Chakra Wizard
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Chapter 11 - Courage & Power
The day was coming to a close, as only two matches awaited to be resolved. The four remaining brawlers found themselves gathered in the mess hall, each of them holding the same question in their mind.
"So, which of these three is going to be my opponent?"
Sitting alone at the same table were Link, Fox McCloud, Lucario, and Ganondorf. They said nothing, nor they ate nothing. They simply sat at differing ends of the small table and looked back and forth at one another, keeping the aforementioned question in their minds, as well as another one.
"Whose gonna break the silence here?"
Ganondorf answered the latter question.
"Well, nobody has said a word, so it's same to assume that we're thinking the same thing. So...who'd like to place a wager?"
The entire time he spoke, he did not take his eyes off of Link, who sat opposite of him, nor did the young swordsman takes his eyes of his mortal foe. As they continued their onlooking gazes, a mysterious, yet similar power began building within the two of them. The proof of this was showing on the back of their left hands. Three identical triangles, arranged so that a inverted fourth one formed in their center, began giving off a dim, golden glow, signifying that these powers knew that one of their two brethen was close by. The Triforce certainly worked in strange ways, even in the eyes of the three who bore its power. The two hardly acknowledged it, but Fox and Lucario had a difficult time trying not to gaze at the symbol upon their fellow brawlers' hands. Ganon took notice of this, holding up his hand to give them a closer look.
"Do you like it? That is the Triforce of Power, given to me by the goddesses of my realm."
While Fox, who had been appearing at the Smash realm just as long as Link, was well aware of the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom bound within Link and Princess Zelda, he couldn't help but find morbid irony in the fact that the third piece of the puzzle was sealed within their greatest enemy. He expressed this thought to Link, though in a discrete manner that Ganondorf hopefully wouldn't pick up on, at least not openly.
"Sickening, isn't it, Link?"
Link looked at him for a moment before nodding his head and returning his gaze to the man in front of him. While Ganon's hint to Fox that he understood the question was not verbal, the mercenary's well-trained eyes were unable to overlook the slight change in the Gerudo's facial patterns. An involuntary feeling of fear and dread started to spread throughout his body, which Ganon obviously noticed in his eyes, as a terrifying smirk had found itself stretched across his face.
"Link, if your name isn't called when his is, I'm dead."
Lucario, who sat idly by during this exchange, noticed the large amount of negative aura present among his fellow brawlers. However, being unable to communicate through speech, his means of expressing his disapprovement to them all, particularly Ganondorf, were greatly restricted. Fortunately for him, two of the four were about to leave the room, as Peach's voice echoed throughout the corridors.
"The day is all but over, as only four brawlers have yet to enter the arena. I speak for myself, Princess Zelda, and all of our amazingly talented and powerful brawlers when I thank you all for participating in the first day of the Super Smash Tournament."
The crowd's excitement for the day's final matches could easily be heard in the cheers that followed. Zelda then stood up to finish for her colleague.
"Without further ado, the next match-up is...Fox McCloud and Lucario, which will make the final match-up of the day...Link and Ganondorf!"
Having held his breath the entire time, Fox inhaled deeply and lowered his head onto the table in relief. His joy was stopped short, however, when a large fist smashed against the table and caught his undivided attention.
"This hasn't changed your coming fate. I would forfeit today if I were you, cause you won't have a chance to when we meet in the arena tomorrow."
Although somewhat despirited by Ganon's statement, Fox remained confident that Link would pull through in his match against him and stood up with Lucario to head towards the arena, not even letting Ganondorf know that he had been impacted by his threat. Keeping his gaze on the two as they left the room, the Gerudo returned his eyes to the young swordsmen before him.
"Hmph. I figured that the two of us would meet in battle, although I didn't expect it to be this soon. I'll probably be the first brawler in history to ever defeat you in the first round."
Remaining silent as he always does, Link merely shook his head, keeping his gaze on Ganondorf as he did, as if to say that he won't be defeated in the first round of this tournament either. Taking the hint, Ganon merely smirked and stood up to leave, intending to find a worthy use of his time as he waited for his match.
Outside of the colliseum, Fox and Lucario were already tied up in their heated match. Practically equal in speed and hand-to-hand combat, their battle had all but boiled down to long-range fighting, where Fox had an advantage. Fortunately for Lucario, his ability to sense emotions and, to an extent, thoughts had allowed him to avoid the shots from Fox's blaster, whereas Fox had a more difficult time dodging the Pokemon's aura spheres. The intensity of the fight had caused the power of Lucario's aura to increase, which not only made the spheres larger, but faster as well, almost matching the speed of Fox's shots. Fox's annoyance at the fact that he was slightly outmatched was taking its toll, making him desperate for an opening. After thinking over all that was available to him, he found a reasonable solution.
His blaster at the ready, he started advancing on Lucario, firing it sparingly to keep Lucario's mind occupied. As he closed in on him, he tossed his gun away and pulled a small device from off of his belt. Noticing that he was now unarmed, Lucario quickly charged a large aura sphere and projected it toward Fox. Anticipating this, Fox held the small device in front of him, which emitted a large blue ray of light that reflected the sphere back at Lucario. Hit directly by the reflected attack, Lucario was thrown several meters back, though he managed to land on his feet. Seeing his proximity to the edge of the arena, Fox broke into a quick sprint towards Lucario, holding his leg out in front of him as he closed in. To his surprise, however, upon making contact, Lucario's form dissipated into the air. Regaining his footing, Fox looked around for a split second, wondering what happened before it suddenly hit him.
"...Double team."
As soon as the thought entered his mind, Lucario appeared from behind and kicked him square in the back, sending Fox over the edge. Expecting the worst, Lucario kept his pose, not intending to let his guard down. Certainly enough, in a large burst of flames, Fox propelled himself back onto the arena, but his next action went unanticipated by his opponent. Using his second recovery attack, known to most Smash fans as Fox Illusion, he made an immensely quick dash past Lucario, stopping directly over his blaster. Picking it up, he then fired numerous shots while the Pokemon's back was still turned. Each of them made direct contact, sending Lucario to the ground, doubled over in pain. Standing back up, his blaster ready to fire, Fox moved in on him to ensure that he was out of the match. Standing over top of him and seeing that his eyes were tightly shut, he waited a moment before signaling the referee to come in for further inspection. Seeing that Lucario had taken too much damage to continue, he stood up and gave the results of the match.
"Game! The winner is...Fox!"
The crowd exploded into cheer for the veteran brawler as he helped Lucario off the ground and exited the stadium. Upon re-entering the corridors, he found Link and Ganondorf standing on the other side of the doorway. Ganon was the first to address him.
"So, you're still in the tournament. Well, it seems you just lost your only chance at escaping my grasp."
Looking over to Link, Fox looked back at him as he passed them by.
"Not my only chance."
Turning back towards the doorway with a look of indifference and slight anger, Ganon patiently awaited Zelda's cue. Moments later, she gave the announcement.
"The time is now here. The final match of the first round is about to begin."
Peach stepped in to add her own statement.
"And the match-up couldn't be any more epic. Link, Ganondorf,...would you please enter the arena?"
As the two walked out, the cheers of the crowd had nearly peaked in accordance to all others made throughout the day. This was a classic battle of good and evil and it couldn't have been at a better time in the day. As the two fated rivals took their positions, the cheers died down, taking much longer to than before, and the referee hovered closer to begin the match. As they waited to him to give his signal, the brawlers placed their hands on the handles of their blades, eager to draw them out. Looking at each of them to ensure that they were ready, the referee made the call.
"3, 2, 1, GO!"
Both brawlers hesitated for a moment, then Ganon drew his sword and began slowly walking towards Link. Knowing that he had a power advantage at close range, the young swordsman began using the numerous projectiles at his disposal to slow his opponent down, beginning with the Gale Boomerang. Taking it in his hand, he threw the large boomerang directly at Ganon but, to his disappointment, the strong winds had no effect on the Gerudo's footing. Deciding to use his bow instead, he pulled a handful of arrows out of his quiver and shot them at Ganondorf in rapid continuation, only for his opponent to either catch them in his hand or brush them aside. Taking note of this carelessness, Link quickly sought out a strategy to inflict some damage.
Pulling out three more arrows, as well as another small object, he fired each one after another. As expected, Ganon brushed the first two aside before catching the third arrow in his hand, which prompted Link to lower his bow and begin patiently waiting. Quickly noticing this, Ganondorf glanced at the arrow in his hand and noticed a lit fuse on its head. Before he could toss it away, the small bomb exploded and enveloped him in a cloud of smoke, much to Link's appeasement. To his surprise, however, when the smoke cleared, Ganon remained unscathed. Noticing his shock, the Gerudo answered the unspoken question with his evil smile.
"You seem surprised. We've fought numerous times in the past, young Link. Has it ever been so easy for you to do me in?"
Finding the truth in this to be self-evident, Link's facade returned to its normal calmness. Ganon held up his left hand with the Triforce symbol glistening upon it as he continued.
"I'm the greatest threat to the kingdom of Hyrule in centuries. I've obtained power that matches that of the goddesses, bestowed upon me by them as a result of their greatest mistake. It was foolish of you to believe that such a novice attack would have any effect on me, especially after our long history as foes."
As he listened somewhat impatiently, Link realized that his only option was to decide this match through their swordsmanship skills. Taking up his shield and pulling out the Master Sword, Link charged forward, followed shortly by Ganondorf. While Ganon's blade was roughly twice the size of Link's, the legendary sword was anything but at a disadvantage, easily holding its ground as the blades collided. After several exchanges were made by their swords, the two retreated back to catch their breath. Ganon's mind was filled with rage, which proceeded to increase the power of his Triforce. As he straightened his posture once more, he proceeded to glance at his sword before tossing it aside.
"For one who bears the Triforce of Courage, you certainly spend much time hidden behind a shield. I, on the other hand, have no need for material weapons. The Triforce of Power will allow me to defeat you with my bare hands."
While offset by his words, Link wasted no time wondering about the authenticity of his claims and charged forward once again. As he brought his sword down upon Ganondorf, however, he found that they were indeed correct, as the Gerudo caught the blade in his hand with no visible damage to his palm. As he watched Ganon lift his fist to retaliate, Link attempted to pull his sword away to no avail. Preferring to accept some damage rather than lose his greatest weapon, Link held his shield in front of him and took the full force of the Warlock Punch, which sent him flying across the stadium. Picking himself back up, Link narrowly dodged an advancing Wizard's Kick, using his Spin Attack to increase the height of his leap over Ganondorf. Upon returning to ground level, he used the move once more to cut off another advance by Ganon, sending him tumbling over the edge of the arena in the process. Knowing that he would be taking a dangerous risk by approaching the edge, Link allowed him to pull himself back onto the arena, keeping his sword steady should he attempt something drastic. Fortunately, Ganon was preoccupied with his own amazement at his near defeat. Returning to his feet, he looked over at Link with cold eyes as his breathing became heavier, visibly aggravated by the ongoing conditions of the match.
"It's not gonna happen again. Not this time. I will not lose to this child!"
Charging forward with the force of a small meteorite, he drilled his elbow into Link's chest, his shield giving little protection against the powerful attack. Flying across the stadium, Link soon found himself in the same predicament that he put Ganon in no more than a minute ago. Contrarily though, Ganondorf did not possess Link's caution and proceeded toward the edge in a blind effort to do away with his opponent. Taking advantage of this carelessness, Link pulled out his clawshot to use as a safety measure, managing to keep its presence hidden from Ganondorf simultaneously.
"Pitiful young swordsman. This time, I'll give you no grief...nor spare you any speeches. This ends right here!"
Despite being of a greater weight than most of the brawlers, Ganon had no difficulty leaping high into the air and bringing his knee down with great force. To avoid having his fingers crushed to dust, Link released his hand from the edge and allowed himself to descend into the abyss of the colliseum, though only for a moment as he used the clawshot he had hidden to grab ahold of Ganondorf's armor.
"What!?"
As Ganon attempted to pry the clawshot off of himself, Link took the opportunity to retract the chain and pull himself back onto the stadium. However, before he could do so, Ganondorf noticed a single flaw in Link's methods and allowed himself to plummet off the stadium, causing Link to also descend.
"At this level, he'll pass the point of no return long before I do."
"It's a shame that we're no longer in Hyrule! I would've loved to have killed you!"
As he spoke, he noticed that Link had performed his Spin Attack, which gave him some momentum, though Ganon still had the height advantage.
"He never quits. Though why am I not surprised?"
Link's next action took him by shock, though. While he wasn't in a position for Ganondorf to fall out of the boundaries before he did, he was now in a position for his clawshot to keep him from falling at all. Retracting the claw from Ganon's armor as quickly as possible, he used whatever skill he had managed to acquire with it to grab ahold of the arena edge once more, saving him from defeat within moments of facing it.
"No! Not again! Not again!"
His rage having peaked, Ganondorf used his own Dark Dive attack to move himself close enough to grab ahold of his opponent, but a quick slash of Link's Master Sword demolished all remaining hope. Having used his only chance for mid-air movement, he had no choice but to accept defeat as he passed the point of no return. The resulting cheers from the crowd nearly topped those from the match's beginning, as Link proceeded to pull himself back onto the stage. The referee wasted no time in making the results official.
"Game! The winner is...Link!"
Having shown further evidence of his status as one of the elite brawlers, the majority of the colliseum participated in a standing ovation, as did Princess Zelda and Peach. Though, being as humble as he was, and also preferring to leave before Ganondorf returned, Link simply waved to the crowd and gave a quick bow to the princesses before heading for the corridors. Shortly afterwards, Ganon was brought back onto the stadium, taking a quick moment to hold in all of his anger before heading back inside himself. As the last of the brawlers exited the arena, the entire colliseum stood once more as Zelda got up to dismiss the audience.
"And so, the first day of our fourth Super Smash Tournament comes to an end. Once more, we thank you all sincerely for making this such an amazing experience not only for yourselves, but for us and the brawlers as well. Now, before we are all dismissed, we have a few short announcements."
Intrigued, the entire crowd listened in as Peach took over for her colleague.
"Now, as is obvious, the number of matches will greatly decrease tomorrow, but that doesn't mean that we intend for them to be any less interesting. In fact, we intend for it to be quite the opposite. Over the course of our history here, numerous outside factors have played their roles in the matches, none of which were present today. Over the course of the coming rounds, each of these factors will be integrated into the tournament, but which ones and in which order...are questions that we will leave to you to answer. As you leave, you will be asked to give your own requests on what these factors are to be. We hope to see you all here tomorrow and bear in mind...the brawlers have no idea what's in store for them in the next round. Goodnight."
Once the audience had completely exited the colliseum, the princesses made their way into the corridors to have a few words with the brawlers, whom they asked to gather in the mess hall at the end of the day. Inside the mess hall, tensions between the brawlers were surprisingly low. It seemed that over the years, the majority of them had managed to develop good sportsmanship, as well as friendships in some cases. Ganondorf remained the only brawler still infuriated by the outcome of his match, though this was likely due to having the most recent match, and did not draw much attention from the others. They simply sat around and chatted as they waited for the princesses to arrive. After waiting no more than ten minutes, the two finally arrived, with Peach being the first to speak.
"We apologize. The corridors are bigger than we remember. Now that we're all together again, there's a few things we ought to say to you all."
"First and foremost, we congratulate all who will be fighting tomorrow and deeply thank those who lost for doing their very best. You are in no way dismissed from the colliseum now and have actually received even greater privileges than before. Aside from spending your days inside these walls, you are now permitted to see your fellow brawlers fight firsthand. There is a special first-class area directly underneath the balcony that you'll be allowed in at anytime and again, we thank you for being such good sports and doing so well. If you wish to remain here, you are permitted to, but at this time, only those that will continue fighting tomorrow need to stay for a few more announcements."
As almost half of the brawlers present left the room, Peach addressed those that remained.
"Again, we congratulate you all for coming this far. You won't remain here long, but we suppose you should receive somewhat of a warning for tomorrow. The audience was asked to give requests for what twists will be added to the matches, so things will be much different than they were today. In addition to these twists, you'll also be getting these back again."
As the brawlers moved inward to see what she was retrieving, Peach turned around again with a case in her hands, which, when she opened it, held three small devices.
"Starting tomorrow, we will be reincorporating the damage factor, the mid-air jump, and the shield, which have always been among the few things that we all share in this tournament. While advantages are given by these factors, there are also ways that they can be used against you, though I'm sure most of you know this already. The next round will be much more difficult than the first, so be sure to keep this in mind."
As she closed the case again and put it away, Zelda dismissed the brawlers.
"Well, we're all adults here...for the most part. I suppose we don't have a curfew, but be sure to use every hour of your days wisely, including those during which you sleep. We shall see you all tomorrow. Goodnight."
The remaining brawlers responded in unison, though some were a little off key.
"Goodnight."
