The Mii Fighter Chronicles
Chapter Fifty-Two: The Lift
Mister Hyde threw fireball after fireball, driving Samus back. She kept up her return fire, making the air between them blaze with blue and orange heat. Finally, Mister Hyde managed to land a hit to Samus's chestplate and knocked her to the ground, her armor smoking. The hulking giant stepped up to her, grinning with his broken and rotting teeth. "Now, lassy," he said. "It's time to start dethroning our major players." His hand lit up with fire. "I'll be sending you a few of your friends to keep you company shortly."
"Hey, ugly!"
Mister Hyde paused. He turned to see Brawler standing behind him, fists raised. "Come at me, bro!" Brawler shouted, hopping back and forth from foot to foot.
Mister Hyde laughed. "Oh, I see, you found out both of your ships were damaged, so you've come to take me on yourself, have you?"
Brawler raised his fists higher. "Come on, man. Let's go. Mano a mano. You chicken?"
Mister Hyde held up the fireball in his hand. "You realize I could vaporize you with just one of these, right?"
"Sure," Villager said. "But that would be the easy way out."
Mister Hyde growled. "Easy? What do you know about easy? You stupid gaming icons with your perfectly programmed games. Why don't you try making a name for yourself while being trapped in one of the most notoriously bad games in existence. You want to talk about difficulty? My game makes Dark Souls look like Pong. But no more. This will be my game now. I will be the one revered for Wind Waker, and Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask, and A Link Between Worlds. I will be on the Gaming Walk of Fame. I will be—"
"The one everyone calls Zelda?" Brawler suggested.
"Yes! Wait . . . no. No. Not that part. But all the rest. Yes, all the rest."
"Even guest starring in Mario Kart 8?"
Mister Hyde grinned. "I suppose. If I let Mario live long enough to get an eighth Kart game."
Brawler bit his lip. "So, what you're saying is, you would like to be lifted up by that Lakitu any time you fall off the track?"
Mister Hyde stared at his opponent in confusion. "I suppose. I mean, I guess that comes with it."
Brawler grinned. "How would you like to experience that now?"
Mister Hyde felt a sharp tug on his back belt loop and suddenly he dangling in the air, his hands and feet flailing, his fireball dissipating. Up above, Ludwig's Lakitu lieutenant pulled with all his might, Chibi-Robo clinging to the hook to keep it in place. "Let me down!" Mr. Hyde screamed. Brawler rushed to Samus's side. The bounty hunter sat up, taking off her helmet. She looked around bleary-eyed as if just waking up from being knocked unconscious. She glanced up at the scene above her.
"A Lakitu?" she asked. "I thought you were supposed to use my ship."
"Yeah," Brawler replied. "Our friend up there kind of sabotaged it. Ludwig's ship too. This was the next best thing."
Mister Hyde picked that moment to remind himself that he still had his fireballs. He started shooting them haphazardly all over the place, leaving massive smoking craters all over the field around them. He tried to shoot them up at his carrier, but his position made aiming that direction next to impossible.
"Lakitu!" Brawler shouted. "Can you get him up to that top tower?"
The Lakitu glanced up at the highest tower. His eyes widened. "All the way up there?"
"Is that a no?"
The Lakitu glanced down at his captive with concern. "No. No," he said. "I can do this. But you two gotta make sure he doesn't hit me with one of those fireballs."
Brawler and Samus nodded. Lakitu sped upwards, hauling Mister Hyde behind him. Mister Hyde screamed in cockney rage, twisting to try and get at his captor and throwing fireballs everywhere. Brawler and Samus ran inside the castle, working their way up through the castle's corridors and stairways, working to keep the Lakitu and Mister Hyde in view at all times through the holes in the walls. Brawler was about to cross in front of a large hole when Samus pulled him back and a fireball demolished the steps in front of him. "Whoa," Brawler said. "Thanks."
Samus nodded. "Don't mention it." She jumped the new chasm, followed by Villager, and they carried on. "I wish we could disable his arms," she said. "During our fight, I struck him several times, but nothing seemed to make a dent."
They came out onto the outer walls with Lakitu just ahead of them, speeding toward the tower. "Any ideas on how to stop him from throwing fireballs everywhere and hitting Lakitu?" Brawler asked.
Samus studied Mister Hyde for a moment. "I don't think we can," she said. "I think we just need to keep his attention on us and away from Lakitu."
"Great," Brawler said. He and Samus ran forward, ascending the stairs on the last leg up to the tower. "Hey, Hyde! I have a question? Which one of your sides do you think is uglier? You or Doctor Jekyll?"
Mister Hyde glowered at Brawler and sent a fireball his way. Brawler leapt over the blast and kept going. "How does it feel to know you were the first game reviewed by a major YouTube critic? I mean, to be picked over E.T., Superman 64, and Big Rigs, you must be bad."
Mister Hyde roared in outrage and threw more and more fireballs. Brawler and Samus reached the top of the tower just as Lakitu and Mister Hyde flew over. Mister Hyde's eyes widened as Lakitu raced toward the spot. He wriggled fiercely against the hook lifting him, throwing Chibi-Robo from him. He grabbed at the line and pulled himself around so that he could get a clear shot.
"Hey, Mister Hyde!" Brawler shouted, but it was too late. Mister Hyde threw a fireball. The Lakitu pulled back at the last minute. The fireball hit the cloud and vaporized it, throwing the Lakitu from his ride. Mister Hyde grinned a filthy grin as he fell just short of their target. His look changed to one of terror as a bright blue ball of energy from Samus's arm cannon slammed him in the chest and knocked him the rest of the way. He crashed into the roof tiles and crumpled in a heap. Bright flashing letters appeared around him, spelling out "Game Over." Mister Hyde screamed in fury and lashed out at his enemies before his body started to glitch out and turned to static. In seconds, he was gone.
"Whoa," Brawler said. "That was awesome."
Samus took off her helmet and blew the top of her arm cannon. "I suppose," she said.
The Lakitu sat up from where he had landed on the parapets. "Samus is a girl?"
Samus rolled her eyes. "Come on," she said. "Thanks to our friend there, we're now more unprepared for the Bomberman army than we were before. Without the princesses here, our best bet is to fix our ships so we can escape if the others don't return."
Brawler nodded. "Right." Samus descended the steps into the tower. Brawler turned and picked up Chibi-Robo from where he'd landed. "You okay, Chibi?"
The little robot brushed at a dent in his side. "Mostly."
Brawler extended his hand and helped the Lakitu up. "Sorry about your cloud," he said.
"It's okay," the Lakitu said. "I can always get a new one."
"Thanks for the help. I don't think I ever caught your name." He held out his hand. "I'm Brawler."
The Lakitu adjusted his glasses. "Lucky," he said, shaking Brawler's hand.
Brawler grinned. "Nice."
