10: Icicle Mountain
Luigi was right. He didn't need a jacket when he had Fire Flowers at his disposal. During the interval, he'd swapped outfits, and now he was wearing a white shirt and hat with dark green overalls and black boots. Now, everyone could see the full golden tan on his skin. Standing on the chill Icicle Mountain, Luigi felt the warmth and fire circulating inside him. He closed his eyes and let it build until it was massaging his body. Snowflakes lazily floated down from the sky and onto his eyelids, eyelashes, nose and cheeks. He tipped his head back so that some would land on his neck. The two forces of ice and fire worked with each other to prevent Luigi from getting too hot or too cold.
"The game was great," said Luigi, his breaths visible in the subzero temperature. "I'll admit that. But why make it a battle stage? The constant upward scrolling, as well as the variable pace of such scrolling, is a pain in the…"
"I know, I know," said MH. "The good news for you is that you'll only have to survive 51 seconds of this. After 51 seconds, the speed will be constant, and a battle will be waiting for you."
"Okay," said Luigi.
"And by the way, watch out for the Topis and the Polar Bears," said MH.
"You don't have to remind me," Luigi told him.
READY—GO!
The stage immediately started scrolling upwards, slowly at first. There were platforms scattered all over the mountain which Luigi could hop up and over. Sometimes, he could hop up two platforms at a time, since his jump was so high. He was barely stationary for even a second, feeling the scrolling speed starting to increase. And as MH warned, this mountain was infested with Polar Bears and Topis. Wishing to conserve his energy, Luigi fought defensively, not attacking unless they approached him, or threw fireballs. Topis pushed a lot of Freezies around, which Luigi would grab and throw back at them or at a Polar Bear. One attack the Polar Bears used was to jump up and down, jolting the stage up slightly. Luigi usually knocked them away with a good kick, or picked them up and threw them. The scrolling speed had become fairly fast now. No sense wasting time on these relatively harmless enemies. The faster the stage scrolled, the higher Luigi willed himself to jump, and he'd barely landed on a platform before he jumped again. The momentum of the previous jump powered his next jump, along with the balls of his feet. He seemed to spring lightly from his toes. The icy wind cut a swath through his face and clothes, but with his Fire Flower outfit, he didn't mind. He breathed in the cool air, crisper than a York Peppermint Patty and as refreshing as Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water. Now, the stage was at maximum scrolling speed. It was as if Luigi was trying to outrun some high-speed elevator. He refused to even dwell on it, just focusing on jumping and jumping and jumping like a jumping bean. A green jumping bean. A jumping green bean. A jumping green string bean. Ha-ha-ha. He cracked himself up—
…right up until he remembered the various times that stupid turtle called him by the name and how he'd caused the name to spread, eventually becoming adopted by Ganondorf and the other high-and-mighty ones who thought of Luigi as some lowly peasant. He looked down and noticed that his hands had balled up, green flames suffusing them. A few paces away from him stood a Polar Bear. That Polar Bear was the unfortunate target for Luigi's spiking temper as he grabbed it, swung it round twice and hurled it off the mountain.
And into one of two pairs of mountaineers he knew all too well.
The remaining pair of Ice Climbers gawked at Luigi. They consisted of a boy and a girl. The boy wore a blue parka, and the girl wore pink, and they were a team and they loved each other dearly, like most siblings. Their names were Nana and Popo.
"Oh!" said Luigi. "I didn't see you guys!"
"Is everyone figuring that out?" asked Popo.
"Figure what out?" asked Luigi.
"That the Polar Bear is a OHKO?" asked Nana.
"I just needed to let off some aggression," explained Luigi.
"We noticed," said both Ice Climbers.
"We hope you feel better," chirped Nana.
Luigi smiled and blushed at her concern. "I'll be okay," he assured her. "Now, who wants to fight on this mountain?"
Nana and Popo answered that question by springing forward, mallets at the ready. But Luigi had fought them before and had seen others fight them. He could separate the duo to decrease the power of their special attacks. And if he KO'd Popo, then it would count as a stock loss for the Ice Climbers or as a win if it was a one-stock match. But the Ice Climbers weren't to be underestimated just because of their parkas, chubby faces, bean-shaped eyes or their brown hair. They were known to the serious tournament players as "the Wobbles". They put those mallets of theirs to very good use, if you know what I mean. They gave vanquished opponents nightmares. Those who dared mock them for being little kids paid a hefty fine. And right now, they were in good company with a man who'd been sneered at for most of his life.
"Let's go, L!" the Ice Climbers chanted, clanging their mallets together at the end of the chant. "Let's go, L! Let's go! Let's go!"
The young mountaineers sat there, occasionally sipping from their ICEE beverages, joining the rest of the spectators in watching the drama unfolding on the Battlefield. This simple stage was just right for the two fighters. Both were so determined to beat the other up so badly that hazards would only put them in a raw mood. The ambient background and more ambient music were all they needed for this match. Though the Ice Climbers wished that the fight was on Icicle Mountain. That way, the plumber could simply fling the turtle into the abyss and use the upwards scrolling to drain all of his five stocks in seconds! But they could settle for the sight they were seeing now.
The Ice Climber were on the side of the underdog. Wasn't everyone? Well, except for a certain Gerudo King. Nana and Popo had been on the receiving end of Koopa's b.s. many, many times, and that was after they'd heard tales of it. What was he trying to do—make himself look like a god? Even after the duo went Wobble on him, he still enjoyed treating them and everyone else like little kids. They were sick of it. Sick of it! And so a few moments into it, the mini mountaineers had initiated a cheer.
"Lu-i-gi!" they yelled before pounding their mallets together. "Lu-i-gi!"
It wasn't long before they got their seatmates in on it, and it grew into a little game. First, Nana and Popo chanted Luigi's name. Then, the person sitting on both sides of them chanted the name twice. The people next to them chanted three times, and so on, and for the finish, the entire row shouted Luigi's name as loud as they could. The cheer spread to the rows above and below them. It became like "the Wave", except they used their voices, rather than their arms!
Luigi hadn't stopped fighting for even a moment, always finding a way to redefine the words "Hell", "agony" and "nightmare" for his opponent. Using the main and the upper platforms to attack, defend and escape when things got too much. Coupling his strengths with Koopa's weaknesses and making his opponent suffer for such weaknesses. Punishing techs, reading, baiting. The Ice Climbers heard the sharp sounds of Luigi's blows against turtle hide, and by the way Koopa was clutching his stomach occasionally, they could guess that Luigi attacked that area the most! The center of the belly had an invisible bull's-eye painted on it for the Green Missile. Many Smash attacks bludgeoned Koopa's fearsome face. Luigi was both fire and ice that day. The fire was in his eyes, in his attacks and in his voice as it shot up the stands like stock market prices on a good day. The ice was in his face and in his disposition, convincing many that something had occurred between them before the match. Or, this was sixteen years of animosity speaking.
The ice was present, too, after Luigi lost, when Nana and Popo witnessed Koopa accosting him and dragging him to the replay area so he could watch the defeat over and over. And when that didn't break the plumber, Koopa went on an all-out tirade, telling him how worthless and pathetic and useless he was and that he wasn't fit for Smash. What had been a fiery glare during the match was now an icy one, the ice potent enough to petrify anyone. The ice had spread from his eyes to his face, which only grew icier with each cruel word that leaped out of Koopa's mouth. Popo felt Nana tugging on his sleeve and agreed with her that they shouldn't stick around to listen to anymore. But as they made their exit, they caught sight of Ganon as he joined in the fun…
Icicle Mountain soon rang with battle cries and the slam of mallets and bodies. Nana and Popo could stop Luigi in his tracks using Blizzard or fire chunks of ice at him using Ice Shot. Squall Hammer had properties similar to the Luigi Cyclone, but the hits were harder. Sometimes, one Climber could hold Luigi while the other attacked him. Or, they volleyed him from one to the other with their mallets. But Luigi knew there were advantages to being between them. His fireballs could stave off one as he racked damage points on the other. They couldn't use Belay. And his main focus was on Popo, since defeating him would signal an automatic win over the Ice Climbers. He used his fast aerials to keep them spaced, reserved his smash attacks for Popo and stuck with strong attacks on Nana unless it was an emergency. Individually, they were relatively lightweight, so a few misfires could send them quite far. Due to the scrolling, it was hard to string long combos, so Luigi tried to send the Climbers downward with his blows for more guaranteed KO's. He could always rely on old tricks, yet he kept an open mind when it came to the various stages, especially when it came to auto-scrolling ones.
And what could be better than taking on the Ice Climbers to this catchy music? It had a swinging, jazzy, rock-n-roll vibe to it! It made people want to forget about their troubles and get up and dance—well, at least the first half. The second part was more of a slow dance and had a bit of a wintry wonderland feel. Luigi couldn't believe that this was a song that played as people beat each other up on a mountain. It was better suited for a jukebox at the hop!
Music and stages aside, Luigi owned the Ice Climbers from start to finish, which was good because he only had 3 minutes and 9 seconds to defeat them. There were 90 seconds remaining on the clock when Luigi bent his elbow and aimed his Trowel Stab at Popo, angling it downwards so that he plummeted into the blast zone below.
GAME!
Nana smiled at him. "That was a good fight," she smiled. "Come back soon—maybe we'll have some cocoa waiting!" And with that, she exited to be with her brother.
"How was it?" asked MH.
"Chill," replied Luigi.
"Hm. Good to know," said MH. "Well, from now on, the stages you'll fight on are going to be simple. That's the good news."
"And the bad news?"
Master Hand winked. "Things are about to get serious."
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