avatar: This one was pretty challenging to write. Becuase these two... they're only human. I can only let them get blasted by so many superpowerful attacks without killing them. I hope all you Ivy fans out there like it.
Roy: avatarjk137 does not own any of the videogame franchises contained within. He only owns the contents of this story. Avatarjk137 would now like to issue a public apology:
avatar: what're you still doing alive? Oh, yeah, apology time. I'd like to apologize for not having Black Mage use Ultima (how'd I forget that one?) or Hadoken (only since publishing the chapter have I begun to read 8-bit Theatre, which rocks by the way). Maybe if he'd used them, he'd have won. After all, we know Ganon can't stand up to the power of love... or courage... or whatever Link and Zelda's triforce pieces represent.
Chapter 10
Marth vs. Ivy
"Attention Smashers and potential Smashers," Master Hand announced once they were back in the lobby. "Our next match will be held in a new location…" He reached out and pulled a curtain off a wall, revealing several new gates. "Please proceed to the Lost Woods gate!" There was general cheering at the inclusion of new stages, especially from Link and Young Link, who already knew the area… probably.
After they were all inside, they took a look around. The whole area was trees. Trees, trees, trees. There were several thick branches and vines, however; it looked like a canopy battle forty feet up was entirely possible. The vines tangled themselves from branch to branch, forming sloped platforms, flat platforms, springy platforms that sank underfoot… all kinds of platforms. A thick mist filled the forest, which combined with distant Wolfos howls to make the whole place very eerie.
"Today's challenger is none other than the beautiful and deadly Isabella Valentine, better known as Ivy!" Master Hand pointed, and a woman strode from the mist. Despite being moderately young, she had short, snow-white hair. She wore a skimpy, purple leather outfit that wasn't much more than lingerie, but she also wore stiletto heels and a golden gauntlet that covered her entire left arm, including the shoulder. In her other arm, she carried a plain-looking long sword.
The Smashers knew that sword wasn't as plain as it looked. They were expecting somebody from the Soul Calibur realm to show up since Master Hand announced that non-Nintendo characters would be there. They had spent an hour considering which one it would be. "Ivy?" Link asked. "Who's fighting Ivy?"
"Marth is," Master Hand replied calmly.
"Um, alright." Marth walked up to Ivy and took a fighting stance.
"I can tell by your stance that you're a noble," Ivy sneered, a strong British accent present. "I was raised by a noble. Then I found out the Valentines adopted me and my real dad was a crazed ghost pirate, so that sort of ruined it for me."
"Okayyyy…" Marth said. He couldn't let himself be distracted. He had heard that Ivy was a ruthless fighter.
"Begin!" Master Hand yelled.
Marth immediately darted toward Ivy, slashing at her with his blade. Ivy parried every strike with her sword or her gauntlet. She brought her sword forward, and Marth dodged. Ivy grinned as she drove the point of her heel into Marth's shin; he had fallen for her trap. "Ughh!" Marth stumbled backward, but managed to keep his balance. She slashed forward with her sword, and Marth parried and quickly countered. Ivy wasn't fast enough to entirely dodge, and Marth's sword slashed a shallow cut on her exposed right shoulder. She growled and slashed at Marth again. This time, when he blocked her blade with his own, her sword snaked out. A central wire in the blade stretched out and wrapped around his blade, her sword splitting into segments and evenly spacing along the wire. She yanked and her sword, now a whip with blades, pulled his from his hands, burying it in a tree branch forty feet up behind Ivy. "That's… unfortunate," Marth muttered.
---
"Wow," Bowser laughed. "Marth's really out of practice."
"Why's that?" Vyse asked.
"Poor guy," Peach said, shaking his head. "He fought Dr. Mario six weeks ago and broke his sword arm. Since he had been fighting Dr. Mario and had called him some mean names, Doc refused to treat the arm and I had to do the best I could with normal medicine. He's only been swordfighting again for two days."
"He doesn't have a chance," Samus sighed. "I've watched Ivy work. She even scares me sometimes."
---
"Your skills aren't all they're cracked up to be," Ivy grinned. She swung her sword, and this time all the segments flew straight off the wire, glowing. As Marth glanced at the flying bits of sword, she spun Marth around and grabbed him from behind. "SUMMON SUFFERING!" As she held the struggling swordsman in place, the pieces of metal did a 180 and shot towards Marth. Each one slashed its way across his chest, carving a deep gouge in his armor and drawing blood. After drawing blood, each segment neatly fitted itself back onto her blade. Ivy let go and Marth fell to the ground, moaning and clutching his bleeding chest. "You're pathetic."
"Ow…" Marth rolled away as Ivy tried to drive her stiletto heel into his spine and rolled to his feet. I've got to get to my sword… He charged Ivy, surprising her. He jumped, and using his Smasher training, was easily able to clear her head. He then double-jumped, planting his feet on the bark of a tree. Now I've just got to wall-jump between these trees up to my sword, and I can bring the fury down on… her? Suddenly, he felt the blades of the whip wrap around his waist, cutting shallow wounds in him and squeezing the breath from him.
"IVY LICK!" Ivy yanked her whip handle and pulled Marth back to the ground, where he landed hard at her feet. The segments of the blade solidified back into a sword, and she brought it up, pointing downward as if she was going to skewer Marth's already wounded torso.
Marth rolled away, but she plunged her blade into the ground anyway, and the last few segments came up right next to Marth as he got up. "Eep!" Marth dodged around the blade and began running. Ivy plunged her blade into the ground again, and Marth jumped instinctively. The tip of the sword still caught his ear, drawing more blood from that.
Marth hid behind a tree. Alright. I have to climb to my blade more cautiously or she'll do that pull-down thing again. Right. Do that and I'm home free. He checked around the tree nervously. Ivy was spinning in a crouch, the whip circling around her. It had begun to catch on fire. That can't be good.
"Be… STILL!" Ivy jumped up, and her whip swung in a wide horizontal arc, slicing right thru several trees, including the one Marth was hiding behind. If he hadn't ducked, the blades might have beheaded him. The tree he had been hiding behind fell away to the side with a crash, but he remained crouching behind the stump. "I know where you are," Ivy said, coiling the whip around her. "GO THERE!" The whip lashed out, the tip sparking, and slammed into the spot where Marth was sitting like a bolt of lighting, blasting him forward with force.
"Ugh…" Marth struggled to his feet. Not even a direct hit, but it still hurt like hell. I'll have to fight with what I've got. He grabbed a tree branch with a pointy end and jumped toward Ivy. "I'll destroy you!" He cried out.
"I doubt it," Ivy laughed. She sidestepped and grabbed Marth by the cape. She spun on her toes using his momentum and flung him into a nearby tree that was covered in vines, and sent her lash after him.
"AHH!" Marth dropped from the tree and the lash struck the vines, severing many of them. As the vines dropped around Marth, he looked around. THERE! Another pointy stick! He grabbed the stick and ran toward Ivy. This'll be easy, she's just crouching there… where's her whip? He looked down, and noticed what he thought was another vine he was running along was bladed… and glowing. "Oh, shi-YAHH!" Ivy pulled the whip up, launching Marth spinning into the air. Marth dropped his stick and wildly flailed around, finally managing to grab hold of a vine hanging from a branch. "Can't you go the honorable route and let me retrieve my sword?" He asked hopefully.
"Can't you go the honorable route and SHUT UP AND DIE?! EXTEND!" Ivy shot her sword back up toward Marth. He screamed and swung back and forth, dodging the Ivy Licks to the best of his abilities, causing more vines to fall. "SILENCE!" Ivy thrusted the bladed whip forward again, and it caught a strap of Marth's damaged armor, knocking the left shoulderpad off. Marth finally climbed up to a bridge of vines between two thick branches, finding he could easily stand. He sighed in relief and walked toward his sword, but yelped and jumped as the tip of Ivy's sword popped up directly behind his heel, slicing his cape in half. The sword's tip embedded itself in a slightly higher tree branch, and Marth ran toward his sword as Ivy pulled herself up. "You won't suffer… much," Ivy offered as Marth ran to the branch at the far side and jumped from it.
---
"Impressive," Mewtwo said.
"It's not impressive that Ivy's beating the shit out of Marth," Zelda said. "He's unarmed and only knows sword techniques and a few throws!"
"No," Mewtwo corrected. "It's impressive that Marth hasn't slowed down from all the pain and blood loss yet. And Roy was killed yesterday, that's got to be screwing up his mental state."
---
"YES! GOT IT!" Marth grabbed onto his sword, and was immediately rewarded with the painful sensation of Ivy's whip catching his ankle and pulling him back down to her. He landed at her feet again, and she brought up her heel with a smirk. "NOT TODAY, WHORE!" He blocked her stiletto with the blade of his sword, and rolled to his feet.
"WHORE!?" Ivy brought up her heel and wrapped her sword around it, causing them to immolate with flames. "HEEL EXPLOSION!" She slammed her heel forward, reaching deceptively far. Marth jumped back and away, but the vines and branches were lit on fire, and began to burn through.
"Uh-oh…" The bridge collapsed, sending both Marth and Ivy into a freefall. "YAAAAH!" Marth got below Ivy, then shot up with his sword out in a Dolphin Slash. Ivy blocked with her gauntlet and let her sword into its whip state, then laughed as it spiraled around her body like a Christmas tree. Marth was struck in the back, and hit the ground belly-down. "Oww…"
"Fool…" Ivy laughed just before she landed on her feet. However, her stiletto heels weren't made for a forty-foot drop, and she sprained her ankle. "NO! CRAP!" She limped to her feet. "I can beat you in a stationary position," she said, a bit less confidently than she meant. "I still have my Valentine!" She whipped Marth's feet out from under him to punctuate her statement.
"Not for long!" Marth ran toward her. "DANCING BLADE!" He carried himself through a fancy sword combo, knocking Ivy's blade from her hand. "How does it feel to be in my position?" He asked as he held his sword at Ivy's neck.
"Never judge a woman helpless," Ivy said with a grin. "HAA!" Marth was dumbstruck as the tip of Ivy's whip lashed over her shoulder and rammed itself into his chest. As he began to gasp for breath, the rest of the blade pulled itself up over Ivy's shoulder to stick in Marth's ribs. "My blade is alive due to dark magic," Ivy crooned as she pulled the sword from Marth and it wrapped around her affectionately. "A trick like knocking it away won't work. Now…" She brought up her knee into Marth's gut, causing him to double over in pain, but also hurting herself. "MY GODDAMNED ANKLE!" She grabbed Marth and wrapped her sword around his neck. "DANCE!" She flipped him over her back, then fell to her knees clutching her ankle and swearing again.
"Ugh…" Marth got up, and saw her in a moment of weakness. "NOW!" As Ivy got to her feet, Marth used his blade to sweep them back out from under her. "TO VICTORY!" Marth thrusted his sword downward toward her throat, but she blocked by grabbing the blade with her gauntlet and hauling herself up. "NO!" Marth slammed her head with the pommel of his sword, driving her back, and slashed at her, scoring a shallow cut in her stomach.
"I will not be defeated," Ivy growled through gritted teeth, "BY THE LIKES OF YOU!" Marth darted forward, but Ivy laughed and spun her sword in front of her, creating a circular wall and forcing Marth back. She then pulled back her arm, and the whip floated around it as it began to light aflame again. "Be still!" She thrusted her attack forward, and the bladed cyclone of an attack slammed right thru Marth's guard. "SQUIRM!" She pulled her sword back, and stabbed forward, causing the tip to shoot straight at Marth's throat.
---
"This is so exciting," Black Mage said thickly through the popcorn he was eating.
"Yeah," Shina agreed. "Ivy's strong and ruthless as anything, but she's not built tough like I am; you can see it in the way she moves. If Marth gets just a couple of good hits in, it's over, but that crazy sword thing is near-impossible to get through.
---
"WHOA!" Marth ducked under the blade. It nicked through another strap of his armor and kept going, embedding itself in a tree. The strap gave way and Marth's armor fell apart as he charged forward, revealing the torn and bloody dark shirt underneath At least I won't be weighted down now, Marth thought grimly. "YAHH!" He stabbed forward, and actually managed to slice a deep gouge in Ivy's non-gauntleted arm. She snarled and pulled her sword out of the tree. "DOLPHIN SLASH!" He slashed upward, soaring into the air. She blocked with her gauntlet, leaving a deep slash in it. Marth flew into the air, and pulled his sword up to come down with a downward slash. "Shield…"
"Ivy Lick!" Ivy shot out her sword again, but Marth dodged.
"…BREAKER!" he finished, and Ivy blocked again, but the force of the slash destroyed her gauntlet's forearm piece and slammed her back against a tree. She pulled back her sword, ready to slash a backhand blow at Marth.
"It's time to die. CRUCIFIXION!" She slashed forward. Marth ducked under, but Ivy punched him in the face with her free hand. It still had the clawed hand of her gauntlet, and Marth fell back from the full force of the blow. "DANCE!" She thrusted her blade at him, but he parried and countered, slashing a deep wound across her stomach. "No… this cannot be…" she sank to her knees.
"Sorry to end it this way!" Marth grabbed her sword, and made a motion to stab her with both blades at once. The Valentine curved in on itself and slashed Marth's wrist, causing him to drop it. "The hell?"
"I told you." Ivy got up. "This sword… is MY destiny! CALAMITY SYMPHONY!" She ducked down and thrusted the blade up into Marth's gut, causing him to fly into the air. The blade leapt off its wire and followed, splitting into two snakelike chains of sword segments which followed Marth thru the air and slashed him all over, opening more wounds and driving him higher. Ivy watched as a thin mist of Marth's blood wafted down onto her. "Enough!" She finally cried, pointing down with the hilt of the sword. Marth dropped heavily to the ground in front of her, gasping for air. Ivy laughed and pointed again, and all the segments swooped down and slashed Marth's belly at the same time, causing him to let out an anguished cry. The segments then finally reassembled onto the hilt, reforming a now-very bloody Valentine blade. "I won't let anyone stand in my way!" She yelled to Marth as his consciousness faded.
"Ivy is the winner!" Master Hand yelled. "An excellent match. I was on the end of my… DAMN! I need to hire somebody to personalize metaphors for me and Crazy Hand."
"Let's make biscuits!" Crazy Hand yelled. Master Hand whacked him with a gigantic rolled newspaper.
Link and Zelda jumped over to help out Marth and Ivy (who couldn't walk anymore). "Hey, Master Hand," Link said, "Marth needs medical attention. Ivy just tore his heart open."
"I'll... do something about that, I suppose," Master Hand said. He snapped his fingers, and bandages covered Marth from head to toe. "Band-Aids heal everything. Now, to the new stage lobby!"
End of Chapter
Next chapter will be Bowser Jr. vs... that other person.
I won't be holding a poll just yet. Chapter 12's challenger will be a pink-haired girl with an overly large axe. I'm sure some of you know her.
I'd also happily like to announce that this fic has garnered more reviews than any of my others, excepting Ask the Brotherhood, which is a special case.