Samurai Shodown World, Divine Village (Kamui Kotan).
Nakoruru and Rimururu were playing with forest animals. Their guardian falcon "Mamahaha" circled overhead.
"Sister, look—this bunny is so cute!" Rimururu hugged a snow-white rabbit, beaming.
"It is!" Nakoruru smiled in response, her eyes full of love for nature.
Just then, all the vegetation in the forest began swaying without wind, radiating an "emotion" of joy.
A gentle voice, resonating through nature's harmony, reached the sisters' hearts.
"Nakoruru, Rimururu, it's been too long."
"Cloud (Brother-in-law)!" The sisters stood up in delighted surprise.
"I can sense it... Nature from other worlds is weeping." Nakoruru's expression grew solemn. As nature's priestess, she could keenly perceive cross-dimensional crises.
"That's right." Cloud's voice also turned serious. "A greedy predator has set her sights on our shared home. I need your power—the power of nature—to fight her together. I'll invite Haohmaru and Ukyo too. This is a battle... to protect all worlds."
Nakoruru gently set down the rabbit in her arms, her gaze becoming utterly resolute.
"To protect all living things, Nakoruru will not hesitate!"
"Rimururu will do her best too!"
...
As Cloud's summons gathered them, figures filled the temporary dimensional channel.
Ryu in his white gi, expression determined.
Ken in his red gi, looking pained (still thinking about his Ferrari).
Akuma, radiating killing intent, already itching for a fight.
The Nakoruru sisters with their guardian falcon, exuding nature's essence.
Haohmaru shouldering "Fugudoku," laughing heartily: "More fighting? Excellent!"
The sickly beautiful swordsman Ukyo Tachibana, coughing between flashes of sharp sword-light in his eyes.
These apex fighters from different worlds now gathered in Cloud's "Dimensional Furnace" room, curiously examining this place filled with futuristic technology—and the equally impossibly powerful "locals."
Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami were warily eyeing Akuma, sensing a kindred spirit (fellow battle maniac).
K' was interested in Ryu and Ken's "Hadou" power, apparently studying how it differed from his flames.
Shermie and Mai were surrounding the Nakoruru sisters, praising their ethnically-styled outfits.
For a moment, the small room was filled with clashing powerful auras and bizarrely varied conversations.
"Alright, welcome to my Savior Training Base." Cloud clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.
"I know you all have questions, but time is short. To summarize: your mission in the final battle is to beat the hell out of someone named Otoma=Raga. As for right now..."
Cloud's gaze swept over these helpers he'd "recruited" from various worlds, a slight smile forming.
"...You are my final puzzle pieces."
He took a deep breath and sat back before the Dimensional Furnace.
"System, begin final fusion!"
[Command confirmed. Beginning fusion of all Host's power systems...]
What Cloud intended was to completely melt all his plundered, vastly different powers into one furnace!
He fused the Power of the Wave from the Street Fighter world with KOF's Qi, pursuing the ultimate in "force."
He combined the Heart of the Sword Saint from Samurai Shodown with the martial spirit in the Kusanagi and Yagami bloodlines, pursuing the peak of "technique."
He merged NESTS's Biotechnology with Yoga's Mystic Arts, pursuing perfection of "body."
He united Orochi's Gaia's Soul with the Spirit of Nature channeled through the Nakoruru sisters, pursuing elevation of "spirit."
And all of this would be integrated by the Power of Space-Time he'd plundered from Saiki and fully mastered, along with his ultimate Dimensional Power!
But that wasn't all!
"System, activate that easter egg!"
Cloud was referring to an extremely faint but extraordinarily high-level trace of Marvel Universe Cosmic Energy he had accidentally absorbed while traversing a certain world!
[WARNING! Activating this energy requires consuming 70% of remaining Source Points! May cause unpredictable mutations! Continue?]
"Continue!"
BOOM—!
An indescribable force, as if from the universe's Big Bang itself, instantly ignited within Cloud!
His body began radiating prismatic light.
Every person present—whether Ryu, Akuma, Kyo, or Iori—felt an instinctive sense of insignificance and awe before this power.
They weren't seeing a person. They were watching a new universe being born!
Cloud's consciousness, in this moment, was infinitely elevated.
He "saw" the birth and death of countless dimensions. He "heard" the breathing of cosmic stars. His understanding of "Otoma=Raga's" existence deepened to a new level.
She wasn't simply a "glutton"—she was a cosmic "balancing mechanism."
When a dimensional universe's "possibilities" developed too abundantly, she would appear to "harvest" it, returning everything to zero.
She was the universe's "format" program.
And Cloud, along with the colorful worlds he protected, were hard drives about to be "formatted."
"You want to format me? You're not qualified!"
Cloud roared internally, forcibly suppressing that rampaging cosmic energy back into his body, perfectly melting it together with all his other powers.
When all the light faded, Cloud slowly opened his eyes.
His appearance hadn't changed at all, but his eyes now seemed to contain an entire starfield.
He stood, facing this team he'd personally assembled—arguably history's strongest "Cross-Dimensional Avengers"—and revealed a confident smile.
"Everyone, the final boss's spawn timer is almost up."
"Our starter village is about to upgrade into the final dungeon."
"Ready for KOF history's grandest and most insane... battle royale?"
...
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