Luigi's Nightmares

Shadow of a Hero

Master Hand had dropped Luigi off at Midgar, a stage which screamed steampunk. The stage itself was constructed of steel, and the backdrop was dark and murky and hazy. Frankly, Luigi found it more depressing than frightening. Why was he fighting Cloud Strife, anyway? The ex-SOLDIER was an all-right, if brooding, guy. Maybe it had something to do with his home world. Luigi wasn't really a Final Fantasy bluff, so he had no way of knowing. He'd just have to figure it out as he went along.

Footsteps on the steel floor brought him back to the present. Another pair of glowing red eyes stared menacingly at him. Luigi frowned. That didn't look like Cloud. Then, he saw the outline of a pointy hat, a shield, and a sword. His breath hitched. This could only mean one thing—the man standing across from him was Dark Link!

Fighting four Dark Toon Links was bad enough. Here, Luigi would have to expend every drop of sweat in his body to best Dark Link. At least it wasn't Fierce Deity Link, with those blank white eyes and that paint on his face. Luigi couldn't make up his mind as to which of those two iterations of Link was scarier.

"You can do this, L," he whispered to himself as Dark Link did a few flourishes with his sword. "You can do this."

"Ready...GO!"

"Hyahh!" cried Dark Link, lunging at Luigi. But the man in pink sidestepped the Master Sword and punched him twice in the stomach before bumping him away with his rump. Dark Link fell on his back, but was back up in seconds, growling. Luigi discouraged him from lunging again with his fireballs, but Dark Link smirked, took out a Spirit Bomb, and then flung it at his opponent. Quickly, Luigi rolled out of the way, lashed out with a breakdance kick, grabbed Dark Link, and hurled him over to his own bomb before throwing a single fireball at them.

The Spirit Bomb exploded in a burst of blue light, launching Dark Link upward. Luigi jumped onto the topmost platform and hacked at his foe with karate chops, ending the combo with his Cyclone. Dark Link recovered, and Luigi hopped out of the way of that sword and then did a flip kick, and then repeated twice more before knifing his hand into Dark Link, doubling him over.

Luigi grabbed him then, pummeled him twice, and then slammed him down, performing another one of his combos. But Dark Link grew tired of this. He broke free with a kick to the face, unleashed a flurry of rapid-fire sword slashes, and then did three giant overhead slashes, knocking Luigi skyward. Dark Link followed him and did his Spin Attack. But the attack left him in freefall, and Luigi took advantage with a down aerial, meteor-smashing him into the stage.

As Dark Link rose, glowering, Luigi noticed a red orb floating toward him. Curious, he snagged it. When he did, the area around him and Dark Link went almost completely black. An ominous bright light flickered in the sky, and Luigi just barely managed to vault to safety when a laser beam slammed into the stage, cleaving it in two.

"That's interesting," shrugged Luigi.

The two halves of the stage rejoined, and then Dark Link jumped toward his foe, sword raised. Luigi just parried the attack and punched him upward, followed up with a n-air, then a u-air—and then Dark Link thrust his sword downward, slamming Luigi to the floor.

As the plumber rolled to his knees, Dark Link hurled his gale boomerang. First, the weapon smashed into Luigi's face, stunning him. Next, the gale pulled Luigi toward Dark Link, allowing him to snag him with his Clawshot, pummel him with the hilt of his sword, and then toss him up to style a combo on him. Luigi freed himself with his n-air and took the lead back with his Cyclone.

"Hyahh!" Dark Link screamed again as he lashed back with his sword and shot arrows at his opponent. But Luigi still got up to land crisp strikes on him. The only substantial thing Dark Link was able to do was briefly stun Luigi with Spirit Bombs before whaling away. But the plumber tapped into the skills he'd utilized from his fight with the four Dark Toon Links, throwing his fireballs and playing cat-and-mouse with him, leaping between platforms, backflipping and cartwheeling and shrugging off sword slashes as if they were nothing. By now, Dark Link began to grow frustrated, his already red eyes blazing and his teeth bared, giving him a truly terrifying appearance. Luigi's heart pumped furiously, but he kept at it, dancing in for rapid-fire strikes, dancing out before his foe could retaliate, flicking out fireballs, dealing a Smash attack when he had the opportunity, and of course, sailing into him with his side-B when he felt confident enough. But time was running out, and he needed to end this fight quickly.

Staring unflinchingly into Dark Link's enraged face, Luigi continued to engage him until the dark elf was nearly tired out. And then, Luigi dashed in close, clenched his fist, pulled back, and—KRIIINNNGGG!

Midgar erupted in a spectacular flash of fire as the Super Jump Punch hit home and rendered Dark Link down for the count.

"GAME!"

Luigi smiled as Master Hand rematerialized. He was feeling pretty good!