"But- but," Lucas stammered. "That blue thing. The butterfly. He said that this would be a good place."
Ness laughed hollowly. "Oh him? We call him Tabuu. And he's nothing but a rotten cheat. Ever notice how he told you nothing about the contract, before you took it?"
Lucas shook his head.
"We're nothing but entertainment to that bastard. He watches us fight for survival and laughs at our failures."
"What does he really want, though?"
Ness shrugged. "No one really knows. All I know is that the amusement only gets better for him. The weak people are the first to die off, and soon only the most brutal brawlers are left. It must be part of his little game. We're just his playthings."
"That's terrible." Lucas suddenly felt shrouded by a feeling of homesickness.
Ness let out a deep sigh. "I might get killed too, sometime," he said.
Lucas' eyes widened. "What? No way!"
"It used to be easier to get stars. But now all the easy opponents have already died, and only the hard ones are left." Ness lay down and stared at the ceiling mournfully.
Lucas walked over to Ness' bed and sat down. He grabbed Ness' hand, which sort of surprised him.
"Lucas?"
"You'll be fine, I'm sure. If we work together, I'm sure we can find a way out of this mess," Lucas said earnestly.
Lucas had a fierce determination in his eyes that Ness couldn't break; no matter how much he wanted to tell Lucas that it was completely hopeless.
Ness held Lucas' hand tightly and smiled.
"You're sweet."
Lucas blushed.
"Hey Lucas," Ness began, "want to be friends?"
"Um… that's a weird thing to ask."
Ness shrugged. "I dunno. I've never really had a friend here. Ever."
"But you seem like a really nice guy."
"Maybe that's why I don't have any friends."
Lucas looked at him confusedly.
"Well, I'm tired," Ness said, undressing. "You should probably get some rest too. I bet you just had a huge adventure, eh?"
Lucas nodded, realizing exactly how tired he was. He wanted to tell Ness that he'd be his friend, but Ness was already fast asleep. So Lucas climbed into his own bed, curled up into a ball, and fell asleep almost immediately.
"Lucas."
It was morning.
"Lucas, wake up."
Lucas opened his eyes and saw Ness face staring down at him. "Nnn- what time is it?"
"Almost eight. C'mon, we have to get ready."
"Ready for what?"
Ness rolled his eyes. "To fight, obviously. What else are we here for?"
Lucas had almost forgotten the predicament he was in. He dreamed he was back in Tazmily, and for a moment he thought he actually was. He'd fought enough in his short lifetime, and didn't expect to have to do any more.
"Oh… right."
Ness was already dressed and ready to go, putting on his shoes and socks. Lucas simply sat in bed, dumbfounded. Not knowing what to do, he got dressed and just followed whatever Ness was doing.
They were about to leave the room, when Ness turned around to do a final check.
"Okay. Ready?"
Lucas nodded. He was definitely not ready.
"Got your weapon?"
Lucas reached into his inventory. All he had was a flimsy wooden stick and Duster's rope snake, which was fast asleep. Next to Ness' solid bat and yo-yo, it looked rather pathetic.
"Alright, let's go."
They went into the corridor and started walking. There was a lot more activity than when Lucas had arrived yesterday. Everywhere people were preparing for fights, checking weapons, armour, and whatnot. They passed a few swordsmen, a few funny looking creatures, and what appeared to be a robot. All of them looked serious and unsmiling.
The atmosphere was heavy and Lucas began to feel nervous. Some of the brawlers eyed him suspiciously, having never seen his face before. Lucas drew himself closer to Ness and clutched his arm.
"Relax, Lucas. You'll be fine."
Lucas wasn't so sure. They crossed the beautiful room where the administrator was, and opened a set of steel double doors.
What greeted them on the other side was a huge room several stories high and just as wide. There were seats, tables, and sofas in the middle, some of which were occupied by chatting brawlers. A sky window on the ceiling lit the entire room with sunshine.
On one side of the room was a huge display that displayed several names on neat rows. Directly below it stood four vertical tubes, each of which, Lucas guessed, could admit one person inside.
Ness and Lucas sat down at a table. "Now we wait," Ness said.
The P.A. System went off: "Free for All. Marth, Ike, Mario, Luigi." Those same names were displayed on the huge electronic display. Four people went up to the tubes, opened them, and stepped inside. There was a rushing sound, and they were gone.
A few minutes passed in silence. Lucas sat as close to Ness as possible, trying to find at least a little bit of comfort. It wasn't working. And then: "Free for all. Ness, Olimar."
Ness got up. "That's me. See, when they call you, you just walk into one of those tubes, okay?"
Lucas nodded.
"Wish me luck."
"G-good luck," Lucas said.
Ness stared at Lucas for a moment. He was pale and trembling.
"Ness…," Lucas started, "how do I fight?"
Ness raised his eyebrows. "How did you fight in your world?"
The P.A. went off again: "Free for all. Ness, Olimar. Awaiting Ness in tube 2."
"Listen, I got to go. Just do whatever you always do."
Lucas did his best to nod. Ness turned around, entered one of the tubes, and gave Lucas a cheery wave before closing it shut.
With Ness gone, Lucas suddenly felt very alone. He looked around, only to see people bustling about. Some of them looked at him curiously, but they didn't linger too long. They all seemed to be in a hurry.
The P.A. called out several more times. The corresponding brawlers left the room through the tubes. At the same time, some people were returning from battles through a set of doors on the opposite side of the room. They all looked worn-out, some triumphant, some downhearted.
A fat man with a yellow outfit and purple overalls approached Lucas. He had an enormous mouth that reeked of something nasty, and a cap with the letter "W" on it.
"Why hello there, little child." The fat man sat down beside Lucas.
Lucas put on a wry smile, but couldn't stop trembling."H-hi."
The fat man sat down. "Never seen your face before."
"I'm new," Lucas said.
"Ahhhh. My name's Wario."
"Lucas."
"Lucas, is it?" Wario leaned in closer for a better view. Lucas could smell his horrible breath, and tried his best not to lean back.
"You know," Wario began, "you're pretty cute. And I gotta say, there aren't many girls around here."
Lucas opened his mouth to protest, buy closed it shut. Instead, he looked around nervously, searching for Ness. He wasn't anywhere to be seen. It looked like help wasn't an option.
"Umm…"
Wario put a huge hand under Lucas' chin and tilted it up.
"You smell really good."
Lucas wanted to scream and push Wario away, but he couldn't muster the courage to do so. He was really close. Lucas could make out all the little hairs on his face…
The P.A. System went off. "Free for all. Lucas, Falco."
Lucas got up almost immediately. "I have to go."
Wario backed off. "Aw, that's too bad. Heh heh. Well, I'll see you when you're done." He smiled an almost evil smile.
Lucas walked away from Wario as fast as he could, sweating at the hairline and breathing heavily. He wanted to cry.
Walking up the one of the tubes, he struggled to yank it open and stepped inside. As he closed the tube, he caught a glimpse of Wario's fat face smiling at him.
The tube was completely dark on the inside, except for a tiny display on the top that read: Lucas. Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled by a familiar sensation. It was the same feeling he experienced when being transported into this world. Around him, space and time whizzed pass, and he felt himself being drawn out into a wire.
A voice rang in his ears: "Lucas versus Falco. Five stock. Stage: Battlefield."
The sensation dissipated, and Lucas found himself riding a Mr. Saturn coffee table into a large, well lit area. It was a floating island that resembled something like a courtyard, decorated on one side with ancient ruins. Three platforms floated mystically in the air. But the most unsettling part was the huge audience on one side of the stage. There had to be tens of thousands of people in those bleachers, all cheering, yelling, screaming.
Dreadful feelings filled Lucas as a powerful voice boomed across the stage.
"Three! Two! One!"
A/N: I'm not sure what that thing Lucas rides is called xD. I know some people call it Mr Saturn's walking tea table, but that doesn't flow well :\. Sue me.