LINK TO SECTION RESULTS BELOW

We now return to see Drake, Ashley… And Wally and Catherine all sitting in the studio and smiling at the camera.

"And we are back!" Drake grinned.

"And what a great Christmas round we had!" Ashley smiled.

"As you could see we have Wally and Catherine with us despite them having their own station." Drake explained.

"Well, Christmas is the season of being together, isn't that right?" Ashley reminded. "Well, we decided to have Wally and Catherine do the results recap with us!"

"Oh, mates, even though we already did recap results a couple of times, we are STILL hyped ta do this!" Wally grinned.

"Yeah, it is nice to actually comment on the fighter with the camera on ALL of us." Catherine beamed.

"I mean you guys have done a great job fer the two results recaps." Drake offered before looking to the side. "You also covered a part of one of the new round recap."

Ashley, Wally and Catherine chuckled nervously.

"I-In any case, before we start, there is something we want to do." Drake said.

With that, all four pulled out something from behind their backs. Present wrapped in decorative paper.

"Xero and Maurice aren't the only ones who have gotten Christmas presents for each other!" Drake grinned.

"Can't let Xero and Maurice get in on all of the fun!" Wally grinned. "So who is going first?"

"Um, me?" Catherine asked, holding up her present. "This one is for Ashley!"

The purple-haired man raised an eyebrow. "Oh boy… Here we go?"

Catherine's smile vanished. "Hey, just because I don't find humans cute at all, that doesn't mean I am a bad gift-giver!"

"Alright, alright." Ashley said, rolling his eyes. "Give me it."

Catherine scoffed before handing Ashley the present. The latter took a deep down before tearing off the wrapping and opening it. His eyes then widened before pulling out something.

A beautiful purple dress with dim, shadowy silhouettes on it. Drake and Wally's eyes sparkled while Ashley looked in awe. He then looked at Catherine who just smirked.

"Well, dare to tell me that I am a bad gift-giver." Catherine taunted.

"No, no, it's beautiful. I just… Don't wear dresses." Ashley insisted.

"No, you don't go OUT OF YOUR WAY to wear dresses." Catherine scolded. "I remembered you telling me that Shannon wore a dress a couple of times and you could work it just as much as he does."

Ashley blushed. "Y-Yes… I admit that I am not exposed to wearing them, but…"

"Also, the only reason why you wore that suit is because most likely, you were just focusing on the closest nice thing to wear." Catherine said.

Drake winced. "Got OUR number!"

"Come on, mate! Spoil yourself fer once! YA guys are millionaires!" Wally scolded.

"Yeah!" Drake grinnined.

Ashley paused for a moment before smiling. "Alright, you win. I will wear this after the section results recap and for the rest of the tournament."

Catherine just giggled. "That is what I am saying."

Ashley nodded his head before carefully putting the dress back into the box. "Alright, Wally, your turn!"

The boxer grinned before rubbing his hands. "Sweet, what did ya get me?"

"See for yourself." Ashley said, giving his present to Wally.

The kangaroo grinned widely before shredding through the wrapping, in a major contrast to Ashley. He then took out his present.

A boomerang that was in the design of a galaxy with varying colours of blue, purple and pink.

Ashley scratched the back of his head. "I know how much you like to collect boomerangs so I didn't know if you had that particular model or not."

"Nah, mate! This is lit!" Wally grinned.

Ashley's eyes lit up. "So you like it?"

"Like it? I spent a week trying to look for it online!" Wally said. "How did you find it?"

Ashley scratched the back of his head. "You would be surprised how much you could find out in magic shops."

Catherine just smirked. "Told ya, you should have asked Ronald."

Wally rolled his eyes. "Aight. Aight. Mah bad. Well, the point is Ah got a great present."

Ashley happily nodded.

"Oh, before I forget!" Wally said, putting down his boomerang and getting out a big present.

Drake gave a descending whistle. "Go big and go home, huh?"

"Ah like ta think!" Wally grinned. "Pretend you are the Doom Slayer and this present is a demon and rip and tear into it."

Catherine blinked twice. "Isn't that offensive to Drake because vampires ARE demons?"

"Eh. The point is still." Drake laughed before taking Wally's present.

He then proceeded to… Rip and tear into it. He then took off the present.

…To reveal a guitar-box and on it was a sleek jet-black guitar with a bat motif.

Drake's eyes lit at this. "Dude!"

Wally chuckled, rubbing his chest. "Ah saw it one day so Ah decided that Ah HAD ta buy it fer the Secret Santa! I know how much ya love yer guitar!"

"Oh, I do!" Drake grinned. "Where do you find this!?"

"Mate, ya can be surprised how much Australians like their guitars!" Wally laughed.

"Ooh, I SO have to use this before the end of the tournament in some way!" Drake grinned.

Ashley blinked twice. "Are you sure? There are still a few sections left."

"We have to wait and see." Drake said before putting down his present. "Aight, it is my turn!"

Catherine raised an eyebrow. "Okay, what did you get ME?"

"It is actually nothing too special, but it is still something you will love." Drake reassured, handing Catherine a small package.

Catherine raised a suspicious eyebrow, but then proceeded to tear off the wrapping and open it and pull out…

A plushie of a werewolf.

Catherine's eyes lit up. "Aww… It is a Doll Decoy!"

Wally blinked twice. "A Doll Whatnow?"

"A Doll Decoy. It is an item that the protagonist uses in Castlevania to distract the monsters." Ashley explained.

"And this particular one is of Cornell's werewolf form!" Drake grinned.

"...Cornell's game had Decoy Doll?" Wally asked.

"That's the beauty of being a Castlevania fan-character, you get to see several things other people won't be able to learn." Drake smirked.

"I didn't even know that Cornell HAD a Decoy Doll!" Catherine added. "Thank you for so much!"

"Hey, I know what you like!" Drake grinned.

Ashley happily nodded. "So should we continue?"

"Might as well. That is what the people turn in for, right?" Drake asked.

"As usual, we will start with the people who managed ta get an elimination, but not survive the section." Catherine said.

MISS DECIBEL

NODE: SLY COOPER

ENTERED IN: Section 15; Number 311

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 2

"Well, she barely managed to do it, but…" Ashley said.

"Miss Decibel finally got her revenge on her literally-stinky ex-boyfriend, Le Paradox!" Catherine laughed while gripping her new Cornell Doll Decoy.

"It wasn't even close. Le Paradox was completely at the mercy of Miss Decibel and while he did managed ta get a few hits in, fer every few hits, she could easily match with one hit!" Wally smirked.

"Also, Le Paradox has the BRILLIANT idea to say that it would never work because Miss Decibel is "too big". Yeah, anyone with a brain that tell you THAT was a stupid idea." Drake muttered.

"How did this creep get so many people ta work fer him THAT attitude?" Wally challenged.

"I don't know. But while Miss Decibel got her revenge AND the intel of what to do, her victory was short-lived by…" Drake started.

MAC & BLOO

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

ENTERED IN: Section 14; Number 285

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 3

"...I am in awe at how lucky those two are." Ashley muttered.

Catherine just scoffed. "They better be, otherwise they wouldn't even live to enter the tournament in the first place."

Drake chuckled nervously. "For context, Mac & Bloo, while still small by the wheel's punishment, was launched into Miss Decibel. While normally, this wouldn't be enough to knock her over."

"But may we remind ya that this section is full of ice and snow so it was more than enough ta knock her out of the ring." Wally noted.

"This line-ups nicely because they were eliminated by…" Drake started.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER

NODE: DC COMICS/MARTIAN MANHUNTER

ENTERED IN: Section 16; Number 329

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

"...The Martian Mahunter!" Drake grinned.

"He and Batman realised that the alliance of Mac, Bloo, Bubbles and Cream were too powerful so they decided to separate them from each other." Ashley explained.

"First, they knocked away Cream and then Double M used his intangibility to separate him from Bubbles." Wally added. "In doing so, he sent them flying into Miss Decibel so even though the scoreboard says otherwise, the elimination was more of HIS doing than Mac & Bloo's."

"Mac & Bloo actually DID try to fight back, ironically one of the only times they DID try to fight normally." Catherine explained. "However, the Martian Manhunter was too much for them."

"So yes, he and Batman have succeeded in their mission." Ashley said before wincing. "But at what cost."

Wally glared at Ashley. "Dude, spoilers!"

"To be fair, anyone could see what happened next." Catherine muttered.

Everyone shuddered.

CEREBELLA

NODE: SKULLGIRLS

ENTERED IN: Section 16; Number 330

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

"Cerebella really shows that she and Vice-Versa have been working the…" Drake smirked.

"Drake… Don't make me ruin the Christmas mood." Ashley muttered.

The vampire rolled his eyes. "Scrooge."

Wally chuckled nervously. "Anywayyyyy, Cerebella really DID showed how powerful Vice-Versa's extra arms are."

"Not that she had an easy time though because she was up against Gutsman from Megaman, someone who has gotten the TOP slot in the next section." Catherine added.

"So yeah, it was a classic fight of strength, but Cerebella came out on top!" Drake grinned. "And she won the Reward!"

Ashley blinked twice. "I thought it was usually the top slot fighter to get the reward."

"Well, at the end of the day, the reward doesn't affect the tournament in any way so who cares?" Catherine asked.

"...Ah think the people who survived the section would say otherwise." Wally frowned. He then lit up. "But hey! That is the brilliant segway into that!"

CREAM THE RABBIT

NODE: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

ENTERED IN: Section 15; Number 307

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 3

"Because Batman and the Martian Manhunter's plan to separate the two, we decided to hold them separately for now." Ashley explained.

"That only shows how well Cream could fight on her own!" Catherine smirked. "The cute rabbit and the equally-cute Chao have proven that against Rungo from Battle Arena Toshinden."

"Cream & Cheese may have the advantage in flight and speed, but Rungo has the advantage in strength and range!" Drake grinned. "The three fought hard and in the end, Cream & Rabbit came out on top!"

"She may have gone down in the votes, but she has proven that she isn't going down without a doubt!" Drake smirked.

PRINCESS PEACH TOADSTOOL

NODE: SUPER SMASH BROS/SUPER MARIO BROS

ENTERED IN: Section 15; Number 319

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 3

"While Mario and Peach didn't get separated, for the most part, their fights were separate so I think we could afford to do so." Ashley admitted.

"At first, Peach was fighting against Vilgax from Cartoon Network: Punch-Time Explosion by herself and as Drake mentioned in the latter's segment, he is quite ruthless." Wally winced. He then brightened up. "But Peach is able to hold her own!"

"When Mario was done, he came over to help his girlfriend and the two seemed to be doing well." Drake said. He then frowned. "When Vilgax did a dirty and brutal trick on Mario."

"Peach was NOT happy. Remember when we mentioned Peach's Super Princess Peach abilities, she went all Violently Protective Girlfriend and tossed every single item she had on her until Vilgax was knocked out of the ring." Catherine said before smirking. "Heh. I bet he regrets attacking her now."

SACKBOY

NODE: PLAYSTATION ALL-STARS BATTLE ROYALE/LITTLEBIGPLANET

ENTERED IN: Section 16; Number 331

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

Ashley immediately groaned while slumping in his chair.

Drake chuckled nervously. "We'll… Get to Sackboy's elimination later, but for now, let's talk about his… Reward from the wheel."

"Wheel, my foot! It is clear that Xero rigged it just so he could have the narration of Stephen Fry!" Ashley roared, angrily.

"Ah don't doubt it. Even Xero admitted that it is just as much a punishment as it is a reward." Wally frowned.

"Yeah, reward for HIM, punishment for everyone else." Ashley said. "I'll rant more, but I promise to do so for a certain fighter."

Catherine shook her head. "Anyway, Sackboy was fighting Rogue from Sonic the Hedgehog and he proves that he could be quite trollish against the bat, making her lose her cool."

"Considering that he spends most of his time putting on stickers all over the place, pretty much." Drake muttered.

Ashley slapped his forehead. "We gotta get Xero from the Runawayguys' channel."

MINT AIZAWA

NODE: TOKYO MEW MEW

ENTERED IN: Section 16; Number 335

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

"Mint is our next contestant, adding to the surprising success of the Tokyo Mew Mew node!" Drake grinned.

"She was having a flight battle against Peter Pan & Tinker Bell from Kingdom Hearts." Wally said before wincing. "However, between Peter Pan's abilities and Tinker Bell's healing, Mint was overwhelmed."

"Until she thought of a good idea! She used her arrow… However, instead of using it on Peter Pan, she used it on Tinker Bell, knocking her out of the ring." Catherine smirked.

"It was then we finally saw the duo rule put in effect. Because Tinker Bell is part of a duo, Peter Pan has to be eliminated as well." Ashley explained.

"Didn't Xero say that they weren't originally a duo and only became one when Tinker Bell insisted they go together?" Catherine asked before laughing. "Boy, did THAT backfire on them!"

MARIO

NODE: SUPER SMASH BROS/SUPER MARIO BROS

ENTERED IN: Section 15; Number 325

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 4

Drake grinned. "Mario continues to show why HE is the unofficial mascot of gaming!"

"Indeed. His first elimination was against Larxene from Kingdom Hearts!" Ashley added. "And to be fair, the electromancer was overwhelming him with her quick speed and clones."

"However, Mario decided ta turn the tables in HIS favour by getting out his Smash Ball and using his Final Smash, the Mario Finale!" Wally grinned. "Not the flashiest of Final Smashes, but still got the job done!"

"Also, he has gotten a reward from the wheel! A Super Star!" Catherine beamed. Her smile then vanished. "...Which Xero has stolen from Peach's locker, replaced the tag with his and Maurice and ruined her birthday gift for him."

Ashley slapped his forehead. "Okay… I know that I have been ranting about Xero for so long to the point where it is repetitive, but this is where I draw the line!"

"I know. What the hell, Xero? Giving a woman's gift for their boyfriend and acting as their own?" Drake asked in disgust.

"What's worse was when Peach rightfully called him out on it, he was grinning like an idiot." Wally scoffed. "If ya asked ME, Peach would have thrown something harder than a turnip!"

"I must admit that Xero's other "rewards" aren't much better. For Batman's present, he literally stole his Batarangs from his locker." Catherine frowned.

"And Rungo's present was to take Earthworm Jim's blaster." Drake said, shaking his head. "Okay, to be fair, a present like THAT depends on the fighter and Rungo has no need for firearms so it is more bad luck, but still."

"In layman's terms, Xero is a terrible gift-giver." Ashley concluded, holding his head.

Then, Ashley's phone rang. The purple-haired man rolled his eyes before answering the phone.

"Brace your ears." Ashley muttered before putting Xero on speaker.

"Alright, alright, you are almost as bad as the fighters!" Xero roared.

"You deserved it." Ashley said, matter-of-factly.

"You gotta admit, Xero. Some of the stuff you did wasn't cool." Catherine frowned. "Especially for the Christmas section."

"Hey, do I look like I could create presents out of thin air!?" Xero snapped. "What am I supposed to do? Ask Junko!?"

"I don't know. How about NOT stealing other people's stuff and re-gifting it as your own?" Drake snarked.

Xero growled. "All of you are ungrateful a-holes! None of you are going to get ANY presents from me!"

Wally blinked twice. "..Is that supposed ta be a bad thing?"

Xero let out a cry of frustration before hanging up. Everyone shook his head.

"...Also, Boyd from the Rumble Fish accidentally touched Mario while he was in his Super Star state and was immediately eliminated." Catherine added. "I don't think Mario even noticed."

IKE

NODE: SUPER SMASH BROS/FIRE EMBLEM TELLIUS

ENTERED IN: Section 16; Number 338

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1

SORA

NODE: KINGDOM HEARTS

ENTERED IN: Section 16; Number 342

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 2

Ashley rolled his eyes. "Hoo boy. Where do we start with THIS one?"

"Well, for starters, the two swordsmen were actually fighting each other, but then they stopped so they helped Mike and Sulley from Kingdom Hearts with Rajan from Sly Cooper and Abigail from Street Fighter V." Catherine said. She then took a deep breath. "Then, Sora had a "brilliant" idea."

"Basically, he will knock Abigail towards Rajan so he could kill two birds with one stone." Wally explained before frowning. "However, while Ike and Mike were trying to get out of the way, Ike actually kicked the monster out of the ring."

"Abigail went out of the ring, but missed Rajan completely. Needless to say, Sulley was NOT happy." Drake said, shaking his head.

Catherine rolled her eyes. "Don't get me wrong. Sora looks like a great guy to be around, but I don't trust him to make complex plans!"

"Seriously…" Ashley muttered. He then brightened up. "But he more or less redeemed himself against Rajan."

"Speaking of which, can we talk about Rajan for a moment?" Drake asked. "He managed to live up to his boss fight, being able to talk hits from Sora, Ike and Mike and it took a Limit Break to take him down."

"Why are we mentioning this?" Wally added before frowning. "Um, well…

DONALD DUCK

NODE: KINGDOM HEARTS/CLASSIC DISNEY SHORTS

ENTERED IN: Section 14; Number 299

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 5

Ashley blinked twice. "Isn't Donald the one who gets stuck with all of the bad luck?"

"Ta be fair, even Mortimer has his good days." Wally corrected. "It is just that fer every good day. There is always a bad week."

"Honestly, mood." Catherine said. "Granted, less so if you know the context, but still."

Drake shook his head. "Okay, here is the thing. At some point, Sora's buddy, Donald has joined in his fight against Rajan. They were completely focused on taking him down."

"So focused that when Boyd knocked Captain Falcon from Super Smash Bros into their fight, Donald accidentally knocked him out of the ring and didn't even notice." Wally winced.

"Also, when Sora and Donald did their Limit Break on Rajan, Donald accidentally knocked Vice-Versa off of Cerebella from Skullgirls." Catherine said. "Noticed that I said Vice-Versa and not Cerebella. Well, Cerebella dove after her hat… And out of the ring like an idiot."

"To be fair, most, if not all of her attacks are done with Vice-Versa so she might as well get eliminated just like Peter Pan earlier." Ashley warned.

"Still, for him to get GOOFY'S luck even for one section." Drake said in awe.

BUBBLES

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

ENTERED IN: Section 15; Number 306

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 4

Everyone immediately winced.

"...So we finally got back ta Bubbles." Ashley winced.

"Long story short, she did NOT appreciate Mac & Bloo being taken out like that." Drake frowned. "DC Comics' Batman and the Martian Manhunter learned the hard way that no matter how strong you are, you shouldn't piss off a Powerpuff Girl."

"Aye, also didn't the Powerpuff Girls have ta save two of the Justice League members?" Wally asked.

"That is just a commercial, Wally." Catherine corrected. She then brightened up. "But hey, at least she will have Cream."

"AND the MVP spot from CN: PTE from Chowder." Drake added. "Sure, it is very bittersweet for her, but she avenged not only her sisters, but everyone representing her node."

EARTHWORM JIM

NODE: EARTHWORM JIM

ENTERED IN: Section 16; Number 334

OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 3

"Well, well, well! It seems that the stars were aligned for Earthworm Jim's appearance!" Drake grinned. "Not only did he get the top slot, but also got a PERFECT score!"

"I am pleasantly surprised. I knew that he was well-loved, but to not get a single Die vote." Ashley mused. His face then well. "Though his eliminations are… Polarising."

Wally chuckled nervously. "Long story short, he and Billy and Tung from King of Fighters XIV joined up against Sora and Sulley from Kingdom Hearts, along with Ike from Super Smash Bros."

"Earthworm Jim tried to use the rocket that he not only uses to exit a stage after completing it, but also in the races." Catherine explained. "He was aiming for Donald, but missed and ended up pulling along with his allies, along with Sulley."

"The rocket ended up flying around the arena until it ran out of gas." Wally explained. "Earthworm Jim was able to jump off and back into the ring, but everyone else… Aye, Ah think ya could guess where we are going with this."

"On one hand, Earthworm Jim has gotten three eliminations at the same time." Drake explained.

"On the other hand, two of those eliminations are people that literally stopped their fight to HELP him!" Ashley exclaimed. "He caused more harm than good!"

"I mean what do you expect from Earthworm Jim?" Catherine asked. "Yeah, that is everyone."

"We'll say goodbye ta Mac & Bloo, Batman, Sulley, Mike, Gutsman, Miss Decibel, Captain Falcon, Billy, Martian Manhunter and Cerebella." Wally grinned.

"And welcome Sackboy, Earthworm Jim, Mint, Ike and Sora!" Drake concluded.

"Not many newcomers enter the next round." Ashley mused. "But otherwise, let's go to the stats."

CURRENT MVPS

STREET FIGHTER V: Sakura Kasugano - 4 (Eliminated)

KING OF FIGHTERS XIV: Yuri Sakazaki - 7 (Eliminated)

SUPER SMASH BROS: Rosalina & Luma - 6 (Eliminated)

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: Big the Cat - 4 (Eliminated)/Shadow the Hedgehog - 4 (Eliminated)/Doctor Eggman - 4 (Eliminated)

SPYRO THE DRAGON: Agent 9 - 5 (Eliminated)/Spyro the Dragon - 5 (Eliminated)

SLY COOPER: Bentley - 4 (Eliminated)/Sly Cooper - 4 (Eliminated)

KINGDOM HEARTS: Goofy - 8 (Eliminated)

PLAYSTATION ALL-STARS BATTLE ROYALE: Jak & Daxter - 4 (Eliminated)/Ratchet & Clank - 4 (Eliminated)

MEGAMAN: Gutsman - 2 (Eliminated)

DC COMICS: Starfire - 3 (Eliminated)

TOKYO MEW MEW: Kisshu Ikasatashi - 4 (Eliminated)

SKULLGIRLS: Parasoul - 3 (Eliminated)

BATTLE ARENA TOSHINDEN: Eiji Shinto - 1 (Eliminated)/Sofia - 1 (Eliminated)

CARTOON NETWORK: PUNCH-TIME EXPLOSION: Bubbles - 4 (Still in the ring)

MYSTERY FIGHTERS: Luna Loud - 9 (Eliminated)

"Not much to comment on besides Bubbles becoming the MVP for CN:PTE." Ashley mused.

"Except if Bubbles didn't get a second elimination this round, she and Mac & Bloo would have been tied with Chowder." Drake added.

Wally's eyes lit up. "Oh, right! Are they going ta make a comeback?"

"I don't know. I am still stunned that they needed to make a comeback in the first place." Drake admitted. "Usually these UVR spin-offs attract more cartoon fans."

"Yeah, weird." Catherine mused. "So anyway, like stated earlier, Earthworm Jim got the top slot so he gets to choose."

"And he chose Mystery Reserves! Which means one lucky voter will get one of THEIR Mystery Fighters choices will become a reality!" Wally grinned. "Christmas came early fer them!"

"Indeed!" Drake smirked. "We will be right back!"

LINK TO SECTION RESULTS: archiveofourown / works / 25531129 / chapters / 87910915