Finally, here it is. The beginning of the end. The final match. Let's
begin.
Disclaimer: I'm not going to say it again. Oh, something to add: Some of
you Devil May Cry fans may recognize a couple of things here. Just thought
I'd warn you.
It was high noon. The viewers had assembled in the seats, ready for what promised to be an excellent fight. Pi2 had somewhat recovered and was ready for his duty. He had already done all the usual pre-fight stuff, telling everyone to place their bets while they still had the chance. But in the end, he could say nothing more. The technicians set the stage. It was a beautiful thing, the stage. It was a great octagonal filling almost the entire arena space, leaving a gap only a couple of feet wide. This meant the most likely way a fighter would leave the platform was to be knocked out or dead. It was carved to look like the Super Smash symbol, the quartered circle. At the point where the four lines met was a pedestal. From the pedestal came a beam of light, going high into the air. Floating in the beam of light was a thick disc made of slid gold, with the same quartered circle mark on it. This was the medal of victory, one of the prizes for winning. The stage's name was Showdown Central. Pi2 finished his speech and started counting down. "And we will begin this, the final fight in 3." Majora floated into the arena. "2." Scales warped into the ring. "1.Go!" Scales immediately dashed towards Majora with Chaos Control. The mask flew out of her way and hit her life support with heat vision. The Shell kept it from doing damage, though. Scales whirled around and fired a Serpent Strike, scoring a direct hit. Majora flew a little away and floated closer to the ground. "Say Scales, how about we turn this up a notch?" "What do you mean?" "How about THIS!" Suddenly, a great black cloud blotted out the sun, enshrouding the area in semi-darkness. As the stadium's big lights went on, Majora burst into flame. Scales tried to hit him with a Serpent Strike, but it failed to hit. Majora's figure vanished in the flames. The fire grew to an astonishing inferno, becoming a bonfire seven feet high! The flames dissipated then, revealing a new terror. It was a knight, clad in black armor with silver trim. He wore a long red cape with a black underside. A scabbard in his back held a great sword almost as long as its owner was tall. The knight wore gauntlets of black and gold, inlaid with rubies. A helmet covered its head. The helm was black and silver, like the rest of the armor. Two stylized bat wings came from the back of the helmet, and horn grew from the top. The visor was a T-shaped gap in the helm, revealing nothing but darkness and two yellow-orange eyes. The figure looked over itself, pleased, and laughed boomingly. Scales was a bit unnerved. "What-what are you?" The figure turned its baleful gaze on Scales. "My dear, do you not recognize me? I am Majora's Hatred, the most powerful yet of my forms! My power is now greater than before. And with the power that now resides within me, I will slay you and all who reside in this Coliseum, and then I shall be free!" There was a collective gasp from the crowd. "What are you talking about, Majora? What's going on here?" asked Pi2, floating down to the Coliseum on his old respawn platform. "It is quite simple, Pi2. Thousands of years ago, I was a great demon prince, heir of Satan himself. I rampaged throughout the worlds until the Goddess of Time imprisoned me in the form of a mask. I was eventually sealed away in a dark temple by a wandering tribe of nomads, and by a series of coincidences and trades ended up in the hands of the now dead Happy Mask Salesman. But is really going n, you ask? It's like this: I seek to be free of the mask in which I now live. To do so, I must absorb a number of souls and steal power from several magical relics. To this end, I convinced the Salesman to enter me in the tournament so I could take the souls of the fighters and their magic powers. I took Garm's magic and his soul, drained away Mewtwo's psychic power and his soul, and stole the magic of the Star Rod and Bowser's soul. Oh, but this power alone wasn't enough to fuel this most recent transformation, I'm afraid. So I needed more power. Guess where I got it?" asked Majora. Pi2 immediately understood. "The stolen objects!" "Correct. I stole Cortex's masks, Ganondorf's Triforce of Power, and the Master Emerald. The combined power I have received is actually enough for me to temporarily assume my real form, but I doubt I need to go to such extravagancies at this point." He looked at Scales. "I only need one thing more to give me the power to completely free myself from my curse; the power of the eighth Chaos Emerald!" Scales took a defensive stance. "You'll have to go through me to get the Emerald, Your Majesty!" Majora laughed. "Fool! It is fated that I win! My victory was predicted millennia ago, and I intend to let the prediction come true!" "What prediction?" asked Pi2. "The shamans of the tribe who imprisoned me in the temple had a premonition and wrote it on the altar on which I was placed. Far in the future, a Tournament will take place. Sixteen will fight, a small wizard, a trainer of monsters, a King of Power, a monster of Darkness, a ghost, a turtle, a crocodile, a plumber, a alien, a little man, a psychic, a witch, a god, a pirate, a lizard and the demon prince. The wizard, the psychic and the turtle shall lose their souls, the monster will lose his courage, the King shall lose his dignity to a turtle and a yellow runt, and the crocodile will lose all motivation. The god of destruction will assume his most powerful form but will fail to destroy, the trainer's monsters will all be knocked out, the witch will be crushed beneath a rock, the ghost will be humiliated and the little man, plumber, pirate, and alien shall lose their lives. In the end, only two will remain, the lizard and the demon. The one wielding the Master of jewels shall triumph. One will walk away, free at last; the other won't walk at all." He said. "The prophecy clearly detailed the fate of each fighter and also says I shall win this match. I possess the Master Emerald, the Master of gems, therefore I shall win. Simple, isn't it?" "There's one little problem, Majora." Said Pi2. "What?" "The thing you have isn't the real Master Emerald, it's a copy of the original." Said Pi2. "The real Master is the thing in my back." Said Scales. If your prophecy is true, that means I'm going to win." Majora considered. "You have a point. However, the prophecy did not state the Master of gems had to be real or fake. I still have a 50/50 chance of winning in this case." "Actually, you don't have any chance at winning." Said Pi2.
"Why is that?" "By promising to kill everyone, you have made a terrorist threat. And terrorism is against the tournament rules, so you are therefore disqualified." Majora snorted. "And what do you think you can do to keep me from fighting?" "How about a little taste of BOLT 99!" Pi2 instantly gained a bright yellow glow. A huge thunderbolt shot up from his body, into the dark cloud. As the thunderbolt vanished, the cloud flashed, and ninety-nine normal thunderbolts shot down, combining in midair to form a huge electrical Chinese-style dragon. The dragon came hurtling down at Majora a stronger attack than Pi2 had ever generated. Majora merely looked up at the oncoming dragon, not moving. Then, slowly, he raised his left arm and pointed it at Pi2. The dragon changed course right above him, shooting straight for the Pikachu. Pi2 tried to maneuver out of the way, but the dragon changed course again, hitting him. The incredible force from the attack washed over Pi2's body, going into it and overloading his static glands. As the respawn platform at his feet exploded, Pi2 screamed as the dragon threw him back. He was hurled right into the arena wall. He hit with a sickening thud, then fell to the platform, falling through the gap and hitting the ground below hard. Scales looked at where Pi2 had fallen, then back at Majora, astonished. The demon chuckled. "Shall we begin?"
Up in the control booth, the technicians were shocked. "He's dead." Murmured one of the Koopas. "I don't believe it. The boss is dead." Said a Yoshi. Another technician said nothing, then got out of his chair and started flying out the door. "Hey, where're you going?" asked a Goomba. The technician turned back. "I'm going to help Miss Scales! I know how to help her fight Majora, and I don't intend to let these people die!" "But it's against the rules for any fighter to have outside help." The Koopa pointed out. "Look out the window and tell me if this is really a time where rules matter more than lives!" the technician said angrily. "Rules or no rules, Scales needs my help!" "Dude, you'll die out there!" said the Yoshi. "Maybe, but if I die I at least want to try to help her beat that demon!" with that, the technician flew away. "Is he being brave, or stupid?" asked the Goomba. "Maybe a little of both." Answered the Koopa.
Scales and Majora tensed ready to leap into a deadly combat when their pose was ruined by the intrusion of a weird little flying thing that stopped right in Scales' face. It looked like a metallic Chao with a propeller on its head, a wind-up key on its back, and orange eyes. "Miss Scales, wait! I can help you!" Scales blinked. "Uh, who are you?" "My name's Omochao, and I'm here to help you!" There was a long pause. Then Scales screamed and backed away. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! Goawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoaway!" Majora stared at her. "You're not afraid of the crown prince of Hell but you're terrified by a little metal doll?" he asked in disgust. Omochao scowled. (If he could scowl, that is.) "I don't understand, why are you afraid of me?" "I've heard stories about you from the others! Always popping up at the wrong times, giving obvious pieces of advice, never dying when you get thrown into something dangerous.If you get near me, I swear I'll put a dent in your skull!" yelled Scales. Omochao was confused for a moment, then realized what she was talking about and started laughing. "No, no, no, I'm not THAT Omochao! I'm a later model, I really can help you without always giving you obvious pieces of advice! I can tell you what to do in the fight with Majora to wear him down and give you a better chance at winning." "How can you know what to do?" asked Scales, lowering her guard. "Simple, I'm just like your average hint or information giver, I automatically know hints and weaknesses about the enemy that should be impossible for any person to discover. For instance, did you know that Majora had a stuffed griffon named Boneshredder when he was a little guy?" "Wha-that is not true!" Majora said quickly. "Really? What about the time you wet your bed the night before you were leaving for your big invasion campaign?" "I-er-uh-" "Oh, and let's not forget the time you ran around your father's palace naked!" "I was young, I didn't know it was wrong to-" Majora tried to say. "You were five hundred years old!" "That's young for demons. Wait a minute, we already walk around naked! I've never needed to wear clothing!" Majora realized. "Then what do you call your armor?" asked Scales. "This is my form's protective skin!" Majora said. "Look, enough with the embarrassing secrets! You can have that Omocow-" "Omochao!" "Whatever! You can have that thing's help if you want, but it won't make a difference. You'll still fall by my hands. Let's begin!" He raised his arms. After several seconds, his form seemed to harden to refract as his body was encased in a shell of rock. He shifted his rocky arms, seemingly pleased. As Majora started advancing towards Scales, several boulders appeared, scattered about the platform. Scales prepared to charge the rocky Majora when Omochao flew in front of her. "Wait! Don't attack him head on. He is drawing power from the Earth Elemental Mask Rok-Ko. His rock shell makes him impervious." "Then how do I fight him?" "First of all, start running from him, he's too slow to catch up properly." Scales started moving away from the slowly but steadily advancing demon. "Okay, what you have to do is touch two boulders." She looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?" "It's like this. When you touch one of the boulders, it will temporarily become yours. But it only lasts for a few seconds, and is negated if Majora touches the boulder. You have to touch two boulders and make them yours to damage him." Stated Omochao. Scales frowned at him. "How does touching boulders cause him damage?" "How did ramming into boils damage you when you were the Final Hazard? Weaknesses in video games don't always have to make sense. Just do it, and quick! He's catching up on us!" said Omochao. "Okay, here I go!" Scales ran for the nearest boulder. She touched it, and the boulder turned red. She could hear it ticking like a clock. She immediately ran towards another one, touching the boulder right before the timer on the first one ran out. Majora groaned and shook. Chips of rock fell off of him, revealing some of the armor underneath. "Okay, now what?" "You have to do the same thing, but this time you need to touch three boulders! And no, you can't use any of the ones you've already touched once." Said Omochao. "I can't run fast enough to touch three rocks! Unless.Chaos Control!" Moving at super speed she ran across the platform, hitting two rocks in succession and speeding right past Majora to hit the third just before the first rock's timer ran out. Majora groaned and shook. More pieces of rock armor broke off, exposing whole sections of his body. "Let me guess. I have to touch four rocks now, right?" she asked as the robot Chao caught up with her. Omochao nodded. "Okay, I think I can do this. I know what to do." Majora turned her way and started coming. She was close to him, and he was getting nearer to her. Scales wasn't moving at all, charging up for the Lightspeed Attack. Majora was only two feet away from her when she started to glow. Relieved, she ran past him at light speed, hitting all four boulders in less than a second. Majora roared in anger as his rock shell shattered completely. "That was pretty good, Scales, but let's see how you like water!" He snapped his fingers. All the boulders vanished and Scales and Omochao were suddenly only a few yards away from him. Also, three platforms appeared. As they moved back, startled, Majora raised his arms. Omochao quickly turned to Scales. "Okay, for this, you need to do exactly as I say or there's a good chance of you dying. When I say jump, I want you to jump, got it?" She nodded. "Yeah, but what's he doing?" "He's drawing power from the Water Elemental Mask Wa-Wa. Look, just trust me when I say this is gonna be a bit harder than the last thing okay?" said Omochao. At that moment, Majora's frame wavered and shifted as his body turned into a mass of solid water shaped like himself. He leapt into the air, landing on the third platform. "Run and jump to the platform over there and the one next to it! Now!" Scales quickly ran over to the first platform and jumped onto it, then jumped to the nearest platform from there. "Jump onto the next platform!" Scales jumped to the next one, just missing getting hit by a low energy wave Majora had hurled at her. "Attack Majora, then drop to the ground!" Scales across her platform, which did indeed have Majora on it, and hit him with her Tail Whip before he could hit her. He staggered back and tried to punch her, but she had already dropped back to the ground. "Okay, run and jump back to the first platform!" Scales ran over to the first platform and got on. "Double-jump, quickly!" Scales double-jumped, leaping over the energy wave rushing for her and landing on the second platform. "Duck!" Scales ducked down as a higher energy wave rushed for her, passing through where her head had been. "Jump to Majora's platform and wait for the attack!" Scales jumped onto the third platform. Majora sent out a low energy wave. "Jump and attack, then get down from there!" Scales jumped over the wave and hit Majora with a Homing Kick, dropping to the ground before he could retaliate. "You're doing good, Scales! Now, get back to the first platform. Scales ran over and jumped onto the first platform. "Wait for the low attack, then double-jump to the second platform!" Scales jumped over the energy wave and landed on the second platform. "Duck, then run through the bubbles, jump to the third platform, and hit Majora! You know what to do after that." Scales ducked as a high attack rushed over her head. She got up and ran towards several bubbles Majora had launched at her. She popped them easily with her Talons, jumped onto the third platform, ran to Majora and slashed at him with the Talons. He roared and tried to hit her, but she was already jumping back to the ground. "One more hit to go, Scales. Here we go! Get on the first platform and triple-jump after the wave!" Scales ran and jumped onto the first platform. As the low energy wave rippled towards her, she double-jumped, then used her jet anklets to boost her onto the third platform. "Duck, then attack!" Scales ducked, missing the high energy wave, then ran forward and hit Majora with a Rocket Kick. He moaned and turned back into Majora's Hatred. The platforms vanished and they were all back on the ground. Scales wiped her brow. "Phew! That was tough! Thanks for the timing, Omochao." "Hey, I don't want to see anyone die here! Well, maybe Majora, but he's the bad guy." The metal Chao responded. Surprisingly, Majora didn't look winded at all. "You're better than I thought. Let's see what happens when I turn up the heat." He raised his arms. Suddenly, Scales and Omochao were at the other side of the arena. Majora's body started shimmering from heat as he transformed into a monster made of rock and lava. He started throwing flaming boulders at Scales. As she started dodging the boulders, she asked Omochao, "How should I handle this fight? What power is he using?" "Majora is calling on the power of the Fire Elemental Mask Py-Ro. Because of his extreme heat, you can't hit him with a physical attack or you'll get badly burned." Said Omochao, flying out of the path of a boulder. "Gotcha. When should I shoot him?" she asked, missing another boulder. "You have to run through whatever attacks he's using and hit him with your attack at close range to cause damage. Got it?" She nodded. "Let's go!" She ran at Majora, dodging the flaming boulders he threw at her. It got harder and harder to dodge boulders as she got closer, but she managed to jump away from the ones that came to close. She soon made it through the boulder gauntlet, stopping a foot away from him. Just as he was about t generate another boulder, Scales hit Majora with Serpent Strike. He gestured, and she was suddenly back where she had started, at the edge of the platform. "What the hell?" she asked. "Majora won't let you get in multiple hits. You have to run back towards him to score another hit." Omochao explained. Scales sighed. "All right, let's do this." She started running back towards Majora. She dodged all the boulders, but when she was halfway to him he did something unexpected. Instead of throwing another boulder, he started throwing lots of little burning lava rocks at the ground in front of her. She almost stepped on one, jumping right before she touched it. She jumped over all of the lava rocks Majora hurled in front of her path, getting close enough to hit him with another Serpent Strike. The demon gestured, and she was back at the edge. Not bothering to talk to Omochao, Scales ran back into battle. The boulders were a bit more accurate this time around, so Scales had to be a bit more careful where she dodged. When she got halfway to the villain, he threw out more lava rocks. Unlike the first ones however, they moved towards her while on the ground. As a large number of them got close, she got out of the cluster of rocks with a homing kick, repeating the process whenever she was too close to a rock. She got in front of Majora and hit him with the third Serpent Strike. As Majora sent Scales back to the edge, she immediately started running towards the prince. The boulders were not only more accurate, but they also split into two when hitting the ground! Scales had to double jump whenever a boulder was heading towards her to avoid the shrapnel from the flaming rocks. She got to the halfway point once more, ready for more moving lava rocks. She was not disappointed. She used triple jumps to rocket over most of the little stones, making up the distance between her and Majora quickly. She finally landed in front of the demon and hit him with one last Serpent Strike. Omochao flew over to rejoin Scales. "You're doing very well! I'm impressed that you haven't been hit once by his attacks." "I'll try to keep it that way." Said Scales. Majora grunted. "I admit you are doing a bit well, lizard. But it won't last." Suddenly, he was in the center of the platform. He raised his hands and concentrated. His body suddenly transformed into a cloud, swelling and growing until the cloud formed into a giant wispy version of Majora's upper body. "Majora is using the power of the Air Elemental Mask Lo-Lo. Any physical attacks will pass through him, so you'll have to use Serpent Strike. Unfortunately, you can't just hit him right away, you can only shoot when he's vulnerable." Omochao informed Scales. "When will he be vulnerable?" "Whenever he starts doing something weird, shoot the part of his body that's doing it. He'll attack immediately afterwards, so you've got to move away right after firing." "I understand." Majora raised his left hand and started forming a giant snowball of sorts in it. Scales quickly fired a Serpent Strike at the hand. Small explosions appeared where she had hit him. Seeming not to take notice, Majora threw the snowball. Scales rolled out of the way as the attack hit the ground where she had been standing only seconds before. Majora threw his head back. Scales shot a Serpent Strike at it. Small explosions appeared all over the head. As Scales started running away, Majora flung his head forward and fired several ice balls from his helmet slit. Majora turned around to face Scales, who was now at a different side of the platform, and extended his right palm. Scales shot it with her Serpent Strike. As explosions appeared all over his right hand, Majora fired a huge ice laser. Scales had to keep running around to avoid getting frozen by the beam. When the laser attack was over, Majora flew backwards to the other side of the platform. He brought his arms inward and then flamed them out with his head back. As a sheet of hail generated by this move hurtled towards her, Scales shot a Serpent Strike. The green snake blasted through the hail and struck Majora's chest. Small explosions appeared all over Majora's body. He roared as he shrunk to his original size, reforming into Majora's Hatred. Scales and Omochao instantly appeared in front of him. She frowned. "Can you please stop this whole instantaneous transport thing? It's getting pretty annoying." Majora shook his head. "I'll do whatever I feel like. Like right now, I feel like using all four elemental mask's power to crush you!" "We can handle it!" said Omochao. "We'll see, little one. We'll see." He responded. Our two heroes were suddenly transported to a spot several yards from Majora. A wall of white fire sprang up around them, forming a square fighting ground. Majora raised his arms and started hurling rocks at Scales. Dodging a boulder, Scales asked Omochao what to do. "To damage him, you'll have to run through the boulder gauntlet and hit him with Serpent Strike when close up. He'll use more than one mask's power, but you can only hit him when he's throwing rocks." "Well then, let's see if he likes another bite from my serpent's venom!" Scales started running across the box, dodging the lava rocks and getting close enough to hit him with a Serpent Strike. He sent her back to the other side of the arena. He raised his arms again and started throwing ice boulders. Scales ran back and forth at her edge of the box, dodging and jumping over the ice boulders. When Majora switched back to throwing normal rocks, Scales ran through the shower of boulders and hit Majora with Serpent Strike again. Starting to get a little angry, Majora sent her back to the other side of the box and raised his arms. Two sections of the ground were suddenly flaming. The two great masses of flames shot towards Scales. She had to constantly triple jump over the flames to keep from getting burnt as they moved around, trying to catch her. Finally, the flames went out and Majora started throwing ice boulders again. Since she was no longer at the edge of the box, Scales had a bit of a tougher time avoiding the ice projectiles, but she managed to survive without getting crushed. Majora started throwing normal rocks. Since she was a bit closer to the demon, Scales got through the rock show faster than she had last time, running up to Majora and hitting him with the third Serpent Strike. Really angry now, Majora sent Scales back to the edge of the box once more. He raised his arms, and lasers shot out from the sides of the arena. This would have been a problem if Scales had not ducked the instant she saw the lasers being formed. The lasers moved back and forth over her, never getting any higher or lower. Frustrated, Majora got rid of the lasers and summoned back the flaming sections again. After another dangerous bout of running and jumping over the fire, Majora hurled ice boulders, which Scales avoided as she had the last two times, and finally started throwing normal rocks. Scales ran through the shower, avoiding getting hit, and fired a final Serpent Strike at Majora. He screamed, and the walls of fire were extinguished. He fell to his knees, getting up after a second. He surprised Scales, Omochao and everyone else. "Hahahahahaha! I haven't had a good fight like that one in years! Of course, we're not through yet, so don't think we're finished my dear! You've still got a long way to go if you intend to kill me. Let's get down to some real fighting, shall we?" He reached over his back and drew his huge sword. Holding it in both hands, he slashed at Scales. The lizard backflipped away from the strike. Majora charged, swinging the sword again. Scales hesitated, then ran from the demon, trying to regroup at the other end of the platform. "Omochao, how can I beat him?" Omochao shook his head regretfully. "I'm sorry Scales, but this fight isn't going to be as easy to direct as the last few. All I can tell you is he can block attacks with his sword and use some powerful moves on you. My best suggestion would be to attack him whenever he lets down his guard, if ever. Hey, why did he stop chasing us?" Scales looked over and saw that Majora had indeed stopped some distance away from them and was holding his left palm out at them. "What is he-" A massive fireball shot from his left hand. Scales gasped and jumped out of the way before she could get hit. As Majora started too charge up another big fireball, Scales suddenly saw how she could attack. Using Chaos Control, she ran towards him, Talons forward, before he could fling the fireball and drove her claws into Majora's armor. He shouted and backed away from Scales before she could hit him again. As she came after him, trying to swipe him with her Talons, he blocked every punch, kick or slash she attempted with his sword. After several unsuccessful attacks on Scales' part, Majora suddenly struck her on the head with the flat of his sword, stunning her. Then he swung his sword upward with a powerful thrust, bashing her into the air. He jumped up after her, soaring above and smashing her back into the ground with his sword. She groaned and got up, rolling out of the way as Majora hurtled downwards, his sword pointed for her neck. He hit the ground, getting his sword stuck in the platform. As he cursed and tried to pull it out, Scales cut into his back with multiple hits from her Talons. He roared in pain and ripped his sword from the ground, swinging it around and blocking another strike from Scales. Scales tried to hit him again, but kept getting blocked by the sword. After a few unsuccessful hits, Majora ended up bashing Scales into the air again. However, as he leapt up to knock her down, Scales hit him with a Rocket Kick, knocking him away as she flipped over and landed on her feet. Majora hit the ground hard and came up angry. He started charging up a fireball. Scales ran at him with Chaos Control and cut into his skin before he could throw the projectile. As he started to raise his sword, Scales got an idea. She jumped over Majora, kicking off of his head, and spinning around to face his back. As she landed, she ran forward and sliced into him several times with her Talons. Majora spun around, sword up. Scales raised her Talons, blocking the swing. The sword clanged on contact with her Talons, and Majora took a few steps back, a little disoriented. Scales ran forward and slashed into him again and again until he recovered and managed to deliver a glancing blow to Scales, leaving a long narrow cut down her side. A wave of pain flowed through Scales' mind. Infuriated, she savagely attacked a surprised Majora, slicing at his sword and cutting into his flesh whenever he tried to attack. Majora flew backwards, allowing Scales to recover from her brief rage. Majora started to charge up another fireball. Scales attempted a different method than the last time. She jumped into the air and shot at Majora with her Homing Kick, hitting him in the head and stunning him. Dropping, she unleashed a devastating flurry of Talon strikes, shredding open Majora's front. Each strike was stronger than the last as the Blood Talons sucked up Majora's black blood with each slash delivered. Majora managed to knock Scales away with the flat of his sword, holding it up to protect him. Rather than take the demon's bait and attempt to get past the block, Scales stunned him again with another Homing Kick before proceeding to hit him with another flurry of Talon attacks. Majora jumped away from his foe, leaping in the air and floating in a stable position. He gestured, and a circle of magic swords appeared in the air. They rotated towards her and shot towards the ground. She rolled out of the way of the swords, but not without mishap. The last two inches of her tail were cut off by one of the swords. She screamed in anger and pain. Majora laughed and conjured more swords. Scales looked up at the circle of blades and rocketed for them with a Triple Jump, knocking them from the sky before they could damage her. Majora wasn't happy with this. He conjured a smaller fireball and hurled it at Scales while she was falling back to the platform. It struck her just as she hit the ground, exploding on her chest. She wailed and staggered backwards, her chest burned. Majora laughed and charged up a big fireball. Trying to stay up, Scales glared at the demon. Majora threw his fireball. Instead of running away, Scales swung at the fireball with a Talon, knocking it right back at Majora. Majora let the fireball hit him. He laughed. "I was born from the fires of Hell! I cannot be hurt by normal or demonic flame!" Majora said. "You may be immune to fire, but what about Chaos energy? SERPENT STRIKE!" The emerald snake shot forth from between her gauntlets, exploding in Majora's face. He screamed and fell to the ground. She ran over and hit him with every attack she had, preventing him from getting up. Each attack drew more and more black blood. As she finished off a Dragon Dive to Majora's back, she hit him with one last Serpent Strike. The blast knocked the fallen Majora over and over, sending him rolling across the platform. When he came to a stop, Scales ran over and drove her sharp clawed feet into him with a final kick. Majora lay there, not moving. Scales panted and put her hands on her knees, trying not to keel over. Omochao flew over to her. "Scales, that was incredible! I'm sorry I couldn't have helped more for that, but you were awesome anyway!" he said, obviously impressed. She managed a smile. "Thanks, pal." Regaining some of her strength, she stood up straight and waved to the crowd, who applauded and cheered. Most enthusiastic of her performance, she noted, were Shadow and Amy, sitting in their booth. Her smile got wider. And that's when the applause stopped as everyone looked frightened, pointing at something. Having a very bad feeling, Scales and Omochao turned her around. Her blood went cold. (Omochao's didn't because he's a robot and doesn't have blood.) Majora was standing up, chuckling despite the gaping wound in his chest and the scars all over his body. "Hehehehehe. That was a very good show Scales, a very good one. I must say, I'm actually impressed. You seem to have more skill than I thought possible." She gaped. "But-but you should be dead!" If Majora's current form had a mouth, it would be smirking. "Yes. I SHOULD be dead. Or rather, I would be dead if it weren't for the fact that I have the Master Emerald in my possession. It gave me the strength to survive your attacks. Oh, I admit it was very painful, but it wasn't enough." He shook his head, amused. "You know Scales, you should consider yourself lucky. Few have lasted this long against me and lived. However, I don't intend to let you be the first who has ever truly beaten me in combat. Oh sure, Link's victory over me was good, but all he did was make dormant. And the only way to truly rid yourself of an enemy is to kill the enemy. And I think I'm the one who's going to be doing any killing around here, starting with you and your windup toy." His eyes gleamed. "You have proven you can beat the anger of Majora's Hatred. However, do you think you can beat the raw strength of my true form?" He raised his arms again, his sword vanishing. As he started to glow, Scales tried to hit him with a Serpent Strike, only to have it fizzle out before it even touched Majora. The glow around Majora became too bright for anyone to look at, and all were forced to avert their eyes. When the light finally faded away, Scales could see the true face of her enemy. As the thing that was the real Majora laughed, she realized that maybe Majora had been right. Maybe he was fated to win.
Ooh, big cliffhanger! Sorry, but I'll have to leave you all hanging as to what happens next. You'll have to wait until the next chapter. As to what Majora looks like, well, you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find that out as well. This was my longest and most intense battle yet, and the next one's going to be even cooler. Just wait and you'll see for yourself. Next time: As Majora reveals his true form, he whisks Scales and Omochao away to fight him in his home realm. Scales must call upon the power of the Chaos Emeralds to transform to Super Scales to have a chance at slaying the foul demon. But is the ability to go Super what Pi2 meant by the true power of the Emeralds, or is the true power something even greater? Find out on the next.Super Smash Bosses!
It was high noon. The viewers had assembled in the seats, ready for what promised to be an excellent fight. Pi2 had somewhat recovered and was ready for his duty. He had already done all the usual pre-fight stuff, telling everyone to place their bets while they still had the chance. But in the end, he could say nothing more. The technicians set the stage. It was a beautiful thing, the stage. It was a great octagonal filling almost the entire arena space, leaving a gap only a couple of feet wide. This meant the most likely way a fighter would leave the platform was to be knocked out or dead. It was carved to look like the Super Smash symbol, the quartered circle. At the point where the four lines met was a pedestal. From the pedestal came a beam of light, going high into the air. Floating in the beam of light was a thick disc made of slid gold, with the same quartered circle mark on it. This was the medal of victory, one of the prizes for winning. The stage's name was Showdown Central. Pi2 finished his speech and started counting down. "And we will begin this, the final fight in 3." Majora floated into the arena. "2." Scales warped into the ring. "1.Go!" Scales immediately dashed towards Majora with Chaos Control. The mask flew out of her way and hit her life support with heat vision. The Shell kept it from doing damage, though. Scales whirled around and fired a Serpent Strike, scoring a direct hit. Majora flew a little away and floated closer to the ground. "Say Scales, how about we turn this up a notch?" "What do you mean?" "How about THIS!" Suddenly, a great black cloud blotted out the sun, enshrouding the area in semi-darkness. As the stadium's big lights went on, Majora burst into flame. Scales tried to hit him with a Serpent Strike, but it failed to hit. Majora's figure vanished in the flames. The fire grew to an astonishing inferno, becoming a bonfire seven feet high! The flames dissipated then, revealing a new terror. It was a knight, clad in black armor with silver trim. He wore a long red cape with a black underside. A scabbard in his back held a great sword almost as long as its owner was tall. The knight wore gauntlets of black and gold, inlaid with rubies. A helmet covered its head. The helm was black and silver, like the rest of the armor. Two stylized bat wings came from the back of the helmet, and horn grew from the top. The visor was a T-shaped gap in the helm, revealing nothing but darkness and two yellow-orange eyes. The figure looked over itself, pleased, and laughed boomingly. Scales was a bit unnerved. "What-what are you?" The figure turned its baleful gaze on Scales. "My dear, do you not recognize me? I am Majora's Hatred, the most powerful yet of my forms! My power is now greater than before. And with the power that now resides within me, I will slay you and all who reside in this Coliseum, and then I shall be free!" There was a collective gasp from the crowd. "What are you talking about, Majora? What's going on here?" asked Pi2, floating down to the Coliseum on his old respawn platform. "It is quite simple, Pi2. Thousands of years ago, I was a great demon prince, heir of Satan himself. I rampaged throughout the worlds until the Goddess of Time imprisoned me in the form of a mask. I was eventually sealed away in a dark temple by a wandering tribe of nomads, and by a series of coincidences and trades ended up in the hands of the now dead Happy Mask Salesman. But is really going n, you ask? It's like this: I seek to be free of the mask in which I now live. To do so, I must absorb a number of souls and steal power from several magical relics. To this end, I convinced the Salesman to enter me in the tournament so I could take the souls of the fighters and their magic powers. I took Garm's magic and his soul, drained away Mewtwo's psychic power and his soul, and stole the magic of the Star Rod and Bowser's soul. Oh, but this power alone wasn't enough to fuel this most recent transformation, I'm afraid. So I needed more power. Guess where I got it?" asked Majora. Pi2 immediately understood. "The stolen objects!" "Correct. I stole Cortex's masks, Ganondorf's Triforce of Power, and the Master Emerald. The combined power I have received is actually enough for me to temporarily assume my real form, but I doubt I need to go to such extravagancies at this point." He looked at Scales. "I only need one thing more to give me the power to completely free myself from my curse; the power of the eighth Chaos Emerald!" Scales took a defensive stance. "You'll have to go through me to get the Emerald, Your Majesty!" Majora laughed. "Fool! It is fated that I win! My victory was predicted millennia ago, and I intend to let the prediction come true!" "What prediction?" asked Pi2. "The shamans of the tribe who imprisoned me in the temple had a premonition and wrote it on the altar on which I was placed. Far in the future, a Tournament will take place. Sixteen will fight, a small wizard, a trainer of monsters, a King of Power, a monster of Darkness, a ghost, a turtle, a crocodile, a plumber, a alien, a little man, a psychic, a witch, a god, a pirate, a lizard and the demon prince. The wizard, the psychic and the turtle shall lose their souls, the monster will lose his courage, the King shall lose his dignity to a turtle and a yellow runt, and the crocodile will lose all motivation. The god of destruction will assume his most powerful form but will fail to destroy, the trainer's monsters will all be knocked out, the witch will be crushed beneath a rock, the ghost will be humiliated and the little man, plumber, pirate, and alien shall lose their lives. In the end, only two will remain, the lizard and the demon. The one wielding the Master of jewels shall triumph. One will walk away, free at last; the other won't walk at all." He said. "The prophecy clearly detailed the fate of each fighter and also says I shall win this match. I possess the Master Emerald, the Master of gems, therefore I shall win. Simple, isn't it?" "There's one little problem, Majora." Said Pi2. "What?" "The thing you have isn't the real Master Emerald, it's a copy of the original." Said Pi2. "The real Master is the thing in my back." Said Scales. If your prophecy is true, that means I'm going to win." Majora considered. "You have a point. However, the prophecy did not state the Master of gems had to be real or fake. I still have a 50/50 chance of winning in this case." "Actually, you don't have any chance at winning." Said Pi2.
"Why is that?" "By promising to kill everyone, you have made a terrorist threat. And terrorism is against the tournament rules, so you are therefore disqualified." Majora snorted. "And what do you think you can do to keep me from fighting?" "How about a little taste of BOLT 99!" Pi2 instantly gained a bright yellow glow. A huge thunderbolt shot up from his body, into the dark cloud. As the thunderbolt vanished, the cloud flashed, and ninety-nine normal thunderbolts shot down, combining in midair to form a huge electrical Chinese-style dragon. The dragon came hurtling down at Majora a stronger attack than Pi2 had ever generated. Majora merely looked up at the oncoming dragon, not moving. Then, slowly, he raised his left arm and pointed it at Pi2. The dragon changed course right above him, shooting straight for the Pikachu. Pi2 tried to maneuver out of the way, but the dragon changed course again, hitting him. The incredible force from the attack washed over Pi2's body, going into it and overloading his static glands. As the respawn platform at his feet exploded, Pi2 screamed as the dragon threw him back. He was hurled right into the arena wall. He hit with a sickening thud, then fell to the platform, falling through the gap and hitting the ground below hard. Scales looked at where Pi2 had fallen, then back at Majora, astonished. The demon chuckled. "Shall we begin?"
Up in the control booth, the technicians were shocked. "He's dead." Murmured one of the Koopas. "I don't believe it. The boss is dead." Said a Yoshi. Another technician said nothing, then got out of his chair and started flying out the door. "Hey, where're you going?" asked a Goomba. The technician turned back. "I'm going to help Miss Scales! I know how to help her fight Majora, and I don't intend to let these people die!" "But it's against the rules for any fighter to have outside help." The Koopa pointed out. "Look out the window and tell me if this is really a time where rules matter more than lives!" the technician said angrily. "Rules or no rules, Scales needs my help!" "Dude, you'll die out there!" said the Yoshi. "Maybe, but if I die I at least want to try to help her beat that demon!" with that, the technician flew away. "Is he being brave, or stupid?" asked the Goomba. "Maybe a little of both." Answered the Koopa.
Scales and Majora tensed ready to leap into a deadly combat when their pose was ruined by the intrusion of a weird little flying thing that stopped right in Scales' face. It looked like a metallic Chao with a propeller on its head, a wind-up key on its back, and orange eyes. "Miss Scales, wait! I can help you!" Scales blinked. "Uh, who are you?" "My name's Omochao, and I'm here to help you!" There was a long pause. Then Scales screamed and backed away. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! Goawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoaway!" Majora stared at her. "You're not afraid of the crown prince of Hell but you're terrified by a little metal doll?" he asked in disgust. Omochao scowled. (If he could scowl, that is.) "I don't understand, why are you afraid of me?" "I've heard stories about you from the others! Always popping up at the wrong times, giving obvious pieces of advice, never dying when you get thrown into something dangerous.If you get near me, I swear I'll put a dent in your skull!" yelled Scales. Omochao was confused for a moment, then realized what she was talking about and started laughing. "No, no, no, I'm not THAT Omochao! I'm a later model, I really can help you without always giving you obvious pieces of advice! I can tell you what to do in the fight with Majora to wear him down and give you a better chance at winning." "How can you know what to do?" asked Scales, lowering her guard. "Simple, I'm just like your average hint or information giver, I automatically know hints and weaknesses about the enemy that should be impossible for any person to discover. For instance, did you know that Majora had a stuffed griffon named Boneshredder when he was a little guy?" "Wha-that is not true!" Majora said quickly. "Really? What about the time you wet your bed the night before you were leaving for your big invasion campaign?" "I-er-uh-" "Oh, and let's not forget the time you ran around your father's palace naked!" "I was young, I didn't know it was wrong to-" Majora tried to say. "You were five hundred years old!" "That's young for demons. Wait a minute, we already walk around naked! I've never needed to wear clothing!" Majora realized. "Then what do you call your armor?" asked Scales. "This is my form's protective skin!" Majora said. "Look, enough with the embarrassing secrets! You can have that Omocow-" "Omochao!" "Whatever! You can have that thing's help if you want, but it won't make a difference. You'll still fall by my hands. Let's begin!" He raised his arms. After several seconds, his form seemed to harden to refract as his body was encased in a shell of rock. He shifted his rocky arms, seemingly pleased. As Majora started advancing towards Scales, several boulders appeared, scattered about the platform. Scales prepared to charge the rocky Majora when Omochao flew in front of her. "Wait! Don't attack him head on. He is drawing power from the Earth Elemental Mask Rok-Ko. His rock shell makes him impervious." "Then how do I fight him?" "First of all, start running from him, he's too slow to catch up properly." Scales started moving away from the slowly but steadily advancing demon. "Okay, what you have to do is touch two boulders." She looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?" "It's like this. When you touch one of the boulders, it will temporarily become yours. But it only lasts for a few seconds, and is negated if Majora touches the boulder. You have to touch two boulders and make them yours to damage him." Stated Omochao. Scales frowned at him. "How does touching boulders cause him damage?" "How did ramming into boils damage you when you were the Final Hazard? Weaknesses in video games don't always have to make sense. Just do it, and quick! He's catching up on us!" said Omochao. "Okay, here I go!" Scales ran for the nearest boulder. She touched it, and the boulder turned red. She could hear it ticking like a clock. She immediately ran towards another one, touching the boulder right before the timer on the first one ran out. Majora groaned and shook. Chips of rock fell off of him, revealing some of the armor underneath. "Okay, now what?" "You have to do the same thing, but this time you need to touch three boulders! And no, you can't use any of the ones you've already touched once." Said Omochao. "I can't run fast enough to touch three rocks! Unless.Chaos Control!" Moving at super speed she ran across the platform, hitting two rocks in succession and speeding right past Majora to hit the third just before the first rock's timer ran out. Majora groaned and shook. More pieces of rock armor broke off, exposing whole sections of his body. "Let me guess. I have to touch four rocks now, right?" she asked as the robot Chao caught up with her. Omochao nodded. "Okay, I think I can do this. I know what to do." Majora turned her way and started coming. She was close to him, and he was getting nearer to her. Scales wasn't moving at all, charging up for the Lightspeed Attack. Majora was only two feet away from her when she started to glow. Relieved, she ran past him at light speed, hitting all four boulders in less than a second. Majora roared in anger as his rock shell shattered completely. "That was pretty good, Scales, but let's see how you like water!" He snapped his fingers. All the boulders vanished and Scales and Omochao were suddenly only a few yards away from him. Also, three platforms appeared. As they moved back, startled, Majora raised his arms. Omochao quickly turned to Scales. "Okay, for this, you need to do exactly as I say or there's a good chance of you dying. When I say jump, I want you to jump, got it?" She nodded. "Yeah, but what's he doing?" "He's drawing power from the Water Elemental Mask Wa-Wa. Look, just trust me when I say this is gonna be a bit harder than the last thing okay?" said Omochao. At that moment, Majora's frame wavered and shifted as his body turned into a mass of solid water shaped like himself. He leapt into the air, landing on the third platform. "Run and jump to the platform over there and the one next to it! Now!" Scales quickly ran over to the first platform and jumped onto it, then jumped to the nearest platform from there. "Jump onto the next platform!" Scales jumped to the next one, just missing getting hit by a low energy wave Majora had hurled at her. "Attack Majora, then drop to the ground!" Scales across her platform, which did indeed have Majora on it, and hit him with her Tail Whip before he could hit her. He staggered back and tried to punch her, but she had already dropped back to the ground. "Okay, run and jump back to the first platform!" Scales ran over to the first platform and got on. "Double-jump, quickly!" Scales double-jumped, leaping over the energy wave rushing for her and landing on the second platform. "Duck!" Scales ducked down as a higher energy wave rushed for her, passing through where her head had been. "Jump to Majora's platform and wait for the attack!" Scales jumped onto the third platform. Majora sent out a low energy wave. "Jump and attack, then get down from there!" Scales jumped over the wave and hit Majora with a Homing Kick, dropping to the ground before he could retaliate. "You're doing good, Scales! Now, get back to the first platform. Scales ran over and jumped onto the first platform. "Wait for the low attack, then double-jump to the second platform!" Scales jumped over the energy wave and landed on the second platform. "Duck, then run through the bubbles, jump to the third platform, and hit Majora! You know what to do after that." Scales ducked as a high attack rushed over her head. She got up and ran towards several bubbles Majora had launched at her. She popped them easily with her Talons, jumped onto the third platform, ran to Majora and slashed at him with the Talons. He roared and tried to hit her, but she was already jumping back to the ground. "One more hit to go, Scales. Here we go! Get on the first platform and triple-jump after the wave!" Scales ran and jumped onto the first platform. As the low energy wave rippled towards her, she double-jumped, then used her jet anklets to boost her onto the third platform. "Duck, then attack!" Scales ducked, missing the high energy wave, then ran forward and hit Majora with a Rocket Kick. He moaned and turned back into Majora's Hatred. The platforms vanished and they were all back on the ground. Scales wiped her brow. "Phew! That was tough! Thanks for the timing, Omochao." "Hey, I don't want to see anyone die here! Well, maybe Majora, but he's the bad guy." The metal Chao responded. Surprisingly, Majora didn't look winded at all. "You're better than I thought. Let's see what happens when I turn up the heat." He raised his arms. Suddenly, Scales and Omochao were at the other side of the arena. Majora's body started shimmering from heat as he transformed into a monster made of rock and lava. He started throwing flaming boulders at Scales. As she started dodging the boulders, she asked Omochao, "How should I handle this fight? What power is he using?" "Majora is calling on the power of the Fire Elemental Mask Py-Ro. Because of his extreme heat, you can't hit him with a physical attack or you'll get badly burned." Said Omochao, flying out of the path of a boulder. "Gotcha. When should I shoot him?" she asked, missing another boulder. "You have to run through whatever attacks he's using and hit him with your attack at close range to cause damage. Got it?" She nodded. "Let's go!" She ran at Majora, dodging the flaming boulders he threw at her. It got harder and harder to dodge boulders as she got closer, but she managed to jump away from the ones that came to close. She soon made it through the boulder gauntlet, stopping a foot away from him. Just as he was about t generate another boulder, Scales hit Majora with Serpent Strike. He gestured, and she was suddenly back where she had started, at the edge of the platform. "What the hell?" she asked. "Majora won't let you get in multiple hits. You have to run back towards him to score another hit." Omochao explained. Scales sighed. "All right, let's do this." She started running back towards Majora. She dodged all the boulders, but when she was halfway to him he did something unexpected. Instead of throwing another boulder, he started throwing lots of little burning lava rocks at the ground in front of her. She almost stepped on one, jumping right before she touched it. She jumped over all of the lava rocks Majora hurled in front of her path, getting close enough to hit him with another Serpent Strike. The demon gestured, and she was back at the edge. Not bothering to talk to Omochao, Scales ran back into battle. The boulders were a bit more accurate this time around, so Scales had to be a bit more careful where she dodged. When she got halfway to the villain, he threw out more lava rocks. Unlike the first ones however, they moved towards her while on the ground. As a large number of them got close, she got out of the cluster of rocks with a homing kick, repeating the process whenever she was too close to a rock. She got in front of Majora and hit him with the third Serpent Strike. As Majora sent Scales back to the edge, she immediately started running towards the prince. The boulders were not only more accurate, but they also split into two when hitting the ground! Scales had to double jump whenever a boulder was heading towards her to avoid the shrapnel from the flaming rocks. She got to the halfway point once more, ready for more moving lava rocks. She was not disappointed. She used triple jumps to rocket over most of the little stones, making up the distance between her and Majora quickly. She finally landed in front of the demon and hit him with one last Serpent Strike. Omochao flew over to rejoin Scales. "You're doing very well! I'm impressed that you haven't been hit once by his attacks." "I'll try to keep it that way." Said Scales. Majora grunted. "I admit you are doing a bit well, lizard. But it won't last." Suddenly, he was in the center of the platform. He raised his hands and concentrated. His body suddenly transformed into a cloud, swelling and growing until the cloud formed into a giant wispy version of Majora's upper body. "Majora is using the power of the Air Elemental Mask Lo-Lo. Any physical attacks will pass through him, so you'll have to use Serpent Strike. Unfortunately, you can't just hit him right away, you can only shoot when he's vulnerable." Omochao informed Scales. "When will he be vulnerable?" "Whenever he starts doing something weird, shoot the part of his body that's doing it. He'll attack immediately afterwards, so you've got to move away right after firing." "I understand." Majora raised his left hand and started forming a giant snowball of sorts in it. Scales quickly fired a Serpent Strike at the hand. Small explosions appeared where she had hit him. Seeming not to take notice, Majora threw the snowball. Scales rolled out of the way as the attack hit the ground where she had been standing only seconds before. Majora threw his head back. Scales shot a Serpent Strike at it. Small explosions appeared all over the head. As Scales started running away, Majora flung his head forward and fired several ice balls from his helmet slit. Majora turned around to face Scales, who was now at a different side of the platform, and extended his right palm. Scales shot it with her Serpent Strike. As explosions appeared all over his right hand, Majora fired a huge ice laser. Scales had to keep running around to avoid getting frozen by the beam. When the laser attack was over, Majora flew backwards to the other side of the platform. He brought his arms inward and then flamed them out with his head back. As a sheet of hail generated by this move hurtled towards her, Scales shot a Serpent Strike. The green snake blasted through the hail and struck Majora's chest. Small explosions appeared all over Majora's body. He roared as he shrunk to his original size, reforming into Majora's Hatred. Scales and Omochao instantly appeared in front of him. She frowned. "Can you please stop this whole instantaneous transport thing? It's getting pretty annoying." Majora shook his head. "I'll do whatever I feel like. Like right now, I feel like using all four elemental mask's power to crush you!" "We can handle it!" said Omochao. "We'll see, little one. We'll see." He responded. Our two heroes were suddenly transported to a spot several yards from Majora. A wall of white fire sprang up around them, forming a square fighting ground. Majora raised his arms and started hurling rocks at Scales. Dodging a boulder, Scales asked Omochao what to do. "To damage him, you'll have to run through the boulder gauntlet and hit him with Serpent Strike when close up. He'll use more than one mask's power, but you can only hit him when he's throwing rocks." "Well then, let's see if he likes another bite from my serpent's venom!" Scales started running across the box, dodging the lava rocks and getting close enough to hit him with a Serpent Strike. He sent her back to the other side of the arena. He raised his arms again and started throwing ice boulders. Scales ran back and forth at her edge of the box, dodging and jumping over the ice boulders. When Majora switched back to throwing normal rocks, Scales ran through the shower of boulders and hit Majora with Serpent Strike again. Starting to get a little angry, Majora sent her back to the other side of the box and raised his arms. Two sections of the ground were suddenly flaming. The two great masses of flames shot towards Scales. She had to constantly triple jump over the flames to keep from getting burnt as they moved around, trying to catch her. Finally, the flames went out and Majora started throwing ice boulders again. Since she was no longer at the edge of the box, Scales had a bit of a tougher time avoiding the ice projectiles, but she managed to survive without getting crushed. Majora started throwing normal rocks. Since she was a bit closer to the demon, Scales got through the rock show faster than she had last time, running up to Majora and hitting him with the third Serpent Strike. Really angry now, Majora sent Scales back to the edge of the box once more. He raised his arms, and lasers shot out from the sides of the arena. This would have been a problem if Scales had not ducked the instant she saw the lasers being formed. The lasers moved back and forth over her, never getting any higher or lower. Frustrated, Majora got rid of the lasers and summoned back the flaming sections again. After another dangerous bout of running and jumping over the fire, Majora hurled ice boulders, which Scales avoided as she had the last two times, and finally started throwing normal rocks. Scales ran through the shower, avoiding getting hit, and fired a final Serpent Strike at Majora. He screamed, and the walls of fire were extinguished. He fell to his knees, getting up after a second. He surprised Scales, Omochao and everyone else. "Hahahahahaha! I haven't had a good fight like that one in years! Of course, we're not through yet, so don't think we're finished my dear! You've still got a long way to go if you intend to kill me. Let's get down to some real fighting, shall we?" He reached over his back and drew his huge sword. Holding it in both hands, he slashed at Scales. The lizard backflipped away from the strike. Majora charged, swinging the sword again. Scales hesitated, then ran from the demon, trying to regroup at the other end of the platform. "Omochao, how can I beat him?" Omochao shook his head regretfully. "I'm sorry Scales, but this fight isn't going to be as easy to direct as the last few. All I can tell you is he can block attacks with his sword and use some powerful moves on you. My best suggestion would be to attack him whenever he lets down his guard, if ever. Hey, why did he stop chasing us?" Scales looked over and saw that Majora had indeed stopped some distance away from them and was holding his left palm out at them. "What is he-" A massive fireball shot from his left hand. Scales gasped and jumped out of the way before she could get hit. As Majora started too charge up another big fireball, Scales suddenly saw how she could attack. Using Chaos Control, she ran towards him, Talons forward, before he could fling the fireball and drove her claws into Majora's armor. He shouted and backed away from Scales before she could hit him again. As she came after him, trying to swipe him with her Talons, he blocked every punch, kick or slash she attempted with his sword. After several unsuccessful attacks on Scales' part, Majora suddenly struck her on the head with the flat of his sword, stunning her. Then he swung his sword upward with a powerful thrust, bashing her into the air. He jumped up after her, soaring above and smashing her back into the ground with his sword. She groaned and got up, rolling out of the way as Majora hurtled downwards, his sword pointed for her neck. He hit the ground, getting his sword stuck in the platform. As he cursed and tried to pull it out, Scales cut into his back with multiple hits from her Talons. He roared in pain and ripped his sword from the ground, swinging it around and blocking another strike from Scales. Scales tried to hit him again, but kept getting blocked by the sword. After a few unsuccessful hits, Majora ended up bashing Scales into the air again. However, as he leapt up to knock her down, Scales hit him with a Rocket Kick, knocking him away as she flipped over and landed on her feet. Majora hit the ground hard and came up angry. He started charging up a fireball. Scales ran at him with Chaos Control and cut into his skin before he could throw the projectile. As he started to raise his sword, Scales got an idea. She jumped over Majora, kicking off of his head, and spinning around to face his back. As she landed, she ran forward and sliced into him several times with her Talons. Majora spun around, sword up. Scales raised her Talons, blocking the swing. The sword clanged on contact with her Talons, and Majora took a few steps back, a little disoriented. Scales ran forward and slashed into him again and again until he recovered and managed to deliver a glancing blow to Scales, leaving a long narrow cut down her side. A wave of pain flowed through Scales' mind. Infuriated, she savagely attacked a surprised Majora, slicing at his sword and cutting into his flesh whenever he tried to attack. Majora flew backwards, allowing Scales to recover from her brief rage. Majora started to charge up another fireball. Scales attempted a different method than the last time. She jumped into the air and shot at Majora with her Homing Kick, hitting him in the head and stunning him. Dropping, she unleashed a devastating flurry of Talon strikes, shredding open Majora's front. Each strike was stronger than the last as the Blood Talons sucked up Majora's black blood with each slash delivered. Majora managed to knock Scales away with the flat of his sword, holding it up to protect him. Rather than take the demon's bait and attempt to get past the block, Scales stunned him again with another Homing Kick before proceeding to hit him with another flurry of Talon attacks. Majora jumped away from his foe, leaping in the air and floating in a stable position. He gestured, and a circle of magic swords appeared in the air. They rotated towards her and shot towards the ground. She rolled out of the way of the swords, but not without mishap. The last two inches of her tail were cut off by one of the swords. She screamed in anger and pain. Majora laughed and conjured more swords. Scales looked up at the circle of blades and rocketed for them with a Triple Jump, knocking them from the sky before they could damage her. Majora wasn't happy with this. He conjured a smaller fireball and hurled it at Scales while she was falling back to the platform. It struck her just as she hit the ground, exploding on her chest. She wailed and staggered backwards, her chest burned. Majora laughed and charged up a big fireball. Trying to stay up, Scales glared at the demon. Majora threw his fireball. Instead of running away, Scales swung at the fireball with a Talon, knocking it right back at Majora. Majora let the fireball hit him. He laughed. "I was born from the fires of Hell! I cannot be hurt by normal or demonic flame!" Majora said. "You may be immune to fire, but what about Chaos energy? SERPENT STRIKE!" The emerald snake shot forth from between her gauntlets, exploding in Majora's face. He screamed and fell to the ground. She ran over and hit him with every attack she had, preventing him from getting up. Each attack drew more and more black blood. As she finished off a Dragon Dive to Majora's back, she hit him with one last Serpent Strike. The blast knocked the fallen Majora over and over, sending him rolling across the platform. When he came to a stop, Scales ran over and drove her sharp clawed feet into him with a final kick. Majora lay there, not moving. Scales panted and put her hands on her knees, trying not to keel over. Omochao flew over to her. "Scales, that was incredible! I'm sorry I couldn't have helped more for that, but you were awesome anyway!" he said, obviously impressed. She managed a smile. "Thanks, pal." Regaining some of her strength, she stood up straight and waved to the crowd, who applauded and cheered. Most enthusiastic of her performance, she noted, were Shadow and Amy, sitting in their booth. Her smile got wider. And that's when the applause stopped as everyone looked frightened, pointing at something. Having a very bad feeling, Scales and Omochao turned her around. Her blood went cold. (Omochao's didn't because he's a robot and doesn't have blood.) Majora was standing up, chuckling despite the gaping wound in his chest and the scars all over his body. "Hehehehehe. That was a very good show Scales, a very good one. I must say, I'm actually impressed. You seem to have more skill than I thought possible." She gaped. "But-but you should be dead!" If Majora's current form had a mouth, it would be smirking. "Yes. I SHOULD be dead. Or rather, I would be dead if it weren't for the fact that I have the Master Emerald in my possession. It gave me the strength to survive your attacks. Oh, I admit it was very painful, but it wasn't enough." He shook his head, amused. "You know Scales, you should consider yourself lucky. Few have lasted this long against me and lived. However, I don't intend to let you be the first who has ever truly beaten me in combat. Oh sure, Link's victory over me was good, but all he did was make dormant. And the only way to truly rid yourself of an enemy is to kill the enemy. And I think I'm the one who's going to be doing any killing around here, starting with you and your windup toy." His eyes gleamed. "You have proven you can beat the anger of Majora's Hatred. However, do you think you can beat the raw strength of my true form?" He raised his arms again, his sword vanishing. As he started to glow, Scales tried to hit him with a Serpent Strike, only to have it fizzle out before it even touched Majora. The glow around Majora became too bright for anyone to look at, and all were forced to avert their eyes. When the light finally faded away, Scales could see the true face of her enemy. As the thing that was the real Majora laughed, she realized that maybe Majora had been right. Maybe he was fated to win.
Ooh, big cliffhanger! Sorry, but I'll have to leave you all hanging as to what happens next. You'll have to wait until the next chapter. As to what Majora looks like, well, you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find that out as well. This was my longest and most intense battle yet, and the next one's going to be even cooler. Just wait and you'll see for yourself. Next time: As Majora reveals his true form, he whisks Scales and Omochao away to fight him in his home realm. Scales must call upon the power of the Chaos Emeralds to transform to Super Scales to have a chance at slaying the foul demon. But is the ability to go Super what Pi2 meant by the true power of the Emeralds, or is the true power something even greater? Find out on the next.Super Smash Bosses!