Chapter Nine

Morning dawned on the group as they prepared for their next challenge. The symbols above the doors confused them. A mushroom? Hadn't they fought the Mario Brothers already?

"This time, I don't get it." Link muttered, thoroughly confused by the new challenge.

"We already fought Mario and Luigi. There are no other Nintendo fighters with that symbol." Fox muttered. DK looked happy.

"All right! I get to beat up on another mushroom man! Plumber pancakes, here I come!" he whooped and raced into the door marked for him before anyone could stop him.

"What a dork! He charges in without even knowing what could happen? If he falls, I'm gonna laugh." Yoshi declared spitefully. Link looked up at the mountain. They seemed closer to the top now. Clouds still covered the tip, but some of those clouds also touched the ledge.

"We're almost there. I just hope we don't lose anymore fighters." he whispered and entered his door.

"I have a feeling this won't be an easy fight either." Mario muttered as he went in. Yoshi soon followed, leaving Luigi, Jigglypuff, and Captain Falcon behind to hope no one fell in the future matches.

--------------------

"Ninth battle for Donkey Kong!" the announcer declared as DK erupted from his barrel, "Donkey Kong versus Metal Mario! Ready, set, GO!" The arena was made of crystal, the base platform hovered high above the force field below them and had a slightly wavy floor. Above it was a small platform. On the platform, a green pipe rose up and from it came a metal copy of Mario!

"Oh, so that's why they said Metal Mario." DK remarked and grinned, "No problem! I can beat the stuffing out of the other Mario, I'll just do the same to you!"

"That's what you think, Banana Brain." Metal Mario rasped and began to walk back and forth on the platform, waiting for DK to attack.

"What are you doing?! You're just gonna walk around up there like some wind up toy?!" DK shouted angrily. Metal Mario grinned and nodded. DK matched the grin. "Well, then. Don't mind if I throw in a few quick punches!" With that, he jumped up onto the platform and began to pummel the metallic entity. Metal Mario took the abuse easily, then suddenly countered with a Jumping Uppercut once he took thirty points of damage.

"Hey! I thought you were just gonna walk around!" DK whined as he recovered from the attack. Metal Mario smiled, diamond-like teeth shining at him.

"Changed my mind." he hissed and began to walk around on the bottom platform. DK growled and jumped down, punching and kicking to raise his damage points. "Stupid ape." Metal Mario laughed and used a Whirlwind Attack to knock DK around, before slamming him onto the bottom platform. DK's damage meter rose to forty points as he tried to pick Metal Mario up and carry him to the edge.

"Oh man! You must weigh a ton!" DK gasped as he lumbered along with him, "Oh, my aching back!" Metal Mario struggled.

"This will not work, stupid ape." he informed the ape.

"Let's find out!" DK yelled and threw Metal Mario over the side of the platform. The robot used a jump and double jump to get on board again, then pulled DK into another Whirlwind. "Hey! You're as heavy as a rock! How did you get back up?!" DK yelled in shock.

"I'm much more powerful than the first Mario copy! You can not defeat me!" Metal Mario declared as a crate dropped onto the field. DK jumped up and punched the box, releasing two Poké Balls and a beam sword. He grabbed a ball, threw it, grabbed another, threw it, then grabbed the sword.

"Let's see you handle a Hitmonlee and an Onix at the same time, ya freak!" Donkey Kong shouted as he jumped down to face the metallic monster. The Hitmonlee kicked at Metal Mario, adding another few hit points, while Onix shot up into the sky with a roar. DK began to whack at Metal Mario with the sword. The damage meter rose steadily higher, and rocks began to drop onto the field. None of the attacks fazed Metal Mario, though.

"Foolish ape. You have no idea of the power you are facing." he laughed and pulled DK into yet another Whirlwind Attack, followed by a Jumping Uppercut. Dizzy and dazed, DK fell onto the platform with nearly eighty points of damage on his meter.

"Hey.... I thought I was winning...." he babbled woozily as Metal Mario jumped up to face him.

"As I said, you will fail. Now the time has come for you to meet your new master!" the robot declared and sucked DK into another Whirlwind. The ape began to scream and shriek in rage, then was slammed high into the air by the Jumping Uppercut. "You were a pathetic fighter." the evil copy declared as DK hit the force field and writhed in agony.

"You metal freak! You cheated! You didn't play fair! I want a rematch!" DK shouted as the field began to suck him in and transport him, "I want a rematch! I can take ya! No! Stop! Lemme gooooo!" DK's wails were cut off as he vanished into the field. Metal Mario smiled again.

"Donkey Kong defeated!" the announcer declared, voice filled with glee, "Donkey Kong disqualified from the remainder of the Master Tournament!" Metal Mario turned and exited the room through the portal that appeared.

---------------------

Meanwhile, Fox was doing his best to get Metal Mario's damage meter higher. With a flurry of kicks, Fox watched in satisfaction as the meter grew deeper in color and totaled higher and higher. 230%, 240%, a little more and Fox could shove him over again.

"You can not defeat me! I am more powerful than the first Mario copy!" Metal Mario raged as Fox kept a grip on the Green Shell in his hand.

"Yeah, yeah! Tell it to someone who cares!" Fox panted out and finally slammed the shell into the metallic monster. Metal Mario was thrown over the edge. He tried to get back up with a jump, double jump, and Jumping Uppercut combo, but Fox knew about that trick and was ready for it. "Miss me?" Fox laughed as he used a side kick to throw him off again. Having used up his last jump, Metal Mario could only fall, screaming in a fury as he hit the force field and was destroyed.

"Metal Mario defeated! The match goes to Fox!" the announcer declared, "Warning! Hostage being released!" A cage dropped onto the platform as Fox covered his head. The cage began to make noise.

"Hey! Hey! Somebody! Anybody! Get me outta this stupid thing!!" a young boy's voice yelled out. Fox brightened and ran up to free the prisoner.

"Ness! Ness, it's me, Fox! Hang on!" Fox cried and opened the door. Ness, a boy with a red cap, purple and yellow striped shirt, purple shorts, red sneakers, and brown backpack, stumbled out of the cage.

"Man! My psychic powers didn't even pick up on the creep that nailed me!" he exclaimed as Fox handed him his missing yo-yo. "Where the heck are we?!"

"A place called the Realm of Neutrality, and some creep named Master Hand kidnapped us and a bunch of other characters." Fox replied, "Come on. Let's get out of here and I'll be able to fill you in on what's up." Just as the two of them got ready to jump through the portal, the mountain shook again, shaking the arena. "Hey! What's up?!"

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Another one bites the dust! Your fighter force is dwindling, Allstars! Tell me the identity of the wrong character!" Master Hand's voice boomed out. Ness clutched Fox's hand tightly, eyes wide with shock.

"Who is that?!" he asked. Fox growled angrily.

"That's Master Hand, the one who nabbed us! And it sounds like another Nintendo character failed the battle. Who was it?" he muttered.

"You cheated!" DK's voice shrieked aloud before the shaking stopped and the booming sounds ended. Fox sighed and shook his head.

"Why does that not surprise me?" he asked himself as he and Ness exited the arena.

--------------------

Outside, the remaining fighters greeted Ness somberly and looked at each other. Only four fighters remained from the original eight that began the tournament. The challenges were getting harder to overcome. Fox looked at Yoshi, who stood in a daze.

"Well? Aren't you going to laugh? You said you'd laugh if DK fell." he pointed out. Yoshi glanced at him.

"That was before this tournament killed my sense of humor." the dino replied softly, "We're losing. Big time."