Twas the night before the big holiday festival at the Smash Mansion. Many smashers were gathering gifts and food for the big celebration. One of them was out in the town late at night, picking up a gift. The boxer, Little Mac, strolled out of a jewelry store of all places, holding a small box. Snow was falling from the clouds and his footsteps echoed through the empty streets. He didn't mind this too much, he had walked alone before. The bruiser headed to the bus stop to check if a late night bus would still be around. Unfortunately, the last one left quite a while ago.
"Great." he muttered. Not wanting to waste more time, Mac began to walk to the manor. The snowfall started to get heavy, to him it seemed to be getting worse with each step he took. This made him anxious.
"It's alright, it's just snow." he said to himself. He took a deep breath, but he cut it short when he heard footsteps coming from behind him. The bruiser turned around, only to find nothing there. Mac's breathing became shallow. Was someone there? Or was it his mind playing tricks on him? He proceeded, this time quicker than before. The pugilist wanted to get back to the mansion as quickly as possible. As if things couldn't get worse, gusts of winds emerged and the harsh snowfall became a full blown blizzard. Mac was now panicking.
"Oh god, oh god please..." he thought. He started sprinting. His footsteps echoed loudly, his breathing fast, his heart pounding against his ears, he was fully engulfed in terror. The sound of footsteps from before returned, this time they were louder, faster, more pronounced, but that only made the boxer run even faster. He did not look back, he was too scared to find out.
"Get-ba-kid!" a faint voice called. Mac's mind flooded with memories: blood, screaming, bright lights. He was desperate to get home, he had tears falling down his face. From the distance, he noticed dim lights within all the snow. As he got closer, the bruiser realized it was the mansion. He was almost there! With the rest of his strength, Mac got to the entrance of the mansion, opening it without a moment of hesitation. He got inside and slammed the grand door shut. It was over. The boxer put his back to it, leaning against the wood. He was panting, shaking from terror. After a moment, Mac slid down to the floor, now sitting with his knees up to his chin, and his arms on top in a crossed position. Past memories were still there, plaguing him mercilessly with horrible emotions. He couldn't take it. He began to weep softly into his sleeves, it was too much to bear.
The boxer however, didn't notice that someone watched him from the top of the gigantic staircase the entire time he returned. The observer's black, angelic wings twitched a bit.
"What in the world happened to him?" Dark Pit thought. Normally, he wouldn't bother with other smasher's issues, but he knew Mac for quite a while. And one thing the dark angel is sure about is that he never saw the bruiser break down like this, ever. Dark Pit decided to go get Link, Mac's boyfriend, for help. The Hylian definitely would be better assistance than himself after all. He quietly went to the swordsman's door and knocked a couple times. In a matter of seconds, Link opened the door, surprised to see the boy.
"Dark Pit? What are you doing here so late?" he asked.
"I saw Mac downstairs, he seems very upset about something," Dark Pit replied, "You should go check on him." The hero's ears perked up in concern.
"Yeah, I'll go right now." he responded with a concerned tone. The Hylian took a couple steps, but stopped. "You're a good friend, thanks." With that, he began to quietly race down the hallway.
"Pffft, I couldn't care less." Dark Pit thought to himself, but at the same time, he didn't mind the comment. The hero headed down the stairs and saw Mac, still curled up in the same position Dark Pit saw him in. He was oblivious of Link approaching him until the Hylian crouched down and tapped his shoulder. Mac looked up with a jolt, his eyes were red and puffy.
"Mac, what's the matter?" the swordsman asked, his voice was soft. The bruiser did not respond, he stared at Link. The swordsman was worried, what did happen? He never saw Mac look so miserable. Suddenly, as if something clicked, the pugilist hugged Link.
"Link I-I'm-" he stuttered, not being able to speak further. Minutes went by, Link comforted Mac until he started to relax a bit. When the boxer's breathing started to become more regulated, he began to speak.
"I'm sorry." he stated. His voice sounded tired.
"You don't need to say that." Link responded. They both stayed silent for a moment. "Why were you crying?"
"...I was scared." Mac murmured.
"Scared about what? Was someone trying to hurt you?" the hero asked, nervous if Mac got into some terrible situation. The bruiser shook his head.
"It's….the blizzard…" his voice trailed off. Link gave him a confused look. Was it just snow that freaked him out so badly?
"You were scared about bad weather?" he asked. Mac cringed a bit from the question, the Hylian regretted wording it that way.
"It's more than that." the bruiser responded. Link gave him a look, he was willing to listen to what he had to say. With that, Mac sighed.
"When I was about thirteen, I wandered around the city pretty often," he started, Link listened. "I would never go anywhere near certain alleyways and such, because of the rumors of gang members hanging out there. One day though, there was a blizzard and I got lost, somehow ending up there. I was going to leave right away until this group of guys surrounded me. I didn't know what they were thinking, but they said something about me being this gang leader's kid. I managed to get by one of them and started running, they were yelling and cursing at me…" Mac stopped, his breathing started to become shallow once again. Link felt uneasy, he had an idea where this was probably heading. He kept quiet while Mac composed himself.
"One of them, pulled a gun out..." he continued, the hero's eyes widened, "and he shot me, right in my back. I fell to the ground. I couldn't scream. I couldn't move... I was so terrified. They left, thinking I was dead. I saw my own blood pooling. I-I thought I was going to die…" Mac began to shake. "I didn't want to die, I… I somehow managed to scream. I screamed and screamed, praying someone would help me. I didn't know how long it took. I began to black out, but I saw police lights… and Doc, oh god Doc… I never saw him so terrified." The bruiser started to sob. Link was stunned by what Mac went through, he never thought someone like him would've been through such a terrible event. The swordsman held Mac close.
"You're safe Mac, nothing is going to hurt you here." Link whispered. For what felt like an eternity, the pugilist began to relax once more. The Hylian helped him up from the ground. There was a lost for words. What can he say? He mulled over ideas until a small thought came to mind.
"Want to…." Link paused, trying to find the correct words. Mac waited patiently. He knew how hard it must be for the hero to try and say something. It was like Halloween all over again. The thought of that made the boxer chuckle a bit, throwing Link a bit off guard.
"Ya know, it's like what happened a couple months ago, except I'm the one crying." he stated. The swordsman stood there, baffled until it finally hit him. He let out a small chuckle.
"Yeah, how strange." he responded. The two started to relax. Link felt this was a good moment to say what's on his mind.
"Mac, how about we go see Doctor Mario sometime? I think it would do good for the both of us." he suggested. The young man nodded in agreement. Suddenly, a ringing sound echoed through the mansion. It was loud, yet slow. It was a grandfather clock, in a different room in the manor, going off twelve times in rhythm; then the everything fell silent once more.
"Midnight already?" Link thought, he didn't know that they were in the main hall for so long. Mac nudged the Hylian with his elbow, grabbing his attention. Link was surprised to see him smile a bit. The boxer was being more his usual self. Although, it was for the better.
"I got you this, sorry about the box being a bit beaten up." he said, holding out a small, dented, white box. Curious, Link took the object and opened it. He let out a small gasp. Inside was a necklace of a sword and shield, with a small green gem in the center. He turned it around and saw his own name engraved on the back.
"Do you like it?" Mac asked. Link, overjoyed, lifted the boxer off his feet like a groom would for the bride. Mac was shocked by the sudden action, his face turned red.
"I love it, but not as much as you Macaroon." Link smiled, with a bit of red on his cheeks. The pugilist laughed.
"Macaroon? Seriously?" he questioned between giggles.
"Yep, because you're so sweet." the swordsman responded, making Mac laugh harder. "Let's take it easy for the night, Doc is probably worried about you."
"Sounds good to me." the lad replied. Mac caught a glance of the snow outside as he was being carried up the stairs. Perhaps a snow storm didn't have to carry only bad memories after all.