Giga Bowser dashes through an immense meadow, kicking up patches of dirt and grass periodically, each step causing small tremors. Mega Man stands atop of a section of the stadium above the bleachers, magnifying the image of Giga Bowser with his highly advanced optics installed in his eyes. He gasps then jumps off into the interior, his arms and legs extended as he takes a free fall position. He flips and lands on his feet but hunches over slightly, his arms balled up in fists at his sides.
"He's…" Mega Man begins but is interrupted by the sudden lack of sunlight around him. He swings his head around, arming his left hand with his trademark Mega Buster. Ike sticks his sword firmly into the dirt.
"Brace yourselv-!" He cries out to his at the top of his lungs to his comrades, turning his head to gain the attention of those behind him. However, his effort was in vain. Before anyone else has time to even think about reacting, Giga Bowser delivers a devastating version of his technique Bowser Bomb, slamming his rear on the ground, causing a shockwave that spreads across the interior of the stadium. Several fighters are rammed into the seats and the underside of the bleachers from the wind alone. Ike is lifted his off the ground, giving the impression of flight. With enough dirt and grass moving to give the illusion of a dirt storm, Ike can barely keep his eyes open. After a moment, the storm subsides and Ike lands on his knees, still holding onto the sheath of his sword. With his right knee on the ground and his left leg bent, he presses down on the hilt of his sword as he stares down at the pupil-less eyes of Giga Bowser, whose nose ejected steam upon each exhalation. He cocks his head back, raises his arms with his palms facing the sky, and releases an enormous roar. In response, Ike rubs his right eye with the side of his clenched right fist, stands up straight and lifts up his sword in front of him, gripping it with both hands. He slightly squints his eyes as his hair, headband, and cape dance in the wind.
"I hope you're prepared cretin," he valiantly proclaims.
Giga Bowser ejects flame breath in Ike's direction.
Mega Man regains awareness as he scans the interior of the stadium. Did I...did I go offline? he ponders. He observes Donkey Kong run up behind Giga Bowser and jumps to climb his spiked shell while he breathes fire. Donkey Kong reaches his head and pulls back on his horns, propelling his flame into the sky. Ike remained unharmed throughout the onslaught. Must have been his sword, Mega Man deduced as he notes Peach pulling a smiling turnip from the ground and Shulk glowing green and running towards Giga Bowser. Then he contemplates as to how he still alive. He looks around and notices he was blown into the middle row of the bleachers, breaking it upon impact but has no idea what saved him. He feels a fist gently knocking on his head twice and turns to the left to look up.
"You're welcome," Sonic says, surprisingly with a scowl on his face.
"You could've died," Mega Man says out of concern.
"Story of my life."
"Thanks anyway." Mega Man stands up and dusts himself off with light pats around his body.
"Hey, less talky, more blast horn head in his koopa shells."
On that note, Sonic dashes to the right of Giga Bowser mid-blink. Mega Man jumps up at Sonic's sudden disappearance. He sees Sonic take the form of a Spin Attack as he drifts around from the right, kicking up dirt into Giga Bowser's eyes and mouth. He reflexively spits dirt downward. Sonic cartwheels to the right and jumps back while shifting into a brief back pedal to avoid the spit, which causes steam to arise. Ike simply steps to the side.
"He's stunned!" Marth yells pushing off a broken section of the bleachers with his left elbow, propelling it with his hand. "Attack now!"
Reflexively, Samus fires a purple missile, remotely guiding it towards Giga Bowser's face. Donkey Kong forces Giga Bowser's head forward as it makes contact with the missile, causing a relatively small explosion sending his head back again. Immediately, Donkey Kong forces his head forward again before doing a front flip, delivering a backwards kick between his eyes. Falco pulls out his laser pistol and barely has enough time to aim it before a gust of wind hits him, and he sees a blue figure sprinting like a track star ahead of him. The figure jumps in the air, jumps off of Donkey Kong who was still in mid-air, and flips a few meters in front of Giga Bowser's head.
"Falcon…" the man passionately yells.
"Idiot," Samus says to herself as she fires a quick green missile straight into Giga Bowser's stomach, bringing his head forward once again as it makes contact.
"PUNCH!" the man yells. An enormous falcon made of flames surrounds his right arm and much of the right side of his torso. The punch connects with Giga Bowser's left cheek, creating a huge dent of flesh while making a very audible thud, forcing his left eye to slightly close. The skin on his face ripples, mirroring the effect of a rock penetrating a river.
"Nice one Captain!" Sonic exclaims as his pumps his right arm in the air.
"Excellent work," Ike casually says as he runs forward.
"Show off," Falco passive aggressively scoffs as he fires blue lasers.
Donkey Kong lands on his back with his feet facing the sky. Captain Falcon lands with his left leg bent at 90 degrees, cushioning his fall his right fist and knee,. He wears a triumphant smile.
"Thanks for the assist Samus," Captain Falcon yells to Samus as he does a cartwheel to the right, narrowly avoiding Giga Bowser's unsympathetic foot.
"Don't count on it again" shouts Samus while charging her laser blaster. "I'm not here as your backup dancer."
"Oh? Who says that wasn't part of the plan?"
"That wasn't part of the plan."
"Whatever you say."
"I don't want to hear you complain if your flashy shit gets you killed."
"Aww, you do care."
Marth dashes to the left side of Giga Bowser, Laser Scope in his left hand, rapidly firing yellow laser pellets at Giga Bowser's leg. In retaliation, Giga Bowser lifts his left leg up like a sumo wrestler, hands on his knees and all, and brings it down heavy. Marth tries to roll out of the way but is caught in the shock from the explosion, propelling him forward. He flies fourteen feet, hitting the ground and rolling periodically. Then, he recovers into a mid air roll, taking cues from Ike by sticking his sword into the ground, slowing down his landing after skidding a few more feet.
"This is going to be harder than I thought," Marth murmurs to himself.
Toon Link runs as fast as he can through a seemingly endless meadow of grass, leaving Duke and Willard behind. The three of them were blackened in several areas from Giga Bowser's last onslaught. The pointy tip of Toon Link's cap was burned off, leaving a ring of grey in its place. Duke futilely swings his arms forward, panting each time. Willard, carrying a few spears under his left armpit, easily surpasses him with very light steps.
"How?!" Willard shouts as his friend leaves him in the dust.
"Balls of the feet my friend," Willard says casually as the gap between them steadily increases.
Duke swings his arms harder while taking careless strides, his face red. His speed only slightly increases. After a few more feet of nothing but panting, Willard makes his presence known.
"Hey Link!" Duke shouts between breaths. "Slow it down a bit, why doncha?!"
Toon Link skids into a stop. Willard takes note and slows his pacing down into an eventual stop. Slowly, Toon Link turns his head around to meet Duke with an intense scowl. Duke eventually catches up to the two, hunching over while putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
"Give me," Duke spouts between breaths. "A sec…"
Duke gasps for air for a full eight seconds before bending his right arm and twirling it, culminating in him straightening his posture and putting his fists on his hips while grinning. His grin along with his long red beard slowly begin to drop as he takes note of the angry boy in green starring.
"Ay, careful lad," Duke warns, half serious. "You could burn holes in me staring like that."
For a few seconds, a gust of the wind was the only thing audible between the three. Willard looks at Toon Link with a worried expression, then turns his attention to Duke.
"Bad choice of words my friend," Willard states with unamusement in his voice. He has grown far too used to Duke's lack of tact or conscientiousness.
Toon Link grunts indifferently. Willard winces, anticipating his friend's reaction. Duke raises an eyebrow while scrunching the other.
"Excuse me?" Duke asks going on the defense.
Toon Link grunts indifferently.
"You've got some nerve you little moss stain!"
"Link," Willard steps in. "That's not fair. You can't blame Duke entirely for what happened to Link."
Toon Link shouts something unintelligible to the normal ear.
"...Yes, you have every right to be angry with us. We weren't part of the plan. We shouldn't have interferred. But at the same time, you have to be sympathetic towards us."
Toon Link moves his left leg forward, making various loud noises with his mouth.
"Link, we're soldiers. All of us. Not one of us, not a single one of us chose this career without expecting to give our lives at any moment. To sacrifice ourselves, abandoning the lives we've led before without any notice. I'm not entirely sure whether you realize this but you are an idol, and inspiration to people like us. You selflessly fight the forces of evil putting our land in harm's way on a bimonthly basis. Duke and I? We're nobodies."
"Aye man…" Duke interrupts.
"We're just two faces in a much larger organization composed of hundreds of us. We're expendable."
Toon Link maintains a look of discontent momentarily. He looks down to his left, showing a hint of remorse in his face. Willard continues.
"I won't deny that your brother died a heroic death. And I can't deny that without his sacrifice, none of us would be standing here bickering amongst ourselves. I can't thank him enough and my gratitude is eternal. But all he was doing was his job, his responsibility. He made the ultimate choice for his fellow man not because anyone asked him to but because that's the kind of man he was. Link, I'm asking you, let us do ours. Let us help."
Toon Link picks his face up, staring at the two with a hint of hesitation. Duke walks over in front of him, his shadow eclipsing the young boy.
"Link," Duke sincerely says. "I was the one who dragged Willard into this. It's my fault Link's dead."
"Duke…" Willard says reassuringly.
"Shut up Willard. If I wasn't so overzealous, none of this would've happened and the plan would be well underway."
A gust of wind breezes across the meadow they are standing on.
"He gave his life for me. Just let me make this right."
Toon Link looks up to the man who was easily twice his size and then some. The only thing audible between the three of them was an enormous gust of wind passes them, lifting strands of grass and dirt into the air. Toon Link's sigh is lost in translation.