Jump, swing, dodge left, dodge back, dash in, strike, success. Roy couldn't afford to lose his concentration. He was fighting against Fox, one of the best fighters here. They both had speed and strength, making the fight all about concentration and not dropping your guard. But Roy was losing ground. Fox had a slight advantage in jumps, making it hard for Roy to keep up. He tried for an Up smash, thrusting his sword into the air towards fox, but he missed. Then fox struck. Excruciating pain found its way to Roy's chest as Fox set off a barrage of kicks. Roy was sent flying, but managed to grab onto the edge of the platform. Fox grinned triumphantly.

No. He couldn't lose now. Not in the quarter finals.

The crowd screamed, "Roy's our boy!"

He couldn't disappoint all of these people.

He got up from the ledge and yelled, "僕 は 負けない!"

Fox's grin faltered as Roy rushed up to him and grabbed him by the neck, threw him to the ground and finished off with a powerful side smash. Fox didn't stand a chance to withstand it.

"The winner is... Roy!" The announcer boomed over the speakers.

The crowd went wild and Roy grinned. He was in the finals now!

A blue light bathed him as he was teleported back the lobby where his friend Marth was waiting.

"I didn't think you would make it!" Marth said.

"Yeah, well..." Roy replied, rubbing his hand on the back of his head, "How'd you do?"

Marth's face scrunched up like he had just eaten something sour.

"I lost to Charizard," he said, "That guy is a lot bulkier than he looks."

"Ah well, better luck next time."

"You wanna go watch some other matches? Samus still has to play Sonic and Little Mac has to play Rosalina."

"You go ahead, I've gotta go get something to eat."

Marth waved goodbye to Roy as he went to go watch some more matches.

Roy didn't really need something to eat, he just needed to be left alone. Living in the smash mansion didn't exactly give privacy. Maybe that was why Ryu lived outside...

Roy went back to his room and kicked off his boots. He was so tired after that match and desperately needed sleep. He flopped onto his bed and drifted off into the abyss of dreams.

Roy dreamed of Fire. It was ironic, but everywhere he looked, he was surrounded by flame. He knew it wouldn't harm him, but still, what was this dream trying to tell him? He remained confused for a while, but then activity on the horizon picked up. A shape was coming towards him, getting closer and bigger every seconds. As is came closer, Roy worked out the features of the figure. A long neck, a large wingspan, and a long tail. What the hell was it doing in his dream? As the shape got close to him, it suddenly flared up in a blaze and disappeared into a cloud of smoke. This dream wasn't making any sense. Suddenly the Earth beneath his feet started trembling, throwing him off balance and forcing him to his knees.

"Roy!"

The sound came from beneath him, as though the spirits of the underworld were trying to communicate.

"What the Hell is going on?" Roy screamed, his voice lost to the loud tremors of the Earth.

"Roy... Roy... Roooyyy!"

Roy sat up with a jolt in his bed, accidentally bowling over the figure standing in front of him.

"Jesus! What was that for?" Came a complaining voice from the carpeted floor.

Roy didn't recognise the voice. It must have been someone he hadn't met yet.

The person lying on the floor got up with a groan and stared into Roy's eyes with an irritated expression on her face. It was Lucina.

"Whaddya doing in my room? Did you just walk in without permission?" Roy grumbled.

"Kinda."

"Why?"

"Because your match is in 5 minutes."

'Oh S***' Roy thought.

He rushed out of the door, pausing to thank Lucina before he bolted down the hallway to the lobby where Little Mac was waiting. That must've been his opponent.

"About time you showed up," he said with a smirk.

"Yeah well..."

"I don't want to hear excuses. Get in the ring now!"

'Jeez' Roy Thought as he stepped onto the green teleportation panel. The blue light enveloped him and suddenly he was on one side of Omega form Boxing Ring. Little Mac would have the home field advantage in this battle. But it didn't matter. 僕 は 負けない right?

Little Mac appeared on the other side of the stage with a nasty snarl on his face.

The announcer blared from the crowd, "3... 2... 1... GO!"

Little Mac came charging at Roy, slugging a punch at his gut. Roy countered the attack and sent Little Mac flying back. Mac landed on his feet and dashed back towards Roy, rolled between his legs and socked him with a Down Smash. Roy fell forward, but sprung back, landing on his feet, facing the short boxer. Roy had to make use of Little Mac's weakness. His air game. Roy jumped around the field, daring Little Mac to go for an air assault. But Mac was smart and used his rising punch attack, which Roy dodged just in the nick of time. Mac was fast on the ground. But the air was Roy's territory. He bounced off of the ground and slashed his sword. Mac was too slow to dodge and took the sword swing to his leg.

"S***! Why does it burn so much?" Little Mac yelped.

Roy grinned and landed on the platform with grace. Mac hit the floor like a stone in water, but was back on his feet quickly. Roy came in with a dash attack, but Little Mac was ready for it. He super armoured through the dash attack with a side smash and punched Roy in the face, sending him to the other side of the stage.

Roy felt pain flare up in his nose and felt blood trickle down the front of his face. Wow, that guy was strong. Roy lay crumpled on the floor as Little Mac walked up and taunted him.

"What did you say before this match again? Boku wa makenai? Looks like you'll have to find a new catchphrase buddy!"

Little Mac laughed and stepped back as he charged up the straight lunge attack. Roy looked up with a sour expression and reached out to grab Mac's leg, taking him by surprise. Roy picked up Mac with his iron grip on Mac's ankle, walked over to the edge and dangled him over the empty pit of nothingness.

"What? What are you doing?" Mac panicked, sweat breaking across his brow.

Roy said nothing, he just threw Mac out over the edge and jumped after him.

Roy gained level with Mac and grinned maniacally.

"You ain't no air fighter Mac!" Roy chuckled.

"Wha-?"

The response was cut short as he took a meteor smash to the face and fell into the spiralling abyss below.

When Roy returned to the lobby, he came face to face with a very angry swordsman.

"What the Hell?" Marth yelled with spit flying everywhere, "You took a nap on the day of the semis? Were you trying to get kicked out? Lucky Lucina woke you up, or you'd be disqualified."

Roy laughed nervously and replied, "C'mon, it isn't that bad. I mean I still made it right?"

"A damn lucky thing at that," Marth muttered before leaving Roy alone in the lobby.

What was wrong with Roy today? He didn't feel like himself. He felt drained, as if the tournament was finally starting to take its toll on him. He had never felt so exhausted and low spirited as today. Normally, he felt excited and hyperactive, posing as the centre of attention. So what was the deal about today?

Roy decided to shrug it off and go talk to Lucina. He hadn't thought much of her when she burst into his room earlier, but now that he thought about it, she was actually kinda cute.

Snap out of it! He told himself. You just wanna talk with her!

He quickly walked down the hallway to go and find her.