(The Arena)
Abyss stepped back as Roll fired a fully-charged blaster shot into its face. Ever since Abyss had stepped into the ring, almost no others had left the monster alone. The only ones that didn't seem to notice the boss yet were Axl and Duraal, whom were still fighting each other.
The metal monstrosity swung its fist at the robot girl, but Wario stepped in and was quick to catch the oncoming fist. The portly plumber smirked. "Okay. NOW things are gonna get interesting."
Everyone (aside from Axl and Duraal) watched in shock as Wario lifted Abyss (whom was at least ten times his size) into the air, spun it around a few times and hurled it across the arena, where it landed on its back.
"Come on!" Wario taunted as he walked over to Abyss. "I haven't even started yet! Let's go for round two!"
For the first time ever, Abyss was starting to reconsider its chances for survival against an opponent.
Seeing that Wario had things covered, the others had resumed their previous fights. Tsugumi Sendo swung her fist at Captain Falcon, but the F-Zero racer was just too quick and ducked under the wrestler's fist.
Seeing that her attack had missed its mark, Tsugumi tried to recover, but all she got was a Raptor Boost to the face, sending her flying backwards.
"No offense, kid." Falcon said. "But you're way out of your league coming here. Why not just back off now and save yourself the trouble?"
"Me? Back off?" Tsugumi asked as she jumped to her feet. "No way! I'll never give up!"
"Well, you've got spunk. I'll give you that." Falcon shrugged. "But let's just see how much of it you'll have after I beat you."
"Bring it! I'm ready for anything!" Tsugumi said as she rushed at Falcon and kicked him in the face.
On the other side of the arena, Jacques was finding out just how hard Juggernaut's armour was, because he had just fired several bolts from his crossbow at the hulking giant (and felt pretty stupid when they bounced right off).
"Well, this is just grand." Jacques sighed quietly. "My crossbow bolts don't affect him and I'm not a very good combat fighter."
Juggernaut saw the uneasy feeling in Jacques eyes and laughed. "Upset that your pea-shooter didn't work? It'll take more than that to take someone like me down!"
"I'm aware of that now." Jacques replied, although Juggernaut probably didn't hear it.
Juggernaut rushed at Jacques, but the blonde mercenary quickly rolled to the side and allowed the lumbering mutant to pass by. Jacques slowly stood to his feet, rapidly running ideas through his head about how to defeat his opponent.
(Sound Booth)
"Come on, Jacques!" Aila cheered, looking like she was oblivious to the fact that the Sound Booth was soundproof. "You can do it! Kick that big guy's butt!"
"Aila, what gives?" Shadow asked, raising an eyebrow. "You've been cheering for that guy ever since he entered the arena."
Aila suddenly realized that Shadow was right and blushed. "Uh…Oh, I'm just excited for him."
Astaroth chuckled. "With your constant cheering, I'm beginning to wonder if you like that guy."
"Uh…Well…Of COURSE I like him." Aila said. "I mean, he was the one to get me onto Geddoe's team in the first place. I consider him a friend more than most of the people from my village, as a matter of fact."
"Sop it, Aila." Shadow smirked. "You know what we mean."
Aila stood in silence for a couple of seconds and chuckled nervously. "Uh…You guys won't tell anyone, will you?"
"I'm not one for blabbing secrets, anyway." Shadow shrugged. "Don't worry."
"I won't tell anyone, either." Astaroth nodded. "But if it was anyone other than you, I don't think I would be so quick to agree."
Aila sighed in relief, knowing that her secret feelings for Jacques were safe. "Thanks, guys."
(Announcer's Booth)
Grabbing his clipboard from the desk again, SSBFreak stood up. "I'll be right back." He told his partner.
"Where're you going this time?" Unknown1 asked, somehow thinking he knew the answer.
"There's only eleven fighters left to enter, but we need thirteen to make the final twenty." SSBFreak explained. "I'm going to scan the audience for two more Mystery Fighters."
"How long do you intend to take?" Unknown1 asked.
"Not very long. I know exactly whom I'm looking for this time." SSBFreak assured.
"Just be sure that you get some people that actually have a chance in here." Unknown1 warned. "You've already sent Mickey Rogers and Abyss in there."
"Don't worry about it." SSBFreak said as he walked towards the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes, because I have an idea on where these two are sitting."
Unknown1 nodded and went back to watching Wario tossing Abyss around like a rag doll. "Okay. Just try to hurry, though. It's hard enough running this booth alone."
(Eliminated Seating)
"This is kinda familiar." Ryo sighed as he watched Yuri fight.
"What're you talking about?" Princess Peach asked.
"Oh, that's right. Your gang wasn't there." Ryo realized. "Well, back in the first UVR, Yuri was the only fighter that used our fighting style to get an elimination. Robert and I got tossed pretty quick, and father didn't last much longer either."
"Well, at least your sister is proving that your fighting style isn't horrible." Peach shrugged.
"I know, and I'm happy that she's done so well." Ryo insisted. "It's just that I've been down this path before and I was really hoping that I wouldn't have to do it again."
"I take it you've been training for this?"
"You have no idea." Ryo said.
(The Arena)
Gozu jumped back as Billy's staff smashed into the canvas where the red-clad ninja had just been standing. The bandana-less pole fighter kept on pressing the attack, stalking in Gozu's direction.
"You've been attacking me ever since I entered the arena!" Gozu shouted at Billy as the British fighter swung at him with one hand. "What gives?"
"I've been given too many chances to find out what's going on and I've lost every single one of them!" Billy shouted back. "I don't intend to lose this one, so confess!"
Gozu sighed. "Look, I haven't been having a very good day, okay? First Mezu and I lose to that 80's reject Kisaragi and he takes a piece of each of our gauntlets, then we lose to that crazy native girlfriend of his!"
This made Billy pause in wonder for a second. "Girlfriend? Since when did Eiji get a girl?" He asked, not knowing about Julia.
"And now you're attacking me like a crazed madman without giving me a chance to react!" Gozu continued. "Man! It almost makes me wish we never accepted Bison's offer to join him in his plan!"
Gozu instantly realized his mistake, but it was already too late.
Billy was on him again, roaring like a beast. "So you DO know what's going on! Oh, that's it! You're going DOWN, pal!"
Gozu tried to get out of the way, but Billy had already grabbed his throat. The extremely overprotective big brother of Lilly Kane then proceeded to repeatedly slam Gozu's face into the canvas. By about the sixth time, Gozu was struggling to stay conscious, and by the tenth time, the red-clad ninja was out like a light.
Unfortunately for Gozu, Billy didn't stop there. After about five more slams into the canvas, Billy released Gozu and then started whacking the unconscious body with his staff in a blind rage.
Finally feeling satisfied, Billy picked up Gozu and chucked him away. However, he had used up so much stamina whaling on the already-beaten ninja that Gozu didn't even go out of the arena. Instead, his prone body flew towards Roll.
Standing aside, Kasmui and Yuri sweatdropped before the former turned to the latter. "Is he ALWAYS like this when it comes to his sister?" Kasumi asked.
"Uh…Yeah, pretty much." Yuri nodded.
Seeing that Gozu was about to land on her, Roll shrieked and activated another Tornado Hold to get him away from her. The small tornado that followed sent Gozu flying into the air and sent him falling limply past the ropes, granting Roll the elimination due to the tornado.
Gozu's unconscious form landed in Snowboard Kids. Slash and Jam sped by and flattened him with a falling pan.
Abyss quickly found itself laying on its back again, a victim to another of Wario's throws. Abyss looked up and saw Wario standing on a turnbuckle.
Wario took a second to play to the crowd before leaping from the turnbuckle and landing elbow-first onto Abyss' midsection. "THIS is the final boss of Marvel vs. Capcom 2?" Wario asked with a laugh.
Juggernaut looked away from Jacques and lifted a finger into the air. "Actually, that's the first of thee forms. The third and final form is much more fierce than the one currently in the arena with us."
Everyone else stopped what they were doing and looked at Juggernaut with wide eyes and strange glares.
Juggernaut looked around. "What? Can't a big guy say something intelligent once in a while?" He asked. This made the others drop the matter and return to what they were doing.
Wario shrugged. "Eh, I'd probably still manage to beat this thing anyway." He said as he turned to face Abyss again, only to see that the metal monstrosity had risen to its feet again. Abyss towered over Wario and looked down at him menacingly.
The portly anti-hero laughed. "So you're back, eh? Okay. Show me what ya got. Amuse me."
Abyss silently raised its arm into the air. Roll and Juggernaut, the only ones in the ring whom had seen it fight before, promptly started blocking.
Lances of flaming energy rained down from above, striking everything and everyone in the arena. Roll and Juggernaut, because they were blocking, took the least amount of damage. A couple of others (Mudman and Tsugumi) managed to block the attack as well, but not before receiving a few minor injuries. Jacques, Yuri, Captain Falcon and Kasmui were able to avid most of the strikes, while everyone else was pelted.
This included Wario, whom was now sporting a very unattractive hole through his hat. Wario stuck his finger through the hole for a couple of seconds, then looked up at Abyss' towering form. "You burned a hole in my hat." He said flatly. "You burned a hole in my hat!"
(Eliminated Seating)
"Well, I guess we can say that THIS fight is over." Luigi said. Ness nodded.
(The Arena)
"YOU BURNED A FREAKING HOLE IN MY HAT!" Wario roared as he picked up Abyss again, threw it into the air and awaited it to come back down again.
Once Abyss got close enough, Wario kicked hard. The amazing force from Wario's kick sent Abyss flying out of the ring.
Abyss landed on the ice planet of Hoth in Star Wars, where it froze. Several Wampas came by and started taking Abyss apart.
Kasumi Todoh held up her hands and blocked as E. Honda flew into her head-first. Unfortunately for him, as soon as he stopped the head-butt, Kasmui dropped her guard and kicked the sumo wrestler in the face.
Honda stepped back, but shook off the attack and smirked. "Well, for someone that doesn't do sumo, you put up a good fight." He said. "Imagine how much better you'd fight if you actually took up sumo."
"Not interested." Kasumi said quickly. "It is up to me to keep the Todoh style alive, and I intend to do so."
"Very well. If that's how you feel." Honda shrugged and pressed the attack, kicking at Kasumi's face.
Kasumi saw the attack coming and caught Honda's foot, then spun it around, launching the older man into the air for a second before landing on his stomach. As Honda slowly stood up, Kasumi felt confident and ran forward.
Honda quickly responded with his famous 'Hundred-Hand Slap'. Honda's right palm shot out countless times, slapping the unprepared Kasumi in the face many times. After Honda finally stopped the onslaught, Kasumi stepped back, holding her head to keep the constant pounding in her ears down.
"Okay. I didn't want to do this, but I'm afraid you leave me no choice." Kasumi said as she brought her hands above her head and started gathering energy.
When she had gathered enough energy, Kasmui lashed her hands out, firing a wave of energy streaks at Honda. The sumo wrestler stepped back a foot and tried blocking. Then, much to his surprise, Kasumi's attack stopped just inches away from his face.
Honda uncovered his face. "That was it?"
"Uh…Yeah. That was it." Kasumi nodded.
Honda shook his head. "If that is honestly the best you can do, then I'm afraid you must abandon this fighting style of yours, because I don't believe you'll go anywhere with it."
Kasumi's eyes snapped open. "Excuse me?" She asked. "Me? Abandon my father's fighting style?" She rushed at Honda and started attacking him in a flurry of palm-strikes and kicks. "Never! The day I abandon my father's art is the day I die! And no overweight sumo wrestler is going to tell me otherwise!"
Forcing her opponent towards the ropes, Kasumi lashed out her hands again, launching a smaller version of her previous energy attack at Honda. However, the added energy from Kasumi's anger made the attack that much more powerful and sent Honda flying out of the ring.
Honda landed in Donkey Kong 64. Chunky Kong, now a huge King Kong size, stepped on him accidentally and continued of without noticing.
Yamazaki smirked and leaned to the side as Popo's hammer swung past him. He then kicked out, striking Nana in the face. However, it did little to slow the Ice Climbers down, because the little Eskimos were on Yamazaki again, hammers swinging wildly.
The Yakuza thug had to admit that these kids were pretty quick, but they still weren't able to match his own speed. Yamazaki showed this by swinging his fist upwards, catching Popo in the face and sending him flying away.
This, of course, left Nana to face the thug alone, but she still wasn't backing down. In fact, seeing her brother getting attacked simply fueled her anger. "Hey! That was my brother you just attacked! Oh, you're in for it, now!"
Yamazaki smirked and looked down at Nana. "And just what do you intend to do about it?"
Nana pulled her hammer up and spiked it straight into Yamazaki's foot, resulting in a loud roar of pain from the thug. Nana quickly swung her hammer into Yamazaki's stomach, knocking the wind out of the taller man.
Yamazai quickly regained his composure and stood straight again. By now, Popo had rejoined his sister. "Okay. So you kids are more talented than you look. But that still doesn't mean that you're going to-"
"Hey, you!"
The three fighters looked in the direction of the voice and saw Abubo coming over, his huge fists dragging on the ground behind him.
"What do you want, freak of nature?" Yamazaki asked.
"A fight! That's what!"
"Look, pal. I'm not in the mood to deal with you, because I honestly think these kids will put up a better fight than you." Yamazaki said, pointing at the Ice Climbers.
"Is he complimenting or insulting us?" Nana asked her brother.
"No idea." Popo shook his head.
"Are you saying that I have no skill?" Abubo asked.
"Yeah, I am." Yamazaki said. "You wanna do something about it?"
"I sure do!" With that, Abubo swung his huge fist at Yamazaki.
The thug easily caught Abubo's fist and threw the oversized man over his shoulder and out of the ring. Yamazaki turned back to the Ice Climbers. "Now. Where were we?"
Abubo landed on a city street. He got up and looked around, wondering where he was.
"Hey, Jimmy! There's that creepy thug guy!"
Abubo turned around and saw a younger Billy and Jimmy Lee (the Double Dragon 1 versions) standing a ways away from him.
"Man. He looks way uglier than I thought." Jimmy shook his head.
"Who cares? It's still the same guy!" Billy pointed out.
"Yeah. You're right." Jimmy nodded. "Let's trash this guy, and then we can continue on."
The Lee brothers advanced on a cowering Abubo, whom was crying 'Not again!'.
(Dome; Box 45)
Toad fell through a table, a victim to a kick from Jacky Bryant. The green-skinned mutant stood up and charged at Jacky again, kicking the Virtua Fighter in the back while he was fighting King Lion.
Although Toad's attack momentarily distracted him, Jacky was quick to recover. Quickly punching King Lion in the face to stun him, Jacky grabbed Toad and threw him into the boxing boss of Kizuna Encounter, sending them both to the ground.
Jacky took this time to crack his knuckles and wait for the two villains to get to their feet. "Is this really all you guys are capable of?" He asked. "Why the heck did Bison leave you in charge here?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." King Lion sighed. "Look, can we please get this over with so I don't have to experience any more humiliations? My ego's deflated enough as it is."
"Sure thing, pops." Jacky said as he rushed the two again.
Toad was the first to act, leaping at Jacky and sticking his long tongue out. The tongue wrapped around Jacky's ankle, lifted him off his feet and sent him to the ground. King Lion took the opportunity and advanced, striking Jacky a couple of times while he was still on the ground.
Jacky quickly jumped to his feet, kicking both villains away at the same time. Rolling up the sleeves on his leather jacket, Jacky ran at King Lion and thrust out his fist.
Roy swung his sword at Lei Wulong, but the Hong Kong cop was quick to avoid the attack, rolling to the side.
This marked the second time in just a short while Lei had to fight Roy. However, Lei intended to win this time, because Roy was in a brainwashed state and the only way he could be freed was if he was knocked out. Because of this, Lei was having problems due to the fact that he didn't want to hurt Roy that much, yet Roy was still lashing out with all he had.
"Sorry about this." Lei said as he kicked Roy in the face, making him stagger back.
Roy shook his head, quickly shaking off the attack, and silently charged again with another swing of his sword. Lei jumped back, but received a slight cut to the chest for his troubles. Doing his best to ignore the pain, Lei advanced again and struck Roy with a couple of punches.
Thinking that he had had enough by now, Roy pulled his sword back and started glowing, which meant that he was charging up for his most powerful move.
However, he was taking so long to do so, that Lei casually walked up and kicked him in the face.
Vega rolled at his opponent, Clark Steele, and jabbed forward with his claw. The hit was a success, but all Vega managed to do was make three small tears in Clark's extra-durable vest. Clark prodded his vest with his finger a couple of times, then shrugged.
"Nothing a little trip to the tailor won't fix." Clark mused.
"If you live that long." Vega cackled as he swung his weapon again. Clark evaded the attack this time and punched the vain matador in the chest, sending him flying backwards.
Holding his chest, Vega got back into a standing position. "You'll pay for that one." He said, his eyes narrowing from behind his mask.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Clark said. "Look, there's been one thing I've been meaning to ask you."
"What is it?" Vega asked, annoyed.
"Where'd you get the mask?" Clark asked. "From what I saw on the monitors, that Ace guy from the Suikoden node split it in half."
"I have plenty of extras for just such an emergency." Vega replied.
Clark rolled his eyes from behind his shades. "You're worse than I thought."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing you would understand, I'm afraid." Clark sighed.
"For that alone, I shall run you through!" Vega roared and charged again, wondering why Clark wasn't moving. Once Vega got within arms reached, Clark grabbed him and tossed him into the air.
Jacky and King Lion continued to stare each other down. Toad had been knocked out for a while now, meaning the fight was now down to just the two of them.
"Ready to experience a whole new meaning of pain?" Jacky asked.
King Lion sighed. "Look, I don't really want to suffer another loss like this, so I'll just give up and leave right now, okay?" With that, King Lion silently marched towards the door and out of the box.
Jacky scratched his head, then shrugged. "You guys done?" He asked as he went over to Louis and started untying him.
Clark tossed Vega into the wall, knocking him out. "Yeah. I'm done."
"As am I." Lei said, standing over Roy, whom was slowly starting to wake up.
"Ugh…" Roy moaned. "Man. What have I been doing?"
"Exactly what you were told to do." Lei sighed as he helped Roy to his feet.
"Well, King Lion got away, but at least we saved one of the kids." Jacky shrugged as he released Louis.
The young squire quickly rubbed his sore wrists. "Thanks for coming, you guys." Louis said gratefully. "I don't know what would have happened if someone hadn't shown up soon."
"Think nothing of it, kid." Clark assured.
"Well, our work is done here, so we may as well go." Lei suggested. Everyone nodded and left the box.
"No, seriously. What have I been doing?" Roy asked as he followed everyone out.
(Dome; Hallways)
King Lion, frustrated at his horrible luck, stormed down a hallway. He was so wrapped up in his thinking that he didn't see the person coming from the Men's Room as he walked past the doorway until it was too late.
The black-haired man looked up at King Lion and narrowed his eyes. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" He shouted.
"Look. I'm not in the mood, punk." King Lion said.
"Excuse me? 'Punk', am I?" The young man asked as he drew a metallic object from his belt and pressed a button on it, creating a beam of light that sprouted from within it.
As King Lion was about to learn, you should never tick off a Jedi.
(The Arena)
Juggernaut pulled his fist back and slammed it into the canvas. Jacques saw this coming and rolled out of the way, barely avoiding the huge fist that almost flattened him. Once he got back into a standing position, Jacques quickly kicked at Juggernaut's face, landing a hit. Jacques found out long ago that Juggernaut's most vulnerable body part was his face, so the blonde mercenary knew what to go for.
The kick was a success, as Juggernaut stepped back for a couple of feet in recoil. After recovering, Juggernaut looked down at Jacques and snarled. "Oh, you think you're SO smart, don't you?"
Jacques shrugged. "No. Not really." He said simply.
"Then how did you know to go for my face?" Juggernaut asked.
"It was pretty obvious." Jacques pointed out, looking at his opponent's armoured body.
Juggernaut growled. "Okay. I'm gonna take you down for that one!"
The huge titan rushed at Jacques, but all he got was a face-full of crossbow, which Jacques had decided to use as a weapon. As Juggernaut stepped back again, Jacques approached him silently.
"How are you so quick, anyway?" Juggernaut asked.
Jacques didn't answer. He simply loaded a bolt into his crossbow and let it fly straight into the huge man's forehead. Although the bolt didn't penetrate his helmet, it still stuck into it.
"Hey! What was that for?" Juggernaut asked, trying to pluck the bolt from his helmet.
"A distraction." Jacques said as he jumped at Juggernaut and kicked him in the chest. This was enough to knock the lumbering titan to his back. The silent marksman then climbed onto Juggernaut's body, walked over to his face and kicked it a couple of times.
Getting annoyed, Juggernaut leapt to his feet and knocked Jacques away, towards the ropes. Seeing his opponent close to elimination, Juggernaut rushed forward in a powerful head-butt.
Jacques looked ahead in time to see Juggernaut coming, then rushed to the side, allowing his opponent to run into the ropes. Jacques made quick work of his opponent, running behind the huge mutant and pushing him over the ropes.
Juggernaut landed in Perfect Dark. Joanna blasted him with a rocket launcher.
Yuri landed on the canvas and rubbed her chin. Wario, cracking his knuckles, waddled over.
"Man, this is great! I get to beat up a bunch of people I don't even know and it's perfectly legal!" Wario laughed. "And it'll just get even better with the next Smash Bros. tournament coming up! I can't wait to smash Solid Snake's face in!"
Ignoring the pain in her face, Yuri stood up. "I won't let myself be beaten by an overfed elf!" She shouted.
Wario stopped, his eyes narrowed. "Okay, ignoring the fact that I'm ten times stronger than you, you just crossed the line in calling me an 'elf', sister." He said. "I hope you realize now that there's not going to be much of you left for me to throw from the arena, right?"
Yuri, not one to admit defeat to a strong opponent (she had fought Chang Koehan, the strongest man in her node, before), simply rushed at the yellow-clad plumber. "Chou Upper!" She shouted, lunging at Wario in her trademark uppercut.
Wario, taken aback by Yuri's speed, took the attack to the chin and was sent flying several feet away. Wario landed on his behind, rolled backwards for a couple of feet and finally came to rest on his stomach. Wario quickly got to his feet and glared at Yuri.
"Okay, so you're quick. Big deal." Wario shrugged. "Speed doesn't beat strength and wit, you know."
"You should watch some Roadrunner cartoons sometime." Yuri said with a smirk as she advanced again.
Yuri started to lash out her hand and send her fireball into Wario's face, but the mustached man was quick to grab her arm. Wario then lifted Yuri into the air and threw her away.
The young Sakazaki landed on the canvas, closer to the ropes than she would have liked. Looking ahead, Yuri saw Wario rushing at her headfirst, his head engulfed in a strange energy.
Knowing that Wario was preparing his signature charging head-butt, Yuri acted quickly. Leaping into the air Yuri allowed Wario to run directly beneath her, then landed after he had passed.
Wario realized that he had missed his target and tried to stop. It took him a few seconds, but Wario managed to stop running. However, his small victory was short-lived, as Yuri took this opportunity to throw him from the arena while he was distracted.
Wario landed in the middle of a surprisingly-empty road. Suddenly, a police car drove up and two very distinctive figures stepped out.
"Excuse me, sir." The taller cop, a brown dog dressed in a detective suit. "Do you know why we stopped when we saw you?"
"Uh…No?" Wario replied.
"You look amazingly like a ferret, and as you may know, it is illegal for ferrets to stand dumbfoundedly in the middle of the road on a Saturday morning in July." The small, grinning, white rabbit pointed out.
"But I'm not a ferret!" Wario said, an eyebrow raised.
"That's not what it looks like from MY point of view." The rabbit continued.
"Come on, Max. Let's continue on and nail some more unsuspecting people with utterly stupid and made-up crimes." The dog said casually.
As Sam and Max got back into their car, Wario scratched his head, decided he'd seen stranger things and walked off.
(The Arena)
Axl continued to fire bullets from his guns at Duraal, but nothing seemed to slow her down. "Man! What kind of Maverick IS this thing?" Axl asked as he rushed at Duraal and kicked at her.
Duraal easily caught Axl's foot and threw him away. The female robot slowly walked at Axl, the arena lights making her body shine. Axl quickly got to his feet, but was back down again quickly after a sweeping kick from Duraal.
"I have to hand it to you. You are definitely the toughest Maverick I've ever fought." Axl said as he punched Duraal's face (with little luck). "I was wondering when you guys were going to get smarter."
(Maverick Hunter Base)
"Doesn't that idiot realize that he's NOT fighting a Maverick?" Palette asked Cinnamon.
"I don't think so." Cinnamon replied, worried for her friend. "I sure hope he can win this, though."
(The Arena)
Axl tried his morphing move, transforming into Terry Bogard. He tried a Buster Wolf, but it did little to stop Duraal, as the machine smacked him in the face with a hard left hook. Axl staggered to the side, but quickly recovered, transforming back into his normal state.
"Man. What do I need to do to defeat you?" Axl asked. "Everything I'm dishing out just doesn't seem to be working on you."
Duraal, being incapable of speech, didn't reply. She simply grabbed Axl and slammed him into the canvas. Axl got up and was about to continue attacking when an idea suddenly came to his head.
"Hey, wait! Of course!" Axl said as he transformed again.
Once the light faded, in Axl's place stood an exact replica of Wolf Hawkfield.
"If I can't take you out, maybe your only weakness is someone else from your node." Axl said, his vice sounding like Wolf's.
Axl advanced, throwing a flurry of punches. This seemed to affect Duraal, as she was backing towards the ropes.
"It's working!" Axl said. "Now for the finisher!"
Axl, still in Wolf's form, grabbed Duraal, spun her around several times and threw her away. With Duraal gone, Axl transformed back.
Duraal landed in Super Mario 64, in the lava world. The Big Bully pushed her into the lake of lava.
Mudman swung his mask at Roomi, but the bubbly catgirl was quick to leap over the wooden weapon, and then bopped the Polynesian with her fist.
The tribal chief stepped back, the force from Roomi's punch shaking his mask. Mudman grasped his mask, stopping the shaking, and then dove at his opponent again. The attack was a success, and Roomi was tackled to the ground.
Mudman jumped to his feet and then proceeded to whack Roomi with his mask several times. After about the third time, Roomi got mad and kicked Mudman away from her, springing to her feet.
"That wasn't very nice!" Roomi accused, batting her face a couple of times like a cat. "Maybe I should take you down just for that!"
"I am interested in seeing how you'll get to me." Mudman challenged.
Roomi, although wondering what Mudman was meaning by that, charged.
Mudman waved his arms a couple of times, and suddenly, a few ghostly, miniature versions of himself sprang from his mask and charged at the surprised Roomi.
However, instead of attacking the catgirl directly, the phantoms plowed into her kneecaps, taking her legs out from underneath her and bringing her to the canvas.
Mudman, feeling confident, approached the downed Roomi to throw her from the ring. However, before he got too close, Roomi sprang to life and kicked the oncoming chief in the face (or would have had he not been wearing his mask).
As Mudman stepped back, Roomi, angrier than ever, charged again, striking him with a flurry of punches and kicks.
"Uh…Can't we just discuss this without the use of violence?" Mudman asked.
"Nya!" Roomi shouted, kicking Mudman in the stomach, sending him flying several feet away.
Seeing that Mudman had landed close to the ropes, Roomi ran at him. As she did, Mudman slowly got to his feet.
Mudman snapped out of his daze in time to see Roomi coming. However, unlike those before him, Mudman didn't take the time he had to get out of dodge. "Oh, crap!" He said instead.
Needless to say, Roomi vaulted Mudman out of the ring with a well-placed kick to the chest.
"And in one section, Kizuna Encounter and World Heroes are out of the tournement!" SSBFreak announced.
Mudman landed in Chuck Rock. Chuck approached and the two stared each other down for about three seconds before Chuck bounced the tribal chief off his stomach.
Billy swung his staff at Kasumi Todoh, but the younger fighter easily avoided the swing. Billy's attacks looked like they were starting to slow down a bit. Probably because he had been in the ring for a while now (and had currently tied with Rainbow Mika for the most eliminations of the tournament) and fatigue was starting to weigh him down.
After Billy swung, Kasumi jumped to attack, striking the elder Kane with a wave of energy streaks to the face. Billy flew back and landed on the canvas, but got to his feet, although he had to use his staff to lean on.
"Look, Billy. I have nothing but respect for your skills, and I know that you could probably beat me if we were evenly matched." Kasumi reasoned. "However, you've been in the ring far too long to last much longer."
Billy chuckled weakly. "Not even close. I'm ready to take on the final twenty!"
"Somehow, I find that unlikely." Kasumi sighed. "Look, I don't want to hurt you, Billy. So please allow me to eliminate you! I don't think anyone else other than that robot girl over there would be so merciful."
"You're right on that, but I definitely not gonna give up." Billy refused.
"Okay. If that's really how you want it." Kasumi said worriedly, hoping that Billy wouldn't get hurt too much.
Billy advanced on Kasumi again, vaulting at her and kicking. Kasumi took the attack to the face and was launched backwards into a turnbuckle. Kasumi quickly stood up and rushed at Billy kicking him in the stomach, then slamming her palm in his face.
As Billy stepped back a couple of feet, Kasumi continued, attacking him with a stronger wave of energy streaks, then kicking him in the face. Kasumi then rushed at Billy and grabbed his arm.
"I'm sorry about this." Kasumi said as she threw Billy over her shoulder, aiming to throw him from the arena.
However, Billy wasn't thrown over Kasumi's shoulder and was instead pulled around her awkwardly. When he landed on his back, he landed on his arm, and everyone heard a loud snap coming from his arm.
Billy roared in pain, making Kasumi let go of him and step back in surprise. Kasumi quickly dropped to her knees. "Billy! What happened? What did I do?" She asked, worried that she had just made his condition worse.
"I…I can't feel my arm!" Billy said in realization. "You just broke my arm!"
Kasumi gasped and covered her face. "Oh, no! I'm so, so sorry! I honestly didn't mean for this to happen!"
Knowing that Billy required immediate medical attention, Kasumi was forced to pick him up and throw him from the arena, hoping that the doctors would be able to help him when he got back.
Kasumi, feeling extremely guilty, turned towards the battle and charged at Yamazaki, tears streaming down her face.
Billy landed in Unreal Championship. Doing his best to ignore the pain in his arm, he stood up.
"Hey! Head's up, bro!" Someone taunted.
Billy turned and saw a player shooting a grenade at him. Gripping his staff with his good hand, Billy swung it, striking the oncoming grenade and sending it back to the person that had shot it.
"Oh, man! That was an awesome hit, dude!" The player shouted down at Billy, seemingly forgetting that his own grenade was flying back towards him. "Really! That was a totally sick hit!"
As an explosion rocked the arena, Billy walked off to find a place to rest until his ten minutes were up.
(Hotel; Arcade)
Balrog thrust his fist at Cody, but the former hero of Metro City promptly held up his arms. All Balrog managed to hit was the chain linking Cody's handcuffs together, and that REALLY hurt.
As Balrog stepped back, Cody advanced kicking the black boxer in the face. Cody then followed up with a Criminal Upper, creating a small tornado and launching Balrog into the air. Balrog came crashing down onto the DDR machine, but he quickly got to his feet again.
"You're really starting to tick me off, Travers." Balrog said, narrowing his eyes.
"Well, my guess is that it's pretty easy to do that." Cody replied with a sly smirk. "If you weren't you wouldn't have been banned from boxing in the first place."
"Why do people keep bringing that up?" Balrog roared as he rushed forward. And slammed his iron-hard fist into the side of Cody's face.
"Come on, Cody!" Mel cheered. "You can show this loser that you don't lose to freaks like him!"
Cody smirked. "You got that right, kid." He said as he kicked Balrog in the face again, launching him backwards.
Balrog slowly got to his feet and stepped away from the arcade machine he had smashed into (which had remained undamaged somehow) and advanced again. "Crazy Buffalo!" He shouted.
Cody shook his head and calmly sidestepped. "You should really stop announcing what moves you're gonna perform." He said. "Your moves are predictable as it is."
Balrog's fist soared past Cody, making him even madder. "Stop mocking me!" He said as he swung his fist, nailing Cody with a right hook, making the two break apart for a second.
Before either of the two had time to react, the five leaders of the security force walked in between them.
"Excuse me."
"Pardon me."
"Nothing to see here."
Psymon remained silent, but shook Cody's hand with a wide grin as he passed. The team arrived at Mel and picked him up.
"Okay, guys. Let's kick it into rewind." Psymon said.
With that, the five started walking backwards, going in between the two fighters. Psymon again shook Cody's hand as he walked past.
"Ereh ees ot gnihton."
"Em nodrap."
"Em esucxe."
The two watched the security leaders walk out of the arcade with Mel, and once they did, Cody punched the unsuspecting Balrog in the face, knocking him out.
"Man. That was definitely within the top five weirdest things I've ever seen." Cody said as he silently left the arcade.
(Dome; Hallway)
"You guys ready?" Chonrei asked. "We need to make this one count."
"Don't worry." Reed, whom was feeling a lot better since his defeat at Yamazaki's hands. "We're behind you all the way. Right, Samus?"
"You bet." Samus nodded. "In fact, I think that we-"
"Attention, please." Unknown1 announced through a speaker on the wall. "Will Samus from the Suikoden node please report to the Ready Room? The final section is coming up and you need to enter the arena."
"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding." Samus sighed. "I completely forgot that I hadn't entered the arena yet."
"Samus, I guess you'd better go enter the arena, then." Vivian suggested.
"I can't do that! You guys might need me!" Samus retaliated.
"People will get suspicious if you don't enter the arena." Chonrei explained. "I suggest that you enter the arena. I think we'll be able to manage by ourselves."
Samus sighed. "Okay. Just be careful guys."
Wishing everyone luck, Samus turned around and rushed off to prepare to enter the arena.
(The Arena)
"Falcon Kick!"
Tsugumi Sendo avoided the Captain Falcon's attack again with a leap to the side. And like she had done before, Tsugumi kicked him in the face the instant his foot hit the canvas.
Falcon stepped back and held his helmet to stop the loud ringing. "You're tougher than I thought you were." He complimented.
"Well, thanks. But the fact is that you keep doing the same move." Tsugumi pointed out. "I'm not really having a hard time avoiding you, you know."
Falcon stood in silence. "Uh…You know? I've never thought about that."
"Well, I think we should get back to fighting before this turns into a conversation that'll bore everyone here."
"Yeah. You're right."
Falcon was the first to act, rushing at Tsugumi shoulder-first. Tsugumi didn't move out of the way, and instead pulled her fist back, waved it around a couple of times, then threw it forward, landing a direct hit to Falcon's head, knocking the racer to the ground.
While Falcon was on the ground, Tsugumi hoisted him into the air, lifted him onto her shoulders, then threw him at the canvas, jumping on him at the same time.
Falcon slowly got to his feet, but shook off Tsugumi's surprisingly strong attack with little effort. He looked at the young wrestler. "Okay. Now it's time to get serious." He said.
Tsugumi smirked. "Let's see what you can do!" She challenged.
"Very well." Falcon replied.
With that, Falcon rushed at Tsugumi with amazing speeds and delivered a hard punch to her stomach, then a kick to her head. Falcon hit Tsugumi with about twenty punches and kicks before backing away.
Tsugumi, relieved from the onslaught, held her head to stop the dizziness.
Falcon, on the other hand, pulled his fist back. "Falcon…"
"…PUNCH!"
The falcon-shaped flame surrounding Falcon's fist held a lot more power than it looked. Tsugumi went flying out of the arena and fell through a portal.
Tsugumi landed in Konami Krazy Racers. Goemon hit her, knocking her aside. This wouldn't have been so bad, but Vic Viper then drove over her.
Roll leaned to the side as Roomi's paw swung where her head had been. Roll then shot the catgirl with another Roll Buster, knocking her far away. Roomi quickly got to her feet and charged again.
"I have to admit that you've done pretty well." Roll complimented as Roomi kicked at her. "Your node has five eliminations already. That's definitely nothing to laugh at."
Roomi nodded. "You've been doin' pretty good yourself." She said. "I think we're about even right now for eliminations."
"Yeah. I'm not sure, but you're probably right." Roll shrugged. "I've more been focusing on staying in the ring."
"Heya, it's done ya good so far." Roomi said. "So why don't we continue and see which of us gets that fourth elimination?"
"Sure. I'm feeling a little better now that Abyss is gone."
The two rushed each other again. Roll tried firing another Roll Buster at Roomi, but was kicked in the stomach before she got the chance to do so. Roll quickly countered with a kick of her own, knocking Roomi away from her again.
This continued for about twenty seconds until Roomi managed to get lucky and deliver a hard whack to the robot girl's head, knocking her to the canvas.
"Alright! It looks like I win!" Roomi said in victory. "Sorry, but I gotta eliminate ya now."
Unfortunately, Roomi never got the chance. Yuri Sakazaki flew into her from behind, knocking both of them to the ground.
Roll looked at whomever had saved her and saw Jacques holding out his hand. "Looked like you could use some help." He said quietly.
Roll thankfully took Jacques' hand and allowed him to help her to her feet. "Thanks. Well, it looks like our opponents are down."
"We may as well toss them out, then."
"Sure."
Roll picked up Roomi and dumped her over the ropes. Jacques did the same with Yuri. Both girls fell into the elimination portal at almost the same time.
Roomi and Yuri both landed on a desert road. The Roadrunner tripped over them, thankful that Wile E was at the tournament rather than chasing him.
Shigen swung a rock-solid fist at the Ice Climbers, but the two kids were too fast and ran away in opposite directions. The two Eskimos ran around the huge man, leapt into the air and slammed their mallets into Shigen's back at the same time.
However, this didn't even make Shigen flinch. He turned and looked down at the kids, annoyed.
Nana worriedly looked at Popo. "What do we do, bro?" She asked. "We can't seem to hurt him."
"Everyone has a weakness, Nana. Even Giga Bowser had one." Popo reasoned.
"But we weren't the ones to beat it. Jigglypuff just Rested it into oblivion." Nana countered.
Popo was silent. "…Yeah. I always found it kinda odd how no one could beat that thing until Jiggypuff stepped in."
However, in the time the Ice Climbers had taken to talk, Shigen had stepped close to them, stood straight and looked down at them. Popo and Nana suddenly became very aware that Shigen was more than twice their size, and probably just as powerful.
"Uh…Quick! Icicle him!" Popo said.
The two instantly started creating icicles and repeatedly batted them into Shigen's legs. Shigen felt a little cold from them, but it didn't do much to stop him.
Nana glared at Popo. "Any more bright ideas, genius?"
"Yeah, I think I might have a couple more." Popo said. "Spin! Quick!"
The two got back to back and spun around with their mallets outstretched, spinning straight into Shigen's legs. This plan worked out a lot better than the last, as it was enough to make Shigen topple over.
"Hey! It worked!" Popo said in astonishment.
"Come on! We need to get him out of the arena!" Nana said as she and Popo froze Shigen inside a huge icicle.
It took a fair amount of effort, but the two Ice Climbers managed to push Shigen underneath the ropes and out of the arena.
Shigen landed in Pokemon, where he spent the next ten minutes taking out annoying trainers that mistook him for a Pokemon.
Back in the arena, the Ice Climbers sighed in relief at their victory, and turned around to see whom else was in the arena. Roll once again tightened the ribbon in her hair, making sure that it wouldn't come out. Kasumi Todoh was still feeling guilty about breaking Billy's arm, and was wiping a few tears away. Axl was whistling as he leaned against a turnbuckle, fiddling with one of his guns. Captain Falcon was starting to look tired, but was otherwise okay. Jacques silently wiped his gigantic crossbow with a cloth, cleaning a mark on it. Finally, Yamazaki was casually looking around, one hand still in his pocket.
Everyone knew that the tournament was ending by now, because the final wave of fighters were about to enter the arena…
RESULTS
KASUMI TODOH (KOF)
JACQUES (S3)
ROLL (MM)
CAPTAIN FALCON (SSB)
AXL (MMX7)
RYUJI YAMAZAKI (FF)
ICE CLIMBERS (SSB)
(ELIMINATED)
YURI SAKAZAKI (KOF)
WARIO (WW)
ROOMI (GF)
E. HONDA (SFA3)
TSUGUMI SENDO (FF:WA)
JUGGERNAUT (MC)
BILLY KANE (FF)
SHIGEN NAOE (LB)
MUDMAN (WH)
DURAAL (VF)
ABUBO (RotD)
ABYSS (MVSC2)
GOZU (KE)
BONUS MATCHES:
"Louis' Rescue"
JACKY BRYANT (VF) stomps out KING LION (KE) and TOAD (MC)
"Brainwashed Bonehead"
LEI WULONG (T5) arrests ROY (SSB)
"Ikari Strike"
CLARK STEELE (KOF) tosses VEGA (SFA3)
"Mel's Rescue"
CODY (SFA3) lays the smack-down on BALROG (SFA3)
Eliminations: Kasumi, Jacques and Roll, 2; Falcon, Axl, Yamazaki, Ice Climbers, Yuri, Wario and Roomi, 1
Current Elimination Leaders: Billy Kane (8), R. Mika (8), King (7), Xigbar (6), Bruce Irvin (6), Chun-Li (5), Peach Toadstool (5)
The Falling of a Leader: With eight eliminations, tying him for the lead with R. Mika, Billy Kane has fallen. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite able to get that ninth elimination to take the lead.
Mystery Mischief: Six Mystery Fighters entered this section. After the dust settled, Axl and Roll are the only ones left standing.