Are they going to fight in brawls already? Yes.
Sheik stood stalk still, trying not pant, as the names were read.
"Cloud versus Samus!"
"Marth versus Luigi!"
"Shulk versus Wii Fit Trainer!"
"Lucina versus Peach!"
"Bowser versus Pit!"
"Ness versus Ganondorf."
"Link versus Roy!"
"Sheik versus Corrin M!"
"Corrin F versus Robin F!"
"Wario versus Zelda!"
As the names continued to be rattled off in a the deep voice of who knew who, Sheik glanced around to find Corrin M. She'd just met Corrin F this morning. They were twins as well and apparently had a strong dislike for shoes, in addition to claiming the ability to transform. What is was they could transform into, Sheik didn't know.
He was standing straight and tall beside his sister.
"Hi, Sheik," said Corrin F softly. "Good bye." She walked over to Robin F and they stood side by side, each giving a quick smile to the other, waiting for their names to be called so they could go into their individual stadiums.
"The stadiums are just simulators," explained Corrin M without being asked. "It'll hurt, but it won't kill us. You fall off, you lose."
"Platforms," answered Sheik. "Not my specialty." As a matter of fact, they were indeed not her specialty, but she was still very good at staying on platforms, keeping her balance, and jumping high to regain a positive position. Still, if she could, she would downplay his expectations of her as much as possible. After all, if she failed she could simply blame it on not being her specialty and if she won… it was because of hard work and constant practice.
"Corrin M and Sheik!" called the voice from the speakers and both stepped forward.
Sheik licked her lips beneath her mask and tried to calm her breathing as a shining, swirling light appeared in the wall directly in front of them and grew bigger until it was the size of a door.
Corrin stepped through first and she followed as boldly as possible, instantly tensing into a crouch as soon as she felt the light envelope her.
She remained rigid, eyes wide open trying to see something through the white that blinded her. It began to fade away in wisps and she felt hard ground beneath her feet. She stood, readying her hands and glaring straight ahead. Corrin M had appeared at the far end of the stone platform they stood on, and she stared. He was a dragon.
Sheik felt her leg muscles tense as the dragon turned back into Corrin and he rushed at her, sword at the ready.
"No fear. You've fought opponents who could transform. Not into a dragon, but still. Offense, offense, offense." She crouched and as he neared released her pent up energy into a somersault and then a kick. From there she started a collection of jabs that sent him flying backwards.
She ran forward and hastily activated her energy shield as he transformed into a dragon. There was a rush of air as he attacked viciously, but the shield protected her and she dissolved it and grabbed him by his cape, hurling him down on the ground and pounding him. He exploded into the air and she followed it up with a jump, turning upside down to hit him with a screwdriver kick.
He landed and got to his feet, eyebrows now in a fierce glare. He had seemed calm before, and now he was angry. Sheik would have to use that to her advantage.
She taunted him by posing, but he didn't move, instead suddenly releasing a huge ball of blue fire right at her.
Sheik had no time to dodge or try to activate her shield and crouched as the fire singed her hair and hurled her backwards and off the stage.
"No!" screamed her mind and she righted herself and grabbed one of the walls that supported the platform, jumping up with a spinning kick to knock Corrin, who had been waiting at the edge of the stage, back a few paces. She followed it up with a jump into the air, bending her body into a streamline that brought her hurtling down on him. She got a direct hit on his shoulders and pushed herself off to the edge of the stage, wobbling briefly as he recovered and ran to attack her with his sword.
Three quick strokes launched her high into the air and far off the stage. Quickly angling her body, she hurtled back down, concentrated, and suddenly vanished. As she whizzed through the air directly towards him, invisible, she watched his eyes widen and he looked around just as she reappeared behind him.
Two round kicks and a series of jabs knocked him from the cliff, but he managed to grab on just in time.
She activated her shield, determined to be ready for his action leap back onto the stage, but he surprised her by letting go. As she watched him fall she deactivated her shield, squinting. A moment later he was shooting back up in his dragon form, blue fire glowing around him, and he hit the underside of the stage, sending fire up through the floor.
Sheik screamed in pain and exploded backwards, landing flat on her back on the stage. "No, no, no. Get up," she ordered herself, and leapt high in the air, barely avoiding a quick sword attack.
She landed behind him, grabbed him again, pounded him, followed up with a screw driver aerial kick, and leapt backwards to prepare some needles.
He ran towards her and she released them, hitting him in the neck and chest.
Corrin gave a pained grunt and fell back to a shield as she attacked again.
Sheik passed through him and whirled around just in time to receive a sword in the face.
With a shriek she hurtled backwards, grabbing the ledge just before she fell. She launched upwards, dashed forwards, flipped over him, and began dodging his sword with a series of impressive gymnastic moves, rotating in the air, sliding to a stop, somersaulting beneath his legs, and doing two backflips over him again as he turned.
She kicked him in the stomach, leapt backwards, and hurled some more needles at him. He was knocked back several paces and she ran to meet him. Abruptly his sword shot out, rooting itself in the ground, and she hit the blade with terrific force, moaning as she staggered back.
Corrin dashed forwards, turned into a dragon, and attacked, but she leapt up and out of the way, preparing a forwards offensive just as he returned to his human form.
She leapt up, kicking him, rolled into a ball and straightened out, one hand solidly connecting with his jaw. She landed on her shoulders, and spun around, legs outstretched in the splits.
Her foot collided with his side in a satisfying way and he was hurled into the air.
As he fell back down, sword at the ready, she leapt up to meet him, spinning in midair and dodging his wildly swung weapon as she kicked him in the gut.
He gasped in pain and exploded away, plummeting downwards. Sheik hurried to the edge and grabbed the stones, staring down at his silhouetted form, disappearing in the white light of the portal.
"Winner!"
Sheik turned to see who had spoken, and found herself in a small misty room.
"You have ten seconds to think of a winning pose to do," said a female voice.
Sheik thought wildly and ten seconds later slashed viciously with her hands, straightening to bring one up in a ready pose. She glanced behind her to see Corrin M, standing straight and tall, clapping silently.
The misty room disappeared and she found herself back in the Announcing Room.
"How'd it go?" asked Zelda, walking up to her.
"Good," she answered shortly.
"You lost, didn't you."
"I won."
"Oh."
"You lost."
"Nope. I won. But I felt bad fighting my friend. Luckily, Peach always smiles, so it's not so bad." Zelda shrugged and glanced over at Link as he materialized. He caught her eye, winked, and sauntered over.
"It was easy. That red capped guy was a piece of cake."
There was a small gasp behind them and all three turned to see Peach, a pink parasol in one hand, clasp the other to her mouth. "How dare you say such a thing about Mario? He's the bravest man there is!"
Zelda looked embarrassed and Sheik gave Link a look.
"I wouldn't have picked him for Smash Bros 4," continued Link, shrugging. "But apparently the judges have been doing this for years, so I won't say anything." He chuckled and walked off.
"He's usually meaner than that," encouraged Zelda sheepishly.
I snorted and tried not to laugh. "Who's Mario? Your husband?"
"No," answered Peach, shaking her head and giggling a little. "He's like as old as my dad, so that'd be weird. But I've looked up to him since I was a kid." She smiled sweetly and then turned to frown after the disappearing Link. "How long of a break do we get until we've got to brawl again?"
Sheik started. "Oh. You're right. We actually have to brawl again."
"Multiple times a day," Zelda added, giving her a strange look. "You forgot?"
"This first brawl seemed to take hours," admitted Sheik. "I'm pooped." She walked off, folding her arms and trying to review her mistakes in her mind and the corrections she should make for next time.
Thanks for reading! I'm sorry Corrin M fans, but hey, Sheik didn't beat him instantly or something. And I may have messed up in the dragon descriptions because I've never played with Corrin.