Before the Wacky Competition
Johan: Hey guys, I just wanted to show ya folks a fanfic of J.C.'s that he wanted to upload for some time. Here's his intended description:
This is a fanfic that will concern the art of moveset swapping. I drew inspiration for this story after watching moveset swapping videos for both Melee and Brawl on YouTube. Here, we'll see what happens when the combat simulator in the Smash Mansion goes haywire due to… a certain problem and forces the cast into a crazy mess. Timeline-wise, this story takes place during the Melee days so that I don't need to worry about including many characters at once.
WARNING: Some violence and language ahead (in later chapters).
Johan: Oh, and Patchouli's still looking for me. And J.C.'s dead, but I'm gonna try to find a solution that can resurrect him or somethin' like that. Anyway, enjoy!
It was a sunny day at the Smash Mansion, right in the middle of spring and two weeks after the end of the last major competition of Melee. The Victorian-style building, large—though not the giant structure it would later become—and beautiful, was full of fighters who were minding their own business and preparing for the next competition in less than a day. Some would frequently use in the practice dojo to actively hone their skills, hoping to become the best players in the competition, while others took their practicing sessions outside, especially since some Smashers had powers that could potentially damage the dojo. In both cases, the Smashers would then take breaks by cooling down and spending some time on eating food or, for those choosing not to consume lunch, simply relaxing their minds. Some Smashers needed mental relaxation due to a lingering anxiety that hovered over their heads like a dark cloud, worried that their efforts at strengthening themselves would be for nothing. Luigi was one of the more anxious fighters.
"…" Sitting alone in his room, he reflected on the times in which he used the dojo to improve his skills. His disastrous performance during the last competition, beating only five other Smashers in rank, was the primary motivator in improving himself to equal or even surpass his older brother—who was in the top five spots—in fighting ability; not counting Yoshi's upset against him, the matches which he lost were simply due to his opponents being better-prepared than him. Every moment that was not spent on eating or sleeping involved his placement in the dojo to sharpen his overlooked prowess and find new ways of distinguishing himself from Mario. Admittedly, he had been cutting back on the time spent in his bed, and while doing so had given more time to practice, it was starting to leave him tired. Even worse, he was worried that his efforts at self-improvement would be fruitless in the end, whether it was due to an upset or the fact that there were fighters who were simply stronger than him no matter how many improvements he made.
"Man, I can't-a shake the feeling that-a something will go horribly wrong-a at the worst-a moment," he sighed. "I swear, there'd better not-a be an embarrassing matchup like-a the one I had against-a Yoshi. And I hope to be ready against-a guys like Falco." As he stood up to leave for the dining room, he was halted when Mario opened the door while searching for the mockingly-nicknamed "Eternal Understudy".
"Luigi, I've been-a looking for you," the older plumber quipped. "I was-a thinking of having a practice session later today so that we can-a prepare for the tournament. Are you okay with that-a?'
"Well, not-a now, Mario. Once I'm-a finished eating, I'll consider joining you." As Luigi exited the room, his brother noticed his tense expression. Something was troubling him, he assumed.
"You don't-a look well, Luigi. Is there-a something bothering you? For privacy's sake, I'll-a keep what you say between the two of us-a." He followed Luigi on the way to the dining room. Unlike the later years of the Smash Mansion, the bedroom-filled hallways were smaller, shorter, and not as architecturally rich. Furthermore, the destination was located on the first floor and not stretched out between the second and third. The main hall was only one-third its later size, lacked some of the fancier details of its future incarnation, and did not possess the portraits of the Hands or the Smashers.
"I'm a bit-at anxious about the next tournament. As-a much as I don't want to admit it, I'm-a worried that some upset-a will ruin my chances of-a entering the top five spots. You-a saw my match with-a Yoshi, right? If he hadn't-a gotten lucky with that-a Poké Ball, I wouldn't have-a received my poor standing in that last-a competition. Well, my poor matchups against-a Falco, Captain Falcon, and-a Marth were also big-a problems, but that-a last one with Yoshi prevented me from-a getting a decent placement."
"Don't-a worry, Luigi. Master Hand's-a going to ban items for this-a one. Many other Smashers have-a complained about the random luck-a factor those-a things provide. Sudden death-a matches will also be removed."
Luigi scratched his nose while realizing that he and Mario were almost inside the dining room. "Right-a; those-a matches tend to be skewed toward the faster guys-a; that's-a the major reason why Ganondorf lost-a to Pikachu and-a Bowser suffered total humiliation at-a Peach's hands."
Mario snickered slightly upon being reminded of his archenemy's defeat by Peach; after all the hell through which the Koopa forced the Mushroom Kingdom, a major humiliation was something that he undeniably deserved. In fact, the older plumber even remembered Peach telling him how relieved she felt when her frying pan and vegetables almost made the giant turtle weep in pain. "Yeah, that's-a true. The latter match was-a hilarious, by the way. Anyway, I-a wish you luck during the tournament-a; don't-a be afraid and-a make sure you play your cards-a right."
"Thanks-a, Mario." While his brother retreated to his room, Luigi continued his way to the dining hall and grabbed some items from the pantry to create some spaghetti for himself. Maybe some lunch would calm his nerves before the training session with Mario, he firmly believed. After all, if he were to be nervous by then and not give his best efforts, he would surely be bested by the most recognizable hero of the Mushroom Kingdom. Warming up two of the heating elements on a stove, he began the process of creating some delicious food of Italian origin.
Midnight, before the tournament…
Whoosh…
"Hello? Anybody home?" A gloved hand emerged from the portal to greet whoever was standing inside the main hall, but almost everyone had already gone to sleep. The few Smashers who were still awake during this point in the night were confined to their rooms, ignorant to what was occurring in the hall. The newcomer closely resembled Master Hand appearance-wise, but his anatomy was a reflected image of his counterpart's, being a left hand instead of a right one. Additionally, he exhibited a persistent form of twitchiness that could not be tamed by outside forces, one that also stood in sharp contrast to the orderly motions of his calm relative. He was the embodiment of chaos, the nominal opposite of Master Hand's status as an entity of order.
His name was not yet known to the Smashers, but that would change in due time. Right now, he was out to prank the Smashers in an unexpected way.
"Good, nobody heard me. Gotta make sure that I'm not detected…" As he soared to the battle room on the second floor, past Master Hand's then-smaller office, he was overcome by a giggling fit that echoed silently throughout the hallway. Thankfully, however, no one heard of it. Warping his way past the locked door, he was introduced to a small room containing four portals, all of them controlled by a central console in the middle of the room. Each portal was a flat platform with a translucent surface and had a wire that buried itself into the ground and only reemerged when close to the console. The room itself was a plain cube with aquamarine walls, a few inactive lights on the ceiling, and a vent on a wall to provide cooled air during the spring and summer months. The console was what captured the hand's attention like a crazed creature locating its favorite toy; all other details were irrelevant.
"Just need to make a few tweaks to the character identification system and it'll be ready to go." Opening the console's back panel, he utilized his magic to silently alter the unit concerning character recognition for all four portals, throwing in a randomizing effect so that his prank could achieve a near-limitless set of possibilities. Closing the panel to avoid suspicion during the tournament, he quietly fled the room and soared into the main hall, hoping that his prank would proceed flawlessly or, failing that, well enough to last almost the entire length of the event.
"Oh, man; people are gonna experience such crazy mix-ups when the tourney starts. It'll be so funny as heck…" Wasting no more time to avoid detection, he warped outside the mansion to wait for his antic to be set in motion.
Johan: Shortest chapter ever. Don't expect the others to be this short, however… And would ya believe that, looking at J.C.'s notes, this story takes place in the same timeline as SSB: Mysteries of the Pure-Hearted Soul? At least, I think, that was his intent. Anyway, like this story and-
Boom!
Johan: Oh, shit! Look, I'll do anything to fix up your library. Just tell me what I've gotta do! Just don't attack me or destroy J.C.'s home!
Patchouli: Are you sure you're willing to serve me to fix the library? If I find out that you're planning another tasteless prank on me…
Johan: I'm serious. I'll even ask ya a favor when I do everything you say.
Patchouli: Okay, here is what you need to do…
Meanwhile, at the Marrow Gates of Deadside…
Well, Mike can't take me away from Deadside. How disappointing… Well, at least I have Jaunty to keep me company.
Jaunty: Quite a day you've been through, mate. Ya gonna kick the arse of whoever caused yer demise?
In fact, I should. And if he and Patchouli destroy my house, I'm gonna be more pissed. For now, I just need to wait for some improbable miracle to happen…