Smash Brothers: Restaurant Wars
Chapter 1: New Competition
Palutena sighed happily; rush hour was over. It was coming up for 19:00. The evening group of hungry customers had gone. It was relatively quiet now, only the resident customers left. Palutena walked out from the kitchen and back to the serving area. Lucina walked over to a table nestled by the windows at the eastern end which had the Mario Brothers at it. Lucina placed the tray down. "Here you are guys, your evening muffins." She smiled. Mario smiled back and took the tray. Luigi thanked her. Palutena turned as someone was calling her. Over on the west wall sat the play area for the younger kids who came and sitting on the top of the slide was Kirby, waving his arms.
"Dessert! Cake! Yum!" Palutena nodded and moved back through the door to the kitchen.
"Pit, we need another slice of cake for Kirby."
"Again, seriously? We're running out of slices; we're gonna have to bake another cake or two at this rate."
"Well get Peach to bake another cake then."
"Yes, Lady Palutena." Pit proceeded to go find Peach in the stock room. Palutena strode back through to the eating area. She walked behind the counter at the back wall of the shop.
"Another smoothie, Olimar?" He smiled and nodded.
"Yes please, Lady Palutena." She proceeded to mix up another smoothie for the adventurer. She looked at the mirror on the wall as she mixed it up and saw Link approaching Kirby, silver tray with the slice of cake in hand, napkin wrapped around his wrist. Kirby took the plate from him, smiling. Link stared impassively into the distance. He blinked and removed the napkin from his wrist and laid it at Kirby's side. He then calmly walked back to the kitchens. "I really wish Link would speak to the guests sometimes." She placed the smoothie on the counter.
"Hey, he gets the job done, right?" asked Olimar, "that's the important bit; and whenever something's wrong he always takes care of it straight away." Palutena smiled.
"That's true." She was lucky to have Link: somebody committed and willing to see the job through to the end. Olimar stretched his arms.
"Lady Palutena, it's tomorrow morning that that new restaurant opens, isn't it?" She nodded, the smile fading from her face.
"Yes…"
"Any idea what the staff'll be like? Or the food?"
"I have no idea, we'll have to have some good deals on tomorrow though to try and keep the business."
"Well I still love it here so they're going to have to do something pretty impressive to sway me." Palutena smiled.
"I'm glad to hear it…"
The moon floated high in the air as the clock struck 23:00. Palutena flicked the switches to turn off the lights. The doors were locked and everybody had gone home. Palutena walked up the staircase to the side by the bar. When she reached the top, she unlocked the door at the top and sauntered in. The flat was dimly lit, the only source coming from the bedroom at the far end. She walked past the kitchen and living room and entered the room. Lucina was already snuggled in bed, reading a book. Link was already asleep in his bed. Peach was in the bathroom. Palutena smiled at her loyal comrades. "Well I guess this is our last day before our prime competition arrives" she said. Lucina slid out of bed and walked over to the window.
"It's being built just over there, isn't it?" she asked pointing. Palutena walked over.
"Yes. I fear what they'll have in store…" Lucina smiled and put her hand on Palutena's shoulder.
"We'll always be here; and they will not stop us!"
"Yeah! We'll be fine! We have plenty of customers." Pit wandered into the room.
"Everything is definitely closed up; we're done for the night, Lady Palutena."
"Brilliant, Pit! Now; let's get some sleep."
The birds chirped in the trees outside. Link snapped awake, his eyes drifting to the sound. He crept across to the window and opened it; breathing deeply. He glanced at the clock as it struck 7:00. He headed for the door and left the room to open up downstairs. Palutena opened her eyes. "Wow, morning already." She got out of bed. "Hmm, we'll need to see what this new restaurant has up its sleeves…"
Palutena arrived down the stairs to see Link serving Wii Fit Trainer her daily smoothie before she continued her jog. The Wii Fit Trainer smiled at Palutena. "Good morning, Lady Palutena; how are you?
"I'm fine, thank you. Listen; could you do us a favour?" She nodded. "Can you go to this new place and see what it has to offer? You know, staff, food, service and so on?"
"Sure, I'll head there and see its opening times." She promptly left. Palutena sighed. "I'm worrying too much about this… right?" She looked to Link, who simply nodded. Lucina came down, followed by Peach. Lucina was wearing her usual waitress outfit, while Peach wore a special black and white monochrome dress. Palutena stared at her.
"What? We have to make a good impression!" Palutena laughed. She hadn't expected the others to make such an effort for her; they were wearing fancier clothes, they were up earlier than usual and they were eager to help.
Wii Fit Trainer arrived back at about 8:30. Palutena's Muffin Factory was stone dead. Link was in a tuxedo behind the bar looking bored, and heck even Pit was wearing something akin to a fancy dress shirt. Palutena leapt to her feet the moment she saw her. "What's up; there's nobody here!" Wii Fit Trainer looked grim.
"The place is packed. The place is really expensive and fancy and swish. They've done it up from the wreck it used to be."
"Oh I need to see this!" cried Peach running out the door.
Palutena's group arrived at the doors of the new restaurant: "Wario Food King." The doors opened automatically and the group entered. There was a lot of chatter. There was a red rug on the floor, velvet red chairs for sitting and marble tables. It made Palutena's place look like nothing more than a dingy diner with its black and white tiled flooring and creaky, old wooden chairs. Palutena stared ahead: there were rows of tables, all filled with people laughing and eating, sampling and cheering; King Dedede at a table all on his own, stuffing his face; Little Mac having a Big Mac as reward for working hard; Captain Falcon, Falco and Donky Kong all drinking themselves stupid. Up at the back sat Wario on a throne, cackling at the roaring success of the place. Palutena's heart sank. How had he got off to such an amazing start? Since when did he have any money anyway?! Wario noticed Palutena by the doors and sneered. Palutena turned around and dragged herself out. Lucina watched her. "We cannot give up already!"
"This place is stunning…" said Peach.
"Lady Palutena, it's not like you to get so disheartened!" cried Pit. Palutena didn't turn round, she didn't even answer, she simply trudged off.
"We're going to have to do something. She loves that little place; we can't let it go under!" said Lucina.
"Oh no, what do we do then?" asked Peach. Lucina stared impassively off into nothing.
"We'll find a way…"