Round 5
Red vs Quinn
Bout 3
Smashers' Box
Ryu sighed. Television was entirely too noisy.
A picture-in-picture commercial showed Ken, Quinn, Red, and Green in their respective Healing Rooms on one side. On the other, a commercial for an ARMS and WVBA crossover event, The Ultimate Rumble played, co-main evented by Street Fighter's Balrog versus Little Mac and Dudley vs Tekken's Steve Fox. As if that wasn't enough, a ticker scroll displayed the scores of multiple sports taking place concurrently.
"Hm," said Chun-Li, "Torri's Splatfest team is in the lead."
"She's on Team Witches, correct?"
"No, Ghosts."
Ryu frowned, "Forgive me, I have not been paying attention."
The two martial artists found themselves in silence.
"You're worried about Quinn aren't you?" Chun-Li asked
"Yes," Ryu nodded, "His item trickery netted him that win, but that may not work in this bout."
"I believe in Quinn, much like I've spent all these years believing in you."
Ryu's face softened just as Mills Frames voice proclaimed the next stage.
"We will be immediately heading to the next bout. building "The first stage is Big Blue, but the second is a mystery."
With that, Quinn and Red were teleported out of their Healing Rooms.
Stage:Big Blue (Melee)/?
Rules: Best of 3, 3-stock, items high
Music: F-Zero Medley/?
3
Quinn appeared atop the Falcon Fly, striking an exaggerated karate stance before snapping into his usual one.
2
Red silently tossed a Pokeball on the other side of the Flyer, revealing Ivysaur.
1
Quinn closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling as slow as he could to calm his nerves..
GO!
Quinn bolted forward, landing a flying kick just as Ivysaur's vines gripped him. The kick connected, but Ivysaur stood firm, immediately heaving him off the Falcon Flyer.
"Ivysaur looks reluctant to follow-up," Cranky observed.
The unsure Pokemon jumped off the Flyer, beating Quinn over the head with vines as they both fell. Unfortunately, neither landed on the racing hovercrafts below, being jutted back into the air upon impact with the race track.
"And after that risky maneuver," narrated 9-Volt, "We're back where we started, atop the Flyer!"
Both Smashers scrambled to their feet. Quinn somehow managing to catch Ivysaur's vines as they snapped towards him. Yanking the thick plant life closer brought the Pokemon within grappling range.
"SUPLEX!" Quinn cried.
With that, they plummeted down, landing atop a purple racing craft. Ivysaur rolled to the hood of the car connected to it. Ivysaur immediately sprung into action, catching Quinn off guard with a mid-air volley of spinning leaves. As Quinn processed that, he was in the grip of Ivysaur's vines once again.
Quinn sighed audibly as a Black Hole tumbled down the parade of calls, landing nearer to Ivysaur than to him. Quinn jumped on instinct, believing that he could get to Ivysaur before he threw it. Unfortunately, the old amphibian's reflexes were sharper than Quinn had imagined, and he found himself in the center of an activated Black Hole. The embarrassment that came with the folly was bad, but the whipping of vines was worse.
"And Quinn's damage begins the upward climb," Cranky shouted dramatically, "What will happen next?"
As soon as the Black Hole disappeared, Quinn found himself blinded by a flash of light, and Charizard staring down at him. The ornery lizard slashed at him with his claws, the sheer impact of the blow sending him underneath the cars, allowing him to avoid Flare Blitz.
"Uncharacteristic miss for Charizard," said 9-Volt.
As Charizard carefully navigated the distance between itself and Quinn, Quinn navigated the platforms that had flown in above them, an Assist Trophy at the top. Quinn unveiled the Assist Trophy to…nothing.
"Dawn of the Final Day!" 9-Volt cried.
The bewitched Moon which had once threatened Termina hurtled towards them, Squirtle representing the Pokemon Team now as it scurried towards the other side of the track, relatively unharmed.
"And Squirtle falls between the cars!" Cranky shouted.
Quinn's disappointment quickly turned to delight as Squirtle was bounced between the track and the underside of a golden hover car, Red's team's damage throttling upward just as his has done earlier. A jump in the track saw Red hurriedly change from Squirtle to Ivysaur, an attempt to use Vine Whipe to latch on to the flying cars yielding nothing but air as Ivysaur limply fell to the bottom Blast Zone!
Red: 2
Quinn 3
"See, this is why moving stages are a crock!" Cranky yelled.
9-Volt laughed, "Squirtle shouldn't have tripped then. I hate to say it, but git gud."
A Smash Ball appeared, and unfortunately for Quinn, Charizard's mighty wings carried him faster than Quinn's legs ever could. With simply a few claw swipes, Charizard gained his Final Smash. Quinn could only brace himself as his orange opponent whipped around, a smug look on its maw.
"TAKE THAT!" Red commanded, "TRIPLE FINISH!"
The combined forces of Fire Blast, Hydro Pump, and Solar Beam pummeled Quinn the final push of power sending him rocketing to the Blast Zone!
Red: 2
Quinn: 2
Mii and Pokemon immediately went nose to nose, Just as Quinn channeled his chi to block a headbutt from Charizard, and walloping Charizard with a fist to the mush in return, the world went white.
NEW STAGE: MAGICANT
Music: Magicant
The flurry of wing attacks, nor Charizard grabbing a Super Scope as soon as it spawned could deter Quinn's smile.
Just gotta wait for the Flying Man confidently proclaimed his inner voice.
More smacks of wings, a Super Scope Blast. Still, Quinn's smile remained.
"This'll wipe that smile of your face," Red said, "FLARE BLITZ!"
Charizard zoomed towards him, body alight with flame…
And Quinn caught him, his body flashing white rapidly from channeling chi.
"WHAT?" exclaimed both commentators.
Charizard spun against Quinn's extended hands. His metal gloves metaled into his hand. His skin burned. Quinn wanted to cry, but he kept his teeth gritted, clenching his searing fists against Charizard's scaly skin. Slowly, Quinn lifted Charizard vertical, the relentless Pokemon still spinning in a Flare Blitz.
"SU-PLEX!" roared Quinn through the pain.
He stepped backward, sending them both down to the Blast Zone.
Red: 1
Quinn: 1
Squirtle and Quinn stood atop their respective Blast Zone. Quinn saw that the Healing Plant had restored his hands. Squirtle's wide eyes snapped between Quinn and Red, awaiting an order from his slack-jawwed trainer.
"WHUH, WHUH," sputtered 9-Volt, nearly drowned out by Smash Stadium, which cheered in unison, "CAN YOU EVEN DO THAT?"
"APPARENTLY YOU CAN," Cranky sputtered back, equally confused.
In the confusion two things, spawned onto Magicant, A Flying Man stood atop the rightmost platform, while an Assist Trophy plopped onto the middle platform.
"GET THE FLYING MAN SQUIRTLE!" cried Red.
Squirtle nodded jetting off for the Flying Man, meanwhile Quinn got the Assist Trophy. The Flying Man was quick, leaping half of the stage to kick Quinn in the face, but his smile remained, as Vincent dutifully set up his easel.
A quickly drawn bust of a head replaced Squirtle. Quinn ducked the Flying Man's kick, scurrying towards Squirtle.
"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!" yelled Quinn.
Quinn unleashed pouches as hard and fast as he could. The damage multiplied with Vincent's painting, so the damage on the confused turtle spiraled up. A final kick sent Squirtle plummeting towards the right Blast Zone!
Quinn soon found himself in the Smash Mansion courtyard, still punching rapidly. Extending his fist one last time, the realization set in just as the results screen did
GAME! QUINN WINS!
Next, he found himself in front of Rita from Rhythm Haven. Hastily, he grabbed the mic.
"Nah," Quinn wheezed, "We ain't doing winner and loser interviews. Bump that, get Red in here."
As if by his command, Red and his Pokemon trio appeared. Quinn extended his free hand.
"I barely won that one," Quinn panted, "You're a champion for a reason dude, don't ever forget that."
Quinn extended his free hand. Red extended his, the two clamping hands.
"Same for you," said Red. Good luck out there."
And with that, the two headed up the tunnel.