LINK TO SECTION BELOW

The camera then returned to Drake and Ashley. The two were beaming brightly.

"Anddddd we are back!" Drake grinned.

"Surprisingly quick as well." Ashley noted. "I thought that we would have to wait a few more days."

"Yeah, well, that shows despite how busy Orange-Ratchet is, he is dedicated to this tournament." Drake pointed out. "Now before we continue, a quick reminder that Rosalina & Luma have chosen the "King of Smashers" envelope so now we will be having FORTY fighters!"

"We will also be having five more Smash and KoF characters each." Ashley noted. "So we have a lot to cover so let's start."

LUNA LOUD

NODE: THE LOUD HOUSE

ENTERED IN: Section 5; Number 108

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 5

"While her first… And only appearance in combat is a subpar mobile fighting game, it was more than a big enough stepping stone for Luna Loud to hang out with the big boys!" Drake smirked.

"Indeed, Dhalsim and Ken from Street Fighter V, Flapjack from Cartoon Network: Punch Time, Dumbo from Kingdom Hearts and even Megaman himself learned that the hard way!" Ashley noted. "She even tied with Akane Owari for Mystery Fighter MVP! Question is, can she break the Ultimate Gymnast's record?"

JAK & DAXTER

NODE: PLAYSTATION ALL-STARS BATTLE ROYALE/JAK & DAXTER

ENTERED IN: Section 6; Number 124

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 3

"Picking up the much-needed slack for the PSASBR node are the unlikely duo of Jak & Daxter!" Ashley smiled.

"Yeah, they were unhappy by their node's poor score thus far and unleashed their fury onto Zelda and Fox from Super Smash Bros and Aeleus from Kingdom Hearts!" Drake grinned. "And their quest for nodal revenge isn't over yet!"

DIDDY KONG

NODE: SUPER SMASH BROS/DONKEY KONG

ENTERED IN: Section 6; Number 127

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 3

"Showing his potential as the top banana of Donkey Kong Country is the second banana himself, Diddy Kong!" Drake grinned.

"Indeed! He ran circles around the Grizz from Sly Cooper, Goofy from Kingdom Hearts and Filia from Skullgirls!" Ashley noted. "And he still got a lot of energy to spare!"

KIRBY

NODE: SUPER SMASH BROS/KIRBY

ENTERED IN: Section 7; Number 136

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 2

"Okay, let's be honest: Is anyone surprised that Kirby is already off to an amazing start?" Ashley smiled. "He already gave quick work out of Piccolo from Dragon Ball Z and Kairi from Kingdom Hearts!"

"And he did all while looking cute as hell!" Drake winked. "And you could bet that there will be more elimination like those!"

ROSALINA & LUMA

NODE: SUPER SMASH BROS/KIRBY

ENTERED IN: Section 7; Number 138

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 2

"From one stellar Super Smash Bros fighter to another, we have Ashley's crush, Rosalina and her ally, Luma!" Drake grinned.

"DRAKE!" Ashley scolded with a beet-red face. "A-Anyway, while their eliminations of Sakura from Street Fighter V and Wave from Sonic were… Indirect, they demonstrated their powers and teamwork, showing them that they were a force to be reckoned with!"

TARUTO IKISATASHI

NODE: TOKYO MEW MEW

ENTERED IN: Section 7; Number 139

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

"Ready to avenge his brother, Kisshu and take over the reins for Tokyo Mew Mew is the youngest Cyniclon, Taruto!" Ashley announced.

"Yeah, he really pulled a surprise elimination over Whip from King of Fighters XV!" Drake noted.

WONDER WOMAN

NODE: DC COMICS/WONDER WOMAN

ENTERED IN: Section 7; Number 140

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

"Wonder Woman is off to a small start with her elimination of Penelope from Sly Cooper so now she is going to spend a good chunk of her time in the ring small!" Drake grinned.

Ashley rolled his eyes. "What he meant is that thanks to the wheel, she is now the size of a mouse. So she needs to put her super-strength to greater use than before."

MALEFICENT

NODE: KINGDOM HEARTS/SLEEPING BEAUTY

ENTERED IN: Section 7; Number 142

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

BIG GUY ALERT!

"Proving why she calls herself the Mistress of Evil is Maleficent!" Ashley smiled. "While her elimination of Garzooka from Garfield's Pet Force was quite impressive…"

"It was all of the drama she caused in the ring when she was spamming her most infamous spells "Meteor of Heaven"!" Drake grinned. "While she only got one elimination in terms of score, she inadvertently caused a lot of other eliminations! And I doubt she is going to let up anytime soon!"

RAPUNZEL

NODE: KINGDOM HEARTS/TANGLED

ENTERED IN: Section 7; Number 149

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

"And from a classic Disney villain to a modern Disney Princess, Rapunzel!" Drake announced. "She is swinging her hair left and right and somehow not getting a single split end!"

"I must admit that I wish to know her secret…" Ashley mused before stifling a cough with his fist. "She is off on to a solid start with her big, albeit indirect elimination of Yooka-Laylee!"

GREEN LANTERN

NODE: DC COMICS/GREEN LANTERN

ENTERED IN: Section 7; Number 151

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

Ashley paused. "...Okay, I can't really pretend to say anything nice about Green Lantern because his "elimination" of Kisshu from Tokyo Mew Mew is nothing more than a technicality. Even compared to other indirect eliminations."

"But in his defense, it is not really his fault." Drake frowned. "At least now he has more of a chance to prove his worth."

MOJO JOJO

NODE: CARTOON NETWORK: PUNCH TIME EXPLOSION/THE POWERPUFF GIRLS

ENTERED IN: Section 7; Number 153

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

BIG GUY ALERT!

"Entering the round by eliminating at least one person which is the only requirement to surviving until the next round because this is a tournament of eliminations is the one and only, Mojo Jojo!" Drake announced.

Ashley rolled his eyes. "Well, THAT'S not going to get old… But yes, Mojo has done well thus far by eliminating King Shark from DC Comics."

KITTY KATSWELL

NODE: T.U.F.F. PUPPY

ENTERED IN: Section 7; Number 154

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

"And last, but certainly not least is the Reserve Mystery Fighter, Kitty Katswell!" Drake grinned.

"Indeed, she used not only her skills to eliminate Sir Raleigh from Sly Cooper, but also exploiting the VERY line on what an elimination is!" Ashley smiled. "Well, that is all of the surviving fighters so let's get into the new ones!"

VANITAS

NODE: KINGDOM HEARTS

Drake immediately scoffed. "Okay… I'll bite… What is HIS deal?"

"You know Ventus? Vanitas is the embodiment of the extracted darkness of his heart." Ashley explained.

"Um, okay, then why does he look more like Sora than Ven and Roxas underneath his helmet?" Drake challenged.

"Because a part of Ventus' heart is in Sora's heart." Ashley explained.

Drake blinked twice. "...Why did I pretend that I would get a straight answer?"

Ashley rolled his eyes. "Anywayyyyy, not only is Vanitas another Keyblade-wielder, but he also send out wave, dark fireballs and could teleport."

"Funnnnn…" Drake muttered.

"He could also summon dark clones of himself and even a lot of dark Keyblades to not only attack, but to ride like a hoverboard."

Drake's eyes lit up. "Huh. Not only to lie, that actually sounds kinda cool."

Ashley rolled his eyes. "When you are fighting his Lingering Spirit form."

Drake immediately winced at this. "What is it with the word "Lingering" that is always involved with pure hell in Kingdom Hearts?"

MIAN

NODE: KING OF FIGHTERS XIV

"Wow… She looks very graceful." Ashley said in awe.

"Yeah, apparently she is a Sichuan Opera dancer. Have no time what that is, but apparently it involves masks." Drake shrugged.

Ashley raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, she apparently has a lot of masks that she could switch at any time." Drake agreed. "She even switches them during combat, though that is if you are placing attention to her face."

"Oh?" Ashley mused. "So she must be as elegant in combat as well."

"Oh, she is! Not only could she summon his rainbow mist around her attack while dancing, but she could also breathe fire." Drake explained.

"Uh-huh. Uh-huh." Ashley nodded.

"She could also defy gravity by jumping in mid-air around the battlefield to confuse and disorient her opponents!" Drake smirked.

Ashley's eyes widened at this. "Woah… And she got that Sichuan Opera dancing!"

"I know, right? Maybe I should ask Cacey to help book me a show! I now actually want to see one in action!" Drake grinned.

ZEUS

NODE: PLAYSTATION ALL-STARS BATTLE ROYALE/GOD OF WAR

BIG GUY ALERT!

Drake grunted in disgust. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Mr. Can't Keep It In My Toga himself."

Ashley's face immediately turned green. "Drake!"

"Oh, don't give me that! That is the staple of him in Greek Mythology and you know it!" The vampire scolded. "Why do you think Kratos started out as a raging asshole!?"

Ashley just shook his head. "Anyway, for starters, Zeus is a god so he should have superhuman strength and endurance!"

"And don't forget, he is the God of THUNDER so he has a lot of electricity-based attacks." Drake noted.

Ashley gulped nervously. "He definitely sounds like a threat…"

"He may… But let's face it, Zeus is petty as hell. He will probably do and say something to piss someone and have said someone eliminate him out of anger." Drake reassured.

"Fair enough… I am… Still in awe that Greek Mythology presents him as a HERO." Ashley said in disgust.

PAC-MAN

NODE: SUPER SMASH BROS/PAC-MAN

"PAC-MAN!" Drake grinned. "Who DOESN'T learn of the little guy?"

"Even someone like me who isn't as into gaming as you has to admit that he is iconic." Ashley smiled. "I think this is a great node to cover for our node research team!"

With that, the camera turned to a grinning Wally and Catherine.

"Leave it to us! Now Pacman needs no introduction, but we will try ta do what we can!" Wally grinned. "It was developed by Toru Iwatani to bring joy to the world!"

"The gameplay is simple. You play as Pacman, a yellow circle with a pie slice mouth going around a simple maze trying to collect yellow dots. However, you have to be careful to avoid four multi-coloured ghosts, each with their own pattern to try to kill you." Catherine explained.

"The aim of the game is to eat all of the dots while avoiding them, however, ya could eat these glowing dots called Power Pellets to turn the ghosts blue and eat them! Ha ha, revenge, bitches!" Wally grinned.

"While the gameplay is just that, it has become a classic, helping with the video game craze." Catherine explained. "It then spawned a sequel called Ms. Pacman. Who is just Pacman with lipstick and a bow, but I guess you could only do so much differentant Pacman's design."

"It has spawned while console adaptations, two pinball machines, two cartoons, two party games and THREE 3D platformers!" Wally grinned.

"Also, didn't it also have a point-and-click game called…" Catherine asked.

"We do NOT talk about that game!" Wally snapped, making Catherine snap. "On the note, the cartoons were a bit hit-and-miss, but the later one DID had an awesome Japanese opening made by the legendary Hyadain."

Catherine nodded her head. "I-Indeed. Whenever you think of video games, one of the first people to come to mind is Pacman because of his iconic design. I am just glad that they went with his Pacman World design for Smash."

"Um, duh! The Pacman World series is a cult classic!" Wally pointed out. "Anyway, like we said, there is what you need ta know about Pacman! Back ta ya!"

The camera then went to Ashley. "Thanks, guys!"

"Now Pacman not only has a moveset from his classic games, but other Namco games as well." Drake explained.

Ashley's eyes widened at this. "Really?"

"Yes, anyway, with turning into his 2D sprite to bite opponents and send out different fruit with varying properties, he could have a mini-tractor beam as a grab from Galaga, summon a trampoline underneath him from Mappy and summon a fire hydrant from Pac Land." Drake explained.

"Wow… For someone with a simple game and design, he sounds really complex." Ashley said in awe.

"Oh, he is. Because he is not only representing his company, Namco, but arcade gaming as a whole." Drake noted. "And you can't be that type of representation by having a simple battle plan."

MAI SHIRANUI

NODE: KING OF FIGHTERS XIV/FATAL FURY

"And here we have arguably one of the biggest female faces of KoF, Mai Shiranui!" Ashley announced.

"And don't worry, just because Orange-Ratchet prefers writing for cartoons, he actually invites all boys and girls." Drake added before smirking. "Even the not-so-good ones!"

"Drake, come on! She gets teased about more times than she needs to hear about it!" Ashley scolded. "That is why she is going open season on the Super Smash Bros cast!"

"Sorry, sorry! But to be fair, she IS far too risque." Drake pointed out.

"Um, so is Bayonetta! And a couple of Samus' outfits! And Pyra and Mythra now that they are in the game!" Ashley reminded.

"Yeah, but their clothes don't show off their hips and chest." Drake pointed out. "Even Bayonetta usually take off her clothes when using her Wicked Weaves doesn't take off that much."

"I… Guess…" Ashley said before sighing. "Alright… What is HER story?"

"Well, she is a ninja so…" Drake started.

"Get out." Ashley said in disbelief.

"No, really, Mai is a ninja. And she has a lot of swift-moving attacks and is quite aerobatic, even if she uses fans as kunai." Drake explained.

Ashley blinked twice. "Umm, as in hidden-blades fans like Kitana from Mortal Kombat?"

"Nope, normal fans. Yeah, I don't get it either." Drake shrugged. "Also, she is a pyromancer."

Ashley gulped nervously. "A pyromancer… With THAT type of rage. Yeah, she is definitely going to be a threat…"

BAMBI

NODE: KINGDOM HEARTS/BAMBI

Drake and Ashley both blinked twice.

"...I WAS going to ask "BAMBI" how the hell is HE going to fight only for Monokuma to… Give him a boost." Drake muttered.

Ashley rolled his eyes. "Welp, if Xero wasn't going to get angry messages before…"

"FUCK THAT DESPAIR-OBSESSED BITCH!"

"...So what else is new?"

"Yeah, but, still… UGHHHHH!"

Drake and Ashley just sighed.

"Wally and Catherine time." Drake muttered.

The camera then went to a furious Catherine with Wally trying to calm her down.

"Catherine, please, the more ya obsess over what happened, the more you are unable ta give Bambi the proper introduction it deserves!" Wally pleaded.

The pink-haired girl breathed in a few times before letting out a deep sigh. "Fine…"

"A-Anyway, Bambi is another Disney movie. FIFTH animated one ta be exact." Wally sputtered. "Based on the book called "Bambi, a Life in the Woods"."

"It is a cute coming-of-age story about an adorable roe deer called "Bambi" going through his daily life as a deer!" Catherine said before squealing.

"So as ya could see, what ya see is what ya get with the story. But that is not a bad thing. If it is well-written enough." Wally shrugged.

"Oh, it is! It even got its own sequel book which focused on Bambi and his children!" Catherine beamed.

"Though, don't think the books are all cutesy. The first book really nailed the scary nature of, um… Nature." Wally shrugged.

"Yeah, and don't forget those humans. Who the animals think are gods." Catherine said before letting out a deep sigh. "Those poor, simple dearies."

Wally chuckled nervously. "Anyway, Disney HAS ta get its mitts on the story and made an animated story."

"And it is as cute as the books!" Catherine beamed.

"Aye, but it is not afraid ta get dark…" Wally winced. "That scene with Bambi's mom and…"

"WWWWWAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Wally jumped before immediately running over to Catherine's side and putting his hand on her shoulder.

"O-Oi, Cat, please, we are live!" Wally pleaded.

"I-I know, but that scene really messed me as a kid!" Catherine said between sobs.

"A-Aye, Ah could imagine that most people were…" Wally said before hugging Catherine. "Sorry, but all Ah could say is that Bambi has gotten a sequel!"

"I-I-It was fine! It takes place in the middle of the first film, making it more of a midquel!" The young woman cried while hugging Wally back. "I-I-It was okay by Disney sequel standards andddddd…. WWWWWWAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Um, back ta ya…" Wally said with a sheepish grin.

Cue going back to an exasperated Drake and Ashley.

"I should have known that remembering the death of Bambi's death will make her cry like a baby…" Drake muttered.

"Well… THIS is awkward." Ashley said.

"I mean it isn't anything new for us." Drake said, rolling his eyes.

"Um, no, I actually got something to somewhat defend Bambi as a fighter." Ashley insisted.

Drake looked at Ashley with wide eyes. "No lie?"

"No lie!" The wizard reassured. "You know that Chain of Memories had an updated version?"

"You mean with 3D graphics? Yeah, I do. Why?" Drake asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, Sora could summon Bambi using two different sleights. Which is really card combos." Ashley explained. "In both attacks, he literally prances on enemies' heads, dizzying them. Sure, they didn't do that much damage, but it felt his enemies wide open."

"So basically he has the same powers as a platformer protagonist." Drake mused. "I mean sure, if BUBSY could make it work, why not him? But…"

"Yeah, he is too busy being triggered by Monokuma playing his mother's death…" Ashley said, rolling his eyes. "Xero claims that it isn't his fault, but it was HIS enemy to keep Junko."

Then, the alarm went off.

"Ooh, now it is time for our next Mystery Fighter!" Drake grinned.

"At least Junko can't work on her magic on this one, hopefully." Ashley said, rolling his eyes.

RAWK HAWK

NODE: PAPER MARIO: THE THOUSAND-YEAR DOOR

Ashley's eyes bugged out in pure horror as Drake's eyes lit up.

"Oh no!" Ashley exclaimed.

"It's RAWWWWWK Hawk!" Drake shouted at the top of his lungs.

Ashley covered his ears in pain. "ACK! Xero invited him to the tournament just for you to torture me with that stupid catchphrase, just like you did when we were covering the third Megamix Tournament , didn't he?"

Drake immediately frowned. "Ah, come on! I know you don't like the guy, but now you are being ridiculous! He probably doesn't even know we are doing this show yet!"

"Whatever. Hey, Catherine, I know you are having a moment, but I refuse to spend any more time where Drake could shout that catchphrase in my ear." Ashley pleaded.

"Spoilsport." Drake scoffed.

The camera then went to Wally looking at Catherine in concern as the latter wiped away her tears.

"Are ya feeling better, Sheila?" Wally offered.

"Y-Yeah, I just needed a minute…" Catherine reassured.

"If ya say so…" Wally said before taking a deep breath. "Anyway, even though Paper Mario is a spin-off RPG series from the Super Mario Bros series. And as ya could expect, everything is, well, made out of paper."

"It was more subtle in the earlier games, but the later games really started to embrace each one." Catherine said, finally calming down. "Actually… It is a little hard to talk about the series because each one is different in its own way."

"Aye! The first one was your standard "Save Princess Peach" from Bowser plot, but as a wise man once said, "It isn't the destination, but the journey." Wally grinned. "While the worlds are to be expected from your basic Mario level, it is so full of personality with even original designs of usual Mario enemies with some even joining you in battle with each one with their own strengths and weaknesses!"

"The Thousand-Year-Door is like the original, but much better. The characters had more fleshed out personalities, the worlds are more varied in what you could do and it is not afraid to get dark!" Catherine smiled.

"Super Paper Mario'' was a sideback for the RPG genre, despite still keeping some elements and being a hybrid of it and a platformer. You could only play as Mario, Peach, Bowser and Luigi and partners were replaced with Pixls, but DAMN, is the story the darkest one yet!" Wally winced. "We actually see an entire world get DESTROYED!"

Catherine then frowned. "As for Sticker Star…"

"WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT THAT GAME!" Wally yelled, making Catherine wince.

"Umm, how about Colour Splash?" The pinkette asked.

Wally rolled his eyes. "It's… Tolerable. It has a bit of personality and charm that the previous ones had, but sucked away so much. Like all of the characters are the bog-standard Mario enemies. No variety. Oh, and don't even get me started on that stupid sticker gimmick."

Catherine then let out a deep sigh. "Which leaves us with Origami King. And while it didn't have any new characters. It will have a lot of personality, charm and even a couple of dark moments. How the hell do you give giant tools that you would find in your PENCIL CASE threatening and fun to fight!"

"So yeah, a lot of different games and a lot of varying opinions. But yeah, it had its large fanbase and the Paper Mario version of Mario even did a crossover with the Mario & Luigi series!" Wally grinned. "The Star Spirits of the first game even made it into Mario Party 5! It is very rare for a character from that series to appear in another Mario game! Back ta ya mates!"

The camera then went to a grinning Drake. "Ta, guys!"

"Now I know that we covered Rawk Hawk before, but we never really covered his abilities in that much." Ashley reminded.

"Well, as you would expect from his muscles, he is physically strong." Drake pointed out. "However, believe it or not, he is actually an aerial fighter."

Ashley's eyes widened at this. "No lie?"

"Yeah, a couple of his attacks involve him jumping up and dive-bombing his opponents." Drake explained.

"Huh." Ashley said, rubbing his chin. "So he is strong AND swift, as much as I hate to admit it, he sounds like a threat."

"Indeed. He is definitely going to RA…." Drake started.

"NO! None of that! Shame on you!" Ashley snapped.

Drake rolled his eyes. "Spoilsport."

BLAZE THE CAT

NODE: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

"And here we have the pretty, powerful, pyromancer, purple princess!" Drake announced.

"That's…" Ashley said before pausing. "Actually a clever alias."

"Thanks! Too bad that Blaze starts with a B then it would be perfect!" Drake grinned.

Ashley rolled his eyes. "Anyway, about Blaze powers."

"What you see at first glance is what you get. She is a "Speed" Sonic character with pyromancy." Drake explained. "However, her fighting style is much more graceful than the likes of Sonic."

"Not surprising considering that she is a princess." Ashley mused.

"Yeah, she even has an attack where she spins around like a ballerina, summoning flames around her." Drake explained.

"Heh. She sounds like a threat." Ashley smirked.

"Oh, she is. She didn't show up in that many games recently, but she is still a powerful force when she appears." Drake smiled.

"Normally, we would continue on, but because we are doing forty characters, we will be splitting this part into two just like the first one." Ashley noted.

"But don't you worry, we will be right back!" Drake winked.

LINK TO SECTION: archiveofourown / works / 25531129 / chapters / 73644036