And we're back, with Chapter 7 of Chronicles of Smash Mansion. This chapter continues on from the previous chapter, and introduces a new character, who may or may not fight in the future. I guess it's counter-productive in his mind…
Anyways, on with the story!
-Aerococonut
…
Chapter 7: Aftermath
Master Hand floated quickly along behind Snake, who had warned him that one of his Smashers had been gravely injured, and it was enough to send him flying down the corridors of Smash Mansion. When he emerged outside the Mansion, he found a broken and bloodied Wolf lying on the ground, with Raiden standing guard over him.
"What has happened here?" Master Hand demanded, taking in the mess of wires and circuitry that was Cyber Wolf versus the injuries Wolf had sustained. Raiden and Snake shook their heads.
"We don't know," Raiden said, his head lowered. His first day here, and already things were different. Why did the lupine suddenly get attacked, when nothing like this had ever happened before?
"Can you help him?" Snake asked quietly, staring at the fallen Wolf. Master Hand shook from side to side; his version of a 'no'. Snake and Raiden deflated, their shoulders slumping in defeat.
"I cannot. However, there may be one who could exist…" his voice trailed off, leaving the other two confused at his strange wording. Could exist? What did he mean? Master Hand floated back a little, giving himself some space from the others. He began to weave his fingers in a complex dance, as he began to glow a yellow colour, with streams of powerful magic surrounding him. Snake and Raiden were forced to cover their eyes as Master Hand became too bright to see. Suddenly, there was a loud pop to the air, and a shockwave spread out in a 10-metre radius of Master Hand.
When Snake and Raiden were brave enough to take away their shields, they found Master Hand back to normal, with absolutely no side effects. Raiden was about to ask what the purpose of all the magic had been, when the answer became obvious.
"Well, hello there!" Mario walked out from behind Master Hand. Snake was confused, why would Master Hand have gone through all that trouble just to summon Mario? And then Snake noticed Mario's clothes. He was wearing a doctor's lab coat, with a stethoscope around his neck, and thick glasses perched on his nose.
"Mario?" Snake asked tentatively, fearing the answer.
"Not quite, Snake," Master Hand interrupted smoothly. "This is Dr. Mario, and he will be in charge of healing Wolf," Snake opened his mouth to ask more questions, when Master Hand resumed talking. "I created him from a creation thread," Snake and Raiden gave him a look. Master Hand sighed. "He…is basically Mario from…a different dimension," It wasn't the precise explanation, but Master Hand knew enough to realise that the two Smashers weren't going to understand the real truth. Snake nodded. As long as this Doctor could fix Wolf, he was fine to stick around. Raiden moved aside to give the doctor room to examine his new patient.
"Can you fix him?" Raiden asked, staring at the new doctor.
"Hmm," he replied, taking in the damage. "I do believe I can. It will take some time, though," Master Hand nodded.
"There is a new wing on the end of Smash Mansion that has a surgery and all the equipment of your profession," he said, while Dr. Mario started lifting the unconscious Wolf.
"Okay then, let's go. I'm going to need some help though," Raiden immediately jumped up.
"I'll help you!" Snake stood up slowly and looked at his friend. Wolf's attack had left him shaken. It was a terrible thing to have happen on his first day. Especially since no one had any explanations. Snake watched as Dr. Mario and Raiden walked towards the new hospital wing, followed by Master Hand, before he turned and walked in the opposite direction, back towards his bedroom.
…
Snake walked into his bedroom to find Toon Link, Ness and Lucas crowded onto his bed, using his television to watch his old matches. The three children hadn't noticed his entrance, and were too busy commentating on the match to care. Snake winced as a particularly strong Falcon Punch sent him flying into the barrier.
"Snake? Snake! SNAAAAAAAKE!" Snake was a little disturbed as the three started yelling his name, as Fox was proclaimed the winner of the match.
"No way, man! Snake should totally have won!" Toon Link immediately jumped to his feet, and began bouncing on Snake's bed. Lucas joined him, rage actually showing itself on his face.
"Stupid Falcon! Stupid Fox!" Ness looked up at them both, and frowned.
"You guys are being dumb," he said, in the endearing way of a child. Toon Link stuck out his tongue, and then noticed his hero staring at them.
"Snake!" he yelled in surprise, before falling backwards off the bed. There was a loud thump, and a quiet call of "I'm okay, I think," as Ness and Lucas whipped around to stare at Snake.
"Err…" Ness began, trying to think of a valid reason why he, Lucas and Toon Link would have snuck into Snake's room and watched his old matches, but came up with nothing. Lucas began whimpering.
"P-please don't hurt u-us," he stammered, and backed as far away from Snake as he could. Snake raised an eyebrow, and then sighed.
"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not even going to ask what the hell you're doing in my room. Right now, I just want to crash, so get off my bed, and get out of my room," he moved aside and pointed at the door.
"Y-yes sir!" Ness and Lucas bolted for the door, followed by Toon Link, who was rubbing the back of his head.
"Wait!" Snake called, and the three turned around, eyes downcast, shoulders hunched. It was as if they expected him to explode or something. Snake just looked at them. "Be careful, you kids," he said. Whatever they had been expecting him to say, that wasn't it.
"Snake?" Ness asked, looking slightly confused. Snake had never once offered them advice. Usually he either ignored their existence or yelled at them for following him around.
"There's something…sinister out there at the moment. Keep your guards up," Snake told them, before turning around, facing them with his back and moving to close the door.
"We will!" the three swore faithfully, glad for the chance to prove themselves to their hero. Snake rolled his eyes and closed the door.
Lucas looked at the closed door.
"What did he mean by sinister?" he asked the other two. Toon Link shrugged, and started walking off.
"Who cares? We can take it, whatever it is! After all, we are the awesome kid heroes!" Ness gave him a look, which Toon Link failed to notice. The childish version of Link was far too obsessed with heroes in his mind.
"Sure we can," Ness responded absently a few minutes later, even though Toon Link and Lucas were already miles ahead of him. "Wait for me!" he called out, and ran after them.
…
Olimar stood in the gardens, surrounded by a rainbow-hued group of Pikmin. He was quivering; after he had seen Wolf, -one of the best fighters- lying broken on the ground, and Master Hand create a person out of thin air, he was scared badly. The Pikmin reached out to him. Olimar took their comfort, and then decided he needed to talk to Master Hand. He had to find out what was going on.
He reached the door that led to Master Hand's study, and knocked cautiously.
"Come in," Master Hand said, as the door opened itself. Olimar crept forward, a small group of Pikmin following him. Master Hand was floating over a desk, a piece of paper below him and a large pen in his hand. "Yes, Olimar?" Master Hand finished writing his note, before putting the pen down. Olimar took a deep breath.
"Maser Hand? There's…something bothering me…" Olimar shook, trying to find words to describe how he was feeling. "It's about…well…Wolf!" he suddenly burst out. Master Hand tapped a finger against the desk thoughtfully.
"You wish to know what happened, don't you?" Olimar nodded, looking relieved. "Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is, we don't actually know. Wolf may be able to shed some light onto the situation, but he is currently unconscious and in a grievously wounded state. We will have to wait for him to be healed before we can ask for his story," Olimar looked down. "However, if this was not just a one-off event, the other Smashers need to be warned, and they will have to stay on their guard at all times. I will call a Meeting this evening, and announce what we do know. Thank you, Olimar," Olimar nodded realising that this was a dismissal, and knowing that there wasn't anything else Master Hand could tell him.
…
All the Smashers had gathered in the main hall, waiting to hear what Master Hand had to say.
"Attention, everyone," Master Hand floated in view of everyone. "As some of you may be aware, earlier today, Wolf was attacked and badly injured. His attacker managed to draw blood," There were some shocked murmurs at this. "However, with the addition of Dr. Mario to our Mansion, we hope that he will recover shortly," Almost all the Smashers turned to stare at the newcomer. "I know, blood should never have been spilled in Smash Mansion, and we are trying to find out how it was possible, believe me," Master Hand continued.
"It's true, Wolf is seriously wounded, however, he is in a stable condition, and I believe he will be fine," Dr. Mario spoke, addressing the crowd. Master Hand waved a finger to regain everyone's attention.
"If any of you know anything, or something happens to you, please let me know immediately. On the chance that this was no accident, we need to be prepared," Crazy Hand floated up to join them.
"Bad times are coming!" he said, twitching continuously. There was a gasp throughout the crowd. Crazy Hand cackled to himself, and floated off.
"Not necessarily!" Master Hand proclaimed, trying to restore order. "We are strong, and can protect ourselves. That is, if there truly is a threat, we can handle it. I would advise, however, that nobody stick around outside, especially after dark, and if you can, try to stay with someone else. If you have to go outside, bring a partner with you. When we are sure there is nothing wrong, we will relax these safety measures." The Smashers seemed to calm down, the safety measures made sense after all. Even if there was no threat. "As for all of you, just…be careful," Master Hand ended his speech, and watched as his Smashers parted ways.
"I hope nothing else happens…" Olimar thought to himself, as he quickly went to his bedroom. He had no desire to stick around outside, now that he believed the gardens were no longer safe. He just wanted to hide under his blankets with his Pikmin.
A white one chirped when he walked in the room. Without warning, he was surrounded by a group of them.
"Hi guys," he said, trying to sound cheerful but failing. He walked over and collapsed onto his bed, as the Pikmin chirruped at him, asking what was wrong. "I'm fine," he said unconvincingly, and as a result, the group of Pikmin tucked themselves around him. "Thanks guys," he said gratefully, as they all hugged him, rubbing their tiny hands against his clothes in comfort. "What would I do without you?"
…
So here ends Chapter 7! This chapter is dedicated to Foxpilot, for being our faithful reviewer, and for giving me the "Snake? Snake! SNAAAAKE!" line after I wrote Chapter 5. Thank you, Foxpilot! And Olimar gets some love in this chapter, since he's kind of forgotten about in everyone's stories. Heh heh. Be on the lookout for Chapter 8, written by my incredibly awesome partner, Serenity Searcher!
