A/N: Zelda's blade hasn't changed except the size but for those who don't know she has a long katana with a black blade with reddish rust and bloody bandages wrapped around it in random places giving it a tainted, evil look.
Disclaimer: I don't own Smash Brothers!
(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)
"HELLO FANS OF SMASH BOTHERS!" the commentator yelled with glee. The crowd roared in response it's believed that someone actually floated out into space because of how excited they were.
"Today we have a very special treat for you, I know you guys are probably wondering what you did to deserve a reward. Well, you guys earned this treat because of how loyal you have been to the combatants of Smash Brothers." The commentator said in an exaggerated heartfelt voice making the crowd swoon.
"What bullshit." Zelda mumbled, tightly gripping the handle of her long katana ready to fight.
"This year we listened to your opinions and set up a whole line up with the combatants you love and the combatants you hate. However, that's not the best part you will be able to spend a whole day with the contestant you voted for if they come out victorious today read the guidelines on our website for more details!"
Samus stood there doing adjustments to her armor, with her thoughts being filled with the beautiful Zelda. "Zelda" Samus said under her breath with a tiny smile on her face. She hadn't seen the girl in four years and wasn't expecting to ever see her again. Samus smacked her helmet trying to psych herself up and worry about slaughtering her opponents like cows. "But Zelda though," she thought feeling a wave of hope wash over her. "I was given second a chance it seems."
"Well, I'm sure all of you loyal fans are ready to see the combatants you picked to kick off the 100th Annual Smash Brothers Tournament!" the commentator yelled spinning his arm around as if he were some kind of helicopter. First we have our beloved armored space mercenary SAMUS ARAN! Samus teleported onto the stadium and pointed at the fans in the stands which brought about a nuclear explosion of praise. "Aww yeah, who's the shit!" Samus thought to herself swimming in the praise she was receiving.
Secondly it's our newcomer that apparently hit our hearts in all the right places, Ike! Ike teleported into the stadium and placed one hand onto the hilt of his Ragnell and used his other hand to wave at the crowd. The girls lost their got damn minds when they saw him and their boyfriends or husbands had to respect that, dude has mad props.
Thirdly, we have the fox that flew his ship into our lives and we have forever let him park there, Fox McCloud! Fox teleported into the stadium with his back turned towards the crowd and he turned his head to smirk at the fans with the famous flash of his pearly whites. If you thought the crowd couldn't get any more stupid you are wrong. The crowd was one step away from jumping out of their seats and into the arena to grab any article of clothing they could snatch off of these poor fools.
Zelda felt a pain in her heart because she knew that she wasn't going to be praised, and she wasn't going to bask in the sunlight of platonic affections. No one liked her and that was just the painful truth, she wouldn't be surprised if someone tried to assassinate her as soon as she appeared into the stadium. "Let's just get this over with, eh Cerberus?" Zelda said to her sword. The warrior lowered her head and was plagued by more dark thoughts. How much longer will she have to face each day being hated? Why is she even here in the first place? She's been asking herself these questions ever since she got to Smash City and the answer is always the same, to finally put a stop to Ganondorf's reign of terror. "How pathetic, I had to come to a whole new world just to be able to reach him." She scoffed. The twenty-one year old looked up at the light shining down on her, "I must be next" she thought to herself ready to start on the path of the savior.
"Lastly we have our uhm..." the commentator stopped midsentence trying to understand what was on the cue cards and if it was appropriate to say but the guy running the show shot him the "okay" sign. "Sorry 'bout that folks just had a little brain fart." The commentator chuckled nervously. "Lastly we have the Exiled Princess of Hyrule, Zelda! The crowd stopped cheering and wore a face of bemusement with the combatants following suit. The exiled princess then teleported into the stadium and gave everyone a confused look as they stared at her like she was some new undiscovered species.
Samus's heart all but shattered when she heard that Zelda was no longer a princess and even worse she was exiled from her kingdom, the mercenary wanted nothing more than to give the brunette a giant bear hug. "Stop acting like you guys give two shits about me and start booing already!" Zelda growled at the crowd breaking the silence with her rough voice echoing throughout the stadium. The crowd immediately shut their agape jaws and began booing at Zelda and screaming profanities that should never be repeated. Zelda maintained a cold atmosphere even though she was breaking down in the inside about being reminded that she had lost her kingdom to the hands of evil. Someone even had the nerve to throw his/her soda cup at her but he/she was too far away so it ended up hitting an innocent bystander.
"All right fans calm down. We came to see a fight so let's see a fight!" the commentator roared causing all the boo's earlier to turn into roars of excitement.
Zelda tapped the toe of her boots on the ground and then placed her hand on the handle of Cerberus. She squeezed the grip and a furious dark aura rushed over her and disappeared as quickly as it came, she was ready to kill. Samus lifted her cannon arm and aimed it at each one of her opponents in a taunting fashion then got ready to dominate. Fox cocked his gun and remained standing with his back towards his opponents which was highly disrespectful to a warrior so know that Zelda took note of this. Ike bowed to each of his opponents respectfully and took up a defensive stance.
The arena began to change, without a second glance Zelda recognized this fighting stage as Hyrule Castle. Zelda scoffed and ran her fingers through her bang like she always did when she was bothered, even Samus thought this to be a low blow. "Well brawlers, hold nothing back this is a Sudden Death battle so you'll need every means afforded to you to win. If you have no questions or concerns let…THE BATTLE COMMENCE!" The commentator roared so loud that it was as if he was letting the heavens know the battle was starting. The four brawlers shook off all outside distractions and began their struggle for supremacy.
Before moving Zelda took note of her surroundings, Ike was behind her and Samus and Fox were in front of her. Still feeling disrespected by Fox earlier she decided to go after him first. The warrior whipped out her sword and slammed it into the ground creating a giant black shockwave aimed straight at Fox. Fox chuckled and activated his reflective shield but little did he know he was doing exactly what Zelda wanted. The warrior teleported ahead of her shockwave and slashed at Fox making him drop his shield so he could dodge it; "Gotcha," Zelda said before doing a backflip over the shockwave before it hit Fox head on throwing him out of the arena.
Zelda not dwelling on her success turned around to guard against Ike who had attacked with a strong downward slash. The warrior held her free hand on the blade ridge of her katana and pushed with all of her might to get some distance between Ike and herself. But before she could finish him off she heard Samus's cannon charging behind her head. "Any last words?" Samus taunted but before she could fire she felt a blade piercing her abdomen. Zelda twisted the blade for effect and ripped the sword out, then span on her heel cutting Samus's cannon arm off. "I don't but do you?" Zelda growled, kicking Samus hard in the chest causing her to slide on the ground. Before doing anything else the Hylian picked up the mercenary's arm and noticed that it had a beam charged.
"Aw what the fuck!" Samus screamed in pain, gripping the nub that was once her arm. Samus stood up and ran at Zelda in a fit of rage as well as delirium and began throwing random kicks and punches that Zelda had no problem dodging. "I have to time this just right," Zelda thought. The warrior began to dodge the random attacks from Samus waiting for her plan to unfold. "Did you forget about me?!" Ike roared with his blade drawn back ready to cut Zelda in half. Zelda sent a staggering spin kick to Samus's helmet just in time to shoot Ike with the charged beam of Samus's cannon arm. Ike flew backwards like a missile until he regained his bearings and stabbed Ragnell into the ground using it as a brake. The warrior dropped the arm on the ground and readied her sword for the next flurry of attacks.
Samus stared blankly at the vicious woman standing before her and sent caution to the wind she jumped up ignoring the pain and began her second wind assault. The exiled warrior was now in a heated battle between two people, sending swift kicks at Samus and blocking slashes from Ike. Zelda drop kicked Ike in the chest making him stagger backwards and Zelda turned around to give Samus her full attention. The mercenary threw a punch at Zelda's face which she caught and snaked Samus around behind her. "Agh! Who taught…you…to be so…." Samus gargled, trailing off into unconsciousness because she had been stabbed in the chest by a sword thrust from Ike. The warrior let go of Samus's lifeless body causing her to slide off of Ike's blade hitting the ground with an empty thud. Ike stared incredulously at the exiled warrior amazed at how sharp her senses were but also afraid of how deadly accurate she was.
Zelda let a sadistic toothy grin decorate her face as she span her blade and flicked off the blood that coated it. Afterwards the warrior picked up Samus's lifeless body by her helmet and dragged her to the edge of the arena and dropped her into nothingness. "Well, now you've got my full attention Ike." Zelda informed with a sadistic tone. Ike snapped out of his daze and gripped his sword tightly trying to stop his hands from shaking in fear. The exiled warrior unleashed a pair of magnificent black angel wings from her back then flapped sending an array of sharp black feathers at Ike. Zelda then flew in front of him slashing downwards with enough force to push Ike knee high into the ground causing him to be hit by a large amount of feathery projectiles. The warrior then did a backflip and dashed forward with a horizontal slash that made Ike's blade begin to crack.
Ike stood hunched over blood pouring out of him like sweat; his body was riddled with black feathers and slashes that fumed with darkness. Zelda flicked her right arm at Ike making the chain on her manacle stretch out and wrap around the Crimean. The exiled warrior yanked Ike's body towards her like a rag doll and punched him with a golden fist to the face making a wet cracking noise. His body flew backwards but she then span him around slamming him through pillars and finally let his body go but with enough force that he slammed into a giant boulder. Zelda began to recite a silent spell and the loose rocks formed around Ike and exploded sending him to the edge of the cliff.
Ike held on to the cliffs edge for dear life praying that maybe he still had a chance to live, with that thought he found the strength to pull himself up. His hope died immediately when he saw Zelda's right arm turn a scorched black and the tattoo's glowing a fiery orange, reminding him of an active volcano. "Come." Zelda ordered. Ike feebly picked up his sword and held it weakly in front of him. "Die!" Ike yelled as he ran towards Zelda with his sword ready to pierce her heart. The warrior held her katana with one hand and ran her free hand up the long blade to the tip causing the blade to emanate a smoky black aura. Ike thrusted forward with all of his might praying the attack would land but alas Zelda's dark blade completely shattered his own. "Time to finish this huh, Ike?" Zelda whispered in his ear playfully as she powered up her final punch.
Her right arm became engulfed in a black and red flame that took the form of a demonic dog's head around her fist with clusters of skulls around her arm and sent a fiery uppercut that connected perfectly with Ike's jaw sending him flying with a pillar of flame and black feathers shooting out from under him, making Ike resemble a rocket. Zelda began shaking her arm of the flame and feather like smoke that engulfed it and looked down at the giant crater that the punch created, "I lost control again." She whimpered silently.
"Zelda the Exiled Princess of Hyrule has won the battle!" the commentator screamed on the top of his lungs. The crowd began to chant Zelda's name with enchantment and awe, the exact same crowd that had cursed her name earlier. "I thought you guys hated me," Zelda murmured, crossing her arms in an unamused manner. The commentator walked up to Zelda and presented her with the "Sudden Death Champion" trophy which she took hesitantly. "Do you have anything you want to say to your new fan base?" The commentator asked his voice laced with hope.
"You guys hated me earlier so don't think I'm going to fall for your fake praise." Zelda stated, turning on her heel and taking her leave from the stadium.
"There you have it folks, you guys have a lot of ground to cover if you want Zelda to like you!" The commentator scolded.
"I don't even want this stupid trophy" she whined dropping the trophy somewhere, Zelda had already forgotten. "I should go find Peach and apologize to her." Zelda thought recalling how wonderful it was to see her best friend again. "The darkness within you is getting harder to control isn't it Zelda?" the demonic voice purred. Zelda gripped her head in pain and staggered into a wall leaning against it for leverage. "No, I can control it just fine Cerberus." The warrior panted having trouble maintaining her balance and vision. Cerberus's voice was abnormally painful to listen to after the Hylian allows the darkness to run rampant within her.
"Surely you don't need me to tell you again that the lighter the light the darker the darkness."
"Save it." Zelda ordered trying to regain her bearings.
"Oh fine, but soon you'll be begging me to pull you out of the muck you are slowly being consumed by." Cerberus informed with a sly chuckle. "We are one my little dove; our fates are forever entwined with one another. Whether you like it or not my darkness is yours, and your light is mine."
"I get it, I get it just please stop." Zelda fell to her knees; gripping her head tighter, tears poured from her eyes, her nose was running and saliva seeping from her mouth. The pain was unbearable; it was the pain of your sanity forcefully being broken against your will.
"Zelda!" Peach yelled with worry and ran to the Hylians side. "What's wrong Zelda?!" Peach put her hands onto the younger girl's shoulders, trying to give the Hylian some comfort.
Zelda ripped her head up and screamed in pain, her right eye was completely black, she had long fangs and her teeth were also pitch black. After a couple of seconds passed the blackness of her teeth and eyes faded and returned back to normal. The Hylian loosened her grip on her head and began to wipe her nose and mouth of the liquid secreting from them. "P-peach?" Zelda coughed weakly.
"Yes it's me, I'm right here sweetie." Peach answered worried about her friend.
Zelda placed her hand on top of the princess's signaling that she was okay and stood up slowly. "So, are you going to explain to me what just happened?" Peach asked placing her hands on her hips.
"I guess I do owe you somewhat of an explanation huh?" Zelda responded, rubbing the back of her head with her hand. In all honesty she really didn't want to talk about the dark goddess that she shared her body with. "Could that perhaps wait 'til tomorrow though? I'd rather not talk about dark things over the apology dinner that I owe you!"
"Oh boo, if you insist I suppose it can wait until then." Peach pouted but soon let a smile appear on her when she realized that Zelda wanted to make up for the 4 years she went missing. Yet still not satisfied with the Hylian avoiding the subject she could tell that Zelda really did not want to talk about it right now. "I'd love to have my apology dinner today but I believe there is someone else who deserves an apology more than myself."
Zelda tilted her head in curiosity "And who is that?"
"The woman you mutilated today in the battle without even so much as a shred of tact." Peach scolded. The princess was taken aback at how violent the Hylian fought, Zelda used to be so merciful and delicate but after today's display those thoughts were shattered.
Shame punched the Hylian in the gut, she had forgotten about how savage she was just moments earlier. There was no reason for her to have been so merciless; she definitely owed Samus an apology. "Uh, well how do you suggest I go about this?" Zelda began rubbing the back of her neck feeling like a pile of garbage.
Peach walked forward with a hop in her step as if she had been waiting for this moment all her life. "I'm glad you asked sweetie!" Peach put her pointer finger to her chin and made a pensive face. "Buy her a bouquet of violet hyacinths then visit her in the infirmary and stay until she falls asleep!"
The brunette deadpanned and tilted her head to an abnormally horizontal angle. "Wha?" Zelda and Samus couldn't be considered close but when they did have those scarce moments together they were meaningful and equally enjoyable. It's just Peach's suggestion seemed like something that a lover would do for their loved one that they had hurt.
"No questions just do as I instructed!" Peach ordered clapping her hands quickly before pushing Zelda outside of the stadium.
"H-hey?! Peach wait a minute!" Zelda stuttered trying to get the forceful princess's attention. "I wanted to catch up with you today can't this wait 'til later or something?
"No it cannot, we can catch up anytime darling, this is something that I can't possibly let you overlook!"
The Hylian knew when she was defeated; she shook out of Peach's grasp and began to walk on her own. "Know anywhere I can find a flower shop then Princess Pushy?" Zelda sighed slumping over and looking at Peach through her eyelid.
"Why yes I do! The princess grabbed Zelda's hand and dragged her off to a local flower shop called "Forget Me Not".
"Do I really have to do this?" Zelda asked in a dry tone with an equally dry facial expression.
"Since when did you become so whiny?" Peach scolded placing her hands on her hips.
"I'm not whining! I'm just reluctant…" Zelda averted her eyes from the princess and decided to enter the flower shop first so she could avoid explaining herself.
"Welcome to Forget Me Not! How can I fulfill your flower needs today?" The shop owner sang in glee over finally receiving a customer.
"We need a bouquet of your prettiest violet hyacinths!" Peach chirped.
The owner practically flew to the backroom in excitement ready to satisfy the two. "You two couldn't have come at a better time! I have some young fresh hyacinths ready to be bought and loved!"
Zelda stood there with a forlorn expression on her face; this is the world she missed, the world she was selfishly ripped away from so long ago. Despite her apprehension earlier she truly was enjoying herself, being able to hang out with her best friend and being able to feel well normal. "This is nice." Zelda sighed, her expression warming up.
Peach looked at her friend warmly glad to see Zelda finally enjoying herself. Though she was plagued by numerous thoughts pertaining to the Hylian's whereabouts and why her status has changed. Most of all what was that darkness that was in Zelda's eye earlier what was happening to the Hylian, what had she gotten herself into. Considering how rough Zelda looked now she hasn't had it easy over the years but that added to the Hylian's new found charm.
"Well here you go ladies, a beautiful bouquet of violet hyacinths ready to please!" The clerk came out with a beautiful bouquet wrapped in white paper and the end tied with a beautiful black ribbon.
"How much do I owe you?" Zelda asked untying a pouch from her waist.
"It's on the house, it's not very often people come in here and well consider this a thank you present."
"Whatever do you mean?" Peach asked with a hint of worry in her voice.
The clerk gave the two a somber smile, "I'm afraid this little shop of mine will be closing soon because the lack of business I get. Yet, seeing you girls come here and buy flowers from me, brings warmth to my heart. It makes me feel like this place will actually not be forgotten."
Zelda bit her lip in thought, "Is there perhaps a way to help keep this place open?"
"Hm? Please don't feel obligated to…" The owner's words evaporated when Zelda poured a copious amount of gold and jewels out of the seemingly boundless pouch she had.
Peach stared at Zelda her eyes wide and mouth agape, "Zelda what are you…"
"That should be enough to keep your shop open for a while longer no?" Zelda tied the pouch back to her belt then grabbed the hyacinths and made her way out of the shop.
The owner fell to her knees with tears of joy filling her eyes, "Never in a million years could I hope to repay you, but I will sure as hell try!"
Zelda waved at the woman not turning to face her then headed toward Smash Mansion. Peach placed her hand on the flower shop owner's shoulder, "Do your best for now on, kay?" Peach winked at the woman then took her leave catching up to Zelda.
"That was rather nice of you Zelda; I guess you really haven't changed."
The Hylian grumbled under her breath but quickly gave Peach a reassuring smile, "Just 'cause I look different doesn't mean that I am princess."
"I suppose so sweetie, I suppose so."
(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)(^.^)
A/N: Well there you have it folks, I hope you liked it.
-Skip