A/N: Hello. As the Pitus of Time series is finally over, I decided to pick this back up. I haven't actually submitted this yet, so here's chapter one. This is a humour fic (I miss them) and there is possible romance (guess between who). For those of you who don't know me on dA, Layna and Ivan are Final Fantasy FCs that are now humans in my fiction. Nothing to do with their original use.

Screen KO

Dark Forces

The house across the road, with the jungle of plants growing in the front garden, wild and neglected, was strictly out of bounds. They said it was haunted; the people who lived there had died young, and no soul had claimed it for nearly three years. You could no longer see the house for the garden had made it invisible behind the tangled overgrowths of the mini forest behind the fence. However, several days prior to my calamity, a relative of the young couple who died there (murder, though nobody knew who) had delved in and brought out a box of old discs, some so worn you couldn't tell what they had been. Some were fairly recent, from what I could tell from my bedroom window which overlooked the whole of our sleepy little village. There were several things in there that piqued my interest, generally being video games, but all of them were a few years of age and I already had most of them.

From what I could see.

My family was what you could call a family of 'videogame fanatics'. We adored them, whether they were sports to role playing games, shooters to town building. I was the one who loved Nintendo though, thus making me the centre of the calamity that came unto me. You could probably tell just by looking at me, in my Mario Kart pyjamas, with my Toon Link plush sitting besides me on my window sill, next to stacks of games for my Wii and other such consoles. My eyes followed the man with the games and other CDs and DVDs all compacted into once small box, looking shoddily arranged. He was poorly dressed like a beggar or someone straight from a Middle Ages game, like The Legend of Zelda for example. His looks were deceiving; he had straggly grey hair and saggy, peaky skin barely containing milky, glazed eyes. I watched with half-hearted anticipation as he placed the box down on the pavement and began to scribble something on a piece of coffee stained paper. In barely legible hand writing, I could see he had written 'for sale'.

So, he was selling these items, though he never said how much for on the sheet. It was practically beckoning me, brimming with Nintendo games for every console, though I could see no handheld games at all. I wondered if it was worth a look, to see if there was anything I didn't own. I knew none of the new games would be there; the people died back in '08 and who would have sent dead people new games?

However, there were one or two older games I didn't have. For example, I had yet to find Mario Kart Double Dash in a store, and I hadn't got my hands on the latest Super Smash Bros game. I had a little money remaining from Christmas, and it seemed worth a few pounds to find a bargain game. There was no time to get dressed, I merely threw on my dressing gown (coloured black and decorated with a Triforce) and the nearest pair of worn, scuffed trainers I could find. My parents were out for the day, at work so it seemed, and I had the day to myself until my older brother returned from his friend's. School didn't start until the day after, so I was left alone.

It was bitter cold outside; the morning winds fresh but chilling. The man across the street seemed to look a little concerned to why a young school girl was wandering out in her pyjamas and approaching him, money at hand. I supposed our generation could be up to anything, like asking him for alcohol or cigarettes. Thankfully, he seemed to warm up when he realised I was just after a video game, though considering my Nintendo based clothing, it was no surprise. I was also the trusting type just by features, with glasses and slightly curly, honey gold hair, with soft, blue eyes and a short complexion. I didn't have any essence of drug abuse on my person, for I looked well kept and smelt like my one weakness- besides cute game guys- which was chocolate. He, on the other hand, had that musty, old man scent, which mingled with peppermint and tobacco. He smiled at me when I arrived, showing me terribly black, chipped teeth in a nearly empty mouth. He seemed to eye me up and down, still smiling.

"Here for a game, lass?" he asked in a rusty voice with the hint of a lisp. I nodded, ignoring the cold that rushed over my body as the early winds passed by. "Tell me, ever played this?" he reached feebly into his box and pulled out a DVD shaped disc in a plastic folder. The game featured a silver front, dotted with several characters and sporting the name Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I didn't have it as of yet, so asked:

"How much for it?" with a hint of nervousness to my voice. The old man wheezed with laugher and pressed it into my hand.

"This one," he began, his voice taking on a dark tone, "this one, you can have for free. You are destined to have this game, and I cannot gamble it with you. Take it and play it as soon as you get in. Don't even get dressed or stop to get a drink. Just go to your Wii and play it."

"What if I don't play it as soon as I get in?" I queried, feeling a little awkward with this man's oddness. He just laughed again, this time a little evilly.

"You'll be sorely missed by your loved ones. Encased in a wooden box, never to see, to hear, to feel, taste or smell again. Don't play it as soon as you get home, little miss, and you will die." I tried to keep a straight face even though my heart was pounding in my chest. He sounded so honest, but he HAD to be lying.

"What if I don't want it?" I inquired.

"Too late, you've already touched it. The game remembers its last touch and if not played, it kills the person within the hour."

"This is all very awkward…" I sighed, "but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry… Have anything else alongside this?"

"You have the other games," he affirmed, rising to his feet and lifting the box, "now go, your time is running low."

I obliged, feeling mildly disturbed by this crazy, old man. But, cursed or not, I had a new game. I rushed back to my room to play it.

Something was already off, even before I ejected my previous Wii game (Super Mario Galaxy 2) and slotted the 'cursed' Brawl into the slot. The minute I removed the game from its packet, my hand started to burn up, like someone had placed the disc into the oven and I'd removed it without an oven glove. The Wii seemed to take it well though, showing no sign of the intense heat harming it. The warning screen flashed up, like always, and I pressed the A button on my Wii remote.

Then everything began to get weird. Instead of the menu coming up, the screen remained black and text-less. My bedroom lights flickered and died, shocking me at how suddenly it happened. Plunged in darkness, the screen began to change. Words flashed up, blaring white and in the dead centre of the television. I recognised that phrase.

'You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?'

It was from the Nintendo 64 Zelda game, Majora's Mask. I was growing tense at this; the older TLoZ games played no part in Brawl. A song began to play, a very twisted version of 'Victory Road', which I knew was a song from the Pokémon series. The screen became active and took on the form of a Brawl in an indigo based stage, Spear Pillar.

A stage you had to unlock.

The game saved to the Wii. My Wii was new when I brought it back in '06, two years before Brawl came out. There was no way I could have Spear Pillar, but still, I was playing in it. I couldn't see my character; they were invisible aside from the faint glowing outline that I'd seen on YouTube indicating I had a Final Smash. In the darkness, I heard someone open the door. It couldn't be mum and dad, so I sussed that I was either being burgled or my older brother had arrived. The glowing was in the outline of a round character, with pointed ears like a cat's and two blobs in the centre that posed as eyes. I could tell instantly I was playing as JIGGLYPUFF, who, like the stage, was a character you had to unlock. I was really beginning to get the creeps by then, and moved the control stick about on my nunchuck. JIGGLYPUFF followed my commands, with no such lag. I thought I was alone until I wandered directly underneath the right-most floating platform, which was when I was joined by three other players. It was a bit of a relief to see that they were three starters, Link of The Legend of Zelda, Samus Aran of Metroid and Ike of Fire Emblem. What wasn't a relief was that they were frozen, encasing me with Link and Samus either side and Ike on the platform. I tried to move, to use my A attacks out, but they had no effect; it was like they were walls instead of characters. I tried to break my shield, knowing that killed JIGGLYPUFF due to her weight. I just knocked myself over and didn't even get dizzy. I tried to pause, but that didn't work. I taunted, I jumped, I tried to wait until one of the stages Pokémon appeared and killed me, but they never did. When the timer reached zero, it just froze there and allowed me to carry on playing. The only thing I hadn't done was used my final smash, so I attempted. The balloon Pokémon began to puff up, encasing the others instead of pushing them. When she delivered her final attack, they became unfrozen and hit the screen. There was a deafening shatter and the glass from my T.V. screen fell around me. In the smoke, I darted out of my room and slammed the door, panting heavily. There were footsteps coming up the stairs, and the tousled, brunette hair of my fifteen year old brother, Ivan appeared over the top of the banister.

"Layna," it was a relief to hear my name, "what was that crash?"

"I…" I was too panicky to talk. There were faint murmurs coming from my room. Someone was in there, so I pressed my ear to the door. Ivan did likewise.

"Okay, we've been kidnapped," a young, male voice stated, "so, we have to battle the villains to get out."

"No you long-eared loon, we haven't been kidnapped. We're in a kid's bedroom. Not an evil, lava filled lair of some monster," another, deeper, male voice stated.

"They could be trying to trick us with an illusion… But no, I'd know if they did," that voice was female, mature enough to be a woman whereas the first voice was much younger. My brother and I were immobile with fear, both afraid of what was in my room. Three pairs of footsteps became audible, one wooden, one leathery and one steel. I held my breath and turned to face Ivan, who was furrowing his brow in confusion. The door handle was jerked down suddenly and an immense force was pushing against the pearly coloured wood. Ivan and I were growing weak under the pressure and had to leave go when the door gave an ominous crack. It flung open so fast; I was surprised it didn't zoom off of its hinges. Three humanoid figures emerged from my bedroom in single file, looking about shiftily with weapons poised for the kill. As if they would be ambushed in my house. The first was a tall man wielding a massive two-hand blade, glinting a royal gold in the dim light of our landing, in only one. His messy blue hair was kept up, out of his eyes with a tatty black headband. He was cloaked in a crimson cape which shrouded a blue tunic, ornamented with golden rims, and dark-brown sashes. His face was hard, cold but passionate; the type of face you'd find in a fashion magazine. The second person to emerge was a shorter, blue eyed boy with sandy hair, tousled to one side. He carried a heavily decorated shield along with a shimmering blue blade which was carried in a majestic gold and blue scabbard. He wore a khaki green tunic and long floppy cap which scaled his back up to his maroon sash and belt, the same colour as his scuffed, daintily ornamented boots, which encased a pair of white tights. He wasn't as handsome as the first man; more of a rugged type. He was clearly not human, for he sported a pair of long, elfin ears, studded with a singular, blue hoop. You couldn't tell the gender of the third with one glance, for they were covered entirely in a suit of flame, coloured armoury, wielding a massive cannon weapon in place of a hand. If you looked beyond the visor of their helmet, encased with abnormally large shoulder pads, you could tell the eyes belonged to a woman. Compared to the other two, who looked from a time you'd research in history, she was the most high-tech of them all, and I knew she came from a time far more advanced than my own.

Looking over these three strangers, I realised what I'd done. But before I could even begin to explain verbally, Ivan and I were spotted and found ourselves facing three very deadly weapons. I had the point of the massive Ragnell uncomfortably close to my neck, and Ivan had likewise with the Master Sword. If the boys didn't skewer us, we'd be burned by a very deadly laser which was building up within the female's arm cannon.

"T-this is uncalled for," my brother stuttered, "killing children I mean. Have you no shame?"

Gosh my big brother was brave, yet his chivalry didn't have a massive effect. The green clad elf succumbed to his subtle plea and placed the Master Sword back in the scabbard. The other two lowered their weapons, but didn't seem to find us trustworthy enough to back down completely.

"Kids, huh? Well, you do seem young to me," the blue-haired man stated coldly, "but how do we know you're telling the truth?"

"Maybe he is Ike," the elf boy affirmed, "they definitely look innocent, and I barely give false judgement.

Ike. I knew he was Ike.

"They could be villains in disguise though," the woman hissed, "we're obviously not in the world of trophies anymore."

"World of what?" Ivan asked. I didn't blame him for being oblivious, he disliked Nintendo and only ever played the Wii Sports games and things like that, or the non Nintendo games on Nintendo consoles.

"It's a world in the Smash Brothers series," I mumbled nervously, "where characters from many Nintendo series join up and battle together."

"What's Nintendo?" the elf boy asked, furrowing his brow.

"Oh man, you're dim…" Ike sighed, "Link, you know Nintendo are the ones that hired us to go to the World of Trophies. You must remember that."

"Ooh, yeah…" Link chuckled, "those humans. Hey, maybe they brought us here!"

"Nuh-uh, that was me," I affirmed. I was sure of it. I also knew the third person was Samus Aran, though nobody had mentioned her name. I had come to accept that when the cursed battle with JIGGLYPUFF lead to a screen knock out, something phenomenal occurred and I had brought them to life. If I wasn't so awestruck, I would have been having a panic attack, "it was an accident and I apologise…"

"Wait, they're video game characters?" Ivan suddenly blurted, "but they look so real! They're not, like, pixelly or anything, they're all solid and real."

"Of course we're real, we live and breathe don't we? We were born, we will die, and we learn and sense and feel emotions. We have a heart that beats and every component of the body. Yes, I think Link lacks a brain, but other than that, we're completely alive," Samus growled.

"Where are you guys from then? Where is this trophy place?" Ivan rise to his full height, slightly taller than Link, and gazed into an irritated Samus's eyes.

"We aren't from the 'trophy place', of which you incorrectly speak. We just lodge there to fight and ward off a dark entity known as Tabuu. We come from different worlds. For example, Link hails from a golden blessed land named Hyrule. I was born to an earth colony and was raised on planet Zebes. Ike is a Crimean mercenary. You see, not the World of Trophies at all. How does the girl know so much?" the three animated character's heads turned to face me.

"I…" I couldn't tell them they were just creations of the mind, they'd kill me, "you're very famous is all… And you're not supposed to be here. We have to get you back…"

"This place… It isn't in our Galaxy though, is it?" Ike sighed, "I don't know anyone who may hail from here."

"This is earth," Ivan affirmed, "you've never heard of it?"

"There is another earth, I think. In our Galaxy. Hey, what planets are in this Galaxy?" Link's eyes lit up.

I began to recite: "Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune… And Pluto, but that's no longer classed."

"In that case, we are no longer in our proper realm. We're aliens. However, this Galaxy co-exists with ours," Samus seemed rather proud at her knowledge on the subject. Then again, we'd never heard of another Galaxy. I just thought it was fiction, and that these people were fiction. I didn't even thing Hyrule would be in the same galaxy as Zebes, yet Samus, Link and Ike seemed certain that they existed in the same group of planets. They seemed certain they existed.

"This is fascinating, I can assure you," Ivan sighed, "but Layna my little kid sister, there are three video game characters on our landing. Looking like prats in their other worldly attires and bearing weapons that don't come from this time period. Our parents will be home in an hour, and what will they say when they see this. How did they even get here?"

"Can I explain after they're disguised?" I sighed.

"Disguised?" the three trespassers and my brother looked at me with a 'what-are-you-on-about?' look in their eyes.

"Ivan, find three outfits that will fit them out of random wardrobes in this house. I think Link will fit in your stuff, but you might want to try mum and dad's room for Ike and Samus."

"I don't believe we've even properly introduced ourselves. It's rude, isn't it?" Link was so naive, but I was a little worried that he could talk, let alone talk English. So much for a silent protagonist.

"I know who you are," I hissed, "get into my room and hide all of your weapons in my wardrobe. If you're caught with them, you'll get arrested; it's illegal in this world to be carrying weapons."

"Right, hide weapons… All of them?" the elfin like boy- the correct terminology being 'Hylian'- inquired. Samus and Ike seemed slightly peeved at the request to give up their defence. I knew both were too strong for me to fight against, so I let Link woo them while I checked out the damage to my TV. After all, three life-size 'humans' had smashed through it.

It was funny to see that there was no damage whatsoever to the television, or the Wii. However, when I ejected 'Brawl', it dissolved into dust and the words, 'Game Over', echoed from the pile of powder. I threw it in the bin and decided I'd buy a non-cursed copy to return the three back to their game. If that failed, I'd return them to the first three games in their own series I could find, which by the looks of it were The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn and Metroid: Other M. Nothing seemed off about those games at that moment in time, though I'd soon uncover something horrific. Link had managed to get the stubborn others to give up their weaponry, and was contemplating with Ike about what he should do with his bombs.

"If they go off, you'll get skinned alive!"

"But where else can I keep them? Samus, can I hide them in your Varia Suit?"

"Absolutely not."

"But I could get arrested for having them!" you could tell he was youngest. The most good natured and trusting, but definitely the youngest.

"So, blow them up."

"Why did you bring them anyway, elf-boy?" Ike rolled his eyes and threw a peeved glance at Samus, who was dressed in her skin-tight Zero suit. I wondered what Ivan would think of her without her bulky armour; he was a sucker for good-looking girls. Even though she was far too old for my brother and would never take a chance on him. I knew from the games that he was not her type.

"We have to bring everything we can in brawls, and we were in a brawl before here…"

"That wasn't a brawl…" Samus sighed, "It was a horror story. Invisible Pokémon and the inability to move. Paralysis. I never want to witness that vulnerability again."

"So you are real…" I sighed. If they had witnessed the brawl I'd witnessed, they couldn't be pixels, "Link, I don't think they'll go off. Put them in there for now, okay?"

"See, the kid gives good advice," Link jeered, "what was your name again?"

"Layna…" I mumbled, "I'm Layna."

"That's an unusual name," Samus said in a melancholy tone, "but a pretty one." I was glad someone appreciated my name, even someone with a name as unique as 'Samus'.

"Thanks…" I smiled, "listen, I hope you guys know how to get home, because-"

"We don't," they chimed in unison.

"In that case, we'll have to disguise you as normal human beings until we figure it out. You can't even keep your names, aside from Ike possibly."

"Is my name considered normal here?" Ike sighed. I nodded.

"What is classified as normal?" Link queried, his voice taking on the tone of seriousness.

"You know… no weapons or powers or talk about monsters and far away planets… That kind of thing."

"So acting like our lives of heroism and trials never existed?" The blue haired swordsman confirmed. Link looked to the floor and Samus heaved a great sigh of disapproval.

"Laaaynaaa!" Ivan's voice was so loud it shocked me, "I need your alien buds to come and try these outfits on. By the way, won't mum and dad get mad?"

"Not really, you know how they are with things. Always giving it away to the poor and needy."

"Are these guys poor and needy?" he called back, his voice rattling the whole house.

"Who cares? Just bring in the darn clothes, big bro'."

Ivan- though he was my brother and I felt shadowed by him, like I was sure Luigi felt when with Mario- had good taste for what a guy or girl should wear. He shuffled into my room with an armful of clothes and shoes and dumped it on the floor, which due to my lack of tidiness, was already a big mess.

"I think I got enough… sadly our mother is a bit gothic when it comes to clothes, so forgive me for darkening your complexion ma'am," he looked to Samus, who nodded in approval. I knew seeing Samus after shedding her bulky armour would warm him up to the idea of having these three in the house, "oh, and I don't think the elf would fit my stuff, and it's all in the wash anyway. I found jeans, but that's it. He," Ivan pointed to Ike, "will be easy to cover up. Aren't you the one with the normal name, or is that the elf?"

"One, the 'elf' is Link, and two, he's not an elf. He's a Hylian," I hissed.

"Oh right, one of those things that are in that medieval game with the annoying faerie thing. Where the dude in green travels in time and plays a blue instrument."

"Annoying faerie?" a tiny, bell voice chimed. I jumped; I knew no-one with that voice. Then, from inside Link's hat, zipped a tiny blue ball of light, "that isn't me you're describing, is it?"

"Hey Navi," Link mumbled sourly, "you got dragged here too?"

Navi the faerie laughed and zipped back into Link's hat, "I'm with you Link. Always."

"She has to keep hidden," I stated sternly, "okay?"

"Yup," Link nodded, "so, do I have to wander around shirtless?"

"I bet Layna'd love that," Ivan whispered. I shot him a death glare and he flinched.

"No, you don't. I have a perfect shirt for you, Link. It's not girly, and it's a little too big for me," I delved into my wardrobe, nearly slicing myself on the blade of Ike's massive sword, and pulled out a long, black t-shirt. On the front was the Triforce symbol; it was a shirt I'd bought off the internet not to wear but to show off. Link looked a little awestruck at the Triforce on his shirt, and accepted it with wide eyes.

"This is odd…" he mumbled.

"They sell them on the internet."

"The what?"

"Never mind. Ivan, take Link and Ike out so they can get changed in private."

"They're video game characters, I'm sure their minds have been subjected to far worse than-"

"Ivaaaaan. Stop being stubborn big brother."

Ivan grumbled at me, but obliged and lead Link and Ike out of the room.

"You and you're brother are pretty amusing, you know," Samus stated randomly. She'd been sitting on my bed for a while, not saying a word, probably struggling to find a suitable conversation.

"Really? How so?"

"Well, you remind me of one of the Smashers when he was talking to his sister using some weird stones. The girl always called Toon 'big brother'. You two remind me of them."

"Toon Link and Aryll? Heh, I call him big brother thanks to Aryll. She always said it in 'The Wind Waker', instead of Link."

"Why are we famous here anyway?" she sighed. I had to admit, she did look pretty in twenty-first century clothes. My mother was so slim; she liked to wear tight fitting clothes in blacks and violets. Indigo skinny jeans and a tight fitting, long sleeved, black shirt really did make Samus look so normal, and astonishingly beautiful. In a way, she looked like my mother, only she had long brunette hair as opposed to blonde.

"Nintendo…" I mumbled, "they star people like you three in their video games and have you complete crazy adventures."

"I'm sure everything Nintendo is doing is true…" she sighed, "that game your brother was describing sounds like something Link did, with his Ocarina of Time and so on."

"Nintendo kind of broadcasted you all, though it was unbeknownst to you at the time?"

"Clearly… Well, what if we don't want our lives to be re-enacted by humans? Ooh, if we ever see them again, I'll tell them everything."

"You guys do have rights. Anyway, we need a plan to fool my parents. Any ideas?"

"None whatsoever," Samus rubbed the back of her head and collapsed on my bed, heaving a sigh. Someone knocked on my door and I gave them permission to come in; my parents hadn't come home yet.

"Hey Layna, your boyfriends are ready. Is the chick decent?"

"Can you be nice and call us by our names? I'm Ike, he's Link and she's Samus," I heard Ike scorn.

"You guys just better come in and hurry up about it, okay?" I urged.

"You're just worried about our parents, right? You secretly have been longing for this to happen since you started playing Nintendo," Ivan teased. The emeralds he had in place of eyes were glinting mischievously. Such a personality suited my big brother. The three boys filed in, Link looking rather bedraggled in Ivan's massive, blue jeans and my Triforce shirt (though I had to say, he suited the 'big clothes' look) and Ike looking quite the opposite, with a taught, red t-shirt and black tracksuit bottoms, clearly belonging to my father who was more of a sports fanatic than a gamer. It was unusual to see them bare headed, and aside from Link's abnormally long ears, all three of them looked like regular adults, for children could barely describe even Link and was incorrect in regards to their ages.

"Shall we tell mum and dad the truth?" I asked once everybody had taken seat on my bed.

"It'd be easier to lie, to be honest. Create new names, new identities, and even new ages. We could say they're college students at our school, and that they're after a place to stay," Ivan suggested, lounging back.

"The school needs to know that too. From their legal parents or guardians."

"Ooh, the ones that don't live here, right…" the boy sighed, "right, well I'm sure they don't mind pretending they're orphans or something."

Gosh, he was so oblivious. I could see Link looking slightly forlorn and Samus tensing up.

"No need for pretending," the Hylian boy sighed, "my parents died when I was born, fleeing their far off kingdom. Samus is an orphan too,"

"I can speak for myself, Link, I have the capability," the bounty hunter growled. Ike was remaining neutral on the subject. I didn't actually know anything of his parents aside from his father being dead, which was why Ike was in Greil Mercenaries, though Ike seemed like the type not to take death to personally. He was well known for not being sympathetic.

"Oh, sorry," Ivan slapped himself in the face, "no intention to offend."

"None taken," Link bowed his head, "I think the orphan story would be easiest to follow, because it's actually happened to us."

"What do we call our orphans?" I asked, "I suppose Ike can stay Ike, can't he? We can shorten Samus's name to Sam or something? Pretend it's short for Samantha or whatever."

"Ew," Samus sighed.

"What about the elf?" Ivan queried.

"Hylian."

"Whatever! Link is a really weird name. It won't work."

"Thanks for the compliment," Link mumbled sarcastically.

"Can YOU think of guy names that are like Link, Ivan?" I wasn't too pleased with my brother's attitude towards Link. Nor was I very pleased with how quickly he found answers within his clearly tiny mind.

"Uh, Luke?" he suggested immediately. I growled at his speed, but it suited our Hero of Time so well, what with it sounding like Link and all.

"Sounds like a short version of Lucas… I don't have PSI-powers," Link mumbled. I told him that it was nothing to do with that kid; Ivan didn't even know Mario he resented Nintendo that much.

"Ike, you're being quiet. That's odd for you," Samus pointed out randomly, looking to the blue haired man who was perched on the edge of my bed, looking intense.

"This is madness, Miss. Aran," he stated moodily.

"We have to get through this Ike; we're strong enough to best this slightly wacky quest. Don't be so stiff."

"Grrr…"

Ike received a swift strike over the back of the head, which was so forceful that he took a plunge to the floor. Ivan was in a state of shock at the fact that the man who had used a two-handed sword with just the one had been taken down by a woman.

"Jeeze, aren't those Nintendo girls all supposed to be wimps?" he questioned, thinking it innocently.

"Layna, do you give me permission to punish the kid?"

"Permission granted," I grinned. Ivan wasn't quick enough to retaliate when Samus seized him by the shirt collar and kneed him in a particularly painful place. He keeled over, gulping and whimpering.

"Never underestimate someone because of their sex. Heed my words little boy."

"Nngh…"

"Lets just go over our story for mum and dad then," I announced, "our orphans, who are named Ike Greil (after his mercenaries and father), Samantha Aran (it seemed normal enough) and Luke…" I tried to think of something Zelda related. When I noticed his hat which was poking out of the wardrobe, a surname came to me, "Green are old enough to leave their children's home in…"

"London?" Ivan wheezed.

"Yeah, London. Anyway, they want to do college at our school, but cannot afford a place of their own so we offered them our spare bedroom as they were coming round houses on our block. They need mum and dad to enlist them in school, but as long as they're housed and fed, they can fend for themselves."

"Seems pretty likely. You're good at lying kid," Link complimented.

"Is that entirely a good thing?" I joked. Link shrugged.

"Our parents aren't offering the room for free," Ivan pointed out, "I think it's ten pounds per person to bunk, and that includes feeding and so on. Can we afford that?"

"You say 'we' like we're incapable to earn money," Link scoffed.

"You are. For earth money anyway… Rupees won't buy you anything here," I mumbled, "thirty pounds… I… I have that much. If I give it to you guys then I trust you won't lose it."

"Yeah, we won't lose it… I guess…" Ike mumbled coldly. He was so, so stiff to us, but I knew he didn't mean to be. I could see it in his eyes, that emotion brimming in his pupils. He just needed a way to let all of his feelings out.

I handed out the cash, a slim ten pound note each, and watched as they inspected the foreign money I'd grown up with.

"Your money is paper? Wooow, you could fit hundreds of these in a wallet," Link's sapphire eyes lit up like a child's on Christmas morning."

"Well, we have coins too," I stated, showing Link a pound coin. It was amusing that he was so interested in it.

"That's a yellow Rupee in Hyrule," I explained, "the little number indicates how much it's worth."

"That's convenient," Link grinned, "you could get a bundle of arrows for this."

"You're not buying arrows," Samus hissed, swiping Link behind the ears. The Hylian winced and stepped away from her.

"I wasn't saying I was going to, I was merely pointing something out," he complained.

"Anyone ever tell you your voice can give people headaches?" Ike inquired.

"Anyone ever tell you that your hair is sight pollution?" Samus growled.

"I always assumed in the three main medieval Nintendo series, coloured hair was normal," I stated. That was true, even if it was only Goddesses and sages (plus some wacky girls in Twilight Princess and such. But seriously, the characters in Twilight Princess had some weird hair. Ganon for example) in The Legend of Zelda and Kid Icarus.

"Thank you!" Ike sighed.

If looks could kill, Samus would be charged with the murder of Ike with the death glare she shot at him. I was relieved to hear the Song of Storms begin to play and my phone vibrate in my pocket. I took my mobile out and answered, making the song cut short. Link looked amazed, but I could tell the farm boy knew better than to interrupt a phone call.

"Hello?" I asked into the phone.

"Hey sweetie," it was my mother's bell voice coming through the phone.

"Hi mum," I smiled, "what do you want?"

"Is Ivan home yet?" she asked.

"Yeah…"

"Can you two be darlings and start dinner then? I have the chicken out on the side, already cooked; you just need to warm it up."

"Okay. Mum, there are some students here looking for a place to stay? They have money, can they?"

"If they have money," my mother laughed. My mum was quite the happy-go-lucky optimistic person who was a bit crazy. I called her Princess Daisy, as they were quite similar. Plus Daisy was her main on Mario Kart Wii and she always thrashed me. Always.

"Thanks," I gave Ivan the thumbs up.

"Ensure they eat chicken," she warned. I obliged to her command.

"Do you three eat chicken?"

"What?" Link raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Ike stated.

"I can't eat it," Samus affirmed, "I'm a semi-vegetarian."

"I didn't think video game characters ate, let alone be picky about what they ate," Ivan scorned.

"I just can't eat some meats, I was raised against it," Samus sighed. It was a good thing I'd said my goodbyes to my mother and she'd gone.

"Anyway, chicken is Cucco," I told Link, who immediately nodded.

"Oh yeah. I eat that."

"Why do you call chickens the same name as the world's dumbest bird?" Ivan inquired grumpily.

"Don't make fun of Cuccos," Link shuddered, "those things are worse than Ganondorf when they get angry."

"Ganon's pretty easy to beat," I sighed, "anyway, come help make dinner guys," I lead them downstairs and into our small kitchen that lead out into the back garden. I let them explore a little downstairs and began to prepare the dinner along with Ivan.

"Layna, I'm still concerned," he told me with his head over the vegetables and his hands quickly chopping them up and breakneck speeds that I envied, "what ARE they?"

"Of things I'm certain," I began, "those three ARE Link, Ike and Samus Aran from three Nintendo games. They came from a copy of Super Smash Bros Brawl I bought that was apparently cursed. And we have to get them back, because they are real now. And Ivan, I think that game is behind the 'murders' of the people across the road."

"How come?"

"The old man I bought it off said that if I didn't play it immediately, I'd die within the hour. Whoever sent this game to those guys obviously wanted them dead."

"Great, so now we have three fictional characters in our house AND a murder mystery on our hands. Layna, I knew this Nintendo addiction would bite you in the butt."

"It's all quite exciting though isn't it?" I smiled, "it's like a video game." In truth, I was a little worried. Not because Link, Ike and Samus were in our living room, that part I was elated about. I was worried because of the effects it could have in the future. Everything could come crashing down. The three of them could be stuck on earth forever. And if they managed to get out of the game, what if others did? If Ganondorf or Ridley came to life, it'd be an apocalypse and it'd all be my fault. Of all the things I could have said, I could only think of one thing.

"Help…"

Thanks for reading. Chapter two, coming soon.