Chapter 10: The Plumber
Mario and Fox ran at Pyra, who had that smug expression of triumph he always had. Fox reached Pyra first. He threw a couple punches that started to kick wildly. Pyra moved between them like water. When Mario arrived, Pyra threw a punch of his own and hit Fox in the chest, knocking him back. It felt as though a freight train rammed into his chest.
Mario rolled under the kick Pyra directed at him. He stopped and stood up right between Pyra's legs, tripping him. Pyra stumbled backwards, giving Mario time to smack him with his cape. Pyra stumbled back farther. Mario kept him off balance with a bunch of fireballs.
By now Fox was up. He ran at Pyra and hit him with a Fire Fox. Pyra was pushed back into a green shell that was lying on the ground. He tripped over it and hit the ground. Fox picked up the shell and chucked it at him. But Pyra was ready.
He caught the shell and threw it back in one swift movement. Fox ducked, evading the shell. But while he was down, Pyra jumped and kicked him in the back of the head. Fox fell forward, nearly breaking his neck. He let out a sharp bark of pain as Pyra dug his heel into Fox's shoulder blades.
Mario attacked then. Pyra fired a missile at him. But Mario saw it coming and smacked it with his cape, sending it back at Pyra. Pyra blew it up with a jolt of lightning from his finger. Then, like lightning, he was on Mario, claws swiping over his body. Mario didn't stand a chance.
Pyra took a swing at Mario's head, leaving deep, red mark across his face. Then Pyra punched him in the stomach. Mario buckled over in pain as Pyra kicked him in the shoulder, sending Mario to his back. Pyra jumped and slammed his knees into Mario's gut. Mario hollered in pain.
Pyra sank his claws into Mario's chest. He smiled as the ring began to glow. But before much more could happen, something long and purple slammed into Pyra's head, knocking him off. Before he could get up, the purple object hit him again, sending him into the air.
Fox stood over Mario holding a Beam Sword. It was in the crate he got the blaster from. Another tournament gift. Mario got to his feet, rubbing his chest. Pyra spun in mid-air, landing on his feet.
Once his feet were on the ground, he launched some of his spinning blades. Fox brought the Beam Sword around, deflecting them all. Then he ran at Pyra, swinging the sword. Pyra jumped back, dodging the blade. Then Pyra stuck his hand out and froze Fox in his steps. Then he launched a full powered Shadow Ball into Fox's face.
Fox skidded across the ground, knocking up dust. Mario jumped through this dust and began to attack Pyra. He kicked and punched. Pyra ducked and weaved. Then he rolled under Mario, dropping a few of Samus's bombs along the way. They blew up, knocking Mario off balance. Pyra jumped and kicked Mario in the back. Mario toppled forward and rolled to his feet.
Fox fired his blaster. The green bolts of energy caught Pyra in the side of the head, knocking him back. Fox fired another barrage. But as the bolts of energy reached Pyra, he stuck his hand out to form a large wobbly shield around him. The bolts hit the shield and dispersed into Pyra.
Fox knew that move. That was the PSI Magnet. It belonged to Ness. When did Pyra get Ness? While Fox was watching the tournament? Why did he take Ness? Mewtwo was already psychic, why take two? Pyra read his mind.
"Because with Ness, I have much better control of these psychic powers. They are dreadfully hard to control."
He flashed a smile, showing his many fangs. Then he stuck his hand out and sent a PK Thunder after Fox. Fox hit his reflector and the jolt of energy bounced off, hitting the ground and dispersing. The reflector couldn't stop the Falcon Punch that came next, though. It shattered the reflector and hit Fox in the chest. Had the reflector not absorbed some of the blow, Pyra would have crushed Fox's lungs. But as it was, Fox just sprawled backwards, rolling to a stop, holding his chest.
He looked up as Mario and Pyra continued to fight, knowing Mario was done for. He tried to get to his feet, but Fox was in too much pain. He could feel blood seeping through his shirt. Capt. Falcon never hit that hard. Because he was being conservative or whether he couldn't, Fox didn't know. But it was clear that Pyra was out to kill.
Fox watched helplessly as Mario desperately tried to beat Pyra back. He threw everything he had at Pyra. But Pyra just took it and kept on coming. Nothing Mario did mattered. It was over for him. Pyra didn't even have to fight him. He just had to wait for Mario to get tired enough. Then he struck, replacing his claws in Mario's chest.
He held Mario in the air while the plumber struggled to get free. Fox could see the ring begin to glow. He reached for his blaster and gripped the handle. He pulled it until it was before him, aimed at Pyra. He pulled the trigger, but the power core died after two shots. The two he did fire went wide, missing Pyra completely.
Then Mario burst into white energy and slowly began to dwindle into nothing. Pyra smiled as he absorbed Mario into his being. He fired off a few fireballs at random object. Then he turned to Fox. He went over to him and knelt.
"You know," he said. "You keep up this course of action, you're going to end up dead. My advice to you would be to just lie here and accept the fact that I have won. I'm going to take the Hands and there is nothing you can do about it."
Then he opened another portal and jumped through. Once Pyra was gone, Fox found that the mind-numbing pain in his chest seemed less intense. After twenty minutes, he could get up and move around with little discomfort. Then he cursed to himself as he ran to the Arwing. Pyra had used some combination of Ness and Mewtwo to put some sort of mind affect on him. The pain was just a figment of his imagination implanted by Pyra.
Once in the Great Fox, McLoud called up his list of Smashers. He marked off Ness then turned to the rest. There were still two slots on his ring for two more Smashers. And as he scanned the list, Fox knew with a grim realization who his next victims were. There were no other choices. He activated the navigation controls and set in the coordinates for the tournament. He had very little time.