So... Haven't done something in a while. That's what summer's for, though, isn't it?

NOTE(S):
- I put a ton of effort in making the teams, and I'm sorry to say a lot of SSBM character have been taken out to put in characters I like more, IE Saria and Crystal.
- Sometimes I'll spell "Ferah" "Ferrah".
- I do not own SSBM.

XXX
Chapter One: Emerald Allies
XXX

"We're late...." Whined Farah, gripping the leather seats of the car. She winded down the window, peered out at the New York traffic, frowned, and then closed the tinted window. She rubbed her eye. "I don't know how these people can stand this."

"Just think of it as a big-city experience." Said her brother coolly from the driver's seat, adjusting his rear-view mirror so he could see his younger sister. He would have plenty of time to fix it when the idiots in front of him decide to slowly inch forward.

Farah was a fragile half-Chinese, half-British girl, raised in America her entire life. She had lived with her twin older brothers Dameon and Van for most of her life, and with her aunt, whom she looked plenty alike. They all had very dark black-brown hair, with fair skin and large green eyes. At the moment she wore a pink t-shirt, and her favorite faded black jeans that clung lightly to her hips.

Dameon sighed and pushed the pedal softly, moving forward just a little more, although the car in front of him refused to move. Ferah pulled her Walkman out from her bag and adjusted her headphones so they didn't interfere with her hair.

"I'll be fine, really." Rushed Farah, looking over her brother's back as he gave her one of his formidable rib-smashing hugs. She was at least half-an-hour late.

He finally released her from his clench, allowing her to catch her breath and readjust her shirt. "Do you have your cellphone?" He asked.

"When do I not?" She replied simply.

"Right, right, of course." He stepped back and smiled, gleaming at his little sister. "E-Mail me or text me often, especially if anything goes wrong." He rubbed her head affectionately. Farah nodded, fixing her hair. Because her Aunt was a drunk and her parents were dead, Dameon had stepped in to become her father.

"Good luck, and I'll see you in a few weeks." He walked back to the car.

"And don't forget Fern!" Yelled Ferrah after him. She picked up her suitcase carefully, and tottered over to the hotel lobby.

"Hello? Uh, hello?" Said Ferah, as people rushed by, trying to catch the attention of the thin woman at the desk. She looked down over her nose, which was shaped like a broken fishing rod.

"Who are you?" The lady asked, impatiently. She had the phone balanced on her right shoulder.

"I'm... Ferah Fell." Ferah said, feeling like a kid lost at Cosco. "I'm here because I won the contest..."

"Ah?" The phone rang again, and she pressed a button to link to the other line, waving her hand at the girl. "You're late. Go sit over there." She pointed to a lonely chair under a potted fig. Ferah grabbed her stuff and sat down.

The wait seemed to last forever. Ferah watched the clock on the other side of the room helplessly. Had the woman forgotten her? Ferah looked around. The hotel was slowing down, as it was rapidly heading for nightfall. However, the lady was still busy, talking on the phone, pressing the button, talking, pressing, talking, pressing. Ferah slumped over and crossed her arms across her chest. A bellboy caught her eye as he walked by, holding a sign with an arrow: UBERSSBM TOURNAMENT THIS WAY.

She stood up instantly, glad to do something. "Hey, um, where did get that?" She asked. The man pointed over to a corner, which lead down a hall. "Thank you." Said Ferah, bowing slightly, and tugging her baggage as she headed for the hall.

The hall, like the rest of the hotel, was all golden with mirrors, with red carpets and marble on the floors, and ferns and figs in pots lining the walls. She didn't know how far to go to find the meeting room, but she assumed it had to be one of the ones with the double doors. She let go of her luggage and knocked on the closest door on her right. "Hullo?" She asked.

A boy opened the door, a little younger than herself. He had oily brown hair that was pulled back with glasses that were sliding off his nose. He skin was whiter than sand. "Uh... hi." He said, looking her over. Farah took a peek behind him, at a whole network of computer systems. "What?" He asked, a little more impatient.

"Oh... well... There is this contest that I won... and I think I have to meet some people..." Said Ferah distractedly. Was this kid supposed to be playing in this room? Some of the computers were open.

"Oh! Yeah, I know what you're talking about." He said, watching her as she leaned into the room rudely. "That's down the hall, that way. I think... four doors down." He pointed further left.

Ferah nodded. "Thanks. What's your name?" She said, picking up her luggage case again.

"William. Yours?" He extended his hand.

"Ferah. Thanks, again." She shook his hand. His hand shake was limp. She didn't bother to ask if he was in the competition, she was late enough as it is. He smiled once more and closed the door, and Ferah began tugging at her luggage again.

She found oil on her right hand, and wiped it on her pants.

"Sorry I'm late!" A small African-American boy bowed, maybe only ten or eight. His hair was very short and curly, framing his head. He looked up at a man carrying a clip-board. The man checked his name off with a red pen, then switched it with a black one from his suit pocket.

"It's alright. We're still waiting for another player to arrive." Said the man, clipping the pen to the board so he wouldn't lose it.

"I don't know if we should wait any longer, actually. We're wasting time." Said a man behind the first one. He was much larger, much more formidable. He made the ground quake slightly when he moved, as he did now, standing up from his red-leather chair.

The boy walked over to the crowd of kids.

The clip-board man checked his watch, for the forty- second time in the last hour. "If we start without the last two players, that would make the Teams unfair."

"Yes, but you know NYC traffic. It's worse than Tokyo during the rush hour. They may never get here." The large man rubbed his hair with his hand. "We might just have William take the Avatar. He's always doing nothing anyway. Is it male or female?"

"I think it's a male, Sir. But I don't know, we still need to take roll call."

"Right. Shut the doors, and let's get started." Hirgawa had lost his patience. Time was precious, as he had proved with his overtaking the Nintendo of Japan and America companies.

One of the executives closest to the double doors closed them on command.

The room was boring. The long tables were brown and gray, and the mass of the seats were black leather. Young teenagers littered the walls. Hirogawa had expected they would be shy, because they didn't know each other, but they were full of life, chitchatting with each other like they had been friends the entire summer.

"Ahem." The man cleared his throat. A few of the crowd looked up, but most continued talking amongst their genders. "AHEM." He said again. This attracted enough of the crowd to begin, or as much he could get without using force.

"Hello. I am glad that you all got here safely. I am Mr. Hirogawa, the official president of the Nintendo. I would like to welcome you to the UberSSBM game premiere and testing competition." He said loudly, standing front and center.

A hush fell over the kids as excitement overtook them.

"It seems that one of our members have not shown up, so we will go ahead and begin. But first, we will take a roll call to assign seats. Your name is your first, and for legal reasons, your assigned character is your last name. You will sit at the table assigned to your team. All of you have been arranged into teams that will play as your allies for the first week. Two Teams out of five will be dropped from the competition, and then you will be reassigned into Trinities. Two more Trinities will be dropped, and from then on battles will take place Individually. But more details when you are seated." He sat back down, as his assistant moved forward with the clip-board and black and red pen in hand.

"The table to the far left belongs to the Ruby Team. In the Ruby Team..." He began.

"Ryan Mario." A dark-haired, dark–eyed boy tilted his head up. The executive put a black check mark next to his name as Ryan moved towards the table. "Ryan here is team captain." The executive said. Ryan grinned.

"Madison Dragonair." Madison was tall and skinny. Her hair was long too, a very pale blonde. She took a seat by Ryan.

"Cassandra Zelda." A blonde girl smiled mischievously and took her seat.

"Alex Falco." A boy with dark blonde and brown curls didn't even glance at the man as he took his seat.

"And Nick Kirby." A smiling, pink-faced boy took a seat near Alex.

"The Sapphire Team takes the second table to the left. Trent Marth, who is Captain."

"Is that Trent Williams?"
The executive leaned forward. "We are not supposed to use family-given names."
"But he's famous - "
"Trent Williams..."
"Oh, I've heard of him!"
"Harry Potter!?"
"Didn't he win the America SSBM competition?"
"Every one?"

Trent was a confident looking boy with short black curls. He sat all the way back in his chair, his shoulders broadly spread as his arms lay on the arm rests. His long fingers curled around the edges. It was surprising how he didn't bask in the glory.

"Mischa-"

There was a soft knock at the door. At first, no one answered, but a man that was standing near a potted fig stepped forward. Mr. Hirogawa nodded, and the man went to open the door as the knocking began more persistent.

"I know someone's in there." Said a muffled voice arrogantly. "I heard talking."

"Ah." Said Hirogawa to the crowd. "That must be the last player."

The executive opened the door, and Farrah slowly glided in.

The room was square and full of kids, probably ages 10-18, estimated Farrah. The majority were clumped against the wall, but there were others seated at tables. She looked up at a large man, who was at the head of the third table. Everyone was watching her.

"Um... hi. Is this the UberSSBM room?" She said quietly at particularly no one, as she let go of her luggage handle and readjusted her bag strap. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. Was she supposed to have something? Van had explained some things, but not everything, muddled by first his excitement, then his medicine.

The assistant closed it behind her. "Yes, it is. You must be our last Player." He looked at Hirogawa, for his assumptions of her gender had been wrong. But he was sure...

"Yes, I must be from the look of things..." Farrah stood, frozen, as everyone was examined her. There were at least two dozen pairs of eyes watching her.

"Alright." A man stepped forward and took her luggage out of the room. "Please join the others at that wall." He pointed to the crowd. She walked over quietly, to the edge, behind the majority of the crowd, and laid her back against the wall, trying to look casual.

"It's okay." Something tugged at her sleeve. "I was late too." It was a young boy. He smiled and stood up next to her.

"Continuing the Sapphire Team... Mischa Peach." A girl beamed her smile and took a seat next to Trent.

"Amanda Ruto."

"Jordan Charizard." A red-orange haired boy with ear-length hair took a seat next to Amanda. He kept looking at Trent, like a paparazzi would look at the Julia Roberts if she wasn't pregnant and was in a bathing suit.

It was taking Farah a little while to realize why these people had such strange last names, but she realized it when 'Jordan Charizard' was called. She had played Pokemon, once, a very long time ago.

"And Katrina Crystal."

"Moving on to The Emerald Team. They will sit at Mr. Hirogawa's table. Kaze Fox, who is captain."

A tall boy right in front of Farah moved forward. He was quite tall, and his hair much darker than her own. He wore a dark blue sweater, and black pants, as well as black shoes. His hands, under his sleeves, were clenched. As he moved, Farah noticed a short silver chain around his neck.

"Aaron Link." A boy with straight blonde hair looked up. He had been fiddling with his Jansport backpack. He took a seat next to Kaze. They both stared at each other in silence, then turned away to see who would be on their team.

"Van Roy." Farah moved up on cue.

"What are you doing?" Asked a girl next to her.

"I'm here to take the place of Van." Farah said, looking at the assistant, who, like everyone else in the room, was obviously thinking the same thing. "I'm his sister. He was unable to come." She continued, her voice wavering.

"What is his reason?" Mr. Hirogawa asked, leaning.

"Uh, can't we speak of this privately?" She said, trying to sound strong.

"Yes, of course. Go ahead and take his spot for now." He laid back again. Another executive whispered something in his ear. After he was done he watched for reaction. Mr Hirogawa merely nodded, and the executive went back to his position.

All eyes were on Ferah as she moved to the table. She had known what to do after watching others. Now everyone was watching her, not because they didn't know what to do, but because they wanted to know why she was here. Why didn't they mind her own business? It didn't concern them. She took a seat next to Aaron. Aaron smiled, and she smiled back weakly.

"Selena Daisy." Selena moved out of the crowd. She had her black GBA SP in hand, which she closed the screen of and pocketed in the zipper pockets of her black capris. She was beautiful, with long lashes guarding bright blue eyes. Her dark hair was blonde, and her skin very tan and flawless. She smiled at Ferah, noticing she had been watching her as she took her seat. Ferah gave her hair a finger comb.

"And Dominick, G-a-W." The small boy that had spoken to Ferah before moved forward, and took a seat next to Selena. He smiled and waved vigorously, and Ferah could do nothing but give a timid wave back.

The table was full. So far, everyone in the Emerald Team had responded nicely to her, except for the one known as Kaze. He didn't even glance at her, or any of the others, besides Aaron. His presence seemed faint and cold. She hoped he wouldn't become and obstacle for her.

"The Topaz Team is at this table." He pointed at the second to the right. "Team Captain is Bruce Bowser." Bruce was a large boy with a crew cut. He took a seat in his chair and smiled from the glory of his position.

"Claire Nana." A little girl, not a lot younger than Dominick looked up, her short hair in poking pigtails, and took a seat next to Bruce. She was short, and her feet didn't reach the ground. Claire curiously looked up at big Bruce.

"Alice Saria." A sweet-looking girl flowed over to near Mischa. Mischa seemed relieved that not everyone on her team were so barbarian-like.

"Stephanie Jigglypuff." A girl giggled at took her seat next to Alice. Their eyes met and they smiled, and she repeated the action with Mischa as well. Bruce looked disappointed that three of the five members were girls.

"And Eric Ness." Bruce looked slightly relieved as a Mexican boy took a seat at his left.

"And the last team... the Amythest Team. Karen Samus is Captain."

Karen was very tall and was one of the oldest there. She looked tough, but was obviously containing her anticipation.

Scott 'Luigi' came next, followed by Jess 'Popo', a down-to-earth boy with brown and white hair.

"Victoria Shiek." A girl with glossy dyed-black hair took a seat near Jess, tugging with her a dusty cream-colored pack with pins of her favorite punk bands. "It's Tori." The girl corrected quickly. Madison from the Ruby table, who sat upright and stiffly, gave her a strange look. Victoria clicked her pierced tongue at her indifferently.

"Bridget Pikachu." Finished the roll call. She was young and with frizzled brown-red hair, and braces that made her lips stick out.

"That's it." Said the executive, and stepped back, looking over his clip-board once more, then the crowd, finally organized.

Mr. Hirogawa nodded and stood up, the ground quivering beneath him. "Looks like we're done here." He looked out and met eyes with Ferah, who kept her gaze, but titled her chin downward.

She had little idea what to expect. Van had been really excited to go, often telling her that practicing SSBM on the Gamecube probably wouldn't help, and that it would be a lot tougher. It was some sort of tournament for selected people who entered in a contest online. Ferah thought of Van and suddenly sneezed.

"Bless you." Whispered Selena and Dominick.

Hirogawa continued. "This testing tournament is the premiere for the virtual reality simulation of the SSBM game that came out in 2001. Not only will this new game, which we call UberSSBM, allow you to play as your character in the real world, but also in their virtual world. Your character, or Avatar, is accessible at all times your are within the boundaries of New York City. They are also accessible through cellphones, computers, and other selected electronic devices." He took a breath for effect.

Selene covered her mouth with a slender finger and smiled. Dominick looked giddy. Aaron even looked impressed. Kaze, on the other hand, didn't seem too interested. The other tables bubbled.

Ferrah looked around, smiling. Playing as the character in the real world? In a virtual world? Accessible at all times? This wasn't like any other game she had played before. But this was a fighting game... did she have to fight? Her excitement suddenly dropped into fear. She couldn't fight. She was weak and small. But there were small people like Dominick, and skinny people like Madison. Maybe she had a chance. Or maybe she should just rely on them.

"You have been randomly divided into teams. Your team will be your partners during this first week. You will fight and train alongside them. Your team will fight each other team once. How you fight your battles and if you win will decide if you and your team continues on in the tournament."

"Your Avatars have been selected depending on your fighting style, in example, speed, projectile, defense, aerial, or attack. Your Avatar has intensive AI and will follow you like a real person. You will stay in contact with your Avatar by wearing this." He held up a small, stretchy band of black from his pocket. In the middle of the band was a small, silver, smooth box, holding a data chip. Dominick leaned forward for a closer look.

Suddenly, Hirogawa's pants beeped. He pulled out his cellphone and flipped it open. "Excuse me." He said to the crowd as he held his hand over the receiver. He turned around. "What. No, not right now. I'm busy. Later. ...promise." There was a pause. "I've got a lot to do. You'll understand when you get a job." He said harshly, and before receiving a reply, hung up. "Ahem, right." He said, addressing the crowd once more.

He picked back up the band. "You will find one of these in your rooms, where your Avatar awaits you. Saying the password "CYC" will activate your avatar. It is short for "Choose your character". To work and fight best with your Avatar, you should spend time with them and train often. Fighting with your Avatar requires concentration on him or her and using the password 'SURVIVAL'. You will then inherit the abilities, skills, and weapons of your Avatar. The mass of your abilities will increase depending on your Avatar's stats."

She could see people getting really giddy. Aaron looked like he was going to burst.

"The virtual world is dependant on where your Avatar is from. The Mario characters will see each other in Mushroom Kingdom. But if you venture further than your game's borders, you can reach other Dreamscapes. Mushroom Kingdom is close to the Kokiri Forest, and not far from Hyrule is Castle Pharae. To move into the virtual world, hook this wire up with the band, like this." He pulled out a cord and inserted it into the side of the silver box on the band. "The other end goes into an electrical outlet."

Farrah looked around. Was she the only one who found this whole explanation thing tiring? She yawned and covered her mouth. She would just have to find out how to do whatever it was when it came time.

Hirogawa continued on about Teams being divided into Trinities, and the Trinities being separated into Individuals as people were eliminated. She didn't know if she'd get that far, no matter how strong her courage. How could she fight alone? But according to Hirogawa, she would never be alone. She would always be fighting with her Avatar.

"Well, that about wraps it up. To review what I said or look more in-depth into this project, I have given each team two disks, also in your room. The disks also hold data about all Avatars and their Players."

Ferah suddenly noticed Kaze looking her way. As soon as he met his face, he turned away, his gaze back at Hirogawa.

"Now you will be led to your rooms. You have until 2 PM Wednesday to train and get used to the system. When the time comes, meet here, and hopefully on time." He looked at Ferrah, then at Dominick. Dominick laughed a little, so carefree.

An executive opened each of the double doors, one by one. Five more went to each table, and kids started recollecting their carry-on bags and standing up. Ferah stood up to follow Kaze, who was on his way.

"Ferah, please see me later after dinner. We need to talk. Don't get too comfy, you may not be permanent."

"Right." Ferah frowned. I will be in this tournament, and I will win, she thought stiffly. It's what he wants.

She pulled the watch she refused to wear from her bag. It was ten minutes till four. She pocketed the watch and ran up to Kaze. He didn't say anything, so she walked next to him in silence.

Ferah opened the door with a gold #169 on it. It was an empty family master suite with a table in front of a window, surrounded by two chairs and a couch. Next to it was a large screen TV. She saw two doors on the far wall, separated by the window. The window reached out into a large balcony, overlooking the busy city. Kaze went over to the door on the left, so she went to the door on the right and knocked on it. "Hello?"

"Come in!" Pretty Selena was already unloading her stuff, her hair draped onto her shoulders like silk.

"Uh... hi." Ferah said, as she walked through the doorway. The room was narrow, with two queen–sized beds on her left, and at the back wall, a window and a walk-in closet. A bathroom was on the left as well, that probably linked to the other room.

"Hi. You're Ferah, right? The Roy Player." She put down her hair dryer and walked over, her flip-flops smacking like bubblegum. She was wearing the black band around her slim neck.

Ferah didn't get her band until she met up with Mr. Hirogawa, that is, if he let her into the tournament. The band was in the boy's room, anyway, where her brother had been expected to sleep. At least Selene wasn't the only girl on the team anymore.

Ferah heaved her bag in and shut the door behind her. "Yeah, that's me. And your Selena, the Daisy Player." Ferah dropped her baggage and shook her hand vigorously. Her hand was delicate and silky. When Ferah took back her hand, she sniffed it, smelling lilac. Now she had oil and lilac lotion on her hand.

"Yea, I suppose so." She frowned a little, and whirled over to the open suit-case on her bed, the one furthest from the door.

"Not too happy with your selection?" Ferah asked, as she lifted her bag onto her bed. She dropped her backpack at her feet.

"Well, it's okay, I guess." Said Selena. She took out a stuffed animal of a white bear with a blue ribbon around its neck and tossed it against her pillows. "If she fights like I do, then hopefully she'll keep me alive. It's better than getting an Avatar that I can't concentrate on."

Ferah didn't unload a lot, but did take out her brush to tame her hair. She took out a few pins and rubber bands, and her up-top dropped to her shoulders. "Who did you want to play as?"

Selena stopped examining a halter top she had brought and let it fall back into her suit case. She blushed slightly, and looked at Ferah. "Well, I'm..." she smiled. "I'm a major Pokemon fan. A Pokemaniac." She laughed. "I wanted to be a Pokemon's Player, but they didn't have my favorite Pokemon. Selections are random, anyway." She shrugged.

"Oh..." Ferah said. She didn't understand. Selena looked like someone who would be the most popular girl in school, who didn't give for video games or computers. Ferah smiled. "So, what is your favorite Pokemon?"

"I'm quite partial to Bellossom. It's very cute, and it's strong too." She said, smiling. She walked over to the closet and opened it, taking out a hanger and putting on a light blue cardigan with white fluff on the cuffs of the collar and hood.

Ferah moved over to the table in front of the window. The table was circular and had a glass flower vase with cut orchids in it. She dropped her bag on one of the two chairs and took out her cellphone charger, then inserted it into the outlet. She took out her cellphone and checked for messages.

"Fern is on her way." Dameon had sent her a message. She deleted it and closed the cover. "Ah, I think I remember that one." She was thinking of Vileplume.

"So who's your favorite?" Selena occupied the other chair.

"Oh... probably Flareon. I've always loved Fire pokemon." Said Ferah. Being next to Selena made her feel really plain and common.

"Well, good thing that Roy's your Avatar, then."

"Yeah well, can you tell me a little about Roy? I really haven't heard of him before. I know Van wanted him to be his Avatar, but he never told me who he was."

Ferah watched as Selena suddenly remember that she wanted to know what happened to Van. "Oh... Well, Roy is this prince that has a flaming sword and hey what happened to your brother?" She said in a flurry of her well-trained tongue.

"Van... Uh..." Ferah could lie about it. That's what she had intended to do when she needed to talk to Mr. Hirogawa. But it made her conscience act up uncomfortably whenever she told a lie about either of her brothers. "He died by a gunshot wound." She said simply. "His friend was drunk." It wasn't a full lie.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Said Selena. "At least it isn't suicide or something."

"Yeah, sure." Ferah wanted to cry, but she had cried so much that she couldn't anymore. "But you know, dead is dead."

Selena kept silent, and picked at her French-manicured nails.

"Well, let's go see what the others are up to." Said Ferah, as she pocketed her cellphone and got up.

Selena followed the motion. "A'ight, sounds good."

Dominick was sitting at the main room table, typing rapidly on his black laptop. Aaron looked over him, a magazine curled in his hand, and Kaze stood behind them, arms crossed.

"Hi guys." Said Ferah cheerfully. "What time's dinner?"

"I think it's 6:30 or so." Said Dominick, barely glancing up. Ferah had seen on her cellphone that it was a little after five.

"You guys looking at the info from the disks?" Selena leaned over. Ferah joined her.

"Yeah. Data on other Players." Said Dominick, cycling through a list of Avatars and Players.

Aaron yawned. "I think we should look up some junk about Trent Williams." He said, like his whole name was his first name.

"Good idea." Said Selene, more seriously. "He looks like trouble. I wish he was on our team."

Kaze frowned. "We don't need him. We can do just as well without him."

Ferah twitched. Kaze did seem like a very arrogant person, but in a subtle way he was keeping the team's spirits from feeling diminished.

"What's so special about this Trent Williams anyway?" Ferah said.

A few clicks, and Dominick had Trent's page open.

Name: Trent "Marth"

Age: 15 years

Height: 5' 8''

Weight:128 lbs

Origination: Northern California

Excels: Close Range Combat

Records: 1st Place Winner: SSBM NoA, San Diego, California

1st Place Winner: SSBM NoA, New York, New York

1st Place Winner: SSBM NoA, Seattle, Washington

1st Place Winner: SSBM NoA, Orlando, Florida

1st Place Winner: SSBM NoA, Salt Lake City, Utah

1st Place Winner: SSBM NoA, Houston, Texas

1st Place Winner: SSBM NoA, Phoenix, Arizona

The list went on. Ferrah pointed at the California title. "My brother entered in this one. He got in third." She wanted to brag a little, and show she wasn't a complete n00b. But suddenly, she shut her mouth and pulled back her hand. They were gonna ask...

Aaron was the fastest. "So, what happened to your brother? Why isn't he here instead?" Ferah gave him a disappointed look that he mistook for feeling worthless. "Not that we don't want you here...." He mumbled afterwards.

"No, it's just that..." Began Ferrah.

"He's in the hospital." Said Selena sharply, but cheerful too. Selena was good with her tongue and it didn't come out to obviously that she was trying to keep the idea away from Ferrah, and she was just finishing her sentence.

"Oh, that sucks." Said Aaron, and decided he wouldn't ask why.

Kaze watched as Dominick continued looking through the list. He looked at the Emerald Team, and clicked on Van Roy.

"Well, I think it's a good thing we have you on our team." Said Kaze. It was weird hearing his voice. It sounded clean, like water.

Ferah blushed. "Oh, well, thanks..." She said, quietly. What was he up to?

"It is." Shrugged Aaron. "Because now I have another chick to hit on." He smiled to himself.

Kaze shook his head. "No, it's good..." he turned the screen of Dominick's laptop so it faced Ferah. "...because this way, the other teams don't know anything about you."

He was right. Hirogawa had forgotten that the Player information on the disks had information on Van, and not on Ferah. Ferah shrugged, feeling stupid. Kaze wouldn't say nice things unless he had a real reason.

"Our secret weapon." Said Selena, giving her a pat on the back.

"Well, I don't know if I'm permanent yet." Ferah commented modestly. But I sure hope I am.

There was a knock on the main room door. "Baggage for Ferah Fell." Ferah walked over and opened the door. A bellboy in red uniform gave her a small duffle bag with FRAGILE and THIS SIDE UP stickers all over it. "Thank you very much." She said, and handed him a quarter from her pockets. He looked at it and shrugged. Ferah assumed that, like on TV, she was expected to tip the bellboy.

She closed the door and carefully laid the bag onto the couch. "Watcha got?" Asked Aaron. "Late luggage?"

"What's so fragile and important that cha'd put in a gym bag?" Asked Dominick, jumping onto the couch and letting the pillows bounce beneath him.

Ferah leaned over and unzipped the bag. Instantly, a white blur jumped out. "Oh!" Said Selena, and rushed over, picking it up in a flurry. "A kitten!" She nuzzled its nose, gazing into its deep green eyes. "How lovely." She moved it into holding position, her hand at its bottom. "What's her name? It's a her, right?"

"Yeah, it is." Said Ferah, walking over to smooth down its short fur. "Her name is Fern." She looked at Dominick. "I had to sneak her in. I figured there would be no pets allowed in a classy hotel like this one."

"Achooo!" Sneezed Aaron, grabbing a pillow to cover his nose. Selena twitched. "Great!" He said. "I'm allergic to cats!"

The dinning room was filled with the clanging of silverware against plates and people talking. They all wore their tight black bands around their necks, the chip box like a necklace charm.

"My team decided we'd activate them tomorrow, together." Said Jess to Eric.

"Same here." He said, his mouth full of chicken. "I can't wait. This is gonna be so kick-ass."

Madison, slim and delicate, ate slowly and royally, cutting each slice with the knife, laying the knife on her dinner plate just so, and slowly chewing the chicken meat. She winced whenever Bruce took a large bite of his chicken leg. Sauce clung to his cheeks as he laughed at a joke Nick had made.

Ferah sat between Jordan of the Sapphire Team and Dominick. Dominick was short, so like an older sister, Ferah helped him get food from plates being passed around.

"I'm starving." Said Dominick, as Ferah unloaded some fried rice onto his plate. "Back at home, we eat dinner at 5:30." He said, reaching for his water to chug down and clear his throat.

Using one hand to pass a dish, Ferrah used her other hand to carefully hold a pair of chopsticks and slurp up some noodles. "I suspect that they didn't want us having dinner with the usual guests. We're so loud."

She looked up as someone threw a caramel-covered apple slice at Kaze. Kaze caught it with one hand in his palm, holding it above his head as he took a swig of his water. With one swift strike, the apple slice slammed back into Alex's face, almost making him fall backwards in his chair.

"Well, it's a good thing that Mr. Hirogawa isn't here." Said Selene. As she delicately moved a piece of chocolate cake onto her plate, a return shot of garlic bread from someone on the Ruby Team whizzed by. Aaron grabbed an orange and hurled it at Cassandra. Cassandra quickly moved from her chair and the orange flew behind her and smashed into the wall. She smiled at Aaron, who smiled back, and loaded a limp pizza stick.

Ferah walked into the same meeting room as before, still nervously. She rubbed at her sweater's sleeve, which had coke spilt on it.

The tables had been cleared except for the main one in the center. Mr. Hirogawa awaited her. "Hello, Ferah." He said. Only one executive stood at his side, still holding his clip-board.

"Hi, Hirogawa–Sensei." She said, quietly, and took a seat at the table.

"Ah." He said, smiling. "Am I sensei to you?"

She nodded. "I want to be something big in the video game industry." Ferah was lying. Hopefully, by pleasing him, she would be able to stay. She really wanted to become a world-famous fashion designer when she grew older.

"That's good. You get good grades?" He asked.

Was 'good' the only adjective in his dictionary? "Yes, of course." That wasn't exactly a lie.

"That is good. Anyway, we must talk of the matter at hand. Tell me what happened to Van Fell." He said, and folded his hands. The executive took a seat. She saw on his clip-board as he laid it down information about her brother.

"Like I said, Van's my brother. He committed suicide about three weeks ago. But he didn't kill himself completely. He's still alive, but barely. The doctor's are giving him a medicine to relieve his pain, but in doing so it'll probably end up killing him. But he's says that's okay. He says he doesn't want to live." She didn't want to look at Mr. Hirogawa. She turned to face the dull, gray carpet. "So he wants me to take his place in this tournament. He wants me to win." She looked back up at Mr. Hirogawa. He had limited expression on his face. The executive, however, looked sympathetic.

"Please, Hirogawa-Sensei," Breathed Ferah. "Let me grant his last wish?" She didn't go any further. She didn't want to sound like she was pleading. She just wanted to do this.

Mr. Hirogawa gave a redundant nod. "Alright." He said, very simply, and softly. The executive took out a few pages from his clip-board and tucked them away. "Sign here. We also need a guardian signature, so if you would please give the phone number or e-mail address of your guardian..."

Ferah wrote down Dameon's cellphone number, as well as his e-mail address. Then she signed beneath.
Ferah Marie Fell

"Alright." Said the executive, giving the black band to Mr. Hirogawa. He looked it over. "Take good care of your Avatar, and let's just hope you have the same fighting style as your brother." He dropped the band in Ferah's small hands.

Ferah smiled a little and tucked it into her sweater pocket. "Arigatou."

XXX

So, that's about it. But so you guys can keep track of your favorite characters, here's a list of the Players and their Avatars.

RUBY TEAM:
Mario: Ryan
Zelda: Cassandra
Kirby: Nick
Dragonair: Madison
Falco: Alex

SAPPHIRE TEAM:
Marth: Trent
Crystal: Kristina
Ruto: Amanda
Charizard: Jordan
Peach: Mischa

EMERALD TEAM:
Fox: Kaze
Link: Aaron
Roy: Ferah
Daisy: Selena
Mr. Game and Watch: Dominick

TOPAZ TEAM:
Bowser: Bruce
Nana: Claire
Saria: Alice
Jigglypuff: Stephanie
Ness: Eric

AMYTHEST TEAM:
Samus: Karen
Luigi: Scott
Popo: Jess
Shiek: Victoria
Pikachu: Bridget

So. Hope I get some good reviews, eh? Tell me some feedback, and if you have a lot to say, try e-mailing me. Thanks so much for reading. I hope that I'll like this story enough as you hopefully do, so I continue with it till the end. If this goes really well, I'll make my own gallery (probably Deviant ) so I can post character designs. I'm a better artist than I am a writer. ;.; Speaking of video games and art, I sent in a picture of a girl as Roy into Nintendo Power. Maybe it'll get published! Look for it.

Special Thanx to my Editor, XaNGrrR, and to Kuley.

-SK