Disclaimer: All assets of the Mario Movie belong to Nintendo and Illumination.
Chapter 12: King Kong
The trio were held in a different room until it was time to face Cranky Kong's son, but instead of planning for his method of attack, all Mario could do was just stare in silence at Peach, who hadn't said a word to him. There was a tinge of guilt that the plumber felt that wouldn't go away, even if he was happy with how things went down. Sure, he got what he wanted and had a better idea of showing how he could be a proper hero without rushing into danger, but it was without her input, and he couldn't let go of that.
There was also Toad, too. He built quite the relationship with him and even gained his trust multiple times from the organism's actions, so why did Mario feel like he betrayed their trust? Well, having the will to die just to get her army wasn't being a hero, it was being a fool, something Toadsworth himself told him about and yet Mario ignored him anyway. Also, he would break the multitude of promises he made to various people. He was glad he even made it this far, but hopefully the bridges between his friends weren't fully burned.
He decided to break the ice. "Guys, I'm sorry. I know what I did was wrong, but I'm sorry."
"I'd say," Toad said, crossing his arms. "I get why, but it still wasn't cool. You could've died back there. Definitely not cool."
"You made a promise." Mario glanced at Peach. "You promised that you would come back. How can you do that when you're dead?! Also, what about your brother? Did you even think of him?"
Mario sighed. "No. I'm such a fool."
"No, you aren't."
"What?"
"You've done so much in so little time. You've done so many amazing things, and we're lucky that we've gotten this far, but do you really think just rushing in without a second thought is gonna solve anything? For example, back at the course. You barely stopped between attempts. You just kept going, hoping something would change, and Toadsworth called you out for that. Now, you attack Cranky Kong's guards, thinking your stubbornness is gonna change his mind. You don't need to prove to me why you care about my people because you do. Your actions sure as heck do speak to themselves. You already have the heart of the hero, and while Cranky Kong was right with the things he pointed out, you can't rush in first. You need to think about the situation and weigh the pros and cons of each solution, and this is speaking from experience. I've been stuck in a never-ending war for the past ten years and there were some things I had to learn on my own. Right now, you're about to face the toughest member of the Kong Army. Think about your moves and plan ahead. Do that, and you'll give yourself an advantage over your opponent."
Mario smiled. Even though she was mad at him, and rightfully so, she truly cared for him, and her advice gave him a glimpse of how much more room there was to grow. He would be lying if he didn't say he was naïve because he was. Charging in was all he ever did, and most of the time, it worked. But now, he had learned more about what it meant to actually be one in the past couple minutes than the rest of his life, and he couldn't let her or everyone else down. Sure, his goal hadn't changed, but he was prepared to tackle this problem with his new mindset. There was a knock on the door.
Funky Kong walked in. "It's time." He glanced at the plumber. "I heard about what you did, and damn, man! You really got some balls under that thin skin of yours! Quite impressive."
"Well, to be honest, I kinda got lucky. He could've killed me if he wanted to."
"Sure, but you managed to change his mind! Not many can actually say that. Well, I'm here to escort you to the Great Ring of Kong for your match. But I will say good luck. You're really gonna need it." As they walked towards the exit, Mario gulped. Was his opponent really this strong? Well, Cranky Kong did love to brag about his army, so this shouldn't come as a surprise, but still. He didn't have a solid plan and weirdly enough, he could feel the pain on his right hand, though he did use an icepack to dull the pain, but this was just a taste of what was to come.
"Hey." He glanced at Peach. "You're gonna be OK. Don't start getting nervous now. I'm sure Cranky Kong's gonna find some way to not make it so one-sided."
"Sure, but I don't have a plan. I don't think I could just whale on him when I lack his physical strength. You saw how I handled those Kongs. They barely budged an inch, and I couldn't take them on."
"Well, there were a lot of Kongs you were facing. You were gonna stumble regardless just because of the sheer numbers. Here, it's just one. It's not gonna be as bad."
"I wouldn't give him false hope, sister," Funky Kong said. "Cranky Kong's son has got some power behind his muscles. He's number one for a reason. I struggle to rise to the top, and he does nothing but trample the competition beneath his feet. That's the truth. Let's not sugarcoat the situation."
"But I'm only trying to lift his spirits."
"It's OK." She glanced at the plumber. "I realized that Bowser might rival his strength. In order to defeat him, I have to grow stronger, which means I have to defeat Cranky Kong's son. I don't have a choice." He really didn't. So much depended on him defeating the son. He didn't doubt Funky Kong's words, but Mario had to face him. He smiled. But he wasn't gonna rush in. No, he had that lesson drilled in his head that he probably couldn't take another bashing, but that was besides the point. He was gonna show this Kong that size didn't matter, and he could beat someone ten times stronger than him through his brain and sheer will. He was gonna do it for Luigi.
Funky Kong shrugged. "Whatever gives you the confidence you need. Just don't say anything if he somehow flops you up like a dirty banana. We're here." Mario gazed at a giant, spherical stone ring that stood before him. It reminded him of the Colosseum, though he hadn't visited it much in his childhood.
"Ah, welcome!" He glanced at Cranky Kong as he jumped off his kart. "I'm glad you arrived, though your name has made it through the ranks of my army and people. They either revere you or think you're one of the dumbest organisms alive, and I can't tell which one's worse. Anyway, this is the Great Ring of Kong where you'll be battling my son. I hope you're ready because you're gonna need every trick up your sleeve to win."
Mario chuckled slightly. "Yeah. Everyone keeps telling me that." He could hear the crowd from inside.
"Let's not keep my people waiting. Peach and her friend, follow me. Mario, you stand outside the door and wait for my cue to enter the ring. That is all."
The group separated with Funky Kong leading him to his destination before beginning to walk away. "Good luck, guy!"
Mario sighed. Yeah. He was gonna need all the luck he could get. "Hello, my fellow Kongs!" came Cranky Kong's voice from the other side of the door, though it was a bit muffled, but the plumber could still hear him. "Welcome to the Great Ring of Kong. This arena was built for those who wanted to challenge others in a battle of skill and might and where our mightiest soldiers train everyday. It was also here where many Kongs challenged the current monarch for the right of the throne. Over the years, many great battles were held here, but today is a bit different. Today, we have a visitor from another kingdom, Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom. She came here to ask for our help in her war against the Darklands, but one doesn't simply hand over such power to others. One must prove they have the right to fight alongside the greatest army in the world! And a challenger we do have. Everyone, give it up for her knight in shining armor: Mario!" That was his cue. As the plumber walked through the door, he was met with many boos from the Kongs, causing the nervousness to return.
"Oh, shut up!" Toad hissed to no avail of silencing the crowd.
"And for his opponent, this Kong is the strongest out of my army and has the right to be called the prince and my son. You know him well. Give it up for-" The doors burst open as a giant Kong wearing a tie with the initials D.K. as he weirdly started to flex his muscles as he laughed precariously, which made Mario scratch his head, but it was enough for the crowd to cheer.
"I'm DK! Donkey Kong!"
Cranky Kong sighed as he rubbed his temples. "Donkey Kong, no! What did I tell you about your stupid showboating?!"
"Ah, come on, Dad!" Donkey Kong said. "This is what they came out here for! Dancing pecs! They love it!"
"But I told you many times not to do that! You're disrespecting the Kong name! Now, enough!" Donkey Kong rolled his eyes. "Alright, let's quiet down so I can get on to explaining the rules. The rules are simple. Knock out your opponent any way you can, and you win, but to make things a bit more interesting, there are Power-ups scattered around. You're welcome, Mario. Now, let the duel commence!"
Mario studied the locations of the question blocks, knowing they housed the Power-ups in them. Obviously, if he was gonna win, then he needed to get those Power-ups, but he would be a fool to assume Donkey Kong didn't know that fact. While Cranky Kong did put them out there to help him, it made things a whole lot harder because Donkey Kong knew where he was gonna go and stop him from gaining access to them. "This is who I have to fight?" His gaze reverted to the Kong. "Someone with barely any meat on their bones? This fight's barely gonna last five seconds."
"I wouldn't get so cheeky just yet," Mario said. "I'm sure you heard the saying 'don't judge a book by its cover.'"
"So? Even if you have help from those dumb Power-ups, you can't hope to match against my might." He began charging at him. "It's time I put you in your place!" Mario gulped a bit. He didn't expect Donkey Kong to make a move so soon, but why would he? He made his goal explicitly clear, but Mario also had a clear goal. Planning his trace of movements ahead of time was how he was gonna get an edge over the Kong, and with how fast he was moving, Mario had to time his jump just right, otherwise Donkey Kong might make use of his huge range of his arms. He waited a bit closer. Closer. Now! He jumped as the Kong whizzed right past him. Mario smirked. If there was another thing that was his best friend, it was physics. Donkey Kong struggled to turn around to grab him before he could get to the block, but he ended up crashing into the wall as Mario grabbed onto the block. Yes. Excellent. He punched it, some sort of yellow and orange flower appearing in front of him.
Was this the Fire Flower Peach mentioned? Well, he didn't have much time to figure it out, so he quickly gobbled it up, but as he did, a barrel crashed into him, causing him to lose the Power-up as he rolled along the rail before Donkey Kong walked out of the wall with another in hand. "I will admit," he said, "You've got brains. Perhaps I underestimated you. But I know your weakness. I do thank Dad for all these Power-ups he has lying around. That just shows where you're gonna go next. I know your every move, so you've just become the most predictable opponent I ever met!" He charged at him once more. Mario growled. There went another option he had. What else could he do? Maybe feinting between directions? Would that work? Well, this Kong was intelligent and strong, but Mario started to run out of options by the minute. Perhaps the best way to proceed was to he put some adequate distance between the two of them. He gasped as the barrel hurled towards his way, meaning he had no choice but to jump. He jumped to the lower levels while avoiding Power-ups, but Donkey Kong proved to be quite the nimble organism as he used his arms to climb the various obstacles as the game of cat and mouse began. "And now you're running away?! Come on and face me like a man already!" As he swung from vine to another, Mario spotted a block from far away, and when he turned around, Donkey Kong was still on his tail. Clearly putting distance between them wasn't an option anymore. The Kong had huge muscles and a body frame Mario could only dream of. That gave him a huge advantage and was why escaping from the Kong was so difficult, but Mario couldn't run forever. He had to make some sort of move now.
As he closed in on the block, he turned around once more. Bad mistake. As Mario faced forward, he was met with a kick to the face from the Kong as he swung from a vine of his own. Mario fell to the lower levels, struggling to slow his momentum, but he grabbed the edge as he was about to fall to the water below. The crowd cheered as he pulled himself up, but he was huffing at the end as Donkey Kong dropped to his level. "What are you gonna do now? There's not a single Power-up within close range. You're gonna have no choice but to take me head-on. Think you can do that with your puny frame? Let's test that out, shall we?!" He charged at the plumber, rolling as Mario jumped, but the Kong slowed himself down and leapt at him. "Oh no you don't!" He grabbed him and threw him across the rail. "You aren't going anywhere!" He rammed into the plumber with his shoulder, sending him flying backwards, before climbing under and grabbing the plumber before he could fall and leaped in the air with a mighty jump then throwing him to the rail. The plumber crashed, rolling once more as he stopped at the edge.
He tried to stand, but Donkey Kong pinned him with his foot. His entire body was on fire for being thrashed around like a doll. This was the power of the greatest soldier of the Jungle Kingdom, and everything people said about him wasn't an exaggeration. He was strong, quick, and intelligent. How in the world was Mario supposed to beat him? He tried basically everything he had on his sleeve. How was he supposed to beat him?! Mario needed to get stronger. He needed to prove he was strong enough to stop Bowser, and yet he couldn't handle an overgrown gorilla. How? How?! "How sad," Donkey Kong said. "And here I was expecting my opponent to bring their A game. I'm the best for a reason, but it seems my expectations were too high, or perhaps you put yourself up too high of a pedestal. You did say don't judge a book by its cover, right? Well, look at you now. You couldn't even back up your own words. You're pathetic. Oh well. At least I'm gonna make this quick, so I thank you for not putting up too much of a fight. Once I win, I'll finally get the respect I deserve from my father. He wouldn't dare look down upon me after I defeat you. So, sleep tight because after I deliver this blow, you're gonna be counting sheep for a while."
As the Kong clenched his fist, Mario gasped. He wasn't out of options after all. Since this battle began, he hadn't spoken much. While it was just a guess, that must've been how all his other opponents were. They would be too scared to say anything just because of how mighty Donkey Kong towered over them, causing immense fear. And to the Kong, this was personal between him and his father, though he didn't need to know the specifics. This information alone was powerful enough that it could be enough to turn the tide in his favor. "I had no idea this was personal." The Kong paused. Good. He just needed to morph with his feelings for a bit just enough to loosen his grip, then the plumber was golden.
"Like that's any of your business," he growled.
"Well, that's why you're trying so hard to beat me, because he thinks you are pathetic."
"I'd shut your mouth if I were you."
"But I can understand how you feel. You aren't-"
"I said 'shut up'!" The Kong screamed as he raised his fist, but his grip loosened ever so slightly, causing the plumber to smile. There. Now was his chance! As Donkey Kong was about to strike him, Mario shoved his foot off and took off like no tomorrow, causing the crowd to erupt in cheers. "Get back here! You don't get to toy with my emotions and get away with it! Get the hell back here!" This time, Mario didn't look back. He jumped towards the first question block that entered his sights and smashed it with no hesitation. A yellow and red acorn popped out of the bottom and rolled along the ground, though he could hear the roar of Donkey Kong as the gorilla slowly closed in. Maybe it was a bad idea to make him mad, but Mario didn't dwell on it too much. He jumped as the Kong tried smashing him and grabbed the acorn before it fell and quickly gorged it as his body transformed into something akin to a flying squirrel with two gray membranes on the side of his arms and a tail, most likely implying its use as a flight Power-up, which could prove useful. "I'm not done with you!" Donkey Kong hurled a barrel at him, but Mario took off, flapping his arms as he soared through the air, a big smile emerging on his face. He glided to the other side. He knew he was like a flying squirrel, but the variety of these Power-ups was quite astonishing, but as amazing as this was, he needed something with more firepower, especially with an angry gorilla tearing through the course with a mad snarl on his face. Mario quickly punched another block, an orange propeller mushroom spinning through the air. He already eyed one last Power-up directly above him and quickly deduced what this one did, so he grabbed and munched on it, jumping as he soared through the air, Donkey Kong missing by inches as he jumped in an attempt to grab him.
Mario flew right past it quicker than he anticipated as he soared higher in the sky, but he could lose the Power-up. He just had to hurt himself in some way, so he did with a bite to the finger, causing a muffled scream, but it was enough to dissipate it as gravity slowly regained control of his body. He exclaimed, "Mamma Mia!" as he went to grab it, his arms reaching out, but he was successful at grabbing it as he pulled himself up. He punched it, a gold bell appearing in front of him. His energy started to dissipate. He couldn't run around forever or else he might not have enough energy to win the duel, so he had to put his trust in this Power-up. He had to trust this would give him the edge he needed. After consuming it, he turned into a cat of sorts. A cat? Well, it was all he had left, so he had to make it count.
"Get down here!" He turned to Donkey Kong. "All you've done in this match is make a mockery of my name, and I hate you for it! I'm freaking Donkey Kong, the strongest soldier in this army and you've done nothing but make me look like a fool! Stop running around like a freaking coward!"
"You think I'm a coward?" Mario jumped from his block. "Far from it. The only reason why I've had to run was because I'm not as strong as you. I literally have no idea what some of these Power-ups do, so I'm literally putting my blind faith into them. I understand what you're trying to do. All your life, you've been trying to prove to everyone that you're the best, but the truth is that everyone looks down upon you. They think you aren't strong enough, so you have to do everything you can to change their minds, including your stubborn father, which I would know. I get why you're angry with me, but I'm doing this so I can save this world and my brother. I'm willing to do anything to save them, so I'm not going to run away anymore. I'm done."
"You swear?" The plumber nodded. "Good. You will pay for tarnishing my name. No more running." He charged at the plumber. "Hit me with everything you've got!" Mario nodded. As the Kong swung his arms at him, Mario darted to the other side in a swift motion. Donkey Kong turned around and tried to whack him again and again, but Mario dodged each blow with his quick strides. He knew cats could be quick, but not this quick. This Power-up managed to boost his speed and reaction time tenfold as he zipped around the Kong as he flailed his arms, his face growing into desperation with each miss. "Stop moving!" Mario ducked under one of his swings and scratched his cheek with his claws.
"Meow," the plumber said, brandishing his claw as he flashed a cheeky smile. Donkey Kong yelled and swung at him, but Mario jumped around the arena, catching the gorilla off guard as he jumped from block to block, hitting him before retreating. His hit-and-run strategy seemed to pay off as the Kong was knocked back with each blow. Donkey Kong climbed underneath the rail and threw more barrels at the plumber, but he dodged each one before catching one and throwing it back at him, knocking the Kong phased. That left him vulnerable to a few more blows until his was on his back. Good. Now, time to end this fight. He jumped from block to block, gaining height before nose-diving towards him at max velocity, his claws stretched as the two crashed through many rails before landing on a series of blocks that surprisingly didn't break from the impact. By the end of it, Mario panted as he gazed at a ruffled and dazed Kong who just huffed. After many minutes of struggling, the Kong was finally out of breath to fight back, meaning this fight was over and Mario was the victor as the crowd cheered his name. He did it. He actually won! Donkey Kong wasn't an easy opponent, but that meant he was ready to take on the beast that was Bowser and save this world.
And now we finally introduced the last main character of this story: Donkey Kong! I absolutely loved Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong in the movie. One thing that did strike as odd to me was the fact that he was Cranky Kong's son when in the games, he's his grandson. I guess that just comes to show that like Toadsworth, they've forgotten the existence of Donkey Kong Jr., who is in actuality Donkey Kong's real father. But I already acknowledged that this is set in a different continuity than the games, so I digress. Anyway, see you next time.