LINK TO SECTION BELOW

Normally, this would be part where he cut back to Drake and Ashley ready to continue the recap. But this time was different, Drake was putting down his phone, hanging up on Xero. Ashley, on the other hand, was looking stunned.

"B-B-Benefactors?" Ashley asked in disbelief.

"Yes, benefactors." Drake nodded, sternly.

Ashley's jaw dropped. "It… It all makes sense. How you were acting strangely after Tiny called, how you were so eager to call Xero after the show, why you were stunned after Luna Loud's appearance and the Big Guys!"

"That's right! It is all because of one important thing!" Drake said before looking at the camera.

"Everyone… I have an audience to make." The vampire explained. "Remember when Tiny called me at the end of one of the recaps. Well, that is because he has given me…"

Drake then paused before looking at Ashley.

"Well, technically, gave US, depending if Ash is willing to join me." He said.

Ashley paused as Drake took in a deep breath.

"...Anyway, it is a very big job." Drake said. "It is something he used to do on his own, but now he is entrusting it to me… To us."

He then nodded his head.

"...He wants to make a third Battle of the Luminaries 3." Drake explained.

Almost immediately, the studio erupted in cheers. Drake gave a small smile. Ashley then walked over with a stunned look on his face.

"Really? Tiny is actually getting back into the groove?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah, he told me that after seeing GreyRaine and Orange-Ratchet do their own UVR tournaments, Tiny felt something sparked in him to do a third one." Drake said.

Ashley frowned. "Are you sure that he wants to go back? Because we know that the OFFICIAL reason is because of the crystals and vines, but…"

"I know, I know. It was because of the Big Guys. You basically confirmed this during your rant about them after Eggman has chosen the Big Guy Blocker." Drake explained. He then brightened up. "I am not one for being strict, but I have to remove the Big Guy status on several fighters and focus on three or four antagonists."

Ashley nodded his head. "That could do."

"Okay, I will give you a sneak peek on what I had in mind!" Drake grinned. "First off, like I said earlier, the benefactors who I want are the Millennium Star and Tumble. Both from Mario Party 3?"

Ashley blinked twice. "...I mean I am not opposed to them. But why THEM?"

"Several things actually. They are the hosts of one of the best party games of all time, even by Mario Party standards. Also, it is the Battle of the LUMINARIES so it only makes sense to have a living star!" Drake grinned.

Ashley paused. "But… The Millennium Star is a fraud. Remember how he lied about being the… Well, Millennium Star?"

"I mean… In terms of ethics, he is a step-up from Junko." Drake admitted.

Ashley rolled his eyes. "Ooh, I hate it how Xero set the bar so low that we have to accept subpar people!"

Drake chuckled. "Anyway, I have been giving it a LOT of thought, but these are the nodes that I have in mind."

With that, he took a deep breath.

"Street Fighter All-Stars, King of Fighters All-Stars, Super Smash Bros, Tales of, Sonic the Hedgehog, Crash Bandicoot, Blazblue, Digimon Rumble Arena, Fighting Ex Layer, Rival Schools, Guilty Gear Strive, Samurai Shodown, Virtua Fighter, Killer Instinct, Rivals of Aether, Power Instinct, ARMS, Persona 4 Arena, Shrek Super Slam and last, but certainly not least, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl."

"Woah…" Ashley said in awe. "That is definitely an all-star cast. A lot of returning nodes, a couple of obscure nodes and a few non-video game nodes."

Drake chuckled. "Depends on what you mean by non-video game."

"But what do you mean by Street Fighter All-Stars and King of Fighters All-Stars?" Ashley asked.

"Well, it is simple. I decided to have groups in both nodes based on era." Drake explained. "Six for the era of Street Fighter and ten for the era of King of Fighters."

"Huh. That is very smart." Ashley noted.

"Yeah, it gives me the chance to finally give me something." Drake smirked. "Something that will give the Battle of the Luminaries its own identity! Or rather, its own gimmick!"

"Right… The Okron Tournament has a Second Chance round, and the Tournament of Kikai has the wheel. Even the third Megamix Tournament has the Power Stones." Ashley noted. "What will this one have?"

"Easy. I admit that I kinda stole this from one of Xero's ideas, but also one of SSBFreak's earlier ones." Drake confessed. "You know how after the section idea the person who picked the top slot would get to choose the theme of the next section and you know how in the first Megamix Tournament, Master Hand and Crazy Hand will change the layout of the ring after every round?"

Ashley's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, NOW I get it."

"That's right. After every round, the top slot fighter will pick the layout of the ring. And if the Millennium Star agrees, the sky could be the limit with him!" Drake grinned. "The guy could create an entire world inside of a TOY BOX."

"So in the end, it is kind of like a form of organized chaos." Ashley said.

"Exactly! Now last, but not least, the date." Drake said. "I am not sure why it will happen, but it should start one week after Valentine's Day or three."

Ashley raised an eyebrow. "That's kinda specific."

"Yes, well, King of Fighters XV will come out on that day." Drake explained. "And there is no way I will NOT try to find a way to incorporate Isla and the other new woman into the cast."

"True… Even before we barely knew anything about them, everyone fell in love with their designs." Ashley noted.

"Exactly!" Drake nodded. "So yeah, for all of you watchers out there, it will be cross-posted on both Tinyhammer's Fanfiction page where he is referred to as Tinyrocket there AND his Archiveofourown page. He WOULD also post it on his Deviantart page, but there's that damn word limit. Regardless, I hope that you will send your support when Tiny finally reboots the Battle of the Luminaries."

With that, everyone gave applause as Drake bowed his head. He felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Sure, maybe he has spoiled a good chunk of things way too early, but he didn't care. He just wanted to share it with the world.

"Ashley…?" Drake asked.

"Hm?" The wizard said.

"...Let's talk a bit more about this after this recap." Drake offered.

Ashley paused before smiling and nodding. "...Indeed."

YURI SAKAZAKI

NODE: KING OF FIGHTERS XIV/ART OF FIGHTING

ENTERED IN: Section 11; Number 237

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 6

"Before we start, I have gotten some trivia on one of the team stories of King of Fighters XV." Drake explained. "Turns out that the reason she isn't on the Art of Fighting team this time around is because Ryo forbade her from entering the team because she hasn't been training at the dojo recently and he bluntly called her weak because of it."

"Ouch…" Ashley winced. "Well, that may explain the impressive streak. She is driven by determination to prove her brother wrong and used it as a weapon against her nodal companion, Mature, Luna from the Loud House, Daisy from Super Smash Bros, Simba from Kingdom Hearts, Squigly from Skullgirls and now Fat Princess from Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale."

SIR DANIEL FORTESQUE

NODE: PLAYSTATION ALL-STARS BATTLE ROYALE/MEDIEVIL

ENTERED IN: Section 13; Number 268

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 2

"While going slowly, that doesn't mean Sir Daniel lacks the potential to be the warrior that he used to be nothing, but hot air about!" Ashley smiled.

"Yeah, to the surprise of some, he is able to overtake the titular Angry Beavers and Andy from King of Fighters XIV!" Drake grinned.

GENIE

NODE: KINGDOM HEARTS/ALADDIN

ENTERED IN: Section 13; Number 270

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 2

"Continuing to show how much power a Genie could have when he is not granting wishes is the Robin Williams Genie!" Drake grinned. "Making Ness from Super Smash Bros, Spyro the Dragon and Silver from Sonic the Hedgehog wish they never fought him!"

"As if he wasn't scary enough, he also has a Smash Ball and if he uses it, you could bet it will be nothing, but pure and utter chaos for not only his opponents, but everyone in the arena!"

SLY COOPER

NODE: SLY COOPER

ENTERED: Section 13; Number 271

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 3

"Continuing to show that he is the original Phantom Thief before Joker of Persona fame, is Sly Cooper!" Ashley smiled.

"Ooh, nice one." Drake smirked. "But yeah. Bass from Megaman, April from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012 and Najd from King of Fighters XIV tried to catch him, but he was too quick for them!"

WRECK-IT RALPH

NODE: KINGDOM HEARTS/WRECK-IT RALPH

ENTERED IN: Section 13; Number 274

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 2

BIG GUY ALERT!

"Continuing to wreck it is Ralph!" Drake grinned. "Admittedly, in comparison to his standing at the Battle of the Luminaries, he is getting eliminations much slower here."

"But that doesn't mean we should overlook the damage it is causing in terms of quality!" Ashley noted. "Incineroar from Super Smash Bros and Duke from Tokyo Mew Mew could attest to that."

DOCTOR EGGMAN

NODE: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

ENTERED IN: Section 13; Number 277

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 3

BIG GUY ALERT!

"...Eggman's decision to have a Big Guy Blocker turned out to have… Mixed results." Ashley frowned. "On one hand, if it didn't do so, he wouldn't be here right now. But on the OTHER hand, he is not landlocked for the rest of the round."

"But hey, it didn't stop his elimination of Dexter from Cartoon Network: Punch-Time Explosion!" Drake offered. "OR his earlier eliminations of Tron Bonne from Megaman and his nodal companion, Shadow."

DAPHNE BLAKE

NODE: SCOOBY DOO

ENTERED IN: Section 13; Number 278

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 2

"And here is Mystery Inc.'s resident fiery redhead, Daphne Blake!" Drake smirked. "Continuing to be a girlboss!"

"Indeed, Kingdom Hearts' Pete and Flynn has shown that the old days of Daphne just being pretty fanservice are over." Ashley chuckled.

CHUN-LI

NODE: STREET FIGHTER V

ENTERED IN: Section 14; Number 283

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

Ashley frowned. "Okay… So the strongest woman in the world is not doing a good job backing up her claim, but to be fair, I blame Bloo more."

"Yeah, while her cheap elimination of is nothing to gloat about, let's see how far she will go WITHOUT worrying about dealing with her father's killer." Drake mused.

MAC & BLOO

NODE: CARTOON NETWORK: PUNCH-TIME EXPLOSION/FOSTER'S HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS

ENTERED IN: Section 14; Number 285

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

Drake grinned. "Speaking of Bloo, despite him and Mac only got one elimination in comparison to everyone else, he was definitely the MVP of the section."

"...I admit that he definitely made what would seem like a basic section interesting." Ashley admitted. "And his elimination of Alex from Street Fighter V is nothing to scoff enough. I just hope that he realizes that he may be the Bowser Jr. of the Tournament of Kikai if he keeps this up."

NEEDLES KANE

NODE: PLAYSTATION ALL-STARS BATTLE ROYALE/TWISTED METAL

ENTERED IN: Section 14; Number 287

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

BIG GUY ALERT!

"Showing why you should never mess with an evil clown is Needles Kane!" Ashley shuddered. "Poor Starfire from DC Comics has learned that the hard way."

"Needles may be landlocked, but even if he is without his iconic ice-cream truck, that doesn't make him any less of a threat." Drake said.

IVYSAUR

NODE: SUPER SMASH BROS/POKEMON

ENTERED IN: Section 14; Number 289

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

"Despite middle evolutions being usually considered the worst of the starter Pokemon, it seems like it doesn't affect Ivysaur!" Drake smiled.

"Yeah, he has already demonstrated that against Dynomutt: Dog Wonder. Someone who actually has the tools to exploit his blatant weaknesses." Ashley nodded.

RUTO

NODE: LEGEND OF ZELDA: OCARINA OF TIME

ENTERED IN: Section 14; Number 293

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

"Making a splash into the next round is the Zora princess, Ruto!" Ashley beamed.

"Indeed. Her swift and elegant dance-like fighting style and power of water turned out to be far too much for Vice from King of Fighters XIV." Drake nodded.

USHI

NODE: FIGHTERS DESTINY

ENTERED IN: Section 14; Number 297

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

"Literally dancing her way to the next round is Ushi the cow!" Drake grinned. "She tangoed with Juri from Street Fighter V and WON!"

"...I suppose that being unpredictable is a valued strength in fighting." Ashley said.

DONALD DUCK

NODE: KINGDOM HEARTS/CLASSIC DISNEY SHORTS

ENTERED IN: Section 14; Number 299

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

"Donald may get stuck with all of the bad luck, but sometimes it is not how lucky you are, it is how you could bounce back from it!" Ashley smiled.

"And Donald certainly demonstrated that when he got struck with TWO punishments from the wheel and still managed to overtake them and get rid of Solid Snake from Super Smash Bros!" Drake grinned.

BATMAN

NODE: DC COMICS/BATMAN

ENTERED IN: Section 14; Number 300

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

"And saving the best for last is the Dark Knight himself, Batman!" Drake grinned. "No, really. He has gotten the top slot for this round."

"Agreed. And while he only got one elimination, it was still an impressive elimination of Robin from Kingdom Hearts!" Ashley smiled. "Now let's go into the new fighters!"

ED

NODE: STREET FIGHTER V

Ashley jumped at this. "What… In the world… Is he WEARING!?"

"Oh, that? That is his Neo Shadaloo outfit." Drake explained. "Remember when I talked about his crew when we talked about Falke? Well, it is a crew of victims of Shadaloo's experiments."

Ashley blinked twice. "So let me get this straight. Not only is Ed's outfit unfashionable, but it is also illogical because their uniform is similar to Shadaloo outfits aka the very organization that they are against."

Drake blinked twice before narrowing his eyes. "You know… As much as I like to bitch about YOUR bitching, I'll be lying if I am not the least bit surprised that you find something to be critical of."

Ashley rolled his eyes. "...Let's just get to his fighting style."

"Alright, alright… Anyway, just like Falke, Ed could use his own version of Bison's Psycho Power." Drake said. "However, he uses boxing based on his training with Balrog and is able to use it in tandem with it."

"So he could use a lot of powerful blows?" Ashley asked.

"There is that… And he could use his Psycho Power to bring his opponent over to him, not unlike Scorpion from Mortal Kombat to take advantage of boxers' usual weaknesses. Their lack of long-range or even mid-range attacks." Drake explained.

Ashley's eyes widened. "Whoa. In that case, he seems pretty well-rounded."

"Oh, he is. Plus, I don't know if he finished growing." Drake said.

Ashley blinked. "...What?"

"Oh, yeah, he is apparently only a child in IV, but over time, he has grown into the strapping young man you see now due to Psycho Power." Drake said.

Ashley blinked twice before turning towards Ed's picture.

"But… Look how buff he is. It is one thing to have Psycho Power make you grow, but also make your muscles grow?" The wizard asked.

Drake paused. "...I suppose you don't want to know that Ed actually WAS scrawny in the Story Mode of V."

Ashley blinked twice. He then narrowed his eyes. "...Next fighter."

Drake rolled his eyes. "Yes, sir, your Majesty."

EMMETT GRAVES

NODE: PLAYSTATION ALL-STARS BATTLE ROYALE/STARHAWK

"Oh, wow. His glowing eyes really make him intimidating." Ashley said in awe.

"And even though he is clearly from a futuristic or modern game, he has a contrasting western-style look." Drake noted.

The two then paused.

"...That's all I got." Drake admitted.

"Same here. Cut to Wally and Catherine." Ashley said.

The camera then went to an exasperated Wally and Catherine.

"It is Heavenly Sword all over again." Catherine muttered.

Wally sighed while shaking his head. "At least we got a bit more ta talk about. Because Starhawk is not actually a standalone game. It was actually a Spiritual Successor ta another game."

"Warhawk is a futuristic combat flight simulator for the Playstation created by… Huh, the fellow people who actually created Twisted Metal. So basically it is a less dark-ish Twisted Metal taking place in the skies." Catherine mused. Her face then soured. "But it has been forgotten by time and saved that way for a while."

"Oi! Don't act like that!" Wally scolded. "It has gotten a reboot!"

"On the Playstation THREE!" Catherine scolded.

"Oi, better late than never!" Wally retorted before looking back at the camera. "Anyway, it was reimagined into a third-person shooter, though the heavy use of vehicles is still there. Also, it is not single-player anymore. It is multiplayer where up to 32 people can play. It seems ta be doing well and even got three expansion packs."

"But even if they had enough success and money for said expansion packs, it wasn't enough." Catherine shrugged. "So THAT got lost in time as well."

Wally rolled his eyes. "Anywayyyyy, onto Starhawk, it was basically Warhawk. In SPACE! Ya could ride robots that turn into jets and you could call them construction from the sky like vehicle spawn points, bunkers and turrets!"

"It also features a single-player story, though it was clear that it is little more than a glorified tutorial to prepare for the game." Catherine said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, nobody minded it when Splatoon does that!" Wally scolded. "So aye, you play as this bloke called Emmett Graves, a mercenary and a "Rift Salvager". Basically, there is a gold rush for "Rift Energy" , an extremely powerful, but equally dangerous power. If it goes unchecked, said Rift Energy could turn you into a zombie-like mutant."

"I am almost in awe at the boldness of people trying to work with something they don't understand." Catherine muttered, shaking her head. "So Emmett was one of said salvagers and he got mutated, but because of his tech-heavy friends, not only could keep Emmett from turning into a mutant, or in this case, Scab, but also use some of the Rift Energy."

"However, the Scabs is willing to stop the mining of the Rift Energy so it is up to Emmett to protect said projects." Wally said. "Anddddd that's the main story. Like Ah said, if ya are looking fer something deep, then ya came ta the wrong place because it is mostly-focused on multiplayer."

"Well, I can't really poke fun at them because they didn't try to be something they're not." Catherine said. "But really? What else IS there? Sure, there are deathmatches, Capture the Flag and cooperative base defense, but that's it… Seriously, Sony THEMSELVES doesn't want anything to do with this series, which makes it even more stunning that Emmett got picked for DLC!"

"Well, there may be two reasons." Wally said, holding up two fingers. "First off, while Sony acts like it doesn't care about the series, the fans do as they could still be Starhawk being played in recent times."

Catherine raised an eyebrow. "And the second reason?"

Wally gave a big grin. "Emmett is basically a space cowboy! Who WOULDN'T want to play as a space cowboy?"

Catherine just groaned. "Back to you guys."

We now return to an exasperated Ashley. "Well, at least it is much longer than Heavenly Sword's section."

Drake then read his tablet. "Well, as expected from the main character of a third-person shooter, Emmett has a bunch of weapons up his sleeves. A knife, a revolver, a rifle, grenades, proximity mines, a shotgun and his most powerful weapon, a rocket launcher."

"Goodness. He sounds like a nightmare to fight." Ashley winced.

"Oh he IS!" Drake winced. "And we can't forget his Rift Energy in his arm which makes his punches stronger!"

Ashley paused. "...Do you think he could summon those constructions in the arena?"

"It SHOULD make sense." Drake admitted. "Though obviously they are much smaller in PSASBR so it would only make that they will do so here."

"So he has enough ammo to last in the long-run." Ashley mused.

"Indeed. He does. The question is if he has the SKILL." Drake said.

CYBORG

NODE: DC COMICS/TEEN TITANS

Drake immediately grinned. "BOOYA!"

Ashley winced before glaring at Drake. "Drake, honestly!"

"Aw, come on! How could I NOT say his iconic catchphrase from the original Teen Titans cartoon?" The vampire asked.

Ashley rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Now onto Cyborg's abilities."

"Well, as you could see by his size compared to his fellow Teen Titans, he is the muscle of the team." Drake explained. "However, he is also a tech wizard!"

"So he is strong AND smart? That sounds like a dangerous combination." Ashley noted.

"Oh, he is. Along with super-strength AND super-endurance. He has a sonic cannon on each of his arms." Drake explained. "Not mini-sonic cannons on his feet, two sets of missile launchers on his shoulders and a couple of missiles in his chest."

Ashley jumped. "Woah! Overkill much!?"

"Hey, you gotta go for it, go for it or go home!" Drake noted. "Also, he doesn't have purely offensive tools. He could also detach his arms to use a grappling hook, not unlike Ristar."

"Wow. Another balanced fighter. In all of the dangerous ways." Ashley gulped.

"Indeed. There is a reason why he is one of the few Teen Titans to become a Justice League member." Drake reassured.

SULLEY

NODE: KINGDOM HEARTS/MONSTERS INC.

BIG GUY ALERT!

MIKE WAZOWSKI

NODE: KINGDOM HEARTS/MONSTERS INC.

Ashley raised an eyebrow. "Huh."

Drake blinked twice. "Huh? That's it? You aren't going to complain about how these two just so happen to have their draws together?"

Ashley merely sighed. "After having so many Pokemon bunched together in the last few sections, seeing Mike and Sulley only makes me question why something like this hasn't happened thus far."

"Yeah, the closest we got is Ralf and Mui Mui and other than them being from the same game, have the two REALLY interacted with each other?" Drake admitted. "But enough talk! Yo, Wally, Catherine, they are obviously going to be the last fighters before the inevitable break so make it count!"

The camera then went to Wally and Catherine both grinning.

"Oh, like you have to tell US twice!" Wally reassured.

Catherine nodded her head. "Monsters, Inc. is the fourth animated film made by Pixar! It is about this incredible place called Monstropolis! It is a city full of "monsters that live under your bed" but none of the monsters are actually that mean. In fact, I don't think they are that scary at all."

Wally chuckled heartily at this. "It is a good thing that those two have gone past those days because a long while ago, they would have found that insulting!"

"Yes, about that. The monsters aren't scary because they LIKE being scary, they are scary because that is how they LIVE." Catherine pointed out. "The entire monster world is literally POWERED by children's screams. Sure, that sounds morbid and admittedly it kinda is, but still…"

"Aye, also if there was another way, they would have taken it. Monsters think that humans are poisonous. Especially the children. They are obviously terrified." Wally said before chuckling. "It is actually funny."

"But while the movie DOES have a lot of comedy, it also has a lot of heart. Basically, the main character Sulley or James P. Sullivan and his partner, Mike Wazowzki, are the top scarer team at the titular factory, the Scare Factory. A factory that produces scares." Catherine explained. "The duo was about to break the record for the top scarer."

"But then, everything changed when ONE little human girl ended up in the monster world and Hilarity Ensues. At first, Sulley was trying to escape the girl." Wally said. "But then one thing led to another and it was an epic journey to get Boo home."

"So aye, the movie was praised fer its brilliant characters, awesome monsters designs and heartwarming moments." Wally grinned.

"I know, right? Sulley is SO adorable!" Catherine beamed.

"Also, it has gotten itself a prequel movie, a sequel comic and even a sequel cartoon." Wally explained. "So aye, it has a strong cult following. It is also one of the few Pixar movies to make it into Kingdom Hearts III. So it got THAT going for it! Back ta ya mates!"

The camera went back to a grinning Drake. "Thanks, guys. You're the best!"

"Now Sulley is kinda obvious. While unskilled, his super-strength, claws and of course, his roar makes him a textbook powerhouse." Ashley said before frowning. "But Mike…"

Drake raised an eyebrow. "But Mike? What's wrong? Can't he help Heartless?"

"Well, technically. But his abilities are more support-based." Ashley explained.

"Well, that isn't TOO much of an issue considering that he and Sulley are together." Drake offered.

"True. But he has to fight on his own." Ashley said.

"Well, if THAT happens, he, and Sulley for that matter, could throw dodgeballs as projectiles." Drake offered.

Ashley paused. "What…?"

"Yeah, there is a game where the characters of Monsters Inc. throw dodgeballs at each other." Drake shrugged.

Ashley blinked twice. "Where do you get this stuff...?"

"Well, buckle in, Ash, because this is a King of Smashers round so we have a lot to go over." Drake said with a toothy grin before looking at the camera. "Stay tuned."

LINK TO SECTION: archiveofourown / works / 25531129 / chapters / 86196610