Notes: For those asking whether or not I'll bring in the K. Rool trailer into this, I hadn't planned to initially, but now I will; seeing as though Dedede is a friend of Luigi's since Subspace, it still fits in nicely. Also, this chapter contains a reference to the new Final Smash Meter feature introduced in the last Direct.


The brothers were awakened the next morning to the sound of Peach's voice—noticeably angry.

"That's it! That is it! I have had it with Master Hand up to here!"

"I agree that could have gone better," Zelda was saying. "But, perhaps, this could work out to our advantage—if we can only figure out how to twist it that way."

"If you ask me, this whole thing is pretty twisted, alright," Daisy said, flatly. "I'm with Peach on this. Just who does this Hand think he is, anyway?"

Luigi glanced up at Mario, who had been sleeping in the top bunk; his brother shrugged as Cappy floated by.

"Peach came by about an hour ago to let you know that she and the other princesses were going to see Master Hand," Cappy said. "But they decided to let you sleep in."

"I'm guessing it didn't go so well," Mario said, leaping from the top bunk.

"That's a distinct possibility," Luigi intoned, wryly.

The two of them made it out to the hall, where the three princesses were heading down back to their rooms. Peach's angry rant had brought others on the floor out; Bowser was peeking out from his room, looking legitimately terrified at how angry she was, and even closed the door as she passed his room.

"Peach?" Mario asked. "What happened?"

"I don't know what I expected from a being that's just a hand—no place for a brain in there!" Peach countered.

"Uh-oh…" Luigi cringed. "I'm guessing he didn't cancel the exhibition matches or disqualify Ganondorf?"

"No, and it gets worse," Daisy said.

"How could it possibly get worse?" Mario wondered aloud.

"…I wish you hadn't asked that…" Luigi groaned.

"Not only does Master Hand not want to disqualify Ganondorf, he wants Ridley to join the tournament," Zelda said.

"WHAT!?" Samus yelled from behind the door of her room before the brothers could react. She practically kicked the door open. "Are you sure you were talking to Master Hand and not Crazy Hand!?"

"I was wondering that myself," Peach said, darkly. "And there's more. In order to lure Ridley out here, Master Hand wants the first exhibition match today to be between Samus and Mario."

"No!" Luigi cried, his voice rising an octave. "He can't do that! That monster killed my brother once—he'll try it again!"

"That's what I told Master Hand," Peach fumed. "He just laughed at me with that annoying cackle of his and said that I should stick to giving orders within the Mushroom Kingdom—he gives the orders around here!"

"He claims having Ridley around will make the tournament more 'interesting,'" Daisy said.

"You want to know what else will be interesting? Me taking out that idiotic Hand!" Samus fumed.

"You'll never get past his Master Fortress form," Zelda said, shaking her head. "We just need to form a plan-"

"I've got it!" Luigi suddenly exclaimed. "We can play by Master Hand's own rules and make sure Mario and Samus are safe."

"How, Little Bro?" Mario asked.

"The fighters are allowed to send in proxies to battle for them for any number of reasons," Luigi reminded them. "Remember last tournament, Bro? You were running late for your match with Wario after you got tied up training in the Smash Run course, and I proxied for you."

"Oh, yeah…" Mario said, wincing. It was rather embarrassing—having gotten his overalls caught on a Lurchthorn's spike and being subsequently dragged all over the Smash Run course; mercifully, only the Duck Hunt Duo had witnessed this, and they certainly weren't talking.

Samus arched an eyebrow as she considered this, and then conceded.

"I have to admit, that does seem like a good idea; it'll let me be in a strategic place to stand watch," she said. "And I think Pikachu has been itching to battle; I'll ask him if he'll proxy for me."

"I'm sure I can find someone willing to proxy for me, too," Mario added.

"Yes, you can," Luigi said. "Me."

Everyone stared at Luigi for a moment before Mario spoke again.

"…You've got to be kidding, Bro."

"No," Luigi insisted. "I don't want anyone else possibly getting hurt out there—or worse—because of me. And with me being out there, it'll reduce the chances of something happening to Pikachu, too."

"I'll buy the that," Samus said. "But what are you going to do about your Final Smash? While it's admirable you don't want anyone in the line of fire, if you think you're going to use the Negative Zone, then it's probably best if you don't fight." She turned to Mario. "Mario, I think the decision is yours—you're the one who gets to choose your proxy."

Mario gave his brother a long look, and then nodded.

"There is no one I trust more than my little bro," Mario insisted. "I believe in him—believe that he will be strong against the darkness, Final Smash and all. Luigi, you've got it—but be careful out there, huh?"

Luigi, slightly overcome, managed a smile and nodded.

"Thanks, Big Bro," he said. "I will."

"You make us all proud out there!" Daisy instructed.

"We'll be cheering for you," Peach agreed.

"Grazie," Luigi said. Deep down, he was hoping that he wasn't going to let any of them down.


Luigi had to admit that New Donk City Hall arena looked remarkably like the real thing; it reminded him of the Prism Tower arena from the last tournament, with the actual battle to take place on a levitating platform. He suppressed a nervous gulp as he walked out onto the platform, which was still on the ground at the moment. The stands surrounded the arena on three sides like a proscenium theatre, and a quick glance allowed Luigi to see where his brother was sitting; in order to get a good view of the levitating platform, Mario, along with their group of friends, were sitting up in the stands, but in the center. Mario and Peach both waved to him as Cappy hovered over Mario's head, and Mario gave Luigi a thumbs-up; Daisy, Pit, and Dedede were all cheering loudly while Ness, Link, Zelda, and Palutena applauded in a more dignified manner. Bowser and his family were a few rows behind them, not cheering, but not jeering at him, either.

Samus was not sitting anywhere near them; she was even further up in the stands, on edge, not even focusing on the match and instead watching the skies, anticipating Ridley's return; Snake was nearby, incognito (or so Luigi assumed, given the large cardboard box a few seats from Samus), and Mewtwo was on Samus's other side, concentrating and readying himself. The remaining fighters, including a fully repaired and rejuvenated Mega Man, had strategically positioned themselves in the stands, ready to move into action at a moment's notice.

Pikachu bounded onto the platform from the opposite side; he gave Luigi a cheery wave, which he returned. A momentary hush fell over the crowd as Master Hand began the countdown—

"Three… Two… One… GO!"

Pikachu took the initiative, sending repeated Thunder Jolts at Luigi as the platform began to rise; Luigi deftly dodged them all, countering with several green fireballs, which Pikachu also dodged.

The two of them stared each other down for a moment as the platform rose even higher; Pauline and the band members were on smaller levitating platforms, performing "Jump Up, Super Star." It was an odd choice for a match, but it still seemed to fit somehow.

Luigi then noticed Pikachu readying Skull Bash; he countered with Green Missile, and the two of them collided head-on. Pikachu immediately followed up with Thunder; Luigi tried to dodge, but got grazed by the attack. Nevertheless, he was able to shake off the effects; having used the Thunderhand since his adventures in the Beanbean Kingdom, he had built up a slight resistance to electricity. Pikachu quickly realized this and fell back on his speed and leverage, relentlessly dashing and launching into quick Skull Bashes before Luigi could counter them with Green Missile again.

Luigi changed tactics; he waited for Pikachu to come at him again before grabbing him and launching him into an up-throw, following up with Fire Jump Punch. Pikachu went flying, but he turned his body around and launched into a Quick Attack to recover back onto the platform, his cheeks sparking with determination. Luigi casually kicked the ground to taunt Pikachu and goad him into attacking again.

The ploy worked; full of competitive spirit, Pikachu focused on dash attacks; Luigi dodged them all, waiting for an opportunity for another grab-and-throw-and-Fire-Jump-Punch combo when a Smash Ball suddenly floated above them.

The two paused, taking a brief moment to determine whether or not it was fake or real; they both simultaneously determined it to be real, and switched from attacking each other to attacking the Smash Ball.

Pikachu had the speed advantage, but Luigi quickly saw another way around this; a Pokéball had also entered the playing field, landing near him on the platform. As Pikachu went for the Smash Ball once more, Luigi seized the Pokéball and threw it, releasing Alolan Raichu from within it.

Pikachu yelled indignantly as the Raichu, trained to attack on behalf of whoever summoned him, like the other Pokéball Pokémon, now attacked his unevolved form. And the path to Smash Ball was now clear. Luigi moved to strike it to unleash its power… until something caused him to freeze in his tracks.

He had happened to glance at the New Donk City Hall building itself, and his heart skipped a beat as he saw Ganondorf through one of the windows, leering at him. All of his fears and insecurities returned full force, and he was no longer sure if he could be trusted to use the Smash Ball, even if Mario had believed in him…

He paid for his moment of distraction; the Raichu had finished his attack, and Pikachu now furiously launched at Luigi in another Skull Bash. Unprepared, Luigi went flying off of the levitating platform, twisting around and grabbing it before he could fall down.

Panicking, he looked around; Mario was now standing in his seat, clearly worried and concerned, sensing that something had gone horribly wrong. Luigi now glanced back at the building window; yes, Ganondorf was still there, watching him.

Gritting his teeth, Luigi pulled himself back up onto the levitating platform; Pikachu had gone after the Smash Ball again, but suddenly let out a cry of fright as something launched itself down from above them—something wearing a suit much like Samus's, but a much darker version of it. Pauline and the musicians hastily stopped their song as they stared on in shock at the intruder.

"…Dark Samus…?" Luigi whispered. He glanced back at Ganondorf, realizing this was his doing.

Pikachu was the first to get over the shock of Dark Samus's arrival; he responded by using Thunder on her. Luigi snapped to attention, now striking at her repeatedly with his aerials, refusing to give her an opening to attack.

Until an all-too-familiar screech made him freeze again.

A shadow was cast as Ridley's wingspan momentarily blocked the sunlight, and the real Samus started barking orders.

Pit and Dark Pit, aided with the Power of Flight by Palutena and Viridi, flew towards Pauline and the musicians, along with Meta Knight and Charizard, airlifting them out of harm's way just as Ridley began to attack. Pikachu and Luigi both struggled to counter his attacks, momentarily forgetting about the Smash Ball—until it was too late.

With a swift movement of her arm, it was Dark Samus who broke the Smash Ball, taking on its powerful aura. Luigi's mind was racing; perhaps, he could dodge Dark Samus's attack and have her hit Ridley instead…

"Luigi!" Pauline called from Charizard's back. "She's not attacking you—she's attacking Mario!"

Luigi's blood froze in his veins again as he realized that Dark Samus was aiming just past him, at the ground—where Mario, who had jumped into action the moment she had shown up, was running over to them to help and would reach that spot in a matter of moments, right when she would unleash the Mega Laser…

"NO!" Luigi cried. He had to stop her somehow—he had to help his brother! He couldn't lose him again…!

Out of sheer desperation, Luigi willed the Poltergust to appear on his back, unaware that he, too, had suddenly started to glow with a Final Smash aura only moments before. He was aware of nothing else—not the look of furious disbelief that Ganondorf was giving him, the gasps and murmurs from the other fighters, nor the fact that Ridley himself had stopped his onslaught, utterly confused by this turn of events.

Pikachu, at least, regained the presence of mind to leap out of the way as Luigi unleashed the power of the Poltergust; he stared as both Dark Samus and Ridley were pulled into the vortex. E. Gadd's bigger-on-the-inside technology was enough to contain both of them, even with Ridley's size being taken into account.

Luigi now switched the vacuum to expel the both of them; Dark Samus and Ridley soared through the air, crashing into the now-emptied stands as the Smash Ball was ejected from Dark Samus's body.

It was at that point that Master Hand and Crazy Hand now showed up, zooming across the arena and restraining Ridley together before he could get back to fighting. Samus, Snake, and Mewtwo restrained Dark Samus.

The platform that Luigi and Pikachu had been standing on now began to lower back down to the ground.

"NO CONTEST!" Master Hand boomed. He had gotten what he wanted; Ridley was restrained, but would be ready to fight in the tournament—and he had Dark Samus as a bonus fighter, as well. "We will reschedule the exhibition matches for another time!"

Peach did not look amused; if this whole "exhibition match" had been bait to ensnare Ridley and the matches had been postponed after all, then why not tell them that instead of making them think it was the real thing and laughing at her when she had asked for them to be postponed in the first place?

Still, it was hard for her to remain upset as she saw Mario eagerly envelop his brother in a tackle-hug once he was back on terra firma.

"Bravissimo, Fratellino!" he exclaimed. "I knew you could resist the darkness and use the Poltergust!"

"Thanks, Big Bro," Luigi said, with a humble smile.

"But how did you do it!?" Ness asked.

"…Do what?" Luigi asked. "I just summoned the Poltergust like I always do. I didn't even think of the Negative Zone."

"Yeah, but, Dark Samus had the Smash Ball," Pit reminded him.

"You used your Final Smash—without a Smash Ball!" Dedede grinned, clapping Luigi on the back. Pikachu nodded, certainly glad he had gotten out of the way in time.

"I… I did, didn't I?" Luigi said, amazed at himself. "I… I don't know how I did it; we'd been fighting against Ridley, and then I noticed Dark Samus was going to use Mega Laser on Mario…" He glanced at his brother. "I had to protect you, Bro."

Mario paused, taking a moment to think.

"It's like when we were exploring the Dream World," he realized. "Every time I was in some sort of major trouble, you figured out how to make your Dreamy self into a giant to help me."

"But think about what you could do if you were able to do this on purpose!" Daisy said. "It's a game-changer!"

"Theoretically, we should all have the capabilities to use our Final Smashes without a Smash Ball, though they may not be as powerful as they could be with a Smash Ball," Peach said. "But in order to do it consciously in this tournament setting, I think we just need to practice."

"With the matches now postponed, I think we should all train to use our Final Smashes without a Smash Ball, even if they are weaker," Zelda said. "We will need to be prepared when Ganondorf tries again—this was clearly his doing."

"It was!" Luigi exclaimed, remembering now. "I saw him! He's in the building!" He pointed to the replica of New Donk City Hall.

"Apprehend him if you can!" Master Hand ordered. "I'll restrain him along with these two!"

Mario nodded, taking charge.

"Andiamo!" he said, and he led the way into the building, with Luigi and the others right behind him.