Umbra Clock Tower was a fairly hazard-less stage, but the ambience was a tad disorienting. The main platform was shaped like a clock and continually rose like an elevator. Smaller platforms materialized intermittently, and serpent-like creatures would fly by. Two years after the stage was first introduced, its scare factor hadn't diminished.
Luigi studied the Umbra Witch standing across from him. Bayonetta was introduced late in the fourth tournament as a DLC character, the winner of 2015's Smash Ballot. She had a lot of powerful moves at her disposal, the most powerful being Witch Time, where she trapped her opponents in slow motion to whale on them. Also, she had a lot of combos in her toolset. People spewed salt behind her back and yelled at Master Hand over it, leading to her nerf in mid-2016. Who knew that Luigi and Bayo had so much in common? He used to have a plethora of down throw combos, until he was hit with a nerf in September 2015 after enough people made a scene. But that was ancient history. This was a new tournament, he had a new tether grab, and he'd put together new, better combos.
At least he wasn't banned in legal tournament play, but he came close to before Master Hand nerfed him.
Bayonetta smiled invitingly at Luigi, pistols in hand. Her stiletto heels were also pistol-equipped. She had richly dark, wavy hair which she used to summon demons. However, since Master Hand wanted to keep these tournaments family-friendly, she showed considerably less than she did in her home world. But we're getting off-topic here.
"Hello, L," she said. "Ready when you are."
Luigi nodded and raised his fists. To him, Bayo didn't seem entirely scary. She was more alluring than spooky. All she did was hunt angels, and since he wasn't an angel, he had nothing to worry about. Her attacks, on the other hand, were what he needed to watch out for. They were high-damage and chained into themselves. The fact that they were significantly toned down from her home series did little to help.
"Ready—GO!"
Bayonetta busted a few moves. "Let's dance!" she cried.
Confidently, she strutted towards Luigi, but the man in pink was ready for her. He shot off a few fireballs, and then tether-grabbed her, slamming her forwards. Bayo simply shook it off and began her Bullet Climax, firing first with her pistols, and then with her stiletto heel pistols. Her foe shielded the last few shots, crouched down and propelled himself toward her, and then grabbed her, ejected her upwards and mashed her with his Cyclone move.
"Too close," smirked Bayo, activating her Witch Time before combo-ing Luigi with her Witch Twist. Unfortunately for her, his n-air saved him from losing the fight, and his new z-air pushed her away, allowing him to fastfall and regroup himself.
But Bayo had a few more tricks up her sleeve. She wound up and summoned a giant demon fist, which delivered a wicked haymaker punch to Luigi's body, knocking him sprawling. Next, she snagged him with a Heel Slide and sent him into the air with a cartwheeling kick. Slightly dazed, Luigi tossed out another n-air and a flip kick before knocking her away with a b-air. But she managed to summon another giant fist, this time giving Luigi a massive uppercut.
Luigi landed hard, but he still had enough breath in him to leap to his feet and negate Bayo's next charge with a forward smash. The Umbra Witch crumpled, but she rolled to her feet and performed her neutral attack. Luigi parried a few of the pistol whip punches, but he soon became overwhelmed by the flurry. After the attack, Bayonetta kicked out thrice, did a Witch Twist upward, and then an After-Burner Kick. Luigi broke out of the combo with a n-air and meteor-smashed her with his d-air.
He grabbed her then, slamming her down and hitting her with a succession of d-airs and n-airs before forcing her backward with f-airs. He aimed an up-B at her, but she dodged with her Bat Within, leaving him in a vulnerable state.
Bayo didn't even wait for him to hit the ground. Relentlessly, she assailed him with kicks and pistol whipping, summoning that giant fist from time to time. She wasn't among the strongest Smashers for having a pretty face. But Luigi wasn't about to take this! He threw out his n-air when he could, managing to hit back with punches, bicycle kicks, fireballs and his forward smash. He backflipped out of range of her Witch Time and Misfired into her torso, and then grabbed her and slammed her backwards. She sailed toward the edge, but Luigi waited for her there, throwing fireballs and hampering her recovery. Eventually, she flipped herself above him and punished with an axe kick, but Luigi DI'd before she could follow up, did another d-air spike, delivered a hard kick and fired a piercing forward smash into her waist, sending her back offstage. Balancing himself precariously on the stage, he watched her approach, timed things very carefully, and then—
Before the Umbra Witch could grab the ledge, Luigi gave her a simply, shy dirt kick. Wearing a stunned look, Bayonetta plunged straight downward into the blast zone.
"GAME!"
Luigi exhaled slowly. Bayonetta had given him one whopper of a fight! He was beginning to understand why Spain almost banned her in their tournaments. Then, he chided himself for thinking such things, remembering the hate and salt over his down throw and how they pushed Master Hand into nerfing him. Would select countries and cities have banned him, too? Luigi shook his head, getting the past out of his mind. There was certainly no talk of banning or nerfing him, now. Maybe it was out of sympathy after...
What a joke, tricking him into going inside that castle, his ghost-busting skills failing him for the first time ever, bringing him face to face with that creature. Luigi knew without a doubt that Waluigi had been behind it, with him being upset that he was still stuck on Assist Trophy duty. Why did he take it out on poor Luigi? Waluigi always took things out on Luigi. The purple-clothed man didn't like him, and the feeling was mutual. The man in pink had a good mind to change into his purple ensemble just to spite his foil.
Luigi also couldn't wait to see the look on Waluigi's face once he completed his route and put all of his nightmares to rest. He wouldn't be so quick to play practical jokes on him then.
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Luigi's Nightmares
Fanfiction"Cowardly" isn't synonymous with "useless". Luigi has demonstrated this time and again. With the Super Smash Bros Ultimate tournament underway, a new challenge will push him like never before. Will he succeed?