Sonic & Sega All Stars: Subspace Unleashed

by TheFlyingRedJerk

In this action packed adventure, Sonic and friends face a new threat called the Legion of Subspace, who wants the seven Chaos Emeralds for world domination and to shroud the entire world in darkness. It's up to Sonic, AiAi, Vyse, Beat, Ulala, Amigo, Gilius and the other Sega Super Stars to save the world.

6. Chapter 4: Fights for a True Resolve

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a good one. It's been awhile since the last chapter, or more or less the Q&A. While I was slowly working on the new chapter, I was fully commit on finishing the archive of the whole original cut of the story which is now fully readable on Google Docs. Those that want to read it are best following my following my BlueSky Social account .social and I will personally DM them that. It's probably the only work arounds given the new rules. Anyways, we will see at least three fights in this chapter. It would had been four, but I thought of a better way to end things, you'll see why at the end. That said, let's see how everyone's favorite monkey fares against the king of the jungle for the first All Stars Tournament. Let's go!

The first round begins the moment the two hosts back up for the two competitors to kick off the first round. AiAi's gang and his other non-monkey fans would be curious if he has what it takes to beat his ground opponent before him. Lion wasted no time in crouching harder to prepare for the biggest pounce yet to surprise his foe. The brave monkey had no fear at all with the years he fought threats like Bad Boon and Captain Crabuchin that lead to this moment.

"Uki yeah," he whispered quietly to himself.

Lion makes the first move already with a short quick hop towards the monkey with claws ready to pin him down. AiAi immediately dodged it to cause his larger foe to slam onto the stone stadium floor with no avail. The monkey jumps into the air with one fist ready to punch his exposed backside, the feline warrior catching on to this trick. He immediately disappears from AiAi's sight, catching the monkey off guard with one big paw to smack his prey. AiAi blocks at the right moment, but still slams onto the ground from the hard force of his swipe, almost bouncing him near the edge of the ring immediately.

"Ooooki no!" MeeMee calls in worry.

"Don't you lose to that overblown kitty cat!" Amy cheered next to her.

"Hey!" Big said to her.

AiAi had a trick up his sleeve upon seeing the ring's edge by pulling out a banana peel. He would place it below his feet at the last minute to act as a stepping stool. He slips on the peel at the last moment, but pushes that momentum forward to fly back at Lion's giggling face. The king of the jungle noticed too late due to his overconfidence, getting a larger red fist in his face thanks to Big Glove power-up. The punch made him spew some saliva and slightly cracked his proud fangs a little, angering the Beast King to retaliate. He swung his head back to strike at AiAi again, who blocked his head with both enlarged fists at the same time. The fight truly got everyone on the edge of their seats with some amazed that this matchup was much closer than expected.

"Good job AiAi, way to go!" Tails cheered.

"You get that big scary lion, Mr. AiAi!" Cream called.

"Chao chao chaoooo!" Cheese followed up.

AiAi used his might to deflect the Lion's head in a powerful shove using both enlarged hands, leading the feline hunter to spiral backwards with his jaw agape. Gorilla would be angrily beating his chest before shaking the cage bars in rage at what he's seeing. The ape being more than disappointed that a non-Beast King is making an absolute fool of his long time rival before his eyes. His fellow Beast King peers would be just as outraged as they roared and screeched behind their caged spots to the annoyance of the attendants told to keep guard of them. AiAi gets back to his feet immediately, now opting to go for the Long Punch power up this time to prepare a long ranged punch for the spinning Lion before him. It wasn't until a mischievous glint would be visible in the warrior cat's eyes upon seeing the monkey strengthen his fist towards his face. Lion immediately starts spinning around where he is intentionally as he generates a solid red flame where his mane should be. The flames would soon catch AiAi's exposed long arm after the pounce barely missed his face for the tactic to work. AiAi's eyes widened immediately upon feeling both his light fur and his skin burn from the fire, snatching the long arm back while he could.

"Uuuuuuuuuukiiiiaaaaaaaa!" he yells as the fire now travels all over his body.

The monkey is left rolling around as fast as possible to avoid his favorite outfit being scorched or even overheating from the flames. Some members of the crowd would be shocked at such a situation, Lion's supporters laughing at how the primate is getting a taste of his own medicine. Sonic is left taken aback that this feline actually had some claws, and fire to be a challenge for his primate friend. Lion chortles at the amusing sight knowing that his fellow Beast Kings were cheering for his clever tactic.

"Looks like the monkey is cooking from the savanna king's flames. Can he recover from this one?" Cassy announced.

Helena would already notice the large feline getting into a pouncing stance once more. Lion would eventually launch himself and spiral towards the burning money as a flaming fireball at his smaller target. AiAi would still be rolling around to fully put out his flames with the incoming attacker coming his way.

"Eeek eek uki uki!" Baby screeches to call his father.

This would soon reach the monkey's large ears to hear out his infant son's warning. This sparked his desire to keep fighting despite the little fire still on the seat of his pants as he saw the incoming Lion. He would get into a stance that seems familiar enough to his monkey allies that they knew what plans to do next.

"What does he plan to do next?" Amy wondered.

He soon spins around fiercely with the force of a tornado for the famed Typhoon, a technique normally done to repel other Monkey Balls and attacks to defend. The whirlwinds would pick up enough to start flinging small debris from the stadium floor with AiAi's crazy technique. This would cause Helena and Cassy's clothing to flutter from the growing forces of the winds to their surprise. Lion's flaming body would soon be snatched by the typhoon which spun his body around as fast as possible to disrupt his own momentum. His flames would also die down due to the winds forces stopping his mane from overheating any longer.

"Way to go, AiAi!" Sonic exclaimed. "Mr. AiAi is doing a good job at stopping that mean lion's flames," Cream cheered.

"Eeekyeah!" Meemee screeched with joy.

AiAi would soon ride the winds to reach a higher point where Lion's body had fully risen with both fists ready to beat down his trapped prey. Ostrich squawks in confusion at how a little monkey is proven to be this much trouble to a well known rival. The Lion still roars in a mix of confusion and fear as he spins around at the very top of the winds. AiAi eventually makes it out of the mouth of his own winds, now ready to punch with everything he's got within his gloved hands.

"Eeekekekekekekekekekekekekekeke!" he yells within each flurry of punches he fired at the body of his larger target.

Blow to blow, the feline hunter felt every hit bruise his thick fur and eventually his bodily muscles, snarling and wincing in pain. GonGon gets up from his seat, passionals cheering on his smaller simian pal, as YanYan supportively cheers him on. Even the smartest of the bunch Doctor couldn't process how well thought out this battle tactic was for his younger ally. Palette is still happy that even if she just joined the group, AiAi still remains as impressive as ever since their last journey to find the Legendary Banana. Jason is left floored at what he is seeing, almost dropping his glasses off his face in the overcoming shock.

"Never underestimate a brave strong monkey like AiAi. This could be an easy victory for him in no time," Tails adds.

The final punch sends Lion flying towards the ground at a fast rate to fully disperse the whirlwinds, almost destroying the hard stadium floor below him that almost made the two hosts fall from the impact. This left the panting monkey more than exhausted that he gave it his all for this finishing blow from above.

"Uki? Ukikiyu?" MeeMee says, wondering if this was the end of the match.

"I hope so too, Meeker. There's no way that maned kitty is still going to fight after that hit," Amy replies in worry.

Sonic still keeps his eye on the dust clouds from the impact to really see if the fight was truly over. The audience and even recorders were all still wondering if this was the end as the small monkey slowly descended back toward the lower level. Suddenly, a massive roar would be heard from the dust clouds, now angrier than ever at what happened with him. This almost started AiAi into losing his cool knowing his best effort still wasn't enough. The massive predator immediately pounced out of the clouds directly past AiAi with glowing red eyes to simulate his bloodlust reaching its peak. The monkey is soon clawed at his body viciously from the attack, a rare sight to behold of his overalls now ripping from the sharp claws and monkey screaming in actual pain from the cut.

"What? He still isn't down?" Jason exclaimed.

The lion then launched himself at AiAi again for another deadly slash, this time exposing his vulnerable backside with the overall's seat no longer covering it.

"Ukauuuuu?" Baby exclaims in fear.

Soon what they would see is the now vicious predator shredding the monkey's vulnerable body with various lightning speed classes as he zips around at blinding speeds. Not even the hosts has anything to say about this now dangerous situation ensuing. Gilius couldn't believe his eyes of what he was seeing through the magic portal at his friend's brutal beatdown.

"That's not looking good at all. There's no doubt that little monkey will be nothing but shredded bush meat with that level of slicing winds," Futuba says, the rest of Cafe LeBlanc looking speechless.

Joker had a feeling that fights like these could get out of control when televised, which would only be the beginning of what to expect for the rest of the tournament. "Get out of there AiAi if you want to live! It's like being trapped with a deadly beast that wants to make you their meal!" Amy called him. The monkey is still screaming in pain and agony within each slash happening all over his body to hear his friend calling him. Of his many adventures, he was never this truly hurt as he always stays within his Monkey Ball for safety. Not even Bad Boon nor the Space Pirate Monkeys would go this far to hurt him, even if the former's attempt to boil him into a soup.

"Unless he forfeits any time, this will not just be a loss. But a possible massacre. I can't bear to watch," Tangle cried.

Even knowing her own fair share of trauma of losing her original crew members, Whisper couldn't bear to utter a word and struggles to even say anything in the midst of this. The lemur could tell such a sight wasn't anything her partner wanted to bask in knowing her history. Palette however, unlike her other friends, had faith that their banana loving leader should have a trick up his sleeve rather than being too terrified at the punishment he's taking. It was a gut feeling she had given her days of stealing anything that caught her eye no matter the costs.

"Ukekekiyu, ukikeki," she says.

This is when MeeMee and the others would wonder why their red furred friend is suddenly confident. Even as the smartest monkey, Doctor didn't know if he could refute her claim that AiAi wouldn't lose this fight. She then points out how AiAi still has yet to use his famed Monkey Ball yet in the midst of this fight outside of his entrance. GonGon even wonders if what she says is true nor if the Monkey Ball would turn the tides on such a deadly predator.

"Huh? Ukikiki kuah ukiah!" he demands.

It would eventually be correct as moments before Cassy tries to interrupt the fight by demanding a forfeit, something magically happens before Lion could strike him again. The famed ball would finally appear to deflect his claw slash at the right moment, that's due to AiAi chanting the Ei Ei Poo spell at the right moment to make it appear. He's barely unscathed with his overalls now sore and body covered in cuts, and bruised face; but more than willing to end this fight sooner than later. The angry beast still snarls as he attempts to strike the ball regardless of how he changed in battle.

"Eeek eeek yeah!" he calls while using the Big Ball.

This power up not only grew the ball twice in size, but made it harder enough to take the next attack. Now Lion's beloved claws were broken to the point of causing the beast to roar loudly in pain from his powerful weapons being disarmed. Some of the women in the crowd couldn't help but to wince knowing that pain of broken nails and how it affects the fingers' pain receptors.

"Way to go AiAi! Turns out you were right all along, new money," Tails cheered.

"Uki ukii Ukikette," Doctor corrects Tails on Palette's name.

"Ukiyuh!" MeeMee adds.

The fight was far from over as AiAi, despite his injuries, rolls in his Big Ball to dive directly at Lion immediately to hit his exposed underbelly. This caused the formerly fearsome predator to bug his eyes out comically and cough a massive amount of saliva. This surprised some of the other Beast Kingdom animals below, but mostly annoying Gorilla and Elephant the most as his closest rivals. The former especially would be angry enough to bend the cage bars slightly from seeing this humiliation for his animal sparring pal.

"Get em AiAi, roll into him!" Amy called.

AiAi's grin despite his injuries shows the heroic monkey is more than willing to finish things with his best and biggest weapon yet. Using his Hoverball, he rams even further into the Lion and directly at the stadium floor in the blink of an eye thanks to aggressive rolling. He continues rolling into him even after the hit to further grind him into the stadium floor, the beast still gagging and yowling from his vulnerable predicament. Gorilla growls and beats the cage harder than before to motivate him to get back to his feet at all costs instead of failing this fight.

"Ignore that smelly ape, AiAi. You can do this! Even Zobio is on your side!" Zobiko called from the benchwarmer's spot.

Even the other zombies groaned in support beside her and Cyril to rouse top more support. This would surprise some of the human audiences, but otherskdn't care as rooting for the money hero would be their main goal. More people would be cheering in unison. Or even holding AiAi signs to motivate the popular monkey even further to win. Amy's group would be surprised that many were all on the monkey's side and fully wanted him to best the flaming king of the jungle. Lion wasn't giving up as he would use his hind legs to try kicking AiAi off of him fully, even with the Hoverball still activated.

"What's this? He reflected the attack like that. Looks like this fight isn't over yet!" Cassy announced.

Lion would instantly ignite his mane against and roll at him as a spinning fireball to attack him immediately. AiAi instantly uses the Invisiball to seemingly disappear before him. The flaming Lion would pass directly where the monkey should be, but didn't feel anything to collide into at all. This left him wide open for a surprise straight by the invisible monkey in his back without warning. The crowd instantly started to cheer for AiAi's end to rally the monkey for his next big move with the African predator confused on his target's whereabouts. AiAi reappears above his head, now with a Bomb Ball to roll directly at Lion's exposed head for the explosive finale.

"Uki kiki yeeeaaaah!" he cries.

The big cat briefly saw this before shrinking his irises in fear. The end result is an explosion that blows a massive gust of winds at the very crowds before them. Amy, Cream, and Big shielded their eyes from the impact as best as they could. Jason struggles to put his glasses back on after the force almost pushes them off of his eyes. Cheese and Tails would be struggling to stay from flying away thanks to this method. All of AiAi's jungle buddies would be fully racing themselves with no room to activate the Monkey Balls within their seats, GonGon's size making it easier for him. Sonic would be left looking around the dark smoke from the commentator balcony to see if he survived the tactic at all. Both referees Helena and Casey still kept their distance on the off chance both competitors would fully fall back to the stadium from the impact.

"What?" she says in surprise.

AiAi would be slowly carrying a defeated Lion with his open Monkey Ball acting as wings. This sudden sign of sportsmanship would be rare out of him that he'd willing to gently place the larger opponent down despite his size. He grits his teeth as he helps the nape of the lion's neck despite struggling. The life in the Lion's eyes would be gone as his jaw hangs out with his tongue rolled out. Two clear signs that the fight would already be over before it even began. MeeMee and Amy were more than glad that he's showing respect to his opponent even if the fight was over.

"Monkeys caring for lions? What's next, birds caring for pigs? Like that's ever going to happen," Red complains.

However the other birds would be surprised that such a brutal fight ended in an almost wholesome way despite the outcome.

"Way to go, lad. Your experiences with us sure came through in the battle," Gilius said as he watched the magic portal.

"Good job, little buddy. You did swell for your first fight," Sonic says gratefully.

The whole scene would be interesting as AiAi continues carrying the defeated Beast King in battle. Just the sight alone would infuriate Gorilla enough that he starts beating on the cage harder than before with ferocious hoots, this time doing significant damage to the cage. Several crew members would be concerned about what will happen if they don't intervene with the overgrown ape trying to beat his way out of the cage.

"Looks like we'll need to get the tranquilizers ready, send in the Animal Control!" a man called on a walkie.

The Gorilla was only going to beat the steel bars even harder as a Beast King falling in battle is a disgrace, especially for Lion being his main rival. The crowd would be concerned with what's going on as they didn't expect such cadres to hold these powerful savanna animals forever. Miku knew it would be best to calm down the audience before announcing the first victor yet.

"Everyone, please remain calm. Our best animal experts will arrive soon to sedate that unruly ape before he tries breaking out. We'll make sure all attendees are completely safe and unharmed," the Vocaloid pleaded.

Cassy however knew it was best to solve this situation first before moving on to the next competitor, calling through her own device to speed things up. Unlike everyone else, Sonic had a feeling the Gorilla meant no harm, but he's more upset at someone he considers his pal losing. But to everyone else, especially humans, a large powerful ape is seen as too dangerous to be free in his emotional state. Ostrich and Elephant try to calm their unruly partner in their own ways, but one's futile squawks and trumpets wouldn't get through to the ravaging ape. GonGon being the observant one of the group knew that the Gorilla was more than upset, not at AiAi, but seeing someone he admires for his strength falling to someone who's not of the same rank.

"Uki ukeke ukinono keh," he spoke solemnly.

Amy and Jason would be wondering what the large primate meant by his serious words. MeeMee and Doctor knew what he means, knowing the situation is tragic as non-primates won't understand the emotionally distraught ape's feelings. Swarms of men in uniforms armed with tranquilizer guns would be entering the stadium from the left going for the beast that's moments away from breaking out from his cage.

"Remain calm, we will sedate the animals and remove them from the stadium completely, that way we can guarantee everyone's safety. With that said, the winner is AiAi from Monkey Island, who gets to progress to the next match in the future!" Cassy announced.

Everyone will still hold off on congratulating the winner just yet, even after AiAi gently sits the defeated Lion on the stadium floor for safety. He jumps off eventually with his Monkey Ball put away moments before Gorilla finally bursts out of the cage in his rage.

"Aaaaauuugghhh!" the frightened monkey yelped.

The Gorilla charged at him as fast as he could angrier than ever despite the many tranquilizer darts fired at his arms. It wouldn't be long until he started to slow down and lose his senses the moment the drugs slowly started to affect his body despite his strength. Tripping over his leg and falling over moments before he can reach the edge of the stadium would just be the beginning. The other freed animals would also be sedated by the shots despite them still watching their comrade in concern.

"That was quick, they are already putting the beasts to sleep. But some of them looked less aggressive than the gorilla, anything to make everyone feel more comfortable for the event," Tails sadly said.

He can tell that even looking at the Curien Mansion creatures below and Zobiko, that things had to stay completely safe to avoid issues with AMS. Even the zombie wife knew clearly that this is what to expect if her and the other bleached zombies ever were to leave their designated area. One by one, each of the animals would fully collapse from the powerful drugs that entered their nervous system with the animal control's efforts completely. Not even the hardy Elephant's hide was enough to protect her as clearly these were made to be twice as powerful than the average pachyderm tranquilizer to guarantee putting even the mightiest member's of the animal kingdom into a deep sleep. This left a still struggling Gorilla reaching out his hand for his lion rival despite his arm feeling heavier and he hurt from the drugged sedation. MeeMee would already be in tears since she finally understood just what the ape's intention was rather than harm AiAi. Amy felt less angry overtime and now felt a clear sympathy for an animal that simply wanted to comfort a fallen friend than being a threat to the people in the stadium. AiAi would watch as the ape's hand reached over for the defeated feline rather than to hurt him using what little strength he had. Being the most observant of the Phantom Thieves, Joker knew all along that the ape simply meant no harm at all and just wanted to give a long time rival a good thanks.

"The public may not get it, but the big guy wasn't going to hurt anyone. They knew the risk in hosting a tournament with so many third parties involved who never participated before. This is just the beginning, but congrats on Morgana's friend winning," Joker says solemnly.

The black cat would be more confused by Joker understanding all of this than simply being lumped as AiAi's friend for a past adventure he had with him. The rest of his friends at Cafe LeBlanc would only ponder their leader's words as the broadcast shows many crew coming along to carry the large animals off the stage immediately. The heavier ones needed the help of two certain skunk brothers Rough and Tumble, who were now reformed as security and stadium crew members for the event. Sonic couldn't help but to smile seeing two familiar faces now being better men than the days of being grunts used in Eggman or Clutch's schemes anymore. Being the emotional brother, Rough couldn't hide his tears within his red eyes since he understood well the gorilla only wanted to console his fallen friend rather than hurting anyone. AiAi watched as many human crew mates and even GUN robot's helped in hauling each of their sedated beasts to carry off the stadium. He really ponders just what could have transpired this event, feeling his victory was hollow and ended on a sour note. Lion being the last to be carried off while he had little chance to move again from his own loss. Sonic watches from above as each and all of these now sleeping animals were being carried out of the area thanks to the efforts to keep this event safe for the crowd involved. GonGon further shakes his head just seeing everything transpire, knowing well what the risks of getting involved with humans were outside of their home. Eventually everyone would feel it was time to start clapping now that the situation was handled and it was time for the next match to advance. AiAi didn't even feel like celebrating since he understood that his opponent's friends had to be removed from the show over a misunderstanding. He would be approached by Cassy, who reached out her hand to congratulate the winner of the show's opening match.

"Our winner of Round 1 is AiAi from Monkey Island, who's ready to progress to the next round. Those who participated will head back inside for the needed medical treatment as we want everyone to fight at their strongest. This is only the beginning!" she announced.

AiAi is still left unsure of what to think, but decides to look at his friends cheering him on for his victory. MeeMee, GonGon, Palette, and Baby would be cheering the hardest for their friend who more than deserved the win despite the unfortunate ending. Bashful, he chuckles as he brushes the back of his furry head one final time moments before the crew arrives to fix the stadium. He respectfully scuttled away while he could to let the crew do their job at reshaping all damaged stone for the next round and into the dark door.

"Good job AiAi! And I especially hope those beasts can hopefully be treated well during their time out," Tails said.

"I'm just ready to see Akira fight already. I didn't come here with my sister for nothing. They better bring out the Virtua Fighter champion!" Jacky called.

"Patience, only the announcer and hosts can decide on who gets to fight next. Akira will get his time to shine soon," Pai Chan said to the loud American.

"I'm more curious about what Alex Kid and our other old friends will do in a battle. Not that I mind seeing what other new faces will do when their turn is up," Amy says with a smile.

"Hopefully less intense than the last since that mean lion was scary. I'm not sure if I can take any blood," Cream adds in worry.

"Chao chaochao," Cheese chirps.

"Trust me, you can expect more soon. At least depending on who wise will be next," Jason says in relief.

"Pipe it, let us not get too pessimistic and be hopeful for Cream's sake," Amy barked.

"Agreed. Think about poor Froggy too," Big says, looking at how uneasy his polliwog pal was.|

"Oooh ooh, kikiooooh," GonGon adds with Big's statement.

He is more than protective as the uncle figure to Baby who's still a young monkey despite his tech skills and time traveling. MeeMee is glad that the big primate knew how to be that voice of reason in the group. Within the dark corridors, someone would already meet AiAi on the other side with his hand ready for healing. He's a fairly androgynous man from the Algol System who's here to heal all fighters after they compete, removing all traces of deep claw gashes and beatings the monkey received from his fight. The monkey would grow surprised at how instantaneous the process was when this magic is all strange to him as an Earth dweller compared to this mysterious man.

"You can now rest easy, friend. I wish you luck in your next match in this tournament. Usually I'm not the type that encourages this sport," the mysterious man said.

Thankfully, he hoots after doing a victory dance to flex his now healthy body and ready to roll into the next round. Speaking of, Miku already projects the screen to showcase all of the fighters in order for the event to move along. The first two were just the beginning when twenty eight fighters remained for the first preliminaries. Many visitors from all over and even certain heroes would be truly curious of who could be next in the line up. Cassy would hold the mic in her hand now that it would be time to keep the show going, Helena more than ready to assist when necessary.

"Next round is going to be a real exciting one, folks. We can hope you all are ready to keep this moving for the rest of the day. Those who were lucky to bet on our previous winner should be expecting so much in their bank. Reminder that anyone can bet on any fighter to win some or lose some as we want this tournament to also benefit our fellow betters here!" she announced.

A good deal of the crowd who did bet on Lion would be losers as they simply underestimated AiAi too much unlike the diehard AiAi fans that truly believed in the powerful monkey to win their earnings. Sonic could only shake his head sarcastically that so many basically wasted money for not being true believers in his friend's fighting prowess. One guy would be screaming as this meant him winning a solid five grand as he's been meaning to go on a vacation when this event was over. This slightly amused Amy as she truly believed luck would be on the side of those that earns it, according to her own intuition.

"It sure would be nice to win some of that money. But I'd rather not lose it all as money is a responsibility than something to lose," Jason laments.

"In case you aren't aware kiddo, only legal adults can be betting on fights. Have you ever been to a horse racing event? You only have a few more years before it's your time to shine," Jacky teased before rubbing the nerdy teen's hair playfully.

"That's enough Jacky. I think you should be aware that you are an adult and not a child," his stern sister warned.

Pai-Chan for once agreed with Sarah as Jacky can get carried away with his carefree nature and jokes in any event.

"Honestly, no one should think about putting their money towards anything. You never know if you win or not, and frankly it's all about fun to support an event hosted by Sonic. This is just a bonus to keep the big spenders seated if this isn't their cup of tea," Tails explains nervously.

"My mother always taught me to always save and be responsible with money at a young age. She knows best after all," Cream adds to the conversation.

"It's why you, her, and Gemerl live in such a nice fancy house. Unlike the jungle shack that Froggy and I are happy to live in," Big says sheepishly.

The next match would be picked which would be quite an unorthodox one, the two mugshots being highlighted on the roster being that of the famous mascot superhero Pepsiman and the very American cowboy Pole. This would be a true match up that leaves many scratching their heads at how exciting this matchup would be. However the many die hard Pepsi enjoyers and fans of the hero had their faith that this would be an easy match for the hero against some nobody gunslinger. Amy and the others would be unaware of what to think due to not knowing these two super well unlike AiAi. Speaking of, Sonic did a nervous chuckle knowing the product placement celebrity is next to show off his own strength in a fight.

"This ought to be good. Had a feeling he was next. I hope Akira is watching so he knows how to deal with him," Jacky says.

"Given his former loss against the two time Fighting Vipers champion, it'll be interesting to see how much stronger he's gotten since then," Pai Chan adds.

"That crazy drink mascot must be strong if he's got this much support other than just being a walking brand for a drink. I'm more partial to Chaos Cola myself," Amy says without care.

"I think if he really did improve since losing to Bahn, he could make it quite far. I do have my doubts he would be the winner or have a chance to face Sonic," Tails suggests.

"I wonder who that Pole guy is. I never heard of him and is bringing guns to the tournament legal?" Cream wondered.

"I think they clearly said as long as it's a part of their arsenal and not outside interference, it's fine. Not that I am concerned since guns are the least threatening thing to any superhero. Pepsiman shouldn't be no different," Jason says after adjusting his glasses.

Miku instantly disappears to make way for the fully fixed stadium floor for the competitors to arrive, leaving Helena to take the mike away from Cassy to announce the incoming round. The crowd truly went wild whether they heard of Pole or not because they wanted to see the famed Pepsi icon take him out in this next round.

"In the left corner, we have an icon hailing from Japan inspired by the things we love about superheroes. With his never-ending running, durable body, and endless chill that truly makes him Pepsi Incarnate. Never giving up and wanting to face his longtime rival Bahn once more. Give it up for the one and only Pepsiman!" The DOATEC host announced with vigor.

What soon follows is a sudden blaring of a familiar theme that many would know too well from the commercials and a cult classic video game featuring the hero that truly excited crowds. Many would know this too well to start humming the theme along with them or even breaking out their Pepsi drinks to start raising them. Sonic knew everyone would be showing too much fanfare when they had to play his theme song to start a new match, lowering his eyelids in lack of amusement. She could tell that someone was coming based on the dramatic build up and hearing someone running within the dark door on the other side of the stadium. Constant running would be heard that's heavy to match his special alloy skin and heavyset body for a truly indestructible hero of thirst. He would be heavily breathing within each run as he followed the light to reach his adoring fans that awaited his grand appearance for the fight.

"Pespiman!" his fans cheered altogether to motivate the incoming hero.

He would be running twice as fast to try reaching the stage fast enough, chugging his own can of Pepsi to give him the needed fuel for his first ever fight in this tournament.

"Pepsiman!" the same fans cried louder than before, some almost spilling their own open drinks over other audience members.

Amy and Tails would also be feeling the same way as Sonic knowing it's too much fanfare for one opponent. Cheese would already be covering his ears as Cream comforted the disturbed Chao. Even Froggy was getting skittish that Big had known the crowd would be getting too loud for him. Jason would be the least surprise since any superhero nor product celebrity is bound to get this much buzz at events like these, but awaits his arrival on stage. Pepsiman finally leaps from the very door at a far distance that truly caused the crowd to go wild at his majestic flashy entrance to the fight. He struck a pose that almost felt like he would be riffing on the unamused hedgehog but with his iconic thumbs up as he flew toward the very host awaiting him.

"He stole that from Sonic! What a show off," Amy shouts.

He finally lands directly in front of the two ladies that awaited him, jumping back a fair distance to give them some room and striking another pose. This time being a pose his co-star Diet Pepsi-Man would do, complete with the "No!" And outstretched hand waving to truly show off his charisma.

"Pepsimaaaaaaaaan!" the entire crowd cheered upon seeing that.

This would lead most of the Phantom Thieves within Cafe LeBlanc speechless at what they are seeing or the fanfare for such a showoff. Being Japanese, they knew him well enough to see how ads of him used to be everywhere in their part of town or how annoying the theme song got after a while. The only one being level headed being Morgana as he simply sees the display as kind of cool. The Birds would be just as confused at what they were watching, some wondering just what he was supposed to be at all. Red's eyebrows twitched slightly at what he's trying to process at all, even Bomb and Chuck being agape at the over the top sight at the tournament.

"What the flock am I watching? It's like those circuses those humans love so much," he exclaimed.

Pepsiman would continue posing and flexing for the many audience members taking their best camera shots of the famous hero and still roaring with excitement for his first fight. However, Cassy feels it would be best to show some excitement for his opponent than this much focus , ordering Miku to simply cut the theme song short. Helena knew it would be best to move along despite the disappointed audience members that wanted things to keep playing.

"In the right corner, we have quite the oddball being an American from Arizona who went through the strangest adventure ever. He's the straightest man in any comedy scenario, but a toughest, roughest cowboy who fought the strangest foes all the way to the moon. Rescuer of his sweetheart Sharon, and fighter of poachers, give it up for Pole!" she announced.

An 8-Bit tune would begin playing reminiscent of the old west in the famed Southern state to start making things more even. Some would be confused as to why something outdated would be playing in what's supposed to be a tournament, however old school gamers and fellow Arizona residents would be enjoying the tune that plays. Even Jason would be humming along with this to Amy and Tails' amusement despite the clear confusion in the air.

"I don't know, this gives me a Fix It Felix Jr. vibe. Or maybe I don't keep up with much of the oldies," Jacky stated.

Cassy however would be clearly enjoying this more and not just because of her cowgirl persona, but more her has some nostalgia for the old west herself being one to prefer those states in the US. Pepsiman would be patiently waiting for who his first opponent would be as he watches the dark door on the opposite side of the stadium. He would soon start to show himself in the flesh, appearing to be the famed cowboy dressed like most would, but the twist of having his artillery shells all over his white suit and a larger gun you wouldn't see ones of the old West packing. This one being more of a pump action rifle than an older revolver, let alone a modern pistol anyone would have access to. He's true to being an American bearing arms and looking the part that some clearly saw him as the ideal American citizen. His beautiful blonde girlfriend Sharon would be amongst the crowd, wearing a revealing blue dress you would see in a parlor show that also suits the part of town he was from.

"That's my big strong Pole! You show that walking soda pop buster who's boss!" she cheered loudly.

She would be beautiful enough that some men would be leering their eyes at her for also being the ideal American woman, much to Pole's dismay despite his calm walk towards the stage. Ryuji himself couldn't be helped but to be captivated like most of Joker's gang within the cafe from seeing the camera focus on Sharon. Ann scoffs as she hopes he doesn't compare her to that woman in any way the entire time.

"Well, they are not wrong. But I'm more concerned about how this cowboy will stand a chance against a superhero mascot," Joker says.

"I wonder too. This is like bringing a knife to a gunfight, except in this case, guns are ineffective on someone built like a hero and surviving encounters with trucks," Makoto adds.

"I hope this one won't turn out too messy. I almost feel sorry for the Westerner," Haru says sympathetically.

The crowd would be left more than bewildered at the cowboy finally squaring up on the hero before him as his he's preparing an quick draw when the match gets a formal announcement. His arms outstretched and refile now within one of his large white pockets as if he's waiting for the right time. Pepsiman would stop his showboating, now kneeling slightly with both arms in different directions as if he's preparing for a run. Helena knew the two fighters would be more than ready for their next match that she would chance at her cowgirl partner to get the pistol ready for the next shot. Hand held high in the air and watching the two men preparing for their square off would be all she needed to know to get things started.

"Let the battle begin for Round 2!" she shouts before firing her shot into the air.

The crowd would then hear another shot happen afterwards that alarmed them soon afterwards. Some wondered just what happened or why the first attack happened in the blink of an eye after the referees first ever announcement. This would be seen when Pepsiman has a few large rifle shells fired at his chest hard enough to cause a dent in his aluminum body. Pole was truly a cowboy that knew a quick draw would be a good start to this match when he's dealing with someone who's a more physical attacker in a fight. This would only prove to the hero that instead of going too easy, he was best taking his armed foe more seriously if he truly wanted to progress in this fight. Cassy is still shocked and impressed at how quick the Arizona cowboy's shot was if he went immediately after her own to signal the match's beginning.

"He's quick, that's for sure. But speed alone won't be enough to beat a hardy hero like Pepsiman," Tails stated.

"Even I couldn't catch that one at all," Whisper quickly says.

He's raised his famed firearm easily with the smoking barely to show he's got quick enough reflexes for someone who's not visually as strong as the mascot superhero. Even if this didn't harm Pepsiman too much, he's more than happy that his opponent looked stronger than he appears, smirking slightly which is a rare sight for the hero to do. Even his fans knew there was more fight in their favorite drink mascot yet despite the surprise attack immediately after the match had started.

"Not bad cowboy. But it'll take a little more. You have a fire in your eyes, even if you aren't a Fighting Vipers regular. I guess there's no shame in going too easy on you in any way," he says with the same grin.

"That's alright pardner, we are here to give these fine folks a good show. And I take it you can take the unexpected. Well, there's more where that came from once I break out the big guns," Pole replies.

This time he takes out a special power up that appears to be an extension to his rifle, now fully upgrading it to be able to fire spread shots more easily. This is what he would commonly use for waves of poachers, but now he sees the hero as a bigger game to blast away now that the kid gloves were off. Pepsiman would crouch once again as if he's beginning to charge the lone ranger once again to give him a taste of why Pepsi will always be the number one drink in America. Pole is more than prepared to fire again the moment he starts moving to give his opponent trouble. Sharon gulps knowing her man is now forced to upgrade this early seeing this foe is tough enough to take his weakest shots in battle.

"That's not how guns work, but I can't complain when he represents our home state. Make Arizona proud cowboy, we are with you!" a Southern man shouts.

"Yeah, you are the West and the South put together, no way to lose to some flashy wannabe comic mascot. Go Pole!" Another called.

Some would be more than confused that a deal of Southwestern crowders would begin cheering him on to motivate him to give Pepsiman all the hell possible in this battle. This combined with the more vocal and louder Pepsiman fans would be growing concerned that his opponent won over the hearts of more than a few people this fast. Now Sonic's friends and several other guests would be more than curious to see if this cowboy will truly win this battle now that he's no longer seen as some nobody, but a symbol of the Southwest that truly hope their rep wins this battle. The battle would begin again with Pepsiman charging at Pole once more tho fires his spreadshot just as fast as the last time. Pepsiman takes the shots head on regardless as he nears him for a quick tackle despite the cowboy still firing him without any fear. He's eventually knocked away by the full force of the tank superhero to the point Pole is knocked away a fair distance. This didn't stop him from having a nice grip on his rifle again to keep on firing him with more rapid fire shots. Pepsiman would be forced to punch each and every shell with his might, even if they begin to dent his aluminum body overtime in this heated shootout.

"Honey, don't lose this! You survived the impossible, I know you can beat him!" Sharon called to her love.

She is right as Pole would be having some ribs broken from that last tackle but still had it in. He kept fighting unlike his trip to Japan that caused him to limp with a severely broken leg and recover in no time. He spat out his first blood as if he's chewing tobacco and took out a strange mushroom to help him in this battle. There were many different mushrooms on his journey with strange effects, even one that gave him a rather embarrassingly large tower before. Pepsiman would jump for a flying kick at his chest again regardless of him munching one the fungus on sight. He would slightly grow as a result, comparable to Big the Cat's size on command which surprised Pepsiman.

"Checkmate, now for the bigger shots now that I'm the bigger man," he brags before firing away.

Now these larger shots would be enough to disrupt Pepsiman and push him back onto the dusty stadium at full force. Even the bullet shells were larger to match his slightly larger size that happened after the slightly taller cowboy landed back onto the ground. Cassy and Helena could now tell he was definitely bigger than before, someone that would give heavy hitters like Bayman or Bass Armstrong trouble if he ever faced them.

"You know I would say everything is bigger in Arizona, but that would be Texas," she said in surprise.

"Go Pole! Take that phony hero out!" his new fans shout within the West part of the stadium.

Now everyone would be more than happy to see the cowboy giving it his all and making a good first impression. Pepsiman would be left recovering after his last knock away to see the now larger Pole slightly big enough to make the Pepsi Cans and trucks he outrun blush. He's more than willing to keep the fight going while reloading his larger rifle once more to give his now smaller foe trouble.

"You said no holding back, so you get to see why my adventures were big and weird. Come on there cowboy, hit me with your best shot, if you can," the larger cowboy called.

Pepsiman would wait for the right time to fight again knowing his foe prefers to stay faraway for his attacks than getting close, and always focus on keeping away. The superhero would know that there's only one way to counter such tactics from a foe who chooses to make himself a clearly bigger target in a battle. He would dash for him again, this time keeping his eye on the rifle that prepared to fire another spreadshot at him. This time he would watch the bullet fire at him once more but had a trick up his sleeve to disarm him completely, a powerful Thirst Buster the blow the oversized shell back at Pole's rifle to almost knock it away from the overgrown cowboy that almost surprised him. Pepsiman flips into the air for a powerful Elbow Buster for his exposed head to try knocking him out, only for Pole grab him in time. However the pressure of the attack would almost break Pole's hand, causing him to groan from the pressure. This sight alarmed several of his Western fans and even Sharon since his trump card is now being used against him.

"Pole!" she called.

Pepsiman soon follows by jumping into the air again, now creating an overgrown Pepsi can with his carbonated powers to attempt slamming onto the overgrown cowboy.

"Someone like you must be really thirsty, so quench that thirst of yours with this!" he shouts.

The wounded Pole still tries to grip his rifle again despite the broken hand to fire at him again. The bullet instead ripped through the can to shower the carbonated drink all over his head in a sticky mess before the can finally broke through his head to completely cover it. The now blinded cowboy would be too disoriented to use his rifle anymore as Pepsiman has an opening for his exposed feet. He deals a sit jab directly on his right foot to cause the gigantic cowboy to scream loudly within the can that's over his face, and jump around in pain.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is quite the turn around. This might as well be the American David and Goliath that's happening before us!" Cassy announced.

Pepsiman deals a good Elbow Shot that jabs directly into the cowboy's stomach, causing him to finally topple over and yelp with the can on his head.

"Go Go Pepsiman! Beat that cowboy until he flies back to the West!" his dedicated fans shouts.

Now Sonic grew interested in how shockingly skilled he is despite having that ego most mascot celebrities would have after all. Amy and Tails couldn't believe how he quickly dispatched his larger for after all despite the size and range advantages he had. But things were far from over as it appeared the whole time Pole was drinking the fluids within the soda can the entire time. Just like the 7-Up and similarly oversized ramen he ate on his journey, it unknowingly made him strong enough to break out of the can easily with a relaxed sigh alone. He would see Pepsiman already trying to finish him off with another Elbow Buster to get that win. He had another trick up his sleeve like tapping into the mutations the UFO Catcher aliens gave him on the moon by slowly turning green briefly like an alien and growing fangs to match his now aggressive power. He opens wide for a long tongue in the form of a secondary mouth to fire out of his mouth and at Pepsiman to bite and push him further into the air. This fanged appendage would now be strong enough to pierce the aluminum body of the hero once more to sell how dangerous this new form is.

"What?" he exclaims.

The hissing tongue would be biting down into him further that it almost engulfed his whole body.

"What the heck happened? Is this guy even human? First he grows and mid he's acting like a Xenomorph. Nothing about this makes sense," Jason exclaims.

"You are right, he's even weirder than expected," Amy nervously said after watching the unusual scene.

Pepsiman struggled wrangling with the alien tongue that shook and ragdolled his body aggressively like a rabid animal. During all of this would be when Pole would use the strength he has to pour a special flask of sarsaparilla into his mouth the entire time. This wouldn't be an ordinary drink as it's one that makes him invincible enough to plow through forces easily like a certain star. Some could tell he had even more tricks up his sleeve after that.

"It appears he's drinking while his secondary mouth is attacking him, what a way to truly surprise your opponent!" Helena announced.

After a single toss into the air by the alien tongue, Pole retracts it back into his mouth as he jumps back to his own feet. His alien features soon faded away into his familiar human American self as he prepared to jump. Another difference would be his body rapidly flashing thanks to the alcohol's mysterious powers finally affecting his body as he springs into the air.

"Looks like I'll have to make sure that troublesome tin can body of yours never move a muscle. This'll hurt a lot," the cowboy declares.

Pepsiman would desperately do a knee drop against the flying cowboy below to retaliate only to feel a heavy crunch. His left leg would be crushed flat due to the indestructible state of Pole's body, which caused him to gasp in pain. He follows up with a tackle that sends Pepsiman flying further into the air which packed quite the punch. The audience truly knew that this could either be a turn around or the end of the match unless the hero had any plans. The cowboy propelled himself further with a higher jump remembering he had two memoirs from Japan that may come in handy for a victory, the first being a pair of white panties he "accidentally" collected on his trip. This left a good number of audiences confused or just baffled that he had a pair of stolen ladies undergarments on him all this time. A good deal of children had to get their eyes covered by parents that saw this, Big doing the same for Cream to keep the rabbit's innocence in check. Amy would be both flustered and disgusted that Pole even had such a thing in possession.

"That cowboy must had his fair share of raids, but just not the ones you'd expect," Jacky comments.

"Shut up, Jacky," an embarrassed Pai Chan and Sarah shouted at him.

The flustered Jason would obviously cover his bespectacled eyes as he'd rather not see something like this, or know certain online friends wouldn't respect him if they knew about it. The curious Baby would be wondering why both GonGon and MeeMee would shield his eyes, Palette and MeeMee knowing humans are quite more shameless than even the average monkey. Pole slams the undergarments on the superhero's face to fully blind him before blasting him away in the back with his rifle once more, knowing he still has his spread shot activated.

"What a shameless display! Using used underwear and doing dirty tricks. This strange cowboy is full of surprises," Helena announced, avoiding the mention of "panties" for the younger tournament goers.

But this was far from the only surprise as the falling blinded hero would be greeted by another parting gift some would be surprised Pole had in his possession. An extra replica of the Tokyo Tower that his poacher enemies built to disorient Pole on his trip to Japan. Being big as the real deal as it fully reveals himself from Pole's pockets, some would be shocked he can store and carry something this big so casually. Tails drops his jaw as Amy and Jason gasp at the sight. Sharon would eventually grow less upset that her boyfriend was carrying someone else's underwear and grow amazed that he managed to store such a massive tower in his suit, just not the one she expected.

"What the hell is going on? This isn't a fight anymore if he plans to flatten him with a damn building out of nowhere!" one crowd member shouts.

But it would be too late as Pole finally sends the tower below immediately with the falling Pepsiman only left too shocked to dodge the structure's impending doom.

"No way, he can't be this serious? Even the hosts could be hurt!" Asuka called.

"That soda hero can only pray to have the same resilience as your cousin's clan," Lilli sarcastically replies.

Panda roars in a mix of concern and shock at what was happening before her black eyes. Helena and Cassy already had the right idea to retreat towards the back of the stadium moments before the tower would finally meet the ground after Pepsiman slams upon it. Joker had a bad feeling about what's happening while even the whole cafe would be in panic and shock at the sheer craziness that was broadcasted on TV. Ryuji was already being shaken by Makoto over staring at the previous panty situation before the two finally noticed the falling Tokyo Tower.

"That's impossible? There were no reports of the tower being stolen. Just how did this cowboy even have a solid replica of the real thing. Let alone carry it?" Ann asks.

"Such fine arts shouldn't be disrespected like this. He's only going to destroy it, and hurt countless others with it," a furious Yusuke shouts.

"Thank you for being concerned for the innocents too. But even that would be expensive to throw a whole tower like that in a live event," Futaba adds.

However the final crash gets all of their attention as it appears the tower finally landed with the expected results of dust clouds flying throughout the stadium and the fate of Pepsiman being unknown. In real time, many would be coughing or covering their eyes at the wanton destruction that happened from the ridiculous event as the still conscious Pole lands on the very top of his own Tokyo Tower replica, satisfied and victorious over his foe's defeat. Many crowdgoers would still be coughing and waiting for the dust to clear up after the last impact blocked their only view of the fights. Sonic from his height can see barely anything below the base of the tower after it was slammed, and the very height of the tower is noticeable enough for even the rest of the commentators to see.

"Talk about bringing down the house, this isn't like anything you'd expect," he says in slight shock.

The slam of the tower was enough to shake many of the parked vehicles, even the police car containing Mimic and Bartholew's gang. The octopus had to slowly change his human features back after the shock made his face and tentacles briefly visible.

"What is going on? Someone must have been powerful if they caused a shock this big," he complains.

"Whatever it is, it's annoying enough. Not that I care about giving in to the blue rat's program," the gang leader hissed.

"Never forget our goal. Stay focused and keep waiting until the time to strike, boys. Our time will come in due time," Christie adds through her speaker to the police car.

The dust clouds back at the stadium would finally disappear to reveal the final tower and a mostly destroyed stadium floor, now with a visually barely crushed Pepsiman under one of the land leg's of the family's red tower. His torso is barely visible with the rest of it fully crushed and the hero seemingly unconscious from the impact. His face is now uncovered but had a tragic expression that truly made his fans worry for him.

"There he is! But it seems like he kicked the can. No, it can't be!" someone called.

Pole could see the semi-obscured body below to see he truly won this battle and didn't even need to bring out the stranger power ups to beat him. Many fans would be heartbroken, even dropping their own Pepsi cans at the sight a beloved hero was officially no more or in any shape to get the massive tower off any time soon. The many that placed their bets on the soda hero would be more than upset that the money surely weren't in their favor to win this match up for a cash reward. Sonic's friends would be more than concerned on how he can recover from this judging from the tower's sheer size and weight from its sudden appearance, if the medics could move his body.

"Unless he moves, I think this is curtains for him, or if anyone can find a way to move that tower too. I'm not sure if that's even possible," Tails said.

But something soon caught his eye as he glanced at the body suddenly moving. It would be when a single can of soda would be forming in his exposed hand that begins to form. This caught the eyes of even his worried fans that wondered how he was able to get it or what overall happened. Soon, he would begin absorbing what appears to be every single particle of carbon and soda within the area for this one can that he has. Fans would notice their half full cans would slowly be getting emptied with the fluids flowing outside of them in streams of dark brown that flew towards the lone can within his hand. Pole would notice this and popped his eyes out comically at the miraculous scene that is occurring at all. Even Tangle would be left agape with the nervous Whisper being flabbergasted at what she was witnessing.

"Whaaaaaaaaaat? That's not how the fight is supposed to go!?" he screamed.

Being a being that is the very symbol of soda, he can create it as much as he can manipulate it and it can be the very full that makes him have the energy to keep fighting with energy. Overtime, that can he holds would be almost getting fuller with the soda he needs to keep on fighting with the little strength he has, almost driven by the desire to win.

"Pepsiman! Pepsiman! Pepsiman! Pepsiman!" one man would cheer with his now empty can.

What soon follows would be the other crowd members cheering songs side with him, growing louder over time knowing they are thankful for giving him the fuel he needs to keep on fighting. It would be this support that truly fueled his very desire to win knowing his overconfident foe is only watching him get stronger than doing anything about it. Pole would waste no time being flabbergasted and aim his rifle once more to begin firing at him out of desperation. However what soon happens would be the hero taking a sip of the now semi-full can for some strength, freeing his left hand to fire some quenching blasts to blow the bullets away from him. A now distracted Pole would fire back at the reflected bullets, now almost losing his balance to fall. He didn't want to lose without a fight as he had one more mushroom up his sleeve to help turn the tides.

"This bad boy made me blow up the last time, but here goes nothing," he says out of desperation.

Pepsiman would already chug the drink fully in one hand before using his other hand to begin pushing the tower slowly off of his body. Pole felt the strength already taking effect to munch the fungus immediately in hopes he has the right one for the situation. He would feel parts of his hands and head slowly expanding to accommodate the shroom's effects to begin rapidly growing. His additional weight from the growing and Pepsin's recovering strength would be at a complete tug of war to try crushing or pushing each other off one another. The sight would truly be something to behold with some wondering how this could end. Pole's fans would be cheering on the rapidly growing cowboy who would soon be almost half the size of the power and using his own strength to push beneath himself.

"I'm not sure if a certain plumber would be flattered or offended at this. He's really loving to abuse them so much," Sonic rambles in bewilderment.

"Pepsiman! Pepsiman! Pepsiman! Pepsiman! Pepsiman! Pepsiman!" the crowd continued cheering.

The empty can would be tossed away now that Pepsiman had the full strength to use both arms in pushing both the tower and ever growing Pole from recruiting his body again. He could feel his own lower body completely reshape back into his muscular legs once more as more ways he can use all of himself further push the heavier weight. A heavily breathing Pole would now be as big as the tower itself, now barely standing atop it with barely any ways to hang on at the risk of falling over the stadium that barely contains him. Sharon would be left praying that her man would win this match despite the odds no longer being in his favor anymore.

"You have this, honey. Do it for me, show him that you are the bigger man than that tin can will ever be!" she called.

Pole however would feel himself getting weaker and weaker, as if the shroom's effects of growing him were going to be severe if he kept things going and the additional mass being a burden on his size. Pepsiman would now use both his arms and legs to start pushing the tower even higher off of his body than before, more motivated than before to win this fight for good.

"You see, there needs to be someone who can quench the thirst of man, even in the hottest places in the world. And you know what, I will not end things here as long as I think about them. It's time for you to retire, cowboy!" he shouts, finally doing one final push that pushes both the tower and gigantic Pole into the air at once.

The tower flew even twice as fast until the top slammed right where the sun didn't shine, Pole's only source of manhood. The sight was enough to make crowds go "Oooooooooooh!" or in the case of the male audience, cringing as they felt that pain in the same area. Amy, Tails, Jason, and even Big would be cringing from the sight as this wouldn't be anything pretty to witness. Cream had already covered her own eyes since the sight was not only too much, but she felt sorry for what happened to the cowboy, Cheese already squealing in fear. Tangle and Whisper would have no way to react other than shuddering at the sight of that pain the tower caused to the big cowboy.

"My God, he won't be feeling that in the morning, or any other day," Jacky says in sympathy and cringe.

Sharon faints from the sight as seeing her man get hurt in the worst spot was too much for her to bear. Pole however would be holding in his breath from the blunt trauma that hit his cajones hard enough that he finally shed his first real tears from the pain, even tears he never shed from his girlfriend ever being kidnapped. The pain was far from over as Pepsiman already leapt to the tower to begin running directly at his face with all the strength and determination to end the fight as soon as possible. Pole would be too busy holding in his breath and pain to care about his upcoming opponent running his way for his next tactic. He already jumps across the giant cowboy's chest and then into the air to end things in one final knee drop towards his head.

"You seem to be a little thirsty? How about a hard drink to put you to sleep!" he shouts as he falls one last time.

He succeeds in ramming atop Pole's head to push him onto the tower one last time in a powerful climax, but one of sheer pain. The tower successfully showers in an explosion of ruptured steel structures as Pole's final scream finally emits as a truly haunting sound to hear. The scream would be enough to alarm everyone in the audience, rumble every parked vehicle once more, and blow even the dangerous tower parts higher and farther away from the stadium to hurt anyone. One could be grateful that the Tokyo Tower replica didn't destroy the stadium thanks to Pole's own pain and the crazy tactic of Pepsiman. Everyone watching the stadium would still be speechless at what they were watching at all, the few that didn't pay attention were alarmed by the sudden loud scream.

"Remind me to never watch this again if this is what we'll be seeing more of," Ryuji said, still feeling the impact of what happened to Pole's manhood.

"Well Japan's crazy mascot did win, but not the way that we've expected," Joker says nervously.

"Was that even legal? And I don't mean the crotch shot, but more him literally using other's drinks to power himself mid-fight? But I guess it works," Futuba adds.

"The less we talk about "that", the better. I love how all that fine work into the tower was put to rest without hurting anyone in the end," Yusuke says in relief.

"Yusuke has a point, at least no one else was hurt by that tower now that it appears to be pulverized before it hit the ground again," Haru says in concern.

They would be right as Mimic and his cohorts would be completely speechless at what they saw flying beyond the horizon above their police car, more than floored at the type of monsters Sonic invited to this tournament. The octopus was no coward, but more than glad he has a single mission on eliminating Sonic and hopes whoever he fights after switching with Clutch aren't as strong.

"What the hell? Just what type of people did he bring to this place? If anything, this should give the people more of a reason not to trust that blue freak around their city," Bartholomew cried.

His lackeys on the other hand would be still shivering and huddling together as if they were experiencing the worst Mach 5 Tornado in the area. Back at the stadium things finally died down as Pepsiman lands on his feet safe and sound thanks to using his special hoverboard to slow his fall down, now more than ready to last for the next round. Pole wouldn't be as fortunate, holding his mouth as if he was slowly getting ready to have the worst indigestion due to forcing too much at once and his motion sickness. His body would also rapidly shrink as a result of his body no longer registering the special mushrooms he ate that clearly wanted to purge itself out of his stomach by force. He had no way to soften his own landing as he would be several miles away from landing headfirst whether he would finally lose his lunch from the swirling fall or not.

Not good, not good! This isn't good for my PR or new fans if I upchuck these accursed fungi when everything is live. And no, this isn't funny and will be very painful like the time that gymnast launched me too high.

Pepsiman knew what to do as he would use what little strength he had to manifest a special can of Pepsi in situations like this. He may be a winner, but he's always there to help with thirst and make sure no one loses their meal the wrong way.

"What is he going to do? This isn't time for a drink when his opponent will have the worst fall or hurl in the most embarrassing way possible?" Jacky exclaimed.

"You said what? Tell me when it's over since I do not want to see it," Amy cried, being concerned for her appetite.

"And that's your priority over someone possibly breaking their head open like an apple?" Jason shouts.

"Both could be as bad. Someone getting hurt and the most unpleasant sight ever," Pai Chan adds.

"How disgusting either way, neither scenario would be good," the wolf girl whispered.

Pole couldn't hold his semi-digested food any longer and really wanted to loosen his mouth for the most painful throat complex ever, on top of his hard fall. What he wouldn't expect is Pepsiman actually jumping up to him with the large open can and putting it to his mouth.

"Don't resist, drink it all down as it'll cure that stomach ache and save you embarrassment. You've fought well," the soda hero said.

The cowboy without question chugs the large drink slowly but surely. The carbonated drink would eventually take that unpleasant backwash away over time and make his inflamed throat register both the drink and eventual "food" to be resigned where it belongs. His motion sickness that clouded his mind would be slowing down over time the more he drank, feeling more at ease and refreshed in due time. Pepsiman would tip the drink further as the two fell to make sure the medicinal soda would be fully consumed to cure his indigestion and nervous system. Cassy and Helena couldn't understand the situation they were seeing as it made things even more unclear whichever side had won. Sonic would finally see past the fame loving egotistical drink mascot as someone who would risk everything to make sure even his own opponent wasn't seriously sick or humiliated at the end of defeat. A dizzy and recovering Sharon would finally rise from below her seat to finally see the unthinkable: that her own man had finally lost to someone for the first time in his life. But the thing that shocked her is that Pole would be carried back towards the stadium in the arms of his own rival, actually feeling more at ease from the special drink preventing the most humiliating live vomit session.

"What, he lost? But also, he's being fed one last drink after another failure?" she slowly said.

"It's not just a lost. But more, mutual respect between men. A real man shows full respect in a fight even when the goin' gets tough. Little lady, you have yourself a real man if one recognizes him as one. He's showing the best respect to his opponent as a man to not have his fight end in a loss of disrespect," an older Southern man replied to her.

"He may have lost the battle, but he won our heart by giving it all and at least giving one hella spectacle with that tower he somehow carried in his pocket," another man said.

Pole slowly and surely got sleepier the more he drank every drop of the soda, now losing his will to fight and even getting sleepier over time. Pepsiman carefully watched the cowboy he cradles during the fall to make sure he's fully safe and all that nausea is fully gone from the ginger ale solution.

"You can rest easy now. You're safe and I'll call the paramedics to take you back for some attention. Rest assured your girl knows you should be just fine based on what she's seeing from across from us," the soda hero reassured.

A halfway sleep Pole would glance at his girlfriend, who is more than glad with the situation and waving back at him. Her beautiful blue eyes and bright smile would remind him exactly who he always fought for, let alone someone worth risking everything to ensure her safety like his last big adventure. His eyes slowly got weaker overtime, just being satisfied at Sharon's safety and satisfaction at his loss. His body slowly lost all of his senses to the therapeutic drink, removing all discomfort and bad stomach aches he had from the motion sickness.

Well pardner, you have a friend in me. Man to man, I respect that you see me having a dignified end and preventing the most humiliating hurling from my bowels. Maybe a little rest is what I need after the long trip. I deserved it for going around the world and to the moon. All for my special dahlia.

He eventually succumbs to his tiredness after drinking the last drop, finally asleep as a large snot bubble forms from his nose that grew from his drowsiness. Pepsiman finally lands, but also makes sure to cradle the snoring cowboy carefully so as to not awaken him, with the two hosts waiting directly for them to call the winner. Cassy still awaits the right call to make as it's best yo see if either side still intends to keep their fight going. Olivia and Any were just as curious since sleeping is usually a disqualification if it occurs in the middle of a match for far too long. Sonic knew honestly that despite his opponent's intentions, what he did relaxed him to the point that this match would be over with the best possible conclusion.

"I think this sleeping beauty should be taken somewhere else with all the energy he's exhausted. What do you guys think?" Sonic says to the commentators he's sitting next to.

They wouldn't know what answer to give knowing that they have a tournament to keep going for those that want excitement. The soda hero finally placed Pole on his back fully, backing away to give room for anyone to take him away.

"You, call someone to take him to bed. We're done here, no need to continue any more destruction," he called to Helena.

The French woman understood him well and immediately took out her phone to call the right people for the job. Cassy knew it would be best to call the winner and move things along quickly.

"Pole is unable to battle and is in need of medical attention. The winner of this fight is Pepsiman!" she called.

What soon follows is the crowd roaring immediately with excitement for the winner, but this seemed more different as they now love his respect to his opponent or always felt this compassion is why he's the greatest mascot known to man. Some would be crying tears in happiness or even respecting the bravado of the drink mascot giving Pole the most respectful end of the fight and sparing a gross ending from the audience. However, the ending they get wouldn't be what they expected as the sleeping cowboy would be sporting something new. This was no secret Tokyo Tower in his pants as it's something else entirely that only a handful would notice. Sharon would be among one of them, almost blushing and if not embarrassed her love would be showcasing her favorite feature in a public audience.

"Oh dear, must be the mushrooms causing that side effect again," she cried.

"Now I can see why they name that there cowboy Pole," the southern man beside her said.

Helena knew upon a glance that after contacting the paramedics, the broadcast censors should immediately be warned to pixelate the image while they could.

"Excuse me, but it appears we have an unwanted situation that should be covered on broadcast. Make it immediate," she says in a mix of sarcasm and unamusement.

It would be too late as the handful who watched the fight would be either laughing out loud at the blunder or surprised that one sleep would cause this so soon. Makoto, Ann, Futaba, and Haru were definitely not amused and wished they didn't see it at all with red faces and their male cohorts being just as speechless. Morgana had no words himself since he is in the form of a cat and didn't want to talk around Sojiro.

"I think you kids seen enough. I could change the channel if this is too much," the older barista grumbled.

"That won't be necessary, it appears they did the right act of censorship just now. Unfortunately the first ten or so seconds was enough for everyone to see," Yusuke adds.

"Dude, sound awfully calm about the manner, as if you were artistically enjoying the view," Ryuji insinuates.

"Weren't you forced to be in drag on a few occasions by everyone's favorite gay couple? You have not a single room to talk," Makoto snaps.

"Is it wrong that I ship those two? The way he was calm in his arms, that was more than just bromance or manhood," a still blushing Futaba said.

"Can we not say that last word? And Makoto, I was pressured into it, so how about we not bring up old stuff like it's completely relevant!" the delinquent barked.

"It's America after all, and we all know why they are the way they are. This was only the tip of the iceberg compared to our Hawaiian field trip," a sarcastic Joker adds.

"Ren, please don't use the word tip in this context anymore," Ann groaned in annoyance.

Unfortunately for the citizens of Yuria using a magic portal as their means to watch the fight, they have no ways to see the additional blur as laughter filled the area. Humans, dwarfs, centaurs, and Amazons would be more amused at the situation as they needed to laugh, as if the rest of the fight wasn't absorbed enough to all of them. Gilius would call a bartender to give him another mug of hard cider, knowing he would need the best drink.

In the Gates of Hell, Bayonetta would give a sly smile while shaking her head, Rodin still continuing business as usual and Jeanne now being amused at what she is seeing.

"I just hope there's no little ones there who stumbled upon this. The stuff you get away with on the bloody television," she said.

"All I can say is whoever dates that man is one lucky girl. Not even Cheshire could compare if he tried," her black wearing friend says.

"Cold, even colder than the worst parts of Inferno. Lucky he isn't here to listen to words heavier than a Beloved," the demon bartender states, still polishing the last glass Bayonetta drank from.

"You know her, brutally honest, but also quite the show off when she needs to," Jeanne replies before sipping her mimosa.

The Gessen Girls back in their academy would be taking the sight much less well knowing all of them were women here. Yozakura would be halfway tempted to Shinobi Transform and crush the TV if it weren't for the fact that the faculty wouldn't afford another one. Minori would already be crying from what she saw as Shiki hopelessly tried to cheer her senior up with candy. Murakuma would be silently glaring at the screen with her hanya mask as if she's angry, when behind the mask she is deeply shivering from ever seeing something this indecent.

"Can…can they skip the program and have our Yumi fight. A warrior needs to see what we truly came for and not this "act"!" she shouts, barely keeping her tough persona on.

"Like I know right? We totally need to have our girl on stage to have her first fight after this sausage fest. Never thought two guys going at it would lead to something out of a boys love manga," Shiki complains in her teen-like voice.

"Tell me when it's over. I'll never see popsicles the same way again. Maybe some lollipops can cheer me up," the teary eyed Minori relies.

"It'll happen soon. I think I see some paramedics coming. Get that pervert off the stage, and thankfully the Americans follow the same principles we do on this censorship," Yozokura says, still red faced and angry at what see saw.

She would be right as Pepsiman already walked away to wave back at his adoring fans that celebrated his victory. Pole would be swiftly carried away on the stretcher by a few medics who hoped what they saw wasn't a serious case of priapism. The cowboy still snores in his deep sleep without any awareness of the scrutiny for his situation. There was a mixture of laughter and shame from the audience at what they experienced for the second ever match at what they saw. Some would even be taking pictures as this was something hilarious worth spreading on parts of social media. Big already did his part at covering Cream's face despite his own discomfort. Tails was smart enough to use his own tails as cover the moment he caught a glimpse of the embarrassing scene.

"Can they please get him off the stage? And to believe I was concerned about him getting hurt. Think of all the kids and women who could have seen that!" Amy cried with outrage.

"I've personally seen worse Amy, there's some things you don't know about my ventures, but I'll leave it at that until you are mature enough," Olivia replies.

"If you are thinking about whacking it, please don't. The medics got it covered and frankly, that would be painful to the poor guy," Jason adds.

"Who said anything about whacking? I really don't want to hurt anyone, but you could be next if you are defending that weirdo in anyway," she snapped at the boy.

"If didn't know any better, maybe he could relate to him. As if a similar incident must have happened, huh hotshot?" Jacky teased.

"Wh…what? Shut up! Did you not see the part where he was eating those mushrooms? Maybe they had some side effects when eaten in excess? And I'm not that type of guy, since I put my academics over uncontrollable desires!" the bespectacled boy shouts at a snickering Jacky.

"Can you please drop the subject, as we have two kids that don't want to hear this type of high school playground talk. Come on," Sarah sternly said to the two.

"Please do. You are all acting like children," Tangle blurts in anger.

"Ooooh ukikIki keekikiaugh," MeeMee says.

Tails would open his eyes upon understanding MeeMee's words, he could see that the stretcher had already disappeared in the dark door before them with no chances of ever seeing the cowboy's manhood again. He would be relieved as he would hope the rest of the tournament would get as embarrassing or grody again for the rest of the show. Big knew it would be time to uncover Cream's eyes again, her Chao friend tapping her head to alert her. She could see that things were now back to normal with Miku appearing again for the usual roster selection to show for the next round. Amy would let go of her anger to enjoy the rest of the tournament, a wave of relief over the two humans that her hammer can rest easy. Jason would sigh deeply now that he rests only for him to turn and see a large chest in his face.

"Uh….sir?" a female voice said.

He instantly gasps and flails in fear upon seeing the concession stand girl's sudden appearance. Olivia and Amy looked at her to see that this worker has an air of mystery around her despite being someone who's selling snacks.

"Do you want any snacks? They only cost 3 dollars," she calmly said.

What she would be holding are holders with chips, candy, hot dogs in foil wraps, and meat buns. The two girls were unsure on what they would like to buy since they weren't really hungry, Jason would recollect himself and adjust his glasses, being thankful no one saw how close his face was to the worker's chest initially.

"Some meat buns would be fine…..And I mean the food so there's no miscommunication," he said nervously to avoid thinking about that close encounter again.

The woman calmly reached out her hands for the money if it meant doing business with the boy and going about her business. Jason dug within his pockets to grab the few dollars he had to get the buns he ordered, she quickly snatched the money from his hand before stuffing it in her cleavage. This odd behavior would be enough to raise Amy's eyebrow at the situation as Jason looked agape at the worker's odd behavior. Whisper had the same mindset after taking a good look at the strange situation from her seat. Tails, Big, and Cream didn't quite catch the situation as they focused more on the next match being selected. The woman did give Jason the meat buns he asked for despite his reaction to her, Olivia being more than suspicious of her.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid that's not the way you're supposed to take money. It's not only against the code of conduct, but rules of the stadium. Not sure if you are new at this job, but just wanted to politely inform you," she interjects.

The woman would be completely silent at her strange way of saving cash being called out, now sure how to respond to the college girl's statement at her expense. Amy did agree what she did was strange and felt unnecessarily as if she was trying to seduce Jason in any way. She only stated her mysterious brown eyes at the two in silence as if they dared to challenge her way of work. Tails would catch on briefly to see what appeared to be the issue.

"Is there something wrong? An order was done the wrong way?" he asks.

"No Tails, but this woman is acting awfully suspicious and not following the stadium's guidelines for her own job," Amy replies, still keeping her eyes on the silent guilty party.

"A woman's body can act as a pocket, therefore I am not breaking any rules. You are a minor, correct? Perhaps you have a lot of developing to do if you are feeling any envy. The customer is satisfied and has no complaints, so I am complying with the rules of the stadium," the worker says frankly.

It would be at this moment Amy could tell she was deflecting from her friend's words, and held any anger she had back so as to not disrupt the next match that may start soon. Olivia appreciates what she said, not her clear attempt at trying to misconstrue her own concerns about the strange way she completes her tasks.

"Just for that, I demand a tip from your friend for making my day harder that usual. I'm sure you are compliant enough to obligate," she says, reaching out for Jason's money once again.

Whisper knew that she couldn't be allowed to reach for her weapon, but still felt less than patient with this strange woman. Tangle would catch on to this and wondered just what really bothered her this badly.

"Hey! You can't do that. And I get the feeling you are acting too strange around him. He wouldn't ever ag…"

Jason would sheepishly give her an extra couple dollars silently if it meant not causing a scene, both girls disappointed at him being pressured into a generous "tip" because of their interrogation.

"Dude, you didn't have to do that? Are you a man or a boy?" Olivia disappointedly says.

"What just happened? Is he being rude to that woman?" Tangle asks.

"No. But she is truly a suspect with something untrustworthy about her," Whisper coldly said in her same low voice.

The same worker would smirk at the two women in gratitude, once again repeating the same violation the two criticized her for. Jason still faced away from her with a red face to avoid having his eyes look for too long again.

"This one is obedient, I like him. But I have other customers to attend to, but consider me unlikely to serve the rest of you again," the worker says.

The next thing she would do is take a phone number from her cleavage and pass it to Jason as if she was giving something important to him. Amy would be gritting her teeth that the woman's intentions were clear And Jason let her get away with ripping him off his cash. Olivia shakes her head in a less than inviting manner as avoiding certain customers is another violation concession stand workers weren't allowed to do. She would soon walk away with a half smile knowing she has a new favorite customer to revisit any time as long as it didn't involve the two rightfully suspicious friends. Tails and Tangle would still be unable to register the situation that happened. Amy eventually refuses eye contact with Jason anymore for getting in the way of busting someone, Whisper still glaring at him in a very uninviting way for being nice to the enemy.

"How about next time, don't be so wishy washy? You seem like the type of guy that lets any lady walk all over them. Just don't be surprised if that "invitation" involves you being kidnapped and strapped to a wall later on," Olivia snaps.

Jason couldn't say a word as it seems things were already getting started with the next round.

"Ladies and gentleman, sorry for that inconvenience. We are aware that things can be violent or even scary, but situations like that we will be better prepared for. Our television censors will respond accordingly if anything similar happens again. However this next fight should be everyone's best choice," Helena announced.

The roster would highlight to show the mugshots of two women, that would be Sakura Shinguji and Yumi of the Gessen Girls Academy. Several of the Japanese members of the crew would be more than familiar with the former as the Imperial Fleet Division would be famous for their stage play performances and many struggles against the demon threats in Japan. Demons being a danger to the human world would be no surprise as those like her, Dante, and Hayabusa would often handle these threats whenever they cause full scale attacks over the world. The other would be someone less familiar around here, the young girl in the kimono not coming off like anyone who could stand up to an experienced soldier like Sakura. Though some crowdgoers would already learn not to judge a book by a cover after seeing the fight Pole gave to someone like Pepsiman despite being less famous. Sonic had no horse in this race as he's familiar with neither, but heard from Segata that she was very formidable as she's quite the skilled dancer at the Japan Imperial Theatre. Miku already disappeared in a digital burst to allow her costars Cassy and Helena to get the show rolling as usual.

"On the left side, we have one of Japan's greatest soldiers that fought to keep the country demon-free for years. An entertainer by day and skilled warrior by night on her steam powered Koubu. The one and only Sakura Shinguji!" Cassy shouts.

Instantly, a large mecha would be flying out of the door at high speeds that truly surprised the crowd, all while the famous Geki! Tekoku Kagekidan playing to celebrate her grand entrance. The strong symphony and guitar accompanies the graceful flight the large machine takes as it encircles the entire stadium in a speedy flight. Within the machine, Sakura would be carefully checking the status of her machine's diffusers, steam power, and weapons to make sure she's fully prepared for her first ever fight. Ichiro and the rest of the Flower Division had already tuned into the tournament at the right time, back in Japan to see how their fearless leader and elite unit fares in her first fight. The only sole member would be more than confident that Sakura should do just fine when her standard and eternal weapons were allowed in this fight given most opponents should be quite formidable in combat.

"She's got this, we have nothing to worry about when she led us all to victory twice before. I doubt the crown jewel of the Japan Imperial Flower Division will be disappointed," he said.

"I hope you are right. Not that I think the Koubu is ill equipped against whatever she is up against," Iris stated.

"She will not lose. She's not just that, but Japan's number one protector against all demons. She's conquered many of our worst foes and wouldn't lose to someone not on her level," Sumire says with her arms crossed.

The whole gang would continue to watch Sakura's graceful televised flight over the stadium to see she's quite learned since her many missions and performing to perform such tricks. Children would be screaming at how cool her Koubou looked as it flew around with care and grace around everyone. Meanwhile the handful of passionate Western fans would be more than happy with the demon slaying performer still showing she has skill despite the many years since their last major demon attack. The steam powered mech is pink with red flowing coattails to match the elegance of its rider, a machine that never truly let her down her missions to stop any Kouma menace. It would be proven quite agile and fast despite its bulky appearance, with a large katana in hand as one of the many massive people it can wield. This is the upgraded Kai model that she's used ever since, with some upgrades that reflect the French and other divisions around the world.

"Sakura! Sakura! Sakura! Sakura! Sakura!" the crowd raged.

Even those unfamiliar with her would be won over with the sheer skill she is showing and wondering just how her opponent would be able to fight a machine like this. Amy would admit the colors were pretty enough to match the skill of how Sakura maneuvered her trademark vehicle of combat. Tails would be amazed that steam powered tech like this can work so well like the modernized electric tech of today.

"That's some impressive machine she had. I wonder what they're called. I think Cassy said they were known as Koubu," Tails says in impressment.

"I also wonder why this machine isn't modernized. You would think that Japan is an advanced enough nation that she would upgrade. Must be the old fashioned type of soldier," Jason says.

"I wonder how this fight will go. If the opponent isn't super strong or has her own mech, it's not a fair match up," Jacky says across from the boy.

The machine finally lands in the middle of the stadium, waving to the audience once more to impress the audience. More cheered loudly at how proudly she uses something so cool, and old school for a battle like this. Sakura within her mech is more than glad to see the crowds in good spirits, seeing everything through a special camera. This camera would be seen as a single eye that moves around a horizontal slot on the Koubu's bulky head to act as a way to properly see their opponent in battle. Cassy would know it's time to announce the next opponent, one she already warned that she was best transforming out of sight to follow the broadcast regulations of this tournament.

"And in the right corner, have a strict but beautiful young shinobi also hailing from Japan known for her sense of justice and icy demeanor. A student of Gessen Academy who's neither good like Hanzo nor evil like Hebijo nor Homura's renegades. Give it up for the one and only, Yumi!" she declares.

Instantly, a chilly wind would be felt Amongst the two hosts and even Sakura's Koubu as they stood where they were. Even some of the audience would start feeling it too with some hoping that it wouldn't be cold for a while in this next fight. Sakura eventually detected the temperature dropping with the Koubu's system and she truly wondered just what type of girl her opponent was. Tails would also be wondering what was causing this phenomena despite his fur being decent enough for this weather.

"You'd think they would invest in heaters if this kind of thing happens. Should have gotten a jacket from the apartment," Olivia complains.

But eventually all eyes would be on someone who would be slowly walking outside of the door with much authority and regality as if she knew how to carry herself. Yumi would finally appear in the flesh, already fully transformed in her Shinobi State as it's more battle ready for this type of confrontation. Her icy blue eyes would be on the armored mecha before her as she enters the arena as if she's been preparing for this very moment. Her beautiful cut hair and flowing white kimono would be clear signs of how she's considered one of the biggest rivals to other strong shinobi like Asuka and Homura. There would be a good amount of younger male audience members who would be stunned by how beautiful she appears for someone that's supposedly a strong fighter. Some most notably having their eyes in her loose bouncy cleavage as such a thing is notable for most shinobi in Gessen and similar shinobi academies for girls. Even Jason would be entranced in her spell before Olivia would tap his foot. Although she even wonders why this girl considers herself some royalty for an academy student that is supposed to be a ninja. Amy had a feeling she was causing the sudden cold in the arena as she can tell her personality even matches it. Cream and Cheese wondered why she isn't really armored since their opponent had the advantage with her mecha in battle. Yumi still walks with confidence and ignores the many gawking eyes on her as if she's completely used to this. Sakura would be confused under her Kobe at the strange girl that approaches her, not seemingly armed with anything close to a weapon or her own machine. She is aware of the ninja that served the Kouma like Tenkai however as they were demons that were attached to the feudal era of Japan. The rest of her peers in Gessen Academy were more than glad that their expectation of Yumi being next came true, truly captivated by her showing what their academy was all about.

"There she is, our Yumi and the girl of the hour. She should have no problem trouncing that outdated tin can with ease!" Yozakura exclaims.

"A warrior like her should have no problem with all the Yoma and rival shinobi she has defeated before. It would be dishonor if she were to fall before our rivals in any way," Murakumo spoke in her usual warrior voice.

"Go go Yumi! We are all behind you and hold you, don't hold back on this soldier girl. I doubt Shinguji ever fought anything like shinobi," a cheery Minori shouts.

"Only one way to find out. I do find it totally unfair that she is not fighting on equal terms. But she should treat this machine like a Yoma for that sweet victory. It only makes perfect sense," Shiki rambled.

All hopes were in their friend and most exceptional senior to win this fight in the name of their prestigious shinobi academy as she didn't travel outside of their home country for a shameful loss. Yumi finally arrived before her opponent with her condiment aura and awaiting the announcers to get the battle started. Sakura would be in thought over whether she should go through with this as she has some advantages over her being someone who cares about when her opponent is on equal terms in a war. Casey instantly raised her gun into the air once more as she felt the tow were more than ready to get started.

"The fight shall begin, we will have a true battle of wit to determine who's the strongest female fighter. Let's go!" she announced.

The pistol fires as Yumi whips out her trademark weapons, her usual twin fans to match her elegant appearance to begin the battle. But what Sakura chooses would shock everyone as she opens the cockpit of her Kobe to reveal herself fully. Many would be surprised to see the Imperial Flower Division captain is still beautiful as ever in her sakura pink military outfit and the long flowing hair to match her crimson bow. Ichiro and the remaining squadron would be wondering why she decided to reveal herself to her opponent this soon instead of fighting like she always would.

"What is she doing? She has the advantage and should seize it?" he wondered.

"It's not like her to suddenly have mercy and give an opening like that at the start of a match," Kohran says with confusion.

Sakura jumps out of the Koubu in front of her opponent, now brandishing her famed katana as her weapon of choice. This would be a sudden change of pace for her, choosing to fight physically, woman to woman, to start things off for the battle. Yumi is actually impressed knowing she would have to go slightly easy on her from the start as a shinobi that does prefer to fight this way at the beginning.

"What's this? It seems Sakura wants the fight to be more fair. This could be a more interesting start. Now let's see what she has up her sleeve," Helena announced.

Sonic instantly keeps his eye on the situation knowing she's no dirty fighter like Eggman to rely on a mecha in battle against a weaker foe.

"She's even more beautiful in person. This is what it means to be the perfect soldier for Japan. But let's see if she can fight as good as she looks," Amy says in astonishment.

"I agree. A good old sword fight is a real eye opener, well sword and some flimsy fans. Assuming she's resilient as Mai Shiranui from the King of Fighters tournaments," Olivia adds.

"I knew something was familiar, as if the way she's dressed isn't showy enough already," Jason says nervously.

"Of course you would say that after being a showoff to that sketchy stand lady," Amy barked.

"The less we talk about her, the better," Whisper warned quietly.

Yumi would be satisfied at the way things will start, but truly curious if her skill will be enough to keep up with her prowess as a shinobi. Sakura still stands her ground with her battle stands, holding her katana above her head to await her first move. It was now down to who would start the first attack with the Koubu now sitting to the side until its needed. It was now a fight between two Japanese warriors, each one with different morals and disciplines in their combat that awaited the first time to strike. The two hosts would stay where they were to see just when the fight would truly begin. The rest of the Flower Division would watch from the TV still wondering when their peer would start her first fight instead of waiting for a while. Even anticipation would be on the other side with the Gessen Academy girls all hoping the strongest student doesn't fall in battle for this public match. Sakura sees an opening, charging immediately with her sword ready for the first strike. Yuki soon saw this coming and blitzed at her usual combat speed against other shinobi. The two met in a powerful clash that always blew the two hosts back as a result now that there's no need to hold back on equal footing. This was a surprising way to start the match now that there's two girls knew it was time to really let loose. Sakura would be seen struggling to hold against Yumi's fans who were more durable than she'd expected. This would be no surprise given her clashes against swords from Miyabi or even Homura's eight sword fighting style. She still gave off her same cold stare showing her confidence and honoring how strong her opponent was in her own way. Sakura knew from this first test, she had no reason to give it her All on foot knowing how fast and strong this cold shinobi is.

"You're not bad, perhaps I was wrong for taking you as a common competitor," she says seriously.

"Shinobi are truly the best of fighters. You are not my usual rivals, but even I won't take long to crush your only offense," the shinobi replies in her confident voice.

Yumi would slowly start converting ice within her fans to attempt freezing Sakura's katana as a way to make the blade more brittle. She saw this coming and knew it would be time to do one of her famed techniques to counter this. Using the flames of her own sword to melt that ice away immediately and try burning the shinobi's only means of combat back. It would be when Yumi realized that she just may have someone who acts as a true rival to her, almost thinking of the flames the former and current Hebijo rivals can do.

"Impressive, but it'll take more than that to stop my victory!" she shouts.

She would generate even more ice around her in the form of icicles to fire at Sakura while she's vulnerable. She immediately backs off and swung her blade to destroy the ice particles in a frenzy.

"Koukon Musou!" she shouts with all her might.

Yumi would use the mist formed to advantage to vanish from her sight with a new strategy. Ninja were known to use any trick possible to stay in the shadows and really disorient their targets.

"What a way to start the match, a battle of fire and ice! These two women are more than meets the eye, folks!" Cassy called.

Sakura would still be on her guard, katana still held high, to look around for where the cold shinobi can appear at any moment. While she knows her flames can melt anything, it's a double edged sword that can cause thick mist as a result that can be used against her. This drew interest from Amy's group as they wondered just what the strict ninja had up her sleeve. Then she leaped directly at her with massive twirling fans before her generating the coldest ice possible.

"Freeze!" she called.

Sakura knew this would be an appropriate time to charge at her again with the same flaming technique to counter the incoming frost typhoon.

"For the Flower Division!" she called.

They clashed once more, causing more steam to form from the two elements clashing against each other. Yumi had planned to skate away while the fans were spinning before her foe. The audience couldn't tell where she would show up thanks to the steam shielding her appearance. The preoccupied Sakura still felt she was holding her opponent back without a thought of her next trick. She would use the trick of kicking Sakura directly against the spinning fans to disorient her. The first blood would be spilled with the cold ice blades slicing around Sakura's body that she screams from the result.

"Sakura! She did that dirty trick while she was cloaked in the mist!" Ichiro shouts.

"No fair, there was no way she would have seen that coming," Iris called.

Both of Yumi's fans returned to her hand before she would decide what to do with her pained opponent that landed back to the ground.

"Quit wasting my time, I've warned you that shinobi are superior fighters. It's no wonder you depend on mere weapons like that to stand a chance," she says coldly.

As hard as they were, the words truly got to the soldier's head that she can't just play fair anymore when her opponent is someone who relies on tricks to win a battle. Sakura would ignore how deep the cuts were at ripping her imperial uniform, or the running of cold blood from her wounds.

"You truly don't have justice in your heart it seems. And here I thought you truly stood against evil," she says.

"I'm nothing like Asuka nor my other rivals. I stand for a true justice that is neither good or evil. You seem more naive for someone of your status. Perhaps it's best that the exterior of yours should be shattered," Yumi says once more, charging at her with both fans ready for an attack.

This time Sakura would rely less on her flames and go straight for stronger attacks with her blade. They clashed within each series of strikes that happened once they met again, destroying chunks of the ice that formed from Yumi's own attacks. She knows that her opponent is learning from her last mistake and continues being aggressive with her approach.

"How can she do those with simple fans? Not even Espio's own techniques can compare," Tails says.

"That's giving Espio too much credit. Or more her since even she wouldn't play fair against him," Amy says.

"I already don't like that beauty lady's attitude. True beauty is from a kind heart instead of being so mean and thinking she is better than others," a frustrated Cream replied.

"Chao Chao Chao!" Cheese adds in his Chao language.

Sakura successfully broke through Yumi's guard to deal her first bow to Yumi's body, successfully making the kunoichi bleed and tearing a large gash in her kimono. The shinobi would soon do a rare glare of anger at her for this which her Gessen peers knew she wouldn't hold back anymore.

"She's done it now. A shinobi is more vulnerable if you try to tear their guards. Ignoring all the leering eyes, that will only push her to fight twice as hard to do the same to her," Yozakura declares.

"The true warrior will awaken. Give that woman hell with your best warrior cry. Araaaaaaaaaauuuuggggghhhhh!" Murakumo cries with her hot blooded persona.

Sakura wouldn't care about the consequences as she desired to beat the elegant shinobi at her own game. Yumi is still overcoming the initial shock of her gown being torn to prepare another deadly attack at her foe.

"Don't think you won yet. This shinobi still has enough ways to break your only defense," she coldly replies.

She immediately chooses to swing her fans at the grown to cause massive ice spikes to spring beneath Sakura. This not only pierces her body in many places but knocks her into the air in a vulnerable state.

"Sakura!" Ichiro shouts.

Yumi immediately charged at her to knock her away with another hard swipe from her chilling fans and charged again to continue her assault into the air. Now it would be a series of aerial strikes that locked the female soldier into the air from an angrier Yumi's continued fan lashes. These were now hitting harder and cutting her skin with chilling effects of the ice that made the experience twice as painful. Half of the Flower Division would be left frustrated by the situation their peer would be in, Sumire being the angriest as she always saw her as a well respected member of the group.

"Damn that icy wench, she's only going to beat her unless Sakura breaks out of her aid lock," she angrily shouts.

"There's no way she can give up here. She should have stayed in her Koubu rather than abandoning it for some pride," Maria said.

Sonic still observed everything from his spot as he wondered if Sakura is truly used to air combat outside of her own mech if she's struggling to get out of this deadly Aerial Rave. Most shinobi would be excellent at truly finishing their foes in the air with this technique as it truly disarms them of their outer garments and defeats them in battle. More of her famed uniform would be more and more torn until certain garments she never wanted to be seen publicly would start to become visible. A good deal of the audience would be slightly nervous as their attires could be more and more baring overtime based on how the fight goes. However the more squeamish would know this is a bigger opportunity for bloodshed as there's nothing covering soft flesh from being sliced by swords to sharp ice shards. Helena would already be having her phone ready in case the censors would need to be warned of any special blurs to use on broadcast if it means less of a Pole situation happening again. Cassy however would observe the fight to see if Sakura has any special plan on escaping the shinobi's onslaught. Sakura would eventually use this time to see through her opponent's movement if it means looking for another opening to strike her.

Her movements may be fast, but they are predictable if I can find that chance to fight her. I would care less if I'm exposed since defeating her is more important. It seems more like she's afraid of that the most, which is why she suddenly got more aggressive after I cut her kimono. Just need that chance.

She would see for a brief moment that Yumi is preparing to attack her from the right for her next attack and uses her straight to counter that with her own blade.

"There, Toukou Kenei!" she called upon striking the shinobi into the air.

This fully disrupted the ice shinobi's Aerial Rave completely and gave her military opponent the chance to follow up with her own attack. The next thing she would do is a powerful downwards swipe to send the two of them plummeting back to the stadium at full force. Yumi could feel her gown cutting open even more, which frustrated her further. If there's anything she hates more than losing, it's to be fully exposed in a battle or to her enemy. She knew that things would have to be done fast to end the battle. She uses her fans to generate ice on her opponent and sword to attempt freezing her while she's in a vulnerable position.

"Perhaps it's best you shatter before thinking you ended the final blow," she replies.

"That's not all, I know another way to stop your tricks," Sakura replies.

She uses her flames once again to burn that ice away completely, knowing that she has no way to run even with the mist that forms between them. Yumi gasps at how far Sakura is willing to risk stopping her best plans. She follows up with a hard swing before her to launch a massive green sword beam that pushes the Shinobi away and shreds her clothes even further. Yumi would be blown away, now having most of her beloved kimono ripped exposing her icy blue undergarments and a burst of blood from the severity of the attack.

"Masuri!" a strange Japanese announcer called.

This appeared to be a special guest who was overly excited and politely moved out of the announcer room by the other hosts to Sonic's sudden surprise. Sakura would only land and watch her fly away from her last strong attack, feeling the pain of her own body cuts from the ninja's cold relentless attacks. Ichiro would be more than glad at her near victory but knew things weren't looking good with her own injuries and how much she pushed to make it possible.

"I hope this is it, I don't think she can keep this up without her Koubou. That ninja girl is tough," he says.

"That's our Sakura. Now all the announcer has to do is call this match and this is good as her's," Sumire adds.

"It's not over until they say it is. That ninja girl will have a new trick. I just feel it," Kanna says.

"How about your have some faith, Kanna. It's not like you to suddenly pre-mature her victory!" Iris pouts.

Unfortunately the first generation soldier would be correct as the almost bare Yumi holds a special scroll in her hand that will turn the tides and help her fight for even longer. With one last glare during her fall, she begins using her ninpo to unlock the scroll's power as it fully engulfs her in a bright icy blue light. Her Gessen peers knew exactly what would be happening despite their initial worries that she lost to a few lucky shots.

"It's time for the Ice Queen to appear. Yumi will guarantee that flower girl will come crying back to her superiors soon," Yozakura announced.

"She's good as toast, Yumi is stronger, colder than ever, and has a sweet sword that's above her usual fans. Sakura lady is screwed," Minori adds.

"Now a real warrior will fell this one. A true battle to decide who is the strongest," Murakumo says in her warrior-like voice.

"Like let's get this party started. We will get the snacks and juice ready when our queen wins," Shiki shouts.

What results is a massive icy vortex that soon grows from where Yumi would had fallen as the stadium slowly grows colder over time. The exhausted Sakura knew that this fight would be almost over unless she goes for her Kobe, feeling the pressure is beyond that of her opponent's normal strength. She slowly limps her way towards the machine that beckons her while she still her time to finish this battle. She knew that she pushed herself too hard for this fight and any further stress could force her body to finally collapse.

"Looks like the true finale is about to begin. While Yumi is gathering her full power, the initially fair Sakura going for her secret weapon while she's too hurt to keep fighting in her current shape. But we should apologize for the constant change of temperature here as we didn't anticipate this," a shivering Helena announced.

Amy and Olivia would finally uncover Jason's eyes as they felt he seen a bit too much for his current eyes. The two would now wonder just what was about to happen next with this cold air now filling their own seats like the rest of the stadium at the moment. Big was thankful his fur is thick enough to survive the cold, but grew concerned for Froggy as cold blooded amphibians like him can't stand the cold.

"I hope this match can end soon since Froggy ins't liking the cold," he says in worry.

The frog desperately digs into the fur on his feline friend's head to tray staying warm for the remainder of this fight. Sakura could tell things were going to get rough from her here with the slowly dropping temperatures affecting her open wounds now. She groans in pain from feeling the cold almost making her warm wounds brittle than before with her limping legs desperately making her body approach the large weapon. The large shadow of a spider would slowly cast across the stadium now during the icy vortex. Just the sight of this would begin making Sumire turn uneasy given her overwhelming fear of spiders, secretly hoping it wasn't what she thought it was.

"I hope it's not an S-P-I-D-E-R. But that should be impossible since they don't survive cold climates," Kohran says.

"Eeeewww, I hope Sakura's Koubou can crush it soon enough so Sumire won't feel too scared," Iris pouts in disgust.

"Sc...scared? Who is scared? I hope Sakura doesn't die right there. It's disgu….dishonorable that she is losing to some ninja girl this easily. Espid..especially since she fought valiantly against the Kouma Army for many years. She shouldn't disgrace the name of the Imperial Flower Division," a clearly shaking Sumire brags with a facade to hide her fear.

Ichiro could tell his ally was doing a terrible job at hiding her fear at all, but grew more concerned about what would happen next with the vortex finally clearing on the televised stadium. It would be revealed that Yumi is now in her famed Ice Queen form, now sporting red eyes, longer blue hair, a repaired icy blue kimono and trading her ice fans for a jagged sword made of our sharp ice. She's also accompanied by her faithful spider familiar, the White Widow, a beautifully terrifying black widow spider that dwarfs the Koubou in size with the icy carapace to match its master. Sakura finally glanced to see her foe now in a state that she can attack from afar in any moment to try limping faster to the steam powered mech that awaits from a few feet. Seeing this, Yumi would already focus her sole attention on ending this fight in the quickest way possible.

"You should have ran when you had the chance. It's time to prove to you why Gessen Academy has me as their top student. White Widow, shatter her into diamond dust," she coldly ordered.

Sumire had already fainted from what she was seeing despite holding it in for a while, this now concerning the attention of everyone else except Ichiro to console her.

"Can someone get a fan and some water? Sumire is down! We can only hope the best for Sakura when we have a bigger emergency!" Kanna announced.

"Sakura herself is in an emergency. That thing is heading straight for both her and the Boubou. We need to rally behind her now or it's over," the hot blooded man shouts.

He still watched as the lumbering arachnid scuttled at a fast rate to reach both of its intended targets on the stadium. Sakura would already attempt attacking with a good shockwave from her blade to distract the incoming behemoth but with no avail. It now hisses loudly with its blue eight eyes still keeping an eye on its prey that still intends to run. Yumi was still glaring at the hurt Sakura that was running out of options to escape her wrath and desire to win this battle.

It would be when Sakura would notice one of her famed smoke bombs almost peeking from her gown that she would have a plan in case a situation like this were to happen. She knew that it didn't matter how much of her body was shown as she already suffered enough physical damage from her opponent and needed a last resort to escape to her best weapon. Immediately, she takes the round objects from her semi exposed cleavage and flung both of them on the ground to cause a big smoke screen. This would frustrate and surprise Yumi as she can't see her opponent anymore before the White Widow had a clear chance to attack one last time. The disoriented arachnid would screech upon halting to look around in the growing mass for the missing soldier. Sakura's quick thinking worked as she barely dodged the few icy spider legs that could have skewered her to focus on the machine to her right.

There we go, I will not lose. Ichiro loves me and I will prove it by winning this once and for all.

Yumi would soon lose her patience and begin growing a mass of ice crystals around her if it means finding her target as quickly as possible.

"It doesn't matter where you hide, I will best you in battle. For the honor of my grandfather. I will never lose on his behalf, never again!" she shouts in a sudden burst of emotions.

The various ice shards would fire all over the smoke mass as desperately and quickly as possible to see any possible flesh to skewer. The White Widow would patiently await for another order from its mistress before making another move. It wouldn't be until the Koubou finally closes and begins activating itself in the middle of the chaos. Sakura had finally made it inside, still clearly panting from the cold and her injuries with any last bit of strength to fight like she never had before. The lights would finally reveal that the systems were now at 100% with enough power in its engines and now in complete control of what's left to do. Yumi could tell that with not a single sound or ounce of blood that something wasn't in the smoke clouds at all, then suddenly her spider familiar would be struck with a sudden slash that cut off one of its legs and almost knocked Yumi off completely. It lets out a massive screech with the blue blood spraying from one of its missing legs.

"What?" she said.

The Koubu rams itself directly at the spider in a powerful charge, now successfully stabbing through the White Widow's cephalothorax in blinding speed.

"What's this? Things are really turning around for the legendary soldier. What other trick does Sakura has to win this battle?" Helena announced.

Yumi felt it was time for desperate messages as she leapt off her wounded spider familiar for a trick of her own with the shinobi ninpo she can muster.

"Black Ice: Ice Queen Mode!" she shouts, generating a larger than average ice spear directly above the exposed machine.

Sakura instantly noticed this to plunge the blade out of the white beast for her next technique. She raised her blade using the mech's controls to charge one of her strongest techniques as the ice spear is still growing larger and sharper for her. Yumi didn't have much fear knowing her current form boosts her ninpo techniques tenfold for a guaranteed win against the strongest of Shinobi.

"Ouka Houshin!" she shouts after one massive swing with her might.

This would send a massive wave of spiritual energy that is powered by her Will at the massive ice formation to clash against its impending fall, leaving a more desperate Yumi to generate more ice if it helps succeed this fight. Sakura screams with all of her might as she pushes her power even further against Yumi in this clash of methodical and physical ideals. The shinobi truly wondered why she wasn't giving up despite all of this and pushes her own strength as far as she can. Her whole squad back at the Gessen Academy would be left on the edge of their seats, hoping she doesn't fall despite being at her full strength. Meanwhile in the busy streets of Kyoto, another familiar squadron of shinobi students would be walking through the streets in their civilian outfits. Amongst them would be their aloof but strong leader Asuka that is happy to be speeding some time with her squadmates on a normal trek in the busy city. The rest of her friends Ikaruga, Hibari, Katsuragi, and Yagyu would follow her lead to see where else to explore while it was still sunny as ever in the city. They would eventually stumble on an electronics store with many flat screen TVs still broadcasting the battle from the current clash that happens between the two opponents. Several crowds would be watching as they were cheering on newcomer Yumi or the referred Flower Division soldier Sakura. This drew curiosity from the girls to see just what is on TV that would get this many civilians so interested in the fight.

"What's this? A new anime that is premiering or some other hit show?" she wondered.

"I don't know what's going on, but that other girl has some nice bahongas. Like our own senpai Ikaruga," Katsuragi brags, growing the long haired girl to compliment her figure.

"Can you please take things seriously for once, Katsu? There's people here too and you can't be acting so lewd," she coldly said to the blonde girl.

"It's truly odd that something like this is a huge deal. Must be some new entertainment that the broadcast station approved of," Yagyu stated.

"I think that girl is Yumi-chan. From Gessen, same ninja abilities. And she's strangely not using a shinobi barrier if everyone can see her fighting in plain sight," Hibari sheepishly said.

It would be when the other girls froze at how right their sweets loving ally was about the situation after taking another look at the icy shinobi on screen. For a shinobi to not be fighting any evil shinobi or having themselves revealed to the public is a rarity for anyone. This confuses the likes of Asuka the most as she wonders what Yumi would gain from partaking in this type of tournament regardless of the risks of her shinobi code.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?" they all exclaimed.

The crowds would still ignore the girls to focus on the excitement before them that goes back to real time with the ongoing clash. The White Widow had already disappeared in a puff of smoke due to its injuries and wanting to only return when it is truly needed. The Koubou would slowly break itself down due to using too much of its strength, pieces of the pink steel especially would be stripped off. The arms of the Koubou would be visibly getting weaker, even shaking violently at certain joints the further she truly pushed the blade against the ice. Sakura within the mech would be seeing the sparks around her and stream spraying in certain parts that started to overheat her own cockpit. Her wounds were still warm as ever and reopened overtime as she is truly pushing her absolute limit in this final clash. Yumi would already notice that she's slowly losing her own ninpo in time due to exhausting herself, not even her gown is spared as it is slowly being shredded by the spiritual slash's overwhelming power. But her red eyes still focused on defeating the determined soldier at all costs regardless of that.

"Why? You are aware that if you keep this up, that machine of yours could be destroyed and kill you inside? Just surrender and let someone win this fight!" she called.

Sakura still didn't answer her, even with more blood pouring in parts of her body from her older injuries and the rising temperatures within the overly damaged mecha. She didn't care what happened even if it killed her, it's this attitude on the battlefield that separates her from the type of person she is when performing in the theatre or dating Ichiro.

"Sakura! Sakura! Sakura! Sakura! Sakura!"

Many of the vocal fans of Sakura and those who put their faith in the Imperial Flower Division would be cheering her on despite the odds going against her to overcome a far stronger opponent. Yumi still hesitates slightly at the risk of not going too far in this fight but truly wondered just what her resolve was.

"I have someone who I love. Someone who always truly put faith in me the most of my team. I will win for his sake, that Will is unwavering and will never die as long as we truly love each other. I will defeat you!" Sakura announced from her Koubou.

This caused Yumi to freeze slightly from this unexpected answer as if her Ice Spear is suddenly losing its muster. Despite all the odds, Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs with one last push to finally overcome the ice spear to shatter it completely. The resulting explosion would fire the ice pieces all over in rapid succession that harmed both sides. Yumi's gown would be torn with various parts of her body cut, now bleeding and completely powered back to her base form. The many ice spears would finally pierce the still standing Koubou despite the victory that only speed dialed its final moment to explode. The explosive result would cause both steam and thick smoke to spread all over the stadium. Asuka gasps at what she sees despite her fellow peers being just as curious at the result. They would never in their lifetime see a non-shinobi ever defeat Yumi in a battle.

"Sakura!" Ichiro shouts in a mix of anger and sorrow.

"Yumi!" Asuka shouts, which drew some eyes on her.

If it wasn't her speech that got to him, it's the uncertain fate that truly worried the leader of the squad, his fellow members being just as worried. Iris and Kanna weren't sure of what to say to him since this was already a hard moment for everyone back in the theatre. Asuka never got this emotional as she never wanted to see her publicly lose in a battle like that, as both a rival and a friend. Her peers could understand completely how she feels despite their less pleasant encounters with the other Gessen students. During her flight backwards in the air, Yumi could catch a stadium worker staring at her as if she was being studied. She looks back at her only to notice the woman walking away quickly as if she were caught. Despite her injuries and uncertain fate of her opponent, she would be the first to see something was truly wrong behind the scenes of this stadium.

Just what are you planning? You seem to be more concerned about a shinobi like me than anyone else.

The woman would be the same one who was passing the snacks to Amy's group that managed to retreat back to a private workroom with the fight's conclusion still shocking everyone. Her speed was relatively quick that some assumed she is a busy worker needing to restock on snacks than really anything they wouldn't expect. She would take a device out of her cleavage to speak with someone who works in the same organization as her.

"This is Alpha No. 2000. I am here to report that we may have someone inside of our business," she said.

Another more relaxed voice of that of a scientist would reply to her statement in a clear manner.

"Not to worry Just one little mouse isn't enough as you and the others still outnumber them. These people are all focused on the blue rodent's little game. Do not forget our plan at all," she responds.

"You seem awfully calm about this, NiCO. Do not forget that Christie is putting a lot of faith in nothing blowing up in our faces," the clone worker barked.

Back in a mysterious lab would be a familiar attractive, yet sadistic scientist that works for MIST known for her massive intelligence and contributions to the Alpha Project. With her nonchalant attitude and glasses, she was beautiful as she is a very strong fighter in her own right. Beside her would be her famed invention responsible for warping beings from other worlds or different points in time into the current one. It would already be in the middle of slowly transporting something as she recently activated it for her own purpose that helps the organization.

"We have everything in complete control. You will have to stay calm and act like you are just a normal worker in this event. The boys are waiting in that police car until their next order, our guest of honor is still monitored as his blood is necessary for our biggest plan, and Christie is still making sure no one taps into our signals at all. Not even GUN or AMS will get in our way. Just do as you are told, do not lose sight of our plan. Got that?" she replies.

The first round begins the moment the two hosts back up for the two competitors to kick off the first round. AiAi's gang and his other non-monkey fans would be curious if he has what it takes to beat his ground opponent before him. Lion wasted no time in crouching harder to prepare for the biggest pounce yet to surprise his foe. The brave monkey had no fear at all with the years he fought threats like Bad Boon and Captain Crabuchin that lead to this moment.

"Uki yeah," he whispered quietly to himself.

Lion makes the first move already with a short quick hop towards the monkey with claws ready to pin him down. AiAi immediately dodged it to cause his larger foe to slam onto the stone stadium floor with no avail. The monkey jumps into the air with one fist ready to punch his exposed backside, the feline warrior catching on to this trick. He immediately disappears from AiAi's sight, catching the monkey off guard with one big paw to smack his prey. AiAi blocks at the right moment, but still slams onto the ground from the hard force of his swipe, almost bouncing him near the edge of the ring immediately.

"Ooooki no!" MeeMee calls in worry.

"Don't you lose to that overblown kitty cat!" Amy cheered next to her.

"Hey!" Big said to her.

AiAi had a trick up his sleeve upon seeing the ring's edge by pulling out a banana peel. He would place it below his feet at the last minute to act as a stepping stool. He slips on the peel at the last moment, but pushes that momentum forward to fly back at Lion's giggling face. The king of the jungle noticed too late due to his overconfidence, getting a larger red fist in his face thanks to Big Glove power-up. The punch made him spew some saliva and slightly cracked his proud fangs a little, angering the Beast King to retaliate. He swung his head back to strike at AiAi again, who blocked his head with both enlarged fists at the same time. The fight truly got everyone on the edge of their seats with some amazed that this matchup was much closer than expected.

"Good job AiAi, way to go!" Tails cheered.

"You get that big scary lion, Mr. AiAi!" Cream called.

"Chao chao chaoooo!" Cheese followed up.

AiAi used his might to deflect the Lion's head in a powerful shove using both enlarged hands, leading the feline hunter to spiral backwards with his jaw agape. Gorilla would be angrily beating his chest before shaking the cage bars in rage at what he's seeing. The ape being more than disappointed that a non-Beast King is making an absolute fool of his long time rival before his eyes. His fellow Beast King peers would be just as outraged as they roared and screeched behind their caged spots to the annoyance of the attendants told to keep guard of them. AiAi gets back to his feet immediately, now opting to go for the Long Punch power up this time to prepare a long ranged punch for the spinning Lion before him. It wasn't until a mischievous glint would be visible in the warrior cat's eyes upon seeing the monkey strengthen his fist towards his face. Lion immediately starts spinning around where he is intentionally as he generates a solid red flame where his mane should be. The flames would soon catch AiAi's exposed long arm after the pounce barely missed his face for the tactic to work. AiAi's eyes widened immediately upon feeling both his light fur and his skin burn from the fire, snatching the long arm back while he could.

"Uuuuuuuuuukiiiiaaaaaaaa!" he yells as the fire now travels all over his body.

The monkey is left rolling around as fast as possible to avoid his favorite outfit being scorched or even overheating from the flames. Some members of the crowd would be shocked at such a situation, Lion's supporters laughing at how the primate is getting a taste of his own medicine. Sonic is left taken aback that this feline actually had some claws, and fire to be a challenge for his primate friend. Lion chortles at the amusing sight knowing that his fellow Beast Kings were cheering for his clever tactic.

"Looks like the monkey is cooking from the savanna king's flames. Can he recover from this one?" Cassy announced.

Helena would already notice the large feline getting into a pouncing stance once more. Lion would eventually launch himself and spiral towards the burning money as a flaming fireball at his smaller target. AiAi would still be rolling around to fully put out his flames with the incoming attacker coming his way.

"Eeek eek uki uki!" Baby screeches to call his father.

This would soon reach the monkey's large ears to hear out his infant son's warning. This sparked his desire to keep fighting despite the little fire still on the seat of his pants as he saw the incoming Lion. He would get into a stance that seems familiar enough to his monkey allies that they knew what plans to do next.

"What does he plan to do next?" Amy wondered.

He soon spins around fiercely with the force of a tornado for the famed Typhoon, a technique normally done to repel other Monkey Balls and attacks to defend. The whirlwinds would pick up enough to start flinging small debris from the stadium floor with AiAi's crazy technique. This would cause Helena and Cassy's clothing to flutter from the growing forces of the winds to their surprise. Lion's flaming body would soon be snatched by the typhoon which spun his body around as fast as possible to disrupt his own momentum. His flames would also die down due to the winds forces stopping his mane from overheating any longer.

"Way to go, AiAi!" Sonic exclaimed. "Mr. AiAi is doing a good job at stopping that mean lion's flames," Cream cheered.

"Eeekyeah!" Meemee screeched with joy.

AiAi would soon ride the winds to reach a higher point where Lion's body had fully risen with both fists ready to beat down his trapped prey. Ostrich squawks in confusion at how a little monkey is proven to be this much trouble to a well known rival. The Lion still roars in a mix of confusion and fear as he spins around at the very top of the winds. AiAi eventually makes it out of the mouth of his own winds, now ready to punch with everything he's got within his gloved hands.

"Eeekekekekekekekekekekekekekeke!" he yells within each flurry of punches he fired at the body of his larger target.

Blow to blow, the feline hunter felt every hit bruise his thick fur and eventually his bodily muscles, snarling and wincing in pain. GonGon gets up from his seat, passionals cheering on his smaller simian pal, as YanYan supportively cheers him on. Even the smartest of the bunch Doctor couldn't process how well thought out this battle tactic was for his younger ally. Palette is still happy that even if she just joined the group, AiAi still remains as impressive as ever since their last journey to find the Legendary Banana. Jason is left floored at what he is seeing, almost dropping his glasses off his face in the overcoming shock.

"Never underestimate a brave strong monkey like AiAi. This could be an easy victory for him in no time," Tails adds.

The final punch sends Lion flying towards the ground at a fast rate to fully disperse the whirlwinds, almost destroying the hard stadium floor below him that almost made the two hosts fall from the impact. This left the panting monkey more than exhausted that he gave it his all for this finishing blow from above.

"Uki? Ukikiyu?" MeeMee says, wondering if this was the end of the match.

"I hope so too, Meeker. There's no way that maned kitty is still going to fight after that hit," Amy replies in worry.

Sonic still keeps his eye on the dust clouds from the impact to really see if the fight was truly over. The audience and even recorders were all still wondering if this was the end as the small monkey slowly descended back toward the lower level. Suddenly, a massive roar would be heard from the dust clouds, now angrier than ever at what happened with him. This almost started AiAi into losing his cool knowing his best effort still wasn't enough. The massive predator immediately pounced out of the clouds directly past AiAi with glowing red eyes to simulate his bloodlust reaching its peak. The monkey is soon clawed at his body viciously from the attack, a rare sight to behold of his overalls now ripping from the sharp claws and monkey screaming in actual pain from the cut.

"What? He still isn't down?" Jason exclaimed.

The lion then launched himself at AiAi again for another deadly slash, this time exposing his vulnerable backside with the overall's seat no longer covering it.

"Ukauuuuu?" Baby exclaims in fear.

Soon what they would see is the now vicious predator shredding the monkey's vulnerable body with various lightning speed classes as he zips around at blinding speeds. Not even the hosts has anything to say about this now dangerous situation ensuing. Gilius couldn't believe his eyes of what he was seeing through the magic portal at his friend's brutal beatdown.

"That's not looking good at all. There's no doubt that little monkey will be nothing but shredded bush meat with that level of slicing winds," Futuba says, the rest of Cafe LeBlanc looking speechless.

Joker had a feeling that fights like these could get out of control when televised, which would only be the beginning of what to expect for the rest of the tournament. "Get out of there AiAi if you want to live! It's like being trapped with a deadly beast that wants to make you their meal!" Amy called him. The monkey is still screaming in pain and agony within each slash happening all over his body to hear his friend calling him. Of his many adventures, he was never this truly hurt as he always stays within his Monkey Ball for safety. Not even Bad Boon nor the Space Pirate Monkeys would go this far to hurt him, even if the former's attempt to boil him into a soup.

"Unless he forfeits any time, this will not just be a loss. But a possible massacre. I can't bear to watch," Tangle cried.

Even knowing her own fair share of trauma of losing her original crew members, Whisper couldn't bear to utter a word and struggles to even say anything in the midst of this. The lemur could tell such a sight wasn't anything her partner wanted to bask in knowing her history. Palette however, unlike her other friends, had faith that their banana loving leader should have a trick up his sleeve rather than being too terrified at the punishment he's taking. It was a gut feeling she had given her days of stealing anything that caught her eye no matter the costs.

"Ukekekiyu, ukikeki," she says.

This is when MeeMee and the others would wonder why their red furred friend is suddenly confident. Even as the smartest monkey, Doctor didn't know if he could refute her claim that AiAi wouldn't lose this fight. She then points out how AiAi still has yet to use his famed Monkey Ball yet in the midst of this fight outside of his entrance. GonGon even wonders if what she says is true nor if the Monkey Ball would turn the tides on such a deadly predator.

"Huh? Ukikiki kuah ukiah!" he demands.

It would eventually be correct as moments before Cassy tries to interrupt the fight by demanding a forfeit, something magically happens before Lion could strike him again. The famed ball would finally appear to deflect his claw slash at the right moment, that's due to AiAi chanting the Ei Ei Poo spell at the right moment to make it appear. He's barely unscathed with his overalls now sore and body covered in cuts, and bruised face; but more than willing to end this fight sooner than later. The angry beast still snarls as he attempts to strike the ball regardless of how he changed in battle.

"Eeek eeek yeah!" he calls while using the Big Ball.

This power up not only grew the ball twice in size, but made it harder enough to take the next attack. Now Lion's beloved claws were broken to the point of causing the beast to roar loudly in pain from his powerful weapons being disarmed. Some of the women in the crowd couldn't help but to wince knowing that pain of broken nails and how it affects the fingers' pain receptors.

"Way to go AiAi! Turns out you were right all along, new money," Tails cheered.

"Uki ukii Ukikette," Doctor corrects Tails on Palette's name.

"Ukiyuh!" MeeMee adds.

The fight was far from over as AiAi, despite his injuries, rolls in his Big Ball to dive directly at Lion immediately to hit his exposed underbelly. This caused the formerly fearsome predator to bug his eyes out comically and cough a massive amount of saliva. This surprised some of the other Beast Kingdom animals below, but mostly annoying Gorilla and Elephant the most as his closest rivals. The former especially would be angry enough to bend the cage bars slightly from seeing this humiliation for his animal sparring pal.

"Get em AiAi, roll into him!" Amy called.

AiAi's grin despite his injuries shows the heroic monkey is more than willing to finish things with his best and biggest weapon yet. Using his Hoverball, he rams even further into the Lion and directly at the stadium floor in the blink of an eye thanks to aggressive rolling. He continues rolling into him even after the hit to further grind him into the stadium floor, the beast still gagging and yowling from his vulnerable predicament. Gorilla growls and beats the cage harder than before to motivate him to get back to his feet at all costs instead of failing this fight.

"Ignore that smelly ape, AiAi. You can do this! Even Zobio is on your side!" Zobiko called from the benchwarmer's spot.

Even the other zombies groaned in support beside her and Cyril to rouse top more support. This would surprise some of the human audiences, but otherskdn't care as rooting for the money hero would be their main goal. More people would be cheering in unison. Or even holding AiAi signs to motivate the popular monkey even further to win. Amy's group would be surprised that many were all on the monkey's side and fully wanted him to best the flaming king of the jungle. Lion wasn't giving up as he would use his hind legs to try kicking AiAi off of him fully, even with the Hoverball still activated.

"What's this? He reflected the attack like that. Looks like this fight isn't over yet!" Cassy announced.

Lion would instantly ignite his mane against and roll at him as a spinning fireball to attack him immediately. AiAi instantly uses the Invisiball to seemingly disappear before him. The flaming Lion would pass directly where the monkey should be, but didn't feel anything to collide into at all. This left him wide open for a surprise straight by the invisible monkey in his back without warning. The crowd instantly started to cheer for AiAi's end to rally the monkey for his next big move with the African predator confused on his target's whereabouts. AiAi reappears above his head, now with a Bomb Ball to roll directly at Lion's exposed head for the explosive finale.

"Uki kiki yeeeaaaah!" he cries.

The big cat briefly saw this before shrinking his irises in fear. The end result is an explosion that blows a massive gust of winds at the very crowds before them. Amy, Cream, and Big shielded their eyes from the impact as best as they could. Jason struggles to put his glasses back on after the force almost pushes them off of his eyes. Cheese and Tails would be struggling to stay from flying away thanks to this method. All of AiAi's jungle buddies would be fully racing themselves with no room to activate the Monkey Balls within their seats, GonGon's size making it easier for him. Sonic would be left looking around the dark smoke from the commentator balcony to see if he survived the tactic at all. Both referees Helena and Casey still kept their distance on the off chance both competitors would fully fall back to the stadium from the impact.

"What?" she says in surprise.

AiAi would be slowly carrying a defeated Lion with his open Monkey Ball acting as wings. This sudden sign of sportsmanship would be rare out of him that he'd willing to gently place the larger opponent down despite his size. He grits his teeth as he helps the nape of the lion's neck despite struggling. The life in the Lion's eyes would be gone as his jaw hangs out with his tongue rolled out. Two clear signs that the fight would already be over before it even began. MeeMee and Amy were more than glad that he's showing respect to his opponent even if the fight was over.

"Monkeys caring for lions? What's next, birds caring for pigs? Like that's ever going to happen," Red complains.

However the other birds would be surprised that such a brutal fight ended in an almost wholesome way despite the outcome.

"Way to go, lad. Your experiences with us sure came through in the battle," Gilius said as he watched the magic portal.

"Good job, little buddy. You did swell for your first fight," Sonic says gratefully.

The whole scene would be interesting as AiAi continues carrying the defeated Beast King in battle. Just the sight alone would infuriate Gorilla enough that he starts beating on the cage harder than before with ferocious hoots, this time doing significant damage to the cage. Several crew members would be concerned about what will happen if they don't intervene with the overgrown ape trying to beat his way out of the cage.

"Looks like we'll need to get the tranquilizers ready, send in the Animal Control!" a man called on a walkie.

The Gorilla was only going to beat the steel bars even harder as a Beast King falling in battle is a disgrace, especially for Lion being his main rival. The crowd would be concerned with what's going on as they didn't expect such cadres to hold these powerful savanna animals forever. Miku knew it would be best to calm down the audience before announcing the first victor yet.

"Everyone, please remain calm. Our best animal experts will arrive soon to sedate that unruly ape before he tries breaking out. We'll make sure all attendees are completely safe and unharmed," the Vocaloid pleaded.

Cassy however knew it was best to solve this situation first before moving on to the next competitor, calling through her own device to speed things up. Unlike everyone else, Sonic had a feeling the Gorilla meant no harm, but he's more upset at someone he considers his pal losing. But to everyone else, especially humans, a large powerful ape is seen as too dangerous to be free in his emotional state. Ostrich and Elephant try to calm their unruly partner in their own ways, but one's futile squawks and trumpets wouldn't get through to the ravaging ape. GonGon being the observant one of the group knew that the Gorilla was more than upset, not at AiAi, but seeing someone he admires for his strength falling to someone who's not of the same rank.

"Uki ukeke ukinono keh," he spoke solemnly.

Amy and Jason would be wondering what the large primate meant by his serious words. MeeMee and Doctor knew what he means, knowing the situation is tragic as non-primates won't understand the emotionally distraught ape's feelings. Swarms of men in uniforms armed with tranquilizer guns would be entering the stadium from the left going for the beast that's moments away from breaking out from his cage.

"Remain calm, we will sedate the animals and remove them from the stadium completely, that way we can guarantee everyone's safety. With that said, the winner is AiAi from Monkey Island, who gets to progress to the next match in the future!" Cassy announced.

Everyone will still hold off on congratulating the winner just yet, even after AiAi gently sits the defeated Lion on the stadium floor for safety. He jumps off eventually with his Monkey Ball put away moments before Gorilla finally bursts out of the cage in his rage.

"Aaaaauuugghhh!" the frightened monkey yelped.

The Gorilla charged at him as fast as he could angrier than ever despite the many tranquilizer darts fired at his arms. It wouldn't be long until he started to slow down and lose his senses the moment the drugs slowly started to affect his body despite his strength. Tripping over his leg and falling over moments before he can reach the edge of the stadium would just be the beginning. The other freed animals would also be sedated by the shots despite them still watching their comrade in concern.

"That was quick, they are already putting the beasts to sleep. But some of them looked less aggressive than the gorilla, anything to make everyone feel more comfortable for the event," Tails sadly said.

He can tell that even looking at the Curien Mansion creatures below and Zobiko, that things had to stay completely safe to avoid issues with AMS. Even the zombie wife knew clearly that this is what to expect if her and the other bleached zombies ever were to leave their designated area. One by one, each of the animals would fully collapse from the powerful drugs that entered their nervous system with the animal control's efforts completely. Not even the hardy Elephant's hide was enough to protect her as clearly these were made to be twice as powerful than the average pachyderm tranquilizer to guarantee putting even the mightiest member's of the animal kingdom into a deep sleep. This left a still struggling Gorilla reaching out his hand for his lion rival despite his arm feeling heavier and he hurt from the drugged sedation. MeeMee would already be in tears since she finally understood just what the ape's intention was rather than harm AiAi. Amy felt less angry overtime and now felt a clear sympathy for an animal that simply wanted to comfort a fallen friend than being a threat to the people in the stadium. AiAi would watch as the ape's hand reached over for the defeated feline rather than to hurt him using what little strength he had. Being the most observant of the Phantom Thieves, Joker knew all along that the ape simply meant no harm at all and just wanted to give a long time rival a good thanks.

"The public may not get it, but the big guy wasn't going to hurt anyone. They knew the risk in hosting a tournament with so many third parties involved who never participated before. This is just the beginning, but congrats on Morgana's friend winning," Joker says solemnly.

The black cat would be more confused by Joker understanding all of this than simply being lumped as AiAi's friend for a past adventure he had with him. The rest of his friends at Cafe LeBlanc would only ponder their leader's words as the broadcast shows many crew coming along to carry the large animals off the stage immediately. The heavier ones needed the help of two certain skunk brothers Rough and Tumble, who were now reformed as security and stadium crew members for the event. Sonic couldn't help but to smile seeing two familiar faces now being better men than the days of being grunts used in Eggman or Clutch's schemes anymore. Being the emotional brother, Rough couldn't hide his tears within his red eyes since he understood well the gorilla only wanted to console his fallen friend rather than hurting anyone. AiAi watched as many human crew mates and even GUN robot's helped in hauling each of their sedated beasts to carry off the stadium. He really ponders just what could have transpired this event, feeling his victory was hollow and ended on a sour note. Lion being the last to be carried off while he had little chance to move again from his own loss. Sonic watches from above as each and all of these now sleeping animals were being carried out of the area thanks to the efforts to keep this event safe for the crowd involved. GonGon further shakes his head just seeing everything transpire, knowing well what the risks of getting involved with humans were outside of their home. Eventually everyone would feel it was time to start clapping now that the situation was handled and it was time for the next match to advance. AiAi didn't even feel like celebrating since he understood that his opponent's friends had to be removed from the show over a misunderstanding. He would be approached by Cassy, who reached out her hand to congratulate the winner of the show's opening match.

"Our winner of Round 1 is AiAi from Monkey Island, who's ready to progress to the next round. Those who participated will head back inside for the needed medical treatment as we want everyone to fight at their strongest. This is only the beginning!" she announced.

AiAi is still left unsure of what to think, but decides to look at his friends cheering him on for his victory. MeeMee, GonGon, Palette, and Baby would be cheering the hardest for their friend who more than deserved the win despite the unfortunate ending. Bashful, he chuckles as he brushes the back of his furry head one final time moments before the crew arrives to fix the stadium. He respectfully scuttled away while he could to let the crew do their job at reshaping all damaged stone for the next round and into the dark door.

"Good job AiAi! And I especially hope those beasts can hopefully be treated well during their time out," Tails said.

"I'm just ready to see Akira fight already. I didn't come here with my sister for nothing. They better bring out the Virtua Fighter champion!" Jacky called.

"Patience, only the announcer and hosts can decide on who gets to fight next. Akira will get his time to shine soon," Pai Chan said to the loud American.

"I'm more curious about what Alex Kid and our other old friends will do in a battle. Not that I mind seeing what other new faces will do when their turn is up," Amy says with a smile.

"Hopefully less intense than the last since that mean lion was scary. I'm not sure if I can take any blood," Cream adds in worry.

"Chao chaochao," Cheese chirps.

"Trust me, you can expect more soon. At least depending on who wise will be next," Jason says in relief.

"Pipe it, let us not get too pessimistic and be hopeful for Cream's sake," Amy barked.

"Agreed. Think about poor Froggy too," Big says, looking at how uneasy his polliwog pal was.|

"Oooh ooh, kikiooooh," GonGon adds with Big's statement.

He is more than protective as the uncle figure to Baby who's still a young monkey despite his tech skills and time traveling. MeeMee is glad that the big primate knew how to be that voice of reason in the group. Within the dark corridors, someone would already meet AiAi on the other side with his hand ready for healing. He's a fairly androgynous man from the Algol System who's here to heal all fighters after they compete, removing all traces of deep claw gashes and beatings the monkey received from his fight. The monkey would grow surprised at how instantaneous the process was when this magic is all strange to him as an Earth dweller compared to this mysterious man.

"You can now rest easy, friend. I wish you luck in your next match in this tournament. Usually I'm not the type that encourages this sport," the mysterious man said.

Thankfully, he hoots after doing a victory dance to flex his now healthy body and ready to roll into the next round. Speaking of, Miku already projects the screen to showcase all of the fighters in order for the event to move along. The first two were just the beginning when twenty eight fighters remained for the first preliminaries. Many visitors from all over and even certain heroes would be truly curious of who could be next in the line up. Cassy would hold the mic in her hand now that it would be time to keep the show going, Helena more than ready to assist when necessary.

"Next round is going to be a real exciting one, folks. We can hope you all are ready to keep this moving for the rest of the day. Those who were lucky to bet on our previous winner should be expecting so much in their bank. Reminder that anyone can bet on any fighter to win some or lose some as we want this tournament to also benefit our fellow betters here!" she announced.

A good deal of the crowd who did bet on Lion would be losers as they simply underestimated AiAi too much unlike the diehard AiAi fans that truly believed in the powerful monkey to win their earnings. Sonic could only shake his head sarcastically that so many basically wasted money for not being true believers in his friend's fighting prowess. One guy would be screaming as this meant him winning a solid five grand as he's been meaning to go on a vacation when this event was over. This slightly amused Amy as she truly believed luck would be on the side of those that earns it, according to her own intuition.

"It sure would be nice to win some of that money. But I'd rather not lose it all as money is a responsibility than something to lose," Jason laments.

"In case you aren't aware kiddo, only legal adults can be betting on fights. Have you ever been to a horse racing event? You only have a few more years before it's your time to shine," Jacky teased before rubbing the nerdy teen's hair playfully.

"That's enough Jacky. I think you should be aware that you are an adult and not a child," his stern sister warned.

Pai-Chan for once agreed with Sarah as Jacky can get carried away with his carefree nature and jokes in any event.

"Honestly, no one should think about putting their money towards anything. You never know if you win or not, and frankly it's all about fun to support an event hosted by Sonic. This is just a bonus to keep the big spenders seated if this isn't their cup of tea," Tails explains nervously.

"My mother always taught me to always save and be responsible with money at a young age. She knows best after all," Cream adds to the conversation.

"It's why you, her, and Gemerl live in such a nice fancy house. Unlike the jungle shack that Froggy and I are happy to live in," Big says sheepishly.

The next match would be picked which would be quite an unorthodox one, the two mugshots being highlighted on the roster being that of the famous mascot superhero Pepsiman and the very American cowboy Pole. This would be a true match up that leaves many scratching their heads at how exciting this matchup would be. However the many die hard Pepsi enjoyers and fans of the hero had their faith that this would be an easy match for the hero against some nobody gunslinger. Amy and the others would be unaware of what to think due to not knowing these two super well unlike AiAi. Speaking of, Sonic did a nervous chuckle knowing the product placement celebrity is next to show off his own strength in a fight.

"This ought to be good. Had a feeling he was next. I hope Akira is watching so he knows how to deal with him," Jacky says.

"Given his former loss against the two time Fighting Vipers champion, it'll be interesting to see how much stronger he's gotten since then," Pai Chan adds.

"That crazy drink mascot must be strong if he's got this much support other than just being a walking brand for a drink. I'm more partial to Chaos Cola myself," Amy says without care.

"I think if he really did improve since losing to Bahn, he could make it quite far. I do have my doubts he would be the winner or have a chance to face Sonic," Tails suggests.

"I wonder who that Pole guy is. I never heard of him and is bringing guns to the tournament legal?" Cream wondered.

"I think they clearly said as long as it's a part of their arsenal and not outside interference, it's fine. Not that I am concerned since guns are the least threatening thing to any superhero. Pepsiman shouldn't be no different," Jason says after adjusting his glasses.

Miku instantly disappears to make way for the fully fixed stadium floor for the competitors to arrive, leaving Helena to take the mike away from Cassy to announce the incoming round. The crowd truly went wild whether they heard of Pole or not because they wanted to see the famed Pepsi icon take him out in this next round.

"In the left corner, we have an icon hailing from Japan inspired by the things we love about superheroes. With his never-ending running, durable body, and endless chill that truly makes him Pepsi Incarnate. Never giving up and wanting to face his longtime rival Bahn once more. Give it up for the one and only Pepsiman!" The DOATEC host announced with vigor.

What soon follows is a sudden blaring of a familiar theme that many would know too well from the commercials and a cult classic video game featuring the hero that truly excited crowds. Many would know this too well to start humming the theme along with them or even breaking out their Pepsi drinks to start raising them. Sonic knew everyone would be showing too much fanfare when they had to play his theme song to start a new match, lowering his eyelids in lack of amusement. She could tell that someone was coming based on the dramatic build up and hearing someone running within the dark door on the other side of the stadium. Constant running would be heard that's heavy to match his special alloy skin and heavyset body for a truly indestructible hero of thirst. He would be heavily breathing within each run as he followed the light to reach his adoring fans that awaited his grand appearance for the fight.

"Pespiman!" his fans cheered altogether to motivate the incoming hero.

He would be running twice as fast to try reaching the stage fast enough, chugging his own can of Pepsi to give him the needed fuel for his first ever fight in this tournament.

"Pepsiman!" the same fans cried louder than before, some almost spilling their own open drinks over other audience members.

Amy and Tails would also be feeling the same way as Sonic knowing it's too much fanfare for one opponent. Cheese would already be covering his ears as Cream comforted the disturbed Chao. Even Froggy was getting skittish that Big had known the crowd would be getting too loud for him. Jason would be the least surprise since any superhero nor product celebrity is bound to get this much buzz at events like these, but awaits his arrival on stage. Pepsiman finally leaps from the very door at a far distance that truly caused the crowd to go wild at his majestic flashy entrance to the fight. He struck a pose that almost felt like he would be riffing on the unamused hedgehog but with his iconic thumbs up as he flew toward the very host awaiting him.

"He stole that from Sonic! What a show off," Amy shouts.

He finally lands directly in front of the two ladies that awaited him, jumping back a fair distance to give them some room and striking another pose. This time being a pose his co-star Diet Pepsi-Man would do, complete with the "No!" And outstretched hand waving to truly show off his charisma.

"Pepsimaaaaaaaaan!" the entire crowd cheered upon seeing that.

This would lead most of the Phantom Thieves within Cafe LeBlanc speechless at what they are seeing or the fanfare for such a showoff. Being Japanese, they knew him well enough to see how ads of him used to be everywhere in their part of town or how annoying the theme song got after a while. The only one being level headed being Morgana as he simply sees the display as kind of cool. The Birds would be just as confused at what they were watching, some wondering just what he was supposed to be at all. Red's eyebrows twitched slightly at what he's trying to process at all, even Bomb and Chuck being agape at the over the top sight at the tournament.

"What the flock am I watching? It's like those circuses those humans love so much," he exclaimed.

Pepsiman would continue posing and flexing for the many audience members taking their best camera shots of the famous hero and still roaring with excitement for his first fight. However, Cassy feels it would be best to show some excitement for his opponent than this much focus , ordering Miku to simply cut the theme song short. Helena knew it would be best to move along despite the disappointed audience members that wanted things to keep playing.

"In the right corner, we have quite the oddball being an American from Arizona who went through the strangest adventure ever. He's the straightest man in any comedy scenario, but a toughest, roughest cowboy who fought the strangest foes all the way to the moon. Rescuer of his sweetheart Sharon, and fighter of poachers, give it up for Pole!" she announced.

An 8-Bit tune would begin playing reminiscent of the old west in the famed Southern state to start making things more even. Some would be confused as to why something outdated would be playing in what's supposed to be a tournament, however old school gamers and fellow Arizona residents would be enjoying the tune that plays. Even Jason would be humming along with this to Amy and Tails' amusement despite the clear confusion in the air.

"I don't know, this gives me a Fix It Felix Jr. vibe. Or maybe I don't keep up with much of the oldies," Jacky stated.

Cassy however would be clearly enjoying this more and not just because of her cowgirl persona, but more her has some nostalgia for the old west herself being one to prefer those states in the US. Pepsiman would be patiently waiting for who his first opponent would be as he watches the dark door on the opposite side of the stadium. He would soon start to show himself in the flesh, appearing to be the famed cowboy dressed like most would, but the twist of having his artillery shells all over his white suit and a larger gun you wouldn't see ones of the old West packing. This one being more of a pump action rifle than an older revolver, let alone a modern pistol anyone would have access to. He's true to being an American bearing arms and looking the part that some clearly saw him as the ideal American citizen. His beautiful blonde girlfriend Sharon would be amongst the crowd, wearing a revealing blue dress you would see in a parlor show that also suits the part of town he was from.

"That's my big strong Pole! You show that walking soda pop buster who's boss!" she cheered loudly.

She would be beautiful enough that some men would be leering their eyes at her for also being the ideal American woman, much to Pole's dismay despite his calm walk towards the stage. Ryuji himself couldn't be helped but to be captivated like most of Joker's gang within the cafe from seeing the camera focus on Sharon. Ann scoffs as she hopes he doesn't compare her to that woman in any way the entire time.

"Well, they are not wrong. But I'm more concerned about how this cowboy will stand a chance against a superhero mascot," Joker says.

"I wonder too. This is like bringing a knife to a gunfight, except in this case, guns are ineffective on someone built like a hero and surviving encounters with trucks," Makoto adds.

"I hope this one won't turn out too messy. I almost feel sorry for the Westerner," Haru says sympathetically.

The crowd would be left more than bewildered at the cowboy finally squaring up on the hero before him as his he's preparing an quick draw when the match gets a formal announcement. His arms outstretched and refile now within one of his large white pockets as if he's waiting for the right time. Pepsiman would stop his showboating, now kneeling slightly with both arms in different directions as if he's preparing for a run. Helena knew the two fighters would be more than ready for their next match that she would chance at her cowgirl partner to get the pistol ready for the next shot. Hand held high in the air and watching the two men preparing for their square off would be all she needed to know to get things started.

"Let the battle begin for Round 2!" she shouts before firing her shot into the air.

The crowd would then hear another shot happen afterwards that alarmed them soon afterwards. Some wondered just what happened or why the first attack happened in the blink of an eye after the referees first ever announcement. This would be seen when Pepsiman has a few large rifle shells fired at his chest hard enough to cause a dent in his aluminum body. Pole was truly a cowboy that knew a quick draw would be a good start to this match when he's dealing with someone who's a more physical attacker in a fight. This would only prove to the hero that instead of going too easy, he was best taking his armed foe more seriously if he truly wanted to progress in this fight. Cassy is still shocked and impressed at how quick the Arizona cowboy's shot was if he went immediately after her own to signal the match's beginning.

"He's quick, that's for sure. But speed alone won't be enough to beat a hardy hero like Pepsiman," Tails stated.

"Even I couldn't catch that one at all," Whisper quickly says.

He's raised his famed firearm easily with the smoking barely to show he's got quick enough reflexes for someone who's not visually as strong as the mascot superhero. Even if this didn't harm Pepsiman too much, he's more than happy that his opponent looked stronger than he appears, smirking slightly which is a rare sight for the hero to do. Even his fans knew there was more fight in their favorite drink mascot yet despite the surprise attack immediately after the match had started.

"Not bad cowboy. But it'll take a little more. You have a fire in your eyes, even if you aren't a Fighting Vipers regular. I guess there's no shame in going too easy on you in any way," he says with the same grin.

"That's alright pardner, we are here to give these fine folks a good show. And I take it you can take the unexpected. Well, there's more where that came from once I break out the big guns," Pole replies.

This time he takes out a special power up that appears to be an extension to his rifle, now fully upgrading it to be able to fire spread shots more easily. This is what he would commonly use for waves of poachers, but now he sees the hero as a bigger game to blast away now that the kid gloves were off. Pepsiman would crouch once again as if he's beginning to charge the lone ranger once again to give him a taste of why Pepsi will always be the number one drink in America. Pole is more than prepared to fire again the moment he starts moving to give his opponent trouble. Sharon gulps knowing her man is now forced to upgrade this early seeing this foe is tough enough to take his weakest shots in battle.

"That's not how guns work, but I can't complain when he represents our home state. Make Arizona proud cowboy, we are with you!" a Southern man shouts.

"Yeah, you are the West and the South put together, no way to lose to some flashy wannabe comic mascot. Go Pole!" Another called.

Some would be more than confused that a deal of Southwestern crowders would begin cheering him on to motivate him to give Pepsiman all the hell possible in this battle. This combined with the more vocal and louder Pepsiman fans would be growing concerned that his opponent won over the hearts of more than a few people this fast. Now Sonic's friends and several other guests would be more than curious to see if this cowboy will truly win this battle now that he's no longer seen as some nobody, but a symbol of the Southwest that truly hope their rep wins this battle. The battle would begin again with Pepsiman charging at Pole once more tho fires his spreadshot just as fast as the last time. Pepsiman takes the shots head on regardless as he nears him for a quick tackle despite the cowboy still firing him without any fear. He's eventually knocked away by the full force of the tank superhero to the point Pole is knocked away a fair distance. This didn't stop him from having a nice grip on his rifle again to keep on firing him with more rapid fire shots. Pepsiman would be forced to punch each and every shell with his might, even if they begin to dent his aluminum body overtime in this heated shootout.

"Honey, don't lose this! You survived the impossible, I know you can beat him!" Sharon called to her love.

She is right as Pole would be having some ribs broken from that last tackle but still had it in. He kept fighting unlike his trip to Japan that caused him to limp with a severely broken leg and recover in no time. He spat out his first blood as if he's chewing tobacco and took out a strange mushroom to help him in this battle. There were many different mushrooms on his journey with strange effects, even one that gave him a rather embarrassingly large tower before. Pepsiman would jump for a flying kick at his chest again regardless of him munching one the fungus on sight. He would slightly grow as a result, comparable to Big the Cat's size on command which surprised Pepsiman.

"Checkmate, now for the bigger shots now that I'm the bigger man," he brags before firing away.

Now these larger shots would be enough to disrupt Pepsiman and push him back onto the dusty stadium at full force. Even the bullet shells were larger to match his slightly larger size that happened after the slightly taller cowboy landed back onto the ground. Cassy and Helena could now tell he was definitely bigger than before, someone that would give heavy hitters like Bayman or Bass Armstrong trouble if he ever faced them.

"You know I would say everything is bigger in Arizona, but that would be Texas," she said in surprise.

"Go Pole! Take that phony hero out!" his new fans shout within the West part of the stadium.

Now everyone would be more than happy to see the cowboy giving it his all and making a good first impression. Pepsiman would be left recovering after his last knock away to see the now larger Pole slightly big enough to make the Pepsi Cans and trucks he outrun blush. He's more than willing to keep the fight going while reloading his larger rifle once more to give his now smaller foe trouble.

"You said no holding back, so you get to see why my adventures were big and weird. Come on there cowboy, hit me with your best shot, if you can," the larger cowboy called.

Pepsiman would wait for the right time to fight again knowing his foe prefers to stay faraway for his attacks than getting close, and always focus on keeping away. The superhero would know that there's only one way to counter such tactics from a foe who chooses to make himself a clearly bigger target in a battle. He would dash for him again, this time keeping his eye on the rifle that prepared to fire another spreadshot at him. This time he would watch the bullet fire at him once more but had a trick up his sleeve to disarm him completely, a powerful Thirst Buster the blow the oversized shell back at Pole's rifle to almost knock it away from the overgrown cowboy that almost surprised him. Pepsiman flips into the air for a powerful Elbow Buster for his exposed head to try knocking him out, only for Pole grab him in time. However the pressure of the attack would almost break Pole's hand, causing him to groan from the pressure. This sight alarmed several of his Western fans and even Sharon since his trump card is now being used against him.

"Pole!" she called.

Pepsiman soon follows by jumping into the air again, now creating an overgrown Pepsi can with his carbonated powers to attempt slamming onto the overgrown cowboy.

"Someone like you must be really thirsty, so quench that thirst of yours with this!" he shouts.

The wounded Pole still tries to grip his rifle again despite the broken hand to fire at him again. The bullet instead ripped through the can to shower the carbonated drink all over his head in a sticky mess before the can finally broke through his head to completely cover it. The now blinded cowboy would be too disoriented to use his rifle anymore as Pepsiman has an opening for his exposed feet. He deals a sit jab directly on his right foot to cause the gigantic cowboy to scream loudly within the can that's over his face, and jump around in pain.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is quite the turn around. This might as well be the American David and Goliath that's happening before us!" Cassy announced.

Pepsiman deals a good Elbow Shot that jabs directly into the cowboy's stomach, causing him to finally topple over and yelp with the can on his head.

"Go Go Pepsiman! Beat that cowboy until he flies back to the West!" his dedicated fans shouts.

Now Sonic grew interested in how shockingly skilled he is despite having that ego most mascot celebrities would have after all. Amy and Tails couldn't believe how he quickly dispatched his larger for after all despite the size and range advantages he had. But things were far from over as it appeared the whole time Pole was drinking the fluids within the soda can the entire time. Just like the 7-Up and similarly oversized ramen he ate on his journey, it unknowingly made him strong enough to break out of the can easily with a relaxed sigh alone. He would see Pepsiman already trying to finish him off with another Elbow Buster to get that win. He had another trick up his sleeve like tapping into the mutations the UFO Catcher aliens gave him on the moon by slowly turning green briefly like an alien and growing fangs to match his now aggressive power. He opens wide for a long tongue in the form of a secondary mouth to fire out of his mouth and at Pepsiman to bite and push him further into the air. This fanged appendage would now be strong enough to pierce the aluminum body of the hero once more to sell how dangerous this new form is.

"What?" he exclaims.

The hissing tongue would be biting down into him further that it almost engulfed his whole body.

"What the heck happened? Is this guy even human? First he grows and mid he's acting like a Xenomorph. Nothing about this makes sense," Jason exclaims.

"You are right, he's even weirder than expected," Amy nervously said after watching the unusual scene.

Pepsiman struggled wrangling with the alien tongue that shook and ragdolled his body aggressively like a rabid animal. During all of this would be when Pole would use the strength he has to pour a special flask of sarsaparilla into his mouth the entire time. This wouldn't be an ordinary drink as it's one that makes him invincible enough to plow through forces easily like a certain star. Some could tell he had even more tricks up his sleeve after that.

"It appears he's drinking while his secondary mouth is attacking him, what a way to truly surprise your opponent!" Helena announced.

After a single toss into the air by the alien tongue, Pole retracts it back into his mouth as he jumps back to his own feet. His alien features soon faded away into his familiar human American self as he prepared to jump. Another difference would be his body rapidly flashing thanks to the alcohol's mysterious powers finally affecting his body as he springs into the air.

"Looks like I'll have to make sure that troublesome tin can body of yours never move a muscle. This'll hurt a lot," the cowboy declares.

Pepsiman would desperately do a knee drop against the flying cowboy below to retaliate only to feel a heavy crunch. His left leg would be crushed flat due to the indestructible state of Pole's body, which caused him to gasp in pain. He follows up with a tackle that sends Pepsiman flying further into the air which packed quite the punch. The audience truly knew that this could either be a turn around or the end of the match unless the hero had any plans. The cowboy propelled himself further with a higher jump remembering he had two memoirs from Japan that may come in handy for a victory, the first being a pair of white panties he "accidentally" collected on his trip. This left a good number of audiences confused or just baffled that he had a pair of stolen ladies undergarments on him all this time. A good deal of children had to get their eyes covered by parents that saw this, Big doing the same for Cream to keep the rabbit's innocence in check. Amy would be both flustered and disgusted that Pole even had such a thing in possession.

"That cowboy must had his fair share of raids, but just not the ones you'd expect," Jacky comments.

"Shut up, Jacky," an embarrassed Pai Chan and Sarah shouted at him.

The flustered Jason would obviously cover his bespectacled eyes as he'd rather not see something like this, or know certain online friends wouldn't respect him if they knew about it. The curious Baby would be wondering why both GonGon and MeeMee would shield his eyes, Palette and MeeMee knowing humans are quite more shameless than even the average monkey. Pole slams the undergarments on the superhero's face to fully blind him before blasting him away in the back with his rifle once more, knowing he still has his spread shot activated.

"What a shameless display! Using used underwear and doing dirty tricks. This strange cowboy is full of surprises," Helena announced, avoiding the mention of "panties" for the younger tournament goers.

But this was far from the only surprise as the falling blinded hero would be greeted by another parting gift some would be surprised Pole had in his possession. An extra replica of the Tokyo Tower that his poacher enemies built to disorient Pole on his trip to Japan. Being big as the real deal as it fully reveals himself from Pole's pockets, some would be shocked he can store and carry something this big so casually. Tails drops his jaw as Amy and Jason gasp at the sight. Sharon would eventually grow less upset that her boyfriend was carrying someone else's underwear and grow amazed that he managed to store such a massive tower in his suit, just not the one she expected.

"What the hell is going on? This isn't a fight anymore if he plans to flatten him with a damn building out of nowhere!" one crowd member shouts.

But it would be too late as Pole finally sends the tower below immediately with the falling Pepsiman only left too shocked to dodge the structure's impending doom.

"No way, he can't be this serious? Even the hosts could be hurt!" Asuka called.

"That soda hero can only pray to have the same resilience as your cousin's clan," Lilli sarcastically replies.

Panda roars in a mix of concern and shock at what was happening before her black eyes. Helena and Cassy already had the right idea to retreat towards the back of the stadium moments before the tower would finally meet the ground after Pepsiman slams upon it. Joker had a bad feeling about what's happening while even the whole cafe would be in panic and shock at the sheer craziness that was broadcasted on TV. Ryuji was already being shaken by Makoto over staring at the previous panty situation before the two finally noticed the falling Tokyo Tower.

"That's impossible? There were no reports of the tower being stolen. Just how did this cowboy even have a solid replica of the real thing. Let alone carry it?" Ann asks.

"Such fine arts shouldn't be disrespected like this. He's only going to destroy it, and hurt countless others with it," a furious Yusuke shouts.

"Thank you for being concerned for the innocents too. But even that would be expensive to throw a whole tower like that in a live event," Futaba adds.

However the final crash gets all of their attention as it appears the tower finally landed with the expected results of dust clouds flying throughout the stadium and the fate of Pepsiman being unknown. In real time, many would be coughing or covering their eyes at the wanton destruction that happened from the ridiculous event as the still conscious Pole lands on the very top of his own Tokyo Tower replica, satisfied and victorious over his foe's defeat. Many crowdgoers would still be coughing and waiting for the dust to clear up after the last impact blocked their only view of the fights. Sonic from his height can see barely anything below the base of the tower after it was slammed, and the very height of the tower is noticeable enough for even the rest of the commentators to see.

"Talk about bringing down the house, this isn't like anything you'd expect," he says in slight shock.

The slam of the tower was enough to shake many of the parked vehicles, even the police car containing Mimic and Bartholew's gang. The octopus had to slowly change his human features back after the shock made his face and tentacles briefly visible.

"What is going on? Someone must have been powerful if they caused a shock this big," he complains.

"Whatever it is, it's annoying enough. Not that I care about giving in to the blue rat's program," the gang leader hissed.

"Never forget our goal. Stay focused and keep waiting until the time to strike, boys. Our time will come in due time," Christie adds through her speaker to the police car.

The dust clouds back at the stadium would finally disappear to reveal the final tower and a mostly destroyed stadium floor, now with a visually barely crushed Pepsiman under one of the land leg's of the family's red tower. His torso is barely visible with the rest of it fully crushed and the hero seemingly unconscious from the impact. His face is now uncovered but had a tragic expression that truly made his fans worry for him.

"There he is! But it seems like he kicked the can. No, it can't be!" someone called.

Pole could see the semi-obscured body below to see he truly won this battle and didn't even need to bring out the stranger power ups to beat him. Many fans would be heartbroken, even dropping their own Pepsi cans at the sight a beloved hero was officially no more or in any shape to get the massive tower off any time soon. The many that placed their bets on the soda hero would be more than upset that the money surely weren't in their favor to win this match up for a cash reward. Sonic's friends would be more than concerned on how he can recover from this judging from the tower's sheer size and weight from its sudden appearance, if the medics could move his body.

"Unless he moves, I think this is curtains for him, or if anyone can find a way to move that tower too. I'm not sure if that's even possible," Tails said.

But something soon caught his eye as he glanced at the body suddenly moving. It would be when a single can of soda would be forming in his exposed hand that begins to form. This caught the eyes of even his worried fans that wondered how he was able to get it or what overall happened. Soon, he would begin absorbing what appears to be every single particle of carbon and soda within the area for this one can that he has. Fans would notice their half full cans would slowly be getting emptied with the fluids flowing outside of them in streams of dark brown that flew towards the lone can within his hand. Pole would notice this and popped his eyes out comically at the miraculous scene that is occurring at all. Even Tangle would be left agape with the nervous Whisper being flabbergasted at what she was witnessing.

"Whaaaaaaaaaat? That's not how the fight is supposed to go!?" he screamed.

Being a being that is the very symbol of soda, he can create it as much as he can manipulate it and it can be the very full that makes him have the energy to keep fighting with energy. Overtime, that can he holds would be almost getting fuller with the soda he needs to keep on fighting with the little strength he has, almost driven by the desire to win.

"Pepsiman! Pepsiman! Pepsiman! Pepsiman!" one man would cheer with his now empty can.

What soon follows would be the other crowd members cheering songs side with him, growing louder over time knowing they are thankful for giving him the fuel he needs to keep on fighting. It would be this support that truly fueled his very desire to win knowing his overconfident foe is only watching him get stronger than doing anything about it. Pole would waste no time being flabbergasted and aim his rifle once more to begin firing at him out of desperation. However what soon happens would be the hero taking a sip of the now semi-full can for some strength, freeing his left hand to fire some quenching blasts to blow the bullets away from him. A now distracted Pole would fire back at the reflected bullets, now almost losing his balance to fall. He didn't want to lose without a fight as he had one more mushroom up his sleeve to help turn the tides.

"This bad boy made me blow up the last time, but here goes nothing," he says out of desperation.

Pepsiman would already chug the drink fully in one hand before using his other hand to begin pushing the tower slowly off of his body. Pole felt the strength already taking effect to munch the fungus immediately in hopes he has the right one for the situation. He would feel parts of his hands and head slowly expanding to accommodate the shroom's effects to begin rapidly growing. His additional weight from the growing and Pepsin's recovering strength would be at a complete tug of war to try crushing or pushing each other off one another. The sight would truly be something to behold with some wondering how this could end. Pole's fans would be cheering on the rapidly growing cowboy who would soon be almost half the size of the power and using his own strength to push beneath himself.

"I'm not sure if a certain plumber would be flattered or offended at this. He's really loving to abuse them so much," Sonic rambles in bewilderment.

"Pepsiman! Pepsiman! Pepsiman! Pepsiman! Pepsiman! Pepsiman!" the crowd continued cheering.

The empty can would be tossed away now that Pepsiman had the full strength to use both arms in pushing both the tower and ever growing Pole from recruiting his body again. He could feel his own lower body completely reshape back into his muscular legs once more as more ways he can use all of himself further push the heavier weight. A heavily breathing Pole would now be as big as the tower itself, now barely standing atop it with barely any ways to hang on at the risk of falling over the stadium that barely contains him. Sharon would be left praying that her man would win this match despite the odds no longer being in his favor anymore.

"You have this, honey. Do it for me, show him that you are the bigger man than that tin can will ever be!" she called.

Pole however would feel himself getting weaker and weaker, as if the shroom's effects of growing him were going to be severe if he kept things going and the additional mass being a burden on his size. Pepsiman would now use both his arms and legs to start pushing the tower even higher off of his body than before, more motivated than before to win this fight for good.

"You see, there needs to be someone who can quench the thirst of man, even in the hottest places in the world. And you know what, I will not end things here as long as I think about them. It's time for you to retire, cowboy!" he shouts, finally doing one final push that pushes both the tower and gigantic Pole into the air at once.

The tower flew even twice as fast until the top slammed right where the sun didn't shine, Pole's only source of manhood. The sight was enough to make crowds go "Oooooooooooh!" or in the case of the male audience, cringing as they felt that pain in the same area. Amy, Tails, Jason, and even Big would be cringing from the sight as this wouldn't be anything pretty to witness. Cream had already covered her own eyes since the sight was not only too much, but she felt sorry for what happened to the cowboy, Cheese already squealing in fear. Tangle and Whisper would have no way to react other than shuddering at the sight of that pain the tower caused to the big cowboy.

"My God, he won't be feeling that in the morning, or any other day," Jacky says in sympathy and cringe.

Sharon faints from the sight as seeing her man get hurt in the worst spot was too much for her to bear. Pole however would be holding in his breath from the blunt trauma that hit his cajones hard enough that he finally shed his first real tears from the pain, even tears he never shed from his girlfriend ever being kidnapped. The pain was far from over as Pepsiman already leapt to the tower to begin running directly at his face with all the strength and determination to end the fight as soon as possible. Pole would be too busy holding in his breath and pain to care about his upcoming opponent running his way for his next tactic. He already jumps across the giant cowboy's chest and then into the air to end things in one final knee drop towards his head.

"You seem to be a little thirsty? How about a hard drink to put you to sleep!" he shouts as he falls one last time.

He succeeds in ramming atop Pole's head to push him onto the tower one last time in a powerful climax, but one of sheer pain. The tower successfully showers in an explosion of ruptured steel structures as Pole's final scream finally emits as a truly haunting sound to hear. The scream would be enough to alarm everyone in the audience, rumble every parked vehicle once more, and blow even the dangerous tower parts higher and farther away from the stadium to hurt anyone. One could be grateful that the Tokyo Tower replica didn't destroy the stadium thanks to Pole's own pain and the crazy tactic of Pepsiman. Everyone watching the stadium would still be speechless at what they were watching at all, the few that didn't pay attention were alarmed by the sudden loud scream.

"Remind me to never watch this again if this is what we'll be seeing more of," Ryuji said, still feeling the impact of what happened to Pole's manhood.

"Well Japan's crazy mascot did win, but not the way that we've expected," Joker says nervously.

"Was that even legal? And I don't mean the crotch shot, but more him literally using other's drinks to power himself mid-fight? But I guess it works," Futuba adds.

"The less we talk about "that", the better. I love how all that fine work into the tower was put to rest without hurting anyone in the end," Yusuke says in relief.

"Yusuke has a point, at least no one else was hurt by that tower now that it appears to be pulverized before it hit the ground again," Haru says in concern.

They would be right as Mimic and his cohorts would be completely speechless at what they saw flying beyond the horizon above their police car, more than floored at the type of monsters Sonic invited to this tournament. The octopus was no coward, but more than glad he has a single mission on eliminating Sonic and hopes whoever he fights after switching with Clutch aren't as strong.

"What the hell? Just what type of people did he bring to this place? If anything, this should give the people more of a reason not to trust that blue freak around their city," Bartholomew cried.

His lackeys on the other hand would be still shivering and huddling together as if they were experiencing the worst Mach 5 Tornado in the area. Back at the stadium things finally died down as Pepsiman lands on his feet safe and sound thanks to using his special hoverboard to slow his fall down, now more than ready to last for the next round. Pole wouldn't be as fortunate, holding his mouth as if he was slowly getting ready to have the worst indigestion due to forcing too much at once and his motion sickness. His body would also rapidly shrink as a result of his body no longer registering the special mushrooms he ate that clearly wanted to purge itself out of his stomach by force. He had no way to soften his own landing as he would be several miles away from landing headfirst whether he would finally lose his lunch from the swirling fall or not.

Not good, not good! This isn't good for my PR or new fans if I upchuck these accursed fungi when everything is live. And no, this isn't funny and will be very painful like the time that gymnast launched me too high.

Pepsiman knew what to do as he would use what little strength he had to manifest a special can of Pepsi in situations like this. He may be a winner, but he's always there to help with thirst and make sure no one loses their meal the wrong way.

"What is he going to do? This isn't time for a drink when his opponent will have the worst fall or hurl in the most embarrassing way possible?" Jacky exclaimed.

"You said what? Tell me when it's over since I do not want to see it," Amy cried, being concerned for her appetite.

"And that's your priority over someone possibly breaking their head open like an apple?" Jason shouts.

"Both could be as bad. Someone getting hurt and the most unpleasant sight ever," Pai Chan adds.

"How disgusting either way, neither scenario would be good," the wolf girl whispered.

Pole couldn't hold his semi-digested food any longer and really wanted to loosen his mouth for the most painful throat complex ever, on top of his hard fall. What he wouldn't expect is Pepsiman actually jumping up to him with the large open can and putting it to his mouth.

"Don't resist, drink it all down as it'll cure that stomach ache and save you embarrassment. You've fought well," the soda hero said.

The cowboy without question chugs the large drink slowly but surely. The carbonated drink would eventually take that unpleasant backwash away over time and make his inflamed throat register both the drink and eventual "food" to be resigned where it belongs. His motion sickness that clouded his mind would be slowing down over time the more he drank, feeling more at ease and refreshed in due time. Pepsiman would tip the drink further as the two fell to make sure the medicinal soda would be fully consumed to cure his indigestion and nervous system. Cassy and Helena couldn't understand the situation they were seeing as it made things even more unclear whichever side had won. Sonic would finally see past the fame loving egotistical drink mascot as someone who would risk everything to make sure even his own opponent wasn't seriously sick or humiliated at the end of defeat. A dizzy and recovering Sharon would finally rise from below her seat to finally see the unthinkable: that her own man had finally lost to someone for the first time in his life. But the thing that shocked her is that Pole would be carried back towards the stadium in the arms of his own rival, actually feeling more at ease from the special drink preventing the most humiliating live vomit session.

"What, he lost? But also, he's being fed one last drink after another failure?" she slowly said.

"It's not just a lost. But more, mutual respect between men. A real man shows full respect in a fight even when the goin' gets tough. Little lady, you have yourself a real man if one recognizes him as one. He's showing the best respect to his opponent as a man to not have his fight end in a loss of disrespect," an older Southern man replied to her.

"He may have lost the battle, but he won our heart by giving it all and at least giving one hella spectacle with that tower he somehow carried in his pocket," another man said.

Pole slowly and surely got sleepier the more he drank every drop of the soda, now losing his will to fight and even getting sleepier over time. Pepsiman carefully watched the cowboy he cradles during the fall to make sure he's fully safe and all that nausea is fully gone from the ginger ale solution.

"You can rest easy now. You're safe and I'll call the paramedics to take you back for some attention. Rest assured your girl knows you should be just fine based on what she's seeing from across from us," the soda hero reassured.

A halfway sleep Pole would glance at his girlfriend, who is more than glad with the situation and waving back at him. Her beautiful blue eyes and bright smile would remind him exactly who he always fought for, let alone someone worth risking everything to ensure her safety like his last big adventure. His eyes slowly got weaker overtime, just being satisfied at Sharon's safety and satisfaction at his loss. His body slowly lost all of his senses to the therapeutic drink, removing all discomfort and bad stomach aches he had from the motion sickness.

Well pardner, you have a friend in me. Man to man, I respect that you see me having a dignified end and preventing the most humiliating hurling from my bowels. Maybe a little rest is what I need after the long trip. I deserved it for going around the world and to the moon. All for my special dahlia.

He eventually succumbs to his tiredness after drinking the last drop, finally asleep as a large snot bubble forms from his nose that grew from his drowsiness. Pepsiman finally lands, but also makes sure to cradle the snoring cowboy carefully so as to not awaken him, with the two hosts waiting directly for them to call the winner. Cassy still awaits the right call to make as it's best yo see if either side still intends to keep their fight going. Olivia and Any were just as curious since sleeping is usually a disqualification if it occurs in the middle of a match for far too long. Sonic knew honestly that despite his opponent's intentions, what he did relaxed him to the point that this match would be over with the best possible conclusion.

"I think this sleeping beauty should be taken somewhere else with all the energy he's exhausted. What do you guys think?" Sonic says to the commentators he's sitting next to.

They wouldn't know what answer to give knowing that they have a tournament to keep going for those that want excitement. The soda hero finally placed Pole on his back fully, backing away to give room for anyone to take him away.

"You, call someone to take him to bed. We're done here, no need to continue any more destruction," he called to Helena.

The French woman understood him well and immediately took out her phone to call the right people for the job. Cassy knew it would be best to call the winner and move things along quickly.

"Pole is unable to battle and is in need of medical attention. The winner of this fight is Pepsiman!" she called.

What soon follows is the crowd roaring immediately with excitement for the winner, but this seemed more different as they now love his respect to his opponent or always felt this compassion is why he's the greatest mascot known to man. Some would be crying tears in happiness or even respecting the bravado of the drink mascot giving Pole the most respectful end of the fight and sparing a gross ending from the audience. However, the ending they get wouldn't be what they expected as the sleeping cowboy would be sporting something new. This was no secret Tokyo Tower in his pants as it's something else entirely that only a handful would notice. Sharon would be among one of them, almost blushing and if not embarrassed her love would be showcasing her favorite feature in a public audience.

"Oh dear, must be the mushrooms causing that side effect again," she cried.

"Now I can see why they name that there cowboy Pole," the southern man beside her said.

Helena knew upon a glance that after contacting the paramedics, the broadcast censors should immediately be warned to pixelate the image while they could.

"Excuse me, but it appears we have an unwanted situation that should be covered on broadcast. Make it immediate," she says in a mix of sarcasm and unamusement.

It would be too late as the handful who watched the fight would be either laughing out loud at the blunder or surprised that one sleep would cause this so soon. Makoto, Ann, Futaba, and Haru were definitely not amused and wished they didn't see it at all with red faces and their male cohorts being just as speechless. Morgana had no words himself since he is in the form of a cat and didn't want to talk around Sojiro.

"I think you kids seen enough. I could change the channel if this is too much," the older barista grumbled.

"That won't be necessary, it appears they did the right act of censorship just now. Unfortunately the first ten or so seconds was enough for everyone to see," Yusuke adds.

"Dude, sound awfully calm about the manner, as if you were artistically enjoying the view," Ryuji insinuates.

"Weren't you forced to be in drag on a few occasions by everyone's favorite gay couple? You have not a single room to talk," Makoto snaps.

"Is it wrong that I ship those two? The way he was calm in his arms, that was more than just bromance or manhood," a still blushing Futaba said.

"Can we not say that last word? And Makoto, I was pressured into it, so how about we not bring up old stuff like it's completely relevant!" the delinquent barked.

"It's America after all, and we all know why they are the way they are. This was only the tip of the iceberg compared to our Hawaiian field trip," a sarcastic Joker adds.

"Ren, please don't use the word tip in this context anymore," Ann groaned in annoyance.

Unfortunately for the citizens of Yuria using a magic portal as their means to watch the fight, they have no ways to see the additional blur as laughter filled the area. Humans, dwarfs, centaurs, and Amazons would be more amused at the situation as they needed to laugh, as if the rest of the fight wasn't absorbed enough to all of them. Gilius would call a bartender to give him another mug of hard cider, knowing he would need the best drink.

In the Gates of Hell, Bayonetta would give a sly smile while shaking her head, Rodin still continuing business as usual and Jeanne now being amused at what she is seeing.

"I just hope there's no little ones there who stumbled upon this. The stuff you get away with on the bloody television," she said.

"All I can say is whoever dates that man is one lucky girl. Not even Cheshire could compare if he tried," her black wearing friend says.

"Cold, even colder than the worst parts of Inferno. Lucky he isn't here to listen to words heavier than a Beloved," the demon bartender states, still polishing the last glass Bayonetta drank from.

"You know her, brutally honest, but also quite the show off when she needs to," Jeanne replies before sipping her mimosa.

The Gessen Girls back in their academy would be taking the sight much less well knowing all of them were women here. Yozakura would be halfway tempted to Shinobi Transform and crush the TV if it weren't for the fact that the faculty wouldn't afford another one. Minori would already be crying from what she saw as Shiki hopelessly tried to cheer her senior up with candy. Murakuma would be silently glaring at the screen with her hanya mask as if she's angry, when behind the mask she is deeply shivering from ever seeing something this indecent.

"Can…can they skip the program and have our Yumi fight. A warrior needs to see what we truly came for and not this "act"!" she shouts, barely keeping her tough persona on.

"Like I know right? We totally need to have our girl on stage to have her first fight after this sausage fest. Never thought two guys going at it would lead to something out of a boys love manga," Shiki complains in her teen-like voice.

"Tell me when it's over. I'll never see popsicles the same way again. Maybe some lollipops can cheer me up," the teary eyed Minori relies.

"It'll happen soon. I think I see some paramedics coming. Get that pervert off the stage, and thankfully the Americans follow the same principles we do on this censorship," Yozokura says, still red faced and angry at what see saw.

She would be right as Pepsiman already walked away to wave back at his adoring fans that celebrated his victory. Pole would be swiftly carried away on the stretcher by a few medics who hoped what they saw wasn't a serious case of priapism. The cowboy still snores in his deep sleep without any awareness of the scrutiny for his situation. There was a mixture of laughter and shame from the audience at what they experienced for the second ever match at what they saw. Some would even be taking pictures as this was something hilarious worth spreading on parts of social media. Big already did his part at covering Cream's face despite his own discomfort. Tails was smart enough to use his own tails as cover the moment he caught a glimpse of the embarrassing scene.

"Can they please get him off the stage? And to believe I was concerned about him getting hurt. Think of all the kids and women who could have seen that!" Amy cried with outrage.

"I've personally seen worse Amy, there's some things you don't know about my ventures, but I'll leave it at that until you are mature enough," Olivia replies.

"If you are thinking about whacking it, please don't. The medics got it covered and frankly, that would be painful to the poor guy," Jason adds.

"Who said anything about whacking? I really don't want to hurt anyone, but you could be next if you are defending that weirdo in anyway," she snapped at the boy.

"If didn't know any better, maybe he could relate to him. As if a similar incident must have happened, huh hotshot?" Jacky teased.

"Wh…what? Shut up! Did you not see the part where he was eating those mushrooms? Maybe they had some side effects when eaten in excess? And I'm not that type of guy, since I put my academics over uncontrollable desires!" the bespectacled boy shouts at a snickering Jacky.

"Can you please drop the subject, as we have two kids that don't want to hear this type of high school playground talk. Come on," Sarah sternly said to the two.

"Please do. You are all acting like children," Tangle blurts in anger.

"Ooooh ukikIki keekikiaugh," MeeMee says.

Tails would open his eyes upon understanding MeeMee's words, he could see that the stretcher had already disappeared in the dark door before them with no chances of ever seeing the cowboy's manhood again. He would be relieved as he would hope the rest of the tournament would get as embarrassing or grody again for the rest of the show. Big knew it would be time to uncover Cream's eyes again, her Chao friend tapping her head to alert her. She could see that things were now back to normal with Miku appearing again for the usual roster selection to show for the next round. Amy would let go of her anger to enjoy the rest of the tournament, a wave of relief over the two humans that her hammer can rest easy. Jason would sigh deeply now that he rests only for him to turn and see a large chest in his face.

"Uh….sir?" a female voice said.

He instantly gasps and flails in fear upon seeing the concession stand girl's sudden appearance. Olivia and Amy looked at her to see that this worker has an air of mystery around her despite being someone who's selling snacks.

"Do you want any snacks? They only cost 3 dollars," she calmly said.

What she would be holding are holders with chips, candy, hot dogs in foil wraps, and meat buns. The two girls were unsure on what they would like to buy since they weren't really hungry, Jason would recollect himself and adjust his glasses, being thankful no one saw how close his face was to the worker's chest initially.

"Some meat buns would be fine…..And I mean the food so there's no miscommunication," he said nervously to avoid thinking about that close encounter again.

The woman calmly reached out her hands for the money if it meant doing business with the boy and going about her business. Jason dug within his pockets to grab the few dollars he had to get the buns he ordered, she quickly snatched the money from his hand before stuffing it in her cleavage. This odd behavior would be enough to raise Amy's eyebrow at the situation as Jason looked agape at the worker's odd behavior. Whisper had the same mindset after taking a good look at the strange situation from her seat. Tails, Big, and Cream didn't quite catch the situation as they focused more on the next match being selected. The woman did give Jason the meat buns he asked for despite his reaction to her, Olivia being more than suspicious of her.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid that's not the way you're supposed to take money. It's not only against the code of conduct, but rules of the stadium. Not sure if you are new at this job, but just wanted to politely inform you," she interjects.

The woman would be completely silent at her strange way of saving cash being called out, now sure how to respond to the college girl's statement at her expense. Amy did agree what she did was strange and felt unnecessarily as if she was trying to seduce Jason in any way. She only stated her mysterious brown eyes at the two in silence as if they dared to challenge her way of work. Tails would catch on briefly to see what appeared to be the issue.

"Is there something wrong? An order was done the wrong way?" he asks.

"No Tails, but this woman is acting awfully suspicious and not following the stadium's guidelines for her own job," Amy replies, still keeping her eyes on the silent guilty party.

"A woman's body can act as a pocket, therefore I am not breaking any rules. You are a minor, correct? Perhaps you have a lot of developing to do if you are feeling any envy. The customer is satisfied and has no complaints, so I am complying with the rules of the stadium," the worker says frankly.

It would be at this moment Amy could tell she was deflecting from her friend's words, and held any anger she had back so as to not disrupt the next match that may start soon. Olivia appreciates what she said, not her clear attempt at trying to misconstrue her own concerns about the strange way she completes her tasks.

"Just for that, I demand a tip from your friend for making my day harder that usual. I'm sure you are compliant enough to obligate," she says, reaching out for Jason's money once again.

Whisper knew that she couldn't be allowed to reach for her weapon, but still felt less than patient with this strange woman. Tangle would catch on to this and wondered just what really bothered her this badly.

"Hey! You can't do that. And I get the feeling you are acting too strange around him. He wouldn't ever ag…"

Jason would sheepishly give her an extra couple dollars silently if it meant not causing a scene, both girls disappointed at him being pressured into a generous "tip" because of their interrogation.

"Dude, you didn't have to do that? Are you a man or a boy?" Olivia disappointedly says.

"What just happened? Is he being rude to that woman?" Tangle asks.

"No. But she is truly a suspect with something untrustworthy about her," Whisper coldly said in her same low voice.

The same worker would smirk at the two women in gratitude, once again repeating the same violation the two criticized her for. Jason still faced away from her with a red face to avoid having his eyes look for too long again.

"This one is obedient, I like him. But I have other customers to attend to, but consider me unlikely to serve the rest of you again," the worker says.

The next thing she would do is take a phone number from her cleavage and pass it to Jason as if she was giving something important to him. Amy would be gritting her teeth that the woman's intentions were clear And Jason let her get away with ripping him off his cash. Olivia shakes her head in a less than inviting manner as avoiding certain customers is another violation concession stand workers weren't allowed to do. She would soon walk away with a half smile knowing she has a new favorite customer to revisit any time as long as it didn't involve the two rightfully suspicious friends. Tails and Tangle would still be unable to register the situation that happened. Amy eventually refuses eye contact with Jason anymore for getting in the way of busting someone, Whisper still glaring at him in a very uninviting way for being nice to the enemy.

"How about next time, don't be so wishy washy? You seem like the type of guy that lets any lady walk all over them. Just don't be surprised if that "invitation" involves you being kidnapped and strapped to a wall later on," Olivia snaps.

Jason couldn't say a word as it seems things were already getting started with the next round.

"Ladies and gentleman, sorry for that inconvenience. We are aware that things can be violent or even scary, but situations like that we will be better prepared for. Our television censors will respond accordingly if anything similar happens again. However this next fight should be everyone's best choice," Helena announced.

The roster would highlight to show the mugshots of two women, that would be Sakura Shinguji and Yumi of the Gessen Girls Academy. Several of the Japanese members of the crew would be more than familiar with the former as the Imperial Fleet Division would be famous for their stage play performances and many struggles against the demon threats in Japan. Demons being a danger to the human world would be no surprise as those like her, Dante, and Hayabusa would often handle these threats whenever they cause full scale attacks over the world. The other would be someone less familiar around here, the young girl in the kimono not coming off like anyone who could stand up to an experienced soldier like Sakura. Though some crowdgoers would already learn not to judge a book by a cover after seeing the fight Pole gave to someone like Pepsiman despite being less famous. Sonic had no horse in this race as he's familiar with neither, but heard from Segata that she was very formidable as she's quite the skilled dancer at the Japan Imperial Theatre. Miku already disappeared in a digital burst to allow her costars Cassy and Helena to get the show rolling as usual.

"On the left side, we have one of Japan's greatest soldiers that fought to keep the country demon-free for years. An entertainer by day and skilled warrior by night on her steam powered Koubu. The one and only Sakura Shinguji!" Cassy shouts.

Instantly, a large mecha would be flying out of the door at high speeds that truly surprised the crowd, all while the famous Geki! Tekoku Kagekidan playing to celebrate her grand entrance. The strong symphony and guitar accompanies the graceful flight the large machine takes as it encircles the entire stadium in a speedy flight. Within the machine, Sakura would be carefully checking the status of her machine's diffusers, steam power, and weapons to make sure she's fully prepared for her first ever fight. Ichiro and the rest of the Flower Division had already tuned into the tournament at the right time, back in Japan to see how their fearless leader and elite unit fares in her first fight. The only sole member would be more than confident that Sakura should do just fine when her standard and eternal weapons were allowed in this fight given most opponents should be quite formidable in combat.

"She's got this, we have nothing to worry about when she led us all to victory twice before. I doubt the crown jewel of the Japan Imperial Flower Division will be disappointed," he said.

"I hope you are right. Not that I think the Koubu is ill equipped against whatever she is up against," Iris stated.

"She will not lose. She's not just that, but Japan's number one protector against all demons. She's conquered many of our worst foes and wouldn't lose to someone not on her level," Sumire says with her arms crossed.

The whole gang would continue to watch Sakura's graceful televised flight over the stadium to see she's quite learned since her many missions and performing to perform such tricks. Children would be screaming at how cool her Koubou looked as it flew around with care and grace around everyone. Meanwhile the handful of passionate Western fans would be more than happy with the demon slaying performer still showing she has skill despite the many years since their last major demon attack. The steam powered mech is pink with red flowing coattails to match the elegance of its rider, a machine that never truly let her down her missions to stop any Kouma menace. It would be proven quite agile and fast despite its bulky appearance, with a large katana in hand as one of the many massive people it can wield. This is the upgraded Kai model that she's used ever since, with some upgrades that reflect the French and other divisions around the world.

"Sakura! Sakura! Sakura! Sakura! Sakura!" the crowd raged.

Even those unfamiliar with her would be won over with the sheer skill she is showing and wondering just how her opponent would be able to fight a machine like this. Amy would admit the colors were pretty enough to match the skill of how Sakura maneuvered her trademark vehicle of combat. Tails would be amazed that steam powered tech like this can work so well like the modernized electric tech of today.

"That's some impressive machine she had. I wonder what they're called. I think Cassy said they were known as Koubu," Tails says in impressment.

"I also wonder why this machine isn't modernized. You would think that Japan is an advanced enough nation that she would upgrade. Must be the old fashioned type of soldier," Jason says.

"I wonder how this fight will go. If the opponent isn't super strong or has her own mech, it's not a fair match up," Jacky says across from the boy.

The machine finally lands in the middle of the stadium, waving to the audience once more to impress the audience. More cheered loudly at how proudly she uses something so cool, and old school for a battle like this. Sakura within her mech is more than glad to see the crowds in good spirits, seeing everything through a special camera. This camera would be seen as a single eye that moves around a horizontal slot on the Koubu's bulky head to act as a way to properly see their opponent in battle. Cassy would know it's time to announce the next opponent, one she already warned that she was best transforming out of sight to follow the broadcast regulations of this tournament.

"And in the right corner, have a strict but beautiful young shinobi also hailing from Japan known for her sense of justice and icy demeanor. A student of Gessen Academy who's neither good like Hanzo nor evil like Hebijo nor Homura's renegades. Give it up for the one and only, Yumi!" she declares.

Instantly, a chilly wind would be felt Amongst the two hosts and even Sakura's Koubu as they stood where they were. Even some of the audience would start feeling it too with some hoping that it wouldn't be cold for a while in this next fight. Sakura eventually detected the temperature dropping with the Koubu's system and she truly wondered just what type of girl her opponent was. Tails would also be wondering what was causing this phenomena despite his fur being decent enough for this weather.

"You'd think they would invest in heaters if this kind of thing happens. Should have gotten a jacket from the apartment," Olivia complains.

But eventually all eyes would be on someone who would be slowly walking outside of the door with much authority and regality as if she knew how to carry herself. Yumi would finally appear in the flesh, already fully transformed in her Shinobi State as it's more battle ready for this type of confrontation. Her icy blue eyes would be on the armored mecha before her as she enters the arena as if she's been preparing for this very moment. Her beautiful cut hair and flowing white kimono would be clear signs of how she's considered one of the biggest rivals to other strong shinobi like Asuka and Homura. There would be a good amount of younger male audience members who would be stunned by how beautiful she appears for someone that's supposedly a strong fighter. Some most notably having their eyes in her loose bouncy cleavage as such a thing is notable for most shinobi in Gessen and similar shinobi academies for girls. Even Jason would be entranced in her spell before Olivia would tap his foot. Although she even wonders why this girl considers herself some royalty for an academy student that is supposed to be a ninja. Amy had a feeling she was causing the sudden cold in the arena as she can tell her personality even matches it. Cream and Cheese wondered why she isn't really armored since their opponent had the advantage with her mecha in battle. Yumi still walks with confidence and ignores the many gawking eyes on her as if she's completely used to this. Sakura would be confused under her Kobe at the strange girl that approaches her, not seemingly armed with anything close to a weapon or her own machine. She is aware of the ninja that served the Kouma like Tenkai however as they were demons that were attached to the feudal era of Japan. The rest of her peers in Gessen Academy were more than glad that their expectation of Yumi being next came true, truly captivated by her showing what their academy was all about.

"There she is, our Yumi and the girl of the hour. She should have no problem trouncing that outdated tin can with ease!" Yozakura exclaims.

"A warrior like her should have no problem with all the Yoma and rival shinobi she has defeated before. It would be dishonor if she were to fall before our rivals in any way," Murakumo spoke in her usual warrior voice.

"Go go Yumi! We are all behind you and hold you, don't hold back on this soldier girl. I doubt Shinguji ever fought anything like shinobi," a cheery Minori shouts.

"Only one way to find out. I do find it totally unfair that she is not fighting on equal terms. But she should treat this machine like a Yoma for that sweet victory. It only makes perfect sense," Shiki rambled.

All hopes were in their friend and most exceptional senior to win this fight in the name of their prestigious shinobi academy as she didn't travel outside of their home country for a shameful loss. Yumi finally arrived before her opponent with her condiment aura and awaiting the announcers to get the battle started. Sakura would be in thought over whether she should go through with this as she has some advantages over her being someone who cares about when her opponent is on equal terms in a war. Casey instantly raised her gun into the air once more as she felt the tow were more than ready to get started.

"The fight shall begin, we will have a true battle of wit to determine who's the strongest female fighter. Let's go!" she announced.

The pistol fires as Yumi whips out her trademark weapons, her usual twin fans to match her elegant appearance to begin the battle. But what Sakura chooses would shock everyone as she opens the cockpit of her Kobe to reveal herself fully. Many would be surprised to see the Imperial Flower Division captain is still beautiful as ever in her sakura pink military outfit and the long flowing hair to match her crimson bow. Ichiro and the remaining squadron would be wondering why she decided to reveal herself to her opponent this soon instead of fighting like she always would.

"What is she doing? She has the advantage and should seize it?" he wondered.

"It's not like her to suddenly have mercy and give an opening like that at the start of a match," Kohran says with confusion.

Sakura jumps out of the Koubu in front of her opponent, now brandishing her famed katana as her weapon of choice. This would be a sudden change of pace for her, choosing to fight physically, woman to woman, to start things off for the battle. Yumi is actually impressed knowing she would have to go slightly easy on her from the start as a shinobi that does prefer to fight this way at the beginning.

"What's this? It seems Sakura wants the fight to be more fair. This could be a more interesting start. Now let's see what she has up her sleeve," Helena announced.

Sonic instantly keeps his eye on the situation knowing she's no dirty fighter like Eggman to rely on a mecha in battle against a weaker foe.

"She's even more beautiful in person. This is what it means to be the perfect soldier for Japan. But let's see if she can fight as good as she looks," Amy says in astonishment.

"I agree. A good old sword fight is a real eye opener, well sword and some flimsy fans. Assuming she's resilient as Mai Shiranui from the King of Fighters tournaments," Olivia adds.

"I knew something was familiar, as if the way she's dressed isn't showy enough already," Jason says nervously.

"Of course you would say that after being a showoff to that sketchy stand lady," Amy barked.

"The less we talk about her, the better," Whisper warned quietly.

Yumi would be satisfied at the way things will start, but truly curious if her skill will be enough to keep up with her prowess as a shinobi. Sakura still stands her ground with her battle stands, holding her katana above her head to await her first move. It was now down to who would start the first attack with the Koubu now sitting to the side until its needed. It was now a fight between two Japanese warriors, each one with different morals and disciplines in their combat that awaited the first time to strike. The two hosts would stay where they were to see just when the fight would truly begin. The rest of the Flower Division would watch from the TV still wondering when their peer would start her first fight instead of waiting for a while. Even anticipation would be on the other side with the Gessen Academy girls all hoping the strongest student doesn't fall in battle for this public match. Sakura sees an opening, charging immediately with her sword ready for the first strike. Yuki soon saw this coming and blitzed at her usual combat speed against other shinobi. The two met in a powerful clash that always blew the two hosts back as a result now that there's no need to hold back on equal footing. This was a surprising way to start the match now that there's two girls knew it was time to really let loose. Sakura would be seen struggling to hold against Yumi's fans who were more durable than she'd expected. This would be no surprise given her clashes against swords from Miyabi or even Homura's eight sword fighting style. She still gave off her same cold stare showing her confidence and honoring how strong her opponent was in her own way. Sakura knew from this first test, she had no reason to give it her All on foot knowing how fast and strong this cold shinobi is.

"You're not bad, perhaps I was wrong for taking you as a common competitor," she says seriously.

"Shinobi are truly the best of fighters. You are not my usual rivals, but even I won't take long to crush your only offense," the shinobi replies in her confident voice.

Yumi would slowly start converting ice within her fans to attempt freezing Sakura's katana as a way to make the blade more brittle. She saw this coming and knew it would be time to do one of her famed techniques to counter this. Using the flames of her own sword to melt that ice away immediately and try burning the shinobi's only means of combat back. It would be when Yumi realized that she just may have someone who acts as a true rival to her, almost thinking of the flames the former and current Hebijo rivals can do.

"Impressive, but it'll take more than that to stop my victory!" she shouts.

She would generate even more ice around her in the form of icicles to fire at Sakura while she's vulnerable. She immediately backs off and swung her blade to destroy the ice particles in a frenzy.

"Koukon Musou!" she shouts with all her might.

Yumi would use the mist formed to advantage to vanish from her sight with a new strategy. Ninja were known to use any trick possible to stay in the shadows and really disorient their targets.

"What a way to start the match, a battle of fire and ice! These two women are more than meets the eye, folks!" Cassy called.

Sakura would still be on her guard, katana still held high, to look around for where the cold shinobi can appear at any moment. While she knows her flames can melt anything, it's a double edged sword that can cause thick mist as a result that can be used against her. This drew interest from Amy's group as they wondered just what the strict ninja had up her sleeve. Then she leaped directly at her with massive twirling fans before her generating the coldest ice possible.

"Freeze!" she called.

Sakura knew this would be an appropriate time to charge at her again with the same flaming technique to counter the incoming frost typhoon.

"For the Flower Division!" she called.

They clashed once more, causing more steam to form from the two elements clashing against each other. Yumi had planned to skate away while the fans were spinning before her foe. The audience couldn't tell where she would show up thanks to the steam shielding her appearance. The preoccupied Sakura still felt she was holding her opponent back without a thought of her next trick. She would use the trick of kicking Sakura directly against the spinning fans to disorient her. The first blood would be spilled with the cold ice blades slicing around Sakura's body that she screams from the result.

"Sakura! She did that dirty trick while she was cloaked in the mist!" Ichiro shouts.

"No fair, there was no way she would have seen that coming," Iris called.

Both of Yumi's fans returned to her hand before she would decide what to do with her pained opponent that landed back to the ground.

"Quit wasting my time, I've warned you that shinobi are superior fighters. It's no wonder you depend on mere weapons like that to stand a chance," she says coldly.

As hard as they were, the words truly got to the soldier's head that she can't just play fair anymore when her opponent is someone who relies on tricks to win a battle. Sakura would ignore how deep the cuts were at ripping her imperial uniform, or the running of cold blood from her wounds.

"You truly don't have justice in your heart it seems. And here I thought you truly stood against evil," she says.

"I'm nothing like Asuka nor my other rivals. I stand for a true justice that is neither good or evil. You seem more naive for someone of your status. Perhaps it's best that the exterior of yours should be shattered," Yumi says once more, charging at her with both fans ready for an attack.

This time Sakura would rely less on her flames and go straight for stronger attacks with her blade. They clashed within each series of strikes that happened once they met again, destroying chunks of the ice that formed from Yumi's own attacks. She knows that her opponent is learning from her last mistake and continues being aggressive with her approach.

"How can she do those with simple fans? Not even Espio's own techniques can compare," Tails says.

"That's giving Espio too much credit. Or more her since even she wouldn't play fair against him," Amy says.

"I already don't like that beauty lady's attitude. True beauty is from a kind heart instead of being so mean and thinking she is better than others," a frustrated Cream replied.

"Chao Chao Chao!" Cheese adds in his Chao language.

Sakura successfully broke through Yumi's guard to deal her first bow to Yumi's body, successfully making the kunoichi bleed and tearing a large gash in her kimono. The shinobi would soon do a rare glare of anger at her for this which her Gessen peers knew she wouldn't hold back anymore.

"She's done it now. A shinobi is more vulnerable if you try to tear their guards. Ignoring all the leering eyes, that will only push her to fight twice as hard to do the same to her," Yozakura declares.

"The true warrior will awaken. Give that woman hell with your best warrior cry. Araaaaaaaaaauuuuggggghhhhh!" Murakumo cries with her hot blooded persona.

Sakura wouldn't care about the consequences as she desired to beat the elegant shinobi at her own game. Yumi is still overcoming the initial shock of her gown being torn to prepare another deadly attack at her foe.

"Don't think you won yet. This shinobi still has enough ways to break your only defense," she coldly replies.

She immediately chooses to swing her fans at the grown to cause massive ice spikes to spring beneath Sakura. This not only pierces her body in many places but knocks her into the air in a vulnerable state.

"Sakura!" Ichiro shouts.

Yumi immediately charged at her to knock her away with another hard swipe from her chilling fans and charged again to continue her assault into the air. Now it would be a series of aerial strikes that locked the female soldier into the air from an angrier Yumi's continued fan lashes. These were now hitting harder and cutting her skin with chilling effects of the ice that made the experience twice as painful. Half of the Flower Division would be left frustrated by the situation their peer would be in, Sumire being the angriest as she always saw her as a well respected member of the group.

"Damn that icy wench, she's only going to beat her unless Sakura breaks out of her aid lock," she angrily shouts.

"There's no way she can give up here. She should have stayed in her Koubu rather than abandoning it for some pride," Maria said.

Sonic still observed everything from his spot as he wondered if Sakura is truly used to air combat outside of her own mech if she's struggling to get out of this deadly Aerial Rave. Most shinobi would be excellent at truly finishing their foes in the air with this technique as it truly disarms them of their outer garments and defeats them in battle. More of her famed uniform would be more and more torn until certain garments she never wanted to be seen publicly would start to become visible. A good deal of the audience would be slightly nervous as their attires could be more and more baring overtime based on how the fight goes. However the more squeamish would know this is a bigger opportunity for bloodshed as there's nothing covering soft flesh from being sliced by swords to sharp ice shards. Helena would already be having her phone ready in case the censors would need to be warned of any special blurs to use on broadcast if it means less of a Pole situation happening again. Cassy however would observe the fight to see if Sakura has any special plan on escaping the shinobi's onslaught. Sakura would eventually use this time to see through her opponent's movement if it means looking for another opening to strike her.

Her movements may be fast, but they are predictable if I can find that chance to fight her. I would care less if I'm exposed since defeating her is more important. It seems more like she's afraid of that the most, which is why she suddenly got more aggressive after I cut her kimono. Just need that chance.

She would see for a brief moment that Yumi is preparing to attack her from the right for her next attack and uses her straight to counter that with her own blade.

"There, Toukou Kenei!" she called upon striking the shinobi into the air.

This fully disrupted the ice shinobi's Aerial Rave completely and gave her military opponent the chance to follow up with her own attack. The next thing she would do is a powerful downwards swipe to send the two of them plummeting back to the stadium at full force. Yumi could feel her gown cutting open even more, which frustrated her further. If there's anything she hates more than losing, it's to be fully exposed in a battle or to her enemy. She knew that things would have to be done fast to end the battle. She uses her fans to generate ice on her opponent and sword to attempt freezing her while she's in a vulnerable position.

"Perhaps it's best you shatter before thinking you ended the final blow," she replies.

"That's not all, I know another way to stop your tricks," Sakura replies.

She uses her flames once again to burn that ice away completely, knowing that she has no way to run even with the mist that forms between them. Yumi gasps at how far Sakura is willing to risk stopping her best plans. She follows up with a hard swing before her to launch a massive green sword beam that pushes the Shinobi away and shreds her clothes even further. Yumi would be blown away, now having most of her beloved kimono ripped exposing her icy blue undergarments and a burst of blood from the severity of the attack.

"Masuri!" a strange Japanese announcer called.

This appeared to be a special guest who was overly excited and politely moved out of the announcer room by the other hosts to Sonic's sudden surprise. Sakura would only land and watch her fly away from her last strong attack, feeling the pain of her own body cuts from the ninja's cold relentless attacks. Ichiro would be more than glad at her near victory but knew things weren't looking good with her own injuries and how much she pushed to make it possible.

"I hope this is it, I don't think she can keep this up without her Koubou. That ninja girl is tough," he says.

"That's our Sakura. Now all the announcer has to do is call this match and this is good as her's," Sumire adds.

"It's not over until they say it is. That ninja girl will have a new trick. I just feel it," Kanna says.

"How about your have some faith, Kanna. It's not like you to suddenly pre-mature her victory!" Iris pouts.

Unfortunately the first generation soldier would be correct as the almost bare Yumi holds a special scroll in her hand that will turn the tides and help her fight for even longer. With one last glare during her fall, she begins using her ninpo to unlock the scroll's power as it fully engulfs her in a bright icy blue light. Her Gessen peers knew exactly what would be happening despite their initial worries that she lost to a few lucky shots.

"It's time for the Ice Queen to appear. Yumi will guarantee that flower girl will come crying back to her superiors soon," Yozakura announced.

"She's good as toast, Yumi is stronger, colder than ever, and has a sweet sword that's above her usual fans. Sakura lady is screwed," Minori adds.

"Now a real warrior will fell this one. A true battle to decide who is the strongest," Murakumo says in her warrior-like voice.

"Like let's get this party started. We will get the snacks and juice ready when our queen wins," Shiki shouts.

What results is a massive icy vortex that soon grows from where Yumi would had fallen as the stadium slowly grows colder over time. The exhausted Sakura knew that this fight would be almost over unless she goes for her Kobe, feeling the pressure is beyond that of her opponent's normal strength. She slowly limps her way towards the machine that beckons her while she still her time to finish this battle. She knew that she pushed herself too hard for this fight and any further stress could force her body to finally collapse.

"Looks like the true finale is about to begin. While Yumi is gathering her full power, the initially fair Sakura going for her secret weapon while she's too hurt to keep fighting in her current shape. But we should apologize for the constant change of temperature here as we didn't anticipate this," a shivering Helena announced.

Amy and Olivia would finally uncover Jason's eyes as they felt he seen a bit too much for his current eyes. The two would now wonder just what was about to happen next with this cold air now filling their own seats like the rest of the stadium at the moment. Big was thankful his fur is thick enough to survive the cold, but grew concerned for Froggy as cold blooded amphibians like him can't stand the cold.

"I hope this match can end soon since Froggy ins't liking the cold," he says in worry.

The frog desperately digs into the fur on his feline friend's head to tray staying warm for the remainder of this fight. Sakura could tell things were going to get rough from her here with the slowly dropping temperatures affecting her open wounds now. She groans in pain from feeling the cold almost making her warm wounds brittle than before with her limping legs desperately making her body approach the large weapon. The large shadow of a spider would slowly cast across the stadium now during the icy vortex. Just the sight of this would begin making Sumire turn uneasy given her overwhelming fear of spiders, secretly hoping it wasn't what she thought it was.

"I hope it's not an S-P-I-D-E-R. But that should be impossible since they don't survive cold climates," Kohran says.

"Eeeewww, I hope Sakura's Koubou can crush it soon enough so Sumire won't feel too scared," Iris pouts in disgust.

"Sc...scared? Who is scared? I hope Sakura doesn't die right there. It's disgu….dishonorable that she is losing to some ninja girl this easily. Espid..especially since she fought valiantly against the Kouma Army for many years. She shouldn't disgrace the name of the Imperial Flower Division," a clearly shaking Sumire brags with a facade to hide her fear.

Ichiro could tell his ally was doing a terrible job at hiding her fear at all, but grew more concerned about what would happen next with the vortex finally clearing on the televised stadium. It would be revealed that Yumi is now in her famed Ice Queen form, now sporting red eyes, longer blue hair, a repaired icy blue kimono and trading her ice fans for a jagged sword made of our sharp ice. She's also accompanied by her faithful spider familiar, the White Widow, a beautifully terrifying black widow spider that dwarfs the Koubou in size with the icy carapace to match its master. Sakura finally glanced to see her foe now in a state that she can attack from afar in any moment to try limping faster to the steam powered mech that awaits from a few feet. Seeing this, Yumi would already focus her sole attention on ending this fight in the quickest way possible.

"You should have ran when you had the chance. It's time to prove to you why Gessen Academy has me as their top student. White Widow, shatter her into diamond dust," she coldly ordered.

Sumire had already fainted from what she was seeing despite holding it in for a while, this now concerning the attention of everyone else except Ichiro to console her.

"Can someone get a fan and some water? Sumire is down! We can only hope the best for Sakura when we have a bigger emergency!" Kanna announced.

"Sakura herself is in an emergency. That thing is heading straight for both her and the Boubou. We need to rally behind her now or it's over," the hot blooded man shouts.

He still watched as the lumbering arachnid scuttled at a fast rate to reach both of its intended targets on the stadium. Sakura would already attempt attacking with a good shockwave from her blade to distract the incoming behemoth but with no avail. It now hisses loudly with its blue eight eyes still keeping an eye on its prey that still intends to run. Yumi was still glaring at the hurt Sakura that was running out of options to escape her wrath and desire to win this battle.

It would be when Sakura would notice one of her famed smoke bombs almost peeking from her gown that she would have a plan in case a situation like this were to happen. She knew that it didn't matter how much of her body was shown as she already suffered enough physical damage from her opponent and needed a last resort to escape to her best weapon. Immediately, she takes the round objects from her semi exposed cleavage and flung both of them on the ground to cause a big smoke screen. This would frustrate and surprise Yumi as she can't see her opponent anymore before the White Widow had a clear chance to attack one last time. The disoriented arachnid would screech upon halting to look around in the growing mass for the missing soldier. Sakura's quick thinking worked as she barely dodged the few icy spider legs that could have skewered her to focus on the machine to her right.

There we go, I will not lose. Ichiro loves me and I will prove it by winning this once and for all.

Yumi would soon lose her patience and begin growing a mass of ice crystals around her if it means finding her target as quickly as possible.

"It doesn't matter where you hide, I will best you in battle. For the honor of my grandfather. I will never lose on his behalf, never again!" she shouts in a sudden burst of emotions.

The various ice shards would fire all over the smoke mass as desperately and quickly as possible to see any possible flesh to skewer. The White Widow would patiently await for another order from its mistress before making another move. It wouldn't be until the Koubou finally closes and begins activating itself in the middle of the chaos. Sakura had finally made it inside, still clearly panting from the cold and her injuries with any last bit of strength to fight like she never had before. The lights would finally reveal that the systems were now at 100% with enough power in its engines and now in complete control of what's left to do. Yumi could tell that with not a single sound or ounce of blood that something wasn't in the smoke clouds at all, then suddenly her spider familiar would be struck with a sudden slash that cut off one of its legs and almost knocked Yumi off completely. It lets out a massive screech with the blue blood spraying from one of its missing legs.

"What?" she said.

The Koubu rams itself directly at the spider in a powerful charge, now successfully stabbing through the White Widow's cephalothorax in blinding speed.

"What's this? Things are really turning around for the legendary soldier. What other trick does Sakura has to win this battle?" Helena announced.

Yumi felt it was time for desperate messages as she leapt off her wounded spider familiar for a trick of her own with the shinobi ninpo she can muster.

"Black Ice: Ice Queen Mode!" she shouts, generating a larger than average ice spear directly above the exposed machine.

Sakura instantly noticed this to plunge the blade out of the white beast for her next technique. She raised her blade using the mech's controls to charge one of her strongest techniques as the ice spear is still growing larger and sharper for her. Yumi didn't have much fear knowing her current form boosts her ninpo techniques tenfold for a guaranteed win against the strongest of Shinobi.

"Ouka Houshin!" she shouts after one massive swing with her might.

This would send a massive wave of spiritual energy that is powered by her Will at the massive ice formation to clash against its impending fall, leaving a more desperate Yumi to generate more ice if it helps succeed this fight. Sakura screams with all of her might as she pushes her power even further against Yumi in this clash of methodical and physical ideals. The shinobi truly wondered why she wasn't giving up despite all of this and pushes her own strength as far as she can. Her whole squad back at the Gessen Academy would be left on the edge of their seats, hoping she doesn't fall despite being at her full strength. Meanwhile in the busy streets of Kyoto, another familiar squadron of shinobi students would be walking through the streets in their civilian outfits. Amongst them would be their aloof but strong leader Asuka that is happy to be speeding some time with her squadmates on a normal trek in the busy city. The rest of her friends Ikaruga, Hibari, Katsuragi, and Yagyu would follow her lead to see where else to explore while it was still sunny as ever in the city. They would eventually stumble on an electronics store with many flat screen TVs still broadcasting the battle from the current clash that happens between the two opponents. Several crowds would be watching as they were cheering on newcomer Yumi or the referred Flower Division soldier Sakura. This drew curiosity from the girls to see just what is on TV that would get this many civilians so interested in the fight.

"What's this? A new anime that is premiering or some other hit show?" she wondered.

"I don't know what's going on, but that other girl has some nice bahongas. Like our own senpai Ikaruga," Katsuragi brags, growing the long haired girl to compliment her figure.

"Can you please take things seriously for once, Katsu? There's people here too and you can't be acting so lewd," she coldly said to the blonde girl.

"It's truly odd that something like this is a huge deal. Must be some new entertainment that the broadcast station approved of," Yagyu stated.

"I think that girl is Yumi-chan. From Gessen, same ninja abilities. And she's strangely not using a shinobi barrier if everyone can see her fighting in plain sight," Hibari sheepishly said.

It would be when the other girls froze at how right their sweets loving ally was about the situation after taking another look at the icy shinobi on screen. For a shinobi to not be fighting any evil shinobi or having themselves revealed to the public is a rarity for anyone. This confuses the likes of Asuka the most as she wonders what Yumi would gain from partaking in this type of tournament regardless of the risks of her shinobi code.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?" they all exclaimed.

The crowds would still ignore the girls to focus on the excitement before them that goes back to real time with the ongoing clash. The White Widow had already disappeared in a puff of smoke due to its injuries and wanting to only return when it is truly needed. The Koubou would slowly break itself down due to using too much of its strength, pieces of the pink steel especially would be stripped off. The arms of the Koubou would be visibly getting weaker, even shaking violently at certain joints the further she truly pushed the blade against the ice. Sakura within the mech would be seeing the sparks around her and stream spraying in certain parts that started to overheat her own cockpit. Her wounds were still warm as ever and reopened overtime as she is truly pushing her absolute limit in this final clash. Yumi would already notice that she's slowly losing her own ninpo in time due to exhausting herself, not even her gown is spared as it is slowly being shredded by the spiritual slash's overwhelming power. But her red eyes still focused on defeating the determined soldier at all costs regardless of that.

"Why? You are aware that if you keep this up, that machine of yours could be destroyed and kill you inside? Just surrender and let someone win this fight!" she called.

Sakura still didn't answer her, even with more blood pouring in parts of her body from her older injuries and the rising temperatures within the overly damaged mecha. She didn't care what happened even if it killed her, it's this attitude on the battlefield that separates her from the type of person she is when performing in the theatre or dating Ichiro.

"Sakura! Sakura! Sakura! Sakura! Sakura!"

Many of the vocal fans of Sakura and those who put their faith in the Imperial Flower Division would be cheering her on despite the odds going against her to overcome a far stronger opponent. Yumi still hesitates slightly at the risk of not going too far in this fight but truly wondered just what her resolve was.

"I have someone who I love. Someone who always truly put faith in me the most of my team. I will win for his sake, that Will is unwavering and will never die as long as we truly love each other. I will defeat you!" Sakura announced from her Koubou.

This caused Yumi to freeze slightly from this unexpected answer as if her Ice Spear is suddenly losing its muster. Despite all the odds, Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs with one last push to finally overcome the ice spear to shatter it completely. The resulting explosion would fire the ice pieces all over in rapid succession that harmed both sides. Yumi's gown would be torn with various parts of her body cut, now bleeding and completely powered back to her base form. The many ice spears would finally pierce the still standing Koubou despite the victory that only speed dialed its final moment to explode. The explosive result would cause both steam and thick smoke to spread all over the stadium. Asuka gasps at what she sees despite her fellow peers being just as curious at the result. They would never in their lifetime see a non-shinobi ever defeat Yumi in a battle.

"Sakura!" Ichiro shouts in a mix of anger and sorrow.

"Yumi!" Asuka shouts, which drew some eyes on her.

If it wasn't her speech that got to him, it's the uncertain fate that truly worried the leader of the squad, his fellow members being just as worried. Iris and Kanna weren't sure of what to say to him since this was already a hard moment for everyone back in the theatre. Asuka never got this emotional as she never wanted to see her publicly lose in a battle like that, as both a rival and a friend. Her peers could understand completely how she feels despite their less pleasant encounters with the other Gessen students. During her flight backwards in the air, Yumi could catch a stadium worker staring at her as if she was being studied. She looks back at her only to notice the woman walking away quickly as if she were caught. Despite her injuries and uncertain fate of her opponent, she would be the first to see something was truly wrong behind the scenes of this stadium.

Just what are you planning? You seem to be more concerned about a shinobi like me than anyone else.

The woman would be the same one who was passing the snacks to Amy's group that managed to retreat back to a private workroom with the fight's conclusion still shocking everyone. Her speed was relatively quick that some assumed she is a busy worker needing to restock on snacks than really anything they wouldn't expect. She would take a device out of her cleavage to speak with someone who works in the same organization as her.

"This is Alpha No. 2000. I am here to report that we may have someone inside of our business," she said.

Another more relaxed voice of that of a scientist would reply to her statement in a clear manner.

"Not to worry Just one little mouse isn't enough as you and the others still outnumber them. These people are all focused on the blue rodent's little game. Do not forget our plan at all," she responds.

"You seem awfully calm about this, NiCO. Do not forget that Christie is putting a lot of faith in nothing blowing up in our faces," the clone worker barked.

Back in a mysterious lab would be a familiar attractive, yet sadistic scientist that works for MIST known for her massive intelligence and contributions to the Alpha Project. With her nonchalant attitude and glasses, she was beautiful as she is a very strong fighter in her own right. Beside her would be her famed invention responsible for warping beings from other worlds or different points in time into the current one. It would already be in the middle of slowly transporting something as she recently activated it for her own purpose that helps the organization.

"We have everything in complete control. You will have to stay calm and act like you are just a normal worker in this event. The boys are waiting in that police car until their next order, our guest of honor is still monitored as his blood is necessary for our biggest plan, and Christie is still making sure no one taps into our signals at all. Not even GUN or AMS will get in our way. Just do as you are told, do not lose sight of our plan. Got that?" she replies.

The machine would be howling as it still appears to be transferring something from across dimensions into the glass cylinder next to the scientist. The curious clone couldn't help but to ask what her superior and creator was up to.

"What is that? I thought your last few attempts at using that device were absolute failures? I hope that this time it is a weapon you can tame," the clone worker said.

NiCO smirks knowing her own creation is smarter than she thought, but not enough to understand what she was truly doing.

"Just you wait. I got me a weapon that will truly benefit our goals. He may not be bright, but his unpredictable nature and immense strength will make him the perfect soldier for our cause. A certain pirate if you will," she says with a hint of enthusiasm under her smile.

The machine finally finished its transport, now having a scrawny young man wearing a straw hat and his pirate attire to show just how otherworldly he was. He's completely cuffed and chained in a strange stone known for suppressing the type of powers in his world. But if there was one thing that didn't waver and not was his endless appetite for so much food.

"Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaat!" He cried in a mix of hunger and aggravation.

That is it. I hope you all like it. So the first few matches were good ones that taken so much time and research to do, you don't want to know how many Sakura Wars Let's Plays I had to watch to get Sakura's true to her character. We had a funny one with AiAi vs Lion, a manly one in the form of Pole vs Pepsiman, and an intense one with Yumi vs Sakura Shinguji. The winner of that last match will be revealed in the next one since I wanted to leave things open ended. Although the ending, I hope you all like it. Luffy alone confirms the door are open for Weekly Shonen Jump characters, or all of Shueisha if I want to. They have a purpose as sooner or later, the villains from those universes will want to cause chaos in that one. Luffy being kidnapped by MIST is only the beginning that'll kickstart that and the Jump Force getting back together for a reunion. You'll see more of him, but the tournament is still the main focus. Also with the end of a certain arc in IDW, I hope you all want more Rough and Tumble, because I have more plans for them in the coming chapters as promised. Expect to see more fights in the next chapter.

For the many fans that still stuck with me to this very day, thank you so so much for all your support. I wo0uldn't be here or even continue my works if it weren't for every review, rate, or even follow I get. It truly means so much and an author like me is happy to have a fandom like you. Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year, because the next one should promise faster production one future chapters. It can be months or even a little less, but I promise the waits will not be longer now that I have a better clear view on how to handle the story moving forward. Again, I will not allow any fans to join my Discords server for a good while, but the few good ones that are constructive or truly like my works, I am willing to keep in touch on my BlueSky account above. So meet me there and I will be the judge of if you deserve to come or not. That said, have a good one. And don't forget to rate and review. Good night!