The Mii Fighter Chronicles
Chapter Twenty: The Showdown
Villager popped the pellet into Baby Pac-Man's mouth. The tiny yellow ball began to rumble in his arms. Villager quickly placed the baby on the ground and backed away. Jazz and Brawler followed suit.
The blankets wrapped around the toddler fell away as he started to grow exponentially. Soon, Villager, Jazz, and Brawler were staring up at a six-foot yellow ball identical to his parents. On both sides of the ledge, the yellow pixelated tips of Pac-Man and Mrs. Pac-Man appeared, their mouths chomping in mechanical rhythm.
"Come on," Villager said, grabbing Jazz's hand. "Let's get out of the way."
He and Jazz turned and jumped to the next ledge, Brawler following close behind. They crouched and watched as Baby Pac-Man sped for his father. The two balls collided, pixels spraying from the elder. Baby Pac-Man bit at his father fiercely, working his jaw muscles over and around his opponent, until finally managing to swallow him whole. Pac-Man disappeared in a burst of pixels that evaporated into thin air. Two small figures popped from the baby's mouth.
Without missing a beat, the baby turned on its mother just as she was about to strike him from behind. The giant balls rammed into each other, bouncing off each other like enormous pinballs. They came at each other again and again. Baby Pac-Man tried to get his mouth around Mrs. Pac-Man, but she was too quick, deflecting him at every turn.
"We've gotta help him," Villager said.
Jazz thought for a moment. "Hang on, I've got something," she said. She reached into her pocket and removed a small green soccer ball.
"You have hammerspace pockets too?" Villager asked.
"Well, yeah. Doesn't everybody in this world?"
"Good point."
Jazz held the soccer ball over her head, peeking over the ledge to aim. She lobbed the ball, bouncing it off the platform below right at Mrs. Pac-Man's base. Mrs. Pac-Man's speeding bulk slipped on the ball, sending her into a tailspin into the wall beside her. Baby Pac-Man seized the opportunity and pounced, devouring his mother in one swift motion.
With a flash of light, Baby Pac-Man returned to his tiny stature, spitting out his mother and a blue pixellized figure.
"Alright," Brawler shouted. He jumped down to the level below and scooped up the baby in his arms. "Good job, baby. That was creepy but amazing."
The baby gurgled, clearly not pleased at his new carrier.
"I'll take that," Mrs. Pac-Man said, getting to her feet and taking her baby back from the Mii Fighter.
Villager and Jazz jumped down to join them as Pac-Man got to his feet as well. "So what do we do with them?" Villager asked.
The group looked at the red and blue pixellized figures standing at either end of the platform.
The red one threw his head back in arrogance. "You think you've beaten us?" he said. "Please, we have plenty more tricks up our sleeves."
"Not today, you don't," a digitized female voice said from above.
A pale green pixellized figure with a clearly feminine form jumped down from a higher platformer. "Izzy is not pleased with the two of you," she said. "You broke the rules of your game."
"Stay out of this, Reboot," the blue one said. "We're not playing by Izzy's stupid rules."
"Izzy wants the data, and you two have corrupted it. This game is worthless to us now. You are to return to base immediately."
The green figure spun, throwing two green neon sets of numbers at the twin glitches that wrapped around them and enveloped them in bright green light. In a flash, they were gone.
The green figure stood and faced the heroes. "We will meet again," she said. She spun once more and vanished.
The dragon opened its mouth and spewed a jet of flame, scattering the Pit amiibo into a cloud of pixels. It shook its head, trying desperately to throw off the Diddy Kong amiibo, who was now arm-deep in the giant reptile's cartoon nose.
Down below, Reggie, Erin, Mario, and the red and pink ghosts stepped out of the restoration center, Chibi-Robo clinging to Reggie's shoulder. Reggie tapped the Luigi amiibo to the gamepad, causing the green-clad plumber to materialize next to him.
Reggie stashed away his gamepad and hefted his sword. He looked back to see Sue just inside the door. "Keep them safe," he said.
Sue nodded, pressing a button and sliding the wall shut again. Reggie looked up at his enormous foe. "Erin," he said. "Help Zelda."
Erin nodded.
"Mario, you and Luigi get up front with Mac and Falcon."
Mario nodded, eyeing his virtual brother. "Okey-dokey."
"Blinky and Pinky, help the other ghosts. We want to keep this dragon as occupied as possible. Go!"
Reggie's allies fanned out across the maze, leaving Reggie and Chibi alone.
"Chibi," Reggie said, "pull me up all the information on the dragon battle from Dragon's Lair."
"Sure thing, boss."
Reggie slipped away from the restoration center and ran down a side corridor, trying to work his way around behind the dragon. He hugged the wall to stay out of the monster's view.
"Bad news, boss," Chibi whispered in his ear.
"What is it?"
"It looks like Dirk the Daring had to use a magic sword to kill the dragon in the game. We don't have one of those."
Reggie held up his sword. "This thing can shoot laser beams. I think we're good. What else?"
Chibi processed his internal information for a moment. "Assuming your sword works, just stab him through the heart and he'll be good."
"Okay." Reggie peeked his head around a corner. The dragon's hulking form loomed above him. Diddy Kong was gone, but spells and energy blasts continued to bombard the beast. Reggie took a deep breath and charged out from around the corner, his sword held high. The massive tail swiped toward him and Reggie threw himself on top of it, speeding his way up the dragon's scaly back.
The giant beast turned its head, investigating the feeling running up its back to see Reggie and Chibi. It opened its maw and spewed a jet of flame. Reggie threw up his sword defensively, the steel absorbing most of the blast.
Reggie squinted through the flames, searching out the dragon's chest. Locating his target, Reggie flung his sword as soon as the fire let up. The iron blade tore straight through the dragon's hide, embedding itself in the middle of its ribcage. The dragon let out a roar of anguish. It fell backwards, throwing Reggie and Chibi off. Down below, Mario, Erin, and the amiibos scattered. The heap of green flesh hit the ground with a thud and exploded into a thousand tiny pixels.
The dragon was gone.