(The Arena)

The seven fighters left in the arena rested up as much as they could, because they all knew that they'd need as much rest as they could get if they were to win the tournament. With heavy-hitters like Ryu, Ken, Terry Bogard, Mario, Sonic and Chun-Li already gone, it was really anyone's game at this point. Everyone (even Yamazaki) was secretly nervous about their chances.

Suddenly, everyone heard cheering. Turning to the curtain, everyone left in the arena saw the next fighter entering.

"BLUE MARY RYAN!" (FF)

Mary, Terry Bogard's girlfriend, came out to a loud cheer. Mary waved to the crowd gratefully and jumped into the arena

The first one Mary went for was Yamazaki. "Okay, pal. I may have been forced to team up with you at one point, but that was the past." She said. "I'd say it's time I handed you in to Hon-Fu."

Yamazaki chuckled. "You make me laugh, toots."

"And may I remind you of something?" Mary asked.

"Yeah?"

Mary promptly kicked Yamazaki in the face. "Don't call me 'toots'!"

"RAVEN!" (T5)

Being one of the newer additions to the Tekken roster, Raven was feeling confident, especially since he had gotten so late of a draw. Raven had been training by keeping himself in solitude. In fact, none of the Tekken gang had seen him since the tournament started, because Raven had spent the entire night on the roof, alone.

Jumping into the arena, Raven made a beeline for Captain Falcon, seeing that he was the longest runner currently in the arena. He ran silently and Falcon's back was turned, meaning that an easy elimination could be granted.

Falcon snapped to attention and saw Raven coming. A high kick was enough to send the black ninja sprawling temporarily.

"AKARI ICHIJO!" (LB)

To a loud cheer, Akari burst out from behind the curtain and waved excitedly. Bounding down to the arena, Akari leapt in headfirst and landed in the ring.

In fact, she landed beside Kasumi Todoh, whom jumped back in surprise. "Whoa! Where'd YOU come from?" She asked.

"The Ready Room." Akari replied. "Now, I believe we're here to fight, so why don't we do that?"

Kasumi scratched her head. "I can't think of a reason not to."

"Great! Don't you dare hold back!"

"Wasn't planning on it."

"CHOI BOUNGE! (KOF)

The small, clawed man came out to a mixed reaction, but Choi paid it no mind. He was half-glad that he had gotten such a late draw, but he was really worried for Chang, considering that he had gone under an unusual transformation.

{Well, I guess the only thing left for me to do is clean up from where Chang left off.} Choi thought as he jumped into the arena. {Maybe I'll still be able to win this thing. After all, there'll only be twenty fighters left in the ring.}

When Choi landed, he quickly saw that the Ice Climbers were about his size and rushed over to challenge them.

Nana, seeing Choi coming, tapped her brother on the shoulder. "Hey, Popo! Here comes a little man with sharp fingernails!"

Popo looked at saw Choi rushing over. "Well, it looks like he wants a fight, sis." He said. "Should we give him one?"

"You bet, Popo!"

(Hotel; Magneto's Room)

"Let Shabon go, you creep!" Shabon shouted as she thrashed against the ropes binding her to her chair.

Magneto, the lone villain in the room, sighed. "Humans." He muttered. "I can't stand a single one of them."

"When Toppo finds out what you're doing to Shabon, he's gonna kick your butt!" Shabon said with a smirk.

"Look, aside from the fact that I don't know whom this 'Toppo' fool is, nothing will be able to stand up to my power." Magneto said.

"A lot of good your power did in the ring." Shabon taunted.

Magneto narrowed his eyes and walked around the room. "You've got a sharp tongue, girl. Be thankful I'm not allowed to tear it out."

Shabon shivered at the mere thought of Magneto doing what he just said he would do. "You'll be really sorry, buster! Shabon has really tough friends! Almost as tough as that X-Men team that you go against on a regular basis!"

"I'm sure." Magneto said. "Why don't you humour me and tell me who this 'Toppo' fellow is."

Shabon was about to reply when the door suddenly flew open thanks to a kick from the other side. Magneto and Shabon looked into the now-open doorway and saw a royally ticked-off Toppo standing there, still holding the Master Sword.

Although confused at the sight of Toppo wielding an unusual weapon, Shabon grinned from ear to ear in happiness and relief, then looked up at Magneto. "That's him."

Magneto scoffed. "THIS is the 'Toppo' you keep rambling on and on about?" He asked. "Please. He doesn't look so tough."

Toppo, seeing Magneto, growled. He knew that Shabon was counting on him, and he wasn't about to let her down. Holding the Master Sword in his right hand, Toppo fingered a grenade Sodom had given to him earlier with his left.

Magneto lifted himself off the ground. "I see that you wish to rescue your friend. So let's see if your capable of such a feat."

Toppo let out a battle cry and rushed at Magneto, waving the Master Sword.

(The Arena)

"KARIN!" (SFA3)

The blonde haired schoolgirl/noble came out to a decent-sized cheer. She looked around and waved casually.

"Ohohohohohohohohohoho!" Karin laughed in her trademark laugh. "Coming out this late only means that I've got bigger chances of winning. I'm not about to blow this chance now."

Once Karin landed, she saw that she was the only Street Fighter in the ring, and thus meant that she was the last one left standing as well.

"Oh, bother." Karin lamented. "I guess I'll need to focus on taking out opponents by my lonesome."

With that, Karin rushed at Jacques, whom leveled his crossbow at her shoulder.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…TWENTY-FIVE!"

"BRIAN BATTLER!" (King of Fighters '98)

"We all wanna run the race to win!"

"Never giving up or giving in!"

"Comin' at ya like a blitz!"

"Like a blitz!"

As Audio Adrenaline blared through the speakers, Brian came out to a surprised crowd and a loud cheer. Brian, the third part of the USA Sports Team, whooped wildly and pumped his fists into the air as he jogged down to the ring.

"Yeah! USA Sports Team! Numbah one!" Brian cheered as he jumped into the ring.

Brian couldn't believe his awesome luck. SSBFreak had approached him only a few minutes ago and asked him if he wanted to participate. Hey, his homeboys D! and Lucky had already entered. How could Brian refuse such an offer?

Well, now he was back and he was determined to prove himself. He demonstrated this by rushing at the battle Mary was having with Yamazaki. Brian jumped at Yamazaki and kicked him in the face, knocking him down.

"Oh! Brian!" Mary said. "Good timing! Can you give me a hand with this creep?"

"Gladly." Brian said, cracking his knuckles.

"RIMURURU!" (SS)

Nakoruru's sister and a wielder of ice, Rimururu came out to a decently-sized cheer. The young girl waved timidly and nervously walked down to the ring, stepping in.

Once she was in the arena, Rimururu silently walked around the carnage all over the arena and made her way over to Roll. "Uh…Hey." She greeted.

"Hey." Roll replied, not sounding as nervous as she did when she entered the arena.

"You wanna double-team for a second?" Rimururu asked. "I'm kinda worried about my chances if I go it alone."

"To be honest, you're not alone." Roll shrugged. "Sure. We'll double-team for a bit."

Rimururu sighed in relief. "Thanks a lot."

"SPIDERMAN!" (MC)

Coming out to a loud cheer as his theme song from his cartoon series (as he usually did for when he entered tournaments like this), Spiderman waved to the crowd, shook a few hands, and approached the end of the ramp. Firing a webline to a light fixture above the ring, Spiderman swung in feet-first.

His feet connected with an unsuspecting Axl. The young Maverick Hunter jumped to his feet and leveled his gun at Spiderman's head. "What was that for?" Axl asked.

"I was getting into the arena. You were just in the way." Spiderman shrugged.

"Well, I'd say it's about time for me to teach you a lesson, then." Axl said as he advanced.

"JEFFRY MCWILD!" (VF)

The huge, hairy man (and last Virtua Fighter) came out to a decent cheer. Jeffry laughed heartily and waved to the crowd as he walked down to the arena and jumped in. Now it was time to show everyone what the Virtua Fighters were made of.

Once he was in the ring, Jeffry walked over to the Ice Climbers, whom had just knocked Choi away. "Hey, kids!" He greeted.

"Oh, Popo! Look! It's a scary-looking man with a lot of body hair!" Nana said.

"Yep. You're right." Popo agreed. "You want something?"

"As a matter of fact, I was hoping for a fight." Jeffry said simply.

"Well, seeing as we just knocked our current opponent away, I guess we'll fight you." Popo said with a shrug.

"Great! Let's go!" Jeffry said as he got into his stance.

(Eliminated Seating)

Everyone watched the carnage in anticipation. They knew that after everyone had entered, there wasn't going to be any more entering. That meant that everyone in the arena would have a one-in-twenty chance of winning the entire thing, and everyone was hoping that it would be someone from their node. The only exceptions were the Kizuna Encounter and World Heroes groups, mainly because their last representatives had been eliminated already.

"There's going to be three of us in the arena after this." Samus Aran pointed out. "That means that we've got the best chance of winning this thing."

"Maybe." Marth replied. "Falcon is looking tired, so I don't know if he'll be the one to do it."

"You never know. He may surprise us."

Meanwhile, Cecile was watching the arena with interest. Juan, laying back in his chair, opened one eye. "What's up?"

"We'll have two people in the arena once everyone's in." Cecile explained. "I'm just hoping Jacques or Samus will be able to win this."

Juan shrugged. "This late in the night, it's anyone's game." He replied.

"Yeah, but that still doesn't make me stop hoping that one of those two will win." Cecile said.

Terry Bogard took off his hat and watched Mary fight Yamazaki with Brian. Ryo, sitting beside him, asked the obvious. "Kasumi or Choi?" He asked. "Which one do you think will do better?"

"Out of the two of them, I don't know." Terry shrugged. "But I hope Mary wins this thing, and this late in the tournament, that may not be too hard to do."

"You're just saying that because she's your girlfriend." Ryo chuckled.

"Yeah? So?"

"Well, all things aside, I'm surprised that Brian made it into this thing." Ryo continued, changing the subject. "How well do you think he'll do?"

"With D! and Lucky doing as well as they did, I'd say anything's possible."

The Street Fighter gang was rooting for Karin, but none of the cheers were as loud as Sakura's. "Come on, Karin!" She cheered. "You can do this! It's just one more wave of fighters!"

"I thought you two were rivals." G. Done observed.

"We are, but that doesn't mean we aren't friends." Sakura replied. "I hope that she pulls out on top, because there's only twenty people left."

"Well, no offense, but if I were a betting man, I'd place my bets elsewhere." G. Done explained.

"On the guy from your node that hasn't entered yet?"

"Well…No." G. Done replied. "I know Rolf's the main character of our game, but I honestly think there's more talented people in the arena now."

"Well, at least you guys aren't leaving empty-handed."

"Yeah. That's for sure."

(The Arena)

"ROLF!" (GF)

The last Galaxy Fighter came out to a small cheer. The cheer was nowhere near the size of Roomi's, but Rolf paid it no mind and still went down to the arena.

Once he was in the arena, Brian Battler landed beside him, a victim to one of Yamazaki's throws. Seeing an easy elimination, Rolf smirked and advanced.

However, before he could get very far, Brian jumped to his feet and looked down at Rolf, showing that he was at least a foot taller than him. "Well! Another Galaxy Fighter! This is gonna be fun." With that, Brian crouched low and rushed at Rolf, preparing to tackle him.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…TWENTY-SIX!"

"ALLY GATOR!" (Black & Bruised)

"In the jungle"

"The mighty jungle"

"The lion sleeps tonight"

"In the jungle"

"The mighty jungle"

"The lion sleeps tonight"

Although she received only a few cheers (because she was so unknown), Ally was still thrilled to have been given this chance to enter a fighting arena with the best fighters around.

Once she got into the arena, Ally looked around for someone that didn't have an opponent. Seeing Kasumi throw Akari away, she decided to go fight her.

Kasumi looked ahead and saw Ally coming over. She tried to figure out where she was from, but ended up drawing a blank. "Who are you?" She asked.

"You'd be surprised how much I get that." Ally said. "Well, I'm Ally, and I'm here for a fight, so you up for one?"

Kasumi shrugged. "Sure. Let's see what you've got."

(Announcer's Booth)

Unknown1 looked at SSBFreak and saw him looking at Ally intently. "Dude, you've got the strangest tastes." He sighed.

"What?" SSBFreak asked.

"You like an unknown girl like her, and yet you don't like Chun-Li and Mai Shiranui?" Unknown1 asked.

"It's a long story."

(The Arena)

"SAMUS!" (S3)

Standing outside the entrance curtain, Samus took a deep breath and drew his sword. The cheer he was getting was slightly larger than the one Reed was getting earlier in the night, but Samus wasn't really paying attention.

"I guess I'm forced to try my hardest here." Samus sighed. "No matter what, if I get eliminated here, it'll be too late to help anyone out before I get back."

Leaping into the arena, Samus looked around. Seeing Jacques fighting off Karin, Samus rushed over to assist the blonde mercenary.

Jacques saw Samus coming and dodged a strike from Karin. "Good to see you, Samus."

"Right back at ya, Jacques." Samus nodded. "Looks like we were lucky enough to get two of us into the final twenty."

Jacques nodded.

(Announcer's Booth)

"Well, it's time to bring out the last fighter." SSBFreak said.

"I call making the introduction!" Unknown1 replied.

"Hey! I was going to do it! It's MY tournament!"

"Exactly! That means that I should be the one to do it!"

The two friends quickly leapt and each other and started brawling, rolling around on the ground of the booth and throwing several punches. However, amongst the carnage, a lone Goomba was walking by. Seeing the two fighting, the Goomba entered the booth, walked over to the switchboard and jumped up.

Seeing that there was still one fighter left on the clipboard, the Goomba pressed a few buttons and threw a few switches with his feet, turning off all the lights in the arena and shining a spotlight on the entrance curtain. The Goomba walked over to the nearest mike.

(The Arena)

Being in complete darkness, no one could see anything, and thus stopped fighting. Everyone looked at the entrance curtain as some dramatic music started playing, as if leading up to something fantastic.

"And now, the final fighter in the first ever 'Megamix Tournament'…" A high-pitched voice came from the Announcer's Booth.

The dramatic music held a high note for a second as four red laser bolts shot through the entrance curtain, making large holes. The final fighter then brushed past the remains of the curtain, stepping onto the entrance ramp.

"FOX MCCLOUD!" (SSB)

The crowd erupted with cheers as the dramatic music was replaced with the Starfox theme. Fox, spinning his blaster in his hand, waved with his other hand as he walked down to the arena and stepped in (in the Announcer's Booth, SSBFreak and Unknown1 stopped fighting and watched the Goomba leave).

Fox rushed at the duel between Axl and Spiderman, then aimed his blaster, firing several times. Both Axl and Spiderman recoiled from the laser bolts a few times and they stung a bit, but it wasn't enough to bring either of them down.

"So you're the last fighter in this thing?" Axl asked. "Well, definitely not much to look at."

Fox narrowed his eyes. "I'll have you know that I'm one of the best pilots in my node."

"Pilot. Not fighter." Spiderman pointed out. "Why don't we just see how well you fight."

The canine pilot smirked. "Let's do this!"

Over two-hundred-seventy fighters had entered the arena over the course of the night. Some may have been eliminated within seconds, but others had gone on to get five or more eliminations. And now, there were only twenty fighters left. No more, no less.

And standing in the arena was the one person that would soon become the Megamix Tournament Champion.