Chapter Seven
Ring…
Ring…
Ri- Click.
"Hello. Bonjour. Hola. Hallo."
"Hello."
"Ah, hello! You've reached the Green New York School's front desk. My name is Janet. How may I help you today?"
"Hello, Janet. My name is Gregory Marygold. I'm phoning to let the school know my sister, Balintina Marygold, will not in attendance for today, tomorrow, and Wednesday."
A sigh. "The reason for her absence?"
"She's a minor and I won't leave her in the house for three days by herself."
"Mr. Marygold-"
"I'm not in the mood for this song and dance, Janet. Her friends have agreed to give her their notes and all her assignments are handed in. You know it's well within my rights to refuse intermediate housing for her while I'm gone."
"I understand, Mr. Marygold. But Greg… Tina would benefit from showing up to class more often."
"I'm respecting her wishes to come with me. You can take it up with her when she returns."
"We will, Mr. Marygold. I hope you and your sister have a nice three days."
"Goodbye, Janet. Always a pleasure to talk to you."
;;;
He comes out dressed in full Twilight Princess Ganondorf gear. He shifts the white scar built into his costume, puffing as it settles above his actual scarred chest. Nodding to his reflection, John walks out of the change room and to the entry room.
He pauses in the doorway, taking in the girl with her benefactor robes swallowing her. Her head is slightly downward, shoulders drooped but back tense, and legs crossed as she sits on the empty dresser.
He can't stop his laugh. "Are you pouting?"
"No," Tina whines, and he laughs harder. She crosses her arms and glares at him from under the hood. "Stop it."
He chuckles some more and goes to stand in front of her. Even when she sits on the desk, he still towers over her. "Is this about the Cut-Down?"
Tina pouts and makes grabbing motions towards his head. He obliges, leaning down so she can fix his wig. "I hate using those stupid things."
He sighs when she's done, moving towards the teleporter. "We both know I won't make it past a Dedede."
"Doesn't mean I couldn't place full bets for the first few rounds," she continues to whine.
"You'd have to place a Full-Straight," he gives her an unimpressed look. "I don't agree with that."
She slumps like her strings are cut. "Fine."
He smiles a little and calls out softly to get her attention. "Don't worry too much about it. We can always do more next time."
"Yah," Tina accepts, hopping down from the table. "Pike's not even letting Greg bet on him this tourney."
"You should probably go before everything closes," the Ganondorf says, eyes flicking to the clock.
"Got it!" Tina straightens and mocks a salute. "Good luck on your match, John!"
"Thanks," he mutters with a soft smile. He waits until she leaves before stepping into the teleporter.
When he closes his eyes, the clock reads seven thirty.
When he's aware again, he's being dropped into the left side of Eldin Bridge.
;;;
"So," the tall man starts talking to the girl walking towards the wall he leans on. "I hear your team now has a shady member."
Tina looks up from reading her ticket. When the joke process, she scowls under the hood. "Mary tattled on me?"
"She's just worried," he answers. The girl crosses her arms and leans against the wall next to him, people watching. "But seriously, Earth, I thought we were going to hold off until after."
"I know, but, Fire," she pauses and draws her shoulders in. "They were the last level one of their kind in all of N.A.R... And they just looked so resigned in every fight. Like they knew they couldn't win."
"Earth," Greg sighs and gives his sister a sidelong look from under his hood. He nudges her to look at him. "No more bleeding hearts, alright? I don't want you going A Rank."
Tina visibly brightens. "Course not! Got a handful left."
He sighs hard. "Come on, do you need to grab anything else?"
"Nope!" Tina chirps happily, following close behind the taller human benefactor. "Hey, have you managed to get a time?"
"For after?" Greg asks. She nods. "Yah, next Wednesday."
"That's so long past it, though," Tina protests, bobbing her head. "We're we just late signing up or something?"
"I," Greg stresses, "do not have enough rank to be given priority. We're lucky I got anything at all."
"How about I-"
"No," Greg says, voice stern. His sister visibly wilts. "It's too dangerous."
"The Wastes aren't that bad," Tina protests quietly.
"They are," the man huffs. "Just, stop it, alright?"
It's an old argument. Tina doesn't say anything further about it.
"Tokens?" the security guard asks at the entrance.
Gregory lifts his hand while Balintina reaches for her necklace. They show and get their rings scanned, and are directed to the benefactor's lounge.
"I'm glad you got a spot," Tina mutters before they enter the room.
Greg places a hand on the top of her hood. She squawks as he messes it like he's messing her hair.
"Earth! Fire!" shouts a benefactor across the room once they're seen. The siblings smile back at the figure. Other benefactors look over at the shout, but quickly go back to their cliques and groups. Tina stuffs her hands in her cloak's pockets and Greg shakes his sleeves until they cover past his fingers. When they reach the group of the man who called them, the sturdy man under his cloak laughs and introduces them properly. "Everyone, these are the benefactors of Teams Liquid Fire and Gailing Earth."
"A pleasure," says a deep voice from a humanoid benefactor.
"Likewise," Gregory says, nodding to three. "Dazzle, how are you?"
The humanoid – a Hylian – under the benefactor robes smiles brightly. "I am well, Fire. We were just talking about Earth's victory in the N.A.R."
"Oh," Greg says calmly, flicking a concerned look to his sister from under his hood.
"Thank you," Tina answers politely, smiling like the perfect adult she pretends to be. "They were battles well fought, and I am grateful my team did their all."
"Who are you entering in this tournament?" asks the third humanoid.
"My Ganondorf," Tina answers easily. "Um, I'm sorry, but I don't believe I know your name."
"I am Mother," answers the deep voiced benefactor.
"Luce," the third answers with a faint accent.
"Who have you entered?" Greg asks, relaxing at the nodding his sister does under her hood. She recognizes the pseudo names.
"A Bowser," Luce says softly.
"Charizard," Mother replies blankly. "You?"
"Ike," Greg replies softly.
That gets a few interested mummers from the two. Dazzle rolls his eyes. "My King Dedede almost rounds us out. Now we just need a Donkey Kong."
Tina hums but doesn't say who in the room has a Donkey Kong Amiibo, even though Greg is ninety-nine percent sure she can list them by name. Instead, he moves to break from the group, nodding his leave and saying, "It was nice to meet you all. Good luck in the tournament."
"You're leaving so soon?" Luce asks with a sharp bite to her tone.
"We have to get our seats," Tina says simply, smiling sweetly under her hood. "Early check-in, you understand."
Obviously Luce doesn't, but Mother smiles at the subtle dig and Dazzle looks slightly embarrassed. The siblings' sort-of friend waves them away, "Good luck you two."
Once away, Greg hisses to his sister. "Did you really have to do that?"
"If she doesn't know who she's dealing with, she shouldn't deal with them," Tina replies.
Greg bites down on his groan, not for the first time wondering when his sister started being jaded. "She wasn't insulting you."
"It's cute you think that," Tina answers with a snort. Her head tilts towards him under the hood. "But I know you heard how she addressed her Amiibo."
"It's not our place," Greg scolds.
"I won't do nothing," Tina mutters, a hint of anger in her tone. She turns her head to face him. "You know that."
He knows.
That's what he fears.
"Just don't be a hero, Earth."
She laughs. "No thank you." She smiles. "Bookkeeping is way more fun."
;;;
Bloodlust.
A condition that can be found in any Amiibo. Most commonly it is the antagonist Amiibos who have an active Bloodlust condition. That's because they have all the unchecked anger from when they were 'born' in the Wastes. In fact, it is more often than not that the anger is fed during training until the Amiibo gives into Bloodlust.
The clinical diagnosis is an angry Amiibo with its stat wheel firmly in the yellow, and its attack buffs over one hundred.
John knew he would be facing one. Tina had told him he would be facing one, that it would be a Ganondorf Amiibo.
Still he could never have prepared for seeing the desperate hate on his opponent's face.
It's not John's first time seeing Bloodlust.
But it is his first time seeing it on his face, another Amiibo or not.
He doesn't get the time to process. His arms go up to block the punch aimed for his head. The other Ganondorf gets into his space, drawing back for a kick. John leaps backwards. He lifts his arm, lunges, and then twists to dodge the kick.
John uses the few frames of invincibility to draw his arm back and plant his feet. His fist emits a purple smoke and he shouts, slamming his knuckles into the other Amiibo's upper chest.
The opponent Amiibo grunts and moves a step back. Then it bares its teeth in a smile.
John is already across Eldin Bridge, quick for a heavyweight. His defence stat is the highest, though. Not higher than his opponent's attack stat, but enough to block a few hits before his shield breaks.
He shields against another kick, and then makes a grab for his opponent. Without hesitating, John's fist clenches and releases dark magic in the other Amiibo's chest. The other Ganondorf chokes on a scream. John almost hurriedly throws them away.
Just because he knows his architype's weakness doesn't mean he likes exploiting it.
They get into trading blows. John, even with a minor advantage of a few first hits, can see his damage meter rising too quickly on the televised screens. He can feel his body strain as one hundred percent is hit.
Then he hears the clomping of hooves.
John throws up a shield, startling his foe. He grabs the other Ganondorf, and then throws the enemy Amiibo towards the incoming noise.
At two hundred percent damage, the enemy Ganondorf flies into the air.
John leaps and throws a dark magic punch.
He lands as the bridge explodes and the opponent Ganondorf loses a point. The other doesn't do more than float from the return platform, and John makes sure his hits count. He lands four before the other pushes him down the hole in the bridge with the force of an unstoppable object.
Darkness.
Then John in on the floating return platform, watching the clock. The voice in his head sounds too much like Tina; after all the time practicing and lecturing she's done it shouldn't be a surprise.
You're the one in charge of the battle, the voice says. Use your own ring-out to your advantage. Don't float down, drop down. Don't hop up, jump up. Control. What are you going to do next? Can you win if you run the timer down? Do you need those quick seconds of invincibility to destroy them?
A knock-out is an advantage. It's a break. Don't waste it.
The bridge fills back in under him.
The return platform times out.
John drops.
The other Amiibo cries out at the attack. John is already moving to attack as they get their bearings. A Ganondorf's architype is slow, but he has speed. A Ganondorf is supposed to be strong, but he has defence.
John ring-outs the other Amiibo with thirty seconds left. He takes the moment he gets when the point is added, and breathes. And then he stays away from his opponent like they have the plague.
"TIME!" is shouted just as John gets a kick to the face.
And a small smile crosses his face because he's won.
Then comes the familiar darkness.
;;;
"He… won," Shade breathes.
AirWalker is still doing a victory dance. StormShot has a fist pumped in relief. Liq is smiling as she munches on some popcorn.
RazorGale hugs a pillow to her chest, smiling fondly at the television. "That was almost worrisome."
"I'm telling him you said that," StormShot taunts, grabbing the remote to lower the commercial volume. He turns to the Sheik. "So? What did you think?"
Shade turns their wide eyes to him. "…When can I do that?"
RazorGale chokes on a laugh and StormShot smiles, winking. "There's a lightweight tournament in a few months."
A few months.
There is a surety in their smile. "I can do that."
And, under the praise and excitement the other Amiibos give them, Shade is truly sure they can do it.
A/N: Thanks for reading!
Thank you, itanimulli, for your review! Sorry it's taken awhile to update. I hope you're doing alright! Glad you asked about Liq, she really is a gender-swapped Marth. In a few more chapters, there's going to be some information on that. For the other questions, there will be assist trophies. And I'm not currently taking OC's, but if you have any requests on what Amiibos/Assist Trophies/ game characters you'd like to see, feel free to request them! Some may take a while to appear, but I'll let you know if you ask about them. Thank you so much for your review, and I hope you are having a nice August.
