Chapter Sixteen:

Smash Roster Entry Denied


-No less than a month ago-

'You know, Waluigi? If you really wanna be in Smash Brothers, you should just try! I believe in you!'

He let his mind replay the conversation again, hearing Boopkins' words as they echoed in his subconsciousness, he never forgot the day of the tennis tryouts and when they sat down for ice cream afterwards. It had been days since then, but for him, even as he stood in front of Nintendo Headquarters in Mushroom City, it didn't feel too long ago.

Waluigi knew Boopkins wasn't the only one who mentioned the idea of him being in Smash Brothers, a lot of fans had been asking and begging for him to be in Smash for years. Even Waluigi himself had been hopeful he would be in it someday, but maybe it could become a reality today.

'Alright now.' He thought, 'You know what to do, there's no turning back. Today, the world shall see the Wario Brothers together in Smash and it's time to shine. No matter what it takes, no matter what they say, I will and I should be in Super Smash Bros as a fighter no matter how popular I am and they will accept me.'

"Waluigi time!" The Wah-Man declared, he then laughed and walked into Nintendo's HQ, ready to take his place in Smash history as a Smasher. It wouldn't be that hard, all he had to do was talk to Master Hand, come up with a special fighter move and, boom, he'd be in Smash.

Waluigi made his way towards the door and pushed through it, entering the main lobby of the building just as a couple orange Inklings walked by. The Wah-Man noticed a purple Inkling boy reading a Nintendo Force magazine, chattering in Inkish, and the squid looked up, waving politely to Waluigi. Waluigi waved back and walked on as Captain Olimar and a few red Pikmin came by.

"Is there something we can do for you today, Waluigi-San?" A Japanese receptionist asked.

"Yeah, I'd like to see Master Hand." Waluigi replied.

"The Super Smash Bros development team is on the upper floor, 4th floor." The man told him.

"Thank you."

Waluigi entered the elevator and tapped the 4 button, the doors closed, and the elevator ascended to the lanky Italian's destination.

On the fourth floor, the Smash Bros development room was busy as Tellytubbies and other Nintendo staff members scrambled at their computers, debugging and programming parts of the new game they were developing as Master Hand oversaw their progress.

"Come on, WORK FASTER!" Master Hand thundered, "I WANT SMASH ULTIMATE TO BE FLAWLESS!"

"Hey, you! Floating hand! Yeah, I'm talkin' to you!"

"Huh, what?" Master Hand turned, seeing Waluigi standing behind him.

"Oh, it's just you..." The sentient gloved hand rolled his unseen eyes in slight annoyance, "The assist fighter meeting is over there!"

Master Hand gestured to a corner of the room where Waluigi saw a couple of recognizable faces. There was Knuckles the Echidna, guardian of the Master Emerald. Then there was Callie of the Squid Sisters, granddaughter of Captain Cuttlefish, holding a bottle of bourbon. And then, there was Bomberman. The group of assist fighters sat together, feeling uneasy or sad.

"Now, go away!" Master Hand told Waluigi, "We're very busy here!"

That made Waluigi angry. He screamed and screamed, unaware that his anger was unlocking something deep within him, a mysterious lifechanging power, one that had been somewhere deep inside him since he was born and this power was near on-par with the powers that superhuman beings possessed.

A computer suddenly sparked in a red Tellytubby's face, knocking her over, and Master Hand shrieked as the sparks hit him. "IT BURNS!" He screamed, "AH, I AM ON FIRE! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!"

"WALUIGI IS NOT HAVING THIS!" Waluigi screamed, "STOP IGNORING ME!"

"Okay, okay, FINE!" Master Hand shouted, "We'll talk... AND WHO SAID YOU COULD STOP WORKING! GET BACK TO WORK! YOU WANT SMASH ULTIMATE TO BE A BUGGY MESS?! WORK HARDER, YOU STUPID TELLYTUBBIES!"

The Tellytubbies, who'd ceased their work activities amidst Waluigi's tantrum and the exploding computer, quickly got back to their job as the other Nintendo staff members did what they could do. Waluigi calmly followed Master Hand out of the room, leaving everyone else be from the staff to the group consisting of Knuckles, Bomberman and Callie, who were both disturbed by Waluigi's fit.

"He'd give Eggman a run for his money in the tantrum business." Knuckles remarked.

"That outburst was near explosive." Bomberman said, "Imagine if he had bombs."

"This bourbon tastes kinda stale." Callie commented, looking at her bottle, "Other than that, I have a dinner meet with Marie and an evening Squid Sisters broadcast in Inkopolis by ten."

In Master Hand's office, which looked near akin to a captain's ship quarters, Waluigi nearly fell from his chair to his knees as he talked with Master Hand, begging to let him into Smash. He couldn't take 'no' for an answer and Waluigi had a feeling that the fans weren't going to be thrilled if they didn't let him be on the Smash roster.

"Please, Master Hand!" Waluigi begged, "I can't be left out anymore! Wario and I are together in Mario Parties, but we're not together in Smash! I beg of you! Give me a chance, as many as you can offer. YOU GOTTA LET ME IN, PLEASE!"

"How many times have you asked me this?" Master Hand told Waluigi with annoyance, "Not only that, but do you know how many times the fans have asked for this and I had to keep telling them? And back to you, you've bugged me in multiple ways, AND I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN THE TIME YOU CAME OUT OF MY BATHTUB TO BEG ME TO LET YOU INTO SMASH!

"We get it already! You want to be in Smash, the fans want you to be in Smash! But we have our every reason why we've said 'no'. You aren't Smasher material like Wario, Mario and the others, Waluigi! Look, if I were to put you into Smash and finally promoted you from assist fighter to a fighter roster material, what would your special move even be, huh?"

'Good question.' Waluigi thought.

His mind began to bubble with many thoughts as he processed Master Hand's question. If he was going to be in Smash Bros, what would his special move even be?

Waluigi let himself think about it. It had to be a good one, just good enough to get him that recognition in Smash that he deserved. His brain gears churned and then, it clicked into his mind. It sounded so perfect, who could refuse that brilliant idea?

No one could ever anticipate Wah-Taco Bombs and Super Waluigi Taco Missile. Waluigi was into tacos and had a taco stand, he also had a special ability where he could be turned into the Waluigi Launcher. Combine all that and it was perfect. If it was shot down, then at least Waluigi came up with something somewhat special.

"Wah!" He exclaimed, clicking his finger.

"Saying 'wah' is not a special move, Waluigi." Master Hand told him, cutting Waluigi short even before he could express his idea.

'C'mon, you haven't heard my idea yet.' Waluigi thought as he screamed with frustration.

"Every fighter has something unique about them that they can use." Master Hand said firmly, "The Mario Brothers all have special moves of their own, Princess Peach has her special umbrella and peach-related skills, Wario has his... special explosive powers, and Bowser is... very strong. You, on the other hand, are not unique and neither are you special."

With tears in his eyes, Waluigi stood and walked towards the door, leaving Master Hand's office. He'd once again been denied a place in the greatest fighting game series in the world and right when he had an idea, but Master Hand had rebuked and turned him down without hearing his ideas.

He ignored the giant floating hand remarking it would be great if he yelled at the workers on the way out, he didn't respond, all Waluigi could do was walk out of Nintendo Headquarters in sorrow as anger welled within his heart. And within his sorrowful soul, as anger boiled, a spark flickered and was followed with a few more as a beast began to awaken...