Super Smash Bros. For 3DS and Wii U: The Glory of Custom Moves
Smells Like A Wet Dog
In the universe in which Smash Bros. battles reigns supreme, there have been many contestants far and wide that have proved their might or prove their fame to serve as an entry ticket to one of the greatest bouts of all time. Some are iconic heroes, others may have great powers and skills, and some are arguably ways to boost sales for other games… Cough cough. But in light of all of those specifications, ignoring most of those requirements, there is one duo that has managed, almost against all odds, to prevail in a world filled with only the strongest and famous heroes.
A brown dog and a purple duck.
(...This is a thing we're doing? ...Alright.)
Duck Hunt, specifically the dog and the duck, are… A dog and a duck. Literally just that. They do… Dog and duck things? I dunno. For the most part, the Duck Hunt dog spends its time walking around in large grasslands and swamps, searching for a duck to catch, and the Duck Hunt duck prefers hiding in grass, going out for the occasional flight. Depending on the day, however, it may not end well for the dear old duck. Sometimes, it would find itself getting shot out of the sky, spiraling down to earth, where the dog was waiting, waiting to…
Grab it by the throat and present it to the air. It was an extremely complicated relationship, to be sure. But despite the constant pattern of, "hunter catch prey", they were pretty okay with that, as long as they appeased the hunter. Speaking of, there was always a hunter gunning at the ducks. Every time the both of them began their morning routine, somewhat with a trigger finger and a crosshair would shoot down one of the ducks. It stung the first time the duck was shot, but once it figured out that it did not DIE upon impact for whatever reason, it was fine with indulging in the sport.
However, anyone who is familiar with this story knows that it is not a Duck Hunt story, of course. Nowadays, they spent a little less time getting shot down and laughing mischievously, and participated in Smash battles. The group; dog, duck, and sniper sat in an empty white void, a solitary plain platform holding them aloft. The animals sat on the stage, scratching themselves or preening their wing, respectively. Suddenly, three shots rang out to the side, startling the two organisms, sending them reeling to the ground, ducking for cover from the hail-fire. In front of them, where a sandbag once sat in the middle of the stage, was a plume of smoke. Blinking, the duo stared at the spot where the punching bag once stood, a grunt of satisfaction coming from elsewhere.
Their awe was quelled as the sandbag fell back down in its spot, then somehow stood up, staring at them with two black ovular eyes. Blinking, the dog and duck tapped the sandbag using their appendages, devoid of any opposable thumbs, the sandbag simply blinking back at them. They could swear that they heard a disappointed growl, had it not been for a), the E10+ restriction, and b), the fact that they were animals lacking vocal chords. Their anatomy is debatable, but the point was, they distinctly noticed the shooter's disappointed sigh, and could distinctly notice a door shutting in the background. The two blinked, staring at each other worriedly. They stared straight at the sandbag, pointing directly towards it, awaiting the barrage of blasts that would be shot at it.
They waited, and waited. The dog began gnawing on Sandbag, the semi-sentient bag barely keeping its eyes open. His avian companion fluttered about, finding a perch in Sandbag as well, resting on top of it tiredly. Eventually, the two became increasingly aware of the fact that their main gunman was gone, sighing their dog and duck versions of a sigh. Even the sandbag with eyes was tired and sick of it, boredly hoping that it could get shot in the face all throughout the period of nothingness. Finally, the duck flapped off of the sandbag's fabric, white top, landing on the dog, and the two began walking off towards the edge of the stage, yawning.
The cocking of a weapon caught their attention. A bullet noise boomed through the stage, the two snapping around back towards where the near indestructible punching bag stood. Just like before, it was gone, with hardly a trace. Glancing towards the sky, both the dog and duck waited, searching for any sign of their practice dummy. There laid nothing but silence. Tongue lolling out happily, the dog barked, dancing about, the duck attempting to hold on for dear life. Out of the corner of their eyes, they could just barely notice a hand giving them a thumbs-up. Gleefully running about, the dog barked, running off the stage, leaping off. The duck shook its head, gripping the dog's coat as best as it could, then began to flap rapidly, carrying both him and his canine companion off the stage completely. The sounds of a door opening and closing in succession signaled the gunman's leave as well.
Having not stuck around, the duo did not notice the sandbag finally coming back down from its journey. The bag hit the ground with a splat, a strange, uncharacteristic color oozing from its face, spreading across the ground slowly, when it finally laid still, staining the platform underneath.
But the Duck Hunt Duo cared not, for they were too busy being excited, sitting in the waiting room with all of the other combatants, tails wagging back and forth with the speed and tempo of a drummer in a band. They eagerly awaited the doors across from them, faith and excitement revitalized with the return of their anonymous companion. Finally, the path to glory had begun; the doors across from them swung open, revealing a bright light. Yipping, the dog began running, dashing swiftly into the light, warping away immediately.
They reappeared on a platform. Specifically, one made of stone. In a triangular fashion, there laid three other thin platforms just above them. The battlefield was simple, nothing but blue skies surrounding them. While on the outside it seemed as though they were just a bunch of ragtag animals, they were raring to go. Across from them, their opponent stepped in on the opposite side of the platform. A woman of some cosmic description, an elegant, seemingly mythical light-blue shine to it, with white stars emblazoned on the bottom. Under bright blonde hair, two azure eyes glared at the duo, who glared back as well. Before the timer began, another entity popped up besides her, a star of sort, also with black pupils, similar to the punching bag they had sat with for at least an hour earlier.
The announcer cleared his throat, and began the countdown, same as always. "Three! Two! One! GO!"
The galactic pair drifted over swiftly, Rosalina gripping a wand in her right hand, raising it towards her opponents, a mysterious power emanating from the star-shaped tip. As she did so, her star-shaped companion, the Luma, readied its fists. The animals just stared, almost in awe of their prowess. You could say that they were starstru-
…
...They put their guard up, a bubble-like shield wrapping around them, blocking punches from the Luma and dangerous wand waves. Rolling behind them, the dog stood up on two legs, pointing with both of its hands. Next to him, a man comprised of bits and pixels, garbed in a Western bandit's outfit, turned towards the others, and fired, his shotgun leaving a trail of smoke from the barrel as the invisible projectile bounced off of the the cosmic combatant's shield. Unfortunately for the Luma, the shield only encompassed Rosalina herself. So, that meant that it would have to bear the blow, getting shot and dazed, shaking its head. In retaliation for hitting the Luma, Rosalina fired her own projectile.
The projectile in question being the very same Luma that had just been shot.
Unfortunately, using stars as footballs can only get someone so far. While it had succeeded in smacking the dog across the face, it did nothing to the duck, as the housepet rubbed its face, the wild-born animal pecked using its beak, launching the poor star person away into the air, where it-
POP!
While a straight shotgun fired to the face apparently was nothing but a scratch, a duck's bill was enough to literally blow up a star. Watching as her companion faded into nothing, Rosalina turned around, somewhat of an impatience in her eyes. Rushing over, she raised her wand, and the Duck Hunt Duo could feel themselves ensnared in a grab of some sort, levitating just above the floor. Using her wand to pummel a dog on the face for a second, she eventually decided to spin them around, flinging them off into the sky, where they flew, eventually smashing into a thin platform.
Now lying on the platform, the two shook their heads, hoping to relieve some of the dizziness. Finding that it was hardly working, they glanced at each other, nodding, and ducked for cover. They each cocked one eye open, hoping to find that ever familiar crosshair. Confusion arose when the two noticed that instead of a round, classic crosshair followed by bullets, a blue laser began making its way over to Rosalina. Disregarding safety, the two got to their feet, or, er, one of them got up to their paws as the other remained perched on its back, watching the laser sight move. Eventually, Rosalina also noticed the line of sight, her eyes growing wide.
A gunshot was fired, and the Duck Hunt Duo was overjoyed to see their marksman find its mark, as redundant as that sounded, Rosalina launched up into the air. They watched her go. Throughout her flight, the two could have sworn that her dress looked somewhat different in the lighting above the stage. As she approached, recovered and ready for round two, they noticed that one patch of her dress was darker than the rest.
Pointing out fashion, however, was not their job. Their gunman had not finished taking care of her, so now it was their responsibility. Leaping off of the small platform, the dog panted and the duck squawked as the canine dashed, barking wildly, only to find himself slipping. Now completely bewildered, random tripping being completely unprecedented, they glanced down at the ground. It was stained a fine blue, as if a collection of ink had been spilled on the stage. Before they could react to the odd substance, they found themselves barreling over the side of the stage. The dog, with a small grasp of what was happening, yelped to the duck, hoping that it would get its message. Whether his avian friend did or did not, it hardly mattered, as its wings were covered with the same odd substance.
"GAME!" The announcer called out, as the duo exploded in a pillar of light.
After the song and dance that was congratulating the winner, a thoroughly confused duck and dog sat on the floor outside of the ambiguous stadium of Smash which had just led them to their embarrassment of a battle. Preening through its feathers, removing anything left of the blue substance, they huffed, lying on the ground. They glanced at where they believed the gunman sat, giving him a less than happy stare.
"Alright, look, I'm sorry okay."
The two yiped, backing away from an unexpected, alien-like voice. Whirling around, they noticed a kid. Of some description. This "kid" had two blue tentacles sticking out of his head, wrapped in a bun by a headband. Black bands wrapped around his eyes, and he wore a tank of sorts strapped to his back, over his shirt. Black shorts with blue colored lines and a pair of sneakers were worn on his feet, and he had a weapon that resembled a vintage game controller shaped like a gun. The dog and duck eyed him suspiciously.
The boy sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Your… Owner or whoever was out, and I just wanted to help. I just wanted participate," He spoke, somehow conveying his message as clear as water to the two animals.
Suddenly, things began clicking in place. The duck hopped off of the dog, flying behind the "boy". In the tank strapped to his back, the same blue fluid that had tripped up his flight earlier splashed about in the clear container. Flying back, it remained perched on the dog's back, the two glaring.
They were only met with more confusion as the boy disappeared from sight. For a moment, they glanced around, only finding a blue squid on the ground. Wait.
Upon spotting the squid, the boy reappeared once more. This was odd and unnatural, and the duo wanted no part of it, scooting away.
"Wait!" The boy called out, the dog pausing mid-scoot, "Before you go, maybe I could treat you to food or something as an apology?"
While this… "squid-kid" as they had simultaneously decided as to refer to the odd boy as spoke in a language almost unrecognizable to others, the idea of treats and food immediately caught their attention. Walking up to the boy, the dog licked his arm, the duck squawking in a pleased matter. Smiling softly, the boy nodded, and the three of them took off.
"I wish I had guys like you where I live." He spoke, rubbing the dog's head.
AN: Not all changes are going to be great. But hey, if you aren't going to put the Inklings in Smash, what can you do?
Ignoring post-ballot regrets, let's take a look at those reviews. Thanks red fiend for reviewing. Have to say, not exactly sure how the Skull Hammer would work, but a humongous hammer might be enough to knock almost anybody out, just saying. As for who won… Who knows really?
Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, see you.
I see a little silhouetto of a man…