Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story.
BGM: Mementos (Persona 5)
"Wah!" Sora yelped, seeing that they were in the middle of Glitzville but everything was red and black. "What the heck… where are we?!"
"Mementos." Akira said.
"Are you for real?! All we had to do was say "Crystal Star"?!" Ryuji said.
"Coooool!" Futaba said.
"Mmph! That's… trippy." Koops said.
"Believe me, we were all the same way." Akira said. "Now then, let's find out what Grubba's treasure is in his palace." He said, staring at the Glitz Pit in front of them, which was transformed into a massive slaughterhouse.
"…Mama mia, that wouldn't happen to be a slaughterhouse, would it?!" Luigi paled.
"It is." Akira said.
"Wait… so this "palace" is basically how Grubba sees it?" Sora asked.
"Pretty much." Akira nodded.
"Oh my gosh…" Byleth whispered.
"Let's move. Try not to be seen." Akira instructed as they snuck their way inside the slaughterhouse, making sure not to alert the guards.
The moment they stepped inside the building, they would quickly jump into a ventilation to sneak on through, and that's when they saw the arena through the ventilation. Only the arena was a caged circle as Grubba was the referee and the two combatants were a Blaziken and Marth.
"Why is it set up like a cock fighting ring?" Ryuji wondered, and then Blaziken knocked Marth down, where he landed on his back.
"We have a winner, ladies and gentleman! Now… as you may know, we all know the penalty of losing." Grubba said and turned to Blaziken who slowly nodded and stepped on top of Marth's chest, giving him a "I'm sorry" look on his face before igniting his foot and raising it up in the air and stomped on Marth's face.
Makoto gasped. "I get it now… Grubba's raising up the fighters to be used for slaughter if they no longer prove useful!" She said in horror.
"For real?! That's effed up!"
Ann turned to the others. "Tell me… do you know of anyone who's been missing?"
"I know King K said he was retiring…" Sora said.
"Luminary and Jade disappeared too." Byleth spoke up.
"…I was afraid of that." Ann said.
"Let's move." Akira said as they hopped out of the ventilation and continued to sneak around, finding a room fittingly titled "Slaughter room" as they went inside.
Byleth let out a gasp, quickly running to one cell. "Oh my gods… Claude… Dorothea… Bernie…" She whispered, also seeing Petra, Sylvain and even Mercedes, all of them on a pile. She pounded her fist on the cell, a tear running down her cheek.
"Is that Kamui? What the hell was she doing here?" Ryuji wondered. "Aaaagh, they got Hinoka too!"
"Terry and Blue Mary?! I heard they were here but I didn't think they'd-" Haru put her hand over her mouth. "Oh my…"
"Jade and Luminary…" Akira whispered. "There they are…"
"King K?!" Luigi exclaimed. "Oh no…"
"Greninja…" Mario could only say.
"Spring Man and Ribbon Girl… that would probably explain why Min Min was here." Yusuke said.
"They got Chun-Li…" Makoto clenched her fists. "Please tell me Samus isn't here…"
"I'm not seeing Samus… thank goodness." Akira said. "I am seeing Caeda though."
"Hey guys? Over here!" Vivian said as they moved over to her as they saw a Toad lying on the ground.
"A Toad?" Koops wondered as Akira would see the sign.
"Prince Mush… the first champion." Akira said.
"Rrrgh… alright, I've seen enough!" Sora said.
"I agree. This is seriously messed up." Futaba said.
"Agreed. Let's find that treasure and get the hell out of here." Akira said as they walked out of the Slaughter Room and poked around until they found Grubba's office as they opened the door and founnd the Draining Machine.
"There it is… that's what we saw in the schematic." Futaba said as they walked in, locking the door in the process.
"Do we know what's used to power it up?" Nocturne wondered.
"It said something about a star." Akira said and then suddenly, both Crystal Stars popped out of Mario's pocket and floated over to the machine as the the Gold Star rose up.
"The Crystal Star!" Sora exclaimed.
"A Mementos version of it." Akira explained. "The real one is probably hidden somewhere in the Glitz Pit."
"We found our treasure." Morgana said. "Now all we need to do is get the Calling Card set up."
"Heheheh, with pleasure!" Ryuji smirked.
"Alright, here's what we'll do." Akira said as he turned to Team Sky. "You guys fight the Elite Four, my team will stay in the Major Leagues and work on the calling card. Byleth, you and I are going to do a little investigating… because I have a feeling the fighters are all locked up somewhere."
"Right." Byleth nodded.
"Sounds like a plan." Mario nodded.
"Alright, let's move. We have what we came for." Akira said as they all ran out to get themselves out of Mementos.
End BGM
Back in the Glitz Pit…
"Where is everyone! They should be here!" Grubba exclaimed.
"I have a feeling they are going to be okay." Jolene said.
"Jolene, I appreciate your calm demeanor, but now is not the time to be calm. It's the perfect time to pan-"
"Hey! Missed us?" A voice asked as they turned to see Team Sky approaching.
"Oh thank the heavens!" Grubba exclaimed. "What happened, are you alright? Where's Byleth?"
"We're fine… but… Byleth… she's not here. We don't know where she is." Mario lied.
"Aaagh, there goes another one…" Grubba grumbled. "The show must go on! You guys report to the Major Leagues and we will begin the Elite Four battles!"
"You got it." Sora said, giving him a thumbs up as they walked off, all of them giving him a dirty look as they walked in, unaware of Jolene smirking as they walked in to the room.
"OH THANK HEAVENS! You're okay!" Noire said in relief.
"Ai yah! We were all so worried…" Min Min said. "…Noire, especially."
"H-huh?! I… I wasn't worried! I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Liar…" Cloud mumbled under his breath, but loud enough for Noire to give him a glare.
"So, you're ready to face the Elite Four… wait, where's Byleth?" Aerith asked.
"She's alright. She had to go do something." Luigi said.
Aerith sighed in relief. "Oh thank heavens…"
With a nod, Mario walked over to the Switch and pressed the button. "Hello!" Mario waved.
"Boy howdy, you guys are looking ready to fight the champion! But first things first, you need to fight Rawk Hawk's Elite Four. Your first match up will be against the first Elite, the Burning Tiger!"
"I'll give it a shot!" Mario said.
"Atta boy! Let's see how this goes!" Grubba said.
"Right." Mario nodded and then walked to the ring.
"Ladies and gentleman! Tonight, we're gonna be seeing history in the making! Will we see Team Sky become the new champions… or will the Elite Four and Rawk Hawk cook them to a crisp! We shall see! First up, we have Gonzales representing Teeeeeam Skyyyyy!"
Mario jumped into the ring and pulled his cap down, sporting a smirk as the crowd went wild. "And for his opponent is the first Elite of the Elite Four! Give it up foooooor-"
The doors opened up in front of Mario as someone ran through the arena and jumped up into the arena, landing in font of him as he was wearing a hoodie but it caught ablaze. "ROOOOOOAR!"
"INCINEROOOOOOOOAAAAAAR!"
"So, we're fighting fire with fire, eh?" Mario asked, getting in a battle stance.
"IN!"
"Get yourselves ready to… BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATLEEEEE!"
BGM: Battle! The Elite Four (Pokemon Sun/Moon)
#1 of the Elite Four - The Burning Tiger (Incineroar)
Incineroar and Mario lunged at each other as Mario punched him but Incineroar grabbed a hold of his fist and smirked, throwing him to the ground and stomping on Mario's chest, but Mario rolled out of the way and got up, hammer Incineroar away.
Mario would then leap ahead and then punched Incineroar again, but he bobbed his head to the side but Mario smirked and flip kicked Incineroar, to which he responded by grabbing him and spinning him around before letting go but Mario recovered after being thrown a few feet.
Incineroar lunged straight to Mario, attempting to hit him with a flying knee kick but Mario jumped over him and hammered him in the head and landed behind him. Incineroar snarled, turning around and used Darkest Lariat but Mario smirked and brought out his cape, flipping him around. "Roar…?" Incineroar wondered as Mario grabbed him by the tail and started spinning him around, then he let go but Incineroar would immediately recover in mid air and used Cross Chop, coming down and landing near Mario, the resulting explosion would knock Mario back as Incineroar lunged forward and grabbed him, using Alolan Whip to throw him to some ropes that popped up and then he used a Lariat to send Mario flying.
"Roar-hor-hor!" Incineroar boasted, facing the crowd and raising his arms up as the crowd cheered, but Mario got back up and shook it off, then he leapt ahead and hammered Incineroar on the head who was busy hyping up the crowd. "ROAR!" He yelped, holding on to his head as Mario would then grab his tail and started spinning him around and then let go… right where he was facing the crowd as he slammed into the crowd.
"Roooooar…"
End BGM
"RING OUT! Give it up for the Great Gonzaleeees!"
"Just like in the Smash matches…" Mario said, rolling his shoulder as he walked back.
"Remind me why he's part of the Elite Four? Ugh… always a showboat." Noire mumbled.
"He's a heel, it's what they do." Vert said.
"I know! Ugh… it's not a good time to do that though! Ugh, no wonder he's always the first one…"
Luigi sweatdropped. "That's how it begins? Huh…"
"We might just breeze through all of this!" Sora grinned as Luigi hit the button next.
"Hoo boy, that was a good fight! Now then, next up is #2 in the Elite Four, the Boxing Bruiser!"
"I'll go!" Luigi siad.
"Fantastic! See you there!"
"Let's-a go!" Luigi smirked as he went into the arena.
"Representing Team Sky for the chance to fight the champion… give it up foooooor… the Green Thundeeeer!" Grubba exclaimed as Luigi hopped into the arena. "And his opponent is the second elite of the Elite Four! Give it up fooooor…"
A pink blur rushed through the crowd and then leapt into the air, where Luigi would see a pink hoodie. "A pink hoodie?" Luigi wondered before realizing who it belonged to. "Uh oh…" He whimpered as the man tore off his hoodie.
"LITTLE MAAAAAAAAAAAAC!"
"No hard feelings, right?" Little Mac asked, squaring up.
"Uh… yeah! No hard feelings!" Luigi said, visibly gulping. Somehow, I'd rather take my chances with Blanc! He thought.
"Get yourselves ready to… BAAAATTLEEEEEEE!"
BGM: Battle! Elite Four (Pokemon X/Y)
#2 of the Elite Four - The Boxing Bruiser (Little Mac)
Little Mac lunged to Luigi, delivering a swift right hook but Luigi ducked as he would karate chop him in the gut and then flip kicked him soon after, making Little Mac back up a bit before smirking, quickly lunging ahead and throwing in a few jabs before delivering an uppercut to knock Luigi up in the air.
Agh! He got me in the air already! He thought. …Wait… the air… OF COURSE! He thought as he flipped over and fired a lightning bolt at Little Mac, making him wince as Luigi landed and then he rushed forward, quickly delivering a quick karate chop to his chest but Little Mac blocked this easily and countered with a hard punch to his chest, sending him flying a few feet.
Luigi recovered as Little Mac came running over with a Jolt Haymaker, but Luigi would roll to the side as Little Mac punched the ground where Luigi would bring out his hammer and then hammered Little Mac away before pelting him with lightning bolts.
"Rrgh!" Little Mac grunted as he recovered and rushed to him, delivering a flurry of punches as Luigi did his best to block or dodge these until he countered with a thunderbolt and then swung his hammer on his head to stun him a bit until he used a point blank Super Jump Punch to knock him into the air, and then Luigi jumped up and hammered him down to the ground.
"Mmmph!" Little Mac grunted as he bounced off of the ground, then heard an explosion as he looked up to see Luigi inches from his face as he smacked into Little Mac with a Misfire, sending him careening off of the stage.
End BGM
"RING OUT!"
"Phew… barely made that one." Luigi said as he walked back to the Major Leagues with everyone cheering for Luigi, causing him to blush. "Ah, stop it… you're making me blush! Heheh…" He said as Sora would hit it next.
"Halfway there already, that is incredible! Now, next up is #3 of the Elite Four, the Bruising Gymnast!"
"I'll give it a shot!" Sora smirked.
"Alright! See you there!"
"I'd be careful." Cloud spoke up. "She's not to be taken lightly." He warned.
"She?" Sora tilted his head before shrugging and taking off to the ring.
"For this next match, we have the Sky Warrior representing Team Sky for the chance to fight against the champion! His opponent is the one who destroys dreams into facing Rawk Hawk… the sheer terror of her name sparks fear into those who have fought her and lost! Those lucky enough to take the third elite down is just a few! Will the Sky Warrior be the one to make his team advance to the final Elite or will Team Sky lose to the third elite? We shall find out! Give it up foooooooooooor-"
The doors opened up, and Sora saw a four armed behemoth rushing out of the shadows and jumping into the fray, where it was none other than a Machamp.
"I'm fighting THAT thing?!" Sora said in surprise.
"No… he's just the delivery boy." A voice said as someone hopped off of Machamp's back and a young woman walked around him. "Thanks big guy." She said with a soft smile.
"Champ!"
"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEA!"
"Okay… that makes me feel better." Sora said as Machamp walked off the stage as Bea squared up.
"Can the Sky Warrior beat the Galarian Gymnast! Let's see if he can knock her down… or be knocked down trying! Let's get ourselves ready toooo… BAAAAAAAAAAAATTLLLLLLEEEEE!"
BGM: Battle! Elite Four (Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire)
#3 of the Elite Four - The Bruising Gymnast (Bea)
Sora rushed over at Bea and slashed at her with the Kingdom Key, but she swiftly bent over backwards, watching the Keyblade swing past her as she flipped over and kicked the Keyblade off of him. "Wha?!" Sora said in surprise, and then the next thing he knew, he felt a two ton train hit him in the gut that sent him sliding a few feet.
"Mmmph!" That punch… what the heck does this girl eat? He thought as Bea rushed forward and karate kicked him, but he quickly resummoned his Keyblade and blocked the attack, counterattacking in defense and then used a point blank Firaga, knocking Bea back but she shook it off like it was no big deal.
Bea lunged forward as Sora slashed her again, but she slid underneath and between his legs as she got back up and kicked him in the back before front flipping and axe kicking him into the ground, making him slide as he got back up.
"Haaah!" Sora yelled, using Ars Arcanum on her but to his surprise, she would catch his Keyblade by clapping her hands and then yanked it out of his hands.
"Let's see how you do without your weapon." She said, tossing his Keyblade to the side as Sora attempted to resummon it, but felt a sharp pain in his gut as Bea had knee'd him in the gut and made him hunch over as Bea unleashed an uppercut to knock Sora up in the air as he fell on his back.
He then got back up. "Alright… you want to play hardball…" He said as he immediately went into his Valor Form, quickly summoning a Metal Chocobo and Fenrir as he rushed forward and slashed at her repeatedly, but Bea would weave through the attacks, gracefully dodging the Keyblades as she would then put her arms into an X, grabbing both of his Keyblades and kicked him in the chest, making him slide back while letting go of his Keyblades, then she tossed his blades away.
"You're predictable with your weapons. I've watched and studied your abilities with those things." She then round house kicked Sora to the ground. "Get up. I want to see how you do hand to hand and your magic."
"Mmmph… you… alright, you asked for it." Sora said as he aimed his hand up high as a Thundaga struck Bea from above as he then ran forward to her and threw a Firaga, but Bea batted away the fireball while wincing from the Thundaga. She then matrix dodged a few Blizzaga strikes and got back up, only to see Sora pulling back his fist and punched her, but she caught it easily.
"Too slow." She said as she flipped him over and pressed her foot on his back. "You're not going to get anywhere if you rely solely on your weapons. You have to adapt!"
"Well, good news for you… I don't always rely on my Keyblade." He said, holding his hand out. "Alright… help me out here!" He requested as Bea found herself surrounded by flames as she heard the roar of a lion as she turned to see Simba charging at her.
"Cute cat." She said without missing a beat, avoiding his claws as she delivered a strong punch to Simba's jaw, knocking the lion back hard enough to have him slide off the stage. "Sorry about that." She said as Simba disappeared as Sora tried to summon another one, but Bea put her foot on his hand. "No! You have to rely on your own strength. Just your own! If you're just gonna summon your friends, you won't get anywhere… you have to rely on your own!"
"Rrrgh… yeah… but friends are my stre-"
"What if your friends aren't there to save you or if they aren't around? Then what?" Bea told him as Sora would notice Machamp having blocked the doors to prevent anyone from escaping… while also holding Vivian in a chokehold. "I can tell you have potential… so focus on yourself!"
She then suddenly pulled him up. "Get up. Show me what you got." She said. "No weapons. Just your magic and your own strength!" She said as Sora threw a Firaga at her, but she batted it away as she lunged at him with a punch to the face, but Sora attempted to block but got socked in the face as Bea kept at it by slugging him repeatedly as Sora kept getting hit…
Until he managed to finally block one, while it still hurt him he would proceed to slug Bea in the gut… although, it was more softer than she originally had anticipated, not to mention his footwork was a lot to be desired compared to her.
Come on, kid… I know you have some fire in you. She thought as she kept slugging at him, delivering swift blows to him as he kept blocking… and Sora found an opening and slugged her again, this time using Aeroga to help him out and Aeroga Punched her in the gut, sending her sliding several feet as Sora would then used Thundaga on her, stunning her in place. "Nnngh!" She grunted as she winced, as Sora Airstepped to her and then attempted to Firaga Punch her…
But the sheer pain from getting hit by Bea fully exhausted him as he nearly fell over, stumbling and falling onto Bea, as Bea let out a smirk and then fell off the ring.
End BGM
"RING OUT! …Wait, it's a tie… uh… tiebreaker? I never done this before… Bea, what do you suggest?"
"Let them move to the next round." She said, picking Sora up and wrapping him around her, then seeing a concerned Vivian approaching them. "Tell his friends that I'm taking him to my room." She said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah… I have a lot of work to do." She said as she walked off. "He'll be fine… trust me." She told her and walked off.
"If… you say so." She said and dipped back into the Major Leagues. "She's taking him to her room… he looked pretty banged up."
"Mmm, that's… concerning." Mario said.
"I trust her." Cloud spoke up. "Bea, despite being an absolute terror in the arena, she's more of a gentle soul."
"He's right." Min Min spoke up. "I doubt Bea would want to do anything bad to Sora. She probably wants to make sure he's okay… or perhaps train him up on his hand to hand combat."
"He's in good hands, trust her." Vert smiled.
"Alright… if you say so." Koops said as Vivian hit the button.
"And just like that, you're down to the final Elite! Are you ready?"
"I'll give it a shot!" Vivian said.
"Terrific! For the final match… I'm not gonna tell you who it is. It's a surprise!" Grubba said.
"Alright, I'll be there." Vivian said as she dipped underground and then popped back into the ring.
"Here we are, folks! The final round before the champion is fought! Will the Burning Poltergeist be enough to win this tournament and fight the champion? Only a few are lucky enough to fight this last opponent, and those few didn't make it. Only fewer than that survived… only to get Rawked! Let's see if she has what it takes! Her opponent… give it up fooooooooor…"
Someone ran through the arena and jumped into the air, spinning around and landing. "Waaaah!"
"CRASH BANDICOOOOOOOT!"
"Huh, you're… weird." Vivian said as Crash got in a stance, squaring up and doing a 'come at me' gesture.
"Burning Poltergeist vs the Orange Devil! Let the battle… BEGIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!"
BGM: Battle! Elite Four (Pokemon Black/White)
#4 of the Elite Four - The Orange Devil (Crash Bandicoot)
Crash ran over to Vivian, jumping over and trying to stomp on her head, but she sunk underneath and then reappeared behind him and punched him in the back. Crash would respond by elbowing her and the punching her head on, then used an uppercut.
"Ooof! You're quite strong for a noodle armed… thing." Vivian said and then went to snap her fingers. "Sorry about this." She said, snapping her fingers and used Fiery Jinx on him.
"WAAAAH!" Crash yelled as he ran around in a panic. "WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOOOOOOOOA!" He yelled, doing his best to extinguish the flames but it just got worse.
"Ooooh… uh… stop drop and roll?" Vivian asked as Crash continued to run around screaming. "For goodness sake, man! Drop and roll! Put those flames out! Oh gosh, what am I done? Quick, someone get a fire extinguisher!" She exclaimed… and then suddenly, the whole body evaporated, leaving behind a human figure. "Huh?"
End BGM
Meanwhile, with Bowser…
"Let's see, we should be getting close to-"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"What the devil was that?" Bowser asked.
In the Major Leagues…
"MY ONE OF A KIND LIFE LIKE CRASH BANDICOOT COSTUME! NOOOOOOOOOO!" Noire wailed before falling on the seats. "I worked hard on that and it was just burnt up just like that! After I had dared him to wear it!"
"Aww, come here…" Vert said, stuffing her face in her breasts as she was crying hysterically.
"…Oh. My. Gosh." Luigi said in awe.
"Bro?" Mario spoke up.
"Yeah?"
"We need to save her."
"Right!"
Back in the arena…
"Hup!" The man extinguished the flames. "That's the last time we play drunken Truth or Dare…"
"Uh… who are you?" Vivian asked.
"My name? It's Douglas." He said, pulling out his helmet. "But everyone-" He put it on and smirked. "-They just call me Captain Falcon."
BGM: Mute City (Super Smash Bros Brawl/Wii U/Ultimate)
"Ladies and gentleman! Did I say Crash Bandicoot? I meat the F-Zero driver himself! Give it up fooooor… Captaaaaian Faaalcoooooon!"
"Vivian!" Mario hopped into the ring along with Luigi.
"Mario? Luigi? What's up?"
"This guy is no joke… trust me." Mario said.
"How so?" Vivian asked.
"Well he-" Luigi looked up, seeing Captain Falcon already in the air.
"FALCOOOON-"
"DOES THAT!" Luigi yelled as he pulled Vivian away.
"PAAAAWCH!"
#4 of the Elite Four - Captain Falcon
Captain Falcon punched the ground, creating a massive shockwave that nearly made Vivian stumbled. "Holy shadow!" Vivian exclaimed.
"Told ya!" Luigi said as Captain Falcon smirked, rushing over to Vivian and Luigi and attempted to shoulder bash them, but the two avoided it as Mario jumped over and hammered Falcon in the head, knocking him back a bit but Captain Falcon chuckled, elbowing Mario in the gut to make him slide.
Luigi would fire lightning bolts at Falcon, hitting him directly as he powered through and rushed to Luigi. "FALCON KICK!" He said, hitting Luigi and knocking him up in the air as he then used a Falcon Dive, quickly grabbing him and launching off of him. "Yes!"
"Yagh!" Luigi cried, landing on his back but he recovered as Captain Falcon would move to Vivian and attempted to bicycle kick her, but she dove underground and appeared behind him to punch him in the back and then went back underground while Mario punched him in the face, only for Captain Falcon to grab him and pulled back his fist with a smirk, but Luigi came in with a Luigi Missile, hitting him in the back and making him stumble as Mario's fists caught ablaze as he fire punched him in the face to make him drop him.
Falcon chuckled, getting in his stance as the Mario Bros and Vivian were in front of him as he did a "come at me" taunt. "Come on! Show me your moves!"
The Bros charged at him while Vivian dove underground as the two jumped up to hammer him, but Falcon rolled out of the way and used a Raptor Boost, knocking Mario in the air but then Vivian pulled Captain Falcon underground and started fire punching him before tossing him out as Vivian then came out, only to Falcon Punched in the face. "OOOOF!" Vivian grunted, sliding over and falling on her back. "Uungh…" She groaned, rubbing her head.
Luigi would punch Captain Falcon, but he would hit him with a Raptor Boost and jumped up in the air. Oh no, not the knee of justice! He thought as Captain Falcon extended his knee, but Mario had jumped up and hammered him to the ground before the knee connected to Luigi. "Phew…" He sighed in relief as both of them landed.
Captain Falcon got up as he rushed to the bros as he attempted to bicycle kick Mario, but Luigi would hit him with a plunger and then reeled him in, only to suck him into the Poltergust and then shot him out, where he and his brother would hit him with their respective elements, and then Falcon landed on the ground and then smirked when he got back up as the Bros ran to him as he took a step back, his fist bursting into flame.
"FALCON…"
"Not today!" A voice said as a Fiery Jinx hit him.
"Gyaaah!" He grunted as the bros did a joint Super Jump Punch together, hitting Falcon in the chin and knocking him into the air where he landed out of the ring.
End BGM
"KO!" Grubba yelled as the crowd cheered. "GIVE IT UP FOR TEAM SKY! THEY ARE GOING TO BE HEADED TO THE GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP!"
"You alright?" Mario asked.
"Yeah… I'm just gonna have a splitting headache, but I think I'll be okay…" Vivian said, rubbing her head.
Mario's stomach started grumbling. "Aheheheh… come on, let's go have something to eat first." He said as they nodded and walked off.
"Excuse me, Grubba…" Jolene walked to him and then whispered in his ear.
"Really! She's back?"
"Yes. And everyone here knows that she had fought the Elite Four."
"Think we should have her fight the team?"
"No… I have a better idea."
Meanwhile, in Bea's room…
"Uuuungh…" Sora groaned, sitting him and finding himself on a couch. "Where am I?"
"Here, eat this." A voice said as Sora turned his head to see Bea handing him a chocolate bar. "Sorry if I was a bit rough on ya, I sometimes don't know my own strength." She said as Sora took it. "Eat it, you'll feel better." She said as she sat down while he ate. "You can thank my training regimen. I train with a Machop, Machoke and a Machamp… and those guys are something else with their strength. Did you know oe of them can decimate a dump truck with a single punch?"
"MMMPH?!" Sora started choking on the bar. "Mmph! Mmmph!"
"Easy…" Bea said as she slapped him on the back.
"Gaaah! Oh… geez… seriously? Please tell me you do not do hand to hand combat with them!" He said as Bea just looked at him. "…Ah crud, you do."
"Exactly. It's how I'm able to take hits rather well and deliver hits as hard as I do. It's to the point where I don't know my own strength at times and I forget to hold back…" Bea chuckled a bit. "No hard feelings, Sky Warrior… or can I call you your real name… what is it?"
"Sora."
"Sora… heh, nice name." Bea said. "My apologies, I tend to go overboard."
"No, it's fine…" Sora said, rubbing the back of his head. "What was all that stuff back there?"
"I could tell you had potential so I just wanted to see what you could do." Bea said. "You rely too much on your weapon, so I thought if I took that away… you'd have something else under your belt."
"Sorry, I only rely on this thing." He said as he summoned his Keyblade. "By the way, nice try on getting rid of them, they can just pop back into my hand easily."
"I see… so a summonable weapon that can go back to its owner just like that. That explains a few things…" Bea mused. "You said something else… friends are your strength?"
"Yeah… one time I said "My friends are my power" and well… I ran with it ever since. It's… complicated."
"I see." Bea nodded. "Friends do help you out and make the world go round but what if you're in a tough situation and you have no friends backing you up or they weren't there at all? Then what will you do?"
"I… I dunno… I hope they come? My strength comes from them."
"How much?"
"Um... all of it?" He sheepishly grinned, which earned him a deadpanned look from Bea and a slap upside the head. "Ooof!"
"Sora, for the love of Arceus, you don't believe that."
"Yeesh... sorry, force of habit!"
"You have to have some sort of self strength. Seriously, you can't rely on everyone forever. What if something happened to them and you relied on them? What then?"
Sora blushed. "Um..."
"As a fighter, you have to adapt no matter what. Your weapon is impressive, but will it always help you out? I honestly doubt it. What if someone was immune to your weapon's abilities? You're out of luck."
"Okay, so what do you suggest then?"
"I say we train you up. The championship can wait." She said. "Let's go, we're going to get your hand to hand coordination up."
Meanwhile, with Akira and Byleth...
"And we... are... set!" Akira said, pulling the lock away as he and Byleth walked inside as they then climbed over some boxes and saw a massive block. "You want to do the honors?"
"Of course." Byleth nodded as she brought out Amyr. "HRAAAAAAH!" She yelled, swinging it down and demolishing the block to reveal King K and Luminary, both of them looking in pretty bad shape.
"Just as I thought." Akira said.
"Wait, where's the others?" Byleth wondered.
"B-Byleth...? Akira...?" Luminary winced as Byleth knelt down.
"Hey, we're here now." Byleth said as Akira went to check on King K.
"Li-Listen... there's something you should... kn-know..." Luminary grunted as he whispered something into Byleth's ear, causing her eyes to widen as she let out a small gasp, and then he collapsed.
"Byleth?" Akira wondered as Byleth trembled a bit, before punching a crate in anger, leaving a hole in it.
"...He's gonna pay for this." She growled, picking up Luminary as Akira's phone went off as he went to take a look.
"Take King K and the Luminary to your Major League room. From X."
"Come on, let's go. I'm sure the Thieves are done by now." Akira said as they walked back.
Meanwhile...
BGM: Rawk Hawk (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)
"Guh!" Rawk Hawk grunted, falling on one knee. "Sheesh, you go away for a while to train and you come back as this? I may have underestimated you..."
His opponent smirked, squaring up as his opponent lunged at him, as he tried to dodge this, but was elbowed in the gut as he was then grabbed by the arm and was thrown off the stage.
"AAAAARGH!"
End BGM
"RING OUT!" Grubba yelled. "I DON'T BELIEVE IT FOLKS! WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION!"
The opponent smiled, waving to the crowd with a smile.
"TEAM SKY IS GONNA HAVE A TRICKY OPPONENT TO FACE! IN THE MEANTIME, GIVE IT UP FOR TIFA LOCKHAAAAART!"
Surpriiiiiise!