The NES Series:

Devil World

"Bring in the prisoners!"

The heavy throne room door swung open and three demons entered, dragging behind them a pair of hooded captives bound in chains. The demons crossed the vast cavern and deposited their charges before a large imposing throne. A fat blue devil wearing nothing but a speedo and shoes lounged on it, picking his teeth with a chicken bone.

"Uncover their faces," he ordered his minions.

The demons complied, removing the hoods to reveal Villager and Olimar.

"Well, well, well," the devil said, standing up from his throne and walking toward the captives with his hands behind his back. "A couple of Super Smash Bros. alums, right? Villager Ramon Houseman and Olimar Orima Hocotate. Isn't this a pleasant surprise?"

Olimar glanced over at Villager. "Your middle name is Ramon?"

"Not now," Villager muttered under his breath.

The devil pulled a piece of parchment from his speedo and looked it over. He glanced back at Olimar and Villager and tisked. "My, my, you two have been busy, haven't you? Cheating at mahjong. Ticking off one of the most iconic cartoon characters ever. Pulling a Deus ex Machina. You boys have no idea the kind of punishment you're in for. I'm not sure even the dog from Duck Hunt deserves this kind of punishment."

Olimar put his tongue in his cheek. "Oh, come on, it can't be that bad," he said. "Sure we made a bit of a mess, but we're the heroes in our home games. Surely our good deeds make up for it."

"What good deeds?" the devil snapped. "All you did was crash-land on an alien planet and then enslave an entire species for your own personal benefit."

"It was a working relationship," Olimar replied sheepishly.

The devil moved on to Villager. "And you!"

Villager looked around in confusion. "What did I do? I'm completely innocent."

"Sure you are. I've seen the memes, sicko."

Villager hung his head and sighed. "Darn you, internet."

The devil shook his head in disgust. "You two are going to be here for a long time."

"Come on," Olimar said, "There's got to be something we can do to get out of this. We can make a deal. You're the devil, right? The devil always likes making deals in movies and TV."

The devil leaned in closely to Olimar, his putrid breath fogging up the astronaut's helmet. "This is a video game. It doesn't work that way. Boss fights are the only things that work here and since I'm not programmed to be fought one-on-one, I guess you're out of luck."

"Wait," Villager said, "We're friends with Mario. We can put in a good word for you to be a candidate for Smash Five."

The devil raised an eyebrow. He thought for a moment, scratching his chin. "I thought protagonists got first pick in a franchise?"

"Well, yeah," Olimar said, following Villager's lead, "but you are clearly the star of this game. You're like Freddy Krueger or the Terminator. No one cares about who the good guys were in those movies. I mean, Sarah Connor who?"

The devil grinned, puffing out his bare chest. "You really think so?"

Oh, we know so," Villager said. "And, heck, if that's not enough, we could work the system so that both you and Tamagon get a slot. It's happened before."

The devil considered for a few more minutes. "You know what? I think I'll take you up on that." He gestured to his minions. "Release them."

As the demons worked at Villager and Olimar's chains, another one ran in through a side tunnel. "Sir, Tamagon's back."

The devil sighed in irritation. "Oh, great."

"Anything the matter?" Villager asked, rubbing his newly unshackled wrists.

"No. This stupid dragon just keeps showing up at my door, shoving crosses and Bibles in my face. I think he's trying to convert me or something." He looked at his demons. "Come on, boys, let's get the walls moving again. Maybe we can squish him this time."