Robin scrambled to his feet and made space between himself and the plant. It spotted his movement and snaked after him. Samus intercepted, she swung her blade at the plant’s stalk in an attempt to behead it entirely. The sword dug a few inches into the plant matter before stopping and getting stuck. The good news was, that drew the plant’s attention away from him. The bad news is, they weren’t getting anything done other than shuffling the plant’s attention around. Nothing seemed to stick to this thing, it shrugged off impact, cutting, flames. That was basically their whole arsenal.

No, that was a bad way of looking at it. It was unscientific and unproductive. Nothing is wholly invincible, the key is to look at what’s not working and ask why.

The plant was highly resistant to impact, cutting, and fire. Why was this? The plant matter inside the Piranha Plant seemed spongy, it absorbed incoming force and quickly neutralized it. Spongey matter wasn’t unheard of inside of a plant, they’d grown natural defenses just like animals had, and one touched by magic like those from the Toadstool Kingdom would naturally develop even more so.

Robin took note of the dry earth crunching underneath his boots. This plant had absorbed the nutrients and moisture from acres of forest. That was probably what in part made it so large, and so tough. It was like punching a water bladder. The effort would just absorb across it. And that, too, is probably what made it so hard to burn.

That didn’t mean it was impossible. The plant had not taken extensive exposure to fire. It spit back Bowser’s flame and resisted Robin’s spark. That removed options, certainly, but it didn’t rule out the possibility entirely.

Robin looked around at the forest around him. Those dead trees that had gotten hit before, they were still burning. Little more than charcoal at this point.

So, alright. Robin had a plan.

- Chapter 17