AN- Well, it seems like Roy and Ryu got released a bit earlier than expected. Therefore, this wonderful day must be written about. Well, I can't be rude, it's Lucas's day too, and it was his first, so I'll write the story of his return first, then Roy's tomorrow and Ryu's the next day. I shall name this collection of those stories after the catchiest song I know, and because of the ridiculous amount of service traffic making it take three hours to get them, it's only fair to make the characters wait for an absurdly long amount of time as well. So, only my ideas are mine, thank you and enjoy! –Twilight Joltik
Waiting In The Rain
Story One- Bittersweet Return
Lucas was finally supposed to return to Smash that day. In fact, he should have been there hours ago, but it seemed something was holding him up. He'd sent word he'd return on April Fool's Day, so had it all turned out to be some sick prank after all? Ness prayed it wasn't, but considering how many people had turned up for the event, he suspected there was something else at play, something he didn't know about. Had Roy sent word of his return as well? Why else would Marth and Ike and so many others that weren't close at all to, or had never even met Lucas be there?
Why Megaman was there, however, he couldn't quite figure out. Since he was friends with the root, it would have been easy to assume he told him about Lucas and asked him to meet him there, but he hadn't even spoken to him about it, let alone asked him to come. From what it looked like, Shulk had awusked him to come, but even that was confusing, as the only reason he could come up with for the seer even being there in the first place was that he had a vision of someone coming that he wanted to see. But who would both him and Megaman want to see, he wondered.
Whoever it was that was coming, they'd better hurry up, thought the young psychic, because the sky was starting to spit out small droplets of liquid, growing bigger and thicker by the second. Even in such warm weather, the water was unpleasantly chilling. The bus stop they were sitting at lacked any sort of covering, and only Shulk, fittingly enough, had the foresight to bring an umbrella, though it seemed more for the robot's sake than his own. Beside Ness, Pikachu was shivering and burrowing into his shirt, and Toon Link had pulled out a leaf of some sort from his endless pockets that was barely covering his head. He could hear someone singing an odd tune with lyrics too faint to make out, but he couldn't quite tell where it was coming from- or at least, not until Lucina jabbed Robin in the stomach suddenly and it quickly stopped.
After what felt like a soaking-wet eternity, in the distance, Ness heard faint sounds of an approaching vehicle, followed by the faint glow of headlights. His heart began to beat unexpectedly fast. After months of half-formed loneliness and hours of waiting for an uncertain promise, Lucas was seconds away from him. The oncoming bus screeched to a halt in front of their stop, and time seemed to stop as everyone waited for the doors to open.
To his slight disappointment, Lucas wasn't the first to get off. Rather, a red-haired young man Ness hadn't seen in years stepped gracefully off and looked around for a moment with bewildered eyes. Memories flooded back to the psychic, and a smile spread across his face as Marth quickly embraced his long-vanished friend.
The one Ness had wanted to see was the next off the bus. Lucas hesitated for a moment, but the second his eyes met Ness's, he assumed a smile as bright as the obscured sun. Toon Link, Pikachu, and himself all lunged to hug their friend simultaneously, their collective laughter banishing the months that preceded this reunion far away.
"It's great to see you all again!", Lucas exclaimed as the group hug dissolved, wiping either rain or tears out of his eyes. "I-I'm sorry I couldn't have come earlier, they just told me to wait until everyone else was ready to come, and I really tried to get them to let me come with Mewtwo, I swear, but-"
With a mocking grin, Toon playfully jabbed Lucas's shoulder. "Shut up, Lu', s'not like- wait everyone else? So, Roy and-"
That odd word choice was quickly explained as a man who looked even stronger than Ike, clad in a similar headband and a white gi stepped out of the bus, carrying what looked to be the entirety of everyone who had arrived's luggage. He looked very familiar, but Ness couldn't place him until Megaman stepped forth, grinning as madly as he possibly could. "Ryu!", he exclaimed. "What- why are you here?"
Ryu- he was from Street Fighter, wasn't he?- gave the young robot a smile. "Nice to see you, kid. How've things been here?"
As the two began to converse happily, Shulk gave a nod and started towards the Smash Mansion in the distance with a grin. "C'mon," the seer called back. "We'd better be headed back, don't you think?"
Lucas looked ahead with a distant look in his eyes. "Yeah, we should probably head home." An odd grin came with the last word.
There were so many things to say to Lucas that Ness couldn't think of a single thing better than. "Uh, so, how's, er, things?"
"They're… fine," replied Lucas with equal awkwardness. "Well, now they are, at least. Just had some, um, business back home to deal with, but everything's fine now." The words sounded like a forced lie, but Ness didn't want to inquire into it any further. Today was supposed to be happy, and it would be cruel to ruin that now that his best friend was finally back. "How's everyone here? Was it just too early for Red to drag himself out of bed to greet me?", he questioned with a chuckle.
Toon gave him an odd look, saying "Do you want to tell him or me?" quite clearly with his raised eyebrow. He replied with a shake of the head, trying to respond with "Stop, I'll do it."
"Uh, well," he turned to Lucas, his throat feeling as if it was coated in lead. "Actually, Red's… not here…"
Shock and despair ruined his friend's grin. He looked down sadly. "O-oh…" he muttered. Meeting Ness's eyes, he seemed to read that Red's absence wasn't the only bad news they had for him. "Who else?"
"Nana and Popo," Toon replied. "They 'ad some sorta argument over somethin' in the new tournament with Master Hand an' either left or got kicked out. Dunno what it was, but they didn't even say 'bye'."
"I'm not sure why Red left, either," Ness continued. "Just one day, not too long after you went, he just up and left. He didn't even bring Charizard with him."
Ness wished instantly he'd made up something to soften the blow, as Lucas looked near tears. "Darn it!", he cried. "I wanted to show him how strong I'd gotten!"
They walked on in silence, only broken by Pikachu's soft calls as he rubbed up against Lucas. "But hey, at least Wario's still 'ere!", Toon Link suddenly blurted out, seemingly in an attempt to cheer him up. "You can at least show him yer not still that little kid from the zoo, right?"
That didn't seem to help at all, as Lucas suddenly became focused on a can someone had carelessly left on the ground and kicked it. Desperately, Ness searched for something that might make this reunion a bit less mournful. "I can't wait for you to meet everyone new here!", Ness blurted out. Lucas cast him a sideways look, seeming to give this method attention. "I mean, there's Shulk- he's the one with the cool sword- and he's really smart and stuff, you'll like him, and Megaman, the robot one. I know you don't like machines, but he's great, I swear! And the Villager, and Greninja, and the Koopalings, I just know you'll like everyone!"
A slight smile returned to Lucas's face. "I'm sure I will," he asserted softly.
With a sudden burst forward, Toon shouted "Race ya'll home!", and left them in the dust.
"C'mon, that's not fair!", Ness cried as he sped up to follow his friend, and distantly, he could hear Lucas give a bright laugh as Pikachu sped past the both of them with Quick Attack.
But unexpectedly, not a second before they'd hit the familiar paved path up to the front door of the manor, Lucas turned to him with an oddly playful grin. "Oh, Ness, forgot to tell you," he called. "Ninten told me to tell you to call him. He has something to tell you, I think."
"What?"
"Oh, just something about coming state-side, I think, probably nothing important."
That made Lucas get third place in their race, at very least, leaving Ness both in last place and shouting to the sobbing skies "Ha! Yes! Finally!" over and over again, punctuated by laughter.
AN- Lucas and Roy have returned to Smash. And Mother One, or rather Earthbound Beginnings is coming to the US. This is a world where there is nothing wrong. Roy's story tomorrow, from Ike's POV. So, thanks for reading –Twilight Joltik
