Wolf dangled off the edge of the fighting stage, his claws digging deeply into the stone of the levitating platform. He snarled with clenched teeth at the fact that he was only a few mess-ups away from being defeated. He had been doing incredibly well throughout the match, having only taken a tiny number of damage. Things changed about halfway through this, however, when his opponent fought back twice as hard, with Wolf barely able to shield himself from the attacks he had been dealt.

As he hung off the edge, his eyes darted over to the scoreboard. Both of their damage percentages were quite high, with his being 110% and his opponent's being 101%. Very rarely did he get defeated, and he had quite a reputation for how flawlessly he fought.

He was not going to let this be the day that he had his behind handed to him by this fighter that he was battling. Nope, he was definitely not going to let that happen.

Kirby came running towards the middle of the stage, where a ray gun had appeared. "Poyo!" he proclaimed as he picked it up.

"Dammit," Wolf growled through clenched teeth. "I'm not losing to this blob."

The gray wolf hoisted himself back onto the stage, ready to face Kirby once again. He darted forward, jumping into the air to avoid the oncoming blast from the ray gun. He landed on the platform that hovered above the main one.

He jumped down from the height and fired his own blaster at his opponent from behind. This was then followed by a jump kick that successfully hit Kirby multiple times. The attack had temporarily pushed him off the stage, and made him drop the ray gun he had collected, but it was not enough to secure a sure victory. Kirby was flung away into the distance for a few seconds, but he managed to fly upward to get himself back over to the edge of the platform.

Wolf flipped in the air once more and got to the higher surface; he would safer for a brief moment here until his rival attempted to knock him off the stage for good. His attention darted back to the humongous scoreboard. Their total damage amounts were off by only one percent.

"This is getting tricky," he said to himself in the heat of the moment.

What was displayed on the screen changed, being replaced by an image of those that were watching him battle. The others, some of them having already participated in earlier battles, could be seen talking with one another. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that some were remarking about how he hadn't been doing well right now.

In the very middle of what the screen showed, a certain yellow dog applauded with more enthusiasm than anybody else that was watching. Though there was no sound coming through the projection, he was able to read Isabelle's lips when she started to say something.

"Go, Wolf!" she appeared to be cheering. "You can do it!"

The lupine grinned slightly, having more determination than he already had. If there was anybody that could provide someone with a needed dash of positivity in an uncertain situation, it was Isabelle. She was pretty much bursting with it at any given time of day, and seeing her applause was all he needed to see. He absolutely hated it when this happened, but it seemed like the others were right: He did have a bit of a crush on her.

Just then, he saw an object drop onto the platform to his left in the corner of his vision. He turned around to see that it was a Super Mushroom. Now was the perfect chance to ensure victory!

He ran forward and jumped to the adjacent platform, just as Kirby was flying upward in an attempt to get it for himself. "Not on my watch," he snarled as he approached the item.

Wolf, upon touching the Super Mushroom, suddenly felt himself growing taller, giving him an advantage. While he was floating in the air, he executed a sudden kick towards Kirby, sending him falling down to the bottom of the stage. The gray wolf quickly dropped down and flung his opponent far away from the stage with one last swipe of his claws. He watched as he disappeared in a flash of light, and celebrated with his signature piercing howl. No need to worry anymore about his winning streak being in jeopardy.

The effects of the mushroom wore off suddenly, and he returned back to his normal size. As he stood there and caught his breath, he knew he had something that he had to do now that the battle was finished. Given his normally bitter demeanor, this wasn't something that he normally he did. Matter of fact, he couldn't recall too many moments in which he did this sort of thing. But for this specific occasion, he would be making an exception.

It was sometime after the fight concluded, and Isabelle was relaxing in one of the comfy chairs that made up the lounge in Smash Mansion. It had just been her occupying the room for awhile now, as most of the commotion was coming from the main hallway, but someone eventually started to walk in.

Closing the sliding door that led to the outside of the mansion, Wolf strolled into the empty lounge, his boots click-clacking against the hard flooring. Upon seeing him walk towards her, Isabelle lifted her back and sat up straight.

"Hi, Wolf," she said a bit hesitantly. She found Wolf to be quite handsome, and she was pretty sure that she was blushing right now.

"Isabelle," Wolf replied. "Just who I wanted to see."

"Y-You need anything?" the dog inquired.

The gray lupine was silent for a brief moment before realizing she had asked him that question. "Oh, nothing," he answered awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "I, uh, came by to, uh..." Wolf cursed himself for his current state of awkwardness. Why does she have to be so damn cute?

"Yes?" Isabelle said.

"I wanted to say..." It was a bit hard to get the words he wanted to say to come out, as it wasn't exactly a phrase that he used on the daily. "Th-Thank you... for cheering me on."

"You're welcome, Wolf." The smile that was pretty much her trademark appeared on her face.

Her smile was clearly contagious, as a small grin started to take form on Wolf's muzzle. "I appreciate it a lot," he replied, now finding the words that he wanted to say to her. "I couldn't have won without your optimism. I-I think your positivity gave me extra strength."

Isabelle's eyes lit up upon hearing this from Wolf. Her words helped her favorite fighter in the tournament achieve victory? Now she was really blushing. "Really?" she asked.

"Yeah," Wolf responded. "You ever hear how positive words have the power to change things?"

The yellow dog shook her head. "No. Never heard about that."

"Well, it's true. Very true." There was a long pause in which the two were completely silent. A few seconds went by, and Wolf finally said, "Well, I guess I'll see you around."

As he walked away and made his way back outside, Isabelle smiled back at him.

Meanwhile, over towards the space that led to the main hall, Bowser and King K. Rool stood silently. The two, unbeknownst to Wolf, had overheard the conversation, including when he was acting all nervous.

"I told you," King K. Rool said, feeling proud of himself at the moment. "I told you he has a total crush on her."

"You were right," Boswer replied

The obese crocodile turned around to who was standing beside him, outstretching a scaly hand with a wide grin. "I believe we had a bet on this matter, King Koopa. You remember the wager, don't you?"

Remembering what he was pertaining to, Bowser rolled his eyes and heavily sighed. "Yes, I remember," he grunted.

Author's Note: Hey there! I thought it would be interesting to start writing something for this fandom, and that's where the idea to write a collection of one-shots came about. There's plenty more where this came from, and I can't wait to share some of them with y'all real soon! :)

Anyway, hope you liked this little story of mine. I'll admit that it wasn't how I wanted it to be, but I hope it was a short and enjoyable read. Thought it would be a good idea to start things off by writing about Wolf and Isabelle, since they're one of my favorite pairings. Might do some more stories about them in the future.

Your feedback, whether good or bad, is gladly appreciated.

'Til next time! :)