(Announcers Booth)
"Now that all thirty fighters have entered? The Okron Tournament can now begin! If it hasn't already! Heh Heh! I need to work on that."
Roxas put the microphone down and pointedly looked down at his efforts below getting recognized. His dream! It was all coming to fruition before his very eyes! Nothing could….!
His tablet started ringing.
Okay. That snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Livia?" Was all he said as he tapped the screen to answer.
"Hey? Did you make some adjustments to the roster? Like, some literal last-minute changes? Because one second I was looking at it, and the next…. more fighters have been added! And a whole new node!"
Roxas scoffed. "What? No! Of course not, it would really call into question my competence if I did a last minute roster adjustment."
Livia simply turned pensive. Her look signaling to him to look for himself.
"Fine. I'll give it a look." To the background Livia went! "But I assure you I didn't make any w~wweeeeeeh?"
Silence. And a slack jaw was all Livia could see now. "How is that competence looking now, Roxie?"
"This… cannot be. I didn't…! I swear it till the Archivists come home that I didn't do this!"
"Well if you didn't. Then…" A shrug was all Livia could offer. "… who did?"
Neither one. No. No one in either the Megamix Dome or the Hotel would notice the small swirling sands beginning to spin from nothing. Slowly growing and beginning to swerve around both buildings….
(The Arena)
"Kill them." Beckoned the Enchantress.
A vague command, right? Well, most take it and be done with it in quick fashion. But this is Electivire, so when he hears this his first act is to 'ragdoll' all in front of him.
This started with Discharge, a huge electricity flare that purged from within and seared through those adjacent to the discharger.
Too bad it's pretty transparent and not smart to use against assuming, mobile targets.
"Move!"
Both Forest and Rai darted back just an inch to avoid the flare.
"I got him, dude!"
"Wait! Don't use..!"
Too late! Rai charged his gloves and pounded away at Electivire a few times. An incredibly stupid move.
"Your electricity." Forest sighed.
Enchantress beamed. "Foolish child. Learn to temper your head or surrender control of your life entirely. Preferably to me."
"Huh? Whaddya me~eEAN!"
Motor Drive increased Electivire's speed, and that meant he rocketed off while stampeding poor Rai with him.
Forest turned back to the Enchantress. Brow furrowed. "Kill us? The rules do not permit that."
"Oh? Is that so? Too bad I have the power to change to rules to suit my vices then." Enchantress grinned darkly. Waving her hand around their section of the ring.
A glossy glass construct formed a cube around the four. Emerald green in color, but still transparent to see through.
Forest paled. "What?! What is this!?"
Enchantress wagged her finger. "Oh don't submit yet, Leymon. I'm only just getting started."
(Megamix Dome; Lounge)
"So just what is our grand undertaking?" Luna inquired to Vyse, who was pacing back and forth across his team members.
Steve was quick to ask a question of his own to Luna. "Uh, English please?"
"What is our big mission for tonight?" Bluntly answered.
"That." Vyse raised a finger. "Is a good question, Luna. The answer is simple, I've heard tales of great danger lurking in the recesses of these tournaments. World-threatening plots going on in the background."
Vanille put a hand to her mouth in a gasp. "And you think that…?"
Soren interrupted her and answered before Vyse could. "That some dastardly!" He started, peppering some dramatic pose and tone to his words. "Fiendish!" More dramatic flare. "Unholy scheme is being cooked up by some dotards as we speak? Well, you'd be correct that he does."
Vyse coughed. "Exactly. Thanks, Soren." He quickly recovered and got back to his point. "But he's right. I don't doubt it for a moment that someone will try to sink this tournament. And everyone here with it."
"If you really think so." Steve beat his bat into his hand. "Where do you think it would be? Just asking so we can kick it's ass."
Vyse smirked. So far he couldn't help but like Steve's eagerness to jump into action. "Well, it hasn't happened in awhile. But there used to be common thread between every plot that has ever wreaked havoc on this place. And that one thread is…"
Before he could finish, all five members would get a call on their personal phones distributed to them by Roxas as a direct line to their employer.
"Hey! Got a little job for you! I'm getting a lot of grievances from the Hotel concerning noise. All of it emanating from one person's room."
"Bison's." They all answered in unison.
"Yep!" Roxas nodded with a knowing smile. "Knew I hired you all for this for a reason. So head up there and see what's what. Then put a stop to it. Prove to everyone I didn't err in making you the security team! Now, I gotta go! Bye~eeeee!" And~dddd he hung up.
"Wow! Looks like you were right, Vyse!" Vanille cheered. Much to Soren's chagrin.
Luna agreed. "It would be more unbecoming to have this entire enterprise run autonomously, without fail." This did not help Soren's frustration.
"We ready to go stop this plot?" Perked up Steve.
Vyse unsheathed his cutlass. "Must it be something to be asked? Security Team, move out!"
All five members quickly made their way over to the Hotel. Though Soren lagged just slightly behind, his pride still bruised from getting overshadowed.
"And my excellent deduction of Vyse's thoughts? What, did the wind take it?"
(The Arena)
Elsewhere to the Enchantress' machinations. Gozu and Scorpion's fight was still ongoing.
Well…. fight might be too generous. Really, Gozu was still employing his Ill-conceived strategy of attempting to tire Scorpion out. To lukewarm results.
Eventually it had to dawn on him that this was far from the best plan.
"Just… a little bit… further! Now!"
His huffing and puffing ceasing, Gozu jumped up on a turnbuckle. His newest idea being that he would be unlikely to be caught off-guard on a small surface.
When no yellow-clad Shirai Ryu came. Gozu chuckled underneath his gas mask.
"Ha! See! Try sneaking up on me now! I've been at the game longer than you, pal!"
"That may be." Scorpion's hollow voice said from…. somewhere.
"But did you ever consider that the element of surprise is meaningless once you are spotted? I don't need to surprise you…."
Gozu scoffed. "Oh, yeah? Well come on then! Just try and use brute force on me! Get over here!"
Poised to stab with his clawed hand at the first opportunity, Gozu swirled around to see where Scorpion would come from.
As luck would have it a pillar of fire would rise up in front of him. Making out a vague shape in the flames, Gozu lunged his arm forward.
Only to get caught. Rather easily, might I add.
"That's my line."
Scorpion effortlessly flipped Gozu off the turnbuckle to the canvas. The Jaguar assassin didn't get time to collect himself before Scorpion came rushing with his katana.
Gozu could only keep up with a few swipes before he was forced to vanish. Twin waves of fire flying on either side of where he stood.
If not other indication was needed to inform Gozu he had erred trying to fight Scorpion. Look no further. Scorpion takes the attack head on and doesn't even so much as stagger from it.
"Aw, crap!" Would be all Gozu would say before Scorpion swung his hand and caught the gas mask ninja's throat.
Before anything could be done to end the fight, however. Something strange would occur. Sand would begin swirling around the spectre, which only seemed to further swallow him further with each passing moment.
"By the Elder Gods!" The last thing the spectre would get out before he was completely engulfed by the same.
Taking his moments when they came, Gozu used his legs to push himself off Scorpion before whatever this was caught him too.
The Sand would continue to swirl around until it stopped just as quickly as it had started. When it finally had cleared, much to Gozu and most of the audience's shock. The figure that stood before them had a different look to the one that did just moments before.
He had a mostly yellow outfit like before, but he wore no hood, only a mask. He also looked younger and alive, not at all like the resurrected spectre that Scorpion was.
"W-What has happened? Where am I?" He surveyed his surroundings. Taking note of the ring, audience, and people before him. Which only lead to one conclusion.
"Is this it? The tournament? The Okron Tournament?" The man inquired.
Gozu, for his credit, kept his cool enough to give him a small nod. To what motivated his ability to not freak out? Well…
"Now I have you!"
He leapt at the man. Eager to take advantage of his disillusion and eliminate him with ease.
Whether this was an alternate Scorpion or not, one thing was certain. He was still prepared for a fight no matter what. Vanishing into smoke in an instant and reappearing to give Gozu a fiery punch just as fast.
"I may not know of how I have arrived on such a whim. But I do know…"
He grabbed Gozu by the throat off the canvas.
"You best not be so clear with your attacks. Lest you leave yourself open for misdirection. Consider that when you get the chance to look back on your defeat."
With one hefty throw, Scorpion? tossed Gozu clear out of the ring, the ninja unable to find any in which to get back in as he fell into the portal.
The portal opened and spat out Gozu on a couple of railroad tracks inside what appeared to be a mineshaft. Not far away from him were some masked guards sitting near a fire.
(We had it comin'..)
(We had it comin'!)
(We only have ourselves to blame!)
While the guards sang, Gozu sat up and sighed. Well, this was a bust. Incredibly early draw, and the distinction of being the very first person eliminated overall. He had waited so long for his next big chance and it got squandered. How? Why? Just where did it all go…
(I can't believe it's finally me and you and you and me and us and your friend Steve! Doo be doo woo doo do do do Ste-!)
"Hey guys? What the Hell is that!?"
….wrong?
A thick green, fleshy moss substance began emerging from the tunnel ahead. It's appearance definitely not in any way implying a docile nature.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Was this room… taken?" A disembodied voice asked.
Oh, crap!
(Doo be doo da da doo doo-LEAVE!)
Screaming, the masked guards turned tail and headed off for safer pastures once the green flesh moss resumed growing through the mineshaft.
Unfortunately, Gozu didn't quite get the memo to run away. Ouch.
"Get back here, Boy Wonder!"
Nanase pushed a green gust of wind to try and catch Ness, but the psychic boy easily floated out of the way.
Ever since the section began, the two had been locked into a three-way fight with Shen Long. The clone didn't mind it at first, but his lack of hits in so far definitely wasn't suiting his temperament at the moment.
"PK Fire!"
Nanase quickly swung her massive sword to create another green gust to nullify the projectile.
Shen Long took this chance to strike with a high kick to Nanase, following with a few hard punches with went into her sword, much to her surprise at his lack of a reaction.
"That doesn't hurt?"
Shen Long shrugged. "What's a fight if it doesn't hurt, bike horns?"
Nanase seethed. "Bike horns!? Oo~ooooh! You're in for it now, interloper!"
"PK Thunder!"
To remind the two he was still in this fight, Ness summoned an electric orb with a tail of lightning behind it and redirected it into himself. Rocketing into both Shen Long and Nanase with a nasty blow AND shock.
The pigtail girl groaned and sat up to glare at her attacker. "I'll teach you what Batman never did! Not to interrupt a lady's revenge!"
Ness could only blink. "…Batman?"
Even Shen Long couldn't help but join in the confusion. "What the hell are you on about?"
The Windmill could only roll her eyes like what she had stated was the most obvious thing ever. "Boy Wonder? That's Robin! So this kid is the Batman's ward and sidekick! Duh!" The point at Ness certainly helped convey her message better.
….
….
….
….
"….What?" The two said in unison.
Nanase grinned. "This!"
The Windmill swung her sword up, taking Ness with her for another sword swing. Just missing the top of his hat.
Before she could go for another, Shen Long leaped up and grabbed onto her foot. This didn't really help, since her shoe had wings on them, and she could float. Really all it did was annoy her. "Hey! Get off, perv!"
Shen Long guffawed. "I'm the pervert!? You're the one who thought Hyde 'defiled your body'!"
"Yeah, well… sh-shut up and…!"
"PK FLASH!"
Paying for their mistake of not paying Ness enough attention again, Shen Long and Nanase would have a giant burst of light go off in their faces. The explosion knocking them to the canvas.
It wouldn't keep the purple-clad Zoanthrope down for long though. In fact, it just made him more…
"Okay…. That's. IT!"
Angry.
Kicking himself up to his feet, he immediately dashed toward Ness. The PSI boy took out his bat to try and get him, but Shen Long easily swerved to the side and grabbed him by the head.
"I'll deal with you second, after pigtails over there."
One heavy stomp to the ground. And in a split-second Shen Long had gone into his tiger form again.
Before Ness could react, Shen Long charged his fist and let loose a heavy punch that rocketed him away.
Psh. They don't fly that far. Ever. The Kid won't be a challenge once he deals with the other annoyance.
"Thanks, pervert! Now I can focus on only one of you!"
Speaking of annoyance. Shen Long swerved away from a downward swing of Nanase's sword. Easy enough. But when he went to counter, the Windmill jumped and conjured a tornado that swept him up and carried him away.
"I'm gonna beat you down and lecture you about my feelings! So you'll know how it feels to make a mistake!"
Even if he could, Shen Long didn't feel like responding to her already. This girl was too annoying to have a conversation with, and he never cared for talking during fighting anyway.
"And you wanna know what mistake that is!?" The Windmill asked as she slid to where he fell and struck him in the head with her Zephyr's hilt. She took the silence as a yes.
"The mistake of challenging me! Now! Atmosphére of the Aether!"
Growling, Nanase charged up Zephyr briefly before unleashing a gigantic upward swing with the glowing blade!
The only problem? She whiffed it just ever so slightly, misjudging the distance and range somehow. This enabled Shen Long to catch her face in his palm after her failed grand finale.
Shen Long would begin executing his Snake Six-Level Combo Ring. Hitting the prone Nanase with blow after blow until his Ring was complete.
For his finisher, Shen Long changed back to his human from and grabbed Nanase again before punching her. Unleashing an afterimage of his tiger form to keep her locked in place. Finishing with a stomp that acted as a detonator to an explosion that would launch the Windmill clear out of the ring.
Shen Long crossed his arms and scoffed. "Go back to school, kid. By your logic it sounds like ya really need it. Oh, and one more thing! Shut up." He said as he watched her fall into the portal.
Nanase landed in Rival Schools. When Batsu accidentally fell on top of her, it ended up creating another unfortunate situation regarding her innocence all over again.
Shen Long couldn't help but pound his shoulders in victory. Only the first section and he managed to score an elimination for his node! Not bad. Now where did that kid go…?
Percival and Princess Remedy shoved their respective melee weapons forward. Colliding with a guitar, which belonged to Lord Raptor.
"I don't think so, nobles!" Johnny shot lightning at Percival's sword and Remedy's syringe. Which made them both back off.
"Ha! Good luck puttin' on a struggle like that! These bolts ain't lettin' you get a smack on him."
Lord Raptor nodded along to his temporary partner. "And in the meantime… ROCK ON!"
The punk-rock zombie strummed his guitar hard, producing a loud soundwave that made both Percival and Remedy wince and cover their ears.
"What's the matter? Can't handle the sick, tasty sound of that hard rock? Come on! Bloody wankers!"
Johnny put a hand on his shoulder. "Sit tight, man. I'll handle these two haters. Play up a sick beat for me while I shock their lights out."
Grinning, Johnny stepped forward. Not catching the sneer on Raptor's face that lingered for a single moment. He did as he was told, for now. Strumming on his guitar and beginning to play a familiar melody.
(Shoot me…)
(Shoot me…)
(Shoot me…)
(Shoot me…)
"How about you give me that sword, red head?" Johnny would use his powers in attempt to pull Percival's sword toward him.
Percival grinded his teeth as he struggled against Johnny's current. "Never! Scoundrel!" He turned to Remedy and motioned for her to get behind him.
Johnny grunted as the two fought for control. But the Imperfect would pull the plug on this plan and instead launch himself toward the red-headed Lord with his power.
(Here come ol' flat-top, he come groovin' up slowly..)
"Now!" Percival shouted.
Right as Johnny was about to rocket into Percival, Remedy leapt out from behind him and covered his peripheral vision with a magic blast.
"Say Aa~aaah!"
(He got ju-ju eyeball, he one holy roller..)
The attack would stun him long enough for Percival and Remedy to rush in with a couple of syringes and sword blows. The Imperfect was only barely able to avoid getting scorched by Percival's flames before a syringe got him right in one of his goggle lens. Cracking it and causing him to turn hastily in pain.
"Oo~ooooh! You two gone done it now!"
(He got hair down to his knees..)
Percival waved off his threat. "Spare us your riffraff, I'll see to it that fire will reduce you to ash and dust rather than electricity!"
The Lord of Flames waved his sword over the ground, creating a fiery projectile that nearly caught Johnny if he hadn't used his powers to fly and avoid it.
Luckily, Remedy would use her own power to float and avoid it as well. The Princess smiled when she pulled out a flask and threw it at Johnny.
(Got to be a joker he just do what he please..)
The flask exploded, making Johnny fall and again leaving him susceptible to sword swings that he would barely manage to avoid.
"Why you little..!" Johnny hissed. When Percival went for another swing he would catch it with one hand, using his other to dispatch of Remedy with a bolt.
Chuckling, Johnny used his powers to make the sword a lightning rod. Shocking Percival as he writhed and slowly began to fall to the canvas. Which only got worse when the electricity spread to his armor.
(He wear no shoe-shine, he got toe-jam football..)
(He got monkey finger, he shoot Coca-Cola..)
"Let's go for a little ride, friend? My treat."
With Percival weakened enough, Johnny tackled him and glided across the canvas. During so he would prop the young Lord onto his upper back in an Argentine backbreaker position.
(He say, 'I know you, and you know me'..)
(One thing I can tell you is you got to be free!)
(Come Together! Right now! Over me!)
"They call this the 'Burning Hammer'!"
As soon as they stopped, Johnny would drop Percival to the canvas head-first. The Imperfect couldn't help but shake his head while the Lord got up holding his own in pain.
"With such a fancy blade and look I expected better. Guess your just another pretentious royal with his head in the… CLOUDS!"
(Shoot me..)
(Shoot me..)
(Shoot me..)
Pricked. Never a pleasant feeling, especially in the posterior. A feeling Johnny now knew, courtesy of Remedy.
"Prison is no place to receive an inoculation, Mr. Ohm." Remedy disclosed with a smile to a now very cross Johnny.
"What in the hell is wrong with you!?"
Still not losing her smile, even as Johnny glided to her. Remedy mentally cheered that her plan worked before she pulled out another flask and flung it at him. Another explosion sent him back, along with another syringe being launched into his other goggle lens.
Watching his 'partner' be kept on his toes did nothing to assuage Lord Raptor's bubbling fury. It was just about time to take matters in his own hands…
…Oh, just a few more verses first.
(He bag production, he got walrus gumboot..)
(He got Ono sideboard, he one spinal cracker..)
(He got feet down below his knee..)
(Hold you in his armchair, you can feel his disease!)
"You're finished, infernal conduit!"
Remedy knocked Johnny right into Percival, who had now recovered and was ready to finally end this.
(Come Together! Right now! Over me!)
The young Lord of Flames conjured fire into his sword. Spirits burning lively onto the hardened steel. With one swoop he engulfed Johnny with his sword's swirling flames.
(Shoot me..)
(Right!)
He may have survived the death chair, but Johnny was well and thoroughly toasted by the blaze he was stuck in. Unable to do anything but road as the tesla coils embedded in his skin were fried.
(Come, come, come, come, come..)
Remedy placed a purple orb in front of her. Ready to give Johnny a quick injury evaluation once the attack was done.
(He roller-coaster, he got early warnin'!)
Johnny would find himself swept off his feet by another strike. Then grabbed by Percival and thrown towards Remedy. Who detonated her purple orb upon Johnny getting close enough.
(He got muddy water, he one mojo-filter!)
"It is done. Victory!"
Victory, indeed! Now all that the two nobles had to do was get the Imperfect out of the ring!
(He say, 'One and one and one is three'..)
But wait. Weren't there two of them? Where was…?
(Got to be good-lookin', cause he's too hard to see!)
Oh, no.
"La Malta! Slam Dunk!"
A strange fish-like being burst out of the canvas, to Percival's bewilderment. La Malta took advantage of it and swallowed Percival whole, spitting him out a second later with the former condensed into the shape of a small ball.
Lord Raptor sprung into action, grabbing the Percival ball as La Malta morphed to form the shape of a basketball hoop.
(Come Together! Right now! OVER ME!)
Percival really couldn't do anything to help his situation, helplessly forced to cope with the pain as Lord Raptor slammed him through the hoop, caught him again and hurled him out of the ring.
Percival landed in Demon Slayer. Where he had an existential crisis with Kyojuro over their identical voices.
Lord Raptor chortled while spinning his guitar. "This. This right here is why I am a solo act."
Just them, screaming could be heard from afar which slowly got louder. The rock zombie turned to see Terra flying toward them.
Poor Johnny, who was now in severely bad shape from Percival's attack, could only barely stand up now. And when he finally did he was rewarded with Terra slamming into him, which pushed him through the ropes and into the elimination portal.
Johnny landed in Fate/Grand Order. Where he was lucky enough to end up as one of Florence Nightingale's patients! Yay. Lol.
Terra groggily got to her feet, looking at her surroundings as she got up. Predictably, she was confused. "D-Did I get eliminated from Mishima's ten-hit combo?"
A shake of the head no was her only reassurance. But her confusion wouldn't last, it all came back and she saw she was still in the ring. But another thing dawned on her mind.
"Oh no! Karin! I have to help!"
She took off to rejoin her fight with Karin against Kazuya. Leaving a very befuddled Raptor and Remedy to their devices.
"Well…" Remedy started quietly, but out came the syringe. "I'll see you next."
"Word."
(Announcers Booth)
"This doesn't make sense! Who is this Scorpion!?" Roxas asked to himself.
Better to not waste so much time wondering and less time actually figuring out why. The silver-haired man took out his tablet and went to his roster list, tapping on the name barring Scorpion.
"Okay. It says here that his Scorpion serves under the Lin Kuei? And that his actual name is… Kuai Liang!? Now this makes even less sense! Kuai Liang is Sub-Zero! Not Scorpion!"
He didn't get any more time to contemplate the implications when he got a call from the guards down at the Ready Room. Great. What else was up?
"Yes?"
The voice on the other end didn't sound any less exasperated. "Whatever is going on with the roster definitely is causing contemplations over here. A bunch of fighters numbers got moved up and fighters who we swore never drew one are here with the 'stolen' ones. A real problem."
Roxas only had a sigh of exasperation on his face. This might was starting with some complications behind the scenes. And it just started!
(The Arena)
Rai currently was trapped in Electivire's hold. A very troubling situation since he couldn't bust out without activating the pokémon's ability again.
Yeah, he wasn't making that mistake again.
Forest really wasn't daring much better, being trapped in magic prism that rendered him immobile. He only gained the ability to move again by The Enchantress blasting him through it.
The dark-skinned man slammed into the barrier the Enchantress had conjured around them. Sliding to the ground, he stared up at the dark sorceress weakly.
"Do you intend to provide a challenge in your current state?" The Enchantress quizzed lackadaisically.
Rai tried once more to break out of Electivire's grip, but only got more crushed in his arms as a result.
Forest winced when he saw this and turned back to the Enchantress defiantly. "No matter what. I won't let you bring harm to him at least. The rules are clear, you don't kill."
The witch could only her pupil-less eyes. "Please. Do you forget I'm a reality warper? I can easily amend the rulebook as I please."
(Announcer's Booth)
Roxas in turn rolled his eyes. "Are we going to have a problem abiding by my tournament rules, Enchantress? Because I can easily prove you wrong."
His fingers would find a compartment he had installed into his desk. Pulling it open would unearth an unseen object giving off a red glow.
(The Arena)
"It can't be! The Host would never not allow safeguards in place to protect his competitors!"
Enchantress laughed. "That may be, but if he was foolish enough to invite me to partake in his folly of a tournament. Then perhaps he needs to get a sanity check."
Forest tried to lunge toward her from the canvas, swinging his axe. But the witch caught it before it could connect.
"How sad. You poor pathetic Leymon." The Enchantress pushed the axe down and jabbed him with magic to launch him back into the barrier.
"Forest!" Rai managed to wiggle just out of Electivire's hold to stomp on his foot. The Pokémon cried out and let him go and Rai used this window to blaze toward the surprised Enchantress.
"I'm setting June free!"
Glowing a kaleidoscope of colors, Rai launched punch and kick after punch and kick to the Enchantress. Charged with electricity since he didn't have to exercise caution.
Electivire tried to put a stop to this, but Forest tackled him into the barrier having found his own second wind.
"Beast!"
Forest slammed into Electivire again, this time conjuring the image of a roaring lion when doing so. The blows deterred him slightly, but didn't keep him down for long.
He tried gliding forward, but Forest wouldn't budge this time. Keeping him and Electivire locked in a power struggle.
Rai roared and delivered a series to rising uppercuts to the Enchantress. Who could only grunt in pain before one last blow knocked her to the ground, unmoving.
The young boy cheered before he noticed Forest and Electivire still locked in a stalemate and rushed over to help.
Only to find himself unable to move, with a green aura surrounding him. The Enchantress could only chuckle and shake her head.
"Did you think that Power Star light show would put me down for the ten count?"
Right as this happened, Electivire would charge his tails and begin shocking Forest to seize the advantage. The dark-skinned man could do nothing as he stood helplessly in pain for several seconds as the current danced across his body. When he was done he fell to the floor and didn't get back up.
"No!" Rai cried out, which just tightened the grip Enchantress had on him even more.
"Silence, child. You'll be joining him in just moment." Enchantress motioned to the ropes as she dispelled a part of her barrier. "I'll abide by the rules for now, get rid of him."
With a nod, Electivire picked up the downed Forest and carried him to the ropes. Dropping him into the portal unceremoniously.
Forest landed in The Emoji Movie. Unfortunately, right as Just Dance was getting deleted. A long fall into the abyss was in store for him.
Enchantress nodded smugly. "That's one, and now your turn!"
The witch dispelled another part of her barrier and flung Rai into a currently ensuing fight.
Which one? Well, that would be Yatterman-2 and Pullum Purna's.
Luckily, Pullum wasn't one to leave an opponent hanging. She pointed to Yatterman-2 at the boy flying toward her.
"To your right!"
Turning to her opponent's warning, Yatterman-2 eeked before readying her rod. Swinging it upward just as Rai was a few inches from her face. And since they were near the ropes, that meant she knocked him over them and into the portal. Scoring an elimination for herself, and arguably taking credit for what would've been Enchantress'.
It also just dawned on her what she accomplished. Her eyes widening. "Did I just?"
Pullum smiled. "Yes, you did! Congrats! Got your node on the board!"
Angrily watching with narrowed eyes as the girl briefly celebrated before continuing her fight. The Enchantress nodded at her as the next target.
When she moved to bring the barrier she made with her, to her confusion, she would instead find her crack and shatter away. As well as the fact that she couldn't conjure another one, and that Electivire' didn't have that green glow to his eyes anymore.
"What is happening here?"
Roxas' voice would come through from the Announcer's Booth. "Oh, that? Just a little evening of the odds."
Enchantress to her glare to the silver-haired host. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
Roxas shrugged in a lackadaisical manner. "It means that there are no room for powers for those who disobey the rules."
The witch seethed. "You…! How!?"
With a grin, the man would simply hold up a red stone in his hand. "How, you say? The universal skeptic would say that how is nothing but a question of why. But for your information I bargained with a certain Merc for this, thought it would come in handy. Especially for undoing the weirdness of rule breakers. Effectively I neutered your reality warping powers."
The Enchantress looked as if she was about to burst. "That is…! You can't!"
Roxas could do nothing but grin at her. "Oh yes, I can. I mean, not like you can say I can't anymore, time to take out the source!"
With a banshee-like scream the Enchantress separated herself from June and raced toward Roxas. This was all according to the his plan.
"Electivire! Take out the source!"
Within an instant, the Pokémon would immediately understand what he meant. June! Separate June from the Enchantress!
June wouldn't get any time to try and make sense of anything before she was picked up by Electivire and pitched out of the arena.
The Enchantress would be mere inches away from clawing up Roxas' face before she was pulled away by an unseen force. This would be the strings binding her and June together, and with June falling into the portal…. that meant it was bye-bye for her.
All the witch could do before she was dragged through the portal after June was scream 'No~oooo!'
June and the Enchantress would land in Panty & Stocking. Where they would get quite an earful on the matter of rule-breaking from Kneesocks.
"Due to the matter of how eliminations work. The credit for Enchantress' will go to Electivire. Great job, buddy!"
The Pokémon could only shrug in response. Two eliminations but both arguably have an asterisk next to them wasn't ideal. But he wasn't going to complain at the moment.
(Announcers Booth)
Roxas looked sympathetic for him. "Poor guy, at least I was able to free him from her and use the Reality Stone to fill him in on what happened…."
(The Arena)
Aerith twirled her guard stick to block a series of shots from Velora. Who couldn't help but smirk.
"Not bad for a girl whose claim to fame is being stabbed in the back."
Aerith fought the urge to retort about being such an unknown node in a tournament with other media giants. She couldn't stoop to such a level, especially with the attack on her life when Tails first came out.
Speaking of Tails, she had to get this done and get back to helping Alex to pay him back for assisting her. As well as find out whatever was up with the young fox…
Meanwhile, watching the two fight was the Magician. Waiting in the wings, slowly looking for an opening. Once he had it he'd spring into action, unleashing his secret weapon and leave them both in the dust!
"Any moment now…"
Velora swung her gunblade, only to end up clashing with Aerith's Guard Stick.
"I'm surprised they let an assist-only character in this tournament. No offense.."
Aerith nodded. "The host likely wanted a few more characters from our franchise. So he removed NT specifically so as to allow me in. Make no mistake, I am no pushover." She smirked.
Velora smirked right back and leaned toward her. "Let's finish and see for ourselves, shall we?"
The former con artist fired another blast, the noise making Aerith wince and loosen her grip. Allowing Velora to push her back and slice away at her, just nicking her in the arm.
The young flower girl gripped her arm for a second. But she knew not for long, using her good arm to block the sword again. This kept on until Aerith saw her chance and poked her Guard Stick into Velora's chest. Giving her a good bash on the head for good measure.
Velora fell to one knee and groaned, letting Aerith think she was good for another blow. But she surprised the latter by holding up her gunblade and kicking her in the abdoment. A shot following afterward.
Aerith yelped and skidded across the canvas. But regained her composure when she saw Velora leap up and bring her sword down on her. This brought back a brief flood of memories and Aerith instinctively rolled out of the way.
"What's the matter, dear? Your past coming back to haunt you. Sorry, but I got a tournament to win…"
"STOP!" Cried a voice.
Curious, both girls turned to the direction of the voice. It was The Magician, having cherry-picked his moment to intervene.
But…. now he wasn't so confident. Still, he had to make his move!
"You got somethin' to say?" Velora asked while pointing her gunblade at him.
The Magician blinked. "Uh… Music! Please!" He yelled. Gesturing up to Roxas in the Announcer's Booth. Who could only shrug and get on his tablet to operate the Sound Booth from his seat. After a few seconds a chorus would begin to play.
(Shake! Shake! Shake!)
(It's all that you make of it, take what you will!)
(You know, know, know! Your only mistake is if you stand still!)
The Magician would burst into dance. Complete with a disco ball appearing above him. Where did it come from? Who knew?
Aerith and Velora could only watch in complete confusion.
(So Shake! Shake! Shake!)
(It's all what you make of it, break it until..)
(You know, know, know! Your only mistake is if you stand still!)
(It's only up to you…)
He completed the lyric with a point to Velora. Who could only stare incredulously at the Teensy.
In the background, Aerith was watching the two and beginning to charge energy for an attack. A rather large attack.
(It's only up to you…)
(It's only up to you…)
(It's only up to you…)
(It's only up to you…)
The brief dance break would end with the song. And silence, very awkward silence, would follow it.
The Magician his pose, but with the newfound sweat that was pouring down his face it was obvious he knew now this was a failure.
Velora hadn't moved from her dull glare at him, nope! Still just looking at him with the least impressed look ever conceived.
"You done?"
Before he could answer, a different voice would do it for him.
"Yes!"
Both fighters turned to look at who spoke, which was Aerith. Who was now floating and emitting an aura of light while four orbs surrounded her. Velora and The Magician realized too late what had happened.
The dance break allowed her to sneak off and charge up her Holy attack, which most Dissidia players would know was unavoidable when Aerith casted it.
Oh, well. Too bad for them.
"HOLY!"
A large explosion of light erupted from Aerith. Engulfing both Velora and The Magician in it's radius, neither fighter able to do anything.
The blast was enough to send both victims soaring over the ropes and out of the ring.
Velora landed in Shadow of Destiny. Where she fell on top of Eike Kusch, her gunblade falling after her and impaling him.
Aerith took a deep breath of relief when she touched the ground again. She had gotten lucky and cut it a bit too close. But at least she managed to come out on top.
She turned her attention to Alex and Tails fight, the two were still going at it. When their eyes met, she silently signaled to him as if to ask if he needed help.
The blonde man motioned for her to stay back, insisting on doing this by himself.
Aerith sighed and nodded, but she still kept an eye on them. Just to make sure this wouldn't end up being a mistake.
"Oh, phooey! Velora just got eliminated! Well, looks like it's up to me to do her justice. Give me just a moment!"
Neco-Arc reached into her skirt pocket and fiddled with something within. Causing both Rena Rouge and Rock Howard to stop their chase of the chibi clone.
"What do you think she's gonna pull out now?" Asked Rock in a very tired tone.
Rena sighed and shrugged. "No idea. But let's be ready for it. If we can."
"A-ha! Gotcha! Introducing Neco-Arc's Bag of Tricks!" She beamed. Holding up a small black bag that was marked exactly as she said.
Neco-Arc would reach into the bag and feel around, the sounds coming from within both made Rena and Rock sweat palm. What did she keep in there?
They got their answer when she pulled out a gunblade. Bizarrely identical to Velora's.
"Now! By the power vested to me by the power of Fourth Wall, and Roxas_Gramarye, my next move shall be…. Velora's super!"
With a single shot out of the gunblade a sequence of barrels would somehow appear out of thin air and begin flying across the ring. One would ram into Rena Rouge and explode, sending her flying several feet.
"What!? Just, what!? Ugh!" Rock would simply growl at seeing this nonsense. He knew better at this point to question the chibi, but still… this was ridiculous.
Dodging barrel after barrel, Rock moved to punch the small chibi-cat thing. But Neco-Arc would glide out of the way, which set her up for a high-kick. Then a backhanded elbow.
"Oof!" Was all Neco-Arc would say. Flapping her arms as the attack sent her back. But that wouldn't be the end of it, as a recovered Rena Rouge came back and smacked her overhead with her flute.
"Reppuken!"
Rock swung his arm and unleashed a purple wave which struck Neco-Arc and sent her back again. Rena charged at her, but the former was quick to recover. Grabbing a barrel out of the air and threw it at her.
Rock couldn't help but be bewildered again. "What? But those things explode when you touch them!"
Neco-Arc shrugged. "Who ever said? Here! Have one too!" She would pluck another out of the air and hurl it at him. He tried to punch through, but only got another explosion just like his partner.
A jingle would sound… where? Look, we have no idea. But Neco-Arc seemed to recognize it. "Oo~oooh! Time for another surprise from the Bag of Tricks! Oh! I think you'll love this one!"
As Rock and Rena scrambled to their feet, Neco-Arc would fiddle around with her bag again. This time what she drew out of it was…
… A sword. But, not just any sword!
"Soul Calibur!"
WHAT!? Said by not just Rena and Rock, but by some of the audience too!
"Where did you get that!?"
Again. All she could do was shrug the shock off. "I don't know. But this sword could use some duct tape. Hey, wait!" She'd reach into her bag and pull out some, taking a strip and taping it over the blade for some godforsaken reason.
"There! Now it can be quiet! Now, I only have one more trick to show you! But let's have some fun with this one first!"
Rena would just blink. "That has to be against the rules."
Neco-Arc raised her eyebrow. "Hmm?"
Rock would then cut in, his hesitant to speak clear. "Afraid not. Deadpool was allowed in these tournaments…"
The chibi clone would smile and nod in agreement. "Exactly! Screw the rules! I have a Bag of Tricks!"
Another jingle would sound. Much to Neco-Arc's chagrin. "Already!? I didn't even get to play with Soul Calibur yet! Fine. Next section I will."
Rena whispered to Rock. "I have an idea. If this works, we can get her out!"
The fox-themed superhero would pull her flute back out and play a small tune on it, causing the tip of it to glow.
"Mirage!
Her illusion ready, Rena Rouge held her flute and flung the small glowing or a few feet from Neco-Arc. The illusion in question being an exact duplicate of her Bag of Tricks.
"Let us see what will be next to come out of the infamous Bag of Tricks!" Fortune for Rena and Rock, she would reach into what appeared to be the duplicate.
"We got her! Follow me lead! Sorry, Neco-Arc but it looks like you chose…."
Rena Rouge flung herself at the chibi-cat, flute outstretched to attack.
"WRONG!"
Neco-Arc shook her head, not alarmed at all. "No, I didn't. I choose…" She would pull them pull out.
A cannon. Which made Rena Rouge's eyes bug out. And in true Neco-Arc fashion it wasn't an ordinary cannon. It was the…
"PROTON CANNON!"
Rena Rouge took the massive beam blast head-on and be sent rocketing out of the ring and into the portal.
Rock could only stare speechless at the small, petite chibi while she placed the giant cannon back into her bag.
This wouldn't go unnoticed by her. "Wondering how I saw through her ploy? Easy! I heard her and swapped the bags! Even if it worked, I know a trick when I see one! It's in the name of my bag!"
When Rock remained still in shock, she just continued rambling on. "I could eliminate you right now. But sadly the voters decided otherwise, so how about a brief truce? Let me help you get your elimination."
Rock still remained silent, and again Neco-Arc took this as an agreement. "Great! Now if memory serves me right, you were supposed to eliminate… oh yes! Remedy. Now just hold still while I…"
Neco-Arc would pull out another explosive barrel and hurl it at Rock, who only just then came to and futilely tried to block it once more.
Remedy was attempting to fight off Lord Raptor for eliminating Percival. She would shove a bouquet of flowers in his face, making him stumble back and choke on them as he did so.
That was when Rock would sadly slam into her, making her skid along the canvas and slide under the ropes to her elimination.
Rock would get back up with a groan, oblivious to his elimination. But not for long.
"Hey! Thanks for the assist! Now I can keep on rockin' while I wait for the next section!" Lord Raptor said with a thumbs up to Rock.
All Rock could do was sigh.
(Hotel; 30th Floor)
Vyse and the Security Team got off the elevator and hurriedly rushed over to Bison's room.
"Come on! The receptionist said at the end of the Hall!" Vyse told the others, not letting up on the running.
Meanwhile, watching them from another door, a man with the bottom half of his face burned off eyed them as they ran out of sight.
He held up a stone with a red-headed feminine figure projecting off from it. "The Security Team are actively seeking out Bison. This should prove worthwhile if they chase their tails after him. They'll never see us coming, Nitara."
The figure nodded, closer look would reveal a wide smile. "Indeed. They'll waste precious time fighting off Bison and his cronies. Leaving us to level them both once they are weakened. Your quest for anarchy will be seen, and sustenance for Vaeternus will be provided."
The man grinned. "In due time."
(The Arena)
Alex frowned as he raised his bulky arms to block a series of energy shots. However, Miles "Tails" Prower merely gave an annoyed scoff before flying over his rotating tails before flying around Alex and continued to run fire shots at the wrestler. However, the latter was quicker than he looked as he either moved out of the way of the shots or simply blocked it. However, being a Sonic character, Tails was moving faster than Alex and managed to catch him in the shoulder.
The moment that Alex dropped his guard, Tails opened fire with a series of shots from his arm cannon while striking Alex multiple times and after five hits, Tails flew straight forward and kicked Alex in the face with both feet. As the blond man staggered back, Tails temporarily put away his arm cannon to get out a wrench and swung it forward. However, Alex snapped out of his daze and caught the wrench with both hands before it could smash into his face.
Alex then slapped his head against Tails' own, knocking to the ground. However, the vulpine quickly recovered by spinning around and sweeping Alex off of his rear with his tails. As the wrestler fell onto his rear, Tails flew over and proceeded to spin around which struck Alex in the face with his tails multiple times. One final tailspin sent Alex sprawling on the ground. Tails then got out a wrench in each hand before throwing them both downwards.
However, Alex snapped out of his daze and managed to catch both wrenches with each hand. Tails just scoffed before he proceeded to throw even more wrenches at Alex. However, the blond man managed to catch each wrench one-by-one (while dropping the earlier ones to the ground with each other). By this time, Alex had managed to catch TWELVE wrenches without fail.
"Yo, I work on my car a lot!" Alex roared. "Do you really think that you don't know how to handle a wrench!"
Neco-Arc then smirked before looking at Rock. "See? While not common, you could still showcase your hobbies, now and then, even in a fight?"
The blond man slumped his arms. "...How many people in this tournament fight with wrenches?"
Tails ignored the two as he narrowed his eyes. "So you could take a few of my attacks? It still doesn't make you any less of a weeb-sympathiser for not only helping the white mage escape but also doing a crossover game against those Tatsunoko weebs!"
"Okay, this is fuc… Freaking ridiculous!" Alex muttered, mentalling reminding himself that Tails was a child. "Ignoring the fact that you rarely acted like this… Ever, doesn't YOUR node have anime influence."
Tails' pupils shrink when heard this. "What!?"
"But don't get so surprised. Your series has not only gotten an anime OVA but also a long-running anime!" Alex elaborated. "Hell, in the main series, Sonic basically becomes Super Saiyan! You are just as much of a 'weeb-appeal' character as the Dissidia and Tatsunoko characters here!"
Tails' eyebrow then started to twitch violently at this. Suddenly, he let out a large roar before a pale blue light surrounding him, startling Alex. Then, the light cleared and…
"...You gotta be shitting me!" Alex exclaimed with slumped arms, completely forgetting to mind his language.
Tails was now in a blue mini-plane. Sonic fans cheered as they recognised it as the Tornado.
"Maybe if you didn't spend so much time galavanting with weeb characters, you would have played the latest DLC for Sonic Frontiers and be more prepared!" Tails boasted.
With that, he flew the Tornado towards Alex. However, the blond man just narrowed his eyes before raising up his hands. Much to everyone's shock, Alex managed to not only grab onto the plane but also stop it from sending him flying straight over the ropes as while the struggle sent them skidding back with Alex facing the ropes, the latter managed to stop himself.
"Ha! Tatsunoko VS Capcom aka the 'weeb-appeal trap' you hated so much gave me the opportunity to suplex two building-sized robots!" Alex boasted with a smirk. "Your Tornado is not more than an overgrown toy plane! What do you say to THAT!?"
Tails narrowed his eyes.
Suddenly, he smirked. "What do I say? I'll say Cyclone Cannon."
Alex's smirk vanished when he heard this. Suddenly, the front of the Cyclone opened up to reveal a cannon. Alex's pupils then shrank at this as the cannon started to gather up energy.
"No, wait!" Alex pleaded.
But it was too late.
SZSZSZSZSZ!
A large beam of light shot from Tails' Tornado cannon into Alex and sent him flying until he crashed back-first into the barrier, protecting the audience from stray attacks. When the beam cleared, Alex peeled off of the barrier, losing consciousness and dropped into the portal like a stone.
Teruko swung Ganon's own sword at him. Well one of them at least. As evidenced by him pulling out another identical to it to struggle against Teruko.
"Didn't occur to you I wield two swords? How sad, now you will pay for it with.."
That was when Jeanne would intercept this with her flagpole, stabbing forward to Ganondorf's chest.
Ganondorf would yelp and glide back to avoid the stab. The unbecoming act and sound would amuse Teruko. "Not so tough when you get faced with a flag, eh, green face?"
The dark Gerudo huffed. "Easy to say when you aren't weak to Holy weapons, like the one your friend has here."
This was the time where Robert Garcia would clock him in the back of the head with a kick. Making drop to his knees where Jeanne would attempt to stab him again, only for the warlock to risk the burn and grab the flag push it and it's wielder into Robert. Who would only just manage to avoid puncturing his knee.
Ganondorf rolled to the side, where Teruko would again lock blades with him. This time attempting to kick him in the torso, but it had little effect due to his armor. All this really did was give him an opening to catch her leg and use his strength to flip her onto her stomach. Making her drop his sword.
Knowing there was no time to waste, the King of Evil shook the pain off his hands and grabbed his other sword just in time to deflect a series of rapid kicks from Robert. Once again Jeanne would come to swoop in and attempt to impale him, but again he slid back to avoid it.
"This woman. I have to get rid of her somehow. But that's the question. How?" Would be what Ganondorf would ask himself in his mind.
His answer wouldn't come right away, as Teruko had gotten back up and tackled him while he was busy thinking. Since he was caught off-guard she had managed to push him back several feet and even hold him in place.
"Get this asshole! Now!"
Heeding the Ultimate Lucky Student's words. Jeanne spun her flag and jumped into the air above Ganondorf, looking to bring his tournament crusade to premature end by impaling him.
But, true to the poor girl's luck. It had run out at this point, because Ganondorf would break free of her grasp and shove her into the line of fire instead.
Jeanne could only just position herself so the flagpole wouldn't spike her, but as a result of her momentum she would slam into her hard. And seeing as they were near the ropes, this meant Teruko fell through them and into the portal.
Jeanne could only gasp at her accidental elimination of her ally. Her shock and shame leaving her blind to the sound of a mini rocket coming up behind her. At least until she was picked up by the culprit.
Which was who, you ask? None other than Neco-Arc. The small chibi-cat shook her head while she hoisted her up with surprising strength.
"Sorry. But this was the best way I could think of going about this. Ah, well! Least you could say you got an elimination! Later!" The small chibi would pitch the blonde woman clean out of the ring with no hope of return.
Jeanne landed in World Heroes. Where she would spar with the Joan of Arc inspired fighter of that node.
Robert could only smack his head with a sigh. "You have to be kidding me."
Ganondorf could only laugh in response. "Your allies have deserted you. It was for the best. Who knows what carnage keeping an Ultimate Lucky Student around would cause."
Robert smirked at him. "We both know you couldn't do anything to Jeanne. Her flagpole made sure of that."
Ganon's pupils shrank in fury. "And this conversation is over."
The warlock briefly sheathed his swords to ignite his foot in darkness while blazing forward with it outstretched. Robert barely had enough to dodge, but doing so allowed him to climb up onto him and kick him away.
Rubbing his chin where he was kicked, Ganon grinned and got his Great Swords back out. He charged one up with his dark magic before flinging a concentrated orb of it toward Robert.
"Ryuu-Geki Ken!"
A fireball from Robert's own hand intercepted the dark magic ball. An explosion would ring when the two projectiles collided. And rushing out of the smoke was Ganondorf.
The Gerudo King unleashed a wild fury of slices from his swords. His furious swinging putting Robert on the defensive.
Despite his struggles at keeping up, the Italian lover of Yuri managed to avoid every single stroke. Letting him get a rising kick to Ganondorf's chin in, and he would follow with another fireball whilst in the air.
This still wouldn't be enough to daze the warlock. Who immediately rolled back to his feet upon hitting the canvas.
"Not bad. But I'm afraid you'll be leaving this tournament shortly."
Robert couldn't help but ask. "Oh, yeah? You think so?"
The man's grin grew. "It is a certainty."
Nothing was a certainty to Robert, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let this desert cactus say anything was certainty.
"Haoh Shoukou Ken!"
The fireball this time was massive and much faster, Ganondorf didn't have nearly enough time to move out of the way. Holding his swords up to try and tank the blow as much as possible.
This was his best shot, he knew it. Robert went over as fast as he could, ready to deliver the finishing string.
"How's this for certain!?" The man flung forward with airborne roundhouse kick.
Only to strike steel.
"Indeed, certain."
Before Robert could react he was tossed to the side. His error causing him to fumble his landing and fall to his rear.
"Goodbye."
Sheathing his swords, Ganondorf gathered dark magic into his hands. Leaping up and slamming them into the canvas. Creating a massive shockwave of darkness that caught Robert and launched him over the ropes and down to the portal. Limp as a sack of potatoes.
(Hotel; Bison's Room)
The entire room was in disarray. But that was a given. Both Bison's and Shao Kahn's teams had wrecked havoc on the very expensive décor and furniture. Not that anyone cared.
Speaking of the two warlords, they were currently locked in a power struggle whilst their underlings continued to fight. Bison locked his arms with Shao's hammer.
"Tell me, what do you gain from defeating me? I have no doubt the others don't the same way as they did long ago. Really you're wasting your time."
Bison charged his fist and punched forward, staggering the emperor. Just in time for him to avoid Kollector's spiked ball and chain which was aimed at Balrog, who gave a toothy grin and used his momentum against him. Pulling him in for a one-two punch.
Shao ignored this and held his hammer behind his head. "You really think so? If you do, your reputation must be starting to preceded you, or you are getting senile in your old age."
If his intent was to rile him up he succeeded. Bison would catch the javelin Shao would throw at him and hurl it at Kollector, who had just staggered into his range. Pinning him against the wall and allowing Balrog to relentlessly punch him until he was knocked out.
"Senile? I think not."
Meanwhile Vega ducked under a sonic scream from Sindel, tackling her and kicking the empress into the wall. She would only shoot the matador a pained smile.
"I hide behind no such masks. Your vanity undermines your own skill. It will be your downfall."
Vega rolled his eyes. "My dear, notice that I am ignoring you and your words."
He slashed at the purple-clad woman, catching her off-guard while avoiding her own attempts to counter with her spear. In fact, one more swipe and he had knocked it out of her hands.
They both looked at each other before Sindel lunged for her weapon. But Vega would beat her to it. Grabbing it and slashing her arm.
Sindel grinded her teeth to hide the pain. Then tried for another sonic scream, but Vega hopped over her and pulled her down. Taking her down and making her land on her head.
Vega chucked her spear at Shao, knocking his hammer out of his hands and allowing Bison to charge straight into him and then the wall.
Bison held his hand to the emperor's throat. "You don't know, but there is a reason I consider your move to be a waste of time."
Skarlet swung her blood scythe at F.A.N.G. a few times, hitting him each time. On the final hit she swung upward and carried him into a ceiling light and then through a small cabinet.
She moved to go help Shao, but Bison easily launched her away with a fireball. Shao focused his attention back to his captor.
"And what reason would that be?"
Bison leaned in. "I don't have a plan for dominion this tournament. I'm taking the night off. Simple, really."
Right when he was about to interject. Two small swirling tornados of sand would begin to encircle both him and Sindel like with Scorpion earlier. The act made both Bison and Began stop and let go of their respective opponents while Balrog merely looked on it dumbstruck shock.
"The Hell? What's going on?"
Neither had an answer as both were completely submerged with the sand, all the while not making any sort of sound. But when it all faded, two new but similar looking figures stood where they once were. Their eyes immediately met and shared a shared look of trepidation.
"Empress Sindel?"
"General Shao?"
Nobody would have a chance to say anymore as the Security Team busted through the door. But even they would all share equal looks of surprise at the scene before them.
"Damn! Does this mean there isn't an evil plot to stop?" One would ask in a sad tone.
"What is all this? Who are they?"
(The Arena)
Shen Long attempted to pounce on Ness, but the psychic boy glided back and gave him a few PSI sparks to the face for his effort.
The clone growled while clutching his face. "How's about you stand still and make this easy?"
His response would be a most profound one. "No."
He could only roll his eyes. "Yeah, thought so."
Ness avoided a kick from the purple-clad man, and went to go retaliate with his own powered kick. Shen Long would duck and uppercut him into the air.
Getting his bearings as he landed, Ness pulled out his yo-yo and smacked Shen Long in the shin with it. The older man hopped around on one foot before glaring at the teen. "We're getting' down to the nitty-gritty of this round. Not much people left, and it's only a matter of time. I gotta secure my place!"
Ness tilted his head. "So why continue to fight me? You've already got an elimination. Heck, better than you've ever done before."
The boy should be probably be fortunate the clone chose to ignore that part. "Yeah, true. But we haven't seen any type of screentime in years. Not to mention I hear there is a fourth Megamix Tournament happening and us Bloody Roar folk didn't get invited! What that host here gave us is a gift, and I'll be damned if I don't make the most of it."
The young psychic relented with a nod. "Alright, you made your point. Doesn't mean I'm not going to eliminate you though."
Shen Long nodded, smiling. "Likewise."
This time he'd try another running kick, and he was more than prepared to catch the yo-yo this time around. But Ness had other plans….
"PK Flash!"
Sliding right under Shen Long's legs, Ness cooked up another ball of light. The burst catching the clone and making him fall on his face.
Another low growl came from the clone, he turned swiftly to face his adversary and kick his leg out. Clocking Ness and enabling him to gather some leeway into this fight.
He'd try transforming again, but the effort exhibited with Nanase before would leave him with not quite enough to complete it. Slumping his body with a tired sigh.
"Damnit! It's been so long… why did I use up all that energy on pigtails!?" He cursed.
Ness then caught him with his telekinesis, holding the clone in place over his head. "I don't know. But, hey. You got one elimination, maybe you're fellow nodal companions will get more."
With nothing more to add, Ness telekinetically threw Shen Long out of the ring. The lack of purple coming back up signified to him that he was eliminated.
Shen Long landed in Ty The Tasmanian Tiger. Where he would serve as a great impromptu boss for the titular character.
Yatterman-2 narrowed her eyes before jabbing her electric rod forward. However, Pullum Purna smiled while humming and managed to dance around the incoming barrage, dodging every part. Yatterman-2 then tried a horizontal swing but Pullum did a flip to not only leap over the attack but also move over her opponent to kick the pink-clad girl in the back and send her staggering back forward.
Yatterman-2 quickly recovered before jabbing her rod forward, but Pullum spun around to avoid the attack before backhanding Pullum in the face. Yatterman-2 staggering back but quickly before swinging her rod like a baseball bat. Pullum then jumped backwards to avoid the attack. However, she was unable to avoid the ball of electricity that came from Yatterman-2's swing.
The projectile hit Pullum head-on, not only hitting her but zapping her. This allowed Yatterman-2 to run forward and did her barrage attack, this time hitting Pullum with all of the attacks. Pullum grunted in pain before Yatterman-2 went over to continue the assault.
"Pullum Kick!" Pullum yelled, doing a flip kick which struck Yatterman-2 in the chin and sent her flying into the air. As Pullum gracefully landed on her, Yatterman-2 crashed on her back with less grace. Pullum then jumped up into the air.
"Drill Purrus!" Pullum shouted, doing a drill kick forward. However, Yatterman-2 snapped out of her daze before yelping and rolling to the side to avoid the attack. The blonde then kicked Pullum in the side and sent the Middle-Eastern woman staggering to the side. Yatterman-2 then got up to her feet.
"I will not give up so easily!" Yatterman-2 yelled in determination. "Gan-chan is watching and I have to make him proud!"
Pullum raised an eyebrow. "I mean… You DID already get an elimination."
"Even still, I am the first representative of a node that probably wouldn't even be here if it wasn't our crossover with Capcom!" Yatterman-2 insisted.
"Yeah, I kinda know how you feel." Pullum sighed with a shrug. "Yes, the original characters of Street Fighter EX mostly have to have the Street Fighters do the heavy lifting for our node."
"In that case, we BOTH should give our best for our respective nodes." Yatterman-2 mused.
"Yes, let's." Pullum smirked.
With that, she jumped up into the air but Yatterman-2 thought quickly and swung her rod in an arc at Pullum. However, the heiress just giggled before JUMPING IN MIDAIR out of the attack. While Yatterman-2 was recovering from her own attack, Pullum swung both of her arms downwards onto Yatterman-2's head. While the mechanic was stunned, Pullum landed on the ground and proceeded to do a series of kicks, while dancing.
Yatterman-2 grunted in pain. "Omotchama! Help!"
"I am on it!"
Suddenly, a yellow blur came from Yatterman-2's back and punched Pullum in the face, forcing the Middle-Eastern girl to stagger back. When she recovered, she saw a tiny, yellow dice-like robot, flying using a propeller on his head. Pullum blinked twice before looking up at the Announcer's Booth.
"Um, is this allowed?" Pullum asked.
"Well, Omotchama IS part of Yatterman-2's moveset in Tatsunoko VS Capcom so as long as a separate character is part of someone else's move, they are allowed with the main fighter." Roxas explained.
Tails slapped his head. "Ugh, you mean we have to deal with MORE weeb-appeal characters!"
Yatterman-2 ignored Tails' outburst (she definitely didn't want to provoke into targeting HER next) and pointed her rod at Pullum. "Let's go, Omotchama!"
"I'm on it, da-koron!" The robot cheered before flying forward.
Pullum yelped before jumping to the side to avoid a punch from Omotchama. However, this left her wide open for Yatterman-2 to run forward and lunged her rod into Pullum, zapping her with electricity. As the heiress cried out in pain, Yatterman-2 continued the assault with a series of rod swings and kicks with Omotchama helping out by flying behind Pullum and doing some punches.
Then, despite being in pain, Pullum got out a tambourine.
"CYCLONE!"
With that, she did a pirouette upwards with green wind swirling around her, striking both Yatterman-2 and Omotchama multiple times and sending them back. The latter struggled to keep himself balanced while still flying. He then looked up.
To see Pullum pulling her tambourine over her head.
TONG!
Pullum then smashed her instrument over Omotchama's head, breaking it and trapping the robot inside of the tambourine. The robot was dazed by the attack, Pullum took the tambourine while Omotchama was still inside of it and turned towards Yatterman-2 who just now recovered and looked at the scene with shock.
"Hey, catch!" Pullum shouted with a smirk.
With that, she threw the tambourine like a frisbee towards Yatterman-2. The mechanic was not expecting this and took the tambourine and Omotchama to the stomach. This sent the two sprawling across the ground until they accidentally moved underneath the bottom rope.
"Winner!" Pullum cheered before getting out another tambourine out of nowhere.
Yatterman-2 landed in River City Girls where she and Kyoko gushed over their respective boyfriends, Gan and Riki.
Back in the ring, Pullum would look around and do a quick headcount of the fighters left. Thirteen. Just one more elimination was needed to end the section! Thrilled at the chance of surviving she turned to the last active fight remaining.
"Terra?"
When her name is called, the esper looked toward her ally. "Yes?"
Karin Kanzuki would sigh. "Can I just say? If we lose this, I'm never talking to you again."
Terra blinked. "I can't say I share that feeling."
Another sigh from Karin. "Well, I can."
Their current opponent, Kazuya Mishima, would state at the both of them with his arms folded, unimpressed. "Are you two done?"
The duo nodded, Karin in particular especially exasperated. "Yes, yes, let us begin again."
Almost immediately when they resumed was Karin put on the defensive, catching Kazuya's heavy punches in her palms was not a pleasant feeling. Thankfully, Terra was here to make sure she didn't have to keep her guard up.
"Tornado!"
Two tornados appeared under Karin and Kazuya's feet. Lifting them both up and into the sky, Terra rushed over to help Karin out and then turned their attention back to the helpless Kazuya.
"Worm!" Was all he could say before the tornado threw him to the ground. This gave both Terra and Karin the chance to attack, the latter going first by delivering a few punches to the man's face, and then a hard palm strike.
Now Terra would rush in with her sword, to a less successful result with her only grazing Kazuya's arms thanks to his holding them up in defense. He countered by kicking up high, throwing her off her balance and letting him get a devastating combo on her.
Then it came time for Karin to make the save, intercepting his next punch that would've launched her back not unlike what he did before. A punch to his face soon followed, followed by a jumping kick.
Rubbing his face, Kazuya didn't seem dazed much at all by it. Proven when he lunged forward and socked Karin with a electric-charged punch. The young lady fell to her knees.
"Holy!"
A bit different to the attack of the same name Aerith used to eliminate Velora and The Magician, but effective all the same. Terra pelted Kazuya with magical projectiles until he was wide open to being swept off his feet and pushed back with a lunging stab.
Terra turned to Karin again and helped her up. "A little more faith would do you good."
Karin nodded, looking away. "I suppose. But…"
Their attention turned back to Kazuya, who recovered once more rather quickly and was barreling towards them. A calmness in his expression betraying the absolute fury in his eyes.
A groan emitted from Karin. "Ugh! We'll be going at this well into the morning. We can't go on."
Karin's displeasure would be contrasted with Terra's smile. "I have an idea, you know what they say about limits?"
A lightbulb went off in Karin's head. "They're meant to be broken." The aristocrat smirked. "Limit Break?"
Terra nodded, a mischievous smile on her own face as well. "Limit Break."
Good to see they got on the same page quickly. Because here comes…
"DIE!"
Or rather it would've been. If not for Karin activating her Critical Art while Terra would enter her Trance Mode at the same time.
Karin broke through his guard and jabbed him with twin palm strikes after the other and then a high knee. "Ready?"
Terra, in Trance Mode, beamed. "Ready!"
"TORNADO!"
Unlike last time, Terra's attack summoned a massive tornado right in front of her. The start-up also signaled to Karin to let Kazuya go for a whirl now.
"This is for having an incredibly low skill ceiling! Anyone can pick up and play you to great effect with little effort!"
Tying up his arms, Karin spun them the other direction. Leaving him to spin helplessly in places at the tornado sucked him up.
Kazuya spun inside the tornado at an incredibly fast speed. Not for the faint of heart for sure. Spinning from side to side on top of already having been spun only ensured that his sense of direction and balance would be effectively neutered once the ride ended.
True enough, when he began falling to the ground his pupils were spinning in a loop rapidly. Not to mention he was holding his stomach and his skin was green. Effectively he was down and out for the count. And if now? He would be.
"Ohohohohoho!" Both girls laughed, surprisingly. But Terra would allow Karin the honors. With one small tap, Kazuya would fly back in a line right over the ropes and down to the portal. Way too dazed and nauseous to try getting back in.
The two girls would share a high-five at their victory. Uncaring as to who got the elimination in the end.
It would then dawn on them that the amount of fighters that the section was now over. As one quick headcount would yield to twelve. The amount of survivors required.
One look around would show Neco-Arc and Rock still fighting, or rather Rock chasing the chibi clone, Ness watching them contemplating whether to join in, Ganondorf looking around at his fellow survivors with his arms crossed, his intent and expression unable to be determined, Lord Raptor was off to the side playing some more tunes on his guitar while Scorpion would glare at him in annoyance for breaking his meditation, Aerith was staring pensively at Tails who was cleaning his arm cannon, Electivire was off on a turnbuckle recharging, and finally Pullum Purna was to the side dancing with her tambourine.
Roxas voice would interrupt any ideas or plans the survivors had on their minds. "Alrighty, folks! That's Section 1 in the books! Now just allow some time, a good few minutes max, no more than eight, to pass and we will get started on Section 2!"
The fighters all contemplated why a break would be needed. What exactly was going on…?
(RESULTS): (15 votes)
AERITH GAINSBOROUGH (D:FF) (13:2) = 11 (The Magician, Velora)
NECO-ARC (MB) (12:3) = 9 (Rena Rouge, Jeanne d'Arc)
ELECTIVIRE (PKMN) (12:3) = 9 (Forest Ledoyen, Enchantress)
TERRA BRANFORD (D:FF) (11:4) = 7 (Johnny Ohm)
LORD RAPTOR (DS) (10:5) = 5 (Percival)
GANONDORF (HW) (10:5) = 5 (Robert Garcia)
MILES "TAILS" PROWER (StH) (10:5) = 5 (Alex)
SCORPION (MK) (10:5) = 5 (Gozu)
ROCK HOWARD (KOFXV) (9:6) = 3 (Princess Remedy)
PULLUM PURNA (FEXL) (9:6) = 3 (Yatterman-2)
NESS (SSB) (9:6) = 3 (Shen Long)
KARIN KANZUKI (SFV) (8:7) = 1 (Kazuya Mishima)
(ELIMINATED)
YATTERMAN-2 (TAS) (8:7) = 1 (Rai)
SHEN LONG (BR) (8:7) = 1 (Nanase)
JEANNE D'ARC (F/A) (8:7) = 1 (Teruko Tawaki)
PRINCESS REMEDY (SC) (7:8) = -1
ALEX (SFV) (7:8) = -1
ROBERT GARCIA (KOFXV) (7:8) =-1
RENA ROUGE (M:ToL -N) (7:8) = -1
KAZUYA MISHIMA (SSB) (6:9) = -3
RAI (WW7) (5:10) = -5
TERUKO TAWAKI (D:DT) (5:10) = -5
THE MAGICIAN (RM) (5:10) = -5
VELORA (RR) (5:10) = -5
ENCHANTRESS (JLD) (4:11) = -7
PERCIVAL (GB:V) (4:11) = -7
FOREST LEDOYEN (TotT) (4:11) = -11
GOZU (KE) (4:11) = -7
JOHNNY OHM (MN:ROTI) (4:11) = 7
NANASE (UNI-B) (3:12) = -9
SIDE BATTLES:
"Big Bad Usurpation?"
M. BISON, F.A.N.G., BALROG, & VEGA (SFV) dispatch of GENERAL SHAO? EMPRESS SINDEL? SKARLET & KOLLECTOR (MK)
9 to 6
Where Did They Go?: You've probably noticed a number of eliminated fighters didn't have their elimination nodes shown. Well, there is a reason for that…
Rule Explanation: As far as ties go in UVR-Spinoffs, they are settled by entry order, with whoever entered later getting the higher spot. Thus, since The Magician entered after Velora, he will eligible for this twist while she will not be, sadly.