Chapter 50: Boss Battle: Jack Grey Part 1

The elevator played a beautiful tune from the 50's as it went downwards towards the bottom level, Jack Grey and the Doberman we're standing patiently as they we're waiting their destination.

"I'm very astounded you won the tournament. I was expecting those Smashers to win." Jack said.

"Why's that? Are those so called: 'Heroes of the WOT' expert poker players too?" The dog questioned.

"Ha, no way. Those Smasher's are painfully average when it comes to be games. The most professional was that wolf. He was a very competitive player. He would have made it to the final round if he hadn't assaulted you."

"Eh, Damn shame he managed to get those filthy claws on me. Well at least the universe will make it up to me with the big fat prize. Just wished I had it already." Doberman said as he used a toothpick to clean out his pick. The skeleton was eyeing him and the canine responded with: "I'm planning on going to a steakhouse after this, might as well get my chompers ready."

"I see, well anyway, I'm sorry for the wait but security come first when it comes to my establishment. We wouldn't want some nobody stealing the grand prize would we?"

"Has anyone actually stole from the vault?"

"Some had tried to do so? But all had failed and I had made an example of them. As long as I'm in charge here, no one will steal a single cent from me." The doors opened and the skeleton and canine walked out, and were greeted to the money vault; being completely empty except for the lone coins on the ground.

They stood there absolutely shocked, they stood in silent panic till the Doberman responded. ""That's the worst case of irony as I ever seen."

"MY MONEY!" Grey ran inside and whipped his head around the entire area. "All of its gone. GONE! GUARDS!"

Three shadowmen came over, standing straight with obedience. "We're here Mr. Jack Grey, Sir." One of them said. "What seems to be the problem?"

"THE MONEY HAS BEEN RANSACKED? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!" The skeleton yelled. "HOW COULD YOU LET THIS OCCUR?! DID YOU PUT YOUR THUMBS UP YOUR ASSES AND DID NOTHING ABOUT IT?!"

"We didn't sir we didn't!" The talking shadowmen said with panic. "We we're patrolling on your orders. Command didn't notify us of anything wrong so we carried out of business as usual."

"THEN WHY… wait. Have you check the main vault at all?" Questioned the owner. The four henchmen shook the head's 'no'.

"Oh god." Grey crunched his hands with anger before maintaining his composure. "Alright! I want two of you to check out command, the rest of you will be coming with me to check the main vault! Do I make myself clear?!"

"YES SIR!"

"THEN MOVE WITH PURPOSE!"

Two shadowmen ran out of view whiles the Doberman, two guards, and Jack Grey ran all the way to the artifact vault. It took several minutes before they arrived. Three shadowmen were knocked out on the floor and the small metal door was wide open.

"You two check the vault, I'll wake up the men!" Ordered Jack Grey.

"YES SIR!" Shouted the henchmen as they ran inside.

The skeleton knelt down and grabbed an incapacitated guard of the ground and shook his shoulders. "Come on! WAKE UP!"

The thug woke up slowly, rubbing the back of his head in pain. "Oh… my head. Mr. Grey?! You're here?"

"Yes, I'm here! It's was time for me to give the prize to our winner! But I found the vault ransacked and you three asleep on the ground! What the hell happened?!" He unintentionally shouted in the shadowman's ear.

"I don't know sir, we we're doing our daily checkup of the vault when this wolf with an eyepatch came out of nowhere. We tried to arrest him but he took us all out."

"Wolf with eyepatch?!" growled the Doberman.

The two shadowmen returned, panting heavily as they saluted to their boss. One of them stood forward. "Sir, we noticed that one of the prizes had gone missing."

"What kind of prize?" Jack Grey head twitched.

"The prize for the grand tournament. The boxer trophy to be exact."

"NO!" Snarled the dog. "That was my prize! Those bastards!"

The other shadowman came forward as well. "As we searched, we got a message from the men from the command room. The guards were knocked out apparently, one of them stated they were knocked out by some green gas. Said it smelled like ass."

Wolf. Trophy. Foul gas. These words circled around Jack Grey's head. He didn't need to be a detective to figure out who did the deed. He stood on his feet calmly, he hands trembled with anger as blue fire erupted from his sockets. He took one deep breath before screaming out his new hated word.

"SMASHERS!"

"Are there any guards?" Said Meta-Knight. The group had got what they came for and now their priority was now to leave to building. If their crime gets discovered whiles their still inside. They'll be in trouble.

Lucario came up the stairs and used his Aura Vision to view the entrance. "No. We're clear."

"Then let's move." Ganondorf said, leading the group to main lobby of the casino; the patrons were too busy with the games and food to notice the Smashers. So far everything was going fine.

The eight fighters walked a brisk pace to blend in with the crowd, acting like they were just strolling around and not getting away with the first and hopefully last heist they ever planned. Snake turned his head to the Newcomer and asked him a question. "How you're doing kid? You okay?" Little Mac was wrapped in a white sheet the Smashers found lying on one of the boxes in the vault. He needed a disguise in case anyone recognizes him from the prize box, it was weak, but it was the best they could find.

Little Mac had trouble comprehending what was going on. First he woke up in some warehouse and now some blue dog is telling him they're rescuing him from some skeleton. The boxer didn't anything his 'rescuers' told him. The teenager assumed it was having one of those lucid dreams that Doc talked about once.

Considering how rare those dreams were Little Mac took it in good spirits. He pretended to understand what they were conveying and went along with them. His ability to detect one's intentions was very useful in his career and was more useful in cutting through the curtain of deception. Thankfully, his now found friends appeared to be telling the truth. He had no reason to be against them, and with nothing left to do he just went along with the plan. Little Mac raised his head to the solider and nodded.

"Alright, that's good. I bet you have many questions right now, and we'll answer all of them. But not right now. We need to book it before he finds out." Snake glanced to the upper floors of the casino, the guards were getting antsy and were running all over the place. "They're scrambling all over the place, I think they know. Where's the exit?!"

Wario squinted his eyes and pointed. "It's over there!" The fat Smasher's finger was directed to two doors, wide open. The beautiful flowers and grass of Onnet were clearly visible on the other side.

"Finally! Ok guys, change of plans. Let's run as fast as we can!" Lucario telepathically announced to his comrades. All the trophies sprinted as fast at their bodies can managed. The sense of victory radiated from their minds as they came closer to the doors until…

*SLAM*

…they suddenly swung backwards and closed shut, with the lock rotating by itself.

"You have some nerve. You know that!?" A grizzly yet booming voice erupted behind their backs. The Smashers reluctantly turned around to see a frightening sight. Jack Fury head alit with blue flames menacingly holding several coins in his hands. People around him took several steps back of fear, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Wario was sweating like a pig, he gulped before putting out a nervous smile. "Hey Jackie… How's the weather?"

"We're inside dumbass, out of all the lies to choose you picked that one?! First you steal from me and now you're trying to cower away. Ridiculous!" His guards circled around the fighters and armed their weapons at the fighters. The skeleton raised a hand. "No. I will handle this, go back to your posts. No matter what happens you will not intervene. Do you understand?" His henchmen nodded and cautiously walked away, giving the stage to their boss.

"Stole from you? We didn't steal anything-" Bowser tried coming up with an excuse but the skeleton interrupted him.

"Don't take me as fool you hulking turtle! You people were moaning how much you wanted your precious Newcomer, and I found the prize missing from the vault!" The Doberman walked from behind him and spoke out his resentment as well. "Yes! And I won fair and square, and yet you tried to screw me over. But what can I say, if a Wolf is a crook then I guess his friends is as well!"

Wolf barred his teeth at the dog with that insult.

"And I see you have my property right in front of me." Jack Grey pointed to the boxer wrapped in white cloth. "Take that off son, you're not fooling anyone."

Little Mac took the sheet of carefully, he was used to big thugs but this skeleton was something else. He never encounter someone of this caliber before, this was uncharted territory.

"You know, I'm surprised you managed to do this." Jack spoke with anger mixed with a pinch of amusement. "I never thought you heroes would do something like this. Especially you Lucario, you're too kind for your own good. I never thought you would go along with this."

The jackal stood back a couple of steps before regain his posture and regaining his confidence. "I value my morals but I value my family much more. If I have to break the law in order to save them. Then so be it."

The skeleton laughed his heart out as he shook his head. "You known this guy for what, a day? And now you all are risking your safety for some boy who may or may not have the same feelings for you. I knew the Smash Brothers were bleeding hearts but this is getting out of hand. I'll tell you what." Jack Grey outstretched his hands in an attempt to seem friendly. "I'm going to do something that I've never done before. I'm not going to punish you outright like those who tried to screw me over before. Your organization helped me in ways I never could. If you hand over the prize right now, I'll let you go and not ban you from this casino for life. So what it going to be? Your friend? Or our partnership?"

The Veterans looked at each other in uneasiness. They knew if they cut business with Mr. Grey it would be a huge loss to their resources. But they also knew that every single Smasher on this planet was important. They were the sole protectors of the Omniverse, to betray one another is to betray reality itself. Knowing where they stand, they all nodded to each other. Snake stepped forwards. "We're not letting any of us behind. Sorry Jack, but we're going to cut you loose."

Jack Grey rubbed his bony chin. "I see… does he speak for all of you then? Yes?" The skeleton formed blue fire in his palms. "Then allow me to burn away my goodwill!"

The twisted flames erupted towards the fighters, they barely had enough time to dodge as the attack scorched the door and the surrounding wall. Wolf stood his ground to shoot energy blast from his pistol, beside him was Snake, who launched a missile from his remote controlled rocket launcher.

The skeleton rotated his body to dodge Wolf's projectiles, he took some spare change from his pocket and threw it at the missile; making it explode. He generated more fire on his hand as he charged forward.

About now the guests were panicking, most had abandoned their games to take cover behind pillars and trashcans. Some however, ignored the chaos and pay more attention to their task of winning the jack pot. The only exception was the Doberman, who was observing the fight whiles keeping his distance.

Snake took out his gun and open fired. Jack Grey was able to avoid the bullets due to his enhanced agility but a few hit his ribcage. It hurt, but he wasn't going to be incapacitated because of the feeling of pain. The last metallic projectile zoomed past his skull as he delivered a fiery uppercut to the soldier's gut. Snake went flying into a chair before hitting the ground. Wolf reactively tried to brandish his claws to slash the skeleton but Mr. Grey caught both of his paws within his hands. He gave the canine a menacing glare before head-butting his snout and kicking him away from his sight.

Bowser and Meta-Knight went up to challenge to owner of the casino. The turtle caught the skeleton of guard as he dropped kicked him into a pillar; fracturing it immensely. Jack Grey got up a rubbed his skull. "You shouldn't have done that."

Bowser sprinted and tried to deliver a punch to his chest. Jack simple side-stepped out of the way as the king hit the pillar, fracturing it even more. The skeleton laughed. "I heard stories from your friends. You wasted your life trying to capture one princess? How pathetic."

Bowser growled. "I'll show you pathetic!" The turtle opened his mouth to release orange flames from his snout. The skeleton jumped over the attack and the Smasher and formed a blue fire ball in his hands. He smirk as he projected the sphere at Bowser's back. He slammed to pillar once again, one more hit, and it'll go down.

"You're have terrific strength but terrible brains you stupid turtle. If you were only a little bit smarter, you could have outdone that plumber."

"THAT TEARS IT! I'M GOING TO SMASH YOU!" Bowser grabbed a nearby poker table, he breathed in his gut as he threw it at his opponent. The skeleton simply extended his hand and the object stopped in midair.

"What?"

"Have you forgotten? I control every inch of this casino. That includes the furniture." He flicked his finger at the table zoomed at Bowser, the turtle ducked his head and avoid the object as it slammed into the stone pillar. "HA! Missed me you meatless prick!"

"I wasn't aiming for you."

"Huh?" Bowser ears perked up as he heard crumbling behind him. He turned around to see the pillar collapsing, taking down a section of celling with it. The smasher screamed at the rubble crashed into him. Then a yellow light enveloped the area to reveal a trophy of a monstrous turtle trapped under a mountainous pile of debris.

"Bowser!" Lucario shouted.

"Like a said: terrific strength, terrible brains." The skeleton voiced his opinion aloud. He went alert when he heard the sound of flapping wings fast approaching. He quickly transformed his body to smoke before the Galaxia Sword sliced through his form. Jack Grey reappeared several feet away to see Meta-Knight staring him now with fury in his eyes. "You are dishonorable, Jack Grey. A person with a soul tainted as yours don't deserve luxury."

"Oh please, honor is a social construct. It doesn't exist. I got where I am by navigating the system. If you want to fight me, go ahead. By your standards, my soul may be tainted-" The skeleton created a sword made of out cards in his right hand and shield crafted from coins in his left. "But my fighting skills are not. Show me far this 'honor' can get you vampire reject."

Meta-Knight and Jack Grey clashed their swords together. Their fight was akin to that of old Kung Fu action. It would be amazing to watch if the circumstance wasn't so dire. Their swords continued clashing until Mr. Grey successfully kicked Meta-Knight in the face.

With the Smasher stunned, the skeleton threw his coin shield in Meta-Knights mask. Making him skid across the floor. "You assume that everyone else will play by the rules. That's a big mistake!" Jack's sword separated into individual cards and flew towards the fighter. Half of the cards wrapped around Meta-Knight's body, holding him in place, whiles the other half circled around him. Cutting him with their razor sharp edges.

"It's a sad fact, but the people who take advantage of the game are the ones who get the happy ending. There is no chivalry in survival of the fittest. It's just nature." Jack Grey gestured his hand at a restaurant, the same restaurant the Smashers were eating at earlier and flicked his hands forwards. Propane canisters burst through the window at great speed and head straight towards Meta-Knight.

"It's a shame you never learn that." Mr. Grey quickly formed a large fire ball and precisely threw at the right moment. The knight's eyes went wide as the projectile made contact with the canister. A huge explosion of blue and metal blinded everyone in the room. When smoke cleared, the skeleton could see the trophy of Meta-Knight embedded in a nearby wall; still smoking from the blast.

"No…" Snake lamented.

"You're already down two men and I'm just getting started." Jack laughed. "You should have never crossed me." The skeleton shifted his body to ash and smoke, zooming through the air like sadistic falcon hunting down its prey, and re-materialized in front of the teary eyed jackal, the shocked solider, and the enraged wolf. "Now allow me to dish out the burn."

Snake tried to re-aim his pistol but Mr. Grey executed a roundhouse kick which knocked the weapon out of his hands, the metallic slid across as if it was a sign to symbolize Snake's new founded vulnerability. Lucario had successful blasted a Force Palm to the undead's chest but because of the fact that the Pokémon hadn't been damaged during the entire mission and also that his power gets stronger when his own percentage is high. It only did little knockback against the opponent but it did crack the sternum.

Jack gritted his teeth in annoyance as he blew a puff of smoke, blue fire burned on his fingertips in contempt, the blue dog would have gone for another attack but a bony uppercut to his chin prevented him from doing so. The solider saw his friend being knocked into the air and retaliated by pulling out his RPG. The missile barely left the weapon, a coin smashed though the metal interior triggering the explosion. Snake shouted his anguish as his slid against the rugged floor.

Wolf lined up his sights to deliver a well-placed laser at the skeleton's skull but the Doberman that had watched from the side-lines step in, he sprinted at the Smasher and slashed his short but sharp claws at the wild pilot.

"You're joining in Danny? I thought you didn't like fighting?" Jack asked.

"I'm making an exception, this bastard is going to pay for robbing me blind." The dog chuckled at the Wolf who as now snarling at him.

"Knock yourself out. I still have to deal with rest of the problem." The skeleton said as he marched over to a determined Gerudo, a scarred fatty, and a stressed boxer.

Lucario ran over to Snake, he placed a paw on the soldier's arm as he pulled him up. "Snake, are you-"

"I'm fine." Snake quickly got on his feet and grabbed his gun off the floor. "Where's Jack."

"I think… there he is!" The blue canine pointed to freighting skeleton approaching their friends. "He's coming after the Newcomer."

"Alright! Let's-" Wolf was thrown into them, knocking them both down. The three fighters unraveled themselves to witness Danny the Doberman walking up to them in confidence; twirling his magnum around like a cowboy. "You know what? I changed my mind. I'm going to help Mr. Grey after all. You people are with the wolf after all. It makes sense I'd kick your ass as well."

"That will not happen!" Reaffirmed Lucario. "We won't let ourselves be defeated by the likes of you."

"Wanna bet?" Danny smiled at the jackal, mocking him ever so slightly. The Pokémon created an Aura Sphere in his hands and projected it out at the dog. Danny did a roll on the ground and set upon himself on the knee. The bullet glimmered for a second in the flight as it collided with Lucario's face; flinging him back into a pillar.

"Dammit!" Snake said.

"Told you so." The Doberman announced as he fired the gun once more. Wolf was using his force-field to block the shots whiles retaliated by shooting rounds out of his SOCOM.

The boss of the casino was approaching the three trophies. "Now if you kindly hand over that prize, we can negotiate-" A clump of garlic bounced of his suit, he looked down; a stain had now formed on his expensive suit. Pissed off, Jack Grey looked up to see Wario holding several pieces of garlic. Now shaking uncontrollably. The Smasher screamed like a little girl as a large fire ball exploded the fatty all over to the slot machines.

"So much pain in so little time." The skeleton shook his head. "I assume you going to cause more problems for me?"

Little Mac had seen some bastards in his time but this was definitely the most evil person he had seen in his life. Not even some of the boxers he fought in the ring was dirty as this. Dream or not, this skeleton had to be taken down a peg. The teenager went up the owner of the casino and released a flurry a punched to the man. It would have been effective if Grey hadn't turn into Smoke.

Mac looked at the black cloud, dumbfounded. A bony hand came out of the smoke and punched the boxer in the face. The move was powerful enough the force the boy on the floor. The Newcomer eyes were spinning, he tried to close his eyes to resettle his vision.

"I'll take as yes. You know, this would have all been easy if you just surrendered."

"We never negotiate with our enemies! Power is gained through strength, not appeasement."

"You may be strong, but I'm stronger."

In the blackness, Mac could hear sounds of hitting, shouting, and the crackling of flames in the distance. He relaxed his eyelids to witness Ganondorf and Jack Grey neck and neck; hands intertwined; eyes deadlocked; and teeth barred. It was unknown who was going to win this fight, but the boxer was not going to let fate decide.

The teenager got back up in haste, he transferred the kinetic energy from his glove into the skeleton's already cracked rib cage. The force of the blow was strong enough to break the bone.

Jack Grey howled. The resulting pain threw of his game, allowing the king of evil to the opportunity to kick the skeleton's spine. He was propelled several feet away into a row of chairs, his back suffered more pain as he splintered the wood.

He was horrified to see the state of his body, the sternum was completely broken; the only thing holding his ribs together was his spine. Looking further, the extent of the damage became clear; large cracks on his lower back. Due to this injury he'll be unable to complex movement lest he wants to be broken in two.

'But I can't take a break now.' Thought Jack. 'If I do nothing, they Smashers will win. I cannot let them get away!"

Jack re-lit the cigar with his finger and took a big breath, orange energy course through his body as the pain was numbed. A single snap of his bony fingers transformed a section of the casino into a beach: The ground was replaced with sand, the pillars were swapped with thick palm trees, and even the restaurant was morphed into a lighthouse near the ocean.

Little Mac watched the magic unfold, he was so mesmerized he actually let some words slip through his lips. "Woah…"

Ganondorf channeled dark energies through his fist. "He can control and change the casino into anything he see fit! Keep your guard boy!"

"Right you are, Ganon." Jack took another breath of smoke. "I was hoping to not overexert myself, but looks like I have no choice. I'm at full power now. If you think I was bad before, wait until you get a taste of the new me."

A bony hand was raised up from his body and he pointed over to the Large Smasher. Several palm trees were ripped from its roots and were telekinetically thrown at Ganondorf. The projectiles splintered into a thousand pieces as he punched the wood; only one tree managed to hit him. He stammered back one step as the projectile broke in two; Ganon was now pissed.

Jack observed the Smasher withstanding the attack. "You know I got to say, you look funny when you're mad. I wonder if that's a quirk of yours?"

The boxer shook his head of his amazement and ready his game face on, he left hard-pressed footprints on the grounds as he charged forward. With a movement of his palms, the skeleton unearth a multitude of seashells from the sand and compressed in into a ball. Then he threw it at the Little Mac.

Mac can give punches but can hardly withstand them, he's a glass canon. When the sphere was launched into him. The teenage zoomed through the air like a meteor, and would have crashed like one too if Ganondorf hadn't caught him with a single arm. He set the boy on his feet as the both of them stared at the skeleton; emanating with demonic power.

The beast has been released.