"First 'MK vs. SF' fight for the season. You must be excited to see your friends get over here, huh Hanzo?"

The yellow clad ninja sighed, "I'm not in a very good mood, Cloud. I doomed her friends to being what I used to be, and almost got her ex killed."

"Right. That Shinnok thing." Cloud sighed, "Y'know, I've been trying to fill the 'pun void' that Tifa's been missing since Yang started acting all gloomy. Heh, can't even get excited for my remake that's coming up."

"I don't have much going on in my life. I try to fill the void with competitive gaming, protecting Earthrealm, cooking meals and such, but nothing really alleviates the sorrow in my heart." The former spectre lamented.

"Hey, it's been pretty rough for a lot of us. Clint just murdered Banner in his world, and Iron Man's been dealt with all that shit after that movie." Cloud offered in comfort.

"Perhaps. But," Hanzo sighed, "There are just those days when you ask yourself: Does it really matter in the end?" He took another swig of sake, "I mean, we're all just fictional characters. We'll all eventually become irrelevant, and forgotten eventually. What's the point of really going on?"

Cloud looked at the reflection his drink as he sighed, "I don't know, man. All I do know is that we made a big enough impact on people's lives that we're still talked about today. At the very least, we've resonated with some people." He replied.

"Well, I guess the big question really is 'why are we here?' huh?" Hanzo said back.

"Maybe there's a reason we were created, and maybe there isn't a reason. All I know is that we touched people. We touched them in a way that makes people love us for who we are."

Hanzo chuckled, "That's pretty deep from someone who's 'just a brawler.'"

"You have existential crises for someone who's 'only relevant because of a gore mechanic'" Cloud shot back playfully.

"I guess so."


Yang sighed at the computer monitor in front of her. Apparently, there were still some people who wanted her dead. Both from her world, and from the real world. No matter where she turned, she always found scorn sent her way. She rubbed her temples as she tried to recall the number of people from her world that didn't leave her.

Her mind couldn't come up with anyone.

"Hey, sunshine. Strawberry Sunrise?" Tifa offered as she walked in the room that the two shared.

"Thanks Tifa," Yang offered a hollow smile, "But I'm good."

Tifa looked down. Her efforts to try and cheer Yang up weren't working. Everyone from her world kept leaving her, and even people from the real world still hated her. She would enjoy it if Yang were to call her by that nickname that Tifa suggested for her all those years ago. Hell, she wanted to hear one of Yang's puns again. She had tried to set her up to make one several times to no avail.

It was heartbreaking to see a powerful young woman like Yang so broken.

"I'll just leave it here then. I'll be going out." She offered, "You know my number if you need me."

"Thanks Tifa. That's very kind of you."

"My name is Lockhart. So, I'd hope that I'd be heartfelt to others." Tifa replied.

Yang's reply was a hollow chuckle, "Nice pun. But, I'm just going to rest a bit."

Tifa frowned. Yang's primary schedule was essentially 'eat, sleep, use the restroom, sleep, eat, and repeat'. With moments of sorrow and hating herself in between.

"Okay. You have a nice rest then…" The older woman replied, softly shutting the door.


Unlike the other two, Ryu was in a good mood. He was excited to see a friend, and Chun Li was also looking forward to seeing the Killer Bee at the establishment.

Dan was also enticed to rooting for his fellow Street Fighter as well.

"So, it's assassination techniques versus militarized training. I'm putting my money on the gal who can kick almost as fast as I can." Chun Li mentioned.

Bowser, who was also in the room, had something to offer, "Maybe. But that Sonya girl can summon that drone, and isn't afraid of using explosives to win a fight." he said, looking up from his book.

"Cammy can just throw a knife at them. She is a knife-thrower, you know." Ryu countered.

"And she did manage to kill a number of other trained fighters. My father included." Chun Li added.

"Rose beat her though," Dan mentioned, before noticing the glares that Chun Li was sending him, "N-Not that it says anything about her overall skill, I'm just saying." He nervously tried to correct himself.

"The gal can control the Psycho Drive." Ryu offered, trying to get the heat off of his fellow Ansatsuken classmate.

"Maybe, but Sonya managed to beat Scorpion, Jax, and Quan Chi in rapid succession." Bowser said.

"To be fair, they were weakened because Quan Chi had lost his connection to Shin-butt." Dan replied, intentionally getting Shinnok's name wrong to show how little he thought of him.

"Well then, I guess we'll just have to wait for the fight." Ryu said, trying to wrap up.

"We'll discuss this later." Chun Li growled, still seething with anger at Dan for trying to downplay her rival slash friend.

"I'll be here then." Bowser replied.


Deadpool: Damn, man. That's a lot of angst that you have there.

Yeah. I guess it is. But, let's face it. This is practically the year of angst. Very few of these guys are getting happy moments on their own worlds.

Alexis: Tweet tweet…

Well not all of them. I just said 'very few of them are getting happy moments.'

Alexis: Tweet tweet tweet.

Yeah. They do deserve better. 'Specially Guts. The dude lost his family, his friends, his ability to sleep soundly at night-

Deadpool: We get it! And B-T-Dubs, I did the disclaimer about how you don't own these not-as-awesome-as-me schmucks while you were talking with Lexi over here.

She doesn't like to be called 'Lexi' Wade-

BANG!

Deadpool: Damn… Lone Star...