The Smash Freshmen, Chapter Five

Full credit for the above picture goes to Sakurai and his development team!

The Smash Freshmen

Chapter 5: Wily’s Fortress

    “Alright, guys,” Pit said, “Good work today. We’ll start again tomorrow. I suggest you all get a good night’s sleep. Dismissed.”

    Pit spread his wings and took off, leaving Villager, Rock, and the Wii Fit Trainer to themselves. Rock’s dog Rush was running around exploring the Animal Crossing stage around them.

    “So,” Rock said, “How about we all go have some fun? We could check out some of the new stages they’re building.”

    The Wii Fit Trainer scrunched her nose. “Pit said we should get some rest. I plan on doing just that,” she said.

    Rock looked at Villager, hopeful that he would be game. Villager bit his lip. “I, um, think we should do as Pit says,” he mumbles.

    The three made their way to the small ramp leading off of the stage platform and onto the dusty ground of the primary smash grounds, Rush right on their heels. “Oh, come on,” Rock said, “You two are no fun. We are in the middle of the grounds for the Fourth Super Smash Bros. Tournament, surrounded by stages in production, and all you guys want to do is sleep.”

    “It’s not that I don’t want to check out the stages,” Villager said, “I just don’t want to get in trouble.”

    “In trouble with who?” Rock said, “We’re smashers now the same as the founders.”

    “Yeah, but they could still kick us out,” Villager said.

    Rock rolled his eyes. “They’ve already announced us. I don’t think they’d kick us out.”

    “That’s easy for you to say,” the Trainer snapped. “You’re their special guest. Of course they wouldn’t kick you out.”

    Rock raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

    The Trainer scowled. “Never mind,” she said, turning away.

    Rock shrugged. “I still don’t think we’ll get in that much trouble for staying up late.”

    “Probably not,” a deep voice said from behind them, “But you might for going into some of the unfinished stages.”

    The three turned to see the imposing form of Bowser standing behind them. The giant turtle was sweating and had a two-by-four slung over his shoulder. He looked like he had just come from the nearby Dr. Wily’s Fortress.

    “Oh, um, hi, King Bowser . . . sir,” Rock said, “We, uh, didn’t see you there.”

    Bowser chuckled. “That’s alright. But I meant what I said though. Stay out of the unfinished stages. It could be very dangerous. Like this one behind me. Um, Dr. Wily’s Fortress, is it? Either way, that one’s currently under a lot of construction. It’s a shame you guys don’t get to see it yet though. Trust me when I say it may very well be the best stage this year. And, do you guys want to know a secret?”

    Rock and Villager both nodded. The Trainer did nothing. Bowser continued. “Deep inside the stage, there’s a secret training help that if a fighter were to use it, could give them an edge in the tournament.”

    This perked up Villager’s interest. Something like that could definitely help him get over his feelings of being the underdog. Yet, at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel like it was dangerously close to cheating.

    “You guys didn’t hear it from me, though,” Bowser said. He winked at them and moved on to wherever he was going.

    “Okay, now I have to check out that stage,” Rock said, “It is technically my stage anyway.”

    “But we can’t,” Villager said, “You heard Bowser. It’s off-limits.”

    “I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

    “Well, I’m not getting involved,” the Trainer said haughtily, marching off toward her dorm.

    “Who needs her anyway,” Rock said, “Rush and I will go by ourselves if we have to. How about you, Vil? Are you coming?”

    Villager bit his lip. “I don’t know,” he said, “It could be dangerous.”

    “Oh, come on. You’re a smasher now. You can handle it.”

    “Alright, I guess it could be fun. But when it’s darker out, so we don’t get caught.”

*          *          *

    Sure enough, a couple hours later, Villager found himself sneaking onto the Dr. Wily’s Fortress lot with Rock and Rush. They climbed over the yellow tape surrounding the area and approached the massive imposing structure. A small wooden walkway led up to an assortment of platform on top of the base that made up the main battle arena of the stage.

    “Do you want to go up there?” Villager asked.

    Rock looked up at the platforms for a minute considering.

    “Nah,” he said, “I’m curious to see what it’s like inside the base. I want to know how faithful they were in recreating the fortress. How about you, Rush?”

    Rush barked his approval.

    “Okay, then, let’s go,” Villager said.

    The three hurry to a small door on the side of the fortress. Rock tries the handle, happily finding it unlocked. The three slip inside and close the door behind them.

    “Whoa,” Rock said, his eyes lighting up and illuminating the area around them. The three were in a dark and futuristic-looking corridor with lots of wires running along the wall and various computer terminals. “This looks just like the place,” Rock said ecstatically, “Come on, let’s check it out.”

    The three ran down the corridors. After a long time and several turns, Rock and Rush finally slowed down in front of a large steel door. Villager caught up with them and stopped to catch his breath.

    “This was the center of Dr. Wily’s base,” Rock said, “I’ll bet that training device is in here somewhere.”

    He pressed some buttons on a nearby console, causing the doors to slide open. The three stepped through cautiously. The room was massive and spacious, with hundreds of consoles lining the walls, and a balcony above the door where a person could stand and oversee the production of whatever was being constructed in the room. Villager wasn’t sure how accurate this was to the original, but it sure looked to him like the lair of an evil roboticist with a penchant for creating giant machines of mass destruction.

    Standing in the middle of the room was a massive wooden crate at least twelve feet tall with similar length and width. The crate was shaking as though there were something really big inside desperate to get out.

    “What do you think it is?” Villager whispered to Rock as Rush sniffed at its base.

    “I don’t know, I—”

    Rock was interrupted as Rush began to howl. “What is it, boy?” Rock asked, “Do you recognize the smell?”

    They heard something fall over on the other side of the crate. “What was that?” Villager asked.

    He and Rock edged their way around the crate and came face to face with the Wii Fit Trainer.

    “You?” Rock said, “What are you doing here?”

    A guilty look crossed the Trainer’s face briefly before she turned it back on them. “What are you two doing here?” she demanded, “You know this place is off-limits.”

    “Which brings us back to what are you doing here?” Villager said.

    The Trainer bit her lip. “Th-that’s none of your business,” she said.

    The three continued to argue as Rush continued to bark and howl at the crate. The crate started to rumble harder.

    “Would you shut that stupid dog up already,” the Trainer shouted over the racket.

    Rock turned and patted Rush. “It’s okay, boy, calm down,” he said.

    Rush stopped barking but continued to whine. The crate continued to shake and bump as though whatever was inside it was putting everything it had to escape. “Guys, I have a really bad feeling about this,” Villager said.

    A ping shot through the air. They looked at the front of the crate where one of the nails holding the box shut flew out of its position. Several more pings sounded as more and more nails shot free from the wood. With one last heave from the box’s inhabitant, the front of the crate broke completely free from the rest and crashed to the concrete floor.

    “Oh, no,” Rock said, his eyes widening as he caught his first glimpse of the monster emerging from within the crate. Stepping heavily on its thick, slimy feet, a gigantic yellow blob with arms, legs, and a single oversized eyeball stood before the three newcomers. “We have to run. NOW!” Rock screamed.