Super Smash Bros adventures chapter 9
Excitement buzzed around the Smash mansion like a swarm of bees. Today was the first major tournament day, and for most it was a day of thrilling anticipation. But, some of them almost couldn't contain the butterflies in their stomach, particularly, the eight Smashers who would be participating, a selection of which Mario was a part.
"Ugh! That's it! I'm finished!" Mario cries with frustration, having fought twenty battles with his clone, the latter of which he hadn't done so well on. The plumber flops down on the floor with exhaustion. "I don't know if I'm good enough to win this tournament." He says to himself.
"Hey Mario!" Mario jolts up in surprise at the sound of a female's voice calling him.
"Oh, Palutena! What are you doing here?" Mario wonders.
"I came to see how your training is doing." replied Palutena. "And maybe punch a Sandbag for a little bit."
"I just finished training actually." Mario replies.
"Oh, well, I can practice later… Do you want to get lunch with me?" Palutena offers.
"Oh, uh… sure." Mario replies hesitantly.
"This is not a date…" Mario reassures himself as he and Palutena sit down with two slices of pizza each. However, Palutena hears him.
"Oh, you're still sad about Princess Peach." She says understandingly.
Mario knows he can't hide it from Palutena, so he nods.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Palutena asks sweetly, feeling genuine concern for her friend.
Mario thinks for a moment. "I guess so… but, I don't really know where to start…"
"She seemed nice…" the goddess said.
"She was… is…" Mario says. Then, he gets to think how he is supposed to concentrate on the tournament with Princess Peach on his mind. Maybe that is why he had so much trouble training. It was just sad to think that all the memories of dancing, playing sports, and kart racing would never be the same anymore without her.
"Don't worry, Mario. I'm here if you need someone to talk to." Palutena consoles, seeming to know what Mario was thinking.
By this time, Mario has finished his pizza. "Ahh that's much better." He says contentedly, thinking of how good the food and their conversation was.
"Do you think you're ready for the tournament?" asks Palutena, thinking it a good time to change the subject.
"I don't know." Mario says uncertainly. "All of these fighters are pretty strong… I'll have to be at the top of my game if I want to stand a chance against any one of them, especially Sonic. When we battled last time, he destroyed me! I barely landed a hit on him!"
Palutena thinks for a moment. "Well, you've gotten stronger since then, right? And you've been training really hard. Even if you don't win, you can at least take comfort in the fact that you tried your best."
Mario nods slowly.
Palutena continues. "You know, Pit always talks about how strong you are. He told me that he wants to be as strong as you one day, to help save people and stuff. I think you really inspired him."
Mario raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Wow. I didn't know Pit thinks of me like that." He says. "Thanks, Palutena." The two of them throw their trash away and head to the meeting place for the start of the tournament.
As the last few Smashers enter the room, Sakurai steps onto the stage. "Thank you for coming, everyone! I am honored to be with all of you on this very special day!" The waves of excited chatter die down immediately as the host continues speaking. "Today's the first major Smash tournament, and as you all know, the fighters competing this time are Mario, Donkey Kong, Sonic, Ness, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Marth, and Wario!"
Everyone in the room is in a frenzy. Sakurai raises his hands for quiet, and then continues. "Before the tournament begins, I'd like to announce betting. Who ever picks the right fighter will get five times the coins they bet. But, choose wisely, because anyone who chooses wrong will lose their coins to the Smash mansion's budget."
All the spectators immediate grab coins from their pockets and race to the booths to make their selections.
"Who are you going to bet on?" asks Shulk.
"I'm thinking on betting on Villager." Rosalina answers. "What about you?"
"I'm choosing between Marth and Ness. They're both strong fighters." replied Shulk. Since he couldn't use the Manado at will, he'd have to rely on his knowledge of past fights.
"This is a hard choice." says Pit. "Who are you going to vote for, Lady Palutena?"
"I'm a goddess, Pit. I can't be partial to any one fighter." replies Palutena, giggling a little.
"Hm," says Pit, racking his brain. "I think I'll vote for Mario."
Meanwhile, the fighters are all in the Smash room talking about the tournament. "I can't believe this is happening." says Mario, feeling a little nervous.
"We might get a chance to fight each other." says Sonic.
"Yeah. We haven't fought since Brawl's tournament." says Mario.
"Oh, like it matters!" Wario interrupts. "I'm-a-gonna win this tournament!"
"I'm getting fired up." says Wii Fit Trainer while doing some stretches.
"Don't you ever take a break?" asks Wario, turning to face her.
"I always do some stretches before I battle. It makes for a good warm-up." replies Wii Fit Trainer.
Back in the ballroom, Sakurai waits for quiet before speaking. "Thank you for betting. Now let's get this tournament going! Each match will be untimed, and each fighter will have two lives! Now it's time for me to announce the first round. Donkey Kong will fight Wii Fit Trainer at Dr. Wiley's castle!"
The spectators cheered wildly and talked excitedly among themselves. "Oh! This is an interesting mix up." says Diddy Kong.
"Donkey Kong doesn't stand a chance against Wii Fit Trainer." Fox says bluntly, folding his arms across his chest.
"We'll see about that!" Diddy cries. At Dr. Wiley's Castle, the fight had already begun, and the audience was enjoying every minute of it.
"Oh! That's gotta hurt!" Bowser observes as Donkey Kong lands his Giant Punch, sending Wii Fit Trainer flying.
In the end, Wii Fit Trainer wins, and returned to the ballroom amid a chorus of cheers and applause. "What a great workout!" she says, wiping the sweat from her forehead
Sakurai announces the next battle between Marth and Villager.
"How does Villager fight?" wonders Mega Man.
"Wait and find out." Ganondorf says impatiently.
"This is going to be good!" exclaims Pac-man, his mouth bulging with cherries.
The fight had begun and Marth and Villager rushed at each other. Both fighters try their very best, Marth dealing dazzling combos with his blade, and Villager using his common equipment, like his net and slingshot very well. When the fight concludes, Marth emerges as the victor.
"Yes! Marth! You've got a good rhythm going!" Shulk cheers.
"The third battle of the preliminaries will be… Mario versus Ness. They will be fighting on Gamer!" Sakurai announces before the crowd could quiet down.
Mario's heart does a flip flop inside his chest. He was up next.
"Good luck." says Ness, smiling.
"You, too." Mario says, shaking the kid's hand, and they are transported to their fight.
On the word "Go", Mario charges at Ness and throws Fireballs as fast as he can.
"Hm!" Ness chuckles. "You'll have to do better than that!" the boy says, absorbing the flames with a blue bubble of psychic energy. "PK Fire!" Ness points a finger in front of him and a burst of fire is released, but with a swish of Mario's Super Leaf Cape, it is reflected.
"How's that?" Mario asks, running up to Ness. Both fighters were landing minor hits on each other, determined to win. Ness grabs Mario and throws him to the ground, shooting scorching flames at him. Mario flies through the air, his damage increasing in severity.
"PK Thunder!" Ness cries jumping through the air. Mario air dodges, and then realizes, too late, that the thunder wasn't aimed at him. "Aahh!" Ness cries, blasting himself forward. He slams into Mario with such tremendous force that Mario is sent flying out of bounds. The audience cheers as Ness spins a ball of energy on his finger.
Mario returns to the area and jumps down from the white platform. He uses his moments of invincibility to dodge the PK Fire thrown at him and lands a few powerful Punches on Ness, sending the child flying.
They are so busy fighting that they don't notice that Mom is looking in on them. Both of them try to find somewhere to hide, unsuccessfully, and Mom sends them flying. Ness is claimed by the light because of this. Mario is bounced on the tabletop, sustaining a fair amount of damage.
Ness feels refreshed when he returns to the area. He shoots a PK Fire at Mario. Breathing hard, Mario tries to deflect it, but is not quick enough. While Mario is trying to escape the flames, Ness hits him with his bat, sending him flying.
"Just one more hit," Ness thinks to himself. He leaps into the air and electricity surrounds him. "PK Thunder!" he cries, curving the projectile behind him. Ness is shot forward, but he realizes, too late, that his aim had been off, and he misses Mario by a few inches.
Mario goes up to Ness and landed a few Punches, then grabs him by the legs, and Tornado throws him offstage. "How's that?" asks Mario. "I'm not done yet." says Ness. Ness creates a PK Thunder, and hits himself with it. "Bad choice." says Mario. Mario takes out his Super Leaf Cape, turns Ness around, and Ness falls into the blast zone.
The spectators in the ballroom all cheer for the 2 fighters, when Mario and Ness return, they shake hands. Ness goes to the ballroom to sit with the audience.
"You were close, Ness." Pikachu says comfortingly.
"I know! Mario is a strong fighter." Ness exclaims as he sits down. "Guess I'll have to get stronger for next time."
Mario smiles as he hears this, and returns to the Smash room.