A/N: And chapter three is up! Thank you, to all my readers, your support is very very appreciated.

silverheartlugia2000: Well, that I can definitely do XD Poor Link, he is rather a magnet isn't he? Thanks for the review, I really appreciate it!

BatmanSwiss: One can hope XD Thanks so much for the review!

tezzie: I never much cared for that sort of characterization for him either XD I have been trying pretty hard to keep them all as in character as possible, I mean it was their characters that made me like them in the first place, so It would be a pity to ruin it XD I think they'd be friendly with each other if they met. Thank you for the review, it was very encouraging to read.

telesoap: You'll find out in this chapter, I promise :) Thanks for the review!

Chapter 3: Repercussions

It was only about fifteen minutes later that all the smashers were called to a meeting in the mess hall. By this time, most everybody had an idea what it was going to be about. Link noticed that most the people seemed to be at least slightly concerned, while a few others merely looked annoyed that their entire day was interrupted for a mere accident.

Link did not exactly know how to feel. His mind seemed to still be in a state of shock and worry for his friend. He was anxious for any type of news. He stood side by side with Ike near the front of the raised dais as he waited for Master Hand to speak.

"As you all are probably aware," Master Hand began, "There seems to have been a severe malfunction in the Mii Games and one of our smashers, Marth, has been seriously injured because of it."

A hush grew over the assembled smashers and Master Hand continued onwards.

"Because of this, any other matches scheduled for today have been called off while the safety of the system is assessed." There was another pause before he continued. "Though I do not have sufficient evidence to support this, I believe that this was no accident. Preliminary evidence supports the theory that the game was sabotaged and that Marth was specifically targeted. Therefore, I will be allowing no visitors to see Marth or allow any of you to leave the mansion until I am sure."

There was some soft muttering and a few gasps at this news. Link felt his heart sink in a mixture of guilt, anger, and grief.

"Rest assured I will be conducting a full investigation into this matter and shall know for sure tomorrow morning. At which time, if it is discovered just to be an accident, things will go on a usual. If not, the perpetrator of this deed will be found and expelled from the mansion."

On those somber notes, Master Hand moved from the stage. The smashers regarded each other quietly for a moment before the room burst into a cacophony of muted voices.

Link turned unsure eyes upon Ike who stood rigidly with a frown darkening his features, still holding a badly bent piece of metal in his left hand.

"I need to tell Master Hand what I saw in the hallway," he said finally and Ike nodded silently.

~x~X~x~

Zelda left Marth's room early the next morning, before the sun had fully risen. Master Hand had initiated an emergency response team that could respond to the medical needs of the smashers in a way that was most familiar to them, or in a way that would be the most effective in emergency situations. Zelda had signed up earlier in the year to be one of the three healers who preferred to use magic as their method of healing. They were on rotations, and this month just so happened to be hers. Needless to say, she had spent another sleepless night. The medical team had moved Marth to his own room once it was officially determined that he was out of danger, late the night before, and she had accepted the task of watching over him.

As it was now, she needed to get up and move around lest she fall asleep. She needed a change of scenery and a breath of air. As she stepped into the hallway, she was unsurprised to see two R.O.B.s. guarding the door. She had been informed of Master Hand's suspicion of sabotage. It was a thought that sickened her. It was not pleasant to think that someone would intentionally injure someone else to such an extent.

However, she was mildly surprised to see, Lucina, Robin, and Pit sitting against the opposing wall ahead of her, fast asleep. Obviously, they had been waiting there for some news on their friend. Link also was there and was sitting just outside the door, his back to the near wall, staring dully ahead. His eyes were shadowed as if he had stayed awake all night as she had done.

"Link?" she asked in question. "How long have you been sitting there?"

Instead of answering her question, he directed concerned blue eyes upon her,."How is he?"

"Marth?"

"No, Dr. Mario," there was a biting edge to his voice.

Zelda took no notice of either the tone or the sarcasm. He had obviously stayed awake all night, was worried for his friend, and for some reason she could tell that he was angry. Also, as sweet as he could be, he could be more than a little sarcastically snippy when he felt backed into a corner or helpless.

She lay a hand on his shoulder and felt it slump slightly as the rigidity of his body lessened and he hung his head.

"I'm sorry, Zelda," he whispered.

"I understand," she told him softly. She then sighed as she decided to tell him the truth. "To answer your question, he is going to be alright. He is in a lot of pain still, lost quite a bit of blood, he took quite a lot of hits and so is pretty battered and not quite lucid yet, but he will be alright. It will be a while before he will be able to be up and about, even with Master Hand's healing items—they weren't really built for this kind of damage."

Link nodded and then seemed to sink further in on himself with both relief and upset at the news. He reached suddenly into the pouch at his side and pulled out a small glass bottle and leather wallet.

"Please, give him these," he requested quietly. "They'll help with the pain and the healing."

Zelda took the items from him and raised her brows in surprise as she recognized the liquid in the bottle and contents of the wallet.

"Link, this is a potion made from the blue chew jelly. They are rare; it must have taken you ages to hunt it. And these are herbs from you home province."

"Exactly, they are meant to heal and Marth needs them, what cause have I to hoard them when they could help someone?"

"It is a precious gift, Link."

"I would have given them sooner, if the R.O.B.s would have let me in."

Zelda smiled at him, but the expression faded when she caught sight of the look of bitter disappointment and anger on his face.

"I'm sure Marth would thank you, and probably will later. You should sit with him once you are able to, I'm sure he'd be glad…" she trialed when she saw him shake his head. "Link, what's wrong?"

His eyes seemed to cloud over.

"This is my fault. I sensed something wrong but was unable to do anything to prevent this. I keep revisiting in my mind; if I had just pinpointed the feeling faster, or stayed there with him, this might not have happened. I know that the blame truly lies with faulty equipment or sabotage, but I can't help but feel that I let him down, that I failed him. I don't know how I could ever tell him. What would I say: 'hey, I had a feeling that might have saved you all of this if I had been faster or more in tune with my surroundings, but I wasn't, so… sorry about that?' How could I tell him that?"

For a moment his eyes looked depthless and hollow, far too sad for her liking. Zelda knelt down beside him and looked him straight in the eyes.

"This wasn't your fault Link and Marth knows it. I know Marth, if you tell him what you told me, the only emotion he would feel would be gratitude that you tried to save him, even if you could not. You can't save everyone, that is true, but you can always try. And it is the act of attempting to do something right that is truly honorable. In fact that is the one thing I admire about you the most-—that you always try," she took a breath to see if her words had sunk in then she smiled softly at him. "I'm actually a bit ashamed of you for not seeing it, you can be dense sometimes you know," she finished.

He stared at her, his face a picture of surprise, both eyebrows raised and his mouth slightly agape, stunned speechless. Zelda stood quickly, and headed back towards Marth's room. "I'll tell you if there is any more news," she called over her shoulder.

As she glanced back, she was rewarded with a faint smile from Link. Smiling to herself, she went into the room. Once inside, she quickly set about the task of changing Marth's bandages, using Link's herbs as a salve for his bruises the gashes and the burn from the laser of a Mii's gun on his upper arm. She took extra care around the painstakingly closed stab wound in his far left side.

As she had thought the night before, Marth had been very lucky that the Mii's sword had nearly glanced off of him before it connected. It had missed hitting anything really vital and had not made in as deep as it could have.

Though, thinking harder, she supposed luck really had nothing to do with it. It was Marth's prescience of mind and quick reaction when he saw the strike coming at him that had lessened the damage. His turn to the side was what really had saved him, making the blade enter with less force and at an angle. It was that which resulted in the penetration being shallower and directed away from his internal organs.

It had taken quite a while the night before to use her healing magic to kick start the mending of the torn and severed muscles before Dr. Mario expertly stitched the skin. The area was healing fast but it was still agitated and weeping slightly.

She lifted the listless prince forwards to redo the bandage around his middle. He was quite a bit heaver than she had expected. Though he was very slight of figure, he had quite a bit of muscle mass. His breathing became slightly raged as she held him up and he groaned softly in discomfort. She gently eased him back down and ran a hand through his silky well kempt hair.

Even after seeing him like this all night, it still hadn't gotten easier. He had ended up becoming one of her greatest friends here, especially this season, since they had been paired together for this entirety of the pretournament team games. Seeing him so still was disturbing. He was one of the only ones here who understood the burden she bore as a ruler of a kingdom. He knew what it felt like to have ones kingdom taken from one's grasp and then having to fight to get it back and save the people.

Sighing softly, she took the blue potion that Link had given her and somehow managed to get him to take it. She then sat down to watch, knowing that things like these generally took effect quickly. Usually the healing properties were so great that they could completely heal a single damaged area. But when the wounds were so many and so spread apart as his were, it would probably end up being a partial healing of everything instead.

As she watched, the bruising on his face seemed to diminish slightly and the swelling vanished completely. A cold sweat began to bead his brow and he twisted uncomfortably. It was then that she knew it was really taking effect. The quick healing made one feel momentarily feverish in return for feeling much better afterwards.

She ran a hand through his hair again and began talking to him as she had done during the night when he had been delirious, half conscious, and hurting. It had seemed to help him before so she kept it up.

"Do you remember when we were talking about the philosophers of our countries?" she pulled her hand from his hair and set it in her lap. "You were telling me of Scaroae, the manakete and his ideals: how he would simply ask questions in order to find the flaws in an argument without lecturing or teaching. You had said the reason he did this was not to find ultimate truth in all things like his predecessors and contemporaries, but only to clear away misconceptions.

"We then got onto the subject of truth and morals and I told you of Arystola, Hyrule's philosopher queen who said that every virtue and vice was balanced in between two others, and there were no such things as solid opposites. For instance, fear is found somewhere in between courage and love. She got the inspiration by thinking on the triforce and the idea that everything must balance. You seemed interested and so I promised to bring you a historical manuscript on her works in exchange for the one about Scaroae."

She knew she was rambling, but she was merely trying to pass the time whilst hoping that just hearing the sound of her voice might help him in some way. All things considered, she was surprised when he nodded his head slightly.

"I remember," he said, his voice soft and careful. "But I have not gotten the book I promised you yet, I'm sorry…"

Blue eyes met hers and she smiled.

"Welcome back."

He winced. "The dark dragon Medius almost gives kinder welcomes," he smiled crookedly at her. "Though, seeing your face does help quite a bit."

She raised one elegant eyebrow at him. Shaking her head, she laughed at him softly.

"It's a relief to find that you are well enough to tease again."

"I wasn't teasing," he protested with a pout.

Zelda could not resist the urge to ruffle his hair gently. She was pleased to see him respond in his typical fashion by bringing up his arms to immediately run the flat of his hands over his hair in an almost unconscious gesture in order to straighten it. He hated having messy hair. Though the gesture was much slower and more careful than usual, it was a relief to see him moving in a manner she associated with him.

Zelda cleared her throat. "I should go and get Master Hand; he will probably have some questions about what happened."

Marth's expression turned suddenly somber and almost evasive. He began to rub his bandaged wrist lightly with his other hand and winced before he finally spoke.

"Of course."

"It wasn't an accident was it?" Zelda asked quietly, noting his unease.

Marth shook his head.

"No, it wasn't," he admitted softly.

"Do you know who-" she stopped when he once again carefully shook his head. "But you saw something?" she added instead.

"Yes," he admitted, his face and odd mix of conflicted emotions and confusion.

"But you are not exactly sure what it was," she finished for him and he nodded.

He tried to shift positions and his face paled as the action hurt him. Zelda put her hand gently on his shoulder.

"You should probably lie still for the next few days, until you side mends completely. And after that, you should take it easy for a while," she told him.

He nodded in understanding.

"Thank you, Zelda," he whispered quietly.

She smiled softly and inclined her head towards him in response.

"I'll go get Master Hand," said finally

It only took a few moments for Master Hand and his friend to arrive.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Master Hand asked after the typical formalities.

"Certainly," Marth replied. His voice sounded a little clipped though it still was hushed and careful. He began outlining all the events that had led up to what had happened. When he got to the part about his sword being taken when he could not move, he did not so much as pause in his narrative but Zelda saw his eyes change slightly, mirroring the expression she had seen in him the day before when he had found himself weaponless on the stage.

"Whoever it was, they were wearing brown fingerless gloves, and the back of their hand glowed beneath the fabric, in the shape of a triangle. The only other thing I saw was a flash of green…" his face had grown taught and he closed his mouth for an moment as well as his eyes. "That's all I can remember, and all I saw... I'm sorry."

"No, I am sorry," Master Hand apologized. "This should not have happened. I can't take back what was done, but I can promise to find whoever is responsible."

Marth nodded again, his expression still tight. Master Hand, Eroc, and Zelda left shortly after so that he could rest.

Zelda rubbed her eyes as she headed for her room, intending to get some much needed sleep. Though her mind was a little foggy with fatigue, something about Marth's story was not sitting well with her. From what he described, it sounded much like a person with a mark of the triforce on their hand had been that one to steal his sword and then sabotage that game. She could only think of one such person, and that was Ganondorf.

Unfortunately, for the life of her, she could not think of a motive. Ganon and Marth hardly ever socialized with each other. The only times she could think of was the few times they sparred or competed in a brawl against each other and the one time when Marth had asked him in passing about Gerudo politics and the obscure Gerudo philosopher Nietzshiea, and Ganondorf had asked about Altea's governing system in return.

The power hungry Gerudo king's brief interactions with the prince of Altea had always been fairly respectful and brief. It gave Ganon no motive to attack him, especially since a move like that would not give him any political power. The only reason she could think of was that Marth was friends with both her and Link. If that was the case though, why not go after Ike, Lucina, Samus, Robin, or even Pit? Still puzzling over these thoughts, she was startled when Master Hand's friend suddenly approached her at a rapid pace.

"Princess Zelda!" he called, "There is urgent news for you from your country!"

Zelda took a folded piece of parchment from his hand and read. The note had come from her council. Her face paled, there was grievous problems arising in Hyrule and she needed to return there immediately. All thoughts of sleep driven from her mind, she told Master Hand's friend of the contents of her letter and went to pack her things. She had no time to waste.

~x~X~x~

Link was on his way to the mess hall, having been summoned along with all the other smashers for another meeting. All the smashers were there except for Zelda, who, Link had learned, had been called away back to Hyrule for an emergency. Obviously it was something that he could not help her with, otherwise she would have asked him to come with her. He hoped that she would not face any extreme hardships or danger. The last thing he wanted was for another of his closest friends to find trouble. It was a bit strange that it should happen so close after yesterday's incident and only a week after both Lucario, Mewtwo, Ness, and Shulk had had to return to their land for similar reasons.

Link heard hurried steps behind him and turned to see Ike trying to catch up to him. Link waited for him. Ike's eyes were shadowed, and Link guessed it was because the mercenary had also stayed up almost all night, trying to fix Marth's crown. Ike never liked the feeling of being able to do nothing, so he had done something. He had since given the fixed crown to Master Hand who had passed it back to its rightful owner.

"Do you know what Master Hand found?" Ike asked as they began walking again.

"No, I don't think he has told anyone, aside from Eroc and perhaps the R.O.B.s"

They did not have time for any further conversation as they entered the dining hall. Master Hand was already hovering above the raised dais at the end of the room and the two swordsmen headed towards the large group of smashers already gathered there.

When they all had arrived, Master Hand began to speak.

"After a thorough investigation we have come to the conclusion that it was, in fact sabotage. Not only was the damage consistent with such an event, but we uncovered two other pieces of evidence that indicate sabotage."

He signaled to the two R.O.B.s who stood beside him and they headed out into the audience.

"Link of Hyrule," Master Hand suddenly called, "Hold your hands out and stand down."

Link's eyes went wide in startled confusion. Puzzled, he did as he was bid and held his hands palm out only to have them seized by a R.O.B and twisted behind his back to be held in a vice-like grip. Link winced and stared up in confusion at Master Hand. His questioning stare was only one of many.

"Link of Hyrule, you are under suspicion for the sabotage of the Mii Games."

"What?" Link found himself asking in an airy tone of shock, and he was not the only one.

Master Hand gestured for silence and then he spoke.

"Not only were the systems sabotaged but, four Miis from Cruel Smash were deliberately sent to the stage. Consequently, they were the ones who were responsible for causing the most injury to Marth. When I interviewed them as to why they were even there, they said that they received a note that was supposed to have been from me, telling them that it was mandated that they take part in the game or lose their spot as fighters. It said that Marth had filed a complaint against them for their lack of skill and, in order for them to remain as fighters they had to defeat him. They gave me the letter in question. I analyzed it and checked the handwriting in it against that of all the smashers here who can write and found a match. The script is a perfect match to your handwriting, Link." Before anyone could respond to this momentous announcement, Master Hand continued without pause.

"Also, the vague description of the attacker that Marth was able to provide matches you as well. Though he could not fully see who stole his weapon. He remembered vaguely seeing green. He also saw that his attacker wore brown fingerless gloves and that their hand glowed in the shape of a triangle. Also, this person had some magic abilities or magic inside them that allowed them to move inside the warp beam when activated.

"All those are condemning points, but by far the most condemning is this: the same type of device that we use to record matches as moving images was in the control room. Though it was damaged we were able to salvage most of it, enough to actually see the one responsible."

Master Hand held up a data pad. On the screen, Link saw a fuzzy rendition of himself with Marth before the match. Then he saw himself leave as he had done to chase the shadow. His mouth dropped open when what looked like him reentered the room just as Marth was starting to warp away. Then the recorded 'Link' sided up to the Altean Prince, reached in the beam and stole his sword in the mere heartbeat it took before Marth warped away. Then the 'Link' faded away as the screen blacked out for a moment. When the image returned, Link saw the rendition of himself wielding Marth's sword against the Mii game consuls and systems, effectively destroying them.

When it was finished, Link shook his head in almost frantic denial. He suddenly felt the eyes of almost everyone in the room directed upon him in shock and anger. However the worst of all was the disappointment in the eyes of some of the younger smashers who looked up to him, like Toon Link. They stared at him with such aghast disappointment that it made his heart sink in his chest even as his mouth formed a desperate protest.

"It wasn't me! That can't have been me, I was-"

"We know your story about chasing after some weird shadow creature roaming the mansion," Eroc interrupted. "You have no alibi; no one can vouch for you. And also, doesn't such an excuse just seem a little too convenient?"

"I didn't do it! I wouldn't do it!" Link practically shouted. He frantically cast his gaze around at the group of smashers around him, desperately seeking for anyone who might believe him.

"If Link says that he didn't do it, then he didn't do it," a voice said calmly but determinedly beside him.

Link turned to meet the steady gaze of Ike.

"We all know Link, and this is simply out of character. Also, Marth is one of his best friends. It just doesn't make sense."

There came a few murmurs of doubt from the crowd and then Eroc stepped forward, his voice dripping condescension.

"The what, Ike of Crimea, is this?" he demanded, pointing to the recorded figure on the screen.

Ike's eyes narrowed in anger as he stepped forwards.

"I don't know. What is that?" he demanded back in the same tone, "because it isn't Link."

"How can it not be Link?" Eroc spluttered. "It looks like him, walks like him, and the triforce of courage on his hand lets him move in the beam. Do you think that anyone else in the world has such a mark?"

"It's not Link, because he wouldn't do that," Ike said stubbornly. "So instead of trying to pin the blame on him, maybe you should find the person or thing that actually did do it!"

"I don't need to find what's already there!"

Ike took a step forward. "Look here, you pompous-"

Robin interrupted the heated argument before it got any further, her murky eyes glinting slightly with some unreadable expression.

"It does all look condemning, but I agree with Ike, there should be more evidence. Whoever was in that image recording stole Marth's sword. I think that if the sword was located it could shed some light on this matter."

"Robin is right," Master Hand spoke up. "I will lead a search party of R.O.B.s to locate the sword, whilst all the rest of you remain here so as not to interfere."

He signaled to the R.O.B who was holding Link and the robot moved him towards the side wall of the dining hall so he could sit there whilst the R.O.B stood guard over him. Ike followed so that he also stood nearby, ignoring Eroc's warning glare.

Master Hand left the room then with the other R.O.B.s, locking the door behind him.

A/N: Thanks again for reading, as usual feedback is appreciated. So, not so very much action in this chapter, but there will soon be some, I promise. I just needed to set some things up.

I'd like to thank my history teacher for this chapter; it seems that all that stuff about the different philosophers is so drummed into my head by now that I cannot even escape it when I seek the refuge of my imagination. XD The joys of School XD

Question: Is there any particular video game character you would like to see added to Smash Bros?