Author's Note: Here comes one of those original scenarios I'm adding to the Subspace tale. Be prepared :O

Chapter Six: Pit Stop

~*Afternoon of the First Day*~

Being one who could only utter untranslatable syllables, Kirby flailed his stubby arms to try and get his point across. However, he had become adept at using certain gestures.

"How far until the village?" asked Zelda. Kirby nodded. "About ten minutes. Can you see it from here?"

Kirby and Luigi gazed into the distance. Luigi had only visited Tayll Village once before, and Kirby not at all. They had trouble finding it through the patch of trees further up the path they were walking. They spotted it eventually; some buildings were visible through the gaps in the treetops.

Zelda had estimated correctly. It took the trio just over ten minutes to walk through the large wooden and metal arc that represented the 'official' entry point into Tayll Village. The village was inhabited mostly by anthropomorphic animals, reminiscent of the place Fox hailed from, the Lylat System – or at least to Zelda it was. She had been a judge of the Smash Brothers' Tournament since the beginning, and hadn't missed a single one. Consequently, she had gotten to know most of the competitors. The same went for Peach; she knew everyone, and had engaged in friendly conversation with many of them. The princess wondered where Peach was, but tried not to look worried in front of the sensitive Luigi and the probably-still-guilty Kirby.

"So," began Luigi, "what now?"

The three moved to the side of the street they were in and stopped to converse among themselves.

'We need to look for people we know," Zelda said.

Luigi made a face. "But we don't know anyone, do we?"

"I've been here several times before. I don't think Kirby's been here."

Kirby nodded in confirmation.

"And you were here once, but only to sightsee before the second Tournament."

Zelda glanced at the passersby, but found no one familiar. Then she had a thought. "I just remembered I'm good friends with someone who lives here."

"Oh?" Kirby piped up unexpectedly.

"You do?" Luigi said. "That's good, then! Maybe they can help us." He rubbed his hands together.

"Yes," Zelda answered. " I'm pretty sure she won't mind if we borrow some stuff off her. She's really nice."

By now the somewhat out-of-place group had caught the eyes of some curious Tayll denizens. A few had stopped walking altogether and were keeping an eye on them from a distance. Zelda soon realised this and looked around.

"Hey!" shouted a voice.

The three turned to face a rather short and excited person of rabbit-like appearance, whom came rushing towards them.

"Are you from the Smash Brothers' Tournament?" the stranger asked.

"Uh… yes, we are," said Luigi, feeling a little singled out. Compare three to the bustling street they had stopped in.

"Wow, cool!" cried the rabbit. He began shaking their hands in greeting. Zelda sneaked an amused look at her friends, whom replied with bewildered expressions. "I'm Perry. Nice to meet you all."

Zelda, Kirby and Luigi figured this was a fan of the Tournament. They let him continue speaking.

"I love the Tournament," Perry began. "It's so exciting watching you all battle it out! Sometimes I wish it was open to normal folks like us at this village, but it's not yet, is it?

"I've gone to the three most recent Tournaments. I'm especially a fan of you three guys even though you don't do the fighting." He glanced at Zelda as he said this last bit.

The trio couldn't help but feel admired.

"So…why are you here?"

Silenced ensued for a long moment. "I mean, isn't the Tournament meant to be commencing right now?" Perry persisted.

Luigi looked worriedly at Zelda, who glanced nervously at Kirby. The princess spoke up and explained.

"Something… happened at the Stadium," Zelda began slowly. "And we had to evacuate. We couldn't do anything about it, we were helpless to stop it."

Perry stood in stunned silence, then realisation struck him.

"So you mean," the rabbit rasped, horrified. "There's something out there… stronger than you three? Not to mention all the others?"

"Probably. We don't know what it is or who's behind it. Some of us got separated. I think Pit went after Mario when he disappeared, and Peach was stolen by Wario. Donkey Kong fell off Kirby's Warp Star, and we saw two Arwings get shot down by the Halberd."

Zelda finally finished her recount, then she mentally smacked herself. Why am I saying all this? What will happen when the public finds out? She scanned the street cautiously, but luckily she hadn't caught the attention of any uninvited onlookers.

Perry had gradually acquired a thoughtful expression. "So basically you guys are in trouble and need to get back together, then you can figure out what to do next. What happened to the audience at the Stadium? Did they get out safely?"

"I think they did," Luigi said. "They started evacuating the Stadium when —"

" —That's enough, Luigi!" Zelda interrupted before the green plumber could explain any further about the black hole bomb. Perry looked puzzled at them.

"…Can I help in any way?" Perry offered, quietly. Personally, he thought it very unlikely he would be of any use to legends like these three.

"Actually, you might."

Perry perked up.

"Do you know a Carmen? Carmen Roemon?"

"Yeah, I do. She's a family friend!"

"Do you know where we can find her?"

"Um… I met her earlier this morning. She said she was heading home."

"Okay, that's great!" Zelda said, gratefully. "Thank you so much, Perry."

The rabbit beamed proudly. "Happy to help."

"We're going to go and see her now, so you can run along. But keep the information I told you a secret." She put a finger to her lips.

"Okay," Perry chimed. "See you!" And he quickly disappeared into the crowd.

The trio waved goodbye, then turned to each other.

"So," Luigi said to Zelda. "Do you know what we're doing now?"

"Yes, follow me."

Zelda remembered perfectly where Carmen Roemon lived. When they turned down a wide alley and followed her up to the front door, Kirby looked longingly at the garden that beheld them, staring for a long moment at the apple tree growing there. Luigi caught Kirby's gaze and frowned at him.

"Sorry, but not now," Luigi muttered. The pink ball next to him gave him a discouraged look.

Zelda knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" came the reply from inside the house.

"It's Zelda," the princess called.

As soon as she said this, there was a crash of what one could assume was cutlery. Luigi and Kirby looked startled at Zelda, but she was just smiling to herself and shaking her head in amusement.

The three outside could hear the quick pattering of feet approaching the door, and it opened.

The occupant of the house, a grey cat, greeted them with a grin followed by an astonished expression.

"Zelda, it's you!" she cried excitedly, and gave her visitor a hug.

"Hi, Carmen," Zelda replied, a lot more calmly, and hugged her back.

The two accompanying Zelda looked at each other.

"Hello," Carmen said to Luigi and Kirby.

"Hi," Luigi said politely, and Kirby gave Carmen a small wave.

"Welcome, you three. Come in!" the feline beckoned them inside, and rushed to her kitchen. With Zelda leading, the three entered the house.

It was nothing out of the ordinary for the standards of the village. A little more than a large cabin, the visitors could see several rooms, most of which were connected by open doorways.

Zelda led them into a room adjacent to the kitchen and motioned for the others to take a seat. There were two seats in the room: a large three-seater and a single chair next to it. All three took the former.

"So, how are things going, you three?" Carmen asked as she prepared some refreshments and darted around the kitchen.

"Terrible," Luigi said, miserably.

"What?"

"Um, fine!" Zelda spoke over the top of the plumber.

"That's good."

The cat approached the three with a tray of food and drinks, set it down on the coffee table and plonked herself on the chair next to the trio.

"Eat!" she told them. "I mean, if you want."

Luigi stole a glance at Kirby, who was looking a lot happier with the presence of edible objects.

Zelda picked up a jam roll and Luigi grabbed a handful of biscuits. Kirby was wondering which plate of food to eat first. He finally settled on the pile of rice crackers.

"How are you? Has anything important happened?" Zelda asked Carmen.

"Oh, the usual. Nothing big has happened since I saw you last, although that accident in the village square could count." She sheathed and unsheathed her claws experimentally.

"What happened?" Zelda asked, just as Luigi formed the same question in his head.

"A man came wandering into the market last weekend. He wanted to buy something – I think garlic – and from what I heard he was verbally abusing the shopkeeper for the 'outrageous price of his produce'."

"Man?" Luigi questioned. "You mean, like a normal human?"

"Yeah. I watched what was happening. He caused enough of a ruckus to catch the attention of the patrols and they asked him to leave. He didn't, and started attacking them."

She began to giggle.

"What's so funny?" the plumber asked, bewildered. Zelda was puzzled as well.

"What happened next was," Carmen managed to say. "The man somehow landed in a cart of tomatoes. I couldn't quite see, but he got thrown into the air, and there was a tomato cart beneath him, so —"

Carmen laughed out loud, and Zelda followed, caught up in her friend's sudden outburst. Luigi smirked at Kirby, who stopped in the middle of a mouthful of food to examine the situation.

The two were finally able to stop. "I'm sorry," Carmen apologized afterwards to Luigi and Kirby. Her gaze drifted to the coffee table, and found an empty plate. "Who ate the crackers?"

Kirby shyly looked at the floor.

"Kirby did," Luigi stated.

"Kirby? Oh, him." Carmen observed Kirby. "Yeah, I've heard of you." She looked at Luigi. "You too, the plumber's brother."

"I'm a plumber."

"What?" Carmen shook her head and looked at Zelda, expecting an answer.

"Luigi," she said, gesturing to him. "Mario's brother."

"Oh yes, I remember now. I went to the first Smash Brothers' Tournament. Remember that, Zelda?"

"Yes. It was a while ago, wasn't it?"

All four of them nodded, memories of the first Tournament returning to each of them.

"There weren't many competitors back then, were there?" the feline said.

"There are more now," Zelda told her. "We have some newcomers this year."

The princess remembered with a mental jolt why she and the others were there in the first place.

"Carmen…" Zelda began, all the humour in her voice gone.

"Yeah? Are you alright?"

"We actually came to visit to discuss something." Zelda glanced at her companions, who had mellowed down with the realisation of what she was going to talk about.

"Is it serious?"

"I think it would be if we left the matter alone." She paused before mentioning it outright. "The Smash Brothers' Stadium is gone."

Carmen's jaw dropped. "What do you mean?"

"A black hole," Luigi explained. "It swallowed the Stadium. A bomb dropped from the Halberd and it set off the hole. The audience got away in the three minutes they had before it exploded," he added before Carmen could interrupt.

The feline relaxed slightly. "The Halberd?" she inquired, unfamiliar with many of the fighters in the Tournament. She saw Kirby tense at the sound of the name.

"Meta Knight's flying battleship," Zelda said, recalling her more than sound knowledge on the various fighters' histories. "Kirby's not so hospitable towards its captain."

Carmen nodded in understanding.

Zelda cleared her throat, a little louder than necessary. "I'd like to ask you something, Carmen." She fidgeted and looked at her feet. "Could you help us with supplies? We need to find out what's happening, so we're intending to do a bit of travelling… we don't have anything on us. Whatever we brought to this realm was left behind at the Stadium."

Silence ensued before Carmen spoke again. "So you want me to lend you something or other… then you're going to go off and save the world?"

Zelda grinned in amusement. "Probably not quite 'save the world', but we're going to do something about it." She fleetingly swept her gaze across to her two companions, who nodded in confirmation.

The grey feline rubbed her hands together. "I'd gladly lend a hand!"

*.*.*.*.*

"Well, that went well."

Luigi was in a more positive frame of mind as the trio exited Tayll Village.

"I told Carmen we didn't need this much stuff," Zelda muttered as she took another look inside the rucksack the grey cat had given them. Inside it laid several coins, a map and a plentiful food supply.

Carmen Roemon had willingly given Zelda and her friends – in Zelda's opinion – a rather lenient amount of money to spend at the Tayll market for supplies. And the spare rucksack.

"This here village may not look like much to you," Carmen had debated as she accompanied them through the crowded market. "But I'm not one of its poorer citizens. I can more than easily look after myself, so helping a few friends is nothing!"

Zelda had finally given into Carmen's constant nagging and let her lead herself, Luigi and Kirby to various stalls to pick up supplies for their journey. She had insisted that Zelda change her royal garb to attire more fitting for travelling.

"You don't really have to, Carmen," Zelda had argued lightheartedly. "It's not entirely necessary."

"Look at you!" Carmen had persisted firmly, but not angrily. "You stand out like a candle in a dark room!" At this point she had thrown her arms out to gawk. "A person can't go running around in a dress and tiara. It would catch unwanted attention."

The Hyrulean princess had thought this a good point, so she allowed Carmen to assist her in choosing something more appropriate.

They had eventually chosen a long-sleeved shirt that flapped lightly in the breeze, a knee-length skirt with leggings, and a shawl that covered Zelda's shoulders. Meanwhile, Kirby had been struggling not to devour the massive amounts of food he had laid his eyes upon at some of the stalls.

Presently, it was not an exaggeration to say it took a large chunk of the puffball's self-control not to consume their whole food supply in one big gulp.

After their little shopping trip, Carmen had insisted in taking care of Zelda's princess getup until they returned, so as to reduce their load; Zelda wanted to travel light. Then the feline had sent them off with a wave and a "Good luck!", and the three were now on their way out.

"Where should we go?" Luigi asked. He salvaged the map from the rucksack, and tried to read it. It was surprisingly difficult.

"Poyo," Kirby chirped, and spun one arm in a windmill. Luigi tried to figure out what he was saying, then glanced at the map again.

"Oh, it's upside down."

Zelda snatched the map from his grasp. "Let's see." She observed the many routes they could take. The map had marked out the surrounding area of about a ten kilometre radius.

"I think we should follow this path," Zelda finally decided. She showed the others the map, and traced the route with a finger. "It doesn't have many forks or intersections, so we won't get lost easily. It appears to be a less-travelled road – that's probably a good thing."

The puffball and the plumber nodded in agreement.

"Then, let's go!" Luigi announced.

*.*.*.*.*

What a pathetic position I am in.

The dark, squat figure paced impatiently back and forth in his cell, his shoes clicking quietly on the metal floor.

Those fools swarmed in and threw me in here, he mused. I'm going to need more manpower under my wing to reclaim control... At least I know where all the traps are set.

He chuckled to himself. He began to fantasise about those mysterious obsidian minions bumbling about, oblivious to the numerous traps designed to deter unwanted guests.

He quickly sobered again, as was habit in his warrior-like ways, and his thoughts once again turned to the current dilemma at hand. He had to regain power over his battleship.

I think I need to get out of here first.

I did something with the names Tayll and those two minor OCs. Can you guess what it is? (HINT: They're all related to a certain Nintendo franchise).