Chakra Wizard
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Chapter 5 - Overcoming Two Dimensions
"...Mama mia. He could kill a vulture with that odor."
Having managed to avoid Wario's last attack, along with the stench that came with it, Luigi found himself at odds with his large and...rather vulgar opponent. Though he's managed to avoid taking alot of damage, he had yet to inflict much either. Wario himself thought of this match-up as a joke, having been laughing the entire battle.
"Ha ha haha ha! And I thought your brother was a wuss! C'mere green, so we can make this easier than it has to be."
Obviously underestimating his potential, Luigi used this to his advantage. Walking slowly toward his opponent, he waited for Wario to attempt to strike him. Sure enough, he plunged forward in an attempt to bite him, only for Luigi to duck and begin building up power. Being unaware of Luigi's own attack methods at the Smash, Wario saw this as another joke.
"Huh? What're you trying to use my Waft move or something? Ha! You look like a-"
Before the insult left his mouth, his eyes widened in shock and pain as Luigi's Green Missile move sent him soaring into Wario's stomach. Sending him to the ground, the crowd cheered as Luigi got back on his feet, having seemingly knocked his gluttonous opponent unconscious. As he turned his back to wave his arms to the crowd, the roar of an engine caused him to twist his head back around. Through however unorthodox a method, Wario was now sitting back on his motorbike, preparing to run Luigi into the ground.
"I'll teach ya for that, twerp!"
Now screaming across the stadium, his path was locked dead onto where Luigi was standing. Waiting until the last moment to avoid him, Luigi's jumping abilities, which surpassed those of his red-clad brother, enabled him to jump over the entire bike, which ran out of control towards the edge of the arena, much to Wario's dismay.
"NonononononoNOOOOO!!"
The bike soared off the edge of the arena, its driver still seated, as the crowd erupted into cheer. The referee hovered down to the arena and confirmed Luigi's victory.
"Game! The winner is...Luigi!"
After a few short moments of jumping around triumphantly, Luigi made his way out of the arena, followed shortly by the recovered Wario, who was mumbling something rather obscene under his breath.
From within the corridors, the two youngest brawlers, at least of those that were human, were having a discussion about the coming matches. The young boy wearing a red cap held much confidence in himself and had no doubts that he would move on to the next round. The boy with blonde hair known as Lucas, on the other hand, displayed signs of not only nervousness, but fear. This not only showed in his appearance, but in his speech, as well.
"I don't know, Ness. What if I have to face someone like Ganondorf or Wolf that won't stop at just beating me unconscious? What if I'm beaten to death out there? What if I get thrown off the edge and the hoverboard doesn't catch me? What-?"
His rant was silenced by a small smack to the left cheek.
"Lucas, calm down. I was one of the first twelve here and no one has ever died before. The worst that could happen is you get knocked unconscious and the match automatically ends. That's it."
Rubbing his cheek as he listened to him, Lucas lowered his head in self-pity.
"I know, Ness. I'm always so nervous and...scared for almost no reason at all. I don't know why, but I just...don't ever think I can do anything."
His friend placed his hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up.
"You know what that's called, Lucas? It's having no self-confidence. You have to think that you are capable of doing something or you won't be able to. It's like making a wish. All you have to do is believe."
Seeing that he was slowly getting through to him, though still seeing doubt in his eyes, Ness continued.
"You know, we've both gotten some impressive power from our PSI."
Lucas looked up into his eyes as he mentioned the psychic abilities that they both possessed.
"But even while we share most of our skills, there are some things that you can do that I can't."
A smile formed on Lucas's at Ness's mentioning of this. It was true that there were some PK powers that were unique to them both, which gave each of them their own perks in battle. Some of his own abilities even surpassed Ness's in strength. Understanding his message, Lucas placed his hand on his friend's arm.
"Thanks, Ness."
They smiled at one another before turning their heads toward the speakers. It seemed the next match-up was about to be announced by Peach.
"And our next two brawlers are going to be...Lucas and...Mr. Game & Watch!"
Any confidence Lucas had in the last three minutes almost completely drained out of him. Game & Watch was the oldest of the brawlers, having been around even longer than Mario and Donkey Kong, and despite the harmlessness posed by his two-dimensional form, his weak facade was quite literally paper-thin. He had found himself more than capable of taking on veteran brawlers during his time at the Smash, knowingly having defeated such names as Fox, Captain Falcon, Luigi, and even Link. Ness, who saw the doubt that was now in his eyes, placed his hand on his shoulder.
"It's alright. You're gonna do just fine. Remember your own strength and if all else fails, just wish that you'll win."
As Lucas turned around to respond, Ness was already making his way down the hallway, most likely to the mess hall. Breathing in deeply, he quickly pulled himself together and made his way to the arena.
As Lucas turned the corner to the arena doorway, he caught a glimpse of his first opponent, waiting in his everchanging pose for the doors to begin opening. Slowly walking up beside him, he found it difficult to take his eyes off the legend that was standing next to him, though whether it was in awe or in fear that he looked on at him was unclear to him. The one brawler truly incapable of any form of speech, Mr. Game & Watch made no sound or greeting as he turned, if his nearly instantaneous movements could be called such, towards his opponent. Using all his willpower not to look at the small, two-dimensional being, Lucas began shivering in anticipation. Tilting his head, Game & Watch looked at him in confusion, wondering what was keeping the child beside him from looking at him. Sensing his continued gaze, sweat began dropping off Lucas's brow, making him breathe a sigh of relief when the doors finally began to open after four long minutes, though it felt much longer.
The crowd gave a roar of excitement as the two brawlers made their way across the bridge to the center arena, Lucas's utter lack of self-esteem instantly telling him that it was for his opponent. Taking their places on opposite sides of the arena, silence fell over the stadium and the referee began the countdown once more.
"3, 2, 1, GO!"
His cowardice taking over, Lucas completely forgot about his PSI as Game & Watch began running towards him. As he drew closer, Lucas did the only thing that his mind could tell him to and darted to the other side of the arena, making sure to keep his distance along the way. Seeing this, Game & Watch instantly stopped and watched in confusion and near shock at the cowardly behavior his opponent was showing. The crowd too was completely silenced by this, causing Lucas to nearly pass out from exhaustion.
Finally realizing that he would have to fight, Lucas pulled out his bat and began running towards Game & Watch. Noticing too late that he was holding a hammer in his hand, Lucas came into direct contact with Mr. Game & Watch's Judge attack. Watching the panel above his head with a look of fear in his eyes, Lucas breathed a quick sigh of relief as a "2" appeared on it, dealing him only a small amount of damage. Regaining his footing, he gripped his bat firmly and swung it at Game & Watch, only for his pixelated movements to give the impression that he had disappeared. Looking up, Lucas saw him now floating toward the other side of the arena with a parachute. Without thinking ahead, he darted towards him, his bat at the ready.
Upon touching the ground, Game & Watch turned to see his opponent centering in on him, quickly pulling out a bucket of oil and tossing it in his direction. Recognizing his Oil Panic attack, Lucas quickly slowed down to avoid the large mass of pixelated liquid, which quickly became a puddle upon which Lucas began to slide uncontrollably. Finding himself focused solely on the problem at hand, he failed to notice that Game & Watch had once again pulled out his hammer. Lucas never even saw the hammer make contact with his forehead, nor did he see the "8" that appeared on the panel above his head, but before he knew it, he had become encased in a large mass of ice, much to the crowd's excitement and to his dismay. All the thoughts in his head were fixated solely upon his failure to prevent this.
"I can't move. Dang..., who would of thought that I would end up here? Of course I would end up here. What odds could I possibly have against hi-?"
His thoughts suddenly flashed back to his prior conversation with Ness.
...You have to think that you are capable of doing something or you won't be able to. It's like making a wish. All you have to do is believe...
"I...do believe. But what power do I have over him? What can I do?"
...we've both gotten some impressive power from our PSI...
"That's it!"
His mind returning to his present state of being, Lucas slowly began wiggling his limbs around, attempting to give himself enough room within the ice to move his lips. Within seconds, he got it.
"PK Thunder!"
The ice mass practically exploded as the large ball of electricity burst through it. The crowd let out a roar of excitement at these first signs of life from Lucas. Even Mr. Game & Watch, though he had no real way to show emotions, began to clap his hands together, knowing that the match had now truly begun. He darted toward his opponent, who stood ready to counter his next attack. As he centered in, Lucas put his plan to action.
"PK Fire!"
What started out as a spark roared into a wall of flames that Game & Watch had no choice but to propel himself over. Seeing him floating through the air with his parachute, Lucas took advantage of his vulnerability while airbourne.
"PK Thunder!"
His movements limited, the ball of electricity hit Game & Watch dead-on and sent him flying to the other side of the arena. Realizing that his speed and utter lack of long range attacks put him at a disadvantage, he decided to simply stay put until Lucas made the next move, which he did. Keeping his bat at the ready, Lucas began centering in on his opponent, prepared to counterattack should Game & Watch attempt to use his Judge attack. To his surprise though, rather than attack, Game & Watch simply turned around as Lucas jumped over him, believing that he would be dodging his hammer instead. As Lucas ascended through the air, Game & Watch waited patiently for him to come into range, whacking him with his hammer as he landed behind him. Much to Lucas's shock and relief, the panel above his head showed only a "5". The electrical charges that followed dealt a decent amount of damage, but Lucas was still in the brawl. Ready to bring an end to the brawl completely, he brought out his third PSI power.
"PK Freeze!"
Mr. Game & Watch found himself unable to escape his fate, quickly finding himself encased in the same prison of ice that he had Lucas in no more than a few minutes ago. Realizing that he was not yet out of the fight though, his opponent walked over to the mass of ice and began pushing it forward until it began tumbling off the arena. Seeing the amazing turn of events before them, the crowd erupted into cheer for the unlikely victor as the referee hovered closer to verify the results. Seeing Game & Watch descend beyond the point of no return, he finally confirmed it.
"Game! The winner is...Lucas!"
Finding himself too exhausted to celebrate, Lucas simply gave a wave to no one in particular before walking to the corridor entrance. Upon entering, he found himself face to face with the person who gave him the strength to win the brawl. After engaging in a friendly embrace, Ness looked at his friend with a casual smile, as if he knew that he would win. Returning the smile, Lucas walked through the hallways with him just as he had before the match, only this time, neither of them were filled with doubt. They conversed uninterrupted for the next fifteen minutes, only to be stopped by a sweet, familiar voice.
"The next match-up will be...Ness and Yoshi!"
Glancing at each other just as they did no more than forty minutes ago, Lucas opened his mouth as if to speak before slowly closing it again and smiling, knowing that at least one of them needed no words of reassurance. As Ness began walking away, he turned his head one last time.
"Nobody is completely certain of anything, Lucas. But, I appreciate the confidence you have in me."
His friend smiled one more time before giving him one last request.
"Take him down in twenty minutes tops."
Ness grinned and gave Lucas a thumbs-up before running down the hallway.
No more than fifteen minutes later, they were walking through the corridors yet again, talking about Ness's victory. Apparently, Yoshi had eaten too much fruit.
