The eleven fighters in the ring were unsure as to which fighters would be entering the arena next, and they all made mental notes to be prepared for anything (Except for Tiny. He was playing crossword puzzles in his head.). Most of the fighters looked at the entrance curtain, but also glanced at each other to make sure no one was going to attempt a surprise attack before someone entered the ring.
“TAKUMA SAKAZAKI!” (KOF)
The aging father of Ryo and Yuri Sakazaki strode down to the ring silently, focusing himself for combat. In the Eliminated Seating, Yuri Sakazaki cheered her father on.
Takuma hit the ring and looked around. He looked back and forth between Tiny, Mewtwo and Rawk Hawk.
“They all look immensely strong.” Takuma noted to himself. “I feel that I won’t be disappointed no matter whom I challenge.”
Takuma eventually decided on Mewtwo, as in the last tournament, the aging man had sensed the psychic Pokemon’s strength and wished to challenge him. The only problem was that last year, Mewtwo entered the ring long after Takuma had been eliminated.
“May I help you?” Mewtwo asked.
“I am Takuma Sakazaki.” Takuma replied. “I wish to challenge you, which is something I have wanted since the last tournament.”
“Very well.” Mewtwo nodded. “Let’s see how well you fight.”
“DEMITRI MAXIMOV!” (DS)
As creepy, organ music played through the speakers, the vampire of the Darkstalkers node walked down to the ring, ignoring the mixed reaction the crowd was giving him.
When Demitri landed in the ring, Felicia screamed in fear and hid behind Brian Battler. Rawk Hawk saw him and came lumbering over. The large, yellow bird jumped at Demitri and attempted a flying kick, which the vampire easily avoided.
“I have no quarrel with you, bird.” Demitri warned. “Don’t create one.”
“No can do, pal!” Rawk Hawk said. “You strike fear in the hearts of a lot of women! If I can vanquish you, the women will LOVE me!”
“I hope you don’t mind me saying that that plan of yours is utterly stupid.” Demitri said matter-of-factly.
“Prepare to get RAAAAAAAAWWWWWKED!!!!” Rawk Hawk roared.
“ICE CLIMBERS!” (SSB)
Popo and Nana eagerly stampeded down to the ring and jumped in together. The two short Eskimos landed at the same time and looked around wildly.
“Where should we go first, Popo?” Nana asked.
“Well, there’s Pikachu over there.” Popo replied, pointing out the electric rat to his sister. “Let’s go make an alliance.”
“Sounds good to me!”
Before joining Popo in running, Nana fished a small, green gem (which she had found earlier) from her pocket, admired it for a couple of seconds, then put it back.
“JAM KURADOBERI!” (GG)
Jam whistled as she walked down to the ring, carrying a tray of free samples and handing them out to the people near the ramp. Once the ray was done, she tossed the tray behind herself (where it flew back into the Ready Room and hit the head of the next fighter) and ran down to the ring, leaping in.
Ally Gator saw her come in and went over. “What were you doing up there?” She asked.
“Hey, I’m not one to pass up an opportunity at self-promotion.” Jam shrugged with a smile.
“YUGO!” (BR)
The main hero of the Bloody Roar series came out from behind the curtain, holding Jam’s empty tray in his hand and rubbing his head painfully. Tossing the tray back into the Ready Room (where it hit another fighter in the head), Yugo raced down the ramp and leapt into the ring.
Brian saw him enter and made his way over. “You’re one of those guys from the Bloody Roar node, aren’t you?” He asked.
“Yep. I’m the main character.” Yugo replied.
“So what animal can you turn yourself into?” Brian asked.
“Observe.” Yugo said with a smirk as he engulfed himself in a white light. When the light vanished, in Yugo’s place was a brown wolf wearing Yugo’s clothes.
Brian smirked and cracked his knuckles. “A wolf? Sweet! This is gonna be a blast!” He said.
“HANZOU!” (WH)
Like Yugo, Hanzou came out from behind the curtain holding Jam’s tray and rubbing his head. The blue-clad ninja threw the tray back into the Ready Room.
“STOP DOING THAT!!!” Someone inside the Ready Room shouted.
Hanzou suddenly decided that now would be a good time to get into the ring. Running down the ramp, Hanzou jumped in and made a beeline for Mel, whose back was turned to him.
However, Branky was looking right at him. “Mel! A blue ninja at six o’clock!” She shouted.
“Huh?” Mel asked her puppet as she turned and saw Hanzou coming. “Oh, so you thought you could attack me from behind, huh? Well, let’s teach you a lesson!”
If anyone wasn’t creeped out at Mel’s eerie antics, they were now.
(Eliminated Seating)
“Come on, dad!” Yuri Sakazaki cheered. “Take out that psychic cat!”
“You seem pretty confident in your father’s abilities, Yuri.” A recently-arrived Kasumi Todoh noted.
“Dad’s the founder of our fighting style, Kasumi.” Yuri said with a smile. “If there’s anyone skilled in our martial art, it’s him.” Her gaze softened a bit. “Sorry about you getting eliminated, Kasumi.”
Kasumi shrugged. “What can I say? I fell to a cheap trick.” She replied. “At the very least, Roll avenged me down there.”
“Yeah. I guess that’s right.” Yuri nodded.
Kasumi checked her watch and stood up. “Yuri, I’ll be right back.” She said. “I just need to get something from my room in the hotel.”
“No problem.” Yuri nodded. “I’ll save your seat.”
Kasumi stood up, turned and walked up the set of stairs leading to the door that went back into the dome. However, just as she got to the doorway, she walked into someone coming in.
The force from the oncoming person made Kasumi step back a couple of steps, but the blue-haired girl quickly regained her footing. “I apologize for-” That was when Kasumi spotted whom she had walked into.
“Watch where you’re going, lady.” Gozu, the red-clad ninja from the Kizuna Encounter node, snapped. “Don’t make us kill you.”
“Dude, that’s Kasumi Todoh!” Mezu, the blue-clad ninja, warned.
“It is?” Gozu asked. “Great. Let’s take her down, then.”
“You guys haven’t entered the ring, yet. You shouldn’t be here.” Kasumi noted. “You must be here for a reason.”
“That’s right!” Mezu nodded. “We’re here to-”
“Don’t tell her, moron!” Gozu snapped, backhanding Mezu across the face.
Kasumi narrowed her eyes. “From the looks of things, you two are up to no good.” She said as she got into her stance. “Okay. I may not have done as well as I hoped in the ring, but I can still take the two of you on.”
(The Arena)
“RYO!” (TFS)
Takuma lifted an eyebrow, then looked at the entrance ramp. He turned back to his fight with Mewtwo when he saw that the aqua-haired young man with the dark shirt running down to the ring wasn’t his son.
“Too bad Adam got tossed.” Ryo lamented as he landed in the ring. “I woulda loved to do some double-teaming.”
Ryo knew there was nothing he could do about it now, so he pulled out his boomerang-shaped axe, which he called the ‘Razor Tomahawk’, and jumped into battle, heading for Demitri first.
“BELLE!” (S3)
The gadget girl of the Suikoden node came out, spinning her hammer in her hand. Waving to the crowd, Belle ran down to the ring and jumped in.
“Hey, Mel!” Belle called out.
Mel turned and saw Belle coming as Branky continued to whale on Hanzou. “Oh! Hey, Belle!” She greeted. “I didn’t think you’d be coming out this early.”
“Need any help at all?” Belle asked.
“Oh, I think Branky’s got everything covered here.” Mel pointed out.
“How is this all possible?!” Hanzou asked aloud as Branky continued to claw at him while Mel was conversing with Belle.
“GENERAL GUY!” (PM)
A large, colourful tank drove out onto the ramp a couple of feet before coming to a stop. The hatch on the top opened and a white-cloaked Shyguy wearing a general’s cap poked his head out.
“Ah, yes. The arena. This will be a challenging fight, but nothing my handiwork can’t handle.” General Guy noted. “Unleash Fighter Mode!”
With that, the tank General Guy was in started a transformation. Within seconds, the tank had become a two-legged machine with menacing-looking fists, General Guy sitting square in the middle of the shoulders as a head. Activating a few controls, General Guy made the mech run down to the ring.
Tiny turned and saw General Guy come in. He grinned and approached.
“XAVIER PENDRAGON!” (EC)
The wizard of the Eternal Champions node came out with his head hidden underneath the hood of his blue cloak. Clutching his wooden staff in his hands, Xavier made his way down to the ring and stepped in.
Once he got into the ring, Xavier made a quick scan for potential threats. He made a startling discovery.
“That’s strange. According to my figures, that yellow rodent is the most dangerous.” Xavier said to himself, surprised, as Pikachu waved at him. “That can’t be right, but my figures are never wrong.”
Pikachu saw Xavier coming over and got into a stance, charging himself with electricity.
“And now, Mystery Fighter…Number…Seven!”
“LEI-FANG!” (Dead or Alive)
The dark-haired, Chinese girl came out from behind the curtain and quickly made her way down to the ring, wondering whom she should take on first.
When she hit the ring, Lei-Fang saw Ally Gator and went over to challenge her. “Excuse me, but I desire a fight.” She said.
Ally looked the newcomer over and shrugged. “Sure. Why not. You don’t look like much of a fighter, though.” She replied.
“I assure you, appearances can be deceiving.” Lei-Fang said with a smirk as she put up her fists.
“BILLY KANE!” (FF)
(Here I stand upon this stage)
(Surrounded by a see-through cage)
(I’m content to sing and shout)
(If you’re content to hear me out)
(I’ve got a reason to rock this place!)
Holding his red staff in his hand (and coming out to ‘Rock and Roll’ by Bleach), Billy strode down to the ring with a smirk on his face. He had been looking forward to the next tournament all year, especially after his good performance in the last tournament. He was trying to see if he could top his record.
(And so I’m turning up my mic)
(I’m gonna rock and roll all night)
(In ultrasonic stereo)
(I’ll tell you about the one I know)
(I’ve got a reason to rock this place!)
Billy went over to Vivian and spun his staff around, getting into his stance. “You look a little bored, missy.” He noted. “How about a fight?”
“Well, I AM without an opponent at the moment.” Vivian reasoned. “I can’t see why we can’t spar for a minute.”
“Great.” Billy said with a smirk. “Let’s go!”
“KARIN KANZAKI!” (SFA3)
The friend and rival of Sakura came out from behind the curtain and smoother out her red schoolgirl’s outfit. Once she was satisfied, Karin ran down to the ring, the curls of her blonde hair struggling to keep up with her.
When Karin got into the ring, she saw Felicia and went over to her.
“How’s it going, catgirl?” Karin asked.
“Eh, not bad.” Felicia shrugged. “I DID have the best nap ever, so I can’t really complain.”
“You had a NAP in the middle of a fighting tournament?” Karin asked.
“Yeah. Mr. Battler accidentally threw his jersey off when I was riding piggyback and I realized that his jersey was really soft.” Felicia replied.
Karin glanced over at Brian and suddenly saw that he was practically wearing no shirt with his tank-top in shreds. Karin’s eyes widened and her jaw fell open at the sight of his almost-uncovered abs.
“Uh…Karin?” Felicia asked, waving her hand in front of the stunned Karin’s face. She didn’t seem to notice.
(Hotel; Lobby)
Gutsman walked into the lobby and looked around. Megaman was supposed to meet him here for a strategy reminder. After all, the two of them entered the ring fairly close to each other.
Despite what some people thought, not all of the Robot Masters entering the tournament were against Megaman. The original six Robot Masters were still considered family to Megaman and Roll, while the Robot Masters Dr. Cossack created weren’t really evil to begin with.
Because of this, Gutsman, Bomb Man and Skull Man were considered allies to Megaman, Roll and Protoman. None of the other Robot Masters liked this too much because all three of them were incredibly powerful and could probably take any of them in a fight.
Finding an empty chair, the large robot sat down and started twiddling his thumbs as he waited for his ‘little brother’ to arrive. Gutsman started whistling a cheery tune (in his mind), but when he saw the cold look the woman behind the counter was giving him, he decided to keep it down.
Suddenly hearing footsteps coming into the lobby, Gustman looked up, thinking it was Megaman. Instead, he saw Yuber (from Suikoden 3) entering with a seemingly-reluctant O’Chunks.
“Remember what you need to do once I get him out into the open, right?” Yuber asked.
O’Chunks sighed. “Aye. Grab him and take him back to the room.” He nodded. “Ya know that I didn’t want ta do this, lad. Why are ye makin’ me do it?”
“You want to keep your lady friend unharmed, right?” Yuber challenged.
“Aye, but-”
“Then you’ll do as you’re told without question.” The black knight pointed out. “Are we clear?”
Gutsman didn’t like what he was hearing. After Dr. Light reprogrammed him back to his original mind, he never thought twice about fighting evil. Standing up, Gutsman stepped over to intercept Yuber.
“Move out of the way, you big oaf.” Yuber said darkly.
“I ain’t goin’ nowhere.” Gutsman said, folding his arms.
“Move or I’ll cut you in half.” Yuber warned.
“Try it. I dare you.”
Yuber narrowed his eyes and summoned one of his two swords, which shot out of his sleeve. He swung his sword, but all it did was bounce off Gutsman’s nearly-indestructible body armour. Yuber tried a couple more times, but the attacks proved just as useless.
“Fine. I know how to deal with this.” Yuber said as he turned to his reluctant partner. “O’Chunks, take care of this robot while I go on.”
O’Chunks sighed, knowing what would happen to Nastasia if he refused. “Aye.” He said.
With that, Yuber walked around Gutsman and continued on his trek to the dome. Gutsman tried to stop him, but O’Chunks grabbed the robot’s bulky arm, preventing him from moving.
“I’m sorry, lad. I can’e let ye go after him.” O’Chunks said.
(The Arena)
“KYOSHIRO!” (SS)
Coming out to Chinese samurai music, Kyoshiro hopped down to the ring on one foot. When he finally reached the end of the ramp, Kyoshiro jumped in.
The first thing Kyoshiro did when he landed in the ring was take a swing at Ken Masters. The blonde-haired hero of Street Fighter jumped back to avoid the samurai dancer’s blade.
“You don’t like to waste time, eh?” Ken asked.
“This is a tournament.” Kyoshiro replied. “We must fight.”
“Okay.” Ken shrugged. “Your funeral.”
“LEI-FEI!” (VF)
“HUH?!” A lot of the people in the ring, especially Lei-Fang, asked as they looked towards the entrance curtain.
The monk of the Virtua Fighter node went down to the ring and wasted no time in getting in. However, once Lei-Fei landed in the ring, Lei-Fang rushed in and clobbered him in the face.
“What in the world was THAT for?!” Lei-Fei asked.
“You stole my name, you creep!” Lei-Fang shouted.
“No, I didn’t! You’re mistaken!” Lei-Fei insisted.
(Announcer’s Booth)
“Uh…Which one’s which?” Tinyrocket asked. “They both have similar-sounding names…”
As Tinyrocket started scratching his head again, Unknown1 cast another cold glance at SSBFreak. “Okay. Now I KNOW you’re doing this on purpose.” He accused.
“Hey, what can I say?” SSBFreak asked.
“That you’re a total dolt?”
“No, that I know a good way to get ratings when I see one.” SSBFreak replied. “We decided that I was a total dolt back in the first tournament when I invited Pesmerga to chase Yuber around the ring.”
“Right. My bad.”
(The Arena)
“SAMUS!” (S3)
After clearing his mind, the dark-skinned soldier of Tinto walked down to the ring and took a few experimental swings of his sword. Halfway down to the ring, Samus stopped practicing and waved to the crowd.
When he hit the ring, he took a look around the ring and noticed that Roll, Ally and Brian were all in the ring with him. “Wow. Four members of last year’s final ten fighters are in the ring together again.” He noted. Decided to run it off as a coincidence, Samus went over to Belle and Mel, whom were fighting off Hanzou and General Guy with Tiny.
“Hey, girls.” Samus greeted. “Good to see that you’re still in the ring.”
“Oh! Samus! Great timing!” Mel said. “We could use your help!”
“Sure thing.”
“And now, Mystery Fighter…Number…Eight!”
“LILLY KANE!” (King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2)
Billy did a double-take. “WHAT?!” He asked.
Indeed, there was Lilly, clad in a white top, blue overalls and a red and white bandana that looked remarkably like his own. Lilly waved to the crowd as she walked down to the ring and got in.
Billy instantly left his fight with Vivian and rushed over. “Sis, what the heck are you doing?!” He asked.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Lilly asked with a smile. “I’m here to fight!”
“Lilly, I don’t want you in this! What if you get hurt?!” Billy asked.
“Billy, you trained me how to fight in the first place.” Lilly reminded as she held up her blue fighting staff. “Besides, after seeing how much fun you had last year, how could I refuse the invitation when SSBFreak sent it to me?”
Billy sighed. “Okay. Just be careful not to hurt yourself, sis.” He said.
“BURNER MAN!” (MM)
Laughing insanely, Burner Man used the jets on his arms to tear right down the ramp and get into the ring in record time.
Ryo saw him enter and made his way over. “You seem to be into fire a lot.” He noted.
“You kidding?!” Burner Man asked with a laugh, the green flames on his shoulder jets burning brighter. “When it comes to fire, I’m the one Robot Master to beat all! Fire Man and Heat Man are nothing but candles compared to me!!”
“Let’s see if that’s true, then.” Ryo said as he put his hands together and pointed one index finger at Burner Man. “Dragon Shotgun!”
Ryo shot a sphere of green energy at Burner Man, whom quickly jumped to the side to avoid it.
“You’ll have to try harder than that!” Burner Man laughed.
“And now, the final fighter of this section…”
“KYO KUSANAGI!” (KOF)
The fangirls went wild as the KOF posterboy waved to the crowd and went down to the ring. Kyo reached the end of the ramp and jumped in, landing gracefully on his feet.
Kyo made a scan of the ring and set his sights on Ken. Kyo cracked his knuckles and went over, going around the battle between Mewtwo and Takuma Sakazaki.
Ken turned and saw Kyo coming. Ken quickly knocked Kyoshiro away, sending him flying into Vivian, and turned to face Kyo. “Okay! Time for a REAL challenge!” He said.
“You sound pretty confident, Ken.” Kyo noted. “I wouldn’t be so sure right now, considering that I’m a lot fresher than you are.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Ken said. “Look, let’s just start the fight. I’ve been itching for a good fight all night.”
“Then I assure you that you won’t be disappointed.” Kyo said with a smirk as he got into his stance.
