(The Arena)
Everyone seemed to be taking a little bit of a breather now that they knew for a fact that the previous section had ended, though Lord Hater was being the loudest in the ring with his complaining about the loss of Mimikyu because that meant that he was stuck with Petey Piranha instead. Everyone else seemed to be doing their best to outright ignore the space tyrant as they focused on resting up; they knew that they only had a bit of time to rest before the next wave of fighters entered the arena and then they would just be starting the whole chaotic mess up again.
When the spotlights started shining on the entrance curtain, everyone knew that their rest time was up. Everyone (except for the still-complaining Lord Hater) turned their attention towards the curtain, wondering who would be the next fighter to come out. People like Sakura and Matt looked eager to continue the fight while Shaggy and Crash looked more-interested in doing other things (Crash was dancing and Shaggy pulled another sandwich from the canvas). Everyone waited in anticipation as the next fighter emerged from behind the curtain…
"JOKER!" (PAS)
Emerging from the curtain and dressed in his trademark mask and stylish jacket, Joker gave a wave to the cheering crowd as he drew his pistol and double-checked to make sure he had a full ammo clip. Satisfied, he put the gun away for now and gazed out at the arena.
"Hmm…I wonder if there's a way to change the heart of that space villain." Joker mused to himself as he made his way down the entrance ramp. "…Eh, maybe not. It's looks like he's suffering enough as it is."
When Joker hit the canvas, he suddenly felt the jacket getting caught in a bit of updraft. Looking up curiously, he saw Scyther floating overhead, his low flying being the cause of the updraft. Joker couldn't help but give a smirk. "I guess I didn't really need to look far for a fight, huh?" He asked.
Scyther landed on his feet and seemed to give off a smirk himself as he got into a stance, as if confirming Joker's queries. The leader of the Phantom Thieves pulled his knife into view and got into a stance himself. "Well, maybe you can give me a bit of a fight before the next dark-hearted villain comes in. Maybe you'll give me enough time to build up my Persona as well." He mentioned.
Baring his scythe hands, Scyther yelled at Joker and got ready to fight the Phantom Thief as Joker rushed forward and swung his knife. Scyther blocked the knife blow with his bladed hands and kicked Joker away before baring his blades again and preparing to fight the young human.
"RYUJI YAMAZAKI!" (KOF)
Standing tall, proud and with a dark smirk already floating across his face, the well-known Yakuza thug emerged from behind the curtain with a hand (as always) in his pocket. Gazing out at the arena, Yamazaki scanned for any potential help he could get but didn't really see any potential allies in the arena.
"Kind of a sucky lineup at the moment. The only villain I see is that space guy and I know G-Man ain't gonna want anything to do with him." He mused. "Looks like I gotta make my own fun until some better candidates enter."
E. Honda saw Yamazaki enter the arena and turned to face him, giving a smirk. "Oh, I remember you! I know that you go a little crazy with your fighting style!" He announced. "Maybe I can stay on my toes if I fight someone as unpredictable as you!"
Yamazaki rolled his eyes. "You sure you wanna do this, fat boy?" He asked. "I literally just got into the arena."
"Of course! I wanted to get a chance to fight you before someone else took the chance!"
Yamazaki watched as Honda got into a sumo stance and readied himself for a fight. He pondered his options for a moment before giving a shrug. "Eh, sure. It's your funeral, after all." He mentioned. "Heck, I'm even in a pretty good mood so far so, just for you, I'll not use my knife to gut you."
Honda smirked. "You don't want to face me at full strength? My sumo can take anything you dish out!" He mentioned.
"My hands will gut you just as fine on their own." Yamazaki smirked back.
"TOADETTE!" (SMB)
Emerging next, and to a particularly-warm reception (and the theme song to Captain Toad), was a familiar pink mushroom creature with pink braids. Toadette gave the crowd a friendly wave as she made her way down the ramp and to the arena, holding what looked to be a comically-sized pickaxe over her shoulder. Toadette reached the bottom of the ramp and jumped in energetically to begin her run in the arena.
Lilly Pendragon was still in the process of wringing out her hat when she saw Toadette enter the arena and make her way over to her. "I don't think I've seen you at one of these before. Is this your first outing?" She asked.
"You bet! I've seen a lot of these tournament things on TV and it got me prepared!" Toadette nodded. "I even brought my pickaxe from my explorer days to use as a weapon if I need to!"
Lilly sighed, narrowing her eyes. "Word to the wise; don't get your hopes up. You won't have the fun you think you will." She mentioned. "I used to think that way as well."
Toadette blinked. "Um…Didn't you think that you'd be able to hide behind your bodyguards and just…Demand people let you win?" She asked.
Lilly's eye twitched a few times before she placed her still-wet hat on her head and drew her sword. "Maybe I need to teach you a few manners." She mentioned.
"Hey, that's okay with me if you want to be my first fight in this." Toadette shrugged. Lilly slashed at the pink mushroom. Toadette swung her pickaxe in response, clashing against Lilly's sword with it and knocking her backwards a couple of steps when she deflected her sword. "Hope you don't mind if I try a few things out, do you? I'm not as familiar with close-quarter combat that didn't involve just jumping on bad guys' heads."
Lilly sighed. "I wonder if this is just fate's way of laughing at me…" She muttered as she got into a stance.
"SPY!" (TF2)
(Who's that; dressed to the nines?)
(No clue; is that a disguise?)
(With a classy suit and tie)
(Who will look good at your funeral? Spy!)
(It's time to murder this track)
(You'll find a knife in its back)
(Got equipment? Watch me break it!)
(Saw me die? I probably faked it!)
Emerging from behind the curtain, dressed in his trademark mask and neatly-pressed suit, Spy stood on the entrance ramp for a moment before pulling out his disguise kit and examining the combatants in the ring.
"Hmm…I don't really see anyone I can disguise myself as at the moment…" Spy muttered. "Eh, no matter. It gives me more of a chance to show off with my natural skills for a bit."
Lighting up a cigarette and pocketing his disguise kit for now, Spy strode down the entrance ramp, looking not in any particular hurry, as he stepped into the ring and adjusted his gloves and tie. Scanning the arena, Spy pulled out his cloaking device and prepared to go invisible to lay low for a bit and was about to push the button to cloak himself just before Antonov made his presence known, giving Spy a running clothesline and knocking him off his feet.
Spy landed flat on his face and pushed himself up to look at Antonov. "Ugh. May I HELP you?" He asked, annoyed. "Where I come from we don't just introduce ourselves by going straight for the jugular. That doesn't come until later."
"I need to scout you out, friend!" Antonov admitted. "Someone who can magically disappear and disguise himself as other people? You would make a perfect heel fighter for the G.A.W.!"
Spy stared flatly. "You are seriously asking me to indulge in that drivel?" He asked. "You're better off asking Heavy or Scout for something like that."
"Sure, but only YOU can be the heel that my league desperately needs right now!" Antonov said as he got into a wrestling stance. "Come on! Let's consider this a tryout!"
"I'll show YOU a tryout, you buffoon." Spy said as he drew his pistol and pointed it at Antonov.
"BARRAZA!" (BH)
Brawlhalla's resident dystopian wastelander emerged from the curtain, looking more like a reject out of a Mad Max film as he hoisted an axe that looked like it had bits of scrap metal haphazardly attached to the blade and stick. Barraza scanned the ring, ignoring the audience reaction, as he looked around for someone he could fight first.
"Ugh. That pile of metal from that guy in the hard hat is gone." Barraza muttered from the loss of Engineer's materials. "I was hoping to salvage something before that metal vanished…"
Trudging down to the arena, Barraza stepped into the arena, his axe still drawn as he looked around for someone to fight. He didn't have to look far, however, as Lord Hater was quick to approach, looking a bit more-desperate by this point.
"You there! You look tough, dangerous and like someone no one would want to mess with!" Lord Hater half-pleaded. "PLEASE become my minion! I can't keep relying on just the plant!"
Barraza glanced upwards and behind Lord Hater. Petey Piranha stood tall, smiling dumbly and giving the wastelander a silent wave. "That depends." Barraza explained. "Are you able to pay in gasoline?"
Lord Hater blinked. "Gasoline? People still USE gasoline in your world?" He asked.
"Gas is so sparse it's practically become our currency." Barraza hissed. "So if you aren't able to pay up for my services I'm going to have to give you an axe to the face."
"N-No, please! Not the face! I've already been stabbed in it too many times tonight!" Lord Hater pleaded.
"Hmph. Then make sure you put your money where your mouth is." Barraza warned.
"I-I'll remember that!" Lord Hater nodded before turning to Petey. "Right?"
Petey made a noise that seemed to question what Lord Hater had asked him, as if he hadn't been paying attention. Lord Hater sighed and slapped his own forehead, slowly dragging his hand down his face in exasperation.
"Mystery…Fighter…ELEVEN…"
"DAPHNE BLAKE!" (Be Cool Scooby Doo)
The audience watched in surprise as a somewhat-familiar redhead emerged from behind the curtain. However, what surprised them was that, while this was still Daphne, she looked a little bit…Different. Most-notably, Daphne looked a little more-cartoonish than how she looked the last time she entered one of these tournaments. Daphne seemed pay the reaction no mind as she cheerily waved to the audience as she made her way down to the ring.
"Okay, Daphne. You've studied up on every sort of martial art that you could, rented all those cheesy action hero B movies and took part in a demolition derby or two using the Mystery Machine." Daphne told herself, giving herself a pep talk. "I think you're ready to handle a multidimensional fighting tournament."
"Don't forget the time we snuck into a royal rumble diguised as a professional wrestler!"
Daphne turned to her hand to look at the small puppet version of herself that she had on her hand, having used it to add onto her own conversation. "I don't like to talk about that." She scolded her puppet as she continued her way down to the ring.
Landing in the ring, Daphne saw someone familiar and her eyes lit up, jogging over. "Shaggy? Shaggy, what the heck are YOU doing here?" She asked.
Shaggy turned around, showing Daphne a view of his face. The smile suddenly vanished from Daphne's face, replaced by a look of confusion. "Uh…Wait, you're not Shaggy." She mentioned.
Shaggy chuckled nervously. "Um…Like, actually I AM. Just…Not YOUR Shaggy." He replied.
"What does that even mean?"
"Like, it's a long story. Lemme just say that the multiverse is a real strange thing, man." Shaggy admitted, rubbing the back of his head.
Daphne stood in silence as she drew another puppet into view, this one of Shaggy. "Like, this version of me's kinda confusing me, man." The Shaggy puppet said, Daphne doing her best Shaggy impersonation.
(Announcer's Booth)
SSBFreak lifted an eyebrow. "Wait, what the heck?" He asked.
"What is it, boss-man?" Khall asked back.
SSBFreak reached for a stack of papers and looked through them. "I could have SWORN that I invited the mainline Daphne to this thing; the same one that entered the Tournament of Kikai." He replied.
Khall blinked. "Oh, does Scooby Doo delve into multiversal stuff too?" He asked.
SSBFreak sighed. "It's…A bit strange. Essentially, every Scooby Doo cartoon is in its own universe." He explained. "Even the version of Shaggy and Velma from Multiversus appears to be from its own universe."
"And you mistakenly invited the wrong version of Daphne?"
"NO. I KNOW I invited the mainline Daphne. This has Sheogorath written all over it." SSBFreak moaned.
"Are you gonna call him in here again to vent?"
SSBFreak sighed. "No. I'm going to wait until he does something REAL egregious." He replied.
"…Changing the invite and bringing a different version of the character you TRIED to invite isn't bad enough?" Khall checked.
"It's Sheogorath. This is actually kind of tame compared to what he's capable of."
(Hotel; Outside Gym)
"So this Cortex guy thinks that one of these star pieces is inside the gym?"
"Dat's what he said, anyways."
Pinstripe strolled nonchalantly down the hallway, tommy gun at his side and flanked by the large, bulky, very-top-heavy frame of Koala Kong and the spike-topped frame of Needle Man. The three of them had been directed to the hotel's gym to search for one of the star pieces though it seemed none of the three seemed up to the task; Needle Man still looked mad about his arena and Multiversal Matchup performance, Pinstripe just didn't look like he cared and Koala Kong didn't seem to understand what was going on.
"I still don't understand why we're looking for these star pieces." Needle Man admitted. "Dr. Wily is more-than-capable of taking over the world and it seems that this Cortex of yours is in the same boat."
"One; he ain't MY Cortex. Two; dere's a reason neither of 'em have taken over any worlds and dat's 'cause of meddlin' heroes." Pinstripe reminded flatly.
Needle Man rolled his eyes. "The literal only reason Dr. Wily can't beat Mega Man is because that blue child has the ability to copy our moves." He said. "Cortex CREATED the bandicoot. What's HIS excuse?"
"Yeesh. Are ALL of youse Robot Masters this snarky?" Pinstripe asked with a smirk before glancing back. "What're they like, eh, Kongy?"
Koala Kong blinked in confusion. "Uh…I'm just looking for stars." He reminded.
"Dat's where we're GOIN', ya palooka."
"But I hate polka…"
"I said PALOOKA ya palooka."
Needle Man gave a sigh as the trio approached the door to the gym. "Look. Let's just do a quick check in here and leave again. The star piece should be easy enough to spot, right?" He asked.
"Yeah. If it's in dere den we'll find it."
The three villains entered the gym, finding it almost empty save for one figure lifting some weights at one of the benches. It seemed that the weightlifter didn't seem to hear the trio come in and resumed their workout.
Koala Kong absent-mindedly grabbed a barbell in one hand and started pumping it repeatedly, seemingly for no reason. "Is the star here?" He asked simply.
Pinstripe rolled his eyes. "Why d'youse always have ta pick up the first barbell y'see, Kongy?" He asked flatly. "Ya ain't doin' much to help youse portrayal of 'resident meathead' if youse keep actin' like dat."
Needle Man ignored the two mutant villains and scanned the gym, quickly spotting what looked to be a large belt hanging off of the bars of an exercise bike near where the lone gym user was working out. Needle Man took a closer look at the belt and saw something particular of note; a bright, sparkling, orange star adorning the belt like a buckle.
"Hey, look! It's right there!" Needle Man pointed out.
"Hey! Yer right, pokey!" Pinstripe admitted before standing in silence. "Youse gonna get it?"
"With what hands?"
Pinstripe glanced at Needle Man and saw that, without proper hands, he didn't actually have a way to grab the belt. "…Okay. Good point." He shrugged before turning to Koala Kong. "Kongy, get dat belt dere."
Koala Kong gave a nod and reached for the belt with the hand he wasn't currently pumping iron with. All of a sudden, just as Koala Kong was about to touch the belt, the lone gym attendant made his presence know, leaping into view and hitting Koala Kong with a flying double-kick, knocking the towering koala backwards and making him drop the weight.
"H-Hey! What gives?!" Pinstripe demanded, jumping back when he saw the huge koala getting kicked.
The gym user was quick to scoop up the belt, showing that he was a familiar yellow bird-like creature with flowing, yellow hair, dressed like a wrestler and built like a muscle-bound tank. He slung the belt over his shoulder and held it almost protectively. "Back off, you bozos! You think I'm givin' you a chance to hold my belt just like that?!" He demanded.
"Look, we don't give a crap about the belt! We just need the buckle!" Needle Man insisted.
Rawk Hawk laughed. "Suuuuure, you do! That's what they all say but what they REALLY want is to steal my belt and either keep it to themselves or sell in on the black market to the highest bidder!" He said. "Besides, I ain't parting with my belt buckle, either! I found it fair and square a week ago! Do you know how hard it was to find a replacement buckle after the whole Crystal Star fiasco back home?! Even though my old buckle was a fake I still didn't want it attracting attention!"
"Y'see, dat's kinda funny." Pinstripe said as he pointing his tommy gun at the wrestling champion. "Cause we're here on a mission specifically for dat star and we ain't gonna be leavin' empty-handed."
Rawk Hawk narrowed his eyes. "You think you're gonna just walk over me like that and TAKE my championship belt?" He demanded, cracking his knuckles. "I'll have you know that there's a good reason I won that!"
"Youse a wrestler. Everythin' you louses do is fer show." Pinstripe rolled his eyes with a smirk.
"Is that what you think? Well, allow me to surprise you!" Rawk Hawk said as he got into a stance. "Get ready to be RAWKED!"
Needle Man narrowed his eyes. "We can overwhelm him with numbers. We need that star." He informed.
"Youse and I both know dat." Pinstripe nodded as he looked over his shoulder. "Get ovah here, Kongy! We need dose muscles of yours!"
Koala Kong blinked. "Uh…Okay." He mentioned as he lumbered over, rubbing his head. "I thought we were here for the star, though."
"We ARE! We just gotta beat dis guy's skull in foist!"
Rawk Hawk scoffed. "You think you punks scare me? I'll take all three of you on!" He challenged. "Bring it on!"
Pinstripe pointed the barrel of his machine gun at Rawk Hawk and narrowed his eyes. "One ways or anudder, I'm getting' dat star…" He said darkly.
(The Arena)
"HERO!" (SSB)
Coming out to a somewhat mixed reaction, the hero of Dragon Quest seemed to pay the reaction no mind as he drew his sword and shield, gazing out at the arena. Glancing upwards at his menu of magic spells to double-check that his MP was full, Hero ran down to the ring and performed a high jump, using MP to give him a bit of extra height as he leapt halfway across the arena. The audience seemed to approve.
Hero landed on the arena canvas in front of Matt, making the Mii step backwards a bit. "That was some impressive air." Matt lifted an eyebrow. "You lookin' to start something, though?"
"Call it a bit of a curiosity." Hero mentioned with a light smirk. "The Smash Mansion sometimes plays host to a bunch of Mii fighters and I want to see how well you compare to all of them."
"…And you think I'm going to fight like those Miis that you're used to?"
"The Miis can have different movesets and I think we've fought every variation multiple times." Hero replied confidently as he got into his stance.
Matt gave an amused smirk in return. "Buddy, there's a difference between a Mii Fighter and a Mii FIGHTER." He said. "I should probably warn you that I'm going to be a lot tougher of an opponent than you're probably expecting."
Hero looked up into his spell menu and started looking for a good spell to equip. "I think I can manage." He said. "So are you up for it?"
Matt glanced back at Shaggy, noticing that his friend was still in the process of trying to explain the concept of the multiverse to the different variation of Daphne (though Daphne just looked more-and-more confused the more Shaggy talked); he'd be on his own for a bit against Hero. Nevertheless, Matt glanced back at Matt. "I think I can spare a few minutes." He replied with a shrug as he cracked his non-existent knuckles.
"Good to know. Hopefully you don't disappoint!"
"Don't worry, kid. I'll try not to obliterate you."
"BEAR HUGGER!" (PO!)
Emerging from the curtain was the familiar large, Canadian boxer of Punch-Out, though the reaction the audience was giving him was the last thing on his mind. Bear Hugger scanned the arena as he lumbered down the entrance ramp, looking for some potential villains to get answers from or some potential allies that he could bring up to speed.
"Don't really see any real bad guys in the arena yet…" Bear Hugger mused. "I may need to see if I can do a bit of scouting but I may need to lay low for a while to keep from lookin' suspicious and all that."
When Bear Hugger hit the ring, he wandered over to where Lucas appeared to still be trying to use his psychic abilities on Crash's mind. Said bandicoot was sitting in the middle of the arena, his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth, and seemed content to just let Lucas do his thing.
"What're you kids up to?" Bear Hugger asked curiously.
"I'm trying to figure out what makes him tick." Lucas admitted. "There's only so much I'm finding out, though, and his mind is either almost-completely vacant or he has some of the best mental defenses I've seen."
Bear Hugger scratched his head. "And he's…Okay with this?" He asked.
"Well, I haven't been shot at with a bazooka yet." Lucas shrugged.
Bear Hugger was about to respond when he felt something moving in the pouch of his overalls. He looked down and watched as a small squirrel poked his head out into the open, looking sleepy. "Oh, you're just waking up NOW?" Bear Hugger asked with an amused smile. "You missed a LOT, little buddy."
Lucas lifted an eyebrow. "You carry a live squirrel in your overalls?" He asked.
Bear Hugger laughed as he pulled the squirrel into view, showing that the small animal was wearing boxing gloves. "Sure! Never asked for a better tag-team partner!" He replied.
"Your league ALLOWS tag-team BOXING?"
"Eh, you'd be surprised at what the league lets slip."
"HEAVY D!" (KOF)
The audience cheered as the tall, stylish-looking boxer emerged from behind the curtain, giving a smirk as he scanned the crowd at the positive reception. Heavy D! took the time to remove his shades and tuck them away into a pocket of his jacket before setting his sights on someone in the ring.
"Good to see I've still got some of the support. Hopefully the time away from the ring in these things hasn't made me rusty." Heavy D! mused to himself before putting his fists to his face and dashing down to the ring, leaping in headfirst.
Lord Hater ducked under an axe swing from Barraza and suddenly saw Heavy D! landing in the arena and making his way over. "H-Hey! I need some help getting this prospect off my back!" He pleaded.
"All you need to do is cough up some gasoline!" Barraza informed. "Until you do, you're an opponent just like everyone else!"
Barraza suddenly received a running punch to the face, lit up by a large explosion on impact, as the wastelander was sent rocketing away. Lord Hater looked up at Heavy D! and pushed himself up. "Um…I didn't think you'd actually be coming to save me." He admitted.
Heavy D! gave a shrug. "Eh, it's more because I wanted to fight you myself." He replied.
"Uh…What?"
"You're the longest-running fighter in the ring. That makes you prime opponent material." Heavy D! smirked as he cracked his knuckles. "I wanna see if I still got what it takes."
Lord Hater blinked a few times…And then Barraza's axe spiked into his head from behind, causing another bout of painful screams.
"Back off! I was here first!" Barraza hissed before pulling Lord Hater into the air by the axe still embedded in his skull.
Heavy D! narrowed his eyes. "You think I won't fight through you as well?" He asked. "Fine! This'll help me hone my skills even more!"
Heavy D! rushed off to save the flailing Lord Hater from Barraza (so that he could have the chance to fight him himself) and start a fight with the wastelander. This left Petey Piranha standing there alone, looking around as if wondering what he could do now. The thought of running in to help Lord Hater didn't seem to cross his non-existent mind as he wandered off in a different direction.
"MR. MIME!" (PKMN)
(He never told me he was a mine!)
(He never told me he was a mime; oh, no!)
(Acting like he's trapped inside a big, glass box all the time! What a crime!)
(He never told me! He never told me! He was a mime!)
(He walks against the wind everywhere we go!)
(Stops on every corner; gotta put on a show!)
(Carries round a picture of Marcel Marceau!)
(Always was the quiet type but how was I to know?!)
Meowth's song-butchering came through the speakers again as a familiar mime-like humanoid Pokemon emerged from the curtain to a positive reception. Giving a friendly wave, Mr. Mime started jogging down the ramp but, due to being a mime, only succeeded in running in place for a moment. After a few seconds of running nowhere, Mr. Mime stopped and looked in thought for a second before getting an idea.
The audience watched as Mr. Mime performed the action of climbing onto an invisible motorcycle, revving it up as he did. All of a sudden, Mr. Mime started moving, hovering in the air and riding down the entrance ramp on an invisible motorbike, before doing a backflip in the air as he went off the end of the ramp.
"I still don't understand why you have thse weird, awesome powers, Shaggy." Daphne scratched her head. "I mean…Does this mean that MY Shaggy has them too?"
Shaggy shrugged. "I dunno, man. If you don't, like, want him to get them, I recommend keeping him away from mystical crystals that he may mistake for rock candy." He admitted with a sheepish smile.
Daphne looked over her shoulder when she heard the sound of someone landing on the canvas and saw Mr. Mime make his entrance. "Hey! A mime!" She said. "Do you mind if I take this for a second, Shaggy?"
"By all means, Daph. Like, I'm gonna grab another sandwich and then help Matt."
Mr. Mime silently walked across the arena (quickly creating a barrier to his side to prevent him from being him by a rouge blast of lightning courtesy of a still-flailing-about Lord Hater) but was suddenly stopped when, all of a sudden, Daphne silently approached him, now somehow and suddenly dressed as a mime herself. Mr. Mime stepped back in surprise and scratched his head.
In her mime outfit, Daphne grinned as she placed her hands against an invisible wall, pretending that there was a barrier in front of her. Mr. Mime experimentally knocked against the invisible wall himself, as if testing it, then pulled out an invisible sledgehammer, striking the invisible wall and bouncing off of it comically. Daphne silently laughed and gave a teasing wave as Mr. Mime pounded his hands against the invisible wall.
"F.A.N.G.!" (SF5)
Coming out to a mixed reaction from the crowd, Shadaloo' s new number two emerged from the curtain and did his best to avoid attracting attention as he made his way down the ramp. He still didn't know why Bison wanted so much to just sit back and do nothing tonight but F.A.N.G. had learned to respect his boss' wishes and would make sure that he himself didn't get involved with anything; the last thing F.A.N.G. wanted was to give Bison unwanted attention from other people…
However, just as F.A.N.G. landed in the ring (slowing his descent by flapping his arms), Bear Hugger noticed him enter and paused. "Wait. Ain't that guy working for that Bison villain?" He asked himself aloud. "He's probably a good a lead as any."
Deciding to leave the encounter with Lucas and Crash (Crash had gotten bored long ago and had wandered off already), Bear Hugger made his way over to the lanky, clawed human and stood before him. "Uh…Excuse me, buddy." He mentioned.
F.A.N.G. narrowed his eyes behind his shades. "Hmph. What could you POSSIBLY want, you fool?" He asked.
"Oh, nothing much, I guess." Bear Hugger shrugged. "I'm just wondering what Bison's got up his sleeve tonight."
F.A.N.G. froze. "Um…W-What?"
"Look, it's come to our attention that some of the villains here are up to something and I figure that Bison is for sure in on it as well like he usually is." Bear Hugger pointed out. "Heck; he may one of the ringleaders."
F.A.N.G. stepped back nervously. "H-Hey, now! I'll have you know that Lord Bison is NOT getting involved with this." He insisted. "He's gotten involved so many times that he just wants some peace and quiet!"
"Sorry, pal. I don't really buy that. A few of us have already been attacked and I kinda told them I would try to find stuff out." Bear Hugger said. "Now, seeing as how you're the only one that kinda fits that bill in the arena right now I guess you're a good place to start."
F.A.N.G. hysterically bared his claws. "Stay away you oaf! I have nothing to tell you!" He insisted.
"MIRAGE!" (BH)
Emerging from behind the curtain next was a young woman dressed in an Egyptian cloak, though some hi-tech gadgets could be seen on her wrists and torso underneath the cloak and scarf. Mirage smirked and spawned a staff into his hand as she zipped down to the ring, turning herself into a wave of sand to get her some more speed. Reaching the end of the ramp, Mirage burst back into her regular form and launched herself into the arena, spear held up and ready to attack.
Lucas watched Crash wander off and had tried to go after him when Mirage landed on the canvas near him and made a beeline for the psychic boy, lunging at him with her spear. Lucas flipped backwards as Mirage lunged at him and he kicked her spear on his way back down, deflecting her attack.
"Huh. You've got good reflexes, kid." Mirage admitted.
"Is there a REASON you decided to go after me first?" Lucas asked as he took a step back. "I was kind of in the middle of trying to read someone's mind."
"Hey, you're a known psychic. I wanted to try my hands on facing off with a psychic." Mirage shrugged. "Plus, you weren't doing anything right now."
"Um…That plant thing isn't doing anything either, right?" Lucas checked.
"Yeah, but I figured I'd get more of a fight out of you."
Lucas sighed and did a quick mental scan of Mirage to see if she potentially had anything up her sleeves he should be expecting. He stepped back in surprise. "Wait…Those brainwaves…You aren't actually from ancient Egypt?" He asked.
"Nope. I'm a time-travelling martial artist that ended up in Egypt." Mirage winked. "What? Is my mind a little more-advanced than what you were expecting?"
"Something like that." Lucas said as he got into a stance, no longer looking as confident in his chances now that he knew he was dealing with a time traveler.
(Multiversal Matchup)
The multiversal portal opened up over a grassy hill in the middle of an open plain and dropped the eight Multiversal Matchup contestants onto the top of it. As the group stood up, they looked around and saw that, unlike previous challenges, this world seemed almost normal by comparison. It looked like they had just been dropped into an open plain in a forest world.
"I wonder where we are…" Ember mused as she looked around. "It looks like I'll be right at home, regardless." The Duck Hunt dog barked in agreement.
"Well, we're definitely not seeing the whole picture." Leona mentioned. "There must be a catch."
"But this place looks so pretty and peaceful!" Kula reminded. "Look! They even have flying fish!"
Everyone looked ahead and saw winged fish soaring through the air, making a beeline for the group. The fish bounced off Toxtricity's head, causing him to mutter a few things in Pokemon-speak as he rubbed his face.
"That ain't right…" Dawson noted.
"So we're in a fantasy setting then." Leona nodded. "That's at least good to know."
Tingle looked up at the sky and his face lit up in awe. "Oooooh! Look at all the colours in the sky!" He said excitedly. "It all looks so magical!"
Everyone looked up into the sky and suddenly saw that, instead of the clear blue sky that had been there only a few seconds before, the cloud had become engulfed with strange, colourful, slime-like objects that, without warning, suddenly started raining down on them from above. Tingle was hit in the face and knocked flat on his back, revealing that the things falling from the sky were actual sentient slime creatures.
"Wait. It's raining SLIMES?!" Ember asked, quickly drawing her bow and pointing her arrows at a nearby slime creature that had landed near her feet. "This shouldn't be possible!"
The slime rain only lasted a couple of minutes but in that time the group had been assaulted and bombarded by slimes of several colours. Though none of them were seriously injured, they were able to fend off the slimes until the sky returned to normal and the remaining slimes sunk into the ground, vanishing from sight.
Simon sighed as he put his whip away, shaking slime off of it before he did. "Normally I would call that unholy but it almost felt a little too-lighthearted to be considered the work of demons." He mentioned.
Everyone suddenly became aware of a small village of houses nearby. A selection of people, the apparent villagers, were finishing off the few remaining slimes. Among the villagers were people like a nurse, a fisherman, a miner and even what looked to be a dryad of some kind.
"So where the heck are we?" Kula asked as she looked around. "Do those people know?"
"I think they're the locals." Leona mentioned. "At least they look capable. I'd hate to worry about babysitting them."
"Uh…Sorry about that, everyone!"
The group turned to see SSBFreak's hologram materializing nearby; he looked a little bit embarrassed. "I wasn't expecting a Slime Rain event to be happening so soon after you guys arrived." He admitted. "I thought we had more time."
"So where are we?" Dawson folded his arms. "We clearly ain't anywhere normal."
"You'd be correct on that. Things may look normal in this main area NOW but that can and will change depending on where you go in this world; the land of Terraria!" SSBFreak explained. "You have all the materials and abilities to survive but the instant you go underground you're sure to run into monsters and be wary of where you go above ground because there are some biomes that are swarming with unholy monstrosities."
"Wonderful." Leona said flatly. "So what's stopping us from just staying in the main area if all the dangerous things are either underground or elsewhere?"
"Because you have limited time to get a shelter built; once night comes around, the monsters get more-dangerous and more-frequent." SSBFreak explained. "Even zombies come out at night in the main area. And that's to say nothing about events that happen periodically, such as the Slime Rain that just happened."
"So what's the goal here? Is there something we need to do?"
"Actually, there is only one goal here for this Multiversal Matchup; survive. You are meant to go out into the world of Terraria and try to collect materials and resources. You need to get back here and build shelter before night falls because that's when the zombies come out, and keep in mind that days pass a lot faster in this world than normal. I encourage you to explore to collect materials but remember than almost anything in the other biomes will be trying to kill you on sight." SSBFreak mentioned. "Also note that events will still be happening that can overwhelm you if you aren't ready: a Goblin Invasion or another Slime Rain for example. And, just to remind you, you do NOT want to be out in the open during a Blood Moon event."
"I'm fine destroying a few monsters." Simon shrugged. "I'm sure everyone else is the same."
"Uh…Even him?" Kula asked.
Everyone turned to see that Tingle was already down the hill and plucking flowers. He then inflated a balloon in his backpack and started going higher to collect some flowers from higher up a cliff. It was unknown how much of what SSBFreak had said he had actually listened to before zoning out. No one decided to pay it any mind.
"The winner of this Multiversal Matchup will be the one who lasts the longest because, again, monsters are everywhere in this world." SSBFreak explained. "So watch your back while you're mining or exploring because it doesn't take much for the unprepared adventurer to get overwhelmed."
Leona folded her arms. "And what happens if it turns out some of us are just too GOOD at staying alive?" She asked.
"Uh…Let me just say that the adventurers of this world have access to a LOT of boss spawners. I've convinced the masochists NOT to spawn all the bosses at once but I would recommend hurrying up before they get TOO bored." SSBFreak said.
The group looked amongst each other, suddenly realizing that their survivability could potentially rely on someone getting bored enough to literally spawn an eldritch horror whenever they wanted.
"So, just remember the goal as I let you loose on this world: Survive and get materials to prepare you best for the night and eventual boss encounters. The last one left standing will be named the winner of this section's Multiversal Matchup, even if the finalists are stuck fighting a terrifying boss together; whoever lasts longer will be the winner." SSBFreak announced. "So, without further delay, let the fifth Multiversal Matchup…Begin! Good luck!"
With that, SSBFreak's hologram shut off abruptly, leaving the group of combatants standing there, unsure about how to proceed.
All of a sudden, Tingle fell from the sky and landed face-first onto the ground, startling everyone else. Tingle pushed his face out of the ground. "Oh! What'd I miss?" He asked.
"We're trying to survive." Dawson explained as he looked around. "Looks like we've got free run of the place to go exploring as well. Apparently there's gonna be monsters."
"Monsters? Oh, dear! Maybe I need to stay in the air!" Tingle exclaimed.
Without giving anyone else a chance to speak, Tingle jogged off, likely to get a head start on gathering supplies. Ember and the Duck Hunt duo vanished next, disappearing into the forest to start their journey.
Simon narrowed his eyes and gathered his whip and crosses again. "This talk of bosses. It's probably not unlike anything I'm already used to fighting." He mentioned.
"Wanna make a bet, then?" Dawson smirked. "I reckon I can kill a few more than you can."
Simon lifted an eyebrow. "If you think you can kill more monsters than a monster hunter then I'll be happy to prove you wrong." He mentioned as he and Dawson went off in opposite directions.
This left Leona, Toxtricity and Kula alone. Toxtricity wandered off towards the village, playing guitar again, as Leona turned to Kula. "Be careful out there, Kula." She informed. "I can't afford to babysit you out here."
"I'll be fine, Leona." Kula smiled. "Let's try to have fun out there!"
Leona sighed as she watched Kula run off. "I don't know how K' and the others can contain her." He lamented as she wandered off to officially kick off the next Multiversal Matchup.
(Hotel; Café)
Four figures, all from the Suikoden node, sat at the counter for the hotel's café, waiting patiently as Brewster was preparing their orders. It seemed that two of them were trying to do their best to comfort the other two after their performances in the ring as two of them seemed a little bit let down.
"Sorry that things didn't exactly go the way you wanted, Pahn." Cleo mentioned.
Pahn gave a sigh. "I mean, I entered in the first section so I wasn't really expecting to go far but I was hoping I'd have a better showing than I did." He lamented.
"I mean, hey, you got eliminated by MARIO. That has to account for something, right?"
Pahn didn't really have a response to that as Brewster returned with a cup of tea, which he set in front of a blonde man dressed in a green cloak. "Here's the first tea." He said as he went to start preparing the first one.
Gremio thanked the barista. "Um…What happed to your helpers? I haven't really seen them since we came in." He asked.
Brewster sighed. "Chai's still not off the hook with Tia about signing Merengue up for this tournament and I sent them on a walk to get them to work things out." He explained. "I can't have them having a domestic on the clock since it affects our customer service."
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that." Gremio mentioned.
"Coo. Don't be. There are times when Chai gets an idea that she decides to pounce on without thinking and it gets her in hot water with Tia for the day." Bewster handwaved. "I guarantee this will have blown over by the time the tournament is done."
Gremio paused and shrugged. "Well, I suppose I'll trust you on that." He mentioned as Brewster nodded and went back to making the next tea. As he did, Gremio turned to the rest of his group. "I'm a little surprised we haven't been as effective as we could be thus far."
"I'm not. I kind of think we're in a bit over our heads." Cleo shook her head. "Yeah, we may be responsible for a lot of powerful and unexplainable things where we're from but I think we're kind of overshadowed here."
"But the young master has the Soul Eater Rune!" Gremio reminded. "One of the most-powerful True Runes in our world!"
"In OUR world." Cleo countered. "Who's to say that the relics of certain worlds aren't that much stronger."
Gremio sighed. "I'm sorry that you didn't manage to do well in the arena, young master." He mentioned to the young man beside him.
Tir McDohl sighed back. "It's okay, Gremio. Cleo has a point." He replied. "I think half of the problem, though, is because I spent most of my time in the ring trying to deal with someone my rune was screaming at me to eat."
"Oh, right. You were probably juggling trying to keep your rune under control." Cleo said. "I'm glad you were able to do that. It shows that you're getting better at controlling it."
"I think so. I just wish that the collection of souls I was fighting took the hint." Tir sighed. "At least then I would have had more of a chance to-"
"YOU!"
Everyone sitting at the counter turned in their seats in surprise and saw a familiar suit of armour at the door, standing in the doorway and staring into Tir's soul with what appeared to be almost a hundred souls of their own. The suit of armour summoned a broadsword into their hand and the flames around their armoured body burned intensely.
Tir fumbled back. "Y-You?! What are you doing HERE?!" He asked.
Magyar growled. "I know you took them…Give them back!" They roared as they stepped into the Café.
"W-What are you talking about?!"
"You took 83!" Another one of Magyar's voices accused as they pointed the broadsword in Tir's direction. "Give them back or we'll MAKE you give them back!"
Pahn, Gremio and Cleo were quick to get up and stand close to Tir, as if shielding him. "You stay away from him!" Pahn said. "You make his Soul Eater Rune go crazy!"
"That's why we know it was him who took 83!" Magyar sneered.
"Guys, no! Stay back!" Tir urged as he stood up.
"Young master, your rune will go crazy if you face this thing!" Gremio said.
"They're clearly after ME. The last thing I need is any of you getting caught in the crossfire and my rune stealing your souls if you get injured!" Tir reminded.
"Guys, do we really wanna do this?" One of Magyar's souls asked. "We know that this guy can steal souls."
"He took 83! If we beat him maybe we can rip 83 from that rune of his!" Another soul informed.
Tir stepped forward alone as his friends, against their better judgment but respecting their leader's wishes, stood back to let him do the fighting. "Are you certain about this, young master?" Gremio asked. "You know we won't hesitate to aid you in this."
"I'll be fine, Gremio. This thing causes my rune to rage but it'll be more-manageable without having to worry about any of you." Tir nodded before he turned to Magyar. "I don't know what your problem is but you're prodding into this WAY more-intense than you're able to handle!"
"Funny. We were just about to say the same about you." Another soul of Magyar said coldly.
Tir winced as he looked down at his wrist briefly and saw the Soul Eater Rune lighting up on the back of his hand, signifying that it could already sense the multitude of souls nearby. Tir narrowed his eyes as he tried to keep the rune's hunger under control and drew his staff, preparing to face the haunted suit of armour for the second time tonight; Magyar didn't seem willing to listen so it seemed he needed to beat them down to get them to smarten up…
(The Arena)
"FALCO LOMBARDI!" (SSB)
The audience cheered as Star Fox's resident hotshot emerged from the curtain and checked the ammo clip of his pistol. A bit annoyed at his poor draw (and the fact that Fox had gotten a way better one that he had; Fox would never let him forget that), Falco tried to block the thoughts from his mind for now to avoid throwing himself off as he made his way down to the ring, setting his sights on the fight between Honda and Yamazaki.
Yamazaki was about to swing his leg at Honda's head when he felt something shoot into his shoulder from behind. Cursing out loud, Yamazaki looked over his shoulder and saw Falco approaching. "You have a death wish, bird?" He challenged.
"Hey, gimmie a break. I've seen you fight and I know the easiest way to surprise you is to shoot you from behind." Falco replied as he approached.
The Yakuza grunted as he kicked Honda in the face, knocking the sumo wrestler away as he turned to face Falco. "You wanting to start something while I'm busy with another fight? You KNOW I'm more-than-able to multitask, right?" He asked with a light smirk.
"Hey, so am I." Falco smirked back as he got his pistol ready again. "It comes with the territory of being in Star Fox."
"You think I care? I'm actually thinking about what to have with roast turkey tonight." Yamazaki said as he crouched and got into an insane-looking stance.
Honda suddenly jumped into view and slammed a palm into Yamazaki's head. "Hey! We're kind of in the middle of something, here! Don't just walk away from the fight now!" He accused.
Yamazaki responded by grabbing Honda and, with a bit of effort, throwing him at Falco. The avian pilot jumped to the side to avoid getting crushed as he shot at Yamazaki again with his blaster. The Yakuza ducked under the shots as he charged forward before lunging at the two, preparing to rip both Falco and Honda apart.
"TOON ZELDA!" (HW)
Another large, bulky suit of armour emerged from behind the curtain, only two glowing eyes visible from the blackness of the armour's helmet. As the audience cheered, the armour gave a friendly, polite wave before a spirit poked her head out of the armour's chest, making the armour go lifeless. The blonde, spirit princess looked around at the arena for a moment.
"Hmm…I don't know when Link is going to show up so…Maybe I should try to clean up a bit so that if comes in soon we can team up…" Toon Zelda mused before she vanished back into the suit of armour, bringing it back to life again as she made her way down the entrance ramp.
Bear Hugger ducked under a slash from F.A.N.G., narrowly avoiding being poisoned as he did, when he noticed Toon Zelda running over. Before he had a chance to turn to acknowledge her, Toon Zelda had gotten in front of Bear Hugger and slammed a huge, metal fist into F.A.N.G.'s face, sending the gangly villains sprawling. Bear Hugger blinked as the possessed suit of armour stood near him, looking ready to fight F.A.N.G.
"Oh! Uh…Thanks for the hand, there." Bear Hugger mentioned.
"You're welcome! I've heard about this guy and that he's a bit of a monster." Toon Zelda's voice came from inside the suit of armour.
"He's not that tough but he's unpredictable, eh." Bear Hugger shrugged. "Maybe you may be impervious to his poison attacks with that armour of yours, though!"
"O-Oh! Sure, I'd be happy to help!" Toon Zelda nodded.
Bear Hugger appeared to be in thought for a moment. "Maybe you wanna stick around after we deal with him? I wanna run a few things by you." He mentioned.
"Oh, is something going on?"
F.A.N.G. pushed himself up with a groan. "I think I'm starting to understand why Lord Bison doesn't want anything to do with the other villains tonight…" He complained.
"Mystery…Fighter…TWELVE…"
"HELL'S CHEF!" (Gregory Horror Show)
"No smoking…"
Standing outside of the entrance curtain was a blocky, candle-like being with a lit wick on his dark head and two bright, red eyes staring out from the darkness of his face. Several people screaming in fear as they backed away, letting Hell's Chef wander down the ramp menacingly.
Spy was still clashing with Antonov when he heard the announcement and his eyes snapped open. Suddenly taking notice of the still-lit cigarette sticking out of his mouth, Spy quickly kicked Antonov back a couple of steps as, in the background, Hell's Chef could be seen approaching, emitting what could only be described as a deadly aura.
Antonov grunted in annoyance. "Hey! What was…" He trailed off when he suddenly saw Spy standing aside, trying to look inconspicuous, and that his cigarette was gone despite him having it only a couple of seconds ago. "Uh…Weren't you smoking just now?"
"AbsolutelynotIhavenoideawhatyou'retalkingabout!" Spy said quickly, sweat dripping down his face as Hell's Chef finally approached the two.
Hell's Chef slowly looked at Spy, staring him into the soul. "I smell smoke…" He repeated. "…Where is the smoke coming from?..."
Hell's Chef looked Spy up and down for a second, noticing that the French mercenary didn't have any cigarette visible. However, when the living candle turned to Antonov, he saw that the wrestler still had a lit cigar sticking out of his mouth and turned his full attention to him, seemingly bypassing Spy not that he had as target in mind.
"…I HATE SMOKING!" Hell's Chef screamed as he pulled a huge meat cleaver into view, hoisted it into the air with one hand and swung it down at Antonov.
Antonov stepped back in surprise and, likely on instinct, lashed out and deflected the attempted attack, striking the cleaver with his fist and making Hell's Chef stagger backwards a couple of steps.
"Wow! I've never seen any kind of attitude like yours! You'd be perfect for the G.A.W.!" Antonov insisted.
Hell's Chef didn't seem interested in listening and continued to swing at Antonov, forcing the wrestler away for the time being. Once left alone, Spy exhaled in relief, causing a puff of cigarette smoke to emerge from his mouth, a hint to how he got rid of his cigarette in such a short amount of time…
"PRIDE!" (PS)
Emerging next was an older man with a mustache dressed in what looked to be a pilot's uniform, giving an energetic wave and salute to the crowd cheering him on. Pride stood proud outside the ramp, his scarf blowing in an invisible wind, as he scanned the arena for someone to tussle with first.
Joker and Scyther were still clashing with blades (Joker had realized that Scyther was being too quick to shoot) when Pride made his entrance and jumped into the fray, eagerly slamming a fist into Scyther's face from the side and knocking the Pokemon away for a few seconds as Pride turned his attention to Joker with a smirk.
Joker blinked in confusion. "Uh…I was in the middle of a fight there." He mentioned.
"Oh, come on! You can't just expect to go through a competition like this and not expect a few surprises here and there!" Pride laughed. "You're young so maybe you just need to be taught that lesson!"
Joker sighed and drew his gun again, this time pointing it at Pride. "Well, the Pokemon is too fast for the bullets but I don't see you being as fast as him." He mentioned.
Pride smirked. "You can try to shoot me if you wish, my boy. You'll find I'm more-resilient than I look!" He exclaimed.
An annoyed Scyther suddenly burst back onto the scene again and jumped onto Pride's shoulders with his feet, angrily throwing him down and leaping off, getting into a stance with his blade arms and hissing at Pride. The old pilot stood up and brushed his jacket off, seemingly unbothered by the attack.
"See? The Pokemon gets it." Pride chuckled.
Joker sighed and took a step back. Pride seemed to have Scyther's attention for now but Joker still needed to have the chance to build up his Persona. Now he needed to pick his targets…
"VIKTOR!" (ST)
A burly, scruffy-looking swordsman emerged from the curtain with his sword in hand and giving an energetic fist pump in preparation to get into the arena. He took a glance at the face that adorned the sword in his hand. "You ready to cut loose a little?" Viktor asked the sword.
An audible sigh came from the sword. "Do I have a choice?" The Star Dragon Sword asked.
"No. Not really." Viktor said as he ran down the entrance ramp.
"Then why did you ask me, you hairy gorilla?!" The Star Dragon Sword shouted in frustration as Viktor carried it.
Lilly Pendragon lifted an eyebrow at the sound of the familiar voices and turned her head after deflecting a blow from Toadette's pickaxe and saw Viktor coming over. "Wait…You look younger from the last time I saw you, Viktor…" She mentioned.
"Oh, wait! I remember that we're from different points in time!" Viktor said as he came over. "I'm told that I end up saving you from a creepy vampire in my future…But I guess it's also in your past since I was told you were a little girl at the time. I guess this timeline stuff is confusing."
"EVERYTHING is confusing for you, you clod!" The Star Dragon Sword shouted indignantly.
"I see the sword is just as talkative as ever." Lilly sighed. "Look, are you here to help or do you just like to talk about stuff neither of us really know about?"
Viktor shrugged. "Hey, I thought it was a neat concept when I heard it." He mentioned.
"You thought SHOWERING was a neat concept!" The sword insulted.
Toadette lifted an eyebrow as she approached. "Um…What's going on?" She asked.
Lilly sighed. "Just…Don't ask." She mentioned. "Let's just continue our fight and let Viktor have this little banter with his sword. I remember him doing this a lot."
"And now, the final fighter of this section…"
"RYU!" (SF5)
The audience cheered wildly as the main character of Street Fighter emerged from the curtain and gazed about the arena stoically. Adjusting his headband and gloves, Ryu set his sights on one person in the ring and jogged down the ramp, seemingly not paying attention to the reaction the audience was giving him.
Sakura had ducked under an attempted swing from Petey Piranha when her eyes lit up at the announcement. She looked over her shoulder and saw her hero jumping into the arena. "Ryu-san!" She called out before delivering a Shoryuken to the bottom of Petey's huge head, knocking him away as she turned around to greet Ryu. "I wasn't expecting you to enter the arena so soon!"
"I was surprised as well but it gives me more of a chance to face challenges." Ryu admitted. "It's good to see that you're still in the arena, Sakura."
"I've been fighting my hardest, Ryu-san! It's how I've been trained!" Sakura nodded eagerly. Despite the fact that she had been in the arena for a few seconds she still looked ready for more fighting.
Ryu gave a smile. "I'm actually glad about this; I've been wanting to put you through a test now for quite a while but until now I think there were times where neither of us were ready." He admitted. "You were still training and I was dealing with my inner evil."
"Well…I mean, we're both here right now, aren't we?" Sakura asked. "I've had real success in these tournaments and you're managed to purge your evil side, right?"
"Indeed. I think now's as good a chance as any to test both of us." Ryu said as he got into a stance.
Sakura grinned. "You're actually looking to spar with me?!" She asked excitedly.
"I am. You may be defending champion here but I want to make sure that you haven't gotten rusty since then." Ryu explained. "And now that I don't need to worry about submitting to the Satsui no Hadou anymore I can fight with full strength. I trust that you'll do the same?"
"Of course, Ryu-san! I know how fierce you fight and I know that you won't hold back!" Sakura said as she got into a stance that looked somewhat similar to Ryu's. "I swear I'll come at you with everything I have and show why and how I won this tournament in the past!"
"I know you will, Sakura. Now let's see what you've got."
"Right!"
The audience cheered as Ryu and Sakura rushed each other, looking ready for a fierce battle clash.