Everything © their respective owners
-MANIHAVEN'TBEENHERESINCEFOREVER
KN: I don't get why, ever since Brawl, people seem to think getting into the character roster is a desirable thing. That if you could be in the roster or out of it, the obvious choice would be to get in it. What if being in Smash actually sucked? Very few fics address this possibility, I think. I haven't read a lot of Smash Bros fanfiction in a while.
Warning: OOC Marth, but his personality is warped for a reason. Maybe not a very good reason, but it's a reason. Oh, blood and violence too.
-LOOKATALLTHISDUSTWOW
It had been going great. Greater than it had ever been. He wished it could've stayed that way.
But Ike's life sucked.
-.=.-Earlier that day…-.=.-
"Wonderful news!" Master Hand declared. A sword insignia appeared on the display screen behind him, signaling that whatever 'wonderful news' this was would be Fire Emblem related.
"I wonder if they're going to announce that Ylissean lord as a newcomer." Marth mused, hand resting on the hilt of his blade.
"Yeah…" Ike said as he leaned back against a wall, just content with the fact that Marth hadn't been trying to kill him for the past year. Probably because the ex-prince turned king was happily awaiting the day Ike would be replaced and gone. Well, it wasn't like he was the only one. The mercenary had had enough of Smash Bros, wanting to head back to Tellius soon. He'd never admit he was feeling homesick aloud, though. Why would anyone want to be anywhere but here anyway?
Whoever was in charge of the character roster decision seemed to think likewise.
"Our Hero of the Blue flames is returning in Super Smash Bros 4!" Master Hand flicked his wrist, rings of light formed around the aforementioned hero and changed him into his updated look. "Congratulations, Ike!"
"Wow" and "Great" and "What a surprise" were heard throughout the crowd of smashers.
All Ike could do was fearfully turn towards the ex-prince and brace for the incoming blind rage that was sure to follow.
But Marth just stood there, seemingly still in shock.
'Did the announcement break you or something?' the mercenary wondered.
That question was answered by the top half of Marth's face drastically darkening, eyes narrowed into a cold and murderous glint, a jarringly wide frown, and an almost feral snarl.
The next thing Ike knew, Marth was right in front of him, a gloved fist buried in the newly formed crater in the wall to the left of the mercenary's face. The sound of blood dripping from the ex-prince's wound along with the image of said ex-prince completely ignoring the pain in favor of glaring at him was enough to send a shiver down his spine. Ashera herself could not have formed a more menacing look and challenge.
"Why?" the question was asked so quietly, so suddenly, Ike almost didn't even hear it despite the dead silence in the room following the blow to the wall.
"Of all people to come back, why did it have to be YOU instead of…?" The tear falling from Marth's face almost seemed surreal.
Marth Lowell did not cry. Not when his father died. Not when he was betrayed. Not when countless soldiers under his cause and so many of his friends were slaughtered on the battlefield.
How important had Roy been to Marth?
"I don't know." Ike replied. Only the one in charge of character roster decisions would know that.
The knife buried in his gut and the cold, unfeeling stare seemed to signal that the mercenary gave the wrong answer.
"Gagh!" The Tellian lord coughed up blood, becoming more and more aware of the blade as Marth twisted it in the fresh wound.
"Marth, what are you doing?!" surprised and outraged cries were heard from the crowd, some individuals making their way to the pair.
A bloody fist crashed into the side of Ike's face, and everything went black.
-.=.-Back to present…-.=.-
"Congratulations, Ike!" More like, "Oh, you thought you were getting out of here? AHAHAHA, no."
He sighed at his ridiculous misfortune.
Why did they bring him back? Was he really so popular with the fans? All he wanted was to go home and travel Tellius with Ranulf or Soren and be anywhere but here with a man who wanted nothing more than to see him six feet under. And he was expected to hold his head high and feel honored that he was still trapped in this abominable situation? What a joke!
"Marth tried to kill you again?" A voice stated more than asked.
Ike turned to see the Pheraen lord dressed much differently than when he had last seen him. All white and black compared to the usual shades of blue, with a small shield-like thing on his shoulder… A bit taller and older-looking too.
"Shouldn't you be with him right now?" The blue-haired lord asked. "Calming him down the only way you can?"
"Wanted to see if you were okay first." Roy explained as he made to stand next to the other lord, leaning on the railing of the balcony to watch Marth 'train' below them. The ex-prince was working off anger more than doing any actual training. "It's been a long time since he's actually stabbed you."
"I'll be fine." Ike said for maybe the six hundredth time in his life. "Sure, it's different from his usual method of trying to kill me with his bare hands, but I still should've seen it coming."
The younger of the two let out a long sigh, closing his eyes in irritation. Ike supposed he wasn't the only one getting tired of this. Roy re-opened his eyes, but continued to watch the ex-prince rather than look at the Tellian lord.
"I'm sorry he does this. You don't deserve any of it." He still didn't take his eyes off Marth, though. The ex-prince had drawn a likeness of Ike on a sandbag and was currently ripping it to shreds.
"What can I do? They're not going to kick Marth out because he's the most iconic one out of all of us Fire Emblem lords." Ike watched as Marth carved a likeness of Ike on a nearby tree trunk. It was disturbing how well the king had memorized his appearance. "And I can't leave because they brought me back."
"Let him walk all over you?" Roy casually suggested, tongue-in-cheek.
"If I fight back, I end up with a bedroom floor full of spikes, a futon stuffed with vicious animals, and poison in my food." Ike explained. Marth was using his carved likeness as target practice for knife throwing, apparently. "I think I'd rather take the blade wound or strangling than give him more reason to hurt me."
"The goddess of your world surely hates you." the redhead mused.
"Or she's a sadist with a special affinity for my suffering." The palm of the mercenary's hand met his forehead. "I wonder if it's payback for killing her." He shouldn't have been as entertained by this blasphemous talk as much as he was now.
"Sounds like a sore loser." The other lord chimed, not even caring as he joined in.
They both laughed, and Ike hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time. Was this the kind of effect Roy had on people? On Marth? The taller lord could see why the ex-prince had missed him.
"Hey, how come you don't hate me like Marth does?" he asked.
Roy raised a brow at this.
"For replacing you. Not that I want you to hate me." Ike quickly corrected himself.
"Ike, I've been on a journey to unite Elibe. I have traveled my world, sailed seas, experienced cultures, and found friends in unexpected places." He looked up at the stars and laughed. "I don't envy your position one bit."
"That makes two of us." Ike sighed. Marth hadn't even paused to rest, practicing swings at lightning speed. The mercenary cringed as the ex-prince miscalculated and ended up smoothly cleaving the sandbag with his likeness drawn on it in two.
"Though, I suppose I missed talking to Marth and the others sometimes." Roy admitted with a small smile. "If Marth didn't attack you as often as he does, I probably wouldn't see you guys at all."
"Is that why he does it?" Ike asked.
"Does…?" the younger lord echoed.
"Attack me as much as he does. To see you?" the blue-haired lord clarified.
'If that's the case, then maybe Marth doesn't actually hate me. He just has a really twisted devotion to Roy.'
"Well, I'd have to ask him." Roy's expression showed a lot of doubt. "Even if my job is to placate him, I'm not a mindreader. He's just as much of a mystery to me sometimes even if we are closer than most friends."
"Closer than most friends…" Ike repeated thoughtfully. "Are you two…were you two together, maybe?"
Roy gave him a look.
"Not that I would find it wrong or anything." The mercenary assured. "I'm just curious."
"…Marth's married." Roy explained, looking like he wanted to laugh.
"He is?!" this was the most surprised Ike had been all day. Not even getting announced to join the roster or seeing Marth kind of cry topped this. "What unfortunate person married him?"
"Hey, I've met his wife, I'll have you know!" The redhead lightly fumed, defending his friend's honor. "They love each other a lot, and frankly, she's just as violently protective as he can be sometimes. They're a match made in the home of the goddess."
"…well, I don't doubt that."
"Even so…" Roy looked skyward, almost in a melancholic fashion. "Marth wasn't always like this."
"Could've fooled me." Ike's expression showed a lot of doubt this time.
"I know it's hard to believe," Roy offered him a smile, "but Marth used to be fairly reasonable and very kind." He looked up at the sky again, as if reminiscing. "He was the epitome of what every just noble should aspire to."
"So what happened?" the mercenary crossed his arms.
"Expectations from people who didn't know his story." Roy looked back down, eyes half-lidded. "When Marth first showed up, everyone doubted his fighting skill." The younger lord stood up straighter, flicking his wrist slightly as he imitated someone else's manner of speech.
" 'How could someone so delicate and feminine-looking actually know how to fight?' " As if in response, Marth back-flipped before expertly slicing a falling block of wood he had thrown in the air himself.
" 'Just another pretty boy with a sword.' " The ex-prince tossed the Falchion to his other hand and repeated the action, cutting the second block of wood he had thrown in the air himself.
" 'Oh look, another sheltered noble who doesn't know what he's doing.' " The ex-prince then threw the Falchion at the third block of wood he had thrown in the air himself, splitting it perfectly in half.
Ike had to admit that he had initially thought Marth was fairly delicate-looking too. He never once underestimated the ex-prince's strength, though, but calling him 'Miss' hadn't done him any favors with getting the other lord to not despise his guts. Marth went to retrieve his fallen sword below them while Roy continued to talk.
"Nevermind that as nobles, you have to learn politics and etiquette and decorum. Nevermind that as nobles you are taught basic survival skills and court-styled fighting techniques in the event your knights couldn't protect you. Nevermind that nobles actually have to do important things instead of sitting idly by."
The image of a green-haired princess turned queen flashed in Ike's mind. How anyone could think nobles didn't actually do things when someone like Elincia existed, the mercenary didn't know.
"Nevermind that what Marth went through would've destroyed anyone weaker."
"Why didn't they judge him after seeing him fight?" Ike asked. He didn't think Smash Bros. had this big of a problem. Most of the fighters were usually fairly friendly, how could they…?
"Because that's how people are." Roy answered as if it were obvious. "And even afterwards, they still continued to misjudge his character and strength." The younger lord mimicked someone else's speech again.
" 'What a show-off.' " As if in response, Marth sliced a huge oak tree multiple times, practicing his blade dance.
" 'Who does he think he is?' " Marth then practiced his knife-throwing skills again, aiming at particular weakened points of the oak tree.
" 'Probably a cock-sucking fa-!' " The huge oak tree fell after Marth delivered a single, precise kick. The fall and resulting thud blurred out of the rest of Roy's sentence.
"Okay, I get that Marth wasn't always just the popular new swordsman." The mercenary said. "But why should he have to care what any of those obviously ignorant people think?"
"If you're a noble, you have to care. Your reputation is what earns you political alliances and the support of your people." Roy again answered as if it were obvious.
'So it all goes back to the noble thing…'
"You don't think I was spared any of it either, did you?" Roy's eyes narrowed slightly. "Slow. A joke. Pretty boy. I've heard it all."
"But you didn't turn into a homicidal maniac." Ike pointed out.
"Heh," Roy smiled, "why would a lion care about the opinions of sheep?" The redhead's smirk only widened. "So they think I'm a rebellious hothead. Joke's on them." Roy looked back down to where Marth was, the ex-prince was currently making training dummies. "And besides, I have no ruined kingdom or dead friends' honor to avenge."
'Ruined kingdom?'
"But I've only been here for one tournament. Marth will be here for three. It's no wonder he's going as crazy as he is." The redhead narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean?" the older lord asked.
"You haven't been here that long, so I guess you haven't noticed yet." Roy noted. "Smash Bros. has a habit of warping people's personalities."
'Warping people's personalities?' Ike's thoughts echoed.
"Link ended up getting an attitude, Peach becomes more and more airheaded, Luigi's almost laughably frightened of everything, and Samus is so tired of people she doesn't bother trying to talk to them anymore. She just wears her suit and randomly beeps hoping people take it as some form of communication to leave her alone."
'They weren't always like that?'
"Marth isn't as nice and optimistic as everyone thinks. He's a man before he's a legend. And every man has a breaking point, crushed under so many impossible demands. Rather than continue to try to fulfill people's expectations of you and ultimately fail, Marth decided to completely change and thoroughly destroy anyone's initial view."
'I can imagine the shock… Expecting a polite noble and getting a bloodthirsty swordsman instead…'
"He fought like a demon, talked like a villain, and became so unprince-like that no one dared to judge him the way they did before. Marth might have warped his personality differently from most, but he's still warped beyond recognition to anyone who isn't close to him."
"I'm…not going to end up like that, am I?" Ike asked.
Roy looked at him meaningfully, letting the silence hang in the air for a bit.
"You're weird, Ike." He finally said. "You didn't just fulfill your expectations like Yoshi or Wii Fit Trainer did. You surpassed them like…hm, Meta Knight and Palutena did. You aren't just a meathead swinging a hunk of metal like people initially think. You're strong. And much smarter than people give you credit for."
"…thanks." Ike looked away awkwardly. He was hardly expecting to be praised like this from someone he barely knew.
"You don't need to thank me for something that's true." The younger lord laughed. His expression slowly changed back to a contemplative one. "But if your theory's right about Marth attacking you just to see me, then he isn't going to stay happy. I doubt Master Hand's going to keep giving in to his whims like this. I can't always be here to calm him down…"
Roy gave him a look.
"What?"
"You should be his support." The Pheraen lord suggested.
If Ike was drinking something, he would've either spit it out or choked on it. What in the world was the redhead thinking?
"Um…have you maybe forgotten the small detail that he hates my guts?" Ike stressed the last few words.
"Marth hated me at first too." Roy pointed out.
'Could've fooled me.'
"We weren't just best friends from the start. I can't even count how many times he had tried to kill me, so I'm sure you can accomplish it too considering the similar circumstances." Roy's eyes lit up as he remembered something. "Oh, actually, he might try to drown you like he did to me once, so you might want to watch out for that."
"Tried to drown yo…?!" Ike failed to echo. "How did you become friends?!" Was this an Altean thing where you could only be friends after repeated murder attempts?
"Well, he didn't succeed for one thing." Roy said as though it were obvious. "And for another, he did apologize for that."
"I don't think I can be nearly as forgiving as you are…"
"I didn't forgive him that quickly either." Roy's expression turned into distaste at the thought of someone glorifying him as some kind of patient saint. That was his father, not him. "We still had a lot of bad fights after. It was only until the start of Brawl's development that we had some semblance to friendship. I think it was because we might not have been able to see each other anymore, and he wanted me to at least know I won his respect."
"I don't think I even have Marth's respect." Ike admitted. "He glares at me in a 'how dare you even exist in the same universe as me' kind of way…"
"Well, I'll admit that I'm a bit worried that if that Ylissean lord does make it as a newcomer, I don't know how Marth'll react to him. You two might actually push him off the edge if he doesn't have anyone to lean on."
'Ashera…' the thought of Marth actually hating anyone more than Ike seemed like a foreign concept to the mercenary. And while he didn't appreciate Marth trying to kill him, he didn't want to see him doing it to some unsuspecting newcomer.
Ike let out a long sigh. Roy took it as a 'no' to his request and frowned almost resignedly.
"I know it'll be hard, I know that better than anyone. But it'd help if you still try even if he doesn't want to meet you halfway. Or even one-fourth of the way. Any little bit of progress is better than the antagonism you have now." Roy weakly argued.
"Ashera knows I could use some progress." Ike almost smiled.
"In the end, it's his decision whether he'll stop hating you or not, but I'll talk to him." The younger lord promised. "He usually doesn't let me talk anymore if I say anything remotely positive about you, but I'll try harder if you will."
"I don't understand how you could be so permissive and forgiving of him…" the palm of Ike's hand met his face.
"Smash Bros. isn't the safest place to be yourself as you can see. Someone needed to be his safe place till he decides he can be himself again." Roy smiled.
'So it isn't just one-sided… Roy cares just as much about Marth as Marth does about Roy.'
"I know that all of this doesn't excuse his actions towards you, though." The Pheraen lord nodded. "And I'm not asking you to forgive him for any of it, but think about making peace with him…if only for your own sake." Roy gave him a small smile. "You need a place where you can feel safe too."
Ike let the thought sink in and looked down at his hands. He didn't want to forgive Marth, the ex-prince didn't deserve that, but Roy… He at least didn't want to trivialize all of the red-haired lord's efforts to make Marth less of a horrible person.
"All right, I get it." Ike responded strongly. "If someone like you thinks he's worth the trouble, then I'll give it a shot."
"…thanks."
"What?" Ike asked. Roy had said it so quietly, so suddenly, the mercenary was fairly startled.
"Most people wouldn't, and I know you don't have to do it, so thanks." The smile Roy gave him was too radiant to have to come from a normal person. "You're a good guy, Ike."
'He's only thanking me, but it still feels awkward…'
"Hahhh!" That cry from Marth reminded the two that the ex-prince was still there, disemboweling training dummies that looked suspiciously like a certain mercenary. Ike didn't even want to question how many of those the ex-prince had made while they were talking.
"I really should introduce him to a healthier method of working off stress." Roy moved to sit atop the railing of the balcony. "But for now…" He leaped off.
Ike watched the redhead land fairly easily in front of a tired Marth, the look of surprise too small for him to see from this height. The other blue-haired lord seemed to stand in shock for a bit before pulling the other lord into a hug. They stayed that way for a little while before Marth broke the hug and looked like he was chatting excitedly and quickly. Probably speaking Japanese too.
'They really are close.'
Roy extended an arm to the side of the top of Marth's head, the palm of his hand facing down as if to illustrate that the Altean was still taller than him. Even if Ike couldn't see their faces clearly, Marth was obviously laughing. The image seemed almost surreal considering Ike had never even seen the ex-prince smile (in a way that wasn't sadistic, at least), much less laugh. So the king was human, after all…
-.=.-
"Hey, Ike?" Roy caught up to the older lord. "What's it like being a mercenary in your world? Even though I got into the same line of work, I still have a friend traveling with me who insists on treating me like a noble."
'Oh, that would explain the outfit change.'
"Well, it's like…" the blue-haired lord must have recounted about fourteen different anecdotes, but he didn't feel tired in the slightest. The redhead listened so intently, the mercenary regretted never having the chance to talk to him before. Roy had only been around for a couple of weeks when Ike first joined Brawl, and there were a handful of visits in between then and now. It was a nice change of pace compared to Mar-?!
"How dare you…" the voice that came from the ex-prince bordered on demonic. "Becoming friends so easily…"
'But it's not my fault you're the one with problems…?' the color drained from Ike's face. Roy took notice and turned to see the ex-prince stalk off angrily.
"Hey, Marth!" Roy made to follow him, but stopped short. He quickly turned back to face Ike, "Sorry…I'll talk to him again," and turned to follow Marth just as quick.
"Geez…even a saint wouldn't have the patience to deal with that…" Ike groaned.
Well, it's not like he had lost any real progress anyway. And he was a fool to think getting Marth to stop hating him was going to be any easier even with Roy's help.
'Ranulf…Soren…it'll be a while till I get out of here. I hope neither of you are too upset, and that we can go traveling some day. I won't give up on that, at least.' Ike retired to his room, too exhausted to start on the Pheraen lord's request tonight.
-DOINGSOMECLEANINGBRB
KN: Ike's not my favorite Fire Emblem lord (because Roy is), but I don't hate him. I didn't hate him for replacing Roy in Brawl, and I'm not going to hate him for being in SSB4 instead of Chrom. Yeah, I don't really get why they kept Ike in, and I don't think he should've been in the roster, but I'm not going to hate him for being popular. Hating characters or anything, really, for being "too popular" is still a senseless endeavor to me.
Oh, and with Lucina and the Robins in SSB4, Fire Emblem has practically doubled their roster representation since Melee and Brawl. FE FANS REJOICE!
KN: One of these days, I'll actually write Marth in-character. Maybe in a Fire Emblem fanfiction, but not in Smash Bros. fanfiction. I've become too horribly used to it now… Poor Ike, though. Lucina's chapter and how Marth reacts to her is coming up next.