(The Arena)
All of the audience was doing one of two things: One, cheering for Roll, or two, cheering for Kasumi. The two girls, each of them determined to be the one to win, were exchanging punches left and right. A lot of punches were blocked, but some of them were landing.
Kasumi stepped back as Roll punched her in the face. Rubbing her jaw, Kasumi looked at her opponent. "Man. Being a robot makes her punches harder." She thought. "If I'm not careful, this could be rough."
Clearing her mind, Kasumi leapt at Roll and lashed out her trademark energy wave at her. Because the attack was in the air, Roll was able to slide underneath the attack and avoid getting hurt.
Kasumi wasn't prepared for this, and was even less prepared for Roll shooting a fully-charged Roll Buster into her stomach in midair. This knocked the blue-haired heir of the Todoh style to the ground, but Kasumi was quick to get up and continued to stare Roll down.
In all honesty, both girls were surprised that they were still standing. Sure, they both got later draws, but they still outlasted fighters like Billy Kane, Spiderman and Captain Falcon. However, even though they were pleased with their success, both Kasumi and Roll knew that their job was far from over and that they shouldn't underestimate each other.
Another thing that the girls had in common was that they found the experience in the tournament exciting. Kasumi was so excited at how well she did and was extremely proud of herself for what she had done. The only thing that could top her happiness was if her father was somehow watching her. Roll, on the other hand, had always wanted to be a fighting robot like her brothers. Fighting in this tournament only excelled the process and made her want to fight Wily's forces that much more.
All in all, no matter what the outcome, both girls would walk away from the tournament satisfied, but that still wasn't going to stop either one from attempting to win. Both Roll and Kasumi proved this when they advanced on each other again, each one preparing to attack.
(Eliminated Seating)
All of the eliminated fighters present were erupting in cheers for both of the two fighters. The obvious exception was Kim Kaphwan, whom was still laying unconscious after the beating he received at the hands of the Galaxy Fight gang. Right now, the cheering looking about fifty-fifty. Everyone from the KOF, World Heroes and Fatal Fury nodes was cheering for Kasumi, while the Smash Bros. crew, Galaxy Fighters and Street Fighters were Cheering for Roll. The Mystery Fighters and everyone else were split between the two, but that didn't make any of the fighters quiet in their cheering.
"Come on, Roll!" A recently-arrived Ally Gator cheered. "You're almost there!"
"You can do it, Kasumi!" Blue Mary shouted. "Chalk one up for the Woman's Team!"
"Watch out, Roll!"
"Go for it, Kasumi!"
"Tornado Hold, Roll! Tornado Hold!"
"Kasumi, back off!"
Four of the Mystery Fighters (Larcen Tyler, Gabby Jay, Scorpion and Xigbar) were staying quiet, but that was because they were looking back and forth between the arena and the monitors hanging above the arena, where everyone was watching Jack and Ash Crimson fighting on the roof of a moving car.
"So whom do you guys think is going to win?" Gabby Jay asked. "My money's on the clawed maniac."
"Same with me." Xigbar nodded.
"No bet here." Scorpion added.
"Eh, who knows." Larcen shrugged. "I mean, I'm rooting for the maniac as well, but that prettyboy might have a few surprises. And the real reason we're rooting against him is because none of us can stand him."
"You make a good argument, friend." Scorpion nodded. "Crimson wouldn't have been invited to more than one KOF if he wasn't any good."
"Yeah, but do those officials even know what that guy's been DOING?" Xigbar asked. "He's a villain, for crying out loud! The people running those tournaments should see that he's evil!"
"Oh, YOU'RE a fine one to talk." Gabby smirked.
"As if." Xigbar muttered.
"Well, taking our minds off the screens for a second, those two girls in the ring seem to be holding out fairly well." Larcen pointed out.
"Yeah. Either one of those two could come out the winner." Xigbar agreed. "If Luxord were here, he'd bet everything on the person he'd think would win, and then they most likely would."
"Well, I guess that the only thing we can do is await the outcome." Scorpion said, folding his arms. He suddenly caught sight of a snack vendor walking down the stands a ways away.
"GET OVER HERE!" Scorpion shouted, firing his trademark spear from his hand. The aim was precise, and with one quick yank, Scorpion pulled a bag of popcorn into his hand and started munching.
The others watched this with odd expressions. Gabby looked at Larcen. "And just HOW did you make friends with this guy back in UVR?"
"In all honesty, you got me on that one." Larcen sighed.
(Dome; Recovery Room)
"Look, why can't I just leave?" Billy Kane asked as he watched the doctors wrap his broken arm in a cast. "My sister is in danger and I need to get out of here to find her!"
"Out of the question." Dr. Tuta replied sternly. "Your arm's broken and we can't allow you to put any strain on it."
"But…My sister…" Billy said.
"Mr. Kane, is anyone else aware of your sister being in trouble?" Mio asked.
"Yeah. Higashi. But-"
"Then you just leave it to him." Mio said. "Don't you have any faith in him?
"None whatsoever." Billy replied flatly.
"Well, I'm afraid you have no choice." Hanma said. "After the tournament finishes, you'll be free to go, but for now, we have to keep you here."
Billy sighed and sat back. As much as he hated it, he had to rely on Joe to save Lilly.
(The Arena)
Kasumi kicked Roll in the stomach, making the female robot stagger back. Roll shook off the attack and shot a Rock Ball onto the canvas. Giving it a hard kick, Roll sent the Rock Ball into the air, clear over Kasumi.
Seeing this, Kasumi smirked. "Looks like you missed."
The Rock Ball, however, was sent on a trip. It bounced off a beam of lights hanging above the arena, off the window on the Sound Booth (cracking it), struck another popcorn vendor in the back of the head, bounced off a turnbuckle and finally slammed into Kasumi's back. This knocked Kasumi to the canvas, and Roll was quick to take advantage of the situation, kicking Kasumi in the side.
Kasumi quickly sprung to life and lashed out at Roll. Roll saw Kasumi's palm coming at her head and swiftly avoided the blow.
As Roll avoided her attack, Kasumi got to her feet. The two stared each other down for a few seconds before lunging at each other, preparing to unleash a projectile.
Once she was close enough, Kasumi swung her arms down, sending another energy wave at Roll. However, at the same time, Roll had shot another fully-charged Roll Buster from her arm cannon. Both attacks struck, knocking both Kasumi and Roll away from each other.
The two girls landed about ten feet away from each other, where they lay unmoving. Kasumi was the first to react, slowly standing up. She turned and saw that Roll was still laying on the canvas.
Kasumi smiled. "She's out cold! I can win this!" She said as she rushed forward.
However, before Kasumi could react, Roll leapt to her feet and shot another Roll Buster at her. Unprepared for this, Kasumi ran straight into the attack and fell to the canvas again.
Kasumi got to her feet again and kept her eyes on Roll. "It seems that you're just as determined as I am." She said.
"Of course! This is my big chance to show my family that I'm perfectly capable of fighting evil like my big brothers do!" Roll nodded.
"Well, let's see if you have the skill to keep those hopes alive."
(Hotel; Geese's Room)
"Raging…Storm!"
Joe, having fought Geese before, knew what was coming and wisely kept his distance. Sodom, on the other hand, was inexperienced fighting someone of Geese's power, and flew straight into the tower of energy.
Joe and Lilly winced as Sodom was pelted with energy. Geese stopped his attack, sending Sodom flying into a wall.
Sighing, Joe helped his partner to his feet. "Yeah. I forgot to mention that." He said. "You gotta watch him when he pulls his arms into the air like that."
"Right. Got it." Sodom moaned in pain.
Had Geese been in control of his body, he would have beaten the two already. But because Bison had taken over his mind, Geese wasn't as active or aware as he usually was. It was this reason alone that Joe and Sodom were still standing, but neither of the two were complaining.
"Come on! Let's go!" Joe shouted.
Sodom nodded and drew his Sai. The two charged Geese together.
"No! Don't!" Lilly cried.
Unfortunately, her warning was too late. Geese quickly grabbed Sodom and threw him aside. Joe took this opportunity to punch at Geese, but the blonde man hand up a hand, parrying the blow. Before Joe knew it, Geese had thrown him over his shoulder, making him land directly on top of Sodom.
Again Lilly winced, but recovered. "Joe, you should know by now that you can't just rush him!" She said.
"Yeah, that's right." Joe said as he stood up. "I forgot for a second."
"Uh…You lost me." Sodom said. "Why aren't we supposed to just rush him?"
"He's the master at parrying." Joe replied. "You try throwing a punch while he's fully aware of it and you'll get parried."
"Great." Sodom sighed. "Is he ALWAYS this cheap of a fighter?"
"You have no freaking idea."
"So what do we do, then?"
"The only thing we CAN do." Joe replied. "Take him from different sides."
"Got it."
As Sodom ran off, Joe stepped back a couple of steps, then charged forward. Geese promptly lifted an arm to parry whatever Joe was getting ready to dish out.
However, that's when Sodom landed a hard kick to his back. This made Geese drop his guard, making him a target for Joe to attack. Joe wasted no time in landing a flurry of punches and palm strikes to Geese's face and chest, and then jumped back as Sodom grabbed the crime boss from behind.
Geese could do nothing as Sodom lifted him off the ground and slammed him into it as hard as he could.
"Back off, Sodom! I'll finish this!" Joe warned as he pulled his arm back.
Sodom quickly got off the ground and scrambled to safety. Joe then lashed both arms out, sending two huge Screw Uppers at Geese. The projectiles struck Geese, liftng him off the ground and sending him into the ceiling. Geese hit his head on a board attached to the ceiling, knocking him out.
Joe and Sodom watched as Geese landed on the floor, where he lay unmoving. The two sighed in relief.
"I never thought I'd see my life flash before my eyes." Sodom sighed.
"Let's reflect on that later." Joe said as he walked over to Lilly. "Help me untie my girlfriend, here."
"Oh! Right!"
Of all things Andy Bogard and Bridget were thinking they would see when they entered the room, Geese laying on the floor already out of it wasn't one of them. The two saw Joe and Sodom freeing Lilly and rushed over.
"Joe! What are you doing here?" Andy asked his friend.
"Duh!" Joe said. "I'm saving my girlfriend from a brainwashed crime boss, that's what!"
"You mean that you actually beat Geese?" Andy asked. "Just the two of you?"
"You bet they did!" Lilly said with a smile, wrapping her arms around Joe and Sodom. "These guys saved me!"
Suddenly, everyone heard a moan coming from Geese. Slowly getting to his feet, Geese rubbed his head for a few seconds before his eyes widened. "Oh, no! Bison! Lilly!" He said, remembering what he was trying to do before Bison took over his mind. He spun around to see everyone standing there and Lilly okay.
"It's okay, Mr. Howard." Lilly assured. "Bison's mind control is no longer affecting you. These two had to defeat you to get rid of it, though."
Geese sighed, part in relief and part in regret. He now knew that he had to explain everything to Billy, and that would be a chore in itself.
(Dome; Roof)
Rugal stepped to the side as Lucky thrust his foot at him. The evil man smirked. "Face it, Glauber. You can't win." He said. "It took three people to bring me down back in '94. If I recall correctly, your team lost to Kusanagi's team in the first round."
That seemed to fuel Lucky's anger even further. "We lost by a freaking time out and Kyo's team won the tournament!" He retaliated. "If Brian had landed one more hit, we would have won!"
"But that still doesn't change the fact that I am the most powerful character from our node." Rugal said. "Allow me to illustrate."
Rugal pulled his arms back and shoved them forward, sending a huge wave of energy at Lucky. The tall basketball player rolled out of the way and held his hand into the air. A basketball dropped from the sky and landed in Lucky's palm.
"I would admit that you were stronger if you didn't steal any moves." Lucky said, throwing the orange orb at Rugal.
Rugal swatted the basketball away. "WHAT?"
"You heard me." Lucky replied as he took the opportunity to kick Rugal in the face. "Your entire moveset is pretty much entirely made up of stolen moves from Geese Howard and Krauser."
"You shall perish just for that." Rugal said darkly.
"Die, criminal scum!" Chang shouted, swinging his iron wrecking ball at Rhino.
The huge, armoured man blocked the attack with his shoulder. "What is it with you all of a sudden?" Rhino asked. "I always thought you were some sort of criminal."
Chang's eyes narrowed. "You DARE call 'The Koehan' a criminal?" The mountain of man shouted. "Prepare for a severe beating, foolish villain!"
The oversized superhero lumbered at Rhino and lifted his foot. "Heinzan!" He roared.
Chang's foot landed square in the middle of Rhino's face, sending the huge man into the air. Chang stood up and held out his hand, allowing Rhino to fall close to it. Once Rhino was close enough, Chang grabbed his arm and started swinging him around, striking the rooftop with him several times.
Rhino was suddenly extremely thankful that his armour was stronger than almost anything, or else he would have been in extreme pain right about now.
With one arm, Chang demonstrated his insane amount of strength by tossing Rhino away. The armoured criminal stood to his feet and narrowed his eyes.
"Okay, that does it!" Rhino shouted. "Time for my Rhino-ramming attack!"
With that, Rhino charged forward headfirst. Chang saw this and smirked. "You underestimate 'The Koehan', my friend." He said as he charged forward, preparing a headbutt of his own.
Chang and Rhino rushed each other and lashed out their heads. Both foreheads connected with an amazing force and a loud, painful-sounding crack. After the double-attack ended, both giants collapsed to the ground.
Although Sagat was briefly tempted to go and see if Chang was alright, he currently had his hands full. The brainwashed Bruce Irvin kicked at the tall man, but Sagat was quick to duck under the attack. The one-eyed street fighter quickly retaliated with a Tiger Uppercut. Bruce was caught off guard and took the attack to the chin, sending him flying into the air.
Bruce landed on his back, but quickly jumped to his feet and shoved his knee into Sagat's stomach, followed directly by a hard punch to the face.
Sagat stepped back, but shook off the attack and sent two Tiger Shots flying into Bruce's chest. "I hate having to do this against someone with no projectiles." Sagat thought. "But it's the only way I can make him snap out of it."
Bruce shook off the attack and mechanically rushed forward, kicking at Sagat again. The tall man shoved his knee directly into Bruce's face, making him step back.
"Okay. I need to finish this now." Sagat said and he charged at Bruce.
Bruce shook his head back and forth and prepared to attack Sagat again when he saw a thick leg coming at his face. After Sagat's rock-hard leg struck his face, Bruce blacked out before he even hit the ground.
Sagat stood over Bruce's body and sighed.
Lucky tossed another basketball at Rugal, whom once again swatted it away. However, Lucky once again used the time Rugal was distracted to his advantage, rushing at the evil man and punching him in the stomach.
"You are a very persistent man, Glauber." Rugal spat. "I shall see an end to that as well."
"Tough talk, Berenstien." Lucky replied with a smirk. "But let's see if you can match me after this!"
Lucky raised his arm again and caught another basketball. Rugal smirked. "You fool. I'm not going to fall for that again."
Lucky hurled his basketball at Rugal and rushed forward. Rugal quickly ducked under the basketball and punched forward, expecting to strike the oncoming Lucky in the chest.
However, Lucky had quickly done a Lucky Vision, zooming behind Rugal before he had a chance to notice. Lucky then jumped at Rugal. "Lucky Driver!" He shouted.
Lucky's feet slammed into Rugal's back. When Lucky rose into the air, Rugal went with him. Lucky then pulled away from Rugal, allowing his defeated body to fall to the surface of the roof.
Lucky quickly looked around. Seeing as how Chang was unconscious and Sagat was helping a recovered Bruce Irvin to his feet, Lucky went over to Jan and untied him.
"Thank you, Mr. Glauber!" Jan said with a smile, holding onto himself in an attempt to keep warm. "M-Man. It's so c-c-cold up here."
"Here, kid." Lucky said taking off his jacket and handing it to Jan. "This should keep you warm until the tournament finishes at least."
Seeing that Bruce was alright, Sagat went over to Chang, whom was starting to stir. The tall man helped the giant to his feet.
"Ugh…Man. Where am I?" Chang asked. "And…Why am I wearing this skincap on my head?" His eyes widened. "The tournament! I still need to enter the ring!"
"Chang, we need to talk." Lucky said. "Come on. Let's get off this roof here."
(The Arena)
Roll ducked under another palm strike from Kasumi and slipped in a punch to the face. As Kasumi recoiled, Roll jumped back and pressed a button on her arm cannon.
"Let's see how you like my Leaf Shield!" Roll said as a ring of floating leaves surrounded her.
"Big deal. It's just a defensive move." Kasumi pointed out.
Roll smirked. "I beg to differ." With that, she shot from her arm cannon, sending the entire circle of leaves flew straight at Kasumi. The blue-haired girl was taken aback by this and received twelve sharp strikes to the face.
Seeing her big chance, Roll rushed forward as Kasumi stepped back, holding her face.
However, as Roll was approaching, Kasumi snapped out of her daze and saw the robot girl coming. Thinking quickly, Kasumi shoved her foot into Roll's oncoming face, then pulled her arms into the air. As Roll stepped back a couple of steps, Kasumi thrust her arms down, sending her energy wave at her.
The energy wave pelted Roll three times, knocking her to the ground. Kasumi quickly picked up the small robot and threw her across the arena, getting close to the ropes. Wanting to end the tournament, Kasumi rushed ahead.
Both girls had been close to elimination several times already, and Roll knew that she wasn't going down that easily. Roll slowly got to her feet and suddenly saw how close to the ropes she was. Seeing Kasumi running towards her, Roll blindly ran forward as well.
When the two girls reached each other, Kasumi attempted a punch. However, Roll slipped past her instead, and once she did, she turned around and fired a Roll Buster into Kasumi's back.
Staggering forward, Kasumi stopped herself and spun around. Narrowing her eyes at Roll, Kasumi jumped forward again.
Standing in place, Roll shot several Roll Busters at the oncoming Kasumi. The blue-haired girl swiftly avoided all of the shots and never even stopped running. In a flash, Kasumi was at Roll's side and had delivered a strong punch to the side of her head.
Stepping to the side, Roll quickly recovered and looked at Kasumi. "You're pretty quick. From first glance, it doesn't look like you'd be much for speed." She said.
"I have been training my whole life." Kasumi said. "I wish noting more than to make my father proud."
"I guess I know how you feel." Roll nodded. "My wish is to be a great fighter like my older brothers. I just wanna fight evil, and what did my creator do? He made me a house-cleaning robot!"
"Ouch. That must stink."
"Tell me about it."
"Well, maybe they'll see your success in the ring and agree to give you the modifications."
"That's exactly what I'm hoping."
"Well, I suppose we'd better finish this." Kasumi said. "After all, the tournament needs only one more elimination to finish."
"Of course." Roll agreed. "Let's go!"
(Dome; Hallway)
Eiji Kisaragi hand-sprung several times backwards, avoiding a slash from Setsuna. Once he landed on his feet, Eiji extending his left hand, shooting a ball of fire directly into the assassin's chest.
Setsuna growled and got to his feet. "Impossible." He said. "If there are two elements in one body, they should be fighting for control! Not working together!"
"I'm just as confused as you are, but I'm definitely not complaining." Eiji said as he extended his right hand. A stream of water shot from it, curling around Setsuna and pinning one of his arm to his side. With a flick of the wrist, Eiji lifted Setsuna off the ground and sent him into the wall, releasing him.
Julia Chang watched the scene with wide eyes, but kept her distance. She was so surprised to see the elements working so well together, but knew that approaching either one in the heat of a battle would be suicide. So instead, the only thing Julia could do was sit at the sidelines and hope Eiji could win.
Setsuna ran at Eiji and swung his sword. Eiji quickly responded by raising his own katana and blocking the attempted strike. The two swung at each other several times, but each attack was blocked, so nothing got through to either fighter.
Seeing an opening, Setsuna kicked Eiji in the stomach. This sent the purple-clad ninja flying back a couple of feet, but Eiji was quickly to recover. Setsuna was rushing at him, so Eiji had to act quick. Lashing out his right hand, Eiji created a small wave of water, which washed over Setsuna. The force of the wave pushed the dark-skinned assassin back a bit, but he dropped his guard, which made him the perfect target for another fireball to the chest
Setsuna was fighting a losing battle, and he knew it. The only problem was that he would never admit it in a million years. He had to do something fast or he would lose for sure.
Pulling his arms into the air, Setsuna swung his sword as hard as he could, sending a huge slash of powerful energy straight at Eiji. The size of the slash covered Setsuna's sight of Eiji completely, but when it cleared up, Eiji was nowhere to be seen.
Setsuna looked around the hallway, having a bad feeling about where Eiji was. However, the only person he could see in the hallway was Julia.
Unfortunately for Setsuna, he forgot to look up. Eiji was clinging to the ceiling and had dropped down, landing directly on top of Setsuna. Eiji, deciding to finish the fight, moved his hands around into several positions and concentrated.
A beam of blue and red energy erupted from the ground, surrounding both ninja and assassin. Julia, taken aback by the intense brightness of the beam, shielded her eyes with her arm.
When the light faded, Julia uncovered her eyes and saw that Setsuna was laying on the ground, defeated. Eiji, the auras still shining on his body, stood wavering. He stepped off of Setsuna's body, walked forward a couple of steps and fell to the ground.
Julia was about to rush over to Eiji's side when she saw the auras on his body fade, returning Eiji to his normal form. Then, two orbs of light emerged from Eiji's body, floated in place for a few seconds and flew through the wall, vanishing from sight completely.
Julia smiled in realization. "He's cured." She said. "He's cured."
(Catsablanca)
Ash gave Jack a hard punch to the face, sending him crashing onto the roof of a taxi. The clawed maniac quickly jumped to his feet and perched himself atop the taxi's sign on the roof, drawing his claws.
"I shall have a grand time ripping you to shreds!" Jack cackled as he leapt at Ash, whom was standing in the back area of a pickup truck.
"You won't get the chance, you fool!" Ash shouted back as he swung his hand, sending a wave of green flames at Jack. Jack landed just ahead of the flames and rolled underneath them, slashing at Ash's midsection. Ash took the blow and stepped back in pain, but quickly recovered. Reaching out, he grabbed Jack by the collar of his jacket.
"I'd say that it's time for me to put you out of MY misery." Ash said as he threw Jack away with all his might.
Flying through the air, Jack saw that he was heading towards a street lamp at the side of the road. Grabbing hold of it, Jack spun around it several times before launching himself back into the street, straight back at the white-haired prettyboy.
Ash saw Jack coming, but there was little he could do to stop both of the clawed maniac's feet from plowing into his face. Ash flew from the trucks and landed on the flatbed again. Jack leapt on after him.
"What's the matter?" Jack asked. "Did baby fall down and go boom?"
Laying on the ground, Ash shot a green fireball into Jack's face, making him step back in surprise. Ash leapt to his feet, grabbed Jack and threw him into the front part of the truck. While Jack was propped against the side of the truck's back window, Ash walked up and delivered several punches to his face.
After the sixth punch, Jack snapped back to attention and kicked Ash off of him. Standing up, Jack prepared to run Ash through when the prettyboy grabbed him again, throwing him onto the roof of a city bus.
It took a fair amount of effort, but Ash jumped onto the bus to continue facing Jack. The two rushed each other again, slashing claws and throwing punches.
"It's over, you freak!" Ash roared, wrapping his hands around Jack's neck. "By the time I'm through with you, no one will even be able to recognize the dental records!"
"Heh. That's what you think, prettyboy!" Jack laughed, slightly weak due to him getting choked. "I've still got one more trick up my sleeve!"
"Oh, yeah? Prove it!"
"You asked for it." Jack said with a maniacal smile as he smashed his forehead into Ash's, making the white-haired man let go of him and back away, towards the front of the bus.
Ash shook his head back and forth and narrowed his eyes at Jack. "Okay. It's REALLY time for me to unleash my ultimate attacks." He said.
Jack smirked. "See ya later, sucker." He said as he crouched low and leapt high into the air, out of sight.
"Did I scare him off?" Ash asked, looking around. He turned around and his eyes widened when he saw that the bus he was currently standing on top of was driving towards a low-hanging bridge.
Before Ash had time to react, the bus drove under the bridge. Unfortunately, Ash didn't go with it and slammed into the bridge with full force. Slowly, Ash peeled away from the bridge and fell headlong into traffic.
Jack, in the meantime, had grabbed hold of the top of the bridge after he jumped and watched the scene in amusement. "Heh heh. What a moron." He said to himself as he climbed onto the bridge and back to safety. He spent the rest of the ten minutes watching the traffic.
(Dome; Secret Room)
"Psycho Crusher!" Bison roared as he flew at Heavy D! headfirst. The black boxer swerved out of the way and gave Bison a hard punch to the stomach as he flew by. This brought the evil dictator out of his attack, but Bison wasn't down yet, and he proved this by instantly kicking D! in the head.
D! staggered back, still feeling Bison's powerful kick. He knew that this was going to be tough, but was he about to let Ryoko down? No. The thought of Ryoko was the only thing keeping D! on his feet, because there was no way he was going to let her become a mindless slave for someone like Bison.
"You are a fool to think you could beat someone like me!" Bison laughed as he floated towards D!. "I am far too powerful for you to defeat!"
"I dunno, man." D! chuckled. "Looking at how well we each fared in the arena, I don't think you're as unbeatable as you think you are."
"That was a minor fluke on my part." Bison growled. "I shall not make the same mistake twice."
"Good, because that would just make me laugh at you even harder." D! said with a smirk.
"Don't you ever shut up?" Bison shouted, doing a forward flip and aiming his heels at D!'s forehead.
D! leaned backwards, allowing Bison's heels to miss him. D! then pulled his hand into the air and slammed it into the ground, creating a Soul Flower around himself and sending Bison flying away.
Bison quickly uprighted himself and flew at D!. Catching the boxer off guard, Bison wrapped a hand around D!'s neck, flew towards the wall and slammed him into it.
"Now for me to do what I should have done when you challenged me in the first place." Bison hissed.
"And what's that?" D! asked, getting short on breath.
"Break you scrawny neck." Bison replied coldly.
However, before he could do much, something slammed into his back, making him let go of D!. The black boxer slid down the wall for ten feet and landed upright. D! felt his neck painfully and looked at whom had saved him.
"Don't you EVER do that to D!-san again!" Ryoko, whom still had her palms outstretched after firing an energy blast, shouted.
"Ryoko, get out of the way!" D! shouted back, running at her.
Ryoko suddenly saw Bison swooping down at her. D! quickly ran in and pushed her aside, allowing Bison to tackle him instead.
The two fighters rolled for a bit, each throwing punches into the other's face. When they finally stopped, Bison had pinned D! to the ground.
"Maybe killing you isn't such a good idea." Bison said, placing his hand on D!'s forehead. "You would make a good addition to my army."
D! suddenly realized that Bison was about to flood his mind with psycho energy, taking him over. Thinking quickly, D! pulled his foot back and kicked Bison in the head, making him back off.
D! stood up, rushed at Bison and pushed him, shoving the dictator into the chair Ryoko would have been sitting in.
"I can't say it's been fun, Bison." D! said, pulling his hand back. "Because it really hasn't."
Bison's eyes widened. "NO!"
"D! MAGNUM!"
*KA-POW!*
D!'s punch was directed at the container above Bison's machine, which contained the seven essences stolen from the kidnapped kids. The sheer, raw power from D!'s punch caused the container to shatter, making the essences escape and float to the ground. The instant the small orbs of light touched the ground, they vanished into thin air.
And if that wasn't enough, the destruction of the main power source of the machine caused the machine itself to malfunction, and start to sputter. Somehow knowing what was going to happen, D! looked at Ryoko. "We need to get out of here, Ryoko! Come on!" He said.
The two rushed towards the door, which D! gave an R.S.D. to cause it to break off the hinges.
As D! and Ryoko rushed out of the room, Bison's machine collapsed around the evil dictator, burying him in rubble.
(The Arena)
Kasumi and Roll stood away from each other, panting in exhaustion at the fight they were each trying to win. Kasumi looked about ready to collapse, and Roll's energy meter wasn't looking too good, either.
Both of the girls knew that they had to finish the fight soon or else neither of them would be able to continue.
"It's about time I finished the fight." Kasumi said, standing straight and running at Roll.
"Yes. Too bad you're going to finish it by getting eliminated." Roll countered as she charged forward as well.
The two girls clashed for what seemed like the hundredth time. Kasumi swung her palm at Roll, but all she met with was air. Roll quickly kicked the blue-haired girl in the side, knocking her down.
Roll stood over Kasumi. "You are an amazing fighter, Kasumi. I'm sorry to do this, but the fight needs to end." Roll sighed.
"Indeed…Indeed it does." Kasumi nodded as she sprung to her feet, surprising Roll. "The fight will end for you."
Kasumi struck Roll with a couple of palm strike, a few kicks, and finally swept the robot girl off her feet. Roll landed on her back, and was too tired to prevent Kasumi from grabbing her and throwing her into the air.
The audience watched in awe.
Kasumi pulled her hands into the air, mustering up as much power as she could. When she was finally satisfied, Kasumi thrust her hands down one final time, creating an energy wave larger than any of the others she had created throughout the night. Roll fell directly into the wave and found herself getting pelted with energy.
Everyone watched in shock as Kasumi's huge energy wave carried Roll over the ropes and dropped her out of the arena. Everything went in slow-motion for Roll as she fell straight into an elimination portal.
Roll landed on the beach in Sonic Adventure. Extremely thankful that it was peaceful, Roll found herself drifting off the regain her strength as she lay in the sand.
In the arena, everyone was going nuts. Kasumi finally stepped out of her fighting stance and collapsed to her knees in relief and exhaustion.
"There you are, folks!" SSBFreak announced. "The fight is over! I repeat: The fight is over!"
"Ladies and gentlemen," Unknown1 continued. "We present to you, the first-ever champion of the Megamix Tournament…"
"Kasumi Todoh!" Both announcers said as one.
Cameras all across the stands were flashing, taking pictures of the only fighter still in the arena. Kasumi watched as the barrier around the arena shut off, so she stood up, waved to the crowd several times and walked towards the entrance ramp to leave the ring.
And back in Southtown, Ryuhaku Todoh's eyes watered in pride.
RESULTS
KASUMI TODOH (KOF)
(ELIMINATED)
ROLL (MM)
BONUS MATCHES:
"The Final Battle"
HEAVY D! (KOF) takes down M. BISON (SFA3)
"Lilly's Rescue"
JOE HIGASHI (KOF) and SODOM (SFA3) defeat GEESE HOWARD (FF)
"Jan's Rescue"
LUCKY GLAUBER (KOF) dunks RUGAL BERENSTIEN (KOF)
"Iron-Headed Showdown"
CHANG KOEHAN (KOF) crushes RHINO (MC)
"Thai Fighter Fight"
SAGAT (SFA3) saves BRUCE IRVIN (T5)
"Elemental Control"
EIJI KISARAGI (KOF95) burns SETSUNA (LB)
"Cityside Rumble"
JACK (WH) crushes ASH CRIMSON (KOF)
Eliminations: Kasumi Todoh, 1
Elimination Leaders: Billy Kane (8), Rainbow Mika (8), Roll (7), King (7), Kasumi Todoh (6), Xigbar (6), Bruce Irvin (6)