Chapter 11: The Darkness Underneath

The day after Round I was much like the one before. The competitors were fed and expected to return at a certain time in the evening, but otherwise they were left to their own devices. Luigi realized that while many of the defeated fighters had elected to remain at Wario Tower to watch the rest of the tournament, it was difficult to tell which ones were still away (because they were being attended to in the infirmary) and which had decided to take off. It also occurred to him that, taking into account the other Smashers and friends he'd spoken with, this was a 64-player single elimination tournament. Yet the number staying at the hotel was significantly lower than that; there must be some fighters who wished to keep themselves apart—perhaps to lend themselves the element of surprise in the arena.

Luigi had briefly checked out the weight room, but after being shoved and bullied by K. Rool, Waluigi, and that black cat from Team Star Wolf, he immediately regretted his decision and caught a tour bus to the Smash Hall of Fame.

He sighed as he gazed up at the initial 12 Smashers who had more recently become the Original 25. His own portrait seemed to display an awkward, startled expression that was a mere parody of the real fighters surrounding it. What place did he have among these…superheroes? He literally had nothing to offer that Mario couldn't do better, except maybe being able to jump a few inches higher. But he was weaker, less coordinated, and surely not confident enough to last through the next round. He had almost fallen to an aloof orangutan; he shuddered at the thought of what would happen when he had to face a serious opponent.

"You deserve to be here, you know."

He turned to see Young Link and Roy, who were examining the opposite side of the circular room. The former had been the one who had addressed him, and he walked up to Luigi with lingering sadness from losing Navi mixed with a renewed aura of hope.

"Without you, we would never have made it through Akaneia. We fought together to defeat Gharnef…and then we fought Ganondorf and Bowser."

"And we a-basically lost both of those a-fights," Luigi had to point out.

The boy nodded, unperturbed. "True. But you saved my life more than once. And whatever you might think, your princess needs you just as much as she needs Mario. Just like Zelda needs both my older self to be with her right now, and she needs me to help rescue her."

That gave Luigi pause. The child warrior's words had somehow soothed his mind.

"Do you a-think we can a-win the tournament?" he said, this time addressing Roy.

To his surprise, Roy laughed. "Sure. But who cares? Remember, Luigi, we're not here to win a tournament."

"You're a-right." Luigi lifted his eyes to the ominous beings on the astral ceiling. "We're a-here to beat Master Hand."

Round II, Match I: Kirby VS. King K. Rool

"Get ready to RAAAAAWWWWWK!"

The sky had darkened, and with that, the floodlights flashed on and the excitement of the night commenced.

"Poyo?"

Kirby had seen a lot of strange creatures in his time, but for him, a fat walking crocodile with a cape and crown was a first. He had no time to ponder the mysteries of anthropomorphism, however, for K. Rool wasted no time in charging toward him, flailing his punching gloves wildly.

Kirby began inhaling. When K. Rool remembered what had happened to the food the puffball had swallowed at the dinner table, he reversed his course and attempted to run the other direction. He just managed to get away, but not without one of his gloves slipping off and shooting into Kirby's mouth.

The resident of Dreamland transformed into Fighter Kirby, with only a thin red headband to hint at his new power. He dashed across the arena on his stubby feet and uppercut K. Rool in the jaw before the crocodile could defend himself.

K. Rool spiraled into the air and crashed to the ground. Out of the corner of his disgusting, bulging eye, he spotted Kirby coming in for another attack, waited until the last moment, and brought around his remaining gloved fist to cut off Kirby's path.

Fighter Kirby lost his Fighter ability as he yelled and tumbled through the air like a misguided beach ball. As he arose from the ground, he beheld K. Rool lumbering back with even more reptilian fury than before.

This time, K. Rool was smart enough to stop a safe distance from the small super vacuum. Rather, he lobbed an explosive orange, eager to finish off Kirby the same way he had finished Donkey Kong the previous round.

His grin faded as the orange, instead of exploding on impact, vanished into Kirby's mouth. Not only did Kirby relish the extra zing of the citrus flavor, but he took the opportunity to don his first new Copy Ability since Chicken Kirby.

Orange skin. That was the only clue one needed to identify Orange Kirby's already appropriately-shaped form.

K. Rool laughed. "What are you going to do with that? Juice me to death?"

He had the last laugh, but not in a good way. For Orange Kirby did, indeed, juice himself. A stream of acidic liquid squirted from his mouth and sank into K. Rool's bloodshot eyes.

"AAAAAARGH!"

No verbal description could do justice to the agony the crocodile king experienced as he felt like his brain was melting inside his skull. He wobbled to and fro, blinking and rubbing his eyes but completely incapable of stopping the pain.

Kirby sauntered casually up to his enemy and tapped him lightly in the belly. K. Rool toppled and continued to scream as the Machokes carried him off the field.

Round II, Match II: Metal Yoshi VS. Tiny Kong

"What the heck?"

Tiny was as mystified as Kirby by her new opponent, but she shrugged and got to work. She began with a volley of red feathers from her Feather Bow as the metallic dinosaur moved steadily toward her. Many of the feathers met their mark, but even these deflected off their target like pebbles off a brick wall.

Metal Yoshi rammed headfirst into Tiny; she cried out as she rolled across the ground for some 15 feet. She found herself helplessly drawn into its mouth and was then spat into the air.

Knowing whatever came next would not be good if she didn't move, Tiny used her ponytails as a propeller to spin and float away from the metal tail that would surely have meant the end for her.

"Wheeee!"

Her flight was cut short, however, by a metal egg that struck her down like an anti-aircraft cannon. As she fell, she managed to toss several of her own exploding oranges, two of which succeeded in blasting Metal Yoshi a comfortable distance away.

Figuring that if it wasn't broke, there was no need to fix it, she followed up with a steady barrage of bouncing fruit grenades, keeping Metal Yoshi at bay—until her supply ran out.

Unwilling to go down without a fight, she slid feet first at the approaching clone, but it disappeared above her and Ground Pounded away whatever fight she'd had left.

Round II, Match III: The Black Knight VS. Mr. Game & Watch

The Black Knight—for so he was called—hailed from Akaneia, though not even the audience members from that country seemed to know him. He was eight feet tall, shielded in imposing obsidian-black armor with broad shoulder pieces and an ominous faceless helmet, and wielded a classic medieval sword with a large cross-guarded hilt and a symmetrical blade.

Mr. Game & Watch wasn't quite sure how to go about fighting him; he had no sword himself, and what he did have he doubted would be effective against such thick protection. So he started out safe with a doubtful volley of black sausages.

The charred morsels bounced off the Black Knight's motionless figure like hailstones. As if suddenly awakening from a deep sleep, the knight jumped forward and brought his sword down upon the 2-D Smasher.

G.W.'s exquisite thinness saved him. He hopped onto the sword's narrow blade and ran up to the knight's helmet, smashing it with a brick.

He was flung away as the Black Knight shook him off his shoulders with evident irritation and swung his sword again like a mace. This time, G.W. wasn't so lucky. After the blow, he literally fell flat and struggled to get back up before the swordsman could finish him off.

Several more times he barely avoided being smitten by the sword; it was all he could do just to stay in the fight at all. There was no way he would be able to harm the Black Knight in that armor. Then an idea sparked.

Maybe I don't have to get inside it at all.

He bounced over the sword's horizontal swing and, frame by frame, directed his descent toward the helmet once more. This time, instead of trying to bash it, he pulled out his scarcely used fishbowl. He dumped the contents into the T-shaped opening on the front, flooding the helmet with water.

The Black Knight gargled from within his armor, trying to remove the helmet with his free hand but unable to do so. He was forced to drop his sword and use both hands.

But the helmet never came off, for at that moment, Game & Watch blasted his fire extinguisher into it for good measure, blowing most of the water back out but leaving the man inside so close to suffocation that he tripped on his red cape and fainted.

Round II, Match IV: Paula VS. The Shadow Queen

Keeping with the theme of confusion, Paula was nonplussed when she walked into the arena and found nothing there. Rawk Hawk had announced her opponent, yet where was it?

A dark purple, immaterial hand shot out of the ground and wrapped itself around her entire body. She screamed as it dragged her into a shadowy netherworld. A horrible female laugh echoed from every direction. Unable to see anything except what appeared to be torrents of amethyst flames, something overwhelmed her psychic mind with an indescribable darkness. The closest word to it was despair.

She fought back, using every ounce of her energy to push against the darkness with her mind. She sensed it beginning to give way and pressed harder. Then she felt as if she had been turned upside down, and a mob of smaller purple hands assaulted her from every side. It was too much….

All the crowd saw was Paula's motionless body as she was forced back out of the pool of rippling plasma onto the empty arena. The Shadow Queen made no further appearance.

Round II, Match V: Samus VS. Captain Falcon

"Well, look who it is," Samus said. She caught Captain Falcon with a missile to the gut before he could reply.

He found himself fighting not just Samus, but a crossfire of conflicting emotions inside. What was it about this bounty hunter that so unsettled him? Was it the fact that he'd mistaken her for a man? Was it their rivalry? Or was it something else entirely?

He jumped to his feet, swallowing his distracting feelings and forcing a grin. He said the first thing that came to his mind, figuring that would be a good way to go.

"It'll take a lot more than a few fireworks to keep me away from you, sweetheart."

Dumb.

Oh, well. Too late. Best to roll with it.

He sprinted toward Samus, several incoming missiles separating the two of them at different heights. But Falcon catapulted himself off his hands and flipped into the air, dodging each missile in turn and performing his acrobatics with perhaps a bit more flair than was absolutely necessary. He took Samus unawares with a jab to the stomach, the momentum built up from his run rocketing her a good distance away.

Samus recovered at least as quickly as Falcon had.

"Cute," she said. She proceeded to undergo a sprint of her own. Falcon knew he would be far too fast for her to get the better of him, so he stayed still and watched her with amusement, ready to dive away at just the right moment.

What he hadn't counted on was the Grapple Beam that latched onto him and pulled him into the charging Samus, launching him like a loaded spring.

Now legitimately shaken, Falcon clambered to his feet, resolving to begin taking this battle seriously. He maneuvered past a mixture of charge shots and missiles Samus had been so kind as to send his way, then snatched the front of her suit, tossed her up, and double-kicked her like a human soccer ball.

He followed her up and made to latch himself onto her and finish the match with a fiery shove, but instead, the tip of Samus's arm cannon Meteor Smashed him back the way he'd come. He bounced off the arena once or twice and fell limp, damaged both in body and pride.

Round II, Match VI: Diddy Kong VS. Kamek

Both parties took to the skies and undertook an almost ludicrously crowd-pleasing dogfight.

Kamek cackled as he sent cluster after cluster of colorful magic shapes at the flying chimp. Diddy, however, had such complete control over his twin-barrel jetpack that he had no trouble swerving around each one. He peppered the Koopa with giant peanuts that, upon contact, caused more pain than one would think.

After a couple minutes of fruitless shooting (no pun intended), Diddy finally landed a peanut right in Kamek's forehead, whose cackle converted into a cough as the bullet swung his body upside down, his arms clenching desperately onto his broomstick as he hovered upside-down.

Diddy barreled (pun intended) into the cliffhanging Magikoopa, successfully dislodging him from his instrument. Kamek tumbled and screamed rather pitifully as he descended. Just before meeting the ground, however, he waved his wand and softened his fall with a cluster of artificial clouds.

The clouds lifted him back to eye level with Diddy Kong. He cackled again.

"Not bad…for a monkey. Now watch a pro at work!"

He raised his wand above his own head, allowing a shower of magical dust to cascade onto himself. His body began to flash and radiate rainbow colors. And he grew into the size of a blue whale.

Diddy whimpered at the sight of the enlarged magician, but he was not ready to give in just yet. He propelled himself out of the way of a sweeping arm, loop-de-looped around the titanic wand, and blasted into his new target: Kamek's glasses.

Knowing his peanuts would be insufficient, Diddy cast his entire body through the lens, stopped just before crashing into Kamek's eyeball, and reversed his jetpack, the flames from the exhaust scorching the pupil like a fiery dart.

Kamek's subsequent bellow almost shattered the floodlights as he covered his injured eye with one hand. This, of course, gave Diddy just enough time to repeat the process with the other eye.

With both eyes blinded, Kamek fell backward off his cloud, shrinking to size, dropping his wand, and calling it a night.

Round II, Match VIII: Fox VS. Metal Falco

At first Fox thought it was actually Falco. But when no tough talk preceded its first laser shot, he knew it couldn't be him, and on closer look, the metal body helped a bit as well.

He executed his equivalent of the Wolf Flash by speeding forward almost instantaneously, leaving behind the lifelike cloud known as the Fox Illusion. The laser continued harmlessly into an image of Wario's face on the wall's advertisements.

Fox landed a kick on Metal Falco's head, but it didn't have quite the effect he intended. The clone barely even flinched from the blow, whereas his foot was left aching something terrible. It responded with a kick of its own, flinging him into the air like a rag doll, then it jumped and struck him with its dense metal wing, sending him spinning to the surface.

This is gonna be one of the toughest fights I've ever fought, he thought.

Metal Falco fired another laser at him. Instinctively, he activated his reflector, bouncing the red segment back at it and…melting it on the spot.

Never mind, then.

Round II, Match XI: Red VS. Ike

The bulky Marth-like man Red had seen in Wario Tower now stood before him, broadsword drawn. Suddenly self-conscious of his own twig-like build, the boy was grateful he didn't have to fight this fight alone.

"Go…Sandslash!"

Out of the Pokéball popped what looked like a dog-sized shrew with two-fingered, six-inch claws, black eyes with tiny white pupils, and a mountainous back of rocky brown spikes.

"Sandslash!" the Pokémon said, which translates approximately to, "Looks like this guy was born in the wrong century."

Ike, though stern, had a touch of playfulness in his expression. He gave a small smile and pointed the Ragnell blade at his opponent.

"Prepare yourself!"

"Sandslash, Fury Swipes!"

The shrew scuttled forward like a midget ninja and swung its claws at the young man. Ike used the flat of his sword to push back at the creature, knocking it away like a persistent bat. But Sandslash was not one to rest. It came back again, this time going around the side and leaving several cuts along Ike's back before he could do anything.

Ike cried out in pain, but seeing the hunched yellow figure out of the corner of his eye, he sent a well-aimed kick at the Pokémon and followed after it. He tossed Ragnell ahead, bounded forward, and yelled "Aether!" as he caught his spinning sword midair and swung it down toward the grounded Sandslash.

The dust cleared to reveal nothing beneath his blade but a hole in the ground. Sandslash had used Dig to escape. He pivoted on his feet, trying to figure out where it had burrowed to, but the clay gave no evidence of its hidden resident.

Sandslash popped out of the ground behind him and went in for a savage Slash attack, but Ike had purposefully tilted his sword behind his head to deflect it. He spun on his feet and brought Ragnell around at an angle to finish it off.

"Sandslash!" Red cried. His Pokémon had blocked the swing, but it had come at a price. It had both pairs of claws crossed over its chest against the sword. A definite cracking sound signaled that its claws had already been severely damaged and would not last long against the mercenary's pressure.

Sandslash knew this, and it reverted to its only remaining option. It used its feet to kick up dirt and sand into the man's face.

Ike was forced to look away, coughing and spluttering and blinking furiously. Sandslash curled into a Rollout and tackled him to the ground, Ragnell clattering to the side and an injured claw at his throat.

"Great job, Sandslash! That's enough." Red Returned his loyal friend and rushed over to offer Ike his hand. Ike took it, groaning but bearing the defeat the best he could.

"Well played, my friend. Well played."

Round II, Match XII: Luigi VS. Chet Rippo

"Ah, Mr. Luigi," Rippo said, fixing him with his pearly gaze. "A pleasure to meet you, I'm sure. Your brother was one of my best customers, you know."

Luigi had heard of the devious of Chet Rippo from Mario, but he did not dare voice his thoughts for fear of inciting the platypus's wrath. Instead, he decided less talk and more walk would give him the best possible chance of winning.

He tossed a green fireball to test the waters; it reflected off Rippo like a mirror. Rippo tutted.

"Badges," he said, revealing his diverse collection within his blue coat. The purple Return Postage badge was the one that had caused Luigi's fireball to reflect back at him. "The true lucre of the Mushroom Kingdom. It's true what they say—gold is power." He held up an Ultra Hammer. "But only when that gold is put to good use."

Luigi dived out of the way as the projectile hit the spot where he had just been with such strength that it created a decent-sized crater. He shot toward Rippo and lunged at him feet-first.

The electric shock elicited a wobbly yell from the plumber as it displayed his skeleton to the audience on and off several times before casting him away.

"Heh…." Rippo circled the downed hero. "Zap Tap badge. One of the finer ones in my collection…had to fork over 200 coins before that thieving rat Ms. Mowz would hand it over. I must say, you've already lasted longer than that simpleton Bowser. For that, I applaud you. But now…" He stopped and appeared to bend whatever equivalent of knees he possessed within that dome-shaped body. "It is time for my personal favorite." He fingered a badge that had the appearance of a pink diamond. "The Power Bounce badge should be more than sufficient to close this deal. It was a pleasure doing business with you!"

Rippo jumped and then bounced off the ground like a trampoline. And then bounced again. And again. And again. Luigi realized with horror that this badge would allow Rippo to continue jumping with his ridiculously beefed-up power until he had squashed him like a Goomba.

Luigi ran for his life, hollering at everyone and no one. The crowd laughed and cheered as Chet Rippo chased him around the edge of the stadium.

He was sweating. There seemed to be no hope. With such a strong defense and no way for him to touch him either directly or indirectly, what could he possibly do?

The badges. They were the source of Rippo's power. If he could somehow separate him from them, then he might stand a chance…but how? He hadn't thought to bring Professor E. Gadd's Poltergust 3000 to vacuum them up.

It was then he noticed something glinting from the ground next to Rippo's abandoned Ultra Hammer: It was the Hammer Throw badge. It must have fallen off by accident when the hammer had been thrown at him. Luigi quickly directed his flight to the Ultra Hammer, snatching it and the badge as he ran and also drawing his own Super Hammer in the other hand.

He remembered the one limiting factor to the badges' advantages: Flower Points. That is, Mario always had to restock on these magical, somewhat nonsensical Flower Points in order to continue using his special moves. And Luigi was willing to bet (or rather, had no choice but to count on) that Chet Rippo had to use Flower Points, too.

Now, as he ran, he chucked one hammer after the other like a well-seasoned Hammer Bro, each one reflecting off Rippo's impenetrable body. The billed black-marketeer laughed at Luigi's seemingly useless efforts.

But Luigi didn't stop. He continued to catch each hammer as it reflected back at him, then threw it again as if he were part of some kind of juggling act. The barrier persisted in protecting Rippo…until it didn't.

All of a sudden, Rippo stopped bouncing and his body stopped rippling with electricity.

"Whaaaaat?" Rippo looked at his badges and flicked them as if they were malfunctioning. He was so preoccupied by his ineffective badges that by the time he looked up, Luigi was less than six inches away from him, a giddy grin lifting the corners of his mustache. Rippo gulped.

"Bye-bye," he said. He positioned his fist exactly underneath Chet Rippo's bill and Super Jump Punched him so high that his receding figure twinkling among the stars of the night sky. Chet Rippo's fading scream was music to the ears of many in the crowd whom he had previously swindled. Only this time, the show had been stolen from him.

Round II, Match XIV: Ganondorf VS. Roy

The Binding Blade burst into flames, and its wielder rushed forward, going for the win.

It met Ganondorf's dark, curving sword, and the two weapons found themselves interlocked in a furious duel.

Roy used his lightness to evade the Gerudo's swings and attempted to jab at him in return whenever he got the chance, but Ganondorf was much faster than he'd imagined, despite his size.

The flames of Roy's sword reflected in Ganondorf's eyes. Or it was possible that they contained fires of their own. Either way, Roy had no time to ponder trifles when so much was on the line—namely, his ego. If he could defeat Ganondorf, then Young Link (not to mention the rest of the Smashers) would surely see him in an entirely new light. Yet somehow, this dark-skinned man was tougher than any dragon or soldier he'd yet encountered.

"You're quick on your feet, boy." Ganondorf barely dodged a stab toward his chest and reciprocated the gesture only to meet with empty air as Roy jumped backward. "I'll give you that."

The two then clashed their blades against each other in a contest of pure strength. Roy felt himself slipping.

"You are not too bad, either," Roy said. "For an old loon." He slid the Binding Blade and his body beneath Ganondorf's sword and kicked upward into his stomach.

But Ganondorf had been too quick; rather than meeting its target, the foot was gripped in the Gerudo's left fist, the Triforce of Power glowing on the back of the hand.

"But you lack at least one thing," he said. "The will to win no matter the cost."

Roy yelled in agony as Ganondorf brought his elbow down onto his leg, breaking it with a definite snap. Roy fell on the ground and waved his sword in a feeble defense.

Ganondorf laughed as he effortlessly batted the Binding Blade aside. He stood over Roy's body, his feet surrounded by a purple aura just like his hands had in the past.

"You are fortunate that it's not your life I wish to end. Sleep well."

Roy never felt the pain of the kick. He only registered a jarring convulsion of his head and closed his eyes to take the villain's advice.

Round II, Match XVI: Sonic VS. Prince Peasley

Peasley found himself defending against the equivalent of…well, there was nothing to really compare it with. Perhaps if his old Beanish archenemy Fawful had multiplied into six and sped up time while attacking from all sides, it might come close. In any case, trying to follow the round blue blur that was Sonic the Hedgehog yielded only a number of bruises from several angles.

He swatted his rapier through the air, but to no avail. Sonic just kept rolling behind, above, and from the side, battering him like a punching bag.

After a while, he began to pick up on the hedgehog's speed and patterns. Using the best of his fencer's reflexes, he anticipated the next attack and actually sliced across Sonic's legs, putting an abrupt end to his rapid charges.

Sonic stopped to face him, wincing from his stinging wound, but still managing a smile.

"Someone oughta give you a medal for that. Not very many can catch me once I get rollin'."

"Well, then." Peasley assumed his fighter stance. "Have at it, sir!"

"If you say so."

Although slowed down by his injury, Sonic still closed in on the prince almost as fast as a Fox Illusion. He beat away Peasley's sword, and they engaged in furious hand-to-hand combat. Though Peasley was most comfortable with his rapier, he had been trained to adapt. He landed several solid hits on Sonic, growing more confident with each success.

Sonic twirled on one hand and kicked Peasley from behind, knocking him onto his stomach. The speedster balled up once more and rolled into Peasley's head. The Prince's consciousness retreated into a dizzy surrender.

The following day, the tournament fighters were even less ambitious in their excursions than before. At least half of them had had to spend time in the infirmary, and those who hadn't were still drained from two consecutive nights of battling. Thus, it was a slow day leading up to Round III.

Red, Luigi, Kirby, Young Link, and Diddy returned to the colosseum later in the afternoon to visit their friends who were still in the infirmary—Diddy to see the other four Kongs; Young Link to see Roy; Kirby to see Blade Knight, who had once assisted Meta Knight in training him as a Star Warrior; Luigi to see Yoshi and Peasley; and Red to see his sister, April, who had slaughtered the Pokémon Burglar in her first battle, though her Butterfree had apparently met an unfortunate end against The Shadow.

The curving cement hall led them past some concession stands that were steaming with food being prepared for the evening's events. The Krusha who was their escort eventually led them down a flight of steps into an almost identical hallway underground. They reached a pair of large steel doors, upon which the Krusha pounded with his fist like an angry IRS agent.

Whoever Red had been expecting to answer the door, Waluigi wearing a medical apron certainly hadn't been it. His expression was one of pitifully disguised annoyance, which was enhanced by the bruise coloring his right eye. Having heard of Popo's encounter with Wario, Red wondered if Waluigi had also participated but had been less than fortunate in his last fight.

"Yeah?" Waluigi said.

"We're here to see our friends," Red said.

The gangly man seemed to tense up in a moment of slight panic, trying to decide how to respond.
"Er…yeah. Come on."

He led them into the infirmary. To Red, the place reminded him of a Pokémon Center, except built for dozens of patients. The room was whitewashed and appeared about as big as half of the arena above them. Red passed his eyes over the white-sheeted beds, some with curtains pulled around them; medical equipment dotted all over the room; medical Toads attending to the moaning, groaning, or downright growling of the defeated participants. In one bed, the Goomba King whined as a Toad nurse disinfected a small scratch on his head. In another, Paula's vitals were being carefully monitored as the doctors were still clueless about what had happened to her when the Shadow Queen had pulled her into the ground. In a bed adjacent to her, a small Koopa with a red tuft of hair whom Luigi recognized as Bowser Jr. appeared to be in the same condition. Red's eyes paused on a conspicuous steel door built into the flat wall of the semicircular room.

What was beneath the other half of the arena?

Each of the Smashers branched off as they spotted their friends and family. As Luigi, Kirby, and Diddy went to comfort their injured friends, Red found his way over to where his sister sat kneeling beside the bed of her injured Butterfree, the giant butterfly's beautiful wings twitching.

"How is she, sis?" he asked.

April looked up with an inscrutable expression. "She'll be okay. I can't believe I let that cloaked creature get the better of my Serenity. It did this weird thing with the air, turning it all ripply and reddish, and she sort of went into slow motion…."

"Ah." Red put a hand on the girl's shoulder. Her red shirt and blue shorts along with her straight brown tresses made her seem much older than the childlike sister he remembered, even though she was several years his elder. Then again, he was only 14 himself; surely neither of them could be growing up quite so fast. Ever since those metal Smashers had dropped into the Pokéfloat Festival, he felt like he had been forced to become a man just to stay alive. He wondered how much more he would have to mature before all of this was over.

A loud thump resounded from what seemed the least likely of places: the steel door on the wall. Red, along with nearly every occupant of the infirmary, fell silent and turned to stare at it, as if expecting the door to blow down at any second.

The banging noises repeated several more times—as if someone on the other side were trying to get in.

Waluigi alone did not appear confused. Instead, he appeared terrified by the sound. Because he knew what was behind that door.

He almost seemed to dive toward the wall, where he pulled a red emergency lever. Suddenly, the infirmary's whiteness became tinged with the red lights flashing from the low ceiling. There was no siren, but with the reaction that ensued, there might as well have been.

Some of the patients and staff panicked, those who were physically able running out of the room, others screaming and hiding behind the thin bed curtains as if that would protect them. In seconds, two lines of Krushas armed with orange guns (orange being the ammo, not the color) filed into the room. They ushered out all the visitors and slammed the infirmary doors shut behind them.

Red looked at Luigi, who looked at Young Link, who looked at Diddy, who looked at Kirby, who yawned and fell asleep.

"What was that?" Red whispered.

"Whatever it was, WarioWare sure didn't want us to find out," said Young Link.

As everyone else who had fled went away to buy hot dogs and whatnot, the five of them stood and listened for commotion coming from inside, but they heard nothing.

"Well, we're not getting in there now," Diddy said after a few minutes. "I'm going back to my waiting room. The next round is gonna begin in just a couple hours."

They nodded to each other and dispersed, Luigi carrying Kirby's snoring body awkwardly in his arms.

Round III, Match I: Kirby VS. Metal Yoshi

Kirby woke up just in time to walk onto the field. The sight of Metal Yoshi, however, snapped him into alertness. His eyes widened as the clone encased itself in a metallic egg and powered its way toward him.

He transformed into his rock form and caused the giant ball bearing to bump into the air beyond its target. Kirby reverted to his puffy pink self and watched as Metal Yoshi popped out of its egg and landed smoothly on its feet. It began another charge, this time headfirst.

The Smasher made to repeat his previous strategy, but before he could transform, a metal egg battered him shortly before he was rammed by Metal Yoshi's head.

As he spun through the air, he caught a glimpse of another egg coming after him. Luckily, he was facing the projectile when it would have hit him, so he was able to suck it into his mouth and land with his cheeks bulging.

Metal Yoshi, unaccustomed to Kirby's fighting style, interpreted his bloated immobility as vulnerability and went in for yet another headbutt. But as it neared the swollen Star Warrior, it found itself colliding with its own metal egg, which had been spat back at it.

While Metal Yoshi was crashing across the arena, Kirby puffed up on top of the wall where the first row of the audience sat less than five feet away. He turned to them with an adorable wave, eliciting a cheer until he began to inhale all of their food, hats, foam fingers, cell phones, wallets, car keys, and other loose items.

"Poyo!" he said with his mouthful, as if this expression of gratitude would placate the horrified spectators. He floated away, and while in the air, took careful aim at Metal Yoshi's still-recuperating figure and ejected the contents of his mouth in the form of a white star the size of a truck.

Even though Metal Yoshi had seen the star coming, the force of being hit by its own substance had nearly crippled it, and the meteor was too big and too fast. It tried in vain to crawl out of the way, but the giant star did its job in the end—at the expense of slightly decreasing Kirby's popularity.

Round III, Match II: Game & Watch VS. The Shadow Queen

Like Paula, Mr. Game & Watch walked out into an empty arena. Then, the purple hand surged up from beneath him and attempted to drag him down…

…but it didn't work. For whatever reason, G. W. seemed to be immune to her shadow-based attacks—perhaps because he was not much more substantial than a shadow himself. The Shadow Queen relinquished her hold and disappeared into the ground, resurfacing some 15 feet away.

G. W. didn't even try to use his sausages. Instead, he circled the Floormaster warily, looking for an opportunity to use his Judgment Hammer which could, on occasion, prove decisive. Hopefully, luck would be on his side.

The Shadow Queen remained stationary and considered her opponent, as if she were trying to decide which way to cook a chicken for dinner. Then her hand balled itself into a fist and lunged at Mr. Game and Watch, the arm stretching from the ground beneath it like a rubber band. Mr. Game and Watch used his built-in firefighting trampoline to bounce high into the air, then plunged toward the spot where the arm came out of the ground. He swung his Judgment Hammer onto the stretch of arm nearest to the surface.

An electric shock surrounded the hammer as it hit its target, a "6" displayed on the sign G.W. held up with his other hand. Alone, the hammer would have done nothing, but with the electrical surge, a screeching wail came from the returning hand, reminiscent of its battle against Mario in the Palace of Shadow. Mr. Game & Watch backed away as the purple hand writhed and screeched on the ground and finally sank wearily into the floor, leaving empty space in its place.

He held up his hands triumphantly, one clutching his lucky hammer. But unfortunately for him, the Shadow Queen was just biding its time. Soon after he took his sight off the battlefield, dozens of smaller purple hands shot out of the ground and overwhelmed him.

But he would not go down without a fight—smashing the demonic appendages with sausages and turtles, freezing and shocking and scorching them with his assorted tools until he was finally taken down by the amorphous mob.

Round III, Match III: Samus VS. Diddy Kong

Diddy used the missiles as stepping stones as he made his way toward Samus, popping the occasional peanut as he went. As he was about to come down hard on her with his feet, Samus's Screw Attack caught him in its vicious gyrations, battering him from all sides before ejecting him like a piece of toast.

The Kong ruled out aerial assaults from his mental list of viable attack strategies and went for a more direct route, this time ducking beneath the missiles rather than jumping on them. When he met the missile nearest his opponent, he backtracked, running with the explosive. He put his arms around it and redirected it in a U-turn that came as such a surprise that Samus did not react in time to escape the blast.

She clambered to her feet and reverted to small charge shots, which she figured could not be used against her as the missile had been.

Diddy cartwheeled past most of them but shrieked as one nailed him in the tail, almost throwing him off balance. He regained his stability and faced Samus once more.

"Don't feel too bad when you lose to a monkey," he said.

"Trust me…." Samus snatched him with her grapple beam and tossed him behind her. "That won't be a problem."

Diddy shook off the pain of the fall and approached again, slowly this time, and at the last moment, he jumped over the bounty hunter's extended grapple beam and latched onto her helmet. Samus tried to shake him off as he beat down with his tiny fists, tittering as if he were riding a mechanical bull at an amusement park.

Finally, he kicked himself away, sending Samus right onto the banana peel he'd purposely left behind her before she had tossed him. She slipped to the ground, the metal clanging against the clay like a frying pan dropped from a rooftop.

Diddy pounced onto Samus's suit before she could get up and serenaded her ears with a point-blank tune from his electric guitar. And that was the end of that.

Round III, Match IV: Wario VS. Fox

Wario guffawed as the motorcycle rose out of the ground at his side once again. He swung himself on and accelerated.

So that's the kind of cheating Popo was talking about, Fox thought. He shrugged and drew his laser, shooting the vehicle's engine.

It exploded.

Wario wailed as he sailed through the air and landed face-first. He brushed off his overalls and glared at Fox.

"Let's a-go, then."

He charged at him with his head bent and shoulder to the front. Fox jumped over the fat money-grabber and shot him in the behind, causing him to react as if a torch had been held to his backside.

By this point, Wario had clearly lost his temper, his face as red as a beet. He came at Fox again, only this time he jumped at the same time as Fox, bent over, and let rip a small mushroom cloud of fatal flatulence.

Fox had never been assaulted by such a combination of pain and pungency in his life. It was like a skunk had simultaneously sprayed him and hit him with gale force wind. He flew all the way into the wall of the arena and almost lost consciousness then and there. But he remembered his dislike of Wario's dirty tactics and how much he wanted to see him fail, and that kept him in the game.

"Wha?"

Wario was not used to his victims recovering from his gaseous ejections. Oh, well. It was time to pull another trick from his sleeve.

Fox watched in disbelief as another section of the arena opened up to afford Wario yet another weapon. It was a stack of Bob-ombs, their fuses lit and their eyes narrowed with some kind of unprovoked anger.

Wario grabbed the entire stack and began hurling them at his foe. Fox barely avoided the large blast radius of the first two and then bee-lined toward the wielder of the bombs. He got as close as he dared, and just as Wario began to chuck another Bob-omb, he shot its fuse where it met the black spherical body.

For good measure (and personal satisfaction), the pilot Fox-Illusioned through the explosion and punched Wario hard in the face. Wario rolled onto his stomach with a groan and signaled his defeat with a final tiny squeal of methane.

Round III, Match VI: Red VS. Luigi

"Well, Luigi," Red said with a grin, tossing two Pokéballs into the arena. "Let's see if you can handle us."

"Okey-doke," Luigi said, intentionally not committing either to confidence or uncertainty.

Pichu and Jigglypuff relished the chilly night air and were at first slightly confused by the identity of their opponent, but realizing they were in the tournament, they quickly accepted the task at hand.

Pichu charged at Luigi with a fierce Skull Bash, but Luigi caught him by the head, swung him around a few times, and hurled him into Jigglypuff. The Balloon Pokémon gave Pichu an annoyed look and carried out her own course of action. She floated just close enough to provoke Luigi into throwing a punch, let out a puff of air to push herself back, then propelled herself into Luigi's face with a piercing Double Slap.

Luigi was unable to free himself from the successive slaps, which flipped him upside-down with each strike. He wanted to scream as Pichu nailed him with an electric Tackle from above, ending the slap-fest but jolting his senses and pushing him onto the ground.

He now found himself with Pichu on one side and Jigglypuff on the other. He was surrounded. Jigglypuff began spinning and unleashed a Rollout, and he knew there was only one way out of this. He dropped to the floor and allowed the Pokémon to roll over his body and into her partner instead. While Jigglypuff fell from her misdirected attack, Luigi rose in an uppercut punch and followed through with an aerial flip kick, sending her to roughly the same place that the Rollout had sent Pichu.

This time it was Pichu who was annoyed. The two of them began arguing about what to do next, each unwilling to take another pointless blow for the other.

Red was exasperated. "Pichu, Jigglypuff, stop fighting! You have to work together!"

But by the time they finally settled their quarrel, the plumber had already crashed into them with his Luigi Cyclone, knocking their heads together and then punching both of them in different directions with an almost confident finish.

Red sighed as his two friends hit the ground and fainted.

"You deserved to win that one," he admitted as he Returned them.

Round III, Match VII: Metal Ness VS. Ganondorf

Ganondorf found Metal Ness not only just as tactically intelligent as its original, but equally adept with the boy's PSI capabilities. It also seemed to know every trick Ganondorf tried before he attempted it. No form of punch, elbow, or Gerudo Kick seemed to startle Metal Ness in the slightest—even when it was hit. And as the battle went on, its attacks were becoming increasingly difficult to avoid. Though he was quite strong and had reasonably good reflexes, he could not keep dodging the doppelganger's PK Flashes, Fires, and Thunders forever.

Ganondorf drew his broadsword and charged at the metal figure. In response, it summoned a particularly potent PK Fire, and then when Ganondorf was nearly upon it, unleashed its attack. Ganondorf swerved to the side and brought his blade down on Metal Ness's head, the sword rippling with an aura of dark power.

As he swung, the clone made a last-ditch effort. It charged up a huge ball of energy, a mix of all three of its telekinetic attacks, and launched it at Ganondorf. But the entire sphere was absorbed by the Triforce of Power, which manifested itself in the sword's purple aura. As the weapon literally cleaved Metal Ness in two, the iron figure hopelessly tried a PSI Shield, which would only have helped in absorbing energy projectiles. A lot of good that did it.

The two halves of Metal Ness's body fell to the ground, each pupil-less eye staring emotionlessly from its statue-like body, the inner edges melted and deformed by Ganondorf's magic.

It was true that Metal Ness was no more. But Rawk Hawk and the audience had enjoyed the show so much that Ganondorf was allowed to remain in the tournament despite his lethal solution.

Round III, Match VIII: Sylux VS. Sonic

The bounty hunter with the lime green streak running down its armor did not seem to be one much for small talk. It led out by firing a cluster of neon green particles, which appeared to do nothing at first, but then shot toward the nearest target like mechanized fireflies.

Sonic cried out as the neutrinos latched onto him and began draining his energy, siphoning it into Sylux, whose body was glowing the same green hue. Sonic curled into a ball and rolled in at least a dozen circles, dislodging the high-tech leeches and snuffing them out.

He directed himself toward Sylux and bounced into its chest like a sentient cannonball, knocking it to the ground.

Sylux shot another round of its Shock Coil into Sonic, forcing him to back away and roll around again to free himself of the energy parasites. Once he was finally liberated, he looked up, panting, ready for more.

But what had once been the humanoid Sylux had transformed into a sphere similar to Samus's Morph Ball and Sonic himself—except it was composed of a glowing green orb encased by two intertwined metal bars that retained the general design of Sylux's armor. The Lockjaw.

So it was to be a battle of the balls, then.

To his surprise, Sonic's enemy did not direct itself toward him, but appeared to roll in a circle around him like a piece of radioactive alien technology (which, for all he knew, it was). He was puzzled by its evasive tactics until he spotted the small green spheres it was periodically leaving behind.

He rolled at an angle to cut Sylux off before it formed a complete perimeter around him, but it accelerated at the last moment, completing its orbit, and then something bad happened.

All the Electric Bombs linked to each other in a many-pointed star with segments of green energy…and Sonic was caught in the middle of it.

It would have been over if he hadn't thought to Spring Jump (a red spring literally popping out of the ground to propel him skyward) a fraction of a second before the connected bombs completed their grid and exploded. From above, he spotted Sylux's spherical form and cut aerodynamically through the air with his foot extended, nailing it like a pellet against the edge of a Hungry Hungry Hippo.

Sylux bounced off the arena wall and arced back over him, leaving a steady stream of Electric Bombs in its wake. Sonic realized it was about to create an electric rainbow that would feel much less pleasant than a sunny day. He dashed to the spot where Sylux was going to land and caught the Lockjaw just as it completed its arc and activated the bombs.

He kicked it back into its own web of electric currents, where it was subjected to its own metaphorical medicine. The green bolts flashed around the bounty hunter like a scene from a science fiction movie, leaving Sonic the victor.

Back in the dungeon, it was clear that Bomberman's bombs were not up to the task of blowing out the steel door. He had begun by kicking a small blue one straight into the door, which seemed to rattle the cavern itself, but the stubborn barrier remained fixed.

As he experimented with progressively larger bombs, the prisoners could hear a commotion from the other side; it seemed that their escape attempt had not gone unnoticed, and even if they did penetrate the door, there would be no telling what kind of unpleasantness awaited them on the other side.

But after exhausting all his options, Bomberman shook his head and sat back on a ledge, exhausted. The sources of the shuffling noises on the other side seemed to realize they had no cause to fear and dispersed.

"Well," Impa said with a sigh, "it was worth a try."

"Hey, all you Looney-Toons!"

She and the other Smash Brothers turned to the speaker, which at first glance, appeared to be Banjo's backpack. But the red Breegull, Kazooie, burst from within with an air of snobbery.

"While you've been hitting rocks together like cavemen, Banjo and I've figured a way out of here."

Banjo nodded and picked up where she'd left off. "Kazooie's able to cough up all kinds of eggs…Fire Eggs, Ice Eggs, even Grenade Eggs. We've been talkin', and I think it's time we put her Clockwork Kazooie Egg to use. It hatches a small mechanized Kazooie that can wander off on its own and show us more of where we are, maybe even blastin' the lock from the other side."

"I only have one left," Kazooie added, as if by doing this she would be sacrificing her own flesh and blood. "But shall I give it a whirl?"

Neither Impa nor anyone else had anything even close to resembling a better plan, so after a moment, the leader of the Smash Brothers nodded. "Let's do it."

Five minutes later, Banjo had positioned himself on top of the highest ledge in the cavern, allowing his partner to extend her neck so her beak could spit the egg onto a higher ledge that wound up into one of the small natural air ducts in the ceiling.

Banjo gave her an inquisitive thumbs up, which the bird returned the best she could with her wing. She projected an egg the size of an NFL football from her mouth. It was red with yellow spots, but those watching only saw the shell for a second before the mechanized Kazooie, with tiny metal claws, beak, and winding key on its back, broke out of the egg and commenced its journey up into the hole.

As it disappeared, Kazooie closed her eyes and went into a trance-like state; she became one with the Clockwork Kazooie, seeing everything through its eyes and relaying what she saw as best she could as it went along.

For several minutes, it scratched its way through the darkness with only one path to follow and no way to see where it was going. Then, just when Kazooie was beginning to worry that it would reach a dead-end, it rounded a corner and popped out into the light.

It fell into a strange chamber that was new to Kazooie, but all too familiar to Link, Zelda, Nana, Mario, and Ness.

The kraken-like machine stretching its metal tentacles across both floor and ceiling. The panels of switches and buttons and blinking lights. The central platform with an orange trophy stand set ominously upon it.

"Is there anyone in there?" Zelda asked anxiously as Kazooie narrated her new surroundings. Kazooie shook her head, but then froze abruptly. Something had happened.

Back in the trophy machine chamber, a door opened that let in brilliant white light—the same artificial brightness of the infirmary. The inside of the door was the exact color of the whitewashed walls, and although Kazooie couldn't have known it, this room did in fact lead directly from the infirmary itself.

Several figures came into the room, some less willingly than others. Wario, Waluigi, and Giovanni led the way in, and behind them two Krushas dragged in two familiar faces: Samus and Captain Falcon.

But the clockwork Kazooie was powerless to act as it witnessed the proceedings; it was capable of creating a small explosion, but nothing near powerful enough to destroy the machine or even seriously injure one of the villains.

"What kind of voodoo are you playin' at?" Falcon yelled as the door was shut securely behind them. "At least let the girl go; she hasn't done anything to you!" He writhed within the Krusha's grip, but he felt unusually fatigued; they must have drugged him and Samus while they were recovering.

Samus, on the other hand, appeared strangely tranquil. "Shut up, Falcon," she said, the drowsiness in her voice apparent.

Wario laughed as Giovanni started up the machine and Samus was strapped onto the platform, suit and all. Wario did, however, look disheveled, absentmindedly massaging his aching bottom where Fox had zapped it.

"You should a-take the lady's advice, Captain."

"Yeah," Waluigi said.

Captain Falcon hung limp as the podium began to glow and Samus's unresisting figure would soon be enveloped in whiteness.

Suddenly, he elbowed the Krusha in the face and wrung himself from its grasp, creating a panic. He took on both Krushas at once, dodging in such a way that one accidentally punched the other. He kneed the first in the chest before it could retaliate. Both Krushas were down.

He made for the control panel and his fingers were inches from shutting the machine down when he felt his body crumple as if it were made of Jell-O. Giovanni had injected a sedative into his neck at the last moment, smiling like the devil.

The machine completed its process, temporarily blinding all in the room and subsiding to reveal the solidified figure of Samus Aran.

"No…." Falcon no longer put up a fight as Samus was unstrapped from the podium and he was put in her place.

"Eh?" Waluigi noticed a movement from the corner of his eye. He crept over suspiciously and found the Clockwork Kazooie watching from behind one of the machine's appendages. He brought his foot down as if to stomp on a rat. Only it turned out to be an exploding rat that would burn his heel.

The last thing Clockwork Kazooie saw was the bottom of Waluigi's shoe as the machine started to whir once more.

"Whoa…." Kazooie shook here head and blinked, dazed from what she'd witnessed through her robotic avatar.

"What happened out there, Kazooie?" Banjo asked. The bird had ceased narrating ever since the brawl had broken out between Captain Falcon and the Krushas.

But all she could say was:

"This…is really bad."

Crazy Hand hovered above the pulsing Battlefields, thousands of Wire Frames thronging below him. Dotted among the purple masses were the gelatinous domes that had served to transport and spawn Wire Frames all over the Nintendo World. The mindless beings shuffled against each other, created for only one thing: to fight.

The Tournament was coming to a close, and the time had come to carry out the next stage of the plan. The giant left hand curled his fingers with restless bloodlust.

"The city awaits us," he boomed, his voice echoing several miles in every direction. He pointed one white finger at the army. "Now go."

The Wire Frames began filing into the domes, vanishing like Alice through the Looking Glass, except perhaps with a less benign purpose.

Fourside would soon be theirs.