I'm back with another chapter in tow!
Rosalina's gasp echoed through Luigi's ears.
"You… got struck by THAT?"
Luigi nodded, eyes shut. Though, secretly he had left out the parts where he thought it was his end and said his 'final' words. It'd be too embarassing, even though the bond between the two brothers is already well-known.
Luigi opened his eyes, it's time for him to get to the part where he had his aid.
In his mind, he received visions of that event again…
Flashback
'…Am I dead?'
'…Where am I?'
'Is this… is this heaven? Or… is this hell?'
Luigi continued to wonder as his surroundings went black. He was laying on ground, limbs spreaded, but he could not move. Furthermore, he was struggling to get his eyes open. It was a chore to even extend them halfway through.
As he wondered though, he could hear voices. He could not decipher them. Though, slowly but surely, it became clearer and clearer.
'I am sorry', Luigi began to catch up. 'He is no more'.
'This is impossible!'.
'It is not. My brother is proof enough'.
'It's not like you to give up!'.
'I am not giving up. I am simply giving you the truth. Luigi and Master Hand are dead'.
'Wh-'.
'Mario! Enough!', a female voice called.
'But-'.
'Crazy Hand has suffered enough! He lost his own brother, just like you!'
'…'
'Damn it. Just damn it all…'.
The voice then could be heard sobbing, and then it vanished.
'So I AM dead…', Luigi said in his heart. 'This is the end. Looks like they managed to survive the explosion, but this is the end of the line for me…'.
"So it's over…", Luigi said. "My life… ends here…".
"…Are you giving up now?".
Luigi was shocked to hear another voice. This time, it's fairly deep, and to his surprise, it was directed at him.
"Who?", Luigi asked to the darkness.
"Me? I am you. YOU are me".
"Quit your nonsense! You are Master Core!", Luigi retorted.
"Master Core? Don't confuse me with that freak".
Luigi tried to refute, but he was interjected by the voice.
"It doesn't matter who do you think I am anyway… What I need from your right now is you to stand up!"
Luigi was caught off-guard by that last statement.
"Don't let your hard work to perish like nothing! Your struggle to get here was backed up by your will and determination, right? You had been given crap all over the place, but you endured them and here you are! Do you really want to throw them all away by giving up now?"
"…"
The voice continued, "Imagine how devastated your friends, or at least, your own brother, to see you dead. You heard how Mario was breaking down before at your death, no? They may had stopped the bomb, but they weren't happy, at. all. You don't want that to happen, do you?"
"…Why do you care so much about me?", Luigi countered. Though, he had find truth in the voice's arguments.
"Because I know you well… Luigi".
"My name! How?"
"I am you. You are me. Like I said", the voice said, amused by the green plumber's confusion.
"Now get out of here, wake up, and FIGHT!"
Before Luigi can try, however, his surroundings began to light up in a blinding light. As Luigi covered his eyes, the last thing he heard was.
"Get that Master Core, Luigi! I'm counting on you!".
"Luigi?"
The green plumber snapped, "Y-yeah?"
"You dozed off again", Rosalina pointed out.
"Oh, right, er, I'm sorry about that".
Luigi took a deep breath, "Anyway, after I got caught in that attack…"
Flashback
The swords gathered up. Looking at the 'dead' plumber.
"…AND YOU ARE DEALT WITH", Master Core spoke, and laughed evilly.
"NO! LUIGI!", a yelling voice could be heard. It was Crazy Hand, still chained. He apparently had shut up since the beginning of the battle, and watched everything with his own nonexistent eyes.
"NO! Don't die! Open your eyes, OPEN YOUR EYES DAMMIT!".
Master Core ignored the left-hand and turned his attention to Master Hand, still supported by the black particles. He gestured the 'ropes' so that they'll drop the hand in front of him. The particles then floated slowly towards Master Core, and returned back to the swords, while dropping Master Hand to the floor with a thud.
Master Core stared at the hand. The swords are all shaking because of his unparalleled anger.
"LOOK AT YOU…AND YOU CALL YOURSELF 'MASTER' HAND. HA! YOU ARE SUCH FOOL IF YOU THINK YOU CAN SEAL ME AWAY FOREVER…", Master Core mocked.
Master Hand was still motionless and unconcosious to hear him though.
The biggest sword then brought itself up.
"NOW I SHALL LET YOU WATCH… AS THE HUMANS AND ALL LIFE YOU TRIED TO PROTECT… BE EXTERMINATED INTO NOTHING… IN HELL!", and he started to gather energy as much as possible. He wanted to make sure he destroy Master Hand into nothing with his attack.
Meanwhile, while Master Core was busy with Master Hand, Crazy Hand was shouting like madman.
"YOU IDIOT! WAKE UP YOU DUMMY! DON'T DIE ON ME YOU STUPID PLUMBER! YOU'RE STRONGER THAN THIS! IS THIS WHAT TAKES YOU TO DO YOU IN!? COME ON! OPEN YOUR EYES!", Crazy shouted at a volume that will break glasses that are about as large as Earth.
"LUIGI!"
Master Core was about finished, with Crazy Hand shouting at him and Master Hand, after Luigi's 'death' hit him. Crazy Hand yelled as loud as he can, but Master Core kept ignoring him, and Master Hand doesn't seem to be concosious, either.
"YOU HAVE QUITE A HANFUL BROTHER THERE…", hissed Master Core. Crazy Hand is still shouting, but Master Core tried his best to just. ignore. him. But oh well, who can ignore such loud sounds…
Master Core's main sword now shakes greatly, clearly already filled and flowing with power. "NOW… YOU SHALL WAKE UP IN THE ALTERLIFE…", declared Master Core, as the main sword floated up and up.
"NO! STOP IT! DON'T DO IT!", yelled Crazy desperately, but he knew it's the end of him and his brother. 'Oh well', he thought, 'I'll join you later bro… Don't worry about it…'.
"NOW PERISH FROM MY EYES… AND FROM THE UNIVERSE!", shouted Master Core as the main sword swung down on Master Hand's helpless body. Crazy looked away, he could not even bear the very thought of his brother getting murdered in front of him.
'I'm sorry bro… I'm not any help at all…'.
CRASH!
'What?', Master Core thought as he felt resistance on his sword. Slowly, the power that had been lying inside the sword left the sword itself. Silently cursing, he looked below.
Crazy Hand looked back, expecting to see his brother's lifeless body. Miraculously, Master Hand was still unbudged, he laid there like nothing had happened. Confused, he looked at the main sword, which had been resisted. He looked below it to see who had saved his twin's life.
There stood a green plumber. Hands holding the gigantic sword above his head, blood slightly oozing out due to the force. He panted, while not letting any power leave his resisting hands.
"If… If you want to lay your hands on him… You'll need to go over my dead body!".
He's Luigi. And he was still alive and kicking.
Not even letting anyone spoke, Luigi lit up his hands in fire, teeth gritted even more, trying to hold the pain due to blood meeting with his own flames, but he managed to burn the sword and instantly made Master Core flinch and immediately made his way out of Luigi's hands. Luigi quickly brought his hands down and was greeted by blood once the images of his hands reached his eyes.
He hissed, 'He's sharper than he looks… and why didn't he just flat-out cut me off with that attack?'.
It's a question to ponder about, but the fight was yet to be done.
As Luigi looked up, Master Core seemed to be quite impressed. The swords gathered around as Master Core's voice can be heard.
"WELL WELL…", he started. "SO NOT ONLY YOU MANAGED TO PUSH ME THIS FAR, YOU ALSO SURVIVED THROUGH THAT ASSAULT OF MINE…"
Luigi swayed slightly on his feet, before straightening himself up.
"BUT YOUR PERSISTENCE HAS BEFELL YOU YET AGAIN… I HAVE NO INDECISIONS YOUR BODY WILL SOON BETRAY YOURSELF…"
"Yeah, my body feels numb as of now", Luigi agreed. But then he smirked, "Though, I'll have to make sure I rip you up first before my body break…"
Master Core simply laughed.
Shaking his head, Luigi dashed over to the now grouped swords. One of the swords reacted, and swung itself in a vertical arc, barely missing in front of Luigi's nose. He was surprised by this quick attack, but he snapped out of it quickly, jumped and karate chopped a sword, which seem to barely do any damage at all.
'Darn', Luigi cursed. 'Even if I attack him continuously, I'll take more wounds than he will, AND I'll be exthausted. Who knows, he might has EVEN more forms… Just who is this guy?'.
'Fine', Luigi grunted. 'Guess I'll have to borrow some moves…'
Luigi charged, now clenching his left hand into a fist. Master Core did another vertical slash, but it was poorly timed as Luigi sidestepped to the right. One sword then let out a horizontal swipe, but it missed due to Luigi's jump. As he flew to the air, he saw a sword letting its guard down. Luigi closed his eyes and breathed a heavy air, before snapping his eyes up and winded up his fist. Before the aimed sword could react, he swung down his fist with might and power, crashing to the sword and sending it down to the ground. Luigi's attack was so strong, he front-flipped in the air because of the force, but Luigi was not done, he used the momentum of the flip to straighten himself up and slammed his legs to the grounded sword.
Luigi jumped out, looking at the now motionless sword. As he readied for an attack, the sword dissolved into black particles, and disappeared.
Luigi loosened himself, and breathed a sigh of relief. However…
The four other swords had readied themselves behind Luigi, winding themselves up. Luigi felt danger, and posed a frightened look and threw his head around.
When Luigi looked back, all he knew was pain. The sword had swung themselves to Luigi, knocking him to the air while barraging him with flurry of swipes at ridiculous speed. He yelled in pain, but the swords gave no mercy. They continued to slash him relentlessly. When it seemed there was no ends on Luigi's suffering, the swords swung themselves down, swiping the already wounded plumber and sending him crashing to the ground.
Luigi laid flat on the ground, once again cursing the situation he had gotten himself to. 'Dammit, just dammit. Those things are too strong…', Luigi muttered in desperation.
'…Wait, or are they TOO FAST?', he questioned himself.
As he shakily got up, Master Core commented, "HA! LOOK AT YOURSELF, HUMAN… DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU STAND A CHANCE AGAINST ME WITH THOSE WOUNDS?"
Luigi looked at his body. Sure enough, his clothes were battered enough, with blood coming out of each slice. His face was also wounded, from what he feels. It looked like it got a cut on the right cheek. His legs were unspared from the damage. He felt numerous cuts now habitated there. His hands were still bleeding, but they had slowed down significantly. Though, Luigi was battered enough, and he wanted to make sure to not increase the wounds on his body.
Luigi then threw a fireball to Master Core's path. But Master Core simply swiped the fireball and destroyed it. However, before he can comment on anything, Luigi had slammed his fist in similar manner as before on one of his swords, grounding it once again, before ground pounding it, instantly defeating the sword. However, Luigi was not planning to get caught in another attack, so he kept his guard up.
Master Core, surprisingly far away, had winded his swords again. Confused, Luigi decided to just stand there and react to whatever the Master Core was planning instead of charging him down and getting hit by another stupid attack.
Master Core then swung his swords down, surprisingly at no one or thing. However, it could be seen that there was some kind of energy that was 'shot' from him. The energy ball, seemingly packed with slashing power, made its way to Luigi, who made a quick dodge to the side. Unknown to him though, the energy had came back like a boomerang.
Luigi felt danger, and quickly ducked, and sure enough, the energy ball soared past him. Smirking, he silently said, "Heh, gotta use those senses more often. But anyways…".
Luigi charged once again, 'Okay, this is taking way too long. I'd better just uppercut his face and be done with it!', he thought as he focused his fiery power in his left hand again.
Master Core was not in hurry on getting attacked, so he quickly swiped horizontally, but Luigi simply jumped over it. Then the swords let out another vertical swipe upwards, which seem undodgeable for Luigi. However, he smirked, before stomping his legs down to the sword, effectively riding it to the end of the swing, and landed safely behind Master Core.
'NOW!'
Luigi jumped up, without Master Core taking notice, and inserted his hand to the 'hilt' of the main sword, where the glowing light could be seen. He then peformed another uppercut as his foe lighted up in fire. Master Core yelled, feeling a massive pain in his weak point, before dissolving into black particles once again.
Luigi landed, but kept his guard up.
"…Did I got him?"
Luigi then felt a punch landed on his back, and he was sent flying to the other end of the stage and kissed the ground once again.
'What?'
"SUCH PERSISTENCE… AND YOU MANAGED TO PUSH ME THIS FAR…", Master Core's voice could be heard.
Luigi straightened himself up, looking at yet another one of Master Core's forms.
There he sees… himself?
"Wha…"
Luigi was astounded. He was looking at a copy of himself, only he was plain black and was made of particles. The copy was also slightly bigger sized than him. Otherwise, they shaped the same.
"Wait, what?", Luigi said in disbelief.
"First you attacked the hands…", Luigi pointed at Master Hand, then Crazy Hand, with the latter seemingly also in shock.
"Second you battered me until I end up like this…", Luigi pointed at himself and his body.
"…and now you are copying me!?"
Master Core folded his hands, "I DO NOT CARE WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ME… WHAT I CARE RIGHT NOW… IS TO SEND YOU INTO ALTERLIFE…"
"WHY DON'T WE… PUT THIS TO TEST…"
Master Core then threw out a fireball, bigger than Luigi's usual fireballs due to size advantage. Luigi's eyes slightly widened, before he sidestepped the attack. Master Core instantly dashed towards Luigi and delivered a punch to Luigi's face, sending the original to the ground.
Groaning, Luigi got up. He then gasped at what he saw and ducked just in time to avoid a roundhouse kick. Seeing an opportunity, Luigi pulled his head back and swung it in a wide arc over him, hitting Master Core in the process and made him flinch. Luigi used this time to deliver yet another attack, his karate spearhand, and it hits home at Master Core's belly. The assaults sent Master Core tumbling backwards, but he managed to recover from it.
Luigi quickly dashed in and tried to grab Master Core's right wrist, but the black plumber spun himself before Luigi can try, and end up slapping the green plumber inside his cyclone and at the end, he spreaded out his hands and sent Luigi flying upards.
'Yep, he copied my abilities', Luigi said in his mind.
As Luigi recovered, he saw Master Core jumping to reach him. Luigi spun himself around and did a drill kick below, but his legs were grabbed by Master Core, and the black plumber then, spun himself around a few times before throwing the green plumber to the ground.
Luigi was thrown to the ground, back-first. However, before Master Core could slam his fist to him, he quickly threw his legs sideways in Master Core's direction, and sent his doppelganger to the other end of the stage.
As Master Core stood up, Luigi had ran in front of him, readying a punch. Master Core quickly smashed his own clenched fist into Luigi's. Both hands were shaking because of the force they let out. Luigi then used his free hand to deliver yet another punch, but was blocked yet again.
However, seeing 2 limbs of his foe has been secured, Luigi headbutted his clone, much to Master Core's surprise. The green plumber then forcefully threw his copy to the ground, and jumped on him, forcing a ground pound.
As Luigi jumped back, Master Core could be seen shakily getting up. Luigi had been exthausted over the fight, and was panting from fatigue. Master Core himself didn't seem to be filled with vigor either, but he does not let that show.
"ENOUGH…", he started. "IT'S MY TURN…"
Master Core then charged towards Luigi, delivering a barrage of punches and kicks. Luigi was able to fend them off, but he was lacking the strength to fend them all off. Once, Luigi wasn't able to keep up, and let a punch made its way to his face. As Luigi winced, Master Core lighted up his left hand in fire, similiar to what Luigi usually does.
"NOW LET'S SEE YOU SURVIVE… AGAINST THE MOST LETHAL ATTACK YOU HAVE …", he said as he delivered a fiery uppercut to Luigi's stomach.
Luigi gasped, and was in pain. His own powerful attack had been turned against him, and it hurts. He felt numb as he was launched upwards, skin still feeling the burn and the pain he had taken was just massive. Luigi flew upwards a great deal of height before falling down and crashing helplessly on the ground.
'What in the… he… did he just… used Fire Jump Punch?', Luigi thought unbelieveablingly.
'Seriously… it… it hurts… how… how did he…'.
Luigi tried to get up, but was held by the strong amount of pain he took. Master Core walked towards him, eyes fixed on the helpless plumber.
Once he was on the side of his original, he stomped Luigi's chest with his foot and coldly said, "YOU… ARE AN OBSTACLE… FOR ME TO FULFILL MY DESTINY… ONCE I AM DONE WITH YOU… I SHALL DESTROY THE HUMANS… AND BUILD… A NEW WORLD… WHERE PEOPLE SHALL PRAISE ME… WHERE EVERLASTING PEACE SHALL TAKE TURN DOMINATING THE WORLD… INSTEAD OF THE CRUELTY AND SOW SADNESS YOU HUMANS MADE…".
It hit Luigi again. He processed what Master Core just said. Did he just said creating a new world? All of this were questions for Luigi, but the plumber shook them off, now he need to concentrate on finishing the core off!
…But how?
'This guy's talks need some answers, but now, how do I get out of here?'
Luigi then felt more pain as Master Core used more force on his foot, and the pain from that Fire Jump Punch, while had weakened, had not subsided. Now he was forced to think fast before he's killed!
"BEFORE I KILL YOU… I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU, LITTLE ONE…", Master Core said even though he wasn't all that much bigger than Luigi in his current form.
"WHY DO YOU FIGHT? WHY ARE YOU… RISKING YOUR LIFE… TO SAVE THOSE FOOLS…?"
Master Core glared at the hands, answered with only silence and a stare from Crazy Hand, then he turned back, "YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM… YET… YOU PROTECT THEM LIKE THEY ARE… YOUR OWN BROTHERS…".
Holding the pain, Luigi smirked.
"It doesn't matter… who they are… To me… what matters the most…", Luigi coughed.
"…Is that they're… my FRIENDS.".
Master Core silenced, before outbursted in a maniacal laugh.
"YOU SERIOUSLY… THINK OF THEM THAT WAY…? HA! HUMANS NEVER CHANGE… THEY ARE STILL THE INSIGNIFICANT LITTLE NOTHINGS WHO BELIEVE IN SOMETHING THAT DOES NOT EXIST…".
Master Core stopped, before looking sternly at his stomped victim, "I QUESTION THE FACT ON WHY MASTER HAND… PROTECTED YOU ALL… YOU HUMANS ARE NAÏVE FOOLS TO BELIEVE THAT SUCH 'FRIENDS'… EXIST…".
Master Core pressed down even harder, giving out more pain to the poor plumber.
"SUCH THING AS 'LOVE' IS NOWHERE NEAR EXISTING… YOU ARE HUMANS! BORN TO HATE! BORN TO FIGHT! LIVE TO SURVIVE! LIVE TO KILL!", Master Core shouted. His voice rang on Luigi's head.
Luigi took a little bit of time to think, and he was uncomfortable with the current situation.
'I hate to say it, but he… he makes some valid point…', Luigi thought.
'Humans are always fighting. Even when there's peace, they're ALWAYS fighting. It's a guaranteed thing to happen… Some humans don't even care or know what 'love' mean… Some humans only know hatred and sadness, and revenge…! Some humans only know blood, and will do anything… to give people pain and hatred…'.
Luigi lamented the fact that, no matter what be done, if there's humans, there's always be wars… there's always be havoc… there's always be hatred that grow and continue to grow…
With a cough, Luigi shakily answered.
"You… you have a point…".
Master Core stared at him, "NOW… YOU FINALLY REALIZE YOUR KIND'S FOOLISHNESS? THERE'S NOTHING TO BE DONE… EXCEPT TO DESTROY THE ROOTS OF ALL OF THIS… AND THOSE ARE HUMANS!".
Luigi closed his eyes.
"But…", this sudden 'but' caught Master Core's attention.
"But… I know… that… my kind… are more than that… much more… We are not… pawns… of some scripted destiny... We have this thing… called 'love'… and that's what gave us strength… to… overcome everything…".
Before Master Core could try, Luigi continued.
"Nothing… can break true friendships… Nothing… no matter what… They… trusted me… they… are the one who pulled me… out of my sorrows… They saved me, and I'd do anything to protect them…", Luigi finished with a small smile.
"THEN YOU HAVE CHOSEN YOUR WAY…"
"… I have"
"THEN YOU WILL PERISH… IN MY HANDS!"
Master Core charged yet another fiery punch. Luigi's eyes squinted, then he shut his eyes.
'This is it, Luigi! No more caving in! No more camping out! No more HIDING! Get out there… and FIGHT!'.
"FAREWELL!"
CRACK!
But Master Core's fist did not meet its home. This surprised the black plumber.
Luigi, who had been thought to be helpless, resisted his attack.
Luigi had apparently held the fist with both of his hands, surprisingly strong given the condition of his body right now. Master Core pressed even harder on his foot, but Luigi's power didn't dismish.
Instead, Luigi's fists strengthened up. Master Core looked at the plumber in disbelief. Luigi, meanwhile, had angry expression written on his face. With a gritted teeth, he took out his left hand and punched Master Core's stomach, causing him to flinch and tumble back.
Luigi then could hear that deep voice yet again…
'That's it Luigi! Now go! Use my energy to defeat him!'
Luigi smiled, 'Whoever you are… thanks'.
Apparently, the voice had given Luigi some his power during the fist clash, enabling him to overpower his foe.
When Master Core looked up, he noticed Luigi was no longer on his previous position. He was standing right in front of him. Then Master Core felt pain on his chest, Luigi had done a kick there. Taking advantage of his foe's condition, Luigi proceeded to barrage him with a flurry of attacks, fueled by his anger.
"You think… I'll give up!? I'll NEVER let you destroy my kind! I'll destroy you, here AND NOW!", Luigi shouted in the middle of his barrage.
Master Core could do nothing but taking pain after another. Finally, Luigi winded up his left fist, and lunged it forward, ultimately punching his foe's face dead right on. This caused Master Core to be sent flying back.
Master Core crashed to the ground, and shakily got up.
"WHERE… DID YOUR… POWER COME FROM!?", he asked, not believing what he just witnessed.
Luigi right now was sweating, a lot. His eyes were half open, but fierce look is still emanating off his blue eyes. The cut on his right cheek had bleed out more, and he was covered in bruises. Luigi was panting heavily, but his will is far from burning out.
Master Core spoke again, "YOU HUMANS… SHOULD NOT HAVE… THIS LEVEL OF… POWER…".
Master Core was basically shocked. He never thought the humans could manisfest so much energy.
Luigi glared at him, before dashing towards his clone.
"You want to know the answer?", he coldly asked, as he winded his fist.
"Because I swore to keep my friends away from the hands of scums like YOU!"
Luigi swung his fist, with Master Core resisting it with his own hands, but he could not hold out for too long…
"You said us humans are fools who only seek blood and vengeance…", Luigi stated as his fist grew stronger and stronger.
Master Core's hands were shaking. He was clearly at his limits.
"Well, I'm about going to prove that YOU ARE WRONG!", Luigi roared, as he drove his fist through Master Core's resistance, punching his chest once again and sent the core off his balance and fell down.
Master Core tried to get up, but find out that he couldn't.
"You want to know where else I got my power from?", Luigi said, as he pumped his fists.
Master Core's eyes widened, only now he has experienced fear. For all his life, he never felt fright.
"N-NO… DON'T!"
"IT'S FROM MY FRIENDS WHOM I CHERISH AND VOWED TO PROTECT!"
Luigi swung his fist downwards, driving it through Master Core's particles body, instantly made Master Core roared in pain, as his body returned into black particles. However, instead of quickly speeding out, the black particles simply dissolved into nothing.
Luigi jumped back, and readying himself again. But suddenly, a storm of black particles rained down upon the stage, with Luigi had to shield his eyes from.
'What now!?'
Soon, the storm died out. Luigi then took off his hands, first noticing Crazy Hand was actually moving!
"Oh yeah!", he danced around, "That's what you get for messing with a Smasher you ugly core!", he shouted as he struck a pose.
Luigi couldn't help but to chuckle.
Crazy Hand noticed that Master Hand still laid down on the ground. He quickly sped to his side.
"Hey bro! You alright!?", he said as he rocked the right hand back and forth.
"Come on! Wake up!".
"Ugh… wha-".
Luigi also quickly ran to his side, only to be greeted by Crazy Hand shaking his twin brother rapidly. Master Hand then shouted.
"CRAZY! IF YOU DON'T STOP SWINGING ME AROUND LIKE AN IDIOT I SWEAR I'LL FREEZE YOU UP AND USE YOU TO MAKE A LEMONADE!"
Crazy Hand stopped swing the poor right hand, then yelled at the top of his lungs (Does he even has lungs?)
"BRO! YOU'RE ALIVE!", he shouted as he jumped to his brother, hugging him like an 4 years old finding his long lost toy.
Master Hand basically was a mess shouting and yelling like mad. Meanwhile, Luigi laughed his head off seeing the crazy hands.
"Okay, I think you can stop now Crazy. Or else he'll make out of yourself lemonades!"
Crazy Hand finally released his grip, earning him a glare from the right hand.
"You better be ready for a freezing experience…".
Master Hand turned to Luigi, who had stopped laughing, but still smirking. Ignoring the smirk however, he asked in surprise.
"What happened? And why you are so battered up!?".
Crazy Hand explained, "Master Core came out of your body bro, and this plumber battled him to no end".
Upon realizing the truth, Master Hand spoke quietly, "…I guess I let up. I apologize for this unexpected battle that could've cost you your life… You have my sorry and thanks…".
Luigi smiled, "Nah, it was nothing".
Luigi then silently muttered, 'Okay, that was an understatement'.
"I'll make sure you get medical attention on our way back. We'll have those wounds fixed up back in the Mansion.
Luigi then nodded.
"So, where is he?", Master Hand asked.
"Who?", asked Luigi and Crazy.
Master Hand rolled his eyes (?), "Master Core, obviously. I can't believe you forgot about him after just like 2 minutes…".
Luigi snapped, while looking behind him. There laid Master Core, but in no forms or whatever. He was there, in his true form. A big ball with mixed colors.
Luigi walked towards him.
"…You still haven't had enough?"
Master Core remained silent.
Luigi sighed, "Don't tell me you can't even talk…".
Master and Crazy Hand also floated there, looking at the ball that had caused so much trouble.
"…So, you decided to stay silent", Master Hand spoke.
They all looked at the ball for a while, before hearing a voice, "YOU… DEFEATED ME…". They all snapped, but then realized that it came from Master Core.
Luigi glared at him, "You still want some more?".
Master Core spoke again, "YOU… HAVE DEFEATED ME… HUMAN…".
"BUT THIS IS NOT OVER YET…".
He then was suddenly covered in black light. This alarmed the trio, and they quickly backed off, sensing a great deal of danger coming their way.
"I MAY… NOT ABLE TO DEFEAT YOU… BUT I… BUT I CAN STILL TAKE YOU WITH ME!", Master Core shouted as power flowed through him, sending out winds that made the trio had to shield their eyes.
"That dastard!", Master Hand yelled in anger.
"He is planning to self-destruct!".
Crazy Hand looked at him in horror.
"WHAT!? Are you saying he'll explode and kill us off with it!?".
"Not if I can help it!", Luigi's voice could be heard as he dashed towards Master Core.
"Luigi! What are you doing? Get back!", Master Hand warned.
But Luigi shrugged it off, and instead fired up his left hand. As quickly as he could, he inserted his hand to the space below Master Core.
"You're not taking us!", Luigi shouted.
"I still have my friends… and I won't die on them!".
Luigi closed his eyes as the fire grew brighter and hotter. Master Core was in pain, but it wasn't enough to stop him from self-destructing. Luigi grit his teeth as the power flowed through his left hand even more. He wanted to make sure to get rid of the core in one shot.
When Master Core finally grew red, Luigi knew he was running out of time. He finally released all of his energy, smashing his victim. Master Core would have yelled if he can, but he cannot. The pain he had taken was massive and in his form right now he can only explode. Master Core then flew up at an alarming speed.
'NO!'
Luigi landed on his feet and abruptly ran for his life. He looked behind, but quickly turned his head back to the front as he lunged forward and…
BOOOM!
A huge explosion then could be heard and seen. The explosion was so big, the stage shook back and forth. Luigi was thrown out of the stage due to his lunging and the force of the blast, almost knocked unconscious.
Master Hand, who had been retreating before, quickly noticed this and quickly caught the plumber before he was lost in the depth of space. He quickly signalled Crazy Hand to hurry over as he spotted him at a distance.
Once the left hand was beside them, a bright light suddenly appeared and shone on the trio. Master Hand paid one last glance on the Final Destination, which was still erupting with explosions, before the group was teleported away.
'Farewell… You core scum'
The scene changed into a grassy field. In a flash of light, the group reappeared and floated above the green meadow. That's it. They've beaten Master Core. Master Hand had supported the plumber with his open palm. Even though Luigi still managed to open his eyes a little, he was on the verge of fainting.
"How are you feeling?"
"I…I'm fine…"
"Fine is such a poor word to describe you as of now. We better get you medical attention quickly"
"N-no. Don't… yet…", Luigi said as he tried to get up from his laying position.
"Why? You're more rugged than a plane that lost its flight course and crashed!", Crazy kicked in.
"I…I can't waste more time… Master Hand… can you feel it?"
"Feel what?", the right hand asked.
"The…the destructive sense… I myself can't… but… you should be able to… sense something that can… explode…"
The hands both stiffened up.
"Explode? What are you saying?"
"There's…There's no more time!", Luigi asserted. "I just need… you to sense it! Master Hand… please! Sense the destructive feeling and take me there!"
"Where are you going with this?"
"Trust me… just do it!"
Crazy Hand was about to respond when he noticed his brother had silented. So he decided to do the same as well.
'What is Luigi thinking? What did he mean by 'explode' and 'bomb'? Was there anything we left amiss?'
In a second, Master Hand snapped.
"I hate to say it… but you're right. There's something that houses some kind of explosive power!"
"Take me t-"
Before Luigi could finish his plea, Master Hand already closed his fist, cramping Luigi in it, though, he made sure so Luigi can pop out his head afterwards, and bolted to a direction.
"Wha- Bro! Wait for meeee!", Crazy Hand yelled as he went as well.
"Here it is!"
Master Hand had arrived in a middle of small forest not too far away from the Smash Mansion. It was a forest, but there was a clear space of nothing but grass.
"Quick! Tell me the exact position of it!", Luigi ordered, head sticking out of the hand's fist.
"Leave me on the ground if you have to!"
Master Hand hesitated for a bit, before placing the plumber on solid ground. Luigi instantly lost his balance the moment his feet touched the ground, and fell flat on his side, but he still managed to shakily get up.
"It is there!", Master Hand exclaimed while pointing to the middle of the area.
Luigi's left hand then began to light up.
"What!? What are you doing!?", Master Hand said as he noticed Luigi's actions.
"Master Hand! Create a portal that leads into nothingness above it!", Luigi commaned as he ignored the hand's question.
Luigi with eyes closed began to focus his power once again. He slightly crouched as he brought his left fist in front of his hung low face.
And then it sparked.
Luigi then swayed for a bit before running straight to the middle of the space.
"Luigi!"
The green plumber didn't care, however. He ignored the hand's yelling as he continued to head to the middle.
'Look at this Master Hand… I'm giving all of my power to punch this crap out of this world and be done with it!'
Master Hand then knew his mind was made, and he did as he was told. He then created a portal which leads into another world, about 100 metres high from the 'bomb'.
Sensing he was in the right place, Luigi then brought up his right leg forward.
And bingo, there he found an invisible being.
Gritting his teeth, Luigi then returned his leg and placed his left mitt on the ground as he crouched.
'Let my uppercut… end this bomb and Master Core's history forever!'
Trails of flames emerged from Luigi's hand as he jumped up, delivering a crushing fiery uppercut as an object was clearly on its way to fly to the hell with traces of flames engulfing it.
It was shot through the portal Master Hand created at an alarming rate. It was lodged in almost instantly. And then…
BOOM!
"Is that… Is that really all true!?"
Rosalina was finding the story to be quite unbelieveable. Luigi simply nodded.
"Then what happened afterwards?"
"Master Hand was smart. He knew the bomb was already lodged in, so he closed the portal immediately right before the explosion. Granted, we can still hear the ear-deafening sound, but it was quick enough to not cause any damage… Don't ask me how that is possible though…"
Rosalina placed a hand over her chest, "So that's why you were so… I don't know how to even describe it. You looked like you were dead!"
Luigi chuckled, "Yeah… that was the most difficult and costing battle I have ever witnessed. Much more than Bowser or King Boo, I even say. I was basically in front of the gate of life and death. One mistake, and I would be here in spirit already".
"Please don't say that… The only thing that matters that is you are still alive and well…"
Luigi smiled weakly.
"But are you well with none of your friends, except me of course, know nothing about this… incident? I am sure it wouldn't hurt for them to know…"
But instead, Luigi's smile faded entirely.
"My friends…", he muttered.
"Yes?", Rosalina leaned in, not hearing what Luigi had just said clearly.
"I'm reminded of that time again…", Luigi sighed.
"Did…Did I brought back a bit of bad memories? I ap-"
"No no no… actually, it's only you in our group who hasn't known about this event. If you don't mind, I can tell you about this affair… A bad one, honestly…"
"My ears are open, Luigi. Do get the problem off your chest".
Luigi took a deep breath once again…
"Here we go... At that time when I was called in to Peach's Castle…"
Hey! I came back with a... er, 6k chapter. Yay XD. Anyhoo, like I said, this is my first fanfic, so ANY critisms are greatly appreciated. I do hope the fight turns out alright, though.
So we had Luigi being helped by this 'voice'... He will be the 2nd protagonist in this story (The first one being obviously Luigi)! And also... wait a flippin' second, don't get too much ideas, as I will make this bold claim first...
The voice is NOT. AN. OC!
I try on limiting OC in this fanfic. And also, for probably the more important question, who is the 'voice'?
Oh, he WILL be revealed :P. Stay tuned for more info about him! (He isn't an OC. Remember that. Well, technically, unless I got the meaning of OC wrong... What I can tell you is, this character already exist in the Mario franchise! Just giving him a remodelling, that's all)
Oh, and back on the story, Luigi had quite the hell fighting Master Core, didn't he :P?
On the future chapters, there will be one more chapter about flashbacks, this time before the invitation of SSB4! After that, we'll get into the mission, and there's where we WILL start adventuring... :P. And expect some LuigixRosalina, but they have yet to take a lot of interest on each other :P. Hope I can manage though! Last thing I want to to bore everyone :/...
Anyway, thanks for reading. Stay tuned for more chapters. Make sure to R&R as well as to give critism if you have one! I need to get better after all!
Thanks for the time! Bye for now!