(Announcer's Booth)
SSBFreak rubbed his chin as he looked down at the arena, or more specifically, the quadruple-teaming Musafar was at the end of against Queen, Vivian, Samus Aran and Watari all at once. He turned his head to look at his friend. "How much of a chance do you think Musafar has?"
Unknown1, however, wasn't looking at the arena. Instead, he was looking at a monitor, where Jack, the only fighter from the last section that hadn't returned yet, was still beating the snot out of Baraka. When addressed, the young man looked at SSBFreak. "Huh? Did you say something?"
SSBFreak stared at the monitor, quickly forgetting his question. "Uh…Forget it." He quickly grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled down a note, reminding himself to invite Jack to the autograph signing after the tournament.
"The strangest thing is that Jack may actually get more popular for pounding Baraka." He said to himself.
(The Arena)
SSBFreak was right in saying that Musafar was at the receiving end of a quadruple-team. It was a sheer miracle that the giant robot was still standing, much less still in the arena. Queen's sword was incredibly sharp and cut through the circuits on his legs easily, and Samus' missiles made a lot of huge dents in his body. Watari was moving extremely fast and was throwing ninja stars at the huge robot. While these ninja stars didn't hurt Musafar and simply bounced off and out of the arena (the ninja stars crippled several characters in different nodes, but Woodman from the Megaman node didn't seem to notice much), they did manage to distract the huge robot long enough for Vivian to deliver several flaming punches to his torso.
Musafar quickly found an opening and slammed his foot into the icy canvas, causing a small earthquake (and cracking the ice at the same time). This affected everyone in the arena except Vivian (whom didn't have any legs), Watari, Jubei Yagyu and Sakura (all three of which were jumping at the time). Musafar quickly used this chance to punch Queen hard enough to send her to another part of the arena.
The huge robot cracked his knuckles. One down, three to go.
At another part of the arena, the earthquake had sent Sagat to the ground, as well as his current opponent, Bruce Irvin. Bruce quickly got up and helped to taller man to his feet.
"Ugh…Thanks." Sagat said.
"No problem." Bruce replied.
"Shall we continue our battle?"
"Of course." Bruce smirked.
Sagat fired another Tiger Shot at Bruce, but the dark-skinned man quickly evaded it, leapt into the air and delivered a hard kick to Sagat's chest.
The tall man staggered back, clutching his chest. He stared at Bruce, impressed. For someone lacking a projectile, Bruce was a very worthy opponent.
(Hotel; Bison's Room)
Bison turned from his spot in front of the window which overlooked the city as his temporary partner Geese Howard walked into the room.
"What is it, Geese?" Bison asked emotionlessly. "I am very busy pondering how I'm going to complete this plan."
"I…Have a request." Geese managed, although he said it calmly.
Bison sighed. "Yes?"
"I understand that Lily Kane is among the list of targets."
"What's your point?" Bison asked.
"I want to make sure that Billy has no idea that I'm among those behind this." Geese replied. "If he found out that I was in on a plot that his sister was a target in, there's no telling what he would do."
"Don't worry." Bison smirked. "Your bodyguard will not know that you have any part of this."
Geese nodded. "I'd appreciate it." With that, he turned to leave the room.
"Just one more thing." Bison said, not moving from his spot in front of the window.
Geese stopped. "Yes?"
"I need you to inform Valgas and Sabretooth about something." The Shadaloo leader explained.
(The Arena)
Athena launched another Psycho Ball at Okina. The little old man quickly ran to the side and stopped. Placing his fishing basket on the ground, Okina opened up the lid. At first, Athena though that there was some sort of weapon inside.
Imagine her surprise when a huge turtle emerged.
The Psycho Soldier held in a chuckle, but was quickly overcome with laughter.
"A turtle?" Athena laughed. "What's it going to do? Run me over?"
Strangely enough, that's exactly what happened. Okina threw the turtle at Athena, causing it to land on her. As quickly as it was pulled out, the turtle was called back into the basket.
Athena stood up and glared at Okina angrily. "Okay. That wasn't very nice!" Athena fired another Psycho Ball, and Okina quickly lashed out his fishing rod, canceling the projectile.
That was all Athena needed.
The young woman leapt into the air and did a Phoenix Arrow, firing Okina into the air when he was struck. While the old man was in the air, Athena leapt up after him and delivered a hard kick to Okina's side, firing the old fisherman into the portal.
Athena landed on her feet, smoothed out her dress and ran off to find another opponent.
Okina, in the meantime, landed in Frogger. Luckily, he held his basket underneath him, so he didn't sink when he hit the water.
Back in the arena, Jubei clashed swords with Marrow. Clark and Cammy had gone in different directions, leaving the one-eyed samurai to the deranged X-Woman.
Marrow pulled her bone dagger back and lashed out again. "Why won't you just DIE?" She asked, frustrated.
"I'm a far more formidable opponent to you than someone without a weapon!" Jubei replied as he blocked Marrow's strike. "The way you took out Julia Chang a little while ago was absolutely unforgivable! She was completely unarmed!"
Marrow slashed with her dagger, clipping Jubei's shoulder. As the samurai staggered back a couple of steps, Marrow leapt into the air. "Ahhhh, SHADDAP!"
Everyone in the crowd watched in disgust as the bones producing from Marrow's back extended to amazing lengths and multiplied several times to form several insanely sharp bones. Marrow then used her mutant powers to control the bones and make them soar straight at Jubei.
The one-eyed samurai, although shocked and disgusted, thought quickly and started running. The bone weapons chased after him, each one striking the ground directly behind his feet, crushing the ice on the canvas. Eventually, the attack stopped and all the bones crumbled. The bones that used to be at Marrow's back quickly sprouted again.
The X-Woman landed on the ground to see what was left of Jubei, but saw the one-eyed samurai standing in front of her with a dark glare. Marrow gaped.
"W-What? Y-You're still standing?"
"That's more than what I can say for you!" Jubei lunged at Marrow and slashed several times with each of his swords. Marrow, still shocked at how Jubei evaded her attack, took every blow and was forced over the ropes. Jubei stood straight and sighed to let all of the anger out.
Marrow landed in Killer Instinct. She sat down in a huff, angry about her somewhat bad performance in the tournament. The X-Woman made a note to herself to get that one-eyed samurai when she got back to the dome.
Marrow was so wrapped up in her thinking that she didn't see Fulgore standing behind her.
(Hotel; Lounge)
Bridget landed on the ground after delivering a hard, airborne kick to the tall, black boxer he was currently facing. As Heavy D! held his face, Bridget pulled out his yo-yo and threw it, attempting to bind the boxer up with the strings.
Heavy D! snapped out of his daze in time to see the yo-yo coming. The tall boxer dodged to the side and ran at Bridget. Before the yo-yo came back to the young boy, D! performed an R.S.D., nailing Bridget in the chin. The mercenary stepped back a couple of steps and glared at the boxer.
"You hit real hard." Bridget said through his teeth. "Are you some sort of assassin as well?"
"I'm no assassin, boy." D! grabbed Bridget and slammed him onto the floor. "I'm a boxer."
Bridget stood up, rubbing his face. "What kind of boxer uses energy attacks?"
D! smirked. "I'm the only one, kid." The tall boxer ran at Bridget and performed another R.S.D.
The young boy, however, was anticipating this and ran to the side, jumping on a couch. As D!'s attack struck nothing but air, Bridget kicked him in the side of his head.
Ryoko, still sitting on one of the lounge chairs, let out a muffled gasp as D! hit the floor. The tall boxer quickly got to his feet and lashed his fist into the air, launching several streaks of powerful energy at the young mercenary.
Bridget somehow saw this coming and dodged the blow, then delivered several hard punches to the boxer's stomach, followed by a kick to his face. This made D! collapse.
Bridget smirked. "Sorry about that, old man." He chuckled as he turned around to pick Ryoko up again. "But I need to deliver this terrorist to my client."
The boy stopped when he heard a grunt coming from behind. Turning, he saw Heavy D! staggering to his feet with a furious expression on his face. Bridget sighed and turned to fight him again. "You just don't know when to give up, do you?"
D! slouched over, breathing heavily. "I (pant) won't (pant) let you (pant) take (pant) Ryoko." He seethed.
Bridget's eyes snapped open as he dropped his stance. "'R-Ryoko'?"
If Bridget had time to block, there still wouldn't have been anything he could do. D! performed a Soul Flower, causing a small explosion. The sheer power from the blow sent Bridget into the air, towards the ceiling. As Bridget started falling towards the ground again, Heavy D! stood straight and waited for Bridget to line up with his fist.
"D! MAGNUM!"
*KA-POW!*
One rocketing explosion later and Bridget was sent flying into the wall on the far side of the lounge. Bridget peeled himself off the wall and fell three feet before landing on his side, utterly defeated.
Heavy D! breathed in and out a couple of times before running over to the bound and gagged Ryoko, who seemed to be jumping in her seat, excited that the boxer had won. As quickly as he could, D! yanked the handkerchief from her mouth and started untying her.
By the time Bridget had awakened, Heavy D! had already freed Ryoko from the yo-yo strings.
Seeing Bridget awake, D! stood in front of Ryoko, whom cowered behind his leg. "Now tell me, kid." The boxer said. "What caused you to capture Ryoko here?"
Bridget held his head as he stood up. "Ryoko? Oh, gosh! I got the wrong girl!" Bridget sighed. "I'm sorry. I was told to capture the feared terrorist Amy Guile and thought she was her."
Heavy D! and Ryoko looked at each other with wide eyes, then back at Bridget. "Kid, who told you that?"
"Some guy in a funny, green, spandex suit with a lightning bolt on his head."
D! rubbed his chin. "That sounds an awful lot like that Electro freak that came with the rest of the Marvel crew." He looked down at Bridget. "Boy, I'm sorry to say that you've been duped."
The boy's eyes snapped open. "What?"
"Hey, D!" A new voice came from behind. "How's it hanging?"
All three figures turned to see Lucky Glauber walking into the lounge.
Heavy D! motioned for his friend to come over. "Lucky, get over here! I think we've got a plot on out hands!"
(The Arena)
Watari stood and looked up at Musafar, Samus and Vivian on either side of him. Musafar pulled his fist up and brought it down hard, attempting to smash the three others flat.
Thinking quickly, Watari used his hands to push Samus and Vivian out of the way, pushing them in opposite directions. As Musafar's fist came intensely close to smashing the young ninja's head, Watari did the move that all ninjas seem to know how to do.
He vanished into thin air.
When Musafar's fist actually hit the ground, he felt that he had crushed the young ninja. The force from the blow was so strong the almost all of the ice covering the arena canvas cracked. When Musafar lifted his fist, he found that he had actually crushed a log rather than Watari.
Said ninja suddenly appeared again and dropped onto Musafar's hand. As Watari slashed his ninja sword, Musafar's hand became disconnected. The huge robot didn't feel anything, but Watari wasn't done.
Samus and Vivian stared in amazement as Watari moved all around Musafar, slashing whatever he could see with his sword.
When he finished, Watari appeared on the ground, looking up at Musafar. The huge robot simply stood still rather than attack Watari. The white-haired ninja snapped his fingers once, and once he did, Musafar literally fell to pieces. It took a fair amount of effort, but Watari, Samus and Vivian managed to push the pieces of Musafar over the ropes.
The pieces of Musafar landed in Timesplitters 2. Other than the fact that they made Jake Fenton's job easier by landing directly on Mr. Big, nothing much happened.
(Galaxy Fight Locker Room)
"Well, so much for that." Rolf sighed.
"Well, at least he got an elimination." G. Done pointed out. "Who knows? Maybe another one of us will manage an elimination."
"Yeah, but somehow, I sincerely doubt it." Gunter sighed.
(Announcer's Booth)
"I have to admit Musafar actually did pretty well." SSBFreak said into his mic.
"Yeah. He's been the dark horse so far. I heard that people were actually betting that Marth would eliminate him in the last section." Unknown1 added. "But I have to say that Watari's elimination of the large robot was amazing. Wouldn't you agree, folks?"
The whole crowd responded by erupting into cheers.
(The Arena)
"Tiger Knee!"
Sagat lunged into the air at landed a hard blow to Bruce's face. The king of Maui Thai continued with a low Tiger Shot, followed by a hard kick.
Bruce saw the kick coming and leapt into the air. Sagat's foot struck the air underneath the dark-skinned Thai fighter as Bruce landed a hard kick to the taller man's face.
Once Bruce landed on the ground, both men stared at each other for a couple seconds before lunging forward, each attempting a kick. Each of the two attacks struck the face of their opponent, making Sagat and Bruce stagger away from each other.
Sagat breathed heavily, genuinely impressed at Bruce's skill. "You have no projectiles, and yet you can hold your own in a fight." He breathed. "You are, without a doubt, one of the best Thai fighters I have ever seen."
Bruce smiled. "Thanks, Sagat. You have no idea how much that means to me."
"Your name is Bruce Irvin, is it?" Sagat asked. "I promise that I shall remember your name after our battle is over. Now, let us finish this."
"With pleasure, Sagat."
On the other side of the arena, Cammy White was having a hard time trying to defeat Jin Chonrei. Although neither of them were fresher than the other, Chonrei was younger (in a way), giving him a little more energy than Cammy.
Chonrei lashed out his fist, striking Cammy in the face. While she was stunned, Chonrei continued with a couple of hard punches, a high kick and finished with a low sweep, knocking Cammy's legs out from under her. Cammy landed on the canvas hard.
Chonrei stood over her, smirking. "Well, it looks like I've defeated you, Miss White." He said. "Sorry, but I have to eliminate you now."
"Not today!" Cammy shouted and thrust her foot up, slamming Chonrei in the chin. The force from this blow sent the elder Jin twin a good five feet away. Cammy jumped to her feet and ran at Chonrei, hoping to get a couple hits in before he got up.
"Cannon Spike!" Cammy shouted.
The resulting attack sent Chonrei over the ropes. The audience watched in anticipation to see Chonrei vanish into a portal, but everyone became surprised when the young-looking fighter grabbed hold of one of the ropes and slid back into the arena.
Cammy breathed heavily. "You're a stubborn little boy, aren't you?" She asked.
"Lady, I may look young, but I have far more experience than you." Chonrei said with a smirk. "Now, it's time to finish what I started and eliminate you."
Chonrei rushed at Cammy, but this was what the slim woman was expecting. Just as Chonrei came within arms reach, Cammy grabbed him, flipped backwards and vaulted him over the ropes again. This time, he went way too far to have any hope of coming back.
"If you had more experience than me, you should have seen that coming." Cammy chuckled.
Chonrei landed in Super Mario World, inside one of the castles. When Chonrei looked up, he saw a Thwomp hovering over him.
"What in the world is that?"
*CRUSH!*
By now, most of the ice covering the canvas had cracked. This, ironically, made life easier for Erik, as he could now walk normally without having any worry of slipping. Currently, his opponent was Sakura. The young schoolgirl was quick, and was easily avoiding the swings from the Viking's axe.
"You World Heroes don't have a chance!" Sakura taunted. "Do you really think you'll get an elimination against the likes of people like Ryu and Kyo?"
"Well…" Erik said. "Not me, personally. But our node DOES contain formidable foes like Janne, Captain Kidd and Hanzou. Even Rasputin could dish out serious pain if he was agitated."
"Yeah? Well, I'll wait and see when they enter the arena." Sakura said, not very convinced. "Now, as for you…"
Sakura promptly lashed out her hands, creating a quick burst of energy. Erik raised his shield, blocking the blow. After counting the attack striking the shield three times, Erik swung his axe.
The young schoolgirl saw this coming and backed off, but received a painful slash to the stomach. Sakura collapsed in pain as Erik stood over her.
"Is that formidable enough for you?" Erik said with a smirk.
Sakura suddenly narrowed her eyes, leapt to her feet and performed her dashing uppercut, striking the unready Erik in the chin. This sent the Viking straight out of the arena and through the vortex.
Sakura looked at the vortex as it vanished again. "Stupid Viking!" She growled.
Erik landed in Crash Bandicoot: Warped. Dingodile spotted him and decided to see if the Viking was flammable.
(Hotel; Hallways)
"Gadouken!"
Balrog felt the full force of Dan's very small fireball and flew into the wall of the narrow hallway. The boxer got to his feet and pounded his fists. Balrog lunged forward in an attempt to take the pink-clad man's head off with a hard punch.
Which Dan sidestepped.
"Hold still, for crying out loud!" Balrog shouted. "You're not supposed to avoid that!"
Dan laughed as he leapt into the air. "Dan-Dan-Kick!" He announced, landing three hard kicks to Balrog's face before landing on the ground. "How'd ya like that, Balrog?" Dan taunted.
"A lucky shot!" Balrog said. "Let's see if you can stop this! Gigaton Blow!"
Unfortunately for Balrog, Dan saw the punch coming. As Balrog came flying at him, Dan crouched low and did his Uppercut super. While he hardly went off the ground at all, the attack was real powerful. Balrog's face was still stinging when he went flying into the wall.
R. Mika, on the other hand, was having a harder time against Toad. With the mutant man being unfamiliar to her, Mika had to be ready for anything. She had only been fighting him for a matter of minutes and already she found out that Toad was a skilled gymnast, could jump amazingly high and could dodge a lot of her attacks easily.
Mika wasn't one to give up, however, and lunged at Toad, striking the green-skinned man with her hip.
After recovering, Toad quickly lashed out his tongue, which extended to amazing lengths, wrapped around R. Mika's foot and lifted her into the air. With one swing, Toad released Mika and sent her crashing into the wall.
"Had enough?" Toad asked with a chuckle.
Mika slowly got to her feet. "Ugh…No. No way." The female wrestler lunged at Toad, preparing for her most powerful attack.
R. Mika wrapped her arms around Toad and repeatedly slammed him into the floor. After she was done, Mika got up and ran at the wall. Making a wall jump, Mika soared through the air and landed directly on top of Toad. R. Mika got up and saw that Toad wasn't moving.
The female wrestler sighed in relief. "Finally. I knocked him out."
"Oh, yeah?"
Mika looked down just in time to see a glob of green slime being spat at her. She realized all too late that Toad had been playing possum.
The blob of goo found it's way to Mika's face, covering her mouth and nose. Mika quickly tried peeling the slime off, but it had already dried. The wrestler's eyes sprang open when she realized that this slime was now preventing her from breathing.
Toad laughed as he watched Mika struggle to pry the slime from her face so she could breathe again. Alas, her efforts were all in vain.
Mika quickly looked at her friend and screamed his name, but with the slime covering her mouth, all that came out was a pathetic and muffled whimper.
Dan looked at Mika, and once he did, his eyes widened. "Mika!" He cried as he let go of Balrog and rushed over to help his partner.
Balrog quickly got to his feet. "Good job, Toad." He said. "Let's get out of here while we still can!"
Toad nodded as he followed Balrog down the hallway, leaving Dan to tend to Mika, whom was propped up against the wall.
Dan got down on his knees and tried prying the slime from Mika's face, but it wouldn't budge. Starting to panic, Dan tried harder.
Finally coming up with an idea, Dan stood up and pulled his arm back. The only problem with this was that Dan was known to have horrible accuracy.
"…G-Gadouken!"
Dan closed his eyes and winced, waiting for the sound of Mika's muffled screams of pain, but instead heard a loud 'splat' and Mika gasping. Opening his eyes, Dan looked down and saw Mika, bits of dried slime still on her face, gasping for air.
"Mika!" Dan got down on his knees again and got closer to he friend. "Are you alright?"
Slowing her gasping down to a heavy breathing, Mika nodded. "Dan…Y-You just saved…Saved my life."
"Mika, don't worry about it." Dan sighed in relief. "I'm just glad that I thought of doing that when I did."
Dan and R. Mika found themselves staring into each other's eyes, neither of them saying anything. Slowly, the two of them closed their eyes and leaned in towards one another.
Their lips were only inches away. Dan was getting ready to give Mika a kiss…
(Dome; Hallways)
While Dan and Mika were having their battle with Balrog and Toad on one side of the double doors connecting the hotel to the dome, another epic battle was taking place on the other side. The Tinto soldiers Samus and Reed were having a real rough time trying to take down the titan known as the Rhino.
Reed pulled his fist back and slammed it into the Rhino's chest, but it didn't exactly turn out how he had hoped. Because of the Rhino's rock-hard body, all Reed did was create a searing pain in his hand.
The blonde man turned to see how his friend was faring. He shook his hand several times. "He's invincible!" He said before the Rhino knocked him away.
Samus leapt into the air and slammed his foot into the mutant's face, making him recoil. "No he's not! His face is his weak spot!" He announced as he landed on the ground.
"You little punks!" The Rhino lowered his horn and charged at the duo.
The men of Tinto lashed out their respective swords, trying to see how that would fare.
While the attack didn't hurt the Rhino very much, it DID bring him out of the charge. The large, muscled man was sent to the ground, but quickly stood up.
"You two are in for it now!" The Rhino announced as he charged at Samus.
Fortunately, the dark-skinned swordsman saw this coming and ran to the side, allowing the Rhino to run into the wall instead. The Rhino's horn became wedged into the concrete wall.
The Rhino growled as he pulled himself from the wall. "I'm gonna crush you guys!"
"Come on, Reed! Let's take this guy out for good!" Samus said.
"You don't have to ask me twice!" Reed added.
The two friends watched as the Rhino charged them again. The two men leapt into the air as the Rhino passed underneath them and they each landed a hard kick to the mutant's back.
When Samus and Reed hit the ground, they turned to look at the Rhino. The large man was now standing with his back facing the double doors.
"Reed, hold him off!" Samus said.
Reed instantly knew what Samus had planned and nodded. "You got it!" As Samus stayed behind, Reed stepped forward to challenge the Rhino. "Bring it, ugly!"
The Rhino growled and charged again. Reed swiftly dodged to the side and slashed at Rhino with his sword as the mutant passed by.
The large, gray man quickly grabbed his shoulder. "That almost hurt!"
Reed knew that he'd only need to hold the Rhino off for a little while longer because he had known Samus' strategy. However, with the Rhino charging at him again, Reed knew that he had to make it quick.
The blonde man leapt into the air and planted his feet into the Rhino's back.
"Reed, GET DOWN!" Samus ordered.
As soon as Reed's feet touched the floor, he complied, throwing himself to the ground.
Samus lifted his hand into the air and activated his Wind Rune. The Rhino suddenly felt a cool breeze, which quickly escalated to a gust of severe wind.
Soon, the power of the wind was too much to handle, even for the Rhino. The large man was lifted from his feet and sent flying through the double doors.
On the other side of the door, Dan and Mika were inches away from having a kiss when the Rhino plowed through the doors. Dan took quick action and flattened himself against the wall beside Mika as the mutant man flew back-first down the hallway, in the direction Balrog and Toad had fled.
Looking in the direction of the doors, Dan stood up and helped Mika to her feet. The two fighters watched as Samus and Reed came through the now-opened doorway.
"What was that all about?" Dan asked. "That guy was the Rhino. I saw him talking with that ugly Scorpion fellow at the arcade."
"Reed and I were looking for something to do when he came our way." Samus explained. "Said something about returning to his boss."
R. Mika pondered for a second. She and Dan needed all the help they could get, and Samus and Reed had just proven themselves against the Rhino. "Dan and I have come across a plot and need help. Would you two like to join us?"
Samus and Reed looked at each other, then back at Dan and Mika. "A plot?" Was the response from both Tinto men.
Dan nodded. "A kidnapping plot." He explained. "I don't know who the targets are or who the big boss is, but we DO know that Bison is involved and he's insanely psychotic."
"Attention." SSBFreak's voice came through the speakers hanging on the wall. "Reed, we need you to get ready to enter the ring."
Reed heard this and looked at the others. "Here's the plan. Samus, you go with these two and find allies. I'll enter the ring and try to find help there."
Dan, Mika and Samus nodded and wished Reed good luck as the blonde man turned around and ran off to get ready to enter the arena.
(The Arena)
Sagat and Bruce had been dueling ever since the newer fighter had come into the arena. No one dared to interfere, as they didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.
"Tiger Uppercut!" Sagat announced as he lifted himself into the air in an attempt to remove Bruce from the arena.
Bruce, however, saw this attack coming and jumped to the side. Sagat struck nothing but air, leaving himself open for attack. Bruce took the chance and delivered a hard kick while Sagat was still in midair.
As soon as Sagat hit the canvas (and cracking the ice some more), he got up to look at Bruce and fired another Tiger Shot. Bruce quickly avoided the attack and kicked Sagat in the face. Sagat collapsed to the canvas, all of his energy used.
"Oh, gosh!" Bruce quickly bent over to see if Sagat was alright. "I'm so sorry about that!"
Sagat, much to Bruce's surprise, started chuckling. He looked up at Bruce, not moving from his laying position on the canvas. "You have beaten me fair and square, Bruce." He said. "Now I KNOW that you are the best Thai fighter I have ever faced."
Bruce sighed. "Thank you, Sagat."
"Now, I would like you to eliminate me."
Bruce's eyes widened. "What? But I thought that you were in this to fight Ryu."
Sagat smirked. "I may not have met Ryu in the ring. That will have to wait until later. However, I can leave the ring happy knowing that there's a Thai fighter in the world that actually shows a lot of promise and I was eliminated by him."
Sagat held out his arm. "Go ahead, Bruce." He said. "Grab my arm and throw me out."
Bruce sighed. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Sagat." He grasped Sagat's arm.
In all honesty, Bruce was half-expecting Sagat to trick him and throw Bruce from the arena as soon as he grabbed his arm, but the tall man did nothing. He didn't even resist when Bruce spun around a couple times and let go, throwing Sagat out of the ring.
Sagat landed in Viewtiful Joe. The tall Thai fighter quickly resumed training for his fight with Ryu by beating Hulk Davidson to a pulp.
Back in the arena, Galford was currently fighting Jacky Bryant. The young fighter was definitely holding his own, but the American ninja was proving to be superior. This was mainly because of one minor thing ninjas always do.
Jacky shoved his fist in the direction of Galford's face, but instead struck a log. This seemed like the tenth time this had happened.
"Come on, you coward!" Jacky shouted. "Stop running and fight me like a man!"
"You asked for it, mister." Came a voice from behind.
Jacky turned just in time to see Galford's foot lunging at his face. Jacky staggered back, holding onto his face. "What is it with you ninjas and your disappearing tricks?"
Galford lowered his stance and stared at Jacky with a strange glare. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, why do you guys like to teleport all around the arena, leaving nothing but a log behind?" Jacky replied. "It may have been cool when it started, but it seems like every ninja I see can do that! It's almost like the ninjas are saying…" Jacky promptly changed the sound of his voice. "'Ohhh, look at me! I'm a ninja! I can disappear into thin air and leave nothing but a log and that makes me cool!' Come on! That trick is so old now! The very least you could do is try to come up with something unique!"
Galford, Poppy, everyone else in the arena, and the whole crowd was staring at Jacky with confused looks. Things were so quiet that you could hear crickets chirping despite the fact that this was an indoor tournament.
Galford quickly looked down at his dog. "Am I REALLY like that, Poppy?"
"Woof! Yappy yip woofy woof!"
The American ninja instantly brightened. "I thought not." With one slash with his sword, Galford sent Jacky out of the arena.
Jacky landed in a dark and creepy mansion. Although when he landed, he felt himself sitting on something.
"Zoinks!"
Jacky looked in the direction of the voice to see a tall, lanky teen wearing a green shirt, a short, brown-haired girl in an orange turtleneck wearing glasses and a large, brown, Great Dane.
"Jinkies! That guy just appeared from out of nowhere!" The girl said in amazement.
"Like, it looks like Fred was the first to find out." The tall boy scratched his head.
Jacky raised an eyebrow and looked down. He saw that he was sitting on an unconscious young man with blonde hair.
"Reah!" The dog agreed. "Rat's ro reerd!"
"Well, let's get going, guys." The girl said and turned to walk away. "We still need to save Daphne."
"Again." The tall boy sighed as he and the dog followed the girl.
(The Crowd)
Mel Masters sat beside his mother and watched in awe. He had been sitting, staring at the arena in shock, ever since Bruce had tossed Sagat from the arena.
"Did you see that, mom?" Mel asked.
"See what?" Eliza Masters asked.
"Sagat was tossed out of the arena easily!" Mel pointed out. "Dad always told me that it took all of his energy to help bring him down!"
"My, yes. That's what so odd about things like this." Eliza said. "You never know who might pull out on top." She was silent for a couple of seconds. "Speaking of your father, when is he supposed to come out?"
Mel pulled up his flyer for the tournament and scanned it over. "Not for a while." He replied. "Hey, mom? I'm going to go grab something from the snack bar."
Eliza nodded. "Hurry back, dear."
Mel thanked his mother, stood up, walked up the steps leading to the door and left the crowd.
(The Arena)
Clark Steele was currently being double-teamed by Queen and Pichu. Sure, Clark was used to fighting, but he was unfamiliar with both of these fighters. Queen's sword gave her added reach and Pichu was way too small to hit easily.
The Ikari Warrior looked forward and saw Pichu spinning at him, engulfed in electricity. Clark held up his arms to block the attack, but felt an amazing amount of electricity surging through his body.
Unfortunately for Clark, Queen added to the trouble by slashing at his back while he was blocking Pichu's attack.
After the tiny Pokemon finished attacking, Clark dropped his guard and spun in place, slamming Queen in the stomach with his fist. Pichu saw this and leapt into the air, slamming his head into the back of Clark's, making the Ikari Warrior drop Queen.
Once Queen was on the ground, she lashed out her sword again, slashing Clark across the chest. This was too much for Clark to handle and he collapsed.
Queen smirked triumphantly and looked at Pichu. "Well, now that we defeated him, how do we decide which one eliminates him?"
"Pichu?" The tiny Pokemon suggested.
"How about neither!" A new voice called.
Queen and Pichu looked in the direction of the voice and saw Bruce Irvin running over. The Thai fighter grabbed Pichu and threw the small Pokemon out of the arena.
Queen watched Pichu sail away, but then noticed that Clark was now standing straight and glaring at her.
Clark grabbed Queen and tossed her into the air. The Ikari Warrior stood still for a couple of seconds before Queen came down hard on top of Clark's shoulder. Then, with one arm, Clark threw Queen out of the arena, straight after Pichu.
"PIIIIIIIIICHUUUUUUU!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Clark held out his hand. "Thanks for the help, buddy."
Bruce shook Clark's hand and nodded. "Anytime."
Because of the closeness in eliminations, Queen and Pichu ended up in the same node. However, this node was Zelda: The Wind Waker. They landed in the middle of the ocean and decided to try swimming to the nearest island.
(Hotel; Lounge)
"So, you're telling me that Electro is with the bad guys?" Bridget asked, wide eyed.
The quartet of Heavy D!, Lucky, Ryoko and Bridget were still gathered in the Lounge, discussing on what to do. Currently, D! had just finished telling Bridget that Electro had tricked him.
Heavy D! nodded. "Yeah, AND he lied to you. Amy Guile is no terrorist. She's the sweet daughter of William Guile from the Street Fighter node."
Bridget sighed. "Well then, it's a good thing this was my first bounty."
Lucky spoke up next. "So that means that there ARE other targets."
Bridget nodded. "Electro said that after I finished with the current bounty, he'd give me the next one."
"Well, we know that Amy Guile is a target." Ryoko rubbed her chin. "But this doesn't make sense. I mean, other than the fact that she's Guile's daughter, there doesn't seem to be much to say."
D! rubbed his face. "I know. For now, we can do nothing but wait and see what else we can find out. Once we find out enough, we can get help and stop whatever's about to happen." He looked around at the others. "Who's in?"
Lucky instantly nodded. "I'm in, D!"
"Me too." Ryoko added.
"So am I." Bridget said. "I want to make sure Electro pays."
D! nodded. "Okay. I have to go into the ring in a couple of sections, so I can get help then."
"You'd better get ready, then." Lucky suggested. "Something tells me that we'll need all the help we can get and we need to stay in the ring as long as we can."
D! nodded. "I might just do that."
With that, the tall boxer stood up and ran from the Lounge to get ready to enter the ring.
However, neither Lucky nor Bridget noticed Ryoko smile sweetly as she watched D! run off.
"My hero…" Ryoko thought.
(The Arena)
"Cannon Spike!"
For the third time in a row, Vivian leaned to the side, avoiding Cammy's blow. The adorable Shadow Siren, although she was from an RPG, was definitely holding her own against the Street Fighter, although the human woman had managed to land a good number of blows.
"What makes you think you can survive in the ring?" Cammy asked as she thrust her fist out at Vivian. "Conan didn't do too well."
"Yeah? Well, Conan's from RCR." Vivian said. "They're not exactly known to have the best fist-fights. If the arena was littered with weapons, that'd be a different story."
"Tell me about it." Cammy said as she tried sweeping Vivian off her feet (which was very stupid considering Vivian didn't have any legs). "Everyone would be running around the arena with a wastebasket on their head."
"Well, I'd say it's time for me to finish the fight." Vivian smiled sweetly.
"Yeah. By letting me throw you from the arena!" Cammy replied and charged.
However, Vivian saw this coming and slammed her fist into the oncoming Cammy's stomach. The flames that came from Vivian's fist hurt Cammy, but her clothes and hair were somehow unharmed.
Cammy sprung to her feet and ran at the Shadow Siren again, this time cautious of her flames.
Vivian, however, had another trick up her non-existent sleeve. The purple shadow girl lowered into the canvas, turning herself into a small shadow on the floor. Cammy flew right past her, and when she did, Vivian rose from the canvas.
Spinning in place, Vivian slammed her fist into Cammy's back, knocking her away a little bit. The Shadow Siren quickly snapped her fingers, causing a small explosion underneath Cammy's feet. This sent the young Street Fighter over the ropes and into the vortex.
Cammy landed in Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2. Rumbleman knocked her out of the ring almost instantly.
In the ring, Gadget Z, who hadn't been doing very much since the section started, shook his hammer at Samus Aran. "I shall throw you from the arena, Captain Syrup!" He droned. He raised his hand into the air. "The elimination will be so good that it'll be Quarktastic!"
Samus decided to put Gadget Z out of his misery and jumped over him. While she was over the small robot, Samus curled into a ball and dropped a bomb on his head. The bomb exploded, covering Gadget Z in black soot.
"A little too much gunpowder in the sugar." Gadget Z said stupidly as he lifted his wooden index finger into the air.
Samus landed behind Gadget Z and fired a missile into his back. As Gadget Z rolled forward a foot, Samus started charging her Charge Shot.
Gadget Z turned around and glared at the futuristic bounty hunter. "Now ya got mah hammer angry! Ya shouldn't ah done that!"
"Don't you ever shut up?" Samus asked aloud as she fired a fully charged blast from her arm cannon, sending Gadget Z clear out of the arena.
"Rosebuuuuuuuuuud…" Gadget Z droned as he flew through the portal.
When Gadget Z landed, he looked around. He was in some sort of dry battle arena with ruins scattered around. He suddenly saw a strange man standing a good ways away. The man quickly lashed out his arm, sending a small tornado at Gadget Z. The small robot saw this coming and rolled out of the way.
"Strange man…Very quiet…Ruins scattered around…The power of wind…" Gadget Z thought aloud. He then raised his hammer. "Die, Luc!"
Goenitz could only stare at Gadget Z as the small robot jumped him. Meanwhile, standing aside, Chizuru Kagura smirked in amusement.
(The Arena)
After eliminating Gadget Z, Samus turned. Bruce Irvin and Clark Steele were currently having an alliance and were in the process of fighting Jubei Yagyu. Athena Asamiya quickly aided the one-eyed samurai by firing a Psycho Ball into Bruce's back. Sakura Kusanago and Vivian were currently sparring, and Galford and Watari were having a friendly conversation concerning ninja skills.
Suddenly, everyone heard two familiar laughs coming from above the arena. Everyone knew that by now, Master Hand and Crazy Hand were about to alter the arena again.
RESULTS
BRUCE IRVIN (T5)
GALFORD (SS)
JUBEI YAGYU (SS)
ATHENA ASAMIYA (KOF)
WATARI (S3)
SAKURA KUSANAGO (SFA3)
VIVIAN (PM2)
CLARK STEELE (KOF)
SAMUS ARAN (SSB)
(ELIMINATED)
CAMMY WHITE (SFA3)
GADGET Z (S3)
JIN CHONREI (FF)
SAGAT (SFA3)
PICHU (SSB)
JACKY BRYANT (VF)
QUEEN (S3)
MARROW (MC)
MUSAFAR (GF)
OKINA (LB)
ERIK (WH)
BONUS MATCHES:
"Tinto Tag-Team"
SAMUS and REED (Suikoden 3) blow away THE RHINO (Spider-Man)
"Ryoko's Rescuer"
HEAVY D! (KOF) knocks some sense into BRIDGET (Guilty Gear)
"Mismatched Enemies"
DAN HIBIKI and RAINBOW MIKA (SFA3) wallop BALROG (SFA3) and TOAD (X-Men)
Eliminations: Bruce, 2; Galford, Jubei, Athena, Watari, Sakura, Vivian, Clark, Samus and Cammy, 1
Current Elimination Leaders: Jubei Yagyu (3), Samus Aran (2), Galford (2), Cammy White (2), Bruce Irvin (2)
Comeback King: Out of all the Tekken 5 fighters I was expecting to see make up for Hwoarang and Julia's performances in the last section, I was NOT expecting Bruce to do it.