Battle Of The Luminaries 3

by Tinyhammer

Votefic. UVR Spinoff. Cross-Pasted On ArchiveOfOurOwn. After at least a decade when the second tournament was unfortunately been cancelled, the Battle of the Luminaries is finally back with its largest roster yet. Who will win? YOU DECIDE! Also, I WILL NOT TAKE MYSTERY FIGHTER REQUESTS!

34. Section Fifteen Results

(The Arena)

Just like the last section, the arena didn't look like a regular arena. The ring looked like it was replaced by a cloud with much smaller ones around (albeit with dark storm clouds as well) along with a lot of hidden jelly beans. But as always, the fighters were making it anything but tranquil.

Snoopy yelped before swerving his doghouse or rather his Sopwith Camel out of the way of a stream of fire, all while high above the arena. Despite missing his attack, Charizard merely scoffed before flying after Snoopy. The beagle pulled his Sopwith Camel upwards and did a somersault to get behind Charizard. However, the fire Pokemon not only did his own somersault but managed to outspeed Snoopy and crashed into the Sopwith Camel. Snoopy yelped before self-righting himself.

"What the heck!?" Snoopy roared. "How are you so fast!? You are the MIGHTY GLACIER of your trio!"

"First off, I can't be a Mighty Glacier, I am a Fire-type Pokemon." Charizard sneered. "Secondly, I am much faster in the mainline games! So I got power AND speed! At least more than you!

Snoopy growled. "Oh yeah! Well, because of how this tournament works, you don't have Ivysaur and Squirtle!"

Charizard's sneer vanished. "Um, yeah, so?"

Snoopy just smirked before putting his "free" hand to his mouth and whistled.

"WOODSTOCK! REAR GUARD!"

Charizard blinked twice in confusion. Suddenly, he heard the crowd cheering. Looking down, he saw a tiny biplane flying into the sky. On top of said plane was an even more tiny yellow bird. Before Charizard could ask what was going on, a rope with a hook attached to it lunged at the Sopwith Camel.

Then, the tiny bird, Woodstock, then got out some machine guns and started to fire at Charizard, striking him multiple times. The winged lizard cried out in pain.

"Aw, what in the Distortion World!?" Charizard cried out. "Where did Woodstock come from!?"

"If you played Snoopy's Grand Adventure, along with jelly beans, my Beagle Scouts are also part of the many collectibles." Snoopy smirked. "And surprise, surprise, Woodstock is one of said Beagle Scouts!"

"But Woodstock isn't PART of the Beagle Scouts!" Charizard roared. "Or at least the collectable kind! He is more or less the Player 2 in that game! So by that logic, he shouldn't be here as a stage AI!"

Snoopy and Woodstock paused before looking at each other. They then shrugged their shoulders before looking back at Charizard.

"Stinks to be you." Snoopy said, matter-of-factly.

Charizard growled before flying over.

Forsburn and Clairen both stared in awe before the latter slashed at the incoming attacker. A painting version of Kirby. It promptly got slashed in half. Suddenly, Forsburn ran in front of Clairen and raised his dagger to block some incoming crystals, startling the panther. Ribbon just puffed out her cheeks before firing her crystal gun at the two. Forsburn just slashed at the incoming gems.

"Kirby at three o'clock!" Clairen shouted.

She then ran to the right of Forsburn and raised her plasma sword to block a curved sword. Kirby just narrowed his eyes in determination before puffing up and swinging his sword. Clairen just raised her blade to block it. Meanwhile, Forsburn ran behind Clairen and used his dagger and cape to deflect away Adeleine & Ribbon's living paintings and crystals respectively. Forsburn then lunged forward, causing the duo fighter to yelp.

Before narrowing their eyes. The moment Forsburn pounced forward, Adeleine jumped up with her paintbrush in the air while Ribbon spun around her, with the latter hitting Forsburn. Adeleine and Ribbon then linked hands and spun around further with pink fairy wind around them, striking Forsburn further and sending him flying back.

Clairen saw this and looked on in horror. This gave Kirby the chance to jump up high into the air and come straight back down, sending a wave at Clairen to knock her to the ground and sending her sprawling towards her grandfather. The two groaned, but they slowly got up and got into their stances.

"We are doing good, but it is not over yet!" Adeleine warned.

"Don't worry, leave the backline damage for me!" Ribbon offered. "And Kirby will do the frontline damage! Just focus on your paintings!"

Adeleine and Kirby smiled before nodding their heads. Forsburn and Clairen both frowned at this.

"It seems that their teamwork has faltered since Star Allies." Clairen frowned.

"In that case, we can't rely on direct combat." Forsburn frowned. "We have to go indirect. But we have to make it count because these three could easily predict our moves."

"Agreed." Clairen nodded. "Just like my mother described."

(Annoucer's Booth)

Drake and Ashley smiled as they watched Adeleine & Ribbon not only double-team with Kirby, but also Yoko fight Rosalina. Meanwhile, Nine looked over a certain list.

"Disney Television All-Stars, Tom & Jerry: War of the Whiskers, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, the Powerpuff Girls…" Nine read. "Good grief. Nearly half of this list is more cartoon than video game."

"It can't be helped. Orange-Ratchet is more of a cartoon fan so it only makes sense that there are a lot more cartoons than usual." Ashley shrugged. "In hindsight, I am surprised that the likes of Nickelodeon and Looney Tunes didn't show up in the last tournament."

"To be fair, it WAS Xero and Maurice's first tournament so they must be playing it safe." Drake offered. "But with the success of Bubbles, Bugs and Penny, I think they could afford to put in more cartoons."

Ashley nodded his head. Suddenly, he frowned.

"Hey, Nine?" Ashley piped up.

The witch looked at Ashley. "Hm?"

"What is going to happen when Celica finds the person of the elimination node she is with and returns back to the dome?" The purple-haired man asked.

"What kind of question is THAT!?" Nine asked in disbelief. "I am going to rejoin my sister!"

"Um, right, stupid question." Ashley admitted. "So you won't be a co-host anymore?"

"Of course not. Look, I am not going to say that this was a complete pain because there are some parts where I kinda did have fun, but my sister takes priority over everything else!" Nine scolded. "If you know what I did in the main story, you would realise that."

"Trust us. We know." Drake & Ashley muttered in unison.

"...Look, if you don't have to be a co-host when Celica returns, I won't blame you." Ashley offered. "It is just that… Well, remember WHY Drake asked you to be a co-host in the first place?"

Drake and Nine's eyes widened in realisation.

"Oh, right…" Drake frowned.

"Okay, I am actually going to come up with something other than 'It is not my problem'." Nine said. "You haven't gotten any recent calls about any attempts on Drake's life so you should be fine."

"Y-Yeah, the security team would have updated us." Drake said.

Nine turned towards Drake with a raised eyebrow. "And I know that I said that it is not my problem, I am going to be a hypocrite and pry into the matter by asking you…"

"No, I do not know who would want me dead!" Drake snapped.

Nine raised her hands in defence. "Just saying… You probably have at least ONE person wanting you dead because of this tournament."

"Oh, hardy-har-har." Drake muttered. "Look, I don't know who would want me dead. Outside of the recap shows, I barely had any interactions with any canons. And when I did, they were mostly positive!"

"Agreed. I don't remember a single fighter Drake interviewed that ended badly." Ashley admitted.

"What about Ace?" Nine asked. "Unless he is lying, then Terry's murder and the garlic attack are related."

"I'm… Not sure." Drake frowned. "I don't even know that he will be here because…"

Then, his eyes widened in realisation.

"D-Drake?" Ashley asked, concerned.

"Fighting EX Layer…" The vampire said, dumbfounded. "It used to be Street Fighter EX."

"Um, yeah, but because it has gotten its own game, it is obvious that you should split the two nodes up." Nine pointed out.

"Ace… He was the only person who didn't get invited back." Drake concluded.

"It can't be helped though, right?" Nine shrugged. "Like, he only existed for a 'create-your-own-moveset'."

"Still… Could THAT be the reason why he is trying to kill me?" Drake asked.

"Wait, so you are telling me that the reason Ace joined this horrible plot is because he didn't get invited to this tournament? When he wasn't even invited to Fighting EX Layer." Ashley said in disbelief before narrowing his eyes. "That's disgusting!"

"Seriously, I've seen a lot of salty people in my life, but to try to kill you and kill and replace Terry to do so?" Nine asked before scoffing. "For the rule of three, not my problem, but still even I think whoever Ace is working with deserves death!"

"Maybe not that far, but they are definitely not going near an UVR for as long as we have anything to say about it!" Ashley growled.

"Yeah…" Drake said, solemnly.

Ashley looked concerned. "H-Hey, how are you holding out?"

"Just fine. Feel even better when they are stopped." Drake muttered before looking at the arena.

(Dome; Junko's Hideout)

Ryu, Ryuji Yamazaki, Magilou, Edna, Static Shock, Leonardo, Veemon, Impmon, Mickey McFist, Tiny, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Larcen Tyler, Ragna the Bloodedge and Bang Shishigami.

"And that's the TLDR version." Yamazaki explained.

Needless to say, the latter five all looked in shock.

"Ugh, I knew that we shouldn't have ignored Oume's group and just focused on Otane and Bison!" Bang groaned, slapping his forehead. "I should have expected such evil from them!"

"...Greattttt. All this and I am suck with Arc System's Kim Kaphwan." Yamazaki groaned.

"Isn't it more accurate to say that he is Arc System's Galford seeing that he is a ninja?" Magilou piped up.

"Will you guys take this seriously!?" Sub-Zero scolded. "The literal timeline is in danger!"

"Still, do you think that this is enough people?" Static asked. "Sure, we were winning before… THAT happened but everyone else definitely didn't make it easy."

"Maybe we don't have to fight. Sure, they are villains but they would at least stop if they found out what their plan is doing." Veemon offered.

Ragna looked at Veemon in disbelief. "You are kidding me, right? Do you even know some of the people in the group?"

"AND despite not trusting Junko, they had no problem using her methods." Edna added.

"Even still, I don't think they are willing to let themselves get messed up because of this Butterfly Effect, eh?" Tiny frowned.

"Still, while I agree that we should try communication first, there is definitely a strong chance where we may have to fight." Ryu admitted.

"Oh, something tells me that we will, if Terumi is still there." Ragna growled.

"Indeed…" Bang said, sternly.

Everyone nodded their heads before they continued forward to the villains' lair.

…Only to see all of the villains on the ground, groaning in pain. They all blinked twice.

"...As much as I love seeing all of these yutzes on the ground like this, even I know that this is a very bad sign." Impmon frowned.

K. Rool sat up, holding his head. "Ugh, what hit me?"

Suddenly, his eyes bugged out.

"Oh no! Junko!" K. Rool gasped.

Ridley sat up, looking furious. "I can't believe it! We got knocked out and brainwashed by Junko AGAIN!"

"Wait, WHAT!?" Ryu gasped.

This caught the villains' attention to the group. Immediately, most of them groaned.

"Hey, Rags, Bang, fancy meeting you here!" Terumi smirked, getting into a "paint-me-as-one-of-those-French-girls" pose.

"Not long enough!" Ragna spat.

"Ugh, all of this and now one of the turtles has found me like this?" The Shredder groaned.

Leonardo jumped at this. "Excuse me!?"

"Look, some time after you all left, a pink gas came into the ground and we all passed out!" K. Rool frowned. "Just like in the Tournament of Kikai!"

Cortex slapped his forehead. "And now Junko came back and brainwashed us as part of her brainwashed clones!"

The "hero" group blinked twice at this.

"...You don't seem to be in despair to me." Tiny piped up.

Pinstripe's eyes widened. "Hey, he's right! If we were in despair, we would be attacking them on sight!"

"In hindsight, it is a miracle WE didn't attack on sight…" Ragna muttered.

"Now that I think about it, I actually remembered passing out." Ridley noted. "Even the hero group who didn't get kidnapped remembered that."

"But if we didn't get brainwashed or captured, what happened while we were out?" Azrael asked.

"Um, guys…"

Everyone turned towards a worried Cortex, pointing to the side.

"Where is the despair extractor and clones?" Cortex asked.

The villain's eyes bugged out while everyone else looked confused.

"Wait, despair extractor?" Mickey asked.

"Clones?" Larcen added.

"...Now that I think about it, that large machine IS gone." Tiny added.

"So let me get this straight…" Scorpion said before narrowing his eyes. "We have to deal with this AND Junko!?"

"N-N-No, it can't be! We installed a failsafe!" Rugal said before looking at Diaboromon.

The virus Digimon nodded before walking over to a control panel and putting his claw on it. After a few seconds, his eyes before turning his head towards the others.

"...You… May want to see this." Diaboromon frowned.

Everyone looked at each other as Diaboromon used his technomancy to make the screen turn on, showing static. They then all looked on in worry.

Then, the screen showed a familiar young woman with pink hair tied in pigtails, making everyone jump.

"IT'S JUNKO!" K. Rool screamed.

Junko Enoshima just looked at the camera and… Scowled. She then picked up a sledgehammer and swung it downwards.

Then, Tsugumi Shirogane came out of nowhere and grabbed her from behind.

"M-M-Miss Junko, please!" Tsugumi pleaded.

"Don't try to stop me, Tsugumi!" The Ultimate Despair roared, struggling to break free.

"B-But you know how hard it is to get these systems up!?" The cosplayer exclaimed.

"I don't care! I refuse to listen to S Club 7 anymore!" Junko roared.

It was just then that something was playing through the speakers.

"Reach for the stars! Climb every mountain higher! Reach for the stars! Follow your heart's desire!"

"L-Listen, I am getting sick of it too!" Tsugumi offered. "But we can't destroy our speakers!"

"Well, what else could we do!?" Junko roared. "We already tried everything to shut it off! We turned down the volume! We turned off the power in the building! We even pulled the plug! We pulled the fucking plug!"

The two then got into a power struggle over the sledgehammer. Everyone blinked twice at this.

"Umm, what?" Magilou said, finally.

"Okay, here is the deal. We… Kinda knows that we may attract Junko by using some of her items so we kinda had Diaboromon put a failsafe onto the computer in case Junko tries to hack into it." Malomyotismon explained.

"We're not THAT reckless!" Cortex agreed, crossing his arms.

"...So wait, Junko and Tsumugi have been here being tortured by songs about hope this entire time?" Static Shock asked.

"Looks like it…" I-No shrugged. "I… Don't think they are anywhere near Fictograph City

"Wow… If you guys didn't fucked up a lot tonight, I would actually clap for you." Yamazaki mused.

"So wait… If Junko and Tsumugi didn't steal the despair extractor and clones. Who did?" Kurow asked.

"It isn't Otane." I-No piped up.

"And it definitely is not Bison…" Rugal muttered.

The "hero" group blinked twice.

"So wait… The people behind the garlic attack AND Terry Bogard's murder have struck here as well?" Ragna asked.

Everyone looked at Ragna in confusion. Except for Bang who went wide-eyed.

"Oh, right! The entire Recovery Room got knocked out by pink gas too!" Bang gasped.

"...Don't misunderstand. We don't owe you anything. But considering what some of the clones are, we will cooperate completely." Ridley said.

Most of the villains while others like Terumi, Infinite and Sho rolled their eyes.

"You know what? Fuck this!" Terumi spat.

"Yeah, I have a tournament to enter and I don't need all of this bullshit bringing down my mood!" Sho agreed.

"Like I knew that I was above all of you but good god of me." Infinite muttered.

With that, the three stomped off with several people glaring at them.

"...Am I the only one missing the days when it was just Bison and Bison only calling the shots?" Veemon piped up.

Everyone shook their heads.

(The Arena)

Lien Neville cried out in pain before staggering back while groaning. She then recovered and growled before rushing forward. Colette Brunel yelped before raising her chakrams to block a punch from Lien. Acting quickly, Colette then kicked Lien in the stomach but while the assassin winced from the kick, she easily recovered. However, the kick from Bayonetta had knocked her down.

"Stardust Cross!" Colette shouted, throwing up a ball of yellow energy in the air. Said energy ball turned into stars and sent them onto the downed Lien, striking her multiple times. Bayonetta smirked before rushing over and doing a front flip to do an axe kick on Lien. However, the latter snapped out of her daze and rolled backwards. Lien then rushed forward and did a series of punches forward, but Bayonetta raised her arms to easily block the barrage.

However, Lien then mixed it up by punching the ground which resulted in a burst of energy and sent Bayonetta flying up into the air. However, the Umbra Witch managed to flip in midair and land on her feet.

"My, my, for an assassin, you fight more like a street brawler." Bayonetta smirked.

"Shut up! You wouldn't know what it is like to be humiliated in front of the entire multiverse like that!" Lien roared. "And it is not even by Nine or the Sound Booth team!"

"I mean considering what happened in the third Megamix Tournament, you should know better than to mess with the lights." Bayonetta scolded.

"Also, aren't you supposed to be Mai Shiranui's foil?" Colette asked.

Bayonetta and Lien looked at Colette in confusion.

"...What?" Lien asked.

"Well, that is what Mignon told me. Despite being women with adult bodies, you are complete opposites." Colette said. "But Mai is always angry about something. Whether it would be Andy not being invited to the tournament, Discord's mean prank and now not being allowed to be in Super Smash Brothers!"

"W-W-What does THAT have to do with ANYTHING?" Lien asked.

"You are being angry about having one of your moves." Colette said before pausing. "Well, two, seeing that you got a new move with your satellite in Regulation A. That is exactly how Mai will act if one of HER most iconic moves got disabled."

Bayonetta blinked twice before putting her hand to her mouth and stifling a chuckle. "Oh, right, I am convinced… She could die last."

"How dare you!? I am the even-tempered, no-nonsense foil to Mai!" Lien roared.

"And yet you are showing me just as much vitriol as she would." Bayonetta sneered.

Lien let out a loud roar before rushing towards Colette. The angel yelped before flying backwards.

"Triple Ray Thrust!" Colette shouted, throwing her chakrams three times (somehow seeing that she was wielding two at the moment). However, while still approaching, Lien raised her arms to block the incoming projectile. Despite feeling the pain in her arms, Lien continued before kicking her foot out. Colette acted quickly and raised her chakrams to block the kick.

Bayonetta then did a sliding kick from the side and knocked Lien to the ground. The assassin cried out in pain before spinning around and knocking Bayonetta and Colette on the ground. Lien then pounced onto Colette and pinned her to the ground.

"Okay, now I am going to…" Lien started.

Suddenly, she felt herself levitating in the air. Looking down, she realised that Colette was flying into the air while holding onto her.

"I'm sorry. I know that this is not a nice thing to say, but I don't think you will get an elimination yet alone survive the section if you are this angry." Colette frowned. "I think you should leave sooner than later."

With that, she gently dropped Lien over the ropes where the latter roared in fury before dropping into the portal.

Lien landed in Final Fantasy VII. Unfortunately, she landed in the middle of Barret's aptly-named Limit Break, Satellite Beam.

Emperor Velo XXVII rode his Velo Chopper around the arena. However, Galford D. Weller and Poppy both ran to the side of him, managing to keep up with him. While a little taken back by this, Velo just smirked and aimed his sceptre, with the gem glowing and sending a bowling ball at Galford.

"Plasma Blade!" Galford shouted, sending two electrified kunai at the bowling ball which caused it to explode. "Now, Poppy!"

Suddenly, the husky vanished in thin air before somehow reappearing over Velo and dropping down while rolling and landing on top of Velo's head. However, seeing that Velo's body was actually robotic, it just shook a bit but it was still enough to distract Velo long enough for Galford to rush forward and do a flying kick to Velo's side. As the alien struggled to keep his body on his hoverkart, Galford got his ninjato out of his back and slashed at Velo.

Velo growled before swinging his sceptre downwards at Galford, but the ninja raised his ninjato to block the attack. However, while Galford easily blocked the blow, Velo used his hoverkart to accelerate forward to win the power struggle. Acting quickly, Galford vanished in a puff of smoke (and turned into a log) before reappearing over Velo. However, the racer drove his hoverkart out of the way. Despite missing his attack, Galford dashed towards Velo.

But Velo aimed his sceptre and summoned a mine with icicles on it. However, Galford swung his ninjato at the mine. Big mistake as he was immediately frozen in a giant block of ice, making Poppy yelp in horror. Velo smirked before zooming forward towards said block of ice and crashed into Galford, breaking the blond man free and sending him sprawling on the ground. As Galford got up while groaning and shivering at the same time, Velo smirked.

"I must admit that despite being too loud in terms of voice and appearance to be a traditional ninja, I admit that you fight like one!" Velo sneered.

"I don't need YOUR input on what is authentic and that is not, villain!" Galford snapped. "Especially since you are a fake, making yourself much bigger than you have any right to be! Isn't your original form called REAL Velo!?"

"Real? Fake? What does it matter when I am running circles around everyone!" Velo boasted. "There is a reason why I am the final Grand Prix racer in Nitro Fueled!"

"But you are not even a Speed type! You are an ACCELERATION type!" Galford retorted.

"Meh." Velo shrugged. With that, he aimed his sceptre at Galford & Poppy and fired bowling bombs at the two. However, the ninja-and-dog duo easily swerved around and jumped over the incoming explosives.

"Pincer Attack, Poppy!" Galford shouted. The husky nodded her head before they zoomed at the sides of Velo, striking him and sending him spinning around. The latter groaned while holding his head to stop the spinning of his eyes. He then growled before aiming his spectre at Poppy and firing a missile from it. However, the canine just easily leapt over it with a smirk. Galford smirked as well.

Until he saw something that made his eyes bugged out.

"Poppy, watch out! It is a homing missile!" Galford gasped.

The husky's eyes widened before turning around. Only for the missile to crash into her and explode, knocking her down.

"POPPY!" Galford gasped before running over to Poppy's side.

Velo immediately started to laugh at this. "Gwa ha ha! It is a good thing that I made you clear that I wish to challenge how fast in terms of physical speed because in terms of mental speed, it seems that mutt failed by a long shot!"

With that, he continued to laugh. Suddenly, he felt something strange. Stopping his laughter, he saw Poppy was slowly getting up, dazed. However, Galford was not there. Looking around, Velo found that Galford was on the other side, back turned to the alien with his ninjato out. At first, Velo was confused.

…Then, he realised a common trait fighters in the last Samurai Shodown game had. With his face losing all confidence, he saw Galford stand up straight.

SLASH!

BOOM!

Just like that, Velo's body and hoverkart were slashed in half resulting in a large explosion. Soon, pieces of the body and hoverkart were seen flying through the air while a certain vertically-challenged alien also flew through the air while screaming in fear and fury. The Real Velo along with the remains of his body and hoverkart fell out of the ring.

Galford then got up before walking over to Poppy. "You're alright, Poppy?"

The canine nodded her head.

"As much as I hated to admit it, that was on us for letting our guard down around a villain." Galford sighed before crouching down and patting her head. "What's done is done. At least we still triumphed."

Velo landed in F-Zero where he promptly got run over by every car in the F-Zero race.

Lei-Fei and Chinnen ran to opposite sides to avoid the skull of a bird at them. Misango merely scoffed before retreating his Skully ARM back before jumping up and swinging his Scorpio arm like a whip and into Lei-Fei. Chinnen jumped before glaring at Misango.

"Rengoku Reiha!" Chinnen shouted, creating a ball of energy in his hands before sending it forward in the form of a skull. However, Misango had already retreated his Skully ARM and used it at the skull, destroying it. But Chinnen just ran forward to strike Misango when he was down.

Only for a yellow energy pillar to suddenly appear out of nowhere and in front of Chinnen. The larger monk's eyes widened realising that he didn't have much time to stop.

BAM!

Chinnen fell onto his back after crashing into the pillar before sitting up. He then looked up to see said yellow pillar still there. It then turned into Misango's spirit before going back to his friend's side. The brown-haired man then sent out his Scorpio ARM at Chinnen again while he was down. Only for Lei-Fei to jump in-between Chinnen and the Scorpio ARM to somehow deflect the poisonous arm away.

Chinnen's eyes lit up at this. "Now that's what I want to see!"

"...Don't push your luck." Lei-Fei spat. Suddenly, he winced.

Chinnen noticed this. "You okay?"

"Yes, just that accursed poison on his ARMS." Lei-Fei muttered.

"Hey, yeah." Chinnen said before glaring at Misango. "How come you are the only ARMS fighter that has an element mostly to themselves in their default set?"

"Oh, like you wouldn't try to use any kind of poison if you tried." Misango spat.

Lei-Fei and Chinnen growled before the latter ran over to Misango. However, the dreadlocked man swapped his Skully ARM for his Glusher one, a purple blobby mess which resulted as a shield for Chinnen's punch. While the larger monk retreated his fist in pain, Misango then sent the Glusher ARM forward. However, Chinnen grabbed the incoming attack and managed to grab it in place. Despite this, Chinnen still got poison.

"N-Now!" Chinnen shouted through the pain. Lei-Fei nodded his head before rushing over to Misango's side and kicking him, staggering him staggering. Lei-Fei then ran forward and did a series of punches and kicks before ending with a hard palm strike to Misango's chest. The dreadlocked man staggering back forward. He then recovered to see Chinnen to Lei-Fei's head. Misango narrowed his eyes before the three got into their stance.

Suddenly, Chinnen made a T with his hands.

"Time-out!"

Lei-Fei and Misango jumped before Chinnen suddenly ran off.

"H-Hey, where are you going?" Lei-Fei asked.

Chinnen didn't say anything. He merely ran towards the fight between Guy against Garfield and Scooby Doo.

Chinnen suddenly grabbed Garfield by his legs and held him upside-down, startling everyone watching him. Chinnen then started to shake Garfield just like a bully would with a smaller child.

"Come on, come on! Gimme the loot!" Chinnen sneered.

"What!? No! I actually paid for those for once!" Garfield insisted. "Well… I stole Jon's wallet to do so but still…"

Then, several food came out of Garfield's… hammerspace and onto the ground. Lei-Fei, Misango, Guy and Scooby looked on in disbelief.

"Really…?" Guy asked before narrowing his eyes. "I heard that you were seeking materialistic desires, but to act like a grade school bully?"

"Hey, as long as I am the ring, I might as well get a quick snack!" Chinnen scolded.

"You… Are… Scum!" Misango roared while Lei-Fei slapped his forehead.

Chinnen's eyes widened in realisation. "Oh, right! I nearly forgot!"

With that, he started to spin Garfield around with the poor cat screaming in fear. As everyone nearby looked on in shock and horror, Chinnen finally let Garfield go and sent him flying.

Straight into Misango's stomach. Despite the large size difference, Garfield's… Weight was more than enough to not hurt Misango a lot but somehow sent him flying over the ropes. As Garfield laid on the ground dazed, Lei-Fei, Guy and Scooby looked on with slack jaws. Lei-Fei then looked at Chinnen.

"Did… You went to the cat JUST to take the Mayan warrior off-guard?" Lei-Fei asked.

"Yep, pretty much taking down two birds with one stone!" Chinnen smirked.

Guy narrowed his eyes. "You will pay for that."

"Yeah, why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Scooby said, surprisingly angry.

Chinnen looked at Scooby with a dark smirk. "Well, I think you are around my size when standing up!"

The Great Dane shrank back. "Um, well, I am currently not sooo…"

Chinnen then looked back at Lei-Fei. "Yo, Lei-Fei, I got rid of the pest for us so how about you do me a favour and get the guy, Guy, off of my back!"

The shorter monk let out a sigh. "Very well. Only because my clan has had their sights on Bushinryu for a while now."

"See? This alliance is working out!" Chinnen grinned.

Lei-Fei rolled his eyes before other than that, they went over to their respective opponents. Lei-Fei then rushed over and did a palm strike forward. However, Guy easily blocked the blow before kicking Lei-Fei in the chest and sending him staggering back. Guy then rushed over to do a palm strike of his own. However, Lei-Fei managed to recover in time to do a stance, which acted as a counter throw, sending Guy onto his back.

The red-clad man fell onto his back but quickly spun around with his leg out, sweeping Lei-Fei off of his feet, giving enough time for Guy to flip back onto his feet. Lei-Fei also got up and got into a different stance to parry a punch from Guy before swinging his arm in a horizontal fashion. Guy blocked the attack but Lei-Fei got into another stance and kicked Guy in the stomach, sending him sprawling back.

Guy then did a front flip at Lei-Fei and grabbed the monk by his shoulders before slamming him around the ground. As Lei-Fei fell onto his face, Guy did a sliding kick into the latter's side and sent him sprawling. Lei-Fei then got up while holding his arms before the two men got into stances while encircling each other.

"You said that my clan had its eye on my fighting style." Guy said, sternly.

"Of course. Ignoring the fact that you are an UVR champion, your fighting style went through several generations." Lei-Fei noted. "Through the Strider series through Zeku, the Captain Commando game through Ginzu, arguably the Fighting Ex Layer series through Kairi and Hokuto and now recently, even the 'modern' times through Kimberly."

"Well, what do you hope to accomplish by fighting me?" Guy asked. "Obviously killing is prohibited so all of this is redundant."

"True, I can't fully fulfil my clan's mission." Lei-Fei admitted. "But I don't have to kill you. I just have to hospitalise you to NEAR-death."

With that, Lei-Fei ran forward and did a kick forward, but Guy did a backflip to avoid it. The latter then got into a stance.

Suddenly, his eyes widened. Lei-Fei slowly turned into a punk, just like the ones in Mad Gear. Then, the cloudy area turned into one of the many backstreets of Metro City. Behind said punk was a flaming oil barrel. Guy blinked twice for a moment before narrowing his eyes and running straight at Lei-Fei. The monk then got into a defensive stance.

However, Guy then ran to the side and grabbed Lei-Fei by his arm and threw him. Right into the "flaming oil barrel".

BZZZZZT!

Lei-Fei's body surged with electricity after being thrown into one of the storm clouds looking around the arena. The monk then collapsed on his hands and knees. Guy just stared down at Lei-Fei before walking over to the monk, picking him up and throwing him out of the ring.

"The… Aesthetics are vastly different but how I took down that monk was no different from how I took out some of the Mad Gear goons back in my home node." Guy said, sounding bemused.

He turned around to see that Scooby and Chinnen stopped their fight to look with wide eyes at Guy's victory. They then looked at each other. Scooby then gave a surprisingly dark grin before getting out a bar of soap. Chinnen blinked twice.

Scooby then blew on the bar of soap and sent out bubbles at Chinnen. Somehow, this managed to engulf the monk in a large bubble, trapping him. Chinnen looked in awe before his eyes bugged out before turning around to see that he wasn't that far from a different storm cloud. He then looked back at Scooby.

"Umm…" Chinnen said before sheepishly grinning. "Would you let me go for a Scooby Snack?"

"Don't lie. Even if you did get Scooby Snacks, you would have eaten all of them by now." Scooby scolded.

Chinnen groaned as he slumped his arms. "Okay, you caught me…"

Scooby then pushed the bubble into the storm cloud. Just like Lei-Fei, Chinnen was surged with electricity through his body. In fact, it was worse because the bubble was made of water, thus making the shock even harder. Soon, Chinnen collapsed on his face before twitching a bit. Still keeping his dark grin, Scooby waited for a bit before walking over to Chinnen and pushing underneath the bottom rope. After he did so, he looked at Guy.

"Hey, thanks for the idea to get rid of him!" Scooby grinned.

Guy paused before nodding. "It's alright. I… Just did what I normally would."

"Why, you little!"

Homer Simpson then ran forward and tried to wrap his hands around his opponent's back. However, said opponent vanished into shadows and sent Homer crashing onto his face. The yellow-skinned man groaned before looking back to see Duo Lon reappearing a good distance away with a bored look on his face. Homer growled before running after him again.

Only for Duo Lon to stretch his arm and strike Homer in the face, sending the heavyset man staggering back. Homer recovered and ran forward, but Duo Lon swerved to the side and kicked Homer in the head. But the latter recovered and punched his fist out. This took Duo Lon off-guard and knocked him to the ground. Homer nodded his head before running forward and doing a belly flop.

However, Duo Lon vanished again which felt Homer crashing on his face. Duo Lon then reappeared and summoned a monochrome spirit to appear and make its way to Homer. The yellow-skinned man looked up to see the strange projectile coming and yelped before running to the side to avoid the projectile. After doing so, he stood up to glare at Duo Lon.

"Alright, I admit it. You are not as helpless as you look." Homer said. "But even still in a tournament of this, your illness will not mix well to the incoming fatigue so might as well get rid of you sooner than later."

Duo Lon's eyes twitched. "For the last time, I am not ill!"

Homer rolled his eyes. "Spare me. I'm no Dr. Hibbert or Dr. Nick, but even I could tell that you are unwell. Quit lying, Miss, you are just embarrassing yourself at this point."

"First off, I am a man." Duo Lon scolded. "Secondly…"

"Wait, you mean that you are TRANS!" Homer gasped before slapping his forehead. "D'oh! Lisa is going to give me a hard time about this!"

As people cheered that Homer finally said his catchphrase, Duo Lon blinked twice. "...Why do I keep overestimating the intelligence of this man?"

Deciding to continue the fight, Duo Lon went on the offensive and kicked the ground in front of him. This created a shadowy portal in front of Homer and kicked the family man in the shin. As Homer held his shin when Duo Lon dashed forward and did a three-hit combo to Homer which sent him staggering back. However, the latter had more endurance and did a counter attack.

"WOO-HOO!" Homer shouted, jumping up while spreading his arms and legs out, striking Duo Lon multiple times. Homer then slammed his head against Duo Lon's head, sending the assassin back. However, Duo Lon recovered and used his long braid as a whip, striking Homer in the face. As the yellow-skinned man covered his face, Duo Lon did a series of knife-hand stabs.

Homer struggled in pain but managed to raise his arms to block the incoming barrage. However, Duo Lon immediately crouched down to grab Homer's leg and threw him onto his face. He then crouched onto Homer's back and put his arm around him. However, Homer managed to get up and throw Duo Lon off of him.

"Alright, you may be able to get through my attacks! But I got something that not even healthy people could deal with!" Homer sneered.

Duo Lon gave a bored look. "Oh? And what pray tell is it?"

Homer then gave a deep breath. Duo Lon raised an eyebrow.

BBBBBUUUUURRRRRPPPPP!

Homer then let out a loud burp which sent out a huge stream of fire. Duo Lon was not expecting this and took said stream before flying over the ropes and into the elimination portal. Homer sneered before patting his stomach (while several people coughed).

Duo Lon landed outside of a building, startling various people outside. He casually got up while dusting himself off.

"...Well, that was disappointing. I know that we never saw work for a while but I thought I had a chance to get ONE elimination." Duo Lon lamented. "At least I don't have to worry about any 'doctors'."

"Oh my god!"

Duo Lon raised an eyebrow before turning around to see Derek Stiles and Angie Thompson looking at him in horror.

"Look at that man! He is seriously ill!" Angie gasped.

"What's more is that he somehow crashed on the ground!" Derek noted. "With how malnourished he looks, he must have gotten a couple of bones broken."

Duo Lon blinked twice before slumping his arms. "N-No, I…"

"Somebody get a stretcher!" Derek yelled.

Angie ran over to Duo Lon's side. "Please, sir, you have to stay down!"

"B-But…" The assassin frowned.

However, Angie made him sit down and wait for the stretcher. Duo Lon just let out a long sigh.

(Hyrule Field; West Side)

A Manhandla let out a large roar from each of its four heads. However, a boomerang struck all four of them in the heads. This made them dizzy before they all collapsed on the ground before opening up to release a giant red jewel.

Lana caught the boomerang while it was coming back before looking behind her.

"Now!"

Misango nodded his head before leaping forward. He then started to glow yellow before doing a series of lightning-fast punches with his ARMS to the core, striking it multiple times. When he was done, the Manhandla cried out in pain before collapsing again, this time dead.

Lana grinned before looking at Misango. "Nice job! Not even Wizzro could kill giant bosses that quickly."

The Mayan warrior merely bowed his head. "It is more than alright. I am just glad that my skills could be seen as an asset and not a liability because of the culture shock."

"Well, you were clearly taken off-guard, but you still rose to the challenge!" Lana offered, giving her a thumbs-up.

Her smile then vanished before looking to the side. Misango also turned to see Lei-Fei and Chinnen on their backs, unconscious while also writhing in pain.

"...Your friends on the other hand." Lana lamented.

"First off, they are NOT my friends." Misango corrected. "Secondly, I think it is less culture shock and more karma."

"Even still, we can't afford to leave them like this for a second longer." Lana said, reading her spell book. "Manhandla's poison is no laughing matter."

She then made her way over to the poisoned monks. But as she did so, she summoned a white light around her hands.

"Hello, it is Lana. You don't have to worry about coming over to help me with the Manhandla." Lana offered. "A brave warrior helped me."

"Oh, that's great! Wait, are there any victims of Manhandla's poison?"

"Only two." Lana offered.

"Great! We will be there as soon as possible!"

Lana blinked twice. "Wait, 'we'?"

"It's a bit of a long story. To make it short, we got a white mage and she should help heal those victims while you focus on the offensive."

"Um, alright?" Lana asked, confused. "Just be careful."

"Don't worry, we will!"

(Hyrule Field; East Side)

Linkle then ended her magical communication with Lana before looking at Celica, Azusa and Leon.

"Well, the good news is that it seems that the Manhandla is dealt with." Linkle said before frowning. "The bad news is that there are two victims."

"What? Oh no!" Celica gasped.

"I am sorry to bother you when you are more focused on going back to the dome, but we may need your white magic!" Linkle said.

Celica nodded her head. "It is fine! As long as I am here, I might as well help!"

"Besides, we may find the eliminated fighters of this node along the way." Leon nodded.

"Well, leave it to me!" Linkle smirked. "The Hero is Time is here for you!"

The node-hoppers smiled and nodded before they ran off.

(Announcer's Booth)

"Your sister and the others are being led to Misango and the monks." Drake noted.

"They better make it." Nine spat.

"Now, now, at least they are being led by someone who has been on the map multiple…" Drake started.

PLOP.

Drake and Nine jumped before turning to see Ashley with his forehead on the control panel. They both blinked twice.

Then, they looked exasperated.

"Let me guess… This Linkle girl…" Nine muttered.

Ashley raised his head off of the control panel to nod with a solemn look on his face. Drake and Nine both groan before slinking their seats.

(Dome; Recovery Room)

"EEEEEEE!"

"DO NOT ESCAPE ZIM!"

Everyone in the Recovery Room looked on in a mixture of confusion, disbelief and exasperation as F.A.N.G. ran from Zim and Dr. N. Gin as they ran around it.

"How dare you humiliate Zim!?" Zim roared.

"How dare you humiliate us all!?" N. Gin added.

Immediately, F.A.N.G. ran behind a startled Jude and hid behind him, shuddering. Jude immediately spread his arms out.

"Alright, that is enough!" Jude scolded.

"Jude, unless you want to be taken part then I strongly suggest that you will get out of the way!" N. Gin scolded.

"You cannot hurt F.A.N.G.!" Jude frowned.

"And why not?" N. Gin asked.

"Well, for starters, if you are so busy doing so, you wouldn't have much time to hurt yourself!" Jude said with a sheepish smile.

N. Gin's good eye widened at this. "Oh, that's right."

"Oi! N. Gin!" Zim scolded before glaring at Jude and F.A.N.G. "F.A.N.G. and by extension, Bison and Vega led us on!"

F.A.N.G. glared at Zim. "AFTER your group leader and her twin single-handedly ruined Master Bison's plans! And they were his best yet!"

"Don't think he is exaggerating." Claude piped up. "Again, I only know about Bison's plans from the DVDs but this is by far his most twisted plan yet."

"Furthermore, why are YOU getting so upset over the plan?" F.A.N.G. challenged. "You could have fooled me considering how long you spent in the arena."

"Hey! I eliminated Kasumi Todoh and sped up the progress, didn't I?" Zim scolded.

Yuri narrowed her eyes. "...You DON'T want to mention your plan here."

Zim's eyes widened before he, N. Gin and Happy Chaos looked around. There, all of the champions, Lilly, R. Mika and various others were giving them dark glares. Zim and N. Gin winced at this.

"Well, as long as you are here, I think it is best to give us the antidote." Jude said, sternly. "Especially since the Butterfly Effect may affect you too."

"For Junko's poison?" Zim asked. "How should I know?"

"Oh, THAT'S a good response." Reid Herstel muttered.

"No, really, Oume is the only one who created the poison!" Zim insisted.

"Wait… Oume is into chemistry?" Elliana piped up.

"No, not really, however, she also knew that nobody in her group was either. She WAS going to have some professional help…" N. Gin admitted. He then scowled. "But SOMEONE had to sway some of Cortex's allies away from him."

"Brio supposed to make poison?" Tiny Tiger asked, scratching his head. "That makes sense. Brio good with good and bad potions.

"Some of us helped her a little, but overall the person who created the poison all by herself is Oume." N. Gin explained. "You might as well go to Oume's group."

"Some of them are already on it." Hinako explained.

"In the meantime, I STRONGLY recommend that you stop hanging around here." Blue Mary said before narrowing her eyes in hatred while at Terry's side.. "To say that most of the people don't want to see you is an understatement."

Zim, N. Gin and Happy Chaos again looked at the people standing near the poisoned victims' sides. Again, they looked like they wanted to attack them. Especially Geese, Lilly and Haohmaru. Zim gulped nervously, N. Gin blinked his good eye twice while Happy Chaos merely… Wave at them.

"Duly noted…" Zim said.

"I have to go too." F.A.N.G. sighed. "Vega's draw was a little close to mine so I have to escort him to the Ready Room so he doesn't get himself killed on the way there."

Genjuro's eyes widened at this. "HE'S drunk too!"

"Yeah… To say we all drank a lot is an understatement." F.A.N.G. sighed.

"Wait… You don't mean to tell me that Vega is going to try to SING, would he?" Isla asked with a worried look on her face.

"I WANT to say no, but considering that being drunk somehow made him even MORE narcissistic, it is inevitable." F.A.N.G. frowned.

Everyone groaned as the assassin exited the Recovery Room. However, the moment he exited said room, someone crashed into him which knocked him down.

Whip groaned before sitting up while rubbing her head from the last attack. She then narrowed her eyes before getting up and rushing forward, leaving F.A.N.G. on his face stunned.

"Mama-mia…" F.A.N.G. groaned.

Whip then lashed her namesake weapon at Krizalid. However, the tan-skinned man growled before raising my wrist and managed to wrap it around his wrist. He then swung on it as hard as he could to slam Whip into the ground. However, the Ikari Warrior managed to recover in time and managed to land on the wall with her feet. She then used her whip as a grappling hook seeing that Krizalid was still holding on the other end of it before kicking Krizalid in the face.

Krizalid staggered back a few steps but quickly recovered and sent a purple energy ball forward. However, Whip swung her whip downwards at the projectile and turned it into a swirling ball of wind. Krizalid's eyes bugged out not expecting this (Whip DID only got that move in the Vers saga) and took the projectile to the chest, striking him multiple times. Whip then proceeded to do a series of whip strikes. Krizalid grunted in pain before kicking his leg upwards.

"Tornade!" Krizalid shouted, summoning a spiral of razor-sharp wind which struck Whip multiple times and sent her flying back, crashing on her side. Krizalid then went forward to kick while Whip was down. However, the brunette managed to snap out of her daze and rolled to the side before kicking Krizalid in the side. As the white-haired man staggered to the side, Whip gave him another whip strike.

Krizalid growled before rushing forward towards Whip and punching his fist out. But the Ikari Warriors launched her whip at the ceiling and used it as a grappling hook to go over Krizalid's incoming punch. When the tan-skinned man's punch missed, Whip then dropped down and kicked Krizalid in the back of the head, sending him staggering forward. Whip then landed on the ground.

"Look at you!" Whip scolded. "This is the guy that gave K', Maxima, Benimaru and Shingo trouble in 99! Even a rookie would see such an attack from a mile away."

"Shut up!" Krizalid roared before rushing at Whip again. The brunette just lashed out his whip at Krizalid's leg before pulling on her whip to send the white-haired man onto his rear.

"Where is all of that fight data in your battle suit!?" Whip boasted. "Why are you using such dated moves?"

"I said shut up!" Krizalid roared. He then got up and rushed towards Whip. As they did so, the latter's group looked in awe.

"Wow. Whip IS strong! I don't remember Krizalid being this easy to beat when I was fighting in the ring!" Kula noted.

"That is because Krizalid ISN'T fighting at his best." Maxima sternly explained.

Kula looked up at Maxima, confused. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"It is as Whip said, despite wearing a battle suit of fighter's data, Krizalid is just throwing out various attacks mindlessly." The Canadian said.

"But why? He clearly used more moves in our fight." Kula said.

"I think he more or less had a reason to fight." Ralf frowned.

Krizalid cried out in pain before stepping back after being struck. He then growled before kicking his leg upwards.

"TORNADE!" He shouted. However, Whip easily ran to the side to avoid the spiral of razor wind. She then got an earring and threw it at Krizalid. However, the white-haired man immediately recognised the earring as an explosive just like Leona's and swatted it away. However, Whip then proceeded to do a series of whip strikes to Krizalid. The latter grunted in anger as he raised his arms to block the assault.

Suddenly, he let out a loud shout, summoning a pillar of fire around himself before lunging forward with flames around his arms. However, Whip narrowed her eyes before getting out some more earring bombs and throwing them at Krizalid before lashing out her whip at them. This resulted in a large explosion which Krizalid flew through the air. Whip then lashed out her namesake weapon and used it as a grappling hook to ride around the roof for a bit.

Whip then gave Krizalid a hard kick to his face before lashing out her whip around Krizalid's neck, wrapping it around tightly before slamming him to the ground with all of her might, resulting in a loud crash. Everyone winced at this as Krizalid laid on the ground. However, a few seconds later, he slowly propped himself on his hands. He looked down at Whip walking over to him with a stern look on her face.

"Why… Why won't you leave me alone?" Krizalid asked.

"Because who knows what you would do to yourself if I did so." Whip spat.

The people watching winced, realising the implications of her words.

"And why should YOU care!?" Krizalid snapped.

"...Because clone or not, I KNOW that you have the potential to be better than this." Whip offered.

Krizalid scoffed before looking to the side. "NESTS didn't. And neither did Bison."

Otane looked down.

"Who cares what Bison had to say!?" Whip scolded before looking at Otane. "I know that my main focus should be Krizalid, but what is it you Goketsuji sisters see in him!?"

"I mean… The one thing Oume and I have in common is that we have a thing for bad boys." Otane said without looking up. "And you can't get more of a bad boy than Bison."

Isla stuck out her tongue in disgust. "Learn some self-respect!"

"Indeed! You don't have to appeal to NESTS OR Bison to find validation!" Whip nodded.

Krizalid and Otane both paused at this.

"You shouldn't be hanging around with villains in the first place! Sure, you don't have anywhere to go but you have no strings holding you back!" Whip scolded. "For better or for verse, this Verse madness gave you a second chance! Why are you wasting it?"

Krizalid scoffed. "Like a former NESTS agent would be able to do so."

"WE managed to do fine for ourselves. Sylvie managed to do fine for herself." Whip scolded. "Even Krohnen and Angel are more or less doing their own thing. So why can't you?"

Krizalid paused.

"Look, despite literally forcing you to fight me, I want you to show how much weaker you are if you just wander around with no purpose in life." Whip scolded. "So tell me. What do you do?"

Krizalid continued to look away for a moment. He then let out a deep sigh.

"...What is there to even do right now, even if I wanted to." Krizalid asked. "I… Have no idea what to do."

Whip let out a deep sigh. "I must admit that you have a very good point."

"Umm…"

Everyone turned towards Kula.

"...Didn't you tell me in the arena that along with trying to give the Star Pieces to Bison, you were also trying to clear Joe's name?" Kula asked.

"Oh, that's right!" Tiny said in realisation. "Krizalid offered help Dingodile and Joe."

Krizalid just scoffed. "I mainly did it because it would be more hassle if we didn't do so."

"And yet you ssssstill offered. Even when people like ARIA and Dhaos are telling us to focus all of our attention on the lab." Moe said.

"Well, considering what happened there, it is clear that we should have." Krizalid muttered.

Otane's group, Ralf and Maxima winced, remembering what happened. However, Moe narrowed his eyes.

"I don't care if it would have been the right thing to do!" Moe roared. "Joe is MY brother and hisssss safety comes first!"

Krizalid turned his head to glare and shout at Moe.

Only to stop when he saw Moe's eyes. They were full of determination, but also worried. As much as he hated to admit it, he reminded Krizalid of himself. The instinct to protect a sibling. No matter the cost.

Krizalid paused for a moment. "Whip…"

The brunette crossed her arms. "Hm?"

"...When was the last time he seen Komodo Joe?" Krizalid asked.

This startled everyone.

"Um, what?" Whip asked.

"Please. This is important!" Krizalid pleaded.

"Um, all of the way in Section One. I knocked him out when he was trying to keep me away from you." Whip reminded. "That was when Ralf and Kula came and we ended up getting distracted long enough for him to escape."

Krizalid paused. "Did you think he woke up that quickly?"

"I don't think so. I shot him in the face with my gun." Whip said, matter-of-factly.

Suddenly, she heard gasps. Turning her head, she saw that everyone but Ralf, Kula and Maxima were looking at her in shock. Whip blinked twice before rolling her eyes.

"It was a non-lethal bullet!" Whip scolded.

"Even still, I know Voodoo, Whip, he should have been out for a bit." Krizalid said.

Whip blinked twice. "...Krizalid, where are you going with this?"

"If Joe didn't wake up in time to escape you, Kula and Ralf…" The white-haired man said before narrowing his eyes. "Then, the most logical step is…"

Claude's eyes bugged out at this. "...Is someone took him while he was unconscious!"

"Yeah, that makes sense, but who?" Elliana said.

"Wait, Dingodile got arrested because he was near the Announcer's Booth when the garlic attack happened." Kula piped up. "And Ace said that both he AND Joe were behind Terry's murder."

Isla blinked twice. "...So you are saying that DINGODILE was the one who rescued Joe?"

"That… Actually adds up." Reptile said. "Joe didn't disclose any details, but he DID say that he was investigating Drake's assassin."

"AND he was the one who warned me and Mukai about said garlic attack in the firssssst place!" Moe nodded.

Isla paused. "...So let me get this straight. Three people couldn't notice a giant mutant hybrid of a dingo and a crocodile that has gained a few pounds over the years sneaking in to carry Joe in the span of a few seconds."

Ralf and Whip winced at this, with their faces turning red in embarrassment. Kula, on the other hand, frowned, but for a different reason.

"But when you hear everything else, it has to make sense!" Kula insisted, oblivious to Isla's subtle attack on the former's observation skills.

"I suppose you are not inaccurate." Maxima said.

"Dingodile must have taken Joe near the Announcer's Booth because most people, hero or villain, don't usually go there." Krizalid frowned.

"Unfortunately, they ended up walking in the garlic attack." Elliana growled.

Whip paused. "...Are you sure that he is telling the truth?"

"...I think you are asking the wrong person." Krizalid said.

Everyone turned towards Moe who stepped forward.

"I KNOW Joe usually fights to kill, but he would never keep sssssomething like murder from me." Moe said, sternly.

"And if Moe believes me, I have no reason to doubt him." Krizalid paused.

Whip crossed her arms. "...So what do you intend to do?"

"That's a good question…" Krizalid frowned. "For better or for worse, we don't have to worry about getting sidetracked by other villain plots but we don't know where to go next."

"Why not free Better Old Lady group from security team room?" Tiny asked. "Then, Tiny and friends have more allies."

"On paper, that is the logical thing to do." Reptile said before frowning behind his mask. "But I doubt it will be that simple."

"We may need to go to the security team anyway seeing that they are the lead group investigating the garlic attack." Elliana frowned.

"Then, let's go…" Krizalid offered. He then looked at Whip. "Um, sorry, could you come with us? Something tells me that it is going to be hard to convince the security team with just us?"

The Ikari Warrior paused. "Very well… To be honest, while trying to stop you and Bison was my main priority, I can't help thinking about the garlic attack or Terry's murder."

Krizalid nodded before turning towards Otane. "Otane…"

The ageing woman jumped at this. "Y-Yes?"

"Correct me if I am wrong but you are entering the next section, right?" Krizalid asked. "Might as well one time. If you go MIA, people may think you are the next Xehanort."

"Um, yeah, right, can't have people thinking that, I guess." Otane nodded.

"Hey, it can't be helped. We already had enough Junko similaritiessssss at this tournament." Moe offered.

"Better Old Lady no worry!" Tiny offered with a grin. "Tiny and friends intend to do their best!"

"Just focus your anger in the arena and come back refreshed." Elliana nodded. "That is what I will do."

"Besides, you still have your Star Piece, right?" Reptile asked. "Even if we can't use it, maybe it is best to have it just in case."

"Um, right?" Otane asked.

"Okay, then, let's go." Krizalid nodded.

With that, he, Moe, Tiny, Elliana and Reptile walked on ahead. Otane merely looked in awe.

"Are we really going to trust them on this?" Rimururu asked.

"Well, not completely." Kanji offered. "But we can at least investigate everything thoroughly."

"Besides, the champions have enough on their plate without worrying about Drake's assassin." Hibiki agreed.

"So let's go!" Ralf offered.

With that, Whip's group made their way after them. Otane blinked twice as she watched them leave. She then paused before making her way to the Ready Room.

(The Arena)

Naoto Kurogane growled before rushing forward and punching his fist out. However, Mira Fallegeros merely sneered before jumping back to avoid the blow. She then sent out several blood projectiles in the form of bats forward. Naoto's eyes widened before rolling to the side to avoid them. However, Mira ran forward and swung her claw downwards at Naoto, not giving enough time to dodge.

However, Naoto did have enough time to block as he summoned a sword made out of blood and used it to block the blow. But despite having her attack blocked, Mira just smirked before sitting her teeth into Naoto's blade and sucking from it. As Naoto (and several people) reacted in disgust, he kicked Mira in the stomach and knocked her away from him. Despite this, Mira merely smirked before wiping the blood from her mouth and licking it.

Then, her vampiric hearing picked up as she swerved to the side. Just in time to avoid a wave of fire. Yukiko Amagi frowned at having her projectile miss before sending out a series of fans forward. However, Mira merely slashed through them with her claws. Naoto then ran forward and swung his fist at Mira. The vampiress managed to block it, but Naoto continued the assault with a series of punches.

Naoto then managed to find a way through Mira's defences but giving Mira a hard uppercut, sending the pale-skinned woman to the air. Naoto was about to strike Mira while she was in the air but the latter turned into mist, not only making her way out of Naoto's attack but also going around Naoto's back and getting ready to bite him. However, Yukiko then threw a fan into the back of Mira's head, stunning her long enough for Naoto to punch him off.

"Hey! You almost bit Naoto!" Yukiko scolded. "You could have turned him into a vampire! Which means he would technically be dead and that means you have to be disqualified!"

She then paused before looking up at the Announcer's Booth.

"...That IS how it works, right?" Yukiko asked.

"That's… Actually a good question." Drake said, scratching his cheek.

"Though I doubt that Mira was trying to turn Naoto into a vampire." Ashley said. "Apparently, Mira has a command grab where she bites her opponent's neck with no repercussions of said opponent other than having some of their health."

"For the vampires in our nodes, the progress is more lengthy and we are unable to convert people to our side by ourselves." Mira smirked.

"Great so not only could she drain my blood weapons, but if I am not catching when fighting hand-to-hand, she will drain more anyway." Naoto winced.

Yukiko frowned, realising this as well and seeing that Mira was a dangerous foe for not only her and Naoto. Suddenly, her eyes widened in realisation before rushing forward towards Naoto's side.

"H-Huh, Yukiko?" Naoto gasped. "Stay back! I…"

Suddenly, the red-clad woman whispered in his ear. Naoto's eyes widened before smirking and nodding his head. They then turned towards Mira. The vampiress raised an eyebrow when Yukiko sent out several fans at her. Mira just scoffed before sending several bats at them, not only clashing with the projectiles but also sending more bats at Yukiko and Naoto.

Yukiko just summoned Konohana-Sakuya around her and Naoto, stopping the bats and healing them both. Yukiko then commanded Konohana-Sakuya to send a wave of fire forward. However, Mira moved to the side to avoid the incoming wave. But Yukiko then continued to throw more fans forward. Mira then slashed through the fans.

Then, Yukiko resummoned Konohana-Sakuya to do a direct slash. Mira's eyes widened before turning into red mist to dodge Konohana-Sakuya's attack and make her way towards Yukiko and Naoto before turning back into her visible form and did a drill kick downwards. However, Naoto raised a blood blade to block the incoming attack. Yukiko then summoned Konohana-Sakuya to summon a pink pillar of light around them and knock Mira away. By this time, Mira got up while looking angry.

Suddenly, her eyes widened in realisation. You see, Mira arguably has the most damage potential out of all of her nodal companions, but at a cost. Some of her moves needed blood and as such drains from her health. That was why Yukiko and Naoto were fighting so close together because Mira could deal with Yukiko by herself (Killer Instinct had its full of annoying zoners too). But Naoto made it hard to get close.

Mira growled. "Alright, I see your game. Too bad that this isn't just us in the arena."

With that, she made her way towards the nearest person to drain THEIR blood for health. However, Yukiko narrowed her eyes.

"Oh no you don't!" Yukiko roared.

With that, she did a dance-like movement, summoning Konohana-Sakuya again. However, this time, the Persona was engulfed in fire before shooting off like a rocket. Mira turned around, only to see Yukiko zooming forward.

CRASH!

Konohana-Sakuya crashed into Mira as hard as they could, sending the vampiress soaring straight over the ropes with flames on her, too stunned to fly back.

"Hey, your plan works, Yukiko!" Naoto grinned, giving a thumbs-up.

"Yes, I don't know if her powers would work differently from Carmine's, but I know that I could out-endure a hemomancer!" The pyromancer smiled.

Mira landed in Paladins where she got into a hemomancer duel against Lilith.

Adeleine and Ribbon gasped as a giant cloud of smoke came towards them. However, Kirby ran in front of them and started to inhale said smoke. …Only to immediately cough heavily.

"LOOK OUT!" Ribbon shouted, flying up and picking Kirby up before flying him out of the way. Just in time to avoid a knife and a plasma sword. Despite having the attacks of her and her grandfather miss, Clairen ran over to them. However, Adeleine ran over and swung her paintbrush which sent paint at the panther.

While the attack didn't hurt that much, it was more than enough to stun Clairen. Kirby then took Ribbon's crystal gun from her and fired several crystal shots at Clairen. The panther cried out in pain as Kirby continued the assault.

"Clairen, breathe in!" Forsburn shouted.

The plasma swordswoman nodded her head before taking a deep breath. She then engulfed in a giant cloud of smoke. While startled, Kirby continued to fire crystals into the smoke cloud. However, the smoke cleared showing that Forsburn and Clairen were long gone. Kirby, Adeleine and Ribbon's eyes widened before turning to see Forsburn transporting Clairen to safety.

Ribbon then took her crystal gun back and fired more shards at the pyromancer but Clairen narrowed her eyes and planted her sword in the ground which created a barrier of plasma around her and Forsburn, creating a bigger barrier.

"Oh no!" Ribbon gasped. "Adeleine, the panther could NEGATE projectiles!"

The dark-haired girl then narrowed her eyes. "Then, we have to break through their plasma and smoke! Cover me!"

Kirby and Ribbon nodded before they got in front of Adeleine. The latter then proceeded to paint on her canvas. Forsburn and Clairen got into their stances, knowing that Adeleine could draw ANYTHING.

Then, Adeleine's painting came to life. It was a large white swan with a light blue flower on each of their head and a tornado swirl acting like a ballet tutu. They posed like a ballet dancer. Adeleine then climbed on top of the swan with Kirby and Ribbon flying back on and joining them.

"Fleurina, let's dance!" Adeleine shouted.

The painting of Fleurina then started to make her move by swinging her wind and sending out various tornados at Forsburn and Clairen. The two pyromancers narrowed their eyes before making their way around the incoming projectiles. However, Fleurina started to spin around (while Adeleine, Kirby and Ribbon hanging on for dear life). This resulted in a tornado, surrounding Fleurina. Forsburn and Clairen planted their weapons in the ground to avoid getting sucked in.

"Think we could brave it out!?" Clairen shouted, having to raise her voice over the tornado.

"I don't know!" Forsburn frowned. His eyes then widened behind their mask. "Unless…"

Forsburn then pulled his knife out of the ground before flying towards Fleurina, much to Clairen's horror. Forsburn then emitted smoke from his body and at the last second, he pulled the smoke back into his body.

BOOM!

With a fiery explosion engulfing him and striking Fleurina, knocking the swan painting to the ground along with Kirby, Adeleine and Ribbon. Forsburn then got up to his feet while Clairen looked in awe. The hyena then made his way forward towards the stunned Kirby group.

However, Kirby got up and ran over to the downed painting of Fleurina before sucking it in. After doing so, Kirby had a new Copy Hat. A dome that had a mini-tornado swirling on top of it. Forsburn's eyes bugged out before turning around to run off. However, Kirby, now in the Fleur Tornado form, spun around and turned into a tornado. The puffball managed to catch up to Forsburn and struck him multiple times before sending him flying over the ropes.

"FORSBURN!" Clairen gasped, holding out her free hand as she watched Forsburn fall into the elimination portal.

She then turned her head to see Kirby running over to the dazed Adeleine and Ribbon to check up on them. She then frowned.

"As much as I wish to have some nodal revenge, I am going to have to be smart and sneak away from them." Clairen sighed before walking off while her opponents were distracted.

Forsburn landed in One Piece where he spent the next ten minutes having a cops-and-robbers chase with Smoker.

Mewtwo and Silver the Hedgehog floated around a good distance from the arena using their psychokinesis. They engulfed their hands in purple and cyan energy respectively and lunged at each other, punching at each other. Resulting in a large burst of psychic energy, they continued to throw psychokinesis-induced punches at each other. However, Mewtwo gave the advantage by whipping Silver in the face with his tail.

Silver flew backwards before recovering to see Mewtwo sending out an uncharged Shadow Ball at him. However, Silver held his hand forward and created a cyan light around the incoming projectile but sending it back at Mewtwo. The Pokemon raised an eyebrow before swinging his arm upwards and sending the Shadow Ball back. This resulted in a psychic tennis match between the two.

However, Silver decided to mix it up by sending the Shadow Ball with one hand, but he sent out his hand to the side. This summoned a wooden crate out of nowhere and threw it alongside the Shadow Ball. Mewtwo's eyes bugged out at this before focusing on the crate, slashing through it with an energy ball. However, this left him wide open to take the Shadow Ball to the side.

Because Shadow Ball was a Ghost-type attack and Mewtwo was a psychic type, the feline was sent staggering back. Silver smirked before spreading his arms out. By this time, Mewtwo looked up. …Only to see a series of blimps and planes behind Mewtwo and being held by Silver's light. Immediately, they all flew at Mewtwo. But the Pokemon summoned a barrier around him to protect him from bullets from the planes. Silver then smirked.

"IT'S NO USE!" Silver shouted, sending out his hand and summoning a cyan light around Mewtwo's barrier. "TAKE THIS!"

With that, he sent the barrier downwards and crashed onto the ground. However, the moment the barrier touched the ground, it showed that Mewtwo had vanished. Silver's eyes widened before looking around to see Mewtwo teleporting to the side.

"I must say, Silver, I am going to be blunt." Mewtwo admitted. "I never expected our fight to be so… Fun."

"I admit that most, if not all of my attacks revolve around throwing something or someONE around." Silver confessed, adjusting his bracelets. "Even still, I can't use the same attack all of the time. Especially when there is more stuff to throw in these arena changes."

"True… But in this case, there is so much that you could throw at me." Mewtwo smirked.

Silver sighed. "That is true… You could only throw a car so many times."

Mewtwo's smirk vanished. "Wait… Car?"

Suddenly, a car summoned by a cyan light appeared out of the ground underneath Mewtwo. This took even the Pokemon off-guard and he was sent flying upwards, pinned to the top of the car. However, he managed to teleport out of the way. Despite this, when he reappeared and held his head with a dazed look on his face before glaring at Silver.

"Alright, you made your point." Mewtwo admitted.

With that, he sent his arm out. He then summoned purple auras around the dark clouds around the area before bringing towards him. Silver's eyes widened before using his psychokinesis on the planes and blimps. The two then got into a stand-off (or float-off).

"FIRE!"

Mewtwo's eyes bugged out before turning his head to see Snoopy flying on his Sopwith Camel with Woodstock still on his tail. The latter then fired a bunch of fireworks at Charizard. However, The flying lizard easily flew out of the way.

And towards Silver.

Before the hedgehog could react, he was engulfed in a series of fireworks which struck him to the ground where he fell into the elimination portal, too stunned to float back.

Silver landed in Super Monkey Ball where he got run over by a bunch of giant billiard balls.

Mewtwo looked in horror at what had happened before glaring at Snoopy and Charizard. The latter two didn't seem to notice. Mewtwo then growled before directing the storm clouds towards Snoopy's Sopwith Camel. Before the latter, Woodstock and Charizard could realise it, the storm clouds surrounded the Sopwith Camel.

BOOM!

Charizard's eyes widened as the Sopwith Camel exploded and made everyone gasp in horror. However, when the explosion cleared, Snoopy was now seen descending down on a parachute with charred marks all over his body while holding Woodstock. They were both shivering.

Snoopy then growled before glaring at Mewtwo. "You maniac! You totaled my Sopwith Camel!"

"That is what you deserve. Just because this is YOUR stage choice, that doesn't mean we should all bend to it" The psychic Pokemon scolded before floating off. "Be grateful that I didn't decide to eliminate you altogether and…"

Suddenly, a giant orange blur crashed into Mewtwo and sent the feline flying backwards. A couple of seconds later, he recovered while holding his head to see Charizard glaring at him.

Mewtwo gave an exasperated stare. "...Really?"

"Yeah, really, I was actually far more fun than I should fighting that beagle and you ruined it!" Charizard scolded.

"And I suppose that it would do little to remind you that we are not only nodal companions, but also SUB-nodal companions." Mewtwo muttered.

"What good would THAT do!?" Mewtwo reminded. "Even though it is clear that our node is in the lead of overall eliminations, while us Pokemon started off slow, everyone that came out STILL got an elimination."

Mewtwo rolled his eyes. "Then, let's throw ration out the window."

"Yes, let's…" Charizard spat before flying forward. Mewtwo then narrowed his eyes before disappearing, allowing Charizard to fly past. Mewtwo then reappeared and sent out a Shadow Ball into Charizard's side. The fire Pokemon flew back from the attack before recovering. Charizard then flew back at Mewtwo, but the psychic just moved backwards while spreading his arms back.

Suddenly, Charizard felt his body being struck all over. Looking around, he saw that Mewtwo had taken control of the planes and blimps flying around the arena. Charizard's eyes bugged out as Mewtwo smirked while making them advance. Suddenly, Charizard got out a boulder out of nowhere and used it as a shield to protect him from the bullets.

Mewtwo raised an intrigued eyebrow before disappearing and reappearing behind Charizard. By the time the winged lizard realised what was going on, Mewtwo then sent his palms into his back and sent him forward. The planes then started to fire into Charizard. While the latter was stunned, Mewtwo floated forward before doing a series of slashes to Charizard.

However, Charizard cried out in pain before he then swung his tail, whipping AND burning Mewtwo in the face. Charizard then flew forward and past the planes and blimps while Mewtwo was stunned. After making sure that most of them were between the two Pokemon, Charizard then breathed his Flamethrower breath at the planes and blimps, setting them on fire and towards Mewtwo. The psychic quickly directs them away with his Confusion.

But that was what Charizard was hoping for as he managed to fly back over to Mewtwo while he was distracted and grabbed him. The former then started to fly around in circles while still holding onto Mewtwo with the crowd cheering him on, knowing what would happen. Soon, Charizard finally let go of Mewtwo and sent him crashing to the ground.

"There you have it!" Drake grinned. "Charizard's iconic Seismic Toss!"

As the crowd went wild, Charizard floated down with a triumphant look on his face while Mewtwo struggled to get up.

"Maybe in a normal fight, we would be on equal footing. But the court is in my favour for two reasons." Charizard said, sternly. "One, not even a legendary Pokemon is immune to fatigue and two, you made the wrong choice of angering ME."

With that, he flew straight into Mewtwo and crashed into him, sending him flying over the ropes and out of the ring.

Mewtwo landed in Dragonball where he was forced to fend off against Freiza.

Charizard gave a fiery scoff as he made his way towards Snoopy who was looking over the destroyed remnants of his doghouse in sadness.

"Hey, sorry about that. Mewtwo is usually cool but he could be quite cruel if you tick him off." Charizard frowned.

"It's fine…" Snoopy grumbled, picking up a few things from the remains. "This always happens when flying, anyway…"

"Angel Ring!"

A ring of yellow energy surrounded Pacman. However, the mascot of Namco just smiled his trademark smile before jumping up to avoid the ring closing in. He then ran over to his opponent. Estelle Sidos Heurassein raised her shield to block a kick from Pacman. Estelle then kicked Pacman in the face, sending him staggering back. However, the latter recovered but Estelle immediately went on the offensive.

"Star Stroke!" Estelle shouted, swinging her rod upwards and sending a ground wave at Pacman, but the yellow Pac-person ran around it. He then got out a strawberry and threw it forward. Estelle thought quickly and raised her shield to block the strawberry. Pacman then bounced off of his rear before lunging forward and landing on top of Estelle. The princess yelped before raising her shield to block the attack.

Despite Estelle managing to block the attack, Pacman continued his assault by continuing to bounce off of Estelle's shield using his Butt Bounce. Estelle struggled to keep blocking the assault. Soon, Pacman got out a fire hydrant out of nowhere and dropped it on top of Estelle's shield. This made the pinkette lose her balance and fall onto her side. Pacman then leapt off and sent out an 8-bit sprite of Blinky into the hydrant. However, Estelle managed to recover in time and see the attack coming.

"Cavalry!" Estelle shouted, raising her shield to manage to block the incoming hydrant. Pacman then sent out a Power Pellet with a trail of Pac-Dots before turning into his classic form and started to eat them, crashing Estelle and sending the princess sprawling across the ground. With Pacman done, he ran forward.

"Delight Roll!" Estelle shouted, spinning around with a rainbow light around her rod and struck Pacman, knocking him down. Estelle then got up and stepped back away from Pacman.

"As expected from the mascot of Namco, he is tougher than he looks." Estelle noted. "I have to pull out all of the stops too. Star Stroke!"

With that, she sent out another ground wave forward. But Pacman made his way to the side but Pacman then started to cast another spell.

"Holy Lance!" Estelle shouted, summoning a bunch of lances of light over Pacman. The mascot of Namco yelped before getting out something as the lances dropped down.

…Only for the lances to bounce off of him as if he was nothing. Estelle's eyes widened when she saw that Pacman now had chrome all over his body.

"Uh-oh! The Chrome Suit!" Estelle gasped. She then paused. "...Though it is referred to as the Metal Dot in Re-Pac."

Despite this, Estelle just narrowed her eyes and cast another spell. Pacman's smile vanished as he tried to run out of the way, but he was too slow. While Pacman was obviously more resilient in his chrome form, he was obviously slower so it was harder to dodge attacks.

"Grand Chariot!" Estelle shouted, summoning a constellation where Pacman was standing which resulted in it glowing, striking Pacman with light energy. While Pacman was impervious to damage, Estelle could still force him out of the ring so she ran forward.

"Blazing Pillar!" Estelle shouted, swinging her rod upwards and summoning a pillar of fire underneath Pacman and sent him sprawling back. Estelle then ran forward and crouched down to use her shield to shove Pacman while he was downed.

However, the mascot of Namco didn't take long to recover before he then started to push after Estelle where the two got into a power struggle. Surprisingly, the two seemed to be even. However, Pacman then started to run in place. Estelle's eyes widened in horror, but it was too late. Pacman did a full Rev Roll, not only winning the power struggle but sending Estelle flying back.

…Anddddd away from the ropes.

"Neck Stretcher!" Guilmon shouted before doing a headstand before boosting himself to do an upwards dropkick. However, Raizo Imawano just narrowed his eyes before stepping to the side. This led to Guilmon hitting Estelle instead when she flew towards him and sent her flying over the ropes.

When Guilmon's attack ended, he landed on the ground but when he did, he slowly realised what had happened.

"Um, oops…" Guilmon said before looking at Pacman and cupping his hands to his mouth. "Sorry!"

Pacman blinked twice before slapping his forehead in frustration.

Estelle landed in Code of Princess where she bonded with Solange. Despite the former being stunned (and jealous) of Solange's… Bold outfit.

(Dome; Eliminated Seating)

Gabumon and Gomamon blinked twice at this.

"...Well, THAT'S an anti-climatic way for someone to tie with your current score, Gabumon." Gomamon muttered.

The lizard chuckled nervously. "...Well, while our node isn't doing… Terrible, per say, we are definitely falling behind in comparison to the most popular nodes so we need all of the eliminations we could get."

"...I get what you are trying to say and I don't necessarily disagree…" Gomamon admitted before letting out a deep sigh. "I am getting flashbacks to how everyone in the fight I was last in ended up."

Gabumon frowned before putting a comforting hand on Gomamon's shoulder (if he had shoulders). As the two continued their conversation, Athena frowned as she squatted down while flipping through the script.

"Come on, come on!" Athena muttered. "Surely, there has to be SOME kind of clue to what that guy Joe is currently fighting!"

Athena knew that she was running out of time with not only Joe fighting the mysterious attack but there would be a big chance that Joe would be caught by… Anyone.

"As far as I could tell, the biggest suspects are the two spirit swords and Cruella and her cronies." Athena noted. "But that guy… He doesn't like he would match up in the respective nodes of said people!"

She continued to skim through the pages, examining any and all people that were at least mentioned in the second Battle of the Luminaries.

"No, no, have no connection with that type of person." Athena said before growling. "Ugh… Come on, come on! Don't lead me to a dead end! Not here! Not now!"

With that, she started to continue to flip through the script frantically.

Then, something fell out when she turned a page.

Athena paused before looking down. She then noticed that it was a single page. It was all crumbled up and dirtied. She blinked twice before slowly reaching down to pick it up.

"What on earth…?" Athena asked before she started to read it.

Then, her eyes bugged out when she read it thoroughly. Acting quickly, she got out her phone and started to fiddle with it.

"Come on, Google, you may be the only person who could solve this mystery." Athena said to herself.

Then, her eyes bugged out when she came across what she was looking for. Immediately, she went over to search further.

"...Wait, not only is THIS guy listed but also Terry Bogard AND…" Athena said.

She then paused for a moment. She then narrowed her eyes before standing up straight. She then looked around the Elimination Seating. Once in, she had her eyes set on a particular fighter. Wasting no time, she made her way over to said fighter.

"Um, excuse me?" Athena asked.

The fighter looked up. "Um, yeah."

"I am sorry, but can I ask you to call a particular friend of yours?" Athena said.

The fighter just blinked twice in confusion.

(Dome; Elimination Seating Entrance)

Komodo Joe hissed before jumping back just in time to avoid a flaming punch. "Pyromancer" just scoffed before continuing the assault with a series of flaming punches. But Joe kept jumping back to avoid the barrage. Soon, he raised his scimitar to block an incoming punch before kicking his foot out and catching "Pyromancer" in the stomach. The latter staggered back while Joe went for a counter-slash.

However, "Pyromancer" jumped backwards to avoid the slash before doing his own counter-attack by igniting his hand in fire and swinging it at Joe. But the Komodo Dragon swerved his head to the side to avoid it before sweeping his leg out and knocking "Pyromancer" off of his feet. However, the red-clad man quickly recovered and punched the ground, resulting in a burst of fire which sent Joe flying into a wall and crashing into it.

As sliding off of said wall, Joe groaned while rubbing his head with his free hand. Then, his eyes bugged out when he saw "Pyromancer" rushing forward with a flaming punch. Acting quickly, he ran off to avoid it. However, "Pyromancer" quickly recovered and sent out a close-range burst of fire forward. Joe raised his scimitar to block the attack, but the force sent him skidding on his feet.

Joe managed to stop before he crashed into another wall. He then started to throw scimitars at "Pyromancer". The red-clad man narrowed his eyes before running off to avoid the incoming projectile swords. After a bit of running, he stopped before fire in his hands before sending out a large fireball forward. Joe stopped throwing swords to run to the side to leap to the way of the projectile.

"Ha! Having limited combat experiences in the games is really showing!" "Pyromancer" sneered.

Joe glared back at "Pyromancer". "Well, at least I'M using my own movesssss!"

"Pyromancer's" smirk vanished. "Excuse me!?"

"SSSSSpare me! I've been to this tournament long enough to know that some of your moves are similar to Kyo Kusanagi's!" Joe retorted.

"Pyromancer" growled. "Oh, because Kyo's archetype hasn't been similar to others!"

"Even still, a hot-blooded young man with pyromancy?" Joe asked in disbelief. "You are just any other shonen protagonist in a fighting game!"

"Pyromancer" growled before rushing while igniting his hands in fire and rushing forward. However, Joe got out a smoke pellet and threw it on the ground, engulfing himself in a cloud of smoke. Despite this, "Pyromancer" ran forward and punched forward at the cloud of smoke. …To reveal that Joe was long gone.

As "Pyromancer" yelped before Joe reappeared behind the former and slashed him in the back. The red-clad young man cried out in pain before turning around to see Joe rushing forward for another slash. "Pyromancer" then… Ran his hand through his hair. However, when Joe's scimitar collided with "Pyromancer's" body, he then vanished. Joe yelped before "Pyromancer" reappeared behind him and sent his hands into Joe's back creating a burst of fire.

Joe screamed as he was sent flying towards a wall and crashing into it. He groaned before propping himself up with his scimitar. Looking up, he saw "Pyromancer" running towards him with a flame in each hand. Joe's eyes bugged before running up the wall and leaping from it, allowing "Pyromancer" to hit it instead while Joe ended up behind him. "Pyromancer" then growled before turning around.

To see Joe in his Wizard skin while reading his staff and equipping it with a bright pink orb with a bronze band. "Pyromancer" just scoffed.

"You think you are the only zoner that I faced!?" "Pyromancer" roared. "If anything, you should be easy because that only showed up in Nitro Fueled!"

With that, he summoned more flames around his hands and sent out a giant fireball forward. Joe then aimed his staff.

And summoned a pink swirling vortex around the orb of his staff and when the giant fireball touched it, it immediately deflected it. "Pyromancer's" eyes bugged out before the projectile hit him dead-on and sent him flying backwards and crashing into the wall. He then sat against it, looking like he was out cold. Joe smirked while lowering his staff.

"Magic ssssshould be the weakest elemental wield they say." Joe noted. "I can't do anything with it a different elemental wheel can't do, they sssssay. Well, THEY are wrong!"

He then paused.

"Real talk though, who IS this guy?" Joe asked. "He is clearly based off of Kyo so he ssssshould be a fighting game character, but who?"

Suddenly, he felt a large surge through his body. He cried out in pain before collapsing on his knees. Groaning, he turned his head.

To see Carmelita aiming her shock pistol at her. Not only was she there, but also Gabe, Pepper, the Babylon Rogues and Wario. Everyone was glaring at him with Pepper looking concerned.

Joe's eyes widened in horror. "N-No!"

"Komodo Joe, you are under arrest for suspicion of attempted murder of Drake, actual murder of Terry Bogard and assaulting this young man!" Carmelita roared.

"N-N-No, this isn't what it looks like!" Joe pleaded.

"Save it." Wave spat, crossing her arms.

Joe looked around at all of the glares. Pepper looked like she wanted to help, but she didn't know what to say. The swordsman closed his eyes while telling himself not to cry.

"No… This can't end like this! Dingodile… I am sorry… You are in this mess trying to protect me and yet… And yet…"

"WAIT!"

Everyone's eyes bugged out before turning to see Athena rushing. Immediately, she got in front of Joe and held her arms out, much to everyone's shock.

"A-A-Athena?" Carmelita gasped. "What are you doing!?"

Wave narrowed her eyes, darkly. "Indeed. What ARE you doing?"

"It is true that Joe fought that guy but HE attacked us first!" Athena insisted.

"Wait… Attacked US first?" Gabe repeated, looking stunned. "Athena, are you saying…"

The attorney let out a deep sigh. "Look, I think I know who the real culprits are."

"Oh, really?" Jet asked, crossing his arms. "Who do you intend to frame, Tsugumi?"

Athena and Joe's pupils shrank at this.

"W-What did you call me?" Athena asked.

"You heard the boss!" Storm said. "TSU-GU-MI! Like Tsugumi Shirogane!"

"I… Don't know what is going on." Athena frowned.

"Ugh, do we have-a to spell it out for you!?" Wario spat. "We are a mole just like SHE was!"

Athena's face paled upon hearing these words. Joe looked just as horrified.

"...What?" Athena asked.

"I must admit, you really had us going. Then again, you played your cards too early unlike Tsugumi and now I have no reason to believe that you are not in cahoots with Dingodile or Joe!" Wave said, pointing her finger.

"N-No! Please, wait!" Athena pleaded. "I am not a mole! And Dingodile and Joe are not the culprits!"

"Spare us! Why else would you be helping those two!?" Wave challenged.

"This is crazy!" Athena snapped before turning towards Carmelita. "Carmelita, you don't really believe these guys, do you?"

The vixen just stared in silence. So did Gabe. Athena looked hurt by this.

"C-Carmelita? Gabe?" Athena asked.

"...It is not like we WANT to believe. But I could imagine how the security team felt when they were forced to suspect Sans." Carmelita said with little emotion on her face.

"N-No…" Athena gasped.

"Look, regardless, I think you both should come with us." Gabe said. "Don't MAKE this harder for us…"

Athena looked worried while Pepper looked at her in sympathy. Suddenly, the former's eyes widened. Behind her was a large spike in fear. She didn't need to turn around to know where the fear came from. Taking a deep breath, she looked at everyone with a stern glare.

"If you are going to take us in, then could you take in the so-called 'victim' and one other person?" Athena asked.

Everyone blinked twice.

"Um, one other person?" Gabe asked.

"...I think she is talking about ME?"

Everyone turned their heads to see the fighter that Athena was talking to earlier, looking confused.

"Kyo Kusanagi?" Carmelita asked.

"Um, yo, don't ask what she meant by that but I am asked by her to come along." The face of KoF shrugged, pointing to Athena.

Wave blinked twice in confusion before glaring at Athena.

"...What is your game?" Wave asked.

"It's no game. I just want to reveal the truth." Athena said, sternly.

"Oh yeah and how is he going to help with that?" Wave challenged.

"That's easy." Athena said before looking at Kyo. "Kyo, could you tell me who the unconscious man is?"

The brown-haired man paused before looking at "Pyromancer". He continued to stare at it for a moment, silently wondering what was going on. Finally, he gave his answer.

"Um, yeah, it is Yan from Xuan Dou Zhi Wang."

This resulted in everyone going silent. Soon, Pepper asked the question that was on everyone's minds.

"Um, who?"

"Joe?" Athena asked.

The Komodo Dragon jumped. "Y-Yesssss?"

"I want you to turn yourself in." Athena said.

Joe's pupils shrank. "What!?"

"Don't worry. The battle has definitely become tougher, but I think we should be able to finally piece together the truth." Athena offered.

"Umm… Okay?" Joe asked.

With that, he dropped his staff to the ground and put his hands on his head. Athena did the same thing. Everyone just blinked twice. Carmelita then narrowed her eyes.

"Well, Gabe, shall we?" Carmelita asked.

"Um, sure." The mercenary nodded.

Carmelita then turned towards the Babylon Rogues and Wario. "Do any of you mind carrying… Yan, was it?"

"Um, sure. I'll do it." Storm offered.

With that, Carmelita, Gabe and Storm went over to Athena, Joe and the still-unconscious Yan. Once there, Carmelita and Gabe handcuffed Athena and Joe behind their backs respectively while Storm put Yan over his shoulder. Carmelita then whispered in Athena's ear.

"...I shouldn't say this. But DON'T let me down." Carmelita said.

Athena merely nodded her head. As much as she hated to admit it, she didn't feel that confident after revealing that most of the investigation team thought that she was a mole, not unlike, Tsugumi Shirogane. Not unlike Ichigo Momomiya.

However, unlike Ichigo, Athena knew the truth. Sure, she didn't know the full truth and there were a lot of questions, but she knew for a fact who the culprits were. And while she can't say for certain, she thinks that she knows why.

(The Arena)

Naoto Kurogane and Yukiko Amagi yelped before leaping at opposite sides to avoid an incoming green tornado. Only to be bombarded by paintings of enemies and crystal shards. The two cried out as Adeleine & Ribbon struck them with their respective projectiles. Kirby, still as Tornado Kirby, ran forward and spun at Naoto. However, the hemomancer saw him and yelped before jumping up to move over the incoming Kirby and allowed him to run past.

Yukiko then rushed over to Naoto and summoned Konohana-Sakuya around them to create the pillar of light to stop the projectiles. Kirby then turned around and spun toward Naoto. However, the brown-haired man created a blade of blood before slashing at the incoming Kirby, managing to knock him out of his tornado and onto the ground. While Kirby was on the ground, Naoto did a sliding kick, striking him.

Meanwhile, Yukiko had Konohana-Sakuya to send out a wave of fire forward at Adeleine & Ribbon. But the latter quickly picked up her partner and flew her over said wave. However, Yukiko just threw fans at the duo. The two yelped before Ribbon flew Adeleine around the fans while the latter fired the crystal gun not only at Yukiko fans, but the pyromancer herself.

However, Yukiko just dodged (which looked like graceful dancing) around the crystal while she continued to throw fans.

Naoto yelped before raising a blood blade to block a hammer from Kirby. However, due to the momentum from Tornado's dash, Naoto ended up skidding back on his feet. Kirby then spun forward again. Naoto winced before turning around and running over with Kirby chasing after him. At first, he looked scared but while looking where he was running, he immediately smirked.

Naoto then ran over to a storm cloud before leaping over it. Kirby did not see this coming and moved straight into it, zapping him with electricity. Kirby cried out in pain before collapsing on his back, using his Tornado ability with it turning into a star. Naoto then rushed towards and swung his blood blade at Kirby. However, the puffball backflipped out of the way. Despite this, Naoto just kicked the Tornado star away from Kirby. The pink boy ran towards Adeleine & Ribbon.

"So much for Tornado." Ribbon frowned. "Should you paint a new Copy ability, Addy?"

"Well, it depends. You saw their teamwork against that vampire." The artist reminded. "We have to make it count."

"True… Let's see. You could paint the Water ability for Yukiko's fire attacks but we still have to deal with Naoto." Ribbon offered.

"Indeed. I think we should focus on Naoto." Adeleine mused. "Question is, what is a weakness for hemomancers."

Suddenly, her eyes widened in realisation.

"Wait, I think I know!" Adeleine offered.

"In that case, you know what we should do, right, Kirby?" Ribbon smiled.

The puffball nodded his head before he ran forward while getting out his Cutter blade and ran forward. Yukiko just threw her fans at Kirby, but the latter swung his blade at the projectiles and slashing through while still advancing. However, Naoto raised his blood blade to block Kirby while he was coming close. Naoto then got ready for a counter swing.

…Only to hear a weird sucking noise. Raising an eyebrow, he looked up. And his eyes bugged out in horror.

On Naoto's blade were three bats. The first bat was a dark blue bat with their eyes closed and no mouth. The second bat was grey with only one eye. The third bat was dark blue like the first bat, except they had NO eyes and a bat. They were all sucking on Naoto's blade.

"W-W-What the hell are THOSE?" Naoto asked.

"Well, the bat with the closed eyes is a Swoop from Mario, the bat with only one eye is a Keese from Legend of Zelda, particularly Breath of the Wild and the eyeless bat is a Zubat from Pokemon." Yukiko answered.

Naoto looked at Yukiko in disbelief. "...I know that this is far from the weirdest thing we have ever seen, but how could you be so… Nonchalant?"

Suddenly, the two were swarmed by even more bats. They yelped before trying to shoo them away from their heads. Adeleine smirked before she proceeded to draw even more bats and sent them at the two.

"Get off us, you goddamned bats!" Naoto roared before getting out another blade of blood.

Suddenly, the entire blade was swarmed by bats sucking on it. Naoto yelped before dropping it. Despite some bats still harassing Yukiko, most of them were now focused on Naoto. Most likely due to his hemomancy.

"Naoto, over here! I could protect us with Dia!" Yukiko offered.

Naoto nodded his head before rushing over while shielding his head. Only for a large blur to zoom past between them and send the two onto their rears. Looking stunned, they both look up.

To see a painting of a Crobat flapping his wings with Adeleine, Ribbon and Kirby riding on it while waving to them.

"Crobat, use Aerial Ace!" Adeleine shouted.

Crobat didn't hesitate as they dove towards the nearest target which was Naoto. The brown-haired young man got up before running off. Unfortunately for him, Aerial Ace is noticeable for one thing. It never misses. So Crobat rammed into Naoto at blinding speed and while the move itself wasn't normally strong, it was more than enough to send him over the ropes.

Naoto landed in Mortal Kombat. When Skarlet found out that he was a fellow hemomancer, let's just say that he got out of the frying pan and into the fire.

"Pyro Sphere!"

Raizo Imawano merely scoffed before raising a bulky arm to block a fireball. He then rushed over to Guilmon and swung his bear-like claw at Guilmon. The Digimon yelped before ducking under the claw swipe before slashing Raizo in the torso with his own claw. The principal winced while stepping back, but quickly recovered and kicked his foot out. However, Guilmon raised his arms to block said kick.

Guilmon then shoved Raizo back by lunging forward to slash with his claws again, but the bulky man merely raised his arms to block the slash. He then slammed his head forward, headbutting Guilmon to the ground and onto his back. Raizo then bounced onto Guilmon, preparing to slash his face in. But the dinosaur managed to grab Raizo's hand before it could hurt him.

The two got into a power struggle and instead not only was Raizo larger than Guilmon (and literally on top of him), it seemed to be easily matched. Guilmon then managed to shove Raizo off of him. Once the two got up, they got into another power struggle and tried to gain ground. Raizo managed to win the power struggle by picking up Guilmon and throwing him away.

Guilmon painfully bounced across the cloudy ground before slowly getting up while groaning. He yelped before seeing Raizo rushing over while slashing rapidly. Acting quickly, he ran to the side and while Raizo missed his attack, Guilmon whipped the principal in the side with his tail. Raizo winced but quickly recovered before glaring down at Guilmon.

"For a Rookie Digimon, you are surprisingly strong." Raizo noted.

"To be fair, ALL of the Rookie Digimon, even Neemon, are strong." Guilmon admitted. "We have to be able to face Mega Digimon bosses like Blackwargreymon and Reapermon right off the back."

"True. But that is no reason to be arrogant." Raizo scolded. "Just because you faced the likes of Reapermon, that doesn't mean you could take on any and all final bosses like me."

Guilmon blinked twice. "But… You are NOT the final boss of Rival Schools. You were the penultimate boss and even then, you weren't that WILLINGLY."

Raizo winced before glaring at Guilmon. "T-T-The details are not important! For better or for worse, this strengthens my resolve to discipline you!"

With that, he rolled forward not unlike Blanka from Street Fighter, only with a pink light surrounding him. Guilmon's eyes widened, not expecting this and took the attack, being sent sprawling to the ground. Guilmon groaned before getting up. He then shook his head before growling and slitting his eyes.

"Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon shouted, spitting out a fireball from his mouth. Raizo merely slashed at the projectile, immediately negating it. However, Guilmon then ran forward head-first and charged right into Raizo's stomach. The ageing man's pupils shrank before staggering back while holding his gut.

"Rock Breaker!" Guilmon shouted, flipping forward while igniting his claws with fire and striking Raizo, knocking the principal to the ground and sending him sprawling. Raizo then got up on his side, holding his side in pain. Guilmon then ran over before pouncing at Raizo. However, the latter recovered in time before holding up his arms to catch Guilmon before it pounced off him. Raizo then threw Guilmon off of him. The two then got up before turning around. Raizo then charged forward in his rolling attack but Guilmon stepped to the side.

However, Raizo suddenly changed direction in mid-attack and charged right into Guilmon, knocking him. Raizo then got out of his attack before crouching down to pick up the stunned Digimon before throwing him out of the ring.

Guilmon landed in Tales of Legendia where he got into a fight with Mimi, the Wonder Chef who fought with a large baguette. Guilmon promptly "defeated" her by eating the bread.

Raizo smirked before dusting his hands together. "Heh. Slowly but surely, we are redeeming ourselves. With me getting an elimination, Batsu and the others have no excuse for doing poorly from now."

Suddenly, something crashed against his back, making him stagger forward a couple of steps. Looking down, he saw Scooby Doo on the ground, groaning while holding his eyes. A few seconds later, Scooby realised who he crashed into and looked up before yelping. Raizo's face turned stern before crossing his arms.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" Raizo asked.

Scooby gulped nervously. "Fourteen! Twenty-Two! Six!"

Raizo blinked twice. "...Um, are you trying to appeal to me by doing math?"

"Hut-hut-HIKE!"

With that, he put on a football helmet out of nowhere and charged forward, headbutting Raizo in the stomach. Not only did it completely knock the wind out of the bulky man, but it managed to send him over the ropes.

Raizo landed in Under Night In-Birth where he got into a fight with Waldstein.

Scooby sighed in relief before taking off his helmet. …Only for something to crash against the back of his head. Scooby then groaned before looking down to see Snoopy holding his head. Scooby paused before looking up to see Guy sternly crossing his arms.

"You're okay, Snoopy?" Scooby asked.

"Not really. We made a big mistake taking on an UVR champion this early." The beagle groaned.

Scooby looked offended. "What do you mean 'we'?"

Snoopy acted like he didn't hear Scooby. "Look, we all got another elimination each and the section is almost over so we should cut our losses and retreat."

"But what about Garfield? Guy knocked him into another fighter." Scooby reminded, raising an eyebrow.

"Eh. He should be fine. As long as he learns how to share his food." Snoopy shrugged.

"GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU INCOMPLETE CIRCLE!"

Snoopy and Scooby looked at each other with smirks before speaking in unison. "Then again, maybe not."

Even with Snoopy joining them after getting over the loss of his Sopwith Camel, Garfield and Scooby learned the hard way that strength in numbers wasn't enough and ended up before being knocked away. While Scooby managed to think quickly and eliminate the person he crashed and Snoopy actually crashed into an ally, Garfield… Was not that lucky.

While Pacman was angry at first for Garfield crashing into him (who could blame him considering how painful it was), he immediately got over it when he smelled all of the food items on Garfield's person and merely wanted those instead of revenge. Needless to say though, Garfield believed that a bad situation got worse and ran off with Pacman chasing him in his classic form.

"This is SO messed up! I'M supposed to take food from other people, not the other way around!" Garfield exclaimed while running.

Realising that he wasn't going to outrun Pacman (for obvious reasons), Garfield had no choice but to stop running and fight. After skidding to a stop, Garfield immediately threw at his teddy bear, Pooky, at Pacman. However, the bear missed the Pac-person as the latter went further. Suddenly, Pooky came back like a boomerang and crashed into Pacman's back, knocking him out of his classic form with Pooky returning to Garfield. Before cutely hugging him.

After putting away Pooky, Garfield got out his chicken leg and swung it down at the downed Pacman. However, the mascot of Namco rolled backwards to avoid the attack. Garfield then stabbed his chicken leg forward, but Pacman turned into his classic form and then chomped onto it. Garfield's eyes bugged out as Pacman started to chow down on it. The former blinked twice before looking at the nearest Lakitu with an exasperated stare.

"I don't know what I was expecting." Garfield admitted.

Despite the awkward situation he was put in, he quickly demonstrated that he had the advantage by slamming his chicken leg with Pacman on it from left to right, also slamming the Pac-person multiple times. Pacman turned back into his regular form as he lay on his stomach dazed. Garfield smirked before putting away his chicken leg and got a cane while putting on a top hat. He then jumped on Pacman and did a tap dance on his back.

Pacman cried out in pain before sending his arm at Garfield and sent out blue radioactive waves at the tabby cat. This had pulled Garfield towards the hand and sent him stumbling off of him. The two then got up with Garfield making the first move and sending a pie at Pacman. However, the mascot opened his mouth and ate. Pacman returned the favour by throwing a strawberry. At first, Garfield did the first thing but then he suddenly cried out in pain.

"Pixels are prickly…" Garfield groaned. He then got out his rolled-up newspaper and swung it at Pacman. Because the Pac-person didn't use a weapon, Pacman had to resort to using his arms to block. While Garfield's newspaper wasn't as strong as his chicken leg, they were just as fast, striking Pacman multiple times. However, the latter got out his trampoline and bounced off of it and anyway from Garfield. The cat just narrowed his eyes.

Garfield then got out a milkshake and started to drink. Pacman raised an eyebrow at this. Sure, Garfield was a glutton, not even he would just stop to eat or drink something in the middle of a fight. Soon, Garfield put away the milkshake before rushing forward.

Suddenly, Garfield managed to run at an alarming speed, startling not only Pacman but everyone watching. Soon, Garfield ended up behind Pacman before pulling his leg back.

"Nothing personal, kid!" Garfield smirked.

With that, he kicked Pacman hard in the rear, sending the Pac-person flying through the air while holding it in pain and screaming at the top of his lungs. Pacman then landed straight into the elimination portal. As Garfield smirked while dusting his hands together, Snoopy and Scooby looked in awe before walking over.

"Um, what just happened?" Snoopy asked.

"It is from my game, Saving Arlene where eating certain food items gives me special abilities." Garfield answered. "Vanilla milkshakes in particular make me go faster. Don't ask why."

Pacman landed in the House of Boos minigame of Mario Party: Star Rush. Due to how similar the minigame was to his games, he spent the next ten minutes getting a high score collecting coins without a single Boo or Peepa touching him.

Yoko "Yoyo" Kishibojin narrowed her eyes before leaping backwards to avoid a stream of Star Bits. She then ran forward towards Rosalina to punish her for her mistake, but then Luma flew in front of his mother before lunging forward. Yoko's eyes bugged before raising her arms to block an incoming charge from Luma. Rosalina then floated forward and zapped Yoko with a small burst of light blue energy.

Yoko staggered back but recovered and kicked her foot forward but Rosalina raised a barrier to block the kick. When Yoko was recovering from her own attack, Rosalina dropped her guard and swung her wand at Yoko, but the interpol agent flipped backwards to avoid the attack. She then swung her yoyo at Rosalina's head, striking her and sending her floating back.

Yoko then rushed at Rosalina, kicking her multiple times before ending with a backflip which sent Rosalina into the air. The blue-clad woman flew in the air in pain but quickly recovered. She then waved her wand and sent Star Bits down at Yoko, but the Asian girl ran away from the falling projectiles. Rosalina then commanded Luma to fly to the other side of Yoko and the two proceeded to throw Star Bits via a pincer attack.

However, Yoko quickly ran around the Star Bits going at her, even doing a few rolls and cartwheels to avoid them. Yoyo then launched her yoyo at Luma, striking him and sending him floating back. Yoko then rushed over the star, but Rosalina thought quickly and used her telekinesis to move Luma just in time to avoid Yoko's kickflip and back over to her side.

"I must say that you are more skilled than I thought." Rosalina admitted. "At least one Star Bit would have hit you."

Yoko just looked back with a hint. "Our fighting game has full movement so me and my nodal companions have a lot of control on where we run! We have a lot of experience running around."

"Oh, that makes sense." Rosalina admitted. "Regardless, that game didn't have that much… Variety in the archetypes. Well, facing a puppet fighter like us."

Yoko smirked. "No, but again, Sephiroth was in my game. That should prepare me enough."

Rosalina just giggled. "Very well. I confess that you have me there. Shall we continue?"

Yoko eagerly nodded before rushing forward and swinging her yoyo in a horizontal fashion. However, Rosalina & Luma floated up over it before holding up her wand. Using her gravity powers, she made several planes and blimps swarm around her. She then summoned a rainbow star shape in front of her. Yoko's eyes bugged out, realising what Rosalina was going to do.

Rosalina then waved her wand, sending the planes and blimps into the rainbow star which resulted in it sending them out at Yoko. The interpol agent yelped before running out of the incoming projectiles, which resulted in explosions when crashing to the side.

"Luma!" Rosalina shouted. The star nodded with a determined stare before charging up. He then zoomed straight at Yoko. When the Asian girl looked up, Luma crashed into her face which painfully knocked her down. Luma then spun around, pelting Yoko with Star Bits. The latter cried out in pain before rolling to the side. She then got up while holding her arm. Rosalina then rejoined her child and joined the assault by firing Star Bits.

Yoko ran up the side and launched her yoyo at Rosalina. Before the deity could summon her barrier around her, the yoyo launched itself around her wrist. With a deceptive amount of strength, Yoko pulled Rosalina over to her not unlike Scorpion (and making the ninja growl somewhere in the dome).

Before Rosalina could do anything, Yoko did a series of kicks to her face before ending with a kickflip, sending Rosalina flying into the air. Rosalina groaned as she floated dazed but acted quickly when she saw Yoko's yoyo wrap lunge at her. Acting quickly, Rosalina summoned her barrier around her.

However, Yoko's yoyo instead wrapped AROUND the barrier. With a mischievous smirk, she ran towards the ropes while dragging off the taken off-guard Rosalina with her with a worried Luma floating after her. When Yoko was close enough, she pulled hard to send the barrier over the ropes. Rosalina then broke out of her barrier, looking a bit dazed from the sudden ride.

But Yoko then climbed onto the ropes and leapt off OUT of the ring before landing on a still-stunned Rosalina and before the latter could recover, Yoko used the blue-clad woman as a bounce pad to not only to flip back into the ring but also sent Rosalina into the portal. Luma gave a sad noise before floating over his mother figure.

"I may have not fought that many people with barriers, but I think I did pretty well for myself, didn't I?" Yoko smirked.

Rosalina & Luma landed in Animal Crossing: New Horizons where they spent the next ten minutes being bombarded by questions from Celeste, the astrologist owl.

Clairen yelped before summoning a field of plasma around her to stop a barrage of bullets. Bayonetta merely shrugged while giving a small smirk before running forward, entering the plasma field and kicked her leg out. Clairen raised her plasma sword to block the kick, but sent her skidding back out of the plasma field. Bayonetta then did a stylish flip, exiting the field as well before aiming her guns at firing at Clairen.

Clairen then ran to the side to avoid the bullets before trying to move back in the projectile-proof field. However, Bayonetta moved between the field and Clairen before firing a series of bullets into her. Clairen cried out in pain before trying to use her plasma sword to block it, however, she only ended up with only a few as she was still being bombarded by bullets.

Suddenly, Clairen dashed forward while vanishing and leaving a burst of plasma behind her. While said burst wasn't anywhere near Bayonetta, it was more than enough to distract her long enough for Clairen to successfully retreat back into the plasma field. Bayonetta just gave a playful scoff before dashing at Clairen and did a series of kicks to the plasma swordswoman.

Unlike with the guns, Clairen actually had a better time blocking Bayonetta's kicks but she still found herself only on the defence, trying desperately to find an opening but the Umbra Witch was striking too fast. Finally, Clairen saw an opening and struck but Bayonetta simply did an upwards kick to parry the blow. By this time, the plasma field finally vanished. Clairen just frowned.

"Look, what is it I did that warrant some aggression from you?" Clairen asked.

"First off, I am treating you what I would treat any other opponent. Nothing personal but the only way I will hold back is by limiting my attacks to Smash moveset." Bayonetta smirked. "I could easily destroy this entire arena within my first fight."

"I do not doubt that…" Clairen muttered.

"Secondly, we are the only ones left in this arena that didn't get an elimination yet, love." Bayonetta reminded. "A lot of things I am but a floater is NOT one of them."

"I suppose that it is true. One of us has to leave." Clairen sighed.

"Glad we are on the same page." Bayonetta smirked. She then did a sliding kick, striking Clairen in the face. The panther cried out in shock and pain before staggering back. Bayonetta then did a kick forward but Clairen thought quickly and got into a defensive stance. This resulted in a counter attack that sent a plasma field that sent Bayonetta flying back.

However, Bayonetta self-righted herself in midair before summoning her butterfly wings on her back before flying straight at Clairen. The panther just narrowed her eyes before leaping up and swinging her blade at Bayonetta's kick causing the two attacks to clash. Clairen went on the offensive by swinging her blade wildly but Bayonetta fell back while using her legs to block the incoming attack.

However, not even Bayonetta could block a grab as Clairen grabbed the dark-haired woman with her free hand. She then started to surge Bayonetta with plasma energy before throwing her away. Clairen then rushed forward to strike Bayonetta while she was still flying back. But the latter self-righted herself and fired her guns at Clairen, striking her multiple times. The panther cried out in pain before staggering back.

"Ugh, come on, come on! She has to have a clearl weakness! She never survived a single section before!" Clairen thought. "She was even initially taken off-guard by BAMBI at one point. …Then again, I don't think a single person wasn't taken back by Bambi but still."

Suddenly, some of Bayonetta's sleeves vanished and showed her skin. Clairen's eyes bugged, realising what was happening. She rolled to the side to avoid a giant punch from a portal in front of Bayonetta. Clairen rushed forward to her and swung her plasma sword at Bayonetta.

However, the Umbra Witch turned into a swarm of bats to not only avoid the attack but also reappeared behind Clairen before kicking the plasma swordswoman in the back. Clairen staggered forward which made Bayonetta before doing a kick forward. However, Clairen stepped to the side to avoid the attack before slashing Bayonetta in the leg.

Suddenly, Bayonetta felt a surge of plasma go through her body. While the surge wasn't that strong (especially for her) but it still made her body go numb. Clairen's eyes lit up behind her visor before doing a jumping uppercut with her blade, sending both her and Bayonetta in the air.

Clairen then did another slash which resulted in another surge of plasma through Bayonetta's body. The panther then did a series of slashes in midair before dashing through Bayonetta, resulting in an explosion of plasma which sent the dark-haired flying through the air before falling over the ropes to stunned to fly back.

Bayonetta landed in Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan where she promptly killed the titular "angel" for the latter's horrendous treatment of Sakura.

Clairen let out a deep sigh of relief. "That is the beauty of being from a niche game. No one knows about your ionised tip."

She then turned to see who was left. Guy was squatted on the ground meditating in contrast to Charizard breathing out fire and playing to the ground. Yoko laid against a turnbuckle playing with her yoyo while Yukiko used her Persona to leave some of her wounds. Adeleine painted a few snacks for her, Kirby and Ribbon to eat while Homer looked on in hunger and jealousy. Finally, Colette was cooing over Snoopy, Scooby and Poppy about how cute and fluffy they are while Galford stood a good distance away smiling at this which was a major contrast to Garfield who was sitting out his tongue and pointing to it in disgust.

Then, the Millennium Star's aura surrounded the fighters before doing so to the audience. Then, everyone appeared on the star platforms before the following ones fell off: Yukiko, Homer, Kirby, Charizard, Galford & Poppy, Colette, Clairen, Snoopy, Adeleine & Ribbon, Yoko and finally, Guy leaving Garfield and Scooby.

"We have a first, ladies, gentlemen and non-binaries!" Drake grinned. "We will have the first Superstar that debuted in a PREVIOUS section!"

Garfield and Scooby's eyes lit up as the crowd cheered.

"Wow, I thought for sure that I lost my chance to choose the next stage when Snoopy was selected as the Superstar!" Scooby said in awe.

"Yeah, you would think that we would be beaten by the likes of Guy or Charizard!" Garfield nodded.

Then, the last star platform disappeared.

"Scooby Doo, you are the Superstar!" The Millennium Star congratulated.

The Great Dane gasped putting his hands on his cheeks as the crowd cheered him on. He then grinned before saying his catchphrase.

"SCOOBY-DOOBY-DOO!"

Needless to say, the only person who wasn't cheering was Garfield as he grumpily crossed his arms.

"Okay, I seriously want a recount. There is no way I lost to a dog in popularity. TWICE." Garfield muttered.

"Nobody likes a sore loser." Snoopy sneered, putting his hands behind his back.

"Now, Scooby, you are the Superstar, which change would you like to make to the arena?" The Millennium Star asked.

The mascot of Mystery Inc smiled before he was about to give his answer.

"With all due respect, isn't it obvious?"

Everyone paused before looking in the direction of a particular fighter.

RESULTS (17 Votes)

SCOOBY DOO (SD): 12:6 = 6 (Chinnen, Raizo Imawono)

GARFIELD (NASB): 12:6 = 6 (Misango, Pacman)

GUY (SFAS): 11:6 = 5 (Lei-Fei)

YOKO "YOYO" KISHIBOJIN (E:GBtR): 11:6 = 5 (Rosalina & Luma)

ADELEINE & RIBBON (K64:TCS): 11:6 = 5 (Naoto Kurogane)

SNOOPY (P): 11:7 = 4 (Silver the Hedgehog)

CLAIREN (RoA): 10:7 = 3 (Bayonetta)

COLETTE BRUNEL (ToAS): 10:7 = 3 (Lien Neville)

GALFORD D. WELLER (SS): 10:7 = 3 (Emperor Velo XXVII)

CHARIZARD (SSB): 10:7 = 3 (Mewtwo)

KIRBY (SSB): 11:8 = 3 (Forsburn)

HOMER JAY SIMPSON (TS): 11:8 = 3 (Duo Lon)

YUKIKO AMAGI (P4A): 10:8 = 2 (Mira Fallegeros)

(ELIMINATED)

GUILMON (DRA): 10:8 = 2 (Estellise "Estelle" Sidos Heurassein)

RAIZO IMAWONO (RS): 9:8 = 1 (Guilmon)

MISANGO (A): 9:8 = 1

SILVER THE HEDGEHOG (StH): 9:8 = 1

MEWTWO (SSB): 10:10 = 0

NAOTO KUROGANE (BB): 8:9 = -1

ESTELLISE "ESTELLE" SIDOS HEURASSEIN (ToAS): 8:9 = -1

BAYONETTA (SSB): 8:9 = -1

ROSALINA & LUMA (SSB): 8:10 = -2

PACMAN (SSB): 6:12 = -6

FORSBURN (RoA): 6:12 = -6

DUO LON (KoFAS): 5:12 = -7

MIRA FALLEGEROS (KI): 5:12 = -7

EMPEROR VELO XXVII (CB): 4:13 = -9

LIEN NEVILLE (KoFAS): 4:13 = -9

CHINNEN (PI): 3:14 = -11

LEI-FEI (VF): 3:14 = -11

Side Battles:

"Whipping Brothers In Shape Part 2"

Whip (KoFAS) whips some sense into Krizalid (KoFAS)

16 to 1

"And The True Culprits Are…"

Komodo Joe (CB) IDes Yan (XDZW)

16 to 1

Who Says You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks?: Scooby is the first Superstar that got his status despite showing up in a previous section. What makes it even more impressive that while he has gotten second place in the polls, he still wasn't the PREVIOUS Superstar.