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!

50. Section Twenty-Three Results

(The Arena)

Just like in the last section, the Superstar Stage was mostly aesthetic, being based on the Superstar's home stage. However, unlike the calming presence of English Manor, the aura of the Howard Estate had an aura of power and intimidation, truly feeling like a final boss fight. Japanese adornments covered the outer square of the arena and everyone fought on.

"Magarudyne!"

Ganondorf, Metaknight and Lambda-11 all acted quickly before diving to the side to avoid a vortex of green wind which carried Elizabeth and her Persona, Thanatos, inside of it. When Elizabeth was recovering from her own attack, Lambda-11 sent out a series of swords forward towards Elizabeth's back, piercing her multiple times. However, this in turn left the ANDROID wide open for Ganondorf to slam his broadsword into Lambda-11's side.

After Lambda-11 was sent flying towards Elizabeth, Ganondorf then swung his sword at Metaknight, but the smaller, easier side-stepped it before flying towards Ganondorf. Meanwhile, Lambda-11 attempted to swing her wings at Elizabeth, but the elevator attendant quickly summoned Thanatos to fly her out of harm's way. However, Lambda-11 merely summoned some portals around Elizabeth and Thanatos striking them, multiple times.

As Elizabeth dropped to the ground, Lambda-11 did a flip, using her razor wings to knock Elizabeth away. This left the blue-clad woman flying towards the back of Ganondorf, sending him staggering forward which left him open from a Drill Rush from Metaknight. Despite grunting in pain, Ganondorf quickly picked up Metaknight and threw him towards Lambda-11.

Metaknight then managed to recover himself in midair before flying towards his newest target. However, Lambda-11 raised her arm. This had made Metaknight's horizontal movement slow down. Metaknight paused before looking down to see a circle of purple energy, acting as some kind of gravity well. This left him wide open for Lambda-11 to swing her wings at Metaknight and sent him the puffball flying towards Ganondorf and Elizabeth, crashing into the back of the latter's head.

Despite this, Elizabeth laughed. "Oh, wow! This is exactly what I expected from a four-way between Big Guys."

"What are you going on about?" Ganondorf asked in disbelief. "Lambda-11 isn't a Big Guy. Official or otherwise."

"True. But based on the criteria of the selected Big Guy event, she would have been the chosen one by the Millennium Star and Tumble if four Big Guys didn't last the previous section." Elizabeth explained.

Metaknight got up after crashing into Elizabeth. "What criteria? I am literally the only Big Guy who was selected to be one!"

"Well…" Elizabeth started.

Suddenly, the three heard a bunch of noises. Turning their heads, Metaknight and Ganondorf's eyes bugged out when they saw Lambda-11 floating up while having at least thirty floating swords over them.

"Does THAT fit your criteria or are your own personal opinions on what should be a Big Guy is more strict?" Elizabeth asked, casually.

"...No, that will do it." Metaknight said.

A swarm of Buzz Bombers flew forward. However, Knuckles the Echidna jumped up and turned into a ball before zooming towards each Badniks quickly, breaking them each. Despite this, Dr. Eggman just smirked before pushing a few buttons on the panel of his Egg Walker which sent out multiple missiles. Knuckles just narrowed his eyes before running off.

At the same time, he picked up a startled Poison and just like Courage the Cowardly Dog, Knuckles ran off while carrying the comparatively larger person with him. The missiles continued to chase after Knuckles, but being not only a Sonic the Character, but also a major one, he was easily able to outrun most of it.

"Faster, Red, Faster!" Poison shouted.

"Thank you, Miss Backseat Driver!" Knuckles yelled.

However, the missiles were still going after Knuckles and Poison. Acting quickly, he threw Poison high into the air (while she screamed at the top of her lungs) before Knuckles dug into the canvas. Just in time for the missiles to harmlessly explode. Then, Knuckles popped back out of the ground before catching Poison bridal-style just as she was falling down.

Eggman then activated his thrusters and moved towards Knuckles and Poison with the intent to ramming into them. However, Poison narrowed her eyes before getting up from Knuckles and moving out of the way. The echidna then quickly caught a punch from the Egg Walker's mechanical claw, stopping the assault.

Then, a glint appeared in Poison's eye. Acting quickly, she ran over to the Egg Walker before scampering up. She then proceeded to wrap her bullwhip around Eggman, binding his arms together.

"H-Hey! What are you doing!?" Eggman shouted.

"Making an experiment." Poison sneered.

With that, she stood up and started to pull on her whip. However, while she was pulling tightly, Eggman seemed like he was.

"Jesus Christ in a basket, you weren't exaggerating, Red!" Poison frowned. "It is as if he super-glued himself to the contraption! Grab its legs!"

The red-furred guardian didn't need to be told twice as he ran over to the Egg Walker and grabbed its legs. Poison then continued pulling. As if it seemed like it wasn't working, but with each tug, it looked like Eggman was slowly getting loose.

Finally, Poison managed to pull Eggman out of his Egg Walker, sending her onto her back and Eggman soaring out and onto his face in an undignified fashion. Poison then got up.

"NOW!" Poison shouted.

Knuckles nodded before picking up the much-heavier Egg Walker over his shoulder before throwing it over the ropes (and into Ed, Edd and Eddy where the titular characters stumbled upon it. Yeah, you could only guess how well THAT went.).

"MY EGG WALKER!" Eggman gasped.

He then looked in worry as Poison got up to her feet while cracking her knuckles together.

"Well, let's truly begin the show." Poison sneered.

She then rushed forward while running to punch Eggman's face in. The mad scientist winced before looking around to see a way to avoid it but he didn't.

Then, he rushed forward as Poison got close and wrapped his arms around him. Without hesitating, he moved his body back while at the same time, slamming Poison into the ground and leaving her onto her back.

It was then the audience and a good chunk of the fighters all looked at the scene with wide eyes and slack jaws. The rest of the fighters all looked confused.

"Um, what is going on?" Coco asked.

"Eggman aka Mr. Cholesterol did a perfect belly-to-belly suplex on Pinkie there!" Helga explained.

Coco's eyes widened at this. "Wait, REALLY?"

Knuckles merely blinked twice. "Well, what do you know?"

Poison on the other hand stared up at the ceiling lights with wide eyes. She then started to laugh, making Eggman and by extension, everyone (except Knuckles) look confused.

"I knew it! I knew that this was a really deep cut, but I knew it!" Poison said before getting up.

"K-Knew what?" Eggman asked.

"Knew that you were the perfect recruit for me!" Poison laughed.

"R-Recruit? What do you…" Eggman said. Suddenly, his eyes widened behind his sunglasses. "Wait… THIS is why you double-teamed with Knuckles and threw my Egg Walker out of the arena? It was all adding up to this!?"

"Yyyyyyep!" Poison sneered.

"But… But… How did you even know?" Eggman asked.

"Don't underestimate a determined wrestling promoter, pal." Poison boasted. "Now, are we going to talk smack or are we going to rumble?"

Eggman paused before letting out a deep sigh. "I mean unlike in the Tournament of Kikai, I don't have a robot inside of the arena so it is either that or allow myself to get eliminated!"

"Glad to see it my way!" Poison smirked, getting into a stance.

Eggman also got into a stance, this time into a wrestling pose. Knuckles just continued to look before turning around. To see everyone's eyes were on HIM, most likely to silently ask him what was going on.

Knuckles let out a sigh. "It's a long story."

(Sound Booth)

Astaroth and Aila continued to look on just as stunned as everyone else. Shadow on the other hand was rubbing his chin.

"Huh. I saw a lot of crazy things at these things, but I never expected a reference like THAT." Shadow noted.

Astaroth turned towards Shadow. "Wait… You actually know what happened?"

"Yeah, you know that my node has its own anime, right?" Shadow asked.

"Sonic X?" Aila asked.

"Yeah, it also got a spinoff comic and in it, Eggman was actually disguising himself as a masked luchador called El Gran Gordo." Shadow explained.

Astaroth and Aila both blinked twice at this.

"...What?" Aila asked.

"Yeah, and as if that isn't out there enough, he was actually a COMPETENT one." Shadow said. "However, it turns out that he actually LIKED being El Gran Gordo and legit pulled a Heel-Face Turn, at least in that comic."

"...So basically, Eggman is using skills from a spin-off OF a spinoff?" Astaroth asked.

"Yeah, I am just as shocked as you are." Shadow shrugged. "I think even EGGMAN is shocked that Poison remembered."

"Damn…" Astaroth paused.

The three then paused before looking at the Announcer's Booth.

"Do you think Drake would know that?" Aila asked.

"That is a very good question. He seems well-versed at all of these obscure facts about these types of things." Shadow noted.

"And even if he didn't, he would have totally geeked out over it." Astaroth added.

The three then paused.

"You know, he could have just gone with literally anyone else for manning the Sound Booth." Shadow noted.

"DJ Professor K from Jet Set Radio, MZD from Pop'n Music, hell, he could just settle for Horace Horsecollar from Disney's House of Mouse." Aila added. "But he chose US."

"He must really have liked us that much to do so." Astaroth concluded.

The three then sighed.

"I hope he will be alright…" Aila said.

"Same…" Shadow said.

(Dome; Bar)

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?"

"Of course! After seeing how much he had been hurting for all of these years, I HAVE to make it right!"

"...You know, it is nice that you want to make amends, but you are both equally responsible, you don't have to act, it is all your fault."

"But I didn't want to hurt him! …Okay, that is a lie, I did. But I didn't want to hurt him for THAT long."

King, Jan, Sally and Elizabeth frowned before looking at each other in worry before looking at the latest patrons.

"Look, none of us would even be here if he didn't keep harassing you." Mighty the Armadillo reminded.

"And that is it. I wanted him to stop harassing me." Ray the Flying Squirrel insisted. "Not be traumatised for life. Especially since while he is a jerk, there are far bigger ones at the same tournament."

Mighty merely frowned before scratching the back of his head. "I mean, you are not wrong."

"Besides, surely after being eliminated, he realised that I am not mad at him anymore." Ray offered with a bright smile.

"No! No! No!"

Everyone's eyes bugged out before turning to the direction of the bar entrance to see Tiffany Lords and Boman Delgado entering with grumpy looks on their faces. As if you expected anything less, they were carrying a thrashing Roy Bromwell.

"Please! Have mercy!" Roy pleaded.

Mighty frowned before looking at Ray. "Um, Ray?"

The squirrel slumped his arms. "...He doesn't realise that I am not mad at him anymore. I know."

"Roy, this is ridiculous!" Boman scolded.

"Yeah, this has to stop!" Tiffany agreed.

"If you want it to stop, then take me far, far away from here!" Roy yelled, not stopping his thrashing.

Jan looked at King. "Um, sis? Is it safe to have a confrontation here?"

"Well, because of the blackout, there are not too many safe places to go." The kickboxer shrugged. "Though while I am willing to give this the benefit of the doubt, I am not going to hesitate to Tornado Kick him out of this place if he starts to fight in 'self-defence'."

Roy continued to thrash while Tiffany and Boman just sighed before looking down at Ray with apologetic looks.

"Words can't describe how much we apologise for Roy." Boman frowned.

Ray merely shook his head. "No, it is me who should apologise."

And by some miracle, Roy had stopped thrashing in Tiffany and Boman's grasp before looking down at Ray with wide eyes.

"...Huh?" Roy asked.

"I mean, yeah, I did 'screwed your generation' multiple times in front of the entire multiverse in the first Battle of the Luminaries." Ray said, sheepishly. "I really hurt you."

Roy continued to look stunned at this. Suddenly, he felt his legs jump a couple of times. Looking down, he saw Tiffany (who was holding said limbs) glaring up at him.

"Well?" Tiffany asked.

"H-Huh? Oh right…" Roy said before taking a deep gulp. "It's… Fine. I mean I WAS taunting you about your lack of work."

"Yeah, you were a total a-hole about it." Mighty agreed, narrowing his eyes.. "This may be surprising for you, but Ray NEVER snaps like that so you must have really messed up for THAT to happen."

Roy winced at this as Ray actually glared at Mighty.

"Mighty, come on, man! You are dampening the mood!" Ray scolded.

The armadillo just sighed. "Sorry…"

Ray nodded before looking back at Roy. "Look, the point is, I have no reason to be mad at you anymore. Not only was it so long ago, but I was in Sonic Mania R. Sure, it was a long time after the game came out, but unlike SegaSonic the Hedgehog, THAT game is not only remembered, but positive."

"W-Well, that's good to hear." Roy said.

"How about you?" Ray asked, hoping to ease Roy in. "Did Rival Schools get recent news?"

"Umm, other than Akira being in Street Fighter V, thus not only giving our node relevance, but making it CANON in a mainstream game?" The American man asked. "Well, there IS a Capcom Collection coming out and Project Justice is on it."

Everyone, but Tiffany and Boman went wide-eyed at this while Ray's eyes lit up.

"Wait, REALLY?" Ray asked.

"Yeah, and it not only has Project Justice, but it also has both Power Stone 1 AND 2, Star Gladiator AND both Capcom VS SNK games!" Roy added, sounding a little less nervous.

"Wow, you must be having a great time!" Ray grinned.

"Yeah, too bad that said collection is coming back AFTER this tournament so thus why most of our node is going just as slow as in the first Battle of the Luminaries." Roy frowned.

"Aw, it is not that bad. Sure, you guys are trailing behind in eliminations, but you guys are definitely doing better than the last tournament you were in." Ray reassured.

"True. Though you never have to worry." Roy noted before smirking. "You can always count on Sonic to help you."

"You say that, he himself only does so well?" Ray frowned. "Don't get me wrong, it is not like he is a jobber and his streak at this tournament is definitely his best but still Shadow, Eggman and Vector do better than him."

"Yeah, the protagonist always ends up being here and there at these things." Roy mused.

"Oh, yeah, I noticed that too!" Ray said in awe. "Why is it?"

Roy merely chuckled. "You would think that there is some exact science, but nope, it is just a cute girl."

The two continued to talk. Everyone looked on before sighing in relief. Realising that Roy wasn't freaking out, Tiffany and Boman both put down Roy with satisfied smiles.

King gave a small smile. "Well, at least there is SOME positivity going on in this tournament."

(The Arena)

Kagura Mutsuki narrowed his eyes before raising his giant broadsword to block a series of bullets. Rocket Raccoon just scoffed before he continued to fire his energy minigun, trying to find an opening in Kagura's defences. However, not only was the dark-haired young man's sword acting like an improvised shield, but he was skilled enough to react to Rocket's barrage.

Seeing this, Rocket growled before he started to burrow underground. However, Kagura just looked stern as he continued to keep an eye on the raccoon. Suddenly, he heard a noise from above him. Looking up, his eyes bugged out when he saw a log swinging from a pair of ropes, swinging like a pendulum towards him. Acting quickly, he ran to the side to avoid the sudden log trap.

However, this felt him wide open for Rocket to pop out of the ground and opened fire from his minigun, striking Kagura multiple times. The swordsman cried out in pain before using his blade to block the barrage. But Rocket expected this and ran forward with a knife to slash Rocket in the leg. Kagura winced before quickly used his other leg to kick his leg out but Rocket quickly did a flip, moving out of the way.

Though it was Kagura's turn to take Rocket off-guard by swinging his free hand and sending out a swirling sphere of dark energy. The raccoon-like alien was not expecting a projectile and quickly moved to the side to avoid it but Kagura swung his sword upwards which knocked Rocket into the air. The dark-haired man just jumped up to continue the assault, but Rocket managed to recover in time before activating his jetpack and flying out of Kagura's grasp.

Rocket then landed on the ground before glaring at Kagura. "For someone who is someone even more horny than TONY STARK, you actually don't suck."

"Ignoring the fact I am the head of the Mutsuki Family AND leader of the Imperial Guards, I refuse to let someone who would assault a lady so callously go free." Kagura said, sternly.

Rocket blinked twice before looking to the side. Kagura turned where Rocket was looking just in time to see Genzo performing a painful-looking suplex on Sailor Jupiter.

"Mm-hmm. You are a true gentleman." Rocket snarked.

Kagura winced at this. "I-I-It is leaving her only with either him or YOU! And having a simple two-on-two is simply out of the question seeing that the arena is already chaotic with the fight with Lambda-11, evil warlock, masked swordsman and that cute yet eccentric babe!"

Rocket then shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, not wrong. Regardless, I am going to end this battle."

Kagura narrowed his eyes. "Oh yeah? How?"

Rocket just smirked before activating his jetpack and soaring off… OUT of the ring. He then landed on the outer ring of the arena, particularly on the shoulder of a suit of samurai armour. Kagura's eyes bugged out realising what was going to happen. Rocket then got out his mini-gun and started to open fire on Kagura who quickly blocked the barrage just like before.

However, unlike before, Kagura had no way of finding an opening because other than his previous projectile, the only other projectile he has was a super that was ground-based and he obviously can't fly or even jump that high so all he could do was block. He then frantically looked around to find a way to get up to Rocket's level. However, the Guardian of the Galaxy noticed this and smirked before getting up and throwing it towards Kagura's feet while he was distracted.

SNAG!

ZAP!

Suddenly, a net appeared from underneath Kagura's feet and rose up while connected to a rope. The net then emitted electricity, zapping Kagura and keeping him paralyzed. Rocket's smirk grew bigger before activating a pair of rocket skates on his feet, propelling him from the suit of armour and towards the rope holding the net before grabbing onto it.

Despite his small size, the momentum was enough to make the net rock forward. Rocket then got out a knife and quickly cut the rope, dropping the net paralysing Kagura. However, the momentum sent Kagura falling forward where he ended up going over the ropes and out of the arena.

Rocket let out a hearty laugh as he landed on the ground. "Man, I missed tricking idiots into my traps from Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3!"

He then turned his head to see Sailor Jupiter and Genzo still fighting. A part of him wanted to find a bazooka shot at the two, but he also didn't want Genzo to find him again so for once, Rocket opted NOT for violence and made himself scarce.

Kagura landed in Heavenly Sword where he hit on Nariko. The protagonist promptly beat him into the ground.

Krunk grunted in pain before staggering back a few steps. He then growled before running forward and throwing his fist out. However, Shintaro Kuno just smirked before swerving his head to the side to avoid the attack. The pink-haired boy then did an uppercut to Krunk's chin. As the blue-furred alien staggered back, Shintaro ran forward and did a series of punches to Krunk's face and stomach.

Shintaro then ended the combo with a kick to the stomach, knocking Krunk on his rear dazed. Shintaro then ran over to do a hard punt. However, Krunk snapped out of his stupor before yelping and scampering to the side to avoid it. But Shintaro ran over to continue the assault by rushing over to do another punch, but Krunk managed to raise his arms to block it.

But Shintaro continued to assault with a series of punches, forcing Krunk to stay on the defensive. However, he was so busy protecting his face and body that he didn't notice Shintaro doing a sweeping kick which knocked Krunk off of his feet and onto his back. Shintaro smirked before crouching down and proceeded to punch Krunk's face from left to right.

However, despite being in pain, Krunk managed to raise his arms to catch a punch from Shintaro. Acting quickly, he got up from his feet while holding Shintaro over him before throwing him away. However, despite Shintaro sprawling on the ground, he quickly rolled into a kneeling position.

"So you got a lucky hit on me." Shintaro said, shrugging his shoulders. "It is going to take a lot more than that for a rookie to beat me!"

"Rookie!?" Krunk exclaimed before narrowing his eyes. "You more of rookie than me, boy! I was in first Battle of the Luminaries from the start!"

"Yeah, but I have been fighting for much longer for you!" Shintaro scolded. "Seriously, people snark at the Babylon Rogues, but at least THEY have abilities that they could use in a proper fight just as easily as a race instead of generic ape fighting."

Krunk's eyes widened at this.

"I see you just NOW realise that." Shintaro said, crossing his arms. "You had finally seen the light."

Krunk paused. "Yes. I am enlightened."

"Then, hold still and let me eliminate him!" Shintaro sneered.

With that, he ran forward towards Krunk. The baboon-like alien then took a deep breath as Shintaro approached him before throwing a punch forward.

…Only for his fist to stop. And not on something hard. Something soft and sticky. Blinking twice, he looked up to his fist inside of a red, pointy fruit. Immediately, he reacted in disgust.

"Oh, yuck! What did you guys put in the fertiliser on Terra?" Shintaro asked, shaking his hand trying to get the fruit off. "Honey!?"

Krunk blinked twice. "Terra no use fertiliser."

Shintaro's eyes widened further in disgust while still shaking his arm. "EW! Does that mean? Ew, ew, ew!"

"...I merely answered your question." Krunk said, matter-of-factly.

By this time, Shintaro had finally managed to shake off the sticky fruit off of his arm. He then sighed in relief before glaring at the guilty party. …Only for Krunk to do a clothesline to him, knocking him to the ground. While Shintaro was stunned, Krunk took a step back before running forward and doing a belly flop onto Shintaro, knocking the wind out of him.

Despite being in pain, he still found the strength to deal an uppercut to Krunk's chin, managing to knock the racer out of him. The two then got up and Shintaro ran forward. However, Krunk jumped backwards and threw down two more sticky fruits on the ground. While Shintaro was startled, he quickly swerved around the fruit and rushed forward to deliver a hard punch to Krunk's face.

Only to find himself going much slower than usual. Krunk merely smirked before pointing at the side of Shintaro. The biker turned his head and his eyes bugged out when he saw that one of the sticky fruits had latched onto his legs.

"Uh-oh…" Shintaro frowned.

Krunk then proceeded to go on the offensive and punched Shintaro's face from left to right with alternating strikes. Sure, it wasn't fast, but it was still quicker than Shintaro under the sticky fruit's effects. Soon, the sticky fruit finally fell off of Shintaro's leg, but by this time, he was wobbling in place, completely dazed. Krunk then took advantage of this by grabbing Krunk and throwing him out of the ring.

"It seems I DO have abilities I use outside of racing!" Krunk smirked.

Shintaro landed in Excitebike right in front of the titular vehicles. This caused a thirty-bike pile-up.

The men went wide at a particular fight. This was iconic because said fight was mostly blurs chasing after each other. Luong quickly did a backflip to avoid a horizontal slash from a katana. However, Shiki being Shiki, hardly let her failed attack faze her as she moved forward and swung with her other blade. However, Luong jumped up and kicked Shiki in the face.

Shiki staggered back leaving her stunned from another kick from Luong. Or that would be the case if Shiki didn't vanish in a vertical oval of energy. Luong's eyes widened before jumping up high in the air. Just in time to avoid a slash when Shiki reappeared and slashed where Luong was. Despite this, she quickly leapt up and spun around, managing to slash Luong in the side.

Luong cried out in pain before collapsing on her side. Shiki then advanced forward while raising her blades. However, Luong managed to spin herself around with her legs outstretched, managing to sweep Shiki off of her feet. However, the assassin easily landed on one hand before flipping back onto her feet. Just in time to use her blades to block a kick from Luong.

Acting quickly, Shiki shoved her blades forward, sending Luong flying away. But the secret agent recovered by doing several flips in midair before gracefully on her feet. She then noticed Shiki approaching her before kicking out her legs, seemingly stretching them out through blurs. However, Shiki managed to keep blocking the incoming strikes.

"You… Fought people with blades before." Shiki noted.

"But of course, not only is Nakoruru in XIV, but she AND Darli Dagger AND HAOHMARU will be appearing as DLC in XV." Luong reminded with a coy smirk. "I have a lot of experience dealing with blades."

"That may be so…" Shiki mused. "However, fighting them before doesn't feel like the only experience."

Luong frowned before turning to the side. Geese Howard was still fighting Joker and Vivi at once and was completely preoccupied with it. She sighed in relief before looking back at Shiki.

"If I didn't need to end this fight sooner than later before…" Luong thought.

With that, she did her blurry stretch kick move again, hoping to punish Shiki while she was conversing with her. However, not only was Shiki able to block the incoming kick, but she managed to slash Luong in the leg. As the Taekwondo practitioner cried out in pain, Shiki then spun herself forward with her blades out. Out of desperation, Luong threw herself to the ground to avoid the attack.

Despite this, Shiki quickly punted Luong in the side which sent her sprawling away. Shiki then flipped forward herself before swinging them down. However, Luong managed to recover in time to not only swerve her body to the side to avoid the attack, but managed to kick Shiki in the face. While the assassin was stunned, Luong did a headstand while wrapping her feet around Shiki's neck. The men then started to cheer.

"...The men that are fans of SNK must be satisfied in this section." Absa muttered.

Luong smirked at the cheers before performing a Hurricanrana on Shiki, knocking her onto her back. However, Luong quickly flipped backwards and landed on top of Shiki's stomach, knocking the wind out of the wind. With the twin swordswoman stunned, Luong got up and did a hard punt, sending her sprawling underneath the bottom rope.

Shiki landed in Silent Hill. She fit right in.

Metaknight flew forward as he avoided a series of flying swords flying into the ground. He continued to fly past the incoming projectiles. Meanwhile, Ganondorf was using his broadsword to block any swords flying towards him, occasionally while using his dark energy to emit around himself. In contrast to Elizabeth who merely pointed at any swords flying at her to be deflected away with Thanatos' coffin wings.

Finally, Metaknight reached Lambda-11 who was flying up in the air before doing a drill rush towards Lambda-11. However, the android raised her sword wings to block the incoming attack, resulting in an explosion of sparks. When Metaknight's attack was done, Lambda-11 kicked her foot out and struck Metaknight, sending the small fighter flying back. Lambda-11 then swung her wings forward.

However, Metaknight recovered in time to quickly turn his wings into a cape, activating his counter move just as Lambda-11's wings collided with it. This caused him to do a series of slashes to Lambda-11's side before flying away from the android swung her attack at Metaknight before the smaller fighter spun around with an orange tornado, striking her multiple times.

Meanwhile, Ganondorf raised his trident to block a blade from Thanatos before the two got into a power struggle with each other. However, Elizabeth just casually skipped over to the two and sent out a line of cards into the side of Ganondorf's face. While it didn't hurt the warlock, it was enough to make him lose focus long enough for Thanatos to shove him onto his back.

Elizabeth then commended Thanatos to attack Ganondorf while he was down. However, the King of Evil quickly used his levitation magic to not only fly high up in the air. But Thanatos just flew up after them where the two got into another power struggle. Elizabeth was about to command Thanatos.

…It was then she noticed that the fight between Thanatos and Ganondorf were close to the one Metaknight and Lambda-11 was having. She rubbed her chin for a moment. Suddenly, her eyes lit up.

"Wait, this is perfect!" Elizabeth beamed. "MAMUDOON!"

Ganondorf narrowed his eyes before he prepared for anything Thanatos threw out.

…So imagine his surprise when Thanatos flew PAST him and over to the fight between Metaknight and Lambda-11. Before the latter two could react, Thanatos created a vertical glyph with his hands. Before anyone could react, a horizontal beam of dark purple energy forward. This resulted in a chain reaction where Lambda-11 got hit by the attack first who crashed into Metaknight where the two crashed into Ganondorf.

The three then continued to be hit by the beam of purple energy before the attack ended, sending the three soaring down like meteors towards the ground. Particularly towards Coco Bandicoot and Helga G Pataki. The two blonde girls looked up and shrieked before they instinctively reacted by doing their Cyclone Spin and baseball bat swing respectively. Coco's Spin Attack deflected Ganondorf's body over the ropes while Helga hit Metaknight like a baseball. The two Smashers fell out of the arena with Lambda-11 joining without "additional help".

Ganondorf, Metaknight and Lambda-11 landed in Wii Sports Resort where they went the next ten minutes wiping the floor with an army of sword-wielding Miis.

Coco and Helga panted heavily after what had happened. Elizabeth blinked twice at this… Before throwing up her hands in the air.

"SUCCESS!"

Coco and Helga's eyes bugged out before turning towards the blue-clad woman looking triumphant.

"What are YOU celebrating for!?" Helga scolded. "From what I could tell, you only eliminated that android girl!"

"Indeed! I had spent so much effort trying to eliminate three opponents at once, only to eliminate just one and have the other two stolen by you two!" Elizabeth beamed.

Coco blinked twice. "H-Huh?"

"I had truly experienced it! The experience of an UVR fight! The anticipation! The bewilderment! The anguish!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

Coco and Helga both looked in disbelief before looking at each other.

"...I told all of the kids back home that I would not start off with a clumsy elimination." Helga muttered.

"Well, at least YOUR node is doing consistently well!" Coco shot back. "I just beat Tawna's record with an anticlimactic elimination."

With that, the two sulked enough with Elizabeth completely oblivious to them, and continued to celebrate. To the side, Joker, Vivi Ornitier and Geese Howard stared with blinking twice.

"...She HAS to go." Geese said.

"Indeed, but how?" Vivi asked. "She is clearly not going down without a fight."

Joker rubbed his head. "Then, we will make it her downfall."

Vivi looked up at the Phantom Thief, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, first things first." Joker said before looking up at Geese. "Geese, this isn't the way of the Phantom Thieves usually, but we have to form a truce."

The UVR Champion raised an eyebrow. "No duh. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, you and Vivi focus on attacking Elizabeth while I…" Joker said before explaining his plan.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth had finally stopped doing her celebration dance.

"Right, that is actually off of my list so what is next?" Elizabeth asked herself before frowning. "That green-clad archer had already done an out-of-place musical act so there is no point of having my solo tuba act."

Suddenly, a fireball struck Elizabeth in the back, making her stagger forward a couple of steps. However, she then turned around to see Joker, Vivi and Geese in combat positions. Elizabeth's eyes lit up at this.

"Ooh, I have gained the privilege of being ganged-up on 3-to-1!" Elizabeth said with her eyes lighting up. "Furthermore, said trio is an UVR champion, a member of a previous security team and even a wielder of the wild card! This should be great!"

Geese rolled his eyes before making the next move. "Reppuken!"

With that, he swung his arm, sending his trademark Reppuken towards Elizabeth. However, the elevator attendant easily side-stepped it, though Vivi then tried to catch her with a quick fireball from his staff. However, Elizabeth summoned Thanatos and sent out a wave of blue fiery pillars at the three where the three moved to the side.

However, that was when Joker got out his gun and fired a series of bullets into Thanatos, striking it multiple times. It was then Geese ran forward towards Elizabeth, but the blue-clad woman merely threw a hand of cards forward. Now Geese may be the king of countering, but he obviously can't counter a projectile so he was forced to block it with his arms. Elizabeth then proceeded to do a series of card throws where said projectiles slashed all over Geese's body.

It was when Vivi used a Thunder spell to strike Elizabeth. It only stunned her for a moment, but it was more than enough for Geese to step in and do a series of palm strikes and kicks to Elizabeth's face and stomach, not giving a stance to strike back. However, the elevator attendant raised her hand to catch a punch from Geese with her free hand before throwing him to the ground. Elizabeth then summoned Thanatos to fly after Vivi, causing the poor boy to jump.

Only for Joker to send out his grapple hook at the sign of Thanatos' coffin hooks, snagging onto it before pulling himself towards it. Once there, he proceeded to slash the Persona multiple times in its face with his knife. Around the same time, Geese got up and proceeded to deal with Elizabeth, striking her while he was distracted. Meanwhile, Vivi started to cast another spell.

"Joker, get off!" Vivi shouted, during casting.

The dark-clad boy nodded his head before flipping off of Thanatos but not before shooting it a few times with his pistol. Around this time, Vivi waved his staff, summoning cold air around Thanatos which caused ice to form around it growing within just a couple of seconds. Then, the ice block exploded which resulted in it disappearing into a burst of blue energy which caused Elizabeth to grip her head.

"Ooh, correct me if I am wrong, but this is the first time we've seen a Persona Break from the Persona 4 Arena node!" Tumble noted.

"For those who don't know, in Persona 4 Arena, a fighter's persona could be damaged and if it is damaged too many times, it won't be used for the rest of the round, throwing the user out of a lot of their Persona attacks." The Millennium Star noted.

Elizabeth merely frowned at this. "Oh dear… So that is your game. Having Geese and Vivi distract you while YOU focus solely on my Persona."

"Yeah, the protagonist group of both games told me that for all of your super-like specials, you are overly dependent on your Persona!" Joker smirked.

Elizabeth puffed out her cheeks. "Well, THIS is anti-climatic. I wanted to go out in a big ball of fury. Or a big ball of confusion."

Geese slumped his arms. "...I don't ask this usually. But who hurt you?"

Joker on the other hand smirked. "Very well. Let's end it with style."

With that, he launched his grappling hook towards the arena lights. He then swung from it before grabbing onto Elizabeth with his free hand. While the blue-haired woman gave a cry of surprise (yet somehow STILL sounding bored), Joker then let go of the grapple hook before he grabbed onto Elizabeth's hands and proceeded to do a series of flips while holding onto her as if it was a trapeze act, making the crowd cheer.

Soon, after the fifth flip, Joker finally let go of Elizabeth and let her fall straight down into an elimination portal. After Joker gracefully landed on the ground, Vivi clapped for him. In contrast to Geese rolling his eyes while crossing his arms

"...SOMEONE wants to make up for their humiliating time in the Tournament of Kikai." Geese muttered.

Elizabeth landed in Eternal Champions. After getting her Persona back, she promptly took down the Thanatos of that node.

(Cole's Nightmare; Empire City)

Cole MacGrath continued to look around for any kind of exit. However, by now, he was slumping his arms while swaying from left to right. There were a lot of people who kept glaring at him and throwing curses, but at this point, he was completely numb to it. He just kept going, trying to go find the alarm clocks that were supposed to wake him up.

"I have to keep going… I have to keep going…" Cole said, trying to motivate himself.

As much as he never wanted to admit it out loud, he was starting to lose hope. It must have been a good few sections since he was dropped into this nightmare so he didn't know if he was too late to save the tournament. Especially since he didn't know WHY Freddy Kreuger would want to trap him in a nightmare, but he obviously knew it was for no good.

It was then he heard a strange noise from above him. He absent-mindedly looked up. It was then his tired half-open eyes went wide at what he saw. Descending down towards him were a bunch of red triangle shapes circling around him. Before he could do anything (and even if he wanted to, he was too tired to react quickly), they then finally reached him.

"Recover!"

It was then he was engulfed in a bright light.

(Dome; Recovery Room)

Cole's eyes opened up after being engulfed in the light. He then found himself not looking at the red triangles or the dreary red sky by hanging a more subdued roof and the worried face of a young, blonde woman.

"M-Mint?" Cole asked.

"Are you alright, Mr. MacGrath?" The white mage asked, concerned.

"Y-Yeah, I…" Cole said.

Then, he realised where he previously was and immediately jerked up in his seat, startling Mint.

"What section is this!?" Cole exclaimed.

"Section Twenty-Three."

Cole turned his head to see a bunch of people like part of the security team, the winners and even a few others.

"Section TWENTY-THREE!? I was out for SIX sections!" Cole exclaimed.

"Fraid so." Ralf frowned. "To say that you missed a lot is an understatement."

Cole paused, taking in what he had learned. Regardless, there was a bit HE had to tell too.

"G-Guys, the person who knocked me out, it was…" Cole started.

"Freddy Krueger? Yeah, we also know that." Maxima added.

Cole's eyes widened at this. "W-Wait… What? How did you…"

Everyone then immediately looked to the side. They then saw Carmelita and Naesala talking to King Dice.

"Oh, so you're telling me that your boss, who is the LITERAL Devil, told you EXACTLY what is happening?" Carmelita asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes, he told me while I was in my elimination node so he didn't wait until I was here in the Recovery Room and it must have been urgent." King Dice noted.

"Uh-huh. And you are telling us this to HELP us?" Naesala asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yyyyyyyep." King Dice said with a big grin.

"You gotta be kidding! What is it for YOU?" Carmelita asked.

"Well, I am going to be frank. This isn't out of altruistism, this is out of pragmatism." King Dice explained, holding up a finger.

"Ohhh?" Naesala asked.

"Well, correct me if I am wrong, but apparently some earlier events before Xuan Dou Zhi Wang made themselves known, the timeline is in danger?" King Dice asked.

Everyone's eyes bugged out at this.

"T-That's right! Long story short, a villain group had kidnapped the loved ones of the champions, even ones from elimination nodes." Kula pointed out.

"They trapped them in a painful-a cycle of life and death." Samus nodded.

King Dice raised an eyebrow at this. He then looked around at some of the cots. In them were the loved ones of said champions. They all looked awake but barely, like they were all in a daze.

"...They seem fine to me." King Dice noted.

"Trust me, they were NOT like that earlier." Kyoko said, shaking her head. "In fact, it is a miracle that they are even awake, albeit barely."

"Well, regardless of what happened to them there and now, it seems that the tears caused by the damages are still there." King Dice said, shaking his head.

"Okay, I could see that, but what does THAT have to do with whatever Xuan Dou Zhi Wang is doing?" Naesala asked.

"Yeah, about that. Remember in the Tournament of Kikai where Xero and Maurice actually have a time pen that could stop time for everyone EXCEPT OCs?" King Dice asked.

"How could I not?"

King Dice raised an eyebrow before turning to the side. There, he saw Shuichi and the hero group he was with, along with Brio, Tiny and Ripper Roo who were sitting in beds.

"Shuichi Saihara, what are YOU doing here?" King Dice asked.

"It's a long story." The detective sighed. "I am not ready to reveal it. Not yet."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion at this.

"Going back to the point." Carmelita said before glaring at King Dice. "What does Shuichi being here have to do with ANYTHING?"

"Nothing, really. I am just pointing out the irony." The gambler shrugged. "He IS one of the main characters who revealed the time pen."

"So?" Carmelita asked.

"AH!"

Everyone turned to see Shuichi with a look of horror on his face.

"S-Shuichi?" Scooby frowned.

"K-King Dice… Is Drake…" The dark-clad boy said.

The purple-clad man shook his head with a rare solemn look on his face.

"No… He IS in a nightmare via Freddy and considering how much Xuan Dou Zhi Wang hates him." King Dice frowned.

"Who?" Cole asked.

"Exactly." Wave said without missing a beat.

Cole just blinked twice.

"W-What's going on?" Penny asked.

"King Dice, is Drake being Freddy's nightmare the reason why the timeline is still in danger." Shuichi frowned.

"I'm afraid so." The gambler said.

"H-Huh? Why?" Whip asked, not liking where this was going.

"Well, Drake is an OC, right? On one hand, OCs rarely win against established characters like this. On the OTHER hand, they have special access that we don't." King Dice said. "You know, like the time pens."

"R-Right…" Jude frowned.

"We can't kill OCs on their home base and considering that Drake is the main host, this is considered part of his home base." King Dice explained.

"Wait, does killing an OC really have THAT much of a consequence!?" Shuichi gasped.

"No, not usually." King Dice corrected. He then frowned. "Butttttt seeing that the timeline is damaged at the time."

Samus slapped her helmet. "As if I didn't have ENOUGH reason to give Ridley and K. Rool hell when we get back to the Smash Mansion."

"Sooo yeah, Xuan Dou Zhi Wang may not even realise what they are doing, but they are more or less damaging the timeline." King Dice frowned.

"I… I can't believe this!" R. Mika exclaimed. "How could the multiverse be in danger by ACCIDENT?"

"As if it is better than Junko going all Danganronpa 3 on everything." Dot muttered.

Pikachu paused for a moment. He then narrowed his eyes before walking over to Scooby.

"Um, Scooby?" Pikachu asked, getting the Great Dane's attention.

"Yeah, Pikachu?" The Great Dane asked.

"Could you translate something to Penny for me?" The mouse asked.

"Um, sure, what is it?" Scooby asked.

With that, Pikachu then proceeded to explain what he had in mind. It was then the eyes of not only him, but also Garfield, Jigglypuff and Blissey.

"Are you out of your mind!?" Scooby exclaimed.

"I know, I know, this is really risky." Pikachu admitted. "But desperate times call for desperate measures!"

"S-Still…" Scooby frowned.

"Look, we don't have many experts that could deal with Freddy Krueger. We need all of the help we could get." Pikachu explained.

Scooby paused for a moment. He then let out a deep sigh. "I do hope that you know what you are doing."

"Yeah, same here." Pikachu said, returning the sigh.

"Oh, I am sooo assured." Garfield said, sarcastically.

Despite this, Scooby sighed before looking at Penny.

"Um, Penny, is it true that you have Mewtwo's number?" Scooby asked.

"Um, technically, more or less." The dark-skinned girl said, getting out her phone. "Because he is a psychic, his powers are basically his PHONE."

"Could you call him and tell him to come to the Recovery Room?" Scooby asked before frowning. "Pikachu… More or less have a plan."

"Um, aight." Penny said before pushing a few buttons on her phone.

By this time, Jigglypuff walked over to Pikachu with a concerned look on her face.

"Look, to say that we are desperate is an understatement, but getting THIS guy?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Like I said, we don't have many experts on such short notice." Pikachu said. "And even if they ARE in the dome, it would take forever to find them and I don't think we have the luxury of time."

With that, he walked over to Pichu's cot. Jigglypuff just frowned before looking at Garfield and Scooby who looked just as worried. Everyone else just looked at each other.

"Well, THAT'S a good sign…" Yuri muttered.

(The Arena)

Sorey raised his sword to block two claw swipes. However, despite having his attack blocked, Sabrewulf growled before the two got into a power struggle with each other. However, Sabrewulf seemed to have more physical strength as he was winning. Sabrewulf then shoved Sorey away before swinging his claw. However, Sorey acted quickly and dove to the side.

"Sword Flare!" Sorey shouted, igniting his sword in fire and swinging it at Sabrewulf. However, the werewolf threw himself onto all fours, not only throwing him to the ground, but also biting Sorey in the leg. As the Shepherd cried out in pain, Sabrewulf with Sorey's leg in his mouth, threw him onto the ground.

While Sorey was downed, Sabrewulf pounced forward. However, Sorey managed to recover and roll onto his back before grabbing Sabrewulf and threw him onto his back. The two then got up before they turned around.

"Wolfwind Fang!" Sorey shouted, embedding his sword in green wind before stabbing it forward. Sabrewulf immediately moved to the side. However, he was unable to avoid the diagonal upwards slash which struck him multiple times with wind before Sorey kicked him in the stomach, knocking him onto his back.

Sabrewulf however immediately sat up to glare. "You have a lot of gall to attack me with an attack that has WOLF in the name, boy."

"If you are angry now, I hate to know what would happen if you and Yuri Lowell appeared in the arena together." Sorey noted.

Sabrewulf shook his head before getting on all fours and running to the side. Sorey tried to keep up with him but he was too fast as the blue-furred wolfman managed to run around Sorey and slash him in the back. As Sorey winced from the pain, Sabrewulf then dashed in front of him before swinging it downwards.

"Lion's Howl!" Sorey shouted, sending his free palm out and sending a ghostly figure of a lion's head into Sabrewulf and sending him flying past. Sorey then actually SHEATHED his sword and got something out. By this time, Sabrewulf flipped back onto his feet.

Only to receive a piercing pain in his shoulder. Letting out a cry of pain, he reached up and grabbed something before pulling out of it. He then realised that he was holding an arrow. Raising an eyebrow, he looked up to see Sorey holding a bow.

"W-What? Does Zestiria have alternate or sub weapons?" Sabrewulf asked in disbelief.

"No, that would be Vesperia." Sorey corrected. "I used a bow in the anime of my game, even though it was used for hunting."

Sabrewulf narrowed his eyes before getting into a stance. Sorey then got out another arrow and aimed it at Sabrewulf, but the werewolf easily slashed through it before rushing forward. However, Sorey quickly jumped back while shooting another arrow only for Sabrewulf to easily run to the side to avoid it. Acting quickly, Sorey switched with his sword.

"Crimson Edge!" Sorey shouted, doing a thrust forward with his sword engulfed in flames. However, Sabrewulf easily leapt over it and while Sorey was recovering from his own arte, the werewolf did a X-shaped slash into Sorey's back. As the Shepherd cried out in pain, Sabrewulf quickly grabbed him before throwing him out of the arena.

"That's what happens when you try to outhunt a werewolf." Sabrewulf boasted.

Sorey landed in Uncharted. Being the archeologist nut that he is, he immediately started to eagerly explore the ruins.

Luigi Mario and Monsieur Hood yelped before they kept jumping up to avoid a series of fans flying towards their way. Mai Shiranui merely scoffed before getting another fan out of her fan (as much as Luigi and Monsieur Hood wanted to ask how she kept all fans, they knew that it was a death sentence). Monsieur Hood narrowed his eyes before getting out an arrow before firing it forward.

However, Mai quickly did a flip while throwing her fan at Monsieur Hood, managing to hit him in the forehead. While the Frenchman staggered back a step stunned, Mai dashed forward. But then Luigi yelped before jumping in front of Monsieur Hood and spreading his arms. This created a ball of blue electricity and when Mai got close, it sent out a burst of it into the ninja zapping her. Luigi then acted quickly and ran forward.

However, Mai immediately recovered and kicked Luigi in the face (as much as she hated to admit it, however, the shock collar does have SOME advantages). By this time, Monsieur Hood recovered and got out another arrow, but Mai jumped up and wrapped her legs around Luigi's head before doing her own hurricanrana and throwing him into Monsieur Hood knocking the two green-clad men. As the two groaned, Monsieur Hood then glared at Luigi.

"Um, it is nice that you have close-range covered, but could you also assist me on long-range too." Monsieur Hood scolded.

Luigi returned the glare. "As paradoxical as this sounds, Mario Rabbids is a TURN-BASED tactics game. I can't shoot and move at the same time!"

"We literally have someone who is notorious for spending all of his fights literally sitting now doing suplexes and clotheslines!" Monsieur Hood shot back. "You have no excuse!"

"Hissatsu Shinobi-Bachi!"

Luigi and Monsieur Hood's eyes bugged out before turning to see Mai doing a forward flip into a flying elbow attack which managed to strike both green-clad men. She then started to smack both of them at once with her fan. The men cried out in pain before Luigi engulfed his hand in electricity before swinging it at Mai, zapping her. However again, it didn't hurt that much due to experience from her shock collar, it was more than enough for Luigi to scamper out of it.

Meanwhile, Monsieur Hood did a flip which kicked Mai in the chin and sent her staggering back. The former then did another flip before shooting an arrow at Mai. However, the red-clad woman recovered and quickly raised her fan to block the arrow. While the projectile actually pierced through the fan (it WAS made out of paper, after all.), Mai quickly closed the fan so the arrow didn't actually hit her.

However, Luigi and Monsieur Hood then readied their respective bows and began opening fire with a series of arrows. Mai just narrowed her eyes before using her ninjutsu to run to the side to avoid them.

"Try pincering her!" Luigi shouted.

Monsieur Hood nodded his head before the two archers then started fire at each side of Mai before they fired an arrow into the path of where the ninja was running forcing her to skid to a stop. Luigi and Monsieur Hood both smirked before firing some arrows each towards Mai. However, the latter just narrowed her eyes before putting her fan in her mouth while making the classic ninja hand seal pose.

"Kagerou no Mai!"

Then, a pillar of fire suddenly engulfed Mai, protecting her from the incoming arrows. As Luigi and Monsieur Hood looked shocked by this, Mai ended her attack before doing a flying kick. However, the two green-clad men easily jumped back to avoid the attack.

Mai growled, recovering from her own attack. "Okay, why are you so annoying to deal with? I know that one of the only things Luigi has over his brother is jumping…"

"Was that-a 'only things' part really necessary?" Luigi muttered.

"...But what about YOU!?" Mai asked, narrowing her eyes at Monsieur Hood. "Your entire existence in the Shrek series was to show how badass Fiona was compared to the usual Damsel-in-Distress princess?"

The vigilante winced at this before glaring back at Mai. "May I remind you that I am representing Shrek SUPER SLAM? I am a top tier in that game."

"Top tier? That game actually have a competitive scene?" Mai asked in disbelief. "I saw better-constructed platform fighters in DKO."

Luigi blinked twice. "What's DKO?"

"Exactly!" Mai said.

Monsieur Hood growled. "Well, it doesn't matter because it is two-against one."

Luigi's eyes widened at this. "Excuse me?"

"Sure, you may be Japanese, but I am French and he is Italian!" Monsieur Hood gloated.

"Okay, ignoring the obvious question of what our nationalities have to do with anything…" Mai asked, crossing her arms. "You are only French in terms of accent and he is only HALF-Italian seeing that he used to live in Brooklyn!"

"E-Even still, we have the SPIRIT of European AND archery!" Monsieur Hood smirked. "While you don't even use the full Japanese ninja set and just use throwing fans."

Luigi frowned before reaching into his pocket and pulling out some kind of flower as Monsieur Hood started to continue.

"So going by Pokemon terms, you have the advantage in terms of STAB!" Monsieur Hood said.

Mai slumped her arms. "You DO know that archery mostly originated in Africa, right?"

"Look, both are two people and only one of you!" Monsieur Hood gloated.

Mai paused for a moment.

"...I didn't know that you count yourself as two people."

Monsieur Hood blinked twice. "W-What are you talking about? I am referring to Monsieur…"

With that, he turned around towards Luigi. Only to see him gone. He jumped before turning around frantically, but he couldn't find the plumber.

"W-What happened? Did a stray attack knock him out of the ring?" Monsieur Hood asked. "But he was right next to me! A normal person, like the adept hearing of Monsieur Hood, would have noticed!"

However, before he could continue his search for his ally, he was grabbed by the collar to find himself in the dark grin of Mai. Monsieur Hood blinked twice before giving a sheepish grin.

"You know, in a way, Japan IS bigger than all of Europe combined." Monsieur Hood said.

"Mm-hmm. I think Geography class is over." Mai said.

With that, she threw herself on her back while still holding onto Monsieur Hood before throwing him over the ropes.

Monsieur Hood landed in Disney's Robin Hood where he hit on the Maid Marian of that node. She promptly slapped him in the face.

Suddenly, Luigi reappeared a good distance away from where Monsieur Hood and Mai were, sighing in relief.

"Mama-mia. Out of all the things to-a use the Power Flower from Super Mario 64 DS, it was to escape something like THAT…" Luigi muttered.

"Hey!"

Luigi jumped before turning his head to see Hideo Shimazu and Chairperson stomping forward, looking angry.

"We saw you!" Hideo said before pausing. "Well, obviously we didn't see you when you went invisible, but still!"

"How dare you abandon your ally and leave him to be eliminated!" Chairperson scolded.

Luigi winced. "I never WANTED to-a double-team with him! Or fight Mai!"

"Regardless, I despise cowardice!" Hideo said, narrowing his eyes.

"And I despise betrayals of trust!" Chairperson said, crossing her arms. "Perhaps we need to teach you some lessons."

Luigi gulped nervously, remembering what happened to Alice in the last section. Meanwhile, K', Hideo and Chairperson's previous opponent blinked twice behind his sunglasses. He then turned to see Mai smirking with her arms crossed. In a rare instance, K' actually walked over to her out of morbid curiosity.

"Really? This is the ONE time you are not going after a Smasher you were previously fighting." K' snarked, getting Mai's attention.

The red-clad woman merely blinked twice. "Um, duh? Part of the reason why I am going after Super Smash…"

BZZT!

"...After you-know-what because Super Smash Brothers are hard to take down normally so I have to go all-out." Mai explained, almost immediately to get over the shock. She then smirked. "Sooo when an opportunity is thrown into my lap for something ELSE to give them hell, why waste it? Why do you think I acted like I ignored Rosalina when she was mind-hijacked by Psycho Mantis?"

K' paused as Mai went back to seeing Luigi trying to fight Hideo and Chairperson. He then scoffed before walking off with his hands in his mouth.

"And people wonder why I am always pissed at everyone and everything?" K' muttered.

However, he didn't get too long before a small, red blur ran in front of him.

"And where do you think YOU'RE going?" Knuckles the Echidna asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Um, wherever the fuck I want?" K' asked in a mixture of annoyance and confusion.

"Oh heck no. I know you, K'." Knuckles said. "If left alone, you would either take out your frustration on anything that has the bad luck of stumbling upon you or you would just sulk off in the corner while everyone else is fighting hard. Neither of which sit well with you."

The leather-clad man narrowed his eyes. "Don't you have a villain to manipulate you into fighting your own friends or something?"

Knuckles growled before running forward and punching forward. However, K' just rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses.

"Blackout."

Suddenly, K' vanished into thin air. Knuckles was not expecting K' to do this and ended up stumbling from his missed attack. Then, K' reappeared behind Knuckles and punted him away. As the echidna was sent sprawling on the ground, K' swung his arm upwards which created a ring of flames before kicking it which turned it into a projectile into Knuckles' side.

As Knuckles cried out in pain, he looked up to see K' running towards him to do another punt but Knuckles managed to recover in time before rolling to the side to avoid it before doing a sweeping kick. While the kick itself was weak (thus why Knuckles always exclusively punches), it was more than enough to send K' onto his rear.

Knuckles immediately pounced forward with a punch. However, K' managed to roll to the side to avoid being punched into the floor, though he was unable to avoid the shockwave that accompanied which not only sent shards of the floor around and sent K' flying up into the air.

"I have to ask. Does that count as a Tekken wall bounce?" The Millennium Star asked.

"I mean while Knuckles' fist didn't directly hit K', the shockwave did sooo…" Tumble shrugged.

Despite K' having a hard and clumsy fall on from the wall bounce, he immediately got back onto his feet to see Knuckles running over. K' acted quickly and swung his hand upwards, summoning his flames, but unlike last time, Knuckles thought quickly and raised his arms to block it. Knuckles then sent his fist out but K' used his Blackout move to teleport out of harm's way.

However, this time, Knuckles was wise to K' move so he looked around for the brown-skinned man to see him reappearing before curling into a ball tossing himself towards K'. The latter then raised his arms to block the attack but due to Knuckles' strength, he ended up skidding back on his feet before colliding with the ropes before bouncing off of it and forcing him to stumble forward.

Knuckles then rushed forward and punched forward. However, K' used his Blackout to move out of his way, dodging Knuckles' attack. The red-furred animal growled.

"Will you stop teleporting!?" Knuckles roared.

"And just let you punch me into the top-side of the barrier?" K' scoffed. "You are somehow dumber than you look!"

Knuckles growled before reaching into the ground and he started to dig underground. However, K' again scoffed, easily seeing the dirt mound where Knuckles were burrowing underground while igniting his hand in fire. Soon, Knuckles finally popped out from the ground to which K' sent out a projectile at him.

However, when Knuckles popped out, he ignited himself in fire while spiralling around which negated the attack. Knuckles then curled into a ball and did a Homing Attack, striking K' in the head. As the leather-clad young man staggered back stunned, Knuckles wasted no time gliding forward and punching him into the chest, sending him into the ropes. However, unlike last time, K' stumbled over them and into the portal.

K' landed in Daraku Tenshi: The Fallen Angels where he took out his aggressions on Cool.

Sailor Jupiter and Genzo Shimata got into a power struggle while glaring into each other's eyes. Despite the build difference, they seemed to be evenly matched. However, Genzo seemed to be winning before lifting up Sailor Jupiter and threw her to the ground. Genzo then ran onto and did a flying elbow drop into Sailor Jupiter's stomach.

The electromancer's cheek puffed out in pain but managed to do an uppercut to Genzo's chin, knocking him off of him. Sailor Jupiter then sat up and got onto Genzo before punching him multiple times. Despite this, the wrestler just grunted in annoyance before catching Sailor Jupiter's punch and throwing her over him. Despite this, the two got up at nearly the same time.

"Supreme Thunder!" Sailor Jupiter shouted, shooting out green electricity from the antenna of her tiara which hit Genzo dead on and made him stagger back. Sailor Jupiter then took this chance and ran over. However, Genzo immediately recovered before dealing a clothesline to Sailor Jupiter, knocking her to the ground. He then crouched down and flipped the stunned Sailor Scout on her stomach before sitting on her back and grabbing her legs.

"Boston Crab!" Genzo shouted, performing said move on Sailor Jupiter, causing the latter to cry out in pain before slapping her hand against the ground. Acting out of pure desperation, she extended the lighting rod on her tiara and engulfed it with electricity, zapping both her and Genzo. Despite both crying out in pain, due to Genzo not expecting this, Sailor Jupiter had the advantage quickly while the animal lover was stunned and got up from underneath Genzo. However, despite this, Genzo just got up looking more annoyed than hurt.

"Okay, what IS this guy?" Sailor Jupiter asked, gripping her arm.

"I must admit that you are stronger than you look." Genzo admitted before shaking his head. "However, that arguably makes things worse since you have so much potential than being a bully."

"Look, I get that you are passionate about animals and unless you overdo it like with Elmyra Duff, that is valid." Sailor Jupiter frowned before looking exasperated. "But Rocket Raccoon is FAR from harmless. He's a walking armoury!"

"It is because he needs all of these weapons to defend himself!" Genzo scolded. "Raccoons are usually shy creatures that run away when they see a human!"

Sailor Jupiter looked in disbelief before throwing up her hands. "Despite his appearance and even his name says otherwise, he is NOT a raccoon! He is an alien that LOOKED like a raccoon!"

Genzo shook his head in frustration, realising that he was not going to get anywhere with Sailor Jupiter before rushing forward and doing a leaping dropkick. Sailor Jupiter yelped before diving to the side to avoid the attack.

"Supreme Thunder!" Sailor Jupiter shouted, sending out an electric projectile at Genzo. However, the wrestler heard Sailor Jupiter shout out her attack before rolling to the side to avoid it before getting up and rushing forward. Sailor Jupiter yelped before raising her arms to block a punch from Genzo. However, she ended up skidding on her feet a good distance. Genzo then ran after her.

However, Sailor Jupiter jumped back before diving diagonal forward with both of her knees engulfed in electricity, striking Genzo in the face and making him stagger back. While the animal lover was stunned, Sailor Jupiter landed on the ground before crouching down and grabbing him by his legs before swinging him around a couple of times before throwing him towards the ropes.

But the moment Genzo collided with the ropes, he grabbed onto them before swinging off of them and landed back in the arena. Sailor Jupiter then looked on in disbelief.

"What does it take to get rid of this dude?" Sailor Jupiter said in disbelief.

With that, she took off one of her earrings and threw it forward. Genzo narrowed his uncovered eye before raising his arms to block the incoming projectile.

…Only for said earring to bounce off his arms and drop to the ground. Genzo paused before lowering his guard and looking down at the earring with blinking eyes. It was then Sailor Jupiter ran over and did a hard punch to Genzo's face, causing him to stagger back. Even still, she knew that it would take much more than that before she started to spin around with petals emitting from her.

"Flower Hurricane!"

With that, she resulted in a tornado of red petals around her sending Genzo flying straight the ropes. The animal lover frantically tried to grab onto the top rope just like before, but Sailor Jupiter made sure that Genzo was sent up at an angle and over the ropes so he could reach them so he had no choice but to helplessly fall into the portal. Sailor Jupiter sighed in relief before walking over to her thrown earring and picking it up.

"Never thought I would use the earring throw fake-out just like I did with Zoisite." Sailor Jupiter said.

Geese Howard gritted his teeth as he ran around his chosen arena. As he did so, he dodged a series of bullets and fireballs. He then looked up to see Joker and Vivi Ornitier on the outer ring of the arena, firing their gun and spells respectively at him. Shortly after the three had triple-teamed against Elizabeth and ended their temporary truce, they went back to a 2-on-1.

However, Joker had gotten an idea from Rocket Raccoon and ended up using his grapple hook to take not only him and Vivi (though the latter was a bit unwilling) out of the arena and on the outer ring seeing that Geese only had ground-based projectile, in contrast to Joker's gun and Persona skills and Vivi's magic. But obviously Geese Howard was no quitter despite finding a lot of time running around, he was doing a job dealing with it.

"Double Reppuken!" Geese shouted, swinging his arms upwards which created a pillar of blue energy which acted as a shield against a fireball from Vivi. However, Joker then opened fire with his gun and struck Geese while he was recovering from his own attack before snapping his fingers and sending an Eiga at Geese while he was stunned, hitting him and causing an aura which slowly drained the blond man's health. Vivi then finished a spell which sent blocks out of ice at Geese, knocking him down.

"I don't know, Joker…" Vivi said with an unseen frown. "Sure, we have the clear advantage, but unlike that man with the Cloud Strife sword, Geese isn't going to let himself get in a position where he easily gets eliminated."

"Don't worry, I know." Joker said with a smirk. "Patience is a virtue, after all."

Vivi raised a non-existent eyebrow as Joker went back to fire his gun at Geese. However, the crime boss had already recovered and raised his arms to block the non-lethal bullets. Suddenly, a blue aura had surrounded Joker, making his smirk grow bigger with it almost seeming psychotic while losing his mask

Then, Joker's Persona finally appeared behind him. It was a tall figure in a red-and-black suit, a black mask and an absurdly tall top hat with large black feathery wings. The crowd went wild as Vivi looked in awe while Geese narrowed his eyes.

"I will be right back, Vivi!" Joker offered. "Arsene, let's fly!"

The Persona in-question obliged by flapping his wings which sent Joker soaring back into the arena before going into a rolling landing and standing up to run forward. Geese merely looked unfazed before getting into a stance.

"Double Reppuken!" Geese shouted, sending a ground wave forward. However, Joker quickly did a side flip while shooting out his gun. However, instead of firing one bullet every shot, his weapon sent out three bullets at once in a burst of blue energy. This struck Geese in the chest so Joker ran forward, but Geese recovered and got into a defensive stance.

However, Joker did a flip jump over Geese, going behind the blond man before doing a series of slashes in the back with his knife and ending with a knife. Geese staggered forward and turned around, only for Geese to be hit by a larger Eiga. Not only was it bigger, but the damage-over-time effect felt much. Joker then flipped to the side while shooting some shots before rushing forward with a few more knife swipes and kicks.

Geese tried to use a counter move, but Joker managed to predict this and retreat with a flip. Needless to say, Geese growled while clenching his fists.

"How is someone even more annoying to fight than CHOI!?" Geese growled.

He then raised his arms to block any more bullets from Joker's gun before running forward. However, Joker saw this and continued to smirk before standing still while Geese got close and did a palm strike forward.

However, just like Geese, Joker also had a counter which doubled as a projectile deflector. When Geese attacked, Joker summoned a small bubble barrier around himself which sent out a burst of energy in Geese.

So imagine Joker's surprise when Geese grabbed the dark-clad hero by his wrist.

"Too easy!"

Geese then slammed Joker on the ground which resulted in a burst of electricity, zapping the Phantom Thief. As he lay dazed, Geese smirked.

"Trying to out-counter ME, boy?" Geese boasted.

With that, he threw Joker by the collar before effortlessly throwing him in the air (with Arsene following him helplessly). Geese then took a deep breath while charging up energy in his hands as Joker fell like a stone to the ground.

"RASHOMON!"

Geese then sent out both of his palms into Joker before he could hit him the ground, sending him flying horizontally like a bullet and straight over the ropes, too stunned to try to use Arsene or his grappling hook.

Joker landed in Batman where he got into a fight with the Joker of that node.

Geese smirked as he dusted his hands together. "Well, that's one more fool's name under my list of victims. Now to…"

"COMET!"

Geese's eyes widened before turning around.

To see three multi-coloured comets flying from the air towards him. Not even someone like him could parry projectiles like falling rocks alone so he took the attack and was sent flying straight out of the arena.

Back on the outer ring, Vivi sighed in relief.

"On one hand, Joker's plan failed and I lost an ally." Vivi lamented. "On the other hand, I am on board and not only did I get rid of a dangerous threat but also a former UVR champion. So at least the worst is over for now."

He then paused.

"...Um, how am I going to get back into the inner ring?"

Geese landed in Mortal Kombat Armageddon on top of the Sky Tower. He grumpily got up while dusting himself off.

"I can't believe that I forgot about that black mage! That was a foolish move!" Geese muttered. He then sighed. "But at the same time, this is probably the best possible time I could leave the arena. I have to check on Billy and Lilly. But for now, what should I do no…"

That was when Kabal was thrown into him, sending the latter flying into the wall and smashing through it. Despite the hard fall, Kabal merely sat up while looking back at the broken wall before looking at his opponent, Kintaro.

"Um, since when do the walls on this tower feel fleshy?" Kabal asked.

Kintaro merely shrugged with all of his arms. Meanwhile, Geese was falling to his death from the very, very, VERY tall tower. Despite this, he grumpily crossed his arms as he prepared for his demise.

"Oh ha ha. Geese is going to fall to his death just like in his source game." Geese muttered. "How hilarious."

(New World; Area 17)

A Rathalos let out a loud roar breathing out a stream of fire from his mouth. However, four Monster Hunters easily ran to the side to avoid the attack. One then fired a shot from their heavy bowgun into the Rathalos' wing. However, the dragon merely roared in annoyance. But it did distract enough for another Monster Hunter with a greatsword, striking it in the head. It roared in pain before collapsing to the ground.

"Nice one, man!" A Monster Hunter with a Hunting Horn congratulated.

"Yeah, thanks, but we are not done yet!" The Monster Hunter with the greatsword nodded.

"Right, let's pile on!" The Monster Hunter with the sword and shield agreed.

With that, the four ran towards the Rathalos. That was until they all heard something from the side. Turning their heads, they saw someone running towards them so fast that they were leaving a trail of dust behind them.

"W-What!? What kind of monster?" The Monster Hunter with the Heavy Bowgun.

It was soon that the figure revealed itself to be Genzo.

"W-What the!? What the hell are you doing here, man!?" The Monster Hunter with the sword and shield roared. "And where is your armour!?"

Genzo didn't say anything. He just continued running before taking a deep leap.

"BODY SPLASH!"

With that, he slammed his flying body into the four Monster Hunters, knocking the four down. Genzo then proceeded to do a series of painful holds and suplexes on the poor four.

"How dare you harm that beautiful dragon!?" Genzo roared. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size!?"

"Are you high, man!?" The Monster Hunter with the greatsword in the middle of a Boston Crab. "It could eat us with one gulp!"

"So that gives you the right to be bullies!?" Genzo snapped.

"Bullies!? What kind of crazy world YOU'RE from!?" The Monster Hunter with the Hunting Horn said before Genzo went to him next.

By this time, Rathalos had snapped out of his daze. It was then he saw a man with no armour beating down four armoured Monster Hunters as if it was nothing. Normally, the Rathalos would attack the five while they were distracted but it was too stunned to react and for once it wasn't because of a flash pod.

(Dome; Ready Room)

"What!?"

That was the shout of the group escorting Komodo Moe to the Ready Room exclaimed. The person in question just let out a deep sigh.

"That is my reaction as well." The Eternal Champion sighed.

"So the timeline is still getting worse!?" Athena Sykes gasped.

"But how!? I thought that Ryuhaku, Shizu and Rena were recovering!" Pepper exclaimed.

"Well, while that is the case, just like them, the timeline needs to rest and recover." The Eternal Champion explained before slapping his forehead. "But the actions of Xuan Dou Zhi Wang are interfering with said recovery."

"Ya gotta be kidding me!? So Xuan Dou Zhi Wang may be able ta actually ruin the tournament after all!?" Dingodile roared in anger.

"Well, I like to think that it is more serious than that, but otherwise yes." The Eternal Champion sighed.

"Un-fucking-believable!" Dingodile said, throwing up his hands in frustration.

Joe and Athena just looked with worried faces while the rest focused more than the issue.

"...I assume that you didn't just come to tell us just bad news, boss." Larcen Tyler said, putting his hands in his pocket.

"Fret not, there is still a chance to save the timeline, but we have to work together." The Eternal Champion offered. "However, if the tournament IS ruined or it ends and Drake isn't rescued…"

Reptile slumped his arms. "Time travel sucks."

Scorpion mimicked his nodal companion's motion. "That we could agree on…"

Dingodile paused for a moment.

"...Doesn't matter."

Everyone turned towards the hybrid.

"Our mission has always been to stop Xuan Dou Zhi Wang and rescue Drake." Dingodile said. "If anything, hearing this will just make everyone get off their asses ta help."

"Dingodile…" Joe said.

"Crude but accurate." The Eternal Champion said. "I just didn't want you to take this lightly."

"If we somehow were before…" Pepper muttered.

"Don't worry, we will stop Xuan Dou Zhi Wang." Athena nodded.

"That is good to hear." The Eternal Champion said, nodding his head. "Just be careful. The deteriorating timeline is making it easy for them to recruit more despair clones."

Sub-Zero nodded his head. "Fret not. They are just that. They may be made of despair, but they are just clones. They can't match up to actual fighters."

Everyone also obliged. The Eternal Champion returned the nod.

"Very good. Godspeed all of you." The Eternal Champion concluded.

With that, he turned into a ball of light and floated up into the ceiling.

"...You know, if he really wanted us to ssssssucceed, he could had actually helped us." Joe muttered.

Scorpion let out a sigh. "Raiden has the same issue… Something about not interfering with the 'balance' or some foolishness."

"Well, be careful, Joe." Moe offered.

"You too, brother." The slimmer brother said.

Moe grinned at this. "As much as I love you hearing that, I will be fine!"

"To be fair, that is what SSSSSnoopy thought." Joe frowned.

"To be fair, apparently Snoopy got mind-hijacked solely to lure out Penny Proud." Pepper said.

"That makessssss it worse!" Joe exclaimed.

"Joey, Joey, Joe." Dingodile frowned, putting a hand on the smaller reptile's shoulder. "Make no mistake, it is really refreshing that ya are upfront with yer feelings fer once, but calm down."

"Yeah, sure my fighting abilitiesssss are limited, but so is Krunk." Moe offered. "I should be fine if ssssssomething crazy doesn't come along."

Sub-Zero slumped his arms. "...Are you sure you remember which tournament you are going to enter?"

Unknown to everyone, a certain fighter was waiting around the corner. They were about to enter it, but they decided that it was better to stay in hiding.

(Dome; Restaurant)

Outside of the restaurant, Maleficent aimed her staff forward and sent a series of green flames. However, her opponent, a tall, dark suit of armour raised his jagged-edge katana to block the incoming projectiles. However, Maleficent just scoffed before waving her staff around which created a dark cloud over Jasper before summoning a lightning bolt from it, striking him to the ground.

However, Jasper almost got up while running forward. Maleficent narrowed her eyes before sending green fireballs forward before Jasper quickly slashed through them with his katana before swinging his sword at Maleficent who was forced to use her staff to block. Jasper then tried again, but suddenly Maleficent exploded into flames which knocked him onto his rear.

Maleficent then reappeared a good distance away before sending more green fireballs while Jasper was down. However, despite it hitting him multiple times, Jasper slowly got up while running forward. Maleficent then raised her staff to summon lightning bolts from the sky but Jasper noticed this and ran to the side to avoid them.

However, Maleficent narrowed her eyes before tapping her staff against the ground. This resulted in a bunch of thorny vines to entangle themselves around Jasper's limbs holding him in place. Maleficent gave a small yet still devilish smirk.

"Disney Heroes: Battle Mode may be a gacha game, but it still has a lot of things to pull from." Maleficent noted.

Jasper just growled behind his helmet before he started to concentrate. This resulted in dark purple energy surrounding his blade before managing to make it explode in a burst destroying the vines that were constricting his weapon arm. Jasper then growled before slashing through them while Maleficent raised an eyebrow before raising her staff to summon a rock to block a sword slash from Jasper.

"I don't care who you think you are?" Maleficent asked. "Do you think you will beat ME? The queen of all evil!"

"It doesn't matter that you are the princess of the underworld, if you are easily fooled by THAT is Cruella De Vil, then you are a moron." Jasper snapped.

Maleficent narrowed her eyes, for once ignoring the insult. "Oh? And do tell me. Why is this Cruella a fake?"

"Because she looks like she did before entering the second tournament, duh!" Jasper taunted.

Maleficent's eyes widened at this. "Wait, what!?"

"Yeah, OUR Cruella is not the weak woman she used to be!" Jasper boasted.

With that, he swung his sword to the side, but Maleficent again raised her staff to block it. Despite this, she still looked shocked.

Meanwhile, Pete yelped before raising his hands, just in time to grab the middle of a mace before smashing him in the face. Meanwhile, Horace merely shrugged his shoulders before the two got into a power struggle. …Though it didn't last long as despite being smaller than Pete, he was easily winning said power struggle so Pete ended up being carried before Horace slammed him into the wall with a body slam.

Getting the wind knocked out of him, Pete fell to the ground dazed. Horace then raised his mace over his head with dark energy charging around the weapon. Pete then looked up dizzily and his pupils shrank before Horace swung downwards. …Only to hit nothing resulting in just an unsightly mark on the floor. The black knight frantically looked around.

"W-Where did he?" Horace asked.

"Yoo-hoo!"

Horace turned around at the sudden shout, only to be literally bowled over by an orb of bright purple energy, striking in the leg. While it didn't hurt, it did make Horace fall onto his stomach. Pete gave a dark grin before getting out a bunch of bombs before throwing them forward. They then all crashed onto Horace resulting in a series of explosions, pelting him multiple times causing Pete to laugh out loud.

However, the moment that the barrage stopped, Horace almost immediately got up and ran over. Pete immediately stopped laughing and yelped before raising his hands. This resulted in a barrier which blocked the incoming mace strike. Pete again laughed.

"Look, kids, Pete's invincible!" Pete boasted.

Horace merely paused. "Buttttt… What if I hit your barrier very, VERY hard?"

With that, he raised his mace up while charging up dark energy. However, Pete just scoffed while shrugging.

"What good would THAT gonna…?" Pete taunted.

That was all he got out before Horace's mace collided with the barrier, not only managing to break through it but also Pete, sending him flying into a wall until he crashed into it back-first before sliding off of it.

"Hey, I had forgotten how strong I am!" Horace said, sounding happy.

Pete groaned. "Can you go back to forgetting?"

Meanwhile, the restaurant staff along with the actual Cruella, Jasper and Horace looked from the entrance.

"...I am pleasantly surprised that they actually had the decency to take the fight outside." Mama sighed. "Especially since all of them are villains."

"Ironically enough, I think it is more Maleficent and Pete taking them out so the black knights don't try to attack Cruella, Jasper and Horace." Jill muttered.

Cruella paused before looking at Jasper and Horace. "Well?"

The two brothers nodded their heads.

"It still feels like a blur, but yeah, it definitely looks familiar." Jasper frowned.

"Yeah, I remember fighting like that." Horace nodded.

Cruella looked in awe between the original ones and the despair clones. "...But how?"

The restaurant staff paused, looking at Cruella and her cronies before looking at each other. They then narrowed their eyes before looking back at Cruella.

"Alright… What is going on?" The Swatchling asked.

Cruella winced. "It is not our fault, this time!"

"It is not even 'It is not COMPLETELY our fault', we are genuinely completely clean." Horace added.

Cruella's eyebrow twitch. "...You never shut up, do you?"

"Oh? Well, if you are 'completely clean', then why did you say stuff like looking familiar?" Gino challenged.

"That is what WE'RE trying to figure out!" Jasper insisted.

"Hey, Jasper, I don't know how to tell you this, but my evil twin is doing better than your own." Horace piped up.

The slimmer brother looked exasperated. "Oh wow. It is almost as if MY evil twin is going against the Mistress of All Evil."

Indeed, Jasper's despair clone was having a hard time against Maleficent. Granted, he was doing a decent job at slashing through, dodging or even tanking the fairy's magic, actually getting HIS own hits in was a tougher story as she would always teleport away and summons rocks to act as shields. Needless to say, Jasper's despair clone was getting annoyed.

"For the face of Disney villains, you sure fight cowardly!" Jasper shouted, half to taunt Maleficent, half out of pure anguish.

"I may be one of the most powerful mages in Disney history, I am still a mage." Maleficent said, rolling her eyes. "I assume that you expect all of your foes to just stay still and take it."

Jasper growled before running forward and swinging his jagged katana. Maleficent just gave a bored sigh before slamming her staff on the ground. This made a rock platform appear underneath her before it floated up, raising her up. Maleficent then pointed her staff forward which made the platform charge forward. Jasper's eyes widened as he had no charge of moving.

Maleficent smirked as her rock platform collided with Jasper. She then turned to see Pete dealing with Horace and immediately rolled her eyes.

"Alright, now I have to help that oaf and get some answers to many of my questions." Maleficent noted.

"How about the question of how my sword tastes?"

Maleficent's eyes widened before turning to see Jasper's despair clone managing to climb up on the floating platform and rushing towards her before doing a series of slashes. Maleficent grunted in pain before teleporting into flames out of impulse which left the rock platform flying without a pilot and crashing into the ground, breaking into pieces.

Despite this, Jasper got up to his feet as if nothing had happened. "Ha! You won't escape me now!"

"BEHOLD THE MISTRESS OF ALL EVIL!"

Jasper paused before turning towards the direction of the shout, expecting to see Maleficent. Instead, he saw a swirling vortex of light and dark energy heading towards him. Jasper slumped his arms.

Meanwhile, Pete cried out in pain as he staggered back. He then looked up just in time to Horace running forward. Giving a yelp, he dove to the side to avoid the attack. He then quickly got up and slammed his fist onto Horace's head. …Only for him to retreat while looking at his throbbing hand while Horace's helmet started to shake.

"Ow…" Pete groaned through a wince.

By this time, Horace used his free hand to stop his shaking head before slamming his mace on the ground which resulted in a burst of dark energy, sending Pete flying away and painfully bouncing on the ground. He groaned before looking up to see Horace rushing over. Pete narrowed his eyes and closed his eyes. Horace wasn't fazed as he continued rushing and swinging it downwards.

…Only for Pete to turn into a yellow orb and when Horace swung his mace, only to be engulfed in electricity. It was then the orb then moved forward, zapping Horace. Meanwhile, Maleficent's vortex continued to strike Jasper multiple times. Everyone watched as the two attacks continued to strike the despair clones. Soon, they stopped sending the clones falling towards each other until they crashed into each other's backs.

The swirling vortex and electric orb turned into Maleficent and Pete respectively who were standing triumphantly.

"Ha! Why didn't I use my abilities from Re:Coded in the Tournament of Kikai!?" Pete laughed.

"Normally, I would say that it is because you foolishly forget about them, but I suppose I could give you some leeway considering that nearly everyone WANTS to forget about Re:Coded." Maleficent said.

"Gee, thanks…" Pete muttered.

Jasper and Horace both sat up while reading their weapons. Maleficent and Pete both got into a stance.

"...What is the Tournament of Kikai?"

Everyone immediately paused when they heard this.

"H-Huh?" Pete asked.

"What Horace said. I never heard of the Tournament of Kikai?" Jasper asked.

"You're… You're kidding me right?" Pete asked.

"Why would I joke like that?" Horace asked.

"Um, the UVR tournament that is run by Xero and Maurice? The UVR tournament where the former stupidly made it easy for Junko Enoshima and her crony?" Pete asked. "The UVR tournament that almost engulfed the entire UVR tournament in despair.

"Um, I recognise Junko's name but who the hell is her crony?" Horace asked.

Jasper slapped Horace across the head. "You idiot. It is the girl with the glasses and long hair that was next to her."

"Oh really? What is her name?" The shorter despair clone asked.

"...How the heck should I know?" Jasper asked.

"Then why are you giving me a hard time?" Horace asked, looking angry.

Pete looked annoyed. "Ugh, you two remind me of…"

Suddenly, his eyes bugged out in realisation.

"W-Wait, what are your names?" Pete asked.

"Um, I am Jasper." Jasper answered.

"And I am Horace. We are from Disney's 101 Dalmatians." Horace added.

Pete's pupils shrank. "HHHHHHUUUUUUHHHHHH!?"

"Hmm… This is getting interesting." Maleficent said before frowning. "In both the good AND bad way.

"What the hell is this!?"

Everyone jumped before turning to see Kanji Tatsumi and Claude Von Riegan, looking horrified.

"Oh no! It is one of the security team members from the first Battle of the Luminaries!" Horace exclaimed. He then noticed Claude. "...And some other guy!"

The archer frowned at this. "Um, rude?"

"Dang it, we have to escape!" Jasper said, gritting his teeth.

"But what about our fakers?" Horace asked.

"If we get caught, how are you doing to deal with ANYONE?" Jasper scolded. "Now let's get ready!"

Horace paused before the two raised their hands towards each other. This resulted in dark red energy spores to emerge from each other's hands. Said energy soon took the form of a kind of fleshy orb that made everyone react in disgust (except for Maleficent who merely looked interested).

However, what took everyone's attention was the orb had an eye open up. This emitted a light that engulfed the two. This resulted in the two vanishing before anyone could do anything. Everyone just continued to look in awe. Kanji then took the silence.

"What the hell is going on!?" Kanji shouted.

"I don't have the slightest idea, but I DO know one thing." Cruella said.

"What's that?" Jill asked.

Cruella looked grumpy. "...I will not be ANYWHERE near this place."

With that, she walked off while snootily sticking her nose up in the air. Needless to say, Jasper and Horace walked after her. Maleficent and Pete both paused before following as well. Kanji growled before he was about to run after them. However, Claude put his hand on Kanji's shoulder.

"Hold up, Kanji. I don't think they are responsible for… Any of this." Claude said.

The Japanese delinquent looked at Claude in disbelief. "But then what is with the despair clones of not only Jasper and Horace but also in their transformed states when they were possessed by SOUL EDGE?"

"To say I have no idea is an understatement." Claude said before sighing. "But trust me, dude. We should focus on one thing at a time."

"But…" Kanji said before letting out a sigh. "Alright…"

"Great!" Claude grinned before looking at the restaurant staff. "Well, have you prepared the tray?"

"Um, yes, we did." Gino said before frowning. "But why? I know that this sounds weird coming from a world-famous pizza chef, but this is NO time to be eating."

"Oh, it is not for us." Claude reassured.

Kanji then scoffed. "And it is definitely not for anyone who deserves this."

The restaurant team paused before looking at each other.

(The Arena)

No matter what gimmick the UVR tournament is, whether it would be affected by Lady Luck via the wheel or by the request of someone who was favoured by the audience, the goal was still the same: Throw your opponents out of the ring by any means necessary. Because of this, this was a subconscious rule everyone told themselves. Don't go near the ropes unless you are sure you could win.

Basically, I am telling you this because one particular fighter was trying to run TOWARDS the ropes. Luigi Mario panted heavily before crouching down to jump OVER the ropes.

"He is going to jump!"

"I'm on it!"

Hideo Shimazu then did a leaping dive, tackling him to the ground. Luigi quickly tried to get free but Hideo tried to keep him from escaping so easily. Luigi was then forced to activate his Thunderhand which zapped Hideo, causing the literature teacher to cry out in pain. Luigi immediately got up but before he could jump up, Chairperson did a flying kick into Luigi's face, knocking him down.

Chairperson then crouched down to grab Luigi to hold him down. However, Chairperson wasn't as strong in terms of physical strength or skill as Luigi easily picked the dark-haired girl and threw her down. But by this time, Hideo easily got up.

"Jicchokken!" Hideo shouted, doing a jumping uppercut to Luigi's chin, sending him up the air before crashing onto his back. Luigi groaned before sitting up to see Hideo and Chairperson glaring up. Luigi gulped before getting up and trying to run towards the ropes but they then ran in front of the green-clad man.

For those who were confused on why Luigi was trying to reach the ropes, he decided to do what Rocket Raccoon and Joker did earlier and use his high-jumping abilities to move to the outer ring and snipe his opponents with his Sharpshooter bow. However, Hideo and Chairperson also noticed the raccoon-like alien and Phantom Thief and quickly caught on.

Luigi gulped nervously before getting out a hammer. This actually took Hideo and Chairperson off-guard as they do not have weapons as Luigi ran forward and swung his weapon at them, causing the two to jump backwards.

"Seihaken!" Hideo shouted, sending out a blue Hadoken forward. Luigi yelped before raising his hammer to block it. Hideo then ran forward while Luigi swung his hammer at the bespectacled man. However, he immediately got into a defensive stance.

"Show me your resolve!" Hideo yelled. He then stretched his arms which resulted in a burst of energy to go off around him. This hit Luigi and knocked him onto his back where he lay stunned. Hideo panted heavily.

"Analysis time!"

Hideo turned to see Chairperson pushing a mobile chalkboard. While everyone was asking where she was out loud, they noticed that it had a crude chalk drawing of Luigi on it. Chairperson then got out a teaching staff and pointed to it.

"Ignoring his obvious cowardice, Luigi may be quick on his feet, but he has horrible traction." Chairperson explained. "So we have to take advantage of that, but be careful, while he has to charge it up, he is still a good jumper."

Hideo nodded his head. "Indeed. Your One-Point Advice is useful as always. Not only healing your partners but also giving them so much super meter."

Chairperson let out a sigh. "Too bad that we can only do Team-Up Techniques and not Party-Up ones."

"To be fair, we CAN do Party-Up Techniques." Hideo reassured. "After all, Edge did a Team-Up Technique with that racer despite the two barely interacting with each other before."

"True, but we can't just ask a random fighter to do a Party-Up Technique." Chairperson frowned. "As much as we disapprove of his actions, it is not like he is a villain or even a jerk so…"

"I'll do it."

Hideo and Chairperson screamed as Mai Shiranui suddenly reappeared between them with her hands behind her back and a smile on her face. The former two then looked annoyed before turning to each other.

"That's it… When we are done here, she is next." Chairperson muttered.

"Agreed. But first things first." Hideo said before sighing. "Very well, Mai. You may join us."

"Yay!" The ninja cheered.

By this time, Luigi slowly got up to his feet while holding his head dizzily. He then looked ahead to see walking towards him with a stern glare before getting into a stance.

"LINE UP IN FORMATION!"

With that, he sent his fist into Luigi's chest, sending the plumber flying away with electricity surging around him. Then, Chairperson narrowed her eyes while Mai gave a dark glint in her own.

"On your six, sir!"

"You KNOW I've been waiting for this!"

Chairperson and Mai then slid in behind Hideo before the three formed a file. They then ran towards Luigi who was once again getting up from the ground. However, he saw the three running over, his pupils shrank.

Hideo then gave Luigi a hard uppercut, sending the latter high up in the air. Chairperson then leapt up high after Luigi before grabbing his legs before doing a flip, throwing him flying in the air. Finally, Mai suddenly reappeared over Luigi with a dark grin before swinging both of her fists onto the poor Smasher, sending him plummeting to the ground so hard that he bounced off of it before falling on his back. Chairperson and Mai then landed on the ground while they did a pose with Hideo.

"REINFORCE YOUR RESOLVE!" Hideo shouted.

The crowd went wild for the first Party-Up Technique of the tournament. Hideo and Chairperson just glared down at Luigi while Mai just smugly smirked. The green-clad man then weakly got up.

"Are you ready to repent?" Chairperson asked, sternly.

"L-Look, I am sorry I threw-a that vigilante down the river." Luigi frowned. "But I HAD to-a do it. The longer the fight between us and Mai continues, the more-a she will get angrier."

"I hate to defend a Smasher butttttt…" Mai said with a shrug, causing the three to look exasperated.

"E-Even still…" Hideo said before turning his attention to Luigi. "That is no way to treat someone who is counting on you."

"Alright, alright, you win!" Luigi said, holding his hands in front of him. "You can go to the outer ring instead of me."

Hideo, Chairperson and Mai all paused in confusion before looking at each other.

"Um, we weren't keeping you from the outer ring just because WE…" Chairperson started.

It was then they saw Luigi looking up a Smash Ball with a sly smirk on his face.

"Oh no, I INSIST!" Luigi boasted.

With that, he broke the Smash Ball in his hands. Needless to say, Hideo, Chairperson and Mai all immediately decided to make themselves scarce. Mai was able to easily escape with her speed, but the Rival Schools representatives were not as lucky.

Luigi then put up what looks like a red vacuum-cleaner on his back while holding the nozzle. Said vacuum started to turn on, going wild while sucking in air through a large vortex. Said vortex sucked in Hideo and Chairperson inside of the nozzle despite looking bigger than it. Soon, the vortex sucked before Luigi pointed his nozzle at the outer ring. Luigi's vacuum then shot out Hideo and Chairperson out of the nozzle as if they were ammo where they soared like comets out of the ring.

Hideo and Chairperson both landed in Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch. However, they landed right on top of the six Mermaid Princess while they were about to sing. This resulted in the eight crumpling to the ground.

"ACK! What the?" Lucia cried out.

"Who are these weirdos!?" Hanon exclaimed.

"S-Sorry! We were just eliminated!" Chairperson apologised.

"ACK! My shoulder felt like it was being scratched by something metal!" Coco cried out in pain.

"Sorry…" Hideo winced.

"Why are you wearing METAL SHOULDER PADS in the first place!?" Hanon scolded.

As the Mermaid Princess and the Rival Schools reps continued to struggle, the Black Beauty Sisters looked on in bewilderment before looking at each other.

"Sister SheShe, what is going on?" Mimi asked.

"I do not know, Sister Mimi." The redhead said. She then smirked. "But regardless, we have the Mermaid Princesses right here we want them!"

Mimi eagerly nodded. "You're right, Sister SheShe!"

They then smirked evilly before holding their tails which acted as microphones as a red orb surrounded them.

"IT'S SHOW…"

"Woah, woah, WOAH!"

The Black Beauty Sisters blinked twice before stopping their song and turning around.

…Only to see Celica and her group being carried by a large wave while screaming. The Black Beauty Sisters' eyes bugged out before they were carried by the wave before being taken to the still downed Mermaid Princesses and Rival Schools reps.

"Nooo!"

SPLASH!

As if you expected anything else, Celica's group and the Black Beauty Sisters crashed into the others and they all laid on the ground in a large pile.

"Your cavalry sucks, Mermaid Princess!" SheShe cried out in pain.

"She's right, isn't she!?" Mimi exclaimed.

"Excuse me!? What about YOUR reinforcements crashing on US!?" Caren shot back.

"Could you all just argue and get off me!?" Zoro scolded.

"Um, who is on who though?" Chairperson frowned.

With that, the large pile continued to struggle.

However, one particular person ended up grabbing the necklace of another person.

(Doki Doki High School)

Monika's pupils shrank.

"You want me to do WHAT!?" Monika exclaimed.

She then paused as if she was waiting patiently while someone was talking to her before shifting her eyes to the side.

"...Yeah, you WERE a huge fan of both franchises and in a way, you still are so it makes sense that you would want to force them in." Monika noted. "AND she is the only one in that situation without combat experience."

She then proudly slammed her fist against her chest with a proud look on her face.

"Don't worry, leave it to me. It should be a cinch to do the next section!" Monika reassured. "But until then, you still have five more fighters to eliminate!"

(The Arena)

Absa and Axl Low narrowed their eyes before the former sent out a small storm cloud while the latter sent out his chain sickle. You would think that they were heading towards each other, but that wasn't the case.

Knuckles gave a smirk moving to the side to avoid the chain sickle before doing a sliding kick underneath the storm cloud and getting up to run forward. However, Absa quickly raised her hand which made the cloud send out a bolt of electricity into Knuckles'. As the Master Emerald guardian cried out in pain, he was sent flying towards Absa and Axl. The goat readied herself before doing a kick upwards and considering what she was a goat, said kick hurt. A lot.

As Knuckles flew up into the air, Axl sent out his sickle at the echidna and when it got close enough, the sickle EXPLODED which Knuckles flew back until he crashed on his back. After he weakly got up, only to quickly have another sickle be launched at him. Despite having barely a second to react, Knuckles managed to catch the sickle before it could hurt him. He then pulled on the sickle before sending Axl flying towards him. The British man's eyes widened in horror while Knuckles winded up a punch.

Only for Absa then lash out an electric whip with surprising range, slapping Knuckles in the face. This stunned him long enough for Axl to crash into him, knocking the two to the ground where they laid stunned.

"Axl! Recover and regroup!" Absa shouted.

The time traveller groggily raised his head when he heard this, but soon recovered and quickly ran off towards Absa. The electromancer nodded before sending a cloud that floated over to Knuckles. The red-furred animal groaned before sitting up to see the cloud coming. Acting quickly, he borrowed underground to avoid it.

However, Absa and Axl merely frowned before the former turned into a ball of electricity and flying up while Axl merely sent one of his sickles at the arena lights to hoist himself off the ground. Just in time for Knuckles to pop out to see that his opponents were not on the ground anymore. By this time, Absa broke out of her lightning ball and did a downward kick. However, Knuckles was able to see it in time and raised his fists to block it, forcing Absa to retreat through a flip.

"Strong aerial control AND powerful kicks?" Knuckles asked. "It makes me feel like I am fighting Rouge again."

"I do not know whether to accept that as a compliment or an insult so I will just ignore it." Absa said matter-of-factly. "I will instead ask what you were hoping to accomplish interrupting our fight."

"Nothing personal, but I saw so many 2-on-1s with Geese, Mai and even Luigi." Knuckles answered. "I then asked myself 'Hey, I wonder how I could do'."

By this time, Axl dropped to the ground with a rare grumpy look on his face. "Well, does it have to be OUR fight?"

"Eh." Knuckles shrugged.

Axl shook his head in disgust before sending his sickle downwards. However, Knuckles was able to jump over it and when it embedded itself in the ground, Knuckles landed on the chain and ran up it towards Axl. The time traveller's eyes bugged out before retreating his sickle back, making Knuckles fall off it. However, he quickly rolled into a Spin Jump and easily landed on the ground.

Knuckles then sent out a punch at Absa, but the electromancer effortlessly held up a cloud to act as a makeshift shield as he zapped Knuckles when the punch collided with it. She then sent Knuckles staggering back with a roundhouse kick before going to continue the assault. Axl smirked before pulling his sickle back like a fishing rod before sending it forward.

…Only for it to stop as if it had snagged on something. Axl blinked twice before frowning.

"Ugh, I must have gotten my sickle caught on the outer ring." Axl muttered.

With that, he sighed before taking a deep breath and pulling on his sickle as hard as he could.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA…"

Axl raised an eyebrow before turning around.

To see Vivi Ornitier frantically waving his arms as if he was shooting like Axl as if he was a rocket.

BAM!

That was the sound of Vivi's head colliding with Axl's own head. As the former dropped to the ground, Axl ended up stumbling back with a comically-dazed look on his face. He then stumbled over to the ropes before stumbling over them.

Axl landed in Animal Crossing: New Horizons where he saw up while holding his head.

"Ugh, since when did Vivi fly?" Axl groaned before looking around. "At least I actually landed someone safe this time so I could actually relax."

"NOT ON MY WATCH!"

Axl jumped before something appeared out of the ground next to it. A mole with a miner's helmet.

"You have a lot of gall to do, think you could commit horrible sins and expect to constantly get away with them!" Mr. Resetti snapped.

"I swear I only made ONE comment about Dizzy!" Axl insisted. "Seriously, I can't believe that Bridget had Testament breathing down my neck for at least FOUR years after he ratted me out just because he wanted to spend time with Dizzy!"

"I was not referring to that! I am referring to your constant resetting!" Mr. Resetti roared.

Axl blinked twice at this. "Um, I'm sorry what?"

"You heard me! With your constant timeline hopping, you in a way have been resetting your life! Now you may be thinking 'But Mr. Resetti, I didn't mean to reset on purpose'." Mr. Resetti said before snapping. "IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NO EXCUSE! Sure, you didn't mean to reset, but the point that you did and you left a wake of confusion in your path! Seriously, it took you until STRIVE to actually TRY to control your powers!? Like even then, it doesn't undo all of the stuff you did! It is an absolute miracle that you didn't time reset in the middle of the arena in the second Megamix Tournament! Well, now that we are here, we are finally going to think about how you could prevent any more resets! Now I am no time travel expert, but I DO know about resetting! Between the two of us, we should be able to do it! Though knowing my luck, I will be forced to do most of the work! But eh. I…"

By this time, Axl was on his knees, gripping his head in frustration.

"What the actual hell!?" Axl exclaimed. "He isn't even IN New Horizons!?"

Back in the arena, Knuckles and Absa stopped what they were doing before looking down with blinking eyes at Vivi who was on his back unconscious.

"Um, what just happened?" Knuckles asked.

"I think Vivi was standing on the outer ring and Axl's sickle ended up snagging onto him, ending up pulling him back into the main ring as if he was a fish." Absa explained.

Knuckles shook his head. "I don't know if Vivi is extremely lucky or extremely UNlucky."

"So what are you going to do now?" Absa asked. "You clearly stated you interrupted our fight just so you could have a handicap match."

Knuckles let out a sigh. "Well, it would be anticlimactic to just walk out now."

Absa merely shrugged. "If you insist."

With that, they narrowed their eyes on each other. Absa just jumped back while throwing a cloud forward. However, Knuckles ran around the cloud and towards Absa. But the goat merely moved to the side and activated her cloud to send a lightning bolt between her and the cloud. However, Knuckles knew how her clouds work by now and jumped over the lightning bolt before gliding at Absa.

However, Absa had swung her hand, sending out lightning in a whip form at Knuckles, knocking him out of the air. However, he rolled into a kneeling position just in time to avoid another lash from her lightning whip. Though due to its nature, lightning was fast so Absa was able to swing it again before Knuckles could throw a punch in the echidna's face.

With Knuckles stunned, Absa kicked her foot out into the red-furred animal's stomach, sending him flying backwards. Absa then turned into a ball of lightning before zipping over to the airborne Knuckles before doing a series of aerial kicks and short-range lightning attacks before ending with an electric axe kick, knocking Knuckles out of the air and onto his back. Absa then did a diving kick straight into Knuckles' stomach.

Knuckles' eyes widened in pain before still found the strength to push Absa off despite having the wind knocked out of him before getting up while holding his stomach. He then growled before getting ready to do a punch. Absa merely raised an eyebrow before getting out another cloud.

However, what she wasn't expecting was Knuckles to punch the ground, knocking Absa off her feet and onto her side. While the electromancer was recovering from the attack, Knuckles then started to concentrate.

"Fire may be my 'main' element, but I am a bit of an electromancer too." Knuckles said. "THUNDER ARROW!"

With that, a ring of lightning bolts struck down from the ground and zapped Absa. The sudden attack had sent Absa flying back until she fell into the ropes before stumbling over the ropes.

Absa landed in X-Men where she has an intellectual talk about the use of the weather with Storm.

Knuckles smirked as he dusted his hands together. "Aight, I am off to a good start. I have gotten two eliminations and there are still three more fighters that need to be eliminated. I wonder what we should do."

"AIEEEEEEE!"

CRASH!

That was the sound of Poison screaming and crashing on the ground to the side of Knuckles, making the echidna jump. Needless to say, the latter was completely shocked as Poison laid face-first on the ground. He then smirked.

"Sooo are things going well for you?" Knuckles asked.

Poison raised her face with a grumpy look on her face. "...Well, he is exactly what I was looking for when I approached him."

"Well, nice that you're looking at the situation as half-full." Knuckles smirked.

Poison glared at Knuckles. "'Unlike Sonic, I don't chuckle', my ass."

Despite this, she got up, knowing that she was still in a fight. Dr. Eggman gave a cocky grin while getting into a wrestling stance. Poison narrowed her eyes before lashing out her whip at Eggman. However, despite his well, egg-shaped body, he was easily able to run around it before dashing forward towards Poison to do a clothesline. However, the pink-haired woman yelped before lashing her whip at the ropes, using it as a grappling hook to move out of the way of the attack.

While Eggman was skidding to a stop from his own attack, Poison lashed out her whip which struck Eggman in the back, causing the mad scientist to cry out in pain. Poison then lashed out her weapon again, but Eggman yelped before jumping to the side to avoid it. When Poison tried again, this time, Eggman was prepared and easily ran to the side to avoid it.

Eggman then ran over to Poison and punched his fist out first, but Poison thought quickly and did a flip, striking Eggman in the chin and making him stagger back. Poison then did another kick, but Eggman was able to recover in time to block the attack with his wrists. Despite wincing in pain (heels DO hurt a lot), Eggman managed to give a kick of his own which struck Poison in the stomach and knocked her onto her back. Eggman smirked before walking a few steps back before running forward.

"BODY PRESS!" Eggman shouted before leaping forward. Poison's eyes bugged out in pure horror before quickly rolling to the side to avoid the attack before Eggman crashed on the ground. While the heavyset man was recovering from his own attack, Poison got up and angrily punted Eggman in the side, causing him to painfully roll to the side. Poison then lashed out her whip before Eggman quickly rolled to the side to avoid the whip lash. He then got up while looking stunned.

"I… I forget how good I was in close-range combat." Eggman said in awe.

"Well, I didn't." Poison smirked. "Don't underestimate my research on wrestlers! So how about joining the H.W.A.?"

Eggman frowned. "I don't know. Machines are kinda my thing."

"If you could stop trying to take over the world to enter the Olympics, you have enough time to join a wrestling league." Poison scolded, rolling her eyes.

Eggman paused, rubbing his chin. "...I must admit, if I remembered that I could wrestle, it would have made my time in the Tournament of Kikai after that annoying Pacman ghost ripoff stole my Egg Walker."

"Then, think of it as practice!" Poison grinned. "You know, in case you ever lost your Egg Walker! Sure, you are canonically faster than Sonic… But sooner or later, he would actually cheat by using special powers from the recent games."

"Oof, that is a VERY good point." Eggman mused before shrugging. "Sooner or later, he will realise that we will not catch me in a fair footrace.

Knuckles crossed his arms with an unamused face before looking up at the Eliminated Seating to see Sonic grumpily crossing his arms with some of his nodal companions looking just as unamused. Knuckles then looked back at Poison.

"...Are you a wrestling promoter or a politician?" Knuckles muttered.

Eggman and Poison ignored Knuckles as the former ran towards the ropes before turning himself just before reaching them and turning around so his back bounced off the ropes and rushed towards Poison. However, the pink-haired woman narrowed her eyes before lashing out her whip, but Eggman thought quickly and not only jumped over the attack and did a hard dropkick into Poison's face.

After Poison fell onto the ground from Eggman's attack, the mad scientist ran over, crouched down and grabbed Poison's arm in an arm bar. The latter cried out in pain before slapping her hand against the ground. It was then Poison noticed that the hand she was slapping with was her whip hand.

Acting out of desperation, she lashed out her whip behind her which managed to strike Eggman in the back. With Eggman wincing from the attack, despite the huge size difference, Poison managed to scramble her way from underneath Eggman. Poison then got up to her feet and kicked her foot out.

…Only for Eggman to catch it in time. As Poison's eyes widened in horror, Eggman gave a dark smirk before grabbing Poison's leg and started to swing her around, causing Poison to scream. After a few swings, Eggman let go of his opponent before she flew clear over the ropes with no time to recover to use her whip to try to snag against the ropes. Eggman then proceeded to play to the crowd. Knuckles blinked twice before walking over.

"...Okay, I must admit that I am impressed." Knuckles admitted, getting Eggman's attention.

"I am just as impressed as you!" The egg-shaped man smirked. "I thought that I would be more than rusty seeing as I only wrestled in the Sonic X comic.

Knuckles looked up for a moment. He then raised an eyebrow before nodding a few seconds later.

"Well, what are you going to do now?" Knuckles asked.

"What else? I am going to continue fighting on foot!" Eggman said. "I mean even if I wanted to, it is not like I could get my Egg Walker back!"

"Why didn't you just install a robot underneath the ring just like you did in the Tournament of Kikai?" Knuckles reminded.

"Um, because our nodal companions kept guarding the ring like a hawk making it impossible for me to even go near it without one of you spotting me?" Eggman challenged. "Heck, and even if I did succeed, it would have been destroyed by the Millennium Star's magic! The arena was in boiling lava AND cut into three slices for crying out loud!"

"True… If we all knew that, we wouldn't have wasted so much time keeping you away from it." Knuckles smirked.

"Well, what's done is done! I actually don't mind being without a robot this time around!" Eggman grinned. "In fact, I think I could take ANYONE!"

Knuckles paused. "Shouldn't you eliminate your first opponent before going onto others?"

Eggman's grin vanished.

"H-Huh? What do you mean? I DID eliminate…" Eggman said before looking back.

Only to see a high heel flying towards her.

POW!

Eggman fell onto his back after a kick collided with his face, falling unconscious before hitting the ground.

Poison smirked before walking over to the downed Eggman and getting out a card from her pocket.

"Maybe you are stronger. But I am more determined." Poison smirked before crouching down and placing it inside of the unconscious Eggman's pocket.

(Instant Replay)

Eggman gave a dark smirk before grabbing Poison's leg and started to swing her around, causing Poison to scream. After a few swings, Eggman let go of his opponent before she flew clear over the ropes with no time to recover to use her whip to try to snag against the ropes.

…Poison then crashed into the top half of the shoji wall on part of the outer ring, tumbling over it. However, while stunned from Eggman's throw and the crash, her free hand somehow managed to snag onto the top of the wall. As Poison snapped out of her daze, her eyes widened before looking down and realising how close she was to being eliminated.

Acting quickly, she put her other hand on the wall and managed to pull herself up. It was then she saw Eggman talking with Knuckles, though the former's back was turned to her. Knuckles on the other hand noticed Poison. Acting quickly, the wrestling promoter put her free hand to her mouth to shush Knuckles. The echidna nodded his head before continuing his conversation with Eggman.

Poison nodded before reading her whip. However, instead of throwing it immediately, she merely did a few practice swings, wanting to make this count. Soon, she finally lashed out her whip which wrapped around the top rope. She then pulled on it tightly, acting like a grappling hook which sent her back into the ring. As she did so, she pulled herself into a diving kick.

…Just in time for Eggman to finally turn around.

(The Present)

By this time, Poison was holding Eggman's arms and pulling him towards the ropes before shoving underneath the bottom rope.

"...You know I strongly doubt this was what Geese had in mind when he had these extra ornaments, but I am not complaining." Poison smirked.

Eggman landed in Nacho Libre where he got into a match with Nacho.

Sabrewulf growled before running on all fours. As he did so, he avoided a bunch of red, sticky fruit dropping from the sky. After avoiding all of them, he pounced straight forward. Krunk yelped before raising his arms to block Sabrewulf's attack. However, it would take a lot more to block a sharp claw slash. As Krunk winced in pain, Sabrewulf continued the assault with more claw swipes.

Despite being in pain, Krunk managed to find an opening… By swinging his belly forward. This actually proved to be effective in not only hitting Sabrewulf out of his attack, but also sending him flying backwards until he skidded on his back. Krunk then ran forward and then did a hard belly flop onto Sabrewulf. As the blue-furred lycanthrope's eyes bugged out in pain, Krunk then got up while picking his opponent while wrapping his arms around him in a bearhug.

Sabrewulf winced in pain from the bearhug, struggling in vain to escape. When it seemed like Krunk's grip was too tight, he decided to try a loud howl. Krunk cried in pain before holding his ringing ears, letting go on Sabrewulf. After the werewolf took some time to recover, Sabrewulf got on all fours again and got revenge for getting knocked out of him before doing a leaping headbutt charge into Krunk's stomach.

Krunk's cheeks puffed out as he staggered back while holding his stomach. Sabrewulf then pounced forward and slashed Krunk in the shoulder. As the blue-furred alien cried out in pain, Sabrewulf went for another claw slash. However, Krunk managed to recover in time to raise another sticky fruit to block the attack. Sabrewulf's eyes widened before jumping away from Krunk before leaping around as if he was a rodeo horse. As comical as he looks, he succeeded in managing to get the sticky fruit off of him.

"You think sticky traps and simply brute strength could beat ME!? Now that I know that all I have to do is jump around…" Sabrewulf boasted before trailing off. "...Despite looking absolutely ridiculous, it doesn't take much to get rid of it!"

"Oh, don't worry, I have much more than that!" Krunk smirked.

With that, he pulled out something from his pocket. Sabrewulf blinked twice when he saw this.

"...A yo-yo?" Sabrewulf asked.

"Indeed. When Team Bandicoot beat me, regretfully, Crash gave me yoyo as a gift from Earth." Krunk said, proudly.

"Okay? But so what?" Sabrewulf pointed out. "Crash playing with yo-yos has always been a thing with him, but unlike Ness, he never actually used it in battle."

"No, he never used it in Crash Bandicoot game." Krunk corrected. "That is beside point. Now I going to show what I been training for!"

With that, he swung his yoyo in a horizontal fashion, throwing it out like a flail. Sabrewulf did not know what to expect and ended up having the yoyo string hit him in the side. This acted like a grappling hook, similar to Scorpion's spear and sent him over to Krunk.

…Only for the two to suddenly end up in a dust tornado. A second later, the tornado cleared to show that Krunk and Sabrewulf were all tied up in the yoyo string in unorthodox positions with the only thing keeping them "standing" was Krunk's free hand. They blinked twice at this.

Sabrewulf just cast Krunk an unimpressed glance. "...You've been training for this, huh?"

The ape-like racer's blue face turned red in embarrassment. "I never said that I was complete expert! L-Look, I see the yoyo. Just pull on it and we should be free?"

Sabrewulf raised an eyebrow before looking around. Indeed, the yoyo was closer to him (or rather his free arm). He then grabbed the toy and pulled on it. This acted like the pull strong of a spinning top, it sent both blue-furred mammals spinning around, freed by the yoyo string. Soon, they stopped spinning, but ended up wobbling in place with their eyes spinning around in dizziness.

However, Krunk ended up shaking his head to get rid of the dizziness first (and totally not because he was more used to it). Seeing his opponent was still dazed, he smirked before rushing towards Sabrewulf before doing a hard dropkick to his face and sending him skidding on his back. He then got up while holding his head.

"Ugh, for Crash Bandicoot characters lacking in skill, they make up for it with… Unpredictably." Sabrewulf lamented. "I don't think my normal run-and-slash tactics would be enough."

As he said this, Krunk got out another sticky fruit. Sabrewulf paused before giving a smirk. He then put two fingers to his mouth and whistled. Krunk merely raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly, three bats came out of nowhere and started to fly around him. Krunk, along with some of the audience (though a small portion were going wild with cheers) and even part of the fighters, blinked twice. Sabrewulf then pointed his finger at Krunk, which acted as a command for one of the bats to fly straight towards Krunk. While still confused, the blue-furred alien just smirked before using his fruit to block it.

…However, he failed to notice that said bat was on FIRE.

The fruit immediately melted from the flaming bat right into Krunk's hands, getting it not only his arms but also his torso as well. Krunk grunted in disgust before jumping up and down to try to get rid of it. However, unlike with the usual sticky fruit, it was too gooey for the usual tactics to work.

Sabrewulf smirked before running over and biting Krunk's leg (don't worry, Sabrewulf bites in Killer Instinct's gameplay and he doesn't turn them into werewolves. Somehow). As Krunk screamed in pain, Sabrewulf continued running with his former leg in his mouth, dragging Krunk as if he was a very long tree branch while trying to be mindful not to get any of the gooey fruit on him.

Even if Krunk wanted to, his hands were literally stuck together and was unable to do anything to stop and when Sabrewulf was close enough to the ropes, he took a big leap over the ropes but managed to grab the middle one before falling into the portal. As you would expect, Krunk, who Sabrewulf just let go of, fell hopelessly out of the ring.

After Sabrewulf climbed back into the ring, the three bats flew down over to him looking happy. Sabrewulf smiled before scratching the chin of the closest bat (which was also the same one that melted Krunk's fruit).

"Thanks, guys! You remain helpful even after all of these years!" Sabrewulf beamed. "I will go solo for now, but I will call you when I need you!"

The bats nodded before flying off. As Sabrewulf waved them off, the Millennium Star looked in awe. Tumble, though, gave a smile.

"Well I be!" Tumble piped up. "For those who are confused, Sabrewulf in the original Killer Instinct used to have a move where three bats fly around him and he could send them out as fireballs!"

The Millennium Star raised an eyebrow. "Wait, a werewolf weaponizing FLAMING BATS? Why didn't he have that in the 2013 game?"

"I guess they wanted Sabrewulf to be a pure rushdown fighter." Tumble shrugged. "That and the whole bat motif must be given to Mira."

The Millennium Star blinked twice. "...But Mira came out in 2016, almost THREE whole years. If your latter theory is correct, then they've been holding the bat motif hostage for THREE days."

Tumble chuckled nervously. "It seems that Nine's roast back on Mira's appearance may be more relevant than we thought."

Meanwhile, Krunk landed in a snowy area in Star Fox 64. However, by this time, his body was completely covered in his own sticky fruit.

"Ugh, I could take loss, but to be betrayed by my sticky fruit!" Krunk frowned, trying to break free. "What could be lost?"

"UNCLE ANDROSSSSSSSSSS!"

Krunk raised an eyebrow before looking up. …Only for his pupils to shrink to the size of peas as the falling and VERY flaming Wolfen of Andew descended towards him.

Back in the arena, Coco Bandicoot frowned after seeing her nodal companion get eliminated. "Aw, I thought for sure that Krunk had a chance to survive the section."

"Honestly, he should consider himself blessed that he managed to get an elimination period. Sure, the Crash Nitro Kart bosses were the most popular, but the caffeine-injected shark, creepy mime duo and the mood-swinging robot more or less have 'personality'." Helga G. Pataki said, using air talk fingers. "Krunk is basically just diet Papu Papu, someone who isn't that popular himself."

Coco glared at Helga. "Can we continue our fight?"

The pink-clad girl merely shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

With that, she got out her baseball bat and swung it at Coco, but the she-bandicoot easily dodged it with a backflip to avoid it. After landing on the ground, Coco spun forward but Helga just smirked before getting into a defensive stance with her bat and when Coco's attack collided with Helga, the human girl immediately swung her weapon at Coco, sending her flying away with Helga chasing after her.

After Coco crashed onto her back, Helga pounced on her before she proceeded to punch her face. Despite her young age and small age, said punches hit a lot. Coco grunted in pain before grabbing onto Helga and throwing her over her. She then got up while holding her face while getting up. Helga then quickly up and ran forward while reading her bat.

However, she ended up running smack dab into a Quantum Wall. As Helga painfully and dizzily peeled off of the wall, Coco gave a giggle before doing a spinning kick to Helga's face, knocking her down. However, despite landing ungracefully on her side, she growled before glaring at her opponent. She then got out her Golden Magic Slingshot and fired a pellet. Coco was not expecting this and took the shot to the chest before being launched towards Helga just as she was getting up to do a harsh uppercut.

Coco landed on her back again before weakly getting up. "Ugh, I don't care if that thing IS supposedly magic, your slingshot defies the laws of physics."

"This is coming from someone who is from a wacky game like Crash Bandicoot." Helga smirked.

"Yes, my game is wacky. Unlike YOUR cartoon which, while wacky in its own right, is still more grounded especially compared to your fellow Nicktoons!" Coco scolded.

"Meh." Helga shrugged.

With that, she ran over to try to smack Coco again, this time by swinging a lunch tray downwards. However, Coco rolled to the side to avoid it before getting up and kicking Helga in the side of her head. She then proceeded to do a series of punches before ending up a flip, striking Helga to the chin and sending her flipping onto her stomach. Coco then continued to assault with a sliding kick.

However, Helga managed to snap out of her daze before rolling to the side. She then got out her lunch tray and smacked Coco in the side with it, followed by a couple more strikes. Coco quickly rolled to the side before jumping up and using a Quantum Leap as a bounce pad to jump away from Helga. The pink-clad girl narrowed her eyes before firing from her slingshot again.

But this time, Coco saw the projectile coming and ran to the side. She then jumped up before doing a horizontal Cyclone Spin before she broke out of it and got into a kneeling position before getting out her fruit bazooka and firing a shot at Helga. The human blonde actually yelped before raising her hands to nearly manage to catch it. However, this was what Coco was expecting as she ran over to attack Helga while she was recovering from her projectile catch.

…Or that would be the case if Coco wasn't going so slow, making it easy for Helga to nail Crash's sister in the head with the caught Wumpa Fruit. While Coco was stunned, Helga ran forward and delivered a hard body blow which not only knocked the wind out of the she-bandicoot but also sent her sprawling back. She then got up while holding her arm.

"Ugh… What's wrong with me?" Coco groaned. "This is only my third section. Why do I feel so fatigued already?"

"Maybe because you lasted in back-to-back five-Big Guy rounds." Helga noted. "Even Geese Howard fell because of it and every other UVR champion had lasted two sections at least."

Coco winced at this before running forward before doing a sliding kick. However, Helga was easily able to stop her with a well-placed downwards lunch tray swing, knocking Coco to the ground. Helga smirked before placing her foot on top of the dazed Coco and holding her bat.

"This is more Bob's thing buttttt…" Helga said. "FORE!"

With that, she swung her bat like a golf club into Coco's body, sending the she-bandicoot rolling from the attack before she went underneath the bottom rope.

Coco landed in Wave Race 64 where she accidentally landed on a jetski racer, knocking them off their vehicle. Seeing where she was, she shrugged before getting onto the jetski before running off.

Helga smugly tapped her bat against her shoulder before turning around to see who was left. Knuckles did a few practice punches while Sabrewulf dug his claws against the wooden floor. Luong did a few exaggerated leg stretches while Poison laid on her size in a seductive fashion (with the latter two getting cheers from the men in the crowd). Mai also laid on her side while fanning herself while Luigi wisely cowered in the corner post further from her. Finally, Vivi slowly woke up to a concerned Sailor Jupiter while Rocket sat down while trying to wonder which weapon to use next.

Soon, the Millennium Star's aura surrounded the fighters before surrounding the audience. Then, the star platforms appeared underneath everyone. Soon, the following ones fell: Poison, Luong, Mai, Rocket and Sailor Jupiter leaving Luigi, Knuckles, Vivi, Helga and Sabrewulf.

Knuckles raised an eyebrow at Sabrewulf. "Huh. This is the closest a Killer Instinct fighter got close to being the Superstar right."

"Looks like it. Then again, I AM the first one to get two eliminations." Sabrewulf said with a proud smirk. "Looks like even this curse could have its up-days."

Then, Helga's platform fell somehow by Sabrewulf and Vivi leaving Luigi and Knuckles.

"It looks like we have a classic Mario VS Sonic deal." Luigi smiled.

"Let's see who wins out this time!" Knuckles smirked.

Then, the final platform fell.

"Congratulations, Knuckles! You are the Superstar!" The Millennium Star congratulated.

The echidna's eyes lit up as the crowd went wild. Knuckles sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Oh wow, thank you…" Knuckles said. "After seeing Sonic and Shadow fail to become the Superstar, I was afraid that Sonic the Hedgehog may never get a Superstar under our node's name. So I am really grateful for all of your support, everyone!"

The crowd again cheered.

"Well, it took a whole twenty-three sections but you finally got your wish." The Millennium Star smiled. "So what will be your Superstar stage?"

"Well, like I said before, it took a while to get a Sonic the Hedgehog Superstar so I am obviously going to ask for a Sonic-themed stage!" Knuckles smirked.

The crowd went wild at this after seeing how badly they missed a chance to get one with Sonic, Shadow, Eggman and Vector.

"Basically, there are two parts I want." Knuckles said. "First off, I want my stage to be Chao Ruins from Sonic Battle."

The crowd loved this as Tumble raised an eyebrow. "Oh, that makes sense. Sonic Battle is a free-roaming free-for-all fighter similar to this."

"Yes, I was always more of a fighter than a racer so of course I would want a stage from a fighting game!" Knuckles smirked. "Especially my own stage!"

The Millennium Star raised an eyebrow. "Okay and the second part."

Knuckles gave a smirk. "Like I said, I am more of a fighter. But I am also a treasure hunter."

Everyone's eyes widened as Knuckles continued.

"That's right! I propose that we will make the next section a treasure hunt for items!" Knuckles grinned.

The crowd went wild at this with the fighters looking excited for this too.

However…

(Dome; Ready Room)

One particular fighter looked on in shock and disgust. They then narrowed their eyes.

"...If I wasn't thinking about coming after your ass before, fuzzball."

RESULTS (20 Votes)

KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA (StH): 18:2 = 16 (K', Absa)

LUIGI MARIO (SSB): 17:3 = 14 (Hideo Shimazu, Chairperson)

VIVI ORNITIER (FFIX): 16:4 = 12 (Geese Howard, Axl Low)

SABREWULF (KI): 13:7 = 6 (Sorey, Krunk)

HELGA G. PATAKI (NASB): 13:7 = 6 (Metaknight, Coco Bandicoot)

SAILOR JUPITER (SM): 15:9 = 6 (Genzo Shibata)

ROCKET RACCOON (GotG): 13:8 = 5 (Kagura Mutsuki)

MAI SHIRANUI (KoFAS): 13:8 = 5 (Monsieur Hood)

LUONG (KoFAS): 11:9 = 2 (Shiki)

POISON (SFAS): 11:9 = 2 (Dr. Eggman)

(ELIMINATED)

COCO BANDICOOT (CB): 12:10 = 2 (Ganondorf)

GEESE HOWARD (KoFAS): 11:10 = 1 (Joker)

KRUNK (CB): 10:10 = 0 (Shintaro Buno)

ELIZABETH (P4A): 10:10 = 0 (Lambda-11)

JOKER (SSB): 10:10 = 0 (Elizabeth)

GENZO SHIBATA (KM): 9:11 = -2

DR. EGGMAN (StH): 10:12 = -2

METAKNIGHT (SSB): 9:12 = -3

LAMBDA-11 (BB): 8:12 = -4

ABSA (RoA): 8:12 = -4

K' (KoFAS): 8:12 = -4

GANONDORF (SSB): 9:13 = -4

CHAIRPERSON (RS): 8:13 = -5

AXL LOW (GG): 8:13 = -5

SOREY (ToAS): 7:13 = -6

HIDEO SHIMAZU (RS): 7:13 = -6

MONSIEUR HOOD (SSS): 6:14 = -8

SHIKI (SS): 5:15 = -10

SHINTARO BUNO (PI): 4:16 = -12

KAGURA MUTSUKI (BB): 2:18 = -16

Side Battles:

"Zero To Villain… The Comeback!"

Maleficent (SB) and Pete (CDS) outdarks Jasper and Horace (101D)

17 to 3

C-C-C-Combo Breaker!: While Killer Instinct has been doing somewhat consistently so far, they have only managed to get one elimination. Sabrewulf is not only the first representative to get two eliminations but also managed to do so in just one section.

So Close And Yet So Far: For two times in a row, Sailor Jupiter was one slot away from potentially getting two eliminations but her fatigue got the better of her.