Crashdown in the Crater
Hi and week three has arrived with much more in store as the season progresses ever so more down the line. With nothing more to say lets get forward with this and stop wasting time.
All rights got to Nintendo and Next Level Games, not me.
Since the Yoshi game Mario had made it a priority to fix the mistakes in his scheme. First the Fireballs practiced on repairing their faulty defense. Next they five came to realize they played too aggressively, on too many occasions could the plumber vividly recall the opponents taking the ball and scoring or coming close to. So they worked trying to keep future mistakes to a minimum.
That training would come in vital for the flames' upcoming opponent, Bowser Junior. Who they were well familiar with so walking in with what to expect did help. BJ came in with the same knowledge so it evened out giving no side an unfair edge.
The only factor not the same was the field and the young prince's sidekick selection. Crater field was a pitch found in the middle of a rock ridge, nothing special about it. Just the standard electric fence was prevalent other than that it was good old strikers.
Next Junior has a mostly new set of sidekicks. Only Monty stayed of the old trio as the Jokesters' Koopa and Hammer Bro were swapped for a Boo and Shy Guy. But Mario had faced plentys of Boos and Shy Guys knowing their quirks and oddities.
The forty odd thousand fans cheer for the home red team on the toasty fall day. Yoshi Island was a tropical isle with a warm climate comparable to parts of Sarasaland. The game broadcasted an hour past noon, the rays of the sun beamed down with no cloud running the course of blocking the shine.
Henry looked on, seeing BJ's revamped trio of helpers from across the midline. "His team is almost unrecognizable." he said to no one in particular.
"Yeah your right, he got two new wingers," Dean spoke, answering the Hammer Bro's statement. "I wonder why?"
Henry knew why, the Koopa prince blamed them for his poor showing in the Fire Cup Finals and sacked them. Henry's temper quickly rose, it became apparent the spoiled spawn of Bowser faulted them and threw them out for some new draftees.
Loyalty was something Henry valued, that's why he so wanted to join Mario. Never one to blame others but took accountability for his failures and showed to overcome them. Henry would take matters in his own hands showing the heir's ideals were wrong.
Kenny likewise knew and whispered over to Dean explaining why. The sidekicks didn't bother greeting for there was nothing to say. The thousand screaming fans would have made the task impossible anyways.
Bowser Jr. dropped down, blowing his fire breath. His flames had improved but still were not intimidating, plus his little growls sounded so timid like he forgot to rehearse for his school play.
Dean and Henry were on the edge of howling, biting their bottom lip. Dean's eyes widen and slap his hands over his and Henry's mouth. Henry was not pleased;
"Ow! Why'd you do that?" Henry shouted muffled in the dead one's hand.
Dean glanced at him and talked in a harsh tone. "Don't you remember the last time we laughed at him?"
The forgetful Hammer Bro had to jog his memory but spent an impressive eight seconds of thinking he shook his head. Dean leaned by Henry's ear and reminded him of BJ's headshaking scream they endured last time they let their tongue slip.
"So you see? That's why I put my ha-, UGH!" Dean took back his hand to see saliva over his bone hand.
He became beyond tick. "Did you lick my hand!"
Henry nodded as Dean angrily wiped his hand on his tattered shorts. Not long after Mario was spotted and he flew down landing in front of his sidekicks. The plumber was ready from the gates, primed to use his newly developed tactics in an actual game.
Bowser Jr. was not willing to show any face to his dad's nemesis walking away. Mario, not surprised, jogged back. After brief briefings both clubs went to their places.
Mario and BJ stepped up. Kenny and Henry split off as left and right wingers. Boo and Shy Guy mirrored the two to the ends of the midline. Dean and Kingston stayed back far alike to Monty and BJ's yellow geared up Kritter.
A strong gust of air flowing through Mario's brown locks and hitting the young Bowser's face. The chill was wiped away as the sun's warmth glowed on their skin. The game began with the sound of a horn cut through the air.
Boo came down squeezing between the captains with a swift turn the ghost flew. His figure became translucent from the sun's ray, naked to the eye. Dean estimated where the spirit was and ran down to the right sideline behind Henry. He faintly picked up on a metal clanking sound.
Believing his thoughts he caught a glance of Boo, loosely but still a sight. He slid beneath stealing the ball. Dean got on his feet still moving and invaded BJ's side. Monty ran down but his stamina could not equal Dean's giving the speedy one a free lane and crossed the ball.
The red lit ball spiraled on the outside of the goal box. The yellow Shy Guy scurried to deflect the ball but was pushed down. Mario jumped over the masked player catapulting by jumping on his head. The fire leader hit the ball with his hairline forcing the steel ball to head for the top crossbar. The ball smacked the top crossbar and dropped in the net.
The plumber snagged the first score barely thirty seconds in. The extra training was paying dividends, their positioning was better and defense was not as spotty. BJ kicked the goalpost in vexation only hurting himself.
The teams stood back in their places, the wind whirled harder. Mario almost lost his cap from the fearsome gust. All the planning in the kingdoms could not feasible prepare him nor his team for the outside interference. Both halves would need to get accustomed and find a way to use the weather on their side positively.
The action proceeded in Mario's home area. Younger Bowser had trouble finding any groove with miss passes and inaccurate shooting. His sidekicks fared no better with Mario's team proving to know what their next move was before they knew.
Henry bashed Shy Guy on the head drawing the ball away. The red Hammer Bro used the favorable crowd's cheering to boost his already high confidence. He made fools of Junior and Monty luring them in range for a hammer swing attack.
Ego rising, Henry took a cocky long shot from way out. The Jokesters' goalie had no hassle reeling the ball and threw it back out. Henry was bummed he didn't nick a goal but fright washed over his moping.
In his arrogance he missed Mario's call. All made worse he was a country mile from any realistic threat. After the green croc's save the captain eyed him and shook his head in disbelief. Henry knew after the game Mario would bring it up and explain what was going through his head which was the last thing the right fielder wanted to do.
Bowser Jr. was supplemented power items in help for his tries of returning the goal. His red shells become almost redundant how many he threw. On offense, he threw red shells, on defense, he sent his homing shells out to buckle the red's legs.
During the red shell throwing Dean settled out BJ. Before the hit Boo passed the ball in BJ's direction in perpetuity. The ball perfectly traveled in Dean's unwanted grasp. Dean narrowly passed the ball as Shy Guy zoomed with a mushroom to attack.
Kenny controlled the ball with the inside of his foot. Ducking his head in his shell from Junior's punch and swept him from under his feet. The middle of pitch was infested with danger the ambitious turtle charged. The efforts of Monty and Boo lunging at Kenny failed as the Koopa ran closer to goal.
Junior's goalie swallowed the lump in his throat. Kenny dashed forward and mustered all his will into his kick. The ball pocketed for the bottom right corner. BJ's Kritter thought the ball would go high so he dove way too high.
A strong wind from the west formed. The air hurried as leaves ripped from trees littering on the turf. The ball's rolling shifted right by the gust, hitting the side post denying Kenny his hard effort score. Kenny tried chasing the ball but stepped on an undetonated explosive making it blow up in his face. Shy Guy wobbled and kicked the ball high and safely out of Prince Bowser's side.
The breeze continued being an annoyance doing whatever in playing its own part in the contest. Bowser Jr. swore he should have had a hat trick if the wind wasn't out to get him. Shells traveled at the speed of bullet bills hitting as hard as one too. Bananas slid with the direction of the wind ending up in new places they were not before slipping the unaware strikers.
Dean crashed in the electric fence by the hands of BJ. Junior giggled evilly running as Dean's cries came from his throat. BJ aimed and shot the ball with his stump leg. Kingston jumped and punched the ball. The ball headed up in the sky with a high vertical arch.
Mario pushed himself up with the shoulders of Monty and headed the ball. The steel ball rolled over to Junior's half of the field with the wind pushing it forward. Kenny scrambled chasing the well charged soccer ball. Boo flew after Kenny and grabbed a hold of his shoulders. The Koopa could feel himself losing his footing and kick the ball in panic. The ball went up past the Kritter for the unlikely goal.
The red left fielder removed himself from the floor and jogged back raising his hand as the cheers and clapping flooded in. The gloats could not start as stadium workers had to sweep and patched the ditches in the turf. Banana scraps and shell fragments littered the grounds that weren't blown to pieces. Mario used the time to group up his team by Kingston's box.
"Good-a start, new plan is-a working great." the fire captain said, taking a drink of his cup of water given to him by a Shy Guy worker.
"Yea! That extra train you put us through is actually paying off." Dean spoke sitting down, legs spread out.
"Compared to last week this has been a million times easier. We're already two up!" Henry boasted certainly feeling himself in the moment with swelling pride.
"Three if someone could use their head and eyes." Mario scoffed.
"Come boss I didn't mean it, I was in the moment and I wasn't thinking!" The hammer turtle defended his case.
"Tch, obviously." Mario slowly shook his head. Henry gave up and didn't consider trying a sly remark. He respected Mario too much to do so and feared what a mad Mario would be like.
"If this goes on we can most likely get that goal back and possibly more." Kenny expressed wiping his face with a cloth towel. Kingston rested against the right goalpost, arms folded on his chest.
"I don't like this let'em take more shots,"
Everyone turned their vision on the tall Kritter by the unexpected comment. "Are-a you serious?"
The fire keeper scrunched his nose and looked downwards at the mustached man. "Of course I am, All I've been doing is standing making one lousy save." venting his aggravations.
"Calm down Kingston this is better than allowing a goal and hearing your insensitive whining." Dean rolled his eyes at the crocodile's speech.
"Shut it, I don't whine!" Kingston whined pointing at Dean.
"Sure…, sure you-a don't." Mario chuckled as everyone started giggling. The crossed keeper grumbled under his breath
A Goomba with a trash can on his head walked to the standing Fireballs. "Um, clean up is done. Any trash you may have just throw in this here trash can."
Mario and his crew thanked the handy Goomba and strolled back over to their starting position. The on field personnel hurried off before the electric fence went back online. Fans returned to their seats from the restrooms and food stands seeing the construction was done. BJ resumed the game as soon as he was allowed.
Little Bowser persisted in clawing back the score in a not so lopsided way. Kingston got his wanted demand with the yellow away team pestering him with power shots in droves. He slapped them all back, not giving an inch in ground and keeping BJ's score at nil.
Henry managed to pull the steel ball out of Boo's control by utilizing the claw of his hammer to wedge the ball out. The steal was soon irrelevant as the Hammer Bro was attacked by a headbutting Shy Guy. Henry crashed and burned ragdolling his way into the waiting hands of the electric fence.
Kenny dashed to his pal's side and tackled Shy Guy off his feet. A crushing sound waved through the arena, the all round masked sidekick's arm was pinned between the two's armor. Shy Guy fell to the ground and stayed nearly motionless.
Kenny fought off Boo for dominance of the ball and made a run for the goal. The newly plowed turf was a godsend for the left fielder. No more stray banana peels or deep ditches an unthoughtful step would fall through just clear grass and good dribbling as all he needed. Kenny chipped the ball up to Henry who stood by the right fence.
Henry recovered fast and joined the push forward squishing Boo like a pancake getting the white spirit off his friend's shell. The ball curved to him and jumped to meet the yellow hued ball, his mind told him to throw caution into the wind and aim for the back of the goal. But his mind replayed the recent blunder and surveyed the field.
Mario was running down the middle at full speed, hand frantically waving for Henry's attention. The Hammer Bro let gravity take him down and lobbed the ball to the center of Junior's territory. The red plumber was surprised to witness Henry pass over the metal sphere and took the rare chance. He leaped and twisted his body upside down and smacked the ball hard to full power with a bicycle kick.
The ball moved fast, barely able to be seen until it was reappeared firmly in the back of the net. It took everyone a second to realize what happened as Mario was jumping and celebrating in eerie quietness. Soon the reds' sidekicks joined Mario and so did a majority of the crowd yelling loudly.
Three to none Bowser Jr. dug himself quite the ditch. The score and momentum were not on his side. He went and blamed everyone around him. Mario, his keeper and even the officials. It wasn't his fault surely, he was his father's son he could do no wrong or do no mistakes. He even considered trying to come back and just throwing in the towel. He went against it, he was many things but a quitter was not one of them.
A minute twelve seconds were all that was left to milk from the clock. For almost sixty seconds of time the ball was passed and stole in the middle. The Fireballs displayed the fire still in their bellies raged on even late into the game's lifespan. The yellow Jokesters showed less of a fight but carried on in combat trying just to press on the attack.
BJ launched a bomb strike crumbling Kenny and Dean in one fell wave.
Shy Guy received the ball from a well attempted pass from Boo and went to a secluded area of the pitch. Geared up the mysterious yellow one pulled out a bullet bill and set course. The landing spot was Kingston but his right arm stung and had trouble steering the unpredictable missile. Shy Guy missed his target slightly and hit the left goalpost.
Kingston was caught on the outskirts of the radius of the blast and downed along with the unconscious Shy Guy. The ball that was carried in the bullet bill dropped safely on the turf. Boo flew hoping to tap it in for the away side first goal.
In the process of getting closer something hit Boo on the top side of his helmet. The flying object was thrown with such force the dead one flight changed right towards the electric barrier nearby.
The brazen toss came from Henry lobbing his tough as nail mallet gyrating through the windy climate. Henry jogged, smashing the ball out of danger, crumbling the first good look of BJ's team that game. Done with defending the red offensive powerhouse strolled to the corner of the voltage fence and dug his hammer out of the grass embracing it.
"Thank you old reliable." he whispered before returning his hammer back securely on his back shell, joining back the soccer contest.
Bowser Jr. rolled on his shell knocking Mario off his feet. Running at a diagonal angle crossing into the caped crusader's half. Monty by his side acting as a shield, BJ cruised along the sideline. A while later Prince of the Koopas sent the ball in the clouds for a late game megastrike.
The big gopher turned, back facing his leader and the high volt fence. Twisting his view he shrieked loudly. Junior jumped a little by the girly screaming, he leaned out to view what shook Monty so greatly. Bowser's son's expression turned white as a mean gargantuan red shell approached. In a matter of seconds the two were plowed into the ground.
Dean regained the metallic ball on his captain's behalf. The ball traveled to Kenny who in turn passed up to Mario. The red man flew up with the ball as the sun cooked his skin. He divided the ball four ways, rocketing them to the unlucky yellow geared Kritter.
It has been a rough day for Junior's keeper, now a four ball megastrike was looming and he was the last line. He prepared the best he could though it was hard as he had been anything but a wall.
The first ball came fast over the middle and he reacted well punching the ball to atoms. The second sneaked his legs scoring, in shock he looked down to see his failure. A ear popping swoosh sound occurred seemingly over his head. In fear he slowly twisted his head back and his worst nightmare was realized.
The third ball was resting in the back of the net. In his sulking he let one get by him for free with no fight or pushback. His mind started spinning until he realized there was still on ball on its way. The disordered crocodile looked up pinpointing the last shot and caught it firmly.
The megastrike over Mario netted two more and pushed himself to an impressive hat trick. Pushing the game out of BJ's claws, the hero in red sighed in relief. His new tactics paid off and rewarded the Fireballs greatly.
After some more time the game ended. Mario squashing Bowser Jr. five to nothing. Junior acted the same way he did after losing, malcontent and refused to show respect physically pulling his team out of the stadium to not shake the hands of the reds.
Mario and his allies didn't even notice the yellow's walkout as they all went on acknowledging their impressive win, another one for their winning streak.
But how were the others doing?
Three hours later at the Lava Pit Waluigi welcomed Daisy much to her dismay. The pools of lava crumbled Waluigi as the athletic princess and her team started strong and never let off the petal. By the end Daisy clobbered Waluigi four to one.
Even later on under the cloudy skies in the Battle Dome Wario and Yoshi clashed. Unlike the earlier games this one was bitter and close. Every item and tackle could change the outcome in favor or not for each side. A Chain Chomp caused havoc for Wario, letting Yoshi cross the ball for Birdo. She headed the ball in breaking the one all deadlock giving Yoshi the victory.
Mario and Daisy stayed on top for another week. Yoshi rebounded from last weekend improving his stock in the standings tied with Waluigi and BJ with a one win two loss record. Wario was still rock bottom with no glimmer of hope.
Next weekend could be something of a breakout for Wario. Him and Mario would be each other's next hinderous. Mario trying to preserve his winning streak while Wario could use the great boost of beating one of the unbeaten teams in the Crystal Cup could turn his whole team around. And everyone else would focus on their tasks to grind out the same goal, Crystal Cup Champions.
Author's Notes
Woah Mario and Wario? That's gonna be something to look out for, the two are sure to put on a show. On purpose? Maybe not.
On the other hand thanks for taking the time out of your day or evening to read some still story I'm creating. The amount of traffic every now and then still puzzles me but hey, if you're still reading I'll continue typing them.
Stay safe till next time, peace!