Let's pretend Zelda never went to Melee.

Chapter One

Zelda stood and stared at the huge mansion before her. She checked the little scrap of paper that held the address she sought. She looked on both sides of her to see dark forests and empty fields, not another building in sight. This had to be it.

Zelda had not expected the mansion to be so ominous. The estate was huge and covered in shadows. The wood paneling looked slightly weather beaten, the paint chipping here and there. The sky above was completely black, the moon and stars hidden behind thick, black clouds. It was late at night, so perhaps it would look more inviting in the morning.

She gathered her luggage and made her way to the front door. Zelda lifted the heavy brass knocker and let it bang against the deep red, almost black, wood. She cringed, it was much louder that she expected.

The door slowly creaked open a crack to reveal a shadowed figure. The figures eyes glowed red.

"Hello Zelda. Welcome to your nightmare." A deep voice said and began cackling maniacally.

Zelda gasped, finally realizing who the figure was. Ganondorf! She stumbled backwards and began running as fast as she could, away from the mansion.

Link walked into the front room to see Ganondorf holding his sides and wheezing with laughter, the front door slightly open.

"What's so funny?" The Hero of Time questioned.

"Z-zelda. She's... She's here." Ganondorf said between laughs.

Link pushed the other man out of the way, sending him toppling to the floor. He sprinted out the door to see Zelda running down the road.

"Wait! Zelda, come back! It's me, it's Link!" Link shouted as he ran after her, waving his arms and jumping in the air.

Finally, Zelda slowed and turned around, her face petrified. She stopped when she saw her friend, relief washing over her face. She flicked her wrist and teleported next to Link. She added a mental note to herself to remember that she had the ability to teleport, she just did a lot of running for nothing.

"Sorry about that. He just arrived and found out you were coming soon." Link said as he gasped for breath, hands on his knees. Zelda nodded and placed a hand on Link's shoulder, teleporting them back to the house entrance. Link helped Zelda carry her belongings to her new room, chattering away happily.

As soon as they reached her room, Zelda politely thanked him and shut the door.

"Let me know if you need anything!" Link said as it was closing. Zelda smiled before it clicked shut. She sighed heavily and leaned against the cool wall. She was still a little shaky from her experience with Ganondorf, but she was breathing carefully, trying to calm herself.

She began unpacking her bags and laying them out in her room. A bed, slightly larger that a twin, sat in one corner. There was a small desk pushed up against the opposite wall next to the closet door. The room was small, but oddly homey.

There was a vase of purple and white, her favorite color combination, flowers on the desk. Zelda smiled, she knew Link was behind it. Link had been her best friend for as long as she could remember, he knew everything about her.

When she was done arranging her belongings, she decided it would be best to socialize with the other contestants. Zelda wasn't particularly fond of interaction with strangers, but she would have to sooner or later. She hesitated before leaving her room. She could just stay and curl up with a book, everyone probably expected her to be tired from her journey. No, it would be best to meet everyone now.

Zelda meandered into the living room where most of the other smashers had gathered. The room was dark, but they had a roaring fire going. Zelda had always found something enchanting about fire, she wasn't quite sure why, but it always enticed her.

Tearing her eyes away from the flames, she spotted Link deep in conversation with a man dressed in blue spandex and a red helmet. Zelda picked her way over and sat next to him. Link's face brightened when he saw her.

"Falcon, meet Zelda! She's my best friend from back home!" Link said as he threw an arm across Zelda's shoulder, crushing her slightly. Zelda smiled weakly and waved.

"Quite nice to have another lady in the house! Something better to look at than this thing, here." Captain Falcon joked, in a heavy Australian accent, as he lightly pushed Link. Link laughed and knocked him on the head. "So, how are you enjoyin' the mansion so far?"

"It's nice, a bit creepy, though. I thought I was at the wrong house when I first arrived."

Falcon and Link snorted, "Oh, Link has told us all about that! Well, it definitely is creepy. It's haunted, you know."

Zelda blushed, thinking of her earlier mistake. "What do you mean haunted?"

Link nudged his arm and mumbled, "Not now, you'll scare her on her first night." Falcon looked disappointed and bowed his head.

"No, please. It's okay, I wish to know." Zelda said, her heart beat a little faster at the prospect of a ghost story.

Falcon rubbed his hands together and grinned mischievously.

"Well, last year's tournament was called Melee and there was one smasher, a young lad. He was a nice kid, one that everyone liked, but her had a fiery temper. He was in the championships, the final round. Everyone thought he was going to win it all, they both had one stock left, but he had near perfect health and his opponent was in the three hundred percents. All of a sudden a Smash Ball appeared. His opponent crushed it in one sweep of the sword. He was knocked out, losing the tournament."

Falcon cleared his throat before continuing.

"He took losing terribly, wouldn't look the champion in the eye, throwing a near tantrum! Everyone thought it was natural, so we all left him alone. The next day we found him. He'd killed himself in the attic."

Zelda gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.

"Now, every once in a while somethin' spooky'll happen. We think it's him. Some even say they hear whispers in his voice."

"What was his name?" Zelda whispered breathily.

"Roy."

At that moment, the room had gone silent. A young-ish man, dressed entirely in blue, stood scraping his chair back on the hardwood floor. Without a word, he turned and left the room. Another man glared at the trio. Zelda squeaked when his eyes locked with her own. The man abruptly turned and followed the other out the door.

The room slowly got back into its rumble of conversation.

"That blue fellow, that's Marth. He was last year's champion." Captain Falcon said in a low voice.

"He was Roy's best friend." Link said sadly, his eyes lowered.

"That's terrible!" She smacked Falcon on the arm. "You shouldn't have told me that story when he was around! I can't even imagine how he feels."

Falcon grimaced and Link stood. "Come on, Zelda. I'll walk you back to your room."

Zelda nodded and followed her friend out the door. They walked in silence until they reached her room.

"Don't listen to what he said. The mansion isn't haunted, he was just playing a trick on you." Link said as he scuffed his boot on the carpet. Zelda nodded and bid him goodnight.

Zelda locked the door and threw off her dress. She jumped in bed and wrapped herself in blankets.

She tried to ignore the stormy weather outside, and the rushing wind which, if she listened carefully, sounded faintly like whispers.

Ooooh scary! I was suddenly struck with inspiration for a spooky story because it's raining and creepy out now! I hope you enjoy!

And why, you may ask, does Captain Falcon have an Australian accent? Because accents are cool. Especially Australian ones. Don't question it! ;)