A/N
I would like to make it clear that this is mostly all from Ness' perspective, however just not 1st person, obviously. This would explain all the sarcasm in the narrative text^^;
I've also given Ness too much of an attitude, oops, oh well that's what I get for getting carried away, just hoping I can turn it around without ruining the story or plot. Wish me luck!
Thank you to everyone who read/favourited/followed my fic and an even bigger thank you to those who reviewed :)
nessxlucas4ever - I'm glad to hear that you're interested in my story even though you claim you came for NeCas specifically, :) it tells me that I really should continue and not stop like I usually do haha^^
Ensoleillement - There will be plenty more Popo coming :) I plan to involve Popo as much as I can with Ness and Lucas, being one of the main protagonists along with Nana, Toon Link and their newly found teenaged drama.
The grand hall emitted nothing but silence and the mixed aura of excitement, anxiety and mild anger, everyone was sat to a seat by the conveniently large sized dining table. It was used for meetings but Ness could never get his head around why it couldn't just be used for eating, would have made cleaning up and serving far easier and cleaner. Then again he couldn't say much, they had smaller tables to eat as friendship groups were put into consideration, which only mattered to him a few years ago, besides he always thought it would have been fun to converse with some of the older smashers at meal times instead however it was near to impossible with the layout in which they had.
"It smells like paper and old people, when was the last time someone used a duster in here?" The dark haired boy complained, taking his finger along the edge of the dusty table.
"Oh hush Ness it isn't that bad, it's professional, has to be professional!"
"Yeah yeah, professional." He mocked, his attention drawn downwards making small patterns and pictures out of the dust.
There were two large doors to one end of the room, these doors being much, much larger than any other in the mansion, they were the doors to the front exit, it was forbidden to use them. If the smashers wanted some fresh air or to play outside they had to use the back exit in the cafeteria, which was no longer in the best of conditions. A loud creak resounded from that direction, as the doors were opened and a giant floating hand made its way in, making itself comfortable in the cushioned leather chair by the end of the table. Master Hand.
"I'm sure you have all been informed as to what day it is today." The smashers responded with silent nods and eyes focused, all but Ness that is who only nodded, still making dust patterns.
"Some of you know the procedure from the last opening, of the Melee tournament, however I will repeat myself from last time to those, less informed." He cleared his throat, well the kind of throat a giant hand could possess anyway.
"I am glad to announce that the new smashers have arrived all good and well, now now don't get too excited people." He silenced the room once again as some of the smashers began giggling and gasping out of eager excitement. "They are new and need extra care, good manners and politeness are essential from everyone in this room." Wiggling his fingers the master hands assigned the Smash Veterans 'task sheets', assigning them to the welfare of two or more newcomers. The less experienced smashers were given informative sheets, putting a name and face to each newcomer and a small paragraph on where they came from. A certain princess couldn't help but palm her forehead upon reading that a certain "Wario" would be joining them in the smash mansion.
Ness observed his task sheet closely of two blond boys similar to his age, Lucas aged 17, 6ft 3, blond, blue eyes, his photo was of him standing in front of a wooden cabin, his arms down by his side and his expression was that of a young boy's shy smile, almost invisible to see.
Link, profile name 'Toon Link', aged 15, 5 ft 7, blond, dark brown eyes, his photo was of him and an elderly lady in a red dress and grey hair tied up in a bun, his expression was jolly and almost goofy looking, as he held a wide smile to his lips, his arms wrapped snuggly around the elderly lady. Looking at Toon Link and his profile name reminded him a lot of Young Link, however he didn't fool himself into thinking that the two would be anything alike, this guy looked ... rather annoying.
"Nice, a goof and a giant. Anyone wanna trade?" He joked with a defeated tone, he really didn't want this kind of responsibility. His attention was took further down the table to Popo who gave out a mocking 'ha' in response.
"They can't be that bad," Peach reassured. "Look they're your age." She pointed to the boys on his task sheet.
"That don't mean jack Peach, Popo's my age and he's a di-"
"Give them a chance okay?" She cut him off before his potty mouth could finish that sentence. She really did not like cursing.
Master Hand cleared his throat in attempt to gain the attention of the smashers, particularly more the veterans however.
"Is everyone clear on their tasks and the kind of behaviour I expect?" Silent nods again.
"Good!" The hand left his seat to float beside the doors that opened minutes ago. "I would like everyone to give a warm welcome to the newcomers." If it was physically possible Ness could have assumed the hand just bowed courteously, holding the handle of the doors, gesturing for the new smashers to come in.
The room was filled with the odd steps of the newcomers, some landing heavy on the polished floorboards, some barley audible, landing softly with each step. They all held a very confused look to their faces, as if they were looking at aliens or something as equally as strange.
It saddened Ness to think that the last time this happened he was more than overjoyed to see some new kids his age arriving, however this time he wasn't so keen. Nevertheless he made sure he'd at least try, looking back at the sheet of the two boys, he comes to think that maybe they're actually pretty cool.
Ten sets of feet had made their way into the grand hall, coming to a stand still as the doors closed behind them. Ness scanned the group for his boys but could only locate one of them. With an idea to ask Peach as to where the others might be, it hit him that this is all new to her, asking her would only be a waste of breath so he waited, hoping that an explanation is on its way. Losing one of his assignment subjects before he's even laid eyes on him wouldn't be good for his reputation.
The newcomers all had a sheet in their hands, assuming that it was similar to the veteran's assignment sheets. It looked like an A5 sheet however, meaning there wasn't enough to fit all the faces of each smasher there on that one single paper, harsh to think that they'd have to figure out everyone's names some other way, considering how many of them there are now.
"Some of you are probably wondering where some, if not all your assignment subjects are.. Well, in all honesty they aren't here yet. They won't be for a couple more days however the tournament will continue as scheduled, I would like to inform everyone that this is all to plan and their arrival was scheduled to be later than others. I do apologise for the inconvenience of not telling you all sooner but I'm sure you all understand." Master Hand was always so full of shit, but at least he always kept calm and genuine about it, it's always a laugh to see what surprise he comes up with.
"Newcomers, if you would like to meet up with your veteran guide, they will take you to and around all the facilities we have here at smash mansion. After a thorough tour you will be taken to your rooms which are currently being set out." Ness was taken back a little by this fact, when was there a mention of escort? He was quite tired of all his surprises already, especially today. Surely enough though looking back on the sheet there were the orders. 'Tour around the site.' 'Introduction to shared dorm.'
"He's not really making us room with them ... Is he?" He quietly complained to the Princess beside him.
"'Fraid so dear." This only made him grunt in return. "It'll be fun, really." She attempted to reassure him on the situation, however little it was actually doing to help.
"Ugh, god there's already two of us in there, it isn't the cosiest room in the house either."
"Um.. Ness? Is it?" His complaining cut short by the approach of a timid blond boy behind them. Ness put on his best smile and stuck out his hand upon laying eyes on the other boy.
"That's me." The blond took his hand shyly, returning the typical meet-n-greet gesture. "Lucas right?"
The blond nodded silently, chewing at the corner of his bottom lip, it was evident that he didn't want to be here, another one Master Hand managed to trick into joining. The boy was nervous. He wore a pale orange and yellow zip-up hoodie beneath an open denim jacket, he wore a dark, muddy orange pair of skinny jeans, and above-ankle height black commando boots that loosened up and flared out at the top. 'Dude, so camp.' Ness thought, however he had to admit it suited him, despite this being the first meeting the two had encountered. His hair was a soft, pale blond, that stood upwards like the top-tip of an ice cream from the ice cream van. It brought Ness to wondering just what kind of gel the boy uses, whatever it was, it was good.
"You're supposed to show me around?" He was nervous yes, it wasn't hard to tell, though he had this aggressive and impatient tone mixed in there, standing with his hands in his pockets he spoke with the body language of a 'bad kid', the ones you'd get in high school, the rebellious type. His aura however told Ness that he wasn't that type, it confused the darker haired boy quite a bit.
"Oh, yeah." He caught himself, he pushed his chair out to stand up. Accidentally he caught the taller blond in the stomach with the back of the chair, in which he responded with a sharp gasp, having held his breath momentarily.
"Oh, dude I'm so, so sorry." He cursed to himself for making a fool of himself already, this can't be good. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine." The blond replied with a deep breath.
"Um, oh yeah, the.. The tour. This way." The room was a lot more empty now, some of the smashers and their veterans had already left and started, each taking their own path about the mansion. He gestured for the blond to follow him, he caught Nana and Popo staring before leaving the room.
"Listen uh... Ness?"
"What? If it's about that it was totally an accident, really!-"
"What? No no, not that. That's f-" he licked his dry lips, it was clear that he stuttered but the attempt to hide it was rather clever. "That's fine." He continued. "I just, I know you don't want to give me a tour, I don't want a tour either, it's all good, do me a favour and-" stutter. "And just take me to my room."
"Our room, got it."
"Our room?"
"Yeah, our room, you're rooming with us and, and a friend. There's also someone else rooming with us but heh, he's not here yet." He was beginning to sweat, the blond seemed to be more bothered about sharing than he was.
Lucas huffed in response. "Okay.."
"This way."
"I'm gonna get it for this." Ness laughed half heartedly.
"For what?"
"For skipping out on my 'duties'." Lucas only shrugged in return as they stepped into their dorm. Two new beds had been fit in as well as a new chest of drawers, a wardrobe, a bookshelf and even a TV. Master Hand must have figured that to keep four young boys out of trouble was to give them entertainment in their own room. Awesome. They'd only been up and out for about an hour or two and already had his room completely transformed, it was hardly recognisable.
"Which one's mine?"
"Any, besides that one." He pointed to one in the corner of the room. "That's Popo's, and that one." He pointed to one beside the bathroom door. "That's mine."
There was a brief moment of silence before the taller boy walked up to the bed beside the window.
"Can I have this one?" He asked.
"Sure, go ahead, first come first served man."
Silence took over them again, it was an awkward and painful silence, the kind Ness hated with a passion. "Oh, right I almost forgot, there's a room we have here, called the visualiser, you can basically get all your stuff from there, as long as its within tournament rules, you know, no drugs, no drink, no smoke-"
"My stuff?"
"Uh yeah... Your stuff.." It was an odd question to ask, Ness could only respond sarcastically.
"All of it?"
"Well not all of it, there's a limit of seven luxury items, then you have three necessities. You're lucky you're at a mature age, I blew all mine on candy and junk when I joined." Lucas just started at him as if he was mad.
"I was young, okay. God don't look at me like that." He joked, he got the other boy to smile a little in return. It was nice, to make someone smile, he hadn't felt like this or done such a thing for a few years now. How he missed it.
"Alright Ness, show me this 'Visualiser', I could use my things."
The visualiser was located on the basement floor underground, where all the technology lives. It had been opened and closed numerous times since the tournaments began, it was a matter of trust to keep it open to the smashers, there'd only been a few problems involving the smashers starting since the melee tournaments, the troublemakers are some of the few that didn't make it to brawl. Lucky for the boys everyone else was still on their tour, so they were the first to collect Lucas' things.
"Hey.. Ness, I got it from here."
"Huh?"
"I said I got it, you can go now I'll catch you later." The tone in his voice said that he really didn't want Ness to leave but his words told him that he should.
"I have to look out for you though, you could get lost."
"No it's okay, I got it really, I remember how we got down here its just a f-" Ness stared at him for him to continue. "A few stairs."
"Well okay... But don't get lost. I'll get done for it and believe me when I say that won't make me a happy bunny."
"I got it. Ness." The blond was louder and blunt about it this time but there was no threat in it.
"See you, then." He hummed sympathetically, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Lucas, he knew if he was trying to hide something he couldn't, the visualiser doesn't let anything harmful process, so he could only feel for the boy as there were obviously other things he didn't want to be seen. Not to mention that he's new, newcomers really shouldn't be shutting themselves off from everyone especially so early. It would be rude to push however.
"See you." Ness left the basement halls and started to make his way back up to the dorm, stopping in his tracks as he came to the ground floor. "...Wonder how Peach is doing." He didn't have good relationships with many people, but Peach was someone he could always go to, she was bound to be with Mario, showing one of the newcomers around, he thought to make his way around to find them.
A/N
Ugh I can't wait to get to the part I've played over and over in my head writing is hard work people.
Psst but so worth it, should start writing some huh?;D Huh?;D Huh?;D No? Ok
Thanks for reading :) shout outs to those who review!^^