Playground Heroes
"Your castle's mine today!" a voice squeaked from across the sandbox.
Marth looked up to see a determined 4-year-old charging at him, stick in hand, ready to claim the sandcastle he was building. All the other children the young prince considered allies were playing too far away to help defend the small grainy structure. It was all up to him.
"Stay back!" Marth yelped and jumped to his feet in front of his castle, holding the yellow bucket he had been using out in one hand. He shot the other boy a glare, but the invader, Ike, was not intimidated.
"You'll never win!" he shouted, swinging his flimsy excuse for a sword.
Marth blocked the stick with his bucket. Ike tried again, but the prince grabbed the weapon with an outstretched hand and tried to wrestle it away from the other boy.
"Hey, let go!" Ike protested, pulling as hard as he could until he was leaning all his weight back on his heels.
Marth stumbled forward and let go of the stick. Both boys collapsed into the sand and the prince started crying loudly, attracting stares from all the other mini-Brawlers in the playground of Super Smash Preschool.
Ike was the first to rise to his feet, anger blazing in his blue eyes. Marth scowled at him, but his look turned to panic as he watched the other blue-haired boy run past him and deliver a swift kick to his sandcastle.
"HEY!"
"This castle's see-zed!" Ike declared, laughing triumphantly until a yellow bucket hit him hard on the side of the head.
He glared down at the small boy sitting before him in the sand. The prince rose to his feet, lip quivering and clenched fists trembling in anger.
"I-I'm telling!" Marth screamed at him, running away in tears.
"Sissy," Ike scoffed.
He kicked down the rest of the sand till it was flat and punted the yellow bucket so high that it flew out of the sandbox and landed on the blacktop with a thud.
"Ikey!" a new voice gasped, causing the blue-haired boy to stiffen.
"Uh-oh…"
The boy knew who was standing behind him. His victorious smile faded, and he felt the first wave of guilt about what he had done rush over him.
"Ikey…why'd you do that? Why'd you knock down Prince Marth's castle?"
Ike turned around and faced his best friend, Pit. The tiny angel flapped his wings, distressed, and his large blue eyes were cast down worriedly at the sand beneath Ike's feet. The blue-haired boy rubbed the back of his neck embarrassedly.
"Sorry, Pit. I was just playing Castle See-zed."
"But he worked hard on that castle! I helped him with the moat. Now look what you did to it!"
Ike hung his head. Pit could always make him feel guilty when he had done something bad; he couldn't help but be sorry when he saw the angel's disapproving frown, and he hated to see his friend so upset. He watched as Pit went to pick up the bucket he had kicked, looking down at it sadly. Somehow, he knew he'd have to make this right.
"I'll…I'll make him a new one!" Ike promised.
That got a smile from the other boy. He flapped his wings excitedly and came back to hand Ike the bucket.
"Okay! I'll help."
The two of them had only just started building when the teacher came holding the hand of an angry Marth. She called Ike and gave him a lecture about playing fair while the blue-haired boy stared at the ground. Pit watched as his friend nodded and muttered an apology to the prince. Marth stuck out his lower lip and turned his head away unforgivingly, but looked curious when he spotted the angel in the sandbox with his bucket.
"What're you doing?" he asked.
"Ikey and I are making you a new castle!" Pit chirped.
"Yeah," Ike said. "You know…to say I'm sorry."
Pit smiled at him approvingly. Marth stared expressionlessly at the castle they had started on. There were three mounds of sand stacked next to each other, bits of the edges crumbling off the tops.
"That's not right. You need more water," he started and instructed the other boys on the proper construction of a sandcastle, his grudge against Ike forgotten.
Before the end of morning playtime, they had built an impressive structure that got compliments from the other children and even the teacher herself. She praised the three for working so well together and even gave them one gold star sticker each. Pit wore his proudly on his forehead.
"Look at meee!"
Ike laughed at his friend and put his own sticker on his head to match. Marth just looked at them funny and walked away to ask Roy if he wanted to play Horse Race with Yoshi and Lucario.
Not everyone on the playground was impressed with the three boys' accomplishment. Bowser and Ganondorf frowned at the sandcastle and glared jealously at Pit's and Ike's gold stars. They approached the other boys who were dancing around the sandbox happily, Pit flapping his wings as he jumped off the sandbox's edge and landed softly on the ground only to jump back in again and continue.
"Ha! That thing's not so great!" Bowser scoffed. "It's just sand and water!"
"The teacher liked it," Ike shot back, sticking out his tongue. "So there!"
"We used sticks too!" Pit added helpfully.
"It looks so stupid!" Ganondorf growled.
"You're stupid!" Ike yelled.
Ganondorf's eyes blazed in fury, and he ran towards the blue-haired boy. He was just about to hit him, when Pit jumped in between them suddenly, raising his arms.
"Ganny, stop!" he pleaded. "He didn't mean it! Ikey's sorry. Can't we be friends?"
"Ha!" the red-haired boy scoffed. "Who'd wanna be friends with a blue-haired dummy and a chicken boy like you?"
"Chicken boy!" Bowser yelled, roaring with laughter.
Pit's eyes welled up with tears, and Ike glared furiously at the other two.
"Take that back!"
"Make me, dummy!" Ganondorf laughed. "Chicken boy can't even fly! Look at those puny wings! He's nothing but a—a dodo! Heh! The dodo can't fly! Hahaha!"
"I-I can too!" the angel protested.
He jumped off the edge he was standing on and flapped his little wings with all he had, trying to lift himself up into the air, but it was no good. He only fell right back down and landed hard on his butt, right next to the sandbox. The other boys roared in laughter.
"Haha! You can't! You can't!" Bowser jeered.
Pit hugged his knees to his chest as his eyes welled up with tears. He hid his face in his hands and sobbed while the mean boys laughed at him. Ike clenched his small fists and curled his lip back in a snarl.
"I'll teach you to pick on him!"
He leapt at Ganondorf and started pummeling him with his fists. The other boy screamed and called for help. Bowser tried to yank Ike off his friend, but only received a kick in the knee for his efforts. Pit sat by the sandbox, wailing, until the teacher finally ran in and broke up the fight.
Ike, Bowser, and Ganondorf were all separated and put in time-out. The blue-haired boy sat by the side of the school building indignantly with his arms crossed. Pit crept over to him when the teacher wasn't looking, wings limp and head hanging down sullenly.
"I'm sorry I got you in trouble, Ikey…"
"Hey, cheer up. It's gonna be okay," the other boy replied. "It wasn't your fault. Those boys were being mean! They shouldn't 've made fun of you."
Pit sat down next to his friend gloomily.
"I wish I could fly."
Ike patted him on the back reassuringly.
"You will! I know you can!"
"Really?"
"Sure! All angels fly. You will too."
Pit smiled and giggled. He leaned over and hugged his friend tight.
"Thanks, Ikey."
The other boy blushed embarrassedly, but seeing that no one else was looking at them, hugged the angel back warmly. The two friends sat together until finally, it was time to go back inside to the classroom.
There was a lot to learn that day like colors, how to count to ten, and how to tell the difference between super and poisonous mushrooms. Pit was barely paying attention to any of it, though. Instead, his mind was on flying and how long it would take him to learn how to do it. Ike had to tap him on the shoulder when it was finally time to go eat lunch.
All the little Brawlers went outside to eat at the picnic tables. Pit and Ike kept their distance from the bullies as they ate their packed lunches. Ike's father, Greil, had packed him a chicken sandwich, while Goddess Palutena had filled Pit's lunchbox with lots of fruit, a lettuce wrap, and a small muffin. The angel nibbled his delicious treat happily as his friend kept an eye on Bowser and Ganondorf. Marth sat across from them next to Roy, both eating their neatly prepared meals.
"You eat like a bird," Marth commented as he watched Pit consume his muffin.
"He is a bird!" Roy laughed.
Ike glared at him, but Pit didn't seem to mind. His lunch had put him in a good mood. He looked up at the two boys sitting across from them and smiled.
"It's angel food! You want some?"
"No, thanks," Marth said, forcing a smile as Pit sprayed crumbs across the table.
At the table next to theirs, Kirby and Yoshi were causing trouble by trying to steal food—the pink blob inhaling deeply and green dinosaur stretching out his tongue while their tablemates clutched their lunches tightly, determined not to lose them. The Ice Climber kids, Nana and Popo, got angry and started chucking vegetables at the offenders. An eggplant sailed over Yoshi's head and landed on the next table, right in front of Pit. The angel shrieked, dropped his muffin, and fled under the table.
"Oh, come on," Roy teased, peeking down at him. "You're not still afraid the Eggplant Wizard's gonna get you, are you?"
Pit only answered in a whimper.
"Leave him alone," Ike grumbled, picking up the eggplant and throwing it back where it had come from. It bounced off Yoshi's head and got sucked into Kirby's mouth within seconds.
The blue-haired boy managed to coax his friend out from under the table, and finally, they finished their lunch. It was time for afternoon recess, so the boys put away their lunchboxes and headed to the playground. Marth and Roy started pushing each other on the swings, while Ike found his stick from that morning and practiced his sword fighting moves by swinging it. Pit found two sticks and started swinging them too, mimicking his friend's motions.
"Not bad," Ike said as Pit held up one of the sticks and spun it over his head.
"Do you think," the angel panted as he lowered his arm, "that I'll be strong someday, Ikey?"
"'Course," the other boy replied. "My daddy says everyone who practices gets strong. The more you practice, the better you get. That's why I do this every day!"
He swung his stick to make his point, hitting the low-hanging branch of a tree. The loose leaves fell down and sprinkled themselves all over his blue hair. Pit laughed as his friend shook his head to free himself of the mess. The angel helped him pick out the last bits of leaf.
"Thanks," Ike said.
"I'm gonna practice too!" Pit said excitedly. "I'm gonna practice flying!"
"Okay. Me too!" Ike laughed, and together, they went to the sandbox.
Pit kept jumping off the edge, trying to get some height, but his wings only let him hover for a few seconds before he got too tired and fell back down. Ike grabbed the sides of his small cape and stretched the fabric out like a flying squirrel. He jumped alongside his friend, but always came back down right away. Even the small boy could tell this was going nowhere fast.
After a while, Ike got tired of the game and went off to find his stick again. Exhausted and frustrated, Pit plopped down in the sand and watched his friend go. Was it really impossible?
The angel didn't feel like playing with the swords anymore. Instead, Pit sat by the side of the sandbox and looked up at the sky dreamily while Ike played with Roy and Marth on the other side of the playground. He saw a white dove soar high above his head and flap its way over the fence that surrounded the playground behind the preschool building. Suddenly, Pit rose to his feet and gazed in the direction the bird had gone. A little bird, so much smaller than him, was able to do what he could not. While he was stuck here in the playground, the bird was free to fly wherever it wanted. Pit wanted that freedom too. He was determined now. He would learn to fly today no mater what!
-*-*-*-*-*-
The teacher came to call the students in from their recess. Ike had gotten so into his training that he hadn't even noticed the time go by. Marth and Roy ran past him back to the classroom, while the blue-haired boy looked around him, confused. Where had Pit gone?
The teacher came to get Ike when he was the only one left outside. The boy looked up at her with worried blue eyes and glanced around the playground frantically.
"I can't find Pit! He's gone!"
The teacher tried to hide her panic as she realized Ike was right. The other children stuck their heads out of the classroom door curiously as the two began calling Pit's name. The teacher tried to persuade Ike to go back inside and wait with the others, but he refused and kept searching for his friend. He couldn't believe it—the angel boy really had disappeared.
The other children, tired of waiting, flooded back into the playground and helped Ike and the teacher look. It was Marth who found the first clue.
"Hey, look over here!" he said, pointing to something on the ground.
Ike rushed over immediately and looked at what the prince had found. There, next to the fence, was a single white feather.
"That's Pit's!" he exclaimed.
The teacher came over and examined the evidence, troubled, but in the end, she ended up dismissing it.
"It could have fallen off any time," she pointed out.
Ike wasn't so easily convinced, though. Once the teacher had gone away and started trying to usher the students back inside, he leapt at the fence and began to climb.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Marth called after him.
"I'm gonna find Pit!" Ike yelled back as he swung a leg over the top and leapt down on the other side of the chain links.
"You can't go out there alone!"
"I have to!" the other boy told him. "Pit flew! I know he did. I'm the only one who can find him, so don't tell the teacher where I went."
"What if you get lost?"
"I won't," Ike promised. "I'll be back with Pit soon. You'll see!"
With that, he dashed off, leaving Marth looking worriedly after him. The small boy didn't stop running until he was deep within the woods surrounding the school. The trees loomed over him and animals moved in the bushes, but Ike wasn't scared. He had to find his friend!
-*-*-*-*-*-
Pit, meanwhile, was having a grand time, completely unaware of the ruckus he was causing on the ground below. He had finally learned to fly! After a lot of jumping, flapping, and some especially hard wishing, he had managed to lift his feet off the ground and finally scale that fence! Now he was free and soaring over the forest. He glided over the tops of the trees excitedly, overjoyed to feel the wind beneath his wings. His goddess would be so proud!
His tiny wings weren't accustomed to so much use, however, and after a short while, the angel began to feel very tired. He wouldn't make it all the way back to the preschool at this rate. Maybe if he just stopped and rested…
Pit landed in a small clearing in the middle of the woods. It felt so good to be back on the ground. His wings ached from all the flapping and gliding. He folded them neatly behind his back and plopped down next to a tree for a break. The tree didn't seem to like this intrusion, though. All of a sudden, the angel felt a strong gust of wind blow at him from behind, so strong that it knocked the small boy over and made him roll head over feet. Bewildered, Pit stared at the tree that he now realized had eyes, a mouth, and even a bit of bark that stuck out like a nose. It blew at him again, pushing him back further, and the angel cried out and fled, running out of the clearing and deeper into the woods.
Once he was sure he was far enough, he finally stopped, panting hard. What kind of forest was this? He had to get back to the school. He looked around him for another clearing, but there was none. Desperately, he gazed up at the sky above his head, but the trees grew so close together that their leaves blocked it all from view. There was no gap between the branches for him to fly through, and his wings were still too tired to lift him up that high anyway. Panicking, he tried to figure out which direction the school was in so he could walk, but the forest all looked the same to him. His wings trembled with a shocking realization—he was lost!
-*-*-*-*-*-
Ike was running through the forest as fast as his small legs could carry him. He had found a new stick to use as a sword, one less flimsy than the last one, and gripped it tightly as he burst through the undergrowth, making his way deep into the midst of trees. His heart was pounding and sweat was running down the back of his neck as he raced through the woods, looking around him and calling out his friend's name in a high voice.
"Pit! PIIIT!"
His throat was sore from yelling now. Ike stopped, panting, glancing frantically to his left and right. Where could he be? He had been looking for so long, and there was still no sign of his friend. What if…what if he never found him? The boy's blue eyes began to fill up with tears. It was hard to be brave when he thought about never seeing the angel again.
Just then, there was a scream further beyond the trees to his left. Ike's eyes grew wide, and he dashed in the direction of the yell immediately. He knew that voice!
Sure enough, as he burst out from behind a bush, he found Pit standing in a small clearing, trembling as short, brown creatures surrounded him. They toddled on two small feet and had fangs sticking up from the mouths of their mushroom-shaped bodies. Goombas! They were closing in on the small angel, swarming menacingly.
"Pit!" Ike yelled.
The angel's mouth fell open as he spotted his friend over the army of Goombas.
"IKEY! Help!"
The blue-haired boy ran in and started swinging his stick, hitting the monsters on the head. The Goombas started to flee, but a few were still on their way to attack Pit. Ike panicked and stumbled in his friend's direction, accidently tripping over one of the Goombas. As he landed, it disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the boy hit the floor. The four-year-old blinked in confusion and jumped to his feet.
"Pit!" he exclaimed. "Try jumping on their heads!"
The other boy stared at him for a moment, but gave Ike a nod and mustered up the courage to spring forward at his enemies and stomp on one's head. It disappeared quickly, and Pit looked at his friend triumphantly. Ike smiled at him and continued to ward off their attackers. Soon, the remaining Goombas had retreated back into the forest, and the two boys were safe.
"We did it!" Pit yelled, jumping up and down in excitement. "We did it, Ikey! You saved me!"
He leapt at the other boy and hugged him tightly around the neck.
"I-it was nothing," the blue-haired boy stuttered embarrassedly as Pit choked him. He reached around his friend and held him close. "I'm just happy you're okay."
"Thank you, Ikey," Pit sniffed, releasing the other boy and wiping tears of relief from his eyes.
"Let's get outta here," the blue-haired boy said.
He took Pit's hand and began leading the way out of the clearing, back in the direction of the school. The angel gladly followed, but after they had taken only a few steps, he stopped suddenly. Ike turned back to give his friend a curious look.
"Hmm? What's wrong, Pit?"
The angel was standing there, frozen. His face looked horrified as he stared into the woods before them, his angelic powers sensing danger.
"S-something's coming…"
Both boys felt the ground tremble beneath their feet as they heard a large creature bounding through the forest. A few scattered Goombas stumbled into the clearing, apparently running from the beast. They scampered past Ike and Pit, more interested in seeking cover than attacking the boys. Then, the monster itself appeared. It was much larger than any of the small baddies of the Mushroom Kingdom and a lot more terrifying.
The two preschoolers looked up in horror as the creature towered over them, roaring. It had only one tooth, but its mouth was enormous. It also had two huge eyes bulging from its head on stalks, a dark yellow face, and a red body with white spots. Most of what the boys could see though, was its dark cavernous mouth and large pink tongue. Pit shrieked and hid behind Ike, shaking. The blue-haired boy was trying hard not to pee in his pants as he gazed up at the creature in terror and amazement. They had learned about these creatures after the new student, Olimar, had entered their class. Usually they only came out at night, but the Goombas must have disturbed it. Ike held his arm out protectively in front of Pit as he tried to steady his own trembling.
"B-bulborb!"
The monster's giant foot crashed down near them, knocking the boys off their feet. Ike recovered immediately and grabbed Pit's hand.
"Come on!" he urged, yanking it hard.
He managed to get Pit to his feet and the two ran, just in time for the Bulborb to miss them with its wide, open mouth. The angel cried out as it chased them, but he kept up with his friend, the two dashing into the thicker trees where it would be harder for the monster to follow them. It chased them determinedly, knocking low-hanging branches aside and trampling the bushes below its feet. Ike was getting tired. He had already had such a long run during his search and fighting off those Goombas had taken a lot out of him. His steps slowed as he hunched over, gasping.
"Ikey…" Pit croaked weakly, also tired out.
The two stopped against a large tree, unable to go further. The crashing behind them grew louder, and soon, the brush parted to reveal the Bulborb, drooling with anticipation as it looked down at the small snacks before it. Ike couldn't hold back his tears now. They ran in streams down his cheeks as he looked up at the monster in despair. I don't wanna die! Was there no way out of this?He squeezed Pit's hand tightly and closed his eyes. Someone help us…
There was a roar and suddenly, Ike felt himself being lifted up into the air. He couldn't feel the ground beneath his feet anymore. Had the monster eaten him? No…Something was pulling him up by the hand.
Slowly, Ike opened his eyes and stared in shock at the sight before him—there was Pit, flapping furiously, face strained from the effort. Somehow he had managed to lift Ike into the air with him, and the boy was even more surprised to see his friend's wings glowing blue. Pit managed to get them high above the Bulborb's head and into the branches of a thick-trunked tree. He landed on one, placing Ike down gently and then collapsed, panting hard.
"Pit!" Ike yelled, picking up his friend and holding him. "Are you okay?!"
"Yeah…" the angel gasped, trying to get his breath back. Ike grinned at him.
"You did it! You flew!"
"I did before too," Pit told him, smiling.
"See? I told you! I knew you could!"
Below them, the monster was still bellowing, angry at losing its prey. Pit stood up wearily and glared at it. Grabbing one of the especially large apples growing among the leaves of the tree, he threw it down at the Bulborb, hitting it on one of its creepy eyestalks. Ike joined in, and after a while, the creature left, tired of only devouring the few apples that landed in it mouth and being hit painfully by the all the rest. It slowly made its way back into the woods and disappeared among the trees.
"You were amazing," Ike said, sitting down on the branch as he looked up at his friend. "How'd you do that?"
"I think it was my goddess," Pit replied. "She said if I was ever in trouble, to call her in my mind, and she'd use her powers to help me. I did that now…but before, I flew by myself. My wings weren't blue."
Ike grinned at him. "You really can fly! Just wait till Bowser and Ganny see that!"
The angel turned a bit pink with embarrassment.
"I still have to practice," he replied meekly.
"Maybe you can even fly back to school," Ike told him. "Look! I can see it from here!"
The angel gazed in the direction that Ike was pointing and saw it was true—they weren't very far at all.
"I won't leave you behind!" he protested. "Let's go together."
Ike smiled and nodded, taking Pit's hand again. The angel brought them slowly back down to the forest floor, where they landed softly and looked around for any signs of enemies. It was all clear. Cheerfully, the two began heading back in the direction of the school, eyes open for danger, but hearts content with each other's company. Holding hands, they felt safe.
"Ikey," Pit said as the school finally came into view with a frantic teacher waving at them over the fence. "Thanks for coming to save me. You're a hero!"
Ike laughed and smiled at his best friend, squeezing his hand tighter. He would always protect the angel, but today, he knew that he had also been the one saved.
"Pit…so are you."
The End
A/N: This was a Secret Santa gift for cute-little-angel on DeviantArt. She wanted a story about Ike and Pit in preschool where Pit gets lost in the woods and Ike goes to rescue him, so credit for the idea goes to her! I had a lot of fun writing this. As my BMF readers know, I really enjoy writing about my favorite characters as kids so this was perfect for me. I still couldn't resist making it epic, though, putting those poor 4-yr-olds in peril at the end... ^^; It's just my style. And yeah, I guess they are the same age for the purpose of this fic (or maybe Ike got held back for not being able to tell the difference between poisonous and super mushrooms). XD I was originally going to call this Castles in the Sky, but I thought Playground Heroes suited it much better. I hope you liked the ending! Fly, Pit, fly~