Don't judge my teams, because I mainly chose them both randomly and based on differing abilities, and why not give some love to forgotten characters? Who actually remembers Impa from Legend of Zelda, Pom Pom from Super Mario 3D Land, Mist and Nyna from Fire Emblem, Galactia Knight from Kirby or Shokora from Wario Land 3? I thought I'd give certain characters some love. Also, all non-human characters ARE human in this story.
The way it goes is that all "Controllers" (aka Smash-originated characters, but with some exceptions) are vampires and their "Limiters" are mortal (again, some exceptions).
Also, this is a SonicxMario story (I love that pairing) so if you don't like, don't read! This is an T/M rating due to references to torture, fantasy violence, self-harm, suicide, and character death. References to rape are also included but NEVER happens.
The story is inspired by animes such as Absolute Duo, Soul Eater and Black Bullet among many, many others.
Apologies for the rant. Please enjoy and also review!
XO
He hated being bottom.
Going from the top to the bottom so fast, just like a rock does in water, hits hard on your confidence. It's even worse when you have an ultimatum to worry about.
"If you ever find yourself another Limiter…" Master Hand, the CEO of the Smash Wars X fighting tournament had begun. "…I will not accept another failure. Succeed in getting into the top 5 and I will spare your life. If not…well…let's just say one dorm room will be empty by sunset's end on the final day."
He shivered at that prospect. Death sounded horrifying. It's even worse when you're a vampire. Yeah, all Controllers in the tournament were full-blown vampires, carnivorous for mortal blood or not. Yet, death might not be so bad. He had out of fighting for 3 tournaments now, and the mocking seemed to get worse and worse every single day. He just stayed in his room and watching the day's events unfold. Tournaments lasted almost 1 year, each week having each team fight another. In less technical terms, a team had a fight once every week, and there at least 7 to 8 fights a day. There were 50 teams in the tournament, 51 when he was an active fighter. He couldn't seem to keep Limiters for long. He had had two before now and both had died through…gruesome means. Master Hand blamed him entirely, called his a pathetic excuse for a contender, and most of the other teams ganged up on him for the sole reason he was a Limitless, a person without a partner. It made him feel empty and alone, giving him the ideology that things would be better without him.
…Sometimes…he toyed with the idea of dying. Did he have a reason to live? Not really.
I wonder what it's like to die…
XO
He hated remembering.
All the pain, all the scars that prevented even his closest friends from landing a finger on him…it really destroyed the self-esteem he had, low as it was. He was a pathetic child, one who had foolishly trusted a man he never knew. Being a slave was hard, but the torture that came unexpectedly with the package was the real kicker.
"I saved your life, so you can't order me around." His "owner" had told him when he tried to speak up against the pain he was being dished out, screaming in agony as a burning pain landed on his cheek. "I can do to you what I like. No-one will care for a tribal, feral animal like yourself!"
He violently shuddered. Sure, he was a "Mobian", a human with animal traits, such as ears, tail and a talent of understanding animals. Unfortunately, he met the cruel fate many Mobians did, being caught by hunters and sold as a servant to anyone who wanted him. He thought he could bare it. He thought he would gain freedom soon enough and then do whatever he wanted. He was dead wrong. 5 years of torture, confinement and endless and agonising pain prevented touch and trust, and it wasn't long before he found himself unable to live a normal life, something he had craved for years. He remembered the stares, the glares, the yells of his stupidity when he entered a traumatic flashback when a hand latched onto his shoulder or he was hugged, which felt like he was being suffocated. People thought as him as stupid, a freak, an attention-seeking asshole. All that hurt. He had been through hell and no-one seemed to give a damn. If he couldn't live a normal life, was there a reason to living?
He had always feared death, but now the idea was appealing to him. Did he have a reason to live? No, he didn't.
I wonder how it feels to finally put your pain at rest…?
XO
~ January 4th
The Smash Wars X "Mansion", situated high in the hills, meant blizzards during the cold winter months was inevitable. Of course, Master Hand had sent HIM of all people to find wood because his pyrokinesis meant the cold couldn't touch him. He darkly grumbled as he finally realized he hadn't found a stick of wood that was actually dry, and any good logs he had found were badly damp and were no good. It made his body shake with rage as the truth dawned on him. He had been tricked. Again. Maybe. Maybe not. He shook the snow from his crimson cap, labelled with an M, the first letter of his first name, which was Mario. He had a brother and a rival who did a similar thing with an L and a W, abbreviations for Luigi and Wario, respectively. He heard wolves howl in the distance. He greatly feared wolves, but the sounds also intrigued him. They sounded excited.
Must have found a meal in this snowstorm.
He then froze.
No living creature would be stupid enough to be out in a storm like this, human or not…unless…
He listened closely to the howls to get a location but his concentration was broken as a blast of heat hit him. A lifeforce. Not an animal one, a human one. He felt the smell of mortal blood hit the receptors in his nose, the lifeforce willing him to follow. Yet, it felt…different than the lifeforce of the Limiters back at the Mansion. The lifeforce, despite it making Mario feel unnerved and somewhat hungry (though his kind had a pact of not feeding off mortals), felt like a punch to his gut. He was right. The wolves had found a meal, but not of the "prey" kind. As his walking speed accelerated into a run, he found where the wolves were. There were about 7 of them, circling something in the snow. He didn't have time to see who it was. Whoever it was though, they weren't moving nor putting up any kind of fight, meaning they were in serious danger. He fired up a fireball and launched it at one of the wolves, alerting the entire pack.
"That's right, you scum bags! Over here!" He taunted, forming a blade of flames and launching in, wounding each wolf with a quick slash and stab, but resolved to not kill them. They weren't evil. Wolves hunt for survival. How were they to know better? Eventually, the pack had enough and the alpha wolf led them away, leading him to snort and nod. "And don't come back!" Huffing for breath, he remembered the human. He was lying in an awkward position in the snow. He was dressed shockingly lightly, just a t-shirt, jeans, sneakers and a very thin hoodie. Not proper snow clothing. He looked young too, around 15 or 16 years of age at least. He had a thick lock of azure hair, but he could see ears sticking up through his hair, alongside a small pointy tail to match. His skin was ice cold when he went to examine him. The boy was pale and only faintly shivering. He gently brought him up into his arms, using his powers to make his own skin warm to hopefully keep the boy alive until he got back to the Mansion, seeing as he was both cold and badly bleeding from where the wolves had begun to take bites. The boy didn't seem to react. This made something kick in, a sense of urgency filled his brain. Master Hand could collect his own damn firewood. He lived by a very hero-like moral code, and leaving someone in the snow to freeze or bleed to death (whichever happened first) was a big no-no. It begged the question why someone so young would be up in the mountains in the first place, but the time for asking questions was later. He ran as fast as he could back up to the Mansion. He went around the back into the infirmary where his cousin Giovanni (also known throughout the Mansion as Dr. Mario) was. Despite being known as a Limitless, Giovanni was still kind and even defended his cousin on several occasions. As such, when he burst in with the boy in his arms, Giovanni ran straight into action, assessing the boy carefully.
"Where did you find him?" Giovanni asked.
"The forest." Mario huffed. "There were…there were wolves…" He said no more. Vampires may have been undead, but he could still get exhausted from a long period of running.
"He does have a few chunks missing." He took in the bloodied gashes along his body and froze. "…I doubt, however, they left already-existing scars." Confused, Mario glanced over. Scars, both of the line and curved variety, danced over the boy's body, covering everywhere from his chest to his arms and legs. They seemed endless. Some were even on the kid's face.
"…W-What has someone done to him?!"
"Who knows? We'll ask questions later." He looked hard at Mario. "He's badly hypothermic, but he should be OK as long as he has heat near him." Taking the hint, Mario formed a small ring around the boy's body and a faint scarlet aura surrounded him. It was known as a Fire Ring, which made mild summer-like temperatures circulate inside the barrier. It was also unbreakable and impervious to attacks, also preventing any of the other vampires from hurting the boy in his unstable condition. The good thing was the Fire Ring also had a regenerative effect so the hypothermia would fully be cured in around 15 minutes of exposure. Giovanni not only knew a weak kind of healing magic but could also negate the rules of the Fire Ring due to him being Mario's ally, so he was able to close up the wolf bites without any problem. Scars, on the other hand, were impossible to fix, seeing as the wounds had technically already healed. The infirmary door suddenly burst open. A white-haired man stormed in, his amber eyes focused on Mario and boy, did he looked ticked off.
"Where the hell have you been!?" He bellowed. That meant the firewood wasn't a trick. He fiddled with his fingers nervously.
"I…well…" MH, as was his nickname, could have yelled further but he had noticed the boy.
"Who the hell is this!?" He sniffed. "Hmmm…a mortal…and yet his scent doesn't get my vampiric genes excited…strange…"
"Lay off, MH." Giovanni scolded. "Mario saved an innocent's life, cut him some slack! He battled a pack of wolves!"
"Oh, yeah right. He couldn't beat a mouse."
"There were 7 of them, MH." Mario defended.
"Yeah, and I'm a monkey's cousin." He left then, spitting. Mario felt a bad shudder run down his spine as all the suicidal feeling came back. Giovanni patted his shoulder.
"Don't let them get to you. One day, I'm sure you'll show them."
"…Yeah, and pigs will fly." He turned to leave, but a high-pitched whimper came out of nowhere. Realizing the child was responding now, Mario dimmed the power of the Fire Ring and tentatively touched the boy's shoulder, only for an ear-splitting scream to come from the boy's throat as he lashed out blindly, his now-open eyes, which shone a bright emerald, blank with a wild flame. He continued screaming for a couple of minutes until he fell silent, huffing for breath as he curled into a defensive ball like a hedgehog did when it was scared, hands over his little ears and eyes scrunched up in terror; his body violently trembling. Throughout the entire episode, the two men had scrambled back in alarm and MH had re-entered the room, also alarmed at the sheer panic in the boy's scream. Mario scooted around the bed and kneeled, but refrained from making physical contact with the youth. "Shush now, it's alright, kid. I'm not going to hurt you." The boy looked at him cautiously and warily and yet he felt almost at ease when he saw the friendly gleam in the male's eyes. He didn't speak but nodded a greeting. "Do you have a name? My name is Mario."
"…Mario?" The boy finally spoke. His tone was quiet, but Mario recognised the tone of a scared teenager. "...Sonic. My name's Sonic."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Sonic." Sonic felt more at ease seeing Mario smile friendlily, but part of him refused to acknowledge the gesture of friendliness. "How are you feeling?"
"….Cold."
"Hang on." He increased the heat of his Fire Ring, leaving Sonic understandably confused as he embraced the heat. Mario chuckled. "I have pyrokinesis."
"…Oh, right…" No emotion came in his voice, making Mario's smile fade a little. Whatever caused the scars was obviously to blame. The signs of what he theorized was wrong with Sonic were there. The scarring, the screaming upon physical contact, the lack of eye contact and the fact there was no emotion of any kind apparent, both in his facial expressions or in his barely-audible voice. Mental trauma. On a bad or even severe scale.
"Hey, it's alright, y'know. I promise nothing is going to happen." He could tell the boy wasn't convinced. "If I may ask…I can tell you're human but what's with the…um…" He pointed to Sonic's ears, which cutely twitched on cue.
"Oh, them? I'm a Mobian." His voice was a bit louder but Mario didn't recognise the name, so he shrugged.
"Sorry, you've lost me."
"The Mobian Tribe? Humans infected with the Stigma Virus?" Mario was still confused.
"…Nope, still lost."
"Jesus, you're dumb." Came a snap but he began explaining. "The Stigma Virus is an infection that bind human and animal DNA together. Depending on when you were treated, it depicts what "tribe" you belong to. I was caught relatively early, so my animal DNA is roughly 10%, making me Mobian, and I'm left with ears and a tail. Weirdly I got caught with hedgehog DNA so that might explain several…well…hedgehog habits."
"I've never heard of such a thing…though it explains Fox and several others…" Also explains the whines and him crawling into a ball.
"Enough of this stupid chit-chat." MH ordered, looking at Sonic. "As for you, you don't belong here, boy. Make like a tree and leave before I throw you out."
When Sonic cowered and started whimpering in a terrified manner, both Mario and Giovanni defended him by becoming a barrier between the two males.
"Leave him alone! What has he done to you!?" Giovanni yelled. When MH snorted and gestured to the door, Giovanni groaned. "Sure, just because he's mortal, he has to leave." He added in a sarcastic voice. MH's eyes narrowed into amber slits, like a cat about to pounce.
"You know the dangers of mortal-vampire interactions!"
…Vampire…?
"I'm sure the others will be so bothered with the upcoming tourney in 2 weeks that they won't give him a second look!" Mario argued.
They're…bloodsucking vampires…!?
Weirdly, after realizing this, Sonic didn't scream, but he felt like it. He hadn't realized he was hyperventilating until Giovanni turned around and realized something was wrong.
"Stop talking, all of you." He ordered, reaching to slowly and calmly touch Sonic's shoulder but he got nowhere near as Sonic pushed everyone away and actually fell off the bed, landing on his shoulder with a cringe-worthy thud. Nevertheless, he backed away from them until his back came into contact with the wall.
"We…shouldn't have said anything about our species, should we, MH?" Mario glared at the male who sheepishly chuckled.
"Uh-uh…er…my bad."
"Y-Y-You're all vampires…?" Sonic shakily asked, trying to make himself as small as possible to make himself seem less desirable. The last way he wanted to die is by having his blood sucked or having his neck penetrated by two razer-sharp fangs.
"Yes, but we're not…well…that type of vampire. We only hunt animals. We would never kill or bite a mortal such as yourself, vampire's word of honour." Mario swore, getting a strange look but at least Sonic semi-relaxed. He tensed again when MH chuckled.
"Look at him cower! Man, is he a wuss." A whimper came from the hedgehog-boy. Mario glared at him.
"Be a bully one more time and I'll literally break the rules and attack you."
"Do that and I'll kill you, fire freak." MH formed a sword of energy and slashed Mario in the stomach before he got a chance to dodge. Blood dripped from the gash. "Consider that a visual warning." Sonic watched in both shock and horror as Giovanni tended to his brother while an amused fire danced in MH's eyes.
He felt…he felt...
…Angry.
A sharp cold wind blew through the air, whipping through Sonic's hair. Everyone looked at him.
"Is…that…?" Mario muttered.
"Aerokinesis." MH finished. White mist formed around Sonic's hands as he clapped them together and MH got caught in a buffering tornado. He eventually freed himself, although it was clear he was extremely dizzy, evident by the swirls in his eyes and he slumped to the floor in a dead faint, which was pretty funny for all in the room.
"Well…he got what was coming to him." Mario commended, enjoying this small victory over his superior.
"That was cool." Giovanni praised, but got alarmed when Sonic's legs caved in as he gasped for breath. "You OK…!?" He rushed over to help but Sonic fanned him away.
"Y-Yeah…I-I'm alright…sorry…it's just been a while s-since I've used my powers." He looked at his hand. "…Heh…didn't e-even think they worked still." He looked at Mario. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I've had worse." Mario gritted his teeth and stood, clutching the wound. Giovanni was quick to stop the bleeding and he healed it with his powers. That's when MH snapped back to his senses and boy, did he look mad.
"Why I oughta…!" An energy claw slashed across Sonic, sending him tumbling across the room like a rag doll. A scream exited his mouth from both trauma and agony as he withered on the ground, almost like he was seizing. It was clear something wasn't right. It was like he was trying to fight something invisible or trying to resist against something violently. MH jumped at the initial sound of the scream, backing away in surprise and then again in horror as the spasms came. "…What in this world is WRONG with him?" No-one answered his question as both Mario and Giovanni were trying to calm him down while trying to mend the claw marks and the blood trickling down his chest.
"He has some sort of mental trauma, MH. It's pretty obvious by his reactions that we've seen thus far." Giovanni theorized. Sonic then fell silent apart from the occasional animalistic whine. Mario guessed he resorted to the feral side of his DNA when he was terrified, much like hedgehogs in the wild did. Giovanni gently soothed him through soft growls and gentle and quiet shushing noises, but again refrained from making physical contact. That seemed to be the trigger for his traumatic episodes, which he guessed, on a psychological standpoint, to be flashbacks. Sonic eventually seemed to snap back to reality when he tried to sit up properly, rubbing his temples with two fingers. "You alright?"
"Yeah…yeah, I'm alright…" He seemed oblivious to what had happened. Both Giovanni and Mario guessed Sonic was not fully aware of the episodes.
"You sure?" He got a nod. "Alright. Good."
"Look…I take back my earlier comment Sonic. I'm sorry. I also shouldn't have attacked you like that…" MH meekly apologized, which was a rarity for him. Never did MH admit to being in the wrong. Sonic shrugged.
"Eh, it's cool. Used to it."
"How can you be used to it? What actually happened to you?" Mario gently pushed. He needed to know. Sonic looked away as he started to once again shake.
"I…I don't like talking about it." His voice was only a frightened whisper.
"I get that, honest I do, but talking will help." Giovanni explained.
"I said, I don't like talking about it." Sonic's voice was louder this time, and sounded highly irritated.
"Why? What are you afraid of?" MH asked, but when he didn't get an answer, he decided to start being a jackass again. "A child unable to take the world…I've seen this before. Stupid, weak, pathetic child." Sonic gritted his teeth as…that feeling came back. This guy was really getting on his nerves. He also got an urge to do a specific thing, but he had no access to that here. He just had to do it later. "If there is one thing I hate it's a liar. Lying little brat, aren't you?" His fists clenched. He felt rage, both at MH and himself, brew in his soul, but he had to suppress it.
"I should have chucked you out when we met."
Suppress it…
"Welp, can't be helped. Mortals like yourself are pushovers. Especially Mobians, they're not even human."
Suppress…it…
"Monsters, the lot of them."
He couldn't suppress it anymore.
"Come on boy, speak your mind. What are you so afraid of?!"
That was it.
"I WAS TORTURED, ALRIGHT!?"
Silence. Three pairs of shocked and horrified pairs of eyes looked at him but he didn't stop. He had now cut loose and he found himself unable to stop talking.
"I was captured 5 years ago and was kept as a slave by a man called Infinite. He kept me in a dingy small cell and continuingly tortured me until he died 3 weeks ago and I was rescued by a Mobian Liberation group. I tried living a normal life but I couldn't! I can't be touched, I can't trust, I can't be hugged, I can't be loved! I decided to head to the mountains away from everyone and everything to die alone. I was purposefully in that blizzard. I wanted to DIE, alright!? That's what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid of myself!" He broke down in broken sobs, curling into a terrified ball.
Everyone's reactions were different.
MH felt guilt well up in him. He had expected a reply at some point, but after hearing that, he felt incredibly guilty about ganging up on such a young, broken soul.
Giovanni was horrified. He had heard of the Mobian Slave Trade and not many came back alive to tell the tale. He felt incredibly sorry for Sonic.
Mario was somewhat sympathetic, but at the same time, his heart ached as he couldn't imagine the agony Sonic had to endure. He knew the feeling of wanting to die. He felt it every day.
"I…I know that feeling."
Sonic looked at Mario hard.
"What feeling?"
"The feeling that life is pointless. That things are better off if you weren't there. The feeling that you want to end your life. Believe me, I've toyed with the idea on millions of occasions."
This was news to Sonic. Mario came across as someone who was very happy, maybe a little overwhelmed when MH was in the room but nevertheless, he was not expecting to hear that. Suspicion washed over him.
"You're just sayin' that." His voice was a mumble.
"Oh, really? I've been out of Smash Wars X for 3 years now and…"
"Smash Wars X?" Sonic asked, confused. "What's that?"
"You've…never heard of it? It's one of the most popular TV spectacles of the century!" MH gloated. "It's grown from a mere indie title to a massive global hit! It's famous in every single country!"
"…Well…I sure have never heard of it." It was clear as night that he despised MH. For MH, that was fine, as the feeling was mutual.
"Makes sense." Mario nodded. It made a lot of sense. Smash Wars wasn't big until 5 years ago, so the show's initial run and Sonic's confinement must have started around the same time. Smash Wars X had been around centuries, seeing as MH was a God, switching from channel to channel, using staying on small game-show channel Token TV. 5 years ago, Smash Wars X was picked up for a trial run with Channel Global, the biggest and most-watched TV network on the planet, and has become a staple ever since as it quickly caught on and became majorly popular with both children and adults, both boys and girls. He realized he got side-tracked. "Smash Wars X is a popular fighting TV gameshow. There are teams made out of a Controller, such as myself, and a Limiter who is usually mortal like yourself. There is also a ranking system. The team who gets the most points after fighting all other teams once becomes the "S Rank" team. The other members in the top 10 are "A Rank". From there, you got "B-Rank", "C-Rank", "D-Rank", "E-Rank", "F-Rank" and a "G-Rank". The top 5 teams at the end get a Amulet that grants one wish, while the S-Rank team get the Trophy Amulet that grants 3 wishes of their liking…within reason of course otherwise they could get an unfair advantage or whatever…you get the idea."
"OK…sounds overly complicated for a gameshow but OK. What rank are you?"
"Um…G-Rank. I don't have a limiter, so I'm cast aside and permanently at the bottom."
"He's been like that for 3 years." MH taunted. "No good comes from G-Ranks like yourself, freak."
"The reason I know how you feel is because, basically, everyone hates my guts." Mario continued, ignoring MH's comment. "They mock me for being a Limitless and, mainly, a fire freak. I could bare it at first. I just laughed it off. Over time, the mocking became bullying…and the bullying became physical and verbal abuse. It seems to get worse every day. Some days, the idea of suicide never comes to mind, but others it's constantly there in my brain."
"It's not as bad as what you've been through but…"
"In a way, I guess you've been tortured too." Mario blinked at Sonic's comment. "You're right. It's different than the hell I've been dragged through, but in a way you've been tortured too."
"Never thought of it like that." He mused, sitting next to the boy. "…I guess we've both had our fair share of dark times, huh?"
"Suppose so…" Came a quiet reply. Sonic side-looked at the vampire that was RIGHT next to him, but was surprised by a genuine smile that crossed Mario's face. MH then cleared his throat to get their attention.
"I'll tell you what, you two. I'll cut you a deal."
"What deal?" Mario suspiciously asked. MH smirked.
"I shall allow Sonic to stay in the Mansion…"
"Y-You serious?" Sonic exclaimed, sitting up in amazement. MH gave him an "I'm-not-finished" look and he slumped, mumbling an apology.
"However, if I do allow this, it will have to be under two conditions."
"…And what are they?"
"Condition 1: you have to become Mario's limiter for this year's tournament."
"Are you crazy!?" Mario screamed. "After what he's been through, I doubt he can endure more violence and what's more…!"
"It's fine, Mario." Sonic calmly accepted, instantly shutting Mario up. "And the 2nd condition?"
"If you two don't get into the top 5…I don't just end Mario's life like I was going to anyway…but yours as well."
"And there are no ways to easing these conditions?"
"No. It's a simple choice, kid." He had his hand extended for a handshake.
"Sonic, I don't you to have all that pressure on your shoulders. I can just sit out again, honest."
"No, I can't allow that." Mario just stared at him. "You told me yourself. This place is hell for you. I've gone through much worse, so I'm not scared at all." He stood and clasped MH's hand, shaking it in grim determination. "It's a deal."
"I'm Master Hand, by the way. I forgot to tell you my name."
"Master Hand then. It's a pleasure." MH nodded and left the room.
"Y-You didn't need to agree to his terms." Mario shuddered, still a little confused.
"I don't give a damn about my life, Mario. I don't care if I lived or died…but for you it's different. You have a chance at redemption, to get your life back on track."
"So do you. Trauma can heal y'know…and I'll help you through it. We're a team now." Mario smiled. "We may have both been through hell and back, but we can help each other. I mean, we can be friends."
"…Friends…?" He said the word like it was some other language but, looking at how genuine Mario was being, he couldn't help a smile of his own cross his face. "…I…I think I would like that."