The sounds of frustrated grunts arose from the large entertainment room, coming from a distressed Fox McCloud from where he sat. As Falco entered the room, he saw the reason why he seemed to be showing such irritation. His friend and leader of Star Fox was sitting there cross-legged, rapidly smashing the buttons of the game controller he was holding. To the vulpine's right was Ness, who was also playing the fighting game alongside Fox.
From the game that ensued on the television in front of them, Falco realized that Fox was pretty much defeated. McCloud proceeded to mash the buttons in a quick manner, hoping that it did something that would knock his opponent in the game back. This, however, amounted to nothing, as the character he was playing on the screen was flung off the stage.
Fox uttered an exasperated sigh upon being defeated at the game he thought he was the best at until Ness joined in. "You have got to be kidding me," he said out of disappointment.
Ness, meanwhile, gave himself a personal round of applause, a delighted grin beaming across his face.
The vulpine picked the controller back up with determination and said, "Alright, kid, you won this time. How about a rematch? This time, though, I'm not gonna go so easy on ya."
"I'd say it looked like you found a powerful opponent, Fox," Falco remarked from where he was standing. "I mean, did you even manage to land one attack?"
Fox grunted despondently and sagged his head. "Yes, Falco, I did," he muttered. "He just performed those combos out of nowhere, though. Not even sure how he did some of those. Ness secretly has to be a champion at this or something."
The blue falcon looked at the television, still left on its victory screen, and asked, "Shouldn't we do some real combat practice instead of playing a simulation of it? The tournament's going to start in a couple days, you know."
His friend shrugged his shoulders and replied, "We've got plenty of time to sharpen up on our fighting skills. Besides, the difference that kind of practice and playing this game is that you can be someone else, practice their moves a bit so you know what to expect during a real fight against them."
Falco cocked his head quizzically. "But you were playing as yourself just now."
"Yeah," McCloud responded, "and that's because I'm naturally the best fighter."
The bird snickered under his breath. "You're not full of yourself," he muttered.
"So, about that tournament comin' up…" Fox started to say as he turned around to look at his avian friend. "Who do they got me going up against on the bracket?"
Falco pondered about it for a quick moment before he recalled who it was. "It looks like it's a tag team battle, with you and me versus Mario and Peach."
The vulpine nodded his head at the information given to him, and something he had been meaning to inquire about suddenly popped back into his head. "You know," he said, "that reminds me about something."
"What's that?" replied Falco.
"How come it seems like Mario gets to be part of all of those cool activities?" Fox asked.
The question seemed like a rather ridiculous one to the falcon, as the answer to it should have been quite clear. "Uh, I don't know if you've been filled in on this, but he's kind of a global phenomenon."
"I know that," McCloud replied. "But it just seems like we don't get to be a part of some of the cool stuff he gets to do all the time."
"We're part of this great group of talented fighters," Falco remarked matter-of-factly. "And we kinda got to save the world a couple of times from absolute destruction, so that's something that I would label as a cool thing."
"You're right about that. But it would just be nice to take part in some of those other activities that he's got to do over the years, you know?" An example of what he meant then came to mind just then. "Take his whole kart-racing thing, for instance. How come we never got an invitation to be a part of that?"
"I don't have an answer for that, Fox," Falco admitted. "Even if we did get to be part of that, I'm not even sure we'd do too well at it. If it were a race involving aircraft, though, I'd be a lot more confident in our ability to win."
Fox continued, "And we never got to participate in that competition between him and Sonic every four years."
"That's a friendly competition between them and some of their other friends," the falcon replied informatively. "That's something between them only."
"Yeah, you're right," the vulpine admitted. After pondering for a few seconds, he inquired, "But what about some of the other crazy sporting things Mario got to do?"
"Like what?" Falco asked, wishing to know what he was talking about.
His friend pulled out his phone and scrolled through some of the things on it before reaching what he wished to mention. "Get a load of this one," he said. "He, Luigi, and Peach were all part of some extreme snowboarding game awhile back. I mean, when would you think the plumber would be out shredding on a slope?"
"Some people have many talents, I guess," the blue-feathered bird responded with a shrug of his shoulders. "Never knew he did that. Was Bowser there as well?"
"Nah, he wasn't there," Fox replied as he shook his head. "Not even sure how that would even be possible for Bowser to do. His fire breathing would be melting all the snow and ruining the fun for everybody."
The somewhat-comical image of Bowser on a snowboard, shooting fireballs at his competition, took formation in the back of Falco's mind. He grinned at the concept for moment before returning his attention to the subject at hand.
"And," the fox carried on, "it also says Mario has some experience with streetball."
"Streetball?" the falcon replied. "As in the game of basketball but on an outdoor court with less stipulations?"
"Exactly." Fox nodded his head.
"Honestly, now that you just mentioned that, some things are starting to make sense to me. I actually saw Mario playing in the basketball court outside the mansion, and I wondered where in the world he learned how to do such a perfect slam dunk."
With a snicker, McCloud responded, "Anybody can put a ball through a basket, though. Pretty sure I can do an even better dunk than he can."
"How, Fox? You've never really done much of that kind of stuff before."
"It's quite easy, really. You know how I launch myself high into air during the battles? Well, I'll use that same approach in order to leap into the air and do the ultimate slam dunk."
"Isn't that kinda cheating by doing that?"
"As far as I know, unless we're on some formal court, there's no rules saying that I'm excluded from doing so."
"Never would've guessed this would actually be the conversation we're having right now," the falcon muttered quietly to himself.
Fox heard footsteps coming towards the room, and he looked over to see Mario walking over, minding his own business. "Speaking of which…" he said to himself. From where he stood, he called out, "Hey, Mario! Before we go against each other in the tournament, I'm challenging you to a slam dunk contest tonight. ?"
Mario simply smiled back in his direction and gave him a quick thumbs-up, walking away and going about his day a moment afterwards.
All Falco could do was shake his head. "Can't believe you challenged him to that."
"You need to stop worrying so much, Falco," Fox replied. "I already told ya that it's nothing but puttin' a ball through a basket."
"But you know the word that this happening is gonna be heard around the others pretty soon," the bird responded.
He was quite right about this, as that is always what occurred the moment something significant came up. The way things spread throughout the mansion was similar to the way gossip spread through a really small town: As soon as one person found something out, everyone else did soon after.
"Then let some of 'em come and watch it go down," remarked his vulpine friend with assurance in his abilities. "They'll probably be amazed to see my other unique talents shine on the court."
Later...
"Well, a couple more people showed up than I was anticipating," Fox muttered, "but that's quite alright."
Just as Falco had told him would happen, a good number of the Smashers gathered near the mansion's outdoor basketball court. He willingly admitted this to himself, as his friend had a great tendency to be correct with every thing that he supposed.
They stood like spectators at an event on either side of the area, watching as Mario came into view on the far end of the court, dribbling a basketball that looked like it was brand new. The plumber had changed out of his traditional outfit before this whole thing started, replacing it with a jersey-like shirt that had the symbol of a Super Mushroom on the front and his name on the back.
Mario started to break out into the speediest run he possibly could, leaping and doing a little flip in the air upon reaching the middle portion of the court. He whooped his signature "Woo-hoo!" as he threw the ball from out of his grasp.
The ball swiftly went through the basket like it was nothing, drawing a fair round of clapping from the Smashers that decided to come out and watch the little contest. He safely touched the ground a moment after this and smiled at the applause, waving to those who were giving it to him right now.
Mario then looked over at Fox and nodded his head, indicating that it was now his turn. The vulpine snickered as he looked at the basketball he was holding, his a more colorful design on it compared to the traditional one that was used before him.
"Showtime," McCloud said to himself confidently.
The fox ran forward as he dribbled the ball against the court at a swift pace. Once he got closer to the basket that was in front of him, he came to a stop. He then proceeded to do the same move that served him well when delivering attacks during battles. He charged up the this move of his before blasting into the air like a rocket taking flight.
While he was airborne, propelled towards the basket, Fox held tightly onto the ball. He successfully made the basket when he slammed it through the net, dangling on the rim of the hoop for a brief moment. He then let go and landed swiftly on his feet, the crowds finding the technique he had just used to be surprisingly impressive. He grinned at the clapping and slowly walked back to where he started.
"That was a-good," Mario remarked, "but wait to you a-see this!"
It was a moment later that the plumber with a talent for this particular sport. As he broke out into a run, Mario dribbled the ball between his legs as he placed one foot in front of the other. Normally those that dribbled in this particular manner did it in a slower fashion, but to him doing it with such swiftness seemed like second nature thanks to some of the experience he possessed.
Everyone remained in a state of complete silence as he did this. Mario then jumped up as high as he did the previous time. Instead of doing the flip that he did before, however, he decided to do a maneuver that was bit different. While he was in the air, he passed the ball from one hand to the other like it was a hot potato. He then proceeded to pass it one time around his back and then back into his hands just in time to place it through the basket.
The end result of this was twice the amount of applause as he had received not even a moment ago. He smiled widely with pride in his performance this time around.
From where he stood on the opposite side of the court, Fox looked over at him with shock, his jaw having nearly dropped to the ground upon watching Mario. He made the art of this whole thing make it look like it was absolutely easy, when in reality there was a lot more to it than he previously assumed.
Note to self: Never underestimate the talents of Mario, Fox thought.
Author's Note: Well, folks, what have we learned today? Mario apparently has some sick skills when he's on the court, that's what. XD
Hey there, readers! I know this story seemed a little bit all over the place, but I hope that you enjoyed it anyway. This originally came to mind during a conversation about all of the games that Mario has been in or has at least had a cameo in, and I knew that I needed to do something with that concept.
Somehow halfway through writing it, however, the whole slam dunk sprouted as some random idea that I just had to incorporate into this. That was inspired by the fact that Mario, Luigi, and Peach were once in an NBA Street game awhile back. I don't know about you, but I thought it was pretty funny to play as them and see them take on the professional players. XD
Anyway, let me know what your thoughts were on this much sillier story of mine. Your feedback is always gladly appreciated, and I do hope that you stick around for some more stories about the Smashers. There's plenty more that I can't wait to share you soon. I also got another story about the Smashers that's in the works, but I will posting that as soon as it's complete and looked over. No hints about what it will be about just yet, so y'all are just gonna have to wait and find out.
'Til next time! :)