(The Arena)

Everyone watched as Master Hand and Crazy Hand started circling each other in midair, each of them doing their respective laughs. They knew that the two of them were going to alter the conditions of the arena and were staying still to see what would happen.

The Hands slapped together, then pointed their fingers down at the arena. Everyone suddenly started to feel cold (with the obvious exception of Gadget Z and Musafar, both of which were robots).

When the Hands were done, the arena looked almost the same as it did before except for the fact that the canvas had a bluish hue now.

Galford scratched his head. "How strange." He took one step to continue his battle with Chonrei and slipped on the canvas, which was now covered with a thick layer of ice.

"Well, folks! It looks like our first arena alteration is simple, yet very dangerous!" Unknown1 said into the mic. "The arena canvas is now coated with ice. If anyone moves too fast, they'll slip on the ice, providing an opening for attacks from their opponents!"

Suddenly, everyone heard some music coming from the speakers. All nine fighters looked at the curtain entryway, as the next fighter was about to step into the arena.

"CLARK STEELE!" (KOF)

As a techno remix of the original Ikari Warriors theme song played through the speakers, Clark cracked his knuckles, popped his neck, adjusted his shades and ran down to the ring.

Once he was in the ring, he quickly ran to help Cammy and Jubei with Marrow without slipping on the ice. After Marrow had knocked Cammy onto her back, Clark tackled the X-Woman from the side, picked her up and threw her away. He then helped Cammy to her feet.

"Why did you help me?" Cammy asked.

"I owed you." Clark replied. "You were the one to eliminate that Ash Crimson guy, and he's not exactly my favourite guy in our node."

"Oh. Well, no problem." Cammy scratched her head.

"So, who's our biggest threat in the ring?" Clark asked.

Jubei pointed at Musafar with one of his swords. "That thing. He eliminated Prince Marth with one punch." He explained. "He has GOT to go."

Clark smirked. "No problem. Let's get it!"

"ERIK!" (WH)

Erik the Viking lumbered out from behind the curtain and swung his axe a couple of times. His focus was on Jubei, as the one-eyed samurai was the one to eliminate Jack only minutes ago.

Once he got into the ring, Erik almost instantly slipped on the ice and landed on his back.

Sagat chuckled and walked over. "You don't know how to handle ice?" He asked.

"Hey! I never sail when there's ice out!" Erik insisted. "I've never walked on this stuff in my life!"

Erik grumbled as he staggered to his feet. This wouldn't be very good if he wasn't careful.

(Dome; Hallways)

Samus and Reed walked down the hallway, towards the doors leading into the hotel. They had been lucky to get away from Lilly while she wasn't looking and were currently looking for something to do before Reed entered the ring in the next section.

"What do you think of our chances in this tournament, Reed?" Samus asked his friend. "I mean, Hugo didn't last very long, and Gadget Z may have gotten an elimination, but he's gone absolutely nuts."

"In all honesty, Samus, I don't know." The blonde man replied. "My chances may be pretty slim, but I'd say that yours are a lot better because you got such a late draw."

"Thanks, buddy." The dark-skinned man said. "Don't think you'll do bad, though. You're a better fighter than Hugo for sure. Heck, you're probably better than about half the people from our node."

Reed shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe I am, but maybe I'm not."

By now, the two friends had arrived at the doors leading to the hotel. They were about to open them before they flew open. A tall, muscled, gray figure with a horn charged into the hallway and plowed into both Tinto soldiers. This knocked Samus and Reed to the ground and made the newcomer stagger back a few steps.

"Hey!" Samus said as he got to his feet. "What's the big idea?"

"I got no time for you, punks." The Rhino replied. "I've gotta report to my boss."

"Wait a minute…" Reed stared at the Rhino for a few seconds. "You weren't invited here!"

"Hey, you're right!" Samus added. "I know he's from the Marvel node, but I didn't see him arrive with the others!"

The Rhino growled. "First my buddy gets sidetracked with that guy in pink and now I have to deal with you two." He crouched low and prepared a charge. "This is going to take me forever to get back to the boss."

Samus and Reed looked at each other, nodded and drew their swords in perfect synchronization, preparing to take the Rhino on with full force.

(The Arena)

"QUEEN!" (S3)

The dark-haired beauty brushed hair from her eyes and gripped the handle of her sword as she stared into the arena. Queen's turquoise jacket was the most colourful thing she was wearing, as her pants were black and her shoes were a dark brown.

Queen spotted Gadget Z and ran down to the ring in an attempt to help him with Samus Aran.

However, she was unaware of Gadget Z's malfunction, and when she entered the arena, the small robot raised his hammer again.

"Don't a-worry, Princess a-Peach! I'll a-save you from a-Bowser!" Gadget Z changed his voice into a high-pitched, Italian voice as he rumbled at Queen, whom had stopped beside Samus.

Queen turned to the futuristic bounty hunter. "How long has he been like this?" She asked.

Samus sighed. "Since the instant he got into the arena."

Queen sighed and rubbed her temples. From the looks of things, she couldn't get Gadget Z's help until he snapped out of his malfunction, and it seemed like that wouldn't happen until Belle entered the arena.

The only problem was that Belle wasn't supposed to come out for a while.

"Take a-THIS!" Gadget Z swung his hammer at Queen.

(SSB Locker Room)

Mario stared slack-jawed at the monitor. "I a-don't a-sound like a-that!" He said.

"Yes you do." Bowser mumbled. "Now shut up and let me watch."

Link, meanwhile, looked around, as if looking for someone. Zelda saw this and walked over to him.

"What's wrong, Link?" Zelda asked.

"Have you noticed that Ganondorf hasn't shown his face in here since the tournament started?" Link asked. "I'm starting to get suspicious."

Ness and Mewtwo heard him and exchanged worried glances at each other.

(The Arena)

"BRUCE IRVIN!" (T5)

As 'Eye of the Tiger' played through the speakers, Bruce stepped out from behind the curtain to a surprisingly big cheer.

Bruce smirked as he shook a few hands and waved to the crowd. It felt so good to be back in the action. After all, he hadn't been in a canon Tekken game since Tekken 2. Now, he would prove to everyone that he deserved to stay.

However, before he got into the arena, he spotted his hero, Sagat, firing Erik into another part of the arena. Bruce's eyes lit up as he ran down to the ring.

Sagat saw Bruce coming, but saw that he looked semi-excited, meaning that he wasn't here with murder on his mind.

"Sagat! I am a big fan of yours!" Bruce said, almost unbelieving that he was actually talking to his hero. "Ever since I first saw you fighting, I took up the art of May Thai myself!"

Sagat stared. He had never had a fan like this before. "Uh…Thank you, I guess."

"It would be a great honor if you would let me fight you!" Bruce said.

The giant man thought. It had been such a long time since he had actually met a DECENT Thai fighter. Adon was okay, but was way too arrogant. Same with Joe Higashi, although that taunt really left a bad image in his mind. Shura was a complete disgrace, he thought, and RAX from Eternal Champions hadn't seen work in a long time, so he really couldn't be compared.

After a few seconds, Sagat looked down at Bruce and nodded. "Okay. Let's see what you've got."

(Hotel; Lounge)

Heavy D! walked into the lounge and looked around. Lucky had said to meet him here but, as usual, the basketball player was running late. In fact, there was absolutely no one in the room at all. He was completely alone.

The tall boxer shrugged and sat down to wait for his friend. Heavy D! was supposed to enter the ring in a couple sections and Lucky knew that, so Heavy D! wasn't worried that Lucky would show up after the boxer had already left.

Heavy D! was still feeling happy that he and Lucky had been invited to actually compete in the tournament. After all, the Sports Team hadn't seen work since they did KOF 98. He still felt guilty that Brian wasn't invited, but the football player had said from day one that he would gladly watch his friends participate.

Suddenly, D! heard some light footsteps coming from behind. Looking over his shoulder, D! did a double-take. He saw a child dressed as a nun trying to sneak by without the boxer noticing. At first glance, the child looked like a girl, but when D! looked a second time, he could tell that the child was a boy.

However, that wasn't D!'s main concern. He quickly saw a girl slung over the boy's shoulder, her arms, feet and legs bound with what looked like yo-yo string. A handkerchief was tied around her mouth, silencing her. He quickly recognized the girl as Ryoko, the adorable fighter from the World Heroes node. She was awake, and was struggling wildly against the boy's grip.

D! instantly got to his feet and looked at the boy. "Hey, kid! Where do you think you're going with her?" He demanded.

Bridget turned and saw D! staring at him. "I'm taking this girl to my client. He's offered me a huge some of money for me to capture this terrorist and I intend to get the job done."

Heavy D! instantly knew that this wasn't true, whether Bridget knew that or not. He quickly put up his fists. "I'm not letting you take her anywhere, buddy!"

Bridget sighed and placed Ryoko on a chair. He turned to D! and held up his yo-yo. "Very well. It seems like I have to fight you to get you to let me go through."

Ryoko stopped thrashing to watch D! start the fight against Bridget, and silently cheered the boxer on.

(The Arena)

"JACKY BRYANT!" (VF)

Jacky stepped out of the curtain and ran down to the ring as a lot of the crowd cheered for him. Jacky was feeling confident as he leapt into the arena. Pai had managed to get an elimination before getting eliminated, and she still wasn't exactly the best fighter in the node. Jacky figured that he could only do better.

"Watch out everyone!" Jacky shouted to the arena as he started to fall towards the canvas. "Jacky is in the HAAAAAAAA-"

Unfortunately, Jacky forgot about the ice. As soon as he landed, Jacky slipped on the canvas and started sliding towards the end of the arena. During his trek to the other side of the arena, Jacky knocked over Samus, Chonrei, Erik, Jubei and Clark. Jacky did end up stopping, but that was because he slammed into Musafar's leg.

Musafar looked down at Jacky, annoyed. Jacky quickly got up and scrambled off as fast as he could without slipping.

Meanwhile, all of the spotlights again lit up the curtain.

"And now…" SSBFreak was the speaker this time. "Mystery Fighter…Number…TWO!"

The curtain was pushed aside.

"VIVIAN!" (Paper Mario 2)

"I'm free…I am free"

"I'm free!…I am free!"

"I feel a taste of reality"

"And I'm waiting for you to follow me"

As Geoff Moore's version of 'I'm Free' came through the speakers, Vivian came out onto the ramp. Everyone saw that she was just a shadow-like creature with long and curly pink hair. She was wearing a red and white striped hat that went over her eyes and a pair of white gloves over the hands of her skinny arms. Everyone quickly saw that Vivian didn't have any legs. Instead, she was attached to the ground by a Genie-like spout.

Almost instantly, calls of "Aww! She's so cute!" were shouted from the audience. Vivian smiled as she leapt into the arena, which still looked a little strange considering the fact that she was still attached to the ground. The spout where her legs would normally be stretched, giving Vivian more height as she entered the arena.

Everyone quickly noticed that Vivian was also the only one not being affected by the iced canvas. The Shadow Siren rushed over to Samus and Queen, both of which were trying to fend off Gadget Z, who seemed to be calling them 'Catwoman' and 'Poison Ivy'.

Vivian slammed her fist into the barrel robot's side, knocking Gadget Z away. She quickly turned to Samus and Queen. "Are you guys alright?"

Samus breathed heavily as she got to her feet. "Yes. That robot's master REALLY needs to get that malfunction taken care of."

"PICHU!" (SSB)

Pichu, the small, even cuter version of Pikachu, scurried out of the curtain and scampered down to the ring. Pichu was by far the smallest fighter in the arena currently, and everyone wondered how that could hit something so small and fast.

Once he was in the ring, Pichu looked at Galford and started charging up an electrical attack. "Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…"

Galford looked over his shoulder. "What in the world is that?"

"…CHU!" Pichu rocketed forward, engulfed in electricity. The tiny Pokemon slammed into Galford, firing the blonde ninja away from Chonrei.

Chonrei sighed in relief. "Thanks, little guy."

"Pichu!"

"OKINA!" (LB)

Okina wasn't as short as Pichu, but he was about the same size as Gadget Z. The small, old man ran down to the arena, the huge basket bouncing around on his back.

The small man didn't have any problem with the icy surface of the canvas. He was tempted to go for Musafar, but the huge robot was currently being triple-teamed by the female fighters Samus Aran, Queen and Vivian. Suddenly, Jacky Bryant slid to his feet.

"Say, junior!" Okina greeted. "You want to spar for a second?"

Jacky slowly and carefully got to his feet. "Uh…Sure. But if I slip, could you please refrain from hitting me until I get back up?"

"Of course! I hate fighting unfair!"

(Eliminated Seating)

Hyo Amano shook his head. "The little guy is going for Jacky. I don't think he stands a chance."

Pai Chan, sitting beside him, nodded. "Jacky is one of the most powerful fighters in our node. Mr. Okina may have a problem."

(Dome; Hallways)

Dan and R. Mika ran though the hallways, attempting to find someone to help them fight these villains and prevent whatever they were planning from happening. Currently, they had found absolutely no one. Everyone was either in their locker rooms or in the hotel.

An idea suddenly came into Dan's head (boy, winning a battle and coming up with an idea? That doesn't sound like Dan to me). "Mika, let's try the Eliminated Seating." He suggested. "Maybe a few of the eliminated fighters would like to help."

Mika nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Let's try it."

"Not if we have anything to say about it!"

Dan and Mika screeched to a stop and looked ahead in shock. Standing there, blocking their path, was Balrog.

Balrog grinned, showing his lost teeth. "You two wanna get by? You have to get through us first!"

Dan raised an eyebrow. "Us?"

Balrog pointed up. Dan and Mika looked up and saw a new figure falling to the ground. The newcomer landed, showing off his green skin, brown, spiked hair and leather coat. The strange man crouched low and tilted his head with a strange grin on his face.

"Meet Toad." Balrog said. He slammed his fist into his palm. "We're gonna break you two so much that you won't have the energy to get help!"

Mika stared. "You're in on this too? Does that mean that Bison has something to do with it?" She asked.

Balrog suddenly realized his mistake and slapped his forehead with his glove. He quickly got into a stance. "Well…No matter. Toad and I are gonna win anyway."

Dan cracked his knuckles as Mika got into her stance. "No way, pally-rally! Mika and I are gonna get through you guys if it's the last thing we do!"

Toad chuckled. "It's SHOWTIME!"

(The Arena)

"SAKURA KUSANAGO!" (SFA3)

The overly-cheerful schoolgirl came out to an insanely large cheer. This cheer was bigger than even Galford's from the last section.

"Bah!" Cranky Kong mumbled from the crowd. "Back in my day, the girls didn't fight in school uniforms. It's absolutely disgraceful, if you ask me!"

Luckily, Sakura didn't need to go over and beat some sense into the old ape. Hanna from the Suikoden 2 node did it for her.

Sakura ran down to the ring and avoided slipping on the ice as she darted over to Marrow. The young schoolgirl quickly landed an uppercut on the older woman, firing her into the air.

One she landed, Marrow glared at Sakura. "What was that for, you shrimp?"

"I'm fighting!" Sakura said cheerfully. "What does it look like?"

Marrow tried to silence her with a Bonerang, but Sakura was too quick, nailing her with a fireball.

"WATARI!" (S3)

Before anyone in the crowd had time to cheer, the silent ninja was already out of the curtain and running headfirst towards the arena, his ninja sword ready to attack.

Watari, as it turned out, was one of the more popular Suikoden characters, as most of the crowd was cheering by the time he was in the ring. Watari started his performance off with a bang, throwing two ninja stars at Sagat, whom was still dueling with Bruce.

Queen saw Watari and waved at him. "Hey, Watari! Help us out with this thing, will you?" She was referring to Musafar, whom she, Samus and Vivian were still triple-teaming.

Watari nodded and swiftly moved over. How he was able to run so fast and not slip on the ice confused a lot of the crowd, but they quickly forgot about it when Watari leapt up higher than usual and slashed his sword across Musafar's neck, clipping some wiring.

"And now, the final fighter of this section…"

"ATHENA ASAMIYA!" (KOF)

The cheer for Athena was the loudest one so far. The young Psycho Soldier, dressed in her 2003 attire, shook as many hands as she could. In fact, she shook so many hands that her theme song ended before she got halfway to the ring.

When Athena finally got to the ring, she nailed Gadget Z with a Psycho Ball. The small robot quickly got up, shouted "ZABOOMAFOO!" and lunged at her.

Or so he tried. By the time he reached Athena, the young girl had already teleported away.

Clark shook his head as Athena appeared beside him. "You still haven't changed, eh?" He asked.

"What?" Athena shrugged.