meanwhile…
Joker opened up a vent as he jumped down, as Morgana, Fox, Panther and Queen landed with him as they crawled through the ventilation. "It's a good thing we didn't bring Ryuji along… otherwise he'd blow our cover." Morgana said.
"Indeed. Let's see what we can find down here." Fox said as they moved along into the ventilation.
"So, Jolene… I need to ask ya something."
"Shh, hold it!" Joker hushed as they gathered around the vent as they looked down to see Grubba and Jolene in the office.
"Yes, Grubba?"
"Are you a hundred percent certain that fighters are going missing?"
"Yes." Jolene nodded. "They have been going missing left and right… first it was the Luminary, then Jade… and then suddenly, King K started to disappear too."
"Oh good lord… Jade's been missing too? But she put up a good fight against the Elite Four and Rawk Hawk! Ugh… things have been goin' south after Prince Mush ended up disappearin'… hey, do you think that the public knows about this?"
"Not that I'm aware of."
"Good. Keep it like that… although I've heard a rumor that an individual stepped out for a few. Do you think she's alright?"
"She had to go train, but I've heard word that she's on her way back right now."
"Good, but if Team Sky manages to get to her placement, they're just gonna have to skip her for a bit. They shouldn't wait that long… and neither should their fans."
"Indeed."
"By the way, Jolene… where do you run off to? You end up disappearing every so often."
"That is for me to know only." Jolene said as she walked out.
"Huh… was it something I said?"
Up top…
"Fighters are disappearing left and right?" Queen whispered.
"On top of that, those schematics that we read were damning…" Fox mused. "This has to do something with the missing fighters."
"Agreed." Panther nodded.
Down below…
"What in tarnation?! I swear I'm hearing voices on the ceiling!"
"Uh… meow?"
"Oh, just a cat. Never mind! Back to the ring." Grubba said and walked off.
Up top…
"Nice save, Mona!" Panther smiled.
"Aww…" Morgana blushed.
"Hmm…" Joker opened up the vent and jumped down, landing in his room as he moved over to his desk, looking for something before finding a piece of paper that looked eerily similar to the Dubious Paper. "Aha…" He mused as he picked it up, closed it and then firing his grappling hook into the vent, and then climbed up and put the vent lid back on.
"What'd you get?" Queen asked.
"More damning evidence." Joker responded with a smirk as they worked their way back to their own Major League room.
Getting exciting!