Hey, this is Captain Game, co-author of the fic you're preparing to read! Just to make sure you know, this fic is based heavily in concepts appealing to F.A.s. If you don't know what that is... you should probably go read something else, I'll leave it at that. Read my profile if you want to know more, but for your own sake, read it with an open mind.
This is going to be a LOOOOONG fic, FYI - one encompassing many different characters from many different "worlds" doing many different things. You're in for one HELL of a ride, lemme tell you that. :3
Steel and I have spent a lot of time on this story, and we hope you enjoy reading it every bit as much as we enjoyed writing it - granted, that's a pretty high bar to set.
Legal Disclaimer: Steel and Game are our creations, and therefore our property. Everyone else belongs to one company or another.
The story of the F.A. Hotel begins in a poorly lit room – not the sort you'd imagine for a resort at all. It had an appearance like an abandoned laboratory or something of a similar nature. Sitting in one corner was on odd machine, having a round, flat area with steps going up to it and a number of odd looking controls and read-out screens. One of the nearby walls featured a few control panels and screens, along with a pair of computer terminals. The other wall near the machine also featured a few controls, but was easily dominated by screens, every last one of which was off.
The room had something of a war zone appearance, with panels removed from various machines, and tools, parts, and coverings littering the vast majority of the floor. The slightest sound caused an echo, so the sound of someone banging around inside one of the sections of machinery could clearly be heard.
"A machine that can access other dimensions…great idea, Game. Now if it would just stop breaking, everything would be fine!" complained a figure from beneath an odd array of machines and parts.
"Well, that's hardly my fault, Steel. It's not like anyone's ever tried using technology like this before." replied a second figure, who was sitting in a chair. This figure had short brown hair that was mostly hidden beneath a solid white baseball cap, and had blue eyes framed by the rectangular lenses of his glasses. He wore long, brown pants and a shirt that was solid white, featuring two rows of buttons and extending to his knees, looking very much like the clothing worn by high-class chefs.
Standing up, he snagged a clipboard that was resting on a nearby console. "Well, I'm gonna go check on the rest of this crazy place. You keep working here. Oh, and lemme know if you find my keys in there, huh?"
"You got it. What the…well, that's a fine kettle of fish." Game watched in shock as Steel tossed out a literal, old style kitchen kettle full of fish. Shaking his head, he left the room.
"The stuff we find in there is unreal… Now then…lessee, first stop, Chef Kawasaki…" Game walked down the hall and into the dining room, which led to the kitchen. As soon as he entered, he could hear the sound of pots and pans banging around. The dining room looked very much like what you'd find in an average hotel, except for being much bigger and having the tables spaced further apart than seemed necessary.
Several moogles and prinnies were running in and out of the kitchen. The moogles looked like solid white teddy bears with tiny wings on their backs and red pompom above their heads. The prinnies had a appearance like penguins, with peg-legs for feet. From inside the kitchen came the sound of someone whistling, this being Chef Kawasaki. The chef appeared fairly humanoid, but with no neck to separate his body and head, and no legs, and his skin was orange. He wore a white chef's hat and a white apron with a teal-colored pocket on the front.
"Hello in there." Game called out as he entered. The kitchen was also not anything spectacular in appearance, but very well designed, with shelves, pot racks, ovens, refrigerators, and other such necessities in all the right places.
"Whatever you want, it'll have to wai…MR. MANAGER, SIR!!" The Dream Land chef, who had been busy, turned to see his supervisor and dropped the pots in his hands in shock. "Just getting everything set up, sir!" he stated with renewed enthusiasm.
Looking at the mess of pots at the chef's feet, Game quietly asked, "Well, dropping stuff…doesn't…really help, does it?"
Kawasaki sweat-dropped and became embarrassed. "NO SIR! I'm so sorry, I'll have it all ready in no time!" He quickly began to scoop up the dropped pots, hurriedly resuming his preparations.
"Alright, then. And make sure you be careful with the ground fire flower, that stuff goes a long way…" His explanation, however, was cut short as one of the penguin-like prinnies tested his warning, and exploded from the overwhelming spiciness of the ingredient. "Never mind, just…go find a 1-up shroom or a phoenix down or something…"
"RIGHT AWAY, SIR!" With that, Kawasaki was off like a bullet, eager to please. As he left, another prinny entered the kitchen, looking at the charred mess caused by the explosion.
"D00d, what happened to Marty?" asked another prinny upon entering the kitchen.
Game shook his head again, and flipped to the next page on his clipboard. "Well, I guess I know how the prinnies are doing, so I guess I'll skip down to…"
He was interrupted again, this time by a moogle. "Kupo? Not again, that's the fourth prinny today, kupo!"
"Don't worry, they're used to it. In fact, I'm pretty sure someone used them to demolish the old Weight Watchers that used to be here." As the though of the old usage for the building entered his head, he shuddered in disgust. That would most certainly NOT be what it was used for now.
"Yeah, but if this keeps up, we're gonna have to install explosives warning signs, kupo!"
"Beware of sudden explosions, kupo!" a second moogle chimed in.
"Or we could just, you know, not throw 'em at stuff." Game suggested. Both moogles saluted, and Game took another look at the mess. "Well, clean the burn marks offa everything, ok?" The moogles nodded, and headed for the cleaning closet to get supplies for their task. "Let's see, what's next?" Putting the exploding penguins from his mind, Game headed out of the dining room and back into the hall. Game's mind was so centered on his clipboard, that he failed to notice the obstruction in his path, nearly tripping over it.
Looking down, he found his snag to be an adorable normal colored Chao. The much adored creature was about the same size as a child's stuffed toy, with a head almost as big as its body, tiny wings, and short arms and legs, with no fingers or toes, and a small pompom floating above a point on its head. "Aww! Hewwo there wittle guy!" he said with a happy smile on his face. The Chao looked up at him, smiling back and waving, then turning to crawl further down the hall. "Where are you going?" Game inquired, following the tiny creature as it crept along, talking to it as though it were a baby. Suddenly, the Chao stood up next to a cart used for room service, and began trying to push it.
"Aww, you wanna help! You're going to make some girl very happy. Come here you!" Snagging the Chao from the floor, Game began to tickle it a little, watching as it squirmed and smiled, its floating pompom changing to a heart.
"Fire in the hole!" shouted an unidentified voice, followed quickly by an explosion. Game gave his newfound buddy a worried glance.
"Maybe we should get you back to the Chao Garden, huh?" The tiny creature looked at him quizzically, then smiled as his pompom became a heart again, and it made a sound of happiness. "Yeah, I thought so. I'll come by and introduce you to your new friend later, ok? They are just going to eat you up! But let's get you back before a prinny trips on you."
He began to scan the walls near the floor while the Chao smiled and nodded. "Let's see, Steel said somethin' bout…oh, here we go." Having spotted what he was looking for, he knelt beside it. At first glance, it was nothing more than a vent, most likely for the AC/heater system. But this was a special vent, used for quite another purpose. Reaching out, Game knocked on it three times.
After a few seconds, what looked like a puddle of water came out of the vent. Once it was fully in the hallway, it began to alter its shape, revealing its true identity as Chaos, guardian god of the Chao. Though the creature had a somewhat human shape now, the extensions on the back of it's head and the fact that you could see through all of it, aside from what looked like a brain, would prevent you from confusing it as such. "Uh…hi." was all Game could think of as a hello. Being unable to speak, Chaos simply nodded. Remembering why he called the liquid creature out, he held out the Chao.
"The little guy got out, could you…? I have work to do." Chaos nodded again, reaching out and taking the chao. "Bye, bye, little chao! See you soon, ok?" he said, while smiling and waving to the chao. The chao waved back as Chaos began to plod off down the hall, heading for the chao garden. Watching him go, Game silently remarked "I'm glad he's not the waiter, poor things would starve at his speed." Flipping a page on his clipboard again, he resumed his previous activities.
"Ok, now just have to check the front desk, I think…" As he entered the front lobby, he saw the Lucario that was assigned to the front desk. The front area was, again, fairly typical, with a few things thrown up for decorations, but due to his nature, Lucario had insisted that the number of such items be kept limited.
As for Lucario himself, he stood like a human, at about the same height as well. His legs and hands were black, and his torso covered in tan fur, the rest of his was covered in blue fur. His face was shaped a bit like a dog's and had black rimming his eyes and traveling around to the back of his head, where two pairs of almost ear-like extensions hung, making it look as though he were wearing a mask.
Although the aura pokemon was standing, his eyes were shut, and a light blue mist of sorts was being emanated from him. Taking note of this, Game remarked, "Ah. Well, I know how much you hate being interrupted when you're slee-, erm, meditating, so I'll just leave you to it."
However, just as he turned to walk away, a voice responded in his head - "Sir, I would suggest that you come to this side of the counter for a moment." Despite having spoken, Lucario's eyes remained shut.
Game jumped a bit, his eyes growing wide. "That always freaks me out. Ok, coming." Lifting the piece of counter that allowed access, he stepped to the other side. Even as he did so, he could feel a vibration in the ground. Suddenly, with no warning, several saddle and shoe wearing dinos rushed past, each white on their underside and a solid color on their back, though each was a different color, and each wore different colored shoes. It looked as though they were racing one another. As the dust from their running cleared, Game realized that if he hadn't followed Lucario's suggestion, he'd probably be a pancake right now. He responded to this thought the only way he knew how. "…Eeep."
Without ever opening his eyes, Lucario smiled slightly and offered, "You may carry on sir. The halls are clear for the moment. I would also suggest that you shut the water off."
"I'll, um…go…do…that…" He quickly turned and rushed off, feeling a bit freaked out by Lucario's demonstration of his aura senses. As he walked down another hallway, he began to think things over a bit. "Ok, I should probably go do something about those yoshis before they hit one of the prinnies…Lucario woulda told me if that was gonna happen, right?"
Even as he walked, he noticed the pool room. It was designed with a painted landscape on the walls that mimicked the appearance of the beach, and the pool itself featured a slide, a diving board, and was deeper at the end with the board. There were also racks for towels and clothes, and small lockers for any other items, though they featured no locks. Next to those were a few small booths for guest to use for changing. However, what really got his attention was a large hole beside the pool that he didn't remember being there before. His eyes widened as a million possibilities raced through his mind.
"Just keep walking, Captain, just keep walking…" But his advice came too late. He could hear the sound of someone chanting 'dig a hole, dig a hole, dig a hole' over and over again, but it was quickly interrupted by the sound of a pipe rupturing. Water began to pour out of the hole like a geyser, and amongst the fluid was a tall guy wearing dirty blue jeans, a green jacket, with no discernable chin and having only one eyebrow.
"HEY, I FOUND IT!!"
"ED?! Dear god, if YOU'RE here, than that means…EDDY! Where are you hiding? Get out here right now!"
Finally managing to get out of the torrent of water, a dripping wet Ed-boy walked over and smiled. "Um, mister man, sir, it's only me. I was told to dig cause I'm a woodpecker…cept with dirt!"
"Oh. Well, that's one headache out of the way…but then, who told you to…never mind, I'm not sure I wanna know."
"The other mister man. He said if I found the leak I could have all the buttered toast I can carry. BUTTERED TOAST!!" The brainless Ed began to excitedly jump about at the thought of so much toast.
"Oh, ok…wait, is that the old leak or a new one?" Ed stopped short, and turned back and forth, looking between the still-rushing water and Game. Finally, he gave a happy grin and shrugged.
"J-just…keep your nose clean, ok? I'm up to my neck in problems as it is…"
"Can do!" Ed confirmed, giving a salute. "Dig a hole, dig a hole, dig a hole…"
Game began to head down the hall again, flipping through his papers. "Ok, let's see…cook, check. Exploding waiters, check. Cute alien life-form pets, check. Creepy meditating front deskman, check. Lump, check. Yoshis…" His train of thought was cut short as the ground began to vibrate again. He gulped, fearing what might be coming.
"Oh, NOW what? …Yoshi? Please tell me you're not gonna come tearing through here again…I have back problems already, see, and…" his words ended as the full rainbow of colored yoshis rounded a corner. It was hard to tell if it was a race or a stampede, but the one thing that was certain was that they were all headed right for him. "Umm…! YOSHI! Alayoshi, yoshi-yaboo…!" As he shouted the odd language, he silently prayed 'Please tell me I'm not rusty in this, I'm too young to die…'
The yoshis continued to barrel toward him - it was a good guess to say he had maybe ten seconds left before he'd be trampled. "YOSHI! YOSHI WA-YOSHI!" He tried again: 'STOP! STOP THIS MINUTE!' Now, with maybe only five seconds left, and the yoshis still coming full-force, he offered a quiet "…yosh?" - '…please?'
Having come to the decision that life would soon end for him, Game closed his eyes and braced himself. The sounds of the yoshis' running stopped suddenly, he slowly dared to open his eyes and look. Every one of the yoshis had stopped, and the green yoshi, who was in the front of the pack, had his nose almost up against Game. All of them were smiling, and several looked as though they were laughing.
"YOSHI! YOSHIYOSHWAWHO-YOSH!" shouted a now very upset Captain Game, the rough translation being 'NOT FUNNY! NOT FUNNY AT ALL, GUYS!' But the yoshis all continued to laugh, some laughing so hard that they flipped onto their backs. Game fought back his anger as best he could. "Screw this. Yosh! Yoshi-yosh-wa-boo. Yosh, yoshi?" (Ok, you had your laugh. Can you guys calm down a little before someone becomes a hallway pizza?)
Suddenly, every yoshi stopped laughing and turned to him, asking in unison, "YOSHI?!" (PIZZA?!)
'Ok, patience running thin…' thought Game as he responded with, "Yosh. Alayoshi, yosh?" (Yeah, pizza. Go ask Kawasaki, ok?)
"YO-YOSHI!!" (LET'S GO!!) shouted every yoshi as they turned around and began to dash off.
As they stormed off, Game sighed. "I love them to death, but they're just so scatter-brained." Suddenly hearing a slight whistling noise, he looked up just in time to see a green spotted egg just before it slammed into his face.
"Yosh-yosh." (I heard that.) replied a voice from down the hall.
"Maybe I'll just crawl back into bed for the day. I mean, I was ready to quit after Ed showed up, but this is just…ugh." He began to wipe the bits of eggshell off as he headed down the hall once more. "Since when were any of them bilingual anyway? Ugh. Guess I'll drag myself back upstairs."
As he approached the nearby staircase, he watched in horror as a prinny suddenly flew into view from it. He closed his eyes and waited for the boom, but when he heard nothing, he opened his eyes to see that the prinny had landed on a pillow being held by two moogles. "Famfrit bless you two." he offered as he noticed the scorch marks of multiple explosions around the spot where they had caught the prinny. Both moogles nodded and gave a happy kupo in response. "What's wrong with you guys today, anyway? Honestly, they're called your feet, watch out for 'em."
"Urgh…will do, d00d-sir…I need a nap…"
Rolling his eyes, Game turned and headed up to the next level, entering the first room he came across. Walking in, he took a look at what was a very simple…and very empty…room. No bed, no TV, no couch…no nothing.
"Let's see, we'll design these based on what the girls are like." Reaching behind him, his hand entered a backpack that was shaped like a block and marked on four sides with a question mark. He pulled out an item that was about the right size for a sword, but it looked more like a pen. "Hope this thing still works."
As he begin to plan his first move, he suddenly heard the sound of the shower running, even though all the rooms should be empty of guests for now. "Oh yeah, I forgot, the water's still on…" He headed for the bathroom, absentmindedly dragging the over-sized stylus behind him, drawing a line. As he began to reach for the knob, he noticed the sound of singing coming from inside.
"Oh, now what? …Hello?" he asked as he opened the door, freezing upon doing so. Inside the shower was a grey rabbit, standing on two legs and washing in the water. Game remained stunned and silent for several seconds, during which time the rabbit happened to turn and see him. The rabbit quickly reacted like a girl, pulling the shower curtain over its torso and screaming.
Quickly slamming the door, Game shook his head in disbelief as he headed out of the room. Even as he did, he could just barely make out a voice in the bathroom saying "I knew I shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque."
"That's it, I'm gonna throttle him…STEEL!" Game furiously pounded his way back down the halls, not even noticing when he bumped a prinny on the stairs, causing it to explode. Arriving back at the control room, he threw the door open with a loud bang, not caring if it fell off its hinges from his actions.
"STEEL! What the hell are you doing? Ed's destroying the pipe work and I just found Bugs effing Bunny in the in the shower! Do you know how long it's gonna take to get the fur outta the drain? Do you?!"
Steel rolled out from under a part of the machinery on a creeper, allowing a good view of himself. He also had short brown hair and blue eyes, though he wore no hat or glasses. While Game wore professional-looking shoes, Steel wore white tennis shoes that had clearly seen better days, as indicated by the tears in them. He wore blue-jean shorts, and a black t-shirt that featured the words 'When the going gets tough, the tough use duct tape' and having a picture of the item. Over this, he wore a blue vest that was left unzipped, allowing it to move freely.
Looking at his partner like he could care less, he replied, "Well excuse me, I'd like to see you do any better with fixing this confounded machine…and I hired Ed, FYI. Do you know anyone else that'll dig a hole for gravy?"
Game was losing all control of his temper, ready to come unglued in an instant. "Who's next, huh? Giga Bowser?! Why don't we just level the place, huh? Move over!"
Steel pushed himself aside, remaining on the creeper. "Be my guest. I'm gonna laugh so hard when you screw this up…"
Swiping the tools from his hands, Game angrily replied, "You know that ship Sora, Donald, and Goofy ride around in? The gummi ship? Wanna know who designed it? So shut up."
Steel shot a blank look, his eyes fully revealing his disbelief even before he could state it. "You're lying…"
"…Well, yes I am, but shut up anyway." He continued to mess around within the array of parts, looking for anything that seemed out of the ordinary – well, out of the ordinary for a machine designed to bring girls from other dimensions for fattening. "Ok, I think I mighta found the problem. See that thing? I think it was hitting against that thing and that other thing came out…"
Steel chuckled. In a voice that seemed to drip sarcasm, he offered, "Yeah, that explains everything…so, could you be a little MORE vague about 'the thing' and 'the other thing'?"
Game glared daggers at Steel. "Well, if you get the light out of my eye and back in the machine, maybe I can."
Steel sweat-dropped and gave a nervous laugh as he quickly repositioned his flashlight, allowing the machine's innards to be seen. Taking another look inside, Game found what he was looking for. "That…that gear, there, I think it came loose."
"So fix it, genius."
"Fine. You go have Lucario tell Bugs to go home. He's a furry, maybe Bugs'll listen to him."
"I got another idea…" Steel reached behind another machine, pulling out a double-barreled shotgun and a hunters cap. "It's wabbit season!"
"No." responded Game, his voice flat, certain, and unyielding.
"Please?"
"Things are going 'boom' around here enough, thank you."
Steel sighed in defeat, tossing the items aside. "Some fun you are. Fine, I'll have Lucario handle it, and while I'm at it I'll get Ed out of here. Happy now?"
Momentarily turning his attention away from his task, Game replied, "Ed can stay, as long as he doesn't break anything." After a few seconds of thinking his own words over, he couldn't help but to add, "There's a fool's gamble for you…"
Suddenly, from another room, a loud eruption was heard, most likely another pipe, followed by Ed's voice. "IT WASN'T ME, EDDY!!"
Grumbling, Game turned to Steel again. "Go bring the other two. They more or less balance out to harmless when they're in a group. Just don't let Eddy near anything he could sell, got it?"
"WAY ahead of you on that one. Be back soon!" he called as he hoped onto the transport pad, the device in the corner.
"And don't let him within 500 yards of this room, got it? The last thing we need is Eddy scamming entire dimensions." Steel shuddered at the very thought. Game continued, "'sides, Double D can help with the construction and stuff…just keep them all under tabs, got it?"
"I got it. Be right back." Flipping a switch, Steel vanished from the room as the machine created a contained rift in the fabric of space.
As he continued the slow work on the machine, Game rethought of everything he'd already seen so far today. "I mean, Bugs is funny and all, but where he goes, Yosemite and Elmer go, and we don't need our guests getting pumped full of buckshot…and then there's that damn coyote and his Acme crap…"
His rant came to a halt as the machine sparked, and when it did, as though on cue, he saw none other than Wile E. Coyote appear, looking panicked and holding a lit stick of TNT in his hand. Muttering under his breath, Game couldn't help but ridicule himself. "Hey Wile, I'd like you to meet my big mouth…"
Even as he began to try and decide what to do, the rift opened again, and out stepped Steel, A shot guy with three long hairs and wearing blue jeans and a yellow shirt with a red stripe, and a taller one, wearing purple pants, a red shirt, and a black sock, er, hat with two thin white stripes on his head. The shorter was Eddy, the taller was Double D, who was talking in his usual way. "I mean, the technology is astounding, and…is that a coyote with a stick of dynamite?"
Steel looked across the room, his eyes going wide. "DEAR LORD, IT'S GONNA BLOW!!"
"EVERYBODY HIT THE DECK!" added Eddy, diving behind a pile of parts. Thinking fast, Game flipped the portal back on and shoved Coyote through, just in time for everyone to watch the screen as the explosion took place. As the portal closed, everyone gave a sigh of relief.
As Eddy came back out into the open, Steel fished a box out of his pocket and offered it to him. "Here ya go, just like I promised. Now go find that lump of yours."
Eddy greedily snagged the box, a huge grin on his face. "Whoo-hoo! C'mon sock-head, we got WORK to do!" He turned and headed into the hall, grinning all the way to the proverbial bank.
Still looking terrified from seeing Coyote, Double D nervously turned to Steel. "It's too late for me to go home, isn't it?"
"Very."
"I was afraid of that…" Double D sighed as he turned to chase after his friend. "Eddy, be careful, we don't know what we could find in a place like…DEAR LORD, DINOSAURS!!!"
Game returned to his work on the machine, his face hidden from view as he did so. "They'll be fine, stuff like this happens to them in every episode…I mean, they've even gotten blown up and stuff, and… Let's just… move on." The whole time he was talking, he was also banging and thumping around in the machine, attempting to repair it.
"Hey, at least my bribe should keep Eddy happy." Steel interjected.
Game laughed. "The Eds can't hang on to anything they get for more than fifteen minutes, and you know it. I mean, any second now, a yoshi's gonna come through here with the box in his mouth…"
Steel's attention was grabbed as a yellow colored yoshi walked past the control room door, carrying the box in its mouth.
"Followed by a bruised short greedy kid…"
Eddy then rushed past the door, shouting, "THAT'S MINE! GET BACK HERE YOU DUMB LITTLE….THING!"
"Followed by Double D, who'll be going on about safety…"
Double D also hurried past the door, calling out, "It's not worth it, Eddy! We don't know what kind of diseases it could carry, or…"
Quickly spinning back around, and feeling a bit freaked out, Steel quickly cut his friend off. "Please just shut up, I get it already…" Suddenly, the yellow yoshi entered the room, dropping the box, which fell to the floor and opened to reveal a watch with C.G. engraved on it.
Game shrugged, not having seen the events that had just unfolded. "Just saying. …Hey, what's…" he noticed the opened box and revealed watch.
"Oh, snap!" exclaimed Steel, getting rather nervous, and sweat-dropping. But much to his surprise, Game just went back to working on the machine.
"I'm going to ignore it in the interest of stopping the madness. Just escort the Eds to wherever the hell you want them and let's get this machine fixed." Steel nodded, reaching out and snagging Eddy by the collar as he attempted to reclaim his lost loot.
"But the…but…" Eddy stuttered, still feeling confused by what all had just happened.
"I'll make it up to you with all the jawbreakers you can eat as soon as your work's done." Eddy's eyes went wide at the mere thought of so many jawbreakers, and he happily headed out again. Meanwhile, Double D entered, half an eggshell on his head, and looking rather traumatized.
"It…….ate…….me…" he slowly offered, shaking and looking ready to vomit.
"Oh, suck it up…" complained Eddy, thinking only of his soon-to-come rewards.
From somewhere off in the distance, the shouts of 'I GOT IT' and crashes could be heard. Steel gave Eddy a push down the hall. "Just follow that, you can't miss him. And here…" he paused to hand Double D a towel. "It happens to all of us, get used to it. Ok, off you both go."
As Double D left, he was still shaking and clutching the towel tightly, as though his life depended on it. "Intestinal germs, gingivitis, salmonella…"
Eddy rolled his eyes in annoyance. "You never stop, do you?"
Turning back into the control room, Steel shook his head with a slight smile. "I bet he doesn't. So, how's the machine coming?"
Game sighed, still being hidden by the machine he was working on. "Um, well, I've managed to put in some control passwords to keep stuff from just wandering in…"
"Like Wile E.?"
"Or Dr. Eggman, or Bowser, or Ganondorf, or anyone else that could be an issue."
Steel nodded. "This is a good plan. So, are the view-screens operating yet?"
"Not yet…just the Looney Toons, wanted to make sure no more random cartoon violence came in here…big mistake, while I was watching them, Tom & Jerry came through, and…"
Steel shrugged again. "A cat and a mouse. What harm could they be?"
Game finally pulled away from the machine, revealing his face to be covered in scratches, bruises, and bumps. "None, if the mouse didn't have the proportional strength of an ant. How does he lift baseball bats and rakes and such, anyway?"
Steel grimaced upon seeing Game's face. "I'm sorry I asked, and I have no idea. At least you didn't get the Fairly Oddparents or anything like that…"
Game's eyes got wide. "Don't even go there. I'm having enough problems with non-magical issues, thank you very much." As he returned to working, he quietly added, "'sides, babies bug me…"
Steel chuckled at his remark. "I see that." Talking to no one in particular, he silently wondered aloud, "I wonder if this is what it felt like at the hotel that hosted the after party for Smash Bros Brawl…"
Game didn't respond, though, as his own thoughts had begun to drift. 'Trixie's sorta cute though. Dammit, focus on the machine!'
Noticing Game's distracted state, Steel leaned over and waved his hand in front of Game's face. "Hello, alternate dimension to Captain Game…anyone there?"
Game quickly snapped out of it. "It just occurred to me that there's no real defense against magical wishes." The very though caused him to shudder in fear.
Steel smiled, snapping his fingers as he replied, "Not true. Tell 'em, H.P."
Game's eyes instantly turned into screaming alarms. "NO…god, no! Just…just send everyone that doesn't have to be here…dear god, you didn't SIGN anything, did you?"
A pixilated cloud appeared with the word PING written on it, then disappeared to reveal a very short man wearing a grey suit, with a grey, pointed hat and square wings. This was, of course, the Head Pixie. "Indeed. We have a magical contract that ensures your dimension can't be touched by fairies."
"That's great!" Game stated, plastering a fake smile onto his face. Leaning a bit closer to Steel, he quickly whispered, "So, why is he helping us? We're fun."
"I can hear you." commented the Head Pixie. "As per usual, all we ask are certain merchandising rights, a few measly royalties, and *cough*absolutecontroloffairyworld*cough*"
"…well, alright then, have a nice day!" Game gave a small sigh of relief as Head Pixie disappeared in another pixilated cloud.
"Ya just gotta know how to pay your cards. Though I doubt these H.P. mugs are gonna sell anytime soon." He gave one of the items a disgusted look.
Game growled slightly in annoyance. "Whatever. Anything else pointless and random we need to deal with before we get this show on the road?"
From way off in the distance, the sound of Double D's voice echoed down the hallways as he screamed, "DEAR LORD, ED, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
"…nope, I think that's it." Steel responded.
"Uh huh, Eddy's probably chasing Ed around right now, that should keep them occupied for a bit, and I think I've almost got this thing fixed…"
"YAY! I'll throw the switch!" Over anxious, Steel quickly gripped the item. "Here we go!" He threw the switch into the on position, and watched excitedly. But only a couple of the screens came on, and they were still a bit dull. And a few of them fell off of their resting spots.
Steel took a moment to realize what all had happened. "O……k……well, partial function is better than no function, right? Hmm…I wonder if the emeralds are misaligned…"
"Emeralds?" Game inquired.
"You think this puppy tears into other dimensions on its own?! Takes some serious power to do that! So, I used the best power source I know of…the Chaos Emeralds!"
Game could feel his mind swimming in confusion. "But how did we get the Emeralds without using the machine?"
"Chaos."
"But how did we get HIM without…oh, never mind."
Steel took a closer look at the screens that had come on, hoping to see something of interest. "Trust me, some things are better not known…"
Game just shook his head as he got back under a part of the machine. "Well, I'm going to see what we can see from what we have. You go check the latest couple of projects, by now Double D has probably started making the blueprints."
Steel snagged the clipboard Game had set down upon reentering the room. "Right. I remember the mall and the Safari Zone, anything else?"
"Uh…hey, we got an arcade?"
Steel flipped through the papers on the clipboard. "Umm…not yet."
"Well, then get on it!"
"Right away, Captain!" With a mock salute, he quickly turned and hurried out into the hall. He began to flip through the pages again, talking to himself as he went. "Let's see here…Double D can handle designing the arcade, I just gotta decide where to put it. Hmm…ok, the Safari Zone is closest, I'll go there first."
It was just a little ways down one of the halls before he reached it, several trees and bushes and such, giving the area a feel of having an indoor jungle. It even featured a few blooming plants and ivy that was climbing up the walls. "Ok, stop one, Safari Zone, the one stop need for all things cute in the world of pokemon. Just who all we got in here, anyway. Let's see…Pichu, Elekid, Roselia, Buneary…we have a Riolu?!"
"You don't expect me to leave him alone, do you?"
Steel cried out in surprise, jumping almost all the way to the ceiling. Spinning around, he found the speaker to be Lucario. "How many times must I tell you: DO. NOT. SNEAK. UP. BEHIND. ME!"
"My apologies, every now and again I forget that not everyone is as aware as I am."
Steel silently growled to himself. "It might help if, every once in a while, you'd actually stop seeing everything through your aura power. Anyway, you were saying something about the Riolu?"
Lucario simply shrugged off the aura comment before continuing. "He's mine, you see. Sort of an…apprentice. He's a bit hyper, and the results of leaving him to his own devices would be disastrous."
Steel shuddered slightly. "Well, the prinnies and yoshis are disastrous enough. Speaking of, are the yoshis anywhere near here? I'm not anxious to get flattened…"
"They're currently asking the chef about pizza…I'd leave him alone for a while."
"Will do. Oh, before I forget, somewhere around here, we got Bugs Bunny. Would you please see to it that he's safely returned to the Looney dimension?"
The aura pokemon replied a look that clearly read 'you're kidding, right?' before heading down the hall, his aura senses having already located the unwelcome guest. Steel, satisfied that all was well here, began to leave, only to abruptly stop. "Wait…if he was here…who's watching the front desk? Not that it matters, we have no guests ye…MAGBY, NO! DON'T SPIT FIRE AT THE PRINNIES!!"
The baby flame pokemon turned around. It stood maybe two feet tall, tops, and was mostly red, but with a yellow mark on its stomach that was shaped like a flame, and its mouth looked a bit like a beak. As it looked at Steel, it suddenly burst into tears. "Mag! MAAaaaag…." Still crying, the baby pokemon turned and ran into one of the bushes.
"Man, I forget how emotional these little pokemon can get. I'll make sure to come give him a treat later. Now then, I guess I should go check on the mall next…on the way, I'll look in on the Eds…"
"Look out below!"
Steel's attention snapped upward. "Oh, snap!" He quickly dived to one side, barely missing the falling item. "What in the world…is that a tub full of gravy?"
Ed jumped down from somewhere higher up. Landing without a problem, he gave a goofy grin as he answered, "Yes it is, thank you very much…"
"Where's Double D?"
Suddenly, Eddy pulled himself out from under the tub, clearly in shock from being crushed. "No more waffles gramma, I'm full…"
Steel raised an eyebrow at Eddy's remark. "Ok, two out of three…seriously, though, where is Double D?"
Eddy shook his head hard, snapping out of his trance. "He left to go play video games or something, and made me baby-sit lumpy here."
Steel's eyes got so wide in disbelief, they were almost threatening to escape from their sockets. "Double D went to play video games?! I though he was the responsible one here…"
Eddy scoffed in annoyance. "He said something about video games. Like I was listening."
Steel placed a hand over his eyes, trying to calm himself. "Of course, the only words you can listen to are 'quarter' and 'jawbreaker'…"
"Jawbreaker?!" exclaimed Eddy, looking ready to explode from happiness.
"Even I am not that dumb, Mr. Steel." interjected Ed.
"Thank you for sharing that, Ed. Dare I ask where you got a tub full of gravy?"
"Uh…SEVEN! Do I win?" said Ed, a large smile on his face.
Steel slapped his hand into his face. "This is going nowhere fast. Ok, Eddy, keep Ed under control and I'll give you three jawbreakers later, deal?"
Eddy's eyes had a nuclear explosion effect at the thought of jawbreakers. "Deal! C'mon monobrow, let's go find a closet to lock you in."
As Eddy dragged Ed off, Steel sighed to himself. "What horrors have I unleashed? Moving on…Double D! Where are you?" As he went further down the hall, he began to make out the sound of mumbling that could only be Double D talking to himself. Rounding a corner, he found him working in the hall. He was working on a machine, using a blowtorch and wearing a wielders mask, and hadn't noticed Steel yet. "Um, Double D?" Steel walked up behind him and lightly tapped his shoulder.
"Yaah!" exclaimed Double D, jumping up a bit before turning around. "Oh, hello there…"
"Sorry, I was trying not to scare you. How are things going?"
Double D smiled. "Oh, quite well…I found this old Pac-Man machine at the dump. Honestly, the things people throw out…do they know how much this sort of thing costs? Just a little work, that's all."
Steel took a better look at the machine. "Sounds great, I was actually gonna ask you to build an arcade room, this'll fit in great!"
"Actually, the Captain already told me when I went to ask where to find some tools, but thank you anyways."
"Well, I'll let you get back to your work…but as soon as you're done, please go take care of Ed…"
Double D turned to face Steel again, looking a good deal worried. "What did he…never mind, I'm not sure I want to know…"
Steel scratched the back of his head. "All I know is, one second everything's fine, the next, I almost get hit with a falling tub full of gravy. …Come to think of it, where did that tub fall from, anyway?"
"The next floor?" Double D chuckled a bit at his suggestion. "I'll fix it as soon as I'm done here."
"Good. Oh, and how's the pool?"
"Don't ask…"
Steel grimaced a bit. "That bad? …Don't answer that. Ok, next up, the land of mask wearers and robot lego men…" commented Steel as he flipped to the next page on his clipboard.
Double D's eyes went wide. "Excuse me?!"
"Nothing you need to worry about. Keep up the good work."
As Steel turned and began to walk off, Double D slowly turned back to the machine. "Mask wearing robot men? Sounds like one of Ed's comics…"
Steel pulled out a pen and quickly jotted a few notes onto the current page. "Ok, let's see…I guess I'll mark the pool as closed for repairs…Game's gonna have my hide for that…time to go check on the mall." Rounding a few corners, he pushed open a pair of double doors that led into the still being worked on mall.
The current staff of the mall were all running around like crazy. Servbots were busy working, running about as fast as their little legs could carry them. There were also large numbers of Shy-Guys, and while a few of them were working, most were goofing off. Several had gotten into a shipment of stilts, and were walking around on them.
The servbots really did look like lego men, except for being two feet tall. They had blue bodies, with yellow, pincher like hands and yellow heads that look like they belonged in a building blocks set, had they been small enough. The Shy-Guys looked somewhat square-shaped, with shoed feet but no legs, stubby arms, and wearing masks. As Steel observed the ones on stilts, he felt his patience slight snap for a second.
"HEY! Those are for customers only…Yoshi's Island was a long time ago, no more Shy-Guys on stilts! You there, servbot, what's your number?" As the servbot turned to answer, a Shy-Guy walked up to Steel and dropped a phone book at his feet. "Ha, ha, very funny. Now, answer me."
"Um…17, Miss T-erm, Mr. Steel."
"Well, how are things coming in here so far?" Even though he asked, Steel wasn't completely sure he actually wanted the answer.
"Um, the Shy-Guys aren't helping much, but most of the framework is done."
"Good. I'd just work around the Shy-Guys; they won't be of much use until everything's up and running."
"I think one of the flying ones took 27."
Steel quickly looked up from the clipboard. "Aww, man, I like that guy! I'll make sure he gets back in one piece." Servbot 17 saluted and walked off. Switching his tone to sound like a military drill sergeant, he called out, "Servebots 10-13, I wanna see you right, and I wanna see you now!"
From amongst the crowd, two servbots come forward and saluted. "Ok, I see 10 and 11…where's 12 and 13?"
One of the servbots offered, "Um, 12's up in the rafters, and 13's…uh…"
"Who know what?" Steel interjected. "I'm not gonna ask. You two just keep an eye on the front doors, and do not…I repeat, DO NOT let any prinnies in here. The last thing we need is explosions in here, too."
The first servbot exclaimed, "Oh yeah, THAT'S what happened to 13…"
The second piped up as well. "He asked a prinny to bring him something, and…we didn't know…"
"Oh…OH! Poor guy…I'll see about having him rebuilt. Just make sure no more prinnies get in here, ok?"
"Yes, sir!" both servbots replied, marching over to their new post.
Steel flipped through his pages one last time as he walked back into the main section of the hotel. "Ok, I guess that's everything. Guess I'll go see how Game's doing." As he began to head back, he quietly mused to himself, "I wonder if we can connect to any of the other Megaman dimensions…"
