Oh no, not that stupid little lizard again with another angsty Brawl one-shot! Don't worry, though, this one's not quite as angsty as the last one… I don't think. It… does involve one of the same characters though, as you could probably guess. I'm a R.O.B. fangirl, so sue me.
Decided I'd challenge myself though and write a fic involving two mute characters. No pairing, though. Just friendship.
Warning!: Spoilers for the END of the Subspace Emissary plot!
Disclaimer: I don't own Brawl, or any of the characters in this fic. I don't think I own my mind, either. Brawl's taken possession of it, it seems.
On with the fic!
The sunset was beautiful. Sure, it was like every other sunset that happened every other day, but today it seemed more beautiful than ever. One tends to look at things differently, after he has had a close encounter with death. Few of the fighters thought they would ever see that sunset again after what had happened.
What else was there to do, anyway? The strange being, Tabuu, was gone, but it had taken the Master Hand's life with it. The knowledge that their master was now gone left them with an emptiness in their hearts, whether they would ever admit it or not.
The sun was now dipping beneath the ocean, the light it provided leaving along with it. With nothing left to stare at but the vast ocean, the fighters, one by one, began to turn and walk away. They would figure out what to do without their master another day; for now, they would rest. Besides, many of them felt uncomfortable standing around those whom they deemed enemies.
For the most part, the only sounds that could be heard were the water splashing against the cliffside and the slow footfalls as the heroes, if the lot of them could be called that, left. A few of the footsteps sounded unique from the others, such as the squeak of Kirby's soft feet and the clanking of Samus's armor, but the most distinguished noise was the "tic-tic, tic-tic, tic-tic" of Mr. Game and Watch's steps.
The two dimensional creature stopped for a moment, watching the rest of the group pass him. His home, the Flat Zone, was a long way away, and there was no way he would be able to make it back there tonight. Sure, he could stay with some of the others, but he felt reluctant to do so. After being tested on and used for days on end to create that awful Subspace army, he certainly was not going to go anywhere near Ganondorf or any of the Gerudo's buddies anytime soon. Then there was the true heroes, whom he didn't dare approach, for fear that they still didn't trust him after he had attacked them with the Halberd, forced or not.
A flat, animated puff of air appeared in front of his mouth with a "bleep" as Game and Watch heaved a sigh. He turned back towards the cliff, but gave a quiet bleep of surprise when he found that he wasn't the only one who had stayed behind. There, still staring off into the distance, was the robot, R.O.B.
Game and Watch was curious as to why the robot hadn't left, though he was reluctant to approach him. After all, R.O.B. was the true identity of the Ancient Minister, and had been on Tabuu's side. By association, that made the mechanical creature part of the reason that Game and Watch had undergone his torture. Eventually, though, he reasoned with himself that since he had never actually seen the Ancient Minister during his time as a prisoner of the Subspace Emissary, the other creature probably had nothing to do with his imprisonment. That having been settled, he approached robotic fighter.
R.O.B., oddly enough, was not staring at where the sunset had been, but rather at a fixed point in the distance. Game and Watch followed the robot's stare, but saw nothing other than the night's sky. He looked back and forth between the robot and the sky, just to make sure, but no. The robot was staring at nothing but the stars off in the distance… and, having nothing better to do, the two-dimensional creature stared with him.
After some time had passed, the sound of rattling startled Mr. Game and Watch out of his trance. With a quiet "beep" of confusion, he turned his head to see that R.O.B. was shaking. At first he thought it might have been from the cold, since it was rather chilly, but he ruled that out when he realized that the other creature probably couldn't feel temperature. His next theory was that because R.O.B. was a robot, he could be malfunctioning. Worried, he tapped the creature on the shoulder with a light "bleep."
Immediately R.O.B. whipped around, swinging his metal arms frantically in a panic. Game and Watch gave a screeching, ringing noise of surprise as he took several steps backward to avoid getting hit by the robot's flailing limbs. He took a defensive position, waiting for the mechanical creature to calm down. It took a moment, but the other fighter soon realized that Game and Watch meant him no harm. R.O.B. drew his arms back and stared at the two-dimensional thing for a while before ultimately turning back to stare at the sky again.
Mr. Game and Watch heaved another animated sigh before "tic-tic-tic"-ing his way back over to R.O.B.'s side. This time, he wasted no time in tapping the robot on the shoulder to get his attention. R.O.B. gave a slight jerk—a flinch?—at the touch, and with a quiet whirr of his gears turned his head. He gave a weary blink at the other creature; he looked drained, but not on fuel.
Now that he had the other's attention, Game and Watch pointed at the spot that R.O.B. had been staring at, giving a questioning buzz. He had been standing on this cliffside for long enough, and he wasn't going to leave without some sort of answer as to why the other fighter was just staring, unmoving, at seemingly nothing.
Yet again, R.O.B. turned to look at the sky. Mr. Game and Watch started to give a buzz of frustration until the robot began to shiver once more. Now he lowered his head, shutting his metal eyelids tightly. His whole body began to droop, and Game and Watch swore he heard something sounding like a whimper escape whatever sort of primitive speech synthesizers R.O.B. may have had.
Game and Watch gave a short buzz as he cocked his head to one side. Confusion overwhelmed him as he wondered what on earth would cause R.O.B. to be so—
Suddenly he stood very rigid and alert, scanning the area around him. He couldn't immediately see what he was looking for, and was about to blame it on the lack of light until he realized that there was a full moon. The moon should have illuminated what he was looking for… but it didn't.
The Island of the Ancients was nowhere in sight.
Now, in this land, everyone had heard of the Island of the Ancients and the Ancient Minister, whether they had actually seen either of them or not. The Ancient Minister supposedly presided over a colony of robots on that island, always watching over them, never leaving… which was why it had been so odd that the Ancient Minister had actually left his island in the first place. Of course, all of that made sense, now: Tabuu had taken control of the Master Hand, who gave orders to Ganondorf, who forced the Ancient Minister to do his bidding.
While Mr. Game and Watch hadn't been at the bomb factory when it was engulfed by several blasts from Subspace bombs, he had seen the whole incident from a long distance away. Then, after Tabuu's defeat, the purple spheres left behind by the bombs had been replaced by the areas that they had taken… But, for whatever reason, the Island of the Ancients had been totally wiped out, leaving nothing but the sky in its place.
Thinking back to his time as a captive of the Subspace Emissary, the two dimensional creature had recalled overhearing Ganondorf talking about the Ancient Minister's robots. It was too risky to leave the bomb factory unguarded, so a large number of the robots were to stay there, while others would leave the island as needed, whether it be to detonate another bomb or to fight the heroes to the death.
Had Game and Watch had a spine, he would have certainly felt a chill run down it when he finally put two and two together: none of the Ancient Minister's robots had survived.
R.O.B. was now alone.
The flat creature held his head in his hand for a moment, giving a quiet, humming buzz. What was he going to do? He couldn't just leave R.O.B. there, now that he finally knew why the thing was so gloomy. Who knew what the robot would do if he stayed alone!
An idea suddenly struck him, but he hesitated, trying to come up with something else. When no better idea came to him, he grabbed the robot's arm and gave it a pull. R.O.B.'s torso gave a jerk, though his base didn't move. Still, he turned his head again, keeping it tilted downward.
Game and Watch gave an odd, low-pitched warbling noise when he saw that R.O.B.'s black eyes were plagued with a green static. He could only assume that the static was either a sign of malfunction or the robotic equivalent of tears. Considering the situation, he figured it was the latter. Still, he shook his head with a buzz and pulled on the robot's arm again, giving a few encouraging beeps.
R.O.B. remained where he stood, not willing at all to move from his spot.
Knowing that the mechanical fighter was drained both physically and mentally, Mr. Game and Watch decided to give R.O.B. a reason to follow him. He let go of the fighter in order to pull out a flat pillow, which he leaned his head upon and gave a rhythmic buzzing sound, a series of Zs appearing and disappearing over his head. It wasn't difficult to interpret the series of animations, even for the exhausted robot, who could hardly see for the static in his eyes.
After a few moments of staring, R.O.B. gave a slow nod, willing his hover engines to carry him forward. Seeing this, Mr. Game and Watch jumped up happily, Zs and pillow disappearing without a trace. The two-dimensional fighter then began to walk away from the cliff, the familiar "tic-tic-tic" of his footfalls echoing off into the night. He stopped every few moments to wait for the robot, who was taking his time in following him. Not that Game and Watch minded, though. He patiently continued his animations of walking for a few steps, stopping to wait, and resuming walking.
As R.O.B. followed this creature, he felt a spark of happiness in his electronic heart. Maybe he wasn't going to be alone after all.