Alrighty, chapter 7 has arrived! Lots of interesting stuff happens in this chapter! Hope you guys like it! Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review if you've got something to tell me! Constructive criticism is always much appreciated! But please, no flames! :P Anywho, hope you enjoy this chapter! Chapter 8 soon to come!
Disclaimer: I do not own Super Smash Bros. All characters belong to the amazing people at Nintendo. :)
"Come on, guys! Hurry up!" Link called to Marth and Ike as the three swordsmen ran outside to the practice stages. The practice stages were actually floating up in the sky, with nets placed all around them for the safety of an airborne smasher. On an actual stage, the smasher would simply disintegrate if shoved too far off the edge, reappearing on a small platform, granted they still had lives left. If they ran out of lives, they were teleported back to a locker room to freshen up after the match. There were three practice stages outside, and to get to them, smashers had to step inside a portal which would teleport them to the appropriate stage.
Marth caught up to Link with no problem, but Ike started to run slower after a while, eventually walking the rest of the way. When he finally caught up to them, they looked annoyed. "What's up, dude?" Marth asked.
Ike was breathing heavily, sweat beads glistening on his forehead. "Sorry guys," he said, putting his hands on his knees. "I'm really out of shape."
"Well, then KO-ing you shouldn't be a problem!" Link laughed, and he stepped into a portal marked '# 1.' Marth and Ike followed him, quickly being transported to Practice Stage #1.
All the practice stages looked the same. They were simply a large, flat metal surface with a couple higher platforms on each side. Link and Ike appeared on the right side, and Marth on the left. They all looked up at the large scoreboard hanging from the ceiling, which would tell them when to start the match. It also displayed how many lives they each had left. They had decided to keep it a short practice, only giving themselves five lives. The scoreboard rang loudly, and that was the cue to commence fighting. Marth immediately ran at Ike, swinging his trusty sword Falchion, and getting ready for a hit. He was too predictable, however, and Ike put up his shield. Marth bounced back a little at the impact, giving Ike a rather nasty look. He raised his sword again, this time hitting Ike full on.
"Is that how you want it to go down?" Ike asked, a playful look in his eye. "Alright then, we can do that!" He raised Aether, his mighty sword, and it crashed down on Marth, sending him flying a ways.
Link noticed that now was his chance to attack Ike. He quickly lunged at him, and his sword slashed at his back, causing him to fall to the ground. "Did you forget about me?" Link asked as he helped his friend up.
"Hardly," Ike answered, swinging his heavy two-handed sword at Link, who quickly dodged his attack. Marth came up from behind Ike and made a mad dash for Link, performing his Dancing Blade move. Link didn't know what hit and was launched off the side of the stage. He performed a quick recovery move, however, and spun back onto solid ground.
"It's gonna take a lot more than that!" he called, getting ready to strike at Ike again. He wasn't so lucky this time, though. Ike raised his sword and smashed it on top of Link, causing him to really go flying. He landed against the safety net, and looked up at the scoreboard. One of his lives was gone. Touching the safety net meant losing a life during practice matches. "Darn it!" he yelled as he climbed up the ladder to get back onto the stage.
Marth and Ike had entered a severe swordfight in the meantime, whacking away at each other senselessly. Marth managed to deal a very damaging blow to Ike, and he crashed against the net on the left side of the stage. Marth taunted him, then spun around to see Link charging at him. He raised his sword for a counter-attack, but wasn't quite ready. Link slashed at him with his sword once and he flew back towards the net. He tried to perform a recovery move, but he just missed the edge of the stage, and plummeted onto the net below.
"Why does that happen to me all the time?" he complained, climbing back up onto the stage. All three of them had lost one life now, and the battle continued on. When it was all over, Marth had won, and Ike had lost all five of his lives within the first few minutes of the fight. Marth finished off Link with his final smash.
"If it weren't for my stupid recovery move," Ike insisted as the three of them walked back to the mansion. "I could've KO-ed you both easily!"
"You're just mad because I won!" Marth smirked. "I beat both of you bad!"
"Please," Link said. "I just let you win." He rubbed the sweat off his forehead. "And besides, there's plenty more matches to be fought."
Samus was relaxing by the pool when they guys walked by. She was reclined in a lawn chair and was wearing a very skimpy swimsuit. Ike couldn't resist the urge to whistle at her, even though he didn't like her in that way at all. The other two couldn't help but snicker.
"You guys are such perves!" she shrieked as she grabbed a towel to cover herself up.
"Then maybe you shouldn't wear stuff like that," Marth suggested, still stifling laughter. Samus simply turned away from them, folding her arms across her chest. Marth and Link both patted Ike on the back, and they continued walking inside. It was almost dinner time now.
The Pokémon were sitting in the lounge when the swordsmen entered. Jigglypuff and Squirtle were hovering over a magazine that Lucario was reading. He looked very annoyed by this. Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and Charizard were playing Mario Kart, and Charizard seemed to be getting frustrated by how many times it had fallen off Rainbow Road.
"Do you mind going somewhere else?" Lucario asked Jigglypuff and Squirtle, who just looked at him questionably. Lucario sighed, smacking his head with his paw. "I can't read with you crowded around me like this!"
"Jiggly?" Jigglypuff asked, seeming to pick up on what Lucario was getting at. It looked at Squirtle and nodded its head, and they both left the lounge.
"Thank you!" Lucario praised, looking up toward the heavens. "I thought they'd never leave." He spoke to the swordsmen now, who had taken seats on a large couch.
"Have you been out to the practice stages yet, Lucario?" Link asked.
"No, not yet," Lucario answered. "I should probably get out there soon, though." He closed his magazine and stood up from his chair. "I think dinner is being served now. Care to join me?"
Link, Marth, and Ike all nodded their heads and followed him to the cafeteria. When they got there, they saw something they never thought they would see. Pit and Sothe were sitting at a table laughing. With each other! Link rubbed his eyes to check if he was dreaming up the whole thing. When he was sure it was real, he looked over at Marth and Ike, who had the same reaction he did.
"What happened?" Marth asked, not believing what he was seeing. "Did we miss something?"
"Maybe that talk with Master Hand was all it took?" Ike suggested, though he wasn't quite sure himself. The three of them walked over to the serving line to get their food. After they had gone through, they sat down at the table next to Pit and Sothe.
"Oh, hey guys!" Pit greeted them. "Sothe here was just telling me a hilarious story!" He and Sothe looked at each other and burst out laughing again. Ike felt like he was in an alternate universe. Sothe never laughed! What the hell was going on here?!
"Where's Isaac?" Link asked. He waited while they both calmed themselves down.
"He doesn't feel good today," Sothe answered. "He said it must've been the chicken we had last night."
"Don't ever mention chicken again!" Meta Knight hissed as he stormed past their table.
They all looked in his direction oddly for a moment, then resumed their conversation. "Really?" Link asked. "Nobody else looks sick." He looked around the cafeteria and noticed everyone was there except for Isaac.
Master Hand entered the cafeteria then. "May I have your attention please?" he addressed, and all the smashers immediately stopped their conversations. "As you all know, Valentine's Day is coming up," he began. Several of the girls, including Medusa,' oohed' and 'awed' as Master Hand said this. "So in honor of Valentine's Day, which is next Thursday, we will be having a special Valentine's Week!" Master Hand seemed extremely excited about this, and he received strange looks from the 'tough guys' like Bowser, Snake, and Wolf. Ganondorf seemed to be the only one in that group who was somewhat excited as well, hoping this would be his chance to ask Medusa out. Luigi was also enticed by the idea, thinking of how he wanted to go about asking Daisy out.
"And what will be happening during this 'Valentine's Week?'" Falco asked, clearly not impressed by the idea at all.
"Well, Monday night we'll have a baking contest," Master Hand said. Louie looked at Olimar excitedly. The smashers didn't know this, but he LOVED to bake, and was exceptionally good at it. "Tuesday will begin the voting for the Cutest Couple Contest," Master Hand continued. "The voting will remain open all week until we crown the Valentine's King and Queen on Thursday night before the party."
"Well, that hardly seems fair," Link whispered to Ike, but looked at Sothe and smiled as he said it.
Sothe rolled his eyes and chuckled a little. "Micaiah and I won't win," he assured. "The people here don't know us well enough."
"On Wednesday the lounge area will be reserved for Valentine making and decorating," Master Hand continued on. "Go ahead and make a Valentine's card for your special someone!" Link stole a glance at Zelda, who thankfully, wasn't looking at him as well.
"Question," Captain Falcon began. "Why are you encouraging all this lovey-dovey stuff, anyway?" Several of the smashers nodded their heads.
"On Valentine's Day I could care less," Master Hand replied. "Anyway, as I've already mentioned, Thursday will be the Valentine's party and dance, and it will be held right here in the cafeteria. So I suggest you all find dates soon!"
"But there's waaaay more guys than girls here!" Wolf pointed out.
"Well, then I guess it's first come, first served, ladies!" Master Hand chuckled a little at his joke, but no one else did. "Guys who are left without dates will just have to go alone." He said sternly, then left the cafeteria.
"Well, this should be interesting," Marth said. He looked over at the girls table, and they were all still giggling about how excited they were. "I was just planning on taking Lyn out to dinner, but I guess a dance is pretty cool too."
Sothe looked over at Micaiah, who had decided it was time to branch out and mingle amongst the girls. She caught his gaze and winked at him. He smiled at his wife, hoping next week would be perfect.
"Well," Link sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Anyone up for a real match?"
The guys all looked at each other, thinking Link was crazy for wanting to fight again. Marth and Ike counted themselves out, followed by Pit. As his last resort, Link turned to Sothe. "You game?" he asked.
Sothe gave him a mischievous look and the corners of his mouth turned up into a satisfied smile. "You're on!"
Yes, I realize Valentine's Day isn't anywhere close to coming up, but I just wanted to add something interesting to my story. Don't judge! :P