2-2: Zelda and Sheik

Zelda, the wise Princess of Hyrule and the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, knelt in prayer atop the Temple stage. She wore her usual carnation pink dress, and her blond hair was in two braids down her back. The wind swished around her; otherwise, she was in complete solitude, psyching herself up for a grueling fight.

When Link, down in the Underground Maze, told her that the adventurer was about to clear the level, Zelda had gone to the Temple to make the necessary arrangements. She'd practiced her teleporting skills and familiarized herself with the areas on the stage where she could trap her foe in an infinite combo. Temple was infamous for its size as well as the various bodying opportunities. The Hylian Princess smirked as she recalled the bouts which took place here and how she used her knowledge of the geography to win. She'd owned so many opponents here, mostly as the "other her". The "other her" was nimbler and packed more of a punch with her attacks. She brought the "other her" into play during extreme emergencies. Whoever she was, this Princess brought on the pain with many a Smasher on this stage. That would show those foolish gamers how to make a tier list!

Marth. Fox. Douglas. Pikachu. Ganondorf. Koopa. Those were just some of the poor, unfortunate souls who faced Zelda's wrath on the Temple. This stage was condemned as "the stage of broken friendship" and had long since been banned from serious tournament play—with good reason. But when someone wanted to go on an adventure, this stage was open to all of the Smashers.

The heat rose to Zelda's face, and she clenched the fabric of her dress in her gloved fists. Koopa. Just the mere mention of his name could send anyone into a rage these days. A full house had seen what he did to Luigi that day, and the majority of the Smashers heard his words to the man in green afterward. There was no Facebook or Twitter back then, but the news spread quickly throughout the Smash Mansion that the King of Koopas had verbally decimated Mario's little brother after cruelly defeating him in a five-stock battle. Koopa had spent weeks afterward bragging to everybody, especially Luigi's friends, including Link—her Link! She'd come across the turtle celebrating with Ganon, as if what he'd done was a major accomplishment. The Gerudo King was perfect for Koopa because they were both callous and selfish villains! They left a boatload of misery in their wake! Zelda had hoped that one day, she'd respect those two despite their reputations. Humph! Fat chance!

Her body remained kneeling on the Temple, but her mind was transported not far into the past…

"Link?" she gasped, seeing her elf approach her, a frantic look on his face.

"Zel, thank Farore!" Link half-sobbed, throwing his arms around her. "I could use your wisdom right now!"

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Link, look at me. What's going on?"

"Something bad just happened to Luigi!" Link cried out. "Koopa—he—he…"

Zelda nodded somberly. She'd sat next to Peach, watching in horror as the turtle got the drop on Luigi. Up till then, everyone was predicting victory for the plumber. Koopa's shortcomings, including his slow, low jumps, slow speed (sacrificed for strength) and susceptibility to chain-grabs and combos by faster and lighter characters, had made him a sitting duck for Luigi's in-your-face fighting technique he'd perfected over time. The overgrown turtle was vulnerable to infinite grabs, and Luigi just so happened to know how to pull them off. Grabbing him, slamming him down, attacking and then grabbing him again. Launching offensives at lightning speed, fast, furious and fierce. Sissy fists. Trowel Stabs. Breakdance sweeps. Karate chops. Twirl kicks. Meteor smashes. Throws. Combos. Specials. They popped out of the man in green like popcorn. He'd been acutely focused on winning, maybe because of their history as rivals, or perhaps something else. His blood had started boiling after a while, shouts ripping from his lungs like news from the headlines. The battle was surprisingly close, for even though King Koopa was slow, he could be pretty powerful.

What Zelda hadn't counted on was Koopa suddenly taking one of his opponent's stocks. And it all had gone downhill from there.

"I know Luigi was a little bummed out afterward," she said to Link, returning to the present. "Is he all right?"

"No," said Link. "Koopa said THINGS to Luigi. Terrible, horrible things."

Zelda stopped breathing. "Like what?" she demanded sharply.

"I don't know! I could only see that turtle's lips moving and the disdainful SNEER on his lips and his EYES—oh, Farore, the way his eyes shot contempt at Luigi and—and Luigi's face…"

"Link," Zelda cut him off. "I need you to take a deep breath and relax, and then I want you to go to Master Hand. Tell him what you saw. I'm sure he'll straighten stuff out."

Link nodded, tears in his eyes. "I love you, Zel," he said.

"You, too," replied Zelda, kissing him lightly. "Now go. And hurry."

"Whatever MH did, it sure didn't faze Koopa," Zelda muttered to herself.

"You're right," replied a familiar, accented voice.

Zelda whirled. "Luigi! I didn't see you!"

The man in green walked toward her. "To be honest with you, I was hoping to face Ganondorf," he confessed.

"Yeah?"

"Yep. He intimidates me a little bit, but I've been aching to take a few shots at him, if you know what I mean."

Zelda shrugged. "Well, I want him to stop trying to take over Hyrule, but we can't get everything we want," she said wisely. "Ready to fight?"

"Whenever you are," Luigi calmly replied.

They shook hands and got into their fighting stances.

READY…GO!

Anticipating Luigi's charge, Zelda sent out Din's Fire at him. While he was distracted by the flames, she dashed in with her magical attacks and kicks, teleporting to other areas of the stage to frustrate him. With her Teleport move, she lured him to the unpopular area of the Temple and used her magic to combo him six ways to Sunday. But Luigi had just trekked through a maze of ReDeads, Octoroks and Like Likes and fought Link five times, and he wasn't going to put up with this! He escaped and had her in a pummel before she could say "Nayru's Love". After slamming her down, he proceeded to give her a taste of her own medicine, combo-ing her all over the stage until she had enough and Teleported to safety. He threw some fireballs at her, which were quickly reflected by Nayru's Love and retaliated with the longer-ranged Din's Fire. Zelda smoothed out her dress and fixed her hair as Luigi hopped up the platforms toward her.

"Come get me!" she challenged, baiting him.

Luigi streamed out a breath and did just that. Her magic surged into him, and her heeled shoes could meteor him into the ground. But her magical attacks were relatively weak, though long-ranged, and his smashes had high knock-back values attached to them, his Trowel Stab in particular. Before she could Teleport, he'd grab and throw her. Magic, fire, kicks and punches flew between the plumber and the princess, her high-pitched yells mingling with his forceful shouts. They took advantage of the huge size of the Temple to hard-press each other, with Zelda Teleporting here and there in quick succession and Luigi using his high jumps and his side-B to traverse platforms. There was this lonely, low platform, directly below the main platform, which they found themselves on more than once. Furiously, they'd vie for that spot, for the right to chain-grab and set up painful infinites. These clashes usually culminated in aggravating stalemates which could only be broken by one throwing the other.

Zelda's blood was pumping, and her body ached. Playtime was over for her and Luigi. Deciding that the time was right, she transformed in a swirl of sparkles into Sheik, the brilliant ninja and the last of the Sheikah tribe.

Sheik was clad in a blue and gray fighting suit, her face covered by a veil. Her hair was pulled back into a single braid. Simple, just the way she liked it. The look in her eyes was severe and set as she sent out her nimble strikes at Luigi. Her opponent, thankful for something substantial to work with, answered her strikes hungrily. Instead of magic, Sheik threw piercing needles at her foe and attacked with a chain. Her version of Teleporting consisted of explosions, but she used the move less frequently.

From here on in, the battle became more grounded, the focus moving away from infinite combos and toward landing a K.O. Sheik seemed to be everywhere at once, battering Luigi. Her movements were breathtaking, in every sense of the word. But Luigi's reflexes were sharp the last time he checked, and he managed to punch the ninja out of thin air, racking up damage before she escaped and retaliated more savagely than ever. She surprised him with her throws and stunned him with her needles. Fireballs stopped her quick feet in their tracks, his heel kicks tripped her and his straight roundhouse kicks pushed her away slightly, allowing him to breathe a little. He used his strong up attack, which chained into itself and juggled as well as his forward air. Mixing strong attacks with air attacks, he could set the scene for relentless Smash attacks.

Sheik was one of the most flexible fighters on the roster, twisting herself into impossible positions to escape her opponent's onslaught. But Luigi demonstrated his own flexibility along with his brawn. Who else could swing his legs 360 degrees like he did? Who else could poke out his hand like a viper into the most vulnerable areas on a person's body? Who else could follow Sheik's fluid motions with his eyes, lashing out at all the right moments? The ninja was stunned over how her opponent could keep up.

His grace under pressure was admirable, too, turning many a Smasher green (snicker) with envy. Nobody knew what he'd throw at them next, not even the all-powerful Koopa King. From her place inside Zelda's mind, Sheik had observed that fateful battle from start to finish. She listened to the way every claw strike, kick, slam or shell spin was answered with a mighty blow, the sounds of Luigi's wild wavedashing, the blast of fire breath, the sounds of roaring and interjecting and the slam of a massive body striking the floor over and over. She caught the infrequent hitches in Luigi's breathing, his blistering and almost angry yells and his exclamations of pain. More than once, she looked through Zelda's eyes and saw him, darting in and pounding his opponent senseless, darting back out to evade a counterattack, sweating and bleeding, face flushed with exertion and emotion. Speed was on his side here, and Sheik knew that he knew. But when the cheering, chanting, whistling and hooting turned into disbelieved and devastated gasps, cries and screams, Sheik knew that something was wrong.

She had been half-conscious of Link saying something to Zelda. Something about Koopa taking his bragging too far. Link had sounded upset, too. Sheik had called out to Zelda to rush to Luigi's room on the double, to comfort him and be his sounding board and make everything okay again. But Luigi had spent the rest of the day in the Training Room, the locked door unable to drown out his voice as he pummeled Sandbags. He'd come out in time for dinner, making small talk with his friends, before heading back in, this time with Mario.

Nowadays, she'd pay Luigi visits whenever she could. She gave him advice, let him vent and played her lyre for him. But she knew he was still upset over whatever had happened between him and Koopa. She used her stealthy ways to try and find out what. No dice there, but if she did know something of the situation, she knew this—Koopa had better watch that glass house of his!

After dealing out a series of blows to the legs, Sheik lashed out with her chain at her discombobulated foe. But Luigi rolled to his feet and speared his hand at her arm, causing her to drop the chain. He grabbed her, threw her into the air and laid into her one last time with repeated bicycle kicks, ending with his mighty uppercut.

Sheik hollered as she was Star K.O'd.

SUCCESS!

"After such a convoluted stage, I say it's time for some simplicity," boomed Master Hand's voice.

"I couldn't have said that better," said Luigi.

Please review!