Disclaimer: I own none of the characters nor the holiday so don't sue me.

So it's like 4:30 pm, July 3rd, and I realize that tomorrow is Independence Day (yeah, I'm that slow)! So I decide, what better way to show my readers that I'm not dead than to post half of a super rushed story?! I typed this up in about 2 hours and it's the first half or so. Hopefully the second half will be up tomorrow. The reason I'm not holding out for a longshot to submit tomorrow is that I need a reason to finish this story. If I don't post the first half, I might not be motivated to finish.

Motivate me!

Ahem...anyways, I'm still working on my other stories, little by little, and my AU longshot is halfway completed. I'm not dead, I'm not abandoning my stories, I'm just trying to get my creative juices flowing. I hate writer's block; it drains me of ideas for already established stories while giving constant nagging for new ones, effectively making it nearly impossible to pick up my old ones. But fear not, I WILL PULL THROUGH!

Enough of my ranting...enjoy the story!

What a Way to Start the Day!

The sun had just risen over the hilltops marking the outskirts of Brawl Manor. All of the manor's residents were still fast asleep, comfy cosy in their nice, dark rooms. The AC was blasting cold air out to cool down the giant building; summers around here are always blazing. Other than the low rumbling of the AC, there wasn't a sound to be heard. It was quiet, too quiet.

"WAKEY WAKEY SLEEPY HEADS!" There we go, much better.

The smashers jerked out of bed at the insanely loud voice blaring through the manor's loudspeakers. Nana, who happened to sleep in the top bunk of her and her brother's bunkbed, nearly crashed through the ceiling. Kirby and Jigglypuff ended up rolling out of their respective beds and into their respective closets. Zelda and Link, who had been doing their 'adult stuff' all night, accidentally slammed their heads together. Yoshi, who had been chewing on his pillow in his sleep, swallowed it by accident and laid an egg, again. Similar accidents were occurring all over the manor; even in Brawl Manor, it was still unusual to be woken by a screaming psychopath.

"RISE AND SHINE! THE EARLY WORM GETS THE BIRD!" The shouting continued as the smashers each walked groggily over to their doors and stuck their heads out into the hallways.

"SHUT UP CRAZY!" Came the simultaneous complaint.

"Ahem…sorry 'bout that smashers, I guess Crazy was overly excited." The much softer, saner voice of Master Hand took over the loudspeakers. "Today is a very special day. Please meet in the auditorium in 20 minutes for a big announcement. That is all."

The smashers, though still extremely tired and irritated, became curious. As far as they were concerned, today was like no other. Everyone headed back inside their rooms to get changed, wondering what was so special about today.

20 minutes later, all 46 smashers had gathered in the auditorium and had taken their seats. Master was on stage and looking around, making sure everyone was there. Crazy, on the other hand, was chained by his pinky to the back of the room.

"Alright, now that everyone is present and accounted for, let's start." Master began. "I'm sure you're all curious as to what today is."

The smashers all nodded.

"Today is a special holiday, one none of you have ever heard of!" The smashers looked at Master confused. The giant glove continued, "Today is the 4th of July!"

"We all know how to read a calendar." Wolf called out.

"So it's July 4th, what's the big deal?" ZSS asked. "It's not a holiday."

"Today is a holiday, in the 3rd dimension country of America!" Master explained.

"What do we care for the 3rd dimension's holidays? We live in the 10th dimension." Ike retorted.

"I know, but I though it would be a good idea for you all to experience new things." Master went on. "There will be decorations, banners, balloons,"

The kids piped up at the mention of balloons.

"A grand picnic with lots of hot dogs and other goodies,"

Kirby jerked upright at the idea of food and started drooling.

"Lots of games to enjoy, and to top it all off, there will be a magnificent fireworks display!"

"FIREWORKS!" Crazy started bouncing up and down in the back of the room, broke his chain, and started flying around the room while launching missiles and bombs.

"Crazy! No! Bad Crazy Hand!" Master flew up to his brother in an attempt to calm him down as the other smashers all ducked to try and avoid the incoming projectiles. It took a good 15 minutes of this nonsense before Mewtwo finally had enough.

"Hold it!" Mewtwo used his telekinesis to stop Crazy mid-flight. Master, who was still flying at a tremendous rate, crashed right into his brother; the momentum of the crash sent both flying out of Mewtwo's grasp and straight into a wall.

"You couldn't have done that earlier?" Pikachu squeaked.

"I though Master would have been able to handle his own brother." Mewtwo replied as everyone else got out from under their chairs.

"Anyways…" Master mumbled as he crawled out from under his brother, "You'll be splitting up into four groups. Group one will decorate, group two will cook, group three will set up the games, and group four will set up the fireworks."

"FIREWORKS!" Crazy immediately started hopping up and down at the mention of the word, much to his brother's dismay, before crashing through the wall and speeding outside, firing more missiles as he did so.

"Not again!" Master sighed. "Ok, you guys figure out the groups, there are some information pamphlets on stage about the holiday. Take those, get set up, I'll try to calm down Crazy." With that, the glove sped out in pursuit of his insane sibling, leaving the other smashers very confused.

To make a long story short (or shorter), the smashers all picked up a pamphlet, and after skimming through its contents and having a heated argument over groups, the four groups were made:

Group 1: Link, Zelda, Marth, Roy, Ike, Red and his pokemon, Sheik, Nana, Popo, Bowser, King DDD, Donkey Kong, Lucario, Mewtwo, Sonic, Wario, Kirby, Jigglypuff

Group 2: Pichu, Young Link, Toon Link, Peach, Pikachu

Group 3: Diddy, Luigi, Mario, Pit, Ness, Lucas, Game and Watch, Metaknight, Olimar, Yoshi

Group 4: Samus, ZSS, Snake, C. Falcon, Fox, Falco, Wolf, ROB, Ganondorf, Dr. Mario

Once all the groups were settled, everyone went off to do their jobs. Group one headed to the main lobby, group two headed to the kitchen, group three stayed in the auditorium, and group four headed to the basement.

--

"Ok, let's start by deciding who'll decorate where." Mewtwo, being the most rational of the smashers (normally), decided to take charge and organized his group, which was standing in front of him at the moment. "Link and Zelda, can you decorate the front lobby?"

No response.

"Where are Link and Zelda?" Mewtwo demanded.

"They said something about being busy and finding a dark closet or something…" Sheik replied.

"I should have known." Mewtwo sighed. "Fine. Marth, Roy, Ike, can you guys do the front lobby?"

"No prob!" Roy responded.

"Ok. Red, what about you?"

"Um…we could take care of the outside of the manor."

"Good. Sheik?"

"I'll help with the front lobby."

"Fine. Nana, Popo, what about you?"

"We can do the grand staircase." Nana offered.

"Sounds good. Bowser?"

"The second floor."

"All of it? By yourself?"

"Nah. DDD, DK, and Wario said they'd help."

"Ok then. How about you Sonic?"

"I can take the rest of the first floor by myself."

"If you insist. Lucario?"

"I'll help where help is needed."

"As will I. Kirby, Jigglypuff, what about you?"

No response.

"Where are Kirby and Jigglypuff?" Mewtwo demanded, exasperated.

"Well knowing Jigglypuff, being the infatuated psychopath she is, she'd follow Kirby." Red replied, thinking hard. "And knowing Kirby, being the voracious glutton he is…oh geez…"

--

"Other than hot dogs, what else do they serve on this holiday?" Pichu asked. As head chef in the manor, it was only natural that he took charge of his group.

"Let me see…" Peach flipped through her pamphlet. "It seems that pretty much anything laden with fat, salt, or sugar will do the trick."

"You're kidding me." YL, the assistant chef (and only other chef), said in disbelief.

"Wow…I'm really glad we don't live in the 3rd dimension." TL added.

"Well then, let's make a list of all the foods that fit those categories, starting with fat laden." Pikachu said.

"Hm…hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chili dogs…" YL started listing random fatty foods.

"Right. What about salty foods?" TL asked.

"Chips and French fries, hands down." Pichu said. "And lastly, sugary."

"Any sort of candy outta do. And cupcakes or something." Peach replied, thinking hard back on what she used to eat as a child. "Ooh! And cotton candy! That stuff is nothing but sugar!"

"Ugh…awful! Who could eat all that junk in one day?" Pichu groaned.

"I bet Kirby could. That glutton could eat anything." Pikachu said.

"FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!" All heads turned towards the kitchen door as a loud squeal was heard in the hallway. YL groaned a long, exasperated groan.

"Speak of the devil…"

"I smell FOOD!" Kirby burst through the doors of the kitchen, eyes with a crazed look in them.

"We haven't even started cooking yet." Peach said, confused. Pikachu and TL shared in her confusion, but Pichu and YL were downright furious.

"KIRBY! How many times must I tell you that you are NOT allowed in this kitchen!" Pichu shrieked, waving a random wooden spoon in the air in fury.

"Hey! Don't shout at Kirby. It's not his fault he's hungry." Jigglypuff stormed into the room, puffed up and agitated.

"He's always hungry." YL retorted.

"Yeah, but even more today since we haven't had breakfast yet."

"You aren't going to die from missing one breakfast. And besides, with all the calories that are bound to end up in today's lunch, who needs breakfast anyways."

"You know what they say: eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen, and dinner like a prince."

"Wow, that's got to be fattening." Peach grimaced at the idea of eating so much in a day.

"No! It means you should eat more for breakfast than any other meal!" Jigglypuff practically shrieked.

"I WANT MAH FOOD!!" Kirby couldn't stand his hunger any longer and began to suck everything he could into his mouth, including multiple pots, spoons, forks, and a few soap bars.

"Kirby! NO! STOP!" Pikachu tried to get Kirby to calm down. He hated being inside of that puffball's mouth; it was always so damp and clammy.

"Now you see why we don't let him in here!" Pichu cried out.

"That's it! Stop right now!" Mewtwo came charging into the kitchen and grabbed Kirby via telekinesis, dragging him out of the kitchen.

"Hey! Put me down!" Kirby tried to suck up Mewtwo, failing miserably.

"Lucario! Now!" Mewtwo demanded as soon as he was in the hallway.

"Right." Without a moment's hesitation, Lucario shut Kirby's mouth firmly with two large pieces of duck tape.

"Hey! Stop picking on my little Kirby-kins!" Jigglypuff shouted, storming into the hallway.

"Kirby-kins?" Lucario asked. Kirby sweatdropped.

"TASTE MAH MARKER!!" The balloon pokemon pulled out her infamous marker and waved it over her head threateningly. Mewtwo and Lucario took that, and the crazed look in her eye, as a sign to drop Kirby and run, which they did.

Kirby, obviously relieved to have been put down, started back towards the kitchen, only to end up being dragged along behind his psychopathic admirer in her quest to catch Mewtwo and Lucario.

Back in the kitchen, the five smashers were staring after the puffballs in massive confusion.

"What the hell just happened?" TL asked.

"Who cares?!" Rejoiced Pichu. "So long as Kirby and that insane balloon are gone, we can cook in peace! No hand me that salt shaker."

--

"So…what kind of games do you play on this 'independence day'?" Pit asked.

"Well, the pamphlet said something about outdoor merriment and sporting games and such." Yoshi replied.

"You mean actually going outside to play?" G&W demanded. "Why back in my day, going outside was like suicide! You scrape you knee and you're outta commission for a month! It's way too dangerous for you youngins!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY? TWIX DO ANGER YOUR HUGGINS? WHAT ARE HUGGINS?" Ness shouted. He had been unable to hear correctly ever since Master broke his eardrums.

"Lucas! Couldn't you do that thing Mewtwo always does, you know, connect our minds so Ness could hear us?" Luigi asked, his hands clasped over his ears in pain.

"Um…I could try…" Lucas decided. He held up his hand and created a faint bluish glow for a few seconds before it died away. "There, now Ness should be able to hear your thought as you talk…I think."

"Hey Ness, can you hear me?" Mario asked cautiously.

"Well duh, why wouldn't I?" Ness responded. "So what were we talking about?"

"Well, since Game here doesn't think we should do our activities outside, I suppose we're discussing what kind of games we can set up inside." Olimar said.

"Pin the tail on the ass!" Yoshi shouted. The others stared at him disturbed.

"What?" Yoshi asked. "I meant ass as in donkey."

"Isn't that a bit childish?" Metaknight asked. "Maybe we should go check the manor's stash of games and gaming equipment first before we decide on anything."

"OUT OF THE WAY!" Everyone in the room turned towards the door to the left of the stage as Lucario burst through it at full speed, followed by Mewtwo. The group watched as the two pokemon dashed across the stage and out the right exit, gagging in confusion.

"What was that all about?" Mario wondered. Suddenly, the left door burst open again, only this time, it was Jigglypuff and Kirby that ran in, the former wildly waving around a marker with a crazed expression on her face, dragging the latter who looked absolutely pissed off. The two dashed across the stage faster than anyone would have thought possible and out the right exit.

The others stared at the still swinging right exit door, practically drowning in confusion now, before Metaknight spoke up.

"I can only assume that Kirby did something to anger Mewtwo and Lucario causing the two to take action, which in return must have angered Jigglypuff and resulted in the chase we just witnessed. Now then, let's go get those old games from the basement, shall we?" With that, Metaknight walked off leaving the other still confused smashers little choice but to follow.

--

"So let me get this straight: Every year in the middle of summer, Americans in the 3rd dimension shoot thousands of missiles up into the air in the hopes that they will explode into millions of colorful sparks for viewing entertainment despite clear safety hazards and the major possibility that someone could end up being set on fire?" Fox asked.

"That sounds about right." ZSS responded.

"Boy were those people a bunch of nutjobs." Falco shook his head.

"Regardless, our directive is to construct a couple dozen explosively colorful projectiles from random scratch material, not to question the sanity behind the concept." ROB interjected.

"Yeah yeah, but I'm wondering something." Wolf said. "Samus, ZSS, Fox, Falco, and I all have experience with advanced machinery, Snake has experience with projectiles, Falcon knows how to give anything a boost of speed, and ROB is pretty much a multi-use construction tool with a brain. So, why are Ganondorf and Doc here?"

"To prevent you guys from blowing yourselves up." Doc responded. "That, or just patch you back up if you do."

"Fair enough." Wolf admitted, "But what about Ganondorf?"

"I just like chaotic explosions." Ganondorf said. "That, and because there's no way I'm gonna participate in decorating the house, cooking, or making games."

"Point taken. Can we start now?" Samus asked, gaining a bunch of confused looks.

"Wow Samus, you actually talked! You never talk." Falco said, surprised. Samus just shrugged.

"Ok, so how are we going to do this?" Fox asked.

"Well," ZSS began, "We're going to need to construct a container to hold the gun powder, a lot of circuitry that can give off multicolored sparks, an ignition device, something to separate the ignition's explosion from the actual explosion, a timing mechanism, and a way to put it all together."

"You know, you are really hot when you talk science." Snake and Falcon both sighed at the same time, earning both a painful punch to the nose and giving Doc two patients before the actual construction of the explosives even began.

"All the gunpowder is right here." Ganondorf said, taking a pinch of black powder out of a large gray box.

"And there's enough scrap metal to construct about 20 or so fireworks." Falco observed, picking up two small pieces. "ROB, can you weld these together?"

"Affirmative. Activating miniature blowtorch." A hatch in ROB's torso opened up and a small blowtorch came out, mounted on a flexible metal arm. A small fire crackled to life at its tip as it moved across the metal, fusing it together.

"I think they're down here!" Ness's voice was heard coming down the steps to the basement, along with about 10 pairs of hurried footsteps.

"What was that?" Ganondorf asked. His question was answered shortly as Ness ran into the room and right into the gerudo, knocking him over. The pinch of gunpowder that Ganondorf was holding flew out of his hand and landed right in the path of ROB's blowtorch, creating an explosion that left ROB covered in soot and Falco a few feathers short on his now charred left wing.

"NESS!" Ganondorf bellowed.

"Heh…you don't happen to know where the manor's stash of game are, do you?" Ness asked sheepishly.

"What happened here?" Mario asked as he and the rest of his group entered the room and saw the outcome of the explosion.

Doc sighed as he pulled out a roll of bandages and some medical cream. "It's gonna be a long day."

Please excuse any spelling/grammar errors. I didn't have the time to proofread 10 times like I do with my other works. Like I said before, I just needed to get this out so that I had a reason to finish the story. I NEED MOTIVATION!!

Ahem...anyways, those of you who've read my other stories may notice a few things, like the fact that Mario, Luigi, and Doc don't have a -a after every other word, or that Peach doesn't say 'like' anymore. I took those out because it was getting annoying to type, and I realized that I wasn't giving those characters enough spotlight due to my desire to avoid those speech mannerisms. So as of now, those speech mannerisms are gone (but I'm gonna keep DDD's texan accent)!

So, like always, please review. I NEED A REASON TO KEEP WRITING!! ...Um, thanks for reading my pointless ranting! But seriously, review please!