Chapter 5: Escape
Crazy Clyne laughed as he watched the smashers' progress. "Now we have Thyra! Everything is going according to plan!" He turned to look at his prisoner. "I hope you're enjoying the view, because you won't have it for long!
The huge beast seemed somewhat reluctant to move after capturing the mysterious Thyra. The smashers stood, unsure of what to do, until Marth shook his head.
"This is absurd!" he shouted, and charged at the monster.
The creature reacted immediately, almost firing a tentacle to obstruct Marth's attack. Falchion made short work of the obstacle, and the creature recoiled in pain. Samus used this opportunity to fire a missile, and Young Link shot an arrow. The beast countered by whipping its tentacle at Peach, leaving a bloody gash on her leg. Peach collapsed dramatically, and cried in pain.
"No!" Mario shouted, lunging forward. As he launched his patent (and potent) fireballs, he couldn't help thinking, why did Dr. Mario have to die?
Jigglypuff ran up to the creature and stood right in front. The smashers eagerly awaited the beast's reaction to what they knew Jigglypuff would do.
With a "ting" (A/N: or something), Jigglypuff went to sleep, and the monster visibly recoiled. In its stunned state, each smashers took the opportunity to deliver his or her own form of punishment, except for Peach and Mario, who was watching her carefully.
Ganondorf screamed and delivered a Warlock Punch right on target. The creature was sustaining heavy damage by now, but managed to deliver a powerful attack to DK's arm. The ape responded with a Giant Punch, ignoring the pain temporarily.
The beast was still flailing its tentacles around almost constantly, but its attacks were so slow and weak by now that the smashers had no trouble ignoring that and continuing with the attack. Bowser's mighty headbutt finally sent the beast back under the murky water.
The smashers had little time to celebrate, as Peach was unconscious and the wound was beginning to swell. DK was in better condition; the beast had obviously lost most of its potency by then. Also, they had to find their way out of the swamp before they were similarly attacked again.
Ness concentrated hard, and quickly sensed the dominating presence of Crazy Clyne's confidence. He couldn't isolate it immediately, though, it was all around him. But that meant-
"Crazy Clyne set this up," he announced, motioning around him. "He knew we'd come this way."
"But how? Thyra said it was secret-" Zelda began, then gasped. The smashers (except DK) simultaneously concluded the same thing.
"Now, wait," Samus put in, always the voice of reason. "Crazy Clyne could just be monitoring us. There's no reason to assume anything yet. And we have to find her anyway; chances are she ended up in that big building."
Shrugging and nodding, the smashers followed Ness as he slowly found the way out of the hazy swamp. Finally, the blinding light of day indicated the smashers' success.
"Finally!" Young Link sighed.
Mario was in the back, supporting Peach with his brother's help. She looked awful; her skin was starting to turn pale.
"What are we going to do with her?" Luigi whispered, not bothering to use his accent.
"I don't know," Mario replied. "I guess one of us will have to stay behind to watch her."
The smashers looked along the huge wall of the building, until someone shouted, holding his black hand through an apparently holographic plate of the wall.
"There's the entrance!" Game & Watch shouted triumphantly, jumping up and down. An irritating beeping noise filled the air.
"G&W!" Bowser shouted.
"Sorry," the flat character replied sheepishly.
Mario motioned to the door, and Luigi nodded. The taller plumber left, leaving Mario to watch over the afflicted princess. The smashers walked through the false plate.
Clyne groaned as he regained consciousness again. He must have dozed off; Crazy Clyne's incessant laughing and ranting was rather soporific. He felt his arms starting to ache from being in an uncomfortable position for so long.
"Hey, Crazy Clyne, do you think you could-"
"Silence! This is the best part!"
"What?"
Crazy Clyne laughed and moved aside, giving Clyne a view of his monitor. It showed the smashers entering the "secret" door.
"Are we sure Crazy Clyne doesn't know about this?" Falcon asked suspiciously. "Holographic metal plates don't just appear in walls, you know."
"That's true," Falco agreed. "C.C. probably has this place rigged."
"Well, we should be careful-" Marth was cut short by a huge metal spear that shot up from the ground. Marth, who ended up the leader somehow, barely darted away in time.
"I see your point, Marth," Kirby grinned. The smashers groaned.
The smashers continued down the small, narrow corridor, until they ran into a huge auburn door. The handle was about four feet above Bowser's head, and it looked heavy.
"I'll get it," Falco said, and jumped up. With his double jump and Fire Bird, he was able to pull himself on top of the handle.
"OK, push it down," Fox advised.
"Thanks," Falco sighed, jumping up and down to no avail.
"Ka…" Pikachu sighed, summoning his thunder underneath the handle to try to force it down, but in vain.
"Watch it!" Falco yelped.
Suddenly, the handle turned down by itself. Falco shouted in surprise and slid down, making a safe but ungraceful landing. The door, also by its own accord, slowly swung open.
(A/N: What will the smashers find behind door #1? What happened to Thyra, and whose side is she really on? Find out sometime later. Don't forget to review!)