Cross of Blades
A short story written by Wild Knightblazer
This was written entirely in one hour while procrastinating about important stuff, so it's probably not as refined as my other recent one-shots, but it's something I've been wanting to get off my chest for a while. Quite frankly...Ike needs a lot more respect in this section than he's actually getting.
Standard disclaimers apply, although I wish I owned Ike, because he's a sexy beast.
--
The klaxon blared; the robotic voice declared "Warning! Challenger approaching!" in monotone.
And Link sighed and wiped his forehead with the back of his glove, cursing the circumstances. It didn't seem fair that just because he was the victor of the fight that had just occurred, he should be the one to face the challenger. He was exhausted beyond belief; his muscles ached; his head pounded like a bass drum.
Can't that blasted host give us a rest once in a while?
And yet he knew he could not complain. He was, after all, the hero of Hyrule. And the three Goddesses forbid he shirk his duties to fight, to represent Hyrule in the greatest of cross-world tournaments.
And it wasn't as though he didn't know what he was doing.
His confidence returning to him, he smiled wryly and examined the Master Sword for nicks and scratches. A futile gesture – such a legendary sword did not scratch easily, if at all. It comforted him to know this, however – to know that the blade that had yet to fail him would, in all likelihood, not do so now.
So where is this challenger? Link thought to himself as he examined the simple architecture of the Battlefield. The remnants of the battle past had already faded – Mario's fireballs, Samus's explosives, and Pikachu's electricity had left no permanent marks. The klaxon began to fade, and Link exhaled strongly, returning to his position at the center of the field to await the challenger.
No sooner had the klaxon faded entirely than a human shape began to take form in front of him. Link immediately narrowed his eyes, taking in every tiny little feature of the fighter appearing before him.
The first thing he noticed was that the person's build was slim – in fact, the look reminded him very much of Marth and Roy. Judging from that and his height, he seemed to be about Link's age, if not a little older. Something suddenly took shape around his neck and unfurled into a long, flowing cape – and suddenly, Link knew which world this fighter hailed from.
So while he was not surprised to see a shock of blue hair held in place by a black bandanna, or the fact that he held a sword, he had to hold back a gasp of surprise when he noted that the sword itself would, if stood on its tip, come up to the fighter's shoulders. It was a very large, very powerful-looking blade – in fact, the only swords he could recall being larger were those of the Darknuts and Ganondorf – Darknuts had never attended the tournaments, and Ganondorf was banned from using his blade in the last one.
Something must have changed the host's mind.
The fighter finally appeared in full, and he landed softly on his feet, taking the sword in both hands and setting it before him in a ready fighting stance. The swordsman's blue eyes focused intensely at Link's own – Link could almost feel his eyes boring into him.
Nodding in respect, Link slowly pointed the Master Sword diagonally upwards, in a show of respect that any swordsman would recognize. "My name is Link, the hero of Hyrule. May I have yours, swordsman?"
The blue-haired boy nodded. "I am Ike of Crimea, the Lord-General of the Royal Crimean Army."
Link raised an eyebrow. "At such a young age? I took you to be no older than myself."
"I could say the same about you, couldn't I?" Ike asked rhetorically, letting a smile creep across his face. "Indeed, I would peg you as younger than me, and you call yourself 'hero.' That's quite a hefty title – but on the other hand, I am sure you deserve every ounce of its weight."
"Thank you," Link said neutrally. "And I apologize for my misconduct - I did not mean to imply that you are not worthy of your title."
"Believe me, sometimes I wish I wasn't. But regardless, this is all niceties and formalities – and I was never much of a fan of either." Ike laughed and turned to his side, taking up his sword in one hand and raising it to meet the Master Sword. The two blades touched, forming a cross in midair. "I was brought here to represent the land of Crimea…no, the entire continent of Tellius. If you defeat me, I understand that I shall join the tournament in full."
"Yes, that's how it works," Link said, keeping the Master Sword steady. "It's a curious system, isn't it? I don't understand the logic behind it."
"Neither do I. It's almost as if the tournament is a punishment for losing." Ike smiled. "And if that's the way to view it, then I shall fight my hardest. I expect you, as a fellow swordsman, to do the same."
"I shall," Link said, himself smiling. "Here's to a good fight."
The setting sun cast a glint amongst the crossed blades.
"Haaa-YAH!!"
With surprising speed, Ike broke the cross and whirled around to strike with his golden blade – Link was already rolling back, his Hylian Shield raised to block the blow. As he expected, the sword struck with amazing strength and speed, and it was all his right arm could do to not buckle under the force.
Ike was already dashing forward, carrying his enormous sword in one hand – Link resolved to wonder about it later, not now in the middle of the fight – and slicing like a devil. Link quickly leapt off the ground, switching the grip of the Master Sword in his hand and plunging the blade downward. Of course, as he expected, Ike brought up his own shield – although his was the standard Smash-issued energy bubble – to block the powerful strike. Hoping to capitalize, Link quickly switched the blade's grip in his hand again, before he hit the ground, and lashed out with his foot as he landed. The kick landed solidly on Ike's back, and the other swordsman flew forward a few feet, shouting in pain.
As quick as he could, and in one swift motion, Link sheathed his blade and grabbed his Gale Boomerang from his back, throwing it forward to catch Ike off guard. Ike simply raised his Smash shield once more to block it, but he didn't seem to expect the small tornado that came with it, and he was pulled closer to Link by a few feet. Slightly too late, Link realized that Ike would likely have the advantage in close combat – his sword was simply too large, and in spite of its obvious weight Ike seemed to be so strong that he wielded it as effortlessly as Link wielded his blade.
Link silently prayed to the Goddesses that his opponent's sword was not as legendary as his own, the Master Sword of Hyrule. Even as he did so, he unsheathed the Master Sword again and brought it up to guard against Ike's powerful swing. He forced the blade away from him, quickly rolled around Ike, and swung, scoring a hit on Ike's back again. Ike turned around as fast as he could, bringing his sword around in one swift motion. Link caught the blade on his own, and soon the repeated sounds of clangs rang throughout the Battlefield continuously.
"You are extremely talented," Ike panted, pressing his sword down on Link's as the two struggled against each other. "Your style is much more refined than mine."
"Is yours self-taught?" Link asked.
"Close. It was passed on from my father."
"I see." Link swung his right arm forward, pushing Ike back with his shield, and jumped back a bit and grabbed something from his pack once again. "Yes, in my business, I've had to improvise a little with various tools."
"Such as?"
"This." In one more swift motion, Link whipped out his Clawshot from behind his shield and fired it at Ike – the claw gripped his clothes easily and pulled the other swordsman in close – just long enough for the two to smile at each other, in clear respect of the other's skill.
"Yah!" Link swiftly threw Ike to the ground beneath him, grabbed his sword, and focused his power for his trump card.
"Sheeeeeee-yaaah!"
The whirling dervish of Link's spin attack finally blasted Ike far away from the Battlefield. As soon as he managed to make himself stop, Link ran forward to the ledge, prepared to guard the edge against Ike's return.
Despite an impressive showing, though, it wasn't necessary. Ike leaped in midair, falling closer to the stage, and then – in an impressive maneuver – threw his sword up into the air and leapt up one more time to grab it. It wasn't enough, though – and Link watched Ike fall out of sight.
"Gaaahhh!"
Link winced as he heard Ike's scream of pain. He almost didn't hear the voice of the host shouting "Game set! The winner is Link!"
Link raised his hands feebly to receive the applause that seemed to come from nowhere. He thought he heard Zelda's voice cheering for him, lifting his spirits, and a muffled clapping that was surely coming from Mario's gloves.
"We now greet a new fighter from the world of the Fire Emblem! With his legendary sword Ragnell ready to cut down all who stand in his way, please welcome Ike of Crimea!"
As the cheers went up once more, Link silently left the Battlefield, finding himself in the postfight lobby. Wiping his forehead once more, he began to make his way towards the showers when a voice stopped him.
"Link, right?"
He turned to find Ike standing in the corner, a wry smile on his face.
"Well, thanks to you, it seems I'm stuck here."
Somehow, from his tone, Link could tell he was simply kidding around – especially as he had extended his hand. "But no hard feelings. In fact, I'll certainly welcome the chance to sharpen my skills, especially with fighters like you. We should test each other again one day."
Link smiled and clasped Ike's hand warmly. "We shall, Ike, my friend. And let me be the first to officially welcome you to the Brawl."
Fin
--
I have a confession to make: a huge part of the reason why I wrote this was because it would mean I'd be at least one of the first people to take Ike seriously. Basically, what I'm saying is…What the hell's with all the hate and the Ike-bashing fics going around? He's a rich character with a powerful, compelling story, and he kicks all sorts of ass in Path of Radiance. Please respect that, as much as you would respect Snake for his role in the Metal Gear series, or Link for his heroics time and time again.
Perhaps I'm expecting too much out of the SSB fandom? Come on, I'd've thought you all would have rejoiced at the possibility of slashing someone else with Marth or Link or Pit.
…Also, I was attempting to see if it's actually possible to write a SSB fic that keeps the characters in-character. None of this weird "Captain Falcon's a pervert" or "Marth's gayer than a rainbow" or "Young Link's a mischievous little brat" stuff. I wanted to write a story about Link, the real Link from The Legend of Zelda, interacting with and having this fight with Ike, the real Ike from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. That's part of the reason I'm so excited for Brawl's new Adventure mode – because I'm interested in seeing how all these Nintendo characters are going to interact with each other for real, instead of living in a huge mansion like some kind of weird reality show.
Does that mean I'm weird? Probably. I'm completely expecting to be flamed the hell out of for not conforming to some Link stereotype that I don't know about or for actually treating Ike with respect, but whatever. I believe this was worth a shot, at least.
Although now I should probably get back to work on this essay for class I'm supposed to be writing. See what you and your games do to me, Sakurai?