Round 1

Kirby vs. Fox

Kirby's match graphic, him waving to no one in particular, got its individual spotlight, along with some tournament highlights, including him holding up the Brawl championship belt. Now, he bounced happily in the interview chair.

"Smash historians have been looking forward to a rematch between you and Fox since Brawl. Are you excited?" asked Nikki.

"Yeah! I like Fox. He's nice. And his lasers taste like strawberry!" Kirby chirped.

"O…kay. Anyone you're looking forward to fighting?"

"I'll take on anyone. Smash is fun!"

"Simple enough, thanks for your time."

Kirby floated away without a word.

Now, Fox's graphic appeared, along with the usual tournament highlights. Fox sat in the interview chair, arms crossed.

"Kirby seemed excited about a rematch between the two of you, do you share that same sentiment."

"Yeah," Fox nodded, expression and posture unchanged, "I underestimated Kirby in Brawl, despite training with him since the beginning, and as a result, was a stepping stone to him becoming champion. As much as I don't enjoy thinking about the inevitable, a win over Kirby would be the sole highlight of this thing for me."

"The…inevitable?" Nikki paused.

Fox hung his head, "Having to fight Krystal. Being able to fight me after breaking my heart would be icing on the cake for her."

"So I guess I'll skip the looking forward to fighting question,"

The disgraced captain nodded, "That would be best, yes."

"Alright," Nikki said through gritted teeth, "Cranky, Volt, back to you."

"Alright to you as well Nikki," 9-Volt, now live from the commentary desk, said, "Futaba?"

"POYO!" shouted Futaba, so loudly that she clipped the mic, "He's got all the mobility in the air, all of it. Plus he's a cute lil squishy!"

"Cute lil squishy, bah," Cranky growled, the camera back on the commentary team, "This Generation Z language, if you can call it that, makes me sick."

"That's your prerogative old man," snapped 9-Volt.

"Old man? Why I oughta…"

"You are old that's a fact," 9-Volt began to rant, breathing in, "You know what? Forget it. Entrances, now."

A bouncy, happy piece of music played, and Kirby crash landed atop a warp star in the middle of the arena.

"Poyo, poyo, poyo, poyo!" the crowd cheered near unanimously.

Kirby lifted an arm in the air, "Poyo!" Kirby agreed, sounding unsure.

"Do they even know what they're saying?" snapped Cranky.

"No! It's like meowing at a cat and the cat meowing back. But that's not important! What is is that Kirby has once again come out to "Planet Popstar" the self-proclaimed national anthem of the planet by King Dedede, first heard in The Crystal Shards!"

Kirby's entrance music faded out. An EDM version of the Star Fox theme played. As it began, an Arwing flew overhead, the floor beneath the cockpit giving way, allowing Fox to flawlessly dive through the sky and land in the middle of the arena.

"And Fox is dropping into the main theme of Star Fox Assault. Underrated game in my opinion." 9-Volt explained.

"Never been a fan of those spacies personally…"

"Because of the Super FX Chip?" 9-Volt interrupted dryly.

"Because of the Super FX Chip!" Cranky parroted, "Donkey Kong Country had PC tier graphics and we didn't need no fancy chips. And what good did it do the game? Polygons so sharp and jagged you could open a freakin' letter with them?"

"We've heard it all before."

"And again, I ask, what did it good did it do the game? C-Tier franchise used like a labrat for whatever goofball gimmicks the men upstairs can invent."

"Oh thank the Seven Stars Mills is here please throw it down."

"The following contest," began Mills, "Is a Round 1 Match in the Super Smash Brothers Ultimate tournament! The winner will face Dark Samus in Round 2! Introducing first, he comes to us from the Kirby Universe. He is the Champion of Brawl, he is the Star of the Show, he is KIRBY!"

To near-universal cheers, Kirby cartwheeled to his left, pausing to wave at the crowd, flouncing back into position.

"And now, introducing in the corner to my right. He comes to us from the Star Fox Universe. He is the leader of the Star Fox Squadron, he is FOX!"

The crowd mostly cheered the saluting vulpine, but a smattering of boos and chants for Krystal could be heard.

"HA!" howled the blue vixen from the Smashers Box, "Some denizens of this city might not be so stupid after all."

"And they're probably mysteriously wealthy too." snapped Sans to the snickers of Travis and Dante

"What?"

"What?" Sans snapped back at Krystal, shrugging.

Meanwhile, back on the main stage, Mills had explained the usual rigamarole. If Kirby won the coin toss, the stage would be Dreamland 64, but if Fox one, the stage would be Corneria. Kirby placed his wager in the ritual, and won The pink blob flounced around, cheering about how it had gone just as he and Meta-Knight practiced. Mills explained the rules, which had been so ground into the brains of the audience that they chanted along. 2-stocks, items medium. Both Smashers accepted the task ahead, and both were teleported to arguably Smash's most famous stage, Dreamland 64, the rules appearing on the big screen as the stage was readed.

Stage: Dreamland 64

Rules: 2-Stock, items medium

Music: Dreamland 64

The screen flared to the sunny green Dreamland 64.

3

Kirby crashed a Warp Star, just as he had in his entrance.

2

Fox ejected out of an Arwing, also mirroring his entrance.

1

"Some real creative people we have at the helm of this organization don't we?" Cranky Kong snarked as both competitors readied themselves.

"Will you stop?" groaned 9-Volt.

GO!

Kirby went low, Fox went high. Fox briefly batted away the immediate intrusive musing he had, why Kirby would deny himself his greatest advantage, and went to meet him, twisting his body as he fell, grinding into Kirby's indescribably putty-like body as he leaped away, Fox followed, but Kirby had transformed into a pink brick, and was falling fast, Fox ducked underneath the structure of which they both stood, the leftmost platform of the triangle, Almost as soon as he collided with the platform, Kirby broke his transformation, Fox closed the gap with a jump, but Kirby was ready, batting him away with a well placed dropkick, sending him colliding face first with the grassy earth of the main structure. As Fox shook himself from double vision, he saw that Kirby had transformed again, this time into a Thwomp. This time, Fox jumped to the platform, grabbing Kirby out of the transformation, and hoofing the lightweight into the air, following that up with a volley of lasers and a spinning kick up into Kirby's face.

"And Fox with the lightning fast volleys he's known for!" 9-Volt shouted.

"Speakin' of fast," Cranky added, "He managed to grab a Blue Shell just as it spawned."

Sure enough, Fox tossed the most dreaded weapon on the Mario Kart circuit into the air, the spikey former home of a Koopa Troopa hovering forebodingly above the pink puffball, his attempts to get away interrupted by an unending flurry of kicks. Eventually, the shell upturned, careening spikes-first into Kirby, the explosion sending him rocketing away from the stage. Kirby floated to the ledge, grabbing onto it. Fox growled, jumping down to meet the puffball, but Kirby let go at the last second. When he was in range, Kirby walloped Fox with a kick. The vulpine looked up, seeing nothing but the underside of Dreamland 64. Letting a single curse escape him, Fox fell to the blast zone.

Kirby: 2

Fox: 1

As Krystal and Wolf hooted and high fived in the Smashers' Box, Cranky announced on the TV "And at a mere 16 percent Fox takes a KO, Super FX chip these…"

"Cranky, this is a family show!" snapped 9-Volt to the laughter of most of the Smashers' Box.

With all his might, Fox met Kirby down on the main platform and kicked the Dreamlander as hard as he could, the visitor from another world floating defiantly back to stage, responding with a flurry of kicks of his own. At that moment, a Smash Ball appeared. The item's mere presence awoke Fox's adrenaline, Fox dodged the next few flurries of kicks, barrelling into the Smash Ball with a Fire Fox maneuver. Even being punished for that recklessness, taking a Piledriver, a technique Kirby had inherited from years of inhaling and consuming grappler enemies, from nearly the top platform, was not enough to deter McCloud, firing his own flurry of kicks defiantly at Kirby. Jumping so that the Ball was just above him, twisting to press his feet into it, the power enveloped into him. Kirby's already wide eyes widened even further, as Fox thrusted his fingers into the blob, sending him flying up into the air.

"It's go time," Fox declared as he himself disappeared

Much like Wolf's simulation, Fox flew alongside the Androssian War incarnation of his team, only this was the fight against Andross' Asteroid Crusher. In the pilot seat, unable to escape, Fox reckoned, was Kirby.

"Star Fox, fire at will!" Fox commanded.

With that, one pair of blue hyper lasers and three pairs of green twin lasers fired into the weak point of the ship, causing it to explode.

The VR simulation ended, Kirby was sent flying, Fox casually grabbing a piece of the Daybreaker as it happened.

Kirby: 1

Fox: 1

"Yay! It's race time!" Kirby cheered as he appeared on the Revival Platform.

Fox followed Kirby's gaze. A piece of the Dragoon had fallen to the earth, and Kirby was hellbent on getting it. The vulpine smirked, fangs bared as his foe flounced over to one third of the racing craft, picking it up.

If I time it just right, reasoned Fox, picking up another shimmering piece of the daybreak.

A cold sweat formulated on Fox's brow as the second piece of the Dragoon appeared, Kirby picking it up. Immediately, the final pieces of both the Dragoon and Daybreaker appeared, Fox bolted to it, withholding the oh-so-tempting urge to grab it until Kirby grabbed his prize. Simultaneously, the Smashers acquired their final pieces, their prizes activated. Fox readied the golden gun. Having seen the machine fly, it always flew in straight from the rest. Fox readied, his trigger finger a breadeath away from pulling.

Like clockwork, Kirby zoomed down. Fox fired, the laser of holy light clipping the Dragoon's left wing. With a yelp of shock, the flying machine flipped sideways, sending Kirby tumbling into the Daybreaker's armemance. With a final burst, Kirby was sent flying into the Blast Zone.

"WOW!" 9-Volt screamed, "TALK ABOUT SHARPSHOOTING!"

"Not so impressive when you have unlimited draw distance," grumbled, "In myy day, sometimes your bullets inexplicably disappeared, and we liked it!"

GAME!

Fox appeared in the Courtyard, spinning his gun on his trigger finger and holstering it.

"MISHUN COMPREE!" Fox cried, as the splash screen played for the viewing audience declared his victory.

FOX WINS

Kirby, who had been clapping in a small window on screen was the star of the broadcast now, Rita going up to interview him.

"In a head to head battle of one hit KO weapon, you unfortunately came out the loser."

"Fox tricked me," grumbled Kirby, suddenly brightening, "But it was a good trick! I hope he tricks everyone else and wins!"

Now, Mister Zero had the microphone up to Fox's maw, "An impressive display of marksmanship nets you the victory. Hopefully you can keep that up against Dark Samus.

"Yeah," Fox grunted, nodding confidently, "Unpredictable as it may be, it's mainly a projectile fighter, something that's in my wheelhouse. I think if I can pick up a win against Kirby, I like my chances against everyone else."

Mouthing, 'thank you' to Mister Zero, Fox strode off camera.

"Wow, confident words from the captain of the Star Fox Crew. Cranky, Volt, back to you."

As Cranky and 9-Volt analyzed the match that had just occurred, both fighters entered the Smashers Box. Falco was immediately ready for Fox, the two clasping hands in an aggressive handshake.

"Hit 'em with the ole Mishun Compree huh?" Falco laughed.

"If you weren't gonna, somebody has to."

"Foolishness," growled Krystal, "I thought that was foolishness, but I encouraged it like a good girlfriend,"

"The harlot has a point," mused Simon, "Why do you do that?"

"I'd watch my mouth if I were you," threatened Krystal, "You're a little too close to me in the bracket to afford shooting your mouth off…"

"What can I say?" Falco shrugged, upending the entire brewing argument, "I was feelin' myself in the Melee days and that whole thing kinda stuck."

"Aye. Ritcher, it would be ill-advised to 'feel yourself' as this rogue has."

"Yeah, I'll keep the legacy of the family in mind," confirmed Ritcher, rolling his eyes as he turned his back.

Falco patted Fox on the back just as the randomizer activated, the infamous final cord signalling the next match.

"MEWTWO VERSUS ROY!"

"Yes yes, Tunnel A," Mewtwo grumbled, "No need for such formalities,"

And with that, the Pokemon teleported away.

Roy shrugged, "Whelp, looks like Tunnel B for me then."

"Bye Roy!" chirped Kirby, who had been in a celebratory huddle with the rest of the Dreamland crew and Jigglypuff, "Hopefully you do good like me, except you win!"

"Yes," Marth agreed, "Best of luck Roy!"

"Seconded," mumbled Ike, posture unchanged.

"Thank you lot, I'm feeling confident and I'll do my best," the redhead declared, marching to Tunnel B.