The Next Day…
The stands were once again packed to the brim, as spectators cheered and awaited the beginning of the semi-final rounds. Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toadsworth once again stood in the first row, awaiting the start.
Mario looked around. He saw the other semifinal teams waiting, positioned all around the first row: Roy and Marth, Kirby and Metaknight, as well as Wario and Waluigi. Mario's gaze stopped at Wario and Waluigi. Wario turned his head, and looked at Mario, and grimaced. Mario stared back, unperturbed. Luigi also turned his gaze to look at Waluigi, who in turn stared back.
"Hmm, all the other teams that lost aren't here, eh?" spoke Toadsworth, breaking the spell.
Mario turned, and asked, "Hm?"
Peach also looked around. "I wonder why?"
"Most of the teams were critically wounded in their fights, and are still in the healing chambers, to answer your question," replied a serious voice.
They turned in surprise, and there was Tendo. Luigi recoiled in shock, not expecting to see him there; he was faster than the green bro expected, as well as quiet.
"Of course, the exceptions are Link and Zelda," he finished. "I suppose we should start this up…." He jumped up, and landed on the stage railing. The spectators began to quiet down. "Is everyone ready to get started?!" he yelled.
The spectators roared in anticipation, and Tendo smirked.
"The rules are the same as before! The winners will advance to the final round, and obtain their prize! And, now, I can tell you what that prize can entail!" Tendo paused, closed his eyes. "Whatever you want."
There was total silence. "I can pretty much grant whatever you may want…so long as it isn't anything crazy or stupid. You know, something within the limits of an average guy like me." He raised his hand, and everyone gasped as a vortex of celestial energy swirled into being.
Mario's eyes were wide. Everyone was speechless, and Tendo closed his eyes again, and the vortex. "So the stakes are now higher than you might have previously believed."
Suddenly, there was a crash in the arena. Everyone looked down, and in the arena were the forms of Wario and Waluigi. "Heh," chuckled Tendo.
"Princess-a…." spoke Mario.
"I left the Baby elves in the Toad's care at the castle, Mario…so don't worry. Just…..be careful." spoke Peach, with a worried expression on her face.
Mario nodded, his eyes focused. He leaped off the first row, and landed in a crouch a few feet from Wario and Waluigi. Luigi took a deep breath, and also jumped down.
"…" Kirby let out a quiet sound.
Metaknight turned, and looked at the pink spud. Kirby had a troubled look on his face, and appeared to be shaking.
"Whats wrong, Kirby?" asked Metaknight.
Kirby shook his head, and said nothing, still trembling.
"Well….looks like we have our match ups," said Roy.
Tendo grinned slightly, and said, "Whenever you both are ready!"
Mario spun into his battle stance, and so did Luigi. Wario and Waluigi got into a crouch, and suddenly, a maniacal grin spread across both their faces. The pressure in the air suddenly seemed to increase, and they each took off directly at Mario and Luigi. Mario grimaced, unperturbed by the pressure increase, and took off straight back at them. Luigi's eyes widened, and he took off at Mario.
As the dust clouds that each fighter made drew nearer to each other, the spectators just watched in rapt anticipation, the intensity of the battle to come not lost on any of them.
Mario and Wario neared each other, and without hesitation, leaped. The mustachioed red plumber punched at Wario, but Wario moved quickly do duck under the punch, and retaliated with a jab right to Mario's stomach. Mario was blasted into the ground, but he flipped to quickly land on his feet, and sidestepped to the side just as Wario punched again. Mario grabbed his outstretched fist, and began to spin Wario around, before sending him flying backwards with a powerful throw. Wario landed on his feet and looked up, and saw Mario high above, sailing down at him, having leaped into the sky. Wario smirked, and the pressure around him increased once more as he drew his fist back. Mario also drew his fist back, and then, fire burst around it. The two let out a roar, and punched each other at full force, ripping through the ground with a wave of intense pressure.
Luigi was watching in amazement, and thus, was caught off guard as the figure of Waluigi appeared in from of him, and his mouth dropped a few feet in complete terror. Waluigi struck at Luigi, but Luigi dodged amazingly quickly, and began to run in the opposite direction crying. Waluigi took off after him, and struck many times at Luigi, but Luigi constantly strafed, dodged, and finally long jumped out of the way of the final blow. However, an arena wall cornered him, leaving him nowhere else to run.
Luigi skidded to a stop, frantically searching for a way out. Waluigi chuckled, and stepped forward menacingly. Luigi' s eyes began to water, as he stepped back in fear. Waluigi's eyes narrowed, and all of the sudden, he disappeared and Luigi closed his eyes waiting for the blow. He opened his eyes just in time to see Waluigi lashing his fist at Luigi's gut; and Luigi caught the blow. Luigi looked wide eyed at his fist, as it seemed to move on his own. Waluigi grimaced, and punched with the other fist, but Luigi caught that punch with his other fist as well.
Even the crowd was silent at this development. Then Luigi's face changed to one of anger, albeit he wasn't sure why. Shockwaves of green began to cut through the air around the two figures.
"….."Marth gazed on, as the energy got more intense.
Peach's eyes were widening, and Luigi's eyes flashed, and he crouched down, and jumped up with the force of a cannon, headbutting Waluigi in the stomach. Waluigi bent like "v" in pain, gasping for air, and they both careened into the sky, Luigi still rocketing upward.
The crowd gasped in awe as Luigi then pulled back, and Waluigi recoiled, with a look of anger on his face. Luigi glared back at him, and Waluigi flashed out with a punch, but Luigi dodged, and retaliated with a kick, but he blocked. Waluigi jabbed at Luigi, but Luigi blocked also. They broke apart, and they both went straight at each with brutal blows, clashing faster and faster as they fell towards the earth.
Then, Luigi drew back, and cried "Chaos-a… Blast-a!".
Waluigi drew up his guard…..but nothing happened. Luigi cried, "HOO HOO!" and axed kicked the fooled Waluigi into the stage. At the exact same moment, Mario's eyes widened, and he smirked and he leaped backwards, as ironically, by a strange twist of fate, Waluigi careened right into Wario, and both hit the ground, kicking up dust and debris.
Mario landed on his feet and Luigi landed right beside him. Mario drew back his hands and red fire began to burst between them, and Luigi copied him, and green fire began to burst between them. Red and green flames began to arc outwards around the stadium.
"Let's-a go!" they cried, and they both fired their blasts, which careened into the smog, and a huge explosion of fiery energy erupted from hit, blinding everyone and blasting air backwards, obscuring everyone in the arena, even Mario and Luigi.
Peach covered herself as debris showered outwards. The only one who didn't try to defend himself was Tendo, as the debris just seemed to miss him and fly past. His gaze was serious as he gazed into the smoke. As the dust slowly cleared from Mario and Luigi's area, they slowly stood tall. The arena was completely silent.
In the Stadium healing area, lines of the fallen fighters floated in the healing fluids of the test tubes, submerged completely. The figure of Bowser was illuminated, and he appeared to be smirking, though unconscious.
From the arena, suddenly, a shriek erupted from the dust that blasted a shockwave of immense force , outwards. Everyone's eyes widened, even Tendo's. Mario and Luigi stepped back, eyes wide.
Wario and Waluigi had drastically changed in appearance. Rather than their usual clothing, they appeared to be made of bones, as if their skin had disappeared, and only the skeleton's remained, still retaining their original body form. Even their two hats were now a bonelike structure. Two golden lights glowed from the darkness of their skull's empty eye sockets.
"Hm?" muttered Tendo quietly, unsure about this development.
Peach was speechless, hands around her mouth, as was everyone else. Kirby was shivering even more than he was prior, a frightened expression on his face. Luigi fell to his back in total fear, quaking. Mario got in a crouch, his eyes wide.
"H-Hey-a!" he yelled at the Wario creature.
Its eyes swiveled around the arena. It flexed its boney hands, before locking its eyes on Mario. The red plumber stumbled back a step, as he recoiled at the enormous killing intent that he felt that washed over him like a wave.
The Waluigi creature stepped forward, and seemed to smirk, and then let out a piercing shriek that cut the air like a knife, and the Wario creature joined in. The pressure that Mario had felt in the past erupted back into existence, at a much greater density than he had felt before, his body felt like he'd increased in a considerable amount of weight.
Peach screamed, covering her ears, an action that was duplicated by everyone else, but Tendo's eyes just grew wider in shock. Mario had been caught out of focus, and he turned just in time to see Waluigi closing the distance between him and Luigi, his boney claw-like fist drawn back. Time seemed to slow for Mario, as he could do nothing but watch in horror as Waluigi split the air with a punch of unimaginable force that collided with Luigi's jaw.
Mario's brother was unconscious before he hit the stadium wall. He hit the ground lifelessly, and rolled to a stop on the arena ground. Mario's mouth was agape in horror. Peach couldn't speak, as tears began to fall from her eyes, and Tendo's eyes narrowed. Toadsworth staggered back, stuttering, as he couldn't seem to articulate his words to describe what was happening.
Mario turned to the Waluigi creature and yelled, "YOU-A!" and leaped at him, flashing out with a punch, but it was caught and halted. Mario trembled, unable to move his fist forward, as Wario stood before him, unflinching. Wario's golden eyes narrowed in what appeared to be a look of savage glee, and all of the sudden, Mario was blasted back into a wall near the fallen Luigi. The hit was so hard Mario fell to his knees, but caught himself before he could fall facedown. Wario's golden eyes widened, and he opened his boney mouth and a yellow light began to glow, and splinters of yellow energy began to gather from the air. Mario shielded his light from the eyes, and as he attempted to get to his feet, he realized he couldn't move.
"No!" cried Peach.
Kirby continued to shake, groaning in what appeared to be fear. Air began to spiral around Wario's mouth, as the yellow light got brighter and brighter. Wario drew his head back, and Peach screamed as Wario fired an enormous blast of yellow energy from his mouth straight at Mario. Mario could do nothing as the blast hit full force, obscuring the entire area in a dark explosion, which covered both him and his brother.
Mario awoke in a completely black space, standing/floating in the darkness. He looked around in bewilderment. Then he turned around, and behind him was a figure in a black coat, with white symbols. His face was completely obscured by the hood. Mario took a step back. "…?" spoke the figure in a deep voice. Mario's expression turned questioning, as the figure had clearly said something, but he still hadn't heard anything. His eyes narrowed . The darkness seemed to pulse around the two. The figure slowly rose his hand as if offering it to Mario, and suddenly, two focused yellow eyes with black pupils gleamed out from the hood, along with a dark smile. Mario grimaced, and drew back. The blackness surrounding him pulsed again.
"Journey with me…..into the darkness!"
Suddenly, the dark energy was split apart by an uprising of crimson energy. Peach gasped, still in tears. Air whipped around voraciously, and Toadsworth was blasted from his standing position. The crowd was yelling in confusion, and Marth and Roy just watched in utter shock. Tendo gazed on in bewilderment… then he recoiled, causing Metaknight looked at him. Tendo's eyes were wide, and he muttered, "Hmm."
Metaknight's eyes suddenly widened to, and he turned quickly as he too felt what Tendo had felt. There were pulses of energy radiating from the smoke in the arena…and they weren't coming from Wario and Waluigi. The smoke slowly parted, revealing the figure of Mario. But he looked different. His entire body was jet black in color, and his eyes were a glowing red, churning. Peach fell to her knees, still in shock.
"The energy coming off him…."spoke Roy in shock. Mario didn't move an inch, as the waves of crimson energy whipped and swirled around his body. Then he rose his eyes, and they locked with Wario's. Pressure blasted outwards at the crowd, even Tendo had to shield himself.
Mario then turned his head to the fallen figure of Luigi. Luigi's eyes were closed, as he was unconscious, tattered, and wounded. But despite that, suddenly, they popped open, revealing a glowing green. Dark green energy ripped outwards, as Luigi stood, his body also jet black just like Mario's.
"His power just shot up too…." muttered Marth, wondering what was happening around him.
The dark Mario turned back to the Wario and Waluigi creatures, with Luigi at his side. Then, Mario completed vanished in a flash, and Wario was blasted back instantly into a wall, rebounded as the figure of the dark Mario crouched under him for a split second, and flashed up with a brutal uppercut that sent Wario ripping into the sky.
Waluigi hesitated for a brief moment but then rushed at Luigi, who crouched down and rushed right back at him, and they collided in a fury of blows. Luigi dodged every strike, then one connected, but he powered right through, and connected with a punch right to Waluigi's jaw. Waluigi hit the wall with unbelievable force, but before he could even drop, Luigi was right there, and with unbelievable ferocity, pounded Waluigi with relentless punches that began to crack the wall more and more. Waluigi's mouth began to glow with an eerie purple light, and opened his mouth sending Luigi reeling back with a purple energy blast. As Luigi was pushed back by it, he eventually touched the ground, skidded a bit (still holding the blast), and reflected it skywards, and rushed forward at Waluigi again.
Waluigi fired purple bolts of energy at Luigi as he ran at him, but Luigi swerved out of the way of each one, picking up speed, finally brutally deflecting a blast as if the force didn't even faze him. Tendo's eyes widened, and he quickly snapped his fingers as the blasts collided with the arena shields. As Waluigi opened his mouth to fire another purple bolt, Luigi closed the gap, and thrusted his hand an inch from the bone mouth as Waluigi fired the blast, and the result caused an explosion of energy that coursed around the stadium.
Wario still flew upwards from the force, finally slowing down and he gazed down to see a dark shape flying at him at unbelievable speed. Wario drew his arms in a cross to block a ferocious punch from Mario. He countered with a punch of his own, but Mario dodged, and kicked at Wario, but he also swiveled to the side to dodge. He reappeared in a flash, and punched Mario in the face downwards, and dived down after to follow with another blow, but Mario disappeared in a flash of speed. Wario opened his mouth, which again began to emit a yellow glow. He looked up, and fired the yellow blast right at Mario. The dark plumber drew both hands forward, and caught the blast, drew both arms back, and blasted it right back at Wario, who could do nothing as the full force of his own energy smacked him, resulting in a grand explosion of energy.
Meanwhile, Luigi hopped back in a crouch, as Waluigi dived at him, and swiped at him, but he vanished in a puff of smoke to a location to the right, which Waluigi glanced at, before disappeared again, and flashing out from the left with a punch that Waluigi dodged. Luigi vanished again with intense speed, and Waluigi opened his mouth as if in expectance of this. With a ruthless shriek, he fired a flurry of purple blasts in a wide radius all around him, causing dark purple explosions to circle him. There was silence, and then from the dark energy, a roar erupted that totally dispersed all the energy from Waluigi's blasts, as a shockwave ripped through the very arena itself. Luigi bolted from the smog with unbelievable speed, and drew his fist backwards which pulsed with green energy, and punched Waluigi right in the jaw, so hard the bone cracked, sending him blasting into the opposite wall, crashing into the rubble.
At the same moment, Wario crashed into a nearby area, and Mario appeared instantly beside Luigi. From the arena boundaries, the arena seemed to be growing darker. An inky blackness seemed to appear from nothingness. At the same moment, suddenly, two blasts, one purple and one yellow shot out of the rubble, arcing straight at the dark Mario and Luigi. As brightness began to illuminate the arena, the blasts drew nearer, and melded into one super powerful force. Mario and Luigi didn't move as the blast got nearer and nearer….then they both drew back their fists, and punched the blast right as it was about to hit them.
The collision sent waves of energy trailing everywhere as the blast was halted…. Then it dispersed outwards around Mario and Luigi in purple and yellow trails. Mario and Luigi still had their one fist each out, un-moving. Then, Mario's mouth opened in a maniacal grin very unlike him. He flexed his hand, and a dark red light began to shine into being from it. The air turned cold, and the wind picked up, revealing the Wario and Waluigi creatures, and the crowd gasped at what they saw. All around both Wario and Waluigi, black shadowy creatures with piercing yellow eyes were rising from the nothingness. The creatures continued to appear, numerous, all around the stage, rising from the black shadows.
Some of them suddenly leaped at the Wario bros, curling around them like glue, rendering them immobile. The other one's just seemed to stagger around, as if waiting.
Tendo looked utterly perplexed, as if he couldn't understand what was happening, and he stayed silent. Kirby let out a quiet frightened sound, trembling. Luigi also flexed his hand, which began to emit a dark green light. The air picked up again, and suddenly both lights seemed to combust outwards, casting dark shadows all around. Air continued to swirl at a greater velocity than before.
"Damn…I was hoping I wouldn't have to get involved, especially in something I don't completely understand…" muttered Tendo.
He stood up tall, and put a hand on the black sheath, and rose it to his face. Peach turned to him with tears, and pleaded, "Please…What's happening to them..."
Tendo said nothing, before, "Sorry, Princess." Her eyes widened as he spoke with a note of something new, something that could be described as intrigue. "I don't know."
The dark light grew brighter, as if in response. Both Mario and Luigi's mouths widened in what could have been perceived as anticipation, but suddenly, something happened.
"Don't fear the Darkness."
A voice spoke. No one appeared to hear it…..but Mario and Luigi seemed to hesitate for a split second. A dim light began to shine in each of their free hands.
"Don't give in to it."
The light shined brighter than before, casting a brighter glow. The shadowy creatures in the arena began to move erratically as the light began to shine stronger.
"For You both have the most powerful weapons in this world…"
The light exploded outwards as a weapon of strange origin and shape appeared in both their hands, too bright to see, and the light obscured everything, obliterating the shadowy creatures, and engulfing Mario, Luigi, Wario and Waluigi, even the entire stadium.