Haha I'm alive...
VERY IMPORTANT(ish): THE FUTURE AND CURRENT STATUS OF THIS STORY! I am amazed that most of you guys like this story. This story in general was a total shot in the dark. So the fact that people enjoy it brings a smile to my face. To return the favor, I think the least I could do is be honest with you. It's been more than a year since I updated this story... I was hoping to get at least two chapters out during the summer, but - as you can clearly see - it didn't work out that way. So why? Well, let's first void out environmental factors (even though there were a few in play). My writing style has me write the whole story while editing it as I go. After I finish the story I edit... and edit... and edit... and you get the point. This has nothing to do with me trying to give you the best product possible (Although I am trying to do that as well), this more has to do with me trying to make an okay product. Every time I look at my writing, the flow always feels so weird. So what ends up happening, is I edit every sentence at least three times, and then finally I get an okay product... Then I edit more to make a good product (at least in my eyes). So with my writing style out of the way, let's talk outside factors. I go to school, I work a part-time job, I have music practices, and I share a room with someone else while I use a desktop (meaning I can't write late at night). This wouldn't be that bad, but I'm more or less a lazy person. On top of all this, throw on some pretty complicated family issues. So why am I telling you this? My school semester just ended not too long ago and another one is on it's way. This means it wouldn't be out of the ordinary to have another stupidly large hiatus. So I want to thank everyone that has been with me, I know fanfiction is a phase to a lot of people, and I'm sure a lot of the readers have already abandoned this story. So to those who will continue to leave me as well, thank you, your presence here meant a lot to me. And to those who will stay with me for the long run, it's not all bad news. I got a new LapTop! which means I am now able to work through the night! On top of that, I also have a much clearer outlook of how the story is going to look these next few chapters. Welp, enough of that. Here is the continuation of "Angelic Addictions". Once again, Thank You.
At about 4:45PM it was prime time at the hotel and everyone seemed to be busy in their social endeavors. Whether it was checking out the shopping district, training, or just spending time with one another. For better or for worse that sentence was not applicable to all fighters. For example: Marth and Peach. For those two it was a dull afternoon with nothing to do. Marth for one, was in immediate need to pamper himself after a rough day of... Something. Well, whatever it was, he still found it necessary to relax. That being said, he was still not fully sure how to accomplish that feat, until he remembered something he saw in Girl's Life magazine. He read that nature hikes could relieve stress and help you feel more comfortable about your body image. As the sun was shining down upon the healthy and lushes environment outside his bedroom window, Marth resolved to get some healthy exercise. After dawning the proper attire of a white t-shirt and strangely tight gym shorts, he exited one of the side doors of the hotel that led to the garden. Pass the garden, was a trail that started off as a tree tunnel and then expanded to a large forest trail.
Marth took in a deep breath of fresh air and started some stretches, but unbeknownst to him, he was not alone. "Hey Marth!" Peach was sitting on a bench mere feet from him minding her own business.
Marth was startled "O-oh, hey Peach, I didn't see you there" He found himself not able to put his arms in a natural position, so he awkwardly put them behind his back.
"Haha, I was here the whole time. So, whatcha doing?" Peach reposed herself so the front of her body was facing Marth as to show he now had her undivided attention.
"Um, I was just about to go on a walk"
"Oh! That sounds nice! Mind if I tag along?" the princess in pink batted her eyes.
"Yeah, that would be nice!" Marth adjusted his hair.
"Okay awesome! Let me just get dressed"
"Sure thing" Marth said, assuming he would have the last word. Peach stopped in place for a second. She turned around and walked abruptly up to Marth until she was just a few inches from his face. He could feel her gentle breath on his face. "u-ummmm Peach?" Marth bent backwards away from Peach, but Peach bent forward in response.
She backed away and locked her hands together. "Your counter is absolutely amazing! I could barely tell you had anything on!" She started to walk away before turning one more time "Oh! And your blush looks great too!" Finally she left the garden and went into the hotel.
Marth stood there for a few seconds in a daze "I didn't put on any blush..."
It seemed that every time Pit walked through the halls of Hanafuda, he found a new room along with a new activity. So this time Pit thought to wander the halls to explore the hotel and all it's 'attractions' so to speak. As he continued to wander something caught his eye, or in this case nose. A weird combination of chemicals made its way to Pit's sinus. "What's that smell?" Pit followed the smell and found a pair of swing open double doors to the right of the hallway. Pit slowly pushed the doors open to be greeted by a giant Olympic sized swimming pool, as well as a smaller pool that was producing a large quantity of bubbles. "Whoa!" Pit marveled over the sheer magnitude of the room. There was only a few people occupying the space. Those being, Ike, Roy, Yoshi, Red, and (funnily enough) R.O.B. Pit felt the need to walk around and observe. Out of curiosity Pit walked towards the bubbly pool. Red, being in the bubbly pool, noticed Pit walking towards him.
"Hey Pit!" Red gleefully greeted Pit with a waving hand.
"Red!" Pit picked up his speed to a light jog. Once to the 'bubbly pool' Pit crouched down as to get closer to Red's level. "What is this?"
"It's a hot tub. You've never seen one?"
"Nope. What's it like?"
"It's pretty much just hot water and bubbles"
"Like a hotspring!?" Pit yelled.
"Hahaha... Yeah, I guess so" Red replied awkwardly to Pit's overreaction.
Without any warning, and without taking off his cloths, Pit did a reverse dive pike into the hot tub. After spending a good few seconds underwater, Pit suddenly popped out "IT IS A HOT SPRING!" Pit had now found temporary euphoria in this foreign land.
After some small talk between Pit and Red, Red noticed something. "Hey Pit?"
Pit lifted his submerged mouth out of the water. "What's up?"
"R.O.B's been staring at you for quite a while. Do you think he needs anything?"
Pit glanced over his shoulder to see R.O.B's lifeless stare "Not sure, he's pretty far away, but I guess it would make since that he wouldn't want to get near the water. I'll go see what's up. I needed to grab something to eat anyway, I guess." Pit, unwantingly, exited the hot tub. "i'll miss you hot tube" Pit whispered. "
"What did you say?"
"Nothing"
"Oh okay... Well see you later Pit"
"Bye Red!" bit waved while walking backwards towards R.O.B.
Red waved back in response. As Pit walked away soaking wet, Red noticed something rather odd. The water's effect on his white tunic caused his garb to be partially see through and reveled strange discolorations in Pit's skin. A few reddish stripes on his back were in view.
Pit was strolling to R.O.B. He was at the part where he could tell R.O.B knew he walking towards him, but Pit was not sure if he should greet him while he continued walking, or if he should wait till he got there to greet him ETC... ; It was quite an awkward walk. As if this situation with a living being was not hard enough, he had to go through the motions with this robot. As he came closer he was finally able to talk to R.O.B "Hey R.O.B, did you have a question?"
"..." R.O.B just stared, blank faced as always.
"Well, I just noticed you were looking at me, so I didn't know if you wanted to talk or something"
"..." Yet again R.O.B showed his vacant expression.
"Well if you ever want to talk, I'm here" As Pit awkwardly walked out the room, R.O.B's head moved to follow Pit out. Pit, now confused and drenched, made his way back to his room for a towel. "What am I thinking? Of course robots can't talk!" Pit was about to get into the elevator until he heard Samus from across the room.
"There you are!" Samus speedily walked up to Pit "God! I was looking everywhere for you!"
"What's wrong?"
Samus put her hands on her hips. "We're going to train"
"But it's only 7:00pm?"
"Do you really think I'm going to follow your night workouts? No, I need to get my schedule back on track"
"But..."
"No buts. If you're so insistent on training with me, then you have to go with my schedule" Pit stood with an open mouth ready to speak, but before he had the chance to respond, Samus started speaking again "Now go get dried off. If you haven't noticed, your soaking wet. I'll be at the gym" And just like that, Samus walked away, her golden locks bouncing with each stride.
Marth and Peach were on their way back from the hike. The sun was drizzling through the trees like liquid, and every breath of wind shook the leaves like puppets. The conversations between Marth and Peach were stale and awkward, at least from Marth's point of view. So, he did what anyone else would do when having trouble picking a topic... Ask the happenings of others "So how's Mario?"
"He's fine, I haven't seen him in a while though" Peach looked down at the ground morosely.
"Why's that?"
"I'm not sure exactly, he says he's always busy. One time I asked him 'with what?' and he told me something about a friend who was in town"
"Really? Is this friend that important to him?"
"Not sure. I'll ask about it later. Either way, I can understand it if he wants to spend time with his guy friends"
"I don't" Marth's eyes widened at what he just said. "Did I really just say that out loud?!"
"Haha why's that?" Peach stared at him awaiting his response.
"'why's that?' 'Why's That?' 'WHY IS THAT?!'" Marth struggled when thinking of a cool witty response, so he settled with the truth. "Because I would rather spend my time with you"
Peach adjusted her hair and let out a small chuckle. "Geez Marth, you make me sound so important. I'll tell you what, whenever he leaves, we can just hangout. Just the two of us, Sound like a plan?"
Marth took a deep breath of relief. "Yeah, that would be nice"
Pit, now adequately dry, entered the gym. Although there was not as many people as the first time he came, there was still about a third of the roster, not including employees. One of those people just happened to be Link.
"Hey Pit, what's up?" Link came up to Pit with a generally cheerful disposition.
"Nothing much. I was just about to train with Samus"
"Hahaha seriously? She sure has been showing her soft spots around you"
Pit put his hand to his chin. "Really? What do you think that means?"
As Link's mouth opened to form a sentence, a cold, soft, yet sinister voice manifested behind him "So, what does it mean Link?"
Link started fumbling his words as he slowly turned around. "i-i-i-t meAns thaaaattt-t-t-t... You are really cool and awesome... and beautiful... and... umm..." After Samus stared down Link for a little bit, his 'cheerful disposition' left him. The rest of link quickly followed suit and left Samus's presence.
"Alright Pit, let's hit the ring" A few heads at the gym perked up after this comment.
"Yeah sure, just let me do some stretches"
"You'll be fine, just get in the ring"
"But stretching is so important!"
"I know, I just don't care"
"You're so mean!" Pit whined.
"Come on, let's go" Samus dragged Pit by the arm and forcefully lead him to the ring. Just like the last time, a crowed started to form.
"Samus, this is kinda weird" Pit looked around as he was on the steps of the ring. People's gazes were starting to feel more and more unsettling.
"Don't worry about it Pit, they're just peons"
"What did you call them?"
"I said don't worry about it" Samus hopped into the ring and gestured Pit to do the same. A weird feeling overcame Pit. It was something like nervousness. It was unusual fighting someone of around equal strength that he had no need to kill. Samus went to her corner and stretched out her arms and legs.
"Hmm I guess I can stretch" As Pit stretched his ligaments, he decided he needed to think of a legitimate plan to face her. "Okay, so if she starts off with a kick, I'll block it and close the distance for a grapple. If she starts with a punch, I'll just counter it with my own. If I did that I would have to dash in a little more to make up for my lack of range, either way, I can react to both options."
"You ready Pit" Samus questioned.
"BRING IT ON!" It was starting. Pit and Samus started to circle the ring looking for an opening. It was a standstill for only a few moments, as Samus charged Pit. Pit brought one foot back, preparing himself for Samus's next move. From a slight hint Pit got from Samus's waste position, he could tell what she was going to throw "A kick! I'll block it and close in!" It was as he said, a right kick came from the side, aiming for his head "Here it comes! But why would she start off kicking at such a risky angle?" Pit made a cross arm block for extra support as to prepare for the kick, but to his surprise, it was practically useless.
The power from the barbarically strong kick broke his cross arm block and forced him to tumble to the floor. To counter-act, he shifted his body to break his fall and used the momentum of that fall to instantly get back to his feet. For a few seconds he just stared at Samus. "So much power. I felt like I was blocking a chariot! There's no way she's human!"
"Don't tell me you're already done?" Samus spoke with a smirk.
Pit shrugged it off "Not a chance!" Pit rushed in "What was I thinking? When have I ever approached with a plan!?" Pit lead off with a strong right hook. Which Samus easily dodged. After shaking his head one more time to get rid of the remaining stars, Pit was back on the charge. Pit released a quick flurry of attacks with such quick snapback, Samus was unable to counter. Samus dodged most of them, but the ones she did block had quite the effect on her; her arms started to ache heavily.
"I can't win like this!" Seeing his strong attacks, Samus decided it was best to turn the fight into a grapple. Samus conditioned Pit to keep attacking by blocking every single one of his attacks, even the ones she could dodge, no matter how bad it hurt.
"I got her on the defensive! I just gotta break that guard!" Trying to break her guard, Pit threw out a predictable strong right hook. Samus reacted instantly and ducked underneath it. With so much weight behind the hook, Pit could not bring his arm back in time.
Samus slithered under his flailed arm and around the back of Pit to put him in a simple, yet effective, choke hold.
Snake gave a thumbs up of approval from the back right corner of the room.
Pit struggled, but there was nothing he could do. suddenly, Samus heard a voice. "Awww she's giving him a hug from behind!"
Samus looked around the room. "Okay, who wants to die?" Pit took advantage of the distracted Samus and grabbed her arm, shifted her body over his shoulder, and took her to the floor.
The impact of her hitting the floor knocked the wind out of her. "you little-" Samus thought. Before she had the chance to regain her breath Pit pinned her to the ground by straddling her, pushing her arms against the ground in the process. This was yet another situation that made the fight look to be over until...
"Wow Pit... That's a pretty aggressive position don't ya think?" Pit became flustered and lost focus. In turn, Samus repeated the action of taking advantage of the distracted. She broke the hold on her right arm and attacked the joint of Pit's right elbow. This caused Pit's arm to cave in and subsequently drop his pin as well as topple slightly to the right. Samus shifted her body weight as to completely turn the situation around. Now she was on top.
"Geez Samus, isn't he a little young for that kind of foreplay?" Samus, finally recognizing the voice of the perpetrator (and overall being sick of the bit), stared directly into Captain Falcon's eyes. As Pit was struggling, Samus released the grip of her right hand and punched Pit one time in the face whilst still staring at the Captain. Pit instantly lost consciousness and no longer had the luxury of being able to struggle. Samus then stood up.
A light cheer came from the audience. It was a pretty good show from each combatant, awkwardness aside. Samus, not knowing what to do with the unconscious body of Pit, just decided to leave him there, but before she got out of the ring, she heard rustling behind her. Pit somehow managed to get up. He stumbled towards Samus with blood dripping down his nose. Samus just stared at him. Not with aw nor surprise, but just how she always did; like his wounds and bruises did not exist.
His mouth started to move "i'm... not giving up..." He staggered towards her.
Samus relaxed her stance "That's fine with me, but you should note that there's a difference between losing and giving up"
Pit was breathing heavily. "w-what's the difference?"
"I'll tell you when you wake up"
"What?" Right then and there, Samus delivered a devastating right hook to Pit's liver. The pain was too much. Instantly, and roughly, he hit the floor.
A loud "Oooooo..." resonated from the crowed.
Samus looked at Pit's unconscious body with a soft smile on her face. "He looks more peaceful than he usually does. Sigh* Alright guys, show's over!"
The crowed disbanded in a timely fashion, leaving only Pit and Samus in the gym. Samus sat cross-legged next to his laid out body. She looked at her arms, welts and bruises were forming. "My arms feel like they're on fire" Even though it was a hard fought battle, she was still trying to figure out what made him eligible to attend the tournament. Yes, he was ludicrously strong, but to her, his skill in hand to hand combat was only above average at best. There was not much time to get him into shape, but nevertheless, she would try in the couple of weeks they had.
"ughhh" Pit started to wake up "Samus?"
"What's up?"
"What happened?" Pit lifted his head "my head hurts like crazy"
"You lost"
"Oh yeah..." Pit dropped his head back down on the mat. "Let's see... how did I end up on the floor? I can't remember. The last thing I can remember was... Hey Samus?"
"Yeah?"
"What's the difference between losing and giving up?"
"Giving up usually hurts a lot less"
Pit started cracking up "Pffft! Hahaha! Yeah, I guess you're right" Samus showed a small smile in response "Can we do this again tomorrow?"
"Yeah, but we should probably take you to the doctor"
"I'm okay. I'll be fine by tomorrow"
"Wait what?"
"Yeah, my body just kinda heals the next day"
"So I don't have to hold back?"
"Yep... Wait! That's not fair! Because I still have to hold back!"
Samus had a smug smile. "mhmm, So you have to try to beat ME with technique alone. A.K.A the thing you're lacking" Samus stood up.
"Aghhhh seriously!? Oh one more thing"
"What?"
"I still can't really move"
"Oh, well good night" Samus turned her back and walked away.
"Wait! Can't you carry me on your back again!"
For a split second Samus considered that option. "Nope, see you tomorrow" Samus shut off the lights to leave Pit alone. In the dark. Without a blanket. And kind of hungry.
At last the tournament was officially beginning. Pit hardly got any sleep, instead of sleeping he just waited till the sunrise. His team and team Jupiter were scheduled to face off first. He threw on his toga and grabbed his bow. Samus finally was at her old rhythm and woke up at a farmer's 5:30am. When Pit walked the hallways he started to notice that the only people awake, besides Samus and Snake, were newcomers just like him. They must of had a similar sleep, or lack thereof. Although nervous, the chill in Pit's spine turned into that of fire. His excitement was almost overwhelming him. There was also a sense of relief for him. He put in so much effort into training with Samus, now all he had to do was mentally prepare himself for the upcoming battle. This was a harder task to accomplish then he thought. During breakfast and lunch his mind was racing. The mindset when you are a part of a team puts a lot more weight on you than flying solo. Contradictory to popular belief, there is an 'I' in team... (Well, metaphorically speaking) and that 'I' can make or break said team.
"Attention! Team Saturn vs Team Jupiter will commence in 1 hour!" Master Hand's voice was once again blaring through the speakers.
Pit was the first in the portal room, sitting on a bench and staring blankly at the blue vortex that he would enter soon. Although his mind was somewhere else, his perception of time was still active. He could feel it moving faster around him. Like a flowing current; fast and unstoppable. He could hear the echoed footsteps of his team enter the waiting room, but he did not pay mind to them. Even the light banter around him did not effect him. Suddenly, his concentration on nothingness turned structural. The white noise cleared out of his thoughts and was replaced with a light, a warm one at that. He could feel the presence of fire around him. He followed the fire and envisioned a landscape, one filled with ransacked homes and death filling the air. He started to wander the imaginary streets, hearing faint voices calling out to him. He did not answer them. That is, until they got louder.
"pit... Pit... Pit!"
"Huh!" Pit jumped out of his trance to see a slightly unnerved Samus behind him.
"Geez, I knew you were getting psyched up, but come on" Samus exhaled.
"Oops, sorry. I should probably do some stretches before it starts"
"Before? It's about to start right now"
Pit jumped to his feet "What?!"
Link walked up to the pair "Yeah... So... Are you okay Pit?"
Pit closed his eyes and took a long deep breath "Absolutely!"
The raging blue vortexes started to glow brighter. That was their cue. All of Team Saturn entered the portal. As they did, Pit looked at the illuminated faces of his team. The confident looks they had gave him sanctum. Eventually they exited to a giant arena. They were on an elevated bright green stage with a packed crowed lining the circumference; Pokemon Stadium. Cheers roared through out the stadium. Some cheers generic "GO GETEM!" Some more specific... "I WANT TO EAT YOUR ASS LINK!".
Those crowd chants were quickly silenced when an intense feedback from a mic flooded the air. After a bit of a pause, You could hear a bit of arguing; just loud enough to have been picked up by the mic. After some loud crashing noises a voice emerged. "Yes, I would like ummm one baconater and uhhhh a cup of battery acid and uhhhh a medium strawberry lemo-!" You could hear a faint, but rough voices from behind the speaker "Crazy?! What are you doing?! get out of here!" More crashing sounds emerged from the announcer box. There was yet another pause. An out of breath Master Hand came forth to the microphone "g-Good evening everyone!" Awkward clapping and 'woos' that made you feel embarrassed after saying it came from the crowed. "This day has been long awaited. Those who have trained hard will be rewarded, and those of slothfulness will fall. Today's battle will surly be filled with valor and respect! Now, let us meet the contenders for the first match of the third celebration of our heroic fighters!"
On the right side of the stage where Team Saturn resided, Pit was still confused of what exactly was happening "So... Who goes first?" Pit said in a sheepish voice.
Link gave a puzzled look to Pit. "Wow Pit, you really were zoned out. We just worked it out a few minutes ago that Pichu was going first (with his consent of course)" An extremely worried Pichu nodded its head.
"Oh! Well, good luck! You can win, I believe in yo-!?" Pit felt a tingling sensation through out his whole body. Shortly after, shining blue matter engulfed Every member of Team Saturn except Pichu. Before Pit knew it, he was back in the portal room. "Whoa... That was weird" In the corner of his ear, he overheard Zelda talking to Link.
"Poor Pichu" Zelda stated.
Link frowned a bit. "Yeah, but who knows? Maybe a miracle will happen" Link started checking his phone "I mean, if he's in the tournament then he has to at least have a chance. Right?"
"What are you guys talking about?" Pit spoke up with concern.
"Oh, yeah... sorry for what you're about to see Pit" Link spoke sorrowfully.
"What does that mean?" A large projection of the events on stage appeared in the portal room. "Wait? Who's his opponent?" The camera zoomed in to reveal the king of the koopas, Bowser.
He slowly started to approach Pichu. With every step he took the ground trembled. "HAhahAHAhaHAAHa! You're starting with this little pipsqueak?!" Bowser roared.
"Pichu!" Pichu toughened up and charged towards Bowser from the other side of the stage. He moved fast, in fact Pichu was so fast and so light, that he almost took off the ground. With all of his might he challenged Bowser with a skull bash. Electricity formed around Pichu's body and finally at peek speed Pichu's head directly connected with Bowser's gut. Yet, it was not very effective. "BwahahahaHAHahaHA!"
Sadly, It was a swift end. Bowser grabbed pichu by the head, and with one hand, tossed Pichu far off the left side of the stage.
Pichu fell hopelessly down to the blastzone "Pichuuuuuuuuuuuuu~" A large pillar of light projected out of the blast zone to signal the end of the match. The crowed was unmoved. Still, there were a few 'awws' scattered around.
Pichu popped back through the portal they first went through and ran away crying. After Pit and the rest of his team watched Pichu run out the door and around the corner, Pit looked at the rest of the team and then to Samus. "Let me go next!"
Samus let out a long sigh. "Sounds like a plan"
TEAMS:
Team Saturn: Pit, Samus, Zelda, Link, Peach, Marth, Falco, Ice Climbers, Jiggly Puff, Pichu.
Team Neptune: Fox, Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Yoshi, Luigi, Mewtwo, Roy, Charizard, Olimar.
Team Jupiter: Wolf, Bowser, Ness, Lucario, Mr Game and Watch, Toon Link, Lucas, R.O.B, Mario, Kirby.
Team Uranus: Metaknight, Wario, Spuirtle, Ivesaur, Pikachu, Sonic, Snake, Ike, King Dedede, Ganondorf
Trivia: The real GirlsLife Magazine actually is based a lot around home exercise.
Trivia: Reverse Dive Pike is a real intermediate level diving technique.
Trivia: Conditioning is a moderately advanced mind game that competitive smash players (and fighting game players in general) use to condition an opponent to shield, spot dodge, jump, etc...