Pac-Maze
Pac-Man dimension
At first, there was only black.
Then, the familiar sound of quarters inserted into a slot.
A blue maze appeared with four pixelated ghosts. And below them… a yellow circle.
A yellow circle that became a wedge shape.
An opening tune played as the word "Ready!" appeared before them. And once it vanished… it began.
Wakka wakka wakka wakka wakka wakka wakka…
Pac-Man gobbled and munched every dot in his path, picking up a cherry that appeared nearby. From the center of the maze, the four ghosts moved out to catch him. Blinky trailed after Pac-Man with Inky staying close by, Pinky moved ahead for an ambush, and Clyde just let himself wander like he always did.
Pac-Man only munched and munched as he moved around the maze, gobbling up fruit and dots alike. Turning a corner as the ghosts chased after him, Pac-Man noticed a larger dot ahead of him.
His mouth closed around the Power Pellet and the ghosts stopped in their tracks. Turning around, Pac-Man chomped twice…
…and the ghosts turned blue, scurrying off for their afterlives. Now it was Pac-Man's turn to chase them. And chase them he did, catching up to one of them and chomping. The ghost was reduced to nothing but a pair of eyes as the number 200 appeared in a pixel pattern. 200 was soon followed by 400… then 800… and finally, 1600.
All four pairs of eyes retreated back to the center of the maze, buying Pac-Man some time to finish his meal of dots. He knew it wouldn't stay this way, however. The effects of a Power Pellet could wear off, so right when he would close in on a ghost it would flash white, return to normal and get right back to chasing him.
Eating up dot after dot around the maze, Pac-Man stopped when he noticed something odd… a pixelized crystal. Would it earn him bonus score like fruit, or would it grant him something to deal with the ghosts like a Power Pellet?
And speaking of the ghosts, here they came now. As they got close, Pac-Man knew it was now or never. Chomping forward, Pac-Man reached the crystal… and gobbled it up.
The moment he did, lightning surged all around him, surprising the ghosts. Before they could flee, arcs of electricity shot out from Pac-Man, striking them. Their colors shifted from blue, white and their respective colors as if they were glitching. Even the whole maze seemed to glitch… before Pac-Man and the ghosts were whisked away.
…
The swirling blue tunnel of the vortex was filled with colored numbers and letters, pixelated vehicles and figures of all kinds. As Pac-Man fell through, he could feel something… strange happening to him. Was this really game over for him?
The tunnel vanished, revealing a blackened night sky with a full moon looming above… and stony ground rushing forward to meet him.
Pac-Man hit the ground with a splat. After lying motionless in the ground, Pac-Man pushed himself out with a pop, stumbling back and landing in a sitting position. Shaking his hand, he raised an arm to his head…
…and opened his eyes wide, staring at his new limbs in awe. He vaguely remembered having them back at Pac-Land, but that was so long ago. While he was admiring them, a faint wooing sound made him tense up… and turn around.
The ghosts! He had completely forgotten about them!
Springing up in panic, Pac-Man took off as fast as his legs could carry him. The four ghosts pursued, Blinky once again on his tail. Pinky swooped downward, and Pac-Man had to veer out of the way. Clyde followed close behind Inky as the cyan ghost tried to keep up with him.
Unfortunately, Pac-Man was so focused on keeping away from the ghosts he wasn't watching where he was going. He ended up tripping over a small pebble that sent him rolling down a slope. Mid-tumble, he transformed into his wedge form and began to chomp. A tree in his path was bitten in half as he plowed through, the ghosts not far behind.
Reaching the end of the slope, Pac-Man reverted back to his limbed form and took off running again. Glancing behind him…
…he noticed the ghosts were nowhere in sight.
Good! He lost them!
But just as he thought that, Pinky flew in from behind a pillar. Surprised, Pac-Man turned and ran in the other direction… only to brake to a halt when Inky flew in. Pac-Man bolted off the left, but Clyde blocked his escape. With one last option, he tried to flee for the left… but Blinky locked off that final route.
Pac-Man found himself surrounded on all sides. He was trapped! The ghosts began to close in… he had to think of something. Maybe he could summon a Power Pellet. He held out his hand, but instead of a Power Pellet…
…a pixelized race car materialized in his palm, giving off a series of beeps. The ghosts paused, staring at the car as Pac-Man glared in surprise. Clenching his fist and reopening it, he tried again.
But all that he came up with was a mouse in a police uniform, a king, a blue ghost that temporarily surprised the four ghosts, a swordsman, a runner, a plane, an armored woman, a mothership, a red guy, and three spaceships. The last one blared out "Alert! Alert!" as Pac-Man's face fell.
He was out of luck. The ghosts slowly floated towards him as he squeezed his eyes shut and held out his arms to protect himself.
Suddenly, he saw a flash of bright light through his eyes. Opening them, Pac-Man noticed the four ghosts were stunned, eyes rotating in different directions... until they noticed something and turned blue.
The tried to scatter, but a hurricane-force of wind kept them from escaping. Pac-Man watched as the four ghosts desperately tried to escape, a whirlwind pulling them back. The gusts grew more powerful, weakening the ghosts and sucking them into…
…the nozzle of a vacuum cleaner?
Whooping in triumph, the mustached green guy patted the nozzle and strapped it to a red pack on his back. Humming to himself in approval, he began to turn away… before noticing something.
He turned back to the shocked Pac-Man, with the dot-muncher taking note of the green L on his hat. An awkward silence followed… before the green guy raised a gloved hand.
"Eh… hello?"
Pac-Man raised his own hand in reply. The green guy smiled, pointing to his hat. "Luigi!" he called before gesturing at Pac-Man. Understanding this, he turned into his wedge form and chomped in a circle before turning back.
But unfortunately, the green guy only shrugged and shook his head. "Come on!" he said, gesturing for Pac-Man to follow.
And follow him he did until the duo reached a parked green motorcycle with the same L insignia. Taking off his vacuum pack, the green guy placed it in the back and climbed into the seat. Pac-Man joined him by climbing up behind him. The green guy gunned the engine, causing the tailpipes to cough out flames. The rear tire screeched and kicked up dirt as the bike drove off, leaving the pillars and ruined landscapes behind.
…
The green guy pulled the bike into a garage, dismounting and taking Pac-Man with him. The two of them walked onto a lift while Pac-Man took a look around. The green guy pressed a button, causing the lift to rise up and into the main building Pac-Man had seen when they were coming in.
Once the lift had reached its destination, the green guy led Pac-Man through a hallway… and into a large lobby. Pac-Man was amazed at the sight of it.
A pink round creature and a green dinosaur were the first to notice, with the latter pointing in Pac-Man's direction. Turning, the round creature waved while saying "Hi" to him. A yellow creature with red cheeks and a lightning-shaped tail came up to the pink creature and joined in the waving. Carrying his pack, the green guy headed out of the lobby. "Bye-bye!"
Pac-Man winked in reply, flashing the green guy a thumbs-up… before a clicking two-dimensional figure approached him.
Pac-Man's jaw dropped, blinking in awe. The black figure greeted him by ringing a bell, the action making Pac-Man stare in confusion with a hand on his head.
A door opened nearby, and out from came an ape with a necktie and a guy awfully similar to the green person, only in red and an M on his hat. Behind them were two blue figures: one in armor and a cannon where his right hand would be and a spiky blue creature with gloves and red shoes.
Now that he thought about it, that green dinosaur and the guy in red looked awfully familiar... didn't he run into them during some kart racing grand prix?
"Hey, look!" the blue armored person said. "Another new guy!"
Pac-Man, who had been tapping his foot and staring at the two-dimensional figure with curiosity, turned and winked at the newcomers with a smile as they approached. With his mouth in a curious "O", the ape poked at Pac-Man with one finger.
"Huh. He looks like a little Yellow Devil," said the armored blue guy.
"If you ask me, this guy's a little on the… round side." The spiky creature muttered. "What's he good for, rolling?"
"We've got plenty of round guys, Sonic. Like Kirby and Jigglypuff?"
"Hm. Good point." The creature replied. "Still, at this rate, I think we're gonna get more guys than we can handle. What if we go over 256 fighters or something?"
At the mention of the number, Pac-Man jumped up and landed clumsily in a panic. That was a number he knew well: one day, the maze was completely overrun by strands of numbers and letters that changed colors. And the first three numbers that announced its arrival… 256. The number of the Glitch itself.
The others didn't seem to notice Pac-Man's surprise. "Relax. I doubt we'll get that high." The blue armored figure said. "But… something about this guy feels strange. Like… he's the final piece of a puzzle."
"Yeah, I felt it too." The creature added, with the red guy nodding in reply. The ape was the only one who didn't join in, for he was too fascinated by Pac-Man. "But I don't think we need to focus on that now. Why don't the two of us show him around while Mario and Donkey Kong head over with the others?"
"Sounds like a plan!" the two of them fist-bumped while the other two figures headed off towards a nearby group. "Follow us… uh… little yellow ball guy. We'll show you the ropes of this place."
…
In a circular chamber below Smash HQ replicating the same chamber at the temple, Luigi strode in with his Poltergust strapped snugly against his back. Walking up to a sphere in the center pedestal, he knocked on its surface three times.
Blue lines illuminated the sphere as it activated and rose into the air. "Ah, Luigi! What brings you here? And… say, is that the Poltergust you have there?"
Luigi nodded at the Announcer's curiosity, readying the vacuum nozzle and setting the dial from "Suck" to "Blow". Aiming it upwards, he switched it on. The Poltergust started to rumble and shake… before four popping sounds were heard.
Four pixelated ghosts were fired from the Poltergust like cannonballs, floating in the air in a dazed state. When they recovered, they looked around in confusion.
"Ah, the four ghosts that have been constantly hounding Pac-Man!" the Announcer said, recognizing them. "A very recent entry to the Archives. Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde are their names… and you captured them?"
"Oh yeah!" Luigi answered with a nod.
"Well, this is a surprise! After all, E. Gadd's creation was intended to capture ghosts, and you've caught dozens in all those haunted mansions! These four must have arrived with Pac-Man… hmm, I think I know what to do for them. Perhaps they'll feel comfortable chasing targets after being summoned from an Assist Trophy."
Luigi nodded again, agreeing with this idea.
"No doubt the yellow dot-muncher is here as we speak. His dimension is a rather peculiar one, I must say. In fact, his corner of the multiverse consists of dimensions in 8-bit! And… the last of the four positions."
Luigi scratched his head with a frown, unsure of what the Announcer was getting at.
"Well, allow me to explain, Luigi," the Announcer began. "Back when I was first organizing the Super Smash Brothers, I reached out across the whole multiverse to track down where the Smash Stone pieces had landed. And out of all universes, only four have given off stronger readings than all the others. That meant if heroes from those four universes came together, their strength combined would be outstanding. So I knew I had to add them to the Smash Brothers."
Luigi blinked in awe as the Announcer continued. "The first universe with the highest power readings is none other than your own. Whether alone or with you at his side, Mario has become well-known throughout his world. His fame has become a great strength to him, so his idols give him all the inspiration he needs to triumph.
The second universe is Sonic's. The blue hedgehog enjoys freedom more than anything else, so he fights for it every time he clashes with his nemesis, Dr. Eggman. Aside from this fact, him being the fastest of the Smash Brothers is sure to put a spin on things. Literally, in some cases.
The third universe is also a recent one, belonging to the weapon-replicating Mega Man. He was originally built as a service robot, but when a mad genius intended to use robots for his misdeeds, he volunteered to fight him. He realized that if he wouldn't, who else would? He has held a strong sense of justice ever since, which will serve him well in battling any future threats.
The fourth and final universe is Pac-Man's. Out of all the universes, his is among the oldest to have been created. Pac-Man holds a proud legacy over this fact, as the many ghosts he's gobbled made him formidable over the years.
Each of these four heroes carries remarkable burdens on themselves. They are the most well-known of all the Smashers. They fight for something they all stand for, and should they come together they will become unstoppable.
But they know nothing of this yet. They will in time. So for now, Luigi… you must promise to keep what you just heard a secret. Am I making myself clear enough?"
Luigi gave a thumbs-up.
"Good. That is all. And good luck when the next tournament rolls around."
With a goodbye wave, Luigi turned and headed out of the chamber.
(A/N: Long live one of the most recognizable and oldest gaming icons! Pac-Man has now joined the Smash Brothers, and one more 8-bit character will be on the way soon. Then just a little bit more until the tournament!
Most of you should know about the quartet of Mario, Sonic, Mega Man, and Pac-Man representing Nintendo, Sega, Capcom, and Bandai Namco. I tend to be a big fan of the four of them, so I figured they would be a key team just like the original eight (or twelve, in some cases) fighters. And not only that, but they'll also play a key role during the tournament… but I don't want to spoil the surprise!
Also, I figured Luigi using the Poltergust to nab the Pac-Man ghosts would be a nice touch because… well, they're ghosts. Pixelated ghosts, but Luigi's caught plenty of ghosts before! And Mr. Game and Watch meeting Pac-Man is something I consider to be a good callback to the days of classic videogames.
Until next time, carry on!)
