Disclaimer: Super Smash Bros. are copyrighted to Nintendo. I own nothing.

Author's Note: Hello! It's my first time writing for this fandom. I must say, Melee and Brawl really got me into this fandom. The latter I've been playing for quite a while now.

I'm more of a oneshot/drabble writer, so I've decided to make a small collection as a first installment. Please be kind if I write the characters OOC... it's kind of hard to try to put them in character in SSB, because so many people from so many series are cooped up together. Anyhows, first chapter is with Snake and Luigi.

I love those two. They're my mains.

Luigi was fed up.

Not the best thing to be in a Monday afternoon, yes, but Luigi was fed up and tired and he knew that much. The man in green winced and rubbed at his shoulder - which was bruised purple from being hit by one of the smashers -, trying to ease the pain. Taking a break from saving Princess Peach was fine. But being just as (if not more) battered every day was not. In a way, taking part in this tournament thing was even worse than trying to save the princess. At least when one was in the Mushroom Kingdom, he and Mario fought against Goombas and Koopa Troopas. All very predictable, easy opponents, and they'd never had too much trouble with them. In here, they fought against people they had either never or seldom seen before. They had no idea of those people's weaknesses - which made the plumbers just more vulnerable.

Mario was fine with it, Luigi noted dully; but his brother was a veteran fighter, simply too experienced to let the new people get him down. Luigi was not a fighting person. His timid nature prevented him from making friends quickly - which was a huge disadvantage - and besides, he would have preferred to stay at home.

Very underwhelming.

The man clad in green sighed and stood up. He didn't feel like brawling, and he definitely didn't want to go back to the hotel suite early. That would just mark him as a loser. He could think of better places to go - his mansion, for instance. But then he remembered that the place would be packed with the smashers; besides, it would be too dangerous to stay there. If the whole mansion collapsed on him, he would be squashed like a pancake. No mistake about that.

But where else could he go? He couldn't go to any other open areas; he would be too well spotted there. There were no secluded areas he could think of. But then, from the depths of his memory, his exhausted mind remembered one place that provided plenty of camouflage and shadows for him to hide in.

Shadow Moses.

The place was filled with sensitive spotlights that would emit a warning siren when someone was detected. But there were some spots that never saw the light; Luigi had only been on the island a few times, but he'd mentally noted those places when he passed by them. If anyone else came in, their presence would be detected, and he would quietly slip away to somewhere else. And if that someone was just as stealthy as he was...

Well...

But then, that event was going to be quite rare. Shadow Moses wasn't an area that was frequented. Deciding to take a chance and get some peace for himself, Luigi turned and began to walk towards the direction of the island. At least he would be left alone there. And if there was someone there who wouldn't attack him and keep him company, so much the better.

Luigi uneasily wandered into the darkness, occasionally pressing himself close to the walls to try to avoid being detected by the spotlights. When they passed by, the younger Mario brother would move on again. He was beginning to wonder whether coming to Shadow Moses was really a good idea; but then a famillar yellow-orange in a corner caught his eye, and he jogged over to the spot, curious.

It was a plain cardboard box, with the words 'Smash Bros' printed on it.

Luigi stared at the box, hovering over it for a while, before a grin appeared on his face. It was unexpected; but he had found a famillar ally. But soon, the smile faded away; he had found the box, yes, but how to get to it? Knowing what - who - was within that box, the younger Mario brother couldn't just intrude on him. The consequences would be disastrous - and he dared not look through the little hole on the side. Luigi briefly considered leaving the box alone in peace and looking for somewhere else in the island to hide, but now that he'd found someone, the man couldn't help but feel a little lonely.

He thought over it for a long while, before he made up his mind. Clearing his throat slightly, he bent down and knocked on the cardboard box three times. It felt odd to knock on cardboard; and he was aware that he'd dented the box slightly, but at least he'd made the occupant clear of his presence.

"Snake?" He asked softly. "Snake? Are you there? May I... may I come in?"

No answer.

The man in green let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding, wiping his brow. So had the owner of this box moved on somewhere else? Solid Snake, after all, was infamous for his ability to conjure an infinite amount of cardboard boxes out of thin air. This box was just one of many. Snake himself could be anywhere by now. Luigi smiled lightly to himself and placed his hands on the presumed-empty cardboard box. He could crawl underneath and see what it was like, and hide away for a while to think; after all, it didn't have an owner, so it was good as his, wasn't it?

But when he lifted up the box, he found himself face to face with the irritated occupant, a cup of instant ramen noodles in his hand.

"You mind?" Snake demanded loudly, glaring at the plumber. He dropped his chopsticks into the ramen cup, and set it down, crossing his arms and scowling at Luigi. "I'm trying to eat, for God's sake! Can't people leave others to enjoy a meal on their own? Always looking for a fight, eh, in this place, I assume?" His hand was already closing on a grenade, finger curled over the safety pin.

"No... I'm... I'm sorry!" Luigi cried, dropping the box (which melted into thin air) and flinching away. "I'm not... I'm not looking for a fight, Snake! I knocked! I thought this thing was empty-"

"Rule number one: Don't touch the box, regardless of whether you think it's empty or not." Snake replied, irritated, but loosened his hold on the grenade. "What makes you think you can just lift up this thing and claim it for your own, eh? You're just like that pokemon, you are. Lucario, was it?"

Before Luigi could attempt a reply, a loud thudding noise began to echo from the hallway, making the entire place shake. Snake looked around, alert yet calm, while Luigi just looked alarmed.

"Some of the others... they're coming in to brawl!" He cried, and looked around frantically. But the spotlights had centered onto the arena that Snake and he was on, and he had no hope of going undetected. And he really, really didn't want to brawl against anyone right now. "Oh no... we're trapped! What are we going to do?"

"Get in here," Snake shouted over the din, pulling out a new cardboard box from seemingly nowhere. "Get in here, for God's sake, and don't just stand there like a fool!"

Right now, the green-clad plumber really had no choice. He obdiently dived under the box with Snake, who instantly grabbed him and curled up as tightly as possible, letting them both hide; there was a small hole at the side of the box, and although they were rather squashed together, Luigi could still breathe and shift around.

"Any idea who's out there?"

"No."

"Tch." Snake was glowering at him through the darkness, and the plumber lowered his gaze, nervous. The mercenary noticed and let out another low 'hmph' - there was another person who was nervous as hell in his presence. Snake was fine with intimidating his opponents, but Luigi was no opponent; in fact, he looked more like he was trying to back out of brawling. The soldier assumed that that was why he was in Shadow Moses at the first place. The plumber looked quite miserable, and as much as he didn't like admitting it, Snake wanted to calm him down and just talk to him for a while.

Nothing better to do, was there? They would be stuck in the box for a while anyway.

At least, that was his excuse.

"Why are you in Shadow Moses anyway? You could have been caught out by the spotlights at any time."

"I know." Luigi replied in a small voice. Snake frowned. Not a satisfactory enough answer. He placed one hand under the man's chin and lifted his face up slightly, gazing hard into his eyes.

"So why come here?" He repeated his question, still looking into the other's eyes. Luigi gulped; something about Snake told him that the soldier was highly experienced with interrogating people for information. If he were to survive the next half-an-hour or so with him, he would have to co-operate.

"I wanted to get some peace away from brawling. All the other places are packed."

Snake nodded - his assumptions were correct - but didn't release his hold on the man. "So you were hiding away from the smashers?"

Luigi winced at the blunt tone of the soldier. "...Yeah. You can call it that." He sighed. "I'm kind of sick of brawling. I've done the thing twice through already in the past years. This time it's just gotten too tiring. I mean... I enjoy talking with people... but I don't like fighting." As if on cue, a loud scream - one that suspiciously sounded like Meta Knight's - rang through the air, and a crash followed. The plumber sighed and raised an eyebrow, giving Snake a 'see what I mean?' kind of look.

"Pacifist?" Snake asked, getting a small, reluctant nod in the process. "Your brother's fine with it, though."

"Mario? He's fine with everything. He's used to fighting with others. Besides..." Luigi glanced down nervously and then back up at the soldier. "...he's strong enough. I'm nowhere near his standard." Snake dropped his chin and leaned back on the box, looking vaguely surprised. Now this wasn't what he'd been expecting. "I'm not the important one... I'm just Mario's kid brother. That's all."

The soldier said nothing, but stared at the man in green for a while. He could hear swords clashing outside, but he wasn't really interested at the brawl at the moment.

"That's not how I see you." He finally said. "When you pulled a Negative Zone on me yesterday I was completely bowled over at how strong you were. You've got a lot of potential. Why not make use of it? I've never seen skills like those before."

"Heh." Luigi smiled tiredly. "You're just flattering me. Biased, you are. You've never seen me go down."

"Doesn't mean I'm not telling the truth." Snake replied calmly, silencing the younger Mario brother. Luigi seemed a little more relaxed, although he wasn't any less pessimistic; but this wasn't too bad for Snake, who usually wasn't too good with people. And he could deal with pessimism easily.

"Snake?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you here? Didn't you want to brawl?"

For the first time, a hint of fatigue appeared in the mercenary's eyes. "Lunch break. That stupid pink marshmallow - Jig-whatever - pushed me off Halberd. Hell if I'm going back there ever again. I got fed up and kind of walked out during the brawl... I'm safest in Shadow Moses, so that's why I'm here."

"Lunch? Oh... I just remembered." Luigi looked at him with a somewhat sheepish expression, and the mercenary fought back an urge to laugh. "Your lunch... I ruined it, didn't I? I'm so sorry... you aren't going to stick your chopsticks in my eye or anything, are you?"

Snake shook his head, chuckling. "Forget it. I'll have a good dinner at the hotel tonight. And no, I'm not going to stick my chopsticks in your eyes." His expression turned mock-stern. "But pull the box thing on me again and I'll be sticking more than just chopsticks in your body."

Luigi made a face at the mock threat/innuendo. "Eww..."

"Only joking."

"I don't find it funny." Luigi huffed, pouting a little, but his posture had definitely relaxed more, and he shifted around comfortably to fit his body in the box. "Snake? Can I sit at your table at dinner? It's just that - I feel kind of out of place with the others when I'm sitting with them-"

"I don't usually eat with people at all." Snake said blandly, and lightly twirled the end of his bandanna around his fingers. "But I won't mind you. In fact... yeah, you can. I always sit at a table for two, so you'll be all right." Another loud crash sounded outside, but they were no longer paying attention.

"Really? Thanks!" Luigi smiled brightly at him, and he found himself gazing at the younger Mario brother with some fascination. This man's mood seemed to change every three minutes - just two minutes ago he had been depressed and brooding, and yet here he was now, almost irrationally cheerful.

"Does it mean that much to you?" A nod. "No problem. I expect us to be talking about the various ways to kick people's ass over dinner. That, and what Pikmin taste like."

Luigi said nothing, but he sighed, rolling his eyes. "That'll really put me off dinner. Great one." He was stopped from saying anything else, as he yawned; he stretched his shoulders as much as he could, a dozy light entering his eyes.

"You look unrested." Snake said quietly, concern in his voice. "Haven't you been sleeping well?"

"Not really." Luigi gave a tired smile, but then suddenly flopped down onto the mercenary, resting his head against his chest. "...Thanks for reminding me about sleep, by the way... I'm so tired..."

"H-hey! Get off-"

"Oh, belt up a little, Snake." Luigi replied, sounding somewhat cross, and the soldier was shocked into silence. "I just want a place to sleep and relax. It's why I came here in the first place. It's not like I'll murder you if I'm asleep, is it?"

Snake said nothing for a while, but merely looked worriedly at the younger Mario brother. "Mario is going to kill me," He finally said. "...if he finds out that you're with me here."

"Don't matter..." Luigi mumbled, his eyes already closed. "He won't even notice that I'm gone... it's not like anyone cares..." And then suddenly he was asleep, clinging tightly onto the soldier's body, nuzzling softly into his chest. His own chest heaved occasionally as he exhaled and inhaled, but other than that he made no sound as he slept.

Snake stared at the other for a while before groaning and sinking down. There was no place to set him aside, as they were still stuck inside the box, and Snake couldn't exactly just sit there with no camouflage until Luigi woke up. "Great..." He muttered to himself, but nonetheless he reached down with a gentle hand and took off the other's hat, setting it down on the floor, and stroked his light brown hair. Luigi was so warm and soft against him; it had been a while since he had felt such things, and he wasn't really about to abandon the feeling. Perhaps he would just let the younger Mario brother stay with him.

The brawl had ended outside; it was all quiet, and the only sounds audible were that of the two's breathing.

"I'll wake you up when it's dinnertime..." Snake muttered, and wrapped his own arms around the slender form above him, closing his eyes.

He could do with some rest, too.