Before I continue, I'd like to acknowledge my reviewers.
Ri2 and x Flames of Ice x: So you, like some others who have voiced their opinions, agree with Zelda's views. I'm sure you understand, though, why Peach believed as she did--the only two bounty hunters whom Peach believes capable of any good are still well-noted forbeing tough, which is why she asserted her belief in the "unbreakable" heart of a bounty hunter in the first place. Trouble is, though, I run a serious risk of character-breakage if I portray any really tough Smasher as suffering a broken heart.
Opus Triumphant: You seem to be a fan of mine and a great forum companion--thanks for your loyalty when it comes to sharing my views of canon purism. While you've definitely seen the foreshadowing, what do you think of the goings-on now that the plot has taken shape and things have been set to motion?
dragonsroar: As you must be able to see by now, sorry, but Nephorius is killing several of the Smashers, and certainly more will die at his hands before those who remain defeat him. I will tell you now, if you pay attention, there's a certain connection between the Super Smash Bros. games and the characters that survive vs. those that die. Can you find the connection?
bijoukaiba: I've really gotta commend you for paying attention to the symbolisms and other foreshadowing. You must have seen Peach's death, at least, coming a mile away. And of course she would, if not in Mario's presence already, have no choice but to ask whoever's with her to deliver her last I-love-you to Mario. (And rest assured, unlike in "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow," Marth, Yoshi, and Capt. Falcon will all survive. Hopefully by now you know whose survival among them, in particular, is far too integral to the plot for me to kill him off.)
Black Light Princess: Glad you thought well of my story so far, and that you weren't miffed by the fact that Peach is "first to fall." I love her, too--or else I wouldn't rise to her defense on forums--but it's the means and circumstances that surround her death, as well as events before (since this story takes place post-Wormhole Crisis) that are necessary to push the story forward.
Nintendo4ever: You must really like the Ice Climbers--sorry you feel as you do about their being "swept away in suffering," like the title of Chapter 8 says. Don't fret about Ness, though--his survival is too integral to the plot for him to die, so he and his Earthbound friends will definitely survive.
An Unquiet Hour
Midnight in Hyrule found Princess Zelda entering a great fairy-fountain that lay just outside the gates of Hyrule Castle. She had come to this place in quest of answers.
Oh, Farore, pray give me the answers I seek to questions that burden like lead upon my troubled mind, she silently prayed as she knelt at the water's edge, that no more may be lost, that there may be hope for those who live on…
As if in answer to Zelda's prayer, the waters of the fountain stilled until the surface became as smooth as a mirror. The water was perfectly clear for a moment before images appeared on the surface, some of them accompanied by voices that sounded in the Hylian princess's ears:
Two parka-clad children falling into a dark river and sinking before they ever had the chance to swim to safety…
A cartoon-like two-dimensional figure of a man dissolving into nothingness…
A spaceship being destroyed with blaster fire and a voice that cried out, "Falco! No-o-o-o-o…"
A feline figure surrounded by a blue bubble, a blinding flash of light, and a small yellow creature left behind, its eyes full of tears…
A great beam of evil energy striking like a whip crack, then a young red-headed man falling prostrate in death with a low but sharp cry of pain as a blue-haired swordsman looked on…
A battleground after the dust of battle had lifted, with twelve fighters standing about, many of them exhausted, all in an attitude of great sadness that for some went beyond the power of words to express…
With a blinding flash of green-and-violet light, Princess Zelda was thrown up onto her feet, staggering one step back—straight into the arms of Link, who had followed her not long after she started seeing visions in the water.
"What is it, Zelda? Have you seen anything?" asked Link warily.
"I prayed that no more of our fellow Smashers would be lost," replied Zelda shakily, "but I looked in the fountain and I saw more of them dying—Jigglypuff, Pichu, and Mewtwo…Mr. Game & Watch…Roy…Falco Lombardi…and the poor little Ice Climbers…"
Link started in alarm. "I had a vision in which Icicle Mountain melted into water and Popo and Nana drowned in it!" he exclaimed. "Did they drown in your vision too?"
"Yes…" whispered Zelda, breathless with shock. "I was probably the last Smasher either of them spoke to—they'd gone to the Mushroom Kingdom, where a Toadette apparently told them that Peach went looking for the Earthbound children and been hurt, never to make it back to an N-gate again. I told the twins that the Toadette had told the truth—they both cried a little, and then Popo asked, 'what about Ness and his friends?' and I said that one could only hope they'd be all right—but how could Popo and Nana understand…" Zelda faltered, blinking back tears that welled up in both eyes.
"Understand what? What wouldn't they understand?" Link asked, perturbed.
"I argued with Peach not long before the battle that took her life," Zelda confessed--
"And will take more lives until all of you pathetic so-called fighters are gone!" rang out a savage voice as a shadowy figure rose from behind the fairy-fountain pool and took the shape of a scar-faced man in black robes who stood upon a floating platform made of iron and obsidian. Then the platform floated over the two Hylians' heads and to the fairy-fountain entrance.
"I am Nephorius, the all-powerful Master of the Dark, and I come to destroy the Super Smash Bros. Melee fighters and the worlds that they call home!" declared Nephorius as he formed a dagger in one hand from out of nowhere and threw it in one swift motion.
"NO!" screamed Link as he heard Zelda give a gasp of pain and fear—Nephorius's dagger had stabbed her directly in the heart. She fell backward into the fairy-fountain pool with a sickening splash and moved no more.
"So long, loverboy," sneered Nephorius, who vanished without a trace.
Still aboard Black Shadow's shuttle, Ness started awake in alarm and then cried out in pain as his energy binders shocked him.
"What's the matter—little boy have a nightmare?" sneered a soldier outside the brig who looked in upon hearing Ness's outburst.
"No," Ness lied resentfully.
Ignoring the brief distraction of Jeff murmuring in his sleep, the soldier jeered at Ness, "Best get some more sleep—who knows, maybe someone will rescue you in your dream, because it certainly ain't happening in real life!"
Ness pretended to be trying to get back to sleep for several minutes after the soldier disappeared, but he couldn't help but let out many sighs of despair as he fought the urge to weep again. Not without reason, either—he could sense that Popo and Nana, and now Princess Zelda, were dead now.
