Marlene woke up on her chair and looked around. "Huh... Usually I have somebody trying to come get Me for a fight by now. I better head out to the stage and see if I'm needed yet." Marlene said to herself. Marlene headed to the Arena Stage and saw her next opponent. She was surprisingly tall, being 6'4, and had purple hair with strange red eyes. Marlene stepped into her corner and stared at her opponent. "In the left corner We have Marlene Krueger who hasn't lost a single match!" The Announcer stated. The Crowd erupted with cheers, yet Marlene still was focused on her opponent, analyzing her carefully. "And in the right corner is Marceline Von Baron! A strange lady to say the least!" There were some cheers for Marceline, but a lot of booing.
"Let the match... Begin!" The Announcer exclaimed, starting the match. Marlene got in her basic stance and continued to stare at Marceline. "I guess I have first move." Marceline said as She suddenly vanished. "Damn... I just got used to Tuger's speed and now there's someone faster?" Marlene thought to herself. "I won't make this too unfair." Marceline said from behind Marlene. Marlene tried to turn around but was quickly spin kicked onto the floor. "I can't make this too quick anyway, I need to talk to You while We fight." Marceline said. "Well if You're trying to talk... I got a couple of questions..." Marlene said as She got herself back up. "Ask away." Marceline responded as She crossed her arms. "Well first... What's with Your eyes?" Marlene asked as She tried to punch Marceline in the face.
Marceline caught Marlene's fist. "You mean the color? Even I don't know." Marceline responded as She launched a strong punch into Marlene's gut. "Okay question two then..." Marlene said as She recovered from the punch. "You're so muscular... But You have a large... chest. What's with that?" Marlene asked as She got back into her stance. Marceline smiled like a maniac, revealing her extremely sharp shark-like teeth. "What? Are You jealous?" Marceline responded as She dashed toward Marlene. Marlene saw the dash and launched a punch at Marceline's face. However, Marceline dodged the punch and chomped into Marlene's wrist with her razor sharp teeth. "What the hell?!" Marlene exclaimed as She tried to shake off Marceline. Marceline quickly let go of Marlene's arm and ran behind her, putting her in a headlock.
"My turn for questions." Marceline said. "Ask... Away..." Marlene remarked. "Your Mother... Carrie... How is She?" Marceline asked. Marlene's eyes widened with fear as She used the back of her head to hit Marceline in the nose, breaking free of Marceline's grasp. "How do You know my Mother?" Marlene asked, afraid of what Marceline might do. "She's an old colleague of the doctor You met. Figured I should ask." Marceline responded, crossing her arms. "Well if these are the types of questions You're gonna ask, I better beat You quickly." Marlene remarked as She launched a punch at Marceline. "You're gonna have to move faster than that then." Marceline commented as She dodged the attack with ease. "Fine, I'll take it up a notch." Marlene said as She began sending dozens of punches at rapid speeds toward Marceline, most of which were being blocked while others were being dodged.
Finally, Marlene spotted an opening and slammed her fist right into Marceline's gut. However... Marceline stood there and stared down at Marlene, her eyes glowing red. "Don't tell Me that's all, Marlene." Marceline remarked. Marlene began barraging Marceline's gut with as much speed and force as She possibly could, but it just seemed like Marceline wasn't taking any damage whatsoever. "Just get hurt already!" Marlene exclaimed as She finished off her barrage with an uppercut. Somehow, Marceline still stood there completely unphased. "Guess it's my turn." Marceline said as smoke exited her mouth and her eyes began glowing bright red. "You mentioned my eyes earlier, aren't they just beautiful?" Marceline remarked as bright red beams fired from her eyes.
Marlene noticed the beams and tried to dodge them, but they hit her in the stomach and launched her to the edge of the stage. "Come on Marlene. I know You have something left." Marceline remarked as She smiled. Marlene stared at Marceline for a moment and took a stance. "Fine. I've never tried this before, so if You die then I'm sorry ahead of time." Marlene said as her eyes glowed yellow. She began searching for the Ki in her body and channeled it to her head, just like She did in her training with Master Shi. "Eat this You bastard!" Marlene exclaimed as a beam of Ki sprayed out of her mouth toward Marceline. "Oh? So You did learn something from the geezer?" Marceline said as She deflected the beam with her wrist. The beam exploded against the arena wall and Marlene dropped to her knees. "Not only do You know stuff about Me... You're strong as hell..." Marlene commented.
"Yeah. I'm pretty tough. But that's not something for You to worry about." Marceline said, smiling at the sky. "I'm... Fighting You. Pretty sure You being strong is something for Me to worry about." Marlene responded. "Oh? You still think I'm fighting You? You got it all wrong. If this was a fight, You'd either be dead or knocked out within the first second." Marceline said as She stared at Marlene. "Then... Why haven't You?" Marlene asked. "Simple. I wanted a short talk and to see what You learned. I'm sure You want to know why, but I'm not telling You." Marceline responded with a menacing smile. "Just shut up and fight Me then!" Marlene said as She got back up. "If You insist." Marceline remarked as She slammed Marlene's head onto the floor. "So where do You and Carrie live now?" Marceline asked as She looked down at Marlene. Marlene quickly got back up and launched an uppercut into Marceline's chin, which once again did no damage.
"Stop asking these weird questions lady!" Marlene exclaimed as She tried to catch her breath. "Alright, Alright. If You aren't gonna answer then really We're done here." Marceline responded. "Then hurry up and knock Me out..." Marlene said, disappointed that She made it all this way just to lose. "Not quite what I had in mind." Marceline said as She backed up to the edge of the stage. She stepped off, making herself out of bounds. "Oops, looks like I lost." Marceline said, letting Marlene win. "It seems that for some reason Marceline has exited the match, making Marlene Krueger the victor of this match!" The Announcer exclaimed. Marlene ignored all of the cheering and stumbled her way back to the waiting room, and of course back to her usual chair. She quickly collapsed in the chair and went straight to sleep as this round had taken a lot out of her physically and mentally.
Marlene managed to make it through the first Four Rounds of the Tournament, but can She make it through the upcoming fifth and final round? Who will Marlene be facing this time? Find out next time on Dragon Ball: Lifelines!