Chapter 1.5: First Impressions

This chapter is an expansion of the first chapter. In the first chapter Snake introduced himself to the newcomers from Smash 4 but the conversations were reduced to descriptions. This was done so that the first chapter wasn't too long and I could get this story off the ground. But it would be a sin to not have the actual first meetings in this story, so that's what this chapter is.

But first, here's a brief but important extension of the phone call between Snake and Master Hand. Thank you all for the reviews, favorites and follows by the way.

"All right Master Hand, I'm willing to come back to Smash. But before I say yes, there's a question I need you to answer for me."

"A question? Of course! Ask me anything." MH gleefully responded.

"Anything? I was hoping you'd say that." Snake said with a small grin before his face showed a solemn expression. "Back in 2014 I was suffering severely from accelerated aging, a little gift from the Patriots put in place before I was born. My health was failing me. After destroying the Patriots, I had come to accept that I had only six months to live. And then, three months later, I woke up and looked in a mirror and saw that I looked like my actual age of 42. My hair wasn't gray, my body looked healthy, and more importantly my body WAS healthy. We did a body scan and saw that even the FOXDIE virus was removed from my body.

Everyone said it was a miracle, and maybe it was. But I refuse to believe that all of it just went away from my body. Somebody removed it, and I only know one being with that kind of power." Snake briefly paused. "So I'm asking you Master Hand. Was it you? Did you heal me?"

There was a long silence on the other end until Master Hand finally spoke up. "I may have used my power across universes to rid you of an ailment that I believed to be unfair given all you've done." He admitted. "Look not only did I feel bad that we couldn't have you in the fourth tournament, but to also learn that you were going to die from such a cruel fate. You stuck your neck out to help save me and the Smash Universe back in the Subspace incident, so I felt it would only be fair that I save you this time. Does that answer your question?" He finished.

Snake smiled. "Yes. It does." He replied. "Alright I'm in. Tell me where I need to go."

Snake arrived at the meeting area, a large room with tables to sit at with food and drinks being served on top. There were a lot of people here. He was supposed to come here and meet new faces, but he didn't know where to start. As he was wondering what his first approach should be, someone came to him first.

"Excuse me, sir?" someone in blue said to him. Snake looked down at who was speaking. His face looked human, but he wore an odd blue bodysuit and helmet. He had an idea who this was, only thanks to Otacon being a fan of his games. This was Mega Man, the Super Fighting Robot. "Are you Solid Snake?" He asked.

"I am. You're Mega Man right?"

"I am, how did you know that?" Mega Man asked.

"A friend of mine is a fan of yours. Mentioned you a few times."

"I see."

"So, is it true that you're a robot that feels emotions, is that true?" Snake asked suddenly.

"Yes, that's true. Why?"

"Just curious." He stated. "So why were you made as a combat robot?"

"Well originally I was a lab assistant robot built by Dr. Light. But once Robot Masters started becoming a problem I requested to be converted into a combat model."

"So, you fight against robots that become a threat to humanity?"

"That's right."

"Well then…what were to happen if you were to turn on humanity?" Snake bluntly questioned. Mega Man was quite shocked by the question.

"I'd…I'd never do that! I always self-exam myself to check for any corruptions." Mega Man then sighed. "But if for some reason, I were to go rogue, I trust you and the others to stop me."

Snake nodded. "Alright. Sorry for the tough questions, I just needed to know."

"That's alright. Now is it okay if I ask you a question?"

"Well since I just grilled you with questions and you answered them, it's only fair that you ask some. So go ahead."

"Well I'm only asking this based off the questions you asked me. But do you hate robots?"

"No, I don't hate robots. What I hate is weapons that do nothing but bring danger to the world. So don't worry. I don't have a problem with you."

"Oh. Glad to know."

Snake didn't want to come off as harsh towards Mega Man, but he never was one sugarcoat what he felt. He'd rather be brutally honest than tell a comforting lie.

The next person Snake spoke to was a man with a red headband and a martial arts Gi. He had an idea of who this was after hearing a few things from other fighters.

"Are you Ryu?" Snake walked up to him and asked, to which he got a nod in response. "I'm Snake. Just thought I'd introduce myself."

"Good to finally meet you."

"You've heard of me?"

"Of course. Some of the veterans would bring you up every now and then. I'd like to spar with you sometime."

"Spar with me? Can't say I've been asked that before. You really like to fight, don't you?"

Ryu smirked. "It depends on the kind of fight. If it's a fight for sport where fighters hope to learn and improve, I enjoy it. Death matches I don't enjoy, which is why I like this tournament."

Snake agreed to that. Of the many things he enjoyed most about Smash, one of his favorites was that he wasn't fighting for his life. It wasn't war. He wasn't in danger of losing his life, and didn't have to take the life of another being. For once he could do what he was good at and actually have fun.

"So I heard a few things about you from other fighters. Some told me that you can shoot a fireball from your hands. Is that true? Because I don't know of any martial art from my universe that teaches people how to do that."

Ryu let out an exasperated sigh in response. "I've told everyone several times now, the Hadouken is not a fireball! It is a surging energy wave created by focusing one's energy into and through one's palms." Ryu began to explain.

"Hadouken…Surge Fist." Snake translated the name out loud for himself. Ryu was surprised to hear that.

"You speak Japanese?"

"It's one of the six languages I know." Snake answered. So based on what you were saying and context clues from the name of the technique, are you telling me that you're sending a projectile punch from your palms?"

"Yes! That's correct!" Ryu excitedly confirmed, happy that someone finally understood the technique.

"Okay. Can you show it to me?"

"Sure. But I'll have to fire a suppressed version so that I don't send one across the room and hit something, so you won't be seeing the type I use in battle." He agreed. Ryu went into a stance with one leg extended forward and his hands clasped together as he gathered energy. "HADOUKEN!" Ryu shouted as he thrusted his palms forward and a blue sphere of energy shot out from them. Unlike his usual Hadoukens, it dissipated after traveling three feet.

"Interesting. Though I can see why people think it's a fireball." Snake admitted.

"I don't know why. When they call the Shakunetsu Hadouken a fireball then I can understand it, but the Hadouken is blue."

"Wait, you have a variation of this technique that translates to the 'Scorching Heat Surge Fist'?"

"Yeah. Would you like me to show you?"

"You know what, keep it for when we finally see each other in the ring. I'll see you later Ryu."

The next fighter Snake approached was a tall blonde woman wearing a light blue dress and a silver crown on her head. Apparently she was from Mario's universe.

"Excuse me." Snake said to her, getting her to turn around and face him.

"Oh, hello." She kindly greeted.

"Hi, my name is-WHAT THE HELL!" His introduction was cut short as he felt something grabbing his bandana. A little star shaped creature floated in front of him, now wearing his bandana and looking quite happy. Snake was about to shout at the star, but the woman beat him to it.

"LUMA! Why did you do that?! You know it's wrong to take things that don't belong to you! Now give that man his bandana back and apologize!" The woman scolded the star creature like a mother scolding her child. Likewise the star showed shame similar to a child that had just been chastised by their parents for doing something wrong. The star creature, apparently named Luma, handed Snake his bandana back.

"I'm sorry I took your bandana, mister. I just thought you looked really cool with it and wanted to try it on." Luma apologized.

"It's okay kid. Just don't do it again." Snake replied. The star then floated over to the woman.

"I'm so sorry about that! He normally doesn't do things like that, but I guess he really liked your bandana. And thank you so much for not being harsh towards him despite the bad first impression. He really is a good boy." The woman said to him.

"It's no problem. I believe you."

"You're Snake right? Solid Snake?" She asked.

"Oh, so you've also heard of me."

"Mario, Luigi and Peach told me about you. They were all quite fond of you. I can't tell you how happy they were when they heard you were coming back." She said. "My name is Rosalina."

"Okay. What are you the princess of?" Snake asked.

The question confused Rosalina. "Princess? Why do think I'm a princess?"

"Well I saw a crown on your head and assumed you must be a princess. Am I wrong?"

Rosalina touched the crown and let out a short laugh. "Oh right. I almost always forget I'm wearing one. This isn't a crown of royalty. It was a gift given to me by the Lumas."

"You mean the little star child?"

"Well his name is Luma, but his race is the Lumas."

"Well that's an imaginative name." Snake thought to himself.

"It's a long story but the Lumas became a family to me. They see me as a mother, and I see them as my children. We live happily up at the Comet Observatory up in space."

"The Comet Observatory? Is that a spaceship or something?"

"That's right."

"You've definitely got a strange story. But I guess now's not the time to tell me about it. How about we exchange stories someday? Deal?"

"Deal! See you later Snake!" Rosalina said.

"Bye Mr. Snake!" Luma waved.

As Snake looked for someone else to meet, Bowser went up to him.

"Hey, Snake!" The King of Koopas said.

"What is it Bowser? I'm a little busy." Snake said, irritation in his voice.

"I hear you're going around to meet the newcomers from the last tournament, so I thought I might as well introduce you to some."

"Who would that be?"

"My children!"

Snake's eyes widened. "Your…children."

Bowser Jr. along with the seven other Koopalings walked over to their father.

"Papa! Who's this?" Bowser Jr. asked.

"Junior, this is Solid Snake. He's an…an old acquaintance."

"Whoever he is he looks like a chump."

"Well, you sure are your father's son." Snake snidely remarked.

Knowing now that Bowser had not one, but eight children brought many questions to Snake's mind. Some of made him curious, and others made him feel uncomfortable. Either way he could live without knowing the answers to those questions. He also didn't feel like engaging in any further conversation with Bowser or his children. Talking with a bunch of punk kids probably wouldn't result in any kind of productive conversation, so he decided to take his leave.

"Later Bowser. I'll see you and your kids on the battlefield."

The next fighter he met was the Wii Fit trainer, the female one. She told him that her male counterpart was somewhere else at the moment.

"So you're a yoga instructor?"

"That's right! Helping people get fit is my specialty." She cheerfully replied. "However you don't look like you need my help with getting in shape. You've got a very strong and healthy body from the looks of it. Good work!" She said and gave him a thumbs up.

"Uh…thanks." Snake replied, not sure whether to be flattered or not. He didn't want to be rude but this woman's appearance kind of perturbed him. She looked like one of those mannequins you see at malls used to display clothing. But she walked, talked and breathed like a human.

"Is everything all right?" She asked upon noticing his sudden silence.

"Can I ask you a somewhat blunt question?"

"Sure." She replied, looking a little confused.

"Are you…human?"

"Of course I am. What would make you ask such a silly question like that?" She questioned with a giggle.

"Uh…no reason. It was a dumb question. Forget I said anything." Snake answered, just glad she wasn't offended by the question.

"All right then."

Next was Palutena, Goddess of Skyworld. Pit mentioned her name a few times in the third tournament, but never gave many details about her. Snake never thought he would get to talk to an actual deity, even if she wasn't from his world. He always wondered what the nature of gods were. If something like Greek Mythology was anything to go by, they tended to be no good. So he decided to test her character.

"So along with being Goddess of Skyworld, you're the protector of mankind, is that right?"

"That's correct." She answered.

"So tell me, what do you think about us humans? Do you believe we're self-destructive creatures that need to be watched over? We do wage wars after all. Do you believe that you and the other gods are better than us humans?" He questioned.

Palutena was shocked by the sudden pressing question. She quickly regained her composure to answer. "Humanity is a flawed species yes, but…" she began, getting Snake's interest. "I'd be a fool to say that us gods are morally superior to humans. We've proven that we are just as flawed as humans, if not more so. Pride, Vanity, Greed, waging war against each other. These are sins we are guilty of as well. I've come to learn that humanity and gods aren't all that different from each other. We don't have the right to dictate how humans live their lives. That's why Pit and I dedicate ourselves to preventing other deities from meddling in humanity's affairs."

Snake smiled after she finished. "I didn't know what answer I would get, but I'm glad that's the one I got." He said. "Sorry about putting you on the spot like that. I hope I didn't offend you."

"Oh not at all! It was a good question." She assured him with a smile.

"Now here's another question. What's are gods' favorite food?"

"Well…I can't speak for the other gods, but my favorite food is octopus."

"You like octopus too?!" Snake asked.

"I do…wait! You like octopus too?!" She echoed his question, even more surprised than he was.

"Yeah! Octopus is good eating."

Palutena squealed with excitement and joy. "Finally! Someone who understands! Usually when I tell people that they look so repulsed. And I'm like 'Don't knock it till you try it!' you know?"

Snake and Palutena would get along very well.

Snake began looking for someone new to meet. He stopped moving, as his instinct began to tell him something was wrong. Something like, someone was coming his way to attack him. He turned around at incredible speed and caught the arm of a dark winged angel that just tried to sucker punch him.

"What?!" the angel shouted, looking absolutely astonished that Snake caught him.

Snake flipped his attacker onto his back and held him in an arm lock. "You've got about ten seconds to explain yourself before I decide to break this arm." He threatened, slowly applying pressure to the angel's right arm.

"ARGH! Pit told me you were really strong, so I wanted to see for myself if that was true!"

"And your idea of testing strength is to try to sucker punch someone?"

"Well you did stop me, didn't you?!"

Pit then flew over and tried to break this up. "Snake! I'm so sorry about this." He said. He then turned to the dark angel. "Pittoo! I told you not to do that!"

"Stop calling me that, dammit!" He growled.

"Sorry! Let me try again." Pit requested. "Dark Pit! I told you not to do that!"

"Pit, is this a friend of yours?" Snake asked, still restraining Dark Pit in an arm lock.

"Uh…kind of. He's more of a rival than anything. But he's not evil! So please don't break his arm!"

Snake nodded and released Dark Pit from the hold. "You can thank Pit for saving your arm." He said to which Dark Pit growled. "But don't go anywhere. We still need to get to know each other."

"Alright. Name's Dark Pit. That's introductions out of the way."

"Pit called you a different name, one that you didn't take to kindly to."

"You mean Pittoo? Yeah, I hate it! It's a stupid name that Palutena and Pit made."

"I can understand why you would hate it."

"How could you understand?"

"It's pretty obvious. The implication of the name is that you're just a clone or a doppelgänger of Pit. But you're not. You're your own individual and you want to be seen as such. I don't blame you for being upset by being told your just an offshoot of Pit."

Dark Pit was surprised that Snake pretty much nailed the reasoning right on the head. "Well, you're definitely not stupid."

"That doesn't give you the excuse to be an asshole all the time though." Snake remarked. "You don't need to act like a rude bastard to separate yourself from Pit."

"I'm not acting like anything!" Dark Pit sneered

"I don't believe you. Either way, as of right now I don't respect you. Maybe one of these days you can earn it from me. See you around kid." Snake told him as he walked away.

The next fighter Snake spoke to was the male Robin.

"So you're not a swordsman?"

"Well I have a sword, but I primarily use a variety of magic when I fight. I'm a battle tactician, not a swordsman."

"A fighter who uses his head and lays out plans? I like that." Snake said. "But I hope you know what any good tactician should know. Carefully laid out plans doesn't always win battles. No matter how good of a tactician you are, there's no way you can account for every possibility. Tell me how many times you've had a plan you and your comrades are trying to carry out, only for something you could never foresee happens and completely invalidates your plan?"

"A good number of times."

"Right. That's when you need to make the most of an important ability, the ability to adapt." Snake said. "An opponent completely sees through an attack you had planned, what do you do? Your opponent is stronger or faster than you. What can you do to negate this advantage that they have over you?"

Snake went over a number of these hypothetical situations. Robin enjoyed hearing the things his tactical mind came up with.

"I enjoyed talking to you Snake. Do you think in the future you, me and my female counterpart can talk more about battle tactics? I'm sure she'd love to be in on this conversation as well." Robin asked.

"Sure. I'll talk to you later Robin." Snake agreed and shook hands with Robin.

Next Snake talked to Lucina, the swordswoman who came from a ruined timeline. Also a close companion to Robin, the male one specifically. They didn't specify the nature of their relationship and he felt there was more to it than they were letting on, but it wasn't his place to pry.

"You remind me of someone." Snake said.

"Who would that be?"

"Marth. Yeah, Marth. Are you related to him or something?"

"Yes. I am a distant descendant of him."

"What's that like? Meeting someone so far up your family tree?"

"Well I personally found it to be an honor. I already grew up being told stories of the exploits of the great Hero-King. I would pray to him to give me strength to save the world, just like he had done. When I finally met him, it felt like I already knew him." She explained. "Sorry. That's probably a weird answer."

"No, it's fine. It was a weird question I asked. No real normal way to answer it. Though I do think it's nice to have such admiration for your family." He said. "So I want to ask you about your time travelling ventures."

"What do you want to know?"

"Did you ever think about the possible dangers of meddling with time?"

"What kinds of dangers?"

"Things like in the process of trying to save the past, it turns out your actions end up dooming it in the first place. What if you prevented important events from happening?"

"Well I certainly didn't doom the past by going there, and stopping events from happening was the point of me going there. I can't take full credit, but in the timeline I travelled to, my father's death at the hands of Robin while he was possessed by Grima didn't happen. My father lived."

"I'm not arguing whether you were successful or not, but didn't you at least have some concerns about the possible effects of tampering with time?"

"Well I didn't know much about time travel, and I still don't. So I didn't really think much about it."

"Come on! It's like you've never watched a-" Snake cut himself off. What am I thinking? Of course she hasn't! They don't have movies where she comes from. "Hey, have you ever watched a movie before?"

"A movie? I've seen a few. I was introduced to them when I came to this world. They're quite fascinating." She smiled.

"Good! Because at some point, you and I are going to watch movies about time travel! Then maybe you'll understand where I'm coming from."

"Uh…okay. If you insist."

"Alright. I'll talk to you later."

Next up, Cloud.

Snake looked at the weapon the spikey blond had on his back. A massive blade known as the Buster Sword. It was ridiculous how big it was.

"You know I thought it was crazy to see Ike swinging a two-handed sword with one arm, but now I see someone using a sword that's bigger than they are." Snake started the conversation.

"That's not the first time I've heard something like that." Cloud chuckled a bit.

"Where did you get a sword like that?" Snake asked. He soon noticed the expression in Cloud's face change. Signs of pain and regrets were visible in his eyes. Snake figured he accidently pressed on a touched on a sensitive matter, brought up some troubling memories. "Listen, if you don't want to talk about it, it's alright."

"No…it's fine." Cloud assured after snapping out of his thoughts. "The sword is a memento…of a friend."

Snake solemnly nodded. "I see."

"Sorry I made this conversation a little awkward. I didn't even give you my name. I'm Cloud Strife. You're Snake, right?"

"That's right. Geez, it seems like every newcomer knows about me in some way."

"You made a good amount of friends before you left. They'd talk about you."

"Hope they didn't say anything bad about me." Snake grinned. "So, what are you? A soldier, a mercenary? Used to be one or both of those."

Cloud's eyes widened at the question. "Yeah…I used to be a soldier and a mercenary. How did you guess that?"

"I've got an eye for it. I tend to know a soldier when I see them." He answered. "You're a pretty reserved guy. Seem to prefer to keep to yourself. I used to be like that all the time. And those eyes. They look like they've seen a lot of conflict and battles, along with a fair share of tragedies."

Cloud's silence only confirmed his inquires.

"Let me give you some advice based on experience. Don't dwell so much on the past." Snake said. "I don't know what exactly happened to you in the past, but it looks like whatever it was, you haven't completely come to terms with it and it still haunts you. Don't let your past control your future. I know it sounds preachy, but that's the advice I have for you."

"Uh…thanks." Cloud said, not sure why Snake would take some of his time to try and give him advice.

"No problem. I'll leave you be now." Snake said and walked off.

Last but not least, there was Bayonetta.

Rather than go to her to talk, Bayonetta had went to Snake to begin a conversation.

"Well hello there, handsome." The Umbra Witch said in that flirtatious voice of hers.

Snake's eyes widened with surprise at the compliment for a brief moment. He grinned as he looked over to her. "Well that's a rather bold way to talk to a stranger, don't you think?"

"If you don't like it, I'm not going to apologize for it."

"Hey! Who said anything about not liking it?" Snake asked with a playful grin. Bayonetta smiled back.

"I'm beginning to like you already. Bayonetta is the name by the way."

"Solid Snake, but everybody just calls me Snake."

"Who names their child something like that?"

"I don't know, who names their child Bayonetta?"

"Oh please! That's not really my name."

"Well Snake is not really my name either."

"Then what is your real name?"

"It's something I don't let just anybody know."

"Well aren't you a tease." Bayonetta giggled. "I'll tell you what, once you tell me your name, I'll tell you mine."

"Tempting offer but I'm not going to tell you. Not yet at least. Maybe once we're better acquainted I'll tell you."

"Fair enough." Bayo shrugged.

"So I've got a question for you." Snake said

"Ask away, handsome." She said with smirk.

"Are those pistols acting as heels on your shoes?

"They sure are. I also have two more, right here." She said as she pulled two more blue colored pistols out. "I call the four of them, Love is Blue."

"Do you mind if I take a look at one of them?"

"Go ahead. Do be gentle though."

Snake could only smirk at her flirtatious attitude as he began examining the blue pistol she handed to him. "This is a unique design. Though the base looks similar to the C96 Mauser."

"Really? I guess Rodin must like that gun." Bayo replied.

"Rodin?"

"A friend of mine, also the one who made these guns."

"Well he certainly seems to be a very talented gunsmith." Snake commented. "I noticed that there's no switch or button to eject the magazine from the gun. In fact, there's no magazine in this gun at all. So how does it fire bullets?"

"It doesn't. If you're not an Umbra Witch that is. For the guns to fire I need to concentrate my magic into them."

Snake didn't even question her telling him that she's a witch. He had become use to the supernatural ever since the third tournament.

"I see." Snake replied as he handed the pistol back to Bayonetta. "I'm assuming magic is how your able to fire the guns on your feet as well."

"That's right."

A thought then came to Snake's mind.

"Wait! Are you allowed to use those guns in fights here?"

Bayonetta looked puzzled by the question. "What kind of question is that? Of course I am."

"What the hell Master Hand?!"

"What's got you so worked up all of a sudden?"

"When I was here, I was told any of my ballistic weapons were off limits. But when I'm gone, someone else comes and can use not just one, but four of them!"

"Oh…I guess that is a bit of bullshit." Bayo responded, able to understand Snake's sudden frustration. "But look on the bright side, you don't seem like you need guns to win battles here. I heard from some of the vets that you were one of the top competitors in the third tournament."

Snake sighed and relaxed. "Yeah I guess you're right. Sorry I lost my cool there."

"Don't worry about it."

"Well it was nice talking to you, Bayonetta."

"See you later, handsome." she said and winked at him before walking away.

Snake felt he had met enough new people for now, so he decided to try to go catch up an old friend.

There, bonus chapter is done. Sorry, I'm aware I didn't get everyone. I didn't put Little Mac in because he was an assist trophy in Brawl so they should already know each other. And I didn't put Corrin simply because I don't know enough about the character. Sorry it took so long.

The story will actually start progressing next chapter.