Hey guys! Here's the second chapter! A day later than promised, but oh well. Hope you enjoy it!
Zelda was sitting in her living room, still drinking tea, when Daisy walked in.
"Hi Zelda!" Daisy said, smiling broadly, "I was passing by, and I thought I'd drop in and see how you were doing!"
Zelda was, meanwhile, glaring. After getting over the initial shock of Daisy just strolling into her house, it seemed the most appropriate thing to do.
"How did you get in?" Zelda asked.
Daisy giggled, "Through the front door, silly!"
Zelda scowled into her lap, ignoring Daisy's friendly act. She was going to fire Link. And by 'fire' she didn't mean relieve of his position.
"So Zelda," Daisy went on, taking a seat on the adjacent settee, "How are you finding things at Brawl Stadium?"
She was going to be indirect about the interview, was she?
Zelda stood, "Would you like a cup of tea, Daisy?"
Daisy beamed, "I'd love one!"
"Great." Zelda said, with a fake smile of her own, "I'll be back in a sec, then we can have a nice detailed chat about my private life."
"Pardon?" Daisy said with a small frown, "I didn't quite catch that last part."
"I said," Zelda repeated, "Would you like green tea or black tea?"
"Oh!" Daisy grinned at Zelda, "Green tea, please. It's healthier."
"Of course." Zelda said, slipping out of the room and into the hallway.
Once out of sight, she made a sharp turn and headed straight for the front door, shutting it tight behind her and teleporting away.
...
Later that evening, Marth found himself sitting at the bar in Jungle Japes, drinking something.
And it wasn't coffee.
Which might have accounted for Marth being grumpier than usual. Or that could've been because of who was sitting next to him. Or both.
Probably both.
"God, Marth." Ike said, glancing at his cousin's glass, "You're not done yet?"
"It's beer." Marth explained, disgusted.
Ike looked confused, "Yeah, so? You chug steaming hot coffee like a man dying from thirst. One glass of beer shouldn't be a problem!"
Yes, but that was coffee, and this was beer. But even if Marth said that, he got the feeling Ike wouldn't understand.
His cousin wasn't paying attention to him anymore anyways.
"Hey!" Ike called, back to Marth as he waved at someone coming into the bar, "Pit! Come sit with us!"
Spotting Ike, the angel wove his way around the other brawlers in the bar. Jungle Japes had quickly become a favourite hangout when Brawl Stadium first opened, affording both a reminder of Smash Stadium and a place for the brawlers to lay back after a hard day of training.
"Hi Ike." Pit said, taking the free bar-stool next to the knight. After placing an order with 'n'Watch, who was working as the bar-tender that night, he turned back to them and noticed Marth for the first time.
"What are you doing here, Marth?" Pit asked, looking surprised, then sheepish, "I mean, it's not that it isn't nice to see you, it's just you usually don't hang around here."
"Ike dragged me." Marth growled, shooting daggers at his cousin as the other knight downed what remained of his drink.
Pushing his empty glass aside, Ike grinned at Pit, "How about a drinking match, Pit? You and me! We'll see who passes out first!"
Marth rolled his eyes, "That sounds delightful."
Ike gave Marth a surprised look, "You want to play too?"
Marth rolled his eyes again.
"I better not." Pit broke in, looking apologetic, "I have to work later tonight and Ze- er, my boss, doesn't like it when I'm drinking on the job."
"But you wouldn't be drinking on the job." Ike replied, "You'd be drinking before."
Marth sighed. Normally, Ike's reply could have been taken as some form of sarcasm- if it had been coming from anyone other than Ike. But, as it was, Marth's cousin was completely serious.
"Still..." Pit said, scratching the back of his head and quickly fixing his laurel wreath when it started to tilt, "My boss would go berserk if she found me drunk during my shift, no matter when I'd actually had the drinks."
Ike blew out an annoyed breath, "Fine. And I was even gonna go easy on you."
Pit gave the knight a dubious look, but Ike didn't notice.
Marth, meanwhile, was watching Pit with narrowed eyes.
"What do you mean by 'work' exactly?" Marth asked, startling the angel, "You've brought it up before."
Pit was suddenly averting his eyes, offering a nervous smile as he shrugged, "You know. Work. Stadium work."
Marth raised one eyebrow, unconvinced, "Aren't our jobs just to train and participate in matches?"
Pit shrugged again, "Yeah..."
Marth waited, but Pit didn't say anything else. The angel did steal a couple of glances at Ike though, as if in hopes Marth's cousin would rescue him from the conversation. But, alas, Ike had realized that- when he held his cup at a certain angle- he could see his reflection in the glass and thus, was lost to the world.
"So what kind of stadium work do you do?" Marth asked, trying to go for a less accusatory approach.
"You know." Pit said evasively, waving a hand around, "Stuff."
Ok, now Marth knew something was going on. There wasn't anyway he couldn't, not anymore, with Pit being this obvious.
"Interesting." Marth said, attempting to swallow the sarcasm that clung to the word as it left his mouth, "So who did you say your boss was again?"
Pit took a chance and met his eyes, grinning wobbly, "Come on, Marth. Who's in charge of all Stadium related stuff?"
"Ah." Marth said, sitting back, "Right, I should've known."
Pit looked relieved.
"It's funny though." Marth added, catching Pit's eye, "All this time I thought Crazy Hand was male."
Pit looked confused, "What?"
Marth continued to look at him, "You called your boss 'she'."
Pit blanched.
It was at that moment that a burst of blue smoke exploded in the seat next to Marth.
The knight yelped, almost jumping off his stool. But the next thing he knew the smoke had disappeared, and a blue pokemon had taken it's place.
"Beer!" Lucario exclaimed, eyes immediately on Marth's half full glass, which he then proceeded to swipe, "Just what I needed!"
Before anyone could say or do anything, Lucario had chugged what remained in the cup and was wiping his arm across his mouth.
"Ah!" Lucario sighed, satisfied, then leaned across the counter and waved to Mr. Game'n'Watch, who was in the middle of frying up some 2D sausages, "Bar-Tender! Top me up!"
...
Around two and a half hours later, Marth found himself supporting a bladdered blue pokemon out of Jungle Japes. A fact the knight wasn't very pleased about.
Not long after Lucario had arrived, Marth's cousin had challenged the pokemon to a drinking contest. Lucario eagerly accepted, and beat Ike hands down. Ike, no doubt, would have been mortified to have lost- at anything- but as it was, Marth didn't think his cousin would even remember the match, let alone losing it. He was still inside, at the moment, passed out on the bar.
And so, since Pit had disappeared an hour ago for his mysterious 'shift', it was left up to Marth to get Lucario home in one piece.
Marth, personally, didn't see why he had to help at all. Couldn't Lucario just teleport home? But no, Pit had said. Under no circumstances was he to let Lucario teleport while drunk.
"We don't want that to happen again." Pit had said.
Lucario had flapped a paw at him- the other holding his ninth drink, "Nah, no way that could happen again! I'll be fine!"
Pit hadn't looked convinced, and had made Marth promise to get Lucario home safely.
Neither had elaborated on what 'that' was.
Marth was tempted to ask Lucario now, wondering if 'that' was all that bad. Maybe it would be ok to let Lucario teleport.
But- glancing at the pokemon sagged against him- Marth doubted Lucario would even be able to teleport, let alone explain what 'that' was.
Sighing, Marth hailed one of the passing boats.
Kirby was driving it.
"Buyo!" the pink thing said happily, beaming at Marth in an innocent, childish way.
Dear God. Marth thought, looking from the boat to Kirby at the wheel. Maybe it really would be safer to let Lucario teleport home.
"Buyo?" Kirby said again, starting to frown. It's eyes got teary.
Oh no. Not that look.
Marth scratched the back of his head with his free hand, "Do you think you could get Lucario back to the Spear Pillar Distract?"
"Buyo!" Kirby said.
At this point, Marth really didn't care if that was a 'Yes' or 'No way in hell'.
With a grunt, Marth hefted Lucario into the back of the boat. Marth barely had time to step away before Kirby was off, sending a spray of water over him.
Blowing a strand of wet hair out of his eyes, Marth glared after the boat, which zig-zagged haphazardly across the water, nearly crashing into the outhouse platform. Grimacing, Marth turned away and started back towards the bar. There was nothing else he could do. Lucario's fate was out of his hands.
Just as he was about to step back inside, Marth stopped, noticing something- or rather, someone- he hadn't on the way out.
It was Yoshi, tethered to a barrel outside the bar, blinking around dumbly. Marth frowned for a moment, confused, then he remembered seeing Mario and Luigi inside. They must have ridden Yoshi to the bar.
Marth scratched his head, still scowling at the nintendo character. Should he... untie him? Would this be considered animal cruelty? Or would it be kidnapping? Where exactly did Yoshi fit in on that scale?
But whether Yoshi should be considered human or animal, he looked happy enough, bobbing back and forth and staring at nothing in particular, so Marth decided to leave it, and went back in the bar to get Ike.
...
Around a half hour later, after Marth had dragged Ike home, Zelda arrived at Jungle Japes.
She'd spent the better half of the day avoiding Daisy who, as it turned out, wasn't as stunned as Zelda had first thought. She'd guessed it would take the brunette Peach at least an hour longer to clue in to being ditched than it had, and then Daisy was on the hunt.
Finally, Zelda had lost her and thus had decided she needed a break. So she'd gotten in touch with Samus, who'd agreed to meet her at Jungle Japes for a few drinks.
Zelda started for the bar door, but on her way she tripped over something. Glancing down, Zelda scowled. It was a piece of chipped, curved wood. Looking around, Zelda found other pieces like it, and quickly realized it was the remains of a destroyed barrel.
At first surprised, Zelda quickly got over it. A tipsy heavy-weight had probably fallen on the barrel- like Donkey Kong or Bowser. Or maybe someone had taken their sword or gun to the item. It could have been anything. 'Destructive' was pretty much a required trait among Brawlers.
Forgetting the destroyed barrel, Zelda went into the bar, where she found half a dozen brawlers in the middle of a tug-o-war match, with an old rope. They were pretty much the only brawlers in the bar, besides Mario and Luigi, who were passed out in the corner, muttering in spanish.
"Zelda!" Samus called. She was on one of the tug-o-war teams, pulling the rope with a look of fiery determination, "You have to help us win!"
"That's not fair!" Fox shouted. He was on the other team. "You'd have more people pulling!"
"Oh," Zelda said, pushing herself up on a bar-stool, "I'm not going to touch the rope."
"You're not going to help?" Samus exclaimed, giving her a bewildered look.
Zelda smirked, "Now I didn't say that, did I?"
And with this, she proceeded to start setting the other team on fire. Fox and the others yelped, surprised, but before any of them could protest she'd set their end of the rope on fire as well.
"There." Zelda said to Samus, as the other team gave up and became prime examples of the 'stop, drop and roll' technique, "Now how about those drinks?"
...
Link woke up with a killer headache, to the smell of... salt?
Sitting up, Link glanced around, and was shocked to find himself on a boat.
He was even more shocked when he saw Young Link, sitting a few feet away and staring at him intently.
Except it wasn't Young Link. Close, but not quite. Shorter, stubbier and more... pastel.
Link gawked at the boy for a moment, having no clue what was going on, where he was, or who was in front of him. The boy continued to stare, fixated on Link.
Finally, looking straight at Link, Toon Link whispered: "You're... perfect."
There you go! Chapter 2 done! Thanks for reading! And thanks for the review- I really appreciate it! Seeing what people think of my work is honestly the most rewarding part of posting! :)
