Tiers and Hopes, Book 2

Doors (The List Again)

Three weeks later...

The 25 Smashers were now fully situated in Melee, and the first matches had been fought. Everyone had been introduced to Master Hand's unpredictable twin brother, Crazy Hand, known as the Hand of Destruction. Despite his rattling disposition, all held their own in a battle against the two Hands during the final level of Classic Mode.

As far as matches were concerned, they were arranged like the ones in the first tournament. The day's bouts were tacked up on the poster board every morning, and they consisted of stock matches or time matches, either with or without items. They'd become noticeably more rigorous, so that everyone was tuckered out by the time the fights were over. But at least they all had time to cool off in the refurbished steam room or be pampered by Wireframe spa attendants. Master Hand made up for the increased intensity of Smashing by spoiling his fighters rotten, and they loved it.

Brand new techniques were present in Melee, as well. The most prevalent of these was wavedashing, allowing many fighters to traverse a given stage in record time. Luigi was among the best wavedashers, given his low traction, and he used this hidden blessing to beef up both his defensive and offensive strategies. To succeed in Melee, learning how to wavedash was key. Other clever moves included Fox's laser techs, his short hop single and double lasers and the inclusion of side-special moves. You'll hear more on those later.

Now that the Melee fighters had some victories and losses under their belt, the time had come yet again. Master Hand woke up and gobbled down some blueberry muffins for breakfast before making himself comfortable at his new Windows XP desktop and opening his email page. And there, in the Unread folder, was a message from Sakurai.

The new tier list was ready.

Master sighed deeply. He wished he didn't have to go through this again. After what happened last time—

He shook himself out of it. The Smashers had learned from their mistakes and reconciled in time to end the first tournament on a happy note. Hopefully, they'd remember the friendships which nearly crumbled to dust before starting in on that crap again...

With a heavy heart, MH printed the document and lifted the warm sheet of paper from the printer's tray. "Let's get this over with," he muttered as he floated out of his office and toward the Main Hall.

Once again, MH had to pass through the hallway in which the Smashers' rooms were located. Twenty-five doors cracked open, revealing twenty-five curious pairs of eyes fixed on MH's every move. Of those 25, 12 knew exactly what the glove was holding in his hand. And the other 13 were about to find out.

From the door across from Mario peeped the fair-haired Peach, the benevolent ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. Despite frequently spending time in another castle, Peach was an effective leader, keeping her constituents optimistic in times of strife. She always rewarded Mario's efforts to bring her back from that other castle with a sweet kiss and an even sweeter cake. The two of them had been going strong since he first helped her restore peace to her kingdom. Together, they hosted sporting events, parties and kart racing tournaments. However, almost always being in another castle was starting to wear on her, which was why she said "yes" to Melee. With her trusty Toad, her Parasol and her Vegetables, among other things, she'd show Nintendo that she was no damsel in distress!

Through another door peeked two green eyes under bushy red brows. They belonged to King Koopa, the thorn in the Mushroom Kingdom's side and the sixteen-year bane of the Mario Bros' existence. Koopa was the reason why Peach spent so much time in another castle. Some say that he was a lonely turtle looking for love. Others say that he just wanted her kingdom to himself. And some argue a combination of the two. But either way, Mario was always one step ahead and foiled Koopa's endeavors for total power. He was so happy to be invited here—so many shrimps and twerps to show who's boss, and finally—finally—a chance to beat those Bros to a bloody pulp! But the downside was that the object of his desires could finally unleash her wrath on him, and these tournaments only caused the animosity between him and those plumbers to escalate to titanic proportions. Oh, well. He still had fun pushing the other Smashers around.