Prologue- He's Back

10 years ago, Snake was invited to participate in the third Super Smash Brothers tournament, a fighting tournament between the different realms of the Nintendo Universe. He along with Sonic the Hedgehog became the first fighters outside the Nintendo Universe to participate in a Smash Brothers tournament.

He met various individuals from different realms. Feeling like an outsider, at first he felt it best that he kept his distance from the others. But over time, the many of the worlds inhabitants started to have an effect on him, their kind nature no doubt being the cause. Eventually he lowered the barriers that he had put up and began to open himself up to others. He became friends with several Smashers.

Not to mention he enjoyed fighting in contests of skill instead of fights to the death that he was used to throughout his life. He really enjoyed his time at the tournament.

But when the fourth tournament came around, he was not re-invited for reasons unknown. Strangely, Sonic's invitation was renewed, but not his. His time was up and he had to leave the friends he made. He heard that many other non-Nintendo fighters were invited to that tournament, but he would not be able to stay. He could of complained about it, but he accepted it. He said his goodbyes to his friends and left.

All these years later, he's been under the impression that his time in Smash was a "one-and-done" deal. Little did he know…

Snake's phone began to ring. He paused the TV and got up from the couch heading to the counter where he placed his cell phone. When he picked it up and looked at the caller ID his eyes widened in shock. It said "M. HAND". Obviously it was Master Hand but the problem was, he never had Master Hand added on his contacts. He accepted the call.

"This is Snake."

"Snake! It's me, Master Hand! It's good to hear you again!"

"Yes, it's good to hear from you too Master Hand. I didn't expect a phone call from you though. It must be important I'm assuming."

"Indeed it is. I'm calling to inform you that we will be starting the fifth Smash Brothers tournament in December."

"That's good to hear, I hope it all goes well for you." Snake said, having no assumptions that he would be involved.

"Oh it's going to go very well, especially since we'll have you back!"

"I…Wait! What!"

"That's right Snake. You're invited. Everyone will be here. Everyone who has ever competed in a tournament will be at this tournament!" the Hand explained. "So, what do you say?!"

Minutes later, Snake was at his closet and dug out his old bandana and sneaking suit. He hadn't touched these in several years. He didn't think he would need to. With him being all dressed up, he grabbed any luggage he needed and stepped through a portal that would bring him to a train station that all the new or former fighters would be taking to get to Smashville.

"I guess it's showtime."

He had arrived. Smashville didn't look much different than the last time he saw it. He stepped out of the train and unknown to him, he actually had a welcoming party. Peach, Zelda, Meta Knight, Lucario, Fox and Falco. All the people he had fought side-by-side with on the Halberd many years ago.

"I wasn't expecting a welcome back until I got to the mansion." He smirked.

"I guess that's too bad, cause you're getting six right here and now." Fox replied.

"You're our friend Snake. Of course, we'd welcome you as soon as we could." Said Zelda.

Peach's eyes began to water as Snake walked towards her, a big smile on her face. Snake looked confused at her sudden tears.

"Hey, are you alright Peach? Did something happen?"

Peach lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the mercenary, face buried in his chest. "Of course something happened! You're back! You came back!"

"It's good to see you too! Didn't think you'd miss me this much, honestly." He hugged Peach. It seemed a solid minute passed before she let go of him. "By the way, who else besides me didn't make it from the third tournament to the fourth?"

"Besides you? Red, Wolf, and the Ice Climbers. Even everyone that got left behind from the second tournament is coming back." Lucario informed him.

"So, it is true what Master Hand said. Everyone is here."

"That's right. And it really blows my mind as someone who's been here from the beginning. To think it started with twelve people, now we'll have about sixty-eight fighters this time around!" Fox said.

"So what about newcomers? Who do we have?"

"There's the Inklings from Splatoon." Meta Knight began explaining. "Princess Daisy of Sarasaland…"

"And my best friend!" Peach excitedly cut in.

"Yes, that too. And finally, Ridley."

"I have no idea who the Inkling is. I've heard about Daisy through Peach, and I believe we've all had first hand experience with Ridley. He was that dragon-like creature that fought against us during the Subspace Incident, right?"

"That's correct. Although we didn't personally run into him, we did have to fight a specter of him created by Tabuu in the Great Maze." Zelda answered.

"He killed Samus' parents…and now she's going to have to share the same roster with him?"

"I'm afraid so." Lucario simply replied. "He's been highly requested to make a debut.

"I can see why the Hands let him compete. People love heroes versus villains, and the roster can use more villains for the heroes to fight." Falco guessed.

They all talked a little more, catching up with each other, before they all finally decided to go to the arena.

Snake was told "welcome back" by almost every person he came across, even the fighters that were newcomers from the fourth tournament. Even when he was gone, stories of the fighter named Snake were told by veterans to the newcomers. The fresh faces were interesting to see. Pac-Man, Mega Man, and Ryu he had heard of just based on their popularity. Pac-Man was…Pac-Man. Snake didn't know how to describe him.

Mega Man, the Super Fighting Robot. An amazing work of technology…as well as a kind living being. A fully sentient robot, capable of thinking and emoting. Snake liked him, but was still somewhat skeptical about him. After all, Snake's experience in the past with technological breakthroughs were nothing positive. Metal Gears, Nanomachines, SOP. He had no reason to believe that Mega Man was created for ill-intent, but he could never be sure that one day something goes wrong.

Ryu, the World Warrior. Traveling all over the world competing in martial arts tournaments. He seeks to hone his craft. He's got in odd philosophy. He's looking for an answer, an answer that he believes he will find in the heat of battle. Strange thinking, but he's a friendly guy, a little on the stoic side. Snake's sure they'll get along just fine.

Then there was the other newcomers that he hadn't heard about before hand. Rosalina was a mysterious woman Mario and his friends met while he was away. One of the first things he noticed is that she's rather tall compared to the other women here. Nothing wrong with that. She wore a crown, but nobody said what kingdom she ruled over or if she was even royalty at all. All he knew was that she ran something called the Comet Observatory and acted like a mother to these star-shaped creates called Lumas. She had to stop one from trying to take his bandana. She apologized and said Luma wanted to wear it because he thought it looked cool. Overall, she was a very kind woman and they wouldn't have any problems getting along, provided that Luma doesn't try to take his bandana.

There was a fighter named Robin, two to be precise. One pulled from a universe where Robin is male, and one from where Robin is female. They were both practically the same aside from that. Apparently their most defining trait is how great of a tactician they were. Apparently even while they were going through an amnesia spell, that trait didn't change. While that is a great trait to have, he hopes they know that a tactician shouldn't always go into battle with a single, well-thought out plan. Battles are something that are unpredictable and can change in an instant. Fighters should always be able to adapt.

Wherever Robin is (the male one to be precise), the swordswoman Lucina isn't far behind. She's the son of Robin's good friend Chrom…from another timeline. She came from a dismal future, a time brought to ruin by the fell dragon Grima. She was polite to Snake throughout their conversation. She's been through a lot, so Snake could tell she was a tough woman. She wouldn't be alive if she wasn't.

The male and female Wii Fit Trainers make Snake unsettled upon first seeing them. It wasn't their behavior, they were very nice in fact. What bothered him was that they looked like those mannequins seen at malls that are used to display clothing, but they were sentient. They were walking and talking like a human. If he could ask them any question it would be, what are they? Are they actually human, or are they animated mannequins? Snake just told himself to do the same thing he did ten years ago, and that's to just try not to think so hard about these things.

Palutena was a name he had heard once or twice back at the third tournament. Pit mentioned her. She's the Goddess of Light who authorized Pit to leave Skyworld and help the others in the Subspace Incident. She looked like a goddess, no surprise there. He also figured out she doesn't like being called ma'am. Despite possibly being over thousands of years old, she is very touchy on the topic of age. But one thing he really wanted to know, is if Miss Goddess saw herself as being above humans, as he saw in the many stories of Greek Mythologies. To his delight the answer was no, and she was actually self-aware enough to realize that while humanity is a flawed species, gods are just as flawed. She believed that gods should not meddle in mankind's affairs. She and him would get along just fine.

Dark Pit, or Pittoo as Pit and Palutena sometimes call him. The nickname angered him, and Snake could understand why. Like how he never asked to be created in the image of Big Boss, Dark Pit never asked to be created in Pit's image. By being called Pittoo, it devalued his existence as a separate being. Snake respected the kid for choosing to carve out his own path, and not let his similarity to Pit define who he was. That being said the kid was a bit of an asshole, so he could use work on his manners.

Mac, or known by most of the group as Little Mac. He could see why they called him that, he definitely wasn't the tallest man around. Snake just preferred to call him Mac as it felt more respectable, even though he didn't seem to mind the nickname. But where he was small in size, he was big in areas that mattered. He had a big heart and powerful spirit. He's the type of guy that you can knock down and he'll just keep getting back up. He didn't let people tell him what he could and couldn't do, which is why he became the champion in a league of boxers several feet taller than him. He also threw some really mean punches. That probably helped too.

The Duck Hunt Duo, a dog and a duck. They weren't much for conversation.

Snake found out that Bowser was actually a father upon meeting Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings, and they were dreadful to talk to. Snake could only wonder who or what gave birth to Bowser's monstrous children.

Cloud Strife, a man who wielded the Buster Sword. In Snake's eyes it was an impractical weapon that could barely be considered a sword. It looked more like a massively slab of iron with a sword grip. But he's seen Ike swing a great sword one-handed so he wasn't going to think to much about it. The spikey blonde haired man wasn't very talkative. Snake could see in his eyes that the former member of SOLDIER had issues that troubled him. Unresolved trauma? Who could say? But it wasn't his business meddling in other people's lives.

Bayonetta is something else. Confident, carefree, and a massive flirt. Her actual first words to him were "Hello, Handsome" as she licked a lollipop. Turned out they both liked guns. Snake was quite fascinated by the design of her two pairs of pistols. Pretty amazing how she managed to weaponize high heels.

Snake had enough chatting with new faces for now. He had an old friend to reunite with.

Samus was just standing in an empty hallway outside the meeting area lost in her thoughts. She was livid upon learning Ridley would be a fighter in this tournament. Since she wasn't allowed to kill him, she promised that she would make sure he wished for death anytime they fought. But if only it were that simple. Ridley is no pushover.

"How come as the years go by you seem to get younger while I just get older?"

Samus snapped out of her thoughts and looked at who was approaching him.

"Snake!" She smiled and ran over to him, wrapping her arms around him when she got close.

"A hug? I don't often get one of those from you. The first time was when I was leaving." He teased.

"Just shut up." She chuckled.

"Can do."

Snake and Samus always had a special relationship. It started rocky at first, with Samus believing Snake to be just some pervert. But she gradually began to see there was more to him, and that he was one of the few people in this roster that could relate to her. She was a bounty hunter, he was a mercenary, guns for hire. They both served in the military at some point in there lives and knew the stress that it brought. They both lost people they cared about. A feeling of comradery and trust was built between them.

Samus finally let go of Snake and he began talking.

"I can tell something's bothering you. I've got a good idea what."

Samus didn't say anything, she just looked away.

"It's about 'him' isn't it."

Samus shook her head and let out a frustrated sigh. "I just can't believe the Hands let Ridley join up."

"Neither can I. I don't like him at all, but I'll have to learn to deal with him being here, and you'll have to do the same."

"You're right. I'll try to not let it bother me."

"Of course, if you ever want to talk more about it…I'm here now." He said and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah finally! Now that your back I've got someone to talk to." She smiled.

"Please. I'm sure there are other people besides me that are good to talk to."

"Well I do enjoy a lot of the other's company, but they're not quite you."

"Jeez Samus, I'm not used to you talking so highly of me. I think you're making me blush." Snake teased, to which Samus gave him a small punch to the arm.

"Since when did you develop such a dry sense of humor?" She chuckled.

"I think it just came with age."

"How old are you?"

"Forty-six. How old are you?" He asked.

"Yeah! Like I'm going to tell you that."

"Well that's not fair." He jokingly complained.

"You'll get over it."

Suddenly they heard two voices call out Snake's from down the hall. They turned their heads right and saw two young boys running towards them, looking excited. It was Lucas and Ness.

"Snake!"

A small smile crept up on Snake's face. He patted the two boys on the shoulder when they came near.

"If it isn't my two favorite psychics. You boys look like you haven't aged a day, I'm a little jealous." He chuckled, with the boys laughing as well.

Samus just smiled at the sight of a happy reunion between Snake, Lucas and Ness. Snake had developed a strong friendship with the two boys during the third tournament. Ness was one of the first fighters to approach Snake in an attempt to get to know him. Many of the other fighters were put off or intimidated by Snake's demeanor that they didn't try talking to Snake, which at the time was fine by Snake. He wouldn't deny that he was an asshole back then. But Snake couldn't help but respect the boy's bravery, optimism and persistence. Now matter how many times Snake attempted to brush Ness off, to try and get him to go away, Ness didn't take the hint. The only other person to act like that was Peach. Over time he and Ness began to talk more and eventually became friends.

With Lucas it was different. When he had a talk with Mei-Ling over his Codec regarding information on Lucas, he learned about the hardships the boy had to go through, with some of them being very similar to his own hardships. He began to see Lucas as somewhat of a kindred spirit and wished to help him. He knew that the boy was strong, but he didn't seem to believe in himself. Once they were paired together for a Team Battle Tournament, Snake got his opportunity to be a mentor to Lucas. Lucas was so shocked to see this man that he was intimidated by, speaking kindly and being supportive to him. He convinced Lucas to stop thinking so little of himself, to be proud of who he was, and to know that he was strong. They may have come out in second place, but a thumbs up from Snake assured him it didn't matter that they didn't win. What was more important was what he learned along the way. Since then the two have had a great friendship.

"So, you're not just visiting? You're really back?" Lucas asked.

"That's right. I am back." Snake nodded.

"Does that mean you can take us fishing like you use too?" Ness asked with excitement.

"I can. But I need to get settled in today, so how about we go tomorrow? Is that good?"

"Yeah!" The boys shouted.

Eventually the boys left, leaving Snake alone with Samus again.

"You're pretty good with kids." She said.

"I'm a lot better than I used to be." He replied, not mentioning how he used to smoke around Sunny. "How about you? You wanna go fishing with me and the boys tomorrow?"

"Are you asking me on a date, Solid Snake?" she asked with a coy smile and tone of voice.

"It can be whatever you want it to be. Friends getting together to fish…or a date in the presence of two children."

"All right, I'll tag along. But I should probably tell you that I don't know how to fish."

"That's alright. I'll teach you how."

"Then it's settled. I'll see you tomorrow, Snake." She said as she walked away.

Snake looked at his watch and realized it was getting rather late. He decided to get to his room and turn in for the night.

So, Snake's back. I'm REALLY happy about that, not sure about everyone else. Maybe now that he's on the roster of the newest Smash game more people will involve him in their stories.