Welcome to Curse of the Hand: Betrayal, the first of a series. Saying much more would be spoiling, so just enjoy the ride.
Chapter 1
-The Dream
Death. Darkness. Those terrible symptoms were everywhere.
In a beautiful mansion, pleasurably constructed by only the finest, hell broke loose. Through a seemingly peaceful hallway, glowing, purple, wiry creatures rushed, plowing down a person hidden by shadows.
In a large room, made with a chandelier and several long, masterfully set tables, chairs and pottery were being uprooted and thrown wildly around by people, again too shadowy to be identified. Three on one side of the room, large groups on the other. The silhouettes seemed oddly similar, though.
In a different room, plainer with white walls, four people, again unseen, fought. Their silhouettes looked almost exactly the same, though. Without warning, two of the four plunged their hands into the other two's stomachs.
In yet another room, a large mass of the odd purple creatures was beating an individual to a bloody pulp.
Suddenly, everything changed. In a lake, strange fish-human creatures were either being killed in the water or dragged to the surface, where their throats were cut.
In a peaceful forest inhabited by children, trees were burnt down and heavy clubs were brought down on the juveniles' skulls with extreme force.
By a drawbridge, skeleton creatures forced their way into a village and proceeded to destroy anything in sight.
In a castle, devil creatures patrolled the hallways, killing off any soldiers in their way.
And then, all of a sudden, a lake exploded with such extreme force, it flooded the nearing area. Accompanied by heavy rains, that area was soon covered with water. Soon, all of the places were flooded heavily, leaving no life…no life…
Link, the Hero of Time, sat up from his bed with a jolt, screaming.
"Wh-what!" Roy leaped up from his bed. "Link!" he shouted, a bit out of it. "I'll save you!" He drew his sword from the wall behind his bed, blasting a bolt of fire at his friend.
Link screamed even louder. "YAAAH!" Thankfully, he used the super-quick reflexes that made him the Hero of Time and pulled his Mirror Shield from the wall behind him masterfully, deflecting the fire.
The fire hit Roy's sheet, quickly catching and burning his whole bed. "AAH! My bed's on fire! My bed's on fire!" Roy quickly jumped off his bed before the flames caught his clothes.
Marth, also in the room, opened one eye lazily. "Uh, Roy, is there any chance your bed is on fire?" he asked sleepily.
Roy raised an eyebrow. "Uh, what was your first clue? The screaming, the smoke, or the heat?"
"Actually, I glanced over there myself!" Marth acted as if he had just won the Nobel Peace Prize.
"Oh, great! Get him a trophy. A melted trophy!" Roy was a bit aggravated. Woken up early, bed on fire. What could get worse? "Wanna help with the bed?"
"Link can do it."
"WHAAAAT? You expect me to put out a fire at-" Link glanced at the clock, "-2:00 AM? It's a professional skill!"
"2:00!" Roy wasn't used to anything more than his average 9:17 AM.
"Actually, 2:06. See?" Marth gestured to his alarm clock.
"AARGH!"
The fire was beginning to reach the floor. Link was becoming profoundly annoyed. "Roy, you can't control your flames?"
"Just shut up and fire the Ice Arrow!" Link sighed and aimed. Of course, at 2:07 in the morning, his aim was a bit off.
"L-L-L-Link…w-watch w-where you're aiming th-that thing…" Marth was shivering on his frozen bed. Link glared and shot again. This time, his aim was better.
Unfortunately, Roy wouldn't stop complaining. "You expect me to sleep on this? It's freakin' frozen solid!"
Link narrowed his eyes. "Alright! You idiots can complain all night for all I care. I'm going to bed! Good night!" He pulled his covers up and dove into a dark world, away from the stress of his room, only to be haunted by more nightmares.
A typical day in the Smash Mansion. Everything was going the way it should…with a few exceptions.
"YAAAH! Get away-a from my hat!" Mario yelled as Kirby chased him through the hallway with a hungry look in his eye.
"WHAT! How dare you!" Princess Peach Toadstool screamed from the kitchen. Her high-pitched shrill of a voice shook the whole mansion. "I am not an airhead!" She pulled out a frying pan and pointed it at the orange-wearing young woman in front of her.
"Then I suggest you do not point that at me," Samus Aran retorted. With a quick burst of light, the pan was on the floor, and Peach was clutching her hand, screaming. Samus smiled underneath the safety of her helmet.
Meanwhile, Luigi and Dr. Mario were running around randomly, screaming at the top of their lungs. "I need more Megavitamins!" shouted the doctor. "Give them to me!" "Never!" Luigi retorted, running at top speed.
"Pika pikaaa!" Pikachu yelled from the other kitchen. "Give me those Pika yummies!" "Pi pichu!" the smaller rat yelled. "But they're delicious!" "Pika!" "Gimme!" Pikachu threw a bolt of lightning at Pichu, who howled and tackled the large yellow Pokemon.
OK, well, maybe things weren't exactly normal, but this is a typical day in the mansion! Of course, things were more serious in Zelda's room,
"Give me back my earrings!" the princess of Hyrule yelled. "No!" Young Link ran down the hallway with them, Zelda right on his tail. Okay, maybe they weren't serious. But three popular swordsmen were.
"Alright, Link, what do you say you tell us about last ni –" "You mean, tell us how he woke up half the mansion last night?" Roy interrupted Marth rudely.
"What's there to say? It was just a nightmare? A very convincing nightmare, but…" "Nightmare? Convincing?" Marth seemed genuinely interested. "Tell me about it."
So Link told him everything. From the bits in the mansion, to the kingdom suffering. Marth raised an eyebrow. "Might you explain what this kingdom is?"
"From what I saw, it was my home; the kingdom of Hyrule." Roy entered the conversation abruptly. "Dreaming about Hyrule? Link, are you feeling homesick?" The green-clad warrior scowled. Only Roy could come up with homesickness so quickly.
Marth quickly corrected. "Link hasn't been to Hyrule in 2 years…have you?" Link shook his head. "This makes no sense at all." The Hero of Time scowled. "What doesn't? It was just a nightmare."
"Do you know what causes dreams?" Both Link and Roy gave him perplexed looks. Marth cleared his throat loudly and began. "Alright then, here's the deal. Your subconscience takes bits of your recent life and mixes them together to entertain itself. All this stuff about Hyrule would make no sense, unless…" "WHAT?"
"Zelda told me about this part. If something really bad is going to happen, your subconscience might try to warn you. But for some reason, it will never do it directly. Only when the need is imminent, it will disguise the problem as a puzzle. The dreamer will have to…" he punched a fist into his open hand "…crack it!"
"So, wait. You're saying that this dream is a…warning?" Marth chuckled. "Zelda calls it a prophecy, but to each his own way." Link blinked with sudden realization. "A prophecy? I know about them! I had one nine years ago, in the forest!"
Marth grinned. "Then we know where to start. Now, let's go over your "prophecy" again, shall we?" Link nodded.
"So, it starts in the mansion, where Wireframes are attacking everything." "Wireframes? I'm not sure what that prophesizes: do go on, though." Roy stuck his head between the two. "Maybe it symbolizes someone turning the Wireframes against us!" Marth scoffed.
"Come on, Roy. Master Hand has complete control over the Wireframes." He sighed, not realizing that he had already found the answer to the riddle. "Clearly this is getting us nowhere. Link, you have a match in one hour; I'll go get good seats." Link's shoulders slumped in dismay.
"But…what about the…prophecy?" "We'll just keep an eye out and expect the unexpected, I suppose."
"AAAND TODAY'S BATTLE FEATURES LINK AND CAPTAIN FALCON! THEY SHALL BE BATTLING IN GREAT BAY, WITH 1 STOCK EACH! THIS IS AN INTERESTING BATTLE, FOLKS!" Crazy Hand did the voicing, of course. The most any Smasher had ever heard Master Hand say is "Dinner is served," before every supper.
Anyway, Captain Falcon, champion F-Zero racer and bounty hunter, and Link, Hero of Time, were standing by the laboratory in the middle of the Great Bay. "Almost looks like the real thing," Link murmured softly, and then he had to question if he really was homesick.
His thoughts were rudely interrupted by the swaggering Captain. "Well, Link, ya ready to lose again?" Link closed his eyes and, slowly opening them, addressed his opponent. "You know that was a fluke," he said calmly. "Who could have predicted that malfunctioning Bob-Omb?" Falcon just grinned. "Yeah, well, whatever. Ya'll lose this time, be sure. Or my name isn't…" The sun moved out from behind a cloud, casting its rays on the racer, and accentuating his words. "Or my name isn't Captain Jay Douglas Falcon, greatest warrior to ever grace Super Smash Brothers!" If there was a tape recorder nearby, a fanfare would surely have played.
"READY?" Crazy Hand again, this time initiating the battle. Falcon's rear leg slid backward, and his hands flew up into a battle position. Likewise, Link bent his knees deeply and placed his sword over his head, shield covering his chest. "Yer goin' down, girly boy," Falcon taunted eagerly. "Whatever you say." Link remained unfazed.
Anticipation filled the air, with the spectators on the bleachers holding their breath, ready for the one word that would create chaos. Crazy Hand took a deep breath, through his… erm, glove hole. "MELEE!" And things went wild.
Using a massive burst of speed, Falcon rushed at the younger warrior, who countered the blow with a running start, using his shield to lighten the shockwave. As these two titans collided, people in the stands started going nuts, jumping up and down, throwing things and shouting. The air was soon filled with loud cries of "GO, LINK!" or "FALCON! FALCON!".
Falcon struck, kicked, attacked again and again while Link, always possessing superior agility, used backflips, rolls and the occasional jump, always smugly a step ahead of the birdman, as members of the Super Smash Brothers often called him. It was not a term of endearment.
Soon, as Link easily avoided all of Falcon's fast but obvious attacks, striking at the racer whenever possible, a loud, unanimous cry came up: "LINK! LINK! LINK! LINK!" Hearing the spectators so praise his opponent, Falcon lost his reserve. He blindly charged at Link, putting everything he had into his attacks. Not expecting such a head-on assault, the swordsman went flying.
Landing on the turtle, thank god, he saw Falcon's fatigue. The racer had hit Link once, and Link had struck numerous times. "It's over now," he muttered with a grin. He stepped into a fighting stance, ready to strike, and then… a familiar haze overtook him.
Horrible images flashed through his eyes, pictures of Wireframes, monsters, water, and corpses… the sheer agony of it all was mind-boggling. Overwhelmed, Link sunk to the ground, clutching his head in pain. Desperately, he tried to force himself back to reality. And then he heard a cry: "… PUNCH!"
A red flame overtook Link's sight, and he went flying. The familiar Falcon stood before him, grinning. "Really shouldn't take a nap in battle, girly boy," the racer mocked. And then Link felt and heard the familiar splash, followed by "GAME!" It was over.
Falcon had won.
Marth laid a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "Come on, Link, it's not the end of the world."
The green-clad swordsman turned and glared. "It is! I lost to Falcon. Do you know how long he'll hold this over my head?"
Roy's head popped up between the two. "Definitely a long time. He'll be saying things like 'Hey, girly boy, want a nap?' or maybe 'Hey, Greenie, you can lie on my shoulder,' or..." Marth expertly slapped Roy on the back. "OUCH!"
"Roy, don't you have somewhere to go? Maybe, other than here?" The fiery-haired boy shook his head idiotically. "No, why?"
Marth's nerve evaporated. He grabbed Roy by the cape and swung him away. "Just go!"
"Yo, girly boy!" Marth winced. Excellent timing. And, of course, Falcon was strutting down the corridor cockily.
"Sup, Roy?" He shoved the swordsman out of the way, who bristled and reached for his sword. "Roy. Calm. Down." Marth advised. But Falcon had eyes only for Link.
"Want a nap, girly boy?" the racer sneered. "I can lend you a pillow!" And without further ado, he dissolved in loud, rude laughter. Link promptly lunged, but Marth, suspecting this, grasped his shoulders and pulled his friend back.
"Link, don't get your hands dirty. This loser isn't worth it."
Falcon's face darkened. "Did you call me a loser, Jennifer?" That insulting nickname had come from a case of mistaken identity on the Internet. Nevertheless, Marth just smiled. "And if I did?"
Falcon leaped at Marth, who expertly stepped out of the way. His sword flashed one, two, three times, leaving Falcon sprawled on the ground with a large bump on his forehead.
Marth smiled and told Link, "You should get to our room before he retaliates."
Link shook his head. "Sorry, but I'm going to find out where I can sign up for another match to wipe that smirk off Falcon's face." "I'll come with you!" Roy chipped in.
Marth shrugged. "Alright then, I'll just get back to our room."
There were only two rooms in the entire Smash Mansion, measuring exactly two square miles in size, that no Smasher had ever entered. They were the Blade Room and the Hand Room.
The Blade Room was highly mysterious. It is rumored that one Smasher, who arrived before any other at the beginning, entered the room, tripped, and was cut in one hundred different places. Although highly unlikely, the room was forbidden to all Smashers, and none were eager to go in, either.
The Hand Room has no windows, only a massive door. It is the office of Master Hand. It is said that anyone who entered the room would be either burned by his supposed Master Security, or strangled by the giant gloved Hand himself. It was strictly off-limits to all Smashers.
A massive wooden door flew open. The entering figure did not bother to ask for entrance. He had short, silver hair, light skin and smooth features. He wore a white cloak from head to toe, with nothing but a C imprinted upon it. On his waist was a belt with two swords attached, one blue and one red.
The figure within the office bristled slightly when the door flew open with such disregard for privacy, but relaxed when he saw the enterer. The one in the office, sitting in a large, brown, revolving chair, looked remarkably like the one entering. His face seemed sunken and tired, but he was obviously related to the one entering. His cloak was even similar, though black rather than white. His cloak had a letter M on it.
"My brother, our plan seems to be failing. The one called Link is undoubtedly onto us, and his friend Marth will find the truth even sooner. What do you suggest?"
The younger brother, the entering one, seemed to be pondering. His eye kept twitching in an unusual manner, and when he spoke, he seemed to be fighting back his words. "Seal off ... the blue one ... and kill ... the other two."
The elder thought this over. "Possibly, but this will not happen anonymously. They will find out, and we will have to execute the plan."
"Do ... it," the younger said ruthlessly.
The first kill is next chapter. And, if you can't guess who the villains are, get your brain checked.