Greetings again… This is the fourth chapter in what will likely be over eighty. Today is the fanfiction.net debut of BigCow, who wrote these next three fics. You see, over a week in mid-to-late June… I was on vacation, and couldn't write anything. So I informed the readers, apologized for the lack of fics in the next week… But as it turned out, fics certainly showed up. BigCow was the first, but there would be others… (Furious J and StopPokingMe) that would write fics not unlike what I'd written so far, in a guest position to fill in while I was away.  I didn't request this, but it happened, and I'm happy it did.

When I first got back after my break, my reaction was one of "You hijacked my project!" for all of about five minutes. Then I read the fics… And many were quite good, certainly better and more numerous than what I put up. So eventually, we formed a writing team…

But for today, you have three entries from the illustrious BigCow.

A note on some inside jokes and the like in the fic…

The acronym "TJF" will appear in the story. This stands for "The Jug Factor". It was applied by people that were whining at the loss of their characters in the popularity contest at GameFAQs that these fics were based on, and, since there were pictures to go along with the poll, whenever a female character was up for voting, if that character was winning, people complained on the contest message board that it was all because of her… form in the picture. Specifically, her "jugs".

Just saying it so that ya understand. There aren't too many of those jokes.

Without further ado… The fics.

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DAY TWENTY-THREE

Sixty-four contestants, all heroes in their own minds. One winner. Didn't I already do this gig?

Max Payne was in thought. The competition looked even stiffer than last year. Word had spread about the tournament since its last showing, and attracted some high profile new participants, which was made up by the fact that some of the last year's contestants were too humiliated to return. As for himself, he'd cleaned up in one battle, and had nothing to lose by trying again.

It had shaken his confidence though. Like many of the competitors, they'd all believed themselves to be unbeatable-but when faced with an opponent with abilities and experience as widely ranged as theirs... well, someone has to lose. One winner, and sixty-three losers.

Max once again turned to study the winner of last year's tournament, as many of the participants had. A Hyrulian named Link. He seemed so young and helpless in comparison to some of the other fighters... but it just goes to show you, can't underestimate anyone. And you don't count a man out who's fighting for all he has. And that goes for me as well...

Max turned again. One of the few female fighters sat on a rock in the middle of a field, polishing her guns. She hardly seemed interested in male company, and had proven to have both a short fuse, and the weaponry to make good on a threat. Max smiled to himself. Well, let's see if I've still got it.

"Nice guns."

The woman's eyes looked up, and narrowed. "The name is Lara Croft. And you are?"

"Max Payne." Great, an icicle in woman's clothing. It's not like I wanted a real conversation anyway.

She gave him and his pistol a once over, and nodded. "And what do you want?"

Max decided against being cordial and offering a duel, or a chance to sharpen their skills. Detachment can't hide you from the world forever. Might as well crack that shell.

Max smiled sardonically. "So, ever heard of TJF?"

***

Magus watched from a distance as two of the contestants minced words. He had little respect for the gunfighters. Crono had annihilated several of their greatest before, including the woman who was currently being mocked by the stranger named Max Payne. The fighters had skill enough with their weapons, but lacked the flexibility of a true warrior like himself. If he had only his scythe they might be a threat-but all the ammunition, weapons, and tools in the world could not match the power of the elemental forces. Pure darkness was at his command.

And yet, they still try. Why must the weak fight impossible battles? But that had applied to him as well. There was a time when he saw Lavos as undefeatable-no more.

The fighters regained his attention when the female flipped her pistols into her hand and pointed them at Max's head.

"Well, it's been lovely, but I've had enough of a chat for now."

Oddly enough, the male fighter did not move. His face bespoke mild amusement, and concentration. He was a man you did not cross under most circumstances, and the woman who was in a position to blow his head off clearly didn't intimidate him.

Max took a step backwards. "About time you got serious." He pulled his pistol out in a smooth motion.

This caught Magus's interest. All of the entrants had agreed not to harm the contest by eliminating any one else before the matches began-this could possibly wipe out one of his adversaries.

"You'll live, but hopefully this'll teach you some manners," Lara calmly said. She held her pistols straight, then let loose a volley towards his chest.

Magus had just enough time to see Max smile... then in a blur of motion, he turned and dived out of the way of fire. Impressive, but I sense something odd... Magus thought.

Lara snorted, but turned to face him, her guns firing in from both sides so he couldn't dodge out of the way. Magus watched as Max seemed to bend, twist, and duck his way through her shower of bullets. He's just toying with her, Magus realized.

Lara emptied her clip and stared in disbelief as Max smirked at her through the smoke. He raised his pistol and in two clean shots knocked the guns out of her hands.

She looked him in the eye. "If I'd had any heavy weaponry, you'd be dead you know."

"Yeah, well I didn't want you breaking the rules." He continued to smirk. "See you around."

Magus realized what he had sensed about the gunfighter named Max. One didn't do as much time traveling as he had without becoming attuned to certain aspects of the temporal plane... he stopped Max as he was walking away.

"Time Manipulation. An impressive trick."

Max looked at the stranger in surprise. How does he know...? No use lying.

"Something like that. I can focus to a certain extent... hard to explain..."

Magus nodded. "It'll get you far among these cretins." Max began to feel a little uncomfortable as the dark wizard sized him up. "Don't think it can save you from everything though."

Max nodded. His mind flashed back to the fight with Scorpion. All the time in the world hadn't been enough to save him from a martial artist whose powers went beyond what he had believed to be possible.

"I'll do what I can." Max said, as he looked the wizard in the eye. "None of us are invincible. Only fools and cowards back down from a challenge greater than themselves. It's better to go down in flames than walk away and wonder what you could have done."

Magus nodded, and began to walk away. "Good luck fighter."

Max returned the greeting. "Good luck to you too."

Max shivered a little. A creepy sort of wind seemed to follow the wizard as he left. Well, that was interesting. I'm glad I won't be seeing him in the arena for a while.

DAY TWENTY-FOUR

Sleek orange and yellow metal surrounded her body in a mesh of color designed not for stealth, but to intimidate foes and warn adversaries of her potential. An energy blaster took up the spot where her hand would be. Her entire suit was a masterpiece of natural and mechanical engineering-designed by the Chozos to create the ultimate fighter. She was a bounty hunter. It was in her nature to keep her spirit as distant from the concerns of others as her body was cut off from the outside world. Her sole window to the rest of the world was through the visor in her helmet.

But she was still human. When the leaders of her race had called on her to eliminate the Metroid threat, she had done her duty-and fought harder than she ever had imagined doing for herself. She had proven herself as relentless in saving mankind from the Metroids as she had in purusing its criminals for money.

She was still human. Underneath the metal skin was a very real and emotional being. Emotion's a liability in this line of work. But you aren't working now, geez. Samus thought. Lighten up a little, you're around your actual peers for once, it wouldn't kill you to open up.

She sighed. She was still human. A fact which the red robot apparently had not picked up on. He (she wasn't comfortable referring to a robot as "it") was nearly as tall as her, and ironically more humanoid in appearance. He had long blonde hair, a blaster not unlike hers, and what looked like a saber in a holster behind his back. He also had quite a chatty nature.

"Hey there. Didn't think I'd run into any more robots out here. What's your name?"

"Samus... Samus Aran. Sorry, but I'm not-"

"Yeah, great to meet you, Samus. HEY MEGAMAN, I FOUND ANOTHER ONE!"

The red robot called out to what looked like no one in particular. In a few seconds though, a blue robot bounded over a hill, with a smaller robot in tow. Samus wondered idly if the two had used some kind of communicator to talk to each other, and the shouting was just for her benefit.

"Hey Zero! I found this cool boss, but he won't let me have his weapon."

Samus studied the blue robot. The red robot... Zero, that was it... he looked more grown up somehow, and carried himself confidently. This one looked more like a boy. And of course, being a robot, he would likely never change from his state of infancy. Samus had to consider what kind of creative mind would build a robot with such a personality, or why a fighting robot like Zero would be built for that matter.

"What... that's not a boss, let me take a look at it."

At Zero's insistence, MegaMan dropped the smaller robot on the ground. This one had a blue body, pink shoes, and a white head... and an impish voice. "I'm Bomberman, and don't try to boss me around!"

"See, he's Bomber Man!" MegaMan argued. "I need to fight him so I can take his Bomber Gun!"

Zero smiled. "I'm not sure you'd want that one. And look, he's not one of Dr. Wily's robots, he's just like you and me, another good guy."

MegaMan sighed. "Oh. Rats. I wanted to get some more weapons before the fight!"

Zero shook his head, and turned to Samus. "He's a little too enthusiastic, but a good guy, and don't underestimate him." He turned back to MegaMan. "Anyway, MegaMan, and Mr. Bomberman, this is another robot friend, Mr. Samus-"

Samus spoke for the second time. "Wrong on both counts, sorry. Miss Samus Aran. I'm a woman, not a robot. Call me Samus. Nice to meet you all."

Zero looked a little uncomfortable. "Sorry, with your gun and metal body, I just assumed..."

"Yeah, and with your long hair I assumed you were a woman. What are the odds, huh?" She smiled. She was beginning to warm up to the robots. "Here, in case you don't believe me..."

She pulled off her helmet and let loose cascading blonde hair. She shook her hair out. "Eh, helmet hair. So, I shoot things for a living. What's your guys's story?"

Bomberman was the first to pipe up. "I like bombs!" The little robot whipped one out of nowhere, and chucked it over the hill he was carried up. Samus watched with interest. Her own bombs were nowhere near that size-but then, she didn't have to worry about blowing herself up.

In a few seconds, the bomb detonated, and the group of them got to see a very annoyed CATS running down the hill, with his hair on fire. "AUUGH! SOMEONE SET UP US THE BOMB!"

Samus chuckled. "Moving on. What about you Mega boy?"

MegaMan didn't seem to mind the crack, and started talking right away. "I fight bad robots for Dr. Light, and when I beat them, I get to take their weapons."

Samus cocked an eyebrow. "Interesting. I guess you'll be taking Mr. Resetti's power pretty soon, huh? Look out! MegaMan's going to make us save our games right!"

The others chuckled, and Zero spoke up again. "Yeah, Megaman and I are pretty similar. Robots fighting robots-seems like a nice idea for a TV series."

Samus smiled. A robotic sense of humor, who would of thought?

The four of them ended up spending the rest of the day together. They had a surprising amount in common between them, and were able to discuss ways in which they kept working on and improving their weaponry. One of the most amusing moments came when Tommy Vercetti showed up.

"Hey girl! Why don't you ditch that Zero and get yourself a hero?" He grinned at her... then began to back away slowly and watched his grin fade as Megaman, Zero, and Samus all began to charge their weapons in his direction. They had a good laugh at his expense, and Samus found herself liking the odd robots.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later" Samus offered when the day was over. "Good luck out there when the fight starts."

"Yeah, no sweat." Megaman offered.

"I'll do my best." commented Zero.

"You too!" chimed Bomberman.

Samus watched them walk off. They all seemed like nice 'bots... but "nice" doesn't get you very far against raw power. Still... they all were flexible enough with their weaponry to give several opponents a run for their money.

And as for me... Samus wondered. I might as well try again, I did well enough last time. Just one more week, and we'll see how I stack up this year. Here's hoping.

DAY TWENTY-FIVE

Alone. And outnumbered sixty-three to one. Eh, I've survived worse.

The fox shook his head as he surveyed the fighters all killing time until the tournament started. Last year he had been knocked out in the first round. He'd been unlucky enough to start out against one of the veteran contestants, and his own lack of hand to hand combat skills certainly hadn't helped. What I wouldn't give to be in an Arwing right now... he mused.

He was Fox McCloud, the son of James McCloud. And out of all the heroics accomplished by the sixty four competitors, his achievement was arguably the greatest-he liberated an entire solar system from enslavement. Sure, Samus destroyed the plague of Metroids that threaten to wreak havoc on the order of the galaxy-but he had done with his four Arwings what an entire army could not. He had gone from planet to planet, destroyed Andross's incursions into the Lylat System, and finally beaten the evil ape himself. To be fair, he did have the element of surprise, a level of skill and experience which outmatched Andross's best pilots, and the best wingmen any pilot could hope for.

But they're not here now, Fox thought. It's just me. Falco would be itching to fight by now. Peppy would probably be better than me at anticipating what the other fighters would do. Heck, I'd even take Slippy right now.

Fox studied the other fighters. He was a tactician by nature. He knew about how armies operated, and how a battle worked on a very large scale-but one on one combat was still wildly unpredictable.

He knew his own skills were better suited to flying, but he had to take the role he was chosen for. Being a fox, he still had a manuverability, speed, and reflexes which more than likely outmatched any of his competition, and his blaster enabled him to keep the battle at a distance if he so chose-and he had learned a lot about fighting in close quarters since saving the Dinosaur Planet.

Sam Fisher, Dante, Gordan Freeman, Master Chief, Max Payne, and Tommy Vercetti-they were all gunfighters it seemed. He knew their guns weren't quite like his, but they had more in common with him then he did with Samus, Zero, and MegaMan, whose preferred method of fighting was varied energy blasts. He was somewhere in between the two groups of fighters-and he would feel fairly comfortable going up against either one-they would use similar strategy to him, and he hoped his speed would give him an edge.

Then there were the swordfighters. Squall, Auron, Ramza, Alucard, Vyse, Cloud... Cloud. He was the fighter who shared his name, and had humiliated him last year. It was a close range battle, and his opponent also had various magical forces at his command. Not good. But moving on...

Link was also a sword fighter, at least in part. He also seemed to have some kind of magic he could use. If Fox won his first fight, he would likely end up facing Link-which wasn't too encouraging. At least I could say I lost to the champion this time, Fox thought.

Crono also seemed like Cloud in his use of magic and weapons... but they were all a ways away. His first opponent was a little enigma named Pikachu. The little rat always seemed buzzing with energy. Electrical energy, as it turned out. Watching the creature zip around, Fox had his doubts about whether his speed would be enough. Under different circumstances he might consider adopting the little thing as a pet, now, it was just an obstacle to his advancement.

Well, play it safe. You may not have to keep your distance, but try not to get shocked.

Fox was interrupted from his strategic reverie by a tall man with shades and a blonde crew cut. He also had what many of the contestants would have referred to as a BFG-Big Friggin' Gun. He had ammo strapped to belts on his chest. Apparently I missed one of the gunfighters...

"I'm Fox McCloud, nice to meet you." He offered his hand to the stranger who shook it, with a smile on his face.

"Pleasure's all mine. Duke Nukem. And no, I'm not royalty in my dimension, my name is actually Duke. I saw you checking us all out. We've got some freaky types out here, huh?"

Fox wondered if that applied more to himself or to Duke. "Yeah... it's just a little hard to guess what's going to happen."

"Eh, don't worry about it." Duke grinned. "These guys may look tough, but if I know anything, it's that there's nothing enough ammunition won't take care of. You just keep blasting away and anything has to crumble eventually."

Nice Philosophy, Fox thought.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

"Yeah... watch your back kid."

Duke Nukem fired a dozen round burst over the heads of a couple well-known Italian plumbers and laughed as they stared at him questioningly.

"If you're not watching your front, that is." Duke continued. "See ya Fox."

Duke walked away, apparently looking for some more diversions that involved leaving a trail of smoke and noise. He seemed reckless... but that's what everyone always told Fox as well. Without being as foolhardy as he had, he never would have tried taking on Andross.

Never give up. Trust your instincts. Fox reminded himself, quoting Peppy. He had a shot, he knew, and might as well give it everything he had.

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And as more writers came into the project… The project became more and more epic, and we all improved tremendously. This was the start of that… You'll see the finish in a few months.

A reminder… If you want to see the brackets for the tournament, which include the 64 characters that we are writing for, then try the link in my profile.

(A note… I can italicize things in this story, as you may have noticed. But bold isn't working for me… Anyone know why?)