25: Something Crazy (3)
Black tentacles rampaged through the halls of the usually peaceful mansion, wreaking havoc everywhere.
Unfortunate rooms of nearby Smashers who were sleeping become nothing but rubble, the victims themselves waking up and fleeing in panic.
"What the hell is going on!?" a human Roy, one such unlucky fighter, screamed while clutching onto his bright red nightcap.
"T-that's Mr. Game & Watch, isn't it?" a watching Ike said, standing in a safe zone where the tentacles of darkness couldn't reach.
Loud beeps emitted from the beast, rivaling or even surpassing that of Bowser's roars.
"P-papa! Where are you!?" Bowser Junior yelled towards the rampaging Smasher. He shared the room with his father and Ganondorf, and they were the other unfortunate room who were next to the explosion. Bowser Junior had been visiting another restroom, however, brave enough to go alone.
Rosalina held the small Koopa Prince back. "Young child, it is not safe to go there..."
"B-but papa! He might still be alive in there!" he replied, tears almost bursting from his eyes.
Samus, without her helmet but with armor, shot a blast at the octopus. The energy shot became shredded into nothingness. "Damn it. Game & Watch!" she shouted, trying to get the deranged octopus' attention. "What the heck is the matter!?"
It was useless, however, as he didn't reply with any beeps directed at her. Instead, it roared even louder.
"Well," Ike said with a relieved sigh, "at least they're trapped and can't move... as long as we stay out of range, it'll be fine."
Marth rushed up to the scene, his hands on Falchion. "No, we're not safe yet... he can jab at people by stretching them, like in matches."
"Wait, he can do that!?" Ike exclaimed. Right after he said that, they saw a sharp jab directed at the two. They dodged it in a hurry as the tentacle tip struck past where they would've been had they not fall to the ground. "Holy shit..."
Wasting no time, the Altean Prince struck the tentacle and sliced it off with his sword. "Anyone who can fight, subdue him now!"
Few Smashers gathered around nodded and got into a stance.
"Those who can't, get to safety or go get your weapons!"
The next audience nodded and left to do what they had to.
Samus, meanwhile, prepared another blast but it too was shredded into nothing. "Fuck... nothing works, does it?" she muttered.
"Aran, you're doing fine," Crazy Hand said as he floated up to her.
"Crazy?" she said. "Do you know what's going on?"
The left hand of destruction remained oddly composed, showing no signs of twitching. "It's definitely something bad, alright... I may or may not know the cause," he said and formed a fist, "but I'll explain later." Before Samus could inquire anything, Crazy Hand flung himself at the octopus of darkness, who immediately used all its tentacles to block and keep the hand at bay. "Keep attacking him, his stamina will go out eventually!"
"R-roger. Everyone!" Samus motioned to her fellow Smashers. "Keep attacking! Game & Watch will run out of energy if we keep it up!"
"Got it!" Marth replied and began relaying the instructions to nearby fighters. "You heard her, guys!"
With the collective nods reassuring him, they all began unleashing attacks at the turned-insane Game & Watch. Their attacks seemed useless, however, as the skin of the busy octopus kept regenerating at ease, and projectiles and energy-based attacks simply disintegrated into empty air upon contact.
However, they could slowly notice the decreasing level of rampage that the octopus was displaying.
Mario, who had ran to the scene soon afterwards and gotten the gist of what to do, panted. "Even-a then, doing this for long time is-a rather hard job..."
"Mario! Watch out!" a voice warned. They noticed the octopus of darkness wrap a tentacle around Crazy Hand, catching him off guard and attempting to smash the left hand onto the Smashers.
It was really fast, surprisingly, and Mario- along with several others- were about to be crushed into the ground and trophified, but a muscular yellow arm stuck out the rubble. Suddenly, they found themselves alive and recognized their savior.
"Bowser!" many exclaimed.
"Papa!" Bowser Junior cheered. "I knew you would be alive!"
Grinning and holding the restricted hand up, the King of Koopas roared at the octopus. "There's no way I'd go down easily like that! Hurry and finish this, you morons!"
Mario nodded. "On it. Everybody, just-a bit more!"
His fellow Smashers nodded. Despite the odd and dangerous incident bringing terror to many, it had only been around three minutes after midnight struck. While the damage was great, it was extremely short- and he was glad it wasn't that big of an incident. Marth and Samus both prepared for their strongest blows, charging their attacks.
"This should end it!" With their synchronized shouts, each performed their Special attack and struck the final blows that would cause Mr. Game & Watch's shadowy body to disperse, him reverting to his lovable beeping form. All traces of the octopus had vanished into thin air, only the destruction of that area of the mansion showing that something had happened there.
An echoed beep eventually became inaudible to everyone's ears, allowing them to sigh and relax from the anticlimactic battle they just had.
"What's going on here?" Master Hand's voice boomed, and he made his way floating towards the scene of destruction. The others saw the encased Nightmare and both Ashley and Pac-Man following their habitat's leader. "Mr. Game & Watch has... been calmed down?"
"Master Hand," Samus called, "everything's under control now. He went on a slight rampage for unknown reasons, but we managed to subdue him."
Marth nodded. "With Crazy Hand's assistance in holding him down for few seconds, we managed to hack at his stamina until he reverted back to normal."
The giant hand of creation nodded and turned to Nightmare, trapped within his magical cage. "You have time to explain yourself right now, Nightmare."
"So it was you, huh?" Bowser scoffed, stretching his arms. "Villainy's cool and all, but put my son here in danger and-"
"Bowser."
"S-sorry." Sighing, the Koopa King petted Bowser Junior's head with content, glad that he was safe.
The villain in shades, however, smirked. "You may fire me from this tournament farce, you may crush me here, you may-"
Master Hand pointed at the villain, silencing him. "All I ask for are answers, Nightmare. Do not make this hard."
Rather than being annoyed, he seemed to grin wider. It seemed apparent that answers were not going to be given.
Ike, walking up to them, shook his head. "Hey, big guy refuses to answer... I think it's clear what to do now."
"Let's not resort to-" The right hand was interrupted by the sound of rubble crumbling. They turned around and saw Wario climbing out the heaps of concrete. "Wario, you are okay! I am relieved."
The garlic-obsessed man, however, stared at them with no hints of foul mischief. "...that's-a enough," he finally said.
"Excuse me?"
The man, in his yellow-purple overalls, pointed to himself. "I... I'm the mastermind, Master-a Hand."
"Wario...?" Ashley hissed with hostility forming from her glare. It did not affect him at all.
Silent and unmoving, the hand remained stoic. "...I'll be seeking answers from the both of you, then."
Wario alone nodded, Nightmare keeping up his grin. "Yes-a sir," the garlic hero replied.