Okay, Hershel was in fine form today, so this was written very quickly. In all honesty, I wasn't sure what The Brink was (I'm a procrastinator like that), but then ClumsyHeart17 gave me the terrific/slightly dirty idea of doing a club-like thing, and it just took off, so thank you. That chapter's going to be epic. However, I felt that Quincy(Ash)'s character needed a bit more explaining seeing as I plan to bring him in a bit more, so I give you this little chapter instead. Don't worry; I'll get back to The Brink in the next chapter or two. Also to ClumsyHeart17, you aren't reading too far into it. They're fighting; of course they're always trying to one-up each other. Plus I just like writing them that way. XD And Ike and Samus are a bit younger (I honestly don't know how old they are in real life…). They're around Marth's and Link's age (sixteen or seventeen). They might be closer to eighteen…I don't know. They're all older teenagers. Pit and Ash (Quincy) are closer to thirteen-fourteen-ish. Only the older guys like Snake and Ganondorf are older than twenty. BTW, I laughed when I heard that joke for the first time too, don't feel bad. XD
Another thanks to Diagon the Uber Lord of Lawlz: as much as I try not to focus on Marth, he'll probably at least be around for the majority of the events (unless he's stuck in his room laughing at Link in Twilight Princess). Samus will be popping up quite a bit too, so I hope to please your fangirly-ness. Woot!
ANOTHER (jeez…Maybe I'll just put Inkblot on a longer hold so I can work on this instead…) thanks to Foxpilot. I love your reviews, they make me laugh. This story is actually starting to turn into something cool, and I really enjoy writing all the different characters. The whole "Quincy" thing was honestly taken off the top of my head. XD I've never read "Precocious." What is it?
Disclaimer: Nothing SSBB related belongs to me. ;_; All Nintendo. Lucky ducks.
Please read, enjoy, maybe laugh a little (this chapter isn't really funny…), and then review!
Chapter 3: Colds
Quincy (AKA Ash) was wandering around the hallways, Pikachu bouncing along at his side. Pikachu had been following him around almost constantly since he arrived at Brawl. The mousey thing even occasionally slept at the foot of Ash's bed.
Ash made sure to tread lightly as he walked, remembering that over half of the brawlers had been recently taken down by a bad case of the stomach flu. People had hypothesized that it originally started with the ice-climbers, who always seemed to have a cold of some sort. Then it had passed onto Lucas and Ness, then probably onto Marth when he had brawled Ness a few days ago, then it had gotten spread to the swordsmen, then Zelda had caught it from Link and spread it to the girls, and now the only people who weren't infected were those who were protected from the outside world like Meta Knight and Olimar, and people like Ash who weren't really part of any social circle.
He was walking past Ike's room when one of the numerous maids ducked out from it. To call them maids was a bit of a misnomer, in Ash's opinion, seeing as a few of them were male. This one wasn't; it was a young lady wearing the uniform of dark jeans and a SSBB-staff T-shirt. She smiled at Ash and made the 'shh' gesture with her finger.
"Right," Ash whispered, absently reaching down to scratch Pikachu's head where the pokemon liked it best. "How's Ike doing?"
She rolled her eyes. "About the same. Running to the bathroom every hour or so. Just like everyone else." She appraised Ash with large brown eyes, and Ash wondered vaguely as to her ethnicity. She wasn't American or Japanese—the two main ethnicities of the maids. Something southern? "It's sort of funny that you haven't caught it."
Ash grinned. "That's what happens when you're a social hermit." Pikachu made the weird cooing sound that it made when it wanted to be picked up. Ash scooped it into his arms, letting it nuzzle the brim of his hat.
"It's so cute…" the girl smiled. "Does it always follow you like that?"
There was an awful retching noise from inside Ike's room. Ash tried to ignore it. "Yeah. It likes me. Always had, ever since I got here."
"That's so cool," the maid said with another warm smile. "Your name's Ash, right?"
"Yeah," Ash smiled. This girl was nice.
"My names Nya." (AN: I think it's pronounced Nie-ah.)
Ash thought the name was familiar. "That's a…Altean name, isn't it? Do you know Marth?"
Nya grinned. "I think he knows a Nyna. (AN: kudos to anyone who knows who Nyna is) My name only has one 'n.' It's Swahili."
"Oh. Sorry."
She tossed her dark hair over her shoulder. "No problem. It must be hard keeping all the different names straight."
"Not really," Ash admitted. "I don't use people's names when I talk to them much."
She looked at him curiously. "So you're the pokemon kid? Aren't you only, like, ten?"
"I'm thirteen," Ash said embarrassedly. "I've been away from home since I was ten though."
"That seems a little young to get booted out of the nest, doesn't it?"
Ash shrugged, thinking of his parents back in the pokemon world. "I don't think so. We send emails and Skype a lot, so we stay in touch. They know I'm safe. What about your parents? You can't be much older than me."
"I'm fifteen," she nodded. "This is my summer job. The best summer job ever, if you ask me. But I've been going to boarding school since I was eight, so being away from my 'rents is nothing new."
"That's cool," Ash said. The conversation came to an awkward pause.
"I have to get moving," Nya said. "Earn my college money and all that. Nice talking to you." She walked off, and Ash was suddenly realized that the maids here were very much like the Nurse Joys back home. Weird.
"Pikaaa?" Pikachu asked from its perch on Ash's shoulder.
"Nah, I don't think pokemon can catch the flu. You don't need to worry," Ash answered, then scratched its head between the ears again, triggering an ecstatic rush of sparks that rushed into Ash's fingers. "Hey…" the trainer said mildly. "Don't zap the hand that pets you."
Pikachu made an apologetic squeak, and Ash nodded his forgiveness, and then thought dismally to himself how pathetic it was that his only friend was a pokemon. He didn't fit in well with the older kids, and the younger kids weren't really interesting. Lucas had been following him around like a little chick for awhile, but Ash had finally suggested that he go hang out with Ness instead.
"Want to brawl?" Ash finally suggested out of pure boredom more than anything else. "I'd go easy on you…?"
Pikachu gave him a lazy look and scampered down from Ash's shoulder, padding along beside him on the hallway tiles. He decided to take that as a no.
Ike's door suddenly hissed open with a pneumatic hiss, and he shuffled out into the hallway, clothes rumpled, his face a light green color with dark shadows under his eyes.
"Hi Ike," Ash attempted. Of all the people to try and have a conversation with, Ike was probably the worst. He was too quiet. And a sick Ike was even worse.
"Yo," Ike muttered.
"Where are you going?" Ash asked.
"Infirmary. See if they have anything that'd help."
Ash shook his head. "I was talking to Pit earlier, and they don't. Nothing other than the cold medicine."
Ike sagged against the wall with a heavy sigh. "That sucks."
Ash wondered if there was anything he could do. "Oh hey! Doesn't Peach do those fruity things?"
"Peaches?" Ike sounded like that was the stupidest mistake anyone could make.
"Yeah!" Ash continued anyway. "Do you think those could help?"
Ike's eyes lit up briefly. "Worth a shot." He staggered down the hallway, Ash and Pikachu following cautiously behind him.
"Are you sure you're okay…?" Ash asked hesitantly after a moment.
"No. That's why I'm going to Peach."
"Oh. Duh." Ash mentally smacked himself.
Ike continued his zombie-shuffle down the hallway.
"Riiight…" Ash said awkwardly. "I'm going to go get something to eat…see you." When Ike didn't answer, he tacked on, "I hope the peaches help."
Ike still didn't answer.
"Pika!" Pikachu cried, and Ash guessed that translated to something like 'jerk,' but decided not to say the translation out loud. It was bad enough having Ike think he was an idiot, much less having him think that he was mean too. He might not live out the night.
"Come on, let's get some food," Ash said, leading Pikachu down towards the cafeteria. If, he thought to himself, those peaches do work; I may have just gotten myself into the 'cool' crowd. Then I won't have to depend on Pit so much for inviting me to all the parties and things. Awesome.
And then, I really hope those peaches work.
…I had to throw in a random OC. I'm sorry. XD Ash is so cute…! I just had to write this.
BTW, the trip to The Brink (dun dun duuuuuun) got officially postponed by Link seeing as everyone got sick. Don't worry, they'll get back to it later. XD
And with that I seriously say goodbye for the weekend (AHH! FINALS!)! Please review! I love reviews!
Please point out any errors I made. I wrote this completely on the fly. ;_;