Shopping Strip

Disclaimer: I do not own Super Smash Brothers. That goes to Nintendo. I also do not own Queen's Blade that is owned by Hobby Japan. I also do not own Dark Knight Ingrid that is made by Lilith-Soft. The only characters I own are those from the Golden Land, angels from Skyworld including the royal bodyguards, Angel Assembly and archangels along with all the other angels and of course the witch hunters.

Summary: There have been complaints filed to the dark arena after Shulk interfered with the loser consequence. The demand for Shulk to be punished due to not being an official member is an all time high and its making customers leave. The higher ups decide that the only way to please them is to drag Shulk and Robin back to the arena and give the audience what they want, but at this point of time, if anyone is caught in the arena the place will be forced to shut down hence why Pit wants to keep a low profile and work on the mini-tournament going on that week instead. He's not thrilled finding out from Ymir about the plan though, but at the same time, he sees this as a way to get Dark Pit off his back about participating.

Pairing: Rob/Shulk, Pit/Pittoo, Henry/Robin and Alvis/Rosalina with dark OC/Robin, OC/Shulk and Rob/OC/Shulk

Rated: M (for mature) but E (for explicit on Archive or Our Own)

Genre: Suspense, Drama, Romance, Angst, Horror and some Humor

Warning: Swearing, extreme violence, sexual violence, sexual themes and unintentional OOC

This is technically part 3 of the Arena series if you don't count Marth's one-shot that applies to all universes and not just this one (with only the portion at the end being part of the Arena series due to Rob never going to the arena in any other universe). Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Trouble Over the Horizon


So Pit thought he would only need to introduce the Nephilim Laila to Lucina, Dark Pit and Lucas and then have a wonderful conversation from there. He did not expect a group of Smashers to be around the little girl and one of Shulk's friends from Bionis.

The brunette growled seeing the tall Homs sitting next to Laila. She must have had gotten upset being alone in a huge crowd and Pit was taking too long to come back after he told her to wait in the food court. Pit should have expected that Reyn would be in the area if it meant visiting his twin. The light angel didn't want to admit it, but he feared the redhead would take the dark angel away from him. Since the angel twins were an item that they were keeping from others, it would be pretty bad if their relationship got out. Pit knew that Dark Pit loved Reyn as a treasured friend and wouldn't want to lose his friendship due to their incestual relationship.

The angel captain had to count the amount of Smashers in the food court. The minute he saw that Sonic was amongst the group along with Ike, Red and Calum, Pit knew that his wallet was going to be emptied before the day was over (since he spent most of his money paying those Angel Assembly assholes in heaven).

"Hey, Pit! Get over here!" Red called out as he waved toward Pit and his friends.

The light angel sighed as he let the group go ahead. Laila stood up and immediately saluted her captain as he came closer.

"C-Captain Pit, you're here!" She exclaimed. "I was…"

"Sorry for the wait Laila. I needed to bring some of my friends over to introduce you to them. It seems you met half of them."

Laila nodded her head as a response.

"Then you can introduce yourself to the others."

Laila obeyed as she glanced toward Dark Pit, Lucina and Lucas and bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet you! I am Laila…servant of the Head Angel and archangel Nanael. I…am the Celestial Punisher…Punisher?…" The Smashers looked at Laila oddly when she repeated the word before she casually ended her introduction.

"Laila, are you okay?" Pit asked worryingly noticing her stutter.

The Celestial Punisher nodded her head again. Now that the introduction was out of the way, Dark Pit could easily examine the young girl from head to toe and understand why Pit was so smitten with her. She was an adorable angel with one wing and one mechanical wing. This made her appear menacing but this second wing was what allowed her to fly. In Dark Pit's mind, this was the solution to being able to fly without relying on the Power of Flight. She had huge purple eyes and blonde hair that made her stand out in the crowd. Her red hat with a wing design on it made her even cuter than she already was. Before Dark Pit could introduce himself, Lucina was already on her commenting how cute she was.

"Umm…that's my hat…" Laila squeaked not use to a stranger hugging her randomly.

"Luci…that's what I was going to do…" Dark Pit grumbled.

Pit wondered what drove Lucina to hug the half-angel. Yeah, she's precious but Lucina didn't seem the type to adore cute things. While he was pondering on her out of character moment, Lucina was quick to apologize and introduce herself along with Lucas. Dark Pit didn't really need an introduction seeing as how Laila has encountered him in the past. However, now she referred to him as "Master Lived" and that bugged the living hell out of Pit seeing as how the angel captain interpreted Master to be above Captain. Dark Pit was satisfied with this title and wanted Reyn to call him that, but he was going to be stuck with the taller Homs referring to him as Lived.

"Hey Pit, pay for our food!" Sonic shouted to Pit causing the light angel want to go over to the blue hedgehog and punch him in the face. "I'll pay you later!"

"Sure you will…jackass…" Pit groaned as he asked everyone what he or she wanted before making a mental note to himself to make sure to get Red's order wrong just to be a jerk to him seeing as how he wanted the most expensive thing at Smashway.

Pit could still hear the dialogue being exchanged between the group. He wanted to participate but he was too busy taking orders for everyone. There was one thing that puzzled him greatly.

The death conversation that Calum (the trainer of Greninja) brought up to try and sound philosophical when the reality was that he was probably creeping Lucas out the most seeing as how the psychic boy was fidgeting in his chair. Pit would find out later that Lucas' squirming came from being nervous around Laila). He asked everyone what he or she wanted to happen at his or her funeral if they were to die.

"Can we not talk about death to an angel…" Sonic complained seeing the serious look Calum had. "You know some of us have died and come back to life…right?"

"Well, if I died, I would like a Viking funeral." Laila answered. The Smashers ended up staring at Laila like she had just said the most random thing ever. "I mean, you would shoot arrows and I can imagine Pit shooting his brightest arrow at my casket."

"I don't think you should be happy about that." Ike told her. "I mean, that does sound kind of cool, but you make it seem like angels glorify the death of their comrades."

"Don't they?" Laila asked.

"You're the angel! Why are you asking us?!" Reyn yelled causing Lucina and Dark Pit to glare at him. "What? It's true!"

Pit had to make multiple trips just so he can get everyone's food. Honestly, Pit wanted to tell a few of his friends to go on a diet so his wallet wouldn't be emptied out so quickly. Red and Ike were the worse offenders and Pit sure as hell wasn't going to pay for Reyn. Shulk had apparently given him the money needed to survive for a few days before he would need to ask the Monado boy alone, but that information was enough for Pit to neglect Reyn. Laila didn't seem to want to eat anything in particular due to the idea that she needed to be ready for battle. Pit needed to remind her it is okay for her to relax since she was still an angel in training by Skyworld standards, but her head ended up being lost to the clouds. Dark Pit wanted to ask Pit if Laila was secretly dumb, but that was inappropriate.

The topic changed from death to Laila's role in the heavens. How much did Pit want to defend Laila who thought lowly of herself thanks to Nanael and the other angels treating her poorly. If he could just adopt her and make her his daughter, then things would start to look up for her…even if she wasn't the brightest tool in the shed. At this point, another voice called out to Pit demanding that he give them the attention. The angel captain looked up and noticed the Dwarven merchants Ymir and Eilin approach them.

Pit wasn't really pleased when Ymir dragged him off mid conversation. He thought that the young dwarf wanted something from him seeing as how he had the coins to pay for a large group of people. Since Eilin was too busy teasing Laila for her cuteness, it allowed Dark Pit to look up and note the dark expression his older twin took when Ymir was whispering something in Pit's ear. Pit's fist clenched as he whispered something back to her. The two seemed to agree on something silently. After their small chitchat, Ymir had shouted at Eilin that they needed to leave the mall immediately. The Gemstone Princess pulled on Laila's cheek one last time before waving at her and the Smashers.

"It was nice meeting you all!" She called out as she rushed to catch up with her cousin.

Pit had returned to the group and the conversation continued with him in it. Dark Pit noted that Pit was no longer focused on the topic at hand. He wanted to talk to the angel captain, but found it pointless now when everyone was still around. He would get information out of him later.


Something cold fell on the back of Shulk's neck causing him to snap his head up. He would curse at how much pain he felt in that moment, but he would manage.

"Guhh…where…am I?"

Shulk tried to recall what happened to him before he passed out. He was in Smash Mall with his boyfriend and the others. Chrom dragged Alvis off so he could set him up with Rosalina leaving Shulk to flirt with Rob in the dressing room. Shulk didn't notice that there was someone creeping up on the both of them before he felt a taser shock him in the neck effectively knocking him out. Judging from how a normal taser would have just paralyzed him, the Monado boy expected that magic was involved to amplify the amount of electricity that flowed through his body. Now he was in this dark room with his hands tied behind his back with a metal chain. This might have been too excessive but whoever captured him wanted to make sure Shulk had no chance of escaping.

Crap…I can't believe I let my guard down. Shulk thought darkly to himself as he attempted to fight back against his restraints. He wasn't Reyn though, so his efforts were in vain.

"And the Heir to the Monado finally wakes up."

Shulk recognized that voice. How couldn't he when he heard it a month ago when that voice mocked Rob's terrible situation in the arena.

"You!"

The one known as Cosine appeared before him. Immediately, Shulk realized how someone could have easily snuck up on him and Rob and ambushed them. Cosine was a wraith…and Shulk never had seen what a wraith was. Pit described them in detail simply because the light angel was in contact with one in the Netherworld whose occupation was a maid under the demon prince.

This wraith wasn't anywhere near a maid. In fact, he looked more like a jester of the royal court. He had white hair (or might have been silver but it was difficult to tell) and purple eyes. His hat looked like that of a trickster and had a feather as an attachment to boot. His choice of colors was just odd mixing turquoise and purple together. The cape portion of his outfit was turquoise but the shirt he wore underneath it was purple. This applied to his pants as well that was a dark shade of purple. If Shulk was still in a daze, he might have mistook the commentator for Alvis just by his face alone, but this man had a sinister aura around him to not mistake him for his friend. The most ominous thing about him is how there was a mask attached to the side of his outfit and it looked more like a ripped off face than an actual mask.

"I see that you recognize me." The commentator spoke in a teasing tone. "I hope you remember what you have done to me to put you in this situation now."

Of course Shulk knew what he did. He saved Rob and would have killed anyone who tried to stop him from taking him out of the punishment. The seer made sure that no one would even dare harm Rob afterward. Other than that…

"The customers are gone. You're going to bring them back tonight."

"No." Shulk responded darkly. "You release me right now and tell me where Rob is."

"You're not really in a situation to be making demands." Cosine reminded his captive. "If I was cruel, I would have stripped you naked and punished you for the problems you have caused me right here and now, but the money is more important than what I want."

"WHERE IS ROB?!"

Shulk was losing his patience with the wraith. He was really lucky that Cosine didn't attack him for his resistance. Cosine scowled at the blond before him attempting to take control of the situation. He sighed realizing that if he wasn't even going to listen to him that he should go straight to plan B to get Shulk to comply to his demands.

"Oh, I didn't expect you to say yes on our first offer. That is why, I'm going to show you why you're going to say yes to our next offer."

Shulk's eyes widened in horror as Cosine allowed his body to fade away so Shulk could see right through him. Behind the wraith were more sinister looking demons that were tormenting a young male. One of them was your average demon with glowing red eyes and big horns that held the person down so he couldn't escape his grasp. One of them was one of the blue colored demons that Shulk has seen outside the arena. He was holding onto a chain that was attached to someone's neck collar. When he yanked it, the person cried out in pain.

"ROB!" Shulk shouted as he immediately tried to move forgetting that he bounded to the chair.

If he thought Rob being harmed by the collar was bad enough, he got to see what exactly these demons were doing to him. If Shulk had been out for a while like they said, then the demons must have had time to strip Rob of his clothes until he was completely naked with only a tight cock pouch as the only thing keeping the white haired magician from being completely naked. The demons wanted to be fancy with the younger male and forced some other BDSM wear on his body that mostly consisted of chains that could be pulled on for a negative response. To make things more horrifying for Rob, they forced a blindfold over his eyes so he couldn't see what the demons were doing.

"S-Shulk?" Rob croaked hearing his boyfriend call his name. "W-Where are you?"

Cosine hummed as he ordered the demons to demonstrate to Shulk what happens if he declines the offer. Shulk gasped seeing the demon holding Rob down using his free hand to pinch at his nipples. The white haired magician let out another yelp at how hard he was being pinched.

"These demons have seen what happened to your friend a month ago." Cosine began as that same demon started to position Rob on top of his erect dick. "They wanted to join in on the slime monster having its way…speaking of slime…"

There was something slithering Rob's direction. Shulk could see it was the same colored slime that had assaulted him in the arena. The tactician couldn't see it, but he could hear it. He gasped feeling the slime rub up against his body. Immediately he screamed causing Shulk to resist the ropes holding him down.

"You scum!" Shulk shouted seeing what Cosine was doing. "Let him go or I'll-"

"You'll do nothing Shulk." Cosine told him as he reappeared in front of him so Shulk couldn't see what the slime monster was doing to his roommate. The white haired wraith smiled seeing how pale Shulk had gotten hearing Rob's scream for help behind him. "I will not ask again. You participate in the arena tonight, and we won't lay a finger on your precious person. Fail and…well I hope you want a repeat of that incident because that drove the crowd wild." Cosine ended up leaning close to Shulk's ear as Shulk resisted the urge to bite the wraith for even daring to be this close to him. "I know we both know that you were hard when you saw your lover be taken by that slime. He almost became one with the slime. We rarely see a slime monster want to take a man in and merge. They usually target women, so it's a magnificent treat to see that slime don't discriminate when it concerns beautiful people, don't you think."

"You bastards…this goes against the law…" Shulk murmured weakly unaware at how defeated he sounded when he brought it up.

"Do you think we care if a piece of paper was enforced throughout Smashopolis? The Count does what he wants and he wants his money back for what you had to him Shulk. Are you still going to resist and let your lover repeat the incident, or will you be an obedient bitch in the arena? Your choice."

"I don't have a choice…" Shulk growled knowing full well he could not run away when Rob was put in harms' way. "Just…stop…I'll do it…"

Rob was still screaming. Cosine had disappeared again just so Shulk could see what the slime was doing. The slime monster had already wrapped itself around Rob's body and covering him with a powerful aphrodisiac. The screaming started to become moaning now with the slime trying to enter him.

"No…not again…" Rob cried weakly. "Shulk…help…"

The demons were laughing because they could see that the blindfold was starting to be soaked with tears. Rob didn't want to look weak in front of the seer, but the memories were returning to him and he didn't want to relive the trauma again. The slime did not seem to care seeing as how it was preparing to force a part of its body down Rob's throat.

"STOP! I'LL DO IT!" Shulk cried out. "Just get that thing away from him!"

Cosine and the other demons just laughed as the blue skinned demon pushed the slime off of Rob instantly. The aphrodisiac was still on his body, so they could still torment him but the biggest threat was apparently gone…or so Shulk thought. At that moment, Shulk had obtained a vision of what was to occur later tonight. He was in the arena with a weapon that was useless against his opponent. Said opponent was a large Minotaur who would easily break the sword he was given and defeat him. He could hear Cosine announce the double punishment that everyone wanted. That was when the vision got explicit with Shulk and Rob being sexually humiliated by the demons that would jump out of the stand and join a demon that appeared to be some sort of horse.

Shulk hid his eyes underneath his hair realizing how even if he agreed to Cosine's demand just now…Rob would still be raped with him in the arena just to see the Homs suffer. All he was doing now was prolong how long the second assault will be. Cosine's laughter brought Shulk back to reality as he stared down at the helpless seer.

"I'm glad you finally complied. Now the real game begins Monado Boy."


The day finally ended for the Smashers. Most of the Smashers had left Smashopolis to go back to the mansion. Mario was still complaining to Luigi about how he failed to get the Rosalina Amiibo that was on sale. His status as Mr. Nintendo did nothing when it came to obtaining the rare Amiibos. Luigi kept to himself that he had indeed bought a Rosalina Amiibo during the chaos, but suggested to his brother to order her online. Mario looked absolutely defeated as a result when he hopped back on the bus that would take the Mario brothers back to the mansion. At the very least Peach would comfort him for his failure.

The female Smashers in general had spent their wallets on the most beautiful dresses that were on sale. Peach had brought up that they should throw a ball soon that would happen right after the tournament. They would need Master Hand's approval, but chances are she would nag him until he complied with her demands. Zelda shook her head in annoyance that whenever Peach mentioned something like a ball that there would be no hope in getting out of it. Zelda was the one that would be forced to help her out even if she had something to do. She wished Sheik would lend a hand but the Sheikah always seemed to disappear at times like this. Samus wasn't looking forward to this idea either but there wasn't much they could do when Peach was in this mood (and in this mood, she wouldn't be cheering up Mario at all).

Rosalina and Alvis had left in a different fashion from the other Smashers. Besides hanging out in Smashopolis longer due to Chrom insisting that Alvis take her around the metropolis, Alvis had spent the later half of the "date" complaining about how Shulk wouldn't take the Monado from him and how he's not even around when the Smashers started heading back to the mansion. Although Rosalina should have been like Alvis and suspected that something happened to Shulk, the simple fact that Chrom left the Monado boy and the male tactician alone meant that they might not come back until the morning.

"They might be at a love hotel." Rosalina stated in her monotone voice.

"A love what? I'm sorry…what?"

"You will figure it out eventually. Your curiosity is going to get the best of you."

The purple Luma that had been hanging around them the whole day wasn't making Alvis feel any better about the situation.

"A love hotel is where mama and papa go when they love each other very much!" The purple Luma squealed earning the star child an agitated sigh from his mother.

Alvis felt his eyebrow twitch at the explanation. Why did he have a feeling that this Luma was saying things that he shouldn't know?

"That's enough out of you little one." Rosalina told the small purple Luma as the star child hopped into Rosalina's arms. "This Luma is right though. This is where Shulk and Rob would go at the end of the day."

"…Why?"

"Look it up. You are an AI."

Alvis would do so the minute the two returned to Smash Brothers Mansion. He wanted to go back now seeing as how he wasn't going to get an answer on why Shulk wasn't going back with the other Smashers. His eyes widened feeling Rosalina move closer to him and slowly reach out for his hands.

"There is a place I would like to show you before we head back. I do not even need a telescope to show you."

Immediately the purple Luma started waving his hands at Alvis as the two walked by each other side by side. This Luma must have been able to catch that Alvis' expression changed the minute Rosalina asked to spend more time with him.

"Papa is nervous." The purple Luma exclaimed.

"…You are mistaken, Kal." Alvis grumbled realizing instantly that his voice sounded agitated.

"Kal?" Rosalina questioned as she looked down at the purple Luma. "Is that the name you finally chose after all of this time."

"Yes…"

"Is there any special reason?"

"…That is the name of someone I know…" Alvis admitted dryly before asking the Goddess of Space to calm the Luma down. He didn't know why this purple Luma was so hyperactive.

So while the mysterious couple was going to enjoy the night under the stars, Pit and Dark Pit made sure that Lucina and Lucas were heading straight to the mansion before escorting Laila back to the Gates of Heaven. Reyn was staying in Smashopolis, so he was the one the departed from the group first. Pit didn't need to worry about his safety as much as Laila's. Palutena and Viridi had granted the two angels the Power of Flight so they can make things easier for the blonde half-angel.

Laila wasn't like the angel twins when it came to flying. Despite only having one angel wing, she could clearly fly as long as she had the mechanical wing. Because she wasn't carrying her cannon either, nothing was weighing her down. The smile she had on her lips faded once the trio reached their destination. Pit spoke the entire time and both listened to his stories simply because they were so entertaining to imagine. Dark Pit had joked that Pit really needed someone to watch his back of bad luck kept befalling the light angel when he was on his own.

"Captain Pit," Laila began as she was ready to go through Heaven's door that lead to her particular heaven with the Head Angel, "have you decided on if you were going to lead the expedition at the end of the week?"

Pit groaned at Laila bringing the expedition back up. Dark Pit tilted his head in confusion.

"What expedition?"

"Master Lived, it is for angel trainees like myself." Laila explained. "Captain Pit and a few other angels will be taking us young angels around the universe where we learn about the different worlds and how to fight in these different settings."

"In other words…it's a field trip." Pit finished with a sigh. "Now I don't want to be in the tournament because I find it too much of a hassle to go to…but the field trip isn't any better honestly because it means having to explain to a bunch of obnoxious kids multiple times what not to do in the universe."

"But there will be others, right?" Dark Pit questioned suddenly interested in the idea of going on the expedition.

"I think Sun-Wong is going to be part of it." Pit stated. "He's the only one I can think of who would go through this ordeal with no problems. I can also imagine Vitus' parents doing the same thing."

"Price and Sales?"

Pit nodded his head when Dark Pit stated the correct names. The dark angel found it odd how Vitus' entire family was named after something pertaining to money even if the family was the least greedy amongst all the angels much less the Angel Assembly group.

"Laila," Pit started glancing at the young half-angel. "I'll most likely attend the expedition. I'll explain to Lady Palutena that the bracket needs to be changed for someone else to fill in. Otherwise, Mewtwo is going to advance the next round without much of a warm up."

"Okay Captain Pit!" Laila exclaimed as she saluted him. Pit adored when she did this because she was so adorable.

"Can I join?" Dark Pit asked. "I want to see where you angels are going in the universe."

Pit had to remember that Dark Pit loved the concept of going to different places in the universe. Knowledge is freedom sure, but Pit would wish that he would focus on getting stronger first and learning the angel customs before he learned the cultures of others.

"Yeah…you can." Pit answered. "Make sure you stick close to me when the time comes.

He groaned hearing Dark Pit give a small cheer. It seemed that when the black angel was around the older twin that he gave in to his childish side just to annoy Pit. The fact it worked so much said a lot about the situation at hand.

"Laila, you should go. The Power of Flight is ending for us."

"Will you two be okay?"

"Of course! Even if the Power of Flight runs out, I got the Wings of Pegasus with me in case I need to stay in the air a little longer." Pit smirked as he glanced over to his younger twin. "Plus I get to carry Pittoo to the ground with me."

"Yeah…I'd rather fall from the sky…" Dark Pit griped before looking toward the half-angel. "Be careful heading back Laila. Hope to see you soon."

The smile on Laila's face returned. Once she was reassured that she will indeed get to hang out with the angel twins again with a sendoff hug from the both of them, she opened the door that would take her back to her heaven where the archangel Nanael resided. Pit sighed thinking about how much abuse she was going to get from the bluenette.

"Well…time to head back to the mansion before the Power of Flight expires." Pit exclaimed looking over to Dark Pit again. "Don't have that look, Pittoo. We'll probably see her in a couple of days before the expedition to get more info on it."

The face Dark Pit made wasn't from Laila leaving. It was from something else entirely when he was staring at the white angel. He wanted to ask if something was wrong, but decided to hold his tongue until he was certain that he wasn't just imagining things.


Dark Pit was right when the two landed to the ground safely. They were still in Smashopolis, and the dark angel found that odd that Pit didn't just use the Wings of Pegasus to take them both back to the mansion. Instead, they were in front of the bus stop waiting for the bus to pick them up. However, the minute Pit told Dark Pit that he was the only one that was going to go home was when the clone realized that Pit was planning something without him. The first thought that came to mind was that Pit was going to go to the arena alone despite Master Hand's obvious order of the Smashers not allowed to walk alone at night. Now Master Hand didn't explicitly say the arena, but given how Rob was obviously injured because of the dark arena that Pit refused to take him to, Dark Pit knew that he had his older twin in a good position to get in now.

"You can't leave me alone. You will be breaking Master Hand's rules."

"I'm just going to meet up with a few others at the bar and call it a night." Pit lied.

"You can't lie to me, Pitstain. Our twin telepathy allows me to hear your thoughts."

Pit rolled his eyes as he continued to wait at the bus stop.

"Come on, Pit! If you're going to the arena, just tell me!"

"It's not for the reasons you think." Pit finally admitted seeing as how Dark Pit was going to keep saying it was about the arena even if it wasn't. "…Fine. Follow me to Smash Casino. I'm certain those two dwarves are already there."

"Hah! I was right! You're only waiting here so you're certain I'm at the mansion!"

Ignoring the raven haired angel, Pit urged Dark Pit to follow him through the streets of Smashopolis. Everything was so different at night that the dark angel felt the need to grab at his older twin's hand just for some sort of comfort. Normally a situation like this would warrant some mockery from Pit, but the light angel understood why Dark Pit felt uneasy. Smashopolis was beautiful at night, but given how the rules changed when Rob was attacked…it made some of the Smashers think there was a huge evil lurking underneath the wonderful metropolis.

The two angels finally reached Smash Casino and Pit knew immediately it would be difficult to get Dark Pit in without lying about his age. Seeing as how Pit was a regular, he was able to convince the bouncers blocking the area that Dark Pit was the same age as him and that they were cool. Dark Pit kept quiet as he slowly lowered his head when the two went inside. He didn't want to attract any attention seeing as how it wouldn't take a genius to realize that the black angel was obviously too young to even be in the casino this late at night. Pit went straight for the bar where the two young dwarves were sitting. Dark Pit recognized them as the ones who Pit was flirting with in the past and purchased the Nutcracker Globe Clock from them. Just seeing their figures made the dark angel calm down a little seeing as how if these little girls could make it into the casino, then he shouldn't have a problem at all.

"Ymir, Eilin!" Pit called out as he mustered the most charming smile that Dark Pit has ever seen. He frowned wondering why he never tried to smile like that around him.

Ymir looked back to see the brunette and groaned. "Oh, it's Pit. And it looks like he brought his little twin brother with him."

"Aww, don't be like that Ymir. He's adorable." Eilin hummed. "Is he taken Captain Pit?"

Pit chuckled nervously wanting to make a statement but decided it would be best for Eilin to keep on guessing on his relationship with his twin. However, the Gemstone Princess did squeal when Pit pulled Dark Pit close nearly into a position where he could easily kiss the dark angel. Pittoo blushed at this sudden proximity and immediately wanted to push away but…

"Is this good enough for your imagination Eilin, sweetie?" He teased before slowly pushing the dark angel away so he wouldn't embarrass him too much.

Ymir rolled her eyes while her cousin squealed at the forbidden fantasy that came to mind. Dark Pit wondered why she was so delusional when Pit wouldn't so much touch him in those perverted ways without reason. In the back of his mind, he wished Pit would do whatever he pleased but the angel captain seemed to have his mind elsewhere.

"As much as I would love to talk to you lovely ladies all night, we're only here to discuss about business."

Pit still used the term as if he were talking about a sex trade. Dark Pit groaned in the way he phrased it and Ymir just shook her head in annoyance. Eilin looked over to the bartender and asked him to pour the two angels drinks so it would look like they were here to have a nice conversation when it was far from that.

Ymir glanced around the area to make sure that there were no demon goons around to eavesdrop on their conversation. Once the two angels took a seat next to the girls, Ymir spilt the beans.

"Pit, you are aware of what is going on in the arena now, right?"

"Umm…there's another match going on…"

"It's a Minotaur named Steel. He has been calling for you for a while. Don't even bother to attend."

Immediately, Pit's skin turned as white as his wings. For a moment, Pit looked ready to fall out of the chair even before he took a drink out of the wine he was given. Dark Pit felt his chest thump feeling the pain that Pit was feeling in that moment.

"I…know…the tournament and the expedition at the end of the week will keep me busy…and I haven't attend the arena after that incident anyway…"

Pit pretty much admitted to Dark Pit that he was a participant in the area after so much denial. He was fine with that seeing as how he was going to avoid that place if that dreaded Minotaur was going to be fighting more now.

"I already told you that the arena had pretty much lost its audience after you and Shulk crashed the party during the punishment game." Ymir repeated.

"Yeah, you told me that this afternoon. You also told me that because of the incident that Master Hand has been keeping a close eye on us and pushed that law so an incident like that couldn't happen again."

"Pitstain, you never told me what exactly happened to Rob besides getting attacked by a demon when training." Dark Pit interrupted. "Was that a lie?"

"Yep." Eilin said with a smile. "The underground said that the tactician lost in the arena and was publicly humiliated via rape down there. To the demons down there it was the most wonderful sight to them." She frowned when she repeated those words. "How disgusting. I'm glad the law is in effect now but…"

"It won't matter to the underground demons." Ymir brought up. "They'll continue to harm, kill and rape those who lose in the arena. It would need to be dragged into the sunlight for the arena to be brought down."

Dark Pit was just registering what the Gemstone Princess told him that he didn't realize that he was shaking badly now. His fellow Smash companion was raped? Everyone was told that he was just attacked and needed time to regain his strength. That's the worse crime in heaven, so why would the people responsible for the crime still be free?

"What are you insinuating?" Pit questioned not really liking where this conversation was going.

"Pit, you're one of the few people who can put a stop to the arena. You stop it and then tell your Goddess and then it's done. I admit my business with the underground will be done, but I really don't like how the audience is back in full force tonight."

"Wait…full force? But you just said…"

"Cosine came up with a plan to get everyone to come back." The Iron Strategist continued. "He apparently promised the underground that he would bring back the tactician and the Homs who ruined everything and make them both be involved in the punishment game."

"I assume they didn't put you on the list Captain Pit is because if your Goddess ever found out, there would be no underground and no demon would be alive in the end."

Pit stood up from his seat. The sudden movement nearly caused his wine glass to tip over.

"Why are you telling me this now?! Why didn't you tell me back in the mall!"

Everyone turned toward Pit confused at his sudden outburst. Pit couldn't really calm down when two of the Smashers' lives were in danger. Yes, he might not like Shulk, but if he was going to be thrown back into that dangerous arena without the Monado to boot (as he recalled that Alvis was the one walking around with that giant sword instead of him) then he was doomed along with Rob.

"It was only a rumor when we told you we had something to talk about Captain Pit." Eilin told him calmly as she shuffled through her bag that she was currently carrying and dug out a tragedy and comedy mask. "After gathering more information, we can confirm that these are not rumors and Shulk will be forced to fight against the Minotaur Steel tonight. In order for you two to not attract any attention, I provide these masks."

"You know a mask isn't going to be enough to hide their identity." Ymir brought up as her cousin handed Pit the tragedy mask and Dark Pit (who was still shaking) the comedy mask.

"It's a full house tonight. No one is going to see us go in." Eilin reminded Ymir as she patted Dark Pit on the shoulder. "Hey, kid. Don't look so down. You're going to worry your older twin brother."

Dark Pit glanced at the blonde elf with worried red eyes. His eyes became hidden behind his raven colored hair despite nodding his head at her words.

"Pittoo…now would be a good time to go home." Dark Pit told the dark angel as he put the tragedy mask on without hesitation. "The arena is not a pretty place to be. What you see down there…you're going to remember it for the rest of your life."

"…I'll be fine." Dark Pit spoke as he put the comedy mask on. "I'm not a chicken."

"It's not about being a chicken it's about…" Pit stopped himself as he sighed in defeat. "Fine. Just stay close to me. I don't want to lose you in that demon crowd."

Dark Pit nodded his head again. Ymir groaned as she took something out of her bag that caused both angels to freeze in fear. "You two really think you're going to walk into that arena with your wings out? Sorry they're going to be tucked in whether you like it or not."


Me: TBC with 7696 words.

Li: Oh boy! I can't wait to see the arena!

Me: Be careful what you wish for. Notes!

1. As pointed out in Sunny Side Up, most of the food places in real life have Smash added to it to show that you are indeed in Smashopolis so in this case, Smashway is Subway.

2. Please keep Laila's odd dialogue about the Viking funeral in mind. The foreshadowing is real in this one.

3. Also Calum talking about life and death makes sense when you remember he's the protagonist of X/Y and the theme of the game had been about life and death. He got questioned multiple times in the game about his view on the world and eventually after he became the champion of Kalos, he would often ask these questions to himself. As random as it is to ask Laila, it would make sense given she is an angel (or half-angel). Laila isn't really that helpful given she's a space cadet.

4. Cosine's appearance is similar to the trickster class in Fire Emblem Awakening only with a purple and turquoise color scheme. The mask on his outfit is actually a face Cosine ripped off because when Cosine steals the energy of people (he doesn't discriminate against gender), he rips the face off his victim and wears it. This tends to effect what he can do greatly, but by default he does many things ghosts are capable of doing such as being able to turn invisible and go from place to place undetected. There is a reason why he's called the Invisible Sorcerer. Cosine is like the distant counterpart to Airi in terms of what a wraith is as he is more violent and sadistic (for the sake of surviving) to Airi's calm and kind hearted demeanor. Cosine is willing to abandon Count Black too if he knows he can get away with it, but Airi is loyal to the Swamp Witch by default.

5. The name that Alvis gave the purple Luma is based on Kallian from Xenoblade Chronicles. People who played the game know what happened to him. It's the thought that counts because of spoilers.

6. Like in A Load of Bull (I haven't forgotten the story guys), Pit and Dark Pit are given the tragedy and comedy masks. Normally it would be in reverse given Pit is the happy go lucky one and Dark Pit is the brooding one, but in my universe…the mask reflect on how they view the world. Pit is cynical and enjoys tragic plays because it's grounded to reality and is what you see in Greek mythology often. Dark Pit enjoys comedies because while he is more open-minded particularly with how he sees the Gods, he enjoys the concept of a happy ending.

That's it. Reviews are appreciated. Ja ne!