Mario snapped to; sitting up in an instant. "What the- where am I?" He was surrounded by a realm of darkness; a familiar void of black in all directions.
"Ah shit, here we go again." He got to his feet and looked at his left hand. "No bullshit this time. Bit, let's go."
The Bit's glow peeked out of this hand, it's energy starting to flow it to his body- the glow dimmed. The power was retracting, falling all the way back to just his hand.
"Come on, what the fuck?!" He shook his hand. "Don't do this to me now. Don't do this to me now..." Must be whatever the fuck that leech...box...thing, is doing to me. Honestly, I should just be glad I'm not dead. At least, I hope I'm not dead yet. That box was fueled by the Bit's energy; hell, it negated my Bit enough to take me down. How long has that box been feeding off of that Bit. Link you son of a bitch. I really wasn't planning on killing you, but after this-
A bolt of lightning came crashing down a distance away from him. Holy shit. That's new.
From the point of impact, a flame poked out from the darkness. A second bolt of light shot out and struck the flame, and it spiked up to a fire the size of a building.
Oh no.
The flame shot out left and right. Mario quickly realized the inferno was encircling him. Once again, an inferno was all too eager to surround him. I gotta get outta this ring!
As soon as he made the slightest shift, his body lurched over. Mario fell to his knees, gasping. What the hell... An anchor weighing down on every muscle of his body except his left hand. Mario clutched his chest. Shit. It must be that box trap thing. I didn't think it could weigh me down if I'm back in my mind like before.
Another quick FWOOSH behind him. Probably both sides coming together. Don't even wanna turn my neck to confirm. He kept his eyes focused on the section of the burning wall in front of him. Is it gonna close in on me? Don't think I can jump it right now. Luigi, I'll buy you as much time as I can, but I'm really gonna need your help on this one.
Lightning came down again. A black shard cutting through the sky. Too close for comfort. Mario hobbled back as more and more black lightning struck, always hitting the same point. Blacklight started bubbling up from the ground before erupting into a black vortex, quickly rising much higher than Mario. Oh...that's not good. A bolt shot back his ear with a nasty crack, and he staggered over before catching himself. Even that left him winded. Something's coming. Someone. Whatever it is: it's coming to kill me.
Black lightning burst forth from all directions. Continuously pouring itself into the tornado of darkness. The nonstop zaps and ever-increasing rush of air made Mario's heart race. It was hurting even more now. "Aaahhaaha..." He clutched his chest. Not just the whirlwind, but the ring of fire was swirling too. That's just overkill. His eyes felt heavy. So he closed them. Funny. This is what they say a heart attack is supposed to feel like. But I'm way too young to-
His eyes shot up. Fuck. I'm having a heart attack. Whatever that thing was, it's gotten to my heart now. He looked to his left hand. Bit. Bit I'm gonna need more than just my hand free. Come on. Come on... He tightened his grip as hard as he could. He needed this. Whatever was coming wasn't friendly. This power was definitely stronger than the statues, and that had been a handful on its own. And throw in a heart attack with it, he didn't have a chance in hell of surviving this series of attacks.
Come on... Come on...
The Bit's energy radius slid down to his wrist. Only an inch gained.
A gargantuan boom of thunder erupted from behind, knocking him to the ground. "Hhhrrrng." The knot in his chest expanded with the blood being cut off from his-
"FUCK." His left fist slammed into the ground, cracking through the dark. "THAT." His fist hammered into the ground again. The cracks got larger. Pushing his body off with ground with one arm, Mario took the widest swing he could before launching his fist straight into his chest. That sickly feeling, that weight that had taken him over from the inside, that ick.
Mario felt it pause.
"RRRRAUGH!"
A second impact. Straight to his heart.
The ick shook.
A third. A forth. A fifth. Each somehow more ferocious than the last.
The parasite within him was retreating.
"I"
"AM"
"NOT"
"DYING"
"HERE"
Mario beat his chest faster. Dizzyness became focus. Rage overtook him. He was no rat. He didn't belong in a cage, like some rat. The Bit followed him, rising up through his arm into the rest of his body. With one final strike, the Bit's energy surged through his right arm, purging the root of the ick.
A few quick moments to catch his breath-No fuck that.
"HEY!" He snapped his attention to the massive plume of smoke. "I KNOW YOU'RE THERE! LET'S GO MOTHERFUCKER!" His fist lay wrapped around the Bit. "BRING IT ON!"
"You impress me, stranger."
Two green orbs shone out from the smoke. Two upward pikes of horns emerged past them. A massive green hand reached out.
Son of a...
The creature was revealed in its full form. A monstrous beast-warrior made up of a mixture of a boar and a satyr. Twin incredibly-long swords were firmly in its grasp. And when he noticed a face on its stomach. Two black, beady eyes to go with a pair of lips. And a small outline of a nose.
"Who are you?" Mario stepped forward. The call of the outside the walls was mighty tempting. No time to back down now. I gotta face this thing until Luigi bails me out. I don't know how long its been, but it shouldn't be long now. Unless time works differently here, than...focus Mario. Focus.
"I am Facade." Emerged from the mouth of the face on the creature's stomach, a voice far more human that Mario had anticipated. "Well, now that I'm in Master Ganon's form, I should call myself Facade Ganon. Wait no..."
While Facade thought this over, Mario looked at Ganon. This some kinda Master Blaster thing? He didn't seem to be reacting at all. Eyes and face seemed devoid of life.
"His name should always be first. That's blasphemy. Okay so... I'm Ganon Facade. No wait... That doesn't sound right either. Uh...hold on one second...hmmm... Ganon's Facade! There we go! Tie it all together. I'm Ganon's Facade. Last of the Nightmares. Pleased to beat you."
Honestly, better than what I was expecting. I can work with this. "Where am I?"
"Well, if you found little old me, you should be in His..." The face paused, looking off. "Oh! You meant here here!" You are in a dream realm! Dethl taught us how to make some of our own."
"Whose Dethl?"
"Dethl was my older brother. Always so strong. The best of us Nightmares. Too bad he thought he could lead- whoops. Best not speak ill of the dead."
"Okay, how about someone whose alive. Ganon. What's his deal?"
"I wish I knew. One day he just came to Koholint Island with that magic stone, just like the one you have now, and took over everything. We wanted the Wind Fish to sleep forever, but Master put the poor old thing to rest if you catch my drift. Never even knew that was possible. He had us all swear his allegiance to him. Dethl could never be anyone's servant. And the rest is history. I'm more of a survivalist, or at least I was, at the time. Now my only purpose is to kill those who find the magic stone. And you're the first to ever do it! Congratulations! The first in..."
The face froze.
"I actually don't know how long. I can't remember when he turned me into a box, and He keeps me in the dark. I...I...time really doesn't matter anymore."
"Why don't we help each other?" Mario extended his hand. "You don't seem to be all that keen on this Ganon guy."
"I'm quite cursed myself, actually. I must obey Master's commands. So I am literally obligated to kill you. Which I probably should be doing right now."
"Wait wait wait. Neither one of us are in a rush, right? I'm in no shape to fight. We both know how this ends..."
"I guess you're right. I actually haven't had anyone to talk to since Master Ganon came. Well, there were those rats he tested me on, but they weren't much for conversation, seeing how they died instantly."
"You're telling me Link never found you?"
Ganon twitched. The swords were brought back to its chest as it reared its neck back. The eyes, devoid of pupils, shifted to the sides. Facade lifted his eyes up. "Wow. Essence really doesn't like that name. You know, that name...Link. Does ring a bell or two... When Master Ganon gave me his essence, I a vague sense of his memories and feelings. He...really does not like Link. And he seems to run into Link, again, and again, and again. You'd think he'd just do away with him. I mean, he did it to the Wind Fish for crying out loud! And you know, it seems like he does. But Link always comes back sooner or later.
Jesus Christ Luigi, I can't keep this guy talking forever. Well, maybe I can, but I really don't like them swords he's got.
"And Ganon never said how he found the Bit?"
"Oh, he did! Said it just came to him one day in a 'moment of ultimate need.' How it was his 'destiny to reshape creation'.
"Did he ever say anything about someone called the Game Watcher?"
"Game Watcher...why? Is that who gave you the magic stone?"
"Yeah! And he told u-me to go meet Ganondorf! How else would I have found this place, and you. The first person to ever do it! I must have a good reason."
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! That makes perfect sense."
"Actually, I can't just let you leave here. Well, is it in the interests of Ganon to let you live? Because this curse is getting real murder-itchy and the only way I can let you leave here is to do that."
"Look bro, I'm just the new guy, doing what I'm told from a higher up. I'm just gonna assume that we should do what the boss wants. I assume we all work for the same boss, but what does that really mean, I don't know. I'm just not trying to step on any toes. You get me."
"Bruh, I don't even have toes, and I feel you on that one. Here, let me just go through your memories and put this murder itch to rest."
"W-W-what?"
"Yeah. Since I'm inside you, I have access to all your body functions. Normally if anything touches me, I would have killed them off on contact. But that magic stone kept me from doing that to you. Like, i can still kill you, but it takes alot more effort. The current form I'm in is the absolute last resort. That's why it took so much to bring it out."
"How are you using the Bi- magic stone energy. Didn't you leave yours when you went inside me?"
"Well yeah, I'm using yours. Siphoning off energy. One moment, this may pinch"
Damn- Mario went rigid. A bulbous growth on the back of his neck made itself know. And he could feel a quick slink up inside his head.
Then the feeling of a spike going into his brain.
"GAH! Ah, Goddamnit!" He dropped to the floor. Every ounce of energy had been sapped out of him. "Fuck! That hurt!"
"I understand why you lied to me." Facade's tone was grim. "But I really wish you hadn't. Got me pretty good stalling Whoops! There I go, talking too much again..."
"Well, you s-" Mario's body locked up. The ichor. It was back. And now, Mario couldn't move anything."
'No more words. Just death."
Mario looked up just in time to see Ganon's lips move. The demonic voice was absolutely nothing like Facade's
With every step of its gigantic hooves, Ganon's Facade shook the area. Mario could only watch as he readily approached.
"For what its worth," Facade looked down on him with a shine of regret. Twin swords of death went skyward in the air. "it was nice talking to you. I was very lonely. Goodbye."
Slash.
Smash Bros Fanfiction Discord, Super Smash Prose, Is Up And Open For Business! The code to the server is gDK48ua