Round 6: Day 6

Luigi

Little Santa Destroy
No More Heroes Motel

1300

"Ya know, when Travis was telling you about what he'd inherited yesterday, I was expecting something a bit more…grand," Daisy said.

Luigi had no words for her, he was expecting something grand. It seemed like a run-down motel wouldn't be worth carrying around the deed for in your pocket. Yet, that's what Travis had presented him last night, and that's what they stood in front of. Luigi suppressed a grin

"Behave," Daisy said sternly as they walked up the stairs.

Luigi's mischievous grin deflated, "What? I just…"

Luigi couldn't possibly explain the absurdity of the situation. The giddiness of which Travis had invited him to this housewarming. He barely kept his hysterics inside when Travis presented him with a restaurant napkin with barely legible scrawling on it, there was no way he could do it now.

"The last will and testament of Joe-Bob Redondo. Everything he built belongs to me," Travis had said.

Luigi knocked on the door, immediately it swung open. Travis stood face to face with him, a shit-eating grin on his face.

"There's the Italian Samurai himself," Travis greeted him merrily, "Glad you could make it."

"We should talk to Mario about making that your nickname, that sounds cool as hell," Daisy said excitedly.

Luigi shook his head, "We should not do that."

"Can't hate on Eternal Understudy," Travis shrugged, "It's a classic,"

Daisy shrugged as Travis beckoned them inside. Sans, Dante, Mai, and several other people Luigi didn't know sat in camping chairs in front of the largest TV Luigi had ever seen. Five of the camping chairs and an old recliner sat empty.

"Guess I should introduce the gang. This is my homie, Bishop."

A scraggly-looking blond waved, "Yo."

"And the warrior clan themselves. Bad Girl," Travis began

"Pleasure to meet ya," a girl in a Lolita outfit said.

"Then we've got Shinobu,"

"It's great to finally meet you," a girl with frizzy hair said with a wave

"And you're Notorious," said Daisy, pointing at a masked man, "I saw you in the Super Battle Royal Slam Jam."

"And I saw you two in the Smash Tournament," cooly responded Notorious.

Daisy could only giggle as Travis continued his introductions.

"The two kids there are NT Kamui and his girl Midori."

Unfortunately, they were too busy making out to pay attention.

"And last but not least we've got my grandson from the future, Native Dancer."

The man in the ornate metal mask simply waved.

"What about us?" Sans insisted, "It's been so many chapters since we've been in the story."

Luigi couldn't help but roll his eyes, "Because we know you, Sans,"

"Eh, I'm just pulling your leg," Sans said, giving his signature shrug.

"So, take a seat kids," Travis said, beckoning the two to two of the empty camping chairs, "Sylvia and the kids should be back with the food soon."

The royal couple did as commanded, Travis flopping into the recliner.

"For now," Travis sighed, cranking a lever on the chair, allowing him to recline his feet, "We're just catching up on the wrestling news."

An impossibly jacked old man sat behind a desk on the TV.

"How's it going everybody, Rave Belcher here and we're gonna spend the next couple of hours talking pro wrestling."

"I've met politicians like this," Daisy whispered to Luigi, "Monotone dude trying not to sound monotone."

Luigi nodded as Rave continued on.

"Here with me is my co-host Ryan Valdez,"

"How's it going everybody?" said a skinny man with a piercing nasally voice, "I think we should start with the biggest news item of the week, the debut of Street Fighter Chun-Li Xiang in IJWPW. Yeah, um, I think the match was good. It's the proper way to debut a big star like Chun-Li."

"She hit one kick and pinned Pepe Ishikawa with a foot on the chest. Way to make one of your top stars look like a geek,"

Luigi snickered. This drew snickers from the rest of the group.

"Weird word to put emphasis on, right?" Bad Girl laughed.

"But, these crossover fights have done great business. Look at the Zangief versus Ken Masters match in CWA from years ago. I thought it was good enough to be rated six stars in the Tokyo Dome for crying out loud."

"Right, but this is Chun-Li," Ryan sneered, "Do you think she's gonna take 16 Knots from Vivian? Obviously, they're building her up for a match with Rainbow Mika,"

"Yeah, okay, but…" Rave tried to intervene, but the squawking rant of Valdez continued.

"But she's a part-timer, someone that's going to win the championship and appear on TV. What's worse, they kept cutting to Ryu in the crowd, like he's going to do something in this women's league."

"Ryu's a big star and uhhhhhh ya know?" blubbered Rave.

"Wrestling should be focused on wrestlers, not celebrities!" squealed Valdez.

The door opened, and Sylvia walked in, carrying several bowls of ramen, Travis' children, Jeane and Hunter skittered behind her, carrying even more.

"Oh my gosh," squealed Jeane, "Daisy's here, she's really here?"

Daisy blushed, "Awww. Always nice to meet a fan."

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Luigi joked.

Hunter scoffed, "Mario's cooler."

"I get that a lot," Luigi huffed.

"Kids, don't be rude to the guests. After all, this is a special occasion. We got it," Sylvia said.

Travis unreclined, snapping to a sitting position.

"Oh shit. really?"Travis said.

"Yes," Sylvia nodded, "Bujirou had enough scorpions for all of us. It's Scorpion Death Ramen time."

"Stingers cut off?" Daisy asked a deep concern in her snappy response.

Sylvia frowned, "Yes."

Daisy seemed to sink in her seat, realizing how obvious a question she'd asked.

"Sorry," she said, "Scorpions are a delicacy where I'm from, my dad beat it into my brain to always remember to take the stingers out."

"The departed King of Sarasaland was a wise man indeed," said a new, foppish voice.

Yoshimitsu and Subject Zero appeared Elizabeth cradled in the latter's arm.

"Hayabusa couldn't make it?" asked Travis.

"I am afraid not," Yoshimitsu explained, "He stated he needed to help Irene with the shop."

Travis nodded, "Cool, then everyone's here."

"What is this?" Luigi asked, his eyes narrowing

"We're gonna eat some ramen, watch an anime, and then we're gonna take you downstairs to practice some parries."

"I'm down for that," Luigi said, nodding.

"Hell yeah you are," Travis said back.

Travis picked a faded VHS Box from off the floor

"I've been waiting to have a viewing party for this," Travis explained, "It's a DEATHMAN anime that was only recently found. It's only five episodes, so it won't take long."

"Eh, I don't wanna watch that old man shit," Hunter said, "Yo, new girl, you wanna see Jeane and I's Minecraft world?"

Elizabeth nodded, following the youngsters to an upper floor of the motel.

"Yo Travis," Daisy said, "Since the kids seem to like it, have you thought about taking them to the Minecraft section of the city?"

Sylvia flipped through a pocket calendar, "Yes, the day before the semi-final match."

Daisy and Luigi looked at each other, nodding with approval.

"Damn girl, you're good."

The faintest of grins overtook Sylvia.

"Yep," Travis said, "That's why she's the kids' mom."

"Strict bio mom, fun step-mom," Mai added, "It's a whole thing."

"Can we please start the anime?" Bad Girl whined, "All this agreeable co-parenting makes me wanna throw up."

Travis wordlessly stepped to his VCR, inserting a pristine tape into the machine.

Luigi eagerly took his first bite of ramen. The combination of fruity sweetness, ghost pepper, and scorpion meat danced at his throat. His eyes began to water immediately, but the tango of flavor was enough for him to keep eating. The anime they were supposed to be watching blurred into an incomprehensible deluge of color and sound.

"Man, this thing kinda reminds me of Berserk," an enthralled Daisy announced.

Luigi's vision cleared for a brief moment. A masked musclehead swung a big sword at a horde of gnarly-looking monsters.

"Yeah, wait until we get to the final battle. It's like if Guts fought the mech from Skin Metal Panic," Travis explained.

"YO! I LOVE SKIN METAL PANIC!" shouted Daisy.

The more ramen Luigi ate, the less comprehensible the anime became through his tears. In this state, the short anime went even quicker than five episodes of anime normally went.

Suddenly, Luigi felt a tap on his shoulder. Sylvia presented him with a glass of milk.

"Oh, um," Luigi grunted through a mouth on fire, "Thanks,"

He swigged the milk in one gulp. A quick glance at the rest of the group showed he wasn't the only one gulping down their relief. He lingered on Yoshimitsu, watching the odd ninja pour the milk through a slit in his mask.

"Oh, sorry," Luigi muttered, even though he was sure no one had seen him.

Luigi's senses had returned to him at the opportune time. The eponymous Deathman fought a large, squid-like alien, man and monster darting all over the battlefield, neither giving an inch. Luigi briefly reflected on games he and Mario had played in their youth. At some point, they learned that large monsters in old games were kept in the background layer to keep the game running smoothly. To see such a monster moving with a predator's fluidity was genuinely impressive.

"YO!" Travis and Bishop shouted together after a particularly intense clash.

This turned the tide in the direction of Deathman, the masked hero delivering a series of dramatic slashes to the monster. With a pained, defeated roar, the thing dropped dead. Alien goop covering Deathman from head to toe, he sat in quiet contemplation. He loosened the straps of his mask. The camera showed the mask falling to the ground…and then cut to the credits.

"OH C'MON!" no less than six voices exclaimed.

At that, the kids came trotting downstairs.

"What what what?" shouted Jeane.

"Unsatisfying ending to an anime, you know."

"Why can't you just wait for the next season?" Hunter asked.

"You kids would not survive in the pre-streaming world of anime," NT grumbled.

Bad Girl giggled.

"Oh God," shuddered Midori, "Is this what it sounds like when you talk to us old timer?"

"Don't call me that," grumbled Bishop.

"This again," grumbled Mai.

"What?" shouted Midori, "You and Travis are near forty, that's ancient!"

"Hard agree," nodded Jeane.

A whistle pierced the air, rendering everyone silent. The group turned to Sylvia.

"Now now," she said, "Before this turns into a pointless battle of the ages, let us get to training."

Travis ushered the group to the basement. A medical wing and a stage reminiscent of a Smash arena stood in the sterile, metallic room.

"Yeah so," Travis began, "I have a time machine in here back home but Mario said having one here would disrupt the continuum around here, so I asked if I could put in a training ground so me and the gang were ready when the squirrel showed up, and he let me."

"Indeed!" Yoshimitsu announced, "That's why we are here!"

"Yeah," Sans sighed, "We established that a few paragraphs up."

"If I were to see the world as you do skeleton," said Yoshimitsu, "I would go mad,"

"Speaking of going mad," Sans asked, "How are you keeping that cursed blade under control? Seems above my pay grade, because I never heard about it."

"It seems that being in this place has quieted it completely. The reprieve is nice."

"If the chatting is done," said a French voice from nowhere, "I would like to explain this training room."

The holographic visage of a beautiful woman appeared, her neutral expression remaining solid as her eyes darted to everyone in the room.

"I am Doctor Juvenile," she explained, "I have been able to modify the training program beyond its normal parameters. Unlike the standard Super Smash Brothers configuration, any number of people can participate in this simulator."

"You in Daisy?" Sans said with a wink.

"Nah, I'll watch," she said.

"Figured you'd be getting froggy not having fought for a while," Sans said, raising a briefly materialized eyebrow.

"I mean, I'll jump in once Weegee takes a break or something, but this is his time to train."

"That's fair Daisy," Travis said with a nod, "Let's get started."

Jeane opened her mouth to say something, but Travis knew what was going to be said.

"Yes, we can get the foam swords out for the kids after we're done."

With that, Travis' allies and the invited Smashers stepped onto the platform.

"Building stage," announced Juvenile, "Creating blast zone. Calibration complete."

With that, a blinding cubed light overtook them all, trapping them within. A screen flared to life showing a large, generic grassland version of Battlefield.

"BEGIN!" commanded the booming voice of Juvenile.

Daisy watched as Mai immediately took to the air, fire magic propelling her down onto the throng of people.

"PARRY LUIGI!" boomed Notorious, "IT'S THE ONLY WAY YOU'LL BEAT SEPHIROTH!"

Luigi stood, the rest of the field surrounding him.

"Alright-a," Luigi growled, beckoning everyone forward, "Bring it."

Sylvia and Daisy watched in silence while Jeane, Hunter, and Elizabeth all took out portable gaming systems, immediately enthralled in some multiplayer game.

"This is the only way he will weather the storm," whispered Sylvia.

Daisy turned to the intimidating woman, "Hm?"

"If a move such as Zetaflare cannot end Sephiroth, what can beyond endurance?"

The two watched as Luigi perfectly parried the onslaught of blows.

"And luckily for you, your man seems to have it in spades."

Luigi jumped over a sweep from Mai. The boisterous ninja let out a torrent of expletives in response.

"Speaking of men," Daisy asked, "If it's too much to answer you're more than welcome to blow me off but…"

"How do I feel about Travis and Mai?" she finished, as stoic as ever.

"Yeah,"

"She is a good match for him, admittedly, a better one than I could ever hope to be. What's more, she's excited to co-parent our children, so it appears to be a net positive for all involved."

The two sat in silence as Luigi parried even more. Minutes ticked by before Sylvia spoke up again.

"So, I have a favor to ask of you,"

"Shoot," Daisy said.

"It pains me to even ask this," she sighed, "But if you know anyone who is politically connected that cannot train on the Smash grounds, but wishes to, please send them our way."

"Wanna buddy up with some politically connected people."

The already pale Sylvia got a shade paler.

"Shit," she hissed, "Do I sound that desperate?"

Daisy shook her head, "Nah. I've just been through the song and dance before."

"I have a unique resume for leadership. I ran the assassin organization that Travis belonged to, and I was the secretary to the man who brought the aliens here, and Travis survived that."

"That is a pretty wild resume, yeah. I've got some folks I can send your way."

Another small grin befell Sylvia, "Merci beaucoup."

"No problem. You're…"

Daisy gestured to the TV, Luigi parrying more and more.

"...part of the family,"

Sylvia gave a nod, the two turning back to the TV.

Quinn

Smash Mansion
Residency Hall

Quinn and Rosalina's suite

Quinn had seen the Lumas flicker on as Rosalina had woken, but it hadn't stirred him, simply rolling over and going back to sleep. He'd seen this coming a mile away. The two hadn't stopped surfing until sunset, the full day of activity necessitating a quick meal and an early bedtime. While this had done the trick for Rosalina, Quinn's hips and legs still throbbed, the pain necessitating rolling over and going back to bed.

Quinn finally opened his eyes, looking at the clock

1130

The adrenaline of being late for some unknown commitment spurred the young man awake. Mario had sent an all-staff text informing everyone of various public appearances around the city. His name wasn't on the list.

He breathed a sigh of relief, rolling over to Rosalina's spot on the bed. A piece of paper was in her place.

Going shopping with Peach again. See you later xoxo

Quinn grinned. In the grand scheme of things, he hadn't known Rosalina long, but he reckoned that there was a time when she would've wilted at going shopping two days in a row, even in the company of a long-beloved friend like Peach. But the text on the note was flowery, each letter of each word crafted happily.

His wits now firmly about him, Quinn rose from the bed, checking his notifications as he went to the bathroom to begin his morning routine. He only had one text, from Captain Falcon. Quinn's forehead scrunched as he opened the text.

Heard you were feeling down young man! Come to the enclosed coordinates to lift some weights with some friends and I. We'll be there until dinner time, no rush!

Quinn pondered this as he showered and brushed his teeth. According to Master Hart, Captain Falcon, Samus, and Fox, while enemies at first, came to form a clique towards the end of The 12 Tournament. The clique, known as "The Spacies" later grew to include Falco and Samus' squeeze Bayonetta. Despite its boisterous members, The Spacies were low-key, getting together for drinks and workout sessions together, despite not being overly close around the other Smashers.

Is this a Spacies meeting? Quinn wondered.

He got dressed, inputted the coordinates, and stepped through the portal that opened. The flying cars zooming overhead was a dead giveaway that he was now in Little Mute City. Instead of being amongst a city block of skyscrapers as he'd figured, he found himself at the doorstep of a rustic-looking dojo, a grimacing man in an orange bandana whose face bore the scars of war standing in front of it, arms crossed.

"I'm…" stammered Quinn, "I'm Captain…no, I'm Quinn, Captain Falcon invited me here."

The gruff-looking man laughed, "Sure 'Captain.' Mistah Falcon told us to look out for ya."

The man opened the door.

"Welcome to the Stingray Gang Dojo."

Quinn walked in and was immediately roused by familiar sights and sounds. The smell of rubber mixed with sweat, the clanging of iron.

"This place…is a gym?"

"Young man!" a familiar, booming voice called.

Quinn followed the voice. At the very back of the gym were Captain Falcon, Samus, Bayonetta, and the Star Fox Team. Quinn jogged the paths between machines.

"Ya know when I put in these coordinates Captain," Quinn said, "A gym run by a gang wasn't where I thought I'd end up."

Falcon cast a glance around the gym, a confident smirk as he eyed the swath of orange bandana-wearing men in various workouts.

"These punks all know that if they get out of line, they answer to me."

"Or worse," Bayonetta said, reclined on a windowsill reading a book, "They answer to Goroh,"

Quinn cast a glance around. Other than Samus, Falco, and Krystal at the weight rack, Fox and Slippy on opposing treadmills, or Bayonetta leisurely reading, all of the people here bore the signature orange bandana.

"These are all Goroh's men? How're you allowed in then?"

Falcon laughed, "Let's just say that I've had his back in the F-Zero races more than a man of my occupation should have."

Quinn nodded, immediately grabbing a 50-pound plate, joining Krystal on the mat beside her, mirroring her oblique twist.

"You don't mind if I join, do you?" Quinn asked.

"No," Krystal grunted.

"Just figure I gotta...work on my abs, think I'm gonna take a lot of Green Missiles to the bread basket, you know?"

"Solid plan," Krystal said, not breaking from her workout.

For a gym rat like Quinn, the motions of the workouts became routine quickly. His mind wandered during and between reps.

When was the last time I was in a gym

This thought bounced around in his mind even as he headed to the treadmill after 10 reps of 10 oblique twists. The Smash Bros arena was as fine a workout as anyone ever could hope for, with all the running, jumping, and lifting required but something about the act of being in a gym eclipsed all else.

"Everybody finds out their own way," Fox said.

"Huh?" was all Quinn could say.

Fox and Krystal exchanged a glance, the latter still doing oblique twists.

"She's telling you what I'm thinking huh?" Quinn said.

"Anything to get your goofy introverted ass talkin'" Falco grunted after a press.

"Not the way I would've put it," sighed Fox, "But that is the gist."

Quinn changed the elevation of the treadmill, the machine now stimulating as steep a hill as a human could climb without gravity rearing its ugly head. Pressing a few buttons on the machine, the floor underneath him began to move, and Quinn began to run.

"Yeah," Slippy agreed, "Everyone works out their own way, making adjustments as they spend more time here."

"We learned early on that committing everyone to a training plan didn't work," Fox explained, "Half of the Smash roster are loners by nature, not even counting in the egos of all involved."

"Take me for example, added Bayonetta, "Everything about me is kept in check by my demon powers. Everything is all natural."

Falco snorted with laughter, and Bayonetta's face puckered.

"I have said that," Bayonetta hissed, "In the hundreds of times since I became a Smasher. Yet, every bloody time, you snicker like a damn child."

"Then you should know," Fox interjected, "That that's just how Falco is."

"You'd think as this outfit's captain, you'd be able to reign in your childish crew."

"Hey listen, lady…" Falco started.

As Falco and Bayonetta began to bicker, Fox's interjections falling on deaf ears. Quinn powered the treadmill down, moving over to the free weights next to Samus. Quickly eyeballing the absurd amount of weight Samus had on her bar, Quinn stacked three-hundred-pound plates on each side, miming Samus' weightlifting technique.

"As the psychic was saying," Samus said, lifting her weights flawlessly, "There's something to be said for McCloud's mentor's old saying, 'trust your instincts.' You wouldn't be here if you didn't battle better than all your other opponents.

Quinn grunted, lifting his weight a second, and then a third time. Midway through his body's arc on the fourth, the door to the small gym opened. Two young grey-haired humans, a man, and a woman, dressed in gaudy white pinstripe suits stood at the door, marching with purpose toward them.

"Oh no," Fox and Falcon said together, the latter dropping his even heavier weight.

Before Quinn could ask, the man was in his face, an envelope in his face. Casting a glance to Captain Falcon, the woman had done the same.

"Your presence is requested," the two said simultaneously, "In three days,"

With that done, the pin-striped duo turned on their heels, marching in unison out of the gym.

Quinn examined the note. The seal bore "DG" in the fanciest cursive Quinn had ever seen.

"What was that?" Quinn asked, "Should I open it?"

Captain Falcon's jolly demeanor was replaced by a deep frown.

"You ever heard the story that Fox and I saved a wealthy merchant's daughter when she was a newborn?"

Quinn nodded eagerly, "Yeah, that's the stuff of legend!"

"Well, those were his goons, Don Genie, the head of the F-Zero committee. I saved his daughter, so he sees me as part of his inner circle, which means, occasionally being invited to a bitch session about…"

As Falcon had been speaking, he'd absent-mindedly torn open the envelope, revealing a logo.

F-Zero 99

"He's actually gonna do it," Falcon said, "He's going to break off, start his own Grand Prix no doubt."

Quinn's forehead scrunched, "Is…that…good…or…?"

"The F-Zero Committee is as corrupt as you'll get, but at least they're beholden to the Galactic Federation, so there's regulation. A libertarian asshole like The Don…"

Falcon sighed. Just as Quinn perceived defeat in the unflappable bounty hunter, he straightened up.

"Someone in The Don's organization likes you, Quinn, you wouldn't be invited if they didn't. We've gotta make sure there's nothing evil afoot. And you're gonna help."