Round 4
Dante vs. Sephiroth
Snickers erupted around the Smashers Box as Dante's match graphic appeared. In comparison to Sephiroth, who stood on the other side, back turned in a defiant posture, Dante wore his red hat, grabbing his crotch and pelvic thrusting.
"You've been hit by, you've been struck by, a smooth criminal baby," Dante shouted at the camera, moonwalking in his exit stage left.
"What the hell got into him?" Bowser roared as Sephiroth appeared on the screen.
The Smashers' Box watched Sephiroth shake his head and walk out of the interview area before Vergil responded.
"As I've said before, whatever nonsense he's acquired from that techno-geek in the service of my son is worth its weight in gold."
"Yeah but," Bowser shrugged, "Ain't this a little bit excessive?"
"You may be correct Bowser," Mewtwo explained, "The Phantom Thief just bet against him.
"Dante has taken out demons beyond mortal comprehension," Vergil hissed, "I would not count him out so easily."
"You sayin' this just cuz he beat you?" Ken chided.
"I must agree with Mister Masters," added Krystal, "In our brief fling, I determined any kind of compliment towards your brother would be out of character, to say the least.
"We have trained together in the intervening days since our battle," Vergil explained, "Dante fights now with more resolve than he ever has before."
At that moment, the opening notes of Micheal Jackson's Smooth Criminal began to play. Dante moonwalked all the way down the ramp, occasionally breaking to spin on his heel and pelvic thrust in the style of the King of Pop.
"Hm," Meta-Knight grunted, "This does not look like resolving to me,"
Vergil grumbled at the quiet laughter of the Smashers Box. The observing fighters fell silent as the bells tolled heralding Sephiroth's entrance. As he descended, the female Smash audience erupted in cheers.
"That motherfucker," Cloud hissed.
The Smashers' Box fell eerily silent as introductions took place. Dante gave off one last bit of dancing flare, while Sephiroth stood still, his seemingly permanent scowl even more pronounced. The video board flipped to Northern Cave.
"Sir Mario," inquired Edelgard, "I've observed that the stages have not been as random as they've appeared in the past."
"Consider that a little bit of under-the-table charity Lady Edelgard," Mario said, "Because the next round is about to ratchet up the difficulty."
Murmurs began to waft their way through the Smashers Box as the video board displayed the rules of the bout.
Stage: Northern Cave
Rules: 5 Stocks, Items High
Music: "One Winged Angel" (Kingdom Hearts 2.5 ReMix Remastered ver.)
3
Dante zoomed to the stage on Cavaliere.
2
Sephiroth appeared in a flash of darkness.
1
Dante tightened his grip around his hat, Sephiroth sneered.
GO!
"What do you intend to do now, bastard child?" growled Sephiroth, "Dance me to death? Team Chaotix attempted that, and as I'm sure you saw, it didn't work out too well for them."
"RED SHOT!" Dante commanded.
A scarf of fire erupted from the hat, wrapping itself around Dante's neck. Making finger guns, he shot a barrage of red, rocky bullets at Sephiroth.
"What on Earth?" Sephiroth balked as he was knocked back by the bullets.
"This is Doctor Faust," Dante proclaimed, "This baby uses money as bullets, and I'm pretty minted these days, so we can go for a while."
Sephiroth simply growled, Octoslashing through the bullets and towards Dante
"MAN IN THE RED!" Dante called.
The bullets erupting from Dante's fingers suddenly became a shield around him. Sephiroth grunted in pain, leaping back. Assuming his combat stance, the two circled each other.
"No matter," was Sephiroth's ice-cold response.
He unbuttoned his signature trenchcoat, throwing it away.
Cloud visibly grimaced as the women in the general audience cheered his now shirtless enemy.
"What advantage will looking sexier give him?" Cranky wondered aloud from the commentary booth.
"Octoslash," Sephiroth announced.
Slicing through the orbiting rocks, Masamune made contact with Dante.
"Octoslash," he announced again.
The barrage of sword attacks went unanswered by Dante. A third execution of the Octoslash technique meant Dante was sent to the Blast Zone.
Dante: 4
Sephiroth: 5
As Dante appeared on the Revival Platform, he hunched over, gripping Doctor Faust. As the invincibility ticked away, Dante began to glow red.
"RED HOT NIGHT BABY!" roared Dante
At his command, a flurry of red comets from the sky, an onslaught of red explosions rocking the One Winged Angel, his damage rocketing into the upper hundreds.
Time seemed to stand still as the devilish fire and smoke cracked on the stone ground of Northern Cave.
"Like holy before it," Sephiroth purred through the shadows, "You calling upon the heavens could not defeat me.
Sephiroth stepped through the flame, a single black wing protruding from his right shoulder blade.
"So you've got tricks eh big boy," Dante taunted, suddenly turning deadly serious, "Well I've got mine too,"
Dante placed his hand over his heart, hellfire orbiting him. At this, Sephiroth smiled as wide as he had all tournament.
"Yes boy," snarled Sephiroth, "Give me a challenge,"
"SHIN DEVIL TRIGGER!"
As Dante took his demonic, winged form, fire conjured in Sephiroth's hand.
"GIGAFLARE!" he roared.
The creeping hellfire that darkened the sky made contact with Dante, who simply flicked it away. Luckily for Sephiroth, his most powerful attack exploded before it could turn on him.
"SIN STINGER!" yelled Dante.
"OCTOSLASH!" was Sephiroth's response.
Just as the explosion dissipated, the sword and spinning wings of the devil clashed, their damage rocketing further upward as the two tore each other apart.
"Shadow Flare," Sephiroth hissed.
With a snap of his fingers, five ovals of darkness began to threateningly orbit Dante. In the chaos, he didn't notice it, the darkness swarming him, providing Sephiroth a brief moment of respite.
"Octoslash,"
With that, Dante found himself in the Blast Zone again.
Dante:3
Sephiroth: 5
"He's outlasted the Devil Trigger," Vergil whispered from the Smashers' Box, "Incredible,"
"Yeah," Yoshi nodded towards the TV, "9-Volt said much the same thing.
Much as he had before, Dante glowed red aboard the Revival Platform. Jumping off of it, he once again summoned Red Hot Night. This time, the comets worked as intended, sending Sephiroth to the Blast Zone.
Dante: 3
Sephiroth: 4
"And a definitive KO by Dante, no flukes this time!" 9-Volt cheered.
"Yeah but like you said last fight, he has to do that four more times," snidely snapped Cranky.
Red rocks began to shoot from Dante's fingers once again.
"Scintilla," Sephiroth commanded.
Hexagons appeared before him, reflecting the round of bullets Dante shot back at him.
"Octoslash!" Sephiroth shouted.
Dante brought up his Smash Shield, Sephiroth's flurry carving through it nearly instantly. Electricity pulsed around the devil hunter as he was launched into the air, groggy as he came back down.
"And that mistake will cost the arrogant young man," lectured Cranky as Sephiroth once again conjured fire.
"Gigaflare," Sephiroth announced in a near whisper.
The explosion rocked Dante, sending him to the Blast Zone!
Dante: 2
Sephiroth: 4
"So that's how it's gonna be huh?" Dante snarled as he jumped off the Revival Platform, "MAGIC HAT!"
Doctor Faust spun off of Dante's head, orbiting the perimeter and shooting bullets at Sephiroth. As it did, hellfire began to accumulate around Dante.
"Do you really want to test your luck again boy?" Sephiroth asked.
Dante shrugged, "Only chance I got. SHIN DEVIL TRIGGER!"
Once again, Dante erupted into his hellish form. He took to the air just as Sephiroth's wing sprouted from his back.
"How's this one for size bitch," roared Dante, "SIN INFERNO!"
Dante dive-bombed down. Fire erupted across the entire stage, sending Sephiroth to the Blast Zone in a flash.
Dante: 2
Sephiroth 3
As soon as he appeared on the Revival Platform, Sephiroth zipped towards Dante so fast it left an afterimage. The slash Sephiroth had charged to make was so powerful Dante roared in pain, turning back into his human form.
"Hmph, so you've had enough have you?" snarled Sephiroth, "Giga Flare,"
As it had before, the explosion rocked Dante to the Blast Zone.
Dante: 1
Sephiroth: 3
Dante powered into his Sin Devil Trigger form without fanfare, taking flight again.
"SIN IN-"
Once again, Sephiroth left an after-image behind, this time dashing into the air, and clipping Dante in the wing.
"I knew it," gloated Sephiroth, "This was all you h-"
Sephiroth quickly found the demon's hands around his throat and thrown across the stage.
"DEMOLITION!" Dante cried.
A black hole appeared on Sephiroth's chest, crackling electricity as it sucked in the world around it. Eating itself, the force of nature exploded, Sephiroth only fell to one knee, his wing sprouting out as he seethed.
"You just made the worst mistake of your life," growled Sephiroth.
"THE LUCE!" Dante yelled.
Every inch of the horizontal plane was converted by the laser-like hellfire Dante spewed from all six of his ghoulish wings, and yet Sephiroth darted around it, leaving after images as he went. Much as he had before, Sephiroth made it within striking distance of Dante, this time stabbing him through the chest.
"This is what's to come," Sephiroth growled, holding up Dante's impaled body with one hand and conjuring fire magic with the other, "Giga Flare."
The explosion rocked Dante to the Blast Zone for the final time.
GAME!
The crowd cheered as victory preparations were made.
"Smash City's wanted it all tourney, and now they have it!" 9-Volt erupted, "Cloud vs. Sephiroth 3."
"Well, four if you count Nibelheim," Cranky grumbled.
"Dude," 9-Volt balked, "I don't count that because I don't want to die."
Sephiroth once again stood amongst roaring flames.
"It'll be good to see you Cloud," warned Sephiroth as he walked through the flames and out of sight.
SEPHIROTH WINS!
Mister Zero stood next to a wheezing Dante.
"I've been a member of the Smash TV crew since Melee, and I must say, that was the most powerful showing I've ever seen. And yet, you still lost."
"Yeah," Dante nodded, "I don't know what he was like in your world but he's the most powerful thing I've ever fought. You'd best step up your game son."
"And with that harrowing thought," Cranky said, "We have one final word from President Mario about the next round and some special events in the meantime."
"Alright-a," Mario announced in the Smashers' Box, "You all know the drill by now. Winners, form up."
Quinn dutifully stood in line behind Red, but in front of a grumbling Cloud as the remaining six participants made their way down the tunnel to Run. Cloud visibly bristled as Sephiroth appeared behind him. Ganondorf snorted with laughter just as they made their way out of the tunnel. As he had in the other rounds, Mario took his place at a quickly erected podium.
"Before-a we get started," Mario began, silencing the crowd, "I have a few non-tournament announcements. From now on, Smashers do not have to clear their additional bookings with the Smash office. That means podcasts, sports, anything is on the table."
The crowd cheered, but by Quinn's ears, that was the most lukewarm the crowd had been all tournament.
"Additionally, in order to fill the 8 days between now and Round 5, we've selected some special friends to help us fill the time.
Mario snapped his fingers, and three strange figures came up through an elevator on the floor. The yellow-haired and blue-haired creatures were Inklings, Quinn knew that much, but their third companion, a dopey-looking stingray, bounced happily on its tail.
"Listen up! It's going down!" cheered the blue-haired one, "I'm Shiver."
"Repping the Badlands I'm Fyre, and we're Deep Cut!" cheered the yellow-haired one.
"Ay! I'm Big Man!" clumsily chortled the stingray.
"You lip synch, we drip ink!" the three said together.
Pausing, to let the crowd cheer, Big Man spoke up, "Ay! We got breaking news y'all!"
"Yep! Get your trick-or-treat bags out and your most funky fresh costumes, because it's SPLATOWEEN IN SMASH CITY!" shouted Fyre
The three once again paused to let the crowd cheer.
"Ay! The Wire Frames have been working overtime to decorate the city for a SPLATFEST!" Big Man proclaimed.
"For those of you who have never seen a Badlands Splatfest, three teams will duke it out over the next eight days in this super-long extravaganza, each team representing a theme! They will be…"
The video board flared to life. One-third was populated by a zombie's face, another third belonged to a classic witch silhouette, and the other belonged to a picture of a ghost.
"REPRESENTING TEAM ZOMBIES!" hooted Shiver.
"NAH, TEAM WITCHES IS GONNA PUT A SPELL ON YOU!"
"AY! THE GHOSTS ARE GOING TO SPOOK OUT THE COMPETITION!" boomed Big Man.
"Make sure to pick a team and grab all the merch you can, you wanna be wearing the right color when the fields of Splatoon run with your color," Shiver explained.
"Yep, and that's all we've got. We're gonna hand it back over to the Big M for a few more announcements."
"Thanks," Mario nodded, "The day after tomorrow, the six Smashers that remain in tournament contention will battle in challenges that they have put out, and will be accepted. It will be an in-house production called Bash at Big Battlefield. Make sure to tune in the day after tomorrow for these non-tournament matches."
Every television in the massive city flared to life, showing the card for the day after tomorrow.
Bash at Big Battlefield
The Renegade Pays His Debt
Quinn and Rosalina vs Kazuya and Daisy
Duel Tournament Championship Rematch
Cloud vs Robin
Event 51 Tribute Match
Ganondorf, Bowser, and Mewtwo vs. Peach, Link, Pikachu
Battle of the Bros
Mario vs. Luigi
Wrestling Champion Becomes The Hunted
Dante vs. Travis Touchdown
Alola vs. Kanto
Red vs. Incineroar
OWA vs. DLC
Sephiroth vs. Sans, Altair, Banjo-Kazooie, and Edelgard
The crowd cheered.
"WHAT?" Cranky shouted from commentary, "Kazuya Mishima is here! The Quinn-minal is in for it now!"
"Not to mention the Event 51 tribute match and the rematch from the last tournament!" 9-Volt frothed, "I can't wait!"
Mario smiled as the cheers died down, "And now, for the grandest announcement of all, Round 5! Last round, we went back to the classics, because it's all new from here baby! See, each of our three tournament matches will take place in a Best of Three Matches format. Each match will be three stocks, and whoever wins two matches will advance to the next round. But that isn't the only thing they'll have to contend with, because the stage will flip between two randomly selected stages at random in a concept we like to call Stage Morph"
The Bash at Big Battlefield card was replaced with Round 5's bracket.
Round 5
Best of three matches, three stocks, Stage Morph rules
Luigi vs. Ganondorf
Quinn vs. Red
Cloud vs. Sephiroth
"We would like to thank the Splatoon Committee for providing the entertainment as we prepare for the next round. Enjoy the next 8 days and remember that WE, ARE, SMASH BROTHERS!"
Deep Cut went back down via the elevator they came in on, and the Smashers stepped through a portal, directly into another one leading them to the Smash Mansion's dining hall.