(The Arena)
"Well, Snoopy, you have become the Superstar so you get to choose the next stage!" Drake grinned. "So what will it be?"
The beagle then smirked. "The choice isn't even that hard."
"Oh, really?" Tumble asked, floating over. "What is it?"
Snoopy then told Tumble his request. Garfield and Scooby's eyes widened at this. Tumble then smiled and nodded.
"Alright, I will translate for you to everyone!" Tumble nodded.
"What did he say, Tumble?" The Millennium Star asked.
"He wanted the next stage to be…" Tumble started.
He then took a deep breath.
"Skies of Paris from Snoopy's Grand Adventure!" Tumble explained.
While a good number of people went wild at this, there were others that were confused.
"Um, I am sorry but that is Snoopy's Grand Adventure, let alone Skies of Paris?" The Millennium Star asked.
"Well, Snoopy's Grand Adventure is a platformer based on Blue Sky Studios' The Peanuts Movie." Tumble explained. "Unsurprisingly, you play as Snoopy and just as unsurprisingly, one of the levels has him flying around on top of his doghouse."
Snoopy's smile vanished as he stifled a cough.
"Oh, right, sorry!" Tumble said, sheepishly. "I mean Sopwith Camel."
"Um, okay, but I don't think we will be able to do that." Ashley frowned. "In case you have forgotten, only four of the surviving fighters can fly. Even for this tournament, that is a little too much."
"Well, Snoopy's Grand Adventure has hub areas and Skies of Paris having Snoopy walking on clouds as if he was a pegasus from My Little Pony." Tumble shrugged.
"Ah, in that case, that should be doable." Ashley smiled.
"Very well, Tumble, if you will?" The Millennium Star asked.
"Don't need to tell ME twice!" Tumble offered before fiddling with his own phone.
The Millennium Star nodded his head before spinning around and emitting his light. When the light cleared, the arena changed. The size has absolutely gone back to normal but now the arena has looked like one giant cloud. However, they were also dark clouds flying a little bit from the above.
"Oh, wow! So THIS is how it looks like to walk on the clouds!" Guilmon said with sparkling eyes.
"Yes… But those dark clouds clearly don't look like friendly platforms." Forsburn noted.
"Right you are, Forsburn!" Tumble piped up. "While Snoopy's Grand Adventure is a very easy game, it still has enemies and obstacles and this is no exception! Not only do the dark clouds hurt you, but some even rained down lightning."
"That's all?" Homer asked before scoffing and rolling his eyes. "I got struck by lightning once while it was raining. Sure, it was painful but not THAT much."
Everyone gave Homer weird looks.
"...How are you still alive?" Mewtwo asked.
Rosalina chuckled nervously. "He DOES have a point though. After Sephiroth, dealing with harmful clouds is definitely an upgrade."
Snoopy shook his head before looking around. The beagle's eyes then lit up when he saw a familiar red doghouse standing to the side.
"Like what you see?" The Millennium Star asked.
Snoopy happily nodded. The Millennium Star chuckled before letting go to the ground. The beagle immediately ran off and towards the doghouse before climbing on top of it. He then put on a green aviator's cap with goggles and a red scarf. As he got himself ready, Garfield and Scooby walked over to him.
"I'll see if I can help you from above if I can!" Snoopy offered. "But I think I will be going solo for a while!"
"It is alright. I don't think I wanna ride shotgun on that Sopwith Camel." Scooby offered.
"Yeah, besides, if this is truly based off of Snoopy's Grand Adventure, then they should be jelly beans scattered around." Garfield offered.
Scooby's eyes lit up at this. "Jelly beans? Well, here I thought that the tastiness would end with the last section!"
Snoopy chuckled. "You keep at it. Time to show the multiverse what the World War I pilot could do!"
With that, he turned an invisible knob and made the doghouse rev up. He then took off with the doghouse (and making Garfield and Scooby cover their faces from the impact). With that, Snoopy started to fly around the arena with everyone looking in awe and cheering. Snoopy laughed as he waved one hand to the crowd while keeping his other one on the controls.
"This is perfect! The only thing missing is the Red Baron to show off my skills against!" Snoopy grinned.
"CHARIZARD!" (SSB)
"If Pikachu wasn't the mascot for Pokemon, Charizard would have been. No, seriously, TWO Mega Evolutions, being the ace Pokemon from the 'unbeatable' champion and even having his Gigantamax form in the base game when Blastoise and Venusaur didn't?" Nine asked in disbelief. "WHY? Outside of one of said Mega Evolution, he is not even a dragon! Just a glorified winged lizard!"
The orange winged lizard Pokemon came out to an enormous roar. Charizard smirked at the warm reception before breathing out a stream of fire to appeal to the crowd. He then flapped his wings before setting off into the air.
"Feels kinda weird to finally be a fighter at the Battle of the Luminaries. Sure, in Super Smash Bros, I, along with Ivysaur and Squirtle, were fighting at the commands of Red, but still…" Charizard mused. "Distortion World, I heard the only reason MEOWTH got in was because he apparently did a favour for Xero?"
Shaking his head, he made his way towards Snoopy and his doghouse. Taking in a deep breath, he sent out a stream of fire. Snoopy saw the attack coming and yelped before swerving his doghouse out of the way, narrowly avoiding the attack.
"You maniac!" Snoopy roared, angrily shaking his "free" hand. "Are you trying to have some roast beagle!?"
"Superstar or not, you are acting like you are the king of the sky!" Charizard smirked, crossing his arms. "Maybe the first Flying type in the PokeDex needs to knock you down to reality! Besides, you said that you wanted to fight the Red Baron, right? Well, now you will face the ORANGE Baron!"
Snoopy growled as he swerved his doghouse towards Charizard. "Fan-favourite Pokemon or not, NOBODY is going to ruin this chance for me!"
"GALFORD D. WELLER!" (SS)
"Fun fact: Apparently he, along with Haohmaru and Nakoruru, were supposed to be King of Fighters 95 but the idea got scrapped and with Nakoruru technically getting in." Nine said before smirking. "Obviously the team came out in XV, but he got replaced by Darli Dagger. Imagine being in SamSho from the start and having your spot taken by a rookie!"
The blond, blue-clad American ninja winced before glaring at the Announcer's Booth with his husky companion, Poppy, growling.
"...I am still in awe that a vampire enabled that witch to say whatever she wants to the fighters." Galford muttered.
Fortunately, he immediately felt better the moment he heard the cheering crowd and got his confidence back. Letting out a big grin, he dashed down the ramp at alarming speed with Poppy running by his side and matching his speed before leaping in together. Once in, he used his hand as a visor to scan the arena.
"It seems that all six villains in the last section were eliminated." Galford noted. "It just goes to show that evil will never win!"
Poppy happily barked.
"However, we cannot let our guard down now!" Galford scolded. "There are always villains in the wings! So we just have to bide our time before they come in!"
Poppy nodded her head before she and Galford sat down to the side.
"COLETTE BRUNEL!" (ToAS)
"...Okay, I've seen a lot of clumsy girls in my lifetime. I should know, I am Noel's nodal companion." Nine said before slapping her forehead. "But how the hell do you manage to trip when FLYING a couple of feet off of the ground with your WINGS? Shouldn't getting them make you even less clumsy?"
The blonde angel just looked up at the Announcer's Booth in confusion. "Oh, yeah, I guess I SHOULD be less clumsy, shouldn't I?"
Other than that, she didn't let Nine's comment get to her and all before looking up the Elimination Seating. There, she saw Mignon,Zelos and Emil cheering for her. Colette smiled and waved before making her down the ramp.
"Lloyd isn't in the Elimination Seating. I wonder what he is doing." Colette mused.
With that, she flapped her wings and soared high into the air.
"Hey, that witch is right! This IS easier than tripping every day!" Colette said in awe. "I don't see the downside!"
"Hey, kid, look out!"
Colette blinked twice before looking down at the arena. Only for a red blur to zoom past her and send her spinning. Then, a larger, orange blur came past her and made her spin even faster. Snoopy and Charizard looked back with apologetic looks.
"Sorry!" Snoopy and Charizard shouted before continuing their chase.
Soon, Colette stopped spinning with a dizzy look on her face.
"O-O-Oh, maybe I should stay on the ground for a bit and risk tripping." Colette groaned.
"And now, Mystery Fighter… Number… THIRTY!"
"ADELEINE & RIBBON!" (Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards)
Kirby's eyes lit up before looking up to see the dark-haired artist girl and the pink-haired red-clad fairy standing outside of the Ready Room as the theme to the first level of their debut played through the speakers. However, a few seconds later, Ribbon immediately flew on ahead, startling Adeleine.
"H-Hey, wait up!" Adeleine pleaded before chasing off Ribbon while carrying her paintbrush and palette. "We are a duo fighter, remember?"
Needless to say, the first thing Ribbon did when she was in the ring was tackle Kirby in a big hug.
"Oh, Kirby, I was SO happy that we got to enter this tournament together!" Ribbon cheered.
The puffball smiled before returning the hug. By this time, Adeleine finally ran over and joined the hug.
"I never thought we would join forces with each other outside of Star Allies." Adeleine said.
"Or that we will end up in the same section as each other!" Ribbon agreed.
Adeleine's smile suddenly vanished as she went wide-eyed.
"Wait, about that…"
Kirby and Ribbon looked confused before looking up at Adeleine.
"...Didn't it seem like we were supposed to enter much later, Ribbon?" Adeleine asked.
"I guess…? I had a feeling that we would only come out a couple of sections later at the most." The fairy shrugged.
"Even still, it felt like we would be double-teaming… Well, triple-teaming with Kirby much later." Adeleine pointed out.
Ribbon paused at this. Kirby looked at each other in confusion.
"...Well, as long as we are teaming up with each other, I suppose it doesn't, does it?" Adeleine shrugged.
"Agreed." Ribbon said before looking at Kirby. "Right, Kirby?"
"Poyo!" The pink creature cheered.
"SILVER THE HEDGEHOG!" (StH)
"Blah blah blah! Sonic 06 sucks! Blah blah blah! Silver's boss fight in said game was annoying!" Nine said, rolling her eyes. "But real talk though… Even if Sonic 06 was actually good, I don't think Silver's L list would be shorter. Seriously, how many times has his future been threatened and he has to go back in time to fix it? Might as well give up and just hang out in the present. Well, OUR present."
(And every night)
(I lay awake)
(And I find no conclusion)
('Cause every night)
(It just stays the same)
(In my dream of an absolution)
The white-furred hedgehog came out to a mixed reaction, though the negative side has definitely calmed down in later years. Letting out a deep sigh while Dreams of an Absolution played through the speakers. Suddenly, a light green light around his body, he floated up before making his way towards the arena.
Once in, he made his way over to Mewtwo. The psychic feline looked up with a non-existent raised eyebrow.
"So this is the infamous Silver?" Mewtwo mused. "I must say, despite seeing each other, I think this is the first time we ever interacted at these things."
"I actually feel the same thing. Sonic and Shadow told me about you." The hedgehog mused. "I must confess that I am curious to test my skills against a fellow psychic."
"Really? Ness told me that you literally just spammed that one more when HE fought him." Mewtwo reminded.
Silver winced. "I-I confess that may be true. But over the years, I learned more moves."
"I should hope so for your sake." Mewtwo said before smirking. "Because if you tried that 'It's No Use' strategy on me, I will just use it and do it better."
Silver merely let out a deep sigh.
"CLAIREN!" (RoA)
"Isn't Rivals of Aether supposed to be more fantasy-based fighting? Having a character from a dystopian dark future seems like jumping the gun." Nine admitted, scratching the side of her head. "I just think that whoever created Clairen just likes lightsabers and made her appearance first and lore later."
The black-furred panther breathed in and out before reading her magenta plasma sword. She then immediately rushed down the ramp before leaping into the arena without a second thought and making her way over to Forsburn. The hyena saw her coming.
"Ah, Clairen!" Forsburn greeted.
"It is nice to see that you are still in the ring, Forsburn." The panther nodded. "I thought for sure those grapplers would have eliminated you."
"Yes, I really owe that red mage." The pyromancer sighed.
"Indeed. Say, can we double-team?" Clairen asked.
"I don't see why not. Our node needs the eliminations and it is rare for two people from our node to show up in the same section." Forsburn nodded.
"Oh, I am so grateful to hear that, Forsburn!" Clairen smiled. "Let's make our node proud!"
"Yes." The hyena said, smiling as well. "Hmm… I definitely never met Clairen before she appeared in our node, but at the same time, she feels so… Familiar."
"Finally, I have gotten the chance to fight alongside my grandfather instead of AGAINST him." Clairen thought. "Even though I have bigger things to worry about, I still want to at least have this chance."
(Dome; Ladies Restroom)
"AND STAY OUT, YOU PERVERT!"
Barbatos Goetia glared behind him as he exited the ladies' room.
"Alright, alright, not like there were any clues of the item shop in there, anyway." Barbatos muttered.
"Why would the entrance to an ITEM SHOP in a LADIES' RESTROOM!?"
"That's what the cast of Danganronpa V3 thought and that thinking got thirteen people killed!" Barbatos retorted.
"Ugh, first, that flaming spectre and now this!? Just quit with the lame excuses and just say you wanted to see us pee!"
Barbatos rolled his eyes. "Women…"
As much as he hated to admit it though, he DID feel a little silly thinking that the item shop would be in the women's bathroom. However, at this point, Barbatos has already gone over every other location in the Crossover Dome.
"As much as I hate to admit it, but Mel has certainly gotten smarter since the last Battle of the Luminaries." Barbatos muttered before growling. "She better be when I get done with her."
He was about to go look somewhere else until he saw something from the corner of his eye. Seeing this, his eyes widened at this.
A Star Piece.
"Isn't that one of those accursed Star Pieces Dhaos and the others were using?" Barbatos asked before growling. "Ugh, it is like that one appeared just to piss me off!"
He then made his way over to the Star Piece before getting out his axe. He then raised it over his head and swung it down onto it.
However, the moment the axe collided with the Star Piece, it emitted a large light.
FLASH!
Barbatos found himself flying backwards and crashing into a wall, peeling off of it. He groaned before looking up. To see the Star Piece floating up. It then went and zoomed off. Barbatos blinked twice at this.
He then growled.
"...If I didn't think the Item Shop was cursed before."
(Dome; Recovery Room)
"And that is what happened. Or at least what Yuri and the others told us." Whip concluded.
Needless to say, Otane's group, along with Kula, Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Larcen started with wide eyes and a slack jaw.
"Wait… This whole time… Bison never really wanted to give us a chance?" Otane asked.
"It's all true. I was there." Magilou piped up, putting her hands behind her back. "In fact, it was HIM and his cronies that gave US the list on who is with whom."
"But… But… We worked so hard…" Otane said in awe.
"Yeah, tell it to someone who cares." Yamazaki said. "Just saying: If the person who you did all of this doesn't care, why should anyone else?"
Otane's group, especially Otane and Krizalid, looked in disbelief at this.
"So wait a minute…" Krizalid said before narrowing his eyes. "You mean to tell me that Bison was USING us!?"
"As much as I hate going to bat for Bison, you can't use someone why they clearly want nothing to do with you." Ralf shrugged.
"Are you fucking serious!?" Krizalid roared.
"D-Dude, calm down!" Moe pleaded.
"No, this is bullshit!" Krizalid snapped. "I do not accept this invitation to this stupid tournament only to have all of my hard work thrown back in my face!"
"Hard work towards a megalomaniac dictator…" Whip muttered.
"H-Hey, it is not like that!" Otane insisted. "The plan was to see what Bison's, and by extension, EVERY MAIN VILLAIN'S main source of getting power at these things are wrong. Instead of taking power from others, we will have to GIVE to us from the support of the crowd!"
Guy looked on in disbelief. "...And you expected it to WORK?"
"I mean I know that it is normally a tall order with his track record at these things, he will try anything to get power at least once." Otane frowned.
"...I mean I get what you are trying to say, but…" Yuri said.
"But Bison doesn't CARE! Not even his own goal: Gain power!" Krizalid snapped. "Despite both teams fighting for HIS sake, he doesn't care as long as HE gets to be in control! He is nothing more than a spoiled brat!"
"...I mean, he is not wrong." Isla winced.
"That's it! I had it! I am out of here!" Krizalid snapped before getting up from his cot and stomping over.
"B-B-But you are not fully recovered!" Mint pleaded.
"Tch, I literally have been through worse!" Krizalid scoffed. "Case and point: Right now!"
"And Tiny and friends still need to find Joe!" Tiny added.
"I don't fucking care! It is as Yamazaki said! Bison doesn't care! So why should I?" Krizalid snapped before stomping towards the door.
"Several of our allies are being held by the security team." Elliana said.
"What allies? We only came together for one goal! And seeing that it is pointless, I see no reason to work with them anymore!" Krizalid snapped.
"But Krizalid…" Otane started.
"NO!" The white-haired man roared, startling everyone. "There is no point for us to do ANYTHING! Seriously, if what the hero group says is true, then despite Oume gaining nothing, they didn't do ANYTHING! Not even the UVR Champions!"
Said hero team, especially the champions, winced at this.
"Hell, YOUR hero team didn't do anything either, Seirah!" Krizalid snapped. "You didn't save Ralf and Maxima! Barbatos and Scorpion did! And they were merely trying to do their own unrelated selfish goals! Oh and Sub-Zero and Larcen didn't count because they spent the entire time being Scorpion's bitches! Which makes YOU guys THEIR bitches!"
The aforementioned people narrowed their eyes at this.
"Um, rude?" Scorpion asked.
Krizalid shook his head. "This is pointless… Everything… Is pointless…"
With that, he walked off towards the entrance. However, Whip suddenly ran in the entrance before looking out her hands with a stern glare. At first, Krizalid was startled but then he narrowed his eyes.
"Let me guess. Had to get one more lecture in." Krizalid scoffed.
"No… I want you to fight me." Whip said.
This took everyone off-guard.
"E-Excuse me?" Krizalid asked.
"You heard me. I wish for you to fight me." Whip said, getting out her namesake weapon.
"W-What are you going on about!?" Krizalid asked before narrowing his eyes. "I am not going to help any more villains! What is the point of fighting each other!?"
"Krizalid has a point." Lloyd frowned, stepping forward. "Especially since…"
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning his head, he turned to see Ralf shaking his head with a solemn look.
"I know you, Krizalid…" Whip said, sternly. "The Krizalid I know wouldn't just abandon his allies just like that!"
"The Krizalid YOU know!" The white-haired man asked before letting out a mirthless laugh. "News flash: There IS a Krizalid you know! His name is K'!"
"K' is K' and you are you!" Whip insisted.
"You sure didn't make me feel that way the last time we met!" Krizalid roared. "Now get out of the way!"
"No… I have to knock some sense into you…" Whip said, sternly.
"Oh! NOW you want to pretend that you are my sister!" Krizalid roared. "Fine, I will fight you! Just to let you know! I will NOT hold back for strangers!"
"Then, let's take it outside. There has already been a fight inside of here. Whip said, sternly.
She then looked at everyone else who all looked stunned.
"I know that this is hard to ignore, but focus of getting up to Oume's team." Whip offered.
"She is right! They are the only ones that know the antidote!" Hinako piped up.
"IS there an antidote?" Yamazaki asked, raising an eyebrow. "If Junko created it, she wouldn't want a way to reverse it!"
"But considering how insane her logic is, maybe there IS?" Tiny asked, scratching his head. "I dunno. Only SHE knows what is up with her mind."
"Right! Let's go!" Genjuro said, looking at Haohmaru. "Well, Haohmaru, are we leaving?"
The ronin paused. "No…"
Genjuro, along with several people, were taken back by this.
"I'll just kill Oume's group on sight." Haohmaru muttered. "I'll just slow you down."
"Yeah, I don't trust myself to restrain my anger either." Geese sighed. "Yamazaki, Ripper, Hopper…"
The other champions slowly agreed. Guy on the other hand frowned.
"Well, I…" Guy started.
Then, Drake's voice interrupted him.
"Attention: Could Guy come to the Recovery Room?"
The ninja's eyes widened at this. "Oh, right, I have to enter the arena."
"What are you going to do, Guy?" Veemon frowned.
He paused for a moment. He then sighed.
"I will go. Oume's group may be long gone so I might as well focus on hoping that I will run into one of them."
"Good idea…" Claude nodded.
With that, Guy exited the Recovery Room. So did Whip and Krizalid have their fight. Moe, Tiny, Elliana and Reptile looked at Otane.
"Otane…?" Tiny asked, concerned.
"I… I don't know what is going on anymore…" The elderly woman said.
(The Arena)
"LIEN NEVILLE!" (KoFAS)
"And here we have the no-nonsense assassin of Maximum Impact. Stealthily coming in and killing her foes without any knowing until it was too late." Nine said. "And yet he nearly got killed by Billy Kane in the OVA and her main weapon is a big-ass SATELLITE BEAM."
The blonde yellow-clad assassin came out to an enormous cheer from the men. However, she didn't pay them any mind as she gave a cool look before making her way down the ramp.
"I heard from the grapevine that Jivatma was hanging out in the KoF locker room all night. I wonder what happened seeing that he was involved with the villain plots at the last two tournaments." Lien mused. She then scoffed. "Eh. None of my business. Time to show everyone how lucky they are that Drake banned the killing rule."
Suddenly, the static came out of all of the screens, startling everyone.
"W-What the!?" Mewtwo gasped.
Then, a familiar figure appeared on the screen.
"Heyo! This is Cole MacGrath! You may know me from my game, InFamous, the crossover Playstation platform fighter, Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale and even my cameo in Street Fighter X Tekken!" The figure greeted. He then paused. "Well, maybe that last one is not something to gloat about but some people definitely had it worse."
Pacman shuddered at this.
"Well, y'all probably are confused why I am suddenly hijacking the screens. Well, don't worry, it is not because I am imitating Junko or anything. Hell, I was in the hero group in the Tournament of Kikai." Cole corrected. "You see I am the electrician at this tournament. Actually, I was the electrician at the last tournament too!"
He then took a deep breath.
"Well, I am in charge of the lights. Obviously. And even though I am only doing this for one night, I intend to take this job seriously." Cole explained before frowning. "Also, you could expect how scared I was when I found out that Pichu was making the lights flicker on-and-off, along with the power outage at the third Megamix Tournament."
Everyone winced at this.
"What I am trying to say is that I refuse to let anything like that happen and I will protect the lights with my life!" Cole said, sternly.
He then looked annoyed before holding out some kind of device.
"In other words, if you want to 'request backup', please don't rig the arena lights." Cole muttered.
Lien's pupils shrank at this.
"...So yeah. Sorry about that. That is all I needed to say." Cole said before grinning. "Bye!"
With that, the screens went back to normal. Everyone blinked twice at this.
Then, half of the dome laughed, startling the rest, along with Lien. The assassin in question continued to look stunned with her face turning a deep red. She then gritted her teeth before stomping down the ramp and stepping in before making her way in. She then made her way over to the nearest person which was Colette.
"Wait… I am confused." Colette said, tilting her head.
"You remember how I rigged one of my arena lights so I could use my satellite beam move from the last Battle of the Luminaries?" Lien roared. "I did the same thing as this tournament but that ass not only unrigged it and proceeded to gloat to me about it! In front of the entire multiverse!"
"I mean, what Cole was being mean but I kinda see why he did that." Colette frowned. "What you did was cheating?"
"Oh, so THAT is cheating but having a robot inside of the bottom of the arena or a fighter in one of the corner posts ISN'T!?" Lien roared.
Colette paused, blinking twice. "Oh, right. The rules have certainly become more lax overtime."
Lien growled before charging forward.
"EMPEROR VELO XXVII!" (CB)
"Wait, isn't that the Fake Velo? Sure, after having Oxide and the CNK bosses, it only makes sense to have the Big Bad of Crash Nitro Kart himself." Nine muttered. "But why this fake form? When Real Velo was playable in the original Nitro Kart."
Suddenly, Drake whispered in Nine's ear.
"Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Oh, well, I suppose I can't argue with THAT." Nine said before looking back at the arena. "Apparently Velo is in his 'Emperor' form because his real form can't hold his staff."
The heavyset green-skinned purple-clad alien came out to a large mixed reaction. However, he actually enjoyed BOTH aspects of the reaction and used his free hand to wave to the crowd while holding his staff with his other hand. With his large (and mechanical) frame on top of his purple hoverbike, he then rode it down the ramp and made his way into the ring.
However, the moment he got in, Galford and Poppy then rushed forward.
"And where do you think you are going, villain!?" Galford snapped.
"I am going to enter the tournament. Just like everyone else." Velo said before laughing. "I hope that you will not be as slow in your skills as you are in your head! Even though I will still be faster, I'll draw the line at a slow ninja."
"Shut up! You abduct people, force them to race for you and if they fail to beat you, you will destroy their home planet!" Galford snapped. "Heck, you do it anyway!"
Poppy growled at this.
"So? Life is a race! All that matters is first place! Anything else is for losers!" Velo scoffed.
Galford then smirked. "Oh, so you are admitting that you are a loser? Twice?"
Velo's smirk vanished at this. "You will pay for that low blow."
"BAYONETTA!" (SSB)
"As much as I wish to praise a fellow bad bitch who doesn't give a crap who or what they come across, man, are there a lot of things to roast about her!" Nine said, rolling her eyes. "First, she is hated in Smash 4 for being the most broken character. Next, she is disliked for the complete OPPOSITE being one of the weaker characters. Oh, and don't even get me started about all of the controversy around Bayonetta 3!"
(A hundred miles away, I feel your heart)
(It beats for me, we can never be apart)
(This is the time I knew)
(I knew you could be the only one to)
(Come and take away darkness)
The dark-clad Umbra Witch came out to an enormous cheer (especially from the men). Bayonetta, being Bayonetta, didn't let what Nine said bother her and waved to the crowd while sporting her look from her third game while also having said theme from said game playing. She then made her way down the ramp.
"I must say, the UVR hosts always have a way to keep things from getting too stagnant." Bayonetta mused. She then smirked. "But for me, some things never change and I already know what to do, even with this new gimmick."
With that, she summoned butterfly wings on her back and flew into the ring. She then got out a purple pistol (also from the third game) and aimed to fire at Colette.
Only for the angel to suddenly trip and hit Lien instead. After the assassin was bombarded with magic bullets, she staggered back in pain before glaring at the guilty party.
"Hey! How dare you interrupt my fight!?" Lien roared.
"Whoops, clumsy me." Bayonetta shrugged, still keeping her confident smirk. "I was aiming for…"
Suddenly, Colette grabbed Bayonetta's free hand.
"Oh, thank you for coming to protect me!" Colette smiled. "Even though the assassin has every right to be angry, I don't want to deal with her alone!"
Bayonetta blinked twice. "Um, I am glad you appreciate my 'help', but I was…"
"So you think that just because I got humiliated by that stereotypical 'realistic' protagonist, that means I am going to be a punching bag!" Lien roared.
"I mean, I do." Bayonetta said before frowning. "But in this case, I wasn't…"
"Well, while I don't disagree with what you said, I am still grateful for the help!" Colette smiled. "Come on! Let's do our best together!"
"You know what!? You wanna double-team me!? Fine!" Lien snapped. "Just makes my win over your bimbos even greater!"
Bayonetta blinked twice before looking at the nearest Lakitu.
"...So this is what it feels like to be the one without ANY type of retort."
(Eliminated Seating)
"...I mean, I am glad that Colette is more or less safe for now." Emil said before frowning. "But how did she manage to get one of the biggest anti-angel people of all time as a temporary ally because of ONE trip and fall?"
Zelos rolled his eyes. "Emil, buddy, even I do not know. And I make it my business to know everything about women."
(The Arena)
"And now, Mystery Fighter… Number… THIRTY-ONE!"
"YOKO 'YOYO' KISHIBOJIN!" (Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring)
The brunette high-school interpol agent scratched the back of her head with a confused look on her face. While most of the crowd were just as confused as her, there were a relatively small number of people cheering for her.
"...I could have sworn that according to the grapevine, my draw is closer to Cloud's own. Not Sephiroth." Yoko mused. "Sure, they are more similar than they look to admit, but still there is no way anyone could miss the two of them up."
She then shrugged before getting out her weapon-of-choice: A yoyo. She then proceeded to do a series of tricks with it in an attempt to hype up the crowd. This only had a moderate success, but it was more than enough to make her nod her head in triumph before making her way into the ramp.
Once in, Rosalina & Luma floated over to her with the former speaking up. "Yoko 'Yoyo' Kishibojin? Are you one of those Ehrgeiz people Cloud and Sephiroth told me about?"
The brunette's eyes widened at this. "Wait, Cloud and Sephiroth actually talked about us?"
"Yes, believe it or not, Cloud isn't an 'edgelord' most of the time and Sephiroth can be surprisingly civil if you are not in his way." Rosalina explained before rolling her uncovered eye. "Though the stereotypes become real when they are in the same room together."
"Oh, trust me… I KNOW…" Yoko muttered before brightening up. "But yeah, I thought because Cloud and Sephiroth had been in so many crossovers after Ehrgeiz, I thought for sure that they would forget about us!"
"Well, seeing that I more or less know who you are, it seems that you are mistaken." Rosalina giggled. "Care to show me what us Nintendo characters are missing?"
Yoko smirked before reading her yoyo. "Oh, trust me! I want to show everyone what our node could do!"
(Announcer's Booth)
"...Do I have to ask Nine to burn you again, Drake?" Ashley muttered.
"What? She managed to rearrange everything without any consequences." The vampire shrugged.
"Oh yeah, just like how she did with Danglars and Tybalt!" Ashley snarked. "Seriously, Orange-Ratchet had to reboot them when even she did!"
"Alright, alright, I know you don't fully trust her and frankly, so do I!" Drake insisted, holding up his hands in defence. "But I HAVE to do this!"
"Do you?" Nine asked.
"Of course! A sneak peek for the second Tournament of Kikai has been announced!" Drake explained.
"I must admit that while I am still wary of your decision, I could see why you are so excited!" Ashley admitted with a smile.
"I still can't believe that Orange-Ratchet is letting Xero be the main host after what happened at the Tournament of Kikai." Nine muttered.
"To be fair, I heard that Maki, Della and the former's friends will be choosing the security team this time around." Ashley admitted. "So there is that."
"And with Kirby and Ehregeiz showing up as two of the new nodes, I KNEW that I had to take HER suggestion and have her rearrange so that Adeleine & Ribbon and Yoko show up next!" Drake grinned. "I mean what matters is to have a sneak peek on what would be the main fighters just like Ranno."
"But THAT is just coincidental." Ashley pointed out.
"Even still, I do not doubt that Ranno and the rest of Rivals of Aether appreciate him getting invited." Drake said.
"...I have to ask though. Do you think that our second Disney Mystery Fighter will show up in the main tournament?" Ashley asked.
"I mean I don't know how the new Disney node will fully work, but if said Mystery Fighter doesn't get in, I would be surprised." Drake admitted before sighing. "It is a shame that they wouldn't get the same treatment that Adeleine, Ribbon and Yoko are getting."
"It can't be helped. Not only did we invite them because of a certain main fighter, but unless it was a Reserve Mystery Fighter, it is extremely rare for THREE Mystery Fighters to enter." Ashley shrugged. "MY problem is how we will be doing the recap show if the tournament is coming in midsummer."
"Oh, I don't think it will be too hard." Drake offered. "If we could juggle doing the recap show for the last legs of the Tournament of Kikai AND the preparations for this tournament, nothing is impossible. And besides, in the worst case scenario, we'll just ask HER to help."
Ashley slumped his arms. "Okay… I know that we have to accept her and she is definitely leagues better than Junko, I think you are WAY too accepting of her and her actions!"
Nine blinked twice. "...Okay, you lost me after Ranno."
(The Arena)
"ESTELLISE 'ESTELLE' SIDOS HEURASSEIN!" (ToAS)
"You know, I don't think people will mind the sheltered princess protagonist trope if she appeared in the earlier Tales games." Nine mused. "However, Estelle not only showed up in a 'modern' game but Vesperia had one of the least traditional Tales heroes in the entire series, topped over by Velvet!"
The pink-haired princess just frowned as she held a staff in one hand and a shield in the other. It wasn't because of Nine's roast (in fact, Estelle felt like she was getting off easy in comparison to the fanbase) but rather what was happening OUTSIDE of the arena.
"A mixture of a poison and a Life Bottle that makes you have a painful death and get revived, only to have that painful death as well…" Estelle said, disturbed. "Only Junko Enoshima could think of something as twisted as that. Good thing Yuri isn't here, otherwise he would have choice 'words' for Oume's group."
She then stepped into the ring and looked over. Then, Pacman made his way over to her while in his classic form before changing back.
"Oh, hello, Pacman!" Estelle greeted. "Even though you camoe'd in a lot of our node's games, it is weird that we rarely interacted with you. You would think that there was a small chance that you would at least appear in Project X Zone."
The mascot of Namco being shrugged.
"Well, as long as you are here." Estelle offered before wielding her staff like a rapier. "Is it alright that we will fight? I want to see the legendary Pacman in action!"
Pacman just gave his iconic smile while giving a thumbs-up.
"Splendid, surely I would be able to create at least one picture book about this!" Estelle smiled.
"MIRA FALLEGEROS!" (KI)
"In hindsight, I am surprised that it took us until 2013 to get a vampire in the game. Especially since we already have a werewolf and a skeleton pirate." Nine muttered. "Maybe because vampires are some of the most basic creatures that not even Rare could make anything interesting with until they had more resources to work with."
Drake paused. "...I somehow feel that I am also being roasted as well."
"Oh, good. Because you are." Nine smirked.
The gothic dark-haired vampire (and Maya's long-lost sister) glared up at the Announcer's Booth, not knowing who to turn her ire towards more: Drake or Nine. Shaking her head in hopelessness, she made her way down the ramp.
"I must say that I am glad that whoever tried to kill Drake, only tried to do it once." Mira mused. "If I lose my chance just like Terry Bogard, trust me, blood WILL be spilt."
Then, she turned into a grey liquid-like mist and made her way down the ramp. Once in, she got into her visible form with a small splatter of the same grey liquid. Yukiko saw this and looked confused.
"Hm? What is that weird liquid around you?" Yukiko asked, getting Mira's attention.
"Oh, it is my blood." The vampire smirked.
Yukiko gasped at this. "Wait, you mean you use BLOOD MAGIC!?"
"Well, it is not technically magic, but otherwise yes." Mira answered, shrugging her shoulders.
"Ooh, so that means you could weaponise your nosebleeds?" Yukiko asked.
Needless to say, Mira's smirk vanished. "...What?"
"Weaponize your nosebleeds! It is alright if you can't do so, but it would be nice if I could meet one person that is able to do so!" Yukiko explained.
Mira blinked twice before narrowing her eyes. "And here I am assuming that I will be very picky about my first blood victim!"
"NAOTO KUROGANE!" (BB)
"...Okay, look, I am a Blazblue character and even I know that my node is fucking weird. But whose bright idea is to have an alternate universe where a Stock Shonen Hero was the main character of Blazblue." Nine muttered. "Hardly Ragna could be considered a Stock Shonen Hero too, but still…"
The brown-haired high-school student wasted no time rushing down the ramp (though he did take the time to spin around once and waving to the crowd) and rushed into the ring with a second thought. He then sent his fist into Mira's face, sending her sprawling back.
Mira recovered before glaring at the guilty party. "And WHAT was THAT for?"
"Yukiko and I may be representing different nodes, but after Blazblue Cross Tag Battle, our nodes became as close as actual nodal companions." Naoto gloated.
"What kind of gloat is THAT?" Mira asked in disbelief. "Of course your nodes will be as close as nodal companions! Half of your node wants to kill each other!"
Naoto winced with his face turning red. "E-Even still, I am not letting you hurt Yukiko!"
Mira was about to retort until she sensed something. "...Question. Do you wield blood as a weapon?"
Naoto got into a defensive stance. "Y-Yeah, what's it to you?"
"...Do not misunderstand. I still wish to make you pay for attacking me." Mira said before smirking. "Though I admit that this is a blessing in disguise."
"Oh dear… Maybe if you somehow learned how to weaponise your nosebleeds, you shouldn't do it here." Yukiko frowned.
Naoto gave an exasperated look. "...Please stop asking hemomancers about weaponizing nosebleeds."
Mira's eyes bugged out at this. "Wait… I am far from the first victim of such foolishness!?"
"You have NO idea…"
(Dome; Security Team Room)
"Look, Athena, I get why you are doing so, but you know fully well that it is dangerous to go alone!" Carmelita scolded, talking on the phone.
"I am sorry, Carmelita, but the more we waste time with Otane's group, the more time we will waste on investigating the garlic attack and Terry Bogard's murder!" The attorney insisted.
"Even still, it is too dangerous!" The Interpol agent reminded. "There is a reason why we always have at least one security team member going with you!"
"Don't worry, I was just interviewing a few people in the crowd and I just finished interviewing someone in the Elimination Seating." Athena reassured.
"...I still stand by what I said, but as long as you are there, did you get any results?" Carmelita asked.
"Well, I got a lead, but I have to do research on the previous tournament to see if I am right." Athena offered.
"Well, whatever you do, STAY THERE." Carmelita scolded. "Regardless of whether you think Dingodile is innocent or not, the people behind the garlic attack and Terry's murder may come after YOU!"
"Alright, alright, I am sorry. I will stay put." Athena sighed.
"Good. We will be right there! I mean it! Carmelita out!" The Latina scolded.
With that, she and Athena hung up on each other with the former, holding her head in frustration while the rest of the security team, the Babylon Rogues and Wario looked at her.
"...Why did Athena get invited here again?" Wave asked.
"Hell if I know. Even Ashley nearly got into a fight with Drake about it until Athena had to calm him down." Carmelita muttered.
Wave's eyes widened. "Really? Athena managed to smooth Ashley over?"
"Well, not exactly smooth him over, but reassure him that she will be fine." Carmelita said.
"Uh-huh, uh-huh…" Wave nodded. "And other than right now, there is rarely a moment where she is alone, right?"
By this time, Carmelita was starting to get suspicious. "Um, yes, that is true."
"So have she been in any fights so far?" Wave asked.
This was the part EVERYONE was starting to look confused.
Carmelita then narrowed her eyes. "What are you hoping to accomplish?"
"I am just saying: All of the other security team members have already fought." Wave reminded. "Gabe fought one of the culprits, Naesala, Horkeukamui and Pepper fought Pepper and you fought Wario."
"Okay, time out." Pepper said, making a T with her hands. "What are you trying to accomplish?"
"Sorry, but I am actually with her on this one." Jet frowned.
"Yeah, of course, Athena didn't fight anyone!" Storm insisted. "That's because she CAN'T fight!"
"...Is Storm right, Carmelita?" Wave asked.
"Yes… But I fail to see how this is related to ANYTHING." The Interpol agent scolded.
"Au contraire, it is related!" Wave pointed out. "Though somewhat unrelated to THIS tournament."
Everyone blinked twice at this.
"...If you-a have a point, make it instead of taking us around in circles." Wario muttered.
"Alright, let's review: Athena is not known for doing direct fighting and being invited as a security team member is simply laughable. As such, she is the only security team member so far to NOT get into a fight." Wave explained. "Now who else does that remind you of?"
"Psymon Stark?" Storm piped up.
Wave paused. "...Okay, who ELSE does that remind you of?"
"Dick Gumshoe?" Jet asked.
Wave's eyebrow twitched. "...Who ELSE?"
"Maggey Byrde?" Wario added.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Wave said, throwing up her hands in frustration. "Curse you, SSBFreak, for not having a proper security team in the start!"
Suddenly, Carmelita's eyes bugged out before narrowing them.
"...Wave, if you are assuming what I think you are assuming." Carmelita said.
The swallow looked at Carmelita with a sneer. "Oh, you finally narrowed it down, huh?"
"W-What? What is the correct answer?" Storm asked.
Wave had a glint in her eyes.
"Sans from Undertale!"
Everyone's pupils shrink when they hear this.
"W-Wait, you are not implying…?" Horkeukamui asked.
Pepper narrowed her eyes. "You better not be shitting us…"
"Oh, I am! I think Athena is a mole!" Wave boasted.
Dingodile's anger immediately flared up before he was about to shout. …Until he felt a hand over his mouth. Glaring at the guilty party, he found Dhaos returning said glare.
"You want to inadvertently confirm Wave's theory?" Dhaos scolded.
Dingodile's eyes widened at this before calming down. And by calming down, I mean not shouting.
"Wave the Swallow, you DO know that it is a huge accusation that you are making." Carmelita said, sternly.
"Yeah… I never liked that Athena lady either, but conspiring to murder the host?" Storm added.
"I admit that I was a little shocked to hear that as well." Wave pointed out. "Aside with what I previously mentioned, Athena almost immediately went to bat for Dingodile when she came back."
"Hey, yeah!" Jet said with his eyes widening in realisation. "And she refused to say WHY she is doing so! Otherwise, just like she needed to!"
"Y-Yes, but…" Horkeukamui frowned.
"Also, may I remind you that this isn't the first time that someone got murdered and their killer's accomplice replaced them?" Wave asked.
"N-Now hold on! You and your investigation team said that you found Terry's body wrapped up in a tarp in the closet, right?" Pepper asked. "Xehanort and Marie's bodies were easily found. As if Junko WANTED them to be found!"
"But it's obvious, isn't it? Xehanort's hideout is… Well, a hideout and all of the other villains were off doing various tasks." Wave reminded. "Terry on the other hand, has been in his node's locker room for most of the time and he got killed during the last section before what would be the one he appeared in."
"Yeah, and it would-a be much easier to discover Terry's body if it was at the scene of the crime!" Wario pointed out.
"...But it was easy to disprove that Ace wasn't Terry, anyway." Naesala reminded. "All it took were two people that were familiar with the latter.
"Yeah, Tsugumi Shirogane he is not." Wario nodded.
"Anywayyyyy…" Wave said, looking annoyed by the change of subject. "The final red flag for me is that Athena, despite not supposed to go by herself, went by herself!
"Yeah… According to the DVD that Carmelita showed us of the Tournament of Kikai, Tsugumi left Crunch Bandicoot and Axel in the passage to Junko's hideout." Gabe pointed out. "It was to help further Junko's plans, but because it is SANS she is disguising that, it is very easy to wave it off!"
"Aw, come on! After what happened back then, do you really think that Drake would make a mistake like Xero did?" Horkeukamui challenged.
Everyone gave the wolf weird looks.
"...He literally let a dangerous pink-haired woman with large breasts as an unofficially third host." Wave muttered.
Horkeukamui winced at this. "Those two situations are as different as night and day!"
"I must admit that is technically true, but that doesn't change that Drake should know better than to do a stunt like this, especially off the heels of the Tournament of Kikai." Gabe said, crossing his arms.
Horkeukamui looked at Gabe in horror. "Wait… You don't think that Wave is right, do you?"
"I mean, the more you look at it, the more it makes sense. Even for the sake of argument, Dingodile is innocent. He made it out of his way to be as unhelpful as possible while claiming that he didn't do it!" Gabe said.
Dingodile scoffed before looking away while crossing his arms.
"Not helping is that Athena didn't exactly explain HER reasons too." Naesala frowned.
"Not you too!" Pepper exclaimed.
"A part of me wants to say sorry for doubting Athena, but now that all of the red flags are practically blinding my vision, I am more sorry at myself for seeing them until now." Naesala muttered.
"Yeah, and just like Tsugumi, all of this is just misdirecting us from the real culprits!" Wave exclaimed. "I think she is speaking to them as we speak!"
Horkeukamui and Pepper looked at each other in worry. So did everyone in the cage.
"C-Carmelita, what is your stance on this?" Horkeukamui asked.
Everyone then looked at the vixen who had been silent for a while. She was crossing her arms and closing her eyes. Finally, she opened them.
"...I think we have more reason to leave sooner rather than later." Carmelita said.
"...If she-a is still at the Elimination Seating." Wario muttered.
"Even still, maybe we still have a chance!" Wave offered. "Come on! Let's decide who gets to go with who!"
The others agreed except for Horkeukamui and Pepper who of course looked scared for Athena. So did the people in the cage.
"IF WAVE FULLY CONVINCES CARMELITA AND HAVE ATHENA ARRESTED FOR SUSPICION OF BEING A MOLE, THEN THE CHANCES OF FINDING THE REAL CULPRITS BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE WILL LOWER GREATLY." ARIA frowned.
Dingodile winced.
"Joey… Athena… Please be careful…"
(Dome; Elimination Seating Entrance)
Komodo Joe, still wearing his cloak, stood around a corner so that he wasn't seen by anyone. The last type of people that needed to see him were a bunch of fighters. A few seconds later, Athena exited the Elimination Seating while wielding some kind of script while Joe was hiding.
"Hey, KJ, I got it!" Athena grinned.
The Komodo Dragon raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yeah, just as I thought, she was in here the entire time! It didn't take her that long to give me the script to the second Battle of the Luminaries." Athena smiled.
Joe paused. "Yesssss, about that. Are you sure we will find the potential culprits in said list? SSSSSure, the tournament didn't finish, but it ran for a good sixteen sections. The suspect list should still be enormous."
"Even still, if we could assume that everyone got their kicks from seeing Xero tied to the fireworks in the Tournament of Kikai, the next best chance is whoever did all of this was from the last Battle of the Luminaries." Athena mused.
"Well, at least it is sssssomething." Joe admitted. He then realised something. "Say, where is the sacred ssssscript-keeper, anyway?"
"She is still in the Eliminating Seating." Athena answered.
"And she doesn't even want to come?" Joe asked in awe.
"That is MY reaction, but apparently there is something she has to watch." Athena shrugged. "Anyway, let's start reading. Carmelita and the rest of the security team are coming so we may not have that much time."
Joe nodded his head at this before the two started to look through the script together. Unknown to them, one of the culprits was watching them from the corner the entire time.
"There is a script for the second Battle of the Luminaries? What do they want with that?." They said, blinking twice. "The entire reason why we are doing this plan BECAUSE we never got to be a part of the tournament!"
Then, their eyes bugged out in horror.
"Unless…"
Acting quickly, they summoned a flame in their hands and sent it out in the form of a wave towards the script. However, Joe managed to look up at the last moment and despite obviously being startled, he tackled Athena to the ground which allowed the wave to narrowly miss and hit the wall. Joe and Athena both looked up at the guilty party.
He was a young man in his early twenties with fiery red hair and a matching jacket and pants with a white shirt. The most noticeable thing about him was he had a fingerless glove on his left hand but a metallic glove on the right one.
Athena narrowed her eyes. "H-Hey! What was THAT for!?"
The young man's eyes bugged out at this, realising that he jumped the gun. "Umm… Sorry, Miss Cykes… I was aiming for Komodo Joe."
"Oh yeah? If THAT is the case, then why did HE have to save me from YOUR fire!" Athena snapped.
The young man winced. "It is because… Joe was trying to sneak up on you! I had no time to think!"
Joe looked on in disbelief. "Sneak up on her? We were facing EACH OTHER!"
"E-Even still, you are too dangerous to be left alone." The young man said. "Miss Cykes, come over to my side! It is too dangerous to be near that guy! He will try to destroy your script!"
"Look, I understand how this looks, but…" The yellow-clad woman frowned.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Joe piped up. "How do YOU know that Athena is holding a ssssscript!?"
Athena and the young man's eyes bugged out in realisation.
"Um, well, I mean, I am not a scriptwriter, but the way what Athena is holding looks up, it looks like a script." The young man said.
"And why would a sssssecurity team member be holding a SCRIPT?" Joe challenged.
"Um, well, I watched the DVDs for the Megamix Tournaments and the Tournament of Kikai." The young man insisted. "It is obvious that it is from them!"
"Oh? Well, then please tell me. Who gave me this script?" Athena challenged.
The young man's eyes bugged out at this and his face then started to pale. Athena and Joe just crossed their arms with annoyed looks. Then, the young man's eyes widened in realisation.
"The King of Dinosaurs!" The young man exclaimed.
Athena and Joe both looked stunned at this.
"...What?" Athena asked.
"Yes, despite what he may claim otherwise, he was on the security team from the second Battle of the Luminaries! He must have been given the script from Psymon and Max and he must have been given it!" The young man explained.
Athena and Joe looked at each other in disbelief before narrowing their eyes and looking back at the young man.
"You are with the real culpritssssss, aren't you?" Joe said.
The young man winced.
"Maybe…?"
With that, he wasted no time rushing forward and throwing a flaming punch forward. Athena and Joe yelped before leaping to the side to avoid the blow.
"Athena, run!" Joe shouted.
The attorney looked at Joe in shock. "W-What!?"
"He is after the sssssscript! I don't know how but your theory may be correct!" Joe offered. "Run into the Eliminated Seating! I will try to hold him!"
"We are LITERALLY right outside at least TWELVE sections of fighters!" Athena reminded. "At least one of them could help us!"
"And then what?" Joe asked in disbelief. "Do you really think that they will side with me aka Terry'ssssss MURDERER?"
Athena paused at this, having second thoughts about it. She then nodded her head.
"Just be careful, Joe…" Athena said.
With that, she ran into the Eliminated Seating. The young man just scoffed while igniting a flame in his hand.
"A jobber lizard who only had one direct fight in the entire Crash Bandicoot series?" The young man scoffed. "This will be easy! You and your equally-lame brother should have never had separate slots!"
Joe just growled. "At least I am actually known. Which is more than I could sssssay for YOU."
The young man got angry at this. "Why you! I'll show you that I am a better pick for this tournament than a stereotypical hillbilly boxer or a basic furry-bait wolf twink?"
Joe's eyes bugged out at this.
"A stereotypical hillbilly boxer? A basic furry-bait wolf twink? Aren't they… I HAVE to tell Athena about this!"
(The Arena)
"DUO LON!" (KoFAS)
"Aka someone who is never allowed to shine in KoF because of these reasons. The first one is that he is a character of the Ash saga, an arc where all of the characters revolve around Ash." Nine muttered. "The second reason was because he was connected to Ron. Don't believe me? Do any of you remember Lin? Or how Xiao Lon was the only original character in Regulation A where there is no story mode? Or that Kensou actually had a unique power that Ron is after? Hell, did Ron even show up as a playable character… In ANY show?"
The pale, dark-clad Hisoku assassin didn't look bothered by Nine's roast. He merely looked at the arena, staring intently.
"Other than that alien racer and vampire, there aren't that many people filled with dark auras." Duo Lon mused while walking down the ramp. "This is a pleasant breath of fresh air from the last section."
Despite that, he stepped in and decided to help Galford with Velo. Only to see Homer walking over with a concerned look on his face.
"Um, miss, don't take this the wrong way, but you look sick and you shouldn't enter the arena." Homer frowned.
Duo Lon blinked twice. "I'm… not Ash or Shion. I'm…"
Homer yelped. "What kind of disease makes you look pale and malnourished but also makes your voice deep like a man!?"
Duo Lon just frowned before sending out his arm. Which stretched his arm out and punched Homer in the face, causing the yellow-skinned man to stagger back.
"Your disease made your arms stretch! Okay, first off, awesome!" Homer grinned before looking surprisingly serious. "But I can't have you enter this tournament and inject other people! I don't want to skip eating!"
Duo Lon paused before getting into his stance. Which had his foot out and "bent". Homer yelped.
"Oh, come on! How are you able to make it all of the way to Fictograph City with that bad foot, let alone this arena?" Homer roared.
Duo Lon shook his head. "...Note to self: Just because someone doesn't have a fully-dark aura, that doesn't mean they wouldn't be the biggest hindrance to the arena!"
"LEI-FEI!" (VF)
"CHINNEN!" (PI)
"So basically these are two monks that only got into the practice for shallow reasons, Drake thought it was a good idea to pair these two together!" Nine muttered. "Because no person in religion ever got into it for petty reasons! Nope! Not one person! These two are the sole exceptions!"
"SHH!" Drake scolded. "Do you WANT my phone to be spammed by said religious people!?"
"Well, considering that it is not MY problem, sure, why not?" Nine smirked.
As Drake scolded Nine with the latter actually looking more amused than annoyed, the two bald monks looked up at the Announcer's Booth with mixed results.
"...I always roll my eyes when people say that Drake is smarter than Xero." Lei-Fei said, casting Drake a dark glare. "Like that it is a high bar to cross over."
"I mean you are not wrong." Chinnen shrugged. He then smirked before putting his more bulky arm around Lei-Fei. "But maybe he has a point here. Maybe we are destined to work together!"
The shorter Lei-Fei growled before slapping Chinnen's arm away. "Do not even THINK that you and I are in different leagues."
With that, he stomped off towards the arena. Chinnen frowned before running after him.
"Aw, come on! Why are you acting all high-and-mighty? We both went against the disciplines of monks for power!" Chinnen scolded. "You are no better for you."
Lei-Fei stopped on the ramp before glaring at Chinnen. "It is true that is the one thing we have in common, but that's it! I wish to expand my power while you mostly want it to win money, women and alcohol!"
The larger monk blinked twice. "...I fail to see where this makes a difference."
Lei-Fei let out a roar of frustration before continuing his trek towards the arena. Chinnen just followed after him.
"Look, at least give it a thought!" Chinnen pleaded as the two entered the arena. He then pointed out. "Look, there is a lot of double-teaming for this section!"
Lei-Fei looked up to see Kirby, Adeleine & Ribbon and Forsburn & Clairen facing off against each other. However, he just scoffed.
"That is because they are from the same node." Lei-Fei reminded.
"Oh, because the tabby cat, the Great Dane and the beagle are from the same node!" Chinnen snarked.
"It is obvious that they have met long before this tournament." Lei-Fei corrected.
"But…" Chinnen frowned.
"Look, I do not know what you are hoping to accomplish and frankly, I don't care." Lei-Fei scolded. "I see no reason to team up with…"
POW! BIFF!
That was when both monks were knocked to the ground. As the two sat up while groaning, they looked up to see two long arms retreating behind the Entrance Curtain
"MISANGO!" (A)
"A Mayan-inspired fighter that is the most technical fighter in the game and has a GREEN SCORPION as one of his starting weapons?" Nine asked, scratching the side of her head. "I don't mind Oscar Duarte's content, but what made HIM so great that Nintendo created Misango just to appeal to HIM?"
The Mayan warrior ignored Nine's roast. He merely glared down at the arena with his spirit companion floating by his side and glaring down as well. Particularly at the two monks. He then stepped down as classic Latin American music played through the speakers. Once in, Lei-Fei and Chinnen glared at him.
"And WHAT was THAT for?" Lei-Fei asked.
"I overheard the both of you talking! Even though we have different faiths, I still have found anyone misusing their religions for such superficial things to be unforgivable!" Misango snapped.
"Okay, WOW, fuck off, will ya?" Chinnen scoffed. "Just because the tournament has been more accepting of other characters over the years, that doesn't mean people will want to see a busybody!"
"Maybe I am, but even still I refuse to let you go." Misango said before getting into a stance. "Maybe my poison and my spirit companion will show you can't win a tournament with such superficial goals."
Lei-Fei and Chinnen growled at this.
"Well?" Chinnen asked.
"...Very well. Let's double-team against this pest for now and see where we go from here, but don't make any promises." Lei-Fei said, getting into a stance.
"That is all I am asking for right now." Chinnen said, getting into a stance as well.
"RAIZO IMAWANO!" (RS)
"While not the biggest example, boy, did he guy get hit with the Worf Effect! First off, despite setting him up as the Big Bad, it turns out he was another one of his brainwashed victims to his NEPHEW!" Nine pointed out. "Next, in Project Justice, he got fucked up by Kurow so far that he wasn't playable! Keep in mind, the only other person that didn't get in was Sakura, the GUEST fighter?"
(School's out for summer)
(School's out forever)
(School been blown to pieces)
The bulky white-haired principal didn't know who to turn his attention towards. Nine for her roast or the Sound Booth for making him their victim-of-the-section with Alice Cooper's School's Out.
(No more pencils)
(No more books)
(No more teachers' dirty looks)
Shaking his head in hopelessness, he made his way down the ramp.
"Ugh, it is the first Battle of the Luminaries all over again. If only Tiffany and Edge getting an elimination thus far." Raizo muttered before reading his claw. "Perhaps it is time to show these fighters some discipline to get them to take some seriously!"
He then stepped in the ring. However, once in, Guilmon made his way towards Raizo with a curious look.
"Oh, I assume that you wish to have a fight?" Raizo asked, raising an eyebrow.
Guilmon paused for a moment. He then walked back and forth while examining Raizo. The latter blinked twice in confusion.
"Umm, what are you doing?" Raizo asked.
"You smell like a human." Guilmon finally said.
Raizo's eyes widened at this. "And what is THAT supposed to mean?"
"Well, you would fit more like a Digimon than a human." Guilmon shrugged.
"How dare you!?" Raizo roared. "I am a PRINCIPAL!"
"Ooh, you are! When Takoto and the others called principals monsters, I thought they didn't mean literally!" Guilmon said, slamming his fist into his palm. "Hey, can we fight? I think I've become stronger over the years to finally face a principal."
"With pleasure…" Raizo muttered.
"And now… The final fighter of this section…"
"GUY!" (SFAS)
"Okay, let's be real. If it wasn't for the champion reunion in the Tournament of Kikai, would people remember that he was an UVR Champion?" Nine asked. "Let's review, Haohmaru was not only the first champion, but had the best elimination streak that it created the fatigue mechanic, Geese was the first villain champion showing that even the bad guys win, Kasumi was the first female winner and while Sakura doesn't have the luxury of having Kasumi's status, her win was still impressive in a male-dominant system, Pikachu had the best elimination streak WITH the fatigue mechanic and to be say that Penny was a trendsetter was an understatement. But that does THIS guy bring that the other champions didn't?"
Despite what Nine, the red-clad ninja came out to an enormous cheer. However, he then looked up at the Announcer's Booth after what Nine said. He didn't look angry. He didn't even look upset. He just looked… Contemplative. He then looked at the arena.
"Velo and Mira are villains but we didn't see them when we fought Oume's group so I just have to survive the section…" Guy said. "As selfish as this sounds, but perhaps this is for the best… I have things to think about…"
With that, he ran down the ramp at an alarming speed. He then leapt into the ring, once in before making his way towards Garfield and Scooby who spent the entire time collecting them. However, upon seeing Guy, they jumped at this.
"Pardon me, I understand that you do not wish to immediately start a fight." Guy said before narrowing his eyes. "But this is still a fighting tournament."
Garfield just frowned and "spoke. Scooby blinked twice before looking at Guy.
"He says that Goofy managed to be one of the only people to get two people out at the same time and he was somehow doing NOTHING for most of said section." Scooby corrected.
"I… Suppose that Goofy has made that strategy work." Guy admitted. "But…"
Then, his eyes widened in realisation before looking to the side.
"Even if I said the more traditional way is more effective, does that even apply anymore… What is the right way to fight in this tournament anymore?" Guy thought.
Garfield and Scooby looked at each other in confusion before looking back at Guy.
"Um, Guy?" Scooby asked.
The Japanese man's eyes bugged out before snapping out of his daze. "A-Ah, sorry… Look, regardless of who is right, we are the only ones who aren't fighting each other. THAT much is certain."
Garfield rolled his eyes as Scooby frowned and nodded.
"Even Garfield admits that it is very rare for a fighter in a new section to not have some kind of interaction with… SOMEONE, whether it would be an ally or opponent." Scooby sighed.
"Very well… Then, let's begin…" Guy said.
Then, the three felt a strong wind blowing through them. After instinctually guarding, they looked up to see Snoopy and Charizard still having their aerial cat-and-mouse chase (or lizard-and-dog chase). Everyone may be fighting like they have their head-in-the-clouds but with the first half of the tournament finished, they all know that they have to start fighting to fly closer to the end.