Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story.
"That's gonna leave a mark…" Sora said, putting Link down.
"Yeesh… that'll hurt for sure." Luigi grimaced.
"Yup…" Vivian nodded.
"I'll keep an eye on him." Mario said. "I may not look it, but I'm also a doctor."
"Alright." Sora nodded as Luigi walked over to the Switch and pressed the button.
"Heeeey! That was a wonderful fight! You guys are ready to face the final five before facing the Elite Four! For your next matchup, you'll be going against #5 in the Glitz Pit, the Graceful Diva!"
"I'll go!" Luigi said.
"That's great! See you there!"
"Wish me luck!" Luigi smiled and then ran off toward the arena.
"Alrighty, for the next match, we have the Green Thuder going against the Black Tornado, give it up for… Noiiiireeee!"
"Alright, I'm gonna win this match!" Noire boasted.
Luigi brought out his hammer. "Let's not get too carried away."
"Let's get ourselves ready to… BAAAATTLEEEEE!"
BGM: Noire's Theme (Hyperdimension Neptunia V)
Glitz Pit Fighter #5 - The Graceful Diva (Noire)
Noire and Luigi leapt toward each other, swinging their weapons as they clashed, then they jumped back as Noire's hand crackled with electricity as Luigi's hand did the same as they both fired sparks of electricity, both of them colliding as Luigi jumped ahead and swung his hammer, but Noire gracefully backflipped and threw a fireball at him, but he batted it away with the hammer.
Noire got in a stance. "Tornado Sword!" She yelled, swinging at Luigi which pushed him back as he responded with a countering lightning bolt, striking Noire as she brushed it off and jumped toward him, swinging her blade with grace, with Luigi blocking the attack and used an uppercut to knock Noire back as he would then kick her back and threw out a green fireball.
"Hup!" Noire batted away the fireball as she jumped up into the air. "Volcano… DIIIIIVE!" She yelled, attempting to stab him from above but he jumped back as he would then use a Luigi Missile to counter, and then trapped her in a Luigi Cyclone that knocked her away as he then jumped and swung his hammer down, but Noire blocked and gracefully countered, then she swung her sword, hitting Luigi and knocked him back, only for him to hit her with a Thunder Punch to send her sliding as he jumped forward and swung his hammer to knock her away.
"Heh! Not bad…" Noire smirked. "But I'm just getting started!" She said as she closed her eyes and started to glow.
End BGM
Oh no… not again! Luigi thought as Noire went into Black Heart.
"Let's rock!" Black Heart smirked and then noticed Luigi's fear. "Hmm? Ooooh, you're thinking this is gonna be another Blanc incident, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Not to worry, Blanc's the only one with anger issues. So relax, why don't ya? I'm not gonna kill ya!"
Luigi breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, that puts me at ease." He said as he got back in his stance. "Let's-a go!"
"You said it, green guy!"
BGM: Uranus (Megadimension Neptunia VII)
Black Heart flew up in the air, holding her sword with a smirk as she flew down and slashed him, but he backflipped as he pulled out his Poltergust and started to fire a plunger, but she grabbed it. "Oh no, I'm not going out like Min Min." She said, yanking it away as it moved Luigi to her as she smirked, delivering an uppercut to knock him into the air.
"Diagonal Blade Dance!" She yelled, slashing at him gracefully as Luigi was knocked back but he recovered and fired a few thunderbolts, hitting her a few times as Luigi landed, having a smirk on his face, seeming to be enjoying this fight compared to Blanc.
Luigi jumped over and hammered her down, but she gracefully blocked as she added electricity to her sword and then slashed at him to electrify him, only for him to counter with an electric hammer swing, hitting Black Heart as they jumped back as she smirked and started to glow again. "Another one?"
"Next form, baby!" Next Black smirked as she raised her hand up in the air. "Fall Slash!" She yelled, as Luigi looked up as he let out a yelp and rolled out of the way as he fired electricity at her, hitting her directly as he would jump over and trapped her in a Luigi Cycloe to knock her away and then used a Luigi Missile, hitting her with a Misfire as she was pushed back.
Next Black smirked, shaking it off as she ran to Luigi, slashing him a few times and used Tornado Sword and slashed him up in the air and then jumped up, using Volcano Dive to send him crashing to the ground. Luigi sprang back up and shook it off. "You're quite resilient… heh, kinda like me." She said as they both jumped in and swung their weapons, both of them clashing as Next Black would proceed to knee him I nthe gut and then round house kicked him to knock him away, then clasping her hands together and throwing a stream of fire at him.
Luigi rolled out of the way, enveloping his whole body with electricity and zipped away. "Huh?!" Next Black wondered as she looked around, trying to get a decent hit on him but he would zip behind her and deactivated the Thunder Hand, quickly pulling out his Poltergust and fired the plunger, grabbing her on the back and reeled her in.
"Mmph! Not happening!" She yelled as she slashed at him, but he ducked as he then threw her down and body slammed into her, and then before she could try to fight back, he used a point blank Super Jump Punch. "Urrgaaaah!" She cried, as she was reverted back to normal and landed on her back in defeat.
End BGM
"TKO! Give it up for the Green Thunder!"
Luigi walked over to Noire, offering his hand to help her up. "…I don't need to be helped up by you." She said, her arms folded and pouting a little.
Back in the Minor Leagues…
"Noire, I swear, if you don't get out your Tsundere phase…" Blanc mumbled.
"Oi, Noire… this is why you don't have any friends." Neptune shook her head.
At the ring…
"…However, I will admit… that was a great battle." Noire said as she stood up and tried to walk off, but stumbled. "Whoa!" She yelped as Luigi caught her.
"Easy…"
"I don't need help, doofus!" Noire said as she tried to walk. "…Okay, maybe a little."
Back in the Major Leagues…
"Mmph…" Link rubbed his head, feeling back to his normal self as he saw Noire walking in with Luigi. "Oh, Noire… you lost?"
"No, I didn't lose…" Noire blushed. "I was just not in my A game, dummy…"
"She was." Luigi said, causing Noire to roll her eyes and sat down.
"Whatever." She mumbled as Sora hit the button.
"Hoo boy, that was awesome! You're killing it! Now then, for your next match, you'll be facing #4 in the Glitz Pit… the Ex-SOLDIER and the Flower Girl!"
Sora perked up. "Ex-SOLDIER?! Cloud?!" He said. "Put me in there!"
"Oh, uh… put me in there too!" Vivian spoke up. "I haven't fought in a while."
"You got it!"
"Oh ma, this is gonna be so cool!" Sora grinned.
"Head in the game, big guy… let's do it!" Vivian said.
"Yeah!" Sora nodded, high fiving Vivian as the two took off to the arena while another cake was brought in.
"Ooooh! A little pick me up!" Link said.
"Wait… something feels off about this, but I can't figure out what it is…" Nocturne said as Link happily ate it up… and immediately fell over.
"Ack! Nngh! What… was in this cake…!"
"Oh, you dummy! You ate it in one sitting, you got indigestion or something!" Noire said. "…Wait… why is he turning purple?! OH MY GOSH, HE GOT POISONED!"
"Stand aside, I know what to do here!" Mario said as he went right to work.
"Alright, for the next match, we have the Sky Warrior and Burning Poltergeist against the Man with the Buster Sword and his smokin' hot girlfriend, give it up fooooor… Cloooud and Aeeeriiiith!"
"Huh, I never expected to see you here." Cloud said.
"Neither did I!" Sora smiled.
"Well, let's see how much stronger you've gotten."
"Same to you!"
"I won't go easy on you!" Aerith said, readying her staff.
"Good, neither will I." Vivian smirked.
"Let's get ourselves ready to… BAAAATTLEEEEE!"
BGM: Let The Battles Begin! (Final Fantasy VII Remake)
Glitz Pit Fighters #4 - The Ex-SOLDIER and the Flower Girl (Cloud and Aerith)
Sora and Cloud rushed to each other, both of them clashing with their blades as they both jumped back as Sora switched to his Ultima as Cloud threw down a Wave Beam, but Sora rolled out of the way and Airstepped to Cloud, catching him off guard as Sora Aerial Slammed him to the ground and then used Triple Firaga, but Cloud rolled out of the way and threw a Firaga on his own. Sora Aerial Dodged it and landed on the ground, right where Cloud wanted him and cast a Thundaga, hitting him dead on as Cloud then jumped in and slashed him.
Sora recovered and used Strike Raid, but Cloud would deflect it with his Buster Sword as he cast Aeroga at him, knocking Sora up in the air but he recovered right when Cloud jumped in as Sora countered and pushed Cloud away as he Airstepped to him and slashed him a few times, but then Cloud would Cross Slash him to counter, then used Climhazzard, slamming him into the ground.
Cloud backed up and got in a stace, charging up an attack as Sora sprang back up and used Blizzaga Pursuit to pierce through him and then used Thundaga right after. "Rrrgh…!" Cloud grunted as he charged ahead as did Sora, both of them clashing. "I see you've learned a few new tricks."
"Could say the same to you!" Sora said, parrying Cloud's Buster Sword and hit him with an Ars Arcanum, and then used Stun Impact to knock Cloud away, as Cloud glowed a blue aura while Sora used Zantetsuken but Cloud blocked and used Finishing Touch to knock Sora up in the air and Cloud jumped up and swung his sword down, sending him crashing to the ground.
Cloud landed next to him and swung his sword up, but Sora used Stop on him and then sprang back up, then jumped away and used Ragnarok, striking Cloud and Stop timed out, sending Cloud sliding. "Alright… here we go." He said, closing his fist as it started to glow. "Let's go!" He said, summoning Ifrit.
"Well, if you want to do it like that…" Sora smirked. "Then let's even the odds! LET'S GO!" He yelled, summoning a giant screen… and then Ralph came crashing down.
"I'M GONNA WRECK IT!" He yelled and then saw Ifrit, causing him to pale. "Sweet mother hubbard… you want me to fight that?"
"Pretty much! Go get him, big guy!"
"…If you say so!" Ralph said as he ran ahead as did Ifrit, both of them slugging each other before resulting in a massive slugfest between the two while Cloud and Sora parried each others attacks.
"Where did you find that guy?"
"Would you believe me if I said a world with animate toys?"
"…I'm afraid to ask." Cloud mumbled as the two kept going at it until Cloud was knocked back. "Alright… you asked for it." He said as he launched ahead, slashing Sora up in the air and unleashed Omnislash on him… but this wasn't any ordinary Omnislash, it was Omnislash Ver. 5 as multiple swords surrounded Sora as he proceeded to hit him with every single one in a blink of an eye as Cloud would then slam into Sora and crashed into the ground in a mini explosion.
"Aaagh!" Sora cried as he fell to the ground, but slowly got up as he used a Cure spell on himself. "Alright… here we GO!" He yelled, suddenly going into the Ultimate Form and summoning swords out of thin air.
"What the…?!" Cloud wondered as Sora Airstepped to him and proceeded to slash him around until he jumped back and directed the swords to him, impaling him as he attempted to block these but he would get hit from all around as the swords disappeared as Cloud got on one knee, glaring at Sora. "Let's finish this."
"I couldn't agree more!" Sora said as the two got into a stance and then lunged at each other, slashing through each other and resulting in a stand still, back to back as Sora let out a groan and fell on both knees… while Cloud smirked.
"Well fought…" He said before collapsing right as Ralph, who had received many burns, delivered a massive uppercut to knock Ifrit down for good.
"Cloud!" Aerith yelped as she was knocked back, then reached for a Phoenix Down and tried to revive him, but Vivian would pop up and snagged the Phoenix Down. "No!"
"Sorry about this." SHe said, using Fiery Jinx with a snap of her fingers.
End BGM
"YAAAAAGH!" Aerith cried as the fire dissipated as a burnt Aerith fell to the ground in defeat… but Vivian would use the Phoenix Down to repair her wounds while also helping her up.
"Toasty! Give it up for the Sky Warrior and the Burning Poltergeist!"
"Whew, that was a heck of a fight." Vivian said as both Ralph and Ifrit both disappeared as she helped Sora up and brought them all back to the Major Leagues.
"Here, try this!" Min Min said, handing Ramen to a more respondent Link as he slurped it up.
"Ugh… if anyone says cake to me, it'd be too soon…" Link muttered.
"You've gotten stronger." Cloud said, sitting down.
"Yeah, you're no slouch either." Sora said, rolling his shoulder.
"I have to warn you though… #3 in the Glitz Pit is a bit of a doozy. Not even Aerith and I were able to knock her down."
"That's good to know." Mario nodded as he then pressed the button.
"Boy howdy! Your fights are truly special! Next up in the Glitz Pit is #3, the Green Beast!"
"I'll give it a shot!" Mario said.
"Fantastic! See you in there!"
"Let's-a go." Mario smirked and walked to the ring.
"For this next match up, we have the Great Gonzales going against the Mighty Green Demon, give it up for… Veeeert!"
"Hello!" Vert happily waved.
"Ciao!" Mario greeted back as Vert got in a stance and had her spear ready to go.
"Let's get ourselves ready to… BAAAATTLEEEEE!"
BGM: Greedy Green (Hyperdimension Neptunia U Action Unleashed)
Glitz Pit Fighter #3 - The Green Beast (Vert)
Vert ran to Mario, quickly spinning her spear and lunging at Mario to stab him, but he jumped to the side and then punched her in the face, and then hammered her away. "Hmph!" Vert responded by pushing him away with Wind Magic.
Vert then thrusted her spear to Mario, attempting to skewer him but he weaved his head through the piercings as Mario jumped up and hammered her on the head and then flip kicked her while throwing fireballs at her, but she twirled her spear around to deflect the fireball. "Sylhet Spear!" She called out, striking Mario with a summoned magic spear.
"Ooof!" Mario grunted as Vert lunged, quickly swinging her spear around but Mario would deflect it with his hammer and then launched a stream of fire with his Fire Brand, hitting Vert head on as he then jumped over and slugged her, but Vert tilted her head to the side and swung her spear to knock him away and then clapped her hands to blow out a few mini tornados at him.
Mario pulled out his cape and sent one back, where it struck Vert and caused her to fly into the air but she gracefully flipped and then landed on the ground. "Impressive, but let's see how well you can keep up." She said as she started to glow, immediately going into Green Heart.
End BGM
"What the…?" Mario wondered, noticing that her HDD attire was more revealing than all the other girls. He blushed a bit before snapping out of it. Focus, Mario…
"Now… this is where the true battle begins!"
BGM: Providence (Megadimension Neptunia VII)
Green Heart lunged at Mario, swiftly swinging her spear as Mario barely had time to dodge as he fire punched her in the gut, and then used an uppercut right after, knocking her into the air as she recovered and threw down a torrent of wind that knocked Mario away, blowing his cap away in the process.
Guess Cloud wasn't kidding! Mario thought.
"Rainy Ratnapura!" Green Heart said, swiftly mowing down Mario and twirled her spear around and skewered him a few times, then whacked him over the head with it… which caused Mario to grab the spear and swung it around along with Green Heart as he let go and threw a stream of fire at him, but Green Heart recovered and flew out of the way of the fire as she flew down and kicked Mario upside the head and then used a bit of wind magic to send him flying away.
"Kinestra Slash!" She then yelled, quickly blasting Mario away and knocking him away, nearly falling off of the platform as Green Heart rushed to him, ready to pierce him but Mario held his ground and front flipped over him as Green Heart looked on in surprise as Mario Fire Hammered her into the ground.
"Mmmph!" Green Heart grunted before smirking, closing her eyes and going Next Green.
She turned into a unicorn? …Mama mia, what's WITH these girls? He thought as Next Green would swiftly lunge and stab at Mario as he desperately tried to dodge, but Next Green would knee kick him away and blasted him with wind.
"This is the end!" Next Green declared as she lunged at him and ready to end the match.
CLANG!
…But not if Sora had anything to say about it as he parried the attack and used Thundaga to knock her back. He then turned to Mario and used Curaga on him. "You came here just in time!" Mario said with a smile.
"Come on, let's win this thing!" Sora said as he and Mario lunged at Next Green as she lunged for Sora… but then a lightning bolt hit her as Next Green winced as Sora slashed through her and turned around, seeing Luigi hop into the ring and used a Luigi Missile… but Next Green dodged it, only for Mario to jump in and punch her to the ground, knocking her to the floor as Sora used a Zantetsuken to slash through her.
"Gyaaaaah!" She cried as she was knocked out of her Next Form, signalling her defeat.
End BGM
"Group KO! Give it up for Team Sky!" Grubba exclaimed as Vert got back up and let out a giggle.
"That was a wonderful fight, congratulations!" Vert smiled and hugged them all… although in Sora's case, the poor guy got himself stuffed in her chest.
At the Minor League room…
"Ooooh, he's lucky!" Neptune giggled.
"Hmph, leave it to Thunder Tits to do that." Blanc mumbled.
"Says the girl with the inferior ironing board you call a chest…"
"WHAT WAS THAT?!"
"Nothing!"
Back in the arena...
Vert released herself from Sora and walked off with a hum. "You alright?" Mario asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Sora said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
"So... I need to let you boys on a little secret." Grubba said as he whispered in their ears. "#2 in the Glitz Pit will be your last fight until you're eligible to face the Elite Four."
"What?!" They said in surprise.
"Yeah, #1 ain't back yet, so we're gonna have to bump you up."
"That's fine with us." Sora nodded and then his pager went off. "Eheheh, excuse us for a second." He said as he turned around with the Bros.
"Bring your whole team to the arena and fight #2 in the Glitz Pit. Do not go back to the Major Leagues. From X."
Sora turned to the Bros in confusion, causing the Bros to shrug. He then put the pager back and turned to Grubba. "All of Team Sky will be fighting number two in the Glitz Pit."
"Holy smokes! Really?" Grubba asked in surprise. "Sounds fine to me! Bring in The Warrior Teacher!"
Vivian popped up into the ring with Koops and Nocturne in hand. "What's going on?" Vivian asked as Sora showed them the message.
"Huh, curious..." Koops mused as they heard footsteps as Byleth walked up the stairs.
"Huh? I'm fighting the whole team?" She asked. "Not the first time I've been outnumbered... I like a challenge." She said, readying her Sword of the Creator.
"Team Sky vs The Warrior Teacher! Let's get ourselves ready to... BAAAATTLEEEEE!"
BGM: Chasing Daybreak (Rain) (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Glitz Pit Fighter #2: The Warrior Teacher (Byleth)
The group readied themselves as Byleth readied herself as well, both sides charging toward each other...
*Record Scratch*
...When suddenly, a smoke ball landed on the ground and enveloped the entire ring. "What the?!" Sora yelped in surprise.
"Nnngh!" Byleth suddenly grunted.
"I don't know what's going on folks! I can't see a thing!" Grubba exclaimed.
When the smoke cleared... they would see Byleth sprawled out on the ground, and in her place, was none other than the Phantom Thieves.
BGM: Last Surprise (Scramble) (Persona 5 Strikers)
"Hope you don't mind us dropping in." Joker said.
"What the... who are you?!" Grubba wondered in surprise.
What are they doing here?! The Mario Bros thought.
Joker turned his head toward the group. "Alright, Phantom Thieves. Let's roll." He said as he, Morgana, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle and Noir got ready to fight.
"No hard feelings~!" Noir said.
"No hard feelings?!" Sora said in surprise before summoning his Ultima as the group charged ahead, both of them clashing.
Joker swiftly blocked Sora's Keyblade as he jumped back and threw a flashbang to blind Sora, and before he knew it, he felt a hard thud to his gut as Skull and Queen had punched him in the gut, making his eyes widen in surprise as Panther would then whip him around and trapped him in her whip.
"Night night!" Skull said, swinging his nailed bat down on Sora's head, immediately knocking him out as Fox had taken out the Mario Bros, Noir taking out Koops and Nocturne, and then Oracle buffed up Morgana as he headbutted Vivian to knock her out as well.
End BGM
"I DON'T BELIEVE IT FOLKS! TEAM SKY GOT OBLITERATED JUST LIKE THAT! WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?!" Grubba yelled, and then Joker threw down a smoke bomb... and once the smoke disappeared, they were all gone.
"Huh?! Where'd they go?!"
A few hours later, in the Phantom Thieves' Major League Room...
"Uuuugh..." Sora groaned, rubbing his head as he sat up, and found he had bandages on his forehead. "Huh?"
"Sorry about that, man. Hope I didn't get ya a concussion." Ryuji said as they were out of their Phantom Thieves attire.
"What's going on...?"
Akira handed Sora his phone. "Here, this might help." He said as Sora took it.
"Sneak into the arena and fight Team Sky. Win the fight and take them to your hideout in the Glitz Pit. From X."
"You're being paged by this X guy too?" Sora asked.
"Pretty much." Akira nodded, seeing the other guys getting up with a groan, with Haru having patched them up.
"Aaaagh, nothing! No key words are helping here!" Futaba said in frustration.
"Okay, while I don't mind you sneaking around, did you have to knock me out too?" Byleth asked as she was in the room as well.
"Sorry, you were collateral." Akira said, tossing her his phone.
"Take Byleth with you if you wish. - From X."
"Oh, wonderful." Byleth mumbled.
"Yeesh..." Sora rubbed his head. "What's this all about?"
"We received intel that Grubba is not the guy he says he is." Makoto explained. "We received the damning evidence against him... all we need now is to steal his treasure and we'll be set to steal his heart."
"Steal his heart?!" Sora said in surprise. "Why would you-"
"Metaphorically." Mario told him. "They told us this at the Smash Mansion."
"Oh, okay." Sora nodded. "...I still don't get it."
"It's complicated." Akira said. "But do you mind telling us how you guys are here?"
Sora smiled. "Oh, it's simple." He said. "We're hunting for the Crystal Stars!"
At that moment, Akira's phone lit up. "Crystal Star accepted."
"Huh?!" The Phantom Thieves said in surprise and before everyone knew it, they were all taken to Mementos.
Stealin' Grubba's heart, here we go!