Chapter 14
Espionage
Dr. Mario raced out of his car and blasted toward the arena's Grand Hall. He found his thoughts blurred this early morning by the haste the moment summoned within him. The lab coat that trailed behind him had been sparkly white a moment before, but the dust his speed was kicking up muddied it considerably.
He burst through the doors to the Smasher hall. There, to his dismay, he found Mario and Luigi sitting among the others in the Smasher group. His face burst into a radiant color of crimson rage as he approached, and his scowl even had Fox drawing back in favor of safety. "What 'a you doin'?" the Dr. asked, taking Mario by the ear and dragging him from his seat. "You not 'a ready to go out in-a-to fights, 'a yes? You come 'a back with 'a me now, eh?" He was speaking in that mafia-like tone of voice that told the plumber he didn't have a choice.
Of course, Mario was no ordinary Italian plumber. He was, in fact, Mario and was effectively the ruler of the Nintendo side of Game World. He wasn't about to take this crap from a doctor. He drew an audible gasp from the whole assembly when he slapped Dr. Mario's hands away. "Hey, you!" he shouted, his own face growing just as red with anger. "Shut up 'a you face!" He stalked toward him, and the red flush was replaced with pale fear on the Doctor's visage. "You keep 'a holing 'a me back in that 'a hospital! I'm 'a not gonna go along with it any 'a more! I've 'a got a battle to fight! You wan 'a to come along? Fine, but 'a you not gonna keep 'a me in 'a that room 'a no more!"
At this point, Dr. Mario had his back flushed against the walls. He was staring up at Mario through wide eyes. None of his patients had ever mustered the nerve to speak to him like that. It was a shame that the biggest name in Nintendo had to be the one to tell him what for, adding injury to insult. He was snapped out of his frightened stupor by the voice of Samus, smiling broadly under her visor. "He has a good idea there," she stated. "Why don't you stick around? We could use a field medic."
Of course, Fox had to put his two cents into the mix as well. "Ya," he stated as arrogantly as ever, "I might hurt these losers too badly to keep them safe in our medical quarters. We'll need a good doctor to patch them up."
Despite the glares he drew from every other Smasher in the room, Mario nodded in agreement. "Then it's 'a settled! You's 'a gonna be our 'Field 'a Medic!'" Mario pipped, drawing sounds of agreement from every other Smasher in the room. Peach, standing front and center, was the next one to speak up.
"In that case," she demanded, "May I get back to the lesson? If Dr. Mario's going to be along, he'll need to know this stuff too, ya' know?" Everybody was happy to get away from the Italian wrath of the Marios and back to the lesson at hand.
---
That afternoon was a good day for training. The Links stood at opposite ends of the arena, looking to each other with wry smirks about their faces. "You ready to learn?" Link asked his young self.
"Whenever you are," Young Link stated plainly.
"Then let's begin." He stalked to the center of the arena menacingly. Full of courage, the younger Link was not to be intimidated. Both adversaries took to a sprint at the same time, clashing in the center of their dash with a force that only a Hylian could muster. The swords clanged violently against one another, the reflection of the sunlight in their edges blinding the onlookers for a brief moment in time.
The first bout ended there, with Young Ling flying back from the force of the impact. "Lesson one," Link advised, "Know your enemy. I'm you, only older. As such, I'm also stronger. You can't beat me with a clash of blades." He smirked. "Which brings us to lesson two: Know yourself. You're small and quick – I know because I used to be you. And finally, lesson three: Use lessons one and two to figure out the best strategy to take an enemy down before the first move is ever made."
With that, he charged at Young Link a second time. The young Hylian rushed straight back at him. However, instead of going back into a clash with him, he completely sidestepped his older self's blow. As his sword sailed toward the back of his old self's legs, a gray field formed in a circle about Link's whole body; it seemed like Link was a fast learner in any time frame.
Link turned to his younger self with a smile. "Good," he said. "You've learned these beginning lessons well."
"Thanks!" Young Ling shouted, resting his sword on his shoulder and putting his shield hand on his hip. "I really am trying ha-" He was cut off abruptly by the blunt edge of Link's sword smashing into the side of his head, sending him sprawling on the floor with a very large headache.
"Lesson four," Link advised, "Never lower your guard, especially against those you think are your friends." Young Link growled as he rose and prepared for yet another bout.
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Mr. Game and Watch was careful not to leave the shadows as he stalked through Bowzer's palace. He was treading on dangerous ground here, lurking in the lair of a far more powerful sprite then he. Even the slightest wrong move would mean certain ruin for the old-game star.
Finally, his objective came into view. It was Bowzer's office – or at least, the equivalent thereof. A throne-like seat sat before a desk cluttered with papers. It was, perhaps, the most unorganized thing he had ever seen. He dashed into the room and toward its front, looking about the mess for the thing that he needed. Little did he know he hadn't gone unseen.
He took to the clutter enthusiastically, sifting through the sheets to find what his enhanced programming saw as his purpose for existing, at the moment. Had he lips, a smile would have crossed his face as he picked up a single file and pocketed it in the black expanse of what passed for his body. He headed back for the door and through the halls, but found himself stopped by a most unwelcome set of faces at the front gate.
"Well, well, well," Nana stated, "If it isn't Mister Game And Watch himself!" She scoffed.
"I should've known you'd betray us. Pac Man won't be pleased," Popo added.
"Ice climbers!" Mr. Game And Watch shouted out. "You don't know what you're doing! Please, just stay out of my way!"
"That's really not an option for us," Popo stated plainly. "We can't let you leave this room."
"Just put down the papers and come with us peacefully. We don't want to hurt you," Nana added.
"That's not an option for me," Mr. Game And Watch stated. "Then, there's only one way to decide this." He took a ready stance, and the Ice Climbers mimicked it in their own stance.
The Ice Climbers were the first to make their move. They raced toward Mr. Game And Watch, throwing themselves at him with a rapidly sweeping hammer. He easily dodged Popo's leading blow, but was caught off guard and pounded by Nanas. He flew a few feet before skidding to a halt and looking back up. Popo was coming in again already. Mr. Game and Watch jumped up in anticipation of the blow, but was caught off guard again. The string Popo was pulling had Nana attached to it, and he flung her up into the air to smash him again, followed shortly by Popo for the follow-up.
'Today just isn't my day,' Mr. Game and Watch observed. He flipped backward and landed once more on his feet, this time determined not to be on the receiving end of the blow. He was ready when they came in again, and instead of trying to dodge Popo's blow, he countered it. He juggled the Ice Climber up and over him along with three shadowy balls. "POPO!" Nana exclaimed as she raced to his side. However, it was not to be as Mr. Game and Watch slammed a shadowy chair against Nana's forehead, sending her flying into the distance.
The scream of rage alerted Mr. Game and Watch to the charging blue Eskimo behind him. He turned in the nick of time and was catapulted above by a fireman-style trampoline. An oil can covered Popo with oil as he turned around as well, and it spread to his friend as he crashed into her. The match followed soon after, and the Ice Climbers screamed in anguish for some time before the fires burned themselves out. They struggled for a long time to get up, but neither of them could manage it.
"Now do you see?" Mr. Game and Watch asked. "I thought Bowzer and the others had the truth with them as well," he stated. "Then I met the Smashers. They showed me what it is to be a real sprite and helped me to get my new brain under control. When that happened, my powers multiplied almost overnight. They can help you do that, too! Please, just come back with me!" Nana was close to passing out by this point, but Popo still had the strength to nod in agreement. Mr. Game and Watch would have been smiling, had he lips, as he helped the Ice Climbers to their feet and helped them out the door, where the evac team from SOCOM would be waiting to pick them up.
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Dr. Mario frantically dashed out of the way to avoid Mario's fireball. Luigi seemed to be waiting for it yet again, and he was forced to slide beneath him to avoid the rising fists of the green-clad plumber. He had been ready for Mario to appear seemingly out of nowhere right behind him yet again, and was prepared for his counter. A megavitamin flew from the sleeve of his coat, connecting solidly with Mario's head.
"Oww," Mario whined as he fell back to the ground. Dr. Mario couldn't waste time; he was still in a real match, after all. He rushed to the falling Mario and landed a spinning side-kick on the small of his back. However, Luigi was there to return the favor via a flying head-bash to his stomach. It was hard to fight Mario or Luigi alone, but the Mario Brothers were overwhelming when they worked together.
The next series of events only proved that statement. Luigi followed his blow with a slide-kick, sending Dr. Mario into the air. Mario was ready for the maneuver, using a flip-kick to send the hurting doctor back to the arena's stone floor. The Mario Brothers converged quickly on the spot, but Dr. Mario bounded up and out of the way at the last minute, leaving the brothers to crash into each other.
"That's enough, boys," a girlish voice stated from the sidelines. It was Peach, smiling as always at the successful bouts these Marios were having. "It seems they'll make a fighter out of you yet, doctor." She gave a wink to the three of them before heading back to the Smasher Hall, where Link, Young Link and Zelda had been waiting since the end of their bout.
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There you go! Chapter 14 is finally finished. I still haven't fixed those errors I was going to, but I'll get to that eventually. Chapter 15 is on its way, so please keep the reviews coming!
