Chapter 3: The hard training

After taking a day to find a room to stay in and a chance to get back to her senses, Michelle started her vigorous training. She went to the Classic Mushroom Kingdom's stage with Mario and Luigi, dressed in blue overalls, a lavender tank top that showed her midriff, and a purple hat which she wore backwards. Her long, brown hair flowed with the wind as she ran towards Luigi, ready to punch his lights out. Luigi yawned and simply sidestepped out of the way. Before she could stop, Michelle ran into the wall shoulder first. She winced slightly, then regained her composure, turning around to look at the Mario brothers.

"You're not-a doing-a very good job getting one-a hit on-a us," explained Mario. Luigi stiffled a laugh as the young teen wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand.

"This isn't working out, guys," sighed Michelle. "You guys have been fighting with your style for a long time, longer than I've been alive."

"Are you-a saying we're-a old!?"

"No, no, not at all.just middle-aged." Before Mario had a chance to punch Michelle in the gut, Peach came over and caught his fist, looking kindly at the trainee.

"I wouldn't mind showing you my style," offered Peach.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Princess," declined Michelle. "Besides, I can't even walk in high heels! How do you expect me to fight in them?" Once she caught her breath, she started charging at Mario again, and soon, they were in a "heated" battle.

Kimoru watched the scene from his throne through his crystal ball. He laughed to himself, amused.

"This is pathetic," chuckled the phantom. "This girl couldn't fight her way out of a paper bag even if she wanted to!" Link looked up and into the crystal ball, watching the human girl train. His eyes caught a glimpse of her right hand, which had her class ring on it. A beautiful, white stone was in the center of it, and whenever the light hit it, it would shine different hues of the rainbow. Somewhere, he had heard something about the description of the stone, but he couldn't remember where. His hopeful eyes soon turned sad as he saw the teen knocked down by Mario. Kimoru saw this change, then smirked.

"Face it, boy, your beautiful land of Nintendo is doomed. Soon, it'll belong to me," laughed Kimoru. Link glared at him and growled under his breath. Kimoru pushed his hands out to the side and the gloves came off, growing to their original size. To his left, Crazy Hand, and to his right, Master Hand.

"Taking over the girl's land should be a breeze," laughed Master Hand.

"Nintendo Land could pose a bit more of a challenge, though," stated Kimoru.

"Don't sweat it," assured Crazy Hand. "One of their best fighters is in our clutches. Nothing can stop us, not even a klutzy little girl!" All three of them laughed maniacally, leaving Link to watch with an angry look in his eyes.

Michelle baseball slid to knock Luigi off balance, but he caught her feet, spun her around, and then threw her off the stage. She hit the western wall back first, then fell down to the very bottom of the stage, below the fighting area. One of the moving platforms picked her up and took her to the boarding dock where Peach, Mario, and Luigi met her. Peach rushed over to her to help the beaten and exhausted fighter walk.

"Yeah, I don't think I'll be fighting on your team since I can't master your skills," sighed Michelle.

"You're doing fine for your first day," reassured Peach.

"Honestly, haven't you ever been in a fight before," taunted Samus, who just came down the hallway to go to her next match against Captain Falcon, who was close behind her.

"Do verbal fights count," asked Michelle. Samus just looked at her like she had grown another head.

"You're pathetic, you know that?"

"You wanna say that to my face," challenged Michelle. She started walking up to Samus, but then felt a bit dizzy. Captain Falcon and Peach rushed over to her to catch her by the arms before she tripped. Samus just laughed.

"You can't even walk and chew gum at the same time! How can you expect to be a smasher if you can't even stand up?" Michelle's angry face soon turned into an upset one as she lowered her head. Zelda frowned as she peered from around the corner.

If she can't pull this off, thought Zelda, I'll never be able to see my best friend again.