I do not own anything from Nintendo.
After managing to escape the smash compactor, Mario, Luigi, and Peach decided to play a minigame that was less brutal, much to Daisy's chagrin.
"But it was fun!" exclaimed the flower princess, after finally having returned to normal.
"And getting smashed was fun?" Peach asked, raising an eyebrow.
Daisy winced. Peach hadn't been lying about the smash compactor's impact; she'd been flattened like paper for a long while.
"Yeah, okay."
"Hey, I've got an idea!" said Luigi happily. "Remember that battle minigame back in 6, where we'd have to point in the right direction or we'd lose? We could do that one!"
"Huh," said Mario, rubbing his chin. "That's a good idea!"
"Yeah," added Peach. "Plus, there's no risk of any of us being squished by a falling ceiling." She looked pointedly at Daisy, who sighed.
"Oh, alright, fine," she consented. "But you're all going DOWN!" And with that, the four made their way to Brighton and Twila's world to take part in Control Shtick.
"I still don't get why we have to wear these stupid gloves," muttered Daisy, glancing at her giant orange hands. "Couldn't I have gotten a yellow pair to match?"
"At least it doesn't clash with your dress," Luigi moaned. "Green doesn't go too well with orange."
"Hark who's talking, you're the one who suggested this minigame!" Peach shot back, wobbling unsteadily on her small circular platform while trying to balance herself with the heavy gloves.
Mario frowned. He was used to wearing ridiculous costumes in these parties – he'd been forced to don a cowboy outfit, a space suit, and wizard robes in their second party. His adventures had also turned him into a raccoon, a frog, a Hammer Bro, and the latest, a cat. But the giant orange hands he was now wearing was his least favorite. He shot a look of annoyance at his brother, who smiled sheepishly. Why I even agreed to THIS one…at least Smash Compactor didn't make me look like a clown.
A Goomba soon made its way to the podium, magically holding a microphone. "HELLO AND WELCOME TO CONTROL SHTICK!" the Goomba yelled enthusiastically into the mic, ignoring the competitors' faces as they attempted to cover their ears. "IS EVERYONE READY?!"
"As soon as I can hear again, yeah," muttered Daisy, her ears aching from the mic's feedback.
"LET'S BEGIN!" The screen behind the Goomba lit up to show a white hand almost identical to the ones the quartet had been forced to don. The hand began to count down as Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy readied themselves for the first pose.
3 – 2 – 1 –
LEFT|RIGHT
"Well, that's easy," Peach said, raising her hands to point to either side of her. She wobbled again under the weight of the hands but kept steady. "Maybe not…"
"Maybe you're not strong enough, Peach!" Daisy joked as she easily matched the pose. "Do you even lift?"
Peach groaned at Daisy's pun. "Oh, very funny."
On the princesses' other side, the brothers easily matched the pose as the bell rang; all four were still in the competition. The hand began counting down again.
3 – 2 – 1 –
DOWN|RIGHT
"I hate the down poses," Luigi muttered as he lifted his right arm horizontally.
"Why?" asked Mario, matching the pose. "It's easy!"
"Yeah, but I feel like I'm going to tip over every time!" His center of balance shifted, he began wobbling towards his left side. "Stupid hands…"
"Hey, you can't complain! You picked it!"
"And who made the Mario Party games in the first place?"
"…A company I can't mention unless I break the fourth wall?"
Meanwhile, the princesses mirrored the white hands perfectly as the bell rang again. No one was showing signs of weakness yet, but all of their arms were already aching from the weight of the giant hands. The third round began.
3 – 2 – 1 –
UP|UP
"Ugh!" whined Peach, struggling to raise her arms above her head. "This hurts!"
"I TOLD you to lift weights with me!" said Daisy cheerfully, easily raising her hands up. "But you wouldn't listen…"
"But I don't like lifting weights! It makes me look weird, and besides, I'm a PRINCESS!"
"So am I, but you don't see me complaining."
"I've got a kingdom to run!"
"So do I."
Peach frowned; she wasn't getting anywhere. "Well I just don't like it!"
"Tough luck."
On their other side, both brothers, due to their adventures running all over the Mushroom Kingdom and carrying large objects, were able to easily match the pose. However, Mario was getting tired, both physically and of Luigi's incessant whining about being in second place.
"Luigi, come on! We've been through this! It's not my fault you're not the leading guy!"
"I don't care! I WANNA BE FIRST! And why am I the second banana? I DON'T EVEN LIKE BANANAS!"
Mario sighed heavily and rolled his eyes; he wasn't about to stand for another round of complaining. Silently and carefully, he scooted over to the right edge of his circular platform, stretched out, and wiggled the index finger of the orange hand under Luigi's arm, causing the younger brother to giggle and nearly topple off his platform.
"HEY!" Luigi yelled, frantically maintaining his balance while Mario raised his arms again. "That's not fair!" He made to do the same thing to Mario, but the bell rang. Luigi had been standing on his platform, but both of his arms were down as a reflex to Mario's surprise attack.
"Aw, man," he muttered, as both of his hands magically disappeared and a buzzer sounded. "MARIO! That wasn't – WAH!" The circular platform gave way, sending Luigi down the chute. Both Peach and Daisy laughed, having watched the scene; Mario shrugged and made an "I couldn't help it" look. The game started to speed up, now that the competition was down one; the hand counted down even faster as the remaining trio prepared themselves.
3 – 2 – 1 –
LEFT|UP
All three immediately raised their hands in the proper position, as the bell rang even faster. Three more rounds passed as they maneuvered their hands in the correct poses, but their arms were aching even more. Peach, in particular, was getting increasingly desperate and was now sweating profusely.
Yuck! I never sweat! My mascara must be running…but I don't want to lose! With that, she looked between Mario and Daisy, deciding to target the former first.
"Oh, Mario!" she called sweetly. Mario turned but held his current pose (UP|DOWN), his left arm pointing up and his right arm pointing down.
"Yeah?" His voice was full of suspicion.
"I've got a wonderful cake waiting for you back at the castle! And I KNOW how much you love my baking!" Peach said, still in her sweet voice. Daisy gagged and rolled her eyes.
"Listen, Peach," Mario said threateningly, narrowing his eyes. "If this is a trick to make me lose, that's not going to work!" Suddenly the bell rang, signaling the end of the round. Mario grinned. "Nice try, Princess!"
However, his hands suddenly disappeared and a buzzer sounded. "Wait WHAT?! I didn't – mama mia," he finished, recognizing his mistake too late. He'd pointed his right arm at Peach while accusing her of trickery. "AHHH!" He fell down the chute. "THERE'D BETTER BE CAKE!"
Peach giggled, feeling vindicated that she'd made Mario lose. "Ah, that felt good."
Daisy grinned. "I bet you wanted revenge for Smash Compactor, huh?"
"He shoved me! I didn't even do anything!" Peach paused. "But I wasn't lying about the cake."
The next rounds began, both princesses increasingly determined to win. Daisy wasn't about to pull a dirty trick on Peach, even though the pink princess had tried to get her out in Smash Compactor. She was determined to win on endurance alone.
Peach, however, was thinking otherwise, and decided to take a leaf out of Mario's book. As the next round's pose was having both arms up, Peach seized her opportunity and attempted to take Daisy out by shoving her off the platform. Daisy, however, had been watching the other princess out of the corner of her eye.
"Oh, come ON, Peach!" Daisy yelled, avoiding the attack. "Can't we have a nice endurance match?"
"No!" said Peach, as the two got into an awkward scuffle while following the rapid poses. "I want to win! Just once!"
"Second place isn't bad!"
"But first is better!"
"Well maybe endurance games aren't your forte, Peach!" cried Daisy, getting increasingly tired and infuriated. "Maybe you're better off at a luck-based minigame," she finished under her breath. Unfortunately, Peach overheard her insult.
"WHAT?!" Peach's face turned red in anger. "Why you – oh my!" In her latest attempt to knock Daisy off her platform, her red heel caught the hem of her dress and she fell flat on her platform. Daisy managed to maintain her current pose, both arms to the side.
Daisy sighed but couldn't help smirking a little. "And this is why I wear flats."
"NOOOOOOO!" As the orange hands Peach was holding disappeared, the platform beneath her opened and she fell down the chute. "THIS ISN'T FAIR!"
The Goomba turned the screen off. "We have a victor! Princess Daisy is the winner!"
Daisy smiled as she jumped off the platform, the orange hands vanishing immediately. She spun around in her winning pose. "Oh yeah! I won!"
Daisy returned to Peach's Castle, where the other three were sitting outside on the grass. Peach was delicately sipping on a cup of tea, while Mario was eating his promised cake…or at least attempting to. Luigi was harshly poking him in revenge for losing earlier, causing him to frequently choke. Daisy rolled her eyes and sat down next to Peach.
"So what's next on the agenda?"
"What do you mean?" Peach said apprehensively. Daisy grinned.
"This is fun!" she exclaimed, lying on her back. "Everyone's so competitive, but I love it! It makes the games more enjoyable! Besides, it's nice to get out and be with friends, right?"
"I guess so," said Peach. "Let's think about our next minigame, shall we?"
"Yeah! I was thinking of doing Smash Compactor again, d'you think – MMMPH!" Peach immediately covered Daisy's mouth with her gloved hand, glaring at the yellow princess.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT."
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please rate and review. There's a prequel, A Smashing Good Time. If you would like me to write fanfics about specific minigames, please PM me or mention it in the Reviews section. =)