Round 1

Duck Hunt Duo vs. Morton of the Koopalings

The image on the screen was that of Otis chasing his tail while Mikey smirked. The image stopped on them both smiling at the camera and now they were curled up in the interview chair.

"I'm Otis," said the bloodhound.

"I'm Mikey" chirped the oddly colored duck.

"And we are…The Duck Hunt Duo!" cheered the duo together.

"This is…an interesting matchup," Nikki began, "Both you and the Koopalings got upset victories in the tournament last time, you guys beat Zelda, and Lemmy beat Palutena. What makes you think you have the advantage over them?"

"Well, I'd say our Zapper power," explained Otis.

"Right, your ability to manifest that reticle," Nikki exposited for the viewers in the stadium.

"And our other stuff too. Don't forget how much havoc we can wreak with a game of kick the can," Mikey snapped.

"The Koopalings have been driven hard by Bowser," Otis explained, "And some may say they have the advantage duo to sheer raw tenacity, but they don't have the sheer chaos that we do. Don't count us out."

"Who're you looking forward to fighting?"

"Banjo-Kazooie personally," Otis blurted.

"Hey, I don't want to fight my future wife!" Mikey quacked.

"Well, I think we can agree," growled Otis, "That Ganondorf deserves a knock on the noggin for taking us out last time,"

"Yeah, for sure," the duck nodded.

"That's all guys, thanks," concluded Nikki.

Next, the Koopaling's appeared on screen, stacked in a pyramid atop each other's shoulders in Bowser Junior's clown car, with the prince atop the hoard, hands heroically on hips.

As a montage of their tournament highlights played, a disclaimer appeared

This interview has been edited for time.

"And now Morton…" came the obviously edited clip of Nikki. Who're you looking forward to fighting?"

"Huh huh, I wanna fight DK because he's big like me."

The camera panned out from the grey Koopa, showing the reactions of the other heirs to the throne. Larry, Iggy, Lemmy, and Ludwig were giggling into their hands, whereas Junior and Wendy looked annoyed. The only one reacting was Roy, who had a prideful grin on his face.

"Riveting jackass," Wendy sneered, "You'd better pull through if we ever need a big dumb brute."

"Huh huh, Morton smash," grinned the big lug, nodding curtly.

The interview cut then and there, Cranky snickering as he eeked out, "Clearly the brain trust of that family."

"Let's be nice now. I mean, you're not wrong, but you didn't have to say it," 9-Volt jokingly announced, "Oracle, the floor is yours."

"Dad just texted," Futaba began, "Apparently he remembers playing Duck Hunt in a converted bowling alley. So, if you get his seal of approval, I have to vote for ya,"

"Fair enough," 9-Volt nodded, "Now, let's throw it down to entrances."

The lights of the arena went out. When they came back, a patch of overgrown grass was in the platform's center. Otis popped out of it, Mikey on his back, snickering playfully, much to the approval of the roaring crowd. High energy rock music played as the duo trotted around the arena, goofily posing for fans.

"This is a remix of the Duck Hunt theme we used last tournament and…" 9-Volt began.

"That sucked, but this rock music may be even worse," groaned Cranky.

Suddenly, foreboding drums of war played over the speakers, Otis crouched into a fighting stance, its rear up in the air. Mikey hissed and spread his wings threateningly.

"Here he comes," warned Cranky.

Zooming out of the opposite tunnel, his finger pointed at the duo, Morton screeched to a halt in front of them, childishly giggling the entire time. Otis inched closer, growling. Mills appeared between the two, using his long arms to separate them.

"And now," Mills began, once the three had backed off, "The following contest is a Round 1 Match of the Super Smash Bros Ultimate Tournament! The winner will face Ken in Round 2. Now, introducing first, in the corner to my left, They come to us from the Duck Hunt Universe, now residing in the Animal Crossing Universe, they are the Boss of Bark, and the Quicksilver of Quack, they are Otis and Mikey, the Duck Hunt Duo!"

Again, Otis snickered to the cheers of the crowd, while Mikey bashfully waved a wing.

"Introducing in the corner to my right," Mills continued once the crowd settled, "He comes to us from the Mario Universe, representing the Koopalings, he is The Enforcer, he is MORTON KOOPA JUNIOR!"

Polite applause and forced cheers were immediately drowned out by boos. This didn't seem to affect Morton, who simply flexed his biceps in the Duo's direction, a cocky grin on his face.

"And now, the coin toss," announced Mills, "If Morton wins the coin toss, the stage will be Isle Delfino, gentlemen…call i-"

"HEY!" Morton suddenly bellowed, "BOWSER JUNIOR PICK THE STAGE! MORTON NOT INCLUDED!"

Meanwhile, all non-Koopa Kingdom eyes were on Bowser Junior in the Smashers' Box, some snickering, "What? I'm the team captain!" protested the Koopa prince, "Besides, he can't even count his own claws, much less strategize like me."

"My boy is right!" shouted Bowser, "Read the contract nerds, Junior is the captain."

The crowd murmured in disapproval, turning back to the big screen.

In the interim, Mills had been whispering to Otis and Mikey, the duo seemingly shocked and confused, Suddenly, Morton picked up Mills by the hips, spinning him around to face him, "DOGGY AND DUCKY PICK STAGE!" roared Morton.

"Alright," said Mills, a hint of human fear in the automaton's voice, "Stage of Duck Hunt, two stocks, items medium. S-smashers, are you ready?"

"Yeah! Good robot!" Morton cooed, finally setting Mills down.

Otis and Mikey nodded to each other, turning their attention to Morton, growling and hissing respectively.

With that, the Smashers were warped away, the big screen flared to life with the image of an overgrown field on a sunny day.

Stage: Duck Hunt

Rules: 2-stocks, Items Medium

Music: Famicom Medley

3

Much like in their entrance, Otis appeared from a patch of tall grass, giggling to himself, while Mikey stood poised to fight.

2

Morton flew his Koopa Clown Car onto the stage, sticking his tongue out at the camera as he did.

1

Both fighters assumed ready positions.

GO!

Morton reared his Clown Car up, waving the wrecking ball hidden in its undercarriage around wildly, "Huh huh, Doggy and Ducky 'fraid of big metal ba-"

Mikey hissed, jabbing his beak into Morton's eye. The grey Koopa squealed, activating his shield, blocking Mikey's second attempt.

"DUCKY HURT MORTON!" he bellowed, "MORTON USE DRILL!"

Otis and Mikey stepped backward, watching Morton propel his car into the air, chanting, "Drill, drill, drill!"

"Is he…really gonna telegraph his attacks like this all fight?" inquired Mikey.

"Yeah…" sighed Otis, "Honestly thought he'd be more distracted by me and your family in the background."

And so, just as Morton came careening down with his drill, Otis casually stepped back, the drill supplanting itself in the ground.

"Ugh, drill no work," moaned Morton, "Fine, Morton be tricky,"

With fits of laughter telegraphing each movement, Morton began to jump over them again and again, while Otis and Mikey watched bemused. Even a peck from Mikey to the back of his head didn't shake Morton's resolve. Only being grabbed by Otis' maw and mule kicked into the air seemed to shake him.

"NOT EVEN TRICKS WORK!" Morton wailed, flailing in the air before setting his paws back on the controls.

The duo braced themselves for some indication of the next attack, but it didn't come. The wrecking ball conked the duo on the head in one mighty blow, and a fork protruded from the front of the Clown Car, jabbing Otis in the nose.

"Huh huh," cheered a proud Morton, "When Morton no talk, Doggy and Ducky can't tell what Morton do."

"And they chose him why?" moaned Cranky as The Duck Hunt Duo backflipped into the air, right into a spawning mushroom.

Immediately, the duo went into action. A giant, rusted can of Hogan's Alley Baked Beans, and a giant facsimile of Cortez, their poncho-wearing compadre, shooting a single revolver shot weren't enough to shake Morton's concentration. Bolting forward and jabbing them with the Clown Car's fork weapon, the dunce was now eerily quiet, a horrifying nothing behind his eyes. Otis was quicker on the draw though, grabbing Morton and mule kicking him up again. As Morton impacted with the lone tree on stage, the all-too-familiar popping of a capsule was heard. Now in the tree was a Stop Watch, which Morton barely managed to grab with his stubby arms through the pain. The sunny rural atmosphere gave way to a dark purple vortex, and Morton's existence seemed to slow down. At that moment an Ore Club appeared in the middle of the arena. All Mikey had to do was quack and point for Otis to see it out of the corner of his eye, grabbing the duplicate of the ancient weapon and winding up a strike just as they returned to normal size.

"Is…is Morton gonna do anything?" 9-Volt pondered as the brute slowly fell through the air.

"The boy's a dim bulb on normal speed," Cranky laughed, "Seeing him made even slower is truly terrifying."

The second the bewitching effect of the Stop Watch ended, the wheels popped out of the bottom of the clown car. Somehow driving in the air, the machine sped into the Duck Hunt Duo, knocking the Ore Club out of Otis' paws. With one scaled paw, Morton scooped up the grey bludgeoning weapon. With the other, he activated the Wrecking Ball, the steel oval sending the canine meandering off stage for the first time. Morton tossed the Ore Club at Otis, but the dexterous dog clasped it between two paws. Growling, adrenaline pumping, he chucked the weapon back to Morton, hoping to cream him with it, but Morton caught it in his teeth as he frantically manned the controls of his Clown Car, chuckling as he did.

"Why'd you do that?" squealed Mikey.

"I DON'T KNOW!" barked Otis.

The opposing factions nearly collided mid-jump, Otis, and Mikey now on solid ground, the Koopa Clown Car teetering near the edge of the stage. Morton wound up the legendary Ore Club. A clay pigeon and an explosive can of beans were left insignificant in the maelstrom of wind that followed, assaulting the Duo as it raged towards them. Otis took flight, hoping to dodge it all, but a second swing of the Ore Club meant a tornado nipped at Otis' feet. Duck and dog were spent backward into the tree, atop one of its feeble branches. Otis shook himself, seeing that a Pokeball had appeared in practically the same place that the Stop Watch had earlier. Almost on reflex, Otis gripped the ball, casting it down. A metallic bug emerged from the blast of light, its pincers primed for war.

"Scizor!" nodded the armored Pokemon.

"DUCKY AND DOGGY CHEAT!" cried Morton.

The Koopa Clown Car bouncing as Morton pummeled the machine's insides with hammer fists as he drove only made Otis and Mikey exchange knowing grins. They'd seen Scizor in action plenty of times. Its ilk loved nothing more than to hunt prey and shred it to pieces. Morton's ill-fated attempt to bridge the gap only made him easy prey. Sure enough, the Pokemon cleaved at the Koopa with such a nonchalance that it sent a shiver up both of the Duo's spines. A barrel had appeared, Scizor's mindless clawing knocking it into Morton, laying on just a pinch more hurt before the thing flew away.

"Look at Otis bolting for Morton, he smells blood!" screamed Cranky.

"Or steak!" quipped 9-Volt.

Jumping into the air, the Duo cartwheeled into Morton, bouncing on his head. Otis yipped as he felt nothing but empty air beneath them. He had jumped into it with too much momentum, and now they were open. Luckily, Mikey picked him up by the tail, huffing, and puffing as they both lumbered through the air, clinging desperately onto the ledge.

But a wrecking ball to Otis' head knocked them into the blast zone.

Meanwhile, the background visage of Otis laughed, as, in that particular exchange, none of the virtual ducks had been hunted.

"Doggy laugh, yet Morton hit doggy with wrecking ball? Is doggy sadist?" Morton remarked to no one in particular.

This prompted some snickers in the Smashers Box, its crux be Wendy demanding, "Who the hell taught him that?" of the other Koopalings.

"What kind of brother would I be if I didn't expand the big lug's vocabulary from time to time?" purred Ludwig.

Duck Hunt: 1

Morton: 2

Immediately after the revival platform appeared, Otis ran to the edge of the stage. With an indignant growl, Morton followed, The battered general jumped into the air. With a flashy smile, Otis jumped hire, Mikey gliding down the dog's back and pecking their foe into the blast zone.

"Oooh, our first textbook meteor smash!" 9-Volt declared.

"And I'll bet you there'll be plenty more where that came from," Cranky added.

Duck Hunt: 1

Morton: 1

Morton roared, barrelling off of the revival platform. The angry little general had managed to connect with a wrecking ball, but Otis simply scurried away. Leaping around the center ring as Morton exasperatedly tried to catch him, levying all of the tracks they had at their disposal. Cans and clay disks pelted the brutish Koopa, but it was a well-timed jump over the visage of Tex, the leader of the Wild Gunman gang, that that theory unraveled. Clocking them again and again with the wrecking ball, Morton giggled. A pincer grabbed the dog by the neck., throwing it, and the duck perched on its shoulders, into the grass across the stage. At that moment, a Smash Ball appeared. Morton saw it first, leaping into the air, Otis followed after, but the sound of a wind-up toy distracted him.

BOOM!

Otis yelped, fire and plastic assaulting his eyes. The dog yipped in pain, instinctively heading back for the tree. Together, the two pawed at Otis' tearing eyes, trying to remove the ember from them.

But it was too late, Morton had the power now.

Transforming into Shadow Mario, he drew an 'X' across the stage. The Shadow Mario Cross was easy enough to avoid if you knew the simple pattern, but, if the Koopalings had you trapped, you were done.

Unfortunately, the Duck Hunt Duo was in the latter predicament.

The animals bounced helplessly across the lava that streaked the arena, each interaction with the lava bouncing them like a basketball. Being tethered back and forth by the two crossbeams of the 'X' left them open for Morton to knock them up with a mighty hammer swing to the top blast zone.

GAME!

On the Smash Mansion Courtyard, Morton stood pridefully next to his Koopa Clown Car, his hands dramatically placed on his hips, as the splash screen once again declared the result.

THE KOOPALINGS WIN!

The Duck Hunt Duo meanwhile, clapped exuberantly on the losers' screen. The entire screen became theirs, and Rita approached them.

"Guys, what happened out there?" asked the Rhythm Haven correspondent.

"We messed up a few times," squawked Mikey, "And that slippery little bastard capitalized,"

"Yeah," Otis nodded solemnly, "It happened to Palutena last tournament as well. I would warn Ken not to underestimate 'em but I think he's got it."

"Alright. Mister Zero, back to you,"

"Alright," Mister Zero began, "I'm here with-"

"Morton win!" screamed Morton.

"H-how do you feel about…"

"MORTON WIN! YAHOO!" screamed the Koopa, bounding up the tunnel.

Morton burst through the tunnel doors, to the usual applause, but ignored all of it, bounding over to where the Koopalings sat. Roy and Bowser Junior tackled Morton into a hug. The other Koopaling Boys applauded politely, while Wendy sat, arms crossed, her lips puckered in disgust.

"Morton, you didn't two-stock the Duo."

"Aw c'mon Wendy," Bowser cooed, "Be nice to your brother,"

"This insolence is unbelievable! I need to be pampered aboard the Koopa Kingdom ship as soon as this zoo lets out."

"Sure honey, but..." Bowser began but was interrupted by Bowser Junior.

"If I recall correctly," smirked the heir apparent, making sure to glance over at Otis, Mikey, and Ken, all of whom had stopped their conversation to listen to his, "Weren't you the one lost on our behalf last time?"

Wendy blushed, furious, "Well I..."

Bowser Junior was full-on beaming now, "That's what I thought. Ludwig, "

"Yes my brother?" came the haughty voice from the composer.

"So I think martial arts are a lot like studying music, so I think you'd be most apt for the next round. Study all the tape you can,"

"Yes my liege," Ludwig bowed.

"I think you'll lose," blurted Iggy.

"You'll do your best to be quiet," sneered Ludwig.

"It seems that our brave new world has become less educated, judging by you lot," snapped Lemmy.

"You shut up too!" Larry snapped back.

"This doesn't involve you dude," cooly remarked Roy.

As the children began to argue, Bowser wiped a single tear from his eye with a gloved hand, "That's my boy, that little tactician."

Suddenly, the beeping of the randomizer echoed throughout the room. The crowd beneath them cheered. Mario smiled, surmising that the lack of randomness took some of the excitement out as the match was decided. Mario's love for unpredictability immediately faded.

"Ah shit," Mario said, "Wario and Snake, you're up."

"WAHAHAHA" bellowed Wario, "Get to show you losers how it's done!" he cackled, pointing an accusatory finger at each member of the Wah-ffice.

Meanwhile, Snake wordlessly marched to the front.

"Wario, you are to proceed down Tunnel A," ROB droaned, " While Snake is designated Tunnel B,"

"Geez, you've been quiet, what was up?" asked Sans.

"Getting Sora, Donald, and Goofy to vacate seats which did not belong to them took my attention away, as I had to coordinate the security effort. I do apologize." ROB explained.

Wario zoomed down the tunnel on his hog of a bike, while Snake simply shook his head, sneaking down the opposite tunnel.