Heya! Scales here, with yet another fic! I know, I'm already working on another one, but hey, I have way too much free time. Or maybe I don't. Yes, I need to update Wizard of Brawl, But I've hit a writer's block after the last chapter which had a few of its own flaws... Anyways , I wanted to put this into Smash Mansion Oddities, but I thought that one got too crappy. Yeah… I'll discontinue that.

Now Marth, do the disclaimer!

Marth: *sigh* Shining Scales doesn't own SSBB or the characters. *rolls eyes* Not that she ever will…

*snort* I can dream, right? Whatevs. I own nothing but my ideas!

Enjoy the first chapter of A Peculiar Predicament!

"Hah, I win! I totally owned you, Lucas!"

"Dang it Ness, you KNOW I'm bad at Mario Party!"

"Pfft, you really lost pretty badly though. Admit it."

"Popo. Please. Just don't."

The day was actually normal so far (by Brawl standards, of course) and the Smashers were goofing off. More or less. Some more than others… Wait, I'm getting off track.

So, it was a rest day for the Smashers, which meant that they didn't have any matches or SSE replays. And since they had a nice day to relax and it was (only) 10 in the morning, an awful lot of them were still sleeping. Not many were awake. Among those who were awake were Lucas, Ness and Popo, who were playing Mario Party 9 in the rec room like there was no tomorrow. As you can probably guess, Lucas lost miserably while Ness won by a mile. They were playing for quite some time now, and it was a miracle they hadn't woke the others… Not that they want to. Some of their fellow Smashers could get really grouchy in the mornings...

"Can't we just go outside or something? I'm tired of playing MP now." Lucas sighed.

Popo looked out the window. "I guess, since it's really sunny right now. I bet it's nice and warm."

Ness shrugged, walking over to turn off the Wii. "Then let's go, there's nothing to stop us, right?"

Then Popo suddenly started grinning. "I have an idea…" Lucas gulped. The kid didn't like the glint in his friend's eyes.

The Ice Climber then exclaimed: "How about we explore the mansion? If it's so old and huge, don't you guys think that there'll be shortcuts and secret passages and stuff?" The mischievous glint in Popo's eyes got even brighter.

Ness immediately jumped up and nodded eagerly, and Lucas paled.

The two dragged the poor blonde off.

In the garden, a certain blue-haired mercenary was sparring with a masked blue puffball, conversing while exchanging blows. Pit and Red were close by, the latter teaching the former how to handle pokemon.

"Ike, does Marth usually sleep in this late?"

Ike shrugged, parrying a slash from his opponent and countering.

"It's rest day. He always sleeps in on rest days."

Meta Knight dodged before stabbing at the mercenary, who blocked the attack easily. "Hmph. I never noticed. Should I wake him?"

Ike blanched and panicked for a second, causing him to rashly swipe at his partner.

"Don't even THINK about it! He'll just start bitching about us waking him up!"

The puffball used this opportunity to strike, knocking Ike back. Ike scrambled back up, lifting his sword just in time to block another quick stab.

Meta Knight jumped away from Ike, who had once again recklessly swiped at him. "And why might that be?"

Ike cringed while getting in a defensive stance. "He's not a morning person. Just don't. If you do, you'll be in a world of pain. Trust me. I should know."

The knight tilted his head to the side, which looked pretty funny since his entire body WAS his head. Then he seemed to understand and grimaced under his mask.

"Oh. Then I believe I should take your advice and leave him alone." He muttered while idly twirling his sword, watching Pit trying to calm down an overexcited Charizard who was spewing fire everywhere.

"Do that. Just don't wake him up."

After saying that, Ike's head abruptly turned to the mansion and he sniffed the air. "Food." he muttered, before bounding off to the building they called home.

Meta Knight's eyes flickered pink in amusement before sprinting after his friend.

Well, Ike was right about the food part. Zelda and Peach were making lunch, or brunch, or whatever you people eat at this time. Nana and Pikachu were setting the (humongous) table, and the whole place smelled positively delicious. But it still wasn't enough to wake the others. Or bring any of them inside.

"HEY, WHAT'S FOR LUNCH?"

Okay, strike that. Ike's here. He plopped himself on his seat, Meta Knight coming in after him and seating himself next to where Marth normally sits. The Altean was still sleeping like a rock and Link-

"I smell bacon!"

Okay, forget whatever I was about to say. Link's here too. Most likely because of that unnaturally keen sense of smell he got when he turned into a wolf. The Hylian currently seemed to be having a REALLY bad case of bedhead, his blond hair was sticking out in every direction, but he didn't seem to care. He grinned and plopped himself down next to Ike.

"Whazzup?" Link asked.

"Meh. Got hungry." Ike answered giving Link a high-five.

A few more Smashers came in and sat down and started putting (or in Kirby's case, heaping) food on their plates.

And none of them knew what was going on in the attic...

Meanwhile, Popo, Ness and Lucas found their way into the attic. The very dusty one. At the top of the mansion. The one that only a few Smashers know about. Yeah, that one. Popo happened to stumble over the entrance (although he actually crashed into it, which earned a chuckle from Lucas and a guffaw from Ness) and they naturally went through. They were looking through the old junk that had collected over the years, laughing at photographs and pointing out funny faces. At the moment, Popo was leafing through something that looked like a diary while occasionally bursting out in laughter, Ness was rummaging through a chest full of worn, torn and partially scorched clothes and Lucas was pacing around the room anxiously.

"Guys? I'm getting the feeling that we weren't meant to be here..." Lucas muttered, turning towards the other two.

Popo looked up from the book he was holding. "Well duh, of course! Why else would they hide the entrance for this place so well?"

Lucas stopped for a moment, then continued pacing, glancing at the trap door every now and then. Somewhere in a corner, Ness laughed, holding up an old tunic that had the remains of a few firecrackers and scorch marks on it, making it near impossible to guess the color of the old rag.

"Oh gosh, I remember this! That time where Roy decided to light a few firecrackers and toss it into Marth's room..."

Lucas turned towards the black-haired PSI user with a look of pure confusion. "Who's Roy?" Lucas asked, sitting down on the ground. Popo was trying to recall who Roy was.

Popo then seemed to remember, snapping his fingers before diving into a large box filled with more journals. Lucas turned back to Ness.

"So... Who is he?"

Ness grinned. "Back when we were in Melee, another sword dude from the same world as our blue-haired princess." He giggled. "Roy was a total pyromaniac, he looked almost exactly like a red-haired version of big bro Pit, around the same age, too."

The Ice Climber stopped rummaging in the box and laughed. "That scrap used to be Marf's tunic? Ya serious?" He collapsed in peals of laughter. "I only remembered him looking really mad with his hair half-scorched! Roy must've had a lot of guts ta throw those in his ROOM! He's BATSHIT CRAZY, I tell you!"

Lucas started laughing too. Imagining the Altean's perfect room in complete disarray... Not to mention blackened hair.

Ness suddenly stopped laughing and looked at the ground with a sad expression on his face. "Too bad he had to leave after Melee ended..." The black-haired boy went back to the chest.

Popo wiped a tear from his eye after his last chuckles died down, and leaned his head to the side. He shrugged with a reminiscent smile on his face before getting back to rummaging through the box.

Lucas flicked a dust bunny. He still felt uneasy about being in the attic. As if something unexplainable was residing there... He stood up and began pacing around again, looking around the room, when Popo suddenly jumped up with a red hardcover journal in his hands.

"YES! Found it!"

Startled, the blonde jumped and crashed against a wall and fell right through, yelling a curse that a kid his age shouldn't know (that he most likely learned from Ike or Link). The other two stared at the spot that their friend was standing on a few moments ago before Ness bounded after him, crashing through the wall as well. Popo continued staring at the hidden door blankly before looking at the book in his hands and stowing it in his parka for safekeeping. Breaking into a run, he ran against the wall to feel himself falling through...

...

After what seemed like forever, the poor Ice Climber finally hit the ground and smacking face first into Ness' back, causing both to fall over.

"AGH!"

"Uah!"

It took a while for them to stop quarreling and look in Lucas' direction.

"Uh, Lucas? Ya' okay?"

The blond was gaping, still as a statue and pointing at something. He looked like a fish out of water.

"Dude! Stop making that stupid face an' give us a sign you're still alive!"

Ness waved a hand in front of Lucas' face. The latter jumped, before glancing at his friends and frantically gesturing towards what he was pointing to earlier.

Popo raised an eyebrow before looking where Lucas was pointing.

"Oh my icicles." Ness followed the Ice Climber's gaze.

"Shiny..." he whispered, gaping at the item Lucas had been gaping at in a similar manner. Except that Ness possibly looked even more retarded than Lucas did a few paragraphs ago.

It was a gem.

A huge one.

Standing on an intricately carved marble pedestal.

About as big as Ness' head, and if you think about that, then that's pretty big. It continuously changed colors and sparkled in the dim light of the room the trio landed in. The light projected itself onto the walls, making the room itself feel magical.

The two PSI kids also felt a huge amount of power radiating off it.

Then Lucas burst into a theory of what it could be.

"DEAR GOD LUCAS, WE CAN FIND OUT WHAT IT IS OURSELVES!" Both of the others yelled simultaneously before glancing at each other with freaked out expressions. Even Lucas looked spooked.

And there was an awkward silence.

...

C'mon, say something!

Lucas looked at the ground sheepishly. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break into a long line of rambling."

"Oh, that's fi-"

That's when Popo slipped on a random oxygen molecule and was sent flying. He crashed into the pedestal, making it wobble and causing the other two to gasp and jump in case the gem which seemed like a magical artifact would fall and break into a million pieces.

The Gem rolled towards the edge...

Balanced on the corner, ready to fall...

The three held their breaths...

And...

It stopped.

The three sighed in relief, letting out a breath they didn't know they were holding.
That was all the gem needed.

CRASH!

It shattered upon impact, bursting into a million tiny fragments before dissolving.

The three stared at each other.

"LET'S GET THE HECK OUTTA HERE!"

All three bolted.

What they didn't notice was that a small wisp of light that escaped and follow them downstairs.