Down to the Wire
It was time for the start of a new tournament at the smash mansion. All the more experienced smashers, who had arrived the day before, were engaged in practice battles with each other in various worlds.
Meanwhile, Master Hand was showing the newcomers around the mansion where they would be staying for the next two weeks. They had already gone to the upper floors of the mansion and were now exploring the vaults in the basement.
"Ooh! What's down here?" Toon Link asked curiously.
"We keep all of our trophies, stickers, and anything else worth storing down here." Master Hand explained. "Some of them you might remember from your worlds. Feel free to look around!"
The new smashers eagerly walked around each vault to look at what was inside.
"Hey! It's a trophy of me!" Pit exclaimed, staring at the figurine created in his image during the Melee tournament that had concluded a few months ago.
Elsewhere in the vault, Ike was staring at one of the trophy cases with rage in his eyes. He was staring directly into the face of The Black Knight.
Ike quickly swallowed his anger and turned to Master Hand. "Why would you have a trophy of someone like him?" he asked, pointing to the enemy he had prevailed against only a short time ago.
"Relax, it's only a trophy." Master Hand said. ""Be grateful it's not the real thing. Besides, now everyone will have a chance to learn about your triumph over him."
"Yeah, I guess." Ike said, dropping the matter.
While some of the other newcomers were looking at more trophies and stickers, ROB was drawn to a thick metal door. An eerie purple light shone through the crack at the bottom of the door. ROB sensed a strange electrical field behind it and wondered what secrets this room held.
The metal robot was about to open the door when Sonic noticed what he was doing.
"Hey! What's that?" he asked, racing over to ROB from the other side of the vault. The other smashers now noticed ROB's discovery as well and had gathered around the door, hungry for answers.
"Oh no, you don't want to go in there." Master Hand warned, hovering between them and the door.
"Why not? What's in there?" Toon Link asked curiously.
"Nothing that concerns any of you. Don't go in there, or that day will be your last here." Master hand said seriously, directing the smashers to leave the vault.
As the other new comers left, ROB, Lucario, Toon Link, Pit, and Lucas stayed behind. They all sensed something strange behind that door, and despite Master Hand's warning, their curiosity got the better of them.
"I sense a strong aura in that room." Lucario informed telepathically.
"Does that mean something is alive in there?" Toon Link wondered, his excitement growing.
"I-I don't want to stay to find out." Lucas said hesitantly, and started for the vault's exit.
ROB, on the other hand, advanced towards the metal door. He noticed a key pad beside the door and started fiddling with it.
"Lucas! Wait!" Toon Link cried, running after the timid blonde boy. "You have to stay! This is getting interesting!"
Lucas frowned. "Ugh, do I have to?" he asked as Toon Link pulled him back to the others.
"I sense a great danger." Lucario said, and headed for the exit himself. "You are free to do what you wish, but I suggest not investigating further."
"Are you going to try to get in there?" Pit asked excitedly.
ROB nodded as he entered a 16 digit number on the key pad. PASSCODE ACCEPTED! An electronic voice informed, and the metal door slowly opened in front of them.
The smashers gazed in astonishment at what they saw. A bunch of shimmery purple figures were trapped behind an electric field. Their bodies were made of glowing purple wire. Some of the figures were large and muscular, while others were slender and seemed to be built for speed.
"Well, I've seen enough! I'm out of here!" Lucas declared, and started heading for the stairs leading up from the basement.
"What are they?" Pit wondered curiously, staring at the wire figures.
However, before anyone else could give their best guess as to what these strange creatures were, they heard a condemning voice that made them all jump in surprise!
"What are you doing?" Roy screamed reprovingly as he hurried across the basement towards the four guilty newcomers.
"We-We… were…" Toon Link stammered with shock, but he couldn't think of an excuse to hide what they had done.
Roy hurriedly closed the large metal door and locked it, checking it twice before turning to the newcomers. "What were you thinking? Didn't Master Hand warn you not to open that vault?"
"I-I tried to get them to leave!" Lucas explained nervously.
"Well, we didn't know what was in there!" Toon Link protested.
"Yeah, there's a reason for that." Roy said pointedly, but then his expression softened slightly. "I'll tell you everything later, but for now, let's just get out of here before the hands catch us."
The other smashers nodded in agreement, and started up the stairs from the basement with Roy walking behind them. "Come to my room after dinner, then we'll talk." Roy said. "But, for now, I have a match with Link." With that, the red haired swordsman left the newcomers to head for his next match.
Later that night, Pit, ROB, Toon Link and Lucas were gathered outside Roy's room, each of them eager to hear the secret of the wired beings behind the metal door in the vault.
"This should be good!" Pit whispered, knocking on the door. Roy opened the door, beckoned them all in, and quickly shut it behind them.
"Hey, Roy! How'd the match go?" Pit wondered, not wanting to seem like he was rushing into things too quickly.
"I won!" Roy replied, beaming at all of them. "You've gotta love it when the hammer breaks!"
Marth, who had been preparing his equipment for the next day's battles, looked up from his work. "Hey, guys! What's going on?" he asked, gazing around at the new smashers' curious expressions.
"Roy's going to tell us about that metal vault in the basement!" Toon Link explained.
"Wait, you mean…?" Marth asked, throwing a warning glance at Roy. Marth put a finger to his lips to make his point.
Roy, understanding what this meant, nodded.
"Why?" Marth whispered, sounding upset.
"Because." Roy whispered back out of earshot of the new smashers. "I figure if they hear it from us, they won't get any ideas to investigate later and possibly get all of us dismissed from the mansion."
The Altean prince considered his friend's reasoning for a moment, then sighed. "All right." He said warily. He sheathed his newly maintained Falchion and folded his arms, waiting for Roy to launch into his explanation.
Pit, Toon Link, ROB, and even Lucas leaned forward in interest. Roy thought for a moment, trying to decide where to begin.
"So, those wired beings in the vault are wire frames that the smashers in the Melee tournament would train with to get ready for our battles." Roy explained.
"Wire frames?" Pit asked with interest. "Cool!"
"Yeah, they were." Roy said. He paused for a brief second. "…until Crazy Hand decided to 'improve' them."
"Whoa! No way! What did he do?" Pit questioned, noticing the air quotes Roy had made with his fingers.
"Only small adjustments at first." Roy said. "Slight increases in speed and numbers during practice battles. We all thought it was a good idea. You know, a way to get stronger."
Toon Link and Pit nodded understandingly.
"But, at some point, it wasn't good enough for Crazy Hand, so he created an army of super wire frames. Compared to the originals, their strength was enhanced tenfold! One strike could send even the strongest of us flying!"
"Th-they sound pretty dangerous." Lucas remarked quietly, his voice trembling.
"They are." Roy said seriously. "At first, the hands allowed them to be used in training battles to create a new standard to go for. But… well… things got worse from there."
The newcomers waited anxiously to learn the rest of the story.
The Pharaean heir continued speaking. "Crazy Hand lost control of the wire frames, and they threatened to destroy the entire mansion if they weren't stopped."
"Wow! What did you guys do?" Toon Link wondered, clearly amazed and astonished.
"Master Hand said that we smashers had to work together." Roy explained. "We couldn't overcome these cruel wire frames alone in the training battles, but together we at least stood a chance of slowing them down… or so we thought."
Roy paused again, and even Marth showed signs of anxiety at hearing the next piece of the story.
"Well, how did you guys defeat them?" The question exploded from Pit's mouth.
"Master Hand gave us the edge we needed." Roy said, the excitement now noticeable in his voice. "He released this glowing multi colored orb in the air and challenged one of us to break it. Amazingly enough, I was the one who broke it, and I felt a new level of power! That glowing ball did the trick!"
"So… a Smash Ball?" Lucas wondered, seeking clarification.
"Well, yeah, but we didn't know that at the time." Roy explained, and was about to return to the story.
"Wait! You seriously destroyed all those super wire frames by yourself?" Toon Link wondered, hoping to hear more.
Roy looked taken aback. "Oh, no!" he exclaimed, trying to clarify. "I just dealt the first strike. After that, the Hands released many more Smash Balls, and any smasher who shattered them used every bit of their newly improved power against the wire frames. Then, Master Hand and Crazy Hand locked them in that vault, promising never to release them again."
"Wow," the newcomers breathed in excitement, their curiosity satisfied. Roy's last words of the story buzzed in their minds like insects.
Then, Marth broke the silence. "So, now that you know, you can't tell any of the other newcomers otherwise we all might get into some serious trouble."
The new smashers nodded in agreement, giving their word that they would guard their newfound secret well.
Suddenly, a loud knock sounded at the door and an authoritative voice spoke. "Lights out in ten minutes!" Master Hand called.
"Yes, sir!" Marth and Roy responded.
"Oh, we'd better go!" Pit exclaimed as he and the other newcomers gathered their belongings.
"Thanks for the story! Good night!" Toon Link cried.
"No problem!" Roy said as the newcomers hurried out of the room, each of them knowing that the secret they learned would never be forgotten.