"Keep it up, Meta Knight, keep it up. You've only got 15 Alloys left!" yelled a young, two-tailed fox sitting at a computer screen, surrounded by several others.
"He'll never make it, Tails. Nobody can beat my record." Link said, crossing his arms.
"I don't know, Link. It's a pretty close game. And Meta only has two Alloys left!"
On Tail's computer screen, a small blue ball with hands, feet, a sword and a mask rushing around the screen, swinging his blade and sending his opponents, odd machine-like creatures, flying off of the stage. Meta Knight looked up and saw that the meter above counted 98.
He looked on either side of him and saw a Green Alloy charging on one side, and a light version of himself charging on the other. As they approached, Meta Knight suddenly, disappeared, causing the two assaulters to slam into each other.
As they lay disoriented, Meta Knight reappeared, swinging his sword and sending the two enemies flying up into the air, exploding. He counted to three in the air, then heard Master Hand's voice call, "New Record!"
"Dammit!" Link pouted, stamping on the ground. He stared at a glowing blue floor panel on the floor until Meta Knight materialized within it and stepped out.
"Pay up." Meta Knight told Link as he extended his gloved hand.
"Oh, come on! Look! You only beat me by two milliseconds." Link said, looking at his time.
"I still beat you. Pay up."
Link sighed and took a pouch out of his pocket, putting it in Meta Knight's hand.
"What are YOU going to do with 2000 rupees, anyway. The common currency here is Smash coins, in case you forgot."
"I know. But that's just 2000 less rupees that YOU have." Meta Knight made a slight chuckling noise. "You should see your face right now."
"What the he- Did you see that? He just stole MY money from me!"
"By the way, your world's currency system is stupid. A green rupee in Hyrule is worth one dollar there, but a green rupee in other lands is known as an emerald, which is worth WAY more." Meta Knight said as he walked out of the door back into the main Smash Mansion, leaving Link seething.
"You know, Link, you didn't have to accept his bet." Zelda said, crossing her arms.
Completely ignoring her, he stared after Meta Knight, saying, "I'm getting my money back. Hey! Meta Knight! I challenge you to a Brawl!"
"Oh, jeez." Toon Link murmured, embarrassed at his alternate older self.
"Alright guys, clear it out. We're welcoming some new Brawlers today." Tails said, turning his computer off and shutting down the Alloy simulator.
"Really? Who?" Zelda asked.
"Don't know exactly. Boy, I remember when I first came here after the Brawl event, so I feel for these guys."
Tails followed the other Brawlers out of the room, turning off the light on his way out.
xxx
Balancing on the top of the fountain in the courtyard of the mansion was Lucario, meditating in relative peace. He had been in this position for quite a while, until-
"Hya! I've got you this time!"
"Nuh uh! You missed me again!"
Lucario didn't even have to open his eyes. He felt and heard the Ice Climbers' familiar aura. Using his aura sight, he noticed that Popo and Nana was jumping around the courtyard, clashing hammers. After one unlucky swing on Popo's part, his hammer flew out of his hand, straight toward Lucario.
"Oh no! Lucario! Heads-" Popo called, but stopped when Lucario simply lifted his hand and caught the hammer, without opening his eyes.
"Up?" he asked telepathically, throwing the hammer back down to Popo. It was then that he noticed several unfamiliar auras walking through the front gates. Immediately going into action, Lucario leaped high into the air and landed in front of the group of strangers, who froze solid. A few gasped.
Lucario studied the group carefully. In one corner was a short, pink hedgehog girl with a hammer strapped to her back, a blonde girl at about the same height who looked like Zelda, and another short blonde girl holding an ice cream cone and wearing a crown.
In the other corner was a dark-skinned girl with brown hair and tribal markings under her eyes and on her arms and midriff. In one hand was a strange wooden flute that had tribal markings as well. Behind her was a small Koopa child wearing a scarf that had fangs drawn on it and a blue fox wearing a skin-tight black-and-blue suit.
Bringing up the rear was an odd girl with even odder earrings, wearing a beach T-shirt and a towel around her waist and a very short man dressed like Olimar only his theme was more blue than red.
And heading the group were two tall girls, one wearing a modest green dress and a silver crown, surrounded by small living stars. The other was a blonde girl wearing a ash-grey belly shirt and a similar thigh skirt. She wore an extravagant ring, but obviously, the most noticeable feature on this woman were her eyes, which seemed to pierce right through Lucario's soul. Next to them was a red-haired young man wearing a knight's garb and wielding a sword. Oddly enough, this man was already wearing a Smash badge.
"Doggie!" yelled the young girl holding the ice cream cone, running up and hugging Lucario's legs, causing him to lower his guard slightly.
"You people must be the newcomers." Lucario said to all of the strangers, but fixing his eyes on the girl still clutching his legs.
"Hey, Lucario. What's going on? And who's your friend?" Popo asked as he and Nana ran up to investigate.
"She's a new Brawler. A little young, though."
"Hey, I resent that, doggie. I may be nine, but I can fight! If I couldn't I wouldn't be here!" the little girl said.
"Fair enough. If you'd all come with me, I will introduce you to Master Hand." Lucario said, breaking the girl's death grip and jumping away before she could lunge again. The he turned and led them toward the mansion.
xxx
"Welcome, all newcomers to the Smash Mansion. I am the owner and creator of this wonderful place, Master Hand. Now, first of all, are there any questions?"
"Where's the rest of your body?" asked the same girl that pestered Lucario outside.
"Good question. Any other questions?" Master Hand asked. "No? Very well, then. I will need all of your names. Make a line, the order doesn't matter."
The group of eleven lined up in a row.
"Starting from the left." Master Hand started, pointing at the girl to the far left.
"My name is Rosalina." said the tall woman, giving a small curtsy.
"Um… Celeste." said the odd girl who tailed the back.
"Amy." called the hedgehog girl.
"Bowser Jr."
"Krystal." said the blue fox
"I'm CAPRICE!" yelled the young girl.
"Louie." said the astronaut man. "These are my Pikmin."
"I am Deme." said the dark-skinned tribal girl.
"Zelda." said the other short blonde girl, to which she attracted confused stares. "What?"
"Do not fret, young lady. This has occurred before. From this day forward you will be referred to as Toon Zelda. Continue."
"Phoebe." said the tall blonde with the piercing eyes, though she was more focused on cleaning her ring than anything else.
The young man with the Smash badge at the end of the line was about to speak, but Master Hand stopped him.
"No need for your introduction, young man. I know who YOU are." he said amusingly. "Your name is Roy, correct? You were with us for the Melee tournament, then disappeared for undisclosed reasons."
"Yes." the man said.
"Well, now that we are finished with introductions, you may have noticed a key among the letter you received that invited you here. That would be your room key. Your room number is on the tag that is attached to the key. You are now free to roam the mansion. Please note that we are about to start a new tournament, so your timing could not be any better."
The newcomers began to scatter. At about the same time, the veterans began to emerge from the different corridors.
Fox, one of the veterans, looked at the newcomers and noticed Krystal among them. Krystal noticed him as well. The two locked eyes for a long moment, then began to walk toward each other.
"Hi." Fox said awkwardly.
"Hi." Krystal responded, equally awkward.
Nearby, Sonic and Amy had a similar moment, though instead of walking toward Amy, Sonic ran away.
"Hey! You get back here, you big blue jerk! How dare you come here for TWO YEARS and not even bother to tell me! You told Tails and Shadow!" Amy yelled, taking the hammer from her back and chasing Sonic down the hall.
Zelda and Toon Zelda stared at each other, cocking their head to the same side at the same time. Zelda raised her hand, and Toon Zelda raised her hand in time with the other Zelda.
"Heh, funny. Mini-me and I did the same thing when we first met." Link said, carrying Toon Link on his shoulders and putting him down next to Toon Zelda.
"Hey, Zelda! I haven't seen you in a while. How are the pirates?"
"Not well. Right now, they're probably bawling their eyes out since I left."
Both Toons chuckled, then began to walk and talk.
Roy had met up with Marth and Ike, and Rosalina 'eeked' with Peach as they hugged each other.
Caprice had walked around, twirling and staring at everything. She stopped when she bumped into something plushy and fell to the floor. She shook her head and looked at who she hit.
"Are you Kirby?" Caprice asked, her eyes widening. The pink puffball in front of her blinked, then smiled, waving at her.
"Yay! I've heard so much about you!" Caprice yelled, hugging Kirby and lifting him into the air.
"Pika, pika?" chirped a squeaky voice.
Caprice turned around and smiled even brighter than before, putting Kirby down and lifting Pikachu into the air.
"You're the most famous Pokémon EVER! Pika, pika, Pikachu!"
From across the hall, Jigglypuff spotted what was going on and ran over to join.
"Who are you?" Caprice asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Jigglypuff! Jigglypuff!" the Balloon Pokémon chimed.
"Nah. Doesn't ring a bell." Caprice said, thinking.
Jigglypuff became upset and swelled up like a balloon. Caprice gasped.
"I know who you are now!"
Jigglypuff deflated and smiled.
"You're a Drifloon, right?"
Jigglypuff frowned again and slapped Caprice twice before stomping off.
"Jeez. What was that all about?" Caprice asked, rubbing her cheeks.
xxx
Deme walked throughout the halls, looking for her room.
"Hello." she heard as she walked. Deme turned her head and saw a blonde girl in a blue bodysuit. "My name is Samus."
"My name is Deme. Are you a powerful competitor in these games?"
"I'm pretty good. Not as good as Meta Knight, though. He's one of the best Brawlers here. Are you a powerful competitor?"
"Back in my tribe, I am the strongest warrior there."
"Strongest female warrior?" Samus asked, attempting to clarify.
Deme scowled. "Do not insult me. I am the strongest warrior, period. Men wish that they could meet my skill level."
"Cool. Girl power." Samus said, extending her fist. Deme just stared at it.
"I am not familiar with your semiotics. Is this a battle challenge?"
"No, no. I wouldn't want to fight you yet. It's a fist bump. A sign of friendship in some cultures."
"And in other cultures?"
"It's a…battle challenge… But rest assured! I'm not challenging you yet!"
"…Okay, then." Deme said, raising her fist and touching hers to Samus's.
"Tell me more about the powerful competitors in this event." she said.
xxx
Celeste stood to one side of the room, thumbing her earrings, which looked like tiny tridents.
Nearby, Lucas was staring at her.
"What's the matter, Lucas? You've got the hots for the shy girl?" Ness teased, putting his hat over his best friend's blonde hair.
"She seems lonely. Should I go talk to her?"
"Why not? It might get her to open up a little."
Ness patted Lucas on the back as he walked up to Celeste.
"Hi. I'm Lucas." he said, tapping Celeste on the shoulder.
"Oh! H-Hi." Celeste stammered, taking her hands off of her earrings and putting them behind her back.
"What's wrong?"
"What do you mean? I'm fine."
"It's just that you're not socializing. I can relate. When I first came here, I could barely say a whole sentence, just say 'Hi.' and nod."
Celeste smiled. "It's just weird being away from home. I miss my sisters."
"I miss my friends at home, too. Ness is my only real friend here. Can we be friends?"
"Sure. But… Is being a friend like being a sibling?"
"Hm? Explain."
"I've never had a FRIEND friend. Just my five sisters and one brother. Is friendship like siblinghood?"
"It's close enough to it. So, do you want to think of me as your little brother?"
Celeste giggled. "I'd like that."
Ness gave Lucas a thumbs-up, then walked up the giant staircase toward the upper corridors.
xxx
Peach walked up to Phoebe, who was admiring herself in a mirror.
"Hello. My name is-"
"Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom. I know you." Phoebe said without looking at Peach. "What do you require of me?"
"Require? I just wanted to see if you would like to be friends."
Phoebe laughed. "I apologize if this hurts your feelings, but the only friend I need is her."
She pointed at the mirror, specifically her own reflection.
Peach looked sad and walked away.
"What's going on, Peach?" Rosalina asked.
"Phoebe's a jerk." Peach said sadly.
"Don't worry about her. You've still got Zelda, Samus, and now me!"
"True, but there's just something about Phoebe that seems familiar. Oh! I know who she is! Don't you recognize her?"
"No."
"That's THE Princess Phoebe Lee, of the Volcanic Monarchy. She's been my idol for SO long! Eek! I just got shot down by THE Phoebe Lee! *gasp* Phoebe said she KNEW ME! EEEEK!"
"Well… I'm…happy for you?" Rosalina said, confused.
"I need a beverage. I'll be right back. Oh my God. THE Phoebe Lee…" Peach continued to murmur as she walked down the hall.
Rosalina looked back at Peach, then at Phoebe, not knowing what to do next.
xxx
Meta Knight walked down the hallway, toward his room. As he turned the corner he jumped backwards in surprise. Mario was laying on the ground in front of him, severely injured, with bruises and marks all over his body.
"Mario! What happened here?" Meta Knight asked, helping the plump plumber to his wobbly feet.
"Oh, my. Someone just-a came out of nowhere and attacked me. I didn't see his face, though." Mario said with a disoriented voice.
"I'll get you to Master Hand. He has to know about this." Meta Knight said, picking up Mario's hat. Under his mask, Meta Knight frowned when he saw that the 'M' on Mario's hat had been crossed out and replaced with a 'T'.
"He has to know about this now." Meta Knight added, helping Mario across the hall.
