8/16/10
...
The bleak Mansion was quiet; all of the residents laid upstairs in their small rooms, sleeping, or sharpening their weapons on whetstones for tomorrow's two-minute battles.
Peach slept within an array of large pillows on her bed, her thin, pink nightgown betraying her plumpish figure. In the floor like a dog, Toad slept on a bedsheet that the Princess had pushed off into the floor a from tossing in turning violently- trying to put on a dress that was far too small in her dreams, with Mario standing over her telling her, "It fits great!" even when the seams began to burst. Peach's face twitched in her sleep.
Low groaning caused Toad to wake up. He glanced at Peach in mild shock, then looked at the door as the groaning sounded again. Curious, Toad waddled over to the door and opened it just a crack.
Walking down the hall, his head bouncing and rolling on its own, Captain Falcon made his way slowly along the smooth, blue carpet, his feet dragging. He was sleepwalking.
Toad put a white stalk to his mouth and giggled.
The Captain, alerted by even the slightest sound, pulled back his arm and built up energy within his body. He turned towards the direction of the noise, hand closing into a fist, and threw his arm forward, shouting, "Falcon Punch!"
The impact of fiery-fist-to-soft-doughy-toadstool made a terrible squishing noise. But no one could really hear such a delicate noise- they (or, some of them) heard the violent, ear-drum-cutting wail coming from Toad's mouth.
Snapping open his eyes, Captain Falcon took a knee and nervously tried to stop the toadstool from crying. But Toad was really upset- though the pain was already subsiding- and he began to cry, wailing with a babish expression.
At the same time, the Ice-Climbers woke up and- hearing nothing but the echoes of screams like a horror movie- began to cry.
In another room, MetaKnight's dream of slicing up trees became a dream of slicing up little rabbits, who ran with their tails on fire through a garden of watermelons.
Zelda didn't wake up as she usually would; last night she had stayed up way too late giving Toon Link a bath, so this time she wanted a full night's rest: Not even a random freight train shrieking past her window would have woken her up.
Sonic was too content with doing push-ups in the floor to worry about a little tears.
However, Pikachu and the Pokemon Trainer woke up. But merely rolled back over in their beds with subtle grunts of annoyance. A sudden idea came over him, and Pikachu leaned down and snatched the Trainer's hat off and covered his head with it. Smiling, the mouse-Pokemon closed his eyes. In the corner of the room, in a Kodak-moment position, laid Charazard, Ivysaur, and Squirtle, drool stringing from Ivysaur's mouth and onto Squirtle's well-polished shell. In her own little bed, Jigglypuff slept with snot bubbles rising in the air; she had a stuffy nose, and had refused to blow her nose in public, claiming it was "rude." Well, she didn't use words to make that statement; she merely drew on anyone's face with a sharpie who told her what to do.
From across the hall, a fairy bounced on top of a sleeping man in his bed. "Hey! Listen!" she said urgently.
Flinching, Link sat up, his green pointed hat slipping from his head. His sharp ears picked up the sound his fairy also heard; yelling and crying. Guiding the fairy to his head, Link put his hat on and ran to the door. He opened it and looked to his left; nothing. To his right, however, he saw Peach yelling at a very red-faced Captain Falcon, and Toad(with a bloody nose) sobbing in the floor.
Frowning, Link figured there was nothing he could do to help, so he stood in his doorway and watched. From their own rooms, Mario and Luigi ran out with agonized expressions, and went to defend their Princess. Link watched the whole Starfox team run over from the other end of the hallway, hostile expressions on their faces. They were going to defend their fellow Captain's side of the story- if there even was one.
Toad still cried in the floor as if he had been beaten with a metal bat.
Which reminds me...while all this is happening, Solid Snake is laying on his back, snoring, dreaming about parachuting from a silver helicopter.
Samus was too busy charging her guns to hear the cry- that, and she was in the farthest room possible from Peach's room.
Ness and Lucas were too busy catching fireflies in their room; they had left the window open, so late in the light, when the little bugs began to crawl inside their nostrils, or clean themselves on their tongue of their open mouths, they were more than happy to shock them to death with their electric "thunder."
Donkey-Kong and Diddy-Kong were too sickly from eating too many bananas, so they dd not even move. They just stared over at the door, then at the pile of bananas they still had left, and their mouths began to drool simotanously. With a large back paw, Donkey-King reached from his cloth hammock to the floor, and picked one up, peeling it with his toes.
By now, the small crowd was gaining volume in their arguments, so more and more of the residents were getting very annoyed. Most closed their eyes more tightly, struggling to remember their dreams and go back to them. But a few them simply ignored it all.
...
Marth and Ike were staying up to sharpen their weapons, Marth commenting every now in then in a light, dreamy voice how beautiful the night was. Ike watched the other Prince from the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. Ike watched grim with a worn, sad expression. The noise outside the room was beginning to disturb his thoughts, so Ike turned to the door and opened it.
"Where are you going?" asked Marth.
"Out." Ike closed the door behind him quietly, not looking back. In the hall, he spotted Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad,the Starfox gang, Captain Falcon, and Link. Bowser, his head ducked, claws cutting into the carpet, ran past Ike and towards the group, Mr. Game-&-Watch following. Clearly they were irritated for being woken up as well.
Yoshi had also joined the chatter, standing beside Link with a dumb-struck expression. Ganondorf laughed smuggly at the scene from his doorway, grinning crookedly.
Sighing, Ike turned and walked down the stairs. Once in the foyer, he turned towards the living room and walked in. He looked up at the books and the trophies which laid on the shelves, gathering dust in sad, lonely sprinkles. He caught himself staring at his own trophy- him swinging a glowing Aether in mid-air- and he looked away. He went to the end of the room opened a gray door. Inside a white room, four large chairs hooked with red wires waited.
Ike gasped in the doorway, hesitating.
One of them was occupied. A large, blue fox/wolf-like Pokemon called Lucario.
Ike sighed. He had wanted to go into the transport on his own- glance once more back at the world he left behind, before he was taken here against his will. All of the others- even Marth- seemed to accept their new life of senseless battling day-in and day-out. But Ike longed to return to the one place the Brawl Station had built out of his memory- Castle Siege, which was a combined place of the roof of a castle, the inside of a museum, and a volcano. It wasn't the most lovely of destinations, but it was the only one he and Marth thought of when they were demanded they think of a place they had fought at before; their ideas had merely combined.
But Lucario? He wasn't like the other Pokemon. Ike walked over to the occupied chair, and looked down at it. This Pokemon was lonely...like him.
Hesitant, Ike laid down in the chair beside his, and hooked up the wires. Casting one more glance at the blue Pokemon, he hoped Lucario wouldn't be mad at him for interfering with his training.
...
"Sir...Aaron..."
The tears had long before fallen from Lucario's dark eyes. He sat down with only a deep feeling of longing. Before he was taken to the world of Super Smash Brothers Brawl, he had been giving his aura-life force to his Master, in order to keep them alive. In order to be with him, forever.
But now...all he could do it sit in the memory called Pokemon Spear, staring up at the space-like sky around him.
His ears flicked once.
Closing his eyes, he put a fist to his chest, focusing on the world around him. He sensed a presence. He saw it in a blue wave behind him, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. Opening his eyes now, Lucario didn't have to turn to know who arrived.
"Why are you in here, Ike?" he asked, his tone suggesting anger.
Wincing, mentally hating himself for coming, Ike said what he felt, "I was worried."
"Why?" came the Pokemon's blunt response.
"I was worried I would forget." replied the man earnestly.
Lucario's heart skipped a beat. Forget...? So the human misses his world as well... Sighing to calm himself, the Pokemon faced Ike for the first time, and he was at a loss for words.
Ike was staring off into the distance, his eyes vacant, his expression hardened in a line of regret. The human's expression reminded him of his Master's, the day he told him how sorry he was for leaving. Ike, Lucario figured, was just as miserble as him. But neither would say so. So the Pokemon tried first.
"Ike..." Lucaio startled himself when he realized how weak his voice sounded.
Ike looked at him wearily, and said, "This is all we have left. Memories." The blue-haired Prince walked down the plat-form slowly, "Memories and battle scars that never go away..."
"We always heal after a battle," disagreed the blue-fox/wolf Pokemon. "Even if we are near our own death-"
"No." interrupted Ike calmly. "I'm talking about real life. Before all of this."
Lucario walked closer to the human, standing a few feet away. "We can never go back." said the Pokemon.
"I know." Ike's tone was bitter. He looked away, walking absent-mindedly away. "But I cannot accept the way things are. Can you?" he looked over at Lucario intensely
"No!" agreed Lucario whole-heartedly in a growl. His closed his paws into fists at his sides, his tail rising and falling in an unseen air. "I could never accept this world as my own... Because..."
"Because it is only a memory." finished Ike.
Lucario stared at the human wonderingly. "Yes..." the Pokemon said.
"We have been paired along with Mr. Game-&-Watch and Pikachu to battle," Ike said conversationally. "I checked the schedule," he added. "But I will not fight you tomorrow."
Lucario merely blinked, speechless. This human was too unpredictable.
Ike walked over to the Pokemon and raised a hand to his face, stroking the smooth, black skin under Lucario's eyes.
On-guard, Lucario backflipped away, landing on a higher platform, away from the human. He began to build an Aura at his sides. "What do you think you're doing?" growled the Pokemon fiercely, sweat gathering on his forehead.
Why am I doing...? repeated Ike to himself. He had found someone who understands, Ike reasoned. Someone like him, who longs for a connection with the past. But if the past can never be reached, then why not reach for the future? Why not connect with someone who feels the same way? It was only natural...
Ike started walking forward, as if oblivious to Lucario's constant absorbing power.
"Stay back!" shouted the Pokemon, his teeth barred. Why is he doing this to me...? He is showing affections as if he were my Master- no...My Master did not have to touch me for me to know how he feels. This human...Ike...he wants something from me...
Red eyes narrowing as Ike came closer, Lucario said "What do you want from me?"
"I just want you." Ike said.
The aura shot forward, the Pokemon having lost concentration due to shock. For a moment, his heart fluttered in fear of Ike getting hit, but the man blocked it with his sword. A second later, the human stood in front of him.
"I-I'm s-sorry." Lucario stammered.
Ike smiled and reached out again; this time Lucario froze, but he didn't try to leave. Ike stroked the Pokemon's face, and said gently. "You shouldn't be."
Lucario's legs shook under him, nervous and tense, expecting anything unordinary, and ready to avoid it.
Ike winced inwardly. The Pokemon was frightened... Ike stepped closer and hugged the Pokemon against his chest, burying his head into the fox/wolf-Pokemon's neck. "I'm not going to hurt you..." he whispered fiercely into his ear.
Lucario's red eyes blurred as tears welled up, his mouth open in shock. Slowly, his legs stopped shaking, and he focused on the warm, strong beating of the human's heart against his chest.
It was then that the Pokemon understood; this was their present situation: Fight, fight, and keep fighting. But Ike was willing to change the course of Brawling- but not for a revolution, but for love.
Closing his eyes, Lurcario hugged Ike back.
Tears began to fall from both creatures.
But there were no words that needed to be spoken: they had found what they were longing for.
...