Clash of the Smashers
Chapter Twenty-Five: Battle against "Mommy" Brain
The tunnel was dark. It was also long. As Falco and Kirby plummeted down, only one thought was on their minds. The sudden stop at the end of this free-fall. Because, see, the falling isn't that bad. It's the part when gravity slams its presence home by crushing you against the ground. That part sucks.
"This sucks!" Falco said, for about the third since they've been falling. Yeah, it's a long drop.
The Space Pirates that fell in with them had been quickly dispatched by the two falling heroes and Ridley was long gone; Falco figured that he must have sped through this escape tunnel.
Of course, a tunnel seemingly leading to the core of the earth was convenient for a guy who could fly, but for Falco, who unfortunately needed state of the art hardware to defy gravity, it just seemed like his tomb.
As for Kirby, well he tried to suck in air to hold himself up, but he was falling too fast, and every few seconds he would hit Falco or one of the smooth walls. Fortunately, while the tunnel was dark there was some lighting. Falling in pitch black would have been bad.
After a while Falco noticed something. They were still falling down…but they were also falling sideways. The tunnel was sloping!
"Kirby! Grab onto the sides of the wall, and spread out your body…thing!" Falco said thinking fast as he followed his own instructions.
Kirby didn't get it, but did it anyways. The two of them clutched onto the smooth metal's sloped sides, and as the sides sloped more, the friction started to slow them down. Within thirty seconds, they were halted.
"Wow, I can't believe that worked," Falco said, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Ok," Kirby said, grumpy from getting a severe "metal"-burn.
"Now we just need to figure out how to get back," Falco said, looking up the tunnel.
Unfortunately, before either one could figure out a plan, a loud clanging was heard. It sounded metallic…and it was getting louder.
"What is that? It sounds like metal on metal…oh," Falco said, as what seemed like half a mile up the dim tunnel, silver metal disks were slamming across the gap, blocking the way up…and heading down towards the two Smashers…fast.
"RUN!" Falco said, as he and Kirby leapt up and started running, with the tunnel slowly straightening out.
Regrettably, the sides were slick enough that the two kept stumbling, and steep enough that they fell over a few times. Those disks were getting closer…and rapidly.
"This isn't working!" Falco said, a note of panic inching into his voice…actually, it was a bit more than a note and it was moving quite a bit faster than merely inching.
"Yeah!" Kirby said, stopping.
Falco ran past Kirby, tripped, and then saw his companion wasn't moving.
"I didn't mean give up! If those things hit us…we're going to get sliced!"
Kirby turned into his smooth bottomed and a rounded top rock form. Thanks to the smoothness, Kirby did what he usually did when he was on a slope…he started to slide.
"Kirby? What are you-agh!" Falco shouted, as Rock-Kirby slammed into his knees from behind, knocking him over onto the rock's top, and speeding the two down the slope.
Falco quickly caught on to what Kirby was doing, and by laying down low on top of Kirby, Falco tried to increase their alacrity…but the increasingly louder sounds of the metal disks revealed that they weren't going fast enough.
But up ahead, they saw brighter light, emanating from an opening in the tunnel…an opening they were heading towards at full speed!
"Come on Kirby! Come ON!" Falco said, as a particularly close clang caused him to jump.
They only a few dozen yards away from their escape, and closing fast, but the disks, almost seeming to sense their presence appeared to speed on ever faster. Panicking, Falco yanked out his pistol and fired lasers at the disks…which did nothing.
"Oh why did I think that would work?!" he moaned as the disks slammed into place inches behind his trailing feet, which he yanked in closer to himself.
"This is going to be close!"
CLANG!
"Agh!" Falco said, as the disk closed…on the edge of his tail feathers.
With a whoosh, Kirby and Falco shot out of the tunnel, and came to a painful skid on rough ground. Kirby turned back into his normal puffball self, as Falco brushed himself off and rubbed his…feathers. The two of them grinned at each other, having narrowly escaped death, when the sound of low haggard breathing brought them back to reality, as they realized they weren't the only ones that had been in the tunnel…
Back to the Others…
Mario stopped punching the metal floor where the tunnel to where Falco and Kirby had vanished. He had been punching for three solid minutes, while the others were in various states of shock and disbelief. After all his punching, with all his considerable might, all he had managed to do was cause a two-inch thick dent in the floor. He would have kept trying, but he knew it was hopeless.
The others weren't faring much better. Meta-Knight and Raichu were both still unconscious from the fight against Ridley, and while Samus, Link, Bario, Mario and Diddy were still capable of fighting, none of them seemed to willing to go on after the loss of Falco and Kirby.
Bario cleared his throat, and with a quiet, beaten voice, called out to the others, who had grouped together near the tunnel.
"Guys, I know this is hard…but we have to press on. Ridley is still alive…and well…maybe Kirby and Falco are too-"
"Oh shut up, you stupid sh-" Link said, tinges of hatred in his voice, before Samus shushed him.
"Link! Don't say that!"
"And why not? It's all his fault we're here in the first place!" Link shouted, his eyes blazing with pent-up rage.
"Link!" Diddy yelled, "That's not fair!"
"So, what? He just happened to create a portal to a place where we lost two people, and two more are knocked out? I don't think so!"
"Link," Bario started to say, before he was interrupted again.
"No! I'm sick of suspicions! I'm sick of you pretending to be someone you're not! Explain yourself! RIGHT NOW!" Link screamed, conflicting emotions inside of him, and disruptive circumstances on the outside, were causing him to fall apart mentally.
Bario walked over to Link and looked him in the face, purple eyes now blazing with the same fiery rage as Link's blue eyes. They stood like that for a full minute, before Bario pulled back and punched Link in the face.
There were gasps of shock from everyone conscious, as Link fell to the ground, surprised…and vindicated.
"I knew it!" Link hissed, jumping up and pulling out his sword and shield, "I knew you were bad news! Well this ends now-OUCH!" Link shouted, as Mario slammed him in the back with his hammer, eliciting another startled gasp from Samus and Diddy.
"So!" Link said, struggling to get up, "Mario's in on it too eh? Well I'll stop him too-eep!" Link said, as Bario's sword appeared at his throat.
"I don't know what your problem is with me, and I don't really care. I will lead the rest of us, not because I want to, but because we need someone to focus our group, to stop the villains. This is neither the time nor the place for us to fight each other. Now I suggest you stay down, until you CALM DOWN," Bario said, the fire in his eyes belying the ice in his voice.
"Link, he's right. We have things to do. We can settle this later," Samus said.
Link looked around, and nodded.
"You guys are right. I'm not sorry though. After this is all done, you DO have some explaining to do Bario," Link said, the threat evident in his voice.
"I look forward to it," Bario said, sheathing his sword, becoming immediately cheerful.
Link growled and put away his own weapons while getting to his feet. Looking around at the lava filled floor, he picked up Raichu and started walking towards a section of the floor covered in lava.
"Agh! Link! What are you doing?!" Diddy asked, running after him.
"I'm carrying your friend. I'm trying to be helpful. What did you think I was doing?" Link asked, hopping over the lava.
"I…uh…don't worry about it," Diddy said.
Bario picked up Meta, and the six Smashers headed over to the doorway out. Samus shot it open, and they went into the now familiar elevator. It sped down faster than previous ones.
"Samus," Bario said, doing his best to overlook the division happening among them, "What do you think is next?"
"Well…Ridley is still alive, so we're going to have to fight him again…but I think what's next is…Mother Brain," Samus said, as the elevator slowed to a stop.
"That was fast," Link said, clutching Raichu.
"This is going to be bad," Samus said, checking her Arm Cannon.
The doors opened…and the Smashers jumped out, with Bario and Link placing their unconscious companions down near the wall. The five capable fighters drew their weapons…and were attacked.
Space Pirates jumped at them, slashing with their crab-claw like arms or shooting lasers at them. The Smashers were caught off guard, but managed to retaliate, slicing, smashing or shooting. The Space Pirates seemed more experienced and well-trained then the ones fought in Ridley's room, as they repeatedly dodged and jumped, showing a combat competency not seen in the earlier Pirates.
Still, compared to the fighting prowess of the Smashers, they stood little chance. Shortly, the ten Pirates that attacked them were finished, and pleased with their success, the Smashers turned their attention…to the army of Space Pirates assembled on the other side of the chamber. They had arranged themselves in four rows of ten, and all of them looked ready to rumble.
"Oh f-" Diddy said, as forty Space Pirates leveled their weapons.
A forty-first Space Pirate came out from the group. This one was larger, and unlike the dark blue/purple armor the others wore, this one's was a startling red/black.
"Give up," The Space Pirate Commander said, in a low, guttural voice that was more beast than being, "You don't stand a chance."
"No one move. We surrender," Samus said, raising her arms up.
"Agreed. They have us beat," Bario said, sheathing his swords and doing the same.
Mario followed their lead, but Diddy and Link were shocked.
"What?" Link asked, shocked, "We're giving up! They won't show us any mercy!"
"Link's right! As soon as we drop our guard they're going to kill us!"
"They outnumber us eight to one! Two of our group is unconscious, and two more are gone! We're weakened! They would wipe us out!" Bario said with deadly seriousness.
"Diddy! Just holster your weapons and put your hands up!" Samus said.
Diddy blinked, as did Link, as they realized that something was up. Deciding to trust in the plans of their companions, rather than blindly charge, Diddy raised his hands, and Link followed suit after sheathing his weapons…but he still didn't like having to trust in someone he didn't feel earned it.
Diddy heard the sound of movement behind him…and with a surreptitious glance, noticed Meta stirring.
"Excellent," The Commander said, "Master Ridley will be most pleased. Our Coordinator has served us well…"
The Commander flashed a look back to a glass tank placed in front of the exit door on the other side of the massive room. It was initially overlooked by the Smashers because the army of Pirates drew their attention, but now that they were moving closer to finish off the Smashers, the tank was obvious.
The tank was large…about fifteen feet high, with more than half of that occupied by a clear liquid, the bottom part a mess of complicated machinery. Occupying the tank was a massive orange…brain. Yes. A brain. Well…actually, it didn't look like a brain. Not a human one at least. It was more of a brain-shaped blob, without any of the wrinkles or crevices inside a normal brain. It had several large spikes protruding out of it, and turrets were placed around, on and in front of the tank, making any assault…painful, to say the least.
"Mother Brain," Samus said.
"That's the brain?" Diddy asked, "Raichu was right…ew."
"Cease your chatter," The Commander…commanded.
Two rows consisting of twenty total Pirates, with the Commander in the lead started advancing, weapons trained on the Smashers. The remaining twenty remained behind, to protect the brain.
"Any second now," Samus said.
"I don't know what you have planned," Link whispered, "But whatever it is, it better be good."
When the Pirates were within twenty feet of the Smashers they stopped and aimed their weapons at Samus.
"Ridley will be most pleased to hear of your death," the Commander stated.
"I don't know how that's going to be possible," Samus said.
"What?"
"Well, how is it possible to hear of someone's death…if you died first?"
Before the Commander could respond…all hell broke loose.
Mario dashed behind Samus, who rolled into her Morph Ball form and slammed her with his hammer, sending her flying at the Space Pirates. Mario then followed her example by using his cape to leap up into the air, splitting their attention and fire between two targets. Samus crashed into the middle of the pack, knocking down a Pirate, while Mario dodged their attacks and responded with fireballs.
Samus unleashed a Power Bomb, feeling that it was safe with the others far away. The resulting explosion coupled with the close proximity of the Pirates killed four and damaged several more.
Diddy and Link caught on pretty quick, and started throwing Orange Grenades and Bomb Arrows at the Space Pirates as well. Mario's fireballs caused substantial damage, as they seemed to have increased in size, speed and power. Rather than slow baseball sized flames that left small burns, they were bowling ball sized firebombs that incinerated Space Pirates that were hit by more than one.
Samus spun out of her Morph Ball form, kicking away several of the weakened Pirates. She aimed her cannon at one, when a blur slammed into her repeatedly, knocking her away from the others.
"You're MINE!" the Commander told her, snap-kicking her in the midsection.
"Samus!" Link yelled.
"No! I can take him!" Samus said, dodging a laser from the Commander.
"You can take me? Ha! Prepare to die!"
Bario leapt forward and started slashing at the Space Pirates. Link's sword came out, and he started taking on several close range as well. Deciding he would be best suited closer up, Diddy pulled out his peanut guns and waded into the fray, his tail whipping around and guns pelting his opponents. That, combined with Mario's firebombs, had all but annihilated the Pirates…until the other twenty Pirates jumped in.
The exhausted Diddy and Link were immediately hit by lasers and claws, and fell to their knees. The Pirates surrounded the two combatants as seven Pirates distracted Mario with laser shots. The Space Pirates leveled their weapons…just as Bario jumped in from behind and sliced two of them in half. Bario came to a stop in front of Diddy and Link, panting heavily, swords raised defensively.
"Don't worry guys," he said with a wink, "I got this."
Link looked up at Bario in confusion.
"Maybe…I was wrong," he said to himself.
The Space Pirates recovered from the surprise attack…and charged.
Samus sent a missile flying at the Commander who ducked under it, firing lasers back at her. Samus rolled to the side, firing missile after missile. The Commander dodged a few, but two of them hit him in the chest, knocking him back. As he tried to recover, Samus leapt forward and kicked him in the face. He fell backwards, but as he fell, he spun around, knocking Samus's legs out from under her.
"You can't stop the power of the Space Pirate Army!"
"Oh shut up," Samus said, clocking the Commander in the face with her Arm Cannon.
The Space Pirates charged unthinkingly at Bario, who merely grinned, and sent a pulse of energy into his swords…which started to glow purple.
"Super Stab!" Bario cried out, stabbing both his swords at a speed not even Link could match, the power of the sword strikes cutting through the Pirate armor like butter.
The Pirates didn't stand a chance. Bario cut through eleven of them easily before he got tired…at which point Mario decided to get up close and personal. He slammed down into the group of bad guys, knocking several away. Mario put away his cape and just started punching and kicking. Link and Diddy joined in…but the Pirates, while injured, were persistent, and the fighters were getting tired.
"Agh!" Diddy cried out, as a pair of Pirates landed a good blow on him.
"This is not good," Bario said, panting heavily, "That attack took to much out of-Ow!"
The Space Pirate that shot Bario moved into press his advantage…when his head was suddenly removed.
"What?" Link said, smashing a Pirate in the face with his shield.
"The cavalry of Relish is here!" screamed Meta-Knight, apparently recovered from his bout with Ridley, as he carved through the Space Pirates.
Emboldened by the arrival of their companion, the Smashers rallied, and managed to kill off all of the Pirates…well…not all of them.
Samus got to her feet, dashing away from the Commander and peppered him with Power Beam shots, as he leapt up and ran at her. Blinded, he tried to slice her with his bladed arm-claw thing, but she blocked it with her Arm Cannon, and then punched him in the face. As the Commander struggled to regain his footing, Samus planted her foot on his chest and pushed him over, firing three missiles into his body at the same time.
"Samus," the Commander wheezed, struggling to breathe.
"What?" Samus asked coldly, Arm Cannon aimed at his face.
"If I tell you something…will you let me live?"
"What is it?"
"Ridley…does not want your death."
"What?"
"He ordered us to capture you and your companions. We were allowed to hurt you…but not kill you."
"Seriously?" Samus asked, shocked.
"Yes…but I'm ignoring those orders!" the Commander stated, slashing at Samus…when a missile hit him in the face, killing the weakened Space Pirate.
"Moron," Samus said, rejoining the others as they finished off the last of the small Space Pirate army, and she noticed the awakening of their…interesting companion.
"He looks…better," Samus said, referring to the gleeful Meta, who was busy cutting up dead Space Pirates.
"Yeah…" Diddy said, looking back at…wait! Where's Raichu?
"Guys!" Diddy yelled, "Raichu's-"
"Right…here," a weak voice said.
The others turned in surprise, to see Raichu, barely standing, a few feet away from them.
"Heh…Meta woke me up, screaming about government conspiracies and baked goods. I saw you guys fighting…and tried to help…but that attack I used on Ridley really drained me."
"Raichu, if we get that healing bad guy dust on you…think it'll help?" Bario asked, concerned for his companion.
"Probably. Without that, I'd need some kind of electrical charge."
"Well," Samus said, "I don't know where we can find an electrical charge…but I bet if we kill Mother Brain over there, that'll bring that dust out."
"It's worth a shot!" Diddy said.
"That's Mother Brain?" Raichu said, "That thing is just gross."
"I know! That's what I said!" Diddy exclaimed.
"So what's the plan of attack?" Bario asked Samus.
"Well…we have to shatter the tank in order to damage the brain, and it's surrounded by those turrets, that will probably start to shoot at us as soon as we get close."
"So…why don't we just stay far away and shoot at it from here?" Link asked.
"Sounds good," Bario said, "Let's try it."
Samus and Link turned towards Mother Brain, who was about 25 yards away, and fired several missiles and Bomb Arrows at it. Immediately the turrets in front of the tank swiveled to face the attacks and fired piercing laser beams, similar to the ones the Space Pirates used, but more powerful, a fact that was evident as the missiles and Bomb Arrows were destroyed before they even got close.
"Well…that didn't work," Diddy said.
"We're going to have to take out those turrets first…and to do that, we're going to need to get close," Samus said.
There were eight turrets on the ground in front of the tank, each one about the size and approximate shape of a fully grown man curled up in the fetal position, although the large gun sticking out of the front of the turrets ruined that image. Two smaller, sleeker turrets were placed on the top of the tank, for a total of ten.
"Right…but we're going to need someone fast, quick and able to cause decent damage," Bario told her.
"I'll do it!" Diddy said.
"No," Samus said, "You may be fast, but with the exception of those orange grenades, you don't have anything that could break those turrets."
"What's wrong with the grenades?"
"They take too long to explode; the turrets could just shoot them. Meta…you might be able to do it…is your sword strong enough the break the turrets?" Samus asked.
"Gravy says okay!" Meta said, twirling his sword around.
"I'll take that as a yes," Bario said.
"It's a me-a Mario!" Mario cried out, lifting his hammer.
"Mario?" Link asked, "Can he do it?"
"Okeydokey!" Mario said.
"I guess so," Samus said, "Alright, Mario and Meta, destroy the turrets, and then the rest of us will move in and demolish the tank…and kill that stupid brain for the last time."
Mario and Meta nodded…and then ran/flew for the turrets. The turrets began to fire their lasers at the duo, but Meta flew up and Mario jumped away, making the two near impossible to hit.
"Agh!" Link said, "I hate just standing around here! Can't we help them?"
"How?" Samus asked.
"I don't know…maybe, draw the turrets fire by shooting at them?"
"No! With them that far away from us, and close to the turrets, we might end up hitting them!" Bario said.
"Yeah, yeah," Link grumbled, "It was just an idea."
Meta and Mario reached the turrets in seconds…and in barely twice that time, Meta had sliced through three, and Mario had smashed four. The eighth turret self-destructed; just barely missing Meta, who, in a bout of insanity had dived for the ground for unknown reasons.
"I saw a quarter! It had the face of my mother's apricot TREE!"
That only left two turrets…the ones on the tank. Mario and Meta turned to those ones…just as they fired. They didn't fire lasers. They fired a large slow moving laser circle.
"Oh crap!" Diddy said, "I bet those will be hard to destroy!"
Mario and Meta jumped/flew up and destroyed both with a single swing.
"Guess not," Raichu said.
"Alright guys! Destroy that tank!" Bario said, drawing his swords and running at the seemingly defenseless Mother Brain.
"Diddy!" Raichu called.
"What?" Diddy asked.
"Help me over there."
"What? No! You're too weak!"
"I'm fine! Just help me!"
"No! I'm not putting you in danger!"
"DIDDY! I'm not asking! Help me," Raichu said, his voice making it clear that he would try to get over to Mother Brain's tank…whether Diddy helped him or not.
"Fine," Diddy said, using his tail and hands to help support Raichu as they walk/limped towards Mother Brain.
Since Mario and Meta were the closest to the tank, they were the first ones to attack it. Mario and Meta hit it from opposite sides with their weapons…only to get flung away by an electrical field surrounding it.
"What?!" Samus said, as she and the others got within striking distance.
"I guess we can't physically attack it. Samus, Link, you'll need to use your projectiles-" Bario started to say.
"No," Raichu said, stepping away from Diddy and limping towards the tank, increasing his speed as he got closer.
"Raichu?" Diddy asked.
"Hope this works!" Raichu said, running at the tank.
"What are you doing?!" Diddy yelled.
"Oh…electrical field," Bario said, "That might recharge him."
Raichu leapt at the tank, and was immediately surrounded by electricity, as he absorbed the field protecting Mother Brain, creating a sparking white light. The crackling white light shot out of his body, but then looped back, as if it was being captured by the electric mouse.
"Wow," Diddy said, "I think its working!"
After a few seconds Raichu dropped to the ground, crackling with electricity…and looking better than ever.
"Now THAT felt good." Raichu said.
"Mario?" Bario asked.
Mario nodded, ran up to the tank…and shattered the glass with one solid blow.
"Alright Mario!" Bario said, "Attack the brain!"
Samus and Link nodded and shot a missile and Bomb Arrow at it, while Mario slammed it with a hammer. And that's when Mother Brain opened its eye.
"What?" Diddy said, as a massive orange eyeball with catlike pupils on the front of the brain, fired a purple beam three feet in height and width that vaporized the missile and Bomb Arrow…and continued traveling.
"It can do that?!" Link shouted, dodging to the left as Samus dove to the right, the beam exploding between them.
"Apparently!" Samus shouted back.
Mother Brain started charging up another blast as Meta slashed at it from the side, and Mario hammered it.
"Why aren't they able to kill it?!" Bario yelled, dodging the purple beam.
"They have to hit the eye!" Samus responded, charging up her Power Beam.
"X-RAY!" Meta shouted, diving in front of the brain and stabbing the eye.
Mother Brain shrieked…and then blasted him away another attack.
"How strong is this thing?" Link shouted, preparing to dodge another attack
"Don't worry about it," Samus said, dodging the brain's most recent assault…and shot a Super Missile directly into its eye.
The resulting explosion knocked Mario off the side of the tank he was staying on, and blew Raichu away from the front of the container. Mother Brian let out a massive shriek…and the tank, machinery and all, exploded, creating a smoking shroud of dust, obscuring the Smashers view of their foe.
"Samus," Link asked, "Did you kill it?"
There was a loud clanking noise, although whatever made it was obscured by the smoke.
"No…GET BACK!" Samus yelled, diving away from the cloud of smoke.
Before Bario, Diddy and Link had a chance to ask her what she was talking about, four large blue rings flew at them, mostly missing, but one skimmed across Link's arm, opening up a shallow, but long cut.
"Ow! What was that?" Link shouted, as an inhuman shriek reverberated around the room…and Mother Brain leapt out of the smoke cloud.
Yes, leapt. Apparently, buried beneath the glass tank and folded up in the machinery, the brain was attached to a body. It looked like that of a large bipedal lizard or demonic bird, about twenty feet in height. It was covered in both the orange pulsating flesh of the brain and steel-gray metal. It had comparatively small arms, and large, thick, birdlike taloned legs. Spikes were sticking out where the spine would be on a normal creature, and the head was attached to a long serpentine neck. Also new was the mouth that Mother Brain had developed. It was a small sharp-toothed mouth that constantly dripped purple acid. The eye had gone from an evil orange to a dead white.
"I take it back," Raichu said jumping out of the smoke cloud, "That thing is gross!"
"Samus?" Bario said, backing away from the beast.
"Watch out for…everything! Aim for the brain!" Samus said.
"Very helpful!" Diddy said, dodging an energy ring attack.
"Sorry, it's the best I got!" Samus shouted, switching to her Ice Beam.
"Alright…here we go," Bario said, running for Mother Brain.
Mother Brain responded by having its eye shoot out thin, dark orange lasers, not as powerful as the ones before, but very fast. Bario was forced to abandon his charge and dive away, while Meta flew up to the brain and hacked away. Mother Brain screeched and jerked its head forward, knocking the small knight away. Samus and Link took advantage of Mother Brain's distraction by hitting it with charged Ice Beam shots, and bomb arrows.
"That thing is slow," Raichu said, as Mother Brain staggered unsteadily on its feet.
"But powerful!" Samus called back, firing again, the massive ice shards smashing into the soft brain matter, "Don't underestimate it!"
Mario and Diddy jumped away from the blue energy rings and orange lasers and launched firebombs and orange grenades into the brain. Raichu, fully recovered, and feeling great, skipped around Mother Brain, zapping it with medium sized lightning bolts shot out from his electricity storing cheeks.
"Wow," Bario said, looking for an opening, "We're killing this thing!"
"Don't get cocky!" Samus said…just as Mother Brain decided to strike back hard.
It raised its arms and shot out what looked like miniature orange explosions that traveled in a straight line to…Samus and Link. It knocked them over, and burned them, although that wasn't as bad as the small ball it dropped out of its mouth.
"What the?" Diddy said…before the ball exploded into a short circle of fire that spread out and hit him and Raichu.
"Crud!" Samus said, rolling away from another explosive blast, as Mother Brian pressed on the assault, shooting out laser beams, energy circles, fire grenades and orange…explosion thingies.
"Samus! This is too much! I'm going to try it!" Bario said, flipping over a laser.
"Try what? What are you talking about?" Link said angrily, blocking some of the energy circles with his shield.
Bario didn't answer and just ran straight for the machinery enhanced beast, dodging more attacks. When he got within fifteen feet, his swords began to glow purple. After a few more steps, he flung them at Mother Brain.
The swords flew unhindered, and one stabbed into the chest of the creature, the other into the neck. Mother Brain shrieked and jerked around, dislodging the swords. Bario ran forward and dove between its legs, grabbing his blades…just as Mother Brain unleashed its ultimate attack.
It reared back its head, glowing and then shot its brain/head forward, shooting out a massive technicolor beam that charbroiled the ground, and just missed Mario.
"Whoa!" Link said, shooting another bomb arrow.
"I have to stop this thing…hope this works," Samus said, charging up her Ice Beam.
Mother Brain shuddered from another flurry of firebombs from Mario, but still managed to charge up and release another of those massive beams. Mother Brain swept the beam across the ground, skimming across Diddy, and smashing Link's shield into his chest before dissipating.
"OW!" Diddy and Link said at the same time.
"Samus! We have to stop this-" Bario started to say.
"Already on it," Samus responded, shooting out a massive beam of ice from her Arm Cannon that seemed to get larger as it traveled towards the creature. It reached Mother Brain in less than two seconds and surrounded it entirely in ice.
"What the hell was that?" Link shouted, trying to get up.
"That was the Ice Spreader. Combination of the Ice Beam and a whole bunch of missiles."
"That was awesome!" Diddy said.
Mother Brain started to twitch, and the ice surrounding it started to crack.
"Oh crap…alright…when I say go, Link, shoot a bomb arrow, Diddy throw an orange grenade and the rest of you, get ready to attack if this doesn't work!"
"What…oh man, that things still moving?!" Diddy said, pulling out an orange grenade.
Samus switched over to her Power Beam and started charging it as Link aimed his bomb arrow. Ice flakes started to slough off of Mother Brain as it struggled to break free from its frosty prison. It never got the chance.
"NOW!" Samus said, firing a Super Missile at the fiend.
Diddy and Link launched their weapons as well and all three hit Mother Brain and exploded…shattering it and the ice. Before anyone had a chance to celebrate, the pieces of Mother Brain exploded…into the much appreciated pink healing dust.
The Smashers, cheerful after the hard-fought victory started to walk over to the elevator, which Mother Brain had been blocking.
"So…Samus…it's not over…is it?" Diddy asked.
"No. We still have to finish off Ridley…he's still alive, I'll bet you."
"And I would also bet that Kirby and Falco are alive. Those two are resilient. We just have to find them!" Bario said, plastering a smile on his face.
"Wait…what happened to them? Why aren't they here?" Raichu asked.
"Oh right…you were unconscious for that…" Diddy said, "Well, they fell down an escape shaft with Ridley."
"Why were they trying to escape with him?" Raichu asked.
"What? How can you-" Diddy started to say, flustered, when he saw Raichu's grin, "Oh, shut up," Diddy said, smiling back.
"You're just too easy," Raichu said, leaping ahead.
Samus shot open the elevator door, and she, Mario, Meta and Raichu were the first ones in. Bario was about to follow when a hand grabbed his shoulder. Bario spun around to see himself face-to-face with Link.
"What do you want?" Bario hissed.
"I'm just letting you know that I still don't trust you…or particularly like you…but you saved my life a couple of times…" Link said, while Diddy stared at something in the far corner of the room, pretending to not see or hear the two as they blocked the door with their "private" conversation.
"Yeah…" Bario said back.
"After we finish off Ridley, and get back Falco and Kirby…we're all going to have a long talk and figure out what exactly you want, and what you're hiding…but until then, I'll work with you…I owe you that."
"Gee, thanks for your…generosity." Bario said, picking Link's hand off his shoulder, as he walked into the elevator, but he turned around before fully entering, "I just want peace and cooperation…and I have nothing to hide," he said.
"We'll see about that," Link growled as he got in as well.
Seeing the way open, Diddy jumped in the elevator, thinking not about what the two were talking about…but about what he saw in the corner. Something blue and glowing…eh, it probably wasn't that important…
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AN: For any information/news regarding this story, please refer to my profile.