Round 5: Day 7

Red

Smash Mansion

Training Floor

"Mishima Dojo" Stage Room

600

Red had sent the text to Jin as he had walked with Terry the day before.

Yes. 600

That was the former head of Mishima Zaibatsu's reply. And now Red stepped into the room. There, he found Jin practicing forms. Every Smasher who had ventured onto the property had a story of Jin in the middle of some insane workout routine, but Red had never seen him.

"What?" Jin snapped as he entered the room.

Red blinked. He'd caught him staring.

"Sorry," whispered.

This did nothing to deviate Jin from scowling.

"I've already changed the settings to what's considered standard training fare around here."

Jin strode over to the console, pressing the final button. A dojo burning with incense atop a cold mountain took over the room.

"Go Ivysaur!" Red ordered, throwing the Grass Type Pokemon's Pokeball to the floor.

Jin snapped into his stance.

"The music is Antares (Tekken 5)!" the canned announcer bellowed, "3, 2, 1, GO!"

"Alright Ivysaur, we're going to want to keep him far away, so keep him at bay with Razor Leaf!"

"Got it, boss," grunted Ivysaur.

The first bladed leaf Ivysaur launched was kicked back at him, leaving him open for the Mishima-style ten-string combo. An unexpected uppercut vaulted Ivysaur's damage from 51 to 70, a dismissive boot jacking that number up to 80.

"Ivysaur," shouted Red concernedly.

The reptile shot him a cocksure grin, "I've been whooped worse than this boss, I'm fine."

A shoulder barge connected Jin's stomach, Ivysaur vaulting through the air to execute the move. However, just as Ivysaur sprung his vines forth, Jin grabbed them with a free hand.

"C'mon," muttered Jin.

An uppercut sent Ivysaur to the top Blast Zone!

Red: 2

Jin: 3

"We're working from behind, you can do it Charizard!" Red said, throwing the Pokeball to the Revival Platform.

The ornery dragon wasted no time. Launching into Jin with a trio of Tail Whips, followed by Flare Blitz. This smashed the young martial arts master through the wall, but the devil's wings sprouted before Red or Charizard could blink. Jin jetted forward to land on solid ground, jetting forward again into Charizard, tackling him through the opposite wall,

"Oh, that's how you want to do it pretty boy!" Charizard roared, "Keep trying!"

The winged combatants clashed, in the air, slamming into each other as they flapped incrementally higher into the air. Jin's laser shot at The Flame Pokemon, but Charizard channeled his chi.

Red clapped approvingly, "That's the way Charizard! Flare Blitz as many times as you have to!"

And so, the karate master with demonic blood was pushed helplessly towards the Blast Zone, the sheer impact of each Flare Blitz not harming the Kanto Pokedex's sixth Pokemon as it had in the past.

Jin: 2

Red: 2

"Hm, so you've ironed out that chink in your armor," Jin nodded.

Red was helpless to the signature grin that befell his face.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," Red chuckled, "Ivysaur, you know what to do."

In an instant, Charizard had been replaced with Ivysaur. Ivysaur's vines snagged Jin's arms and tied themselves into a knot, rendering Jin's hands handcuffed behind him. Jin found himself in the air, thrown past where the walls of the dojo had once stood.

"Now Squirtle," Red commanded, "Give it all you have!"

With all its might, the tiny turtle kept a relentless spray of water on Jin's winged form as soon as he appeared. So high-pressure was the flow of water, that Jin's wings eventually slumped down, sending the man hurtling towards the Blast Zone.

Red: 2

Jin: 1

"I've seen enough," said Jin as he appeared on the Revival Platform, "Stop code ABZR."

"No contest," the canned announcer stated.

"So, in your professional opinion," Red asked as the room faded to featureless white, "Am I ready?"

An uncharacteristic grin befell Jin, "Oh yeah, you're ready."

Just as Jin began to stride out of the room, Red's communicator rang. Red pressed the button, and the face of a familiar young woman popped up on the hologram
"Hi, this is Brittney of the Johto Elite Four."

Stopping to mentally punch himself for forgetting the girl's name he cleared his throat, "Hey Brittney, how can I help you?'

"I've been asked to relay this message because I had your communicator number. We have a Gym Leader Castle challenger scheduled, and a significant donation has been put towards the Castle's Board of Directors to make sure you and your Smash Trio are a part of it."

Red scoffed, "Who?"

"Nemona Hullot, daughter of one of the board members of Rotumphone Company."

"Will I be paid as well?" Red asked.

"Equal to your Smash Bros purse if you won the next match. Mister Hullot made sure of that."

"We're in," Red said without hesitation.

"Great!" Brittney said, flashing a seasoned professional smile, "The Board will be happy to hear it. We'll be seeing you tomorrow!"

Red waited for Brittney's face to disappear before he sighed.

Just when we thought we were getting a day off, he thought.

Luigi

Smash Mansion

Luigi and Daisy's suite

1230

Both Luigi and Daisy had woken up extremely hungover. In contrast to their usual sync, the couple had two different reactions to being sick. Luigi fell upon an old wife's remedy from New Donk. Lemon, Worcestershire sauce, and a dash of pepper were all anyone ever needed to nurse a hangover.

But Daisy had other ideas.

Despite her tough venire, she was a giant baby when she was sick.

Luigi bit his lips to keep from laughing.

Two attendants, Buckenberry and a Sniffit named Albatross, fanned the royal with palm leaves. Tens of throw pillows propped up her head, an ice pack atop a messy bun of hair.

"Do you mind if I turn on the TV honey?" Luigi asked sweetly.

"Sure," grumbled Daisy.

And so, with a static pop, the TV slowly hummed to life. The first image they saw was Isabelle strutting across a stage similar to the way Daisy had strutted against him.

"And Isabelle wins the Smash City Excel Championship!"

That brought a wide smile to his face.

I'm glad Isabelle's taking advantage of the lifted restrictions, he thought.

Immediately, he flipped to the Smash streaming service. Flipping to the search function, he immediately searched Ganondorf.

"Let's see," Luigi whispered as he scrolled, "Melee, Brawl, Duel…"

He paused on Ultimate.

Ganondorf had his sword here, Luigi thought, No other footage will be relevant.

Sitting up in bed, he watched. From the dominating win over Young Link, to the win over Mewtwo that mainly served as catharsis to the dark warlock, to weathering the storm that was a tactical onslaught by Pit, to besting Zelda at her physical peak.

"Are some habits beginning to form, King Luigi?" asked Buckenberry.

"Please don't call me that," Luigi shivered.

A smug smile formed on the blue Toad's face as he shrugged, "You're betrothed to the queen-to-be, so you are the King in everything but ceremony."

"Hey!" Daisy snapped, "If he doesn't wanna be called that,"

The cocky exterior of the attendant melted away, leaving a stern-looking Toad snapped to attention.

"Apologies Your Grace," Buckenberry said, "I was simply trying to assist King…erm Master Luigi in…"

"I know," Daisy grumbled.

Brushing the ice pack off her head and covering her head with a throw pillow, she grumbled again.

"A fresh ice pack and fully loaded nachos from the cafeteria, Your Grace," proclaimed Albatross, "Right away!"

Discarding his palm leaf, the Sniffit scuttled away.

"He heard that?" Luigi asked as Daisy began to snore next to him.

"He was Daisy's attendant during your little duel for the Beauty Star years back."

Luigi's eyes widened, "But isn't he retired?"

Buckenberry nodded, "He is, but I mentioned Daisy might be hungover this morning and he insisted on coming to help."

"Heh, what a guy," Luigi chuckled.

Buckenberry's classic smirk returned, "You're dodging my question, Master Luigi. Any themes you picked up on watching Ganondorf?"

"Well, Pit's full-on bum rush seemed to work the best long term, and Zelda only managed to eke out a few stocks with some clever item play," Luigi answered instantly.

"And are you prepared?" challenged Buckenberry.

"I mean," Luigi said, quieter with each syllable, "If I'm not prepared now, having trained into peak condition. If I'm not now, I'm never gonna be."

Buckenberry shot him an approving grin just as Albatross entered the room with Daisy's requested items.

"Your ice packs and nachos, Your Grace," beckoned the old man.

Daisy began to nibble at the loaded chips as apprehensively as Luigi had ever seen his fiance eat.

"Geez, you really overdid it. Albatross and Buck will be here, I'm gonna let you rest m'kay?"

"M'kay baby," moaned Daisy, "Love ya,"

"Love you too my little flower," Luigi said.

Sliding off the bed, he bid Daisy's attendants a farewell wave before stepping into the residency hall, locking the door behind him.

Cloud

The skies above Smash City

"Smashcraft KH"

1400

Cloud stepped through the portal. In the middle of the well-furnished main room of the ship, Sora stood, smiling.

"Welcome to our abode!" he said cheerily, "You have what King Mickey requested?"

Cloud rummaged through his trench coat pocket, holding out a diskette, "Yep, the entire database of Smash tournament stages!"

"Great! I'd have been happy to appear on your friend Ken's podcast with Snake free of charge, but King Mickey insisted we get some software in return."

"Understood," Cloud said with a nod, "I'm just glad your world has something similar."

Sora nodded back, "Yeah! Chip and Dale, our two tech guys were both in Disney Afternoon Fight Fest once the worlds got reunited, and got the program for it in exchange for their participation."

"Just deals upon deals eh?" Cloud grinned, "Sounds like our operation too. You wanna show me to the training room?"

"Oh yeah, totally," Sora said exuberantly, "The others should be in the observation deck right now."

With that, Sora gestured to a flight of stairs, the two heading further and further up it. As they passed what was likely the sleeping quarters, Cloud piped in.

"Sorry, I blew our original appointment off,"

Sora offered a warm smile, "It's fine! I'm just sorry Tifa couldn't make it."

Cloud grinned back, "Yeah, she wasn't feeling good after the wing show."

"I can imagine," Sora said, "You guys are beasts."

Cloud offered a nod in return as Sora stopped at the top of the stairwell.

"And we're here!" Sora beckoned dramatically as he pushed open the door.

Cloud stepped into a familiar site, a featureless room with a console in the middle. Unlike the usual Smash training room, however, the observation bleachers were outside of a dome that encased the arena. Donald and Goofy eagerly waved, while King Mickey beckoned them down with words Cloud could not hear.

Cloud extended his hand with the diskette, Sora took the device and inserted it into the console.

"This'll keep us busy for the rest of the tournament!" cheered Sora, "We've had a pretty hard time in sparring matches with the Smashcraft R and Smashcraft FF crews, but this should bridge that gap pretty easily."

"That said," Cloud added, "I'm pretty curious to see the stage that Chip and Dale came up with."

Sora shrugged, "Alright."

The child of destiny pressed the final button. The domed room transformed into a flying platform that glided along pink clouds. A castle peaked over the horizon of a massive waterfall.

"So this is Hollow Bastion?" Cloud said.

"You know your stuff!" said Sora with a smile, "So, are we gonna go on the count of three?"

Both swordsmen assumed their stances.

"Three, two one, GO!" the two counted down together.

As Cloud began to charge, Sora called out "FIRE!"

Cloud dodged the blast of fire that came out of the Keyblade. Sora laughed, charging as well, but unprepared for the speed and ferocity of Cloud's signature Cross Slash, or the charging sword bunt that followed. Cloud raised an eyebrow as Sora made no effort to change his trajectory, sinking further and further towards the Blast Zone.

"Hey kid," called Cloud, "You're gonna lose a stock.

If Sora had heard him, he paid him no mind.

"THUNDER!" he shouted.

Clouds formed, a trio of lightning bolts striking the ground in a row. Only the third hit Cloud, which left him more than available when Sora floated from the Blast Zone to the stage.

"TRIPLE SLASH!" called Cloud

Three sword slashes at the speed of sound rocketed Sora to the Blast Zone. Cloud could only balk in amazement as Sora effortlessly traversed the impossible distance back to the stage

"TAKE THIS!" Sora snapped.

Cloud had seen the Sonic Blade a million times before, but it never ceased to leave him off guard, the boy slamming into him repeatedly. As Cloud fell towards the Blast Zone, Sora followed, a cocky smile on his face.

"CLIMHAZARD!" shouted Cloud.

A cleaving downward blow sent them to the Blast Zone!

Cloud: 2

Sora: 2

"Hey kid," Cloud said as both of them appeared on Revival Platforms, "First rule of Smash. Watch your ass."

Sora nodded, his optimistic smile not faltering for even a second.

"Noted!" he said.

Attempts at starting the Cross Slash were impeded by Sora back-hopping away. Finally, Cloud caught up, completing the move. However, Sora fired back with an immediate barrage of Sonic Blade blows, ending the symphony of pain with a wide slash, sending Cloud off stage once again.

"Check this out!" bragged Sora.

Much as Cloud had done earlier, Sora followed Cloud off stage, rolling in midair as he fell. While this knocked Cloud to the Blast Zone, Sora used Sonic Blade and a spinning maneuver similar to the Link Trio's to land on stage again.

Cloud:1

Sora: 2

"First rule of Smash Cloud," Sora called to the Revival Platform, "Watch your ass."

Cloud rolled his eyes, "Noted. It looks like you've been watching your Link tapes judging by that last thing you did."

Sora laughed as Cloud jumped down from the Revival Platform, "King Mickey made sure we were up to speed before we trained with the Brawlhalla guys, trust in me."

"Did you prepare for this?"

Cloud launched forward, and his signature Cross Slash into Triple Slash combo sent Sora to the Blast Zone.

Cloud:1

Sora: 1

Sora was unusually quiet as he hopped off the Revival Platform. The two charged, clashing swords. Sora managed to break Cloud's guard, slashing at him with a trio of slashes, pointing his Keyblade at him.

"Freeze!" commanded Sora.

As Sora was encased in ice, the background changed. A mural of Roxas shone brightly in a black void. Cloud broke out of the ice, Limit Break was in full effect. Hitting a charged Cross Slash did practically nothing, as Sora once again corrected the course with Sonic Blade. Slashing at Cloud and hopping past the blows the blond sent out in return meant that Cloud's damage was rocketing out of control. A final slash sent him off stage, but a trio of Thunder blasts made sure he went to the Blast Zone!

GAME! SORA WINS!

Cloud found himself standing in the white training room, the dome having lifted.

"Well, I'll be," King Mickey mused, "Sora's beaten the two-time Smash champion."

"That's a little presumptuous isn't it Your Highness?"

"Well," Roxas shrugged, "If he could take Sephiroth out of our world, he can take him out here."

Cloud frowned. He remembered exiting the dimension with Sephiroth, and the next thing he remembered was waking up next to Tifa in bed.

"Well, you remember what they found," Kairi said, "That Cloud and Sephiroth were stuck in limbo, and their friends hunkered down in Traverse Town."

"Yeah, thanks for resetting everything Sora," Cloud said with a nod.

"I couldn't have done it without all of them, but thank you. I'll do it again too, if I have to." Sora said.

"That's good to know," Cloud said, "I just wish I wasn't so thrown off by your magic. I'd like you to remind me how to use it."

"Hey!" Donald screeched, "I'm the mage here!"

"Yeah, I know," Cloud said, a mischievous grin on his face, "I've been told you know Zettaflare, and I want you to teach it to me in between rounds."

"Gawrsh," Goofy gulped, "That's the most powerful fire spell. Real dangerous stuff."

"Yes," Cloud said, "But I can cast Fire 3, which is the equivalent of Sephiroth's Firaga, Zettaflare shouldn't be much harder."

"But that isn't one of your moves...is it?" questioned King Mickey.

Cloud didn't so much as flinch, " Sephiroth is going to come at me with his entire arsenal, rules of Smash be damned. I'm going to the same.."

Riku chuckled, "Now that's what I like to hear."

"Yeah, me too!" said Donald and Goofy together.

"We're burning daylight, let's mosey," Cloud ordered.

Quinn

The skies above Smash City

Comet Observatory

Garden

1800

The quaint metal deck chairs squeaked as Quinn shifted his weight to look around him. They were above the noisy party den of Smashcrafts, as high as they could be in Smash City's infinite sky, the soft purr of the Observatory's engine the only sound.

Another sound broke him out of his trance, Rosalina's footsteps tapping across the pink metal floor. She carried one salad bowl, another salad bowl carried by a quartet of Lumas.

"You said you wanted something lite," Rosalina explained, "So I made the best salad I could out of ingredients I had to hand."

As the Lumas presented him with his food, he saw the plumpest carrots he'd ever seen.

"Are these PikPik carrots?" Quinn asked.

That brought a smile to Rosalina's face, "You've got a culinary eye it seems. Yes, Olimar and I bonded over cooking in the last tournament. But, with the Pikmin business picking up in Smash City, we haven't had the time to do it."

Quinn took a bite of the carrot.

"Mmmm, as thick as the beets in Zangief's stew," Quinn said.

"We ought to invite your training friends up here in celebration of your victory!" Rosalina chirped excitedly.

A jolt of cold went up Quinn's spine, "Rosa, baby, let's not count our chickens before they hatch here."

Rosalina bit her lip, her face flushing from embarrassment, "I apologize. I…I never thought I'd be the one that spoils dinner by talking about training."

That brought a mischievous grin to Rosalina's face.

"What?" asked Quinn nervously.

"You're rubbing off on me Quinn, that's the only explanation," she said.

The two shared a chuckle, quietly munching at their food.

"Speakin' of this place," Quinn said as he swallowed his food, "How do you ever leave it? I'd rather hang out in my mall-sized spaceship than hang out at the Mansion, even if it is five-star hotel grade."

Rosalina's forehead wrinkled as she too swallowed what she had eaten, "Mario's demand. He's superstitious about airships not faring well in combat, so he prefers all of ours stowed."

"Is that why we haven't seen much of the Cap Kingdom?"

Rosalina raised an eyebrow, "How do you know about them?"

"You forget we Miis actually get news of you guys' adventures. The Power Moon fiasco especially! Some people were making plans to celebrate Bowser and Peach's wedding."

Rosalina frowned, her deepest yet, "Ick."

"I know. I never really cared much for celebrity gossip and weddings, but even I knew that wasn't right."

"I suppose that's why you never were a…what's the common slang?" Rosalina pondered.

"Fanboy?" offered Quinn.

Rosalina snapped her fingers, "That's exactly it, thank you!"

Quinn took another bite, chewing and swallowing thoughtfully.

"I'm glad I never came across as a fanboy. The other thing is, Hart, was our teacher, so he had stories of all your very human moments, you know what I mean?"

Rosalina nodded, "I suppose I do."

"But yeah, the Cap Kingdom," Quinn reminded her.

"Oh! Yes!" Rosalina said with a giggle, "It's not that Mario disallowed them airship travel or something, but apparently Bowser's invasion has made a reclusive people even more?"

Quinn nodded, "Yeah, but I'd like to fly in one of their airships soon. The Odyssey always looked like a fun ride."

Rosalina nodded, "That's in the hangar, and I'm sure you can levy a favor or two from Mario."

"I'd like to do something in return for the boss though," Quinn nodded back.

"I'm sure something will come up sooner rather than later. We do have sixteen days in between the end of this round and the next."

"More time for dates!" Quinn decreed.

"More time for training," countered Rosalina.

Again, the two shared a chuckle.

"You really want me to win this tournament don't you?"

Rosalina laughed, "Well Quinn, you already went and died during training you might as well go and win."

"I'm glad you see humor in it now," laughed Quinn.

Rosalina smiled warmly as Quinn took a few more bites of salad.

"As absurd as it is, I understand it now," Rosalina said, "You're going further than anyone else to win, further than Red, further than anyone."

"Cloud's younger than he was when he came, Luigi's in killer shape, and…"

Rosalina giggled, "You know you sound just like him right?"

"Who?"

"Luigi! Daisy was telling me about how he went on practically the exact same rant the other day."

"Good to know I'm not the only one in this deep with anxiety," Quinn sighed.

"Anxious you may be, but you're the bravest one in the remaining field, and the cutest, I must say."

Quinn blushed, "Aw, thank ya."

Finishing up the rest of their dinner, the two sat in silence.

"Rosa?" asked Quinn.

A mischievous glint was visible in Rosalina's visible eye, "Yes?"

"Can I stay up here tonight? Sans and his friends are playing Full Contact Kinasta so the room will be hectic tonight."

"You're welcome in my home anytime dear," said Rosalina.

Before Quinn could blink, Rosalina was in his lap, wrapping him in a hug.

I could get used to this, thought the Mii Fighter, casting an absent-minded glance at the rest of the Observatory.

Sephiroth

Smash Mansion

Roof

2350

Crickets chirped overhead. A rainstorm was coming in. Sephiroth frowned from his perch. He'd have to expedite his usual trip to the lake for laundry. Just as he was lamenting the obstruction in his routine, work boots clattered against the roof.

"There's a rainstorm comin' in big guy," Mario said, "Just thought I'd let ya know."

"I know," Sephiroth growled, without turning to look at him, "That isn't the reason why you're up here."

"Yeah," Mario sighed, "I…I wanted to ask about Wario. You get your payouts?"

"I meant to ask about that before he cut off his and Ganondorf's communications. As annoying as your administrative prattling is, I will get what is due, one way or another."

Again, Mario sighed, "I'm no fan of Wario either, but he's…an easier friend than an enemy."

Sephiroth grinned. He could see Mario tense.

"Does that mean don't make him angry, or don't kill him?"
"Take it how you will," Mario said, mirth returning to his voice.

"Understand that I've killed for a lot less," Sephiroth warned.

"I know," "All I'm saying is Terry's only trying to help, this doesn't necessitate violence."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now begone."

And like that, Mario jumped off the roof, Sephiroth left in his thoughts as the rain came down.