Smashboards

Here's the roster I begun with

After a slow, painful transformation consisting of bickering between me, Nintendo's creative team, Nintendo's corporate team, and the guy in the Who Are You Running From? photo we end up with this soulless, marketable mess (which Nintendo corporate didn't approve anyway)

Then I go shopping around for different IPs and libraries

Ultimately, the concept ends up being a new IP and nobody wants to play it.

In a dark alleyway in a shady part of Diamond City, a purple-clad fellow sat polishing his tennis racket. "Wah!" he thought. "Those goons stood no chance against the great Waluigi's tennis skills!" Not many people knew he lived in Diamond City. Waluigi was overshadowed by his partner-in-crime, Wario.

Waluigi looked up and jumped in surprise. A pair of red eyes were gleaming at him from the darkness. "Wah-t!? Ashley, what are you doing here?" Waluigi exclaimed. The figure stepped into a patch of sunlight revealing a little girl with twin black ponytails and a red dress. "I...need to talk to you," Ashley said, her voice toneless yet girlish. "Come back with me...to my mansion. We can talk there."

Waluigi stood up, confused. The little girl grabbed his hand and led him out of the alleyway. Waluigi and Ashley had met at the Super Smash Bros. tournament, both sharing the Assist Trophy role. Neither of them had been happy with the position, and they bonded over the hope of becoming real fighters.

Once they entered the mansion, Ashley continued to lead Waluigi through the maze of hallways, the old wooden floors creaking beneath their feet. Finally, they reached an old, rusty, metal door that seemed like it hadn't been opened in ages. There was no handle.

"So...you wanted to show me a rusty door?" Waluigi asked, puzzled. Ashley glared at him and placed her tiny hand on the door. She muttered something in what sounded like Latin, and the outline of her hand glowed electric blue. Waluigi expected the door to open, but instead Ashley pulled him straight through. They emerged in a dark room that contained nothing but a pentagram surrounded by candles. Waluigi was starting to get freaked out. Was she going to sacrifice him to the devil or something?

"I know...how we're going to get into Smash," Ashley said, brushing dust off of her hands

"Wah?" Waluigi said. No truer words had ever been spoken.

"The guy who organizes the tournament and sends the invitations...I know where he lives. We're going to use this to get there and convince him to let us fight," Ashley said, bending down to light the candles.

Waluigi still didn't understand what was going on. "Why can't we just take a plane to get to him or something?"

"Because he lives in another dimension," Ashley said matter-of-factly, as if that cleared everything up.

Waluigi was baffled. Ashley beckoned for him to stand next to her on the pentagram. He reluctantly obeyed, not wanting to invoke Ashley's rage. The minute witch took out a dusty spellbook and began reading an incantation from it out loud.

"Ut me ad lowm exire cupio. Deus, spero te non tatam sursum est! EGO NON LOQUI LATINE!"

As Ashley spoke, the candles grew brighter, the smoke issuing from them growing thicker. The pentagram started glowing blue.

Ashley put her hand up. "J-Japan, di-dimension 42'\!" she exclaimed, the smoke from the candles causing her to choke. The floor seemed to disappear, and soon the pair were falling, falling into nothingness. Waluigi screamed, and they both landed on a hard surface, headfirst.

"Yowch!" they both exclaimed, sitting upright and rubbing their heads. Waluigi looked around. They were in some kind of seaport, except it looked...really different. Usually, cargo was stored in metal crates and moved around by crane, but instead it was all wooden boxes with people carrying them onto a boat. A great pyramid loomed in the distance.

"Egypt," Ashley muttered, brushing dust off her dress. "This is...nowhere near where we wanted to go."

Someone began walking towards where they were standing, so they both dived into some boxes so they wouldn't be spotted. Before they could get out, however, someone picked up the boxes and hauled them over to the boat. He dropped the boxes in the cargo area and walked off.

Once the sound of footsteps died out, they both sat up to look around. It was almost pitch dark. A horn rang out and someone announced that the ship was about to leave. Ashley tried to conjure up a ball of flame for light, but was too exhausted from the previous spell to do it properly. Frustrated, she flopped down next to some boxes and crossed her arms. Waluigi, on the other hand, was searching through all the boxes. He had learned from Wario to never let an opportunity to nab some good stuff pass. He picked up a spellbook that looked a lot like the one Ashley had used, except it was much newer.

"Hey! You think you could use this?" Waluigi said, waving the book around.

"No..." Ashley said, yawning. "Too tired."

She began to fall asleep, but then perked up suddenly. "I have an idea!"

"Yeah?" Waluigi said, still rooting through the boxes.

"Apparently, lots of different kinds of mages live in Egypt. Maybe we could ask one of them to help us get back."

"So should we jump out of the boat and swim back?"

Ashley shook her head. "Someone will probably see us. We should just stay on the boat until it gets back."

Another horn rang and the ship started moving. Waluigi went back to pillaging the boxes. Ashley tried to fall asleep again, but the rocking of the boat made her seasick, so she concentrated on trying not to throw up. After a couple hours, the boat stopped. "Land ahoy in Morocco!" a voice shouted.

A door they hadn't noticed opened and light came flooding in. Before they could hide, someone noticed them. "Hey! What're you doing in here!" he yelled.

"Err...well, you see..." Ashley began, but before she could finish, Waluigi knocked him out with his tennis racket.

"Thanks," Ashley mumbled as they bolted out the door.

"Don't mention it."

The pair emerged in yet another cargo dock. A bunch of other people noticed them and began chasing them. They ran until they reached the city that the port was connected to and dove into an alleyway. The sound of angry footsteps continued, and the pair knew they didn't have much time.

Ashley grabbed Waluigi's hand and concentrated very hard on the Egyptian cargo dock. The Morocco cargo dock people popped into the alleyway, breaking her concentration and causing her to panic. "Ub me ab inferno ex hic!" Ashley yelled, her hair flaring white. They both started falling into nothingness again until they landed on stone pavement.

Waluigi took a look around. "Um, I don't think we're in Egypt, Ashley," he said, pointing at a sign that read "Salem, Massachusetts."

Ashley sighed. "Fantastic. I don't even know where that is."

They decided to take a look around and find a safe place to rest as it was getting dark. Waluigi then pointed near the water. "Hey! A port! Maybe we can take a boat back to Egypt."

The pair took a look at the departure schedule and luckily for them, there was a boat leaving for Egypt in half an hour. "We don't have any money for a ticket, though," Ashley said, pointing at a price being displayed on a nearby ticket stand.

Waluigi thought for a moment, then had an idea. "We could sneak in with the cargo," he suggested. They decided they didn't have any better options, so they snack down to the cargo bay. Unfortunately, a security guard saw them first.

"Hey! Get out of here!" he shouted, brandishing his baton.

Ashley and Waluigi, deciding they didn't want to be on the run from the police again, did as they were told.

"Wah-t are we supposed to do now?" Waluigi inquired as they watched other people buy tickets. Ashley narrowed her eyes. "It's time to use my innocent little girl powers."

Ashley walked up to a couple who had just purchased tickets. "E-excuse me?" she said in her best little girl voice.

The couple looked down. "Yes?" the girl asked. Ashley cleared her throat. "Y-you see, my mommy and I were gonna go on a trip to Egypt, b-but I got seperated from her and she got on the boat without me," she said, staring at the couple with wide, innocent eyes.

The couple looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Ashley continued. "S-so, I was w-wondering if you would give me your tickets so I could find her again?"

The guy spoke up. "Err, sorry, we paid a lot of money for this, so no."

Ashley then went to her last resort and started fake-crying. "I-I'm never gonna see my mommy again!" she wailed. The couple slowly backed away, clearly weirded out. Ashley stopped crying. Her exhaustion and frustration invoked her temper.

Ashley's hair turned snow white and she pointed angrily at the couple. "You'll regret that," she growled. A purple lightning bolt shot out of her finger and zapped the couple, causing them to fall on their backsides.

Someone screamed. "She's a witch!" Security guards approached Ashley, and she tried to zap them too. Unfortunately, she was much too tired, the energy from her anger having worn off. Waluigi ran over, scooped up Ashley, and bolted into the woods.

"Close one," Waluigi said, breathless, as he set Ashley on the ground. Ashley flopped down next to a tree. "So...tired..."
she grumbled. Her stomach growled. "And hungry."

Suddenly, a figure moved in the trees. Waluigi looked around. "Who's there?" he barked, brandishing his tennis racket. A black-haired figure emerged from the darkness. Ashley and Waluigi began to turn away. The figure put up his hands. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," he said, his voice muffled from the surgical mask he was wearing. "I'm Ryan. I can tell you guys aren't from around here," he said, pulling off the mask.

"Wah! I'm-a Waluigi!" Waluigi said.

"And I'm...Ashley..." Ashley said, stifling a yawn.

Ryan sat down on a tree root. "I heard you guys are trying to get to Egypt. I can help you with that, if you do me a little favor first."

"Yeah? What do you want?" Waluigi said.

"Oh, nothing. I just want you to steal a bell," Ryan said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Waluigi glanced at Ashley, who nodded slowly. "Alright, where do we find this thing?" he asked.

"The museum. It'll be locked up, though."

Ashley piped in. "Won't there be security cameras and stuff?"

"Oh, you won't have to worry about those. We are in 1901, after all," Ryan replied, folding his arms casually.

Ashley facepalmed. "I really messed this up." She paused for a moment. "But wait, if we're in 1901, how do you know what-"

Ryan cut her off. "You'd best get this done before daybreak. I'll wait for you guys here."

Waluigi and Ashley looked at each other and shrugged. They both set off for the museum, with Ashley stumbling in exhaustion behind Waluigi. The building wasn't hard to miss, with its white columns and large sign. Waluigi peered into one of the windows and saw a security guard holding a lantern. "We'll have to distract him. Can you try that little girl thing again?"

Ashley nodded sleepily. Waluigi hoisted her up through a conveniently open window. Ashley snuck towards the security guard and then approached him, making sure he was facing away from the window.

"Hey! What're you doing here, little girl?" the guard said in a gruff voice.

"W-well, you see, I was here earlier with my mommy and-" Ashley began.

"Lies!" the guard yelled, startling her. "I was here during the day too, and I woulda remembered someone wearing a crazy outfit like yours. Scram!"

"Um, I was here! I promise! I just changed into something m-more noticeable so that my mommy would see me!"

"Oh, really?" the guard said sarcastically. "And why should I believe that?"

Ashley was prepared to start crying again when suddenly two purple-wearing arms lifted a tennis racket above the guard's head. "Because it'll save your face a trip from the floor!"

Before the guard could react, Waluigi slammed the tennis racket down on the guard's head, knocking him unconscious. "WALUIGI TIME!"

"Thanks...again," Ashley mumbled.

"Don't mention it...again," Waluigi replied.

"I guess more people have heard my theme song than I thought, because they definitely aren't letting themselves be fooled by my innocent demeanor," Ashley grumbled.

The pair soon found a case containing a large bronze bell. Ashley flinched and backed away from it. "Bad magical aura," she murmured. Screwing up her face in concentration, Ashley cast a spell that unlocked the case. "No more magic. I can't do very many spells without a wand or magical relic anyway," she said, stumbling backwards.

Waluigi took the bell and they both climbed back out the window. The bell chimed ominously as they walked, and a feeling of great unease settled within them.
***

Back in Waluigi and Ashley's home dimension, the same feeling of unease had settled with Red. He was doing Ashley's laundry, and he got a sudden feeling that something very bad was about to happen to her. Red had always had a very strong magical connection with Ashley, and yet he never felt anything like this before. Maybe it was because he was handling her clothes. Red gripped a pair of Ashley's undies tightly and focused on her aura to try to divine her location.

Salem, Massachusetts? Ashley had told him she was going to Japan. Red could tell she was in her intended dimension, but he had no idea what she was doing in Salem, wherever that was.

Red, like certain other magical creatures, had the ability to teleport. He had no idea if he had the power to traverse across dimensions, though. Red decided to summon up his might and try. He focused hard on Ashley's aura, and he felt himself pop out of existence.

Red reappeared near a museum. He saw Waluigi and Ashley walking towards a forest. He scrambled after them, the feeling of unease growing stronger. "ASHLEY!" he yelled, catching up to them.

Ashley turned around in surprise. "Red! What are you doing here? And why are you holding a pair of my underwear?"

"That's not important right now!" Red exclaimed, throwing the undies aside. "What's important right now is that something really bad is going to happen!"

Waluigi turned around, the bell chiming harshly. Red's face wrinkled in disgust. "Why do you have that thing? Its aura is horrible!"

"We were gonna give it to this guy named Ryan, who was then gonna get us out of here!" Waluigi said, exasperated. He never had much patience for Red.

"Don't! Something awful's gonna happen!" Red cried.

"Calm down," Ashley said. "You've probably had too much sugar and it's making you jittery." Although she wouldn't admit it, she had a bad feeling too.

The threesome traversed deeper into the forest, with Red walking closely behind Ashley. They finally found the spot where Ryan was waiting.

Red hid inside one of Ashley's ponytails. He could tell that this guy was bad news.

"Take it," Waluigi said, handing the bell to Ryan. "Now get us out of here."

"Will do," Ryan said, grinning. He took out a magical stone tablet engraved with mysterious foreign writing. "Ashley will know what to do with it."

Ashley took the stone tablet. "Thanks," she muttered. She addressed Red and Waluigi. "Put your hand on it."

Red poked out of Ashley's hair and did as he was told. Waluigi obliged as well.

"So what dimension are you guys from?" Ryan asked casually. Ashley was too tired to realize what was strange about that question. "Dimension M&R10," she responded.

Red and Waluigi stared at Ryan in shock. Who the hell was this guy and how did he know so much about them? Waluigi was beginning to think that Red's accusations may have had some merit. Before they could say anything, Ashley muttered something and they were zipped away.

Once they reappeared in Egypt, Red and Waluigi frantically explained their suspicions about Ryan. Ashley finally agreed that there was something very off about him.

Ashley led the others to a place called The Library of Alexandria Memorial Museum. She then approached a seemingly ordinary guy. "Magical aura," she said, with Red nodding in agreement.

"Excuse me."

The guy looked up. "Yes?"

"I need a favor," Ashley said. "I can tell you're a wizard....I'm a witch. My friends and I got transported to this dimension and now we can't get back. We really need your help, since I'm too exhausted and magically drained to get us back."

The wizard thought for a moment. "Sure, why not."

Ashley sighed in relief. The wizard led the three back to his house. In one room, there was a pentagram. "Stand on the circle," he said. They did so.

"Is there any specific time period you need to get to?" the wizard asked.

"2020," Red piped in. The wizard's eyes widened. "2020!? Why would you want to go to 2020!? There's going to be an awful plague!"

Ashley tilted her head in confusion. "Not in dimension M&R10, where we're from."

"Oh." The wizard then proceeded to do the same spell that Ashley did, and the three were sent back.

Ashley collapsed on the floor. "So...tired."

"Well, that was a waste of time," Waluigi wah'd grumpily.

Ashley glared at him. "It's your own fault for coming along."

Waluigi sniffed. "Every time you drag me into one of your spells, something goes wrong. I'm outta here."

As Waluigi stormed out, Ashley's hair began to glow white. "C-calm down Ashley! It's not your fault," Red exclaimed. Ashley was too tired to stay angry, and her hair reverted back to black. She got up and yawned. "I'm going to bed," she said and walked out. Red was tired as well and followed her. By now it was about midnight, the same time it had been in the alternate dimension.

As Red was getting ready for bed, he couldn't help feeling nervous. Who was that Ryan guy, and how did he know so much about alternate dimensions? How did he know that Ashley could use magic and that they weren't from that dimension? How did he know that they needed to go to Egypt? And most importantly, what was that bell for? Red decided to shake these questions off. There was no way that Ryan could affect him and Ashley. How wrong he was.

Ashley could tell that something was very off, but her exhaustion clogged her senses and she couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong. She hoped she was just tired and that her argument with Waluigi just rubbed her the wrong way. Ashley grabbed her bunny doll and climbed into bed. "Night night," she mumbled. The last thing she heard before drifting off into an uneasy sleep was the faint chiming of a bell.
***

Waluigi had had enough. He was done with Ashley's schemes, and decided to stick with his own. He'd make it into Smash some other way. As he made his way to his makeshift bed in the alleyway, he swore he could hear a bell chiming. As he lay down, Waluigi looked up at Ashley's mansion in the distance. There seemed to be an eerie green glow surrounding it. He supposed that Ashley was brewing up some diabolical potion that produced light, but it made him uneasy still.

As Ashley slept, she had a nightmare. In the dream, Ashley stood frozen still as cracks emerged from the ground. Green light poured from them, and something large and serpentine rose from the ground. An ancient evil, one who's name no one dared to speak. An earsplitting roar sounded from the beast, and Ashley woke up with a jolt to find Red staring at her.

"W-what's wrong, Ashley? You were whimpering and shaking in your sleep-very unlike you!" he asked, concerned.

"I had a nightmare," Ashley mumbled. "But it felt so...real. Something evil is approaching."

"I can sense it too," Red replied, glancing out the window. There was an eerie green light emitting from the ground. Ashley followed his gaze.

"There was a lot of green light in my dream, too," she said.

Without warning, the ground began to shake. The pair jumped out of bed. "Something is coming!" Ashley exclaimed. The two ran downstairs and out of the mansion to witness the earth cracking and spilling green light. Standing in front of the cracking earth was a figure holding a bell and mallet.

It was Ryan.

He noticed the duo and turned around. "Ah, if it isn't Ashley and Red," he said, grinning.

"How do you know my name!?" Red shrieked.

Ryan smirked. "Isn't it obvious? Your parents weren't very creative in naming you."

"Don't you start on my par-" Red began. Ashley shushed him. "You have a lot of explaining to do," she said, narrowing her eyes at Ryan.

Ryan folded his arms. "Oh, alright. You see, I used you. I needed to get that bell, but I couldn't do it on my own."

Ashley scoffed. "Why? Are you so incompetent that you can't open a lock by yourself?"

Ryan narrowed his eyes. "It's because only a true witch can open that lock. I do not know why, but that is the spell that was cast upon it. When you arrived in that dimension, I could sense that something from another dimension was present. I had followed you throughout your travels and learned your names, and the fact that you were a witch. Now, enough idle talk. It's time for Exivaus to rise!"

A great serpentine monster rose from the cracks in the earth and roared. Red shrieked, and miles away, Waluigi was able to see the commotion. "Ashley must be in trouble," he thought. Why should he care? It had nothing to do with him. Waluigi then thought that he had been a bit harsh on the little witch. She was just trying to help him. Reluctantly, he decided to come help Ashley, because he wouldn't be able to bear it if something happened to her.

Ashley's eyes widened at the beast. She didn't flinch, but she knew that this wouldn't be easy. Compared to this monster, the other demons she had defeated in the past were just as intimidating as her stuffed bunny.

"Now, it's time for me to dominate the multiverse, starting with your home dimension. Exivaus, mess her up!" Ryan yelled.

Exivaus roared, causing Ashley's hair to blow in the wind. She scowled and transformed Red into her wand. Exivaus lunged at Ashley, barely missing her. Ashley cast a hex on the serpentine beast, but it simply reflected off of its scales.

Ashley's hair blazed white. It was time to start using the big girl spells. She recalled reading about a spell that would disassemble the target's molecules. She had no idea if she could actually do the spell, but she was The Great Ashley. How hard could it be?

Ashley waved her wand around and shouted, "Moleculo dissectum!" Instead of being shredded to bits, Exivaus seemed to absorb the spell. A green aura surrounded it and the monster seemed to grow more powerful.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Exivaus can absorb spells and become stronger. You don't have much of a chance, do you, little girl?" Ryan remarked.

"DON'T CALL ME A LITTLE GIRL!" Ashley shrieked. She rushed towards Ryan, but before she could do anything, Exivaus used its newfound power to telepathically levitate a stone and hurl it at her. Ashley went flying backwards. As she landed, Red quickly transformed back to his normal state to check on her. "A-Ashley! Are you okay?" he exclaimed. Blood oozed out of a gash on Ashley's forehead.

"Aww, did you get a boo-boo?" Ryan snickered mockingly. "Are you gonna cry like a little baby? Do you want me to kiss it to make it better?"

By now Ashley's hair was such a bright color it was painful to look at. "NO!" she screamed, trying to get up but falling back down due to lightheadedness. The serpent bared its fangs and prepared to administer the killing blow, but suddenly...

"Get away from her, you long-necked brute!" A brash voice cried. Ashley and Red looked over to see Waluigi running towards them. He couldn't do much, but he provided a distraction to the monster. Ashley took advantage of this, so while Waluigi was uselessly hammering away at the scaly body, Ashley shot Exivaus in the eye.

The monster roared in pain. The eyeball burst and blood poured out of the socket. It tried to snap at Ashley, but it couldn't see properly and missed.

"Enough!" Ryan shouted.

Waluigi and Ashley glared at him, but didn't move. "I will cease for now, but mark my words, once Exivaus's eye has regenerated, I will be back," Ryan growled. The serpent burrowed its way back underground. Ryan took out a pair of scissors and cut through the dimensional fabric, as you do. He stepped through the hole without a glance, and the tear resealed itself.

Red reverted back to normal. "We did it!" he cheered.

"Yeah, we did!" Ashley said, allowing herself a small smile. She then made eye contact with Waluigi.

"Er, sorry for getting mad at you. Will you forgive me?" Waluigi muttered. Ashley regarded him for a moment.

"Alright, I guess."

Waluigi helped her go back inside and bandage her wound. They wondered if Ryan's threat meant anything, but they decided they were safe for the time being. As for Smash, they figured it would only be a matter of time. After all, there were plenty of opportunities left...

The End
(for now)