Round 2: Red vs. Lucas
Swear to the Creators, every time I look to him, he's looking at me,
Quinn Marmaduke looked towards Sans again, who was glaring at him. If the other admin team members, who were knee deep in the production duties of the tournament, noticed Sans' odd behavior, they were ignoring it.
Meanwhile, on the TV in the Smashers' Box, Red displayed a Pokeball in an extended, clenched hand. Lucas manifested PSI sparks at his fingers, a stern expression on his face.
Red and Lucas engaged in friendly chatter via the magic of an edited interview package. Their friendship had been solidified in the Subspace War, their journeys intertwined from beginning to end.
The mere mention of the great war was enough for Quinn to get lost in his own thoughts. The Mii population had learned about the Subspace War near-simultaneously, when Master Hart's work ushered the Miis into the general multiverse. Political discussions had broken out of what the Miis could do to prepare for a war like this, if anything. Quinn was too young to really grasp these concepts at the time, but he remembered gatherings of adults going from jovial to downright macabre whenever it was mentioned.
"Awww, Red didn't ride in on the Charizard!" Torri whined, her disappointment drowning out Cranky's much more sarcastic observation of the same thing.
Quinn shook himself out of his stupor. Momentarily thanking his overactive brain for not tuning him out of the entire match, he watched the introductions intently. Ness' gang cheered for Lucas and Red in equal measure, but Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff joining in for Red meant that Kanto's King got the louder reception.
The video board blurred through the potential stages, landing on Shadow Moses Island. The group that had once cheered gave off excited 'ooohs' of anticipation. Snake growled, muttering into an earpiece. Snapping a glance at her, he saw Isabelle briefly look towards Snake, only to be lambasted for doing so by Incineroar, and she went back to the stoic act she was pulling..
One final handshake and the two disappeared. On the TV broadcast side of things, the screen went black displaying the rules for the bout. Quinn quickly keyed the music selection, "The Man Who Sold the World," by Midge Ure into the notes app on his communicator.
One for the workout playlist, Quinn decided, knowing damn well his workout playlist would be lost to his bevy of other notes and never seen again.
Squirtle was out of the Pokeball first. Lucas rode in on the Mister Saturn Coffee Table. Mills' prerecorded voice counted down. From the top platform, Red glared down at Lucas, his silence colder than the Alaskan wind, but Lucas kept his eyes affixed to a grinning Squirtle.
"GO!" Mills' sharp command made Quinn jump.
Lucas hopped to one of the platforms on the lower level as Squirtle charged. Lucas squatted down, his body shaking with muscle strain, as he allowed a large diamond of PSI energy to erupt into the air above him. Squirtle didn't even break his charge, peppering Lucas with odd dodging headbutts from below.
Lucas went high, Squirtle went low, Quinn observed, That's the only chance I have against a guy like Sans' range. But would he even go high if I went low? What if he goes, like, diagonal or something?
The two training partners had dodged around the other's attacks for some time, but a Tail whip caught the blond unaware, sending him stumbling into one of the guard towers, Squirtle pummeled him while giggling, poor Lucas having no recourse against the infinite loop of slaps and tails hips. An Assist Trophy dropped and Squirtle broke from his advantage, grabbing it and lifting it into the air. A familiar musical tune rang out as Starfy skipped merrily on stage.
Oh no\, Quinn tutted inwardly, Too much reliance on items.
Lucas' cold, angry stare caused Squirtle to bite his lip, leaping desperately to the next item to spawn, a Party Ball. Surf activated the strange item Squirtle the perpetually excited turtle dropping underneath it just as it released its payload. Jets of water shot from the ground as a defensive measure did not intimidate the stoic Lucas, the boy simply grabbing the Pokemon and throwing him up into the air, leaving him prime for Lucas' famous Up-Air. The Pokemon let out a grunt of pain, flirting dangerously close to the Blast Zone, but did not lose a stock.
Quinn took note of Lucas' expression. Not even a hint of frustration, even as Squirtle sneakily grabbed a Beast Ball from mid-air, throwing it right into his chest. The Mii Brawler thought back to the bio he had read on Smash Bros' website as an elementary schooler. Red's contingent's strategy became clear. Grab all the items available. Cameos from Bomberman' Riki, and Vulpix, did not shake Lucas' stoic demeanor. Even having read the bio, Quinn thought, he lacked the imagination to conceptualize what bread that kind of bravery.
Only when Riki deviously altered the knockback and Squirtle wallopped him with an Ore Club, bouncing him off the guard tower behind him, did Lucas spiral into the opposite Blast Zone,
And if that other guard tower hadn't been there, Quinn deduced as the score appeared on screen, They still would have been going!
The screen briefly flashed, indicating that Lucas had two stocks remaining, while Red had all three. Immediately after reappearing on the Revival Platform, Lucas' eyes shifted towards an item in the exact center of the lower level, a Black Hole. Jumping off of the Platform, Lucas' concentration did not break. Quinn winced. He knew what was going to happen before the rest of the onlookers in the Smashers Box processed it. A jet of water pinned Lucas to the left guard tower, allowing Squirtle to sneak in and grab the thing. Red's team must have anticipated Lucas would try to close the gap, because Squirtle cockily tossed the item at his feet. The Black Hole expanded, taking Lucas into its epicenter. A huge smile on its maw, Squirtle picked up an Assist Trophy, holding it high.
"Let the games begin!" shouted the voice of Rodin
And so, the pummeling began. Teeing off on a trapped Lucas, Rodin summoned giant fists. Master Hart had told them that Beyonettas Wicked Weaves were actually a completely separate demon hat she had complete control over, and Quinn surmised it was much the same for his counterpart.
Quinn's eyes darted from Lucas, who, despite taking punches from multiple fists bigger than himself, barely even winced. He eyed Squirtle next, to take his mind off of what Lucas could've possibly had to go through to be that resilient. Squirtle playfully aimed a Steel Lucas.
"No, we wait," growled Red.
Just as the shivers left Quinn's spine, the Black Hole dissipated, and Lucas charged towards them immediately. Three Diver missiles hung in the air rocketing towards Lucas, the sharp explosions only stunning the boy. A fourth rocketed towards him.
"PK MAGNET," shouted Lucas.
An aura surrounded him, causing the missile to heal rather than hurt. Squirtle looked worriedly at Red, who looked equally as stunned. This gave Lucas the opening he needed, simpling grabbing the blue turtle, and using his PSI power to throw the weakened Pokemon into the Blast Zone.
"PAH-HAH!" Green chortled, clutching her sides as the screen flashed to indicate the new score, tied at two stocks, "He seriously forgot about PK Magnet? Yeah, I got this in the bag if he's gonna fumble like that,"
"Jeez Green, that's a little harsh," Ness scoffed, "And your implying Lucas won't win?"
The conversation fizzled briefly as the two turned to watch the action, Ivysaur tanking a PK Starstorm after Lucas retrieved a Smash Ball.
"No offense to Lucas but you just saw it there," Green gestured towards the screen, "Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard are some of the best trained Pokemon I've ever seen."
"And that's a lot, coming from a trainer that's been around the world," interjected Jigglypuff as Lucas was swarmed by bees.
Much to Quinn's annoyance, despite Lucas fighting through the bee stings to pummel Ivysaur with a bevy of PK Fire blasts, and unleashing Grey Fox as an Assist Trophy fell.
"-the Kanto way is old, slow, and honorable," Quinn briefly focused in on the ramblings of Green, "But the rest of the world has moved on."
Lucas went for the Up-Air blast as Ivysaur leaped to avoid the manic sword slashes of Grey Fox, but as he did, a Fake Smash Ball appeared. The world seemed to slow as the Ball broke, a blast of energy sending away both Ivysaur and Lucas. Now it was one sll.
Charizard swooped down from the Revival Platform faster than Lucas' tiny legs could move, the dragon grapping a Pokeball. A Mimikyu appeared, which gained audible shudders from Pikachu and Pichu. Without so much as a prompt from Red, Charizard snatched Lucas, throwing him into the path of the Mimikyu. A shadowy claw slithered out from under the bizarre Pokemon, ensaring Lucas and trapping him beneath his sheet.
"Flare Blitz Party!" Red declared.
"Ain't no party like a Flare Blitz Party because the party doesn't stop making the game unfun to play," Cranky mocked.
"Play lame, win games," shrugged 9-Volt.
Charizard peppered Mimyku with Flare Blitz's faster than anyone in the room could verbalize.
"What happens if you get hit with that huh?" Ness shouted.
Quinn winced. The boy in the red cap was angry, and trying to pass it off like a good natured barb.
If Green had noticed the hostile tone, it didn't phase her.
"You don't think I'd let anyone but Intelleon deal with Charizard do you? I learned my lesson from last time."
"RED WINS!" announced the television, the screen frozen on Red playfully giving Charizard a noogie while Lucas laughed along. The boy from Nowhere was humble, gracious, and jovial, "I think the people wanted to see Red vs. Green, and now I'm happy to watch it with all of you!" Lucas concluded.
Red, on the other hand, glared daggers at the camera, "Green, I'm coming for you, and when I do, I'm gonna show you that what the old song is true, the power of one begins with believing."
When the two came up the tunnel, Green turned her back while the rest of their contingent, Ness, Cuphead, and Elizabeth at the behest of Subject Zero, joined in a group huddle to offer their congratulations. While Quinn briefly thanked the universe that he and Rosalina hadn't had to fight, Cranky transitioned to commercial. Quinn began to meditate. His time was almost here once again..