Super Smash Bros. 2.5: Game Over

Chapter 12: The Cure

Luigi wasn't sure what time Mario and the others would show back up, or if Ryu would be with them. But he needed help now. This rage in him had torn into him. He'd had multiple points where he almost lost control. He wasn't sure what exactly he how he was able to control it this time around, since Zelda wasn't there, but he knew that if they didn't show up soon, he'd be in trouble. He sat in the throne room, looking at some of some of the fractured brick, from punching the walls. He felt the pain in his hand, and the trembling didn't help.
"Bro! We're back! And Ryu's here!" Luigi heard Mario's voice call as he saw his brother enter the throne room. Before Luigi could say a word, he felt his rage taking over him. Mario saw his brother fall to his knees, clutching his head.
"Come on, Luigi! Fight it!" Mario cried. Ryu and Ken quickly ran to see Luigi.
"It took over him that bad?" Ryu gasped.
"Yeah! We gotta stop him!" Mario cried. That was their thing Luigi heard before blacking out.
Luigi sat in the small, confined area. He'd seen himself come back here a lot recently, and he couldn't wait to get out of here, and to get this monster out of him. Speaking of...
"You don't have to sneak up on me. I know you're here. Your aura is disgustingly strong," Luigi said coldly, not turning around to face his foe.
"Hmph. So you noticed. I've got to say, you're not taking this power too well, are you?" His reflection replied smugly.
"It's because I don't want anything to do with you. I'm going to defeat Waluigi with my own power," Luigi answered, turning to face his reflection.
"It doesn't have to be that way. I'm giving you one last chance. Let me take over. We can work together and bury Waluigi so deep, no one will find him," the reflection said, sounding more menacing.
"I told you, but in case it wasn't clear enough, no. I don't need some dark power swelling over my conscious, wanting nothing but bloodshed and murder. There's been enough death in all of this. I'm not going to cause anymore. And that's final," Luigi answered firmly. The reflection only laughed. Then a menacing look appeared on his face.
"You never had a choice," the reflection said in a suddenly dark voice. He quickly let his energy burst. Instantly, Luigi fell to his knees, grabbing his head.
"GIVE IN TO YOUR RAGE!!!!" The reflection roared, sounding demonic.
"No... I won't...," Luigi gasped, struggling to fight off the pain...
Meanwhile, Luigi stood up. His eyes were red. His body was now incredibly buffed up. Red aura flashed all around his body.
"Unreal...," Mario gasped.
"It wasn't like this last time...," Ken muttered.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of this," Ryu said, in his normal serious tone. He stepped in front of Mario and the others, standing toward Luigi.
"I should thank you, Ryu. I would've never been able to get out of that pathetic shell," Luigi said, in a demonic voice.
"You should thank my revenant. He's the one who's give you this new lust for power. I think it's sickening," Ryu said.
"Revenants huh? Like how Mario's revenant said I wasn't his brother and I was a complete coward?" Luigi scoffed. Mario's eyes widened.
"Did I actually say that?" He wondered.
"I hate to break it to you, but power like that doesn't belong here. And it most certainly doesn't belong to you. It's best that it gets disposed of," Ryu told Luigi.
"Oh, really? How so? I wasn't even at my full power last time, and I swept the floor with these clowns," Luigi sneered. Ryu smiled.
"The only way to fight off the darkness... is with light!" Ryu replied. He got into his stance. As he did, a white light shown around him. Pretty soon, the white aura surrounded Ryu. Everyone looked in awe.
"What's this?" Luigi asked. It was more out of confusion than disbelief.
"Mu No Ken; the Power of Nothingness. A power that can match, or even surpass the Satsui No Hado," Ryu explained. Luigi only grinned evilly. He began to charge at Ryu.
"Well, it won't save you!!!" Luigi roared, preparing to strike his foe. Ryu swiftly dodged the attack. Seeing this, Luigi quickly began to wildly throw punches and kicks. Ryu easily dodged them, and eventually, tossed Luigi away from him to the floor. Luigi looked at Ryu, eyes burning with hate.
"DIE!!!!!!!!" Luigi screamed, charging back, and beginning to swing wildly again. Everyone watched in awe as Ryu easily dodged the attacks.
"How is he doing that? Luigi seems way faster now, but Ryu is almost dodging without effort," Mario asked Ken.
"Mu No Ken: The Power of Nothingness. I used it to finally stop Ryu," Ken smiled.
"Wait, we could have stopped this way before?" Sonic asked, in a shocked tone.
"I don't know that power all too well. Ryu has had it for a while now, and given that he's been able to also use the Satsui No Hado before, it makes sense that he's controlling the fight," Ken explained. Luigi, now, was throwing full flurries of punches. He'd tried many different techniques, and they all ended with him on his back. He wasn't having any luck with this either. As he closed in to try and land at least one punch, Ryu connected with a sharp right on the jaw. Luigi was slightly dazed, but threw a kick, hoping to throw off Ryu, but instead got him a spinning heel kick again in the jaw. Luigi was now even more dazed than before, and only managed to get a weak swing that wasn't even close. Ryu prepped to finish the deal.
"Shoryuken!" Ryu shouted, launching Luigi in the air to the floor. Ryu turned away from Luigi and began to walk to the group.
"Did you get him?" Mario asked.
"Just a second," Ryu replied. At that moment, Luigi got to his feet and with an enraged scream, took one final leap at Ryu. Ryu suddenly turned around and grabbed Luigi's forehead. A white aura surrounded his hand, and Luigi's body began to shake.
"He's beginning to purge it," Ken told Mario. After a few seconds, Ryu let go, and Luigi stumbled back, yelling in pain and clutching head.
"How... is this... happening?" Luigi seethed, stumbled back.
"Because light always trumps darkness," Mario said, standing next to Ryu.
"No... I... won't let you... GAH!" Luigi howled. As he moaned and stumbled around, the group heard a familiar voice.
"Ryu, now!"
"Luigi?" Mario asked in surprise."
"It's me, bro! Ryu, finish this thing off!" Luigi's voice shouted.
"Step back," Ryu told Mario. As he did, he charged a powerful ki blast in his palms. After a few seconds, it was ready.
"Shinku... HADOUKEN!!!" Ryu yelled, firing the blast at Luigi. Luigi screamed one final time as the blast took over his body.
When the beam cleared, Luigi was laying across the throne room. His clothes were tattered, and he wasn't moving.
"Luigi!" Mario cried. He and Zelda rushed over to check on him.
"Luigi, are you alright? Is the Satsui No Hado gone?" Zelda asked frantically, not knowing if Luigi was conscious.
"Yeah, I think so...," Luigi groaned. He looked at his hand. It was no longer shaking from the pure rage.
"I purged it out, so you won't have to worry about it coming back any more," Ryu replied, coming, walking up to Luigi.
"Thanks, Ryu. I'll be sure to pay you back," Luigi said.
"In the mean time, I think we should rest up before heading out again," Mario said. Everyone nodded and headed to their quarters. Back in Luigi's quarters, Zelda helped bandaged Luigi's injured hand.
"You can't keep hurting yourself you know. I'm not a nurse," Zelda said, as she wrapped the bandage around Luigi's wrist.
"I appreciate the concern."
"You know, this reminds me of... never mind."
"Tell me. It's about Link, isn't it?"
"Yeah... I used to do this whenever he was injured after defeating Ganondorf... sorry, I can't keep him out of my mind..."
"I don't mind. You telling me about Link gives me a good idea about what kind of person he was. When I met him, I didn't really get a chance to know him too well."
"You really don't mind?"
"Of course I don't mind. You're my friend. Friends have to bear each other's burdens, right?" Luigi asked. Zelda looked up and smiled.
"I guess you're right. If my burden to bear is to make sure you aren't injured, then that's my burden to bear," Zelda said.
After some rest, Mario approached Marth.
"After what's happened with the past two worlds, I think we should have smaller groups go back and forth. We won't be painting such a large target on our backs," Mario suggested. Marth thought about it, and nodded.
"I think you're right."
"So, how do you want to do it?"
"As of now, I want be here, in case an emergency comes up."
"That sounds fine. I'll take a group of my choosing. I want to see how our new allies do in battle."
"Alright, that's how we'll proceed then," Marth nodded.
A little while later, Mario and Marth gathered the Resistance in the throne room.
"So, we'll be going in small groups at a time," Mario announced. "I'll take the first group and we'll go. For starters, Falcon, Shadow, Ken, Sonic, you're coming with me. Joker and Terry, you're with us too. If something were to come up, I'll be able to see what you can do."
"I'll come too. I know I just got back, but I want to make sure my fighting skills are okay without Mu No Ken," Ryu piped up. Mario nodded.
"Alright, then. Let's get going, the faster we go, the quicker we can go back and forth," Mario said. The rest of the Resistance followed Mario and his group and watched as Mario and the others flew off in the Falcon Flier through a new portal. As the portal disappeared, everyone went back inside the castle to do there own business. Marth went to his quarters, and he was about to sit down and write into his journal when a guard appeared in the doorway.
"Sir, you have a visitor," the guard said. Marth raised an eyebrow in confusion. Other than Corrin's arrival, everyone else he'd asked for aid had declined. Who could this be?
"Okay. I will meet them in the throne room. Send them there," Marth ordered.
"Yes sir."
Marth walked into his throne room and sat on the throne. The guards escorted a young woman into the room. She had bluish grey hair and blue eyes. Marth has never seen this girl before. Why she was here in Altea was unknown to him. He figured he would definitely get some answers.
"Greetings, Prince Marth. My name is Byleth. I am a teacher at the Black Eagle House in Fódlan," Byleth said. Marth was now confused. Fódlan was quite the distance from Altea, and Marth had never sent anything there.
"Fódlan is quite far from here. May I ask why you've come?" Marth asked. He wasn't sure if it came off as harsh, but he felt it had.
"Well, I've come seeking the help of you and a man called Mario. I was told you might be able to help after we were attacked," Byleth explained. This got Marth's attention. While the question of who attacked them was there, he was mainly concerned about why Byleth was looking for Mario and himself. One question at a time, he thought to himself.
"Can you tell me who attacked you?" Marth asked.
"Well, I never got his name, but he was extremely powerful and he was wearing purple," Byleth explained. Marth's eyes widened. He found himself suddenly shaken. He broke into a cold sweat.
"Prince Marth, is something wrong?" Byleth asked, worried if she'd upset him.
"No... h-how long ago was this?" Marth stumbled to find the words.
"About 2-3 weeks, I believe," Byleth answered(I'd like to make a note that chapters may not be done chronologically. Chapter 10 may have been before Chapter's 2 and 3).
"Please... wait here for awhile. Mario needs to hear this," Marth said, still shaking. With that, he stumbled back into his quarters. Byleth looked as Marth stumbled away. She saw his shaken persona. She knew that she may have found a connection of some sort. Meanwhile, Marth stumbled into his quarters and collapsed on his bed. His kingdom has come close to ruin. Now he had to wait for Mario to return to Altea.
"This needs to end... now," Marth muttered as he stared at the ceiling. But as much as he hated to admit it, this was far from over.