I gave a quick swing with my wooden sword, knocking the Spiny onto the air before Peach jumped up and unfurled her parasol, bouncing the spiny towards the lakitu and knocking them into each other. I turned to the audience, giving them a quick wave, which made them cheer louder before turning back and watching as Peach kicked the lakitu to the ground with her boot, knocking him out.
"We got ourselves a winner! The Black Bruiser and Pink Punissssheeeeerrrr!" I dusted myself off with one hand and waved to the crowd as Peach gave a little curtsey with her short skirt.
When we stepped back into the minor league locker room, I sat down on the squeaky and torn bench, taking a deep breath.
"Not bad dog. You two have got some skill." King K said and I gave him a weary grin. We had just gone through four matches in a row, back-to-back without any rest. Grubba said that it was a way of running up our rep for the major league. Although I wasn't entirely sure he was doing it with our best interest in mind. Peach collapsed down next to me and plopped her head on my shoulder with a worn sigh.
"No…more." I gave her head a sympathetic rub, hearing her stomach give a low grumble.
"You two have been working overtime since you got here dog. You and your dame should get a dog to fuel up." There was a hotdog cart outside, maybe some food would bring us back up…before Grubba decides he wants another line of fights.
"That actually sounds great." I gave Peach a small tap and she groaned before rising to her feet. As we headed for the minor-league locker-room door, it slammed open and Jolene marched through, dragging Bandy Andy behind her by the collar.
"How many times do I have to tell you: that room is absolutely OFF-LIMITS! If you want to remain on our fight roster, you must follow the rules. And don't think I haven't noticed you following me. Stop that, too. It's creepy. If you don't obey the rules, we'll ban you from the Glitz Pit. Understood?" Without waiting for a reply, Jolene gave a quick huff before turning around and leaving the room, slamming the door behind her.
"Again, dude?" King K said as Bandy Andy stood against the nearby wall. "Man, you just a MAGNET for trouble!" Bandy Andy gave him a smirk.
"Heheh. Sorry, King K. Didn't mean to bring Queen Nag in here."
"Aw, don't sweat it, B-money. Jolene can take that 'tude and shove it up her nose. Why you always chasin' that girl anyway man? You got a little thing for her?" Andy scowled slightly at this.
"S-Shut up, K!" He reached over and pulled his mask over his face before heading for the door, "Now…if you folks will pardon me, I must be off." With that he left the room.
"He's gonna get caught again." I commented, turning to Peach and expecting a reply about the power of love, only to find her still woozily standing behind me. This girl needs food fast.
Stepping out into the main lobby, I was shocked to hear the screams of girls fill the air. Peach jumped slightly and looked around in a panic. The entire areas was covered in people crowding around Rawk Hawk, with most of the pretty girls near the front with the guys and other creatures near the back.
"Yeah! Uh! Oh Yeah! Who wants to feel the Rawk!" A truly glass breaking level of screams assaulted my ears, prompting me to hold my hands over my ears. We wanted food, not an alarm clock. Stepping through the crowd, we made our way towards the entrance. I had to stop as we passed by what looked the be a promotional poster with Peach and I on the front of it. We were in our victory poses with a fire burning behind us.
"…I don't remember approving this."
"Did you read that contract?" Peach asked still in a slightly groggy mood.
"…Damnit." We're not going see a single coin of the sales of any of our poorly made merchandise.
We took a seat at a nearby bench and I watched in amazement and terror as Peach devoured her dog like a woman possessed before sitting back and giggling softly.
"That was just what I needed." I gave a small chuckle and took a bite out of my dog. There's nothing quite like the first bite of food after a chain of battles. Doesn't matter what it is, but it's just the first taste of something that has you wolfing it down just for the pure energy it gives you.
"Ahhh…that's better."
"Right? Those fights had me exhausted."
"Not used to long combat?"
"Honestly? No. Any formal training I received was more about holding my own long enough to get out of danger, usually by running. I never thought it could get so stressful over a long period of time."
"I knew it COULD. But that doesn't mean I ever wanted it too. I've only ever had to take on a large group of enemies once before, and I did not want to do that again. This wasn't quite as intense but it was still exhausting."
"…You think Mario ever had to do stuff like this?"
"Probably. He seems pretty spry for a dude with a sizable gut."
"I just mean, he spent quite a few weeks rescuing me from Bowser a while back. He stole a star wand and lifted us into the stratosphere. From what I heard, Mario spent a long-time gathering allies and star spirits to help him get up to us and save me. He must have gone through a lot to do that."
"That's what happens on an adventure." I answered. "You go through all kinds of trials and tribulations, stopping catastrophes and saving people along the way. Even more so if someone you care about is your end goal. That's why we've got to give it our all to save Alice."
"…Yeah, you're right." Peach bolted up from her seat, stretching out as she did so. "Let's get that crystal star then!" I nodded and stood up giving a few quick stretches to limber myself up for the next fight we would challenge. "Oh, just to be sure. You'd be fighting just as hard if I was kidnapped right?" Weird question.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" Her smile got bigger as her cheeks turned a nice pink.
"Just checking."
"No! Bad! So very bad! Behave yourself, egg!" What the-? Peach and I turned towards where the voice was coming from. It was the man running the hot dog cart, chasing down a strange egg that hopped around him wildly, "No! Bad! Come back! Help! My imported egg escaped! Somebody, catch it!" We moved in to help, rushing toward the egg as fast as I could and diving to grab it. It jumped up before I closed my arms around it, landing on my back and bouncing off just as quickly. I scrambled around, coming close but never quite grabbing it before it hopped towards Peach. In that moment, I watched as Peach's expression shifted from her usual bouncy personality to a queen's cold gaze that froze the poor egg in its track making it sit and shiver. She stepped forward and picked it up slowly before looking at me and the vendor with her usual bubbly smile.
"Caught it!" No, you didn't catch it. You made it respect and fear you. She rubbed the top of the egg affectionately. She looked down at the egg spot quizzically, "…Is this a Yoshi egg?"
"I don't know, I just had it delivered today."
"Whatever it is, it's alive." I added. "Not sure you want to use it in your menu."
"Ugh…you have a point. Most people don't like eating stuff that jumps all over the place anyway. But what am I supposed to do with it?" Peach hummed happily as she held the large egg in her hands.
"…We'll take it."
"That'll be 50 coins." 50!?
"You really think it'll willingly come back to you?"
"…30." He's trying to negotiate for something he has no control over!
"Mr. vendor?" Peach said. "If this IS a Yoshi egg, then that means it was poached in Mushroom Kingdom territory. And our kingdom has a small law against the poaching and shipping of Yoshis and all affiliating Yoshi products, including their eggs." The vendor looked paler as she spoke, "Now, we could bring this up with the National Department of Agriculture…or we could take Eggy off your hands and have your word that you won't attempt this again."
"…Just take the stupid bouncing egg." He gave us a dismissive wave and stomped back to his cart.
"We're never getting hot dogs from him again." I commented.
"That's a shame. They were quite good."
"So…Eggy?"
"Yep, with an I on the end."
"Why?"
"It's cuter that way." I…guess?
Another set of fights followed our return to the pit, this time taking us up against a five chain. But weather it was the knowledge that we were going into another chain fight, or the upbeat attitude Peach had every time we took a small break and went back to our egg, we were moving smoother than before. The only wrinkle was that our last fight in the chain was against King K and his crew.
"Yo man, I guess we're going up against each other next."
"Seems like it. I'll give it my all if you do."
"…Hey, keep this under your hood…but I'm retiring after the next match." What?
"Really?"
"Yeah man. This line of work has a few drawbacks on life span if you catch my drift, so I talked it over with Grubba and he agreed to let me retire after my next fight. Not like I bring in the fans anyway. But you two seem determined to rise to the top."
"Yeah…we are."
"Then show me what you got in our match dog!"
When the bell dinged, I ran straight for King K. Peach took care of his two backups, keeping them at bay as K and I fought. It was always awkward fighting a koopa, especially one who knew how combat worked. When I went to swing, K pulled into his shell and dropped to the floor, just below my swing. When he dropped, his shell began to spin and he dashed towards my legs, giving me only a moment to jump up enough to dodge his strike. But as I landed, he had ricochet back and smacked my back legs making me topple over. Before he could circle back around, I rolled over onto my stomach and got back up, turning around as K rushed towards me and smacked him like a golf ball, backwards. He came to a stop and took a moment to collect himself, giving me a chance to leg sweep him, sending him onto his back.
"Not bad B-dog. But I ain't out yet!" He retreated into his shell again and, although he was on his back, he started spinning and building up momentum. I had to move quick and hop out of the way as he started spinning around the ring trying to hit my legs. As I moved and jumped to avoid his strikes, I noticed he kept getting faster, meaning we needed to stop him soon or he would be too fast to dodge. But that would be a lot of built-up momentum to stop. I looked over to see Peach quickly knock King K's backup off the ring…maybe we could do that. I moved over to Peach as K closed in on her and swooped her up, making us tumble to the side.
"Peach, we need a parasol defense." She nodded as we got back up and looked to see King K dashing at us. Peach waited until her got close enough before popping open her parasol and holding it out like a shield. King K ran into it and the impact of his speed and her parasol caused him to fly backwards through the air as Peach's parasol snapped at the hilt. I rushed in as King K fumbled and delivered the finishing strike knocking him down into the ring and taking him out.
"Hoooo wheeeeee! That was an intense fight alright! The winners are, the Black Bruiser and Pink Punisheeeeeerrrrrr!" As the crowd cheered, I moved over to Peach who looked down at her parasol sadly. The base had been snapped, along with the clamp for the top, meaning that even if we could tape it back together, it wouldn't be able to deploy anymore.
"…Sorry Peach." I said putting a hand on her shoulder.
"No…it was the only way to stop him. We won so…it worked." I could tell she was trying to sound upbeat despite losing her only method of combat.
I gave King K a strong hand-shake outside of the minor-league locker-room. I hadn't been here long, but King K was still the most social of the fighters and I could respect that. He deserved a proper goodbye.
"See you around B-Dog. Give 'em hell up in the major leagues."
"We will." With a wave, he made his way as I turned to head back into the locker-room. Peach was sitting on the nearby bench, softly rubbing the egg as she looked down at the dirty floor. If I could find another parasol for her I would…but unless it's a novelty umbrella with Rock Hawk's face on it, I don't think I'll find one.
"Hey Black." I turned to see one of the security guards calling for me, "Time for your match."
"But my partner doesn't have a weapon."
"Not my problem. Get moving." I gave a low growl at his callousness.
"It's okay." Peach spoke up. "You go ahead. If you win this match, we'll advance to the major-leagues." She was right. I hadn't been paying great attention but with this next win we would be rank ten, which would put is up against the big dogs.
"…Alright. But we're going to get you a new weapon, I promise." She gave a half-hearted giggle. "Thanks Soren. Now go whup their butts."
I stepped onto my corner of the arena, the crowd whispering around me. Most of them were eager to see what I would be facing, while an equal number wondered where Pink was.
"Well, good to see ya Black Bruiser." Grubba said into his mic. "Going in solo this time huh? Must feel real confident about your victory."
"No I-" Before I could answer, two rock creatures jumped up onto the arena and Grubba rushed over to introduce them.
"Hyuk hyuk! Your challenger is real confident, boys! Yep, he's talkin' trash…'Iron Adonis Twins? More like Paper Dog Face Bros.! …And they stink!'" He's going to try and get me killed, "He said, 'I bet they just play video games and cry when they lose!' Look at Im, showing up solo. He doesn't even need his partner to whup you. Yup, that's what he said. 'Those no-good outie belly button buffons.'" What are these insults?
"WHAAAAAAAAT!? How does he know Mama has an outie? That jerk!" And why is it working!? "We're gonna blend you up into a smoothie pal! And then we're gonna drink ya! Only smelly stinkwads call other people stinkwads…stinkwad!" We'll, they're sufficiently angry.
"Calm down bro.! He's not worth it. Not like he'll beat us even with his partner. See these bods? Solid iron. Se these spikes? Yeah, they penetrate any substance. So basically, what I'm telling you is that whatever you try will be completely useless. Think that over in the very short time you have left with a functional brain." This…might not go well for me. Grubba held up his hand.
"Get yourselves ready to… BAAAAAATTLE!"
I rushed in, taking a swing at the first metal head, but finding him incredibly dense and resilient. He was unfazed by my move and swung back to strike at me. I slid back just enough to dodge his attack before holding my blade up to ready my slash through move. When I felt the energy pulse, I pulled my blade in and jumped forward, swinging my sword in the process and running through the rock brothers. As I turned back to see what I had done, they both flashed me wicked grins. That didn't do anything!? Looking at my blade, I was even more shocked to find it had been snapped apart upon contact with them.
"Hahahaha! Take this loser!" One of the rock creatures rushed at me, not leaving me time to dodge but enough time to set up a block with my back-up blade. But as he collided with my weapon, the wood splintered and shattered to pieces completely destroying it.
"No!"
"Gahahahaha! Now what are you gonna do Black Bruised!" Damnit! I'm out of options, at this rate I'm going to lose!
"Soren!" That voice! I turned to see Peach rushing through the stands as something followed behind her. When she came close enough, the thing following her jumped up towards the ring, and when I got a better look at it, I was surprised to see a pink colored Yoshi with a scruffy patch of brown hair land next to me. Around his waist was what I could only assume was the egg he hatched from, and on his feet were little black boots. Bigger than I thought he'd be. Comes up to about my waist.
"Heya!" He said with a big grin.
"You were the egg!?"
"Yep! And thanks to you and mama, I hatched safe and sound!" M-Mama?
"Y-You mean-"
"Pink!" Of course, "Now, enough chatting! Let's cream these chumps!" He turned around to face the Adonis twins who just laughed at him.
"That pipsqueak isn't enough to beat us! We're still indestructible!" Rgh! He's right…but there are two of them…
"Hey, if you're a Yoshi, can you swallow one of them?"
"Don't know till we try!" He jumped forward, opening his mouth and shooting his tongue out. The tongue stuck to the confused creature before being pulled back and disappearing in the Yoshi's mouth!
"Nmw wt?" Yoshi asked through stuffed cheeks.
"Spit him at the other guy!" The Yoshi spat with as much force as he could muster, sending the swallowed twin back at his other and knocking them into each other.
"Ugh! Wait…uh oh." The fear that came over the rock monsters face had me break out in a grin. Now we had a way of taking care of them, "Don't let them do that again bro!" The brothers ran around the ring in a mad dash fashion, zigzagging to avoid the Yoshi's tongue. Yoshi shot its tongue as fast as he could but they always seemed to dodge just out of his reach.
"They're moving around too much."
"Then let's stop them!" Looking down at my boots, I noticed it had a small amount of built-up momentum in its chamber. It's not a lot but with a little more I might be able to stop them at least. They'll probably come rushing at me since they know I can't damage them…good thing that's not my goal. I back up to the edge of the ring, and ran as fast as I could at one of the twins, he just smirked and started rushing at me; perfect! Before we collided, I lifted both feet into the air and kicked them forward into his face, when the built-up force hit his body, I flew up a bit, giving me a chance to spin around and land on my feet as he shivered in place. The reverberation of the force had him stunned!
"Gotcha!" The Yoshi yelled, launching his tongue out and swallowing the rock.
"Bro!" In that moment he took to scream for his brother, Yoshi reeled around and aimed at the other rock monster, shooting his brother towards him and colliding them together. When they did collide, they went flying off the arena, landing in the stands with simultaneous groans of defeat.
"WE HAVE A WINNER FOLKS! The Black Bruiser has beaten the Iron Adonis Twins, rising him and his partners up to the major league!" Yes! "Now, THAT, folks, was what I call a wiiiiild an' wooly fight! A diggety-dang DOOZY!" Grubba turned the mic to me, "How ya feeling champ?" I reached over to the stand and pulled Peach up. The Yoshi moved in to stand between us.
"Couldn't have done this without my team!" I shouted.
"Well give it up folks! We've got some new major-league players!" The cheers roared all around us as we played it up for everyone we could; waving and boasting to whoever could see us. We were half-way there! Just a little more and we'll have that star! I looked down at the Yoshi who was doing the same and thought for a moment.
"You need a name other than Yoshi." I said and he smiled.
"Mama gave me one!" I looked at Peach who giggled.
"Eggi!" Of course that's his name.