Wow, I'm actually surprised at how positive people were to this fic! Thank you guys for the review, favorites and follows, I hope I don't disappoint you!
Also, I've been watching Let's Play videos of Xenoblade Chronicles, so I hope I got Shulk's personality right, since I want to make the Smashers stay in-character as much as possible. The exception will be those who really don't have much of a personality to begin with, so I can take more liberty with their characterization.
So I guess that's it.
"You two are up early this morning," commented the blond that sat alone on one of the cafeteria's tables.
"Robin had a nightmare," Rob said placing his plate on the table.
"Oh, yes, let's blame Robin's nightmares for waking up early."
"What can I do if it's true?"
"You two should do this more often. Your days would last longer and it would be more productive."
"No," the two said in unison.
Shulk shrugged his shoulders and went back to eating his toast as the two Robins sat down to eat too. Unlike his friends, he enjoyed waking up a little before the sun came out just so he could watch the sunrise whenever it was possible. Thanks today's the cloudy morning, though, Rob could already imagine today wasn't a very good day for sunrise watching for Shulk. He would feel bad for him, but it was still too early for him to feel anything else other than wanting to get back to his bed.
"So, what are your plans for today?" Shulk asked.
"Get yelled by Master Hand, possibly," Robin said, eating her cereal. "Maybe hit the mall later, if I'm not dead by then."
"Why would Master Hand want to talk to you?" Shulk asked.
"Beats me, I don't look forward to it either," Rob answered tiredly. "Something good it can't be. You know, considering how everyone says he is."
"At least, we don't have any fights today."
"Wow, lucky! I have about four today, one of them being a five-minute free-for-all against Bowser, Charizard and Ganondorf."
"Sucks to be you, Shulk," Robin smirked.
Robin and Shulk continued doing small talk as they ate breakfast, while Rob continued eating his food in silence, not really in the mood to get in the middle of the conversation.
"Morning guys," Yoshi greeted as he passed by, carrying two bows filled with fruits.
"Yoshi! Yoshi, come here," Robin motioned for the green dinosaur to sit with them.
"Eh, sorry, I'm already eating with Kirby and..."
"Okay, but just answer something. You're a a full-time veteran, right?"
"Uh, yeah."
"So you know Master Hand well, right? How screwed is someone if they are called by Master Hand for a talk?"
From the way Yoshi winced, that could only mean they should embrace for the worst.
"Did you break any rules?" Yoshi asked the obvious.
"As far as we know, no," Rob answered.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Are sure?" the little green dinosaur eyed him suspiciously.
"I'm sure."
"Then maybe he just has an important thing to say that will only interest you, I dunno. Sometimes Master Hand likes to do nice stuff for the Smashers. You didn't break any rules, so you don't need to worry."
And with that, Yoshi bid his farewells and eagerly left the three Smashers in order to finally eat his fourth bow of fruits.
"My fight begins soon," Shulk announced once breakfast was over. "Wish me luck."
"I wish you a painless death," Rob mocked.
"We'll see about that."
The two watched the Homs leave to his doom with twin smirks on their faces. Poor Shulk had a big storm coming and they could only hope Bowser wouldn't crush him too badly. He had his ability to see into the future, though, so maybe he did strive a chance. As for the Robins, they still needed to go see Master Hand, so they decided to end that quickly and visit him as soon as they left the cafeteria.
Their master's office was kind of tricky to find and it was hard for anyone who wasn't a Smasher or an acquaintance to Master Hand to accidentally stumble upon it. Rob and Robin had to cross the entire front hall of the enormous building and get into one of the various elevators, the same ones they took to reach the floor where their room was. Once they reached the sixth floor, they had to take the exclusive elevator located at the far left of the corridor, the only one that had a device beside it that required the person to swap a card to make it work. Using the emergency stairs to reach the seventh floor was of no use, because there were no emergency stairs to the seventh floor.
Rob used to wonder wherever it was a good idea to not include an alternative way to reach the office, but really, when the only thing in this floor was only the room of the big boss who could fly off the window in case of an emergency, Rob still thought it was a rather stupid idea.
"Well, it's now or never," Robin said, raising her hand to the fancy mahogany door.
Before she could even knock, they heard Master Hand's voice boom from the other side. "Please, do come in," he said, rather calmly. Maybe Yoshi was right and they weren't in trouble. Master Hand sure didn't sound that angry. Either that, or he held the world record on passive-aggressiveness.
Rob and Robin entered the spacious office in cautious steps, only taking a seat when they saw him motioning for them to sit down. They stood there in an agonizing silence for solid ten second until Master Hand realized he would have to be the one to start talking.
"Hello, Robin," he greeted. "First of all, how are you? Adapting well to this lifestyle?"
"Nothing we can complain," Rob said.
"Good, good," Master Hand mused, slightly moving his fingers as if nodding. "And I will take that you have been practicing hard for the upcoming Super Smash Bros tournament, am I correct?"
"Oh, absolutely."
"Why did you call us here?" Robin asked.
"I was going to get there. Robin, when this tournament starts, I hope you understand that you two are going to occupy the same fighter slot."
"Yes, we are aware of that," she nodded. "You said so before."
And seemed to like to remind them quite a lot too, considering he never bothered in addresing them separately, except when trying to make a point that they were the same character.
"As such, we need to determine who will be the default Robin, who will be the deviation, before the tournament starts."
"W-What?" they stuttered in unison.
"It shouldn't come to a surprise to you that we would have to deal with this issue sooner or later. We are only two weeks from the tournament, and we still haven't decided which of you would be the official one. We really need to get this problem over with in time for the beginning of the tournament."
"But why can't we both be official?" Robin asked.
"The only way possible would be if you had a fighting style similar to Rosalina and Luma, or the former fighters Ice Climbers," Master Hand said ever so calmly.
"Okay, we can do it like that! It would be just like the Pair Up system we used to have back during the war battles we were in and..."
"The Pair Up system is already being used as your Final Smash with Chrom," the hand interrupted Rob. "And no, I do not believe it would work for you as your regular fighting style. Believe me when I say that this is for the best. You two shall compete in a series of five battles to determine who is best suited to the position of official."
"But why determine a default? What does the default do?" Robin asked.
"For starters, it is their image who will make most public appearances and they are the ones that participate in most fights and earn more money. That isn't to say that the deviation doesn't get their fair share of glory and riches, but it is considerably less," Master Hand explained. "In short, the default is considered the real Smashers, while the deviation is just an alternative fighter, just to bring more diversity to the tournament, but not necessarily being as important."
Each word spoken by their master seemed to cut their hearts like a dagger. How could he say that in such a casual tone to them, when he knew one of them would be demoted as a mere palette swap of the other and nothing else? His tone of voice remained so casual, almost as if it was no big deal, yet to the Robins, the possibility of becoming just an accessory to the other sounded a lot worse than he was making it out to be.
Rob cast a worried glance at Robin, who in return, mirrored the gesture at him. He really didn't want to dispute the title of default with her. He didn't want to lose, of course, but he didn't want to win also. Making Robin become only a gender swap version of himself, with no real identity, rubbed off on him in all the wrong ways, and vice-versa.
"Are there any other Smashers who are going to do this, also?" Rob asked, after realizing he had no proper answer.
"No, all other character slots already have their defaults," Master Hand said. "The "Wii Fit Trainer" has the female trainer and "Villager" has the boy with the red shirt as their default. Since he is the prince of the Koopas and heir to the throne, I have put Bowser Jr. as the default and all of the Koopalings as his alternatives. As for Alph, since Olimar is already a veteran, it wouldn't make sense to make him the default and demote Olimar to deviation."
"Then... Why make only us compete for the spot?" Rob was genuinely confused. "You have already decided who would be what, then why make us fight each other?"
"I have tried deciding. Believe me, Robin," the hand sighed. "I have been wondering ever since I have created you; yet, I couldn't come to a decision. No matter which gender you were, you always had an impact in the fate of your world in you original's timelines. Unlike all the other fighters, you are the most similar to each other as Smashers. And, well, I can't simply make this decision based on your gender."
"Lord knows you don't need more outcries of sexism from people, uh?" Robin commented.
"I already had enough of that in Brawl. The last thing I need is people complaining about me giving preference to the male gender," he said. "Anyway, here is what we are going to do: on the next week, you two are to have one fight per day, from Monday to Friday, totalizing five fights. They are not going to be your regular brawls, but I won't give any details about them at the moment. For now, I only want you to enjoy the weekend, and I expect to see you back here in my office on Monday," Master Hand then floated towards the door. "That is all for today. You are dismissed."
The tacticians muttered their goodbyes and left the office with a weird and heavy atmosphere between them. They didn't exchange a word while taking the elevators back to the ground floor. They didn't even look at each other in the eye, almost as if they felt guilty over a situation that they had no control over.
It was only when they reached the front hall when Robin decided to break the silence. "Well, that was something," she said, rubbing the back of her neck. "What now?"
"We do as he says and fight to see who will be the default, I suppose," Rob groaned. "Just for the record, I don't look forward to it."
Yeah, me neither," she frowned. "The whole concept of default and deviation makes me uneasy. Like, one of us will just become the other's shadow, you know?"
"Exactly what I was thinking!" Rob said, before pausing awkwardly. "Well... I guess it could be worse, now that I think about it."
"Why?"
"We know Master Hand created both of us because he thought we were both worthy," he said sheepishly. "He could have just created only me or you and called it a day. Instead, he went with both of us."
"Oh... I guess you have a point there," Robin let out a small groan. "Doesn't mean I like this idea of having to fight for the default spot, though."
"I know."
There was another pause between them, until Rob found Robin's hand suddenly resting on his cheek, her fingers softly caressing it and sending a pleasant tingling sensation through his spine. "Look, whatever happens in these fights we're going to have, I don't want you to treating me any differently because of them, okay?" she said, immediately taking her hand off from his face once she noticed the awkward look he gave at her. "Ah, sorry. Force of habit."
Since when? he thought. He could practically read it on her forehead that she was lying.
"Anyway, looks like we have the today and the whole weekend free. You want to go out and do something? We can go to that new bookstore that opened at the mall the other day."
"Sorry, I promised Lucina I would spar with her once her match with the Duck Hunt trio was over," Rob apologized.
"Don't you two ever get tired of practicing all the time?" Robin asked in an exhasprated tone. "Isn't she tired of you throwing Thoron attacks at her?"
"Apparently not," he smirked. "Why? Are you jealous?"
"You wish!" she laughed and gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "Okay then, have fun getting stabbed. I'll find someone else who is free to go with me."
The two then went on their separate ways.
Of all the people that Robin expected to come with her to the mall, the Wii Fit Trainer (or Whitney, as she insisted on being called) was one of the least likely to cross her mind. But beggars couldn't be choosers, and spending time with her was way better than being some loser that sat by herself in the coffee shop because all your friends were occupied with training and killing each other in simulation rooms.
Granted, Whitney spending time with Robin wasn't what she had in mind first. The trainer just so happened to also have planned on going to the mall to buy new fitness clothes and, after accidentally bumping into Robin, decided to join her, since both had the same destination in mind.
Which was why Robin was now helping the trainer with picking up clothes, instead of doing what she wanted initially.
"Okay, which one do you prefer?" Whitney asked, showing her two identical green tank tops. "This one or this one?"
"Aren't they the same?"
"The color may make it look like they are the same, but they really aren't," she said, hanging the two pieces of clothes to Robin. "Check out their fabric and you'll understand what I mean."
Robin understood what she meant once she inspected the tank tops better. One was made of a much lighter fabric than the other. Robin couldn't exactly tell what they were made of, but she got what Whitney was talking about. "Well, choose whatever you'd feel more comfortable wearing," she answered in the best way she could.
"I don't know..."
"You could always buy both, if you're not struggling with money," the tactician suggested.
"Um, no, I'll just buy one," she said, putting back the one Robin assumed to be made of cotton. "What about you, Robin? Won't you buy anything?"
"Maybe not today. I didn't bring enough money to buy more than a couple of books."
Once Whitney finished paying for her clothes, the two Smashers left the sports shop and just wandered around the mall until Robin suggested they'd go buy some ice-cream. Whitney, despite being known for being a fitness junkie, agreed (if only out of politeness) and the two went to the nearest ice-cream shop.
"Say, Whitney," Robin said, while they waited in line. "You are sharing the fighter slot with your brother, aren't you?"
"My brother... Oh, you mean Will?" Whitney muffled a giggle. "Robin, he's not my brother. He's my husband."
"I-I'm so sorry about that!" the tactician exclaimed. If her face could get any redder, it would have gotten with no problem. "I thought..."
"You're not the first one who makes this mistake and you won't be the last, so don't worry."
"Anyway, you are sharing the same fighter slot with Will, right?"
"Yes, we are."
"Did Master Hand say something to you about you being the default fighter and your husband being the deviation?" she asked, switching glances between Whitney and the Mii that was attending her.
"Yeah, he did," Whitney crossed her arms. "But that was way in the beginning of our training. Why are you asking this?"
"Just out of curiosity, did he make you two compete to see who would be better suited to represent the fighter slot?"
"No, he just said I was automatically the default and we didn't have a say in what he decided," Whitney said. "You should have seen how bitter poor Will got. He's much better now, but I can't blame his frustration."
"Um, I see..." she mumbled and then pointed at the green ice-cream in front of her. "Pistachio, please."
"Why did you ask that?"
"Master Hand is planning on making Rob and me compete for the spot. We're as excited as I'm making it sound."
"That's weird. I don't recall him doing this to anyone else."
"Apparently, we're a special case."
Whitney waited for her to finish paying for the ice-cream, not really in the mood to join her in eating the cold junk food and ruin her strict diet, and continued talking once they left the shop. "Robin, what is your relationship to Rob, anyway?" she asked. "Are you two twins?"
"We're not siblings," she quickly denied. "But I don't know how to explain what we are to each other without making it confusing."
"You can try."
"Rob and I are basically the same person."
"What?"
Robin sighed and ate her ice-cream. From Whitney's tone of voice, she could already see that she would take a while to explain.
Okay, so here are some things I want to explain about this chapter:
-Master Hand, despite claiming he didn't want to be gender biased, did choose the female Wii Fit Trainer because of their gender. For the Wii Fit Trainer, it was because their symbol was of a woman, so it would feel weird to make the male the default when the symbol of representation of their series was already a woman. As for the boy Villager, I have the feeling he only chose him because he has the number 1 on his shirt. Master Hand can be kind of a dick sometimes.
-There really isn't anything symbolic behind the names Whitney and Will. I'm using these names because they fit the characters and I wanted them to be puny.
-Despite recent games not showing much, Yoshi can actually talk.
-I kind of wanted to write about Lucina and Rob's training session, but I guess I just wasn't feeling it enough. I plan on giving her a bigger role (plan being the key word, I don't know what might happen) later, but not now.
-Speaking of Rob, I can't bring myself to call him Reflet, even though it is a lot more distinct and doesn't make it look like he has the same name of R.O.B. It is exactly because it's more distinct that doesn't appeal to me as much.
Thanks again for reading!
