I've been meaning to start this series earlier, but outside classes and obligations took hold of me. Right now, I have free time to catch up on my stories, including this new one. I've just been fascinated by these three characters as best friends. I might have mentioned at some point that this reminded me of past friends in elementary, by which most of the future chapters may be based off of.
Well now, time to start!
The crowing of a random Cucco was loud and shrill as usual, alerting the area of the rising dawn. The bright sun was rising over the horizon, showering the grand Smash Mansion in its morning rays. The sunlight entered all the windows facing its direction, shining upon the rooms of the various Smashers occupying them.
The story would commence with the awakening of a young boy in his preteen years. He felt the warm light of the sun rest upon his closed eyes and forehead, pressing him to awaken. He struggled underneath his blanket covers, concealing his entire body save for his messy raven-black hair and mumbling something about getting up in five minutes to his mother, who was presently not around.
This young hero was none other than Ness, the PSI Powerhouse.
"*Yawn* … Time to wake up," his roommate, Toon Link, muttered as he arose from his bed and threw off his covers.
Clad in his signature pajamas of an ocean blue shirt with a white lobster print, along with sun orange pants, Toon Link tumbled out of bed and lazily swayed his way towards their personal bathroom.
As if on cue, their bathroom opened up, revealing their third roommate to be fully dressed up in his usual attire of a red shirt with a blue number-one print and charcoal gray shorts.
"Good morning, Toon Link!" Villager greeted, having been clearly freed from morning drowsiness symptoms in contrast to his groggy Toon Hylian friend.
"… Hey," Toon Link replied back with a halfhearted wave, shuffling past the young Mayor of Smashville and into their bathroom.
Villager merely smiled in amusement, having been accustomed to this routine ever since he was invited to be part of Super Smash Bros. He loved meeting new people and making friends with everyone, just as he done back at his hometown. As such, he enjoyed being roommates with Ness and Toon Link upon settling in.
He looked to where his bed was, being the top bunk over Toon Link's bed, and decided to make it. The noise of spreading out his blanket covers and arranging them neatly was enough to finally stir Ness awake.
"… Knew this was coming," Ness mumbled, immediately sitting up to watch Villager pull the head of his covers upon his pillow. "It's hard to sleep in with you always waking up so early, Villager."
"I just can't help but take care of this," Villager replied as he finished up. "Do you want me to make yours?"
"It's cool, but thanks," Ness answered with a warm smile.
Even though it was clear that Villager would be the most responsible out of the three, there were still benefits of being friends with the young mayor. Ness looked up to the ceiling. There used to be a top bunk over his bed, similarly to Villager and Toon Link's bunk bed set.
The top bunk that used to be over Ness's bed was where Lucas slept before he left the Smash Mansion for reasons unknown. This, of course, had greatly upset Ness when Super Smash Bros. began anew as he lost someone he shared many common grounds with. It also didn't help that Popo and Nana, along with Pokémon Trainer Red, were not coming back either despite the latter's Charizard still hanging around. However, his newfound friendship with the easygoing Villager along with Toon Link's return was enough to help Ness cope with the losses of old close friends.
"Anyway, I'm going out to pick fresh fruit from the garden before breakfast," Villager announced as he was about to exist. "Hope to see you guys at the table soon."
Ness nodded and saw Villager off, watching the main door close. He needed the bathroom, which Toon Link was using right now to clean up. Most rooms in the Smash Mansion were like this, a group of three to four occupants with their own bathroom so that they wouldn't have to wait for a public one to be open despite there being a few just out in the hallways. Ness was internally thankful for the Hands making this renovation for this new installment.
He then stared at the various objects in the room while waiting for the bathroom, ranging from his own pile of clothes on the floor to Toon Link's sword and miscellaneous weapons by the closet to Villager's personal desk decorated with Nintendo-themed collectable knickknacks and stacks of mayoral paperwork sent in from his secretary back home, Isabelle.
Sometime between five to ten minutes…
The bathroom door flew open with steam dissipating upon exit. Toon Link emerged with his pajamas under an arm, clad only with a green towel wrapped around his waist and strangely enough, a smaller green towel wrapped around his blond hair.
"Man, that felt good," Toon Link sighed in contentment.
"About time, I was about to fall back asleep," Ness joked, kicking his legs to the side of the bed. "Why do you need a towel for your hair anyway? It's not that long."
"I'm taking better care of my hair this time after seeing the Hyrule Warriors incarnation of Ganondorf," Toon Link replied simply as he found his standard green tunic. "I don't know what products he uses for that mane of his, but I'm going to prove that I can have awesome hair like his."
"But he's evil," Ness pointed out.
"That doesn't mean you aren't allowed to look fabulous," Toon Link retorted while dressing up and discarding the towel once undergarments were in place.
"Since when did you start caring about how you look?" Ness inquired. "And 'fabulous'? Link won't like it at all if a bit of Ghirahim is rubbing off on you."
"… I thought it'd be cool to try out, alright?" Toon Link responded, getting exasperated with all these ridiculous questions. "Anyway, you should get going. Villager probably wants us to meet with him down for breakfast as soon as it starts."
With that said and done, the Wind-Waking Warrior made one last adjustment on his pointy hat before making his way to the exit, bidding adieu to Ness as Villager did before him. The young boy with PSI powers stared at the door for a few moments before shrugging it off and getting off his bed.
"Hopefully he didn't use up all the hot water," Ness mumbled to himself before taking care of his personal business in the bathroom.
It took him roughly the same amount of time in the bathroom before emerging refreshed and ready to start the day. Equipping himself with his usual blue-and-yellow striped shirt, blue shorts, beige backpack, and red baseball cap, Ness was ready to enter the hallways and navigate his way down to the dining hall.
Upon leaving the bedroom, Ness found Rosalina, Fox, and Olimar walking together and conversing with Kirby jumping up from behind in an attempt to play tag with a mischievous Luma and a trio of Pikmin hanging along. Not too far behind was the pair of Palutena and Lucina chatting modestly about honor and ethics. They were followed by Pit, who had a cheerful arm upon the shoulders of his brooding clone, Dark Pit, who attempted to mentally drown out the incessant blatherings of his 'brother'.
The décor of the hallways were the same everywhere. They were regal and grandiose as one would find at a typical high-class castle, the color scheme composed of the bright passionate colors of red, blue, and purple together with the Smash Ball emblems placed about for personal tastes.
"Ness, you're finally up!" an animated voice chirped up right next to him, surprising the PSI Powerhouse from the sudden greeting.
"Hey there, Diddy," Ness chuckled. "Good morning to you, too."
"Your roommates already up?" Diddy asked.
"They went ahead of me and I'm going to join them," Ness replied.
"Let's head down together then!" Diddy suggested eagerly. "Donkey Kong is probably waiting for me too."
"Okay."
Ness and Diddy Kong followed the other Smashers that were heading in the direction of the dining hall, seeing more and more fighters join the route along the way. The two of them were joined by Mega Man along the way and strangely enough, Lemmy Koopa came along while balancing upon a bouncing circus ball.
"What's up with him?" Mega Man spoke aloud concerning the smallest Koopaling. "Doesn't he usually ride a Clown Car like the rest of his brethren?"
"They don't necessarily have to," Diddy answered. "It's only during battles that they do have to use their Koopa Clown Cars."
"Sometimes I wonder what goes on in his head," Ness added. "He just seems so different from Bowser Jr. and the other Koopalings."
"Aren't you also telepathic, Ness?" Mega Man asked. "You could probably find out about him if you did try to read his mind."
"I'm kind of scared to," Ness admitted, looking away. "Mind reading is not as easy or as awesome anybody thinks. Depending on the person or being you'd be trying to mind read, you might get affected by their thoughts. Lemmy just doesn't seem stable enough for me to attempt a safe reading on his mind."
"So you think you might go crazy if you look into Lemmy's mind?" Diddy surmised.
"That's a good possibility, which is why I would avoid the likes of Ganondorf when possible," Ness said with a quick shudder. "Ugh… He's called the 'King of Darkness' for a reason."
"But didn't your last adventure entail defeating a cosmic entity of pure evil in order to prevent the universe's destruction?" Mega Man queried.
"Not going into that right now," Ness answered with a huff.
Feeling that they might have been putting him on the spot for too long, Diddy and Mega Man conversed amongst themselves to let Ness have some peace. Lemmy joined in on them despite the very recent scrutiny of his bizarre childlike mentality. Being more familiar with the smallest Koopaling due to participating in Mario Kart events alongside him, Diddy was the one who welcomed him into their morning group.
It felt like the introductions were cut short as distinctive voices and chatter rose in volume. Their group had just arrived in the dining hall with the majority of Smashers simply talking amongst each other around the long table. Ness glanced about, quickly discerning his equally young and diminutive friends of Toon Link and Villager at their seats. But just before he left his traveling group…
"Lemmy, what are you doing with those primitives?" a pompous voice chilled the air.
Ludwig von Koopa, along with the five other Koopalings, were off to the side, appearing displeased with their missing clan member. They also were attending breakfast without the use of their standard Koopa Clown Car models. Lemmy immediately appeared sullen, hopping off his ball and rolled it along with him back to his clan.
"You should've known better that Prince Jr. forbade you from associating with those brats," Wendy O. Koopa scolded.
"Yeah, them brats being Ness, Toon Link, and Villager," Morton Koopa Jr. added.
"Don't know why exactly he has it out for those particular three, but orders are orders," Iggy Koopa finished with a shrug. "Even just one of them seems to set him into a tantrum."
"Sorry, guys," Lemmy said, scratching the back of his head. "I was bored and I wanted to play."
"You should've just stayed with us then," Larry Koopa pointed out. "I'm sure one of us could've entertained you. Then again, anyone but those three Morton said would do."
"I didn't know!" Lemmy answered, feeling shameful.
"Oh, you didn't know?" Ludwig stated more as a sarcastic response than genuine curiosity. "It's not like Jr. has ordered us time and time again whenever we got together to avoid those three, or at best, prank those three… hard."
"Hey, fellas, lay off the little guy, alright?" Roy Koopa finally spoke up for Lemmy's defense. "We're all just hungry and waiting for breakfast. We'll deal with Lemmy's punishment later, deal?"
The Koopalings exchanged glances with one another before coming to a consensus. Being the leader of the Koopaling clan, Ludwig decided on Roy's suggestion before gesturing his brethren to follow him to their king and prince at the table. Ness, Diddy, and Mega Man had witnessed the whole event and merely stared at the wake in awkward silence.
"I… don't know what to say to that," Mega Man commented.
"Lemmy definitely didn't deserve to be ganged on like that," Diddy voiced, frowning. "Sure, he and those Koopalings have been at odds with the Mario Brothers from time to time, but that doesn't mean he deserves such bad treatment. I actually feel sorry for the kid."
"I hear you, Diddy," Ness said. "The worse part was he got yelled at just because he was around me. He'd probably get his ears chewed off if he was also caught around Toon Link or Villager. Don't know why, though."
"It's probably just Jr. being a brat," Diddy scoffed. "I know for a fact you three never did anything on him, so he's probably just trying to pick on you guys or something."
"We do get into prank wars with Jr. and the Koopalings at times," Ness admitted, scratching the back of his head underneath his cap. "I figure it's just what kids do, you know, and they're evil, but after actually seeing how much Jr. is against even having Lemmy be around me, there's got to be something else going on."
"Right, but let's not worry about it for the moment and get something to eat because I spy DK by that pile of bananas," Diddy announced, eyeing his mentioned direction with a ravenous look.
"I'm going to see what R.O.B. is up to," Mega Man shared.
"Okay, catch you guys later," Ness waved Diddy and Mega Man off as he went off and joined his roommates.
Once all the Smashers, including distinctive alternates like Alph and the Koopalings, were present at the dining hall and had taken their seats, Master Hand and Crazy Hand emerged from a dark portal from their huge ceiling and stationed themselves at the head of the table. It wasn't often that they would join the Smashers for breakfast, but when they did, a big announcement was on the way.
"Good morning, Smashers!" Master Hand greeted proudly, receiving morning felicitations back by the more polite and well-mannered Smashers sitting close to them.
"We got us some big news, don't we, Bro?!" Crazy Hand cackled, which worried some of the Smashers.
"Please don't tell me that one of us is going to get-a cut!" Luigi cried out.
"False!" Master Hand immediately answered. "None of you are going anywhere, at least not at this crucial time! We're in the middle of our season now and we've come this far!"
"I bet we're having a big tournament this time with a huge prize," Falco remarked.
"'Huge prize,' you say?" Wario repeated, listening on with absolute attention. "Go on."
"You must be a secret psychic user, Falco, because that happens to be ONE of our two major announcements for today!" Master Hand responded.
"Speaking of 'psychic users,' Bro, should we?" Crazy Hand suggested.
"We'll save it for last, dear brother," Master Hand replied, patting the destructive left hand. Ness raised a brow after hearing Crazy Hand as certain thoughts rang like bells in his mind. "Anyhoo, let's get started with the first major announcement! As Falco as spoiled, we will be having a tournament with a grand prize!"
As on cue, the Smashers' table erupted with loud cheers, eager to face one another in battle. It was also no surprise that the loudest cheers came from the openly greedy fighters. Master Hand then gestured them all to quiet down.
"Excellent work, Bro," Crazy Hand tittered.
"This tournament, however, will be a very unique one as it will be the first of its kind!" Master Hand continued grandly. "This will be a team tournament! And not just any team tournament! This will be a multi-team tournament! Lost yet? Now that we have opened up Eight Player Smash, teams can have up to four members! That's right!"
"More than two members!" Crazy Hand emphasized, holding out two fingers before attempting to extend his middle and ring fingers out for a total of four.
The majority of Smashers listened on with awe and rapture. Master Hand was right that this would be the first time any of them would compete in a tournament with more than one teammate.
"Now listen close!" Master Hand resumed. "You are all welcome to join forces with anyone you see fit in helping you take home the gold! We encourage branching out of the people you're already familiar with in your own universes! We've decided not to do randomization this time around as an experiment. However, there is one condition I must point out when creating your teams. Distinct alternatives, specifically Alph and the seven Koopalings, can only serve as alternates for their main Smasher representatives! This means that if Olimar or Bowser Jr. are unable to attend to their battles or choose not to, then you have the option to play in their place instead!"
"Fine with me," Alph answered casually.
"We'll play along with your rules for now, Master Hand," Ludwig spoke up, rubbing his claws together sinisterly. "That alone won't stop the Koopa clan from being on top."
"No foul play!" Master Hand warned, extending a pointing finger at close range in front of the Pompous Prodigy. Ludwig fainted back on his chair from the sudden shock. "While villains are allowed to team up with each other, any underhanded hack will result in immediate disqualification!"
"Don't worry about it," Bowser assured gruffly. "My minions and I are willing to play fair, right Jr.?"
"We sure will, Papa!" Bowser Jr. agreed.
"I doubt we would even need to cheat if we have to face these weaklings," Ganondorf chuckled, prompting many glares upon himself. "Heh, good… Throw all your anger upon me. Make this game a bit more interesting for me."
"Excuse me, Master Hand," Zelda called out. "I'm wondering what about the alternative forms of Samus and myself."
"We've allowed you and Sheik to play separately instead of transforming mid-battle thanks to our almighty magic!" Master Hand reviewed. "This also extends to animating Samus's suit to function on its own accord during battle! But for the case of this tournament, you can alternate between those forms if you so wish!"
"Well, that's great to hear and all, though I'm kind of curious about the situation with Dr. Mario," Samus, clad in her Zero Suit, interjected.
"That… is a very special case," Master Hand explained. "As Mario didn't magically change into his doctor persona during the middle of battles in the past through a special move or Final Smash, Dr. Mario has been made into his own character and thus, is valid to be a separate team member!"
"Plus, we need someone to watch the clinic twenty-four seven!" Crazy Hand interjected.
"Speaking of such things, Mario!" Master Hand resumed. "See me in my office after breakfast to discuss 'certain things'!"
"I understand," Mario replied with a nod.
"Lastly, sign-up sheets are just outside the dining hall!" Master Hall concluded. "Write your team name and members and slip the sheet into the box, where Crazy Hand and I will collect and make the first round matchups as soon as possible! They are due by the end of the day!"
"Now for second announcement!" Crazy Hand interrupted eagerly.
"Now Smashers, we are pleased to welcome back a fighter from the past!" Master Hand announced, garnering full attention from everybody. "We finally came to the decision to let this fighter return after much consideration and to make our future Smashes more interesting!"
"A veteran, eh?" Shulk mused.
"Is it Pichu?" Peach asked.
"It's got to be Wolf," Fox commented grimly.
"Snake?" King Dedede suggested.
"Roy's back?!" Marth spoke in amazement.
"I'm over here," Roy Koopa guffawed, waving over to the Hero-King, prompting said swordsman, along with Ike, Robin, and Lucina to lower their heads in embarrassment.
Lucas? Ness thought hopefully.
"Out of all the suggestions, Peach's was close!" Master Hand declared. "Isn't that cute?"
"Really?!" Peach responded, surprised that she got it right.
"BUT IT'S WRONG!" Crazy Hand bellowed, frightening the Mushroom Kingdom Princess and other Smashers with weak constitutions into reclining into their chairs. "Bro?!"
Master Hand then floated back a few meters before snapping his fingers. On cue, a bright violet light emerged from the head of the table where the Hands were, taking the form of a tall white creature with a long purple tail, a second spinal cord connecting between the back of the head and the nape, and an ever surly expression on his face.
"Mewtwo strikes back!" Master Hand ultimately declared.
Cheers and applause followed to welcome the Genetic Pokémon back into the ranks of Super Smash Bros. Being the designated head of the Smashers by the Hands, Mario stood out of his seat and approached the stoic Psychic Pokémon.
"Mewtwo, it's been-a forever!" Mario exclaimed jovially. "I imagine all this time you've-a gotten stronger."
"I have, Mario," Mewtwo replied coolly through telepathy. "I am honored to be welcomed back to face the strongest fighters you have to offer. I also look forward to seeing how you fare in battle now and if your battle style has changed since our Melee days."
"Likewise," Mario replied, offering a handshake to which Mewtwo accepted before retracting his hand back into an arm fold.
"Mewtwo, do you have any lasting remarks before you join your fellow fighters in their morning feast?" Master Hand asked.
"I will say this," Mewtwo began, floating high enough for all to behold his reawakened glory. "Every last one of you here is now my rival! Bring your true strength to me so that I may conquer and prove my superiority as the strongest Pokémon!"
"What a savage, if not arrogant, heart," Lucario remarked to himself.
"Uh… Very well put!" Master Hand concluded. "Mewtwo has put his challenge out there! In addition, any of you are welcome to recruit him to your team for the upcoming multi-team tournament!"
"It does not matter to me as long as I get to face the mightiest warriors, be they a hero, a villain, or an anomaly," Mewtwo added before floating down to an empty spot by the table.
"Now that all the major announcements have been taken care of, Smashers, enjoy your breakfast!" Master Hand declared as he and Crazy Hand vanished in a flare of purple flames.
The breakfast feast resumed as normally as it did with the Smashers snagging various food items and putting them on their plate, albeit with a few exceptions. Such exceptions mainly revolved around Mewtwo's return as the Smashers sitting around to him began to bombard him with various questions on where he's been and so on.
"Cheer up, Ness," Toon Link spoke up, cutting up his eggs with a fork. "Since Mewtwo was allowed back in, chances are that Lucas could make a comeback as well."
"I'd like to meet Lucas if he ever comes around, Smasher or visitor," Villager offered, pouring for himself a glass of fresh apple juice.
"Thanks, guys," Ness replied. "I guess we're already a team of three. Should we attempt to find a fourth member?"
"We can go ask around for stragglers after breakfast when registration begins," Villager suggested. "We have until the end of the day to submit our form."
"It sounds like you don't have to participate if you don't sign up, though," Ness pondered.
"I think Master Hand wants all of us to participate, so he might probably assign anyone who isn't on a team registration form into an incomplete team," Villager said thoughtfully.
"We also don't necessarily need a team of four," Toon Link pointed out.
"Yeah, but we probably won't last against full team of four if it's just us three," Ness indicated. "Everyone here has their unique strengths and are practically on even ground."
"I wonder what the teams will be composed of," Villager mused. "It'd be fun to find out how one Smasher's style compliments the rest of the team."
"Well, whatever we decide to do or who we face, this should all be fun," Ness surmised, slipping in a piece of maple waffle into his mouth.
I'm aware of the Lucas DLC coming June 2015. What will I do once he officially returns? We'll find out later in the story. Anyway, this story series will entail various adventures with Ness, Villager, and Toon Link with the tournament being a side story. Don't know if I want and should include the Mii Fighters as their own team, only because they're bland like the Polygon and Wired Fighters from the previous installments (and are the only way for players to have the characters they want, in the form of a Mii, to fight as). In any case, this is just my fun entry into the Smash Bros. directory.
I also hope the Hands were just as hammy here as the Announcer was for the game. That voice actor did an excellent job narrating the 50-Fact Extravaganza quite a ways back.
Please review!
L-ater!