LINK TO SECTION RESULTS BELOW
We now cut to the grinning faces of Drake, Ashley, Wally and Catherine. However, they weren't inside of their usual studio, they were inside of some kind of lobby.
"Andddddd we are back!" Drake grinned.
"Now if you have been watching the recap show earlier and for some reason, you didn't see the recent few episodes, we may be confused why we are not in our usual studio." Ashley noted.
"Well, we actually left it a little while ago because…" Catherine started.
"WE ARE AT THE CROSSOVER DOME!" Wally grinned.
"That's right! The final section of the first-ever Tournament of Kikai is finally officially underway and we are here to introduce it!" Drake beamed.
"I can't believe it is already reaching the climax." Ashley said in awe. "When I thought that Xero would be starting his own UVR, I thought he may go in over his head… And… Well, to be fair, I think he will go over his head."
Catherine chuckled, nervously. "In his defence, he actually did a decent job running an UVR tournament. He just… Got a little too comfortable with other things."
Ashley rolled his eyes. "I could accept that."
"But yeah, regardless of what you said about some of his choices, others I do accept." Drake nodded. "Hell, it is the whole 'top slot fighter' getting to accept the round is the reason why I came up with the whole Superstar schtick!"
"Agreed. At least Xero doesn't make it seem that it is randomised every time." Ashley nodded.
"AND it puts more spotlight on that person showing how loved they are!" Wally grinned.
"Well, I can't go into this tournament bare-bones! Especially after this tournament!" Drake chuckled. "Regardless, I am SO happy to hear so many people pumped for the third Battle of the Luminaries!"
"Yeah, it has been years and yet so many people are happy to hear it back!" Catherine said in awe.
"Now, now, as much as we like to talk about the third Battle of the Luminaries, this isn't about it." Ashley scolded.
"Yeah, that's right. It is about the people that are making up the Final Thirty!" Drake nodded.
"We came so far and now we will find out who has a shot of winning the whole she-bang!" Wally said.
"So let's go into the first half! Due to it being a Big Guy Blocker, there will be exactly fifteen people talking about it!" Ashley smiled.
"Andddddd seeing that it is the final section, we are actually going to react to the fighters together!" Catherine beamed.
"So what are we waiting fer?" Wally asked. "Let's go over the person who barely made it!"
BILLY & MANDY
NODE: CARTOON NETWORK: PUNCH-TIME EXPLOSION/THE GRIM ADVENTURES OF BILLY AND MANDY
ENTERED IN: Section 22; Number 445
OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1
The four paused. Catherine then slapped her forehead.
"Ugh, really? REALLY?" Catherine groaned. "We have to deal with them!"
Ashley glared at Catherine. "Don't be biased!"
The pink-haired woman returned the glare. "You DO realise that if we are doing what Xero and Maurice did at the final section, we would have to interview everyone who was eliminated. INCLUDING them!"
Drake, Ashley and Wally's pupils shrank at this.
"Yeah, that's what I thought…" Catherine spat.
"N-Now, let's be fair! It is not like they made the Final Thirty undeservedly." Drake said with a nervous chuckle.
"I-Indeed… They were fighting the Villager from Super Smash Bros." Ashley nodded.
"Who actually TIED with Billy & Mandy with the main deciding factor out-of-universe being their late draw." Wally piped up. "Because of that, they are ironically the LAST fight of the section."
"The three put up a good fight against each other." Ashley continued. "Though the Villager thought about using his Final Smash on them."
"...Only for Billy & Mandy to no-sell it. Mostly because of that." Wally said, gulping nervously. "Mandy made it clear that she is not one ta mess with and scared poor Villager out of the ring."
Drake shook his head. "Well… The Killager memes have officially died."
"But you know what? Whatever." Catherine scoffed. "It is very rare for someone to survive because of a Big Guy Blocker and make it to the next round so it is not unlikely they would make it to the next round."
Wally winced. "Catherine, please… She may hear us!"
Catherine scoffed. "I'd rather be killed than live in fear of that little sociopath!"
"And I am sure that she will respect that." Ashley muttered. "When sneaking into your room while you are sleeping…"
CHARMY BEE
NODE: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
ENTERED IN: Section 22; Number 437
OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1
"But yes, let's think more positively!" Catherine beamed. "Not only did Charmy manage to score an elimination, but he managed to take down one of the original alliances!"
"In this case, Ellis from Battle Arena Toshinden!" Drake grinned. "Not only that, but it is not the person he eliminated, but the WAY he eliminated her!"
"Indeed, even he realises that he could only go so far with his current abilities!" Wally nodded. "So he used a Wisp, particularly a Drill one!"
"That actually makes sense…" Ashley mused, rubbing his chin. "The Wisps are just as much a part of the Sonic universe nowadays so it would make sense that they would use Wisp energy."
"It is a pity that we don't see many of them." Drake frowned.
"It can't be helped. I guess the Sonic cast must be confident in their own abilities." Ashley shrugged. "And like you said, Charmy isn't built for solo fighting like the rest of his nodal companions."
"True…" Drake noted. He then brightened up. "But boy did he make up for lost time! Poor Ellis was hanging on her life, but in the end, Charmy managed to come out on top!"
TERRY BOGARD
NODE: KING OF FIGHTERS XIV/FATAL FURY
ENTERED IN: Section 22; Number 441
OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1
"NGL, if the face of SNK didn't at least make it here, I would have been missed." Drake noted.
"Aye, and he definitely showed us why Sakurai chose him to represent SNK in Super Smash Bros!" Ashley nodded.
"Mondo from Battle Arena Toshinden tried ta use his spear ta out space him, but Terry managed ta break through and used a combination of his signature moves." Wally nodded.
"It is definitely fitting that he gets to be one of the two SNK reps in the final section!" Catherine smiled.
PEACOCK
NODE: SKULLGIRLS
ENTERED IN: Section 21; Number 426
OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 2
"Even in a Big Guy Blocker, that doesn't mean we won't have a fighter skip." Ashley said. "Not even in the penultimate section."
"But we will get to it when we get to it!" Drake offered. "For now, Peacock has managed to pull through another one!"
"And just like her previous one with Mickey Mouse, she managed to pull out a victory over another strong opponent." Wally nodded. "This time, her nodal companion, Double."
"And Double is playing-for-keeps here." Catherine asked. "Why do I say that? Because she is morphing into everyone who was chosen by the wheel for the next section theme!"
"In other words, everyone who has gotten the top slot!" Drake grinned. "Yeah, that is a cool feature!"
"It is too bad that Parasoul didn't get shown. She was the only Skullgirls to get the top slot." Wally frowned.
"To be fair, Peacock probably already saw Double copy Parasoul a hundred times over." Ashley shrugged.
"But yeah, Peacock decided to trick Double into showing off until she landed a sneak attack on her, knocking her out of the ring!" Catherine smiled. "Just like with Terry, it makes sense for Peacock to represent Skullgirls in the final section!"
GARNET
NODE: STEVEN UNIVERSE
ENTERED IN: Section 21; Number 430
OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 3
"And showing that she is stronger than you is Garnet!" Catherine smirked.
"Indeed. She has gotten her third elimination from Necalli from Street Fighter V." Drake nodded. "This happened when she teamed up with a member of the OPPOSING alliance to help another fight with him."
"Don't know WHY they needed to go through all of that trouble, but alright" Catherine muttered.
Wally chuckled nervously. "Now we won't namedrop her allies yet, but basically one of the people got hit with a negative penalty so both alliances decided ta try ta do their own thing instead of fighting each other."
"In the end, Garnet ended up fighting Necalli alone due to her being a fusion of two Gems, but using her new grappling-hook set-up from Multiversus, she was able to overcome Necalli." Ashley smiled.
PENNY PROUD
NODE: THE PROUD FAMILY
ENTERED IN: Section 20; Number 411
OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 3
Drake, Ashley, Wally and Catherine blinked twice.
Wally then slapped his forehead. "...He was the last chance of Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale ending on a high note!"
"Hey, we don't control how the voters vote." Drake frowned.
"Still, ta go out like… That!" Wally muttered.
"Actually, it is more or less canon that Nathan would do something like that sooo." Catherine shrugged.
Wally groaned as he slumped in his seat.
Ashley chuckled nervously. "You know how we were talking about one of the alliance members getting a penalty from the wheel? Well, that was Nathan Drake."
"The first penalty wasn't too bad. Just losing his guns. Even though it was still more than enough for the leader of the counter-alliance to teleport over both alliances." Drake frowned. "It is the SECOND penalty he got that was the problem."
"Basically, he got the blind penalty. However, he was still rearing to fight his current opponent, Penny." Ashley lamented. He then slapped his forehead. "Ugh, really? I could understand Nathan mistaking the ropes for Penny, but AFTER she called out BEHIND HIM."
"...Like I said, it is canon that while Nathan is a skilled archeologist, he's… Not really that bright outside of that." Catherine muttered. "Seriously, he has White Male Lead Plot Armour!"
"Which meant nothing because when he charged at the ropes still thinking that it was Penny, he ended up being bounced back before Penny kicked him out of the ring." Drake frowned.
"He was my LAST hope!" Wally wailed. "Ah lost the Multiversus match so Ah was counting on Nathan ta make it, saying that we didn't have ta cover the final Playstation character! It's official! Playstation is dead!"
"You hear that? Playstation is cancelled." Catherine smirked. "Please retweet #Playstationisoverparty."
Drake groaned, slapping his head. "Mewtwo wasn't exaggerating…"
BUBBLES
NODE: CARTOON NETWORK: PUNCH-TIME EXPLOSION/THE POWERPUFF GIRLS
ENTERED IN: Section 15; Number 306
OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 11
ATOMIC BETTY
NODE: ATOMIC BETTY
ENTERED IN: Section 22; Number 448
OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1
Ashley raised an eyebrow. "We finally reached our first fighter skip and we got another one."
"It can't be helped." Drake shrugged. "But yeah, we have another team-up elimination, even though those two were on OPPOSITE sides of alliances and were fighting each other, they decided to go after Isa from Kingdom Hearts! Apparently, they saw him too dangerous to use his Berserk form or whatever."
He then growled.
"Not like I would know…" Drake muttered. "Damn you, Demyx…"
"Anywayyyyy…" Catherine muttered, rolling her eyes. "Isa' opponent was Ranno from Rivals of Aether. Though the frog didn't appreciate having his fight interrupted so he decided to double-team with Ranno and started to do their own Limit Break."
"So Atomic Betty suggested that they would do their own counter-Limit Break." Wally offered before frowning. "However, just one problem. Bubbles already did a Limit Break much earlier. That and she is running out of steam."
"However, despite seeing Bubbles as a threat, she respected Bubbles and encouraged her that she went through far more than this!" Drake grinned. "In the end, Bubbles agreed and they managed to pull it off."
"Just one issue. They only managed to eliminate Ranno. And while the frog was technically a threat in his own right, Isa was by far the more dangerous one." Ashley frowned. "And due to the nature of the Big Guy Blocker, Betty couldn't help her."
"But Bubbles wasn't a quitter and even after Isa tried to go Berserk on her again, she managed to survive and make it to the Final Thirty!" Catherine grinned.
BUGS BUNNY
NODE: LOONEY TUNES
ENTERED IN: Section 19; Number 390
OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 6
Ashley blinked twice. "Um, okay, I could understand the first two fighter skips, but THIS one?"
"To be fair, that fight is more or less connected to another fight." Drake shrugged. "Not as much as Bubbles and Betty, but still."
Ashley paused before shrugging as well. "Fair enough. But yes, Bugs managed to do it again."
"However, he decided to tone down the Looney this round." Wally said, making a downward gesture with his hand. "Not too much, but ta the point that he is only using his moves from Multiversus."
"Which is fitting because his opponent was his fellow Multiversus fighter, Arya Stark from Game of Thrones!" Catherine smirked. "Heh. I bet you never expected to see a match-up like THAT."
"Not as much as Arya and Bugs more or less officially teaming up." Drake laughed.
"Eh. I personally find the Batman and Shaggy match-up more weirder. Regardless of the latter's Ultra Instinct mode." Ashley piped up.
Drake, Wally and Catherine looked at Ashley with weird looks. The latter paused before looking around.
"...Batman and Shaggy met before, didn't they?" Ashley muttered.
"Yyyyyyyep." Drake said.
"In more than one time, in fact." Catherine piped up. "Granted, in those instances, the crossovers are very different, but still."
Ashley paused. "Wow."
"But aye, despite having faced Bugs before and doing a decent job of fighting against him, in the end, the rabbit came out on top!" Wally grinned.
HARLEY QUINN
NODE: DC COMICS/BATMAN
ENTERED IN: Section 22; Number 440
OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1
"And just like her new buddy, Miss Decibel, Harley has gotten her revenge against her abusive ex-boyfriend, the Joker!" Catherine smirked.
Ashley blinked twice. "But wait… This Harley Quinn is mostly based on her cartoon, right? Didn't she canonically already do so?"
Catherine's smirk vanished, but not out of anger. "She did. But this isn't about getting revenge. At least not completely. It is helping Miss Decibel with her plight that never got resolved."
"Of course. Beating on him IS an added benefit." Drake smirked.
"But now that her revenge is done, she could focus on trying to win the tournament!" Catherine beamed.
Ashley blinked twice. "But doesn't she have a job to do?"
"To be fair, she wasn't there when the other two people of the hero group got their instructions." Drake admitted. "Of course, I am sure that she will help if they tell her, but for now?"
"Fair enough." Ashley nodded.
ISABELLE
NODE: SUPER SMASH BROS/ANIMAL CROSSING
ENTERED IN: Section 19; Number 387
OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 3
CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW
NODE: KINGDOM HEARTS/PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
ENTERED IN: Section 22; Number 442
OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1
Ashley groaned. "Yes… THIS is why we had Isabelle and Captain Jack together."
Wally chuckled nervously. "Basically, the two were fighting each other just like Ellis and Charmy and from the looks of things, they were evenly matched. However, Isabelle managed ta find an opening and grabbed Captain Jack with his net."
"She was about to eliminate him… But she wasn't looking where she was throwing and ended up tossing him towards the fight between Rock from King of Fighters XIV and Bentley from Spyro the Dragon." Drake winced. "The good captain crashed into Rock, knocking him out of the ring."
"Also, didn't the node that Rock landed in is My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic where he got beat up by Rainbow Dash?" Catherine piped up.
Ashley blinked twice. "...Okay, that was a random thing to bring up, even for someone like YOU."
"Well, while not the same thing, didn't that how Rock more or less got eliminated in the very first Battle of the Luminaries?" Catherine asked.
Drake's eyes widened. "That's right! He was fighting Rock at the time and in the end, Wario won and tried to throw him out of the ring. However, he 'D'oh, I missed' and threw him on top of Rainbow Dash. …Where he was rubbing his flank by mistake."
"Needless to say, Rainbow Dash didn't hesitate to eliminate him." Catherine nodded.
"Poor mate…" Wally frowned with his ears drooping. "He got eliminated twice in a humiliating manner and it is not even his fault, but rather someone else not bothering to look where they were throwing."
"In hindsight, I am pleasantly surprised we didn't see MORE 'eliminations' like that considering the type of tournament this is." Ashley muttered.
Drake stifled a cough. "So yeah… Seeing that Isabelle and Bentley were without opponents, they decided to fight each other. While Isabelle wasn't giving up, Bentley wasn't making it easy for him."
"Soooo she decided to use…" Wally said before smirking. "The Puss-in-Boots technique."
Catherine immediately started to squeal, making the others hold their ears in pain.
"Ten out of ten elimination! She deserves to win based on that alone!" Catherine grinned.
Drake rolled his eyes. "Of course you do!"
"Aw, come on! That should have been illegal!" Wally groaned. "Or at least limited to a handful of uses."
"I could see where you are going, but how are you going to argue 'Using the Puppy-Dog Eyes is against the rules' unironically?" Ashley frowned.
"Aye…" Wally muttered, crossing his arms. "Ah am just biased because Catherine always does it to me."
Drake blinked twice. "But couldn't you use that tactic on HER and it would be three times as effective?"
"Ya would THINK." Wally muttered.
SAM & MAX
NODE: SAM & MAX
ENTERED IN: Section 22; Number 443
OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1
"So is anyone surprised that Sam & Max has gotten second place in the rankings?" Drake smirked. "It is Sam & Max after all!"
"Granted, one could argue that their fight shouldn't be that impressive because it was up against Sweet Juliet, but eh. I digress." Catherine shrugged.
"Sometimes it isn't about the opponent, Catherine, but the journey." Wally scolded. He then paused. "Wait, is that right?"
"What Wally means is that Sam & Max managed to show off what they could do in terms of humour, odd cooperation and strange attacks!" Drake grinned. "And sometimes that is all you need to get off to a big start!"
BISHAMON
NODE: DARKSTALKERS
ENTERED IN: Section 22; Number 433
OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1
MEWTWO
NODE: SUPER SMASH BROS/POKEMON
ENTERED IN: Section 22; Number 436
OVERALL ELIMINATIONS: 1
"And rounding off are the runner-ups of the first two Video Game Rumbles and first Battle of the Luminaries respectively!" Drake grinned.
"Aye, they definitely show that they still got it!" Wally grinned. "Samurai Jack and Captain Planet BOTH from Cartoon Network: Punch-Time Explosion learned that the hard way!"
"But we are getting ahead of ourselves." Ashley warned. "First off, Mewtwo and Captain Planet were fighting off against Necalli with Garnet."
"Makes sense considering that Captain Planet is more out of the world's elements..." Catherine noted.
"After Garnet dealt with Necalli, they decided to fight with each other." Drake explained. "Samurai Jack and Bishamon were fighting each other, but the latter got a penalty and now the BOTH of them were surrounded by a minefield."
"So the samurai asked Mewtwo and Captain Planet ta get rid of them and after that was done, the runners-up were like 'Aye, let's double-team!" Wally grinned.
"The two pairs fight on, but in the end, Mewtwo and Bishamon win out!" Ashley smiled. "And Mewtwo got the top slot!"
"We now say goodbye ta Samurai Jack, Ellis, the Joker, Rock, Ranno and Bentley." Wally frowned. "Y'all tried your best, but it wasn't enough to make the final section."
"And we say hello to Bishamon, Mewtwo, Charmy, Harley, Terry, Captain Jack, Sam & Max, Billy & Mandy and Atomic Betty!" Drake grinned. "And also hello to the first half of the final section! Now 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)/Cream the Rabbit - 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)/Donald Duck - 8 (Eliminated)
PLAYSTATION ALL-STARS BATTLE ROYALE: Jak & Daxter - 4 (Eliminated)/Ratchet & Clank - 4 (Eliminated)
MEGAMAN: Gutsman - 2 (Eliminated)
DC COMICS: Starfire - 3 (Eliminated)/Beast Boy - 3 (Eliminated)
TOKYO MEW MEW: Kisshu Ikasatashi - 4 (Eliminated)
SKULLGIRLS: Parasoul - 3 (Eliminated)
BATTLE ARENA TOSHINDEN: Ellis - 2 (Still in the ring)
CARTOON NETWORK: PUNCH-TIME EXPLOSION: Bubbles - 11 (Still in the ring)
MYSTERY FIGHTERS: Luna Loud - 9 (Eliminated)
"Not much to say here…" Drake frowned. "Except that Bubbles is still going strong."
"Yes, she has gotten not one, but TWO more eliminations than Luna." Ashley noted.
"And she may have a chance ta make it ta the finals." Wally noted. "Question is, does she have a chance to win?"
"We will have to wait and see." Catherine noted.
"Aye…" Wally said. He then brightened up. "But fer now, let's go into the choices that Mewtwo has ta choose between Ligma and Candice!"
Drake and Catherine looked on in disbelief while Ashley… Has a blank stare on his face.
"Hey, Ashley, what would YA choose?" Wally smirked.
The purple-haired man shrugged. "I don't know. I prefer Ima…"
Wally blinked twice. "Um, Ima?"
Ashley then growled.
"IMMA FIRIN MAH LAZER!"
With that, he got out his rod and fired a large bolt of electricity into Wally, sending him flying off-screen and crashing into a wall. Drake and Catherine winced as Ashley breathed in and out heavily.
"Sooo… This is a brilliant time to take a break." Drake offered. "But don't worry, we will be back to not only cover who made it into the first half of the Final Thirty, but also who will make up the second half!"
"...If Wally survives." Catherine muttered.
"Ouch…"
LINK TO SECTION RESULTS: archiveofourown / works / 25531129 / chapters / 98453967
