Town and City
Animal Crossing dimension
It was just another beautiful day in town. Lots of activities were in store, such as catching bugs, fishing, planting trees, or even listening to whatever jams K.K. Slider had in store.
The town's sole human villager opened the door to his house, his eye meeting the wondrous outdoors before him. Taking a deep, relaxing breath and exhaling, he told himself it felt good to have a day off from being mayor.
The blue post of his mailbox caught his attention. The envelope icon was flashing… which meant he had gotten something!
Walking over to the mailbox, the villager opened it and took out an envelope. As he closed it back up, the post turned to its side and laid down against the mailbox. The villager broke the seal on the envelope and read the letter inside…
He almost dropped the letter when he was finished. Wow, really?! They wanted him?! Even though the only way he could truly fight was with a pair of boxing gloves, the letter had said to use whatever means he could. It was worth a shot!
After taking one last look at where the envelope said to go, the villager dashed off with the letter. The empty envelope fluttered in the wind, resting on the ground where a strolling Tom Nook took notice. Curiously, Tom Nook stared at the envelope… noticing its emblem consisting of a circle with a cross in it.
Meanwhile, the villager ran to the outskirts of town with a shovel in hand. The letter said to dig, so dig he did. The first few spots came up with nothing, but after a few more tries…
The villager stumbled back when his shovel contacted something with a loud CLANG! Putting the shovel down and getting to his knees, he brushed some dirt aside to reveal a mysterious pedestal. At the very top… rested a keyhole.
Pulling the key found in the envelope out of his pocket, the villager placed it into the pedestal… and turned it. Light flowed out from the keyhole with a click, the pedestal began to glow as the villager took an uneasy step back…
And then came the blast of blinding white.
…
Woozy, the villager stumbled to his feet and rubbed his eyes. Once he adjusted to his surroundings… he almost jumped in surprise. But his jump would have ended badly.
Badly, because he was currently in a boxing stadium… and on top of the lights above the ring. Below, a man with a red hat, gloves, boots, and overalls was battling a giant, spiky-shelled monster with horns.
The villager slunk back among the railing he was peeking over, feeling a little frightened. The sound of a cheering crowd filled his ears, and he turned to see an attending audience. They were watching both the fight and a live broadcast on a big screen with speakers on both sides. A few moments passed, and the screen changed to show statistics of the fighters.
The man in red appeared with a fireball in one hand as he struck a pose. MARIO the text read. Mr. Video Game Himself.
The other side of the screen showed the beast, mouth in a snarl and claw extended. BOWSER it said. King of the Koopas.
The villager understood. Maybe he could take out both of these guys and win his very first match! That would be a great first impression!
Donning a red helmet with twin balloons, the villager hopped from the lights and fluttered down, flapping his arms like wings as he descended. Fortunately, the crowd was too focused on the fight to notice him.
Landing on a pathway to the ring, the villager took off the helmet and readied a net. Running forward as if chasing a butterfly with it, he climbed up into the ring and onto the ropes. Bouncing up on the top rope like a trampoline, he sprung himself into the air as the man in red- Mario- was sent sliding back to his corner of the ring.
The villager came back down, thrusting his net downward… and trapping Mario inside. A charging Bowser came to a halt, reptilian eyes wide as they rested on the villager.
"Huh? Hey! Where'd you come from?!"
The villager's only reply was flinging the net to the side, sending Mario tumbling into the ropes. Quickly equipping his boxing gloves, he hopped into the ring and broke into a run.
"Hmph! Doesn't matter!" Bowser growled, cracking his knuckles. "I'll squash you like a little bug all the same!" He threw a yellow-scaled fist forward, and the villager rolled to the side to dodge. He quickly nailed a one-two to Bowser's left thigh before his other fist came crashing down. The villager quickly sidestepped as the fist smashed against the ring's floor.
Bouncing on his feet with his gloves raised, the villager threw some quick jabs and a hook, ready for his opponent's next move.
"You're quick for a newbie," Bowser noticed, swinging his fist again with the villager ducking to avoid the blow. Out of the corner of his eye, the villager noticed Mario climbing back into the ring, confused at the newcomer's arrival.
"But small fry like you are nothing!" Bowser huffed as the villager dodged another punch and socked him in the stomach. "Unf! See? Hardly felt that!" Bowser slammed his fist into the floor again, forcing the villager to jump back.
Seeing his opening, Mario raced in and attacked Bowser again. While the two were distracted with each other, the villager saw an opportunity. While the duo exchanged blows, the villager planted a seed, watered it, and took out an ax.
"HA! Good luck with that, buddy!" Bowser taunted. "A puny blade like that won't even break a horn! Now be useful and give me a real… a real…"
With a smirk, the Villager dashed behind the newly grown tree as Mario and Bowser stared at it in awe.
"Is… Is that a TREE?!" The Koopa King gawked. "How did you grow a tree in the middle of a… uh oh."
Whacking the trunk with his ax, the villager stepped back as it began to topple over. Bowser managed to snap out of his trance long enough to catch the tree in his hands, claws scraping the bark as Mario dove out of the way.
"Alright, now THAT was uncalled for!" Bowser snarled, tossing the tree out of the ring. "You can't just grow a tree and try to crush me with-OW!"
During Bowser's rant, the villager had dashed back in… and dropped a bowling ball on his foot. With an angry growl, Bowser knocked the ball away.
"A bowling ball?! That does it! You're definitely cheating, so no more Mr. Nice Bowser!" Drawing back, Bowser deeply inhaled as smoke rose from his mouth and nose.
The villager re-equipped his boxing gloves and sprinted back in, sliding under a punch thrown at him by Mario. Landing a solid blow on Bowser's torso, the villager watched as the monster toppled forward at the peak of his charge…
…and follow up with a heavy uppercut to the chin.
A fireball blasted upward out of Bowser's mouth, the Koopa King landing on his shell. The villager and Mario turned to each other, barely noticing the fireball's point of impact… until a loud crashing noise caused them to look up.
The fireball had slammed right into the light fixture hanging over the ring, making every spotlight go out and pieces of it to fall off. The force from the fireball made the fixture shudder, its supports to weaken… and completely break. The fixture fell down, down, down into the ring below…
…and the villager's world turned dark as Mario leaped out of the way just in time.
…
"You're kidding me, right? The Announcer wanted this guy?!"
"Look at him! He doesn't even look like he can fight!"
"You saw how he beat Bowser, Falco!"
"Nobody can interfere like that, right?"
"Everybody, quiet! I think he's coming to!"
The villager opened his eyes… to find himself in some sort of medical bay, lying in some kind of bed. He was surrounded by people he didn't recognize. Mario was among them, a man in green by his side.
"Well," said a man in a helmet and a dark blue suit. "That was one way to make an impression for yourself, rookie."
"But your world is entirely peaceful," a male swordsman said. "How could you have been selected?"
"He must have some potential, Marth," a figure in orange-red armor answered. "And while he might not wield many weapons, there are plenty more tools for him to use in the matches to come."
"I thought Bowser said that was cheating. Besides, you can't just grow a tree in a boxing ring! There's no soil whatsoever!" an angel spoke up.
"Then his universe has a lot to be desired." Another swordsman replied, his weapon looking slightly too large for him.
"Plus, have you seen the little guys we have?!" a talking fox in a jacket said. "Kirby, Pikachu, the Ice Climbers, Jigglypuff, they all pack a punch!"
"You do realize the Ice Climbers are banned for illegal teaming, right?" A blue bird asked. "At least, temporarily… I hope."
"Hey, since when was that even a thing?!"
The man with the helmet and suit raised a hand to silence everyone. "The name's Captain Falcon," he said to the villager. "And these guys don't need to tell you how to play the game. It's just like that letter said: you can use whatever you have to win the day, um… how about we call you Villager? I mean, you do live in a town."
Feeling better already, Villager hopped out of the bed with a joyful pose. He was glad to have new friends… and he could already imagine the good times he'd have with them!
