Dan was heading down to get his equipment. The elevator door opened & he met eye to eye with a beady-eyed scientist with very thick glasses. Dan prayed that this wasn't the inventor.

        "Step this way, Dan."
        Dan's prayer was answered, as the inventor was clearly the guy standing in front of him, which wasn't the beady-eyed scientist, but an old man who looked like a carbon copy of Q from those James Bond movies. His eyes were scanning a small pen, as if he was expecting the ink to jump out at an awkward moment. He noticed Dan a minute later.

        "Ah, so you are the pink clad hero known as Dan Hibiki. I have some gadgets for you." The inventor said, his attention still on the pen. He put it down & took Dan to what looked like an empty wall. He pressed a button on his cufflink, making the wall open up. A big display case moved forward, & it was covered in what looked like metal sheets. The man pressed the cufflink button again & a metal sheet moved away, revealing something that looked suspiciously like Dan's signed photos.

        "These may look like your regular autographs, because they are your regular autographs. Another teammate will help you with what to do with these later on." The inventor stated. Dan took the box of autographs. The man pressed the cufflink button yet again & a particularly large panel slid away, revealing a pink gi.

        "This looks like your ordinary gi, but it's impact resistant, & very light. It also is made out of a cool material, so that you will stand a much lower chance of being dehydrated in a battle." The inventor explained. When he was done, Dan grabbed the gi & the Igor-like assistant pulled a screen in front of him, & Dan changed quickly. He then took the box of autographs & pocketed it. The assistant took the screen away & the inventor pressed the button once more, making a panel shift away & it revealed some fist guards & a red boutineer.

        "These fist guards absorb half of the opponent's attack when used for blocking, & they add some power to your moves as well, making you do more damage per hit." The inventor drawled while Dan equipped them.
        "This flower, when you pin it to your chest, will be a tape recorder, & when you want to hear info, you press this interior petal. If you want to stop recording, press it again. If you want to hear playback, press the leaf here. It's perfectly audible, but only wear it at social occasions. It works best with a nice suit, anyway." The inventor regaled as he handed it to Dan. Dan pocketed this gadget, too.

        "Now, here is your last gadget." The inventor said as he press the cufflink button one more time. The last sheet moved & revealed a small sphere that was pastel purple in color.
        "This is a classic escape maneuver. Throw it to the ground & it will cause smoke to billow out. Its range is about 20 feet & the smoke is very thick. Best to plan your escape route before you throw it down." The man advised, handing the bomb to Dan. He pocketed it, glad that this equipment check was over; he was bored stiff of this guy's rambling.

        Back into the elevator Dan went, & he pressed the button for team arrangement & waited. In the meantime, he pulled out his PDA & opened the objectives list. The "Get Equipment" subheading was scratched off. He smiled & listened to the funky elevator music.

        The elevator door opened & Dan saw a room with lots more technology. He saw a computer that was showing images of famous fighters. It listed name, birthdate, blood type, fighting style, personality, origin, etc. Dan was so enthralled by the wire frame figures on the screen that he didn't notice the man in front of him. He was wearing classic gamer gear, which consisted mainly of street clothes. He led Dan over to a very large computer, which had the exact same images that Dan saw on the smaller monitor, only bigger.

Dan saw that it was now on a list of options. The techie clicked the one that had "Dan's Party" on it, & it showed another list. The man clicked "Update List" & many names scrolled by, & then a small window popped up that said

"New Member Found! Would you like to view the information file?" The techie looked at Dan & then to the computer, signaling that he wanted Dan to do it. Dan moved the mouse over the "Yes" button. He clicked.

        The monitor suddenly showed a list of information on the right, & a slowly developing wire frame character. While Dan was waiting for the wire man to get developed, he skimmed through the information. It showed a lot of personal information on the fighter, but stayed within the confines of physical specs. Dan looked at the wire fighter again, & he saw that it looked suspiciously like...

        "Joe Higashi..." Dan muttered.
        "Yeah?"
        Dan whirled around, & standing there was none other than Joe Higashi himself! He was standing in his classic battle outfit: red boxing shorts, tape tied around his forearms & his feet. He also wore the Japanese flag headband. His paintbrush hair was standing straight up, but he always looked like that. He & Dan walked over to each other & gave twin taunts, then did a very complex handshake. They remembered each other from the Match of the Millenium, when Capcom's legions & SNK's legions had a battle to see who would be regarded as the best fighting name around.

        It was complete chaos. Everyone was fighting simultaneously, & sometimes when others missed their target, it hit someone else, & that led to either being chased around or being yelled at. Dan Hibiki & Joe Higashi were sparring & about to do supers on each other when they realized that they shouldn't fight each other. It seemed as if nobody else took heart to do the same, so Dan Hibiki & Joe Higashi went on two versus two matches with the others & eventually became the twin winners of the Match of the Millenium, making a bond between Capcom & SNK in the form of an everlasting friendship.

        The two friends were now like brothers, understanding each other without saying a word. The silence was briefly interrupted by the beeping of Dan's PDA. He pulled it out & it said that the "Teammate" subheading was gone & that they now had to board a helicopter on the roof. They entered the elevator, bound for a new adventure.