Super Smash Bros adventures chapter 58
Mario falls on the ground after his trip from the vortex. "Where am I?"
Mario looks around and realizes it's Master and Crazy Hand's mansion from the time he saved Palutena from having her power taken away. "No way."
"Welcome back to our home, Mario."
Mario looks at where the voice is coming from and found Master and Crazy Hand. "You two!" angrily says Mario, covering his hand with Fire.
Mario jumps at them and throws a Fire Punch at Master Hand. In a nick of time, Crazy Hand slaps Mario to the ground and grabs him. Mario struggles getting out by using his Fire Powers to burn Crazy Hand. "Hurry up, I can't hold him any longer." cries Crazy Hand.
Master Hand gathers all the Dark Energy that Mario took out and put it all back in him. The Dark Energy slowly taking over Mario's body. "Eeeearrgh!" Mario cries, trying to fight the Dark Energy.
Mario uses all his power to try to prevent Dark Energy from coming in, but it was a lot stronger than last time. "Yes! Soon, you'll be helping us taking over all Worlds." says Master Hand.
After a while, the Dark Energy completely took over Mario's body. "This time, we made the Dark Energy to listen to us." says Crazy Hand.
"Tell everybody at the Smash mansion about the final event we planned for them." says Master Hand.
Crazy Hand made a portal and is on its way.
Meanwhile, Palutena Bursts through the mansion's front door, breathless. But, before she can get a word in, Samus marches up to her. "Palutena. We've got a problem." she says.
Palutena's eyes widen and her mouth drops open. The other Smashers can't possibly know what has happened to Mario already, unless… A brief thought crosses her mind, but she shoves it away. She's got more important things to worry about than wondering whether or not her and Mario had a few spies following them. "Listen, Samus! Mario's been taken away!" Palutena cries.
Now it is the bounty hunter's turn to be shocked. "Again?" she asks. She paces back and forth, muttering to herself. "First Crazy Hand, now we have to find Mario…"
"Crazy Hand?" Palutena asks. "What's he got to do with this?"
Link, who is nearby and has heard Palutena's question, steps into the conversation. "A few minutes ago, Crazy Hand said he had another 'event' planned for us."
By the air quotes Link makes with his fingers, Palutena guesses that the event Master and Crazy Hand are planning is something horrible. "When is it?" she asks weakly.
"In a month." Samus says. "And something tells me we can't count on Mario's help this time."
Palutena clenches her fists. Why wasn't she strong enough to save him? She hopes he'll be all right. Not wanting the others to see her sadness, Palutena straightens up. "Look, guys. Worrying about Mario will get us nowhere." she says, taking charge for the moment. "We should just focus on training so we're strong to face Master and Crazy Hand's final attack."
"Right!" Link and Samus agree, and they go tell the others.
For the next month, the Smashers train all day and night, sometimes forgetting to eat or sleep. Wii Fit Trainer really knew how to keep them going, and if her coaching didn't help, the thought of what would happen if they lost certainly did.
Finally, the day of reckoning arrives. All of the Smashers gather in the main hall. Not a word is spoken. Their worried glances and troubled expressions say enough. Everyone looks for the slightest stirring in the air; a speck of dark energy, a chill, something that tells them that the final event has begun. It comes sooner than they thought, and though everyone is expecting, the appearance of the dark portal still makes the Smashers flinch. Master Hand glides through the portal followed by his crazy twin. "Greetings, Smashers." the master says, amused at the effect he is having. "I'm sure you know what today is."
"We know." Ike says through clenched teeth.
"That's right!" Crazy Hand exclaims with glee. "It's time for our little game to begin!"
"Hold on!" Palutena says, bolder than she feels. "Mario's missing."
Crazy Hand waves dismissively. "Oh don't worry about him. I'm sure he'll be joining us soon."
"Palutena, we can do this without Mario." says Samus.
Master and Crazy Hand gesture to the portal. "Step through the vortex, if you please, and enter the Master Dimension." The two hands vanish through their vortex.
The Smashers stare in silence, trying to compose themselves when Sakurai speaks. "You have all trained long and hard for this. Just know my employees and I will support you as you fight to save all of our worlds."
"He's right." Fox says. "Let's do this!"
Feeling a little more confident, the Smashers step forward, and one by one, enter the vortex. "Before we begin, we have a change of plans." says Master Hand. The Smashers stare through narrowed eyes. "You see, we thought of doing an all-out war with your enemies from your worlds, but that's really no fun."
"That's right!" Crazy Hand cries with glee. "Instead of fighting your enemies, you'll be fighting yourselves!"
"Explain yourselves." Ganondorf orders, punching his own hand.
Master and Crazy Hand don't say anything. Instead, they summon Dark Energy from their dimension. The Smashers gasp in horror as the specks of energy form living beings a newly created army rises up before them. "Ah! It can't be!" Zelda cries, staring her dark double in the face.
"It's all of us! And there's too many of them." says Lucina.
Crazy Hand cackles, which sends chills through some of the more sensitive Smashers. "This is only the beginning. After you defeat our lovely creations, you'll face someone special… Well, IF you defeat them." he corrects.
"We will defeat them," Roy answers solemnly. "For those we must protect, we cannot lose!"
With that, the armies of Smashers and shadow clones charge, and the once silent room in the Hands' mansion rings with the metallic clash of swords, the hiss of magic, and the just battle cries of determined dimension defenders.
The battle starts off well enough. Smashers' training is really paying off, as they are able to hold the army of clones back. Some fighters are prepared. They have fought battles like this before. Link slashes at his dark side after the flash from a Deku Nut stuns the clone. Samus grips her cannon, remembering the time when she had to fight her anti-self. Pit fights his double, which reminds him too much of when he had to fight Dark Pit for the first time. He has a feeling that this… Pithree… would be much harder. Fox and Falco shoot a barrage of lasers into the shadow army, while Charizard flies through the skies, raining fireballs onto the enemies below, while skillfully dodging the enemy fire coming from the dark dragon. "Ha! You're too slow!" Sonic taunts his shadow clone, who has missed a spin-dash.
The blue blur circles around lands a kick to his opponent's chest. But, the clones are quick learners, and the Smashers are slowly running out of steam. "Aagh!" Little Mac cries in pain as his copy lands a deadly Knock-Out punch.
Elsewhere, Dark Jigglypuff sings Pikachu, Ness and Kirby to sleep, before sending them flying with a lethal Rest attack. Marth calls out as Link, Roy, and Ike clones surround the Altean prince, their swords advancing towards his chest. "Agh!-Need some help!" he cries above the claining of their blades.
Cloud hears Marth's plea, but his own clone is giving him more of a challenge than he bargains for. "Can't do that now!" Cloud says, sidestepping a dark blade beam.
"What do… we do?" Lucas asks, panting. His reserves of psychic energy running low.
"We've gotta keep fighting!-Nosferatu!" Robin shouts, having absorbed some energy from the Kirby clone who had tried to inhale him. "Remember what we've learned?" He bats the dark puffball away with his sword readies his flames. "Archfire!- Well now it's time to use it!"
Over the past month, some of the Smashers had spent sleepless nights perfecting a special technique, and now it was time to release this newfound power. There is a loud whoosh, and one by one, Smashers are enveloped in multi-colored flames. The glowing fighters lock on to their dark targets and rush forward.
"This ends here!" Corrin cries.
"Land Master!" Fox calls, and he boards his tank.
"Great…" Ike swings his sword, catching two clones with the blade and delivering a cascade of slashes high in the air. "Aether!"
Master and Crazy Hand look on in astonishment. "What? What?" Master Hand screams. "No! This can't be!"
"They've- They've learned how to summon their Smash power at will! Aahh!" Crazy cries in disbelief. "I thought only one or two of them could do that!"
More fighters gain their hidden power and glow with the fire of Smash.
"PK Starstorm!"
"Chrom! On my mark!"
"Pika—chuuuuu!"
The entire mansion shakes as meteors, electricity, lasers, stars, and a flurry of other attacks rains down on the shadow clones. Some dark clones find themselves met with the steel of a skilled swordsman's blade. Others are blown away by water and fire tornados, courtesy of Corrin and Roy. "No! No! No! No! Noooo!" Crazy Hand screams with terror. "Our clones! Our beautiful clones!"
When the destruction ends, not one shadow clone is left standing. The Smashers regroup, winded and exhausted, but victorious. And yet, something doesn't seem right… There is still a sense of darkness in the air. Crazy Hand flies towards them. "You… You've defeated all of them! How? How? How?" he asks, about ready to throw a tantrum.
Master Hand merely floats calmly. "Don't worry, brother. Don't forget our secret weapon."
Suddenly, Crazy stops ranting. "Oh yeah! That weapon!" he says with glee.
"Prepare yourself, Smashers, for your final fight." announces Master Hand.
Master Hand snaps his fingers and a dark purple vortex appear. Shadow energy moves in tendrils, which gather together, materializing someone in their midst. Whatever it is, the Smashers don't like it. The energy feels dark, but there is also a familiar presence to it. The dark power vanishes to reveal the shadow of the plumber they all know. "Everyone, your final opponent will be… Dark Mario!"
There stands the Mushroom Kingdom hero. His eyes are filled with blackness, occasional flashes of blue sparking like lightning. His mouth is tightened in concentration, his body surrounded by an aura of shadows. "Mario!" Palutena cries. "What have you done to him?
Master hand chuckles. "We found something was missing inside him, so we simply gave it back."
"His dark energy," Ryu realizes. "It's like the Satsui No Hado."
"Heehee! We also gave him more darkness so his 'light' can't regain control." Crazy Hand adds. "The only way to stop him… is to destroy him!"
Various Smashers gasp or wince in surprise. "We can't do that!" Luigi cries. "He's my brother!"
Master Hand floats higher, as if pleased. "I knew you'd say that. In that case, Mario will help us destroy you and all of your worlds."
Some fighters glare at the two Hands. What was more important? Saving a dear friend? Or saving the universe? "…We're sorry, Mario…" Link says, raising the Master Sword. Reluctantly, others raise their weapons.
Dark Mario narrows his eyes and smirks. "You really believe you can defeat me?" His voice is low and threatening. "I'm more powerful than all of you!"
It is fifty-seven against one, so one would think this fight is easy. But, though Dark Mario is outnumbered, his power seems to know no limits. Not only that, but most of the Smashers are exhausted from their previous fight with the clones. Smashers come by waves, but Dark Mario seems to withstand all their attacks. Ryu, Corrin, Little Mac, and Sonic bombard him from four different directions, but Mario sends them flying with a few well-aimed punches and kicks. "My turn!" Mario says, gathering his shadow powers. He shoots bursts of dark flames.
Fox, Falco, Ness, and Lucas pull up shields, either reflecting or absorbing the energy, defending other Smashers. From a distance, Fox, Falco, and Samus shoot lasers and a fully charged energy sphere, but Dark Mario leaps into the air, and with a swish of his cape, deflects each and every projectile. "Aahh!" Samus screams as she is struck by her own cannon blast at triple its power. She hits the wall and falls to the ground.
Mario leaps into the middle of the fight, hitting any Smasher who is unfortunate enough to get close. "A vision!" Shulk cries, and swings the Monado seconds before Mario can Fire Punch him.
"Ugh!" Mario, cries, skidding across the floor.
Dark Mario stands, shadows swirling and flickering around him like fire. He rushes towards Shulk, who stands ready with his sword. "You won't get away with that a second time!" Mario screams, and grabs the seer before he can counter with his blade.
Shulk screams as he is spun around and tornado-thrown across the room.
"Ready for this?" Charizard asks Greninja as they stand firm.
The Greninja nods and both of them glow with a bluish white light. In a few seconds, the Mega-evolved form of Charizard and Ash-Greninga stand before Mario. "That won't help you-!" But, Charizard swoops down and grabs Mario before he can finish.
Mega Charizard breathes a scorching burst of blue fire that sends the evil plumber plummeting to the ground. Ash-Greninja shoots a large Water Shuriken, but at the last moment, Mario rights himself and reflects it toward other fighters! Mr. Game and Watch caught the projectile in his 2-D trashcan and leapt over fallen Smashers to close the distance. He pulls out his hammer and swings at Mario. The dark plumber is briefly encased in a block of ice. Mr. Game and Watch winces. He had hoped for a number 9. Mario shatters the ice, and shivering only slightly, whacks the 2-D man away. Each blow to the Smashers is devastating. Mario has gone mad with power, knocking out Smashers with one or two hits. Despite all their training, this fight is the most challenging they've had to deal with. Link and Pit charge forward. "Mario! Stop this!" they cry out, trying to talk a little sense into him.
Mario covers his hands with fire. Link and Pit reluctantly raise their swords and land a few good hits, but Mario knocks them down, too. He looks around at the fallen Smashers. This fight is way easier than his master said it would be. Though others attempt to rise again, Mario only sees one more challenger. Palutena stares at her friend trapped in the darkness. "Mario…" she whispers.
The darkness around him was so strong that Palutena can almost feel herself weakening. "What's wrong, Goddess? Why not attack me?" Dark Mario sneers.
"Mario. Please. This isn't you." says Palutena.
In a flash, Mario throws Dark Fireballs. Palutena gasps and reflects them with her light barrier, but before she can retaliate, Mario vanishes. Moments later, Palutena cries out in pain as something strikes her from behind. She pulls herself up on one elbow and summons blue laser lights from the ground. Mario deflects them easily, and Palutena is hit with a Large Dark Fire Ball. "Lady Palutena!" Pit gasps.
Ever loyal to his Goddess, the Angel slowly gets up and shoots a Light Arrow at Mario. Dark Mario merely turns to one side as the arrow flies past his head. He throws a Large Fireball, which sends the angel to the ground. Trembling, Palutena gets to her feet, ignoring the other Smashers' pleas to stay down. "Mario please, you're stronger than this."
Mario gathers dark energy in his hand. "The Mario you knew is gone."
"Mario, I know that the normal you is still inside you. Please, you're hurting all of your friends." says Palutena.
"Say good bye." Dark Mario pulls his hand back to swing when he hears his master's voice.
"Mario, stop!" Master Hand commands.
The dark plumber looks up, and then stares at Palutena. Why was he not allowed to complete his task of eliminating the Smashers? "Remember what we said about that goddess. You are supposed to drain her power and give it to us. Then, we'll all rule the cosmos together."
"No!" Palutena cries.
But, Mario has already dismissed the dark energy and now grabs Palutena's shoulders, holding her in place. "Good." Master Hand says approvingly. "Now we'll finally gain the power of the light goddess."
Palutena gasps as the two giant hands hover towards her, their fingers glowing with power-draining magic. "Please, Mario! Don't do this!" Palutena cries, twisting and kicking to try to free herself.
Mario tightens his grip on Palutena's shoulders. A tear rolls down Palutena's cheek and lands on Mario's hand. Her tear triggers something. Flashes of memory flit before Mario's eyes. He realizes with a shock… he knows this person… He loves this person! But, no! He must obey his master! That is his only purpose! Mario doubles over in pain, clutching his head. "Aah! Get… out… of me!" Mario cries inside himself, but the darkness is too strong.
Palutena glances up. Master and Crazy Hand are only a foot or two away. Mario doesn't look like he is breaking the dark spell. The energy is far stronger than before! Closing her eyes, she can only think of one thing to do. Mario is so full of dark energy. But, the darkness can't exist where there is light and Mario can't take her goddess power if it is given freely… Palutena lays her hands on Mario and wills her power into him. Golden pools of energy appear where her hands are and power flows into him. "I won't let this darkness take you away from me!" Palutena cries.
Slowly, tendrils of darkness leave Mario's body. "Hey!" Master Hand cries. "How dare you? Stop!"
Palutena concentrates harder, giving up every drop of her power, willing with every fiber of her being that the darkness inside Mario would disappear. "Ah-Ah!" Mario says as he feels warmth and light chase away the cold of the dark.
Palutena, sapped of her strength, falls to the ground. "Mario…" she whispers happily.
Shaking his head to clear it, Mario looks around and sees all of the Smashers on the ground, looking as they have just lost a vicious fight. "I… did this?" he gasps in horror. "I can't believe it…"
Mario's mouth goes dry, his eyes water, and the color drains from his cheeks. Mario looks down and sees Palutena, who is lying still. "No!" he cries
Mario kneels down and lifts Palutena's head. "Palutena?... Oh…" Hot tears fall from his eyes. "Palutena… No… I- I didn't mean it- I… didn't mean to…"
"It's… it's not your fault." Palutena lays her hand on Mario's face and gently brushes his tears away. "Don't cry… Mario. We'll… be all right. You… have to concentrate… beat Master and Crazy Hand…"
"I just can't believe I hurt you guys." sadly says Mario.
"Master and Crazy hand did this. They… released your darker side." whispers Palutena.
"But, I allowed myself to get taken over… I… wasn't strong enough! Look what I did to you guys!" sadly says Mario. "I'm too weak!"
"Mario, none of this is your fault. I know the real you would never do this to your friends. quietly says Palutena.
Mario opens his mouth to protest, but Palutena raises her head and plants a kiss on Mario's nose. "Good luck, Mario. I know you can beat them." says Palutena as she smiles. "I believe in you."
Mario stops crying and smiles at Palutena. He carefully places Palutena on the ground and stands, glaring at Master and Crazy Hand with new fire in his eyes. "You made me hurt all of my friends," he said slowly, his voice deadly calm. "You're going to pay!"
The two hands detect the masked fury in Mario's voice, but it only detours them for a second. "Since you're the only one standing here's our final event for you." says Master Hand.
"Defeat both of us and everything will be back to normal for you." says Crazy Hand.
Mario stares down the two hands. He has to make it up to his friends, and he will not fail. "Challenge accepted."