The crowd that was gathered in the arena was ecstatic; the fighting had been fantastic so far, and now the conclusion was drawing near. Bubbles had left the staging area and had joined Professor Utonium up in the stands. "You really think I did good?" she asked him.

"Of course!" the professor replied. "I don’t think I’ve ever seen you fight as skillfully as you did today. This tournament provided you with a lot of experience…experience that you’ll put to good use back in Townsville."

"I guess you’re right…" Bubbles admitted. She glanced out into the rest of the audience, and sighed. They’re big fans of Monkey, after all…and he won last year’s fight…I guess I should be happy to have fought him at all.

As she pondered these things, she thought she saw something further down in the stands. Someone was moving through the crowd…and for a moment, she saw the glass bubble helmet with the exposed brain underneath. Brainstem? she thought. What’s he doing out here?

Bubbles was about to say something about it to the professor, when the Earth Forces Commander reappeared on the large screen, distracting her. The crowd immediately cheered, and he said, "Thank you. Now…it is time to begin the fifth round of the tournament, the semi-finals. The remaining four competitors have sufficiently rested and recuperated from their earlier battles, and are now ready to fight once again. The winner of each bout will advance to the finals, to compete for the title of Grand Champion."

As the crowed cheered once more, the Commander continued, "Now, without further ado, let’s bring out the fighters for the first match. Monkey…vs…Buttercup!" The crowd’s cheer rose to an almost deafening roar as the two of them flew out from the staging area, flying across the arena and taking their positions in the ring.

"All right! Go, Buttercup!" Bubbles shouted, barely audible over the crowd. Buttercup smiled, and swung a few quick punches and kicks into the air, ending in a battle stance. Monkey, in the meantime, rose both of his fists over his head and screeched a loud battle cry. The crowd applauded this display from the two of them.

"Competitors, ready," the Commander said. Monkey and Buttercup locked eyes and stood ready to attack. Buttercup was grinning ear-to-ear…This is gonna be great! she thought. I’m fighting Monkey, I can hardly believe it! She saw the stern, serious expression on his face, and thought, He’ll be tough…but I can do it. Yeah! Live it while you can, Monkey, ‘cause after today, we’re gonna have a new grand champion!

The Commander waited a few more seconds, then shouted, "Fight!"

In flash, almost too fast for anyone to see, the two shot towards each other and met in the center of the ring. They collided, and Buttercup immediately attacked with a flurry of punches. Monkey easily blocked each attack, and countered by doing a quick reverse somersault, slamming into her chin with both of his feet. This launched her skyward, and in a blur, Monkey flew up past her. He spun in a forward somersault, kicking Buttercup back down towards the ground. She recovered just before hitting, and landed feet-first. Monkey landed across from her, on the other side of the ring, a small smile on his face. Buttercup simply grinned back, and waited for Monkey’s next move.

She didn’t have long to wait; Monkey leapt forward, pulling one of his fists back, preparing to punch. When he reached Buttercup, he swung, but missed…she had suddenly dodged three feet to one side, leaving a streak of green light behind her, through which his fist passed harmlessly. Now right beside him, she brought and elbow down onto his back, slamming him into the ground. She immediately followed it up with a kick, sending Monkey rolling end over end across the ring. He came to a stop finally, and Buttercup simply folded her arms smugly.

Bubbles watched this from the stands, and remarked, "Why’s she just standing there? He’s not down yet…"

"What do you mean?" the professor asked. "That looked like it hurt."

Bubbles shook her head, "Nuh uh…he’s just playing with her right now. I should know."

In the meantime, Monkey had picked himself back up from the ground. The ‘M’ on his forehead was crooked, and he casually straightened it. The smile returned to his face, which caused Buttercup to give a momentary look of surprise. Then she smiled back, thinking, He’s just trying to psyche me out, that’s all…if I just keep this up, I’ll beat ‘em.

Monkey slowly rose his fists over his head, and was surrounded by a white glow as he powered up. Buttercup was unimpressed, and flew up into the air, shouting, "Come and get me, monkey boy!" She barely completed the sentence, though, when Monkey was suddenly right in front of her…he had crossed the distance in a blink of an eye, leaving a white lightning-like trail in the air behind him. Before she even had time to acknowledge that he was there, his fist slammed into her gut, causing her to double over. Then he reached out with his other hand, grabbing her by the arm and throwing her towards the ground outside the ring.

From the staging area, Blossom gasped, "Oh no! She’s going out!"

Buttercup was still a little stunned by the hit she had taken, but she noticed at the last second where she was falling to. Tensing up, she gritted her teeth and managed to start hovering, stopping her fall mere inches above the ground. The crowd applauded the save, as Buttercup floated back over to the safety of the ring.

She glanced up at Monkey, who was still hovering in the air above, a smile still on his face. She thought angrily, That does it! It’s time to show him who’s boss! She leapt into the air, flying directly for Monkey, who raised his arms defensively in front of him. Instead of attacking him head on, though, Buttercup made a nintey-degree turn to the right, just before reaching him…in an instant, she had circled around, and ended up directly behind him. As he turned his head in surprise, she kicked him in the back…the blow knocked him forward, and he quickly swiveled around to face her. By that time, however, Buttercup had circled around behind him again, and gave him another strong kick. Monkey stumbled forward in the air once again, and turned around, his expression turning to anger.

Once again, Buttercup had dashed behind him again, but this time, he anticipated it, and backhanded her in the face without turning around. She hovered back, covering her mouth in pain. Monkey finally spun around, and shot a beam of energy from his eyes. The beam struck Buttercup, and she dropped from the sky, impacting onto the ring surface below and kicking up a huge cloud of dust.

"Great scott!" the professor said when he saw this, "I hope she’s all right…"

"Me too," Bubbles said, watching the ring with concern.

For a moment, it looked like Buttercup may have been knocked out, but as the dust cleared, the crowd saw her standing in the impact crater. She coughed a few times, and wiped the dust from her eyes. The crowd cheered, but she was too busy thinking to notice. He’s good…really good…I don’t know how long I’m gonna last, so I better find a way take him out!

Monkey flew down to the ground and landed…he quickly bounded across the ring and leapt, arms outstretched, directly for Buttercup. She tried to dodge, but Monkey tackled her, slamming her to the ground in a pin. He immediately started swinging left and right hooks, bashing Buttercup repeatedly in the face. She was unable to put up any kind of defense as she was struck by blow after blow.

Watching this, Bubbles was worried, "She’s in trouble…what’ll she do now?"

"I don’t know," the professor replied. "I don’t know if she can do anything; he’s got her pinned…"

Indeed, the pummeling wouldn’t stop. Monkey continued his onslaught, trying to knock her out. Buttercup tried to resist, but she was slowly starting to give, her eyes clenched shut under the barrage. She suddenly let out a cry of rage, and her eyes flew open, firing her eyebeams. Monkey was blasted off of her, and he fell back, landing on the ground about twenty feet away. As he picked himself up, Buttercup got back to her feet, panting heavily through clenched teeth.

"That does it!!" she yelled, and she suddenly dashed at Monkey in a fury. She attacked with an incredibly fast flurry of blows, moving like a blur. The crowd could barely see anything more than a green flash, as Monkey was knocked around by the assault. She finished with one massive uppercut, which knocked a tooth loose from Monkey’s mouth when it struck…he was knocked into the air, and fell back to the ground, landing near the center of the ring.

The crowd fell silent, waiting to see what would happen. Buttercup paused to catch her breath, as Monkey jumped back to his feet. His expression was one of fierce determination, and he just stood there, glaring back at Buttercup. A moment later, he wavered slightly, and toppled forward, landing face-first on the ground with a *thud*.

Buttercup blinked a few times, and whispered, "I…I…beat him?" A slow smile spread across her face, and she exclaimed, "I beat him!" The crowd started cheering like mad, and many of them started chanting her name.

Bubbles was also jumping for joy, shouting, "She did it! She did it!"

Buttercup waved some more to the audience, and flew triumphantly back to the staging area. Blossom rushed over to her and said, "All right! That was awesome, Buttercup! You’re going to the finals now!"

"Yeah!" she said. "See? I told ya!" She took a seat, still smiling, and thought, This is it! I’m going to the finals! I can actually win this thing! Well, was there any other doubt? I can take anything this tournament can throw at me…even Monkey! That championship is mine!

* * *

"So where is he now?" Blossom said to herself, pacing back and forth in the staging area. It was just about time for their fight, but Brainstem was nowhere to be seen. The crowd was getting impatient, as was Blossom.

Buttercup seemed equally upset, "For cryin' out loud...why don't they just disqualify him?"

"Well, the rules do say that a competitor gets a fifteen minute period to arrive for their fight," Blossom pointed out. "How long has it been?"

"Thirteen minutes," Buttercup replied, looking up at a clock on the wall. "Did you see that crack on his helmet from before? Maybe he's fixing it up or something..."

Before Blossom could answer, the door slammed open, and Brainstem strode into the room. A black cloth, similar to his clothing, was tied around his bubble helmet, completely obscuring it, now making him look almost like a complete shadow. As he crossed the room, Blossom scowled at him, arms folded, "Well, nice of you to make it, Brainstem."

"Yeah," added Buttercup sarcastically, "I was all set to send out an engraved invitation."

Brainstem didn't answer, but walked past them, and headed out for the arena. Blossom glanced at Buttercup and asked, "What's with his helmet?"

"Maybe he just doesn't want it cracked anymore," Buttercup guessed.

Blossom sighed, and shrugged, "Ah well...let's just get this over with, then..." She followed him out of the staging area.

As the two of them emerged out into the arena, the crowd burst into applause. They each took their positions in the ring. Blossom was too busy focusing on the coming fight to wave or give any kind of pose for the audience, and neither did Brainstem. The Commander's face appeared on the screen, and he said, "All right, we're finally ready for the last semi-finals battle...Brainstem vs. Blossom."

While the Commander talked, Blossom studied her opponent carefully. There's something I don't like about him, she thought. I know he's up to something, but what? Well, in any case, I'll just be careful not to let my guard down, or underestimate him. She dropped down into a fighting stance, and waited for the beginning of the battle. Brainstem put a hand up to his backpack, awaiting the signal as well.

The Commander noticed everything was set, and announced, "Fight!"

Blossom immediately flew into the air, knowing that her opponent wouldn't be able to fly after her. She hovered above the ring, and watched to see what his first move was going to be. Brainstem, in the meantime, drew a weapon from his backpack...it had a large bore, like a grenade launcher. He aimed it not at her, though, but rather at the ring's edge, and pulled the trigger. A small, claw-like orb shot out and attached itself to the ground with a *clack*, inches from the edge of the ring.

Blossom scratched her head, thinking, What's he doing?

Brainstem didn't stop there, but turned slowly and kept firing. He launched a dozen more orbs out, lining the ring's edge with them all the way around. Once they were all in place, he threw the weapon aside, and pulled out a remote control device, clicking the button. A yellow beam shot straight up into the air from each one of the orbs, stopping about two hundred feet up into the air. As Blossom watched, the space between each of the beams was slowly filled in by yellow energy, including the top, until at last the energy field completely surrounded the entire ring.

Blossom glared down at Brainstem and shouted, "What do you think you're doing?" She glanced back at the field, and suddenly came to her own conclusion, thinking, Oh I've got it...he wants to be sure that we don't have any ringouts for this battle...but...why? It seems like it'd be a bigger advantage for him to have a way to take me out instantly...

While she thought, Brainstem raised his arm, firing a blast of energy from his arm-mounted weapon. Blossom dodged it in alarm, then focused back on the fight again. She swooped down towards Brainstem, trying to ram him. He threw up his arm shield just in the nick of time, but he was still pushed back from the impact. Responding to this, he fired a spread of shots back...there were too many of them to dodge, but instead, Blossom fired her eyebeams, which cut across the blasts and destroyed them while they were still at a safe distance.

Brainstem reached into his backpack to get another device, but by that time, Blossom had already reached him agian. She gave him a kick, knocking him onto his back, and flew up higher, readying to drop down on him from above. He was prepared, though, and threw a strange-looking metallic sphere from his backpack up at her. Blossom was taken by surprise and it struck her...it bounced off and hovered near her, and a blue, electrical energy field surrounded and trapped her, like a solid bubble. She pounded against it with her fist, but it wouldn't give.

Calmly standing back up again, Brainstem suddenly laughed, and surprised Blossom once again by speaking in a loud voice, "Yes! Now that I have you, my plans are complete, and there is no one that can stop me now!"

Blossom gasped, "I know that voice...Hey, you're..."

"That's right!" he interrupted. With a flourish, he whisked off his black cloth costume, tossing it aside. On his head, he was no longer wearing the clear glass bubble helmet, but rather, an opaque white one, with purple line decorations. On his body, he was wearing a blue outfit, with white boots and gloves, and a long purple cape. Most readily apparent to the audience, though, were his simian features and his twisted, evil expression...

"Mojo Jojo!" Blossom said, her expression turning to one of anger. The crowd also gasped at the sight of the supervillain.

Mojo just laughed, "I have tricked you all! I have pulled the wool over your eyes! Thanks to your ignorance, my plans were completed flawlessly, and I, Mojo Jojo, will soon become the most infamous villain in the world!"

As the heroes began pouring out from the staging area, Blossom said, "Forget it, Mojo! Where do you think you are? You're surrounded by superheroes, from all over the world! Do you really think you're going to get out of here? Or succeed with whatever your evil schemes are?"

"Ah! But that is where you are wrong, Blossom!" Mojo said, waggling a finger. "For you see, I have taken special precautions. The forcefield that surrounds the ring is impenetrable! It cannot be passed, even by the most powerful of superheroes. But most importantly, it serves another purpose...I'm sure you're wondering right now why I would want to infiltrate such a place..."

"Mojo..." Blossom began.

"Silence!" Mojo shouted, "I am revealing my plan...at least have the courtesy to listen to it, to bask in its brilliance." He cleared his throat and continued. "It was a simple matter to pass myself off as a superhero. All I had to do was lie when filling out the background check form during registration. After that was complete, like any other 'hero', I had full access to the Hero's Arena...which I used during periods of rest between matches to put my plans into action..."

He pulled a bottle of water out from his backpack, took a swig, and put it back. "Ahh. Now where was I? Oh yes...thanks to the amount of time I had to put my plans into action, I sneaked around the entire arena, planting these in key locations!" He withdrew a small, palm-sized device from the backpack, and pointed at it. "It may be small, but the explosion is tremendous, enough to eliminate a whole building. And I have placed hundreds of them around!"

"What?" Blossom exclaimed. "You're going to blow the whole place up?"

Mojo pointed at her, "Exactly! Think of it. With all the world's greatest heroes together in one place, I can destroy them all in one swift blow!" Some of the heroes by the edge of the forcefield backed away slowly at this point. Mojo continued, "Once that is done, I will become world-famous! Not as a Grand Champion of the arena, but rather, as the villain who single-handedly used his genius to make the world safe for crime!"

He clasped his hands together in front of him, and added, "The most difficult part of this plan wasn't staying in the tournament long enough to plant all the explosives...it was staying quiet long enough so that you would not see through my deception. It is hard to have such a brilliant scheme, but be unable to gloat about it..."

"Listen, Mojo," Blossom interrupted. "Why blow up the entire arena? Won't you blow yourself up with it?"

"Are you forgetting the forcefield around the ring? No, my accursed enemy...we are quite safe in here. We are in no danger whatsoever. The people on the other side of the ring, on the other had, are quite the opposite!" He calmly smiled, taking another remote control device from his backpack, and said, "But this is beside the point. I believe all my plan's details have been revealed, so now it is time to detonate the explosives...farewell, heroes of the world!"

Blossom looked around desperately, trying to figure a way out of her electric prison. She spotted the tiny metal sphere outside the field that was generating it. If only I could reach it, she thought. Wait a second...air seems to be coming through the field okay, or else I would be suffocating in here...I may not be able to punch through it, but just maybe... She took a deep breath, and blew a blast of her ice breath. It passed straight through the shield, and covered the metal sphere. Dropping to the ground, it shattered, and the instant this happened, the field around her vanished.

"Eh?" Mojo said, hearing the crash of metal on the ground, just before punching the button on the remote. He didn't have time to react further, before Blossom reached him, and with a single punch, knocked him back against the edge of the yellow forcefield. The remote control dropped out his hand, and Blossom quickly fired here eyebeams at it, destroying it.

Mojo shook a fist in the air, and said, "You miserable little brat! You'll pay for your annoying tendency to come up with a way to foil my plans at the last minute!" He reached into his backpack and pulled two wicked-looking laser weapons from it. Blossom backed off a little, and prepared to dodge. Mojo began opening fire with them, launching a spread of tiny missiles, which streaked directly for her. She shot to the side, but the missiles turned and followed her.

"Muahahaha!" Mojo laughed, "You cannot shake my homing missiles once they have acquired you as a target!" Blossom circled around the ring, trying to keep ahead of the missiles, but they grew closer and closer to her with each passing moment. She finally flew directly towards the yellow energy field at the edge of the ring, and pulled up at the last moment. The missiles flew into it and exploded.

Before she had a chance to make her own attack, though, Mojo had already pulled another large weapon from his backpack. As he armed it and prepared to fire, Blossom decided it was best not to give him the chance to use it...she quick shot an eyebeam blast, hitting the weapon dead center. It exploded, throwing Mojo back across the field. He landed on the ground, and rubbed his head, but instantly Blossom was upon him with punches and kicks.

He was easily overwhelmed, and collapsed to the ground, muttering, "Ughh....curssseessssss...." before passing out entirely. Blossom reached down and picked up his other remote control, pressing the button, and the forcefield around the edge of the arena dropped down.

The crowd went wild. All the heroes that were waiting outside the field swarmed in, and congratulated her. As some of them dragged Mojo off the field, Major Glory stopped by her side and said, "I'm impressed, little lady! I knew you have the makings of a great hero someday...but I wouldn't have guessed that that day would be today!"

She smiled and said, "Thanks, Major Glory!"

Both Bubbles and Buttercup flew over; Buttercup said, "Way to go, leader girl! You took Mojo down all by yourself! Man, what an moron...thinking he could take down all these superheroes himself, I thought he was supposed to be smart..."

"Yeah!" Bubbles nodded. She glanced over at Monkey, who had recuperated from the earlier fight and was out there along with the other heroes. "Besides, one monkey's enough, right?" They all laughed, partially due to the joke and partially due to relief that everything had turned out all right.

The Commander's face appeared on the large screen, and he said, "Well done, Blossom! You've saved us all! I am deeply disappointed that our screening procedures didn't prevent villains like this 'Mojo Jojo' from infiltrating the competition. Rest assured that this will not happen again in future tournaments. You did technically defeat Brainstem, though, fair and square...so I have the pleasure of saying that you'll be advancing to the finals. Ladies and gentlemen," he announced, "after a brief period for our fighters to rest and recuperate, we will proceed with round six, the deciding fight between our two finalists...Blossom and Buttercup!"

The two of them looked at each other. In all the excitement, they had almost forgotten about the finals. They were going to be fighting each other...it was a possibility they hadn't considered when they entered the tournament in the first place, and now that it had happened, they weren't sure what to make of it. They knew only one thing: only one could win the title of Grand Champion, and that was to be decided soon enough...