The first fight of this "Smash" competition had ended in a draw, and a winded Mario and Link now sat in the stands with the rest of the fighters. Master Hand didn't give them much time to relax, however.

  "We'll now move onto the next of the matches," he said. "Kirby will now face off against Jigglypuff."

  The two pink creatures vanished from the stands. "Do you think this matchup is happening because they look similar?" Fox asked. No-one had any disagreement.

  The battlefield on which Link and Mario had fought was already disappearing. In its place, forming beneath the feet of Kirby and Jigglypuff, was a concrete ground that expanded into the top of a tower in a modern cityscape. A sign on a distant building read "Saffron City" while the building itself was labelled as "Silph Co."

  "Pika!" Pikachu stood up, seemingly in recognition of the place. He made as if to jump towards it, but an invisible barrier stopped him from leaving the stands, and he fell to the ground with a small whimper.

  "Is that your home?" Samus asked.

  "Pikachu." He nodded slowly.

  Jigglypuff seemed like she was having a similar reaction to the stage, running around the top of the roof and touching things. But as she did, she suddenly stopped, and drooped in disappointment.

  "What's wrong with her?" Ness asked.

  "She's realising it's not her world," Mario said. "I had the same thing at the start of my battle. These worlds are like copies of ours."

  Fox grimaced. "That's a pretty crud thing to do. That Master Hand..." he glanced up at the floating hand, which took no notice of him.

  "Ready? Go!" Master Hand began the next fight, and discussion about the battlefield ceased.

  Kirby ran forwards, moving strangely fast despite not really having legs, and drew back one of his small arms to hit Jigglypuff. Jigglypuff responded by breathing in deeply and nearly doubling in size. Kirby hit her and seemed to do no damage, but Jigglypuff started to roll away towards the edge of the building. She quickly dispelled the air from her body, and got back onto her feet.

  Jigglypuff went on the attack now, diving forwards with an outstretched arm with intent to land a pound on Kirby. However, a moment before the attack connected Kirby opened his mouth. He made a sucking motion, and Jigglypuff appeared inside.

  The other fighters stared in shock. "Did he just..." Fox asked.

  "I think I'm gonna be sick," Luigi said, moving closer to the edge of the stand.

  "Do you think he could do that to the rest of us?" Samus asked.

  As they kept watching, Kirby's body underwent a strange metamorphosis. A pair of catlike ears, similar to Jigglypuff's, grew out of the top of his head, followed by a sweeping lock of pink hair that resembled the one on his swallowed opponent. He spat a writhing Jigglypuff onto the floor in front of him, and those changes didn't go away.

  "That was horrifying," Captain Falcon summarised.

  Kirby dived forwards, moving in exactly the same way that Jigglypuff had before and slamming her with the same pound attack that she had tried. Jigglypuff was caught off guard and took the full force of the hit.

  "That technique was perfect!" Samus used her visor to replay the attack, with an overlay of Jigglypuff's earlier. "The form was exactly the same!"

  "Which means that Kirby can copy our techniques?" Fox asked. "That's crazy! What exactly is he!"

  Jigglypuff had struggled to her feet, but Kirby didn't let her recover. He pulled a sword as if from nowhere and swept it upwards, its weight somehow being enough to pull him off the ground and into the air. At the height of the giant swing he changed the sword's direction and swung it downwards, taking himself with it. Jigglypuff dodged backwards out of the way of the sword, but as the blade hit the ground it created a wave of white energy that flew forwards, carving a path threw the air. Jigglypuff only had time to gasp before it hit her, sending her flying far off the stage. The match was over.

  Mario picked his jaw up off the ground as Kirby and Jigglypuff were returned to the stands. Kirby had won so quickly, and he hadn't even taken a hit. And even more than that, he hadn't even seemed like he was trying. Just how powerful was he?

  Kirby seemed uninterested in answering this questions - not that anyone would have been able to understand him. As soon as he was back in the stands his eyes closed, and he settled into what appeared to be some kind of sleep, with a small bubble of saliva emerging from where his nose would be.

  "Next up, we have the fight between Donkey Kong and Captain Falcon!" Master Hand announced, snapping his fingers. The battlefield melted away as the two fighters were pulled from the stands.

  "Mario," Samus said, turning to look at him. "That Donkey Kong - he's from your world, right? What can you tell us about him?"

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Mario considered. "He's a good enough guy, nowadays," he said. "And probably the strongest guy that I know." Technically, he thought, Bowser might have been stronger. But that wasn't really important at the moment.

  "Meanwhile, Captain Falcon is a wild card," Link added. "We don't know what he can do. But if he's been selected to face Donkey Kong, then he must be strong."

  A new battlefield was just finishing forming. It appeared to be in a jungle, resembling a set of wooden huts that Mario knew instinctively were just part of the setting. They were on wooden platforms upon a raging river, which it seemed would be the battlefield. Captain Falcon and Donkey Kong appeared on the planks, and looked around at their surroundings. Donkey Kong sniffed angrily.

  "Not home!" he protested, seeing the shoddy recreation of the jungle.

  "Why does Master Hand create these fake versions of the places we come from?" Luigi wondered aloud.

  Master Hand didn't give them time to ponder the question. "Go!" he yelled.

  Donkey Kong moved first, leaping across the battlefield in a single bound and slamming a giant fist into Captain Falcon's chest. The man was thrown backwards by the force of the image, tumbling over the edge of the platform and only barely being able to grab the edge an instant before he would have been lost to the fast moving river.

  "Wow," he said, pulling himself up and getting to his feet. "You really do pack a bunch, eh big guy?"

  He ran forwards, keeping his body low to make himself a smaller target. Donkey Kong waited for him to get close, then slapped the ground, hard. The wood shook from the impact, and the Captain lost his balance. Donkey Kong pulled back his fist to deliver another huge blow, but at the last second Captain Falcon twisted his body to one side, avoiding the punch. He struck upwards, hitting Donkey Kong under the arm, but the ape barely seemed to register the punch and went for a backhand. Captain Falcon threw himself backwards, avoiding the the attack, but he had lost his close range advantage.

  Donkey Kong took a few steps back, and rubbed his chest where he had been struck.

  "Whoa!" Ness realised. "So that punch actually did do some damage! He must be really strong as well!"

  "Any guy that can punch an ape that size and have it do damage isn't gonna be weak," Fox agreed. "Though, it didn't do anywhere near as much as the big guy's punch."

  Captain Falcon ran at Donkey Kong again, keeping himself in the same low position as before. Donkey Kong raised his palm to slap the ground again, but in the instant before he connected Captain Falcon jumped high into the air and landed behind the ape. He then let off a barrage of punches - the others were shocked to see flames gathering around his fists as he swung. These punches were clearly doing some damage, forcing Donkey Kong to raise his arms to guard his face as he took several steps back. Soon, he was close to the edge of the platform.

  "Sorry, big guy, but I don't fall for the same trick twice!" Captain Falcon announced. "Now!" He pulled back his fist, and fire gathered around it. There was more this time - somewhere in the distance, Mario heard the cry of some kind of bird. "Falcon...!"

  He swung as hard as he could, fire coating his body and forming the shape of a large bird. Donkey Kong saw it coming and reacted with all the instincts of millions of years of evolution. He caught the fist in one hand, and felt the burning flames on his palm. Even with that, the force of the punch was almost enough to send him into the water, but he stood his ground. The flames disappeared, and Captain Falcon found himself standing with one arm firmly grasped by the ape.

  "Ah," he said. "Now before you doing anything -"

  He was lifted off his feet and slammed hard into the floor three times before he could finish his sentence. Then Donkey Kong swung him around a few times, slapped him with his free hand, before finally clasping him to his chest and jumping into the air. Captain Falcon woke from the very temporary unconscious to see that the wooden battlefield was swiftly rushing towards him, and he had a great ape on top of him that was about to squash him.

  Realising that one leg was free, he yelled "Falcon Kick!" and slammed his flaming foot into Donkey Kong as hard as he could. The attack knocked them both off balance, and instead of being crushed they both hit the ground at the same time.

  "What's happening?" Ness asked, craning in his seat. All he could see was a cloud of dust.

  Samus turned on her heat scanners and gasped. Within the cloud of dust, both of the fighters were on their feet, facing one another down. Fox, who must have had a similar device in the small visor over his eye, had a similar reaction.

  "They're still going after all that?" he marvelled.

  When the dust cleared, it became obvious that neither fighter was in great shape. Captain Falcon was wobbling every few seconds, while Donkey Kong was breathing extra heavily, while his fur seemed agitated as it by a crazy brush.

  "Well," Captain Falcon said breathlessly. "Looks like you've got about as much fight left in me as I do."

  Donkey Kong's mouth curled into a smile. "Yes. You strong."

  Captain Falcon matched his smile. "Well, since we're both at the limit, how about we settle this by hitting one another as hard as we can?" He drew his fist back and started concentrating on having energy gather in his fingers. Flames, bigger than any he had summoned so far, burst to life. "How does that sound?"

  "Good!" Donkey Kong replied. He brought his fist back and began to swing it in a circular motion. Mario and Luigi leant forwards, recognising the move. "The Giant Punch," Luigi muttered.

  "You know about it?" Fox asked.

  Mario nodded. "That wind up move he's doing, that's how he builds up strength. He's about to hit like a truck."

  "But those flames Captain Falcon is holding are intense," Samus announced. "He must also have a lot of power."

  Link stayed silent. If he was going to fight one of these two, it would be a good idea to watch for a weak point in their attacks. He glanced briefly at Kirby. If that thing held so much power, he couldn't afford to underestimate anyone.

  "Go, both of you!" Ness cried, his face flush with excitement.

  Captain Falcon heard him, and nodded at Donkey Kong. "You ready, big guy?" he asked.

  Donkey Kong responded with a bellowing challenge. Captain Falcon took that as a yes and dived forwards, coating himself with flames that resembled a giant bird. "Falcon Punch!" he cried. He put all of his might into his arm and swung at Donkey Kong. The ape met his attack head on with his own punch. Captain Falcon was surprised by how much resistance he had met - to think the giant ape was this strong.

  To the others, it looked like Donkey Kong was grappling with a giant, flaming bird. And not just grappling, winning, because the bird was being pushed back, its wings folding inwards like they were in pain.

  "Even if this fight is meaningless," Captain Falcon said, through gritted teeth. "Even if we're dancing at the behest of a monster, I'll still not lose! My pride won't allow it!" The bird spread its wings once again, the flames doubling in size. Donkey Kong began to be pushed back, but he was still mostly holding back Captain Falcon. With his free hand he beat his chest and bellowed, and dug in his feet. He stopped moving, and the bird cried out in frustration. Man and Ape roared in unison as their clash seemed, for a moment, frozen in time.