Super Smash Bros. For Wii U and 3DS: The Glory of Custom Moves

Fire, Wind, Water, and Blue Shells

In nature, there is a balance. A balance between the elements which build up the very world. It may vary from place to place, to be sure. Not one world has the exact same requirements for life.

But in Smash, those invited generally have the grandest of tales to tell. Wondrous quests, adventures to be had, battles to be fought. Many, many Smash Brothers experienced quite the journeys, aside from a select few, such as the laid-back Villager who had to serve as a mayor or the Duck Hunt Duo's act of blasting down ducks or flying away, respectively. However, out of all them, none shone brighter in the limelight than one of the greatest heroes of the century. Many know him far and wide for being one of the greatest there is, or at least one so close. The name that many people can recognize, from his mustache to his red cap.

The one, the only, the Great Gonzales!

...Also known as Mario.

Alas, while he had incredible adventures, the plumber in red, and a wide array of career choices, might I add, he was rather burnt out, so to speak. Sitting down in the middle of a great grassy plain, blocks floating in the air, green pipes erected from the dirt, he sat down, sighing. Mario wiped his brow, staring into the sky, reminiscing all the while. It had been the same old story, same old song and dance for the dear old plumber. Bowser kidnaps princess, Mario saves princess. Sometimes it was mixed up to provide somewhat of a twist, but generally his adventures started and ended the same.

So he sat, gloved hands on his cheeks, waiting for a new opportunity. It was certainly quite the honor to be such the popular idol, to be sure. Unfortunately, with every passing day being famous, Mario has had his fair share of bumps in his normally smooth road. He seldom partook in the following, nor did he actually speak up about them, but a few of the admiring fans of his that find him to be stellar have created some… Troubling creations to damage his reputation.

For one, there were a handful of art drawn he had stumbled across depicting him in rather… Unnerving ways which he would not bring up. Another issue he had stumbled upon was assumptions made. He was not sure whether or not Bowser had spawned rumors or not, which he was almost certain of, but creative minds had once debated on his sanity levels. Being a red clad plumber in a colorful world full of mushrooms attempting to save the princess was not an entirely agreeable career choice, unfortunately. But the final nail in the coffin was that some people wrote stories about him, depicting him like a lunatic who sat down, thinking about himself in the third person.

Frowning, Mario glanced up at the sky, shaking his head.

Oh. Right. Well, regardless, it was true and taxing to the dear plumber, who was just about tired out. Despite the grind of jumping up and down constantly, he did rather hold his old adventures quite fondly. Smiling, he thought back to a time, a simpler time when the old formula was not as old.

As he did so, something rustled in the bushes ahead of him. Sitting next to a pipe behind the bushes, a Koopa peaked his head out of his blue shell, frowning. Standing right by the turtle trooper was a brown mushroom of sorts, angry eyebrows tilted above his head, fangs popping out of a curved line below that was his mouth. The mushroom yawned, staring at the Koopa.

"What are we doing?" He asked, arching one of his huge eyebrows.

The Koopa turned over towards the mushroom. "Isn't it obvious? Look, plumber RIGHT there. Pretty obvious."

"...We're going to beat him-"

"We're going to beat him up, exactly." The Koopa shrugged, staring down at the mushroom, "Dude, we've been doing this for years, by now I would've thought-"

"I'm a Goomba." The mushroom sighed, shaking its head.

The Koopa Troopa frowned, crossing his arms. "Yeah, so?"

Leaning on the side of the pipe suddenly, the Goomba stared at the ground in a rather melancholic. "Like you said, we've been doing this for years, and what do we have to show for it? I and countless other mushrooms have walked this same road, and have been squashed."

Blinking, the Koopa stared down at his forlorn companion, giving him the most reassuring smile he could manage. "Hey, we're not going down THAT road. Trust me, this time will be different."

Looking back up, the Goomba's eyes began to grow brighter, perhaps a sign that he had hope in the other soldier.

"Because I have a blue shell." The Koopa grinned.

The Goomba's eyes reverted back to its grumpy demeanor. Already, the Koopa began setting off, hopping out of the bushes, chuckling to himself. Cracking his soft reptile knuckles, he marched over to the unsuspecting Mario, who appeared to be moping to himself, lost in thought. Sneaking up by the side, the turtle raised his fist, grinning all the while.

All of the sudden, Mario's eyes lit up. Hollering out in glee, he leaped up straight into the air. Before the Koopa had a chance to react, Mario unknowingly landed on top of him with his feet. The pure shock sent him spiraling out of his shell, sliding back towards whence he came, leaving the Koopa in a simple white t-shirt, devoid of any shell. Just having barely heard the noise, the high-flying man with an "M" glanced around in bewilderment, eyes narrowing suspiciously. Attempting to walk forward, he stumbled over the blue shell the Koopa had on previously, turning towards it, blinking.

Now, originally, Mario had a grand idea for something new and unique. But seeing the blue shell made him forget for a moment, and a new idea hatched in his mind. Taking the shell, he positioned it so that one of the holes was right above his head. Letting it go, it plopped down onto him, covering his overalls. Glancing down, he hit the shell with his fist as to test its durability, grinning.

Back at the Warp Pipe, the dizzy reptilian soldier got up to his feet while his fungus friend rolled his eyes by the pipe.

"What happened?" The Koopa groaned, hand on his head, "That shell was supposed to be invincible."

"...Okay, first of all, you aren't the first to use blue shells. Remember Dinosaur Land?" The Goomba spoke up.

Frowning, the Koopa crossed his arms. "How would you know? You weren't there."

The Goomba would have shrugged had it any arms. "Look, that's not the point. What is the point is that HOLY BLOOP."

Tilting his head questionably, he turned around. Eyes opening wide, he noticed that his shell was spinning right back at him. Simultaneously, the two henchmen characters stood up and watched. From within the shell, an arm suddenly popped out, waving a familiar red hat as it spun away to who knows where.

All of a sudden, as the Goomba glared at his Koopa companion, he noticed that the turtle was smirking mischievously, to which he asked, "What?"

"Look at that. Blue shell saved our lives." The Koopa gestured towards the object hurtling away, the mushroom man just shaking his head with a sigh.

While the Koopa may have lost his ninety coin deposit on a quality shell, Mario was ready and raring to go, heading off to lands unknown, ready to brawl.

"Oh, shoot!" The Koopa gasped in surprise, already running off to catch up with him while the other minion just sighed, shaking his head by the pipe as he leaned back, watching the Koopa Troopa leave him in the dust.

For the most part, the Mushroom Kingdom is a place of prosperity and color in all shapes and sizes, from the grass to the sky, the lands were painted with a palette of vibrancy. At least in the canonical sense.

The actual Mushroom Kingdom Mario now entered for his brawl was much more...dusty and brown all over. Instead of plains of grass or great green hills, the entirety of the stage which resembled one of Mario's past adventures was extremely sandy and dull looking. The breeze carried dust about, and the blocks and pipes looked practically feeble to the point where if one were to even smack it, the materials would crumble at the seams, so to speak.

Nevertheless, Mario stood at the left side of the flat platform of dusty blocks rising out of the abyss below, which screamed, "Avoid at all costs!" to the plumber. With the blue shell firmly attached to his abdomen, he awaited his opponent patiently. As he did so, in the background, hidden behind a sand-washed brick castle peering back at him was the Koopa whose shell was stolen, covering his eyes with his t-shirt to prevent the wind from blasting his irises with sand.

"There you are." The Koopa said between sneezes, starting to wipe his turtle beak with the back of his hand, "Darn plumber. Wait until I get my hands on you."

Already the Koopa Troopa began marching out behind his cover, the turtle slowly advancing on the plateau of bricks Mario stood upon. As he began creeping up on him in the background Mario tensed up as he watched the other side of the stage. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could just barely make out a red and white sphere being launched upon the ground before a light overtook his eyes, blinding him for a brief instant. The turtle trooper in the distance noticed as well, covering his eyes with his hands out of surprise. The two, after a second, stopped covering their eyes, staring in awe at Mario's opponent. Quickly, the Koopa began taking shelter behind the castle once more, quickly sprinting back without time to spare as if he wanted to spare himself any pain caused by the fight itself.

As the light faded, the monstrous form of the enemy revealed itself, growing large in stature. Two wings, a long tail, claws on its arms and feet, and a long snout that snorted smoke, stubby horns just above its eyes, all with a bright orange sheen. The dragon that revealed itself began to roar up into the sky, embers shooting out of its great maw. Yet again, another Pokémon took the stage in the Super Smash Bros. match, this one being the Fire-Flying type Charizard who took up the most ferocious stance it could muster, seemingly smirking back at its red clad opponent.

Narrowing his eyes, Mario readied the palm of his hands, a fire brewing in the gloves as well. However, the plumber's stance was considerably less intimidating when taking his bulky blue shell into account. Yet, the sight of the shell seemed to make the great dragon somewhat...nostalgic as it stared at its opponent. The two of them glared at each other across the great dust bowl of a stage with the intent to fight to the finish, as a forgotten Koopa stared back at the two in awe.

The ever familiar announcer voice intruded yet again sounding off in the background, already beginning to unnerve the turtle beyond its wits. "Three! Two! One! Go!"

As if they were two athletes on the track and the announcer were the gunshot by the starting line, both of them charged towards one another. Dashing across the blocks beneath him with the dragon's crimson breath not on Mario's agenda, he suddenly stopped sprinting and shifted into a slide, promptly causing the Pokémon to halt and defend itself, the plumber bashing into its shield harmlessly, a quick thinking Charizard using its sharp nails to slash and tear at the Jumpman. Luckily for the hero in red, all the damage caused by the slashing only left a few scratches on the shell he wore, much to the chagrin of the onlooker in the distance who agonizingly watched as his precious item was damaged.

While it was unfortunate that he may have to pay extra for repairs, the Koopa eagerly watched the fight in his single white t-shirt and blue boots, arms pumped up just as much as he was as he observed. Now, while there was no Koopa King to speak of fighting the good fight after an exhausted Mario trekked through eight worlds, this Charizard that he was battling was quite the contender with his gnashing. The icing on top of the cake for the Koopa was the flames. Quite similar to Bowser, as Mario flipped back into the air acrobatically to avoid a physical attack, Charizard would spout flames at a tremendous rate. It was heartbreaking to see his shell get scorched even more so throughout the fight, but if this dragon were to destroy the plumber, perhaps he could get it back without paying a lifetime's supply of coins.

That thought now purely embedded into his mind throughout the entire melee exchange, he cheered on silently for the orange reptile that flew on its great wings. The outcome of the fight was ambiguous, but the current results certainly seemed as though it were a one-sided bout. Whenever Mario would guard he would protect himself using the comforts of the new shell he had "found", nearly absorbing the damage of any and all attacks. Except for one little problem. Each blow he took knocked him back, he felt, leagues away from Charizard each time he was even smacked. Whether it was the dragon's tail whipping into the side, Charizard rolling out through the air to crush the plumber or even dragging the shell up from the ground into the air to deliver a toss of seismic proportions, Mario would escape almost unscathed, with only the issue of trying not to fall off and explode in a untimely demise.

As he spun for the umpteenth time today after an attack, he halted by putting his feet down just inches away from spiraling off the edge, revealing his bulbous nose and mustached face as he popped out of the shell dizzily. Shaking his head to relieve the daze, he glared towards Charizard, who simply smirked back once again. He would be sure to wipe that cocky expression of the opponent's face for sure. Fire brewing in his left hand, he poised himself to shoot, and shoot he did. A ball of fire bounced out of his hand, then another and another in succession. The dragon grimaced as it noticed the small spheres of flame roll towards him slowly. Rolling its eyes, Charizard built up power in its throat, then from a standing position, spewed crimson.

The constant stream of fire practically wiped out the small orbs in an instant. Gritting his teeth, it appeared as though Mario would not be able to win by pitting fire against fire in this battle. However, perhaps a healthy dose of water could douse the tension in the match.

The plumber quickly sneaked a disapproving glance at the sky, frowning somewhat.

But with all those jokes aside, it did indeed seem like a pleasing idea. Mario had just the tool for the job; reaching at the back of the shell he prepared himself, ready to use his trusty F.L-

He gripped at the air. For a moment, Mario was confused. The contraption he attempted to use was nowhere to be seen. But from within the shell, Mario could just barely hear something malfunctioning. Groaning, he realized that the shell prevented him from using his device, water having been out of the option. Deciding against that, he watched as the Charizard charged towards him with intent to kill. There was perhaps another way he could solve this issue. Similar to a bullfighter against a large beast, Mario reached for his cape-

Promptly smacking his face with the palm of his hand when he realized he could not take the cape out either.

With lack of any better option, the plumber was smacked backwards by Charizard who slammed into him at a dizzying speed. Launched once again by another one of his attacks, the red crusader Mario felt himself fall over the side of the stage, watching as the world spun about. Reaching out with a white glove, he gripped the side of the stage, and now found himself hanging precariously from the edge. While on the ledge, he frowned, shaking his head. All this shell seemed to do was provide a hindrance to him so far. Each and every time he was knocked back, which was quite often, it left him without much opportunities to retaliate. Climbing back up on the stage as well as kicking just as he ascended, he knocked the dragon back. While his move-set was smaller with this hindrance on his back, he still had one ace up his sleeve.

Peering at Charizard as he landed back on the stage from the blow, he readied himself, retreating back into the shell like an actual turtle. From the safety of the defenses of the small blue object, he started watching carefully as Charizard roared once again and began flying straight towards the plumber within the shell. Gritting his teeth, he began to shift in his spot. As the dragon approached, it barely noticed the motions. Soon, however, it was apparent that there was indeed movement coming from the azure bowl. It began spinning about in place rapidly underneath Charizard. All of a sudden, a flash of realization came to Charizard. Pausing on the ground, putting its guard up, it barely avoided the attack Mario launched.

The wind wrapping around the shell deflected dirt in all directions and fired itself towards the orange dragon. While Charizard managed to shield itself, the shell showed no signs of stopping, grinding against his guard nonstop. Eventually the Pokémon began to tire out of its blocking charade. Just about as it began to give up, it suddenly found itself being flung itself into the air after hearing the sound of glass shattering. Launched up into the air, it looked around in bewilderment, the Koopa in the background gasping in awe as it saw the fighter he rooted for flung up into the sky. Slamming back onto the floor, the Charizard got up to its feet slowly, only for dizziness to take over the dragon's mind.

Its shield now broken, Mario stopped spinning for a second, the shell grinding to a halt. All of a sudden, he ejected himself from the shell, carrying the blue object by his gloved hand as he was spat out onto the landscape, gripping the shell like a weapon. Reaching back as if he were an expert baseball pitcher, (which he literally was in some cases) he flung the shell through the air towards the Fire-Flying type. Before managing to shake itself from its daze, the dragon grunted as the shell smacked into its chest, launching it far off the stage, just barely avoiding getting knocked out by righting itself midair, the dragon attempting to flap back, groaning somewhat. As its wings appeared to give out from fatigue, with the air backing it up despite Charizard's descent, the dragon attempted one more time to leap up into the air.

Charizard used Fly!

Spiraling upwards, it could almost grip that ledge to prevent itself from plummeting. Reaching a claw out, it could almost feel the rickety old block in the palm of its scaly hands.

Mario used Water Gun!

But Charizard missed the ledge, gripping nothing but air. Looking above the edge of the stage, it noticed that Mario had a machine now attached to his back, the shell discarded to the side, water chugging from within the machine as it spewed fluids to keep the dragon at bay, until it seemed as though the supply was dry. It was enough to knock the dragon away, much to its dismay. As Charizard began falling, it could not help but feel even more nostalgic. Turtle shells and water…It was familiar, and despite the fact that it was now falling into the depths of the unknown, about to explode, the dragon sighed in its own way in remembrance of something.

It's super effective.

Mario watched as a pillar of light exploded into existence. Standing back up straight, he stretched, giving his device a pat on the back, which to that extent, also counted as patting himself on the back. With that fight over, Mario disappeared suddenly with nothing but a flash of light yet again, the only thing left being a blue shell on the stage.

"Ha! Finally!"

While his newfound idol had lost the battle, now the Koopa was free to travel onstage to retrieve his perfect, invincible shell. Sprinting out from behind the castle, he began to run for the shell, the only thing left in his way being a pit between the foreground and the back. But happiness and frugality was more than enough to convince himself that there was nothing at all that could stand between him and his glorious shell. Leaping up into the air almost as gleefully as Mario, he landed on the other side on the platform where battle had once took place, scorch marks surrounding the field.

Now finally back in action, the Koopa began lifting the shell above his head, glee surrounding his face as he dropped it back on himself. "Who knew this shell could be so durable?!"

It promptly smashed into pieces. For a moment, the Koopa stood there completely still, eyes twitching, and feet shaking. The winds of the north, south, east and west were more than gladly to sweep up the mess, taking the fragments of the shell with them, flowing away.

The Koopa fell on its side, rigid as a statue as somewhere else, a dragon was clapping for a plumber.

AN: And that's how I got my name. ...Oops, wrong story.

Thanks XShinkuKikinX for reviewing. Gotta admit, while I'm glad I succeeded in not offending anyone, now I'm just sad that's what the world thinks of the country. But I have no idea how politics work, so I suppose I'll just leave myself out of that. I'm glad you liked the idea of a Pokkén Tournament Pikachu, too. Had a lot of fun writing that.

Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, see you.