AN: This story will be told from Marcus's point-of-view.
"Congratulations, Marcus," Uncle Wolf said patting me on the back. "Link's a good fighter, but you'll have no trouble with him."
"I don't know," Mom was worried. "That Link looks like an experienced fighter. What do you think Fox?"
I looked at Dad expectantly. I knew he would give his honest opinion whereas Mom and Wolf tended to exaggerate in either direction. Dad took off his sunglasses and looked at Mom, then me.
"Link is a good fighter," he began. But before Mom could say anything else, he added, "But if we go out and train a bit beforehand, you should be a pretty fair match for him."
"Well," she seemed to ponder it over, "I guess if you train him…"
"Excellent! I'll come too!" Wolf jumped in, giving me a playful grin.
"Uh, Wolf," my mom said hesitantly, "I'm not sure if…"
"Aw, what's the matter Krystal? Afraid I'll turn your little boy into a ruthless fighter? Come on, it'll be fun! Besides, I want to see just who will be chasing my sorry ass across the galaxy one day."
-Later-
"Okay, son, now I want you to take out all of your weapons and lay them on the ground."
Doing so, I opened up the Space-Pack my dad had given me last year for my birthday. It was specially designed to hold more than 100 times its visual capacity and give easy access to whatever item you needed. It was extremely handy for carrying multiple weapons, supplies, and other things in a small and lightweight container.
I took out each of the weapons I had brought for the competition. As with all weapons for the tournament, I had been given an infinite supply of ammo and weapons.
First, I unhooked my reflector shield from my belt and set it on the ground. Next, I pulled out a half dozen grenades. The yellow balls rolled a bit before settling in a shallow dip in the training field. Finally, I removed the pièce de résistance: my Gatling gun.
"Christ, kid," Uncle Wolf whistled, "Think you've got enough fire power there?"
"Not if I'm up against experienced fighters like you and Dad!"
"Maybe," Dad said, "But powerful weapons don't guarantee a win. You have to know how to use them."
He picked up the Gatling gun and switched the laser generator on. Aiming at a target downfield, he fired of a quick succession of shots. When he had finished, I retrieved the target. It was amazing! I knew that the Gatling gun had poor accuracy when fired too long, but Dad had placed every shot inside of the first ring from the center.
"How did you do that?" I asked excited.
"A little trick I learned from a friend of mine who was a sniper for the Cornerian Army. You have to slow your body down and fire between heartbeats."
"That's pretty cool, Fox," Wolf admitted.
"Of course, he could get every shot in the center. I'm nowhere near as good as him, and I'm not very good at the technique. But it's the concept that helps your accuracy. Just make sure to calm down before you shoot and try to start your shots between breaths. Your heart will be pumping too fast to pay attention to in these fights."
I tried to do what he said, but I failed the first few times. After a few minutes, though, I noticed my accuracy was improving a little bit.
After that, we trained with my other weapons. Wolf taught me the best way to time my grenades and angle them. Dad gave me a lecture about using my reflector at the right time, and I showed him a trick Falco taught me where I kicked it at my opponent and it returned to me.
"So the bird did give away a few of his secrets," Wolf chuckled, "He must be getting old like the rest of us."
Then Dad took all of my weapons away and put me up against one of the sandbags with eyes that the Hands provided.
"Even with weapons, most of the fight will depend on your hand-to-hand combat skills. A flurry of kicks and punches will do just as well if not better than a shot from your weapon that takes time to pull off."
I spent the next hour training in specific fighting techniques and tactics. Dad also taught me his Fire Fox technique where he backfired his reflector's generator to create a flame-propelled headbutt. Whichever way he aimed his body was where he flew. Wolf did a similar thing with his reflector, but as it was a different type of reflector, it was more like a gust of wind and he used his foot to kick. I tried a combo of the two and used the fire with a kick.
"Little kit's pretty good," Wolf remarked to my dad, "He catches on even quicker than you do!"
"Alright, son," Dad concluded, "I think that's enough training for today. Besides, your mother's probably worrying up a storm right now."
-The Next Day-
BZZZT! BZZZT! BZZZT!
The alarm clock on the night stand went off in an annoying buzz. I reached over and turned it off before crawling out of bed. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and absentmindedly scratched at my boxers. Of course, Mom picked that moment to open the door separating my room from my parents.
"MOM!" I yelped pulling the bed sheet back towards me.
"Sorry, honey, I was just making sure you were up."
"I can wake up on my own, you know," I said.
"Alright, alright!" she defended, "But if you sleep in just once, I'm going to be your personal alarm clock."
She left through the door she had entered. I had been allowed a room of my own, but it connected to that of my parents. Oh well, I guess some privacy is better than none. Even if you're not a teenager, having your mom walk in while you're itching your crotch is uncomfortable at best.
I put on my custom fight/flight suit (no pun intended) that Uncle Wolf had bought for me when he learned that I was in the tournament.
Wolf O'Donnell wasn't actually my uncle. In fact, he and my father used to be mortal enemies. He was even partially responsible for my grandfather's death. But after working together to defeat the Aparoids and the Anglars, the two had formed a somewhat genial relationship. They were still rivals, but more like a competition than a feud. When I had been born, he started hanging around even more. He doesn't have kids or even a girlfriend, so I think I'm filling a "void".
I told Mom and Dad through the door that I was going downstairs to breakfast. I went down the large staircase to the dining hall and took a seat. I was one of the first there, other than the pink ball, blue hedgehog and golden fox I had seen last night. It was a buffet setup being attended by said ball who was wearing a chef's hat. The fox and hedgehog were already sitting down.
"Good morning," I greeted the pink ball as I began to scoop food onto my plate.
"Hi!" he replied in a high-pitched voice.
"So what's the best dish here? In your opinion."
"Num!" he made a weird noise and pointed to an egg-and-ham casserole.
Obviously, he could understand me, but not speak. I got the message, though, so I took a large scoop and thanked him. At least, I thought it was a him.
I was going to sit at the table closest to the door so that Mom and Dad could see me. But the golden fox saw me standing there and waved me over. The hedgehog looked up to see what was going on, caught my eye, and shrugged.
"Hey, there!" the fox greeted
"Hey," I greeted back.
The hedgehog didn't reply because his mouth was full of food.
"I'm Tails and this is Sonic," the fox introduced both of them.
"My name's Marcus," I told him.
"Are you new to this too?" Tails asked.
I nodded and explained to him that both my dad and his friend had been in the competition before.
"Uh huh," he agreed, "So was Sonic here. He placed twelfth in the competition last time. In fact, I think he was right behind your dad's friend."
The hedgehog raised an eyebrow, but did not otherwise comment. He obviously did not like to interrupt his meals for small talk.
"So you're going up against Link," Tails continued, either missing or ignoring his friend's silence. "I thought he looked tough, but I don't know. Looks can be deceiving. After all, Kirby over there doesn't look too tough, but he's one of the best fighters."
Ah, so this Kirby was a he. But Tails was right, he didn't look threatening. If his dad's stories were anything to go by, though, Kirby wasn't too fun to fight. He sucked you up, copied your ability, spit you back out, and attacked you with your own weapon.
"Well thanks for inviting me over," I said after we had talked a while longer. "But my parents just walked in and they'll be looking for me. Bye Tails. Sonic."
"See ya, Marcus," Tails waved.
Sonic finished his breakfast just in time to wish, "Good luck."
"Who was that?" Mom asked as I came over.
"That was Tails and Sonic."
"Sonic," Dad said thoughtfully, "He was in the last competition. He was a pretty good fighter. Kind of cocky, but good. What did he say?"
"He didn't say anything. He was too busy eating. But his friend, Tails, talked to me about being new to the Smash Bros. Tournament."
"Well it's good to see you're making friends," Mom said happily.
"Hey, honey," Dad said pointing at another table, "Wolf's waving us over. Did you want to go sit and I'll get our plates?"
"I think I'd rather go with you."
"Understood," he winked. Then he waved to Wolf and said, "We'll be over in a second!"
I was about to go sit with Uncle Wolf when one of those Primid things came up to me.
"Mr. McCloud," the creature greeted.
"Me? Or my Dad?"
"You are Marcus McCloud?"
"Yes."
"Then you."
It led me out into the main hall as I tried to let my parents know where I was going. But as they were filling their plates, I had to get Wolf's attention instead. After some quick gestures, I was dragged out into the hall.
"Please wait here, Mr. McCloud."
I didn't have to wait long. Soon, a different Primid was dragging Link into the hall as well. He looked about as uncomfortable with the things as I was. But then again, he had had to fight them. The Primid left us alone together and told us Master Hand would be there shortly.
"So," I tried to make small talk, "We get to fight."
The elf nodded.
"No chance you'd go easy on me, is there?"
He shook his head, but grinned.
"Had to ask."
The elf grinned wider and even laughed quietly a bit. Then another door opened and Master Hand came out. He was even bigger up close.
"Good morning challengers!" he greeted, "So I thought we'd have a little chat before the first match. Now, each of you remembers the rules, correct?"
"Yes, sir," I answered.
Link nodded.
"Good. The match will begin in two hours, so make sure you have everything you need. And one last thing: check to make sure your Smatches are working properly by pressing that little red button on the side. If it beeps, we'll have to fix it."
Mine didn't beep and neither did Link's.
"Excellent! Everything's going off without a hitch! Well, good luck, boys!"
I went to rejoin my parents for breakfast and try to enjoy the next two hours before the fight, trying to relax. Let's just say those were both the fastest and longest two hours of my life.
AN: I've decided to make this story more fun. Yay. Leave comments to vote on who should win; Link or Marcus. Whoever gets the most votes wins…literally.
