I want to take a moment just to highlight the fact that this story is over seven years old... so if some of the earlier chapters aren't that great, that's a factor to take into consideration!

Also, I hope this chapter turned out okay... I'm not the best at writing action scenes, but I gave it a try! Enjoy!

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"So if your muscles aren't good, what do you do?"

Roy smirked. "Well, wouldn't wanna spoil the surprise. Let's just say… I took a page outta your book." He grinned. "Literally."

That was the conversation playing through his head as he waited in the cheering stands, the arena before him rather… small for a fight with someone as bulky as Roy.

The place was absolutely packed. Gavin wasn't kidding when he said it was sold out. There were Darklanders of all species eagerly waiting for the match to begin. With his Koopa Troopa disguise, it had been a bit easier for him to navigate to his seat, situated between a rather tall Wiggler and a young, silver and black robot wearing dark sunglasses. Mechakoopa drones flew overhead to give the audience a close-up view of the action, and the video feed was streamed onto four massive screens suspended high above the arena, forming a square to ensure that every audience member was able to clearly see what was going on. There were two large white podiums that stood tall on opposite sides of the arena, the front of each bearing a unique colour. The one on the left side was red, and the one on the right was blue.

The overhead lights dimmed, and three large spotlights began to rotate around the room as high-energy music began to pump through the auditorium and an announcer spoke up.

"Hello, New Koopa City! Welcome… to this year's Championship Match! Are you ready to meet today's competitors?!"

The screams were deafening and nearly knocked Junior off of his chair.

"In the blue corner, defending champion of Shroom City and self-proclaimed #1 fan of Toad Force V…

B-B-B-BoxCarrrrr Bliiiiiitz!"

There were massive cheers all around, and Junior struggled to see through the waving hands. When they finally lowered in preparation for Roy's announcement, his jaw dropped. There, at the right side of the arena, standing on the blue platform with the spotlights shining on him…

Was a tall, scrawny, green Toad with blue sunglasses and a book in his hand.

He waved at the crowd with a confident smile and adjusted his glasses before turning to face the center of the ring.

T-there's no way Roy's fighting a TOAD as his final match. Art… Afro… Arlo… Weak muscles or not, h-he'd cream this guy in five seconds!

"And in the red corner, defending champion of New Koopa City and with a win-streak longer than the Sunset Express…

Rrrrrrooooooy Ruuuummmblllllle!"

Nope, sure enough, Roy was the one fighting this guy. The cheers started up again, but thanks to his brother's height he didn't even need to struggle to see him on the large screen, pumping his fists in the air.

Why was everyone being so enthusiastic about this? This was clearly one-sided…

And that's when his eyes landed on the strange grey box from before, still in its spot on his right hip. He hadn't been able to identify it before, but thanks to the close-up, it was easy to tell what it was.

It was a remote.

He stared in awe as the announcer cleared his throat.

"Competitors, ready your machines!"

At the base of each platform, two small, door-like hatches slid open. The lights focused on the blue platform first.

"It may be small, but it packs a powerful punch! This is its 57th battle this season, and it's only gotten stronger every time! Give it up for JACK! MARK! THREE!"

A Toad-like robot emerged into the arena, the platform's opening sliding shut behind it as it stepped out into the light and into view of the cheering fans. It was about the size of a Koopa Troopa, with a shiny yellow V on the front of its white cap. Its red spots glistened in the bright lights of the arena. Its torso was silver on the sides, with red in front, and a bright yellow star etched onto its chest. Its hands and lower body were coloured a royal blue, and its shoes were red in front and yellow further back. Its metal body was slightly more rotund than the average Toad. It pounded its fists together with a series of loud clanks, and robotically flexed for the audience with green optics shining. The crowd went wild as it did so.

Attention shifted to the opposite side of the arena, where Roy was standing with arms folded and a proud grin on his face. From the base of the platform, a second machine rolled forward, concealed by a large white sheet.

The announcer sounded downright giddy as he continued. "After six years of inactivity, Roy Rumble has decided to let the last match of the season be this robot's first! A bold choice, and a return that thousands of eager fans have been waiting for! Let's hear it foooor…"

The sheet flew off the machine, and Junior's eyes went wide.

"Mega! Mecha! Mini! Bowser! Juniooooor!"

The robot was almost identical to him in appearance – the only difference was that the bandana around its neck was plain white instead of painted, and a large windup key sat on the back of its shell. It stood atop a replica Junior Clown Car and let out a small spew of fire from its metallic maw.

To Junior's immediate right, the shaded robot was screaming exceptionally loudly.

Boxcar seemed rather impressed, himself, and when Roy brandished his remote, grinning in determination, the Toad whipped open his book, fingers poised to type. Must been the controller, Junior idly realized. His eyes shot back to the robotic replica, and he felt his heart swell with emotion.

That is the most awesome robot I have ever seen.

"This is so cool!" Next to him, the gushing robot was murmuring to himself. "Man… I wish Pink hadn't lost Leila's ticket. She would've loved to see this!"

Junior ignored the comment and glued his eyes to the arena.

"You know the rules! Best two out of three! If your robot becomes unable to battle, you forfeit the match! Robots, get ready to rumble!"

The crowd joined in the countdown, the excitement nearly palpable.

"THREE!"

Jack put up its fists, quickly bouncing from one foot to the other.

"TWO!"

The propeller on the replica Clown Car began to spin, faster and faster, as it prepared to launch forward.

"ONE!"

Both robots narrowed their eyes at each other, ready for the final showdown.

"GO!"

In a flash, the two bots raced towards each other, colliding with a loud bang in the center of the arena, while the audience let out a deafening cheer.

They began mercilessly slamming attacks forward, the Clown Car utilizing retractable boxing gloves in its punches. If Junior had bothered looking over at Roy and Boxcar, he would've seen their fingers flying over their controllers, each button press a blur. The rapid-fire motions kept up for about a good ten seconds until Jack suddenly ducked down and slammed both fists into the Clown Car, forcing it to fly back a good thirty feet, nearly slamming into the edge of the wall.

Shaking its head, the Junior mech glared at the robotic Toad, before retracting the boxing gloves and shooting a large fireball at it. Jack raised its forearms and easily blocked the blast, smoke exploding around it. When it cleared, Jack looked up to see Mecha Bowser Junior flying forward at full speed. With no time to move, the metal Toad received the tackle right to the face, throwing it off its feet and causing it to land roughly near the opposite edge of the arena.

Boxcar didn't seem concerned, fingers moving across his book at a nearly imperceptible pace. Jack slowly got to its feet, rubbing its jaw with its wrist before crouching a bit and racing back towards its opponent, left arm pulled back for a punch.

Anticipating this, Roy made Mecha Bowser Junior use the Clown Car as a shield, tilting it back so that the bulky vehicle would take the brunt of the hit. Jack's pace got faster and faster, before it suddenly stopped moving and slammed its punch into the ground to send it rocketing into the air. Jack's right fist began to glow as the metal Toad descended on the Clown Car.

"Looks like Boxcar's about to unleash Jack's signature Comet Punch! If this hits, Roy Rumble will be in serious trouble!"

Jack landed on the Clown Car, fist burning a vibrant white. Right as the glowing punch was about to connect, however, a hatch on the Clown Car suddenly flung open and threw the robotic Toad back into the air, its limbs spinning wildly and causing Jack's comet punch to fizzle out. A bang sounded from the hatch and Junior saw another familiar-looking robot shoot up after Jack.

The MechaKoopa started flashing red as it neared Jack, before it exploded on the helpless robot and sent it rocketing into the ground below.

Jack struggled to get up, its joints sparking from the impact, but Mecha Bowser Junior was already looming over it, a second MechaKoopa in its hands, the feet idly moving as it waited to detonate.

With a reluctant sigh, Boxcar closed his book and held it up as a sign of surrender, resulting in the crowd cheering wildly.

"This round's winner! Roy Rumble!"

Roy's picture appeared on the massive screen, with two circles next to it. One of the circles went green, and the audience cheered even more.

Mecha Bowser Junior let out a victorious roar as Roy grinned and threw the crowd a thumbs-up.

"Challengers! Prepare for round two!"

Two Fly Guys descended from the ceiling, each going to one of the robots, and quickly made some mid-battle repairs. The moment they exited the arena, the two robots went back to their designated corners.

Once more, the crowd joined in on the countdown, Junior adding his own voice to the mix. "THREE! TWO! ONE! GO!"

Jack wasted no time blasting forward, grabbing the V on top of its metal cap in one fluid motion and jumping at Mecha Bowser Jr. once again.

There was a loud, whirling noise, and the sharp V connected with two spinning sawblades, the two robots at a standstill for a moment before Jack pushed back, doing a midair flip before landing on its feet about eight meters away, close to the centre of the arena.

Keeping the blades at the ready, the Clown Car's hatch opened once more, this time firing a series of large cannonballs at the metal Toad, forcing it to run in zigzags to avoid getting hit.

"It seems as though Mecha Bowser Jr. has switched to a ranged attack! How will Jack ever get close?!"

In reply, Jack began running backwards as quickly as it could, still facing the onslaught, and gripping the V in its hand as it made its way toward Boxcar. Once it got close to the arena's edge, Jack flipped backwards onto the wall and used the momentum from its run to launch itself forward, straight towards one of the cannonballs. Jack's foot hit the cannonball and the robot jumped upward into the air, throwing the V down towards the Clown Car with blinding speed. The boomerang sliced through one of the razor's arms, the appendage clattering uselessly onto the arena's dirt floor, before becoming embedded into the wall behind Mecha Junior. To the real Junior's horror, it started blinking a vibrant red.

"Look out!" he cried, along with a few other audience members. Roy would be in real trouble if he couldn't get his Mecha out of the blast.

But instead of flying away from the imminent explosion, Mecha Junior hunkered down into the clown car, the vehicle keeping the remaining sawblade spinning, the arm sticking out as far as it could go, the angle of the blade making it parallel to the floor.

And when the boomerang exploded, the vehicle rocketed forward, now sporting wheels, and aimed the sawblade directly at Jack, who had just landed in the centre of the arena. It seemed like this was the end of the match.

With only seconds before the sawblade would hit it, Jack leaned its body backwards until it was nearly touching the floor, the sawblade missing its cap by mere hairs based on the video feed.

Junior was at the edge of his seat.

Spinning around before the Clown Car could hit the other wall, Mecha Bowser Jr went for another pass, shooting fireballs to try and force Jack into a more ideal slicing position. But instead of becoming helpless, Jack slammed its fists into the ground with incredible force, sending a shockwave towards the incoming vehicle. Mecha Bowser Jr. was forced to retract the wheels in order to launch over the shockwave, sending it soaring over Jack in the process. When the Clown Car landed, Mecha Bowser Jr. spun around to face its opponent, the sawblade positioned in front of it, aimed at the metal Toad menacingly.

"It appears that Jack is at a bit of a disadvantage! Mecha Bowser Jr. is keeping it at bay with that sawblade! What will Boxcar do now?"

In response, Jack's hands retracted into its arms and he pointed the newly formed blasters at opposing sides of the arena. Slowly, the robot's torso began to rotate, before going faster and faster, until the upper half was nothing but a blur, with a white glow quickly started to form. There was only a second of pause before a massive barrage of energy shots rapid fired all over the arena. Mecha Bowser Jr ducked into the Clown Car for protection, and the vehicle began to quickly fly in reverse in an attempt to avoid the blitz.

The blasts went all over the arena, with a few strays ricocheting off of the Clown Car's hull and launching into the air. Any stray shots that headed for the audience were caught by a forcefield, which rippled a bit from the impact before returning to its invisible state.

The rapid-fire attack suddenly stopped, and Jack's hands returned. With a burst of speed, the Toad rushed ahead. As the Clown Car flew backwards, Jack kept pace with it, its right fist starting to glow a bright blue as it charged up what was no doubt an incredibly powerful attack.

Mecha Bowser Junior clanged against the arena's wall and suddenly stopped moving, allowing Jack to finish its approach and prepare its finisher. No amount of screaming from the crowd could coax it out of the way of the powerful uppercut, and with a loud, reverberating CLANG it connected with an extreme amount of force. The mech went flying out of the arena, the vehicle slamming against the ceiling before plummeting back down to the ground. With a loud clang, the robot landed, rather unscathed but still unmoving.

"This round's winner! Boxcar Blitz!"

The crowd cheered again as a picture of Boxcar appeared on the screen this time. Like Roy's he had two grey circles beside his face, and one of them went green.

"Challengers! Prepare for- oh?"

With all the excitement, and with everyone's eyes on the match, nobody noticed that Roy hadn't moved an inch for the past two minutes. Various spectators began to murmur to themselves as Junior tried to squint and see what was wrong.

A Mechakoopa drone approached the Koopaling, and the screen changed to show Roy, who was looking rather shocked, before the camera panned down to reveal a scorching, broken mess of plastic and wires that looked well beyond repair. Horrified gasps rose from the crowd as the reality quickly settled in.

"It seems as though Roy Rumble's remote has been resolutely ruined! Unless he can restore it or throw together a replacement, he'll have to forfeit the match!"

Junior's heart dropped, and there were cries of despair from some of the more vocal Roy Rumble fans, including the shaded robot next to him.

From the opposite side of the arena, Boxcar Blitz looked at his opponent with sympathy, but didn't offer any suggestions. The two Fly Guys from before ignored the dilemma, dutifully making repairs to the robots and removing the discarded cannonballs from the arena.

Roy seemed visibly frustrated, holding the shattered pieces of the remote in his hands with gritted teeth. Even with the close-up, Junior couldn't tell if the circuit board was still intact or not.

The audience murmured restlessly, many visibly upset or disappointed at the unexpected development. Junior hummed to himself. If Roy didn't have a replacement on hand, then this obviously wasn't something that happened very often. Or… maybe it did, and the remote he'd been using was the replacement. His heart went out to his brother, and he idly wished that he could help him, somehow, someway, just so that the match could continue.

But what could he do? It wasn't like–

Unless he can throw together a replacement…

An idea struck him like a lightning bolt, and he quickly dug into his shell. He'd kept his things in his Hammerspace in case he had to run and couldn't meet up with Gavin and Caddy afterwards. If he could just find…

Aha!

"ROY!"

The Koopaling's head shot up at the call, and a good number of audience members turned to look at him, too.

With a windup and determination on his face, Junior pitched his Koopa Clown Car's remote into the arena below, sending it flying towards his older brother. It wouldn't be doing him any good, anyway.

Roy plucked it out of the air with ease, and, grinning, set to work right away, a Paragoomba referee hovering over him to make sure that there weren't any illegal modifications or applications installed in the remote to give him an edge.

Thankfully, by the looks of things, it was simply the body that had been damaged, and not the internal parts themselves, so Roy was able to easily pass inspection and be back on the platform in record time.

He gave the buttons an experimental push, and the Mecha Bowser Jr. roared to life, spewing fire into the air.

The audience let out delighted cheers as the competitors readied themselves to resume the match. A few onlookers gave him appreciative looks and thumbs-ups, and Junior just grinned sheepishly and settled back down to watch his brother kick some metal mushroom butt.

"This match ain't over yet, folks! A fan has come to the rescue, and it looks like Roy Rumble is raring to get back into the action! Now let's count them down!"

The two robots returned to their starting positions, readying themselves for their final showdown.

"THREE! TWO! ONE! GO!"

Immediately, Mecha Bowser Jr. unleashed its remaining sawblade, while Jack retracted his left hand into a blaster. Taking aim, Jack began to launch a series of energy shots at its opponent. Mecha Bowser Jr. used the sawblade to slice through the blasts with ease, slowly advancing with every shot it decimated.

Junior was impressed at how quickly his big brother had adapted to the new remote. The sheer timing and accuracy needed to slice the shots while remaining unharmed was ludicrous, to say the least.

Well, the announcer guy did say he hadn't used Mecha Bowser Jr. in six years, so he must've been doing this for a lot longer than that…

Still, he'd always known his older brother to be the 'barrage' type as opposed to the 'accurate' type. More shots logically equal more hits, or something along those lines. Yet another difference punctuated by thirty years of separation…

But now wasn't the time to be reminiscing about that sort of stuff. Junior refocused on the match just in time to see his robotic clone rapidly spinning around in place, the sawblade extended straight out again. It made a few unsuccessful passes that were easy for Jack to avoid – it couldn't really get a lot of speed in when it was rotating so quickly, apparently – and just when Junior was starting to worry that the remote was malfunctioning, the Clown Car suddenly halted and the sawblade launched towards Jack at a blinding speed, before reading its cannon.

The robot Toad barely had time to duck, and the blade clipped the V on its cap, slicing the ends of it and causing sparks to shoot out.

"Ooooh! That'll render Jack's boomerang attack useless!"

Undeterred by that statement, Jack removed the damaged V and held it tightly in its left hand, sparks still flying. Taking advantage of the Clown Car's stationary position as it began to charge up another cannonball, the robot raced forward before grabbing the lip of the open hatch with its free hand and using it to launch itself a few feet into the air. Unable to move, Mecha Jr. could only look up as Jack descended on it, broken V slamming down right on its green head.

The Junior Mecha let out a staticky roar as electricity began to fry it, and, in an attempt to dislodge its attacker, the Clown Car began to rapidly spin around once more.

The incredible momentum and the added weight of the robotic Toad did nothing to help the already damaged boomerang, and within seconds it had snapped in half, the portion that was frying Mecha Jr's circuits clattering uselessly to the ground as Jack was sent flying. It flipped in midair and landed with a slide, keeping a tight grip on what remained of the severed V as it waited for its opponent to make another attack.

And it came in the form of a barrage of cannonballs flying all around the arena.

The Clown Car may not have been able to fire as many shots as quickly as Jack had the previous round, but they were bigger and much more dangerous to a robotic frame. Jack had to nimbly dance around the cannonballs, nearly getting hit more than a few times. This continued until the outer arena was covered in the heavy black spheres.

Mecha Jr. slowed to a halt, and appeared to have the advantage – the Clown Car was positioned in the center of the arena, which was clear from obstacles, while Jack had limited movement on the outskirts – an easy target, as it was stuck between cannonballs. The hatch quickly shot out a pair of MechaKoopas, who flew towards Jack and started to flash red as they prepared to detonate.

But while Mecha Jr. had been slowing down to face its opponent, Jack had taken advantage of the momentary pause in the assault. Using the remaining electricity from the broken V, Jack's left hand had begun to charge up and was now glowing a bright blue. It dropped the useless fragment, and Jack quickly punched at two of the nearest cannonballs. They flew forward and collided with the incoming Mechakoopas, forcing a premature detonation. Jack continued his attack on the abandoned projectiles, punching the cannonballs back towards their owner with incredible force and accuracy.

Mecha Jr. retreated into the Clown Car in order to use it as a shield, but unlike the punches from the first match, the cannonballs had a much stronger impact, forcing the Clown Car back a few feet with every hit, and leaving some pretty sizeable dents.

"Uh oh! If this keeps up, Mecha Bowser Jr. isn't going to have much in the way of defence!"

Junior winced. If this robotic vehicle was anything like how his Clown Car functioned, it wouldn't take long before the structural integrity gave way and the hull cracked in half – and he doubted Mecha Jr. would've been able to survive for long if that happened.

In an effort to protect itself, Mecha Jr. unleashed an arm that had a large boxing glove on the end of it – most likely the same arm that the sawblade had been attached to. The boxing glove began slamming into the incoming projectiles, forcing them off course and causing them to narrowly avoid the Clown Car. It was incredibly nerve-wracking to watch, but it seemed to be working.

Seeing that Roy had an answer for the counterattack, Boxcar changed tactics. Fist still charged with power, Jack abandoned the cannonballs and began running as fast as it could towards the blue platform. It ran up the side of the platform and, as it neared Boxcar, Jack jumped outwards, launching into the air and nearly hitting the video screens with the height it gained. Its left hand now glowing a bright white, gravity did the rest of the work and sent Jack plummeting towards the centre of the arena, fist slamming down with incredible force.

The slam shook the arena – as well as the stands – and released a powerful shockwave, which sent the cannonballs flying up a few feet into the air. While Mecha Jr was able to pop over the shockwave with relative ease, the cannonballs slammed down around it and shook the ground long after the shockwave had ended.

The Bowser Jr. Mecha let out a small roar as its Clown Car readjusted itself in an attempt to regain stability. It appeared to overcorrect as the vehicle slowly started to tilt forward, and Jack began to rush ahead, winding up to punch the Mecha right in its metal face.

Roy smirked.

The vehicle stopped tilting once it was parallel to the floor, the opening facing Jack, and a drone's camera revealed to the audience that the propeller underneath the Clown Car had jabbed into the floor of the arena. With a loud BANG the metal Bowser Jr. was launched from the Clown Car, a Hammer bro's weapon of choice reeled back and at the ready.

Carried by commands and momentum, Jack couldn't slow down its approach and received a hammer smack right to the face, knocking it off its feet with such incredible force that it was sent flying out of the arena, narrowly missing a stunned Boxcar Blitz by inches. It slammed into the auditorium's forcefield, optics flashing and joints sparking, before its vibrant green eyes slowly faded out and the metal Toad fell to the ground, unmoving.

Three seconds of silence permeated the large room before the entire audience leapt to their feet, cheering at deafening decibels. Caught up in the excitement, Junior had grabbed the shaded robot by the shoulders and started shaking him, screaming incoherently.

The announcer could barely be heard over the explosion of cheers, declaring Roy Rumble the winner.

As a young Goomba carried a large, shining trophy over to the winner, Roy grinned widely and pumped a fist in the air, the Mecha Bowser Junior imitating his pose.

"Now THAT'S how you Rumble!" he cried, holding the trophy high in the air.

And, in the stands, amidst the cheering fans, a small male voice screamed out, barely discernable:

"Are you KIDDING ME?! THAT'S YOUR CATCHPHRASE?!"