The uneasy Pit and the angry Roy gazed into each other's eyes for a long, single minute; waiting for one of them to make a move. Pit stood at still as a stature, fearing that the redheaded lord may suddenly lunge at him. How should he explain the Hands' actions to him? Will he even listen?
Marth entered the tense sight with Ike and Link. "Roi-kun!" Roy suddenly turned and faced the prince with an upset gleam in his watering eyes. "Anata wa daijoubu ka?" Marth cautiously asked in a worried voice.
With an enraged scream, Roy suddenly lunged at Marth. Marth made a move to dodge the attack, however he was too slow. He was tackled to the ground by the infuriated redhead. Terrified by Roy's violent action, Pit and Link could only stand and watch, not knowing what to do. Should they stop Roy?! But, he finally snapped… It might be impossible to stop him! Ike on the other hand, was carefully watching Roy's actions, waiting for a chance to fend Marth.
With a livid growl, Roy began to strangle Marth with his tight hands. "Y… Yamet…te…." Marth managed to choke out with a hoarse voice.
Roy carelessly scoffed. "Hah, why would I stop?!" he fiercely shouted at the trembling prince. "You got rid of me because you wanted to keep all the fame to yourself! Yeah, you're a friend! A terrible friend!"
"Roy, please listen!" Pit spoke up, trying to calm the redhead down. "Marth lied to you because he didn't want to hurt you!"
"Oh yeah?!" Roy argued, continuing to choke Marth. "Then tell me why I fell so upset and betrayed now!" Pit immediately went silent and began to quickly think of a response. "Just what I thought!" Roy replied arrogantly. "You don't know!"
"It's because you're immature!" Link sternly said, "You refuse to accept the fact the Hands didn't want you!"
"I'm not!" Roy retorted.
Just as when Roy said that statement, his grip loosened on Marth's neck. Seeing this as a valuable chance to escape, Marth suddenly shoved Roy off his body. The redhead exclaimed at the sudden force. Yet, Marth was not finished. He grabbed Roy by the collar of his cape, yanked him forward, and gave him a painful smack across his face. Then, he released him, aggressively jostled him away, and hurriedly rushed into Ike's open arms. Marth buried his face into the mercenary's blue tunic and began to sob loudly, which began to attract some of the brawlers to the scene.
"It's okay, Marth." Ike gently reassured, trying to soothe the hysterical prince. "It's all over."
Roy could only watch Link, Ike, and Pit comfort Marth. A jolt of shock hit him when Pit turned and faced him with an irked scowl. Roy quickly looked away to avoid eye contact. He thought of what Link just said. Maybe he was right. Marth did all of that just to not hurt his feelings. When he overheard the Hands' conversation, they mentioned Ike was his replacement. Peering up fearfully, he watched Ike comfort Marth by whispering encouraging words in his ears. It was EXACLY how he used to calm Marth! Roy heard the other brawlers approaching. Feeling hurt and shunned, he quickly yet quietly opened the front doors and fled the mansion like a deer.
Fox and Falco were the first ones to arrive. "What happened?" Fox asked.
Pit quickly told the two Star Fox members what just happened. Falco sadly looked down. "I kinda saw Roy's reaction coming." He looked around for the redhead. "Where did he go?"
"I think he wanted some time alone." Ike answered, not being concerned about the missing redhead. He was sympathetically giving all of his attention to the distressed Marth, who suddenly stopped howling. He worriedly looked around for Roy, feeling bad for slapping him.
"Ah, Roi-kun?" he asked softly. Ike released the prince and he began to wander around the front hallway, looking for the red-haired swordsman. "Ima dokoni iruno?"
Pit began to think about Roy's feelings. He must've felt terrible! Because everyone looked down at him back at the Melee Tournament, he thought that Marth was pretending to be his friend! Marth might've lost Roy's trust, even though he wasn't intentionally trying to hurt his feelings. The angel watched Marth restlessly looked for Roy and began to think of a way to reunite the two.
"I feel sorry for Marth." Link suddenly said to Pit. "He accidentally lost Roy's trust."
"Yeah…" Pit replied sadly. Suddenly, an idea hit him like a train. His joyful eyes widening, he excitedly said, "I have an idea!"
"What is it?" Link asked curiously.
"You know the broken Pherae teleporter?" Pit began to explain. Fox, Falco, Ike, and Marth, who were greatly interested, began to listen to the angel's plan. "The Hands have the missing plug! Why don't we ask them if they can fix the teleporter? That way, we can bring Roy's friends and family to the mansion!"
"Great idea!" Ike said with a huge smile. "I'll look for Roy and tell him the news."
"No, don't." Pit replied. "Actually, try to find him but don't tell him. I want this to be a surprise." He turned to Marth. "Marth, I'm going to say that this was your plan all along."
Marth's face became as pink as roses. He bashfully looked down and began to twiddle his fingers. "Ah, you do not have to…" he said softly.
"Who's going to get Roy's friends and family?" Fox asked. "Also, what can Falco and I do? Help Ike with the search?"
"We'll let the Hands take care of that." Pit answered. He was glad that his plan was working out. "Annnd yes, help Ike look for Roy. Pit, Link, and Marth entered Master Hands' office as Ike, Fox, and Falco left the mansion for the search for Roy.
"Master Hand and Crazy Hand, we need something from both of you." Pit said coolly.
"Does it have something to do with Roy?" Master Hand guessed. He and Crazy Hand heard the violent commotion in the hallway. Although they could've stopped the fight, they were expecting it to happen; they wanted Pit, Marth, Ike, and Link take care of it.
"Yeah!" Pit answered. "But, it's not about what you think!"
"Roi-kun misses his family and friends." Marth explained. "We want you invite them!"
"Here, as in the Smash Mansion itself?!" Crazy Hand exclaimed in shock. With a hyped scream, he suddenly jolted out of his comfortable seat and flew directly through the window. Pit, Link, and Marth cringed as they heard the glass violently shatter into a million pieces. Maybe they should've asked Crazy to not overreact.
"We're serious." Pit continued, a tone of sternness rang in his voice. "Roy has gone through a lot of things. We think it would be nice if he saw his family and friends again."
Master Hand carefully thought about it. Roy would be overjoyed if he saw his loved ones. He might even ask to leave so he could be with them! But, will they understand why was Roy gone for months? Finally deciding that it was too hard to explain to Roy's family, Master Hand was about to object when Link suddenly cut him off. "I know what you're going to say. You're going to say no."
"Please invite Roy's family!" Pit begged desperately. "Just for Roy!"
A strike of guilt hit Master Hand. Swallowing his fear and bringing all of his courage, he said, "Ok, I will reboot the Pherae Teleporter and escort a few of Roy's family to the mansion."
Master Hand watched Pit, Link, and Marth high-five each other in triumph. If he had a face, he would be hesitantly smiling. Opening a desk drawer, the enormous hand took the missing plug out. Wondering where was Crazy Hand, he looked out the smashed window for a white-gloved hand frantically flying around in circles. All of a sudden, there was a hysterical scream and Crazy Hand hastily crashed through the window into Master Hand. The only thing Pit, Link, and Marth did was stare awkwardly at the chaotic scene.
"Invite Roy's friends and family to the Smash Mansion?" Crazy Hand asked awkwardly. "I think that's an awesome idea!"
Meanwhile, Roy was walking down the dark remote streets. The only things that illuminated his lone surroundings were the tall lamps, which had a fiery glow, and the moon that ghostly glowed in the pitch-black night sky. Most of the citizens were having dinner, watching TV, or went to bed early.
The redhead shook his head sadly when he saw a family inside their homes having dinner together. They were happily enjoying themselves as they talked to each other and laughed at small jokes. Back at Pherae, he perfectly fitted in with his friends like a glove. Everyone understood him and he was never left out. After his great adventure, he got a mysterious letter requesting him to join the "Melee Tournament", which was held in another dimension. It mentioned that other Nintendo characters were coming to the tournament, which greatly interested him. He accepted the request, taking it as a chance to make new friends.
He was wrong. Just because he was different and he easily got into the tournament, he was despised by almost all of the other brawlers and left out. He only had one friend. His name was… Roy clutched his fists tightly as he began to remember the day he met Marth.
On his first day at the Smash Mansion, the two happened to meet each other. Ever since then, the two were best friends. Like what all best friends do, they spent almost all of their time together, foolishly joked around, shared secrets, and made promises. One of their promises was to keep each other from harm, even though it meant lying to one another. In sudden realization and shock, Roy gasped and jumped. Marth kept his promise! He never wanted to destroy their friendships!
A feeling of guilt began to curl in Roy's throat. He was the one being a terrible friend, not Marth! Maybe that's why no one back at the Melee Tournament wanted to befriend him. Suddenly feeling miserable, Roy sat down on the sidewalk curb and sighed softly to himself. If he had a rotten personality, then why would Marth like to be his friend in the first place? Is it because he noticed the redhead's loneness? If so, he was a very compassionate person. A tear rolled down Roy's pale cheek. He doesn't deserve a friend like Marth.
After awakening from his five-month-long slumber, he met Pit. Like Marth, he gave him his respect. However, after when he "accidentally" got into a vicious fight with Marth, the disappointed angel gave him an upset look. He probably couldn't tolerate the redhead's true personality. From what he overheard from the Hands, Ike was a replacement for him. Replacement; that word sent a shiver down Roy's spine. Perhaps the Hands also couldn't bear his behavior, so they replaced him with a much amiable person. Roy smiled a bit before his smile transformed back into a sad look.
"Well… Good job Ike." Roy said to himself when he stood up and continued his way down the street. "At least Marth has a true friend now."
As Roy gloomily continued his way down the shadowy street, he did not notice a certain white van trailing him. One of its sneaky passengers whispered, "There he is, Doug! Do you want us to grab him now?"
"No, let's get closer." Doug answered with an evil smile. The silent van slowly crept closer to its precious red-haired prey. Roy sensed an evil presence behind him, however he ignored it; thinking that it was a fragment of his wild imagination.
The van was just a few inches away from Roy. Bruce and Ernest slowly and soundlessly slid the van's door open, about to lunge at their prized breathing payment. Roy's sixth sense screamed at him to turn around. The evil presence is growing stronger! With a startled gasp, Roy immediately turned around, just as when the two criminals lunged at him.
Roy made a move to run away, however it was too late. Bruce and Ernest tackled the alarmed swordsman to the cold, hard ground and began to violently drag him into the van. Out of breath, Roy parted his lips to desperately scream for help, only to have a thick handkerchief looped and tied in his mouth.
"LLMMPH, MMMPHH, GGMMMPH!" Roy's muffled voice screamed as he struggled violently to escape.
"Man, he's stronger than I thought!" Bruce hissed at Ernest as they tried to hold Roy down. He took a roll of duct tape out of his pocket.
Roy's flailing arms were firmly pinned to his sides and constrained with tape. His wrists were crisscrossed and taped together. Sharing the same fate, his thrashing ankles, knees, and thighs were also bounded. This made struggling hard, Roy learned. He felt like a fly caught in a sticky spider's web.
Roy let out a "mfft!" when one of his captors threw him over his shoulders like a heavy sack full of potatoes and carried him back into the van. There, Doug took a good look at the captive. Bruce slid the door close behind him. Trembling anxiously, Roy looked around his petrifying, dark surroundings and squirmed helplessly in his bounds like a worm. Drool began to trickle from the corners of his restrained mouth.
"Well done, Bruce and Ernest." Doug praised with a dark smile. He cupped Roy's chin and gently lifted it up. Heartless cruel eyes met scared blue eyes. In response, the traumatized Roy began to wriggle violently to free himself. "Don't even try. You're just wasting your energy." With a soundless sigh, Roy hung his head and hopelessly looked down.
Ernest carelessly dumped Roy at the back of the van. "What about the angel?" he asked. Roy's eyes perked up. No, are they going to take Pit too?!
"Nah, this one is enough." Doug answered.
"Are we gonna take him back to the hideout now?" Bruce asked.
"Yes, but first we need to let the Smash Mansion know where he is." With a greedy smirk, Doug headed towards Roy, who carefully watched his movements like a hawk. What is he going to do next?
Doug took a sharp pocket knife out, grabbed a handful of Roy's cardinal hair, and pulled him up. Roy let out a strangled, muffled cry full of pain and fright. Is he going to stab him?! Smirking at the redhead's terrified reaction, Doug sliced his red hair off and watched him drop face-first onto the ground. Pain exploded through Roy's aching head.
Doug took Roy's blue headband, which made his tangled red hair fall over his scared blue eyes. "I'll be taking this." he said to the stunned lord. He took a crumpled piece of lined paper, which was lying messily on the ground, and began to scribble something on it with a black marker. Then he folded the note and taped it onto Roy's headband, along with the bundle of Roy's hair.
Roy, who slowly falling asleep, did not quite catch what was written on the note. Before he drifted to a dreamless sleep, he heard Doug say, "Boys, looks like we're gonna have ten million bucks in our pockets!"
Author's Notes: Aww, poor Roy. Brawlers! Let's free him!
The first week of testing went pretty well. After this week, testing will finally be over!
In the next chapter, we will see Roy's friends and family! In about 2 or 3 chapters, this fanfic will be finished! Yay!
Japanese Translations:
Y... Yamet... te: S... Stop...
Ima dokoni iruno: Where are you?
Story Questions:
Other than Eliwood, Lilina, and Wolt, who should appear in the next chapter?
How should Roy get rescued from the kidnappers?
**You don't have to answer this: What character traits does Eliwood have? I checked the Fire Emblem wiki and they didn't have a lot to say about his personality.