A/N: So, we've got a chapter structured around a good old basketball tournament. Do not question me about why DK can't dunk, or rip down the rim, why Pikachu can even bounce the ball, and why Kirby is able to shoot at all. It's just a game, you may as well ask how Link can produce so many bombs that he gets from nowhere.
"Foul!" roared Fox angrily as he bumped hard with Falco while driving hard in towards the basket.
"Hardly." Falco mumbled, as he picked himself up, snatched the ball, and headed back out to the perimeter.
Captain Falcon smirked as Falco spun past Fox, but went too close to the basket. He recovered though, and went under and around for a sleek reverse lay-up.
"Fluke." Fox muttered.
"Nothing but skill." Falco replied, grabbing the ball again.
"Nice shot, Falco, but it was a fluke," came a voice behind them that made the three Smashers jump.
"Hand, do you have to sneak up on us like that?" groaned Fox.
"Yes."
Fox shook his head.
"Hey, give me a shot." Master Hand said, pointing at the basketball.
"One only." Falco said, tossing the ball to the giant hand.
"Bulldust. Refund!" Master Hand yelled, as he sank the ball through the hoop from his one hand with a lazy swish.
Falco grumpily passed him the ball, and watched him make a couple more three-pointers.
"Master Hand, why don't you just go play in the NBA, you bastard?" asked Captain Falcon, shaking his head in disbelief as the fifth three-pointer tipped in.
The Hand shrugged, and banked in his sixth. At eight, he stopped and threw it back to the Captain.
"Better let you guys get back to practice. You'll need it. Anyway, next event's at ten-sharp tomorrow so don't be late!" Master Hand said, and vanished in thin air.
The three Smashers stared at where he had just been, the basketball completely forgotten…
Master Hand was correct on his advice though. As the Smashers gathered around for the fourth event of the tournament early next morning, the hand informed everyone that it was simply going to be a three-on-three basketball tournament, with points shared. However, players from each team would get points on how valuable they were to their team, as rated by the other players during the games.
"But, MH, you said they were all going to be from games…" protested Bowser.
"Like it matters to you, you're like a bloody tank, only maybe a tank who can't shoot from anywhere outside the key." Ness told Bowser.
"Bowser, shut up. If you have a problem with it, then quit and get no points. Or just assume that it is a mode from NBA 2K7 or something. Or Mario Hoops." Master Hand fired back at the…turtle.
"I'd rather call it a glorified 2K7…" Bowser muttered under his breath, remembering how he had been horribly blocked by Waluigi in the final of that Mario Hoops tournament. Even if he was a tank
"Anyway, I've drawn up some teams. Get organised, pick yourselves some names, and head back here. You guys have ten minutes and counting." Master Hand said, pinning up a list by the wall. It read:
Team 1: DK, Ness, Samus
Team 2: Bowser, Popo, Roy
Team 3: Ganondorf, Nana, Zelda
Team 4: Captain Falcon, Pikachu, Luigi
Team 5: Mewtwo, Malon, Krystal
Team 6: Wario, Link, Peach
Team 7: Falco, Kirby, Marth
Team 8: Candy, Mario, Fox
Nobody showed any real distaste at the team picking, and they all headed off to choose names. Although there were a couple of large debates, generally, the team-name choosing went reasonably well, and up came the teams:
Team 1: Water Giants
Team 2: Super Magic Power Swords
Team 3: Teeming Extreme
Team 4: Tomahawks
Team 5: Skyhooks
Team 6: The Electronic Conscience
Team 7: The X-Factor
Team 8: Tornadoes
There were a couple of comments on a few of the names that were posted up, but generally, no real mocking, and they were quickly shut up by Master Hand managing to whisk up some singlets with the various assorted names that had been picked, and there were some real nice ones too. Everyone gleefully put their team singlets on, and waited for Master Hand to announce the rules.
"Okay, regular basketball scoring, full-court, and two eight-minute halves. You can call one timeout per half. I'll decide the seeds by an awesomenator thingo…I've managed to get the NBA 2K7 versions of Steve Nash, Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade here…you'll play them in a twelve-minute game!" Master Hand said, spinning two basketballs on one finger, to the disbelief of a few.
"But Hand…we'll get hammered!" protested Falco.
"Hehe…kidding. Round-robin matches, two groups, five-minute halves. Then we play quarter-finals, okay?"
Master Hand flicked his finger, and up appeared two groups:
Group A: Water Giants, Teeming Extreme, Electronic Conscience, X-Factor
Group B: SMPS, Tomahawks, Skyhooks, Tornadoes
"One game at a time, we've got one main court in the mansion gym, so everyone should head down there." Master Hand said, and the Smashers followed him into the gymnasium.
"So that makes twelve round-robin games at ten minutes each…that should take three hours. We'll have lunch, and then ten games at sixteen minutes each…three and a half hours. You guys have a break for the night, so don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to recuperate. Plus, the courts have some shifty ventilation system that cools down players rapidly after their games, and naturally, I have a stack of Gatorade…" Master Hand said, as they headed over to the courts.
"You know that stuff causes people to be obsessed with winning?" grinned Captain Falcon, enjoying mocking the Hand.
"Shut up, Falcon!" the Hand yelled angrily.
"All right! So, we've got Water Giants and X-Factor up in the first match. You six, get out on court to warm-up. Everyone else, find some place to sit, and shut up for now. I'll ref." Master Hand announced, quickly recovering from his state of anger, and everyone rushed to their places.
"You are really taking this basketball tournament seriously, no? Mario Hoops is much different to this…" Bowser said.
"That is why it sucks and failed Nintendo. Now shut up and watch."
Bowser shut up.
Within five minutes, it was tip-off time. Master Hand motioned the start with a tip-off, and DK lazily leaped over Falco, knocking it to Samus who was being marked tightly by Marth. Samus moved forward, bouncing the ball behind her back, then back the other way, beating Marth and sprinted forward. As she drove in towards the basket, Falco came across for the block, and she slipped it off to the open DK, who pulled it in for the first points of the event.
Kirby took the pass from Marth, and moved forward slowly. He wasn't a great dribble, or a "pro" basketballer like Samus, so he had to rely on a bit of luck. Taking the ball down slowly, he popped it in the air to Marth, who tried to work around Samus, but she was too quick for him. Knocking the ball away, she raced up the court and finger-rolled in two more points.
"Hey Samus, did you practise playing basketball while you were killing Space Pirates?" called a smirking Mewtwo.
Samus shrugged lazily, and stuck an arm out at the inbound, looking for the steal. She didn't get it though, and Marth moved up court, passing to Kirby. Kirby made a move forward, trying to beat Ness, and sort of did well until Samus came up again with the double-team, stripping the ball. DK had come up in support again, and she handed it to him for two more easy points.
Much of the game turned out to be along this pattern. Although the X-Factor slowed down Samus, she still scored freely, stole a few balls and handed out some nice passes, and the Water Giants won 47-24. Samus had added 29 points, and looked much more comfortable out of her suit, with DK 16 and Ness managing a late lay-up near the end, despite his crappy shooting ability.
Most people quickly lost interest in watching, and headed off to the other courts to muck around before their games. There weren't too many memorable moments through the round-robin games, as in most matches, the teams scored freely with so much space. Water Giants, as a result of the brilliant Samus, dominated Group A and Group B being a real fight with Krystal and Mewtwo proving a useful tall combination for the Skyhooks, and Captain Falcon being fed nicely by Pikachu's precision passing that probably came from his ability to hit anyone with electric attacks. Well, it was close enough to precision.
Probably the most memorable moments of the early round-robin event, came from either Luigi's swishing three with two seconds left for the Tomahawks to beat the Skyhooks 32-30, Samus shooting a reverse lay-up over Ganondorf, or Zelda's stunning block on Wario's off-balance shot (to the catcalls of the bigger Smashers). But soon, everyone, exhausted despite Master Hand's ventilation system, settled in for pizza which had been ordered from the local pizza parlour, and drinks, ready for another load of afternoon action, competing for the points.
As everyone wiped the cheese and sauce off their mouths, finished the last drops of drinks and got up to head back to the court, Pacman had decided it was a good time to drop in on Master Hand…
Having arrived from teleporting from the Atari dimension, he had telekinetically reached out to poke Master Hand, and the giant hand obliged the request for a conversation, heading back to his office. And naturally, when he found Pacman, the yellow ball wasn't pleased.
"YOU RAN A FUCKING PACMAN TOURNAMENT WITHOUT MY PERMISSION??? YOU PIECE OF NO-GOOD-"he screamed, but Master Hand cut him off.
"White hand thingy?" he asked sarcastically.
"Uh…yeah. Just screw you man, screw you." Pacman said, bouncing away to a corner of the room.
"Jeez, it's just a tournament. You try controlling twenty guys beating the hell out of each other in a lunch room."
"IT'S NOT A TOURNAMENT! I mean, I bet I can control the ghosts if they go all-out-brawl on each other."
"That's four people. Plus, you have the drug. And they eat you if you don't use it. And I don't have a drug that lets me crush people in my fingers to subdue them." Master Hand replied coolly.
"Shut up." Pacman mumbled.
"I'm sure we could work out something though…" Master Hand muttered.
"Hmm…let's see…AH-HAH! I can shout out insulting comments at your Smashers during the Pacman tournament!" Pacman smirked triumphantly.
"Man, screw you. Whatever counts though. See ya around; I'll call you when I'm hosting the thing."
Pacman, satisfied with the result, disappeared in thin air, back into the Atari dimension, pretty happy.
That was until he hit a racing car.
"DAMN IT, TELEPORTED TOO FAR!"
By the time Master Hand got back, the Tomahawks and Electronic Conscience were already warming up, ready to get the elimination rounds up and going. He appeared with the basketball, motioned for everyone to head to the bleachers, leaving the six basketballers on court, ready for the start.
Captain Falcon got the tip-off over Wario, and it went to Pikachu, who bounced the ball up with his tiny paws. Link followed him carefully, and Luigi made a break from Peach into open space, where Pikachu passed it to him. Luigi flicked it to Captain Falcon, who backed down towards Wario. Wario tried to psyche him out with his mind, but only a little, but Falcon ignored it, so he had to square up and block him out. That worked better, but Captain Falcon still managed to squeeze past him with a lucky hook shot.
Link took it up the court, using Peach as a screen to pick off Pikachu. Racing towards the basket, he flipped the ball to Wario at the last second, drawing Captain Falcon, who recovered, but wasn't quick enough to prevent Wario drawing the slap on the arm and the two points. He made the free-throw, and they settled back up court to set up defence.
That was what the rest of the game really was. Both teams used their big guy to squeeze out the points, and it turned into an essentially one-on-one contest. However, overall, the Tomahawks played with better outside shooting, and both Pikachu and Luigi were able to sink outside shots when Captain Falcon was double-teamed slamming it inside. Wario scored well for the Conscience, Link and Peach gave him good support, but their shooting did suffer, and the Tomahawks won 30-21, advancing to the semis.
Next up were the Water Giants, up against the Tornadoes.
It was an uneven contest. Right from the start, Samus continued to dominate, rolling straight over Candy, her marker (who had refused to play on DK). She was constantly pulling up the shots, and nobody could really stop her either. Fox played hard and was strong when picking up boards and Mario was quick with the ball, but they were simply steamrollered by Samus, a clear-cut choice for the MVP of their team. Although Mario did get up the other end to sink four late threes, the Water Giants won easily 46-25. They were easily the team to beat.
As the Skyhooks took the court for the match against Teeming Extreme, nobody was really giving Ganondorf, Nana or Zelda much of a chance, especially after the way Samus's Water Giants had dominated. Neither did they do so when Mewtwo won the tip-off, and the Skyhooks shared a few passes before a defence-splitting pass to a cutting Krystal gave them two easy points. After Zelda's awkward-looking shot lipped out, the Skyhooks executed the same play, with good passing have come from Mewtwo's psychic ability to sense the motions of his team-mates, Krystal's good co-ordination from being a pilot and Malon's good teamwork generating two more points.
However, the Teeming Extreme made it a reasonable contest. Ganondorf used his size and body mass well against what you could describe as the "rail-thin" Mewtwo, Nana was quick with the ball and Zelda was surprisingly good at sinking shots, no matter how weird it looked. With three minutes to go, Teeming Extreme was in with a shot at 26-20. And when Nana somehow managed to swish a three-pointer over an open-mouthed Malon, it was game-on. Or at least it was until Malon over-armed it downtown to Krystal for a short jumper, then Krystal picked off the pass inbound and rolled in two more. And that was it. The game finished at 36-27.
And with that, came the final game of the quarters, between the X-Factor and the Super Magic Power Swords. Once again, the Power Swords started favourites, but only because of Bowser's size and strength.
The tip-off was won surprisingly by Falco, because Bowser…had to stop himself sneezing just before the tip-off or face a technical foul and a few swear words by Falco. Kirby dribbled the ball up, but then decided he couldn't be bothered to move forward on his feet, and remembered that he could jump very high (several hours after the tournament start), so he simply started jumping up into the air with his ridiculously annoying quintuple-jump. He was immediately whistled by Master Hand.
"But…but that wasn't travelling!" Kirby complained.
"Fine…err…illegal jumping." Master Hand muttered.
"FARK YOU!" Kirby shouted loudly as he tossed the ball hard at Popo, who caught it, but was sent flying back by the force of the throw.
Master Hand managed to give what seemed like a shrug…with his giant hand. Popo picked himself up, and handed it to Roy, rubbing his back angrily, and the match started…properly.
After that, Kirby lost interest in the match, and the Power Swords gave the X-Factor a SUPER SPECIAL AWESOME ULTRA SPECIAL SEXY whipping. They relied on Bowser to score some easy points, and when he was double-teamed by Marth and Falco, he dished it out to Roy or Popo, who were usually open considering that Kirby wasn't really trying as a result of Master Hand's contentious decision. The Power Swords won 40-16.
Master Hand approached Kirby after the game, as everyone wandered off for a short break before the playoffs for 5th to 8th, and the semis.
"Look, Kirby, I know you're pissed about this, but I have an idea…which lets you take all your rage out on something!" Master Hand said.
"On you?" Kirby asked hopefully.
"No, on the author."
"You mean we're actually video game characters in a story written by some random guy who isn't even a proper fan of Nintendo and prefers playing Xbox and eating chocolate chip cookies with-"
"Kirby, shut up. I'll just break this fourth wall so we all have access to the author. SUPER SPECIAL AWESOME MASTER HAND SMASH!" Master Hand yelled, and with a war-cry, he punched Kirby in the face.
"Ow! What was the point of that?" Kirby mumbled, nursing the spot where he had been punched, coincidentally, the same place where he was hit during Bomberman.
"Uh, yeah, that's where the fourth wall was. Sorry about that." Master Hand 'smirked'.
With the fourth wall now effectively broken, Master Hand had the first shot at yelling at the author:
"Stop making references to a Yu-Gi-Oh parody you only started watching two weeks ago!"
"Shut up, I finished watching all current episodes today; I can reference it all I want." Dominus Noobius shot back.
"Now wait a second!" Kirby said loudly, picking himself up from the ground.
"If the wall remains broken, all you'll do is shouting obscenities at the author for whatever inadequate plotline he adds to the story. So you should like…repair it. Anyway, FARK YOU FOR MAKING THE QUINTUPLE JUMP ILLEGAL!" Kirby screamed at the author.
"Whatever. I can repair the wall anytime, I want, I'm the author." Dominus Noobius replied, and he disappeared immediately.
"Asshole." Master Hand muttered.
"I heard that. And for that, you'll have to dance. And the wall is now officially repaired."
Suddenly, Master Hand stiffened. He began to start tap-dancing with all five of his fingers, complete with the two-fingered walk that he had used on the Smashers during the original Super Smash Brothers Tournaments. Unfortunately for him, Kirby was in the way again.
"Damn, Master Hand, why do you keep doing that? AND WHY DO YOU KEEP GETTING ME HURT ON PURPOSE, WHOEVER YOU ARE?"
Kirby was immediately struck down by the laws of fanfiction writing.
"Kirby, if the wall isn't broken, you can't speak to the author. It's illegal, and you get…err…smitttttttted by a purple lightning bolt." Master Hand said, having now completed his dance.
"Why is it purple? Isn't that a fruit?"
"Why don't we shut up and get back to the tournament?"
"Why can't I just shout at the author?"
Master Hand flicked him in the face, and glided off.
With the nasty business finally cleared up, it was ready for the 5th to 8th playoffs. First up, was the battle for the wooden spoon between the Tornadoes and Teeming Extreme. This time, nobody was tipping nobody with neither team having won a match during the whole tournament, and one team set to receive one point per player for their efforts.
Candy won the tip-off against Ganondorf, and Mario set up offence. He passed it to Fox, who immediately put up a jump shot, rolling in off a lucky bounce for two. Zelda shook her head, and went to receive the in-bound. After taking it up court, she handed it to Ganondorf, rather reluctantly, and Ganondorf passed it to Nana, who fired a shot from just inside the three-point line. The ball was about to bounce off to the side, when it suddenly, as if attracted by magnetic force, drifted back into the net. Nana stared at Master Hand, who hummed innocently.
The rest of the match went pretty much the same way. Master Hand had done something to the rings, and the points flew in pretty quickly. With nine seconds left, the Tornadoes were down 44-42, but they had the last possession. Mario took the inbound from Candy on the run, beat Zelda, who slipped and could only watch as Mario ran on. He went to shoot over Nana, but passed it to the open Fox at the last second. Fox was expecting the pass, and was in the same place that he had been when he had made the first points of the game. He jumped, and released the ball for the potential game-winning shot. It lipped out, and landed in Ganondorf's hand. The buzzer blew and Teeming Extreme began to dance about in celebration after the dramatic win.
Fox just stared at Master Hand.
"Dude, that landed in the EXACT SAME SPOT as it did when I hit that shot earlier in the game! Stop twiddling with the rings!" he shouted angrily, as he approached the Hand with his fists clenched. Krystal held him back, but he slowly inched closer. Master Hand shrugged. Again. Somehow.
Fox didn't have time to go after Master Hand, because the Electronic Conscience and X-Factor were on court immediately after the completion of the match, ready to fight for 5th and 6th places.
Although Kirby was actually interested in the fate of the match this time around, the Electronic Conscience simply hammered the X-Factor because of their height advantage. Peach towered over Kirby, and Wario was a lot…tankier than Falco could be meaning a lot of easy shots for Peach and Falco, while Link and Marth played evenly on each other. The rings didn't change during the match, much to the players' relief, and much to the fury of Fox. It didn't change the score though; the Conscience ran out winners 34-19.
Everyone settled down for the semi-final matches, as these were the real business parts of the tournament, with the winners taking home eight points each. First up were the Water Giants, up against the Skyhooks, and it was basically all about Samus versus Krystal, and how they would fare. They were both athletic players, having come from years of blasting countless "bad guys" ranging from planets such as Aether to Zebes to Sauria…and such. However, there was also much to see about the battle between Mewtwo and DK; whether psychic powers could help overcome DK's sheer body strength…and weight.
It was a contest from the start. Predictably, Samus dominated for the Water Giants, shooting over the taller Krystal with confidence and with accuracy, though Mewtwo did get in with two superb blocks on the bounty hunter by rushing off DK. Krystal and Mewtwo shared the points for the Skyhooks early on, with Malon passing the ball well, being such a well co-ordinated player, despite her lack of sporting prowess. At 15-13, a contest looked well-on for a place in the final. But Samus suddenly took her game up a level, and exploded with two three-point shots, and the Water Giants went up 21-15.
With the start of the second half, the Water Giants came out and played solid defence, focusing on keeping their lead. Krystal and Malon lurked at the edges, looking for openings to shoot from. Slowly, they whittled down the lead…21-17…23-17…23-20…24-20…24-22…
It was thrilling stuff. The Giants were holding them down well, but Krystal was making a few impossible shots, and Mewtwo managed to shoot over DK's giant frame to score baskets. Samus continued to threaten on offence, but DK and Ness were focused on getting back, and she was closed down often.
However, it looked like their brave comeback was going to be weeded out when once again, Samus stepped up. After hitting a shot on the run, she followed it up with a one-handed scoop off a pass knocked away by DK. After bouncing the ball AROUND a stunned Mewtwo, who was left staring, she flipped it to the far end to DK, who had gotten up-court quickly. DK made the easy basket, and wagged his finger mockingly at Popo, sitting on the sidelines. It was now 35-29. One and a half minutes left.
However, the Skyhooks still weren't lying down. The two teams traded baskets, before Malon hit a lucky three-pointer that rolled around the ring before going in. She looked at Master Hand again, who shrugged. 37-all. Forty seconds left. Ness took it down. Malon didn't dare going for a steal and leaving someone open. Samus made a break open, and Malon went to her. The fadeaway shot was a bit loose, and Mewtwo gobbled up the ball. Suddenly, the crowd of Smashers started yelling, as the Water Giants desperately back-pedalled in an attempt to get back. The Skyhooks charged down the court, and Malon flipped it to Krystal. Krystal faked, and played it to Mewtwo. Mewtwo beat DK with a nice spin, and Ness was forced to cover, simply by harassing him a bit. Mewtwo saw Ness coming, and saw Malon, who had anticipated the play coming in, and laid the ball off to her. Malon was about to flick the ball into the net when suddenly, a large shape dawned in front of her. It was DK, who savagely swatted the ball away. A huge play and Samus gathered up the ball, and began to sprint down-court. Krystal moved back with her, but a clever move got her in a bit of space, and Mewtwo came back in support. It looked like they had her trapped, but suddenly, she produced a behind-the-back pass to a running DK, who came to a stop with an open shot.
DK thought about delaying and getting closer, but he saw the clock in above the backboard-five seconds left. He took one look at the net, and fired, over a bemused Malon, who couldn't really do much apart from stick an arm up. It struck the back iron, and went in. Water Giants had won.
At first, there was silence. Then, there was a yell of triumph by Samus as she ran up to high-five. Then, everyone started cheering (or moaning, if you had been taking bets, as Bowser and Ganondorf had. Bowser glumly produced the 10 Coins promised).
It had been a brilliant match, but after a few minutes of letting the two lap it up, Master Hand ordered that everyone be back to watch the second semi-final. As it turned out, it was rather anticlimactic. Captain Falcon was brilliant in shutting down Bowser, Luigi strangled Roy with his height, and Pikachu was way too quick for any real chance to stop as the Tomahawks won 35-28.
Master Hand called in the Smashers for a food break, and handed out random snacks to those who weren't playing, and fruit and water to those who still were. Just as tired as everyone else, he quickly called the break over and got the players back on court for the third-place playoff.
As it was the case, the Skyhooks were mentally tired, but they had played brilliant basketball in the semi-final loss, and their standard just blew away the Super Magic Power Swords, with a late comeback making the score look respectable. Krystal poured in 23 points, and they ran home winners 38-31.
And so it was finally coming to the final. Master Hand had originally intended the basketball to involve special powers, letting them swat each other around, but he decided that it would be easier to leave that to Sega Soccer Slam, which he had organised on the list. The two teams lined up, ready for the battle for the Console Crazy Basketball Championship…uh, Toad's PP Basketball Championship.
DK, predictably, won the tip-off over Captain Falcon, and off went Samus. Luigi followed her carefully, as she jogged forward, looking to score like she had all tournament. She passed it to Ness, who quickly fed it back to her as she penetrated through, and slipped in two points to open proceedings.
The match was what you expected of a final: a real contest. Pikachu had played beautifully all tournament as a result of his legal Agility attack, and he was once again quick, beating Ness on several occasions and feeding to Captain Falcon as a result of his obvious lack of height preventing him from shooting too well. DK was forced to constantly cover for Ness, but he got a few swats on Captain Falcon, wagging his finger at…Popo each time he did so. Samus dominated scoring again, and was generous in her passing as well, although Luigi played tight on her.
With the score at 34-33, it was up for someone to stand up…and most characters had done on countless occasions. On traditional arcade basketball rules, on the fourth foul, free throws had to be shot. There hadn't been much dirty play, mainly out of fear of Master Hand's almighty smiting ability, but it was getting a bit serious, with the desperation to grab the points.
Ness took it up court, and as usual, passed to Samus. Immediately, Pikachu charged off at the bounty hunter in an attempt to trap her and force a turnover, with ten seconds to go. Samus held on, and slipped the pass back to Ness. Ness looked at the net, and went up for the game-winner. Captain Falcon anticipated, and slapped Ness's arm. Hard. The foul went up, but the shot missed, and it was up for Ness to win the match.
But his arm was sore, and he could barely lift the ball. He air-balled the first one, and there was a huge groan. Using an underarm action, he somehow got the second one through. 35-33. Eight seconds left. Samus guarded Luigi, who was passing the ball. Luigi looked around, and Pikachu made a Quick-Attack assisted run for the ball, and got it. Immediately, he was swarmed by Samus coming back, and Ness who had found the spot. Pikachu dribbled left, then right and then…through Samus's legs.
Samus couldn't believe it, but Pikachu had three seconds to shot. Heaving the ball up above his head, he flung it at the net from outside, using every ounce of his energy he still had left. The ball almost went in slo-mo, as it slowly dropped down. Down. Down. It hit the left ring, backboard, and then flipped into the net.
Total pandemonium followed. Samus, shaking her head, was the first one to pick up a nearly-unconscious Pikachu and give him a high-five. It was drama to the max, and Master Hand was pleased. He knew that once they were done with this tournament, they would be so tired that he could take a proper break without dealing with Kirby's snack-eating or Roy's big sword in the wrong places or…whatever.
He went to call for the trophy-presenter, but then mumbled:
"Ah screw it, leave it for the next chapter!"
