Physics Week Day 4: Revenge of the Nerds
Physics Week Day 4, The "Mushroom Kingdom U" Auditorium, Smash Mansion, Early Morning
The boy from Tazmily Village, Lucas, had gained something of a reputation as a scaredy-cat. It wasn't that he was generally fearful. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth Things most boys his age found frightening, spiders, heights, enclosed spaces, didn't even increase his heartrate when tasked with them. After all, he'd spent most of his youth playing with dinosaurs the way that most children played with their house pets. He'd taken down empires darn it! The only fear the boy knew was the fear of change. That's what always did him in. Whether it was seeing Claus die, or Ness being turned into a trophy in the Subspace War, no matter how solvable the problem was, change brought back memories of the deaths of those he loved. When the feeling overcame him, he was brought back to the quivering child he was in those moments.
So, when Bowser stood amongst his children, Wario, Porky, and Piranha Plant, Lucas had to tense every muscle in his body to keep the shakes away. His thinking brain told him things could be worse. He stood alongside Ness, both Pokemon Trainers, and Cuphead. But, it was the change from a four-on-four team battle to a 5-on-5 Squad Strike that activated the primal part of his brain, the part that was leftover from when early humans weren't at the top of the food chain. But judging from the interaction Bowser was having with Otis and Mikey, the two administrative team members that had demanded the change, Bowser wasn't exactly composed either.
"WHY IS THIS MY PROBLEM? THIS IS MY KIDS' FIGHT?" the King's roar serving as the volume for a childlike whine, steam blowing out of his nostrils like a geyser.
"Well, first of all," began Otis, "You stopped Subject Zero from intervening when Wario almost committed vehicular homicide."
"Stitches are wack yo," Roy Koopa droned, his surfer dialect slurred even more by the early morning blues,
"I think you meant to say 'Snitches are wack," jittered Iggy, his body shaking.
"Nuh-uh crackhead," shrieked Larry, " He meant 'snitches get stitches,' something you aren't gangsta enough to understand."
"Oh, like you're some thug Mister I-sleep-with- a-Teddy Sniffit," Bowser Junior snapped.
"Shut up Prince, don't bring Mister Ladykiller into this!" cried Larry
"Heh heh. Snitches sounds like a bad word," giggled Morton to himself.
"Kids, can't you see the adults are talking!?" Bowser roared, reverting to a cold, professional demeanor as he made eye contact with Otis, "You were saying, you mutt?"
"I was saying," growled Otis, shutting up the Koopa contingent, "You assisted with their training and preparation on Day 1. The Administration Team considers the aiding and abetting, so please sleep in the bed you've made."
Bowser growled, "Grr…I guess you're right."
"Seven Stars and they say women are emotional," said Wendy, completely unprompted, not looking up from applying the finishing touches on her makeup, "I'll be filling the Koopaling spot this time."
"Heck yeah! Girl power! Show 'em what feminism is," cheered the King of the Koopas
Wendy rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say, Daddy."
"Alright, so the rules," Mikey yelled, causing all attention to turn to him, " Each team member works as a stock would in a normal Smash match. Whoever has stocks remaining is the winner. Now, decide amongst yourselves what order you'll go in."
Immediately, Lucas' team got into a circular huddle, "Who do you think they'll pick first?" wondered Cuphead in a hushed whisper.
A smirk befell Red's lips, "Wait for it."
There was a second of silence before Wario bellowed, "WHADDYA MEAN HIRED HELP GOES FIRST. WHY I OUGHTA…"
"And there it is," explained Red to the hushed chuckles of his team.
"Alright," said Lucas after the laughter had subsided, "I'll go first if Wario's first."
"Me next, "said Ness, "Something tells me either the plant or Porky will be next, I can handle either of them."
Lucas nodded, "Who's next then?"
"I'll go then. I'll be able to mix it up best if Wendy or Bowser goes next," Red announced to the team.
"Hey! Do you not think I can mix it up?" hissed Green, offended.
Lucas shook his head, finger to his lips, "We need you last. None of them have seen Galar Pokemon before, good for closing the gap if we fall behind."
"Right," whispered Leaf with an understanding nod
Lucas turned away from the huddle, "Um…Otis? We're ready!"
Bowser turned away from his team's huddle, "As are we."
Otis' tail began to wag, "Good, Team Bowser, what is your order of entry?"
"Wario, Piranha Plant, Porky, Wendy, and then me," Bowser said, his chest puffing with pride.
"Okay," quacked Mikey, "Team Lucas, what is your order of entry?"
Lucas nodded, "Me, Ness, Red, Cuphead, and Green,"
Bowser began to rant about Green's inclusion, and how no one had seen her Pokemon yet. As both Otis and Mikey began to talk the grouchy Koopa King down, everything was drowned out by the projected voice of Ness, "Royal hierarchy," Ness said.
Lucas concentrated, projecting his own thoughts to Ness, "What do you mean?"
Lucas always worried that his projected thoughts wouldn't manifest in a voice, despite having done it many times before. The voice of Ness ringing in his head with the clarity of normal spoken word clarified that the communication on his end was a success.
"They're going for a descending order for their hierarchy. They called Wario hired help earlier. What comes next then? The royal pet, Piranha Plant, Porky is more of a libertarian king, not by blood, so he'd be a notch lower than the Koopas. See what I mean?"
Lucas's body tensed. It was difficult to not show the same gestures of understanding, such as nodding, as one would in a verbal conversation. To do so while speaking telepathically would defeat the whole purpose.
"So we shouldn't expect any kind of competent strategy from these idiots?"
Lucas cast a quick glance at Ness. Even though his eyes were fixated on the still-ranting Bowser, he smirked.
"Should we ever?" Ness's voice permeated through Lucas' own thoughts.
"I guess not. I still can't shake the feeling that something bad will happen."
Another quick glance to Ness saw the smirk was gone, his face stone serious,
"I didn't say we shouldn't be careful," Ness snapped, his voice slowly becoming more neutral as he spoke, "Just…that we have the tactical advantage."
'You're right."
The sights and sounds of now faded back into focus just long enough to hear Bowser roar, "And furthermore, you smell funny," to the administration team members, backed up by the giggles of his children.
Otis sighed, "If you're done, we can begin."
The floor beneath them became transparent. Underneath them now, aloft in a cloudy afternoon sky was Mushroom Kingdom U. What the 'U' stood for none of them knew. It was one of the many things the Smashers chalked up to The Hands' clairvoyance. To the naked eye, the stage was an unassuming grassy landscape with mountainous inclines that served as platforms. However, anyone who'd fought on the stage had been screwed over by the computerized visage of Kamek causing the stage to cycle through one of its many transformations.
"Fighter 1, are you ready?" Otis asked.
Both Wario and Lucas nodded, locking eyes from across the auditorium, the cheers of both their teams melding into the background.
"Alright!" Mikey cheered
The screen on the auditorium flared to life, and with that, the boy from Tazmily and the most infamous tycoon of Diamond City disappeared, reappearing on opposite sides of the stage.
Rules: Squad Strike, Tag Team Items: All, Low
Stage: Mushroom Kingdom U
Music: Tough Guy Alert!
3
Lucas felt the power of PK surge through him, light sparking from his fingers as he did so. Telepathic inhibitors aside, Smash was, truthfully, a fun experience for him, a place where he got to cut loose, and he enjoyed the thrill of it all.
2
Wario sneered, Lucas growled. A sadistic smile tugged at Wario's lips for that.
1
Both competitors clenched their fists.
GO!
Wario growled, slowly sauntering across the stage, "So what's it-a gonna be boy?"
"I…I don't follow," Lucas stammered
Wario's grin widened into one that would give the Cheshire Cat a run for its memory. He'd found a crack in Lucas's armor and exploited it. Lucas stood frozen as Wario made the rest of his way across the stage
"Is it a-gonna be like the tournaments, where you eke out a win and lose? Or is it gonna be like during the War, where you ran away to get help like a loser. Or, will you break down and cry like you did when your mother got eaten by dinosaurs, my personal favorite? Either way boy, you're a loser. In fact, the only person who's more of a fuckup is your brother, BECAUSE HE DIED! WAHAHAHA! GETS ME EVERY TIME !"
"SHUT UP!" Lucas cried, leaping into the air.
Channeling his PK power into his foot as he launched forward with a kick. A diamond crest of psychic energy blasted forth, causing the fat biker to wheeze in shock. Through his white-hot anger, Lucas found himself confounded again by the man's stupidity. They had fought before, many times, and yet Lucas' power always seemed to knock the CEO unprepared. Channeling another blast, this time into his outstretched pinky, ring, and middle finger, he caught Wario on the way down. Lucas tumbled through the air, letting his power channel through his entire body. The feeling of Wario's oddly mushy head and bone confirmed to Lucas that he had connected, but he hadn't expected Wario to answer with an uppercut at the same time. Rocked by the sudden jolt, Lucas tumbled backward, landing on his back. In a nanosecond, the smell of diesel fuel and the sound of a revving engine filled his senses. On instinct, the blond scrambled to his feet but was knocked into by Wario's hog of a motorcycle anyway. Parlaying the momentum into a forward jump, Lucas once again became a tumbleweed of PK energy. The blast once again connected with Wario, its energy traveling down the bike, which caused it to explode. Fumbling through the air, Wario was a slow and fast pitch in a game of baseball to Lucas as he pulled out his trusty stick, lining up the shot as the fat man fell, and wacking him full force with it. The stick made an oh so satisfying "Thwack" sound as it connected with the double-digit layers of fat that made up his opponent, sending him spiraling across the stage. Wario tucked and rolled into his fall, landing on his feet. Lucas lazily jumped to the center of the arena, whereas Wario ran full tilt, Shoulder blocking a mid-air Lucas at the ankle, Lucas felt himself tumbling to the earth, only to be grabbed at the ankle and whipped around into some stomach punches but Wario. Hoofing him to the ground, Wario leaped into the air, bearing the full weight of his rotund rear end onto Lucas' chest. As all the wind left Lucas' body, Wario pivoted to a standing position, leering down at the young boy,
"Ya know, when I agreed to help that-a royal family, it wasn't out of any love for 'em. Hate little snots like them, growing up with wealth beyond-a most normal people's imagination-a just because of who their father is. The reason why-a I agreed-a? Is to beat the crap outta you, like ze old times."
Wario picked up Lucas by the throat, unhinging his cartoonish maw and shoving Lucas' neck into it. Chomping down until Lucas went limp, Wario smirked down at him again, "Human-a flesh isn't something I get to partake in often. Luckily, I get that, and I get to beat you up. Two of my top three desires checked off today, the first of which is money, which'll come in spades when I win this a tournament."
"Bring it,"
Wario raised an eyebrow, "What was that boy? I didn't hear you!"
"I. SAID. BRING IT!" screamed Lucas.
Wario chortled, before snarling, "So, you like it too then? Das-a what I like to hear!"
Again, Wario leaped into the air to drive the air Lucas had preciously cultivated since his last encounter with the billionaire's bottom. . This time, however, Lucas was ready, "PK FIRE!" Lucas shouted, crossing his wrists.
The fire erupted from Lucas's fingertips, exploding onto the moon-sized target that was Wario's ass. The billionaire shrieked, scuttling away, patting away the fire. Lucas concentrated, crossing his arms at the wrist once again!
"PK Thunder," shouted the blond boy
Electricity and psychic energy crackling around him, he guided a mace shaped lightning bolt through the air so that it connected with him. He wasn't sure how, but the collision of the PK energy that enveloped him and that from the thunderbolt allowed him to shoot forward like a missile. At least, that's how Ness had taught him. Nonetheless, it was his favorite move to do, and slamming into blowhards like Wario, who had gotten distracted bemoaning the burns on his butt, made it all the sweeter. Like a rocket himself, Wario collided with the blast zone.
WARIO HAS BEEN ELIMINATED: NEXT OPPONENT, PIRANHA PLANT
It seemed like an eternity, but the plant finally appeared, growling like a dog as the clay pot it lived in clanked on the ground. Lucas and the plant circled each other.
"How does it see?" Lucas wondered aloud.
Piranha Plant clamped at the air as if offended by its comment.
The PSI using boy bolted at the plant, jumping into the air. He heard the whistling of someone blowing air and felt something sharp slice at his legs. Lucas spiraled to the ground much like Wario had done earlier. He looked up just in time to see the potted plant was now on its side, extended as far as it could go. Lucas yelped, rearing back just as the carnivore snapped its jaws shut. Lucas scrambled to close the distance. Lucas shot a PK Fire which the plant artfully spun to avoid. Lucas was momentarily struck dumb by the plant's expression.
"Are you…hocking a loogie?" Lucas timidly asked
The Plant smiled at him, his fanged teeth sparkling white.
Again, plant and boy circled each other. Lucas moved to once again, close the distance. The plant spat at Lucas, a noxious purple cloud of poison enveloping the young boy. Lucas cried out as the poison seared his skin, his every inch engulfed by a violent itching and stinging. Through the noxious explosion, Lucas heard Kamek's signature cackle. He felt the mist of Magikoopa sorcery and the floor evaporating under him. Lucas heard the predator shriek of Piranha Plant, the poison's itch stopped, but the gunk was still in Lucas' eyes. Even without sight, Lucas recognized the feeling of an animal's maw around his neck. Lucas flipped his body so the plant was facing down. He flicked the thing with a PK blast. Piranha Plant cried out in pain. Lucas concentrated, hearing the fluttering of wings going closer and closer. Channeling a PK blast into his feet, he heard the plant whimper in pain as he flew to the blast zone. Lucas tossed out a Rope Snake blind. He felt it snag and let the snake snap him to the ledge.
PIRANHA PLANT HAS BEEN ELIMINATED: NEXT OPPONENT, PORKY MINCH.
Lucas wiped the poison from his eyes and scrambling up to the metallic floor of Slide Lift Tower. Immediately Porky's Bed Mecha appeared,
"Hey stupid! It's Porky Time!" screamed the voice of Porky the enormous mech bolting at Lucas. Lucas jumped into the air, but at the arch of the jump over the spider-bed, a red orb enveloped Lucas.
As Lucas cried out in pain, Porky cackled, "Look at that. Little crybaby fought a plant and can't fight anymore! MWAHAHAHA!"
The mech lurched up, sending Lucas to the blast zone.
LUCAS HAS BEEN ELIMINATED: NEXT OPPONENT, NESS!"
Porky's mech continued to hover in the air, a spotlight cast down at the ground, "Ahaahaha. I get to kick both their asses. This peacekeeping crap is worth it after all."
Ness appeared just as a red orb appeared where the spotlight had just been, casting electrical energy down, Ness dodged the blow, and a second one, before the mech came crashing down. Porky jumped attempting to squash Ness, but Ness, once again, rolled out of the way. From nowhere, energy warped into spikes, all of which slashed at Ness, standing as a form of defense from the robot's side.
"RESPECT MAH AUTHORITAH SHRIMP!" howled Porky.
Eventually, the defenses broke, and Ness was sent crashing down.
"MECHAAAAA PORKYS!" shouted Minch.
From nowhere, the black, robotic images of the rotund child appeared. Ness took note of the way the things moved, ambling with no common direction. He lined up the shot with his trusty baseball bat, smacking the robot as it lunged at him. Through the air, the robot flew. The robot exploded on impact, and Porky let out a string of curses in response. Ness fired off six rapid succession PK Fires, complimenting the affair with low kicks to the spider legs. Leaping backward, Ness shouted "PK FLASH!" sending the green amalgamation of energy to explode at just the right moment to send Porky flying. Porky attempted to fly back, but a second, PK Flash sent the obnoxious child to the blast zone.
PORKY HAS BEEN ELIMINATED: NEXT OPPONENT, WENDY.
As Kamek cackled, and the world transformed into Rock-Candy Mines. Wendy appeared onto the battlefield, her bootleg Clown Car already in kart mode. Before Ness could even register it, the kart's wheels were pressed into Ness' head, ramping off behind him. Ness gritted his teeth in pain. As if a gift from the gods above, a Bob-omb landed right in front of him. Ness spun around, putting his body into the throw, as his father had taught him during many, many games of baseball. What Ness didn't notice, however, was the cannonball about to connect with his hands. At least, not until too late. Ness felt the flash of fire and gunpowder pulp splash onto him. Even with his equilibrium doing loop-de-loops as it was, he heard the "DUN" sound associated with grabbing one of the three pieces of the Dragoon, and the 150cc motor of Wendy's clown car speeding towards him.
The boy from Onett took a deep breath. Long ago, Poo had put him through the same training he had once gone through. Deprived of all his senses, his only way to see the world being through his special power. His senses in the physical world faded out, like a TV show fading to black. He could see the air moving in real-time, the inner workings of Wendy's Clown Car. Ness smirked,
"PK FLASH!"
Slowly, the timebomb of energy drifted to its destination, exploding on contact. Ness focused harder. Wendy's sounds, her heartbeat, the zaps of the synapses firing in her brain, had gone up and away, not towards the blast zone…
Ness' eyes shot open to see Wendy about to bring the hurt, a Hammer Bro claw hammer raised above her head. Clasping the striking end above him, blunt instrument inches from his head, Ness smirked. Wendy mirrored his smirk, however, when her clown car appeared in a cartoonish puff of smoke. Before Ness could react, he felt hot embers sting his eyes. Crying out in shocked pain. Ness reared back, batting at his eyes, trying to brush the embers away.
"Heh," boasted Wendy, "Did you not expect me to use my fire breath idiot?"
Before Ness could even think to find his zen again he heard…the sound of windup toy?"
"SHI-"
The Mechakoopa screeched to a halt, whirring like a blender at maximum speed before it exploded. Ness couldn't even react as he was launched into the air. He heard Wendy whoop, then a second later by four hammer blows to his upper body. He shouldn't have expected anything less from the Koopa Princess, but the girl was strong. Ribs, stomach, lungs, all punctured in just a few swift blows. Ness hit the ground. The embers in his eyes finally subsiding, he saw the Koopa Clown Car produce a pincer from its innards, grabbing Ness by the ankle and tossing him off stage.
So much pain, can't think. Can't even find a rebuttal to this tumble to the blast zone. Gone.
NESS IS ELIMINATED, NEXT OPPONENT, RED!
Immediately, Red appeared on a floating metal platform away from the stage, the lights along the sides, presumably the power source, blinking an eerie turquoise.
"Great," huffed Wendy with a time tested dramatic eye-roll, "First the mind-reading kid with his zen mute crap, and now you, the notoriously quiet one."
Red smirked. Kamek appeared, cackling as he began to change the stage back to Acorn Plains.
"What are you waiting for? Do it!" shrieked Wendy with all the bratty hatred of a teenager who got the wrong colored sports car.
Wendy yelped at the loss of a stage. Red's smirk became a Cheshire Cat grim, "Charizard, flare blitz!" he shouted, throwing the Pokeball.
Immediately after the ball opening, and the blast of color that followed next, Charizard came out, a roaring missile of hellfire colliding right with Wendy. When the Koopa royal shook the cobwebs, she saw that Red had knocked her just far enough away to where, even if the stage had appeared, the ledges were all too far away. Red tuned out the brat's curses and cries as she fell to the blast zone, only focused on his Charizard's safe flop onto the stage, which the large winged creature completed successfully.
WENDY IS ELIMINATED, NEXT OPPONENT: BOWSER
"DRAGON!" roared Bowser as he appeared on the battlefield, "You've been stealing my gimmick for years now, and you've always been duckin' me."
"We've just never been on the same side of a brack-" Red muttered, looking down at his shoes.
"SHUT UP ASH KETCHUP! NOBODY'S TALKIN TO YOU!" Bowser's voice boomed as he pointed an accusing claw at the Pokemon Trainer.
"And nobody points a finger at my human, not even you," hissed Charizard.
"Oh, like you aren't a snot-nosed brat to him all the time!" The King of Koopas pouted.
Charizard smirked, "As any good son is to his father,"
"Yeah, I suppose so,"
"Well, how you feel if I insulted your son?"
"Well, the first thing I'd do is kick your ass."
"Do you see where I'm coming from now?"
"Grrrr, shut up! This isn't a mediation! Let's fight!"
"Gladly,"
Bolting towards each other, the Irresistible Force met the Immovable Object claws locking in a test of strength.
"Charizard, break! That shell means he's hard to push around!" shouted Red
"NO!" he bellowed, "I can win!"
Bowser grinned wide through gritting teeth as their muscles creaked trying to gain an advantage, "For once, your master is right! Been Koopa Sumo champion ever since I turned 18!"
"And it wasn't because…" grunted Charizard, his muscles straining once again, "…People were afraid of the temper tantrum that would happen if they didn't…hold back."
A deep, throaty growl emitted from Bowser, his nostrils huffing steam, "You've insulted me for the last time!"
Shifting his weight to the right, he managed to throw the smaller Charizard to the ground. Charizard scrambled to all fours, only to got a brutal dropkick right to his maw. As Charizard splayed out, Bowser leaped into the air, intent on bringing his entire body weight down on him.
"CHARIZARD! FLY INTO SEISMIC TOSS, LIKE WE PRACTICED!"
Just before Bowser hit the ground, Charizard erupted upward from a laying down position into the air. Once he righted himself, he spun into the air, the momentum of which smacked Bowser right in the jaw. With the Koopa King stunned, Charizard clasped his opponent's throat, flying even higher, and plummeting down headfirst. Now it was Bowser's turn to splay out on Mushroom Kingdom U, completely limp.
"ANOTHER ONE!"
Charizard once again grabbed Bowser by the throat, this time raising him to his feet with one hand, and going up again for the Seismic Toss, flying up into the air. On the descent, Bowser's previously closed eyes shot open. Charizard gasped, clenching to react, but Bowser had already shifted the momentum in mid-air, Charizard's back taking the brunt of the impact. Bowser immediately leaped into the air, bringing his weight down as he intended before. Charizard, once again, went limp. The Koopa King turned to Red, a wicked smile on his bruised and broken face, "Ahhh, the ole Flying Slam into the Bowser Bomb. Those karate losers can take their forward punch into a fireball and stuff it, brute force are the only combos you need baby."
Red said nothing, staring ahead with a completely neutral look on his face.
"What, do I gotta insult you too before you get the sense to change out to the baby turtle or the pink flower pansy!"
"Go ahead, just gives us time to recover," Red muttered, a grin now forming
Bowser's eyes went wide, "Time to r-?"
Bowser turned to see Charizard poised to go. A quick "shing" sound could be heard as Charizard erupted into a Flare Blitz. Bowser flew to the blast zone but retreated into his shell, the mysterious mechanics of the Whirling Fortress carrying him to safe ground. Bowser saw Charizard flying for him again, but also a drop of water appear drip down from the top of the arena. Had Charizard or Red seen it too? Charizard clasped him by the throat again, taking him up to the top of the blast zone one more time. Bowser's eyes twinkled with glee.
"Hey dragon dunce?" Bowser gagged.
"What?" roared Charizard.
"It was ice seeing you," he hissed
Bowser reared back, headbutting The Flame Pokemon as hard as he could. Charizard broke his grip, and Bowser was able to drift away just as a giant icicle plummeted down, hitting Charizard square on the head, knocking him to the top of the blast zone.
"Shit, I forgot ab-" bemoaned Red as he and his platform disappeared
Bowser, meanwhile, a devilish grin on his face, plummeted to the stage below.
RED HAS BEEN ELIMINATED: NEXT OPPONENT, CUPHEAD
From seemingly nowhere, a distinguished yet excited voice rang out "THIS IS GONNA BE A REAL HIGHCLASS BOUT!"
Bowser, panting heavily, raised an eyebrow as he got to his feet, "What the shell?" grunted The Koopa King, "Who said that?"
"AND BEGIN!" rang that same voice
Cuphead appeared, firing bullets of light from his finger, and immediately began to charge Bowser. Luckily, the monstrous royal was quick on the draw, retreating into his shell and spinning towards the Inkwell Isle's favorite son. Cuphead saw this coming, however, and leaped to avoid it. Bowser's shell lept into the air, as his head, arms and legs came out of the shell, "Huh," he remarked with a smirk, "You're quick for a shrimp. Let's see how you like being thrown around!"
Cuphead smirked back, "Try me, old man!"
Bowser's face twisted in anger. What began as a low, rumbling growl became a full-on roar as he charged. Cuphead reciprocated, letting his feet slide out from under him a beat before Bowser was in claws reach, the momentum carrying him under Bowser's legs. The shelled beast froze, his brain putting the pieces together. Then he felt the kid's bullets in his shell, something similar to being pelted with firecrackers, complete with a cartoonish pop as each one connected. Bowser felt a combination of white-hot anger and embarrassed resignation a feeling he hadn't felt since Bowser Junior dunked a bucket of water on him when he opened a door via a pulley system. While these kinds of things were the direct result of his parentage in his own house, this kid was just being an asshole, and for that, he'd pay the price.
Bowser whipped around, fangs bared only to see Cuphead firing three boomerang-shaped bursts of energy into existence. Without him even turning around, each of the four bullets whizzed towards Bowser. Jerking his head to the left to avoid the first, and twisting his massive frame to avoid the second and third, the fourth sliced his cheek. The king reared back. He hadn't encountered a fired projectile that sliced him with the cutting power of one of the Smash's many masters of the sword before. Cuphead jumped up, spinning his body in a tumbling motion. Some crackled against his scaly skin, propelling him upward. Bowser felt his body freeze. He had sparred against Samus before and had taken her Screw Attack, and, while there was more pain involved in that, that didn't propel the user up and away like this had, a position all veteran Smashers new was a dangerous, vulnerable place. Bowser heard the pop sound and heard felt himself go up higher. Another, yet higher, another, and another. Bowser roared. Here he was, The King of All Koopas being dribbled like a basketball! He attempted to reach out, grabbing the kid, but as he gripped him, he heard the same pop. Samus could be grabbed out of the Screw Attack eventually, but this was on another level entirely.
Hit again, and again, and again. Kamek had come, changed the stage to something or other, but Cuphead took so much command of the Smash arena, of him, it didn't even matter.
Bowser's vision blurred, his jaw feeling similar in consistency to mashed potatoes, the rest of his body too locked up from the jolts of an electric shock to do anything. The only thing Bowser could do was shake his vision right and watch as Cuphead pointed a stubby, gloved finger in his face, a charged blast not dissimilar to Samus' on the end.
"Roundabout!" happily cried Cuphead.
Pulling the finger back like it was a fired gun, the beam of energy erupted. Twice the size of Ryu's Hadoken blast, it pushed against his entire frame like a slow-moving truck on Toad's Turnpike. Bowser attempted to push against it, but breaking through it's already frighteningly warm outer layer meant busting the thing open and being annihilated by the intensity of a sun. Defeat his only option, Bowser let out one final cry as he was pushed towards the blast zone.
"I'LL REMEMBER THIS!"
GAME!
TEAM LUCAS WINS!
Cuphead appeared back at the Mushroom Kingdom U Auditorium to Otis the dog saying, "An' there won't be no victory screen for Squad Strikes, too many people to account for."
"Oh thank the stars," whined Wario, "I-a hate that crap,"
"You seem to have a ball screaming obscenities at people during your loser's window time," muttered Wendy, who's gaze was firmly affixed to the floor.
"What was that you puffed up piece of…" snarled Wario
"Hey!" squawked Mikey, "One more word out of your smelly ass and you'll be doing Cruel Brawl until tournament's end. Am I clear?"
Wario opened his mouth to protest but was interrupted by Bowser's communicator pinging. He quickly scanned the message, his eyes widening. Bowser held up a hand, palm outstretched to signal that the biker stop, causing shocked expressions from the male Koopalings, "Wario, you don't understand, they have eyes everywhere, the weird skeleton guy just messaged me about my ice pun earlier."
As much as a dog could, Otis grinned triumphantly, "Now do you get it?"
"Yeah," whined Wario,
"Are you gonna behave Wario?"
"Yes sir…" he grumbled, now mirroring Wendy's forlorn gaze.
"Alright, dismissed," said the Duck Hunt Duo in harmony.
Team Bowser skulked out of the room with the Koopalings bickering amongst each other, with the exception of Wendy who was laying into Wario and Porky laying into Wendy in turn. Bowser flipped Team Lucas a middle claw without turning around to look at him, while a whining Piranha Plant following concernedly at Bowser's feet.
"Wow! That was a really great match you guys, and I couldn't have done it without you, so thank you!" said Lucas.
"No problem bud! It felt really good to put my Parry ability to use!" Cuphead said, casting his friend a big thumbs up.
"Yo that was incredible!" balked Ness, who hadn't broken eye contact with Cuphead since he appeared, "You could take this whole tournament with moves like that if you play your cards right!"
"You think so?" asked a now wide-eyed Cuphead
"Yeah. Let's run a few more sessions tomorrow so you can nail down some strategies!"
"Can I join too?" offered Lucas.
"You're always welcome to train with us Lucas," Ness nodded.
"Why wait until tomorrow? I feel like I could run King Dice's whole gauntlet right now!" whooped Cuphead.
"I…um…don't know what that means," muttered Lucas, "But, I'm alright with another session if you guys are!"
"Yeah, it's gonna be nuts if we test it out on a big stage!" agreed Ness.
"Last one to New Pork City is a rotten egg!" Lucas declared.
With that, psychic boys and sentient cups alike bolted to the teleporter. Green, who had been watching the entire exchange, glanced over Red, who hadn't so much as moved from his seat since he was eliminated, "You alright there?" she asked her slumped friend concernedly.
"Yeah, just thinking,"
"About what?"
Red paused, finally making eye contact with her, "I'm beginning to realize that the reason why we're losing matches is because the flow of a Pokemon battle is so different than Smash."
"I'm listening,"
"When we swap Pokemon, whether they get knocked out or we're just switching, there's a ceremony, you return the Pokemon, you have some little quip, you throw the ball out. Watching that little Cuphead guy made clear to me why we've been losing."
Green eyes widened, "His flow,"
"Right," Red nodded, the slightest bit of an excited lilt in his voice, "We do fine with our individual Pokemon, but we need to chain things together with all three."
"I completely agree. Wanna hit up one of the Stadium stages and run a few drills."
Red simply nodded, and the two jogged briskly towards the teleporter for yet another session of training