It wasn't long before the group had reached the center of the city and saw Ninetails calmly waiting for them as he slowly turned to them.
"You have finally arrived. Good." He said facing them.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. We were taking in the sights of this abandoned city, even had a high-speed soccer match." Bow said.
"I see, it is good you've managed to unwind during your visit here." Ninetails said.
"Yup. Thanks for waiting too. For a Reploid like you, you're pretty patient." Hope said. "I want to ask you something before we get this started. You're from Giga City, aren't you? So… are you a surviving member of the Rebellion Army? Y'know, aligned with Epsilon and Redips?"
"My goodness no, you see I was actually sealed along with my clansmen in the sealed area of Central Tower, due the immense power within me." Ninetails explained.
"I see. You must've been released during our confrontation with Wild Jango." Hope said.
"It was shortly after you defeated Redips actually." Ninetails said. "I have no grudge against you all, I merely wish to fight you all for the challenge of it." he said as he took a stance. "Now...are you prepared?"
"Alright. Let's see what you've got!" Hope said as the group readied themselves.
W-A-R-N-I-N-G
Warning! Warning! Warning!
(Cue- Certain Victory!- Megaman X Command Mission)
"My strength is unparalleled." Ninetails said. "Annihilator..Hadoken!" he said, firing a blue beam in a widespread motion.
"Watch out!" Kendo called as everyone avoided the blast as it spread over the city, thankfully not damaging anything in the city, but everyone could feel its energy.
"What in the hell was THAT?!" Kazuma asked in shock. "If that hit us, we could've been dead!"
"This guy is on a whole different level." Axl said.
"Yeah. If we let him hit us, there's a good chance he'll take us down in one move." Hope said. "Wait, what am I saying? We can take this guy, who cares how strong he is?!"
"You're right. But to stand a chance against him…" X said, donning his Ultimate Armor. "Our best bet is to go all out straight from the beginning!"
"I'm with you X!" Zero said, activating his Hyper Mode, Absolute Zero, his color-scheme changed to black and blue as he now had bat wings on his helmet and two large ones behind his back as he floated off the ground.
"Full power, here we go!" X called, firing off his weapon salvo as Ninetails got moving to evade the direct assault. Some shots hit him, but Zero gave chase with incredible speed.
"You're finished!" Zero said, warping right in front of him, dealing powerful strikes with each warp from his claws and kicks.
Ninetails countered some of Zero's attacks, taking some more damage still, but it didn't bother him. "Impressive… I can see how you were able to face the Rebellion Army so equally!" he knocked Zero aside and moved out of the way of X's bombardment. "But I'm not just aiming to battle the two of you. I want to see the strength of all the heroes who faced them!"
"He's coming our way!" Glimmer siad.
"Let's not disappoint him then!" Hope said as Ninetales slammed into the ground, splitting the group.
"So you say you're strong, do you tin man?" Vegeta asked, appearing behind him. "I hope you can last long enough to impress me." the Saiyan said as he transformed into Super Saiyan Blue and threw a punch that the Reploid turned around and caught it, the force from the attack blowing behind him.
"You live in this Universe as well, don't you?" Ninetails asked. "I've longed to see the legendary fighting potential of your world, ever since I first heard of it."
"Then allow me to give you a proper demonstration!" Vegeta said as he used his free hand to grab Ninetails' wrist and throw him into the air before flying up to reach him. The Reploid regained his bearings in the air and met the Saiyan prince head on, the two exchanging blows as they descended.
"Now's our chance, let's pile on him!" Frosta said as she charged, striking at Ninetails from behind with some icicle strikes. Ajna and some of her incarnations followed behind, attacking him from all sides.
"Take this!" Ajna called, swinging her axe.
"I'll cut you down!" Dhar drew his blade.
"Rider...Kick!" Naga Rider called, dive kicking from above.
Ninetails took all of the attacks by blocking them, before pushing all three back in an instant. He then saw Vegeta standing up for an attack, so he decided to meet him.
"Gallick…!"
"Annihilator…!"
"Gun!/Hadoken!"
The two attacks collided with each other, resulting in a cancelling shockwave that blasted over the city.
"Whoa….that was something. Did...did we get him?" Asta asked.
"No, he's still standing." Kendo said as the smoke cleared, revealing Ninetails to be still functional.
"Whoa, man… This guy is intense." Mayumi said.
"Yeah, he's definitely in another league above Redips and the rest. I don't think we've even cut down half his energy." Hope said.
"You're all very skilled. For me to use my Annihilator Hadoken twice already should prove how you've pushed me." Ninetails said. "Nonetheless, I am quite impressed, well done." he said, dropping his stance. "I believe that is all for today."
"What? You don't wanna continue?" Hope asked.
"No...I've…*yawn*...grown tired. I must rest." Ninetails said. "All of you, your strength is...magnificent. I hope you all continue to grow on your journey, we may meet again someday."
"Yeah… I hope we do." David said.
"Farewell, until our next encounter." Ninetails said before he warped away.
"First King Tut, and now Ninetails, we sure have met some crazy strong people on this trip." Duran said.
"Yeah. It's been pretty fun." Hope said. "I get the feeling we're gonna be doing a bit more fighting, considering the final three universes are Shinto, Fight and Adventure."
"So, which one do we wanna head to first?" Koenig asked.
"I made a promise to save Adventure for last." Theo said.
"Then we have to choose between Shinto and Fight." Jexi said.
"Speaking of fights, I wonder who else we're gonna run into on this trip." Rayleigh said.
"Who knows? Anyway, if you guys are still up for some more combat, why don't we go check out the Fight Universe?" Hope asked. "We haven't been there yet, but I've heard it's a universe chock full of worlds that practice a whole bunch of martial arts."
"Hmm… Sounds very interesting." Rayleigh said.
"I actually trained there for a while. I've seen a lot of powerful fighters. Some who may even surpass us given the right advances." Ranma said.
"Then I guess we know where we're going next." Kendo said, rubbing her nose.
"The Fight Universe, huh? I'm getting excited." Goku said. "If it's a universe full of strong fighters, then it'll be great training."
"Typical Goku. Always having fighting on the brain." Krillin said.
"But still, he's got the right mindset. Let's go see what this universe is all about. Let's set course for the Fight Universe!" Hope said.