It was absolute chaos.
Lasers were firing, missiles went flying, no one showed any mercy. Luigi and Isabella were running from King K Rool as he charged towards them with a terrifying grin. The Inklings were in a gun fight against Fox and Baynetta. Kirby and Pikachu were wrestling each other. Without any platforms or cover every fighter was exposed, there wasn't a single safe spot to rest, it was fight or die.
"Well I think it's safe to say that a lot these fighters are going to be hospitalized!" said Howard with a heavy laugh.
"I'm putting my money on Ganon! Guy reminds me of Jack! He doesn't hold back!" said Kreese in an excited tone.
He was right, Ganondorf was fighting Mario. Mario attempted to punch Ganondorf in the face with a red flaming fist but Ganon was quick to dodge. He took the opening and punched Mario in his gut, taking Mario's breath away. When Mario fell to his knees Ganon stomped his right foot on Mario's back causing Mario too knock his head on the ground knocking him unconscious.
As chaotic as it was, Peach, Samus and Knight were able to keep focus on who they were engaging. Wolf attempted to shoot Peach with his gun but wasn't quick enough before Peach rammed her ass right in his face sending him a few feet backwards. Before Wolf could even get up Peach was wailing on his head with her frying pan. Wolf made one last effort to grab Peach's arm, but Peach's continuous hits were too much, and he was quickly knocked out.
As Peach finished Wolf, Samus released her charged shot and fired it at the Ice Climbers. Before either of them could react, the blast hit them sending them high in the air and out of the arena and into the water below. Samus looked around the arena for a new target. It was hard to pick considering all the chaos around her. She considered taking on Shulk after he finished off Bowser. Jr, then she saw Duck Hunt take down Mewtwo with his jaw and thought he might be worth taking him down. But soon she saw Ridley, and she suddenly had an idea. What if I take him down now? She figured if she could take care of him now, she wouldn't have to deal with him later. Plus, she had the bonus of feeling no pressure in the semi- final or final rounds. She saw him slamming Incineroar into the ground until only his head and shoulders were popping out of the ground. Samus saw her opportunity to catch him off guard, and she began charging towards him, while also charging her arm canon. Her heart beat was quickening as she came closer, soon it would be over in an instant, and than she could relax and focus on the rest of the tournament. And Peach as well-
Wait, Peach! Samus stopped in her tracks, turned and looked to see where Peach was. She saw her whacking Charizard in the head and then she took out Wolf's gun she stole and started shooting at Robin with a huge smile on her face. Samus didn't know why, but she felt a sudden worry for Peach. But why? She knew Peach was more than capable of fighting on her own, why was she worrying so much out of nowhere?
Samus was so wrapped up in her own head she failed to notice the energy blast that was heading straight toward her. The blast hit Samus knocking her down. She quickly got herself up to see who shot the blast. It was Dark Samus, who was now charging her way towards her.
Samus had to think quickly, other why's she'd be done for. She quickly went into her ball and rolled towards Dark Samus. She jumped into the air at an amazing speed and landed on Dark Samu's face, before Dark Samus could respond Samus bounced off her head and rolled away. Dark Samus looked over towards Samus who had come out of ball form. Dark Samus was confused, the attack itself didn't do much, but than she felt something on top of her head, and then she heard a beeping noise.
Suddenly, an explosion came from her head, leaving her dazed and she was no longer floating. She waddled around trying to find her balance, but she had no luck and came crashing down on the ground.
"Karma's a bitch." Samus said to herself triumphantly.
Ryu couldn't seem to hit Knight and wondered why this small creature hadn't attacked yet. Knight was constantly dashing around Ryu to avoid any potently attack and was waiting for the prefect moment to strike. Ryu than used his hadouken attack, Knight saw his opportunity. Knight used his Sharp Shadow charm to pass straight through the attack and landed on Ryu's arms still in the hadouken attack form. Before he could react, Knight fired a shade soul at Ryu. Since he was so close from the blast, the soul sent Ryu flying back, leaving him lying on the ground unconscious.
Knight looked around the battle field, observing all the chaos around him. It brought back flash backs of the Coliseum of Fools. Before he could consider an opponent, Kirby bumped into him. Kirby waved a greeting with a smile before turning he's attention back to the fight. He was being attack by two fighters, Falco and Richter. Knight stood beside Kirby with his nail at the ready. Knight felt he owed Kirby the help since Kirby was nice enough to play with him before the fighting started.
"Alright new guy, lets see what your made of." Said Falco.
Richter lashed his whip across Knight's face he went rushing forward pin Knight. Kirby inhaled Richter and spit him out, sending him flying towards Falco. Falco dodged the attack and Richter was left lying on the ground. Falco brought out his gun a shot a few blasts at Kirby. Knight brought out his Dream Shield and jumped in front of Kirby, blocking the attacks. Falco then used his Falco Phantasm, striking both Knight and Kirby. Richter started to get back up, Then Kirby had an idea. Richter lased his whip again, except this time Kirby grabbed it, he than started swinging Richter around in the air and soon Falco was hit causing him to swing in the air as well. Kirby swung them high into the air and was about to do an upper strike once they came back down. But before he could attack, Knight jumped up and launched his Abyss Shriek, the impact was so effective that it sent both Falco and Richter out of the arena and were no longer visible.
"Damn! That little devil sure sent that bird flying!" said Howard excitingly.
"That joke was pathetic." said Kreese in a soar tone.
Kirby smiled at Knight and raised his arm for a high five. Knight didn't know what a high five was, so he simply looked at Kirby in confusion. Kirby than took Knight's arm and raised it up and did the high five anyway. Knight looked at his hand, then at Kirby, and then put his arm back down and said nothing.
"Alright fighters!" shouted Howard. "One-minute left!"
Samus was trying to find Ridley. She had less than a minute to find him and beat him, which now was easier said then done. It was as if he disappeared, and the chaos around her wasn't helping. Suddenly out of nowhere, Zelda bumped into her from behind.
"Oh hey! How are you doing?" Shouted Zelda as she shot a fire ball at Marth.
"I'm alright. Do you see Ridley anywhere?" as she asked her question, Samus fired a missile at Jigglypuff which not only sent her backwards, but also set Jigglypuff on fire.
"Umm . . . No. Why?"
"Was hoping to- "Before she could finish a massive explosion erupted from the left side of the arena. Knight and Kirby landed right next to Samus. Both got up brushing some of the ashes off. Knight looked up at Samus.
"Good to see your still standing." Said Samus.
"That explosion knocked out most of the fighters! Damnit! I had fifty bucks on Megaman!" Shouted Kreese.
"Perfect timing because," Howard took in a deep breath. "GAME!" he shouted.
With that one single word, ever fighter stopped instantly. The dust seemed to be settling but most of the smoke still lingered, and the fighters that lost were the ones lying down uncurious. The bridge from the balcony came forward and many Deku Scrubs wearing medical caps came running out to care for the fallen fighters.
"Hey where's Peach?" said Samus as she quickly looked around to see if she could find her.
"Right here!" Samus turned around to see Peach walking out from where the explosion happened. Her pink dress was completely ruined, multiple rips all around, dozens of holes and a ton of ash covering both the dress and Peach.
"Well," said Peach in a casual tone. "this dress is ruined."
"At least you're still standing." Said Zelda.
"Now here's how it works everybody!" said Howard in an excited tone. "there can only be eight fighters in the semi-finals! So, later today were going to pick which fighters will enter the semi-finals! So even though there's 19 of you left, were only picking eight! The results will be posted later today!"
The remaining fighters were Samus, Peach, Knight, Zelda, Kirby, Pac-Man, Bowser, Fox, Ganondorf, Isabelle, Ike, King. K Rool, Olimar, R.O.B., Ness, Toon Link, Donkey Kong, Meta Knight and Ridley. All of them were the only fighters left standing and only eight were going to the semi-finals. Most of the fighters were heading across the bridge back to the lounge. Samus stopped for a moment. Where is he? She couldn't seem to find Ridley, a lot of the smoke from the explosion was still lingering and her vision couldn't seem to find him. Soon her angry started to build up again. She wanted to get rid of him as fast as possible but failed, and now she must deal with him . . . in front of a live audience.
"Wasn't that fun?" said a voice from the right of Samus. Samus turned and was now facing Ridley.
"Yeah . . . fun." She said dryly.
"Oh, come on! You gotta admit, it was pretty cool!" he said with a chuckle.
"Sure. Listen, just so you know, I'm showing no mercy when I beat your ass."
"OK, first off, I was expecting that. And second, I wouldn't have it any other way." Ridley had a huge devilish grin on his face as he spoke. He was loving Samus's angry towards him.
"See you in the semi-finals." Samus began walking away. She didn't even know why she wanted to say that to him, she just felt like it. Her angry continued to grow but she started take deep breaths and soon she was calm. As she walked away, Ridley's grin stayed. He than saw Dark Samus being carried away by two Deku Scrubs, he looked closer to see if she was awake. She was, she than looked at Ridley who gave her a thumbs up, she returned it with one as well.
Ridley started to walk back to the lounge, but soon saw Knight looking back at him across the bridge. He was just staring. Knight turned to look at Dark Samus, then he looked back to Ridley. Ridley suddenly realized that he just saw his exchange with Dark Samus, he than pointed towards Knight and then made the hand motion of sealing his lips. Knight continued to stare, but soon turned around and ran towards the rest of the group.
Little bastard better keep his mouth shut.
Samus and Peach entered back into the lounge, they were going into the girl's room area when Peach looked herself over before entering her room.
"What dress should I wear? The red one, or the black?" she asked. Samus looked her over before coming to decision.
"I'd go with the black dress. I don't see you in it enough." She said with a smirk.
"Plus, I look sick in it." Peach said with a grin. "See you in the lounge later."
"See ya in a bit." Soon Samus changed into her more causal cloths and went to the lounge.
A few hours had past since the chaotic fight. Every fighter was relaxing and enjoying their free time. Even though most of the fighters weren't in the semi-finals, they were fine with that. In-between the fights the tournament will have four random fighters fight each other just for fun, to keep the audience entertained. So even if a fighter wasn't in the semi-finals, they still had something to do. Samus, Peach and Zelda were sitting near the fire place having idol conversations while Knight and Kirby were playing a game where you shoot Nazi zombies.
"I hear my three favorite ladies might be in the semi-finals." Said a woman in a blue dress.
"Hey Rosalina." All three girls said in unison. Rosalina sat down next to Zelda.
"Sorry you didn't make in Ros." Said Samus.
"That's alright, I made it last year so I'm good." Rosalina looked over her shoulder and looked at Knight and Kirby playing their game. "Seems those two are getting along." She said with a smile.
"I know right?" said Peach. "I'm really glad we took that trip through the woods otherwise I think he would've been lost."
"I saw what he did to Ryu," said Zelda. "He's pretty good."
"Attention fighters!" said voice from the speaker. "The eight semi-final fighters have been chosen!" Everyone in the lounge was suddenly more awake, Kirby and Knight shut off their game to hear who made it.
"The fighters are, Bowser! Knight! Samus! Kirby! Peach! Pac-man! Zelda! And Ridley! Good luck in the semi-finals!"
Applause and cheering roared in the lounge, many of the fighters congratulated the people who got in. Kirby gave Knight a huge, Knight didn't how to respond and instead just stood stiff. Meta Knight then walked up to Kirby and Knight, he looked at them both before putting out his hand for a handshake. Kirby shook it.
"Nice job." He said calmly. He than looked at Knight. "I saw you fight, not bad." Knight simply stared, he didn't speak so he couldn't say 'Thank you'. So, he instead nodded his thanks to Meta Knight, Meta Knight nodded back and walked away.
"Sweet! We made it in Samus!" cheered Peach.
"I know, it's great." Samus was excited, but she still felt annoyed at the fact that she didn't take care of Ridley. She still smiled though, she didn't want to ruin Peach's mood.
"Awesome job Zelda." Rosalina said to Zelda.
"Thanks Ros. Now the real fighting starts."
"Hey Peach." Peach turned in her seat to see Mario walking over to her. "Congrats out there."
"Aww, thanks Mario." Peach got up to speak with him. "You OK? I heard what Ganon did to you."
"I'll be fine, I'm just glad you're in and Ganon isn't." Mario made a big smirk as he mentioned Ganondorf.
"Uh, Mario . . ." Peach pointed behind Mario, Mario turned around and was starring up at Ganondorf who was standing stiffly with his hands behind his back.
"Oh." Before Mario could say anything else, Ganondorf put up his hand to silence him. He than put his hand back behind his back.
"You fought well," he said politely. "Perhaps when we fight later you might best me."
"Uh . . . Thank you." It was all Mario could say. Ganondorf then walked over to the bar and sat down asking for whisky.
"Alright," Mario turned back to face Peach. "I'm going to bed early. Good night."
"Good night Mario" Peach said kindly. Peach then walked back over to sit on the couch next to Samus.
A few more hours passed and most of the fighters were asleep. Peach, Zelda and Kirby were sound asleep. The only ones awake were Samus, Knight and the racoon bartender. Knight sat on the ground starring into the fireplace. Samus was drinking a cocktail while watching a show about these aliens called "Crystal Gems", she was half asleep though, so she couldn't really keep up with it. She pinched the bridge of her nose, so many things were flying around in her head. She couldn't beat Ridley, she let Dark Samus get the drop on her, she liked Peach, which was now messing with her in the tournament. Nothing seemed to be working out.
"Are you doing alright?" asked the bartender. Samus snapped back into reality and looked at the bartender.
"Yeah I'm fine. I'm probably going to bed soon. Just a lot on my mind right now."
"Like what?" the bartender seemed to have a sly look on his face.
"Look, no offence, but I barley know you."
"True, but if that's a problem maybe you should talk to someone you know. Maybe that person could help." Samus had to admit, the racoon was making a good point. Or maybe the alcohol was setting in.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Sly."
"Okay Sly, I don't really think I can talk to anyone about these things, there very. . . personal."
"Can't hurt to try." He said as his smile grew. "Anyway," he then turned off the TV. "I'm done for tonight. You done your drink?"
"Yeah, thanks for the tip." Samus got up. She felt a bit dizzy but stayed standing. She then looked over to Knight, and that's when an idea popped into her head. If I can't tell Zelda or Ros, why not him? He doesn't talk.
"Good night, err. . . Knight." Knight looked over and waved, he then continued starring into the fire. Samus went to her room, she was too tipsy to talk to Knight. She would do it tomorrow when her mind was clearer. She got I not her pajamas and crawled into bed and let her mind wonder. Which was a mistake because this time she thought of Peach in her swim suit.
"God damnit."