Chapter 34
Total Knockout

A fat black man opened the door to Ryu's room and called out to him, "Your name's Ryu, right? Your turn is next."

"Really? Great! I was looking forward to it!" said Ryu before he left the room.

"Follow this path to the fighting ring. Your opponent will meet you there," the man told him, and the latter did so.

In the fighting ring, Everdred said, "Next we have someone who says he believes that the answer lies in the heart of battle. Let us welcome Ryu!"

Cheers filled the air as Ryu stepped out and approached the fighting ring with a serious expression. Some of the people immediately recognized him as the vigilante who took on the Mad Sharks yesterday, and through that alone, he had already earned a number of fans.

From his room, Ken watched his TV and said, "Good luck out there, buddy!"

After Ryu got onto the stage, Everdred looked at the door opposite where Ryu came out from. "And on the other side, we have the most famous boxer from Turkey, Bald Bull!"

On the other side, a large dark-skinned man with almost no hair came out, wearing boxing pants and sporting boxing gloves on his hands. With his arms raised into the air, he let out an almost monstrous-sounding cry of excitement as people cheered for him.

From the TV in his room, Little Mac was surprised to see the boxer and said, "Bald Bull?! He exists here too?!"

The two fighters were now on the fighting ring, staring down at each other. "I'm going to eat you for breakfast!"

"I'm sure we will find time to eat breakfast after this fight," Ryu said in response.

BGM: World Circuit – Match (Punch-Out! Wii)

The referee told them to back away from each other, and they did so and also got into fighting stances. When the bell was run, signaling the start of the fight, Bald Bull took the first move. He lunged at Ryu and threw his fist, only for the latter to casually step to the side to dodge it. Bald Bull pulled more punches, but each hit missed Ryu, who dodged them by sidestepping like it was the easiest thing in the world to do.

"Stand still!" said Bald Bull in anger.

As if heeding what he said, Ryu didn't dodge the next blow but instead blocked the punch. Bald Bull continued punching, but each blow was effortlessly blocked by Ryu, who showed no sign of pain whatsoever.

"Argh!" Bald Bull pulled back a bit before lunging forward to throw a stronger punch, but Ryu dodged it while throwing a kick at his abdomen. "Oof!"

"My turn!" said Ryu before throwing a series of punches and kicks at Bald Bull that ultimately made him fall back.

Bald Bull also fell to the floor entirely, but he maintained his footing. "That does it! Take this!" said Bald Bull angrily as he moved back and pressed himself against ropes at the border. After pushing back as far as he could, he allowed himself to be ricocheted towards Ryu with his head lowered.

"It's Bald Bull's sigature move! The Charging Bull!" said Everdred in excitement. "One hit from his head can easily knock out a bull!"

Ryu dodged the incoming charging headbutt. Bald Bull ran to the other side of the ring and turned around so that his back was pressing against the ropes, and he pulled off Bull Charge again. Rather than running this time, Ryu performed a jumping roundhouse kick, hitting Bald Bull in the side of the head and knocking him down on his side.

Bald Bald grunted in pain as he stood back up to see Ryu charging up blue energy in his hands. "Hadoken!" shouted Ryu before shooting a blue fireball that struck Bald Bull with a force similar to that of being punched by a giant fist.

Bald Bull was pushed back into a rope and then bounced towards Ryu, who stopped him in his track with an uppercut to to the abdomen, followed by a jumping uppercut. "Shoryuken!"

SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!

BGM Ends

Bald Bull was knocked high into the air and fell back down just outside of the ring headfirst, hitting his head so hard that he passed out. Seeing this, the referee stopped the fight and pointed his hand at Ryu, saying loudly, "Winner is Ryu!"

"All right! Ryu won!" exclaimed Bay.

"Wow! He's strong!" commented Pepper.

"Really makes you wonder if he is human, shooting stuff like that out of his hand," said Rosanna.

"He defeated Bald Bull!" exclaimed Little Mac in his room

"Not bad for a human," commented Milk.

"I never doubted you, buddy!" said Ken.

Just then, the same fat black guy from before came into Ken's room and said to him, "You're up next."

"Oh, my turn? Great!" said Ken with enthusiasm as he got up and left the room, following the man's instruction to get to the fighting ring.

At the fighting ring, Everdred said as Ken appeared at the place, "Next up we have someone who made his name known recently as one of the vigilantes who took down the Mad Sharks! Let's give Ken a round of applause!"

Ken smile and waved at the audiences as they cheered for him, a stark contrast from Ryu's personality. After he made it onto the fighting ring, Everdred introduced his opponent. "He hails from Pineapple Island! Meet the biggest and heaviest boxer the world has ever known—King Hippo!"

A morbidly obese man wearing a crown stepped out into the room, letting out a loud burp as people cheered for him.

In his room, Little Mac was surprised to see that person. "King Hippo?!"

King Hippo made his way onto the fighting ring, and Ken said to him, "So you're my opponent, huh? I had experience fighting someone with a body like yours before. I hope we have a good match!"

In response, King Hippo simply laughed before burping again.

BGM: Minor Circuit – Match (Punch-Out! Wii)

When the battle began, Ken and King Hippo stared down at each other, waiting for each other to make a move. "You gonna come after me or what?" Ken asked King Hippo. The latter made a grunting sound similar to a burp while beckoning him to come forward. "So you're inviting me? Don't blame me then!"

Ken ran up to him and threw punches and kicks against his massive belly, or least tried to, because King Hippo brought up his hands and effortlessly blocked the hits. The fat guy laughed and then swung a fist at Ken at a surprisingly fast speed, but the latter was able to dodge it by the hair's breadth.

"Nice defense. I'll give you that," said Ken. "How about this? Hadoken!" He shot a fireball at King Hippo, but the latter was able to block it with his boxing gloves too.

Letting out a loud cry that sounded like a combination between a burp and a roar, King Hippo approached Ken and slammed down both boxing gloves. The latter jumped back, but was shaken by the miniature earthquake created by King Hippo hitting the floor. King Hippo approached him again and threw a straight jab that he dodged. Ken ran behind and kicked him in the butt with enough force to make him almost fall forward.

King Hippo spun around and roared in anger before approaching Ken while flailing his fists to hit him, but Ken easily dodged them while keeping a close distance, as if taunting him. "Too slow!" he said with a smirk. He then jumped up and performed an aerial roundhouse kick against his head, knocking him back.

In addition to getting a headache, King Hippo's boxing shorts fell down, leaving him only in his underpants. "What an embarrassment!" said Everdred. "You'd think with a belly like that, there will never be pants too loose for him!"

King Hippo desperately pulled up his boxing shorts, and Ken said, "If you're done, let us continue."

King Hippo cried out loud before running at Ken and flailed his arms, trying to hit him, but Ken either blocked them or dodged them. Eventually, Ken deflected an incoming punch, directing his fist in another direction, and then landed a kick to his belly, followed by more kicks while moving towards King Hippo and pushing him back with each hit.

King Hippo's boxing shorts fell off again in the middle of receiving the kicks, and Ken continued to kick him as he tried to pull them back up. He was eventually pushed close to the edge of the fighting ring and fell outside. The ropes were unable to keep him in because of his massive weight.

CRASH!

BGM Ends

"Ring out!" said the referee loudly, and then he pointed his hand at Ken. "Winner is Ken!"

Ken raised his arm into the air with a grin and said in a sarcastic tone, "I am soooo surprised I won!"

Having seen the fight from the TV in his room, Ryu said, "I'd be surprised if you lost."

"He managed to defeat King Hippo! Impressive!" said Little Mac.

Zangief had just finished watching the match from his room when he heard a knock on the door. Opening the door, he found a small robot with a round head. It said to him, "Congratulations on winning your match! As the victor, you have been granted an audience with Mister Monotoli himself! Please follow me!"

"Already? I thought it wouldn't happen until after the whole thing is over," said Zangief, and then he followed the robot, which moved in a wobbly and clumsy manner down the hallway.

They eventually arrived at a door at the end of an intersection, and it opened by itself. The two entered the room, and F.A.N.G was standing there. F.A.N.G clapped his hands as he approached Zangief, saying, "Congratulations on winning your first round!"

"Haha! It's not surprise that I win!" said Zangief proudly while flexing an arm. "I have confidence that I will win first place!"

"Regardless, we would like to reward you already for winning your first round. Consider it a form of motivation to get you pumped in making through the contest," F.A.N.G told him.

"I appreciate it! What will I get?" asked Zangief.

"This!" replied F.A.N.G before he swung his arms to release a large amount of blue gas from underneath his sleeves.

When Zangief breathed in the gas, he began to feel drowsy. "What… What is this…?!" he asked in shock. He tried to maintain his posture, but the drowsiness became so strong that after a few more seconds of fighting against it, he finally collapsed face first onto the floor.

F.A.N.G looked at him with an evil grin and said, "I hope you enjoyed this reward!"

"Huh?" Poli perked her head up and sniffed the air.

Noticing her behavior, Miranda asked her, "What's wrong?"

"I think I smell some kind of gas…" replied Poli.

Miranda sniffed the air as well and said, "I don't smell anything."

"I can smell better than other people, and I am very sure I smell some kind of strange gas coming from nearby," said Poli. She then walked in the direction the smell was coming from, with Miranda following her. They eventually came to the same door that Zangief and the robot went through. Sniffing the door, she said, "It's coming from behind this door. It's getting fainter, but I can still smell a small trace of it."

"Someone's probably just cooking using a stove in there, or maybe it's perfume," said Miranda. "It probably isn't anything noteworthy."

"No, it's neither of those. It's something I've never smelled before, and being a police, I can't let suspicious things go by unnoticed," said Poli as she pressed her ear against the door. "My instincts are telling me that something is going on behind this door."

Miranda tried opening the door, but it wouldn't open. "It's locked. Must be a staff only area. I think you're just thinking too much."

With one hand underneath her chin, Poli stared at the door with narrowed eyes. "Perhaps, but it's better to be safe than sorry… I'm not taking my eyes off this door until I know what's going on!"

"Next up is Ness versus Glass Joe!" said Everdred.

Cheers were in the air as Ness and a lanky man with boxing gloves made their way onto the fighting ring, the latter waving at the crowd as he did so.

"This fight should be very easy for Ness," said Little Mac in his room.

When Joe saw that his opponent was a kid, he chuckled and said to himself, "This should be easy!"

"No need to hold back, okay?" Ness said to Glass Joe. "I may be a kid, but I fight like an adult, so go ahead and give me all you've got!"

"Are you ready? Get ready…. FIGHT!" said the referee loudly.

When the fight began, Joe slowly hopped towards Ness and said, "Bring it on, kid! Show me what you've got."

"All right. Here I come!" said Ness. Channeling psychic energy into his feet, Ness propelled himself through the air and towards Glass Joe at a fast speed. He thrust his hands, which were also covered in psychic energy, at Joe's body, pushing him backwards into the ropes at the edge of the ring.

Joe spun comically against the ropes at a fast speed, and when he stopped spinning, he was seen tangled up in the ropes with a knocked out look on his face. The referee walked up to him and waved his hand in front of his face a few times before pointing at Ness and declaring him the winner.

"Um… That's it…?" said Ness in surprise and confusion. "One hit and he's out…?"

"That was fast…" commented Zwei.

"Either Ness is that strong, and that go is plain weak," said Ein.

Back in his room, Little Mac said, "I know Glass Joe is weak, but even he held up longer against me when we fought! This is embarrassing!"

The fat black guy then appeared in his room to tell him that it was his turn next. When Little Mac saw him, he was surprised. "Doc Louis!"

"How'd you know my name?" asked the man in surprise.

"Um… Because you're famous…?" replied Little Mac nervously. Inside, he felt disappointed this wasn't the same Doc Louis he knew.

"Huh, I didn't know I'm that famous. I did used to be a combat trainer, but that's all in the past… Anyway, nice to know that someone still remembers me!" said Doc Louis, sounding glad. "Anyway, you're up, kid. Somehow, I feel like I will take a liking to you already!"

"I'm sure you will indeed!" said Little Mac as he left the room and walked past him. As he was heading for the fighting ring, he came across Ness returning to his room and said to him, "Good job out there!"

"It was nothing. That guy went out in one hit," said Ness. "I still can't believe it…"

"That's Glass Joe. He's from my world, and he's… really not much of a fighter… Has no win records whatsoever, last I checked…" explained Little Mac. "So yeah, him losing is no surprise…"

"Then I guess I won the luck draw, fighting someone so easily defeated," said Ness. "Anyway, good luck out there! Oh yeah, saw anything suspicious yet?"

"Nothing so far, and I admittedly forgot that we came here to investigate in the first place…" said Little Mac. "Anyway, I'll keep an eye out on things when I have the chance."

The two parted ways. Ness returned to his room, and he saw on the TV Little Mac appearing on the fighting ring and being introduced by Everdred. Everdred then introduced his opponent, which made Ness said loudly in surprise, "Paula!"

Little Mac watched as a young blonde girl wearing a pink sport bra and spats got onto the fighting ring. "Paula? Isn't that the girl Ness is looking for? So she is in the tournament after all!" he thought to himself.

"It is said that Paula is a psychic genius, despite her age, so you better not underestimate her!" said Everdred.

"No need to hold back against me. I'm fighting to the my fullest and with the intention to win!" Paula told Little Mac.

"Feels weird fighting a kid, but since I have your consent, don't blame me," said the latter as he got into a fighting stance.

"Ready… FIGHT!" shouted the referee.

BGM: Strong One (Mother 3)

Paula covered her hands in psychic energy and ran towards Little Mac, attacking him with psychic-powered punches. Mac blocked with his boxing gloves, and he was surprised by how strong the punches were, as he took steps back from each hit. "She's strong! Must be her psychic power at work!"

Paula then delivered a slap that managed to send Mac flying to the side, but he was able to retain his footing and not fall over. Paula went after him with one fist pulled back, and Mac did the same thing, pulling back a fist to deliver a punch that collided her with "psychic boxing gloves."

"Whoa! Look at them go!" said Ein in excitement.

"Huh, looks like this will be a lot more exciting than I thought," said Rosanna with interest.

The two continued to trade blows with each other, and his room, Ness was in awe as he kept his eyes glued to the TV. "Wow! This Paula fights completely differently from the one I know! It's like he took fighting lessons from Poo!"

Paula and Little Mac continued to throw punches at each other for a while until the latter was able to score a hit across her face. Paula spun once as she fell back from the blow but retained her footing. As she look at Mac, the latter said to him, "Sorry if that hurt."

Without saying anything, Paula shot a miniature lightning bolt at him out of nowhere. Mac responded in time and stepped out of the way, and then Paula dashed up to delivered a psychic-powered palm thrust that he was able to block in time but got pushed back.

"You don't have to apologize. I said beforehand to give it all you've got!" said Paula in a fighting stance.

"Then I'm glad to hear you don't mind getting a beating!" said Little Mac before running and jumping at her with one fist pulled back. He swung down his fist, but she stepped out of the way before shooting a lightning bolt at him. Mac responded in time again and swung his fist at the incoming lightning bolt, resulting in a burst of fire that spread in every direction.

"Whoa?! What the heck was that?!" said Mac in surprise.

"PSI Fire!" said Paula loudly as she shot more lightning bolts at Little Mac, who moved around swiftly to dodge them.

"How is this fair? Paula can use projectiles, so Little Mac can't get close to her!" said Pepper.

"Little Mac is getting overwhelmed by her attacks! Can he overcome this? Is he at a disadvantage because of the lack of projectiles?" said Everdred loudly.

Little Mac bent down low and rushed forward, going underneath the lightning bolts Paula fired, and got close to her to attack with an uppercut that she caught off guard. She flew back into the air and landed in front of the ropes.

Paula got back up and took a deep breath before raising her arm into the air. "PSI Thunder!" A ball of electric shot out of her hand and moved towards Little Mac.

"What the?!" Little Mac hurriedly tossed himself to the side and turned to look at the electric ball as it made a u-turn to come towards him. He ran from the electric ball, which chased him around the fighting ring. All the while, Paula stood in her original position, with her hand pointing at the electric ball, controlling its movement.

Little Mac thought he could stop the electric ball attack if he attacked Paula, so he ran towards her and jumped away moments before the electric ball hit his back, causing it to hit her instead. Paula was struck by her own attack and flew back into the ropes. However, she had a smirk on her face as her whole body became electrically charged. "You shouldn't have done that!" she said.

The ropes then bounced the electrified Paula around the fighting ring at a fast speed like a beam of electricity, a sight that made Little Mac drop his jaw. Paula eventually collided into Little Mac, pushing him into the ropes. The bounced off the ropes together, and Paula used her psychic to levitate the both of them into the air. Swinging down her hand, she used telekinesis to slam Little Mac face first onto the floor below before dropping down on top of him to stomp him on the back.

"Ow! That's got to hurt!" said Everdred.

"Dang! Paula! You're vicious!" commented Ness.

Paula got off the seemingly unconscious Little Mac with a smug look, while the referee walked up to the latter and took a careful look at him. He was about to declare Paula the winner when suddenly Little Mac groaned while getting back up.

"Little Mac's up again!" said Zwei.

"He can still fight even after all that?!" said Pepper in disbelief.

"You can do it, Little Mac! I'm rooting for you!" cheered Bay loudly.

Little Mac panted heavily as he stared at Paula in a fighting stance. "You're tough! I didn't expect you to be able to get back up after that!" said Paula in disbelief.

"Yeah, my trainer said that to me too, as well as my opponents in the past," said Little Mac with a smirk. "I'm not someone to fall down so easily!"

"Then don't blame me if I hurt you even more than earlier," said Paula, getting into a fighting stance. She jumped at Little Mac and swung down a fist full of psychic energy, but the latter countered it by uppercutting her in the abdomen.

Paula flew back in the air and landed, but she hopped back up fast and then shot a snowflake-shaped energy at him. "PSI Freeze!"

Little Mac dodged it, and when the snowflake hit the ropes behind him, they froze in ice. Little Mac charged at Paula, who fired another PSI Freeze. Little Mac stepped partially to the size and thrust his fist at the incoming projectiles, intentionally allowing it to hit his fist. His boxing glove froze, but he continued moving towards Paula and smashed her in the face with the frozen boxing glove.

He then hit her in the body with an uppercut that sent her flying out of the ring.

SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!

BGM Ends

Paula landed on the floor on her back, and the referee looked down at her before pointing his hand at Mac and declaring him the winner. The crowd immediately went wild, clapping loudly and chanting Little Mac's name over and over.

"All right! He did it!" exclaimed Bay.

"That had me on the edge… I was worried Little Mac was going to lose!" said Zwei

Little Mac got down from the fighting ring and approached Paula, helping her up. "You all right? No hard feelings…" he said to her.

Paula smiled and said, "That was a good fight! Still a bit bummed that I lost…"

"On the bright side, your performance could be brilliant enough that you may still get rewarded. They said it's all about performance and not just winning!" Little Mac reminded her.

"Wow…! That was intense! Didn't think Paula had it in her… But then, this is supposed to be a different Paula... I think I better go check on Paula after this and tell her about how worried Marciana and everyone at Polestar Preschool is about her. And I gotta use the bathroom," thought Ness. He got up and left the room. As he was heading for the bathroom, he saw the same robot that led Zangief away walking down the hallway, and recognized what it was at once. "Isn't that the Clumsy Robot?"

Curious, he followed the robot, and he hid around a corner as the robot stopped in front of a door and knocked on it. Ryu came out and saw the robot, which said to him, "Congratulations on winning your match! Mister Monotoli would like to see you right now to reward you. Please follow me."

TO BE CONTINUED

I tried to make Everdred give lots of commentary on the fights like real life sports, but not only does that seem distracting, I also can't come up with anything to say.