Chakra Wizard
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Chapter 13 - Familiar Territory
Within the corridors of the colliseum, the remaining contestants had gathered in the mess hall, waiting for word from their fellow brawlers. Many had struck up conversations with one another, while others were using the mess hall for its primary purpose, but they all had one particular question on their minds. After a few long moments, Samus Aran walked through the mess hall doors with the intention of answering it for them. Her entrance caught the attention of every brawler present, each as anxious to find out the answer as the next. After a short moment of utter silence, Luigi was the unlikely hero to ask the lingering question.
"So? What was-a da secret element?"
Her reply was short and straightforward.
"They set up extra platforms over the stadium. Just more ground to tread."
Almost every brawler present breathed a sigh of relief in near unison. It seemed that those audience members who had voted the previous day preferred to give the brawlers a much less match-altering factor to start off the next round of the tournament, which most of them proved grateful for. Some, on the other hand, showed no physical concern for what could now be expected when they were called to the stadium, the individuals of which could be divided into two groups. There were those whose pride refused to allow them to show any form of worry, which included Bowser and Fox. Then, there were those whose humbleness rarely allowed them to show any emotions save for one, which, for some, brought to mind Mario and Link. But, for most, the presence of platforms was rather beneficial. As everyone continued with their previous activities, two brawlers in particular stood up from the seats and proceeded to leave the room, ready to begin their match.
"Good luck, bro."
Acknowledging his brother's wishes with a nod and a small smile, Mario followed Kirby outside and towards the stadium.
In the balcony overlooking the arena, Peach and Zelda were engaged in a short conversation about the coming match and the conditions surrounding it.
"I must say, this has a familiar aura to it, Zelda."
The older of the princesses nodded her head in agreement.
"Indeed. And a strange one, as well. The last time we were in these seats watching these two brawl, the colliseum itself was under attack..."
A small, but cheerful smile formed on her face as she looked at her counterpart.
"...Well, we can only hope things go much smoother this time."
A soft giggle emerged from beneath Peach's hand as she stood up to address the colliseum.
"Congratulations to Samus for her stunning victory, but the second round has only just begun. May we ask our next two brawlers to join us? ...Mario,..."
The audience erupted into cheer at the mention of this crowd favorite.
"...Kirby,..."
The colliseum grew all the more louder as this other fan favorite's name was called.
"...please enter the arena!"
As the two walked out into the sunlight of mid-day, they were greeted by hundreds of thousands of screaming fans. Kirby's childish mind kept him fixated on the three platforms that he didn't recall seeing yesterday, while Mario was far too humble to give the crowd even the slightest wave of his hand. Though, despite the volume that the audience had managed to reach, it took not but a few seconds for silence to fall over them once again. Taking their positions just as they did five years prior, the two brawlers stood by, awaiting the referee's signal.
"3, 2, 1, GO!"
While Kirby immediately proceeded to the nearest platform, Mario chose to remain at ground level for the time being. Having more experience than most of the brawlers, he was well aware that, while having the high ground was a natural advantage, it is always foolish to not first have a strategy in place. Taking the time to think of one before making a more, he then proceeded to pass beneath the closest platform. Knowing that Kirby lacked any moves to help defend himself from below, Mario made his way beneath the platfrom upon which he stood and used his Super Jump Punch, passing through the platform and landing multiple hits on Kirby.
Disconnecting after inflicting ten points of damage, Mario fell back onto the platform, though, to his surprise, Kirby did not. Before he could direct his vision upwards, however, a sharp pain came over his back as he was pushed onto the ground. Lifting himself back up, he looked toward his previous position to catch a glimpse of a large purple stone, one of Kirby's transformations. Knowing he had a short while before he returned to normal, Mario took a quick look at his damage counter, which showed fourteen points of damage, before leaping to his feet and taking a battle-ready stance beside the large stone. Keeping his hands at the ready, he waited for Kirby to return to his original form before grabbing him and using his Tornado Spin to toss him off the platform, inflicting another twelve points of damage in the process.
Hoping to gain from Mario's previous tactics, upon hitting the ground, Kirby quickly rolled underneath the platform and used his Final Cutter attack, ascending through the platform and catching Mario on his blade. The force of the attack pushed him forward and off the platform once it reconnected with the ground, inflicting fifteen more points of damage in total. With the intent of inflicting as much damage as possible, Kirby quickly proceeded to ground level and used his trademark ability to inhale Mario into his mouth, spitting him out for another two points of damage afterwards. Having managed to absorb Mario's Fireball abilities upon inhaling him, Kirby immediately put them to good use, managing to hit Mario with four fireballs before the latter was able to retreat to the highest platform.
Now having a moment to catch his breath, Mario immediately fixated his eyes on his damage counter, upon which read a four and a one. His eyes wide with shock, he quickly returned to his feet and proceeded to the edge of the arena, just as Kirby was about to join him on the platform. Realizing that his attacks would now have greater effects, he would be forced to rethink his strategy. Kirby had currently only taken twenty-two points of damage and, since he was now able to use Mario's Fireball attack, he had access to two long-range attacks, while Mario himself only had one. Therefore, attempting to inflict damage from a distance and then advancing in for a Meteor Smash would more likely backfire than be useful at this point. After searching through his mind, studying Kirby's movements and abilities, as well as his own, he finally found something that could possibly be used to his own advantage.
Jumping back into the match, he passed through the closest platform and proceeded onto the highest of the three, where Kirby still stood. Noticing his opponent's approach, Kirby quickly unleashed an array of fireballs to collide with Mario. To his surprise, however, shortly after they began drifting away, they suddenly reversed their direction and damage him instead. As the flames ceased to cloud his vision, he took notice of a small, yellow cape just as Mario put it away again. Before he could question himself on what he saw though, he witnessed as Mario passed through the platform again, quickly reappearing below him, using his Super Jump Punch as he did before. Not wanting to make the mistake he made before while using his Stone transformation, Kirby instead attempted to use his Final Cutter attack once more, utilizing it in mid-air before bringing the attack down to ground level. Mario only repeated his previous actions, using his cape to cause the visible force of the attack to shift direction, sending it clashing into Kirby. With the reflected attack having dazed his opponent, Mario took the opportunity to use his strongest Smash attack, sending Kirby flying off the stage.
Having one of the best recovery methods among all the brawlers, Kirby would have had no trouble making his way back onto the stadium, but unfortunately, his opponent had no intentions of letting this match drag on any longer. Meeting him in mid-air, Mario finished him off with a strong lowercut, which, at Kirby's current damage count, made for a very powerful Meteor Smash. Having not yet used his mid-air jump, he quickly did so and grabbed onto the arena ledge, only turning back to watch his opponent fall into the abyss.
The crowd's cheers instantly filled the colliseum once again, seemingly pleased with the outcome of this amazing match.
"Game! The winner is...Mario!"
Waiting patiently for his opponent to reappear, Mario gave a few glances about the stadium and managed a few waves of his hand, even sending an air kiss in Peach's direction, which she cheerfully received and paid in kind. When Kirby finally reappeared on the stage, he bore no ill will or grudge against Mario, though he was more so the least likely of them all to actually do so. A simple, firm handshake signified their continued friendship and the two left as they came. Peach reconfirmed the familiarity of the scene.
"Even after five years, there's still no difference in exchange between them. It's as if I was seeing déjà vu."
Zelda friendlily complied with her statement.
"Well, there are two differences between those two scenes."
"Oh?"
"The first is that those platforms weren't present last time. The second is that the fighting actually stopped once the match ended this time around."
They shared a laugh at this.
Within the corridor halls, after dismissing themselves, Kirby ran off in the direction of the mess hall, while Mario left to search for his brother. After about ten minutes, he finally found Luigi wandering through the halls. Thrilled to see red-clad twin, Luigi immediately ran up to him and greeted him with a hug, which Mario happily returned.
"Way to go, Mario! If all-a goes well, we may end up-a seeing each other in the semi-finals."
Giving a friendly nod, he continued to walk and converse with him through the halls, while being sure to stay near the arena doors. After a short conversation regarding personal topics and the tournament itself, Zelda's voice reemerged in the corridors.
"That was a very exciting match, would you not agree?"
The answer that the crowd gave her was solid confirmation that they did.
"Excellent! Then surely, you wouldn't mind seeing yet another exciting match-up!?
The answer was even louder than the previous one.
"Then will Luigi and Bowser please enter the arena?"
Returning his eyes to Luigi, Mario noticed a slight difference in his brother's expression. His face now had fear in it, most noticeably in his eyes. Luigi was frightened of almost everything, but ghosts and Bowser were by far his greatest fears. Knowing that his assumption had to be true, he placed his hand on his brother's shoulder and gave him a reassuring expression. Color refilled Luigi's face again, his eyes returned to their usual size, and a small smile enveloped on his face, letting Mario know that his message got through.
"...Th-thanks, bro."
Patting his hand on his back before removing it, Mario looked on as his brother ran off to the now opening doors, ready to face off against Bowser, just as he himself had done numerous times in his past. When the doors were closed once again, he turned away and proceeded toward the mess hall, confident that Luigi would be able to succeed. They were brothers, after all.
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