Marlene finally located the Ki in her body and began shifting it into her fist. She wanted to make one final attack that could win the match. "Nothing You have left can defeat Me Krueger, this is Your final chance to surrender." Ari said, approaching Marlene. "I have one thing left that will win this for Me..." Marlene said as the energy finished shifting to her fist. "My strength!" Marlene exclaimed as She launched her super powered punch at Ari. A bright explosion happened that knocked back both Marlene and Ari to the other sides of the arena stage. The smoke from the attack cleared, and Marlene was on her knees trying to catch her breath while Ari's shield had shattered and She had an impact wound on her wrist. "How did You... Block... That...?" Marlene asked. "I am faster and stronger than You Krueger." Ari responded as She crossed her arms. As soon as Marlene heard this, She put all of her leftover energy into getting back up so She could charge at Ari.
"You might as well lay down and surrender. I've already won." Ari said. Marlene ran at Ari and slammed her fist into her face. Surprisingly Ari was knocked back. "If You're... So strong... Then why did my punch hurt You?" Marlene asked. Ari stared for a moment and smirked. "I guess I can tell You since You still stand no chance. This power grants Me greater speed and strength, but it doesn't make Me more durable at all." Ari explained as She stared at Marlene. Marlene's eyes glowed yellow and She stretched her arms out. "Alright... Got myself a burst of energy. Come on. Let's finish this." Marlene said as She took on her usual fighting stance. Ari dashed at Marlene and tried to punch her, but Marlene deflected her punch and headbutted her. "I will finish this battle, Ari." Marlene said as She launched five punches into Ari's stomach, knocking her back. "You may have gotten better, but it is all for nothing." Ari said as She grabbed Marlene by the neck and began choking her.
Marlene kicked Ari in the stomach, breaking free of her grasp. "I'm not going to make this easy for You Ari." Marlene said as She tried to figure out what She could do to take Ari down. Ari dashed toward Marlene and scratched her face with her nails, and then did a palm strike on her chin. In response to this, Marlene did a palm strike to Ari's neck and kicked her in the stomach. "Really? Scratching? Are You desperate or something?" Marlene asked as She wiped the blood from her cheek. "I am going to win this Krueger." Ari said as She got into her original stance. Marlene charged at Ari and did a full force punch into her gut, causing her to cough up blood. Ari fell to one knee, and her aura disappeared. "Dammit... I drained too much Ki messing around..." Ari said as She stared at the ground. "If Your weird power is done Ari, You should probably give up. I don't want to seriously hurt You." Marlene said. Ari got back up and went back to her stance again.
"I will never surrender." She said as She waited for Marlene's next move. Marlene ran at Ari and tried to punch her in the chest, but Ari caught her fist and punched her in the forehead. Marlene responded to Ari's counter by dropkicking her away. "Final warning. Give up or I'll break all of Your teeth." Marlene said as She approached Ari. "You weren't this strong earlier... How did You get stronger?" Ari asked as She got back up. "I guess I just wasn't taking this fight seriously enough earlier." Marlene said as She cracked her knuckles. Ari gathered the last of her Ki into her hand and tried to fire a blast at Marlene, but Marlene deflected it as it was too weak. "Time to finish this." Marlene said as She began rapidly punching Ari in the face. It took around fifteen punches to the face, but Marlene managed to finally knock out Ari. "Announcer! I finally did it." Marlene said as She sat next to Ari's knocked out body. "It seems that Marlene Krueger is our Champion!" The Announcer exclaimed.
The crowd cheered for Marlene the loudest they had the entire tournament. "Well... Glad to know some people found Me impressive." Marlene said to herself. "Head on over to the Waiting Room to claim Your prize Ms. Krueger!" The Announcer stated. Marlene of course instantly headed to the waiting room, happy to finally be done with the long tournament. Upon entering the room She saw someone in a large black cloak. The cloak completely concealed all of their features, and they had a briefcase with them. "Congratulations. This is what You are owed." The Cloaked figure said as it held out the briefcase for Marlene. Marlene took the briefcase and did a short bow. "Thank You very much. It was an honor to be here." Marlene replied. "Stay out of trouble Ms. Krueger." The Cloaked Figure said before walking away. With everything done, Marlene headed home with her prize extremely proud of herself. When She finally arrived back home She went straight to the couch in the living room.
"Marlene? How did it go?" Carrie asked from the kitchen. "Terrible... But I won." Marlene said, extremely tired. Carrie quickly made her way to the living room and saw that Marlene had a bruised forehead and several other bruises all over her body. "Here's the prize." Marlene said as She dropped the briefcase on the floor. Carrie quickly got Marlene an icepack and then opened the case. "Mar... I can't believe I'm saying this but... We're rich." Carrie said as She saw the immense amount of money stored in the case. "Good. Maybe now We can move like You planned." Marlene said as She turned over on the couch and fell asleep. "I honestly can't thank You enough Mar." Carrie said as She put a blanket on Marlene. After several hours Carrie had made a large list of purchases, including a brand new home. With the Tournament over and both of the Krueger's happy, all that was left was for them to move to West City.
What will happen in West City? Will Marlene really never fight again? Find out next time on Dragon Ball: Lifelines!