When Mac woke up at the day of the party, he took a warm, long shower. Apple pie served its duty as Mac's breakfast quite well. And finally, the boxer wore something other than his pink jumpsuit and his boxing outfit. Donning jeans, a gray t-shirt and a dark hoodie, the lightweight boxing champion wore more casual clothes for once. After all, the entire ordeal with him being connected to the title "Neon Vigilante" made him self-aware of the clothes he wore. What confused him was how no one minded Mac wearing a pink hoodie in the first place back at New York, and how everyone went bonkers about it at the Smash Brothers world.
Walking out of his dormitory, the lightweight boxing champion led himself to the lobby. From what he heard, Peach's dormitory was located on the second floor of the mansion. His blank expression remained still as he moved up to the second floor through a light flight of stairs.
The boxer found himself looking through a hallway filled with dormitories. He blinked as he read through the nameplates for each dorm, hopeful in reaching Peach without going through some sort of random hellhole generated by someone like Ganondorf. Fate decided to give him a break, and the lightweight boxing champion quickly found the place he looked for.
Knocking on the door, Mac stood still, putting his hands in his hoodie's pockets. Silence prevailed for the first few seconds, but he soon found the door opening for him. A blonde and peachy woman peeked through the small opening between her door and the wall. She then opened the door wider, waving at Mac with a smile.
"Hello, Mister Mac!"
He simply smiled back, bowing his head briefly.
Peach donned the dress Mac always saw her in. So far, the man did not know how she looked like in clothes other than dresses. Thinking it was something pointless to think over about, the lightweight boxing champion discarded the thought, paying more attention on the reason as to why he went upstairs.
"When's the party?" Mac asked.
Whether it was the fact that Mac smiled as he asked a question or he wore different clothes for once, Peach seemed somewhat surprised. She then made a knowing laugh before bowing to him apologetically.
"We're planning on starting around when dinnertime comes. There's still time before it begins, you know!"
The boxer nodded several times.
"Mister Mac," Peach asked with a question of her own, "are you going to go jog outside?"
It was Mac's turn to feel surprised, as he instinctively raised an eyebrow at the question. He then nodded, pointing with a thumb at nothing in particular.
"…Would you like to jog with me?"
Peach blinked.
Mac grinned awkwardly.
The two began to stifle a quiet chorus of laughter. Peach felt pleasantly taken aback at the boxer's offer, while Mac felt baffled on how abrupt and unnatural his invitation felt. He did feel, however, that spending some time with Peach would help soothe his mind. She was a kind and bright person, and that was enough for him to enjoy her company.
"I'd love to!" Peach answered as the two stopped laughing at the hallway.
That day, Little Mac's jog felt lighter than most of his usual jogs. He and Peach shared several conversations, most of them related to Mac's personal experiences at the new world and Peach's thoughts on what the next tournament would be like. Overall, the jog with Peach felt satisfying to Mac.
When Mac came back from the jog and parted ways from Peach for the time being, he confronted someone he did not expect to meet early in the morning.
"'Ey, Mac!" Doc Louis said, a chocolate bar in his hands. "And here I was wondering where you went. Ha ha ha!"
Little Mac smiled as Doc Louis walked up to him. He did not see Doc's face for a particularly lengthy time. There were only a few moments where they briefly shared a few words before doing what they had to do. Little Mac's first battle at Smash Brothers, for example, was one of such circumstances.
"So, Mac baby! I actually got a surprise training method that I brought up just for you. I'm sure you might remember what it is once you see it."
A surprise training method? The words "surprise" and "training" did not seem to go well together, but when Doc Louis mixed them up, Mac felt convinced that Doc brewed up something good. And since Mac's options for training in unique patterns were dwindling, a new method did sound plentifully fitting for his situation.
Doc led Mac to the gymnasium as the coach asked what life at the mansion was like. Little Mac initially felt baffled when he realized he did not know of a certain term that could describe the place and its inhabitants. On one hand, there were good people like Peach, Mario, and Robin. On the other hand, there were psychotically weird people such as Ganondorf, Captain Falcon, and… Robin.
It seemed that Mac had some sort of complex situation involving a recently obsessive tactician.
Now, Captain Falcon was, by no means, a bad person. His violent, yet humorous rivalry with Ganondorf, however, was what made him one of "those people" on Mac's list. Being on Mac's "those people" list was not something to be proud of.
So, Mac told him that mansion was stupidly diverse. Doc sort of understood how the boxer came up with such a response.
When the two arrived at the gymnasium, Mac noticed that a new door was present in the gym. Doc opened it and let Mac enter the apparently new room.
At a first glance, the room was just a smaller version of the main gymnasium. A boxing ring sat still at the center of the room, some training gadgets were placed around the room, and…
A brief sense of nostalgia made Mac blink. Standing on the boxing ring was one of the pink wireframes Master Hand had used for Mac's diagnostic test. More than the fact that the wireframe itself was familiar, old memories of the beginning of his boxing career warmed his heart.
"The Hands and I made a new deal!" Doc said with a grin. "And with that deal, you can practice with these wireframes. They're kind of like those holograms we used back at our old gym, right?"
Mac nodded. Though the design of the room was much cleaner and sophisticated than the gym Mac used for the entirety of his boxing career, everything felt nostalgic. He was not sure if the equipment could keep up with him, but facing something on the boxing ring could surely bring more of his confidence out in the Smash Brothers battles.
"How d'ya like it, Mac? This is some good stuff right here! Reminds me of old times."
The boxer saw himself training on an old boxing ring the longer he stared at the new ring. He saw himself punching and punching, slowly strengthening himself through trials and errors.
Such trials had become all but memories now. Mac had to agree with Doc. The place did remind him of old times… And it made the nostalgic boxer mutter,
"Just like the good times..."
"Come on, son! I'ma watch you pummel up that wireframe like you're trying to make an earthquake. Ah, but if you have anythin' else to check it out, I could wait! Knowing you, it's probably gonna be a quick match, anyway."
Wait? Make Doc wait? What kind of blasphemy did the good man speak of?
With his interest for the new training material piqued, Mac rolled into the ring, slowly taking off his casual clothes. Revealing his boxing attire, the lightweight boxing champion took out his boxing gloves. He tapped the gloves against each other after he put them on. With the gloves snugly enveloping his hands, the boxer looked over at one of the corners of the ring.
A red button labeled "Play" waited for Mac to press it. Without further ado, the boxer punched the button before walking straight up to the Fighting Wireframe.
The Fighting Wireframe cracked its knuckles before taunting Little Mac, making gestures that praised itself. For an artificially programmed entity, the wireframe seemed quite lively. Little Mac glared at the artificial fighter, his boxing gloves raised as he put himself into a state of alert. When the wireframe noticed Mac's prepared posture, it, too, prepared its own fighting stance.
Just like old times, a timer rang, signifying the beginning of the training battle.
"Wireframes don't use special attacks," Doc said at the sidelines. "If you want to train on counter-attacking the contestant's special abilities, you're gonna have to find something else for that boxing ring to replicate those kinds of stuff.
"And remember, those wireframes scale on the intelligence difficulty you scale them to, so make sure to adjust it every time, ya hear?"
Mac nodded swiftly, his eyes locked onto the eyeless wireframe. Glaring back at him with the Smash Brothers logo on its face, the wireframe proceeded to dash towards Mac by sliding up to him with its body lowered. Noticing its attack pose, Mac quickly dodged an uppercut made by the wireframe before punching it five times in the face.
"Ha!" Doc said to himself as he watched Mac back off from the wireframe.
To think that this kid is the same kid who couldn't lift a twenty-pound dumbbell...
Smirking to himself, Doc snorted as he put his hands on his hips, watching the boxer duck, slowly moving to the wireframe's side before attacking the instant moment it turned around.
Delivering a package of three hooks, Mac stepped away from the wireframe before going in to deal a single jab to the fighting machine's gut. He immediately backed away, causing the wire entity to back off in confusion. His gloves raised up to his face again, Mac approached the wireframe with slow steps. Contrary to the patient boxer, the wireframe leapt towards him frantically, leaving itself high up in the air.
A perfect chance.
Pulling his right fist behind him, Mac crouched, gritting his teeth and clenching his muscles. Right before the wireframe activated its attack, the lightweight boxing champion smashed his fist against its chin, successfully Star Punching it away. Much to Mac's surprise, the wireframe did not go that high in the air, but it did stumble across the ring before falling down.
"10!"
"9!"
"8!"
"7!"
"6!"
"5!"
"4-"
On the brighter side, the wireframe did pick itself up, though it did so in an abrupt way. Taking large steps towards Mac, the fighting entity threw a powerful elbow attack at the boxer. Little Mac had dealt with fighters who used things other than their boxing gloves. Thus, the attack did come across as a hugely unpredictable blow. Quickly utilizing his reflexes to his advantage, Mac lightly smacked aside the elbow, diverting its direction before punching the wireframe straight in the face.
As soon as the wireframe recovered from the attack, it wagged a finger at Little Mac before jumping in with a powerful kick.
Kicking in a boxing-styled battle looked funnier than Mac imagined it to be. He still decided to block the attack instead, for as soon as he repelled the kick with a powerful punch, the wireframe tried to back away, taken by surprise. Moving in to deliver a flurry of punches, Mac punched the fighting entity six times with jabs and hooks directed towards Smash Brothers emblem on its face.
The wireframe blocked the sixth punch before cracking its neck and knuckles. With a quick spin, the wireframe threw a roundhouse punch that headed straight for the side of Little Mac's cranium.
Mac kindly Star Punched it right before the entity even attacked, sending the wireframe straight towards the ring ropes and getting tangled up in it. For some reason, the memory of facing Aran Ryan briefly appeared before he heard Doc clapping.
"Well, what did I tell ya! That was way too fast, Mac baby!"
A voice from the boxing ring fittingly added in,
"TKO!"
The boxer eventually left the boxing ring after thanking Doc Louis for convincing the Hands to make the entire room. He wore his casual clothes once more, his boxing attire hidden underneath them.
Little Mac did not forget about the party Peach planned on holding, and since he had enough time to walk up to the woman's dorm, the boxer did not rush over to the place. His trusty little flip-phone helped him keep track of the time. Mac personally had no need for using things such as smartphones, as he rarely ever found himself using phones for anything other than sending messages or receiving calls from Doc Louis. "Smart" devices just made him feel dumber and lazier due to the things they provided, though that probably was not the case for those who enjoyed the technologically advanced gadgets. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he was used to meeting people face-to-face.
Or perhaps he just enjoyed meeting people face-to-face because he boxed so much. After all, the digital era would never be able to completely capture the spiritual excitement of boxing. To move oneself and best everyone around them was easier said than done, after all.
Quietly walking up to Peach's dorm, the boxer wondered if the party's other members had arrived earlier than him. Raising a boxing glove, he was just about to knock on the door before noticing his green hand.
"…"
Mac hastily put his gloves away before knocking on the door.
Unlike the last time he knocked on Peach's door, Peach opened the door quite quickly. She looked a little… sleepy.
Huh, Mac thought. Didn't think she'd look tired. Did the party begin way earlier than I thought it would?
At the sight of Little Mac, the blonde woman perked up, greeting him with a chirpy "Hello!"
"…Did the party start?" Mac asked nervously.
Peach blinked before seeming to comprehend the almost rhetorical question Mac asked.
"It did not start yet, Mister Mac! Though, you may come in if you'd like."
A small nod made Peach open the door wider for the boxer. Walking into the dormitory, Mac felt overwhelmed by the sweet, peachy scent of the place. He was, however, more surprised by the fact that the dormitory felt normal, yet royal. While there were certainly some decorations that laced themselves across the walls, the living room was structured in a similar fashion to Mac's.
The more Mac stared at the living room, the more nervous Peach felt at his dumbstruck look. She quietly poked Mac, causing him to jolt back into reality.
"Where's everyone else?" Mac asked, curious as to why no one would want to stay at such a peaceful room instead of wandering about in the mansion's psychotically random hallways.
"Oh, um," the blonde Peach said, scratching the back of her head as she closed the door. "There's apparently a big battle between Sir Mario and Sir Sonic. They go a long way back, so I'm sure everyone wanted to watch it! I was surprised to hear that it would take two hours, too..."
The woman looked up at Mac, her eyes showing signs of disappointment, as she kindly suggested, "You can go watch the match with everyone else, if you desire to do so, Mister Mac."
The lightweight boxing champion raised an eyebrow, eying the light-pink room before turning to Peach. Apparently, the rivalry between the red plumber and the so-called "Sonic" was a well-known one. While a part of him did want to see how different their rivalry was from the rivalry he shared with Mr. Sandman, Mac had mentally prepared himself in making acquaintances in the mansion.
Also, he did not feel like ditching a generous offer made by a kind-hearted lady. Maybe everyone else was used to diverting their attentions towards random things they personally enjoyed; Mac had yet to feel that way.
Mac's face softened as he made a small grin, shrugging his slightly bulky shoulders.
"Nah," he told Peach as if watching the rival match instead of spending time with a friend of his was stupid.
At this, Peach's eyes brightened. No, they sparkled.
"Then let me prepare the tea!" She said, scurrying past the lightweight boxing champion. Mac silently chuckled at the woman who brightened up in a matter of seconds.
"Is there any chocolate?" Mac asked out loud as she rushed into the kitchen.
"Lots of them!"
Mac knew he was in for a good party.