Melee Academy of Higher Learning for Boys

Year One

-One-

Welcome to Melee Academy, read the large sign situated on the front lawn of the school campus, the sign not big enough to accommodate the full name of the school. In smaller print below that: Home to the Melee Smashers! The school itself was nothing special—it was made of tan coloured brick and some other sort of stone, and from certain angles, the place had a strange look to it. The lawn was well manicured and was surrounded by a black iron fence. A cement walkway led up to grey stone steps, which in turn led to three sets of double doors, pillars in-between them.

Milling about the campus were students in bright blue blazers and black dress pants, the only thing distinguishing them from each other were the colour of their ties. Some were sitting on the front steps; others were standing or sitting around the fence in clusters. Even though it was a typical hot September day and the blazers were not required for the summer uniform, many wore them anyway, mostly because they couldn't find their dress shirts and substituted another, obviously-not-dress-shirt-material one instead.

Roy Pherae was standing at the corner of Devon and King Streets studying the school and the surrounding area. He stood under the only shade on the block, which happened to be by a particularly dangerous bit of sidewalk—it was almost vertical thanks to the tree roots.

What a weird place for a tree. Who puts trees just on street corners?

Nintendo Land was weird like that. The school was even weirder inside, as he would find out. Roy was the only one not wearing a blazer, and thus stuck out. This coming from a school that had anthropomorphic animals and Pokémon for teachers.

He'd better get used to it. Some of those people were his coworkers, his teammates, his friends…and housemates. And this was going to be his home for the next four years of his life.

Xoxo

Link scanned the hallway for the first year list of names. He'd found the second and third years' lists, which would have helped him had he not flunked his first year here—it wasn't his fault he had to leave in order to save Hyrule (again). The list wasn't where it was last year; in its place was the third year list.

"It'd be nice if they had a sign or something that said the general area or direction or something," Link muttered, dodging a burly looking second year in the process. "I feel like I've gone in circles."

"That's because you have."

Link turned and found himself staring into the eyes of a boy who looked like he might have been his age, maybe a little younger, with garish red hair and an equally puzzled expression on his face.

"Hey, you're the kid who's diagonal from me at the Manse," said Link. "Are you Roy or…" What was the other guy's name? Mark? Something like that? "Mark?"

"I'm Roy," answered the boy. He smiled and held out his hand. "I'm guessing you're Link then?"

Link grinned and returned the handshake. "Well my younger half's name is also Link, so you'd be right even if you were wrong." At Roy's look: "It's a little complicated to explain. Let's go find that list."

After five minutes, they found the first year list in the main hall, right by the auditorium doors. It was obstructed by a group of first years who looked like they had just received their letters of admittance to Hogwarts.

"This is the real fun part," said Link, as he pushed his way to the front of the crowd. "Figuring out which list has your name on it."

The list itself was made up of several pages, each taped next to each other on the wall in reverse alphabetical order.

"What's your last name?"

"Pherae."

"Is that an 'F' or a "P"?"

"'Ph'," said Roy. Link traced his finger down the page that contained the 'P' students. There weren't all that many, so Roy's name was easy to find. "You're in room two-eighteen-en." He moved on to search for his name. He found it, albeit misspelled. "They always forget the second 'k'."

"Where are you?" Roy asked, taking care to not smudge the now penned homeroom number on the palm of his hand.

"Two-seventeen-en," Link replied, and led Roy out of the crowd and into the middle of the hallway. "That's…I'll just show you." After all, Link was never very good at giving directions.

Link turned left by the guidance suite and passed by the second and third years' lists, Roy next to him, before going through the door at that end of the hallway. Down a flight of stairs and another door, and they were in some sort of tunnel quite a ways off the ground. There was another one across from them, on the other side, presumably leading to the other side of that floor, and one above that to the floor above. Through another set of doors they went, and they came to a crossroads, where they could either go straight and left through yet another door, or they could go right and down another hallway. Blue lockers lined all of the walls, broken up by sliding doors to each of the classrooms. Link went right, and Roy followed.

"This," Link said, gesturing to the first door they came to, "is my homeroom, two-eighteen-en. Yours is right next door."

Roy nodded. Easy enough to navigate. From what he could see, there weren't all that many classrooms on this floor to begin with, just on the one wall.

"I'll see you after the homeroom period and we can compare schedules, 'kay?"

"Sure," said Roy with a smile. Link waved and entered his classroom, which was pretty empty still. Roy continued on to the classroom next door, which was the complete opposite—there were barely any seats open, which was okay considering that there weren't all that many seats to begin with. He took the lone seat open in the back, over by the windows. From his vantage point, he had a nice view of the plaza-breezeway area between the two buildings, which consisted of really nothing but stairs. These stairs led to the lower areas of the building and eventually the field and bleachers.

The bell rang, which sounded more like an air raid siren than a traditional school bell, and students in his class headed for their seats, the chatter subsiding just a little. Through the sliding door came a reddish furred fox, whose school ID proclaimed his name as being Fox McCloud.

I guess his parents couldn't think of a better name that didn't state the obvious?

Then again, Roy went to school in Ostia with a boy whose name was Dragon, and he was a quarter dragon. Whatever floats their boat, as they say.

Xoxo

When Roy exited out into the hallway, he noticed just how many students attended the Academy. Originally planned to be open just for those participating in the Tournament so their educations weren't disrupted, Master Hand (who also headed The Manse) decided last minute to open it up to the rest of the town, because otherwise "the Feng Shui was off." (In reality, Master Hand, being really cheap, didn't want to spend all this money on having a building open for just a handful of student-aged Smashers. It was the only thing he ever said that made some sort of logistical and financial sense.) The hallway was teeming with students trying to find their friends, their lockers, and their classrooms, in that order for the most part. Roy stepped to the side to avoid being swept up in the ocean that was the student body, and focused on trying to find Link.

Not that Link was difficult to spot since he, like Roy, wasn't wearing the blazer, and his ears were longer than everyone else's. Link spotted him first.

"Okay so schedule time!" he chirped. Roy held his schedule out, right next to Link's.

"First, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth periods we have in common." Link let his words sink in for a moment before saying, "Wait. We have first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth period in common." At Roy's look: "My Common was never the best in the world—I have a habit of using Hylian sentence structure sometimes."

Roy shrugged. "Happens to the best of us. If it helps, my Hylian isn't the best in the world, either." He grinned. "So where is our first period, oh faithful navigator?"

"Follow me!"

Making sure to not lose sight of him, Roy followed Link around the corner, back through the tunnel and down some more stairs (There's no shortage of stairs in this place, mused Roy), through more doors, and found himself in yet another locker-covered hallway. These lockers were a tan colour, the same as the linoleum and a slightly darker shade than the paint above the exposed brick.

"It's near the end of this hallway," Link explained, as they kept walking.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How do you know all of this?"

Link shrugged, and stopped in front of a door marked with the numbers 2-2-1.

"I was told to repeat this year because I took a leave of absence and someone messed up the paperwork, and they said either way I had to repeat everything anyway since there was no way to make the work up." He casually leaned against the wall next to the doorway.

"What was the absence for, if you don't mind me asking?"

Link explained all about how Hyrule needed a hero and how he was the "chosen hero" and was therefore obligated to come to its aid, which required him needing to leave school.

"Anyway, we should head in before the bell rings. Not that it matters because first years are exempt from tardies the first week, but that's no way to make a good first day impression."

Link slid the door open, nearly tripped over the metal track, and took the first available seat, which was right by the door. Roy sat to his left. Aside from them, there were a few other students, mostly spread out among the twenty or so seats that littered the room. Behind their table sat two boys named Stephen and Nicholas. Stephen was engrossed in a game on his DS and Nicholas was looking over his shoulder, watching. To Roy's left and on the other side of the empty chair was Gary Stu Wesker, who was never referred to by just 'Gary'. Behind him sat Dean and Alex, and situated all the way in the back left corner of the room was Andy, whose tie marked him as a third year, who most of the other Japanese class students simply referred to as 'senpai'.

In floated Mewtwo, who looked very displeased with his current position. Desperate times called for desperate measures, however, and his Tournament sponsors weren't exactly knocking on his door, either. Teaching wasn't even his choice, it was Master Hand's. Still, he couldn't complain, it gave him some extra money. Even though sometimes it wasn't worth it. He threw his binder onto his desk and teleported behind the podium he had in the room for reasons unknown.

"Kiritsu!"

No one moved. Link looked to Roy for assistance and Roy looked back at him in return.

Stephen, after a delayed reaction due to some hardcore things happening in Phoenix Wright, stood, arms to his side. He was the only one. He slapped Nicholas's shoulder, urging him to make him not stick out so much.

Mewtwo sighed. This was going to be a long year.

Xoxo

"They say the hardest place to locate is the gymnasium," said Link, as he pushed one of the doors to the gym open. The place was filled almost to capacity with students, most of them hanging out on the bleachers, though some stood next to or behind them. The ones behind them were busy exchanging things, and Roy suspected it wasn't pencils. (In reality it was Pokémon cards.)

"But the gym was the first thing I found," he finished, and took a seat on the lowest step of the bleachers closest to the teachers' table.

"Well it's nice when you find things you're looking for on the first try."

"I was looking for the library though."

Roy stared straight ahead. "Oh."

Link laughed. "Yeah. It was an experience."

"So what do we do here?"

Link crossed one leg over the other. "We sit."

Roy shifted. "That's it?"

"For right now, yeah."

Roy rested his elbows on his knees and placed his head in his hands.

"Exhilarating."

At the teachers' table sat Captain Falcon, Samus Aran, and a few other teachers that Link didn't recognize. Falcon was building a house out of playing cards, complete with a three car garage; Samus was reading a magazine with an expression that said, very clearly, I don't care about the celebrities I'm reading about, I'm just here killing time. The other teachers were animatedly talking to each other and trying in vain to get Samus to join in on their gossip.

"You have to get a coffee with us sometime, Sam."

"It's Samus."

"Saymuhs."

Samus sighed. "I don't do coffee dates."

"It's not a date, it's just a gossip meeting," said the teacher Samus normally referred to as Thing One.

"It'll be fun!" said Thing Two.

Metroids, kill me now.

"So we just sit here and wait for something exciting to happen?"

Link shook his head. "No, we wait for them to mark us in, and then we ditch this popsicle stand and do something that doesn't revolve around seeing how long it takes for your butt to get numb."

"Popsicle stand?"

"Do they not have popsicles from where you're from?"

Roy shrugged. "I guess not?"

Link gasped. "I will have to rectify this!"

Samus came over, a red binder in one hand, a pencil in the other. A few of the boys whistled appreciatively, and Samus sent them a glare that would probably kill Ridley, if he wasn't already dead.

"When I call your name, show some sort of acknowledgment." Samus Aran was not the type to beat around the bush. She wanted this over and quickly as possible.

She went through the list of names, and most of the names were acknowledged with whistles and "you're hot!"s and "be my love-muffin!" from one.

This is why I wear my suit all the time.

After their names were called and Samus moved on to a different part of the bleachers, Link and Roy stealthily made their getaway.

"Now what?"

Link shrugged. "Crazy Hand's in charge of security, so we're free to do whatever we want."

Crazy Hand never hired a security team. He deemed it unnecessary.

"So where to?"

"Wanna see where the pool is?"

Roy nodded. "Why not?"

Xoxo

"And here's the pool room!"

Link's voice echoed across what would have been the pool room if the pool had water and wasn't filled with broken desks and other assorted debris and garbage. Roy was practically sidled against the wall because the entrance Link used—the so-called "secret entrance"—was pretty much at the edge of the pool.

"Or should I say the junk room?" He kicked a chair leg. "They haven't used the pool since the place opened—asbestos." He whispered the last word, as if it was some big secret.

"So they use it as a dumpster?"

"Pretty much."

"Why not just get rid of the whatever and have it so you can use it?"

"It'd leak."

Roy stared at all the junk surrounding them.

"So they shouldn't have bothered."

"Yup." Link propped the door back open. "I've heard that there is a secret storage room behind a wall by one of the bathrooms, but I haven't found it yet, and no one's ever really seen it, so maybe it's some sort of urban legend."

Roy followed Link out and stared at him with a sort of awe.

"How do you know these things?"

Link shrugged with one shoulder. "I have a knack for finding secret spots and keys to open them." He gestured for Roy to follow. "Let's see if we can find the secret storage room before the bell rings."

Xoxo

"My apologies for missing your class," said a young man with blue hair and a regalish air about him. "Due to causes beyond my control—"

"Your excuses do not make up for the fact that you missed my class," said Mewtwo, irritation in his voice. "I would have expected better from a prince."

He scowled before remembering to regain composure. "My sincerest apologies once more, Mewtwo-sensei."

"I am not going to give you what you missed, that is your responsibility. Go find a classmate and waste their time, Marth."

Marth bowed once before sharply turning on his heel and walking out the door. It really wasn't his fault that the driver he hired to pick him up from the airport was shoddy with addresses and directions and didn't know a GPS from a brick off a house.

Next time I will just rent a car and drive here myself.

It was after school hours now, so the halls were mostly deserted. Some of the classrooms had students already requesting help, or they just wanted to get to know their teachers better, or were discussing club ideas. Marth was questioning why he even bothered coming in so late, especially when it was a half-day to begin with, and he came in during the second-to-last class of the day.

"Where am I going to find a classmate? I don't even know who's in my class."

After realizing he'd been walking in circles for the past five minutes, it dawned on Marth that this wasn't the third floor or the new building, where his locker assignment was.

Murphy's Law must be in effect for today.

Xoxo

"Older me, give me back my controller!"

"Not until you stop cheating at Mario Kart!"

Young Link glared at Link. "How does one even cheat at Mario Kart? You just suck!"

Roy had his Japanese textbook propped open on his knees as he heard the two Links bicker from his spot on the couch. His roommate had supposedly arrived and he hadn't seen or met him yet. Roy thought it odd that he hadn't tried to seek him out, but then again, he doubted his roommate knew what he looked like, either.

"Don't throw things at me! You'll kill me!"

"Older me, I doubt a GameCube controller will kill you. Or me. Or anyone, really." He stuck his tongue out, reset the console, and walked off before Link could react.

"If you need me, I will be with Ness and Popo." With that, Young Link left the room in search of his so-called 'partners in crime'.

Link sighed.

"Hard to believe he grows up to be me, huh?"

Roy smirked. "Just a little bit."

"He still cheated."

Just then, a young man around Link's age poked his head into the room before deciding it best to stand in the doorway instead.

"Are either of you in Mewtwo's first year Japanese class?" His voice was soft-spoken sounding, though firm in his request for information.

"Yeah," answered Link. "Why?"

"I was late," he explained. "Mewtwo refused to give me any information." He frowned for a split second before returning to more neutral ground. "He said to find classmates and ask them, and to not waste his time."

"You didn't miss much," said Roy. "He just gave us some stuff to look over and to ask questions tomorrow about it. Certainly nothing to worry about…um…"

"Hey… Are you that Mark guy?" Link asked.

The newcomer blinked. "It's Marth."

Roy gave Link a look. "Told you."

Link cleared his throat and got up from the floor, all thoughts of his younger self cheating in Mario Kart forgotten now.

"I'm Link and he's Roy. Roy's your roomie."

Marth raised an eyebrow.

"Roommate," Link corrected. "You're a prince, aren't you?"

"How did you…?"

Link grinned. "I work for a princess. You learn to spot these things." He gestured to the room they were in. "Sit, sit. We'll fill you in on everything."

Author's note: Well I kept my promise, didn't I? I said I'd remake it, and here it is! In case you weren't here for the original, there have been quite a few changes, because this was a complete rewrite of everything. So you'll notice a lot of big changes from this and the original, which is to be expected. There will definitely be much better continuity.

So I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I hope I'll see you in the next chapter of Year One!