Ballad of the Goddess

Disclaimer: I do not own Super Smash Brothers. That goes to Nintendo. I also do not own Queen's Blade that is owned by Hobby Japan. The only characters I own are those from the Golden Land, angels from Skyworld including the royal bodyguards, Angel Assembly and archangels along with all the other angels and of course the witch hunters.

Summary: Master Hand won the audition to purchase a new fighter that was illegally captured in the slave ring. Of course, once free Cloud had no intention of listening to the hand until he was told that there was a Goddess capable of bringing those he lost back to life. Even if Cloud knew this could very well be a trap…he heads toward Smash Brothers Mansion and will soon find himself in a bad predicament.

Pairing: Implied Rob/Shulk, Ganondorf/Palutena, Cloud/Aerith, Cloud/Pit and Cloud/Zelda

Rated: T (for teen)

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Humor, Drama, Friendship, Angst and some Romance

Warning: Swearing, gambling, sexual themes and unintentional OOC

Here is me coming up with a one-shot idea quickly for Cloud being confirmed. In the timeline, this would be after the Fighting Tension one with Ryu and Megaman. Enjoy!

There were places in the galaxy where people would not travel. These places were considered too dangerous to many and only the strongest people would be able to venture into these dark, unknown places. However, you would need to keep your wits up too, so you didn't get captured and taken away to god knows where. One powerful man should have been fine on his own. He was only going to head out for some alone time for the night to continue thinking about the past that troubled him greatly. This man would soon be ambushed by a horde of demons and taken far away from home. Try as he might…he would never escape the chains that were binding him. To humiliate him further for struggling, the demons tore off some of his clothes. The implication had yet to register in the man's mind therefore continued to fight back. The only reason nothing extreme was to occur was because there was a high demand for this man by the higher ups. These weren't high-ranking demons that wanted him though. On the contrary, these were just powerful beings who were too busy fighting each other in secret about the fighting tournaments they set up. They all took the form of hands even if they had a different appearance in the world they were from. Of course, when they were all next to each other, they took human appearances so they could easily mock each other. These hands did not understand humanity as well as they would like to think, so many things they did felt off to the naked eye.

The man was brought in front of a stage to be bought off by one of these hands. They all wanted him to be part of their tournament against his will. The man had the idea of running off the minute they were done messing around. The seller…who happened to be a large goblin that was dubbed the King promised to release the chains after the buyout occurred. He smiled hearing the numbers rise above millions of dollars that could be converted into the currency that demons used in the Netherworld.

It was between a large white hand and a large cyan hand at the end. Everyone else either didn't want to spend that much money on one person or they didn't have the money to bid higher. The white hand ended up winning by a rather large amount…and the demons in the room had to wonder if such a number was actually a thing.

The exchange occurred off stage where the goblin was being loaned the money. He was surprised that it was possible to get this much. He was pretty much set for life should he ever get caught as the ringleader of the slave ring.

"This isn't fair Master! You get every single fighter I want!" The cyan haired hand cried. Now he has taken the form of a cyan haired human that looked like a drug addict with the bloodshot eyes (from crying) and a beard he hasn't shaved for years. His clothes looked rather torn despite having the money to buy better clothes.

Master Hand had taken the form of an attractive man with black hair and brown eyes. He looked like a butler in his human form, but that added to the charisma he had surrounding this particular man. His younger brother had yet to turn back into his human form, but didn't need to since he and the other hands were laughing at the cyan haired man's loss.

"To be fair, I didn't need to buy Snake or Ryu." Master Hand told him. "Snake was excited to be in Brawl and Ryu just happened to be in my realm at the time I was taking in more fighters. I still am now, and I am not passing up this opportunity to obtain Cloud and make my realm even bigger than it already is Player."

"But you get everyone! I'm the Sony brand, and yet you get everyone I have asked for! I'm always rejected and get the losers, why?!"

"One, do not insult your fighters." Master Hand began. "Two, you should not have taken in that imposter Dante into your tournament. Three…well…you don't really have a theme. You just threw in a bunch of fighters and hoped it would stick."

"Not like Cloud fits your theme anyway." The pink hand known as Heart stated. Judging from the feminine voice, one could conclude this was a female hand. "Then again…Snake really didn't match the theme of Smash either…but here you are taking cloud. At this rate, you're going to go to that other realm and grab Master Chief."

"I have the money to do so." Master Hand brought up. "I have all of you guys to thank."

It was sarcasm to the highest degree. Master Hand knew he was the most well known hand with how he set up his tournament. He was a nobody like the rest of the hands, but every tournament, Master Hand had been able to expand the roster to such a large degree and taking in third party characters that were not from the Outer Realm (or the Nintendo Realm if you wanted to be more accurate). Now he was the biggest thing along with Cross Hand, but everything Cross Hand did was controversial so he didn't have a good reputation like Master did. Almost everyone else was in the shadows of these two hands, but not all of them minded this. Killer Hand did a lot of shady things behind the scenes and leaked a lot of his tournaments to other realms just to show how gruesome his fighting tournament was. Meanwhile, you had Mortal Hand…who was often kicked out so no one had to deal with the disaster in that realm he was in.

"Oooooh. What are you going to do to Cloud now? You going to have your way?" The purple hand known as Dead questioned. If he were in human world, he would be drooling at the perverted imagery in his mind.

"No." Master Hand answered. "I will be taking Cloud now though."

This was the problem though. Cloud was given his sword back immediately after being released from his chains. Master Hand was going to lose all that money he paid to get Cloud because Master Hand never considered that the blond would decide to cut his way through and escape.

The other hands were surprised at Cloud pointing his blade toward Master. Master just chuckled at how rebellious Cloud was being.

"You would do good in putting your sword down. You get nothing from cutting anyone here down. You wouldn't want to end up in chains again." The right hand taunted. Unlike Player who turned back into his hand form to not get attacked. Master showed no fear despite being weaponless.

"I don't care. I'm heading home once I'm done with you fools."

"Assuming you can get home." Master Hand told him. "Your new home is in the Smash Brothers Realm until the contract is finished."

"…What contract?"

"By buying you off, you will now be participating in the Smash tournament for this season. Once it wears off, you are free to go."

"No. I refuse."

"Even if I told you that we will take very good care of you and there is a person there that can let you see your dead allies."

The second option made Cloud raise an eyebrow. There was no one who could do that for him. However…being attacked by unknown assailants and seeing large hands talking amongst each other was already out there for the blond. Master Hand smile widened seeing Cloud hesitate for even a moment. The ex-SOLDIER caught onto to that and growled.

"…What makes you think I'll believe you? Someone can bring back the dead? Outrageous."

"Oh, you'll believe me. I will hand you this flier and show you the way to the Smash Brothers Realm. All of your questions will be answered there."

It was hook, line and sinker at this point. If Cloud just cut the flier away about the information and didn't let his curiosity get the best of him…he probably would have been able to go back to his home world and prepare himself if they tried to kidnap him again. Instead, he snatched the flier from Master and read through it. Some of the words were difficult to read because he didn't know the characters on the paper. The only thing he could read were the directions to the Smash Brothers Realm…

While the two hands were off doing their thing, they had managed to send a message back to the Smashers in Smash Brothers Mansion to prepare another party. Lucas, Roy and Ryu weren't the only fighters that were going to get a celebration. (Mewtwo was always in the mansion, so when he was allowed back, he didn't want anything). This news excited the Smashers to no end and they were faster with preparing this party. Mega Man had it with these parties and decided to barricade his room until they were done celebrating the newcomers or returning fighters but not Snake or the Ice Climbers. This meant Sonic got locked out of his room until the newcomer had settled in, so he was left to whine and complain about how he couldn't go back into his room and grab some rings. Fox had rolled his eyes thinking how Sonic didn't need anything and was complaining for the sake of complaining.

The only thing left to do was make the food. Peach had insisted she had everything under control. Fox had decided to help her again along with Rob who wanted some cooking tips from her. Pit was there simply to waste some time seeing as how he was supposed to be the Smasher to look for the newcomer again after finding Ryu by chance. Sonic decided to nag his angel friend, but it wouldn't be long until Fox had given him Pit's ice cream for Sonic to scarf down. The light angel was not impressed.

"Fox, that is my ice cream!" Pit screamed. "No one eats my ice cream!"

"Will you eat it if I drop it on the floor?" Sonic asked with a laugh. "This angel ice cream isn't that bad."

"It's not "angel" ice cream! It's sea salt ice cream and that is not from heaven!" Pit corrected. "And why are you laughing, Rob? You know very well where I got the ice cream from!"

Rob continued to smile seeing how the white angel was starting to blush at being reminded that he would eat ice cream off the floor.

"You know, two can play at that game. Hey Rob, have you gotten anywhere with Shulk yet or are you still beating around the bush?"

Now it was Rob's turn to blush at Pit putting him on the spot. Fox eyed the male tactician suspiciously while Rob stirred the bowl with the cake mix in quickly.

"I-Is this really appropriate?"

"You know that you can just pull up your robe and show your legs to Shulk and you should get him easy-peasy."

"That's…not how it works…" Rob muttered. "I'm not you…"

"Shots fiiiired!" The blue hedgehog declared before he found one of the cookbooks on the table being thrown at his face. It actually hit his nose and bounced off it. "Oww!"

"Oh, quit being annoying!" Pit yelled before glaring at Rob and then sighing. "Fine…I'll drop the subject. Just stop making fun of me."

"After you stop forcing me to do something…" Rob grumbled as he stopped stirring to hand the bowl to Peach. "Is there something the matter, princess?"

The male Smashers turned their attention to the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom who had not participated in the conversation since the beginning of the baking session. She would whisper to Rob what to do next, but she had yet to comment on Pit's vulgar mouth or the fact he threw one of the cookbooks.

"Oh…I just have not slept well these last couple of days."

"Is it because of Rock?" Pit questioned. "He'll be fine. He likes to sulk a lot. Ryu gave him the talk, so he'll come out after the newcomer is here."

"He also doesn't like loud noises or jokes." Sonic added. "He really needs to stop thinking about the past and think toward the future."

"I don't think you should be the one saying that." Fox reminded him. "Anyways, what's on your mind Peach?"

"Well…I've been…having this nagging feeling as of late." Peach began as she stopped what she was doing. "I am not a visionary like Shulk is, but I feel like something terrible is going to happen soon. I feel like…I'm being watched by someone in the mansion."

The angel captain wanted to joke that Mario was probably ogling her, but seeing the worry on her face, he allowed her to continue.

"It's not just eyes. I hear footsteps and when I turn around when I'm doing the laundry at night, there is no one there. Sometimes I hear knocking at the door, but no one is around when I answer it…and I just wonder if it is just my lack of sleep kicking in."

"That's probably what it is." Sonic told her. "Did Samus hear anything?"

"No. She didn't."

"Then you simply need to get some shut eye. Heck, you can let Rob do the cooking. His cooking isn't a disaster thanks to you, so the newcomer can just deal with the second best cook here."

"First of all, I'm not a disaster." Rob growled. "Second of all, I would never consider myself a top chef here…I just…"

"We know. We know. You want to impress Shulk." Pit finished. "Peach, do you have any ideas on who might be doing this?"

"No. I think Mr. Game and Watch or R.O.B. would have noticed something out of the ordinary if I was being stalked at night…"

"Hmm…"

Fox noted the dark expression on Pit's face. He looked like he wanted to say something, but kept to himself again.

"There shouldn't be any problems Peach, but please stick around Samus more just so you can get a witness to what you are saying if it isn't just a lack of sleep."

It sounded reasonable enough, but Peach agreed that she would stick close to the bounty hunter. However…

"Pit…there is one more thing I need to ask you?"

"Huh? Sure…what is it?"

"…Again…I am not a seer…but I keep getting the same dream where someone evil asks you a question and you cannot answer."

Pit tilted his head in confusion. "Huh? What?"

"In the dream…he asks you who do you care for more? Sonic or Rob. You don't answer so everything just fades to black…"

This question immediately caused Rob to flinch and for Sonic to smirk at Pit. He laughed as he went over and gave a huge slap on the back.

"What the? Hey!"

"Peach, why would you ask a question like that? You know Pit would say he cares for me over Rob. We've been friends since Brawl. No offense, Rob."

Rob puffed his cheeks as he intended to get the book that Pit threw.

"What was the context of this scene?" Fox asked the princess.

"I do not know. I just know it was not a good situation to be in. Pit…you were crying because you couldn't choose."

"Why? Sonic's right." Pit told him. "Sonic's my bro, so of course I would choose him…but I had a feeling if it was a life and death situation…I would pick Rob." Pit admitted catching the blue hedgehog off guard. "I mean, Sonic can take care of himself…and Rob can too…but I know Shulk will have my head if I didn't protect his boyfriend."

"Shulk is not my boyfriend, Pit!"

Rob picked up the book and slammed it back onto the counter. He looked toward Peach who looked ready to faint.

"Princess, I can handle the rest from here on out. Just get some sleep."

"But the newcomer…"

"He or she won't be here until much later. Just go. Fox and Sonic will escort you back, right?"

This was the cue for the two animal Smashers to get out of the kitchen while they still had the chance. Sonic waved to his angel friend good-bye and that they'll see him when he goes and picks up the newcomer. Fox was the one that allowed Peach to lean on him for support. Other than that, the two allowed Sonic to lead the way to her room. Once the trio was out of the kitchen, Rob looked over to Pit expecting something.

"Are you going to help or are you going to be lost in thought?"

"Well…I am going to head out soon."

"…How about I go with you when we go meet the newcomer. I don't want the newcomer to think I'm a domestic person the first time we meet. I want to be with someone as strong as you."

Pit laughed at the compliment as he rubbed his nose in delight. "Of course I'll help if you're going to flatter me for the rest of the day."

The only reason Rob praised him was for Pit to assist him with the rest of the baking. However, he waited until everything was made ready to put into the oven until he could ask the brunette his own question.

"…So…am I expendable in that sort of situation?" Rob asked catching Pit off guard. "Sonic is your friend and I'm nothing in comparison…I know that…but If I wanted to live…would there be a way to…"

Pit flinched before quickly avoiding eye contact with the white haired magician. "W-Well…as I said…I don't want Shulk killing me…so…" The light angel sighed as he forced himself to meet with Rob's brown eyes. "Look, I'll give you something as an enemy ward if that's what you're worried about. I really can't have you dying and getting murdered by that stupid alien."

"Is it…necessary?"

"Of course it is. It will make me feel better knowing the ward will protect you while I focus on helping Sonic if he needs any assistance."

This reassured Rob enough to not ask any more questions. Pit didn't understand why he felt his chest pound when he spoke those words. Perhaps he was lying through his teeth or maybe he was feeling the same thing Peach spoke of. If that were the case then…he would need to prepare himself for any future problems that the angel captain was capable of preventing.

By the time the cake was done and Pit was ready to sneak off with Rob to get the newcomer in Smashopolis, a loud vroom was heard outside. Pit thought it was Wario actually going through the halls on his motorcycle. However, this was louder than what Wario had. It would become apparent that Pit would not need to go to Smashopolis to recruit Cloud.

Pit wished that Marth would stop screeching. He did not understand why Marth needed to sound like a girl to shame his bloodline. Roy was trying to get the Hero King to calm down, but Marth was too busy pointing in the direction outside and pouncing up and down like a child that had too much sugar to not realize he needed to take a chill pill.

Marth had a good reason to go crazy too. The newcomer was someone from another realm like Ryu only this was more apparent. Before Cloud had set off to the Smash Brothers Realm, Master Hand was kind to take his Fenrir that had been confiscated when Cloud was caught by the demons. His attire was also restored to its original state. There was a major difference that Cloud noticed. He was wearing his original outfit when he was a mercenary instead of his long black robe that he had donned after saving his planet the first time. Cloud did not wish to have this appearance again, but seeing as how this Master Hand was pulling the strings, it would make sense for Cloud to have the outfit he would be recognized by.

"Marth, keep it together!" Roy exclaimed. "It's just Cloud."

"JUST CLOUD?! CLOUD IS IN SMASH. I'M DEAD!"

Marth started hyperventilating at this point of time. Pit probably would have been fanboying as hard as Marth was if he was not in the presence of his Goddess.

Cloud noted that he had attracted an audience already for dropping in unexpectedly. He could see that there was a party planned for the newcomer, but Cloud had no intention of staying.

"Where is the Goddess of Light?" Cloud asked causing the others to look at each other. He held up the flier given to him by the white hand. "I need to speak to her about this rumor."

Pit couldn't read, so it was a waste of time asking him about it. Not like Cloud would know or care. Anyone in the mansion who was ogling him needed to see that he was only here because Master forced him to come to the mansion. It was a good thing that after arriving in Smashopolis that it was a straight line to the mansion especially while riding Fenrir.

"That is I." Palutena spoke catching Cloud's attention. Her demeanor was rather intimidating despite her serene smile at the moment. "What business do you have with me?"

"You wrote this. Is it true?"

What made Cloud think that letting go of the flier would magically allow the Goddess of Light to grab it? Well, seeing as how she was a Goddess, she could grab it with her magic and pull the flier toward her. Pit wanted to see what the flier said, but again…he couldn't read it.

"What does it say Lady Palutena?"

"Hmm…" Palutena thought long and hard what to say. She didn't write this flier at all, but half of the flier was in the Greek font. She felt like she was being set up by someone…but the only one who could do this was Master Hand. Looking at Cloud and knowing where he was from…she knew why Master Hand did this. "Yes…I did. What of it?"

"…I find it hard to believe you are capable of bringing people back to life." Cloud told her harshly. "In my world, it is impossible to do so. However, I had an unfortunate encounter with a white hand that told me it is possible here."

"Ah." Palutena gasped not realizing she would have given it away that Master Hand had set both of them up.

"If that's true, then let me see someone. I need to head back home afterwards, so I don't have all day."

"But you're accepted into Smash." Palutena brought up.

"I did not accept the offer. I'm only here to see if this rumor is true. If not…I'm leaving."

Well, that couldn't happen on Palutena's watch.

"I am the Goddess of Light and I am in charge of heaven. I would not be surprised if your dead companions were there…especially Aerith. She is someone who was too good for your sinful earth."

Now it was Cloud's turn to be shocked at Palutena's words. "You know it's Aerith?!"

"…Well…I think everyone in this mansion knows Aerith is dead." Pit said as a matter of fact statement but…

"I don't even know who he is." Rob told Pit with a frown on his face. "Forgive me for not knowing everything."

Pit rolled his eyes. "Of course. Anyone new in this mansion doesn't know who Cloud is…"

Cloud wanted answers from Pit. The brunette was breaking the 4th wall, so he would remain confused. Palutena decided to continue where she left off.

"I am willing to let you see your friends again…but that's only if you complete a trial with these Smashers."

Cloud and the Smashers didn't know about this, but Palutena was good with coming up with things on the spot.

"…What are the requirements?" Cloud questioned.

"Fight three of the swordsmen in this tournament right in this very room without a break. If you can defeat all three of them, then I will grant you your wish."

This was too good to be true, but what could Cloud lose besides not seeing Aerith again? There was no proof Palutena could do this. But at the idea that she could then…

"Send in your best fighters then." Cloud told her. "I do not have all day."

While Palutena had set the battle up so it would be in the main foyer of the mansion, Pit had decided on who the Smashers would be without their consent. Pit knew that Cloud was a formidable opponent, and as much as he would love to fight and defeat the mercenary, the brunette felt that fighting outside of Smash would cost him greatly. Dark Pit's safety always came first and even though the dark angel wanted to fight Cloud, Pit didn't want Palutena's not well thought out plan to hurt him.

This extended to the Robin twins as well specifically Rob. It didn't take a genius to see that outside of Smash, the two were fragile beings. They may have been the great tacticians under Chrom and had participated in three wars, but that was when their health was above average. Whatever happened during the final battle caused Rob's health to decline and even though Robin was able to return to Chrom and her loved ones after defeating Grima once and for all…her health also declined. It was why Master Hand made sure those two didn't overwork themselves in Smash. Pit didn't want to be the one that caused either of the tactician twins to faint, so he took the safe route and crossed out the idea of them participating.

Looking at the other swordsmen, Pit knew that Meta Knight was a no go simply because he was too observant to realize that this was a test that Master would not approve of. Toon Link was too young and Pit would feel bad for sending a child to do the dirty work for him. Link…well…if we were to break the 4th wall…Link would beat Cloud according to Death Battles because Link's Hylian Shield was great outside of Smash. Finally, there was Marth and Lucina. Marth was too busy fanboying over Cloud to fight seriously. Lucina, Pit felt wasn't good enough for Cloud. She was strong, but Pit felt like she did better protecting his twin than fighting someone with a sword twice her size. Plus there was the fact that Cloud would be very powerful outside of Smash (especially since he didn't have any limiters yet).

This left Roy, Ike and Shulk as the people who would fight Cloud. Roy was ready to get Marth to stop drooling over the ex-SOLDIER. Ike at first seemed nervous due to how he recalled making a joke about how swordsmen like Cloud would never get into Smash since they only needed someone like him. Now he was eating those words (but it's not like Cloud would know). Finally, Shulk was there simply because Pit wanted to see him get hurt. Shulk had the Monado and his visions, so he should be the one to finish Cloud off should the going get tough. It was a one versus one battle with no breaks in between for Cloud. Pit just hoped that Palutena's magic was strong enough to not break anything in the foyer. Imagining the mansion coming down because Cloud decided to break out the ultimate magic spell right off the bat sent shivers down the white angels spine.

Palutena had made sure to use the intercom to call the three Smashers that Pit had suggested to her, and that was only if they were not in the foyer. Shulk was the only one who wasn't at the entrance to greet Cloud, so he was the only one running late. The other two warriors were ready to clash their blades against Cloud's large one.

Cloud just wanted to get things over with. "You two can come at me now? I really don't have time for this."

Ike wasn't impressed with Cloud's attitude. Granted, Cloud probably didn't want this stupid trial forced on him. Palutena should have just given Cloud what he wanted, but there was probably something going on that made her do it. Regardless, he was ready to charge, but Roy was going to fight first.

Suffice to say, by the time Shulk got to the foyer, the Smashers were in complete shock at what happened. It didn't even take long for Cloud to make quick work out of Roy and Ike. They both got one good attack in, but Cloud didn't even flinch. Roy feared that the larger blade would break his blade, but they forgot that Cloud was a magic user as well. Cloud simply blew Roy away with his blade beam that would have actually killed Roy had it not been for the dragon blood inside of him. Roy was sent flying into the wall behind him. Marth wasn't cheering for Cloud anymore after seeing that Roy actually fainted from the attack.

Ike wasn't any better. He showed no fear when handling the blond swordsman, but Cloud was not bound by the rules of Smash. Therefore, he simply sent Ike flying near the chandelier above and performed a series of slashes similar to Ike's Final Smash before slamming him toward the ground and taking the chandelier down with it. Pit's eyes widened in horror thinking he heard the sound of someone's bones breaking. Ike was near unconscious, but it was clear he could not continue especially with the chandelier on his body weighing him down.

Because Shulk was unaware of the fact this was a trial, he assumed his friends were being attacked. He didn't notice how Palutena was watching the battle with a stern expression on her face. Pit and Dark Pit wanted to go down and help Roy and Ike, but they had to listen to the Goddess of Light when she said to stay put. The other Smashers were allowed to jump in, but seeing as how Cloud was demonstrating to them he would kill them just to get what he needed and leave to return to his true friends. As far as Cloud was concerned, everyone in the mansion was an enemy.

Rob noticed that Shulk had arrived with the Monado activated. There wasn't even time for any of the Smashers to explain what was going on. Shulk just leaped into the air ready to take Cloud on for hurting his comrades.

The battle cry caught Cloud's attention as he thought he could easily block the Monado like the other two swords. He was surprised at how much weight the Monado had when the blade came down on him. He growled feeling his feet being forced into the floor to the point he struggled to prevent Shulk from cutting his blade in half. Shulk was glowing a purple aura implying that he was in Buster form. Cloud was not a Mechon, but he had intention of ending the intruder.

"SHULK!" Rob cried out causing a distraction that allowed Cloud to push Shulk off of him. "DON'T GET TOO CARRIED AWAY!"

"Rob, stay where you are." Pit told him harshly. "This is a test…"

"But Roy and Ike…"

"They will not die as long as Lady Palutena is watching."

Rob couldn't believe that especially if the two Emblem warriors were bleeding. The other Smashers probably were too caught up in Cloud's brutality to realize that Roy and Ike were still alive and a healing spell could easily cure them.

Cloud had to take a step back ready to attack Shulk who had the fire in his eyes.

"Never thought I'd see the day…someone besides Sephiroth has given me a hard time." Cloud mumbled to himself more than Shulk, but the Monado boy could hear it. "Come."

Shulk in his rage might have done so, but his eyes flashed signifying that he had received a vision. Cloud was preparing his limit break when he was pushed into the corner completely catching Shulk off guard. All of Cloud's attacks would become stronger pushing him back. Cloud seemed to disregard the fact that he was not supposed to go for the kill, so he would launch into the air and impale the seer in the chest should Shulk allow Cloud to do what he pleases.

"Shulk, you realize that he has every intention of killing you, correct?" Alvis asked him causing Shulk to gasp suddenly hearing his voice. "I believe it is best to defeat him before he even has a chance to use this Limit Break he has. He is not bound by the rules of Smash Brothers yet…so he has no idea that this will actually kill."

I can see that. I'll make him pay for what he did to Roy and Ike!

Shulk immediately switched to Monado Speed. This would prevent Cloud from even thinking of standing there and charging up a Limit Break. Shulk charged the blond who had no time to react as he found the sword being brought on him. Cloud was slower with parrying quick attacks like this. Shulk's blade was supposed to be heavy, but the speed form seemed to nullify it in Cloud's eye. He also noticed that a blue aura was around Shulk's body. The ex-SOLDIER nearly lost his sword with Shulk's unexpected air slash. Because he didn't block, he felt the blade cut into his arm. The mercenary flinched as he shot a fire spell from his hand forcing Shulk to stop his assault. The Monado had such a long reach that he had no time to collect himself. The light of the blade nearly impaled him in the chest. There was no way he was going to get put into a bad situation again and be impaled there.

So this Goddess gives me two weak fighters before throwing in the strong one. I have to do this.

This was a risky move, but instead of using the limit break by Shulk's original vision, he decided to use a different form of Omnislash that he had reserved only against his greatest enemy he had defeated. He wanted to go home to his friends again after he was able to see Aerith and Zack again. This battle was too important. He had told himself he had moved on from the past, but if he could apologize to those two in person for not being able to save them, then there would be nothing holding him back.

Shulk got another vision after the original one shattered. Thirteen swords surrounded him. He would soon be impaled by all of them while Cloud would go for a long barrage of sword strikes that would kill him. No normal person would survive that…and seeing as how this was the move that killed Sephiroth…Shulk would be deader than dead. The seer paled after seeing this vision. How would he be able to beat this?

"Stay calm, Shulk." Alvis warned him. "You have many ways to stop this vision. You need to decide which one will be the best suited for this situation."

Like Alvis said, Shulk had so many ways of ending this battle now. He had the advantage in knowing what Cloud will do in advance and Cloud had yet to catch on that Shulk could see what he would be doing before he did it. Since this was outside of Smash, this just happened to work in Shulk's favor especially since this was a life and death situation. A small smile creeped up on Shulk's face realizing what would be the best option to defeat the ex-SOLDIER in the flashiest way imaginable.

The Smashers and Cloud were surprised that Shulk just stood there waiting for Cloud to attack. Did he not realize that his life was in danger by just standing around? Was he giving up?

Rob knew that he wasn't giving up. He had this feeling Shulk had a vision and knew what he was doing. Pit just leaned over the small balcony waiting for the Monado boy to impress him. Palutena felt like Shulk had won at this point. Cloud had this nagging feeling he was falling for Shulk's trap. However, this needed to be done.

"Limits are meant to be broken." Cloud spoke as he caught everyone off guard by taking his sword and splitting it into six smaller swords that surrounded Shulk. Everyone gasped realizing that Cloud meant business.

"Well…he's fucked." Pit stated in a matter of fact way.

"No!" Rob cried. "Shulk! Move out of the way."

Shulk waited for Cloud to get into position…before he was ready to destroy one of Cloud's most powerful attacks.

"Speed!"

At that moment when Cloud struck, Shulk simply moved out of the way completing catching the mercenary off guard. Not even Sephiroth dodged this attack. He thought it was a fluke, so he made quick work to try to hit Shulk again. Again, Shulk moved at the last second to dodge the blade. This repeated ten more times until the Monado boy switched to Shield and blocked the last attack that was coming in from behind. Cloud's eyes widened that Omnislash was easily defeated.

"…What are you?" Cloud had to ask. "How can you see where I'm hitting you."

"I can change the future. What can I say?" Shulk answered simply before switching to Monado Purge. The powerful light was enough to remove the blue aura around Cloud causing him to panic when he realized that Shulk sealed his Limit Break. "Witness the power of the Monado!"

Shulk switched to Smash and literally sent Cloud into the ceiling where the chandelier use to be. The Monado boy didn't even need to move from his position to impale Cloud in the chest from where he was. The Smashers needed to remember that the Monado was a very large blade that could reach far distances and Master Hand had to make sure it wasn't as long as it was in Smash. Cloud coughed up blood that dripped down to the floor. Shulk had every intention to kill him for hurting his friend, but had this gut feeling that he shouldn't be treating Cloud like this. As a result, the light portion of the Monado vanished almost instantly and fell straight down. Cloud was still alive despite this, but there was no way he could continue.

"No way…you sealed my limits…"

Shulk knew the battle was over and put the Monado away on his back. "Be glad that you didn't kill my friends. I would have ended you for that."

Pit reminded himself that this is why he didn't want to be on Shulk's bad side. That was a brutal yet flashy execution of one of the strongest fighters of another realm. Rob just sighed in relief that Shulk made it out in one piece but had to go down from the higher portion of the foyer to heal Roy and Ike.

Before Palutena could state the obvious that Cloud lost, a powerful aura came into the foyer…and this person was not a happy camper.

"WHO HAS BROKEN THE RULES OF SMASH?! IS IT THE NEWCOMER?! UNACCEPTABLE!"

No one said a word when Master Hand had appeared above his or her Smashers head. The giant white hand was forming a powerful energy attack that Pit and Palutena recognized due to the color of the attack. There were chains that were coming out of the sphere Master Hand created.

"YOU HURT MY SMASHERS IN MY MANSION?! I HOPE YOU ENJOY BEING TRAPPED TO THIS PLACE UNTIL THE CONTRACT IS COMPLETE!"

Master Hand was dead serious when he said that he would bind Cloud to Smash Brothers mansion. Master's magic was one the strongest in the universe. Most of the time, he kept it to himself because of the implication that he and Crazy combined their powers to keep the Smash Brothers Realm afloat and to expand it over time. He was still strong enough to make sure that Cloud could not leave. Nothing he could do would allow him to leave at this moment, and the only reason the purchase wasn't mentioned was because Master Hand wanted to keep his dealing under the rug. It would look bad if he was doing some dubious activity that Pit was apparently supposed to be looking into as of late.

So here Cloud was in his temporary room on the fourth floor. Because Cloud was forced into Smash, there was no time to prepare a room particularly for him. Master needed to search the mansion to see if there were any rooms left on the second or third floor. If there weren't any Smashers left, there would be the assist trophy portion of the mansion because the last resort was to stick in the guest room on the same floor as the angels or to be in Smashopolis and stay at the hotel. Cloud did not have a choice in that matter and by tomorrow night, Master Hand should have decided who his roommate will be. Cloud had a nasty feeling it would be someone who would give him hell due to breaking the rules in Smash Brothers.

He glared at Pit clung to him like the incident earlier did not happen. The blond had every right to take his sword and kill the light angel. Granted, the bonds prevented him from doing so, but Pit was still someone he did not want to be around. Pit was a servant to Palutena who tricked him into that battle knowing full well that even if he were to win, he would still be stuck in the mansion. He just didn't get anything out of this match besides an injured side and a bruised ego. Now he felt nothing but animosity towards Pit, who was trying to give him apology kisses despite the fact that he was somewhat involved in this plan.

"Oh, don't be mad at Lady Palutena." Pit hummed as Cloud shoved him off. The light angel didn't mind too much seeing as how he let go at the last minute. "You can see your friends in heaven."

"I doubt that."

"Well…maybe not Skyworld…but the Head Angel probably has them wandering around her heaven. It's safe there in comparison to Skyworld…"

Ignoring Pit's words, Cloud continued to look around the room. Even if he were going to be held in Smash Brothers Mansion against his will, at least he would have a nice room. Judging from the bed, Cloud could assume that it was one of those squishy beds that you would usually find in love hotels. Hopefully there wouldn't be any sexual encounters during his stay here. He wasn't interested in falling in love or making Tifa worry back at home.

"Pit, you're not doing Cloud a favor."

Pit jumped back hearing the regal voice behind him. He gasped seeing that Zelda was listening in on the conversation.

"Oh…Zelda…hi!"

"Pit, if you are not going to assist in making Cloud comfortable in his new home, I suggest you leave." The brunette told the angel captain simply. "If those words you said just now are true, then you should arrange a future meeting with Cloud and his friends that he had lost."

Pit chuckled nervously making Zelda think he was lying to make Palutena look good. However, the white angel nodded his head slowly as he dismissed himself from the guest room. What was good about this one was that it was farther from the room that Pit and Dark Pit were staying in. Since the one next to them was reserved for Reyn when he stayed in the mansion, Cloud's temporary room was like three doors down. It was far enough to the point that the angel twins probably would think there wasn't anyone else on this floor. The blond was use to this isolation and probably wanted it seeing as how he felt he couldn't trust any of the Smashers after what Master Hand and Palutena did.

"How are you feeling now, Strife?" Zelda asked as she slowly closed the door behind her. She felt like Cloud would talk more if he was certain no one was eavesdropping.

"My chest hurts even with healing spells." Cloud told her as he slowly sat on the bed. "At least the bed is tolerable."

"…I apologize for Michiko and Palutena. Michiko is rather quirky. I have…never seen him so angry and use a binding spell like that before. As for Palutena…"

She was cut off from insulting the green haired Goddess due to Cloud wanting answers about Master Hand.

"Do you know how to undo it?"

"No. I do not…however…"

Cloud wanted to tune her out for the rest of the night as rude as it was to ignore the Queen of the Hyrule.

"…I do not think this is a bad thing to be stuck at the mansion." Zelda continued. "It might do some good for you."

"…And what makes you say that?"

"Strife, many of us Smashers are aware what has occurred in your world. We know that you have not completely come to terms with yourself. We are here to help you if you are willing to listen to us after what Palutena has done." She frowned. "Do not let what Palutena did affect your judgement of the rest of us."

"…She tricked me."

"She's a trickster and a disrespectful Goddess who abuses her powers on a daily basis." The Queen of Hyrule added. "Unfortunately, she's one of the stronger ones here. I am not strong enough to take her down now…but if I had the power…I would put Palutena in her place."

Cloud noted the venom in Zelda's voice. He could tell Zelda and Palutena did not get along well.

"And the angel?"

"He's just a hound on a leash. No matter what he says, he'll always be a slave to her. Don't take what he says seriously nor should you direct your hatred toward him. He's just a slave to that woman."

Cloud could see that…but he could tell Pit had a will of his own too. The judgment he had might have been the wings in all honesty, but if he followed Zelda's advise in communicating with the other Smashers, he might learn a thing or two about heaven to see Aerith and Zack again.

"Just try not to drive yourself insane in the mansion. Everyone here is unique and all you have to do is avoid the likes of Palutena and Ganondorf to get the best out of your stay in Smash Brothers Mansion." The Queen of Hyrule finished.

Cloud nodded his head in agreement. She just told him what he needed to do to survive. Over time, he would probably be able to contact his friends about where he is and what had transpired from the moment he disappeared to the moment he would show up in Smash that would be broadcasted across the universe. He sighed though realizing that his time with Zelda would be cut short when Pit barged in again with a rather evil grin on his face.

"Guess what, Cloud? Your roommate is King DDD!"

Yep…Cloud was going to go insane before his stay in the mansion even started…

Me: Done with 9618 words.

Li: You're fast, but not fast enough.

Me: Please. I will make a long one-shot with Cloud to explain how he can be in my universe without contradicting every other story I wrote. I have an entire arc dedicated to showing all the DLC characters (except Mewtwo) being accepted into Smash. I wanted to try something different for Cloud in comparison to Ryu who just showed up (and later stories, I will bring up that Ryu and Roy showed up together, so that the incident in Fighting Tension is a one-time thing, but this incident with Cloud probably happens in all timelines even without mentioning it in stories before and after this story). Notes!

1. I decided that every single fighting tournament has a huge hand as the guy in charge of the tournament. Since I imply that all the hands are from the Chaos Realm where the Chaos Kin resigned, the strongest hands are the ones able to create their own realm. Master and Crazy are strong because they made the Smash Brothers Realm that doesn't really exist in canon while most other hands are already in established worlds and are pulling the strings. A few hands are listed here…

Master and Crazy Hand: The right and left hand of Smash Brothers with the color-coded white. Master is cool and refined but rather crafty and Crazy is naïve in comparison but still crazy hence his name.

Killer Hand: The Killer Instinct hand color-coded green due to the XBox. He's very sly and rather cruel and probably worse than Mortal Hand because his world is dangerous, but that's from attracting the wrong people instead of playing God like Mortal does.

Player Hand: Playstation All Star hand color-coded cyan. I have always been against Playstation All Star being a rip-off of Smash, but not doing anything to stand out. The fact that this game failed to get all the Sony reps along with choosing Emo Dante over the original Dante sealed the deal to me that the game was shit. Smash Brothers got Snake, Ryu and Cloud which should have been part of the All Star cast, so the joke here is how Master Hand just had more money to get them.

Tech Hand: Tekken hand color-coded brown. Technically represents Namco and does whatever he needs to for his tournament without drawing too much attention to himself.

Blaze and Guilty Hand: BlazBlue and Guilty Gear hand that has a right and a left hand like Master and Crazy Hand but handle two different tournaments. They are both color-coded blue.

Heart Hand: Arcana Hearts hand that is color-coded pink and is probably the only female hand in retrospect.

Mortal Hand: Mortal Kombat hand color-coded black and is the most gruesome of all the hands. Master Hand makes it clear he doesn't want him anywhere near the Smash Brothers Realm and told him to take Raiden's God problems elsewhere. The Kid Icarus cast hates and fears the Mortal Kombat realm (seeing as how Pit never wants to encounter anyone from that universe or Kratos from God of War).

King Hand: King of Fighters hand color coded yellow. This is the hand that talks the most about honor but a lot of the hands wonder if he honestly believes what he says just to sound superior to the rest of them.

Dead Hand: Dead or Alive hand color-coded purple. He's probably the biggest pervert of them all seeing how sexualized the Dead or Alive games are.

Soul Hand = Soul Caliber hand color-coded silver. This one is the most spiritual and seems to have connections with the outside world too (seeing as how he got Dark Vadar and Yoda in one tournament and actually look Link from Master at one point).

Cross Hand: Capcom's hand that represents Street Fighter, DarkStalkers and Marvel versus Capcom with the combined colors of red, blue, green and purple. Despite being the most controversial of the ands, he gets along very well with Master. He's very secretive too seeing as how he does the bigger crossover's overall that extends to any large crossover with things outside of the universe. He might be stronger than Master Hand as a result.

There are other hands too, but I don't intend of touching on some fighting games. The two hands I know I left out are Fatal Hand and Persona Hand. This is Fatal Fury and Persona 4 Fighting Arena. Not interested in these two, but they are there.

2. I'm foreshadowing something bad is going to happen with Peach soon seeing the whole point of this scene is to connect Fighting Tension. The dialogue about Pit's choice between Sonic and Rob is important too.

3. Marth is a fanboy of Cloud because Cloud is one of the well-known RPG protagonists. Seeing as how Marth is one of the older ones, it would make sense that he would idolize Cloud.

4. Palutena isn't lying about reviving someone…but she's lazy. Aerith and Zack are probably in one of the heaven's that Cloud can visit, but can't at the moment.

5. Cloud was able to make quick work out of Roy and Ike but not Shulk has to do with the HP. Fire Emblem doesn't have a high HP cap. Shulk is pretty much the same as Cloud but can go over 9999 damage. Unfortunately, Shulk is a glass cannon and Cloud hits like a truck, but that's what visions are for. It's nice to be one of the divine beings in Smash, right Shulk?

6. It is a rule about not fighting outside of Smash unless authorized. It's like Super Smash Arena is illegal in a sense because Smashers take it out on other fighters. The few times fights broke out in the mansion, a lot of Smashers bring up how they could get in trouble. Like in Having a Bun in the Oven…Ganondorf nearly killed Rob, who would have gotten him in big trouble should he had succeeded. Cloud had the intention of killing in Master's eyes seeing how Palutena worded the terms therefore Master would punish him…yet this didn't happen with Pit and Ryu. Seeing as how Cloud refused to participate and how Master had to trick him…to hide the fact he bought Cloud in the same place that Pit is technically searching for…of course he would find a way to cover it up.

7. It's starting to become unrealistic on how big my mansion is on the second and third floor so I had to justify some excuse of where Cloud will be. In my mansion, Ganondorf, Bowser, Wario, Bowser Jr. Wendy, Ludwig and DDD are the only ones who have the room to themselves. By process of elimination of not bring up the rooms in story, DDD would be the safest bet without contradicting things. I think this works because this is a roommate no one would expect Cloud to be with…but seeing how Cloud broke the rule and DDD is bossy…it is a punishment in itself. (Plus I don't think Bandana Dee will be selected for DDD. If proven wrong, will probably change the room design again).

That's it. Reviews are appreciated. Ja ne!